From alt.pub.dragons-inn Wed Jan 18 12:38:52 1995 Xref: netcom.com alt.pub.dragons-inn:8075 Newsgroups: alt.pub.dragons-inn Path: netcom.com!ix.netcom.com!howland.reston.ans.net!news.sprintlink.net!malgudi.oar.net!sun!vax.cns.muskingum.edu!hsexauer From: hsexauer@muskingum.edu (Rapunzel) Subject: [KCA] Battle on two planes (with Recap) Message-ID: <1995Jan15.143746.1@muskingum.edu> Lines: 96 Sender: root@sun.cns.muskingum.edu (Operator) Organization: Muskingum College Date: Sun, 15 Jan 1995 19:37:46 GMT RECAP: Alarond started his way back to the camp, moving as fast as his little legs would take him. A stench which smelled like the nastiest orc lair, hung in the air and got stronger with every step Alarond took towards the camp. Alarond nearly made the grave mistake of bursting out of the forest into the campsite, when he stopped himself short, seeing the large, mottled source of the stink lying on its side with Kyar standing over him about to make his death blow with his scimitar. Alarond, seeing that his presence would only be a distraction, faded into the nearest tree bark, awaiting the end of the battle when he felt an unusual ripple in the air and saw Kyar drop his scimitar mid-swing and crumple to the ground with a blank expression. The Mordairn took advantage of this opening and went for the dazed Phadran. Coltren, who had been close by, scrambled toward Kyar and tackled him out of harm's way, shouting in the direction of Alarond's faint presence: "Distract him! I need time!" Coltren then knelt over his friend, and reached into his pocket, fumbling for something. His fingers emerged a second later clutching the blue stone Alarond had seen him use many times. It blazed with azure luminescence as Coltren assumed a similar blank expression as had the Phadran. The little changeling quickly ran to their aid. He latched on to the physical pattern of the Mordairn and as he got closer to the skirmish, he shifted his aura to match that of the Mordairn. Making a few last adjustments, Alarond pounced onto the furry back of the beast and ripped into its shoulder with his teeth. Alarond nearly gagged on the smell and the evil taste of the black flesh he had decided to take a bite out of, but fought back his nausea as he tumbled the creature over and away from his friends. The Mordairn's body was now concentrating on defending its prey. With the Mordairn's body safely distracted, Coltren was free to work on fighting the beast on a mental level. And now...the continuation.....: Coltren braced himself as he entered the shadow umbra, prepared to find instant attack. His fortune remained, however, and this was not the case. The Mordairn Raker was more interested in securing Kyar's struggling force than he was in noticing the new adversary. On this non-physical plane, the Mordairn chose not to take the form of his mortal body, opting instead for an amorphous presence characterized by the peculiar vacuum that pulled at both Kyar and Coltren. Planting his feet in the substance of the umbra, Coltren braced himself to resist the sucking action of the vacuum. Kyar was struggling to do the same, yet he had been caught by the Mordairn from the physical realm, thus was forced to drag himself back out of the vacuum's grip and back from the brink lest he tumble into the nothingness beyond. The Lyorn, bathed in the blue radiance that was the magnified power from the lodestone, called out to the shimmer of gold he saw at the brink of the shifting mass that was the Mordairn Raker. "Kyar! Don't give in, I'm here to help you now!" As Coltren perceived him, Kyar was also enclosed in an envelope of golden power from the Phadra he had drawn upon before being caught by the Mordairn. He held firm at his position, doggedly refusing to be yanked into the Mordairn's maw. Hearing Coltren's voice, he shouted back sarcastically in a tone edged with apprehension, "Nice timing you have there, I'd be ever so pleased if you'd join me. But preferably, I'd like to join you, wherever you are." The Phadran didn't dare turn his attention from the Mordairn to search out Coltren, not with his spiritual existence hanging at the edge of oblivion. From over his shoulder, a lance of blue fire struck the heart of the creature. The suction faltered for a moment, giving Kyar the time to scrabble back from the brink and obtain a more secure footing before the Mordairn could latch onto him again. Another lance arrowed in from somewhere behind the Phadran, seeking a vulnerable point on the Mordairn. Enraged now, the creature spared some attention for the Lyorn and cast a tendril seeking for his presence. Kyar slashed at the questing tendril automatically with a flare of the golden Phadra. The tendril imploded soundlessly and dissipated in a puff of evil smoke. Coltren shouted encouragement from where he stood, a mass of incandescent power clutched between his fists that he sent spinning after the creature in bursts. Kyar too, now that he saw how Coltren chose to combat the creature, gathered his own strength and rained a flurry of his own golden missiles at the Mordairn's indistinct form. It roared in fury and pain under the onslaught, reluctantly shrinking away from the two men. Coltren knew it wasn't fighting them as hard as it could have on another occasion, thus he surmised that Alarond was succeeding in keeping the Mordairn occupied on the physical plane. If they were to succeed in killing the creature in one plane or the other, the Mordairn would die in both. -- hsexauer@muskingum.edu DIPLOMACY: The ability to tell someone to go to Hell so that they'll look forward to making the trip.