jj@rabbit.UUCP (12/13/83)
As we left the intrepid adventurers last week, they were considering what to do about the mysterious stranger who came banging on the door of the Inn in the middle of the night. The stranger, a tall, dark complexioned person of some sort, asked for Ayudante, the Seer, without further ado. From that point: Balinor, who opened the door, stands back at a gesture from Ayudante, who has wandered down the stairs past Bjarney, who has a short conversation with him. After reaching the front door, Ayudante motions to the innkeeper to go back to bed, and waves Gavalin along with him (although Gavalin's sharp eyes notice something more, it seems.). Gavalin and the innkeeper wander off through the kitchen to the keeper's residence. Slider (Hogue, for those of you who were reading last week, prefers his slang name 'Slider' to his given name.) looks around a bit, and then sticks to the background, looking a bit skeptical of the whole arrangement. Balinor looks in for a while with obvious disinterest, and then wanders off. Izugumi, who originally appeared at the head of the stairs with his bow, puts it away and joins the group consisting of Bjarney, Ayudante, Slider <sort of> and the stranger. The last people down the stairs, Trillya and Lendell, look around, conclude that nobody is hurt (yet, at least) and settle down to listen. After concluding that nothing much is happening in the common room of the inn <where Ayudante, etc, are>, Balinor yawns mightily and wanders in the direction of the kitchen. <Author's note. There are, for a while, two tracks of action that involve our adventuring party. I will follow the parlor track first, and then attend to the other.> In the parlor, Bjarney says something to the stranger in a strange, oddly musical language. The stranger looks at Bjarney, listens for a while, and answers in a similar, although more rythmic vein. Bjarney looks a bit confused, and replies to the stranger again in his version of this strange tongue. Ayudante interrupts, looking a bit annoyed at Bjarney, and says: "My good heavens, Bjarney, this person has travelled through the very night to reach us, we can at least take him to the fireplace and offer him a seat!" to which the stranger replies, "That's not necessary, I'm fine. My name is Fjosjne, and I should get started.I do have a message, though, and I should be on with it. <he suddenly looks toward the door, then continues> Yes, the King wanted me to have a talk with you, but he didn't want me to talk to you until you had left the capitol. He wants me to lead you to the North Quarter, where you can experience firsthand the problems that we face. I'm to be your leader until you reach the North, and I'm expected to ensure that you get there safely. I'd like to get going as soon as possible, we're supposed to be out of here by sunrise, so that the folks in Ravenswood don't see anything odd." Ayudante looks at Bjarney, who is scowling somewhat more that one would expect from the situation, and then says: "Well, that's interesting. I am a bit surprised that the King didn't let us know in advance, though, that we would be meeting you." Fjosyne looks at Bjarney, Slider, and then back to Ayudante, and says, "Well you'll have to trust me, I don't know what happened, but you should indeed have known of my coming. That's unfortunate. The way that the weather is acting up, we really DO nead to leave tonight." <Bjarney is STILL scowling, and Izugami is looking leary, bordering on downright suspicious.> Ayudante, ever the diplomatic soul, interrupts the momentary silence, "Well, this is a bit sudden, I must say. I'm certainly not ready to embark on that sort of journey, I couldn't manage the ride right now. Even if I was ready, I don't think I'd go so fast, after all, we're simply not equipped for that sort of a ride. We don't have enough supplies, we don't have... " At this time, a voice is heard from the direction of the kitchen, and a door slams. (Context switch. We are now with Gavalin, Balinor, and the great outdoors.) Gavilin, who accompanied the innkeeper into the kitchen area, points the innkeeper toward his quarters, and then ambles off through the kitchen door. Balinor, who came into the kitchen just as Gavalin left, follows. Once outside, Gavalin and Balinor join forces, and head toward the front of the inn. Once there, they head toward the entrance, where, somewhat to their surprise, they find two individuals similar to the stranger writing something (or doing something of that sort) to the steps in front of the door. As they head in for a closer look, Balinor looks behind, and thinks that he notices someone behind them. After a short discussion, Gavalin heads for the kitchen door, and Balinor heads for the front door, via the edges of the building. Just about this time Gavalin is heard to say, "Hey! just what do you think you're doing?" This catches the two strangers by surprise. One of them heads off toward the sound of Gavalin's voice, and the other continues writing on the steps. Balinor, who has managed to get close enough to observe the process, hears the remaining stranger chanting in a strange gutteral tongue. He listens for a while, and realizes that what he is hearing is an archaic version of the Ban'Dorchan language. He can't make much out, but does extract the phrase "nil se ne dorcha", which he manages to translate as something like "not the dark" or "not yet the dark". He isn't sure which. About this time, he hears a door slam. Gavilin walks quickly into the parlor, looks at Slider and Bjarney, and says, "I really think you should come and take a look at this", heads for the front door, and throws it open, much to the surprise of the person writing on the steps. The stranger looks up, quite startled, and says, "Wait, I'm not done yet" ================================================== The next set of moves is due, as usual, this Friday. I didn't get a move from two people this week, and a very short move from a third. In any case, the schedule for next week's move is: By Friday, I would like to have all the moves. By Sunday, I WILL have everyone's move. I will post the results of the latest move on the Monday following. After that move, there will be a lengthened schedule, with the next moves arriving before Tuesday after Christmas, and the move results being posted on Wednesday. The week after New Years will return to the normal schedule. -- -Diogenes stopped here- (allegra,harpo,ulysses)!rabbit!jj