Destine

Chapter 58: Rest and Relaxation

Calling out from the autodoc, Dafnord suggests that we send a message to the Heronesse and Elyssian embassies, telling them that we are on our way to discuss "matters of mutual concern." Nick thinks that this is an excellent idea, so we draft a pair of letters, address them to the ambassadors and hail a passing bearded serving wench to ask for the concierge's help with posting our letters.

Moments later, a dwarf appears to accept the missives. Handing them over, Robbie assumes that the transaction is complete, until the dwarf coughs and asks, "Will you be providing anything to help them on their way, Sir?" Life is so much easier when you don't have to send physical copies. As he is handing over an appropriate tip, Dafnord's voice husks from the bag on the floor, "And wait for a reply!" That doubles the tip.

The dwarf coughs once more and asks, "Beggin' your pardon, Sir. But did you forget to seal the letters?" Robbie sighs and puts an ectoplastic seal on both. Then dwarf then bows and departs.

Flagging down another dwarf, Robbie inquires after the sage who healed Dafnord, Kate and Daphne yesterday. Unfortunately he and his assistants left early in the morning. After a bit of thought, the dwarf suggests that he might be able to provide a healer for the fay in the party, and runs off.

Towards the end of breakfast, just as Daphne is mopping up the last of the chocolate sauce with a bit of strawberry, there's a knock at the door. Robbie opens it to find a tall, slender woman in a green and cream dress with blond hair with a distinctly greenish tinge. She has a small cloth bag looped over her arm. "I'm told that you have need of a healer?"

Robbie shows her to Daphne, Kate and Dafnord. After examining Kate, she pokes through her bag, then takes out a red flower, a blue one, and then a few leaves of assorted types. She grinds these up, adds a little wine and makes a dainty bandage, which she places, on Kate's wound. She orders Kate to "Lie down and lie still," then places her hand over the wound. After a bit, her hand gets quite warm, but not painful. This continues for about 5 minutes. After removing her hand, the healer tells Kate, "You'll just have to lie still for half an hour. Afterwards you can have a meal with fresh fruit and pastry and lots to drink. But no high spirits!"

She then turns to Daphne, who explains that her wings aren't working right. The healer examines her, and announces that her left middle wing has been severely wrenched and proceeds to give Daphne a massage. When she finishes, she tells the pixie, "Now don't try to fly for at least half a day. Preferably a full day." Daphne promises not to, but complains that her tummy still hurts. The healer takes out several berries and several types of leaves, grinds them up and then mixes the resultant mash with some wine. She pours the mixture into a small glass which she garnishes with a raspberry and admonishes Daphne, "Now drink all of this. Don't leave any of the dregs." Once the glass is empty, the healer places her hand on Daphne's head for two minutes. To Daphne, that seems like almost forever, but she does feel better.

Finally, the healer turns to Dafnord. It's not clear whether she's intrigued or repulsed by the autodoc, which he's still in. He climbs out, but she can't do much for him, other than to make three poultices to help with the pain, and to recommend simple foods and fruits. Dafnord replies, "Bananas?" "Yes, those are fruits." "Good. I like bananas." You can take the Acro out of the forest...

With that the healer leaves, promising to be back tomorrow.

We pass a quiet day, resting and healing.

Bored, Brunalf goes for a walk, followed by Markel and Corien. The birds that look simply delicious fascinate Brunalf. He climbs into one of the trees and is just about to grab one, when they fly away. The squirrels scold him and throw nuts. Eventually, he comes home without catching anything.

And so a day passes.

In the morning, the healer returns to renew the poultices and heal the fay some more. Daphne presents her with a pendant she carved announcing her as a pixie friend. The healer is clearly pleased. However, she refuses payment when Robbie offers it to her, saying that it should be given to the Dwarves, who'd appreciate the gold.

At noon, a reply arrives from the Elyssian embassy. "We would be pleased to receive you at the embassy of Elyssia. We will send a guide. He should arrive 1-2 days behind this letter."

We spend another quiet day, resting and healing. Nick bids us ado and heads to Elvencrown to get on with the details of founding the embassy of Lanthil.

Once more, Brunalf gets bored and goes for a walk in the woods. As he ambles along, he notices that there is some rope lying on the ground. In fact he's stepping on a piece of it. Examining the rope more carefully, he realizes that it's a trap. And as soon as he steps off the rope, that bent over tree over there'll haul him into the air.

Anchoring the rope with his TK, Brunalf carefully steps out of the trap, then lets it spring. It flies into the air, and a number of squirrels run around and chitter. One throws a nut at him, which hits. Reaching out with his TK, Brunalf pulls the squirrel down and starts playing with it in a very catty fashion. Suddenly, he looks up to find a small person dressed all in brown with dark wrinkled skin looking at him and tsk'ing. Before he can react, the brownie throws a weighted net over the startled cat. As Markel and Corien charge in, the brownie gently gathers up the wounded squirrel and then runs off into the woods.

Markel gathers up the captured kitty. Ignoring Brunalf's yowls to be let loose, he returns to our rooms with the net slung over his shoulder.

And so another day passes.

In the morning, the healer returns again. Daphne is pretty much healed, but Kate can still use her help. After the healer leaves, Daphne, Corien and Robbie fly out to a ridge a mile or so from the inn. Robbie is looking for interesting crystals to give the dwarves for their help. Daphne is looking for flint to make arrows. She firmly believes that since Corien is a rock, he should have an affinity for rocks and should be able to find flint for her. There's no arguing with logic like that. Corien manages to morph his nails into arrow heads, but either doesn't understand what the pixie is asking for or can't detect any flint.

Meanwhile, back at the inn, just after lunch is served, there's a knock at the door. More than filling our doorway is a large man who introduces himself as Callias. He's been sent to guide us to the Elyssian embassy. Dafnord generously offers him lunch, since there's much more than we can consume. As he eats, Callias explains that the ambassador's name is Attalias, but we should refer to him as "Sir" and "Your honor" to show proper respect for his position. He goes on to explain that positions at the embassy rotate among the staff. Back home they rotate every 100 years or so, though it's difficult to keep track of time here.