From: albert@bcm.tmc.edu (Rick Jones) Newsgroups: alt.pub.dragons-inn Subject: [GATM] Krupp [Low City] Reflections and Introductions Date: 22 Mar 1993 18:35:24 GMT Message-ID: <1ol0tc$p6m@gazette.bcm.tmc.edu> [ADMIN: I am over the Bug from Hell and an even worse case of Writer's Block, so, now let us return to the Story. This new Thread is named "The Ghost and the Machine", or "GATM". For the newbies, here's a brief recap...] *** While waiting for Farrel to wake up so I could sneak out with the arrow, I reviewed the case in my mind. One: I was murdered by this arrow. Made by Farrel, tipped with Drow poison, which he gets from the Demon Spiders. Farrel thinks he sold it to Numbers, one of Creft's men. The arrow's too big for a short bow and the wrong make for a crossbow, so it had to be someone tall enough to use a longbow. Means no dwarves, gnomes, goblins, halfings kobolds and a lot of the other demihuman races. Two: I'm not dead-dead, because I'm a ghost. I was bound to the Low City alleyway, living off of the emotions of people who passed through. When Cheyenne Kron died, her death scream, amplified by the group mind of the Big Bad Mother, supercharged me so I could leave the alleyway. Or at least that's what a couple of wizards ('Raelf and ar'Elya) said. Three: I was backshot by someone on the roof during the day. This meant that the assassin a> knew my hiding spot and b> wasn't afraid to come out during the day. So it wasn't likely to be a Drow (not suprising, actually, the Demon Spiders gang didn't get along well with Creft's network) or some sort of undead ghoulie (also not suprising, Creft didn't deal much with necromancers). Four: I'm not known to be dead, though I have been gone long enough for my office to get re-leased. Folks at the Dragon's Inn know more gossip than my Aunt Grundy, and they didn't know, so assume nobody was crowing about snuffing me. Five: Creft is also dead. According to 'Raelf, he was killed by the teleporting Waster Blink, on orders from Seer, who was some kind of pawn of the Mother of Creepy Charlie. It was all part of some sort of frame job on Kron that really backfired. 'Raelf's mate, ar'Elya, who has more bodies than a cemetery, said that since Creft's death, his gang's been fracturing, though she expects one of his Inner Circle to make a move soon. She also said the Wasters are reorganizing, the Demon Spiders are up to something, the Shunrunners are making money hand over fist somehow, and that there's something strange going on at the Mage's Guild. Six: I was getting really tired of waiting. I thought about ditching the arrow, and walking through a wall, but for some reason I didn't want to dump the arrow yet. After going over it all in my head, I decided that Numbers was the next person to talk to. Next gnome actually. But how to find him? *** In a cavern under Low City..... A strapping, handsome man stands boldly before an altar. He pulls a midnight black dagger from beneath his DARK cloak, and holds it overhead. "My Queen." he intones. His voice echoes in the darkness. [YES, MY SERVANT?] "I desire a servant of my own." [FOR WHAT PURPOSE?] "To bring power to my organization. To bring the UnderCity under your control. With the Back of the Great Mother br-" [DO NOT SPEAK HER NAME. SHE RESTS, FOR NOW. BUT THE SLEEPER WILL AWAKEN.] "Apologies, My Queen. But, Her control of the dark corners of the city is, for now, broken. The factions are squabbling. The Mages' Guild is too embroiled in their own politics to intervene. The time is ripe to bring the dark underbelly of Generica under your rule." [THIS IS TRUE, SERVANT. WHAT DO YOU OFFER ME?] The huge man gestured, and a black cloak covering the altar vanished, revealing a struggling form. A gnome, to be specific. It struggled against its bonds. It's wrists were bloody from the effort, but the DARK knots were too tight for him to loosen. "A vile creature, one who dares to live in the Undercity. Your realm, my Queen." [AND WHAT DO YOU WISH FOR A SERVANT?] "An assassin. Who can strike without being seen, who can slay in your name, my Queen." [ THAT WAS ONCE YOUR JOB, SERVANT.] "Ah, but now I must organize, and prepare the city for your inevitable rule." [THIS IS TRUE. VERY WELL, I HAVE SUCH A SERVANT, ONE WHO IS FAMILIAR TO YOU. GIVE ME THE SACRIFICE.] The man's face twisted into a rictus of glee. He took the midnight dagger, and held it before the eyes of the terrified gnome. "You know, I don't see how you stand it. " Spiders, ranging from the size of a fingernail to the size of a cat, began crawling up the altar, and dropping down from the ceiling. The gnomes eyes bulged out in horror, and he started shaking his head violently. The man cut the gag in the gnome's mouth, in anticipation of the screams of anguish. "notrealnotrealnotreal" the gnome chanted under his breath. The spiders, crawling all over him, paused for a moment. "" shouted the man. The gnome shook his head violently. Angered beyond belief, the man plunged the dagger in the gnome's heart. "Was that real enough?" He stabbed the gnome again and again, until the gnome's chest was a mass of gore. [TSK, TSK, CYNDAI. YOU DISSAPPOINT ME. HOWEVER, THE SACRIFICE WILL SUFFICE.] Dark fingers reached through the walls and reached into the corpse of the gnome. Picoseconds later, in the heart of the Shunned Center, a dark figure materialized. It looked around. [Oh, How the mighty have fallen.] DO NoT MOck Us GODLinG. We SHaLL ReCoVER. [Is that so? You are nothing. Less than nothing. Manipulated without Your knowledge by the Artifact. Controlled by a Child. Laid low by Human trickery. You delude Yourselves.] WE ShALL PrEVAiL. [You can barely speak in your own chamber without My help. I now walk in Your Sanctum, where once Gods trembled. However, luck is with You, for I have no claims on You or Yours. I merely have to... pick something up.] The cloaked figure turned away from the pit. She concentrated, and her perceptions shifted. She staggered, for a moment, and then stood strong once again. [I underestimated your apatite for death, Motherless One.] Ignoring the wailing spirits trapped in the Lair, She reached out, and touched a small figure on it's back. It was curled up in a ball, rocking back and forth. It was trying to weep, to sob, to cry out against its fate but any tears it once had were long gone. And any throat it had was absent as well. [Little ghost, come with Me.] Confusion/Fear? [Hmm, you have been down here a while. Well, this will clear your head.] The energy it collected from the death of the gnome flowed through the goddess, and into the curled up figure. [Now, what is your name?] The tiny figure looked up at the goddess. It's face was screwed up in confusion. Its lips wobbled, and then the confusion passed. "Bogo?" it said. -- Rick Jones "I was asking myself, why would anyone try to ionize albert@bcm.tmc.edu glial cells using a pulse-encoded tachyon field stream?" Systems Support Center "I've often wondered that myself." Voice: 713-798-7352 -Dax and Sisko, DS9: The Passenger