364 lines
17 KiB
Plaintext
364 lines
17 KiB
Plaintext
===( scrolls of serenia :issue #3: -May!- )==============================
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-An On-Going Anthology-
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,a&$$$&a, ,a&$$$&a, ssss. ,a&$$$&a, ,a&$$$&a, $&a, ,a&$$$&a,
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$$$$ $$$$ $$$$ $$$$ $$$$$'aS$$a. $$$$ $$$$ $$$$ $$$$ $$$$ $&"' $$$$
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$$$' `$$$ $$$ $ $$$$$ `S$$S' $$$ $ $$$$ $$$$ $$$$ ,aaa$$$$
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$$' `$$ $$$ , $$$$$ $$$ $$$$ $$$$ $$$$ $$$$ $$$$
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$$ $ $$$Sa, $$$$$ $$$Sa, $$$$ $$$$ $$$$ $$$$ $$$$
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$$$$Sas. $$$ $$$$$ $$$ . $$$$ $$$$ $$$$ $$$$ $$$$
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`S$$S$$Ss $$$ $$$$$ $$$ $$$$ $$$$ $$$$ $$$$ $$$$
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$$$$$ $$$ $$$$$ $$$ $$$$ $$$$ $$$$ $$$$ $$$$
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s `$$$$ $$$ $$$$$ $$$ $$$$ $$$$ $$$$ $$$$ $$$$
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$, `$$$ $$$ ' $$$$$ $$$ ' $$$$ $$$$ $$$$ $$$$ $$$$
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$Ss. `$$ $$$. .aS$ $$$$$ $$$. .aS$ $$$$ $$$$ $$$$ $$$$ $$$$
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`"&$$$&"' `"&$$$&"' `"ý"' `"&$$$&"' `"&$ $&"' $&"' `"&$$$$$$
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-The Scrolls of Serenia-
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(LFiN.sOs)
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ú ú -Ä-Ä-ÄÄÄ-ÄÄÄÄÄ-ÄÄÄÄÄúÄ/\/Äú Editorial úÄ\/\ÄúÄÄÄÄÄ-ÄÄÄÄ-ÄÄÄ-Ä-Ä-- ú ú
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Welcome to the third (yup, count em - one, 2, uhm, three!) issue
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of the Scrolls of Serenia. I'm not sure exactly how many (if
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any) people have been checking out SoS, but lately I have been
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getting some replies (which is better than none) about how the
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zine is definitely a good idea, and how most people aren't sure
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they've seen anything like it before.
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That's good...
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I think...
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Anyway, I personally think that SoS is proceeding nicely and I
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would love to hear from anyone out there about what they think.
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I don't currently have an internet email address, but you can
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email Belial (his address later) and he will definitely route
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your comments directly to me.
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***Note to first-issue readers***
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Well, if you're reading this and are at all interested, you
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should take the time to look around for the previous releases of
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SoS (issues #1 and 2) so that you don't get any more lost than
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you _will_ be after you're done reading this issue.
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***Note to first-issue readers***
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This month, I handled the ascii (as I did first issue, and
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Belial donated one for issue #2), which I think came out
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somewhat nicely. The first issue's ascii plainly sucked, and so
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I couldn't embarrass myself or SoS by making another punk-ascii
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for the second issue.
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Oh, and btw, I have officially changed my handle from "Warlock"
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to Lord Finesse, so now all o you flaming idi0ts can find out
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which of the thousands of Warlocks I really am...
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But... Like I say every time at about this time, eenuff about
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me, get to tha damned zine!
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ú ú -Ä-Ä-ÄÄÄ-ÄÄÄÄÄ-ÄÄÄÄúÄ/\/Äú Reyhan úÄ\/\ÄúÄÄÄÄ-ÄÄÄÄ-ÄÄÄ-Ä-Ä-- ú ú
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ú ú -Ä-Ä-ÄÄÄ-ÄÄÄÄ-ÄÄÄÄúÄ/\/Äú iii úÄ\/\ÄúÄÄÄÄ-ÄÄÄÄ-ÄÄÄ-Ä-Ä-- ú ú
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_______
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|__ __| --+> ThReE è pArt I <+--
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|_|‰lk slept quietly and at peace. He slept all through that
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night and into the next day. I wondered when and if he would wake
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up. He seemed to be in a state of madness while he slept, yet his
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words and conversations stopped in the first night of his sleep.
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Then, on the third day of his sleep, he woke. His awakening,
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however, was not nearly as subtle as his sleep.
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He rose from his bed and greeted me, saying, "Ah! Ray, my man.
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Hurry! We must be off soon. Pack your trail gear, we must be
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off!"
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I asked T‰lk if he had been feeling alright, what with his
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previous illness and the scene in the square, and he calmed down
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a bit to "explain" past events to me.
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"My dear Reyhan, since my, [ehem], `encounter' with the angel in
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the square, my illness has healed during my sleep..."
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I accepted that, and I then asked him about this "being off" and
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the like.
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"Ah, that. Listen to me Ray, what I'm about to tell you might be
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a little, eh, hard to believe..." and with that, the event in the
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forest replayed itself in the back of my mind, "and all I can do
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is hope that you will believe me and follow me.
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"You see, while my body slept here, at home, my soul was taken
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away to meet with Geldrion, of the makers, and I was told that I
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had to fulfill a destiny and that you were to come with me.
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Everything that Geldrion told me I can't remember all now, but
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it slowly makes itself evident to me the longer I'm awake."
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I looked at him, dumbfounded and confused.
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"Ray?"
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"Yo, Ray?"
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"Raaaay?..."
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I stood there for a minute, taking all he has just told me in
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and applying it to the already-past events, and thus coming to
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the conclusion that I had nothing else to do, so...
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"aww, ahight. Since I got nothin better to do, and because I
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need a good workout," I put my hands together and cracked my
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knuckles, "I think my skills are gettin a little rusty."
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__ __ --+> ThReE è pArt II <+--
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| |_| |
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\_____/hile I chose to sleep and gather my strength that night,
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T‰lk stayed up for what I gathered to be all night, mapping routes
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and making plans for people to meet, places to stay, and other
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little odds and ends that we had to take care of during this
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quest which we were ready to set off upon.
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The next morning, T‰lk and I went to the town gates with our
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packs, threw them over, and we clambered over ourselves. Once
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outside the town, we began our trek, heading north.
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Soon after our leave of Andrion, we encountered the first of
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those "little" odds and ends I had anticipated.
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We traveled through the forest of Andrion, and when we came to
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the clearing, T‰lk pushed me into a bush and pulled me down. I
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began to speak and he made a quick gesture motiononing for me to
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shut up.
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I noticed he was intently watching something in the clearing,
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and as my sight followed his, I noticed a man, a bounty
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hunter-like character, kneeling down sniffing the ground and
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running his hands over foot tracks.
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T‰lk, eyes still fixed on the hunter, wispered, "Friend of
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yours?"
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I, somehow unnerved by his question, then looked at the man
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again and found that I did, in fact, know him.
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Of all the other rival hunters I had, Danno had been the largest
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pain in my ass for the longest time. They called him `The
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Relentless'; I mean, damn, where he came from, his _name_
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meant damage.
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"shit."
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"Heh. I thought so. But you can handle him, right?" T‰lk said,
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looking at me with a weak smirk on his face.
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"Handle? Why, whatever do you mean my good man?" I said
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mockingly in return, knowing what response was coming.
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"To tell you the truth, he is in possession of something we
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need."
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"And what would that be T‰lken, hm? Maybe a magic wand, or a
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golden scepter? What could it possibly be?"
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"No. It's a Pentagram."
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"A Penta-what!@? You want me to just outright take this guy for a
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Pentagram? Maybe you don't realize who this is. This is Danno
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The Rel-"
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"...you sound intimidated..."
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"I am NOT intimidated, I mean, god-damn T‰lk, the guy's name
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means damage!" I shouted, forgetting the devil I spoke of which
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stood in the clearing but a few paces from where we stood.
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At that point, T‰lk looked back into the clearing and
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frantically stood up. I spun my head toward the clearing and
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then I knew why. Danno was gone. This was bad.
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"Gone?" T‰lk said, dumbfounded.
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"Nah, he's hangin around here somewhere." I came up behind T‰lk,
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who was now standing in the middle of the clearing, and motioned
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for him to shut up. I opened my cloak, and handled the short
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sword with my left, putting my right hand in my small satchel and
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pulling a dagger.
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Danno himself wasn't the smallest or the lightest of hunters,
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but he was good. Not good enough, however, to move through the
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trees unnoticed by, say, another hunter.
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Danno himself was half Dwarf and half Man. No dwarf by himself
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could be a hunter, they're not at all gifted with stealth. Me,
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well, I'm mostly human, but I got just enough elven blood in me
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to get by.
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I strained to listen, but I could hear nothing. As a hunter, it
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would seem that Danno is sitting still.
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It was worse than I thought.
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No hunter sits still in a tree unless either he's sleeping, he's
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watching, or he's got backup. I doubted the first two and the
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latter was the only option left.
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I looked around slowly, completely calm. Gettin' hyped up before
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little rumble has been the death of many good fighters.
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Then I heard a small wisper from the trees, "ugh. ray?" the voice
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said in light disbelief. Danno dropped from the tree and drew
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his sword. "Ah my good friend Reyhan; the Royal Assassin! har-
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har!" His men dropped shortly after and he waved them off.
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Turning only his head around toward them, he said, "This is
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nothing I cannot handle. Go twiddle your fingers ar something."
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Then he turned back towards me, glaring intently and grinning
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slightly, expecting a battle.
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I presently motioned for T‰lk to back off and he, unlike Danno's
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peons, he silently understood and retreated to the edge of the
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clearing. "Nothing would please me more, and nothing would make
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my day more complete than to relieve you of the useless mass
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upon your shoulders, but my companion and I need something from
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you."
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And then Danno stopped his glaring, sheathed his sword, and
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spread his cheeks with a wicked smile. "And what would that be,
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my fine fighter?"
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"Professional."
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"Oh, well then, I apologize. Maybe you should not be so forward
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when it is you who wants from me, eh, 'professional'?"
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"A, <ehem>, a Pentagram." I said.
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"Ah," and his eyes lit up an illustrious and wicked red, "_my_
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pentagram. Well then, my good man, I will be needing something
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in return then, won't I now?" I knew he had a high asking price
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for his services, but I knew Danno wasn't greedy, and that he
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wasn't wanting money...
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<+--| Reyhan :4: Next Issue! |--+>
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ú ú -Ä-Ä-ÄÄÄ-ÄÄÄÄ-ÄÄÄúÄ/\/Äú Natural Wonders úÄ\/\ÄúÄÄÄ-ÄÄÄÄ-ÄÄÄ-Ä-Ä-- ú ú
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ú ú -Ä-Ä-ÄÄÄ-ÄÄÄÄ-ÄÄÄúÄ/\/Äú iii úÄ\/\ÄúÄÄÄ-ÄÄÄÄ-ÄÄÄ-Ä-Ä-- ú ú
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So there I was. Laying close to madness in a foreign place that
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I've never seen before.
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Oh yeah, and there was this guy standing there. It was that old
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guy from the last dream I had. I looked up at him with a
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confused look.
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He stood there, hands behind his back, and hunched over to a
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small extent.
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"I have brought you here because there are forces working
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against that which you must do. They attempt to rob you of your
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possession and use it to their advantage..."
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"Forces?...they?...uh...possession?" I was completely jumbled
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by the move from where, eh, from wherever I was, to, eh,
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wherever I am now.
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"All will be explained in due time. Hmm. Perhaps you do not
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understand the, eh, magnitude of your situation.
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The "forces" which act against you are that of an evil demi-
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god, Neim. "They" are his minions and servants, the shadows
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and all things of dark Serenia, which Neim named the Dark
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Sovereigns. Unfortunately, they've already found you and now
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you must confront them or your mission will fail."
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"soff-er-ins?" I replied again, still feeling displaced.
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The man sighed, and kneeled down to me, looking me in the eyes.
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He mumbled to himself, "it's the only way we ever get anything
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understood ... these mortals just can't handle the jump."
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And with that he softly put his hands on my head. He had one over
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each ear, holding the side of my head and he was looking deep into
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my eyes, and then, without warning, I knew. I knew everything.
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For atleast one split second, I had a complete realization of
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everything everywhere. I knew of the nothing that existed before
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the Makers, I knew of Ll„n, of the other Makers, and at last, I
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knew of my mission. Clearly note that I still wasn't all too
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thrilled about it, but I did know.
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Then the man released his hands and looked away, giving my mind
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a rest so that it wouldn't burst. I looked up at him and, at
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that point, I had had a "moment of clarity" as some drunkards
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call it. I knew that this man was no man at all, that he was
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Geldrion, the Lord of the Makers, and now, if Serenia was to be
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saved, I had to obey him.
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Geldrion stood up again and said to me, "You now hold a part of
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me inside you. Not only do you possess the knowledge I have
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given you, but other gifts as well. Use these to help you in
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your mission, and save you and those with you. These I give to
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you in the name of Ll„n and all the Makers. May godspeed be with
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you."
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Once again, like it had before, reality began to blur and a
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maddening howl came from every direction, until I was back in
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the alley, surrounded by the Dark Sovereigns.
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Damnitall! I put my face in my hands and hoped this was all
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a dream; though I doubted it...
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<+--| natural wonders :4: Next issue! |--+>
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ú ú -Ä-Ä-ÄÄÄ-ÄÄÄÄ-ÄÄÄúÄ/\/Äú Outro úÄ\/\ÄúÄÄÄ-ÄÄÄÄ-ÄÄÄ-Ä-Ä-- ú ú
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Whelp, there ya go. Another issue of SoS for the books. Oh yeah,
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that reminds me, once we get to the fifth (5th) issue, SoS will
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be releasing a 5-issue "compilation", which will include all of
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the first five issues. We will attempt to do one of these for
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every five issues so that those of you who have the tendancy to
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miss an issue or two here and there will still be able to catch
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up and not miss a thing.
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*** Special Note ***
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Included in the next issue we'll be starting a seperate part of
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the Scrolls, which will be called "Dark Legends". As you may have
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gathered by now, these current stories are from what is called
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the "First Age", in which the creation of the Serenia reality
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and its first encounters with godly evil are explained. The Dark
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Legends side-stories are the explanation of what happens after
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the First Age into the Second Age, and how Serenia has the
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strange tendancy not to be all that serene. My friend and
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part-time writer, LathSpell, will be doing a lot of the writing
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for DL and some of the editing for SoS as well.
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Why will this be seperate from the main Scrolls issue?
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Well, it will be included in the archive, but it will be a
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different file, but I think it will make SoS a lot more simpler
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to keep the storyline if we keep the past (where Scrolls is now)
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in the past, and the future (where Legends is) in the future. It's
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just the natural order of things =)
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What'll be so different between the First Age and the Second Age
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storylines?
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In the First Age storyline, there are 3 main stories: creation,
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which is the "narration" of what is happening throughout the
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other stories, Reyhan, which is one man's account of the
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*** Special Note ***
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btw - should you feel fit to get in contact with SoS,
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(interested in writing, donating ascii, donations in general,
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etc.) you can either email myself or LathSpell on any board you
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might see us around on... (Including alderAAn or Avalon)
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ÕÄÍÄÍÄÍÄÍÄÍÄÍĸ
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ÃÄú eof!@#$ úÄ´
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ÔÄÍÄÍÄÍÄÍÄÍÄÍľ
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