Alternate Realities, portal Xanadu From: lev0@tank.uchicago.edu (Ron Levy ) Date: Fri, 19 Jan 1990 22:18:29 +0000 Here we are back again. When last we left our protagonists, the High Court, wherein war was decided to be declared next year or praps the year after, had closed. Several people had volunteered to go put an end to the bandit group raiding across the border (a bandit group controlled by the government of Palisaad), and those that hadn't were either ignored, in Ralph the mouse's case, or insulted, as Casha and Morgan were. Everyone goes their separate ways, knowing that the strategy meeting for those going on the bandit raid is tomorrow afternoon in Captain Plume's office. Swifteagle and Tarrin Sandwhitt will begin flying at dawn, to acquire up to date reconnaissance on the bandit group. It will be approx. 2 days flying each way for them, and it's a two week journey by cart, so they'll meet the warrior's party with information 3 days from now. Actions: Directly after the High Court, Hachiro and Princess Kajiko excuse themselves, giving the excuse of a calming flight, to aid the digestion. If anyone wants to tag along, Kajiko says kindly but firmly, that this is a PRIVATE flight. Viento goes down to the armory, and gets himself a mass of toys. He spends about a half hour practicing with his shoulder-scabbard for his two-handed sword, which is designed to pop open along the seam and flip the greatsword into your hands, if you jerk your shoulder correctly and hold your hands in the right place. He gets the hang of it. He also gets shaded black camoflage clothes, and a mail shirt to go over his leathers. In the offensive category, he gets a fire-proofed net, and a couple of three-weight bolos. As spares, he gets a normal sword, and a rather large shield, and an unidentified number of knives. There might be a crossbow in there as well. There are other death-dealing fanatics about the armory and the practice room, and Viento spends about an hour or so with them getting the feel of his new stuff. After he gets used to it, he defeats them all pretty soundly, save for Tolghren, who is a Dire Wolf. Tolghren outsizes Viento by about a foot, and is a little less strong, but faster with his hands, and much faster on his feet. The magical ability of Dire Wolves is that they never tire, feel pain only intellectually, need no sleep, and cannot be knocked unconscious. Viento holds his own for a minute or so, but begins to get tired since Tolghren continually presses (and is better than Viento) and once that happens, Viento starts getting hit a lot. They shake hands, and Viento goes back up to his room, takes a bath, surveys all his new weapons o'death one more time to make sure they're still there, and falls asleep on the linen sheets, thinking of the bed on the old gypsy wagon. Ralph, the mouse, gets a little leery of the castle's changing walls, and decides to take a walk in the city. The guards salute as he walks out the doors, and he heads in the general direction of the 'better' part of town. Unfortunately, it becomes obvious to his trained senses that a weasel, poorly dressed and not from this part of town, wearing an eyepatch on his right eye, is following him. From the looks the weasel makes around him, Ralph figures that where you see one, there's more you don't see. There don't seem to be any guards in the nearby vicinity, unfortunately. Raplh's options are pretty much: 1. Turn and take them all on; 2. Duck down an alley and try to lose them; 3. Dive down into the sewage system, where the weasel will be able to follow (he's small enough) but his heavies won't; or 4. Distract the weasel and jump/climb over the nearby wall, and request help from the owners of the house. And of course, anything innovative he might think up is perfectly fine. Dorian and Shosharra bed down in the palace, in their well-furnished guest room. As soon as they are out of the door, both Casha and Morgan realize that they didn't think to answer Captain Plume immediately, and so he thinks that they don't want to go deal with the banditry, when in fact they do. They both resolve to go to the afternoon meeting. Morgan stops by at the armory, but gets nowhere near such a quantity of toys as Viento has. They sleep in their rooms, each next door to one another, with a connecting door. At dawn, Tarrin and Swifteagle set out, carrying only small packs for food and a single weapon. Tarrin tries valiantly to bring all his things, but he swiftly realizes that there is NO way that he can come close to Swifteagle's speed with that kind of flight load. He will have his things brought by the warrior party, but he brings along his recorder. From Tarrin and Swifteagle: I need to know how you plan to cross the border. The border is patrolled by both ground troops and fliers. Certainly, the border is large, and you could just fly across at night, and you would have a good chance of not being spotted. If you want to make any preparations or plans for crossing the border that will lessen the chance of you being seen, do so. Flying high, about the limits of Tarrin's altitude, is a must to escape possible spells of Perception, which have a limited range. The chance of being detected by magic crossing at a lower height is about 20% (it's impossible to cover the whole border with such magics, of course), unless countermagic is used. unfortunately, neither of you have the correct type of countermagic to use unless you get REALLY close first, on the ground. That night, Viento is awoken by a sensation of motion, as if he, his bed, or more likely, his entire room (as becomes apparent when he fully awakes) is moving. There is now a knock at an entirely new door, which wasn't there before. The next morning, Serroli, Thielvar, Sasha (a goshawk who made friends with Thielvar earlier) Casha, and Morgan (carried by Casha, who has QUITE a strong, just this edge of constrictive, grip, go on a flight tour of the area, led by Yiliane and her brother Harald, who are both Pegasi. They follow the river south, overlook the forest, watch some villages, get a good look at the layout of the city, and cavort and freewheel in the air. Serroli's wings appear to be made of brass, or bronze, or a mixture with iron or steel and the above. They make quite a clatter when he flies, but when he glides, none of them clash against one another, and the air is instantly silent. Out of curiosity, Serroli clashes his wings together, as he knows he can. There is a thundrous clap at his wings, and where he was thinking of (some distance away from all of you) and a great distubance and turbulence in the air, buffeting everyone. Morgan gets the annoying feeling of knowing that he's rather a ways up, and he can't fly. It's a feeling of lack of control. But, he knows Casha won't drop him, and indeed, he's never in danger. Both Yiliane and Harald marvel at Casha's strength in flight, apparently, it would take the two of them and a little help to carry someone as large as Morgan (they each could carry a mouse, or a slim fox or something, but Morgan has a bit too much mass for them). Then they go to the meeting. Next time: Strategy and Tactics. Up