Date: Thursday, 8 Jul 1993 16:49:18 EDT
From: Michael Sander <344LWKC@CMUVM.CSV.CMICH.EDU>
Message-ID: <93189.164918344LWKC@CMUVM.CSV.CMICH.EDU>
Newsgroups: alt.pub.dragons-inn
Subject: [BBD] Welcome to My Parlor

[ADMIN: Once again, a group effort, with heavy thanks to Joe Carl & Dan
 Peters...]

Suddenly, without any sort of warning, Yosef stopped the group, pointing
and saying "This is the house."

But looking at the place, calling it a house would be paying it a huge
compliment.  It resembled nothing as much as a pile of rubble that gravity
and time had been kind to only in the sense that there was a sign of it at
all.

Kaalzic summed up the general feeling of the party adquately: "Are you sure?"

Yosef only smiled, and said "Trust me." before stepping towards the house.

Tarkyn and Kryalla exchanged a nervous glance at the words, but followed along
with the others.  Their only real action was to increase their already high
caution as far as Yosef was concerned.

Darvos narrowed his eyes as he scrutinized the area.  "There is more there
than meets causal obversation, my friends.  I believe Yosef has led us to
the correct location."

As they approached, the "house" grew more and more disarrayed. Not only that,
but a smell emanated from it, a disgusting combination of dried blood, dust,
and rot.  Lancos wondered if even Gutt Man would want to be seen in such a
place -- only the child-killer might find it the least bit appealing.

The effect lasted until they were within a few feet of the door.  Looking
around and at their feet, they realized they should have been walking on rocky
ground, but the path was as smooth and solid as the Plaza of Glittering Steel.

"An illusion!?!" Arienne exclaimed, communicating what all had by now at least
suspected.  And even after it was discovered, and disbelieved, she found the
illusion was still somewhat there, providing an uncomfortable layering effect
in her vision.  She shook her head slightly, to adjust herself, and to wonder
what they were up against, that could do something like this.

Through the discovery and adjustment, Yosef only kept his smile, and in fact
it had seemed to widen a bit. "See, I told you!"

"You could have warned us." Tarkyn remarked dryly. "And we _are_ entering by
the front door, not exactly the subtlest measure."

Yosef shrugged. "It's the only way I know of."

None missed the irony that the sentence might be a fitting response to both of
the young ranger's statements. But likewise, none spoke of it as they entered
the doorway, preferring to concentrate on readying for what might lie ahead.
They crossed as one, acting as a team despire their relative lack of
familiarity with each other, coming into a dark room with only a few lanterns
to serve as light.

"Still, it's weird that with this depth in the other senses, he wouldn't do so
for touch as well." mumbled Lancos. Lack of sleep overcame him temporarily, as
he did not realize that he had said this aloud until another voice responded
from the darkness.

"Oh, but usually I _do_. And there's also usually barriers to enter. But I
expected you guests, and of course want to make you comfortable. Speaking of
which, I'd bet you'd like a little... *_light_*".

At the word, the lanters around the room brightened, illuminating the area
almost completely, although shadows still loomed.  The group saw that this
room was in condradiction to the scene outside.  It was highly decorated with
ornamental rugs and works of art, and with daemons and all the opponents that
they could put names to: Gutt Man, Myrnien, Parsiphulas, and Velric.  All
possessions, displayed before them regally, lighted with a sense of pride.

"And now for me." And a second later, a half-circle of red lights appeared,
surrounding a throne, and the person upon it.  Even though he was seated, they
could tell he was fairly tall, with a thin but well-muscled frame evident
beneath his robes.  He had straight black hair and matching eyes, eyes that
seemed to pierce into one's soul, even when the man only causally looked at
them.  He carried the features of someone nearly if not quite purely human,
with a rounded jaw and a flattened nose. This, it would seem, was BBD.

"Come forward, now. I've lowered the defenses, and can see no reason to
reinforce them, if we can work things out." BBD smiled at this, knowing that
in fact he had just raised the barrier to the outside, and that even if his
"guests" agreed, they would get more than they bargained for.  He hated loose
ends, and was confident that after tonight, he needn't worry.

BBD's words and dramatic use of light were lost on Kaalzic, whose attention
was entirely given to Myrnien.  She hadn't changed very much in appearance in
the last ten years -- but Kaalzic had never seen such a haunted look in her
eyes.  Taking a step forward, he said some words in a language unknown to any
of his companions: "'Nien ha'lkin etweil-m'nall'ha."

Myrnien's eyes widened in shock, and she started to respond, but then she
appeared to think better of it.

"Well, Myrnien, how nice of your brother to stop by for a visit." said BBD.

"Brother?" Arienne questioned, looking to Kaalzic for conformation, but
receiving none due to the mask hiding his features.

"Yes. I always _do_ enjoy family reunions." BBD sneered. "But now that that
little pleasantry has been dealt with, perhaps we can all turn to the matter
at hand."

"So, what do you propse?" Lancos asked, slipping into his negotiating mindset.

The war-mage only smiled deeper. "Simple: you go your way, and leave me and my
associates to ours.  I have what I want from Lissa, and my future plans do not
include you.  So, we end all confrontation, and operate as if the other did
not exist."

Velric flinched ever so slightly as BBD mentioned Lissa. 'You may be done with
her, but I'm not' he thought, and BBD gave no indication of noticing.

"What about Myrnien?" Kaalzic demanded.  He was, at the same time, surprised
by BBD's knowledge of who he was, confused by Myrnien's silence, and angered
that his attempts to speak with her had been so abruptly swept aside.

"Oh, she's happy here, with me.  Isn't that right, my dear?"

Myrnien paused for a second, and then slowly nodded her head.  She eventually
found her voice, albeit a cold, mechanical-sounding tone.  "Yes, BBD is
correct, my brother."

"How touching." BBD sarcastically remarked.  "So, are you convinced?"

The group stared at each other for a second, locked in thought.

Darvos remembered how these people had hurt Lissa.  They had kidnapped her and
abused her in order to take her blood.  These people were monsters and he
couldn't let it pass.

Kryalla was already fighting Arcania and her minions in her plane.  And, if
she could help it, they wouldn't even _threaten_ Generica.

Kaalzic _had_ to talk to Myrnien.  He couldn't imagine why she would have
allied herself with these villians, but she deserved a chance to explain
herself.

Lancos had joined in part because he wanted to make sure evil couldn't
tempt him again.  He felt he had to prove himself versus a foe like this,
so that his betrayal in Ak'Irneg would not haunt him so much.

Tarkyn's sense of honor told him he could not simply walk away.  Plus he
did not feel that he could trust the likes of BBD's men.

Arienne saw before her the general embodiment of why she had begun
conducting her own style of revenge.  To her, these men had been abusive in
many ways, and had to be taught a lesson.

Nearly simultaneously, they shook their heads negatively -- even Yosf, who
perhaps was angry at being a prisoner, though his grin was still present.

"Very well, then, have it your way."  A mass of foes rushed at the group
without BBD's verbal encouragement, daemons and more human enemies charging
at them with a ravenous look in their eyes.

BBD sat back and watched the event in amusement. He cast the occassional
spell, but it was more out of whim than need.  He wouldn't get heavily
involved unless they proved tougher than he originally estimated.

Yosef's grin became inhumanly wide.  "Good -- I've been waiting for this."
he said, his voice deepening as he spoke.  In a completely shocking move, he
began changing, his fingers elongating into claws, his skin turning red and
warping and blistering.  He became a daemon, one more grotesque than even his
counterparts, and set upon Arienne and Lancos in an instant.  But a bow shot
from Tarkyn distracted Yosef for a second, allowing the duo to adjust to the
transformation and move out of the way of the attack.

Yosef ignored Tarkyn, preferring to chase after Arienne, while the young
ranger drew the attention of Pars, who knew he must put up a good fight to
stay in Arcania's good graces, such as they were.

Meanwhile, Gutt Man had spotted Lancos, and charged at him.  The child-killer
smiled in absolute delight, knowing the warrior could not effectively draw
his weapons in time to block his knives.

Kaalzic dodged a blow from a daemon, and responded with a jab of his
long-knife in the monster's belly.  To his surprise, the strike was effective.
He then came upon Myrnien.  "'Nien, we have to talk.  I can't believe you're
involved in something like this."  When the woman's only reply was laughter,
and a swipe at Kaalzic's head, the artist prepared to defend himself as best
he could.  He quickly found that avoiding his sister's sword took every bit
of his concentration.

Darvos and Kryalla stood next to each other, casting bolts of power at the
Thurlans.  They were holding off the daemons fairly well until Darvos' eyes
meet Velric's.

"I shall finish you this time, fool!" Velric yelled.  Then figures of shadow
ushered out from behind him -- creatures with tiny pinpoints of red for eyes.
He then stepped back into the shadows and disappeared from sight, letting
his shades do his work for him.

Darvos' eyes went wide.  "Don't let them touch you! Kryalla, you must hold
these lesser daemons off of me while I deal with the Shades he has conjured."

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Michael Sander
344lwkc@cmuvm.csv.cmich.edu
AKA Lancos Erredan