Newsgroups: alt.pub.dragons-inn From: arsmith@lamar.ColoState.EDU (Alan Smith) Subject: [No Thread Yet] Palandun: A new arrival Message-ID: Date: Sat, 01 May 1993 06:37:51 GMT [ADMIN]: Please forgive the transgression by not sending everyone mail first. I have not recieved any replies as of yet, and, being loath to believe in cliquage, I figured my mail did not get through. So, I'm going to jump into this thing with both feet. Should anybody like my writing style (I am somewhat unpolished, but once I get the feel for this place, I'll do better) Just write me into your story, and maybe send me a note telling me you did so. [Begin Generica Story] There were four people standing at the gunwale of the _Loissa Ketchim_. One was holding a long-handled fishing net and staring intently at the water, the other three were skylarking, taking a break from the work of getting the merchantman into the Generican docks. "So," The tall, thin sailor said, "What will you do when we dock, Paladin." "M'name," The one with the net replied, not looking up, "is Palandun, and to answer your question, I dunno. HA!" This last was not directed at anyone in particular, but was accompanied by a swift dip of the net. Palandun pulled it in a three-inch long squid was entangled in it. "Hmmm. We're near land." He finished, examining the squid. "How can you tell that from that little squid?" The sailor asked. "I can't, I saw the towers." The passenger (for Palandun was one) replied. "It's just that we don' have this particular variety of squid back in Bismania." "So?" "So it's odd. This is documented as a near-shore squid, but we don' have any near the shores of bismania." "So?" "But they should be there. These guys are so ubiquitous..." He trailed off, seeing that he was loosing his audience. "Anyway, wha'd do you reccomend?" "Huh? Oh! For you, the Dragon's inn. Definitely the place for an adventurer like yourself." "I'm not an adventurer." Palandun replied, "I'm a student." "Be ye a Mage-kid, then?" The bosun asked, slipping into his native accent. "Ye'll want the Happy Mage, then." "Nuh-uh. Ah'll take th' Dragon's inn." Palandun slid into his. And so it came to pass that Palandun and the fourth seaman, who usually spoke just to keep his teeth warm, carried Palandun's luggage to the Dragon's inn. A room was purchased, and, while the student was hauling his stuff inside, the sailor was holding forth in the eatery. "Pippy!" a captain said, "We don't often see you here." "I came to introduce the new resident here, the bravest Bismanian I ever saw. Swam up to a leviathan and punched it in the nose, he did. We were beset by this leviathan, and he just dove in-" "Fell in." Palandun corrected, he had heard this tale distorted often enough. "And you neglect to note that 'We' was a rowboat with three people in it, not the _Louissa_." "Anyway, we were struck in the stern and the boat spun around, and Paladin here was taking notes standing up, so he just managed to pitch his notebook in the boat when he fell in. Then the leviathan charged us again and he punched it in the nose." "Did it help any?" The captain asked. "No." Palandun jumped in. "And my name is Palandun. Pleased to meet you all. We had to bind palm fronds to it. Apparently it had had holes gouged out of it by some kind of fish, and you know what happens when you get salt water in a wound." Palandun looks around for some kind of food server, wondering if they also serve who stand and look hungry. Palandun the Bismanian.