Hikuya: Hello fellow DragonLance fans! This is a new story that has been bouncing around in the empty space in my head for awhile, so I got tired of it echoing and decided to write it down. Sounds like fun, right? Well, this story isn't too much at the moment, but I hope you like it anyway.
Disclaimer: Don't own nothing. If I did, I'd be a very happy person.
Chapter One: How to get into a locked and cursed tower without brining harm to oneself or any others who may make an attempt at getting into said place(A/N this goes on for awhile, so I'm gonna skip the rest.)
It was a perfectly beautiful spring day in the city of Palanthas. The birds were singing, trade was high, and there was love in the air. On the other side of town, however, the Tower of High Sorcery in Palanthas was not such a happy place. Hm, I wonder why?
Maybe it has something to do with the curse placed on it. Yes, that may very well be it. Anyway, on this day, the powerful wizard of the Black Robes, Raistlin Majere, was very busy with his big, powerful spells of doom and such. And since he didn't want to be disturbed, his poor apprentice, Dalamar, had nothing to do.
He'd studied all of his spells, cast a few because he was bored, ate food, read a book, but nothing seemed to help. So he decided to scry around and see what was happening outside of his dark and dreary home. What he found right outside the Shoikan Grove, was a bit of a shock to him. I mean, it's not every day that you see a gnome sitting outside of a cursed grove writing in a notebook.
Now, gnomes may be smart, but they can also be rather reckless. So to insure the safety of the tower from any gnome flingers, Dalamar immediately went to see what a gnome wanted at the Shoikan Grove, especially since Palanthas is rather far away from Mt. Nevermind.
As he strode out of the grove, the gnome didn't look up. But when Dalamar got closer, he realized that this gnome, wasn't a gnome.
After standing in front of the gnome looking person, the gnome looking person looked up from its writing.
"Hello!" Came the bright voice from the now positively identified GIRL gnome thing. "Isthereanywaythatyoucanhelpme? I'mtryingtogetintothetower,yousee." The girl rapidly spoke in the way that only gnomes can speak. Dalamar stood there blinking for a little bit.
"What did you say?" He said in a rather confused sounding voice. The girl sighed in annoyance, and maybe a little in relief.
"I said, is there anyway that you can help me? I'm trying to get into the tower, you see." She repeated slower for his benefit. At this, Dalamar was instantly suspicious.
"Why do you want to get into the tower, Miss…?" He questioned, preparing a spell to get rid of her, should she be lying and her reasons not helpful to his shalafi.
"Oh, my apologies. I'm here because it happens to be my Life Quest to map the interior of the Tower of High Sorcery in Palanthas! And my name is Leerabongeorgincarsneezetoeflehighskytillsolamnia-"
"The short version, if you would. What do outsiders call you?" Dalamar quickly stated, not wanting to use up all of his elven life listening to a gnome.
"Oh, people call me Leera. It's very nice to meet you. What's your name?" She said, sticking out her hand, rather like a kender. Dalamar shook her hand and gave her his name.
"Now, Leera, why would any gnome want to map the inside of this tower? Everyone knows it is cursed."
"Well, you see, that's just it. No one knows what it looks like, so my families Life Quest is to find out! And I'm not even really a gnome." She said, looking a little dejected.
"I'm only part gnome. My mother was a gnome, and died trying to get through the Shoikan Grove, when I was little. My father is a half kender, half human. That's why I have pointy ears and I'm taller than any gnome or kender. Papa did teach me a lot about picking locks and borrowing, though. But I have to finish the Life Quest, or else none of my fore fathers and mothers will ever rest in peace!" She said, finishing her story.
Dalamar was a little worried. He decided to inform his shalafi of this strange girl.
"If you would please stay here, I'm going to go inform my shalafi, the master of this tower, that you are here." He said, and turned back into the grove. Leera just smiled and waved, before plopping down and continuing her writing.
The Middle of the Chapter!
Dalamar was outside his shalafi's study. He was a little nervous at interrupting him, should he be doing anything of extreme importance. But he had to risk it. The girl may only be part kender, but she still had kender blood in her. Who knew what she could steal from them?
He steeled himself, and knocked on the heavy wooden door.
"Shalafi? May I speak with you?" He called silently through the door after a few moments.
"Enter, Apprentice." Came a soft, rasping voice from with in the chamber. Dalamar did as commanded and bowed to the black robed figure, sitting in a chair in front of an ornate wooden desk. "What is it?" Raistlin commanded. He did not like being interrupted from his studies. Dalamar winced internally. If he did not do this carefully, his shalafi would be angry.
"There is an interesting visitor outside of the grove, shalafi." And so Dalamar swiftly related the events leading up to him interrupting Raistlin's studies. After he had finished, Raistlin sat thinking for a few moments, before deciding on a plan of action.
"Bring her here to me. We'll let her map the tower. She'll probably just get eaten by something before she gets too far." He stated finally. Dalamar bowed to his shalafi, and retrieved the strange girl.
After having transported both himself and the girl to his shalafi's study, her kender heritage was even more evident.
"WOW! That was one of the neatest things that has ever happened to me! Can we do it again? What else can you do? My dad told me that mages can make stuff blow up! Can you do that? Can you move mountains?" She just kept going on and on and on! Finally, she realized that she had been ranting about nothing in particular, and blushed a dark shade of red. "I'm terribly sorry; it's a bad habit I picked up from my father and his kin. My name is Leera; it's nice to meet you. Thank you for letting me in! What's your name?" She asked politely.
While she had been ranting, Raistlin had been judging her. She had a long, black top knot, with some red highlights running through it. She had the same childish face that all kender have, except it looked a little older, more mature. She stood about 5' 4", head and shoulders above a full grown male kender, and a full grown male gnome. She had long, thin fingers, and carried one large messenger bag, where she had stuffed her book, quill pen, and ink.
Her ears were only slightly pointed, her human heritage making them more curved. She looked about 15 years of age, at least if she were a human. She was wearing a loose, dark blue shirt that was frayed at the edges, and some plain brown pants. Her boots were a little worn looking, but also comfortable he imagined. She must be rather poor, or on the road a lot to have such worn traveling clothes.
Raistlin decided that the girl was no threat to him, and would give her leave to stay in his tower.
"My name is Raistlin. Dalamar will show you to the room you shall be staying in for the time that you are here. If you run into a locked door, do NOT open it. It will more than likely have something rather unpleasant behind it, that you would rather not meet. You are to not interrupt my studies, or my apprentices. If you should need anything, ask Dalamar, or one of the guardians to help you. Understood?"
Leera nodded vigorously. Even though she wanted to explore every inch of the place and open all of the doors as her kender part demanded, she didn't want to be thrown out and never even finish her quest. She quietly followed Dalamar around, taking careful note of where everything was. She hoped that she could pull this off, living with two rather anti social black robed mages in a cursed tower.
She sighed to herself and quietly said "I should have stayed in Kendermore."
Hikuya: Well, that's it for now. I hope you liked it. It'll get better as time goes on, I promise. Leera may only be part kender, but she still has kender blood in her. Who knows what she'll stumble across? Please review! I would be most obliged.
Ta ta!