Post by Lursa the Orc on Aug 26, 2004 12:19:39 GMT -5
I sat on my living room rug, watching the fire crackle brightly in the fire pit (the prize of a previous adventure). My dog Winston made a few turns and dug his way deeper into the fur of the polar bear skin rug that kept out the cold from the tatami mats underneath. I was reading a book from the Helike library, just above the temple itself. I live with my dog and my parrot in the living quarters below the temple. The temple itself is Buddhist. Flipping through the pages of the book my eye fell on a story of a woman named Yuki-ona…the Lady of the Snows. My concentration was broken by something biting at my toes….I looked down and there was nothing there. I went back to my story…
“just then, a beautiful woman with a pure white kimono, white hair and seemingly transparent skin came into the cabin with the snow. It was Yuki-onna, the lady of the Snows…”
Something bit at my foot again. I looked down and there, with a big smile on my face was my parrot, Har-boy, all white against the
Polar bear skin rug; a big smile on his face as he played one of his favorite games….hide and go bite….Having discovered my “attacker” I turned back to my book…
The lady of the snows…I loved the idea. I set down the book and made a few inquiries in town. In no time flat the sod of the temple grounds had been replaced by mounds of snow. I traveled to my favorite dye tubs and dyed by hooded robe and snow boots ice white. A quick trip to a fearsome mage tower, deep in the dungeons and my hair was snow white….
Tatsumi…Lady of the Snows…
What was missing…my polar bear “Frosty lounged” around the his new yard that took up the entire top floor of the temple. My pack reindeer seemed to feel safe against the snow packed floor of his stable stall.
“That’s it!” I told myself, “What is missing is a very special traveling companion…a white wyrm.”
And so began my quest to become a grand master tamer. A ways to go from where I left off but worth the effort.
I tamed bulls in Delucia, pack reindeer at the north pole, savage ridgebacks in the lands of Ilshenar…and then I seemed to hit a wall. My skills felt like they were not improving. I needed a real challenge.
I had heard of a place in a distant land where many beasts of fire made their home. I simply did not relish the thought of the town I had to go through to get there. I had been warned about going to such a place, but there seemed no option as it lay directly between me and my goal.
Har-boy gleefully hopped up on the back of my pack reindeer. A few waves of the hand, and the words “Rel Por” filled the air. The blue paradise of Helike disappeared to be replaced by a green jungle. I began walking toward town with great apprehension. Apprehension that was very much merited. No sooner had I cleared the city gates than a young woman lifted her skirts above her knees and said, “Want to see more?”
In disgust I turned away, “no madam, I have already seen to much. Save that for some old letch “
I hurried through town and found a hole in the side of a hill that was my goal. I plunged into the darkness. My eyes had not even adjusted to the dim light when I heard a hissing off to one side…it was shortly followed by a small ball of flame. A large snake slithered over to me in his feeble attempt to turn me quick fried to a crackly crunch.
“Oh pleeeeese…” I drawled out.
A few strums on my harp and a few swings of my frosty white spear and he was nothing but snake meat.
Making my way down the snow ramps I soon saw what I was looking for…two pair of flaming red eyes came lunging at me…snarling and growling…
A few more strums and one beast stood stone still with a silly grin on his muzzle. The other charged on, where he fell onto my spear…he fell on to my spear five times…
A few moments later and I was trying to sooth his companion with the idiot grin on the his face…
“I’ve always wanted a friend like you. I hurt you…”
…as those words escaped my lips my eyes fell up the pile of fur that lay near by…
“well, I probably won’t hurt you…”
My taming efforts proceeded apace.
Atop my pack reindeer we hurdled across bridges and through corpse filled grave yards. We soon found ourselves in a maze of halls face to face with one of one of the biggest alligators I have ever seen. A few enchanting chords from my harp filled the air. Harboy, still safely perched on the deer’s antlers looked down…
“Squawk…that is the ugliest alligator I have ever seen.”
“Now harboy…I said, his mamma loves him and he loves us….he loves us with a side of fries…”
So on we went, taming fire lizards as we made our way through the twists of the hallways. More than once we got lost and had to consult our map. Rounding one corner we came face to face with a column of fire moving of its own accord.
I was sure I was not in an old Charlton Heston movie…and so a few more strums on my harp, a few swings of my frosty spear and it was I changed the tune I played on my harp…
The notes to “smoke gets in your eyes” filled the air, as we made our way over what was not a pile of ashes. The gleam of a metal chest caught my eye. Carefully I opened it to find a dye tub inside, an odd shade of brick red. I stuck in a piece of cloth; it came out red. I reached into my pack and pulled out some blood moss….when I dipped it in..it to came out red.
“Amazing. It appears to turn anything that color.”
I dipped into my purse and dipped 514 gold pieces into the tub…they too came out brick red….
“Hmm…I wonder…,” I said, eyeing Harboy.
“Don’t even think about it,” Harboy squawked back.
A short staring contest followed. Shortly after my pack reindeer, rolling his eyes, put one leg in the tub…it came out perfectly white as before. It seems it dyes anything….ANYTHING…that is not animal or human brick red…a universal dye tub…
With the words “Rel por” still ringing in the air, the cool blue waters of Helike faded back into view…the 514 “red” gold pieces now stacked in the Helike Library.
;D ;D
“just then, a beautiful woman with a pure white kimono, white hair and seemingly transparent skin came into the cabin with the snow. It was Yuki-onna, the lady of the Snows…”
Something bit at my foot again. I looked down and there, with a big smile on my face was my parrot, Har-boy, all white against the
Polar bear skin rug; a big smile on his face as he played one of his favorite games….hide and go bite….Having discovered my “attacker” I turned back to my book…
The lady of the snows…I loved the idea. I set down the book and made a few inquiries in town. In no time flat the sod of the temple grounds had been replaced by mounds of snow. I traveled to my favorite dye tubs and dyed by hooded robe and snow boots ice white. A quick trip to a fearsome mage tower, deep in the dungeons and my hair was snow white….
Tatsumi…Lady of the Snows…
What was missing…my polar bear “Frosty lounged” around the his new yard that took up the entire top floor of the temple. My pack reindeer seemed to feel safe against the snow packed floor of his stable stall.
“That’s it!” I told myself, “What is missing is a very special traveling companion…a white wyrm.”
And so began my quest to become a grand master tamer. A ways to go from where I left off but worth the effort.
I tamed bulls in Delucia, pack reindeer at the north pole, savage ridgebacks in the lands of Ilshenar…and then I seemed to hit a wall. My skills felt like they were not improving. I needed a real challenge.
I had heard of a place in a distant land where many beasts of fire made their home. I simply did not relish the thought of the town I had to go through to get there. I had been warned about going to such a place, but there seemed no option as it lay directly between me and my goal.
Har-boy gleefully hopped up on the back of my pack reindeer. A few waves of the hand, and the words “Rel Por” filled the air. The blue paradise of Helike disappeared to be replaced by a green jungle. I began walking toward town with great apprehension. Apprehension that was very much merited. No sooner had I cleared the city gates than a young woman lifted her skirts above her knees and said, “Want to see more?”
In disgust I turned away, “no madam, I have already seen to much. Save that for some old letch “
I hurried through town and found a hole in the side of a hill that was my goal. I plunged into the darkness. My eyes had not even adjusted to the dim light when I heard a hissing off to one side…it was shortly followed by a small ball of flame. A large snake slithered over to me in his feeble attempt to turn me quick fried to a crackly crunch.
“Oh pleeeeese…” I drawled out.
A few strums on my harp and a few swings of my frosty white spear and he was nothing but snake meat.
Making my way down the snow ramps I soon saw what I was looking for…two pair of flaming red eyes came lunging at me…snarling and growling…
A few more strums and one beast stood stone still with a silly grin on his muzzle. The other charged on, where he fell onto my spear…he fell on to my spear five times…
A few moments later and I was trying to sooth his companion with the idiot grin on the his face…
“I’ve always wanted a friend like you. I hurt you…”
…as those words escaped my lips my eyes fell up the pile of fur that lay near by…
“well, I probably won’t hurt you…”
My taming efforts proceeded apace.
Atop my pack reindeer we hurdled across bridges and through corpse filled grave yards. We soon found ourselves in a maze of halls face to face with one of one of the biggest alligators I have ever seen. A few enchanting chords from my harp filled the air. Harboy, still safely perched on the deer’s antlers looked down…
“Squawk…that is the ugliest alligator I have ever seen.”
“Now harboy…I said, his mamma loves him and he loves us….he loves us with a side of fries…”
So on we went, taming fire lizards as we made our way through the twists of the hallways. More than once we got lost and had to consult our map. Rounding one corner we came face to face with a column of fire moving of its own accord.
I was sure I was not in an old Charlton Heston movie…and so a few more strums on my harp, a few swings of my frosty spear and it was I changed the tune I played on my harp…
The notes to “smoke gets in your eyes” filled the air, as we made our way over what was not a pile of ashes. The gleam of a metal chest caught my eye. Carefully I opened it to find a dye tub inside, an odd shade of brick red. I stuck in a piece of cloth; it came out red. I reached into my pack and pulled out some blood moss….when I dipped it in..it to came out red.
“Amazing. It appears to turn anything that color.”
I dipped into my purse and dipped 514 gold pieces into the tub…they too came out brick red….
“Hmm…I wonder…,” I said, eyeing Harboy.
“Don’t even think about it,” Harboy squawked back.
A short staring contest followed. Shortly after my pack reindeer, rolling his eyes, put one leg in the tub…it came out perfectly white as before. It seems it dyes anything….ANYTHING…that is not animal or human brick red…a universal dye tub…
With the words “Rel por” still ringing in the air, the cool blue waters of Helike faded back into view…the 514 “red” gold pieces now stacked in the Helike Library.
;D ;D