From alt.pub.dragons-inn Sun Feb 19 19:41:41 1995 Xref: netcom.com alt.pub.dragons-inn:8145 Path: netcom.com!ix.netcom.com!howland.reston.ans.net!news.sprintlink.net!tequesta.gate.net!dworld.org!storm Subject: New Char: Dexeron (3/3) Newsgroups: alt.pub.dragons-inn From: storm@dworld.org Date: Wed, 15 Feb 95 04:59:51 EST Message-ID: <7759101055506@dworld.org> Organization: Dragon World (407) 4879355 Lines: 83 Dexeron stepped off of the ship, grateful to be on dry land again. The entire trip had been one long storm, and he was glad to be on solid, unmoving earth. The town of Kazio was just as he remembered it... monotonous and smelly. It had originally been a military garrison, later taken by orcs and expanded into a great fortress. In the final war between the Order and the orcan militia, Kazio was the last city to be retaken. All of the buildings were similar... no windows on the ground floors and one door, facing away from the main city gate. The roofs were level and the alleys wide. It was a perfect example of military construction... in taking the city, the toll in lives had been great. The only building not in the military style was the great temple. The temple was an oddity in this world. It sat at the far end of the city, actually resting against the city wall itself. It was huge, dwarfing all other buildings. The lower 7 floors were rectangular, rising up in a solid wall of stone. Above this, however, the building twisted, and curved, in the style of the great dragon architects of the past. Spires twisted back on themselves, forming great loops and apparently following no pattern. It was thought that the temple was originally a great dragon shrine, before the humans came. Before the cataclysm, it was a great center of religious learning. Later, it was overrun by the orcs, and turned into a pagan altar of sacrifice. It has been said that the bones from the great orcan orgy of 2502 piled higher than the city walls. It was a merciless army that retook the city from the orcs in 3612. The orcs were shown no quarter, and people say that the sewers flowed red for weeks afterwards. The temple was burned to the very foundations and then rebuilt. Now it was again a thing of beauty, honoring the dual beliefs of human and dragon. The rest of the city stood, however, in mute testimony of the horrors committed there. BONG! Dexeron flinched. The chimes always evoked feelings of dread in him. He was always loath to pull the cord which signaled the door wardens. The bells made him feel as if 20 spiders were running through his cloak, spinning cold, steely webs. For some reason, the people had never bothered to replace the orcan bells... ...It is sometimes said that the people never wanted to forget. The door swing open, slowly, a red faced guard straining to move the impossible bulk. Dexeron stared a moment, then moved to help. Between the two of them, they managed to get the door open sufficiently wide for a man to pass through. The guard learned against the wall, and Dexeron let him catch his breath. "Sorry... ... about that... ... sir... the ... baron of... ... Fantrell... is in.... town... Phew... 'scuse me sir. He demanded that half of our men serve as an 'honor guard' while he's in town... it's tough opening this damn thing by myself, but I'm the only one available." "Fantrell? Damn these cocky noblemen and their egos. They think that the size of an honor guard denotes greatness. I'd love to see the city get attacked while he's off gallivanting through the countryside with half of the city militia." "Ah well, sir, you know nobility. What can ya do but bow and pray they get shingles or somethin'." "I'm sick of it... this is EXACTLY the sort of thing we were trying to FIGHT! I thought we had dealt with this problem... damn it... is Scnadron here?" "The priest-apparent? No sir, he returned to New Synon on business for the Order. I could take a message for him, if you like?" "...no... damn it, this day isn't going well at all. I've got some stuff here I need... it's hidden well down in the catacombs. I'll find it ok by myself." "If you say so sir, frankly, I don't like going down into there myself... a bit too drafty for me, with my cough and all." "What cough?" "Ah well... I always seem to get one whenever I go down there? I don't like to go beyond the shore of the underground lake... Don'cha know, they say the place is curs-ed!" Dexeron frowned, then tossed the guard a coin. "I won't be long. Hope your cough gets better." He stalked off, muttering to himself, towards the rear of the Temple, and the forbidding black stone entrance to the catacombs below... {to be continued...} ============ Dexeron, the Order of the Green Jewel, and all characters herein Copyright 1995, Daniel A. Lustig. Unauthorized use is not only rude, but will be met by several large orcs and trolls visiting your home late at night. All rights reserved. Send E-mail to Dexeron@DWorld.org --- þ OLX 2.1 TD þ All hope abandon, ye who enter messages here.