Barsoom Tales I - COMPLETE
- Thread starter barsoomcore
- Start date
barsoomcore
Unattainable Ideal
Thanks, friend. I try to be somewhat regular in my updates, but I do have THREE story hours on the go. So it takes a while to make the rounds. But hang in there Stewardesses is almost done and Dead Man's Chest (the game) wrapped last weekend, so there's an end to that story in sight, as well.
I recommend (in addition to my own Story Hours) those of jonrog1, ledded, OldDrewId and JoshualDyal. All sources of great inspiration to me, and I'm sure they would be to you, too.
I recommend (in addition to my own Story Hours) those of jonrog1, ledded, OldDrewId and JoshualDyal. All sources of great inspiration to me, and I'm sure they would be to you, too.
Desdichado
Hero
A few points of interest. Because it's been a while since I caught up, and because I'm forgetful, I just went and cut and paste the text of the story only posts into Word so I could "read it at my leisure." The document came to 125 pages long, although the web formatting contributed to that, I'm sure, since more traditional paragraph breaks would cut it considerably.
Still that's an awful lot of story. I also, near the end, got the message that Word could no longer display the spelling and grammatical errors because there were too many.
So, now when I'm done, I'll do the same for the Stewardess story hour and look for connections. Already caught the Goddess one...
Still that's an awful lot of story. I also, near the end, got the message that Word could no longer display the spelling and grammatical errors because there were too many.
So, now when I'm done, I'll do the same for the Stewardess story hour and look for connections. Already caught the Goddess one...
Desdichado
Hero
Yeah, well, I'm notorious for not finishing story hours. I'm not so sure I'd recommend myself. Then again, that's often because we don't finish campaigns.barsoomcore said:
I'll have the Dark●Matter story hour actually complete this week though; I only need one more update to finish it off. Then I can start my Dark Heritages story hour and string everyone along again.
EDIT: Dark●Matter is complete right now as we speak! Check out the link in my sig extra quick to read a complete Story Hour!
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barsoomcore
Unattainable Ideal
Okay, that's just mean.Joshua Dyal said:
All I'll say is that the same character is mentioned in both Story Hours. Not necessarily by the same name...Joshua Dyal said:
Honestly, I don't think you have enough information yet to know what the connection is. You could speculate (which would almost certainly provide me with entertainment), but I don't think the key details have yet been released.
The Stewardess game is set about a hundred to a hundred and fifty years BEFORE Barsoom Tales. That will be a key fact in determining who's who.
Desdichado
Hero
Yeah, I figured it must mention someone like the Tyrant, or Whatsisname that supposedly killed the Goddess, or something. Still, I've only reread to the point where Elena meets with Kalimber, so I'm not exactly caught up and in a position to speculate yet...
And you can blame Bill Gates for his meanspiritedness. Either that or all those unfamiliar words like Paraveille and Saijadan...
And you can blame Bill Gates for his meanspiritedness.
Either that or all those unfamiliar words like Paraveille and Saijadan...
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barsoomcore
Unattainable Ideal
"The Shadow Realm permeates our Living World in every dimension. The Shadow Realm is a place of nothingness, of denial and eradication. It destroys everything and creates nothing. It is the darkness beyond black, beyond the depth of the night sky."
"How do I reach it?"
Arrafin leaned forward after her question. Between she and Yasami Kagarisama lay the book they'd found in the lair of... that Lohanese woman that Laughter of Stones, he of the obsidian torso and cryptic manner of speaking, had insisted was an ancient reptilian monster. Just thinking about it made Arrafin's brain bubble with the historical implications of what she was learning.
And the math.
Yasami shook her head.
"You cannot reach it. No living thing can come into direct contact with Shadow, for it is inimical to all life. Only the soul, upon death, can traverse its infinite blackness, to cross the Buried Sea of Omean and come to the final rest that awaits us all."
"What?"
*****
Elena and Isaac pounded up the cobblestone road that led to the crest of Temple Hill. Etienne had expressed a desire to help save Arrafin from the clutches of a twisted Blood Council scheme, but he was still too woozy from the multiple poisonings he'd received. Nevid had only groaned and gone back to bed.
Temple Hill, the highest point in Pavairelle, looked down on all sides to the city where it lay spread out across the peninsula. Dactyls wheeled above red tile rooftops and slim towers, their shrill cries audible over the distant rumble of the Inner Sea. To the north the cliffs of the Gap rose high above the pounding surf, and to the south the waters reached out to the horizon, flecked with white sails here and there. The Hill was crested with a sprawling garden which housed the Temple Of Spring, where yearly rites were held. The gardens sloped down on all sides, manicured and green, rising up in a tall hedge along a stone wall that surrounded the Blood Council Sanctuary.
Most cities on Barsoom had a Blood Council Sanctuary, a mysterious compound where the enigmatic women of that organization kept their secrets and preserved their mysteries. Few others ever saw the inside of such a place, and the Blood Council representatives never answered questions about their habits or lifestyles.
Isaac and Elena stood before a tall wooden gate painted dark crimson. There was no sign of a gatekeeper or a doorman of any kind. Elena shrugged and pounded her fist on the gate. The impact echoed in the space beyond with no response. They looked at each other.
"We could climb over the wall."
Isaac glowered.
"I'm already supposed to die at noon, Elena. I see no reason to advance that schedule."
"Are you afraid of the Blood Council?"
"Absolutely."
"Fair enough."
The door opened and they both jumped back. To see a slight young girl in the trademark crimson robe of the Blood Council watching them curiously. Her dark, slanted eyes spoke of exotic lands far beyond anything Elena or Isaac had ever travelled in. She bowed.
"High Blood Sister Torokan is not receiving visitors today, I'm sorry."
She began to close the door. Elena stepped forward.
"We have to speak to our friend, Arrafin al-Fasir beni Hassan. It's very urgent."
"I'm sorry. No visitors today."
She bowed again.
"We must speak with Arrafin now."
"No."
The slight young girl showed no trace of worry or concern. Her face held no expression, no clue whatsoever. Isaac growled.
"We're coming in there after our friend, sister. Don't try to stop us."
Still she showed no sign of concern.
"You will not enter our Sanctuary. It is forbidden. You will die in the attempt, I promise you."
She looked thirteen years old. She stared at Isaac, her gaze steady. Isaac swallowed.
"Will you take her a message?"
The girl bowed.
"I would be honoured to be of service, sir."
Isaac snorted. Elena grimaced, but her voice was quiet and polite.
"Please tell our friend that sister Masamori says, 'Yasami is the one.'"
The girl stared at Elena for a couple of seconds. She flicked her gaze to Isaac and then back to Elena.
"Sister Masamori says, 'Yasami is the one.' I understand. She will receive the message."
"Do you know Masamori? Or Yasami? What's going on? This involves me, you know?"
Elena's composure began to crack. She was involved in some foul conspiracy that these supercilious foreigners were protecting. She'd been BRED, or she was going to be bred, or something. Elena put up a hand to force the door open, shouting at the girl.
"What's going on with you bitches? Why won't you talk to me? I want to know what's going on? Is Arrafin okay? Is she in there? Let us in now!"
The girl just stared. Elena's effort to push open the door accomplished nothing; the door stayed exactly where it was.
"Wait here."
She closed the door. Isaac looked over at Elena. To his shock, he saw his friend fighting back tears. He looked out over the wide expanse of the city spread out below them.
"It's pretty up here. If you like this sort of thing."
*****
"What is the soul? What do you mean?"
Arrafin scribbled frantically as Sister Yasami explained. They sat on tightly-woven straw mats set in precise order in a room almost completely bare of furnishings. A latticed window opened onto a small garden, and in one corner an irregularly glazed vase held a single cherry bough.
Yasami nodded.
"At the moment of your conception, imagine that a chord was played. A set of notes, unique to you, never before played, began then and has been sustained until now. And will sustain until your death. That is your soul. The soul is a real thing, Arrafin, that can be identified and seen. And operated upon.
"It is the normal extrusion of Shadow into the Living World. Every sentient being contains a soul, a thin twisted strand of possibility like smoke from a stick of incense. It is what gives us our sense of identity. It is that within us that carries on from moment to moment. It is the origin of memory and it is the one irreducible atom of the self.
"That is Shadow's nature. It is unchanging. Constant. As we grow, everything about us changes. Our appearance, our opinions, our abilities. And yet we retain a sense that we do not change, that we remain the same individual throughout our life. Why is this so? Because within us, each of us, we carry a vestige of Shadow that never transforms.
"Upon our death, it is that vestige that makes the final voyage about which we can know nothing until our time comes. But while we live, we can draw upon the nature of our soul to work our will upon the power of Shadow."
Arrafin looked up.
"But you said Shadow is unchanging. If it never changes, how can we act on it? Doesn't it ignore everything we do?"
"Indeed it does. One cannot change Shadow. But when Shadow comes in direct contact with the Living World, all rules are erased. For an instant, all things are possible, but if Shadow's touch is not withdrawn, all things will be annihilated. This is sorcery -- to open a door to Shadow, only to slam it shut in that same instant, and as reality is erased, to enforce one's will upon the apocalypse."
"Apocalypse? That doesn't sound so good."
"Shadow is death. To contact it, even indirectly, is to come face-to-face with nothingness. With the denial of all. I misspoke slightly -- one does not open a door. Imagine more that one peels away layers of oiled cloth sealing up a window until the faintest bit of light begins to penetrate the fibers. Shadow oozes through our souls like water seeps through loose soil. Through the workings of sorcerous formulae, our minds create patterns and enforce order upon that potential chaos. By performing these calculations in our heads, in the exact rhythm and order defined, we can cause Shadow's impact on the Living World to direct itself, to generate specific effects.
"To perform magic."
They both looked up as a portion of one wall slid aside. Arrafin hadn't yet gotten used to the doors in this place; all the walls looked identical to her but it seemed that certain portions of each were intended as doors and slid aside with a simple push. In the opening she recognized High Blood Sister Kimiko Torokan.
Torokan had first examined the book and agreed to teach Arrafin the secrets it held. She had been then, and remained now, a tall, forbidding woman of severe appearance, with a stern expression and unreadable eyes.
In other words, she was practically identical to every other Blood Sister Arrafin had ever seen.
She spoke in some language Arrafin didn't understand and Sister Yasami rose, bowed to Arrafin, and left the room. Torokan stared at Arrafin for a second.
"Please wait here, Arrafin. I will return."
She closed the door.
Arrafin sat, looking around the room, and when it became apparent that nobody was going to immediately join her, she pulled the book over to her and began comparing it with the translated notes Yasami had provided. The complex formulae fascinated her. Within seconds she was lost in trying to decipher the symbols and equations. She looked up at a sudden scream. It was repeated once, and then twice more. Arrafin couldn't tell where it was coming from, but it didn't sound very far away.
There was silence for a while. Arrafin sat perfectly still, suddenly aware that she was alone, surrounded by agents of some organization she knew nothing about, where her friends couldn't possibly find her.
"There she is. Arrafin. Are you okay?"
She looked up to find Isaac and Elena studying her from the open doorway. Sister Torokan stood behind them.
"Come with me, please."
*****
Arrafin kept throwing up. She couldn't help it. Only moments ago she'd been sitting across from Yasami, talking with her, learning from her.
Now her life spilled onto the stone floor from the stump of her neck. The stink of blood and urine filled the room.
Elena and Isaac fared only a little better. They turned, a little wild-eyed, as Torokan stood beside them.
"Yasami was the one."
Sister Yasami hung upside down, suspended from her spread ankles. Her naked body ran with glistening blood. Her head had been removed and was nowhere to be seen and blood still trailed from her gaping throat. Hooks dug into her skin.
Torokan spoke quietly.
"I have known her all my life. We studied together as children. And she has betrayed us all."
Elena shook her head in disbelief.
"You people are animals."
The tall Lohanese woman scoffed.
"You are the animals. You are the ones who live your lives in ignorance, unaware of the forces that move in the darkness. We are the humans. We are the ones who defend you against evil you cannot imagine. We are the ones who take on the burden.
"Matai Shang destroyed this woman as he has destroyed so many of our order."
"Did you have to kill her? Like this?"
"I have done this. This crime is mine. There is no power but mine."
They listened cautiously to Torokan's sing-song words. Other women had come into the circular chamber where they stood, and they repeated the High Sister's words.
"I have done this. This crime is mine. There is no power but mine."
Torokan turned to the three friends.
"Matai Shang is a sorcerer from our land who seeks control over our order. He turns us against ourselves and undermines our faith and our purpose. The Blood Council faces an internal war.
"Arrafin, your study with us is over. Learn what you can on your own. My presence is no longer safe. Do not seek help from this order, for any one of us may have been corrupted by Matai Shang.
"Elena, it is Shang who took your life from you. He perverts the secrets of the Blood Council and seeks only power for himself. We can no longer protect you. Masamori is dead this morning, found by agents of Shang."
Isaac spoke up.
"Fine. Where is this evil son of a coyote? Obviously you want us to take care of him for you, so give us the details. Where is he? How tough is he and how do we defeat him?"
Torokan lost her icy expression, bewildered by Isaac's question. Then she laughed.
"No, little man. You can do nothing. This fight is not yours. This foe is beyond you. I bring you here only to warn you to stay clear of our order. To understand the seriousness of this struggle. Leave now."
"But aren't we the good guys?"
"How do I reach it?"
Arrafin leaned forward after her question. Between she and Yasami Kagarisama lay the book they'd found in the lair of... that Lohanese woman that Laughter of Stones, he of the obsidian torso and cryptic manner of speaking, had insisted was an ancient reptilian monster. Just thinking about it made Arrafin's brain bubble with the historical implications of what she was learning.
And the math.
Yasami shook her head.
"You cannot reach it. No living thing can come into direct contact with Shadow, for it is inimical to all life. Only the soul, upon death, can traverse its infinite blackness, to cross the Buried Sea of Omean and come to the final rest that awaits us all."
"What?"
*****
Elena and Isaac pounded up the cobblestone road that led to the crest of Temple Hill. Etienne had expressed a desire to help save Arrafin from the clutches of a twisted Blood Council scheme, but he was still too woozy from the multiple poisonings he'd received. Nevid had only groaned and gone back to bed.
Temple Hill, the highest point in Pavairelle, looked down on all sides to the city where it lay spread out across the peninsula. Dactyls wheeled above red tile rooftops and slim towers, their shrill cries audible over the distant rumble of the Inner Sea. To the north the cliffs of the Gap rose high above the pounding surf, and to the south the waters reached out to the horizon, flecked with white sails here and there. The Hill was crested with a sprawling garden which housed the Temple Of Spring, where yearly rites were held. The gardens sloped down on all sides, manicured and green, rising up in a tall hedge along a stone wall that surrounded the Blood Council Sanctuary.
Most cities on Barsoom had a Blood Council Sanctuary, a mysterious compound where the enigmatic women of that organization kept their secrets and preserved their mysteries. Few others ever saw the inside of such a place, and the Blood Council representatives never answered questions about their habits or lifestyles.
Isaac and Elena stood before a tall wooden gate painted dark crimson. There was no sign of a gatekeeper or a doorman of any kind. Elena shrugged and pounded her fist on the gate. The impact echoed in the space beyond with no response. They looked at each other.
"We could climb over the wall."
Isaac glowered.
"I'm already supposed to die at noon, Elena. I see no reason to advance that schedule."
"Are you afraid of the Blood Council?"
"Absolutely."
"Fair enough."
The door opened and they both jumped back. To see a slight young girl in the trademark crimson robe of the Blood Council watching them curiously. Her dark, slanted eyes spoke of exotic lands far beyond anything Elena or Isaac had ever travelled in. She bowed.
"High Blood Sister Torokan is not receiving visitors today, I'm sorry."
She began to close the door. Elena stepped forward.
"We have to speak to our friend, Arrafin al-Fasir beni Hassan. It's very urgent."
"I'm sorry. No visitors today."
She bowed again.
"We must speak with Arrafin now."
"No."
The slight young girl showed no trace of worry or concern. Her face held no expression, no clue whatsoever. Isaac growled.
"We're coming in there after our friend, sister. Don't try to stop us."
Still she showed no sign of concern.
"You will not enter our Sanctuary. It is forbidden. You will die in the attempt, I promise you."
She looked thirteen years old. She stared at Isaac, her gaze steady. Isaac swallowed.
"Will you take her a message?"
The girl bowed.
"I would be honoured to be of service, sir."
Isaac snorted. Elena grimaced, but her voice was quiet and polite.
"Please tell our friend that sister Masamori says, 'Yasami is the one.'"
The girl stared at Elena for a couple of seconds. She flicked her gaze to Isaac and then back to Elena.
"Sister Masamori says, 'Yasami is the one.' I understand. She will receive the message."
"Do you know Masamori? Or Yasami? What's going on? This involves me, you know?"
Elena's composure began to crack. She was involved in some foul conspiracy that these supercilious foreigners were protecting. She'd been BRED, or she was going to be bred, or something. Elena put up a hand to force the door open, shouting at the girl.
"What's going on with you bitches? Why won't you talk to me? I want to know what's going on? Is Arrafin okay? Is she in there? Let us in now!"
The girl just stared. Elena's effort to push open the door accomplished nothing; the door stayed exactly where it was.
"Wait here."
She closed the door. Isaac looked over at Elena. To his shock, he saw his friend fighting back tears. He looked out over the wide expanse of the city spread out below them.
"It's pretty up here. If you like this sort of thing."
*****
"What is the soul? What do you mean?"
Arrafin scribbled frantically as Sister Yasami explained. They sat on tightly-woven straw mats set in precise order in a room almost completely bare of furnishings. A latticed window opened onto a small garden, and in one corner an irregularly glazed vase held a single cherry bough.
Yasami nodded.
"At the moment of your conception, imagine that a chord was played. A set of notes, unique to you, never before played, began then and has been sustained until now. And will sustain until your death. That is your soul. The soul is a real thing, Arrafin, that can be identified and seen. And operated upon.
"It is the normal extrusion of Shadow into the Living World. Every sentient being contains a soul, a thin twisted strand of possibility like smoke from a stick of incense. It is what gives us our sense of identity. It is that within us that carries on from moment to moment. It is the origin of memory and it is the one irreducible atom of the self.
"That is Shadow's nature. It is unchanging. Constant. As we grow, everything about us changes. Our appearance, our opinions, our abilities. And yet we retain a sense that we do not change, that we remain the same individual throughout our life. Why is this so? Because within us, each of us, we carry a vestige of Shadow that never transforms.
"Upon our death, it is that vestige that makes the final voyage about which we can know nothing until our time comes. But while we live, we can draw upon the nature of our soul to work our will upon the power of Shadow."
Arrafin looked up.
"But you said Shadow is unchanging. If it never changes, how can we act on it? Doesn't it ignore everything we do?"
"Indeed it does. One cannot change Shadow. But when Shadow comes in direct contact with the Living World, all rules are erased. For an instant, all things are possible, but if Shadow's touch is not withdrawn, all things will be annihilated. This is sorcery -- to open a door to Shadow, only to slam it shut in that same instant, and as reality is erased, to enforce one's will upon the apocalypse."
"Apocalypse? That doesn't sound so good."
"Shadow is death. To contact it, even indirectly, is to come face-to-face with nothingness. With the denial of all. I misspoke slightly -- one does not open a door. Imagine more that one peels away layers of oiled cloth sealing up a window until the faintest bit of light begins to penetrate the fibers. Shadow oozes through our souls like water seeps through loose soil. Through the workings of sorcerous formulae, our minds create patterns and enforce order upon that potential chaos. By performing these calculations in our heads, in the exact rhythm and order defined, we can cause Shadow's impact on the Living World to direct itself, to generate specific effects.
"To perform magic."
They both looked up as a portion of one wall slid aside. Arrafin hadn't yet gotten used to the doors in this place; all the walls looked identical to her but it seemed that certain portions of each were intended as doors and slid aside with a simple push. In the opening she recognized High Blood Sister Kimiko Torokan.
Torokan had first examined the book and agreed to teach Arrafin the secrets it held. She had been then, and remained now, a tall, forbidding woman of severe appearance, with a stern expression and unreadable eyes.
In other words, she was practically identical to every other Blood Sister Arrafin had ever seen.
She spoke in some language Arrafin didn't understand and Sister Yasami rose, bowed to Arrafin, and left the room. Torokan stared at Arrafin for a second.
"Please wait here, Arrafin. I will return."
She closed the door.
Arrafin sat, looking around the room, and when it became apparent that nobody was going to immediately join her, she pulled the book over to her and began comparing it with the translated notes Yasami had provided. The complex formulae fascinated her. Within seconds she was lost in trying to decipher the symbols and equations. She looked up at a sudden scream. It was repeated once, and then twice more. Arrafin couldn't tell where it was coming from, but it didn't sound very far away.
There was silence for a while. Arrafin sat perfectly still, suddenly aware that she was alone, surrounded by agents of some organization she knew nothing about, where her friends couldn't possibly find her.
"There she is. Arrafin. Are you okay?"
She looked up to find Isaac and Elena studying her from the open doorway. Sister Torokan stood behind them.
"Come with me, please."
*****
Arrafin kept throwing up. She couldn't help it. Only moments ago she'd been sitting across from Yasami, talking with her, learning from her.
Now her life spilled onto the stone floor from the stump of her neck. The stink of blood and urine filled the room.
Elena and Isaac fared only a little better. They turned, a little wild-eyed, as Torokan stood beside them.
"Yasami was the one."
Sister Yasami hung upside down, suspended from her spread ankles. Her naked body ran with glistening blood. Her head had been removed and was nowhere to be seen and blood still trailed from her gaping throat. Hooks dug into her skin.
Torokan spoke quietly.
"I have known her all my life. We studied together as children. And she has betrayed us all."
Elena shook her head in disbelief.
"You people are animals."
The tall Lohanese woman scoffed.
"You are the animals. You are the ones who live your lives in ignorance, unaware of the forces that move in the darkness. We are the humans. We are the ones who defend you against evil you cannot imagine. We are the ones who take on the burden.
"Matai Shang destroyed this woman as he has destroyed so many of our order."
"Did you have to kill her? Like this?"
"I have done this. This crime is mine. There is no power but mine."
They listened cautiously to Torokan's sing-song words. Other women had come into the circular chamber where they stood, and they repeated the High Sister's words.
"I have done this. This crime is mine. There is no power but mine."
Torokan turned to the three friends.
"Matai Shang is a sorcerer from our land who seeks control over our order. He turns us against ourselves and undermines our faith and our purpose. The Blood Council faces an internal war.
"Arrafin, your study with us is over. Learn what you can on your own. My presence is no longer safe. Do not seek help from this order, for any one of us may have been corrupted by Matai Shang.
"Elena, it is Shang who took your life from you. He perverts the secrets of the Blood Council and seeks only power for himself. We can no longer protect you. Masamori is dead this morning, found by agents of Shang."
Isaac spoke up.
"Fine. Where is this evil son of a coyote? Obviously you want us to take care of him for you, so give us the details. Where is he? How tough is he and how do we defeat him?"
Torokan lost her icy expression, bewildered by Isaac's question. Then she laughed.
"No, little man. You can do nothing. This fight is not yours. This foe is beyond you. I bring you here only to warn you to stay clear of our order. To understand the seriousness of this struggle. Leave now."
"But aren't we the good guys?"
barsoomcore
Unattainable Ideal
For those put off by the thought of scrolling through endless pages of reader comments and so on (though I always find those part of the fun of reading Story Hours), I've compiled the first two Cantos of Barsoom Tales into text files and attached them to the first post.
We're closing in on the climax of Make It There, so hold on to your hats...
New post for Dead Man's Chest is on its way, too. Soon. Very soon...
We're closing in on the climax of Make It There, so hold on to your hats...
New post for Dead Man's Chest is on its way, too. Soon. Very soon...
Desdichado
Hero
Bump for great justice.
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