Newsgroups: alt.pub.dragons-inn Path: netcom.com!netcomsv!decwrl!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!swrinde!cs.utexas.edu!math.ohio-state.edu!sol.ctr.columbia.edu!xlink.net!rz.uni-karlsruhe.de!stepsun.uni-kl.de!sun.rhrk.uni-kl.de!physik.uni-kl.de!kring From: kring@physik.uni-kl.de (Thomas Kettenring) Subject: [Welcome] Enter Bakr, stage left Message-ID: <1993Aug10.143602.24057@rhrk.uni-kl.de> Sender: news@rhrk.uni-kl.de Organization: FB Physik, Universitaet Kaiserslautern, Germany Date: Tue, 10 Aug 1993 14:36:02 GMT Lines: 107 An unhappy-looking voluminous figure walked along Dragons Lane. His clothing was in disorder and had quite a few gashes. The lower part of his face was covered with dried blood which seemed to have come out of the nose. And he limped. He had the air of someone who has had enough for now. He looked as much like someone who might explode when talked to as possible for a human. In one hand he had the remains of what Miggung the Thaumaturge had once sold him as a Wand of Nosebleed. He entered the Dragons Inn, and when he saw the two golden-skinned people sitting at a table in the centre of the main room with some others, his attitude changed. Now one could with some imagination think of persons looking slightly more explosive. He approached the two, and one of them - the half-elf - exclaimed: "Bakr! What happened to you?" It had been a long time since Luthor had seen his travelling companion, but his smile told Bakr that he had been missed. "Please. Don't. Ask." The fat mage made a gesture, looked at his gesturing hand with the splintered wand in it as if he saw both of them the first time, then threw the ex-wand to Mopper Marux, whose professional eye had already spotted that here was garbage for him to get rid of. Luthor would have been right to object to Bakr's somewhat melodramatic behaviour, considering that he himself had been killed recently, if only temporary, and later had saved the world with a few others, but if the thought occurred to him, he didn't show it. "I was looking for you, Luthor. Dootsie, dootsie, Mista." Mista, snug in Luthor's chest/sling, ignored him as sleeping babies do. "Wraith, this is Bakr. Bakr, Wraith." Luthor introduced him to his golden skinned friend, then to the others: Coriander, Braddoc, Tupker, Jac, and Crombie. Ja'nis and Bakr had already met shortly. Wraith didn't look too happy either. When they shook hands, Bakr thought the black eyes wandering over him were glowing that sadly because of his current state of disorder, but Luthor knew it was because they saw his future state of even higher disorder: flesh falling from bone. A real lot of flesh. "Wraith is a magician from Magira. Today we met for the first time, and we were exchanging stories." "So you two are not related? Hm." "Not as far as I know." Luthor turned to the others at the table and explained, "My friend Bakr is also a mage, from yet another plane. Midgard, right? We once travelled together." "Midgard it is. I found that... that I don't belong here. It's too... challenging for me, and I miss my companions, and my sort of magic isn't taught much here. Some day I'll come back to Nexus, but for now..." He shook his head. "The point is, I'll go back to Midgard soon, that's why I looked for you so desperately. I wanted to say goodbye." "'Goodbye' sounds so permanent. You are still young and I have at least another hundred and fifty years left in this body. I'm sure we'll meet again. Before you go though, why don't you join me and my new friends here for a story and a glass of wine or two?" Luthor introduced Bakr to those gathered around the table, but Bakr seemed somewhat distracted. Feeling Bakr's sadness, Luthor placed an arm around him and said, "Oh, chin up Bakr. It's not going to be forever...nothing is." "I already thought I'd never find you." Bakr's eyeballs got wet, and he turned them to the floor. "You know, I'll miss you very much." "And I will miss you Bakr. We went through a lot together. For helping me avenge the death of my family, I owe you more than you could know." Bakr mumbled something in an embarrassed way. Luthor handed him a mug and then raised his own in a toast, "I drink to you Bakr, to your health and your good fortune. May Lathander watch you in the day and the shadows keep you safe at night." They both took a healthy gulp. Then, with spirits lifted by spirits, Bakr smiled. "Uh...before I go, I'll tell a few stories here. Do you mind if I start now?" "'Twould be my pleasure." Luthor bowed gracefully. "Fine. This was my first adventure ever, and perhaps it is nothing special to you but it was special to me. As you know..." ADMIN: The story will come in a separate posting, or rather, in many separate postings (BT - Bakr's Tales). The main body of this posting was written when Luthor and Wraith were the only ones sitting at that table, so I didn't refer to the later arrivals that much. I've still to read their stories... BTW, I have no idea what happened to Bakr during July, as I had no time to watch him. So please don't ask me either. Bakr ibn Ja'far ibn Musa al Mekneshi, apprentice mage aka Thomas Kettenring Love and Peace and Filling In The Blanks, -The Dreamer- -- thomas kettenring, 3 dan, kaiserslautern, germany If you have to smoke and curse and drink to prove that you're grown-up, you aren't. If you have to do sports and have young mates to prove you're still young, you aren't.