Recovery Plans

Plans are made for rescuing Aaron from the Hutcaiah.

11.
Recovery Plans

 

Lysa managed to get some sleep, but spent most of her time fretting over the state of Aaron.    She was greatly relieved when one of the Sylvan Elf servants came into the room and told her that the meeting would begin soon.  

She found clothing laid out for her in a chair near her bed, so Lysa quickly dressed, glad that she did not feel weak due to Queen Mathlyn’s healing spells.

 

Upon entering the conference room, she found Aedric and Snoe, Bruce, Mattleos, Mathlyn, and, to her delight, Carn and Amala.    She had not seen the couple for several months and they rushed over to greet her and comment on her new form.

“Quite a change, isn’t it?”   Carn joked with her.   He certainly knew of what she was going through, for he had changed from a Bugbear, back to his original Elven form, only a few months ago.

“Yes, sir, it is, and it feels very odd to me.”   She replied.

“Well you look lovely, Lysa.”   Amala complimented her.

“Thank you, Lady Amala.”

“Just call me Amala, Lysa.   We’re going on this mission with you, so we need to be on less formal terms.”

King Aedric called them all to gather around and then began the meeting.

“We all know why we’re here and you have all been briefed on the plan we’ve sketched out to rescue Aaron.    I want to thank all of you for volunteering.   We must keep our rescue group small, for we suspect that the Hutcaiah have some method of spying on us - through spies or perhaps magical means.     So the fewer that know, the better.”

Queen Snoe put her hand on her husband’s arm to interrupt him and then turned to Lysa, “Lysa, how are you feeling?    Your wellness is of the utmost importance to this plan, so I thought we should ask you this first.”

“I feel strong, Your Majesty, for Queen Mathlyn cast the healing spells upon me several hours ago.    I rested some and I am very willing and able to participate.”

“Good.”   Aedric resumed, “Snoe is right, this whole plan revolves around you, Lysa.      Let me briefly outline what we have come up with.     We plan to send this small group into the heart of Hutcaiah territory, to Lu-Wadj, just before they begin their festival.   We’ll infiltrate the temple of the moon goddess and wait until the ceremony begins.    Then we will teleport Lysa to the top of the temple, where their legends say that the moon goddess shall appear.    Lysa, we will have you made up to look the part, and with your Hutcaiah features and the blue eyes of the Nueriah, then you should look convincing.”

Amala raised her hand to interrupt her brother-in-law, “I’m confused about something.    You said that those Hutcaiah with blue eyes are called ‘the Nueriah’ but I thought they were called ‘Mesen-gongzu-Yu’?”

“I can explain that, sis.”  Snoe answered, “I did some research because that confused me as well.   ‘Nueriah’ means ‘daughters of the moon’ and it refers to any Hutcaiah woman who is born with blue eyes.    This includes any who are not of the noble families.    They are allowed to serve in the moon goddess’ temple, but only those of noble blood are actual priestesses.    The noble women who are Nueriah are those who are Mesen-gongzu-Yu.”

“Ah, that explains that.     So only a noble woman is a Mesen-gongzu-Yu and they alone are priestesses in the temple?”

“Right.”   Aedric responded, “And there is only a small number of the Mesen-gongzu-Yu, and everyone knows who they are.    So when Lysa appears at the top of the temple, it will be evident that she is none of the priestesses pretending to be Kuyomi-Chia.”

“Well, could they think that maybe she was one of the lower born Nueriah playing the role?”   Amala asked.

“Lady Deborah told me that the lower-born Nueriah cannot stand on the temple and that spells have been set up to prevent them  -- or any Hutcaiah woman--  from desecrating it with their footsteps.”   Bruce interjected.

“Then wouldn’t that endanger Lysa as well?”   Amala wondered.

“No, Lady Deborah said that Lysa has the form of Princess Seba-Yinhu.”   Bruce told her.

“But wasn’t Seba-Yinhu of mixed blood?   So she wouldn’t have been worthy of being a priestess in the eyes of the Hutcaiah.”

“You are right, Lady Amala, but I asked Lady Deborah about that and she said that she believes that Seba-Yinhu was not any more impure than any of the other priestesses.   She thought that Seba-Yinhu was worthy of the title of Mesen-gongzu-Yu, so Lysa should be able to step onto the temple platform.”

“Still it is a risk.”

“I’m willing to take the chance, Amala.”   Lysa told the Drow girl, who smiled at her courage.

“Anyway,”  Aedric resumed, “While Lysa is playing the role of the goddess, the rest of us will be concealed nearby, ready to come to her and Aaron’s aid if this plan fails.    We’ve secured a ring of invisibility for Bruce and he will position himself at the base of the temple platform, where Aaron should be bound.    If the ruse fails, he will be close by.    Hopefully it will go smoothly.     Lysa will descend the platform, speaking the words of the goddess.   She’ll examine Aaron as if she was looking over a sacrifice that she had not seen before.    She’ll approve, cut his bonds and then act as if she is about to teleport away.    Queen Mathlyn will cast a teleportation spell upon them from a place of concealment and they will seem to vanish.”

 

“There are a lot of variables to worry about.”   Mattleos commented.

“Yes, you’re right Matt, but if it all works, the Hutcaiah will be convinced that their offering was taken by the goddess and we will rescue Aaron without any bloodshed.    Lysa and Aaron will be teleported to a rendezvous spot that we’ll set up somewhere, probably outside of the imperial city prior to all of this.    The rest of us will join them and then as a group we’ll teleport back here to Tarmard.”

Lysa had a troubling thought and raised her hand, “Your Highness, I am told that teleportation spells require prior knowledge of the location of the teleportation spot.    How will our party teleport to Lu-Wadj, as none of us has been there?”

Aedric smiled, “Well, thanks to Reverend Zeatt this should not be a problem.    You see, when she cast that spell upon Aaron before he was given to the Hutcaiah, it was a spell to know of what Aaron was experiencing.”

“So we know what is happening to him?!”   Lysa exclaimed, jumping to her feet.

“Calm down, Lysa, and allow me to explain.    Yes, we knew at first what was happening to him.   Snoe spoke to Zeatt yesterday by scrying ball.    Zeatt said that they were able to watch Aaron arrive in the capital city and he was taken to the prison quarters under the temple.    But the priestesses used detection spells on him and dispelled the tracking spell that Zeatt had cast upon him.   Since then we have no way to know what has happened to him.”

Lysa gave a slight moan at the thought, but Aedric continued speaking.

“Yet from the time that we were able to watch him, we have knowledge of some of the city of Lu-Wadj.    So Reverend Zeatt has agreed to come here and teleport our group to Lu-Wadj, since she has enough knowledge of it to cast the spell.   Then Mathlyn will cast the spell to return us home after we rescue Aaron.”

“Oh.”   Lysa said, still agonizing at the thought of Aaron’s situation.

“Courage, Lysa, they will not kill him, for they need a living sacrifice for their goddess.   That is where you come in.    From now until the day of our rescue attempt, I want you to learn the Hutcaiah phrase that the goddess is said to speak when she appears.   You will have a spell cast upon you to translate what you say into their language, but if you spoke the phrase and sounded natural speaking the words, it would be far more believable.”

“We are crafting you clothing that is appropriate, based on what we learned from the Hutcaiah prisoners that we took at Helios’ Valley.    Zeatt interviewed them intensely and she told us many details that will make our plan successful.”

Talk turned to details then, planning for stealth for all of the other members.

“The idea is for no-one, other than Lysa, to be seen.     Bruce will have his ring of invisibility; the rest of you will have Elven Cloaks and boots for concealment.    As for armor, you will wear Elven chainmail beneath leather.     Weapons will be simple, for we want speed and concealment first.     We don’t want to engage them any more than we have to, and hopefully they won’t even know that we are there.”

“What if we are detected?”   Amala wondered.

“From what I have learned, the Hutcaiah will kill any outsiders who breach the sanctity of their Temple compound.     So we should not think of surrendering.     All of us here, except Lysa and Bruce have Autocaster rings and for those that do, I would suggest fighting to the death,  as your rings will take you back here before you actually die.  But even with the rings, we need to be careful, for the Hutcaiah have many powerful wizards and use magic frequently.”

“What about Aaron’s Autocaster ring?”   Amala asked, “Did he have it with him when he left with the Hutcaiah Emperor?”

“No,” Snoe answered, “We knew they’d strip him of everything and so we knew it wouldn’t do him any good.    In fact, I have it here.”

She pulled a necklace from under her tunic which had a ring attached to it, “Lysa, I will give you his ring.    You should wear it until you have set him free, for it will work for you as well.    We don’t have time to craft new ones for you and Bruce, so you both will have to be extremely careful.”

Lysa nodded and King Aedric resumed.

“Snoe’s right, you both will be in the most danger on this mission.   Bruce, you need to stay hidden unless it is absolutely necessary to intervene.    If you do, the effect of the invisibility ring will be gone.    But if you can get out of sight from everyone for a few moments, and slip the ring off, then immediately back on again, the invisibility will resume, as long as you don’t make any offensive moves.”

“I understand.”  Bruce said confidently.

“Lysa, you are going to have to bluff your way out of a situation.    We’ll use as much magic as we can to make them think you are their moon goddess, but if the ruse is discovered, you will probably be alone with Aaron and I imagine he’ll not be able to help much.”

“So you’d advise evading them if possible, if we are discovered?”

“Yes, and we’ll have a spot predetermined to meet.    Mathlyn will be there to immediately teleport you and Aaron away.    We want to get the two of you out of there first, and hopefully Bruce will be with you as well, so we can send him with you.     The rest of us will follow, if at all possible, but if we can’t, then we will fight on to the death, for that will activate the spells in our Autocaster rings and we’ll be immediately removed.    So if we all are separated, don’t worry about those of us who are wearing our Autocasters.    Remember, the Hutcaiah will not take us as prisoners.”

 

For over an hour, they discussed the plan in depth and then split up to make preparations.    

“We have five days that we must wait, and I would advise all of you to prepare as best as you can.”   Aedric told them before they went their separate ways, “Make certain your Autocaster Rings are fully charged and that your equipment is ready.    We don’t have much on the Hutcaiah, but I will put what writings we have on them out in the royal library for all of you to read and study.” 

 

Queen Mathlyn took Lysa and had her fitted for a ‘moon goddess’ outfit that the royal tailors would quickly make.

“I also want to help you practice the Hutcaiah words that you will speak when you ‘appear’ on the temple platform.     I have no knowledge of the pronunciation of the Hutcaiah language, but I have listened to the Hutcaiah guards’ interrogation session and I remembered what they claimed were the words the goddess was supposed to speak.    Hopefully they were telling us the truth.”

 

For several hours, Lysa practiced the strange words, while seamstresses measured, fitted and pinned material to her.    In between her language practice, Mathlyn read to her from a transcript of the interrogations of the Hutcaiah guards, so she would have as much knowledge of the race as possible.

 

It was nearly midnight before they called it quits for the day.    Lysa felt exhausted and the Inion Sidhe lady apologized for taxing her strength all evening.

“Go and rest, child, and we will work on more tomorrow.   You are sounding better and better reciting the phrase.”

“I just hope it sounds perfect when the time comes, Your Majesty.”

“Yesh will guide you child.   You certainly look the part.”

“It is unsettling to see myself.”  

“I’m sure it is a huge change for you, Lysa.     Though the Hutcaiah are our enemies right now, I must tell you that your appearance is quite beautiful.”

“Thanks, Your Majesty, I don’t know if I will ever get used to it.”

“In time you will, child.   Now go and get some rest, and may Yesh grant you a peaceful sleep.”