From: hutch@hfglobe.intel.com (Stephen Hutchison)
Subject: [DQ][ADMIN] Summary through Week 14 ...
Organization: Intel Corporation
Date: Wed, 18 Nov 1992 07:06:38 GMT


WHAT HAS GONE BEFORE

This has been a fairly long thread.  As a courtesy to those who have
been writing "huh, who are these goons?" letters, the following precis:

SunStorm is a giant from the last city on the world of Titania.  He was
sent through their only Gate to retrieve a magic stone which is their
last hope against the DemonMother, an evil creature who has destroyed
almost all life in Titania.  ShockWave the DiamondSword is a magical
crystalline sword, created eons ago at the start of the conflict.

TrueSilver is a silver dragon who befriended SunStorm, and who came with
him to Generica.  He was subsequently captured, by the agents of Lord
Raven, who is a vampire-lord with pretensions of godhood.  Lord Raven,
called "Dark Master" by his slaves, has taken control of the DemiPlane
of Darkness, wrenching it from the sentient but very strange mind of the
Dark One, the ancient horrible spirit that feeds on the evil that permeates
that plane.  He accomplished this by using a device, the "Tan-Ru probe",
an ancient plane-shifting artifact of the time-and-space-travelling 'Kan
race.  The probe appears to be simultaneously a pyramid, cube, or diamond,
due to its multidimensional construction, and has been dubbed the PCD.
Lord Raven has embarked on a campaign to expand his influence, intending
to use the PCD to conquer first Titania, then Generica, then the ...

SunStorm, shrunk to 1/3 size by some parlor magic of Luthor Anside in order
to make conversing with him more comfortable, was gathering questors to help
him with the search for TrueSilver, who disappeared in the riots that raged
through Generica a while back.  He was quickly able to recruit Lancos Erredan,
an adventuresome fellow who is a tracker and outdoorsman.  Lancos was able
to recruit Kadrys, a very very old vampire (who has come to the Dragons' Inn
because the ennui of his secretive existance becomes unbearable every a few
hundred years or so).  He also recruited 'Raelf Berenson, a 'kan Traveller
who happened by sheer coincidence to be in the place, and Valgar, an escaped
slave who had gotten away from a ship crewed by some fairly twisted beings.

Some research takes place, and Lancos discovers evidence that a dragon was
taken off towards the sea, from a graveyard south of the city.  Valgar, having
taken the clue "sea cave" from an obscure riddle posed by a seer, finds a
book in one of the dark dusty parts of Generica - a diary of a madman who
claimed to have found a treasure cave by the seacoast south of town, a cave
that is only there at the dark of the moon.  They prepare to leave.

The evening before they were ready to leave, 'Raelf's "twin" appeared, and
cryptically warns them that Bad Things are afoot.  He is revealed to be the
older 'Raelf, who has returned "early" from the quest for the dragon after
the utter and total failure of their quest - he alone was able to escape
the DemiPlane, but at great personal cost.  He refuses to tell any of the
questors what will happen, and only hints at possible dangers, instead using
his Traveller skills to twist time so that the "second time" things will
turn out differently.

At this point Lord Raven attacks - he causes the PCD to send out a "remote"
to the Plaza outside the Dragons' Inn, and the probe's ability to steal the
minds of those around it is brought into play.  But only SunStorm is taken,
and only his spirit.  He is sent into a "misery loop" where he is forced
to relive all the worst experiences of his life, over and over, with the
desired end being his capitulation to evil.  'Raelf is able to disrupt the
remote, causing it to vanish.  But the Dark Master has sent his servant
Krastin to ensure that his plans succeed, and Krastin is enraged by the
loss of what he thinks is the only gateway to his Dark Master's realm.

Enraged, he sends a flock of gargoyles, which he had dominated with threats
and bribes, to kill the questors - especially 'Raelf.  Through a combination
of unexpected power and the skills of the questors, they defeat the gargoyles.
The sword ShockWave is able to control the giant's body through their shared
soul-bond - but not too well, and in the fight, gets the body injured while
draining most of its power.  'Raelf, though not too steady himself, is able
to use his professional skills (he's an artificer-mage) to repair the sword.
While this is happening, the timefork that 'Raelf Elder started, is becoming
wider.  The sword gets a much deeper bond with the giant, which is not what
happened in 'Raelf Elder's past.

Once everyone's healed and back inside, 'Raelf Younger uses his magical
"toolkit" to analyze what the PCD was, and finds a brief description of
it in an old encyclopedia article describing his race's very early planar
explorations - it is a sort of "space probe" which developed a mind of its
own, with tremendous power but limited application.  He also finds that
SunStorm's spirit is being tormented within the device.

They make plans to leave the next day, the full dark of the moon, to find the
dragon.  During the usual alarums, they are joined by a blue-skinned woman
who calls herself Alita and in a very forward fashion, seems to know them
all (and claims to know them, ahem, intimately) - and she hangs around with
them for a while.  Lancos is distracted by the sculptor in the corner, and
Valgar drags the shrunken, drunken sword/giant to bed, not neglecting to
get some rest for himself - during the fight, he'd grown a full beard, and
some other strange manifestations.  'Raelf Elder sends 'Raelf Younger off
to escort Alita home, and then (once things seem to have calmed down) he
takes the shape of a birdlike being, Maribel the Prophetess.  She explains
to Kadrys that if the vampire goes along, he will give into his curse, and
become the thing he despises.  Using Maribel's powers of godcalling, she
takes Kadrys away to a special place in the Astral Realms, where she demands
that the two beings who have been using Kadrys as their pawn, pay him back
a fragment of what they owe him for their treatment.  Kadrys is taken to a
place of spiritual healing, and Maribel departs, returning to Generica as
'Raelf Elder, and joining in the Kron Quest.

The younger 'Raelf drops Alita off, then goes to where the gargoyles had
their lair, using the memories he took from one of them, and takes their
treasure, then goes off to the bay and goes surfing until midmorning,
waiting for the others to wake.  On returning to the hung-over group, he
makes a NASTY  hangover cure and is introduced to William (the sculptor/mage).
In return, 'Raelf suggests that Alita should join them as well, and she shows
up, only to be driven off by SunStorm/ShockWave, whose inherent powers detect
"demon essence" on her.  He is finally convinced that she can go.  'Raelf
finds that she has already left, and that she'll be meeting them at the
cave.  They finish their preparations and go there, finding it just before
sunset.  The first thing they find is Alita, strangled, hanging from one
of the stalactites.  The magically animated rope attacks 'Raelf, who kills
it, and then after a pleasant interlude when the necromancer Vornik sends
a swarm of zombies at them, they drive him away.

Exploring, they find the gateway to the DemiPlane of Darkness, and through
a series of unfortunate misunderstandings, they bring William along, even
though he would just as soon stay behind (but NOT in that cave, thanks).
They arrive in a twisted replica of Generica, and meet up with Alita,
who doesn't recognize any of them, and her friend Miro, who knows 'Raelf
from somewhere.  Kadrys rejoins them, greatly refreshed in spirit.  And
then in the morning, Alita seems to once again be the strange confused
person she was in Generica, which amazes Miro.

Kadrys was sent back with "directions" and they board a Ghost Ship at the
Sea of Black Dust, which is the evil reflection of the Great Blue.  Meanwhile
there is mounting evidence implicating each of them as the Traitor who was
mentioned in the prophetic verses that the giant had purchased.  They
travel for some time, but eventually arrive at an island where they meet
an Entity, which gives them obscure hints and double-edged gifts:
Alita, the full knowledge of her powers as a succubus/incubus; 
Kadrys, the power to draw life-force as well as to sustain himself on blood;
Lancos, a deeper attunement with his protective medallion; 
Miro, flashes of insight into the minds of his enemies, to know their plans;
'Raelf, the knowledge of what it was Lord Raven had done to enslave the PCD;
ShockWave the sword, the power to change and reshape the body of his wielder;
SunStorm (bodily - his spirit is trapped) the power to command undead;
Valgar, the ability to become "one" with the beast within him;
William, a clear knowledge of how magic works in the Plane of Darkness.

Then it transports them to the stronghold of Lord Raven.  All except Miro
(who foresees it and avoids it) are taken again by the PCD's mind-numbing
powers, which this time hold them with more pleasant (or at least, not
actively miserable) memories and images.

Alita breaks them free, somehow causing the PCD to send a timeshadow of
herself to Generica so she can aid them, enabling them to be broken free.
(Confused? it gets worse.)  After a few moments respite they are attacked
again, this time by the overwhelming forces of Lord Raven and his four
chief minions:  Krastin, now transformed to a Death Knight;  Vornick, now
a wight, an animated shell of himself; Noira, a priestess of the goddess of
torture;  and BlackSilver, the dragon for which they came in quest, who has
been twisted by magic and the PCD to serve Lord Raven.

In their abortive attempt to fight, 'Raelf is killed by a wooden ballista
quarrel meant for Kadrys,  and his spirit is sucked into a Soul Jar in the
hands of the priestess Noira.  Lancos, falling under the control of his
protective medallion, turns traitor.  (That medallion's ideas of "safe"
are rather peculiar...)

The surviving questors are taken to separate holding cells to think about
how they will be tortured into serving Lord Raven.  Lancos, as an untrusted
but probationary servant, is given a room with a smaller lock.  Miro remains
thoroughly invisible, looking for a way to free his friends.

Noira is ordered to place the Traveller's spirit in a pentacle, so that
its knowledge of planar travel can be stolen by Lord Raven, but the PCD
determines that the 'kan spirit is not present, that the ghost in the jar
is someone that 'Raelf assimilated into himself years earlier.  Since the
spirit is totally uncooperative and resists Noira's attempts at coercion,
Lord Raven punishes her by giving her to Alita, who is a succubus/incubus,
a sexual-pleasure demon, and the antithesis of Noira's worship of pain.
After the punishment, Noira is permitted to use the ghost in the jar to
animate a stone golem, which she constructs during the night.

The prisoners are dragged to the room outside their cell, and Lancos is
ordered to kill one of them.  He chooses Kadrys, or rather, the medallion
chooses Kadrys, and the vampire is staked to the wall, through the heart.

Later, Vornik steals the medallion, jealous of Lancos' "favored" status.
He begins magical explorations, while Lancos, gradually coming out of the
medallion's mental control, goes to Vornik's laboratory to kill him.
Miro follows.  They defeat Vornik (who is encased in a thick block of ice)
and Lancos gives the medallion to Miro to keep for him until they are in
a place where it will not endanger them all with its peculiar ideas about
"safe" and "protection".

They locate and free the others, and Kadrys, once the stake is removed, is
returned to his unlife.  All are freed except ShockWave/SunStorm, who is in
a special cell overlooking the pit where the PCD is imprisoned.  Miro warns
the others that Noira has placed a trap on their route, and how to avoid it,
and then goes to get the Soul Jar (which they believe still holds the ghost)
while the others go to free SunStorm.
Newsgroups: alt.pub.dragons-inn