Stone 20

**Chapter 20**

Suddenly, we are with Her. Her appears to be different from She. Her is scared because she is following some Nuns. Her has *“eyes as big as gold pieces.”*

Her is watching a *“dark form”* and planning to attack it with magic. She attacks, tying it up and gagging it with magically-hardened air (how does that work, exactly?). It turns out to be Jedidiah, a wizard-in-training. We learn that Her is Sister Margaret, the Nun who was talking with Nathan a few chapters back. Jed, we learn, was her student and, it's implied, her lover. Margaret thinks that *“he was probably the most powerful wizard the palace had seen in a thousand years.”*

Jed says he was following Margaret because she was sneaking out towards the Hagen Woods. *“It was said the Hagen Woods were a training ground for a very special kind of wizard. That kind of wizard was not sent there, but went in by choice. Because he wanted to. Craved to...needed to.”*

Ten bucks says Richard will turn out to be this “special kind of wizard.” Anyone? Anyone at all?

There's some chatter about the Hagen Woods, which are mysterious and dangerous. Apparently, if you let the sun set while you're in the woods, you can never return. Uh-huh. Margaret and Jed talk, and we learn that she thinks some of the apprentice wizards who officially died in accidents or left, were in fact murdered. Furthermore, she is convinced that there are Bad Nuns about. There's a lot more talk, and the gist of it is: Margaret saw the quillion and thinks the Bad Nuns murdered Plainy. She knows the identity of four or five of them, but followed at least eleven into the Dread Woods of Doom. She also intuits that one of the Bad Nuns stole Plainy's gift, which is freaky because a sorceress shouldn't be able to use a male wizard's Force.

This takes five pages, by the way.

Jed insists on accompanying her, despite the danger. They spontaneously decide to be married, and recite wedding vows to one another. That was...random. Margaret starts tracking the Bad Nuns with magic and warns Jed to be ready to blast 'em.

Margaret hears eeeevil chanting. They creep closer, and see *“At least a hundred candles...set on the ground in a ring.”* Inside is a circle of sorcerer's sand and some Mystic Symbols**TM**, drawn in more sand. Inside the circle are eleven Bad Nuns wearing hoods, with a twelfth lying in the middle, naked except for her hood. On the opposite side of the circle is a large, dark creature with the quillion in its lap.

There's some ritual, and the Dark Thing absorbs the orange glow of the quillion and its eyes glow orange. It moves in closer, and the Bad Nuns ask Naked Nun if she's ready to accept “*the last gift.”* She says yes and two Bad Nuns hold her wrists while a third directs her to spread her legs.

I have a really bad feeling about this.

The Dark Thing moves, and we learn that it *“looked mostly like a man,”* and has *“Downy hair...growing coarser farther down the legs.”* and *“a long, thin tongue.”* It's face is *“a horror of anger and fangs.”*

Margaret recognizes it as a namble, which is...wait a minute. “Namble?” *That's* the name of the horrifying demon? As in, “amble” with an N on the front?

“Run for your life, it's a namble!”

No. Just...no. \~/

Anyway, Margaret recognizes it as a “namble,” which is *“one of the Nameless One's minions.”* The namble advances on Naked Nun, and we learn that it has a barbed...male organ.

\~/\~/

So, yeah, the namble has sex with Naked Nun. \~/ But wait! Head Bad Nun tells her that, in order to get the namble to give her the gift (presumably the distilled wizard magic it had absorbed) she will have to *“take it from him.”* Which means participate in the hentai-style sex. Naked Nun does so. \~/\~/

Finally this unnecessary scene ends, and Naked Nun stands up and reveals herself to be Sue Nun, she of the freaky eyes. She calls out Margaret, explaining that she knew all along, mwu-ha-ha. Margaret whispers for Jed to run while she holds them off, but shock and horror, Jed is with the Bad Nuns! Margaret throws up a shield of hardened air, but Sue Nun cuts through it like it wasn't there and cuts Margaret it half. After a full page of pointless maundering, Margaret finally dies and the chapter ends.

Drinks: 6

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