Ambrosia Software Web Board: The Sorcery Tower - Ambrosia Software Web Board

Slayer and an old man were sitting in the corner of the tavern. The old man was speaking: "My granddaddy once told me about a place out in the mountains. See, back in the old days, when the tyrant was still in power they built all kinds of stuff."

"Like Pnyx," said Slayer.

"Right," the old man agreed, "but this, my grandpa told me, was built by the tyrant to deal with those mages. They built a huge sorcery tower to figure things out about magic for themselves. People really didn't like magic back in those days, so that's why they hid it in the mountains."

"Okay, but why is this the first that I've heard of it?" inquired Slayer. "That was a long time ago, and they should have done somthing noteworthy to draw attention to themselves."

The old man continued, "one winter, though, there was a terrible winter storm. Made it impossible to get in or out of the mountains. No one's heard from them since. Just so happens, that's the same year Alaric overthrew the Tyrant. Only the Tyrant and his top advisors knew about the tower, so with them gone, no one knew to go check on the sorcerers."

Slayer was still skeptical. "Then how do you know about it?"

"Ah," said the old man, "it so happens that my great great grandfather was one of those advisors. In fact, if you have a map, I might be able to show you where to look."

Slayer pulled out his map. The man made a mark in the mountains, about halfway between the road to Pnyx and Land King Hall. "Well," said Slayer, "I may as well check it out." He stood up and made an announcement to the entire tarvern about his planned trip. "So, if anyone cares to join me, step forward now." He surveyed the tavern, and seeing a number of familiar faces in the crowd.

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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]

*OoC*
This story has a couple rules that need to be mentioned:

1. No planning outside the story
2. Only one character per person

These rules are in place in an effort to bring back some of the spontaneity and excitement of some of the older team stories. Also, this story takes place outside of the time-frame of the current team stories, so you can feel free to bring any one of your characters that you choose.


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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]

[This message has been edited by Slayer (edited 03-01-2002).]

Callie teleported in, and she jumped up on a table next to Slayer. Slayer scratched her, and she purred a little. She curled up, and began to wait for Slayer to start off. Then, she casted a spell on Slayer so that he could understand and speak to Callie until another spell was cast. After that, she took a little catnap.

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Those who know the truth are not up to those who love it; those who love the truth are not up to those who delight in it.
-- Confucius (a.k.a. Kong Fuzi)
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Battle.Net Screen Name: ev3-ferazel The Game: StarCraft

A young girl stood up from one of the tables. She looked no older than sixteen, and carried a quarterstaff carved from beechwood. She strode over to where Slayer was sitting with Callie.

"I'd be willing to join your quest," she said. "My name is Sya. I come from Catamarca."

Sya sat down next to Slayer and started petting Callie.

"Well, I suppose it wouldn't do to pass this opportunity by." Avatara winked as he stood up. "You can count me in."

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

Trinias got up from the table where he was sitting, alone for once, and joined Slayer's party.

"I suppose someone should represent the Ronin; and since I'm the only one here, I guess I'm elected," he said with a grin. He nodded to Callie and Avatara, introduced himself to Sya, and began quizzing her on her origins.

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On the other hand, you have different fingers.

[This message has been edited by Trinias (edited 01-02-2002).]

Moonshadow tilted her head thoughtfully, tapping her slender fingers on the table. "Well, hanging around here all alone won't do..." She mused. "So I'll go, too." She leant back in her chair, waiting for any others to volunteer.

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As l lay in my bed staring at the sky I asked myself:
Where the hell did the roof go?

Rogan gets up from his chair. Ha says nothing, but walks over to the bar to order some wine. He orders four bottles of Nortshore Red which he packs in his bag.

"Okay, Rogan" Slayer says with a smile, "you can come with us"

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

At Slayers words Violet jumps up ready for any adventure. "Count me in".

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"Have you done 7 impossible things before lunch today?"

*OoC*

I'm rather technical about things, so I'm judging from Slayer's post that this is past-tense, and (of course!) third-person. Unless there's a context, perhaps a diary entry, please stick to that. It makes things much easier in the future. (Violet, Rogan, this means you! )

*BiC*

The rather short, dark-haired Talos walked across the tavern and sat in a chair next to where his new comrades had gathered.

"Since I will be traveling with you," he said, "I am curious to know in what areas you specialize in. Are you swordsman? Rogues? Magi? I am a fighter-mage, proficient in short swords, in particular the scimitar. In spells I have learned to enchant items, whether they be weapon, shield, or drink."

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Bronze: the other gold metal.   | |   And so the space toaster hardened the outer layers of the doughy, ooey-gooey ancient Earth...
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].

A rap was heard at the door after some hissing. A little bit of hissing followed it, and a long, forked, blood red tongue poked through a slit in the door's pieces of wood. It flicked around and then retracted. There was some hissing that sounded almost like muttering. Finally, a few boards that made up the door rattled a bit and something found the doorknob. It turned.

The door opened, revealing a half-human half-snake monstrosity with smoking nostrils. Its eyes seemed to have flame within the surfaces, while behind them were two black on a yellow surface. The piercing glare of this beast could curdle blood just by viewing the blood -- and those were just its eyes. It had a hood like a cobra, two feet wide, which expanded and contracted in a pulsing beat...it looked like if the snake/man were to beat his hood hard enough it could push a human down with the wind produced. The tongue flicked in and out, licking all the air around it. The two nose pits in its snout sensed heat around it...and produced a great deal of heat at the same time. Its body was green on the back, and its scales on the back, which were fish-like, looked like they could turn a fireball. On its front its scales were pure white, like layered armour -- one scale covered its entire width of its body and about three inches up. It had two arms, very similar to human arms. It wasn't exactly a child's plaything.

As it glided towards the party of adventurers, its tongue flicked at everything near it, nearly touching but not quite touching things. It reached four feet away from the table and stopped.

'My name,' it said in a hissing whisper, 'is Arslosssssss...I ssssee there isss a party of adventurerssss...I wisssh to test my skills...and join thy quessst...I pray I am not too late to join...' It spoke with a huge emphasis upon the letter S and a bit on the sound that H makes, as well as some on the F sound.

Two men nervously began to draw their swords.

'Don't attack him!' Slayer quickly said. 'He might prove to be a verrry useful ally...I think we should let him come along.'

Much as it seemed like this creature was an evil and infinitely 'unhappy' (though not necessarily depressed...just opposing happiness) being, it seemed overjoyed to hear Slayer's response.

Arsloss spoke up again. 'Let me tell you about myssselfff, now...'

------------------
YakKa Foob MoG. GRuG
PubbuWuP ZiNk WattooM
GaZoRK. CHuMBLE SpuZz.

Brink opened the door and walked in. "I heard there was a new quest. I'm ready to join. "

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How do men that have beards play the flute?
When I'm bored, my post number goes up.

Trinias had hopped up as Violet approached, and pulled a chair out for her. He sat back down, finding himself now seated between two beautiful young women - a prospect he found not entirely displeasing. He continued to question Sya, and now also Violet, on each of their origins and history.

After a while, Avatara leaned towards him, and tapped on the table to get his attention. "If Moonshadow's here, then where's Flynn?" he asked in a low voice.

Trinias shrugged. "They had an argument earlier. Now she won't talk to any of the Ronin; I suppose she thinks we'll automatically take Flynn's side."

"An argument? What about?"

"I don't know," Trinias sighed in frustration. "Flynn won't talk about it, either."

Avatara leaned back in his seat, and Trinias resumed talking to the two young women.

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On the other hand, you have different fingers.

Slayer looked around at the large group assembled for this quest. He saw a number of old faces, and a number of new faces. "We have no idea what we'll be facing in the mountains," he said, adressing the party, "but this will hopefully be sufficient. If we head out now, we should be able to reach the foot of the mountains by nightfall."

The adventurers set out from the tavern, heading north. Slayer led the way, following his map. Callie, oddly enough, tagged along. Some of the adventurers found it a bit strange that Ferazel's cat would come, but not Ferazel himself. Little was said of this, though. Sya seemed to enjoy having the cat along. Avatara was walking near the front of the group. Trinias seemed to be trying to stay near to Sya, talking to her as the party traveled. Moonshadow was hanging back, away from Trinias. As Rogan walked, it was clear that he was eyeing his wine. He was having trouble waiting for an inopportune time to have a sip. Violet had a look of excitement in her eyes. She could hardly wait for the adventure to really begin. Talos, the mighty bar-tender, seemed particularly suspicious of Callie. Arsloss seemed to be staying away from most of the people in the group, or perhaps it was the people staying away from him. Brink strode along with the group, without saying a whole lot.

*OoC* Okay, I think I listed everyone. If not, just let me know.

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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]

"I hope you know where you're going, and that it won't take long to get there." Avatara remarked to Slayer.

"Why is that?" Slayer didn't turn back, his stride never faltered.

"That looks like it could be nasty." Avatara pointed to the mountains, where a large cloud had been amassing for some time, and now it loomed dark and menacing over the mountains themselves, as if it was daring the group to enter.

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

Callie suddenly stopped, and her ears pricked up. She bounded ahead to Slayer, pulled out her claws, and gave him a light scratch on the leg to make him pay attention. Slayer turned around, and looked down at Callie. She said to him in the cat language, "Something is approaching, be very careful. About half a mile behind us, coming up at about the same speed as us." Slayer nodded his head, and continued to lead the group.

Callie, on the other hand, ran back down where they had come. Some of the group could have sworn they had heard some scratching and screams coming from there, but Callie came back in a few minutes, holding a ruffian's skull in her teeth. She dropped it on the ground, and proceeded to wash the blood from her claws every once in a while during the day.

Close to nightfall, the group stood about five miles from the omnimous mountains standing ahead. Setting up camp and watch duties, the night passed quickly enough.

------------------
Those who know the truth are not up to those who love it; those who love the truth are not up to those who delight in it.
-- Confucius (a.k.a. Kong Fuzi)
------------------
Battle.Net Screen Name: ev3-ferazel The Game: StarCraft

As the morning arose, Arsloss was the first to awaken. He slithered silently through the small camp and out of it. A few minutes later, he returned with a whole unicorn dragging behind him -- a vine was tied to the dead unicorn and was being held by his hand as it [his hand] was retracted into the two [seemingly invisible while he had his arms out] grooves.

When the others awoke, they smelled freshly hunted unicorn meat. Arsloss had sucked all the venom out of the unicorn and was now roasting some of it, leaving the rest for him and for storage.

Soon the camp was bustling with activity (if this many people could 'bustle'): people were packing up, eating, resting, et cetera. Arsloss was scouting out a small ways from the camp, though not too far away. He had discovered a squirrel's or some such storage -- it had lots of nuts and some corn in it -- when a shout was heard. He glided back to the camp as fast as he could and found that Slayer was struggling with a wolf lizard while people started to rush over. Arsloss glided in quickly and quietly and struck as fast as lightning the wolf lizard. It died nearly instantly, but Slayer also nearly smote Arsloss with his sword.

'You look too much like a dangerous threat,' said Avatara with a wink after Slayer got up and put his sword away. 'But I must say, you are a quick and good hunter and cook -- I tasted some of that unicorn meat you brought and it tasted wonderful.'

'I thank thee,' hissed Arsloss, 'for though I may be humble, I did not know of my ssskillsss yet...until thisss journey...'

------------------
YakKa Foob MoG. GRuG
PubbuWuP ZiNk WattooM
GaZoRK. CHuMBLE SpuZz.

While her other companions were getting ready for another day of adventure. Violet spied Moonshadow sitting looking lonely, she started to walk over set on finding out what was wrong.

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"Have you done 7 impossible things before lunch today?"

Slayer stared up at the churning clouds, still hovering over the mountains. As he watched, a bitterly cold breeze swept through the camp. Slayer walked over to Moonshadow.

"You come from a cold world, I understand," he said to her. He could see his breath.
"Yes, that's right. Fir'dha is a little bit colder than this, though," she responded.
"Perhaps, but we may need some enchantments to keep us warm as we travel through the mountains," Slayer said. "We humans aren't as used to the cold as winter elves." Slayer looked over at Arsloss. Arsloss seemed to be taking the cold weather worse than anyone else, though he tried not to show it.
Moonshadow saw most of the people in the camp shivering and huddling close to the fire. "I'll do what I can. I know a few spells that ought to keep all of us warm." She cast the spell that she was referring to on Slayer. Slayer was still a little cool, but the wind had definitely lost its bite.
"Good," said Slayer. "Let's round everyone up."
Violet was first in line.


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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]

[This message has been edited by Slayer (edited 01-03-2002).]

Arsloss had curled himself around the flame so he could get as close as he could to warmth. He knew but one spell, and he was not going to waste the little amount of mana on it to get a flame that he all ready had, which he was curled around.

As they began to leave, he took the tiny amount of belongings he had (a dark and thick quilt, belt, and sword) and donned them all. He now looked quite strange, being a snake with a quilt over him and a sword gliding through the glass with him.

As they were walking, Arsloss noticed a slight movement in the bushes. He could see that it was a large thing moving and that this large thing might be a threat. He struck violently and instantly, sinking his large fangs into the thing, letting the venom slowly seep down into the thing's veins...but the thing did not die. Arsloss felt a sharp pain in himself, and was also suddenly numb. His tail lashed about, flaying the creature violently until it stopped moving, and the pain in Arsloss gradually diminished...

The group had noticed what was happening the minute Arsloss pounced, and were looking closely at what he was doing. When the creature was finally obviously dead, Arsloss moved away...

...and revealed a deadly and dead polyp.

------------------
YakKa Foob MoG. GRuG
PubbuWuP ZiNk WattooM
GaZoRK. CHuMBLE SpuZz.

Violet silently approached the carcass, what she saw gave her nausea. She reached forward as if to touch it, but the stink of death was to much for her to bear. Although she strongly didn't want to, she decided to see if Arsloss was alright. "Excuse me?", she asked timedly, "Are you Ok?".

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"Have you done 7 impossible things before lunch today?"

Sya walked over and crouched down next to Violet, forcing herself not to show the nausea she was feeling. The snake was repulsive, but it -was- with them on their journey, and she would never ignore a fellow adventurer who might be injured.

Violet and Sya both checked over Arsloss to make sure he was alright. Apparently, the polyp was still young, so it hadn't done too much damage. There was one place that they found under the quilt which had been injured. Sya dug in her bag for a moment and pulled out a small bottle filled with a turquoise paste. She took off the lid, dipped a finger in and spread the paste around on Arsloss's wound.

Sya put the lid back on and stood up, grinning. "Nothing like a bit of pine needle, Almac fern and birchleaf paste to heal an injury." She returned the bottle to her bag and went back to stand by Trinias.

[This message has been edited by iKaterei (edited 01-03-2002).]

Arsloss had hissed at Sya at first, but then discovered how pleasant her strange lotions and potions were -- he wasn't hurt much; it was mostly just pain he'd experienced. But it was very lucky for the troupe that he had found the polyp -- if they'd been attacked by an unseen polyp, the result could have been devastating.

The group quickly moved on, but not before skinning the polyp and using it to keep Arsloss warm.

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YakKa Foob MoG. GRuG
PubbuWuP ZiNk WattooM
GaZoRK. CHuMBLE SpuZz.

[It's Sya, not Katerei --Slayer]

[This message has been edited by Slayer (edited 01-03-2002).]

Sya smiled at Trinias as the group walked down the path. "I hope Slayer knows where he's going," she said. "I travelled around these parts a little bit before I got to Cademia, but never went very far. I think by tomorrow we'll be out into mostly unexplored land."

Trinias nodded. "There used to be a small group of houses somewhere out here. The people were called The Huntsmen. They hunted animals of basically any type, and sold the furs and skins in Cademia. I'm not sure what happened to them, but the houses are supposedly still around."

"I wonder if they are," Sya said thoughtfully. "Maybe we'll see them sometime. I like visiting old places like that."

"Same, especially since they were woodsmen, like me. I always wanted to see the village, because several of Cademia's best archers came from there."

Sya glanced at Trinias. "You're an archer, too? I love archery- when I was young, I would always watch the archery tournaments in town. Unfortunately, I never learned how to shoot with a bow. When I could afford it, I bought this," she commented, indicating her quarterstaff.

"When we set up camp tonight, I'll show you my bow," Trinias offered. "You might find it interesting." Sya noticed there was a micshievious sparkle in his eyes.

"Oh, I'd love that," Sya said. "I was hoping that, if I was really lucky, I would get a bow and arrows off a ruffian or something. But, that's not very likely, is it?"

Trinias smiled. "You never know. Just about anything can happen around here."

Neither of them knew just how right he was.

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Need a name??? Need a character??? I GOT LOTS!!!
Email me or visit my site at [url="http://"http://www.danicsoft.com/kat"]http://www.danicsoft.com/kat[/url]

*** OoC ***
I like to see other people using my characters - especially when they do it so well
*** BiC ***

Glancing back, Trinias noticed that Violet had dropped back next to Moonshadow again, and was trying to engage her in conversation. Moonshadow, looking depressed, wasn't being very communicative. He sighed. He'd have dearly liked to help, but if she wouldn't talk to him, there wasn't much he could do. He could only hope Violet had more luck.

They continued walking for a while, then Trinias suddenly chuckled aloud. "Pine needle, Almac fern and birchleaf paste, eh? I have a friend who'd be very interested in talking to you about that - and any other concoctions you may know."

"Oh, I don't know many," Sya replied, embarrassed. Trinias wasn't sure if she was serious, or just being modest. "Who's your friend, anyway?" Sya queried, perhaps to deflect attention.

"Oh; Leandra, another of the Ronin. She's studied a lot of medicine, as well as healing magic."

"I heard you mention these 'Ronin', back in the tavern; who or what are they?"

Trinias grinned, and yet again launched into the tale of how the Ronin first arrived in Cythera. There were a few groans from some of those nearby, who'd already heard the tale more often than they'd have liked. Trinias ignored them, glad of a fresh audience.

"I see - I think," Sya said confusedly, when he was done. "So - first you were all somehow transported here from your homeworld, and then you were transported through time? And the Seldane, Undine, Ignae and Sylph? You actually met all those people?" When she put it like that, Trinias had to admit it did all sound a bit far-fetched, and he couldn't blame her for sounding sceptical.

He suddenly stopped still, staring into space. "Shh, listen!"

"I only hear the birds," Sya said, after a listening intently for few moments.

"Yes, but notice how much less there are than when we started out?"

"Oh, now that you mention it..."

Trinias frowned in thought. "I think the game in this area has been getting less, the closer we get to the mountain. If we're going to stock up on supplies it'll have to be soon, or there won't be anything to hunt."

He turned aside from the trail, heading towards the forest. At the edge he stopped, and looked back at Sya. "You coming?"

"Depends," she replied. "Will I get to see your bow in action?"

"Probably, yes."

"OK then, I'm coming!"

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

They'd been hiking for some time, proceeding deeper into the forest, without seeing anything worth shooting at. At last, Trinias spied the distinctive tracks of a unicorn. They followed the trail, fairly sure they were gaining on their quarry, when he heard Sya gasp.

He raised his eyes from the unicorn tracks, noted the direction of Sya's gaze, and looked in that direction himself. Just visible through the dense growth off to one side, was an old, overgrown log cabin.

"Well, would you look at that!" he breathed in astonishment.

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On the other hand, you have different fingers.