Subject: MYSTARA-L Digest - 12 Jan 2002 to 13 Jan 2002 (#2002-14) From: Automatic digest processor Date: 14/01/2002, 19:00 To: Recipients of MYSTARA-L digests Reply-to: Mystara RPG Discussion There are 16 messages totalling 1031 lines in this issue. Topics of the day: 1. where to place an godolin-like city (2) 2. Volunteer Needed! (2) 3. Finland, Finland, Finland (5) 4. R: Re: [MYSTARA] Finland, Finland, Finland 5. War Journal of Bue Geirsteinson - Part IX 6. where to place an godolin-like city? (2) 7. Shadows lifted, Part One 8. Shadows lifted, Part Two 9. Shadows lifted, Part III (new!) (finally..) ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp The Mystara Homepage: http://www.dnd.starflung.com/ To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 13 Jan 2002 11:10:19 +0100 From: thibault sarlat Subject: where to place an godolin-like city if you've read the thorinn gunnarson series, you can use the dragon city in the wyrmteeth mountains...else , you have hutaaka but aprt from these two, i am afraid you gonna have to search farther... thib ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 13 Jan 2002 10:10:54 -0000 From: Richard Tongue Subject: Volunteer Needed! I need someone to do the conversion work to .PDF for OD&DITIES 6. The original file is in Word format. Any volunteers? Richard Tongue, Editor, OD&DITIES ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 13 Jan 2002 13:54:14 +0200 From: Ville V Lahde Subject: Finland, Finland, Finland On Sat, 12 Jan 2002, Francesco Defferrari wrote: > .. and maybe Norwold could > be Finland (a frontier land with both a civiled and a barbarian > population) Thanks, Fransesco! I must share this with our Mystara group. ;) Ville Tampere, Finland ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 13 Jan 2002 13:19:47 +0100 From: la Volpe Subject: Re: Finland, Finland, Finland > Thanks, Fransesco! I must share this with our Mystara group. ;) > > Ville > Tampere, Finland Well, which was the civilized and which the barbarian population? Were the vikings the civilized? 8-) I think there was a major historical flaw here...Ville can you shed some light on this part of Finland's early history? (If Geoff agrees...otherwise send me personally some info, I'm curious). Iulius Sergius Scaevola Captain of the XXth Cohort Port Lucinius, Thyatis ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 13 Jan 2002 16:10:34 +0100 From: Francesco Defferrari Subject: R: Re: [MYSTARA] Finland, Finland, Finland IMHO were the Finnic the "civilized" and the laplanders (or lappish) (lapponi in italian) the "barbarians". The Finnic poem Kalevala (a great source for fantasy, even Tolkien used it for inspiration) is about the struggle between the two populations, AFAIK (for more details ask Ville : - ) In Norwold there are the northmen population of the south, "civilized" by the alphatians and linked with the people of the Northern Reaches, and the barbarians of the north (CM1 even if those barbarians didn't have many laplanders traits..), so i suppose that was inspired by the early history of Finland...but obviously Finland was never invaded by an empire (alphatia) as happened in Norwold... anyway the finnic/lapponians struggle was after used for not canon Karjaala... the link between real world Finland and Norwold is feeble, but i think is a suitable expedient for a campaign to use those cultural references for the northern lands..bye Francesco "What can change the nature of a man ?" -----Messaggio Originale----- Da: "la Volpe" A: Data invio: domenica 13 gennaio 2002 13.19 Oggetto: Re: [MYSTARA] Finland, Finland, Finland > > Thanks, Fransesco! I must share this with our Mystara group. ;) > > > > Ville > > Tampere, Finland > > Well, which was the civilized and which the barbarian population? > Were the vikings the civilized? 8-) > I think there was a major historical flaw here...Ville can you shed some > light > on this part of Finland's early history? > (If Geoff agrees...otherwise send me personally some info, I'm curious). > > Iulius Sergius Scaevola > Captain of the XXth Cohort > Port Lucinius, Thyatis ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 13 Jan 2002 17:18:29 +0100 From: Jacob Skytte Subject: War Journal of Bue Geirsteinson - Part IX Honor, treachery and family feuds. Jacob Skytte scythe@wanadoo.dk --- The War-Journal of Bue Geirsteinson Vatermont 24th, the year 1000 After Crowning of the First Emperor of the = Thyatian Empire, entry added later The day was still early when we reached the outskirts of Norstedt. My = scouts had returned with the news that my father had locked himself away = at the mine, where his fort had been erected to protect his most = valuable possessions. At least 200 men were there to help him. My own = army counted some 300 men, not enough to fight an entrenched enemy. The = first battle would be with words then. I approached the entrance with some of my most trusted men, including = Asta and Ingibjorg. Along with us I brought my brother, Lot, as hostage. = My father appeared on the wall of the fort, atop the gates, greeting me. "My son, you have returned. I commend you on getting this far. But hold! = That is my loyal son among you! What have you done to him?" "Nothing that he would not have done to me," I replied. "We fought and = he lost. I could have killed him, but I did not. I fight for peace and = will not needlessly slay any man. Your treachery will be punished, but = those who sur-" My words were interrupted by my father. "Hold! I know what you will say, = that all will be forgiven by Hord, should we lay down arms. It is not = so. We have heard of the slaughter your men rewarded our clansmen with = just a few days ago. Whether you believe that Hord will spare us or not = is irrelevant. I, no we, know Hord better than you. He will not spare = those who plotted his downfall, and that includes all of us inside this = fortification." "I will still extend my offer, but just this once." I had to try. "Any = man who lays down arms and surrenders to us now will be spared. I will = protect him with my own life. I do so swear upon the All-Father. But if = you will not yield, then all will give their lives in vain, as you will = surely fall." "Fall?" My father's voice was a harsh laugh. "To this band of fools? You = are wounded already, your arm in a sling. We are in a superior position, = you cannot harm us." I had to gamble. "We are but the front. Soon an army of Hord's men will = descend upon you and then shall you indeed be slaughtered. Not a single = man will be left alive once Hord Dark-Eye, your king, arrives to punish = your treachery." My father was taken by surprise. "The Dark-Eye? Here? So be it." His = voice was bitter. "Mayhaps I will still have the fortune to slay him in = battle then." It had not been a good bluff to try with my father, but he was not the = one I wished to impress. Word would soon reach all of his men, and their = morale would falter and, hopefully, break. There was still something I = had to do. "Father, I implore you to send out the women and the young ones. They = should be spared the slaughter that will surely come. Send them to me, I = will see that they are spared." He laughed. "The only women and youngsters in here are those of my own = family, and they will face the same destiny that is prepared for me. = Such is the way of a loyal family. But then you would know nothing of = loyalty, treacherous bastard that you are." I held up a knife to my brother's throat. "If you are so loyal, then = surely you will want to have your oldest son with you. He must mean more = to you than mere women. I offer him in exchange for them. If you do not = accept then I will instead offer him to Hord once he arrives, and you = will witness his fate from inside your precious fort." His face darkened. "You will not! You fiend! The Gods will punish you = for this. You have already hurt him enough. But a hostage for a hostage. = I will release your mother in exchange for my loyal son." "No father," I replied. "I will agree to a fair exchange, but you will = release my sister Lis, she is the future of our clan, and the one I = choose. This is my final offer. Your loyal son for my loyal sister. I = too know of loyalty among family, and she is the one I have sworn to = protect." He spat at me. "I have never understood the bond between you. She is as = nothing to me. Very well. If you are so intent on having her, then so be = it. I will send out a man with her and we will exchange hostages." We waited for some time before the gate was cautiously opened and a man = hastily exited, pulling my sister behind him, a tight grip on her wrist. = I yanked Lot forward, the knife still at his throat. We met on the = halfway. Hostages were exchanged, my sister falling into my arms, = sobbing. I took hold of her and started walking back, when Ingibjorg = yelled a cry of warning. Ten men had taken to the walls of the fort and = started firing their bows at us. I pushed my sister in front of me, = shielding her body with my own and ran towards my men. As we reached the = woods, I released my hold on her and fell to the ground, my back pierced = by three arrows. I was enveloped by darkness. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 13 Jan 2002 10:06:52 -0700 From: Leroy Van Camp III Subject: Re: Volunteer Needed! > I need someone to do the conversion work to .PDF for OD&DITIES 6. The > original file is in Word format. Any volunteers? Richard, if no one else has stepped forward I can do the conversion. Leroy Van Camp III malacoda@velocitus.com http://www.users.qwest.net/~malacoda/TarkasBrainLabIV.html ICQ #20039817 "Where you come from is gone. Where you thought you were going to weren't never there. And where you are ain't no good unless you can get away from it." Ministry, "Jesus Built My Hotrod" ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 13 Jan 2002 18:31:09 +0100 From: =?iso-8859-1?q?Havard=20Faanes?= Subject: Re: Finland, Finland, Finland Norwold is a huge counry. I am no expert on Finnish history, but I think it would be appropriate to use all scandinavian and Baltic cultures as inspiration for developing the various areas of this region. Just my opinion. :) Havard --- Ville V Lahde skrev: > On Sat, 12 Jan 2002, Francesco Defferrari wrote: > > > .. and maybe Norwold could > > be Finland (a frontier land with both a civiled > and a barbarian > > population) > > Thanks, Fransesco! I must share this with our > Mystara group. ;) > > Ville > Tampere, Finland > > ******************************************************************** > The Other Worlds Homepage: > http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp > The Mystara Homepage: http://www.dnd.starflung.com/ > To unsubscribe, send email to > LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM > with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. > ______________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Norge - no.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 13 Jan 2002 13:01:04 -0500 From: Geoff Gander Subject: Re: Finland, Finland, Finland Haavard wrote: > I am no expert on Finnish history, but I think it > would be appropriate to use all scandinavian and > Baltic cultures as inspiration for developing the > various areas of this region. Well, there had already been talk of Kaarjala, which was Mystaros' creation, and which I placed north of the great bay, around the Landsplit River. I also would add Littonia as the "MLatvia/Lithuania", which lies due east of Kaarjala on the coast. Anyone wanting to add Estonians could probably place them between the two nations, I think. Geoff -- Geoff Gander, BA 97, MPA 02 Carnifex Loremaster/Mad Roleplayer Master of the Elemental Plane of Bureaucracy au998@freenet.carleton.ca : www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Realm/2091 ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 13 Jan 2002 13:08:56 -0500 From: Geoff Gander Subject: Re: where to place an godolin-like city > > if you've read the thorinn gunnarson series, you can use the dragon city in > the wyrmteeth mountains...else , you have hutaaka but aprt from these two, i > am afraid you gonna have to search farther... Well, the city wouldn't have to be very big (one 8-mile hex should be enough territory), so there are a lot of hidden valleys in the Altan Tepes between Rockhome and the Orclands (one tiny valley in particular looks promising, it's marked as one heavy forest hex, just southwest of Dast in the Orclands). Alternatively, I could stick it in the Khurish Massif, somewhere between Darokin and Glantri or northeastern Sind. I'd like to drive my PCs there indirectly, so we'll see where it goes.. Geoff -- Geoff Gander, BA 97, MPA 02 Carnifex Loremaster/Mad Roleplayer Master of the Elemental Plane of Bureaucracy au998@freenet.carleton.ca : www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Realm/2091 ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 13 Jan 2002 19:33:37 +0100 From: =?iso-8859-1?q?Havard=20Faanes?= Subject: Re: Finland, Finland, Finland Geoff wrote: > Well, there had already been talk of Kaarjala, which > was Mystaros' > creation, and which I placed north of the great bay, > around the Landsplit > River. I also would add Littonia as the > "MLatvia/Lithuania", which lies > due east of Kaarjala on the coast. Anyone wanting > to add Estonians could > probably place them between the two nations, I > think. Good point! I had almost forgotten about those. However, we do not neccesarily have to be so strict about using the paralells between the real world cultures and Mystaran countries/cultures. The various tribes/towns may have much of little contact with eachother and cultural elements may exist in all or more than one of the groups. Also, IMO using stuff from the Northern Reaches gaz is a good way of making use of that book aswell as a good source for detailing these cultures further. Havard ______________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Norge - no.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 13 Jan 2002 20:57:35 +0100 From: thibault sarlat Subject: where to place an godolin-like city? yes but anything in the darokin - Glantri region would be shaken by the meteor in AC 1010 ... I think the Altan tepes are a better choice. I'll look into it thib ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 13 Jan 2002 22:12:22 +0100 From: Agathokles Subject: Re: where to place an godolin-like city? thibault sarlat wrote: > > yes but anything in the darokin - Glantri region would be shaken by the > meteor in AC 1010 ... This would create another type setting--an enormous ruin complex. Also, there could be an interesting link with the Glantrian noble Ezechiel Naramis, who is said in the Gaz to have discovered new magic resources in the mountains. > I think the Altan tepes are a better choice. > I'll look into it IIRC, Kevin Wyton once sent a short IC story about a city in the mountains of northern Karameikos. -- Giampaolo Agosta agathokles@libero.it agosta@elet.polimi.it http://digilander.iol.it/agathokles ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 13 Jan 2002 00:09:08 +0100 From: Daniel Mayer Subject: Shadows lifted, Part One Through the ringing in his ears, Laren heard a rough chuckle. Pain wrecked his body as he tried to stand up. The stone floor was surprisingly warm and welcoming. He lay on the floor in an embryonal position, so he felt simply the least possible stinging pain. Laren thought. He made a mental note to thank all gods he knew for the arrogance of that damn lich. Every black mage would have finished the job moments ago. But not this guy. Andrès´ magical abilities were much better than legends told. But just one joker was left. And it was time to play it. Now or never. "For long years I didn´t have such an amusing distraction. Yes, you were quit good, young mage. You even used some spells I didn´t know. But I feel your fear, fear for your life." A man in an old-fashioned traladaran robe turned again to his side, chuckling. "Yes, the fight was a fun I almost never felt before. But before I finish you, to my regrets, I have to kill your friends outside. They decimate my pawns too much. Especially these to fighters with their divine help." The mouth -part of a sunken face- began to move for a complicated spell. The wrinkled hands moved with astounishing speed. Laren knew the spell. He found hints of it in an old tome back in Krakatos. This spell was called ´Nightfire´ and bound energies from the Negative Plane to the ground of a 300 feet radius around the caster, slowly drawing all life of everyone standing in that area. And the spell would be complete in few seconds. ** "Lords and Ladies! Make place for the new ambassador of Glantri, Lady Marianita Lucia de Leon y Valdez, blessed with the authority of the Princes of Glantri!" Applause raised through the great hall as a beautiful elven lady entered. A large man sitting on the throne raised and stepped down to equal level of the elven lady. As they met, the lady bowed and smiled seductively at the duke. "Oh, oh. Look at the duchess." Thrandir whispered to Aurelius. Aurelius, clad in silver and white in his ceremonical breastplate, turned to look at her, a knowing smile on his lips. "Yes, indeed. The duchess won´t appreciate such a beauty at court. A shame that we´ve to fight great evil instead of enyoing this." The duke returned to his throne, sat down and look to the left side of the hall. "Now, Laren, finally you´re free of your duties, aren´t you?" The crowd parted as a black robed man went toward the throne. He had dark hair, was completedly dressed in black, yet he radiated an aura of peace and happiness. The man called Laren smiled up to Duke Stefan "Yes, I am. Therefore I request formally the Land of Dreams of you for my estate." The duke looked sternly at Laren. "You know, I cannot give you what I don't really own. The mists and nightmares persist around the Lake of Lost Dreams. The evil resides there, as the traladaran legends tell it." "So its my land if I free it from that evil? My own?" "Yes. But I warn you. Nearly two thousand years the area is cursed. Are you such a great mage that you can fight two thousand years of evil?" "Not alone. But with the help of my friends we´ll do it." "Then you have my blessing. Go and free Karameikos from that evil and you shall own the land you want." Laren bowed and went to his friends near the throne. "Was it necessary to request the official permission?", Aurelius asked, "As he said just moments ago, he CAN´T give a permission." Laren smiled. "Yes. But that´s politics. I´m a mage with reputation. If I seek permission, it strengthens his position. Just poilitics. He´s eager to see us fighting the east to freedom. Let´s go. I don´t have the stomach today for a flirt with Marianita." Laren turned and Aurelius and Thrandir followed. The nobles shifted uneasily when they saw their departure. Aurelius was a reknown member of the highest religious order of Thyatis, while the elf Thrandir was less known, but the higher nobles knew Thrandir held a high position in the elven court, whatever that may be. "Knight-Brother Aurelius, may I please request a few minutes of your time?" A man in simple but fine clothes stood near, "I´m Yurikai Heltar from Marilenev. My son heard of your new abbey and..." Laren and Thrandir turned to a side smiling. "Every day at least twenty candidates for a place in the abbey. This land´s going to be populated by humble servants of some pantheon in a few years." Thrandir ironically remarked. Laren chuckled "Yes. Maybe. But I know Aurelius. I give him two minutes and he´ll catch up with us after fobbing off that court lord." "Two minutes? Not today." came Aurelius´ deep bariton from behind them. "We have other things to discuss. What´s going with your spell researches?" Laren frowned. "I could use a little bit more time, but I don't have the nerves. A slight variation to the spell and I should get it working in a few days. And you?" Thrandir shrugged. "I´m ready for everything. Elves rely on themselves with more confidence than humans. If I can´t survive a fight as I am, I won´t with more spells or items. I´m ready." "Me too," added Aurelius, "but Flosi´s on travel. He´ll return in three days, as I´m informed. Got some useful items as far as I understand. We´ll see." Laren nodded. "Yes, clerical spells and items we can use everything we get. I´ve requested some items from the `Griffons´ but I don´t think we´ll get much help. The powers of you and Flosi will be the best we´ll have." "Should be enough for some poor souls, but is it really enough for the greater undead we expect? We´ll see." Aurelius said. Laren sighted and Thrandir clasped Aurelius´ shoulder. "Let´s get packed. We should arrive few days before the rest for not to awaken the interest of a mighty evil before we have done some serious damage." They left the court. Thrandir and Aurelius sat on their mounts outside the city gates. Aurelius was clad in his polished breatplate, his shield fastened to the left side of his horse. So his sword was partially hidden behind it but reachable. A red cape with a great cross he wore around his neck, held by a clasp with a ruby. The mighty warhorse nervously snorted, pressing for departure. Thrandir sat on his elven horse, a much more delicate version of a sandard horse, but more agile and faster. He wore dark green clothes which hide a finely crafted elven chain mail. A large bow and a quiver with silver-feathered arrows were secured behind him, a scabbarded sword was at his side. A grey cloak gave warmth and a silver circlet on his head an image of nobility. They turned to the road after Laren didn´t appear, supposedly sitting above some books to get his spell finished. Only little time later they disappeard behind the horizon. *** Laren, Flosi and Elaya sneaked through the dark woods. The eyes of all three shone with infravision, and a slight silver star in their eyes made them able to see all evil. Laren held a black wand, Flosi had a firm grip on his warhammer and Elaya was at the rear with her bow ready. Laren tried a last joke, for the evil came into reach "Hey, Flosi, What was the quote Thor made when he saw you?" "Hmmm?" Laren chuckled as Flosi stepped into something undefinable but stinking. "Shit!" Flosi cursed. Laren chuckled a little bit too loud. A secure sign of too much adrenaline in his veins. "Ah, Laren, you get every joke crushed. Now attention, I feel something." Elaya said with strain in her voice. Yes indeed. ´Something´ was it. In fact, the hell broke out. *** To be continued… --------------- I hope you enjoyed it! It's the same story I posted over a year ago. My english isn't free from errors, so kindly ignore them. I even have rewrote and finished part III. With many regards, Daniel Mayer Laren Nightmaster Tower of Dreams ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 13 Jan 2002 00:09:20 +0100 From: Daniel Mayer Subject: Shadows lifted, Part Two Shadows Lifted, Part II The night was misty as usual. Not even a sound could be heard. The unnatural silence parted as suddenly some voices were heard. Among a baldy suppressed chuckle a female voice said nervously "You get every joke crushed, Laren. Now attention, I feel something!". Suddenly a black figure stood in front of them. A dark cloak around its shoulders hid everything but two glowing eyes. The figure said with doom in its voice "Turn back, or your life is forfeit. I´m the guardian of the Tower of Nightmares. No one is to pass." After that statement it was silent. The Detect Evil spell showed very strong evil Flosi thought. "Stand away, I´ve not traveled that way to communicate with a servant!" "So perish, fools." The robed figure moved for a second an three green lances of light appeared out of the body of it. The beams almost flowed toward the three heroes, one for each. Flosi thought about doging, but cancelled it . But just before they reached them, they hit an unseen barrier and disappeared. The gowing eyes narrowed. "Impressive, but useless. A spellbarrier won´t last forever and I´m no normal mage!" With these words, it started a series of short words. Offensive magics shot in fast sequence at them. Each of them hit the barrier, but the shield got weaker. Each attack got nearer at Flosi. He just was about to engage in melee, when with a dull *smack* the head of the monster left the corpse. Where the head was before, a shining blade appeared from behind. "Gods above! All undead think themselves that smart, but they fall for the same trick everytime." Aurelius´ bariton sounded from behind the falling monster. Suddenly it exploded in a ball of fire, crushing through the failing shield Laren had cast! Aurelius and the three newcomers were caught in intense flames. After the eyes normalized, only Flosi had burnings on him. "Ouch! Shit! What was that?!" " Ah Flosi, you didn´t forget to protect yourself against fire, didn´t you? As I told you all only few days before, the Zodiac is a creature most dangerous. But overconfident. AND I told you it could explode after death, just like a magicians´ contingency. Where were your thoughts?" Laren answered. "Hmmpf, you always tell much things no one wants to know." Flosi already glowed with healing magic But the first strong enemy was finished quickly. A good sign. *** Ambassador Laren Firefriend sat in his most comfortable chair in his quarters. In a chimney wood burned and filled the room with comforting warmth. He held a book in his hands "Tales About Dreams". It was an old book, dating back to AC, for sure. He couldn´t say the exact date, because not one hint was detectable. No king, no name of any noble. The book told about the area today known as "Land of Nightmares", just south of Haven around the Lake of Lost Dreams. Today it was filled with evil and no creature of good dares to enter the area. The Vialya elves guard the northern border, so they could tell a little bit about it. His most trusted friend, Elaya, was a Vialya elf. She brought this book some days ago with the greetings of her princess, Argenta. "And after Antaros the Wise discovered the nature of dreams, he built a tower with a kind of gate to the Plane of Dreams. Stupidly some apprentices had plans for the tower, too, and murdered Antaros. Bad luck, I would say. So one or more apprentices should rule the tower now. Probably now undead. Or a successor with equal power. Now, I can´t detect more informations in this book, but it´s more than nothing. At least I know the creator of the tower. Was a good man as fas as I see." Laren didn´t tell this to himself. Flosi sat in another chair in a corner. Flosi was a warrior blessed from Thor, god of thunder. He wore always a chain mail covered by the fur of a boar. Large leather boots and a cape of boar fur fitted his nordish style. Flosi "Hammerhand" owned a powerful weapon sacred by his god. Of course the warhammer never was far away from his hands. "Maybe. But maybe he didn´t open a gate to the Plane of Dreams but to the Plane of Nightmares. Or he wasn´t that good at all and intentionally invited these evil monsters to Traladara." "Yes. I´ve to search for more hints. It seems impossible to get a book ´How to defeat great evil´ in Specularum. Krakatos may hold some informations. Hey Flosi, time for a cleansing?" "Cleaning Krakatos? Vampires and such like? Of course. Now or can I participate the great feast going on just now?" Flosi said with a casual voice. "Feast? Oh, I forgot! Damn! I´ve to change!" Laren jumped up and disappeared in the bathroom. "Aehm, Flosi, do you have a present for Princess Adriana? Perhaps I can share the costs?" He sounded like taken by surprise. Flosi thought when saying "Of course I´ve a nice ´nothing´ they call dress today. I couldn´t afford it alone, anyway." *** "Where´s Thrandir?" Elaya asked Aurelius. "Jumping from branch to branch, like elves always do." And added after a stern look from Elaya "And he´s searching for allies. The elves haven´t arrived til now. We could need them, for you elves are immune to paralyze. And as fas as we have seen, the who-ever-owns-the-tower has armies of undead. Too much for five heroes, even with mighty warriors like us." "We can´t wait for them. Andrès, as I suppose, knows of our victory by now. I´ve to prepare myself for him. You hold on the plan?" Laren was as serious as never before. Elayas sympathy was with Laren. They would fight much evil, but Laren… perhaps she would never see him again. "It´s time, the armies attack. Look. I´m gone. Good luck to you all. May we meet again this life!" Laren disappeared without waiting for answers. *** Laren reappeared right in front of a gate outside the tower. Two large statues of unicorns stood to left an right of the gate. A gate that opened by itself this moment. Laren murmured some words to re-energize his protection from evil. His sight told him of no evil in front of the tower, but a tingling in his neck said the contrary. He was watched. He set his foot in motion and passed the gate. A sudden sound was heard! It sounded like a groan of a great beast. But Laren ignored it. Not a comforting thought, but he felt his mind focusing on his task. The years of learning discipline could show now, what they brought him. Laren went on. As he came near the great door, it opened, too. The darkness behind was suddenly lit by a dim light, perhaps of candles. he thought when stepping through the door. Behind him, somewhere far away, the sounds of battle found the way through the woods. He entered. *** Flosi was happy. Until now, only cannon fodder was bothering him. With each hit one less skeleton or mummy was on this plane of existence. He could fight like this the whole day. If the ´great evil´ thinks about tiring them, he would be disappointed. Not Flosi, and for sure not Aurelius. Elaya and Thrandir, that maybe another story. He looked over to them. Elaya held two glowing blades in her hands. She whirred through the lines of undead like a storm, cleaving arms and legs and heads without slowing. Her blades whirred in a deadly dance, the light of the blades bizzare forms in the dark mists. Flosi sent a light spell on some trees around them for better fighting conditions, but somehow the mist itself radiated darkness. So they fought under dim light. Enough for Flosi. He used his hammer with professional ease. Everytime an undead tried to take a move forward, it wasn´t anymore. But now they changed the tactic, it seemed. Thrandir shot fiery bolts of death into the third line of them to decimate the reinforcements. The skeletons were nearly all destroyed. They were easy, but they had no mind. He hit again some undead. But it held against the damage taken! Flosi was surprised. The monster countered. A burning but cold pain shot along the right side of Flosi when the jagged blade of the whight came through his defense. The cold sensation was a sure sign he slowly lost his spell of protection against draining. "Elaya, I need you some seconds!" Elaya didn´t react immediately "yes -cough- in a second!" The flaming arrows concentrated behind his enemies now. Flosi retreated a few steps when Elaya took his melee opponents. Aurelius came nearer, too. He glowed in his whole person, the power of his gods channelling through him. At every strike of his blade, two enemies fell, one of them just crumbling to dust. Flosi knew. He not just shed light, but shed *holy* light, that kind that cancelled evil. Flosi cast the protection versus draining again and reentered the fight. The undead now had circled them and changed the combatants. "Elaya, that fire spell of Laren!". Elaya nodded and caught a wound because of the distraction, not her first. She jumed suddenly into the air, slowing in her movements, and hung in the air. She took something from her belt and let it fall. Aurelius saw that, gulped, and hastened to Flosi. The item fell to ground. A mighty thunder erupted along with a great explosion of fire, which slowly turned into a circle whil moving outward. The circle of fire just had a height of ten feet and a range of hundret, but because the undead pressed toward the heroes, the undead nearest to them had no place to retreat! They crumbled to ash and in few seconds the heroes stood in a clearing. A clearing in the midst of more undead. Elaya sunk to the ground and entered the styled fighting position again. To the left an right of her, Aurelius and Flosi stood untouched of the spell. Aurelius sent a prayer to his gods and again some advancing enemies crumbled by the holy light. But they advanced further. *** "Finally a human made it to my tower. Be welcome, at least for short time." A dark figure spoke from across the great hall Laren just entered. Dim light shone here but no source was visible. "You´re Laren. I heard your friends speak about you. The elf and the human who roam the woods few days. They say you´ll beat me." The figure chuckled roughly. "Now, I´m Andrès. I´m the master of this tower, as you may have mused. I´m greatly pleased to meet you." "The pleasure is mine, for I visit my now home the first time." Laren replied. "Now, answer me a few questions before. You aren´t a former apprentice to a wizard called Antaros by chance?" "I was." Andrès nodded. His old face was harsh, like that an old vampires would be. Handsome but VERY old. His fingers were long and delicate. He wore a black robe of an old style. "And here is a portal located, which can be used to travel to the Plane of Dreams or to the Plane of Nightmares?" "Wrong. It can be used for both. Antaros did realize that and tried to close it. Too late." "Ah, yes. That I wanted to know. Now, are we to fight or do you want to leave in peace, Andrès?" The answer was not spoken aloud. It manifested in front of Laren. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 13 Jan 2002 00:10:30 +0100 From: Daniel Mayer Subject: Shadows lifted, Part III (new!) (finally..) *** PART III ****************** "You just destroyed a hole garnison of loyal traladaran soldiers, scum!" a hissing voice reached the combatants. Aurelius, Elaya and Flosi now stood in a triangle position in the midst of many, many bones. All three were sweating right now, at some places on every body blood mixed up with the sweat. Slowly Aurelius felt tired. [Damn! Where are the elves? Thrandir said they would come. Or are they watching us if we stand a chance?] Aurelius wasn't delighted. They just killed nearly all lesser undead they expected and at the horizon ghostly figures waited to be commanded to the battle. He chopped the bony head of another mummy of it's shoulders and with that gained a pause. No enemy in direct reach, Flosi and Elaya already prepared for something more challenging. "But... oh." the voice pretended to recall a long lost memory "isn't there a nice spell I know which could make the losses worth it? We shall sssseeeee.." the voice trailed off. Suddenly the bones under Aurelius feet moved. In fact ALL bones lying around began to move. Flosi made a dramatic sigh. "I hate such surprises. Does anybody know that spell? Thrandir perhaps?" No one answered. "Thrandir?" Flosi asked again. The elf should be off ground in some tree to give the ground combatants tactical informations. "He's nowhere and we don't have time to look after him.", Elaya stated, "But it seems that bone-mending spell there isn't our only problem. In my opinion that voice was from this ugly being there" pointing one blade of her to the right flank. A large winged Nightmare appeared from between the trees. They saw one some time ago in Glantri and nearly had lost all their lives then. "Hmm. Reinforcements would be a great pleasure to me. But as always the mage meddles somewhere, the elf takes a nap and the work is to us. Flosi, we should fight it with Elaya guarding our backs against these spectral beauties coming from the left." Aurelius suggested. "Yes, sir! At least Laren doesn't try to countermand this. Should get a clean fight this time." Flosi answered jovially. The two giants moved towards the Nightmare. "Yes. Leave to me the rest. 'Spectral beauties', pah! 'And don't forget that bone-thing, Elaya, we can't do everthing by ourselves.'" Elaya mimicked Aurelius' voice. She took a spear-point position between a handful spectres and the still growing pile of bones, relaxing her muscles during the few paces. The Nightmare suddenly attacked with frightening speed, using claws and it's great maw, howling loud. Aurelius parried the first claw attack while a cleave from Flosi killed some air. *** A full score of elven Protectors silently moved through the wood, nearing the dim battle-sounds slowly and cautiously. Over thirty drawn blades shimmered in the night and waited to do their duty. "Finally! Hurry up, there's no need for stealth anymore, the battle gets interesting sooner than we anticipated!" The urgent speech of Thrandir instantly got the elves to increase their movement speed. They hurried through the woods with Thrandir joining them after a few seconds from ahead. Thrandir held a delicate longsword now, the blade covered by ancient runes. The leader of the elven force, an expierienced fighter named Galadan, made some signs with the left hand when the enemies got in sight. Instantly the elves parted into a curved line with Thrandir and Galadan in the middle, who would reach the enemies first. From behind. [Was a fine addition to the battelplan when we created it. But somehow we forgot the cannon-fodder-philosophy: The back may be surprised, but consists of the strongest foes...] Thrandir grinned in a way that promised final death to the unliving whights and others ahead. Who where just realizing the attack from behind. White fire blazed at many clawed hands now, and the undead greeted the newcomers with a disturbing wail. Two hands reached for Thrandir. He made a unnatural speeded dodge while bringing the blade between his opponents arms. A short circled move with the blade, and both arms fell to the ground. He whirled around beheading an unidentifyable creature before it could grab his right arm. Another dogde under a swung blade saved him from the same fate. Two parries and the sounds of his vibrating blade finally mixed up with similar sounds coming from other melee fights. The being he fought was good in swordplay and made some impressive attacks with it's four arms. The quadruple blades where blocked in a flurry blow of the hasted Thrandir, with no one getting through the defenses. A quick step to the right brought Thandir too near to another enemy which just wanted to bring it's blade into the game. He reversed a swing, opening his defense, and brought the blade in the backswing through the body of the disturber. Two other blades found a way to the side of Thrandir, slashing two bleeding lines in his left side. Thrandir winced and paid this Sword-Demon more attention. *** The air cracked by the release of another searing spell unknown to Laren. But this time neither the Spell Turning nor the Spell Immunity held. Pain shot through Larens body while he flew backwards against a wall. The pain of the impact was soothing against that. [Shit, I lost the spell!] Laren felt angry with himself. Another good spell wasted. He still held his staff and swung it in a circle to deflect some fast following missle-spells. He murmured some syllables and threw the staff against the lich. The staff caught blue fire in flight and headed for the center of the liches body. The lich raised a hand in an attempt to ward off the staff but whatever he tried didn't seem to work. The staff pierced the spell shield and the body of the lich just to set forth it's flight nearly undisturbed. The lich staggered a step backwards. [Five to One!] Laren regained some hope. This was the first spell the lich didn't seem to know. And it was the first time Laren gained a hit... The short moment was used by Laren to check the situation. He was already wounded by real missles, spell missles, claw attacks from a summoned beast and an interesting touch spell. He knew he could take more damage in his excellent physical condition, but the 5-1 score had to get even in the near future. [Time to try the big baddabum] He cast another Spell Turn to gain some time and began to cast a Deryth's Energy Net spell. Two nearly simultanous spells rebounded from his defense. After Laren clapped hands above his head a bright net of light appeared between them. Andrès saw this and quickly made gestures himself. When Laren threw this powerful net of positiv energy against Andrès, the lich pointed at it. The net began to shimmer on its way and turned into green light when it hit the lich. Andrès glowed a short time green and then grinned evily. "To turn positiv energy into negativ energy is one of the things a man has to master to become a lich. I thought you more intelligent than that, manling." the lich chuckled roughly and began a complicated spell himself. Laren slapped himself in thoughts and quickly thought about a defense against the next round. *** Elaya danced between mummies, whights, skeletons an other scum. Both blades hacked and slashed without interuption. Already Elaya bleeded from many wounds. Though most of them are only small ones, the sum does it. Elaya felt herself slow down more and more. With that even more hits the immense mass of enemies did to her. When a punch in her back disturbed her, she whirled around to face her new opponent. "Hold! It's me!" the urgent voice of Thrandir spend new hope to her. [He's alive!] With new energy they went against the whights. A sudden light flared, almost blinding them. A few spirits dissolved in this light, leaving a heavy breathing Aurelius in a cleared space. "Only 30 elves! I hoped a few more would come. About 200 in fact. Not good!" An unlucky undead was pressed forward from behind and was cut in half by an upward swing of him, holding his avenger Durandan with both hands. "Killed that Nightmare?" Elaya shouted into his direction. "Don't know, Flosi made a personal fight of it. Few minutes ago he spoke of 'trying a wrestle'." Aurelius answered. In this moment a great roar was heard anywhere behind them. A more human roar of the same strength answered "YOU THINK YOURSELF STRONG, AREN'T YOU?!!!??!" Then a loud 'knock' was heard followed by an unhuman groan "AND YOU MIGHT THINK ABOUT WHAT'S LIKE A PUNCH FROM ME IS WHEN I'M REALLY ANGRY!!!" During the following roar Elaya needed her attention for her own enemies again. A new line of them has formed, walking or drifting slowly against them. Aurelius, Elaya and Thrandir stood side-to-side and waited for them when suddenly a cloud of arrows flew over their heads against the undead. Each glowed blue and all of them hit. Deadly. The first row almost instantly was destroyed. Five ghost of some sort flew on and entered combat with the three heroes. Behind them, a great explosion rocked and brought even the ground into movement. *** Again some sort of spell hit home. At Laren. Exhausted, he slumped against the wall behind him. [Hi to you, wall. Met you few minutes ago, didn't I?] With frightening speed, he ran out of spells, and his staff was already out of charges. His only comfort he took from the fact that Andrès was using a staff now. [If he's going low with spells, I perhaps can start the only hope I have.] He tried another spell, conjuring a ball of acid that speedily flew against the lich. It hit another unseen shield but was not fully absorbed. Some of the acid burned into the already angry lich. With vigorous gestures Andrès cast a spell that sent Laren against the wall again, but this time not as side-affect but in full purpose. Laren had no air left to breathe. His head was spinning and he slumped to ground. Sudden pain shot through his body, the type of pain indicated some draining spell. Now it was quite hard to concentrate on anything. Through the ringing in his ears, Laren heard a rough chuckle. Pain wrecked his body as he tried to stand up. The stone floor was surprisingly warm and welcoming. He lay on the floor in an embryonal position simply to feel the least possible stinging pain. He made a mental note to thank all gods he knew for the arrogance of that damn lich. Every black mage would have finished the job moments ago. But not this guy. Andrès' magical abilities were much better than legends told. But just one joker was left. And it was time to play it. Now or never. "For long years I didn't have such an amusing distraction. Yes, you were quit good, young mage. You even used some spells I didn't know. But I feel your fear, fear for your life." A man in his old-fashioned Traladaran robe turned again to his side, chuckling. "Yes, the fight was a fun I almost never felt before. But before I finish you, to my regrets, I have to kill your friends outside. They decimate my pawns too much. Especially these to fighters with their divine help." His mouth began to move for a complicated spell. The wrinkled hands moved with astonishing speed. Laren knew the spell. He found hints of it in an old tome back in Krakatos. This spell was called 'Nightfire' and bound energies from the Negative Plane to the ground of a 300 feet radius or more around the caster, slowly drawing all life of everyone standing in that area. And the spell would be complete in few seconds. It was the last spell Laren had. He had waited exactly for this moment. While Andrès activated the strongest version of the spell 'Nightfire', a version permantly bound into a building, Laren cast his spell as silent as possible. Then Andrés finished. A reddish fire rose from the floor, searching for living beings to drain. Less than a second later, Laren had finished his spell. The red flames turned white and even grew larger. Andrès made a surprised yell when those flames unexpectedly turned onto him, beginning at his feet and working themselves upwards. Pain, never known pain wrecked through the dead body of Andrès. "What's that?! That isn't supposed to be!" he shouted in sudden fear. He tried to shake of the fire, that already reached his hands and spread further upwards. Laren finally got onto his feets, using his beloved wall for support. "You know, your teaching some minutes ago about positive and negativ energies. I was indeed not that stupid you thought. I needed you to spend all spells able to counter this before I use the Changing spell. The idea is simple. In fact..." Laren coughed and steadied himself "... the spell's the same you made before. Nightfire can be used with positive or negative energy I read in a book. I wasn't able to invent this spell by myself, but to alter an existing spell... seems to work. I'm pleased with myself." Laren almost grinned then. Andrès was surrounded by white fire fully by now and burned. The fire was burning everywhere, but only touched the floor. "I hope the spell's as good as described in the book. Should help my friends now. Good bye Andrès, you 'lived' long enough. It's time for the sun shining again at the Lake." The soundless scream of Andrès wasn't even seen now anymore. Only a heap of ash remained. Outside, the white fire burned everywhere, throwing lesser undead into short confusion before the flames killed them. Stronger undead couldn't fight anymore and tried to flee the fire. They became easy prey for the elves. Some more feet away, Flosi -wounded heavily now- made a earth-shaking roar, and swung his hammer with all strength he could muster against the attacking Nightmare. He hit the monster with the full force at the side of it's head, throwing the head faster to the side than the backbone was able to follow. A loud crack sounded, followed by a thud when the monster fell dead to ground. The end came fast and deadly. Every undead in the immediate surroundings burned to ashes, while the others were scattered in all directions. No commanding voices united the armies of death. The fight was won. The tower was captured. And for the first time for almost 1000 years, on the next morning the sun broke through the mists. **** And the afterword follows... someday ------------------------------ End of MYSTARA-L Digest - 12 Jan 2002 to 13 Jan 2002 (#2002-14) ***************************************************************