Synizn Takes Care of Business

And when he was finally ready he brought Fred and Astra in. Astra was obviously suspicious and Fred felt exactly the same way (if you multiplied it by a factor of 100 that is.) As they entered the room though they became immediately aware of two things. One, Synizn seemed strangely pleased with himself. Two, something in the room smelled like it had died, been resurrected, and then brought here where it immediately died all over again.

"You two are in for quite a surprise!" Synizn grinned giddily at the pair. "I have completely changed my mind about helping. Now doesn't that just get your mouth all watery? Hmmmm?"

Astra said nothing, Fred actually frowned. The way this strange man changed from one mood to another was creepy at best. Both felt though that it was best to try to ignore that. "ARE YOU IGNORING ME!?!" Synizn suddenly screamed at them. Fred and Astra both nearly jumped out of their skins so caught off guard were they. They were now more creeped out than ever. And the smell didn't help any either.

"Why you two ungrateful whelps!" Synizn shrieked at them, his playful smile having melted away into an ugly scowl. "I could have killed the both of you at any time I wanted to! But noooooooo. I wanted to be the nice guy. I wanted to think of somebody else for a change. And what do I get? Cold stares and hostility! If I'd wanted that I'd go back up into the mountains and hang out with that mangy den of werebears out by Sutter's Still!" Synzin's face was by now red faced and puffy and he was breathing hard.

Astra tried to calm him down. Now that he'd decided to use the Crystallic to cure them she didn't want him to change his mind. "Please don't be angry with us Master Synizn! It is just that we have both been through so much and are at wit's end. We do not mean to offend you!"

"Oh that's quite all right!" Synizn responded happily, the smile back on his face and any hint of anger having simply disappeared. "I certainly wouldn't put it against either of you to feel a bit out of sorts over all this. Believe you me, I can understand where you're coming from perfectly." And then he winked. Astra just stared at the mage with disbelief. Synizn wasn't only creepy, he was nuts! Fred on the other hand just stood silently by vigorously rubbing his aching temples. Synizn was really starting to annoy him. And what the hell was that damn smell?

"And now, if the two of you wouldn't mind stepping into this mage's circle," Synizn said, his eyes sparkling oddly in the subdued light of the room. Fred and Astra did as he asked. And then, with a few waves of his hands, some shouts of arcane words and the strangulation of a good sized goat, Fred and Astra found themselves surrounded in a nimbus of white light and...

Synizn leaned back against a wine cask and wiped the sweat from his brow. Fred and Astra were gone. But, even with the power ampule and the guiding stone, he felt tired. Such magic strained his resources both physical and mental. And he still had to open up a portal for himself. Wearily he crossed the room. He shouted out a curse when he nearly tripped over the dead goat. But finally he reached what amounted to a desk and grabbed the large tankard sitting there. It was filled with Old Braynard's home brew and it was just what Synizn needed to put the strength back into his bones. He swallowed down half the cup, winced, spluttered, coughed and then burped with a contented smile.

(For those of you who don't know, Old Braynard's home brew was made from only the finest rotten potatoes and fermented cabbage to be found in the Walants countryside. It smelled horribly and so did the people who drank it, but it had one hell of a kick.)

Putting the tankard down Synizn went back to the mage circle and carefully wiped away a few of the sygils, replacing them with new ones. The portal that would open up the next time he used his magic would send him to a place completely different from where he had just sent Fred and Astra. And it was a place that no one would ever think of to look for him. Especially after what was about to happen in the city streets of Walants above him. Draining the last of Old Braynard's home brew from the tankard Synizn went off to grab another goat. It was time for him to leave.

Meanwhile, up above...

A large man on horseback came tearing down the Broadlyn Way, galloping at full speed through the main gates of Walants and then into the city itself. The gatekeepers and attendants scattered out of the way and raised angry shouts and shaking fists at the man. "Damn that Synizn!" one of the guards muttered. Although the man's cowl was pulled tightly around his face, the cloak he wore sported a golden arabesque over the shoulders. Only one man wore such a cloak and so it was that in short order nearly the entire city knew that Synizn had come back to town.

At almost the same time a bar fight broke out in the Inn of the Hanged Head.

And at nearly the same time as that a sewer rat scampered into a barn loft next to Monty's Hall of Gambling.

This was the first part of Synizn's plan to confuse, distract and all around perplex his enemies and all those who might be after the Crystallic for themselves.

The second part was what happened ten minutes later.

As "Synizn" remounted his steed and sped away from Ye Olde Alchemist's Shoppe on the corner of Auld and Broad a very angry group of people came chasing after him. But as "Synizn" galloped down Slimm avenue and up Shady street his pursuers found themselves faced with a road overflowing with bedlam. That little bar fight had turned into a full scale brawl which had by now engulfed nearly every single man, woman and child on the block. And so "Synizn" quickly escaped from his pursuers who now hastily retreated back to more friendly ground. But they knew where "Synizn" was going and they'd make damn sure they knew if he ever came back.

But what of the little rat, you ask? Well the rat scampered into the loft and ran into a hole. This tripped a wire which was tied to a weight. The weight fell down into a bucket which then tipped over spilling its water. The water spread along the dirt floor until it seeped into a gutter. In the gutter was a small pill made of Corbomite. Corbomite has the unusual property of only catching fire when water is thrown on it. The Corbomite exploded in flame. The loft soon became an inferno. And that poor little rat was burned alive.

Not that this was Synizn's intention. He has nothing against sewer rats. But he did need something that would catch people's attention. Like a very large and wild fire next to one of Walants' busiest casinos. And why did he need their attention? Because Synizn had pre-planned a little show. For as the harried townspeople fought to put out the flames they saw a strange and eerie man rushing about inside the burning barn. They screamed to him but he did not answer. It was obvious that he was looking for something. And then he shouted triumphantly and raised his hand. Some of the bystanders later swore that the man had held a glittering crystal in his hand. And then the man was gone in a poof of sorcerous smoke. It was as if he had never been there, or as if he had been nothing but an illusion.

When the nimbus of light faded away the first thing that Fred and Astra noticed was that they had not been returned to normal. Astra was still a demifox and Fred was still a fox-legged freak. The second thing they noticed was that they were in a dry and sandy canyon.

"I'm gonna kill him," Fred whispered to himself, "I'm gonna find him and I'm gonna kill him. And then I'm going to throw a party."

Astra ignored him and took a look around. The canyon wasn't very deep and a sluggishly flowing stream was nearby. The sky above looked parched and faded, as if the color had been leached from it. And the slight breeze that blew down the canyon was hot and uncomfortable. Astra suddenly cried out, "Are we back in the Calamari Desert again?!" Fred looked up at her and then shook his head, "No. The Calamari is a wasteland of drifting dunes; there are no canyons or anything like that and certainly no running water." Fred then hobbled over to the stream on his almost comical looking fox legs, bent down and cupped some water from it. But when he put it to his mouth he spit it out with force. "Salt! This water might as well be poisoned!"

The two then clambered up to the rim of the canyon and looked about. The stream was flowing from a very large lake to the north. Surrounding the whole area were more canyons and tall, rocky hills.

"I'm not sure where we are Astra," Fred said, "but the look of this place reminds me of stories of the Dead Sea. And if that is where we are, well, they don't call this place 'dead' for nothing. And that's exactly what we can look forward to if we don't find a way out of here."

"Well, there's one good thing about all this," Astra commented as she surveyed the horizon. "Oh really?" Fred said with surprise. "Yep," Astra nodded, "atleast that damn smell is gone."

1. Oh my! Whatever shall our intrepid heroes do now?

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