Valour needs first strength, and then a weapon.
- Boromir
9. The Essence Sire Strikes Back
As their eyelids grew heavy, Onyx in a cozy room at the Friendly Arm Inn, Jade in the above-ground guest bedroom of Kagain's Beregost residence, their thoughts were upon the same shared memory.
Gorion, the warm, bearded sage, sat in a loose brown cloak, his young wards sitting cross-legged on the thick carpet near his desk, peering up at him with eager children's eyes.
"The Weave is what gives a mage his power," the sage explained. "It's a magical field created by all living things. It surrounds us and penetrates us. It binds the multiverse together."
"Do not be too ready to strike down another, whatever your differences or reasons, be they good or evil; the Weave binds us together as in a circle, and what we send forth returns."
Their father spoke on, of optimism and caution, reason and intuition, justice and compassion, and the boy and the girl paid steadfast attention...
...But in the present world, drifted off to sleep.
Onyx and Jade found themselves, and each other, outside the familiar stone walls of Candlekeep. Their former home loomed before them, but the gate was closed and barred. They looked up at one of the towers, and could see candles burning out of the windows of their old adjacent windows, like two eyes peering down at them. Two golden glowing eyes, like those of the armored man.
Onyx smiled with fond memories of home, Jade felt mixed feelings within herself. Both were frightened and surprised when the candles went out, and the bricks grew together, like wounds healing at an unnatural pace, closing over the windows, and now the walls stood over them, utterly solid, almost smug, conspiring to keep them away. Faint vibrations, almost like deep laughter, seemed to resonate from the rigid stones.
A shaft of bright light descended between them and the closed gate, and in it stood Gorion, but the sight was not comforting, for he was withered and dead in the dream, as in life. "You cannot go back, my children," he cried to them, "You must go on!"
The ghostly sage them gestured to the wilderness, and the youths looked that way, into the black woods, as if it should be inviting, but rather it looked quite forboding, although Jade and also Onyx felt some curiosity. They peered through it, looking for paths, and gradually one opened before them, clear and inviting, and almost itself seemed to pull at them, promising to lead them away from the lives they led, for the best. Both youths found this greeting suspicious, but as Gorion faded away and nothing was left for them behind, they found themselves half-charging, and half pushed by some unseen force, down the path, filled with both curiosity and fear.
And then, the one path diverged to two, each equally clear and inviting, yet therefore suspect. Onyx and Jade exchanged glances, for he slightly favored one of the paths, as did she, and they saw in each others' eyes these were not the same.
And then they were swept onward, down different paths, stealing glances back at each other, but then turned each away to look ahead, for their paths had diverged.
Whispers followed them as they ran away. The voice was vengeful and sinister, and it felt familiar, yet he knew they had never heard it.
"You will learn..."
As the voice spoke, they saw the death of Gorion over and over again, seared into their minds in the dream as it was in life.
"You will learn..."
Onyx didn't look back.
Jade got used to it.
-------
Onyx kept running and running, lost in throught, and when he regained awareness of himself and his surroundings, found himself standing in a strange metallic room, the light faint and unnatural, steam rising from the floor. From across the room, a dark shape, faint but large, emerged, and strode forward into view. A towering figure in dark armor, with glowing eyes. It drew forth a large sword, glowing red with malice, and Onyx looked down to see a blue-glowing holy avenger in his own hand.
The armored figure, breathing heavily, laughed. "The essence is with you, young Onyx. But you are hardly a knight yet."
Both warriors moved forward, their magical swords bright, and crossed blades. Onyx found himself filled with great conviction, and his killer instincts were acute as they never had been before. But his opponent was calm, skilled, parrying each blow, but not quite able to land a counterstrike.
The figure bellowed, both angered and amused. Perhaps proud. "Impressive...most impressive."
The dark warrior redoubled his efforts, and Onyx felt an enchanted tingle about him, a mesmeric aura of pure fear, as he had felt and so easily given in to only the night before, gripped in mindless panic, leaving Gorion to die. Now, this time, as he continued to strike and parry, his instincts now in full control, his conscious mind was occupied maintaining sheer force of will against the oppressive curtain of fear that descended upon it. His mind repeated to itself the vow he had made, while his arms wielded his holy avenger with a grace he had no right to possess, and this thoughts slid to the edge of fear, but not over.
"I see Gorion has taught you well," the golden-eyed figure bellowed.
The flood of fear, swirling across all corners of his thoughts, grew only more torrential, and he sweated with the effort of strongholding his mind against it. His vow, his honor, were just enough to keep it at bay, and his instincts took all hold of his body, and had him crouch and jump higher than any mortal man has a right to, clear over his nemesis's head, landing on his other side and nearly cleaving him with the holy avenger, but barely blocked by the dull red blade.
"You are beaten," The figure growled, and now easily drove back Onyx, who struggled to fight as he held himself against both anger and fear, now knowing he could not use one against the other, and what was left of him seemed ill a match for both. "It is useless to resist. Don't let yourself be destroyed as Gorion was."
The armored man drove him back, through an archway in the room, and out onto a steel bridge that stretched over nothingness; a vast column of air in some great hollow stone tower, the faraway walls lined with stone statues of all manner of humanoid. The golden-eyed monster drove Onyx further and further back along the bridge, toward where it terminated in the very center of the tower, which stretched up and down further than the eyes could see.
"There is no escape," the armored figure's voice echoed across the void. "Don't make me destroy you. You do not yet realize your importance. You have only begun to discover you power. Join me. Give in to me."
"Never!" Onyx cried, his holy avenger flashing, but his opponent bellowed, sidestepped his swing, and cleft through the young paladin's right forearm. Onyx cried as his right hand and the sword it gripped went flying into the void, and he lurched back, his maimed arm tucked under his left shoulder, beaten, his balance and control gone. He crumpled at the edge end of the bridge, and slipped off it, catching the edge with his left hand.
"If you only knew the power of the essence," the figure laughed, striding slowly and purposefully to the edge where Onyx hung by one hand, looking down. "Onyx. You can destroy Cyric. He has forseen this. It is your destiny. Join me, and we shall rule the multiverse together as father and son."
"No!" Onyx cried, dangling, looking up at the figure desperately. "You killed my father!"
The armored man laughed, peering down with his golden eyes, upon the face within his grotesque helmet. And Onyx, studying the face for the first time, realized this was not the same man who had slain Gorion. Similar, but fitting more comfortably in his ghastly armor, his bearing more regal. Older.
This figure bellowed, and pointed one mailed finger down toward the young man. "No, Onyx...."
"....I AM YOUR FATHER!"
"Nooooooooooo!!!" Onyx cried, and lost his grip, and fell into the void.
He fell and fell, the many statues ringing the walls of the stone tower racing past him, and they grew closer as he fell, a cone, then a tube, and at last they were all around him, and he fell past the last ones, and the bottom of the tower, which hung over true nothingness.
His remaining hand gripped a spire that jutted from the underside of the floating tower, and he hung there, nearly unconscious, whispering, "Gorion....Lathander...Jondalar...." and then, as his mind slid into blackness, he knew none could help him here. Though only his heart yet knew why, there was one and only one he could call too now.
"Imoen! Hear me! Imoen!"
Onyx stirred uncomfortably in his sleep, mumbling, "Imoen...hear me....Imoen..." Imoen lay fast asleep herself, one arm slung over him, and his wrapped around her, her head resting on his chest.
Imoen was skipping through a field of grass and pink flowers. The sunshine smiled at her, and squirrels and rabbits scurried about, but stopped to look at her in greeting. Then, with a squeal of delight, she saw a pure white unicorn galloping over the field. It slowed to a trot as it came closer, and stopped before her, letting her pet it on the muzzle.
"Ooo," Imoen's eyes were wide with excitement. "My very own unicorn!" The equestrian whinnied happily. "Amalthea? What a pretty name!" Imoen felt both as if she had chosen and known the unicorn's name, that confluence of good dreams. "Why yes, I would love to go for a ride!"
Amalthea knelt, and Imoen happily bounced up on her back, and then broke into a canter that was utterly smooth, and Imoen laughed with glee, feeling as if she were riding the wind itself over the endless sea of pink flowers.
"Imoen! Hear me! Imoen!"
Imoen looked up at the sky. "Onyx?" She looked around. "Where are you?" She looked down at Amalthea, who gave a worried whinny. "It's Ony! He's in trouble!"
Imoen somehow knew that Amalthea understood, and the unicorn galloped forward, then leapt off the ground, sprouting angelic white wings, and flew higher and higher, the field disappearing beneath them. Imoen gasped with fright and clung to Amalthea's neck as the sky grew dark and everything beneath became a swirling void. She looked forward, and saw a great stone tower hovering over it, and as they grew closer, could see a single spire protruding down from its base, and a nearly lifeless figure clutching it with one hand.
"Onyx!" Imoen cried as her friend dropped from the spire, and as if reading her thoughts, Amalthea swooped down in a great arc, and the young man fell and fell before them, and without one second to spare Amalthea soared across his trajectory, and he landed across her back, nearly in Imoen's lap, barely conscious but reaching up to clutch both of her hands with his left.
"Imoen..." he opened one eye and smiled at her.
"Onyx..." Imoen cried in her sleep.
"Imoen..." Onyx mumbled, and his left hand reached up to clasp hers.
At once, they both awoke, and sprung up in bed. Onyx clutched his right forearm protectively, then wiggled his fingers, and looked with great relief at his intact hand. "A dream..." he whispered breathily, and exhaled.
"Ooo, I had a weird one myself," Imoen declared sleepily, and looked with concern at her friend. She saw he was okay, the events leading up to their arrival and lodging at the Friendly Arm Inn returned to her, and she sighed with relief.
"Really?" Onyx looked at her, blinking, himself regaining awareness of the real world.
"You first," Imoen smiled.
------
Jade ran on and on and on, and when she became aware of herself again, found her surroundings foreign. She stood in an ancient ruin, broken white stones beneath her feet, and scattered doric columns and crossbeams of stone jutting up around her. Strangest of all, beyond the ruin was nothingness, no walls or land, only a sky of fire.
She saw a figure approaching from down a ruined roadway lined by broken columns, a woman, as tall and strong as herself, but with a stride that spoke of more confidence and age. She wore a tight green suit that proudly contoured her muscular body, knee-high boots of gold, and gauntlets that made her hands large golden claws, and in one of them she held a long forked spear. She wore a golden circlet, and white feathers stuck out from the back of it, framing her reddish-brown hair.
As if willed by Jade's own defensive instincts, she looked down to see a large hand-and-a-half sword in her right hand, and a shield in her left.
The tall woman stopped, held her spear low in her right hand, and raised her left clawed guantlet. She laughed, a deep, womanly, and supremely confident laugh, and pointed a single finger at Jade. "I'll get you, my pretty, and your little mage too."
Jade snarled and wordlessly strode forward, raising her sword high to cleave this mad woman in two. Her opponent, smirking, took a wide step backwards, flipping her polearm around herself artfully and bracing it thrust forward, catching Jade's sword within the fork. The woman let go with her left hand, and raked her massive metal claws across Jade's face, leaving several deep scratches. The girl winced and drew backwards, angry but afraid.
"All to easy," the woman bellowed, "Perhaps you are not as strong as my lord thought."
Jade snarled, her fear giving way to anger, and pulled her sword over her left shoulder, and swung forward across her own body. The woman flipped her spear to catch with the fork again, but Jade then pushed her shield forward, glanced the fork downward, and brought her blade forward, slashing shallowly over the woman's collar.
"You have controlled your fear," the woman held her mouth in a tight smile, wounded but obviously pleased. "Now release your anger."
Jade lunged as her opponent drew back, beating each of her spear thrusts aside with blade or shield, and making her own attacks, thrusts rather than swings, more difficult to catch, and she did not hit the woman again, but drove her back and back over the stones, past the columns. As they fought, Jade ever advancing, they passed by the last of the columns and the sprawling ruins, and went out onto an aqueduct-like stone bridge that stretched over the fiery void.
The woman now redoubled her efforts, holding her spear in an aggressive stance, across herself like a quarterstaff, knocking edge of sword or shield aside with the shaft, and raked each forked end across Jade's unarmored body several times, drawing blood. Jade's mind faltered, intimidated and angered by the realization that this woman had only been holding back all along.
"Only your hatred can destroy me," the woman stated, her voice echoing from nowhere.
These words angered Jade, but that seemed to be the woman's intent, and desire, and that only angered her further, and she found herself obeying them in her desire to disobey. At last she was consumed only with the thought of running her through, of ending it. The woman's spear came forward, but instead of letting it glance off her shield as it would have, Jade let go of her shield, and it dropped to the stones. The spear pierced air, and the woman faltered forward.
"KAAAIIII!"
Jade screamed as she did not know she could, taking her sword in a two-handed grip, feeling it like an extension of herself and pushing it forward at the unabalanced woman. It buried itself cleanly between her breasts, and Jade did not stop screaming or thrusting with all her might until it was up to the hilt.
The woman only cooed with an air of maternal pride, let go of her spear, and brought her clawed hands up and raked over Jade's face, bloodying it until the girl retreated, letting go of her sword and moving her hands to her face. The bastard sword falling from her chest and the wound healing at a gesture, the woman kicked Jade's exposed stomach with a golden boot with such force that the girl lost all balance, and sunk to her knees, holding her mutilated face.
The woman stood over the girl. Her air was menacing but her voice mothering. "You do not yet realize your importance, my girl. You have only begun to discover you power. Join me and I will complete your training. Gorion never told you of your true mother."
"He told me enough!" Jade cried, seeing blood through her vision as she looked up at the woman, who gave a come-hither gesture with a monstrous claw. "Birthing me my mother died!"
The woman tossed her scarlet-brunette hair back, and laughed throatily. "No, Jade..."
"...I AM YOUR MOTHER!"
"Noooooooo!!" Jade screamed like a girl half her age.
The woman reached down, dug her claws into Jade's torso in a cruel mockery of a mother's embrace, and flung her into the fiery void.
The young lady called out to no one.
Jade tossed and turned in her sleep, her bed drenched in sweat. Nearby, Xzar lay upon a slablike cot, in a mummy's pose of eternal rest, his arms folded over his chest, his body deathly still, his face in a rictus grin.
Xzar was skipping merrilly through a festering wasteland, jets of flame spurting up from a ground made of piled bones. Razorblade-pelated flowers grew from the banks of a river of blood, and a petrified tree bore 'fruit' of skulls.
The young necromancer grinned with fiendish delight as out of the sky of fire and lightning, swooped a small demonic creature. With a blackish-crimson leathery hide, claws, batwings, a scorpion's tail, and a grotesque horned face, it looked like some pint-sized glabrezu.
Xzar clapped his hands and peered down at the creatue. "Oh, a quasit! How wonderful! Now Monty can tease someone else about their height for a change!"
"Ah, shove it," the little fiend grimaced, and held out its right foreclaw, "Name's Bub. Be'el Z. Bub. Let's cut to the chase - here's my resume."
A human-flesh scroll materalized in the air over its head, and unfurled itself for Xzar to read:
Be'el Z. Bub
Quasit Extraordinaire
Skills: Mischief, Sneakery, Mayhem, Fright, Carnage, General Sowing of Chaos & Evil
Current Employer: Cyric
Previous Employers: Demogorgon, Bhaal
Education: Abyssal University, 666th Layer Campus
"That's right," Bub grinned with what was probably pride, but came across more like ravenous hunger for manflesh, "After Boss Demogorgon got locked away by the Helmites - for divine-power-tax evasion of all things! Those hypocritical heavyhanded swine - I went to work for Bhaal, in the weapons department with Cespanar-nar Blinks - oh man, I hated that guy - 'Mesa gonna remind you we needs more gold!' 'Wesa gonna be scrubbin' Bhaal's spiky armor now' 'why yousa looking like you wants to strangle mee?' - anyway, after Cyric's hostile takeover of the Lord of Murder's portfolio, I say if ya can't beat 'em, join 'em, so I go work for the Prince of Lies sowing misinformation around the other Planes. Hooboy, I got this one gig recently where I was postmarking a dead horse's head from the Council of Six and leaving it in Duke Eltan's bed, and postmarking the other six chunks of it from Duke Eltan and leaving them under the sheets of the Council of Six, and boy has that ever caused a misunderstanding..."
"Very nice," Xzar cooed, "But the lollipop dukes will want to know what..."
The young necromancer was cut off by a young woman's shriek resonating across the horrific landscape.
Bub cried, "Danger, Xzar of Candlekeep, Danger!"
The quasit's leathery wings flapped and it flew up and over Xzar's head, gripped his shoulders and belt with its claws, and lifted the young man into the air. "Up, up, and away!"
"Jade!" Xzar screamed, recognizing the crying voice. "It's her!" His mind raced, and he somehow knew, as one does in dreams, what do to. "Bub! Target humanoid sonic vocal resonance coordinates pronto!'
"Captain!" Bub rasped as they flew higher above the wasteland, "I detect signature pattern from the delta-quadrant of the Astral Plane. Recommend we set course at warp seven or nine."
"Make it so, number Z!" Xzar pushed his fists forward in a flying pose, and the quasit's wings flattened out, and they zoomed forward, everything around them stretching into lines of light, and when they slowed down, there was naught but a fiery void about them, save for a floating stone structure far above. Jade's voice came from above, much louder, and growing only more so.
Xzar was pointing upwards, but then the air around them started to waver, and Bub hissed, "Captain! Something's decloaking off the starboard bow!"
The wavering shapes materialized into fluffy white things with large ears stretched out like wings.
"Oh no!!" Xzar shrieked. "Rabbits of Prey!"
"Recommend defensive manuevers," Bub cried as six flying hares closed in.
"Raise shields!" Xzar cried and flailed, but his voice and arms grew calm, fluid, in the gestures and syllables for Shield.
"Missiles incoming!" Bub alerted, as the Rabbits of Prey fired Magic Missiles from their beady red eyes, but they fizzled against the shield. "Return fire!"
Xzar cast a pair of magic missiles from open palms, and they vaporized two engaging bunnies on impact. His next blast crossed paths with the harmless missiles of another pair and took them out.
"Missiles depleted!" Bub advised as the last two rabbits bore down, now baring their overgrown teeth.
"Evasive manuevers!" Xzar cried, and Bub swooped out of the way, the rabbits chomping air. The young necromancer flipped two throwing daggers from his belt into his thumbs-and-forefingers. "Setting daggers to KILL!" He tossed one dagger after the other, striking each rabbit in turn, and the vanquished foes vanished.
"Set intercept course!" Xzar pointed upwards to where Jade, now visible, fell through the void. "To boldly go where no necromancer has gone before!" Bub complied, and flapped his batwings. They bore down upon the female form as it plummeted, and Bub swooped down in anticipation of her trajectory. As they closed, Xzar reached out, curled both forearms upwards, and caught her in a picture finish.
Xzar's forearms curled upwards from his sides on the cot. His sleeping face smiled, not wildly or manically, but with restraint and warmth, and he purred.
Nearby, Jade stopped tossing, and hugged her pillow. Her eyes popped open, and she clasped her hands over her face, and for a moment the thick sweat was in her mind blood. But as she moved her fingers over her smooth features, and her eyes peered about the dark room, she regained awareness of the waking world. She sighed, and when Xzar's eyes popped open a moment later and he rose in the straight-backed manner of a vampire from its coffin, they shared a glance through the darkness, each wordlessly wondering the same thing.
To the north, Onyx and Imoen finished sharing their accounts, each not quite sure what to make of their own or the other's.
Imoen rubbed her eyes and yawned. As the first ray of sunlight zinged across the room, she felt a full confidence in her heart of what she had told her friend. They were in this, together, til' the end, come what may.
Onyx blinked, his eyes adjusted to the sunlight, rubbing his scalp through his short hair. He felt flushed with courage, as if his heart pumped it, and as he looked down over his best friend, he knew he would never run in fright from her defense, come what may.
But when his thoughts turned to more mundane concerns and he thought back to the night before, he had a vauge recollection of some reminiscing of his father Gorion, but somehow the memories of exactly what he couldn't find. Saying something? He couldn't remember the words or hear the voice. He drew a blank. As did his sister to the south. Filling the void of their father's voice was the one from their shared dream.
YOU WILL LEARN......
------
"All of them?" Jade, now dressed and up, yelled in disbelief, her voice echoing around the outer room of Kagain's residence.
"You bet yer hide!" Montaron laughed smugly. "While ye was sleepin' like a babe, I did a bit of burglarin'."
"A bit?" Jade asked skeptically, as she stared at the enormous pile of gold, gems, jewelry, weapons, potions, and other filched goods that Montaron had dumped onto the table. The morning sunlight shining through the window glinted off it, and made it look especially covet-worthy. "You just said you burgled every house or shop in town!"
Montaron smiled greasily. "Ye disapprove, Jadey-lass? You be soundin' like ye say that paladin-brother o' yours speaks. Ye wants I should return it to the rightly owners? Forget it!"
"No, no," Jade laughed, as she stared at the pile of wealth. "I'm just shocked by the...volume of thievery you accomplished. Pleasantly surprised. Very pleasantly surprised." From where she sat beside the table, she looked down at him. "Every house in Nashkel?"
"Every house, shop, barn, ye name it!" Montaron chuckled. "And as a special present for ye..." Montaron reached for the table and hefted up a bastard sword that was far longer than longer than he was tall, and handed it to Jade. "It be enchanted."
"Very nice," Jade smiled covetously as she gripped the golden handle of the magically shimmering sword. She stood, and waved it around expertly as if she were already intimately familiar with that particular blade. She instinctively reached for her shield, propped against the table, but then some other instinct had her put the second hand on the handle. She knew she had the strength and the skill to wield this weapon one-handed, but this seemed more right, just her and her weapon. She felt an urge to give a sharp battle-cry, and she knew she would never hide behind a shield again.
""I've actually never possessed an enchanted weapon before," her eyes glistened. "Thank you, Montaron," she patted the halfling on the head like a dog, then winced and wiped the hair-grease off on her leggings.
"Yer welcome, lassy," Montaron hugged her calf and grinned. Jade, sensing harmless intent, smiled back. "Don't thank me," the halfling continued. "Thank Thunderhammer. It be he that 'donated' it. I just...delivered it to ye."
At that moment, a loud thunk sounded from the bedroom, and a green-robed wizard came through the door into the outer room.
"Gold!" Xzar shrieked and clapped his hands with delight. "Jewels! Precious gems and scrolls and weapons! So precious and pretty, o little hoards of happiness! We are rich, rich, rich rich rich rich rich rich rich rich rich!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
"Aye, an enthusiastic but fair assessment, X," Montaron chuckled. "And, X ol' pal, a present from the rich folks in the mansion north o' town, I gots a special present for ye!" With that he pulled a wand off the table and handed it to the wizard.
"Great currents through lillypads rippling with thunder! A wand of lightning-bolting to blast us asunder!" He began to wave the wand around and point it here and there.
"Ah, X," Montaron winced, "Ye best not be tryin' that wand indoors. Even I knows the bolts bounce."
Another figure, short and stout, came waddling up the staircase leading to the subterranean level of the house. When he saw the pile of treasure, his dwarven eyes glinted greedily and he stroked his white beard.
"Well, well," Kagain rasped in his elderly but spritely manner, "Seems at least one of you hobbits understands proper profit-seeking after all."
"Aye, no farmin' and smokin' the pipeweed all day fer Monty," the thief laughed, and pointedly patted his very lean (especially by hobbit standards) stomach.
"Well, Monty, I guess you're good for something," Jade laughed, tossing back her scarlet hair.
"An' for a few more things," Montaron jested to the warrioress.
"Dream on, little boy," Jade laughed in spite of herself, and Montaron shot a truly lusty gaze to the gold. "So tell me, Montaron," she peered down at him skeptically, "What persuaded you to openly share this all with us?"
"Well, it be our deal," Montaron shrugged.
Jade squinted menacingly down at him. "I'd say I don't trust you further than I can throw you, but I could throw you very very far, my hobbit friend."
"Eh," Montaron shrugged, "If we be spelunkin' in the mines, we best all be well-equipped, so I best shares the loot for us to use, to buy stuff with. But I had a little free time just before dawn, so's I did spend some spare gold for the company o' that pretty lass who was loiterin' at night in Beregost square. Oh, she was well worth it though...har har!"
"You little piece of filth!" Jade scowled and looked like she was about to strangle Monty, until Kagain chuckled and slapped his knee.
"Nothin' wrong with a little profit-incentive, I say. Money well spent!" the dwarf wheezed with laughter.
Jade chased Montaron around and around the table, as if itching to try out her new bastard sword. This set off Xzar, who began ballet-dancing around the room and singing about flying crumpets and waterfalls of milk, his green robe flying up to reveal skull-printed undershorts.
-----
Thanks for reading! May the Weave be with you.
"Meet my apprentice, Darth Bhaal..."
"...and Queen Alianna..."
Baldur's Gate/Off - 9 - The Essence Sire Strikes Back
Started by
Guest_Oryx_*
, May 08 2003 09:00 AM
24 replies to this topic
#2
Guest_Hunter_*
Guest_Hunter_*
-
- Guests
Posted 08 May 2003 - 04:07 PM
"The Weave is what gives a mage his power," the sage explained. "It's a magical field created by all living things. It surrounds us and penetrates us. It binds the multiverse together."
Anything else obi-wan?
The armored figure, breathing heavily, laughed. "The essence is with you, young Onyx. But you are hardly a knight yet."
More star-wars.
The figure bellowed, both angered and amused. Perhaps proud. "Impressive...most impressive."
Please stop.
"I see Gorion has taught you well," the golden-eyed figure bellowed.
When is han-solo going to show up?
"If you only knew the power of the essence," the figure laughed, striding slowly and purposefully to the edge where Onyx hung by one hand, looking down. "Onyx. You can destroy Cyric. He has forseen this. It is your destiny. Join me, and we shall rule the multiverse together as father and son."
Please stop.
He fell and fell, the many statues ringing the walls of the stone tower racing past him, and they grew closer as he fell, a cone, then a tube, and at last they were all around him, and he fell past the last ones, and the bottom of the tower, which hung over true nothingness.
Is the Millenium falcon going to pick him up now?
[i]Imoen was skipping through a field of grass and pink flowers. The sunshine smiled at her, and squirrels and rabbits scurried about, but stopped to look at her in greeting. Then, with a squeal of delight, she saw a pure white unicorn galloping over the field. It slowed to a trot as it came closer, and stopped before her, letting her pet it on the muzzle.
I should have known that imoen would have dreams like this.
"Ooo," Imoen's eyes were wide with excitement. "My very own unicorn!" The equestrian whinnied happily. "Amalthea? What a pretty name!" Imoen felt both as if she had chosen and known the unicorn's name, that confluence of good dreams. "Why yes, I would love to go for a ride!"
That name seems familiar somehow.
"All to easy," the woman bellowed, "Perhaps you are not as strong as my lord thought."
More star-wars.
"...I AM YOUR MOTHER!"
So mellisan is jade's mother! I should have guessed.
The quasit's leathery wings flapped and it flew up and over Xzar's head, gripped his shoulders and belt with its claws, and lifted the young man into the air. "Up, up, and away!"
Superman.
"Oh no!!" Xzar shrieked. "Rabbits of Prey!"
Do they have klingons on board?
"Evasive manuevers!" Xzar cried, and Bub swooped out of the way, the rabbits chomping air. The young necromancer flipped two throwing daggers from his belt into his thumbs-and-forefingers. "Setting daggers to KILL!" He tossed one dagger after the other, striking each rabbit in turn, and the vanquished foes vanished.
Set phasers to frag.
""I've actually never possessed an enchanted weapon before," her eyes glistened. "Thank you, Montaron," she patted the halfling on the head like a dog, then winced and wiped the hair-grease off on her leggings.
Good boy.
Thanks for reading! May the Weave be with you.
Loom?
#4
Guest_The Blue Sorceress_*
Guest_The Blue Sorceress_*
-
- Guests
Posted 08 May 2003 - 08:00 PM
"Ooo," Imoen's eyes were wide with excitement. "My very own unicorn!" The equestrian whinnied happily. "Amalthea? What a pretty name!" Imoen felt both as if she had chosen and known the unicorn's name, that confluence of good dreams. "Why yes, I would love to go for a ride!"
That name seems familiar somehow.
The the book (and movie) "The Last Unicorn" Amalthea is the name taken by the Unicorn when she is in human form in King Haggard's castle. Amalthea is also, if my memory isn't failing me, the name of the goat who suckled Zues as a baby after his mother hid him from Cronus, and from whom the Cornucopia (horn of plenty) was taken.
#6
Guest_Oryx_*
Guest_Oryx_*
-
- Guests
Posted 08 May 2003 - 09:40 PM
"I see Gorion has taught you well," the golden-eyed figure bellowed.
When is han-solo going to show up?
Hopefully the next dream or something....I don't know who'll play Han, but Minscbacca has to happen...
Is the Millenium falcon going to pick him up now?
good guess. the millenium unicorn
[i]Imoen was skipping through a field of grass and pink flowers. The sunshine smiled at her, and squirrels and rabbits scurried about, but stopped to look at her in greeting. Then, with a squeal of delight, she saw a pure white unicorn galloping over the field. It slowed to a trot as it came closer, and stopped before her, letting her pet it on the muzzle.
I should have known that imoen would have dreams like this.
Of course.
"Ooo," Imoen's eyes were wide with excitement. "My very own unicorn!" The equestrian whinnied happily. "Amalthea? What a pretty name!" Imoen felt both as if she had chosen and known the unicorn's name, that confluence of good dreams. "Why yes, I would love to go for a ride!"
That name seems familiar somehow.
it's like blue sez...
So mellisan is jade's mother! I should have guessed.
Yep, the idea is Alianna=Amellysan. Both priestesses of Bhaal, now they'r ethe same one.
The quasit's leathery wings flapped and it flew up and over Xzar's head, gripped his shoulders and belt with its claws, and lifted the young man into the air. "Up, up, and away!"
Superman.
Natch.
"Oh no!!" Xzar shrieked. "Rabbits of Prey!"
Do they have klingons on board?
Maybe Kling-fleas?
Thanks for reading! May the Weave be with you.
Loom?
Har!
#9
Guest_Oryx_*
Guest_Oryx_*
-
- Guests
Posted 08 May 2003 - 09:42 PM
"Ooo," Imoen's eyes were wide with excitement. "My very own unicorn!" The equestrian whinnied happily. "Amalthea? What a pretty name!" Imoen felt both as if she had chosen and known the unicorn's name, that confluence of good dreams. "Why yes, I would love to go for a ride!"
That name seems familiar somehow.
The the book (and movie) "The Last Unicorn" Amalthea is the name taken by the Unicorn when she is in human form in King Haggard's castle. Amalthea is also, if my memory isn't failing me, the name of the goat who suckled Zues as a baby after his mother hid him from Cronus, and from whom the Cornucopia (horn of plenty) was taken.
Yup. "The Last Unicorn" was the favorite childhood book, and movie, of a since-early-childhood friend that I was reminded when I first saw BG1's Imoen, and still am.
(Alamthea also had an unnamed cameo in TWII)
#10
Guest_C'est Nedra_*
Guest_C'est Nedra_*
-
- Guests
Posted 09 May 2003 - 03:09 AM
Valour needs first strength, and then a weapon.
- Boromir
Boromir! The hottest character in LoTR
A shaft of bright light descended between them and the closed gate, and in it stood Gorion, but the sight was not comforting, for he was withered and dead in the dream, as in life. "You cannot go back, my children," he cried to them, "You must go on!"
The ghostly sage them gestured to the wilderness, and the youths looked that way, into the black woods, as if it should be inviting, but rather it looked quite forboding, although Jade and also Onyx felt some curiosity. They peered through it, looking for paths, and gradually one opened before them, clear and inviting, and almost itself seemed to pull at them, promising to lead them away from the lives they led, for the best. Both youths found this greeting suspicious, but as Gorion faded away and nothing was left for them behind, they found themselves half-charging, and half pushed by some unseen force, down the path, filled with both curiosity and fear.
And then, the one path diverged to two, each equally clear and inviting, yet therefore suspect. Onyx and Jade exchanged glances, for he slightly favored one of the paths, as did she, and they saw in each others' eyes these were not the same.
And then they were swept onward, down different paths, stealing glances back at each other, but then turned each away to look ahead, for their paths had diverged.
Whispers followed them as they ran away. The voice was vengeful and sinister, and it felt familiar, yet he knew they had never heard it.
"You will learn..."
As the voice spoke, they saw the death of Gorion over and over again, seared into their minds in the dream as it was in life.
"You will learn..."
Onyx didn't look back.
Jade got used to it.[/i]
Hmmmm. I really liked this, great way of showing how they are so different in spirit and intentions.
"I see Gorion has taught you well," the golden-eyed figure bellowed.
Of course!
"There is no escape," the armored figure's voice echoed across the void. "Don't make me destroy you. You do not yet realize your importance. You have only begun to discover you power. Join me. Give in to me."
Don't do it man!
"Never!" Onyx cried, his holy avenger flashing, but his opponent bellowed, sidestepped his swing, and cleft through the young paladin's right forearm. Onyx cried as his right hand and the sword it gripped went flying into the void, and he lurched back, his maimed arm tucked under his left shoulder, beaten, his balance and control gone. He crumpled at the edge end of the bridge, and slipped off it, catching the edge with his left hand.
Go Onyx.
"If you only knew the power of the essence," the figure laughed, striding slowly and purposefully to the edge where Onyx hung by one hand, looking down. "Onyx. You can destroy Cyric. He has forseen this. It is your destiny. Join me, and we shall rule the multiverse together as father and son."
Don't destroy Cyric! I was just beginning to really get into him!
The armored man laughed, peering down with his golden eyes, upon the face within his grotesque helmet. And Onyx, studying the face for the first time, realized this was not the same man who had slain Gorion. Similar, but fitting more comfortably in his ghastly armor, his bearing more regal. Older.
Hmmm that's an interesting thought, that Bhaal and Sarevok actually look alike.
"....I AM YOUR FATHER!"
Luke...I mean...Onyx...
[i]Imoen was skipping through a field of grass and pink flowers. The sunshine smiled at her, and squirrels and rabbits scurried about, but stopped to look at her in greeting. Then, with a squeal of delight, she saw a pure white unicorn galloping over the field. It slowed to a trot as it came closer, and stopped before her, letting her pet it on the muzzle.
"Ooo," Imoen's eyes were wide with excitement. "My very own unicorn!" The equestrian whinnied happily. "Amalthea? What a pretty name!" Imoen felt both as if she had chosen and known the unicorn's name, that confluence of good dreams. "Why yes, I would love to go for a ride!"
LOL!! This is hilarious, what else would Imoen dream about...
Imoen looked up at the sky. "Onyx?" She looked around. "Where are you?" She looked down at Amalthea, who gave a worried whinny. "It's Ony! He's in trouble!"
Imoen somehow knew that Amalthea understood, and the unicorn galloped forward, then leapt off the ground, sprouting angelic white wings, and flew higher and higher, the field disappearing beneath them. Imoen gasped with fright and clung to Amalthea's neck as the sky grew dark and everything beneath became a swirling void. She looked forward, and saw a great stone tower hovering over it, and as they grew closer, could see a single spire protruding down from its base, and a nearly lifeless figure clutching it with one hand.
Great descriptions.
"Imoen..." Onyx mumbled, and his left hand reached up to clasp hers.
Awwwww.
"Ooo, I had a weird one myself," Imoen declared sleepily, and looked with concern at her friend. She saw he was okay, the events leading up to their arrival and lodging at the Friendly Arm Inn returned to her, and she sighed with relief.
"Really?" Onyx looked at her, blinking, himself regaining awareness of the real world.
"You first," Imoen smiled.
They are so cute
She saw a figure approaching from down a ruined roadway lined by broken columns, a woman, as tall and strong as herself, but with a stride that spoke of more confidence and age. She wore a tight green suit that proudly contoured her muscular body, knee-high boots of gold, and gauntlets that made her hands large golden claws, and in one of them she held a long forked spear. She wore a golden circlet, and white feathers stuck out from the back of it, framing her reddish-brown hair.
Wow...she does sound like Melissan actually, like her descriptions.
Jade screamed as she did not know she could, taking her sword in a two-handed grip, feeling it like an extension of herself and pushing it forward at the unabalanced woman. It buried itself cleanly between her breasts, and Jade did not stop screaming or thrusting with all her might until it was up to the hilt.
Niiiice.
The woman only cooed with an air of maternal pride, let go of her spear, and brought her clawed hands up and raked over Jade's face, bloodying it until the girl retreated, letting go of her sword and moving her hands to her face. The bastard sword falling from her chest and the wound healing at a gesture, the woman kicked Jade's exposed stomach with a golden boot with such force that the girl lost all balance, and sunk to her knees, holding her mutilated face.
Eek!
[i]Xzar was skipping merrilly through a festering wasteland, jets of flame spurting up from a ground made of piled bones. Razorblade-pelated flowers grew from the banks of a river of blood, and a petrified tree bore 'fruit' of skulls.
The young necromancer grinned with fiendish delight as out of the sky of fire and lightning, swooped a small demonic creature. With a blackish-crimson leathery hide, claws, batwings, a scorpion's tail, and a grotesque horned face, it looked like some pint-sized glabrezu.
Xzar clapped his hands and peered down at the creatue. "Oh, a quasit! How wonderful! Now Monty can tease someone else about their height for a change!"
"Ah, shove it," the little fiend grimaced, and held out its right foreclaw, "Name's Bub. Be'el Z. Bub. Let's cut to the chase - here's my resume."
A human-flesh scroll materalized in the air over its head, and unfurled itself for Xzar to read:
Be'el Z. Bub
Quasit Extraordinaire
Skills: Mischief, Sneakery, Mayhem, Fright, Carnage, General Sowing of Chaos & Evil
Current Employer: Cyric
Previous Employers: Demogorgon, Bhaal
Education: Abyssal University, 666th Layer Campus
LOL! This was great. He didn't go Harvard...he fails.
-----
Thanks for reading! May the Weave be with you.
"Meet my apprentice, Darth Bhaal..."
"...and Queen Alianna..."
Great story, I loved all the dream sequences...gives a good look into the characters!
#11
Laufey
-
- Moderators
-
- 18306 posts
Transcendant
Posted 09 May 2003 - 05:10 AM
"Do not be too ready to strike down another, whatever your differences or reasons, be they good or evil; the Weave binds us together as in a circle, and what we send forth returns."
Premonition here, I think...
Onyx and Jade found themselves, and each other, outside the familiar stone walls of Candlekeep. Their former home loomed before them, but the gate was closed and barred. They looked up at one of the towers, and could see candles burning out of the windows of their old adjacent windows, like two eyes peering down at them. Two golden glowing eyes, like those of the armored man.
Very nice phrasing here!
Onyx smiled with fond memories of home, Jade felt mixed feelings within herself. Both were frightened and surprised when the candles went out, and the bricks grew together, like wounds healing at an unnatural pace, closing over the windows, and now the walls stood over them, utterly solid, almost smug, conspiring to keep them away. Faint vibrations, almost like deep laughter, seemed to resonate from the rigid stones.
And I really enjoyed the contrast between the two of them, throughout the dream. Well executed and consistent.
Onyx kept running and running, lost in throught, and when he regained awareness of himself and his surroundings, found himself standing in a strange metallic room, the light faint and unnatural, steam rising from the floor. From across the room, a dark shape, faint but large, emerged, and strode forward into view. A towering figure in dark armor, with glowing eyes. It drew forth a large sword, glowing red with malice, and Onyx looked down to see a blue-glowing holy avenger in his own hand.
Sounds strangely familiar.
"No!" Onyx cried, dangling, looking up at the figure desperately. "You killed my father!"
The armored man laughed, peering down with his golden eyes, upon the face within his grotesque helmet. And Onyx, studying the face for the first time, realized this was not the same man who had slain Gorion. Similar, but fitting more comfortably in his ghastly armor, his bearing more regal. Older.
This figure bellowed, and pointed one mailed finger down toward the young man. "No, Onyx...."
"....I AM YOUR FATHER!"
Oh yes.
Imoen was skipping through a field of grass and pink flowers. The sunshine smiled at her, and squirrels and rabbits scurried about, but stopped to look at her in greeting. Then, with a squeal of delight, she saw a pure white unicorn galloping over the field. It slowed to a trot as it came closer, and stopped before her, letting her pet it on the muzzle.
Very sweet, very Imoen.
The tall woman stopped, held her spear low in her right hand, and raised her left clawed guantlet. She laughed, a deep, womanly, and supremely confident laugh, and pointed a single finger at Jade. "I'll get you, my pretty, and your little mage too."
With her flying monkeys?
The woman tossed her scarlet-brunette hair back, and laughed throatily. "No, Jade..."
"...I AM YOUR MOTHER!"
"Noooooooo!!" Jade screamed like a girl half her age.
Ah, the female version.
[i]Xzar was skipping merrilly through a festering wasteland, jets of flame spurting up from a ground made of piled bones. Razorblade-pelated flowers grew from the banks of a river of blood, and a petrified tree bore 'fruit' of skulls.
And the Xzar one!
The quasit's leathery wings flapped and it flew up and over Xzar's head, gripped his shoulders and belt with its claws, and lifted the young man into the air. "Up, up, and away!"
"Jade!" Xzar screamed, recognizing the crying voice. "It's her!" His mind raced, and he somehow knew, as one does in dreams, what do to. "Bub! Target humanoid sonic vocal resonance coordinates pronto!'
LOL!
"Set intercept course!" Xzar pointed upwards to where Jade, now visible, fell through the void. "To boldly go where no necromancer has gone before!" Bub complied, and flapped his batwings. They bore down upon the female form as it plummeted, and Bub swooped down in anticipation of her trajectory. As they closed, Xzar reached out, curled both forearms upwards, and caught her in a picture finish.
Xzar's forearms curled upwards from his sides on the cot. His sleeping face smiled, not wildly or manically, but with restraint and warmth, and he purred.
Awwww!
"You bet yer hide!" Montaron laughed smugly. "While ye was sleepin' like a babe, I did a bit of burglarin'."
"A [i]bit?" Jade asked skeptically, as she stared at the enormous pile of gold, gems, jewelry, weapons, potions, and other filched goods that Montaron had dumped onto the table. The morning sunlight shining through the window glinted off it, and made it look especially covet-worthy. "You just said you burgled [i]every house or shop in town!"
ROFL! Just lovely!
"Yer welcome, lassy," Montaron hugged her calf and grinned. Jade, sensing harmless intent, smiled back. "Don't thank me," the halfling continued. "Thank Thunderhammer. It be he that 'donated' it. I just...delivered it to ye."
At that moment, a loud thunk sounded from the bedroom, and a green-robed wizard came through the door into the outer room.
"Gold!" Xzar shrieked and clapped his hands with delight. "Jewels! Precious gems and scrolls and weapons! So precious and pretty, o little hoards of happiness! We are rich, rich, rich rich rich rich rich rich rich rich rich!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Nice character interaction here.
Rogues do it from behind.
#12
Guest_Oryx_*
Guest_Oryx_*
-
- Guests
Posted 09 May 2003 - 05:57 AM
Valour needs first strength, and then a weapon.
- Boromir
Boromir! The hottest character in LoTR
I quite liked him too, 'for my part'. (And he's what I got on my LotR personality test...is that a good thing?) I'm a fan of flawed heroes of those sorts (though the movie vastly overplays it relative to the book).
Back on the hotness front, what do you think of Faramir? Maybe he's too hooded to tell...
Onyx didn't look back.
Jade got used to it.[/i]
Hmmmm. I really liked this, great way of showing how they are so different in spirit and intentions.
Thanks!
The evil in-game dream is worse ('you' start wanting to be like Sarevok). Jade has a more neutral tone, so she gets elements from each.
"I see Gorion has taught you well," the golden-eyed figure bellowed.
Of course!
ObiGorion Kenobi, you are our only hope!
"There is no escape," the armored figure's voice echoed across the void. "Don't make me destroy you. You do not yet realize your importance. You have only begun to discover you power. Join me. Give in to me."
Don't do it man!
Just say no to Bhaal.
"Never!" Onyx cried, his holy avenger flashing, but his opponent bellowed, sidestepped his swing, and cleft through the young paladin's right forearm. Onyx cried as his right hand and the sword it gripped went flying into the void, and he lurched back, his maimed arm tucked under his left shoulder, beaten, his balance and control gone. He crumpled at the edge end of the bridge, and slipped off it, catching the edge with his left hand.
Go Onyx.
The Faith is strong with that one.
"If you only knew the power of the essence," the figure laughed, striding slowly and purposefully to the edge where Onyx hung by one hand, looking down. "Onyx. You can destroy Cyric. He has forseen this. It is your destiny. Join me, and we shall rule the multiverse together as father and son."
Don't destroy Cyric! I was just beginning to really get into him!
*evil laugh* exxxcellent.....Hail Cyric!
Don't worry, he is about my favorite Realms entity (him, Xzar, Haer, Tiax...), and is often the lurking evil force in my stories. The Bhaalspawn Saga is incomplete without some sort of reckoning with the Prince of Lies.
The armored man laughed, peering down with his golden eyes, upon the face within his grotesque helmet. And Onyx, studying the face for the first time, realized this was not the same man who had slain Gorion. Similar, but fitting more comfortably in his ghastly armor, his bearing more regal. Older.
Hmmm that's an interesting thought, that Bhaal and Sarevok actually look alike.
Yep. Sarevok wants to be Just Like Dad.
"....I AM YOUR FATHER!"
Luke...I mean...Onyx...
jedi, paladin, whichever...
[i]Imoen was skipping through a field of grass and pink flowers. The sunshine smiled at her, and squirrels and rabbits scurried about, but stopped to look at her in greeting. Then, with a squeal of delight, she saw a pure white unicorn galloping over the field. It slowed to a trot as it came closer, and stopped before her, letting her pet it on the muzzle.
"Ooo," Imoen's eyes were wide with excitement. "My very own unicorn!" The equestrian whinnied happily. "Amalthea? What a pretty name!" Imoen felt both as if she had chosen and known the unicorn's name, that confluence of good dreams. "Why yes, I would love to go for a ride!"
LOL!! This is hilarious, what else would Imoen dream about...
Yeppers.
Imoen somehow knew that Amalthea understood, and the unicorn galloped forward, then leapt off the ground, sprouting angelic white wings, and flew higher and higher, the field disappearing beneath them. Imoen gasped with fright and clung to Amalthea's neck as the sky grew dark and everything beneath became a swirling void. She looked forward, and saw a great stone tower hovering over it, and as they grew closer, could see a single spire protruding down from its base, and a nearly lifeless figure clutching it with one hand.
Great descriptions.
Thanks!
"Imoen..." Onyx mumbled, and his left hand reached up to clasp hers.
Awwwww.
Imoen's great. I find myself thinking of her as a co-protaganist with Onyx. (boy, this story's getting a lot of protaganists...)
"Ooo, I had a weird one myself," Imoen declared sleepily, and looked with concern at her friend. She saw he was okay, the events leading up to their arrival and lodging at the Friendly Arm Inn returned to her, and she sighed with relief.
"Really?" Onyx looked at her, blinking, himself regaining awareness of the real world.
"You first," Imoen smiled.
They are so cute
Aren't they ever. They really have the big-bro-lil'-sis thing down pat.
She saw a figure approaching from down a ruined roadway lined by broken columns, a woman, as tall and strong as herself, but with a stride that spoke of more confidence and age. She wore a tight green suit that proudly contoured her muscular body, knee-high boots of gold, and gauntlets that made her hands large golden claws, and in one of them she held a long forked spear. She wore a golden circlet, and white feathers stuck out from the back of it, framing her reddish-brown hair.
Wow...she does sound like Melissan actually, like her descriptions.
Thanks! I took it straight from her portrait, so it should!
Jade screamed as she did not know she could, taking her sword in a two-handed grip, feeling it like an extension of herself and pushing it forward at the unabalanced woman. It buried itself cleanly between her breasts, and Jade did not stop screaming or thrusting with all her might until it was up to the hilt.
Niiiice.
Ra ra Jade!
The woman only cooed with an air of maternal pride, let go of her spear, and brought her clawed hands up and raked over Jade's face, bloodying it until the girl retreated, letting go of her sword and moving her hands to her face. The bastard sword falling from her chest and the wound healing at a gesture, the woman kicked Jade's exposed stomach with a golden boot with such force that the girl lost all balance, and sunk to her knees, holding her mutilated face.
Eek!
Be'el Z. Bub
Quasit Extraordinaire
Skills: Mischief, Sneakery, Mayhem, Fright, Carnage, General Sowing of Chaos & Evil
Current Employer: Cyric
Previous Employers: Demogorgon, Bhaal
Education: Abyssal University, 666th Layer Campus
LOL! This was great. He didn't go Harvard...he fails.
LOL. Yeah, he went to a crappy local-layer school.
-----
Thanks for reading! May the Weave be with you.
"Meet my apprentice, Darth Bhaal..."
"...and Queen Alianna..."
Great story, I loved all the dream sequences...gives a good look into the characters!
Thanks alot!
#13
Guest_Oryx_*
Guest_Oryx_*
-
- Guests
Posted 09 May 2003 - 06:12 AM
"Do not be too ready to strike down another, whatever your differences or reasons, be they good or evil; the Weave binds us together as in a circle, and what we send forth returns."
Premonition here, I think...
Quite possibly. (*Anakin parody at some point*)
Onyx and Jade found themselves, and each other, outside the familiar stone walls of Candlekeep. Their former home loomed before them, but the gate was closed and barred. They looked up at one of the towers, and could see candles burning out of the windows of their old adjacent windows, like two eyes peering down at them. Two golden glowing eyes, like those of the armored man.
Very nice phrasing here!
Thanks! I wanted to do more than "pluralize" the dream; when I doubled the candle, the image struck me.
Onyx smiled with fond memories of home, Jade felt mixed feelings within herself. Both were frightened and surprised when the candles went out, and the bricks grew together, like wounds healing at an unnatural pace, closing over the windows, and now the walls stood over them, utterly solid, almost smug, conspiring to keep them away. Faint vibrations, almost like deep laughter, seemed to resonate from the rigid stones.
And I really enjoyed the contrast between the two of them, throughout the dream. Well executed and consistent.
Thanks! Using the straight Good and Evil dreams (or high-Rep low-Rep, rather) wouldn't have worked for these two. The each get elements from both.
Onyx kept running and running, lost in throught, and when he regained awareness of himself and his surroundings, found himself standing in a strange metallic room, the light faint and unnatural, steam rising from the floor. From across the room, a dark shape, faint but large, emerged, and strode forward into view. A towering figure in dark armor, with glowing eyes. It drew forth a large sword, glowing red with malice, and Onyx looked down to see a blue-glowing holy avenger in his own hand.
Sounds strangely familiar.
Next chapter: The Pantheon Menace
"No!" Onyx cried, dangling, looking up at the figure desperately. "You killed my father!"
The armored man laughed, peering down with his golden eyes, upon the face within his grotesque helmet. And Onyx, studying the face for the first time, realized this was not the same man who had slain Gorion. Similar, but fitting more comfortably in his ghastly armor, his bearing more regal. Older.
This figure bellowed, and pointed one mailed finger down toward the young man. "No, Onyx...."
"....I AM YOUR FATHER!"
Oh yes.
Bhaal: Who's yo daddy?
Haery Springer: We've got a surprise for you, Onyx.
Imoen was skipping through a field of grass and pink flowers. The sunshine smiled at her, and squirrels and rabbits scurried about, but stopped to look at her in greeting. Then, with a squeal of delight, she saw a pure white unicorn galloping over the field. It slowed to a trot as it came closer, and stopped before her, letting her pet it on the muzzle.
Very sweet, very Imoen.
The tall woman stopped, held her spear low in her right hand, and raised her left clawed guantlet. She laughed, a deep, womanly, and supremely confident laugh, and pointed a single finger at Jade. "I'll get you, my pretty, and your little mage too."
With her flying monkeys?
Oooh!! Good idea. Thanks Laufey. *jotting note for future dream sequence*
The woman tossed her scarlet-brunette hair back, and laughed throatily. "No, Jade..."
"...I AM YOUR MOTHER!"
"Noooooooo!!" Jade screamed like a girl half her age.
Ah, the female version.
Precisely. I wanted to do a completely different parody (Barbarella?) but female-hero stuff (especially daughter-father) is hardly the lion's share, and nothing came to mind. (nor was there an appropriate Leia/Amidala scene. Melissan doesn't really resemble Jabba the Hutt.)
[i]Xzar was skipping merrilly through a festering wasteland, jets of flame spurting up from a ground made of piled bones. Razorblade-pelated flowers grew from the banks of a river of blood, and a petrified tree bore 'fruit' of skulls.
And the Xzar one!
Indeed.
The quasit's leathery wings flapped and it flew up and over Xzar's head, gripped his shoulders and belt with its claws, and lifted the young man into the air. "Up, up, and away!"
"Jade!" Xzar screamed, recognizing the crying voice. "It's her!" His mind raced, and he somehow knew, as one does in dreams, what do to. "Bub! Target humanoid sonic vocal resonance coordinates pronto!'
LOL!
I feel like Weyoun
"Set intercept course!" Xzar pointed upwards to where Jade, now visible, fell through the void. "To boldly go where no necromancer has gone before!" Bub complied, and flapped his batwings. They bore down upon the female form as it plummeted, and Bub swooped down in anticipation of her trajectory. As they closed, Xzar reached out, curled both forearms upwards, and caught her in a picture finish.
Xzar's forearms curled upwards from his sides on the cot. His sleeping face smiled, not wildly or manically, but with restraint and warmth, and he purred.
Awwww!
"You bet yer hide!" Montaron laughed smugly. "While ye was sleepin' like a babe, I did a bit of burglarin'."
"A [i]bit?" Jade asked skeptically, as she stared at the enormous pile of gold, gems, jewelry, weapons, potions, and other filched goods that Montaron had dumped onto the table. The morning sunlight shining through the window glinted off it, and made it look especially covet-worthy. "You just said you burgled [i]every house or shop in town!"
ROFL! Just lovely!
Isn't it great how your thief can clean out entire towns and cities? Just wait 'til Montaron gets his grubby paws on Baldur's Gate!
"Yer welcome, lassy," Montaron hugged her calf and grinned. Jade, sensing harmless intent, smiled back. "Don't thank me," the halfling continued. "Thank Thunderhammer. It be he that 'donated' it. I just...delivered it to ye."
At that moment, a loud thunk sounded from the bedroom, and a green-robed wizard came through the door into the outer room.
"Gold!" Xzar shrieked and clapped his hands with delight. "Jewels! Precious gems and scrolls and weapons! So precious and pretty, o little hoards of happiness! We are rich, rich, rich rich rich rich rich rich rich rich rich!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Nice character interaction here.
Thank you.
#15
Guest_Oryx_*
Guest_Oryx_*
-
- Guests
Posted 09 May 2003 - 06:57 AM
Hopefully the next dream or something....I don't know who'll play Han, but Minscbacca has to happen...
I dunno, I think Minsc Solo and Boobacca might be an acceptable arrangement.
*slaps forehead* Of course....he's the furry one....a wookie is just a giant space hamster....and it RHYMES!.....thanks Blue! You're a genius! I'm definently working that one in (and thanking you).
#16
Guest_Hunter_*
Guest_Hunter_*
-
- Guests
Posted 09 May 2003 - 07:16 AM
The the book (and movie) "The Last Unicorn" Amalthea is the name taken by the Unicorn when she is in human form in King Haggard's castle. Amalthea is also, if my memory isn't failing me, the name of the goat who suckled Zues as a baby after his mother hid him from Cronus, and from whom the Cornucopia (horn of plenty) was taken.
I think i must remember it from college, one of my teachers must have mentioned it.
#18
Guest_C'est Nedra_*
Guest_C'est Nedra_*
-
- Guests
Posted 09 May 2003 - 08:05 PM
Valour needs first strength, and then a weapon.
- Boromir
Boromir! The hottest character in LoTR
I quite liked him too, 'for my part'. (And he's what I got on my LotR personality test...is that a good thing?) I'm a fan of flawed heroes of those sorts (though the movie vastly overplays it relative to the book).
I got Galadriel. So I guess I turn all scary/demonic/undead when I see a gold ring?
And yes, getting Boromir is a good thing, I too enjoy the flawed characters. Perfection is so unrealistic, which is why I also liked Galadriel, except for the super-beauty thing...that gets old fast. Always nice to see a good, human character.
Back on the hotness front, what do you think of Faramir? Maybe he's too hooded to tell...
Faramir was ok, but Boromir's actor, Sean Bean, wow...gotta love the Irishmen
My friends and I had a massive argument over it, they gave me hell for a month about thinking Boromir was hot...but they thought Faramir was, so go figure.
Don't destroy Cyric! I was just beginning to really get into him!
*evil laugh* exxxcellent.....Hail Cyric!
Wasn't the avatar you had before Haer'Dalis Cyric's symbol? The skull on the purple [if my memory serves me right]?
Don't worry, he is about my favorite Realms entity (him, Xzar, Haer, Tiax...), and is often the lurking evil force in my stories. The Bhaalspawn Saga is incomplete without some sort of reckoning with the Prince of Lies.
Great! I look forward to some good Cyric banter!
Hmmm that's an interesting thought, that Bhaal and Sarevok actually look alike.
Yep. Sarevok wants to be Just Like Dad.
Don't we all...I guess just most of us are lucky in that our aren't the gods of murder, lies, and other good stuff.
Luke...I mean...Onyx...
jedi, paladin, whichever...
Oh yeah, same thing. Big light sabre...Carsomyr...
Awwwww.
Imoen's great. I find myself thinking of her as a co-protaganist with Onyx. (boy, this story's getting a lot of protaganists...)
The more the merrier
Be'el Z. Bub
Quasit Extraordinaire
Skills: Mischief, Sneakery, Mayhem, Fright, Carnage, General Sowing of Chaos & Evil
Current Employer: Cyric
Previous Employers: Demogorgon, Bhaal
Education: Abyssal University, 666th Layer Campus
LOL! This was great. He didn't go Harvard...he fails.
LOL. Yeah, he went to a crappy local-layer school.
LOL!
#19
Guest_Oryx_*
Guest_Oryx_*
-
- Guests
Posted 09 May 2003 - 08:38 PM
Valour needs first strength, and then a weapon.
- Boromir
Boromir! The hottest character in LoTR
I quite liked him too, 'for my part'. (And he's what I got on my LotR personality test...is that a good thing?) I'm a fan of flawed heroes of those sorts (though the movie vastly overplays it relative to the book).
I got Galadriel. So I guess I turn all scary/demonic/undead when I see a gold ring?
If so, a guy who proposes to you will be in for a shock.
And yes, getting Boromir is a good thing, I too enjoy the flawed characters. Perfection is so unrealistic, which is why I also liked Galadriel, except for the super-beauty thing...that gets old fast. Always nice to see a good, human character.
I liked Galadriel for her mentoring/muse role to the Fellowship. I'm often a fan of heroes who aren't the world's wisest, and take guidance from more majestic/elder types, like Gandalf, Elrond, and her, along the way.
Faramir always seemed like Boromir's 'literary redemption'. His introduction in TT is almost like Gandalf coming back, and now he's overcome his weakness (though the movie made Faramir darker too). Boromir himself did repent, but then immediately gets killed.
Well, it was a good death.
Back on the hotness front, what do you think of Faramir? Maybe he's too hooded to tell...
Faramir was ok, but Boromir's actor, Sean Bean, wow...gotta love the Irishmen
I'm hoping he will have a bigger/better part in 3 (read: throw off that hood and start whippin' Mordor booty with bow & sword); and wondering how they'll to the Arwen-Aragorn-Eowyn-Faramir thing.
Don't destroy Cyric! I was just beginning to really get into him!
*evil laugh* exxxcellent.....Hail Cyric!
Wasn't the avatar you had before Haer'Dalis Cyric's symbol? The skull on the purple [if my memory serves me right]?
Yep, that was Cyric.
Don't worry, he is about my favorite Realms entity (him, Xzar, Haer, Tiax...), and is often the lurking evil force in my stories. The Bhaalspawn Saga is incomplete without some sort of reckoning with the Prince of Lies.
Great! I look forward to some good Cyric banter!
You needn't look far...he is in the titular character of the chapter I'll post later today.
Hmmm that's an interesting thought, that Bhaal and Sarevok actually look alike.
Yep. Sarevok wants to be Just Like Dad.
Don't we all...I guess just most of us are lucky in that our aren't the gods of murder, lies, and other good stuff.
Mine's a lawyer....is that any better?
Luke...I mean...Onyx...
jedi, paladin, whichever...
Oh yeah, same thing. Big light sabre...Carsomyr...
Precisely! Carsomyr even glows blue. I may plant a holy avenger (or sunblade) in BG1. (hey, I've got 2 parties to equip). One that glows blue or green, of course. And the Sword of Chaos, naturally, now glows red.
Awwwww.
Imoen's great. I find myself thinking of her as a co-protaganist with Onyx. (boy, this story's getting a lot of protaganists...)
The more the merrier
Just wait 'til another truckload of NPCs get dumped on the part in the next dozen or so chapters
#20
Guest_C'est Nedra_*
Guest_C'est Nedra_*
-
- Guests
Posted 09 May 2003 - 10:01 PM
[quote]
[quote]
I got Galadriel. So I guess I turn all scary/demonic/undead when I see a gold ring?
[/quote]
[/quote]
[quote]
If so, a guy who proposes to you will be in for a shock.
[/quote]
LOL!
"Will you marry me?"
"Yesrrraaaaggghhhhhh GIVE ME THE RING raaahhhhhhhhhhh"
That's always attractive. I should be on "A Wedding Story."
[quote]
Faramir always seemed like Boromir's 'literary redemption'. His introduction in TT is almost like Gandalf coming back, and now he's overcome his weakness (though the movie made Faramir darker too). Boromir himself did repent, but then immediately gets killed. Well, it was a good death.
[/quote]
Yes! Faramir was much lighter in the book, I agree. I was surprised by how they made the one in the movie rather malevolent to begin with...but I am sure they will reconcile it.
[quote]
I'm hoping he will have a bigger/better part in 3 (read: throw off that hood and start whippin' Mordor booty with bow & sword); and wondering how they'll to the Arwen-Aragorn-Eowyn-Faramir thing.
[/quote]
Oh I'm sure he will. I cannot wait for the Eowyn Faramir thing, I love her character in the movie. I think they did a great job on that...it should be interesting to watch their recuperation together
I was rather put out when I read about Aragorn rejecting Eowyn for Arwen...the usual Im-deperately-in-love-with-a-dropdeadgrogeous-elf syndrome, but it does work out pretty well in the end. I always felt bad for Faramir...being second best sucks! Hopefully in the movie they make it clear that he is numero uno to her, and she isn't still pining for the dendrophiliac.
[quote]
You needn't look far...he is in the titular character of the chapter I'll post later today.
[/quote]
Cool!
[quote]
[quote]
Don't we all...I guess just most of us are lucky in that our aren't the gods of murder, lies, and other good stuff.
[/quote]
[/quote]
[quote]
Mine's a lawyer....is that any better?
[/quote]
ROTFL! Ok...well add deception and strife to that one
[/quote]
[quote]
Precisely! Carsomyr even glows blue. I may plant a holy avenger (or sunblade) in BG1. (hey, I've got 2 parties to equip). One that glows blue or green, of course. And the Sword of Chaos, naturally, now glows red.
[/quote]
Good deal, that makes sense
[quote]
Just wait 'til another truckload of NPCs get dumped on the part in the next dozen or so chapters[/quote]
LOL uh oh...I'm still not good with the NPCs in BG1. I always get the Garrick kid mixed up with Eldoth whatever-his-name...and I left Branwen a statue.
[quote]
I got Galadriel. So I guess I turn all scary/demonic/undead when I see a gold ring?
[/quote]
[/quote]
[quote]
If so, a guy who proposes to you will be in for a shock.
[/quote]
LOL!
"Will you marry me?"
"Yesrrraaaaggghhhhhh GIVE ME THE RING raaahhhhhhhhhhh"
That's always attractive. I should be on "A Wedding Story."
[quote]
Faramir always seemed like Boromir's 'literary redemption'. His introduction in TT is almost like Gandalf coming back, and now he's overcome his weakness (though the movie made Faramir darker too). Boromir himself did repent, but then immediately gets killed.
Well, it was a good death. [/quote]
Yes! Faramir was much lighter in the book, I agree. I was surprised by how they made the one in the movie rather malevolent to begin with...but I am sure they will reconcile it.
[quote]
I'm hoping he will have a bigger/better part in 3 (read: throw off that hood and start whippin' Mordor booty with bow & sword); and wondering how they'll to the Arwen-Aragorn-Eowyn-Faramir thing.
[/quote]
Oh I'm sure he will. I cannot wait for the Eowyn Faramir thing, I love her character in the movie. I think they did a great job on that...it should be interesting to watch their recuperation together
I was rather put out when I read about Aragorn rejecting Eowyn for Arwen...the usual Im-deperately-in-love-with-a-dropdeadgrogeous-elf syndrome, but it does work out pretty well in the end. I always felt bad for Faramir...being second best sucks! Hopefully in the movie they make it clear that he is numero uno to her, and she isn't still pining for the dendrophiliac.
[quote]
You needn't look far...he is in the titular character of the chapter I'll post later today.
[/quote]
Cool!
[quote]
[quote]
Don't we all...I guess just most of us are lucky in that our aren't the gods of murder, lies, and other good stuff.
[/quote]
[/quote]
[quote]
Mine's a lawyer....is that any better?
[/quote]
ROTFL! Ok...well add deception and strife to that one
[/quote]
[quote]
Precisely! Carsomyr even glows blue. I may plant a holy avenger (or sunblade) in BG1. (hey, I've got 2 parties to equip). One that glows blue or green, of course. And the Sword of Chaos, naturally, now glows red.
[/quote]
Good deal, that makes sense
[quote]
Just wait 'til another truckload of NPCs get dumped on the part in the next dozen or so chapters
[/quote]LOL uh oh...I'm still not good with the NPCs in BG1. I always get the Garrick kid mixed up with Eldoth whatever-his-name...and I left Branwen a statue.
0 user(s) are reading this topic
0 members, 0 guests, 0 anonymous users
