From alt.pub.dragons-inn Wed May 25 09:15:12 1994 Xref: netcom.com alt.pub.dragons-inn:7294 Path: netcom.com!netcomsv!netcomsv!amd!amdahl!pacbell.com!ihnp4.ucsd.edu!swrinde!cs.utexas.edu!howland.reston.ans.net!europa.eng.gtefsd.com!newsxfer.itd.umich.edu!zip.eecs.umich.edu!umn.edu!dawn.mmm.com!jkbs204.mmm.com!jkbailey From: Kermit the Bailey Newsgroups: alt.pub.dragons-inn Subject: [Deliverance unto Cod] (Character intro. story) Date: 24 May 1994 17:02:23 GMT Organization: 3M Lines: 302 Distribution: world Message-ID: <2rtbuv$sqt@dawn.mmm.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: jkbs204.mmm.com X-UserAgent: Version 1.1.3 X-XXMessage-ID: X-XXDate: Tue, 24 May 94 17:59:17 GMT ADMIN: This story serves to introduce two new characters, and describes how they came to be in Generica. This story is a self-contained thread ending at the inn. Cast: Jacana and Trogon.......Kermit the Bailey [Story] * * * * * * * * * Jacana was sweating as she ran down the spiral staircase. Several times she almost slipped and fell on the steep steps of worn rock. Her heart was pounding with fear. Behind her, up the stairs, she could hear Trogon following after her, his armor clanking with each step. Behind Trogon, although she couldn't hear it, she knew that the crystal warrior was following them. "Well, at least it'll be slowed when it catches Trogon," she thought to herself. Occupied by her haste, she ran straight into the door at the bottom of the stairs. She ricocheted backward and fell onto the stairs. Stunned for a brief moment, she then got up and examined the door. It was a solid wooden door, bound with straps of iron. It was locked. She knew from the other doors in the castle that this door would be too strong to break through. She would have to pick it or else the crystal warrior had them trapped. She removed the picks from her girdle. She took several deep breaths to calm her quaking hands. Then she set to work. She knew this castle's locks were difficult and tried not to think about how loud Trogon's footsteps were getting. After what seemed to be the longest 20 seconds she had lived through in her life, she felt her pick catch on the bolt, and she dragged the bolt clear of it's jamb. She breathed a sigh of relief and opened the door. The interior was strangely lit. Unlike the stairway and most of the rest of the castle, which had been lit by the never dying torches in sconces, This room was dark except for a strange glow coming from what looked like a large free-standing mirror facing the door. She was drawn into the room by the strange swirling patterns that appeared on the mirror's surface. Hypnotic patterns formed like swirls of multi-colored glowing inks dancing on the surface. There was something behind the patterns too. It was as if the not quite completely opaque patterns were being formed on a window. But the view out the window kept changing. First a shoreline, then a forest, then blackness, then a fiery hell, then a shimmering purple lake... Faster than she could really process the images, they kept changing. She soon realized it was The Gate of D'habor. She gasped, her hand moving to her clenched throat. "If that was true then the rest of the story must be true as well!" With that thought she was finally able to take her eyes off The Gate and glance around the room. She knew immediately that this was indeed one the fabled rooms from which D'habor made his magic, the walls were lined with bookshelves stuffed full of tomes of arcane knowledge. Littering the tables in the room were jars and vessels of unknown function and origin. "But it's all useless if we can't defeat the crystal warrior" she thought. Just then, Trogon burst through the open doorway. If Jacana had not opened the door, he too would have slammed into it hard. The stairs were too steep and too tightly spiraled to see the door and stop in time. As it was, he burst into the room and slammed into Jacana knocking them both into the gate. The swirling pattern instantaneously parted as the pair went through, then just as quickly, the patterns reformed. The crystal warrior found a vacant room. Everything was exactly where it was supposed to be. The crystal warrior returned upstairs to resume its guardianship of the ancient castle. * * * * * * * * * The pair landed with a dull thud in the middle of a cornfield. Trogon landed on top of Jacana, knocking the wind out of her. He got up slowly and clumsily. Jacana lay on her back trying to catch her breath. Moaning, she rolled over curled up into a ball. Trogon looked around, towering above the half meter corn, he stood out like a sore thumb. About 300m away, he could see some farm workers. They started moving towards him. "Uh Oh," he said to Jacana, "We're not in the castle anymore." He then noticed that Jacana was still having a hard time getting her breath back. He kneeled next to her and could hear her breath come in short gasps. He opened one of his belt pouches and pulled out a vial made from bone. "Do you need this?" She nodded her head no. She was starting to be able to breath a little more easily and knew that no permanent damage had been done. "Get... away... from... me..." she said in four separate exhales. Trogon pouted. He knew that Jacana didn't like him, but he was scared. He had no clue where they were and he couldn't imagine parting company now. He needed her, she always knew what to do. He stood up. 'She just needs some space,' he thought to himself as he moved away a few steps. The farmers were coming closer, soon they'd be in shouting distance. Trogon brushed himself off and straightened his cape. He removed his helm and got out his brush and brushed his hair so that he looked presentable. Jacana seemed to be breathing easier now, but was still on her knees and forearms. The farmers were now only about 15m away. "WHAT IN THE NAME OF COD ARE YOU DOING IN MY CORNFIELD?" yelled one of the farmers - the one with the nasty looking pitchfork. "Well, to be perfectly honethst, I don't know," said Trogon in a voice not quite loud enough to carry the distance. The farmers continued moving closer. There were five men. One had a pitchfork, two had scythes, one held a crossbow at the ready, and one appeared to be unarmed. "What did you say?" repeated the one with the pitchfork. Just then, Jacana stood up. She had been hidden by the corn and the Farmers stopped in their tracks when this new person just sprouted up from amongst the corn. The farmers paused a moment, then the unarmed one said, "Oh, I get it. Look Elmo, two love birds making out in your corn patch. He he he he he." The farmers all chuckled. Trogon and Jacana simultaneously interjected, "WE WERE NOT MAKING OUT!" "Oh sure, uh huh, and there is only one moon over Nexus." "Say no more," said one of the guys with a scythe as he winked at the other scythe wielder. Jacana glared at Trogon as if he had conjured up the farmers specifically to annoy her. Trogon looked dumbfounded. Confused, he drew his sword. Jacana cringed and wished she had enough energy left to cast a spell. Trogon spoke, "Look here good thsirs, I don't know what evil tricks you've played on usth, but where did the casthle go?" Farmer crossbow aimed at Trogon. Elmo, the one with the pitchfork, said, "Easy now, Henry." The unarmed man yelled, "Castle? Do you mean Castle Cod? It's about 10 leagues that away," he said while pointing away from the rising sun. Trogon started to stammer, "But... but...but..." It was time for Jacana to take control. "Thank you," she said tersely to the farmers, then she grabbed Trogon's free arm, spun him about and marched westward, dragging him along. The farmers were too confused to try to stop them. * * * * * * * * * Having found a road that headed vaguely in the direction the farmer pointed, they walked for about a half hour in complete silence. Trogon eventually tired of the silent treatment. "Jacana, are you mad at me?" "Mad at you? No, I'm not mad at you." said Jacana. After pausing briefly she continued, "I'M WAY BEYOND BEING MAD AT YOU. I'M FURIOUS WITH YOU... I'M DISGUSTED WITH YOU... I'M ASHAMED TO BE SEEN WITH YOU... YOU ARE AN IMBECILE!" "Well, it's not my fault we're here," he said defensively. "YES IT IS!" She stopped and turned to face Trogon. "I bet you don't know what happened do you?..... Well?....." Trogon remained speechless. "We went through D'habor's gate - that's what happened. You knocked us through it, so it _is_ your fault." "Do you think the Crystal Warrior will follow usth through it?" "No, he can't. The destination of the gate is constantly changing. If it went through the gate, it would be somewhere completely different than where we are now." "Thso we're thsafe. Thsee, it's not thso bad." "But we're not in D'habor's treasure room. We're stuck in the middle of some god forsaken farming community. We were so close to the crystal, so close... so close..." her voice trailed off as she made to pinch her thumb and forefinger together with a tiny gap between them. "So damn close Trogon. SO DAMN CLOSE, YOU IDIOT! AND NOW WHERE ARE WE? She pounded her fists on his chest. He knew better than to disturb her when she was in a mood like this. "I don't know..." she said softly. She started walking again, tears forming in her eyes. She walked fast so that Trogon stayed behind her and couldn't see. After a while she had gotten her emotions back under control. She slowed down and let Trogon catch up. This time, Jacana broke the silence, "At least the farmers spoke the common tongue, it could be a lot worse." "What do we do now?" Trogon asked, feeling it was best to keep her mind on the present rather than in the past. "We ask those people up ahead where the nearest town is so that we can get something to eat and find a place to sleep." * * * * * * * * * Thus, they found their way to Specifica. They also found out that the place to be was actually in Generica to the South. But first they needed a meal and to crash for a day or two. They found a tavern in which to eat. "Help yourself to a table, there's a menu on each one." said the matronly waitress as they entered the tavern. They picked a vacant table trying to sit as far away from a group of obviously drunken sailors wearing horned Viking-style hats. They picked up the menu and examined it. ------------------------------------- Menu: Cod Salad Cod Soup Cod, Cod, Creamed Corn and Cod Cod Quiche Cod Pudding Cod Cakes Cod, cod, eggs, and cod Fried Cod Baked Cod Barbecued Cod Cod with Squid Faux Crab (made with Cod) --------------------------------------- The waitress came over to take their order, "Hello, how are you today? Our Specials of the Day are 'Cod, cod, cod, eggs, bacon and cod' and 'Cod, cod, cod, cod, cod, cod, cod, baked beans, cod, cod, cod, cod and cod'. At which point the group of drunken sailors started singing, "Cod, cod, cod, cod, cod, cod, cod, cod Cod. Cod. Wonderful Cod! Cod, cod, cod, cod, cod, cod, cod, cod Cod. Cod. Wonderful Cod!" "Shut up!," the waitress yelled After the sailors quieted down, the waitress said, "Can I take your order?" Have you got anything without cod in it?, Jacana asked. "What, you don't like cod?," the waitress asked while not trying to hide her hurt feelings. "Well, it's just that I've had a lot of it lately. But the Cod with Squid sounds good. I'll take that." "Sorry," the waitress replied, "we're fresh out of squid, we had to substitute cod for the squid today." Jacana rolled her eyes, then replied, "Okay...How about cod, cod, eggs and cod, but without so much cod in it." "What, you mean like cod, cod and eggs." "Actually I meant like eggs period." "I don't think the chef will like that suggestion, and you don't want to make him mad." "Don't cauthse a futhss Jacana." interrupted Trogon, "I'll have your cod. As a matter of fact, I like cod, I'll start with a cod thsalad, then move onto some barbecued cod, with a thside order of cod, cod, cod, cod, cod, cod, cod, baked beans, cod, cod, cod, cod and cod," said Trogon with a big grin. At which point the group of drunken sailors started singing, "Cod, cod, cod, cod, cod, cod, cod, cod Cod. Cod. Wonderful Cod! Cod, cod, cod, cod, cod, cod, cod, cod Cod. Cod. Wonderful Cod!" "Shut up!," the waitress yelled but to no avail, the sailors kept singing. As they sang, Trogon pulled out his mandolin and started playing. He was all but completely drowned out by the noise, but then he started singing as well. His notes were higher than the sailors' and his voice was clear and flowing. He took the simple chant and added a chord and caught the attention of the sailors. As they heard his voice, they quieted down, a few at a time, until finally Trogon was the only one left singing. He wound the song down. When he stopped playing and singing, he motioned for the sailors to come over and join Jacana and him. He bought them drinks, and soon they were telling him stories of Generica, the Great Blue, and all the surrounding area. It was well into the night before Jacana and Trogon could get some rest. But when they finally did, they knew where they were and where they were going next. * * * * * * * * * A few uneventful days later they found themselves standing under the sign with the dragon on it which hangs outside an inn at the intersection of the Avenue of Unforgotten Heroes and Dragon Lane in Generica.