Celebrating Lucan D'Lere Day

Celebrating Lucan D'Lere Day brings us to the close of the holiday season in real life, and an interesting set of celebrations in the world of Norrath. The last short story was based in Qeynos, with Talaysen seeking to meet and even marry Antonia Bayle, only to mistakenly be capture because the guards think he was going to assassinate her! In this short story we turn towards Freeport where similar celebrations are taking place, this time for the overlord, Lucan D'Lere. Narisa, a citizen of Freeport, views the overlord not as highly as Talaysen had with Antonia Bayle. What is Narisa's intentions and do they play out like she expected? Find out as we wrap up our holiday short stories.

A small breeze passed over the sail boat, grabbing the sails and pushing them gently further out into sea. Another kilometer and they wouldn't be able to see the shoreline anymore. Narisa used the lamp they had brought with to see the waters edge. It was a cool morning just before sunrise, the cloud cover thick overhead with only a hint of moonlight passing through, hardly enough to see anything but the glowing lights of Freeport dancing in the distance. As she brought up the fishing pole a small trout fish dangled from the end. They had used magical fishing bait which automatically attached itself to a fish once within range. It also was hook free, using some kind of sticky attachment end so it would not harm the fish. She enjoyed fishing but did not enjoy killing the fish she caught. Narisa showed it to Marielle and then touched the end of the bait, automatically releasing the fish and sending it plummeting into the dark water below.

Waves rocked the boat as the wind began to pick up slightly. Narisa's friend Marielle became concerned when they noticed lightning in the distance. A storm was brewing, although Narisa knew instinctively that it would never reach them. Narisa was a human fury and had a keen sense of a storms nature and path it was taking. Sometimes if she listened closely when a storm was near she could hear it whisper into her ear. Usually it was warnings that the storm was heading her way, but sometimes she found a storm that, if asked nicely, would steer its way towards the farmlands directly, providing fresh water for the crops and villages outside of Freeport far into the desert.

"We really should be heading in Narisa. I fear that the storm is approaching and it isn't safe to be out here so late. I don't know how you talked me into this anyway." Marielle grabbed the sail, redirecting it enough to cause the wind to push them towards shore.

"Marielle, you know I wouldn't be out here unless I knew it was safe." Narisa laughed. "Afraid I'm going to push you in for fun? I would only do that to your not-so-nice husband. I've had about enough of his blunderings. Do you remember the last time we were out gathering rotting moss in Nektulos forest?" Narisa waited for an answer but it didn't come.

Marielle had a shocked look on her face. Often times Narisa would blurt out rude remarks without even thinking about it. It was her way of venting steam and frustration. Marielle didn't pay too much attention after that.

Narisa continued. "I'll tell you what happened. The dumb bloke ran the boat aground near a group of cinder owl bears! We barely got out alive. I should have pushed him in when I had the chance."

She grabbed the sail and directed them more towards shore. She might say she was going to do something, but never really did. They were good friends, spending many years together growing up in Beggar's Court. When they were old enough they moved to North Freeport with Narisa's father. For a long time money was short, as her father not only had to take care of her but Marielle as well, which they had adopted shortly after Narisa's mother left them. Father eventually made his way up the underground black market social ladder and began to net them a tighty profit. Just after he managed to transfer the money they had saved to Narisa's account the Freeport militia found out about his business and took him away. They said they didn't care about the business so much as the fact that he wasn't paying his taxes to the overlord. Four years had passed since then and four years now they attended each year's Lucan D'Lere day, a day in which she always planned Lucan D'Lere's assassination but every year she never managed to quite pull it off. Usually she backed out at the last moment due to fear. This year she had let Marielle in on her plan, a plan Marielle supported but with reservations.

"We'll pull up a bit closer so we can see the docks and then anchor while we wait. We would have gotten a pretty good show from here when the fireworks go off in the morning." Marielle said.

Fishing in the early morning wasn't the only reason they had come out here. The fireworks were spectacular at this distance as well, however their contact was supposed to meet them out here. Four months ago she heard rumors of a secret passage all the way into the overlord's citadel. A passage you could only get to by boat on the outer walls. She had spent over half her father's savings for a chance at the information.

"I hope these waters really are safe because I see a growing light along the waters surface heading this way. " Marielle pointed north along the cities wall. As the light grew, they began to make out the shape of a boat. Another five minutes later a small sailboat much like the one they were in, pulled along side. A burly looking dwarf threw over a rope to keep the two boats from drifting apart. This would be their contact.

"You were supposed to meet me farther out in sea. It's risky being so close to the docks when it's dark outside on this particular day. The guards will be watching for unusual shipping traffic." The dwarf gave them detailed instructions on how to enter the citadel and where to go when in the citadel proper. By the details of his descriptions, it was quite clear he had accessed the overlord's citadel many times before.

When he was finished giving them directions they paid him the 20 gold agreed upon and set out for the city wall. After passing several small nooks and crannies along the length of the wall, they stopped and the dwarf told them to anchor. Narisa and Marielle looked at each other in confusion. There appeared not to be any major opening in the wall for them to crawl through.

"You'll have to lose some of those fine clothes of yours. The access point is just below the waterline." He pointed between their boats into the water.

Marielle protested. "What are we to do in the citadel when we're soaking wet!"

"I'm afraid that is your problem. Unless you are willing to play me ten times, I might then be willing to escort you into a dresser room." And with that the gnome set sail, back the way he had original come, laughing to himself at the imagine of Narisa and Marielle soaking wet, snooping around the citadel at night.

Anchoring the boat, they waited for the dwarf to completely disappear before stripping off as many clothes as they reasonably could, then grabbed a few supplies including Narisa's dagger and poison bottle that she would use to poison the overlord's drink when prepared later today, and peered down at the water. Waves rippled against the side of the stone wall, the wind gusting up, causing the boat to gently hit the wall every few seconds. Narisa dropped into the water first, and then Marielle followed shortly. Fortunately both were fairly good swimmers, although it would still be difficult in the near freezing water. They would only have a few moments to search the wall before they froze to death.

Narisa continued to feel along wall until Marielle swam over to Narisa and indicated her to surface. It was so dark under the water; on her way up she swallowed a mouth full of air at Marielle suddenly brushing up against her. Once on the surface, about three meters above the hole in the wall Marielle discovered, they took a deep breath and Narisa held Marielle's hand until they reached the hole.

Feeling their way down, they soon came across several rocks blocking their path and swam up, right into an open corridor. Small torches, probably magical ones that burned infinitely, lined both sides of the wall every few paces. The immediate area they were in was also packed wall to wall with crates of various sizes, bottles and other furniture, and spider webs of all sorts. Peering down the end the corridor the wall curved out of site.

Dripping wet, and freezing, they wound their way around several bends, but never came to a crossroad. One wondered how this tunnel was discovered, and built, and why it was placed here. Up ahead after the last bend, they came to an old wooden door. Small spiders dangled around the edges, one of them actually hissing at their approach. Narisa took one of the torches off the wall and burned most of the spiders and cobwebs around the door. Keeping it for warmth she grabbed the door handle in the upper middle of the door and pushed the door open. A slow creaking noise came from the door as it protested being opened.

As they stepped through to a corridor beyond and stairway leading above, clicks through the walls sounded every few seconds. According to the gnome that had instructed them on the various safeguards throughout the passageway, the clicks signified a timer. They immediately ran up the stairs and down the next corridor. The clicks became faster every step of the way. Just as they were reaching the next doorway Marielle tripped behind her. Narisa spun around and watched as the entire floor almost up to Narisa's feet swung away, dropping Marielle into a chute that carried her away into the depths below, probably directly into one of the dungeon cells. A few moments later and the floor slowly rose again, concealing any such trap. Narisa stood there for a moment, afraid to walk on the trap but too horrified at the possibility that she just lost her only friend. She searched desperately for over an hour for a way to reveal the trap again but could not find any.

Eventually she decided she would continue on with her mission and see if there was another way farther down into the citadel. Awhile later she entered the citadel proper and made her way carefully through the long hallways, dodging roaming guards and various servants.

On here way to her objective she discovered a series of rooms on the second floor that were meant for guests. Searching through them she found several pieces of old clothing, and what looked to be a skirt worn by the servants. She would use these to help conceal her identity. An hour later she spied a door that looked like the dining room door described to her by the gnome. She was about to open it up when a large metal hand grasped her shoulder and spun her around. It was one of the citadel's guards!

"I don't recognize you. You'll have to come with me." The guard said, holding her hand tightly. Without thinking she twisted her arm out of the grasp of the guard and ran down the corridor, farther into the citadel's depths. She crept around several other corridors, attempting to evade the guard that was after her. There was only one major set of doors through which she could escape at this point. The guard had already signaled others and was following in pursuit, although she may have lost them for the moment.

Nowhere else to go she threw herself into the next room beyond, not carrying what lie ahead. To her surprise it was an extremely intricate library, almost like a large study. A fireplace and windows on either side were on the far wall. Tapestries almost as big as the walls themselves, lined either side. Bookshelves on a second balcony encircled the entire room except for the windowed wall. Narisa walked around between various pieces of furniture towards the fireplace. Several chairs created a half ring shape facing the fireplace, with a large table and various scattered papers on it were set in the middle of the half ring. In a corner chair she discovered a small gnome hunched over a bunch of papers. He looked much like their contact earlier, but with skinnier arms and legs and a balding head of hair. He was reading through the papers, flipping through them frantically. He obviously never heard her walk into the room.

"What are you doing?" She asked.

The gnome threw up the papers in fright, turning towards her. "Who are you?!" He shook the pen in his hand at her, it quivering from his sudden scare.

"I'm sorry if I startled you. I was a bit lost and found my way in here. I'm actually looking for the overlord's dining room. Where might that be?" She asked.

The gnome squinted at her. "Why do you want to know that? Are you one of the new maids he enslaved last week?"

She thought about that for a moment. "Yes, and as I said I'm terribly lost. I need to find my way to the overlord's dinning room quickly if I am to have his breakfast prepared for him before the festivities begin today."

"I'll take you to it but we must hurry." The gnome grabbed several additional papers and escorted her out of the room through another door adjacent to the one she had come into. Upon exiting the room several guards rushed up to their position, taking both of them by the arms.

"What is the meaning of this? I protest this intrusion into my privacy." The gnome cried in protest as they were dragged down the hall.

"You should know there is no privacy when it comes to the overlord's domain. He wishes to speak with you." One of the guards said.

The guards dragged them almost entirely across the citadel, down several levels, into the dungeon itself. As they passed by several cells Narisa noticed Marielle was indeed trapped in one of them. Unfortunately she was chained and appeared to unconscious. The guards led them to a larger room filled with various devices that were obviously meant for torture. This was not a good sign. If she was caught now and interrogated, they would find out about the potion she didn't even use yet! Most of the devices in the room were clearly for extreme torture and not so much at dissection of information because that could simply be obtained through a good spell or two.

A moment later a figure who had to be the overlord himself walked into the room. She would die at the hands of the overlord, and she was the one planning on murdering him! The overlord walked around them several times before stopping to stand in front. His one bad eye was like a sharp beacon that threatened to stare straight at their souls, tearing from them every piece of information the overlord wanted. It was almost like looking into death itself. The overlord turned towards the gnome, grabbing the papers he had hastily stuffed in his pockets and shredding them with his sharp nails.

"You disappoint me Rupard. I chose you as one of my closest advisors, one that I could count on, and you deceive me!" The overlord's voice grew angrier with each passing word.

"Truly you are mistaken. I do not know what wrong I have done to deserve this treatment." Rupard replied.

"Did you say I was mistaken?" The overlord scowled.

"No-no sir," He stammered. "I meant that I simply do not understand what it is I am being accused of."

The overlord threw down the shredded papers at the gnome's feet. "I would think that is obvious. After spending years in the citadel you should know about my tracking devices. It was foolish of you to even once step foot into my library. Did you really think you could steal secret document without my knowing about it? Your days are numbered Rupard. The clock on you ticks down to the minute in fact."

"Excuse me. I'm sorry but I do not understand what is happening here. Why am I being held captive?" Narisa quietly asked.

The overlord turned towards her, a slight smile on his face. She had gotten his attention alright! Afraid for her life she stood their as bold as possible, awaiting a reply to her question.

"You also stepped foot into my library. Neither servants, nor anyone else is authorized to step foot into my library. I want to actually thank you personally for turning in this gnome and giving away his position." The overlord explained that the tracking devices in the room were magically set to go off when anyone entered. The gnome, however, had used a counter spell so his intrusion would go undetected. When Narisa had stepped through the detectors went off anyway because she was not covered by the anti-detection spell. "As a loyal servant I will see that you are promoted in rank and that you are put in charge of executing this traitor later today at the hanging ceremony."

It was tradition during each year's Lucan D'Lere day that at least one person was hanged for their crimes. It was one of the ways the overlord commanded obedience from the populace. The populace as a whole seemed to enjoy the event as well, as long as they weren't the ones being hanged! How was she to refuse his request when he already suspected she was a servant! If she refused he would surely sentence her for not obeying his command. She quietly accepted.

Later that day she indeed performed the ritual hanging, pulling the lever herself and sentencing a traitor of the overlord to death. A rallying cry sounded from the audience as they applauded the execution of another traitor. She felt sick to her stomach, but even so she also felt a little bit of pride. Even though she hated the overlord, it was a nice feeling knowing she was working at the levels of power she never dreamed were possible for her. To work side by side with the overlord was to command respect, and fear. She could do anything now. The first thing on her list was to ensure Marielle was released from the dungeons deep below the citadel. Then she would begin yet another plot to kill the overlord, and this time taking the throne for herself.