From: Mike Whitaker <MIKEW@sdl.ug.eds.com>
Subject: STORY: Midnight's Bane - part 21
Followup-To: rec.games.frp.misc
Date: Wed, 6 Jan 1993 19:13:17 GMT

	The watch was tense but uneventful. Drax's mood was not improved
by three hours of guard duty, and it was with some relief that they
ended your watch and headed down to the lower hall for breakfast. There
were few people there when they arrived, and they joined a little group
consisting of Brigid, Nasreen and a small and cheerful woman in White
Company colours, with a purpling bruise on her jaw, whom Angron remembered
as Beth, the mage who brought the ship to Alcar. She smiled wryly at
him and lifted her chin for scrutiny.
	"Seen what the boss gave me?" Brigid smiled with an oddly
affectionate look at her.
	"It *was* for your own good." Angron raised a questioning
eyebrow.
	"Someone tried to get me with a Phantasmal Killer," explained
Beth, "so she knocked me out."
	Anya inspected the damage, very quietly enquiring if Beth lost
consciousness and if there was anyone there besides Brigid and herself. The
woman smiled.
	"Lost consciousness? I'll say I did!"
	"Don't worry," soothed Brigid. "It did happen in front of the
rest of the middle two watches - we did have quite a scrap last night."

	Breakfast was a somewhat informal and chaotic meal, people drifting in
and out as and when they pleased. Halfway through their meal they were joined
by a priest of Sterma, the god of fate and weather, tall and lanky with a shock
of curly fair hair turning to silver, and a balding man in his late thirties,
greeted by Brigid, who obviously knew him, with a "Your Highness." He tutted at
her with mock severity as the rest scrambled to bow.
	"It seems unnecessary to bother with my title - not with so many
more important rulers around." His common was flawless, apart from a
slight trace of a Dorian accent. "Your companions?"
	"Pardon me. Hawk, Anya, Drax, Angron, Tanya - this is His Royal
Highness Crown Prince Jurgen von Tarel of Dorian, and Binom - High Priest of
Sterma." The priest nodded to them all, as Jurgen grinned at Brigid's attempt
to needle him further and shook each by the hand.

	The rest of breakfast passed in polite conversation and general
small talk, after which Anya returned to their rooms to collect the books
for Karla to deal with, and Tanya disappeared with Beth and Brigid with
a cheery "see you when I'm back to a sensible size."
	Hawk turned to Drax.
	"So it looks as though Sirina is still working with the others
from Irongate. It still bothers me about why she let us go so easily."
He paused, obviously searching for the right words to use, "You know
that if she gets in our way I won't hesitate in tyring to kill her? I
only hope that you don't let family ties get in the way of
survival...it looks as though she would kill you without a second
thought." Drax looked thoughtful.
 	"I'm glad that the party that Sirina led was destroyed, but I'm..,
well.., not exactly glad, nor surprised, but satisfied that Sirina did
get away. The mere fact that she was still trusted to lead a party
implied that the 'bad guys' did not know of her role in their escape.
I'd like to guess that the books we brought back contain information
on the Lifestealers. If that is indeed the case, then Sirina might yet
be useful to us, if only there were a way to send her a message..."
Hawk clasped Drax by the arm,
	"You are given your family, but you chose your friends. Let's
see what they have to say about those books she was so insistant
that we take. We should also see if they've shrunk Tanya yet!" He
smiled.
	Down in the side room off the great hall they found Cherri, the
old priest Duncan, and a small crowd of adventurers. Duncan took the
books and scrolls from Drax with the obvious glee common to priests of
Tal when confonted with possible new knowledge and laid them on a
table. He touched the ornate holy symbol around his neck and muttered a
few words, then gently separated the two books and three pieces of
paper from the rest. The scrolls he handed to Drax.
	"Here, young man, you're a mage. Make yourself useful and tell
me what those are." He handed him a small glass lens. "Use this." Meanwhile
he looked at the books for a moment, then turned to Karla. "Well
my dear, do you feel like trying your luck? They're both trapped."
Karla frowned.
	"No fear - odds are I'd mess up." The old priest laughed.
	"No spirit of adventure in the young these days. Now, let me
see..." While he investigated further, Drax turns to the watching
Valgoth.
	"Is there a body of a Dark Hunter we could see? It would seem
sensible for us to be familiar with one's appearance." The paladin
grinned.
	"'Fraid not." He patted the hilt of Daylight."When Daylight
kills Dark Hunters, they don't so much fall over as vapourise!"
	Three or four minutes of muttering of spells later, Duncan
straightened up. "There you are." He handed the books, one to Anya and
one to Hawk, and the other papers to Angron. "Finders privilege, I
think." Anya opened the black leather-covered book, and began to read.
	"It seems to be a series of short verses or sayings or
something. The first one says 'Time will cast Fengarod down, and yet
the twins will be the instrument of her downfall.'" Cherri's jaw
dropped, and several of the gathered adventurers registered suprise.
	"How in the Nine Hells did they get hold of a copy of that?"
	"What?" Cherri turned to a side table and picked up a book.
	"This - it's the book of prophecies I was telling you about back
in Sasarka." She opened it. "See, here." Sure enough, after about
fifteen lines of continuous text in a workmanlike hand, the same verse
was written out. Anya and Cherri craned over the two books, comparing
the verses.
	"Identical, I think." said Cherri after a moment.
	"Nope," smiled Anya. "there's another verse at the back of the one we
found. Listen.
	"'Should you strike at the sun on the Dark of the moon
	The shape of the world is at stake
	
	Midnight your foe in the battle to come
	Let light be the ally you take.'"	

	Alysande, also watching, frowned.
	"I think we're in trouble, guys."
	Around this point, Tanya, Beth and Brigid slipped in, Tanya
smiling happily and the cloth-wrapped chain gone from round her neck.
Beth was carrying a small leather sack which she placed carefully on a
table.
	Hawk, after skimming through the book he has in silence during
this, smiled grimly.
	"I think you were right, Drax." Drax, who was examining a
scroll with a smile on his face, started and looked up
	"Huh?" Hawk punched him gently on the shoulder.
	"Good, is it, my friend?" Drax nodded.
	"This is a scroll of fireball, and this of the spell Shades,
which I know of though it is beyond my ability. The third I think must
be a priest spell." So saying he handed scroll and lens back to Duncan.
"You were saying?"
	"This book is what you predicted - the high priest's notes on
Lifestealers." Hawk turned a page or two. "He has allowed one to infect
a couple of guards, one male, one female and is keeping them under
secure observation, in the company of two uninfected guards, again one
of either sex. The results are, apparently what Tanya told us would
happen - it does appear to be the way they reproduce, althoough no
issue has come of the experiment yet." Tanya shuddered, as Hawk
continued. "His major dealings appear to be with someone called Fered,
who he doesn't trust, and with Zereth, who he describes as being a
hybrid - he appears to be some kind of mage/priest. His opinions on
Fered are that he is out for vengeance," at this Valgoth muttered drily
"That figures" and laughed, "and can probably be 'directed' on the
right path: he also suspects him to be less than completely sane.
	"According to Zereth, the Lifestealers' vessel holds 'many'
Lifestealers - he was unable to get an exact count but guesses a figure
in excess of ten thousand. Apparently most of these are 'asleep' and will
take 'several tendays' to waken." Hawk frowned. "There's something here
about relying on more than a handful for Darkmoon being unwise."
Cherri nodded.
	"That ties in with the extra prophecy - I think we ought to
expect an assualt here on Darkmoon." Angron, having finished
shuffling through the papers, coughed.
	"I think perhaps we ought to expect all out *war* on Darkmoon.
These are troop lists - we're up against between six and ten thousand
soldiers, *plus* Lifestealers." About this point, the temple bell began
to ring. Cherri looked round.
	"We must go - I have a service to conduct, for any that wish
to attend." The side room slowly emptied as people left, Angron
buttonholing Beth for a moment to arrange a talk later.
	Afterwards Hawk suggested that he and Drax walk around the
building to get a better lay of the land, looking for weak points.
	"I don't like sitting around relying on other
people for my protection. I was thinking that perhaps you two with
your...unique talents," he smiled at Anya, "could mingle with people.
That way you might be able to detect anything out of the ordinary
quickly." Angron nodded, them smiled at Beth as she arrives.
	"This pendant? A few questions, since you've been 'playing'
with it."
	"Mmm?"
	"Is it enchanted to affect only her, only the wearer, or anyone
touching it?" Beth frowned.
	"Only the wearer, and spells cast on her." Beth grinned at him.
"If you're thinking what I think you're thinking, it probably won't
work." Tanya nodded in agreement.
	"Remember, no magic items work through it, so putting it on
a warrior to make them immune to spells isn't much use." She grimaces. "It
also hurts like hell to wear - you don't put it on a friend. It's for
disabling mages you don't like without killing them." Angron grinned.
	"I wonder if we know anyone who fits that description?"

        Later in the morning, Hawk vanished off to the kitchen to
arrange for lunch for two - he was referred to the hassled-looking Bryony who
scanned her ever present pile of papers, smiled understandingly and promised to
arrange something. Then the tall ranger sought out Tanya.
        "Would you be so kind as to take lunch with me? I have
arranged a quiet meal for two." The sorceress looked somewhat taken aback.
        "I... er..." She collected herself, and smiled. "Thank you - yes, I'd
love to."

	After a morning spent mostly in exploring the huge temple complex,
Drax, Anya and Agron gathered for lunch, joined by Bryony, taking a break from
her organisational duties, Kerydd, Alaric and Jan. A few minutes into the
meal, Anya stopped and frowned.
	"I hope I'm being needlessly paranoid, but where are Hawk and Tanya?"
Bryony smiled knowingly.
        "Don't worry: we *do* know where they are - they're quite safe,
and someone we trust is keeping a very discreet guard." Alaric raised
a suggestive eyebrow and grinned wickedly, and both Bryony and Kerydd,
the diminutive priestess of Kerila, glared at him fiercely until he
stopped.
--
This story is a compilation of a PBeM campaign, by:

	Mark Little ...................	Hawk
	Janet Huss .................... Anya
	Rob Holden .................... Drax
	Alan Braggins ................. Angron
	Rhodri James .................. Jurgen

	Mike Whitaker ................. GM and temple catering

Back episodes of Midnight's Bane are available by anonymous ftp from:
Machine name: 		quayle.mu.wvnet.edu	
Internet address:  	129.71.32.151