Kelfour Edition volume I number IX

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|   xXX     XX xX             XX        The Kronicles                     |
|  XXX       XXX            xXX               of Kulthea:  Vol.1, No. 9   |
|                        XXX           X                  February 1991   |
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|                                                                         |
|     Local News ......... 1    Dare To Fly ..... Raven Brightwing   1    |
|     Editorial .......... 3    First Annual Hall of Fame ........   2    |
|     Magic Section: Playing the Mage .............. Lythe L'Green   4    |
|       Spells and Armors ................. Yashantre Spleenbender   8    |
|       The Delicate Art of Waving ............. Twie MonteCristo'  10    |
|     What? No Scars?! ............................... Dec Lanthar  11    |
|     Killing a Stranger ......................... Miriel Evenstar  13    |
|     The Gladitorial Battles ....................... Vlad Drakula  14    |
|     The Art of Macros, Part III ................. Nastorm Trevin  17    |
|     Melgorehn's Tower .............................. Eron Kulsen  18    |
|     You are HERE! .................................Landmark Quiz  19    |
|     Life After Death ............................... Jamel Kaili  20    |
|     Kalagay in the Wilds ....................... Kalagay Halatil  21    |
|     Synyster's Story .................... Synyster DIAMOND-NINJA  24    |
|     T is for Troll ............................. Valeria Deering  25    |
|     Uncovering the Silence, Part I ................. Chad Eberle  26    |
|     Arsenic and Old Louvella ............ Miss Louvella Parsnips  29    |
|                                                                         |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| The Kelfour Edition of the  Kronicles of Kulthea is devoted to the game |
| GemStone III on the GEnie Information Network.  Submissions are welcome |
| and  may be  edited for space, accuracy  and readability.  Contact Usul |
| Lu'Nak,  Editor-In-Chief, Landreth  deLorde, Technical Editor, Phaedra  |
| Bleu, Publisher, or send GEnie Email to P.HERRINGTON.  Banner by Dagger |
|   ______________________________________________________________________|__
 \_/________________________________________________________________________/    


  (_ __)                          [\______   \/           __
 ( __  __)                \/      [.~ ~ ~ \______        (   __ _)  __)
                                  [.Kelfou\~ ~ ~ \      (____     _ ___)
    Quest of the Navigator   \/   [. Local\dition \    (__ \/ __ _ __)
    """"""""""""""""""""""         \______\ News  /   ( __ __   )
Scores for participants in last     ||~ ~ \______/
month's  Quest of the Navigator     ||     ~ ~ ~
can  be  found  in   Historical     /\       Jousting Tournament Announced
Achievements  on GEnie at  page    /  \      """""""""""""""""""""""""""""
932.  KE congratulates Wisraith   / /  \    Don't miss the Jousting Tourna-
Winterwind,  Rasputin  Santare,  /      \   ment  coming to Kelfour's Land-
and  Taarna Wayfinder for their /________\  ing  VERY  soon.   Sure  to  be
marvelous personalities. During   |     |   great  fun for participants and
the Quest, too. :)                | ___ |   spectators  alike!   Follow the
                                  |[___]|   signs to the Arena just outside
         Local Houses             |     |   the town gates.
         """"""""""""             |     |
Last  month, KE  reported erron-  |     |        Creepy Plot Revealed
iously on our Houses, for  which  |     |        """"""""""""""""""""
we  apologize to  the  concerned  |     |   In  a shocking, surprise inter-
parties.  Three  are  now  under  |     |   view   deep  in  the  ruins  of
construction,  managed  at least  |     |   Castle  Cladesbrim  just before
in part (rather than owned) by: _ |  _  | _ press   time,  a  Major  Spider
     Jamel Kaili for the       [ ]--[ ]--[ ](speaking   through  an  inter-
  House of Argent Aspis,        \_________/ pretor,   of  course)  revealed
     Silent Mydnyghte for the     |     |   that  their long awaited Spider
  House of Paupers, and           |     |   Temple  will  soon creep to the
     Wisraith Winterwind for      |     |   surface  of Kulthea.  Residents
  House of the Rising Phoenix     |     |   are  urged  to use extreme care
                                  |   _ |   while  traversing the wilds as,
   Floating Disks Available       |  [_]|   just  before its timely demise,
   """"""""""""""""""""""""       |     |   the  interviewee  was preparing
Kelfourian  mage  and  frequent   |     |   to take and  ransom  the inter-
contributor    to   KE,   Lythe   |     |   viewor as their first hostage.
L'Green  offers lifetime family   |     |
memberships   in  his  Floating   |     |          Save Your Silvers
Disk   Club  for  5000  silvers   |     |          """""""""""""""""
down.   Due  to  his  skill  at   |     |   The  Traveling Auction Co.  has
managing   the   Essence,  once   |     |   again been sited heading toward
conjured,  his  8-item capacity   |     |   Kelfour's Landing.  Anticipated
disk  follows  until you retire   |  \/ |   to arrive some time this month,
to contemplate your adventures.\/ |     |   their  wares are much in demand
Contact Lythe for details.        | _   |   by local citizens.  Save up!
                             \/   ||_|  |                      /\
         Dare to Fly      \/      |     |   /\                /  \
         """""""""""              |     |  /  \        /\    /    \
     by Raven Brightwing          |   /\| /    \  /\  /  \  /      \
                                 /\  /  \/   /\ \/  \/    \/     /\ \
Gazing into the never-ending sky/  \/    \/\/  \/    \  /\/     /  \ \
The mighty eagle I see soaring high \    /  \  /   /\ \/  \/\  /    \ \
Why is it that I cannot fly? \/   /\ \/\/    \/   /  \/   /  \/     /\ \
"Only if I had wings!" I cry. \  /  \/  \     \/\/    \  / /\/     /  \ \
The cruel gods know how hard I try  /   /--------------\ /  \/\  /    \ \
They would rather see me die    \  ____/ .'`',.'`',.`,.' \   /  \/      \ \
The lone wolf I see watching the sky  ( `',.`,..'`',.`',. ) /    \       \
He knows his place and questions not why `.',,..',`.',`, /_/______\_______\
 Does he dream as I?               __   \_______________/ --   art by Yonah   
  Does he dare to fly?  ----------       ---------------
                                   -1-


  ________________________First Annual_HALL_OF_FAME_________________________
 / \                                                                        \
 |@/________________________________________________________________________/
 |    Congratulations to Lord Riverwind Entreri & Lord Corwin D'Amber!     |
 |-------------------------------------------------------------------------|
 |        BARD        Lvl      CLERIC          Lvl |============HIGH MAN===|
 |-------------------------------------------------|Benar StormArm       16|
 | Mendle Seldagrave  16  Erebor Bordeaux       23 |Angeleyes DuLac      15|
 | Enegue Lionheart   12  Taarna Wayfinder      17 |Salvius Cygns-Aureus 13|
 | Vshaal hiJneksha'a 10  Sindar d'Clairique    15 |Kimball Kinnison     12|
 | Damiano Faustas     9  Kidd Chameleon        13 |Thorleif Vordaarkal  11|
 | Dec Lanthar         9  Salvius Cygnus-Aureus 13 |=============HALFLING==|
 | Farakon BuTru       8  Bashir Mskshadhvar    12 |Whittle Boysenberry  11|
 | Flynn Specter       8  Lohann McCloud        11 |Doppel Ganger        11|
 | Thundarii Kregen    7  Aleric d'Goth         10 |Lairaerrykthrok Tyk..10|
 | Benden Beeblebrox   6  LairaerryThrok Tyk    10 |Wacha McCollett       8|
 |_Lute Darkthorne     6  Maxwell VonGriffinburg 9 |Bitsy Bellows         2|
  /------------------------------------------------|==============WOOD ELF=|
 |     FIGHTER                 THIEF               |Celeborn Greyswndir  10|
 |-------------------------------------------------|Mauk Mey              5|
 | Benar Stormarm     16  Riverwind Entreri     20 |Zhuge Liang           5|
 | Kirc Bloodguard    16  Moonpie Legend        19 |Lirilin Dustdevil     3|
 | Angeleyes DuLac    15  Valeria Deering       18 |Lirilon Stormcloud    3|
 | Kraus Flouride     14  Dextor Malthorn       14 |===========Common Man==|
 | Waldo2 Ptolomy     13  Sly Thayer            13 |Beolost Lamontt      16|
 | Siegfried diMstrtn 13  Kyrenis Windrider     12 |Silent Mydnyghte      8|
 | Jamel Kaili        13  Shadowind Darklight   12 |Hannibal Tulark       7|
 | Gilthor In'Glorion 12  Anton Stiletto        12 |Sauren Tessar         7|
 | Neander Ofolde     11  Doppel Ganger         11 |Slaughn Wellborne     4|
 |_Khazad Atridawn    11  Taluk Ravenwood       11 |=================Dwarf=|
  /------------------------------------------------|Vesitsa Talchild     15|
 |     SORCEROR                  HEALER            |Siegfried Diemstrttn 13|
 |-------------------------------------------------|Caretaker D'BoldHome 13|
 | Airioch Ramthano   13  Kayla Kyndhart        23 |Neander Ofolde       11|
 | Ishmael Dellamar   12  Strom O'Berin         16 |Vshaal hiJneksha'a   10|
 | Kodos Corallias     9  Vesitsa Talchild      15 |=============High Elf==|
 | Knisha Wispwood     8  Caretaker D'BoldHome  13 |Strom O'Berin        16|
 | Cynewulf Vaarken    5  Krang Krashen         12 |Thorn Winter hawk     5|
 | Markus Eldren       5  Rhys Corwinson         7 |Darwynn Ellessur      5|
 | Arkaan Aalanon      4  Eowynn Earrame         7 |Caelin Shadowname     4|
 | Qarmat al-Khardi    4  Khertak HuntingWolf    7 |Titus Minsteel        2|
 | Solanar TolPalantir 3  Natasha Cheridin       7 |==============Fair Elf=|
 |_Malificent Drgnshrt 2  Hawk Valentine         7 |Erebor Bordeaux      23|
  /------------------------------------------------|Valeria Deering      18|
 |       MAGE                     RANGER           |Wisraith Winterwind  18|
 |-------------------------------------------------|Landreth DeLorde     17|
 | Dagmar Istarii      23  Fxg Lyon             21 |Lythe L'Green        16|
 | Wisraith Winterwind 18  Yuri Hanbidt         21 |==============Half-Elf=|
 | Ilstar Darkedge     17  Corwin d'Amber       20 |Dagmar Istarii       23|
 | Karel Tasavalta     16  Talon Elessidil      19 |Kayla KyndHart       23|
 | Lythe L'Green       16  Landreth deLorde     17 |Yuri Hanbidt         21|
 | Phaedra Bleu        15  Beolost Lamontt      16 |Fxg Lyon             21|
 | Cyann Dreamcaster   14  Maruko Ashimine      14 |Corwin D'Amber       20|
 | Twie MonteCristo'   14  Rune Arundel         13 |=======================|
 | Rhone Yarrl         12  Nastorm Trevin       13 |  -------------------  |
 | Valdrick Shadowmstr 12  Whittle Boysenberry  11 |  -------------------  |
 |-------------------------------------------------------------------------|
/@\ 1st Year GSIII Fame Rankings by Profession and Race: January 28, 1991  |
\_/________________________________-2-____________________________________/
  


                              In The Beginning
                              """"""""""""""""
  ____________                 by Usul Lu'Nak
 / \  ______  \
 \@| /~/~~\~\ |      The longest journey begins with a brief
   ||~|    |~||  encounter with the Character Mangler - GSIII proverb
   ||~|    |~||
  _||~|    |~||n  February  1,  1990,       The completion  of the Graveyard
 /@| \~\__/~/ |    GemStone  III went  was  one  of  the  early highlites as
 \_/  ~ ~ ~  /    live after a short  curiously  we traversed  its bogs and
    ---------   betatest  period.  I  underground  tunnels  marvelling   at
had   participated in  the  betatest,  Kadaena's  foul legacy. Soon followed
and along  with  many others, we were  the  completion of the Mage lists and
ready and eager  to bring to life our  True  Magic in players hands began to
permanent personas! That  first night  appear, and  many adventuring parties
gave birth to  many of the characters  began to form. Mages to edge & sleep,
which  still  breathe  life into this  Arms types characters for combat, the
Shadow World.                          Pickers to help  with the  treasure &
                                       Healers to provide  battle relief. It
     Thus  I thought to interrupt my   was not  until  6  months later  that
regularly scheduled Pulpit Prose and   Clerics  became  part of the equation
present a  brief summary  along with   with their much  needed  bless, hold,
some highlights of the year past. It   resurrect, and undead-turning skills.
seems fitting as well as informative
for those that did  not journey with    The establishment of Kelfour Edition
us in  the  early days of our world,   was  one  of the  highlites for me of
and I dare hope prove pleasantly and   course, coinciding  with  the cryptic
affectionately  nostalgic  for those   mystical pronouncements  of the local
who  have  been  along  for the ride   mystic, whose  whisperings  led  some
since day one.                         down a path to destinations most evil
                                       in search  of  light  and  power. The
   It was hectic, that first nite and  Society  of Light  brought on some of
the nites immediately following it! I  most lively discussions and  roleplay
recall Gemstone III  at full capacity  during the year.
while ev'ryone  was conjuring up what
would  hopefully  be their characters       During the  summer lull, we were
in their final form. There  was a new  treated to a wondrous  Auction in the
feeling of excitement and for some of  town  square, and  those  wealthy and
the beta testers, the lessons we had   poor alike were given the opportunity
learned served us well!                to add unique and sometimes  powerful
                                       items to their inventory. A big Tower
   In the first  few  months, as the   Quest was implemented  and repeated a
Explored  Lands grew, there was much   few times. Summer  also  brought us a
opportunity  for exploration and ad-   week-long  Festival of Fun and Games;
venturing, which for me is truly the   grease pole climbing, skinning, chest
most  satisfying  part of RPG's. But   picking, GM  dunking, a bard contest,
we also found  that the appeal of GS   and a Jousting Tournament. Those were
was manyfold. Players  may roleplay,   great days of fun and mayhem.
hack-n-slash, solve puzzles, (and in
many different ways), but for me the      Other hilites of Year One were the
common denominator was the  sense of   Danjirland, Castle  Claedesbrim,  and
adventure and community that only an   Blototh new areas, numerous weddings,
online multiplayer game can provide.   a treasure hunt, a roleplaying quest,
This  fundamental truth  provided an   and  of  course  GenCon, the Gemstone
emotional investment  and commitment   convention.  Year Two  promises to be
to my character and his friends.       similarly eventful.
                                       -3- 


 _____________                Playing the Mage
/ \ _______   \               """"""""""""""""
\@| ~|  _ ~\  |               by Lythe L'Green
  |  |~|_|~ | |
  |  |~ _ ~/  |
 _|  |~| \~\  |olling up  your mage:   Finally,  you  can probably put your
/@|  |~|  \~\ |                        second  lowest  score  into PResence
\_/ ~ ~   ~ ~/ When  you  create  a   without    your    character   being
  ----------- mage, the first thing   affected  adversely.   You  want  at
you  must get right are your ability   least an average score in INtuition.
scores.  In order of importance, the
primary  statistics  for  a mage are   Don't get discouraged while you roll
EMpathy,   QUickness,   AGility  and   up  a  character.   It will probably
STrength.                              take  many  tries  before  you  have
                                       satisfactory  ability  score  rolls.
EMpathy  determines  how  many power   Also,  be  sure  to pay attention to
points  you  have  and  will provide   what  you  get  in  the "Potentials"
bonuses  to  your attempts at waving   column   of   your  various  ability
wands.  Do not settle for the 90 you   scores.   If you get the high scores
can  obtain  by  placing your lowest   you   need  there  but  not  in  the
roll  here;  you  want  an extremely   "Current"  column,  stick  with  it.
high  number  (98+).   EMpathy  will   You  will  usually  increase  toward
seriously  affect  how  powerful you   your  potentials  as you increase in
are, especially at higher levels.      level.  
Further,  you  will  want  to have a   The  next  big decision is to choose
high QUickness.  Since mages are not   your   race.   Elves  are  naturally
able  to  learn weapon skills nearly   adept  at magic.  Fair Elves are the
as  well  as  those  classes  in the   quickest, Wood Elves the most agile.
realm  of  Arms,  a  high  QUickness   Half-Elves  are  quicker  than  wood
bonus will help you avoid being hit.   elves,  as  agile  as fair elves and
                                       stronger than both.  Half-elves also
Your  AGility bonus is factored into   have  the  highest hit point maximum
how  powerful  your elemental attack   of  the  elfin  races.   The  "pure"
spells  are.   (See  below.)  A high   elfin  races recover lost hit points
bonus  here  will  help  out  a lot.   faster   and   have   large  bonuses
Finally,  a high STrength bonus will   against  poison and disease.  No one
help you parry attacks better and do   race will grant you a huge advantage
more  damaging physical attacks.  At   over  another;  choose which ability
low  level,  when  you will be using   score  you  want to augment the most
non-magical  attacks more often than   and pick an appropriate race.
offensive spells, high STrength will 
aid your advancement.                  Training
                                       """"""""
With these ability scores filled in,   Next,   you   arrive   at  the  most
you  should  put  your  lowest score   important  facet of your character's
into     REasoning.     This    will   development,  your  training.  There
automatically  be  increased  to 90.   are a variety of skills that must be
Follow  by  filling in the remaining   developed to play a successful mage.
development   stats   (COnstitution,
EloQuence, and Self-Discipline) with   First,  you  must  learn  to  use  a
your   higher   scores  first.   The   weapon.    Since  everything  except
higher  your development statistics,   single handed edged skill is grossly
the  more skills you will be able to   expensive,  develop  only  that, and
learn.                                 develop it every single level.
  
                                                                    More...
                                     -4-
  
  
Next, you will want to train in body   lists are discussed below.
development every level.  This skill
will  add  to  your total concussion   If  you  have any development points
points,   allowing  you  to  survive   left  after  all  this,  there are a
damage  better.   Keep learning this   variety  of  other skills you should
skill  every level until you have at   probably  invest in.  Runes skill is
least 100 concussion points.           unimplemented  now but will probably
                                       be  useful  some  day.   Since it is
Next,  learn  two skills of directed   fairly  inexpensive  to  learn,  you
spells  each level.  This skill will   should  do  so.  First aid, trading,
enable  you to target your elemental   climbing  and  perception  are other
attack  spells  better, so as to hit   useful skills to know.
more  often and deliver more damage.
Also, learn two skills of staff/wand   You  should also refer to GemStone's
every  level  until  you  don't fail   documentation and "The Essentials of
wave wand rolls anymore (see below).   Learning" in Kelfour's Edition Vol.1
                                       No.5, p.  18) for information on the
Lastly,  what's  a mage without some   affects of learning various skills.
spells?   Each  research  point  you
invest  in  a spell list gives you a   Spells
10%  chance  of  learning  one spell   """"""
from  that list.  To insure you will   Mages   have   three   spells  lists
learn  a  spell  every level, invest   available:    Open  Essence,  Closed
ten  research  points  in  the spell   Essence  and the Mage base list.  Of
list  of  your  choice  every level.   these,  only  the last two are fully
The  merits  of  the different spell   implemented;  the  open essence list
                                       is incomplete at this time.
  ______________________________________________________________________
 / \                                                                    \
 |@/        Spells available to the Mage profession by list             /
 |---------------------------------------------------------------------'
 | Level| Mage             | Closed Essence      | Open Essence       |
 |------+------------------+---------------------+--------------------|
 | 1    | Shock Bolt       | Sleep I             | Protection I       |
 | 2    | Magic Edge       | Spell Store         | Presence           |
 | 3    | Water Bolt       | Blur                | Lock Lore          |
 | 4    | Stun Cloud       | Slow I              | Open I (*)         |
 | 5    | Displacement     | Sleep II            | Trap Lore (*)      |
 | 6    | Fire Bolt        | Haste I             | ?                  |
 | 7    | Cold Ball        | Deflection          | ?                  |
 | 8    | Fire Ball        | Spell Bending       | ?                  |
 | 9    | Tremors          | Strength            | ?                  |
 | 10   | Lightning Bolt   | Unpain              | ?                  |
 | 11   | Mass Blur        | Floating Disk       | ?                  |
 | 12   | Call Wind        | Slow II             | ?                  |
 | 13   | Death Cloud      | Sleep III           | ?                  |
 | 14   | Fire Storm       | Haste II            | ?Spell unknown = ? |
 | 15   | Weapon Fire      | Rapid Fire          | ?                  |
 | 16   | Invisibility     | Charge Wand         | ?Unimplemented = * |
 | 17   | Boil Earth       | Charge Staff        | ?                  |
 | 18   | Duplicate        | Bravery True        | ?                  |
 | 19   | Wizard's Shield  | Sleep True          | ?                  |
 | 20   | Call Familiar    | Calm Dragon         | ?                  |
 | 25   | Enchantment True | Mist Form           | ?                  |
 | 30   | ?                | Word of Calling     | ?                  |
 | 50   | ?                | Dragon Control      | ?                  |
 |   _________________________________________________________________|__
  \_/___________________________________________________________________/
                                   -5-
 

 
The  majority  of  the spells in the   Elemental Attacks
Mage  list  are  directly offensive;   """""""""""""""""
that  is,  they cause damage to your   As  you  increase in level, you will
enemies   when   cast  successfully.   begin   relying  more  on  elemental
There are also several non-offensive   attacks as your weapon skills become
miscellaneous  spells there.  Spells   less  effective  against  the higher
with  the  word  "bolt" or "ball" in   level  creatures  you  must  face to
them are known as elemental attacks.   gain experience.
These   are   discussed  in  greater
detail below.                          You  will  be  able to use elemental
                                       attacks two ways:  either by casting
None  of  the  spells  in the Closed   the  appropriate spell from the Mage
Essence   list   can  be  considered   base  list  or  by  waving  a  wand.
directly   offensive.   Instead,  it   Illustration  A  shows  an elemental
features  spells that augment offen-   attack,  in  this case, a Shock Bolt
sive  spells  and  physical  attacks   spell is being cast on a torkaan.
such  as  those  found  on  the Mage
list,  inside  a  wand or by using a   Your   offensive   bonus  (OB)  when
weapon.   It  also  has a variety of   casting an elemental attack spell is
defensive  and  useful miscellaneous   determined  by  adding  your AGility
spells.                                bonus  to  your directed spell skill
                                       bonus.  The higher it is, the better
The  Open Essence list is unfinished   your chance of striking an enemy and
at  this time and subject to change.   delivering large damage.
When complete, it will probably have
mostly  defensive  and miscellaneous   An  advantage  of  elemental attacks
spells.                                over  conventional  physical attacks
                                       is  that  most creatures have little
When  rolling up a mage character, I   defense  against  magic.  Further, a
advise  that  you  learn  the  first   creature  wearing  heavy  armor is a
spell  from  Open Essence (Sleep I),   sitting   duck   for   an  elemental
the  first  spell  from  Mage (Shock   attack:     plate    mail   attracts
Bolt)  and  then  train  in the Mage   electricity.  In addition, casting a
list  for  level  two so that you'll   spell  does not force a "round time"
learn Magic Edge.                      as  does  swinging  a  weapon.  As a
                                       result,  you can parry down, cast an
While  you are level one, you should   elemental  attack  spell,  and parry
think about what spells higher up in   back up quickly.  On the other hand,
the  lists  you'd like to have.  You   the number of spells you can cast is
should  review  the  detailed  spell   limited   to  the  number  of  power
descriptions in the Tomes of Kulthea   points you have.  Don't accidentally
by querying SPELLS.  Try to stick to   overcast.
one  list rather than spreading your
knowledge of spells too thinly.        In  my  experience, shock bolts tend
                                       to  stun  targets  the  most  often.
 
           +------------------Illustration A------------------+
           |                                                  |
           | Lythe hurls a searing bolt of light at a torkaan!|
           | OB: 152 vs DB: 0 = +152                          |
           | THT 75, d100 roll: 50, modified: 202             |
           | Hit for 21 points of damage.                     |
           | Electrifying chest strike!  Heart skips a beat.  |
           | It is stunned!                                   |
           |                                                  |
           +--------------------------------------------------+
 
                                                                   More...
                                   -6-
 
 
  
Fire  bolts deliver the most damage.   It  will  take several levels before
Cold  balls  hit  the most often and   you   are   able   to   wave   wands
cause    the   largest   number   of   successfully all the time.  Once you
"instant-kill" criticals.              are  able  to  do  so,  you can stop
                                       training twice although you may wish
Currently, four wands cast elemental   to  continue  developing  staff/wand
attack   spells.   Iron  and  silver   skill  once per level since the cost
wands  both  cast  shock  bolt, gold   is minimal.
wands  cast  fire  bolt,  and  metal
wands  cast  cold  ball.  Most wands   Hunting
have  about fifteen charges in them.   """""""
Note  that  unlike  casting a spell,   Finally,  you  may  wonder  what the
waving  a  wand  DOES  force a round   best  creatures  are hunt.   Kobolds
time of three seconds.                 and  torkaans are easy to kill, even
                                       with  a young mage's limited weapons
You  must  attune yourself to a wand   skills.    Hobgoblins   aren't   too
before   you   can  wave  it.   This   difficult  using  weaponry, and many
requires  that  a  random  roll on a   wear  metal  breastplate making them
hundred  sided die plus a variety of   excellent  targets  for  Shock Bolt,
bonuses  exceeds  100.   Bonuses are   which  every  low  level mage should
calculated by adding your staff/wand   have.   Also,  all  these  low level
skill  bonus and your EMpathy bonus,   creatures  are  susceptible  to  the
subtracting  the  level of the spell   Sleep  I spell; casting a successful
contained  in  the  wand  and adding   sleep  spell  on a creature makes it
further  bonuses from this table:      wide open to attack.
 
            +-----------------------------------------------+
            |         Staff/Wand Modifications Table        |
            |         ------------------------------        |
            | -20 If you do NOT know the realm of the spell |
            | +10 If you do know the realm of the spell     |
            | +20 If you can cast the spell intrinsically   |
            | -30 If you belong to a realm different        |
            |                                               |
            +-----------------------------------------------+
 
Here is a sample "wave wands" roll:    After  graduating  from  hobgoblins,
                                       there   are  several  good  choices.
 -----------------------------------+  Mummies  in  the  graveyard  can  be
Lythe waves a metal wand at a torkaan  hunted  with little trouble by using
 [d100 = 50 + skill bonus 86 + mod 10  spells  and  wands.   Unfortunately,
   - spell lvl 7 = 169]                bone  golems  live  in the same area
+-----------------------------------+  and   should   be  avoided.   Forest
                                       trolls  and  greater  orcs  are also
Metal wands contain Cold Ball spell.   good   choices,   and   don't   have
My  initial  roll is 50.  To this is   overpowered  creatures  in  the same
added   my  staff/wand  skill  bonus   locale.   In  addition, many greater
(86).   Further,  a  +10 modifier is   orcs  wear  a  chain  hauberk;  once
added  because  Cold  Ball is of the   again,   this  makes  them  open  to
essence  realm and Mages are essence   elemental attacks.
spellcasters.   The  level  of  Cold
Ball  (7) is subtracted.  My EMpathy   Next,  you might try the hill trolls
bonus (+30 due to an EMpathy of 100)   near  the  entrance  to  Danjirland.
is  also added in although it is not   They can hit hard, so take care, but
displayed.   This  results in a roll   they  always  wear augmented breast-
of  169,  which  means  success.  (I   plate.  This causes them to act like
would  also  have  another  +20 if I   lightning  rods  when  it  comes  to
knew the cold ball spell.)             hurting them with elemental attacks.
                                    -7-              (Continued on page 12)
 
 
    
 _______________              Spells and Armors
/ \ ____    ____\             """""""""""""""""
\@| +|~|    |~|+|         by Yashantre Spleenbender
  |  |~|/~~\|~| |
 _|  |~/~/\~\~| |
/@|  |__/  \__| |elcome to  yet ano-   on  the  most  severe table (the "E"
\_/  ~ ~    ~ ~/  ther   fascinating   level table).
  -------------  combat  evaluation.
Last  month  we  revealed everything   The  numbers in [] are the amount of
you  wanted  to  know  about weapons   damage  (excluding criticals) caused
verses   armor.    (Not  to  mention   by a roll of 120.  Note that natural
making that worthless stick, the war   monster  attacks  by small creatures
mattock,  into a coveted 4K weapon!)   (about  hobbit-size)  are  unable to
Now  its  time  to give spellcasters   attain  the damage listed.  Monsters
and critters their fair share.         whose size is medium and larger will
                                       do the stated damage on a 120 roll.
What the numbers mean
"""""""""""""""""""""                  Not  being fond of fighting critters
The  numbers  to  the  left  of each   four times my level, I was unable to
column  are  the THT numbers.  A "-"   verify  whether a few of the monster
after them denotes a negative value.   attacks  actually  exist in GemStone
The  numbers  in () are the critical   (although  the  numbers should still
thresholds.  Add the first number to   be  correct).   If you see an attack
the  THT  to  find  the minimum roll   form  on  the  table  and don't know
needed  for  a  critical.   Add  the   what  monster could possibly use it,
second number to the THT to find the   just  ignore  it.   I'm sure it will
minimum  roll  needed for a critical   eventually come to haunt us.
 
                                         Armor Type
+------------------+---+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
|                  |   |(10/50)|(10/50)|(10/50)|(20/74)|(20/74)|(49/93)|
| Spell            |Fum|None   |L.Hide |H.Hide |L.Brea |R.Mail |C.Mail |
+------------------+---+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
| Shock Bolt       | 2 |65 [08]|70 [07]|77 [06]|75 [04]|81 [04]|18 [12]|
| Water Bolt       | 2 |57 [17]|67 [14]|71 [13]|67 [07]|79 [05]|23 [13]|
| Ice Bolt         | 2 |53 [26]|58 [24]|65 [21]|56 [11]|62 [10]|12 [18]|
| Fire Bolt        | 2 |25 [29]|35 [26]|39 [25]|49 [11]|61 [10]|03 [20]|
| Lightning Bolt   | 2 |44 [25]|49 [24]|56 [21]|56 [12]|62 [11]|04-[26]|
| Cold Ball        | 4 |01 [17]|11 [16]|15 [15]|16 [11]|28 [09]|25-[16]|
| Fire Ball        | 4 |05-[22]|05 [21]|09 [20]|03 [16]|15 [14]|33-[19]|
+------------------+---+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
| Armor Averages       |34 [21]|42 [19]|47 [17]|46 [10]|55 [09]|01-[18]|
+----------------------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
| Monster Attack                                                       |
+------------------+---+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
| Beak/Pincher     | 2 |58 [18]|74 [14]|83 [11]|81 [09]|96 [06]|40 [18]|
| Bite             | 2 |44 [30]|60 [24]|69 [20]|74 [17]|89 [11]|34 [29]|
| Claw             | 2 |41 [17]|57 [13]|66 [11]|77 [08]|92 [05]|38 [15]|
| Grabbing/Grapling| 2 |105[03]|100[04]|96 [05]|62 [06]|53 [07]|13 [13]|
| Horn/Tusk        | 2 |42 [27]|58 [21]|67 [18]|71 [15]|86 [11]|36 [25]|
| Bash/Ram         | 2 |103[03]|98 [04]|94 [05]|66 [09]|57 [10]|18 [17]|
| Stinger          | 2 |40 [09]|56 [07]|65 [06]|76 [05]|91 [03]|30 [08]|
| Trample/Stomp    | 2 |24 [31]|40 [26]|49 [23]|65 [13]|74 [11]|21 [21]|
| Fall/Crush       | 2 |16 [43]|32 [37]|41 [33]|51 [22]|66 [17]|04 [39]|
+------------------+---+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
| Armor Averages       |53 [20]|64 [17]|70 [15]|69 [12]|78 [09]|26 [21]|
+----------------------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
                                                                 More...
                                   -8-
 
 

+------------------+-----+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
|                  |     |(49/93)  |(70/104) |(70/104) |(70/104) |         |
| Spell            | Fum |C.Haub   |M.Brea   |H.Plate  |F.Plate  | Average |
+------------------+-----+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| Shock Bolt       |  2  |05  [13] |24- [14] |36- [15] |41- [16] |29  [11] |
| Water Bolt       |  2  |34  [11] |11- [12] |00  [12] |05  [11] |39  [12] |
| Ice Bolt         |  2  |01- [20] |31- [18] |43- [19] |48- [20] |18  [19] |
| Fire Bolt        |  2  |02  [20] |34- [20] |23- [19] |18- [18] |14  [20] |
| Lightning Bolt   |  2  |17- [29] |44- [30] |56- [31] |61- [32] |09  [24] |
| Cold Ball        |  4  |14- [19] |59- [16] |48- [15] |43- [15] |13- [15] |
| Fire Ball        |  4  |22- [17] |67- [20] |56- [19] |51- [18] |20- [19] |
+------------------+-----+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| Armor Averages         |02- [18] |39- [19] |37- [19] |38- [19] |         |
+------------------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| Monster Attack                                                           |
+------------------+-----+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| Beak/Pincher     |  2  |55  [15] |04  [25] |16  [23] |23  [21] |53  [16] |
| Bite             |  2  |49  [24] |11  [34] |23  [30] |30  [28] |48  [25] |
| Claw             |  2  |53  [12] |12  [18] |24  [16] |31  [15] |49  [13] |
| Grabbing/Grapling|  2  |00  [15] |29- [12] |36- [13] |40- [13] |32  [09] |
| Horn/Tusk        |  2  |51  [20] |12  [31] |24  [27] |31  [25] |48  [22] |
| Bash/Ram         |  2  |05  [19] |27- [22] |34- [23] |38- [23] |34  [14] |
| Stinger          |  2  |53  [06] |13  [09] |25  [08] |32  [08] |48  [07] |
| Trample/Stomp    |  2  |36  [18] |00  [26] |12  [23] |19  [22] |34  [21] |
| Fall/Crush       |  2  |19  [34] |09- [36] |03  [33] |10  [31] |23  [33] |
+------------------+-----+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
 Armor Averages         |36  [16] |01- [21] |06  [20] |11  [19] |
+------------------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
 
About Spells vs Armor:
""""""""""""""""""""""
1) Leather armors (AT 9-12) are  the best  defense against spells.  It is a
   good  idea  for  fighters and semi-fighters to spend some skill ranks in
   ridged  leather if they plan to fight spell-using creatures.  Be careful
   with AT 9!  Although it is an excellent protector against spells,  it is
   worse  than  no  armor against most weapons.
2) Heavy hide (AT 4) is fairly effective.  It ranks just below leather.
3) Metal armors, although better than none, offer little  spell protection.
   Ring mail (AT 11) is not considered metal armor; it is ridged leather.
4) Against  metal, lightning  bolt is  the finest  in obliteration.  You'll
   reduce most targets to smoking boots with a decent critical roll.
5) Although cold ball and fire ball don't pack the concussion point whallop
   of other lower level spells, they score criticals the easiest. 
About Monsters vs Armor:
""""""""""""""""""""""""
1) Leather armors (AT 9-12) are the best protectors; Heavy is right behind.
2) Don't get caught defending against natural monster attacks with no armor.
   THT and criticals will usually be about 25 lower than heavy hide.
3) Grabbing  and bashing attacks do a lots more damage  against leather and
   metal armors than hides. In fact, the best defense is no armor at all.
4) Strangely enough, metal armors are lousy against natural monster attacks.
   Stay with the heavy hide if you can't use leather armor. 
My  educated  guess  on best overall   When you meet that beast of dread,
armor   is   Ring   Mail   (AT  11)!   Remember what Yashantre said,
Nevertheless,   heavy   hide  easily   "Keep a helm upon your head."
earns  second place and is still the   Then when you parry with your face,
best for the untrained wearer.         All your teeth will stay in place!
                                    -9-
   
 
   
   
 _______________         The Delicate Art of Waving
/ \ ____    ____\        """"""""""""""""""""""""""
\@| +|~|    |~|+|            by Twie MonteCristo'
  |  |~|/~~\|~| |
 _|  |~/~/\~\~| |
/@|  |__/  \__| |ands  are  the most   Gold  is  a good wand if you want to
\_/  ~ ~    ~ ~/ effective weapons a   knock a creature's CPs down fast.
  -------------  mage  can  have.  A
normal  weapon attack has a 5 second   Metal wands - Cast the seventh level
round  time, where a wand only has 3   mage spell Cold Ball.  This is a one
seconds.  With this edge in combat a   foot  diameter  ball  of  cold  that
mage  can  parry 0, wave the wand at   explodes  on impact.  This exploding
the  monster  and  parry back to 100   makes  a  creature easier hit.  Cold
with  relative  safely.   Wands have   ball   criticals   are   common  and
another big advantage:  They let you   deadly.   Because  of  the  low  THT
cast  spells  without depleting your   needed  to  connect with the target,
power points.                          this is the weapon of choice to kill
                                       a  "turtled"  monster.
Being  a  mage, I put great store in
my  ability to wave competently, but   There  are  other  wands  that  cast
I  started  out  just like any other   various spells.  These items are one
wand-waver.   I  remember  the first   of   a   kind   and   are  extremely 
time  I used a wand; it was quite an   valuable.   They  cast  things  like
experience.   I  found  it on a dead   Stun,  Unstun, Death Cloud, and Call
kobold  and  immediately  wanted  to   Lightning.
test  my  +20  training  in  art.  I
hadn't had an opportunity to use one   In  order  to use a wand, you should
previously,  but  that never stopped   hold  it in your left hand with your
me  before.  So I waved it.  Low and   sword  in  your right.  The sword is
behold, my first shock bolt shot out   much  more  effective  way to defend
of   it.   Unfortunately,  it  never   yourself than the shield.  (A shield
occurred to me that I should wave it   only  has  a  +20  db  bonus but the
AT  something, like a torkaan maybe.   average  4th level mage has a +40 db
Thus, having no specified target, it   bonus  with a sword at parry 100.) A
shot the first thing it found, which   wand cannot be used to parry.
was me!  Once I recovered from three
rounds  of  being stunned, I ran for   Wands  use directed spell bonus plus
Surtey's  tent, after which I hunted   the  agility bonus of the OB.  Train
down  my  old friend Isildur.  A few   twice  per level in directed spells,
instructions   later,   I  killed  a   and  think  of it as weapon training
torkaan without blowing my arm off.    for a mage.
 
There  are  four  common wands found   It  is  best  to set a macro key for
in Quellbourne:                        waving  your wand at a monster.  One
                                       mistyped  or forgotten word could be
Iron  and  Silver  wands  - Cast the   your last.  Here is a sample macro I
first  level  mage spell shock bolt.   use:  Parr 0^m wave wand at troll^m.
This  is an elemental attack.  It is   I use the ^m for an automatic return
inversely   affected   by  different   or  enter stroke.  This allows me to
types  of  armor but you have a good   put  both  commands  in  one  macro.
chance  of doing great damage if the
creature is in metal armor.            Although   I   referred   to   mages
                                       throughout   this   article,   other
Gold  wands  -  Cast the sixth level   classes  may  use  wands.   It  just
mage  spell  Fire  Bolt.   It  is an   costs  more and may not be worth the
elemental    attack   but   is   not   expense  in  development  points  to
inversely  affected  by  armor type.   train in them.
                                    -10-
 
 
 
 _________                   What... No Scars!?
/ \ _____ \                  """"""""""""""""""
\@| ~|_|~ |                    by Dec Lanthar
 _|  |~|  |
/@| _|~|_ |t simply amazes me when I   No  no  no!  All wrong!  We take the
\_/ ~ ~ ~ / see a person who has ob-   pain,  we  bear  the  brunt  of  the
  --------tained noble rank, but who   attack,  and  we  let  these healers
has no scars!  Over forty years old,   steal our reward?
having  trained  more  than 20 times
and  seen  hundreds  of battles, yet   In defense  of those who like their
they  have  not  one scar throughout   scars  (like me), if you have a scar
their  entire  career.  What happens   and  a  wound in the same area, then
when  they have grandchildren to ask   when  the  healer  heals  your wound
about their adventures?                (brutally  steals  your  scar),  you
                                       lose both the scar and the wound.  A
"I  remember that day when a greater   very hefty price if you ask me!
orc  hit  me  full in the chest with
his   mace.   Boy  did  that  hurt!"   Whenever  I  examine  someone,  I am
grandpa would say.                     impressed if they have a scar or two
                                       to  show  off.   It even adds to the
"Wow!  Can I see the scar, grandpa?"   person's  character.   Something  to
Says his wide-eyed grandson.           build  stories  around,  and to talk
                                       about  in Helga's with friends.  And
"Uhh...  well...   a healer took it,   we  let  these  valuable  things  be
and I don't have it anymore."          stolen!  
Argh!  Let a healer take your wound?   If  you  examine  a  famous  healer,
To  no  longer have the scar to show   their scars will fill up the screen.
off?   Whats  the  point?   We  earn   Do   they  remember  each  one?   Of
those scars, and then healers go and   course  not.   Yet,  if  you  ask  a
take    them    from   us!    Common   fighter  who  has  a scar or two, he
thievery!!!                            will  instantly  be able to tell you
                                       where he got each one from.
"Ahh  yes,  in  my  day,  I  was the
greatest healer, grandson."            Next  time  you  take a nasty  wound
                                       and  rush  to the temple, don't yell
"Really?'  The child points. "What's   "Heal  me,  Heal  me!" Instead yell,
that scar from?"                       "Don't  steal  my  scar!!!" Let them
                                       take  your  concussion points but go
"Oo  well, you see this fighter went   to  the  tent to get healed!  I even
into  combat,  and  he  took a nasty   have   a   list   here  so  you  can
wound to the shoulder.  Good thing I   personalize  your character, and get
was there to heal him."                just the scar you want...
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|      Damage                       Area                Scar              |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Minor cuts and bruises           Anywhere         An old battle scar     |
|Broken and Bleeding              Arms & Legs      A mangled Arm/leg      |
|Deeps cuts and serious bleeding  Chest/Abdomen    Deep painful-          |
|                                                   looking scars         |
|An instant critical              Chest/Abdomen    Terrible permanent     |
|                                                   mutilation            |
|A shattering blow                Arms & Legs      Mangled beyond         |
|                                                   recognition           |
|Sliced right off                 Arms & Legs      Completely missing limb|
|Severe Overextension             Nervous System   Slurred speech         |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------+
                                   -11-
 
 
  
My  favorite  (which was, of course,   into the temple remember the service
stolen  from  me)  were  some  deep,   they are doing for you!  If you must
painful  looking  scars on my chest.   get  healed, and (not very manly, if
Wow!   What  a  seasoned  warrior  I   I  might  add) don't want your scar.
thought  I was!  I could prove I had   Then  ASK,  kindly.  Several times I
seen   battle   with  some  horrible   have  heard  annoyed healers who are
nasty, and had come out victorious!!   sick  of  people  coming in, yelling
(At   least   I   could  say  I  was   'Heal  me,  Heal  me now!' when they
victorious.;)  And how impressive it   aren't  even  bleeding.  Next time a
is  if you have "terrible, permanent   healer  does a service for you, then
mutilation  of  the chest muscles"!!   do  something  for them.  Kayla will
"Yes, Yes, I took that hit and lived   probably  be getting pudgy soon (not
to  tell  about it!" Now there is an   yet,  of course) thanks to number of
impressive warrior!                    donuts and cookies I have given her.
  
Once,  I  saw a dumb fighter.  Great   On  the other side of the coin, next
with a weapon, but had the intellect   time   you   rush  into  the  temple
of  a  rock.   I  was rolling on the   yelling "Don't steal my scar!" and a
floor  when I saw his description --   healer  takes it from you, give them
'Developed  slurred speech' it said.   a scar they'll be able to tell their
Hilarious!  I thought.  What a great   grandchildren  about.   Give  it  to
roll player that character was!        them with your axe!
  
So,  what  happens  when  you have a
nice   scar,  and  you  get  wounded      Playing The Mage (Continued)
again?   Say, you have an old battle      """"""""""""""""""""""""""""
scar  on your chest.  And you take a   Cave  trolls are a good choice next.
hit  or two there.  If you go to the   Although  they hit hard with weapons
tent  (and  you  only had minor cuts   and  claws, they can be damaged with
and   bruises),  then  it  will  not   both weaponry and spells.
upgrade  the scar, and you will have
the same one.  Remember, healers can   After  this  point,  there  is  wide
take  only  wounds.   If  you have a   selection of enemies to choose from.
wound  and  a  scar, then the healer   Fire   guardians  at  Mt.   Blototh,
can take both.  So if you get healed   steel  golems  in  the  ruins, major
in  the tent, then you are left with   spiders  in  the  dungeon;  all have
the  same scar, and the Healer can't   their good and bad points.
steal it.
                                       When  using  wands,  hold it in your
As  far  as  I  know,  there are few   left  hand  with  a  weapon  in your
scars that will actually hamper you.   right.   This  will let you wave the 
If you have a scar on your hand, you   wand  at your target and still parry
may  not  be  able  to  pick  locks.   against  physical  attacks.  In rare
Other than that, I am sure there are   cases, you might hold a wand in your
one or two specific scars (which you   right  hand  and  a  shield  in your
may  want  to get healed) that could   left,  but do this only when your DB
limit  your character, but a scar to   is  large  enough  that  your  enemy
the chest?  Keep it!!                  cannot     penetrate    under    any
                                       conditions.   You  can  cast  spells
I  remember  the  day when Yashantre   while holding objects in both hands.
Spleenbender    and   some   another
fighter  stood  outside  the healers   It's  always good to go with someone
tent and beat each other up.  "We'll   who has been to an area before.  The
get  some  real  scars!"  they  were   best  way  to  learn  to fight is to
saying after each hit.                 watch  others and see firsthand what
x                                      the   creature  is  able  to  do  in
Throughout  this,  I've been beating   return.    Good   luck   and   happy
up  on healers, but next time you go   hunting!
                                   -12-
 
   
 
 _________                  Killing A Stranger
/ \ _____ \                 """"""""""""""""""
\@| ~|_|~ |                 by Miriel Evenstar
  |  |~|  |
 _|  |~|  |
/@| _|~|_ | sit  in  a  quiet  spot,   sight.  Even before Yuri's image had
\_/ ~ ~ ~ / my   favorite  place for   completely    disappeared,    Nirrad
  --------  thinking.   It  is  high   sprang into action.  He leapt up and
above town and I look down at people   grabbed  the  sack,  heading for the
moving  through  the streets.  I can   exit.   I  started  to say, "Nirrad,
look  up and see an endless field of   wait...  that's not yours..." But he
stars.    I   wrap  my  arms  around   was gone!
myself,  shivering.   Not  from  the
cool   night  breeze  but  from  the   Okay, I thought, calm down.  This is
troubled  thoughts  that have filled   simply   a  misunderstanding!   Poor
my mind since the past weekend.  You   Nirrad  obviously thought it was his
see,  I  was involved in the slaying   sack,  and  was  rushing out to take
of a stranger in our town....          vengeance  on  the  hob  that killed
                                       him.  [So maybe I am a bit naive.  I
It  was  a bright afternoon.  I came   come from a sheltered background:  I
to  town, happily looking forward to   grew  up on a small farm in southern
hunting   with  Yuri.   But  when  I   Mulira,   and   I  have  had  little
arrived,  I  received a message from   exposure   to  the  wickedness  that
him telling me that there had been a   exists  in  the world.] I dashed out
death  in hobland, and he was trying   into  the  street, but could find no
to   help   retrieve   the  fellow's   trace  of  him.   I  tried  to  keep
belongings.   (For  those  who don't   myself  from  panicking  although  I
know  him,  Lord  Yuri  Hanbidt is a   knew  that  Yuri owned some valuable
kind  and generous man.  He is never   weapons  which he usually carried in
too  busy  to  give  aid to those in   his  sack.   I frantically rubbed my
need,  and is loved and respected by   crystal  amulet  and  told  him what
many.)  I met Yuri at the gate.  His   happened.   He,  too,  hoped that it
sack  was full and he couldn't carry   was a mistake.  He called out to the
the  unfortunate  man's possessions,   minds  of  everyone  in town, asking
so  he had set his ring at the death   anyone  who  encountered  Nirrad  to
site  leaving  Dirac  there to guard   tell him that he had the wrong sack.
the  things.   I  accompanied him to
the temple.                            I  ran  through town, looking up and
                                       down  the  side  streets.  Finally I
In  it sat a young man about my age.   spotted him ahead of me, heading for
He  was tanned with long, wavy brown   the gates.  "Nirrad, wait!" I cried.
hair.   His  name was Nirrad Morgen,   "There's  been a mistake!" But to my
and  he  was  a  sullen,  holding  a   dismay,  he  only frowned and ducked
flagon  of Dragonsdraught ale, which   into  the  shadows,  slipping  again
I thought a little inappropriate for   from my sight.  Yuri arrived at that
a holy place.  But I rubbed his back   moment.   He,  too,  had seen Nirrad
gently, hoping to comfort him, since   hiding, and we realized then that we
he  had  just  suffered the terrible   were  not  dealing with an innocent.
experience   of   a   death.    Yuri   We called out over ESP and the alert
informed  him  of  his  plan to ring   went  out!   People all through town
back  to  hobland  to  retrieve  his   started looking for him.
belongings,  and  then turned to me,
asking  me  to  hold  onto  his sack   I glimpsed the culprit several times
until he returned.  The sack was too   as   I  searched,  skulking  in  the
heavy.   I  couldn't  lift  it.  So,   shadows.   I tried to grab onto him,
Yuri  placed  it on the floor beside   but  each  time  he  slipped from my
me and asked me to watch it.  He put   grasp.   I  shouted to him, "Nirrad!
on  his  ring and began to fade from   This   is   pointless.    You  can't
                                   -13-               (Continued on page 16)
 


An On-the-Scene Report           \_   _/
from the organizer of              \_/
                                  _/ \_
                                _/     \_
                              _/         \_
                         ____/             \____
                         \_ |  ___      __  | _/
                         /^\|   | (__) (_   |/^\
                                | (  ) (__
             __  _     _   _   ___ ___  _    __  ___   _  _
            | __ |    /_| | \   |   |  / \  |__)  |   /_| |
            |__) |__ (  | |__) _|_  | (___) |  \ _|_ (  | |__
                          __    _ ______ _    __  __
                         | _)  /_| |  |  |   (_  (__
                         |__) (  | |  |  |__ (__  __)
  
                               by Vlad Drakula
  
January    12   marked   the   first   Shanook,  in  a 3-way fight, managed
Gladitorial   Games   in   Kelfour's   to   knock  out  first  Lerek,  then
Landing.   The games took place in a   Eiseek,  in  order to advance to the
newly   constructed  arena,  located   final  fight with Deela.  In the end
northwest  of  town along merchants'   though,   Deela  triumphed  and  won
road.  The arena consisted of a main   Batch #1.
foyer,  an  infirmary,  and the main
fighting arena itself.  Through much   Batch #2 began with Kalagay knocking
prayer,  the  Gods themselves helped   out  both  Verotrall  and  Lerek  in
in the construction of the arena and   order   to   advance.    Rupert  was
bestowed  a  special property within   flailed   into   unconsciousness  by
it:   Anyone  who  dies  within  the   Thorn,  who  was  then taken down by
arena is simply rendered unconscious   Torgas  wielding a falchion.  Torgas
and  moved  to  the  infirmary where   then  managed  to  slip by Kalagay's
healers tend their wounds.  Thus, no   defences in the final fight, and won
deaths resulted from competing.        Batch #2.
  
Combatants   fought   in   different   Torgas  chose  to fight in Batch #3,
Batches  organized  by level.  Batch   too,  but  was  defeated  quickly by
#1  was  for  levels 1-3, #2 was for   Mikhail.  Meanwhile, Thorn saw stars
4-6,  #3  for 7-9, #4 for 10-14, and   after  being  introduced to Silent's
#5 for 15+.  Contestants could fight   morning   star   in  a  3-way  fight
in  higher  level  Batches  if  they   between   those  two  and  Dralanth.
chose, but not in lower levels.        Dralanth put up a valiant fight with
                                       Silent  until  she was distracted by
The  first Games were one-on-one, no   Silent  rushing  in and giving her a
magic  allowed  (some  of the fights   big  juicy kiss!  All's fair in love
involved more than two combatants in   and  war, I guess!  Mikhail swore to
order  to  end  up  with two for the   revenge  Dralanth's loss, but in the
final  fight  of  each  Batch).  The   final   fight   of   Batch  #3,  his
first  official  combatants  in  the   falchion   couldn't   stop  Silent's
arena  were  Deela  and Agla.  Deela   morning star!
quickly  dispatched Agla, who failed
to  stand up.  I ignored cries for a   Batch  #4  saw 8 contestants of much
rematch  as  each combatant had been   higher  skill  face  off against one
asked  if  they  were ready to begin   another.   First  off, Raven managed
prior  to  my  starting  the  fight.   to  dispatch Swifthawk, and advanced
Subsequent  combatants  seemed to be   to  the  semi-finals  for  Batch #4.
more  careful about making sure they   Airioch   the  Sorcerer  managed  to
stood  up  first  for  their fights.   defeat  a much more skilled Neander,
                                   -14-                             More...
  
  
 
Rune  fell  to  Waldo2's broadsword,   couple  more  magic users in it, but
and  Shadowind  beat off Dextor.  In   they fell one by one to Dextor's red
the   semi-finals,   Waldo2  had  at   shaalk  broadsword,  first  Neander,
Raven,    sending    Raven   flying!   then  Raven,  followed  by  Twie and
Airioch  was  not able to repeat his   finally Airioch.
performance, and fell to Shadowind's
mace.  In the final fight, Shadowind   The next fight was possibly the most
slipped his rapier tip past Waldo2's   awaited  and  surely one of the most
shield, and won Batch #4.              exciting     everyone     witnessed.
                                       Beolost,  Erebor,  Lythe, Riverwind,
The  final  Batch to fight under the   Wisraith and Neander all entered the
no  magic at all rules saw quite the   arena   against  one  another.   The
upset!   In the first fight of Batch   first   to  fall  was  Neander,  who
#5, Shadowind and Dextor both picked   couldn't  stand up to a strong blast
on   Moonpie,   managing  to  injure   from      Lythe's     gold     wand.
Moonpie  just  enough  such  that he   Unfortunately, Lythe was then unable
fell  unconscious  due  to bleeding.   to  defend  himself  from Wisraith's
Shadowind, riding high on having won   ice   ball,  which  promptly  freeze
Batch    #4,   poked   Dextor   into   dried  his head.  Blows continued to
submission  with  his rapier.  Next,   be   exchanged   until   Riverwind's
Kirc,   Yuri,  Beolost  and  Neander   morning star put Beolost into orbit.
fought  together  for  the  right to   While  that  was  going on, Wisraith
fight  against Shadowind.  Both Yuri   must  have  failed  to  see Erebor's
and  Kirc  seemed more intent on one   transparent laen axe, which took her
another,    and   somewhat   ignored   out of the fight.  The two remaining
Beolost  and  Neander.  Yuri was the   combatants,  Erebor  and  Riverwind,
first  to fall, but not until he had   were  not able to hit one another at
had  his  spine severed and his left   all  now,  mainly  due to an airwall
hand  cut  off, twice!  Kirc was not   that  Beolost  had  managed  to cast
able  to stand against the onslaught   upon  both of them at earlier stages
of  both  Beolost  and  Neander, and   of  the battle.  Rather than wait 16
eventually   fell  to  a  blow  from   minutes  for the airwall to subside,
Neander's  two-handed sword.  Having   both  combatants  agreed to have the
finished  off  Kirc,  Neander turned   battle  stopped,  all spells on them
his sharpened steel against Beolost,   cancelled,  and  then  continue  the
winning   him  the  right  to  fight   battle.   Before Erebor could get up
Shadowind.  The final fight of Batch   a  defensive  spell  at all, though,
#5   was   relatively   quick,  with   Riverwind's   mithril  morning  star
Shadowind's  rapier  quickly  poking   ended the battle.  What a fight!
holes  into  Neander.  Shadowind had
now won two different Batches!         The last set of fights were the team
                                       combats.   The  first  three Batches
The next set of fights to take place   didn't  have  sufficient  numbers to
were  the Free For Alls.  Combatants   make  up  two  complete teams, so we
were  allowed  to  use  anything  at   proceeded to Batch #4.  Batch #4 had
their  disposal  to win, except most   three teams of two each.  They were:
of the area effect spells.  Batch #1   Raven  and  Quiz, Synyster and Rune,
saw  Lerek  quickly fall to Bannor's   and   Twie   with  Neander.   Rune's
mithril  sword,  who  then  fell  to   partner  fell  quickly  to Neander's
Deela's eog broadsword.  Shanook was   deadly  sword,  which  then took out
the  last to fall against Deela, who   Quiz.    Neander's   partner,  Twie,
had now won her second Batch!  Batch   pushed their advantage by taking out
#2  was slightly smaller.  Verotrall   Raven  with  a  blast of fire from a
first  took out Synyster, then Bard,   wand.    While  he  was  doing  this
in  order  to win that Batch.  Batch   though,  Rune  had been hacking away
#3  saw  Verotrall  win  his  second   at  him, and finally put Twie out of
Batch,  as  he  first took out Quiz,   action.  This left Rune and Neander,
and  then  Bard.   Batch  #4  had  a   who  both  fought  valiantly,  until
                                   -15-                            More...
 
 
   
 
Rune's   silvery  shaalk  broadsword           Killing a Stranger
found  its  mark,  and  left  her to           """"""""""""""""""
claim  victory  for  her team!  Only        Continued from Page 13)
moments  later,  after  having  been
declared  the  winner,  Rune dropped   escape!   You  will die if you don't
due  to  blood  loss  and  had to be   stop  this."  But I discovered I was
rushed  to  the infirmary.  This was   shouting to an empty street.  He had
definitely  the  most  dramatic  win   vanished again.
seen by all present!
                                       Unfortunately  for Nirrad, he turned
The  final  battle  of the Games was   the   wrong   corner  and  ran  into
next  with  the winning team members   Moonpie,  who  was  waiting silently
receiving 20000 silver each!  It was   for  him.   With  one  swing  of his
Kirc   and   Wisraith   squared  off   mace,  Moonpie  killed  this  wicked
against   Lythe   and  Erebor.   The   man.   After  seeing  Nirrad's death
amount  of  magic  which flew in the   message    and   hearing   Moonpie's
first  few seconds of the battle was   summons,  we  met  in a small street
astounding!   Ruby amulets, statues,   outside  the  armory.   Moonpie  and
calming  spells, spells of blinding,   Lythe  were  there,  standing over a
red  orbs  of haste, magic wands and   bloody  body.   And there was Yuri's
magic weapons!  All were used within   sack!    When   he  dropped  to  the
about  the  first  25 seconds of the   ground, Nirrad had released his hold
battle alone.  The battle continued,   on  it.   As  we  stood over him, we
each  combatant  slowly being nicked   could  hear  his  disembodied  voice
by his or her opponents until Erebor   taunting us.  Then he vanished.
dropped  from  a  hit by Kirc's dark
shaalk  broadsword.   Quickly  after   This incident has preyed on my mind.
that,  Lythe  evened  up the odds by   I  was raised to worship Iloura, and
taking  out  Wisraith  with  a blast   I  value the nurturing and growth of
from  a  metal  wand.  Unfortunately   all  things,  not  their death.  But
for  Lythe  though,  he  didn't have   after seeing the pain in Yuri's eyes
much  time  to  notice that his wand   when   he   realized   he  had  been
was  out  of  charges  before Kirc's   betrayed, I am glad that this man is
unrelenting  attacks claimed victory   dead.   I  was much afraid that this
for he and Wisraith.                   betrayal  would  prevent  Yuri  from
                                       being  so openly helpful to those in
Based  on  the  apparent  success of   need.  So, it warmed my heart when I
these  first  Games,  it  looks like   saw  him  the  other  night, staying
we'll  have  them again, possibly in   much  later  than  he  had  planned,
February  or  early March.  The next   helping  a  newly arrived cleric who
set  of  Games  will  be cut down in   had  just  died.  Stealing is wrong!
size  though, probably just the Free   I am not referring to the profession
For   All,  and  one  other  set  of   of  thieves,  for  I know some noble
fights.   Also, betting wickets will   thieves.   My  late  twin sister was
be  built into the arena in order to   one of them, and I loved her dearly.
automate  the  wagering,  so  that I   But    stealing    the   hard-earned
don't   have   to   handle  that  in   belongings  of  another  is  wicked.
addition  to  organizing  who fights   And   for   those  of  you  who  may
who.  All in all, everyone seemed to   considering  trying  it  --  Beware!
have  a good time and I look forward   This  town  does not approve, and we
to  hosting future games.  Thanks to   are  quite  willing  to  act against
all   who   helped  make  our  first   thieves, ruthlessly.
Gladitorial Games possible!
 
  
      _/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_
       \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/
                                     -16-
 
 
  
 
 _____________         The Art of Macros, Part III
/ \ _________ \        """""""""""""""""""""""""""
\@| ||-|-|-|| |             by Nastorm Trevin
 _| ~~ |~| ~~ |
/@|    |~|    |his article  is about   you can attack the second one.  This
\_/   ~ ~ ~   / combat  macros,  and   macro  takes  care of that, since it
  ------------macro key placement on   will  automatically attack the other
your  keyboard.  It is the last in a   monster  if  the first monster dies.
series  covering macro designs.  The   You  can let someone else search the
articles aren't meant to be panacea,   first  monster  while you attack the
nor   do  they  cover  all  possible   second.
situations.  Instead I hope those of
you  new  to macros have gained some   ATTACK MONSTER<CR>SKIN MONSTER <CR>
insight  into their development.       <D>SEARCH  MONSTER<CR>GET COINS<CR>  
In  the  pitched  fever  of  battle,   Some monsters do not carry treasure.
macros   can   make  the  difference   Their   only  value  is  their  fur.
between  success  and failure.  Many   The  macro will allow you to attack,
times  you  will  need to lower your   skin,  search,  and  get  the coins.
parry  to  hit a monster, then raise   You  macro  key.   The  disadvantage
it  quickly  to keep from being hit.   arises  when  you  hunt  in a group.
This  is known as parry tag.  Unless
you're  a  ten-fingered  typist with   You  can  parry  tag  your  monsters
blazing  speed,  you  need macros in   using three macros.  They are:
combat.   Although  you  can  design
different   strategies  into  combat   PARRY 0<CR>
macros,   here   are   some   design   ATTACK MONSTER<CR>
suggestions with a brief explanation   PARRY 100<CR>
of   what   each  macro  does.   The
simplest  design  for a combat macro   The  idea  is  to  lower  your parry
is:   ATTACK  MONSTER<CR>  or ATTACK   right  after  the  monster  attacks,
OTHER  MONSTER<CR>  (Where:   <CR> =   swing   at  your  maximum  Offensive
enter and <D> = half second delay in   Bonus, raise your parry back to 100,
macro execution.)                      and  wait  for the monster to attack
                                       again.   Some  monsters  have  round
Use   the   second  macro  when  two   times in excess of 11 seconds, so if
monsters  are  in the room.  This is   you time it right you can get in two
extremely  useful for Hobgoblins and   swings  before  raising  your parry.
Orcs.   As you damage the monster it   Others have round times of 6 seconds
will  increase  its parry.  You will   which  means  you  have  to get in a
need  to  decrease your parry to hit   swing  at  parry 0 and quickly raise
it.   If  another  monster is in the   your parry to 100.  Macros are ideal
room  you need to keep your parry up   for  parry  tag.
to  keep from being hit.  This macro
allows  you  to  work  on the second   When you hunt monsters with 6 second
monster, till it lowers its parry.     round  times, you should combine the
                                       first two macros:  PARRY 0<CR>ATTACK
ATTACK    MONSTER<CR>ATTACK    OTHER   MONSTER<CR>.     This   sends   both
MONSTER<CR> or                         commands  at  once and you only have
ATTACK    OTHER    MONSTER<CR>ATTACK   to  press one key.  The disadvantage
MONSTER<CR>                            is  that  you're  always at Parry 0,
                                       not  always what you want if another
I  use  this  macro often.  When you   monster is around.
hunt in a group and two monsters are
in  the  room  and the first monster   PARRY 0<CR> ATTACK MONSTER<CR><D><D>
dies,   you  get  an  error  message   <D><D><D><D><D><D><D><D>PARRY 100<CR>
saying  the monster is already dead.
That monster must be searched before   This  macro  drops  your parry to 0,
                                   -17-


attacks the monster, waits 5 seconds   For  picking  chests, I have a group
and  raises  your  parry to 100.  It   of  keys  (O,P,[,  and  ]) which are
has  many  disadvantages:  You can't   defined as follows:
see  the  attack  for 5 seconds, and
you  are  stuck  in the macro for at    Alt-O = PUT LOCKPICK IN MY BACK<CR>
least  that  time.  I don't use this   Ctrl-O = GET GOOD LOCKPICK<CR>PICK
style of macro, but I include it for            CHEST WITH LOCKPICK<CR>
those  that  might  find  it useful.    Alt-P = GET PRO LOCKPICK<CR>PICK
Try it on low level monsters first.             CHEST WITH LOCKPICK<CR>
                                       Ctrl-P = GET LAEN LOCKPICK<CR>PICK
Where  to  place your macros on your            CHEST WITH LOCKPICK<CR>
keyboard  is  almost as important as        [ = GET CHEST FROM MY BACK<CR>
the   macros  themselves.   My  com-            DROP CHEST<CR>
munications  program is Telix.  This        ] = DISARM CHEST
program  allows IBM compatible users
to  redefine  just  about any key on   The keys are bunched together on the
the  keyboard.  The idea is to group   keyboard  which makes them easier to
macros  in  logical  patterns.   For   remember and operate.
instance my function keys are ATTACK
MONSTER  macros,  Ctrl-Function keys   Telix  allows  the redefining of the
are SKIN, AND SEARCH MONSTER macros,   key  pad.  I these key pad to parry.
the same monster that you attacked.    This  frees  my right hand to attack
                                       or  use other macro keys.  It's fast
Ctrl-F3  =  GET  BREASTPLATE<CR>SELL   and  easy  to remember, and the zero
BREASTPLATE<CR><D>PUT   BRE   IN  MY   key is larger which makes it easy to
BACK<CR>                               parry 100.
 
Note  how  they  all go together.  I     0 = PARRY 100, 1 = PARRY 10,
attack  the  hobgoblin  with  the F3     2 = PARRY 20, 3 = PARRY 30,
key,  skin  it with the Ctrl-F3 key,     4 = PARRY 40, 5 = PARRY 50,
and  get the most common treasure on     6 = PARRY 60, 7 = PARRY 70,
a hobgoblin with the Alt-F3 key.         8 = PARRY 80, 9 = PARRY 90
                                         . = PARRY 0, + = PARRY 5
           ________________________________________________
  
                                    Melgorehn's  Tower
                                    """"""""""""""""""
                                      by Eron Kulsen
  
 /\_/\_/\_/\_/\               "I saw its magnificence once,
 |____________|                    through the dark haze.
  \__________/                     Upon its gleaming lands;
   |        |                     Torkaans dared not graze.
   |        |                        A lingering mist
   |        |                        Around it's base;
   |        |                   Kept me from from treading
   |        |                     Where gems were a-blaze.
   |        |..                    I reached to the mist; 
   |        | \.                   Fearful of a dark fate,
   |        |  \.           Whence my hand did only penetrate.
   |        |   \..           A great incantation was heard,
   |        |     I     Reflexes again would react, my hand did I save.
...|        |=====I.        Yet Melgorehn made a serious mistake.
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO       Though only a ring of silver was left,
        oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO         It was my life he did not take."
 
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
  
                                  -18-
 
  
 
 ____________                 You are HERE!
/ \   ______ \                """""""""""""
\@|  /~/~~\~\ |
  | |~|    ~~ |eparated from your pals, you suddenly realize you're lost in
  |  \~\____  | the wilds, or  maybe  inside the  city  walls.  You  wander
  |   ~ ~ \~\ | anxiously, seeking a landmark, and  then there it is!  Know
 _| |~|    |~|| where you are? A REAL adventurer would. Match the LANDMARKS
/@|  \~\__/~/ | below with their lettered LOCATIONS, then go to page 23 for
\_/   ~ ~ ~  /  the answers and your *Official* Adventurer's Rating.
  -----------
              LANDMARKS
              """""""""
1.    A   magnificent  stained-glass     +---------- LOCATIONS ---------+
window and a gold-trimmed altar fill     | A. Ocean View                |
you  with  awe  as  you  enter  this     | B. Upper Kaldsfang, Thicket  |
simple   temple   to   the  gods  of     | C. Blototh Mountain          |
Kulthea.                                 | D. Castle Cladesbrim         |
                                         | E. Kelfour's Tunnel          |
2.    The  long,  twisting  stairway     | F. Brewery                   |
seems  to  go on without end.  After     | G. Temple                    |
every  few steps you come to another     | H. Graveyard                 |
stone    landing   where   the   way     | I. Frith's Inn               |
continues at a sharp angle.              | J. Kelfour's Exterior        |
                                         | K. Beldreck's Game Hall      |
3.    Shards   of   shattered  glass     | L. Upper Kaldsfang, GOrcland |
crackle  as you make your way across     +------------------------------+
this  loft,  which  appears  to have
been  plundered and left unrepaired.   8.   The  Phantom  Gatekeeper  moans
A   rope  ladder  dangles  from  the   loudly as he shakes a set of keys at
skylight above.                        you.   He  slams  the  gate  closed,
                                       checks  the lock, then disappears in
4.  This is the main gambling den of   another chilly swirl of air.
the  hall.  The air is rife with the
perspiration  of  nervous intensity.   9.  Pulling aside some of the vines,
The  lack  of distractions indicates   you  see  that it's an open wagon of
this   is   the  domain  of  serious   the  type  used  by merchants.  It's
gamblers.                              old,  broken down, and rotting.
 
5.  It's a tight fit, but you manage   10.  Here, within a thousand feet of
to squeeze through the fireplace and   the summit, you see a tunnel leading
find  a  stone door.  It's unlocked,   into the mountain.  The tunnel mouth
and  you walk through.  You smile as   is  perfectly rectangular, as though
you  enter  this  cool  and pleasant   it  were deliberately carved out.
secret room.
                                       11.   A small cottage stands in this
6.   The  dinghy  is  neglected  but   small and very secluded glen.  Smoke
seaworthy.    Its  gray  planks  are   is  curling  lazily  from  the  high
weathered  and crusty with sea salt.   chimney  and  drifts gently into the
A frayed flimelar rope tied around a   surrounding wood.
large rock serves as an anchor.
                                       12.   A  large  candle  burns with a
7.  The ocean and all of its majesty   steady  flame in each corner of this
dance far below this man made perch.   room.    Various  forms  of  artwork
A  bench of solid stone, carved from   adorn  the  walls, each representing
the  cliff, overlooks a simple stone   one  of  the  Gods  of Kulthea.  One
table.   Under  the  stone bench you   particular   object,  a  long  black
see a dark hole.                       tapestry, attracts your attention.
                                   -19-
 
 
  
 ____________                Life After Death
/ \ ___   ___\               """""""""""""""
\@|  \~\ /~/ |                by Jamel Kaili
  |   \ ~ /  |             Freelance Gentleman
 _|    |~|   |
/@|    |~|   |ou're out hunting, and   On  to the second case.  One of your
\_/    ~ ~   / the   worst  happens:   hunting   partners   just   had  the
  -----------  You die!   Or, almost   misfortune  to  get  killed.  First,
as bad, one of your hunting partners   get  your partner's E-Mail, and tell
bites  the  dust.  You think about a   them  to  log  off,  and wait in the
cleric,  but  get no response.  What   RTC.   That  done,  finish  off  the
do to, what to do?                     nasty   monster,  and  collect  your
                                       friend's  weapon  and shield.  These
Read  on,  for this article explores   will  have  been  dropped  when your
procedures  and  courtesy  necessary   friend  died.  That done, send out a
for resurrection.  A few quick facts   ESP  call  for  a  cleric.   You can
about resurrection:                    check  the  STATUS as well.  At this
                                       time,   only  Lord  Erebor,  Taarna,
1.It takes a cleric about 10 minutes   Sindar,   Salvius,  and  Bashir  can
to  recover  from casting the spell.   raise  the  dead.   Ask them if they
So, if you've  died and other people   are  available  for  a resurrection.
have died before you, you might have   If  they  are,  tell  them where you
a bit of a wait.                       are,  or  go  to  the temple to lead
                                       them  there.   If they are not, find  
2.  A  cleric  who  has just brought   out  when they will be ready.  Then,
someone   back   to   life  is  left   log  off,  move  to the RTC, and let
vulnerable. It costs the cleric both   your  friend  know what is going on.
life  levels  and  power  points  to   The  cleric  might request your help
return  someone  to  life.   It also   in clearing monsters, etc.
leaves  the  cleric  stunned, and in
round  time.  Keep this in mind when   Some   general  points  of  courtesy.
you are hunting around an area where   Raising the dead  is  dangerous.  It
a   resurrection  attempt  is  being   leaves  the  cleric vulnerable.  So,
made.                                  most   time,   the  cleric  will  go
                                       through   the   area   calming   the
Let's  look  at the first case.  You   monsters.   This  prevents them from
were   out   hunting,  and  a  nasty   attacking   the   cleric,  and  also
monster  got  lucky and  killed you.   prevents    more    monsters    from
If  you  were hunting alone, you are   generating.  Please, do not kill the
in  big  trouble.   Your  weapon and   calmed  monsters.   This  will  only
shield  will be gone, unless you are   upset  the cleric.  Likewise, if the
extremely  lucky.   And  there is no   cleric  requests  that you leave the
one  around to tell the kind clerics   area temporarily to prevent  further
where your body lies.  You should do   monsters  from generating, please do
two  things.   First,  go and post a   so.   The  cleric  is  only  worried
notice on the 911 Board (CAT 20, TOP   about safety.
29), stating where you are, and your
E-MAIL address.  If you know you are   One  final note.  All too often, the
going  to  be  checking  back  at  a   most  important part of a successful
certain  date  and time, list those.   resurrection is overlooked.  That is
Second, go and move to SCORPIA's RTC   a  Thank  You  to the cleric,  and a
(805;2)  Room  1,  and  wait  for  a   Thank  You  to the cleric's helpers.
while.   The  odds  are  good that a   Our  clerics  do not charge anything
cleric,  or one of your friends will   to  raise  the dead.  They see it as
show  up there, looking for you.  Do   part  of  their  duty.  But a simple
not  keep  logging  on  and  off  in   word  of  thanks  helps  make  their
GemStone as  it will  only  lead  to   efforts more worthwhile.
accidental body decay.
                                  -20-


 _____________             Kalagay In The Wilds
/ \ ____ _____\            """"""""""""""""""""
\@| ~|_|  /~/~ |            by Kalagay Halatil
  |  |~|_/~/   |
  |  |~|~\~\   |
 _|  |~|  \~\  |alagay  realized she   snuffled  through  its  snubbed  and
/@| _|~|   \~\_| was  lost  when the   pointed  nose  which  looked  like a
\_/ ~ ~   ~ ~ ~/last of the sunlight   snapping  turtle's.  It waved its ax
  -------------  revealed  grassland   and   kicked  and  screeched  in  an
had  given  way to stony footing and   uncalled-for   display  of  spiteful
scrub.  Loose rocks turned under her   impertinence  and bad sportsmanship.
feet.   She shivered.  It would soon   Kalagay  could  not  even scream her
be dark and she was a long walk from   outrage; a ghost cannot scream.  She
Kelfour's Landing.                     could  only  curse the hobgoblin and
                                       wait.
She  had  to  rest,  even though the
light  was  going.   With  her  back   As  color seeped back into the world
against  a  boulder,  she  carefully   and  gave  way to a bath of blinding
laid her broadsword in the middle of   light, a wisp of a voice grew in her
the trail, pointing back the way she   awareness.   It had a grave quality,
had  come.  Then, even if it got too   and it made cryptic statements about
dark  to  see,  she could feel along   responsibility  and choices.  Before
the  blade  for  its  point  and get   she  could  even  say  'yes' to more
oriented.   She eased her shield off   life,  all her senses rushed back in
her shoulders and welcomed the cool-   a scorching wave of pain.
ing air deep into her lungs.
                                       Slowly it vanished and became memory
That's why she first smelled, rather   of  pain  and then even that slipped
than  saw, the intruder.  It smelled   away.   Kalagay lay on an altar in a
of   rotten   toadstools.   Cackling   quiet chapel, gazing at a network of
maniacally,  it  swung its battle ax   fretted   arches.    The   spice  of
in a brutal downward sweep.  Kalagay   incense   suggested   a   place   of
remembered Kraus' words:  "Stay away   healing.    Her  spirit  quailed  no
from  hobgoblins,"  and  grabbed her   longer.   One purpose now drove her.
shield.  She felt the ax's edge slam   Kalagay  Halatil  meant  to find her
into  it,  jarring  her  arm  to the   sword and vaporize that dratted hob.
shoulder.    She   was  not  afraid;
excitement hit her stomach like warm   The  shadow  of  a movement made her
berry   brandy.    She  grabbed  her   jump  almost  out  of  her brand new
broadsword  and  swung wildly.  Down   skin.    She  stood  up  and  looked
the ax came again; she jumped to her   around  for  its  source.   A man of
feet,  stumbling,  and it grazed her   more   than   her  small  years  lay
head.   Dizzily  she  saw the gleam-   leaning  on  one elbow, writing in a
ing  blade come sweeping around once   little  book.   Long white hair hung
more.   Her  brain  ordered  all her   straight,  bound at his temples by a
resources  to  defense, but her body   strap  of  cunningly  woven karnelin
would not obey.                        hide.   As he noticed her attention,
                                       his  dark  eyes  looked out from the
Kalagay  fell  in a sprawl of limbs,   shadow   between   marble  brow  and
all  but  beheaded by the creature's   cheekbones  lit with votive-flicker.
great  ax.                             His  features had the candescence of
                                       those who spend little time indoors.
It  took a moment for her to catalog   He was half-elven, Kalagay saw, with
such facts as she had.  On the trail   the  perfect leaf-shaped ears of the
lay   the   body   of  a  half-elven   Ky'taari  of  Mur Fostisyr.  An aura
adventurer,  a  teasing breeze drag-   like   foxfire   spoke   to  her  of
ging  strands of silver hair through   intimacy   with  The  Wild,  of  the
a  pool  of congealing blood, across   fatalism  of  one who had looked for
sightless   eyes.    The   hobgoblin   long on its deadly beauty.
                                     -21-                           More...
 

"Hi,"  he  said, putting his writing   through  town and through the temple
things away.  "I'm Magnetron.  Looks   door  again.   Magnetron  smiled and
like you lost that fight."             said,   "Look   over   there,   Kal.
                                       Rakrist   Wolfcleaver   found   your
From   the   ragbag   of   Kalagay's   things."
emotions  the only coherent fragment
to emerge was, "Well, there was this   With  a gasp, Kalagay hurled herself
hobgoblin..."                          upon  her  sack  and  tore  it open.
                                       There  were  her  skins, and her own
Magnetron  chuckled.   "I  bet there   light,    balanced,   well-sharpened
was."                                  broadsword,  fitting itself into her
                                       hand as though it lived there.  With
"And...and...,"  she  stammered,  "I   a  happy  little  snort,  she hugged
want  my  sword  back!   And anyway,   Magnetron  around the neck.  Rakrist
well, I just have to start over."      made  a  courtly  bow  and  her  hug
                                       almost knocked him over.  "My lady,"
"Ahh, I see." In one fluid motion he   he  said,  laughing and helping them
got   to   his   feet,  hoisted  his   keep  their  balance.  He unhooked a
backpack,  took her hand and led her   wicked  looking  mace and continued,
out of the temple.  "Take this.  You   "Need anything else, Mag?"
need to get re-equipped."
                                       "I'll  catch up with you," Magnetron
Willy-nilly  she  found the clinking   replied.
purse  attached  to  her belt.  Then
her  breath  was  sucked  away  by a   He  rummaged in his sack and came up
bewildering series of starts, stops,   holding  a crystal charm on a silver
and turns as they seemed to flee The   chain.  "Here, wear this," he said.
Goddess   only   knew  what  hideous
danger.  They dashed past Moot Hall,   "Oh, how pretty..."
barrelled   around   a  corner,  and
abruptly entered the armory.           "You rub it. It gives you ESP."
  
It  wasn't  until then that he spoke   "Of course it does..."
again.   "Heavy  hide  is best.  Get
protection  for  your  arms and legs   "Now,"  he  said, "let's have a look
and  an  aventail.  Don't get fancy.   at  you."  Kalagay  was beginning to
You'll just slow yourself down."       get    used    to    these   frankly
                                       dispassionate  appraisals visited on
Kalagay  sidled over to the counter,   newcomers.   "Hmm, I wonder how that
looking  back  over  her shoulder to   hob    managed   to   nail   you..."
see  if  he  would  disappear  in  a   Magnetron  shrugged.   "Probably you
sorcerous  flash.   He was communing   sat  down  to  rest somewhere and it
intently with the middle distances.    sneaked up on you."
  
Aznell  recognized  her at once.  He   "You  couldn't have known that!" she
gave  her his characteristic throaty   exclaimed.
chuckle.   "Well,  if  it isn't that
crafty  little  bargainer,  Kalagay.   "Happens to new people all the time.
What are you going to talk me out of   Happens  to  people  who should know
this evening?"                         better.   Got to be on the watch all
                                       the  time  in  The Wild, even if you
Kalagay   grinned   and  stated  her   get tired.  Keep hold of your weapon
requirements.   By  the time she had   and   shield   all  the  time.   Not
collected  her  purchases, she had a   watching out gets you dead."
lot  of  her  confidence  back.  She
sauntered  out of the armory patting   It  was  the  longest speech Kalagay
her aventail into place and began to   had  heard from him yet.  She waited
inquire about weapons when they sped   to see if he would elaborate, but he
                                   -22-                             More...
 
 
seemed to have used up all his words   "Airioch    Ramthanodox,   at   your
and gazed off at nothing again.        service." He bowed.  "Unfortunately,
                                       Mag is gone.  He is no longer in The
"How kind you are, and strange," she   Land."
thought  to  herself.  "How generous
and  knowing  just  what  to  do.  I   "Gone?  Gone?  Whatever happened?"
won't   forget."   That  promise  to
herself  went  deep to her heart and   "He   went   exploring   with  other
snugged  in.   "I won't forget," she   adventurers  to catalog the monsters
said aloud.                            which   have  recently  invaded  The
                                       Wilds."
Once  in  a  while  after  that they
would cross trails in The Wild.  She   "Such  dangerous  work..." Kalagay's
always  smiled,  waving and he would   heart  sank.   She  feared  what was
smile and wave in return.              coming.
  
Without  warning,  late of an autumn   Airioch  nodded.  "Yes.  Ghoul Kings
evening,  there was a major shift in   were his downfall."
the Essence Flows.  At least that is
what   the  half-crazy  elf  in  the   "Gone,"  she murmured.  "Now he will
temple  was saying.  For days in the   never  know...oh,  how  I  will miss
wake  of  the tremors and upheavals,   him!"
the   acid   stink   of  new  Undead
creatures penetrated even into town.   "Mag  left  his  book.  Here, have a
Kalagay    heard    of   Magnetron's   look."  He handed her a small volume
exploits  among  them  often, though   bound  in  creamy doeskin, its cover
she never saw him.                     painted   with  the  likeness  of  a
                                       basilisk.   Its  title,  "The Better
One day she came in to the temple to   Part  of  Valor,"  made  her swallow
rest  from hunting and looked around   hard.   She gave Airioch a swift hug
for  friends, as usual.  She saw the   and  said, "Thank you for letting me
familiar  profile, the perfect leaf-   know."
shaped    ears,   and   cried   out,
"Magnetron!"                           Airioch  said quietly, "He now walks
                                       Forest and Mountain in a place where
But  the  fair elf who turned around   mere   physical   might   makes   no
was not Magnetron.                     difference."
  
"Excuse  me,"  she  stammered.  "You   It  was  too  much to bear.  Kalagay
look  so  much  like...do  you  know   sat   down  and  covered  her  face.
Magnetron?   I'm Kalagay...I haven't   Airioch  squeezed her shoulder, then
seen him in a long time now, and you   left her to herself.
look a lot like him."
 
 
 +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
 |                You are HERE Answers: (from Page 19)                   |
 |                """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""                   |
 |         1D, 2E, 3I, 4K,  5F, 6J, 7A, 8H, 9B, 10C, 11L, 12G.           |
 |                                                                       |
 |                *Official*  Adventurer's Rating:                       |
 |                """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""                       |
 | 1 to 3 right:  Weenie, you're lunch for a torkaan.  Get deeds.        |
 | 4 to 6 right:  Stoopid Fiter-type, you're marginally adventuresome.   |
 | 7 to 9 right:  Slugger, in the midst of the long haul. Hang in there. |
 |10 to 12 right: Fancy Lord or Lady: Think you're smart, eh?  You are.  |
 +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
 
                                  -23-
 
 
  
 ____________                Synyster's Story
/ \      __  \               """"""""""""""""
\@|     / ~| |          by Synyster DIAMOND-NINJA
  |    //|~| |
 _|   //=|~| |
/@|  //  |~| |s  far  back  as I can   Papa  explained  that,  years  past,
\_/ ~~   ~ ~ / bethink, I have lived   while  hunting in the forest, he had
  -----------  deep  in  the  forest   come  upon  a  lesser  orc  who  was
with   a   profound   old   Half-Elf   preparing  to  devour  a  small baby
Sorcerer  named Leodegrance Rolf.  I   High   Man.    Killing   the  animal
recall watching with awe as he would   quickly,  Leodegrance Rolf picked up
perform  what  he  would call "petty   the tiny child and carried it to his
trickery"    on   ravenous   beasts,   home  and  raised  it  for  his own.
putting   them  sound  asleep  by  a   Leodegrance  had  never  married but
simple gesture and some words that I   had  always  wanted a son.  He named
could  not  comprehend.   He  was my   the  boy  Ebeneezer and gave the boy
father, or so thinkest I, for the 20   his last name, Rolf.
or  so  years that we lived together
secluded  from  all the goings on of   Papa was almost gone when he told me
the  world.   I  had  met  few other   to go east.  There, I would find the
people  at  that  time,  and thought   town  of  Kelfour's  Landing where I
myself  a  Half-Elf also.  But, as I   would  likely  meet  more of my kind
began  to mature, I began to realize   and  possibly find my kindred.  Papa
that  I  was  not  as  Papa and this   died  that day and left a scared and
perplexed  me.   I  would query Papa   bewildered young man to fend for his
about  it,  but he always managed to   own.  I did as Papa wished and began
change the subject.                    to  trek east toward the rising sun.
                                       Killing  what  I  could  and evading
One  fateful  day  in  the Forest we   what I couldn't, for  several days I
wandered   upon  several  wolverines   made my way toward Kelfour.
feasting upon a dead kobold.  Winter
was drawing nigh so Papa prepared to   Just  outside  the main gates, I met
stun  the  animals  for me to finish   an elderly man and we began talking.
them  off for their pelts.  Papa had   One  thing  led  to  another,  then,
taught  me the ways of fighting with   behold!   He  had,  many years past,
an  ancient  mace  we  found  in the   heard  of  a  family that had lost a
Forest  one  day,  but  I  was still   small  child to an Orc.  The old man
young and inexperienced, so the stun   pondered  and  pondered  to  try and
he  would  conjure  would ensure our   remember  the family name.  Then, at
success.  Just as Papa had gone into   once,  as  if  by  magic,  the man's
a  trance, one of the animals leaped   expression began to change.
at  his  throat biting him severely.
After  a  grim  and bloody battle, I   "I remember!" he exclaimed.  "It was
managed  to  kill one of the beasts,   a   Lord's  family.   Lord  Diamond!
sending  the  others  fleeing.  Papa   (SECRETLY  Overlord DIAMOND-NINJA) I
was  still  alive  but, alas, he was   was  so  excited  I  nearly swooned.
fatally wounded.
                                       "There   are   one  or  two  of  the
I  carried  him  back  to  the small   children  still  in these parts," he
shanty  that was our home and tended   went  on.   "Let me see...  Raven...
him  the  best I knowest.  It turned   no...    Ravage...    Ravage!!   Yes
out  that  the  wolverine  had  been   that's  him.   A  powerful and noble
diseased and Papa was slipping fast.   fighter.   He is with a woman, Opal.
Before  he  left me though, he began   Find  them  and  you  will find your
telling  me  all  the  things  I had   family."
pondered over the years.  I began to
weep   when   Papa,   in  his  dying   I  thanked  him  and went into town,
minutes, began to tell the story.      soon locating my brother. Upon hear-
                                    -24-                             More...


 _________     T is for Troll             The teapot was empty
/ \ _____ \    """"""""""""""             And the candles burned low.
\@| ~|_|~ |  by Valeria Deering           So finally I stood up
  |  |~|  |                               And said I must go.
 _|  |~|  |
/@| _|~|_ |n the woodlands I walked       The troll said goodbye, and
\_/ ~ ~ ~ / One fine summer day           "Sometime again."
  --------  When a war troll I met        I smiled and said,
            Who came out to play.         "Just tell me when."
  
   My sword I drew then,                  Tea with trolls
   For I had never been meek.             And trolls with tea.
   Imagine my surprise                    Why do these things
   When the troll began to speak:         Happen to me?
  
   "Strike me not, small one.
   I am friendly, you see.                  Synyster's Story (Continued)
   I only was wondering                     """""""""""""""""""""""""""
   If I might ask you to tea?"         ing  my  story he wept with joy.  He
                                       said,  "Eb,   your   true   name  is
   Tea with trolls                     Synyster,  join us and we will teach
   And trolls with tea.                you the ways of your family."
   How very strange!
   This I had to see.                  Since  that  time  I have adventured
                                       with  my  brother and sister-in-law,
   So I sheathed my blade              the  radiant  Opal, and learned many
   And followed the troll              things.   I  have been told I have a
   To a rocky cliffside                sister   whom   I   am  anticipating
   And into his hole.                  meeting soon.  Though I still hold a
                                       special  place  in  my heart for the
   A cozy little hole it was,          old  man  named  Rolf who, though he
   All clean and dry and warm.         never  taught me many of the ways of
   Even skulls for drinking cups       his  craft  due  to  my  immaturity,
   Had their peculiar charm.           taught  me  a  greater  lesson,  the
                                       lesson of humility intermixed with a
   He filled up our cups,              strong  sense of courage.  This, now
   Swirling hot tea and spice.         meshed with my true family's code of
   All I could say then was,           friendship, faithfulness, and honor,
   "Some tea would be nice."           has made me complete.
 
   So I sipped from my cup.            The  one  question  that  plagues me
   Troll tea tastes like fire.         still is this, are the Ninja good or
   But I've said I fear nothing,       evil?  They hold Honor above all but
   And no tea would make me liar.      they  are  also  the  Masters of the
                                       Forbidden  Darkness,  Black  Majick,
   We sat there awhiles,               and assassination.  Either way, this
   And chatted like old friends        is my destiny...
   Of people (and trolls) we liked
   And of recent fashion trends.             +========================+
                                             |          /^\           |
   Trolls aren't all that bad                |    \     | |     /     |
   Some are even nice.                       |     \    | |    /      |
   They just think of us                     |      \   | |   /       |
   Like cats think of mice.                  |          | |           |
                                             |        *=====*         |
                        More...              |     /    i=i    \      |
                                             |   /      i=i      \    |
                                             |          xxx           |
                                   -25-      +========================+
 


 _____________            Uncovering The Silence
/ \___________\           """"""""""""""""""""""
\@|||--|-|--|||                  Part I
  |~~  |~|  ~~|               by Chad Eberle
 _|    |~|    |
/@|    |~|    |he  day  I  met  Mauk   We  are  from  a  universe  far from
\_/   ~ ~ ~   / Mey stands out in my   here,  the same as this device came.
  ------------memory  more than  any   There  has  been a disaster of which
other.  Imagine!  The gods contacted   we can only turn to you."
me!    Never  have  I  been  one  to
believe  myths  and  legends of gods   "ME?" I said incredulously.  Perhaps
and  other superior beings, but they   I  could  have  said  something more
contacted me just the same.            intelligent but considering the cir-
                                       cumstances, I'm happy I stayed dry.
"Mortal," they rumbled.  "We turn to
you for help."                         A  female  chorus:  "One of the more
                                       powerful  worlds  in our universe is
But  I  must  back  up.   I had been   Mithia.  It is there that Essence is
working  on  an ancient device found   most powerful, and most chaotic."
in  some ruins.  It wasn't my job to
know where from, all I had to do was   She  explained that Essence held the
pick   sand   particles   from   the   universe together but was teetering.
orifices  of  this  device.   Not an   The  inhabitants  of  Mithia were no
easy  job,  for the sand worked more   help   as  they  were  misusing  the
like  cement,  and had to be removed   Essence in such a way that upset the
without damaging its delicate parts,   balance,  causing  total destruction
most of which were made of silicon.    of  the  universe.   Essence,  being
                                       whatever   it   is,  created  a  new
I  was  in  the final stages of res-   universe on the rebound.
toration,  using  a  magnifying lens
and   small  electronic  pick  on  a   The  gods  asked  me  to pull people
particularly  stubborn  formation of   from  the  old,  destroyed  universe
cemented sand, when my eyes began to   into  a  place called Kulthea in the
get  buggy.   I  sat the pick on the   new  one.   The how of this was more
device  and  rubbed my eyes.  Soon I   confusing than the why but using the
was  seeing those bright neon colors   device  I  could  pull people out of
of  cutting  circulation to my eyes.   time  to  my universe, then reinject
Combined  with  the buzzing overhead   them  back  into the right universe.
lights,   it   formed   a  hypnotic,   Or something like that.
day-dreaming fuzz in my head.
                                       "We will show the inhabitants of our
Something  pulled me out of my daze.   universe.  Look at them; decide upon
I  blinked  my  eyes  and saw a glow   those  you will bring through.  Keep
coming from the machine.  There were   in  mind that the new universe needs
popping   noises  like  someone  was   only people who will benefit it."
using the pick.  I shook my head and
realized  that  the  pick  had  slid   The long process began.  Many faces,
inside   and  touched  the  device's   names,   races,   professions,   and
power source, activating it.           skills   showed  themselves  to  me.
                                       Myriads,  endless  myriads, of half-
I  sat  in  increasing wonder as the   elf   fighters  went  by,  each  one
thing  slowly gained power.  A flat,   different   but  similar  enough  to
clear  appendage  atop it glowed and   cause  me concern.  Eventually I saw
soon  became  six sombre faces, each   rangers,  healers,  clerics,  mages,
with piercing eyes.  They spoke in a   and   thieves,   then  other  races,
low chorus rumble.                     though none were noteworthy.
  
"Mortal,  we  turn  to you for help.                                More...
                                   -26-
 
Then  came  Mauk.  I had to ask them   The  white light receded, leaving me
to  back  up  for  I  was  numb from   staring  into  open  space.  Several
repetition, and I suppose it was his   thousand  dots  of  light of various
eyes that made me look twice.  There   sizes  speckled  the  view  in every
was  a  certain fragile tragedy that   direction.   Apparently  I was still
emminated from these pale blue orbs,   moving,  as one of the dots began to
which  were  lowered.   His face was   grow  rapidly,  turning  bluish.   I
pure   innocence,   fair   but  well   closed  my eyes momentarily and when
sunned.    Wavy   golden  hair  fell   I  reopened  them,  I had moved con-
halfway down his forehead then swept   siderably  closer  to  the  orb.   I
back,  flowing  down  his  neck just   could make out land masses and cloud
below his ears, where it was cropped   formations,   and  a  secondary  orb
neatly.                                loomed in front of me, most likely a
                                       moon, then flew past.
I  read his description.  "Wood Elf.
Twenty-six years of age.  Skilled in   "What  planet is this?" I asked.
stalking   and   hiding,   excellent
archer.   Peculiarities:   Tatoo  on   "Nira," came the answer.
right palm; speechless due to child-
hood trauma."                          As  I  fell faster and faster toward
                                       the  planet,  I  could make out more
I wondered outloud what had happened   detail.   We  seemed  to  be heading
to  render  him speechless -- was it   toward a patch of dense green.  Soon
something  to do with his voice-box?   I  saw mountains and lakes, and then
The gods replied.  "We can show you.   a  tropical  green  valley.  I noted
Place your hands thusly."              various   forms  of  folliage  in  a
                                       clearing among the trees, and then I
Their  faces were soon replaced by a   there were people on a path.
bright   white  light.   Two  shapes
formed  on the screen, becoming more   Two wood elf men, one with gray hair
distinct   as   I   watched,  slowly   and  the  other  black.   A few feet
shaping  into  two hand prints.  You   behind  them were three younger wood
either  risk  it  or  you  don't,  I   elves,  behind  whom (where the path
thought,  so  I placed my hands over   curved  around  some bushes) stood a
the  prints,  and for a time nothing   wood  elf  woman  struggling  with a
happened.   Then  a force grabbed at   young  elven  boy  who  was  on  the
me,  yanking  me  off of my seat.  I   ground,  apparently  throwing a fit.
shot   forward   into   the   glass,   Further  up  the path I saw a figure
stopping  at  my shoulders.  My head   with a large garish, wooden mask who
had not made it under the glass, but   stepped before the two men in front.
as  the  force  increased  something   Then  I  began  to  plummet, falling
snapped in my neck, and then I'm not   directly toward the fitting child.
sure what happened, as I passed out.
When  I  opened my eyes again, I was   Fearing  a  collision,  I  tried  to
blinded  by  a  searing white light.   protect  my  head  from  damage.   A
My  neck  throbbed painfully and any   black curtain rushed by, giving me a
movement was futile.                   tingling sensation from head to toe.
                                       The curtain rose and I saw a  blurry
"Do  not  panic," I heard the chorus   view  of  my  surroundings.  Someone
rumble.  "You are in no danger."       was yelling, very close -- it seemed
                                       as  though it was coming from my own
A   warm   sensation  blanketed  me,   mouth.   A  small  hand  flew  at my
collecting  in  intensity  around my   eyes,  and rubbed them clear.  I was
neck.   It  lingered  for  a moment,   looking  at  a bush.  My head turned
then   faded.   I  began  to  regain   up  and  I saw the elf-woman looking
feeling,  my pain dissipating, until   down   at  me  with  a  scowl.   She
it   seemed   I   was   well  again.   scolded  me  in  a foreign language,
Amazing, simply amazing!               and  tugged  on  my arm.  I tried to
                                   -27-


get  up  but was frozen to the spot.   Finishing  his brutal work, he stood
Confused,   I   tried  to  talk,  to   back  to  gloat  over  his  victims.
convince   the  elf-woman  that  she   Then  something  seemed  to occur to
mistook me for someone else.           him and he began to search around in
                                       the  bushes  and  tall grasses in in
"You  are here only to observe," the   the area.  My/Mauk's stomach muscles
gods commanded.                        tightened,  and we let out a fearful
                                       sob.   The  man  turned  toward  our
Then  I  understood.  My mouth moved   bushes,  poking  and  prodding  them
for me, saying some gibberish to the   with  the  tip  of  his  spear.  His
elf-woman.  She suddenly crouched to   thrashing came closer to the bush we
my  level,  grappled my mouth, while   were in, causing leaves to fall over
she  put  her finger to her lips.  A   us.   I saw the spear jab the ground
desperate,  pleading look was in her   about  six  inches to our left, then
eye.   She looked toward the  others   again to our right.  Mauk sobbed and
on the path, then shoved me into the   then screamed as the spear found its
bushes, whispering a command.          mark in our right shoulder.  My head
                                       swirled  as  we  were dragged out of
Mauk  crawled on his belly, dragging   the bushes by our hair.
me on helplessly with him toward the
commotion  in the front of the line.   And  then...   Well,  then the black
Looking  through the bushes, I could   curtain  came  again.  As it rose, I
see  the  man  with  the  mask  more   was  once again in my chair in front
clearly.   He  was arguing violently   of  the strange time-device, staring
with  the  two  elf-men.  In the his   into the six faces of the gods.  Two
left hand was a weapon -- a spear, I   faces  to the left, and two faces to
suppose   --   which   he   used  to   the  right  closed  their  eyes  and
emphasize his words.                   slowly  faded out, leaving a she-god
                                       and a he-god in the center.
Screaming an accusation, the younger
wood  elf  charged  the  man  in the   "What happened to Mauk?" I demanded.
mask,   hitting   him  in  the  mid-
section,  and  collapsing  him back-   "You  will  see." the gods chorused.
wards.   Again,  the young elf threw   "Now  we  must  instruct you on what
himself  at  the  man, but missed as   you will do.  We shall send you back
the  man  rolled  and  sprang to his   as  Tii, Mauk's cousin, and you will
feet.   With  lithe grace the masked   lead  him  to  our temple, where you
man  snatched  up his spear, turned,   will  train him in the ways he needs
and  thrust  it  through  the  young   to survive in the new land."
elf's neck.
                                       "But  where  will  I  find  Mauk?  I
He  went into a bloody rampage.  The   assume he's not dead." I interrupted.
other  wood  elves seemed under some
spell,  as none of them were able to   "You will see," they chorused again.
move.   I  watched  with Mauk as the   "Place your hands on the glass again
masked man circled each of his prey,   and we will go."
yelling  taunts at them, cutting and
gouging  each  with  the  tip of his   "Can I say goodbye here first?"
spear.   Shouting a final curse, the
man thrust the spear into his victim   "You  will not notice the passage of
several  times.  Never before have I   time,  and  neither will those here.
seen  a more gruesome death.  Saying   Place your hands on the glass...."
these  victims  were immobile is not
entirely    correct:     They    had    ----------------//----------------
sufficient   mobility   writhe   and     Read the exciting conclusion in
scream pitiously.                          your March Kelfour Edition!
                                   -28-
 
 _______________          Arsenic and Old Louvella
/ \ ____    ____\         """"""""""""""""""""""""
\@| +|~|    |~|+|             by Miss Parsnips
  |  |~|/~~\|~| |
 _|  |~/~/\~\~| |
/@|  |__/  \__| |e were  outraged to   Our well-attuned ears have picked up
\_/  ~ ~    ~ ~/ learn of a depraved   minstrel  songs  coming  from behind
  -------------tryst between a mother   the  locked  door  of  Threk's  best
of  three  (with another on the way)   suite,   and  our  eager  eyes  have
and  the best friend of her faithful   noticed  a  chaste  young bard and a
and  devoted husband.  This pregnant   rather lewd clerical fellow spending
harlot  and her paramour were caught   much  time  there.   This  same lady
in an uncompromising position in the   bard has been spotted rolling around
street,   no  less,  and  we  wonder   on  the  wharf with another ignorant
exactly  whose  child this shameless   fighter  type.   This bard must have
hussy is carrying.                     taken  tutelage from our lady cleric
                                       of   the  olde  speeche  on  how  to
Speaking  of  hussies,  we  would be   attract   vigorous,   if   not  very
remiss  did we not report the sordid   bright,   fellows   --  although  it
encounter  that  took  place  in the   remains to be seen if either of them
abandoned   woodsman's   cottage  in   will  be  able  to  hang  onto their
Upper  Kaldsfang.   It  appears that   swains for long.  Kelfourites do not
once  again  our red-haired, nympho-   hang onto used goods indefinitely.
maniac  of a ranger has participated
in  a  shocking display of depravity   Speaking of used goods, it seems our
with  a  previously exemplary common   wraithlike lady mage is at it again.
man  ranger.   This not being suffi-   We most certainly would like to know
ciently  lascivious, the brazen pair   the  spells she weaves to attract so
included   a  young,  innocent  lady   many  empty-headed suitors.  Regard-
thief   in   their  rendezvous.   We   less,  we are pleased to report that
understand  this  is  not  the first   she  has  thrown  over a long-winded
assignation  between  the scurrilous   lordly  thief  in  favor of a bloody
trio  as  they  have  been  reported   and  most  rude  fighter  type.   We
entering the Raging Threk Inn.         heard  about the action between them
                                       behind  the  bleachers at the recent
It  seems  that  the  good  Threk is   Gladitorial  Games  where they took
replacing  all the mattresses in his   "teamwork"  a  little  too far.  The
guest  rooms and will be raising his   audacious   pair  have  their  names
rates  any  time  now.   We  are not   inscribed  on  a plaque in Moot Hall
surprised to learn this, considering   as   the   winners,  but  we  wonder
the  amount  of  time  that a lordly   exactly to which game this refers.
ranger  spends  in almost unheard of
positions  there  with a dark haired   No longer will those who have faith-
fighter   young  enough  to  be  his   fully  aided  my pursuit of exposing
daughter.   We understand that prior   the  faithless  of  Kulthea  have to
to   her   involvement   with   this   leave  notes  in  that  niche in the
infamous  ranger,  our  fighter  was   wall just outside the gates.  For be
quite  pure  and  now it appears she   advised, dear reader, that idle talk
will  join  the  other lusty harlots   and  good  old-fashioned hearsay may
wearing out Threk's mattresses.  Not   now    be   directed   directly   to
to  mention  the previously referred   MISS.SNOOP  (via  GEnie email) where
to  silver-haired thief who has been   it  will immediately reach our eager
doing   equal   damage   to  Threk's   eyes.   No  tidbit  is too small, of
mattresses  with a caring healer and   course,  as we will surely spread it
a  once sinless cleric.  At the same   all over next month's column.  Happy
time, we have no doubt.                rumor-hunting and tra-la for now.
 
                                                                    KE V1N9
                                   -29-                               [end]

See Also: