Two letters sent from Joven

Ken,                                        June 14th, 708CC
Friends and I are heading west in company of ex-traveling companion. I have message of some importance to bring to Rinos; once delivered, I shall seek you out. Have much I want to tell you and would like to introduce you to said group.

Still no word from R and am rather worried, hoping you have news.

See you in a week or so,
~C

This first letter was tied to a bird and sent off about a day's travel away from Joven. On the outside it was addressed "Lieut Kendric Conroy, army barracks, Rinos". Short, but it'll get it where it needs to go, assuming the bird makes its way safely there. Kendric's fairly used to small animals showing up with things tied to their legs- comes from having Messengers as brothers. The note itself is short, as well; that's in case it gets waylaid. Cyn doesn't exactly want to advertise something like "Hey! The duke of Joven and us very famous and known adventurers are near!". He's smart enough... okay, paranoid enough to be vague.

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This letter was sent north from Joven. Cyneric is from the south, but his parents have since relocated to the northern coast. This is quite to his liking, as it means he has an excuse for infrequent contact.

Father,
After spending my entire life avoiding what you tried to force me into, I've stumbled onto a path much like that anyway. Hope you are happy and thank you for leaving me so screwed up that I feel too guilty to enjoy it properly. You elitist snots can bite me.
... Where did THAT come from? He really needed to pay more attention to what he was writing as this clearly isn't what he wanted to say... although he'd sheepishly admit that getting those words out felt good. Crinkle that up and toss it into the waste basket. Try again with more tact.

I figured now would be wise to send you word as I am traveling through Joven and word would reach you quickly with the least amount of effort on the part of my brethren. No use asking one to travel far to where he won't be appreciated and likely will be thrown out on his arse as soon as he hands over this letter.
... Sigh. Crinkle that up, try once more. It's not like they'd actually do that. Probably. Possibly. Hopefully.

I am traveling through Joven and thought now would be a good time to contact you. As I've learned recently, word of the endeavors of my traveling companions and I has spread far, so I imagine you have an idea of what I have been experiencing, should you have cared to listen. Likely this is exaggerated, but perhaps now you will finally be pleased with your pacifistic, pariah son.
Crinkle crinkle, curse, grumble. One more try and if that doesn't work, he'll admit defeat and go back to pretending that his parents don't exist for a while.

Father,
I am traveling through Joven and, as I am relatively nearby, wanted to contact you. However, since it is west to Rinos my companions and I are headed, rather than north, a letter shall have to suffice. I hope that you and Mother are doing well and that the coast has proved an environment of comfort to the both of you.

Upon reaching Joven, I learned that news of my traveling party's exploits have reached great distances. I am not overly pleased with this, but I am going to assume that it means you've heard word of me, as well. Likely this has been exaggerated. However, yes, it means your clerical son has become an adventurer of some distinction. It is certainly not the path I wanted to end up on, but I am sure this is more to your liking than the thought of me toiling away in the backwaters, delivering mail from anyone who wandered into the mosque that day. I know you have always disliked that I entered into the priesthood (and this one in particular), so any amount of heroics is probably an improvement.

While in Rinos, I shall try to keep track of who is what and what is where because I know that sort of thing is of interest to you and Mother, but I have a feeling that Kendric is far better at relaying such news than I. Still, I will dutifully try to keep my eyes open.

We are setting out momentarily, so I must quickly seal this letter and ask one of my brethren to take care of it for me.

As I wrote above, I hope this finds you both well.
Your son,
Cyneric
Well, that'll have to do. It's unlikely his rather obtuse father would catch the contempt he felt, anyway, and this was about as civil as he could bring himself to sound. At least it appeared that he said all the right things, even if in actuality he'd either "forget" about that promise or give slightly wrong information, depending on what kind of mood he was in that day. Why did his family always have to be so difficult to deal with?

The Acolyte's Map - Story, Part 9

Banner art by Artmetica.
You can find the whole cover art here- the art is gorgeous!
There's also a mix/soundtrack that goes with this story- you can find that here.

The Acolyte's Map, Part 9
(Prologue, Part 1, Part 2, Part 3,
Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 10)

The dog returned a few moments later, dragging a reluctant Tomas forward by the hem of his robe. When Kerethiana greeted the man with a sniff to his chest, the reluctance turned to fear as his face went ashen, but he didn't faint as Raff had feared his friend might. When the dragon made no hostile move, Tomas' color returned and he looked over at Raff quizzically. "She likes your amber," the half-elf quietly explained.

Looking down, Tomas seemed to finally take notice of the draconic-caused stickiness now staining his robe and Raff had to chuckle at his grimace of revulsion. "Congrats. You've been slimed, too," the shorter cleric whispered with a grin, hoping that if Tomas was thinking about the disgusting dragon snot, he would forget about being frightened.

When the dragon moved her head back to glance between the two Messengers, Raff caught on to what she wanted before the wood elf could translate. "Tom, pull out the map so we can explain what we need done," the half-elf instructed.

As the younger priest obeyed, his hands not shaking too much as he pulled out the metal scroll case containing the horrible artifact, Raff tried to explain the situation to the wood elf. "If it's possible, we need her to destroy the parchment that's inside the case. Does she have a way to set it on fire or the like?"

Caledhrad exchanged a few words with the dragon, then nodded. Switching to Common so that Tomas would understand, he answered, "Burning tree sap she says with which she can hit it. Fire it would not be, but melt most of the item she believes it would." He listened to another silent comment from the dragon before adding, "And in thick resin she says the remains encased would be."

After figuring out what the elf was saying through the strange sentence structure, Raff and Tomas nodded. Seeing that they agreed, the dragon began walking away- or, rather, began crashing through the underbrush as she headed in the opposite direction. The wood elf explained before the priests could question this action, "Set the woods on fire she does not want to do. An impervious spot she knows of which lead us to she will."

Raff shrugged and he and Tomas, along with Caledhrad, followed the dragon at a slow enough pace so the others could catch up with them. By the time the clerics had finished explaining what was to happen, Kerethiana had come to a stop. Unsure at first why this clearing was any different than the few others they'd passed in their travel through the forest, Raff noticed that the dragon was now partially obscuring a very large tree stump to the north of the clearing. "I suppose she wants you to place the map on that stump," the half-elf commented with a nod of his head in that direction.

Tomas nodded but looked terrified again. Raff was tempted to take the artifact from his hand and spare what obviously frightened his friend, but knew the others would never allow him to touch the map. Tomas took a deep breath to try to calm himself, then began slowly trudging towards the dragon, glancing behind a few times as if to check that the others were still there. Finally arriving at the stump, he removed the map from the scroll case and dropped both on the stump, bowed to the dragon, then quickly scuttled back to the group.

As they watched the dragon push the items into the center of the stump with a long claw, Mina caught movement out of the corner of her eye. "Hold Jonathan back," she whispered urgently. Charity and Caledhrad, the two standing closest to the once-cleric, grabbed hold of the boy's arms as his fidgeting was about to shift to bolting away. Being helpful for once, Mina's small dog grabbed onto the cuff of his pants.

The teenager glared and struggled to break free as the dragon started to spew forth what Raff could now, after having been coated with dragon-slime, only think of as the world's most awful and disgusting snot ball. The burning, honey-colored liquid doused the map, stump and all, leaving an overpowering scent of pine in an already evergreen-scented location.

The watchers were unable to observe this strange sight for long, however, as Jonathan's sudden shriek caught their attention. Raff glanced over to see that the boy was no longer trying to pull away from the woman and elf holding him in place, but had collapsed to the ground and was twitching slightly.

"I should have realized this would happen," Charity said as she knelt next to the boy, "I forgot he was so tied to that blasted map.... er... literally," she added when she realized the word she had used.

Biting her lip, Mina asked "Is he going to be okay?"

Charity shrugged. "I'd imagine he's feeling like something heavy is being dragged out of his head. He'll be fine when he snaps out of the backlash. Probably. Possibly. We can hope, anyway. He can't possibly end up any worse than he was."

When she caught sight of the expressions on the other Messengers' faces, she frowned. "What? I know you guys are thinking that."

Raff was saved from having to answer in the affirmative by the wood elf grabbing his arm and dragging him slightly away from the others. "Allow them to worry about the lad. Kerethiana says that you should get the map now."

The way the elf had said "you" made Raff think that Caledhrad hadn't grabbed him arbitrarily. "Why me? The others wouldn't even let me carry it."

"She says it's now safe to touch. I think her reasoning is that the map is, in essence, now amber, and you are the one she most trusts with such a stone."

Either she really does like me, or she'd just rather see it in the hands of someone not entirely human, Raff thought to himself. He gave a shrug; the reasoning didn't really matter, as long as they were able to break Jonathan free from the map's spell and somehow eliminate the object.

...but there was the flaw in this plan, which Raff saw as he and the elf walked over to where the dragon was using a great claw to carve the fossilized map out of the huge mass of amber that was once a tree stump and the surrounding grass. The large chunk of resin that Kerethiana held reflected magnificently in the sunlight, but a vague shape of what remained of the map and the still-intact metal scroll case could still be discerned inside- which would likely be a problem, as the half-elf now foresaw.

"So the map is harmless while in stasis, but what do we do with it to keep it that way?" Raff asked, frowning as he was hit with that concern.

The wood elf said something to the dragon then shook his head at Raff upon hearing the silent response. "She says that's not her problem now. You have the amber so you're responsible for its safekeeping" Caledhrad looked rather abashed under his green tattoos as he apologized, "I am sorry. If you wouldn't mind my company, I will join the group to help concoct a solution."

A helpful wood elf. Who would have thought such a thing existed? Raff couldn't help but smile as he replied "Of course; I have a feeling we could use all the help we could get. Tell Kerethiana thank you for her help. It may not be exactly the result we were looking for, but it's certainly a vast improvement."

As the two were walking away, a thought occurred to Raff. "I may need you to do me a favor."

"What would you need?"

"Don't let Charity throttle me when she learns that this solution isn't permanent."

Caledhrad snickered. "And I thought priests were supposed to be kind and gentle; perhaps you really should have been rangers."



The next part of the story can be found here.

Adventures of a Young Messenger - Always Trust a Fox (Part 5)

Part 5 - Always Trust a Fox
(Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 6)

It was an enjoyable trip to Woodland city, it being high summer and having the good companionship of the strange fox and the assorted animal life we met along the way, so I took my time. A day and a half after setting out from my family's manor, I arrived at the gates of Woodland just before sunset. Before I could ask the gatekeeper which way it was to the Messengers' Mosque, he pointed straight ahead and said "Go past the Temple of Apollo until you get to the fountain, turn left and go up the main street. The mosque will be on the left before you get to the fortress." Noticing my confusion- was I in a town of psychics?- he added with a chuckle, "It's the fox, lad. Been here long enough to know that foxes go with Messengers." How could I have missed that obvious fact? It wasn't like anyone who wasn't blind could miss a fox this large; he certainly didn't look like a dog or anything like that!

With a sheepish smile at my own obtuseness, I thanked him and continued on, eager to reach my destination and see what these Messengers were like. For one thing, were they really as strange as the impression I'd gotten after reading the scroll?

Turning the corner I saw the mosque before me: a large, old grey stone building with its red double doors ajar, although if this was to let in the cool evening air or out of welcoming, I wasn't sure. I walked up to the doors and, figuring that I wouldn't have to knock since they were already open, peeked in. The fox, knowing that we'd reached our destination and not understanding why I was hesitating on the doorstep, brushed past my legs and entered. I shrugged, then followed him in.

Inside was a small foyer; past that was a large room with many desks, tables, shelves, a great many scrolls and a great many industrious people dressed in red. There were a few adolescents in plain robes (acolytes, I realized), but all looked older than myself; if this was to be my home, it appeared that I was going to be the youngest. Well, at least I was used to that. I also noticed that everyone over the age of eighteen or so looked incredibly tan, but since this was unimportant, it got pushed to the very back of my mind to wonder about later.

The fox led me to an experienced -and busy-looking- priest who fell into the "very tan" category, but then vanished into the bustle as I was distracted by taking in my surroundings. Unsure of how the man would react to being interrupted by a random kid, but assuming that the fox had led me to someone who would be able to help, I cleared my throat and said as politely as possible, "Hello. I apologize for interrupting you but the fox brought me here and I'm not sure where exactly I'm supposed to go..." As the words came out of my mouth, I realized just how silly they sounded.

The man looked up from the parchment he had been reading, and, to my surprise, instead of brushing me off or looking annoyed, gave me a big smile as he said, "Ah, you must be the new kid Armand told us would be arriving. Follow me."

Nodding in agreement that I was, in fact, the "new kid", I followed him through the organized chaos of that work area and up a quieter flight of stairs. He chatted cheerfully to me as we walked through the mosque, although I'll admit that I did more nodding than replying as he was the sort to dominate any conversation (not to mention that I was feeling quite overwhelmed), and we eventually reached a closed door, at which he knocked. A kindly voice invited us into what turned out to be an office; at the desk was a smiling, not quite middle-aged man with black hair and pointed beard, garbed in the most ornate robe I'd seen so far in the mosque. He thanked the priest, whose name was apparently Ronnis, for "not frightening the boy away", which I didn't understand at all, since the man had been nothing but friendly. Instead of looking offended, Ronnis just laughed and retorted "That was once! Besides, he only got as far as the door" before leaving the room. The man behind the desk laughed and muttered something under his breath about some Messengers being too mischievous for their own good.

By this point I was utterly confused; weren't priests supposed to be dour, serious, and... well, boring? This all fit the impression I'd gotten from the scroll, but not any of my preconceived opinions of clerics. The man behind the desk must have noticed the look on my face because he asked, "Not what you expected, lad? Messengers know when to be serious, but Hermes is a Trickster, as well; He likes His followers to have a sense of humor, but that's an understatement when it comes to some of us." He nodded his head in the direction of the recently shut door.

Looking rather embarrassed because I didn't know that and in fact knew very little about Messengers at all; on the rare occasion my family received or sent messages, it was through a horse courier. Not wanting to offend the priest, but figuring I should be honest here, I replied, "I didn't know that, sir. Hermes isn't a god that is often... mentioned by my family." Because the fools think He's a common god and are too pretentious to even stoop to talking about Him, I added to myself, not daring to say that aloud. The man must have had an idea of what I was thinking, though, because he gave me a reassuring smile and said, "It is true that Hermes and his priests are hard working, but that does not make us lowly. However, judging from your expression, you already understand that." I nodded; I found most of the things my family thought to be wrong or stupid, so of course this was no different.

"I'm Armand, by the way; I'm the Head Messenger here, but I'm assuming that since you're here, you got my letter, so you likely already deduced that." I nodded again, although thinking that it would be just like someone like Ronnis to lead a wild goose chase instead of going straight to a destination.

He then went on to explain what it was that Messengers did (carry messages, sort messages, write and read things out for people who couldn't... if it had to do with words, the Messengers were right on top of it) and what I'd have to do (watch and learn and do a lot of the busywork around the mosque with the rest of the acolytes for a few years until I'd be allowed on deliveries). Armand was pleased to learn that I already knew how to read and write in two languages and told me I'd be learning more; that made me quite happy because I'd always wanted to learn more than Common and High Elvish, that second one being the only non-human language my father would allow, and that was begrudgingly.

Armand then showed me around the rest of the mosque, introducing me to the acolytes and a few of the full Messengers who weren't too busy; there were two student-clerics about my age, though older, and a couple more a few years older than that (one of these was elven, which kind of surprised me since everyone else I'd met seemed to be fully human- but judging by the hairstyle and ears, there was no mistaking this boy for a full human), as well as a few older priests and priestesses coming and going. Everyone seemed to be pleasant and good humored, even though none were idle, which certainly fit what I've learned of the Messengers so far.

When we got back to his office, the high priest returned to his seat and asked, "So, do you think you're ready to learn how to be a Messenger? As you likely noticed, you are the youngest here, which might be somewhat challenging to start." Drawing myself up and trying to appear confident- I mean, I was intelligent and ready to work, even if I was also new and young- I replied, "Of course, sir! I don't mind being the youngest; I can work hard and catch up."

Armand smiled. "I thought you might say that. I do have a warning for you, though." That deflated me; don't tell me there was going to be pointless rules here, too? Catching my expression, he quickly added, "Nothing about you per se, lad. I just get the feeling that you haven't been around too many young people and I know how Messengers can be; they're the nicest people I've met, but they can be rather... enthusiastic about pranks, so be careful until you get your feet under you, okay? I don't normally warn the acolytes, but most of them have a better idea of what they're getting into."

I thanked him for the advice and said, "You're right; I'd probably have just walked right into something." I thought for a moment and added, "I probably still will, but at least I'll know to watch out. This is part of the 'learning' thing, too, right?"

"You're catching on, Cyneric. I wish you luck, but I'm sure you'll do fine. One can always trust a fox." He paused in thought for a moment, and added, "Alright, maybe not so much, but Messengers can always trust a fox, if just because we're the only beings more sly than they are."

It wasn't until that night, after I'd settled in and been given my acolyte robes, that I recalled the cryptic warning my brother had given me earlier that week. As I drifted off to sleep on my first night as a cleric-to-be, I mused over how Armand seemed to have echoed his words, only in a way that turned out to be a lot less unnerving. Yes, I knew I was going to like it here, even if my new brethren did turn out to be slightly crazy.


(Part 6 can be found here.)

((Yeah, I had this mostly written months and months ago, but got distracted by Raff and never finished it. Sorry, Cyn. I do love you, too, even if I tend to neglect you for my elves.))

The Acolyte's Map - Story, Part 8

Banner art by Artmetica.
You can find the whole cover art here- the art is gorgeous!
There's also a mix/soundtrack that goes with this story- you can find that here.

The Acolyte's Map, Part 8
(Prologue, Part 1, Part 2, Part 3,
Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 9)

"When are we going to meet him? We've been walking forever," Jonathan complained as he dragged his feet along.

It's your stupid map, Raff thought, but wisely kept silent as that statement would just irk the boy who wasn't actually in possession of it at the moment. One of the other three had it hidden away, but the half-elf couldn't remember whose turn it was to keep it hidden. Even though he'd offered to help, they were trying to keep it away from him, as well. Sheesh, one lapse in control and you'd think I was the one possessed by it. Raff sighed and simply corrected, "Her."

"What?"

"Her. The dragon's a female. Calling her male pronouns won't exactly endear her to our presence." And you likely would get yourself eaten; maybe you should try it. Raff wasn't feeling quite callous enough to say that last part aloud, but he was getting close to it.

"How do you know that?" Jonathan asked doubtfully, clearly not believing him, although what reason Raff would have for lying about this would have been anyone's guess.

"The elf told us that her name was Kerethiana. If you knew any Elvish, you'd know that was a female name. Even in Common, that's not exactly masculine-sounding." Raff knew he was being petty, but this youth was enough to try the patience of a saint. He almost wished the boy would go back to being evil because Annoying Neutrality didn't seem to be much of an improvement.

"She should be around here somewhere close," Mina commented, her voice quiet.

"How do you know that?" Raff asked incredulously. He was beginning to think that his ranger training had gone rusty because nothing short of a large flashing sign that read "Dragon is here!" would have clued him in to the location of the object of their search.

Still nearly whispering she supplied, "Look at the trees- there's an odd mark there."

Raff looked closely at the evergreen trees surrounding them. Sure enough, there was a strange triangular mark high up in the bark of some of them, which he'd completely failed to notice. Pines, of course. It's always pines that elude me. "How'd you see that? And how do you know it's from a dragon?"

Mina looked bashful. "I read a lot and I find dragons intriguing. If memory serves me right, we're going to be looking for an amber one."

"Hey, don't blush. If you're right, then that's incredibly helpful," Raff told her kindly, then admitted, "I certainly don't know what we're looking for."

As Raff's newly acquired dog gave a low whine, Tomas, who had been leading the group with the silent help of the canine, froze in place. "Umm... something like that, I would bet."

"Like what?" Charity asked, dragging the still reluctant Jonathan with her to join the group, "I don't see anything-"

Then, much like how the wood elf had blended into the forest, the shadow of the trees a few yards ahead of them morphed into a large- and unmistakably dragon-shaped- figure as the dragon moved. Stepping away from the tree from which she had been feeding, Kerethiana moved to stab another one with the large horn atop her head.

"That's an amber dragon, all right," Mina sounded in awe, "although the book didn't give a good idea of the sheer size of one..."

"Yes, she's very large," Charity agreed, quickly stopping what would likely be the scholarly ramblings of an intellectual. "But what do we do to get her attention?"

She looked over at the rest of the party. Jonathan had taken a step back and was shaking his head emphatically while Tomas bit his thumbnail, clearly looking worried. Mina was still staring wide-eyed at the dragon as if trying to memorize what she looked like for an exam and wasn't paying the older woman any attention. Obviously those three weren't going to be any help. Raff shrugged and reasoned silently, Well, I'll just have to hope that being half an elf will help here...

As Raff closed the short distance between the group and the dragon, trying to put enough space between them that his traveling companions wouldn't be hurt should the dragon try to attack him with … fire? Acid? I should have asked Mina what they breathe, not that the knowledge would have helped- anything short of fluffy pillow breath would be lethal, he was pleased to notice that the dog had resumed its place at his side. The dog didn't look frightened, so hopefully that was a good sign; Raff for one was certainly worried.

"Hey, great dragon!" he called, his voice cracking slightly under the strain, then mentally kicked himself. That was not the right way to greet a dragon. He cleared his throat and tried again. "I mean, hail, great Kerethiana. My friends and I ask for your aid with the task we must fulfill. We were sent to you by the wood elf Caledhrad."

The dragon raised her bark-colored head and, dripping tree sap, looked at the half-elf standing nearby with what appeared to be a mixture of disdain (probably at an interrupted lunch) and curiosity. She didn't seem to have a response for Raff, though, so he repeated the same thing, minus the error at the beginning, in Elvish, figuring that would be a better approach for a forest-dwelling dragon.

This time the dragon reacted, but not in the way Raff would have guessed. She cocked her head to the side, clearly confused, and the half-elf heard in his head, "Humans... Elf... Caledhrad... Aid... My..." He'd had no idea how dragons communicated, but having spent the past fifteen or so years talking telepathically to animals, this didn't startle him. What did bother him was the fact that he seemed to be getting only about half of the conversation.

Unconsciously mirroring Kerethiana's head tilt, Raff tried again, this time trying to simplify. "You- great dragon. Us, Messengers. Clerics. We need help to destroy bad thing. Bad thing is very bad." After saying that he thought, I feel ridiculous.

"Priests... aid... bad? Sap... thing?"

Raff was torn between laughing at the asininity of this exchange and pulling his hair in frustration. "Priests need help. Need to get rid of bad thing-" his ramblings were interrupted by the sound of laughter coming from a different direction than where he'd left his companions. Both the cleric and the dragon looked up to see the wood elf Raff had suspected of following the group approaching. The elf bowed to the dragon and said in Raff's language, "My friends are asking for your assistance, great and wise Kerethiana," before switching over to Wood Elvish to say something else that the cleric was unable to follow.

Now I know how Charity feels when I'm talking to the dog, Raff mused while Caledhrad looked shocked, then thoughtful as the dragon was able to successfully communicate with him. The green-tinted elf and the dragon seemed to exchange a few more pieces of dialog before the half-elf was brought back into the conversation. "Take a look for yourself," the wood elf said, gesturing at Raff.

The cleric had time to think all of Huh? before the brown-hued dragon brought her head down to stare into his eyes, then moved to sniff at his chest, making sounds much like a large dog and dribbling tree sap down his robe in the process, staining the deep red fabric an even darker color. Oh, wonderful. Dragon snot, Raff thought, wrinkling his nose as his mouse scampered out of his chest pocket and back onto his shoulder, chittering in protest. The dragon continued smelling the robe for a moment and Raff heard a distinct "Amber" in his head before she turned her head to look at Caledhrad.

"She says you smell like amber and wants to know why," the wood elf explained.

Raff nodded. "Yes, I got that from her. Thanks, though." He reached into his robe to grab his feather-in-amber holy symbol; after managing to get the necklace tangled in the chain of his other pendant, his hair, and the miffed mouse, he was finally able to remove it. Holding it in his hand, and hoping she didn't decide to eat it, he said to Caledhrad, "Tell her it's the holy symbol of my order. All the Messengers are given one of these."

Once again there was a conversation Raff couldn't take part in before the elf said, "She wants to know by whom?"

Raff was silent for a moment. This was a subject the Messengers were told to keep hushed, but the truth would probably be best and would hopefully keep her from deciding it (or he) was a good snack. Still, he kept his answer short, "By our god, essentially."

The wood elf just nodded and didn't press for more, to Raff's relief, and appeared to pass this information on to the dragon. "She'll help with this item you're talking about; she says she likes your bit of amber and your audacity," he translated.

Just so long as I don't have to give her the amber and she won't eat me for being audacious, that works for me, Raff thought, then told his dog, "Go get whoever has the map and bring them over." He hoped that the dog would be able to suss out who this was; though the dragon seemed friendly enough, he didn't want to turn his back on her.



The next part of the story can be found here.

As we are about to face a dragon...

May 22ndish, 708CC, ? day of ---moon.
(We have been underground for far too long and I've completely lost track of the date or even the current moon phase. It's possibly Darkmoon by now, but don't hold me to that.)

Goblins, slaves, chaos... it has been an eventful past few days. We have freed those we set out to rescue, but are not in the clear yet. Our next task is to face a dragon and the bugbear goblin king at an underground lake and fortress, down at the bottom of the goblin mine. Straightforward enough, I suppose, but as we rest and try to prepare for an upcoming battle, as a priest I find myself facing somewhat of a moral dilemma.

There's a fine, fine line between mischief and harm, and that is a line which all Messengers must be careful to stay on the correct side of. Using our divinely granted magic to get someone to aid us who otherwise would be loath to do so is okay. Charming someone to ignore us and go away is obviously fine. Getting them to give us information? Fine, as well. But here's where the line gets sticky- it is not an act of Good to beguile someone into being friendly with the sole intention of killing them. In no way is it an act of Good to use mind-control with the direct objective being harm.

To explain this with relevance to recent events: using beguilement to acquire a monster as a guide? Perfectly okay. Using it to get information we need from a mimic? Fine. But I'm not entirely proud of the fact that I used it to send a group of goblins off to fight other goblins- that's too close to harm for me to be comfortable.

But I foresee us coming to a point very soon where I will have to use it for harm, and that fact troubles me. Part of the advice Hermes gave when I asked how to save those we came to rescue and get out ourselves was "join your strengths if you want to win", and, like it or not, beguilement is my greatest strength. I may prefer the more druidic magic Messengers are granted, but that is not our greatest ability. (Not being able to access that magic and having to rely on just beguilement has me longing to return to the surface, but I won't get into that here.)

The goblin king and dragon are most certainly Evil and have been capturing and killing a great deal of innocent people, so getting rid of them as quickly as possible is the ideal. My Charm magic may not be powerful enough to influence enemies of this magnitude, but it is my strongest weapon- in order to help my friends, that is what I should try, even if I am unsure of the result. But here my dilemma arises: since we do want to kill these two creatures, any amount of beguilement I do will be with harm as the direct intention.

Likely I am unduly worried here, as my god's words should reassure me that I would be allowed to do this and taking down Evil is certainly the righteous thing to do, but... I've just never been comfortable with doling out injury. Using my quarterstaff or flame magic to attack someone who is trying to hurt us is one thing (not that I particularly enjoy that, either), but mind-controlling them in order to hurt them... it just seems wrong.

So this is why I'm feeling rather torn. I know what I must do to aid my friends, but it's not something I want to do and I'm not entirely certain if it is something my god would approve of. But if I can charm something powerful into not harming my party- or even just distract it long enough for the fighters to take it down- surely that is the right thing to do. Maybe sometimes mischievous harm used in the name of Good is still a good act...

Or maybe I won't have to worry too much about this. We do have a potion of black dragon control and Linora has said that she knows Draconic (whereas I have a spell that will allow me to speak the dragon's language, but only for about ten minutes). With luck, she can handle this kind of thing and I won't have to resort to beguilement, giving me the option to instead focus on disruptive magic to try to nullify anything the dragon (dragons are magical, right?) or hobgoblin priests throw at us. I'll have my Charm magic ready as I always do, however, because it would be positively stupid not to. Fingers crossed and prayers sent, we'll get through this with minimal damage.

The Acolyte's Map - Story, Part 7

Banner art by Artmetica.
You can find the whole cover art here- the art is gorgeous!
There's also a mix/soundtrack that goes with this story- you can find that here.

The Acolyte's Map, Part 7
(Prologue, Part 1, Part 2, Part 3,
Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 8)

"So your disguise is a lack of one?" Raff looked up from the letters he was reading- it turned out that Jonathan, brat though he was, had told the truth about their contents- to see Charity and the rest now garbed in eclectic greens and browns. He was surprised that they'd managed to throw together enough of the correct colors, but being allowed leather armor at least helped the color theme.

"Pretty much- without the conspicuous robe I'm just a woodsy half-elf. It's nice when you get to disguise yourself as yourself." He nodded towards a sheathed sword lying in the grass next to the napping dog; the mouse, wisely, had taken up residence in his pocket again while the cardinal hid somewhere up in the tree branches. "That's about all there is to it."

"Should I bother asking why you have a sword? You know you can't use it, right?"

Raff stood, grabbing the scabbard and attaching it to his belt. "I just can't hit anything with it. Becoming a Messenger didn't mean that I suddenly forgot how to wield it believably should I have to act like I can use it. Besides, it's less awkward than lugging around a bow and quiver I can't use. I notice you guys didn't think far enough ahead to realize a relevant weapon might help out a costume."

For the first time since he'd met her, Charity smiled sheepishly as she began unscrewing the silver fox from atop her wooden staff. This she stowed carefully in her pack before retorting, "What we have will have to do. At least our quarterstaves can pass as walking sticks." That's one good thing about being clerics of a mischief god, Raff supposed; Hermes was one of the few deities that didn't mind his flock hiding their holy symbols- or at least hiding them in the name of stealth and roguishness.

Charity turned to glare at the napping canine. "Now is the dog going to lead us or not?"

The dog opened one eye and yawned. "Pushy, isn't she."

Raff coughed to hide his laughter. "Ye don't know the half of it." Catching the woman's expression, he said, "I was talking to the dog, not you. We're coming. Right, dog?"

As the group set off, the dog and Raff leading, the half-elf asked the canine quietly, "Do you have a name? I feel silly calling you 'dog' all the time."

"Isn't talking to me already silly? And I am a dog."

"Both very good points. But you need a name-"

Raff's musings were interrupted by a well-camouflaged shape swinging itself down from the trees and landing lightly in front of him, nearly causing the half-elf to jump out of his skin. The figure had an arrow nocked on his bow, but wasn't targeting it- yet. And as Raff knew, one visible wood elf probably meant another half dozen hidden away who were aiming.

"Told you wood elves were near," the dog chimed in ever-so-helpfully as Raff tried to get his heart to stop racing. He silently berated himself for not noticing this elf sooner, Some almost-ranger I am. As Raff got a good look at the stranger, he noticed both that the elf was his height, making the newcomer fairly tall for an elf, and why he'd missed seeing him- well, other than being distracted by the dog- the elf's clothing and green tattoos blended him into the forest even better than the garb Raff wore.

I wonder if those are real tattoos; that must have hurt- rolling his eyes at his own short attention span, Raff recalled the correct greeting for this situation. Bowing low to the very green elf in front of him, and presumably the ones hidden nearby, he said, "Hail tree-friends, may the peace of the woods be with you" in his native Elvish. He hoped that this elf happened to know that dialect because he'd never had a chance to learn more than a few words in Wood Elvish.

The elf seemed to understand. Nodding his head, he gave the expected reply of "Well met traveler, from whence do you come this day?" in an only slightly accented version of the same language.

Raff had a moment of panic as he tried to recall what the last line to be said was; it had been years since he'd last recited this greeting. It was on the tip of his tongue... Something about pines and air... Aha! "From the forests and pines of my home where the air is good and all is well," he finished. That had always seemed silly to him- his forest didn't even have pines- which was likely why it was the line he never could keep straight.

His slight hesitation didn't seem to bother the wood elf, so possibly he hadn't caught it; the elf nodded again and when he reached over with a vine-patterned hand to grasp Raff's arm, the cleric knew that the disguise had worked. Now to just explain his traveling companions who likely weren't believably fluent in Elvish and certainly didn't know the woodland greeting...

Or maybe just not that last part. Mina stepped forward, echoing Raff's bow, and said, "Well met. My comrades and I are on our first mission under the tutorage of Rafion, and we were wondering if you could assist us with our task" in flawless High Elvish. The half-elf's jaw dropped. Why didn't she say she could speak it? I could have helped her with an elven disguise; she's certainly tiny enough.

Still dumbfounded, Raff wasn't sure how to jump back into the conversation and certainly didn't have a good explanation handy to explain their quest. Luckily Mina seemed to have a lie already thought up, "We were asked by druids to the north to research the mating habits of dragons in the area; a rather arduous task, to be sure, but we will not be allowed to reach the full rank of ranger until we complete this."

She's good, Raff thought. Something told him that Charity was about to open her mouth and demand to know what was being said, though- gods forbid someone speak a language she was unfamiliar with in her presence- so he hastily took a couple of steps backwards to join her. Sure enough, he reached her side in time for her to ask "What-".

He silenced her quickly with a jab of his elbow to her side and whispered, "Be quiet. Mina's giving a very good lie as to why we're looking for a dragon and I want to hear."

Charity nodded and remained silent, but his retreat caused Raff to miss the wood elf's response. He was able to catch Mina's sigh and her next statement of "It does seem like the novices always get the most tedious quests, does it not? But you say there is rumor of one in the pine forests to the west of here?"

Once again Raff missed the elf's response, this time as Jonathan leaned over to whisper, "Are they finished yet? Are they going to tell us about that dragon or not?"

Before the half-elf could answer, it was Tomas's turn to inquire, "And what is she saying about trees and something west? That's all I caught in there."

Raff rolled his eyes up to give a silent prayer asking for the patience to deal with such annoying traveling companions. He may not have the greatest attention span, but at least he could stay silent for a few minutes. "If you guys would stop talking, I'd be able t'tell you," he hissed.

Tomas had the courtesy to look abashed, but Jonathan only scowled as Raff was finally able to hear Mina say "Thank you for your assistance; I am very grateful for your aid. I must now speak with my companions to explain this situation as a few of them do not yet know this language well."

The wood elf nodded and bowed low to her. His next actions surprised Raff; turning to face the group, the wood elf dipped his head and said in highly accented and broken Common, "Dangerous dragons often be, but tell Kerethiana that with our blessings you go and that vouch for you Caledhrad does. Young rangers, on this task well do we wish you."

Then with a wink at Mina, he stepped back into the shadow of the trees and vanished into the greenery as his mottled greens and browns seemed to become the foliage. Raff glanced at the spot uncertainly, but even with his trained eyes he couldn't tell if the elf was still watching them or not. Obviously the elves did not take them for a threat, but judging from Mina's blush, that particular elf could still be sticking around for a different reason.

"You charmed him or something, didn't you?" Raff asked her suspiciously. Having used that trick more than a few times himself, he was a pretty good judge of noticing when someone had just tried flirtation combined with magic to get desired information, even if he hadn't witnessed the whole exchange.

"I wouldn't say that. He was just friendly and helpful," Mina replied with a shrug, obviously trying to pretend that she hadn't been the cause- probably because Tomas was now glaring in the direction he thought the elf had left. And left was right, or correct, anyway; Raff was amused to notice that the young man was glaring in the wrong direction.

"Now where is this dragon?" Jonathan demanded, "Some of us just want to get this over with, you know. Who cares how he gave her the information?"

Now Raff had to do all he could to keep from laughing at the dirty looks both Tomas and Mina shot at the boy. This drama was fairly amusing, or at least more amusing than anything else on this trek, but the teen did have a point. Apparently Charity agreed, because she commented before Raff could get his smirk under control, "To the west, correct?" At Mina's nod, she continued, "Then west we go."

A thought occurred to Raff, "And we should get away from prying ears as soon as possible. Nice as these elves seem to be, we don't want them learning of our true mission," he whispered, "Obviously we'll need to explain it to the dragon- I'd recommend not in disguise, in case it doesn't work and she becomes angry- but the less who learn of it, the better." Not that he thought a map would be of particular use or attraction to a wood elf; they rarely left their forests and from what he knew, not many of them bothered to learn how to read, even in their own language. Still, it was better to be safe. Look at me, being all rational and thoughtful, he thought with mock-pride.

As if echoing his thoughts, Charity said, "That's an impressive statement. We'll turn you into a good, levelheaded Messenger yet."

Raff looked at her questioningly, wondering if she meant to be rude, and saw that she was grinning. "We'll see about that," he retorted, mirroring the grin.



The next part of the story can be found here.

The Acolyte's Map - Story, Part 6

Banner art by Artmetica.
You can find the whole cover art here- the art is gorgeous!
There's also a mix/soundtrack that goes with this story- you can find that here.

The Acolyte's Map, Part 6
(Prologue, Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 7)

Seated on the ground with his back against a tree, Raff spoke quietly with the mouse in front of him. Like most Messengers in their downtime, he was attempting some mischief out of boredom; in this case, trying to get Rhy to understand the concept of thievery and how to work a button on a backpack. The half-elf had a feeling that some of the stolen deliveries were in the bag Jonathan carried, but he had no desire to get close enough to the strange young man to rummage through it to find out. Still, he very much wanted to know if the letters he was expecting were in there... "No, no, no. You don't eat the button, you move it so you can get inside."

"But looks like cracker. Like crackers!" The mouse looked up at Raff expectantly. "Snack for Rhy?"

"You are crackers." When the mouse sent back a mental "?", he sighed, wishing he had a pet who understood jokes. "Look, it's simple. Slide the button like so, climb inside, grab paper with orange string... wait, can you see color?"

"See grass, see big elf, see tall leafy things. Not see this color." The mouse's nose twitched as it looked around, trying to scent the unfamiliar word.

The cleric covered his face with his hands, exasperated but slightly amused- was the mouse purposely being obtuse? Feeling this would be a lost cause, he wondered idly if he'd be able to find a cat or a weasel or some smarter animal nearby to train for this task. Before Raff could try explaining once again, he was interrupted by the sound of footsteps crackling through the underbrush at his back. Placing the mouse on his shoulder, Raff stood. When he saw that it was the person he was plotting against, he hoped the mouse would sit quietly and not get confused.

"Are you Raff Goldenstrings?" the once-Messenger inquired tersely, not looking at Raff.

The half-elf's hope was short-lived; when the mouse heard the name, it asked "String? That string? Orange? Where string?"

"Forget the string. Just stay quiet," Raff whispered to his pet. He narrowed his eyes, wondering what the recently-possessed boy wanted. When not openly glaring, Jonathan had spent most of the trip avoiding the half-elf and hadn't yet spoken to him directly. "Why do you want to know?"

Jonathan shifted his feet and kept his head down. "I've heard them calling you Raff. I need to know if that's you" he mumbled.

Raff rolled his eyes. "Fine, yes, that's me. Now why do you need to know that?"

"I wasn't going to give these back, but Edward says I'm going to need to eventually deliver everything and you're right here so it might be good to start." Drawing a selection of rolled up parchments out of the bag slung over his shoulder, Jonathan hesitated for a moment before tossing them over. He clearly did not want to get any closer to the older cleric, which didn't surprise Raff, although it still irked him to be so shunned. It wasn't as though he wanted that blasted map, contrary to what this boy believed.

Raff caught them, noticed the color of the strings tying them shut- three with orange, one with a green ribbon- and frowned. When he caught sight of the open wax seals, his anger changed to indignation. "You read them, too? What the hell's wrong with you!"

Holding his arms out in front of him to try to belay Raff's anger, Jonathan tried to play innocent. "It wasn't my fault! And if it makes you feel any better, I didn't just read yours."

"Oh, now that really validates your actions!" Taking a deep breath, Raff tried counting to ten. Then tried it again in another language when that didn't help. He tried to work through a third, but when he could only remember up to the number six, he gave up. Oh, forget this. I have reason to be angry! "Important messages are entrusted to us, you stupid boy! Possessed or not, it never occurred to you that people depend on letters making it to their intended destinations?" Raff paused to take another deep breath, clenching and unclenching the hand not holding the arrangement of scrolls, before continuing, "You never realized that people would be worried sick when they didn't hear from someone they were expecting news from? That sometimes letters are the only way of reaching those ye care about?"

The youth muttered something, which Raff missed in his tirade. Ceasing his verbal reproach, he asked "What was that?"

"I said you didn't have to worry. He befriended a dragon, he wasn't eaten by one."

Raff stared then shook his head in bewilderment. Was this lad still lacking sanity? "Huh? What does a dragon have t'do with anything?"

Now Jonathan looked up, but only to glance guiltily at the items in Raff's hand before returning his attention to his boot laces. The half-elf wished he had something heavier to throw at the young man than just a handful of paper, and had to settle on taking a step forward, all but seething. "And you recall the information of your thefts? You should be the one forced to encounter a dragon; maybe being faced with large amounts of acid or flame would set ye straight." Realizing what he had just said, Raff reviewed that statement. "Meeting with dragon-flame or acid... that's it! Ratfink though you may be, you've given me an idea!"

The boy had begun to back away, but now finally looked up at Raff's face, his turn to be confused. "What idea?"

"I think I've found a way to speed up your atonement and eliminate the m- that item. We just need t'find you a dragon."

"Just? A dragon?" the young man squeaked, sounding even younger and nothing like the attacker they'd foiled so recently.

While still peeved, that cooled Raff's anger into something more resembling pity. Quick to anger though he was, he was never one to hold a grudge- unless the boy had lied and the letters in his hand were bad news. Then all bets would be off. "You want to be normal again, right?"

Jonathan nodded dumbly, so shaken that he didn't cringe away when the older Messenger grabbed his arm to drag him back to where the rest of their party was setting up camp in a forest clearing.

*****
When Charity noticed the two of them in close proximity, she raised an eyebrow; this action reminded Raff of who he was dragging along. Dropping the boy's arm like it burned, Raff absentmindedly wiped his hand on his robe. "Guys, we need to find a dragon."

That brought Mina and Tomas over. "A dragon? Why?" Tomas sounded intrigued, which the half-elf took to be a good sign.

Jonathan tried to pout and glare at the same time and ended up just making faces. "Raff wants to get rid of me by dragon-fire."

"I said no such thing." Seeing the young man about to deny this, Raff rolled his eyes again and went on, "I'm miffed, not evil. My idea is to destroy the artifact with dragon-breath, not annihilate you with it."

From the look on Jonathan's face, Raff got the feeling that this would be much the same thing. Still, it was the best (in that it was the only) idea they'd had so far.

"There's a slight problem with that, though, Raff," Charity chimed in, always the voice of reason. "None of us happen to be carrying a convenient small dragon in our packs, you know."

"Technicality. There's bound to be one around here somewhere. I mean, Edward wouldn't have sent us south if there wasn't a good reason for it." The others gazed at him skeptically. "What? I can't possibly be the only one who trusts his judgment."

A collection of shrugs greeted this statement. "Besides, I know for a fact that there's a dragon... um... let me find it..." Raff began riffling through the messages Jonathan had so recently given him.

"Don't bother. That dragon is far to the northeast, halfway across the country and nowhere near the direction we were sent." Apparently as well as recalling the dragon, Jonathan still had the contents of the stolen letters memorized. Expecting Raff to be angry at this breach in secrecy, the youth was surprised to see him just shrug. Hey, it saved me time trying to skim through that tiny handwriting for the exact passage, the half elf thought to himself, maybe after this we could start using the kid as a scribe. He still wasn't happy about all this, but holding a grudge wouldn't get them anywhere on this quest.

"So we'd have to find another dragon. Who do we know who would know the location of one nearby?" Mina pondered.

"Rangers?" Tomas supplied.

Raff snorted. "Good luck finding one of them. The whole point of being a ranger is to keep from being tracked. Druids perhaps?"

"Possibly a bit easier to locate but not likely to help," Charity refuted.

"Wood elves."

"Come now, those would be even less likely to help than the druids and even more difficult to find," Raff commented. When the other four stared at him in confused surprise (well, confusion on the part of three of them; irritated bemusement on the part of Jonathan), Raff returned the gaze. "Okay, someone said 'wood elves'. I am not hearing things."

Once again, the group looked skeptical. Fortunately, before Raff could begin doubting his sanity any more than usual, a brown shaggy dog sauntered into the group and plopped itself down at his feet. "You again! What a fine mess ye got me into earlier, by the way," the half-elf upbraided, not caring what the others thought about a one-sided conversation.

"Sorry. Had to leave and man got away."

"Obviously, which was the start of said mess." Raff crossed his arms over his chest, staring down at the mutt. If a dog could look chastened, this one did; dipping its head low it whined. Raff sighed and reached down to scratch it on the head. "It's fine. Forget it. Now what's this about elves?"

Either the words or the scratches cheered it up. Looking up with a doggie grin it sent mentally, "Smell wood elves nearby. Can take you to them."

Before Raff could agree, Charity interrupted, "Care to let the rest of us in on this conversation?" Taking his attention away from the dog, Raff saw that she had her hands on her hips and was tapping her foot. Never a good sign. Tomas and Mina both looked like they were going to laugh, while Jonathan was still trying to ignore him; both of these things were preferable to an affronted Charity.

Blushing, the half-elf explained, "That's the dog I met at the start of all this. He says he can take us to wood elves."

Charity nodded, which relieved Raff, and said, "And if there's a dragon anywhere near their forest, they'd know. But how would we get them to tell us once we located them?"

"Can't we just disguise ourselves as something they'd trust?" Tomas supplied. When the rest of the group turned to look at him in amazement, he shuffled his feet nervously. "We're all Messengers, right?"

When he caught Jonathan's scowl, he hastily corrected, "We all know how to use disguises, I mean. Can we make ourselves look like elves or rangers or something? Then it won't be as suspicious as a bunch of priests- sorry, Jon- looking for a dragon."

"That just might be crazy enough to work," Charity agreed. "Oh, stop moping. Maybe this will take your mind off of things," she then said sharply to the only non-Messenger of the group, choosing to ignore the glower he shot in her direction. She turned to the two shortest members of the party for their reactions to this idea.

Mina shrugged. "It's worth a try. The worst they can do is send us away."

Aye, at arrow-point, Raff thought but refrained from saying it aloud. Instead he also shrugged. "Hey, at least this time it's a disguise where I don't have to change my appearance much. Works for me."

"Good, then it's settled." Talking directly to the dog, either assuming it understood her or figuring Raff would translate, she told it, "As soon as we're ready, I'd like you to lead us to those elves."

"She said-" Raff started to interpret.

"Tell her yes." Okay, then, Raff thought, either this is a really smart dog or there is some really powerful magic going on here. Even if he had cast the Speak with Animals spell, which he had already used up on the mouse, it shouldn't have been able to understand two humans (or close enough) at once.

Oh well, it wasn't worth worrying about. "He says he will."

Charity nodded. "Good. Now let's go see what kind of charade we can pull together."



The next part of the story can be found here.

((And if you were curious as to why Cyn has been so pissy lately, well, part of the reason is that green-ribboned scroll...))