~ The Quest for the Ring of Fire Command: [Home] [Previous Turn] [Next Turn] ~

El stands in the dark room and places his back to the wall. As always he is conscious of the door at his back. His elven eyes scan the darkness and make out the form of an elderly man before the party. 'This must be Halbredan; he doesn't look so powerful, still appearances are often deceiving.'

Hannibal, for a moment, is surprised that the Mage seemed to have almost been expecting them. And what message might he have for the group? It all came down to sorcery, something that made Hannibal quite uncomfortable.

Crayne smiles as he stands there in all too familiar surroundings. Little had changed since he had departed. It was good to be in the same room with all his closest friends and family again. It would have been good if Melli had been here too, but Crayne knew that it was unlikely remembering back to his sad departure. Whether she could ever forgive Crayne for what he had done to her remained a mystery. Nevertheless, he wanted to see her most of all, despite the fact that he didn't know what he would say to her if he saw her.

Turning to the nearby stove Crayne warms his hands for a moment as he looks directly at Halbredan, his mentor. A man who Crayne greatly respected and would do so for the rest of his life. A man of great knowledge and wisdom. He had missed very much the long talks that would go on into the early hours of the morning. As Old Halbredan moves his face into the light Crayne stands tall as if standing to attention when facing his master.

"As always!" Crayne speaks up, "I need your assistance! One day I just hope that I will be able to repay you, Sir." Crayne nods. The rest of Rinder's Six look suprised as they perceive a sudden change in personality and etiquette!

Old Halbraden sternly replies, "Come on lad out with it! Get to the point!"

Crayne nervously rubs his nose and continues, "Well Sir," he says, "I suppose you have heard that I am now a member of Rinder's Six, a band of elite soldiers who have been used by the King of Rinder for various missions to protect Rinder from the threat of Caerloon. It was us who headed the victory at Dillend along with Dire Luthor. By the way the people who are with me are of Rinder's Six. This here is Emma, Warrior Priestess of Anhur," Crayne says as he turns to look at Emma, "She is a great strategist and fighter for justice!"

Crayne then turns his attention to Skandor, "This here is Skandor. He is also of Anhur. A brave warrior indeed. He was recently clubbed over the head by a Hill Giant and lived to tell the tale." He then turns to Hannibal, "This here is Hannibal. A man skilled in stealth and speed. Another fine warrior and loyal companion!"

Suddenly, there's a grunt and a slurp. Crayne turns to the sound and sees Storm slurping down some hot soup. "And of course who could forget Storm! One of the Kingdom's greatest fighters! I'll let you know that he has saved my life on a number of occasions!" He then looks to Canter nearby, "This here is Canter, a leatherman who has picked up the sword to fight for his Kingdom!"

He then finally looks to El and Alara, "This is Elloharin, and Alara. They too are great warriors!" Crayne completes the introductions knowing that if he hadn't have done then Halbredan would have scolded him for his rudeness.

Halbredan smiles and says in a gruff voice, "I have heard much of Rinder's Six's good deeds and it is a pleasure for me to finally meet all of you."

Crayne then continues, "As I was saying!" Crayne says, "We need your help. Our current mission is one of great importance and one of utmost secrecy. What we need, Sir, is to decipher a book written in the language of the El-Balans. Now I know for a fact that there is a spell called Comprehend Languages and Karelth here believes that you could help us out.

"Also..." Crayne adds, "I am looking to identify this item," Crayne says as he brings out the gem stone. It glows in the flames from the fire. Old Halbredan leans in closer as he sees the gem and fingers his chin.

Alara is quiet during Crayne's conversation with his former mentor.

"Urhmm, interesting," the old mage says as he leans back into the shadows.

It is then that Crayne adds in a greedy fashion, "I also ask a question which is not at the moment relevant to our quest but one which is a personal quest for myself. Sir! I want more than anything to be able to glide above the lands of Rinder and take in the full beauty of the Kingdom. Yes, Halbredan!" Crayne says as he addresses the old mage by his name for the first time, "I want to be able to fly. I have heard it is possible and if you could point me in a direction I would be most pleased. That, Sir, is what I ask you! It is a lot I know and if there is anything I can do in return then I will! It is up to you now." Crayne takes a seat near the fire and takes a bowl of soup from Marienna.

"Let me see the book," Halbredan states, reaching out a trembling hand. Emma quickly fetches it from her bag. She is eager to seek out wisdom from the old mage, but sees that the situation is really Crayne's to handle. It is, after all, his mentor's home. Halbredan takes the book and leafs through a few of the pages.

"You called this El-Balans?" Crayne nods in response to his mentor's question. "This is not El-Balans. El-Balans, my boy, is a fabled monastery belonging to the monks of Hathe. This book, this tome, is written in an ancient language, I would suppose, perhaps predating the establishment of El-Balans. I cannot read it."

Crayne exhales, wondering for a moment whether they had journeyed all this way for naught.

"But I do possess the spell required for its translation. It will take some time, you must understand. For this is a lengthy tome, perhaps two hundred pages. At best, I might be able to translate one page every minute or so. But even then, I am not familiar with this language and it will take me time to fully understand it. Once that is accomplished, one amongst you must play the role of scribe to write take down the text, which I will translate and dictate. Who among you will do that?"

"I will," Emma says, standing up from her seat in a nearby chair. "I am Emmalya Serralund, Shield Maiden of Anhur. The high priest at Parton placed this tome in my charge, and I am skilled in Ancient Philosophy, which gives me a familiarity with such languages. I will take down your dictation, sir."

"Very well, then," Old Halbredan says with a nod toward Emma. He then looks at Crayne. "What did you think, boy? That I would fail you? When has that happened?!" Crayne lets out a nervous laugh, not sure if he should really respond to that statement. Obviously, his anxiety was showing, but then again, he could never hide such things from Old Halbredan!

The old mentor then continues. "It will take a considerable amount of time, then. And I am, unfortunately, weaker in my age than I would like to admit. So I will be unable to translate the entire tome in one, or even two sittings. I predict it will take three days."

"Three days," Emma repeats quietly to herself, but loud enough for the others to hear as well, "And even then, the tome will most certainly require priestly interpretation. It may be a week before we have a firm idea of where to even start..."

"My dear," Marienna says, offering her a bowl of soup, "Old Halbredan does have another idea..."

"Indeed, I do," Halbredan replies, smiling to his wife. "There is a man I know of, a wizard like myself. He was my student for a very short time many years ago, when he was young and feisty. Not from around here, he certainly was not. But I have since heard of his wanderings. Durin is his name, and you will undoubtedly find him at the Academy."

"The Academy?!" Canter blurts out, knowing full well what that was.

Halbredan turns to regard Canter, on the other side of the room. Crayne follows his mentor's gaze, saying to his friend, "Canter, no one said this quest was going to be easy!"

"Still..." Canter replies, at a loss for words.

"Pardon me," Alara puts in, raising a hand tentatively, "but will someone tell me what 'the Academy' is?"

"The Academy," Crayne answers, "Is an institution of wizardly knowledge. It is the finest in the realm, where all young mages dream of study, and where the best and most powerful wizards perform their research, if they are not in the service of some lord or king."

"What's more," Canter adds, "the Academy is deep inside Caerloon.

Alara exhales slowly, understanding for the first time the ramifications of the suggestion. Why would they even want to try going there?

Halbredan answers that question. "There is a device which Durin constructed. It is a great Helm of Understanding. It will allow the wearer to read any text and gain a full and complete understanding of it within hours--far less time than it would take us, here."

"But it's in Caerloon!" El objects.

"No one said we were going," Hannibal says, calming his elven friend.

"But if we could..." Crayne says quietly, his voice trailing off into some dream.

"You decide," Halbredan says finally. "We can work on the tome here, but as the priestess has said, it will take at least a week to understand it to the point where it will be of any use. It may take a week for you to reach the Academy and to find Durin--if you can find him there. But the effects of the Helm--if he allows you to don it--will be seemingly instantaneous."

"Besides," Crayne adds, obviously intrigued by the idea both of the Helm of Understanding and of a visit to the Academy, "we have no idea where this tome will tell us to look for the Ring of Fire Command! We may have to begin our search in Caerloon, so we'd have to travel there anyway!"

"Or, our search may have to begin someplace in Rinder, such as Archadia. And perhaps traveling to Caerloon isn't such a good idea right now," Skandor says, looking around to his friends, "the risks involved are clearly great. We mustn't choose this path without thinking it through."

"Well, you decide," Halbredan says once again. "In the meantime, let me see this gem of yours."

Crayne hands him the gemstone, which is almost too heavy for the old man. "Hmm..." he mumbles as he examines it. "This might be worth the effort."

"The effort?" Alara asks.

"I have the ability to make a precice identification, within a certain degree. But it requires significant effort to clean and prepare the specimen beforehand. Perhaps eight hours of work. It will take all afternoon, if I am up to it.

"And as for your desire to cast Fly, Crayne, I would suggest you ask Durin. As far as I hear, he does possess the spell, for I do not."

Elloharin then clears his throat, and asks, "Why would this text be written in the language of the El-Balans? What can you tell us about the El-Balans?"

"My boy," Halbredan says, turning his head to face the elf Elloharin, "I do not know why this tome would be written in such an ancient and obscure language. What it does indicate to me, though you didn't need to seek me out to discover this fact, is that the ancient clerics of the early Hathean Caste either possessed the ring you seek, or knew of its existence. As for the monks of El-Balans today, I can tell you nothing. I have spent my life studying magic, not praising Hathe, deserving of praise though me may be."

Nodding in understanding, El asks more questions: "What do you know about giants? Can they be bargained with or persuaded, or can they only be controlled through magic?"

"Giants, you ask? Well that depends, my boy. Some are stupid creatures, driven by an barabric desire for material wealth in a world where material wealth earns them nothing but the attention of larger, smarter giants. The smart ones, the Storm giants most of all, are fearless creatures. I would not want to deal with those. The more stupid ones, certainly they could be manupilated or controlled by magical means. But why waste your magical energy on them when a simple promise of a few bags of coin ought to entice them enough?

"Now," Halbredan says, struggling to rise to his feet with Crayne's help, "We must to my workshop to prepare this gem, Crayne and I. There isn't room for all of you, I'm afraid..."

"That's alright," Hannibal says with a kind smile, "we wanted to head to the market anyway, and will do so while you and Crayne work."

"Might I join you?" Elloharin asks.

"Oh curious one, eh?" Halbredan says, looking Elloharin over from top to bottom. Then after a momentary pause, "fine then. But touch nothing or you'll never touch anything again."

Hannibal enjoys the brisk walk to the market, even though he had never been fond of cold weather. It was days like this he found himself glad to be alive, a feeling he had not had for some time before joining the Six. Hannibal decides this to be as good a time as any and slowly approaches Emma as they walk. Waiting for a moment where there were none close enough to hear, he prepares to speak.

The Sword Bearer eyes Hannibal for a moment, watching as he approaches Emma and whispers something to her quietly. Whatever was being said was meant for their ears only, so glancing around one more time to ensure that there was no immediate danger, the paladin slows his gait slightly, putting some space between Emma and himself, widening the customarily short gap between them.

Skandor watches them talk softly for a moment, gauging Emma's reaction. He then turns his gaze away, his eyes searching the area for signs of places he had been, his mind wandering back to the past.

"Hello to you Priestess, I hope you are feeling well this day," Hannibal begins, trying to be as pleasant as possible and not too quickly reveal his feelings. "I, uh, wanted to ask a question of you...only if you have a willing ear of course." Hannibal trails off for a moment, embarrassed with his sudden inability to express himself. Quietly he awaits her reply before continuing.

Surprised a bit by Hannibal's sudden openness and curiosity, Emma smiles, welcoming his overtures. "Yes, Hannibal Smith. What can I do for you?"

"I was just wondering if you would tell me of this god of yours. Where does he put his fallen followers? What of those who do not follow him, what happens to them? If someone had committed an act, or maybe acts, of chaos but then tried to make things right...what would he do with them? What if they died before able to fulfill their goal?" Hannibal is very uncomfortable with these questions but it is obvious that the answers are important to him as he hangs on every word Emma speaks.

"Thank you, Priestess." From there he creates some distance between them and is quiet for the rest of the walk to market.

After watching Hannibal back off, Skandor feels a bit more at ease. He looks around at their surroundings, taking note of a nearby well where some children were splashing around some cold water. The sight reminds him of when they passed Lake Merriam just the day before, and the flood of memories that hit him. His eyes had glanced out towards the lake repeatedly as he rode his horse, hands clasped together on the pommel of his saddle.

So much had happened...so much had changed...it had been such a long time...

Skandor can not feel the cold winter chill around him anymore. Instead, he feels warm now, maybe even a little hot. The warm sun feels good on his face, his arms, his feet as he runs through the grass surrounding Lake Merriam. His mother and father stand by the shore preparing their lunch, and his father occasionally throws out a line into the water in a half-hearted attempt to catch fish.

"Skan, come back here lad, lunch is almost ready!" his mother calls.

Skandor checks his tunic pocket to see if his latest friend, a small bull-frog, was still there. Finding the small critter safe and secure, he smiles and heads towards his parents. His mother hands him a sandwhich which he immediately starts eating - liver. Blech!

As he eats, he takes a few tentative steps towards the shoreline, peering with wide eyes into the water. "Daddy, how deep is it in there?" young Skandor asks his father.

"It's reaalllly deep, son. Be careful, if'n you fall in, you might sink all the way to the bottom, or...a big tulwar shark might getcha!" his dad exclaimed.

Skandor whimpered, having always been afraid of the water, nevertheless some nasty man-eating fish.

"Oh, Raymont, don't torture your son like that," Skandor's mother chided.

"Well, he does need to learn how to swim sometime." And with that, Skandor's father sneaks up on the boy , picks him up by the trousers, and dashes headlong into the water.

"Aiieeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Skandor shrills at the top of his lungs, terrified, dropping his food into the water. With a splash, father and son hit the water, the sudden cold of the murky waves chilling both to the bone for a few short moments. Skandor clings to his father for dear life, his head twisting and turning,

looking for the tell-tale sign of a shark fin. Mother and father both laugh heartily.

"I am gonna drown, or get eaten! That's not funny!" Skandor shouts. The parents only laugh harder.

Raymont's laughter subsides as he whispers to his only child, arms wrapped tightly around the boy. Skandor remembers feeling so safe... so loved. "Don't worry, Skan...I got you. You're okay. Your pops will always be around for you to cling to."

The sound of someone clearing their throat brings Skandor back to the present. He turns his head and sees Emma eyeing him curiously, as his path has veered away from the group some paces. Turning his head and misty eyes back towards the memory of the lake once more, the paladin smiles. "Watch over them, glorious Anhur...watch over them please," he whispers as he guides himself back to the group.

Alara looks at the shops that line the street as they enter the market, wondering if there is someplace that she can purchase a heavy cloak to help fight off the chill that has crept into the air. Sure enough, she soon finds such a shop.

Elloharin, before following Crayne and Halbredan to the laboratory, had asked Canter to purchase a few arrows for him. Remembering the request, Canter does just that, buying fifteen arrows for the young elf. Storm, too, finds his way around the market and purchases a new coil of good hemp rope.

By nightfall, all have gathered once more in the home of Crayne's mentor, Old Halbredan. Proudly, El, Crayne, and Halbredan emerge from the lab (which is in the back of the house), with the gem, which Storm notices is shinier than ever before, proudly in hand.

"We have done it," Crayne announces to the others as they sit down to a hearty meal of beef stew prepared by Marienna.

Halbredan sits down slowly and painfully. He is obviously very tired; he has done more today than on any normal day. Finally he is comfortable and he clears his throat to announce the findings. "This gem is, indeed, magical. It has a special property whereby it allows you to look through it--a task which itself takes quite some time and training, for it is difficult. By viewing through the gem you will be able to spot invisible, illusionary, hidden, and even astral and ethereal beings and objects."

A wave of surprise sweeps all those present. A valuable tool, indeed!

"But the process is time consuming, and tedious. But, I would hold onto this gem, especially if you continue this quest. Something tells me it may come in handy."

"Thank you, Halbredan," Skandor says, nodding and smiling toward the old wizard.

"Now," Halbredan says after taking a bite of stew, "have you reached a decision regarding the tome's translation? Will you stay with me or will you set off for the Academy?"

Just then there is a knock at the door. Marienna immediately goes for it, and Canter rises too to accompany her to the door. There, standing outside, is a woman, about Crayne's age. She looks past Canter and Marienna, staring straight at Crayne who turns to gaze upon her. He is speechless.

"The shopkeeper said Rinder's Six was in the city. And rumor has it you are in Rinder's Six, Crayne. I know you set off to find adventure..." she breathes in suddenly, perhaps about to cry? "I didn't know what I would say to you, Crayne," a tear begins to stream down her cheek. "But I knew if you were here I'd have to see you. I don't know what you're doing, but something tells me if I don't see you tonight it may be a long time before I can see you again...if ever..."

Marienna quickly opens the door and reaches her arms around the girl, who is really crying now. While hugging the stranger, Marienna looks to Crayne, mouthing the words, 'who is this?'

Crayne can barely speak. He knew that someday he would have to face her again. And try as he might, he just couldn't prepare himself to face her again. After all, it was he who left. He can only whisper.

"Melli..."

Purchases: Alara purchased 1 heavy cloak for 11 sp. El purchased 15 sheaf arrows (by proxy!) for a total of 8 sp. And Storm purchased a coil of 50 feet of hemp rope for 11 sp. Please adjust your CISs accordingly.

~ The Quest for the Ring of Fire Command: [Home] [Previous Turn] [Next Turn] ~