EPIC Journal Entries - Greylen

[Greylen]

Greylen's nose was in the air, slightly, as he sniffed dismissively to Boric, Zanther and Jason looking on amused.

"A mage of my stature would never be taken unawares, you bearded gnome. I was simply testing the new wards on Myth Drannor... and her guards." Greylen stated, the haughty air he projected was at slight odds with the small twinkle of humor in his eyes.

"Aye and I'd be a bearded gnome if I believed that sewage ye be spewing too." Boric growled through a gruff snort, his hand caressing the rune covered hammer at this belt despite his humor. Greylen noticed the move and his haughty look dissolved into a snicker.

"Planning on 'hammering' your point home, you over grown kobold?" "If only it would help get it through yer thick skull" Greylen grinned, his best rejoinder on the tip of his tongue, when a palm slapped the back of his head, interrupting his thought and causing him to wince in pain. Of course he knew who it was, having felt the familiar wash of magic earlier and she was about the only one who COULD do that without triggering half a dozen contingency spells. He just hadn't expected her to get here so quickly.

He rubbed the back of his head ruefully, not turning around "Hi Silvain, good to see your as efficient as ever." he winced at the sore spot as the other three burst into laughter. "Good to see you lass." Boric called, Zanther giving her a wave, "Nice timing, Silvain." he grinned. Jason contented himself with a smile and a nod.

"Master" she bowed to Greylen as he finally glanced back with a sigh. She gave a dimpled smile to Boric and Zanther before turning a more severe look at Greylen. "Master, that poor guard captain was beside himself with worry when he found out who you were. You shouldn't have tormented him and his guards so." she sniffed in a fair approximation of his own look earlier, before relenting a grin. "The burr-root in the boot, though, without him seeing was masterful." she chuckled as she put the Rogue's pin on his tunic.

Greylen laughed as well, even as he shook his head, "Oh, that wasn't me. It pays to have sneaky friends with very odd senses of humor." he winked at Xavier who gave a small sibilant hiss, teeth barred in a wide, draconic grin. My sense of humor is quite refined, thank you. Unlike others I could name. the diminutive dragon mind-spoke to them all, the delight evident from it's tone.

"Well said, my friend. Jason IS quite the old maid..." Greylen began when suddenly Simon was sitting in the other chair around the table, cutting off his remark since he simply couldn't tell when Simon had actually arrived, which always unnerved him a bit. Simon smirked and glanced at Zanther who gave a single nod and smirked back.

"Ahh, so you saw me, did you?" he looked a little deflated, but tall Ranger shrugged good-naturedly.

"Actually, it was more a feeling of having missed something than actually seeing you, my friend. Your skills are still quite superb." he chuckled.

Simon perked up and the smirk turned to a pleased grin, "Good, good. Glad I'm not getting too rusty." he sighed with mock relief. Everyone laughed and settled back as they observed their friend. The grin couldn't quite erase the strain that tightened his face as he gazed back, lingering a moment on Jason.

"Thank you all for coming. I am certain that when I am done telling you of what I have uncovered, you'll see why the urgent call was necessary." Simon began, settling into his 'briefing' mode and everyone nodded and settled back into their chairs. The Rogue was never frivolous in his requests for aid and could always be counted on to be concise and clear on the threat.

"It seems an enchanter of some power has found an artifact that left unchecked, could spell disaster for our realm. In fact..." Simon continued and Greylen was attentive to the details. Though to be honest, he thought wryly as his mind started categorizing the threat pattern, he rarely devoted more than twenty percent of his attention on what his five senses were telling him. The rest was always working on the latest project, or projects, or working on a specific tweak to his spell of the day. In this case, part of it was working on the odd thing he was seeing within Simon.

Greylen ALWAYS took note of the powers and protective spells surrounding his friends. Mostly because they always had a new, fun toy or spell they'd uncovered between times they got together, and it was an unofficial game of his to figure out the changes each time. But this spell coiled like a serpent within Simon and the more he looked at it, the more uneasy he became.

Simon had stood and was walking as he described the Artifact for Jason, stating it had come from his world, when Xavier hissed, "Something is wrong with Simon, Greylen. Stop him"

Greylen had just come to the same conclusion as he finally determined the odd spell was an enchantment. Simon hearing the hiss, started moving towards Jason with blinding speed, but Greylen, having been warned, moved even more quickly. He uttered a single word and struck Simon mentally with one of his most powerful spells and all of the many spells surrounding Simon sharpened to crystal clarity. The serpent-like spell uncoiled as if to strike the interloper and Greylen new instantly it was a powerful form of domination called Monstrous Thrall. Taking his time, Greylen uncoiled the spell and pulled it out of Simon, crushing it to nothing as it came free. Then he drew a breath, less than a second having passed, yet he was drenched in sweat as he realized what had almost happened.

Simon stood frozen, his face a mask of horror, as memories assaulted him, all viewed from a completely different perspective now. Then he slumped as Greylen caught him by his arm and guided him back to his chair. Boric, Jason, Zanther and Silvain looked at the two of them in surprise and consternation as they too felt the wash of great power flow over them. Boric's eyes narrowed as he read the power lines and put together which spell Greylen has used.

"And what might ye be using Reaving Dispel on here, Greylen?" he asked as he locked his hard gaze on Greylen's face. A lesser dwarf might have already tried splitting his head, but Boric's control was Iron.

"A moment, Boric, and everyone. Please a moment." Greylen murmured as he kept his eyes on Simon. "Are you... better... Simon?" he asked only hesitating slightly. The horror had faded from Simon's face to be replaced by anger as his lips thinned and they could hear his teeth grinding as he raged to gain control of his emotions. He nodded curtly, the war evidently being won as his body relaxed. The expression that he finally turned to everyone was a bit sheepish.

"Thank you Greylen. It seems my mind was not my own." Simon's voice was a bit subdued as Greylen smiled and patted his arm before taking his own seat.

"No worries, my friend. The spell stood out against your usual array of enchantments. When Xavier warned me of your mental state, I was just able to remove it before you acted." Greylen's trademark easy smile looked a bit shaken, though. While the power in this room seethed like a slumbering deity, he knew if Simon had acted first they probably would never have caught up with him.

Simon nodded confirming Greylen's thoughts, "Indeed and thank the gods you did. I was about to steal the Spear of Odin from Jason and lead all of you to your doom... or at least domination like mine." he shuddered with residual anger, expelling his breath sharply.

A part of Greylen snorted as he listened nodding, noting that no one at the table even questioned Simon's ability to accomplish such a feat.

Simon glanced around, a wry smile replacing the last of his visible anger. "At least I was able to get the reconnaissance we needed." he chuckled.

"Aye, no matter how ineptly ye got it." Boric growled, though the slight wink and concern on his face robbed the remark of most of it's sting.

"Indeed, my friend." Simon sighed. "It seems it's worse than I let you to believe. The enchanter is exactly as I described him and the staff IS a relic of your world, Jason, but the power of each cannot be understated." he shook his head, "I cannot still looking back at how I was caught, tell HOW they did it. One moment I was observing the enchanter, the next I was having you all gather here with the intent to goad you into following me into an ambush."

Simon sat back, rubbing his temple lightly with one hand, eyes closed. Greylen starred at him intently for a moment, then nodded. "The headache is left over from how I removed the domination. I had to use a Reaving Dispel, when normally you'd just use a remove curse." he grinned, "but it doesn't look like any lasting harm was done." Boric muttered something about overkill, but everyone looked relieved.

Simon pounded a fist on the table, "That is good. Now our first priority must be taking out the Enchanter and returning the staff to where it belongs." he looked grim.

Zanther looked thoughtfully at Simon, "I believe we should leave immediately. If we do, perhaps we can catch them in their own ambush." his suggestion meeting with approval around the table.

"First, we make sure none of us can be dominated again." Greylen motioned to everyone as he quickly cast a powerful spell, wrapping each of their minds in impenetrable barriers. "There, now the Gods themselves couldn't find you or read your thoughts... " he smirked, "Though alas, friend dwarf, for you, they never could anyway."

Boric's laugh was as loud as anyone else's as they quickly gathered up what little they had time to get. A few scrolls later and Rogue's Wind disappeared from the skies of Myth Drannor.