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[Satori]

Imoen whistled cheerfully as she walked through the woods, looking for all intents as if she had not a care in the world - just your normal everyday girl out for a walk, wearing bright pink and with a bow slung across her back ? okay, maybe not so normal.  Regardless, she projected an image of cheer that matched her sunny clothing.  

?Weren?t you whining about this mission just an hour ago?? the Azurin blademaster accompanying her asked.  

Imoen just grinned at the 19 year old, a young woman well past the age of majority by the standards of the fast-aging Azurin. [1]   ?I was merely setting the stage for future negotiations when routine work like this comes up.?  She waggled a finger.  ?You know, Rika, you should pay more attention to politics and negotiation.  We can?t settle all decisions through trial-by-combat.?  It was a joke on her status as a Paladin of Helm, divinely appointed to arbitrate disputes and uphold the law.  Rika, whose real name was a tongue twisting phrase that translated as ?sheer granite face of the cliff?, was unyielding in her belief in justice, and was all to happy to uphold righteousness at the blade of her exotic Kara-Tur swords.

?I seem to recall I did much better than you when it came to the fine points of diplomacy,? Rika dryly reminded the incorrigibly playful mage.  ?Not everyone is taken by your Genki-Girl persona.?

Imoen sniffed haughtily.  ?I?ll have you know that I?m very popular.?

?Indeed, you are.  The price on your head is only, what half a million gold pieces now??

?Hey!  What happens on the Far Planes stays on the Far Planes.?

The good natured ribbing came to an abrupt halt as they reached the edge of the woods and saw the fortress of High Hedge.

?Well,? Rika said, after a moment?s silence.  ?Looks like this won?t be boring after all.?

Imoen nodded her agreement.  High hedge has always had a foreboding edge to it, to discourage overly curious townsfolk from entering the wizard?s sanctuary.  But Thalantyr, despite his gruff exterior, was a good-hearted man.  He wouldn?t leave what was clearly a mystical trap powered by necrotic energies in the clearing in front of his stronghold.  Nor would he be so crass as to leave the bodies of those who fell to such death magic to rot, even if he had inexplicably turned to worship of Cyric [2] in the past month.  At the very least he would have preserved the flesh for use.  The grumpy mage hated waste.

?This can?t be good? Imoen said, as she used her arcane vision to scan the barred gates of High Hedge.  ?Thalantyr?s no pushover.  Whoever did this is a major player if he managed to take down old sourpuss without him at least getting word out.  And he?s likely got power to burn if he?s making such inefficient use of magic.  I haven?t ever seen a death-effect glyph-trap that was less than two centuries old.?

?Old, forgotten magics??

?No, just impractical.  Usually, they?re only used by Liches.  They can afford to indulge in frills since they have centuries to build up their lairs.?

?Oh, great.  Whoever did this plans to stick around.?  Rika groaned. ?Can you suppress the magic??

Imoen frowned at the question.  ?I don?t know if a dispel magic would do the trick here.  Unless?? She tapped a pocket of her coat.  

Imoen?s familiar, a bright-plumaged humming bird, emerged from the extra-dimensional space connected to the pocket.  ?An anti-magic field should suppress the glyph.  And Zephyr can carry it.?  The bird alighted on her shoulder.

?Well, let?s back up then.  I prefer to stay out of those things.?

Imoen nodded her agreement.  As a mage, she was even more vulnerable when her magic was suppressed.  The two women retreated into the forest, opening enough space for the bird to carry the magic-suppressing emanation without putting them in the area of effect.  The two women readied their bows, and Imoen gave quick instructions to her familiar before starting the incantation for the anti-magic field spell.  

The completion of the spell brought unexpected results.  Disks of pure force shimmered briefly into view, before dissipating, dumping the vials of explosive alchemist?s fire they carried ten feet in front of the two adventurers, causing a fireworks show that sent several sparks of flame at the two girls.  They didn?t even get a chance to react before they found themselves caught in crossfire between crossbow-armed skeletal warriors that had been waiting under the cover of invisibility.  

Imoen cried out in pain as several bolts punched into her abdomen, and left thigh.  Rika was more fortunate.  The Mithril breastplate she wore deflected most of the quarrels that came her way, and she took only a glancing hit that ripped open the skin on her right calf. [3]

Then the anti-magic effect was gone as Zephyr, true to the last command he had received, winged towards the gates ahead.  Magical protections snapped back into working order on both sides.   Armor of pure force outlined the front of Imoen?s chest as a orb of fire splashed harmlessly against it.  The girl?s animated shields hummed back into action.  The skeletons, already advancing with scimitars, with their crossbows discarded, vanished back into invisibility.

?Greater Invisibility? Rika muttered, and cursed, her eyes glowing azure as she channeled Incarnum and laid a hand against Imoen?s back, letting healing energy flow into the wounded mage.  

The quarrels popped loose as the flesh they had sunk into began to knit itself, but Imoen was paying no attention, already focused on casting.  A swift mental command caused eight illusionary doubles of her to appear, each moving a different direction, as Imoen herself staggered left, and deftly spun her hands through the gestures for an offensive spell.  

Rika?s eyes widened as she realized Imoen?s intensions, and hit the deck a moment before Imoen dropped a fireball on their own position. [4]

[1] Azurin are a race introduced in Magic of Incarnum.  They reach adulthood at 15.  My version of Azurin culture is very different from cannon.

[2] Evil god of, well . . . basically being an asshole.

[3] Normally high-level characters wouldn?t fare this poorly, but the anti-magic field suppresses many of their defenses.  Imoen has an effective AC of 15, while Rika has AC 21, while caught flatfooted in an AMF (actually, Imoen can?t be rendered flatfooted, or her AC would be 11).

[4] Both girls have Evasion, so this isn?t actually as bad an idea as it sounds.