From: Mike Sander <344LWKC@CMUVM.CSV.CMICH.EDU> Date: Sunday, 8 Nov 1992 19:39:49 EST Newsgroups: alt.pub.dragons-inn Subject: "DQ" Week 13: A proposition [ADMIN: This happens right after Alita's memory, although it may not APPEAR in that order. Also, get your "turncoat" votes in by tomorrow morning (approx. 11 PM EST) -- since this will be the last thing until then --, or else I'll assume you think Nightstalker {:-)!} is it...] --------------------------------------------------------------------- > <> "Damn -- again they set my toy back. Not that it will save them. Let's get down there and show them the futility of their situation." the Dark Master says, leading the figure behind him to the stairs. >The memory chain broke, and they were free. And around them, the minions of >the Dark Master, weapons and spells at the ready. The Dark Master's servants had changed since the DQers last saw them. Krastin -- identifiable mainly by his armor and weapon -- had been transformed into a skeletal warrior. Vornik had been stripped of humanity also, resembling a wight more than anything else. And there was another heretofore unseen, a evil priestess by her robes and the undead "serving" her. Also, there were various undead creatures of many shapes and constructions. And finally, the Dark Master strolled into the room. "Hello, those who foolishly thought they could easily enter my grounds. You realize that you needn't have gone thru all this troulbe. All you needed to do was ask and you would have instantly come to me. Although it was almost amusing seeing your plans go awry..." Out of sight of all, and out of danger, Miro allowed himself a small smile at that statement. By "scouting ahead", he had avoided the PCD's trap. Of course, it helped to know that it was forthcoming. He also knew what was coming next, and had planned the appropriate reaction. "But how rude of me -- I haven't introduced the newest member of my entourage. Trust me, you'll like him." Lord Raven announced, spreading his arms in a rather showy manner. Then the dark shape behind him stepped forward. The DQers gasped as they saw it to be a jet-black dragon, who screamed, "YIELD NOW, MANLINGS, TO THE MIGHT BEFORE YOU!" "TRUESILVER!?!?" boomed ShockWave. "MY NAME IS *BLACKSILVER*, AND AS MY MASTER COMMANDS, YOU *WILL* YIELD TO HIM!" There was a period of helpless activity -- at least for most. A mumbling of spell words pierced the air, but the magic seemed to dissolve almost before it got started. 'Raelf -- rather surprisingly -- let out a curse, now realizing that there was some sort of magic-dampening field around. "Tsk Tsk. You shouldn't have done that -- I might have been kind to you. You will notice, of course, that magic only obeys MY will in this place." the Dark Master says, nearing his troops, "Take them!" The battle was quickly joined... Krastin shambled towards Valgar. The bearded man met the skeletal warrior with much skill, and his enchanted sword found holes in Krastin's defenses several times. Despite the valient attempt, Krastin had more skill, more power in his home realm, more pure stamina. And soon, a victory. Valgar's last thought before slipping into unconsciousness was relief that he had kept the beast inside him at bay during the fight. ShockWave and Vornik paired off, and initially could only produce a stalemate. ShockWave noticed he seemed to radiate something that caused the undead to fight amongst themselves, or even attack Vornik. And for a while, ShockWave didn't care about the power, only thrashing the occassional zombie or skeleton who strained TOO close. Then he sensed evil start to loom in an unfamiliar place -- his own mind and heart. ShockWave stopped the power, unbalanced by the fact that he had been partially corrupted. He still tried to fight off the undead, but soon the tension and the numbers were too great, and he was defeated. Alita was blocked as to ideas for a moment. She could not find a spot for her newly-gained abilities. The dead had little to no lust, and Noira seemed to give no response. Alita walked -- even her more familiar powers seemed to be disengaged here -- to the only remaining target, BlackSilver. Her powers worked, but too well -- the dragon had not felt pleasure in a long time, and overreacted to the stimulus, toppling onto Alita. The force caused Alita to loosen her influence, saving her life but not her captured position. William was constantly struggling, dodging the undead when possible and using the plane's idea of magic when necessary. The Dark Master was intrigued to see this display of power, but William was too busy to note his expression. He loosed a bolt which disintegrated the monsters nearby him to ash, and allowed him a moment of rest. He asw his fellow DQers struggle with and fall to their foes. William gave up his bit of hope -- if the more powerful people were doomed, what chance did HE have? Several zombies suddenly charged, but William made no attempt at stopping them. Lancos was initially content to subdue the zombies that came at him. Despite the odds, the word surrender was not in his vocabulary. However, even his defenses could not hold back so many foes, only so much damage could be absorbed at one time. Lancos went down swinging, but nevertheless went down underneath a mass of bodies. 'Raelf tried to shift to an elemental form, but stopped instantly. Noira was chanting a prayer of some kind. He realized, he had deliberately not adapted himself to this plane of existance, and so he was susceptible to conjure-magic and holy words, beyond the usual. The prayer made it agony to draw on his elemental nature, but it didn't hurt if he remained human. Magic denied him, 'Raelf drew his short staves and prepared for the onslaught. The shambling figures surrounded him - but they felt no pain from his strikes, and though he dodged and threw him and did things to their cadaverous bodies that would have crippled or killed living men, they generally ignored it. Eventually they overwhelmed him. Kadrys started with fighting several skeletons and zombies, with notable success. But soon he viewed around, and saw that more desperate measures were called for. His life-draining abilities were limited: draining True -- he corrected himself -- *BLACK*Silver's life would be counter-productive, and the priestess was taking in energy faster than he could absorb it. Filling up with as much life as he felt safe with, he zoomed at the Dark Master. Even a minor set-back would help turn the tide. The Dark Master didn't appear to pay attention to Kadrys until only a few feet seperated them. Lord Raven mumbled a few words, and suddenly Kadrys stopped in mid-air, then crashed to the ground, as if having hit an irrestable barrier. "The fool." the Dark Master said, ordering his minions to rouse the DQers, so that he could talk to them. "Now you see how truly naive you were to think you could oppose me. But I shall give you one final chance to show some intelligence. Forget you 'noble' ideas and join with me -- or else end up like your friend 'SunStorm' has". Lord Raven smiled, inwardly knowing what the outcome would be. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Michael Sander 344lwkc@cmuvm.csv.cmich.edu