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Barsoom Tales I - COMPLETE
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<blockquote data-quote="barsoomcore" data-source="post: 1282598" data-attributes="member: 812"><p>At the top of cliff, Elena and Isaac pulled on the rope. They didn't exactly strain; dangling from the other end of the rope was Arrafin, who weighed considerably less than the gear either Saijadani carried around with them. For her part, the Naridic girl was loudly complaining that she didn't have access to her notebooks and thus wouldn't be able to make any observations on the different strata of bird nests on the cliff face.</p><p></p><p>Etienne and Nevid studied the forest. Back on the island, Etienne had been cocky and confident, unconcerned about Elena's "We'll be eaten by raptors" worries. But here, staring into the thick vegetation, distant cries and growls and unfamiliar plants on all sides, he suddenly felt a stab of panic. Etienne had lived his entire life in the streets and alleys of Pavairelle, greatest city of Barsoom. His idea of foraging for food consisted of inspecting the midden heaps behind restaurants.</p><p></p><p>Nevid was no less worried than the half-Kishak. Tramping through mile after mile of predator-filled forest filled him with complete terror. He was still reeling from the discovery that the skull they'd found would knit wounds together. Nobody else seemed at all concerned but Nevid was certain that skull held some sort of demonic power that would draw from them a terrible price. He would have nothing to do with it.</p><p></p><p>At last Arrafin reached the top and Isaac easily hefted her up onto the forest floor.</p><p></p><p>She stared at the tree trunks, vines, ferns and dripping leaves.</p><p></p><p>It started to rain. Again.</p><p></p><p>"Are there beaches in Pavairelle?"</p><p></p><p>*****</p><p></p><p>Trying to force their way through the tangled vegetation quickly proved pointless, and so they tramped along the cliff top, negotiating the narrow path of clear land between dizzying drop-off and impassable plant life. To their right the Inner Sea, grey and tossed with whitecaps, stretched out under equally grey, heavy-hanging clouds that kept up an unending drizzle.</p><p></p><p>The raindrops were large and soft and warm and all of the travellers were soon soaked to the bone, their boots sinking ankle-deep in the mud. They clung to tree branches to avoid slipping and tumbling off the cliff, making their way along the coast in unsteady progression.</p><p></p><p>Night came with no sign of predators or any other wildlife, and Isaac and Elena managed to hack out a small camp and construct a lean-to. Arrafin, looking even skinnier than usual now that she was drenched to the bone, was too exhausted to protest when they gave her the one cot they'd managed to construct. The others wrapped themselves in dripping blankets and huddled on the forest floor, trying to ignore rivers of mud and painfully-twisted roots sticking into their backs.</p><p></p><p>Etienne curled in on himself, wishing fervently he'd never left Pavairelle, and vowing to never set foot outside the city walls again.</p><p></p><p>*****</p><p></p><p>"Who would build a wall here?"</p><p></p><p>The group piled up behind Etienne as the half-Kishak stared down at a small rise in the mud before him. Low stones lay set there, and rose up into the forest to form what was clearly an ancient wall, now crumbling and overgrown, but still standing higher than a man.</p><p></p><p>Etienne sighted up the top of the wall and nodded.</p><p></p><p>"We can walk along the top. It's wide enough."</p><p></p><p>Isaac raised an eyebrow.</p><p></p><p>"Why would we want to? I have trouble believing this will lead us to Pavairelle."</p><p></p><p>"Don't you want to find out what this is? Aren't you curious?"</p><p></p><p>Nevid, Elena and Isaac exchanged a look.</p><p></p><p>"We've been pretty well trained to control our curiousity, you might say."</p><p></p><p>Arrafin clambered up onto the wall and casually strolled up the broken stones to the top.</p><p></p><p>"It curves up ahead. Interesting."</p><p></p><p>The Naridic girl disappeared into the forest, picking her way along the top of the wall. After a second, the rest of the group plunged after her.</p><p></p><p>The wall did indeed curve. At first they found themselves heading directly away from the cliff-edge, but as they pushed their way past more creeping vines and ducked past more overhanging branches (Isaac growing ever more annoyed with Etienne's acrobatic leaps and rolls over obstacles), the wall began to curve to their left, seeming to turn in on itself. A feeling of faint unease crawled over them all, as if this were the site of some unspeakable atrocity.</p><p></p><p>They caught up with Arrafin where she crouched, peering over the "inside" edge of the wall, down at a cleared patch of forest floor. A massive tree had fallen, leaving a gap in the close vegetation of the forest.</p><p></p><p>No more than ten or fifteen feet away stood another wall, exactly the same as the one they stood on, the two forming a curving sort of hallway through the forest. Between the two the forest lay open, revealing a floor of close-set blocks.</p><p></p><p>Etienne shrugged and leapt down, turn a somersault on the way. Issac glowered and simply jumped the eight feet straight down, ignoring the younger man and turning to help Arrafin, who insisted on inspecting the blocks.</p><p></p><p>"What on earth could this be? It's not Kishak, but look, these patterns in the rock -- do you think...?" The Naridic girl pulled out a sheaf of notepaper and, hunching over to protect the sheets from the rain, began tracing out the barely-visible patterns of etching in the stone blocks. Isaac obliging pulled aside leaves and creepers for her.</p><p></p><p>Etienne watched Arrafin's investigation for a second or two and then, bored, looked around the fallen tree.</p><p></p><p>Underneath he noticed something. The half-Kishak crouched to get a better look.</p><p></p><p>What looked like a small box lay wedged beneath the tree trunk. Etienne knelt and reached out with his right hand. He could just reach it, but it was heavier than he'd expected and didn't move when he tugged at it. He repositioned himself for a stronger grip.</p><p></p><p>Isaac noticed his scrabbling around.</p><p></p><p>"Etienne, what are you doing?"</p><p></p><p>"Just trying to reach... this... got it!"</p><p></p><p>Etienne got his hand positioned around the corner of the box and tugged. To his surprise, although the box moved, it did not come forward but instead pivoted around some hidden hinge.</p><p></p><p>It was not a box. It was a switch. Releasing a massive trap door and dumping Isaac and Arrafin into blackness below.</p><p></p><p>There was a cry of shock, a single impact as Isaac crashed into a pile of soft dirt, a squeak as Arrafin landed on Isaac and a sudden silence.</p><p></p><p>"Sorry!"</p><p></p><p>"Kishak, I'm going to make you sorry."</p><p></p><p>"What's down there?</p><p></p><p>Isaac growled. "Can't tell. It's dark."</p><p></p><p>Arrafin piped up, "I think I can hear screaming."</p><p></p><p>Elena and Nevid looked at each other and scrambled down to stand next to Etienne at the edge of the pit. They peered down into the darkness.</p><p></p><p>And then backed away as a torrent of shrieks erupted out of the pit, terror-filled and desperate, the screams of doomed men, cut off with terrible finality.</p><p></p><p>"Yep, that's screaming."</p><p></p><p>"Is that a door? Isaac, let go of me, I can walk. It's a door."</p><p></p><p>"Arrafin, don't open that door."</p><p></p><p>"It's quiet now."</p><p></p><p>"Don't open that door."</p><p></p><p>"I'll just have a look."</p><p></p><p>"Don't."</p><p></p><p>Creak.</p><p></p><p>"Oh. Hello. Was that you screaming?"</p><p></p><p>Arrafin looked up at a towering black-skinned man who stared down at her with curiously soft eyes. She smiled hesitantly, and started to wave when she realised that half of his left arm was missing, several broken knife hilts protruded from his massive torso.</p><p></p><p>She recoiled straight into Isaac, who'd drawn his sword and stood staring at the immense newcomer.</p><p></p><p>Elena hissed down to Arrafin, "See what the skull thinks of him."</p><p></p><p>Arrafin nodded and fumbled in her bag, holding up the marble skull before her.</p><p></p><p>The fact that this figure was long dead and animated through tremendous sorcery became immediately obvious to her.</p><p></p><p>"You're... undead, aren't you?"</p><p></p><p>He turned to her. "I am 34th of the Scar'ith Tushan. Once I was known as Laughter of Stones. Long have I hunted the Keyad'ar who lurks within and now I close with it. You will assist me. Come. Now. Or I will smite you where you stand."</p><p></p><p>"I'm not sure I got that. What happened to the first 33?"</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="barsoomcore, post: 1282598, member: 812"] At the top of cliff, Elena and Isaac pulled on the rope. They didn't exactly strain; dangling from the other end of the rope was Arrafin, who weighed considerably less than the gear either Saijadani carried around with them. For her part, the Naridic girl was loudly complaining that she didn't have access to her notebooks and thus wouldn't be able to make any observations on the different strata of bird nests on the cliff face. Etienne and Nevid studied the forest. Back on the island, Etienne had been cocky and confident, unconcerned about Elena's "We'll be eaten by raptors" worries. But here, staring into the thick vegetation, distant cries and growls and unfamiliar plants on all sides, he suddenly felt a stab of panic. Etienne had lived his entire life in the streets and alleys of Pavairelle, greatest city of Barsoom. His idea of foraging for food consisted of inspecting the midden heaps behind restaurants. Nevid was no less worried than the half-Kishak. Tramping through mile after mile of predator-filled forest filled him with complete terror. He was still reeling from the discovery that the skull they'd found would knit wounds together. Nobody else seemed at all concerned but Nevid was certain that skull held some sort of demonic power that would draw from them a terrible price. He would have nothing to do with it. At last Arrafin reached the top and Isaac easily hefted her up onto the forest floor. She stared at the tree trunks, vines, ferns and dripping leaves. It started to rain. Again. "Are there beaches in Pavairelle?" ***** Trying to force their way through the tangled vegetation quickly proved pointless, and so they tramped along the cliff top, negotiating the narrow path of clear land between dizzying drop-off and impassable plant life. To their right the Inner Sea, grey and tossed with whitecaps, stretched out under equally grey, heavy-hanging clouds that kept up an unending drizzle. The raindrops were large and soft and warm and all of the travellers were soon soaked to the bone, their boots sinking ankle-deep in the mud. They clung to tree branches to avoid slipping and tumbling off the cliff, making their way along the coast in unsteady progression. Night came with no sign of predators or any other wildlife, and Isaac and Elena managed to hack out a small camp and construct a lean-to. Arrafin, looking even skinnier than usual now that she was drenched to the bone, was too exhausted to protest when they gave her the one cot they'd managed to construct. The others wrapped themselves in dripping blankets and huddled on the forest floor, trying to ignore rivers of mud and painfully-twisted roots sticking into their backs. Etienne curled in on himself, wishing fervently he'd never left Pavairelle, and vowing to never set foot outside the city walls again. ***** "Who would build a wall here?" The group piled up behind Etienne as the half-Kishak stared down at a small rise in the mud before him. Low stones lay set there, and rose up into the forest to form what was clearly an ancient wall, now crumbling and overgrown, but still standing higher than a man. Etienne sighted up the top of the wall and nodded. "We can walk along the top. It's wide enough." Isaac raised an eyebrow. "Why would we want to? I have trouble believing this will lead us to Pavairelle." "Don't you want to find out what this is? Aren't you curious?" Nevid, Elena and Isaac exchanged a look. "We've been pretty well trained to control our curiousity, you might say." Arrafin clambered up onto the wall and casually strolled up the broken stones to the top. "It curves up ahead. Interesting." The Naridic girl disappeared into the forest, picking her way along the top of the wall. After a second, the rest of the group plunged after her. The wall did indeed curve. At first they found themselves heading directly away from the cliff-edge, but as they pushed their way past more creeping vines and ducked past more overhanging branches (Isaac growing ever more annoyed with Etienne's acrobatic leaps and rolls over obstacles), the wall began to curve to their left, seeming to turn in on itself. A feeling of faint unease crawled over them all, as if this were the site of some unspeakable atrocity. They caught up with Arrafin where she crouched, peering over the "inside" edge of the wall, down at a cleared patch of forest floor. A massive tree had fallen, leaving a gap in the close vegetation of the forest. No more than ten or fifteen feet away stood another wall, exactly the same as the one they stood on, the two forming a curving sort of hallway through the forest. Between the two the forest lay open, revealing a floor of close-set blocks. Etienne shrugged and leapt down, turn a somersault on the way. Issac glowered and simply jumped the eight feet straight down, ignoring the younger man and turning to help Arrafin, who insisted on inspecting the blocks. "What on earth could this be? It's not Kishak, but look, these patterns in the rock -- do you think...?" The Naridic girl pulled out a sheaf of notepaper and, hunching over to protect the sheets from the rain, began tracing out the barely-visible patterns of etching in the stone blocks. Isaac obliging pulled aside leaves and creepers for her. Etienne watched Arrafin's investigation for a second or two and then, bored, looked around the fallen tree. Underneath he noticed something. The half-Kishak crouched to get a better look. What looked like a small box lay wedged beneath the tree trunk. Etienne knelt and reached out with his right hand. He could just reach it, but it was heavier than he'd expected and didn't move when he tugged at it. He repositioned himself for a stronger grip. Isaac noticed his scrabbling around. "Etienne, what are you doing?" "Just trying to reach... this... got it!" Etienne got his hand positioned around the corner of the box and tugged. To his surprise, although the box moved, it did not come forward but instead pivoted around some hidden hinge. It was not a box. It was a switch. Releasing a massive trap door and dumping Isaac and Arrafin into blackness below. There was a cry of shock, a single impact as Isaac crashed into a pile of soft dirt, a squeak as Arrafin landed on Isaac and a sudden silence. "Sorry!" "Kishak, I'm going to make you sorry." "What's down there? Isaac growled. "Can't tell. It's dark." Arrafin piped up, "I think I can hear screaming." Elena and Nevid looked at each other and scrambled down to stand next to Etienne at the edge of the pit. They peered down into the darkness. And then backed away as a torrent of shrieks erupted out of the pit, terror-filled and desperate, the screams of doomed men, cut off with terrible finality. "Yep, that's screaming." "Is that a door? Isaac, let go of me, I can walk. It's a door." "Arrafin, don't open that door." "It's quiet now." "Don't open that door." "I'll just have a look." "Don't." Creak. "Oh. Hello. Was that you screaming?" Arrafin looked up at a towering black-skinned man who stared down at her with curiously soft eyes. She smiled hesitantly, and started to wave when she realised that half of his left arm was missing, several broken knife hilts protruded from his massive torso. She recoiled straight into Isaac, who'd drawn his sword and stood staring at the immense newcomer. Elena hissed down to Arrafin, "See what the skull thinks of him." Arrafin nodded and fumbled in her bag, holding up the marble skull before her. The fact that this figure was long dead and animated through tremendous sorcery became immediately obvious to her. "You're... undead, aren't you?" He turned to her. "I am 34th of the Scar'ith Tushan. Once I was known as Laughter of Stones. Long have I hunted the Keyad'ar who lurks within and now I close with it. You will assist me. Come. Now. Or I will smite you where you stand." "I'm not sure I got that. What happened to the first 33?" [/QUOTE]
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