Ambrosia Software Web Board: The Alraeican Tavern, Part III - Ambrosia Software Web Board

Magpie heard a thud on the door over his whisk on whisky with double whisky and a shot of whisky so he got up to investigate. Opening the door he peered anxiuosly out expecting to see a thieve or two instead he finds Mareis, a good fiend of his, lieing concussed on the floor. "Get up old fella" Magpie wrenched Maries up by the arms and carried him inside closing the door behind him. "Wake up Maries" after a few whiskys Maries woke up and stammered "Yes maybe..I, I Mean No way!!! You can't have IT!!" before passing out again. "Ahhhh coould some one give me a hand?" Tycho walked over to the pair of them "Where did you two spring from? Well what seems to be the problem with ya mate here? Little to much ta drink?"

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One Ring to rule them, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them in, and in the darkness bind them, In the land of Mordor where the shadows lie.

Another weary figure approached the still half-opened door, and cautiously peeked through it. Then she opened it and stepped through into the tavern. Tycho and Magpie looked up startled, reaching for their weapons. Seeing who was standing there they relaxed.
"Hello Moonshadow!" Tycho said.
"Hello." she replied, sitting down on a nearby chair.
"So, what did you find out?" Tycho asked eagerly.
Moonshadow looked up at him. "Not too much..." She sighed. "There's hardly any record on curses..."
"What?" Magpie asked. "But they have everything in Pnyx! It can't be!"
"I know." Moonshadow rubbed her temples. "Selinus and I searched everywhere, but there was almost nothing to be found, even though he was sure he had books on it."
"So someone must have 'retrieved' them..." Magpie mused.
"Probably." Tycho agreed. "But you said almost nothing. So what did you find?"
"Little that we don't already know, and nothing on how to break the curse. I'll have to rely on my memory, if they don't bring the curse-caster... curses are a wilder kind of magic than we use, less formalized and more unpredictable. They somewhat rely on elemental effects, like that." She pointed at Talos. "That curse replaces Life by Stone, one element by another. For all I found out we'e lucky they didn't replace Life by Air."
"They could do that?" Tycho asked, not wanting to believe what he had heard.
Moonshadow nodded gravely. "Yes. It would be harder, because Air is much more unpredictable, but it would be possible... this kind of magic was supposed to be lost centuries ago, even before the Rise of the Tyrants."
Tycho and Magpie just stared at her. Maries lay unconscious on the ground.
After a while Tycho asked quietly. "Is that all?"
"Almost... if I have to try turning Talos back it would be best and easiest to do it somewhere where the element I want to turn him into, in this case Life, exists in an as pure as possible form." She was obvoiusly quoting from a book.
"And where would that be?" Magpie asked.
Moonshadow shrugged. "Don't know... but maybe one of you could find a fitting location. I'm going to sleep now." She yawned, and stretched, then got up looking for a place to sleep.

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This is not dead which can eternal lie,
and in strange aeons even death may die!

"Hang on!" Magpie walked over to the retreating Moonshadow. "Yes?"
"When I was in Kytheria.." Moonshadow interupter "Kytheria? Where is that?"
"An alternate reality to Cythera. Anyway while I was there I discovered a different way to remove curses. You may have heard of it?" Moonshadow looked grimly at Magpie. Tycho shifted uncomfortably at the table. "Yes I have, but do you realy think we can perform it?" Magpie thought for a minute. "If we could find all the alchemical elements, then we might.." Moonshadow shook her head "I don't think I am good enough to perform it though" Tycho asked if either of the two would like a drink to which there was silence. "Don't worry about that. I can do this simple ritual on stone. I have had to do this on steam before." The pair talked in depth for a few more minutes. They quikly came to a mutual decision to sleep on it (Or drink on it, in Magpies case).

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Time is a predator that hunts you down. You can cheat it for as long as you like with doctors and medicines, but in the end time will catch up with you. What if I was to tell you I had found a place where the predator had no teeth?

The following morning Moonshadow came back into the Tavern, smiling happily. "I got it!" she exclaimed.
"Got what?" Magpie groaned, looking up sleepily. Tycho was half lying on a table, snoring.
"To our two methods to remove the curse!" Moonshadow replied excitedly. "You know, we don't need all the materials for the alchemy ritual." She walked over to the bar, helping herself with something to drink (no alcohol ). "During my studies I discovered that many of the materials needed in alchemy are not used because they really have an effect, but because they are related to are associated with the effect the alchemist wants. So, if we would just have some of these 'no-effect' materials and integrate them into the ritual, that could make it at least a little easier!"
"Do you really think we should be messing with this?" Magpie asked doubtingly.
Moonshadow came back with her drink and sat down opposite from Magpie. "anything that will help us with removing the curse if our friends fail should be considered." She tilted her head slightly, looking at Magpie questioningly. "don't you think?"
'She looks like a cat...' "Well, probably... But where will we get the materials from?"

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This is not dead which can eternal lie,
and in strange aeons even death may die!

A dispirited Avatara slumps into the tavern muttering about something. Looking briefly around, he frowns at Magpie.

"I thought I just saw you..." Avatara looks out the door, and turns back, extremely puzzled. "Oh well." Avatara walks behind the bar and into the concealed storeroom in the back. Taking a bottle of something Moonshadow didn't catch the label of, Avatara walked out, closed, and relocked the storeroom before proceeding to a distant dark corner and consuming its contents, all the while staring at Talos frozen on the floor.

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"I'm a controversial figure. My friends either dislike me or hate me."

Moonshadow frowned at seeing Avatara so down. She exchanged puzzled glances with Tycho, then walked over to Avatara. She took a chair and sat down beside him. He didn't react. Carefully she touched his arm to gain his attention. "What's wrong?" she asked.
"Nothing..." he muttered, turning away.
Moonshadow looked up at Tycho, who was standing near the bar, and raised an eyebrow questioningly. He shrugged, just as puzzled, so she decided to give it another try. "Hey, guess what we found out!" She began talking about their discoveries about the curse and their plans to break it.
"It won't work..."
"What?" Moonshadow blinked. "Why?"
"We need the Crystal..."
"Why, the others are on a quest to -"
"It's destroyed..."
"WHAT?!" Tycho, who had remained silent, broke in. "How?"
Avatara began to explain...

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This is not dead which can eternal lie,
and in strange aeons even death may die!

Slayer walks into the tavern, grabs a bottle from behind the counter, and sits down at Avatara's table. "Didn't quite go as we planned," he says. "Nope," says Avatara. Slayer begins consuming the contents of his bottle.

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Slayer's guide to Cythera:
[url="http://"http://www.macclassics.com/cythera/cythera.htm"]http://www.macclassi...era/cythera.htm[/url]

A tired looking Verran entered the tavern, after introducing himself he went over to the bar and was about to order when he remembered about talos.

He slamed his fist into the bar and then took a cytheran rootbeer over to magpies table and sat down.

After Verran had almost become druk from rootbeer (quite a feet ) Magpie explaned about their plans, Verran listened, took another swig of rootbeer and thought for a moment.

"mmm" he mused aloud "I wonder if, no no that wouldent work."

"What?" asked Magpie

"Well" said Verran "Its just that talos is frozen in time and well I heared talk of some book explaning time related magic back at Pnyx, and I was wondering......"

"You could have a very good Idea there!" Said Magpie

"I dont know......" began Avantara.

*I have left this open to a change in case somebody dosent agree with it *

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Ok so I cant think of a good signature.

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

Avatara gets up, brings back several more bottles from the storeroom. Seeing the others stare at him he says, "Its a Sylierion Whiskey. The bitter taste fits my mood." before downing one of the bottles. Avatara falls into his chair, almost causing it to tip over. He uses his hands to support himself as he opens another bottle.

"That may work. Its....its a complex spell." Avatara paused.

Slayer picked up, "Its a complex spell that has interwoven Talos in time. I doubt you'll find anything of this magnitude in the book...but right now anything will help."
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"I'm a controversial figure. My friends either dislike me or hate me."

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

"Oh, drat, I was so sure he was cursed." Moonshadow sighed, frustrated, and leaned back in her chair. "I wonder how I could have been so wrong... maybe..." She got up and walked over to Talos, preparing for a second analysis.
"What are you doing there?" Verran asked.
"Trying to find out why I was so wrong..." Moonshadow muttered absent-mindedly.
"But be careful not to damage the structure of the spell that holds Talos!" Slayer warned.
"Oh, I'm not a child anymore!" She snapped.
"A little overtired maybe..." Tycho shrugged. "By the way, where are the others?"
"Well, Katze volunteered to accompany Lindus back to Pnyx, but the others should arrive soon." Verran explained. "Somehow, we split up during the journey back..."

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This is not dead which can eternal lie,
and in strange aeons even death may die!

"The book itself may not be to powerfull" began Verran "but the magic itself does obviosly exist" he said jesturing in taloses basic direction.

"There must be some emblum or book or spell or....." Verran went silent.

Avantara was still a little tipsy and was getting annoyed "Or what?" he asked impatiently.

"Or a crystal" said Verran "There are two more in existance. I know that they may not have the same time power as the other crystal but with the right magic and maby the book it should work."

"Maby" mumbled Katze still deep in thought.

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Ok so I cant think of a good signature.

"No" Magpie got up. "The other crystals are not ment to be in Cythera. They are to stay where they are, and that' final"
"But that would be like refusing Talos life!" the others complained, appaled at Magpies statement. "No. The crytals have other uses. Uses not ment for humans. If the other 2 crytals came into the same reality as the first there would surely be a disaster" He looked over the group mentally challanging them to disagree. Verran and the others retreated to a corner of the room leaving Magpie sitting gloomily in the middle.
"He isn't himself"
"No something has changed, most likely for the worst"
"We still need to get the other crystals.."
"There is only one person who can trasnport us across time and space like Magpie" said Avatara who had stopped examining the statue
"Alari..." Then he was interupted by an angry Magpie
"I can hear you!!" He stared at them each in turn "I....Oh never mind, Im... sorry" he stutered returing to his seat. The others had the feeling that he wasn't sorry at all.

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Time is a predator that hunts you down. You can cheat it for as long as you like with doctors and medicines, but in the end time will catch up with you. What if I was to tell you I had found a place where the predator had no teeth?

Verran wanted to say something obviosly but Magpies outburst had stopped him.

Noticicng this Slayer cast a quick spell.

"Talk fast he cant hear us for 20 seconds"

"Ok" said Verran "It seems Magpie is not himself, he will almost defenutly try to stop us..."

Moonshadow noded "We may have to incapaciate him, but that wont be easy."

Just then Magpie whipped around in his seat, he did not look very happy.

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Ok so I cant think of a good signature.

And suddenly Eldrad walked in to the tavern.
Everybody stared at him,
he want to the bar and took a couple of extra strong drinks and left.
Everybody looked questionably at each other and Slayer looked out of the window.
"He's gone" Slayer said and then everyboody started doing what were doing before the "incident".

out of character
this doesn't mean that i'm back.

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trust not what your eyes behold

"I am sick of your....." Magpie strolled out of the tavern. It was clear he was about to say 'useless child-minded plans' but the hustle as he left blotted it out.
The others who sat in a corner stared as the powerfull figure in shabby robes left them.
Magpie walks back in and grabs a whisk or 2 from the counter and walks out again.
"What do you think he is doing?" asked Verran who had not know Magpie for very long (although it was long enoguh for him) Slayer looked grimly at Avatara "He has gone to, either: A) Kill Alaric or find and destroy the other Crystals. Either way it means more walking and most likely" He smiled at this "More fighting"
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Magpie staggered along the road. To any by-passer he would seem drunk, but nothing in Cythera could really effect him let alone alchohol. He looked grimly skyward moaning in internal agony. "No. You cannot..... I am the.......new...the new" with this he fell onto the ground. A bright wight light, much like that in the Thieves cavern, envoloped him. A light white but tinged wiht darkness, with evil. The white light faded along wiht Magpie leaving nothing but a faint echo of the past. A distant laugh fading into the distance. It was very faint but every one in Cythera and who knows how many other reallitys heard it.
Magpie was gone. But only for the moment
(please don't bring me back. I would like to do that) thanks

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Time is a predator that hunts you down. You can cheat it for as long as you like with doctors and medicines, but in the end time will catch up with you. What if I was to tell you I had found a place where the predator had no teeth?

Meanwhile, the air at the centre of the tavern begins to shimmer and glow, much like the exit portal for a directed nexus - yet somehow subtly different. The glow thickens into the form of a man, then fades.

The stranger looks around at the scorched floor, the statue-like figure, and the open sky visible through what's left of the roof, then looks at the group with a somewhat bemused expression.

"Pardon me, but is this establishment open for business?"

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Damned if you do, and
damned if you don't;
can anybody cache a
damned cheque?

Moonshadow frowned at the stranger. "If you'ld have bothered to come through the door -" she pronounced the word carefully, while pointing in that direction "- you'ld have seen a sign hanging there, saying 'temporarily out of order'..." The stranger looked disappionted at the notion, so Moonshadow sighed, got up, and walked over to the bar, looking the man up and down. She put some bottles with different drinks onto the counter and beckoned for the man to come over. "Now I don't know how much they are, I'm not the bartender..." she looked over to Talos, and the stranger did the same, nodding as he understood. "But in the best interest of this... establishment... you could help us with our little problem at hand..." She tilted her head slightly, intently regarding the man with her strange, amber eyes, which were glowing golden in the dim light. "Will you?"

*BTW, welcome to the webboard! *

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This is not dead which can eternal lie,
and in strange aeons even death may die!

"Whatever we do we should act FAST." said Verran "Magpie is probably going to try to harm or kill Aralic, and there is still the essence of the crystal lef out there, or maby inside Magpie still"

"Yes" said Slayer "We must make our move soon, anybody want to cast directed nexus or should I....."

"Wait!" said Moonshadow "We dont know if, um what was your name mister?"

*Hey if we do go to look for the crystals we should probably start a new topic*

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Ok so I cant think of a good signature.

The stranger looked a little confused for a moment.

"Uh, my name? My name . Uh, I'm afraid I don't recall at the moment - but you can call me... Ronin. Yes, that feels right. Ronin.

"Um, this may sound strange, but... where am I? "

*Thanks for the welcome, Moonshadow. *

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Damned if you do, and damned if you don't; can anybody cache a damned cheque?

*'Scuse me please for temporarily hijacking your characters, I just want to get my intro out of the way so the story can move forward. Moonshadow: it seems to me that your character is most likely (of those present) to know ancient Seldane folklore; you can find the basic ideas I'll be alluding to in the Character Info thread*

Moonshadow, quite startled at hearing the name 'Ronin', stared at the newcomer with an even more intense, searching gaze than before. From the moment he appeared she'd felt there was something unusual about him; could his choice of name be merely a coincidence, or was he playing a darker game? Yet the number of those that knew the ancient Seldane legend were so few, what could he possibly gain by drawing on the myth?

Moonshadow was so lost in her own contemplations that she completely missed Ronin's return question, snapping back to reality only on hearing Katze's sarcastic retort:

"You're in the Alraeican Tavern; you know, in Cademia?"

"Cademia? I don't know that city," Ronin replied.

"How about 'Cythera'?" asked Avatara, who was beginning to sense that things concerning this Ronin were far more complicated than they first appeared.

"No, that name is also unfamiliar to me."

After a brief silence, Moonshadow tentatively asked: "Perhaps, the city of 'Maayti'?" Avatara looked at her in surprise, now firmly convinced that something strange was afoot.

"Maayti'?" said Ronin, "yes; I was there once, I think - a strange place, a strange people. So, this is the same land?"

"Yes," said Moonshadow, and frowned in deep thought.

"The workmanship on the haft of your sword," interjected Slayer, who'd been only half paying attention; "it's quite different to anything I've seen; can I take a closer look?"

"Certainly," replied Ronin, reaching back over his right shoulder and drawing the sword in one fluid movement. He laid it across his arm and held out the haft to Slayer. "I remember it's called the 'Ruby Fang', though I'm not sure why."

Once drawn, the blade glowed a dull red; it was obviously an enchanted blade, but the form of the enchantment wasn't clear. Slayer studied the workmanship of the sword closely, then reached out a hand to touch it. The next thing he knew he had fetched up against the wall behind him in a loud crash, having just been thrown over several tables and other sundry pieces of furniture. Ronin seemed as surprised as all the others by this turn of events.

"What kind of magic was that?" Slayer gasped. "It didn't feel like anything that's ever been used on me before!"

Moonshadow looked closely at the blade (being very careful not to touch it), and after a moment stated: "It's beyond magic, I think; it's more like Ronin and the sword are bonded; it simply won't allow anyone else to touch it."

"I agree," added Verran, "there was no sense of any normal magical power being released."

Tycho just looked bored, and wondered when they were going to start the next round of drinks.

Ronin returned the sword to its scabbard and asked, seemingly of no-one in particular, "I wonder why it glows red?"

Moonshadow looked at Ronin and nibbled her lower lip for a moment. "Look, I'm sure regaining your memory is important, but right now we have some pressing matters to discuss; will you join us, until we have more time to assist you?"

Ronin smiled and indicated the rest of the tavern with a sweeping gesture of his right arm; "I seem to have no other pressing engagements; I am at your service. Although, perhaps you could all introduce yourselves?"

As the introductions proceeded, Moonshadow leaned back in her seat and nodded in satisfaction; she still wasn't at all sure of the newcomer, but had concluded it would be best to keep him close under her watchful eyes - until there was time to explore the situation fully. Then, when the full truth was known, all would soon know that legends truly walked the land - or she would see to it there would be a reckoning for this 'Ronin!'

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Damned if you do, and damned if you don't; can anybody cache a damned cheque?

[This message has been edited by cache22 (edited 09-07-2001).]

Avatara turned to Slayer still against the wall, shaking his head so he could recover from the magic. "Please, sit down. I don't think you're planning on going anywhere right now, and you're going to miss out on all the fun!"

Avatara grabbed an un-opened bottle from in front of Moonshadow and started pouring everyone a round of drinks, while the group began discussing their plans.

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"I'm a controversial figure. My friends either dislike me or hate me."

While the others began to discuss their options - or just sample the free grog - Avatara and Moonshadow quickly brought Ronin up to date on recent events.

"So," said Ronin after they'd finished, "as I see it we're faced with three - possibly four - problems:

1: Talos. I question your conclusion that the crystal was used to entrap him, unless you're accusing Slayer of doing it - since he held the crystal at the time Talos was frozen. If it wasn't the crystal, then what - and who - was it?

2: Magpie. After his recent experiences, his current intentions are far from clear, and he may even try to oppose us.

3: The tomes on curses missing from - where was it? Picnix? Panix? Pancayx? Wherever. Someone, somewhere, seems to have a great interest in curses - and just as great an interest in depriving any others of that knowledge. Perhaps their intentions are benign, perhaps not; but can we take the chance?

And possibly 4: miss Katze's invisible assassin. Was it one of the mages you killed, or is that person still at large?"

"Aha," exclaimed Moonshadow, "it might be a curse after all. I was sure I couldn't be that wrong!"

Avatara looked down at the table in deep thought. While for the most part he considered Ronin's analysis to be a masterful work, there was still one elusive, niggling thought that was bothering him; he couldn't quite bring it into focus, but it had something to do with the crystal and time... time... time...


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Damned if you do, and damned if you don't; can anybody cache a damned cheque?

A traveller whose equipment show that he has obviously seen his share of adventure and exploring walks into the tavern. The traveller seems oddly familiar and a couple of the people in the tavern stare in deep thought.. trying to bring back some memory of the traveller. The traveller isn't surprised that nobody in the tavern seems to greet him.. he can hardly recognize anyone himself.. All he knows is that some vague memory brought him here.. He can't even remember some of the quests that he has been on with members currently present in this room.. some of which he planned and started himself..
The traveller walks in and stands for a moment.. He sits down at table in the corner and just.. sits. Trying to remember something about his past he tries to say something several times but just stays quiet. He suddenly seems to remember things about his equipment.. his cloak and enchanted daggers... proof of his identity for anybody that has met this strange traveller in the past would surely know that the owner would not fall easily and would not hand over his most prized possesions over to anyone....

--------
Hi.. I'm back.. If any of you remember me like a mentioned above.. I sortal remember a few major battles I participated in.. And something that had to do with one of my characters with a boat and.. well.. not much.. Oh.. and I remember writing the first 'story' for the chronicles..(I think it was the first story.. though not the first post).. of course that was chapter one and I never got to start chapter 2 ..
The things I wrote up there I basically wrote things as the thoughts came back to me in real life.. I only changed a few bits to try to fit it in with the whole atmosphere of this place...
I haven't been able to visit the ASW boards for.. well no particular reason that I can think of but for some reason I decided to come back.. so I'm hoping some of you'll welcome me back.. Since I've been gone for too long and since I'm too lazy to read 5 pages of this thread I don't really know what is going on.. some crystal? Talos frozen??? If someone is willing to welcome me back I could really use an update...

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???

Moonshadow barely even noticed the man at first, being so dep in thought. After a while she looked up, and saw the somehow familiar figure at another table. She frowned, trying to remember... the daggers... the cloak... they seemed familiar... then her face brightened. She walked over to the supposed stranger and asked tentatively: "J.Ace?"
The man looks up, surprised. "Do I know you?" he inquired, curiously staring at the woman.
"Well, at least now I know it's you..." Moonshadow grimaced. She turned around to her other friends. "Hey, people, J.Ace is back!"
Everyone looked up, those who don't know him with puzzled expressions, those who do with pleasantly surprised expressions.
J.Ace stared at the group soon gathered around him, and one by one he remembered. Monshadow had surely been on the quest to the homeland, and Avatara and... who else? He wasn't quite sure. Anyways he smiled at them. Moonshadow grinned back. "It's good to see you've come back. You've been gone for some time and probably missed out on a good deal..."
"I'm pretty sure of that." J.Ace's gaze wandered to the frozen Talos. "What has... Talos, wasn't that his name? What has he done that you built a statue for him?"
"Built a statue?" Avatara asked. "I wish things were like that... no, my friend, this is Talos!"
"What? But how?"
"He was somehow cursed or frozen in time, we're not quite sure which of those... but since that fateful evening almost a month ago he is like that, and we don't know how to cure him." Slayer explained.
"We tried to, take my word for it." Verran added. "We went to get Slayer's crystal back, and -"
"Wait!" J.Ace said, totally overwhelmed. "What crystal?"
"It is one of three ancient magical crystal that hold different powers - Slayer's held the power of time..." Moonshadow explained.
"What do you mean - held?"
"It was corrupted in some fashion, much like the Crolna, so it had to be destroyed. Now we don't know what to do, as the crystal would have made it much easier to turn Talos back to normal." Avatara said.
"Maybe now it's not even possible at all..." Slayer said gloomily.
"I wouldn't say that!" Katze suddenly broke in. "We still have some alternatives, some things we have to do!" And almost inaudibly she muttered. "If I ever I get that Magpie..." She clutched her fists.

*Welcome back, J.Ace!!! It was really getting a little lonely here, since a few of the old(er) board members seem to have stopped posting here . Or maybe I'm just imagining things, but anyways, some new ideas would be great ... As for Talos, I would explain everything, but it's a long story. For better understanding you should at least read the "The Search for the Thieves' Cavern" topic, many things are explained there... don't be that lazy *

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This is not dead which can eternal lie,
and in strange aeons even death may die!

Avatara smiles, obviously glad J.Ace had returned (I can't find the landking hall - for story, does that ring a bell?).

"Please sit down, we can make room. A little more company would be welcome." Avatara said. "We were trying to figure out how we are going to break this 'curse' on Talos." Avatara grabs an unused cup and pours J.Ace a drink.

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"I'm a controversial figure. My friends either dislike me or hate me."