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Part 2 of 2: The City of Rel Astra. N - 9 days
It was an hour after dawn as the City of Rel Astra awoke. The wharf district and the low markets saw a flurry of activity as career labourers and the employees of prosperous merchants hastened to prepare for another day of busy trade. Beyond, the city was peaceful and gleaming in the morning sun.
Above it all, looking down on his city, was the Constable Mayor and Lord Protector. Drax the Invulnerable looked down in wonder as he did every day at this time. Here, in the highest room of the highest tower of the highest building in the city, he looked down and was pleased. By this time less than a decade before, he would have already taken breakfast, and would be sitting here looking across the city much as he was now. His condition meant that he was no longer in need of sustenance, but he still allowed himself the pleasure of the pipe. He also allowed himself the pleasure of surveying the majesty of his work before beginning the duties of the day.
How he loved the city! Surely this was the most magnificent and properous city of all the lands. The people were happy, the urban nobles prosperous and the waiting lists for university acceptance grew ever longer. Drax's urban reclamation projects had seen the slum quarter almost halve in size over the last two years, and trade confidance had allowed him to reduce taxation. As a result, crime and civil disobedience ratesnwere as low as he could recall. Drax was modest in his administration, as most of the credit was due to the astounding vision of the Fiend-Sage. Indeed, it was manifesting itself behind him at the time. He allowed himself a monent to linger and consider awarding himself another title. He was fond of Magister, of course.
Drax turned in his chair, another astounding invention of the Fiend-Sage! Drax beheld his loyal advisor in all its hulking glory. It quivered and pulsated, basking in its own magnificent bestiality. One of the two mouths moved as if to speak...
"Good morning, worthy Sir. Did you rest well?" it asked in the most disarming and pleasant of voices. Of course, Drax knew that the Fiend-Sage was aware that he had no need of sleep.
"I found my rest unsettled..."
"The City of Greyhawk again? Shall I arrange for a deluge of manure and offal to descend upon it from on high? Or perhaps a plague of locusts and vermin? Would that help to calm your distemper ?"
Drax smiled. The Fiend-Sage thought of everything. "That will not be necessary. Come and look yonder on the balcony. Is not the day superb already?"
"Yesssss..." said the Fiend-Sage flatly, "I find myself inspired. Inspired perhaps to reach out and tear the firmament open, exposing the stormclouds..."
Drax rolled his eyes. If ever there was a consummate cynic, it was the Fiend-Sage... "Oh, if you are going to be like that why don't you just descend upon the low quarter and rip open a syphilitic beggar... or something like that?"
The Fiend-Sage looked appalled, "that would require nothing less than your permission to do so, freely given..."
Drax regarded the Fiend-Sage with stern eyes, "yes, I know that you would like nothing better than for me to accidently free you from your servitude."
The Fiend-Sage held it's expression, "you misunderstand, if I may be so presumptuous to suggest that such a thing were possible! Never in my eons of painful servitude have I known such relative freedom from suffering and banality..."
Drax thought about this for a moment. Could the Fiend-Sage be serious?
Nah...
Despite its ostentatious fawning, the Fiend-Sage was the perfect servant: Omni-cogniscent, attentive to his every need (and seemingly aware of needs that he didn't even know he had), and possessed of the amazing ability to do the impossible with so little. All because Drax required it to be, and it was in no position to refuse his commands. Drax had long entertained the conceit that he should one day ask of the Fiend-Sage if it could somehow produce a second Fiend-Sage...
He turned back to his loyal employee, who was still apologizing for falling short of the standards that were required of it. Drax spoke "You have a report to deliver before you will be doing anything else. Please proceed and stop wasting my time."
The Fiend-Sage stopped and cleared it's throat. Drax wasn't sure which one. It came directly to the point. "I have traced the path of the Spinning Helixes. They will soon converge on the site of the Greyhawk Ruins."
Drax drew deeply on his pipe. "How soon?"
"Soon." Replied the Fiend-Sage. Drax left it at that.
"You have nothing new to report about the nature of the mystical energies that they are sending forth?"
"I regret that I have not, for they have not changed in dimension, velocity or position relative to the nearest landmark. The detective dweomers all seem to indicate a homogenous mixture of chronomantic signatures, charm waves and wild swirls."
"Wild swirls..." Drax raised his eyebrows, very interested. "You still suspect that Mordenkainen is ready to respond?"
The Fiend-Sage harrumphed with annoyance. "I have a policy when it comes to Mordenkainen. When it comes to phenomenon of this nature, I can say with confidance that whatever I know, he knows. What is more, he has known about it for some time, has researched it extensively, made the appropriate notations in his Codex, briefed those members of the Circle that he has deemed worthy of sharing the knowledge and would be busy assembling an adventuring party to investigate the matter. This party would comprise a balanced mix of capable veterans from his inexhaustible roster of spies, agents, retainers, toadies, childhood friends and enemies that seem to owe him for some service..."
Drax stared with incredulity. "Surely you are not suggesting that a mere mortal could be in some way superior to your competant self?" was what he said.
"Of course not!" Said the Fiend-Sage hastily. Realising that it was forgetting it's manners, it bowed low, a sight that often caused Drax to summon the will to stop himself from laughing aloud. "I would answer your question with a question, if I may..." replied the Fiend-Sage. "Could this fool serve you as capably as I could?"
"No, not at all! You know, I really must ask you to formulate a plan that will see me claim that Codex before Reydrich starts to get ideas above his station."
The Fiend-Sage was alert. "I shall devote all of my attention to the matter for an extended period of time. Shall we say... a whole hour perhaps?"
Drax glared at the Fiend-Sage. "I would not allow such an extravagance for any one task! Think again! You may devote no more than twenty minutes of your time to the task. That will be more than sufficient."
The Fiend-Sage bowed low once more. "The Lord Protector is wise in all things..."
"Now, you feel that Mordenkainen has perhaps... already assembled an adventuring group? Do you have any idea who he might chose for the task?"
The Fiend-Sage smiled. At least, Drax knew the demonic leer for what it was. "Oh my most worthy Lord! I can do much better than that! I have here a list of the adventurers that he will now have equipped and ready. You might care to peruse this...". It handed over a list to Drax.
Drax shook his head with wonder. Did the ever reliable Fiend-Sage divine this list or was this its best estimation? Neither was important really...
Drax read the list through his reading lenses, drawing deep on his pipe. The Fiend-Sage remained perfectly still while he did so. "Melf Brightflame? Surely he must be dead by now?"
"Don't underestimate the..."
Whatever the Fiend-Sage was about to say was lost, as Drax motioned for quiet. His face grew grave. "These adventurers, you have briefed me on all of them in the past, have you not?"
"I have." Replied the Fiend-Sage.
Drax was quiet. Some of the names seemed unfamiliar. Those he did know were very powerful indeed. Fioranna Ailestriel? Shit... and Double Shit! Action was clearly called for!
"You have some recommendations for the compliment of a rival party?"
"My Lord, I must apologise in advance for overstepping my authority. I have already assembled a very capable group. They await your inspection in the main audience chamber. If you approve, they are ready to depart at once. I remain, as ever, your humble servant. I await any punishment you deem necessary." The Fiend-Sage was bowed low again. Was it on the verge of tears? Drax thought. Its voice certainly seemed to be trembling. Drax was astounded at the resourcefulness of the Fiend-Sage once again. What surprises did it have in store for him?
"You may rise. I shall judge what punishment is due after I have made my assessment. You may lead the way."
Relieved, the bulk that was the Fiend-Sage walked ahead out of the room and down a corridor with Drax not far behind. "I must warn you, my most merciful master, that this group... this group is not quite... Well... they are nothing like anything you have ever seen before. I trust you will find it within reason to forgive my secrecy on the matter."
Drax did so enjoy it when the Fiend-Sage put itself out to impress him. "Do you mean to say that you are about to reveal to me a capable group of adventurers that I know nothing about?" Drax allowed more than a hint of menace to creep into his voice. It served to hide his enjoyment.
The Fiend-Sage cowered. "I can only apologise once again and beg your forgiveness. This group insists on privacy. For this reason I have been unable to tell you of their existance until now. I have been unable to tell ANYONE of their existance. Regard the matter, if you will, as a contingency plan for a very specific occasion..."
Drax stopped and turned his back to the Fiend-Sage. He could hear it whimper behind him. With his back turned, Drax allowed his face to contort with glee. What awesome secret was he about to be privy to? What advantage could it provide him later in his political manouvering around that churl Grenell? He turned, his composure restored. "Well, lets be having a look at these super-warriors of yours! Like nothing I have ever seen before, you say?"
The Fiend-Sage held the door open and motioned for Drax to enter. It lingered a moment outside the door and it closed its eyes (all of them), bracing itself for Drax's explosive reaction. It didn't have to wait long...
"BY THE CROOK! GET IN HERE AND EXPLAIN YOURSELF!"
The Fiend-Sage dawdled in and saw Drax shaking and looking at the horrific monsters that were before him.
"WHERE is my adventuring party?"
"You misunderstand. This is the adventuring party..."
"There must be some mistake!" Said Drax, drawing close to the Fiend-Sage, ready to smite it down for the impertinence of playing him for a fool.
"There is no mistake." A voice came from behind Drax. Slowly he turned and looked back at the monsters. The voice was deep, calm and perfectly clear. All six of them were standing to attention before them. The largest stepped forward and bowed slightly before him. The remainder bowed very low. He was speechless.
"If I may say so..." the Fiend-Sage squealed behind Drax "... you will find them quite adequate for your needs. They are resisant to the same magic as the rival band. Their hide is resistant to most bladed weapons and they are graceful warriors bound by the highest vows of honour..." Drax was regarding the monsters hard. They were still standing to attention. "They have sworn an oath to serve you to the completion of the mission as you specify, or die in the trying of course..."
"None of our order have EVER failed in the pursuit of a sacred task. We prefer that our enemies, or the enemies of our employers, accept the honour of dying for us..." the lead monster said.
Drax was shaking...
"... it helps to strengthen our reputation among the few worthy of knowing of both our existance and of the services that we offer."
Drax was shaking with delight...
"Will they be adequate for your needs, my noble master?" Asked the Fiend-Sage. It was wringing its hands together, as was the custom when it was highly anxious.
Drax looked again at the list of the adventurers that the Fiend-Sage had given to him earlier. He looked up to the creatures before him, and then looked back to the list. He looked up again, and tore the list to pieces. He turned to the Fiend-Sage, "draft a letter to the monarch of Celene. Express my deep personal regret at the unfortunate loss of her royal cousin. I will leave the actual details of the insincerity to you... my friend..." With that, he smiled warmly at the Fiend-Sage. "You have pleased me today. I shall allow you a ten minute grace before you commence your duties."
Relaxing, it replied "All shall be done as you ask! I shall, of course, work doubly hard today in celebration of your generosity."
Both Drax and the Fiend-Sage turned back to their new employees. The Fiend-Sage spoke. "Behold the destructive extention of your will. The most deadly assault force ever assembled, here or anywhere else. They will crush the insipid little elf band. Behold... the YIKARIA!"
To be continued this Summer, in.... (Working title): Melfquest, Return to Greyhawk Ruins; in which we see Melf and his capable group of adventurers fight for there very lives against the sinister and deadly threat of the Yak-Men. Meanwhile, the Yak-Men initiate but one of many plans to conquer and enslave the world! With any luck, readers will divide into two opposing teams to cheer both sides on! It is all up to YOU now. Feedback is always welcome (thanks to those who have already written), but the only thing that will make start (and therefore commit to finishing the thing) is expressions of interest in the tale.
Russ