(Eden Blackthorn & Bob Francis)
The early morning seemed cool to Be'ornhelm as he placed the last of four large logs in the fireplace. Fall was halfway over and it already felt like the beginning of an early winter. As Be'ornhelm sat himself down in one of the large over stuffed chairs in the sitting room in front of the fireplace. He began to reminisce about the many pleasant hours he had spent in here with his Mentor and friend Ballarius and the others. He also remembered back at the many times he found Elea in this very chair looking into the fireplace as she pondered some new problem or was seeking some solution to an old one.
He also remembered the many group discussions that were done in here, when the tower was full of all of Elea's house guests. Again, how many times had he come down stairs to find her and her friends talking over some old adventure or in the process of planning some new one? He also remembered the time he came in on Elea and Britage as they were having an intimate talk by the fireplace with a goblet of the good house wine. Britage sat in the chair and Elea sat on the arm of the same chair. It was hard to believe that the very next day Britage would be dead, killed while saving Elea from an assassin's arrow.
It had been so hard for Be'ornhelm not to follow Elea's instructions about disposing of Britage's body. Although, he could not bring Britage back to life he could restore him in death. Through some ancient magic Be'ornhelm had learned that once dead, the body could be kept alive organ by organ. Also, to his great surprise and pleasure, this same magic could also restored the organs. Britage's eye has been fully restored along with his brain, but only as an organ. That which was Britage was still dead and gone.
Then, there was the other part to the equation: the Soul Stone. That, which was Britage, his Soul or life force, was also in a sort of stasis with in the stone. 'But, how do I get it back into Britage's body?' Be'ornhelm thought to himself for the thousandth time. For now, that ability was beyond him. But, perhaps, not for long now that Bretonius knew. Although Britage's life force was kept on the material plane it was free to roam the out side. Britage seemed to want to stay close to Elea whenever possible. 'Ever the protector.' Be'ornhelm thought to himself, as he sat there watching the fire grow.
He had not wanted to tell Bretonius - not until Bretonius was better. Knowing his friend, he would exhaust himself trying to figure out how to merge the soul and body into one again - all for the love of Britage and especially for the love of his daughter. But, Elea's thoughts of resurrecting Britage herself had worried him, forcing his hand and telling Bretonius about the states the Britage's body and soul were in.
Ballarius would be bringing in a special guest today with the item that Bretonius knew would be needed to bring back Britage to the land of the living. He grew excited at the prospect of the look on Elea's face when he would be able to tell her that her love would soon be back amongst the living. Then, he realized that he should wait until the deed was done. Be'ornhelm knew he could not get Elea's hopes up - only to dash them again. No... this would be a very special gift from himself and Elea's father.
The midmorning sun shone brightly on the small deep blue lake, as Elea leisurely laid back on several over stuffed pillows at the stern of the small rowboat she was in. Rowing the boat slowly around the lake, her husband made the ride so smooth, that unless you were watching him row, you would think the boat was moving itself. At the bank of the lake under several large oak trees on a small grassy knoll, Elea could see Donnan and his wife Valaria and their three children down close to the shore of the lake spreading out the large picnic blanket on the lush green grass. Up closer to the trees laying on a small blanket Goldenmane was being pestered by her first born, her four year old daughter, Kirra Lynn. Donnan's mother, Genevieve and Matthew, her brother, and Morena, her sister-in-law, were taking several picnic baskets out of the cart. Actually, it was Matthew who was doing the unloading as Morena had her hands full with their precious three year old son, Reynald, the 2nd, with one hand and holding their infant daughter, Chastity, with the other.
At the top of the knoll under the largest tree were her mother Sharlynn and father Reynald. Elea smiled, watching as they played with her 16-month-old baby son, Jared. They were wonderful grandparents. Lady Shurengyla, her great-aunt, was trying to tell Be'ornhelm how to cook the steaks and arguing with him over how long it should be cooked on each side. Elea decided to change position on the boat, when she did this, the boat moved from side to side.
Her husband with concern in his voice said, "Are you all right, sweetheart?"
"Yes dear. Your unborn son has a mind of his own and told me to move my big stomach over on the other side," Elea answered with an uneasy smile. She especially disliked the eighth month when she was pregnant. She could still feel her unborn son twisting and kicking in her large, and getting larger, round belly. This, plus the still moving boat from side to side, made Elea feel somewhat queasy and a bit nauseated. She looked up at her husband toward the bow of the row boat, but could only make out the dark shadowy out line of his body as the sun was behind him and was obstructing Elea's view. She focused on him, trying to see his face. For some reason, that was suddenly very important.
In the distance, she could her a faint voice, that was getting louder as it repeated over and over again. "Mistress! Mistress! Mistress!!" Elea eyes suddenly opened and immediately, she grabbed her severely sore head and yelled, "What? What is it?!"
"You wanted to be told when Lord Bretonius and Be'ornhelm were up and about, Mistress." The tower's voice said in its usual mechanical manner.
Rolling over in her bed, burying her face in the darkness of her pillows. Elea swore to herself. Why, by the eyes of all the gods, did she accept the challenges put forth by her friend and partner Donnan - that she, Elea, could drink Donnan's half brother, Tranthor, under the table?? "You know why." she said to her self as she rolled back over face up.
Donnan had made a bet with his brother that since he, Donnan, was himself a light weight drinker, and for all he knew it ran in his family, that Tranthor too must be a light weight. Tranthor took exception to this statement with good humor and challenged his younger brother to a contest to see who the better drinker was. Also, since Donnan had already admitted that he himself was a "light weight" as far as drinking was concerned, Tranthor said he could name anyone to drink in his stead. Donnan then turned to Elea with that charming smile she always found hard to resist. This time, however, she was determined to say no.
Donnan had looked at Elea very seriously, "Listen. Elea you've got to help me with this. I can't let this kind of thing go by without meeting his challenge. How would it look if it were known I backed down to my older brother on something like this." Donnan asked with a serious and questioning look.
Elea's resolve had already begun to slip, "It would look like you used some good common sense this time." Elea retorted half-heartedly.
With that, Donnan, knowing that he would win, pressed his point. "I'll get odds, at least two to one and I'll split my... ER, our winnings with you?"
Elea, uncertain as ever, finally agreed. Donnan's terms were: that he receive two to one odds, that he, with Elea's help, would put up fifty gold and Tranthor would then have to match it with a total of one hundred gold. Also Tranthor would have to drink double shots of whisky vs. Elea's single shots.
With this, even Elea began to feel more confident with the probable outcome. The first five rounds went by uneventfully, after two more rounds, Elea began to feel the drinks, but did her best not to show it. An hour later and three more shots, Elea could see and feel the room start to spin. The last thing she remembered about the competition was trying to get down her 12th shot, when the floor came up and slapped her. She vaguely remembered looking up and seeing Tranthor looking down at her with the same emotionless expression that he had at the beginning of the contest. As she started to pass out she kept thought, 'Where does he put it??' Then all went black. She had vague recollections of being tied to Goldenmane's back and him starting up the five flights of stairs that lead to her rooms in the tower.
She remembers she made it to the second landing before becoming violently ill. She also remembered hearing Donnan's voice saying. "See. I told you. Now you owe me 25 gold." That was the last thing she remembered. Elea slowly got up in the sitting position. Her mouth felt and tasted like a herd of wild animals had ran through it then said animals wound up in the bottom of her still sore tummy.
"Lady Elea Your bath water has been drawn and your day clothes have been laid out in you dressing room." The disembodied voice of the tower said.
"Yea, yea, I know!" Elea answered annoyed at herself and the tower as she began to awaken and rub her eyes. She staggered over to the bathtub, peeling off her bedclothes as she went. Naked when she reached the 4'x6' large marble tub, she sat down on the side of the cold stone tub and rolled in beneath the hot water. After several minutes of soaking in the deep hot water, she actually began to feel as though she might live to see another day after all. After the long bath, Elea got out of the tub and dried herself off. She then went back into her bedroom and, as always, there on her freshly made bed, were today's clothing all laid out for her. She took her time getting dressed. She thought about her dream and how she missed Britage so very much.
Shaking herself from those thoughts, she tried to think about today's agenda. She sat down at her already prepared breakfast table and began to eat. She thought of all the times she was with either Be'ornhelm or Bretonius and all the things each of them had taught her about the arcane arts and life itself. She began to remember all the past discussions they had and she realized how much she would miss them when they left for Greyhawk. Finishing a peace of bread she absent-mindedly ask the tower again where they were.
"They are in the east garden with Lords Alagorn and Ballarius, and his guest, Mistress."
'Guest?' Curious, Elea went over to the entry way to her balcony. There she looked over the waist high wall down to the East garden. Sure enough, there they all were: Bretonius, Be'ornhelm, Ballarius, Alagorn... and Ballarius' guest? The Man wore black robes, and was tall for a wizard. Even from where Elea stood, she could feel and sense the evil the mage gave off by his very Presence.
As Elea watched, she saw what appeared to her as Be'ornhelm introducing Bretonius to the stranger and the stranger bowing to Bretonius. Then Bretonius seemed to have a short conversation with the stranger. Elea also noticed that Alagorn and Ballarius kept a very close eye on the stranger, watching every move he made. The conversation lasted only for a few minutes. The wizard then took both hands and placed them out in front of himself, palms up. A small leather looking bag materialized. He leaned forward as if to hand the bag to Bretonius. But, Bretonius would not take the item directly from the evil wizard. He waved his right hand in some magical gesture and the bag disappeared with a small chest taking its place. The stranger opened the chest looked inside, he then closed it, bowed very gracefully to Bretonius. Nodding, Ballarius put a hand on the wizard's left shoulder and they both vanished into thin air.
Elea knew that some sort of transaction had taken place. As she turned and began to walk back to her room, she wondered what they could want that only an evil wizard could provide? She removed the thought from her mind for the time being. There were other matters to deal with. Mainly, continuing to get ready for the move to Onnwal, her continued research on a song spell to bring Britage back and more immediately, dinner with Donnan tonight.
Elea met up with Donnan and together they headed to Midmeadow, meeting up with Winston, Golin and Ratan in their new home. No one had returned to claim the Embassy of Nurell from the adventurers. Elea was betting that no one would, either.
Dinner turned out to be no usual affair - then again, with this group, it never was. The first thing she noticed was that Winston looked... and 'felt' different. Much more charismatic. She also met Winston's newest hire, a dark-haired Elf named Gareth Nightsky. A nice enough man, if a touch slow. Then, she discovered that Shamu had somehow reverted to his teen years. When she greeted Golin, she was unceremoniously told that his name was now Demetrius, thankyouverymuch. Fortunately, Ratan seemed to be the same.
The most surprising discovery was that Colin was dead. Apparently drown in the adventure that they would discuss tonight, over dinner, while catching up. Elea was very uneasy at the lack of mourning and remorse at the loss of Colin. She had never really liked Colin but, still, these men were friends, weren't they? It put a pall over the already strange evening for her.
During dinner, Winston, and the rest, related a fantastical tale of their adventure while Donnan and Elea had been off rescuing Donnan's father. Apparently, they had decided to explore more under the city, where they had first seen the Drow mage that Henry Appleyard had killed so long ago. While there, they had gone deeper, ended up being washed down even deeper into a set of underground caverns. This is where Colin drown.
While in the underground caverns, they came across a marvelous hoard of treasures. There was something about Winston ordering a water element to bring everything not of nature up from the bottom of the lake. Apparently, there was an emmense amount of items - including the mithiril threaded cloth that Winston was using as curtains, placemats and napkins. Elea had to wonder what else they found - magical or not. Then, there was a story about Winston being a God of giants and him sending them on a quest. It was all very confusing to her.
Through out the conversation, she noticed a remarkable difference in Golin... ah, Demetrius' attitude. She had known he was a fighter but 'living for the glory of the battle?' She wondered if he had found a sword like Albion that had once taken over Ratan.
Elea leaned over to Donnan and quietly murmured. "Is it just me, or do you feel like you don't know these people anymore?"
Donnan shrugged a little, not saying anything.
Then, it was their turn to relate the tale of the rescue of Janort, Morena and Matthew - and the capture of Sir Aaron, who had been working for Iuz all this time. Everyone was happy that Donnan's father was safe and sound and no one seemed too concerned about the fact that Iuz was very, very pissed at Elea, Donnan and the rest of the party (who were guilty by association).
Winston then asked what they planned to do now.
"Well, I am thinking of taking the Tower and heading down to the Onnwal area." Elea responded, glancing at Donnan.
"Why there?" Sybl asked.
"It's far away from Iuz." Elea shifted. "And because of the Duchy that Britage bequeath to me." That set off a series of questions that Elea answered as best she could. She explained were Onnwal was and that there were political problems that she was going to have to deal with but she would have an ally in the Barony of Ahlissa.
It seemed as if only Donnan and she were the only ones really interested in head down there - save Demetrius, who was ready for any kind of fight and Ratan, who was looking to perhaps carve out his own niche of land - that Elea and Donnan would assist him in doing, once they got their respective lands in order.
"How are you going to get the Tower down there?" Winston asked, curious.
Elea got an uneasy sensation between her shoulder blades. She did not want to say too much. The Tower really was going to be hers now, and hers alone. She wanted to protect it as much as possible. Elea did not have to answer as Be'ornhelm suddenly appeared in the room.
Winston frowned at him, "Don't you ever knock?"
Be'ornhelm tilted his head. "No." Then he looked to Elea, "I was wondering if it would be OK for me to change the interior of the Tower a bit."
Elea nodded. "Fine. Just leave the new layout in my study."
"How are you going to get the Tower down to Onnwal?" Winston asked again, ignoring Be'ornhelm.
"Oh. She's going to fly it there." Be'ornhelm said, answering for Elea. "The Tower and the lands."
Winston looked at him. "Could you excuse us please? And next time, knock before you enter."
Be'ornhelm nodded. "Of course." Then he disappeared as quickly as he had arrived.
Winston's attitude towards Be'ornhelm seemed very odd to Elea. She wondered what he had against the mage - then again, Be'ornhelm had come in unannounced. She looked to Winston. "Yes, I'm going to fly it."
"Are you sure?" Winston asked.
That surprised her. "Of course. Why?"
"Elea... can you really trust Bretonius and Be'ornhelm?" Winston stared at her steadily.
She felt herself grow red, her skin heating with the flush. "Of course I can! He... they have saved my life a number of times. They are family to me."
"Are you sure they are giving you the tower?" Winston asked, unflappable.
"Yes. Bretonius and Be'ornhelm are moving the city of Greyhawk. By the Gods, what are you trying to say to me?" Elea was starting to get really angry.
"That they have not been truthful to you, Elea." She waited, not trusting herself to speak. "You remember Doctor Death? Bretonius' brother?"
"Yes. Edward." She answered cautiously.
"He's not dead. He did not die in the mage duel with Bretonius."
"What the Hell are you talking about?" Elea was furious at this point.
Winston brought forth a sheaf of papers. "I found these while going through the Embassy records. It's a record of an agent of Iuz, working with the Order of Nurell to pretend to be Edward, Bretonius' brother." He handed the papers to Elea.
"And where is Edward now, then?" She asked, looking at the papers. Sure enough, there was an account of what Winston telling her. It made her blood run cold for a moment, then she shook the feeling off. There had to be a reason for this.
"On the 6th Level of the Abyss. He's been there for years." Winston sat back. "Bretonius lied to you."
Elea shook her head, keeping her trembling hands in her lap. "No. He didn't. First, these papers could be lying. Second, if these papers are true, its possible that Bretonius did not know about the fake Edward."
Winston nodded, conceding it. "Who decided that Bretonius would go to Greyhawk?"
"I did. I convinced him that it would be better for him." Elea responded, trying not to sound angry and defensive.
"Are you sure? Why is Be'ornhelm staying then?" Winston pressed it.
"He's not! He's going with Bretonius, to take care of him. Bretonius was hurt a lot more than anyone realizes." She was on the edge of exasperation.
That stopped Winston. "Oh. The Tower is not going to have a caretaker?"
"I didn't say that. Be'ornhelm is training Alagorn as we speak." She looked around. "I asked Alagorn to take over. It was my choice."
Demetrius snorted at that. "That's even better." Sarcasm dripped from every word.
"What is it with you all? Bretonius and Be'ornhelm welcomed you into their home, protected us, trained us. I trust him. I trust them." She shook her head. "What's happened?"
Donnan spoke up. "I trust Bretonius and Be'ornhelm with my life. I have many times." His voice was harsh with anger
"I don't trust everyone you trust, Donnan." Winston waved placating hands. "I am just looking out for you, Elea. I think they lied to you."
Elea took a breath to control her emotions. "Thank you, Winston. I will... deal... with the situation. Are there anymore documents like this?" He shook his head. "If you find any, will you please let me know?"
"Of course." He nodded.
At this point, Donnan got a summons from the Tower, saying that there was a letter from his father that he needed to attend to immediately. He said his good-byes, giving Elea a look of warning and support as he left. Elea sat back, trying to remain calm. At this point, she was ready to leave them all in Midmeadow to deal with the agents of Iuz on their own, but her sense of duty and responsibility prevented her. "What are you all going to do now?" she asked.
Both Sybl and Shamu said that they would go with her to Onnwal, if she wanted. They had no love of Iuz and were quite comfortable in the Tower. Ratan had already said that he would go - one to fight and help Elea gain control of Onnwal - if it was needed, and two - to gain his own land in the process. Demetrius, whom Elea was not liking at all anymore, wanted to go where the fight was. All that was left was Winston and his retainer, Gareth.
There was some discussion of setting up a portal between the Tower lands and the Embassy, allowing them the luxury of both staying here and going to Onnwal. But in the end, something that Demetrius said to Winston in a hushed conversation made Winston suddenly change his mind and want to go.
"When can you be ready?" Winston asked.
"Six weeks from this date is the move time." Elea responded with mixed feelings.
"We'll be ready." He responded, smiling.
Elea ran into Donnan when she got home. He was dressed for travel and putting the horseshoes of the Zephyr on his horse. He told her that his father had gotten a summons from Emperor of the Cassandrean Empire, Damon the 3rd. Janort was to be awarded a new appointment and wanted Donnan with him. So, Donnan was riding out to meet his father on the way there. He would be gone two weeks.
He asked if Elea would be OK dealing with the party for those two weeks. She assured him that she would be fine. She would not let their odd behavior shake her too much. She would simply keep a more cautious eye on them. She wished him luck and then went off to see Bretonius and Be'ornhelm.
Dropping the documents in front of them, she asked what they thought of it. As Bretonius looked over the documents, he started to laugh. "I wondered what they put down in their records." He then explained that he had discovered the fake Edward about six months before meeting Elea and her party in Midmeadow that first time. And yes, there had been a wizard's duel. And yes, that 'Edward' had died. But no, it was not his brother. "I know my own brother. As for Edward being on the 6th plane of the Abyss - that's possible. The final strike could have thrown him back in time and to that plane of Existence. It's actually worth investigating. I'll do so once we are settled in Greyhawk."
Elea was much relieved to hear what Bretonius had to say. She did trust and love her father, very much - as well as Be'ornhelm. She would miss them both. As for the rest of her group, she was still disturbed by the evenings events and discoveries and, at this point, she had no idea of what to do about it.
Continue on to: 30. Blaze of Glory