The Kingdom of the Emerald Hills

The Dark Lord couldn't believe his good luck. Nor could he really believe that the Wizard from Artus Pass would of fell for such a simple slight of hand trick as the ole' switch-a-roo. Could it be that these mortals were getting even more stupid than the DarkLord thought? But thinking about the Wizards lack of attention to details was just something to do while he pondered the sudden interest by one of his brother DarkLords in his newest addition to the overwhelming collection of souls in his possession? Could it be that even after scrying the soul for its possible destinies and hidden qualities, which by all his normal test and experiments revealed nothing special of the current Regents soul, could he of missed something? Something valuable enough to cause all the recent activity of Chaos and its minions in their repeated attempts to obtain that which he, The Dark Lord, held in such low value. What was so special about this particular soul? It didn't appear to be special. There was no sign of future powers to be unveiled. There was no sign of secret lineage to some powerful nobles or even a glint of the specialness that one might find in the souls of those related to unworldly beings. From all that can be seen, felt, or decoded, the Regent's soul was as normal as would be expected. And yet already people have died in the pursuit of gaining this everyday soul. But that was nothing when compared to the fact that now Lord Dreadstar had been contacted by fellow DarkLord DarkHeart in regards to the safety and whereabouts of the Regents soul. In all his lives, both here and there, the DarkLord Dreadstar had never been bothered by such questions. Not from any mortal, for that would just bring death to the mortal. Neither had any of the other DarkLords ever inquired such things before.

So it was for these reasons that the DarkLord Dreadstar was glad he had pulled the switch on the Wizard when he "arranged" for the Regents soul to be placed in a "safe" container. Two things went against the Wizard that day. First was when the Wizard allowed for the DarkLord to turn away from him to locate the container. Second, was the fact that the Wizard didn't question the containers ability to hold the captured soul. Who would of thought that a practitioner of the mystic arts would of believed that a simple lump of coal could contain something as valuable as a soul. The DarkLord had to laugh to himself as he thought of how the great Schools of Magic now days had went so far down hill as to allow a Wizard such as the one in Artus Pass to not know the basics in Containment spells. Silly puny mortals. But, then again, this Wizard might very well be a graduate from one of those micro-colleges that offer a quick road to a Spellcaster degree. Which in some ways would explain a lot when it came to the Wizard of Artus Pass.

It was with these thoughts in mind, while taking a sip from his cup that the DarkLord Dreadstar reached out via the powers that connected all the DarkLords to each other. He reached out to contact his brother DarkLord. He reached out and informed Delphos that the soul in question was safe and secure in the underground stronghold hidden deep beneath the Emerald City. He also informed his brother that the soul was his for the taking. Any payments for such a soul would be spoken about at a later date. For while the two DarkLords might wheel and deal and even flat out lie to the mortals of the Emerald Hills in their daily dealing with the populace. All deals between themselves were on the up and up. Something only a very few members of the Emerald Hills have earned over the years that the DarkLords have called this Kingdom their home away from home.

TigerHawke was on a mission, or at least it sure felt that way. Today was cleaning day for the caravan wagons and Healer Jrake's was the first on her list. She opened the wagon's door and was assaulted by the rank smell of dirty clothes and the over riding pungency of drying herbs. Now if he could combine the two affects, there might be a worrisome spell! The easiest thing was to gather up the dirty clothing and toss it outside and then get the small windows open to air the place out, which she did in short order.
She stripped the bedding off the small sleeping area and was turning the straw stuffed mattress over when she found something that she thought looked familiar.
The soul jar.
Yet it wasn't the same. Where before she had seen only a lump of black rock, in it's place was a glowing oval cystaline gem. Holding the jar in her hand she thought back to the last gathering of the Kingdom. Rumor had been swirling rampant over the keeper of this 'soul' and how attempts had been made on his life to obtain it for someone else's personal glory.
Yet Jrake had it? Odd.
Eniad must of given it to him to get it out of the Kingdom and buy himself some peace instead of death. But Jrake?? He was just a young lad. Powerful, but young, trusting and no thief. Entirely no match for those that hunted this particular prize either since they came at you in at least pairs or so she had heard rumored.
Thinking further of her small band of travelers, she realized that she did not want this within a hundred miles of her, hell a thousand would be better! Yet seemingly it was of value, she thought with a merchant's eye as she had been taught at her farther's knee.
But worth what?
Certainly not the insanity that Eniad was going through, and most certainly not with a Dark Elf in her camp. That was enough of a headache. Ghosttiger in possession of this soul? She shuddered to think what he could or WOULD do with it.
No, it could not remain here .... but she knew who could deal with this. The cleaning could wait. TigerHawke had a letter to send and deal to cut. That was where the value was in all of this.
HE would know what to do, she was sure of it.