Hearing the old man hurumph, Kira grins wickedly and stiffles a grin. She follows him with complaint and without an attempt to flee. At the house Kira moves to enter the door that the old man is holding open for her. As she passes him, she pauses briefly and says, giving him her best smile, "Thank you evuh so much, kind Suh. You are truely a gentleman. Ah do so hope we shall meet again, perhaps unduh somewhat less...mysterious...circumstances." Kira hits him with another blast of smile and moves on through the doorway.

It doesn't even seem like the old man is paying attention to Kira much less listening to her. As she steps through the doorway the man pulls the door shut swiftly. Kira moves just fast enough to avoid having the cloth of her tunic caught in the door. The old man then speaks again, "Follow me," and begins moving through the house. He leds Kira to a room and again opens the door. Kira notices during her walking in the house that the furnishings are quite expensive and well maintained. Kira also notices that there is not another servant visible at all.

Kira follows, disappointed at the old man's apparent lack of a sense of humor, not to mention is somewhat less than gracious behavior. Oh, well, that's how these people are up in the north. Kira figures the old man is too old and too uptight to try to do anything nasty to her person, and the obvious wealth (and Kira's lack thereof) rule out any sort of robbery. So, Kira is content to follow along and see what happens next.

The room that Kira enters is very plush. Along the walls are scores of books neatly arranged on bookshelves. In the center of the room there are several comfortable-looking chairs arranged in a circle. In the most regal chair at the head of the circle sits an older woman. This must be the Lady! The woman looks tired and upon seeing Kira and the old man enter the room sits a little straighter in her chair.

"Sit," the lady says to Kira. Kira faintly hears a noise behind her, as she glances over her shoulder she sees that the old man is gone and the door is shut.

"Why, thank you," Kira smiles, moving to a chair. "What an utterly fabulous library!" Kira beams at the Lady and patiently waits for her to explain.

The Lady doesn't stand and seemingly the only thing keeping her erect is the chair itself. With a tired voice she says, "HonShar has need of your services. Recently one of our Lords was captured by the Orcs. Along with him, a magical device was captured. I sent in a small group of adventurers, such as yourself, to rescue the Lord."

The Lady waves a hand and seconds later noiselessly the old servant walks by Kira with a crystal goblet and a decanter of some blue beverage. Kira holds her surprise under check. She did not hear the door open or the servant enter. The old man pours some liquid for the Lady and after she has taken a large pull her back straightens slightly and strength seems to flow into her. She continues speaking, this time in a much stronger voice, a voice of a Lady, "The group ran into some troubles and have sent some of their numbers back to request reinforcements. I have made inquires as to your background and have decided that you would serve HonShar well in such a mission."

The Lady finishes the drink and waves the old man away, without a whisper he leaves, pausing momentarily as he looks on Kira. His expression makes Kira nervious. It is as if he is checking to see if the elegant chair is being tainted by Kira's mere presence. After a disapproving sniff, he leaves.

The Lady doesn't seem to notice the servant's byplay and continues, "I understand that I have not told you much but that is for a reason. Will you accept this mission?"

Kira vacillates between amusement and annoyance at the old man's antics. The Lady, at least, is not being rude, "Ma'am," Kira says finally, "Ah am not a native of HonShuh. Puh-haps," Kira continues, to forestall any comments, "this threat you speak of is so severe that it threatens muh homeland as well. Ah don't doubt your assessment of the situation.

The Lady nods her head to indicate that Kira continues.

Kira continues, "What Ah do find curious is your ... assistant. He leaves me with the definite impression that Ah have very little choice in the mattuh. If you are asking me, no consequences for refusal, that's one thing. If Ah am being forced, then what makes HonShuh worth saving?"

Kira holds up her hand to again forestall comment for the moment. "Ma'am, Ah appreciate your situation. Ah will agree to help you, such as Ah can, on the condition that you will send a warning of this potential difficulty to Sylvorn. Ah trust your sense of timing in this warning," Kira adds, makingit clear that she won't object if the message doesn't go unless her mission fails.

The Lady pauses in thought for a second and then says, "I do not know what my...assistant...has said to you, I think it is high time that I had another 'chat' with him. He is starting to take liberties again," she lets out a slight sigh and continues, "and of course, I swear I will send a message to Sylvorn if appropriate, though I trust that things will not escalate to that point."

Smiling the Lady says, "Now I request an oath from you, to swear that you will endevour to complete this mission."

Kira says, "I will do everything in my power to ensure the sucessful completion of this mission." As Kira speaks she feels a pressure build in the air and as she says the last word the pressure suddenly vanishes leaving her feeling normal and yet not. Distracting her from her self-inspection the Lady speaks, "Excellent."

Rising from her chair the Lady says, "Please walk with me, do you have any questions?" as she heads for the door.

"Other," Kira responds, "than the obvious 'what am I supposed to do' questions? Not yet."

The Lady smiles and says, "Quite simple really; travel with the two misfits, that you are about to be introduced to, to the Orc city. Rejoin the rest of the group. Rescue the Lord. Retrieve the magical artifact if possible. Return to HonShar."

The Lady laughs a little and says, "That's all.."

"Misfits?" Kira raises her eyebrows. "I can't decide which would be worse," she muses, "working with 'misfits' or being declared one myself." In a more serious tone, she asks, "What are the continency plans? If it becomes impossible to return the item, should it be destroyed? If the Lord cannot be rescued, for example, should he be killed? I know," she adds, "that these are unpleasant prospects and hope fervently that it will never come to such, but I need to know what you want us to do if things go so poorly we have no chance of complete success."

Kira gives the impression that she could and would, if ordered, terminate the Lord if the only other option were his recapture or if there were absolutely no way to rescue him.

The Lady says, "You will understand what I mean by 'misfits' after you have been associated with Aanparon and Garth for a little while," showing that while old, she still has excellent hearing, the Lady then frowns momentarily and continues, "The Lord General Herpein knows entirely too much of our defenses to be left alive if he can not be rescued. The artifact, the Ca'ega, more than likely can not be destroyed at all, so the point is academic. In truth, the priority is to fall on the rescueing of Lord General Herpein. The Ca'ega is of secondary concern."

Still frowning, she says, "Let me give you a little more information, first off.." she trails off as she mumbles some words that you all strain to hear but they seem to slip away from you like a coy barmaid, leaving you with no recollection of what they were, she finishes mumbling and a man appears before you.

He is a human, perhaps in his early thirties, he has black hair (which is cut in a short military-style) and a long black mustache. He is wearing a set of armour that Kira has never seen before. It is golden in nature and looks very impressive. He has a scar on his left cheek that runs from the corner of his eye down to chin, but it does not seem to take away from his beauty, rather, it enhances it.

"This what Lord Herpein looks like," Lady Otasura says, "I doubt if he still has the armour and more than likely he has a few more scars but I have been able to pinpoint both his living presence and the presence of the Ca'ega in Krimba-Hai. Unfortunately, the city is warded so I could not get an exact location.. Hmm, yes.." The Lady trails off with some more unhearable words and appearing next to the man, floating in the air, is a silver object that remotely resembles a key.

"This is what the Ca'ega looks like. It has magical powers so if you are able to reclaim it, make sure that no one, especially Garth tinkers with it," "Hmm, transport, yes.. If for some reason you do not feel like it is safe for you to return through enemy lines to HonShar after you have completed your mission, simply return to where I will be transporting you. Remain there for at least three days. If I have not teleported you back after three days, that means that you are stuck walking."

Kira studies the images of Lord General Herpein and the Ca'ega, committing them to memory. "Seems clear enough. Will you be transporting me to Krimba-Hai, or will I need to enter the city on foot? Ah'd like to hear more of these traveling companions. Oh, and how will I recognize these others? Puhaps more importantly, how will they recognize us?"

The Lady replies, "I will be transporting you to my country estate. It is currently behind Orc lines. The three of you will have to find your own way to Krimba-Hai. Hmm.. Here," the Lady gestures again and the first two images fade and a third appears floating in the air. It is a map of the area, "Memorize this, you won't be able to carry a copy due to security reasons."

The Lady continues speaking as Kira stares at the map, "You will meet your traveling companions shortly. The two of them were part of the initial group and will be able to introduce you to the others when and if you find them."

Kira commits the map to memory. "One more question, Ma'am. Ah'm not familiar with this area. Won't we be a little, well, obvious, not being orcs in and orcish city? Or will we be pretending to be slaves or something? I'd like to know my cover story."

The Lady smiles mischievously and says, "I will provide the best disguise as humanly possible. Come with me and you will see," she heads to the now opened door.

"Ah get the feeling Ah'm not gonna like this too much..." Nonetheless, Kira follows the Lady through the door.

The Lady leads Kira through a hallway and into another room. The room is square shaped, roughly forty feet by forty feet are the dimensions. On the wall to the left of the door you entered is a large map of HonShar and its surroundings, the same map that Kira saw just moments ago. Next to the map, on the right is a table with an orc-style brooches on it. Next to the table there is a large chest. In the center of the room is a rune circle inscribed onto the floor. It is roughly a 10' diameter circle.

Kira's eyes take in the room and focus on two things that seem out of place. Standing in the rune circle are two orcs. Both are clad in greenish garb and each wears a brooch. One of the orcs appears tired and a bit bored. The other's, a smaller orc, eyes seem to shift around, trying to take in the entire room at once. Upon seeing Kira, the smaller orc hits himself on the forehead and says in Orcish, "Oh, great.. Another female.." Kira glares at the orc runt.

Lady Otasura clears her throat and the smaller orc quiets down, she says, "Now, Kira, about your disguise," the Lady pulls a small wand out of her robes and says, "Close your eyes."

Once Kira's eyes are closed she feels a jolt passing through her bodies like she have never felt before. Shortly after the jolt, Kira feels like her clothing is falling off of her. Opening her eyes, Kira raises a hand to feel her snout and tusks. The Lady voice cuts through Kira's shock, "The best disguise possible. Now, in the chest you will find proper fitting Orcish armour and weapons that you will use. Leave all of your belongings here. Then put on the brooch on the table. That is who I will track you. Now hurry, we need to get moving."

Kira looks down at her orc body and says, "Ewww, yuck!"

The Lady then says, "Boys, I want you to turn around and Garth, no peeking, give her some dignity." The two orcs turn around, though the smaller one, Garth, grumbles a bit.

"This," Kira grouses, "is most unpleasant. Ah look... Ickky. Should we be successful, y'all absolutely must take care not t'lose these item agin. This is just disgustin'!" Kira, the two may have noticed, is a rather attractive young woman. Her behavior shows that she's aware of this, and is not at all pleased with the disguise. She does, however, realize the wisdom of it, and does not ask it be removed. She glares some more at the smaller orc, then does as the Lady asks.

Aan shakes his head in disgust and turns to the Lady. "What is this, are you testing me? The last bunch was too concerned with human welfare to keep the objective their top priority. Now I'm babysitting a beauty queen." Taking a look at Kira, he adds, "Make that former beauty queen."

"My, ahn't you the cha'ming one," Kira says, her voice sweet, smile totally insincere, and her eyes flashing dangerously.

Aanparon continues, "But I will try to complete your mission for you. But if I come out again, for any reason, I want to be returned to my former self. Orcs are filthy disgusting creatures, and frankly I would never have agreed to this if I'd known I was going to be an orc."

Aan feels a bit embarrased by his earlier outburst. Giving as deep a bow as his orcish armor will allow, Aan says to Kira, "I'm sorry, milady, too long away from humans has made me forget my manners. My name is Aanparon, but what few friends I have call me Aan. Please do the same if it pleases you." Once this is done, Aan will return to the business of finding two more daggers, then will go stand where directed.

Kira smiles sweetly at Aan, quite pleased by his admission. "My name is Kira," she says. "Ah'm from Sylvorn. It's south of heah," she adds, perhaps unnecessarily, given her accent. "Pleased t'make your acquaintance, Aan." Kira will select appropriate weaponry, etc. to match her real stuff, and then go and stand in the circle with Aan. "Ah suppose," she says to the Lady, "Ah'm as ready as Ah'm gonna get."

Kira can't see the fault in that reasoning. She considers her weaponry, longsword and composite longbow, with her disguise. "Ma'am," she asks the Lady, "do ohcs use bows? Ah'm okay with a sword, but the bow is mah spec'alty," she explains.

The Lady frowns but says, "Orc's use bows, you will find equipment similar to what you use in the chest."

As the three orcs stand in the center of the circle, they hear some harsh words and then there is darkness. Garth and Aanparon are prepared for the trip but Kira is not. As the light returns. The small group find themself in Lady Otasura's country manor. The damage caused by the earlier violence is still present.

Garth says, "It doesn't look like anyone has been here since us," Garth looks at his old companion and asks, "What now Aan?"

Aanparon replies, "Personally, I vote we have the Lady take us back now, change us back and run like hell. But that doesn't seem to be an option." Aan starts for the exit, "So I guess we go back and try to find the others."

"My," Kira says after a moment, "that was certainly... interestin'. Ah'm not shuh Ah wouldn't puhfer to walk back." Kira leans against a wall for a moment, letting her head clear. "By the way," she says to Aan, "Ah don't speak o'cish. Ah suhpose," she smiles ruefully, "that's a good thing, since y'all talk so funny up he-uh."

Garth frowns and says in Orcish to Aanparon, "Oh great, another useless female to slow us down, just great."

"Now," Kira says, making a show of pretending to look for something, "just where *did* Ah put that Arrow of Moron Slaying..."

Kira then pointedly ignores Garth and turns to Aanparon. "Do you think," she asks, smiling sweetly, kind of scary on an orc, "that we should set up a watch of sorts while we're holed up for the day? Ah'd be happy to take whichevuh shift you think best. Ah defer to your judgement 'round he-uh. Ah don't know much a'tall 'bout o'cs or this areuh."

Aan says, "A watch probably isn't necessary since the orcs almost never move about in the daylight. Still, better safe than sorry. I would prefer to go last, that will give me time to plan the evening's course of action. Kira, why don't you go first, and Garth can go in the middle."

The group leaves the building and all are momentarily blinded at the sun's light shines down at them. Aanparon figures that it is probably just a little past noon. Aanparon leads the group to the campgrounds that they originally met Haratai and his gang of orcs.

There are no longer any orcs here but Garth says, in common, "A group has been here since we left.. Not sure when they left though."

Aanparon says, "We need to figure out where Haratai and group went and follow them. We should travelmostly at night, though I don't expect to catch up to them any time soon, we've been gone too long."

Garth says to in Orcish to Aanparon, while scratching himself, "We could arrange an 'accident'," he shrugs and then continues, "Aan, I don't think that we are going to be able to track Haratai and those guys. It has been too long and there are too many other tracks. Maybe we should just head to the Orc city."

Aanparon replies, "I was afraid we might not be able to track them, but I wanted to try. Heading for the city would probably be the next logical step. Haratai was probably headed there anyway."

Garth says, looking up at the afternoon sun, "Should we rest now or start out journey? We could get in several miles before night fall and could continue until early morning.."

Aan replies, "Neither. I don't want to travel by daylight, we can't afford to be seen. But we can't stop here, this is too often used by travellers. Let's head up the road for about an hour, then find some place to rest till dusk. We may not have many more chances to rest, better make the most of it."

Kira exclaims, "Neither what? Aan, either tell your moron friend to speak in common when there aren't real orcs around, or translate word for word ev'ry damned thing he says. Ah don't care how annoyed he is at this whole mission, but Ah'm not the one who recruited him, and Ah'm not the one who changed him, but Ah might just be the one who's covering his scrawny back. Does he really want to be rude to me?"

Aanparon sighs and says, "And you telling me this with him standing five feet away isn't being rude? I'm not getting involved in this, you two work it out for yourselves. Quietly. For what it's worth, Kira has my vote."

Garth shakes his head and opens his mouth to speak, nothing but grunts come out of his mouth. Startled, Garth pauses and opens his mouth again, "Garrf, no tahkh huhmhan." Looking really worried, Garth says in Orcs, "Aan, I can't seem to talk in common anymore. I understand it but I can't seem to speak it. What is happening?"

Aanparon hadn't taken time to look before but upon looking at Garth notices that Garth's features have become decidedly more orcish, his tusks more pronounced, his snout more piglike and Garth is definately more hairy than before.

Kira glares at Garth, initially annoyed at what seems a tacky little joke, then notices his worried expression. "Aan, what's goin' on he-uh? What's the mattuh with 'im?"

Aan tells Kira, "Garth is becoming an orc. He can hear and understand common tongue, but he can no longer speak it." That said, Aanparon changes directions and starts heading back. "Unless one of you has a better idea, I'm out of here. I'm going back, and the Lady WILL turn me back into my old self. This is NOT going to happen to me. I never signed on to be an orc in the firstplace. I'll take my chances here as a human before I'll run the risk of becoming an orc. Nothing personal, Garth, but you're not standing watch anymore. And Kira, I suggest you watch me closely as well. Sorry to make you paranoid, but it's for your own protection."

Kira looks at Garth and says, "Sorry for yellin' at you. But," she adds, "Y'all should have explained your difficultly earlier." Kira realizes that she cannot possibly carry out the mission by herself. She doesn't know how to recognize the other party members, nor does she know exactly where to go. She follows Aan.

Garth shrugs and says, "It's not that bad, actually, I feel pretty good."

Aanparon asks, "What do you mean you feel pretty good? It feels normal? Do you think you're losing your human aspect, or just getting more involved or evolved into the orc disguise?"

Garth shrugs again and says, "I dunno, maybe it was the extra sleep I got but I feel fine. Maybe it is part of the magic."

Kira asks Garth, "Can you still unduhstand me? Ah mean, have you lost the ability t'unduhstand human speech as well?"

Garth shakes his head in the negative and says, "Aan, would you explain to..her..that I can't seem to speak common very well but I can still understand it."

As the group is talking, Garth stops suddenly and begins sniffing deeply. He quickly motions for everyone to be silent. He quietly says, "Horses."

Aanparon and Kira experimentally sniff and once alerted to it, could smell the distinct smell of horse-flesh as well. Garth motions for them all to hide in the bushes as the smell of horse grow closer.

After about 10 minutes the trio see two orcs walking while pulling a rope. Tied to the rope are the reins of five large horses. The horses do not have any saddles but are equiped with bits and reins. The two orcs are wearing leather armour and have shortswords sheathed at their waists.

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