Now that we have your attention!

Cuthbert

After we'd bound the arms of Belboz (to prevent spell casting) and gagging him (and shoving some kind of potion down his throat), Synizn 2 is thumbing through this odd Red Book when the necromancer groans and wakes up....

Myself, have come across a few . . . disturbing things here and there in this room. Things that I have enough good sense to not even think about touching, much less playing with. There had been a rather pleasant smell of spiced beef coming from a rack of four vials in a corner (re: 7164), but I'm not only not hungry but not STUPID.

Yes, it might just be a convenient way for a mage to have a meal (cut down on dish washing), but then again that's no gaurantee that the contents of the vial is edible. Could well turn a person into a newt for all I know, thanks!

On the off chance we can somehow win this belligerent mage over to our side, I had already taken the liberty of finding what I could of the teeth Joan had knocked out of him. The mages have placed a small stasis spell, keeping the fragments from drying out. If we do win the mage over, then don't you think it would be so very nice to fix his broken dental work?

....

I could say something slightly sarcastic about that, but I shall not. I am not a mage but a Gunslinger. However, I do know that whatever Belboz had cast upon us (though it failed) had most likely not been beneficial. Would have felt I'd been well in my rights to shoot him dead.

Of course, I'd probably would have to then track down the magical recepticle his soul had fled to after his body's death and destroy that as well if I was do the job properly....

...

Hm, one thing that they never taught the cadre of Apprentice Gunslingers which I belong was having to deal with an enemy who could do that! Some type of mystical learning went into our teaching, but this!....

On a slightly different note, I see that that blood red leather tome that Synizn 2 has drawn his attention. A quick glance down (not like I could easily look over his shoulder, being that he stands all of three feet tall) I see a diagram of four dancers, one of which looks . . . rather familiar.

"I do believe we have a pretty good clue at least where Hannah ended up," Synizn says softly.

Synizn 2

Yes, a very good idea indeed if this red tome wasn't just a red herring.

Given what had happened to our now rather short but beautiful dryad (or whatever, would need to examine her closely to make a final determination on that), I am very sure that this old man at my feet will be soon after her. After her to retrieve her from this Stryker.

However, it remains to be seen if we should let him, for the love of God! It depends on what kind of relationship this particular Belboz has with the now transformed Hannah (if that's what she's calling herself now . . . have worries that she might not remember anything before her transfiguration. No real reason, but Heaven knows just what else that Demon did to her before she got teleported away)! If Hanna was nothing more than a pawn and slave, then it would behoove us to . . . remedy that situation. In a most final matter (cannot tolerate slavers)! If it happens to be that this particular Belboz was suffering from a similar degernative mental affliction like the Belboz Cuthbert fought back upon Midworld (re: 19288), it'd be. . . bad. Uh, if that's the case, well, then something again needs to be done. That Belboz, before stopped, had been a powerful mage with shifting delusional beliefs . . . a dangerous situation indeed! But . . . there always is the chance that this Belboz and Hannah had a good, beneficial relationship. He did appear rather upset (like a distraught father, almost)....

Well, there is a rather easy way to find out! Will show him, ultimately, whether he's a potential useful ally . . . or obstacle. In the end it's up to Artizza (our party leader), but....

Ask him! The truth potion I force fed him will make it impossible for him to lie. That blow that knocked him out put him in a defenseless spot. Not even a flicker of effort to resist, Joan's staff had really rocked his world!!

....

Sigh, that's the bad thing about my line of work. The danger. I as a demifox am swift and light on my feet. Hard to hit. Fear that Belboz here had skimped on the art of melee defense. Perhaps overly dependant on magical means of defense. That or he had REALLY been shocked flatfooted by whatever his spell failed to do to us!

"He's not suffering from any mental conditions," Exotica pronounces, finishing up her last battery of examination spells. She's VERY good at that....

....

Yes, I'm a dotting husband, but she IS!

Time for the question.

What is Hannah to you? I send to the spell befuddled necromancer. What relationship do you have with her?

Well, he responds, blinking owlishly. Originally there had been this one meddling knight named....

Well, let's just say that the tale thatl ol' Belboz spills, which is shared through a shared telepathic conference by Synizn 2, nearly gets his ticket punched!

....but after a while I found I . . .She was just so cute! Belboz finished up. I kept on putting off fobbing her off to some thick hick peasants well away from here. Finally took in in as my niece for real . . . .She's-she's my . . child. I've got to get her back because it's . . . important. Need her help to finish off my business with my "friend" the Dragon.

Let's just say that mental alterations against one's will (which are now well nigh too late to undo by something like 21 years) doesn't sit well with the Champions!

However, cooler heads prevailed when something that Belboz had mentioned in passing that seemed to imply there was (at least in his eyes) more than justified such radical actions.

So Artizza, clamping down on her first three impulses (most involving knives and boiling oil) asks.

"What is she supposed to do with you with your Dragon?" she asks, softly but deadly. "What is this thing with the Dragon?"

However, it's not the necromancer who answers, but rather the Dragon himself (via a magic mirror that had activated just a few seconds ago.

The Dragon, who'd had a hand in thing in helping that Demon find out that last victim by suggesting Hannah, was tired of waiting for Belboz to contact him. Tired of waiting for Belboz to forgo his damnable pride and BEG him for help. He'd predicted that Belboz, in need of quick allies with sufficient power and mobility, would tap him.

Joke was on Belboz. He'd been aware from the very beginning of his transfiguration from that weakling human Paladin/Emperor of the Great Kingdom what Belboz had planned. Plans that involved "curing" him of his condition. Returning him to human.

No thanks, the Paladin was gone. Evolved and enlightened into him, the Dragon. He was well aware of the weakling and fool the current bloodline of kings was weakening the Great Kingdom. Eventually would lead to it's destruction which Belboz, utlimately a patriot, wanted to prevent. Belboz reasoned that the "great and wise" human man the Dragon had been would be able to take the throne (with the Necromancer's and Hannah's aid after "curing" the Dragon of the "blood curse").

No. Rather liked the free and easy lifestyle he had as a dragon. Human problems were beneath him. Trivial to him now.

The good man had been seduced by the dragon, and now was gone. Only the evil dragon remained.

As a way of totally divorcing himself from his frail human past, he'd concocted a likely cover story of his origins (which, of course, paid honors to his monstrous ego, so flattering it was). Belboz had uncovered his true origins, but mistook his cover story as . . . being some kind of delusion brought on by his wonderful blood "curse".

Yes, by a LARGE margin he'd eclipsed the original, weakling Dragon of the Southern Caverns. One means to his grand power and majesty was using a fool who'd be against him, turning him instead to a useful tool and ally.

Belboz had thought that his false alliance had fooled him, the Dragon. Instead, he'd been playing Belboz false. However, by now with that pretty little trollop that Belboz had made from that foolish knight, Belboz's usefulness was at an end. The Dragon, with his Demon ally, had struck first. The creature that Hannah was now....?

Oh, she had a certain magic, but.... Not the threat she'd been before, as a human necromancer.

Was a delicious jest and jab at Belboz. He'd planned at revealing his betrayal to the old fool, crushing him.

Had, in a rush to get it over with and see the look on Belboz's face, blurted out the truth . . . only finally noticing the others standing around Belboz (who did have that look the Dragon had wanted to inflict).

But these strangers could be . . . a problem.

Best to attend to this problem, now.... He had the minions to spend, you know for just this kind of annoyance. Past time to sweep away Belboz. So what if some more get caught in cleanup?

Oh well, they were nothing to him!

Meanwhile, the now three foot tall, lyrically beautiful naked maiden is dancing in Stryke's courtyard. She feels a stirring within her confused heart for those other dancers around her. A faint feeeling of. . . love? A feeling, due to her nature, is growing by the moment... The small nymph, who had been, years before, been a young male knight named Fred, only a few moments ago had been a mightly sorceress named Hannah (and now is a new being who she feels . . . confused). Her past was . . . a blur! Vague and foggy. If only she could stop this blasted dancing (which . . . is beginning to really make her feel . . . uh. . . good).

Instinctively, she cries out for help to her sylvan sister, the green haired nymph just opposite to her.

1. What happened to me?! the green haired being named who'd been named Fred, hears within her mind...

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