The Chronicles of Rapina, Chapters 23-26 The Jolly Roger Back to the, Judgment in Disguise, page [Rapina]023 A Queen Revealed [Rapina]024 Southern Comfort [Rapina]025 Reunions [Rapina]026 The Jolly Roger [Rapina]023 A Queen Revealed Thane arrived nearly an hour after midnight two weeks after he had left. After bidding Mortancer Greel and his skeletal horses and bearers goodbye, Thane allowed his face beneath the concealing death mask he wore to take on a less controlled expression. He looked quite pleased with himself. He had accomplished many things. As he walked down the stairs from the Cliff-top graves of the former priests of Mortaebius he idly wondered if he still had apprentices. He moved the ebon slider on his newly made mage light, and the light it put out changed from red to white as the clear crystal was revealed above the red one. He noted that the gardens were well weeded and that the new bean plants Rapina had planted not long before he left were thriving. As he walked down the stairs in the midst of his skeletal guards and bearers he noted that the stairs were as clean as he had ever seen them, another good sign. When he walked into the grand hall, he could smell the delicious aroma of roast duck. He continued through the hall, stopping at a storage closet in his chambers to deposit his "project." Then he went on to his laboratory with his skeletal guards and bearers to drop off some of the supplies he had brought. He then went down to one of the storage rooms for more skeletons. While passing the storage room Rames used as a gym, Thane heard movement and poked his head in. Rames was stuffing a large canvas bag full of cattail heads. "Guardian Rames, how good it is to see you..." Thane said. "Alive?" Rames asked. "Whatever do you mean," Thane smiled. "You left me with Captain Red Jack's red-hot wench," Rames said. "Indeed. Come along, we can walk and talk, I have an enormous pile of supplies to bring down from the gardens above the abode," Thane said. "And you were counting on my sleeping with her," Rames said. "I was?" A smile pulled at Thane's lips. "I do believe you're beginning to catch on to the way I think." "Who me? I had no idea, I'm just a soldier. I do what I'm told. I was in the bath with Rapina the day after you left and she filled me in." "Oh she did, did she? And what did she say?" Thane asked. "She said you were the chess master, and you had sent me, your knight, to her square to determine if she was a pawn or a queen. If she was a queen, I was to determine what color she was, black or white. She said you hated not knowing the nature of all the pieces on your chess board." Thane chuckled, "You know, the longer that girl is with us, the more I like her. I do hope you weren't thinking you could keep her all to yourself." "I expect she's not a one man woman," Rames said. "No, not according to Red Jack. He maintained she was... red hot." Thane smiled. "Gods, that's for sure," Rames said. "I need to know about her powers. What did you find out?" Thane asked. "She is no pawn, that's for sure," Rames said. "The day after you left I changed our schedule so that we had arms practice right after the time our magic lesson would normally end. I had picked some blackberries and had Rapina bake pies during some of the time we'd normally have had our lesson, then we went up and I tested her skills at arms." "How were they?" Thane asked. "Avengene never turned a recruit out of basic who was any better. There's plenty I can teach her, but she's got the basics more than covered, and she knows a few tricks even I haven't seen. We sparred for hours. She's got real fighting stamina. We both smelled pretty bad after that, and Rapina said we needed a bath, but I didn't want to let the pie get any colder, so Rapina suggested we eat the pie _in_ the bath. What man could refuse that offer?" Thane raised an eyebrow. By this time the necromancer and his entourage had made it to the cliff-top gardens and Thane gave the many skeletons orders to pick up the supplies he and Mortancer Greel had brought in. "There, go ahead Rames, I am listening." "Well, we had some pie and one thing led to another. I tell you, I have been with a few women in my day. Soldiers can't afford to be too picky. I've never blasted like that - incredibly long and intense, and when I was done, I didn't loose my lust. I was shaking from fatigue, but I wanted her. I'd have taken her again right then and there soon as I could catch my breath, but she jumped out of the tub and toweled off. While she was toweling, she snapped something about celibacy and apologized to me. She said she had never had a problem controlling herself before, but her control had slipped and I was going to be bushed the next day." Thane raised an eyebrow. By this time, the entourage had arrived back at the storage room and Thane gave them orders to set things down. Thane waved his finger in a small circle for Rames to continue. "I chased her, but she had a head start and got to her room and wedged the door with her chair just before I got there. Let me tell you, I was seriously thinking about breaking the door down, but then I realized I was thinking with something other than my head. It took me a few hours of reading to settle down, and then I went to sleep. It wasn't even 12 hours that I had been awake that day with Rapina, but I still overslept past the time I'd normally have gotten up the next day. I woke up about 18 hours after going to sleep, and I was beat to shit the whole day. I got her two days later though, Rames grinned saltily. After that first slip, she's been a lot better. She tires a man out, but no more so than a day's march, and she's a hell of a lot more fun than a day's march." Rames grinned like a pirate. Thane thrummed his fingers on his lips as he digested what he had just heard. "Well then, it appears Mortaebius has blessed us with a most unusual companion. Was that roast duck I smelled?" "Yes, I took Rapina duck-hunting earlier today. She thought you might appreciate a good welcome-home meal when you arrived," Rames said. "That's very considerate of her. How's her archery?" Thane asked. "She's a fair shot. She has a bit of a strength disadvantage compared to some of the young men I've worked with, but she judges her shots well, and my guess is she could wield a stronger bow than the one she has. She has been using that one since her first day in pirate basic. She brought down one of the two ducks we'll be eating." "Two ducks? It sounds like quite a feast she has planned. That suits me fine. I am sure you will want to know something about my trip, and though I cannot tell you a great deal, I can tell you something. That and a long meal will give us time to start discussing your readings." Shortly after Thane and Rames sat down, Rapina and her skeletal servants brought out the meal. Rapina removed her apron, hung it on a skeleton and sat down. "Good to see you Guardian Thane, how did the trip go?" Rapina said. "Marvelous, most productive, Rapina. I had quite a time. Each evening we dined with a different distinguished priest of the Order in a different city. Amusingly, if they were of the Shroud, we wore illusion robes and maskes so that we could not recognize one another. Thus if we are ever interrogated, there is no chance of our revealing one another. I learned many things, my faith was deepened and Mortaebius ushered me deeper into the fold. In addition, some of the members of the order were wizards as well and the conversations we had has deepened my grasp of magic. As of now there are many more places I can go with my graveyard mists spell than Rosehaven or Turnmoor. I was also able to obtain some supplies that pertain to some advanced animations that I have always wanted to try but could never afford. Rames and I will be setting up many of the currently empty laboratory rooms and soon you shall see the fruits of my labors. Thankfully I saved back many of the bodies of the pirates, especially the more notably evil ones, and they shall be perfect for the advanced animation I will be attempting." Thane smiled within himself. It was true he had dined in many cities. The first night he had worn a shroud with an illusory death mask and had been initiated as a necromancer of Mortaebius, a Mortancer. He was now Mortancer Ashe. At the initiation he had secured many invitations and had visited the temples and homes of several of the Mortancers of Mortaebius. For a group of people who must hide their faces from one anther, and the exact locations of their abodes, they were quite supportive and made him feel most welcome. He had learned who specialized in which of the advanced animations and who might need those that he had chosen for his specialty. He had spent most of his time with Mortancer Ember who had taught him the advanced animation he had settled on as the best one for his current situation. Given what had transpired while he was away, he was now encouraged that his decision had been doubly wise. -- [Rapina]024 Southern Comfort Rapina's sixteenth birthday had passed in August without celebration during her first few weeks with Thane. She really had not thought to mention it. August and the summer were long gone now. The bean plants Rapina had put in, put out only one crop of green beans before the autumn frosts hit. Ironically, it was only with the help of Kent's searches of the isle at dawn and dusk that Rapina had been able to locate and lay in a supply of contraceptive herbs before the cold destroyed them. Rapina could not complain about how long the weather had stayed mild in the fall, but if Thane's abode had been cold before, the chill had deepened. Now there was no relief to be had by going up on the clifftops. A pervasive chill began to settle into Rapina's bones; her only respite from it was when she cooked meals in the kitchen. Ever since Thane returned from his trip he and Rames had been working very hard. Thane had supplies stacked both in a storage room and in the lab, and Rames was supervising the building of a secret laboratory wing. At least it was going to be secret once it was done. Thane had cut the secret door using magic, and one could hardly see the crack when it was closed, even from very close up. Rapina could faintly hear the picks and chisels of a multitude of skeletons in spite of the distance to the area behind the regular lab. They were working all day and all night. It had been her duty to unpack a hoard of regular laboratory furnishings. She was astounded at the money Thane must have spent - thousands of gold pieces. His laboratory went from the meager set-up of an impoverished herbalist to the state-of-the-art laboratory of a court wizard of a wealthy nobleman. He was even installing plumbing! Rapina assumed that Thane was funding his laboratory expansion with Red Jack's chest of gems. Meanwhile Thane himself had set aside one of the old laboratory rooms as a temporary facility for his advanced animations. He still spent a fair amount of time studying, but now he seemed to be doing quite a bit of praying and meditating in his chapel to create some sort of resinous goo in his font. Beyond that, he had a stone-bending spell that he was using to cut semi-cylindrical alcoves into the walls of the great hall. The radius of each alcove was about three feet. Rapina had asked him about the reason for the alcoves, but the response of Thane had been for her to wait and see. Rapina simply took care of the housework and read as many books as she could as fast as she could. She brought sparkles of pride to Thane's serious visage every time she showed her mental agility and rapidly expanding knowledge of magic. She was the acknowledged star of the magical discussions Thane held with his apprentices each afternoon after breakfast, although she never tried to show off. To his credit, Rames did not seem to mind. When he needed help understanding something, he went to Rapina first to see if she could help him work out a solution. Thane was nearly always too busy to be bothered. Thane had encouraged Rames to continue weapons practice after the magic lesson at the beginning of every weekday. Thus Rapina had less time each day, but now that she knew how to handle her skeletal servants and was no longer celibate, she was sharper than ever, and much happier. With the daily workouts, her body remained as strong and capable as it had been in the best days of her training under the pirates. About three weeks after Thane arrived home from his trip, Rapina was putting dinner on the table in the great hall. For some reason, Thane liked to eat there instead of the kitchen now that he had servants. Rapina would have preferred the kitchen. It was warmer because of the cook stove. The table in the great hall was much too long for the three residents of the isle. Thane sat at the head end closest to the kitchen while Rapina and Rames sat on either side of the table near him. Rames aready sat at his seat looking hungry. Rapina smiled at Guardian Rames. He was a killer like the pirates, but she knew his best side. He had continued to improve her skill with the rapier and was now teaching her how to defend herself without weapons. Rapina smirked to herself. She suspected that half the reason Rames was teaching her unarmed combat was so he could touch her more often. He usually made love to her every other day. She would have enjoyed having him more often, but she would not allow him to take her two days in a row. Her control was better now that she was no longer celibate but, ironically, in Thane's household she thought it wise to underscore the fact that she was not a normal woman. It was exactly the opposite of what she had needed to do with the pirates. Besides, Rames needed his rest or he might loose his vigor, and she very much enjoyed his vigor. At that moment, Guardian Thane appeared from the door to the parlor looking very pleased with himself. One of his skeletons set a cylinder of ceramic material into the alcove in the West wall across from the end of the table where the living residents of the isle sat to eat. Thane took off the glove with the fingertips cut out that he'd taken to wearing on his right hand when the weather turned cold. Both Rapina and Rames had taken similar measures. The cold was a miserable thing that seeped into a person's bones. Rapina felt sorry for Rames. He did not get to work in the kitchen. Thane folded the side of the rug that the long table sat on over on itself. "I can tell you are both cold. This place is even more miserable in the winter than it is in the summer, but we can now truly give thanks to our glorious god Mortaebius for deliverance. I was able to come across the processes for some advanced animations some time ago, but up until recently, I had been unable to afford to try them. In addition, the animation I selected required that the dead man be evil. It rests on the fact that such men go to the lower planes where pits of fire abound to torment them. I could not be sure I had good subjects in that regard until I bested Red Jack and his men," Thane smiled. "I'm sure you will both appreciate the advanced animation I settled on to try first. With a flourish of Thane's hand, his skeletons opened the door to the parlor, and the door from the parlor to the main spiral stair of the abode. There was the familiar ticking of bone on stone as a skeleton double-timed it through the parlor and burst into the great hall. "Stand in that alcove atop the ceramic base," Thane ordered in a self-satisfied voice. Rapina gaped. The skeleton was on fire. Red, yellow and orange flames bathed the skeleton from the tip of its boney toes to the top of its head. The fire was exceptionally hot yet smokeless. "That's astonishing Guardian Thane, I never knew such a thing was possible," Rames said. "Believe it Guardian Rames, the very flames of the hells pulled through the link between this man's bones and his tormented spirit. The best part is that when the skeleton is destroyed, it explodes, turning the grave-robbing fools who would fight such a monster into human roasts. The flaming skeletons are quite a bit more work than even my double-animated skeletons. Take heart, however, I can now take advantage of the richly deserved torment of these men to end the torment that winter throws at my aging bones each year. It will be a great relief, and I am sure you will agree it is a better improvement even than the plumbing we are installing in the lab. We will all benefit, and we can get Rapina some more flattering clothing rather than having her wandering around here cowled up in fashions gleaned from the sea chests of the pirates." "Do not get too attached to these particular flaming skeletons, however. I will be forfeiting seven of them in exchange for an advanced animation that I am not skilled enough to create. Have no fear, however. The exchange is not to be made until I have sufficient additional flaming skeletons to keep the abode at least minimally warm. I have no desire to suffer another winter of bone-numbing cold. I have found I work much more efficiently when the abode is warm." Rapina idly wondered what horror would be worth seven flaming skeletons. From then on, Thane produced about two flaming skeletons every two weeks, and in a month there were four more of them, plus one Thane claimed was a failed experiment at expediting their creation. Rapina suspected it was actually Thane's first try done when he was away training and hidden away until later. The fires of this particular skeleton were confined only to its chest cavity and skull, and they tended to be bluer and to produce less heat. This one served as a heater for Thane's personal suite of rooms. The others were scattered through the upper areas of the abode making it much warmer. Two stood in the great hall, now the warmest room in the house. Rapina's waking hours settled into a routine. In the "morning" actually the afternoon, she got up before the others then made and served breakfast. Over breakfast, Thane usually started informal discussion about previously assigned readings. Following breakfast Rapina cleared away the dishes, then Thane delivered a two-hour lesson on magic, sometimes making use of a blackboard on wheels that he had purchased for that purpose. After the magic lesson, Guardian Rames held arms practice for nearly another two hours. Following arms practice, Rapina bathed, often with Rames, then she rushed up to fix lunch. After lunch she did dishes and housework, interspersing as much reading as she could while supervising her skeletons. Then it was time to fix dinner and afterwards supervise the skeletons doing of the dishes. Once the dishes were done and the kitchen cleaned up, Rapina was free to study and shortly after that it was time for bed. On the weekends, Rapina did meals but no other housework. Saturdays Thane gave an alchemy lesson and lab work. Sundays one of the priests would do a short service to Mortaebius and then Rapina could study or goof off. It was a full schedule but on days when Guardian Rames made love to her, Rapina found she could do just fine on less than her normal allotment of sleep. It was during these times that she devoured extracurricular magic books, sometimes with Rames sound asleep beside her. In addition to the secret necromantic laboratory wing, Thane and Rames built a secret passageway that opened behind the fireplace in the great hall. It led to a room for hiding the flaming skeletons in case of guests not of the Order of the Shroud. Thane also purchased cressets on brass stands that would fit where the skeletons normally stood to fill the alcoves with some likely looking item when the flaming skeletons were secreted away. Rapina's job of doing the housework was somewhat easier in the winter because there was no garden. Instead Rapina organized Thane's non- necromantic laboratory rooms. It was a Sunday a little past the middle of winter, and in spite of her busy schedule, Rapina was a little bored. She was now quite adept at her job and had even more free time to read magic books, but today she was within the spar of rock directly above the abode. The works for the second of Thane's wicker elevators were housed in a room somewhere within the stone below her. Below that was the main circular stair that went down from the cliff top gardens to the laboratory and residence level and then down to the storage and jail level. Rapina's gardens were now nestled under a blanket of snow. Above her in a cramped little secret room with eight cracks, each looking out in one of the eight compass directions, were the eight skeletons who watched the isle and the waters of grand lake for signs of humans. If they spied anyone, they pulled the rope that rung one of the eight warning gongs that hung side by side down in the abode. The room in which Rapina stood was an observation room with large, illusion-shrouded windows looking out in each of the four cardinal directions. Thane had recently installed a very large telescope on a heavy base in this room so that he could keep a better eye on the isle and the lake. Rapina peered through the eyepiece. Ice choked the lake at this time of year, and added to the cloistered feeling of the isle. She turned the telescope and looked to the Northeast. She could see the area Rames had prepared for a vineyard, but it was all covered with snow. Rapina sighed. She missed Drake and Doanthalas and she had no idea what had become of them. Kent and Edgar were now hideous ghouls, and Kent was hugely bloated. Rapina did not want to know how Thane scared up the bodies to feed his prized ghoul. She knew that at least some of what fed him were the bodies of criminals shipped to the isle for burial but, up until recently, there had been no such shipments. Now constable Olsen and deputy Barns sometimes did their winter executions and sledded out over the ice covering the lake to deliver the bodies of the dead. Mortician Hagston often did likewise with funereal parties, as winter was a popular time to die. Unfortunately, Rapina always wound up cloistered in alternative quarters when the isle had visitors. She made meals and laid them out for the guests but was then to disappear and eat elsewhere. Also during these times Thane burned oil in the cressets because he could not let guests see the flaming skeletons. He and Rames were already planning a heating system that made use of ducts under the floors with flaming skeletons heating the air for the ducts. To his credit, Thane was very careful about not letting people from the area see Rapina's face if it could be avoided. The law said he had Rapina for seven years, but the Avengenes were powerful nobles, and Thane did not want to tempt fate by letting them know he had the woman they sought for killing their son. Rapina's magical studies were going well, and there was no question that she was Thane's star pupil. Rames was an intelligent man, but he lacked some of Rapina's acuity and her uncanny memory. That and he tended also to think like a warrior, something Thane was constantly chuckling about. Rapina was doing so well that Thane had upped the ante. He was now very seriously teaching her deportment. He had said that if she were going to specialize in charm and sex-based magics, she would need to learn to resemble a member of the upper class. He believed that charming a pauper was seldom of use, but charming a nobleman could be most beneficial. Rapina knew that the necromancer never acted without reason. She wondered if there were more specific reasons he was teaching her deportment. Rapina fingered the mage light pendant Thane had given her. Rames had an identical light, as did Thane. It was a tiny rod made of obsidian, clear crystal and red crystal with a polished silver slider that had been chemically tarnished to a dull gray on the outside. Depending on where the slider was positioned, the device emitted white, red or no light depending on which layers of the rod were exposed. Flashes of light could be used to signal others, and the red light was useful in that it did not hamper night vision. Rapina now wore the light on a silver chain that reminded her of the one that had once held the dreamstone. All of her things were gone now. Thane had insisted she get rid of everything that tied her to her past. She regretted doing it, but she knew he was right. Her master could be cold, calculating and harsh, but his mind was as sharp as a quill. Rapina often helped Rames with his studies, and the warrior in turn cheered her up when she was bored or upset, made love to her, and took her on little outings around the isle during the weekends. Sometimes they would go slide around on the frozen pond in the valley of the dead or go hunting, ice fishing or hiking. Rapina smiled. Rames did his best to keep the winter from being overly oppressive, but as the wind whistled though the natural tower wherein Rapina stood, she could not help feeling as though she were in exile from humanity. To his credit, Thane had designed and gifted her three winter dresses, a cloak, shoes and accessories befitting a noblewoman. In addition, he and Rames had seen to it that she had seven different changes of silk and satin lingerie. They had dropped the hint that Rapina could wear the lingerie in the rather too warm skeleton-heated great hall while reading. Just because she enjoyed the tickle of the men's lust, Rapina sometimes did just that. Thane was in great spirits of late, for his macabre animations - the flaming skeletons - were keeping the main area of the abode quite warm, something the middle-aged man seemed to gloat over to no end. Rapina remembered the pervasive, bone-numbing cold they had experienced before Thane's advanced animations had remedied the problem. She did not know how many full winters Thane had spent huddled around the cook stove in his kitchen, but the number was large enough, no doubt. She could not blame him for gloating now that he could relax in warmth and comfort. A chill wind blew though Rapina's cloak, and she decided to descend the ladder and return to the staircase and to the warm abode. The sun was setting, and She had to make "lunch." Thane emerged from his chambers looking pleased with himself and sat down as Rapina finished setting "lunch" out. When both she and Rames were situated, Thane made his announcement. "You both look rather glum." Thane smiled, giving his statement time to sink in." "It's the winter, Guardian Thane, it gets to you after a while, even though the abode is much more comfortable with your new animations." Rapina nodded in agreement. "I do believe you are right, but my animations are not the only new magics I have learned. As you have seen, I have left you several times to visit other priests of Mortaebius and conduct various business. Having the graveyard mists spell gives me new freedom, and my visit, last night, with the priests of Mortaebius has brought grave news. I have learned that the church of the vindicator is once again on the move ravaging our temples in the South of Avengene's domain with a new, more powerful group of "bandits." Our sources indicate that these "bandits" are unusually well trained and may actually be loyalist troops of Avengene. Since his campaigns in the mountains to the North grind to a virtual halt in the winter, this theory would seem to have some merit. The Marquis of Avengene would have some troops to spare in the dead of winter." "Rather than fight a loosing battle within a province wherein the Lord is a zealous supporter of the vindicator, our priests are fleeing out of Avengene, primarily to the South. Already one of our temples South of Avengene in the barony of Bristol has been hit, and once the vindicator's forces consolidate their holdings inside Avengene, It is certain they will more often strike in the baronies surrounding Avengene. The Order of the Shroud is attempting to protect the interests of the Church. Fresh corpses, weapons, armor and gold are badly needed. I have already given up the zombies I made of the pirate recruits. I was able to keep the veterans only because I argued that they were too valuable for advanced animations to be wasted as mere cannon fodder." "One other thing you should know, Rapina, Captain Red Jack escaped execution this summer when a few of his loyal men started fires and a riot at his would-be execution ceremony in the square of Turnmoor. In the confusion, his men spirited the Captain to safety." Rapina could not help smiling, "really?" "Indeed. Since then, the city has raised an astonishing sum. There were several nobles in the crowd to watch the execution, and one of them was even killed. Thus Red Jack's bounty has more than tripled and the sums on the heads of his few men, now including your young friend Drake, are quite considerable. The order has requested that, since I have actually seen and talked with Red Jack, and since I have some of his personal effects, I might easily locate him using my viewing pool. I have been able to do so. The original plan was to catch him and turn his body in for the bounty. Unlike the previous price on his head, the amount given for him alive is not higher than that given for him dead. As a matter of fact, his wanted poster does not even say, 'Wanted dead or alive,' It just says, 'Wanted dead.' His bounty would help fund the defense of our temples." Thane paused dramatically. Rapina grimaced. "However, I suggested an alternative plan to the order that I think may be more useful to us in the long run. As you know, the church of Mortaebius is fairly wealthy. The mortuary business is a good one. We could hire mercenaries, but they do not have nearly the fear value that our undead troops have, and we are now faced with a well-trained foe that might easily mow down mercenaries if they had their wits about them. The Order is yet undecided pending your advice, Rapina. The have set a date for a hearing. At that time, someone will come to pick you up. He will appear to be death. You will accompany him to a meeting where you are to tell those assembled whether you think it possible to convince Red Jack that my plan is to his benefit," Thane said. "What is your plan?" Rapina asked. "Thane smiled the smile of the chess master. "Red Jack's bounty has grown truly substantial. It is now high enough that wizards other than myself, especially lesser wizards and those greater wizards who regularly do community service work will be attracted to the job of locating Red Jack. I found him in a matter of hours. I have mentioned that I had certain advantages, but although I am now officially a wizard, I am at the very lowest level of true wizardry. Others might just as well locate him without such advantages. He and his ships are in need of magical protection, protection that will be proof against location and viewing via wizardry. I personally am not powerful enough to provide this protection, however, the Order of the Shroud is more than able to do so, for a price." "What's the price?" Rapina asked uneasily. "That is the amusing detail of my plan. It will cost something Red Jack would normally throw away. It is well known that he and his men are cold-blooded killers, and the church of Mortaebius is in grave need of a steady supply of corpses. Ironically, although our church deals with corpses every day, we seldom deal with many corpses in one place at one time. Moreover most of our priests have no idea what the order of the Shroud would want with corpses, thus we have trouble getting them unless we steal them from our own graveyards. We could force our priests to give them up, but they do have loyalty to their clients and the Order has traditionally not resorted to such measures save under the direst of circumstances. It makes too many waves within the church. The order has already spent those corpses easily available in this conflict in Avengene. If Red Jack will provide us with the dead from his raids, we will protect him from magical spies. He must still beware of normal spies, however. What do you think?" Rapina grimaced, "It sounds like you are making him an offer he can't refuse. "Work with us or we turn you in." Thane smiled evilly, "Indeed, however the offer is not without benefit to Red Jack, even if it does carry the probability of dire consequences should he refuse it. Besides, if he works with us, I suspect he will want us to make certain concessions, and we may be willing to bargain with him, at least to some small degree. Currently he is in a vulnerable position while he tries to rebuild his fleet. I believe I have two of his longships sunk in my cove." Rapina smiled sourly. "The plot is beautiful save for one small detail," Thane said. "What's that?" Rapina asked. "You, my dear. We will need you to help with the negotiations, but the pirates know you, and I am sure that unadulterated stories of Red Jack's defeat on this isle may have leaked to his new men. If one of Jack's men is captured and tells the authorities that you have been visiting the pirates it could prove dangerous to me. The authorities may realize that you are supposed to be on indenture to me, and that if you are working with the pirates, then I must also be working with them." "Oh, is there any way around that?" Rapina asked. "Indeed I believe there is. I have been working on a solution that will allow me to keep my good name for a little longer. Unfortunately, in the end, the ultimate price of fighting Avengene's bands of temple-destroying outlaws seems to be turning outlaw myself. In spite of the slaughter of many of our brethren, the duke does not wish to intervene. Holy wars are notoriously messy. The Order Of the Shroud is content to let the legitimate face of our church attempt to fight Avengene's lawlessness through legal channels. At the same time, we of the shroud must counter the immediate threat by channeling the energies of Mortaebius to allow our god to enlist the power of the dead to his cause. I will hold onto my good name for as long as possible, but I realize this war will not be kind to it. Since you are the most obvious link between lawlessness and me, you must appear to sever the tie between us, and I have been planning towards that end. Tonight we must switch to a diurnal schedule and journey to Granville." Rapina cleaned up after "lunch," then supervised her skeletons while doing her assigned readings and some extra reading as well. Meanwhile Thane was busy in the laboratory with a "project." After dinner, which in Thane's abode took place a couple hours before dawn, Thane began to explain his plan. "Very well, we must first make a sled trip across the frozen lake, but you will not need to walk. I claimed in my pigeon message to Hagston that you had an intolerable case of the winter glums and you were as snappy as the frosts. I wrote that I thought being around people might help you. We are so isolated here. I had Mortican Hagston send me the hearse sled and a pair of horses just yesterday. A couple of locals brought it and then walked back. I am far too wealthy to be walking eighteen miles to Granville. Before we stage our event, we will also be using some boxed skeletons I will be bringing to create and consecrating a small, secret graveyard in a secluded area of town. That way I may never have to make that walk again." Thane smiled. Rapina was unused to being up all day, but she enjoyed the trip West across the ice, and then South overland. Guardian Thane was a brilliant conversationalist when it came to magic, and Rapina enjoyed just listening to him speak. Her role in town was simple. She walked around acting glum and snappy while Thane tried to cheer her up. The second night there Thane took Constable Olsen, Deputy Barns, and a fat merchant seaman named Captain Hogs to dinner. It was on the way out of the restaurant that the plot went into action. "Stern! Stern! Stern! Right from wrong! right from wrong! That's all I ever get from you Guardian Thane! Damn it why do you have to be so proper? You could have raped me a dozen times and I would have welcomed it, but you are so DAMNED PROPER! I can't stand it!" Rapina screamed. "Serina, you must understa..." Thane started. As all eyes shifted to Guardian Thane, Rapina suddenly turned and snatched Barnses' short sword out of its sheath. She slashed the hamstrings of Constable Olsen's left leg as she kicked deputy Barnes off his feet, and then she took off at a dead run into the alley. Serina! Serina! Come back! Thane bumbled into Barns as he got back up, tripping over the man in his haste to go after "Serina" and sending them both back onto the cobbles, thus giving Rapina an even better head start. Oh goodness, Serina! Thane chased after the deputy while the fat sea captain took a different direction. Constable Olsen limped a few paces and then held his bleeding leg. Thane was making plenty of noise calling to her as he chased the deputy. This gave Rapina a very good idea of where they were. She jumped a stone fence and hid as they ran past, then changed directions and headed for the hotel carriage house at a run. It was a lucky thing she was in such good shape because she had just finished saddling the fastest-looking horse she could find when Captain Hogs burst into the stable, drawing his rapier. With her luck he was probably a fine swordsman as well as a genius who realized she would run for a stable, Rapina grimaced. She really did not have time for this. While his words of warning concerning his mastery of the Rapier were still on his lips, she locked blades with him, spun and flattened him with a roundhouse kick to the back of the head. Captain Hogs had been about to warn the girl that she was no match for his skill at arms when someone clubbed him in the back of the head and he went out like a light. "Thank you Guardian Rames," Rapina thought as she considered anew the reasons why Rames had given her so many unarmed combat lessons. She snatched the Captain's rapier, mounted the horse and galloped out of town before the hobbled constable could raise the alarm. About ten minutes later she heard the baying of the hounds. She stopped and took a package of herbs from within her dress, leaned out from her mount and carefully sprinkled the herbs on her path. "That should fix the dogs," Rapina smiled. She resumed her night ride moving far faster than most would have dared. Thane had fortified her vision with a spell that he cast on her just before meeting the others for dinner. After sprinkling the herbs she trotted her horse down to the banks of the River Augustana. The hounds were less than ten minutes away. The original plan had been for her to dismount and pick her way carefully across the river, but there was not time for that. She stayed on the horse and kept her eyes peeled, going around any area that looked as if it might be a thin spot in the ice. On the other side she breathed a sigh of relief but staid on the ice until she made it to the first creek. She turned just in time to be sure her pursuers would not see her. The hounds were getting closer, but they were still on the wrong side of the river and had yet to encounter her little surprise. She trotted South up the creek and into the forest, and then turned and rode West, paralleling the river. She was pretty sure she had passed over five creeks that went North towards the river, but when she followed the creek South for two miles, she did not find the ancient burial ground that was supposed to be there. She might have mistaken a long puddle for a creek and not gone far enough, or she might have mistaken a creek for a snow filled gully and gone too far. She decided she must not have gone far enough and continued to the next creek, but after having gone both south and north along the creek, she did not find what she was looking for there either. Damn! She headed East back the way she had come, though she was South of her original trail. By the time she went by the next creek, It was getting dangerously close to dawn and her vision spell had run out. She fished the mage-light pendant Thane had given her from between her breasts and put it outside her cloak with the red crystal exposed. Then she heard the hounds, fewer than there had been in the beginning, but they were close, certainly on this side of the river. She doused her light and walked her horse to cover. The hounds passed, they seemed to be following her old trail. They would go to the next creek, then come back. Rapina sprinkled another packet of herbs on her trail and then urged her mount Eastward in the darkness. She used her light whenever she rode into a dip to determine if it was the creek bed she was looking for. When at last she found the creek, she could hear a single hound. It had turned and was coming Eastwards. Assuming she had found the right creek, was she North or South of the burial grounds? She saw a red light to the South and quickened her pace, hastily dumping a third packet of herbs in the trail behind her. As she rode she placed her hand over her own light then removed it to make it flash a few times. It had to be Thane, but before she made it to him, his light died. Mists rose and blotted out his image. She could hear a rasping voice chanting a spell. It didn't sound like Thane at all, but she had no other option. She galloped up, chanting a prayer to Mortaebius under her breath as was proper when Thane was casting the graveyard mists spell, and then reached down into the mists and found a man's shoulder. "Hail Moraebius champion of the dead, may I show no fear before thy curtain, may I cross into thy realm with my head held high, and may I bolster thy cause before I die," Rapina intoned. The mists blotted out the forest night, and muffled the sounds of the approaching hounds to nothing. Rapina gasped with relief as the mists cleared slightly and she was in the clifftop gardens of the abode. She felt the horse lurch forward as Thane slapped its rump. She heard garments dropping to the ground, and the rasping voice turned into Thane's, yet never fully stopped its chanting. Rapina held her hand against her breast and said a silent prayer to Mortaebius as she realized she could see the rosy hues of dawn brightening the skies on the Eastern horizon. The mists thickened, and then cleared; thankfully Thane was gone. He had returned to Granville to play the part of the bereaved guardian of Serina who had never left his hotel room. Rames smiled from the doorway to the abode and then walked out to collect the garments Thane had dropped. "I'd say that was a little tight. I sure hope he made it back to Granville okay." Rapina dismounted and embraced the soldier-priest. She held him for a while, and then they went into the abode and she recounted the night's events to him as they cooked a meal in the kitchen together. Rames shook his head, "Too bad you couldn't get by that outlaw past, but at least you'll be able to help your old outlaw friends." "And the church of Mortaebius." "Heheh, and the church. I'll bet Thane was figuring you took off on him towards the dawn there." "Let him think what he wants. Rooting around in the dark trying to count frozen creeks correctly is harder in reality than it is on paper. If it weren't for snow-filled gullies and long puddles I'd probably have been fine. I'm sure glad I made it. My dark vision ran out on me before I found Thane. If he hadn't had his red light open I would never have seen him and made it to the burial ground in time. The hounds were coming up on us too. I don't think the hunters were close enough to see anything though, and my trail would have seemed to go in circles, because it did. I wonder what we should do with the horse?" "Rames laughed, "You were supposed to leave her at the ancient burial ground." "I barely made it to Thane as it was. There was no time to dismount and get reacquainted. Actually with the hounds coming up, I probably did the right thing." "Yes, I think you did. I'll hide the horse in the interior of the island. There are a few meadows in the forest. I'll build her a wind break and keep her fed from our meager stores of grain. When Thane returns, he can ship her back to the burial ground, and she will probably wander back to Granville from there on her own," Rames said. "I don't know how Thane found that burial place. The locals are horribly superstitious about burying their dead only on land surrounded by water," Rapina said. That old burial ground is little more than a monolith in the forest. I don't think they know the ancients shucked their bodies there. In a way our keeping the horse a while longer will help make it seem like you got farther away. Assuming she returns home, the constable will have to estimate you rode her quite a while before you gave her up. We have to hide you as well. We set up a place for you in the secret passages beneath the tombs. Thane wants you to hide out there until he has come back and any visitors have left." "Ugh, I hope you included a stack of books," Rapina said. --------------------- A few days later Rapina was able to return to the abode "Welcome home, Rapina," Thane said. "Thank you Guardian Thane." Rapina smiled. Guardian Rames has filled me in on the happenings during your night ride. That night I said I was tired and returned to the hotel after the chase had begun. I waited a couple hours there and tried to get some sleep. It was lucky I did, because Barnes returned after about an hour and asked for an article of clothing of yours to put a new pack of hounds on your scent. I gave him what he wanted and appeared to return to bed. Not long after that, I left the hotel under cover of illusion. I went to the unmarked graveyard we had created in town during our first evening in Granville and transported to the burial ground. The hounds were disconcerting, but I decided to stay. I gathered the shadows around me. When at last I saw you, I lit my light until your signal told me you were heading my way. Since there was still a hound approaching, I doused the light and began casting the graveyard mists spell. After bringing you here, I transported back to our Granville graveyard and then I snuck back to the hotel. I took a short nap and got up for breakfast at the hotel. That afternoon I located Deputy Barnes who had slept in after his nighttime hunt. He recounted his version of the story. Your first packet of herbs took out his entire pack of hounds, but he returned to town to get some other dogs owned by a local hunter. After that he kept a couple dogs back, and he was very glad he did so because your second packet destroyed the scenting ability of all but two remaining hounds. He believed he saw a red light for a moment, but he cannot be sure. Shortly after seeing the light he lost the scenting ability of another hound, and had to get out of the creek bed and go around the herbs to relocate your trail. This slowed him, and that was the last he saw of you. The last dog lost his sense of smell in the creek near the monolith." "He did?" Rapina asked. Thane chuckled, "Indeed, shortly after I arrived I dumped a few packets around the area of the monolith. I knew that if things became very close, it would be better if the dogs lost their sense of smell, than if the trail simply went inexplicably cold. "Regrettably I was forced to sell or destroy everything you used to have during your stay here save what you had on you when you escaped, of course. Assuming the pirates see you, the possessions you will have at your disposal will be the ones you had upon your escape, and new ones from your new master. It will be as if you really did leave me." "Oh no! All my things are gone?" "Not to worry, the next role you play will be that of Rapina apprentice to Kroz, a dark necromancer. I, of course, will be playing Kroz. There is still a chance that certain noblemen might try to link you to Thane of Graveston isle, and if they could find any trace of necromancy on this isle, then they might be able to make something stick. For that reason, and for the future, I am considering building a second residence, one that would be located out of the reach of the armies of noblemen during such religious conflicts as these. That is still on the horizon. For now, you will be housed in a suite within the secret laboratory wing. When we move my laboratories to a new location, we will also move you." "What will I wear?" Rapina asked. "Something nondescript from the pirate chests for the moment. When you are dressed, come up to the clifftop. We will be going on a little trip." Rapina found some clothing from the chest of one of the smaller men and put it on. She looked anything but glamorous. On the cliff top, Thane was dressed in his Mortancer robes. He wore a leather mask over the death mask and he was wearing a pair of black gloves instead of the gloves that made his hands look skeletal. Thane began casting, and when the mists cleared, they were in a city cemetery. "Welcome to Bleckner," Thane rasped. "There are some shops here where I believe we can find you some functional garb. Black silk, kidskin gloves, items that would appeal to the stylish adventurer. After that I believe we will go to Argos. It is a large city famous for its finery. There we will find you some dresses and under things. I regret not being able to design for you myself, but my style might be recognized, so we will just have to go with the styles of others." The shopping spree lasted over a period of several days and included a new main gauche, and a sheath for the serviceable rapier she had lifted from Captain Hogs. By the end of the week, she was ready to speak before the council of Mortancers. Thane gave her a final drill in the honorifics proper to the addressing of the priests she was about to come before, and then left. A half-hour later Rapina stood at the top of the steps to the abode looking out at the snow-covered gardens. Rames had shoveled an area around the exit so that Rapina's dress would not get wet in the snow. She was not exactly prepared for what happened next. There was no warning. It was not like the graveyard mists spell that Thane used, and no one dressed like death materialized close to her as Thane had explained might happen. Instead, the space in front of her wrenched open and she was suddenly staring into a room. It was like a small amphitheater with a tabletop that went around in a ring that was interrupted at eight points so that one could get to the dais at the center of the room. A simple but luxurious chair currently sat on the dais. "Enter," said a voice like dry leaves in the wind. Inwardly Rapina shook with fear, but she had grown strong in conditions that would have rendered the minds of others into goo. Thane had drilled her in the art of deportment, and she wrapped herself in that training like armor. She stepped into the chamber of the Mortancers of Mortaebius with the grace of a queen. Even though the arrayed wizards were all dressed in hooded shrouds and had illusory faces that looked like those of her skeletal servants, Rapina knew that there were men behind those faces. She looked at the visage of one of the senior Mortancers. His eyes were red points of light. Overwhelming feelings of death and magic radiated from him in great waves. Rapina had serious doubts that he was wearing an illusion mask, though she assumed many of the others were. Each of the other personages in the room also emitted a palpable sense of power, though some were more overwhelming than others were. The room was lit by a red glow that seemed to concentrate on the tabletops and the central dais. "Hail Mortancers of Mortaebius, may your powers preserve the life of Mortaebius' church for as long as the living die," Rapina intoned, a little amazed her voice did not crack. "Welcome to our circle Rapina. Please take off your cloak and be seated upon the dais." Rapina curtsied to Mortancer Bain; then A skeletal figure took her coat. Rapina stepped onto the dais and seated herself. She caught herself in time not to grin when the skeletal figures in front of her beheld her décolletage. Rapina's nose tingled strongly as the combined lust of several wizards washed over her. She felt not one whit of lust from Mortancer Bain, the creature with the flickering red lights within his skeletal eye sockets. Rapina sensed no lust from another Mortancer also seated before her, this one had eyes that were glowing points of ice blue light. "You have been brought here to briefly address the council of Mortancers on the mater of Red Jack," Bain rasped. "It is well known that one of our priests is responsible for capturing the pirate captain and destroying his fleet. Many of our number believe it is foolish to work with one who will doubtless hold a grudge against us. You know Captain Red Jack better than anyone here assembled does. Tell us how Jack will react to our offer." Rapina stifled the urge to swallow in dread. "Red Jack is a ruthless but reasonable man. He is astute. He knows when to run, and he knows when to cut his losses. He is not easily intimidated. His men respect his abilities. That is why he remained free for so long in spite of the bounty on his head. Jack will not have to like you to deal with you. If he saw some advantage in a deal and felt that the other party would deliver, he would deal with the devil himself. Threat alone will not sway him, but I believe if he sees benefit in the deal, he will at least consider it and try to strike a bargain. There is no doubt that he could provide the Mortancers of Mortaebius with a steady stream of corpses for the conflict with the church of the vindicator if you make it worth his while. As long as you are willing to negotiate and uphold your end of any bargain struck, I believe that I would be able to convince him to bargain with you even though one of your order defeated him. I believe that Red Jack takes experience to heart. When something goes wrong, he does not repeat it, he fixes it. He knows that conflict with sorcerers is costly. With the new price on his head, I'm sure he worries about mundane spies in his midst and he is more than intelligent enough to realize that sorcerous spies could be at least as much trouble. I don't know if he would deal with just anyone, but I feel confident I could convince him that a bargain would be beneficial to his continued success as a pirate. Needless to say, his continued success as a pirate could be useful to the Order." Rapina hoped she was telling the truth, because she knew if she was not then she would have to get over Jack's death all over again. There was some discussion and some minor distention, but in the end the Mortancers decided that, if Red Jack would deal with them, then the captain would be considerably more valuable to their war effort alive than dead. Moreover, if he did not deliver, there was always the option of killing him. One Mortancer suggested that they kill Jack and bring him back as undead, but another maintained that if his men were typically superstitious sailors they would bolt. Furthermore, Jack's charisma had held his men together and almost secured him a victory even in the face of fearful undead foes. An undead pirate captain would loose that charisma. The same Mortancer added that Jack might suspect that Rapina was working for the priest who defeated him, but it could be arranged so that he would never know for sure. Rapina could say that she was working with a patron of the church whose methods were a bit more proactive than the priest who had defeated the pirates was, but that the two men had had business dealings. Rapina considered the speech mannerisms and reasoning of the Mortancer who looked at the psychological aspects of Red Jack's men. Rapina smiled inwardly, had it not been for the conversation she had overheard in the abode, she would have guessed Mortancer Greel was Guardian Thane but she realized he must simply be speaking for Thane. She could not really tell which skeletal figure was Thane. The illusion shroud that made the wizards look like robed skeletons also disguised their voices so that they sounded like talking corpses. Based on her lust sense, Rapina believed Mortancer Ashe to be Guardian Thane. After the discussion, there was a vote, a vote that went quite convincingly in favor of negotiating a deal. "Then it is decided. The council of Mortancers will endorse the plan and help in its initial establishment. Assuming a bargain is struck, those priests who put forth the motion to work with Red Jack will administrate our dealings with him in as clandestine a fashion as possible. Thank you for having this interview with us, Rapina, it has been enlightening. We have provided a trustworthy assistant to look after our interests in this matter. He will fill you in on our negotiating position. At the end of this meeting, I will send you and our assistant to negotiate this deal. You may leave us now." Rapina curtsied and left with the skeletal assistant. The skeletal assistant surprised Rapina. He was none other than the assistant to the council that Bain had spoken of, and the surprise did not end there. Not long after learning the gist of what things the Order of the Shroud might agree to during the bargaining, it was time to go. Rapina and the council's assistant were taken to a strong room where Rapina donned her cloak. Mortancer Bain cast several spells on her and wizard-locked a jeweled silver choker around her neck. Mortancer Bain then cast a transport spell on Rapina and the assistant. She was not quite prepared for it when her stomach decided it wanted to come visit her throat, but it took her only a second to regain her composure and look around. ----------- [Rapina]025 Reunions Elisabetta and Doanthalas spent a week in one of Paolo's safehouses. It was largely unnecessary since anyone who could link Doanthalas with the escape was dead. The time was welcome as it gave the elf time to relax and think. The time they spent together helped to slowly form a bond between the elf and human. Both had skeletons in their closets and both needed someone to help them work through their problems. The assassin smiled as she awoke. Her smile disappeared when she reached over only to discover the elf was no longer there. Elisabetta knew he did not need sleep, but she could not help wishing that he would at least lay with her until she awoke. The smile returned with the remembrance of the previous night's activities. Elisabetta had experienced her fair share of lovers, but none had been as adept as Doanthalas. She wondered if all elves were as good in bed. With a shrug she threw off the covers and jumped out of bed. The cold early autumn air caused goose bumps to appear over her entire body. When she cradled herself for warmth her nipples were hard against her forearms. Glancing into the next room she spotted Doanthalas sitting cross-legged in front of the fire. There was a serenity to the scene as the light from the fire played across his body. Elisabetta watched the elf for a few moments. Although she was freezing and wanted nothing more than to press herself up against his warm flesh she waited. It was nice just to watch him. Every so often his body would tremble. She wondered if it was from the cold or if he was remembering some horrible experience. His story had been hard to believe at first, but his conviction had been steadfast. Plus his depictions of the fiends and their lairs had been so detailed that Elisabetta couldn't help but believe. Still his stories seemed so detached from her and what she had been through. Elisabetta shook off any unpleasant thoughts as she stepped onto the mat behind the sylvan elf. Gently she laid her hands on his shoulders and traced his tattoos down to the front of his chest. She pressed her body against the warmth of his back and hugged him as she sat down behind the elf. Doanthalas seemed to purr as he came out of his reverie. Doanthalas could not think of a better way to be roused from his reverie than by the feeling of Elisabetta's body against his. Her skin felt so soft and silky and her breasts caressed his back in a way that was beyond words. He took her hands in his and turned to kiss her. The assassin's lips were sweet and cool to the touch. For a long time, they just sat in front of the fire holding each other. The company was reassuring. Elisabetta stood up and grabbed her clothes before turning to Doanthalas. She seemed as if ready to speak. "What dark cloud passes over the clear skies of your mind Elisabetta?" the elf asked. Elisabetta knelt in front of Doanthalas and grabbed his hands. "Thank you," was all that she could say before the tears welled up in her eyes. The elf cocked his head not fully understanding what she meant. "Paolo is the only other man who's ever treated me right," she said as she ran her fingers through his coppery-red hair. "I told you how he saved me from a slave's life... not only did... well, Doanthalas. You know the story. The point is... after the beatings and the rapes... a woman loses faith in men and society and... loses hope. Paolo restored that hope and faith and... and now with you..." The sylvan elf squeezed her hand affectionately. He understood all too well what is was like to lose all hope. "Elisabetta," he began, "with you the river of hope flows freely once again for one of the woods." She looked so beautiful to him kneeling in front of him. Her dark hair cascaded around her shoulders and complemented the sensuousness of her natural curves. Her eyes seemed to swallow him up every time he looked into them. Against his better judgment, Doanthalas was developing sincere feelings for this woman. She helped to ease so much of the pain. A troubled look crossed his face as he turned to gaze into the fire. A terrible thought had entered to elf's mind. As a human, Elisabetta would live for another thirty or forty years at the most. Doanthalas hated the thought of losing her that quickly. It was not an easy thing watching someone that you love die before your eyes. He had witnessed his brother's death at the hands of the fiends. He did not want to witness Elisabetta's. Doanthalas was a sylvan elf and they lived for a millennium or longer. How many Elisabetta's would he have to watch grow old and die? His thoughts shifted to those of his people. It had been close to a century since he had seen one of his own kind. He ached to be home with them. "What's wrong?" she asked. "You look troubled." "Come with me," the elf stated simply. "Where?" To the wooded womb that birthed me... the place of my people... home," Doanthalas said it with a look of yearning in his eyes. "My heart aches for my family and friends... my forest brethren. I want you too see the beauty of it with me." Without stopping to consider her answer Elisabetta said, "Yes." ------------------------- Doanthalas was busy making preparations for the journey. When Elisabetta had shown him a map he had looked at her with a confused look on his face. Apparently, his people didn't use maps. When she asked how they were going to find his people with no idea of where they were going Doanthalas had simply replied, "I will know like the robin knows when returning from his wintery home each spring." "Let him be cryptic," she thought as she rounded the corner into the marketplace. She had a few things of her own to do before they departed. A lone merchant at a small stand held up a small trinket for her inspection. "Genuine pirate treasure! Only three silvers!" the merchant rasped. A wide brimmed hat sheltered his face from the sun and his body seemed to be lost amongst the loose folds of his clothes. "Three silvers say you?" she asked as she stepped up to his stand. The man rubbed his hands together and replied, "Aye. Only three silvers. You are right!" "It's... okaaaaaaay," she said as she casually tossed it back to the merchant who fumbled it and dropped it on the ground. "But what I'm looking for is something that was owned by the nefarious pirate RED JACK!" The merchant looked up in surprise, but then smiled broadly. "I have just the thing," he said as he lifted a small scroll case made from a human femur. With a sly look the man glanced from side to side before whispering, "It contains a treasure map. That it does." He nodded with pride as Elisabetta took the case from him. "It most likely contains a simple child's drawing of Turnmoor or some equally worthless document," she said dismissively. "But... I'm in a generous mood so I shall take it." "Excellent!" the man exclaimed as he took her money. "You won't be sorry. That map will lead you to a treasure worthy of a pirate as sinister as Red Jack!" The assassin smiled as she walked away. She knew the location of one of Paolo's safehouses very near to the marketplace. There she would be able to work uninterrupted and unobserved. ----------------- A few hours later Paolo packed up his wares and disappeared down the back streets of Turnmoor. He had made only one sale that day, but he didn't care. He was in the business of killing; not selling. The discarded trinket was the only evidence of his passing. The assassin locked the door behind her and lit a candle. All the windows were shuttered and locked. A quick search of the premises confirmed that Elisabetta was indeed alone. She placed the Femur scroll case on the table and looked at it for a moment. There by the seam was Paolo's mark; a two-headed serpent. Both ends of the femur screwed off to reveal the map inside. The map was worthless and obviously made up. None of the rivers or cities corresponded to any actual rivers or cities. But then again the map wasn't important. The writing on the map was. Elisabetta picked up the two scroll ends and screwed them together. Each end had a string of symbols etched along its edge. When placed together the symbols matched up to reveal a code. She used the code to decipher the words on the map. ---------------------- Light reflected off the polished surface of the locket. Doanthalas had taken it off the body of one of the guards he had slain. What had compelled him to take it remained a mystery to the elf. All the locket did was cause him pain. The sight of it made him feel despicable. Doanthalas had only opened the locket once to see what was inside. What he saw had been too much for him. Inside was a picture of the slain guard, an attractive woman (most likely his wife), and a beautiful young girl (probably his daughter). The elf wondered what they would do without the guard. How much pain they must be feeling, and it was all because of Doanthalas. The opening of the door interrupted the elf's musings. Standing up he pocketed the locket and stepped back into the shadows. Seeing Doanthalas trying to hide in the shadows of the room momentarily brightened her mood. With a smile Elisabetta teased, "Tsk. Tsk. You DO need to pay better attention when I'm teaching you things." With an embarrassed look Doanthalas stepped out of the shadows. Although Elisabetta was smiling he could tell that something was weighing heavily on her mind. Her mood darkened almost immediately. "Doanthalas, I have some news you'll want to hear," she said as she shut the door and locked it. "It's about Rage... he's been captured." "Let Jack and his men come for the boy. The time to rejoin my people has come," the elf said curtly. "He'll be dead by the time Jack and his men hear about his capture!" the assassin said as she grabbed Doanthalas by the shoulders. "By the Gods! He's practically a child!" "No. By human standards he is a man. By mine he is an infant." Doanthalas' thoughts turned to the picture in the locket. Who would care when Rage was gone? Jack might. Some of his men might, but not in the same way a mother and father might. The elf liked Rage. The kid still possessed a lot of innocence and naiveté. He deserved better than to die like this. Besides the elf felt protective of the kid. Rage had a kind soul. With a nod of his head Doanthalas motioned for Elisabetta to continue. ------------------------------------ It had been two days since they had left Turnmoor. A coalition of wealthy men from around Turnmoor had joined a few noblemen in a team effort to destroy Jack, but they had only been able to find and capture one pirate. Rage had been informed by Henrich Li'Yeiraun, that he was being moved to the location where he would be executed. Rage had not seen an opportunity for escape either day. A couple of instances had been promising, but had passed too quickly for him to exploit. Tonight, however, was different. Most of the guards had passed out after a hard night of drinking and storytelling. The guard with the keys to Rage's manacles was snoring not two feet away. The other guard had not passed out, but did have a full bladder from too much ale. When he went to go find himself a tree Rage made his move. The young pirate grabbed the keys and unlocked his manacles. The he took the guard's sword and dagger. Finally he moved as stealthily (and melodramatically) as he could to the safety of the tree line. Rage had no intention of being executed, ever. When Rage had disappeared into the darkness the guard returned from the tree he had found. He did his best to make his curses and rantings sound convincing as he attempted to rouse the handful of other guards. ------------------------- "Tell me again how you lost him," Henrich Li'Yeiraun said with an iciness that made the man standing before him shiver. "My Lord, we... his trail was easy to follow for the first day and a half, but then... we... we lost him. His trail just... disappeared," the man said with great and obvious discomfort. "How is that possible? Please explain," Henrich sneered. "It's not possible unless he..." the man struggled for words, "...unless he had some sort of help." "I see," Henrich clasped his hands behind his back and began to pace the room. "SIX of my BEST pathfinders, with you as their leader," he indicated the man standing before him, "failed to track a blundering CHILD for more than ONE DAY!" He stepped in front of the pathfinder and gave him a piercing stare. "I am NOT happy!" Henrich resumed his pacing. "Since you were the leader of this mission you hold responsibility for its success or failure." The man appeared ready to say something, but then thought better of it and bit his lip. He swallowed hard when Henrich began speaking again. "As the responsible party I think it only fitting that you take the place of the prisoner you lost at his execution!" Gasps were heard throughout the room and the pathfinder's jaw dropped. "This fiasco has cost me a lot of time and money. I do not like failure. That is why you must be my example to my men. Guards! Take him away." The guards dragged the stunned pathfinder out of the room. When the door had shut Henrich Li'Yeiraun turned to the gathered Turnmoor officials who were all trying to speak at once. Henrich Li'Yeiraun held up his hand for silence, "ONE AT A TIME... if you will gentlemen." "We took a huge gamble on this plan of yours Lord Li'Yeiraun and it appears that we've all lost. I, for one, do not like to lose either. Red Jack MUST be made to pay!" "And that he will," Henrich walked up to the front of the room. "Gentlemen, your lack of faith strikes me to the quick. Did you honestly think I would not have prepared for this eventuality?" With a skeptical look the official said, "You mean you really HAVEN'T lost him?" Lord Li'Yeiraun smiled evilly, "Not by a long shot." "So you just sentenced that man to death for no reason?" Holding up a finger he said, "No, for a very GOOD reason. He DID fail me. It is only because of my planning and foresight that the location of this pirate is still known to me. The death of the pathfinder will serve as an example to my men that I will brook no failure." The gathered coalition of nobles, gentlemen and officials of the city of Turnmoor looked at each other and swallowed hard. None of them EVER wanted to be on the bad side of Henrich Li'Yeiraun. ---------------------------------------------- Elisabetta and Doanthalas had caught up with Rage a day after his "escape". The elf's superior knowledge of the natural world had enabled them to lose their pursuers easily. When the trio was sure they had lost the pathfinders they set about the task of finding Red Jack. Rage wanted to return to the pirate lifestyle even though Doanthalas tried to talk him out of it. Elisabetta encouraged the boy to follow his heart no matter where it led him. This turned out to be back to the pirate camp. For months, they scoured the countryside looking for any sign of Jack and his pirates. Everywhere they went they found the same thing, nothing. Doanthalas was growing restless. He wanted to be back with his people. Elisabetta did her best to keep Doanthalas's' spirits high. She taught him all the skills she had learned from Paolo to distract him from the huge amount of time that was going by. Rage helped her to teach the elf about human society, and every day they all practiced together with their weapons. Each had something to contribute for the benefit of the others. In return Doanthalas taught them about his people. He also showed them how to live off the land and use the natural world to its best effect. A strong bond of friendship formed between the trio as the months progressed. However, every night Rage and Elisabetta's sleep was interrupted by Doanthalas's' tortured screams. A few more months passed in this way, and winter was well along before the trio got their break. While they rested along a roadside, they spotted a man and woman approaching in the distance. The companions greeted them when the two were within earshot. The man and woman returned the greetings, but looked surprised when they got a closer look at Rage. "What?!?!" the young pirate queried. Doanthalas was usually the one to get strange looks. The unwanted attention made Rage uncomfortable. "You are Rage, one of Red Jack's pirates, are you not?" it came out as more of a statement than a question. The elf's hand moved toward the hilt of his sword. He was not sure who this man was, but he did look like a capable warrior. It was possible that he was a bounty hunter come to collect his bounty. The woman, however, had the bearing of a noblewoman... not a warrior. Elisabetta's attention was drawn to the young woman. Why did she look so familiar? Who was she? The assassin could not put her finger on it. "Forgive me if I offend," the man said as he removed his cap and ran his fingers through his short chestnut brown hair. "My name is Mansun Dido." "And how, exactly, do you know who I am?" the young pirate asked. "I was the leader of the pathfinders sent to track you down after your escape." Mansun noticed the trio's tense reaction to his last statement and pleaded, "Stay your hands! I beg you." The woman stepped between the companions and Mansun her emerald eyes flashing confidently as her long light brown hair blew in the breeze. "Please. Listen to us. We are not here for THAT purpose. Mansun no longer works for... Lord Li'Yeiraun. He is now in my employ." That was it! The name Li'Yeiraun had jogged her memory. "I know you," she said as she walked up to the woman. "You're Adriana Li'Yeiraun... Henrich's daughter." "Yes. Unfortunately I am. How is it that you know this?" she asked. The assassin shrugged, "I live and work in Turnmoor and like to keep abreast of situations that arise... it's good for business. But enough about me; you still haven't explained why you are here." "Fair enough. Lady Li'Yeiraun helped me to escape imprisonment and in return I'm helping her to find the pirate Red Jack." "Imprisonment? What was your crime?" "My crime was failing to follow your trail. Lord Li'Yeiraun sentenced me to take your place at the execution." Doanthalas helped me to lose your group," he said indicating the tattooed elf. "I ran into him and Elisabetta not long after I escaped. I didn't even know I was being followed, but Doanthalas knew right away. He hid us so well that one of your men practically stepped on us and didn't discover our hiding place. It was pretty amazing." Mansun turned a respectful eye towards the elf. "I've been a pathfinder for years and, until now, had thought that I was pretty damned good at it. But it seems that I still have much to learn." The elf did not say anything. Humans were so clumsy in the natural world. "We just obtained some information from Brackensville this morning," Adriana said. "But now that we've met up with you it looks like we won't need it after all." "Well... there's just one slight problem with that... we're not sure where Red Jack is either." She looked from Rage to Doanthalas who both just shrugged. "Well, then with our information and your knowledge of Red Jack we should be able to find him relatively easily. Correct?" "Tell me the why of your seeking the dread pirate Red Jack," the elf asked of Adriana. "I... uh... my reasons are personal," she said as her face flushed red. The assassin watched Doanthalas shrug and walk over to the pathfinder. "Why don't you share this information with us and then we'll decide if we can trust you enough to take to Jack," she stated simply. "You have no choice but to trust us. We have the information and you don't." --------------------------------------------- An uneasy peace was accepted. Although they still did not trust each other the two groups set out. Their search took them to a remote area near Hapton on a tributary of the Augustana West of Turnmoor that flowed from the North. The pirate camp was well hidden, but easy enough for the elf and pathfinder to find working together. After the first few tense moments one of the pirate sentries recognized Doanthalas and Rage. The small band was allowed into the camp. Pike, Brackston, and Skitch followed by Drake and Red Jack came out to greet their comrades and question the other two. "By the gods! I'll be damned! We figured you both for dead or lost, but I'm glad to be wrong. Where have you been all this time?" The sylvan elf clasped Pike's hand and the two embraced. He was genuinely glad to see the Norseman again. "The months have rushed swiftly past like the river past the rocks. Much has happened and needs telling, but... something has afflicted Drake and the captain." Doanthalas indicated the two gaping figures standing mere feet away. The Norseman glanced past Rage, Skitch and Brackston who were all busy greeting one another. The sight he saw made him momentarily forget that he was going to ask the name of the beautiful lady standing next to Doanthalas. Red Jack and Drake were both staring open- mouthed at the beautiful young lady and the stranger accompanying her. Pike turned to Doanthalas. "Who are...", he began. "Why is she here?!?!?!?!" the pirate captain bellowed. "I want some answers NOW!!! And who are these OTHER people?!?!" Adriana Li'Yeiraun was standing in front of him. He could not believe his eyes. Drake was overjoyed to see her, but still too shocked to smile. Jack's booming voice brought him back to his senses. The pirate captain intimidated Adriana, but she was a noblewoman so she decided she had better act like one. Adriana stepped up to Red Jack and said in a strong voice, "I am Adriana Li'Yeiraun and this is my servant Mansun Dido. My reason for being here is simple; I wish to join your group." Many jaws dropped and some laughter erupted in the camp. For a few minutes things were chaotic as everyone tried to speak at once. Soon, however, Jack had everything back under control. "First of all," he began. "Don't EVER use the name Li'Yeiraun in my presence again, ever. Secondly I would never allow YOU to become a pirate." "And why NOT?!?!?!" she challenged haughtily. "I can handle anything you've got!" A thundering laugh issued forth from Jack's lungs. "Oh I KNOW for a fact that you can handle anything I throw at you." the captain retorted. "The fact is that no daughter of mine is going to be a pirate. Not now; not EVER!" The camp erupted into total chaos for a few minutes as everyone debated this new revelation. After things finally calmed down introductions were finished and it was agreed that Adriana and Mansun could stay. At least until Red Jack figured out something to do with them. --------------------------------- Henrich Li' Yeiraun smiled evilly as he spied the events at the pirate camp through Nordula's magic kettle. The calm waters enabled them both to clearly see the goings on almost as if they were right there. Lord Li' Yeiraun turned to his court mage. Nordula was a tall, lithe man with short, dark hair. His crimson and black robes were adorned with silver arcane symbols and a gold talisman hung from his neck. It glowed with an unnatural light. It had been generations that Nordula and his ancestors had served the Li' Yeiraun family, yet Nordula had surpassed his ancestors. He was a true magician rather than a mere sooth sayer. Henrich fixed his gaze on the wizard's dark brown eyes. "Once again you have served me well. Count on the money you need for your spell research being delivered very soon. Now that they are all assembled at Red Jack's camp the time for action has come. I do not want to act rashly, however, so I must plan." He turned towards the door and took a few steps. "Be sure to inform me if they appear ready to break camp. I want to keep them all together. Revenge will be so much sweeter that way." The mage bowed as Lord Li' Yeiraun opened the door. "As you wish milord." ------------------------------------ The next few days passed quickly for everyone except Doanthalas and Elisabetta. The elf had descended into a depression that worried everyone. For hours on end he would sit there twirling the locket in his hands and gazing into the forest. Only the assassin knew what was on his mind. Elisabetta would have talked to the elf about it if she did not have a lot on her own troubled mind. As it turned out Doanthalas saved her the trouble. The sight of her filled him with so many conflicting emotions. He wanted to take her in his arms so that they could dissolve into each other, but at the same time he loathed her. She was a killer... an assassin pure and simple. Where he had been taught to respect all life, she had been taught to respect money and power. Not that Doanthalas had not done his fair share of killing. He had. But he had not had any choice... or had he. The locket felt hot in his hand. Had it really been necessary to kill those guards? After all, they were merely doing their job. The sight of her muscular body silhouetted by the moonlight made his heart beat faster. She was so shapely and beautiful and capable of great kindness. Yet, at the same time, she was so deadly and capable of great evil. Sooner or later it would come between the bond they had formed. A cool breeze blew his coppery hair across his tattooed face. With a sigh Doanthalas stepped out of the tree line. He deliberately stepped on a branch to alert her to his presence. Elisabetta instinctively drew her dagger as she spun around to face the intruder. Years working for Paolo had made her paranoid. That paranoia had kept her alive so far. She let out a sigh of relief when she saw the tattooed form of her lover standing in the moonlight. "Doanthalas! You scared me...", she began. "You have come to this place to kill him. Haven't you?" the sylvan elf stated. He knew! Elisabetta had hoped to bring this up at a later time, but Doanthalas had figured out her real purpose sooner than expected. No sense in lying to him. He would know. "Yes," she answered simply. A profound look of sadness and disappointment crossed his face. "Know that I will not aid you in this task." "Will you try to stop me then?" "That I do not know," was all the sylvan elf could manage to say before the emotions came flooding in. Doanthalas began to fade silently into the forest. "I owe Paolo my life! I have to do this for him! Don't you understand?" she managed to cry between sobs. She had made her choice. A coldness engulfed Doanthalas's' body. Every beat of his heart caused severe pain. The world seemed dark and distant to him. With a few quick strides he gave himself over completely to the forest. ------------------------------------------ Rage fell right back into his life. It was good for him to be back with Pike and Brackston and Skitch. Everything was as it had been. Everything except for all the new faces in the camp. The young pirate missed his dead comrades. He also missed Drake, although Drake was not dead. He was just spending a lot of time with Jack lately. Maybe Jack had something big in mind for the ex-farmer. The logbooks had to be the most boring thing Drake could think of to be working on. He was glad that Jack had taught him to read, but at the same time he hated all the mundane tasks that came with it. It did not help that he was thinking about Adriana all the time either. They were going to meet up later and gaze at the stars. She was teaching the young pirate about the constellations and the particulars of wooing a lady. A smile played across his face as his quill scratched against the paper of the logbook. The captain cleared his throat loudly. The fact that Drake almost jumped out of his chair made Jack smile broadly. He formed his face into a stern mask before Drake turned his way. "Drake," he began, "it's obvious ta me that something is going on between ye and me daughter." The young pirate's mouth moved, but no sound issued forth. Jack was enjoying watching the boy squirm. "I feel I have to ask what yer intentions towards her are. Hmmm?" "I... uh... er... that is I... ah," was all that he could manage to blurt out. Drake had never been so scared before in his life. Even the horrible touch of a ghoul was nothing compared to the stern look on Red Jack's face at that moment. "Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!" the pirate captain boomed. The sight of Drake was too much. He could not hold back the laughter anymore. "Relax son! I'm glad that Adriana has sense enough ta fall for a man like you instead of the other riff raff in the camp. Besides there's something I've been meaning ta talk to ye about." He ran his fingers through his dark hair and took a deep breath. "I'll be damned if I allow my daughter to live a life like... like this! Sure there are some perks to being the 'Dread Pirate Red Jack,' but I would give it all up for a moment o' peace. True peace. I hate having ta look over me shoulder all the time. I hate having ta sleep with one eye open. I hate the fact that I will be hunted until the day I die. Do ye see why I don't want this life fer her?" Drake nodded and Red Jack continued, "That's why I want ye ta take her away from here. Away from this... Away from... me." The captain's eyes glistened with moisture. "She never had a good father. At least she can have a good husband." ----------------------------------- [Rapina]026 The Jolly Roger The next night there was to be another reunion. An instant after the transport spell was cast on her Rapina was standing in the midst of a fire in the middle of a pirate camp. The layout was familiar. Rapina blinked as two crossbow bolts and an arrow ricocheted off one of the spells protecting her. She wondered why the fire was not burning her, but decided to step out of it just the same. Her black-robed skeletal companion accompanied her. Several more arrows bounced off the spell, one nearly transfixing Brackston. "Son of a bitch! Hold up a second! What in hell's name are yew doin' steppin' out o' th fire with death, Rapina? Is that really yew?" Brackston squinted. "It's really me." Rapina said. "I need to talk to Captain Red Jack. Rapina pointed to the black-robed skeleton next to her holding the scythe. You are not going to believe who that is." "After what happened ta Kent, maybe I don' want ta know!" Brackston practically hollered. "Hey Slice, yew get yer pretty ass over ta the captain's tent an' tell 'im Rapina dressed like th' red queen o' Clairmont, an' a corpse dressed like death 'jus stepped outa' th' fire in th' middle o' camp an' want ta talk to 'im. Yew tell 'im we shot th' intruders on sight jus' like 'e said, only th' arrows bounced off th' air in front o' 'em. Yew tell 'im if I see any more fuckin' sorcery tanight I'm goin' ta piss!" A few minutes passed before Pike and Drake appeared on the scene. "Wow, is that really you Rapina?" Pike asked. Rapina smiled. "It's really me." "Can I touch you?" Pike asked. "Um, I think so," Rapina said. "I'm not sure what all the spells he cast on me do. Best to take it slow." Pike reached out his hand. It encountered a bit of resistance but he could move it toward her. Rapina reached out and took Pike's hand. "What's this all about?" Suddenly Pike lunged with his other free hand to grab for Rapina's throat. Rapina had no time to react. There was a blur from the corner of her eye; Pike's traitorous hand stopped inches from her neck, and it was gushing blood like a fountain. Pike looked down the handle of the scythe that had somehow appeared between his hand and Rapina's neck. "No heroics, Pike, let's do this one straight," The skeleton rasped in an emotionless tone. "Damn!" Pike dropped Rapina's hand to squeeze his bloody left hand. "How in hell?" Pike froze as a chill ran up his spine. He looked at Rapina's skeletal protector, "It couldn't be." "Who else could have predicted that move?" The skeleton asked. Pike shuddered and shook his head. "Sorry Rapina. With all those spells, I was pretty sure you were not here of your own free will. What's this all about?" "We are here to offer Captain Red Jack a deal, but I don't think he would want us discussing the particulars in front of everyone. I know you are looking out for Jack. I would not be here if I thought Kroz wanted to kill him. If his purpose was to kill Jack, he probably would have sent more like him," Rapina pointed at her, "negotiating partner." Pike nodded and turned to the skeleton, "If you are not here to kill us, then I guess he won't be needing that scythe." "The scythe is part of what I am now, Pike, and you just proved I do need it. As long as you are armed, I will be armed. Rapina is under my protection." "Damn I'll say. I've never seen anyone move that fast," Pike said. "Sometimes death strikes swiftly," The skeleton replied. A chill went down his spine as Pike stared at the skeleton. The Norseman shook himself and lead Rapina to the Captain's tent. The skeleton followed. At least Rapina's hand had been warm, he hoped that meant something. "Ye've filled out a bit wench. Ye're lookin' better than ever, an' I like yer choice 'o colors. What brings ye here all dressed up like a scarlet noblewench?" Rapina blushed. "Thank you Captain Red Jack. Well, I have a deal to discuss. It might be a little scary for some of the recruits, but I think it might be important for you in the long run." "All right. I'll hear ye out. Get me Arzeal, an' Drake, Brackston and Skitch. I'll be wantin' ta know their opinion, an there's nothin' I'll be doin' without 'em in on it. Clear Guts and Bled away to a safe distance. This'll be just the officers." When the others arrived, Jack cleared his throat. All right, say yer piece girl. This 'as got ta do with th' necromancer aye?" "It all started there anyway. What do you remember about him?" "He's a priest o' that god o' the dead, Mortaebius, 'is name is Thane. He's there ta protect the isle from grave robbers. A little overkill in that one, I'd say." Rapina nodded, "Yes, Thane was not a bad sorcerer. Kroz says he is not at the stature of a true wizard but is working towards it. As a priest he could command and animate the dead, and as a magician he could cast magical darkness and a few other minor spells. Many priests have no spells, magical or clerical, but there are a few who are exceptional. Most priests of Mortaebius are little more than morticians. Thane was a priest in an order that protects the church. Due to their worshipping of the god of death, their church has, um, some interesting friends and unofficial priests that very few of them know about." "Th' right 'and doesn't know what th' left 'and is doing?" Jack asked. Rapina nodded, "The secret patrons of the church protect it in times of war. Most of the priests of Mortaebius know little or nothing about them. Sometimes they appear to the priests as minions of Mortaebius, and there are traditions within the church that these minions are to be heeded in times of war. For the church, one of those times is beginning. However, before I talk about the trouble the church is in, let me talk about the trouble you are in. Then I'll connect the two." "Trouble's me middle name." Jack grinned. Rapina smiled. "My, ah, partner has some posters." "Here you are sir." The skeleton reached into his thick black robes and passed an envelope to Red Jack. Red Jack froze as a chill went down his spine. "Roger?" "Aye sir," the death skeleton replied. "What happened to ye man?" Red Jack asked. "I died sir, in the battle on the hill," Roger said. "Damn it Roger, I was goin' ta say it looked like ye'd lost a bit o' weight. Now ye're tellin' me ye're dead, what're ye doin' back here as a bag 'o bones an' why can ye still talk an' think?" Jack asked. "I am a death of Mortaebius now, sir. Deaths are created by the most powerful mage-priests of Mortaebius. I serve the god of death, and I will serve you also if the deal is to your liking." The captain grimaced, "Ye're dead, Roger." "No sir, I am undead. I was dead for a while, sir." Roger said in his characteristic emotionless tone, made all the worse by the fact that his voice sounded more like a whispery rasp than it had when Roger was alive, yet even so, the voice was recognizably Roger's. "Aye." Red Jack spread the posters out on the table. "I've got this one o' Pike an this one o' me already. I see Arzeal, Drake an' th' rest are worth a pretty penny as well. Thar's no doubt we're pricey men," Jack chuckled. "Go on, wench." "You're so pricey that Kroz says you have reached the point where you will start to receive unwanted wizardly and priestly attention. He himself found you in a matter of hours." "I see yer point, certain noblemen fer instance might stoop ta hirein' a mage ta pinch me needle in the haystack. Who is this Kroz fellow anyways?" Jack asked. Rapina smiled. Jack was amazing. Rapina could not take the grave note out of her voice, yet Jack was making jokes. "Kroz is a necromancer, a man with whom Thane had some dealings. There are not many magician- priests of Mortaebius, but some of those are acquainted with one another as friends or suppliers of things necessary for the practice of magic. Thane had bought a few spells and things from Kroz in the past, so when Thane obtained the bounty money, he contacted Kroz. During their meeting Kroz expressed an interest in the bodies of some of your men because their deeds in life made them desirable for certain advanced animations. I was serving as Thane's maid at the time, so I was able to overhear their conversation." "Kroz takes a proactive stance towards the protection of the church of Mortaebius, and is very worried that his god's house on the prime material plane could be destroyed by the forces of the vindicator. Thane bought some spells but, at least from what I overheard, he was far too lawful to sell Kroz what he really wanted, the bodies of your men." "As Thane's servant, I had helped bury them in a group grave in the valley of the dead, so I knew where they were. I needed to escape, so while Kroz was there, I struck up a bargain with him. He would take me on as an apprentice and I in return would show him where the bodies were. I had to escape Thane but Kroz told me he was willing to pick me up in a certain location if I could escape. Kroz did not want to loose a good customer or get in trouble with the law. He told me where I needed to go in order for him to pick me up. It took me some time, but not long ago, I got this horrible case of the winter blahs, and Thane eventually decided I had been away from people too long and took me to the town of Granville. Unfortunately, for the first couple days Thane didn't go out at night while in town, and I didn't want to try to escape during the day. The night before we were going to leave he took the constable and his deputy out to dinner with us. It was risky but I was able to escape, steal a horse and get to the appointed place. It must have been spelled, because somehow Kroz knew I was there. He came and picked me up. Later he took me to the island so that I could satisfy my end of the bargain. He is a necromancer, so he had no trouble dealing with the undeads that wander the isle. Actually Kent and Edgar discovered us digging up the bodies, but Kroz commanded the two of them to help us dig up the corpses. Since they knew he had been there, he simply stole them when we left." "Kroz let me know that this winter in the marquisate of Avengene, many of the priests of Mortaebius have been killed. Temples of Mortaebius have been sacked and burned and the church was and currently is in dire need of protection." "A religious war?" Jack asked. Rapina nodded, "Zealots of the church of the vindicator, trying to destroy the competition. They are doing it on a large and growing scale. They use groups disguised as bandits and thieves, and Marquis Avengene winks and looks the other way. He's probably in on it. Outside the Marquis' territory, the vindicator has a little less power, but that just means the vindicator's zealots have to be a little more careful." The captain nodded, "Aye, so this Kroz, bein' a necromancer is a worshiper of Mortaebius and he wants ta be protectin' the morticians an' th' temples 'o Mortaebius." Rapina nodded, "preferably without them knowing the details or the methods involved." "Where do I come in?" Jack asked. "You need to be shielded against wizardly spying and Kroz needs dead bodies, a steady supply for the war effort," Rapina said. "I see what ye're drivin' at. I may tell any man who asks that Thane warr an illusionist, but none of me officers who were there believe me. They figure he warr a necromancer, an' we don't want to be dealin' with any necromancers if one o' 'em killed me men!"... Jack paused dramatically. "On th' other hand we're in a bit of a bind. It's a cinch this Kroz knows where I am, an' if he knows, then every two-bit wizard in Clairmont might be able ta find out." The captain faced his men, "Wizardry appears ta work, otherwise Rapina an' Roger wouldn't be appearin' in th' middle o' a camp we all did are darndest ta keep secret." Jack looked back at Rapina, "First I got to decide if we're goin' ta deal with ye at all, girl. You two go back ta th' central fire an' let me hash this one out wi' me officers." -------------------- After Rapina and Roger left, Arzeal returned from escorting them to the fire and the captain faced Brackston. "All right Brackston, ye're th' first I want ta hear from. Ye've been squirmin' like a worm ever since ye saw Roger, an' ta tell ye th' truth, I don't blame ye," Red Jack said. "Yew can't go ahead with this one cap'n' we'll be cursed fer sure," Brackston said. "An what do ye suppose'll happen if I say, "No deal," Brackston?" Jack asked. Brackston looked at the floor and clenched his fist. "He will send a few like Roger an' Kent, an' de spooks will cut us down like wheat. I was there sir. Yew know Pike is fast, an' h' didn't telegraph de move. Maybe Roger figured he'd try somefin', but I saw it happen sir, no man could move that fast." "He struck like death did 'e?" Jack laughed. "Aye, an now me best fighter's one-handed unless an' until that wound heals. Damn it! We don't even have a proper leech! Pike was trainin' th' recruits too, and now that 'e's got a split hand we're out half an arms master. But that's not what we're here ta discuss. We got the devil on our doorstep wantin' ta make a deal. I'm askin' fer yer ideas not yer fears. Fears are goin' ta do us about as much good as Pike's lunge at Rapina's throat. I know me wench pretty well, an' she's scared we won't deal, which means she's pretty sure we'll be on meat hooks if we turn 'im down. I'll tell ye somethin' else, seein' Roger has jogged me memory. Roger was always me sixth sense concernin' spies and infiltrators. He could always spot a recruit who didn't fit. Skitch ye're not bad at figurin' who's a spy, an' Brackston ye think they're all spies, 'cept Slice 'cause 'e likes ye ta poke 'is pretty ass. I'll tell ye, after Turnmoor are reputation grew another notch; tharr's plenty o' recruits out there, but weedin' out th' bad apples is a bigger chore than ever. We got plenty o' problems, an now we got the sovereign o' 'em all landin' on us tanight. What do ye think Pike?" "Pike growled. I don't like it sir, but I really think that is Roger. He talks like Roger, and, more important, he thinks like Roger. Trouble is, Roger was never that fast." "Or that dead," Jack grinned. "Even Skitch ain't that fast," Brackston said. "Arzael, what's yer say?" Jack asked. The archer grimaced, "Things were a lot simpler before we got so famous. The way I see it, either we retire and scatter, or we deal. I saw those posters, and we know at least Pike's and yours are authentic. I'll bet the others are as well. If that kind of money won't pay for wizardry, then it can't be bought. We don't really know what we are dealing with, but I think we can be sure that Thane is a priest and necromancer of Mortaebius. It stands to reason that he would have friends and associates that he bought supplies from, and if Roger's any indication, our dead friends can be used for advanced animations. I don't see how Thane could have faked what happened at the isle. It scares me to even think about the battle. Armored and mounted bones, shadows, ghouls, darkness, wizardry, yet I realize we nearly won. If this man is even more powerful and less scrupulous than Thane is, he is making us an offer we can't refuse. If we have to work with one of those devils, then we'd better make the best of it. Maybe we could get a few exploding arrows and some other magics out of it. The smoke powder I was able to get to spring you from Turnmoor was great, but we burned big money getting it." "Aye, we're none too rich. I had a little set aside fer a rainy day, but I had ta bury it on Thane's isle. Rapina was dressed awful nice, ye don't suppose that Necromancer found more than the bodies of me men, do ye?" "Hard ta say, sir. Could be he's got some sorcerous power like a divinin' rod. As fer what Arzeal said, I've seen temples o' Mortaebius before sir. They're all over. Death's a good business, an' as far as I know, every church has its powerful patrons, and it stands ta reason a church of the god of the dead would have men like Thane and Kroz under their rugs. The whole thing just seems too... plausable ta be entirely a fake. I say we have ta deal with 'em whether we like it or not unless we can find ourselves another group o' wizards to work with who'll scare 'em off. Question is, where can a bunch o' pirates expect ta find a nice upstandin' cabal 'o wizards ta look out after our best interests?" "Aye, beggars can't be choosers. Brackston, ye had me ol' men jumpin' out o' their skins when ye thought Doanthalas was a demon. How do ye think ye would handle yerself around th' real thing?" "Captain, yew're not considering..." "I'm askin' fer better ideas an' so far we're comin' up empty. What do ye want me ta do? Go ta the church o' the vindicator an' ask 'em ta help us out against their enemy? That'd go over like a lead balloon. In case ye didn't know, th' vindicator's a god o' justice an' righteousness. I'm sure they'd be real glad ta cash in are chips fer us. We could hire areselves a wizard 'er two if we had a hoard o' money, but are income ain't up ta retainin' a mage." "Us payin' wizards w' dead bodies is like someone hirein' a mage fer spent fire wood. It's a damn good deal if ye can get over th' creepiness o' th' devil, an' the fact that one o' 'em bested me battle skills, killed me men, an almost got me executed. Not ta mention scarin' us all half ta death. Kroz is a nervy cuss even ta ask, but by the sounds o' things, it was Rapina who swayed 'em ta deal. He might have been assumin' we wouldn't work with 'im, on account of Thane, so 'e were goin' ta cash in are chips just like the ol' vindicator would. I have ta agree w' Arzeal, either we go inta this deal whole hog an choke back are fear o' spooks like Roger, or we go fer a separate an' early retirement. Bein' as how I lost me retirement money, I say we go in whole hog. Let's get as much as we can fer every cadaver an' make 'im solve some o' the problems that have been plaguin ' us since Thane just about ruined me. Maybe I could get some money out of 'im. I'm sure 'e'd have limits, but let's press 'em. An' if 'e wants cadavers, we'll give 'im cadavers. It's one thing we seem ta be good at makin'. On th' other hand, now's th' time ta get out if ye need to, with no hard feelin's. Brackston, I can admit retirin' might be th' thing ta do, an' if ye want ta go an' take Slice with ye, I don't have a problem with that. Ye'll be sorely missed. On th' other hand, I can't afford anyone ta go daft on me w' fear or superstition. If we're goin' ta work with spooks, we'd better buck up an' get used to it. Let the recruits pee their pants, we can't afford to. If ye can't give Roger a kiss on th' mouth, then ye'd better get out while ye can." "Heh, 'kiss death on the lips,' It's got a good ring to it, sir," Skitch said. I'm in for now, long as I can retire in a few years when I have a nest egg. I don't want ta stay around 'till after the religious war's over." "Aye, this piratin' business is gettin' too complicated. Let's keep an eye on that holy war so we know when are services will no longer be needed. In th' mean time, I have ta see what I can get outa Roger. Just my luck I'd be negotiatin' with me own ex-first mate. How in hell's name am I supposed ta lie good? That fool used ta do me books!" "Bring that bag o' bones an' me scarlet wench back in here. Skitch, Arzeal, Drake, stay with me an' let me know if ye get any wild ideas. Pike, Brackston, stay 'er go as ye like. All o' ye remember, I'm the fool doin' th' negotiatin' here. If ye 'ave an idea, whisper it in me ear, don't go blurtin' it out ta th' opposition half-baked, and remember whatever deal we cut is fer th' ears o' the officers only. We'll figure out how ta sell it ta the men later; 'mean time th' less they know, th' better." --- Rapina and Roger returned. "All right, I decided ta make a deal with ye, only because I couldn't think o' another wizard who would work with a bunch o' bloodthirsty pirates. However, if ye want a steady supply o' stiffs, ye're goin' ta have ta help me solve a few o' me problems," Jack said. Preventin' wizardly spies is fine fer th' long run, but it ain't goin' ta get any work done. It just shores up a leak that hasn't sprung yet. Th' worst leak I have spy wise right now is me recruits, I can never be sure if I got an honest ta goodness human spy on me hands. Second thing is I'm broke, damn Thane took all me money, I'll be wantin' it back. Another thing, if ye're workin' fer a mage, we'd like a little canned magic ta help us out in emergencies, what can ye do ta increase are fire power, or heal are wounds? Ye just ruined me arms master's hand ye know, an' I don't have a proper leech." "If we strike a bargain, I can help you pick out spies as I always did," Roger said. "My job would be to serve you and see that Mortaebius' interests were protected. Kroz may also be able to help with spies, but his magic is only practical on an individual scale, so we will have to narrow down who we wish to test. The wealth and possessions Thane won in the battle on the hill and your original bounty money are his. He is a good customer, and an upstanding worshipper of Mortaebius. Kroz has no wish to offend him. He removed the remains of your men, but those were easily replaced with the bodies of other men, and Thane will never know the difference. The money, however is another matter entirely." Captain red Jack swore under his breath. "What ye're sayin' is Thane already spent me money. What about me ships? They're sittin' at th' bottom o' 'is cove?" Jack asked. "Kroz cannot simply take your ships from Thane's cove. Again, they would be missed," Roger said. "Well, if ye want yer cadavers, ye're goin' ta have ta sweeten th' deal a little more than ye have. I can get along without yer wise council an' that way I won't have ta worry about me recruits peein' their pants. Have ye got anything ta offer other than a bit o' advice an' some protection from wizards spyin' on me? "Kroz has the ability to make healing potions, but he lacks an important ingredient. If you would like to make a side deal with him to help him fetch a certain creature, then he believes he can offer you healing potions at a cut rate. " "What ye're sayin' is ye cannot even offer us healin' right now," Captain Red Jack grimaced. "Healing is not germane to the god of the dead, however Kroz is aware of a type of necromantic spell that can be used to drain the life force of another and bestow it on the necromancer to heal him. There may be a way to bestow the life force drained on a wounded individual other than the necromancer. He will look into the matter, but can guarantee nothing. He can, however, increase your emergency fire power." "What kind o' fire power are we talkin' about?" Jack asked. "Kroz can make you limited quantities of magical incendiary arrows that burst in a five-foot radius of magical flame," Roger said. "Aye, fire balls ten foot across. Those would come in useful. Now what about th' stiffs ye want. Do I get th' same service whether I give ye two or two hundred in a month? Ye know there are times in th' winter when raidin' ain't possible, like right now fer instance. An also there are times when we have ta make a run for it an' can't be pickin up the stiffs." "I am well-aquainted with those facts. If you exceed three hundred sixty-five corpses in a year, Kroz will be willing to trade additional services or money for additional corpses if they are needed," Roger said. "Three hundred sixty-five! Are ye daft? Make that a hundred fifty," Jack said. "Two hundred fifty," Roger replied. "A hundred seventy-five," Jack countered. "Two hundred is my minimum," Roger said. "Adequately warding a camp and one or more ships is an expensive proposition." "Damn it! Ye had one hell o' a poker face when ye were alive, now yer not even playin' fair. Two hundred it is, but ye have to agree ta fix me arms master's hand pronto," Jack said. "Done," Roger replied. "Now what about them magic arrows?" Jack asked. "Kroz can provide ten per year, free," Roger said. "That wouldn't even be enough ta fill a quiver, make it forty. We're gettin' little enough out of ye as it is," Jack said. "Twenty - ten per six months, but only for the first year, to help you get established," Roger said. You can purchase more with money or corpses if Kroz needs them. There are a number of other side deals that are possible as well. Advanced animations often require the cadavers of certain types of people. Had I not in life been efficient, dispassionate and unquestioning loyal, for instance, I could not have become a death of Mortaebius." "Damn it Roger, twenty fire arrows every year, and forty the first. Th' heat is really on me since I offended a lot of folks escapin' me execution this year. If ye 'ave useful sorceries, we can deal fer 'em. Healin' an' fire, bein' th' most useful things I can think of at th' moment. If ye think ye got an interestin' item, then give us a show, an' maybe we'll work somethin' out if we can afford to." "Done, but you will provide the unenchanted arrows," Roger said. "Deal. Arzeal likes 'is own arrows better anyway," Jack replied. "What about a leech?" "You will have to recruit a leech yourself. You may side deal with Kroz for mundane medicines compounded in his laboratory if you wish," Roger said. "All right, now we're gettin' somewhere. What about ye, Roger, what can ye do for me?" Jack asked. "I can do anything I did in life, but I cannot work in the light of the sun, captain," Roger said. "No sun? I don't see why not, ye're lookin' mighty pale ta me, Roger. It looks like ye could use a tan," Jack chuckled. "All right ye're going ta protect me from wizardly spyin' an' help keep me mundane spy problem to a minimum with yer own wisdom an' th' necromancer's magic. Ye're going ta give me a quiver o' fire arrows every year an' two quivers of 'em this year, an ye're going ta sell me other magics ye have fer a reasonable price. What about if I go over 200 cadavers in a year an' you could use 'em. How much are ye willing to pay for 'em? "One gold per corpse," Roger said. "One gold!? Is that all a man's life is worth these days, a single gold piece?" Jack asked. "If the price is too high, then Kroz will be less likely to buy your product. You and I both know you can have a man killed in any large city for a gold Domain." Roger said. "But a domain isn't even really all gold," Jack said. "True, but it is what we usually mean by a gold piece," Roger said. "If a corpse is especially large or in mint condition with no broken bones, we may give you more for it, perhaps even a gold imperial. Corpses that can be used in advanced animations will be worth considerably more, perhaps a gold dragon or even several dragons." "What do ye need ta have fer a special price?" Jack asked. "Look for exceptional skill at arms or thieving abilities, people who have made a habit of evil deeds in life, unquestioningly loyal warriors who follow the orders of men of little conscience, and people who make an art of complaining. Any of these traits if possessed in good measure will increase the value of the cadaver," Roger said. Captain Red Jack jotted a few notes in one of his log books. "Aye, I'll keep that in mind. One thing though, if we get one o' these special corpses before we have filled out th' quota o' 200, we still get ta sell 'im at th' good price, not give 'im away fer free. Otherwise I'm not goin' ta even try ta figure out who might be o' special use to ye," Jack said. "Agreed. Corpses usable for advanced animations will be dealt for separately from those usable only as mundane undeads. If you give us a corpse you think should work for an advanced animation, however, and you are wrong, we will expect a refund one and a half times the original price," Roger said. "One and a half! But how do I know you'd be tellin' the truth?" Jack asked. "You will have to trust us, but you will likely know when you give us a corpse with dubious credentials. Since advanced animations are so time-consuming, Kroz does not wish to waste his time on cadavers that will not work out. If you stand to loose if you give us a bad corpse, I am sure you will seldom give us one. If you know you have a corpse that might be usable for advanced animations, but you are unsure, tell us, and we will charge you only a single gold over the original price as a refund. It is possible to check the credentials using divinations and speaking with the dead, but it is not worth the magic involved unless the odds are reasonably good. Now, how do ye propose to pick up th' corpses. I can't be having a pile o' smelly stiffs hangin' around me ships fer long," Jack said. "Kroz and I have put together a map. It includes the sites of shipwrecks and river battles as well as graveyards near the river Augustana and her navigable tributaries. These will serve as drop points where Kroz can pick up the bodies. He will check in with me periodically and we will make arrangements on where any new cadavers will be turned over. The exchange must always take place at night," Roger said. "Aye, then I'll need mage lights fer me ships and such like so we can run at night," Jack said. "We will equip your ships with strong red spotlights for that purpose. Moreover we will provide you and your officers with mage lights that can be opened to expose white light or closed partway so that light is channeled through a red crystal or shut off completely," Roger said. "That'll come in handy fer other times as well. Ye drive a hard bargain Roger Death, 'an ye got a poker face I can see through, but it ain't much help ta see inta yer skull. Do I have ta sign me name in blood somewhere?" The terms of the agreement will be recorded and you will receive a copy, but signatures might identify the signers, therefore a simple handshake with death should do the job. Roger held out his boney hand. Captain Red Jack looked at Roger's hand. "One more thing. As a part of are deal, I want me wench ta visit now an' again. I know she's an apprentice an' all that, but I want ta see her when we make are exchanges 'an fer visits now an' again. Another thing, Roger, I want ye ta help me intimidate me recruits when they need intimidatin'," Jack said. "Done. You shall see Rapina during most exchanges of corpses and you may invite her to stay for short periods now and again. She will have to keep up with her studies, however, so you will have to work out the details with her and she with Kroz. I will serve you as I always did, following your orders as long as they do not contradict the wishes of Kroz or Mortaebius. If you wish me to help you in the management of the recruits, I will do so," Roger said. Let's shake on it then. Captain Red Jack fearlessly grabbed Roger's hand and shook it. "It's a deal!" Roger shook the captain's hand, "I am sure Mortaebius is pleased that you will be working with us, and I am satisfied to return to your side." Roger reached into his black robe and began handing Red Jack mage lights. The chains that held them were made of brass; the rods were of black, red and clear glass, and the sliders were tin. The captain handed lights to his officers then toyed with the light he had kept for himself. "This'll sure beat stumblin' around w' torches in th' rain." Rapina saw that, in spite of its diminutive size the new light Thane had given her was more powerful than the ones given to Jack. On the other hand, Rapina felt her light was overly strong and was glad she could adjust its power by moving the slider to cover more or less of the lighted crystal. As Roger handed Jack a copy of the map of the graveyards along the river Augustana, Jack made a show of looking between Rapina's magnificent breasts. "I see ye got a nice set o' lamps there too, wench." Rapina blushed. --- The story continues in [Rapina]027 In The Eyes of a Sword on, The Touch of Darkness, page. copyright 2001, 2002 by Rapina