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Barsoom Tales I - COMPLETE
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<blockquote data-quote="barsoomcore" data-source="post: 672476" data-attributes="member: 812"><p><strong>Friendly Service</strong></p><p></p><p>Atranztipac made short work of Boyce, kneecapping the handsome Gap rogue with a plank she'd pried up from the floorboards. As he cursed and collapsed into the chair, the obnoxious little girl caught sight of Michel, the young boy who lived in the West Dormitory. He'd just come in the front door of the cafe and turned in horror at the sudden shriek, only to find Atranztipac charging him, brandishing the plank over her head.</p><p></p><p>The boy, who was no bigger than the Yshakan girl, let out a bone-chilling scream and pelted for the counter, where Ilonka stood. She winced but stood firm as Atranztipac approached. Fortunately the little girl decided not to attack Ilonka, and the Pavairellean woman leaned against the counter in relief.</p><p></p><p>"Atranztipac, be nice."</p><p></p><p>"No."</p><p></p><p>"Atranztipac."</p><p></p><p>"No."</p><p></p><p>Boyce was clutching his knee and looking a thousand sorts of venom at the girl. Trazik and Karel were helpless with laughter on the couch. Vlad, behind the counter and angry with Ilonka to begin with, only scowled. Atranztipac raised the plank and prepared to charge.</p><p></p><p>Michel, against all expectation, rushed out from behind Ilonka's skirts and barrelled into the little girl and the children, shrieking furiously, rolled across the floor, locked in mortal combat. Grown-ups bustled in to break up the fight.</p><p></p><p>*****</p><p></p><p>"Arrafin? Arrafin?"</p><p></p><p>The hallway outside was blackness and the light from their torch did not reach all the way back to where Arrafin had been, sketching the bas-relief. Aubrey and Philip charged back down the hall, with Elena and Nevid right behind.</p><p></p><p>"I'm here."</p><p></p><p>Arrafin came into view as they neared the carvings, feeling about on the floor for the torch Philip had left behind.</p><p></p><p>"The torch went out. Sorry. Did you find anything?"</p><p></p><p>The others exchanged some looks. Aubrey spoke.</p><p></p><p>"Nothing really. But the passage continues on. Why don't we stick together for a while?"</p><p></p><p>Arrafin nodded, her wild curls shaking as she did so.</p><p></p><p>"Good idea."</p><p></p><p>The five headed deeper down the dark passageway, past the archway and into a room. A big room, from the sudden echoes they heard all around. The torch did not give off enough light to see the walls, but the floor before them was strangely textured. Philip crouched down and came up with a shard of pottery in his hand.</p><p></p><p>"Floor's covered in these. A potter's shop smashed to pieces."</p><p></p><p>"Well, given that Big, White and Hungry came through here, I'm not surprised the pottery's broken," said Aubrey, "But what was it all doing down here in the first place?"</p><p></p><p>Nobody had an answer and gingerly they made their way across the field of shattered fragments. Clay snapped and crunched under their feet, and the echoes ringing back from the unseen walls seemed sinister, fraught with hostile intent.</p><p></p><p>Nevid swore very quietly and knelt. The others stopped and saw him stand up with a knife in his hand.</p><p></p><p>Not just any knife. A very particular knife. A knife that each of them was familiar with. Or at least, a knife of such distinctive aspect that each of them recognized it right away.</p><p></p><p>Small, with a simple hilt and single crossguard. A straight blade with a triangular tip that would have been nearly a foot long, had it been straight. But instead, it curved back and forth along its entire length so that it total length was a little less than eight inches, looking for all the world as though someone had driven the point into something too hard to pierce, and rather than break the blade had accordion-ed itself into this shape. Only one group of people in all Barsoom used such weapons.</p><p></p><p>"The Blood Council."</p><p></p><p>Elena took a step back, eyeing Nevid with real fear. He noticed the sudden anxiousness in his friends and protested.</p><p></p><p>"No, no. I found this. Just now. I stepped on it. Look, it's all rusty."</p><p></p><p>The air grew decidedly less tense as the others came in for a closer look. Aubrey turned to Arrafin.</p><p></p><p>"What does the Blood Council have to do with this place? Any ideas?"</p><p></p><p>The Naridic woman shook her head.</p><p></p><p>"No, no idea. Well, the story is that Ky'in was destroyed by Suelekar Ben Azan and his friend, Farouk ibn Zaoud. Now Essermane Varag, whose tomb I think this is..."</p><p></p><p>She shuddered and looked up at the rough-hewn stone of the ceiling.</p><p></p><p>"...He was one of Ky'in's lieutenants. So if he was buried here, then..."</p><p></p><p>Her voice trailed off and her eyes lost their focus. The others frowned, waiting for her to continue. Philip shrugged.</p><p></p><p>"If he's buried here, well and good. Maybe he left some trinkets behind."</p><p></p><p>*****</p><p></p><p>Anxious faces awaited the old man's judgement. Chipucuaro stayed with his head bowed, smoke curling up around his white hair. Matzatlipoc's chubby face twisted in horror and he rose to his feet, stumbled back.</p><p></p><p>"No! This cannot be!"</p><p></p><p>Chipucuaro nodded.</p><p></p><p>"You know what we saw. There is hope."</p><p></p><p>"But..."</p><p></p><p>"No."</p><p></p><p>Chipucuaro spoke without room for debate. The rest of the elders understood what was meant. Their Oldest One would never leave this place. The chipactli would consume him. But some of the People might escape.</p><p></p><p>Chipucuaro could not get to his feet without help. His frail wife took one arm and his strong daughter the other and they raised him up. He gripped his weather-beaten staff and leaned heavily on it, looking back and forth around the circle of elders.</p><p></p><p>"The chipactli cannot be defeated. Many of us will not escape this place. But some will. New arrivals have come. They will lead us out. They must have our help or all will perish."</p><p></p><p>The elders looked between each other anxiously. The only new arrivals were the caravan guards, and they were not of the People. Surely they were not being asked to put their faith in Southerners?</p><p></p><p>"We must go with them. We cannot stay."</p><p></p><p>"But... must so many die?"</p><p></p><p>"Darkness comes."</p><p></p><p>*****</p><p></p><p>"Now that's a right big hole. I'd have to be pretty pissed off to make a hole that big."</p><p></p><p>Philip looked around at the rest of his companions, all of whom were staring at the great rent in the wall in varying degrees of shock. Chunks of stone lay strewn about the pottery shards, and it was obvious that some great force had caused the thick wall to simply explode outwards.</p><p></p><p>Elena nodded.</p><p></p><p>"It might help if you were thirty feet tall, I bet."</p><p></p><p>Aubrey chimed in.</p><p></p><p>"And had been imprisoned down here for a couple of thousand years."</p><p></p><p>As a group they picked their way through the splinters and the rubble and peered through the large gap in the wall.</p><p></p><p>"Somebody light another torch."</p><p></p><p>With a bit more illumination they could see that they were looking down into a great hall, one that stretched off into the darkness. The hall was home to rows of what looked like stone booths, flat-topped and seven or eight feet on a side. Two nearby had been broken open by falling rock. The place was utterly silent. Only their breathing could be heard.</p><p></p><p>Aubrey frowned.</p><p></p><p>"Where do you suppose they kept him?" </p><p></p><p>None of the booths were anywhere near big enough to contain the beast they had seen last night.</p><p></p><p>Elena nodded.</p><p></p><p>"And who do you suppose THEY are?"</p><p></p><p>Nevid shook.</p><p></p><p>"And do they have any more like him still down here?"</p><p></p><p>"Ooh, I never thought of that. I wonder what's in these things..?"</p><p></p><p>The entire group slid down the pile of rubble into the hall, following Arrafin as she stumbled up to one of the odd structures. Then rushing forward as she recoiled, pale and shaking.</p><p></p><p>"They're tombs..."</p><p></p><p>Inside they saw a stone bier, supporting most of the body of a young Kishak man. He seemed extraordinarily well-preserved for someone covered in the amount of dust he was covered in. Except for his head, which had been crushed by a massive fall of stone. Elena's eyes widened as she noticed a sudden movement. His finger. It was wiggling.</p><p></p><p>She pointed and the entire group stood perfectly still, mesmerised by that tiny motion. They all looked at each other, their eyes wide. Pressed together, moving as a unit, they backed away from the bier and its enclosing tomb and moved over to the next one, which had also been broken open by falling rock.</p><p></p><p>Inside this one lay an empty bier, without any body upon it. The heavy dust that lay on the stone outlined a body that had once lain there.</p><p></p><p>A small body. The size of a child. Bare footbprints led from bier to the door of the tomb.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="barsoomcore, post: 672476, member: 812"] [b]Friendly Service[/b] Atranztipac made short work of Boyce, kneecapping the handsome Gap rogue with a plank she'd pried up from the floorboards. As he cursed and collapsed into the chair, the obnoxious little girl caught sight of Michel, the young boy who lived in the West Dormitory. He'd just come in the front door of the cafe and turned in horror at the sudden shriek, only to find Atranztipac charging him, brandishing the plank over her head. The boy, who was no bigger than the Yshakan girl, let out a bone-chilling scream and pelted for the counter, where Ilonka stood. She winced but stood firm as Atranztipac approached. Fortunately the little girl decided not to attack Ilonka, and the Pavairellean woman leaned against the counter in relief. "Atranztipac, be nice." "No." "Atranztipac." "No." Boyce was clutching his knee and looking a thousand sorts of venom at the girl. Trazik and Karel were helpless with laughter on the couch. Vlad, behind the counter and angry with Ilonka to begin with, only scowled. Atranztipac raised the plank and prepared to charge. Michel, against all expectation, rushed out from behind Ilonka's skirts and barrelled into the little girl and the children, shrieking furiously, rolled across the floor, locked in mortal combat. Grown-ups bustled in to break up the fight. ***** "Arrafin? Arrafin?" The hallway outside was blackness and the light from their torch did not reach all the way back to where Arrafin had been, sketching the bas-relief. Aubrey and Philip charged back down the hall, with Elena and Nevid right behind. "I'm here." Arrafin came into view as they neared the carvings, feeling about on the floor for the torch Philip had left behind. "The torch went out. Sorry. Did you find anything?" The others exchanged some looks. Aubrey spoke. "Nothing really. But the passage continues on. Why don't we stick together for a while?" Arrafin nodded, her wild curls shaking as she did so. "Good idea." The five headed deeper down the dark passageway, past the archway and into a room. A big room, from the sudden echoes they heard all around. The torch did not give off enough light to see the walls, but the floor before them was strangely textured. Philip crouched down and came up with a shard of pottery in his hand. "Floor's covered in these. A potter's shop smashed to pieces." "Well, given that Big, White and Hungry came through here, I'm not surprised the pottery's broken," said Aubrey, "But what was it all doing down here in the first place?" Nobody had an answer and gingerly they made their way across the field of shattered fragments. Clay snapped and crunched under their feet, and the echoes ringing back from the unseen walls seemed sinister, fraught with hostile intent. Nevid swore very quietly and knelt. The others stopped and saw him stand up with a knife in his hand. Not just any knife. A very particular knife. A knife that each of them was familiar with. Or at least, a knife of such distinctive aspect that each of them recognized it right away. Small, with a simple hilt and single crossguard. A straight blade with a triangular tip that would have been nearly a foot long, had it been straight. But instead, it curved back and forth along its entire length so that it total length was a little less than eight inches, looking for all the world as though someone had driven the point into something too hard to pierce, and rather than break the blade had accordion-ed itself into this shape. Only one group of people in all Barsoom used such weapons. "The Blood Council." Elena took a step back, eyeing Nevid with real fear. He noticed the sudden anxiousness in his friends and protested. "No, no. I found this. Just now. I stepped on it. Look, it's all rusty." The air grew decidedly less tense as the others came in for a closer look. Aubrey turned to Arrafin. "What does the Blood Council have to do with this place? Any ideas?" The Naridic woman shook her head. "No, no idea. Well, the story is that Ky'in was destroyed by Suelekar Ben Azan and his friend, Farouk ibn Zaoud. Now Essermane Varag, whose tomb I think this is..." She shuddered and looked up at the rough-hewn stone of the ceiling. "...He was one of Ky'in's lieutenants. So if he was buried here, then..." Her voice trailed off and her eyes lost their focus. The others frowned, waiting for her to continue. Philip shrugged. "If he's buried here, well and good. Maybe he left some trinkets behind." ***** Anxious faces awaited the old man's judgement. Chipucuaro stayed with his head bowed, smoke curling up around his white hair. Matzatlipoc's chubby face twisted in horror and he rose to his feet, stumbled back. "No! This cannot be!" Chipucuaro nodded. "You know what we saw. There is hope." "But..." "No." Chipucuaro spoke without room for debate. The rest of the elders understood what was meant. Their Oldest One would never leave this place. The chipactli would consume him. But some of the People might escape. Chipucuaro could not get to his feet without help. His frail wife took one arm and his strong daughter the other and they raised him up. He gripped his weather-beaten staff and leaned heavily on it, looking back and forth around the circle of elders. "The chipactli cannot be defeated. Many of us will not escape this place. But some will. New arrivals have come. They will lead us out. They must have our help or all will perish." The elders looked between each other anxiously. The only new arrivals were the caravan guards, and they were not of the People. Surely they were not being asked to put their faith in Southerners? "We must go with them. We cannot stay." "But... must so many die?" "Darkness comes." ***** "Now that's a right big hole. I'd have to be pretty pissed off to make a hole that big." Philip looked around at the rest of his companions, all of whom were staring at the great rent in the wall in varying degrees of shock. Chunks of stone lay strewn about the pottery shards, and it was obvious that some great force had caused the thick wall to simply explode outwards. Elena nodded. "It might help if you were thirty feet tall, I bet." Aubrey chimed in. "And had been imprisoned down here for a couple of thousand years." As a group they picked their way through the splinters and the rubble and peered through the large gap in the wall. "Somebody light another torch." With a bit more illumination they could see that they were looking down into a great hall, one that stretched off into the darkness. The hall was home to rows of what looked like stone booths, flat-topped and seven or eight feet on a side. Two nearby had been broken open by falling rock. The place was utterly silent. Only their breathing could be heard. Aubrey frowned. "Where do you suppose they kept him?" None of the booths were anywhere near big enough to contain the beast they had seen last night. Elena nodded. "And who do you suppose THEY are?" Nevid shook. "And do they have any more like him still down here?" "Ooh, I never thought of that. I wonder what's in these things..?" The entire group slid down the pile of rubble into the hall, following Arrafin as she stumbled up to one of the odd structures. Then rushing forward as she recoiled, pale and shaking. "They're tombs..." Inside they saw a stone bier, supporting most of the body of a young Kishak man. He seemed extraordinarily well-preserved for someone covered in the amount of dust he was covered in. Except for his head, which had been crushed by a massive fall of stone. Elena's eyes widened as she noticed a sudden movement. His finger. It was wiggling. She pointed and the entire group stood perfectly still, mesmerised by that tiny motion. They all looked at each other, their eyes wide. Pressed together, moving as a unit, they backed away from the bier and its enclosing tomb and moved over to the next one, which had also been broken open by falling rock. Inside this one lay an empty bier, without any body upon it. The heavy dust that lay on the stone outlined a body that had once lain there. A small body. The size of a child. Bare footbprints led from bier to the door of the tomb. [/QUOTE]
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