What began as yet another boring day on the path to the what fate had laid before Donavan and Arrol with the rest of use as Associates in arms I spent most of my day thinking of ways to convince the band after this mission was ever over to explore a few interesting places on the world perhaps first Aglarond followed by Halruaa and finally on the even more exotic places like Kara-Tura, Maztica and finally Zakhara.
I had to admit my desire to see and even eventually see to the construction of gates to each of those locations to an obscure location I would one day build which would serve as my wilderness fortress often kept my mind busy. Of course perhaps centuries in the future I have always believed you have to always have a plan. Granted you can’t always plan for everything such is the concept of chaos theory so often I just plan for the worst but even then the limits of my power often still make that difficult which might actually what has led to me being what some might call unstable. Which I have found as Savaras taught both Caspia and I to remain unpredictable is to remain alive.
That night did not pass uneventfully for on the second watch on a night that was filled with starlight and yet another cold camp. Then again things did not stay cold one might say they heated up quite a bit. I was meditating during second watch not quite in a trance but to all intents and purposes it would look like it when the night’s excitement started.
Naiem and Invelous were walking around the camp when suddenly Naiem walked off and Invelous called out to him to inquire what was going on as he followed him. What followed was a quick combat where Naiem had turned upon him and using poison Invelous had rendered him helpless. He then commended to drag him back into camp and tie him up. Just as he had finished the task another Naiem came out of the forest from the opposite direction and said and I quote “What are you doing with myself!” I will admit I might have let them know I was conscious at that point and were it not for Naiem’s odd reaction. As it suddenly caused me to doubt the identity of the other Naiem or for that matter if it was a dark duplicate that Naiem had been keeping hidden from us the entire time and he also possessed a dark secret. Perhaps some remnant of their time on the Plane of Shadow but I could not be sure so I stayed at the ready as waited for the situation to unfold.
I will admit to parts of the story regarding the dark legacy that seems to be stalking the Associates seems both dire and confusing and I may need more time to confirm all of the facts. Suffice to say things with the Associates are not obviously as they would seem would be an understatement. For any who might now or in the future doubt me merely ask the temples of Mystra or Selene of Waterdeep. But back to our other Naiem who after everyone had been woken and had began to question the identity of the other Naiem while I rested I thought to myself I might have to actually get up.
I had to get up after all for within moments after Donavan had ten minutes to pray and prepare he cast a spell to enable himself to determine who of the two Naiem’s were telling the truth. Now let me say this for awhile there Invelous and Naiem almost came to blows and after Donavan told us that the tied up Naiem was the one resisting all bets were off for him. Of course the interesting thing about the situation was the fact that the each possessed all of the same items and even seemed to possess the same exact memories. It was obvious to me whoever had planned this infiltration was leaving nothing to chance and perhaps only the quickness of Invelous had prevented the Associated from being infiltrated. I had tried thinking to the other Naiem to see if he was going to attempt to contact me via my mind for otherwise I felt for sure that our newest associate Krolis was going to end his life.
There was soon talk of just killing him, tying up the other Naiem or even letting there be a fight it out to the death. All of which seemed interesting to be honest but finally Krolis and perhaps our Naiem took matters into their own hands and attempted to take his life. It was then that something very odd happened for suddenly Arrol jumped in-between them and moved into a martial pose and defended them away from their prey. It was not until finally Bolora became involved and wrestled him away that between Krolis and Naiem he was finished. At least he did not die tied up for Donavan had managed to slip in-between the combatants and release the other Naiem so he at least stood a chance. Not that I am saying it was much of a chance but it was better than just being slaughtered like a dog. After the death of possible imposter Donavan looked on with regret while Arrol screamed grabbed his chest and fell to the ground.
Perhaps I should step back a moment for in reality before the mortal combat had began I blame Donavan the Reformed really for Arrol had tried to convince us to time him up and take him back three days to the nearest camp friendly to Waterdeep. Of course Donavan refused and had countered with leaving him tied up to slip his ropes at another date and perhaps come after us again with a better plan. Hell Invelous had even offered to do finish the job right then or even afterward if necessary. I will say this I don’t call him Invelous the Survivor for nothing. In truth I was thinking of my sister Caspia’s warning and hoping when Invelous decided it was time to save his life I was wise enough to follow him.
We had at that time started to talk and I had risen now that a decision had finally been made and the Naiem who we believed was ours was alive. Not that it was not close for believe it or not as I had anticipated for a moment in the wild melee it was hard to tell which Naiem was which but such is the inherent chaos of the world I always say and only when the other Naiem began to rifle through the items of his doppelganger did I rise and finally begin to realize that enough was enough. So I had rose and not wishing to be near Naiem and his doppelgangers body I asked if anyone could move it near me so that it would be away from our Naiem. Krolis did so and I waited for Naiem to make a move and when he did I stunned him with my Wand of Color Spray.
I apologized of course but I wanted to examine the body myself without interruption and while I had already used my Wand of Detect magic at the insistence of Arrol to prove that their magic they possessed seemed identical I wanted to further examine them and confirm what Xavier had told me that they even smelled the same. Once I was sure that whatever had lay before me was either an alternate reality version of Naiem or perfectly created magical copy and not some creature I rose and spoke to the others in a joking manner speaking of the rabbit bone that was in both of the pockets of our two copies and made a joke about if we had known someone was going to go to so much work we should have give Naiem all of our equipment before we turned in for the night.
Perhaps it was the stern rebuke of Arrol at our callous actions after a death without reason that could have been prevented but suddenly I realized the evil in my past actions and where normally it might not bother me especially since I had been travelling with the Associates for some reason it did and I no longer felt comfortable in my own skin and I knew what I needed to do. If we were truly going to embrace the path of the light then it was time to embrace that side of myself that was truest to my noble heritage which I called Kas the Generous.
Finally I had risen from my long slumber where I had been buried when Caspian felt that my voice would have only accelerated our demise but now that the light was shining upon the Associates I felt finally that I might speak and my voice would not bring about my own doom. Finally the voice of Kas would be heard and if I had heard correctly at least two of my proud reformed Associates would stand with me against the darkness that threatened us it seemed almost at every turn. I realized I definitely had my work cut out for me. Well let us just say that Artuliak Kas of the Elven Army was ready to serve and sustain.
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