07/16/06:

                Found breakfast waiting along with a note from Colonel Nightshade. They'd captured a couple of Ka infiltrators last night and she was assisting with the interrogations. She asked us to let her know when we were leaving. While we were eating, Olivia told me that last night, Alfred had actually accepted a swig from her whiskey flask, and then spent the night meditating. He had been that disturbed by what we'd seen. "I don't blame him a bit. I don't know how Slash can do it," she said.

                When everyone was finished I asked the group, "Do you all want to come with me to do this? You're welcome to accompany me, of course, but if you would rather stay here, I understand."

                "What do you think?" Olivia asked.

                Alfred just raised an eyebrow at me.

                Olias smiled for me and Leo said, "In for a penny, in for a pound."

                I looked at Walter, "Mr. Ambassador?"

                "I'm with you, ma'am."

                "Okay," I said. "Thank you, all of you. Let's go."

                So we gathered our stuff and went looking for Nightshade. We found her observing a circle of people who all looked like they'd been recently liberated from Ka. In the center of the circle, floating a few feet off the ground, was a large blue 'bubble'. Inside it was an Orc. He was screaming and writhing in agony. Nightshade saw us and walked around the circle to us. She explained that they use psionics to probe the memories of Ka victims. Then they take those memories, amplify them and force them into the minds of the Orcs. "Then we tell the bastards that the memories will stop only when they agree to talk."

                Olivia said, "I just shoot off their toes."

                Nightshade said, "But this works for the victims as well. It's very cathartic."

                I told her that I was going to go find Morning Mist and asked how far it was. "Is it walking distance or are we allowed to drive our vehicle in."

                She laughed, "Goodness! Take your vehicle, we're not Luddites."

                I asked, "Do you have someplace we could leave Louisa? We promised her that we'd find someplace safe for her."

                "That one! I can see why you changed her into a Pomeranian. But we do have a place for her, and the other two as well. But I've been told that the half-Elf - Cindy? - has suffered too much for her memories to simply be erased. It would leave her unbalanced if they attempted it. But we will do all we can for her."

                "Wonderful! Thank you so much for taking them in, and for your hospitality."

                She smiled. "It was our pleasure." Then she turned serious. "Things are heating up in this area. If I do not see you again, may I suggest that you use a different route on your way back home?"

                We assured her we would.

                "I wish you good luck then. Just follow the signs and you will find Morning Mist."

                Alfred drove and as we got further inside the forest I got more and more nervous. But I finally noticed that it was different. I had been here once before - a few years back - but the trees were closer together, as well as being taller and wider. Several had spiral staircases winding up around the trunks with signs to indicate who lived above. Looking up into the trees we could see that there were homes built into the branches and walkways between the treetops.

                We followed the signs directing us to the General Sherman and saw a sign pointing towards a Dark Elf retreat. That caught Olivia's eye. I told her she should go check it out while I did this thing. Alfred objected, "No. We need to stay focused on one thing at a time. We can do that next."

                Then he asked me, "Did Thomas ever mention that this place is an actual Elven Enclave?"

                "No, it never came up one way or another."

                We finally reached the General Sherman and Alfred stopped so we could take a look. I was very nervous by then. Olivia leaned over and whispered, "It'll all be okay."

                Looking around the area we saw that most of the trees were no longer Sequoias - they looked like oaks but were golden with gold leaves.

                "Like Lothlorien," Olivia said.

                Near the base of the tree there was an onion-shaped building made from the golden wood. The tree itself was even bigger - taller and broader at the base, and it was still a Sequoia.

                Alfred asked me, "That look like a Temple to you?"

                "Sure does."

                So he parked Scooby and we all climbed out. All but Sven, that is. Olivia asked him to keep an eye on the vehicle. The group followed me towards the Temple. There were several Elves wearing long robes - acolytes? As we approached, they all stopped what they were doing to stare at me (or was it the others they were staring at?) We entered the Temple and found the inside a contrast to the plain outside. There were carvings on all the walls. Scenes of Elves acting out legends perhaps?

                An acolyte approached and asked, "Are you a Sister of the Temple?"

                "I am."

                She bowed, "I welcome you. Do you come seeking instructions?"

                "I am seeking audience with the Lady Morning Mist."

                She looked at the others spread out behind me, but before I could say anything Olivia said, "We're her posse." I wanted to die!

                The woman ignored that and said, "The Lady is in the garden. Come this way."

                "I'll try," Olivia said.

                I turned and glared at her.

                "I'll behave," she said. And when I glared again she added, "Trust me!"

                We were shown thru a set of doors and into a beautiful garden. There was a woman sitting on the ground, tending some roses. Big, mahogany colored roses. She looked up at me and began to Change. Her features aged and her hair grayed until there was a frail, ancient Elven woman sitting before us. "So, you would be the young Jacinta?"

                "I would, Mistress."

                "So what have you seen?"

                "Excuse me? Seen? Since when?"

                "Since your trip began."

                So I told her of the horrible things we had seen yesterday.

                "And what do you see here?" she asked.

                "I see a sanctuary. I see peace. I see beauty."

                "I see a boatload of trees," Olivia said.

                "Olivia!"

                Morning Mist smiled, "It's quite alright. Corellon loves laughter. Even if people joke abut him - he loves to hear the sound of laughter."

                Olivia said, "Really? I was under the impression that He was a humorless hard ass."

                Morning Mist nodded, "Part of Him is. We turn that face to the south."

                Olivia was confused, "The south?"

                "Ka," I said.

                "Ohhhhh."

                "Jacinta, let me ask you this. You have seen what we have to offer here; peace, order, and beauty. Why do you feel compelled to stand against it all?"

                "But I don't."

                Olivia said, "You didn't mention any nightlife."

                Morning Mist didn't even pause, "Try the Drow enclave."

                Olivia cleared her throat; "You offer all those things at the expense of the other races."

                "We have the ability to go so far beyond those pitiful others," Morning Mist said. "They are like children compared to us. It is our place to guide them."

                "That's not our place at all," I said.

                "Then whose is it?"

                "Let them make it on their own," I said.

                "But someone must lead," she insisted. "We are the only logical choice."

                "Oh great!" Olivia snorted. "A Vulcan Elf."

                I asked, "What about those who would choose others to lead them?"

                Morning Mist dismissed that idea; "Humans have had that choice for several thousand years. They have abused the right."

                "But that doesn't give us the right to take it away from them."

                "Why ever not?" she asked. "We are superior to them in every way. Wiser. More intelligent. We even live longer than those poor things."

                Olivia said, "Elves may indeed be long lived - something that hasn't been proven yet - but you've only been an Elf for a year and a half."

                "But I have been His champion in other lives. That is why I was sent here."

                Olivia persisted, "Aren't you a Changed human?"

                "Yes. And as a Changed human I am nothing, but as His Chosen, my power comes from previous lives, previous places. Corellon allows me to remember them so that I may serve Him."

                "I'm glad that you have your place with Him," I said. "And I am eternally grateful to have had His assistance, especially with that Skinwalker thing. That was amazing! But why did He let me use His gifts to help create the Kingdom, to make it a safe place if He now expects me to throw it all away?"

                "Don't throw it all away - they have to have someplace to live. Right now refuges for the People are few and far between. We need stability," Morning Mist said.

                "Exactly! And to create stability, we need peace between the races," I said.

                "For now."

                "No - permanently!"

                "But a thousand years from now…."

                "Bullshit!" said Olivia. "Everything has Changed. And Elves aren't even part of the nature of things here."

                "And how do you know that?" Morning Mist asked.

                "Because we didn't exist before last year!" Olivia's tone got a little more patronizing. "You know, Ellistrae is much friendlier."

                Morning Mist sneered at Olivia, "She chose to follow her mother into exile."

                "According to the book I read, it was an accident," Olivia said.

                Morning Mist ignored that and said to me, "Just picture Corellon's vision of the future."

                "No thanks, I've seen it. Didn't much care for it."

                "But the Humans had their own place. Everyone had their own place. Of course there will be no room for Ka. But there would even be a place for the Stumpies."

                "Stumpies?" I asked.

                "The short, bearded dirt-diggers." she said with disdain.

                "Oh. See, I call them "Dwarves'." As much as I tried, I couldn't keep myself from sounding like a nun correcting a wayward child. She blithely ignored that, too.

                "So, are you going to side with Corellon and the People?"

                "I don't see why she should," Olivia said.

                Morning Mist said. "This is the perfect opportunity to start this world all over again. The correct way."

                Olivia said, "Or, we could get rid of all those stuffy old stereotypes. It doesn't have to be one race hating each other."

                "Look," I said, "I'm not siding with Corellon or against Him. But if He forces me to choose…."

                "He would never force you," she said. "He wants your devotion, your dedication."

                "And He has those things, as long as He doesn't expect me to do things I cannot."

                "Crom says that Corellon is living in the past," Olivia offered.

                Morning Mist continued to ignore her. "And He is willing to wait for you, child. To wait for you to come around."

                "I will do no such thing. And I am here to say that I will not be His pawn in the downfall of the Kingdom. If He finds someone else to do it, I will do everything in my ability to stop them."

                "No one is going to take your precious little Kingdom. It's a good place for humans to live; they can keep it."

                "A reservation?" Olivia demanded. "A place for you to herd humans on to? So now Corellon is imitating the Spanish Conquistadors, the Pilgrims and the Nazis? They all thought they were the superior race, but they were nothing but bullies."

                Morning Mist said to her, "But when you are superior, as Elves are, you must do what you must do. I am so sorry that you've been satisfied with so much less for so long."

                Then she said to me, "Why not seek inside yourself? Find the visions of true greatness there."

                Olivia snorted, "Next you're going to say, 'Luke, I'm your father'."

                "Well, it could be possible, but not the case, this time."

                "If I do 'search inside myself' - what would that prove?"

                "That you are one of us."

                I was getting exasperated, "But I never said I wasn't! I know what I am."

                "But how can you be satisfied with being less than the best?" she asked."

                "But I thought merely being an Elf made me the best."

                "According to the natural order of things, we are. We are the wisest, the bravest, the smartest."

                "So if you are so superior why is Ka practically on your doorstep?" Olivia wanted to know. "Why are you letting them thrive out there while you're fucking around in here?"

                "Let the Greenies and the Humans fight it out. It leaves less of both of them for us to worry about."

                "And what about the Elves who get caught in the middle?" Olivia asked. "Like the three we rescued on our way here. Was their torture nothing but their 'privilege' to serve on Corellon's behalf?"

                "Each atrocity is counted and remembered," said Morning Mist.

                "And that's it?" I asked her. "Well, ma'am I guess we are simply going to have to agree to disagree, because that is unacceptable. I want nothing to do with Corellon's plans for me, if that is what they involve."

                "Child, don't be hasty. We have time for you to see the error of your ways."

                "Or the error of yours," Olivia said.

                "I must insist that we have no right to impose our will (or Corellon's will) on others," I said.

                "Of course not," said Morning Mist, "they have free will."

                "As do I, and I will use it to continue helping whomever I see fit."

                Morning Mist shook her head, "But everything will dissolve into chaos without our leadership."

                "It's a little late to worry about that now. Chaos is already everywhere," Olivia pointed out. "I bet that Crom thinks you're annoying, too."

                Morning Mist snapped, "So what? Crom is a God for those happy to be less. If you wanted the best you would fall your knees and………."

                Olivia took three steps forward and slapped Morning Mist's face, "You condescending bitch! I don't care who you fucked to get this job - don't disrespect my god!"

                Morning Mist was totally flabbergasted. She raised a hand to the mark on her face and signaled her acolytes to back away. I resisted the urge to step away from Olivia. I was going to stick with my friends, no matter what. That's why I had come to Yosemite in the first place, to let Him know that. So if He was going to strike Olivia down, He'd have to take us both.

                "It's too bad that you've spent so much time with humans. Possibly even servicing Dwarves." Morning Mist was furious. "You are friends to Ventura are you not? That explains a gfreat deal."

                Olivia said, to no one in particular, "If she had nards, I'd knee her."

                "Wait a minute, it'll Change," Alfred said.

                Morning Mist seemed determined to ignore them all, "You will continue to receive His favors, He will continue to answer your pleas - He still favors you for some reason. You are fighting for something that you believe in. It's all wrong of course, but He does admire that in you."

                "And I will not turn my back on Him," I said.

                "And He will not turn His back on you, not just because you're misguided."

                "Well, it's so nice to know that I'm loved even though I'm defective."

                "Child, you are so young. There is plenty of time for you to……"

                "See the error of her ways," Olivia finished for her. "She heard you the first time."

                "I can't believe you're considering standing against Him in favor of these people," Morning Mist said.

                "Well," I said, "I hope and I pray that Corellon wouldn't want followers who would be unwilling to stand up to Him. To defend what they believe in. He couldn't possibly want followers who are too weak to have their own beliefs."

                "But if He sees that you are clinging to an outdated mode of thought, He can wish that you do better. He can wish that you gain wisdom. And your 'friends'…."

                "What about my friends?"

                "You will learn, you will mature, you will grow. You are destined to be so long lived; you will leave such foolish things behind you. We all do."

                Olivia said, "Can I point out, again, that you have only been an Elf for a year and a half?"

                "In this life."

                "And we have no proof of that but your word," Olivia said.

                Morning Mist dismissed her again, "It is not Corellon's way to punish ignorance - only stupidity." (That was directed straight at Olivia, she just snorted a little laugh.)

                I sighed, "Well I guess I'm just destined to stay safely ignorant."

                "No. He expects you to learn."

                "Then He's going to be expecting for a long, long time. And I must say that I am deeply disturbed that one of the People, His First Chosen, can be so unbending, so uncompassionate."

                She snapped at me, "You are too enraptured with the Old Ways. This is a New World and we have the opportunity to make it into anything we desire."

                Olivia asked, "Why doesn't Corellon make His own world? Then He could make it Elves only from the very beginning. Oh! Maybe He can't."

                "He can do anything He wants!"

                "What did you do Before?" Olivia asked. "I bet you were an advertising executive."

                "I was no such thing."

                "Well you sure are selling that party line."

                "You don't have to 'sell' the truth."

                Olivia pondered, "I wonder, have those people working the border ever tested your true nature?"

                Morning Mist sneered, "No wonder your kind has always been separated from the People. We'll have to look into that arrangement here."

                And then Olivia took the words right out of my mouth and said, "My kind? My people? 'My people' is my friends, my family, the people I choose to travel with. Not the result of some technological accident."

                "Technology had nothing to do with it. Corellon decided to remake the world and He did so."

                "Okay, not an ad executive, maybe a talent agent," Olivia reconsidered.

                Leo spoke up (I had forgotten he was even there!) "More like Don-fucking-King."

                Morning Mist utterly ignored his presence.

                I said to her, "I am sorry that I am such a disappointment, but I don't think you could be any more disappointed in me than I am in you. It's time for my 'friends' and I to leave now."

                "I wish you luck in your endeavors," she said.

                "I wish I believed that."

                "But I do. I also hope that your further experiences will help you to find your inherently superior self. And the truth."

                Walter (I really, totally forgot that he was there!) cleared his throat and said, "May I ask your Ladyship a question?"

                "You may."

                "Before you discovered your 'True Nature', what color human were you, and where was that human born?"

                "I don't see any relevance to that question."

                "Please, just humor this simple human."

                "I was white, and I lived in Beverly Hills."

                "Okay then," Walter said.

                "A Princess!" cried Olivia.

                "I worked hard for what I had."

                "More like your parents worked hard for what you had," Olivia said.

                "You know, that's very interesting." Walter said. "Tell me - did you, in high school, ever do any fund raising? For social or charitable causes, I mean."

                Morning Mist clearly didn't see the point, "Yes. We had a fundraiser one year for AIDS. And another year we had a program to reduce hate crimes."

                "Programs where you could feel morally superior to the people you were 'helping'?" Olivia asked.

                "That was just a fact of life. Like the Christmas baskets we did every year for welfare families. We only did it for the children. Those people were only on welfare because they wanted to be."

                Olivia said, "So, you were a bitch before you changed, too."

                Walter put a hand on her arm, "Now, now, no names - she couldn't help being an ignorant, rich, trust fund piggy." Then he said to Morning Mist, "I'm guessing that this Corellon has a Vision and has given as much of it to you that He thinks you can handle. Kind of like a trophy wife - can't give her too much, she'll just screw it up. You're not preaching Corellon's word, but your version of it."

                Morning Mist was seething, now. "Leave. I will not raise hand to one of the People, but take your lapdogs and leave."

                Walter said, "If you are so superior, you shouldn't mind a little taunting. Leo and I, we're SEALs, and do you want to know what we believe in? Loyalty, work and tradition. And I take offense at a racist, bigoted, stupid, Beverly Hills trust fund piggy saying that she's better then the men that I fought with, bled with, and watched die."

                "Up 'til a year or so ago, you were a US citizen by nothing but birth. We fought for you, we died for you, and that makes me sick. Because any God that would choose YOU isn't worthy to lick the shit off a SEAL's ass!"

                Morning Mist looked at me and me only, "One hour. You have one hour to get out of my territory."

                "Your territory?" Olivia demanded.

                Walter asked, "Are you threatening to raise your hand against one of the People? Tsk, tsk!"

                Morning Mist turned to the acolytes, "Take them out of here!" she screamed.

                She was so agitated that she started Changing rapidly - man, woman, young, old, Gold, Moon, Wood. When she finally got settled it was into a charicature of an Elf. Simperingly sweet, exaggerated facial features and huge pointy ears.

                An acolyte approached her, "But, Morning Mist…."

                She turned on him and was so angry I swear we could see steam rising from her. "Fuck this!" she bellowed, "Kill them! Kill them where they stand!" Her voice had Changed and was deep and masculine.

                Olivia said, "Shed the blood of the People in His Temple?"

                When the acolytes didn't move, she grabbed the sidearm from the one who had approached her."I'll do it myself!"

                Leo stepped in front of Walter and pulled his gun, as did Olivia.

                As did I.

                Olivia fired first and got off three shots, all on the money. Leo also fired three times, but missed one of them. When I shot my hands were shaking, like the rest of me, and I only hit her once. Right in the center of her forehead. Her mahogany roses were suddenly spattered gray and crimson.

                She staggered and fell. As she hit the ground, she Changed one last time - to a human! She looked maybe 50 years old, but dressed like a teenager. At least, she was until she 'erupted' right out of her clothes; she must have been 400 pounds!

                All around us, the roses in the garden shimmered, faded and vanished. The golden trees all vanished, too. And the acolytes - their robes changed from silken flowing garments to survivor gear. Some of them were no longer Elves either!

                The Temple was also gone, and in its place was a tourist information shack.

                "Damn!" Walter said.

                The acolytes were asking, "What happened?"

                Olivia asked them, "What can you remember?"

                A woman said, "We came here looking for someplace to stay, someplace safe. She began to speak to us and everything she said made so much sense. She promised to release out inner selves, to turn us into Elves." All the others had similar stories.

                Olias was shaking his head, looking horribly confused; "Everything she was saying made perfect sense and I could not understand why you were arguing with her."

                By then some Elven guards showed up, but now their uniforms were nothing more than a mix of various national and local organizations. "What happened here?" they demanded.

                I stepped forward and said, "We were meeting with Morning Mist when she got angry and became violent. She drew a weapon on us and we defended ourselves. When she died, she changed into that. Then the forest changed and the Temple is gone."

                They looked just as confused as the rest, but they stuck with their training. "Okay, let's go back to the city for now."

                "What city?"

                "In the trees."

                "Let's hope it's still there," I said.

                It was, but now it was just tents on the ground and some shacks with people wandering around confused and dazed. They were dirty and hungry. The sight of them in that condition made me so angry!

                They saw us and asked, "What happened?" and "Doesn't Corellon love us anymore?"

                That just broke my heart because I was no longer sure of anything. I asked Olias to go with me and we found a place, away from the people that was quiet. Once we found a spot, I sent a plea to Corellon. "Please! Let me feed these people. They are starving and are in great need of proof of Your love for them."

                And He answered me! "Of course I will answer your plea." I felt myself filled with His power and I thanked Him for not leaving me, despite all my doubts.

                "Why would I do that when you have done all that I have ever asked of you?" He sounded vaguely amused.

                "But I cannot do as…….."

                "Stop." His became more commanding. "Protect the People, proclaim My word - that is all I ask of you. I sent you those visions to lead you here to Morning Mist. You needed to understand the purity of the People so you can recognize its perversion in others. My daughter spoke to you as I commanded, to plant the seed of doubt within you, that you might test yourself and make yourself ready."

                He began to draw away. "You have freed these people and that was my task for you. I will always be with you."

                As Olias and I walked back to the 'city', the ground began to sprout strange plants behind us - vines with blossoms like crystal bells, bushes laden with clusters of blood-red berries, and other things I really couldn't describe. Back at the 'city', we gathered the people and I explained that Morning Mist had never been Corellon's Chosen, but that Corellon did indeed still love them and sent them a gift as a token of His love.

                I let all the power He had given me loose and food fell from the sky like rain!

                As the people ate, Colonel Nightshade appeared (I was glad to see that she was still an Elf!) and demanded an explanation. So, we started at the beginning, with my visions in Vegas. When Olias repeated what he had said about everything that she said making such perfect sense, Olivia got a horrible look on her face.

                "Just like Vaschanka!" she said.

                "Oh, shit!"

                We immediately went back and found that the body was still there. Thank Corellon for that! Olivia pulled out her faerie fire bead and held it over the body.

                "What is she doing?" Leo asked.

                "Checking to see it it's undead," I explained.

                "You mean still alive - she can't be," Leo said.

                I said. "No, I mean undead."

                Olivia turned around and nodded at us.

                Nightshade ordered one of her men, "Lieutenant, get a detail and burn that thing."

                I stopped them, "No wait, let's be completely sure. Move it to an clearing."

                Once it was away from anything flammable, I called on Corellon to purify this blight for His people. He answered with a roaring column of flame. As the flames stuck the body, she jumped and writhed and screamed before collapsing with a wail. It was awful! We watched as the fire incinerated her, and when it was finally over and the flames were gone, we gathered the ashes, salted them, and spread them as far as we could.

                When we finished, Nightshade told us how Morning Mist had always sent other clerics away as soon as she could. She had said that she did it to further the spread of Corellon's word; obviously it was simple self-preservation. A real cleric would have known something was wrong very quickly.

                As the day wore on, Leo came to me and asked, "Are we leaving soon?"

                "No," I said.

                Olivia said, "We can't. Jazz has work to do here. And we have to make sure that the defenses against Ka don't weaken."

                Nightshade said, "As a matter of fact, we have an operation against them scheduled for tonite. We will focus on that."

                Olias and I pulled all the acolytes together so that I could 'test' them and make sure that they were all that they seemed to be. Happily, they all passed. All of them were of very low power, but if Morning Mist sent away everyone she saw as a threat, that made sense.

                I told them, "You should all stay here, I think. And if you choose to, you should rebuild and make the Temple what it should be. There are some things that I can teach you, things to make life here better for all of you, if you would allow me to do so."

                They all agreed to stay and Olias and I spent the rest of the day teaching them Healing and the Blessing to help speed up crop growth. At least they could keep the people fed and healthy!

                We worked until we were exhausted and then we were shown to a tent to spend the night.

07/17/01:

                Almost all of today was spent continuing where we left off last night with prayers, healing and teaching.

                We were taking a mid-morning break when Olivia came back to tell me she'd been over to the Drow enclave. Much to her disappointment she found nothing but Wormies. There weren't even any woman; apparently Morning Mist found them to be a threat to her position and sent them all away on grand 'missions'. The Wormies had all been under the illusion that they were Alphas. Olivia tried to bully a couple of them into Changing, but their true natures just wouldn't allow them to do so.

                In the late afternoon I gathered the acolytes and asked them to choose an area for a new Temple. They decided on a beautiful natural clearing. We spread out in a circle and I asked Corellon to consecrate the area. There was a burst of brilliant gold flame in the center of our circle and when it was gone there were some scrolls on the ground.

                I moved forward and picked them up. I unrolled one to see what is was - they were blueprints! "Can anyone read these things? They make my head hurt."

                A Moon Elf stepped forward, "I was an architect Before."

                I handed them over to him and joked, "Good. Build this."

                He smiled at me and took them. But as he examined them his smile faded.

                "What's wrong?" I asked.

                "I don't know Japanese joinery, and these plans call for it."

                A Gold Elf leapt up and joined us. "I've done that sort of work! It's my family tradition!" he said with a sense of wonder.

                I nodded, smiled and said; "A good craftsman understands His tools and all their abilities."

                Exhausted, again, Olias and I left them to their plans and retired back to our tent.

                I took the opportunity to write out two copies of everything that had happened; one for Malcolm and one for Thomas. I sealed them and added a small Magic to each so that only someone with the password would be able to open them.

                Olias asked me what I was going to do with them.

                "I'm going to ask Colonel Nightshade to give them to someone headed for Vegas - someone that she trusts. Remind me to give her some money so she can pay for their delivery."

                Then I settled in and Sent three messages.

                The first one was to Dallas: "Sending you two items - one each for Malcolm and Temple of Corellon. Please see delivered. Temple will require funds - I will repay when I return."

                And then to Thomas: "In Yosemite, spoke with Corellon. All is well. Sending complete explanation - password 'Vaschanka'. Notify as many Temples as possible, Bellagio will provide funds."

                And finally to Malcolm: "Made it to Yosemite, spoke with Corellon - Morning Mist a phony! All is well. Sending complete written explanation by courier- password 'Vaschanka'."

                Dallas - Jim, rather - responded: "Sure thing, ma'am. You all take care now. We'll leave the light on for you." I'm still not used to that quiet, polite drawl..

                Thomas said "um...OK..I'll, uh talk to him..how do I get in to see an Overlord without……" Grow a fucking spine!!! AHHGGHGH!

                Lastly, Malcolm replied, "Copy that. Password 'Vaschanka'. Stay safe, maintain regular contact. Will have party when you return."

                My duties complete, I burrowed into my bed and let exhaustion claim me again.

continued...