Right is Right (S&S style story)

[goodgulf]

Note: this was partly inspired by a long discussion on the nature of evil and how so few of history's greatest villains would have thought themselves evil. It was also inspired Gamers 2: Dorkness Rising, which brought memories of how some people played Lawful Good as Lawful Stupid... Ah, the days of D&D. They are missed.

Right is Right (S&S style story)

'So much fuss over nothing.' Alexandra thought as she scrubbed away.

Technically it was just supposed to be a ritual bath that symbolically washed her clean, but Alexandra thought that any bath that didn't leave your skin raw was a waste of the bath water, even if the water was in a four foot deep pool as opposed to a copper tub. The way those attendants had looked her when she asked for a bath brush made Alexandra wonder if she was the first person to have a real bath in the candle lined, spice scented pool, but Alexandra didn't care: right was right and she knew what was right.

'And they'll see it was all mistake.' Alexandra thought as she finished scrubbing. Out loud she said: "Hey you, you in the purple robes. I'm done in here. Bring me my armour and equipment."

One of the nameless women approached the edge of the bathing pool, smiling and saying: "But that's not the procedure. You might have insisted on that brush, but our assigned duties are well known to us. Next comes towels and a robe and ahhhh..."

Alexandra had never had any patience for self-important fools, so partway through the woman's speech she lashed out with the long handled bath brush, hooking the woman's leg and sending her flying face first into the bathing pool. As the attendant flew into the water, Alexandra demonstrated her combat reflexives by landing the brush twice on the woman's backside in a fraction of a second. Then the woman was spitting out water as she surfaced.

Alexandra smiled and adjusted her hold on the bath brush.

The woman paled at that smile.

"We can't get your armour!" The attendant insisted hurriedly. "Only warriors are permitted in that storage area and none of us are warriors. Please allow us to dry you and give you a robe so that you may fetch them yourself."

Alexandra frowned. That was practically a demand and she never took demands well.

"And what's stopping me from walking out this pool dripping wet and walking around until I find my gear?" Alexandra demanded.

"Because there are men in the building and..."

"Men have seen me naked before." Alexandra interrupted. "When the times demand action then modesty needs must be sacrificed for the greater good. Besides, I'm sure that mine wouldn't be the first body those men have seen."

"Um, some of them are mere boys." The woman blurted out. "For the men's bath. Some men don't like other men to wash them and of course it would be unseemly for a woman to do so, so we have youths to..."

"So some little boy's going to fall asleep at night and dream of this." Alexandra said, lifting one of her breasts with her off hand. "Big deal. Better they mess their sheets dreaming of a warrior of the light than leave themselves open to those night phantoms that tempt young boys."

"But but but it's part of the procedure that the temple requested." The woman stammered, wondering if these words would be her last. "If it's not completed the temple might say that you refused an order and..."

The attendant's voice trailed off. As her voice feel silent the woman's inner monologue turned to prayer. She knew she had lived a good life and that she had served the gods of weal as best she could, but part of her still wanted to live long enough to hold her grandchildren.

Alexandra's expression changed to one of frustration.

"Those stupid fools might well call it that. Of all the... All because of a stupid little mistake! All right, we'll do it your way."

The attendant began to breathe again, then led the way to the steps at the far side of the pool. She knew that no one came here because of a single 'little mistake' and knew better than to voice that knowledge.

Alexandra still wasn't happy, and she let it show; as the attendant stepped from the water Alexandra swatted the woman's backside again, landing a trio of swats with the brush before the woman could hope to react. And other than exclaiming in shock the woman did nothing, carefully not make any moves that could be considered a hostile response or anything that might provoke anything more than a sore behind.

Then the other attendants were drying Alexandra off with big fluffy towels. As they worked, Alexandra wondered if any of them were enjoying their work too much, if they were looking at her body in unnatural ways. Not that she caught any sly looks, but Alexandra vowed to return later for a full investigation. As for now, she cut the drying short. Who cared if her hair was wet and her body still damp; she had things to do and she was going to do them.

The robe they dressed her in was modest one, but Alexandra felt naked without her armour. And her sword. And the various mystic devices that she used in the course of her duties. Stalking away from the relieved women, Alexandra went in search of her gear.

To their disappointment, the woman's relief was short lived. Alexandra went to the door that she had entered by, and when it didn't open she pounded on it. As she swirled to stare daggers at the attendants, the nameless woman (who was still dripping wet) stood forward again.

"It's part of the rite. You enter by the door of..."

"Who cares about the rite!" Alexandra growled. "Open this door! Now!"

"We can't." The woman squealed. "It doesn't open from this side. It's some wizard work. I know not the name nor power of the spell, but the door..."

"Oh shut up." Alexandra commanded.

She knew of the spell that the woman was speaking of. It was a low order spell, practically any magic user could cast it, and unless counter spelled it would keep the door closed until the end of time - or the end of the door. Glancing around, Alexandra couldn't see anything that could function as a door destroyer, so sighed and accepted her situation.

"So what door do I leave by?" Alexandra demanded.

"The door of..."

"I don't need to know its darkness damned name! Where in the hells is it?" Alexandra growled.

The attendant carefully pointed out the door, being sure not to move too fast or too slow, and Alexandra stalked to it.

Wrenching open the door, Alexandra discovered an antechamber that was about ten-foot square that had a door on the opposite wall.

"I hate ten foot square rooms." Alexandra muttered.

She wedged the door open with her bath brush and stalked to the opposite wall. As she touched that door the one she had entered by slammed shut, reducing the bath brush to splitters.

"I knew that was going to happen." Alexandra muttered, wishing that she had a trap finder along on this job. Not a thief or a rogue, she would never associated with either of those, but a trap finder like Mickey the Swift Hand or Edward of the Second Story.

Of course she wanted someone like one of those two people, not Mickey or Edward themselves. Mickey's remaining hand wasn't so swift, not after he had lost his good hand after it had been found inside that merchant's money belt (not his money pouch, his money belt - that was how swift Mickey's hands had been) and as for Edward... It hadn't seemed right to pay for a Raise The Dead spell, not after Edward had been hung for committing a series of second floor robberies. Then again, he'd been dead for less than a week so there was still time to do that, if she wanted to and could find a cleric willing to do it.

So a trap finder (not a thief!) like one of those had been, that would be useful to have here.

But she didn't have a trap finder, and her only weapon had just been destroyed by a magically closing door, so Alexandra opened the remaining door and stepped out.

Stepped out in to a conference room of some type. Alexandra had seen countless such rooms, but they had been war rooms, with maps and charts and unit rosters scattered everywhere. This room was much neater, dominated by a single table with a scattering of scrolls on it. Five men (well, males, three elves and two humans) sat on one side of the table and there was a single chair on this side of it. Not at the table itself, but several feet from it, so that a person sitting in it could see all five men without turning her head.

"Ah, I see we must call this meeting to order." Said the man sitting in the middle of the group, the third one from the left or the right. "If you would sit we can begin things."

Alexandra strolled forward confidently. She planned to pick up the chair and move it closer to the table so she could sit opposite the central (and thus the most important) figure. Then the plan fell apart; when she tried to pick up the chair and it wouldn't budge.

"The chair was placed there for a reason, and it is spellbound in place." The man told her. "Now if you will just sit?"

"Gladly." Alexandra said, recovering swiftly and sitting. "Now if we can just clear up this misunderstanding..."

"Misunderstanding?" The speaker asked. "Is that... But where are my manners? I am Atheldar. My colleagues are Merimac Cooper, Arnion, Culldhor, and Litathel."

Each of them bowed their heads slightly as Atheldar said their names. Alexandra grunted in reply, not really caring who was who. Then again, information was power. Merimac Cooper was the elf on the far left, and beside him was the elf called Arnion. Atheldar was the human spokesman, Culldhor the elf to his right, and on the far right was human named Litathel. Alexandra wasn't sure how this information might help her, but since they insisted on giving it to her Alexandra would use it if possible. If nothing else their pause had given her a chance to steer the conversation.

"So, when do you clear me to return to my duties?" Alexandra asked, going on the offensive.

"Ah, as to that." Arnion said, lifting one of the scrolls in front of him. "We have a few questions."

"Then why aren't you questioning the idiot who made the mistake?" Alexandra demanded.

"Perhaps if we begin at the beginning we will finish faster?" Atheldar suggested. "You are Alexandra of Riverside... Riverside. Such a common name. Virtually every area with a river has several communities with that name. We really should use qualifiers or ..."

"Yes, I am Alexandra of Riverside." Alexandra responding, cutting the man's comments short. "Can we continue?"

"Ah, yes. Well, Alexandra of Riverside, the records show that you trained as a holy warrior, swore obedience to Rowan, The Lord of Justice, and after finishing your training you travelled with a group sponsored by one of his temples to help right the wrongs of the world."

"That I did." Alexandra agreed.

"And after travelling with that group for three years you broke off on your to fight the good fight." Arnion continued.

"Technically I didn't." Alexandra with a smile. She had caught them in a mistake, and that could only help their cause. "After the battle at Wellsford there were only three of us left standing, and the other two were injured to the point that they required major healing. I didn't leave that group, I was the one who survived its destruction and carried on its mission. It was the right thing to do."

"But the point remains that for most of the last six years you have rarely visited the temples of Rowan and have been focused on your own efforts rather than their causes."

"The cause is the same." Alexandra asserted. "Spreading good in the world."

"Well, as to that... You must be aware that we and others have investigated the situation."

Atheldar told her. "Now if our scying is accurate, three years ago Rowan, The Lord of Justice, withdrew his divine favour from you. That is, for the last three years you have been unable to heal or weld the spells that he would normally grant you."

"Yes, but that was because I had grown too dependant on them." Alexandra asserted. "It was a test, one that I've passed."

"Ah, I see." Atheldar noted. "And it's been two years since you last saw the war-horse that Rowan, The Lord of Justice, gifted you with?"

"Of course! I told you, I was being tested! And it's a test I've passed. I've slain countless enemies of good - all in his name." Alexandra proclaimed. "I've done nothing wrong. Right is right and I know what's right."

The wizard's across the table from her exchanged glances.

"About that." Atheldar said, shifting papers. "We feel the need to go over some of your actions. For example, the slaughter at the Caves of Chaos."

"A great victory." Alexandra nodded.

"About those orc children you slew..."

"Children? They weren't children. They were a miniature breed of orcs." Alexandra informed him.

"And that elf at Woodhaven." Arnion began. "The one that protested that his skin colour was the result of a poorly aimed dye spell."

"All dark elves are evil and must die." Alexandra said, nodding. "That's a given."

"And the other elves who backed up his story about the dye, or at least tried to before you killed them?" Arnion challenged.

"Sometimes elves turn traitor to the light." Alexandra answered with a shrug. "What I and my companions did then was right. Right is right and I know what's right."

"I see." Arnion said, then yielded the floor to the next speaker.

"Speaking of your companions." Merimac Cooper said, speaking next. "Have you noticed at that for the last three years every trap finder you've employed has either been convicted of being a thief or was exposed as an assassin?"

"A good trap finder is hard to find - pun intended." Alexandra nodded.

"Speaking once more of your companions." Litathel, one of the human wizards, interjected. "In a town outside Raven's Bluff you, what did the report say? You went to the river for some water whilst your companions questioned a half-orc mercenary. The water was only 50 yards away, but it took you more than two hours to do so, and by the time you return..." Litathel paused to examine a paper. "... by the time you returned he had given you the details of a nearby bandit lair and his scrotum had just happen to come off while they questioning him."

"I'm not an expert on scrotums." Alexandra asserted. "For all I know they come off all the time."

"How about fingers?" Culldhor inquired.

"Fingers?" Alexandra asked.

"At Village of Hommlet, you were went for water that was from a well that only 45 feet away while your companions questioned a farmer. It took you more than three hours to get the water and by the time you return seven of his fingers had fallen off." Culldhor asserted.

"Ah, that case." Alexandra answered with a nod. "There was a half ogre in the village. That farmer insisted that the creature was a half-wit, little more than a beast of burden, but everyone knows ogres are evil. By the time I returned he changed his tune; not only did he tell us where the beast had hidden but had a list of crimes that the creature had committed."

"And his fingers?" Culldhor pressed. "Do fingers just happen to fall off?"

"There was a monster and I slew it." Alexandra asserted. "Right is right and I know what's right."

"And about the incident at Rest Haven, where..." Culldhor continued.

"Will you stop talking about the ancient past and deal with the mistake that happened?" Alexandra asked. "That's why I'm here, isn't it? To deal with the mistake."

"Mistake?" Atheldar asked, shifting papers as he looked for the details. "Ah, the issue that led you here. Just over four years ago you battled the Lich of Duldun, which escaped you vowing vengeance as it did. After that you were issued with an amulet of concealment so that you would be invisible the Lich of Duldun's mystic senses in case you met it again. You wore it constantly until last month, when the Lich of Duldun was finally destroyed, and then turned the amulet over the temple's treasury."

"Of course I turned it over. That was the right thing to do." Alexandra noted. "Right is right and I know what's right."

"Last week was the first time in years that you were with a temple during the cleansing of the new moon, or rather the first time in years that you were there without an amulet of concealment." Atheldar continued. "At which time an acolyte cast a detect evil spell and to his surprise a holy warrior of Rowan, The Lord of Justice, registered as evil."

"Finally." Alexandra said. "We've arrived at the mistake."

"After a few moments of confusion a senior cleric arrived and restored order." Arnion said, reading into evidence the facts that all present knew. "After that the senior cleric cast detect evil and you registered as evil."

"Another mistake." Alexandra asserted. "Both of those clerics clearly deserve discipline. Harsh discipline, which I shall be happy to assist in dealing out once this misunderstanding has been taken care of."

"I see. And you are aware that when a holy warrior is falling from grace she first loses her spell casting abilities and then her special war horse?"

"And what of it? I have always done right. Right is right and I know what's right." Alexandra declared. "And as such I should not have to put up with a pair of human wizards and trio of elves judging me."

"Technically there are only two elves." Merimac Cooper said.

Alexandra's eyes were drawn not to Merimac Cooper but to the other elves who now wore slightly pained expressions.

"For in truth I am a halfling. Following a bit of bother that turned ugly, and then fatal, no cleric could be found to raise me so druid was enlisted in the enterprise." Merimac Cooper continued. "And I was reincarnated as an elf. Of course this caused a bit of controversy over what I really am but servants of Yondalla, the great patroness of the halfling race, and Corellon Larethian, who gets called the lord of the elves for reasons I've never bothered learning, met and decide that I should live fully as an elf but when I depart this life I shall go Yondalla's Green Fields. You can go ahead with the jokes and yes, as far as I know I'm the world's biggest halfling, but my body is now naturally that of an elf."

As he prattled on Alexandra began considering how best to send him to those Green Fields. Having the soul of a halfling and the body of an elf had to make him some kind of abomination and all abominations had to be destroyed. Right was right and she knew what was right.

"Which is why a halfling has been able to master the high magic of the elves and why I must again protest the plans of this panel." Merimac Cooper finished.

"Your objections have been noted during the lead up of this panel's business." Atheldar told him. "And now your objections have been noted in the records of these proceeding."

"And what plans does this panel have?" Alexandra challenged, going once more on the offensive.

Atheldar sighed loudly.

"Alexandra, you are refusing to see what is clear to all. You have been committing evils acts." Atheldar told her, speaking slowly. "Rowan, The Lord of Justice, warned you of your wrong path by slowly withdrawing all the powers that he grants to his holy warriors but you failed to heed his warnings. You have strayed from the path of weal. You are registering as evil on detect evil spells and that is not a mistake."

Rage boiled in Alexandra. The solution was clear. A leap over the table followed by a sudden strike to remove Atheldar first. The others would be stunned leaving her enough time to deal with the abomination that was Merimac Cooper. Halflings were tricky and if one became an abomination then he had to be neutralised fast and after that... Then the plan fell apart; Alexandra couldn't leave the chair so couldn't launch her initial rush over the table.

It was worse than being glued there. It wasn't something on her robe but an enchantment on the chair itself that bound her to it. She was trapped. Those bastards had tricked her! They had imprisoned her when she wasn't looking, trapping her in this stupid chair.

"You bastards." Alexandra hissed. "I have done nothing wrong. Right is right and I know what's right. You have turned your back on the light! You've trapped me. Go ahead. Kill me you traitors!"

"We would never kill a helpless person." Arnion said sternly. "The fact that you would assume that we would shows how far you have fallen."

"An evil act is an evil act." Culldhor intoned. "Even when perpetrated on an evil being. You have forgotten that."

"I am not evil." Alexandra insisted.

"You are someone who commits evil acts." Litathel said firmly. "Only evil beings commit evil acts."

"And there's that whole 'detect evil' business." Merimac Cooper added. "One spell could be deceived but dozens have been cast and you always register as evil."

"You would believe a spell over me? I am Alexandra of Riverside, a servant of Rowan, The Lord of Justice. Right is right and I know what's right." Alexandra insisted.

"The gods have given us the spells to detect evil so why shouldn't we trust them?" Merimac Cooper asked rhetorically. "Unless you are saying that the gods don't teach us the difference between good and evil?"

"I am not evil!" Alexandra proclaimed.

"You are." Atheldar said sadly. "Whether you admitted it or not you are evil."

"While Rowan, The Lord of Justice, has withdrawn your powers you remain a potent and deadly warrior." Litathel noted. "As such we cannot unleash you on the world."

"Plus if people see one fallen holy warrior they started wondered who will be the next to fall." Merimac Cooper quipped.

"Which isn't a consideration here." Atheldar said firmly.

"If you aren't killing me or releasing me then what are your plans?" Alexandra asked.

"We will strip of your combat prowess and then release you." Atheldar told her.

"How? Will you cripple me? Cut off my arms? Hamstring me?" Alexandra demanded.

"We would never commit such evil acts." Arnion informed her.

"What they've decided to do, well, it was inspired by me and my accidental fate." Merimac Cooper told her. "I may not look it but once upon a time I was a trap finder extraordinaire, which is why I asked about the trap finders you travelled with. Of course all that was back when I had the body that Yondalla intended for me. When I came back as an elf I was worse than useless. It's muscle memory you see. You do things long enough you do them without thinking. You don't think about how to open a lock or disarm a trap, your hands just move and do it."

Alexandra nodded. That was the way it was in combat. Your body moved before your mind knew that there was threat. You did that or you died.

"I woke up in this body with the old muscle memories but I had new muscles. They worked differently. My fingers went from golden to worse than useless. All my old skills were gone and I couldn't unlearn those moves. That's why I went into magic. I couldn't be a trap finder any more so I decided to explore the mystic arts and discovered that I was good at them. That's what was decided in this case, more or less. The vote went four to one and I'm the one who thinks that this is a terrible idea."

"You plan to kill me and reincarnate me. I knew it!" Alexandra crowed.

"No, we are going transform you." Culldhor responded.

"Transform you in a very insulting way." Merimac Cooper added.

"You plan to humiliate me?" Alexandra demanded.

"The insult isn't directed at you." Merimac Cooper clarified.

"It has to be form that lacks her muscles and..." Litathel began.

"We've been over this." Atheldar said firmly. "Are you going to withdraw your involvement in this project?"

"No, of course not." Merimac Cooper said sourly.

"Are you demanding a re-vote?" Atheldar asked.

"What would be the point?"

"Then are you ..."

"I'm just saying that I don't like this and I strongly object to this and I want it to keep going on the record that I don't agree." Merimac Cooper said angrily. "I'll do my part in this but I won't like it."

"Your objections are noted again." Atheldar answered. "Now can we get on with this?"

"I'll fight you." Alexandra vowed. "I'll track you down kill you in your sleep. I'll kill you all."

"Look, I know you don't like this and I don't like and so we both don't like it together." Merimac Cooper told her. "But it's going to be done. Look on the bright side: You'll still alive and you have the chance to rediscover whatever it was that drew you to Rowan, The Lord of Justice."

"I will kill you." Alexandra repeated.

"I believe we should proceed now." Culldhor said dryly. "There seems to be nothing to be gained from waiting."

"Nothing but me putting my objections down again." Merimac Cooper noted. "Which I do. Right now for the 54th time."

"So noted." Atheldar said wearily.

"You will never see me coming." Alexandra told them. "I will kill you all one by one."



Arnion, Culldhor, and Merimac Cooper rose from their seats and began a complex ritual. Alexandra battled the spell with all her will as she rocked her body against the chair in an attempt to shatter the seat and free herself from its grip. Lights and sounds filled the room. Alexandra felt the room spinning. Growing larger.

It was only as her head disappeared into her robe that the awful truth dawned. She was shrinking. They were making her smaller. Altering her near perfectly forged body into something else. Something lesser. She screamed. It wasn't pain but a mixture of anger and frustration. She was screaming when the darkness claimed her.

Alexandra awoke slowly. She was still in chair, her robe now covering her face. Shifting her position she noticed that the chair's enchantment no longer held her. She left loose with a battle cry and leapt towards to the table. Or tried to. She landed in a heap, tangled in her robe. Standing, her entire body felt weird.

"What have you done me?" Alexandra demanded.

Even her voice sounded different. Looking down, she moved her robe and stared at her body. At her short legs. At her feet. Her hairy feet.

"You turned me into a halfling?" Alexandra asked in disbelief.

"You think you've got it bad?" Merimac Cooper asked. "I'm the one who's going to have to face Yondalla, the great patroness of the halfling race, after I go. I can just hear her now. 'Merimac', she'll say, 'did you once turn someone into a halfling as a punishment?' and I'll say... Well I'll think of something to say before that day comes. I'd better."

"You turned me into a halfling." Alexandra repeated, wondering what she would have to do to get the spell removed.

"And it's a true transformation." Merimac Cooper told her. "Not some mere polymorph. You're as much a halfling as I am an elf. Your evil soul hasn't changed but the rest of you has."

"But we are merciful." Litathel intoned. "We will provide you with some basic supplies. You may leave through that door."

"You will pay for this." Alexandra told them.

They ignored her. Perhaps that was the greatest insult they had offered her today. She who had slain orcs, goblins, and countless monsters was being treated as if she offered absolutely no threat to them. As if she was harmless. Utterly harmless.

"You will pay for this." Alexandra shouted at their departing backs.

They ignored her, leaving the room and sealing the door behind them. Alexandra rushed it but couldn't shift it. Nor could open the door that she had entered by, leaving only the modest door on the left wall as a possible exit. Draping the robe around her and trailing it behind her, Alexandra made her way through that door.

"They mentioned something about supplies." Alexandra muttered to herself. "Once I get a sword in my hand I'll hack my way out of here. The jackals will feast upon the bodies of those who falsely claimed to be followers of the forces of weal."

The door led to a corridor. Turning a corner she stumbled into a group of women. A group of women in damp, purple robes.

"Out of my way you hags." Alexandra ordered.

"Do you think that it is truly her?"

"Did you see another halfling enter the complex?"

"Well there was Merimac Cooper, and he calls himself the world's largest halfling so..."

"I've seen him the baths and he doesn't get large until you use the sponge."

"Begone you gaggle of chattering geese!" Alexandra ordered.

"It is her." One of them said. "I've yet to meet a halfling with such arrogance in its voice."

Alexandra vaguely recognised that woman as the one she had used the bath brush on. She wasn't sure (Alexandra rarely bothered to remember the faces of mere peasants) but Alexandra thought it likely that this was that group.

"I told you to move. You should have listened. Now I'll move you. It's the right thing to do. Right is right and I know what's right." Alexandra declared.

Alexandra shifted into her fighting stance in preparation of launching an attack. The combat wouldn't end quickly, not with her unarmed, but once she battered the women into unconsciousness she would snap their necks. Then the plan fell apart; Alexandra's legs were shorter, her centre of gravity was off, and her new body just didn't move like her old one had. Alexandra's moment, which should have left her prepared to begin her attack, ended with her lying in a heap on the floor.

"I will crush you all!" Alexandra declared, trying to stand.

"It's time that someone taught you a lesson."

Alexandra's eyes snapped to the speaker, to the woman who Alexandra had spanked and terrorised. To the woman who clearly no longer had even the slightest trace of fear for the mighty Alexandra of Riverside.

"Come here you." The woman said, reaching for Alexandra's arm.

Alexandra countered the attempt to grapple her, her muscles moving by instinct. The wrong instincts. She spun out of control, practically throwing herself into the woman's arms.

Not that the woman noticed, a fact that enraged Alexandra. Here she was, a trained holy warrior of Rowan, The Lord of Justice, and a mere peasant failed to notice that she was resisting! The woman was picking her up, extracting Alexandra from her tangle of robes.

"Well you clearly aren't a child." The woman commented.

"Her feet aren't the only thing that's hairy." Another woman noted.

"And if she was the right size then that chest would be impressive."

"But's she's small as a child and I'm going to treat herself as one." Alexandra's captor said firmly.

Alexandra kicked and struggled but it was worse than useless. Her muscles just didn't move as they should. She wasn't even fighting as effectively as an untrained adult halfling could. Alexandra should know - she had slaughtered enough of the little thieves that she knew just how well one of their "untrained" fighters should be able to resist.

The bath attendant moved to a nearby bench, dragging Alexandra along with her. Then Alexandra was over the unnamed woman's lap, being held there like a disobedient child.

"This is payback for your attitude at the baths."

With those words the woman brought her hand down hard on Alexandra's upturned bottom.

"You can't spank me!" Alexandra insisted.

Another spank proved her wrong. Then came another one, and another one.

Alexandra howled. She had dished out spankings in her day, dished them out to beings that were still young enough to find their way back to the light. Alexandra knew how to give a spanking, how to spread the spanks around to keep from wearing out any given spot. As the spanks rang down it became clear to Alexandra that her nameless tormentor also knew how to give a spanking.

As the spanking went on a pattern developed. The hand would crash down on Alexandra's left cheek and (like clockwork) Alexandra's right leg would go down and her right leg would kick up. Then the palm would come on her right hip and it would be her left leg shoot up as her right one went down.

Alexandra squealed with each smack. It seemed unbelievable. Here she was, the woman who slain orcs and goblins. Who had stared down hordes of vile creatures. Who had been wounded countless time in hundreds of battles with the forces of evil. Here she was squealing in pain over a little thing like a spanking.

"Let me go!" Alexandra meant her words to sound like the firm demand it was but somehow they come out sounding like a plea. As if she, who had never granted mercy to a single foe, was asking for mercy from a bath woman. Acting like a naughty child who wouldn't take her well deserved medicine.

Her plea was met with laughter and mocking words from the bath attendants.

"Look at her kick those hairy feet."

"What's the matter? Can't you take what you dish out?"

The mocking tones echoed in Alexandra's ears. It didn't seem real.

And maybe it wasn't.

The so-called hearing she had received. Being transformed. An elf who was really a halfling. Her being labelled evil. This spanking. None of it could be real. It all had to be an illusion.

"I disbelieve." Alexandra declared. "I disbelieve. This isn't real. This is all an illusion."

A smack landing on her bottom said otherwise.

"An illusion."

"That's rich."

"Who does she think we are? The mage guild?"

"Where would we get an illusion?"

"This is real dear." The spanker told her, landing another spank. "Imagine, me spanking a fallen holy warrior. Someone like me taking her to task."

"I have not OOOHH fallen!" Alexandra insisted. "I EEEE am a holllllYYY warrior. I AMMMMM!"

"Holy warriors don't get their bums smacked." The spanker commented.

"Try a healing touch." Suggested one of the witnesses.

"Healing touch your bum." Urged another.

"Stop this!" Alexandra insisted. She was sure that it had to be a problem with the acoustics. She was sure that she wasn't really whining. That her voice was as commanding as if had ever been on a battlefield. "Let me go!"

"Say uncle first."

"Never!" Alexandra declared. "I shall never surrender."

And she didn't. She never said uncle. Not out loud. Not that word. Her sobs were just an involuntary reaction. They weren't her surrendering. She would never surrender. She might sob but she would never say uncle.

"A-hem."

Between the smacks, Alexandra's sobbing, and the giggling women that quiet word wasn't heard.

A mystic thunder crack sounded. Most of bath attendants jumped. Alexandra was almost slid off the woman's as the woman almost stood at the sound.

"I said a-hem." Merimac Cooper repeated. "I find it hard to believe that anyone who worked in this establish would disregard the findings of a panel."

"We wouldn't!"

Alexandra wasn't sure who said it first, but soon they are were. Even her spanker was one of the one of the women who was denying that she would ever question the wisdom of panel.

"A panel pronounced a judgement." Merimac Cooper continued. "I was part of that panel. While I disagree with the punishment I know what was declared. I know that it did NOT include being stripped naked and spanked. Doing something like that to a child may sometimes be needed. Doing something like that to an adult would be an assault. A crime. A crime occurring in this centre of truth. In this place dedicated to forces of weal. I would never have thought that I could see something this happening."

"Um, well..."

"Do you think that just because she is small that you can treat her with contempt? Is that what this place stands for? The strong abusing the weak?" Merimac Cooper asked.

"No! No of course not milord!"

The bath attendants swarmed Alexandra, helping her to her feet, dressing her in the discarded robe. Smoothing her hair. Tending to her face. Wiping it clean and forcing her to blow her noise into a rag.

"We are so sorry." The spanker said.

"Or is it because she is a halfling?" Merimac Cooper accused. "Do you see us halflings as a lesser race? That you can treat as naughty children?"

"Of course not!" "Sorry" "Please forgive us." "It was an error!"

Apologies were flowing freely but none of them were being directed towards Alexandra. Everyone was kissing the elf's ass and the only thing that they had done with her ass was to smack it. The insult was too much to bear.

Alexandra moved to kill. She ended in a heap in on the floor.

"Try to stay on your feet." Merimac Cooper said dryly. "Now if you'll follow me then I'll see you get your supplies."

"Those bitches will die!" Alexandra hissed, speaking through her tears. "They will die."

"Of course they will." Merimac Cooper nodded. "All mortals die some day. That's why we're called mortal. But do me a favour, don't try to slay them until after you've killed me."

The bath attendants shifted, realising that Alexandra might still be dangerous. Memories raced their minds. Stories of daring halfling thieves and assassins that struck when no one expected them. Stories about how a small package could be deadly.

"Why should I?" Alexandra demanded, tears still flowing.

"Because what they did to you was nothing compared to the insult I offered you." Merimac Cooper pointed out.

Hate flooded into Alexandra's eyes.

"Of course. I'll kill you first. Abomination." Alexandra hissed.

The bath attendants backed away from the seething little package of rage.

"Good." Merimac Cooper said with a smile. "Now if you'll follow me then we'll get you your supplies."

Limping after him, Alexandra slowly regained control of her emotions. Or at least control of her face. As for her emotions...

Alexandra couldn't remember the last time she had been spanked. She assumed that it had happened, sometime, but she couldn't recall it happening. Being held there, forced over that woman's lap. Helpless. Totally helpless. Helpless and naked over that woman's lap. Helpless as that spanking set her bottom on fire. Thinking back something new dawned on her. It hadn't just been her bottom and thighs that had been set afire but other bits. Naughty bits. Bits that she normally tried to pretend didn't exist. Bits that were feeling the heat spreading out from her bottom.

Alexandra's face was red and she wasn't sure if it was from the spanking or these new feelings.


Merimac Cooper led Alexandra to a small room. Alexandra had seen its like countless times; there was practically a standard set up for these things. Some nameless servant set the room up with supplies and you came and got them. If you had to change then you closed the door and changed. Normally there were weapons laid out along with backpacks and other essentials. This room looked sparser than normal.

"Where is everything?" Alexandra asked.

"We said you'd be getting supplies." Merimac Cooper told her. "We didn't say we would be giving you everything you'll ever need. When you leave here you'll need to find your own path in the world."

"So what is this shit?" Alexandra demanded. "Where is the rest of it?"

The room was practically empty. There was tunic on the table, a belt with a pouch, a couple common utensils, and that was it. No weapons. No armour. There weren't even any shoes.

"Where are the shoes?" Alexandra demanded.

"Shoes? Shoes? Why did you think you had hairy feet? No halfling ever needs shoes, not if they aren't working at a stable." Merimac Cooper said dryly. "Just slide on your tunic, belt it, and be off with you."

"That's it? Don't halflings wear underthings? Where's the girdle? The padding? The ..."

"Rich halflings wear those thing." Merimac Cooper noted. "Some who make decent livings do too. Some trap finders who do more than trap finding wear layers of clothes so they can conceal things in them. But someone just starting off, just starting to find her place in the world, someone like that wear only a tunic."

"Just a tunic?" Alexandra asked again.

She decided to embarrass the elf halfling, to use her body as a weapon and change in front of him. It wouldn't be the first time she used her body that way, but she had never done in from of someone who had seen her being spanked naked. That, or Merimac Cooper had seen enough nude bodies that he didn't react to hers.

"Of course we didn't expect you to have red thighs." Merimac Cooper told her. "They should be covered. It's bad enough that some people see halflings as children but we don't need you walking around showing off a recently spanked bottom. I'll see about getting you some underthings to cover it."

"But I'm not a halfling." Alexandra declared.

"And I'm not an elf and no one would really believes me when I say that. Not unless they know me. They won't believe that you used to be human either." Merimac Cooper informed her. "Especially when they can't detect any magic on you."

"What?"

"It wasn't a polymorph spell." Merimac Cooper reminded her. "It was transformation. There's no magic to be reversed. It's permanent. Forever permanent. You can never have your old body back. That's gone forever. Just like mine."

"Just like mine." Merimac Cooper repeated wishfully.

He turned when he heard the thump. There was Alexandra, lying on the floor with her tunic in disarray.

"Get used to that." Merimac Cooper told her. "You can expect that every time that you try to fight."

"For now, but sooner or later I'll get my old moves back and then..."

"And then you'll kill me." Merimac Cooper nodded. "I'll remember that."

"Do that." Alexandra said, her voice ringing with intensity.


Alexandra walked out to the city, literally a new woman. Everything looked different. Larger. Huge. And the people - they were all so large. As she walked her mind was racing. She couldn't go back to get any of her positions. No one would recognise her and she didn't want to be around her companions, not in this helpless body. It wouldn't...

Alexandra stumbled as she completed that thought. It wouldn't be safe. She had travelled with and fought beside them but she wouldn't be safe around them if they thought she couldn't protect herself. That realisation, that she couldn't trust her boon companions if they thought she might be someone they could victimise, was the first time that it sank in that her conscious might not be crystal clear. That taking long "walks" so they could the information they need... make that so they torture the information they wanted out someone, might not have been in keeping with what Rowan, The Lord of Justice, wanted her to do.

Alexandra knew that she had a lot to think about. The nature of good and evil. How to live life as a halfling. What she would do now that she could no long fight. Perhaps most importantly, the thing at the back of her mind; why she had felt that way Down There after being spanked.

Alexandra was even beginning to think that she needed a better creed than "right is right and I know what's right" to live her life by.


Merimac Cooper watched Alexandra walk away. He wasn't sure what she would with the rest of her life but he knew what he would do; he would adjust his wards to protect himself from her. Maybe Alexandra would find the light, maybe she wouldn't, but Merimac Cooper would sleep with an eye watching for Alexandra until the day he died. He could only hope the others on the panel did the same.

Goodgulf

[msfirmhand]

Interesting beginning.... It will be interesting to see what happens next to Alexandra,

[goodgulf]

I left that part open, but here's an older story that involve halflings...

[ur]http://www.spanko.net/Spanking_Forums_A ... 5&m=263827[/url]

Goodgulf