Continued from S3-3-12: Lennara Thrinsus (Portrait). “How could she?” Rodrigo stammered in horrified shock as he watched Dune’s shadow retreat down the hallway. Being a nobleman himself, Rynard knew the double standard of the nobility and why Rodrigo was so appalled by Dune’s revelation, but Blade bore a look of complete confusion, and, if he understood, Syn showed no sign of caring. Moving pass the stunned Vilmirian knight, they found the previously quite complex now alive with activity as scholars and priests of many nations and faiths converged on the great observatory. The vast dome rose over fifty feet into the air, held aloft on tall, broad arches, with in which smaller versions of the massive telescope that dominated the interior were stationed. The dome itself was made of narrow metal sections, and each seemed to be able to slide over or under the next, while the telescope was set on a complex mass of wheels and gears that allowed it to turn and pivot as desired. Blade, Rynard and Rodrigo stood in awed wonder at the ingenuity of the whole complex, while Syn seemed clearly disturbed and uncomfortable in the midst of such grand workings of Law and proof of the capabilities of the people his race dismissed as mere humans. To one side of the dome, gathered around a large table by one of the smaller telescopes, Dune and Lennara stood with three others. Two were young men, barely more then boys just come of age by their look, but the third was a woman of stunning beauty with reddish gold hair, who hovered close to both Dune and Lennara with a very familiar manner. “Note the way that Angaharand, the charioteer, is blocked in his pursuit of Teirny, goddess of earthly delights, by Iuchyr, the snaking river,” Dune lectured, pointing to maps of the constellation spread before him. “What does this tell us?” he asked, looking up at the companions as they approached. “It tells us that those who come in pursuit of a beloved prize will not take it from us,” the woman replied, placing her hands on Lennara shoulders possessively. To be continued of S3-3-14: Antonia Forli (Portrait). Not nearly the innocent she appears, Antonia’s past is shrouded in mystery. Claiming to be the daughter of a noble Ilmiorian house, she studied at the House of Stars, a celestial observatory in the northern central highlands, for several years before the arrival of the self-proclaimed scrutineer Thayland Dune of Eshmir. Quickly becoming the most trusted of his acolytes and students of the elithior, he remained blind to her hidden agenda until it led him and his other followers into tragedy. Using Dune’s knowledge of the constellations to further her own secret goal, Antonia’s plot went awry when Rodrigo Bandras, Blade, Rynard Adae and Daeron Syn arrived at the House of Stars, forcing her to set plan into motion prematurely with tragic results. The Thirteenth installment in the third "book" of my Stormbringer characters' adventures. Thanks for looking... Hope you enjoy! Comments and suggestions always welcome and appreciated!