The Ballad of Adler Young, Canto 2.5

>Adler: Watch in horror as the cloud of vapour starts to enter the city proper.
>Adler: Furiously rack your brains to try to think of a solution to stop it. But the sounds of slaughter and the realization that you may have caused this (however unintentionally) keep distracting you.

Adler: When was the last time you ate maybe now would be a good time to fill your stomach, you sit down and wait what is that sound
The enraged horde: The smell of food coming from the tower is even more overpowering than the plague of battles, rush forward and begin beating down the door in righteous rage to get to the precious meal.
Adler: Say Adler your current situation is really similar to all those zombie apocalypse movies, well good luck buddy. well good luck buddy

>Adler: Wait a very, VERY long time for something to happen. Make an inanimate object friend to talk to to stay sane.

Adler, discover that there appears to be some form of powerful magic surrounding the tower that prevents you from pooking away.
Try waiting out the Plague instead.
During the long days, possibly weeks of solitude in the tower, start hallucinating various aspects of your personality, appearing as the forms you took during your (mis)adventures, recaping the events leading up to your current predicament.

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>Adler: Perhaps the situation can be salvaged?
>Wasn't there a secret door
>open the door

"I've got to get out of here," I groaned.

"Outside yon door is nothing but death," the Ixies scolded me. "We will be obliged to stop thee if thou tryest to throw thy life away recklessly."

"What about that one?" I asked, pointing to the archway that led out to the lowfolk world.

"Tis worth a try," the Ixies shrugged.

I ran into the tunnel and emerged in the circle of ancient stones deep in the lowfolk forest.

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I approached the standing stones and felt myself stopped by an invisible barrier just inside the circle.

"This doesn't make sense," I opined. "If it is Edessa's curse, why would it allow me to come all the way out here but then prevent me from leaving the circle?"

"Among the lowfolk, this stone circle is known as Albric Tor," an Ixie explained. "Mayhap, for the purposes of thy doom, it is considered part of the city's environs."

After making a complete circuit of the stone ring and finding no gap in the invisible wall, I sighed and trudged back into the tunnel. I climbed the spiral stairs onto the porch and looked sadly out across the blanket of sluggish green fog enshrouding the battlefield. The sounds of conflict had become quieter - more feeble and sporadic.

Couldn't you use Gramayre to command the winds to contain the plague of battle cloud ?

"I think I might be able to Gramarye up some wind to blow this cloud away," I theorized.

"Art thou certain it would not swirl up here?" an Ixie asked.

I wasn't certain.

I climbed back down the stairs and out into the stone circle, where I practiced conjuring breezes for a while.

Once I had settled on the best technique, I returned to the tower porch. It was almost completely silent now, except for an occasional clang which might have been a blow of weapon against armor, or it may have just been something falling over.

I carefully worded my Gramarye and called forth a gentle zephyr to waft the noxious cloud away.

>Adler: Watch in horror as the cloud of vapour starts to enter the city proper.

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I quickly recoiled in horror as the fog rolled away to show the field strewn with mangled bodies. Wisps of evil green vapor curled up from the ground, even after the breeze had borne the heaviest cloud away.

"Didst thou mean to blow it into the city, Sire?" an Ixie asked politely.

I let out another cry of anguish as I looked up from the charnel tableau before me, to see the green fog seeping merrily through the city gates, which had been left open.

"I might be able to pook onto the wall from here," I mumbled stupidly.

"For what purpose?" the Ixie inquired. "The field is impassable and the city is contaminated. If thou missest thy pook, twill mean death. And even if thou hittest the mark, is being stranded atop the wall preferable to being stranded here?"

I stared miserably across the field, trying not to think about what might be happening inside the city now. A flock of carrion birds alighted in the field and began to pick disrespectfully at my former comrades.

0919birds.gif

Suddenly the birds attacked!

"SCATTER!" the Ixies yelled. "The Plague hath gotten to them!"

Flailing my arms in sheer panic, I fled into the scrying tower and slammed the door behind me.

>Despite where you go you can not escape the screams, sleep is impossible!
But the sounds of slaughter and the realization that you may have caused this (however unintentionally) keep distracting you.
Adler: When was the last time you ate
>Adler: Wait a very, VERY long time for something to happen.
Try waiting out the Plague

0919mopey.gif

I huddled on the floor against the base of the scrying orb, and gave way to complete despair. My bid for the Imperial crown had come to a most ignominious end. This was it. I was trapped; penned in by flocks of angry plague-ridden birds. I had no idea how long the Plague of Battles would retain its potency, but I had a feeling it would last longer than I would. I was going to die all alone in this dark, tiny room. I had no way to get food. Everybody I knew & cared about was dead, and it was my fault. If anybody remembered me, it would be as the worst, most Unseelie villain in the entire history of Faerie.

Scrying orb, get activated remotely.
Duchess, gloat at Adler through the scrying orb.
Adler, despair further.

>Come on, cheer up, Adler. Some things in life are bad, they can really make you mad, other things just make you swear and curse. When you're chewing on life's gristle, don't grumble, give a whistle, and this'll help things turn out for the best. And-

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SpoilerJoking aside, um...

>Perhaps the ixies can bring you food and water, assuming they haven't run off for good, I mean.
>Should the queen's curse really be working? She cursed you for "the crime you committed" assuming she meant the plague, which, arguably, isn't your fault.
>Honestly, what else can you do now but pray for deliverance?
>As time goes by, start to go mad from isolation and guilt. So much guilt. So very much soul crushing, sanity shattering guilt...

>ixies are fighting off the crows with lighting and fire. the crows unfortunately ignore the pain and kill a quite a few ixies before the crows are cleared from the tower and the supply line is secured.

>Percy is left behind and is not effected by the fog. it smells like rusty iron or...... rotten broccoli and brussel sprouts? the madden elves seem to ignore him as he writes down all that he witnesses in his journal

>Become the mad hermit of the tower for a decade or two. Capture unwholesome things and gramarye them to be edible. Forego personal hygiene & clothing. Be tormented by the wails of the dead in the pale moonlight. Yell dire warnings to passerby, kids on your lawn. Develop a damned spot on your hands.

(HM King Adler II) What you need to do is conserve your energy and vitality, and avoid the need for food and drink. Cast a spell of Clutched Cargo, so that you are in very limited animation, with only your mouth moving.

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(HM King Adler II) What you need to do is conserve your energy and vitality, and avoid the need for food and drink. Cast a spell of Clutched Cargo, so that you are in very limited animation, with only your mouth moving.

https://plus.google.com/u/0/118354664481...3Fgy1zXT5b

Needs more practice.

>Percy is left behind and is not effected by the fog. it smells like rusty iron or...... rotten broccoli and brussel sprouts? the madden elves seem to ignore him as he writes down all that he witnesses in his journal

I like how you think. Let's up the ante shall we?

>Percy: Become an unwitting Typhoid Mary spreading the Plague of Battles beyond the city on your random travels.
>Adler: Think of your friends...Estavan, Esmerelda (Fifi), Burnside, Ms Thomson...even Jimmy...and think of their fates. Become really really depressed.
>Adler: Try to desperately find a loophole in Edessa's curse....fail...

Lets have an intermission a side story of cute fluffy bunnies and kittens

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>Perhaps the ixies can bring you food and water, assuming they haven't run off for good
>Adler: Think of your friends...Estavan, Esmerelda (Fifi), Burnside, Ms Thomson...even Jimmy...and think of their fates. Become really really depressed.

I sat there in that chamber for I don't know how long, getting hungrier and thirstier and sadder with each hour that passed. I thought about all the friends and acquaintances and enemies I had lost. What had become of Estvan and Fifi and Burnside and Ms. Thomson? Most likely I had murdered them all in a most horrible manner.

I kept hoping that some of my Ixies might show up with provisions for me, but they never did. I could feel myself getting weaker. A slow death by privation was undoubtedly better than I deserved ...

>Honestly, what else can you do now but pray for deliverance?

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"Oh Mighty Fuma," I prayed fervently as I felt my demise coming on. "Please forgive me. I tried to do what you wanted, but it all went horribly wrong. I don't ask that you save me from this predicament, only that you welcome me into your eternal Embrace. I'm sorry for everything."

"Adler," a divine voice uttered from somewhere nearby and slightly above me. "Pull yourself together."

"F .. Fuma?" I asked

Scrying orb, get activated remotely.
Duchess, gloat
>Should the queen's curse really be working? She cursed you for "the crime you committed" assuming she meant the plague, which, arguably, isn't your fault.
HM King Adler II) What you need to do is conserve your energy and vitality, and avoid the need for food and drink.
>Adler: Try to desperately find a loophole in Edessa's curse....fail...

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"No, this is your mother."

"MOM?" I exclaimed, as I leaped to my feet and stared at the tiny image floating above the scry orb. "Where have you been? Are you all right? What have you been doing?"

"No time for small talk," she interrupted. "It is costing me quite a lot to contact you like this, and I only have a few minutes. The Duchess of Daisies is loose and things are getting bad. I've heard some stories about what happened in Albric Tor, but what's the real situation? How are you holding up"

"Everybody's dead," I said, getting choked up again. "The D-Duchess gave me a weapon called the Plague of Battles, and .. I .. accidentally used it. The Queen Edessa placed a curse on me, imprisoning me in Albric Tor as punishment for my crime."

"What crime?" my mother retorted. "It was an accident. That curse shouldn't hold you."

"Nevertheless it does. I'm actually stuck in the scrying tower because the land all around me is poisoned with the Plague."

"Are you eating properly?" she asked sternly.

"Mom, I just said I'm stuck in the tower."

"Well, can't you get your Ixies to bring you supplies? I heard you have command of a whole swarm of them."

"My Ixies fled and I've been locked in the scrying chamber because some crows pecked at the corpses and caught the Plague, and then attacked us."

"So it's true about the Ixies then. If we ever get a chance to talk again, you'll have to tell me how you managed that. What about the exit to the lowfolk world?"

"If I could get downstairs then I could get there .. but I can't leave the circle," I replied. "I already tried that."

"You should go there again," my mother recommended. "The place gets occasional visitors now, and lowfolk are easily persuadable. Remember your Wiles training. Above all, you must survive and fulfill your destiny."

"My destiny?? Mom, it's over. You just said the Duchess was loose. That means there's no more Empire. I failed."

"Faerie can be saved, and you were born to rule it," she stated firmly. "You have to survive. As long as you're alive, there is hope. Practice your magick. Read the books there in the chamber and learn how to use the tower. Find a way to escape. Find Zandar Skönk, whom you are intended to marry. Re-establish the royal lineage of Irenaeus."

"Uh," I retorted cleverly.

"I've got to go," my mother blurted suddenly with a glance over her shoulder. "Remember what I said. Get yourself out of this predicament."

And then she was gone.

I didn't really feel any less miserable, but I did seem to have a new resolve after talking to her. I guess it was nice to know that at least one elf was alive who was still friendly towards me. Also, now at least I had something to do. Books would have to wait; first I needed food.

I took a deep breath and opened the door of the scrying tower.

>ixies are fighting off the crows with lighting and fire. the crows unfortunately ignore the pain and kill a quite a few ixies

0926scamper.gif

The enraged crows spotted me right away. Were these the same ones as before, or were they new? I didn't know how long I had been moping inside, but the presence of birds and the absence of Ixies was not a good sign. I ran as fast as I could for the trap-door and dove under it before the first bird could reach me.

Was that a Gap I had glimpsed over the treetops? I was too busy fleeing for my life to take proper notice of it.

>Percy is left .. as he writes down all that he witnesses in his journal
>Become the mad hermit of the tower
cute fluffy bunnies and kittens

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I traversed the exit tunnel and poked my head out of the gate on the lowfolk side. Immediately a lowfolk stepped around one of the standing stones and pointed at me.

"Lo, Martha," he declared excitedly. "The Chanson speaks truth, for I espy some manner of forest-spirit or elf peering forth from yon barrow."

"The selfsame barrow which not ten minutes ago we ascertained to be empty?" someone whom I couldn't see inquired.

>"Lo, peasants, you have indeed seen a forest spirit and/or elf! Bring me victuals and toilet paper and you shall receive my blessing! And today's newspaper!"

>Adler: "Got any eats?"
>Lowfolks: Debate whether this freakishly pale skunk, who is in desperate need of a bath, is a benevolent forest guardian or some evil trickster goblin come to steal your shoes, unscrew all your fixtures, and befoul your hard-earned dairy.
>Lowfolk: It is customary to leave saucers of milk out for the fairfolk in order to curry their favor. Remember the story of the cobbler that left milk out for some elves and they made a bunch of shoes for him.
>Adler: Get really tired of milk really quickly. Also, keep trying to explain that you don't know how to make shoes, no matter what they've heard.

Lowfolk, start bringing Adler gifts.
Gifts, consist primarily of jars of honey, jugs of strong booze and rolls of pipeweed.

Adler, inquire about the Chanson they mentioned. Receive a copy.
Chanson, prove that Percy has apparently returned to the lowlands some years ago. Contain a lot of very disturbing information on elves, including bits that no elf would voluntarily reveal to lowfolk. Also notice that the book has a printer's mark that looks eerily familiar as well as a portrait of (a somewhat older) Percy and his Muse.
Wonder what Charmina Chubb is using Percy for, and just why is she feeding him all the sensitive info on elves...

One of the lowfolk, wave around a curious contraption made out of two metal pipes attached to a block of wood. For some reason expect Adler to be afraid of it. View Adler's indifference as a sign of Elvish power.

Adler: Take a commanding and demand the lowfolk eat dirt and prostrate themselves before your majesty.
Lowfolk: Be confused as to why the smelly hobo is ordering you around.

>adler see a familliar face, the bunny maiden is there with fifi who is wearing fake bunny ears and teeth, dressed in some low folk garbs

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>"Lo, peasants, you have indeed seen a forest spirit and/or elf! Bring me victuals and toilet paper and you shall receive my blessing!
>Adler: "Got any eats?"

I quickly ducked back into the shadow of the dolmen and concentrated on mushrooms. My heart was racing as the lowfolk approached. These creatures could be very dangerous! Hapless elves in tales from the Long Ago were constantly meeting their doom in interactions with lowfolk! I had to do this right if I was going to survive. I wish Estvan had told me more about this, since he apparently had been quite successful among the lowfolk ...

What did I know from all the old ballads I had learned from Dame Chitterleigh? Bargaining would be a mistake, for no matter how clever the elf tried to be, the lowfolk always got the better of him in the end. Demanding what I wanted would be a better option, but still they might refuse or attack me.

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I held my breath and backed against the wall as they peered into the opening.

>Lowfolks: Debate whether this freakishly pale skunk, who is in desperate need of a bath, is a benevolent forest guardian or some evil trickster goblin come to steal your shoes, unscrew all your fixtures, and befoul your hard-earned dairy.

"Gone," the male lowfolk remarked. "But it was here a moment ago. You saw it, right? There's no way out of that chamber."

"Mayhaps it turned invisible to hide from us," the female theorized. "The poor thing. If it's been living out here all alone, it must be hungry. Perhaps it wants a share of our picnic. They do like to receive gifts you know. If we're nice to it, perhaps it will grant us a wish!"

"Great. She's probably not going to have venery with me now," the male complained.

Wait a second ... he hadn't actually said that, but I heard it quite distinctly nevertheless. Was I able to read these creature's minds??

After peering curiously into the shadows and not seeing me for several more seconds, the pair of lowfolk turned and began to walk away.

Adler: Take a commanding

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I quickly elf-shot them. They'd be unconscious for a few hours; long enough for me to plunder the picnic they'd brought .. and I would not have to risk actually talking to them.

I followed the direction they had been walking, and found their picnic basket.

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It was just outside the circle, where Edessa's magickal barrier blocked my way. What cursed luck!

I stared morosely at the basket of food, just out of reach, until it occurred to me that I might be able to apport it into the circle. Should be easy, since it was a portable object, in clear view, only a few feet away.

I concentrated, composed a Gramarye, and visualized my desired result ...

And a second later, I was digging into a basket laden with cheese, carrots, grapes, cold roast chicken, and a bottle of wine.

Chanson, prove that Percy has apparently returned to the lowlands some years ago. Contain a lot of very disturbing information

1003chanson.gif

Nestled into one end of the basket was a book. The title, "Le Chanson du Percy le Gobelet" sounded vaguely familiar, so I opened it and began to read it while I ate.

As I suspected, this Percy was the same troublesome bird who had been showing up every time I visited the lowfolk world. Somehow - EALA! - he must have gotten into Faerie .. and the chronicle of his adventures was far too candid. He mentioned me in a most unflattering context. Clearly something would have to be done about this outrage!

I tucked the book into my Elfintory and finished up the last of the picnic lunch.

>Adler: You need to recruit lowfolk agents to do your bidding. Fill the picnic basket with elf-gold to establish a precedent.
>Adler: Return to the tower and start learning how the scrying orb works from the books.
>Clippy the Talking Bookmark: Activate, be annoying helpful.

>You know, if lowfolk are really so dangerous, that could be useful. Maybe lowfolk could be the key into taking back your almost-claimed empire. Dealings, schmealings, if you can put some of that renowned charisma of yours to work and make friends with them, they can help you out for no other reason than they like you. Armies cost fortunes, friends cost nothing. Hmmm... With that in mind, you probably shouldn't have shot them.

>Do you think you could do that bowly-dreamy thing Estvan showed you? Maybe influence their dreams? It would help sell the all-powerful mystical spiel if you only speak to them through dreams.

>Be completely juvenile and draw on their faces.

Adler, remember your previous encounters with lowfolk. You couldn't read the minds of Percy, the lamb or the yew-man without resorting to elf-mind, so, what changed?
Did the stone circle somehow amplify your powers? Did the massive reduction in elf population somehow concentrate all the elfness into you?
Or perhaps, are these lowfolk simply more feeble minded than the ones you've met before...

Now that you've sated your hunger, realize just what you've done. The lowfolk you've elf-shot could rationalize the theft of their basket as the work of simple bandits, but what about next time? You do something like that again and they WILL take notice. You need a plan, and you need to start implementing it before hunger forces you into another rash decision.

Notice some strange pamphlets in the basket. Be puzzled by just what they could mean.

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if you can put some of that renowned charisma of yours to work and make friends with them, they can help you out for no other reason than they like you. Armies cost fortunes, friends cost nothing. Hmmm... With that in mind, you probably shouldn't have shot them.
>Do you think you could do that bowly-dreamy thing Estvan showed you? Maybe influence their dreams?
Adler, remember your previous encounters with lowfolk. You couldn't read the minds of Percy, the lamb or the yew-man without resorting to elf-mind, so, what changed?
Did the stone circle somehow amplify your powers? Did the massive reduction in elf population somehow concentrate all the elfness into you?
Or perhaps, are these lowfolk simply more feeble minded than the ones you've met before...

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With my belly pleasantly full, I turned my attention to the two elf-shot and dreaming lowfolk. The more I thought about it, the more I began to suspect that shooting them and stealing their lunch was perhaps not the best tactic, especially if I was going to have to rely on them to bring me provisions. It was too late to undo what I had done, but perhaps I could salvage the situation. I just needed to think of a way.

If only I had a bowl and some water, I might be able to use that dream-scrying trick Estvan had taught me, to influence their dreams. But, not knowing where a bowl of water might be located made it practically impossible to apport one. Transmogrifying something else into a bowl of water could be done, if I had time to figure it out ... but these lowfolk were not going to stay down for much longer.

Thinking of ways to influence their dreams reminded me: I had been able to hear the male lowfolk's thoughts earlier. How was that possible? Every time before, I'd had to concentrate really hard to use Elfmind, yet this came effortlessly. Was the stone circle amplifying my powers? Or ... it pained me to think of it, but ... had I somehow absorbed all of the power of those countless elves I had killed outside of Albric Tor?

I focused my attention on the male lowfolk and immediately got visions of some extremely devout Mephitist daydreams he was having, involving his female companion. Maybe with the right persuasion he would believe this is what really happened - but it would require the female to play along with the same story. I concentrated on her, but all I got was a swirling bluish cloud.

That could mean two things: Either she was actually dreaming of a swirling bluish cloud, or she was somehow blocking me.

I decided not to try to plant any suggestions into their dreams, since even if they concocted the story themselves, it seemed awfully close to lying - and this was a thing that Elves do not do!

>Adler: You need to recruit lowfolk agents to do your bidding. Fill the picnic basket with elf-gold to establish a precedent.
The lowfolk you've elf-shot could rationalize the theft of their basket as the work of simple bandits, but what about next time? You do something like that again and they WILL take notice. You need a plan, and you need to start implementing it before hunger forces you into another rash decision.

I mulled over the traditional pranks which Estmere and I used to pull on the lowfolk when we were young.

I wiped a tear from my eye, as recollections of Estmere reminded me of his sad fate..

None of the pranks seemed like they would be any kind of incentive for these lowfolk to return. Plus, I didn't have any of the necessary props.

Ultimately, all I could think of was the old Elf-gold routine. I was running out of time, so I quickly gathered a few handfuls of rocks and sticks from the ground inside the circle, and Gramaryed them into gold coins, which I dumped into the picnic basket. Hopefully the lowfolk would presume that I had traded a small fortune for their picnic, and spend the gold quickly, before the spell wore off and it turned back into forest litter.

With that task done, I hurried back into the dolmen and through the Gate.

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I noticed a strange tugging at my Elfintory as I passed through.

A quick check revealed that the Percy le Gobelet book was missing! I stepped back through the Gate, and saw the book lying on the ground underneath the dolmen.

I picked it up and stepped through the Gate again, but as I passed the threshold, the book was pulled out of my hand.

Apparently this Gate was attuned in such a way that nothing from the lowfolk world could pass through it. I scratched my head in annoyance, and whispered a prayer of thanks to Fuma that the rule didn't apply to all the food I had recently eaten.

I turned my attention to the trap door at the top of the spiral stairs. Would the Plague-infected crows still be outside? Or perhaps, had the temporal discrepancy between the worlds worked in my favor? With luck, the fumes of the Plague of Battles might have dissipated, and the irritable birds be long-dead by now!

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I slithered out from under the trap door, and was immediately greeted with a chorus of angry cawing. I sprinted frantically for the door of the tower.

>Adler: Return to the tower and start learning how the scrying orb works from the books.

As I darted inside and slammed the door shut behind me, I remembered that someone (was it Estvan?) had explained to me once that the temporal shift was related to distance traveled ... so if I was confined to a very small area on either side of the Gate, there was little chance of jumping ahead in the timeline of either world.

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This meant that I had plenty of time to study the workings of this scrying tower.

>Who reads the manual? Just go straight to tinkering until something useful happens. Or explodes.
>Every channel you flip through has the "experiencing technical difficulties" message. What a rip off.
>Use the scrying tower to find your friends and companions. Maybe they're still alive. (Hopefully. Very hopefully.)
>Lowfolk: Gold? Bah! You were hoping for shoes.