Posted on: Sunday, 14 June 2009
The svirfneblin had led the two humans back to their village, and given them a surprisingly warm welcome considering the circumstances of the encounter. Imoen’s tongues spell had eased the meeting quite a bit, since even the most fluent of the gnomes spoke only halting, awkward, and heavily-accented Common. The two had been granted beds for the night, free of charge as the village’s guests, and for the first time in a long while they were free to sleep without needing to keep watch. Of course, that hadn’t stopped Cassie from taking the under-sized chair and jamming it firmly under the doorknob, just in case.
The fighter had hauled the mattress off the bed and onto the floor before doffing all but her trousers and promptly passing out on the first soft surface she’d slept upon in weeks. Imoen was sorely tempted to do likewise, but she’d elected to stay awake a bit longer and change her spell selection. Infravision was going to be a necessity down here, as well as light, and tongues. She’d made a list of what she hoped were fairly good spells for the coming days, and was working on memorizing the last of them. Otiluke’s Resilient Sphere.
The mage sighed. Hopefully she wouldn’t need it. Whatever was happening to Cassie ranked pretty damn high on the “Not Good” scale of things, and she had no doubt that any further Slayer transformations would push it clear off the chart. Even if Cassie could control it – which Imoen highly doubted – it still didn’t mean it was a good idea. The first time she’d felt great; the second time she’d almost died. What about the third time? How many times until she didn’t change back?
Imoen set the spellbook aside with another soft sigh. Her head hurt. Three hours of memorizing incantations, arcane gestures, spell components, and the like, was entirely too much. She needed a day off — or at least a night off.
She stretched her arms overhead, arching her back, then propped her head up on her hand and glanced over at her sleeping sibling. Sleep would be nice, but she just wasn’t tired yet. She pursed her lips thoughtfully and drummed the fingers of her other hand lightly against her thigh. Her eyes lit upon the sack of supplies that they’d continued to carry, and then shifted back to Cassandra’s form.
Imoen got to her feet and crossed over to the sack, rummaging through it a few seconds before withdrawing the diary. She’d wanted Cassie to read it, but the older girl deserved her sleep after the last few days, and reading a few entries by herself wouldn’t kill her. She could ask questions in the morning if she wanted to.
She flipped forward a few pages, found what appeared to be a good place, and then started reading.
Tenth-and-first day, ere Eleint (Day 4)
We picked up a warrior-priest called Anomen before venturing towards the slavers. He seems neither especially bright nor especially strong, but he has a valuable mix of abilities. And more importantly, he is willing to assist us for honor and righteousness, rather than a share of the reward. Typical aspiring paladin.
