The Board (2)

IQ120 -- “Let me get this straight.”

Began IQ, "We are nine humans, one wolf, one drd, and Reagun is our only weapon. Downwind is a group of wolves of unknown size (probably 30 or more if you look at the average wolf war party), who will know we are coming a while before we get there... Did I miss anything?"

IQs #4 and #7 shook their heads.

"You said wolf." pointed out Rae, "I bet Echo has friends."

IQ confered with Echo. "He says there should be a hunting party a little to the north."

"So all we have to do is make contact with them before those wolves..." Rae pointed at the drawings she had made on the map, "...attack us."

The scoobies quickly packed up all of their equiptment and set out.

Kaybe0 -- Well it could be

that one of Echo's friends is allready around these parts, said Kay, looking thoughtful, and still a little confused. You guys had allready left when I got here. I found you by following that wolf over there. Kay pointed to a wolf that was standing a little back.

"That's Spooner." said Echo. "He is indeed a friend. But, he was supposed to be up north with the others. Why are you here, Spooner?"

JilaCosa -- *It was my mate* Spooner answers

*She has grown quite heavy with our pups, and she wished to have them here, with the pack.* Of course this conversation is nothing more than growls, barks, and facial movements to all of the Scoobs except IQ #1.

*It is good you are here.* Echo says to Spooner. *It seems I shall have need of your help soon. Somehow these humans have made enemies of our enemies. How did you happen upon this one?* Echo quickly nods toward Kaybe.

*My mate and I," Spooner explains "were coming across the field with the statues when we spotted this female. We could smell you and these others humans, and knew you would know what to do with her. My mate has gone on to the pack's grounds*

*Come then.* Echo barks to IQ and Spooner as he starts of at a jog. *We will find the others of my pack who are close by*

Echo takes the lead, followed by Rae, IQ #1 and #7. The Scoobettes all take their places next while IQ#4 and Spooner bring up the rear. In a short time they arrive at an old growth forest. Echo and Spooner give a long howl and a quick bark apiece, then sit down to wait.

IQ120 -- A short time later

... a large group of wolves step out of the grass in front of and behind the scoobies. They are quickly greeted by Echo and Spooner. Echo fills in the wolves on their situation.

"Well," said Raegun, "Now all we need to do is to decide whether or not to go to them, or to let them come to us."

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

"They knew I was there!" said the little wolf to his leader.

"They've also met up with a large hunting party in the north."

"What?!?" Said the leader to the small wolf. The leader thought for a few moments, and then said to himself, "If it were done, when 'tis done, twere well it was done quickly."

"Huh?" asked the younger wolf.

The leader began to give orders, "We will attack them before they get a chance to move." The wolf looked at the sun, "I want to attack them at sundown. We need to move doublequick. LET'S GO!"

The entire pack took of at a sprint in the direction of the scoobs.

Raegun -- “They come.”

Raegun announces as the group deliberates. "Logic would suggests that we move quickly and chose our ground BEFORE they arrive."

"We'll need ground-cover." Rae says. "The field of the statues would be adequate. Can we get there before they do?" she asks Echo.

Echo says that they can, and IQ translates.

Rae nods and organizes the group into a tight formation before they set off at a half-run towards the giant chess-board.

IQ120 -- The Scoobs made it to the chess...

...board just in time. As soon as they got there Echo began to bark orders (literally). He directed the wolfs to hide between the statues, because of their easy defendability. After a few seconds every thing was silent, and IQ could barely hear the sound of paw prints off in the distance as the attacking wolves ran toward the statues. They were only moments away.

IQ120 -- The attacking wolves....

...had stopped in their tracks about a quarter of a mile from the chess board. They were sitting in the tall grass, where they could not be seen. Whispers spread down the line of wolves.

"What are they waiting for?" They asked in hushed voices.

Slowly the horizon became red as the sun began to set. The golden half circle disappeared behind the horizon. Suddenly several loud barks and growls could be heard in the distance, as the attack wolves left there hiding place and spread into an attack formation.

The attack had begun!

Rae, not wanting to be left out, had been near the front line, and was shooting at the wolves that appear on Raegun's radar. Once the attacking wolves reached the statues, She stopped shooting for fear of hitting one of their allies amidst the confution.

Because they had no weapons, most of the scoobs hung back. Some helped bandage any injured wolves that came out from amidst the statues. But, unknown to the scoobies, the largest of the wolves had snuck around behind them. The large wolf looked at the scoobs, tried to tell which was which. He had been given orders on which of the humans to attack first.

The wolf ran from his hiding place and jumped at his prey. IQ#4 turn just in time to see the wolf's jaws snap shut on his arm.

"Let go of my arm." he yeld as he fell over with the wolf on top of him.

Raven-Kat -- Here we go again!

Hearing the yell, Rae fired several shots into the air, lighting the sky and scaring some of the younger wolves into flight.

"IQ!" she shouted as she saw him fall under the wolf.

IQ the original and IQ #7 stopped their fighting long enough to look in Rae's direction, not having noticed #4's fall amidst the chaos. Cursing, Rae pelted across the field, dodging between the large statues and ocassionally firing off shots if an enemy wolf came too close. Oddly, though, none of them seemed to WANT to get too close to her anyway.

"Can you get a clear shot?" Rae demanded of Raegun.

"No, they're too close."

"Right, then." Rae reversed Raegun in her hands and ran at the wolf. "Ay-eeeee!" she shouted, hitting the wolf on the back of the neck with Raegun's butt-end.

"Ouch." Raegun grunted as he made contact.

IQ #4 let out a grunt of his own as the full weight of the wolf slammed into him. Rae quickly rolled the unconcious wolf off of IQ #4.

"Nothing serious." IQ #4 tells her, showing her his arm.

"Abraisions and contusions." Rae says, poking him gently.

The remaining enemy wolves, seeing their leader felled, are fleeing with their tales between their legs. Literally :) Rae helps #4 to his feet and and supports him back to the center of the field.

"Is he dead?" IQ #1, pointing towards the large wolf.

"Nope." Rae nods and smiles. "Raegun's been lecturing me on the use of non-lethal force."

"I think she's finally figured it out."

"So what do we do with him?" Jila asks.

"Leave him to them." Rae points towards Echo. "Leave him to his own people's justice. It's not our place to deal with him."

"You HAVE been listening to me!" Raegun bubbles happily.

Rae blushes. "Let's... we still need to figure out how to get out of here. This is not the end of our adventure by any means, so let's find some safe place to rest and recover ourselves." Rae turns to Echo. "Field Marshall, can you suggest such a place to us?"

IQ120 -- Echo nodded

And gave orders about what to do with their captive before leading the scoobs away from the chess board. After a short walk, Echo led the scoobs into a valley with a large tower.

"You will be safe here." said Echo, "I must return to bring the captive before our leader. I will return in the morning."

The scoobs went into the tower. IQ#1 and #4 were bandaging the wolfs bite. Everyone else began to explore the tower. Various stores of food and supplies were found. Jila and Mouse found a staircase leading to the top of the tower. From the top both could see very far, but because the tower was overgrown with weeds along it's exterior it had been practically invisible.

Inside the tower IQ #7 had stumbled across a book case. He quickly began to examine the titles of the books...

"Read it. Read it. Read it. Read it. Read it. hmmm...haven't read this one." #7 pulled a book called 'Middle Ages Weapons, and Armor."

Suddenly the book case moved aside to reveal a secret closet filled with old fationed weapons. He picked up a shortsword and checked to see how sharp it was. The sword was still sharp. #7 wandered off to tell everyone else what he had found.

Kaybe0 -- The others were surprised

and curious to see the weapons. Deciding they just might come in handy, they each took what suited them. Kay picked a very short sword that was no more than a foot long from handle to tip. it had a case and a belt to hold it on. This was light weight and not to heavy for her to handle. But, she secretly hoped they never needed to use them. Exploring the room further, she found a very dusty instrument that resembled a piano in an odd way. Touching a key, she discovered it let out a very hauntingly pretty note. "I wonder what this is." she murmered letting her fingers slide over the keys again. Hearing the sound the others turned to see what it was as well.

KaraS -- Kara was poking around too.

She opened a cabinet and found a box of chocolates inside. She opened the box (a Whitman's sampler) and looked at the foil wrapped candies.

Each little chocolate had a little ribbon on it like a hershey's kiss. The little banner on each chocolate said "eat me".

Mindful of what had happened to Alice when she ate things like that, Kara tucked the box under her arm and went to rejoin the others who were examining weapons they had found.

"What have you got there?" she asked.

Raven-Kat -- Rae has obviously

learned a lot of interesting new skills besides non-lethal combat recently. As the others moved about her, she stood in the center of the room juggling a dagger, a small mace, a short-sword, and an amused Raegun.

"Are you going to take ANY of them?" IQ #7 inquired with a grin. "Or are you just going to stand there doing nothing?"

"Actually, I thought I'd see which one went flying into the crowd first." Rae made a face at him and let the dagger slide from her hand. It buried itself up to its hilt in the wall near #7's head.

"Ooh, mommy," Raegun exclaimed, "pick that one!"

Rae chuckled and put the other weapons down. "I've got all I need."

"Where'd you learn to throw like that?" #7 asks.

"If you're a good boy, I might even tell you some day."

"So you're really not going to take anything?"

"Of course I am." Rae held up her magical bag of holding. "That library's got a great selection. I switched some of my own books that I've learned off by heart for some of their old books." Rae grined. "Some of them look... promising."

"Just Raegun." Rae smiled. "How's #4?"

"Just fine, thanks to your field medicine." #4 announced, walking in with #1.

"Good to hear it." Rae smiled and turned her attention back to the contents of the armory. "You know... I don't really need any WEAPONS, but..."

"Armor is always good." Raegun conluded.

"Exactly." Rae began nosing around. "Nothing too heavy... and I wouldn't want to restrict my movements... Hmmm..."

"A magical world is bound to have magical armor." IQ the original said.

"Exactly." Rae picked up a set of heavy wrist-bands. "Of course, if I remember my D&D properly, these sorts of things can be cursed."

"No reason not to try it." Raegun suggested reasonably.

Rae nodded and slid on the bracelets. "Oh, no!" she exclaimed in horror.

"WHAT?" the Scoobs cried.

"They clash with my earings!" Rae moaned. Snickering, she droped them into her bag and kept looking.

She finally found a small cedar chest in an out-of-the way corner of the room. Gingerly breaking the seal, she found a platinum dagger, a small leather pouch, and a plain gold ring. Now this is the stuff that REAL treasures are made of.

Rae emptied the pouch into her hand and examined a number of brightly colored gem-stones and a few coins. She re-baged them and placed the pouch in an inside pocket.

The dagger, she finds, has a perfect balance for throwing or hand-to-hand combat, an unusal combination, as the learned will tell you. (Throwing daggers, of course, are usually little more than sharpened wedges of metal since a hilt throws off the balance of the thing.) Twisting it around in her hand and dancing it around, she reflected that such a dagger must be a custom job. Sure enough, on the pomel, right below the smith's own mark was another crest. From the age of the sealed chest she had found it in, though, its owner must be long-dead, and his house long-fallen.

She slid the dagger into her belt and turned her attention to the the ring. It was of plain gold (almost pure from its color and weight) and was perfectly smooth, without a mark on its outer surface. Rae held it up to the light, hoping to see an inscription on the inner surface, but that too was smooth. It resembled a Terran wedding ring.

Rae turned her attention back to the dagger, and recalled the gems and gold. The contents of the chest may well have been intended as a wedding gift for some lady of birth. Rae smiled as she let her imagination run to knights and ladies and story-book weddings. Terran story-books had always caught her imagination, perhaps because as a Peacekeeper she was allowed none. At all events, Rae was convinced that this had once been intented as a dowry, never delivered through some twist of fate. Sighing, she replaced the dagger in her belt and slid the ring onto her finger.

Nothing obvious happened. There was no explosiong, no fire-works, not even a real sensation. No magic, then, to be seen. However, Rae felt as though this ring had always belonged on her finger, and she was reluctant to take it off. It was, after all, perhaps the closest she would ever come to a story-book wedding of her own.

Smiling faintly, she walked back to the center of the armory. "Look at the dagger I found, guys!" she called.

"What else did you find?" Kara asks.

"An old ring..." Rae showed it to the others. "And some money. I figured I'd keep that in case we should run into a need for it during our trip."

"That's a good idea, Rae." Kaybe told her. "Look what I found."

After examining everybody's finds, Rae found the kitchen and set about preparing dinner for the hungry Scoobs. Meanwhile, several of the ladies get the bedrooms ready for the Scoobs.

JilaCosa -- Jila had been the first....

to leave the armory to find the sleeping quarters. The armory was no good to her, she had no fighting skills. She had found a boot knife with a sheath, and leather strap that would make it possible to wear the knife strapped to her thigh.

The rooms were very spartan. What traveler would need more than a bed, a coat rack, a couple of chairs with a small table, and a stand with a pitcher and a wash basin when they would only be staying for a night or two. Interestingly though, someone had had the foresight to cover all of the beds with a tarp to keep the dust out of the bedclothes. Moving these carefully Jila, then with Mouse and Kaybe, uncovered enough beds for the group and turned down the blankets to air out the beds a bit. Then they found relatively clean buckets and brought water to all of the rooms for the water pitchers. Just in case.

By this time the smells of Rae's cooking had completely filled The Tower. A hearty stew, a couple of different cheeses, fresh baked bread, and.......

a PIE??? Somebody was inspired tonight!

When Jila, Mouse, and Kay come down the stairs and enter the Kitchen the table has been set and the food waiting. Jila realizes that she is Starved. The picnic lunch they had seems like it was days ago. The group sits down to eat and talk about what they may find tomorrow.

*On second thought,* Jila's mind wanders off for a second or two *perhaps I will take a second look at that armory. As the IQ's would say, you never know what could be useful*

IQ120 -- IQ #1,#4, and #7

stood in the doorway of the little armoury, looking in. After a few moments #4 picked up a large cross bow, and quiver before beginning to check the crossbow's alignment. #7 Picked up a tomahawk, and a long one sided sword. #1 looked around for a few moments before pulling a well crafted metal spear off the wall. All three took a chain mail shirt for themselves. Last of all #4 grabbed a short scimitar and hid it in his coat. The three then headed down the hall to what the could only assume was the kitchen from the exquisite smells that were eminating from the room.

Chryse74 -- Chryse surveyed the weapons for a while

Looking them over very carefully, she noted some very interesting things...First, almost none of the weapons or armor were unenchanted. Second, each enchantment was meant only to make the weapon or armor more effective for the wielder, who ever that may be. *Hmm, very nice people, who ever they were, and very trusting. I wonder why?* After a while, she chose a beautiful basket-hilted rapier, 2 daggers with sheaths, a short bow and a quiver of arrows. *I should never wander around without my own weapons, even in the Mansion* she thought. She had felt woefully unprepared and vulnerable from the moment she had gotten there. Now, the elf felt a bit better about being able to help protect her friends.

The delicious smells coming from downstairs beckoned Chryse, but she delayed to clean off the instrument Kay had found. The musician in her could not be denied and she played a few short tunes on the instrument. She was fascinated, she had never seen or heard of an instrument like this. She vowed that she would come back and play on it more,and find out what had happened to the owners of this tower, these kind and gentle folk who had somehow knew their help would be needed.

With a determined look, she headed downstairs to eat dinner and entertain her friends with her more familiar lute.

IQ120 -- Dinner Time!

Everyone began to shuffle in from different parts of the mantion. They all found a seat, and sat down. Kara, Mouse, Kaybe, Jila, and Rae brought in the various dishes from the kitchen. The food looked good, but smelled better. Last to sit down was Kaybe.

"OOh!" she said and stood back up. She had sat on a silk bag that had looked like a cushon. Inside of the bag was a leather case. The case opened like a book, and inside it was designed to hold all the pieces in a chess set. There was a small green pawn inside.

"Well that's interesting." She said.

Everyone's attention was diverted by the food.

"Hey everyone look what I found!" said Kaybe and she held up the pawn.

Raven-Kat -- “How fascinating.”

Rae muttered, eyeing the pawn. She stopped slicing the bread and stared at it. As she reached for it, her stomach let out an audible growl. Everyone around the table laughed, and Rae laughed with them. "A puzzle to examine." Rae says of the pawn. "But I think it can wait until after dinner." IQ #4 lets out a yawn. "Perhaps it can even wait until morning." Rae suggests, returning to slicing the bread. "Let us not take all that has been provided us for granted. Who knows when we may next have warm food and soft beds, to say nothing of secure walls."

"Rae has a point." IQ says, placing the pawn in the middle of the table. "I think this mystery can wait until morning. Is that rye bread?"

"This loaf is." Rae places two slices onto a plate and passes them to IQ, along with a dish of butter. "I also have nut-bread."

"Where did you find nuts?" Chryse asks in surprise.

"In my own bag." Rae grins and begins slicing that loaf. "There's also stew. And pie for dessert. Not much, but it's the best I could do."

"It's great." IQ announces around a mouthful of bread.

"Tastes perfect." Jila adds, sampling a slice of nut-bread.

Rae grins and begins serving everyone. "I made a few extra loaves to take with us." she tell no one in particular as, making sure that everybody has been served, she settles down to eat her own meal.

Lurkingghost -- *bamf*

'Ghost had just happened to be wandering, and had followed several tracks and one set of DRD wheel marks into the Treehouse. Of course, she had stopped to admire the unusual chess set.

After orienting herself amoung the statues, she reached out toward two familiar presences.

In the tower, both Rea and Mouse jumped.

Raven-Kat -- “Yikes!”

At Ghost's surprise appearance, Rae lets out a series of interesting curses drawn from most of the languages she speaks. "Ye-frelling-gods-hezmana-drenn-caca-ano-shi'ite..." and so forth. "Ghost, sweetie, don't do that..." Rae mutters, recovering herself. She tells Mouse, "I guess we know what that chess-piece does now. Must act as a homing beacon. Hi, Ghost."

Ghost tries not to smile at Rae, and fails miserably. "Hi, Rae. Hi, Mouse."

"Hi, Ghost." Mouse replies, grinning, too.

"So, what'd I miss?" Ghost asks.

Rae wanders off as Mouse begins explaining everything that has transpired to Ghost. She finds a spiral stair-case in an out-of-the-way corner (this tower certainly seems to have a lot fo those) and begins climbing it. She quickly finds herself in a large bed-room.

"Ooh..." she mutters appreciatively, taking in the large canopy bed and lavish furnishings. Curious, she begins looking around. There isn't much of note aside from the bed itself and a large wardrobe. Curious (and not having grown up with the knowledge that curiosity can get a kat, even a raven-kat, into a lot of trouble) she pulls it open. Dozens of dresses hang in the wardrobe, with matching shoes carefully arranged beneath them. This then must be the bedroom of the lady of the tower.

Rae reaches into the closet and pulls out a midnight-blue silk gown. Quickly galncing around to make sure she's alone, Rae strips off her dusty clothes and changes into the gown, even pulling on the matching blue slippers. She finds a complementary scarf of lighter blue on a top shelf and ties it attractively in her hair. Smiling, she stares into the full-length mirror on the inner door of the wardrobe.

She almost pulls her weapon to confront the strange woman she sees there until she realizes that it's only herself, albeit dressed in a much finer fashion than normal. She decides after a few moments that she likes what she sees. Yes, she likes it very much indeed.

*It's like being a different person.* Rae reflects, remembering a considerably less pleasant experience in another fantasy land. *No voices in my head this time...*

*Nope, just you and me.*

*Oh, shut up! I'm trying to enjoy myself, here.*

*Don't enjoy too much. Bye now.*

"You clean up nice."

Rae spins quickly, reaching for the dagger that she's left lying on the bed. She pauses. "Ah, hi, Four."

"How do you tell us apart?" IQ #4 asks, tilting his head curiously.

"It's easy." Rae tells him, sliding the dagger into her belt. "You have a bandage, IQ the original has purple hair, and Seven is just... Seven."

IQ accepts this non-answer and inclines his head towards her. "Nice dress. It suits you."

"I was just coming to that conclusion myself. Been exploring yourself?"

IQ #4 nods. "The others?"

"Mostly asleep. Mouse is still awake, and IQ the original is around somewhere. Ghost has joined our party."

#4 nods. "Good. Hey, I found the observatory. You've always had a thing for stars."

"Tower has an observatory?" Rae frowned. "I didn't see one attached."

"It's on the roof. Care to join me?"

"Star-gazing?" Rae asks. "I thought humans needed eight hours of sleep a night?"

"Ah, sometimes the guys and I cover for each other." #4 joked.

"In that case, good sir, I should be happy to join you."

IQ #4 extends his arm, and Rae accepts it gracefully. "Shall we invite the Mouse and Ghost?" he asks.

"Certainly we should." Rae agrees. "Let's find them. I want to show them this dress, anyway."

IQ #4 rolls his eyes.

"Don't forget me!" Raegun shouts from the bed.

Rae runs to retrieve him.

"You let him watch you get dressed?" IQ #4 teases.

"HE is a gentleman. He keeps his eyes closed."

Laughing, they go to find Mouse and Ghost.

KaraS -- Kara cleaned her stew bowl with...

a piece of nutbread and licked the last suculent drops from her fingers.

"Mmmm, is there any more Rae?" she asked.

"No." Rae sighed. "I made a huge pot of the stuff and it's all gone. What are you guys, a battalion of Marines?"

"Nope, just some very hungry Scoobies." Mouse replied.

Kara sat back and patted her stomach. Rae was an excellent cook and her stew, usually the most prosaic of meals, was a delight to the palate.

"Don't move everybody. There's still the pie Rae made." Kaybe exclaimed, getting up and walking into the kitchen. She soon returned with a large, wonderful smelling pie.

"What kind is it?" IQ #4 asked.

"It's a blackberry pie." Rae said. "I found the berries growing in the garden. About the time we finish it 'Ghost should arrive."

Everybody took a slice of pie and dug in.

"Mmm, this is good pie Rae." Mouse said.

"Yes. This pie is *yawn* excellent." IQ #1 said.

Suddenly, everybody was yawning. Then everybody was falling asleep, sitting at the table.

Fluffy the DRD went from one person to another, trying to wake them. But everybody slept on...

JilaCosa -- And it came to be.....

that when the Scoobs woke from their pie induced sleep they were not quite the people they thought they were.

Jila and IQ#1 look at each other, drowsily wondering what they could be doing napping in the kitchen. It was hardly the place for the Lord and Lady of the manor to be napping. In their minds everything is different, they wear clothes straight from the 15th century, the draperies are fresh, all the wood shines from cleaning. It is home. They look down the table at the rest of the group who are also straightening themselves from their nap. At the far end of the table sits Kaybe and IQ#7...... but not quite. They are recognized as Lord and Lady du Maurier, who own the land 'next door' On one side of the table sits (Chryse and Mouse) the daughters of Lord James (IQ) and Lady Laurel (Jila) of Whitehorse Chapel, and on the other side sits Lady Kara du Maurier, daughter of the Lord and Lady du Maurier. There is also an empty place on each side of the table as if two people had already left.

"Now," Lord James says to Lord du Maurier, "as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted, Sir Daniel (IQ#4) shall marry our Raven in one weeks time."

"That is suitable to us." Lord and Lady du Maurier nod in confirmation.

"Father, we shall leave you to your discussion" Chryse says quietly as she, Mouse and Kara get up from the table.

Just at that moment Rae, still in her midnight blue dress and slippers, and IQ#4 walk through the kitchen door. "All right, what's up?" Rae laughs and pokes #4 "Chryse did I just hear you call IQ 'father'?"

"RAVEN!" IQ#1 stands up suddenly, "This is unseemly! Where is your chaperone?"

"Chaperone???" Rae squeals in delight "What the Frell are you talking about?"

"I will NOT have this language in my house." IQ's face turns beet red "To Your Room Girl!"

"WHAT???" Rae can't believe her ears. She stands in the doorway for a minute too long before trying to speak again. Chryse and Mouse rush to her side and take her by both arms. Kara follows a few steps behind.

"Come sister," Mouse says walking out of the room, pulling Rae along with her. "Please don't make father mad now."

In the meantime, Lady Laurel tries to make apologies to the du Maurier's for her daughter's odd behavior.