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Barsoom Tales I - COMPLETE
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<blockquote data-quote="barsoomcore" data-source="post: 1271350" data-attributes="member: 812"><p>Adil wasn't quite naked. Hanging around his neck on a well-worn leather thong was a strange circular pendant.</p><p></p><p>Once Arrafin recovered from her fright, and heard her friends stampeding downstairs to see what had happened, she smiled.</p><p></p><p>"Adil. You're... not dead."</p><p></p><p>He scowled and hissed at her, "That's not funny."</p><p></p><p>Arrafin's big eyes blinked and, stung by Adil's sudden scorn, she turned to Isaac and dabbed at the wounded man's forehead with a damp cloth. The others piled into the room and stopped in confusion at the sight of the old man they'd assumed had just died a horrible death.</p><p></p><p>"Hey. Didn't you just... die?"</p><p></p><p>Etienne pointed at Adil, confusion transforming into fear across his face. He turned to Elena and Nevid.</p><p></p><p>"Huh?"</p><p></p><p>Elena nodded.</p><p></p><p>"Let's get him some pants first."</p><p></p><p>*****</p><p></p><p>"Awake! The gates of Tabbadur have opened! Awake!"</p><p></p><p>"Okay, I'm starting wish he'd stayed dead."</p><p></p><p>"Etienne!"</p><p></p><p>"We need to get off this rock. We need to go now. There's a rowboat, let's go."</p><p></p><p>"We can't move Isaac."</p><p></p><p>"Leave him here. Pirate John'll take care of him."</p><p></p><p>"Etienne!"</p><p></p><p>"The ninefold stars have fallen! Tabbadur is open! Awake!"</p><p></p><p>"We've almost got those stairs cleared. Let's see what's up there. Maybe something up there can help."</p><p></p><p>*****</p><p></p><p>"That's a lot of poop."</p><p></p><p>Elena stood at the head of the newly-cleared stairwell and surveyed the top of the rocky island. Obviously a massive rookery for hundreds of dactyls, leathery wings swooped and zoomed overhead and croaking voices called out in endless imprecations. The top of the island was flat, except for a couple of projections here and there. All of which were so thoroughly covered in dactyl droppings so as to be nothing more than vague shapes, devoid of any detail.</p><p></p><p>"Wow. It's a temple."</p><p></p><p>Elena turned to frown at Arrafin. The girl HAD suffered a pretty severe shock, seeing Adil show up like that. No explanation as to how he'd survived the toothy monsters in the grotto, either, although the staggering number of scars on his body had gotten everyone's imaginations working overtime. Isaac continued to hover on the verge of death. And now Arrafin had gone insane.</p><p></p><p>Elena's frown deepened as Arrafin's spindly form plunged into the ankle-deep guano, staggering across to one of the larger lumps that rose from the surface of the island. This was a vaguely rectangular shape, about five feet in cross-section and thirty feet long. Elena followed her friend, and as they came up, Nevid and Etienne and Adil all followed.</p><p></p><p>To Elena's disgust, Arrafin started brushing away the thick deposits all over the shape, which she saw now was tapered towards one end.</p><p></p><p>"It's an obelisk. A fallen obelisk."</p><p></p><p>"What's an obelisk?"</p><p></p><p>"A tomb marker. At least, that's what they're used for... in the Narid."</p><p></p><p>"We are five hundred miles from the Narid. Across the Inner Sea."</p><p></p><p>"Yeah. Weird. And look, writing!"</p><p></p><p>Arrafin brushed more frantically at the stone, uncovering chipped letters. She traced them with her slender fingers, mouthing the words, frowning in concentration.</p><p></p><p>"It's Naridic."</p><p></p><p>They all stood silently for a second, but Etienne couldn't take it for long.</p><p></p><p>"What does it say?"</p><p></p><p>Arrafin's voice came out quiet, but somehow penetrated the endless shrieks and cries of the dactyls swarming overhead.</p><p></p><p>"<em>Step into Fate's whirlwind, and she will smile upon you. Walk boldy into the jaws of the banth to learn from yesterday and to shape tomorrow. When Tabbadur is opened, the nine-fold stars will fall from the sky to signal Her return. When wheel meets wheel, the past becomes clear and the future opens.</em>"</p><p></p><p>Elena scowled, "'She?' Does that ring any bells?"</p><p></p><p>"What's Tabbadur?"</p><p></p><p>Arrafin shook her head. "I don't know... It... Something to do with... Suelekar Ben Azan."</p><p></p><p>Something twitched in her bag and she jumped, startled.</p><p></p><p>"The nine-fold stars have fallen! Awake! Awake!"</p><p></p><p>"Catch him, Etienne!"</p><p></p><p>Adil sprinted for the edge of the island, and although the half-Kishak charged after him, the old man had too great a head start and disappeared over the edge. Etienne skidded to a stop and peered over.</p><p></p><p>The old man's body cracked against rocks far, far below, and a wave came up and he disappeared. Etienne cursed and looked around.</p><p></p><p>Not far off another set of cliffs rose up out of the water, these ones topped with thick forest, vines and roots reaching out over the edge to twine into the rock.</p><p></p><p>Arrafin dumped her papers out of her bag, along with a pistol she'd picked up along the way and never loaded, an untouched jar of makeup (gift from Bel), a dozen or so quills and two jars of ink, pencils, three rolled-up maps and a sketch she'd purchased in Highpass, the Blood Council dagger they'd found in the tomb in Chimney and the skull that had been downstairs. She frowned and picked up the skull.</p><p></p><p>It was no longer made of bone -- it appeared to be formed of marble. Pure white, heavy and thick, as though someone had actually carved it. All the holes had filled up except the one at the base of the skull, so that it formed a sort of bowl or drinking vessel.</p><p></p><p>She knew what to do. She knew just what to do.</p><p></p><p>Arrafin shoved everything back into her bag, heedless of any order or organization, and without a word, raced back to the stairs and down.</p><p></p><p>Nevid and Elena looked at each other in confusion.</p><p></p><p>"Who's Suelekar Ben Azan?"</p><p></p><p>*****</p><p></p><p>Arrafin flew down the steps and rushed over to where Isaac lay, his breathing laboured and his face ashen. She dropped her bag and found a wineskin nearby. Tilting up the skin, she poured some wine into the basin formed by the upside-down skull, and then raised the skull to Isaac's lips.</p><p></p><p>"Have a drink, Isaac. Come on, it'll help you feel better. I know it."</p><p></p><p>He didn't respond.</p><p></p><p>"You told me we could do all the investigating I wanted after the pirates were taken care of, remember? You have to drink this so I can investigate. Drink it. You have to drink it."</p><p></p><p>At last his lips parted and Arrafin tilted the skull, trying to carefully pour a trickle of wine down his throat.</p><p></p><p>Isaac coughed and his eyes opened.</p><p></p><p>"Oh. That feels... unusual."</p><p></p><p>The others came rushing downstairs for the second time, only to see an amazed Isaac stand up, poking at the hole in his shirt with a finger. He looked down at Arrafin.</p><p></p><p>"What did you do to me?"</p><p></p><p>She shook her head.</p><p></p><p>"Not me. That was Suelekar Ben Azan, first king of the Narid. I think this is his skull. I think this island is his tomb."</p><p></p><p>Elena sat down on a splintered crate.</p><p></p><p>"Do you know what Tabbadur is?"</p><p></p><p>"No. I've heard the name, I think. It's got something to do with Suelekar Ben Azan -- he built it, I think. Whatever it is."</p><p></p><p>Arrafin shook her fists in frustration.</p><p></p><p>"I need a library! A university, where I can research this stuff."</p><p></p><p>"Pavairelle has a great University."</p><p></p><p>Isaac turned to Etienne.</p><p></p><p>"How are we going to get to Pavairelle, Kishak? In a rowboat?"</p><p></p><p>Etienne grinned.</p><p></p><p>"We can walk. Look," he cleared out some space around himself, grabbed a piece of charcoal and drew a horizontal line, "this is the north coast of the Inner Sea, right? Saijadan is over here, on the right, the Gap is here in the middle, and over here, on the left," he marked a dot on the left end of the line, "is Pavairelle."</p><p></p><p>He looked around to make sure his audience was following him.</p><p></p><p>"We're somewhere right around here," Etienne indicated a point just below the line, to the left of mid-way across, "And we're only a little ways from the coast. You can see it from up top. We can row over there, climb up the cliff, and walk along the coast to Pavairelle."</p><p></p><p>Arrafin frowned.</p><p></p><p>"Climb up the cliff?"</p><p></p><p>Elena frowned.</p><p></p><p>"Walk to Pavairelle? What are we going to eat? More importantly, what's going to eat us? The Gap woods are crawling with raptors. We won't get ten steps."</p><p></p><p>Isaac drew a long breath.</p><p></p><p>"I feel a lot better. Does anyone else find that really strange?"</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="barsoomcore, post: 1271350, member: 812"] Adil wasn't quite naked. Hanging around his neck on a well-worn leather thong was a strange circular pendant. Once Arrafin recovered from her fright, and heard her friends stampeding downstairs to see what had happened, she smiled. "Adil. You're... not dead." He scowled and hissed at her, "That's not funny." Arrafin's big eyes blinked and, stung by Adil's sudden scorn, she turned to Isaac and dabbed at the wounded man's forehead with a damp cloth. The others piled into the room and stopped in confusion at the sight of the old man they'd assumed had just died a horrible death. "Hey. Didn't you just... die?" Etienne pointed at Adil, confusion transforming into fear across his face. He turned to Elena and Nevid. "Huh?" Elena nodded. "Let's get him some pants first." ***** "Awake! The gates of Tabbadur have opened! Awake!" "Okay, I'm starting wish he'd stayed dead." "Etienne!" "We need to get off this rock. We need to go now. There's a rowboat, let's go." "We can't move Isaac." "Leave him here. Pirate John'll take care of him." "Etienne!" "The ninefold stars have fallen! Tabbadur is open! Awake!" "We've almost got those stairs cleared. Let's see what's up there. Maybe something up there can help." ***** "That's a lot of poop." Elena stood at the head of the newly-cleared stairwell and surveyed the top of the rocky island. Obviously a massive rookery for hundreds of dactyls, leathery wings swooped and zoomed overhead and croaking voices called out in endless imprecations. The top of the island was flat, except for a couple of projections here and there. All of which were so thoroughly covered in dactyl droppings so as to be nothing more than vague shapes, devoid of any detail. "Wow. It's a temple." Elena turned to frown at Arrafin. The girl HAD suffered a pretty severe shock, seeing Adil show up like that. No explanation as to how he'd survived the toothy monsters in the grotto, either, although the staggering number of scars on his body had gotten everyone's imaginations working overtime. Isaac continued to hover on the verge of death. And now Arrafin had gone insane. Elena's frown deepened as Arrafin's spindly form plunged into the ankle-deep guano, staggering across to one of the larger lumps that rose from the surface of the island. This was a vaguely rectangular shape, about five feet in cross-section and thirty feet long. Elena followed her friend, and as they came up, Nevid and Etienne and Adil all followed. To Elena's disgust, Arrafin started brushing away the thick deposits all over the shape, which she saw now was tapered towards one end. "It's an obelisk. A fallen obelisk." "What's an obelisk?" "A tomb marker. At least, that's what they're used for... in the Narid." "We are five hundred miles from the Narid. Across the Inner Sea." "Yeah. Weird. And look, writing!" Arrafin brushed more frantically at the stone, uncovering chipped letters. She traced them with her slender fingers, mouthing the words, frowning in concentration. "It's Naridic." They all stood silently for a second, but Etienne couldn't take it for long. "What does it say?" Arrafin's voice came out quiet, but somehow penetrated the endless shrieks and cries of the dactyls swarming overhead. "[i]Step into Fate's whirlwind, and she will smile upon you. Walk boldy into the jaws of the banth to learn from yesterday and to shape tomorrow. When Tabbadur is opened, the nine-fold stars will fall from the sky to signal Her return. When wheel meets wheel, the past becomes clear and the future opens.[/i]" Elena scowled, "'She?' Does that ring any bells?" "What's Tabbadur?" Arrafin shook her head. "I don't know... It... Something to do with... Suelekar Ben Azan." Something twitched in her bag and she jumped, startled. "The nine-fold stars have fallen! Awake! Awake!" "Catch him, Etienne!" Adil sprinted for the edge of the island, and although the half-Kishak charged after him, the old man had too great a head start and disappeared over the edge. Etienne skidded to a stop and peered over. The old man's body cracked against rocks far, far below, and a wave came up and he disappeared. Etienne cursed and looked around. Not far off another set of cliffs rose up out of the water, these ones topped with thick forest, vines and roots reaching out over the edge to twine into the rock. Arrafin dumped her papers out of her bag, along with a pistol she'd picked up along the way and never loaded, an untouched jar of makeup (gift from Bel), a dozen or so quills and two jars of ink, pencils, three rolled-up maps and a sketch she'd purchased in Highpass, the Blood Council dagger they'd found in the tomb in Chimney and the skull that had been downstairs. She frowned and picked up the skull. It was no longer made of bone -- it appeared to be formed of marble. Pure white, heavy and thick, as though someone had actually carved it. All the holes had filled up except the one at the base of the skull, so that it formed a sort of bowl or drinking vessel. She knew what to do. She knew just what to do. Arrafin shoved everything back into her bag, heedless of any order or organization, and without a word, raced back to the stairs and down. Nevid and Elena looked at each other in confusion. "Who's Suelekar Ben Azan?" ***** Arrafin flew down the steps and rushed over to where Isaac lay, his breathing laboured and his face ashen. She dropped her bag and found a wineskin nearby. Tilting up the skin, she poured some wine into the basin formed by the upside-down skull, and then raised the skull to Isaac's lips. "Have a drink, Isaac. Come on, it'll help you feel better. I know it." He didn't respond. "You told me we could do all the investigating I wanted after the pirates were taken care of, remember? You have to drink this so I can investigate. Drink it. You have to drink it." At last his lips parted and Arrafin tilted the skull, trying to carefully pour a trickle of wine down his throat. Isaac coughed and his eyes opened. "Oh. That feels... unusual." The others came rushing downstairs for the second time, only to see an amazed Isaac stand up, poking at the hole in his shirt with a finger. He looked down at Arrafin. "What did you do to me?" She shook her head. "Not me. That was Suelekar Ben Azan, first king of the Narid. I think this is his skull. I think this island is his tomb." Elena sat down on a splintered crate. "Do you know what Tabbadur is?" "No. I've heard the name, I think. It's got something to do with Suelekar Ben Azan -- he built it, I think. Whatever it is." Arrafin shook her fists in frustration. "I need a library! A university, where I can research this stuff." "Pavairelle has a great University." Isaac turned to Etienne. "How are we going to get to Pavairelle, Kishak? In a rowboat?" Etienne grinned. "We can walk. Look," he cleared out some space around himself, grabbed a piece of charcoal and drew a horizontal line, "this is the north coast of the Inner Sea, right? Saijadan is over here, on the right, the Gap is here in the middle, and over here, on the left," he marked a dot on the left end of the line, "is Pavairelle." He looked around to make sure his audience was following him. "We're somewhere right around here," Etienne indicated a point just below the line, to the left of mid-way across, "And we're only a little ways from the coast. You can see it from up top. We can row over there, climb up the cliff, and walk along the coast to Pavairelle." Arrafin frowned. "Climb up the cliff?" Elena frowned. "Walk to Pavairelle? What are we going to eat? More importantly, what's going to eat us? The Gap woods are crawling with raptors. We won't get ten steps." Isaac drew a long breath. "I feel a lot better. Does anyone else find that really strange?" [/QUOTE]
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