Difference between revisions of "Xanthippe (Chapter 3)"

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Xanthippe (Act I)#Chapter 3

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-Xanthippe awoke before dawn, as some of the Rogues were leaving for their guard shifts.  She might as well get an early start on the day too, and while it was still dark, was making her way across the fields.  Well, she did make one stop first.  Gheed's cart was shaking from the snoring inside.  Loosening the axle stays made it much less noisy.  Satisfied that she'd made the camp a happier place for everyone, Xanthippe stepped out onto the fields and made her way to a gap in the fence.  One of the Rogues was there, a girl named Flavie, obviously serving as an advance guard.
-"Morning.  Say, why does Kashya have you way out here by yourself, anyway?"
-"Hello there.  I'm here in case anything dangerous comes close to camp."
-Xanthippe looked a little surprised. "There were demons down there behind you.  They were hiding in a cave, down in the middle of that field there."
-"We know about the cave.  Those demons aren't a problem.  Andariel keeps all the dangerous ones close to her, in the monastery.  Kashya figures they'll come out when she has enough to feel safe without all of them."
-Now Xanthippe was starting to get angry. "You knew about the cave, and didn't tell me?  Some of those bastards in there were dangerous!"
-"They're not dangerous, just shoot 'em and they die.  We didn't tell you anything because you didn't ask for anything."
-"If the demons weren't dangerous... why didn't you Rogues go in and kill them?"
-"Akara said you were sent here to save the monastery.  Don't know how she knows about you.  She said you needed a test, to see if you were brave enough."
-So, it was all a test, was it? "Listen, I didn't go into that cave because someone sent me, I went in because I wanted to.  I didn't even talk to your priestess.  Unlike some people here, I am actually doing something about the infernal invasion."
-Flavie just shrugged.  "Whatever.  When you arrived, Akara told Kashya not to send any more of us out,  that you were here to help us, so I assumed you knew you'd been sent here with a mission."
-"I'm on a mission, all right," Xanthippe snarled. "And I don't want any interference."
-In a thoroughly foul mood, Xanthippe stalked out, looking for something to kill.  Flavie was right about the monsters beyond being more dangerous, but not all of them were monsters.  Some of them were Rogues.  Their clothes were ragged, covered with filth, and they looked feverish and sick from exposure.  As soon as they saw Xanthippe, they rushed to attack with crude weapons, howling like dogs.  How did this happen?  Andariel was supposed to have corrupted them, but this was complete degradation, they didn't even act human.  Killing them was no pleasure, it was more of an act of pity.
-The demons were burning the farmhouse here, probably just for the fun of it.  But there was good equipment elsewhere; one of the Rogues had managed to keep some armor.  Hard leather armor, or cuirbouilli; made by boiling leather in oil, then wax, and laying it over a mold to dry and harden.  And because these were Rogues, the breastplate was the proper shape, and not too oversized with enough padding.
-Off to one side of the plain was a graveyard.  As you might expect, the place was full of skeletons and zombies, and the tallest, most evil-looking Rogue of them all -- she even had horns growing out of her head, and her teeth had grown out into points.  She was quick, vicious, could shoot fiery arrows, and raise zombies from the graves.  Running after her, dodging Zombies every step of the way, Xanthippe wished dearly that she had something bigger than one little sword, it wasn't even that long.  After the demon Rogue from beyond hell finally died, Kashya stopped Xanthippe to speak with her.
-"I can't believe you killed Blood Raven!"
-"Who's Blood Raven?"
-"She was raising Zombies in the graveyard, probably an army to attack our camp."
-"Oh, her.  Piece o' cake."
-"That's surprising, considering you hold your sword like it was a club."
-"So I have an unorthodox technique.  Maybe I'm ahead of the curve."
-"Maybe you should consider using a club.  Buy a mace from Charsi, you can probably handle that."
-Charsi had some maces.  Xanthippe could handle one.  She did not buy any.  Not even the Vicious mace; she liked the title, but bought a saber.  It was of superior quality, with two sockets, she could put a couple of the gems she'd found in them.  But while she was walking back to her trunk, a thin, pale man carrying an amazingly full backpack waved her over.
-"Hi.  Who the hell are you?"
-"And hello to you too, little lady!  I'm a mule!"
-This man was not fuzzy, did not have long ears, nor a peevish disposition.  What he did have was a pack full of some of the most amazing-looking *stuff* Xanthippe had ever seen.  "Sure you are.  Are you selling?"
-"Heavens no, missy, I'm giving it all away!"
-I'm just a mule (sing to "I'm just a bill" by Schoolhouse Rock.)
-I'm just a mule,
-Yes, I'm only a mule,
-I'll provide you with the right tool.
-Well, it's a long, long journey
-From the Rogue camp, you see.
-I'll sit around here,
-Collecting no fee!
-But I know I'll do you good someday...
-Oh no, I'll never duel,
-I only eat gruel,
-I'm a mule!
-"You can't really believe you're an animal."
-"No, no!  But I carry things around for other people!  Great heroes, who find wonderful things that they don't want, but are sure someone else would just love."
-"And they sell them to you."
-"Oh, no, sweetness!  They give them to me, and I give them away to other deserving folks when the time is right.  It's like christmas!"
-I'm just a mule,
-Yes, I'm only a mule,
-And I know that you will think me a fool.
-I keep things that others
-Find they really can't use.
-Things so pretty and lovely,
-They'd make the headline news!
-In the meantime, my back is killin' me...
-I'm your magical pool,
-Generous as a rule,
-I'm a mule!
-"Gee, Mr. Mule, you are incredibly generous to carry all that crap around for free. Mind throwing a little of that generosity this way?"
-"I'd love to!  But you're too tiny and weak to use any of this stuff yet!  But don't you worry, one day you'll grow up big and strong, and can take some of this heavy load off of me!"
-I'm just a mule,
-Yes, I'm only a mule,
-Don't you think this is a big shiny jewel?
-Take these here runestones,
-A Tir and an El;
-Put them in your saber,
-They will serve you well.
-That's a runeword!  Look it up with Akara.
-I hope that someday you'll rule,
-Maybe even be "kewl!"
-I'm a mule!
-What a weird guy.  He'd handed over two ugly little rocks, with runes carved on them.  According to Akara, rune stones and "runewords" were used by the barbaric northern tribes, who harnessed a primitive kind of magic in small stones.  When a "word" spelled out with the runes is placed in the right socketted item, it will confer magical power on that item.  Tir and El, apparently, are how the Barbarians spell "steel," and should be placed in a weapon.  This was a new kind of magic to Xanthippe, she'd only heard of gems and jewels.
-The stones fit into the sockets in her saber, and the weapon instantly transformed.  Now, the metal gleamed with a high polish, and bluish light seemed to glitter off the scalpel-like edge.  It was very pretty... but Xanthippe couldn't wield it.  The item's power was too great for her, she wasn't strong enough for it!  Grumbling at the stupidity of that mule guy, she went back to Charsi's and bought the vicious mace.  And avoided Kashya.
-Before she went to sleep, she heard two of the Rogues talking about some hard work they'd had to do that day.  It seems that when Gheed vaulted his fat rear out of bed, his wagon, obviously overtaxed by the burden of carrying him all these years, slipped off its axles and landed in a mud puddle.  Dreadful.  But Warriv asked the Rogues to lift the wagon out and fix the axles, which they were nice enough to do, but it was a lot of work for them.  That was too bad, maybe something less destructive would have to happen to Gheed.

Difference between revisions of "Xanthippe (Chapter 3)"

Latest revision as of 07:56, 12 February 2017

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