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#Post#: 941--------------------------------------------------
Tales of Karnea vol. I
By: Dungeon Master Date: August 22, 2024, 3:22 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
[center]Tales of Karnea
Anthology vol. I
Story One: The Battle of Ismus
By A.E. [/center]
The Soreel campaign
Ismus Province
370 AC
The fifty armored cavalrymen and five hundred infantrymen of
House Rheece looked across the field to the small unit of the
so-called “Wolverines” of the upstart Zeva d’Janikar. There were
maybe a hundred soldiers left after the last engagement, and
they had withdrawn to a draw that offered them cover on three
sides. Captain Malek applauded his enemy’s effort to find a
defensible place, but the numbers were sorely against them. He
ordered his infantry to set up a perimeter and remain on guard
while the cavalry prepared to ride down the remaining soldiers
of the usurper.
“M’lord, there looks to be a mage with them,” one of Malek’s
riders pointed across the field. “Indeed there does, Holden. I
almost missed him, he’s so short. Have the archers shoot him
when we begin the charge,” Malek replied.
The riders formed up in a shallow wedge and dressed their
lances. Malek stifled a laugh as he watched the remaining
soldiers across the pitch set their spears as the lone mage,
black robes flapping in the wind, stepped forward. He thrust his
sword forward, and the troop began at a trot as the bowstrings
of one hundred archers thrummed.
The sky was dark with shafts as the arrows descended on the
remnants of A Company, 3rd Battalion, 422nd Infantry Brigade.
The troops raised their shields and dropped to a crouch, the
movements as automatic as repeated drills could make them.
Lieutenant Rindar watched as the wizard accompanying his company
stepped out in front of the lines, pulling a piece of some sort
of shell from a hidden pouch and muttering a chant. “Uh, ma’am,
you might want to get under cover,” he told her.
Karnea looked back to the Lieutenant. “Just make sure your men
are ready to do as we discussed,” she told him before glancing
at the incoming arrows.
The first shafts began falling on A Company’s shields with dull
thuds. Several struck Karnea as she mentally prepared her next
spell. Deflected by her protection spell, the arrows fell
harmlessly to the ground. She waved a small piece of quartz in a
shallow arc before her, intoning the words that would summon the
magic. A 10' foot tall, 100' foot long wall of ice coalesced in
the path of the cavalry, about a hundred yards in front of the
wedge. She quickly reached into a pouch and withdrew a small bit
of guano and began her next spell.
Malek’s cavalry had just gotten to a full gallop when the wall
of ice appeared. They began to pull on their reins to halt the
charge when suddenly an immense ball of fire struck the center
of the wall of ice, melting it into a puddle almost instantly.
Whooping a war cry, Malek urged his men to resume the charge
through the breach in the wall. The horses splashed into the
now-muddy field at a frantic pace, the riders looking to close
the distance with their enemy and win the battle for their Lord.
Karnea waited for a few beats for the entire cavalry wedge to
enter the mud before casting a pinch of sand before her and
intoning her next spell. Without warning, the ankle-deep mud
that the horses slogged through transformed into solid
sandstone. The stronger horses were able to break free of the
stone in their galloping, but most suffered broken legs and
threw their riders to the ground as they fell screaming. An
orderly charge of fifty horses instantly became six shocked
riders and forty-four dazed, unhorsed men, many with injuries or
trapped beneath their wounded mounts.
The men of A Company cast down their shields and set spears in
time to receive the remaining six cavalrymen. Without the weight
of their full charge, these were stopped easily and cut down
before inflicting too many losses on the Wolverines. They then
formed up and began to double-time across the field to where the
remaining cavalry had fallen, looking to finish them before they
were able to get up and get organized.
Meanwhile, Karnea turned her attention to the opposing infantry.
At a word, she disappeared from her position and materialized
hundreds of yards closer to the enemy formation, well off to the
side to stay out of their immediate line of sight.
Most of them stood bewildered, watching their officers being
killed by the small force of soldiers that they were sent to
eradicate. Suddenly, a ghastly green billowing cloud of gas,
forty feet wide and twenty feet high, came into being and began
rolling slowly along the ground. The soldiers on the left side
of the line were enveloped immediately, and the horrid choking
screams coming from the cloud were enough to get the attention
of the rest of the line. By the time the infantrymen were able
to organize and separate to avoid the cloud, sixty men had been
killed by the poison gas.
A group of thirty infantry rallied and formed up to attack the
lone wizard 50 yards away. Karnea drew forth a black pearl from
a pouch and held it between her thumb and forefinger as she
spoke the words of magic. The magic flowed into her fingers, and
she crushed the pearl, casting the dust towards the advancing
men. They were hit with an invisible wave of bone-numbing cold
and otherworldly dread. The men stopped almost as one and began
to gasp, clutching their chests and wailing sharply as their
life force left them. Within seconds, all thirty men fell dead
in their tracks.
Karnea advanced on the group of dead men, flinging a fireball at
another group of 15 or so men, incinerating them. As she passed
through the group of corpses, she pulled forth another of the
pearls and cast another Death Spell against a group gathering on
the fringe of the battle. Forty of the fifty men fell dead, and
the remaining ten reconsidered their attack. One of their number
charged recklessly at Karnea, who spoke a few words and caused
her right hand to take on a blue glow. She struck out at the
soldier as he swung his shortsword at her, and as she touched
him he seemed to wither as his lifeforce transferred to the
wizard. His comrades turned and ran from the black robed figure.
Another group emerged from the chaos and began to run at her.
From a pocket in her sleeve, she withdrew a small piece of
rabbit fur and a tiny glass rod. She released her staff, which
remained standing solidly next to her, and rubbed the two
objects together in her left hand while casting a number of tiny
silver pins in front of her with her right hand. Pointing her
right index finger, an argent bolt of lightning erupted from her
hand. The bolt struck the lead soldier and immediately arced to
the next man. A series of arc jumps later, and 12 of the 18 men
lay smoking on the ground. The other six turned and ran.
Another platoon-sized group of soldiers managed to rally and
start to advance on the lone mage. Karnea launched a fireball
into their midst before teleporting to a better position. By
this time, the Wolverines had chopped their way through the
wounded cavalrymen and joined the fray. Still outnumbered, their
superior organization more than made up for the deficit. Karnea
continued to pick off small groups of soldiers, paying
particular attention to any that looked like they might be
trying to organize the survivors. A little over ten minutes
later, Malek’s men had been decimated, a few survivors managing
to escape among the flames and smoke of Karnea’s magic.
Karnea leaned heavily on her staff, exhausted from the massive
expenditure of magic. “Take your men south and rejoin your unit,
Lieutenant. Make sure you report that this area is cleared and
the General is free to advance at her leisure. I have somewhere
else to be right now.”
The Wolverine officer nodded to the diminutive mage and gave the
orders to his sergeants to prepare the men for a march. When he
turned back to the wizard, she was gone. He shrugged.
“Wizards…always creeped me out,” he muttered to his company
sergeant
#Post#: 1108--------------------------------------------------
Tales of Karnea Story Two: Karnea and Talia Part I: The Beginn
ing of Something
By: Adam Date: April 23, 2025, 9:46 pm
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[center]Tales of Karnea
Anthology vol. I
Story Two: Karnea and Talia Part I: The Beginning of Something
By AE[/center]
384 AC
Karnea had been wandering the Market Ward of Sigil for most of
the morning. She wasn’t necessarily looking for anything in
particular, but she had a feeling that she would find something
useful here before long. The Great Bazaar stretched out for
miles ahead of and behind her, wrapping around the torus of the
city above her as well. Slipping a hand inside her black Robe of
the Archmagi, she hefted the coin pouch tied at the waist of her
dress within. She frowned at its light weight, wondering if she
would have enough to stay more than a few days before she was
forced to retrace her steps to the portal back to her own
demiplane (which thankfully seemed to be keyed to her person, as
the creator of the demiplane).
The discovery of that portal had been both accidental and very
advantageous. Karnea had been stewing in the house of her
demiplane for six weeks after the end of the Chaos War on Krynn
had caused the world to be cut off from the rest of the
multiverse. All of her spells had ceased to function, and only a
stroke of luck had led her to discover how to use the magic
stored in enchanted items to power spells. It took quite some
time to gather enough items together to fuel such a powerful
spell, but when the portal created by Worldwalk opened before
her, she almost threw herself across the threshold into her
pocket dimension. Weeks of recovery and research had left her
with the notion that she was not going to be able to open a
portal of her own into Sigil, so less-direct means were going to
be necessary. Then, upon opening a door to one of her storage
sheds outside the house, she spied the landscape of the fabled
city at the center of the multiverse. Never being one to turn up
her nose at a lucky break, she cautiously stepped through the
portal and immediately noted the landmarks around its place in
Sigil. Over the course of several days, she determined that the
portal key seemed to involve her actively thinking about the
destination, whether it was her demiplane on the one side or
Sigil on the other.
Now she found herself wandering the streets of the Bazaar,
hoping to find the right shop to sell her paltry remaining
enchanted items (but certainly not her Robe nor her staff). She
had browsed through several shops already, receiving laughably
low offers for the items she wanted to sell. The planar natives
of the City of Doors always seemed to be eager to fleece a rube
from the Primes, but Karnea had traveled here often enough to
know better. Her accented Common marked her as a native of a
backwater Prime, and until she knocked the rust off her Infernal
and Celestial, she was not likely to get any good offers.
Karnea was considering returning to the inn where she was roomed
when she saw a person apparently watching her from the window of
a shop. Glancing at the shingle above the door, she noted that
the shop, “Talia’s Provisions”, appeared to be a general
adventuring equipment store. These types of shops rarely handled
the kinds of items Karnea was looking to sell, but something
about the person in the window intrigued her. She started to
walk towards the shop, and the person in the window quickly
withdrew, as if they knew they had been caught in the act.
Karnea entered the shop and stood just inside the door, allowing
her eyes to adjust to the light inside. Looking around, she saw
shelves of common equipment; ropes, lanterns, backpacks, map
cases, waterskins, and the like. Racks of durable clothing of
all sizes lined one wall, and white clothing for specialized
climates occupied another section. What drew Karnea’s eye,
however, was a large honeycombed case that appeared to contain
hundreds of maps. Each cell of the case was labeled in small,
precise handwriting, denoting the nature of the map. Near this
case was a glass-topped display case with what appeared to be
several items of magical power inside. She reached into the
hidden pocket in the lapel of her robe to retrieve her
spectacles, the Eyes of True Seeing, and put them on. The items
in the case sprang to life, their auras showing the various
enchantments laid upon them. Removing her glasses, she tucked
them back away in their accustomed pocket when she heard a voice
to her left.
“I’ll give you 300 golden swords [gold pieces] for those glasses
of yours,” a female voice said in Infernal-accented Common.
Karnea turned towards the voice and saw a red-skinned Tiefling
female before her. She wore loose breeches and a lightweight
tunic, with a deep red cloak tossed over her shoulders. Short
horns sprouted from her forehead above the black nothingness of
her eyes. A short mop of artfully-mussed black hair complemented
the horns, and a thin tail with a barbed tip twitched around her
legs. She was several inches taller than Karnea and appeared to
be well-muscled but lithe under her loose clothing. She smiled
at Karnea, showing a white row of pointed teeth under full lips.
The tiefling shifted her weight and planted her left hand on her
hip, thumb forward, just in front of where a sheathed dagger
hung from a braided leather belt. “Well, how about it?” she
asked, eyeing Karnea closely.
Karnea tried to look surprised at the offer. “What makes you
think that my reading glasses are worth 300 swords?” she asked
in feigned innocence.
The tiefling squinted and took a step towards the black-robed
wizard. “Because no one’s ‘reading glasses’ are enchanted so
heavily as those spectacles are, berk.”
“If you know how magical they are,” Karnea raised an eyebrow,
“then you should also know that 300 swords is a miserly offer.”
Casting a glance about the shop, she returns her gaze to the
shopkeeper, looking her up and down. “If I’m being perfectly
honest, I doubt very much you could afford to buy them.”
The tiefling narrowed her eyes. Finally, she sighed. “You’re
probably right. But a girl’s got to try, right?” Stepping
forward, she thrust out her hand in an offer of a handshake.
“Talia. This is, as you can probably guess, my shop. And who
might you be?”
Karnea took the offered hand and shook it. “Karnea Dragonbane,
late of Krynn. It seems that the world is in somewhat of a
troubled state now, though, and I may be seeking new
accommodations.” She shrugged expansively. “I’ve a few items of
some minor power that I am willing to sell to raise funds, and
can offer knowledge of a number of places besides my home plane
as well.”
Talia sauntered around the counter and to the glass display
case. “Well, as you surely saw, I don’t exactly have anything
that one might call ‘powerful’, but I try to keep some useful
items available for those that can pay.” She licked her lips and
smiled at Karnea. “Naturally, I have to make some kind of profit
off of what I sell, so the prices I can offer you might not be
quite what you’re looking for. But I can tell that you’re not
the average rube just fresh from the Primes. You’ve got a
dangerous look about you, and you absolutely reek of magic.
Judging solely on what I can see right now, I’d be very
interested to find out what you consider to be ‘items of some
minor power’.” Talia turned and walked back to the shop door and
flipped the sign, declaring the shop to be ‘Closed’. “Perhaps
you’ll join me upstairs for some wine, and we can discuss what
items you might and might not be willing to part with, and
anything else I might be able to talk you out of.”
Karnea considered the offer for a moment. A deal with an actual
devil, she thought, or at least one of their spawn. She was
confident in her ability to escape the shop if needed, and to
cause this Talia considerable inconvenience if necessary. She
cocked her head slightly to the right and gestured before her.
“Very well then. Lead the way. I’m happy to discuss the items I
have to offer, and perhaps any other…arrangements you might want
to make.”
Talia led Karnea up a set of stairs at the back of the shop. At
the top of the stairs was a cozy sitting room with a small
fireplace, a pair of comfortable-looking overstuffed chairs, and
a small table between them. A curio cabinet full of oddments
caught Karnea’s eye; these items clearly had personal
significance to her hostess, and some were likely to be magical
as well. Hung above the mantle was an absurdly large bastard
sword of impeccable craftsmanship. In a corner stood a rack with
a set of very fine plate armor, embellished with infernal runes
and styled to resemble a barbed devil. In another corner was a
bookshelf with a number of interesting-looking tomes. Karnea
stepped into the room ahead of Talia, who pulled the door at the
top of the stairs closed and stepped past the diminutive
wizardess, brushing her body against her in the process, despite
having plenty of room to pass. The tiefling offered no apologies
as she gestured to the nearby chair. “Please, make yourself
comfortable,” she said as she drew forth a pair of crystal
glasses and a decanter filled with a rich ruby-colored liquid.
“I hope you’ll find this wine to your liking, it comes from
Elysium, believe it or not.” She poured generous servings into
both glasses and set them on the table. Unclasping her cloak,
she flung it carelessly towards the corner with the armor rack,
and it settled to the floor. Talia cast herself down into the
chair, picked up her glass, and drank deeply.
Karnea watched all of this with a measure of amusement. The
tiefling clearly seemed to be occupied with putting Karnea at
ease, which automatically put her slightly more on her guard.
Karnea released her staff, which remained standing upright next
to the chair, and sat in the offered spot, arranging her robes
about her. She watched Talia drink her wine first, before
picking up the glass and holding it up to the light. The wine
was a deep red, almost opaque, and had a fragrant nose. She took
a sip and found it to be quite delightful, and took another,
longer drink before setting it down.
“So, what is such an obviously-powerful wizard from a complete
backwater Prime doing wandering the Great Bazaar, looking to
sell trinkets?” Talia asked, twirling her glass by the stem and
eyeing the curiously standing staff next to her guest. “You
mentioned some sort of trouble there, but Krynn is such an
out-of-the-way world that we seldom hear of any news from there
here in the Cage.”
Karnea gave Talia a broad rundown of the recently ended Chaos
War on Krynn. She did not go into particular detail of her
participation, but did mention the resultant loss of magic, the
alteration of the positions of the stars, and the new, single
pale moon that replaced the former familiar three moons. She
spoke broadly of her difficulty in transporting herself off the
planet back to her demiplane, which intrigued her host visibly.
Talia wanted to ask more about this demiplane, but held her
curiosity until Karnea finished her tale.
“Obviously, I couldn’t open my own portal to Sigil via spell,
but was fortunate to find that one had spontaneously opened from
my demiplane to here,” Karnea finished. She drank the remaining
wine from her glass and set it down. “And that brings me here to
you.”
Talia picked up the decanter and poured each of them another
glass. “And doesn’t that make me the lucky one,” she purred. “I
think there’s a lot you aren’t telling, but I cannot help but be
fascinated by what you are.”
Talia asked her questions of Karnea over another glass of wine,
and Karnea answered as vaguely as she could without being truly
opaque. The second glass of wine turned to a third, and the
subject shifted to Talia. Karnea learned that Talia was skilled
with swords as well as sorcery, and had spent a number of years
adventuring the Great Ring before retiring to a life as a
merchant here in Sigil. Talia proved to be nearly as evasive as
Karnea when it came to the details of her travels and her
companions, but provided a coherent-enough timeline nonetheless.
By the time Talia finished her tale, the decanter was emptied,
and the light through the windows had diminished with the coming
of evening.
Talia glanced out the window and noted the time. “Ah, but it
seems that we have yet to discuss what you came to sell, and it
is getting to be dinner time. Won’t you stay and share a meal?”
Karnea stood from the chair. “I wouldn’t want to impose,” she
began. “Perhaps I can return tomorrow to discuss business
matters.”
“Nonsense,” Talia protested. “Stay for dinner, and we can see
what you have to offer while we eat.”
Realizing that her hostess was not prepared to accept a refusal,
Karnea shrugged. “Very well then. I’ll dine with you and show
you what I have to offer.” Untying the belt of her robe, she
began to take it off. “Is there somewhere I might hang this, or
is it customary to just throw one’s clothing to the floor in
your home?”
Talia flashed a wicked grin at her guest. “Oh, things do tend to
get strewn about the place sometimes,” she said as she
disappeared into the next room.
Karnea hung her robes carefully on a peg near the door and
followed the tiefling into the next room, which was a small
kitchen and dining area. Talia struck a flint on a steel rod to
spark the wood already laid in the belly of the stove and then
began bustling about with preparations. Karnea sat at the small
dining table unprompted and watched as the tiefling spitted a
hen that she pulled from a storage chest in the corner, rubbing
it with oil and salt before placing the spit inside the stove.
Closing the front of the oven, she wound up a curious-looking
device attached to the side of the stove, which she explained
would cause the spit to rotate slowly for the next half hour.
“It was made by an artificer friend of mine who spent too long
in Mechanus,” she said.
Soon enough, the chicken was cooked, and Talia carved it onto
plates. Another decanter of wine was produced, this one a golden
color and smelling of oak and apples. Talia joined Karnea at the
table, and they ate. Karnea produced a pouch that hung from the
belt of her dress, and emptied it onto the table. Talia noted
that there seemed to be many more items coming out of the pouch
than seemed to be able to fit.
A handful of rings glittered on the table. Several small carved
figurines of animals and fantastic creatures were mixed in with
a few gemstones. Two wands joined the loot, as well as a short
metal rod. Talia waved a hand over the collection and watched as
the magical auras of each item glimmered.
The tiefling leaned back in her chair and took a long drink of
her wine. “You certainly are full of surprises, aren’t you?” she
chuckled. Setting down the glass, she inquired as to the
functions of each item as Karnea patiently explained their uses.
By the time they were done eating, Talia had learned what each
of the dozen or so items were.
“Well,” Talia began, pushing her plate back, “I will tell you
two things about your trinket collection. One,” she held up her
index finger, “I want all of them. But, two,” she raised the
next finger, “I can’t possibly buy all of them.”
They began a delicate back-and-forth of negotiations, during
which each of them discovered the limits of the stubbornness of
the other. Over the course of the next hour, they emptied the
second decanter of wine and started on a third before finally
coming to terms on a consignment arrangement. Talia agreed to
display the items Karnea offered in exchange for a percentage of
the sale price. Talia bought one of the wands and the rod for
her own personal collection, and paid somewhat more than she
truly wanted to.
By now, it was truly late. Karnea mumbled about needing to get
back to the inn, and rose somewhat unsteadily due to the effects
of so much wine. Talia nearly tripped over her tail while
standing, as well, asking Karnea where she was staying. After
learning how far away Karnea’s rooms were, she shook her head
emphatically. “You’re certainly in no condition to travel that
far right now,” she said as she stroked Karnea’s arm. “And I
doubt you could cast Teleport right now, either. You’ll have to
stay here.”
They stood facing each other, both of them slightly unsteady in
their inebriated state. Talia’s tail curled around Karnea’s leg,
and they were both holding each other’s hands. Karnea pursed her
lips and cocked her head slightly. “If you insist,” she said.
Talia leaned forward and kissed Karnea’s lips. She pulled back
an inch and breathed “I certainly do,” and kissed her again.
#Post#: 1133--------------------------------------------------
Tales of Karnea vol. I Karnea and Talia Part II: An Ending, for
Now
By: Adam Date: May 9, 2025, 4:46 am
---------------------------------------------------------
[center]Tales of Karnea
Anthology vol. I
Story Two: Karnea and Talia Part II: An Ending, for Now
By AE[/center]
409AC (Krynn), 39ST (Soreel)
Talia woke from a troubled dream to the sound of cloth rustling
and pouches rattling. She took a long, deep breath in, hoping
not to see what she knew she would see when she opened her eyes.
Karnea had her back turned to the bed, arranging her pouches on
her inner belt before tying her robe closed. She knew Talia was
awake from the change in her breathing. She had hoped to avoid
this, but now that it was upon her, there was no escaping the
conclusion of last night’s argument.
“Were you just going to leave, then?” Talia asked sleepily.
“I had hoped to, actually,” Karnea replied a bit more sharply
than she intended. Her sleep had been troubled by the previous
day’s disagreement, and her mood was foul. Surely that was the
reason, and not the fact that she was…sad.
Talia sat up in the bed, the blanket falling off her. “You don’t
have to go, love. Please,” she pleaded. “I don’t know why you
can’t just stay with me.”
Turning towards the bed, Karnea sighed. “We’ve been over this. I
need to get this project done, and I can’t do that if I’m
spending half my time tending shop. If you don’t want to spend
the time here, sell the shop and come with me.”
“Come where, your demiplane? You know I could never handle that
kind of isolation.”
“So you’d rather be alone here, than isolated with me?” Karnea
asked testily.
“And you’d rather wander the damned mulitverse than stay here,
safe and loved with me!” Talia spat back.
Karnea squinted, her back stiffening. Her lower lip trembled.
“Loved,” she intoned sarcastically. “Is that what you call it?
You haven’t been around half the time over the past year. And
when you are, you just want me to go off to some forsaken,
literal Hell-hole to bargain with someone who you’ve screwed
over in the past.”
Karnea strode from the room and picked up her pack, tossing it
over her shoulder and adjusting the strap. A moment later, Talia
emerged from the room, having struggled into a pair of loose
trousers. She was still trying to free her tail from the leg of
her pants as Karnea grasped her staff, still standing upright
and unsupported next to the chair where she left it last night.
She pointed the staff at the table next to Talia’s chair, where
a small wooden box and a neatly folded letter sat. “Those are
for you,” she said.
Talia looked at the table, glowering. “Oh, well at least you had
the decency to leave a ****ing note while you were sneaking
out!” she shouted, tail thrashing the air as it was freed from
its restraint. “When did you find the time to write out all of
your damnable excuses for abandoning me, hmm?”
Over their twenty-five years together, Talia had always been the
more emotional one, while Karnea had been more calm, reserved.
But this was the end of that. Karnea slammed the butt of her
staff into the floor. “Enough of this, Talia!” she shouted.
Talia froze in place. She couldn’t remember more than a half
dozen times that Karnea had raised her voice beyond a normal
conversational volume, and never once at her. To be the target
of one of the mage’s rare outbursts was unsettling.
“For the last time,” Karnea continued in a normal tone, “I am
not ‘abandoning’ you. We’ve been apart before, and always I’ve
returned. Why can’t you see that this is not any different?”
“Because you didn’t even give a moment’s thought to staying when
I asked you to move in permanently!” Talia stamped her foot.
“The minute I asked you, you started with your excuses. Your
studies, your search for that damned backwater home of yours,
your stupid dead father, your so-called daughter…why haven’t you
ever brought her to meet me, Karnea?”
“You know damn well and good why Aravis can’t come here,” Karnea
snarled. “And you’ve never shown any interest in travelling to
Soreel with me to meet her. Just because you’ve given up on
seeing or caring about anything outside this crowded mess of a
city, doesn’t mean that I have. Some of us have lives to live
out in the world, Talia. If you’re too afraid of stepping out of
this hole, that’s your problem, not mine.”
Talia flung her hands in the air. “My whole life is here,
Karnea! My home, this shop, my contacts…And I wanted you to be a
part of it, too. But you’d rather traipse off on another
project.”
Karnea sighed. “You say that your whole world is here. Mine is
out there,” she sweeps her arm towards the window. “Somewhere. I
just have to find it.”
“Maybe the reason you can’t find it is because you’re supposed
to be here instead. With me.” Talia’s tail flicks back and
forth.
Karnea turns her back to Talia, facing the door. “My coming here
was no mistake, of that I’m sure. But you know I cannot stay.
And you know why. This does not have to be good-bye forever,
Talia. It never has been before.”
Talia wiped a tear from her eye with the back of her hand. “I
don’t know. This time just feels different. You’ve been
gathering maps and books for months. This isn’t going to be one
of your usual year or two excursions.”
“Maybe it isn’t. But I will be back. Some day.” Karnea said like
a promise. Or perhaps a hope.
#Post#: 1184--------------------------------------------------
Tales of Karnea vol. I Story Three: Fostering the Moon Child P
art One
By: Adam Date: July 9, 2025, 12:31 am
---------------------------------------------------------
[center]Tales of Karnea
Anthology vol. I
Story Three: Fostering the Moon Child Part One
By AE[/center]
381 AC (Krynn), 11 ST (Soreel); Imperial Palace, Soreel
“If that will be all, then, gentlemen, I think I’ve taken up
enough of your time,” Zeva said with a small smile to the
collection of military officers arrayed around the table. Almost
as one unit, the men and women comprising the upper echelons of
the Imperial military rose. The Empress stood and nodded curtly
to her Defense Minister, who formally dismissed the meeting as
Zeva exited the room.
Stepping into the corridor outside the meeting room, Zeva was
instantly wary to see that her Chamberlain was not waiting for
her. Instead, she was greeted by a hooded, diminutive form in
robes as black as the void between the stars, carrying a gnarled
staff. The Empress sighed and took her hand off the hilt of her
sword without even realizing that it had been resting there.
“I see that my palace security still leaves a bit to be
desired,” Zeva squinted at her visitor.
The figure pulled back her hood, revealing the cold, chiseled
face of Karnea. “I wouldn’t go too terribly hard on them, old
friend. The corridors of magic are much more difficult to guard
than those of your palace.”
“I trust nothing untoward has befallen Emil? He would be quite
difficult to replace.”
“I believe he ran off to find some guards. Surely they’ll be
arriving presently,” Karnea replied.
“Well, surely you didn’t come all this way to simply accost me
in my own hallway. Come along to my solar and you can tell me
whatever news it is that you brought.”
The two women moved off down the corridor, encountering the
guards summoned by the Chamberalin. Emil himself was nowhere to
be found, but the guards were quickly stood down when they saw
that their Empress was in no danger. Soon they arrived at Zeva’s
solar, a combination sitting room/office that looked out over a
courtyard. A serving girl was dispatched for refreshments, and
the two old friends made small talk until the wine and cheese
arrived and the servants were safely away.
“So all right then,” Zeva began, setting down her glass. “What
is it that’s so important for you to cause a minor panic among
the palace guards?”
Karnea took a long sip of her wine and sighed. “I need a favor,
and by my reckoning you seem to owe me one,” Karnea told her
host.
Zeva laughed sharply. “Is that so? Well, you’re probably not
wrong about that. But tell me, what sort of favor can I do for
an archmage such as yourself?”
Karnea sat back into the cushion of her chair. “Things on Krynn
are getting bad. We’re hearing disturbing reports of a new
knighthood, dedicated to the Dark Queen. This order apparently
includes wizards sworn to the Queen herself, outside the purview
of the Orders. War is coming.”
Zeva regarded her old ally skeptically. “I don’t know, Karnea.
I’m not really looking to send the army abroad. We’ve got plenty
on our plates here.”
Karnea waved her hand dismissively. “Oh, no, I’m not looking for
sellswords or military support. I need to leave someone here
with you, in your protection.”
“Aravis,” Zeva breathed.
“Indeed,” Karnea returned. “These rogue wizards are trying to
recruit as many Black Robes as they can. If the Queen were to
find out who Aravis’s father is, I fear that she would become a
target for this new order.”
Zeva nods. “So if Aravis is somewhere the Takhisis can’t find
her, you’ll have a much freer hand in dealing with them?”
“Exactly,” Karnea states.
“Then I don’t see that you have any choice. Of course I will
watch over Aravis for you.”
—---------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------
3 weeks later, Schallsea Tower, Krynn
“Are we really going to go on a spelljammer trip?” Aravis asked
excitedly.
“We are,” Karnea replied. “I’m taking you to stay with an old
friend of mine for a while.”
“I don’t understand…why would I need to go somewhere else?”
Karnea sighed. “I’ve told you. War is coming, and the Dark Queen
will almost certainly be targeting us. I’ve already been
approached by one of these so-called Gray Robes. Takhisis is
trying to undermine magic as we know it, and the Conclave has
asked all Robes to join together to defend it.”
“But I’m a member of the Black Robes now. I should be helping,
too.”
“Yes, little one, you have passed your Test now, but this task
is beyond one of your skill. Besides, if the Queen were to find
out who your father is, she would stop at nothing to capture
you. Having Nuitari’s own daughter in her ranks would bring the
Order down.”
“What about the other girls, then, Selene and Kalana and the
rest? Will they help you?”
“I will be releasing them all from their apprenticeships very
soon, after I return from taking you to Soreel. They will choose
their own paths, but I am confident that they will find
themselves on the side of the Moon Gods, and not the Queen,”
Karnea said with a tone of hopefulness. “Now, finish your
packing. Zeva will no doubt provide you with much of what you
need, but you should take what personal items you might want. I
don’t know how long you’ll be staying.”
Aravis considered a shelf full of dolls that she had made.
Shrugging, she picked them up and stuffed them into a sack with
her clothes. “What is Zeva like? You said she was a friend, but
you never talk about any friends.”
“Zeva is a powerful warrior, and the ruler of a vast empire. She
is very stubborn, and idealistic, and has a very keen sense of
justice. And she has a son close to your age. I imagine that you
will get to know him better than you will know her.”
“Will I be able to continue my studies there?”
“Your magic will serve you there as it does here. The Moon Gods
have no influence on Soreel, but your spells will work just as
well.”
“I had better go get my books from the library then,” Aravis
stands and heads for the door of her room. “I should go and tell
the girls goodbye, too.”
“Don’t worry about that, little one. They will come to New Ports
with us to see us off.”
—---------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------
#Post#: 1185--------------------------------------------------
Tales of Karnea vol. I Story Three: Fostering the Moon Child P
art Two
By: Adam Date: July 9, 2025, 12:33 am
---------------------------------------------------------
[center]Tales of Karnea
Anthology vol. I
Story Three: Fostering the Moon Child Part Two
By AE[/center]
The Roaring Griffin, New Ports, Abanasinia, Krynn
Palainess Darkhammer regarded Karnea skeptically. “You know how
I feel about having too many wizards in one place, las.”
Karnea returned the dwarf’s steady gaze. She had an unnerving
way of looking at people with only her eyes, never moving her
head to face them directly. “Nevertheless, I am bringing my
girls in with me. It’s a celebration, of sorts. A rite of
passage, and a going away party.”
“No offense, young lady, but I’d be happy to see you all go
away.”
Karnea chuckled softly. “I’m sure you would, but I know that you
aren’t going to turn down good steel. Besides, I’d truly hate to
have to tell Damara that you turned me away…”
The dwarf’s face turned red at the mention of his business
partner. “No, gods-be-damned, there’s no reason to go bringing
the elf into this. Take the table in the corner over there, and
no funny business. I still remember that tavern in Caergoth that
you burned down.”
“As I recall, Palainess, we were there to rescue you from the
guildsmen who you robbed,” Karnea returned lightly. She withdrew
a purse from the folds of her robes and handed it to the dwarf.
Palainess hefted the purse appreciatively.
“I suppose I’ll save you the embarrassment of counting it in
front of you,” he grinned.
Karnea led her entourage to the table Palainess had indicated.
Aravis took her place on her mother’s right hand. Selene, always
the most serious of her students, sat at her left. Kalana sat
next to Aravis, with Inari, Hestia, Vorena, and Raina filling in
the remaining seats. Palainess himself brought over two flagons
of wine, as well as bread and a small wheel of cheese, before
excusing himself back to the business of the tavern. Once
everyone had served themselves, Karnea cleared her throat, and
her apprentices all gave her their attention.
“I’ve spoken with all of you individually, but I wanted to bring
us together one last time. Great changes are coming to Ansalon
soon, and you will all have your parts to play. Only the gods
can know what might happen, but I know that at the very least,
the Black Robes will be well served by you all here.
“As you all know as well, Aravis is setting out on a journey of
her own. She will be visiting with an old companion of mine, to
hopefully learn some new magicks to bring back to Krynn later. I
will be accompanying her for the trip, and expect to be away for
two weeks. You’re all welcome to remain at Schallsea until I
return, and then you have your tasks that we’ve spoken of. For
tonight, let’s enjoy this last bit of peace we have been given
before the Conclave meets to decide what we will have to do
about these Knights of Takhisis.”
Aravis took all of it in as she sipped at her wine and nibbled
at her bread. Despite being Karnea’s own daughter, she had
always felt like an outsider in the group of her mother’s
apprentices. Selene, Kalana, Inari, and Hestia, with their elven
youthfulness, looked to be of an age with Aravis despite being a
century and a half older at least. They moved with a hypnotic
grace that Aravis could only dream of possessing. All of them
had been instructed relentlessly by her mother, while her own
education seemed to be an afterthought. She was never invited to
join the others on their trips outside the tower, and often
heard them whispering conspiratorially. Perhaps, she thought to
herself, this trip to Soreel would be a good thing. Clearly she
would not be welcomed by this group.
The rest of the girls talked among themselves, discussing the
rumors they had heard of far-off Palanthus, or Sanction. Selene
spoke of starting a school, while Kalana spoke of investigating
the location of magical artifacts near Neraka. All of them
seemed to avoid bringing up Aravis’s departure. Karena simply
watched and listened, seemingly engrossed in a small book she
had pulled from a pocket. All of the girls knew from long
experience that their mistress heard every word at the table, no
matter how preoccupied she seemed.
Selene stood, and the conversation stopped. Reaching into a
pouch at her side, she withdrew a small, well-wrought ring and
placed it on the table in front of Aravis. Aravis cocked her
head in curiosity as Selene spoke.
“I wanted you to have this. It isn’t much, really, but I made it
for you. It’s a ring of featherfalling. It will only work once,
but it will protect you if you fall farther than ten feet.”
Selene’s eyes were cast at the floor as she spoke, seemingly
embarrassed.
Aravis reached out and took the silver ring, holding it up to
the light to inspect it. It shimmered faintly, humming slightly
with the enchantment within it. Aravis smiled at Selene. “Thank
you, Selene. You’ve truly become a powerful wizard to have been
able to craft this ring. I will treasure it.”
Karnea looked on with a slightly raised eyebrow, intrigued at
Selene’s gift. The mistress knew of the rift between her
apprentices and her daughter, so this development was
interesting. She resisted the urge to try to determine if Selene
had actually cursed the ring instead. There would be time to
find that out during the voyage to Soreel.
The front door of the tavern opened, and a sailor wearing a
cutlass entered and looked around before settling his gaze on
Karnea’s table. He approached the party and bowed his head
slightly. Karnea acknowledged him. “Captain, what news do you
bring?”
“My lady,” he said in the accent of Flotsam. “The tides will be
favorable for your departure at dawn. I recommend you come
aboard soon so that we can be away as soon as possible.”
“Very well, Captain. My daughter and I will be along shortly.
You may take our bags up with you when you return.” She gestured
to the bags next to the table. “Make sure our cabins are ready
for us.”
“As you say, my lady.”
—---------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------
One Week Later, Imperial Palace, Marika, Soreel
“What if she doesn’t like me?” Aravis asks as she fidgets and
adjusts the folds of her robes around her.
“Irrelevant. Zeva doesn’t have to like you. She has agreed to
watch over you, as a favor to me. You will be treated as a
member of her own household,” Karnea replies. “Now stop
fidgeting. You know how it bothers me.”
“Yes, Mother,” Aravis sighs, still picking at imaginary lint on
her robes.
They were waiting in an anteroom off the main audience chamber.
A pair of nervous Imperial Guards stood at attention at the
door, trying desperately not to stare at the two wizardesses as
they waited for the Chamberlain to come escort them into the
presence of their Empress. Karnea had objected to their
presence, but the stiff-necked Chamberlain had insisted on
following protocol.
“Do you think he will be there?” Aravis asked. She had seen
Zeva’s son briefly at the reception last night, but had not been
formally introduced. She was intrigued, however, by the young
man who seemed so comfortable moving through the crowd of
aristocrats while she practically clung to her mother’s robes as
they stood apart from the native nobles. Karnea had only spoken
with a few of the attendees, and most of those seemed to be
wearing the military uniforms that set them apart from the
foppish lords and ladies of the court.
“I suspect that Zeva will insist that Lucius be there for this.
He is, after all, the heir to this Empire. A function like this
will be a valuable education for him, if he is to lead later.”
Karnea glanced over Aravis’s shoulder and spied the Empress’s
Chamberlain entering the room. “It is time,” she told her
daughter as the functionary approached.
He led the pair down a short corridor and to a pair of ornately
wrought doors bearing Zeva’s sigil, a single gray sword vertical
on a stylized star. Nodding almost imperceptibly to the door
guards, they swept the doors open to admit the trio into the
audience chamber.
The hall was perhaps 50 yards long and lined on both sides with
the troops of the Imperial Household Guard, the Praetorians.
Their armor gleamed in the daylight admitted through high
windows set above the gallery overlooking the hall. Both sides
of the gallery were lined with courtiers, curious to see the
foreign visitors to the Empress’ court. At the end of the hall
was a raised dias, with a high throne at the top. Zeva sat on
the throne, dressed simply in a comfortable-looking,
quasi-military uniform of gray material, a shining silver
breastplate with her device emblazoned on it, her only
decoration. On the step below her were two smaller thrones
flanking hers. In the seat on her right was Lucius, precocious
half-Irda heir to the Soreelian realm. He was dressed in formal
attire, gray silk breeches topped with a wide crimson sash belt,
a gray shirt with a slashed velvet doublet of black and gold. He
appeared relaxed, almost bored by the proceedings. He barely
seemed to glance at his mother’s visitors as they approached.
The Chamberlain walked briskly halfway down the aisle, Karnea
and Aravis in tow, before stopping abruptly. He rapped the butt
of his ceremonial staff three times into the floor, causing a
triplet of resounding booms to echo through the hall. The hushed
conversations of the attendees in the gallery ceased
immediately, and the Chamberlain’s voice sang out through the
room.
“Your Imperial Majesty! It is my honor to present to you
visitors from afar, foreign dignitaries from the distant realm
of Krynn. The Archmage Karnea Dragonbane, mistress of distant
Schallsea Tower, known to you of old, and her daughter and heir,
Aravis Nightreaver.” Turning to the pair, he intoned, “Be
admitted into Her Majesty’s presence in peace, and accept Her
hospitality.”
The Chamberlain stepped aside and bowed to the visitors. From
the dias, Empress Zeva spoke. “Welcome, my old friend. Approach,
that we may hear your request from Us.”
Karnea inclined her chin slightly at the Chamberlain and stepped
forward, leading her daughter the rest of the way to the foot of
the dias. The formality of this was irksome to her, having bled
and fought side-by-side with the woman on the throne before her.
She shrugged internally and accepted that this was Zeva’s path
now, and that this was the role that she had to play in order to
achieve her goals for now.
Arriving at the base of the dias, Karnea cast her gaze with her
eyes up at her old friend, not inclining her head. “Your
Imperial Majesty,” she began, refusing to raise her voice to be
heard by the spectators. “I bring you greetings from Krynn. It
is my pleasure to present to you my daughter, Aravis.” She
cocked her head slightly to her right, and Aravis inclined her
chin as she had been instructed. It was important to Karnea to
show respect to Zeva, but not too much deference. The assembled
lords and ladies of the court might disagree, but Karnea
considered Zeva and herself to be equals, and she would not bow
to her.
Zeva’s eyes narrowed slightly at her old ally’s impertinence.
Leave it to Karnea to ignore Court protocols, the Empress
thought. “I trust all is well in Krynn, Archmagius. And to you,
Aravis daughter of Karnea, I welcome you to my domain.”
Aravis glanced nervously out of the side of her eye towards her
mother and answered her hostess’s greeting. “Your Majesty. I am
honored to be received by you.”
“What boon can the Throne grant you, my friend?” Zeva asked.
“Your Majesty, I humbly ask that you accept Aravis, my daughter,
as your ward, to foster her in your House for a time while I
conduct the business of my Order on Krynn. While she is an
accepted member of the Order, it is my belief that she is in
great danger on Krynn, and I ask of you the protection of your
House for her.”
Lucius seemed to stir himself slightly as Karnea formally asked
her boon. He seemed to regard Aravis with interest, wondering
what sort of danger could cause his mother’s powerful friend to
want to hide her daughter away on a completely different world.
He made a mental note to investigate this question later.
Zeva spread her hands in a welcoming gesture. “It would be my
honor to accept your daughter as my ward. She will be protected
as one of my own blood, and treated with all the courtesy due a
member of my own Household.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty,” Karnea replied, finally bowing her
head slightly in deference to her former companion.
—---------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------
383 AC (Krynn), 13 ST (Soreel), Imperial Palace, Marika, Soreel
“What do you mean, gone?” Zeva asked the Imperial Navy officer
standing at rigid attention across the desk from her.
“Just that, Your Majesty. We arrived in Krynnspace as normal,
and everything seemed to be in order, but the planet Krynn is
missing. It simply isn’t where it is supposed to be. All of the
other objects in the crystal sphere remain, but the planet is
gone.”
Zeva considered this information, and a sinking feeling in her
gut. She recalled the last intelligence from Ansalon from a few
months back. The so-called Knights of Takhisis had completely
overrun Ansalon, occupying all the major cities and even the
elven realm of Qualinesti. She had had no word from Karnea, but
refused to believe that the wily archmage had been defeated.
Sighing, she dismissed the officer and poured a glass of wine.
What am I going to tell Aravis, she wondered privately. She took
a few moments to compose her thoughts as she drank, and then
summoned her Chamberlain to fetch her ward. Within the hour, her
Chamberlain knocked softly at the door and announced Aravis.
The young woman who entered looked hardly older than she had
when Karnea had first presented her at Court two years ago. Long
strawberry blonde hair fell in two braids, with a delicate
silver hairnet adorning her head. She wore a shimmering dress of
emerald green, with a rich black cape, the only accoutrement
announcing her allegiance to the Order of Black Robes from
Krynn. She wore a silver ring on her left hand, and the nails of
her fingers were painted in the fashion of the ladies of the
Court. The Chamberlain closed the door behind her, and Aravis
curtsied perfunctorily to the Empress before approaching and
being seated across from her.
Zeva offered Aravis a glass of wine and poured for them both. In
private, Aravis had found her benefactor to be a great deal less
formal than she had expected. In fact, she found the Empress to
be blunt almost to a fault. She seemed to wear the duties of her
Empire like a mask, presenting one face to the world and another
to her inner circle. After a brief inquiry into Aravis’s
studies, Zeva finally got to the point.
“I’m afraid that I have some troubling news for you, my dear,”
Zeva began. “A spelljammer has returned from Krynnspace, and it
appears that your home planet has gone missing.”
Aravis went pale, nearly dropping her glass. She set it down
shakily and struggled to catch her breath. “How…I don’t….What do
you mean, missing?”
Zeva recounted the report from the Navy, explaining that the
rest of the sphere appeared to be intact, but the planet itself
was nowhere to be found.
“Then what about my mother?” Aravis asked. “If the planet has
been destroyed…”
“There’s no evidence that the planet is destroyed, Aravis. The
Navy didn’t report any large debris field that would indicate
that the planet was destroyed,” Zeva said calmly. “But we have
had no word from your mother, either. Right now all we have are
questions. But I want to assure you that your place here is
secure. I agreed to bring you into my protection, and my
commitment to that promise remains. No matter what happens, you
will always have a place in my Court.”
*****************************************************