Chapter #129
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+ THE ADVENTURERS +
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+ Epic II +
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+ The various characters contained in these writings are +
+ copyright 1993 by Thomas Miller. Any resemblance to any +
+ persons or characters either real or fictional is utterly +
+ coincidental. Copying and/or distribution of these tales +
+ is permissible only under the sole condition that no part +
+ of them will be used or sold for profit. In that case, I +
+ hope you enjoy them... +
+ +
+ Thomas Miller +
+ tmiller@cimmeria.gatech.edu +
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+ THE PARTY: +
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+ Alindyar 15th level drow elf mage (N) +
+ Lyra 12th level female drow elf mage (N) +
+ Belphanior 12th/13th/13th level high elf w/m/t (CN) +
+ Ged 13th/13th level grey elf priest/mage (NG) +
+ Arnold 11th level human warrior (NG) +
+ ? grey cat (familiar) (NG) +
+ Mongo 15th level dwarf warrior (CG) +
+ Flint 11th level dwarf warrior (CG) +
+ Peldor 18th level human thief (N) +
+ Rillen 15th level human warrior (N) +
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+ Date: n/a +
+ Time: n/a +
+ Place: some alternate dimension +
+ Climate: n/a +
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+ "There's a limit to revenge." +
+ "Well I guess I haven't reached mine yet." +
+ - from _The Punisher_ +
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CXXIX. Revelations
The adventurers are talking to someone who claims to be
one of them...
ancient drow: Do you not see?! Although _he_ is Alindyar,
I too am Alindyar!
Arnold: (scratches his head)
Alindyar: What in the hell are you talking about?
Ged: Uh...yeah. What?
ancient drow: Hmm...I have always believed there to be
parallel dimensions. Indeed, one might be created at
any time...
Alindyar: ...such as when people travel through odd black
mirrors that are in reality portals through space and
time.
ancient drow: Indeed.
Alindyar: Indeed.
Belphanior: This is too weird. (sits down to rest his
weary feet)
Peldor: (begins disguising himself as Alindyar)
Ged: So what do you know, that can help our situation?
ancient drow: The Dread Lord Ged began his conquests many
years ago. In fact-
Ged: (jumping up and down) Stop saying that!
ancient drow: What?
Ged: Stop saying "Dread Lord Ged"! I can't stand it
anymore!
ancient drow: But is it not true? The Dread Lord-
Ged: Aaaaa! (fumes)
Alindyar: What manner of tactics did the fiend employ in
his conquests?
ancient drow: Ahh...he was foul indeed. Plagues, beasts
of evil, foul weather...he swept through the land, and
none could stand before him.
Mongo: What about you, old man? You must have had a
run-in with him sooner or later.
ancient drow: Indeed. (he looks sad) Lyra - my Lyra -
and I were living and studying peacefully in our home.
the foul one, however, ascertained - perhaps correctly
even - that we were a potential threat. Thus, he wasted
no time in locating and attacking us.
Lyra: what happened?
ancient drow: There was a pitched battle...the foul one
overpowered us...he slew my beloved Lyra, and I was only
able to escape seconds before I, too, would have died.
(begins sobbing) I do not remember...much after those
times. I wandered here and hid in fear...much of my
power of old has left me...
Flint: (to Arnold) This is sad.
Rillen: Sad indeed. Why no revenge?
ancient drow: What can one person do, against an army of
foul ones and numerous leaders skilled in magic? I had
no choice but to hide, or be slain. Or worse...(sobs
uncontrollably)
Alindyar: Calm yourself, old one. What do you know of
methods by which we might return to our dimension?
Alindyar-2: Methods, young one? Have you not yet seen
the futility?
Alindyar: Indeed not, old one.
Lyra: What futility?
Alindyar-2: (breaks into a fresh round of sobbing)
Ged: (puts his hand on Lyra's shoulder) Maybe it would
be better if you didn't talk to him...seeing as how you
died here some time ago...
Lyra: Hmm, I suppose you're right.
Alindyar: What futility, old one?
Alindyar-2: There _are_ no methods to return to whence
you came.
Ged: Bull- Look, I can cast a spell anytime I want, a
spell that will return all of us to our world!
Alindyar-2: Nonsense. Try it, I dare you.
Ged: Don't tempt me, you geezer...
Belphanior: (opens his well of many worlds, only to find
that it's just a piece of cloth now) Hey, my well isn't
working anymore!
Rillen: Your well, it seems, is not well.
Peldor: (still disguised as Alindyar) Oh well.
Alindyar-2: Who the hell are _you_?
Alindyar: That is simply our thief - a fool when he wants
to be, an idiot at all other times.
Alindyar-2: Oh.
Ged: You claim that spells won't get us back?
Alindyar-2: I claim that, and more. I have lived for
over two millenia, and have never been able to break
through into other planes. 'Tis hopeless.
Ged: Oh.
Alindyar: (toying with his staff of the magi) I fear he
is correct. My staff here refuses to perform its Plane
Travel power...
Mongo: Great. Just fucking great! So we're trapped on
this green world?
Alindyar-2: Unless...how came you hence, to this world?
Ged: That's easy, we stepped through a...mirror...hmm.
Alindyar: One might surmise that there exists a way to
go back...
Alindyar-2: (babbling excitedly) A large black mirror?
One with no reflections to be seen on its surface? An
item that radiates both power and fear?
Ged: (irritated) Yea. Haven't we told you all this
already?
Mongo: Hey, the guy's old-
Alindyar-2: I have seen such a mirror on _this_ world!
Flint: You have?
Ged: Where?
Alindyar: Where, pray tell?
grey cat: Meow?
Alindyar-2: The Dread Lord Ged owns the item. It could
be found within his fortress, within the Black Lake, to
the northwest.
Ged: Dread Lord? Aaargh!
Arnold: Calmb down...
Belphanior: So let me get this straight. To return to
our world, we have to use Ged's magic mirror, which is
some kind of analog to the one we used to get here?
Alindyar-2: Just a guess.
Belphanior: It's an awful lot of trouble. Of course, the
evil Ged-
Ged: Argh! (cursing mightily)
Belphanior: -would surely have great treasures and many
powerful items of magic hidden away in that fortress.
Peldor: Surely he would. After all, not _all_ Geds can
be as dumb as our Ged.
Ged: (fuming, he kicks part of a wall of the hut, bashing
a hole in it) By Boccob...!
Rillen: Will you come with us, old one?
Alindyar-2: Not I. My battles here are done. However,
I may be able to provide you with valuable intelligence
concerning those you may encounter.
Arnold: Whaaaat? I don'd undersband.
Alindyar-2: Your duplicates, on this world.
Rillen: Go on.
Belphanior: what about me? Who am I, here?
Alindyar-2: (struggling to remember) Err...I do not think
you are represented on this world...
Belphanior: Argh!
Alindyar-2: Oh wait...a memory lapse, that...happens
often these days...here, Belphanior is an outlaw king,
who stages daring raids upon the evil Ged-
Ged: Argh! Stop saying these things!
Alindyar-2: -from deep within the Blue Forest, far to the
north. You would be well-advised to seek him out; if
anyone knows a way to get that mirror, 'twould be he.
Belphanior: Cool!
Mongo: What about me?
Alindyar-2: Err...Mongo is the most violent and feared of
all evildoers...except perhaps the D-
Lyra: You-know-who.
Alindyar-2: This world's Mongo is the general of all the
evil armies. Battalions have been known to fall beneath
his hammer. Nowhere will you find a more devious, more
destructive warrior...
Mongo: Sounds like a job for me. Smashing him, I mean.
Alindyar-2: That is all.
Peldor: What about this world's Peldor? Surely he must
play some part in things.
Alindyar-2: I have never heard of any "Peldor". Now, you
people must leave. I am weary.
Mongo: But-
Alindyar-2: Leave this swamp by the route you entered,
and go northward.
Ged: But-
Alindyar: Perhaps it is best if we go.
Unable to get any more information out of the ancient
drow, the adventurers left his hut.
Peldor: (hearing a sound, he turns around) Hey!
The tiny hut was gone, as if it had never existed.
Mongo: Okay, I admit it. I'm stumped. What the hell's
going on?
Ged: Perhaps we'll never know.
Peldor: Bah. (becomes invisible once more)
Surprisingly, the party got out of the swamp without any
further attacks by monsters. Their horses were still in
the clearing where they had been left, but the old man was
gone.
For some reason, it was daytime once more, although the
adventurers had entered the swamp at dusk...
Belphanior: (on horseback, he heads for the town) Let's
go. We've got to get supplies for the journey north.
Arnold: Yah, sublides.
Flint: (yawns) I'm tired.
Mongo: Me, too.
Ged: Who knows what strange tricks this world holds in
store for us?
Alindyar: Not I.
Lyra: Hush.
Peldor: Eh? (squints) Look!
In the distance, a thick plume of smoke could be seen,
rising from the area where the small town was situated.
Alindyar: This means something.
Mongo: Yeah...they're under attack! Let's ride!
next time: Mongo meets Mongo
notes: I'm also working on the start of another saga, to
be published, err, posted soon.
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