Kid Charlemagne
I am the Very Model of a Modern Moderator
Piratecat said:
I've noted several mentions of Flowstone in each game... Has the story behind that ever come out?
Sagiro's Story Hour Returns (new thread started on 5/18/08)
- Thread starter Sagiro
- Start date
I've noted several mentions of Flowstone in each game... Has the story behind that ever come out?
Jackylhunter
First Post
Great question! I just read the DoD - the Early Years, and saw the reference to Flowstone there. Still not sure what it is.
Waylander the Slayer
Explorer
I was just browsing through the website for the story hour and realized that the maps link does not work/ has nothing in it. I am trying to get an understanding of the geography of Kivia and the route the party took/where several locations are in relation to each other.
Graywolf-ELM
Explorer
IIRC, there were some in-between comments about it being a leftover from a far-flung past war or somesuch. In one case, where buildings are no longer made of stone in one city due to spells transforming all the stone buildings to slag, and then it re-hardening.
Now maybe I am cross Story Hour boundaries. Oops, found this on the Charagan website. I was thinking of Floam, which is probably different stuff.
GW
Now maybe I am cross Story Hour boundaries. Oops, found this on the Charagan website. I was thinking of Floam, which is probably different stuff.
Charagan Website said:
GW
Last edited:
Sagiro
Rodent of Uncertain Parentage
I've finally dragged myself away from City of Heroes long enough to write an update. Nemmerle, you can get off my back now! 
Sagiro’s Story Hour, Part 211
The Way Things Work
Mercury returns a few minutes later with a pair of companions. One is a tall, dark-haired human woman in a flowing dress. She has a book tucked under her arm, and a haughty, slightly-displeased expression. The other is a stout gnome, reminiscent of the Yuja, though taller and stockier. He has a red face, blackened hands, and rolled-up sleeves.
“Hello, hello!” says the gnome jovially.
“You look like a Yuja!” says Dranko.
“Like a what, now?”
“A people we met back home. Very friendly!” says Ernie.
“Well, my names Aristus. Aristus Fuller. Mind if I sit?”
There are introductions all around.
“Why are your hands all smudgy?” Kibi asks Aristus.
“Workin!” answers the gnome.
“What do you do?”
“Secret project!” Aristus leans over the table and whispers conspiratorially, “Maybe I’ll let you see it later on, if I’m feeling charitable.”
The woman looks pained, clears her throat, and says, “So. Mercury tells me you may… know something.”
Dranko grins. “Well, yeah. First, a man loves a woman very much. Then he…”
Ernie reaches over and cuffs Dranko on the head.
“My name’s Aravis,” the wizard cuts in. “And you are…?”
“Gloriana de Marlough.”
Niceties are again exchanged, and when Gloriana asks where they come from, the Company uses this as an excuse to finally get a closer look at the huge map tacked to the wall. Together they go over to show their hosts the Slices through which they have come. And while eventually they get around to actually doing so, their first reaction is a burst of excitement and speculation about what they see.
Map of the Slices
>> this version of the map already has the bits that the Company added on themselves. The original had no mention of Green Valley, the Monster Cave, the "Plain Plain of Planes," the Bedroom, or the Negative Material Plane.
“Demon Slices. Huh.”
“Chaos? Ewww.”
“Dead ways must be those gray ones.”
“Fire gnomes? What are fire gnomes?”
“Hey look, the “Orcish Hub.” We know that one.”
“City of sausages?”
“No, it says “savages!”
After a few minutes of this, and some comparisons with the Company’s map, Dranko asks, “Why is the storm forbidden?”
Gloriana answers, “We had to make such an agreement, in order to convince them to let us pass unharmed. They are inscrutable, and they value their solitude.”
“They?” Grey Wolf gulps.
“So the agreement is, you leave them alone, and they leave you alone?” asks Kibi.
“In part,” says Gloriana. “They have also agreed that if anything looks like an invading army, particularly of orcs, that they will… deal with them. I’m glad they let you through.”
That sobers everyone up for a minute.
“The storm told us we weren’t abiding by the agreement, just by being there,” says Morningstar. “And we may have stirred up the orcs.”
If Kibi entertains happy visions of hundreds of orcs getting struck by lightning bolts, he doesn’t share them with the others. Aravis looks from the map to his friends and grimaces.
“I have a feeling we may have to go through the Way of No Return,” he says.
“I don’t suggest it!” says Gloriana.
“We’re being rude,” says Morningstar. “We said we tell you our own story, and we haven’t.”
Gloriana, Aristus and Mercury look at her expectantly, but it’s Ernie who speaks.
“There were three threats to our world. We stopped two of them. The third one destroyed…everything. It wasn’t destroyed by armies, or monsters. Our enemies just… changed time.”
Aravis says, “Before our enemies changed the past, we traveled to a far-away land, where we learned about this place. Het Branoi.”
“You learned about the Slices?” says Gloriana.
“No,” says Ernie. “Not exactly. We learned it was just a tower, where mages pursued knowledge beyond the bounds of reason and sanity.”
“It was knowledge so dangerous, other people in their own order tried to kill them before they could succeed,” says Dranko.
“And this order was really, really evil,” says Ernie.
“But this place… Het Branoi… was so well hidden that the others is their order couldn’t find it,” says Aravis.
“I see,” says Gloriana. “So you discovered the tower Het Branoi. And went in. And found yourself here, in the Slices.”
“Yes,” says Ernie. “In a place called Green Valley.”
Dranko has been adding the Company’s cartographic knowledge to the wall map. He points to where he’s added Green Valley.
“A very powerful magical item told us we needed to come here, to find one of its brethren,” explains Aravis. “If we find it, we can use it to fix time.”
“And doing so might also break up this place,” says Morningstar.
None of their hosts even blink at the notion of a magical artifact speaking, or having ‘brethren.’
Mercury says, “So this object you are seeking could simply be in one of the Slices, and that’s why you were sent here? Do you have any proof or suspicions that your item is connected to all the Slices, and what is happening here on a larger scale?”
“These items are powerful controllers of space and time,” says Ernie, nodding. “It’s quite possible that they’re using it – the Eye of Moirel – to power all of this.”
“So your quest could strike at the very heart of this whole phenomenon,” says Mercury. “ Hm. It was our conjecture that this was all some ‘natural’ phenomenon that could not be solved or fought, but would have to waited out.”
Morningstar shows them the letter found in the Black Circle boudoir, and talks about what she learned from her thought captures. All of that leads them to believe the Slices are an artificial construct made by the Black Circle for some nefarious end. Their hosts listen intently to the story. When she finishes, Gloriana frowns at her.
“Are you a mind-reader?” she asks.
Morningstar nods.
“We don’t have many rules here,” says Gloriana, “but this is an important one. People have come here from many worlds, and have many stories. Some wish to share them, and others do not. None of our guests is asked to admit things they wish to keep secret, and there is absolutely no reading of minds allowed here, nor any sensing of thoughts or emotions. The three of us reserve certain… rights of security… but we will not abuse them.”
“Though if you think doing so will help with your investigation into the nature of the Slices, do come and talk to us,” says Mercury. “All things are open to negotiation.”
Gloriana glowers at the centaur before adding, “The other rule is, we expect polite behavior, and that our guests not cause a fuss. This place is a sanctuary for a wide net of worlds. The penalty for violating the rules – assuming we don’t need to kill you to stop you from doing whatever it is you’re doing – is summary eviction through the Gate of No Return. We don’t know where it goes. We simply know you won’t be coming back.”
“Right. Clear enough,” says Dranko.
“You mean, people go through to different places?” asks Ernie.
“That is a matter of some conjecture,” says Gloriana. “It may lead to one specific place like the others, but be one-way. Or it may lead to someplace so perilous that those who go through are instantly killed. But most believe that it simply goes to a new Slice each time it is traversed, because that is now it behaves from the other side. You see, we’ve had many people come from through the Gate of No Return since we founded the Inn, and they’ve all come from different Slices. Not particularly dangerous Slices, either. But we’ve had several travelers go out of that Way over the years, promising that they would come back through if they could. No one ever has.”
“What happens if you throw a rope through?” asks Dranko.
“The rope can be dragged back, if someone on our side is holding on to it. But it’s always been just the rope.”
“I strongly advise against it,” says Aristus. “Unless you have some specific reason to think it’s the right way to go.”
“Have you ever tried to divine what’s on the other side?” Dranko asks.
“Divinations don’t pass between slices,” says Gloriana.
After a brief silence, Aristus turns to Kibi and asks, “What’s your name, master dwarf?”
“Kibilhathur Bimson.”
Aristus furrows his brow, as if trying to remember something.
“Have you heard my name before?” asks Kibi.
“Rings a bell,” says the gnome.
“Kibi is famous?” says Grey Wolf. “That’s a little frightening.”
“Ah, could be someone else,” admits Aristus. “Dwarven names tend to sound the same to me.”
“So you’ve seen dwarves before?” asks Kibi.
“We’ve seen a few. They’ve come and gone from the inn. They’re among the more restless types, I’ve found; they’ve all gone out again. Two of them went with one of the largest groups to head out together. Fifteen or so in that bunch, and pretty tough characters. Most of them were adventuring types like yourselves. They headed out into the Demon Slices, sayin’ they were gonna find out what was going on.”
“Didn’t return, huh?” guesses Dranko.
“Nope. Not a one.”
“Say, what’s ‘Monk’s Rest,” asks Dranko, looking at the map again.
“We’re not entirely certain,” says Gloriana. “We think that there’s a monastery out there. Aristus, do you remember who wrote that in?”
“There was a traveler from some time back who mentioned the monastery, I think.”
“Are any of you familiar with planar travel?” asks Gloriana. When Aravis nods, she continues, “Then you’ll have heard of Limbo. We think that the Chaos is really a Slice or Slices of the outer plane of Limbo.”
“Oh, yes, I know all about that,” says Aristus.
“You don’t know about it,” says Gloriana. “You’ve just read about it.”
“Well, the people who wrote about it, they knew about it, didn’t they?” says Aristus testily. “It’s practically the same thing. If you stopped spending all of your time learning spells and casting theory, you might learn something interesting!
Gloriana sniffs and looks bored.
“Speaking of spells,” says Kibi to Gloriana, “We have a number of spellbooks, and it looks like you probably do as well. Maybe we could swap some…”
“No,” says Gloriana curtly. When Kibi looks abashed, she continues, “I’m sorry, but I was… I am a member of an arcane order with strict rules about such things.”
Mercury shakes his head. “You should talk with Chiswick,” he suggests. “He’s a little…” (he taps his head) “… far gone, but he’s a brilliant wizard. He stays up in his room most of the time. I know that before he arrived here he came by some store of inks and components, and he’s been known to trade or sell them, if you can talk a straight word out of him. The Slice he came from has long since been destroyed.”
“Destroyed?” echoes Grey Wolf, frowning.
“Ah yes, another rule, which I thought you already knew,” says Gloriana. “Do not attempt to wall off any Way, for any reason. Any. Reason.”
“What happens if you do?” asks Kibi.
“It attracts the Cleaners.”
“What are those?” Aravis asks, intrigued.
Mercury takes a deep breath.
“Like so many things here, the Cleaners are speculative. We were lucky, really. When we learned this lesson, it was in a world two Slices out from here. Years ago we were accosted by a sort of elemental creature with electrical properties. It couldn’t have been a true elemental creature, or it couldn’t have crossed the Ways – perhaps you’ve noticed that there’s a certain magical nature that cannot cross between one Slice and another. But these things managed to come through; we fought them off, and some of us pursued them back to their own world. We slew some more, but because they were so numerous…well, there was an intermediate slice, and we thought we’d just wall that off. Our spellcasters did their jobs, and sealed it away. Every few days we went to check on it, and all seemed well.”
The centaur pauses in his narrative and thinks for a minute before continuing.
“Have any of you, out of curiosity, gone through one of the Gray Ways? There is… Gloriana tells me that there are many places that border on the prime planes, like the Astral and the Ethereal. The Slices are bounded in a similar way, but not by those more familiar planes. They are bounded by something… stranger. And in that realm live… things. And these things are attracted by a Way that us not… breathing. By a closed Way. These things devour Slices and everything in them. When the Slice is gone, all of the Ways into it go dead, gray. I pray that none of us ever see them. Aristus did, once. He won’t talk about it, so don’t ask him.”
Aristus shudders.
“Wouldn’t that be a good way of getting rid of the Demon Slices?” asks Dranko. “Just go in, seal something off, and run for it!”
“If we knew more, we might try it,” says Mercury. “But it’s possible they wouldn’t stop with just the Slice that was walled off. It’s not worth the risk. Better not to attract the attention of the Cleaners in the first place.”
Dranko gulps, thinking suddenly of the bone snake that temporarily walled off the bedroom. What if…
“Now we know why the orcs were so emphatic,” says Aravis.
“No more Walls of Force!” says Flicker, poking Kibi in the ribs.
A tall, muscular woman approaches the table.
“Can I get you anything to drink?” she asks, looking over the Company (particularly the men) with a mischievous expression.
“No, thank you,” says Ernie. “But it’s all delicious!”
“Anything else? At all?” asks the woman.
“No, really,” says Dranko, grinning at her. “Who are you?”
“My name’s Delilah…” she answers. She starts to lean toward Dranko, promising some flirtatious repartee and maybe a better view of cleavage, but is distracted by Aravis sitting next to him.
“Ooooh! That’s fascinating! I’ll bet woman never tire of staring into those star-fields, do they?”
“I don’t know,” says Aravis, straight-faced. “I’ve never had anyone…”
Dranko guffaws.
“…doing that,” Aravis finishes.
“Well, I’m at your disposal,” she says, and with a wink she heads back to the kitchen.
Dranko glares at Aravis. “She was looking at ME until you opened your eyes!”
“Dranko!” says Kibi, shocked. “You’re engaged!”
“Oh!” says Aravis, even more shocked. “You mean she was looking at you in that way? Oh… oh!”
“You should be careful with her,” warns Aristus, smiling. “She’s dangerous.”
“Why is she dangerous?” asks Dranko, intrigued.
“Because she can kick your ass, is why! But don’t take her too seriously. She enjoys that… sort of thing.”
Never one to pick up on the subtleties, Kibi asks, “She enjoys kicking people’s asses?”
Forgetting for the moment the offer of real rooms, Ernie instinctively asks Mercury if there’s a place on the grounds they can set up tents.
“Don’t you want rooms?” replies the centaur.
“Ernie usually sets up two of them, but you’ll have to excuse him,” says Dranko. And then, before anyone can stop him, he adds: “He’s two tents.”
“Ah, a funny one, aren’t you,” says Gloriana drily.
“Well, he likes to think so,” says Kibi.
“Are you a bard, sir?” Gloriana asks Dranko.
“Oh, yes,” says Kibi, before Dranko can answer. “He’s barred from lots of places!”
Everyone but Dranko roars with laughter. Now that’s funny!
…to be continued…
Sagiro’s Story Hour, Part 211
The Way Things Work
Mercury returns a few minutes later with a pair of companions. One is a tall, dark-haired human woman in a flowing dress. She has a book tucked under her arm, and a haughty, slightly-displeased expression. The other is a stout gnome, reminiscent of the Yuja, though taller and stockier. He has a red face, blackened hands, and rolled-up sleeves.
“Hello, hello!” says the gnome jovially.
“You look like a Yuja!” says Dranko.
“Like a what, now?”
“A people we met back home. Very friendly!” says Ernie.
“Well, my names Aristus. Aristus Fuller. Mind if I sit?”
There are introductions all around.
“Why are your hands all smudgy?” Kibi asks Aristus.
“Workin!” answers the gnome.
“What do you do?”
“Secret project!” Aristus leans over the table and whispers conspiratorially, “Maybe I’ll let you see it later on, if I’m feeling charitable.”
The woman looks pained, clears her throat, and says, “So. Mercury tells me you may… know something.”
Dranko grins. “Well, yeah. First, a man loves a woman very much. Then he…”
Ernie reaches over and cuffs Dranko on the head.
“My name’s Aravis,” the wizard cuts in. “And you are…?”
“Gloriana de Marlough.”
Niceties are again exchanged, and when Gloriana asks where they come from, the Company uses this as an excuse to finally get a closer look at the huge map tacked to the wall. Together they go over to show their hosts the Slices through which they have come. And while eventually they get around to actually doing so, their first reaction is a burst of excitement and speculation about what they see.
Map of the Slices
>> this version of the map already has the bits that the Company added on themselves. The original had no mention of Green Valley, the Monster Cave, the "Plain Plain of Planes," the Bedroom, or the Negative Material Plane.
“Demon Slices. Huh.”
“Chaos? Ewww.”
“Dead ways must be those gray ones.”
“Fire gnomes? What are fire gnomes?”
“Hey look, the “Orcish Hub.” We know that one.”
“City of sausages?”
“No, it says “savages!”
After a few minutes of this, and some comparisons with the Company’s map, Dranko asks, “Why is the storm forbidden?”
Gloriana answers, “We had to make such an agreement, in order to convince them to let us pass unharmed. They are inscrutable, and they value their solitude.”
“They?” Grey Wolf gulps.
“So the agreement is, you leave them alone, and they leave you alone?” asks Kibi.
“In part,” says Gloriana. “They have also agreed that if anything looks like an invading army, particularly of orcs, that they will… deal with them. I’m glad they let you through.”
That sobers everyone up for a minute.
“The storm told us we weren’t abiding by the agreement, just by being there,” says Morningstar. “And we may have stirred up the orcs.”
If Kibi entertains happy visions of hundreds of orcs getting struck by lightning bolts, he doesn’t share them with the others. Aravis looks from the map to his friends and grimaces.
“I have a feeling we may have to go through the Way of No Return,” he says.
“I don’t suggest it!” says Gloriana.
“We’re being rude,” says Morningstar. “We said we tell you our own story, and we haven’t.”
Gloriana, Aristus and Mercury look at her expectantly, but it’s Ernie who speaks.
“There were three threats to our world. We stopped two of them. The third one destroyed…everything. It wasn’t destroyed by armies, or monsters. Our enemies just… changed time.”
Aravis says, “Before our enemies changed the past, we traveled to a far-away land, where we learned about this place. Het Branoi.”
“You learned about the Slices?” says Gloriana.
“No,” says Ernie. “Not exactly. We learned it was just a tower, where mages pursued knowledge beyond the bounds of reason and sanity.”
“It was knowledge so dangerous, other people in their own order tried to kill them before they could succeed,” says Dranko.
“And this order was really, really evil,” says Ernie.
“But this place… Het Branoi… was so well hidden that the others is their order couldn’t find it,” says Aravis.
“I see,” says Gloriana. “So you discovered the tower Het Branoi. And went in. And found yourself here, in the Slices.”
“Yes,” says Ernie. “In a place called Green Valley.”
Dranko has been adding the Company’s cartographic knowledge to the wall map. He points to where he’s added Green Valley.
“A very powerful magical item told us we needed to come here, to find one of its brethren,” explains Aravis. “If we find it, we can use it to fix time.”
“And doing so might also break up this place,” says Morningstar.
None of their hosts even blink at the notion of a magical artifact speaking, or having ‘brethren.’
Mercury says, “So this object you are seeking could simply be in one of the Slices, and that’s why you were sent here? Do you have any proof or suspicions that your item is connected to all the Slices, and what is happening here on a larger scale?”
“These items are powerful controllers of space and time,” says Ernie, nodding. “It’s quite possible that they’re using it – the Eye of Moirel – to power all of this.”
“So your quest could strike at the very heart of this whole phenomenon,” says Mercury. “ Hm. It was our conjecture that this was all some ‘natural’ phenomenon that could not be solved or fought, but would have to waited out.”
Morningstar shows them the letter found in the Black Circle boudoir, and talks about what she learned from her thought captures. All of that leads them to believe the Slices are an artificial construct made by the Black Circle for some nefarious end. Their hosts listen intently to the story. When she finishes, Gloriana frowns at her.
“Are you a mind-reader?” she asks.
Morningstar nods.
“We don’t have many rules here,” says Gloriana, “but this is an important one. People have come here from many worlds, and have many stories. Some wish to share them, and others do not. None of our guests is asked to admit things they wish to keep secret, and there is absolutely no reading of minds allowed here, nor any sensing of thoughts or emotions. The three of us reserve certain… rights of security… but we will not abuse them.”
“Though if you think doing so will help with your investigation into the nature of the Slices, do come and talk to us,” says Mercury. “All things are open to negotiation.”
Gloriana glowers at the centaur before adding, “The other rule is, we expect polite behavior, and that our guests not cause a fuss. This place is a sanctuary for a wide net of worlds. The penalty for violating the rules – assuming we don’t need to kill you to stop you from doing whatever it is you’re doing – is summary eviction through the Gate of No Return. We don’t know where it goes. We simply know you won’t be coming back.”
“Right. Clear enough,” says Dranko.
“You mean, people go through to different places?” asks Ernie.
“That is a matter of some conjecture,” says Gloriana. “It may lead to one specific place like the others, but be one-way. Or it may lead to someplace so perilous that those who go through are instantly killed. But most believe that it simply goes to a new Slice each time it is traversed, because that is now it behaves from the other side. You see, we’ve had many people come from through the Gate of No Return since we founded the Inn, and they’ve all come from different Slices. Not particularly dangerous Slices, either. But we’ve had several travelers go out of that Way over the years, promising that they would come back through if they could. No one ever has.”
“What happens if you throw a rope through?” asks Dranko.
“The rope can be dragged back, if someone on our side is holding on to it. But it’s always been just the rope.”
“I strongly advise against it,” says Aristus. “Unless you have some specific reason to think it’s the right way to go.”
“Have you ever tried to divine what’s on the other side?” Dranko asks.
“Divinations don’t pass between slices,” says Gloriana.
After a brief silence, Aristus turns to Kibi and asks, “What’s your name, master dwarf?”
“Kibilhathur Bimson.”
Aristus furrows his brow, as if trying to remember something.
“Have you heard my name before?” asks Kibi.
“Rings a bell,” says the gnome.
“Kibi is famous?” says Grey Wolf. “That’s a little frightening.”
“Ah, could be someone else,” admits Aristus. “Dwarven names tend to sound the same to me.”
“So you’ve seen dwarves before?” asks Kibi.
“We’ve seen a few. They’ve come and gone from the inn. They’re among the more restless types, I’ve found; they’ve all gone out again. Two of them went with one of the largest groups to head out together. Fifteen or so in that bunch, and pretty tough characters. Most of them were adventuring types like yourselves. They headed out into the Demon Slices, sayin’ they were gonna find out what was going on.”
“Didn’t return, huh?” guesses Dranko.
“Nope. Not a one.”
“Say, what’s ‘Monk’s Rest,” asks Dranko, looking at the map again.
“We’re not entirely certain,” says Gloriana. “We think that there’s a monastery out there. Aristus, do you remember who wrote that in?”
“There was a traveler from some time back who mentioned the monastery, I think.”
“Are any of you familiar with planar travel?” asks Gloriana. When Aravis nods, she continues, “Then you’ll have heard of Limbo. We think that the Chaos is really a Slice or Slices of the outer plane of Limbo.”
“Oh, yes, I know all about that,” says Aristus.
“You don’t know about it,” says Gloriana. “You’ve just read about it.”
“Well, the people who wrote about it, they knew about it, didn’t they?” says Aristus testily. “It’s practically the same thing. If you stopped spending all of your time learning spells and casting theory, you might learn something interesting!
Gloriana sniffs and looks bored.
“Speaking of spells,” says Kibi to Gloriana, “We have a number of spellbooks, and it looks like you probably do as well. Maybe we could swap some…”
“No,” says Gloriana curtly. When Kibi looks abashed, she continues, “I’m sorry, but I was… I am a member of an arcane order with strict rules about such things.”
Mercury shakes his head. “You should talk with Chiswick,” he suggests. “He’s a little…” (he taps his head) “… far gone, but he’s a brilliant wizard. He stays up in his room most of the time. I know that before he arrived here he came by some store of inks and components, and he’s been known to trade or sell them, if you can talk a straight word out of him. The Slice he came from has long since been destroyed.”
“Destroyed?” echoes Grey Wolf, frowning.
“Ah yes, another rule, which I thought you already knew,” says Gloriana. “Do not attempt to wall off any Way, for any reason. Any. Reason.”
“What happens if you do?” asks Kibi.
“It attracts the Cleaners.”
“What are those?” Aravis asks, intrigued.
Mercury takes a deep breath.
“Like so many things here, the Cleaners are speculative. We were lucky, really. When we learned this lesson, it was in a world two Slices out from here. Years ago we were accosted by a sort of elemental creature with electrical properties. It couldn’t have been a true elemental creature, or it couldn’t have crossed the Ways – perhaps you’ve noticed that there’s a certain magical nature that cannot cross between one Slice and another. But these things managed to come through; we fought them off, and some of us pursued them back to their own world. We slew some more, but because they were so numerous…well, there was an intermediate slice, and we thought we’d just wall that off. Our spellcasters did their jobs, and sealed it away. Every few days we went to check on it, and all seemed well.”
The centaur pauses in his narrative and thinks for a minute before continuing.
“Have any of you, out of curiosity, gone through one of the Gray Ways? There is… Gloriana tells me that there are many places that border on the prime planes, like the Astral and the Ethereal. The Slices are bounded in a similar way, but not by those more familiar planes. They are bounded by something… stranger. And in that realm live… things. And these things are attracted by a Way that us not… breathing. By a closed Way. These things devour Slices and everything in them. When the Slice is gone, all of the Ways into it go dead, gray. I pray that none of us ever see them. Aristus did, once. He won’t talk about it, so don’t ask him.”
Aristus shudders.
“Wouldn’t that be a good way of getting rid of the Demon Slices?” asks Dranko. “Just go in, seal something off, and run for it!”
“If we knew more, we might try it,” says Mercury. “But it’s possible they wouldn’t stop with just the Slice that was walled off. It’s not worth the risk. Better not to attract the attention of the Cleaners in the first place.”
Dranko gulps, thinking suddenly of the bone snake that temporarily walled off the bedroom. What if…
“Now we know why the orcs were so emphatic,” says Aravis.
“No more Walls of Force!” says Flicker, poking Kibi in the ribs.
A tall, muscular woman approaches the table.
“Can I get you anything to drink?” she asks, looking over the Company (particularly the men) with a mischievous expression.
“No, thank you,” says Ernie. “But it’s all delicious!”
“Anything else? At all?” asks the woman.
“No, really,” says Dranko, grinning at her. “Who are you?”
“My name’s Delilah…” she answers. She starts to lean toward Dranko, promising some flirtatious repartee and maybe a better view of cleavage, but is distracted by Aravis sitting next to him.
“Ooooh! That’s fascinating! I’ll bet woman never tire of staring into those star-fields, do they?”
“I don’t know,” says Aravis, straight-faced. “I’ve never had anyone…”
Dranko guffaws.
“…doing that,” Aravis finishes.
“Well, I’m at your disposal,” she says, and with a wink she heads back to the kitchen.
Dranko glares at Aravis. “She was looking at ME until you opened your eyes!”
“Dranko!” says Kibi, shocked. “You’re engaged!”
“Oh!” says Aravis, even more shocked. “You mean she was looking at you in that way? Oh… oh!”
“You should be careful with her,” warns Aristus, smiling. “She’s dangerous.”
“Why is she dangerous?” asks Dranko, intrigued.
“Because she can kick your ass, is why! But don’t take her too seriously. She enjoys that… sort of thing.”
Never one to pick up on the subtleties, Kibi asks, “She enjoys kicking people’s asses?”
Forgetting for the moment the offer of real rooms, Ernie instinctively asks Mercury if there’s a place on the grounds they can set up tents.
“Don’t you want rooms?” replies the centaur.
“Ernie usually sets up two of them, but you’ll have to excuse him,” says Dranko. And then, before anyone can stop him, he adds: “He’s two tents.”
“Ah, a funny one, aren’t you,” says Gloriana drily.
“Well, he likes to think so,” says Kibi.
“Are you a bard, sir?” Gloriana asks Dranko.
“Oh, yes,” says Kibi, before Dranko can answer. “He’s barred from lots of places!”
Everyone but Dranko roars with laughter. Now that’s funny!
…to be continued…
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Thornir Alekeg
Albatross!
Welcome back! Another great update, thanks.
So, anyone out there know how to take down the City of Heroes servers so we can get more updates written?
So, anyone out there know how to take down the City of Heroes servers so we can get more updates written?
Thornir Alekeg
Albatross!
nemmerle said:Not to complain, but the map is illegible!
I had no problem at all reading it. A couple of spots are a little faint, but it is all readable when I open it.
Thornir Alekeg said:
Well, I could write a worm that would hijack millions of computers using well-known unpatched Windows security flaws, turn it into a massive bot-farm, then mount a massive DDOS attack against their servers - but I don't think that would go over too well with the law enforcement.
Welcome back, Sagiro! (Which reminds me, I need to pick up Thief: Deadly Shadows...)
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