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Barsoom Tales I - COMPLETE
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<blockquote data-quote="barsoomcore" data-source="post: 1253529" data-attributes="member: 812"><p><strong>Make It There -- Part One</strong></p><p></p><p>All tied up, bound hand and foot, gagged, placed in a circle facing each other, Isaac, Elena, Nevid, Arrafin and Etienne pondered their situation.</p><p></p><p>Pirate John had turned out to be less blood-thirsty and more charming than anyone had expected. His ship, dwarfing their little fishing vessel, drifted alongside and aboard came swinging Pirate John -- bluff, hearty and with a twinkle in his eye. As pirates went, he was practically a good guy.</p><p></p><p>Bound and determined, however, to hold his new captives for ransom, especially when he heard they were del Maraviez employees.</p><p></p><p>"del Maraviez, eh? And just what do they pay you for, I wonder? Delivering messages, perhaps?"</p><p></p><p>He yanked the document from Nevid's belt and perused it.</p><p></p><p>"The King himself? Very nice."</p><p></p><p>With an elaborate flourish he handed back the paper.</p><p></p><p>"I'm sure the family would pay handsomely to have that returned to them in a timely fashion. No more than they would pay for your health and well-being, of course. I don't mean to imply that they would value some musty document more than your own self."</p><p></p><p>He bowed. Arrafin giggled. All of them, struck somewhat confused by their captor's courtesy, filed aboard the pirate ship and waved goodbye to the captain who'd surrendered so easily.</p><p></p><p>"The stars! The stars have fallen! The nine-fold stars have fallen!"</p><p></p><p>"That's Crazy Adil. Don't pay any attention to him."</p><p></p><p>Pirate John waved at the raving Naridic man. The other crew members grinned and seemed to treat the elderly maniac with tolerant sympathy, pushing him gently aside whenever he got in the way, and agreeably nodding to all his dire pronouncements.</p><p></p><p>"The nine-fold stars have fallen! Awake! Awake! Tabbadur has been thrown open! Awake! The stars!"</p><p></p><p>"Thanks. We'll ponder that. This way, please."</p><p></p><p>Now here they were, trapped, tied up and stuck in a sort of attic chamber on Pirate John's island. A makeshift wooden door led to the stairs down to water level, and one entire wall of the chamber was open, revealing a drop of eighty feet or so to the water. The island was peculiarly put together, with a sort of a grotto cutting through it, high enough for John's ship to berth inside, forming a natural hiding place, complete with a dock, various chambers for crew members and loot, and this upper chamber where they were currently imprisoned.</p><p></p><p>With Crazy Adil, who seemed to have attached himself to Arrafin.</p><p></p><p>"Hejan of tomorrow! Awake! The stars! The stars!"</p><p></p><p>Elena growled through her gag. "Rrrr. Rrrr. Rrrr, rrrr."</p><p></p><p>Isaac answered. "Rrrr. Rrrr."</p><p></p><p>Pirate John's ship was not in the grotto; the pirate had left immediately, promising to bring word of their ransom.</p><p></p><p>"What if the del Maraviez won't pay for us?"</p><p></p><p>John shrugged.</p><p></p><p>"Then I let you go. I'm not a savage, my dear sir. Merely an honest businessman."</p><p></p><p>He considered.</p><p></p><p>"A dishonest businessman, I suppose. Pirate, you know."</p><p></p><p>With a jaunty salute, Pirate John strode from the chamber and then his ship sailed away and here they were, watching each other try to speak through their gags. Pirate John had cleverly lashed them to each other so they were unable to reach each other's bonds and so they sat for a while, listening to the guards left downstairs sing a sea shanty.</p><p></p><p>Arrafin looked around for a pencil to jot down the words.</p><p></p><p>Nevid hoped Isabella wouldn't be too disappointed in him.</p><p></p><p>Isaac replayed the duel with Juan Antonio in his head, grim satisfaction filling him as he watched the del Orofin's head tumble to the cobblestones.</p><p></p><p>Etienne, entirely new to this group, watched his compatriots carefully. They seemed strangely non-plussed at their sudden captivity. He knew very little about them, only that they were agents of the del Maraviez, as was he himself, and that he was to bring them to Pavairelle safe and sound.</p><p></p><p>Not doing so well on that one, he mused.</p><p></p><p>Elena concentrated. She could recall the way in which she had touched Juan Antonio's mind, and it seemed to her that she ought to be able to do something similar to physical objects. She tried to focus.</p><p></p><p>Pirate John had left three candles burning up here. One was no more than a few feet away. Elena stared at it, the slick wax dripping down onto the brass holder. A small flame but probably enough. If it would just... <em>come here</em>.</p><p></p><p>A quiet scraping startled her. It had moved. She tried again, tentatively, groping for the "muscle" in her brain that would make the candle draw towards her. Again, the round brass plate on which the candle stood scraped across the stone towards her. And again. Elena's confidence grew as she guided the candle behind her, twisting to watch its progress. At last it sat just an inch or so away from her wrists, and she turned back to face forwards.</p><p></p><p>To confront five very cautious stares.</p><p></p><p>Elena was suddenly glad nobody could speak. She held her wrists out behind her, hoping the intense heat on her wrists meant that the candle flame was near enough to burn the rope. Wincing, gritting her teeth as the pain grew, Elena started to yank her wrists apart rhythmically, and was rewarded at last with a simple, quiet tearing sound and her hands were free.</p><p></p><p>She clawed at the gag in her mouth and tore it loose, then disentangled herself from the ropes binding her legs.</p><p></p><p>With a look round at all her friends, still bound uncomfortably, Elena stretched and yawned a deep, satisfying breath.</p><p></p><p>"THAT'S so much better, I gotta say."</p><p></p><p>She smirked at the angry glares all around and then set about untying her friends.</p><p></p><p>Queries about how she'd managed to make a candle move across the floor she handled by saying "Kalibar taught me some tricks. Path of the mother, you know." Eventually the others stopped asking and started looking around their prison.</p><p></p><p>Etienne made a quick motion and led Elena and Isaac to the back of the room. Behind some crates he'd noticed an opening. The others understood and began silently moving boxes and barrels aside. Soon they'd exposed an alcove. Within sat a sort of marble box, eight feet long and about three feet across, waist-high. Situated on top of the box a human skull grinned at them.</p><p></p><p>Even more interesting than all of that, beyond the box another opening showed a flight of stairs leading up. The three looked at each other in cautious excitement. If they could just keep everything perfectly silent.</p><p></p><p>"The stars! The nine-fold stars have fallen! Awake!"</p><p></p><p>Isaac hissed, "Arrafin! Can you shut him up!"</p><p></p><p>Arrafin shook her head, dark curls going in all directions. Adil followed her everywhere and kept shouting these crazy statements. She turned to him and spoke in Naridic.</p><p></p><p>"Hush! Stop that!"</p><p></p><p>To her surprise, the elderly man immediately closed his mouth and stood silently staring at her. She smiled and put up a hand to wave at him.</p><p></p><p>"Hi."</p><p></p><p>"I am Adil. Adil al-Mula beni Nasir."</p><p></p><p>There was a moment of silence.</p><p></p><p>Arrafin looked around at the others, but nobody had anything useful to suggest. She turned back to Adil.</p><p></p><p>"Hi Adil. How are you?"</p><p></p><p>Looking more closely at the poor man, Arrafin noticed his face was covered in an incredible network of scars. It was as though he'd been shattered and put back together somehow.</p><p></p><p>"I'm tired."</p><p></p><p>For just a second he seemed completely rational. Then he smiled at her, and turned and raced off, over the edge of the room, into the grotto. They heard him splash, and a sudden thrashing punctuated by screams. Arrafin started for the edge to look down, but Nevid grabbed her, put a finger to his lips and shook his head.</p><p></p><p>Down below they heard startled voices. Standing perfectly still, only a few feet from the lip, Arrafin heard one of the pirates clearly say, "It's only Adil, getting eaten again."</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="barsoomcore, post: 1253529, member: 812"] [b]Make It There -- Part One[/b] All tied up, bound hand and foot, gagged, placed in a circle facing each other, Isaac, Elena, Nevid, Arrafin and Etienne pondered their situation. Pirate John had turned out to be less blood-thirsty and more charming than anyone had expected. His ship, dwarfing their little fishing vessel, drifted alongside and aboard came swinging Pirate John -- bluff, hearty and with a twinkle in his eye. As pirates went, he was practically a good guy. Bound and determined, however, to hold his new captives for ransom, especially when he heard they were del Maraviez employees. "del Maraviez, eh? And just what do they pay you for, I wonder? Delivering messages, perhaps?" He yanked the document from Nevid's belt and perused it. "The King himself? Very nice." With an elaborate flourish he handed back the paper. "I'm sure the family would pay handsomely to have that returned to them in a timely fashion. No more than they would pay for your health and well-being, of course. I don't mean to imply that they would value some musty document more than your own self." He bowed. Arrafin giggled. All of them, struck somewhat confused by their captor's courtesy, filed aboard the pirate ship and waved goodbye to the captain who'd surrendered so easily. "The stars! The stars have fallen! The nine-fold stars have fallen!" "That's Crazy Adil. Don't pay any attention to him." Pirate John waved at the raving Naridic man. The other crew members grinned and seemed to treat the elderly maniac with tolerant sympathy, pushing him gently aside whenever he got in the way, and agreeably nodding to all his dire pronouncements. "The nine-fold stars have fallen! Awake! Awake! Tabbadur has been thrown open! Awake! The stars!" "Thanks. We'll ponder that. This way, please." Now here they were, trapped, tied up and stuck in a sort of attic chamber on Pirate John's island. A makeshift wooden door led to the stairs down to water level, and one entire wall of the chamber was open, revealing a drop of eighty feet or so to the water. The island was peculiarly put together, with a sort of a grotto cutting through it, high enough for John's ship to berth inside, forming a natural hiding place, complete with a dock, various chambers for crew members and loot, and this upper chamber where they were currently imprisoned. With Crazy Adil, who seemed to have attached himself to Arrafin. "Hejan of tomorrow! Awake! The stars! The stars!" Elena growled through her gag. "Rrrr. Rrrr. Rrrr, rrrr." Isaac answered. "Rrrr. Rrrr." Pirate John's ship was not in the grotto; the pirate had left immediately, promising to bring word of their ransom. "What if the del Maraviez won't pay for us?" John shrugged. "Then I let you go. I'm not a savage, my dear sir. Merely an honest businessman." He considered. "A dishonest businessman, I suppose. Pirate, you know." With a jaunty salute, Pirate John strode from the chamber and then his ship sailed away and here they were, watching each other try to speak through their gags. Pirate John had cleverly lashed them to each other so they were unable to reach each other's bonds and so they sat for a while, listening to the guards left downstairs sing a sea shanty. Arrafin looked around for a pencil to jot down the words. Nevid hoped Isabella wouldn't be too disappointed in him. Isaac replayed the duel with Juan Antonio in his head, grim satisfaction filling him as he watched the del Orofin's head tumble to the cobblestones. Etienne, entirely new to this group, watched his compatriots carefully. They seemed strangely non-plussed at their sudden captivity. He knew very little about them, only that they were agents of the del Maraviez, as was he himself, and that he was to bring them to Pavairelle safe and sound. Not doing so well on that one, he mused. Elena concentrated. She could recall the way in which she had touched Juan Antonio's mind, and it seemed to her that she ought to be able to do something similar to physical objects. She tried to focus. Pirate John had left three candles burning up here. One was no more than a few feet away. Elena stared at it, the slick wax dripping down onto the brass holder. A small flame but probably enough. If it would just... [i]come here[/i]. A quiet scraping startled her. It had moved. She tried again, tentatively, groping for the "muscle" in her brain that would make the candle draw towards her. Again, the round brass plate on which the candle stood scraped across the stone towards her. And again. Elena's confidence grew as she guided the candle behind her, twisting to watch its progress. At last it sat just an inch or so away from her wrists, and she turned back to face forwards. To confront five very cautious stares. Elena was suddenly glad nobody could speak. She held her wrists out behind her, hoping the intense heat on her wrists meant that the candle flame was near enough to burn the rope. Wincing, gritting her teeth as the pain grew, Elena started to yank her wrists apart rhythmically, and was rewarded at last with a simple, quiet tearing sound and her hands were free. She clawed at the gag in her mouth and tore it loose, then disentangled herself from the ropes binding her legs. With a look round at all her friends, still bound uncomfortably, Elena stretched and yawned a deep, satisfying breath. "THAT'S so much better, I gotta say." She smirked at the angry glares all around and then set about untying her friends. Queries about how she'd managed to make a candle move across the floor she handled by saying "Kalibar taught me some tricks. Path of the mother, you know." Eventually the others stopped asking and started looking around their prison. Etienne made a quick motion and led Elena and Isaac to the back of the room. Behind some crates he'd noticed an opening. The others understood and began silently moving boxes and barrels aside. Soon they'd exposed an alcove. Within sat a sort of marble box, eight feet long and about three feet across, waist-high. Situated on top of the box a human skull grinned at them. Even more interesting than all of that, beyond the box another opening showed a flight of stairs leading up. The three looked at each other in cautious excitement. If they could just keep everything perfectly silent. "The stars! The nine-fold stars have fallen! Awake!" Isaac hissed, "Arrafin! Can you shut him up!" Arrafin shook her head, dark curls going in all directions. Adil followed her everywhere and kept shouting these crazy statements. She turned to him and spoke in Naridic. "Hush! Stop that!" To her surprise, the elderly man immediately closed his mouth and stood silently staring at her. She smiled and put up a hand to wave at him. "Hi." "I am Adil. Adil al-Mula beni Nasir." There was a moment of silence. Arrafin looked around at the others, but nobody had anything useful to suggest. She turned back to Adil. "Hi Adil. How are you?" Looking more closely at the poor man, Arrafin noticed his face was covered in an incredible network of scars. It was as though he'd been shattered and put back together somehow. "I'm tired." For just a second he seemed completely rational. Then he smiled at her, and turned and raced off, over the edge of the room, into the grotto. They heard him splash, and a sudden thrashing punctuated by screams. Arrafin started for the edge to look down, but Nevid grabbed her, put a finger to his lips and shook his head. Down below they heard startled voices. Standing perfectly still, only a few feet from the lip, Arrafin heard one of the pirates clearly say, "It's only Adil, getting eaten again." [/QUOTE]
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