An ROI Legend From: drhj@v1.astro.cf.ac.uk (Dean Johnson) Date: Mon, 02 Aug 1993 19:23:08 +0000 Hi Guys and Girls, I spent so long typing this Legend in for someone in Austria that I thought I'd get my effort's worth and post it on the NET as well. It wasn't the best of days to be at sea, but captain Trevize had certainly seen worse. He took the grey, choppy waters in stride and gazed with his usual baleful expression at the slate coloured sky. He made it a point not to let the weather upset him; what could he do about it anyway? Better to get on with whatever business was at hand. The weather, whatever its temper, would pass. And its temper looked irritable today; small caps of white foam now dotted the water as the wind drove the sea before it. Trevize's ship, the Keelwave, yawed slightly as the quickening air currents stretched the heavy canvas of the sails. The ropes responded with a groan and the steersman tightened his grip on the wheel slightly. "Looks like we may not make port by evening after all ," came a voice from behind him. That would be Theward. He turned and greeted his first mate with a smile. Theward was a rather comic figure, especially in a high wind; his long beard seemed to be trying to pull him overboard as it whisked in several directions. "Gods, I hope you are wrong for once," Trevize replied with a grin. Theward was never wrong and they both knew it. The Keelwave would likely make port sometime in the night and wait until morning to dock. Theward moved up alongside his captain and followed his gaze to the sky off to starboard. A large bank of black thunderheads was building there in the east, and they were growing noticeably nearer. "Looks bad," the first mate commented unnecessarily, while Trevize was thinking the same. He hadn't seen the clouds that thick since a storm two winters ago off the coast of Umbria, far to the west. But such storms were common of the shore of that country; to see a storm here, especially in late summer was certainly rare. Well, he might have been expected better luck, but he wasn't getting upset. "Bad alright. Have the men lash everything double; I don't like the looks of this. Wrong season..." he trailed off as a huge bolt of lightning, followed by a monstrous roar of thunder, flashed to the east. He looked meaningfully at Theward, who hurried off to see that the Keelwave was prepared for the storm. It took almost an hour for it to actually arrive; the clouds boiled closer until they were almost directly overhead, and the sky changed to a greenish colour to match the sea. From his cabin, Trevize heard the wind suddenly pick up, leaning the ship to port. He got up from his desk and headed above. The rain hit the ship in a wave, and soon there were only three of them on the storm tossed deck; himself, Theward and the hardy steersman. They gripped the rail and listened to the ship; a good captain can tell how his vessel is weathering a storm by listening to the noises of the hull, masts and ropes. Thunder made a continuous growling in the background and the deck was intermittently lit by flashes. This WAS a bad storm; it was the worst the Keelwave had seen, although her captain had through hurricanes. Theward had a frown on his face and Trevize knew he was weighing the ship's chances if the winds got any worse. The hull was shuddering and the masts were creaking; no sails had torn yet, but the ship was certainly not built to stand up to this degree of elemental fury. The rain blew near-horizontally across Trevize's vision and stung his cheeks. It was a warm rain, though, this storm was only a late summer squall, however brutal. His chief concern now was not whether the Keelwave would survive, for she she seemed intact enough but rather how far off course they would be when the storm finally let up. Theward was an excellent navigator but even he could do nothing about where the storm decided to leave them. The wind and rain kept up for several hours. The sails had long since been furled and the rigging brought down. At times it took the strength of all three men to hold the wildly jerking wheel and once the scream of the gale became only a mournful howl as it raced across the slick foredeck. When the wind had turned to a stiff breeze from the southeast, Trevize at last allowed himself to breathe a sigh of relief. He clapped both of his stout men on the back and turned to Theward. "Not bad for our light Keelwave, eh? See if you can't tell me where we are before sundown." Then he strode surely across the still rolling deck and headed down to his cabin for a nap. The ordeal had been exhausting and he was no longer young. He was awakened several hours later by his first mate. Theward had changed his clothes and was long since dry but he has a worried look on his face that had Trevize immediately alert. "I found us, all right." Theward spoke softly, "though I can't account for where we are. Somehow, Captain, we've been driven far to the northwest -- farther than our charts show..." he trailed off at the frown that was now on Trevize's face. "I know, it`s not possible, but there it is. That's what the stars say, and mapping by the stars can't be wrong." He unrolled the chart onto the Captain's desk while Trevize blinked the sleep away from his eyes. "As near as I can tell, we are about here," he indicated a spot near the northeast corner of the map area, a wide stretch of sea that had never been charted by the mapmakers of Verana. "Other than playing havoc with our schedule, we should be able to make port without too much problem..." Theward paused again, for Trevize was scowling now; nothing bothered the Captain more than being behind schedule. "Well, nothing we can do about it," Trevize sighed. "Go ahead and set a course for port. We'll be late, but maybe our wares'll still bring a fair price." He sat down heavily in a chair and glared darkly at the ceiling of his cabin. As Theward was rolling up the map, a shout of "Land HO!" came form the deck. The first mate shot a startled glance at his captain, who returned an equally surprised look. Both headed for the door at the same time, and clambered out onto the deck. It was dawn, and the cool breeze from the southwest had shifted around to the north. The deck was dry and the sky was clear as the sun burned the water on the eastern horizon. In the crow's nest, a sailor was indicating with an out stretched are the direction in which land had been sighted. Trevize pulled his glass from a watertight pouch at his belt and sighted into the north. "It's land, all right," he muttered, "and we damn near hit it Theward, have a look," he said, handing his glass to the first mate. "Heh. Doesn't look like any land I ever saw," said Theward after a long gaze. "If those are mountains inland, they're easily the tallest in Verana. What a godforsaken place!" It was. The ship sailed closer and the details began to come into focus. The coastline was very rough, with almost no beaches; jutting crags of dark rock extended straight into the water. There was some plant life, mostly near the shore; inland, only barren rock could be seen. The landscape sloped upward for several miles until enormous mountains reared their dreadful, ragged peaks far above the ocean. One would have told anyone that they were impassable. Theward was speaking. " ...could use a place to anchor for a bit to look her over for damage from the storm. Besides, the men need to stretch their legs..." he trailed off as he realized his captain wasn't paying attention. "What? Sorry Thew, I was just...that land...it seems...I don't know, strange somehow. Don't you think? I mean look. Do you see any animals? Looks pretty damn lifeless to me." "But you're right, as usual. See if you can find a good spot to anchor and we'll lower the boat for a walk." Trevize went back to staring at the weird landscape. In a few minutes, Theward and the steersman had located a smooth stretch of overgrown "beach" that would be suitable for landing the shop's dory. Several sailors heaved the anchor overboard when the ship was about a quarter of a mile offshore and the men waited for the Captain to board the boat so they could lower it. The first landing party consisted of Trevize and Theward, with six other sailors; after several minutes of rowing, they reached the shore. Trevize found the land near the water's edge to be pleasant, on the whole; a light breeze was blowing in from the sea and the floral scent from the many flowers that dotted the rocks nearby was strong. "A pretty spot, captain," one of his men smiled at him and proceeded to tale a nap amid the flora. Several of the men were for exploring, however, and Trevize was of like mind. He and Theward led the way as two of the others joined them for a brief trek inland. The sun was not yet high in the sky when they left the land near the water's edge and ventured up into the barren rocks, the foothills for the huge mountains that lay in the distance. All of them sweated a little as they clambered over the broken stones for nearly an hour. Theward stopped. "Captain, you were right. About the animals, I mean. I haven't seen so much as an insect since we came ashore." "Yes, and now the plants seem to have vanished as well," replied Trevize, looking around. It was true enough; nowhere could they find a growing thing of any kind, not even moss on the rocks. It was odd and Trevize didn't like it. As they rested a bit from their exertions, one of the sailors spoke. "Ho, what's that?" he asked, slightly out of breath. "Can ye hear it? Sort of a buzzin' sound." They all listened, and sure enough, at the limits of their hearing they could detect a faint humming, unlike anything they has ever encountered before. It buzzed in a steady, unchanging tone, so soft that they wondered of it was really there. They started up again after awhile and almost immediately the sound became louder. They were nearing the top of a rise and Trevize slowed his pace, trying to determine the direction the sound was coming from. Unnervingly, it seemed to be straight ahead. They walked on slowly. Near the top of the rise, they stopped. The sound was quite loud now, but its source was still invisible, seeming to emanate from the top of the rise itself. Theward peered ahead thoughtfully. "Look there," he pointed ahead, apparently indicating the air in front of them. "It's a bit wavy, see? Sort of unclear..." he had trouble finding the words. But the other saw it now, too. The air in front of them seemed to swim a bit, rather like heat waves from a stone in summer; through the shimmering they could see the landscape continuing to slope upward beyond it. They stood and examined the phenomenon for a few minutes, but could not find anything dangerous about it. After some discussion, Trevize led the way through it. What happened next he could never afterward successfully describe to others. Trevize's world blinked out, as if he had been utterly and instantly snatched from Verana into another place completely. He saw forever in all directions and yet saw nothing, for all was black. He felt vertigo, as if he were spinning at a speed that threatened to tear him apart; but he felt no pain. Instants crashed together and spun images past him that he would never remember: a huge black ship with a skeleten crew; a nightmare-faced demon rushing at him; a procession of black robed beings descending into a mountain fortress; a being that could only be a god falling to Verana from some high place. And all the while the buzzing, the humming that had crescendoed into a roar that would surely engulf his senses! He could not stand another moment of it. -- And then it was over. His head reeling with pain and confusion, he staggered backward along a broken surface and fell, knocking his head on something solid and remembering no more. When he came to, his head was still pounding but he recognized the familiar surroundings of his cabin. Theward, his faithful first mate was standing over him. He started to sit up and ask what had happened but Theward restrained him with a burly arm. Feeling exhausted, he slipped into a deep and restful slumber, with dreams of calm voyages and high profits. There was something about a mountain...ah, well, perhaps it was best forgotten. Up