From hutch Sun Aug 2 15:06:25 1992 Subject: [DQ] SunStorm: Week 3: Glittering Steel and Past Life. (edited) To: 344lwkc@cmuvm.csv.cmich.edu (Mike Sander) Date: Sun, 2 Aug 92 15:06:25 PDT X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.3 PL8] Status: RO ===================================================== THE DRAGON QUEST: Week 3 * The DragonQuesters: SunStorm, Lancos, 'Raelf, Kadrys. * The Situation: The second day, the group went for information gathering. SunStorm went asking the tower guards, without any success. Lancos went in Low City, and after useless palm greasing, he was attacked by a man in a Dark Armor, but managed to survive using his medallion. He then later heard about TrueSilver, and found a little cemetery south of Generica where TrueSilver has left pawprints, or fell there. Valgar went to a cartographer, and brought back a strange book containing maps, particularly one showing where a "magical" cave (which drove it's first discoverer crazy) is supposed to be: just toward the sea, on the other side of the Merchant's Hill. 'Raelf did some aerial reconnaisance, got a general view of the city and surroundings, but didn't find anything else. As for Kadrys, he provided counseling, but stayed at the group's rallying point: the inn. But in the evening, when the group was all together, strangeness of the utmost kind happened: First, a second 'Raelf "from the future" showed up, but he didn't act as if he was going to help much, and the few things he said seemed more like a dark foreboding of things to come than warnings. Second, Shockewave, then everybody, heard TrueSilver's voice calling a "Dark Master". An explosion of light on the plaza occured, from which came out a PyraCubic Diamond, a discontinuity in time and space. This is now. Or was. Or will be... Who cares? ======================================================= Everybody is outside in the night, between the stainless steel part of the plaza, where the PyraCubic Diamond is, and the Dragons-Inn. SunStorm has been completely enthralled by the cursed thing. Kadrys seems somewhat immune to charming, him being a vampire... Lancos is putting all his willpower into trying to disbelieve something he knows can't be possible, ShowckWave doesn't know what's going on, and Valgar seems to have a hard time himself. 'Raelf is the only one who has seen such things before, and he has activated some protection runes on his Board, and is circling, trying to analyze the thing, then destroy it. But the party isn't alone. People, some even from the inn, other just passerbys who heard the noise and the commotion, where also in the plaza, all enthralled by it's incomprehensible magics. A mage named William tried to dispel the thing directly, but his spell fell short, and the PyraCubic Diamond wasn't affected at all. Now Kadrys is trying to get SunStorm out of his transe, without apparent success. ShockWave: "He's too far gone. That thing sucked him in!" Kadrys: "You mean, his soul?" ShockWave: What else? His body seems to stay here quite alright. But it seems his mind has stopped in time, and I don't feel him at all in there. I should know, I've only been bonded with him for a few decades after all! And since 'Raelf put me into SunStorm's hands, I`m now sure of it. Whatever *IS* SunStorm has gone into that strange bauble there! 'Raelf thought he had grasped the workings of this magical trap, and so proceded to try to make a crack in the improbable crystal. He didn't hear what ShockWave said to Kadrys, too concentrated was he on dispelling the thing. "There! Now I got it! Was easy that!" Kadrys: 'Raelf, stop! Too late, the thing was cracked, and starting to fall apart. << DeActivate.EmergencySecurityOverRide Code #@$%%* >> <> Only broken glass now lay on the Stainless Steel Plaza ground. And some bizarre improbable components, too. 'Raelf: "Wha? Traveller magic?" ShockWave: NO! You... But suddenly there was an even greater cry of anguish. "NOOOOOOOOO! You can't have broken it!? How could you?" 'Raelf, Kadrys, and any other who was not enthralled then saw the one who just shouted. A man in dark plate armor, atop a near building. Lancos was too busy trying to recover his mind from the wracking experience he's just been through to say that this was the one he fought earlier that day, but 'Raelf and Kadrys still recognised him for the foe he was. And he seemed to be fully recovered from his fight with Lancos. "You've just broken the portal! ..." 'Raelf: "Portal?!? Looked like a different thing another. How can it be discontinuity that is a portal? Portal detect not finding be. And is traveller-magic!" "...Now I'll have to wait until the new moon! I'll kill you for that! NOW! Spawns, attack! KILL KILL KILL! Especially the flying mage!" 'Raelf: "Ooops" (easily translated to ANY language). Then from behind him, there was movement. Winged shadowy figures were taking off and darted right toward the plaza. Most of them seemed to go toward 'Raelf. The others simply charged into the (previously) charmed people, who weren't a match for these monsters, and panic quickly came about. ShockWave: Are these Demons? Yes? Could it be? Yyy... NO! Damn, it's ONLY a few dozen gargoyles! Well, seems like you're going to need a magical sword anyway, and since SunStorm isn't still out of it, whatever "it" is, I guess somebody else will have to do the fighting... ME!!! The cristalline sword started to glow more brightly, and the scene was bathed in soft blue light, making the surroundings seem even more eerie than before. "HAHAHAHAHA! This time you won't be able to fight back, you puny mortal!" said the Dark One, who proceeded to jump right onto the plaza, as if two floors where only a few inches jump, and started to close in on a non-fully recovered yet Lancos. As for Valgar, he was back, alright, the Pyracubic Diamond had time to fully enthrall only the shrunken giant, but Valgar seemed to suffer from some after effects: he was muttering to himself, has if he's just been through the worsts of nightmares. It's true that he and Lancos were the second ones to see the accursed thing, but Valgar didn't share Lancos's disbelief of "all things impossible". 'Raelf and Kadrys didn't wait for the monsters to tear them to shreds, and the battle was quickly joined, amid a panicking and fleeing populace. ShockWave: "Good, that means I won't have to worry about hitting an innocent! Give me room, all of you, and we'll see if a dwarf can swing a zweihander! I doubt it, but this dwarf here really HAS giant strength, you know..." Then SunStorm started to move again, but his eyes didn't seem quite alive. Shockwave: Good, I can control him even if he isn't in here! Harder, but still manoeuverable. Now take this, you stupid gargoyles! ============================================================ "Dark Master, the situation has changed quite a bit there... something quite impossible has happened..." "I know, and stop calling me that. "Dark Master". Hrr, it's such a stupid and feeble name to represent what I am." "But that's how THEY call you, don't they?" "It's always useful to let your allies not take you TOO seriously. Especially these kinds of allies. Because I want them to think that way. Now look, do you recognize the One who disabled the portal? Disabling the portal isn't impossible, just very very improbable, or difficult. But he managed to do it without too much difficulty. That's why I want his magic. It's similar to the one in the portal. A magic that old must be powerful." The Shadow servant looked at the image in the floating sphere. "Him, again! How can he do such things. No living mage can." "He's far older than he looks. I've finally traced him back, and this time I won't let him get away that easily. It's kind if funny that he choose to ally himself with the Giant. Ahhh, I guess these kinds of things must always suffer from the tricks of fates. But it's too late now, I've already got the first one. And soon they will all follow." "But look, in the background, near the inn, the one waving. It's him again! How can that be?" "He's a time-traveller. Things like this happen to them too often even for THEIR taste. But the second one doesn't interest me. He isn't pure anymore, knows me too well, and poses no more threat. The fool. I control time in this place. Well, of course he doesn't know that. That's a secret nobody knows but me and you. His younger self is acting brave, you see? He's convinced that seeing his older self guarantees that he'll survive this quest he's embarked upon. The more surprised will he be when he dies at my hands! Why should I care about Paradoxes when I have the power to redirect their effect?" "You know I've always been and always will be devoted to you, Master. But isn't it dangerous that your servant in Generica is trapped there with them? He doesn't know of much, but still..." "Don't fear. Krastin won't talk. And he has still a few surprises for them. I hope he manages to kill a few of them before leading the others back here, or at least delay them until my new alliance is completely set in stone. That would simplify things a lot. I doubt Krastin can stop the dimensionnal traveller, though. Well, if he does, then victory is ours. Anyway, he'll die soon. What happens to him afterwards depend on how well he played his part." The Dark Master approached a nearby glassy window: the polished stone itself was transparent, and looking through it, the ruined city offered a dreary sight. From his Great Tower, the Dark Master could see very well the hill, and behind it there was the Black Sea. No vegetation was in sight, and the dark of the night seemed to go on forever. The Dark Master looked toward the other side of the hill. He seemed preoccupied. "...M... Master, all is going well on THAT front. He doesn't offer any resistance anymore." "Good, good" said the Dark Master with an evil grin. "Now, let's see how our new guest is faring...". He gestured, and the sphere began glowing anew, but this time the images forming on it weren't those of the Glittering Steel Plaza... ================================================================= < KASPACK!... BOOOOOOM! > "WHAT is that thing?" SunStorm shouted, aghast. He grabbed his mace even more thightier, and runned toward the discontinuity, fearless, even tough the light nearly blinded him. "What??? It seems like a floating cube, or a diamond, or a pyramid or something! It's very strange..." The world around him seemed to move as if in a blur, everything was going faster and faster, but SunStorm didn't notice any of it. He was looking solely at the strange translucent object. "That's strange, that's very strange indeed..." And suddenly he felt himself pulled. Strongly. He tried to resist, shout, but he felt like a leaf in a storm, he didn't feel his feet on the ground anymore, in fact he didn't quite remember what happened just seconds ago, or why he was there... and then he remembered who he was... ================================================================= StoneMountain called to him. "SunStorm? SunStorm! Come here! Your father is back!" "Come, little brother, come see our father!" "Yes, GreyRage." It was a great shiny day. All DiamondRise was in joy: The Warriors were coming back from war against the DemonHordes, and this time they managed to stem them back. The Warriors where wearing their parade armor, and the entire city was celebrating this first victory in a long time. "Father!" He ran through the crowd. He was no taller than three crows, and already he knew how to talk like a grown boy. "SunStorm! My son!" IronSun grabbed him gently but firmly, and held him in his shieldarm, his face filled with pride. He kissed the litttle boy on the forehead. "Mother, one day I will fight like father!" "Him, a warrior? Mother, surely he won`t." "Don't speak like that of your younger brother, GreyRage. SunStorm will become a warrior, just like you. I'm quite sure of that, unfortunately." "Don't be so glum, my love, come, today is a day for celebrating. We have repelled the Demons at the pass easily. We lost no one to their fiery pits!" Later that day, the Ancient Wielder of the Wisdom talked, and warned that this victory over the DemonHordes wasn't to be taken lightly. "It could be a trap! Never before have we vanquished them this easily!" But still, the men were weary, and there hadn't been a victory for so long. The enemy had been growing less and less of a threat in the last years, and finally there was hope for a final end to the war. The war that destroyed 4 other entire civilisations. The war that has been going on for over a millenium. The war that now permeated every facet of the once proud and mighty giant race of Titania. So the warriors lived their win to the fullest. In the middle of the night, all the offspring that the DemonMother had held back for these past years gathered. The DemonMother had discovered another way on the valley, 10 years before. She had preprared well, making the giants believe they were winning. When she gave her telepathic signal, all her DemonSpawns stormed into the valley, and attacked the city. SunStorm was reliving all of it. The horror, the deaths. And the grieving of his father, which lasted for years. And mostly the fear. Mostly. GreatSword was killed, and it was his first and only son Holrik who became King of all Giants. All those that where left, that is. ---------- "Why me??? You could have picked anybody else! But why *ME* ???" "Still you doubt your Destiny. You will see. You will win this war." "I... can't! I can't take it anymore! I just can't!" "You will. You must." ----------- The pain! Cold, so cold! mommysea, where was mommysea? Cold! Pain! WHAAAAAAA!!!! WHAAAA!!! Father RockHome held the newborn upside down. "And now, SunStorm FireStarr, son of IronSun FireStarr or StormClan, and of StoneMountain of StoneClan, I give you the gift of Life. May Titania protect you." His father looked at him, proudly, like all warriors look at their second born son. Actualy, it was his first son. StoneMountain gave birth to GreyRage while her husband Yalef GreyMace was dying at war. She grieved intensely, but not for long. The people of DiamondRise couldn't afford to. They needed all the sons they could get... ..."I'm just feeling so sorry for him, IronSun. What kind of world will he live on? This war is without end..." --------- SunStorm remembered his first REAL fight with a DemonSpawn. Until that time, he had thought war to be some great adventure, even fun. Now that his friend BrickHammer is dead, tough, things don't look so fun anymore. -------- Master HighSky shaked his long white beard, a good 8 foot long. "You let yourself succumb to rage, my boy. That's why She doesn't talk to you anymore." "It's all his damn fault!" ________ Father RockHome had just consecrated SunStorm as a Paladin. IronSun was wearing a smile for the first time in years. "My son, I'm too old now. That last fight nearly killed me. I'm passing on the family honor. You shall make your father proud." He handled the DiamondSword to SunStorm. Then he told him how his mother was killed. From this point on, SunStorm vowed to find GreyRage, and kill every DemonSpawn he could. He searched out of the valley for years. He fought many battles, most of them alone. Titania was with him, protecting him. His cause was just. He would find him, or die trying. He'll never go back to DiamondRise without his brother, dead or alive. -------- "You're not my brother! IronSun isn't my father! You're all weak!" "Whaaaat? GreyRage, you can't really think what you're... " "Shut up! I don't live here anymore." "You hit me! Why? And where will you go? The DemonHordes are everywhere outside this valley. You won't go far." "I`ll manage. I always have. Father never liked me. Mother neither. They always preferred YOU!" "But, I hardly knew her! Anyway, I won't let you go. It's too dangerous!" "Then I'll have to make sure you don't." -------- The Zweihander was at it again. Talking with no end in sight. SunStorm tried to break it, to stop it yammering, without success. "Aaah, if only there were a couple Demons here, to make him SHUT UP!" "Well, SunStorm, seems you got your wish! AWRIGHT! DEMONS! Let's fight!" "Uhh, but there is over a *score* of them!" "Well, if we make it through this, at least this will make for a MEMORABLE fight! Or at least you, uh, WE go down the honorable way!" "I'm sure I'll remember more about the pain..." "SSSS, die NOW, Giantssscum! He, we got you disssssarmed now, GiantSssscum! Mother will be happy with ussss tonight. We bring back the curssssed goodsword. We kill storm giantsssscum!" "SSStttil, him Ssscum gave good fight! Welll, that meanssss there will be three timessss asss much treassure for USSSS!" "Arg. What are you waiting for! Kill me, and be done with it!" "HeHeHe. SSSSSS. GiantSssscum want quickdeath, uh? Well, eatsssss thisssss!" "Aaaaaarg... RRRaaaaah!" "You fiends! Torturing him like that! Well, if I was in his hands right now, I'd... Huh? Awright! Talk about help from the sky! Yo, stoopid Demon, don't look now, but there's someone behind you!" "Ssss what? Oh ssssshit, a ssssilveer dragon! Fleee!" "Sssssshish! (toast)" "Hello. I'm TrueSilver. Seemed like you needed a little help..." "Well, honorable beast. I'm ShockWave, pleased to meet you, and the guy here on the ground bleeding to his death is SunStorm..." "graaah... huhhh.. hhhaarg. Pleased to meet you. Hack." -------- "SunStorm? SunStorm?" the eeries voice seemed to come from everywhere. For the second time in his life, SunStorm was really scared. "Who's that? Demon, show yourself! I may not wield my Father's sword, but I'll still manage to kill you with my blade!" "SunStorm, don't you recognize me? Look into your heart!" "Titania! Is it really true? Is that... you?" "Yes. I've chosen you. Will you be my paladin?" "I will serve you well!" ---------- "Thus is it, Holrik! For twenty years they have harassed us, building their power. For a millenium the valley was sealed, only twice was the city attacked, and each time, although it costed us dearly, we repelled the DemonHordes. And it looks as if today's the third time!" "IronSun, the DemonHordes are too stupid to have vanquished the guards at the Great Wall, the valley's entrance, all that easily. They knew about all the secret ways in! Did they capture one of our warriors and make him talk?" "If that's true, then may he burn in hell forever." "I'm sure all of our fighters would die rather than tell our secrets. But it`s too late, now. See them coming over the hill. So many of them! Well, fight well, and may we'll live to fight again, my friend!" They prepared to order the charge... "IronSun, do you see THAT? There is a giant leading them!?! Impossible!" And then IronSun recognized his own son. Battle was joined. They were the last stand between the DemonHordes and DiamondRise. --------- "Nooo! WhiteHair! Not you too!" "Don't cry...my love, for we'll see... each other... in a better... world..." "WhiteHair? WHITEHAIR! Noo! It's not fair! Not her!" "Then rise and fight, my young Paladin. Rise and Fight." --------- "TRAITOR!!! How *could* YOU??? My own.... SON....!" "You never understood, father. I did the right thing. This has gone on for far too long. The war MUST end. NOW. " "NOOOOOOO! You killed him! You killed him! I'll kill YOU!!!" "You never were my equal, SunStorm. I'll kill you too if I must." "...I... won't.... let... any.... son.. of.... mine... become.... like.... you..." "Look at you, old man. Old and frail, and dying. I didn't become like I am, you MADE ME what I am! I hate you!" "...Then by Titania, I... shall have... to.... undo.... my.... error...!" "Wha? The DiamondSword? How did it appear in... ... ARG! Take that! " "Faaather!" "No, ag, the old man knew some magic! Ack, help me, DemonSpawns, I led you here, so help me now! Give me healing, or I'll surely die from this wound!" "Sssss, of courssssse, helpful traitor one! Of courssse! Come here, I'll make your painssss vanissssssh.... FOREVER!!! " That's when ShockWave took over, and when SunStorm came back to his senses, only red and green blood, and bodies, were on the battlefield. Holrik was dead, too. This meant that if anything was to happen to Hedrik, his son, then SunStorm was to be the next (and maybe the last) leader of DiamondRise. Not a very pleasant perspective for someone unsure of himself. He nearly fell in to the same trap that got his father, all those years ago when StoneMountain died: all IronSun's resolve disappeared that fateful day. And for quite a few years it was the same for SunStorm. ---------- 10 years. 10 years he's been on a wild goose chase. He never found him. She always pushed him to continue the search, telling him that he will find him, that he *must* find him, but it's been too long. His carcass must be completely gone to dust by now. Even goddesses don't know everything. Why woul Titania simply not tell him where he is, if that were the case? No, he had lost faith, but he had to return home. It's been so long. And they need him to pretect the valley, anyway. --------- "SunStorm, this can't go on. I've talked to Father RockHome, and Master HighSky, and to the Ancient Wielder of Wisdom. At this rate, we won't survive another winter. We are doomed, the DemonMother is sending us everything she can, hoping to crush us by brute strength. And she is slowly winning! If DiamondRise should fall, then they will rule everywhere. The dragons are mostly concenrend with their own squabble, and although some of them help us, more help the DemonMother. Our population has decreased so much in the last century, the city looks like a ghost city!" "Surely there must be a way... When I travelled, I learned from tiny winged humanoids, pickziz they call themselves, I think, that the DemonMother had a weakness: A stonegem called Gratanich or something." "Yes, it's written in the old books. Only the Evil Gratanich GemStone can Destroy the DemonMother. Our mages have searched for it everywhere, but it was nowhere to be found. For centuries they worked on the gate, and now it is completed. Well, sort of. We can send ONE Giant through it. We decided it was going to be you. You've survived through so many incredible things, that if any one can pull this off, it might just be you. We're not sure the other plane where we're sending you is the right one where the Gratanich is, but we know that from there you can get anywhere. You've got respect from the dragons, the crest on your father's armor you now wear being proof of it. If you meet any good dragonsa on the other side, it should help you. We'll also give you a magic pouch. You'll surely need money there. Problem is, you can't come back until you've found the Gratanich. And the stone may KILL you if not handled properly." "I'll accompany you, SunStorm. We've been through good and ill together. And besides, I'm sure that the DemonMother won't stop at DiamondRise. She plans to take on the entire world." "Well, let's go. I'll bring back with the Gratanich, or not at all!" At these words he remembered his vow he made so many years before, of finding his brother. And doubt filled him. SunStorm straddled TrueSilver, held ShockWave firmly in hand, put his Great Helm in place, and all three jumped through the DiamondGate, and an icy chill took them, right to their bones... ================================================================= The Dark Master sat peacefully in his chair, thinking to himself. It's been a while since he had a soul to torture. He was enjoying himself quite a lot. "Now that I know everything about you, Giant spirit, you can live through it all one more time. And another time after that. And so on. Until you become crazy, because each time it will seem even worse than the one before, and then when your spirit is broken and shivering from hurt and fear, I'll make you my slave! As for your pathethic little mudball called Titania, well... it seems that "DemonMother" might receive an untimely visit soon! I've always liked bigger armies, anyway. If she doesn't want to cooperate, well, I'll fix that... permanently! "Gratanich, hmmm. Only a fool would go find Reorx's stone without taking precautions. Even I don't dare approach it. Seems like your race is doomed after all..." "As if I cared..." The Dark Master really enjoyed seeing the very soul of SunStorm live through all the agonies of his life again and again... ADMIN: Oooooh, now... *that's* Evil! ================================================================= < KASPACK!... BOOOOOOM! > "WHAT is that horrible thing?" SunStorm shouted, aghast. He grabbed his mace even more tightly, and ran toward the discontinuity, fearful, even though... (ans so on and so on...)... ================================================================= NEXT: The DragonQuest Week 4: "Krastin kills." QotD: "Well, it looks like there aren't that many things that are possible after all!"