The Marraketh Connection - "Repercussions, Etc." By Technician Brynhild, VRDET R&D Segment 9 of ? "The fiercest agonies have shortest reign; And after dreams of horror, comes again The welcome morning with its rays of peace." - William Cullen Bryant, "Mutation" "What is done cannot be now amended; Men shall deal unadvisedly sometimes, Which after-hours give leisure to repent." - William Shakespeare, _Richard III_, act IV, scene 4 *** "" The druid attendant nodded and scurried off to find one. Finally, I had a little time to myself, even if it was only for a second. Physically, I had realized, I was fine. Non-prescription painkillers, a decent meal, and several hours of decent sleep had worked wonders. The pain had shrunk down to the state of being vaguely like a mild hangover. The difference between the two, of course, is that a hangover at least means that you were having some fun the night before. On the other hand, this pain had been thoroughly unearned, and it was really just a symptom of something much worse. The attendant came back into the room, wheeling a large framed mirror on a stand. "," I said, and dismissed the attendant for the time being. The mirror was left by the wall, and I looked at myself in it ... and realized that I had been right all along. *Damn, I hate being right about stuff like this.* All the signs were there: the significant height reduction, which explained my perspective change; the essentially endomorphic features; and the fur on my feet. None of this was helping my mood. "God damn, that Lyran had a bizarre sense of humor," I muttered to myself. "Why else would she turn me into a bloody _hobbit_?" The attendant stared; I realized that he didn't understand English. "" He nodded hurriedly and left, sensing my basic discontent with the world. I found a nice, shadowy corner and began my sulking in earnest. Sulking is a rather involved activity for me; I didn't think about much else while I was doing it. After several eternities sulking (actual real-world time: about 10 minutes), someone knocked at the door. I stood up. "" "It's Kendren. May I come in?" "Go right ahead. You interrupted my sulking anyway." The door opened, and he entered. "Um, hello. I just wanted to talk to you about this and other things for a while... if I haven't already said so, I'm so sorry about what has... happened to you while you've been here. I should have been more careful... it was..." He trailed off. "Listen, don't kick yourself in the head over this." He gave me an odd look. "Earth figure of speech. All it means is that you don't have to blame yourself for it; you did all you could. It was really my... my... " I couldn't bear to say "fault". Kendren sighed. "Never mind that. All that matters is that it happened - and that there is something we can do about it. Something, in fact, that we have already done. Let me explain. "While you were unconscious, we began working on a way to reverse the... what is it... Lyran's spell. It was harder to unravel than we thought it would be, though, so what we managed to do will take an unknown amount of time to work. We estimate between a day and a week, though we don't know for sure. If the worst does happen, it may not work at all. We have faith it will, though. She wasn't able to completely cast the spell, which works in your favor. "Even if it does work, there will be one mild side effect: namely, your body will still have memory of this shape, and you will be able to change forms from one to another virtually at will." *That's nice,* I thought sarcastically. *I'll be able to shapeshift into something flagrantly useless!* He continued. "There was nothing we could do about this, but we figure since it's under your control that it's not a problem. "All we can say now on this matter is good luck. Our hopes and prayers to the Old Man are with you in your quest. May your magic never fail you." *Too late there, buddy.* "One other thing for you to think about before I go," he continued. "If you weren't aware, today is the customary day for the transportation spells to be cast, and indeed, you were to leave today. I believe you have said you were headed to Rhye, am I right? Well, we can still send you and your friend out soon - but only if you feel well enough to travel. We certainly don't want to rush you, and you are welcome here as long as you like. The ceremony is this evening, so you have plenty of time to think. "That's all I really have to say for now. Someone will bring in breakfast soon, no doubt, but just yell if you're hungry earlier." And with that, he left the room. I was alone with my thoughts again. Having had my fill of sulking for the day, I decided to ponder the future instead. *Should I go ahead and go to Rhye tonight, send Red ahead of me and leave once I'm back to normal, or just go MIA for a while? After all, he's just offered me somewhere to stay for as long as I need. I could sort out my loose ends, get my act together before I go home.* *And who says I have to go home at all? If worse comes to worse, and this becomes a lifelong condition, I could probably get accepted as a Druid. What worth would I be to the Jihad this way? Mostly as comic relief, I'd bet. Better never to leave the Druids at all than go home and get tossed in the keebler zone for the rest of my career.* *Wait a second. Is this really making you that cynical, Bryn? Have a little faith for once. The spell will work. If it doesn't ... well ... you never know. Besides, if you quit the Jihad now, you give Jamie exactly what she wants. You're out of action either way, whether you're her slave or a permanent interdimensional MIA. You've got to keep with the fight, just to show her that a little race change can't get you down.* All right, so that spiel was way too Pollyanna-esque for me, but my cynicism level at that point called for extreme measures. *Okelydokely, Over-Optimistic Magic Voice. I'll tell Kendren I'll be out on the next teleport ... after breakfast!* I just noticed the attendant had been knocking for a few minutes. *God, I'm famished. According to my watch it's 4 a.m. ... odd. Maybe some kinda metabolism thing, I dunno.* After breakfast (or late-night snack, or whatever the meal was), and a little more time to muse (I seemed to be doing that a lot lately), I was interrupted by the sense of some sort of magic in the room. I wheeled around... and saw that Red had entered magically. For some reason, I was not amused. "Good morning! Nice of you to drop in, although you could have done it in a more conventional manner. You just startled the hell out of me." He shrugged. "Easier than bothering the guard. Anyway... how do you feel?" He cringed as soon as he said it, since we both realized that it was as bad a first question as he could have asked. "OK, I guess, for an involuntary halfling. Once I face the total impact to my food budget, R&D work, self-image, and ability to ride rollercoasters, I'll probably be fine." He stared at me. I rolled my eyes. "Well, what did you expect me to say? 'I feel fabulous, this is the greatest thing to ever happen to me'? I'm sorry to break it to you, but this just isn't what I consider a positive life change. Next thing I know, I won't be able to fight because I'll be covered under the Endangered Species Act." I knew how cynical I sounded, but at this point I was just letting off steam. "I'm sorry ... I -" I cut him off. "Don't say you know how I feel, because trust me, you don't." "Listen, are you sure nothing else is wrong?" "Wrong?! Oh, nothing! Being transmutated into a member of what is possibly the least threatening race in existence is just an everyday thing for me. If you'll excuse me, I probably have some riddle-games that need finishing." He shrugged. "Forget it. I'm sorry, I'll talk to you later." I saw him prepare to magically leave the room ... That startled me. "No, wait! My God, Red, I'm sorry. I'm taking out my frustration with the world on you for no good reason. Hell, you may have saved my life, and I... I..." "I understand. I probably wouldn't have reacted any better if I had been in your place." "Thanks for everything, Red. I'll find some way to make it up to you." I decided to change the subject. "So, we get shipped out to Rhye today?" "Today? Dang, that's right! But are you ..." "Sure I'm ready to travel? Hell yeah. We still do have to save Katze, you know, and there are spongies that need Good Food[tm] or killing something awful. No reason for me to shirk... besides, Kendren says the reversal spell should work within the week. I'll be back to normal soon enough." "Good to hear that. But, I hate to ask this, but what exactly _are_ you? I know it's a bad question, but...." I sighed, more from contemplating how to explain it than anything else. "Not as bad as you'd think. To make a long story short(er), Jamie decided that I'd be so much better as a hobbit." "Hobbit?" More confused looks on Red's part, more sighing from me. *I was afraid of this.* "Short, simplified explanation: a mythical humanoid race used by J.R.R. Tolkien. Well, they were mythical two days ago, at least. Predominant features of said race: average height of about three feet; hair on feet, making shoes unnecessary (not to mention an unpleasant experience); a tendency towards stockiness; steadfast, if naive, dispositions. As you can see, I have the first three covered, if not the fourth. "Required reading for a better explanation: this." I picked up my copy of _The Hobbit_, which one of the druids had recovered from the cave, and threw it at him. He caught it. "Try the first chapter. That should explain everything you need to know." "Okelydokely," he replied, and looked at the book thoughtfully. "So, should we go talk to the Druids now about getting out?" I smiled. "Enh, why not?" I stood up and crossed the room to open the door, dismissing the guard that stood by it once it was opened. "This time, though, we go the usual way out." "Uh, OK. And ..." "Oh, yeah, I guess you get to do all the higher doorknobs." *** The first available time for the ritual was in two hours, but one of the doctors didn't want me leaving that quickly. Luckily for me, Kendren and Red had promised to persuade him into letting me go, so I didn't have to spend another week in the same small room. To me, this was incredibly cool of them, because by this time I was more bored than I thought it was possible for a humanoid being to be. Red had my copy of _The Hobbit_, but I didn't feel like reading it anyway. After the last two hours there, counting all the objects embedded in the ceiling (it was either that or solitaire ... again), I desperately needed a change of scenery. Finally, it was 6 a.m. I was allowed to leave the room (adorned with 188 roots and nearly 14,000 little rocks, I had determined) and walk to where the druids were meeting to begin the ritual. The exact time for the ritual was drawing near, and Kendren began to speak. "All right, you've told me you want to be sent to the city gates of Rhye. This is an easy trip, indeed. But I have also heard something about others ... did you want to be taken to them?" "They're on the way to Rhye too," Red explained. The Druids only looked more confused. I started to clarify. "Yes, the rest of our party is still out on their way to Rhye. It would be much quicker for all concerned if you could teleport them as well." "Ah. If you can describe them to me, I might be able to scrye them," he said, bending over a small indoor scrying pool. *Spiffy! They've really gotten hooked up with some good quality magic stuff for being way down here.* "OK. You're basically looking for a small group of humans..." I described all the members of the group I could to him. He uttered something that I couldn't understand, and the pool fogged. It quickly grew clear again; I could see Calc and Maru asleep in some sort of structure, with Thes standing guard. Kendren smiled. "Are these your friends?" "Yeah! Can you teleport them as well as us?" "Just a second ... this is a special case. I best consult with the others." They left for about 10 minutes, leaving Red and me to stare into the pool. *Where are the rest of the people, anyway? Will they meet us at Rhye, or what?* Kendren and the others reentered. "We can do that." He smiled again. "To the Transportation Room?" "Coo'," Red said, and he got stares from most of the Druids. "Forget it. It's another figure of speech. C'mon, Red. I bet the rest of the group has been looking all over for us.... " The Transportation Room was a good distance away, past the library and near the magical storage area. While we were walking, Kendren shoved a note into my hand. "Read that," he whispered, "once you're in Rhye. Be careful about it; don't lose it!" I nodded and carefully put the note in my watch pocket. Finally, we were there. The Transportation Room held no consoles, none of the stuff I had come to expect from teleportation areas; there was just a little magical equipment. *I shouldn't be surprised, really.* "OK," Kendren gestured, "both of you stand here." There were marks on the floor, similar to those around the pillars in the abandoned city. We took our places obediently. I set my luggage down - *Note to self: shrink backpacks at first opportunity, so I can actually carry them!* - and watched Kendren utter some sort of incantation. In the room's scrying pool appeared the image of city gates ... ... and the world went black for a second. When my vision cleared, I looked around at where we were. Indeed, Red and I were standing in front of the city gates I had seen! *The Druids don't lie. Fast, easy, and no lame in-flight movie to boot.* I remembered the note in my pocket. How could I forget it? I took it out, unfolded it, and looked it over. The letters were English, meticulously printed, putting my own scrawled handwriting to shame. I began to read it - 'Once you are in Rhye, seek out a street vendor named Dibbhalin. I sense you will know him when you see him. If he asks, say you are from Dewpoint, and that I send my greetings. He can help you find your friend, I am sure. May the Old Man be with you. K.' I folded the note up and returned it to my watch pocket. *Dibbhalin, eh? Name sounds familiar somehow. If Kendren's sure I'll find him, then I must. Hope he's as good as Kendren says.* My thoughts suddenly changed their focus. *Where are the rest?* I began looking around for them. As I looked, I noticed the rest of the sea group nearby, looking horribly dazed. *There they are!* Calc finally spoke. "Well, we're just outside Rhye. I have no idea how we got here, though. Odd. And look!" He pointed at us! "There's Red and ...." Calc trailed off, giving me a look I would become quite familiar with - a look that said 'I recognize the clothes, I recognize the jewelry, I recognize the glasses, but I _definitely_ don't recognize the person wearing them.' "Um ... " I smiled sheepishly. "Hi. Yeah, it's me... it's a long story ...."