Chapter 31, in which the half-dwarf meets a lost love, and stories are told

Tranquillity
"I'll catch up with you guys later," Tranquillity said. She was still tired out from carrying Braldril, who still hadn't woken up. She was hoping he would wake up soon, so she wouldn't have to carry him to Greenshore.

Darkness Fall-ll
Katherine walked towards Tranquillity, who seemed to be having a lot of trouble trying to drag Bradril.

"Here, let me help you a little..." Katherine smiled at her. She placed her fingers over Bradril's body and mumbled Eurxi Gredi. Moments later, Bradril's body was floating slightly above the ground.

"Now, that should do the trick..." Katherine gave Tranquillity a wink and giggled, as she followed at the back of the group, towards Greenshore.

Looking around the all-so familiar surrounding, Katherine took a deep breath, "Ah! It's good to be back to Mother Land..."

Red Un
They were close to Greenshore now.

And then, twenty robed men with long sword suddenly appeared out of thin air.

No, really.

Red Un sighed.

"Oh man...I'm tired, I'm hungry, and I'm in need of a drink. I really really don't need another fight right now..."

He yawned and tiredly drew his sword.


Delai
Delai looked about her for something to defend herself with as the magical people magically appeared by using magic. All she could find were trees and grass. She ran up to the large plum tree, whose brothers graced the walkway to Greenshore. "I hope this is ok with you," she said to the tree as she broke a large branch off of it. She quickly snapped the twigs off of the limb. There was not a huge outcry from the tree, so she supposed that is was ok. She grabbed some plums and stuffed them into her mouth, whispering "utamo vita" into the staff to hopefully give it the strength it would need against the swords.

Tranquillity
Tranquillity had stayed behind and rested while the others had went ahead, she had changed out of her torn travelling outfit and slipped on a clean new one, the material clean and strangely shining, she examined it to make sure it wasn't torn and then, approving began loading runes and other useful items into pockets, some external, some hidden. She stretched out a little and tested the movement to make sure none of the runes had been placed where they might obstruct her movement. Satisfied she took her belt, made of woven vines and wound it around her waist and attached her short sword, then she attached another to that and attached her sword so that it hung across her back in its scabbard. She slipped two daggers into sheaths on each arm, hidden by her robes, and then checked the knives in her boots. Finally ready she headed off in pursuit of Red Un and the others. Always be prepared was a lesson that had been hammered into her by experience.



"Sorry I took so long guys I was just..." Tranquillity stopped in mid-sentence as she saw her friends with swords drawn facing at least a score of men in black robes, all wielding swords.

"Oh, god, I was really hoping not to have to do this again any time soon." she groaned.

Darkness Fall-ll
Katherine looked at Tranquillity who managed to catch up with them.

"You look more freshen up Tranq!" Katherine commented, before she accidentally bumped into Red Un, who abruptly stopped in his path, causing her to lose a little balance.

"Red Un! What are you..." Katherine's words were cut off when she looked up, and knew the reason why Red Un had stopped in his path.

Twenty robed men, armed with long swords appeared right out of nowhere, and stood just feet away from the group of adventurers.

Already worn out from rescuing the asses of her fellow team mates from the collapsing under-burrow, had one of the weirdest dreams, or rather the weirdest or strangest nightmares:
-She rode on a Night-Gaunt.
-Walked through magically beautiful landscapes.
-Saw weirdest of weird monsters.
-And barely survived "climbing" seven hundred and seventy-seven steps.
-Then, when she woke up from that dream, her team mates were battling a psycho doctor.

After all that, the very last thing at the back of her mind was yet another battle...

"Gentleman, if you are looking for a battle, I don't think our group's planner says [Battle] anywhere. Would you mind to reschedule your whatever grudge you have on another day? How `bout the day after tomorrow, I think our group is totally free on that day to company you guys..." Katherine already sounded tired and disgusted.

Tranquillity
"Red Un, what’s happening?" she whispered as she slowly drew her sword out and got into a defensive stance. The odds didn't look good.

Red Un
Then, a woman dressed in brown robes, with her face hidden in a hood, came walking from Greenshore. She stopped when she saw the commotion.

"Oh my, what is going on here then?"

Red Un felt something oddly familiar about that voice. The black-robed men with swords turned to the newcomer.

"Stay out of this, girl. This is the business of the Brotherhood of the Dark Star."

"Oh dear oh dear, you aren't going to kill those poor people, are you?"

"That's exactly our intention. Just move along and pretend you never saw us, and we'll spare your life, girl."

"No, I think I shall instead save these tired people."

And then she suddenly drew two knives, and went through the robed men with amazing speed.

Red Un felt something oddly familiar about that fighting style. Before he could think anymore, all twenty robed men were dead. The robed woman smiled, and removed the hood.

Red Un felt something VERY familiar about that face. He gasped.

"You're... you're... but I thought you were..."

Then the woman went over to Red Un and gave him a long kiss.

And then Red Un fainted. The woman smiled again.

"Hello, my name is Jenna. I don't think Redwick has told you about me, has he?"

Dragon Hunter
He ignored the woman, and went over to one of the dead men. He pulled out a now empty crystal bottle, and started to fill it with the blood from the fallen man. Once filled, he gulped it all down. He could feel the man’s lifeforce entering him, and his strength returned to him. He was not a creature of this world, so this world didn't support his existence. He had to steal his enemies lifeforce, or he would be forced to return home. He filled the bottle once again, and put it away for later use...

Tranquillity
Tranquillity smiled towards the woman and curtsied. "Hello, Jenna. My name is Tranquillity. No, Red Un hasn't told us about you, but I'm sure he will once he... ah, wakes up."

Tranquillity thought that Jenna seemed like a nice person, but she would wait for Red Un to recover before she made any final decisions.

Red Un
Red Un opened his eyes again.

"Woa...for a while there I thought I saw..."

Then he saw Jenna again.

"You... you... are you real?"

Jenna smiled.

"Yes, you silly little half-dwarf, I'm real."

Red Un blinked to see if she was still there.

"But... the cave... the temple..."

"I know, I know, Redwick."

Jenna took Red Un's arm and lifted him on his feet. Red Un started to smile, slowly, very slowly.

"Do you still remember... the last words?"

Jenna smiled back.

"Yes, Redwick, I do."

And Red Un realised that it was real. So much pain and fear that he had held hidden disappeared.

And they kissed again.

Darkness Fall-ll
Katherine was STILL not sure what was going on

"Wait a minute! What in the freaking world is going on now..." Katherine questioned.

"One moment we have twenty men, armed with swords, and seems like we're gonna be minced meat for them. The next moment, they're all laying dead on the ground, with the lady, named Jenna kissing Red Un, like there's no tomorrow... Just what is going on?!" Katherine asked again, sounding more confused than a moment ago...

Red Un
Jenna let go of Red Un and looked at the party.

"Ah, you're on some crazy quest again, aren't you, Redwick?"

"Uh... yeah. But this one's going much better than the last. I guess."

Red Un realised that the party was probably confused over their ears about what was going on.

"Uhm... everyone, this is Jenna. I thought she was dead, but it seems like she's alive."

Still confused looks.

"Uh...I guess ya wanna know how we met and what happened?"

"I guess so, Redwick."

"Yeah... well, first of all I think we oughta go to Greenshore and find a place to at least sit down. And have a beer. Or two. Or twenty. Let's go!"

Red Un took Jenna's hand and led the party towards Greenshore.

Delai
Delai shook her head at the entire odd scene and followed Red Un toward Greenshore, stopping to check the dead bodies for any gold on the way.

Darkness Fall-ll
Ok. At least right now, I have some answers... Katherine thought.

Katherine, a little less confused than a few moments ago, followed Red Un, and his new-found girlfriend, Jenna, towards Greenshore.

Whisky flew ahead and acted as a scout. It circled above them as they walked towards Greenshore.

Clear sky and fine weather we have here Master... Whisky commented.

"Yes Whisky...It's a fine weather today..." Katherine looked up and gave Whisky a smile.

Red Un
Finally, they entered Greenshore and found a small Inn.

"Bartender!" yelled Red Un as they entered. "Gimmie a big tankard o' beer! And some milk for the girl."

"Can't get enough of that beer, can you Redwick."

"Well, since the last few beers I've been drinking has been in a dream, I've got a hankerin' for the real thing, so to speak..."

Tranquillity
Tranquillity ordered some wine and then sat down across from Red Un and Jenna and waited for Red Un to get settles enough to explain.

Darkness Fall-ll
Katherine sat down next to Tranquillity.

"Bartender! On top of that tank of beer, add garlic bread, pasta, some fine wine and if you can, get us some nice full roasted turkey and chicken, we're kinda hungry here..." Katherine smiled at the orders she made, as she gently rubbed her tummy, which has been making a din ever since they left the rubble, on the outskirts of Greenshore.

"I guess the food I ordered might be able to last throughout the conversation..." Katherine giggled to herself.

Tranquillity
Tranquillity smiled as Katherine ordered a meal large enough to feed a cyclops and decided she might as well eat as well. "Excuse me, bartender, may I have a ham, Ab'Dendriel style, with a side of green mushrooms? Thanks." she smiled and turned back to Red Un.

Red Un
Red Un got his beer and gulped it all down.

"Ahh... just what I needed. I guess I can take a big piece 'o ham an' some cheese."

"I'll just have a bowl of salad" said Jenna.

"Same as always, same as always" muttered Red Un. "Well, I guess y'all wanna know what all this is about? Allow me to begin...but first, another beer!"

The bartender had anticipated this, and served him right away.

"Thanks. Now...

Once upon a time there was a young half-dwarf who was lookin' for a legendary book, filled with mysterious spells from long ago. He went to Thais to find himself a ship that could take him the to far-away island where the book was hidden..."

Jenna cut in.

"There was also a young girl who had been trained well in the arts of relocating items from other people's pockets to her own. A thief, I believe they're called. She was living in Thais and was pretty bored with the general day-to-day life. That's why she became very interested when she saw a half-dwarf discussing the quest for a legendary book with a sailor at Frodo's..."

Tranquillity
Tranquillity looked at Jenna in surprise, she didn't look like a thief, even a former thief. She supposed that was what a good thief would look like though.

Her ham arrived and she took a sip of her wine and smiled in approval, then she began eating.

This looked as if it was going to be an interesting story.

Darkness Fall-ll
Katherine couldn't believe that Jenna was actually an ex-thief. Looking at Tranquillity's expression, she knew that she was surprised by Jenna's appearances as well...

"I guess we can't judge a person by its appearance..." Katherine commented softly, taking a small sip off her white wine and also a few slices of toast, while she waited for her orders to arrive.

"Tell us more... It sounds interesting..." Katherine smiled.

Red Un
Red Un continued.

"So, I had just made arrangements with the captain and was about to pay him when I noticed that my purse was gone! And next to me stood a girl saying that if she would be allowed to come along, she would give it back to me."

Jenna grinned.

"Yeah, and what do you think Redwick does? He draws his sword!"

"Well, 'course I did! No dwarf (or half-dwarf) would ever let anyone take his purse without a fight."

"So I decided that discretion was the better part of valour and got out of there, with the angry half-dwarf hot on my heels. He was quite good at running in those days, I'd say."

"Yup, there was more human in me back then. So anyway, after a long chase through the streets of Thais, I finally caught up with her and pushed her to the ground."

"Didn't you lose me and then ran into me when you were heading back?"

"Uhm... ANYway, she gave me back my purse, and since I was pretty damn impressed by her skills, I decided to allow her to join me. And thus, we set off over the seas..."

Darkness Fall-ll
Katherine listened attentively to Red Un and Jenna re-telling their story...

"Er...Miss, your..."

"SHHHhh... I'm listening here..." Katherine looked up at who was interrupting the storytelling, and it was the waiter. "Oppz... Sorry, er… Just leave the orders on the table. Thanks!"

As if she knew where the food was on the table, Katherine grabbed a plate and pulled a drumstick off a roasted chicken without even looking, and took a bite off it.

"Now, that's a nice way to meet your loved one..." Katherine thought to herself, and smiled.

Tujex
Tujex just sat back in his chair drinking a beer and eating a bowl of his favourite ramen. They were special, imported from his hometown and Greenshore was the only place that sold them in Tibia. He watched this strange new girl. "So she's a thief, that would explain how quick she is... she doesn't look half bad either. I wonder how that half-dwarf got with her?" Tujex thought as he slurped up the last of his ramen and ordered some more. Tujex tuned back in to the story, still keeping his eyes on this strange new girl who appeared out of nowhere.

Red Un
Red Un continued.

"Most of the sea-travel was pretty uneventful, it was calm waters we sailed trough. Then one day, we saw a cliff sticking up from the sea, with words carved into it. 'Go back now or regret it. The Ends Always Justifies The Means' it said. But since I didn't know that this was in fact the motto of the Dark Star guys, I just told the captain to keep goin'. And soon we saw the island, a tropical paradise I must say, with a large mountain in the middle. We got to shore and started our journey across the jungle."

"Yes, and that was when we first had some signs of trouble" said Jenna. "At first it seemed oddly calm, but then out from the trees jumped a bunch of cat-like creatures with spots all over them."

"Ah, yes. So we did the only valiant thing, drew our swords and..."

"Didn't we run away deeper into the jungle and hid up a tree?"

Red Un noticed the amused look from the rest of the party.

"Hey, I wasn't such a good swordsman then as I am now! As Jenna said before, sometimes discretion is the better part of valour..."

Darkness Fall-ll
Katherine almost choked, when Jenna revealed some "dark" past of Red Un.

"Now, that's something refreshing!" Katherine giggled, moving on to take a bite off her garlic bread. "I guess someone's trying to hide some things from us..." Katherine added on.

Red Un
Red Un grumbled a bit and then continued.

"We sat up in that tree 'till it got dark and the cat-creatures left. Then we climbed down and kept goin'. When we'd gotten a little further, there were guys in black robes blocking our path. They said that we couldn't go any further, or otherwise, 'The Brotherhood of the Dark Star' would stop us. So, naturally, we defeated them easily..."

Jenna cut in again.

"...because suddenly the cat-creatures from before jumped out and made cat-food out of the robed guys."

"Uh... yeah. While they were enjoying their meals, we kept goin'..."


Darkness Fall-ll
The word "Brotherhood of Dark Star" caught Katherine's attention immediately.

"The Brotherhood of Dark Star went after you as well? Hmmm... Something tells me that these people might be looking for the same things as we are..." Katherine commented, taking the wine cup into her hand and turning it sideways back and forth.

"Well, sorry about that. DO continue with your story... I'm hooked onto it…" Katherine tried to laugh it off for "spoiling" the whole ambience.

Red Un
"Nah, the Brotherhood is just always keen on guardin' old places of knowledge, such as libraries. That's why we're havin' so much trouble with them."

"And had back then" added Jenna.

"Yeah. So anyways, we finally found the huge old cave. Inside of it was a large building (yeah, the cave was that huge) which we realised must be the place where the legendary book was. In front of it stood another black-robed man. He said that this was the final warning we'd get. He said that we'd be sorry. But when we said that would keep goin' he said that he wouldn't stop us. So we did. And he didn't."

Delai
Delai sat at the bar, listening to Red Un's story with interest. And trying to make sure that her purse stayed on her belt.

Darkness Fall-ll
"No wonder they kept bothering me for the past few decades! They must have been preventing me from finding the Legendary Portal that link to the 9th Dimension..." Katherine exclaimed, hitting the edge of the table slightly, showing her displeasure. "But I guess all of us here must have met some of the Brotherhood's members somewhere along the way..." Katherine looked around, trying to get some recognition.


Red Un
Red Un shook his head.

"I doubt it. The Brotherhood is a very secret organisation that tries to hide their tracks as much as they can. Anyway...

We entered the building, which only had one large, torch-lit corridor that led to a small chamber. And indeed, there the legendary book was. What happened next seemed quite clear to me by the time, but now... Jenna, can you tell us what really happened?"

Jenna smiled. "Sure Redwick. I walked up to the book and opened it. Suddenly, a magical flame burst from it right into my face. Then a huge stone pillar crashed down onto the book, making it impossible to get. But we had more pressing concerns as the whole building and the cave started to collapse."

"Yeah. I took Jenna in my arms since she was too badly wounded from the flame to stand up by herself and ran for the exit..."

Narudin
Suddenly a mysterious stranger barged into the inn, surprising the companions. He was a tall half-elf with neatly trimmed black beard and flowing red-blue robes, totally unfocused and seeming not conscious of anything happening around him. He was muttering to himself incomprehensibly.

It went something like this: "Buggerrit, Buggerrit, Buggerrit, a bloody story, over 100 bloody pages, a bloody roleplay, buggerrit, and here I am, damn it, discovering it after one damn bloody year on Tibia, damn, damn, damn, can't even budge in without reading everything, buggerrit, No chance for a quick briefing damn it, no, guess not, sorry. Buggerrit."

Suddenly he looked up and saw the baffled Red Un. A sudden look of panic crossed his features, he said "Whoops" and then mutters "utano vid". All that was heard for a moment were fast-fading footsteps, and then not even that.

All that was left of the mysterious Half-Elf was a small card which fell from his pocket, on which was written:

"Narudin's Rune Enterprises Est. 2003. Our Motto: - Proud to help You make the world better (for a small fee, of course). We hope You find our products reliable and come back for more. Happy hunting!"

Maybe the Stranger would appear sometime soon in the future...
(muttering of "Over a bloody hundred bloody pages, no bloody time to bloody read, I'll be bloody damned if I bloody find it..." it fades)

After a while the half-elf returned, looking as though whatever madness had touched him was gone, and mutters sheepishly "I do apologize, it seems it was one of those attacks I have, I'm terribly sorry, do forgive me..." Sanity returned to his eyes, as he swept the room with his sapphire-blue gaze, and backed out of the tavern...

Red Un
Red Un looked a bit confused. He decided to drink some more beer before he continued...


Tranquillity
Tranquillity saw Red Un begin to drink his beer and it didn't look as if he was going to be continuing shortly.

"What happened then Red Un? Did you escape?" she cut off a bit of ham and put it in her mouth, looking at Red Un expectantly.

Lass Darkness Fall
Katherine looked up from her plate of pasta when she heard the cave was collapsing and Jenna was badly wounded by the magical flame.

"I hope that Jenna was alright then..." Katherine sounded worried. She drank a little from her glass of wine to calm her nerves down a little.

Red Un
"Well, here's where I start to get confused 'bout the whole thing...

I did finally reach the exit as the cave collapsed behind me. Then Jenna gasped. I told her I'd take her to the boat and that she'd be alright. But she said that it was too late and that she should be left behind, so that I wouldn't be slowed down.

Then I saw that she was dying, and before she died, I said 'I love you', for I had realised that now. And she said the same back...

And then the black-robed men stood before me, laughing evilly at my plight. I laid down Jenna, drew my sword and charged towards them in anger, but they proved to just be magical illusions. So I kept going and finally made it back to the ship. As we left we saw the whole mountain collapse, and I realised that my love was now buried under huge blocks of stone..."

He drank some more beer.

"...at least that was what I thought she did. Jenna, what happened?"

Jenna smiled again.

"Well, thereby hangs a tale..."

Tranquillity
Tranquillity frowned, "That does seem like a mystery. There is apparently more to you than I would have originally thought. Both of you." she smiled.

Red Un
Jenna told her story.

"I thought indeed that I was dead, or at least dying. But after a while I awoke, lying in a bed. I could hear that I was on a ship, and there was a brown-robed monk there who talked in a strange language I didn't understand. I put my hands on my face and felt that my wounds had healed! But that was too much of a strain, and I lapsed into unconsciousness again.

I did this many times, awoke for short times, ate some food when I could, but most of the time I was unconscious..."

Dragon Hunter
The dark warrior was sitting by the bar, sipping on a crystal bottle containing a dark-red fluid. "Those brotherhood people seem to be quite a pain. Have you ever considered to track them down and kill every single one of them?" he asked with a cold, emotionless voice.

Red Un
Red Un, who was taking a sip from his beer when Dragon Hunter came with his suggestion, laughed so hard that beer came out of his nose.

"BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA..."

Finally he composed himself.

"You're a funny guy, y'know, real funny."

Jenna just shook her head.

"No, the Brotherhood is much too large and well organised to be taken out by simple violence. Kill them off somewhere and they'll spring up somewhere else. Anyway...

The ship finally arrived to a far-away island which consisted mostly of rock. Far up, on the top of it, stood an ancient temple. I didn't know all this when I came there, of course, since I was later told that I had been carried in unconscious trough the huge gates..."

Narudin
Narudin re-entered the inn where the companions were drinking, this time in a black and grey suit, far more appropriate for adventuring than the eye-catching robes he was wearing earlier.

Inconspicuously, he ordered some wine and took a seat by a table near the companions, straining to hear their conversation with his half-elven, enhanced hearing. He particularly concentrated on the one called Jenna, for there was something strange about her... didn't his contact in the Brotherhood of Dark Star mention something about some girl being used to put an end to the evasive half-dwarf?

He had been tracking Redwick for too long, and didn't want to see the brave half-dwarf fall to his former masters. He knew that the Dark Stars had him on their blacklist, but after they stopped sending assassins after him some time ago, he had thought that they had given up. That was not the case, it was merely a shift of priorities.

"So Red Un made more trouble than I did" thought Narudin and gave out a small, mirthless chuckle. Sipping wine, which the waiter had brought him, he thought of his house in Venore, which had been burned down after Red Un and his party had passed through. There was a black throwing star imbedded in what was left of the door. The Brotherhood didn't forget about him completely, and reminded him of that quite clearly.

Narudin quenched the rage which started to build inside of him, knowing that it would trigger another "present" from the Brotherhood. Instead of that, he returned to listening to the story being told by Jenna. He knew that Red Un's goal was parallel to his own, so joining up was the only prudent choice, especially with most of his supplies burned down, yet he was accustomed to working from the shadows, and the thought of revealing himself conflicted with his training.

Narudin listened and waited...

Red Un
Jenna continued.

"The monks were very kind to me all the time. They healed my wounds and soon I was able to stay conscious, and finally get out of bed to explore the huge temple.

The monks were of an ancient order, trained in great piety to the gods of good, and also trained in the arts of fighting. They had wonderful gardens and enormous forges, strange animals of many kinds and arenas where they trained to perfect their skills in all weapons known to them. As I became better, I started to try out the arts of fighting myself, with good help from the monks..."

Narudin
As Jenna continued her tale, Narudin was having a misty moment of remembrance. What he was trying to remember, in fact, were his missions from the time when he served the Brotherhood.

"Have I ever been on guard duty at any temple site?" Narudin mused. "No, it always seemed to be assassination, information gathering, acquiring some artefact from the tight grip of the current owner, even if it meant prying it from that persons dead fingers..."

Narudin felt a pang of guilt at the memory of the deeds he had committed. At first he thought it would only be for a short period of time, the guild hadn't seemed that powerful, nor dangerous. But it turned out that The Brotherhood of the Dark Star weren't ones to be trifled with.

"20 damn years!" Narudin swore quietly. "I was young, true, and foolish. Hah", he chuckled, "I am still young, by elven, even half-elven standards, and probably none too wiser."

They had softened him up, trained him in the way of the thieves and assassins, but when he wanted to quit, they had sent him on a suicide mission, "The last one, to repay Your debt to the Brotherhood", they had said. "Damn my overconfidence" thought Narudin.

He shook himself of these memories, not wanting to needlessly open old wounds. He wondered briefly about the monk order, which Jenna mentioned. After liberating himself from the Brotherhood, He chose a new path, the path of sorcery, and with this came new obligations. He was the first to admit he was still a very weak sorcerer, but the one thing he loved now was knowledge. He spent most of his waking hours in the library, reading, absorbing information. Alchemy, herbology, medicine, ancient lore, history - everything was interesting. But he hadn't heard of any order of Jenna's description, which touched his pride.

He still tried to be aware of everything happening and maintained a small, but effective net of contacts, including the interior of the Black Star. A lot of gold changed hands to establish everything, but it was part of his training to keep informed, and the rune business was good for those who didn't have much more to do than sit in dusty libraries (the occasional assassins were interesting, albeit dangerous events in his recent life).

Narudin readied himself to present himself to the group. He was not the most social person at the best of times, and five years of dodging assassins didn't make him any more trusting.

Narudin listened.

Red Un
"I stayed in the temple for many years, mastering many weapons and becoming a good fighter, as you might've noticed earlier today. But then I started to long for Tibia again, spending more and more time on the highest cliffs, peering out at the ocean and thinking of old friends... Like a certain half-dwarf who had told me he loved me.

I told the monks that I wanted to return, and they lent me a small boat and a map that showed the safest way back to Tibia. So I set off, and sailed over calm seas for many days, until I finally reached Thais. I looked around for information on where a certain Redwick Undersoor might be found and heard that he was last seen on a carpet flying over the seas, but not much else. I then went to Greenshore to see if I could find out more, and I guess you know the rest."

Red Un finished his beer.

"Well, that was one interestin' story. I'd sure like to see those monks one day, but right now I'm on a different quest."

"Oh, what is that then?"

"I'm searchin' for the Library of Legends, where..."

"...all the books of the past, present and future are?"

Red Un looked surprised.

"Oh, ya know of it?"

"Indeed I do."

"Well, ya wanna come along on our quest?"

"Of course, but not tonight."

"Aye, I'm sorta tired too..."

Narudin
Narudin saw that the party was breaking up to go to rest and decided it was time to act. Sighing deeply, he stood up and, fighting against the urge to conceal himself, made his way to the companions table.

"Be greeted, Sir Redwick Undersoor" Narudin bowed politely albeit somewhat stiffly, "And greetings to You all; Sir Tujex, Sir Arodec, Master Dwarfs" He nodded to Vodok and Vodivir.

"And of course it is a pleasure to meet You, charming Ladies" He said with a bow, "Lady Tranquillity, Lady, Katherine, Lady Jenna, and Lady... Delai, isn't it? I do apologise, but You and Lady Jenna seem to be new members of the party, or at least I didn't have any information of Your presence earlier."

"I am called Narudin, currently of Venore, and I know much of Your quest. In fact, I wish to join it. If You but listen to me for a moment, I shall state my reasons, and my skills. If I may..."

Without waiting for an answer, Narudin took a chair from the neighbouring table and seated himself.

"To begin with, I have been trained as an assassin by the Brotherhood of the Dark Star."

Narudin folded his hands across his chest and stopped to observe the parties' reaction, prepared to flee if such a need arose. Dwarfs, or half-dwarfs for that, weren't ones to reach hasty conclusions, as humans were, but one could never be too careful. Warily, he tensed for any incoming attack.

Darkness Fall-ll
Katherine bowed her head slightly to welcome Narudin and smiled. Fast finishing her orders, Katherine knew that she was almost full now, as she took a very small sip off her wine to lubricate her throat from all those food she swallowed.

Without any slight warning, Katherine let out a small burp. Everyone looked at her with amusement like expressions, feeling embarrassed, Katherine quickly covered her mouth and part of her already blushing face.


"Forlly..." Katherine mumbled the word" sorry" through her covered mouth, and with her blushing face, it was more amusing than embarrassment, as everyone burst out in laughter, causing Katherine to be even more embarrassed.

"I...I...I think I'll go up to my room and rest! Yeah! I...I...I think I'm too tired..." Katherine fumbled her words as she grew more and more embarrassed. Walking up the stairs, she felt more relieved. "Gosh! Why the heck must I burp at such a time?!"

Red Un
Red Un looked at Narudin curiously. There was only a hint of something odd in Jenna's eyes when the elf presented himself, and tiny movement of a finger, but nothing else. And Red Un didn't notice.

"Well, Mr. Elf, how comes that a (I presume) former member of the Brotherhood wishes to join our li'll quest? This seems to be an evening for telling strange tales, so do please tell us yours."

Narudin
Narudin relaxed.

"Thank You for Your trust, Sir Redwick. Indeed, I no longer belong to the Brotherhood. On the contrary, now they are my sworn enemies. But let me start from the beginning.

Many years ago, when I was much younger, and much more foolish, there was a certain guild, which started to grow in power. They called themselves the Brotherhood of the Dark Sun back then, and I had thought there was a niche there for an agile, enterprising half-elf to fill" Narudin chuckled, "Even today, after so many years, I can not believe my stupidity.

The Brotherhood recognized my talents, and trained me, as I had already mentioned. At first only in the standard Arts of Thievery: hiding in shadows, pickpocketing, burglary. It was all thrilling, I became addicted to the excitement, like a drug, I needed more and more."

Narudin paused to take a sip of wine.

"Over time they started teaching me other things, subtly inserting new lessons in my routine exercises. I do not even remember how I came to possess the skill of knife throwing, poison lore, or the knowledge how to disarm, paralyze, kill any humanoid by hitting one of the numerous vulnerable spots of the body."

"As I became more skilled, more deadly, The Brotherhood started sending me on more dangerous, but also more bloody missions." Narudin shuddered, "Believe me, I take no pride in the deeds I committed, although at the time I didn't feel the guilt as acutely as now."

"Finally, I could stand it no longer. I went to my Master and told him I wanted to resign." At this point Narudin burst out in laughter. "Can You believe it" he said while catching his breath, "I went to THE MASTER ASSASSIN of my training group and told him I want to QUIT!"

With a sigh, Narudin continued, his voice level once more "They told me I could, but I would have to accomplish one more task, a burglary, so to "repay my debts to the Brotherhood". Needless to say, I agreed, the overconfident fool I was. I should have seen it was a trap, a damn obvious trap to that..."

Narudin's voice trailed away, his eyes staring over the companions heads, at a scene from his past no one but him could witness.

Red Un
"Hum, sounds like the Dark Star, alright. They do tend to follow their motto that The Ends Always Justifies The Means to its most deadly points. So, what was it that you was to steal? A book, scroll, or other such item of lore, I presume."

Narudin
Narudin returned to the present.

"I don't think I was even supposed to get in. It was laid with the most devious and deadly traps I have ever encountered. To this day I don't remember coming across a darker and more twisted place than that house. I got as far as the room with a chest, and thinking that no more traps awaited I casually strolled over to it. The poisoned needle in the lock took me completely by surprise.

As I laid there, the poison coursing through my veins, a figure clad in black appeared next to me, with a flash of white and smoke." Narudin smiled wryly. "They do so like drama. He offered me an exchange - my life for eternal servitude. Needless to say, I agreed.

While expelling the poison from my body, he laid a curse on me. A terrible geas, which forced me to serve the Brotherhood, or a magical insanity was triggered. For more than two decades I slaved for them, my skills and blades serving their foul purposes.

Then, one day, I came upon an old book during one of the missions. It described a spell of magic dispelling, of curse removal, in other words. Without further delay I started to prepare for the ritual required for the spell. It wasn't easy, especially because the Brotherhood kept a close eye on me. But finally I got a chance to complete the ritual. It took a full day and was highly dangerous, but I managed. I was free."

Narudin went quiet, and then added "Partially.

My magic skills were very poor, I didn't get the ritual exactly right. Traces of the insanity remain and activate in states of high emotion. You witnessed it already, earlier. I am still trustworthy, I assure You, but in the spells of madness I become... different. Bold, foolhardy. Unwise. I can still take care of myself, but I'm more vulnerable."

Narudin stopped and orders another glass of wine, draining the last drops from his cup.

Dragon Hunter
The dark warrior ordered a bowl of meat stew, and started eating once his food had arrived, and a few gold coins had changed owner. He was very bothered by the fact that this stranger knew his name. He had to make sure whatever source he had received it from was terminated. For over two hundred and fifty years had he managed to keep it secret to all but his most trusted companions, and he wished to have no change in that. He gave the stranger an ice cold look, then returned to his bowl of stew.

Red Un
Red Un yawned.

"Well, if ya wanna, just join us tomorrow mornin' when we get goin'...wherever we get goin'. Just remember, I've got first dibs on any treasure or books we come across! It's in the contract..."

Jenna had been looking at the newcomer in a slightly odd way, nothing to be noticed if you weren't looking for it. And Red Un wasn't.

"So, my dear, shall we find ourselves a room?"

"Hmm? Oh yes, Redwick, let's go and... discuss things."

They took each others hands and went upstairs. But before they disappeared above, Jenna took one last mysterious glance at the newcomer.

Narudin
As Red Un left with Jenna at his side, Narudin returned Arodec's cold stare with his own sapphire-blue gaze. He knew how to recognize the signs which defined most out-worldly creatures, Celestials, as the majority of the Tibian society called them. But he knew this one in particular. He addressed him in a hushed voice.

"I see that You don't recognize me, Sir Arodec, or would You prefer Noroden? Or perhaps Erframir? If You don't mind, I'll stick to Algathar, the first name by which I knew You."

Seeing that Arodec stayed indifferent, his one expression, which ranged from hate, through surprise, to plain boredom, Narudin continued.

"So, You really don't remember? I suppose I wasn't much of an event in Your long, yes, very long existence, life or however You choose to call it. You piqued my curiosity after our encounter at the Lighthouse near Thais, and it turns out You are mentioned in documents from 250 years past. Algather the Dragon Slayer indeed!"

Again Narudin studied Arodec's blank expression.

"I may as well stir Your memory up" he continued, "About ten-fifteen years ago You were chosen by the Dark Stars as the next target for elimination. They had quite an extensive file on You, they knew You were not born in the land of Tibia, although they didn't know Your name: That is known exclusively to me, and I didn't share it with them."

"Perhaps You remember our encounter now? I found You meditating on something at the top of the Thaisian Lighthouse. Of course, You sensed me then, no amount of skill in hiding in shadows helped me then. Your vulnerable spots are also differently placed than in the case of a Human being. After a few seconds of combat I found myself badly out-matched, especially because my element was the shadows, hitting from the darkness and evaporating without a trace. Even the storm we were fighting in didn't help me.

Needless to say, You beat me quickly then, although I held my own for a while. Do You remember what You told me, as I barely stood, supporting myself with the railing around the top of the Lighthouse?

"I shall grant You the honour of learning my Real Name, something told to only my closest friends... or those who are about to die at my blade. When You stand in front of the gates of Hell, You can tell the gatekeepers, that You met Your demise from the blade of Arodec Darkclaw."

At that moment lightning flashed behind me, striking close enough to blind You for a second, and as Your sword descended in a deadly arc, I jumped over the railing, dropping into the deep waters of the Tibian sea..."

Narudin started to take a sip from his cup of wine, his second this day, but thought better of it and put it back down. He knew it would dull his finely tuned senses, or release the power of the remainder of the Brotherhoods curse.

Instead he settled back into the chair, positioning himself so that he gently melted into the shadows.


Tujex
Tujex had actually stopped listening to the stories, and was more focused now on eating than anything else. He finished his food just in time to hear someone mention the Dark Star group. "Isn't that the group who's tryin' to kill us?" he mumbled, though no one seemed to be paying him any attention. He figured if anything arose, everyone would be sure to jump into action, so he turned back to his food and continued eating.


Red Un
The two entered the small room Red Un had paid for.

"Well, this has been a most interesting day" said Red Un. "But now, rest is in order."

Jenna smiled gently.

"Yes, go and lay down. I'll be with you in a minute..."


Red Un
There was a thunderstorm gathering outside, and rain started to tap tap tap on the roof, making for a comfortable atmosphere.

Red Un went straight to bed, without removing his armour. Slimy mudhole or clean comfy bed, he always had his armour on while sleeping, to the dismay of many an innkeeper.

Jenna stood outside the room, looking as if she was thinking about something very important. And indeed she was...

Narudin
The tavern was very calm, maybe a bit too calm for Narudin's liking. He didn't sense any danger, but he felt a bit uneasy. He took another look around the crowded room: Arodec seemed as if he hadn't moved from his place since the beginning, Tujex was eating at the table, Tranquillity and Delai weren't doing anything of interest either. It was as busy a day in a tavern as any. He remembered that Katherine had retired to her room earlier, and that Red Un had left with Jenna a while ago.

He put his uneasiness down to the stuffy atmosphere in the tavern and decided to go out for a breath of fresh air. Silently gliding through the crowd, he made his way to the exit. No one noted his passage.

Outside, Narudin found a shadowy niche to melt into and meditated on his current position. As he revised his conversation with Red Un, he found that it went fairly good. It was good to be in company again, have some comrades to defend, and to be defended by. Too long had he acted alone.

Narudin briefly visited a small, hidden spot, which he used for storing provisions when near Greenshore. He had a number of these hidden around the land of Tibia, so to be prepared for whatever situation he had to face. Predictably, the few gold coins placed there as a decoy were gone. Under them was a second hiding place, from which he extracted a few items: 10 platinum coins and a handful of gold ones; some spell ingredients; a multitude of throwing knifes and stars; some of his alchemical devices, like smoke bombs and flash-bangs; various bottles of poisons; herbs with various properties; a few bags filled with different runes and a small, travel spellbook.

All this Narudin distributed among his many pouches, concealed in his outfit and in the bags attached to his special belt, made exclusively for him by a craftsman, whom he had rewarded handsomely. It gave him easy access to the bags' contents.

After checking his equipment, which was all well-maintained, and sharpening his double short swords, Narudin made his way back to the tavern. Although he was highly trained with them, he rarely made use of the swords. He much preferred striking from afar, preferably when the target was occupied by something else.

Quite pleased with the way the vast amount of equipment didn't encumber his movement as much as he had thought it would, Narudin decided some more practice was required. "Old habits die hard" he mused, climbing the back of the tavern to the window on the second floor, his silhouette a mere flicker against the shadowy wall. He entered through the window, into a small corridor. Immediately Narudin noticed someone standing outside of a room and melted into the shadows, not a difficult feat in the dark corridor.

He recognized the figure as Jenna, Red Un's old friend and loved one, from what he had heard earlier. Being more than a little suspicious of her, and bearing in mind his In-Brotherhood agents information, Narudin silently intoned "Utano Vid", just to be on the safe-side, and observed Jenna's behaviour.

Dragon Hunter
Now he remembered that man, the one who got away. That was not a common thing, and had deeply impressed him, and that wasn't easy. This man had proven himself worthy by surviving the battle back then. He was quite surprised to find out that he was on the Brotherhood's deathlist. It didn't worry him though, he had fought in countless wars during his long life, and more than once had he been in situations similar to this one. He was quite sure he could trust the "survivor" though, as organisations like the brotherhood rarely accepted people who wanted to quit, and he seemed honest enough. Since he didn't sleep very often, he went out for late walk.

He had almost forgotten how beautiful these lands were. They were so different from his home, yet so alike. Just the fact that humans were the dominant race, and even more surprising, the superior races such as dragons, elves and dwarves accepted that. After a while he turned around and started to head back, that place sure served good stew...

Red Un
Jenna pulled out a dagger from inside her robe. It was made of copper and had strange inscriptions on it.

The rain started pouring down now, and there was a flash of lightning outside, shortly followed by the thunder.

Jenna looked around. Then she looked straight at Narudin.

"I know you're there, half-elf. And there you shall stay."

She suddenly took out a small crystal sphere and threw it at Narudin. As it broke, a strange white gas seeped from it.

"Some freeze-gas will keep you in place until I'm done..."

Then she went back into the room. Red Un was still awake.

"Jenna, what was that sound I heard outside?"

"Don't worry about it dear, that's not the worst of your problems right now..."

Narudin
Cursing his stupidity and carelessness, Narudin tried to move, shout, anything, but to no avail. He knew a number of ways to prevent freezing-gas, but most of them required preparations beforehand. He only prepared an anti-freeze ointment before going to the Ice Islands, but he should have known better none the less. Freeze-gas spheres were quite expensive and extremely hard to get to, but didn't the Brotherhood have both money and contacts?

For now he was sure that Jenna was another of the Brotherhoods plots to eliminate Red Un. This too he should have sensed earlier. Briefly, he wondered which technique had the Black Star employed to create such a flawless image of the person Red Un once loved? Was it a golem? Or perhaps they cruelly resurrected the actual body of Jenna and held a control spell over it? A Brotherhood member covered with a perfect illusion? If it was up to him, he'd settle for a shadow simulacrum, a perfect copy of a person, including his skills, made of shadow material. It would also explain how she noticed him in the shadows, although any detection spell would have the same effect.

"Maybe I should start researching on some anti-detection spells..." Narudin thought. " Oh well, no use dwelling on it now, let’s see what I can do for my present predicament."

He cursed some more for good measure, and resumed his struggles to break free of the paralysis. He couldn't even mutter a spell, but he found, that with an extreme effort of will he could slightly move one hand. Slowly, it crept to one of his rune-bags. He knew that even an Ultimate Healing rune wouldn't much help against the potent freezing-gas, but he knew of another way to dispel the effect, as painful as it was, no other idea was forthcoming.

In the meantime, all Narudin could do was watch helplessly as Jenna entered the room. From here he could still here her foreboding words directed at Red Un "That's not the worst of your problems right now..."

Red Un
Without hesitating, Jenna charged at Red Un with her dagger. It made a strange sparkling arc trough he air as she swung it, but Red Un had already gotten on his feet and drew his sword.

"Jenna?! What are you doing?!"

"I'm sparing you from more painful deaths..."

She thrust out with the copper dagger, but Red Un parried the blow. Jenna smiled, just as she always smiled.

"Give up, Redwick, I am a far better fighter than you..."

Then, with a swift upward stroke she sent Red Uns sword flying trough the air, up trough the roof even with a crashing sound. Rain started to pour in.

"But...you said..."

"Oh, that SILLY..."

She thrust out again, and Red Un dodged.

"...STORY..."

Another thrust, another dodge.

"The Brotherhood found me when I was half-DEAD...When you had ABANDONED ME...And trained me in the arts of KILLING..."

The two circled around in the room, and Jenna continued to try and strike Red Un each time she raised her voice, and the half-dwarf continued dodging.

"Jenna...I told you I loved you..."

"I know you DO... But the Brotherhood showed me why you CAN'T... find the LIBRARY... It will only lead to more PAIN... and SUFFERING..."

Dragon Hunter
He was close to the inn when he heard a noise, metal hitting wood. He started to run, as it most likely was a Brotherhood attack. Now when he knew these people were also after him, he wasn't going to miss his chance to reduce their numbers. He rushed in through the door, and towards the where the sound had come. That’s when he saw the "survivor", paralyzed. He focused his energy towards him, and with a magic word he dispelled the effect. "What happened here?" he asked.

Tranquillity
Tranquillity leaned back in her chair and sighed, it was getting late and she figured it was time to get to bed. She began running through the story she had just heard, all three of them. She sighed again in contentment and got up out of her chair.

"It truly is great for Red Un that he managed to find his long lost love." she said to Delai as she stood. "Well I better head off to bed, I want to get an early start on my exercises this morning, I've been feeling a little stiff." She smiled and started up the stairs. She reached the landing above the stairs and turned around a corner to head to her room. She saw Red Un's door open and noises coming from within, "They could at least close the door." she thought to herself. As she was turning around however something caught her eye, a slight movement in the shadows. She looked closer and saw Narudin standing still in the shadows.

She was a bit confused for a moment until she saw signs of freeze-gas on the walls around him. "DRANIL!" she cursed as realization came over her.

She charged into Red Un and Jenna's room shouting, "Red Un! Be careful, an assassin!" she froze in place as she saw Red Un attempting to dodge attacks from Jenna.

"DRANIL!" she cursed louder as she drew a poisoned dagger from her left sleeve and a long elvin combat knife in her right. With a flick of the wrist she sent the dagger flying at Jenna's chest but Jenna lunged at Red Un just as she threw and the dagger buried itself in the wall. She drew another combat knife wondering why it was that nothing had been turning out right lately.

Narudin
Narudin felt Arodec's power release him from the freeze-gas' paralysing effect. At least he escaped the need of detonating a Great Fireball Rune at himself, the only other way which would have dispelled the paralysis. He nodded to Arodec his thanks and said:

"Jenna is a Brotherhood agent, she is attempting to assassinate Sir Redwick."

Without waiting for his response, Narudin darted to the towards Red Uns room. He had seen Tranquillity get there earlier, and dreaded what might be happening inside. He arrived to witness Tranquillity throw a knife at Jenna and miss by a hairs-breadth, as the assassin made another lunge at Red Un.

As he passed Tranquillity, Narudin's hands dived into the opposite sleeves, and came out in a blur, two poison-coated throwing stars whirling toward the back of Jenna's neck. Not waiting for the effect of this attack, he immediately pulled out two Heavy Magic Missile runes. Not the most powerful runes, he admitted, but when it came to packing a hard punch...

Red Un
Jenna simply raised her hand and a tiny magical barrier dissolved the throwing stars in mid-air.

"You didn't think I expected help from your friends, dear?"

She moved her hand again and some sort of magical force pushed the others out of the room, trough the door of the opposing room (which was, fortunately, empty). Then she turned back to Red Un and did the magic-push thing again, sending him to the floor.

"OOOWW! I think me leg's broken! Jenna, for Durins sake, stop this madness!"

Jenna raised the copper dagger above her head to deal the killing blow. Rain from the hole in the roof mixed with the tears in her face.

"There is only one way this can end. This is the best for you, your eternal peace. I will always love you, Redw..."

Then, a thunderbolt struck through the hole in the roof into the copper dagger. Jenna screamed and screamed as electricity seared trough her body. Finally, she fell.

"...ick..."

The body hit the floor, a smell of burnt flesh coming from it. Red Un crawled over and turned it over. Jenna was still alive. First she tried to grasp Red Uns throat, but she was too weak. Then she just closed her tear-filled eyes.

"Redwick... I'm sorry... I'm so sorry... you're crying... please don't... I... I love you so much for what you are... for how... good you are..."

And then there was only silence, broken only by the tap of rain and the sobbing of a very sad half-dwarf.