Poker Interrupted

“Sh’ree did say she was coming tonight, didn’t she?”

Edrilli shrugged, “I haven’t spoken to her this afternoon. But, the last I checked, she didn’t say she wasn’t.” 

The Tellarite woman tutted in reply. “We can leave it a bit longer, I guess,” said Lugmilla, “I’ll call her if she’s not here soon, though.”

It was unlike Sh’ree not to leave any kind of message, thought Edrilli, so most likely she had just been delayed somewhere along the route. The Bolian shuffled the deck absently, having nothing better to do as they waited. The four of them met up every now and then for a game, taking turns between entertainments native to each of their worlds – one of the advantages of such a multi-racial starship as the Endeavour.

Tonight was the turn of an Earth game, in honour of the human member of the group. This time, Sumati had picked poker, a game she had apparently come across at the Academy, since it wasn’t native to her part of the planet. Ironically, it was Sh’ree who was the best of the four women at playing the game, although sometimes the Andorian’s  betting became too aggressive, giving one of the others a chance to wipe her out.

49: Messandra (3)

[Start from the beginning]

Calleslyn's trepidation increased as she turned the corner into the street where Messandra lived. All morning, she had been telling herself that nothing would have happened. The undead assault had been focussed on the temples, and, to a lesser extent, on the Rotunda and the city's main markets. Surely Messandra lived far enough away to have been safe?

But what if she hadn't been home? She might have been out shopping, or even praying to Nyrandos, her favoured deity. She didn't even know how the temple to the God of Knowledge had fared, although at least three other temples had suffered badly during the attack. The conviction that something terrible had happened was beginning to gnaw at her. Had she been naïve to dismiss such possibilities earlier in the day?

When she had awoken, after a long and pleasant sleep, the sun had been shining through the window, and the thoughts of her triumphs the night before had put her in a happy mood, unwilling to contemplate any dark thoughts. She had dressed in some of her finest clothes, a white elven dress made of silk, lace, and the softest cotton. The skirts were long, almost trailing to the floor, less practical than her normal clothing, with a tight bodice trimmed in gold, long outer sleeves trailing free from her elbows.

46: Lissica

[Start from the beginning]

Tinberly sat on the edge of the fountain, swinging her legs idly as she watched the crowd go by and chatted with her best friend. Lissica was her own age, eighteen years old, and they'd grown up together, only a few streets apart. They had a lot in common, both having lost a father; in Lissica's case a southern merchant who simply never returned home one day from a long trip abroad. That showed in her fair hair and grey eyes, contrasting against the more typical dark tones of Tinberly's own.

They had a lot to talk about, as they always did, the comings and goings of the neighbourhood, the constant bustling life of the city around them. The afternoon had gone fast, and now the sun was setting, the sky starting to dim, signalling that the day was finally at an end.

"It's getting late," said Lissica, eventually, sitting beside her on the stone ledge. "Maybe  tomorrow?"

"I can't go home," said Tinberly, glancing down at her feet, "not yet."

The other girl frowned, a quizzical look on her face. "Why not? Is everything all right?"

40: Kara

[Start from the beginning]

The raid on Sashjant's lair had been a far shorter venture than any of their great expeditions into the wilderness, plundering ancient tombs or forgotten labyrinths. Yet it felt just as satisfying, producing the same thrill that escaping from near-death in an underground catacomb did. Or so Almandar felt, and he got the impression that the others did, too. Admittedly, in his case, the manner of his escape had been somewhat unorthodox, if far from unpleasant.

Presumably, for the others, the experience had been rather more conventional, but what really mattered was that they had saved five women from a terrible fate at the hands of a wicked demon. It was clear, now that they were free of his mental influence, how they regretted what they had done in his name, and, for some, at least, he suspected it would take a long time for their emotional scars to heal. Which meant that he currently felt as if he was walking on egg-shells when he was around them.

The former members of the harem were currently gathered in the main room of the adventurers' villa. Calleslyn had left to give Ornejirhs the good news, and Dolrim had left them alone, unaccountably bashful – perhaps he was overwhelmed by the emotion of the event, since dwarves were known for their taciturnity. That left Almandar with Tarissa and Vardala, talking to the rescued women.

33: Rupinder

[Start from the beginning]

Calleslyn waited and watched nervously as Vardala fiddled with the lock on the door; they really didn’t want to be caught by anyone while doing this. She and Almandar were standing in the alley behind the house that Sashjant had rented in the city. There was no sign of life inside, although she knew that the demon was at home, along with, at the very least, two of his female companions, and probably all of them. Except, of course, Mei-Xing, and they did not yet know whether he had worked out what had happened to her,

Hopefully not, because that would give them the element of surprise. Sashjant was expecting Ornejirhs, and doubtless had warding spells in place to warn him of the approach of a dragon, whether in human form or not. But, with any luck, he had no idea about the adventurers, allowing them to quickly get inside and deal with him.

To her surprise, the lock on the back door to the house had not been enchanted, so it had nothing to do with the magical key they had stolen. That had to be for something, but evidently it wasn’t just for accessing the building, which used a standard Haredil lock on all of its doors. Which meant that Vardala should not be much longer.

27: Imrilda

[Start from the beginning]
Calleslyn crossed the lobby of the Wizards’ College, looking about for someone she knew well enough to talk to. The villa had been attacked by a demon, obviously sent to steal something, and Lady Tarissa had sent her here to find out what she could. Until now they had been reluctant to tell people what they knew of the infernal threat to the city, but having seen a demon openly, they could now ask questions without raising suspicion among the conspirators – whoever they were. Indeed, it would some strange if they did not.

The lobby, however, was relatively empty, so the elf decided to make her next port of call the library. It occupied a significant part of the building, and, while it was not a good place for socialising as such, there was always likely to be someone there. She stepped through the stone archway and looked around, the numerous stacks of books and scrolls hiding much of her view of the interior.

“Can I help you?”

She turned round to see the librarian peering up from a collection of scrolls, a slightly nervous smile on her face. Nariti knew a lot about books and scrolls, but rather less about the actual human world, which would not have made her Calleslyn’s first choice for uncovering any wizards that might be involved in the dark arts. But at least she was present.

“Yes, perhaps,” she said, coming over as the small, mousy woman reflexively smoothed her robes down. “I was wondering about the restricted section of the library.”

25: Rolgor

[Start from the beginning]

Yellowish eyes looked out at her from behind the little shutter in the door. “I not know you,” said a deep voice accusingly, “why you here?”

Elandra had already composed herself; she knew that the woman she had come to see had a half-orc assistant and bodyguard. She was no aristocrat, but still, half-orcs were not a race that she had had many dealings with before. This one, just from the sound of his gravely voice and crude grammar, seemed to fit the stereotype. Which made it easier to deal with him, in a way, so long as she didn’t show fear or disgust at his appearance. After all, his employer surely needed new customers every now and then.

“We are here to see Nyvara,” she said, keeping her voice steady, “we want to buy something.”

“We?” asked the half-orc, his eyes glancing about.

He could probably see far better than her in the dark of the night, but from his vantage point behind the door, her body was blocking his view of Tinberly.

“My daughter is here with me,” she said, reluctantly taking a half step to the side, so that he could see. Surely they looked harmless enough?

The half-orc grunted, “you wait here. I be back soon.”

The little shutter closed, leaving the two of them outside in the darkened alley. Elandra pulled her shawl more tightly around herself, although it was more the lateness of the hour and the unfamiliarity of the streets that was getting to her than any feeling of cold, for, if anything, it was quite a warm night.

19: Messandra (2)

[Start from the beginning]

Messandra glanced around as she allowed Calleslyn into her home, and swiftly closed the door behind them. The human woman was still shy about their relationship, nervous about what her neighbours would think, although Calleslyn suspected that none of them even guessed anything was occurring. Thankfully, her partner’s shyness was not at all apparent when they were alone together. But human cultural mores were what they were, and she supposed that they had to be respected here, in a human city.

“What do you think?” asked Messandra, raising her arms and giving a twirl to show off her new dress.

It was sky blue in colour, clinging tightly to her curves, sleeveless and almost backless, held up only by straps around the back of her neck. Calleslyn’s eyes were first drawn to the long flowing skirts, swishing around as Messandra moved, and deeply slit up the right side to expose half of one shapely leg. Unbidden, a vision of those thighs tangled in her own leapt to her mind. The truth was that she had been looking forward to this evening all day, fantasising about what they would do together in bed, aching for her lover’s touch.

“It looks lovely,” she said, honestly, “you make me feel plain.”

“You could never be plain,” replied Messandra, “trust me. But I am glad you like it. Oh, and you are exactly on time – dinner is just about ready.” They kissed, gentle and affectionate, even though Calleslyn’s body was already demanding much more than that. She would just have to wait.

16: Ansreal (2)

[Start from the beginning]

“I heard you were looking for Lady Tarissa?” asked Callelsyn, “I am afraid she is not in at the moment.”

Horvan had told her of the arrival of the visitor at the villa, and was now standing a discrete distance away as she invited Ansreal inside. She had met the young elf not so long ago, of course, for a meal in the courtyard with Tarissa’s other paladin friends. She herself had invited Messandra, but that had made her human lover uncomfortable. The cleric and paladin would most likely not have approved of their relationship, and Messandra has not wanted to give them any reason to suspect it, which had made things awkward. At least Ansreal would have understood… although, as a paladin in training herself, who knew what her actual attitude was?

And now here she was, stepping into the foyer of the villa, holding what appeared to be a sealed letter. She looked a little uncertain, glancing around as if looking for someone. “Is… uh…” she began, “I mean… are you on your own?”

11: Shamira

It had come as no surprise to Calleslyn when Almandar had returned to the villa in the morning, and looking as if he had not had much sleep the night before. She had not met Raylana, but the inference about what had happened was a fairly easy one to make. It had been rather more surprising, however, to realise that Dolrim had also returned home at around the same time. It seemed unlikely, from what she knew of dwarves, that anything of a similar nature had happened to him - and, indeed, if it had, she would have expected him to appear rather more cheerful than he actually did.

But, instead, he had shut himself away in his room at the villa, brooding on his own. Presumably he was looking over the secret dwarven documents that he had acquired, wanting to look over them before he shared them with the rest of the party. When Almandar had returned, a couple of hours later, he had briefly tried to talk to the dwarf, even going into his room, but he had obviously been sent out again almost immediately, apparently without much of a word of explanation.

Still, it was not long after that that Dolrim had finally emerged, looking somewhat sheepish, and bringing the documents with him. Much of the writing was in dwarvish, so although the maps were reasonably clear, actually fitting them to the above ground street plan was probably going to take a while. So they left him to examine the maps further with Vardala, and Calleslyn had suggested that, in the meantime, she and Almandar try to find out what they could at the Wizards’ College

Almandar had, in fact, slept much of the morning, which suggested a certain degree of vigour on Raylana’s part, but now they were both here heading across the lobby towards the College library. The Wizards’ College was, in effect, a guild, although, unlike most others in the city, apprentices were often taught on the premises, rather than in private businesses elsewhere. Almandar himself had learned magic here, many years ago, although Calleslyn had only joined after her own education was complete.

5: Messandra

[Start from the beginning]

Calleslyn climbed the stairs at the back of the map shop. Messandra, who owned the shop, was someone she had known for a long time. She had often provided the party with interesting documents or maps, which had led them on dramatic adventures across the northern lands. The latest such map had proven particularly useful, and she deserved to know the outcome of that escapade, which was why Calleslyn was here after hours.

She knocked on the door to Messandra’s living quarters above the shop, and was rewarded a brief time later when the owner opened the door. The human woman was dressed well, Calleslyn saw, wearing a rich blue sleeveless dress with a long skirt slit down the side to show off one slender leg, and ankle-length boots. A wide belt girdled her waist, accentuating her figure, and the dress itself had an open diamond between her breasts, and straps over her bare shoulders, where a necklace of amber stones hung down to her collar bone.

Calleslyn took all this in, realising at once that this was probably not her friend’s casual wear. “Have I interrupted you?” she asked, “I can always come back tomorrow.”

Messandra looked puzzled for a moment, and then glanced down at herself, following the elf’s eyes. “Oh, nothing that can’t be postponed,” she said, flushing slightly, “I was just… no, it’s nothing. Come in.”