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Open for Business, Chapter VIII

Malachi the Gaunt stood guard at the entrance to the inner sanctum, his position one of supposed honor. He was a faithful wretch, his body a canvas of weeping sores and pustular scars, each mark a testament to his devotion. He inhaled deeply, savoring the sweet, cloying air of the temple, a perfume of decay and promised ascension. His mind was a mire of scripture, whispering verses of the Great Cleansing. He never heard the soft footfall on the spongy moss behind him. He only felt a sudden, sharp pressure, like two needles of ice, slide into the base of his skull. His vision dissolved into a shower of green and black sparks, and the holy verses in his head were silenced by the final, absolute darkness. Inside the Fungus Garden, Brother Kael tended to the sacred blooms. His hands, though gnarled and swollen with joint-rot, moved with a gentle, practiced grace as he brushed spores from the cap of a Weeping Shroud. He believed these fungi were the Plaguebringer's own tears, made manif...
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Nyamari: The Isles of Blue

In the hush of Norrath’s emerald isles I roam,   A maiden veiled in sunlight’s golden kiss,   Where turquoise waves caress the coral throne   And every breeze carries a secret bliss.   I soar above the tropical island’s crown,   Wings of hidden light embracing warm sea air,   Circling emerald peaks that touch the clouds,   Where rainbow mists rise softly everywhere.   I dart through silver curtains of the falls,   Laughing as crystal waters kiss my skin,   Emerging bright with droplets like lost stars   That sparkle on my hair and make me spin.   I glide through hidden coves where sunlight dances,   Chasing butterflies that flirt with ocean spray,   Then rest upon a cliff of sun-warmed stone   To watch the dolphins leap in joyful play.   Beneath the canopy of swaying palms I pause,   To listen as bright macaws weave son...
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Nyamari: Given Words, Given Voice

 In the hush of Norrath’s whispering glades,   I walk as one who dreams in scales of light—   A maiden’s heart, yet woven through with grace   That gleams like sunrise on a river’s flight.   I chase the butterflies on wings of laughter,   Their painted wings a mirror of my own,   And let them crown my hair with fleeting splendor   While golden motes of joy around me blown.   I weave wildflower crowns beneath the moon,   And sing to fireflies in their silver dance,   Collecting dewdrops like forgotten stars   To wear as jewels upon my upturned hands.   Beneath the silver veil of tumbling falls,   I sit and let the water kiss my skin,   A gentle baptism of crystal song   That cleanses every shadow from within.   I drift through meadows thick with morning mist,   Where unicorns and songbirds pause to play,  ...
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Open for Business, Chapter VII

The Valor didn't approach the island. It assaulted it. Captain D'Arbene, a man who understood the sea was not a playground but a weapon, drove the ship into a hidden cove with the violence of a battering ram. The hull groaned, a deep, pained cry of splintering wood, as the bow crunched into a sandbar concealed by the low tide. Before the echo died, two gangplanks slammed down onto the black sand like guillotines. They hit the beach in a storm of spray and splintered timber. This was no landing; it was an ambush. The arrows came without warning, without the tell-tale thrum of a loosened string. One moment, the air was empty. The next was a blizzard of black-fletched death. They swarmed from the treeline, a living cloud of jagged points and barbed shafts, their tips glinting with a sickly, greenish poison. The cultists weren't firing to kill; they were firing to cripple, to maim, to spread their pestilence before a single blade was drawn. The assassins didn't run; they we...
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Open for Business, Chapter VI

Talianimi lay in her bed with her "sisters", Wildsong and Illastria. The three cuddled close against the bitter Halas cold and the less-than-ideal housing during this assignment. A small, enchanted brazier gave off a meager heat, its coals glowing like angry red eyes in the darkness. The room was sparse, smelling of pine and woodsmoke, and of old stone, a stark contrast to the elegant quarters they were accustomed to in Qeynos. Wildsong lay on her side, her back to Talianimi, her body a tense line of coiled muscle even in sleep, her blue-violet hair a spill of night across the coarse pillow. She was always listening, always aware, a predator who could never truly rest. Illastria, meanwhile, was the picture of languid ease. She was sprawled on her stomach, her chin propped on her hands, her blue-ash skin seeming to absorb the dim light. She traced patterns on the rough wool blanket with a single blue-tipped finger, her crimson eyes fixed on the ceiling, a faint, knowing smile ...
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Open for Business, Chapter V

 Lady Alustrae sat in her office aboard her father's Flagship, the Starcrest Valor, the ship swaying gently in the harbor, the rhythmic creak of the wood a soothing counterpoint to the storm raging in her mind. The room was a sanctuary of order, the mahogany desk polished to a high gloss, the legal tomes neatly stacked, the ship's log open on a stand, its pages filled with her elegant script. She looked at the report, her eyes scanning the words, her face a mask of grim determination. The report was from Blaquetail, the Ratonga assassin who had found her at the docks, his words a chilling account of the battle at the lighthouse. A vampire. A vessel for the Plaguebringer. A charade with a phantom Ereon. It was a nightmare. A waking nightmare that threatened to consume Qeynos, to plunge the city into a darkness from which it might never recover. She looked at the map of Norrath spread out on her desk, her fingers tracing the coastline, the cities, the forests, the mountains. She ...
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Open for Business, Chapter IV

 A wagon full of supplies ambled up the lighthouse road, a shipment that those inside would be expecting. What they would not be expecting were the assassins who had snuck along for the ride. Dragskarr narrowed his eyes and peered out of the tarp. "We approach. Prepare yourselves." Varlkh nodded. "Right, let's make it quick. Tali, do your thing." Talianimi's violet eyes glowed as she focused, lashing out at the minds of the two cloaked men guarding the door. She found their thoughts and ripped them to shreds. The two men stumbled back, their faces contorted in silent agony, their hands clutching at their heads, a torrent of psychic fire tearing through their minds. They collapsed to the ground, their bodies twitching in a final, futile dance of death. Talianimi's goat-like eyes scanned the area. "Guards down. Illastria says there are four inside, two men and the woman. There is a bard there with them, but she cannot tell if it's Ereon." ...
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