Newsgroups: alt.pub.dragons-inn From: bdavis@cray.com (Brent G Davis) Subject: [Kalendraf]: The Wyeriun questions the stranger Message-ID: <1992Dec6.111941.14379@walter.cray.com> Date: 6 Dec 92 11:19:40 CST ADMIN: As promised, Kalendraf is back a PC, and the next few posts should answer a few loose ends from the old Seawatch thread. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Any time you're ready, my Lord." The elderly robed figure waited expectantly, watching as his master took one final survey of the arrangements. The tall man standing near the table, turned and nodded his acknowledgement to the old Merastasi in the corner of the room. When the Wyeriun was satisfied, he motioned for the two guards near the door to exit, and then gave the order to incant the spell. Then he turned and looked deep into the eyes of the seated stranger. "You have 10 minutes, starting now, my Lord." The gray-haired caster turned and walked through the exit, closing the door on his way. "Can you understand me?," the Wyeriun asked gently. The stranger's eyes opened slightly. "Yes." "We have very little time before the effect of this magic wears off. Can you tell me who you are, and where you're from?" "I am Lo..." The stranger paused, appearing the change his mind. He picked up the glass of water on the table before him, and drank, emptying it. "My name is Kalendraf. I come from a city named Southport on the isle of Uncis. Now, who are you and what place is this?" The Wyeriun was surprised by the boldness of the stranger's voice; none of the seaguards ever had the courage face him so. "I am known as The Wyeriun, though that title probably means nothing to you. You are currently in the Tower of Kraken in the city of Generica. Where abouts does this isle of Uncis lie?" "The isle lies in the Great South Sea along the outer trade route between the two lands, Ulancia and Kedrane. This is common knowledge, but I have never heard of this city, Generica. On which continent does it lie?" The stranger peered deep into the squinting eyes of The Wyeriun. "You speak of lands I do not know. Suffice to say, you are no longer in or near the world you remeber! Perhaps THIS has something to do with your relocation." The Wyeriun lifted a cloth sack, and produced an exquisite conch shell. He immediately detected the recognition on the stranger's face. "Tell me of this horn." The stranger fell silent, looking at the conch for several long moments. He picked up the pitcher of water, refilled his glass, and again drained it. "It is a long story, one that we haven't time for." The Wyeriun frowned. "I heard your servant as well - 10 minutes. It would take far longer than that." "Then tell me of the events leading up to your rescue." The Wyeriun was bordering on impatience. "Ezrin and I were teaching each other our native languages, but he was growing very weak from treading the water for so long. Finally, the sharks began to swarm around us. They started to attack, so I decided we had only one chance - blowing the horn. I didn't know if would still work, but I guess it did; the sharks were ba..." Once again the stranger paused, apparently changing his mind about what to say. "The sharks went away. I put a tourniquet on Ezrin's leg, and not too long after, that ship came and saved us." Kalendraf repeated the refilling and emptying of his glass. "Just blowing the horn made the sharks disperse? What are you holding back? The crews of two ships claim to have seen rainbows of lights lift up from the sea and into the sky, after you winded the conch. What is this thing?" The Wyeriun was beginning to lose his temper with the stanger, and he began shaking the shell menacingly toward him. Kalendraf's shoulders slumped, and he looked down at the wooden floor. Yet again, he filled his glass and drank from it. After a deep breath he began, "Even I don't know exactly what that thing is. The Tritons claim that it was created by the gods to banish evil from the seas. However, they are forbidden to use it, and only a land-creature can wind the horn. They gave it to us...to me to banish the Sea-Devils from the waters of our world. After a long underwater battle,..." The stranger lifted his shirt to reveal dozens of healing claw and tooth wounds. "I blew the conch and banished those bastards forever. But something else happened. There was this tunnel of swirling light, and the next thing I remember, I was floating in the water with you and Ezrin. Do you think I was transported here by the horn?" "Right now I would say that's a good guess. Perhaps the result of another Magical Conservation Law, but I digress. Why did the Tritons give the horn to you in particular?" "The legend of the horn said that only one man could banish the evil the seas, and that man was the Lord of the Isle. I am, or at least was, the Lord of Uncis. I just have to find a way to get back to my world." "And what becomes of the horn?," The Wyeriun asked. "Now that the legend is fulfilled, I guess it has served its purpose. You can keep it if you'd like. It's brought me nothing but trouble since I've had it." The Wyeriun had difficulty containing his excitement as his mind ran wild with ideas. 'Is this truly an artifact made by the gods? What other untold powers does it possess? No need to lust after the Trident any longer.' "Perhaps I could find a spare moment or two to study this curious shell." He replaced the conch in the sack, and then tightly tied the cord. "What of Ezrin's condition?" Kalendraf interrupted The Wyeriun's train of thought. "Oh, him. He's very weak, but he'll survive. He's being tended to by a healer." Kalendraf looked to refill his glass once again, but the pitcher was now empty. Finally, he asked one more question. "Do you think there's any... punapr bs zr trggvat onpx ubzr?" Obviously, the spell had ended. -- / bdavis@romulus.cray.com Cray Research Inc. Chippewa Falls, WI \ ( Just another Engineer/Musician/AD&D'er multiclass with Internet access ) \ "I`m a zombie in the a.m., when it's just too early to wake the dead." /