From: bshsiung@quip.eecs.umich.edu (Bernard Hsiung)
Newsgroups: alt.pub.dragons-inn
Subject: [R] Amaan gets his just desserts...
Message-ID: <1992Nov5.183356.10639@zip.eecs.umich.edu>
Date: 5 Nov 92 18:33:56 GMT


     Amaan paused as there was a particularly loud crash from the deck above.
"That's alright.  Keep reading," Dariel said, tapping the page meaningfully.

     Amaan returned his attention to the book, wincing as the neatly written
formula of yet another spell disappeared from its pages.  Normally, he would
only resort to reading spells directly from his spell books in an emergency
or when under great duress.  In this case, both conditions applied, but since
none of the spells manifested any effects under Dariel's steady gaze, the
point was academic anyway.  He had just finished his last spell of the fifth
circle when Dariel stopped him.  "Okay.  That's good enough.  I understand."

     "What are you going to do now?" Amaan asked.

     "You have an unusually large repertoire of distasteful spells," Dariel
observed.  His hand hovered in front of Amaan's face, fingers curled, then
snapped back quickly.  Amaan doubled over, gasping.  It felt like he had
been kicked in the stomach and then had his liver removed through his mouth.

     "Wha--what did...wha?" he wheezed.

     "Your magical Talent," Dariel said.  A crystalline web was suspended
between his fingers.  "You don't have any spell books.  You won't be needing
this for the rest of the trip.  Maybe not ever."  He shrugged.

     "You--you son of a whore, you can't do this to me.  Someone's trying
to kill me!  You've left me completely helpless!" Amaan sputtered.

     "Don't worry.  You'll be quite safe."  Dariel's other hand, Amaan
suddenly noticed, held a transparent, twisted not-sphere.

     "What's that?" Amaan asked suspiciously.

     "A Klein bottle."  The bubble-like object pulsed, growing and shrinking,
as Dariel rotated it in his grip.

     Realization dawned.  "You're not putting me inside that thing..." Amaan
protested as he started inching away.

     Dariel grinned.  "You're already there.  The trick is to seal it off
in such a way that you're the only thing inside."

     Amaan flinched as Dariel swung the bottle at him.  The world convulsed
for a moment and then he found himself standing inside a smoothly curving
blank space.  Dariel's voice echoed from all directions:  "You can manifest
anything you desire.  I don't think you'll be bored."

     Dariel casually tossed the bottle onto the desk.  Its surface now
displayed Amaan's situation, piecemeal and distorted, as if in a funhouse
mirror.  That should keep Amaan out of trouble, Dariel reflected as he took
down the wards surrounding the room.  He should be able to keep himself
occupied, and it was highly unlikely that anyone else would be able to get
him out.  When he had last used this holding device, the beings trapped
within hadn't wanted to be released.  Dariel smiled to himself as he
wandered out.  What other sort of prison would a Child of Hope use?
--
Comments, compliments, and complaints can be conveyed to:
Bernie Hsiung (bshsiung@eecs.umich.edu)