Xanthippe (Chapter 28)

Template:Xanthippe nav With the siege broken, Xanthippe decided to have a look around town. When she and Kasim first arrived, the jeers made her want to leave almost immediately. If the Barbarians had been more numerous and less injured, there would probably have been more than jeering. Not that these great sides of beef seemed like a real threat, not after she'd seen them in action on the battlefield. But her experiences in school had taught her never to take on a group of teasing children alone. Thankfully, now she didn't have to. Doing what they could not, and doing it easily, seemed to have shut them up.

Harrogath wasn't any bigger from the inside than the outside; the tour took her exactly 10 minutes. Most of the city was empty, as many of Qual-kehk's warriors had gone out to find food and other supplies; Baal's legions weren't going to leave them alone forever. Strangely, she couldn't find any women besides Malah. Surely, there had to be women in any city, but where were they? Impulsively, she knocked on one door. The door cracked open, a feminine pair of eyes peered out, and the door quickly slammed shut. There was someone in there, but she was afraid; of what? "Hey, the siege is over! You can come out now!"

No one responded to Xanthippe's call. That woman couldn't have been afraid of her; she must have been close to a foot taller than she was. All the other houses, up and down the street, had their windows shut and barred. When she was with the Zann Esu, they had spoken of old cultures, where women weren't allowed out of their homes. They were kept inside, barefoot and pregnant, completely dependent on their husbands. Maybe, up here on the mountain, those old cultural ways had persisted. On the other hand, the Zann Esu might have been exaggerating. They've been known to do that.

There was one woman standing outside, but when Xanthippe got closer, she realized that she was a he. His long hair (all white) and scrawny build sure made him look like a woman among these hulking brutes. He was hunched over a fire, rubbing his hands against the cold. Maybe he was another foreigner, though Xanthippe doubted it; not only did he look too weak to defend himself, his skin was even paler than most up here.

"Hi there. Don't think we've met. I'm Xanthippe."

Slowly, the man looked up. He had a needle-thin nose, sunken cheeks, and pale, watery blue eyes. With a sneer, he said, "Well, well. A sorceress, and with a fine large axe, too. The siege has brought a shortage of everything, except fools."

Hmm, gratuitous use of the four-letter F-word. No, the other four-letter F-word. That was becoming a warning sign for Xanthippe. "Charmed. The siege has been lifted for now, so I thought I'd have a look around your fine, prosperous city and see what you guys have to offer for the winter tourist."

"You needn't have bothered. Lifting the siege will do no good, the demons will simply return again. Qual-kehk is a fool to imagine he can fight Baal. He goes to war against these legions as he would attack men; he has no conception of how his enemy thinks."

Again with the F-word. Warning flags were going up all over. While he was right about Qual-kehk, even Xanthippe wasn't tactless enough to call him a fool. "Hey, how many people have real experience with demons?"

Suddenly, the man stared sharply at Xanthippe. The intensity of the look was surprising; she took a step back. "What would you know about that?" he snapped.

Xanthippe realized she must have hit a nerve. Casually looking towards Harrogath's one gate, she said, "Oh, I'm just the one who broke the siege. Chopped up a lot of demons doing it. Kind of an occupational hazard."

"Your philosophy mirrors his, then." The man, who still hadn't introduced himself, smiled. "Tell me this: what good does it do to slay a thing for which death holds no fear? A demon is never truly alive; the loss of its body is a minor inconvenience at best. So few understand how thin the veil between life and death is, and how unimportant it is for the knowledgeable."

This was something Xanthippe had long suspected. While demons were devoted to bringing death to others, most didn't seem to care if they died themselves. The more cowardly ones avoided pain, but that was all. But pretending she was awestruck by this creepy guy might get more out of him. "Um... I never thought of that."

"Of course not," he sneered. "You must be barely out of your most basic schooling. And never, ever learned about the nature of life and death. No, I am sure your training was all about the basic elements. You have no idea of how they combine in the body, or the spirits which move the elements about at their whim. What good is studying building blocks? The will which moves them is what shapes the world."

Xanthippe nodded silently, eyes wide. "But you can destroy the body by taking the elements apart; that does some good."

This brought a snickering laugh from the man. "Using energy to destroy a body is a common and simple trick. And useless in the long term. Qual-kehk, the other elders... none of them could see the long term needs of our city."

"Hey, you must be Nihlathak!" Xanthippe grinned. "You should be a little freer with your name. Malah told me about you, but I thought you'd be more impressive-looking."

"Hmm?" Nihlathak glared at Xanthippe. "What about Malah?"

"She told me, Mr. Barbarian Elder, that every other elder in town is dead. They died putting up the dome of protection over the city. And it's a nice one, too. But you survived."

Coldly, Nihlathak smiled. He did have kind of an aura to him; he was creepier than Gheed. "I was there when the shield was put up. It was so terrifying when Baal's legions appeared so suddenly, and slew all save myself."

Xanthippe nodded. "By what miracle did you survive?"

"By my speed of movement," Nihlathak smirked. "Rather than remain to fight a battle that was lost before it began, I fled, and am not ashamed to say so."

"How un-barbaric," Xanthippe smirked back. "One last question: where are all the women?"

Nihlathak raised an eyebrow. "So good to know my interrogation is at an end. Our wives and daughters are indoors, and will remain there. There are foreigners in the city. It would not do for them to be seen with foreigners walking about."

That was peculiar. The Barbarian tribes are supposed to be insular, but locking all the women up was crazy. Why would women be in more danger than men from foreigners? Maybe Malah would have some explanation for it; Xanthippe wasn't about to ask Qual-kehk. She spoke to Malah outside her hospital.

"Oh, you should not worry yourself about our women," Malah said. "Your presence has made us all very nervous. Ages ago, when our Gods walked the earth, the greatest king was given the most sacred charge, the protection of Mt. Arreat."

"Which king was that?" Xanthippe asked.

Malah smiled. "It would not be proper for me to speak his name. Since then, none who are not of our king's blood have ever been allowed to see the sacred mountain. Certainly, none were allowed to enter Harrogath. Your appearance here must mean that the end times are upon us. You see, it is not really you."

"The... end times?"

"The time of the last battle, when the forces of chaos attack the mountain. This will be our greatest trial, and our people have been preparing for these times for centuries. Perhaps you can understand our apprehension."

"Okay, with demons outside, I can understand being a little scared. But why are the women locking themselves in? Especially now?"

"Our warriors are trained from childhood for this." Then Malah frowned a bit. "And suggesting that they are afraid will not endear you to my people."

Xanthippe guffawed. "Some training. They've been dying like chunky meat snacks out there. Don't you think it might be time for your women to be taking a little more active role in this war?"

There was a profound silence. A wounded Barbarian by the door looked quite angry. Malah said, very seriously, "Our ways have not changed since they were handed down to us by the Gods. This is a sacred charge. Change should not be suggested on a whim."

"This is not a whim," Xanthippe said. "This is just plain sense. The men here obviously need help, and a lot of it. I mean, I'M doing better than they are. ME."

Malah stared hard at Xanthippe, before her eyelids fluttered and she looked down. "We... are a proud people, and it is hard for any of us to request aid. Yoor presence is not appreciated by everyone here, even after breaking the siege."

Xanthippe smirked. "Maybe *especially* after breaking the siege. Come on! What's wrong with women helping? Or maybe even more than helping? There's work to do here!"

"We are helping, young sorceress!" Malah objected. "As much as we can, in our own ways."

"Ok..." Xanthippe shrugged, "what are you all doing?"

"I have been giving aid and succor to the wounded. The others are preparing bandages, and helping use our food supplies most efficiently. Also, keeping our supply of firewood."

Xanthippe frowned. "They're cooking, and cleaning."

"It is the old way," Malah said defiantly. "The men do the men's work, the women do the women's work. Thus is our life maintained, as it has always been."

"Well, the old way has led to a mass slaughter," Xanthippe thumped the ground with the butt of her poleaxe. "Maybe the old way isn't such a good way."

As they stared at each other, Xanthippe noticed Malah's grip on her cane was so tight, the knuckles had gone white. The gentle old woman's eyes were hard as flint; Xanthippe had obviously managed to deeply offend her. "Yoo should not cast judgment on things yoo do not understand. What would a foreigner know of our ways?"

"Look... okay, I'm a foreigner, but I'm just saying what I see with my own eyes..."

"Then yoor vision needs an adjustment. If I were 20 years younger, I'd adjust you myself! Get out of my home!"

Xanthippe got. Damn, she didn't want to offend Malah. Malah had been so nice to her. But somehow, she had to see that what they were doing was wrong! The whole way this war was being run was wrong, and it came from this society the Barbarians had put together. Larzuk, Qual-kehk, Malah, all of them were part of this ultra-conservative, unchanging culture that just didn't work against the demons. The only one who saw any of that was Nihlathak, and he gave Xanthippe the creeps. And maybe Larzuk. He had some new ideas; obviously, he didn't have muscle between his ears. But he deferred to Qual-kehk.

"Ahem," someone said behind Xanthippe. It was Qual-kehk. "Oh, hi there," she said.

"The siege has been lifted, and I have sent some of my men down to the lowlands, to trade for things we need," Qual-kehk explained.

"Very wise," Xanthippe said. "What do you want to say to me?"

Emotionlessly, Qual-kehk said, "Thank yoo."

Xanthippe jumped visibly. Blinking, she stammered, "Oh. Uh, ok. I mean, thank you. No, I mean, you're welcome."

Faintly, Qual-kehk nodded. "My mind has turned to my men who were captured while trying to break the siege. The survivors who returned spoke of cages, built in our old fortifications, where prisoners are kept before being killed and devoured by the demons."

"Prisoners in cages, and cannibalism. Ok."

"If yoo could aid us further, freeing my men would be very helpful of yoo."

"Uh, sure, no problem." Xanthippe smiled nervously. "I'll see what I can do."

Xanthippe and Kasim moved further up the mountain, and found some fortified barriers across the path. The place was lousy with Imps; they were everywhere. Baal must be in dire need if he was pressing these little bastards into service; all they could really do was harass. As they chased the Imps, they found other demons, huge armored ones with little howdas on their backs. The howdas were equipped with mounted flame jet wands, which might have been dangerous for those without good fire resistance. The Barbarian forts, built of wicker and bone, had towers equipped with flame jets too. That was odd, Xanthippe thought the Barbs frowned on magic or complex devices. The demons probably installed the flamers.

The fortresses had a some armaments lying around. Xanthippe found a few nice runes, including a Shael and a Dol, which she had not seen before. One Imp had Cathan's Seal, a fairly nice ring, and a naked slave creature had a rare halberd. It was a nice one, too, with extra damage, extra speed, and mana leeching. Her poleaxe did a bit more damage, but she switched to the halberd for its quickness and the leeching. Among the slaves, they found a cage with five Barbarians inside. After a lot of charging around smashing things, Xanthippe chopped down the door. "Follow me if you wish to live." Maybe she shouldn't have said that, but the look on their faces was priceless.

In short order, Xanthippe freed two more cages of captives. Qual-kehk felt it was quite an accomplishment, and gave her three runes he hadn't gotten around to using: Ral, Ort, and Tal. These were the same ones she had in her shield, which was almost unused; maybe the Mule would appreciate them. The Shael and Dol had disappeared already. Nihlathak sneered that all she'd really done was bring sheep back to a blind and foolish shepherd. Xanthippe was really starting to dislike him.