<>----------------------------------------------------------------------------<>R\ D R A G O N W A R S /
/ Paragraphs 37-67 \
\ typed by Zippo Pinhead /
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37) Several squat figures surround the entrance to a tunnel leading under the walls of Byzanople. A wooden palisade shields the tunnel entrance from the eyes and weapons of the city's defenders. You recognize the figures as seige engineers, and surmise they are attempting to undermine Byzanople's walls.
A short and powerful man covered with mud and sweat emerges from the tunnel. "I think we're through," he says. We had to find our way through a patch of granite, but I think we've come up against a cistern or basement wall." He looks at you expectantly. "All we need now is a pack of brave idiots to try to tunnel, find their way into the city, and open the gate for us."
38) Using your magic spell, you watch in wonder as color flows back into the frozen dwarves. The chamber is filled with a noise uncomfortably like the popping of popcorn as the dwarves return to life, their joints made stiff from ages of disuse. Before long, the entire clan is restored to life. The dwarves give you the once-over.
39) You find a hidden cove. There's a dock house by the water, and beside it you can see several small ships tied up to the dock. You must pass through the dock house to get to the boats. To your right is small wayside shrine to some divintiy or another. The cove is very quiet, aside from the lapping of the waves and the rhythmic creaking of the boats tugging at their ropes. It's hard to tell if this place is inhabited or not.
40) A wave of fetid humidity stikes you like a slap in the face when you open the door to this room. This place must be under an enchantment. Within the room is exactly reproduced a hot and swampy environment not unlike the Isle of Quag. The floor is a deep and bubbling mud bog, wide-leaf palms grow here and there, and in the underbrush you think you see small reptiles warming themselves on the hot rocks. A most unusual sight to find in a dungeon...all the comforst of home (if you're a reptile).
41) The pirates are friendly enough when you pay them their gold. They offer you a seat and serve you a brutal meal of calamari and grog. "My name's Long John Ugly," the leader identifies himself. "And this here is my pal, Peg." Ugly's girl has two peg legs and no teeth, but she's by far the most presentable member of this motley crew.
You converse with Ugly and his band for several hours. Ugly used to be a sailor in the Tarsian navy. He explains Tars was a minor city on the isle of Forlorn, and that it was reduced to ruins in the early days of the war with Kingshome. "These ain't good times to be a sailor, me bucko," Ugly growls, becoming increasingly maudlin as the grog does its work. "Namtar don't want folks sailing about from one island to the other. Too hard to keep people in their place that way!".
You learn Ugly's band has scratched out a living raiding along the coast, but pickings are slim. You also guess they do a bit of smuggling. Ugly is hesitant to take you out in his boat, saying the weather is wrong and the seas are too dangerous lately. When you remind him of the gold you paid, Ugly smiles and Peg shrieks with laughter.
"I didn't figure that gold covered the cost of a passage, mate!" Ugly laughs. "That was just a fee for this fine repast and for not gettin' yer throats slit." Peg whispers something in Ugly's ear. "But Peg likes ya, and I'm in a charitable mood, so I'll do ya a favor. Seein' as how ya should be dead anyway, I'm willin' to ferry ya over to the Necropolis. There's plenty of loot to be had in that place, which should suit you folks just fine." Ugly gestures over his shoulder and points toward the south wall. "The dock's on the other side of the south door. I'll meet ya out there in a minute." Ugly looks you straight in the eye as he concludes, "And I do mean the south door. You'll do as yer told if you've got any sense."
42) In this dusty and disused chamber you find what was formely the throne of King Drake of Kingshome, the mightiest ruler of Dilmun. The throne is heaped in the corner and in poor repair. Carelessly tossed behind the throne you find Drake's ceremonial crown. Maybe it will be worth something, if there is ever a true king of Kingshome.
43) You sail through most of a day and night through thick fog. There is no moon, and the going is slow and treacherous. Several times you think you glimpse phantoms in the fog, or hear strange beasts bumping against the hull of your vessel. Just when you think you may never reach your destination, an island looms out of the murk.
The island is an irregular mass of black stone, covered in moss and green slim. Ruins of impossibly ancient design are just visible in the center of the island. Luminous eyes peer at you from dark hollows and forbidding bogs nestled along the coastline.
44) The magic paint works as advertised. Now covered with mystic colors, the formerly ruined walls of the City of the Yellow Mud Toad stand tall and strong. You hope strong walls will be enough to hold off the growing terror you know lurks in the swamps, just a few feet away.
45) The sail to Freeport is a long one, and your supplies are barley enough to last the voyage. You sail east and away from the majority of the Dilmun islands, headed into previously unknown waters. Once free from the war-torn islands of the Dilmun interior, you are able to enjoy the natural beuty of the maritime world of Oceana.
Presently you come in sight of a glistening modern harbor sheltered in a strange coast. Your charts indicate this is Freeport, and you anchor your ship at a dock.
46) Your journey takes you to the frontier known as the Eastern Isles. This area is unclaimed by any nation, and you experience no encounter with hostile maritime forces.
The Eastern Isles have a rustic quality lacking in the Dilmun Interior. Here things are unfinished and wild, and seem untouched by the corruption of the Interior. This region is the closest thing you've seen to the paradise you expected to find when you arrived in Purgatory, many months ago.
Presently you spot what seems to be a ruined city, half-submerged in the sea. You find a place to land your craft on a stretch of sand southeast of the ruins.
47) Near the bridge you find a run-down building. A sign above the door identifies the place as the 'Offical Quag Visitors Information Bureau'. The building is every bit as run-down on the inside as out.
An ugly little woman with a cluster of purple eyes enthusiastically greets you. "Welcome to Quag, Isle of Luxury!" she says. "I'm so glad you're here. We don't get much business since the war." You learn that Quag's only city, the City of the Yellow Mud Toad - is sinking into the swamp and the priests of the Yellow Mud Toad are powerless to stop it. "But it's really quite safe for travellers," the women is hasty to add. "Quag remains an isle of wonders, and many dream of talking the vapors!"
You judge the woman quite mad. Saying goodbye, you depart.
48) A wall of rock stands athwart your path. Massive bronze doors guard a way through the rock; fearsome beast guard the way to the door.
Two creatures guard the way through the rock. They are half scorpion and half dragon, but in some ways look like men. Their eyes glow with balesome fury. They glow with an inner light, bathing the ground at their feet in glory. They appear to be a man and a woman, and thus doubly dangerous for the bond they must share.
49) After a few hours of cautious work, you're able to lash an appropriate rock to the broken pick handle with the laces you receivexd from the dying man. The result is a serviceable if makeshift hammer. The hammer probably isn't worth much as a weapon, but it might hold up long enough to break the chains that bind you.
50) The door closed behind you with an ominous sound evoking the finality of the tomb, The door and wall from the bridge must have been sound proofed, for no sooner do you emerge from the bridge than a mad chorus of howls assails your ears. Insane screaming seems to spring from every direction, although you cannot see the source of the noise. It's enough to drive you mad.
51) You walk beside a clean and stylish harbor. Although you are near the sea, this place has none of the stink associated with Oceana's coastal places...either Freeport is not sinking, or the port is engineered such that seepage is not the problem here that it is elsewhere in the world.
The construction here is simple but attractive. There's rustic feeling associated wwith the unfinished wood railings, foliage, and crisp scent to the air. The people of this place are dressed in effective leather and cloth, and seem healthy and energetic. Everyone is armed, and you judge the citizens of this place know how to defend themselves. You are greeted warmly as you approach, but the citizens of Freeport do not tarry to speak. Everyone seems engaged in a mission of great industry.
52) To the south is a little iland in the harbor. Standing in the center of the island is an anvil; plunged to the hilt within the anvil is a brilliantly gleaming sword. There seems no way to the island...the water here seethes and boils with magical energy. It doesn't take much imagination to surmise a swim to the island would be fatal.
A Freeport citizen notices your interest in the island. "that is the Sword of Freedom," he says. "Many years ago, the great hero Roba delivered it from the Underworld. After many years of adventuring, Roba retired here and founded out city. Shortly before his heath, Roba built this magical island to protect his sword."
The citizen is silent for a moment before continuing. "Legend say that so long as the sword remains in the anvil, no harm can come to Freeport," he says. "At the same time, Roba warned a time would come of great strife on Oceana. He said a champion would appear one day to claim the sword. He who wields the Sword of Freedom will quell the strife in Oceana, but at the same time will doom our city. Such is the sacrifice we must someday make."
The citizen wishes you well and leaves. The Sword of Freedom is just out of you reach. It seems to taunt you. How to get it? How to get it...?
53) In this cell you find a weak young man dressed in soiled motley. "Good evening ladies and germs, it's good to be back at the palace," he says as you enter his cell. "A funny thing happened to me on the way to the dungeon." The poor man was obviously a court jester. "I ran into Sir Loin of Pork this afternoon - he said he was about to become Baron of Greymatter." This guy really stinks. If wiser men than you consigned this man to the dungeons, who are you to set him free. "I got a millon of 'em," the jester says, seeming to notice you for the first time and perking up considerably. This confirms your worst fears, and you slam and lock the cell door. "Cancel the Renaissance - it looks like a reign of terror!" comes the muffled voice from behind the door.
Even Namtar has a good idea now and then.
54) "Thanks for putting me back together - I feel swell!" Lanac'toor grins. "I was a little nervous when you put my arms on backward, but I guess I'll get used to it. Having my elbows bend the wrong way will make it easier for me to scratch my back!".
55) A yawning chasm stretches before you. A violent gust of hot hind rises from the chasm...the void must reach to the very roots of the world, below even the Underworld. Out of the chasm, starting an unknowable distance beneath you and stretching as far as the eye can see, you view a vomitous mass of irregular black stone. The tower stands pile atop itself and is one designed and chaotic...from one angle it looks like a sorcerer's stronghold, while from another is seems like the exposed spine of a fantastic beast. Perhaps it is not really there at all. More likely it exists in more than one dimension at the same time, and is thus difficult to see in its entirety.
One this is certain...this tower has nothing to do with god, salvation, or pilgrims. This is a tower of Evil. This is the Tower of Namtar!
56) A tall and powerfully build man with a greenish complexion greets you when you enter the building. "I am Tarkas, first citizen of Tars," he says. You learn that he and his fellow officers fled here to Freeport when their home city of Tars was destroyed by the legions of Kingshome. Tars was previously the foremost city of the Isle of Forelorn. Now Tars is a sad ruin, while Purgatory passes for the isle's only city. If you explore the ruins of Tars, Tarkas says, be sure to seek the hidden chambers beneath the city - they might still contain fabulous treasures.
Tarkas grows animated as he speaks, accidentally smashing a table as he excitedly flails his arms. "I tell you, Namtar found a way to usurp control of our dragon! Since Namtar rose Kingshome against all of Dilmun, dragons have all but vanished! Namtar controls them somehow...but no man can control the saurians without paying a terrible price. If someone could learn what he's done with the dragons - and learn how to wrest their control from Namtar...then Kingshome would learn a thing or two!!"
57) This simple hall serves as the community meeting place for the citizens of Freeport. You are greeted by minor city officials who welcome you to their town and eagerly ask you for information of the war in Dilmun. "These are dark days," the official says. "Soon Kingshome will control all of Dilmun, then Namtar will cast his evil gaze toward the Eastern Isle and our fair city."
The official scratches his head. "Its odd," he says. My father was an advisor to the court of King Drake at Kingshome. He said Drake was a peaceful old man. His son, Jordan of Byzanople, was a regular firebrand...but not Drake. Why suddenly make war on his neighbors? It doesn't make sense...Namtar must have poisoned him." The official shrugs. "I wonder if something's happened to him. King Drake hadn't been seen in public for over a year when I was last in Phoebus, and that was some time ago. Maybe something happened to him"
58) After a long wait, you shuffle onto the block with a host of other unfortunates. You are in better shape than the poor wretches that surround you, and your group is instantly the subject of spirited bidding. You shudder as you are sold to a man with a fat neck for more gold than you are likely to see in a lifetime.
You are led away from the slave auction and linked on to another by a continuous sequence of chains and collars. Presently your new master appears and introduces himself. "I am Master Mog," he says. "From this moment on, I am your mother, I am your father, I am your God, I am your world. I am Mog - Mog is All. Abandon all hope of freedom. You are my property, to do with as I please."
Mog leaves you to the hands of his slave bosses, who spend the next several weeks attempting to break your spirit. During this time you are loaded aboard a painfully slow cog and sail to Master Mog's estate. You are afforded a brief glimpse of Mog's luxurious palace before you are led beneath the earth and introduced to Mog's salt mines.
Then begins a mind-numbing series of repetitious chores. You are not permitted to leave the mines. You work, sleep and eat in the same series of identical tunnels, never permitted to see the sun.
59) You are admitted to the camp an immediately pressed into service. The army makes no attempt to provision or train you - it's evident they consider you a band of cutthroats, and that they like you just the way you are.
You are billeted in a siege camp located a few miles south of the walled city of Byzanople, which for months has stubbornly resisted the enlightenment of joining the unjustified Kingshomer Empire under Namtar and King Drake. The besieging Kingshomer army is preparing to take the city by storm. You are to be amoung the waves of unfortunates they wish to send over the wall. You may not take kindly to this idea, but there are many more of them than there are of you, and this is no opportunity to desert.
60) These cramped quarters serve as a home for Mog's unfortunate slaves. Men sleep fitfully on the cold rock floor, encumbered by the stout chains that bind them to one another. An examination of your companions proves your chains will never be removed - some of the sleeping men are still chained to companions who have long since passed away.
61) The dying man gratefully gulps water from your cup. "You are angels,", he says. "I want to die, but not alone, and certainly not thirsty!" The man wipes his mouth with his wrist. His parched lips crack and smear his wrist with blood. "Not much longer," he says with a wan smile. "When I'm gone, I want you to have these." The dying man shows you his boots. The soles are entirely worn away, but the tops are still secured by stout leather laces. "The boots aren't much good, but the laces are strong - maybe you can do something with them." The old man is abruptly siezed with a coughing fit. You know the end is near. "I hope you fare better then me," he croaks.
62) The last of the guards drops dead and silence claims the mines. A ladder leads up out of the salt mines. In the dim distance you can see sunlight for the first time in uncountable hours, days, or months. Freedom is at hand. But what awaits you at the top of the shafts?
63) Several people are huddled around a fire. One of them offers you some stew which you eagerly accept - it's bland and watery, but it's the first food you have had in days and you eat every drop. After your meal you doze off by the fire, grateful to at last be in the company of charity and good will. When you awaken, you feel as if you've been reborn.
64) You stand before the gleaming city of Lansk. The streets are clean, the people are orderly, and while the city is walled, there is no gate. None of the busy citizens you spy carries a weapon. The city shows no sign of war or occupation. However, it does seem like a very rich place, and you can detect a faint smell of dragon in the air...
65) This guard room is occupied by several menacing men who stand when you enter. "Well...look at this," one of them sneers. "Our prisoners have 'escaped'. We have to 'recapture' them - perhaps several times." The guards begin to close in. "Remember, men, these prisoners were tryin to escape...we won't be accused of beating prisoners in their cells again!"
66) This is Phoebus' incredible Temple of the Sun, renown all across the world of Oceana. The sun's warm rays shine into an open atrium, bathing the broad leaves of a variety of exotic heliotropic plants. Acolytes of the temple are busy about on mysterious tasks. The floor is inscribed with a gold design depicting the motion of Oceana and her sister planets. From some unseen chamber you hear the soothing sound of running water.
A gold curtain swings aside and a short, swarthy man enters the chamber. He is dressed in blue robes inscribed with stars and moons, and wears a pointed cap. It seems the man very much wants to look like a wizard, but has no idea of what wizards actually look like.
"I am Mystalvision, High Priest of the Temple of the Sun," says the wizard in a comically high and wet voice. "You are to be commended for making it this far. I don't care that you cracked out of Purgatory, but your behavior since entering my city has been intolerable." Mystalvision snaps his fingers, and several cruel gentlemen dressed all in black appear out of nowhere. "Namtar's Strosstrupen would like to ask you some questions," Mystalvision sneers. "I should ask you to come along quietly, but it will be more fun to do this the hard way."
67) This is an open-air slave market, filled with the cry of fleshmongers and the laughter of a perfumed crowd. Here men and women are for sale - people such as yourselves - to the jaded residents of the Dilmun interior.
From the gate of the slave market you watch as several young men are auctioned off. They seem less healthy than yourselves - maybe they've been in the city longer than you. It seems a sad way out of this place, to make yourself a slave...but isn't anything better than a life of misery and slow death in the streets of Purgatory?
You scan the crowd, anxious to measure the character of citizens of the Dilmun interior. Their faces seem cruel and aristrocratic, with a faint hint of the more-than-human. Here and there you spot a face that seems kinder than the most, but if you were on the block, what guarantee would you have of receiving a kind master? Could you truly live with yourself as a slave?
There is a long line of lost souls waiting for the auction block. Nothing will stop you should you decide to join them.
