Vaxalon
First Post
Jim flexed, growled, and posed. The photographers snapped and cranked while the art director snapped directions.
Jim's career was going to get a big boost now... he was in a photo shoot with some of the best in the business. Of course, he was in the last row, but at least he was THERE. Besides, after the shoot they'd have a few hours to see the sights. Machu Picchu wasn't exactly Las Vegas, but he couldn't deny the majestic beauty of the place.
"Alright everyone, take two steps back and flex."
The group negotiated the crumbling rocks and moved back.
"Um, guys? There's not a lot of room back..." Jim looked worriedly down at the steep dropoff behind him.
"TWO MORE STEPS! Gotta get everyone in the shot... you got the right lens on that thing, Francois?"
"Guys? HEY!"
The Dudley Boys stepped back, taking the space Jim had been standing on. Unfortunately, the space Jim found himself in didn't have any ground under it. With a shout, he fell backwards off the stone platform, tumbling down the mountainside.
Noone noticed, though. They were too busy looking at the glowing green UFO hanging in the sky over their heads.
* * * * * * * * * *
Alhandro gunned his motorcycle and accelerated up the twisting mountain road. Behind him, three jeeps full of Shining Path revolutionaries filled the air with smoke and noise, firing wildly as their vehicles bumped and jostled their way up the mountain. A 9mm was holstered under his jacket, but he couldn't spare the attention to draw it. His only hope was escape; if he could get to Machu Picchu, he'd be home free.
Suddenly, two hundred pounds of pro wrestler crashed through undergrowth, tumbling down the mountainside, and slammed into him. Wrestler, smuggler, and motorcycle went over the edge, plummeting free towards certain death...
* * * * * * * * * *
Fifth-class weapon maker Morguk groaned when he saw where they were going. The Red Tower. "Why didn't they just execute me and be done with it?" he said to himself.
The guards in the back seats of the skycar chuckled. "You're lucky the Master of the Red Tower needs another good crystal-crafter, traitor, or you'd be Izark-fodder. This way you'll live a few sleeps more."
The driver expertly slid the vehicle up to the landing, and one of the guards popped open the door. "After you, sir," he said with a sarcastic twang. "We wouldn't want to keep your new master waiting." Morguk climbed out onto the windy perch, and the skycar door slammed closed. The cruel laughter of the guards echoed in Morguk's ears even after the car had sped away.
The elaborately carved portal into the tower opened slowly, pushed by the massively muscled arm of a Groll. "This way, please," it said.
The interior of the tower was dim, compared to the outdoor brightness, lit only by a few urkam crystals set in the ceiling. The huge room was stacked with hexagonal wooden crates, some of which had been pried open. Many of them bore the markings of the Polok Geen, the Imperial technological institute. Many also bore the words, "Unauthorized access punishable by death," and, "Warning: Contents booby-trapped." The room throbbed with the sound of large engines running somewhere nearby.
The Groll led Morguk to a spiral staircase and down one level. This room was even gloomier, and the sound of laboring engines was louder. Huge iron bars, which Morguk recognized as electrical power busses, penetrated the floor and curved to support a vertical white ring, about ten feet in diameter, in the center of the room. A pale green glow emanated from the ring.
A white veth, his back curved with age, stood at a white featureless podium, one hand stretched out over its surface. Under the other arm, he held a sketchbook, and in his mouth, a stylus was clamped.
Morguk frowned. "This can't be the *master*," he thought to himself. He stepped forward and said, "You there, Veth... where is the master?"
The Groll shook its head-hump glumly.
The light coming from the ring flickered and the Veth frowned at Morguk. "I am Aurthahz," he said, "And I am the master here. You will do as I say or it will come ill for all of us."
Morguk moved forward to see what Aurthahz was doing. Inside the ring, Morguk could see, as if in a visio-screen, a strange scene rendered in green. It was an aerial view, over a river, with farms and a small town. It was some kind of ruins, in a mountainous landscape. Everything looked strange. The sky, the trees, the rock... none of it was the right shape. Aurthahz zoomed the view in to get a better look at the ruins, took up his book and began drawing.
"What is this?" asked Morguk.
"It is an ancient device, a screen that allows me to view any place in the world... or any place at all, for that matter. This place will only be in range for another few sleeps, and I want to get as many drawings done as I can. Groll, show him to his work location."
"Now hold on, old one," said Morguk, pushing between the Veth and his pedestal, "You may take orders from the Iron Lords, but I don't."
"No! You fool!" The view in the screen behind Morguk skewed and spun crazily.
* * * * * * * * * *
Alejandro had a few seconds of panic before impact, and he wrung every available scream out of it. Jim just closed his eyes and gritted his teeth. This was NOT going to look good on his obituary. Just before impact, though, there was a flash of green, and a wrenching TwIsT....
* * * * * * * * * *
Morguk spun around. Electric arcs danced between the power busses, and they glowed yellow, then red, and finally exploded one by one in huge showers of sparks. There was a tremendous crash, and the white ring fell, inert, to the floor. On the far side of the room, where they had been flung from the ring as it fell, were two strange creatures. They looked something like Veth, only hairier. Between them lay a strange mechanism of some kind, with two spinning wheels. The room flickered with a dozen small fires that had been lit by molten fragments of iron falling on wood or paper.
A groan from behind him caught Morguk's attention. Aurthahz lay on the floor, a bruise spreading on the side of his head.
[Apologies if I have done a disservice to anyone's character here... let me know if you'd like it changed and I'll edit it]
Jim's career was going to get a big boost now... he was in a photo shoot with some of the best in the business. Of course, he was in the last row, but at least he was THERE. Besides, after the shoot they'd have a few hours to see the sights. Machu Picchu wasn't exactly Las Vegas, but he couldn't deny the majestic beauty of the place.
"Alright everyone, take two steps back and flex."
The group negotiated the crumbling rocks and moved back.
"Um, guys? There's not a lot of room back..." Jim looked worriedly down at the steep dropoff behind him.
"TWO MORE STEPS! Gotta get everyone in the shot... you got the right lens on that thing, Francois?"
"Guys? HEY!"
The Dudley Boys stepped back, taking the space Jim had been standing on. Unfortunately, the space Jim found himself in didn't have any ground under it. With a shout, he fell backwards off the stone platform, tumbling down the mountainside.
Noone noticed, though. They were too busy looking at the glowing green UFO hanging in the sky over their heads.
* * * * * * * * * *
Alhandro gunned his motorcycle and accelerated up the twisting mountain road. Behind him, three jeeps full of Shining Path revolutionaries filled the air with smoke and noise, firing wildly as their vehicles bumped and jostled their way up the mountain. A 9mm was holstered under his jacket, but he couldn't spare the attention to draw it. His only hope was escape; if he could get to Machu Picchu, he'd be home free.
Suddenly, two hundred pounds of pro wrestler crashed through undergrowth, tumbling down the mountainside, and slammed into him. Wrestler, smuggler, and motorcycle went over the edge, plummeting free towards certain death...
* * * * * * * * * *
Fifth-class weapon maker Morguk groaned when he saw where they were going. The Red Tower. "Why didn't they just execute me and be done with it?" he said to himself.
The guards in the back seats of the skycar chuckled. "You're lucky the Master of the Red Tower needs another good crystal-crafter, traitor, or you'd be Izark-fodder. This way you'll live a few sleeps more."
The driver expertly slid the vehicle up to the landing, and one of the guards popped open the door. "After you, sir," he said with a sarcastic twang. "We wouldn't want to keep your new master waiting." Morguk climbed out onto the windy perch, and the skycar door slammed closed. The cruel laughter of the guards echoed in Morguk's ears even after the car had sped away.
The elaborately carved portal into the tower opened slowly, pushed by the massively muscled arm of a Groll. "This way, please," it said.
The interior of the tower was dim, compared to the outdoor brightness, lit only by a few urkam crystals set in the ceiling. The huge room was stacked with hexagonal wooden crates, some of which had been pried open. Many of them bore the markings of the Polok Geen, the Imperial technological institute. Many also bore the words, "Unauthorized access punishable by death," and, "Warning: Contents booby-trapped." The room throbbed with the sound of large engines running somewhere nearby.
The Groll led Morguk to a spiral staircase and down one level. This room was even gloomier, and the sound of laboring engines was louder. Huge iron bars, which Morguk recognized as electrical power busses, penetrated the floor and curved to support a vertical white ring, about ten feet in diameter, in the center of the room. A pale green glow emanated from the ring.
A white veth, his back curved with age, stood at a white featureless podium, one hand stretched out over its surface. Under the other arm, he held a sketchbook, and in his mouth, a stylus was clamped.
Morguk frowned. "This can't be the *master*," he thought to himself. He stepped forward and said, "You there, Veth... where is the master?"
The Groll shook its head-hump glumly.
The light coming from the ring flickered and the Veth frowned at Morguk. "I am Aurthahz," he said, "And I am the master here. You will do as I say or it will come ill for all of us."
Morguk moved forward to see what Aurthahz was doing. Inside the ring, Morguk could see, as if in a visio-screen, a strange scene rendered in green. It was an aerial view, over a river, with farms and a small town. It was some kind of ruins, in a mountainous landscape. Everything looked strange. The sky, the trees, the rock... none of it was the right shape. Aurthahz zoomed the view in to get a better look at the ruins, took up his book and began drawing.
"What is this?" asked Morguk.
"It is an ancient device, a screen that allows me to view any place in the world... or any place at all, for that matter. This place will only be in range for another few sleeps, and I want to get as many drawings done as I can. Groll, show him to his work location."
"Now hold on, old one," said Morguk, pushing between the Veth and his pedestal, "You may take orders from the Iron Lords, but I don't."
"No! You fool!" The view in the screen behind Morguk skewed and spun crazily.
* * * * * * * * * *
Alejandro had a few seconds of panic before impact, and he wrung every available scream out of it. Jim just closed his eyes and gritted his teeth. This was NOT going to look good on his obituary. Just before impact, though, there was a flash of green, and a wrenching TwIsT....
* * * * * * * * * *
Morguk spun around. Electric arcs danced between the power busses, and they glowed yellow, then red, and finally exploded one by one in huge showers of sparks. There was a tremendous crash, and the white ring fell, inert, to the floor. On the far side of the room, where they had been flung from the ring as it fell, were two strange creatures. They looked something like Veth, only hairier. Between them lay a strange mechanism of some kind, with two spinning wheels. The room flickered with a dozen small fires that had been lit by molten fragments of iron falling on wood or paper.
A groan from behind him caught Morguk's attention. Aurthahz lay on the floor, a bruise spreading on the side of his head.
[Apologies if I have done a disservice to anyone's character here... let me know if you'd like it changed and I'll edit it]
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