From: ASG102@psuvm.psu.edu
Newsgroups: alt.pub.dragons-inn
Subject: [L] Out of the Desert
Date: 2 Sep 92 21:14:58 GMT
Organization: Penn State University


ADMIN: From this point on, I will refer to Sharella as "Helen" to avoid
confusion.  Please note that they are and always have been the same person.

      After fighting the sandworm and travelling for days, sleep came to Helen
without difficulty.  As she drifted off, her mind was still in turmoil over
her emotional involvement with this mission.

      Her father came to Daggerdale to spy on the King of Cormyr.  There, he
met Helen's mother and soon after, with his dark charm, she fell in love with
him.  Helen's mother had been a lady of the court which gave her access to the
royal family on a daily basis.  The wedding was held in the palace under a full
moon and everyone in the court thought that it was a perfect match, but that
was a spy's job...to confuse and fool people.
      During their first year of mariage, Helen's mother began to notice a
cruel side of her husband.  Although he never rose a hand against her, she
could tell that he wanted to at times.  Thoughts of leaving him began to fill
her head, and being a doppleganger, he could read her thoughts and knew what
she was planning.
      Now much later, Helen's mother became pregnant with a daughter.  This
was her father's idea of keeping the mariage together for a few more months,
enough time for him to gather the necessary information and flee the country.
However, there were many delays and just as her father was about to leave,
Helen was born.  The midwife who delivered the baby was horrified at Helen's
appearance (she was, after all, a half-doppleganger without the ability to
shape-shift) and declared that the child was demon-spawn.
      Helen's father killed his wife and took her place.  He only needed one
more week to get the last bit of vital information that he was sent to find,
but the royal family would not see him unless he killed Helen, the demon-child.
Torn by duty and fatherhood, he took Helen and fled the country, swearing that
one day he would cause the downfall of the Royal family of Cormyr.
      Helen's father raised her for that purpose alone.  She was filled with
hatred for all life and taught the ways of stealth, swordplay, shapeshifting,
and most importantly, of murder.  Before he died, he found the location of a
magical brasier that would warp the current queen's mind toward evil.  It was
this brasier that caused the queen to go mad.
      This was the mad queen that she had served time and time again, bringing
the entire nation of Cormyr down.  His plan had been working...until now.

      When Helen woke, Jabu and Firecat were taking down their make-shift
shelter.  Shadow was limping around the campsite.  It was hard to believe
that this was the same wolf that she and Firecat considered dead the night
before.
      The group would have to wait for nightfall again before moving
through the hot desert, but that suited her.  Shadow needed the rest and
for some reason, she knew that she would meet Luthor soon enough.  Helen
stood and stretched, then she climbed over the rock that shielded them from
the morning sun.
     After her eyes adjusted to the bright sunlight, she scanned the horizon.
There, in the distance, too far for human eyes to see, was a thin line of
green.
     "Jabu, Firecat, I think I see the end of the desert!" she shouted and
motioned for them to climb up with her.
     "Where?  I see nothing," said Jabu after reaching the top.
     "I don't see anything either," agreed Firecat between puffs of breath.
     "Here, look through this."  She handed Firecat a tube with a piece of
curved glass at each end.  He looked down into it and saw a huge pair of feet.
     'Giants!' he thought and grabbed for his weapon, dropping the tube in
the process.
     Helen stared at him for a while with her mouth open and then burst into
a fit of laughter making Firecat blush to match his other form.
     Jabu picked up the tube and looked toward the horizon, "Yes, I see it now.
I'll mark the direction.  With luck, we can make it there by sunrise tomarrow."

     After the fall of night, the four companions travelled toward the edge
of the desert and sure enough, by the first light of morning, the landscape
turned green.  Encouraged by this, they travelled until midday and finally
decided to rest by the side of a small stream.
     They made a campsite quickly and decided to take watch...Firecat first.

----------
     Ssthah lead his tribe to the watering hole, only to find the tracks of
some filthy humans heading straight for it.  He signaled his War Brother to
prepare the others.  They would attack quickly and have fresh FOOD and water.

     Love and Peace and Lizardmen,
             -The Dreamer-