Newsgroups: alt.pub.dragons-inn From: b_gerber@oz.plymouth.edu (Styx) Subject: Re: Walter (repost) Message-ID: <1994Jan26.193512.19964@oz.plymouth.edu> References: <1994Jan26.193428.19750@oz.plymouth.edu> <1994Jan26.193454.19874@oz.plymouth.edu> Date: Wed, 26 Jan 94 19:35:12 GMT This work of Fiction is copyright 1993 by Ben Gerber Interlude: The Spell that Holds the Heart On rainy days in the great city of Generica, as the saying goes, the mud flows free. The mud in Generica is an interesting type of soil. It is completely unlike the brown silts found near the river Quea. It is totally unlike the silver soils of the elven city Elvandar. It is no where close to the gold tinged sand found in the Dwarven caves of Minos Tirsa. It is quite possibly the most disgusting semi-natural substance known to man. It's texture is that of a fine grained oatmeal, it's color is akin to a lima bean, and it always carries with it the faint smell of stale beer. This is generally attributed to yet another aspect of Generica, which is, one doesn't necessarily consume the beer as just borrow it for a short time. This popular saying has lead to many interesting taverns, such as Belchers Greasy Spoone (The only tavern where you can drink the beer more than once.) Several powerful magicians heralding from far reaching realms have been know to spend small fortunes for just a vial full of Generican mud. The hard part is keeping it from crawling back out of the vial. It is interesting to note that when the city itself was still young, an attempt to construct buildings using Generican mud as building material was made. Most of these buildings are still standing. In fact, it is almost impossible to destroy them. The only person to succesfully destroy more than one such building in a life time was Baverdi the Magically Potent, who cleared away more than twelve such structures to create the M-SUP (Magicians Student Union Building.) It is here, just outside of the Baverdi Building, the center of the M-SUP that our story begins.... The stranger in the wide brimmed hat, the sombre grey cloak, and the magicaly non-threatening sword drew his mount to a halt just outside a building who's sign proclaimed "MAGICIANS STUDENT UNION BUILDING: MAIN ENTRANCE IN FRONT. secret entrance in back." and then in smaller letters "In Gods We Trust, All Others Pay Cash." The building itself was tall and impressive, consisting of a main keep like body, with several jutting and impossibly high towers where if one would peer long and hard, one could just barely make out the figures of long bearded senior wizards peering back. The stranger stared at the campus with it's impressive towers long and hard, before moving on at an amiable trot across the rutted street. Several junior wizards were standing atop the walls of the M-SUP looking for something to do on a rainy day. Maltheaus, the leader of this small gang of the magically unsure cleared his throught in what he thought was an impressive manner. "Gazoomtight" said Marcazar, another junior wizard. "What was that?" asked Maltheaus. "It's what you say when somebody sneezes, right?" asked Marcazar, hoping for support from the other junior wizard, Ernst (who secretly called himself Ernst the Black in hopes that it would get him a date, or if nothing else, at least a nasty reputation.) "That's right, Y'would have known that Mal if you hadn't skipped out on Finny's Ethics and Moral Codes for Educated Wizards class." "But I didn't sneeze..." said Maltheaus, "anyway, what's taking Ricc so long? We sent him off for that book decades ago!" "Here I am!" Said Ricc, panting, as he ran up the stairs to the balcony, a strange leather bound volume held tightly in his hands. "Old Finny was sound asleep, no problem getting this from him!" They all apprehensively glanced at the cover, which said "Finigans Booke of Sex Magick: Glamours for those who cannot get it." there was also a small label on the lower left hand corner which said "PARENTAL ADVISORY: this book not to be read by those under the age of 18, or weak of heart. Thank you, the Parents Magic Resource Center." The four junior magicians chuckled nervously. "Now all we got to do is wait for some fool to wonder by, and we then we cast one of these spells and watch the magic happen!" It was at this point that a figure dressed in sombre grey, on a grey dappled mare stopped almost directly under the four junior wizards, and began peering intently at on of the towers. "Oooh! Look, he's an adventurer too! You can tell by the sword, and the fact that he's wearing grey!" Said Marcazar. "Great! Gimme the book!" said Maltheaus, who grabbed the book and began furiously flipping pages. "Here's the one I heard about before! Bigby's Charme of love! Cast this spell apon a person, and they shall fall in love with the first person of the opposite sex that they see. Duration: Unknown. Effects: Unknown WARNING: This spell has never been tested on a human being. If accidentally used, induce vomiting, and contact the magic controll board." "I dunno," said Ernst, "It seems like a pretty nasty thing to do to somebody...." "Shut up Ernst." said Maltheaus, "Lets do it!" This last remark was greeted by the nodding heads of Marcazar and Ricc. As the Stranger turned his horse away from the building, he thought for a moment he had heard a strange kind of giggling coming from behind him and above. Quickly he turned his head to look back at the building, and thought that for a moment he had seen something like a small pointed hat with a bright star emblazened on it, and perhaps a sequine or two dissapearbehind a balcony wall. He stared for a few seconds, and then shrugging, turned and moved on. He failed in every aspect of the word to feel anything even remotely magical happen to him. He also failed to notice that he was glowing a soft green color, which faded after a few seconds, as if washed away in the rain. "Do you think he saw us?" asked Ernst in a worried voice. "Naw...but I wonder, what happens if you don't finish the whole spell? He didn't look charmed." said Ricc. "Guys, it says here he's supposed to glow pink, but I didn't see that, he only glowed green." Said Ernst. "Hey!" said Ricc, "The whole spell has dissapeared off of the page!" "Oh Crap!" said Maltheaus, "Are we gonna get it now! When Finny finds out...we could be expelled!" -- _______________________________________________________________________________ "This is funny, really. Imagine how Jesus would freak if a Jesus freak handed him one of those dog-eared pamphlets." ---Harlan Ellison _Blood stone_ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------