From alt.pub.dragons-inn Thu Apr 14 09:31:03 1994 Xref: netcom.com alt.pub.dragons-inn:7203 Path: netcom.com!csus.edu!wupost!cs.utexas.edu!sdd.hp.com!col.hp.com!csn!utulsa.edu!vax1.utulsa.edu!sms27538 From: sms27538@vax1.utulsa.edu Newsgroups: alt.pub.dragons-inn Subject: [MIFIRE][BIOVAMP] Gathering Storm (this time for sure Rocky) Date: 9 Apr 94 17:51:34 CST Organization: The University of Tulsa Lines: 119 Message-ID: <1994Apr9.175134.1@vax1.utulsa.edu> NNTP-Posting-Host: vax1.utulsa.edu [This story is co-writen by Marc Seebass (sms227538@vax1.utulsa.edu, seebass@hpserv.utulsa.edu) and Aaron Humphriey (aaron@amisk.cs.ualberta.ca) Fire, Kitsune, and the bio-vampires are the creation and property of Marc Seebass. Moriarty is property of Aaron Humphrey] The sun was just rising as Moriarty unlocked the door to his office. "Nice sunrise," he thought to himself. "Almost worth getting up for." The thought was tinged with a little sarcasm, for Moriarty wasn't awake by choice. His night sleep had been interrupted--by what, he wasn't sure--but for some reason he had awakened over an hour before dawn. Moriarty wasn't averse to rising with the sun, so long as he had a reasonable incentive (preferably an attractive female one), but he had no such luck today. He had tried to return to his blissful rest, but slumber had eluded him. After tossing and turning for about an hour, Moriarty finally resigned himself to his conscious state. "Well if I'm going to be awake, I might as well go up to the office and get something done," he had thought. So he lit a lantern, fumbled around to get dressed, and headed up to the office. He was glad, at times like these, that he'd gotten living quarters just below the office, because he didn't always relish walking around the city at night. Tonight he almost felt like it, though--he hadn't done it for far too long--but he'd try to get some work done first. [Hmmm...possible problems with this. You originally had them bursting through the door to the stairs, and then you keep referring to the "floor"...in fact, it doesn't sound like they're fighting on the stairs at all. Is it essential for them to actually have broken into the office first, or could Moriarty enter the office, and Kitsune be trying to foil the others in the process of breaking in?] He began to walk up the stairs to his office, but before he got two-thirds of the way up, the hairs on the back of his neck began to rise. Moriarty paused for a moment, but then began to walk back up the stairs. Before he could get very far, there was a thud at the door. Despite his weariness, Moriarty forced his mind to full alert and pulled out the dagger which was all he had thought to bring with him. At times like this he wished he were a better mage. But who the hell had gotten in without setting off his alarms? Before he could cover many more steps, the door shattered, as two figures crashed through in a burst of wooden fragments from the former door. One figure reached for the floor, grasping for something. B The other figure tensed up for a lunge. 'Great, a bloody gang war in my office,' he thought. Moriarty wanted to act, but he was unsure which of the combatants he should assist. Before Moriarty could make his decision, the second figure flung himself at the first. With surprising speed and grace, the first figure dropped to the floor, and with the same motion reached up towards his assailant and driving a door fragment into his heart. The attacker fell to the ground at Moriarty's feet. The other man doubled over and turned to Moriarty and said feebly "Sorry about the door, old chap." Moriarty blinked in surprise. He could swear that the voice belonged to Dr. Fox, a traveling herbalist who often stopped in Generica--he'd bought rare herbs for his summonings once or twice--but when he took a closer look, Moriarty saw there was no resemblance. After gathering his wits, Moriarty took a brief look at the combatants. The one with the chunk of wood in his heart was a goner; the other was bruised and bleeding, but his wounds were not mortal. Moriarty carried the survivor up to his office, placed him on the floor and lit his desk lamp, to get a better view. He took a better look at his "guest" as he began to bandage him. The "guest" had short dark hair, eyes with a slight slant to them, and slightly dark skin. Obviously from the Far East. 'Cathayan or Etarus'ian most likely,' Moriarty thought. The features weren't as rounded as those of most Cathayans, so Etarus'ian seemed to be the best bet. As his patient began to stir, Moriarty said quietly to him, "Wake up, now. You're not going to die on me without giving me some answers." The Etarus'ian open his eyes, and smiled. "The game is afoot, Moriarty." He coughed up a bit of blood as he spoke. "Take it easy," Moriarty replied. "Speak slowly, don't rush." "It's okay, I'm a fast healer," the stranger said. "I came hear warn you. I was almost too late. At least this makes it easier to prove what I'm going to tell you." Moriarty began to speak, but the Etarus'ian rose a hand to silence him. "Let me explain, before you ask me any questions. The man or 'creature' that attacked me is the victim of a disease, an illness that has symptoms that resemble vampirism. The disease is akin to ringworm, it's a plant-like organism, ah, creature, that grows on the skin of the victim like a mushroom growing out of a tree. The plant has some the ability to absorb magic, making it nearly invulnerable to most spells. I believe that this disease, this creature, was engineered. Imagine, a group of vampires invades Generica. How would you beat them back?" The Etarus'ian raised his hand and paused to catch his breath. "If classical solutions failed," he continued, "you would bring out powerful mages to deal with the threat. Someone has created an ideal way to collect and store massive amounts of magical energy. And whoever it was sent that thing down there after me, because I figured it out." Before Moriarty could respond, he saw a flash of fire in the stranger's eyes. "Oh no!" the stranger screamed, "Mariko is in danger. I can feel it. I couldn't stand to lose another one." He began to sob. Moriarty contemplated what he had just heard. "Mariko"... the name was familiar; where had he heard it? "That's right," he thought, "Toshima used it when he first referred to Fire... Then this must be..." Moriarty said softly to the Etarus'ian, "You're Kitsune, aren't you?" The stranger nodded and said "Hai." [Story Copywrite Marc Seebass and Aaron Huphrey 1994 (C)] -- "Back in Soochow we grow men so big that their heads brush the clouds and while their feet are planted on the ground."(said by a Thug) "Indeed? In my humble village," said Master Li sweetly, "we grow men so big that their upper lips lick the stars and their lower lips nuzzle the earth." The thug thought about it. "And where were their bodies?" "They were like you," said Master Li, "All mouth." -----Bridge of Birds.