Newsgroups: alt.pub.dragons-inn From: hutch@hutch (Stephen Hutchison) Subject: [DQ] Dragon Quest Week 10: Valgar Walking Message-ID: <1992Oct3.011829.20607@intelhf.hf.intel.com> Date: Sat, 3 Oct 92 01:18:29 GMT [ADMIN] In order to try and keep things going along, the collective Dragon Questors have been putting together posts from the point-of-view of our currently less active players. If you notice a difference in personality or in the way the characters are written, this is the cause. Our apologies in advance to those less active players if we've somehow muddled a characterization, and we hope to see you back soon to help with the writing. [Dragon Quest, Week 10] In summary, the group of five - ShockWave/SunStorm, Lancos Erredan, Valgar, William, and 'Raelf, have set off for the cave described in the Book which Valgar found, the cave which they've determined was where TrueSilver the dragon was, ahem, dragged, when he was kidnapped by Krastin and his unknown co-conspirator. Alita, an aggressively forward woman who is also a skilled thief, has left a message to our group, to meet her at the cave. 'Raelf has convinced the others to leave in time for them to get to the cave before midnight, which is when they were supposed to meet. He does not want to enter a place where evil holds sway during the hours when it is strongest. As they walk, the first stanza of the prophecy comes to their minds, over and over again. Maybe they can avoid its dire prediction. + "A Book, a Rook, a Crook and a Nook, + A Cave, a Grave, a Grief and a Thief, + One contains a Secret, Steals it, Binds it, + And the Other contains only a Promise of Fear" Valgar scratched his newly-grown beard. It itched, something fierce, but he'd left it in place, because he had been clean-shaven when he was a slave. All the slaves had been depilated fairly often; kept the lice and parasites from taking hold. The only diseases his former masters, may they rot, had allowed among the galley slaves, were those they put there themselves. They crossed the crest of the hill, going south. The cave should be visible in the sea cliffs - the lower entrance would be underwater right now, this being high tide, but the secret upper entry would be reachable, if the map in his book had been right. He'd memorized that page. The terrain marks were all showing up - the notch in the ridge, the small stream that 'Raelf said started in the graveyard, the blasted crown of a small hill where some adventurer had died, centuries ago. There, the cliffs, just beyond the next rise, and the secret opening. He considered his situation. Fine group, this. 'Raelf could take care of himself, sure, but who knows how he'll do when he's trying to protect someone else. And that William character, definitely someone else, he was. Some kind of a mage, sure, but Valgar couldn't recall ever meeting a mage who was so unsure of himself. That HAS to have a bad effect on his magic. Lancos was getting to act a bit high-and-mighty, too, which wasn't like he'd been earlier. ShockWave had figured out how to use his giant's-body, and seemed to be getting along pretty well. Alita, however, was another problem. She was definitely able to take care of herself, but at what cost to the group? Valgar grimly shifted the sword-belt on his waist. It had been chafing. He didn't like openly carrying. The others had convinced him, though, that he'd be the right one to use it. That, and the dagger 'Raelf had made, which Valgar hid in a back sheath. Hmm - even 'Raelf seemed to think there was something up. He was carrying several suspicious looking objects about his person, and was wearing the weird body-fitting spongy leather-armor he usually wore to go flying in, and he'd left his board somewhere else. Lancos, too, had his amulet on, and his sword and armor. ShockWave even remembered to wear the dwarven helm they'd bought. And he, at least, was wearing the amulet 'Raelf had given him - never hurts to have some kind of armor, even the magical kind. There it was, the notched rock outcropping, that meant the cave was nearby. They all spotted it at once. The crevice, and the place where it went flat. That was the hidden entrance. They began the climb down to the ledge, just wide enough to hold one at a time. They walked into the cave. The sun was an hour above the horizon, the nearly new moon already set. 'Raelf was perturbed - he'd wanted to get there before this, but there had been the usual delays. Still, it wasn't yet sunset, and plenty of time to search around before the dark lent power to their enemy. And they had prepared, as best they could. Except they hadn't gotten any kind of spiritual support - none of the local priests was an adventurer type, it seems. ShockWave had mumbled something about being a Holy Sword, but hadn't followed up on it when pressed. It was dark inside. Lancos pulled out a bullseye lantern, and lit it. 'Raelf went first, then Lancos, then Valgar and William followed, with ShockWave last, his sword-self glowing brightly. The shadows danced on the wall of the cave, looming and flickering and shrinking off to nothing. The entry tunnel wound about thirty feet, and managed to kink back and forth twice, effectively acting as a barrier to outside light. There was, strangely, no sign of bats or insects or the usual cave dwellers. The dust on the floor showed little sign of being disturbed. Even Lancos' ranger-taught tracking skills didn't show anything. 'Raelf was annoyed. He spoke, quietly. "This is bogus, meinen freunden. There should be something, some kind of animal tracks or footprints or something. There aren't even any smells, and caves are supposed to smell like old wet dirt." A shadowy mass was revealed by the lights as they entered a large cavern. "What the hell?" Valgar picked up the mass. "My book! What's it doing here, it's supposed to be in my pack!" He dug for a moment, and came up empty. "How do you suppose that happened?" "I have an idea how it happened," SunStorm/ShockWave growled. He looked ominous in the sword-glow, dwarven helm gleaming. "I think it was that demon-spawn thief Alita." Lancos coughed. 'Raelf said nothing. Valgar tried to remember if they'd told Alita the precise location of the cave. Her note had said she'd meet them here. William looked around. "No clay here. It would be near water, anyway." They examined the walls and ceiling. Nothing special, but a small crevice that was wide enough to admit a man, stooped over. Tracks showed in the dust around the crevice. "Must be the place," someone commented. Resuming marching order, they went inside. A winding tunnel, like the entrance, opening to another large grotto. From the front, 'Raelf cried out, then began quietly moaning to himself in one of his old dead languages. Lancos shone the lamp around, then stopped, and Valgar felt a sudden sick dread at the sight before them.