Ambrosia Software Web Board: The Ancient Library - Ambrosia Software Web Board

Rocks fall down into the cavern.

a beam of light shines into the tunnel.

"The scroll was right, look!" said Theo, as Rulir (my third alter-ego) and Talos follow him down into the pathway.

The trio come upon a large door, marked by all sorts of ancient glyphs and symbols.

"This place must be ancient," said Rulir, "how do we get it open?"

They thought for a moment, then Talos shouted, "OPEN!!!"

Sure enough, the front door opened wide, to reveal a large and *cough* dusty library. Rulir walked over to one book, blowing on it said, "Wow, this was written in... wooow."
"When?"
"Remember when the first Tyrant lived? About 60 years before Alaric was born?"
"Well, I know of it."
"This was about a century before that." he relied.
Rulir put the book back, looking around. "Yes, many adventures could arrise from here."

About two weeks later, the library was open for business under Rulir's capable management. (One major rule: no taking books out that haven't been checked for apocalyptic spells). The tunnel had been dug out and lined with stones to make a perfect pathway in. And being just around the corner from the Tavern in Cademia...

*Make of this what you will, note that it is meant to be a second 'Tavern continued...' topic, as this one will probably be closed at page 20. Please do not make a team storyof this, though if you were to create a new team story that branches off of this location...*

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-TheDarkDragon
We beat the snot out of 'em. It's a technical term.
-The Tilford Family

A mage walks in. He takes a look around, and a loud "amazing!" made Rulir turn his head to face the mage. "This library is actually older than the Tyrants" the mage said as he approached a bookshelf, "great wisdom is written in every one of these books!"

The mage introduces himself as Lucas, and shakes Rulir's hand. "I must tell my master, Rogan, about this at once!"

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Insult of the month:
You are the fattest thing I've ever seen...and I've been on safari!

A calico cat bounds in and uses magic to flip through a book. After finishing, she glows bright pastel red and returns reading.

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Ferazel Rocks!
Cythera's 'Team Stories' Rock!

Zephyr Sigma enters the library.


"Hi, I'm looking for some self-healing tomes that I might learn. You know, so I can put my arm back on after charging into battle."


"Alright, I think I can manage that for you. But just as a side-note, why would you charge into any battle where you would lose an arm?"


"It's an honor thing. It is nobler to fight to the death in a battle that cannot be won, than to run away. Fortunately, I have never been in the position where I could enter a battle that could not be won."


"Well, noble isn't exactly the word I'd use. Let's get you those books."


Rulir shows Zephyr a few books about healing and self-healing.


Meanwhile, the cat continues reading...

*YAY!!! My 250th post! At this rate, I might make a thousand by the end of the year!!!*


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-TheDarkDragon
We beat the snot out of 'em. It's a technical term.
-The Tilford Family

[This message has been edited by TheDarkDragon (edited 04-09-2001).]

"Does anyone know what this does?" asks Tycho Maqudd holding up an old Amulet that gives off a magic aura."I found it at Abydos"

Tycho Maudd

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I say what occurs to me to say when I think I hear people say things, more I cannot say.

Lucas is nearly blinded by the light from the amulet, and holds his hand up to protect the eyes. "Ah...I think it is an ancient Coral amulet" he says with great interest in his voice, "correct me if I'm wrong, but I think it should grant the wearer resistance against cold. Maybe Headmaster Lindus will know more about it, or you could take it to Katherine, the mage. I know she has done some researching in the magical jewelry field.

"Where is she then" Tycho asks as he tries the amulet on.

"About twenty paces west of the Alraceian tavern, I think" responds Lucas, "in her magical items shop."

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Insult of the month:
You are the fattest thing I've ever seen...and I've been on safari!

Ferazel walks in. He strokes Callie and she purrs. She shows off some spells, and Ferazel starts reading. He reads for a while, and then asks, "Do you have a translator for some of these books?".

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Ferazel Rocks!
Cythera's 'Team Stories' Rock!

Theo walks in, turns Ferazel's book right side up, and wanders down the tunnels of books...never to be seen again...until he gets too hungry and has to come back out for food

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"It has to start some time.
It has to start some where.
What better time than now?
What better world than this?" ~Theo Nean Donly~

-A gush of cold air storms into the library, most of the candles are blown out-
A Mage with glowing red eyes, A thick black beard reaching to his belt, hovering across the floor, enters the library. Everyone can feel it. It's almost as if you can see the evil sprouting out of the mage's body.
With a cold harsh voice the evil man speaks: "Rulir. Come to me"
"H-h-How do you know my name? "
"Don't be a fool. I'm a mage. I know what you know. And I know you have the book which I seek for so long."
With a stuttering voice Rulir replies. "I-I-I don't know what you're talking about."
Of course he knew it. It was the Tome of Dark Awakening, which was thought to be destroyed after the Master Mages of Pnyx had banned it. But it wasn't. It was here. In this library. And the Mage knew it.
"Don't lie to me, boy!"
With that a green stream of light shot out of his hand hitting Rulir hard, throwing him to the ground. Rulir wanted to scream from the unbelievable pain, but his lips were like sealed. The guards in the room grab their weapons, but the Powerful Black Mage had already cast a sleeping spell on them.
Then he turned to Rulir, still on the ground, rolling around in pain.
"MY NAME IS BLACK BEARD. Remember it. I SHALL BE BACK!" it came roaring out of The Dark Mage's throat.
With that he opened his arms and exploded into a bunch of crows which flew right back out the door, leaving everyone in the library stunned.

[This message has been edited by Black Beard (edited 04-10-2001).]

Lucas, who is buried in ancient spell books, does not notice a thing whatsoever.

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Insult of the month:
You are the fattest thing I've ever seen...and I've been on safari!

Zephyr Sigma comes out of a hall of books and sees Rulir on the ground.
Helping him up he says, "What happened here?"
"Some big weird sorcerer came in here insisting I give him some book." he replied.
"Do you know what book he wants?" asked Lucas.
"He probably means the Tome of Dark Awakening." said Rulir.
"Weren't all of those destroyed when the Magesterium banned them?" asked Theo.
"Yeah, but I wouldn't be surprised if there was a copy in here somewhere."
"Neither would I. So I suggest we find it before he returns." said Zephyr.
"Everyone! Start looking for a book called the Tome of Dark Awakening." yelled Rulir.
Everone begins looking for the book. While they were, Rulir asked Fanatic: "I've heard you can teleport yourself long distances with the use of homing runes. Can you create a permanent portal from here to somewhere?"
"Depends, where?"
"Pnyx."
"I suppose so, but I would have to create half here, then walk to Pynx and set up the other half."
"Couldn't you teleport there?"
"Naw, I would lose hold of this end and it would be worthless."
"Alright then... here's what we'll do. Once we find the book... provided it's actually here of course, you set up a half-portal here and you, Zephyr, Theo and I will hike to Pynx and set up the other half while simultaniously giving the book to Lindus to destroy."
"Why not I just hike there and set up the other half of the portal now?" asked Fanatic.
"Well, what if Black Beard came back while you were gone? We'd be down a man and in trouble."
The group continued to search for the book until...
*Be inventive, and Black Beard: Don't make my guy so cowardly, read the info string! .*

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-TheDarkDragon
We beat the snot out of 'em. It's a technical term.
-The Tilford Family

*hehe sorry*

-The clampering of armor and the sound of hooves are heard outside-
A man, protected in shining golden armor, wielding the master sword steps into the library.
"Is this the newly opened library of Rulir?"
"Why yes, yes it is."
"I have come to warn you, for there is a mad mage by the name of Black Beard roaming the land, searching every ancient library for a book and causing a rain of terror."
"Thanks for your warning, but he's already been here. He even tried to kill me, Rulir, owner of this library!", answers Rulir.
"This is good."
"GOOD?!?!?!"
"Yes, for this means I'm even closer on his tail than ever before. You see, I am Carl de Nehl, and I have sworn myself to hunt corrupt sorcerers, who abuse their power. I have been hunting Black Beard for the last 3 years, in hopes of stopping him. Did Black Beard mension anything about returning?"
"Yes! He said he'd come back for the book!"
"Then we must prepare. Do not underestimate him. We need more guards. And we need Lindus, for he is the only true person who can stop him. I can only temporarily seal him inside this crystal ball, but it will not hold the mage for long. We somehow need a quick connection to Pnyx... but how...
Zephyr Sigma steps in. "I was going to go to Pnyx to set up a teleport here!"
"Excellent! Go now! we need that teleport up before the man returns! I shall stay here and guard the library, while everyone looks for the book!"

An rune-covered book inches out of a bookcase and falls to the ancient floor with at thump.

As an silent wind turns the pages the people of the library finds themselves drawn to the spectracle. The pages comes to rest.

"This could be a most strange coincident. But I think not. Behold, friends, the book of Bord-Been - one of the most powerful mages of white magic in ancient times."

"Well, says who?" one of the spectators wonders.

"Mostly himself actually. It says so on the preface of the book I noticed. Anyway. It seems as if the book has an formula for finding black magic. Perhaps we can use it to find the Tome of Dark Awakening."

------------------

"Very well!", states Carl de Nehl. "But who has practised white magic? I have only learned the ways of the runes. The only person I know of is Lindus and Alaric! Is there anyone in this room who has the knowledge to use this tome?"


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Arrrrrrr!!!! D'ye have some rum, matey?

Ruefully the crowd shakes their heads.

"Cursed. It would have made the finding much easier," Carl de Nehl concludes and sends the people to scavenge the shelfs of the library.

As century old dust and cobwebs gets disturbed by eager hands, sneezing and coughs puncture the dark silence of the cave.

"Water! Please give me water, this dust is drowning me!" One of the volunteers complain.

"Oh, spare me. We've much more important things to do than pause for refreshments."

The activity continues.

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"I shall be outside guarding the entrance, if any of you should fin the book, contact me immediately!" With that Carl de Nehl walks out the door.
5 hours pass, and still no sign of the book, then:
"I'VE FOUND IT!!!!!" screams Rulir. "I'll go outside to give the book to Carl de Nehl!"
Rulir dashes for the door. Only to find Carl de Nehl on the floor, his armor scorched, puddles of blood surrounding him.
"G-G--Go back inside.... Mage lock the door.. this should keep keep Black Beard out.... for a while.. argh.. "
"I won't leave you here to die!" speaks Rulir almost screaming.
He starts dragging the lifeless body back inside the library and mage locks the entrance.
"WHAT HAPPENED?! He's DEAD!!!"
"Yes I know... Is there anyone with healing powers in this building?!"
"Yes. I can resurrect him, but I don't know if I should. He didn't give me water when I needed it."
"I hope you know that we are all DOOMED without him. You better resurrect him!"
"Very well."
The young sorcerer starts mumbling in an ancient tongue. Carl de Nehl opens his eyes.
"I thank thee... ... Black Beard struck me from behind... He seemed to be disguised as a crow... I was able to slash him with my master sword... This should buy us some time before he has healed himself. He seems to have somehow learned the spell "Deathstrike"... Which can, to my knowledge, be only found in Pnyx... Something is awfully wrong here.
Now, I must rest for the hopefully final showdown with Black Beard."
The Paladdin's eyes close again, this time though he just falls into a deep slumber.

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Arrrrrrr!!!! D'ye have some rum, matey?

[This message has been edited by Black Beard (edited 04-11-2001).]

Callie walks up to the sleeping figure, and purring, goes to sleep on his face. Ferazel lifts her off, and asks Rulir, "Although I'm a Master mage, I can't seem to understand this writing." He hands Rulir the book.

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Ferazel Rocks!
Cythera's 'Team Stories' Rock!

Just then the door is hit by a giant force, the ground shaking with it.
Panic breaks out.
"WAAAAH!!!! WHAT SHOULD WE DO? BLACK BEARD HAS RETURNED!!!!!!"

A simple *click* is heard at the door, and it swings open. But to all's surprise Zephir Sigma is seen standing proudly at the door.
"Who locked the door? Did something happen?"
"You can say that again- Look!" Says Rulir and points at Carl de Nehl.
"Good thing I was able to install the portal in Pnyx. Let me activate it."

Zephir walks to the shutdowned teleporter, mumbles a few magic words and it springs to life, opening a gateway to safety.
"Hurry now, we must not lose time!"

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Arrrrrrr!!!! D'ye have some rum, matey?

Black Beard goes back and changes all of the Zephyrs he put in into Ferazels.
Zephyr has no knowledge of any sort of magic outside of healing.

"Wait a minute. I think I figured out the answer to this little puzzle."
Rulir grabs Zephyrs sword and runs over to a shelf of books and searches for a minute.
"Aha!" he yells and dashes off out the back door.

"Where did he run to?" ask Zephyr, only now realizing that his sword is gone.

Thud!

"What was that?" asked Lucas.

Thud!

"It's the door! Quick! Mage Lock the door!" yells Zephyr.
Ferazel locks the door and stands back.

"What do we do now? It won't be long before he-"
said Lucas just as the door clicked and smashed open.

"Where is it!?!" yelled the dark sailor-mage.
"Where's what you old blowhard?" asked Zephyr.
"My book!"
"We don't have your friggin book now get out of this library."
"I stay until I have my book."
With that, Zephyr grabbed the spears of one of the guards (when did we get guards again?) and slammed Black Beard in the belly, then flicked it up full force into the giant's chin. The mage backed down briefly, but then wiped the blood off his face.
He lifted his hand and threw Zephyr into an opposing wall.
Carl de Nehl swung his master's sword at the black mage only to see a blue light where he had been and Black Beard appear two feet forward. Carl is stunned in the shock of the move and Black Beard moves in and lifts him above the ground by his neck.
"Where is it?" Black Beard shouts.
"The wizard took it! Out the back door." said Carl in a moment of weakness.
"You fool!" shouted Zephyr as Black Beard is hit over the head with a spear.
"RAH!" yells Black Beard as he hurls Zephyr into a shelf of books.
"I will take this mage to meet his maker!" says Black Beard as he dashed out the back door.

Looking at one of his wounds, Zephyr says, "You fool. Why did you tell him where Rulir went?"
"He said he knew the answer to the puzzle! I figured he wanted Black Beard to follow him."
"What if he wanted to throw the book off of a cliff so Black Beard would have to die to get it?"
"Well I never thought of that. I just assumed that Rulir wanted Black Beard to follow him."
"I was a Dragon slayer in the north mountains for three lifetimes. I survived that long thanks to this amulate here, and the fact that I never, ever, assumed anything."

Scene 2: Cliffside hundreds of feet over the ocean.

Rulir reaches the cliff, Zephyr's sword in one hand, the book in the other.
"There you are foolish little wizard!" says a voice from behind him.
Black Beard gets closer.
"Is this what you want?" says Rulir as he shakes the book in the air, hiding the sword behind his back.
"Yes!" says Black Beard squinting toward the sun, "give it to me now!"
"Really? So it would anger you if I were to, say, drop it off the cliff?" says Rulir as he paces around the large nearsighted mage. Half way around the circle Rulir was pacing around Black Beard, Rulir drops Zephyr's sword on top of a rock. Strangely, Black Beard doesn't notice it. Rulir finishes circling him and stands before the cliff with the book being held over it.
Just then, the words of Carl came back to him. "If we could find this book, it may contain spells that could end plagues and suffering all over Cythera."
"Well, too bad." said Rulir as he drops the book to the rocks below the cliffs face.
"NO!!" screamed Black Beard as he ran up to the edge of the cliff looking down.
Rulir stands aside and, using telekinesis, lifts the sword into the air and powers it with magical abilities.
"YOU!! YOU DID THIS!!" yelled Black Beard.
"Sure did." said Rulir as he motions for the sword to fly.
And fly it did.
Right through Black Beard's chest.
"NO!!" hissed Black Beard as he fell to his grave at the bottom of the cliff.
Rulir trudged back to the library...
*Yes he really is dead, so don't try to revive him. We'll leave that for another topic.*

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How many licks does it
take to get to the center
of a tootsie pop? 786, I
counted.

*A warrior dressed in strange white armor bordered with gold and an odd pattern on his front enters the library. He observes the blood and broken men with a shrug and moves deep into the library on a quest for something.*

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"While the motives of hell are usually bent on distruction, the motives of heaven are undecipherable"
--Librarius Ex Horadrim

Ferazel gets too tired and goes to sleep on the ground, using Callie as his pillow.

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Quote ViaVoice, "Hal Cohen help build Satam sand scratch a flat surface scratches that some scratch that scratches that scratch facts scratcher wraked this scratched tax costs tax this. "

Carl de Nehl watches as Rulir comes back with a wide grin on his face.
"Why did you kill him? WHY DID YOU KILL MY BROTHER?"
"Um, woops..."
"Well, I hope you know that you have just released his Evil Spirit, and it will haunt you until you die. But it will take time. His spirit is still too weak to escape the cliff. Why do you think I wanted to SEAL HIM INTO MY CRYSTAL BALL? So that Lindus could put a final lock onto it! But NO. You HAD to kill him. Fool. You foolish little Peasant. Well, Black Beard is your eternal problem now. Have fun."


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Arrrrrrr!!!! Black Beard was kinda weak, wasn't he?

[This message has been edited by Black Beard (edited 04-12-2001).]

Damned for all eternity? Ok.

"And on top of that, you threw the book off the cliff as well! Think of how many innocent lives may have just been executed because of your sloppyness!" said Carl, still angry.
"Don't worry, I used telekinesis to transport it into one of the store rooms. Right this way."
Carl goes ahead and Rulir follows him into a store room. Out of curiousity, Theo and Zephyr follow.

Carl looks around and says, "Where is it? I don't see it." Just then, carl feals the tip of a blade on the back of his neck. "What are you doing peasant?"

"Sit down. All will be explained shortly."
He motions for Zephyr to tie carl up in the middle of the main hall.

*I kinda feel like the butler from the movie 'Clue'. *

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-TheDarkDragon
We beat the snot out of 'em. It's a technical term.
-The Tilford Family
[This message has been edited by OctoberFost (edited 04-11-2001).]

*Why does this happen to ALL my people? Grr*

"I hope you know that you both will die when you release me. And I'm not going to be the one who kills you. My Paladdin Guild will take care of you. In fact, they're already on their way. I contacted them after Black Beard left, peasant."
"SHUT-UP! YOU LIE!"
"Why don't you summon your judge here, and let him test me."
"The reason we tied you up is because we don't trust you. You say you're his brother. How do we know we can trust you?"
"You'll find out soon!"
With a forocious scream Carl de Nehl ripps the rope to shreds and pulls his sword. Panic. Rulir tries to grab his dagger, but is hit with the side of Carl de Nehl's master sword, leaving him out cold. Zephyr jumps on Carl de Nehl's back, but the Paladdin grabs him by his arm with an iron fist and throws him against the wall. Zephyr was just about to stand up again, when the Paladdin was already over him, beating him with his gauntlets.
"Fools. They try to capture a Paladdin. But I shall not kill them, for they are my allies. I will take Rulir back to Pnyx, for the Peasant needs protection from Black Beard's spirit. "
Then he gives Zephyr another blow, carries Rulir on his shoulder and ties him up with chains and put him on his horse.
They then ride away into the sunset.

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-Small Member ( Grr )

Theo just looks around stunned as the battle progresses, and then walks back into the depths of the Library for the third time.

["Clue"? There must be some secret passage in the back that leads into the Tavern . And what does "small member" mean?]

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"It has to start some time.
It has to start some where.
What better time than now?
What better world than this?" ~Theo Nean Donly~