"(That was the ogrillon the Mistress used to punish slackers, wasn't it?)" Sanri said.
"(That's the one.)" Unri affirmed, slowly getting up out of the bedroll thrown onto the floor. "(You're not going to believe what happened.)"
"(Your burns and scars vanished?)" Sanri asked, pulling on a shirt. "(Mine too.)"
"(Have you checked this stuff out?)" Unri asked as she tugged on her own shirt. "(This cloth they make these garments from?)"
"(It's cloth, what about it?)" Sanri looked at it a couple of times but shrugged. "(Sort of like silk. What do you think?)"
"(Isn't that the Master's shirt and pants and slippers?)" Unri asked. "(I'm pretty sure humans are gender specific on clothing. A lot of races are. That's not the point though. These are made with plant fibers but they're woven so tightly and the fabric is so soft - this'd be worth quite a lot as a trade item.)"
Sanri shrugged and took off the Master's clothing, inspecting her sister. The white t-shirt contrasted starkly against the skin but matched the hair. "(Don't you normally prefer darker clothing?)"
"(If I could find it, I would. Yech. Are these human fashions? They're all bright colors and it's all so bright anyway.)"
"(I'm getting back to studying my spells,)" said Sanri. "(We ought to tally our loot soon too.)"
"(Were those mages, clerics, or what?)" Unri discarded clothing if she couldn't figure out what it was or if it was too bright a color. "(When did Master get up, anyway?)"
"(Shortly after dawn,)" answered Sunri. "(As to the ones of multihued skirts - I've no idea. Now if you don't mind, I want as many Comprehend Languages memorized as I can.)"
Matron Redwidow's nails clacked against one of the bones comprising her chair and she looked disturbed. "The sorcerer killed a Retriever?"
"Not only that but there was a powerful magical backlash," said the priestess, not at all concerned with how poorly the news was being received by such a minor House. "The summoner of the beast is screaming something about the moon and pink hearts. Insane, obviously. My superiors warn you, Matron, they will not tolerate you involving the city in some massive scheme."
"Unless they profit from it," agreed Matron Redwidow. "I have my own priestesses and they will be sending a Yochlol after the slaves."
The priestess frowned. "Using one of Lolth's handmaidens to go after two escaped slaves? Can't you just send a few hireswords?"
"No, they defeated a Retriever - one of great power and no small intelligence that had hunted down mages before. This Sorcerer may be a threat to the city."
The priestess stared for a moment before laughing. It was exactly the sort of scornful mocking laugh that one would expect from a drow. No humor was involved. "A Sorcerer. Possibly an adventuring group. Pose a threat to this city? To the jewel of Lolth's crown?"
"Besides, it was a full twenty slaves - not just these two. The comeliest of females that I'd managed to collect, all held for later sacrifice to Her Darkness." protested Matron Redwidow.
"Spare me your fascination with such things, " said the priestess. "Everyone looks mainly the same when you've stripped the skin off. You've been warned, Matron. Do not embarass us or disgrace the goddess."
Twenty slaves had escaped. Four had died. Two had escaped with the sorcerer.
Grauf looked over the remainder. Fourteen of Redwidow's slaves who had run far but not far enough.
Once activity had died out on the surface, he could take these slaves and send them along the path that the Retriever had gone. Except that when they left, one would bear a simple torc that he could attune his thoughts to and spy on from afar.
"Hi guys," chirped Usagi. "Ami, it's lunch, you shouldn't be studying so much!"
"Ami has found something very interesting, Usagi," said Makoto.
"Interesting?" Usagi asked, not really interested. Considering it was Ami it was probably a studyholic support group.
Ami turned her computer around so that Usagi could see the picture on the monitor. "Look familiar?"
"That's them!" Usagi exclaimed. "Except those two didn't have that..."
"Nasty cruel vicious look?" Makoto supplied.
"Yeah," agreed Usagi. "What's all that to the side?"
"This is from an American game called Dungeons & Dragons which has an extensive story setting." Ami turned the computer around, brought up another picture, then turned it towards Usagi again. "How about this?"
"That's the youma! Sort of," agreed Usagi.
"Exactly," said Ami. "Just like those two last night were not quite the same as those in this picture. Indicating the game connection isn't 100% accurate but provides some details that are missing. Those two elves are called 'drow' or 'dark elves' and they are from a race of evil creatures who destroy and dominate everything they encounter."
"...I didn't really get that impression from those two..." hedged Usagi, not wanting to believe that more friends of theirs would turn out to be Dark Kingdom Generals or something.
"No, I don't think so either," agreed Ami. "Do you remember what that one woman told us when we asked?"
"After I paid her five hundred yen," complained Makoto.
"That the boy with the pigtail had rescued them and they had declared themselves in his debt," provided Ami.
"Don't tell me my new sempai, err, that boy," corrected Makoto, "is some sort of Dark General."
Ami was about to point out that the boy was two years older than Makoto when she considered Usagi and Mamoru. "No. Quite the opposite actually. He seemed mildly stunned by Usagi's attack. The two elves were more affected, possibly because they are more attuned to magic."
"Opposite of a Dark General," mused Makoto. As they had only faced Beryl before, they didn't have a lot of experience in this. "That would mean he's... AN ALLY!"
"Shhhhh," said Ami, trying to point out that the two bouncing up and down laughing wasn't exactly going to go unnoticed.
"Ami-chan, we died facing Beryl," said Makoto. "Before we die again, I want to get some hot stud loving.... I mean some allies who can back us up in a battle! Yeah - that's what I meant!"
Usagi nodded happily. "Where's Minako, anyway?"
"Reading the 'Lord Of The Rings' trilogy," answered Ami. "I wonder if it will have any relevant information?"
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(Posted Tue, 09 Sep 2003 13:30)
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