The realistic adventure

This is a story about how adventurers would probably conduct their lives, in a real Fantasy World.  The group is more than familiar with the traditional 'run in, kill the monsters, and flee with the treasure' pattern, but one of them goes to war and learns better.

Another Day, Another Artifact

    "Excitement, they said!" Tole grumbled, "Adventure, they said!"
    With every word he either jammed the spade into the dirt, or threw dirt out of the ever-expanding hole in the dry ground.  The sun was merciless, the insects thirsty, and the heat oppressive.  There was no breeze and he was about ready to throw the shovel at that cool, competent, aggravating green female, whatever the hell she was.  Five days out, across land that gave a new definition to barren, and now he's digging a hole where there's not a sign of anything, not a tree, not a boulder, not even a dip or rise in the land. The Green woman just turned to the Elf and they decided that it was 'right here'.  Not that they had done any digging, nor had they so much as dismounted.  Tole didn't need a tattoo on his head that said 'dummy' to feel like one. When he had seen the notice, on the town board, it seemed the perfect opportunity for him.  He was back from the War, even had a medal, and the notice was asking for 'veterans'.  He should have asked more questions.  He should have checked the employer out more.  'Adventurers Guild', now that was a name that should have told him the whole story, without his even having to think.  Well, if this was exciting and easy money, except for the risk, then he was a korlean slime worm.  This was grunt work, and it didn't even have the satisfaction of a story.  He had no idea why they were here, and less what they were doing.  He drove the shovel with a vengeance, biding his time for a chance to take a break and just ride away.  Then he hit something in the ground, so solid that it rattled his teeth.
   "What the ..." his voice trailed off, because both of the women were on the ground.
   They weren't dismounted and standing, they were unconscious, and laying on the ground. He dropped the shovel and went to them.  Four years at war had given him more knowledge of how to care for the fallen than he really wanted to have, but it came in handy right now.  Both women showed signs of shock, as if they'd been hit by a magic spell that was concussive.  He'd seen the Blough use such in battle, and they could kill without a mark.  He was relieved that the women were alive, and used their horses to make a shade.  He found it less than intelligent that no one had brought a tent, but the supplies he brought came from a list, and a tent wasn't on it.  He'd made another mistake, thinking that someone else would have brought one.  Fortunately, he had a tarp, even though the list hadn't mentioned it.  He'd learned early in the war that he didn't like rain, and so came prepared.  On this trip, he was learning that he didn't like sun, either.
   There wasn't anything, in any direction.  Not so much as a tall bush, or very many short ones for that matter.  Just dry near-desert, and a pale blue, cloudless, sky.  When the women were lying in the shade, and they had been wiped down with a small amount of water, Tole returned to the hole in the ground.  He had a sinking feeling that whatever his shovel had encountered had something to do with the collapse of  his two erstwhile companions.  Or whatever the females were.  At any rate, in the hole he found an ornate carved  item.  Not stone, and not wood, it resembled both, and was about half an inch thick.  Deciding to err on the side of caution, he got out his skinning knife and levered up the edge of the thing.  Tying a rope around the end of it was the work of but a moment, and then he connected the rope to the saddle on his Lizard.  Yeah, he rode a lizard, so what.  He was alive, unlike the majority of horsemen, who had gone to war with him.  Lizards can swim better than horses, and like to hide in the woods.  So did Tole, and that was a good thing, when the mages of the Blough had a tendency to use spells that wiped out a platoon at a time.  They can't hit what they can't see, was Toles motto, and, as a result, he was alive. Lizards, especially his, were smarter than horses, and some people he had known.  Also, lizards had claws, for just such occasions as this.  He backed his mount until the rope went taught, and then got off so the creature could put some solid 'pull' into the job.  The carved piece flipped out of the ground, and flames shot up, almost ruining the end of his rope.  Tole cursed, softly, and went back to the hole.
   In the depression where the plate had been lying, there was a large amount of blackened ground, and some kind of box or chest.  That, at least, is what it looked to be, from what Tole could see at a distance.  He hadn't been a war hero, and he wasn't about to do anything heroic now.  It took awhile to find a decent sized stone that he could tie his rope to, but when he did, he was only too glad to take several tries getting it to go into the hole from as much distance as he could manage. It dropped in, and spikes burst up from the hole, and the ground around it.
   "Nice,touch" Tole muttered, "There better be crown jewels in that box, if I'm going to risk my life many more times, getting it."
   While he was considering his next action, he heard a moan come from between the horses.  The beasts were not doing well, exposed to the sun and holding up a tarp, but they were better off than Tole, who was trying his best to melt.  He went over, to see if his charges needed anything he could provide.  They seemed surprised that he had shaded them, and more than that, that he was still with them.
   " I owe you for your care, " the green one said, "And for not leaving me to die in the heat."
   " I hadn't considered that, " the elf woman said, " I guess we've seriously misjudged you Tole, and should have treated you with more respect."
   "Respect has to be earned," Tole answered them, "No harm done in waiting to see what you've got, before you trust yourself to it."
   He didn't actually feel that way, but he'd learned more from the war than just how to kill the enemy.  Making comrades could keep you alive in terrible situations, and not having friends when it counted had gotten many a soldier killed.  He figured these two might just know how to get that god-cursed box out of the ground, and leave all of them alive.  That might be a good thing just now.
   "I've managed to survive uncovering the chest, or box, in the hole" Tole told them, "But I'm not at all sure how to get it out of the ground and remain alive."
   "Let me check it out," the green woman, said, "I'm pretty good with traps."
   " But first I want to look over that plate you pulled off the top of it." the Elf said, " I think it may be a trap of another kind."
   " Whatever you guys say," Tole answered, " But do either of you have a name? I want to be able to tell the guild who died, if those items react to you like they did to me."
    For some reason, both women laughed, and seemed to relax.
    " I'm Selly," the green lady said, " and I'm from the Wash."
    "I'm Amerynthia," the Elflady said, " And I'm from the Eastern Wood."
    The hometowns were no surprise, but both of them were half a year away.  Tole new better than to pry, but he hazarded a single question.
   " You guys do this often?"  he asked.
   "Only when we get hungry," Selly answered, "We've been in the guild for about three years, we joined during the Klaag uprising, because there was money to be made by taking out the goblins."
   " I was with the fourth and forty third back then, " Kole said, " We were charged with defending the border, so the insurgents wouldn't bring the fight into Kahler."
    " I thought the forty-third was wiped out" Amerynthia remarked.
   " Eleven of us made it out of the river," Tole answered, " My lizard just swam away, with me strapped to the saddle.  I wasn't in any shape to hang on otherwise."
    The conversation paused a moment, as the women digested the story, it was believable, but bespoke a terrible ordeal.  After a pause, Tole added, " I even got a medal, for living over it."
   The conversation went to general battle talk then, while Selly spent some serious moments investigating the pit and the spikes and whatever else she could observe, without dying.  Amerynthia was closely examining the slab, but without touching it.  She finally turned to Tole.
   "Could we turn this over, do you think?" she asked.
    " If we had a hook, maybe," Tole said, " But I'm not all that eager to touch it."
    " It has runes on the other side," Amerynthia said, " And I could read them, maybe, If I could get a good look."
    "We could try the grapnel," Selly said, without looking up.
    " Good idea," Amerynthia agreed, " I'll get it."
    The climbing hook was in a saddlebag, because it collapsed into a single item, and when she removed it and locked it open, Tole was impressed.  It was good steel, and obviously had seen some use.  That meant the women had climbed in dangerous places.  He helped Amerynthia get it tied to his rope, and she hooked the slab.  The women had a chance to see the Lizard in action, since it had been sitting quietly and wasn't overheated.  When he had turned the slab, and it was face up on the ground, Amerynthia began to study the runes.  After a moment she whistled softly.
   "A sound stone," she said softly, "It's a miracle it didn't kill us all."
   " I decided not to touch it, once you guys passed out." Tole said, "Since there wasn't anything, or anyone around for miles, I made the assumption that it was responsible.  I didn't want to join you, even if I was hot and tired."
   " Thank you for that, " Selly laughed, "We'd have been a sad trio at the dark stream, telling the ferryman how we died."
   "I'd have lied," Amerynthia put in, " That's too embarrassing."
   "Does that Lizard of yours have a name?" Selly suddenly said, "He's so useful, that we ought to at least know who he is."
   "I'm called Jaxur," The lizard said in unaccented speech. " Tole and I have been together for most of his life, since his folks died and we had to leave the holding."
    " Why in God's green earth do you go around being his mount?" Selly said, " When obviously you're intelligent and capable."
    "Can you imagine me trying to get a room at an Inn?" Jaxur answered her. " Oh, and I seldom talk, and when I do it's to friends only."
   "I hope you'll talk to me, then," Amerynthia said, "I'd consider it an honor to be your friend."
   " Hey!" Tole spoke up, "Me first, I saved you, after all."
   The laughter and talk almost eclipsed the need to get the box out of the ground, but not quite. It was Jaxur who mentioned that they were avoiding something, and they all realized that they were.  The box, chest or whatever it prove to be, was dangerous, and the slab, that had been guarding it, was probably worth enough to pay for their trip.  Had they not needed the box for the guild contract, the trio, or quartet, might have just left it where it was, and called it a day.
"Let's come in from the side," Jaxur suggested, we can dig a trench and pull it out of the area it's in.  That might avoid some of the nastier traps."
   "More digging," Tole answered, " I might have known."
   "This time you'll have help." Amerynthia promised.
   " You have no idea," Jaxur put in.
   The lizard walked over to an area to the right of the pit and set his hind claws in the hard packed soil.  He crouched, and then, without warning, his front claws began to move at blurring speed, as the dirt flew behind him. In seconds, he had the beginnings of a trench, but he quit, because the sun and exertion could kill him if he kept it up.  Still the beginning would have taken hours for the three others to do, so they were more than grateful.  Three shovels began to extend the trench, and as they approached the area of the object, they took time to deepen their work.  Then they widened it, and checked to see how far down it was.  Finally they stood in what they had dug, testing whether the sides were firm.  About that time they all three realized that no one wanted to dig any closer, because of the possibility of traps.
  Tole went to Jaxur and took of a bundle of what seemed to be short metal shod staves.  He carefully fitted them together, and finally attached a blade on one end.  The result was nine feet of pole ax, complete with a spiked tip.  He turned to the ladies.
   "As a gentleman, I'll offer the use of this to you two," he grinned, "Because I wouldn't want you to feel that I took away your prerogatives."
   " Oh, that's not a problem," Amerynthia said quickly, " I was never too crazy about the ladies first thing anyway."
   " I am," Selly put in, " It occurs to me that the only person who's risked his live so far is Tole, and I'm not that kind of adventurer.  I'll take my ride in the basket, when it's my turn."
   " You're right, of course," Amerynthia said, " It's just that those runes are scary, and I'm really having trouble just remaining here with this job."
   " I've never known you to shy away from danger," Selly told her, " What on Soma did you see?"
   " The runes are from ancient Gormaq, " she explained, " And they say that the chest of Aphraxis is steeped in death, so that none may disturb it.  According to the runes, the traps are unending, you can't ever remove them all."
  "That's Gerbil Droppings," Tole commented. " Nothing is forever, and you can't put more traps than you have space."
   "Actually you can put more traps than you have space," Amerynthia corrected him, " There's a magic for that.  But I don't see it here.  I can't detect a smidgen bit of magic on this whole place, even though that fire trap had to be magic."
    "What about the slab, " Selly asked, " It has to be magic."
    "It's an artifact," Amerynthia said quietly, " Something from an older age, that predates the magic we know."
    " Ummm,," came a sound from Jaxur, " If there be an artifact above it, and traps around it, just how old would this Chest of Aphraxis have to be?"
   " All I can say," Selly answered him, "Is that we were given a stone to locate the chest, and told that we could make a pretty pence for fetching it back to the guild.  Nobody said anything about ancient or dangerous or even guarded by an artifact."
    "The only mention I've ever heard of anyone named Aphraxis", Amerynthia put in, "is the one about the God who broke the world, before the Gods we have now even came to be."
   "Older than dirt and air, then," Jaxur mused, "Perhaps we should camp, and think about this till morning."
   "We lack the supplies," Tole said, " Someone didn't want us to have time to consider what we were doing, when they sent us after this."
   "They either didn't expect it to be so heavily warded," Selly ventured, " Or they wanted us to be killed, so that the thing would be easier for them to find and retrieve."
   "Having been a soldier," Tole said quietly, " I'd opt for the latter.  You always send in a group to scout, and count them expendable, when you're confronting the unknown."
   "You can tell the town crier, I'm not the least bit expendable, "Amerynthia remarked, "And don't intend to be expended, not for anyone's benefit!"
   "That's a feeling I think we all share, " Tole agreed, " So what now?"
   "Now we come to a decision." Jaxur said.
    ▬
    The quartet discussed their options, and the potential outcome of each.  First, they could take the box, return it to the Guild, and wash their hands of the entire affair.  That didn't sit well with any of them, for several reasons.  They didn't trust that the Chest was not something dangerous,  They didn't trust in their fate, should they return with it, and  the reward was far less than the danger involved required.  In any normal situation, they would have taken the Chest to the guild and sued for an increase in the bounty.  That was in a usual situation.  It didn't cover recovering an artifact,  and it certainly didn't insure their lives if the person, or persons, who commissioned the recovery decided to claim what they were seeking.  Anyone looking for an artifact that ancient, and having knowledge of a method of exactly locating it, was to be treated cautiously.  So they discussed simply reporting failure, and trying their luck elsewhere.  That was a bad idea the women affirmed, because the good trips were offered to successful teams.  Besides,what would happen to the next group hired?  Tole suggested they take the Chest, hide it, and say the hole was empty.  That would have worked, except how would they explain being able to find the hole, since their magic item located the chest, not where it was entombed.  They could claim to have located it, but not having been able to retrieve it, due to the traps.  That solution was almost acceptable, but left them guilty of unleashing who knows what into the world, a thing none of them was prepared to live with.  Selly finally said what all of them were thinking.
   "We'll have to take this thing with us," She said, " Go somewhere nobody will think to look, until we can learn what it is, and what to do with it."
  "They'll just use a magic tool to find us," Amerynthia said, in response, " The one we have isn't old, at all, so they can make another."
   "Then we have to put it somewhere they can't get it," Tole responded, "Somewhere that is beyond the reach of simple mortals."
   "And just where might that be?" Selly shot back, "These people may be very powerful, and able to breach any vault we could find."
   " I believe I know the very place," Tole answered.  "And we won't have to worry about the guild or our contract, or any of that."

▬
It took the rest of the day, and most of the night, to dig completely around the Chest, even with Jaxur able to dig for longer periods in the dark.  Nobody suggested waiting, or a camp, or even sleep, since the plan they had hatched required swift action.  They simply put a rope around the chest and drug it out, initially, but it took both mounts and Jaxur working as a team to get it free.  Then they had to figure a way to move it.  It was a relief to find that, once taken from it's resting place, it had almost no weight.  It was the work of only minutes to fashion a sling so that the two horses could transport the object between them.  They set out for the capitol.
  Two days of hard travel and they reached the first of the settlements that presaged the capitol city.  Pelandar was not a new city, but it was a new capitol, with much recent construction.  Tole stopped at the first Guard station, to pass a message on to his old Captain, now stationed in Pelandar, behind a desk.
   The subsequent passage through offices, registrars, and various legal locations took a week.  They were fortunate that the Captain was now a Marshall, and remembered Tole as anything but a hero. (absolutely anything at all)  The Marshall arranged for them to have rooms, albeit small ones and stabling for their mounts.  Jaxur was given a place to stay that had once been a part of a Villa, and was so nice that the others spent most of their time there, when they weren't waiting for an appointment, or in line.    Finally all the paperwork was in place, and the final interview occurred.  The Marshall, himself, attended to this one.
   "You've got the papers for your guild, right?" he asked Tole, " The ones saying that the military has sequestered this object for reasons of national security?"
   " I have indeed, Marshall, Dobro," Tole responded, " And the ones exhonorating me from any culpability for the contract, since the law is clear on this."
   " Well done," Marshall Dobro responded, " You always could follow orders.  That was one of the things I liked about you."
   " Is that everything?" Amerynthia asked him.
   " Except for the final question and sign off, and the recovery recompense, that's it." Dobro answered, " So let's get the answer and the signatures, so you three can go see the provost marshall and get paid."
  "The question is as follows.  "Did the three of you transport the object, hereinafter referred to as the Chest of Abraxis, to the military authorities of your own free will, and without coercion?  Did you further place this object in the hands of government, believing it to be a genuine risk to National Security, should it fall into the wrong hands?  And finally, do you freely acknowledge that it is now the property of the government, until and unless it be proven harmless and returned to you?"
   The I do's were said, and the papers signed.  Marshall Dobro assurred them that the object would come up for review, "in about 18 months, or two years, max" and that once examined they would either get it back, or get a reward comensurate with the value to National Security.  In the meantime, he assured them, it would be stored in the archives, a place beyond magical scrying and never successfully burglarized.  Besides, he laughed, there were thousands of Chests and Boxes in the archives, all magically isolated, and looking pretty much the same, since they were crated up.  How would a thief ever be able to find the one he wanted, let alone get it out undetected?
   The recompense for recovery was based on travel, round trip, the use of a sling, and subsistance allowance for three people and mounts.  To this was added reasonable and customary costs for lodging and food for the two week period provided for turning in an object.  Then there was the R&C payment for wages lost as mercenaries, and for time to locate employment, since the law forbade them returning to the guild they had been part of.  All in all each got a tidy sum, and the reputation of having found something of importance to National Security, even if they couldn't discuss it, was bound to get them membership in a decent organization, one where the customers were less likely to be dangerous and the quests more likely not to involve dying, as acceptable losses.
  "Lets try the message board outside the Capitol Building," Tole suggested "We should be able to find something that the three of us can do together."
   "Don't you mean the four of us? " Amerynthia said, " This is Pelandar, capital city of Kahler, there should be someplace where we all four can signup as adventurers."
   "We'll have to clear that with Jaxur," Tole cautioned.
   " Let's go ask him then," Selly said, " He might like being an equal. "
   " Then what'll I ride?" Tole asked, as they walked to the old Villa where Jaxur was staying.

The End?

The Artie Facts

    “You know you're crazy, right?” Selly said to Tole, as he returned to the table.
    “What?” Tole responded, “ I just told him that his horse was wandering down the street, and it was.”
    “Not until you untied the reins from the hitching post,” Amerynthia said, “I really hope no one saw you at that.”
    “It was one-hand, behind the back, and I barely stopped moving at all,” Tole assured her. “Jaxur covered for me on the street side, and everyone in here was too busy watching the argument you guys were having with that drunk donkey.”
    “Jaxur is a good friend,” Amerynthia agreed, “But we need to get him stabled, before we do anymore drinking.”
    The accommodations for the Lizard person, who masqueraded as Tole's mount, took several minutes, but the table they had been using was still empty when they returned.  It was under the cockloft, and subject to fallout from that passageway. They were still talking about the merchant who h ad been so obnoxious to Selly and Amerynthia while Tole was relieving himself.
    “Seriously,” Tole said to them, “He had yellow-flower loco weed in his load, judging from the rest of it, he must have a patch over by the mill”
    “ I should have known that you'd figure a way out of fighting him,” Selly replied, “ After that run in with the Gnoles  over near Caphrage, I think you could out fox a fox.”
    “Gnoles and Blemmyes have in common a love for emeralds,” Amerynthia put in, “ Having that bogus map to the lost mine was serendipity.  Using it as ransom was genius.”
    “Not only that,” Selly laughed, “ It got the Gnoles to fight the Goblins over Emeralds that didn't exist in the first place.”
    “ And it gave us a clear path to the scrolls and Icons we had contracted to retrieve.” Tory put in, “That was the original plan, but it kind of had to be improvised, as we went along.”
    “Improvising on the fly is the difference between a successful adventure, and being dead along the highway,” Amerynthia noted, “ That's something you're learning from us, just as we're learning how to survive without fighting all the time.”
    “I'd never thought about it being smarter not to fight, when fighting can be avoided,” Selly remarked.
    “ He who fights and runs away, will live to fight another day,” Tole remarked, “But its smarter to realize that “He who wins without a fight, won't have to heal from a nasty bite.”
    “Winning without a fight is smart,” Amerynthia admitted, “ But sometimes it pays to have a plan that includes not leaving creatures that will hunt you.”
    “Ok, OK, “ Tole said sheepishly, “ We should have taken on those Two Hags, and not just stolen their Treasure.  But I really didn't think they'd follow us all the way to the village.”
   “We barely made a profit on that one,” Selly put in, “What with damages and paying to have all those villagers healed.”
    “But they think us Heroes,” Tole said easily, “Isn't that what you and Rynth wanted?”
    “That's more than true,” Selly had to admit, “And it's nice to be popular, and get fawned over, once in a while, but those hags were a handful!”
    “We need a mage,” Amerynthia said abruptly, “ We're lopsided with fighters and trap specialists and tacticians.  But we just don't have the magic we need.  Mine's ok for everyday, but it just doesn't make the price of rice, when it comes to a serious fight.”
    “There's one,” Selly remarked, pointing up to the entresol.  Sure enough, a short man in a tall, silly, pointed, hat complete with over-decorated robe, had just been tossed over the balcony rail.  Without conscious thought, Tole caught him, and set him on the bench beside their table.  Probably, in retrospect, not the best of ideas.  As the mage, if he was one, straightened his hat, a knife that was almost a sword flew from above and stuck in the table.  The man looked up muttered something while pointing, and the knife thrower changed into a small furred animal, which quickly scurried away.  It was almost impressive.
    No one replaced the knife thrower, and the room kind of quieted down, at that, because mages that could use transubstantiating magic, on an unwilling subject, were not only rare, but fairly feared, as well.  Sometimes the spell reverted, sometimes not.  It depended on the degree of change and skill of the mage.  Tole had a moment of trepidation, and then began to worry outright.  What had he caught, and could it be cured?  Selly was the only one who seemed not to see any danger, or potential problem, but Amerynthia was hard pressed not to simply excuse herself and go pack everyone's gear for a fast get away.  Mages did not drop out of the sky like rainbow wishes.  They generally were hard to find and harder to engage.  When one cropped up like this, it most likely meant something was amiss.
    The mage's name, it seemed was Hugo Underville, of the Hershey Undervilles. That was a product of introductions being performed, all around, in spite of no one actually wanting to do it.  Somehow, when you caught a magician out of the air, it just seemed polite to exchange names.  Tole never mentioned that they were looking for a mage, Selly just talked about the current political scandal, and Amerynthia was as silent as a consecrated grave.  Hugo was the one who mentioned how beneficial he could be, to a party of adventurers.  Why Selly, Tole and Amerynthia did not flee at this revelation was something that would torment them for years to come.  They could have avoided so much, and gained even more, had they run away while they had the chance.  For some reason, which none of the three understood, they stayed to talk to the man.  Tole often reflected that the over-sized dagger which he had recovered from the table, was perhaps the only thing of value encountered that evening.

    Night was, perhaps, a bit too full of ale, but not enough to ruin the morning.  What did that was the general agreement that Hugo would be their new mage.  No credentials, no investigation, not even a guarantee that he had no outstanding warrants, had been part of the discussion.  It was not a convocation of wisdom and intense cognition.  It was more the booze talking, and the party paying too much attention to what it said.  Jaxur, when he learned what had transpired, was so amused that he almost cried from laughing.  He was thoroughly convinced that his three companions were about to give up drinking, and maybe even taverns, because he could see the end of this fiasco, from the beginning.  Whoever Hugo was, he was probably not someone who would merge into the complex personalities of the three adventurers who Jaxur led around.  The Lizard knew that he was the stabilizing influence in the party, but he also knew that any mage they added would take months of looking, just to find one who could stand them, and they could stand.  Tole, Amerynthia and Selly were not 'mage types'.  Jaxur, in his long life, had known at least one he liked, but he'd never known a Mage who would fit in this group.  Mages tended to think first and act later.  This group was often through acting before they even knew what it was they intended to do.  “Can't swim till you're in the water,” was a phrase Jaxur had heard too many times.
    The story had just gotten complicated.  The trio, with Jaxur, were back in  Pelandar, capital city of Kahler, to check on the status of an artifact they had turned in last year.  That and to turn in the item they had recently contracted to retrieve, a small but ornate, brass monkey. The monkey had been heavily guarded, and the giant white apes, who kept it undisturbed, were not thrilled when they found it gone.  The fact that they never saw the three adventurers was a condition which had been agreed upon before the thing was taken.  They also agreed not to discuss the statue, in public or private, even after they turned it in.  Those apes were half the size of olephants, and about as mean as long-toothed lions.
    Since they had something to turn in, the group went to 'the office' first thing.  They were all three hoping, in secret, that the clerks who ran the establishment where they contracted, would have reason to exclude Hugo from employment.  This was not the case, and they got a decent reward for the monkey.  Glad as they were to have that monkey off their backs, now they had to face the offices of government.  Anyone who's ever been to a government office knows how they look.  Sparse, almost lean, with furnishings that beggar the term adequate, and often some plants that look like they're war veterans who barely made it.
   The three of them were simply 'checking in' to see if anything had come of the Chest they had brought to be investigated, back when Tole met Amerynthia and Selly.  Tole, even though he'd seen much of the world as a soldier, had never met another of the Spring children.  Said to have a dryad mother, and perhaps a human father, spring children are green, live incredibly long lives, rarely mate or bear offspring, and have some odd abilities, like the strength of an enraged ogre.  Selly almost never used her strength, because it made her cross, and irritable. Amerynthia was a true Mountain Elf, complete with innate magic and more than casual skill with a bow and sword.  Her vision was acute, and the match for any creature of nature.  Her hearing was phenomenal, and often made Tole embarrass himself, since he cared romantically for both of his companions.  The two women considered him to be a pet, in some ways, and a friend in others.  Since he was human, they made allowances for him, and shared him like a favorite shirt, or shoes.  The Chest, however, was another matter.
    While they were up country, in Libris, Amerynthia had taken a half day to visit the library, one said to be especially well-stocked.  She found reference to Aphraxis, and his chest, although it was called the Chest of Aphraxis, in a strange sense.  The syntax seemed to suggest that the chests was full of Aphraxis, like he was, instead of a being, some sort of material, that could fill a chest.  It made no sense, at the time, and so the three of them decided to visit the Library in Pelandar, which was scheduled to be complete by this time.  It was finished, but not fully cataloged .  Much of the literature, scrolls and whatnot, was simply there, in a general order, but not separate and searchable.  Learning that they had to wait a week for an appointment to learn if they had to wait on the Chest or not, the Quartet decided to spend it in research.  Jaxur had learned that the place he had stayed before was now a combination stable and Inn. This meant they could all stay just down from the library, and he could have the luxury accommodations that he remembered from his last time here.
   Research at the library turned out to be actual fun, for the trio, and their new Mage as well.  The mage quickly got lost in the vast amount of cataloged information, and the rest got paid for sorting through the vast amount of un-separated manuscripts, scrolls, tomes, librams, books and other writings, which had been dumped off by various military, and civilian, agents.  Search and sort isn't the greatest joy you can have, but there were assorted small creatures, of the dangerous sort, in the library hodgepodge  which was full of tchotchkes, some even having value.  Since anything found, that was not proper content for a library, was to either be discarded, turned in, or disposed of in whatever manner the sorters chose, it was fun.  Kill the creatures, and get a small reward.  Sort through a huge amount of paperwork, and get a small reward, or find something while sorting that WAS a small reward.  If you kept busy you could get three or four small rewards a day.  In a week this had added up to about forty-five small rewards for the group, and enough disturbing information to make them all want to relocate, forever.  Hugo alone voted for taking the Chest back, when, and if, it were found to be innocuous, as Hugo seemed to feel would be the case.  He was excited that it might come back into their possession.  Amerynthia was not, because the meaning of the earlier tome she had perused was now crystal clear.  The Chest of Aphraxis was not a possession of the God, it was his prison.  The information that Tole had located simply concerned Aphraxis, the God who broke creation.  He was supposed to have been responsible for the end of the rule of the high Gods, and the beginning of the current age.  He was imprisoned by the remainder of the Gods, who retained power, so that they could keep order in the heavens, and mankind would not be able to run wild and unwatched over the world  The Gods felt that mankind would be destructive without their guidance, but, to Tole's mind, the Gods hadn't done much to curb mankind's destructive tendencies, and had shown a few of their own.  Selly had come upon a set of illustrations, with description, that were supposed to depict the actual destruction of the Elder Gods, and the resultant chaos on the world.  Not pictures for the faint hearted, in any sense.  The Chest of Aphraxis was dangerous, not only because it might come open, but because there were probably hundreds of fanatics who would stop at nothing to get it.  To have a Chest full of God in your possession was something that powerful and fanatic people wanted, and that the average person would just as soon avoid.  Selly and the group were average people, and very much hoped that avoidance proved possible, if not easy.
    Hugo had found much more information on the Chest, which he finally shared, seeing no other way to convince his new companions.  The man had far too much skill with words, and passed along this information to the rest of the group.
    “What I've discovered,” he  began, “ Is that the records of Aphraxis were written by his enemies, and don't agree at all.   One historian records that Aphraxis killed the Elder Gods, and was imprisoned as punishment, another says the imprisonment was to prevent him killing the rest of the Gods, and leaving mankind without leadership.  Then there's the account of the imprisonment.  His two brothers, seeing him at work on improving the world of man, crept up on him and shut him away, because he was too powerful to kill.  I also found Selly's  illustrations to be informative, if you can stand to examine them.  They all depict Gods, but Gods who are killing one another.  The only plate which contains Aphraxis is one that shows him ending the conflict, not participating in it.
    “What we can learn from this,” he went on, “ Is that Aphraxis was too powerful to be killed, wanted to improve the world of man, was taken by the treachery of his two brothers, and ended the celestial conflict. Which he may, or may not, have had a part in. Sims's Son, Homer, tells us that Aphraxis had two brothers, who slew everyone they found to oppose them, as rulers, after the Elder Gods were destroyed.  This might mean that Aphraxis was the good guy in this story and is the only God left who actually cares about us mortals.  We have an obligation to release him, if we can, if for no other reason than that he protected us in the wars among the Gods, and might do so again.  I myself could do with a little insulation from their various conflicts and quarrels.”
    The council of war that ensued, was one of comparing every scrap of evidence that they could find to the theory proposed by Hugo.  It was decided that he was probably right, <insert expletive of your choice> and thus, if they failed to release Aphraxis, the party would share in whatever guilt arose from  the events which did transpire.  Whatever was going to happen when the Chest became available, was probably bad.  They figured that letting the angry God out couldn't be that much worse.

...

    The payment for the Monkey retrieval was enough to make the stay comfortable, and the appointment was not slow, for a change, in coming.  It began with an  interview, making sure that they were the people involved, and then Hugo had to be added, a process that took most of the day.  That done, they went to the Inn, and then to see Jaxur, to catch him up on what was going on.  When they got to the section of the Inn where he had a 'room', they were surprised to find him not alone in his room.  The female lizard person who was visiting turned out to be from the swamps of Delacamp, which proved to be the homeland of Jaxur.  Even Tole hadn't known where the Lizard called 'home', because it was not something he ever mentioned, or revealed.  Selly was so excited to meet another of the species, that she and the new lady monopolized the conversation.  After they had learned that the lizard woman's name was Fluzy, a common name they were assured, the conversation turned to the day's events.  It seemed that Jaxur had already shared that they were concerned about 'a chest' even though he left it nameless, it soon became apparent that Fluzy knew almost as much about what was going on as they did.
   “ Anyway,” Tory finally said to Jaxur, “Tomorrow we'll know, one way or the other, just what's to become of the thing.”
   “I agree that we have to open it, if that be possible,” Jaxur affirmed, “Because, like you lot, I couldn't live with the guilt of not doing it.”
   “ What do you see, either way, with your spring people's second sight?” Fluzy asked Selly.
   The ensuing silence was so thick you could have sliced it for dessert.  It seemed that Selly hadn't mentioned that ability, of her race, and had either never used it, or had kept silent about what she saw. Finally, after a pause, she spoke, quietly, and calmly, which was unusual for her.
   “The gift, such as it is, is far from reliable, and I almost never use it, with my present companions.  They have a way of rewriting the future at almost every moment, so any prediction I could make would probably be wrong anyway.”
    “ But surely you can see something now,” Fluzy told her, “ And I would think that anything you've seen would be a help.”
    “Not so much as you might think,” Selly answered her, “ Because there doesn't seem to be all that much choice involved, at the moment. Just the usual live or die thing, which seems to be a part of our day to day lives, for the past few years.”
    “You might have mentioned that,” Amerynthia spoke, “ After almost six years of adventuring together, I should think you might have said something about having precognition.”
    “ Maybe it works better if she doesn't tell anyone what she's seen,” Tole put in, always looking for the best in his companions.
    “Like I said before,” Selly answered, “ With our group, since we never do the expected thing, the predictive flashes I have almost never work out.  We just seem to operate outside the normal flow of events.”
   “That can be a good thing,” Hugo spoke up, “Since the normal flow usually involves death for the group, being outside of it may actually increase our chances of seeing the next day.”
    “It has so far,” Selly agreed, “ That incident we had with the Hags should have killed us, at least four times.  It was only because they were tired and had been too long in the sun, that we survived.”
    “So if we hadn't just robbed them and run,” Amerynthia said, and paused.
    “We could have never killed them in their lair,” Selly came back, “ That's why I went along with Tole's plan so quickly, because it was the only chance we had to survive.”
    “ I think a word to the wise would have been a good thing,” Tole put in.
    “If any of us were wise,” Selly responded, “ We'd have another line of work altogether.  Like mercenaries, or sell-swords, or even military contractors.”
    “Where's the fun in that?” Hugo asked, “ It's my assessment that this group runs on danger and excitement, almost as if it were fuel for life itself.”
    “Be that as it may,” Jaxur put in, “ I myself am more than curious as to what Selly can 'see' concerning this chest.”
    “First, I need to explain about the 'sight'.  Selly answered her friend, “ It isn't some sort of prophecy, or even a supernatural prediction.  It's a sort of vision of the events that are in motion.  It's as if everything happens, and I can see along a line of several possible outcomes.  The future is always changing, but at the same time, there's a line for everything.  If I don't see what's coming, it's because someone, or something, acted in a way that opened a path to an alternate future.  One I hadn't seen because the path wasn't there earlier.”
    “Then, given what we know, and what we usually do,” Amerynthia remarked, “What does the future hold?”
    “Well,” Selly took a breath, “ We either get the chest, and open it, or we don't manage to get it open, or we don't get it because of the raiders, or we get it and are killed before we even get it to a place where we can look at it carefully, or we're killed in the war.”

    “ What war, exactly?,” Tole asked, I hadn't heard anything about one starting, anywhere nearby.”
    “ If the chest is opened,” Selly explained, “Then Aphraxis becomes the supreme God of the Heavens, and the followers of Evil rise up against his program of righteousness and peace.  That causes a war across all of Tellarum, the whole world fights.
    “ If however,” she went on, “ The chest is not opened, it will come into the possession of the Priests of the two brothers, who will try to keep it from the forces who wish to open it, notably the Druids, Nature spirits, and the followers of the Earth mother.  When they clash, the forces of Evil see an opening, and the war begins, just as if the Chest had been opened, but without Aphraxis to support the forces of good.   If raiders from Blough come and take the Chest, because their masters want to see if they can harness the power of the imprisoned God, then a war starts between Blough and Kahler.  That leads to us being drafted into the special branch and we don't survive long, because the war escalates just as if the chest had been opened, but in this case, it may or may not remain closed. That's too far into the future to see.”
    “So,” Tory decided, “If.. and this is a big if,,,, we get the chest, we take it, run for our lives, and try to find a safe place to open it.  Then, once it's open, we let Aphraxis take over the combat thing and we go to the caraway isles for a long vacation.”
    “See what I mean?” Selly shot back, “That's a whole new future, and we live over that one.”
    “ Any plan that involves living,” Amerynthia announced, “Is one I approve.”
    “I can be of service there,” Hugo remarked, “ I can make the whole party invisible, while we escape to somewhere that is secure enough to examine the Chest.”
    “Where could we go?” Selly put in, “They'll be priests and dark sorcery looking for the Chest, practically everywhere in the world.”
    “They won't look in the ruins of Sabras Gar,” Fluzy said, “ I played there, as a child, and it has places that are invisible to magic.  I hid from my Uncle there, when he was in his cups and looking for a little girl to play with. Not even the county mage could pierce the veil of magical detritus that the war of the Gods had left there.”
    “You realize that you'd be going with us,” Amerynthia told Fluzy, “Into almost certain death.”
    “From what Selly says,” Fluzy answered, “There'll be more than enough death to go around, wherever I go.  At least this way they'll be six of us, and that'll increase our odds of survival.”
    “Can't argue with that logic,” Selly put in, “ The more in our party the greater our chances that at least one makes it out alive.”
    “Don't really like that scenario, but it beats just being dead, at the hands of Blough Raiders.” Hugo remarked.
    “I'll agree to this, under one condition,” Tole said, seeing a way out, “ Fluzy carries Hugo, Just as Jaxur carries me.”  He figured that would get rid of both of them, in a single swipe.
    “You mean I can leave the mill?” Fluzy said, “I help pull the mill wheel, nine hours a day, for less than this room costs a day, as a weekly salary.”
    “ A lizard person for a mount?” Hugo looked as if he'd won the lottery, “ Lady Fluzy, if you would consent to carry me, I'd be so honored.  I'll promise to do all in my power to defend you.”
    “And we could be a couple, just like normal people,” Jaxur added.  “We could even talk as we traveled.”
    “And,” Fluzy added, clearly excited, “We'll be going into swampy country, just like home.”
    “I haven't been to a real swamp,”Jaxur said with a kind of smile, “Since I left home back before the war of succession when Blough split from the old Kingdom.”
    “That was two hundred years,” Selly remarked, “You're older than I thought.”
    “I'm younger than Amerynthia,” Jaxur answered, “ And Longer-lived.”
    “I give up,” Tole said, “lets all find a place to sleep, we've got to face the bureaucracy tomorrow.”

...

    Morning crept in, and tried not to wake anyone, but Tole had left a wake up call at the desk.  When the knock came at the door, and the creature beyond it croaked, “This is your wake up call,,, You only get one, so grab your socks!” or something similar, Tole nuzzled Selly and Amerynthia awake and announced that they needed to get ready.
   “We need to get there early, so we can wait in a chair, instead of standing around,.” he remarked, “Besides I want to be inside in case the raiders decide to strike this morning.”
    “Cheerful thought,” Amerynthia shot back, “Before breakfast.”
    “If we want to beat the attack,” Selly broke in, “We better eat as we go.”
    “Better and better,” Amerynthia muttered, but she got dressed quickly.
    As they descended the stairs, the maid told them that their 'friends' were already outside.  Grabbing some bread wrapped meat from the counter, and a 'go' drink for each, the trio went outside,  carrying packs for travel.  The horses, both lizard people, and Hugo were out front waiting.
    “Magicians get up early,” Hugo explained, “To ready magic for the day.”
    He came and woke us at first light,” Jaxur said, “ Seems he wanted to practice riding Fluzy, before we got on the road”.
    “She doesn't have a bit and bridle,” Selly remarked, “That'll be noticed.”
    “ I'll look more the mage,” Hugo announced, “If I can ride 'hands free'.  I'll say it's to free me for casting spells while mounted.  That should silence the talk.”
    “Besides,” Fluzy confided, “He can barely stay on with both hands on the pommel.”
    “Well, then,” Tole yawned, “If we're all ready?”
    The party moved off, down the street, eating  but not talking, each lost in his or her own thoughts.  This did not apply to Hugo and Fluzy, who were discussing the possibility of taking a pack animal along, to carry extra supplies.  Tole moved Jaxur in between Selly and Amerynthia, so that he could talk to the three of them quietly, without alerting the two new 'members' of the party.  Selly thought about his idea, and Amerynthia even made a suggestion, which prompted Selly to speak,
    “That's outside the current line of probability,” she told her friends, “And it has a whole new range of futures.  It's something I'd never considered, probably because it involves no small portion of insanity.”
    “Crazy got me out of the Service,” Tole confessed, “It's my only real skill.”
    Hugo must have thought that his companions had lost the plan entirely, when they stopped behind the mill to harvest a bag of weeds each.  Not only that, they moved as quickly as they could and went down the city road with all possible haste.  It was as if they had stolen something valuable, and were trying not to get caught.
    “What's in the bag,” Hugo asked Selly, never figuring she might actually tell him. She thought, and said, “ Loco Weed, the kind with the yellow flowers.”
    “ What?,, how?,,, That's illegal!” he finally said.
    “Tole spotted some on a merchant's animal,” she confessed, “ And figured out, from the rest of his load, that it must've come from around the mill. Once we figured that out, and knew what we were looking for, finding it was easy.  I just hope no one saw us take it.”
    “I slipped in an illusion of road workers filling a pothole, as cover,” Hugo said, “Nobody'll be suspicious, unless they check the plants.”
    “They'll blame it on the merchant,” Selly said, in response, “That's OK, he was a dick anyway.”
    “Are we really going to ride up to the courthouse, carrying this stuff?” Hugo wanted to know?.
    “Nah”, Selly answered, “ Tole has a plan”.
    The group rode on to the courthouse area, and circled, until they found what was practically a herd of horses, tied in front of two watering troughs.  That they were raider's mounts was easy to tell, from the barding, and weapons, they carried.  The scars didn't hurt either.  Using the excuse of watering their mounts, the party moved up to the troughs, and then away.  The horses drank first, and then after a pause the Lizards moved up to the water. That they didn't actually drink was hard to spot, and no one was watching.  With their bags empty, the group went down the  courthouse area, to a place where they could tie the horses.  The Lizards were not tied, but again, it was hard to tell.
   “Can you make those horses, yonder, thirsty?” Tole asked Hugo, indicating the raiders mounts, “not terribly dry, just enough so's they'll drink?”
    “Already working on it,” Hugo answered, “Aaannnd,,,,, that should be just about enough.  They'll all be drinking in a few minutes.”
    “You don't chant, much, when you cast,” Amerynthia noted.
    “I use the magic of hand gestures, most of the time,” Hugo confessed, “Its quicker, more silent and almost as versatile as any other method.  Of course for the big stuff, I still use components, incantations, and all the rest.”
    “I'll have to learn some of that hand-to-hand magic from you,” Amerynthia remarked, “ In return, I'll teach you some of the forest stuff, we Elves use.”
    “ You're on,” Hugo answered, while they filed into the building.
    Amerynthia, the titular head of the group, went to the registrar's desk, talked a moment, signed the register, and then led them outside.  Hugo was surprised, but not much, he'd already figured out that business as usual, for this group, was anything but 'usual'.
    “We're going to wait outside,” She announced, perhaps a bit too loudly, “There's a long cue.”
    “ That figures,” Tory answered her, from several feet away, “ There always is, at these places.”
    Selly watched the door-guard, until her 'sight' told her it was safe to relax.  She casually walked to a nearby shade tree, where she leaned, comfortably, on the trunk.
    “Come on over guys,” She called, “The sun's gonna be killer in a little while.”
    “ Without hurrying, the others went to join her, Tory last.
    “ How long till the action starts?” he wondered aloud.
    “ About seventeen minutes,” Selly responded, as if the question weren't rhetorical, “ Give or take thirty seconds.”
    “ No doubt?” Amerynthia asked.
    “ Things get more certain,” Selly responded, “The closer they are.”
    “Nothing for it but to wait, then.” said Hugo.
     In about, oh, seventeen minutes and ten seconds, when the Chest was brought to where the raiders could detect it, a brouhaha erupted within the building.  Shouts, sounds of steel on steel, lots of yelling and some screaming.  The raiders, and Selly too, for that matter, were unaware that the duty of watching the archives was a kind of reward, given for excellence in battle.  A vacation, as it were, from the stress of constant battle.  The guards at this building were all competent combat veterans, who had either earned medals, or had at least been put in for them.  The raiders suffered losses at a much higher level than they had expected.  Because of this, they grabbed the chest, scurried for the horses nearest the building. Those were the ones who had been drinking, well, like desert horses at a watering trough.   They had the chest, so they strapped it to a saddle, one of the raiders taking the reins, to lead the horse as they escaped.  They all mounted and started off into the street.  A cat ran across the road, and every horse screamed and panicked.  They lept into the air, dumped their riders, and generally went batshit crazy.  The riders tried to find a place to land, when they were thrown, since no one can stay on a crazy horse after it's drunk water laced with loco weed.  The spell, cast by Hugo, that made them see a dragon, instead of a cat, may have helped, but who knows.  All the group knew was that the Chest fell to the ground, and they took it, riding off to the ruins of Sabras Gar.  Fluzy carried it, with Hugo hanging on with both hands.  The strapping on the box made staying mounted easier.

The End. {of part two}

The Ruin of an Archmage

Riding all day and half the night, sleeping till dawn, and riding some more.  The horses and lizards were exhausted, and the riders even more tired.  A copse of trees appears, beside the road.  A camouflage tent is raised among the branches and hidden by illusion.  What are these intrepid adventurers fleeing, and why do they hide so completely?
    “ I don't see anyone catching us”, Selly announced, using her second sight, “At least not this side of the ruins.”
    “ I'd rather err on the side of caution,” Tole began,
    “ Than bleed on the side of the road,” Amerynthia finished for him, “ Yeah, I know, and oddly enough, this time I agree.  Those Raiders will never forget what happened, and somebody's bound to have seen us, riding away with the Chest.”
    “All anyone saw,” Hugo put in, “Would be a column of Knights in formation, riding away to the North.”
    “ That wouldn't last a day, “ Selly came back, “ At the first town, someone would tell them that no column of Knights rode through.”
    “If they got around to asking,” Hugo argued, “ Those raiders seldom ask questions, and aren't likely to believe the answers, until it becomes apparent that the answer has to be right.”
   “So two days, and another day and a half to get across to our trail,” Tole remarked, “ unless they use that locating spell first.”.
    “That spell may be simple enough, if you're a skilled Elvin caster,” Hugo said, “ But trust me, it takes some genuine skill to cast and read the location, if you're not.”
    Amerynthia was pleased with the complement, albeit slightly left-handed.  Selly was happy with the answer and the Lizard people were content.  Only Tole had an itch, and he spoke up.
   “What if they aren't the only ones after this thing?” he remarked, “How long can we expect to be unmolested, if it's as much of a treasure, and thing of power, as it seem?”
    “We should make the ruins tomorrow,” Hugo spoke, “And not even a God could find us there, unless they come in person, looking.”
    “The beauty is,” Amerynthia put in, “ That we've not left a trail, and no one knows even where to start looking.  If some other agency seeks the Chest, then tomorrow their trace to follow will vanish,  and they'll be stuck trying to figure out where we went.”
    “What if they check the register, see your name, and connect everything to us?” Selly asked.
    “If they check the register,” Amerynthia replied, “Then they'll spend their time looking for Baba Yagi, and her marvelous hut.”
    “And if they find her?” Tole asked.
    “They'll be so busy running for their lives, that they won't be able to spare time to look for us.” Amerynthia assured them.
    Morning came, as mornings often do, without any real upset.  They packed the tent, cleaned up the area, buried the ashes of their fire, and rode away.  By midday they were at the Ruins.
    “ I was expecting the ruins of a town, or fortress,” Hugo said, “Not the ruin of a vast city”.
    “ Most folk don't know about Sabras Gar”, Selly remarked, “It's where the Last Elder God stopped the war, and put an end to the other Elders trying to wipe out mankind.”
    “Why, then, is a ruin?” Hugo asked her.
     “ Because his brothers killed him, and took over ruling the world, even though they were 'lesser Gods'.” she answered.
    “Selly?” Tole and Amerynthia both said, and then Amerynthia continued, “ Why did you not mention this story before? Did it not occur to you that it might have something to do with our chest?”
    “Don't see how that could be,” Selly answered, “ The only similar thing is the two brothers, and that's different because the God in the Chest ain't dead.  Also nobody said that this Aphraxis was an Elder God, nor that he stopped anything.”
    “I suppose I can understand,” Tole finally said, “When you look at the differences instead of the similarities,,, not that there are any,,, now that I think about it.   It's just that there was only one war among the Gods, and one Survivor, or last killed, and the two brothers of that God are the only Two Brother Gods that we know,,,, I just kind of feel like you might have brought up the story of the ruins, before we brought back what might be the God to whom they belong....”
    “What is it you always say?” Amerynthia asked him, “What cannot be cured, must be endured?  Well, welcome to our only chance.”
    Selly showed the group where there was a vast cathedral, pressed into the side of a mountain until only the front and one wall were visible.  It was remarkably undamaged, and Hugo, together with Amerynthia, certified that it simply wasn't there, to magical detection.  When they had taken the chest inside the place, Amerynthia cast for it, and proclaimed it was 'gone from the earth' so far as magic could tell.  This thrilled her, and Hugo, to no end.
    The group unloaded, and made a sort of camp, with the horses finding a bit of graze.  It was not desolate, just abandoned, this ancient ruin.  It looked as if the owner had simply walked away and left it.  Tole sought out his oldest, and dearest friend, Jaxur, the Lizard person who pretended to be his mount.
    “Now what?” Jaxur asked Tole, “You've gotten us here, and we've hidden the Chest, so it can't be found.  Are we going to leave it, or try to open it?”
    “I'm for just saying good-bye, if we can.” Tole confessed, “This whole thing has gotten way out of hand, and that from me, the world's most noted screw-up.”
    “We'll have to sound out the others, “ Jaxur agreed, “But being scarce from this place is far from a bad idea.”
    “We'll have to find a place to put the Chest,” said Fluzy, checking her skin for parasites. “Somewhere that is hard to find, and not subject to being easily accessed.” Fluzy was proving to be as wise as Jaxur.  Maybe it was a trait, among Lizard people.
    “Is there somewhere like that in this temple?” Amerynthia asked Selly.
    “Not in the Temple,” Selly admitted, “But there's kind of a building that's immune to magic, but it,, well, let me show you.”
     The group went out of the Temple, leaving the Chest under a Tarp, in the corner.  Since even the grateful dead were still, in this place, they figured that no one would bother it.  Selly led them across an open area, which might have been a graveyard thousands of years ago, to a fallen construction, with an open door.  It was still enough of a building to allow one to name it. It was a mausoleum, and not an empty one.
    “Down this way, at the back part,” Selly called to them, “ there's a place that looks as if something had been removed, and taken out the back.”
    “Tole, do you see what I see?” Amerynthia asked.
    “ I most fervently hope not,” Tole answered, “Because I see the original resting place of our Chest.”
    “Most assuredly,” Amerynthia returned, “ This is where Aphraxis was buried, probably when his Brothers claimed he was dead.  Then they must've come back and moved the Chest to where we found it, and buried it with God-like traps.”
    “Why bury a chest that only a God can open?” Tole asked the universe.
    “Because, they only had the one chest, that would hold their brother, and there must, somewhere, be a key to it.” Hugo answered him.
    “Sweet merciful hock on a rock!” Tory cursed, “That means we can open it, which means we'll have to.”
    “ I thought we'd already decided that.” Fluzy said, “ So why the upset?”
    “ I had just about convinced myself that it was impossible,” Tole said, “and then Mr Genius here Hugo the bubble buster, has to figure out that we can open it with the key.”
    “At least we don't have the key,” said Amerynthia, and don't know where it is.”
    Hugo was turning in a slow circle, with his hands outstretched.  He walked, with purpose, toward a wall that was still partly standing.  When he reached it, he ran his hands over the surface, finally coming to a stop on the face of an ornate carved panel.  Pressing gently on the panel, he opened it.  Inside were a collection of keys, some very ancient, and some older. As Hugo's hands passed over them, one stood out from the rest. He took it, almost reverently, and put it in his robe.
    “That's the one,” he announced, “Now let's go get that chest open.”
    “Mizmarvuls naughty bits!” Tory exclaimed, “How in the Northeast corner of Hell did he do that?”
    “ He's an Archmage,” Amerynthia said, “There's no other explanation possible.”
    “Pretty much,” Hugo admitted, “But nobody ever asked me what kind of a spell-caster I happened to be.”
    “Well, Mr Archmage,” Tole said, with menace, “I hope you don't think you're going to open that chest with the Key you just found.”
    “Don't be silly,” Hugo replied, “ I'm not about to free the last Elder God from his prison. He's probably really pissed off, and I don't want to be the first thing he sees.”
    As it turned out, they had to draw straws, and Tole lost.  He asked for two out of three, but then figured he might as well avoid the waste of time.  Short straws were magnetically attracted to his hand.  He just took the key and told everyone else to get clear.  Then he put the key in the lock, and turned it.
   “ Quat?, Evekle ig dost?” came a voice, and then a man stood in the Chest, “ Veegle ipso ergot manst?
    “Uh, I know you can't understand me sir,” Tole said, uncertainly, “But your brothers put you in that box, a long time ago, so they could take over.”
    After a moment, the standing man frowned, looked thoughtful, and then began to laugh.  He laughed until finally he had to get out of the chest, close the lid, and sit on it, still laughing and wiping his eyes.  He finally had a fit of coughing, got his breath back and spoke.
    “ Thanks for letting me out,” he began, “Even though time doesn't pass in that thing, I can imagine being really bored, by now. I owe you, big time.”
   “You are Aphraxis, right?” Tole returned, “The last of the Elder Gods?”
    “Wow!” The man replied, “ Talk about being remembered as more than you were...”  then he paused.
    “Yes,” he agreed, “ My name is Aphraxis, “Insofar as being one of the Elder Gods,  well,,,, I'm the last of the ruling Elders, since the war, so maybe the translators got it wrong.  How long has it been?”
    “Our calendars don't go back that far,” Tole admitted, “But thousands of years, anyway.”
    “My brothers are probably dead, then,” Aphraxis said, “ We're long lived, but they were really into decadence and substance abuse.  I doubt they're still active.”
    “They've got a bushel barrel of priests,” Tole said, “Who claim they're up in the celestial Kingdom, running the world.”
    “Figures they would opt for 'God' status,” Aphraxis acknowledged, “ What with all the perks, and women, and people bowing and scraping, and praying to them.  Just the sort of thing they would have loved.”
    “Aren't you upset?” Tole said, without thinking, as usual.
    “Not at you,” Aphraxis said easily, “ I may get seriously barbaric with the two of them, but you let me out.  You're my new best friend.  Now tell me, how did this come about?”
    Tole took the next twenty minutes telling how he had gotten to where he was, with the Chest, his lizard Jaxur, his companions Selly and Amerynthia, and Fluzy and even Hugo, although he was still angry with the Archmage for lying to him. Aphraxis listened not only to Tole's words, but to his thoughts as well, and discovered how much he cared for his companions.  The lizard Fluzy and the Archmage, not so much.  He realized quickly that he would have to deal with the Archmage.  He got up, and, with Tole in tow, began to circle the building they were in.
    “Not much left here,” he announced, “Let's go outside.”
    “Don't know if that's a good idea, sir,” Tole said, “Magic can't detect you inside here,  but if we go out...”
    “No worries,” Aphraxis said, with a smile, “Nobody can see me, using magic, unless it suits me for it to be so.  I think, in fact, that I'll just include you and your companions in that.  That way nobody can even look for me, unless I choose to allow it.”
     Shortly thereafter, Aphraxis met the group.  With the exception of Hugo, the group was pleasantly surprised.  They had expected an angry God, or at least a superbeing, who was cheesed off at the universe.  What they got was a guy who seemed to genuinely find them interesting, and was a delight to know.  Hugo was mildly terrified, because his magical training allowed him to recognize the full scope of the being before him.  As they toured the ruins, Aphraxis found a moment alone with the Archmage.
    “ I know what you see when you look at me,” Aphraxis told him, “ And I'll admit that I'm all that and more.  I'm also ancient, and learned, and have a graduate degree in being powerful.  All of that aside, three genuinely good people, and a lizard, have risked all that they are, or ever could be, not to mention their lives and fortunes, just to free me, even though they were pretty sure I'd kill practically everyone, in a fit of righteous anger.  Those people are now my friends.  If you must persist in thinking of me as 'Godlike', then just take a moment to consider that these people, and the lizards, have a Godlike friend, who thinks the world of them.  That should modify any plans you may have been making.”
    Hugo began to realize that everything he had set up, from the fight in the Inn to this moment, was a total waste of time and effort.  He wasn't going to become powerful, or be the servant of a God, or even  get a ton of magic knowledge and experience.  In fact, if he didn't watch himself, he was probably going to regret getting involved with these people in the first place.
   “Oh well,” he thought, “I knew it was a gamble when I decided to do it.  The trick will be to get out with a whole skin, and functioning memory.”
    Hugo began casting about for some trace of magic, something ancient that might make his trip profitable after all.  He didn't expect to find a buried building, but there it was. Completely covered with earth and as magic as anything he'd ever seen or read about.  Hugo had a flash of not only intelligence but wisdom.  It amounted to an epiphany and caused him to completely change his thinking.  He realized that what they had set free was a being whose whole life had been destroyed, by his two brothers, out of what was probably envy and greed.  Then he felt a sudden empathy, and could almost feel the loss and sorrow that must be going through Aphraxis, at this very moment.  In an act the surprised himself, and the group, and even Aphraxis, Hugo told the near-God, about the building he had found.
    “I'm touched,” Aphraxis, remarked, “For the second time today someone has thought of me, and tried to help me, in whatever small way they could.  I really don't know what to say.”
     Everyone assured Aphraxis that anything they could do would be done, because they all understood how much had been taken from him, and how much it had to hurt.  All anyone wanted was to find some way to comfort him, and maybe make things just a tiny bit better.  No one wanted to add any sadness or pain to what he had to be feeling already.
    In all the time he had existed, and it was a long time, even without the time spent in the Chest, Aphraxis had been faced with companions who were after anything they could get, often at his expense.  Even his own brothers had conspired to take his life, for the riches and power they thought he had.  Never, not even one time, had he seen people who tried to do what was right, even when it meant they gained nothing.  The change in Hugo, which was largely due to the example of his new friends, was not lost on Aphraxis.  He saw, in these few people, something worth cultivating in the whole of Humankind, and in that moment, decided that he would make it his mission to allow this empathy and compassion to flourish in all the world.  He would stand as a beacon of understanding and hope, so that people could learn to get along.  From experience, he knew it would take centuries, but then, he had centuries, and the power to protect the fledgling few who would take up his cause.  Who would have ever considered that the adventurers Tole, Selly and Amerynthia, together with a couple of Lizards and an Archmage, would have saved the world and everyone in it.  But they did.
    Aphraxis abandoned his plans to use the earth as a weapon to destroy his brothers, simply making a new one afterward, and starting over.  He knew how to create a world, but now he was going to create a society.  Something that, so far as he knew, had never even been attempted before.  He hoped his new-found companions could be persuaded to join him in his efforts, because he was going to need all the help he could get. Insofar as what to do about his brothers, he was going to see what ideas his companions had, before he made any commitments.  “Out of the mouth of babes, cometh wisdom”, he once said.  He began by raising the control shed to an above ground location.  He did this by making it seem that there were ancient controls that made it possible.  Only Hugo realized that he had simply done it, and the controls were for the benefit of the mortals.  When the control room was up, and had been checked for function, Aphraxis broke the news to everyone.
    “I'm stuck,” he said quietly, “ I know I can't let my brothers get away with what they did, but I just don't know what to do to punish them.”
    “ First,” Jaxur said, make sure they're still alive.  Then find out what they've been doing for the past few thousand years.”
    “Then,” Selly said simply, “Ruin it for them.”
    “Vengeance is a dish best served cold,” Tole remarked, “Don't act in anger, you'll make mistakes.”
    “You're not even alive, so far as they know,” Amerynthia said, “ The best revenge is for them not to know your responsible, until it's done and too late to cry.”
    “None of you has suggested killing, or even warfare,” Aphraxis marveled, “ and yet you have to know that a war will be inevitable, my brothers will stand for no less.  They will ravage the earth just  because they know it will injure my heart.”
    “Give them their war then,” Hugo suggested, “ but not with you.  There's been bad blood between the Dark Lord and the Brothers for over a thousand years.  Let them finally go at it, tooth and nail. Then you can step in, as you did before, and save everyone.  Only this time you'll have friends you can depend on.”
    “I don't know what to say,” Aphraxis was genuinely moved, “I don't want a war, but I see no way to avoid one.  If, as you say, these two factions could be made to fight, then perhaps my brothers would be unable to prevent my taking power in what you call the celestial realm.”
    “They have almost constant skirmishes as it is,” Tole affirmed, “ and fighting over the Chest, especially if neither had it, would be a perfect revenge.  I'm certain that the priests of the two brothers would win, eventually, and take the chest.  Then your brothers would learn it was empty, and wonder where you'd gone.”
    “Not for long they wouldn't,” Aphraxis said, “While they were busy marshaling forces, and attending to the death of their cousin, I'll be busy resetting the codes and getting ready to take control. By the time they figure out that the Chest is empty, I'll be running everything, in the background. Then, when they try to search for me, the equipment won't function for them, and they'll know I've already beaten them.  All they can do then is beg for mercy, or run away.”
    “Where can you run, that a God cannot find you?”Amerynthia queried.
    “Or at least know where you went?” Selly added.
    “There are ways of leaving the world entirely, and my brothers know of them.” Aphraxis said, “ If they choose to run to another place, beyond the stars, I shall let them go, but without the sunstone.”
   “Sunstone?”, queried Jaxur and Fluzy, almost in one voice, “Is that the same sunstone that is kept in the Great temple of Nature, beyond the Wash and even the Great Swamp?”
    “That's where it once was,” said Aphraxis, “When my Aunt lived and maintained it.  She was an elder Goddess, but concerned herself more with the workings of life and the living, than power and the rulership of men and Gods.”
    “Nature is yet in her temple,” said Jaxur, “ She still rules and we are her children.”
    “I'll  give her a call,” Aphraxis said, “and see who picks up.”
    “ Hold off on that,” Hugo said suddenly, “You aren't alive yet, and you don't want to take any chances with someone finding out that you are.”
    “Wisdom from an Archmage,” Aphraxis marveled, “Who would have believed it?”

-Friends of An Angry God-

        To begin with, and this could only be seen as a beginning, there needed to be a war between the "Brothers", and the Dark Lord.  This would require something that Tole never did,, planning.  The group was at a loss, but thankfully they had a God on there side who knew just what to do.
     "What needs to happen is for the chest and key to fall into the hands of the Brotherhood," Aphraxis told them, "but separately, so that they won't be able to open it.  The group with the key, needs to fall into the hands of the Raiders, so that they will try to get the chest for themselves."
    "And just how are we going to accomplish such a feat?" Hugo was quick to ask, fearing the worst.
    "Well, I was thinking," Aphraxis said, "You could put a shield on the chest, once I've closed it, so that the Brotherhood would find it, with great difficulty, and come for it.  Then, since the raiders are already looking for you, they could track the brotherhood.  The main group of the Brotherhood would take the chest, and leave, but a smaller force would be assigned to look around for the key, which they'll find, but not before the raiders find them."
    "Lots could go wrong with that," Fluzy remarked.
    "Actually nothing appears," Selly put in, "It's as if all the alternate possibilities are being held in abeyance, allowing only the one timeline to exist."
    "It's good to be a God," Hugo remarked.
    "Then we have nothing to do but wait," Amerynthia said.
    "Well, maybe just a few things," Aphraxis noted.
    First they had to move the chest, open, outside of the building in which it was ensconced.  Open it weighed as much as a small wagon, and did not like to slide.  It took the mounts, the people, and a block and tackle to get it into the desired location, where Aphraxis could close and lock it, without leaving a trace.  Then Hugo and the others had to work together to cast the appropriate spell to hide it.  Hugo had not been untruthful when he said that 'the big stuff' required components, incantations, and much besides.  It took hours, and when it was done, the chest was surrounded by an orange glow that made it scary to look at.
    "I hope you like the appearance," Hugo remarked, "The glow is mandatory, but the color is optional."
    "Scares me," Tory answered him, "And I know what it is."
    "Now we need to go to the control room, and hide," Aphraxis told them,"We do not want any of the participants to find us, they could be distraught and unruly."
    "Or angry, filled with bloodlust, and violent," Jaxur added.
    "That too," Aphraxis admitted.

     The scene played out much as Aphraxis had planned, with the Order arriving first, and locating the chest, disarming it, and finally loading it onto a wagon for transport.  Their mage, and a small force, remained behind, to search out the key, and the main party left, unaware that the raiders were close behind.  The Raiders had no idea whom they sought, but knew that there would be a mage and some others.  They found the group just after the mage found the key, and the battle would have turned the stomach of a vulture.  When it was over, a much smaller group of raiders took off with the Key, to take it to their leader for instructions.  They didn't know where the chest had gone, but rightly assumed that the key would be vital.
    "Well," Aphraxis announced, "That went well, if you don't count the battle, which was not pleasant."
    "The Raiders are always that thorough," Hugo said, "I've seen their effects before."
    "I ran into some of their work during the war," Tole remarked, "That's why we avoided then in the first place."
    The others had been privy either to tales or experiences concerning the raiders, so that Aphraxis finally had to admit that the outcome was no worse than if hadn't been there, except for his people being excluded.  He seemed to take comfort in having saved them from the conflict, and it was certain that they all did.
    "Well," Fluzy asked Jaxur, "What comes next?"
    "We'll probably have to avoid the war," Jaxur answered her, "Those things can be hazardous to your health."
    "What would you guys like to do, for the next couple of years?" Aphraxis asked his tiny group, "While it's not safe around here?"
        "I've always wanted to visit the Caraway Isles," Tole answered, "If nobody else has a plan."
      "Well," Amerynthia spoke slowly, deliberately, as if reluctant to say what she was thinking, " We really should get with the Merchant fleet and sailors guild over beyond Caphrage.  They can run an escape route for refugees, and at least help stop some of the collateral damage."
    "There was a merchant we ran into,"put in Jaxur, "Who was desperate to get rid of some Caravan wagons. He might be persuaded to assist in getting those refugees, who have to flee overland, out of the region."
    "Then I guess it's settled," Selly announced, "We'll spend the next little while getting refugees out, and then go to the Islands until Aphraxis informs us that it's safe to return."
 
      The next little while turned out to be over two years, and was filled with narrow escapes and close calls.  The little band grew into a huge organization, and then collapsed back into a little band of six, when the last of those refugees who were able to flee, had done so.  The group then set out for the islands of Caraway, but there were no ships available nearby, so they had to take an overland route to Azuria, then downriver to the ocean, where they would then hire passage to the Islands.  It was a good solid plan, but wound up with them travelling as a party of six through Delacamp, and part of the old kingdom, to reach the river at a place where they could get riverboat passage.  That trip was epic, and should have had a bounty.  Then the boat trip, with river pirates who really should have picked another target.  That battle resulted in a bounty, because the river pirates had treasure, which was split with the boat.  Finally, after a trip which would have made a fine bard's tale, they arrived at their port of call, only to learn that they would be there a month, waiting for the next ship to the Caraway Islands.  It was a month when they took adventure jobs, off the town board, just to avoid boredom and the vices attached thereunto.  Then the ship arrived, and announced that it needed two weeks in drydock, before it could even begin to get ready to return to the Islands.  So it was, that they arrived at the Caraway Islands some seven months after they departed Sabras Gar, and were just in time for the Civil War.