Legends Realm dreams <4 of 4> From: bryan@stiatl.uucp (Bryan Donaldson) Date: Thu, 11 Aug 1994 23:09:52 +0000 Dream #23 L'ytalo and the Orb of Dalinoar Seldom does there come a time in the history of any people when one leader can shape the destiny of all others. But such a leader is L'ytalo, the renowned clan-chief of the nomad maratasen who dwell in the east. Across the great desert that lies beyond the Darsian Rift, he has united the scattered warlike clans of nomads, providing direction and singularity of purpose. L'ytalo ever seeks the great Orb of Dalinoar, a fact that is widely known. With it, he feels in his heart that the unity of the nomads will be complete. Bending the Orb to his will, he could force the great desert, both friend and enemy, to cease its unrelenting assault on the remaining grasslands of the clans. Secure in the Citadel of the Orb, he plans to rule the maratasen with a wise and firm hand. The Citadel is, unquestionably, a strange place. Its newly-wrought walls, made from stone painstakingly quarried at remote and secret sites, already bear the harsh scars of wind-driven sand. The clans do not allow any but nomad clan members to enter the holy city, for it will house the Orb when L'ytalo finds it. None but L'ytalo himself may gaze upon the actual resting-place of the orb, somewhere in the great temple that rises above the city. The nomads have crafted great houses and workshops, many of which stand empty, the sand drifting through windows and doorways. The great cats, true nomads that they are, are unwilling to settle into the city while the Orb does not rest there. Thus they roam the desert still, in the clans they have belonged to for generations. They await the recovery of the Orb and the ascent of L'ytalo to power, at which time they will unite. And who can tell what they might do then ? The designs of L'ytalo for an organized nation of maratasen are unknown to any but himself ... Dream #24 The Tablet of Law As is well known in the lore of Verana, many ages ago a Nameless Force was created by the dark Calamar race, and it arose into the heavens to do battle with the gods. In their folly the gods feared it not, and did not deign to come forth together to do battle with it; they thought themselves unassailable. When the unholy Force attacked the gods, the viciousness of its first onslaught caught them by surprise, and they were dismayed. The evil Force enveloped Darsia, the wise and gentle god of Law, and crushed the life out of him. It cast him down to the surface of Verana, and Darsia was no more. Then the gods wept, for they knew their folly; and coming forth in great strength they assailed the Nameless Force, and defeated it. But it was not destroyed, for being partly divine it could not be unmade. The gods banished it from this plane, and Verana has not known its dark touch for many a long age. No scholar in Verana has not heard of the great Tablet of Law that was the symbol of Darsia before he was slain. The tablet was said to contain part of the essence of the god himself, and was the source of unsurpassed wisdom. Tales do not speak of the fate of the Tablet after Darsia was thrown down, but it may be surmised that it was broken in the same great impact that created the Darsian Rift, in the eastern part of Verana. Yet there are some few learned men who say that it is not so. According to them, the tablet was indeed broken, creating the rift in Law that now allows chaos to dominate the surface of Verana. But it was not buried with the body of Darsia in the Rift. Rather, its various pieces have been scattered over the surface of Verana, in unknown places remote and secret. Even the wise may not say precisely where the fragments may be hidden; for over the ages they have surely moved and been carried, according to their hidden purpose. What has been determined, by a few who have dedicated their lives to the reinstatement of Law, is scant. It is known that there may be as few as three pieces of the lost tablet, and as many as ten. Their locations are as yet a complete mystery. There is one notable exception to this. There was a great scholar called Ailaresse, who dwelt in Verana before the Middle Kingdoms were born. Supreme in his knowledge of the gods, Ailaresse vanished sometime just before the Migration Wars. His dwelling was sacked by the marauding forces of the Dragon King's army as it seethed over the plains before the great battle, and after the Wars little remained of it. Some tales tell, however, of a fragment of verse written by Ailaresse before he disappeared, recovered from some hidden spot long after the War. Apparently, the places mentioned in the verse could be speaking of the locations of some of the lost fragments of the tablet of Law. If this is so, it would be well for those who wish Law to govern again to find these pieces, for without them they cannot hope to stand against the forces of chaos which are gathering now in Verana. The tablet will undoubtedly endow the wielder with great power against chaos, making him a champion of Law who would no longer be a mortal as we know them. Yet there is little that may be done decisively while Law's only hope remains broken and lost ... -- Bryan Donaldson bryan@stiatl.salestech.com Sales Technologies, Inc 3399 Peachtree Rd, NE If one is born into an era of decadence, Atlanta, GA (404) 841-4000 one may as well enjoy it while it lasts. Up