Newsgroups: alt.pub.dragons-inn
From: djb6@ellis.uchicago.edu (Dennis Brennan)
Subject: Re: [History of Generica]: Part II: Foundation
Message-ID: <1992Dec14.022745.27259@midway.uchicago.edu>
References: <1992Dec10.211710.22701@midway.uchicago.edu>
Date: Mon, 14 Dec 1992 02:27:45 GMT

[Fragment of a patrol report compiled by Sdryiech, Lieutenant Commander of the
Glorrasic Guard, on the survey of the holdings of Scoan II, Lord Glorshanned]

...After we broke our fast, the patrol commenced a thorough survey of
the territory on both sides of the River Yskandrun [Ceruputhon].  The
north bank of the river consisted of several low, broad hills with wide
tops.  The one deemed most easily defensible was selected as the site
for the keep which we would construct.  To the north of these hills
were wide meadows suitable for cultivation.  The south bank of the river
sloped upward more gently, and the ground was overgrown with vegetation...

...Our inspection of the south bank revealed many ancient and crumbling
stone walls, the remnants of some forgotten and ruined city.  Our lord's
nephew fancies himself a historian and antiquarian and has organized a
party to clear away the vegetation to facilitate the study of these ruins...

***

[Personal diary of Ascudas, Baronet of Grale and Historian at the Court
of Lord Glorshanned]

...How I wonder at the achievments of these ancients!  The artisanship
and architecture of these aged structures clearly surpasses our own
knowledge!  There is a large central structure which I have identified
as a sort of temple.  Sadly, this building is in an advanced state of
disrepair, with its once elaborate frescoes and wall-murals heavily
damaged by the elements.  The central feature of this temple, around
which its architecture and indeed the layout of the entire ruined 
city appear to be centered, is a pit or shaft, perhaps into which
offerings to these peoples' gods were dropped.  This shaft is now
clogged with rubble...

[Two months later]... The more I study these fascinating artifacts,
the more I feel an affinity for the perished people who once dwelt
here.  I have come to realize that the destruction of this great
city and the fabulous temple were not the acts of some natural
cataclysm but the product of _deliberate_agency_, that is, a deliberate
attempt to obliterate the achievments of this people.  The vandalism
done to the temple is systematic and total... I feel an indescribable
urge to restore this magnificent hall of worship to its former glory;
to rectify this ill-conceived destruction and honor the ancient geniuses...
and their motivating deities.

...I can barely contain my excitement.  I have ordered the removal of the
obstructing rubble from the temple's shaft, and have resolved to 
descend down this shaft to the end of learning the nature of the forgotten
gods of the Pit...

*****

[Court Physicians' Report on the treatment of Baronet Ascudas]

Since his ill-fated exploration of the ruins on the South Banks, the
Lord's nephew has suffered from the symptoms of some schizophrenic
dementia.  He babbles continuously in a variety of accents and nonsensical
languages.  From time to time he experiences episodes of lucidity during
which he lambasts himself for his short-sightedness and ignorance, but
more typically he enters a kind of delirous trance in which he speaks
aloud to a number of imaginary listeners.  He alternately pleads to be
allowed to destroy himself or to "return to Mother".  Lord Glorshanned
fears that the ruins on the South Banks are haunted or cursed in some
manner and has ordered them to be shunned and forbidden...

*****

[Selection from _A History of Generica_, by the noted sage Alhoundriye]

Within a few years, farmers and traders had begun to congregate in a
small community under the auspices of Glorshanned Keep.  Lord
Glorshanned himself spent most of his time personally overseeing the
design and construction of his Keep.  His wife, Anatyria the Genere,
saw to the actual administration and government of the keep and its
surrounding village.  Accordingly, the settlement became known as 
Generica....

To Be Continued...
-- 
Dennis Brennan
djb6@midway.uchicago.edu