Part Two of a fantasy story written from January to March of 1992 on Nemesis BBS. [From: Jonathan Re: The old man said...] A look of concern appears on the face of Jonathan... He pulls Lightning over to the side... "Lightning. How'd that old man know about me? Who is he? Nobody else is supposed to know about me... How does this man know what is not known to everyone else? WHO is this man?????" [From: Sirloin Re: what i do] I look at everyone and say" Hey" For Nomad's insulance,I hit him over the head with my silvery object with a loud "Plunk!" there.It is done. [From: Jonathan Re: And the plot continues] Jonathan rushes over to the aid of Nomad and takes a defensive stance in front of him... "What's the deal, Sirloin?" Jonathan asks. [From: Jonathan Re: And still we go on further] Jonathan worriedly turns his back on Sirloin to check on Nomad... "How do you feel Nomad?" Jonathan asks obviously concerned. "I'm ok" repliea shaken up Nomad. "Why'd he do ?" asked mad. "Let's a him?" nathan said. "So, Sirloin. What's the deal [From: Thunder Re: And still we go on further] "I'll tell you 'what's the deal'", spoke Thunder in a bone chilling voice. "Our strange 'friend' is none other that the wandering Jew." "He's been around so long that there's probibly nothing he hasn't run into or learned of in his travels.", said Thunder still eying the strange with a strange glare. "Be careful, I understand that he can be VERY untrustworthy at times." [From: Galahad Re: Trailblazer] Trailblazer gets up so quietly, the coins in his purse don't jingle. He goes over to the bar, itself, where one person is seated. The bar is, once more, beginning to reach the audio level peak. Everyone is having a blast. Trailblazer [sitting down a seat away from his new neighbor] The innkeeper, a beautiful elf, awaits his order. Everyone at the table, is watching, and picking out the distinctive Trailblazer with their ears. : ASAMORA. (ed Trailblazer speaks elfish) Innkeeper: Si. [holds a unfolded fist in front of her fist] Trailblazer plops a LARGE platinum coin onto the bar. The elf picks up the coin, walks out from behind the bar, says, "Follow me" Trailblazer gets up and the two of them go into a closed stall, after the open and shut the door, naturally. You listen for voices, yet the bar is starting to get rowdy. Ya'll look up and see two dwarfs, obviosuly, drunk, are starting up a fist fight. Men quickly move the tables away from the two brawling, making room. ALL the men are suddenly engrossed in making bets and shouting, in a circle around the two fighting dwarfs. The noise is blunt to the eardrum. You all begin to wonder if the Innkeeper can here what is going on. [From: Turbo Re: The old man said...] The Group bewildered by the old man decided to follow him.The quickly left the bar forgeting to pay for their drinks.As the last of the party was leaving,A tall,dark man stood in front of him."Get out of my way",Sirloin yelled.The strange man pulled out a double-bladed sword and put it up to SirLoins throaSirloin with his quick thinking and...ummm...clevernesstook bar stool and... [From: Lightning Re: The old man said...] .....galantly uses it as a shield. The two engross in sword to sword combat for what seems like an eternity. Finally wiht one final swing of his sword SirLoin sends the stranger hurdling to the ground. SirLoin, bleeding heavily, looks up with a look of despair. Lightning, feeling pity for the poor young man, uses mystical powers to heal his wounds. The group heads off into the sunset.... [From: Nomad Re: Off into the sunset...] So, our young-ish adventurers went on down the road for awhile. It was more or less uneventful. Somehow or other, they each kept thinking of some oddball song... humming it, whistling it, what have you. They couldn't remember what it was, but it kept staying in their minds the whole time. In fact, it was the song "On the Road Again..." On the other hand, Nomad was not having this problem, if one could call it a problem. What HE couldn't get out of HIS mind was seeing SirLoin up against someone sort of bigger than him, and the fact Nomad couldn't do a thing about it! As sensative as he is about kids, the first time he noticed what SirLoin was up against, he was about to rush to his aid! But several people in the bar kept him at bay... I mean, it isn't EVERY day you see a thirteen-year-old challenge someone obviously nearly twice his age and strength! They wanted to see how it turned out, and of course they made all sorts of bets on the outcome. To Nomad, it was not a pretty sight. But then, the kid won! However, SirLoin DID notice Nomad's attempt to help him, and how much Nomad was bothered by it all. It impressed him how much Nomad cared for his wellbeing, and it influenced SirLoin's later dealings with the man. Consequently, Nomad and SirLoin rode along next to each other on their unicorns. And Krazy, a young lady who joined them back at the town and who seemed to be infatuated with Nomad, fell in on the other side of Nomad. [From: Snow Re: They go on..] As they were riding, they saw on the side of the road a boy. He looked like a normal boy, yet they all had a feeling that he wasn't normal.. They slowly stopped and walked to the side of the road about a few hundred yards ahead of the boy to discuss it. "He looks like a geek to me." said SirLoin, although he was a geek himself. "Well, let's just go see who he is.." Jonathan said. "Well, who's gonna go up there?" he said. There was a pause, and SirLoin volunteered. So he casually walked up to the boy and said "Hey, fool. Who are you?" The boy said "Who are you calling fool, geek!" They started arguing for a while when Nomad said "That stupid SirLoin! I'll go see what's up.." So Nomad walked up to Sirloin and the boy. "Hey, hey! Come on!" SirLoin stopped and so did the boy. "Who are you?" Nomad said to the boy. "My name's Snow. Who're you?"...... [From: Sirloin Re: what i do] I say to Nomad "Hey this is Snow guy iz a giving me trouble. I say we kill em!" "by the way," I say to snow. "where's tweedle who?" [From: Keith Re: the story continues...] "Who is TweedleWho?", asks Snow. Maybe you are thinking about the almighty Keith, who rules this land and everyone in it!" "Hey!" asks SirLoin. "Why do you get all the good lines?" "That's beside the point. He allows noone on his land and immediately destroys anyone who trys! But, I, being a shape-changer, can help you on your cheap journey! I can change myself into any shape or form! Any size or weight! I can help you defeat the almighty Keith but truthfully it's a fat chance! By the way, Krazy, I'll turn into a unicorn now and you can ride on me..." All of a sudden, a flash of lighning strikes SirLoin into Roast Beef! "TAKE THAT, YOU INFERIOR MEAT SCUM!" An unknown voice bellows in the skies. "See what the almighty Keith can do?! You can use those ashes of SirLoin over there as an example of his powers!" Then Snow changes into an odd blob, gradually forming into the shape of a horse...no, a unicorn! The wind blows and spreads SirLoin over the fields as fertilizer... [From: Sirloin Re: me] Since i am in heaven, I get the god of Posidieon to zap keith the dumb one. He is blown to bits from 800 zaps of lightning. "Take that!" I say. I decide to reincarnate myself as the saddle for Lightning. *grin* [From: Jonathan Re: Hey unfair] Lightning isn't in town this weekend so she's not here to say anything about these remarks... If you have to say then then why not wait until she gets back..... Hmmmmmm? [From: Python Re: me] Reincarnate yourself as Lightning's saddle? Hmmmmm....... [From: Keith Re: continuing..] "You forget, Keith cannot be destroyed without my help! 800 strokes of lightning is a mere tap to the almighty Keith!" remarks Snow. "He is still alive and well! Nothing can destroy him, that is, almost nothing! If we all work together we can destroy him!" "What do you think?" asks Jonathan. "I'm up for it..." says Lightning. "OK! Let's go!" Nomad replies. "What about SirLoin? Is he gone forever?" "Of course!" replies Snow. "My religion is against reincarnation!" "Alright..." says Krazy. "Fine with me...he was such a nuisance anyways..." So, they all get together and head down the path... Krazy and Nomad hop onto Snow the unicorn and ride along... "Should we have a funeral for SirLoin?" asks Nomad. "Ha! And make him feel worse because noone shows up? That would be a great idea..." says Lightning... [From: Sirloin Re: me] Since the stupid Keith doesnt know that Sirloin is buddy buddy with God,he is in for a good surprise. [From: Starhawk Re: starhawk or starfeathers......] starhawk or starfeathers sounds pretty good to me,well anyways Nomad i think it's pretty cool story to me well,gotta run catch ya later bye............... Starhawk or starfeathers [From: Snow Re: They go on...] Well, the clan (Starhawk, Jonathan, Lightning, Nomad, Krazy, Snow, and anyone else I've forgotten...) continue to walk down the beaten path.. The sun was now down, it being Thursday night, (most of us have forgotten that it was a three day weekend..) and the group were all very tired. "Man, I'm tired!" exclaimed Starhawk. "When are we finally going to SLEEP?!" "How about now?" Lightning replied. "But we've got to have rotating schedules of people to lookout for other people while the rest of us sleep." "Okay, but the problem is, who's gonna go first? Especially at midnight." said Jonathan. "I've heard superstitious stories about wolves who hunt people during those hours.. Any volunteers?" [From: Nomad Re: The story goes on...] (On other BBSs it has become a handy thingy to place one's comments about an ongoing story into parenthesis like this. For convenience, I start that here....) (Uhhhhhmmmmm.... Snow, Starhawk is not in the Group. He is an individual off-stage who is rumored to be out to destroy certain members of the group.) (Hmmmm... let's substitute Thunder's name in place of Starhawk in the dialog of the previous message.) (BTW, I've found it handy to keep a piece of notebook paper next to the computer for each online story I'm participating in. I generally list all the names of the characters and users in the story, generally grouping the ones in the focus of the story in one place and the others, such as off-stage villains or the persons we are searching for, on another part of the page. And then I make one- and two-word notations next to the names like "Starhawk: The villain" "Jonathan: a 'god'" etc. I also list the items the characters have, and any interesting place names in the story. It is actually much much simpler in practice than it is to describe. It helps me to keep everything straight.) And so our heros start to look for a lodge to stay the night. They trudge along for what seems like hours more, but is maybe only a couple of hours, and finally find an inn. It is a very strange inn indeed, one which looks like a cross between "The Munsters" and a train wreck. The doors were all jaggedly shaped and the walls all twisted and bent. There were windows shaped like bananas and eyeballs, and the front porch looked like a dropped stove hanging from the roof. Bizarre as the place looked, the weary travellers couldn't care less. It was a lodging, and they were exhausted. [From: Snow Re: thanks] (Hey thanks for the tip. I think everyone should do that.. Sorry about that Starhawk! Well, hate to run the story, so someone out there please add on!) [From: Keith Re: continue...] (Here is a list I put together of everyone on here so far: Trailblazer - Cherokee Nomad - An adventurer Thunder - an adventurer SirLoin - the guy who died Turbo - person who joined group Jonathan - a god Lightning - fair maiden who joined group Old man - guy who knows stuff about book of Y's Starhawk - villian; "Spawner of Lies" Krazy - person who joined group Snow - shape changer who joined group Keith - almighty ruler [BLANK] - anyone else who would like to play an important role Enjoy..) (Nomad, you can add any of your ideas on this list since you made the idea...) Lighning calls out "Hello?" Since noone replied, they walk in and see a large, long flight of stairs, which are messily arranged.... [From: Galahad Re: Hmm....] Trailblazer grunts at the visage of stairs. "I don't like the look of this. A common man, such as myself, is not welcome in such unusual environs. I will make camp outside the lodge. Yell if you need my help." With that, Trailblazer exits the abode. [From: Jonathan Re: On they go...] Everyone thinks over Trailblazer plans and decide that it's ok... Snow volunteers to watch the door and stay in sight of Trailblazer while everyone else inspects the adobe... They [From: Sysop Re: killing] I think that the story was doing very very well till some of the users wanted to kill everyone off! I don't think that has a place in the story at all! Sysop [From: Nomad Re: The story plods on...] (Actually... Lightning is a god... er... goddess, too.) So, Trailblazer camps outside, and Snow camps out at the door... meanwhile, the others mount the rickety, red-polka-dotted dark-purple stairs.... They each check into the rooms assigned to them by the lizard guy at the counter they encountered on the second floor, and soon fall fast asleep. That is, all fall fast asleep except for Nomad... who simply cannot get the abrupt and catastrophic death of SirLoin out of his mind. It is one of those things that will stick with him the rest of his life... probably making him awaken screaming in the night for years to come. To take his mind off this... he ponders the question of why this message is in present tense while others he wrote are in past tense... and why the messages in this story tend to flit back and forth between past and present tense. It is one of those strange little mysteries of life that will probably never be adequately explained. After what seems like hours of fruitless tossing and turning in bed, Nomad finally falls into a decidedly rough slumber. [From: Turbo Re: The Story *SIGH* Continues...] As the party members do there little thing...they have no idea what's going on near the the Asyden Mountians.A very,very evil force is upcoming on the party.Demanicus...a very large,evil monster with powers that could stun the galaxy. This "Evil" was being brought back from the fires of hell from one single soul.His name...Turbo.The story of Turbo is a great one.He...at one time...was a hero.But a young man named Adol stole his glory.Turbo flared up and wanted revenge.That was 11 years ago...Now...Turbo will destroy the world. [From: Galahad Re: Bah] Trailblazer, who happened to have heard of Demonicus, laughed. He took another swig off his jug, something he did to feel sleepy. Trailblazer knows the God he worships will protect him and that his faith and Spirit residing in his heart will melt any wimpite evil puny wunees. He stirs the coals in his fire. A score of crows fly overheard. They caw down to their friend Trailblazer. Trailblazer knows they are asking him where he is going. Trailblazer makes hand gestuclations indicating he has no present course, but is waiting for his comrades to indicate somewhere on the map they would like to visit. The crows drop down. Trailblazer digs out dried corn from a gunery sack. Together, they pass away the early morning hours. When the sun rises, Trailblazer is sleeping in a flanel wigwam. [From: Nomad Re: The plot... coagulates!] (Villains coming outta the WOODWORK here! Eeek!) And so Turbo, having become part of the Group early on, plots his evil plans at the Group's expense. Had they known there was evil in their very midst, they would have dealt with him accordingly. Turbo climbed out of bed and got dressed. Meanwhile, the other members of the Group... except for Nomad, who overslept because he got to sleep so late... have also gotten up. Meanwhile, over on The Other Side.... SirLoin stands watching the goings on down there. "This being dead is a royal nuisance," he says.. "So you have said again and again," says Posiedon. He looks at the glum face of SirLoin a moment, the way he leans dejectedly on his shoulders, staring at the image being shown like a TV picture in the shallow pool before them. "Hmmmmm..." says Poseidon. He thinks a moment, and then says, "Let me try something." He pushes SirLoin to one side and then pulls a gilded rectangular thing out of an alcove under the pool. The item is covered with little raised squares, with squiggles painted on each. He starts pressing upon these with his fingertips in a particular order... Meanwhile, back at the Inn... Having banged upon Nomad's door to get him up, the Group congregates out front of the Inn... where they find a dwarf meeting them. "I have been sent with a Prophetic warning for you," says the dwarf. "You have many evildoers after you now, even more than there were before." "What?" says Trailblazer. "Starhawk has more followers now? Lovely!" "No," says the dwarf, "not followers of Starhawk... there are others that also seek you out for their own reasons." "Terrrrific!" says Nomad, with a hint of sarcasm. "What undeniable fun we are gonna have!" "And it is said," continues the dwarf, "that but for the help of the one called SirLoin, you may not survive." [From: Nomad Re: The plot... coagulates!] (continued...) There is a longish moment of silence. "But wait," says Snow, "SirLoin is dead." "That may change soon," says the dwarf. "What do you mean?" says Nomad. "All I can say," says the dwarf, "is to look for a sign from the gods." And the dwarf walks away without further a word. [From: Nomad Re: The plot... coagulates!] (continued...) There is a longish moment of silence. "But wait," says Snow, "SirLoin is dead." "That may change soon," says the dwarf. "What do you mean?" says Nomad. "All I can say," says the dwarf, "is to look for a sign from the gods." And the dwarf walks away without further a word. And back on The Other Side... "There," says Poseidon, sitting back into his seat and placing the rectangular item back into its alcove. "You should be among the living again by the end of the day." [From: Turbo Re: The Story...Un-folds] ROOOOOOAAAAAARRRRR!!!!!! "What was that?",the part asked each other. "That was the Evil (Look back a few stories)",a voice said. "Who the Heck are you",Nomad asked. "I...am Adol",He replied.I drove Turbo to this.He ha unleashed an evil so great...that it could end the world. "Bah",said Nomad.I can tke care of him! "You speak boldly,but you do not realize that this monster is about 150 feet tall.He is stronger than Everybody on our planet.His magic is greater than anybodys. "I don't understand...what did you do to drive Turbo to this?",The party asked. I...I...Stole the spotlight...He defeated the evil...I took the credit. He tried to tell everyone...but they laughed at him.Mocked him! Now...He will destroy the world. ROOOOOOOAAAAAAARRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! [From: Nomad Re: The plot... uh... goes on...] "So," said Turbo, "the facts are finally made known." "You mean," said Trailblazer, "you've been a welcome, valued member of our Group since the begining... and yet you've been conspiring against us, Turbo? Is this true?" ROOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!! roared the approaching monster, now much closer. "Y... y... yes," said Turbo. "But it's not what you think..." "Nevermind about that!" said Nomad. "We gotta get outta here! Get to shelter or something!" And so all of the Group ran madly down the pathway, around a bend, and towards a great hill of sorts. The path took a couple of turns around bits of dense shrubbery and thickets. RRRRRROOOOOOOAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!! It was even closer now! Suddenly they came on a large wooden roadsign which read "This way to the resurrection of SirLoin!" and pointed off to a cave entrance to the side. The Group, without hesitation, stampeded into the cave and kept on going for quite a ways down the tunnel-like length of the cave. After it twisted and turned for what must have been a good half mile, the Group members decided they had gone far enough in to be safe, and came gasping to a stop. After catching their collective breath, the people let their hearts slow back to a regular beat. "The dwarf said, 'Look for a sign from the gods!'" said Nomad. "I didn't expect it to be that literal!" [From: Robbin Re: The plot... uh... goes on...] Just as the group was beginning to catch their breath and calm down, they felt a chilling wind begin to blow from deep within the dark tunnels of the cavern. It wasn't the normal breeze you would feel in a cave and they sensed something was about to happen. Too afraid to go back the way they came, because of the monster, and too frightened to go any deeper into the cave...they all froze. The cave was silent except for the sound of the wind and the sound of Nomad's knees knocking. Trailblazer spoke up in a somewhat nervous voice and said, "I will venture deeper into the cavern and see what lies ahead." Although he was hoping someone would volunteer to go with him, they stood still and didn't say a word. Just as he took his first step, there was a blinding light and the vision of a woman appeared... [From: Galahad Re: Woman] It was none other than Flawsquaw, one of Trailblazer's old squaws. They held hands, and light shimmered around both of them. When the light faded, both were gone. [From: Nomad Re: Woman] So, the remaining members of the Group sat there in the dark, listening to the sound of knees knocking together. "Who's knees are knocking together?" said Thunder. "Not mine," said Nomad. "But in the message two posts back," came the voice of Snow, "it was said they were your knees." "Obviously," said Nomad, "the writer was mistaken." He struck a match and held it up in the air. Everyone looked around at the other members' knees. None of them were knocking. Hmmmmm... "Where's the knee-knocking sound coming from?" said Prisoner. Nomad found a torch attached to the wall of the cave, and lit it with the match. "It's coming from back there," observed Lightning, pointing to a dark corner of the chamber, where there was a boulder there. The Group advanced towards the small builder, and the knee-knocking became noticably louder. "Who could it be?" asked Jonathan. "M-m-me!" said a smallish voice from down low. From behind the boulder stepped... the dwarf! "It's the dwarf!" said Nomad. "As always, Nomad," said Prisoner, "you have a grasp of the obvious!" "You gave us a prophesy," said Nomad, "that we needed SirLoin and that he would be brought back to us.... How old was this prophesy?" "Uhhm..." said the dwarf. "About fifteen minutes." "Fifteen minutes?!?!" said Snow. "Does that make it any less valid?" said the dwarf. "I mean, you DID find the signs, didn't you? Otherwise, you wouldn't be here!" "True," said Snow. At that point, the RRRRROOOOOAAAAaaaaarrrrr from outside came again. And the cold, cold wind blew again. It blew out the torch! "Oh drat!" said Nomad. "I'm out of matches!" There came the sound of little knees knocking together again. [From: Nomad Re: Woman] Meanwhile, Trailblazer and Flawsquaw were together in some strange place. It was a dimension of sight, a dimension of sound... it was.... Ooops! Been watching too much late-night TV! They were in a strange rounded chamber, where the floor curved up to form the walls which in turn curved back to form the ceiling. It was of a translucent glass which seemed to glow eerily. "It took all of my power to get you here," said Flawsquaw. "Yet we need the other members here in order to bring back SirLoin." "How are we going to bring the others here?" said Trailblazer. [To be continued...]