Two hours before noon, several wrongfolk were prepared for a picnic by the Zonsmi Oak. These preparations included:
- A bottle of Sgwarnog o Fryn 4308. Not the best brandy that we brought from home, but not the worst, either. Eigrach was barely civilized eighty years ago. They produce some decent brandies now, but nothing particularly well-aged, which this has been. So this should be a treat for our foreign, which is to say native, guests.
- A jar of very strong healing salve. Not quite from 4308, but from some time ago … 4380? 4379? I’m not sure. Adventuring-grade stuff, certainly. Not well-aged, but vintage eyebright is not so valuable as vintage brandy. Not to suggest that I’m terribly worried that Rehit will stab me through the heart again.
- Mr. Snootloose (Quendry’s rag doll). This was a compromise arranged in the kitchen. Somewhat thus: thus:
Quendry:“I want to go on the picnic!”
Arfaen:“Absolutely not. It’s too dangerous. “
Quendry:“Mr. Snootloose wants to go on the picnic!”
Arfaen:“It’s still too dangerous.”
Quendry:“Mr. Snootloose can go without me!”
Arfaen:“… I suppose he can. If he’s very very good.”
Mr. Snootloose has been instructed to remain strictly inside a picnic basket, and, like the rest of us, has been protected by the precautions taken by a wizard and a nendrai who are being determinedly cautious and a little bit worried.
- Sandwiches, pickles, grain balls stuffed with things (or perhaps with other things, they weren’t marked), sauces, small composed salads in packages woven from big edible leaves, and other food items, prepared by Arfaen.
- Swords, shields, armor, and bows for those who like such things.
Me:“They aren’t really all that useful here.”
Yerenthax:“Yet, if other beasts come, shall we be defenseless?”
Me:“We’ll still have the nendrai.”
Yerenthax:“Bah! Vae is dangerous enough, but she lacks the hero’s spirit!”
Fair enough, I suppose. I don’t really know. I too lack the hero’s spirit. Unless a bottle of Sgwarnog o Fryn 4308 counts.
- A jar of our very best burn ointment. No particular stories here.
The wrongfolk who finally decided to go were: me, Vae, Grinwipey, Windigar, Phaniet (who worked quite hard persuading Kantele that she could single-handedly keep the doom away from me), Este (to rescue Phaniet), Jyondre, and Yerenthax.
At the appointed hour, Thenel, Rehit, and their Herethroy colleague Sabatario flew up to Strayway in a specially-designed air-pinnace. The boat was a heavy wooden barrel some five yards long and three high. Quite heavy: the wood was a good fifteen inches thick. Everyone else found it cramped when we got into it, and I would have too if I had been biped-sized.
The hull of the pinnace was utterly invisible. It is a wonderfully viewsome sort of pinnace.
The Eigrachters opened an invisible hatch and hopped out, and we greeted at each other politely for a while. The only notable exchange, which I hope to Hren Tzen that Rehit did not notice, was this:
Thenel:“Phaniet, I believe you have an Orren shipmate named Bluelark. I do not see her here. She will not be attending, I believe?”
Phaniet:“She has pressing other engagements, and errands that must be performed. If I see so much as the tip of her tail, or the echo of her favorite spell, I shall give her such a scolding as will remove all the fur from her body.”
(Which is true: if I got caught as Bluelark on this event, and Phaniet scolded me thusly, I would surely turn back to Zi Ri and stay that way for quite a long time.)
Thenel:“I see. Very well, it is no great concern; I simply wished to know if I might see her again today.”
Phaniet:“You might, but I rather hope not. She is not the sort of person one would wish to bring along on a sightseeing tour such as this. She causes excitement, you know, and we will have plenty of that without her.”
Thenel:“I believe I understand.”
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…so you just need to make sure you don’t get caught?
The heavy wooden barrel for sightseeing implies that the oak is going to whack you around a bit, I guess?
Wait, doesn’t Thenel KNOW that you and Bloolark are the same person??? I mean, he stared at your magerium, among other things!
He certainly does know. He has watched me change; he finds it quite exciting. It is a useful shorthand, or code, to refer to us as different people. If Bluelark is not available, Thenel knows not to anticipate any furtherance of our relationship.
Our professional relationship, I mean, of course.
Our other professional relationship. The one where he’s paying me.
… was Thenel really hoping for an assignation with Bluelark? Today? O_o Maybe he was just asking so Rehit would hear and be reassured that he wouldn’t have to be subjected to socializing with one of Thenel’s paid consorts. o_O
I understood him as saying that he didn’t want to see Bluelark today. [Bard's use of "might" seems to have come out wrong: Thenel was asking an uncharged question, not asking permission to see her.]
You know, Quendry’s a determined little Cani. I wonder if he snuck one of the scrying badges on Mr. Snootloose (I gotta cut Loose, Snootloose!) so he can see what is going on… The kids GOT to be getting into more trouble then is being told…
Maybe he was hoping he could slip one in without anyone noticing, if they moved quickly.
It doesn’t take long, even if we spend all afternoon at it. And it doesn’t take much room, even though that’s less dramatic. But anyone with much magic sensitivity would notice the Tempador.
Um, of course I was contemplating the practicalities. I’m a very practical whore.
We know Eigarch has a penchant for rationalizing non-standard sexual relationships. Have you considered the possiblity that Rehit knows and openly approves of Thelen’s transffectionate liasons and that the whole “I’m allowed to use prostitutes for things Rehit won’t do’ thing is just another level of rationalization? Maybe he was trying to set up a threesome?
That’s what I was thinking. Mr. Snootloose is trouble. Especially as Vae is also going.
That, I believe, would be a whole new type of doom. A very sticky kind, and not entirely unpleasant, but very much doom.
We have wondered such things as well, but the topic did not arise.
Mr. Snootloose (Quendry’s rag doll)
You know, it’s always the things you least expect that bring the doom…
I thought asking once had no particular implications. Confirming it a second time seemed more like fishing for something. >.>
Bwahahahah! Sythyry’s wearing one of the scrying badges zirself, though. So zie should know where the others are. If zie’s paying attention.
Who can pay attention when there is… ummm… profit to be made!