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MacMan, Slayer, Fanatic, and others gather in Land King Hall to begin their next quest for theri homeland.

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Long Live Apple! Long Live the Mac!
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[This message has been edited by Avatara (edited 12-26-2000).]

The group that unsuccessfully looked for the homeworld congregates under a beaten-looking tree, seemingly the only living one for miles. Looking around them, they see Cythera: but it is different. Very different. The sky has taken a sickly-purple look, and the grass has turned brown and disappeared. They seem to be under the only (barely) living tree for miles.

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<font color="gold">Bronze: the other gold metal.</font>
Bacchus Publishing: [url="http://"http://www.ambrosiasw.com/cgi-bin/vftp/show.pl?product=evo&category=guides&display=date&file=ChroniclesByJake101.sit.hqx"]Chronicles by Jake101: the unposted chapters[/url], [url="http://"http://users.erols.com/alkrauss/Once_Again.html"]Once Again: on the web.[/url]

MacMan was looking around, stunned at the sight. "How long has Cythera been like this?" he asked. "What happened?"

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Long Live Apple! Long Live the Mac!
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Rogan looked around. "Something terrible must have happened here". He wiped some sweat off his forehead. Rogan suddenly noticed everything was much hotter. "Anyone brought something to drink?" he asked, "the only thing I have is a half-empty bottle of wine..."

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I`m a bomb technician. If you see me running...try to keep up.

"Well, that's the last water I have" Moonshadow takes out a bottle of water. "I suggest we'll rationate our remaining supplies until we can find new." "If we can find new" Rogan objected. The group falls silent for a while. Finally Moonshadow said "We should go to the nearest city. Maybe we'll get a clue there. What do you think?"

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One ring to rule them all, one ring to find them,
one ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them
J.R.R. Tolkien

"Yes, that is indeed a good idea..." Rogan paused, looked down on the ground and continued: "Maybe...forget it. Let`s find the nearest city." "I believe the village of Kosha is closest to our location" Talos said, "my suggestions are to move to Kosha and see if we could find anything or anyone there." Everyone agreed, and the party started to walk towards the location where they hoped to find Kosha...

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I`m a bomb technician. If you see me running...try to keep up.

*The five pillars with engraved runes, equally spaced, forming a regular pentagon. The grassy bowl of a valley, where many significant events had taken place, the woods surrounding the bowl a ways back, the scent in the air...everything was the way Avatara had remembered it, from his youth...over 50 years ago.

The towns hadn't changed all that much, as the inhabitants didn't have the tendancy to rush projects...and life...as much as humans since they lived longer. The white palace in the center with bridges spanning across trees in an intricate web. The forest floor, below, covered in underbrush. Yes, even the nearby cities were the same.

But Avatara knew that up north, in his homeland, things were not going so well. The tyrant still ruled with an iron grip, stripping the land bare of resources. But the time was not right yet...not just yet. Taking in a last glimpse of the village, Avatara returned to the pentagon of rune stones. Placing his hand on the northernmost one, a bright purple rune glared brightly. Avatara took one last look at the sunset as the darkness surrounded him and he returned...to the realm of Cythera...*

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

Things faded away for Avatara in a flash of red... The red hue slowly dissolved, revealing a sick-looking Cythera. Looking around him, he noticed a group of people about 800 yards from him. Focusing, he realized that they were his old adventurers. He ran up to them.

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<font color="gold">Bronze: the other gold metal.</font>
Bacchus Publishing: [url="http://"http://www.ambrosiasw.com/cgi-bin/vftp/show.pl?product=evo&category=guides&display=date&file=ChroniclesByJake101.sit.hqx"]Chronicles by Jake101: the unposted chapters[/url], [url="http://"http://users.erols.com/alkrauss/Once_Again.html"]Once Again: on the web.[/url]

Avatara ran up to them. "It is good to see you!" he said. After several minutes of conversation and catching up on things, the continued on to Kosha.

As the party proceeded on to Kosha, they stared in awe at the raw destruction of what had once been a beautiful land. After about an hour of traveling, they arrived at Kosha and found...

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Long Live Apple! Long Live the Mac!
[url="http://"http://www.geocities.com/salrillian"]http://www.geocities.com/salrillian[/url]
[url="http://"http://www.geocities.com/evclassic"]http://www.geocities.com/evclassic[/url]

...a deserted town. And it wasn`t even similar to Kosha. "What the devil..." Rogan said, "what is this place?" The only thing similar to Kosha was a small castle and nothing else. A few houses were placed to the west, but it didn`t look like Kosha. Suddenly, a guard approached them. He drew his sword and said: "What is your business entering this area? Are you the Tyrant`s emissaries?"

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I`m a bomb technician. If you see me running...try to keep up.

As Avatara was about to reply, the guard dissolved away. The entire group was puzzled. They walked toward the huts, and found them abandoned. Strangely, everything like food and other everyday items were all unspoilt, and sitting where they were previously.

"This is just like Abydos!" Talos and Macman say in unison. The rest of the group nods in agreement.

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<font color="gold">Bronze: the other gold metal.</font>
Bacchus Publishing: [url="http://"http://www.ambrosiasw.com/cgi-bin/vftp/show.pl?product=evo&category=guides&display=date&file=ChroniclesByJake101.sit.hqx"]Chronicles by Jake101: the unposted chapters[/url], [url="http://"http://users.erols.com/alkrauss/Once_Again.html"]Once Again: on the web.[/url]

*Avatara wakes up from his nightmare and finds himself alone on a mountain top near the northern tip of Cythera, still puzzling over what the recent dream meant, and whether it would be real. Avatara occasionally had visions of the future while he dreamed, and he hoped that wasn't one. That hope was blown away as he saw his old adventurers walking by the base of the mountain. Avatara turned away.*

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

J.Ace21 who had been quietly following the group finally makes a suggestion.
"Well, it looks like no matter where we go all we'll find is.. this. I suggest we try going to land king hall. I'm sure atleast one of us can use the directed nexus spell."

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a meteor, a momentary flare of brilliance.. like all life, Nothing really, in the sweep of time. But everything in the Force.

MacMan looks at the rest of the party. "What was that he said about the Tyrant?" Is this some sort of a paralell dimension? Cythera with a different history?" The rest of the group took several minutes thinking about this, pondering how it could be possible. Rogan suddenly broke the silence, "Come on, we need to get to Land King Hall." He then attempted a Directed Nexus spell, but with no sucess. He tried it again, and again it failed. A third try brought upon a third failure. "Why won't it work!?" he asked angrily.
"Maybe MacMan's idea is right, and this is an alternate dimension. Maybe one without a a Nexus point," Said Fanatic, "or maybe without a Land King Hall?"

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Long Live Apple! Long Live the Mac!
[url="http://"http://www.geocities.com/salrillian"]http://www.geocities.com/salrillian[/url]
[url="http://"http://www.geocities.com/evclassic"]http://www.geocities.com/evclassic[/url]

"Well, the best way to find out is to go there. As both Cademia and Odemia are on our way we might find answers there and can plan our next step." "Yes" MacMan agreed "and we should try to find some supplies. I don't like the thought of having to live on Nutrient." (*that was the spell, wasn't it?*)
"It surely won't do to sit around doing nothing. I think we should at least try this." Talos said.
And so they started walking towards Cademia ...

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One ring to rule them all, one ring to find them,
one ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them
J.R.R. Tolkien

They walked for two hours to get to Cademia. Cademia was much smaller than before, but they recognized some buildings. "I think MacMan is right about the paralell dimension idea" Rogan said, "as unbelieveable as it is, though". Guards were patrolling the streets everywhere and there was no one else to see. "Maybe we should go and take a look at the tyrant`s castle?" Fanatic suggested. Everyone agreed, and they set course for the castle.

The castle was not altered. "This must be where the tyrant is!" Rogan looked at the castle. Suddenly, two guards approached them. "You are not allowed to be here" said one of them, "we have to ask you to leave".

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I`m a bomb technician. If you see me running...try to keep up.

After the guards disapeared Grapper who was being quiet handed out food that he usually takes on adventures.He also gives Rogan a mages friend potion because his mana was not full yet.They decided to go on in.

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"I shall use my transparency spell on everyone" Rogan said, "It consumes a lot of mana so I don`t know how long I can do it" Rogan casted his spell, and everyone went inside the castle...

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I`m a bomb technician. If you see me running...try to keep up.

*On the way Talos suggusted a different theory.*

"Maybe this is the same universe, though a different time. Remember? We heard both Avatara and Slayer mentioning something about how time passes differently in different worlds, worlds we could have travelled to through the void. Maybe this is a Cythera from the past...or maybe from the future."

"Either way, this is definately not the universe, or possibly time, we left just a few months ago." Gamefanatic pointed out."

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

"Actually, time might have advanced far enough that it reversed back to the time of the Tyrants. Or perhaps a new Tyrant has taken control, as you said," Talos suggested.

They had entered the castle, but it was difficult to keep themselves hidden. They still made noise, cast faint shadows, and made swishing in the air. Also, it was difficult to keep together as they could not see themselves.

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<font color="gold">Bronze: the other gold metal.</font>
Bacchus Publishing: [url="http://"http://www.ambrosiasw.com/cgi-bin/vftp/show.pl?product=evo&category=guides&display=date&file=ChroniclesByJake101.sit.hqx"]Chronicles by Jake101: the unposted chapters[/url], [url="http://"http://users.erols.com/alkrauss/Once_Again.html"]Once Again: on the web.[/url]

"I doubt that this is the past," said MacMan "when I was in Cythera, our Cythera, I studied the history of this land with Anisa, the master historian, whom most of you also know. I do not recall anything like this ever happening. Then again, I don't know all of Cythera's history."

Talos interjected, "The easiest way to find out would be to ask someone the year."

"Yes, but then they would thind we were madmen," responded Fanatic. "I mean, who lives somewhere not knowing the year?"

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Long Live Apple! Long Live the Mac!
[url="http://"http://www.geocities.com/salrillian"]http://www.geocities.com/salrillian[/url]
[url="http://"http://www.geocities.com/evclassic"]http://www.geocities.com/evclassic[/url]

Who would we ask any way?asked Grapper.

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"I have an idea" said Rogan. "Let us leave this castle now and go another way". Talos narrowed his eyes and said: "What are you suggesting?" Rogan poked Talos on the shoulder and answered: "Over here, Talos...let`s just leave". They ran back out, past the guards and into a ruined building. Rogan cancelled his spell and said: "Let`s go. I`ll lead the way". Rogan lead the party out of Cademia, over the bridge and towards the point where the path crosses, leading to Odemia or Catamarca. During the whole trip, no one said a word. Rogan turned and walked along the path to the south...to Catamarca.

"Rogan, will you tell us what your intentions are?" Fanatic said. Rogan ignored him. Catamerca was not altered. The graveyard, however, had some different tombstones. Rogan searched around a while, still not saying a word. He walked around, followed by the others, for about ten minutes until he spotted a small farm on the outskirts of the town. A woman was fetching water from a well, a small child was playing in the grass. When Rogan and the others approached, she looked at them and walked a few steps backwards. Rogan finally speaked: "Do not be alarmed. We are new to this part of the land. I was wondering...do you know anything about the tyrant?" She spit on the ground and answered: "He is an evil man" Anger was present in her voice. "He doesn`t care about anything else than collecting money for his personal savings. This has turned Catamarca into a desolate, poor place to live". Rogan said: "I see. Well, my name is Rogan and these are my friends. He pointed at the others. He continued: "May I ask about your name?"
She smiled and answered: "My name is Crysothemis, and this is my son, Alaric".

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I`m a bomb technician. If you see me running...try to keep up.

[This message has been edited by Rogan (edited 12-29-2000).]

"This is amazing" Moonshadow exclaimed, then bit her lip as she noticed the startled look on Chrysothemis' face. "I mean, how could this -"she looked around "- have happened? Did noone ever try to stop the tyrant?" "How could we?" the woman asked "he and his soldiers are too powerful for us. There have been riots in the past, but they only made things worse. Ther are rumors. though ..." "What rumors?" MacMan asked ...

[This message has been edited by Moonshadow (edited 12-29-2000).]

"It seems that we HAVE traveled back in time" MacMan said quietly to Talos. "Alaric is just a little boy!"

"Yes," he responded, "It seems kind of funny to see him like this. He had the power to take us from our own world, and here he is, just a child."

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Long Live Apple! Long Live the Mac!
[url="http://"http://www.geocities.com/salrillian"]http://www.geocities.com/salrillian[/url]
[url="http://"http://www.geocities.com/evclassic"]http://www.geocities.com/evclassic[/url]