555/1/63. The
rest of my companions sicken me so much. It amazes just how evil they
all are. Oh, Goddess, why did you pick me for this quest? It's hard,
really hard, not to just kill them all in the night, to stop all the
vicious and evil things that they will end up doing before this quest
is over. But I also have to remember that there is a greater cause, so
all I can do is try to be the voice of reason.
It all started two days ago. We left the rebel village, picking up
Treenow, one of the Underworld Vikuls who was hiding there. That night
a winter storm sprung up and we took shelter. In the morning there was
a circus tent set up next to our camp. Being curious, we all stepped
inside to look around. It was empty, except for the ringmaster and an
assistant. "Step right up!" he urged us. "Defeat yourself to gain a
prize!"
Well, what kind of prize? A healing potion, which could cure someone
"even freshly dead." That sounded interesting. Or we could choose
randomly from three vials which were a healing potion, a vial filled
with water, and a vial that would grant the drinker "great magic." As
he explained it to us, his assistant came back (I hadn't noticed him
wandering off), with five duplicates of himself. All had a shield and
broadsword, but otherwise had no armor or anything else we could see.
"Defeat yourself to gain a prize!" exhorted the ringmaster again.
Nakaro quickly stepped forward and chose the first "assistant". The two
started their battle and Nakaro looked evenly matched. So much so that
he lost. "You are disqualified" proclaimed the ringmaster.
To his credit, Treenow went next. His opponent cast a Sleep spell on
him and took him down. That was interesting. Apparently we are all
represented by the six simulacra, but we don't automatically fight our
corresponding simulacrum. Since Krelga is the only one who can cast
Sleep, she chose Treenow's old opponent and managed to defeat it. As
the prize, she took the random route and ended up with the magic
potion, which she immediately drank and gained a Comprehension spell.
Tok immediately jumped in. He waved to an imaginary crowd and the fight
was on. A relatively long fight, as Tok is not that great of a fighter
yet. But eventually he did beat his doppleganger (another lucky choise)
and chose to take his chances with the random draw. But fortune smiled
upon him too and he picked the magic potion, which he drank.
Unfortunately, Tok rejected the spell he was granted, saying something
about it not being a warrior spell.
We had narrowed it down to three unknown opponents. I went up next,
knowing full well that I could defeat both Tev's and Treenow's avatars.
I think I got Tev's double, for it did little damage and went down
easily. Then I picked my huckleberry, because it immediately Disrupted
me. Clever plan it had, because one Disruption can take me down.
Knowing that I was now behind the curve, I attacked and missed several
times until she Disrupted me out of the fight. Rats, I'm really dismal
with me Da's poleaxe!
Tev went up confidently and fought his doggie double. It bit him and
bit him but he refused to give up, healing himself back up so he could
fight some more. This went on for a while until Tev's opponent finally
won. I First Aided Tev back to consciousness and he Healed himself the
rest of the way, though he had two crippled legs.
So ended our first encounter with the Chaos Circus. I had heard of such
things of course. The circus that came and went, filled with wonders
anew each time. The Cold Army has never been able to catch up to it --
for anything that can move around the land like that is probably
dangerous. I guess we were lucky this time.
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We packed up
and continued north, Tev now riding on the wagon. We were a bit low on
magic points but rather relaxed for we didn't expect anything else to
happen today. How wrong we were. Tev spotted them first. Three figures
flying towards us, their backs to the sun so we couldn't make them out
clearly. Tev, paranoid pooch that he is, immediate barked out that we
were under attack. Everybody took out their bows and weapons, just in
case. But the rest of us were willing to parlay.
Even the paranoid are sometimes correct. Our visitors were Zargoz and
his top two lieutenants. Zargoz is the chief of Karakal, that first
village that the Underworlders visited and I had to rescue them from.
Zargoz demanded that the three Underworlders be turned over to him, but
we couldn't do that so we a battle was inevitable and quickly started.
It was a suicide attack by Zargoz, but I could guess why he was doing
it. After failing to keep the Underworlders detained long enough for
the Army to arrive, the whole village was being blamed for the debacle.
Standard Cold Empire doctrine is to purge the village of its leaders
and their families, unless they could redeem themselves or honorably
fail. This was Zargoz's way to honorably fail, to save his family.
Heroic, and yet sad.
The battle was brief. We have all become better warriors since we last
met met. We were better equipped, had more magic, and were more
experienced, so in the end it was a noble sacrifice on their part. But
we were not left unscathed. Treenow suffered a mortal blow as he fought
by me, his life fading away as Tev botched the spell that could have
saved him. I was knocked out during the fight. When I came to, I saw
that to my horror the rest of my "friends" were doing unspeakable
things to the bodies.
"What are you doing?!?" "They started it when they foully tried to
betray us to the Cold Army." Tev and Tok in particular couldn't see
that the citizens of Karakal had done what they thought was right. To
most of the Cold peoples, the Underworlders represent a devious and
hated enemy. They want to depose the Cold Goddess, thereby plunging the
Empire into chaos and leaving it at the mercy of the barbarian tribes.
Tev had the preposterous argument that what they were doing would
benefit all. How can that be? Tens of thousands will die, order will be
replaced with chaos, civilization will be destroyed. That didn't seem
to matter to Tev. The Cold Empire is evil, therefore the ends justify
the means in his mind. But that kind of thinking is not unexpected from
a barbarian.
Which leads me to question whether I'm doing the right thing. Prophecy
says that I, or someone like me, would help this ragtag band in their
quest. They will not succeed in deposing of the Cold Goddess as they
think. What will happen is that the Chaos God's hold on our Empire will
be destroyed. We will be free of that corrupting influence and the
Empire will last a thousand more years. That is what I'm fighting for.
And if I'm wrong? If the prophecy has been read incorrectly by my clan?
If the Underworlders are right, it will mean the end of Civilization.
What is worse, to live corrupted by Chaos or risk annihilation?
Sometimes I think it would be safer to kill them all, especially after
they show me once again why their kind must never be allowed to gain
dominance. Goddess, it's so hard. So very hard.
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