Newsgroups: alt.pub.dragons-inn From: hutch@ibeam.intel.com (Steve Hutchison) Subject: [BDAY] Dancing in the Streets Message-ID: References: <1sst6u$huu@huon.itd.adelaide.edu.au> <1sstqk$huu@huon.itd.adelaide.edu.au> <93133.124902BANNON@MAINE.MAINE.EDU> <1993May11.183653.22731@midway.uchicago.edu> Date: Fri, 14 May 1993 02:33:10 GMT [ADMIN] Sigh. 'Raelf can backtime. Me, I have a net.lag that y'all would just NOT believe (and the schedule-from-hell at work). Oh well. This is a joint posting cobbled together by Rick Jones, Andrea Evans, and myself. Copyrights and characters retained by authors and all that good stuff. Hutch --- Even Littlefair had gone out of his way for this year's big Midsummer Fest. He had tables set up, in the streets around the Dragons' Inn, big bales of hay keeping the traffic from getting too close. There were even some Dark Corners provided - One end had a big striped canvas tent which blocked out the too-bright sun, for those customers who had sensitive eyes or skin prone to burning. Lurking in a dark corner can do that. About a half hour before sunset, Krupp Faraway walked up to the table where 'Raelf was sitting, long cat's tail twitching in time to the rhythms of a drum-dance being played by a group of travelling minstrels. ar'Elya was sitting there, twirling, and Krupp began to get a slight headache with them flickering back and forth. "Cut it out," he told himself. The headache vanished. "Who's the wizards?" whispered the imp on his shoulder. "Coupla folks I know," was Krupp's terse reply. "Look, if you want to beat it for a while, Lotus, go for it. This is a party, not business." "Really? Numbers never even let me out of the bottle." "Yeah, well, I'm an old softie. Beat it." Krupp walked over to the pair of mages. "Hello, 'Raelf, ar'Elya." They stopped staring mush at each other and noticed Krupp standing halfway through the middle of a bench. It was kind of crowded in here. "Hey Krupp, how ghost it?" 'Raelf murmured, and flinched as ar'Elya gave him a slug on the arm. Krupp looked closer, and realized that the snowflake was mostly being a big redhaired barbarian guy of the all-muscle-little-brain variety - he vaguely recalled seeing him down at Trawm's combat pit in the Spitting Cobra back before he left to go looking for Creft. "The usual," he said, moving out of the way as one of the Dark Corner Lurkers tried to sit down where he was standing. He ended up next to the food bar, and the halfling instincts in him started thinking about how to put together some kind of sandwich as big as his head. Then he remembered that wouldn't do him any good, being dead and all. 'Raelf gave a long lazy feline-type yawn, and nudged the spectral detective on the shoulder. "C'mere, siddown." "What?" Krupp hopped up onto a chair next to 'Raelf. "You wanna drink?" "Drink? Sure, and I'd like a big meal and a night with the three Bildurbom sisters too, for all the good it does me." Krupp removed his battered fedora, and jammed it into the pocket of his coat. "Well, I can't get you the other things," 'Raelf grabbed another pitcher off the bar tray next to the food table - the advantages of the location were pretty clear - "but I did stop off to visit e friend on my way back into town." "You were gone?" "Yeah, went back home, but you know, travel off-plane doesn't always take any time here, so I was back almost before I left." "What's back at home?" "Oh, well, I had to bud off a kitten." "Huh?" "I'm in line for inheriting, had to split off an heir, so if I get killed in this upcoming nightmare shit, the family pride will be safe." "Hunh. Do tell." Krupp nodded, trying his best to give the impression that he understood what 'Raelf was talking about. ar'Elya bent over and whispered in his ear, "He just had a kid, Krupp, so his folks won't drag him back in chains for leaving them without an heir to the family name." Krupp thought for a moment, then decided he didn't like what he thought he was hearing. "HE had the kid. Right. Sure. Wizards. urg." "So you wanna drink, dude?" 'Raelf held out one paw, which held a small gold-covered hip flask, engraved with a spiral. The top of the flask was glass, sort of - more like diamond, really, or sapphire, or really deep emerald. The gold-chased cap was held on by a chain, and there was a cork inside. The smell coming off the open flask made Krupp's mouth remember how to water. "What is that stuff?" "One half delerium, one half pure delight. She was happy to give it." "Who she, and what makes you think I can ..." 'Raelf reached out, and took Krupp's hand, and wrapped it around the flask. It was solid to his touch. "Take a sup, Krupp, t'won't kill you to try it." The halfling ghost brought the flask to his lips, and took a swig. His eyes crossed, he sat down hard, and little puffs of smoke began to curl out his ears. "Smooooth!" he gasped. "What did you say it was?" Krupp coughed and purple smoke came out. The smoke formed into a cloud dragon, and flew away. "Delirium's Tears." "Wooh!" He blinked. One eye changed color, and everything started to look very new, or at least, different. The drummers started up another set and 'Raelf and ar'Elya got up for a few minutes to go out and join in the dancing - some thing having to do with swords and flaming pots of oil. As they finished and returned, Kadrys slipped his way toward them through the crowd, somehow avoiding the intervening forest of gesticulating hands and the brimming glasses. He helped himself to a chair, grinning at them all in silent greeting. "So Krupp?" "Yeah?" "How goes the murder mystery?" "Wha?" "Your murderer? You find out who dunnit?" "Sorta. I mean, I had a pretty good idea Creft ordered it done. And I found the guy who Creft told to get it done. But he got kacked, himself. But," Krupp clasped his hands behind his head, and grinned, "I got a lead or three, no big deal. Hey, howcome you're asking me? Can't you just, you know," Krupp twiddled his fingers in a poor imitation of spellcasting gestures, "go back to when it happened, find out for yourself?" "Nah, it's too far back, too much noise, an' besides, I'd attract too much attention from the wrong kind of people. Like the thing in the pool, you remember?" "What thing in the pool?" asked Krupp. ar'Elya nudged 'Raelf, who teetered over for a moment before regaining his balance. "Most people can't look into the psionic equivalent of a nuclear explosion and see ground zero." Krupp watched with amusement as the 'Raelf started babbling about 'partial perceptions' and 'astral disturbances.' ar'Elya rolled her eyes, causing Krupp to giggle. 'Raelf stopped talking and grinned. "I must be thunker than I drink," he said, "Trying to explain paranuclear physics to Sam Spade." "Who's he?" Krupp asked, wondering if he wanted to know. "A gumshoe back on Arkham. So, what, do you WANT me to go look for your murderer?" "Nah, I'll find the mishgreant mysel. Miscreant." Krupp blinked, and watched the pretty colors sparkle around briefly. "So what _can_ I do for you then?" 'Raelf asked, lapping up another mug of that liquid fire he kept drinking. Krupp thought for a second, then replied. "Hey, there's this big pile of gold and treasure and stuff, under one of the warehouses that burned in the storm. Can you get me some of that stuff? I wanna re-open my office and I need the cold hard shiny." "Sure, if you wanna come with me and help scout it out." "Great. When you wanna do this?" "Hey, no time like the present, my fuzzy-toed friend." Krupp shook his head vigorously. "This is a party, my fuzzy-bodied friend. There's always tomorrow. Hell, I got lots of tomorrows." "Ray, do I have a fuzzy body right now?" 'Raelf asked, patting at his arms and face. The barbarian just stared at him. "Not as far as I can see," Kadrys replied, leaning forward from where he'd been hiding back in the shadows. "Good evening, Mr. Faraway." "Likewise," Krupp replied, then batted at the butterflies that were starting to flutter out of his fedora. He jammed it back into his pocket and leaned forward to face Kadrys. "So, you've been around quite some time, I hear." "You could say that." Krupp stage whispered to 'Raelf "I just did." He rolled his now-multi-colored eyes. So, what's your secret?" Kadrys raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?" "I mean, I've just been a ghost for a few months now, and only just a few weeks ago got that charge that allowed me to leave that damn alleyway. But this sucks, being a ghost. Almost nobody notices me, I can't touch anything without lots of effort. I can't eat real food like this spread." Krupp waved his hand at the lush table set out by Littlefair. "I eat fear and despair and crap like that. It seems that our problems are similar, to a point. So, mister 'you could say that', how is it done?" Kadrys allowed himself a brief smile before sobering. "Well, firstly, it still remains to be seen whether you're here for the long term. I understand you're here to hunt down your murderers. If you succeed, what then? Will you be forced to stay after your mission here is complete? I suspect not." ar'Elya interjected, "He's here for the duration, Kadrys. He's bound to the environs of Generica, but he won't fade after he solves his case." He grinned, "He better not. Ale wouldn't be happy if you skipped payment." "I'm workin' on it." protested Krupp. Kadrys continued. "If you _do_ fulfil the task you've set yourself, and you're still here after that, _then_ and not before is the time you should really start thinking about the long term." Kadrys saw the suppressed fuming on the Halfling's face, and sighed. "Yes, I know, that's not what you wanted to hear. You _are_ the impatient type. And if you _are_ here for the long run, that'll have to change. Impatience, the need to have what you want yesterday, is going to cause you nothing but endless frustration." He grinned whitely. "All right. Rule One: Life sucks. Forget fairness, forget justice. Life and the living owe you absolutely _nothing_. Never _expect_ the desirable outcome. If something can go wrong, assume it will. That way you'll avoid a lot of disappointment, a lot of unpleasant surprises." "Heck, I knew that already," said Krupp. "I've been around the block a couple of times." Kadrys nodded apologetically to Krupp before continuing. "Rule Two: Life may suck, but it's better than the alternative. When life _does_ rear up and bite you, keep that in mind. You _could_ always wind up in Hell. I don't know what Hell is for you, but I do know it _would_ be worse than anything that'll happen up here." Krupp snickered. "I saw Hell. It's a big green hill, with my slap-happy ancestors eating all day without getting full. And talking about Aunt Frieda's gout, and the Sterners grandchildren, and how they write more often, unlike some stuck-up city hobbits." Krupp grimaced. Kadrys looked incredulous. "'s true, dude," said 'Raelf. "Snugglebunch here ran a memory trace." "Snugglebunch?" said ar'Elya, fuming. "Brother, you are gonna regret that one." He clenched a ham-sized fist. "Honeygrumbles?" 'Raelf said, teasingly. "Now snokkiepoo, we mustn't frighten the horses, y'know." He poked at the redhead's ribs. "That tears it," the barbarian giant growled, and one foot stomped down hard on the blond wizard's foot, then he grabbed 'Raelf by the poncho and dragged him in close, then started pounding on his head with a wooden plate. "OW OW OW! HEY CUT IT OUT, I GIVE!" 'Raelf was laughing so hard that he couldn't get loose from the grip, so he just slumped. "YOU WIN!" "No more cutesy-sick pet names?" the barbarian growled. "I Promise. Really, word of honor." 'Raelf began to wriggle his left foot out from under the barbarian's imprisoning boot. "Oh yeah? Whose?" >KlonkKlonk< "OW OW - uh, no OW really I promise. Pax!" "All right, but you just watch it." 'Raelf retrieved himself from the headlock and felt for injuries, flickering as he fixed them up. He looked up at the slightly annoyed expression on Kadrys' face. "Uhm, sorry, we're done." Kadrys carefully suppressed a smirk and continued. "Rule Three: Nothing lasts forever. Change is the only changelessness. No matter how bad things get, something _will_ happen to change them. - Of course," he added with a somewhat bitter smile, "that's a two-edged sword. Rest assured that the good times will also come to an end. ... Rule Four: Nature abhors difference. Anything that allows you to resemble the living is of inestimable value. Your empathy, your ability to think like them, understand them, is priceless. Guard it with all your strength. All creatures will try to destroy those different from them. That certainly includes humanoids. Stop thinking like them, stop empathising, stop understanding them, and you become a monster. Kiss your sanity goodbye. And your existence shortly thereafter. The single favourite humanoid pastime will always be Slay The Monster. ... Anyway, that's about it. Distilled into its purest form, survival amounts to living by those four rules, at _all_ times. Learn to cope with them all, or go mad and die. It's that simple." Krupp shook his head, "Boy, remind me not to invite you to any other parties." He took a swig of the Tears. "You need to lighten up," the words appeared above his head in a white cloud. Krupp looked up and swatted the cloud, which slowly faded. Kadrys laughed at the sight, his previously grim visage lightening. "Perhaps so, Krupp. But at least think about it." There were distant explosions and light began to flicker, the fireworks had started. Happy birthday...