Ambrosia Software Web Board: The Quest for the Unknown Power (team story) - Ambrosia Software Web Board

As soon as Flynn and Sasha caught up with the group, Ferazel whistled, a high, shrill whistle that seemed like it could wake the LandKing from the deepest cavern of Land's End. They all heard a shooshing of the wind, sand was kicked up, and when it settled, a large calico cat was standing in the middle of the group. "You're a nice little cat. " Shinikath said. Callie rubbed against Shinikath's leg and purred. Everyone bent down and scratched her a little. Ferazel then instructed Callie to scout ahead.

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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. " Is this ViaVoiceian?

[This message has been edited by ferazel_09 (edited 09-29-2001).]

*OoC*
The whole group is together, except Rogan is missing from the search to find Talos, and Talos, who simply dissipated. I summoned Callie who is scouting the path in front of us. There's a quick summary.
*BiC*

Callie leaped over a small ditch. To the right she heard voices. She turned, and started off. She climbed a large tree close to a small clearing. Inside the clearing she saw about four ruffians standing around a mage sitting on a log. Callie was dissipointed that the mage had his face in his lap so she couldn't tell who he was. He seemed to be in a trance. Callie watched, and felt waves of magical power go past her. These were a very light blue, so blue you could hardly tell the difference from the sky, and domed upward until they covered Kosha, and went about half the path downward to the southwestern corner of Cythera. The light blue waves then turned invisible, or just the color of the sky. Callie, thinking quickly, silently put Runes of Blocking around the clearing. She smiled her cat smile. They were trapped in the clearing. The mage went out of his trance. Callie caught a glimpse of his face. It was Itanos! Luckily, Callie knew he didn't study runes when he was a student at Pnyx. The Runes of Blocking had gone from their vivid pink to invisible. The ruffians were first to try to leave. They all scampered forward and smacked against the invisible wall. They fell to the ground, unconcious. Itanos was more careful. He picked up a stick and pressed it to the wall. It broke. He yelled for help. Quite a few ruffians came. They all tried to get to him, but all knocked against the wall, falling unconcious. Callie smiled again. Only a mage that knew runes could get Itanos out of this prediciment. Calie smiled for the last time. There were none for miles...

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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. " Is this ViaVoiceian?

[This message has been edited by ferazel_09 (edited 10-01-2001).]

*OoC*
Ferazel: Thank's for the summary, although I already knew that much. It was just that without knowing what Rogan or Talos had planned, or even what they were suggesting had happened to their characters, I couldn't see any way forward. Not with my characters anyway.
*BiC*

Kwon felt a sudden change. "The blocking power has gone. There are no people in Kosha, but I now sense much life around us; presumably wild animals. There is one large group of people in that direction." He gestured in the general direction that Callie had gone.

The group moved off along the indicated path, and soon met Callie coming back. She briefly consulted with Ferazel, who translated for the rest of the group. (*OoC* I'm assuming Ferazel's the only one she can or will communicate with; let me know if I'm wrong *BiC*)

The Ronin looked puzzled. "Who or what is 'Itanos'?" queried Sasha.

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There are three kinds of computer users: those that use Macintoshes, those that wish they used Macintoshes, and those that don't know any better.

*OoC* Ronin. Yes, I'm the only one that can understand Callie. *BiC* A figure walked up behind them. "Itanos is... or was ...the judge of Kosha. It's all a part of the Cytheran politics. Since he was a part of a ruffian movement, and everyone, especially me, hates the ruffians, he is relieved of his duty as Judge." the figure said. Everyone turned around and saw Alaric. "How'd you get here?" many people asked. "I sensed something that I should be aware of. " Alaric responded. He waved his hand and teleported back to LKH. Ferazel freed Itanos and sent him off. They continued their journey southward until they got to the swamp. There were several suggestions on how to get through. One was to go all the way around the swamp. Another was to got through the swamp, but brew Antidote potions in advance. ( ) The last one was to somehow contact Larissa and ask her for help. They started to vote on this. Ferazel and Callie voted on the first.

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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. " Is this ViaVoiceian?

Verran thought a moment and then cast his vote.

"I say we go through" he smiled "it will be much more fun that way, of course we will need the potions and I cant make them but thats my vote."

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Ok so I cant think of a good signature.

Lindor, who had been relatively quite throughout the trip, voiced his concern.

"Where has Rogan gone?" As it seemed no one else had noticed, "and the more I thight, the more I feel that seemed unlike Alaric. How do we know that wasn't someone under the discise of Alaric? Did anyone cast a spell to make sure?"

No one answered. "Very well, I think it's safe to say we have a spell caster or shape changer on our hands."

[Sorry, ferazel, but I'm with cache's post below. And if your worried about staying on topic, I think we can tie this in with a little effort ]

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I am no one, and I am everyone. But most importantly, I am
The One And Only:
~Theo Nean Donly~

[This message has been edited by Theo Nean Donly (edited 10-02-2001).]

*OoC*

Damn. I can't beleive I forgot.

*BiC*

Ferazel suddenly slaps himself on the head. "Damn I'm stupid." he says. He waves his hand, and the matter waves in front of them. Everyone gets very groggy, and time seems to explode. Then, all of a sudden, time was reversed. They were back when Alaric had just teleported away. Itanos was about to make a run for it, but everyone stops him. "There's some thing we need to ask you...." all the Ronin say together.

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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. " Is this ViaVoiceian?

"Actually, several things, but we think they're all related," said Flynn, drawing the Sword of Truth. He touched Itanos with the tip of the sword, then continued. "One: What were you doing with those bandits? Two: What happened to the people of Kosha? Three: What happened to Talos and Rogan?"

"Please," Itanos began, "I don't know much. I only did as Alaric ordered me to! I'd never betray him, you must believe me!"

"What were your orders?" Flynn asked.

"I was only to create a masking screen, so no-one could remotely sense any unusual activity in the area. I don't know what I was supposed to be hiding, though!"

Flynn sheathed his sword. "I think we must assume that the man we saw was not Alaric. Also, that the Alaric that gave those orders to Itanos was not the true Alaric, either." He looked around the group. "Where do we go from here?"

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The only substitute for good manners, is fast reflexes.

***OoC***

I wouldn't say it's dying. While some of us live, it will too. Only one person is needed to keep it alive (ex. DF's Tale of Treasure). We must shake off our dependace on others all the time. It seems many are waiting to see where Talos and Rogan are. Maybe they are waiting for the right time. We must give them the right time. That is all

***BiC***

They all sat in silence. Finally Itanos broke it.

"I see now that I may have done an evil. To undo that, I can show you where Alaric would meet me to tell me what to do. It's a cave not far from here."

Lindor stared hard at Itanos. It wasn't that he didn't belive his sincerity, only that the logic didn't make sense. If Alaric wanted to meet, they could do so in the security of the City. Why risk bandit and ruffian attacks just to walk to an out-of-the-way place far from help. Far from help; those words stuck in his mind.

Meanwhile, the rest of the group was talking of what to do next. Some wanted to keep going for the adventure of the Volcano, but the rest didn't want to leave their friends.

"It would be faithless to desert them in their need," Trundaylan put in. "What friends would we be then?"

Lindor, still staring at Itanos, spoke to the group. "Lets go to the cave first. We can resume the rest when we have solved the current problem." Then speaking directly to Itanos, "Lead the way, master judge. But not to fast; we won't be far behind."

Itanos smiled and turned toward the deeper forest without another word.

"It's a trap," Lindor mouthed back to the rest of the group, "or I'm a dwarf." He followed Itanos into the woods, both swords drawn.

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I am no one, and I am everyone. But most importantly, I am
The One And Only:
~Theo Nean Donly~

[This message has been edited by Theo Nean Donly (edited 10-04-2001).]

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

*OoC*
I agree, Theo. Though it's more fun if more people post, if they don't we just have to carry on (and take it as tacit approval of our manipulation of their characters )
*BiC*

Flynn, seeing Lindor's suspicion, wondered if perhaps he'd sheathed his sword too soon; he reviewed the interrogation in his mind. "When he said he'd never betray Alaric, he was under the influence of the sword; he couldn't lie," he murmured to the group as Itanos drew a little ahead.

"Also," Sasha continued, "this out-of-the-way cave meeting place could be explained if it truly was a false Alaric. He wouldn't want news of a 'meeting with Alaric' getting back to the real Alaric; that would give the whole game away."

"What if," began Moonshadow after some deep thought, "he meant that he'd never betray the false Alaric? Could the sword tell the difference?"

Flynn's eyes went wide. "I never thought of that! Confound it, I really must learn to choose my questions more carefully!"

"It is of little consequence," added Shinikath, staring darkly after Itanos. "We must follow, and we must deal with what we find. But we must be very conscious of our surroundings, and alert for traps."

Each member of the group nodded, and they moved off after the judge.

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There are three kinds of computer users: those that use Macintoshes, those that wish they used Macintoshes, and those that don't know any better.

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

As soon as they got to the depths of the cave, Itanos smiled. He clapped his hands, and rocks blocked the path out. A net captured them all. Itanos shimmered, and Pelagon appeared. He laughed and started to talk. Everyone sensed insanity in his voice.

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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. " Is this ViaVoiceian?

*OoC*
Hey Avatara, could you post the names of the other two dark elves in the character info thread? I'd like to have them do stuff occasionally, but I can't remember their names.
*BiC*

"Look, my lord, I've caught them!" Pelagon said, rubbing his hands to gether in glee. Then he shimmered again, and changed to look just like Alaric!

"Well done, Pelagon," the false Alaric said. "They know too much, they must never leave here!"

Alaric shimmered, and turned back into Pelagon. "No master, I will deal with them, never fear!"

Flynn saw and heard enough of this conversation to know that Pelagon, whatever he was, was totally insane; but he was really concentrating on reaching one of his swords. "I'm too cramped, I can't reach it!"

"I think I can," said Ferazel, stretching out his hand toward the only sword hilt within his reach.

"No, don't -" Verran started to yell, remembering the last time someone other than Flynn tried to touch that sword; but he was too late.

Ferazel's hand made just the lightest contact when he was thrown violently away in the opposite direction, tearing a hole in the net and landing heavily against the cavern wall where, for the moment, he lay stunned.

Avatara, Shinikath, Lindor, Sasha and one of the other dark elves quickly made use of the hole to free themselves, and drew their weapons to protect the others as they struggled loose. Sasha's sword glowed a pale blue, and her shield shone out in a golden light, which helped them to see what they were facing.

Their vision improved even more, as Flynn struggled free and drew his weapons. First the red blade, creating strange lighting effects when mixed with Sasha's blue, and then the white.

The six warriors formed a circle, and prepared to withstand whatever attack the enemy could muster.


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There are three kinds of computer users: those that use Macintoshes, those that wish they used Macintoshes, and those that don't know any better.

[This message has been edited by Ronin (edited 10-05-2001).]

Moonshadow tried to struggle free from the net, but with no success, it had become to tangled from the others' escape. She narrowed her eyes, and managed to make a peculiar little movement with her right hand. It turned icy cold, and the fibers of the net became brittle where her hand touched them. In that way, she managed to free herself and the remaining group. They all got up. Moonshadow's amber eyes blazed angrily as she motioned for her staff, which immediately flew to her hands. She muttered a few words in an old elven tongue, and the top of her staff began to glow with a cold light as it was covered with a thin layer of ice, topped by a sharp, deadly tip. With this weapon ready, she took on a defensive posture.

*Btw, the weapon looks like a spear, it can also be used that way, _but_ it's not its only purpose. The icy tip can be fired at an opponent with incredible force, and will afterwards reform, as long as the spell on her staff is not broken. I created that because its pointless to fight with bow and arrows (her normal weapon) in a small cave...*

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

The group jumped as a figure approached them. It was Rogan!
"Rogan! You're safe!" said Ferazel.
"Well, sorry for worrying you guys, but I must have tripped back there and hurt my head" Rogan responded. "I also lost my sack" he continued, "when I woke up, I couldn't find it, and Talos is still gone, I suppose?"
"Indeed" said Lindor, "and we have been set up by a shape-shifter!"

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When Hell is full, the dead will walk the Earth.

* Welcome back, guys! *

Their conversation was interrupted, as a group of ruffians charged...

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

...straight into a wall. They had been frightened by a Mass Terroisation spell. All of a sudden, there was a blinding flash, and Pelagon/Alaric was gone. Since they were all free and all the ruffians had smashed against the wall, they decided to continue on their quest for Land's End. After several hours, they were at the swamp again. Off in the distance they oculd see a small point coming out of the ground; Land's End Volcano. Not as far they could see the ruins of Maati. They now had three options: 1) Take a path around the swamp. 2) Contact Larissa and ask her for help. or 3) Go through the swamp, but stay very tight together so the asps could be sighted and destroyed easily....

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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. " Is this ViaVoiceian?

*Hi guy's, Ive been away for a while so I couldent post*

They argued and bickered for a while and then finnally decided to take the swamp.

*sorry about forcing this but if we wait for everybody to vote it'll take forever*

Luckily Ferazel had some detoxification potions already made and some others knew detoxify.

They set off into the swamp, walking close to each other and fending off asps. They continued for some time, those with swards slashing left and right cutting down the reptiles.

They had made good time, it was around noon and they were halfway through.

"Well Im very pleased." said Ferazel "We should be there by evening."

"Indeed," agreed Moonshadow "Still I just keep wondering if the going is a little too easy."

"What do you mean?" asked Verran "I dont think its too easy."

His sward was now covered in asp blood and he had been bitten several times, learning to use a sward was not too easy for him.

"Its just that I havent seen a gator all trip." explaned Moonshadow "This place is usually crawling with them."

"That does seem a little strange." agreed Verran "But dont you think....."

Verran never got to finish his sentence as a huge group of swamp gators attacked! The group was surrounded, there were more than 30 gators and some asps too.

The mages drew back casting benificial spells on the fighters who began to fend off the attack.

The gator surged forward and began to attack with their massive teeth. Ulf picked one up and through it into another, breaking bone and crushing both gators. Moonshadow, Rogan, Verran and Ferazel all casted fireballs blowing gators apart and splattering the group with miscelanios gator bits.

Finally after an exausting battle and allot of healing they continued on untill they reached the end of the swamp, Lands End now looming ominusly over them not too far away.

That night as they camped they discussed how the gators could have laid an ambush, after all they were only stupid animals........

*hope this is a good contribution and I hope I did'nt misspell Ferazels name*

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Ok so I cant think of a good signature.

[This message has been edited by Verran (edited 10-06-2001).]

*OoC*
I thought we were going to find Talos in that cave; oh well.
*BiC*

As they sat around the campfire, talking, Rogan suddenly turned his attention to the Ronin. "You lot have been pretty quiet; what's up?"

"We saw something in the swamp," Flynn began, staring into the embers. "Atop a large hill, in the distance, there was something that struck a chord of memory in each of us; but none of us can pin it down. What's out there, anyway?"

"That would be the ruins of Maayti," Moonshadow replied.

Flynn looked up in surprise. "Maayti!"

"Maayti was once the Seldane's Great City of the South," Sasha added. "Things have certainly changed. Who would have thought that that marvellous place could come to so little." She stoped, as a sadness came over her face. The same expression was mirrored on the faces of each of the Ronin.

"By the way: Kwon, how come you never once got poisoned in the swamp?" asked Lindor.

"My boots protected me," Kwon replied. "They are made from spun spiderwebs, an art that was known only to a few of the Seldane's masters of the craft. They are soft, yet stronger than steel. I suppose that that art, like so many others, has long been lost."

"Anyway," Ferazel said abrubtly, "back to those 'gators."

"Their behaviour was not natural," Kwon said with conviction. "I sensed an order to their actions that bespoke of co-ordinated, intelligent control."

"We cannot yet know," Shinikath said after a moment, "whether it was this shape-shifter again, or some other foe as yet unmet. We can only go on, and remain vigilant."

The rest of the group murmured in agreement, and the meeting broke up. After dividing up the watches in pairs, the rest of the party turned in for the night.

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There are three kinds of computer users: those that use Macintoshes, those that wish they used Macintoshes, and those that don't know any better.

[This message has been edited by Ronin (edited 10-06-2001).]

Quote

(Yeah me too, and I missed a perfect opportunity for something that would have fit in quite nicely. I also let my characters get used 'out of their character' a bit, but I won't go back and change anything and work from here.)

Late in the night, it was Avatara and Shinikath's turn at watching.

"You know, those gators and the mage earlier reminded me of something else that I've seen. And with the, well you know, located deep in Lands End, I've been thinking. If the Methri-" Avatara spoke.

"Shh!" Shinikath hissed. "Don't speak that name so loud here. How I wish we were able to sit back and recall them like the fairy tales humans here tell with ease...but for now we must not."

"I think they might have..." Avatara looked at the expression on Shinikath's face, then looked at the group sleeping peacefully. Avatara dropped his voice, "If what I fear is true, we are in trouble."

"Agreed, I've been wondering that too. Especially since we met the fake Alaric, and then later the gators. I believe we need to find out if our guess is correct, and do it fast and secretly, if any of these people..." Shinikath left off what he was going to say, but both caught the meaning.

"I'll go wake Eldiren and Ithrun, their disappearance won't be noticed as much as ours will, and we'll need their help." Avatara stood up and showed no sign of surprise when the two dark elves stood up as if they had never slept. "I guess I'll go raise the next watch, its their turn anyway, and then we can slip off. You guys have your ability to fade, I've got some magic of my own, if all goes well nobody will notice until we have been gone for hours."

Avatara woke up the next watch, then slipped away into the night, to join the dark elves as they headed at a quick pace towards the volcano looming ominously in the distance.

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

Kwon's usual practice was to spend some time meditating before going to sleep; tonight was no exception. Therefore, he was still awake when the four elves left, and being in a state of heightened awareness, he sensed them go. He had, however, come to trust Avatara's judgement, and saw no need to alert the others.

"Avatara will inform us in his own time," he thought, and finally allowed himself to drift into slumber.

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A conclusion is the place where you got tired of thinking.

As the night went on, it became Rogan and Ferazel's turn. Not that bad, sleep was almost impossible anyway, with all the crickets and their piercing noise.
"I think I can make it alone" said Rogan, "If you want to go back to sleep, that's okay... no point in keeping both of us awake".

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When Hell is full, the dead will walk the Earth.

***OoC***
Hmm, nobody seems to want to go anywhere; OK, I'll at least get everybody awake!
***BiC***

The rest of the night passed without incident, except for one point where Kwon woke up with a sense of some distant, dreadful event not connected to their immediate quest (see the Tavern).

Shortly after dawn the camp began to stir. As they were all packing their gear, Flynn suddenly looked around in surprise. "Where are Avatara and his friends!? Don't tell me we've lost someone else!"

Rogan looked up. "They woke me and Ferazel on time for our watch; I didn't see anything out of the ordinary."

"They left on their own," said Kwon. "I didn't ask their purpose."

"Well, at least they weren't abducted," Flynn muttered under his breath, as he stowed his bedroll, "but it would have been nice of them to let us know!"

Kwon looked into the distance, toward the South-west. "I believe they expected to be back before dawn; I fear something may have happened to them."

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There are three kinds of computer users: those that use Macintoshes, those that wish they used Macintoshes, and those that don't know any better.

*Ithrun stood, staring at the carcass with extreme horror visible on his face. A unicorn sized beast, its hide was covered in a bone-like casing, with several rows of small horns on the top side evenly spaced on the bone white skin, if it could be called skin. The face was that of a cross between a wolf with bared teeth and an alligator. Sharp bloodstained teeth lay in the lipless mouth, and dead pieces of meat hung between two of them. Lifeless, glazed eyes stared up at the elves, and a stench of rotting meat wafted up from the body. There was no visible signs of how the creature died, but one who knew the creature knew that the air was too lacking in methane for the beast to live. All the grass in a small area surrounding the beast was blackened and withered. No life would grow there for some time.

The elves had stumbled upon the body shortly after daybreak, it laying near the foot of the volcano. Eldiren had disappeared, appearantly the sight causing him to disagree with something he recently ate. Avatara and Shinikath stared at the body, no expression visible on their face, but they appeared to be in deep thought, and remained that way for some time.*

"That creature came from Kladîr." Avatara finally said, turning his gaze away rather quickly. "The tortured world They harvest the gas from to fuel their machines." Avatara cocked an eye at Ithrun, "Have you ever flown one of those mechanical thingys they call a spacecraft, quite an interesting sensation I can assure you." Avatara smiled, then sighed as he looked at the carcass again.

"I hate those damned abhorrations..." Shinikath muttered. "What should we do to this body? If we touch it we get infected, if we leave it here, someone else might come across it."

"I can burn it." Avatara offered, "Though you'll want to cover your nose, seriously."

Ithrun spoke up, finally turning his gaze away as well. "We should leave it here. We'll need some proof that the Meth-"

"We still aren't certain they are here. Just because a beast from one of their slave worlds is here doesn't mean they are." Shinikath interrupted.

"...anyway, these peaceful people need some warning." Ithrun.

"Its such a shame. They'll be fighting for their lives before they know it." Eldiren said sadly, having returned. "Reminds me of the life we never had."

Shinikath cut in, "Fine, we'll leave it here. But we should get moving, now its more important than ever that we investigate the volcano soon."

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

(Nice post Avatara!)

The group had forgotten about Avatara for the moment; they all thought him safe. They all continued across the swamp, with the frequent bitings, although the mages, Moonshadow and Ferazel used Alleviation just as frequently. When they got to the area that the dead animal was lying, they stopped for a second. Everyone remembered Avatara. They did not think he had been killed by it, but just something about it seemed to make them think about Avatara, as if they were someway distantly connected...

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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. " Is this ViaVoiceian?

***OoC***
Um, Ferazel: Verran already got us out of the swamp, and some of us were worried about Avatara and his friends ; but since there's nothing more we could do than press on, the rest of your post is fine.
***BiC***

"Ugh! Whad a pudrid stench!" Sasha exclaimed nasally.

Everyone screwed up their faces in disgust - even Kwon, in an extremely rare display of sentiment.

Moonshadow ran into the bushes and retched, followed in short order by Flynn, Sasha and Verran. (*Sorry guys, but if it could do it to Eldiren... *)

"Lets get away from this place!" Lindor exclaimed. No-one was inclined to disagree, and they set off at a brisk trot until the foul odour was left far behind.

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There are three kinds of computer users: those that use Macintoshes, those that wish they used Macintoshes, and those that don't know any better.