From: albert@bcm.tmc.edu (Rick Jones)
Newsgroups: alt.pub.dragons-inn
Subject: [KQ] Wasters [Shunned Center]  I can feel you, Mama....
Date: 7 Oct 1992 22:19:12 GMT
Organization: Baylor College of Medicine
Distribution: world
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Originator: albert@chain.ssctr.bcm.tmc.edu

	Low City, on the edge of the Shunned Center.  The moon was just
rising on the horison, a pale disc shining in the the fog.  Scorpion
looked ahead, past the Buff, at the twisted alleys and ruined buildings. 
If one stares long enough, shadows take on shapes.  The light breeze
coming in from the harbor would have been comforting in the Alley of
Unforgotten Heroes, but here it carried smells in from the Center.  Smells
the brain wants to forget.
	"Boss, I am NOT going in there."  said the halfing, bouncing back
up to his normal height.
	"Ditto, Scorp," agreed Rook.  "I want to keep my marbles, thanks."
	Scorpion grimaced.  Part of him agreed with the two of them.  The
Shunned Center reeked of black magic.  That's probably where that bastard
Seer got the mojo to give them their powers.  And that's why the spells
don't work right.  He flexed his hands, trying to restore circulation. 
His palms were damp, either from the fog or his nervousness.  He wasn't
sure. You couldn't be sure of anything in the Shunned Center.
	"Look, we're losing time, people, Seer went in there with Kay Are
Oh Enn.  We've been double crossed and hexed badly.  We have to get him now,
before he thinks to scry us, and finds out we're alive.  Now's the only time
we've got."
	"Nope, I ain't goin'," grumbled Bogo.  "You can't make me.  I've
heard stor-"
	ENOUGH.  Faster than the eye could follow, Scorpion's hand darted
out and lifted the halfling by the throat.  The glove on his hand started
to smoke, and a sick black aura emitted from it.	
	"Is that so, shorty?  I don't have time for this shit.  Either you
follow orders NOW or I put you out of my misery. Capiche?"
	"Glah"
	"What was that?"
	"Oh-gay."
	"Good." Scorpion dropped the halfling to the ground.  
	"That won't work with me, sugar." teased Rook.  "'Less you want a
wall to fall on your head or something."
	"Maybe not, but I can make your life miserable, 'sugar'..... So,
are you in?"
	"Oh, I'm in, but I'm going to complain to the union."  She smiled and
faded back into invisibility. "Let's go."
	Scorpion shook his head. That attitude is going to get her killed
someday, he thought.  "Okay, Bogo, you're the tracker, take point.  Rook,
stay with me.  Thrugg, follow Bogo."
	"Duh, okay.  I go."
	"And remember, the Press is just in your head, but the Slimies are
real, so be careful."
	Slowly, the group advanced into the Shunned Center....

	In the Center, there's three problems.  The first is the Press. 
Remember when you were a kid, and you stayed up late telling ghost
stories.  You couldn't fall asleep because you KNEW that under your bed
was the Man With The Hook or The Lady With Spiders In Her Hair, and you
were going to die, because if you ran they'd know you were there, and
they'd carve you up, whacktey-whack.  And if you stayed, well, they'd hear
your breathing, and they'd eat you alive.  And so you lay there, not
moving, not breathing.  Then, you have to pee.....
	The ShunRunners call the second problem Creepie Charlie.  There's
_things_ that live in the Shunned Center.  Spawn of N'yyAchuuu, the Great
Mother.  People and ... other things, that have seen her glory and had
their minds shattered for her pleasure.  They live off of each other, and
the desperate few who enter their realm.  Creepie Charlie has a thousand
faces, all of them from hungry nightmares.
	The last problem is the Great Mother Herself.  Any being brave,
foolish, or derranged enough to go far enough into her demenses must face
her powers over the mind.  A minor fear of enclosed spaces caused one
ShunRunner to suffocate in an open field.  The Great Mother savors those
few rare toys to make it that far.  
	Fortunately for the Wasters, the Great Mother's mind is occupied
by the group of adventures Seer is bringing to Her Presence.  Her
creatures have been told to leave Kron and his friends alone, so tonight,
they rest and ignore their hunger.

	"Boss, they went, gulp, underground." whispered Bogo.
	"So, we go after them.  Look nothing's attacked us yet.  Maybe
Seer's path is magiked."
	"S-s-sure boss."
	"Chill, Bogs," admonished Scorpion.  "Remember, it's all in your head. 
You're starting to ssssound like Sssslythe."  Bogo grinned for a second.
	"Did sssssomeone mention me?" hissed a voice from above.  Everyone
looked up, weapons at the ready.  A reptilian head poked out of a ruined
building from above.
	"Slythe, where the grot have you been?" asked Scorpion cautiously. 
	"Here and there.  There and here."  The head poked out even
farther as Slythe's neck elongated.
	"Leave the talking to me, the rest of you watch the perimeter,"
whispered Scorpion.  "Slythe, you left with Seer a while ago.  Where did
he take you?"
	"Nonono.  Not gonna doit.  Wouldn't be prudent."  Slythe's head
bobbed around rhythmically.
	"Tell me,"  ordered Scorpion.  "Report."
	"Heheheheh.  hsssssss.  I ssssaw Mommy kisssssing Ssssatan
Clawsss."  Slythe's neck began to wrap around a column.
	"Damn the Press," muttered Scoprion.  "You left with Seer.  He took
you here?"
	"Yess, yessss.  Ssssilly humanssss. Tricksssss are for kidssss."
	"Did you go down in the tunnels?"
	"Yess yess.  hiss/drool I can't ssssee you Mama, but I know you're
alwayssss there." Sylthe chanted.
	"And what was in the tunnel, Slythe?"
	"Nononono.  hsssssssss.  You taunt, you teasssse me Mama, but I
never never can keep away."
	<ZOT!>  The top of the pillar Slythe was wrapping his neck around
is blown away by an energy bolt from Scorpion's hand.
	"Tell me you dumb lizard.  What's down there?" shouted Scorpion.
	"Mommy Dearesssst.  I loooooove you.   Sssssee ya sssuckersssss." 
The head retracted into the window.
	"Do we go in after him, boss?" asked Bogo.
	"Nope.  We go down.  Seer's there."
	"I was afraid you were going to say that."
	"Hey, if you want to leave now, be my guest."

[ADMIN: Slythe's quoting Genesis:"Mama" (c) 1993]
-- 
Rick Jones				Systems Support Center
albert@bcm.tmc.edu			Baylor College of Medicine
Voice: 713-798-7352			standard disclaimers apply
Sky fits heaven, so ride it.  		Remote has button, so MUTE it.