From alt.pub.dragons-inn Wed Dec 22 09:41:00 1993 Path: netcom.com!netcomsv!decwrl!olivea!spool.mu.edu!howland.reston.ans.net!sol.ctr.columbia.edu!destroyer!nntp.cs.ubc.ca!cs.ubc.ca!alberta!amisk.cs.ualberta.ca!aaron From: aaron@amisk.cs.ualberta.ca (Aaron V. Humphrey) Newsgroups: alt.pub.dragons-inn Subject: [MI] Pawn Takes Rook Date: 21 Dec 93 17:12:41 GMT Organization: The Anna Amabiaca Fan Club Lines: 316 Message-ID: Reply-To: aaron@amisk.cs.ualberta.ca NNTP-Posting-Host: cab019.cs.ualberta.ca Originator: aaron@cab019.cs.ualberta.ca ADMIN: This is a joint posting from myself and Steve Hutchison. Alfvaen, Elstree, Lassiviren and Azpiazu are my characters; the Wasters may not be Steve's(I believe Andrew Solberg first created them)but he's using them. Copyright 1993 by both of us. + "Chill, laddie," the red-haired elf said to him, and he felt an + involuntary calm settling over him. "We know the wee thing's + location, it's just that ye canna take the wee goddie in with y' + _in_ _the_ _flesh_ y'know." + "Miro, that accent really sucks," 'Raf growled. + "Sorry. So lad, here's the map ye'll be wantin' -- and the + address of a friend of mine name of Rook." --I remember her quite well,-- Azpiazu said as they left the Lighthouse. --She's another of my favourites on this plane; draws on my power more directly than you. I wonder if she's been having any problems recently.-- Elstree said. Alfvaen said. Lassiviren put in. --Maybe you should get some reinforcements,-- Azpiazu suggested. The door flew open suddenly. A hulking brute of a human was on the other side of it, easily six feet tall and looking like trouble in black leather. His face might have been pleasantly ugly if it weren't for the scowl he was wearing. The dark form moving behind him, looming to fill the door, was suddenly revealed to be an enormous pair of wings, growing from his back, covered in jet-black feathers. He stopped short, growling. "Whatta ya want, elf?" "Uhm, I'm looking for a lady named Rook?" "Lady? Yeah, sure," the man laughed coarsely, contemptuous. "She's in there. You go right on in, elf." He shoved past, and jumped off the rickety stair, catching the wind in his enormous wings and shooting off into the sky. A voice came from inside. "Well, don't just let the cold in. Close the door." It came from a strikingly beautiful woman of pure elvish blood, her eyes the peculiar yellow-green of new growth. She was sitting on a sort of couch, a half-naked human sleeping with his head on her lap, as she stroked his head. A pair of throwing daggers was casually within reach beside her, and someone was watching from another room, judging from the sound of something moving behind the west wall. "I heard you talking to Nolrimm. I'm Rook. What can I do for you?" "A guy named 'Raelf said I should talk to you. I'm on a mission for the god Azpiazu. Perhaps you've heard of him? God of mischief, chaos, etc.?" "I think I've heard the name somewhere," Rook said guardedly. "Yeah. Well, anyway, his power's been blocked on this plane for the past few months. Maybe you've noticed--Azpiazu says that you draw on it pretty directly." "So?" "So, we're headed to see if we can fix the blockage. We figure that it's the Demon Spiders behind it, since the Demon Queen isn't too happy with the Trickster these days, and they probably know we're coming. So, are you interested in helping?" She shook her head, flipping her hair back over her shoulder. "If his power's blocked as you say, then what advantage would I be to you?" She smiled, a cold sort of thing that seemed out of place on her otherwise innocent-looking face. --She doesn't just draw on my power. I'm not the only deistic personification of chaos, you know. Otherwise this whole plane would have fallen into drab boring regularity.-- Alfvaen felt a sort of peevish jealousy accompanying Azpiazu's words. "May I sit?" he said out loud. "Certainly. Over there," she pointed to a chair that was in full view of the west wall. "Thanks." He checked surreptitiously -- no obvious traps. Just a standard wicker chair with a cushion on the seat. Nothing odd happened when he sat in it, no poisoned pinprick, no sense of any magical compulsion. "Now," he continued, "Miro said that you are one of the best spies on Nexus. Also that you're unnaturally lucky." "I'm a competent cat burglar. I wouldn't say spy, exactly." A touch of bitterness crept into her voice. "The last few times I tried an infiltration it didn't quite work." "What do you know about Noctu, and the Demon Spiders gang?" She frowned, eyes going cold. "That half-drow orc-licking piece of bantha puuddu? He's back in town? I thought the Destroyers took him apart twelve years ago. The Demon Spiders were nothing, three or four drow-wannabees. Noctu was the only one who had any true black-blood." "Whatever. He's been building the gang up for the last year or so, and he's already held at least one human sacrifice." "I see. Ahh... how did _he_ hold a human sacrifice? The queen of creepy bugs doesn't like males. All her priests are female." Alfvaen shrugged. "Maybe he's got high hopes. Maybe he's a special case. Maybe he's a hermaphrodite. Who knows? Whether he has a chance of winning Her favour or not, he's trying his best. But if you don't think he's any threat, then why not come with me and make sure? Bring your musclebound friend if you want. Of course, I wouldn't expect you want to walk into a situation that you thought was too difficult, and I'm sure you have your own skin to think about." She bristled for a second, then smiled ruefully. "Sure of yourself, aren't you? Well, if it's so all-fired safe, why not go yourself?" "Hey--_I_ don't think it's safe. And I certainly have never had a reputation for being lucky. Miro seemed to think you'd be interested, I guess." And I _am_ interested, Rook thought; sneaky bastard, that Miro. But I'm damned if I'll let this idiot know that. "Aw, hell, I've got nothing better to do tonight." The man asleep in her lap vanished, like a candle blown out. Alfvaen managed not to jump. "What happened?" "Blink went for my things." "Handy talent, that." "Tell me more about the Demon Spiders. Where we're going, lay of the land. Anything you know. I'm done with this going into places blind. Oh, and this is Scorpion." A darkly tanned, hairless man came into the room through a sliding panel in the west wall. He had a gold-colored tattoo of a scorpion, filigreed with black and red, on the middle of his forehead. "If you want Rook's help," he said, "You get all the Wasters." He crossed the room, sitting in another wicker chair; Blink reappeared holding a cloth bundle. He was wearing a soft blue shirt with a colorful pattern of glowing jewels, whose magical pulse tingled even Alfvaen's minimally trained senses. [[ I assume he's had minimal magical training, being a elf ]] {Yeah...in point of fact, he spent a few years as an apprentice before coming to the conclusion that it wasn't for him.} "At least," Scorpion continued, "if you're paying. But don't worry, we'll take payment in trade. Since 'Raelf sent you." He picked up a cup from the table and sipped from it, then scowled. A flash from the hand holding the cup and steam came off the liquid. He sipped again, and nodded in satisfaction. "Well? What's the fee?" --I think I can probably guarantee some sort of future considerations,-- Azpiazu said. "Well, Azpiazu says some sort of future considerations," Alfvaen relayed. "Uh-huh," Rook said skeptically. "Just like that." Alfvaen sighed. "Okay. Well, I guess you should know what you're dealing with." He stood up. "'Raelf calls me an imaginary being. All I know is that I died, ended up in this amulet, and can come out every once in a while. And I'm not the only one here." Alfvaen was not there and a beautiful blonde-haired woman stood in his place. She held up her hands in peace, and Scorpion and Rook relaxed. "I'm Elstree, a priestess of Aditi. I died once, got reborn here about a year ago, died again, and now I'm in this amulet too. My goddess has some kind of understanding with Azpiazu, too, and he's in here. And one more..." Elstree was gone and in her place stood a short, dark, hooded figure. In a raspy voice, he said, "Well, they haven't let me out in a while. They don't really trust me, you see--I was in here before Alfvaen. I'm a drow myself, and I seem to be the one that set this whole matter off when Azpiazu captured my soul. Not that I'm eager to go off to join the Demon Queen myself. But I know how this Noctu thinks. In his position, I'd be doing the same thing." He smiled mirthlessly, and then Alfvaen was back. "'Raf told me that Azpiazu had better stay inside the amulet until we remove the blockage, so he can't come out in person, but he's in there. It was his Heart's Desire, or something, so 'Raf had to do it." Blink made a hand-gesture, and Rook translated. "Yeah, what he just said. Who's 'Raf?" Alfvaen scratched his head. "He's one of 'Raelf's brothers, if I understand them right. Like Miro. Wizards, y'know? Most likely some kind of reincarnation nonsense. 'Raf's kind of a satyr, but not completely." Rook and Scorpion exchanged glances, then shrugged. Scorpion smiled slightly. "We'll worry about that later." The elven woman nodded. "Okay, what the hell. Now, about the Demon Spiders." Rook started taking notes on a pad of cheap newsprint paper. "Don't expect any kind of current information from me, since I've been in a coma for a few months, but when I ran into them, they'd captured Elstree and were planning to sacrifice her. They had a temple of some kind set up in the Gaps, and were hiding out at Yirma's Brothel. Which has since changed management since Yirma's death. Moriarty has gotten some rumours to the effect that Noctu's made connections with other gangs, though. Bloody gang-wars have erupted for no apparent reason, and the Demon Spiders move in to fill the gaps. Other gangs have rapid changeovers in leadership, and more than one gang now has someone of drow blood in control. The Dark Blades have virtually disappeared, although it's thought that they're still waging covert war. Still, Noctu seems to want control of Low City." "Bastard's learned some organization," Rook said with grudging approval. "Okay, so we shouldn't underestimate him. So where's this blockage?" "Here." He took out the map and set it on a small table. He, Rook and Scorpion inspected it. "Third-level Gaps--lovely," Rook muttered. "That's Stiletto territory, isn't it?" Scorpion asked. Alfvaen nodded. "Apparently a former Stiletto member came back after being kicked out and took over the gang. She's probably a DS recruit. So how do we approach this? Above ground, or under? And what are Blink's capabilities?" "Well, with the web on, he's a full porteur. Teleports himself or others, cross-dimension or local, and there's not much can keep him out. He's limited to touch without the web, line of sight with the web." -- They've all got some kind of lovely chaos power, Aelf. I especially like the one he's got, -- Azpiazu whispered. "Scorpion, here, can throw lightnings around, and he can draw strength and protection from them. Nolrimm, you already met. He's very strong, and can fly very well. He's not much use in the sewers though. I'm lucky, and I can sometimes turn that luck to make things happen that I want." "Didn't I hear that you had more members?" "That son of a rat Seer is dead, or worse. Genvieve ... she disappeared a few months back and nobody's heard from her." "What was her power?" "She was a torturer. She fed on pain. I didn't really want her in the Wasters, but Seer insisted." Alfvaen nodded. "So the four of you are all there is?" "Right now," Scorpion said, "Yes. And I think we're going to need more than the three of us and the ... four? of you..." -- --Alfvaen(Editor of Communique) Current Album--Peter Gabriel:Plays Live Current Read--Judy-Lynn del Rey:Stellar #3 The Grave's a quiet place indeed, but hasn't any light to read.