From the journal of Kenari Sanura
"While we're here, let's concentrate on the Dream Stone and see if we can learn anything," Vedis suggests. With a shrug and a nod we all close our eyes again and focus on the question as the pool of water churns.
"I see a a circular room with stairs at the four quadrants, but nothing in the room," says Word. "The floor is a smooth expanse and unlike anything we've seen in the tomb… perhaps, given the size of it, the floor itself is part of the Dream Stone? Could that be why they were removing the tiles in the other room?"
"Okay, one more, guys… let's try focusing on the missing brain of Melchot. Gross, I know… but if he's still alive somehow…"
"There's a large archway into a wide room with no doors and a dozen iron bound chests. There is a large stone mantle with a red gem and another red gem spinning inside it."
"Curious… I shall have to meditate on these visions when next I pray to Celestian," Lenata mutters to herself.
"Since we know the walls and the doors are still there, I'm going to go check those tiles and see what's underneath!" says Vedis.
"I'm going to see what's in that other room… because I want a look at those cards!" I say to myself as we all feel our way back to the double doors and return to the previous room.
"I guess I'll keep myself busy by watching all your backs so you don't get killed," Ef Utan mutters to himself.
After a quick check to the small door that Lenata passed through earlier in her gaseous form, I am able to discern that there's nothing more than a simple lock and no discernible traps. I open it gingerly and peer in to see just what she described before… a large table surrounded by four thrones with a deck of cards in the middle of it.
It's not till I step into the room that a feeling comes over me that I should just take the cards for myself and leave this pyramid and these people to their own fates. Besides… I'm sure the Clerics of Asmodeous would compensate me greatly for turning them in. Think of the adventures that kind of reward would fund! I could get my own ship, even!
With a sly grin I snatch the cards up and stroll confidently through the door… to find the feeling suddenly gone again. The Hells… is that what effected Lenata? Did she suddenly find herself going against everything she believed in because of that room? No wonder she didn't want to talk about it…
"Um…well…" I clear my throat as I look at the cards I grabbed. "It looks like these cards have the same designs on the backs of them as the ones encased in the crystal," I offer.
"No luck with the tiles, unfortunately," Vedis replies. "I get the feeling that others had the same idea."
"Well, I could always try using the crystal and see what happens… " I offer as I remove it from my sash pocket and stroke it with my thumb.
Suddenly there is a burst of light in front of me as a swirling vortex opens into a portal that pulls the cards out of my other hand and into its center. I grab onto the edge of the table as the pull grows stronger and the others are sucked through the portal one by one, when suddenly it occurs to me: I'm the one who opened it, for Bast's sake… I should just go through it already!
And so with a whispered prayer to Bast I close my eyes and let go…
I hate to say it, but I think I'm almost getting used to the feeling of portals.
With a swirl of light and a whirlwind of cards we are dumped unceremoniously into a field full of sepia-toned grass under an overcast sky as cards scatter around us. In the distance I can make out the faded colors of a carnival tent and a battered sign for The Midnight Circus. It's strange… but the place just feels… defeated. Can a place be resigned to its fate? I wonder.
In the meantime, Lenata and I decide it would be a good idea to pick up those cards. If they can open a portal into another realm, who knows what other uses they might be good for. Besides… I like the artwork on them.
The sounds of a struggle soon draw the attention of the others, however, as a small gnobby figure wearing an apron runs out of one of the tents, only to be assaulted by a group of crows dressed like clowns.
"Why don't you all pick on someone who isn't outnumbered, eh?" Ef Utan challenges as he throws a TK fist and feathers start to fly. Vedis eagerly leaps to his side and the two show the crows what for as I chuckle and finish picking up the cards.
"Help! Help! The Lord will me… it's in the soup," the strange creature cries as Word tries to question him. "We've got to get Melchot out of here!"
Hello…
"We mean you no harm, gentle creature," Word replies. "Tell us who you and your lord are."
"I am Biovena the Chef!" the creature replies proudly. "Only chef amongst the Storykin! The Lord… he is Lord Sessarion, and he is a dragon of all colors and the leader of the conspirators. He has Melchot prisoner!"
"The conspirators?" Vedis prompts.
"The nine conspirators took away the Storyteller," the cook replies as he looks at us cautiously. "There are 9 Realms for the 9 Conspirators."
"I have an idea… let me attempt something and see if I can find a way out of this realm," says Word as he steps back and floats in mid-air in a meditative stance. The stones embedded in his shell start to pulse when suddenly there is a flash of bright blue light… and he's gone.
"What the… where did he go?" Ef Utan asks as he rubs his eyes.
"It looks like he was attempting to phase shift," Vedis replies in concern," but I don't know where he ended up."
Our theories will have to wait, however, as another flash of light appears and a now familiar swirling of wind shoots out of a portal to reveal a curious person dressed in a long coat and floppy hat. As the light of the dull sun glints off of the star-shaped medallion around his neck, I am reminded of that god Murlynd we encountered while visiting Aionius.
"Hey, nice clothes!" I say as I walk up to him nonchalantly and inspect his medallion. "This is cool… I've seen one of these before, although he was wearing it like a brooch. Really nice guy, in fact…"
"Pardon me, strange lady," he replies as he takes a step back and his hand drifts to his hip in a familiar movement. I see… he's got a gun too! "Who are you people?"
"We're travelers such as you," Lenata replies as we go through the round of introductions. "And you are?"
"I am Melchior Babel, ma'am," he says as he tips his hat in Lenata's direction. "I paid a sorcerer for some quick transportation, yet I seem to have found myself here."
"I'd ask for your money back if we can ever get out of here," I snort.
"I really must get back to the soup before my Lord gets hungry!" Biovena whines as he reminds us what we were doing before all the teleportation whoo-hah.
"Not before you answer some of my questions too," Melchior replies with a hard glint to his eyes. "Justice demands the truth, and the truth shall set you free."
I take a step back and cross my arms in concern. Okay… he's one of those religious warrior types. Good to know. Note to self… make sure he's not looking when doing anything questionable.
Biovena cringes under Melchior's penetrating stare. "Lord Sessarian likes to eat real people… so he was real happy when the stranger appeared with the metal canister. Owl seemed to think it was real important, too!"
A metal canister… I wonder if Melchot's brain is in there. If so…who could the person be? Melchot's other half? Or is it the Witchlight Marauder Key? Gods above… it would've been nice to have known what that was supposed to look like.
"what about these conspirators?" Melchior prods as his hand drifts to his hip again.
Apparently that did it for Biovena, as he proceeded to tell us what he knew of the conspirators:
Bernaditi runs the Midnight Circus
Brambleson runs The Briar
The Barrow King runs the Mourning Choir
Marselee the Weaver runs The Man-Molds
The Shadow of Sonaree runs the Prophet's Garden
Ballomar runs the Sanguine Playhouse
The Tic-Toc Man runs the Smith Caldera
The Night Peddler runs the Trackless Dearth
Sessarian the Patchwork Lord runs the Striding Fortress
Apparently the nine conspirators killed and ate Sonree the Bard, and divided her parts between them. In order for us to find the Striding Fortress and confront Sessarian, we will need at least 6 of the 9 tokens for them to lead the way to its latest location.
"So Bernaditi is here," Vedis says as she looks to the circus signs. "What does he look like?"
"You can't miss him… he's the one with the crocodile head!" Biovena replies and then runs off. "I must finish the soup!"
"Well then," says Lenata as she turns to our new guest, "worshippers of Murlynd are welcome if you wish to travel with us."
"Yeah, like I said… he seemed like a really nice guy when I met him… didn't really have a chance to talk much, though. Maybe you could tell me more about his ways, eh? I'm really fancy on those boomsticks he had…" I offer with a smile.
"Hold up… you say you've met him?" he asks with a raised brow.
"Yeah, on the Edge of Time…" Ef Utan replies.
"While visiting the Sapphire Mage that Star Archon sent us on a quest for…" Lenata continues.
"Before we went through the Plane of Time and got sent 15 years into the future smack-dab in the middle of the 2nd Inhuman War of all things," Vedis finishes.
"It sounds like it would behoove me to travel with you after all," Melchior offers in amazement. "I too would like to meet Murlynd if I could."
"Stick with us then," I say with a grin as I clap him on the shoulder. "Meeting deities seems to be our regular Thursday night thing these days."
Taking a cue from the retreating cook, we follow him around to the back of the main tent for the servants entrance and I do my best to sneak up and take a peek at what's going on inside.
I try not to gasp as I notice the bright colors and vast insides much bigger than the tent on the outside. Amazing…we simply must tell Tain, he might invest and give this place some style… or use it as a new wardrobe.
Tightropes and trapezes swing in the breeze above the ring as disgruntled creatures lay about the bleachers amidst the trash and throw the occasional vegetable at two bears riding unicycles and a juggler. At the far end of the ring is a wrought-iron cage with someone sitting in a chair in the shadows. I'm betting it's Beniditi… but there's only one way to know for sure.
"You go around back and try to get a closer look, Kenari, while the rest of us cause a distraction," says Ef Utan.
"What did you have in mind?" I ask, just in case fire is involved. You never know with these guys.
"I thought we'd just walk in the front door, actually."
I couldn't argue with that logic… so I proceeded to sneak around to the back of the tent and under one of the flaps to try and get a closer look at our caged stranger.
Well… I definitely think that's Beniditi… I had no idea crocodiles could look bored, though. Strangely enough, he's clad in a velvet smoking jacket and idly stirring a cup of tea while sitting in what looks like a rich persons den transplanted into a cage. I wonder why? Is it to keep himself in… or to keep the rest of the world out? By Bast's whisker… his hands are backwards!
I'm trying to get a closer look at the rings on his hand when I hear something that sends a cold shiver down my spine.
"Why don't you come in and have a cup of tea?"
Thankfully my friends chose that moment to stride into the tent and gave me a moment to think of a proper reply. This isn't your typical monster… the sharp teeth and claws are hidden under a thin veil of propriety. It kind of reminds me of some of the clerics from home, actually. Let's see how long talk will keep me alive this time.
"The entertainment is here!" Ef Utan yells to the crowd, only to have rotten tomatoes thrown at them in reply. Ef proceeds to slip on one of them, causing a raucous laugh from the audience. I wince and chuckle softly, glad I'm not with them… until the clinking of the spoon in the teacup reminds me of my own potential dangers.
"I thank you for your hospitality, kind sir… but I prefer to remain outside of cages. It's a cultural thing… I'm sure you'll understand."
"Suit yourself," Beniditi shrugs. "I assume you are the one to thank for the entertainment?" He gestures with his spoon at the others as the juggler starts to shake with rage.
"YOU'RE STEALING THE SHOW!" Suddenly before our eyes the juggler begins to grow into a giant. I just hope to the gods that the others are capable of handling him… I have a feeling that I don't want to let Beniditi out of my sight until we're out of here safely.
As I ponder my next words my hand drifts to the cards in my sash. Wait a minute… I think I've seen him before! I quickly pull out the cards and flip through them until the image of Beniditi appears before me, teacup and all. "The Rakasha" is the title of the card. I shall have to ask Ef or Lenata what they are.
"Here goes nothing," I whisper to myself as I concentrate and use the card. I feel an energy radiate through me, and then… nothing. Hmmmn.
"My friends and I are looking for a strange metal canister that might have showed up here not too long ago," I offer.
"Is that all you are looking for?" the Rakasha replies… and then I notice it. It's almost like his words are clearer to me now.
"Well, we also want to leave this place. We don't belong here, so we would appreciate it if you didn't hinder our attempts to leave. And of course, there's always the parts of the Bard."
I hear more noises of battle and shots fired in the ring and risk a look out of the corner of my eye to see that Vedis has defeated the two bears with her Force Push ability, and Melchior has blown a new hole in the Jugglers head.
The crowd cheers as Vedis and the others bow… and Beniditi even offers a polite clap before going back to stirring his tea. "Oh very good… I do love a good show. Perhaps we can come to a suitable arrangement after all."
"Have we learned what we need?" Ef asks as he wipes off his weapons and walks up to the cage.
"I'm afraid Beniditi here lies amazingly," I say with chagrin.
"You are too kind," he replies with a nod. "If I may say so, you also lie well for a humanoid. Now that your show is finished, I shall explain my offer. I will give you 5 questions to ask me, and if you can catch me in a lie, I will help you."
The others turn to each other to whisper over possible questions as the 'clink' of the spoon in the teacup keeps nagging at me. Every time he stirs it, it's not the sound of a spoon hitting the side of a cup… it's more like the clink of metal on metal.
"Is there something other than tea and a spoon in your teacup?" I ask him curiously. I figure we all would get one question, right?
Beniditi chuckles, and I quickly decide that the sound of a crocodile laughing is something I never want to hear again. "You take advantage of my hospitality, humanoids… but I find myself suitable entertained so I will assist you." He lifts out a garnet on a gold chain from his teacup and hands it to Ef Utan, who promptly wipes it off and puts it in a pouch.
"The Realm of the Briar is the only way to the other spheres. If you go to the gardens, seek the Black Nib from the Shadow of Sonneray. Now if you will excuse me… I need to find myself a new juggler."
We bid Beniditi and the Midnight Circus a quick farewell lest the Rakasha change his mind. "I don't know about you all… but I got the feeling that Beniditi was right peeved that he gave us his token," Melchior offered.
"Thank Celestian that even Evil can have a code they live by," Lenata replied.
Personally, I think Lenata is giving Beniditi too much credit. I'm afraid that we haven't heard the last from that Rakasha… and I'm sure he's planning something even now.
It's starting to get dark as we make our way towards the thick thorns of the Briar Patch that is supposed to be the nexus of the different spheres in the Harrowing. I look up into the sky to try and gauge what time it is… but it's kind of difficult when the moon and stars are wooden props held up by scaffolding. Hmph… I guess with the death of Sonneray also went the budget for this play.
"This briar patch looks like a mess that goes on for a while," Lenata says forlornly. "If only we could see how far it goes!"
I look at one of the trees covered in thorns at the entrance and groan inwardly. The things I do to keep the cleric happy. After a few choice swear words I'm able to get about 30 feet up… but there just doesn't seem to be any end to the thorny briars in the distance. With a grunt of frustration I jump down from the tree and hold out my arm to the cleric with a pout, as the fur is now matted with blood and scratches.
"Thank you, Kenari… I appreciate you trying," she whispers with a smile as her hands glow and the pain goes away.
A thought comes to me as I pick a few thorns out of my headscarf. I think I've seen this Brian Patch before! I pull the Harrowing cards from my sash and quickly start flipping through them. Come on… where did I see it… AHA! I pull out a card called "The Tangled Briar" in hopes that it might aid us on our way. Small motes of white light fall upon each of us, and then nothing.
"Let's see what it did!" Vedis exclaims and reaches out to touch the brambles. "Ouch! Damn it!" she swears and sucks at her bleeding finger.
"Hmmn…perhaps if we just try walking?" Ef offers and walks towards brambles that soon part and show a path.
"Now why did that work for you and not me?" Vedis pouts.
"I didn't try to touch them… I just pretended they weren't there at all," Ef answered with a shrug. Vedis' mumbled reply was probably best unheard by all.
Eventually, after what seems about an hour of travel through the thorns and briars, we come to a clearing decorated with banners and pennants… with a little one-room house in garish colors.
"Hello? Anyone home?" asks Melchoir as he tips his hat back and knocks on the little door.
"Shoo! Be gone with you," says a voice from the briars. "I am not your nursemaid!"
"Excuse me?" Lenata calls out. "We are just weary travelers looking for a place to camp!"
The brambles rustle as out comes a rather disgruntled looking rabbit wearing noble clothes and a dented crown on his head. "I told this clearing to leave me alone, but it just wouldn't listen!"
"Please, we would just like to ask you some questions. You are Brambleson, are you not?"
"I don't like questions," Brambleson answers with nervous twitches of his ears. "I only like stories."
"Then let me tell my story, and perhaps you can contribute to its telling?" I offer. "There once was a group of adventurers who accidentally ended up in the land of stories. They weren't supposed to be there, however, and decided to look for a way to get home. After many trials they discovered that the Bard who wrote the stories was now gone…"
"It was all her… all lies!" Brambleson replied. "I don't like those stories." he then hops off through the briars and I have to scramble to try and keep up with him.
"I kind of like how I'm in two stories now, though… that makes me a two story rabbit! I'm huge!"
After many twists and turns I almost bowl over Brambleson as he stops in disbelief. "Do you see what I mean? This is NOT my house! I swear… I think the glade wants to marry me!" What do you know… we're back to the clearing again.
While the rabbit is occupied, I reach into my sash and pull out the card for The Rabbit Prince. I whisper a prayer and play the card in the hopes that maybe it will calm him down enough to talk… but after a shimmering of light around him, there is nothing. Damn.
"Look, Brambleson… we'd love to help you with your little lovers quarrel, but we really need to get out of here. If we could just borrow your token…" I say in frustration as I notice Ef and Melchior coming out of the house and shaking their heads.
"Aha! I knew it!" Brambleson shouts as he hops up into the air and spins around with his sword drawn. It's a rather short and broken sword… but a sword just the same. "I declare my right to challenge… and I will duel… that one!"
Vedis tries her best not to giggle as she notices the broken sword pointed at her. "Ok then," she replies as two weapons of energy appear in her hands. "Are we playing to first blood?"
"YES!" Brambleson screams as he leaps at her in furry rage.
Thankfully Vedis doesn't seem to have any problems with dodging the hyperactive rabbit… but after watching him jump out of the way of her energy beam it looks like he has no problem dodging her attacks either.
"Well then… anyone want to take bets?" I ask the others just in case. From the grim looks I get I guess no one else sees the humor in all of this.
"Have at you!" Brambelson yells out as he leaps at Vedis, this time from the thorny trees. Thankfully this time Vedis was ready for him, however, and caught him point blank with a blast of her cold energy push. With a heavy thud Brambelson is sent back into a tree and knocked unconscious.
"Over already?" I call out. "Melchior and I were just about to share a pipe!" The rabbits ears twitch nervously as I gesture with the slightly smoking pipe.
"They've got fire … they shouldn't bring fire here!" He immediately pulls a chain off from around his neck and throws it at Vedis before disappearing into the briars.
"Hmmn… what a strange bunny with an even stranger token," Vedis mutters as she dons the necklace with a charm of a green shoe.
"Well I am glad that's over," I say as I tamper the bowl and slip it back into my sash.
"It's not over yet," Melchior insists, "because Brambelson must pay for his crimes."
"You mean because of the bard? But that's all a part of the story, right? How are you supposed to kill an imaginary creature?" says Vedis.
"Imaginary or not, he was complicit in the murder of Sonnaray the Bard, and therefore must be punished," Melchior insists again.
"Could we even subject him to our own laws?" Lenata asks. "Would we be any better if we killed him?
"Hey, in my country they cut your hand off if you take something and take your life if you take another's… so I don't see a problem with a little old fashioned 'eye for an eye' justice, you know?" I offered with a shrug. If they all want to argue law and moral ambiguity, they can keep me out of it.
"Are you sure you can even kill anything here?" Lenata asks. "Maybe we should experiment with something smaller scale first?"
I look at the cleric with a raised brow. "Really, Lenata? You want me to go find some harmless animals and slaughter them for you?" That room with the cards must have had a greater effect on her than first thought…
"Look, if you really want to deal with the rabbit, he's got to come back here, right?" Ef Utan says as he silences the rest of us with his hand. "We'll camp here for tonight and see if he comes back. If he doesn't come back my morning, however, we forget this crusade and get back to our mission."
Melchior's lips tighten for a moment and then he nods.
"Thank goodness, because my feet are killing me!" Vedis groans as she pulls out her sleeping roll and stretches out her legs.
"I guess I'll take watch," I offer as I spring up the side of the house to perch on the roof.