The Doppelgangers Tale
By:the Dreamcastknight
Chapter one: The Slavers Mistake
It was the second month of spring Kunous in the year 1572 KU (Kreedasch ost Ulvkkralaan, Times of Balance) the city was a buzz of activity,
Any one that stepped off the boat could easily see the sights of the spring festival under way.
It was Faron The port city, Second only to none in all of Tarol-Tor but under no one, for it was a free city and none disputed its clam to that honor, The man at the docks regarded the girl wrapped in clothing that was obviously to big for her. Sarah Did not like attracting attention to her self, that brought danger. Especially since there was a very bad thing that she had to do in the city to a very good man, Sarah regarded the man looking at her and there eyes met he was thinking how she looked under her clothing she knew it she knew that he was thinking of how to get her alone and then… She had to fake a smile at the man and move away, but she knew that he was fallowing her.
She moved like she did not know what he was thinking, she had been trained well
The man fallowed Sarah Down an ally, it looked like she was lost. "Lost my pretty?"
The man said in a scraggly voice. He drew a Dagger from his belt, he did it well not many would have noticed it until it was to late and he was on them, How many times had he done this and how many girls did he hurt?
She would be his last, his eyes got wide as Sarah closed the gap between them, and She was a killer trained.
She would be his last.
His neck snapped easily under her grasp, his eyes went dead, the dagger slipped from his grasp and clattered to the cobbled ally street.
"Not at all my ugly friend" she said as she let him drop, his last thought was of utter shock and horror, but she didn't care.
She walked out of the ally and onto the street there was no one that noticed or cared, no one at all.
But she cared she felt, killer or not she still had emotions, not many thought her people capable of that, not that many tried to talk to them, they just killed them outright.
Sarah was a doppelganger, a creature that was hated universally, easy to see they usually over through kingdoms and plotted to concur worlds, there shape changing ability was augmented by their ability to detect the thoughts of others.
But Sarah was different most of her race where hell-bent on pleasing the council of elder doppelgangers. Little else mattered to them, little else had mattered to Sarah little else had touched her, it took a strange set of circumstances to make care,
It had taken her killing some one who did not deserve it.
Someone who was innocent, someone who should be alive but was not.
It was three years ago she was new to this plane.
Her home was in a pocketed realty where they would not be disturbed by time other people finding them.
Sarah had been sent to kill an Elf named Cordell she needed a disguise,
She had taken a goblin's form and had been with them scouting a caravan
Of human and other races, the battle was fierce. They caught the caravan by surprise
Sarah and the chieftain went to the main wagon, where many women and children where.
They're where no men left and some of the women where dead as well most of the survivors where old or to young, but one girl was there, a girl who was holding a sword that was obviously not something she was skilled with, but she held her ground, determination was in her eyes, they had steel that was forged from pure rage, Sarah and the chieftain found her standing in a circle of other dead goblins. The girls thoughts where quite clear, she was scared but she would die before she let her family die at the hands of goblins even if it cost her life in the process. Sarah didn't remember killing her or even the battle but she did recall the look of sadness and the thought of failure, so bitter was her sorrow that Sarah was taken back by it In her dieing breath she cursed the goblins, the girl was on the ground, the chieftain patted her on the back and said something in there guttural foul language, Sarah suddenly wanted him and his tribe dead. He moved toward the main wagon, but he did not get there, he fall forward as Sarah put her blade though him he did not have the time to see her but she was furry incarnate. She wanted the tribe dead she wanted vengeance for the girl she had killed, pure furry, that was what she became as she killed them all.
When there was no goblin left living she turned to the wagon full of women and children,
She looked at the girl whose face was slack with death. She felt true sorrow for what she had done, she felt the girl's mother, the rage in her eyes, the hate in her mind, and no words could be said that would be enough to forgive what she had done. She wept for the girl.
She sat in the in watching the elf and his dwarf adopted brother, the dwarf was named Spliff and he was an odd dwarf, after all he was hanging around with an elf the elf was talking to a man who was seducing a bar wench, his intentions where less than pure. But Sarah was not interested in him. Sarah knew that meeting the elf and dwarf would prove difficult. She got up from the bar and headed to the door she knew that the elf would not let this go and he was on the verge of striking the man, She had to act fast.
She had already found out that the man was a slaver, and where his base of operations was located, she rushed outside and down the street, to the place where the friends of the man where weighting, Sarah knew that they would not pass up this opportunity.
She stumbled into the ally and fell in to the first man at the ally entryway. For a gang of slavers they where disorganized, and she could exploit that.
"ssurry bout tht" Sarah slurred as she read the mind of the man who she had bumped into.
She knew what he was going to do as he told his friends, she knew that he and some others where going to take her to the shop in the dock district where she would be kept, a prefect plain. The man hit her with a sap club, normally that hit would have knocked out a grown man twice her size but it did not affect Sarah, but she fell to the ground and pretended she was unconscious. Two of the men picked her up and carried her off, she caught glimpses of the streets and cross roads as she was carried to the shop they had used alleys and back streets, but they had been stopped and Sarah feared that the man stopping them would find out the truth. "What do we have hear?" the man who stopped them asked.
"My sister is drunk I am taking her home to sleep it off, she does like her wine, but don't we all." the man said.
The man who stopped them was not buying this statement "Really? Let me see" he said
He went over to look at Sarah, fortunately Sarah had taken some wine that evening, and it was enough to make her smell like a drunk. Good thing she had planed ahead.
The man curled his nose up at the smell of Sarah's breath " she looks like she needs to take it easy for a few days or her insides will pickle"
The men laughed and the man stopped them wished them well.
The two that where caring her where shaken, Sarah had read it in there minds.
It was a little passed mid evening when they got to there destination, It was an unremarkable shop in an equally unremarkable area of the city.
Sarah though that with some planning the slavers could get away with there plains for some time, had they not bungers amongst them that is.
The shopkeeper looked at Sarah, his mind raced with lecherous thoughts of what she would look like with out her clothing " you two have done very well indeed, now where are the rest of you?" the two men thought up excuse after excuse, but finally settled on the truth " she stumbled in to our snare point, we thought that-" the shopkeeper cut them off. "Thought? Thought! I do not pay you two morons to think, you are to fallow orders and nothing more" he said, he looked at Sarah "Sorry Mathious it wont happen again"
The one man said, Mathious looked at Sarah his wrath cooled his mind raced They need not know about her I may get a little bonus out of this yet, A smile creped to his face "take the girl to my room I will be up in a short wile" he said.
Great Sarah thought now I have to deal with mister happy shopkeeper and his little friend, or maybe his tinny little friend.
The room was dark where they put Sarah. They had gone up a flight of stairs and down a hallway. Sarah was on a bed that bordered on being to comfortable.
She opened her eyes when whey where gone, and surveyed her surroundings.
There where several stones of many colors on a sphere on the sealing directly above her and there was an violin sitting on the dresser to her left.
Sarah propped her self up on her elbows. The room was tacky, no not just tacky but badly done and tacky. There was a Worg skin rug that had been died an odd shade of light red and the bead was covered in hide from a lizard or some sort.
Sarah didn't have time do to much sight seeing the shopkeeper Mathious was coming up the stairs, Sarah lay back down she looked up to see a sky light off to the side of the room, that's odd she thought as she closed her eyes.
Mathious had a flask in one hand and some wine in the other,
His mind already told her what he intended to do.
He had laced a healing potion with a charm potion. Guess he couldn't win me over with all his wit and charm so he thought to put a charm spell on me Sarah thought
The man put the flask to Sarah's lips. She is so gorgeous I hope she doesn't know where she is then I can get her to drink, and she will be mine… the mans thoughts trailed off to more perverted thoughts, Sarah drank, her people after all where immune to such things,
But she would have to play along until the elf arrived, she hoped her info was correct or she would have to deal with this pervert, and that was not a pleasant thought at all.
She got her first look at the shopkeeper he was balding, wrinkled, skinny and had a big firkin hooked nose. So that's why he needed the charm potion! Sarah thought.
He would not have been that bad to look at if he was dressed his age and in a better style.
He had a silk robe on and an ugly gold chain, Sarah played along "where am I"
She coyly said. Oh yah she's mine he thought, Sarah thought of barffing. But she faked a smile "who are you sexy man?" She said even though many other things sprang to mind
Like kicking him in the groin and then kicking him in the head. She hoped her info was correct.
It was then she felt an other mind at the skylight peering in to the room.
Not some bum or guard but a man, who was formulating a plain of attack,
He was a paladin as far as she could tell she could barely read his thoughts.
Then he was gone.
"So" Mathious said snapping his fingers, witch animated the violin and made the sphere start to spin and illuminate which cast a great multitude of colors in the room, as well as the fireplace lighting. "Do I, make you horrny?" he said as he lay down on the bed next to her witch caused it to start to spin. The bead was round Sarah had not noticed that until now. What the hell! Was all she could think about his question.
Good thing for her that the Sound of a man crying out from down stairs brought Mathious out of his lustful stupor. "What the hell?" he did not get to finish his thought Sarah was on him.
She smacked him sending him sprawling across the room. He rolled over on his back to face her and began casting a spell at her, she recognized the lightning bolt she prepared her self for what was next.
The bolt hit her square in the chest. It did nothing to her. Sarah felt the serge of warmth from the weave it was to hot for she did not use the weave but the shadow weave,
She released the power in to a bolt of raw magic. But because of where she got the force from and where her power stemmed from Sarah felt like she was being singed with flame as she cast the bolt.
It tore in to him, leaving a hole the size of an ogres fist in his chest.
He fell slack. The sound of combat-ended downstairs, Sarah felt the presence of six others and her quarry the elf.
Sarah looked up as the door opened, there was a creature Sarah had no idea as to what it was. It stood nine feet tall so it crouched as it entered the door. it was a wale with legs, and four arms a multitude of eyes and armor like plates. Sarah had seen all kinds of things but she could only assume that this was a kind of magical experiment gone wrong or something. He observed her and the man on the bed with a hole in his chest. Um this is interesting he thought as he moved to Sarah "are you alright" he asked.
Sarah saw the symbol of Rook the god of strategy, uep a paladin just what I need. Sarah looked at him "he tried to cast a lightening bolt but it went wrong and it, it…" Sarah's voice trailed off " I had to, I mean I just, it went back to him I didn't think that my ring would have done that, not like that" Sarah said while she was rubbing her ring
He looked at her "its alright, my name is Ballon" he said
"Sarah Goodhart." Sarah said.
Others entered the room, there was the elf Cordell, his brother Spliff an odd woman with a flintlock pistol, a human druid, a half dragon with Reevra the god of the dead another paladin, there was another in the room Sarah saw the poor girl, she was like Ballon
With four arms, but she had scales and sliver hair, she was odd but not horribly ugly
The Girl with the pistol was named phoebe. The druid was her brother Kalin The half dragon was a man named john and the other girl was names wrath and was john's sister.
This Sarah found out by conversation and her mind reading ability.
Cordell suggested that they find out if the slavers had any paper work then that we all should split up, Sarah felt the thoughts of several people in the basement "what about the basement, I mean if there people down there shouldn't we gat there as soon as possible?"
The other's nodded in agreement with Sarah "Alright Cordell you and Sarah stay up hear and see if there is any thing about where they're shipping the slaves out of Faron." Ballon said Cordell agreed and they split up.