ftp.ee.pdx.edu/2014.02.ftp.ee.pdx.edu.tar/ftp.ee.pdx.edu/pub/frp/stories/adaz+sutekh/adaz.01

Internet Message Format | 1991-03-08 | 5KB

From [e-mail] Mon Sep 17 10:04:30 1990
From: [e-mail] (Jeff Stehman)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: Story:  Adaz & Sutekh (i)
Keywords: hug
Date: 12 Sep 90 16:33:46 GMT
Organization: Clemson University, Clemson, SC


    A few comments before I start.  Although I have been doing it
so far, I have decided that, from now on, those of you who want this all
at once are out of luck (unless you have a real good reason).  It was
written to be strung out in serial fashion, so that's the way you're
going to read it.  :-)  Besides, if I can make you anticipate, you'll
read it all the more generously.  If you miss any chapters, just send me
email and I'll see that you get them.  Please don't post these requests.
You can email from anywhere to anywhere if you just bother to consult
the maps.

--



                Hug


"Hello, Adaz."
    "Sutekh!" Turning, Adaz threw her arms around the dark elf,
squeezing him tight.  Although taken back, he returned her hug.
    "Did you get chased out of Greyhawk?" Sutekh inquired with a
smile.
    "Does it show?" she asked lightly, though her smile was weak.
    Shaking his head, Sutekh slipped his arm around her waist and
led her from the courtyard.  "Master Bravos isn't home, but I might be
able to convince Caleb to extend some of his hoarded hospitality to
you."

"I controlled both the River Quarter and the Strip."  Adaz sipped from
her glass, letting the cool liquid roll over her tongue.  The
high-backed chair was comfortable and the fire she was seated before
drove off the chill of the night.  For the first time in several days
she began to relax.  "In one night a few dozen murderers undid what
took me six years to build."  Her surroundings made her recent narrow
escape seem distant.
    "Don't worry, you're safe here."  Sutekh was also seated
before the fire, enjoying some after-dinner wine.  "I know what it is
like to be hunted."
    She smiled at his words.  "It took a lot of digging, but I
came up with some stories about you.  You have an interesting
reputation among those in Greyhawk who remember you."
    "I don't doubt that," he said with a chuckle.
    Adaz turned her gaze from the glass of wine in her hand to
Sutekh.  He was staring into the fire, his drowic eyes catching and
enhancing its glow while his ebony skin seemed to absorb the
firelight.  "It seems I have fallen in love with a demon," she thought
with a sigh.  Frustrated love was the reason she had taken on
Greyhawk's guild of thieves; she had needed an outlet for her
energies.  Controlling the guild was impossible for her now and she
had fled the city to the only friend she had.  Now, as she watched
Sutekh, she realized that she had also come here to try once again to
win his love.  She knew he cared for her; Adaz had been told by others
that Sutekh suffered from a depression that her presence chased away.
However, Sutekh had some foolish notion that, for him, love could only
lead to tragedy.
    "But then, you don't know how stubborn I am," Adaz thought
outloud.
    "What?"
    "Ah, it would probably be a good idea for me to get farther
away from Greyhawk.  Planning on doing any traveling soon?"
    "As a matter of fact, I was to leave in the morning.  If you
wish to come along I can hold up for a few days and let you rest."
    "Where are you going?"
    "South and west.  A mountain tower due west of Celene."
    "South and west?  Directly away from Greyhawk."  She smiled
and took another sip of wine.  "I will be ready in the morning."  Then
a thought struck her, "Sutekh, Celene is a land of elves."
    He grinned and held his glass high.  "Watch."
    Adaz looked at the glass of wine sparkling in the firelight.
Her keen ears caught the whisper of magic--and the glass was held in a
fair hand.  It was lowered and swirled to release its bouquet, a fair
Sutekh inhaling the aroma.  Adaz laughed as Sutekh shook his white,
shoulder-length hair, making it golden with another word.  Smiling,
Sutekh raised his glass to her and drained it.
    "Why not go around like that all the time?" Adaz inquired.
"You would avoid a lot of problems."
    "I don't like to; if folks don't like me because of my race,
that's their problem.  However, this is a business trip and I won't
have time for hassles.  This disguise will get me past casual
inspection, as long as they don't notice that there is no variation to
my skin tone.  Simple apprentice tricks do have their little
drawbacks."
    They sat in silence for a while, then Sutekh spoke.  "You
realize that there won't be much civilization on this journey."
Before meeting Sutekh, Adaz had lived most of her life in the
Pomarjian city of Stoneheim.  Since then she had lived in Greyhawk.
Their trek between the two cities was both her only extended
experience with sparsely populated areas and the longest time she had
ever spent with Sutekh.
    "Sutekh, I've had all the civilization I care for.  Just get
me out of here."
    "Very well.  I need to finish preparations, then I'll be
retiring early.  Sleep well."
    "Good night."  Adaz stayed a long time, staring into the
flames.


                            Jeff Stehman