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Perilous Plants 1


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#1 Laufey

Posted 10 January 2005 - 06:31 PM

Perilous Plants

Chapter 1

You'll be a dentist
You have a talent for causing things pain
Son, be a dentist
People will pay you to be inhumane
Your temperament's wrong for the priesthood
And teaching would suit you still less
Son, be a dentist
You'll be a success

‘Dentist’, Little Shop of Horrors


It was a little past midnight, and the moon was only a thin crescent sliver above the treetops. Darkness covered the world, and all was still. Out in the city there were noises, revelers, drunkards, fights going on, even, on occasion, guards daring enough to intervene with those fights. But here, in this particular place, all was silent. This might easily have lead you to believe that nothing was going on, and you would have been utterly, utterly wrong.

Within the deep shadows of the room, an assassin carefully moved from one patch of deeper darkness to another. This you wouldn’t have seen. Not unless you had the heat-vision of the elves. Possibly, the assassin mused, not even then, according to those people who over the years had expressed the opinion that he had ice water rather than blood in his veins. But that was hardly important. Only one thing mattered, the mission at hand. And he had never been one to abandon a mission, especially one as crucial as this one.

Slowly, inch-by-inch, the assassin moved across the floor, carefully using a combination of sight, touch and intuition to make his way past all the lethal obstacles in his way. He had no intention whatsoever of losing a limb. At one point he froze in mid-motion, his foot in the air. Then he very carefully bent down to deal with the problem. Once that was over and done with, he went on, approaching the large bed with its soft and fluffy bolsters. Gauzy drapes surrounded it, keeping insects out, and he slowly pulled them aside. The person in the bed seemed to be slumbering deeply, breathing slowly and regularly, and was almost entirely covered by the bedclothes except for a few strands of hair. So far, so good.

The assassin took a few moments to make certain that the occupant of the bed was still sleeping deeply. Once satisfied that this was the case, he proceeded. This was the really crucial part of the mission, the one that required the utmost precision and care. Fingers that could strangle the thickest of necks, plant a dagger perfectly inside somebody’s heart, or delicately sprinkle poison into a goblet right beneath the target’s nose, now edged towards the pillow. A soft snore made them halt for a moment, but as the sleeper turned over they moved on towards their goal. And there it was, beneath the pillow. A small, hard object, just where it should be. Gently he drew it out, while at the same time replacing it with another small, hard object, this one round and shiny.

Finally, Vadrak Dekaras thought to himself as he held up the thing he had retrieved, examining it in the beam of moonlight straying through the dark window. I can’t believe one single little milk tooth could make me do a thing like this. The assassin turned to look at the bed again, a small and slightly wistful smile crossing his sharp-featured face as he watched the child sleeping in it. By now, the young Edwin Odesseiron was sprawled on his back, still snoring gently. Dark and unruly hair tumbled across the small boy’s forehead, and the way his equally dark eyelashes rested against his cheeks gave him a deceptively innocent appearance, augmented by the fact that he was silent. As he smiled in his sleep, the gap where his first lost tooth had been became visible.

He had better appreciate this, Dekaras thought. I can’t imagine how or why Elvira would come up with a ridiculous concept like a ‘tooth fairy’ that pays children for their dental losses. And of course there had never been any question of just who would get the pleasure of removing the tooth from beneath Edwin’s pillow and replace it with the decided gold coin. Not that he had offered more than a token protest or two. Awkward as this was, he had to admit to himself that it was a rare opportunity to spend some time with his child without having to keep up the pretense that daylight forced him to maintain. I suppose that is even worth nearly breaking my toe on a toy horse – even though he knows that he is supposed to pack all his toys away before he goes to bed.

Still, he couldn’t allow himself more than a few moments more. If he did, he didn’t think he’d be able to leave at all. Sighing inwardly, the assassin brushed the child’s hair aside, and then carefully planted a light kiss on the smooth forehead. Sleep well, child. As he turned to leave, he noticed something on the floor, among the rest of the scattered toys. A book. As he took a closer look at it, he noticed the title. Interesting…that is an interest we want to encourage, I think. And it would make for a nice little excursion too, peaceful and quiet. Not even Edwin should be able to cause any trouble in that place. After all, what could be more peaceful than a bunch of ancient artifacts?

The following morning young Edwin eagerly burst into the classroom at full speed, holding something triumphantly aloft. “Teacher Dekaras!” he proclaimed, waving his price about. “Look! Look what I got!”

The assassin was sitting at his desk, reading. At the sound of the boy’s voice he looked up, smiling slightly at the sight that met him. Edwin wasn’t very tall, and the only parts of him visible were a shock of tousled dark hair, a pair of excited eyes and a gap toothed grin that was bouncing up and down a little. Clearly he was too worked up to stand in one place for very long. “Look!” he repeated, holding his hand out, proudly displaying the large gold coin in it. “The tooth fairy came last night, just like Mother promised, and she turned my tooth into gold!”

“So it certainly seems,” Dekaras solemnly said. “What a wondrous thing indeed. Did you perhaps catch a glimpse of this mysterious creature?”

“No,” Edwin admitted, pouting a little. “I tried to stay awake so I could see her, but then I fell asleep anyway. But Mother told me what she’s supposed to look like!”

“Oh?”

“Yes. She’s this tiny little thing, sort of like a pixie, with butterfly wings and a lacy white dress, and she makes a tinkling noise like little silver bells whenever she moves about.” Edwin suddenly frowned. “Funny I didn’t hear that.”

“Well,” Dekaras said, his lips quirking into a crooked smile. “I dare say this particular tooth fairy probably left her bells at home. Most likely the lace as well. I must remember to consult with your mother on the subject whenever the opportunity presents itself. And what are you intending to buy with your prize?”

Edwin pondered this for a few seconds. “Well,” he said, “I’d like one of those Miniature Monster Wands, but Mother won’t get me one until my next birthday, and one gold won’t be enough to buy one, so I thought I’d buy candy instead. You always say that too much candy make people’s teeth fall out so I thought that if I ate enough the tooth fairy would pay me enough for a wand…”

The boy fell silent as his teacher shook his head. “I think not,” Dekaras told him. “You see, I happen to know a thing or two about tooth fairies, and I rather suspect that this one would be very upset with you if you lost all of your teeth. Besides, you would be flooding the market, and most likely you’d wind up with only a copper each.”

“Oh,” Edwin said, a little disappointedly. “What if I spread them out over a few days?”

“No. No cheating. An angry tooth fairy is not a pretty sight, you know.”

“What should I buy then?”

“Whatever you want, of course. Just don’t let me catch you trying to remove your teeth before their time, or the tooth fairy won’t be the only one to be upset with you. Now take your seat. We have a few things to go over today, such as your homework on Illusion spells, which I trust you did manage to do despite your dentally increased fortune?”

“Er…” Edwin said, fidgeting. He had a sudden feeling that he wouldn’t need to remove his teeth in order to be in trouble.

Fortunately for Edwin’s sake, he did manage to remember most of his homework, and Dekaras seemed satisfied enough with the result. The homework in question had been centered around the types of illusions that focused on the caster, from the most minor of Mirror Image spells up to the full Simulacrum, that could act independently of the wizard and cast the same spells he could. I’d like to be able to do that, Edwin thought. Just think of all the things we could do! “Teacher Dekaras?” he asked. “Suppose a Simulacrum casts another Simulacrum, and then that one casts another, and another, and another…how many could you get?”

“An interesting question,” the assassin said, looking pleased. “It would depend on how skilled the original wizard was. A Simulacrum doesn’t have quite the casting capability of the original, as we went over earlier, and a Simulacrum of a Simulacrum would have yet a little less. Eventually you would reach a point where the copy no longer was able to replicate the spell.”

“Could it do everything else that I could do?”

“Most things, yes. It is one of the more substantial illusions. Why do you ask?”

“Well…I just thought that each one would have as many teeth as I do, and maybe the Tooth Fairy wouldn’t be able to tell…”

“Ah,” Dekaras said, leaning his head in his hand. “Back to the strict monetary motivation, are we? While I appreciate the investigative cut and thrust of a keen young mind, I should warn you that even if you somehow managed to extricate the teeth of your unfortunate copies, they would disappear once the Simulacrum spells ended, leaving the Tooth Fairy with a negative budget balance, and most probably in a bad mood. Now, if we can please leave the subject of teeth for just a little while, I have a surprise for you.”

Edwin instantly perked up, forgetting his disappointment over the failed financial scheme. “You do? What is it?”

“You’ll see once we get there. It is, as I said, a surprise. And one involving no teeth whatsoever, I’m happy to say. Come on now. We are going for a walk.”

A little while later, Edwin was happily walking along the streets of Pyarados, holding his tutor by the hand. Watching carefully, he attempted to emulate the assassin’s way of walking, which could best be described as a gliding stalk, much like a hunting panther. However, due to Edwin having much shorter legs, his own efforts ended up more like skipping, and not at all as dignified or impressive as he had hoped. “Teacher Dekaras?” he asked. “Won’t you please tell me where we’re going?”

The assassin thought about this for a moment. “Very well,” he said. “I thought that it might be a good idea to further stimulate your newfound interest in ancient artifacts, and the history of Netheril. So, we are going to the Pyrados Museum for the rest of the day. They’ve just opened a new exhibition that I think you will find to your interest.”

Another person might have felt surprised at this point. However, Edwin was of the firm opinion that his teacher knew everything there was to know in the world, and especially if it concerned Edwin himself, so it came as no great surprise that he would know this as well. “Wow!” he exclaimed. “That is so great! I’ve got this book on the magic of Netheril, did you know that? I’ve read it all, and I remember everything. Did you know that they had these really neat flying cities, only once the magic failed they all fell down, just like that? And they had these really powerful spells too, only stupid Mystra decided human wizards couldn’t have them any more…” He pouted a little at this, but his face soon brightened again. “But when I grow up I’m going to rediscover them all, and learn to use them, and I’ll be the most powerful wizard in the whole world, and I’ll have a pet dragon of my own, and an enchanted castle with a moat filled with Aboleths, and I’ll have a library so big you’ll need a map for it, and unicorns in the garden, no, maybe Nightmares, because they’re way more scary, and you’ll get to come live with me too of course, and I’ll have cookies for dinner every day, and lots of concubines…”

Edwin paused to draw breath here, and then noticed that his teacher was giving him a penetrating look. “Concubines?” Dekaras asked in a flat voice.

“Yes,” the boy nodded. Then he frowned. “Only I’m not exactly sure what they are…the book where I read the word didn’t explain it. I thought it might be some kind of chocolate…”

“Not exactly,” the assassin said, his face expressionless. “Or at least not commonly.”

“What are they, then?”

“Briefly summarized, attractive ladies who are especially good at keeping you company.”

“Yeeeewww!” Edwin said, sticking his tongue out in disgust. “Why would I want a lot of girls around?”

“That you will come to understand on your own once you’re ready for it, boy, and by that time I dare say there’ll be an entirely different set of questions you wish to ask. But never mind that now. We are almost there.”

The Pyarados Museum was a large and impressive building, with a dome-like roof surrounded by spiraling towers. A vast expanse of marble steps led up to the huge bronze doors, the entire architecture seemed design to impress people with the fact that this was an Important Building. The stairs seemed practically endless, and Edwin stared despairingly at them. “Don’t worry,” Dekaras said, noticing what he was looking at. “Since you haven’t quite acquired the ability to levitate yourself yet, I’ll be happy to lend you a hand.”

“I can do it on my own!” Edwin protested. “I’m not a baby!”

“Of course you’re not. But it would be a shame to have you exhausted even before we reach the exhibits, don’t you think? Now come here.”

Edwin didn’t protest further, and allowed his teacher to pick him up and place him on his back. It did make sense. “Teacher Dekaras?” he said, his arms firmly wrapped around the assassin’s neck.

“Yes?”

“Would you mind going a little faster? Only I’m pretending you’re my noble steer, you see, and I’d like to canter?”

There were a few seconds of silence as Dekaras digested this, though he did increase his pace a bit. “The word,” he eventually said, “that I believe you meant to use, is ‘steed’. Or at least I certainly hope so. Being a horse is bad enough; I’d rather not be something that’s bred to be beef. Not to mention neutered.”

“Oh. Sorry.”

“That’s all right. But don’t even think about braiding my mane…hair.”
Rogues do it from behind.




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