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Barsoom Tales I - COMPLETE
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<blockquote data-quote="barsoomcore" data-source="post: 712347" data-attributes="member: 812"><p><strong>Quaint Customs</strong></p><p></p><p>"What's going on? Are they holding a parade?"</p><p></p><p>Ilonka stared, puzzled, out the doorway at the Yshakans struggling along the muddy street in front of the coffee shop. It looked like nearly the whole... tribe, or nation, or gang or whatever they called themselves. They appeared very exotic to the Pavairellean woman, with their beads and straw ponchos and strange headresses. Even with the rain plastering their outfits into submission, she found them regal and fascinating.</p><p></p><p>No smiles. Grim faces of determination plodded past, intent on making their way out of town and up towards the mine.</p><p></p><p>Karel, usually the one with the sarcastic remark, watched in silence.</p><p></p><p>"They know something. Maybe there's something they can do."</p><p></p><p>"Yeah, or maybe they're working with that Mara and they're going up to kill those del Maraviez yahoos."</p><p></p><p>Vlad, of course, always found a way to make any bad situation seem worse.</p><p></p><p>*****</p><p></p><p>"This can't get any worse, can it?"</p><p></p><p>Nobody answered Aubrey, so he shrugged and kept hauling himself up the sloping shaft. Water had soaked their rope while they'd explored the tomb or vault or whatever it was and the hemp was slimy under his fingers. The climbing was still easy, however, and as he walked up towards the pinhole of light above he felt the others pulling themselves up behind him.</p><p></p><p>Nevid shook as he put one hand in front of the other, stepping carefully with his feet as he followed Aubrey. The shock of that black wall's power, the way it had seared his nerves without seeming to harm him at all -- Nevid was deeply disturbed. He stared at the rope, half-expecting it to transform into something terrible beneath his hands. Everything around seemed malevolent suddenly, dangerous and slippery.</p><p></p><p>Elena scowled. Her steady tread up the sloping floor of the mineshaft went on automatically while she tried to understand the situation they seemed to be trapped in. Ancient history and forgotten languages didn't mean much to her, but there was no mistaking the seriousness of their plight. That big white thing could turn them all into paste without much effort, and whatever was going on with the Kishak girl was not something Elena wanted any part of. She shuddered, thinking of the old man's suicide. Terrible images on all sides.</p><p></p><p>Arrafin made a pretense of pulling herself up along the rope, but before long she couldn't reach up anymore and just slumped in her harness, watching Elena's back above her. Her quick mind raced, trying to encompass the implications of what she'd discovered. Essermane Varag, real and buried right here. Inscriptions claiming to be in the very hand of Ky'in herself. She thought of her father, how thrilled he'd be. She smiled to herself, imagining the conversation she'd have, explaining this whole adventure and how she'd found the carvings and the inscriptions and everything. She itched to return home and with new strength set about pulling herself upwards.</p><p></p><p>Philip kept looking into the darkness behind him. He turned around to face front, watch Arrafin's skinny frame bob along behind Elena, but the image of the terrible white monster crawling silently out from below kept springing to mind and he'd have to spin around, make sure it wasn't actually there. He chewed at his unlit cigar with fierce concentration.</p><p></p><p>"Um, hey. Something's coming down towards us. Any ideas?"</p><p></p><p>"I guess this just got worse."</p><p></p><p>*****</p><p></p><p>Even after he'd seen her tear a man's head off, Boyce found it difficult to shoot at a little girl.</p><p></p><p>When she turned toward him and hissed it got a lot easier.</p><p></p><p>The bullet struck her breastbone and she flew backwards with a shriek. She crashed through a wall and disappeared in a sudden cloud of plaster dust and wooden splinters. Boyce, Michel and Nervaine ran out the front door, leaving behind sprays of blood and a ruined house. They slipped in the mud, nearly fell, got themselves under control and charged for the coffee shop. Hollering the whole way.</p><p></p><p>They crashed into the shop, wide-eyed and quivering with sharp edges. Boyce hurriedly began reloading his pistol.</p><p></p><p>Ilonka came out from behind the counter.</p><p></p><p>"What -- ?"</p><p></p><p>"She attacked. At the house. The little girl. She killed them, everybody, damnit!"</p><p></p><p>Boyce straightened up, drew his other pistol and pointed both at arm's length at the doorway. Nervaine looked confused.</p><p></p><p>"Boyce, you shot her. You shot her right in the chest. She's dead, Boyce."</p><p></p><p>Boyce never looked aside from the doorway.</p><p></p><p>"You want to go out there and find me her dead body, you go right ahead. You saw what she did."</p><p></p><p>Nervaine and Michel looked at each other, nodded, drew their guns and joined Boyce, staring out at the rain. Ilonka and the other Pavairelleans watched in fear.</p><p></p><p>Vlad stood up.</p><p></p><p>"You got any more guns?"</p><p></p><p>Boyce nodded slowly. He dropped a heavy sack onto a nearby table. Vlad pulled it open and out spilled another half-dozen pistols of various sizes. After a second, everybody grabbed one. They all stood, pointing the guns at the empty doorway. Ilonka felt better with the hefty chunk of steel in her hands. Trazik stood on one side of her, tall and scared-looking but reassuring all the same. Vlad was on the other side, calm as ever, his broad shoulders a comforting presence. Karel had a crazy grin on, and the gun in his hands was shaking.</p><p></p><p>Most of the guns were shaking.</p><p></p><p>*****</p><p></p><p>"These Yshakans are crazy."</p><p></p><p>Elena felt the need to whisper. Their guides had shown no sign of being able to speak a word of Imperial Kishak, but she kept quiet regardless.</p><p></p><p>"Where are we going? That thing could be rummaging around in here. It could be anywhere."</p><p></p><p>They made their way along a narrow, low-ceilinged passage cut through the rock, following the line of the ore. Up ahead a hundred Yshakan men and women moved in silence, only the swinging rushes of the clothing giving any sign of their presence. At the back of the procession, Elena, Aubrey, Nevid, Philip and Arrafin struggled along, trying to keep up with their silent vanguard.</p><p></p><p>"Maybe we shouldn't be following them. Maybe this is some big Yshakan thing. Maybe they're going to sacrifice and eat somebody. I heard they do that."</p><p></p><p>"They do not. Don't be foolish."</p><p></p><p>"Oh, you're some kind of expert on Yshaka?"</p><p></p><p>"Guys, we have bigger things to worry about."</p><p></p><p>"Bigger than getting eaten? You need to rethink your priorities."</p><p></p><p>They moved on, deep beneath the dark earth, squabbling all the way.</p><p></p><p>*****</p><p></p><p>Dust settled in the room. It powdered the face of the middle-aged woman, disappeared into the spots of blood on her skin. The man's boot turned white as plaster dust drifted down on top of it. The rain pounded outside but in here everything was delicate and still. Only drops of blood, falling from the splintered table, added any sound to the scene.</p><p></p><p>Then a groan. Beams shifted and ground against each other. A slight, red-skinned form rose up from beneath a mass of shattered planks and lathes.</p><p></p><p>The little girl looked around the room. The mortals were gone. Out of habit, she reached down and pulled free an arm, started gnawing on it, but it did nothing for her hunger. One hand rubbed at her chest, the memory of that violent impact still clear to her extremely simple mind. She tore chunks of flesh from the severed arm and swallowed them, staring out the open doorway at the muddy street. Her eyes were dull and vacant.</p><p></p><p>She realised she recognized that building down the street. Her appallingly empty face suddenly lit up in a guileless smile and she looked for all the world like any other six-year-old.</p><p></p><p>Gnawing on a severed human arm.</p><p></p><p>She strode across the room, out the door and along the street.</p><p></p><p>*****</p><p></p><p>"Dark Water."</p><p></p><p>The Yshakans lit torches, revealing a vast chamber that stretched off out of sight, great flowing columns of stone rising into blackness. Their torches flickered as they formed a circle around a small pool. The five non-Yshakans watched in silence, awed by the grandeur of the cavern.</p><p></p><p>Chipucuaro turned from the water. His weathered face pulled into a friendly smile and he waved.</p><p></p><p>"Join us. Come. It is safe here."</p><p></p><p>With a few quizzical looks the five descended irregular slopes to stand next to the old chieftan.</p><p></p><p>"The chipactli cannot approach Dark Water. We are safe here. But you must lead us out."</p><p></p><p>The quizzical looks grew more quizzical. Aubrey spoke.</p><p></p><p>"Does anyone understand what the old guy is saying? That must be Yshakan. Arrafin, do you speak Yshakan?"</p><p></p><p>"Not a word."</p><p></p><p>"This could take a while."</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="barsoomcore, post: 712347, member: 812"] [b]Quaint Customs[/b] "What's going on? Are they holding a parade?" Ilonka stared, puzzled, out the doorway at the Yshakans struggling along the muddy street in front of the coffee shop. It looked like nearly the whole... tribe, or nation, or gang or whatever they called themselves. They appeared very exotic to the Pavairellean woman, with their beads and straw ponchos and strange headresses. Even with the rain plastering their outfits into submission, she found them regal and fascinating. No smiles. Grim faces of determination plodded past, intent on making their way out of town and up towards the mine. Karel, usually the one with the sarcastic remark, watched in silence. "They know something. Maybe there's something they can do." "Yeah, or maybe they're working with that Mara and they're going up to kill those del Maraviez yahoos." Vlad, of course, always found a way to make any bad situation seem worse. ***** "This can't get any worse, can it?" Nobody answered Aubrey, so he shrugged and kept hauling himself up the sloping shaft. Water had soaked their rope while they'd explored the tomb or vault or whatever it was and the hemp was slimy under his fingers. The climbing was still easy, however, and as he walked up towards the pinhole of light above he felt the others pulling themselves up behind him. Nevid shook as he put one hand in front of the other, stepping carefully with his feet as he followed Aubrey. The shock of that black wall's power, the way it had seared his nerves without seeming to harm him at all -- Nevid was deeply disturbed. He stared at the rope, half-expecting it to transform into something terrible beneath his hands. Everything around seemed malevolent suddenly, dangerous and slippery. Elena scowled. Her steady tread up the sloping floor of the mineshaft went on automatically while she tried to understand the situation they seemed to be trapped in. Ancient history and forgotten languages didn't mean much to her, but there was no mistaking the seriousness of their plight. That big white thing could turn them all into paste without much effort, and whatever was going on with the Kishak girl was not something Elena wanted any part of. She shuddered, thinking of the old man's suicide. Terrible images on all sides. Arrafin made a pretense of pulling herself up along the rope, but before long she couldn't reach up anymore and just slumped in her harness, watching Elena's back above her. Her quick mind raced, trying to encompass the implications of what she'd discovered. Essermane Varag, real and buried right here. Inscriptions claiming to be in the very hand of Ky'in herself. She thought of her father, how thrilled he'd be. She smiled to herself, imagining the conversation she'd have, explaining this whole adventure and how she'd found the carvings and the inscriptions and everything. She itched to return home and with new strength set about pulling herself upwards. Philip kept looking into the darkness behind him. He turned around to face front, watch Arrafin's skinny frame bob along behind Elena, but the image of the terrible white monster crawling silently out from below kept springing to mind and he'd have to spin around, make sure it wasn't actually there. He chewed at his unlit cigar with fierce concentration. "Um, hey. Something's coming down towards us. Any ideas?" "I guess this just got worse." ***** Even after he'd seen her tear a man's head off, Boyce found it difficult to shoot at a little girl. When she turned toward him and hissed it got a lot easier. The bullet struck her breastbone and she flew backwards with a shriek. She crashed through a wall and disappeared in a sudden cloud of plaster dust and wooden splinters. Boyce, Michel and Nervaine ran out the front door, leaving behind sprays of blood and a ruined house. They slipped in the mud, nearly fell, got themselves under control and charged for the coffee shop. Hollering the whole way. They crashed into the shop, wide-eyed and quivering with sharp edges. Boyce hurriedly began reloading his pistol. Ilonka came out from behind the counter. "What -- ?" "She attacked. At the house. The little girl. She killed them, everybody, damnit!" Boyce straightened up, drew his other pistol and pointed both at arm's length at the doorway. Nervaine looked confused. "Boyce, you shot her. You shot her right in the chest. She's dead, Boyce." Boyce never looked aside from the doorway. "You want to go out there and find me her dead body, you go right ahead. You saw what she did." Nervaine and Michel looked at each other, nodded, drew their guns and joined Boyce, staring out at the rain. Ilonka and the other Pavairelleans watched in fear. Vlad stood up. "You got any more guns?" Boyce nodded slowly. He dropped a heavy sack onto a nearby table. Vlad pulled it open and out spilled another half-dozen pistols of various sizes. After a second, everybody grabbed one. They all stood, pointing the guns at the empty doorway. Ilonka felt better with the hefty chunk of steel in her hands. Trazik stood on one side of her, tall and scared-looking but reassuring all the same. Vlad was on the other side, calm as ever, his broad shoulders a comforting presence. Karel had a crazy grin on, and the gun in his hands was shaking. Most of the guns were shaking. ***** "These Yshakans are crazy." Elena felt the need to whisper. Their guides had shown no sign of being able to speak a word of Imperial Kishak, but she kept quiet regardless. "Where are we going? That thing could be rummaging around in here. It could be anywhere." They made their way along a narrow, low-ceilinged passage cut through the rock, following the line of the ore. Up ahead a hundred Yshakan men and women moved in silence, only the swinging rushes of the clothing giving any sign of their presence. At the back of the procession, Elena, Aubrey, Nevid, Philip and Arrafin struggled along, trying to keep up with their silent vanguard. "Maybe we shouldn't be following them. Maybe this is some big Yshakan thing. Maybe they're going to sacrifice and eat somebody. I heard they do that." "They do not. Don't be foolish." "Oh, you're some kind of expert on Yshaka?" "Guys, we have bigger things to worry about." "Bigger than getting eaten? You need to rethink your priorities." They moved on, deep beneath the dark earth, squabbling all the way. ***** Dust settled in the room. It powdered the face of the middle-aged woman, disappeared into the spots of blood on her skin. The man's boot turned white as plaster dust drifted down on top of it. The rain pounded outside but in here everything was delicate and still. Only drops of blood, falling from the splintered table, added any sound to the scene. Then a groan. Beams shifted and ground against each other. A slight, red-skinned form rose up from beneath a mass of shattered planks and lathes. The little girl looked around the room. The mortals were gone. Out of habit, she reached down and pulled free an arm, started gnawing on it, but it did nothing for her hunger. One hand rubbed at her chest, the memory of that violent impact still clear to her extremely simple mind. She tore chunks of flesh from the severed arm and swallowed them, staring out the open doorway at the muddy street. Her eyes were dull and vacant. She realised she recognized that building down the street. Her appallingly empty face suddenly lit up in a guileless smile and she looked for all the world like any other six-year-old. Gnawing on a severed human arm. She strode across the room, out the door and along the street. ***** "Dark Water." The Yshakans lit torches, revealing a vast chamber that stretched off out of sight, great flowing columns of stone rising into blackness. Their torches flickered as they formed a circle around a small pool. The five non-Yshakans watched in silence, awed by the grandeur of the cavern. Chipucuaro turned from the water. His weathered face pulled into a friendly smile and he waved. "Join us. Come. It is safe here." With a few quizzical looks the five descended irregular slopes to stand next to the old chieftan. "The chipactli cannot approach Dark Water. We are safe here. But you must lead us out." The quizzical looks grew more quizzical. Aubrey spoke. "Does anyone understand what the old guy is saying? That must be Yshakan. Arrafin, do you speak Yshakan?" "Not a word." "This could take a while." [/QUOTE]
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