Newsgroups: alt.pub.dragons-inn From: kring@physik.uni-kl.de (Thomas Kettenring) Subject: [Welcome] BT: The Good, The Bad, And The Pig-Faced Message-ID: <1993Oct29.004014.2156@rhrk.uni-kl.de> Date: Fri, 29 Oct 1993 00:40:14 GMT ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bakr's Tales: The Good, The Bad, And The Pig-Faced ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ADMIN: This follows "The Chain Of Change". The lindwurm (aka the Dragon of Eraton) has been slain by Tarik, and Compass and Bakr found that the cave it lived in had belonged to the brigands before, and that they had left a pile of loot when they left. Bakr has found the Chain of Change in the cave, put it on, and a nickel (mountain spirit) named Manual appeared, who is bound by the Chain, and who explained how it works. Bakr has two mighty horns now, as a consequence of removing the Chain without wishing for a change into a humanoid, and he can only lose the horns if someone else uses the Chain and dies while bearing it. Meanwhile Ormgwen has been bathing in the lindwurm's blood because he heard a rumour about it. Jelay Yelay the old priest is buried, and then... > "Look! Fire!" Preg pointed to the east. A pillar of smoke stood in the >middle of the forest. "It's on the way to the smithy. We should go there >and put it out." "What's the matter Jockel? Can't you stand the sight? They were *goblins*! Goblins are evil, they deserved it!" Almes kicked one of the bodies. Jockel stared at the burning hut. "And you four, you look as if they had been your own family! Goblins are as dangerous and mean as gnolls! You are young, you obviously didn't meet any. But I did. They won't hesitate to eat you if you let them. Sir Arni and Rhald did a good deed here. Don't bother about the baby, it would have grown to be a monster." "Maybe you misjudge them," I said. "These lived in a single hut. Maybe they didn't have any business with their ilk." "Yes, maybe. You won't survive long as an adventurer if you stop before killing monsters and think for a while if they may be not as evil as they behave! You are too soft for the job." "Almes is right," said Fulfur. "I never met a decent goblin." "They are cruel and should be removed," added Ziemi. "The road to Mythros would be much safer without those pig-faced critters," said Preg. "They have often waylaid me." "Let's go and use the road," said Baros. "It can't be far to the east." ----- "You knew Gullbong and Naggol, right?" Ormgwen, Tarik, Compass, Jockel, and me were in the rear, and the question lay in the air. Tarik was the one who finally asked it. "Yes, I knew them. And you four did too. Gullbong told me when I visited him." "Why were you so secretive?" The healer pointed at the others in front of us. "They wouldn't understand it. I didn't want to spread the word of my contact with goblins, so I thought it best not to talk to you about it. You helped Naggol with the baby, and you did good work. You earned what you got for it." "Thank you." I blushed. I was still proud of my performance as midwife. "They had a second child, right?" asked Compass. "Yes, a boy. I didn't see him, he must have escaped. I guess I'll meet him sooner or later if he keeps in the vicinity. I'm the only person left he knows." Manual grew out of the ground. "He will be better off as a human. Why don't you give the Chain to him?" Jockel, Tarik, and Ormgwen drew their weapons. "What was that?" The nickel was gone. Ziemi and Fulfur turned around in alarm. "Only a misunderstanding. Go on," I said. They turned and passed on. We followed them out of hearing range as before. "Bakr, I think it's time you tell us about the cave," said Tarik. I sighed. "All right. We found the Chain of Change, I put it on, and I got those horns. They will go when the Chain is destroyed, and the Chain is destroyed when someone who put it on and and wished to be something else for ten years dies." "Say that again, but more slowly this time!" I explained. "So someone has to die if you want to lose the horns?" "Exactly." "And that someone has to change into something else before?" "Right." "Can I have the Chain for a moment?" asked Ormgwen. I produced it from a pocket and gave it to him. "Hey, anyone want a nice chain?" Ziemi, Fulfur, and the others stopped and turned around again. "Don't take it!" shouted Jockel. "It's evil magic!" Fulfur came closer. "Where did you get that?" "It... it belongs to Bakr!" "Yes," I said. We were talking about magic thingies, and I showed it, and Ormgwen made a silly joke." I took the Chain back. Fulfur gave me an inquiring look - I already thought he would ask more and find out everything, and we would have to share what we found in the cave - but he turned and went on. "You are good, honest, and scrupulous, healer. I like that," said Compass. Jockel gave him a what-may-the-intention-behind-that-remark-be? look. Compass took the hint. "But maybe that's not your real self?" Jockel gave him an and-what-does-that-mean-again? look. "I don't think that you would have murdered the old priest in his sleep if you were that good!" The healer was thunderstruck. His eyes said how-do-you-know-that? "My dog sniffed at the dagger and identified you as the perpetrator." "Why does nobody ever tell me anything?" asked Ormgwen. "What else don't I know?" I would have liked to give a snappy answer but at the same time Jockel Rytold collapsed and sat on the ground like someone whose leg bones have been teleported away. "What now?" Ziemi stopped and looked at us. "You five have lots of very interesting things to talk about, it seems." "I'm all right. Temporary weakness." The healer stood up like someone who isn't sure if his leg bones have returned, and we went on. We looked at him inquiringly, and after hesitating shortly he started to tell his story. ----- "You know that I do research. You saw my lab. Well... the main subject of my enquiries is the nature of Evil. (ADMIN: You know what's coming. Yes, I did steal the idea.) I found a recipe for... for a potion that changes one's... alignment? Evil creatures can be made good by it. I tried it on a goblin I caught in the woods, and later on the rest of his family. I supplied them with the stuff to keep them that way." "Gullbong." "Yes. They separated from the other goblins, built that hut and settled down. I was working on making the change permanent." "What does poor Jelay have to do with it?" "Nothing. This is where Mythreides comes into the picture. Jelay objected to using Kaligins, and Mythreides hates people who always want to do the moral thing and prevent others from deviating from the path of virtue. Like me, or Jelay." "Mythreides?" "Yes. Before I got Gullbong, I had to use myself. I tested my stuff on my own person, and... it changed me." "How was that?" "I changed into another man. Wicked, mean, hairy. Mythreides. That's me." We were baffled. "It enabled me to improve my potion to the point that it worked better. But I have taken damage. At first I would change into him only when I drank the liquid. But then... Mythreides came back of his own will, when I didn't expect it... It was him. Not me. He killed the priest. Oh my God, it's so terrible! I didn't want to do it!" Tears ran from him. "I am trying to get him under control. I am desperately trying to find a means of getting rid of him. Please don't tell anybody! I still have a chance." "Now that's enough. I'll come and listen," said Ziemi and joined us. "Go on. Telling sad stories, huh? I like sad stories." We were silent until we reached the road. Only Ziemi talked like a waterfall. Fulfur had told him a few things about lindwurms. "They are almost blind, you know, and they are not too quick. They don't breathe fire like dragons, but hot steam. So the worst about them is not the heat but the humidity! Ha ha. My, that must have been a sad story." ----- Baros went south, to his smithy. The rest of us returned to Eraton. I was filled to the rim with conflicting feelings. Sadness, anger, relief, fear, helplessness, pity, greed. The "dragon" was dead, but we had still the problem of the brigands ahead of us. There was the possibility that they objected to our stealing their money... I had to get rid of those damn horns. Gullbong and his family, and the priest, had died senseless deaths. We couldn't help poor Jockel, and I wanted to kick Sir Arni's ass and that of the dead chainmaker, and Manual's. Should we share the brigands' money with Fulfur and Ziemi? They didn't know about it and weren't too unhappy, and it had been Tarik who had killed the lindwurm. Ziemi had helped him but it was clear that Tarik could have done it alone... We would see. We reached the serpentines. The place where we had found the body. The dog must be dead by now... The place where the brigands had waylaid us. Nothing happened this time. It was dark when we entered Seriel's inn, but we were expected by the whole village. The gory and alien sight, respectively, of Ormgwen and myself made a few people faint, and the fact that four of us were missing also caused quite a stir. We explained that Baros, Sir Arni, and Rhald had gone south, as they had planned, and that Jelay Yelay was dead. The mayor was outraged that Preg had accompanied us, but generally happiness prevailed. He had surmised it when Seriel had told him that his daughter was missing. (In case you forgot - Thelma had taken Sir Arni's horses to Baros's smithy in Preg's stead so that he could come with us.) After a short while I left and went to bed. It had been a long day. I didn't sleep well. The bed was too short for me now, and I dreamt of demons and horned brigands. At least I was one of the latter. ADMIN: The city of Mythros got its name from Mythreides, and "Jockel Rytold" and "Mythreides" are anagrams of the names of certain characters from literature, one of them not unheard of in this newsgroup. -- Bakr ibn Ja'far ibn Musa al Mekneshi, apprentice mage aka Lifilis Kloote, conjurer and artist aka Thomas Kettenring