"Disappearances Can Be Decieving." Mid 1989 AD, that is, Early 2364 Galactic Year [THX-1138] Far away from the previous adventure, a new one was erupting... in the land known as Rakionica. This was a desolate land; one without luxury. The majority of people lived in huts or straw houses, for there was no established government. Basically, it was a peaceful realm. Quiet... one without adventure. The wrong place for the Mage Pladgah. A young man, in his early twenties, tired of the peasant existence he has suffered all his life. His only joy was his magic Staff, Markaj. He had found it when he was a mere child. At that time, he was not aware of its power, however, and he casually looked upon it as a fancy cane. But once he was older, he came to know the REAL magic. Mind power. The Staff was an amplifier of mind energy. He had never mastered this... the most he could make the Staff do was emit a faint glow. And that was all he knew it could do...until the first day of Thermidore. He was walking along a lonely road, one he had taken many times, when he noticed an interesting hole in the ground, about fifty feet off the beaten path. He entered this hole to investigate. It was pitch black, but with his Staff illuminating the way it was no problem. The glow was sufficent to reveal a huge underground cavern. He noticed the peculiar markings on the walls, but he could not decipher them...he pressed on deeper into the cavern. Finally, he found a seperate antechamber. He entered to find a vast collection of books, scrolls and what appeared to be weapons of some sort. He sat his Staff near the desk, which was nearest to the "door." He sat down and read. He could not make out very much, for the pages were torn and tattered. But he could plainly read the title "Regeneration at the Highest Point." He thumbed through the book, and found many odd symbols...all of which resembled various light sources. He kept reading what he could, although much of it he could not understand. Then he came to a page of magical items. To his surprise, his Staff was on there! It was listed as "The Staff of the Ancients." He did not know what to think. All his life, he had wondered about the magical Staff, but never got any answers...now, finally, he was! [Nomad of Norad] (BEEEEEautiful! Let's not screw it up!) (Interesting thought: Hmmm, is this Staff really based on magic, or high technology?) (I'm going to assume high technology.) [THX-1138] The book read "This Staff, when combined with the item known as 'Tranfar' will teleport the user to any known point in the known realm. The power depends on the user. CAUTION: Lower level mages may find a problem with the item. When combined with 'Tranfar' at the lower emission, and the item known as 'sand' at the higher emission, a great power will be realized, one which will bring eternal peace and prosperity. This in itself is good. But soon the user will grow weary and his own mind will will expand and become to great. Even the Great Mage Grojton fell victim to this. He is now only evident in the region of Banfgha known as Assiyn: The Land of Spirits. For those who have exception psionic power, the process could be maintained. But it is not recommended." After seeing this, Pladgah realized how much power he had at his fingertips. He looked around the room for the item 'Tranfar' for there was a picture provided. After a long search, he found it! He assembled it as per the picture. After connection, the Staff glowed a fiery red and began to hum! "What's this, then?" he asked himself. The Staff then grew extremely hot... too hot to keep ahold of! He dropped the Staff, and it fell on the cold ground... which was covered with sand! The Staff began to move and whirl, and the throbbing in Pladgah's temples grew unbearable... he could not take the pain!! He fell to his kness, and gripped the Staff, attempting to remove the item Tranfar... he only succeeded in burning his hands. "Great Monrta! Help us!" he cried. It was to no avail. The Staff then glowed a blinding light and then... nothing.... silence... light... a new dawn... Pladgah awoke to find himself in the room, but the room was no longer the dank, desolate place it was before...it was warm and brightly lit! He walked out to find himself in...a Castle! He thought he must be dreaming...but his mind did not stir...he was indeed in a castle. He looked at the Staff, which was now scarred and pitted. He reached for it, but it turned to dust at the touch. "Who's there?" asked a bewildered Shamrock. "My fair lady, it is I, the mage Pladgah. I am at a loss as to where I am, or who you are..." he replied. "Why you are at the Castle Hex. How did you get past Floyd, the resident dragon?" she said. "My lady, I do not know. By chance could you tell me the day?" "Why, it is the twelfth of Caluno." she said. "I am at a loss. I was in..." he started... And at that point, a great explosion was heard outside the castle. From the Strategist's Corner, the nobles of the castle ran to investigate. "WHAT is that?!?!?" yelled THX. "My GOD! It looks like a triple headed Mongra!" said Pladgah, entering the tower. "Who are you?" inquired Dr. Depraved. "I am Pladgah, mage of the land Rakionica." said he. "Oh, well hello. What is a Mongra?" "Trouble." he said... And the Mongra made a rush toward the castle, it's wings causing a great wind. "Let's prepare ourselves!" said Joe. "We are under attack!" The Mongra made a swinging motion, and the spire of the Castle was hit by a force 10 fireball!! The damage was fierce, but no casualties. "Out! Out!" yelled Captain R/C. "We must attack this thing. Dr. Depraved, prepare a noxious potion. Like the one we used on Poedsh." "I am afraid I have some bad news..." said Pladgah. "The Mongra is a legendary monster in our realm. There is no known way to kill it. It was thought to have been vanguished by a traveller from long ago...by the name of Paladiod. We are in trouble..." [Nomad of Norad] Suddenly Pladgah felt funny. There was a glow around him. Suddenly there was silence. Darkness. He found himself back in the dark moldy room with the books. There was his Staff on the floor, the Tranfar detatched, the Staff giving off the soft glow again. He picked both items up, and stuffed the Tranfar into a side pocket. "I know I saw this Staff turn to dust!" he said. A horrible thought crossed his mind. What about the creature! He had been somehow drawn back to his land, but the creature must still be at the Castle! But was he responsible for producing the creature? Had his attempt to use the Staff done this? Even if he had brought back the Mongra, he would have to go back to that kingdom and help fight it. `Even if?!?!' he thought to himself, `If I WAS responcible for its release, than I am going to have to go deal with it!' So, Pledgah tried to teleport himself back to the Castle. No go. It wouldn't work. He was going to have to go it the long way. He decided that he had better research the problem first. He looked for all the books on the Mongra and gathered them together. He then opened the first and began to read... Meanwhile, at the Castle CommHex, the Mongra flew off and headed into the distance. Hours later, at the underground room, Pledgah closed the last book. He felt he needed to research more about the Staff, too, but it was getting late and he was getting sleepy. It was time to head for his home and his bed. He got up, carrying the Staff, and headed for the outside. Upon reaching the surface, he heard a great SKWAAAACK!! He looked up into the sky and saw the Mongra flying straight at him! It had its claws open and pointed towards him! He jumped back down the hole, and ran back into the dark moldy room. The Mongra gave a disappointed SQUAAACK and flew back upwards, to fly in circles again, awaiting Pledgah's exit from the hole. "Well," said Pledgah, "looks like I sleep here tonight!" He layed down on the sand on the floor and tried to sleep. [The Flip] Pledgah had a difficult time sleeping there on the cave floor, however. Scorpions and other nocturnal insects were crawling all over his body. So he got no sleep at all that night. Besides, the Mongra was still SKWAAAACK!!ing... [Nomad of Norad] So, over the next few days Pledgah studied the books about his Staff quite closely. By the first day he was able to repell the Mongra from him. It could not attack him without being pushed away by the Staff. From the second day onward, Pledgah was able to leave the underground rooms and go get supplies and do other things around his community. The Mongra followed him wherever he went, flying over him like a bird of prey waiting for a chance to attack. As long as Pledgah had his Staff, the Mongra could not attack, only circle and wait, circle and wait, circle and wait. Months passed, and Pledgah became strong with the Staff. Meanwhile, back at the Hex and its surrounding vicinities, the second war of the Villain took place. That story has already been chronicled elsewhere, so it shall not be repeated here. However, after the Villain was vanquished this second time, some odd things began to happen. It had been known far and wide that Jocko had died of some long illness brought on him with magic. But it was known that the Villain did not usually utilise magic. It was further rumored that the Villain had employed a great evil sorcerer to do certain deeds for him. Then, when it came time to bury Jocko, a startling revelation came. Jocko's body was gone! It had vanished, right before the undertaker's eyes! Poof! Then someone revealed that the same thing had happened to the body of the Zygnic Mystic, the ravenously beautiful lady that had lived deap in the Relihot Desert north of the Great Mountains. Another rumer soon was heard that there was a place out in the desert where the bodies of Jocko, the Mystic, and others where held in a sort of suspension. Perhaps they weren't even dead! Maybe they were just in a magical stasis! Maybe they could be freed! Meanwhile, our young hero learned how to control his Staff well.