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- May 25, 2009
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In the years since the invasion, Dorinara had learned a lot. Crolia had been her first stop. The Academy claimed to have killed its invaders overnight, and gods-reach hadn't been far behind. As a result, the Academy had amazing amounts of written work on the invaders, and even a few dead specimen. And the knowledge that Crolia had barely been shaken by the invasion was welcome, following the devastation in parts of Badaria.
Next on her list was the jungle. But that had been worse than useless. The only major city had been utterly destroyed, and the whatever invaders were left were mixed with several tribes of demons, greater and lesser fey, the night elves, half-savage humans, and all the natural dangers of the jungle. Not an ideal climate for study.
The Anudor desert had been nearly as bad. For study, that is. There were plenty of invaders, out in the open where they might be observed, but there weren't many humans or su-ku-ta. At least, not left alive and free, and those that were left had been rapidly losing ground when the nigh-elf had moved on. She might have learned about the invaders if she'd stayed, but it likely would have been rather more intimately then she hoped.
Which brought her back to Badaria. She had set up in the forest South West of the ruins of the Necropolis, a short ways outside the land controlled by the invaders who had made that city their capital. Here she was close enough to the invaders that she might study them... without being in immediate danger of being overwhelmed.
The effect was boosted by the forest. The invaders didn't bother sending patrols into it very often, since it was apparently uninhabited and quite hard to move around in. And the humans were far enough away that they couldn't bother the night-elf, while being close enough that she could trade with them or even flee behind their walls if there were no other choice. Fortunately the house she had discovered seemed sturdy enough, and she had provisioned it well.
And best of all was the basement. She hadn't actually found it until her second day in the house, the trap door being quite well blended into the floor and covered by a rug besides. The lock had taken further time to work out. But the basement had been spacious, just the thing for setting up a laboratory in. It had even had its own glassware. Probably originally used for making drugs, but easily enough re-purposed.
The white-haired woman turned to the other major asset she had recycled from the hidden room. A small grabber struggled in the leather and metal restraints that had at some point men and certainly women. It struggled weakly, several days after its capture. Nobody knew what they ate, or if just feeding off of men and women was enough for them, but this one certainly seemed to be growing weaker now that it was getting neither.
There was little enough left to learn about the things physically after that, though. The Academy had been through, and Dorinara had been able to verify most of their results. Most of her experiments had been with communication, and she had finally exhausted her last attempt. It couldn't - or wouldn't - communicate in any way the elf could think of. She hadn't really expected it to, but finding an invader alone was rare enough that she had jumped on the chance when she'd spotted the grabber, alone and still quite small.
A hunter would have been better. They could speak, at least, even if they didn't have much to say. Or a gemini. The academy hadn't had any records on humans working with the invaders. Nobody in Crolia had seen them, but they were appearing in increasing numbers in Badaria and Anudor. Unfortunately, they tended to move in groups. Just about anything would be better then a grabber, in fact. The invaders were physically well known, the real knowledge that the sentient races still lacked was social. How were the invaders organized, what did they want, and what were they planning. It would be worth practically any risk to learn the answers, especially to the last one.
Regardless of how she intended to proceed, though, it was time for the white-haired elf to leave the safety of the cabin. The grabber had given all the usefulness it ever would, so more information would have to need more risk. Roaming the forest had been safe enough so far, though unlikely to deliver invaders. Moving towards the Necropolis would certainly yield invaders eventually, but also much more risk. And technically visiting the nearby Badarian settlement would be polite, and they might even know something useful. So far she didn't even know its name, though, and she had her own reasons for keeping it that way.
Next on her list was the jungle. But that had been worse than useless. The only major city had been utterly destroyed, and the whatever invaders were left were mixed with several tribes of demons, greater and lesser fey, the night elves, half-savage humans, and all the natural dangers of the jungle. Not an ideal climate for study.
The Anudor desert had been nearly as bad. For study, that is. There were plenty of invaders, out in the open where they might be observed, but there weren't many humans or su-ku-ta. At least, not left alive and free, and those that were left had been rapidly losing ground when the nigh-elf had moved on. She might have learned about the invaders if she'd stayed, but it likely would have been rather more intimately then she hoped.
Which brought her back to Badaria. She had set up in the forest South West of the ruins of the Necropolis, a short ways outside the land controlled by the invaders who had made that city their capital. Here she was close enough to the invaders that she might study them... without being in immediate danger of being overwhelmed.
The effect was boosted by the forest. The invaders didn't bother sending patrols into it very often, since it was apparently uninhabited and quite hard to move around in. And the humans were far enough away that they couldn't bother the night-elf, while being close enough that she could trade with them or even flee behind their walls if there were no other choice. Fortunately the house she had discovered seemed sturdy enough, and she had provisioned it well.
And best of all was the basement. She hadn't actually found it until her second day in the house, the trap door being quite well blended into the floor and covered by a rug besides. The lock had taken further time to work out. But the basement had been spacious, just the thing for setting up a laboratory in. It had even had its own glassware. Probably originally used for making drugs, but easily enough re-purposed.
The white-haired woman turned to the other major asset she had recycled from the hidden room. A small grabber struggled in the leather and metal restraints that had at some point men and certainly women. It struggled weakly, several days after its capture. Nobody knew what they ate, or if just feeding off of men and women was enough for them, but this one certainly seemed to be growing weaker now that it was getting neither.
There was little enough left to learn about the things physically after that, though. The Academy had been through, and Dorinara had been able to verify most of their results. Most of her experiments had been with communication, and she had finally exhausted her last attempt. It couldn't - or wouldn't - communicate in any way the elf could think of. She hadn't really expected it to, but finding an invader alone was rare enough that she had jumped on the chance when she'd spotted the grabber, alone and still quite small.
A hunter would have been better. They could speak, at least, even if they didn't have much to say. Or a gemini. The academy hadn't had any records on humans working with the invaders. Nobody in Crolia had seen them, but they were appearing in increasing numbers in Badaria and Anudor. Unfortunately, they tended to move in groups. Just about anything would be better then a grabber, in fact. The invaders were physically well known, the real knowledge that the sentient races still lacked was social. How were the invaders organized, what did they want, and what were they planning. It would be worth practically any risk to learn the answers, especially to the last one.
Regardless of how she intended to proceed, though, it was time for the white-haired elf to leave the safety of the cabin. The grabber had given all the usefulness it ever would, so more information would have to need more risk. Roaming the forest had been safe enough so far, though unlikely to deliver invaders. Moving towards the Necropolis would certainly yield invaders eventually, but also much more risk. And technically visiting the nearby Badarian settlement would be polite, and they might even know something useful. So far she didn't even know its name, though, and she had her own reasons for keeping it that way.