Alternate Realities

From: jefyoung@pawl.rpi.edu (Jeffrey Young)

Date: Mon, 06 Nov 1989 21:44:47 +0000

*DESCRIPTION*
  (The Fighter's Guild, Hachiro (#5)/Viento(#6)/Luagha(#12)/Morgan(#21)
    and Serroli(#27) )
  Morgan gets up , and heads into the Guild room.

"A training room?  Fascinating!"

The Federal Agent goes to the weapons rack, picking up two ratan
 wakisashi, testing their heft and feel.  He finds that they are pretty
 lightweight and similar to the carbon steel ones he trained with,
 despite their wooden construction.  He stretches for a bit and
 then exectues a few katas...after which he approaches the table
 (a simple canvas director's chair with his name on the back appears
   as he apporaches) and gets a cup of tea from the kettle already
  on the table.

Luagha enters the Guild Hall, and finds that a chair appears that
seems to be not unlike the one he sits in back in the Ever-Changing
Castle in Xanadu proper.

Hachiro challenges Serroli and Viento, and the pair readily accept..

*Round 1*
     Serroli casts FLEXIPRESTO, and a shimmering sphere of gelatinous
   goo appears in his left hand.  In his right he hefts his hammer.
     He stands on the opposite end of the mat from the other two.
   Viento stands in a defensive stance, with a nervous look on
    his face.   Hachiro steps smartly up and delivers a two-
   sworded-shot that Viento miraculously blocks by sheer luck--
    the "razor-sharp" blades striking half-way up the two-handed
    sword's blade and the handle below Viento's bottom hand.

S                   V
                                  H       (not to scale)

*Round 2*
     Viento ducks under the whistling Katana blade, and parries
   the Wakisashi blade, sliding the blade up and slashing the
    leather vambrace off Hachiro's left wrist.  Hachiro, however,
    had kept moving, and now Viento blocks Serroli's line of
    fire so the Dwarf cannot attack with either globe or Hammer.
    Serroli reshapes the Flexi into a missile-like form...

S               V H

*Round 3*
     Viento jumps back to avoid the Samurai's blades, only
   half-succeeding as his loose shirt is slashed.  Serroli
   sees his chance, throws the Flexipresto-- and Hachiro
    twists his body to avoid, while bringing the Wakisashi
    up to block.. the missile *SPLATS* (you forgot to say "GO",
    Serroli) and viscous ooze gunks up the sword.
    Serroli throws himself into a forward run-and-roll
       (if you've seen the arcade game GOLDEN AXE this will
          look familiar)
     towards the combatants..

S------>         H
                                  V

*Round 4*
     Hachiro comes out of the twist-block and neatly stabs
       Viento in the chest with the Katana, "killing" him
     instantly.  As Viento falls (leaving Hachiro in a
      half-crouch) Serroli finishes his roll, coming up
      to Hachiro's right.

S
                               H
                              V
   *Round 5*
      Serroli swings his hammer in a back-handed swing that connects
    with the back of Hachiro's helmet.  Half-stunned, the
    Samurai brings up his Wakisashi in a automatic counterattack,
     but the blade is imbalanced and the attack glances off
      Serroli's armor.

*Round 6*
       Serroli gets in a solid two-handed smash to Hachiro's
     head with the hammer, and the fight is over...

"Well done.." Taldin says.. as he gestures, and the three Adventurers
 stand unharmed (equipment as well) once more.  "Hmm.. no real
   criticism of fighting styles, except I was curious why Viento
   kept trying to riposte with that Claymore.  Riposting is
   best done with a foil or saber, generally because of their
   lighter weight and different balance.  Have you skill in fencing
    then?  Perhaps a match between Viento armed with saber and
    dagger...oh.  I see, you don't have much in the way of
    Paired Weapons skill.."

"Hachiro, keeping your opponent between you and your other
   opponent is sound strategy, except it tends to backfire when
    your opponent can move faster than you.  Other than that,
   it's not a good idea to do that flashy "freeze on the kill"
   bit you Samurai are so famous for."

"Serroli, you pretty much left yourself open on that roll.
   If Hachiro had stepped the other way instead of dodging towards
   Viento, then you might have come up right into Hachiro's swords,
  or worse, into Viento's path if the Mago Warrior chose to attack.
    This time it worked, but next time you might not be so lucky."

"Next match.."
----------------------*****************************-------------------
  *Common Room*
     Helecites climbs the rope to the Magicians Guild.
   Melanie pauses only long enough to answer,
     "a what?" to Dorian before following.

Tarrin considers playing a song along with the music
   inside his head, a lively jazz beat which has his foot
    tapping in no time.  It is only then he realizes he's
    never heard the song before, and that the song is not
    playing inside his head, but rather outside..

"Hey..does anyone else hear music?", he asks the
     group in general, as he misses Dorian's "a what?"
    query in the Wanna Buy A Duck game.. the Kender
    bounds over to the door, and yanks it open, peering
    out into the mists.

"Hello?"  he says to noone in particular, but the
    musician seems not to hear.  So he pulls out his own
    recorder and tries to follow the melody...
---------------------*******************************------------------
  *Magician's Guild*
     Melanie #7
     Helecites #25

Helecites finds the rope ends some three feet above the top
of the hole, with no apparent fixture for it.  "Hmm.. rope trick
I believe..." , he mumbles. The room is completely dark, and
the rope shakes as Melanie comes up behind him.  "Hey.. why'd
you stop?", the Pink Adept asks. "And why is it so dark in here?"

"About to fix that, m'dear..", the Illusionist answers, casting the
 GHOST LIGHT spell.  A disembodied hand appears in midair, holding
a dimly lit candle.  "Yuck...", Mel says, "that's disgusting.":
Helecites grins evilly. The light illuminates a floor at the
level of the hole, and Helecites can comfortably step to it from
the rope.  He does so, and suddenly the room is alight from
crystal globes hung on the walls.  The room is designed like
a 18th Century Victorian library, with red deep-pile carpets
wall-to-wall.  The room is about 100x100', and several divians,
couches, benches and chairs are scattered randomly about the
room.  Several potted plants add to the atmosphere of the room,
as well as a good amount of end tables and coffee tables
for placing books upon, presumably.  In the center of the
room is an ornate wooden stand with a crystal ball atop it.
 Next to it is a smaller stand with a grey cube on it,
featureless save for a small red button on it's upper surface.

"Nice..",Melanie says..
------------------------*************************-------------------------
*DESCRIPTION*
     *******PORTAL OPENING!!!!!!!!!!!!!***************
 Suddenly, a gust of wind blows open the doors of the tavern, and as quickly
as it blew up, dies down to nothing.  A white mist fills the doorway, and
the outline of a figure can barely be made out through the mist.  The
figure is obviously humanoid, and on the tall side, but, oddly enough,
appears to have two heads.

Taldin seems quite suprised at the sight of the figure, almost staring
from his position at the doorway of the Fighter's Guild.  Then the
youth smiles, and says in a loud voice, "Welcome, Fellow Guardian.."

The figure then steps into the room, revealing that the duality was no trick
of the light.  Beneath a heavy black cloak, a black tunic hangs over a mail
shirted body, the left half of which is decidedly female.  The tunic bears a
device which you have never seen before:  three broadswords interlocked, on
a red background.  On either side of the swords are two crossed wands, the
ones on the left side being black, and the ones on the right being white.  The
entire device is surrounded by a border of purple.  The right, or male, leg
is garbed in a leather legging, while the left is surrounded by a swirl of
black cloth.  Hanging amidst black skirts is a exquisitely jeweled scabbard,
and stuck neatly into the belt is a wand of ivory.  The woman glances around,
and then speaks in a soft voice which seems to draw forth an aura of magic,
and the ghostly figure of the ancient city of Tir na N'Og seems to hang over
her head.

"Greetings, o'brave company of heroes and mages.  I be the Lady Wearenth, and
my companion is Ruenic.  We have been sent here by the High Council of Seven
to ask thee for thine assistance in a matter of the gravest nature.  Our land
has been beset by evil, and unless we are able to reinstate a ruler upon the
Throne, the reign of Terror shall continue throughout all of Eternity.  The
Council hath sent us here to gather a band of adventurers to aid us in our
Quest, as the forces of Dark hold an ever-vigilante watch over the Council,
and they prevent us from attempting to fulfill the Prophecy and returning the
King."

At the mention of his name, Ruenic nods slightly, and leans on his broadsword,
which is heavily engraved with runes and symbols.  After Wearenth finishes,
he speaks.  His voice is low and deep, and the whole room seems to darken, as
the torches flicker.

"The Lady speaks the truth.  The Council is under the baleful gaze of the
All Seeing Evil, and is unable to act.  Already we have been warned as to the
consequences of attempting action against them."  With this, a gentle breeze
blows back a lock of his jet-black hair, revealing a long white scar running
from the corner of one deep blue eye down to the jugular vein.  The runes on
his sword glow, and you can make out the following inscription:

"Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'leyh wgah'nagl fhtagn."

"You complicate things beyond necessity, Ruenic," interupts Wearenth, brushing
her long ebony hair back over her shoulder, "We will deal with the Ultimate
 One once we again have a king on the Throne.  Again I beseech you for your
assistance in this dire matter.  Those of you who feel you are worthy of this
task may step through to our plane.  The Portal cannot be opened long, as the
Lords of Darkness will no doubt sense it before long and their actions will
have no possible rectification."

Taldin asks, "You need the Portal Wand,my friend?" ,as he holds forth
the metallic steel wand.  "No thanks, Tal.  I've got my own."

With this, she draws the ivory wand and points it at the wall.  A thin beam of
blue-white light extends from the end of the wand, and then hits the wall.
From the point where the beam hit, a whirling nexus appears, growing larger
until it is big enough for any one of the party to fit through.  It stabilizes
at this point, and the winds die down until they are merely a ripple in the
ether.

*Message From Guardian #6/9-----------------------------------------------------

I would like to get 10 adventurers into the portal, so the first
ten people to respond will be in.

Any questions for Guardian 6/9 are welcome:  please address them
to a specific head--Guardian 6 (Ruenic) or Guardian 9 (Wearenth).

Email address is raven@pawl.rpi.edu--please send ALL correspondence
here.

The Portal closes on Sunday, Nov 12.  The first move should be
posted that same day.

*TECH NOTE*:
   This portal has a rating of Fast..
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-Taldin

--
"You are blue, Unicorn.. the Blue of clear, cloudless days where
everything seems like it's going right and nothing could go wrong..
and the Blue of despair and lonliness."
                                       jefyoung@pawl.rpi.edu

References

Alternate Realities, Portal Xanadu
rip1@tank.uchicago.edu (The Armchair Ninja)
Wed, 11 Oct 1989 19:25:42 +0000
Alternate Realities
usenet@rpi.edu (USENET Maint Acct)
Mon, 23 Oct 1989 19:45:32 +0000
Re: Alternate Realities
usenet@rpi.edu (USENET Maint Acct)
Mon, 30 Oct 1989 21:04:59 +0000