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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Enk&amp;D'Shai" data-source="post: 675437" data-attributes="member: 7569">"Let Sleeping Dragon's Lie," or "This Ain't No Sleeping Beauty!" - Part 2OK, Sean Connery, that's obvious.Keanu Reeves. What? there's no way... wait that would work. Dangit. Reese Witherspoon?Mark Hamill. As who?A computer generated Meepo. I can see that. Oh - hi there! D'Shai and I are just mulling over who would play who if Small Beginnings ever got opted for a movie (yeah, right). Who was that guy who played Mr. Belvedere?Or maybe that guy who played Alfred in the Batman movies. First, Beyond or Forever?Its the same guy in all of them, isn't it? I have no idea.How about Michael Keaton. 'I'm Batman, I mean Ashrem.' Doable. What do you think the readers would come up with?I'm willing to give away some of your dice to find out. Hear that? It's contest time. The person that posts up a list of actors/characters that a) impresses me, b) makes me laugh, or c) makes fun of Enk gets a set of dice picked from Enk's dice bag. Why my dice bag?Because my dice actually like me. At least its not a haiku contest. Oh, and I reserve the right to pick the dice myself (though D'Shai still splits shipping costs, dangit). The winner should expect to get a full set - 2 d20s, a d12, percentile d10s, a d8, 4 d6s, and a d4. Oh, and they won't match.And any entry including Jean Claude Van Damme will be immediately disqualified. Bonus points if you can work Patrick Swayze into it. Double points if the actor ever starred in a John Carpenter movie. Just to the Tip of the Day.Tip O the Day: Sometimes an artist must create a word to properly name a third installment of a one part post." And there you have it. A letter opener.*****"Let Sleeping Dragon's Lie," or "This Ain't No Sleeping Beauty!" - Part 2: Electric Boogaloo“Demons!”Ashrem voice sent a chill throughout the dank room, and Ander could almost feel the feloine’s hatred from his icy tone. The woodsman answered his friend by assuming a combat stance with his staff out before him, and watched as the rest of the small party did likewise. “Where?” Theo growled, the fire in his voice more than a match for Ashrem’s cold hate. “I’m not sure, but I can smell it.” The scout sniffed at the air, and before Ander could ask anything more, the feloine jumped through the squat hallway, landing perfectly on the other side. The woodsman pulled back and was about to leap over and join him when Theo rushed by his side with his flail ready. “Theo, wait!” he tried to yell but the cleric pushed ahead too quickly and rushed into the hallway in his attempt to stay with the feline scout. Heavy arrows shot from both sides of the wall the moment the priest’s heavy boots touched down onto the patched cobblestone, both missiles punching through the cleric’s chain shirt and sinking deeply into his shoulders. Ander cringed as Theo lurched forward into the next chamber, where he crumpled down to stain the floor with fresh blood. Ander easily propelled himself through the short hallway with an enchanted spring of Icemantle’s boots and landed next to the fallen priest. He could already hear the mechanical crank of the winding mechanism reloading the trap as he bent over to examine Theo. Before the ranger could place a hand on his companion, Theo sat up and groaned. “You youngsters have me feeling so young, I’m even starting to make mistakes like someone half my age.”Ander frowned at the priest. “It was my fault. I should have warned you. Ash told me it was trapped.”“Just pull the shafts out, Ander, I’ll be fine. The priests of Zuras are made of tougher stuff than that. Besides, the arrows only barely penetrated my armor and pads. Tis nothing more than a scratch.” Theo grinned as if he didn’t have a care in the world, and the woodsman began to work the arrows free from the chain suit. The first shaft pulled quickly and cleanly, and the young man saw only the tip was touched in blood, but the second one needed more force to come free and brought a small fountain of blood with it, causing Theo to grunt in pain and nearly swoon. Ander righted the priest, who then softly began chanting, once again calling upon the might of his lord. Ander watched, fascinated, as the wound begin to close until Aurora’s call startled him. “Meepo, stay there! Ander, help!”The woodsman turned to see that Aurora had leapt the hallway and Meepo was now running to come join her. Knowing that there was nothing he could do, Ander watched through half closed eyes as the small kobold, who seemed oblivious to any danger, padded his way straight through the hallway, his eyes never leaving the young sorceress. Arrows sprang from the wall and shattered against the flagstones sailing a full King’s Hand over his horned head. “It’s obvious that whoever designed this place didn’t think about keeping halflings and kobolds out.” Pack remarked as he capered through the hallway following Meepo’s course. Ander could only shake his head at Pack’s smile as the arrows sailed over the bard’s cap-laden head. “I guess that means you go first from here on out.” Theo said as he took the woodsman’s outstretched hand and lifted himself off the ground. Ander watched as Pack’s smile faded. “Theo’s right, Pack. If these traps aren’t dangerous for you, you should probably lead the way.” Ander just barely contained himself as he spoke.“But…” Pack’s bottom lip was beginning to quiver.“Don’t worry, lad, it’s not like we’ll let anything eat you.“Eat me?” The halfling looked as if was ready to cry.Ander couldn’t hold it any longer and began laughing: he snickered at first, until Theo let out a deep guffaw. Before long, the two warriors, young and old, leaned on each other for support as they laughed long and hard. Then Pack began chuckling as well as realization crept over him. Aurora joined in as well.They laughed long and hard, if quietly, and Ander felt as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. Everything that had come on their journey had been horrible – the news that the children were to be sacrificed, his hazy, dragon laden flight from the goblins, the Sphere…That last was the worst.I really needed this, he thought. We all did.Suddenly, Ashrem let out a warning growl and quieted the group; in unison they turned to face the feloine, once again concentrating on the task at hand. The scout stood next to another stone slab door, tracing its strange runes and outlines with his claws. “The demon, and I believe there is only one from the smell of it, lies on the other side of this door, but I cannot find any mechanism for opening it, nor can I tell what these markings might mean.”Ander paused to consider the situation. The woodsman had never encountered a demon before, but his childhood had been filled with tales of the demon wars and the nightmarish creatures that they were. Still, he stood next to two experienced warriors, both of which had been involved in that holocaust and had personally fought the abominations. “Ash, Theo, do you think we should go on? I mean, if the demon is trapped, couldn’t we be helping it to escape? Are we gathering more wood than we can burn?”The room grew deathly silent. It seemed to the woodsman that each warrior wrestled with their own demons, reflecting on some inner turmoil before offering an answer to Ander’s question. He looked to each of his companions: even Pack stood by silently, fidgeting to himself yet lost in thought just as the others were. Aurora, who was examining strange runes on the dragon covered door, was the only one not deep in contemplation.“Ander, I cannot speak for Theo, though he did fight in the war, but I sometimes forget that so much time has past since the war and that you grew up with only stories and tales of the evil that these creatures carry with them. I have seen this evil with my own eyes and I bear the scars of their evil - both on my face and in my spirit. I tell you now that I cannot and will not walk away from one as long as the means to dispose of it are within my power. I have watched each of you fight over the last few days and I would gladly stand by your side to cut this demon down.”“By Zuras with a lightning strike!” Theo echoed as Pack puffed his chest and pulled a dagger.“Stars!” Aurora’s exclamation confused the woodsman, and it appeared his fellows as well, as they all turned to face the sorceress. “Stars?” The woodsman stared at the sorceress trying to make some sense of the single word.   “Yes, stars. That was the answer to this riddle. See? The door is opening.” As the sorceress answered the graven door behind her glowed, outlining symbols etched in some strange language. The loud grinding of stone on stone emphasized her answer. Immediately realizing their danger, Ander rushed forward to block the doorway before anything could get out. His new sword held before him, the woodsman peered into the new room, scanning for any signs of its inhabitant. Only small clouds of settling dust and a cool breeze awaited him though as Ashrem pulled up behind him. “I don’t see anything Ash.”“There is a pit on the far side of the room and the stench of devil-kin is unmistakable. Be ready.” Ander felt Ashrem’s hand on his shoulder and in unison the pair moved into the new chamber, angling forward until they stood back to back scanning the room. Ander could now see the large pit Ashrem had mentioned. It separated the chamber from another, and beyond the pit he could see a light source flickering down a passage. The ranger, however, did not see any evidence that anything inhabited this room: something as simple as a footprint or drag mark should have shown deeply in the thick layers of dust that coated the floor, even in the flickering light from Pack’s torch and Aurora’s light. He was not, however, about to discard Ashrem’s feline senses in favor of his own unsure tracking skill over this stone and mortar. Theo’s pained cry, followed by a high-pitched giggling laugh, jolted the two warriors into a run back towards the riddle room. There the ranger saw a nightmare come to life: it wasn’t that it looked all that fearsome – it was no larger than the family cat, Aris – but it’s red skin, barbed tail, wings, and claws did nothing to hide the palpable evil Ander felt wash over him as he neared it.“I’m free! I’m free!” it cackled as it danced in the air above Theo. The beast turned to face the pair as they barreled into the chamber, “More presents for me? How nice to have a feast before I again roam the sun-side of this little world!” Ander moved forward trying to divert the scorpion-tailed creature’s attention away from Theo, who was trying unsuccessfully to stand back up. The woodsman could see a large welt growing on the priest’s neck and he knew that his friend was poisoned and needed attention immediately. Springing forward, the woodsman reached out and brought his sword across his body with both hands, striking the beast soundly on its left wing. The creature spun in a complete circle in the air, whooping and cackling with glee, but otherwise unharmed. It’s like striking stone! Then the creature slowly turned to smile directly at the young woodsman, sending a chill down the young man’s spine at the sight of the long barbed tail whipping to and fro.  Ander did a dance of his own; as the tail snaked forward missing his own neck by a cat’s whisker. The beast was poised for a second strike when Ander heard Aurora’s familiar cry. Azure dragons flew directly at the tiny devil but dissipated in a puff of smoke before contacting the creature’s leathery hide.  Aurora’s display brought on another burst of laughter from the flying devil, which ended only when Ashrem’s voice cut it off. The feloine spoke in a strange tongue that seemed harsh and out of place coming from his normally cultured pipes. “Careful, mortal, or your pathetic attempt at the True Tongue might not have the effect you desire…”  The imp turned its attention solely on the feloine, as Ander seized the cue to yank Theo over toward Aurora and Pack.  “The only thing I desire is your destruction.” The feloine replied as he loaded his crossbow.“Your toys mean nothing to one conceived in the Realm of Pain. You have one shot, mortal, and then I shall laugh as I poke your eyes out and feast on your innards while you still live.”The feloine did not blink as he took aim and pulled back on the crossbow’s release, the mechanism spitting out the bolt like the snap of the hooded snakes Ander had seen in his youth. The iron missile flew forward to strike its target directly in the horned head before falling straight down to the floor. The winged devil again began to laugh and dance, frolicking in the air. Ander looked down at the seemingly useless little bolt and back at the flying devil, a smile forming on his face as wide as the one that Ashrem himself now sported as he recognized the missile for what it was: one of the feloine’s special bolts left over from his service during the demon wars. The scout had once told him that the missiles were specially blessed by the servants of the War Maiden Balsta, meant to pierce the evil aura that protected demons. Suddenly, the Imp’s frolicking turned to wild contortions as the creature tore at its head with its claws. “What have you done? The pain!”Ander watched as energy crackled around the devil causing the creature’s leathery hide to blister and crack like mud on a dry sunny day. Shafts of brilliant light emanating from deep within pierced the devil’s limbs, growing brighter with each passing breath, until with a bright flash all that remained was a bit of smoke and a few ashes that drifted silently towards the floor. *****Next Time"Let Sleeping Dragon's Lie," or "This Ain't No Sleeping Beauty!" - Part 3: Electric Booga...lee?</blockquote>

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