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Date Posted: 20:38:59 11/01/01 Thu
Author: Erlic, Corum & Yorik
Subject: Uncharacteristic behavior
In reply to: Tia 's message, "Wouldn't want to miss out on a good dinner!" on 18:40:34 11/01/01 Thu

“It was my mother, Erlic!” she said, keeping her voice low so the others could not hear, though it was still obvious she was a bit upset. Really, what right did the man have to drag her out here and question her judgment? “A mother whom I haven’t seen in seven years, so perhaps you’d do well to respect her memory and refer to her properly.”

Erlic didn’t have time to worry about the relationship between Laurel, and her mother, rather he was more concerned with the information she had received from her money. In truth he had no ill will towards Laurel or her mother, but the past few minutes had made look like a fool in the eyes of those whose friendship he wanted to gain. He thought back upon the message his mentor had given him, and how it corresponded to danger around the palace. Nothing more, and nothing else, and yet the spirit wouldn’t have given him that information if it hadn’t been for Erlic’s past involvement with his mentor. Kwan-Yee could have mentioned names, but from what he remembered about spirits, he didn’t think it plausible, rather just the mere inference of danger was enough to alert him.

Laurel had obviously gained more knowledge than what he had uncovered, but he still wondered if in fact her mother had actually mouthed the name of Sarra.

“Her concern was that we had an assassin in our midst---those words, no more, no less. Tell me, Erlic: to whom else could she possibly be referring? I admit rushing in to accuse Sarra of deception may not have been the best possible idea, but may I remind that it was not my idea, but yours.”

A sudden flash of acknowledgement coursed through Erlic’s mind as he listened to those words so carefully, reciting them in his mind over and over. Laurel’s mother had not mentioned Sarra, rather she had mentioned an assassin within their midst, and that assassin could only be himself. Of course he wasn’t about to reveal that information to Laurel, especially now. He thought back about Laurel’s statement, and how it wasn’t her idea, but his own. The only reason he rushed at Sarra was because of Laurel’s accusation of Sarra, otherwise he would have investigated further. Perhaps they were both at fault, for not revealing the truths they had heard at the strange building. It was true, Erlic had rushed, and pointed an accusatory finger at Sarra, but that was based on the combination of information he had received from his mentor, along with the information he had received from Laurel, naming Sarra as the assassin.

It appeared that the druid assumed that since Sarra was the newest member of the group, it was therefore she that had to be the guilty party. If only Laurel knew the truth about the matter, she might have a different perspective on Erlic, the so-called thief. This was a most comedic of errors, and he would have to watch himself in the future.

He started to accompany her toward the dining hall when a thought came to mind. “Excuse me for just a moment,” Erlic stated to Laurel. “I shall return immediately.”

He headed towards Dalo’s room, which was down the hall, and entered through the door without knocking. He was surprised to see a zombie in the room jumping back from Dalo’s bed upon hearing Erlic’s entrance. Before Erlic had a chance to wonder what was transpiring, the creature simply pointed to a tray of food that obviously it had brought in. “I’ll see to it that he gets the meal,” Erlic stated as he closed the door behind the exiting zombie.

He sat on the edge of the bed, and gently woke Dalo. The beastmaster rubbed his eyes surprised to see his boss in the room. “I just wanted to give you a warning,” Erlic began. “I have it on good faith that there is danger around the palace this evening, so be alert, and above all, be cautious.” Dalo simply acknowledge the assassin as Erlic retrieved the tray of food the zombie had brought in, and placed it in Dalo’s lap, unaware of the tainted food that the beastmaster was to partake in. “Enjoy your meal,” Erlic stated as he left the room, again unaware of the deceitful trickery that even now was occurring around him.

He eventually re-joined Laurel, and accompanied her to the dining room. Erlic offered her a chair next to him as he went to the cupboard to retrieve a bottle of wine. He then sat next to Ravin, as he poured he and Laurel a glass of wine. Ravin immediately hand signaled him about the conversation he had read regarding the two zombies. Erlic simply drank his wine as he deliberated on this new issue.

*************************


Corum sat at the table enjoying the scene between Marz, and Jeremy. It was quite evident that whatever happened between Marz, and Jeremy, it was not to be since Corum knew for certain that his friend, and Tristan was a thing, and he didn’t think anyone could get in between the two of them. They made the best of friends as far as he was concerned.

Corum was about to dig into the stew when he noticed Ravin walk in, followed shortly by Erlic, and Laurel. Now those two were definitely becoming a thing, although why someone would want to associate with Erlic was beside him. The man was way too quiet for his own liking, but it seemed that Marz like the guy, therefore Corum simply went along with it. And anyway, Laurel was too good looking for Erlic. She needed someone that was more open, and carefree, and, someone like him as a matter of fact.

He would have thought further but was intercepted by Tia who gave him a great big hug. He loved when she did that to him. She was the only one that had truly like him for what he was, other than Syn. But that was ok by him. He couldn’t help yawn in front of Tia who immediately admonished him by asking if she was too boring.

“You?” Corum answer trying to cover his yawn. “No way. I always love your company. By the way, did you know you’ve got the neatest set of colored eyes I’ve ever seen?” He started to wonder about her next question regarding Brat and Eyes.

Corum refilled his glass with juice and was about to answer Tia as Brat, and Eyes suddenly joined him out of nowhere. “We’re have you guys been?” the youth asked his two pets. “Tia’s been asking about you two.” Brat started to jump up and down, while Corum simply yawned. “Man, I must either be hungry or really sleepy,” he said to Tia. “Maybe a good night’s rest will do me good, that is once I’ve gotten some food into me.” That’s when it dawned on him that he had a message for Rowan who was nearby.

He looked up and yelled to Rowan. “YO ROWAN!” Kazabet said she’d be coming back late, but she’d leave her bedroom door unlocked for you. She wanted me to make sure you got the message.”

He poured some of the food onto his plate, and was about to dig in when Brat started to point toward the kitchen, and jumping at the same time. “Aw c’mon Brat,” Corum stated. “There’s plenty of food around, just help yourself.” Unfortunately Brat was becoming too persistent for his own good. Maybe the monkey had eaten something that hadn’t agreed with him or was simply hungry. “Alright, alright!” Corum stated as he stood up. He grabbed onto the chair for just a brief second before figuring out why he was standing. Finally recognition dawned on him, and he went over to one of the other tables, and brought back a banana for Brat. “Here you go, now let me eat my dinner.”

Corum turned to Tia, and simply looked at her eyes once again. “Damn you’re pretty,” he stated as he turned to eat. That’s when Brat did the naughty, naughty. The monkey had moved a bowl of salt next to Corum’s food, and started to sprinkle it with salt, not a little bit, but a lot of it, all over his stew, as well as over the banana. “Uh, is there something wrong Brat?” Corum asked the monkey as he gazed at the monkey, to Tia, and then back to the monkey. “Do you know something I don’t know,” Corum stated as he started to laugh, yawn, and then both combined. He simply shook his head, and wondered why was he getting all this abuse. “Hey Yorik, don’t you think this kind of strange?”

BELLADONNA, n. In Italian a beautiful lady; in English a deadly poison. A striking example of the essential identity of the two tongues.

“You know,” Corum stated to Tia as he once again yawned. “Brat and Yorik must be related.” When he saw the smile coming from Tia he continued with the explanation. “Neither one of them make any sense at times.” Corum took a bit of the stew, and quickly downed it with the juice. “BRAT!” Corum yelled. “You put too much salt in my stew.”

************************


Erlic continued to think about Ravin’s message, and what it could possibly imply. He had made mention to Ravin to be on alert, and it was obvious that despite his misgiving in accusing Sarra of being an assassin, Ravin took his words literally for he had found something out of the ordinary. Zombies did not speak to each other, for they were incapable of it. The only one exception to the rule was the lich that had worked in conjunction with the now deceased kin, and queen Kazabet. Because he was magical in nature, he had the gift of speech for an undead, but again, this was the exception to the rule.

Erlic looked around the table thinking, observing, and trying to construct or formulate what was going on. Marz looked extremely tired. He felt nothing odd through the link, and based everything on the youth’s injury earlier in the day, along with any other excursions Marz might have made during the course of the day. Missing from the table were Jeremy, and Tristan. Although the thought of Jeremy not being present didn’t concern the assassin, Tristan’s absence did. Wherever Marz was, Tristan was surely to be very close by.

He started to gaze at each individual at the table. Justin had a huge pie in front of him, and rather then simply digging in, which was quite customary, remained simply seated, and staring off into space. The stature of the merc was most unusual for the man, since Justin normally claimed to be quite vocal, and quite active whenever food, and wine were present. Now the man simply seemed totally out of his norm. This was proven even further, as if in slow motion, Justin’s body moved ever so slowly until his faced was buried in the pie.

Tia, and Rowan seemed to be fine, as did Eremis. Corum seemed a bit on the tired side, but then again, Erlic didn’t know the youth all that well, let alone his habits. As far as he knew, the youth, and Marz, were constantly getting into some form of trouble regardless of whatever situation might be occurring, so Erlic simply passed on Corum.

What did surprise him was Brat, Corum’s pet monkey. He patted Laurel on her arm, and motioned her to look at the monkey. Monkeys were usually quite happy to simply be eating fresh fruit, or other types of edibles, but in this case, Brat was acting extremely uncharacteristically. He watched the monkey as he made his various maneuvers or actions for that matter. Erlic had no idea what he was looking at, or for, but there was something odd about the creature’s behavior. He nearly smiled when Brat poured the salt onto Corum’s food, but then was surprised that the monkey did the same to the banana, which still hadn’t been unpeeled.

Erlic continued to watch the monkey, as a sudden thought entered his mind. The monkey had repeatedly pointed toward the kitchen door. The monkey had chosen a white substance, and poured it over Corum’s meal as well as the banana. Why pollute his own dinner? Erlic glanced at the table, and noticed the absence of anything else that looked like salt, or was powdery for that matter. Marz was unusually tired, as was Justin. So what was the difference?

Erlic pondered the situation further trying to single out the common essentials. He looked around the table several times, each time still coming to no resolution. Why were Marz, Corum, and Justin so tired? Why was the monkey playing with the power, and why was………there food only in front of Justin, Corum, and Marz. Food. Powder. Tiredness. Marz had been eating, and knowing his student well, had probably been drinking juice, as was Corum. Justin had been eating as well. Tia, and Rowan had just entered, and Eremis seemed fine with only a glass of wine at his hands. Food. Powder. Food……………………….

He turned to Ravin. “Keep things under control here, and keep a wary eye out for anything out of the ordinary, regardless of how usual or unusual.” He then turned to Laurel. “Be vigil druid. Something is not right here.” With that Erlic simply got up without waiting for an answer from either individual. He knew he could rely on Ravin, and whatever judgments the man may make. Laurel he was sure would handle matters accordingly.

Erlic started to walk toward the kitchen door, and stopped before entering, carefully listening to any sound that might be unusual. He slowly pushed the door taking in the sights of the kitchen. He scanned the area, and it seemed everything was as it should be. One zombie was preparing dessert, while another was making another pot of java. Yet another zombie was cleaning some of the dirty kettles, while still another was sprinkling a powder over some food………

A powder that was coming out of a satchel, rather than a clear vial as was customary within a kitchen. Erlic slowly crept up on the zombie that, unbeknownst to him was in fact Mordon, a member of the snake people. The assassin quickly grabbed the arm of the zombie spreading the powder, and pulled it behind the zombie’s back. Erlic was about to inspect the powder when instinct suddenly kicked in, and he ducked, as a knife sliced through the air, nearly missing his jugular vein. Erlic managed to grab at the victim’s hand holding the knife, and slammed it hard against the wooden table. The knife clattered to the floor. Mordan started to attack Erlic, and the assassin simply let the man come toward him. As Mordon moved forward, Erlic pulled on the zombie’s clothes, and pulled the man toward him, falling into a roll with Mordon flying over his head, and into the various piles of pots and pans that had been stacked in the corner, which came crashing down, causing a very loud commotion.

The other zombies, who were truly zombies, moved back toward a neutral corner not knowing what to do since their queen was not present. They were given strict orders not to harm any of the guests within the palace.

Erlic now realized that something drastic had happened. No zombie was to harm the queen’s guest, and yet this one seemed quite strong, and quite persuasive in trying to kill Erlic. The figure of Brat suddenly came to his mind. Dalo had once told him about monkeys, and how they often imitated other people. Monkey see, monkey do, had been Dalo’s comment about the animals. Brat must have seen the zombie spread the powder on the food, and that was what he was trying to warn Corum about. Corum, on the other hand, was much like Marz when it came to thinking, both were somewhat slow.

Erlic felt the slice of a blade cut through his arm, as he quickly came to alertness. He spun, and lashed out with his fist, sinking it deep in the man’s windpipe, crushing it with one blow. It was then he noticed the other zombie that had fallen into the pots start to move.

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Replies:

  • new faces -- Sarra (and a little Kandarin), 20:45:24 11/01/01 Thu
  • A little battle with dinner -- Ravin and co., 10:22:02 11/02/01 Fri
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