From: bshsiung@undergrad.math.waterloo.edu (Bernard Hsiung)
Subject: [D] Dariel:  Arrival (new character)
Organization: University of Waterloo
Distribution: alt
Date: Wed, 26 Aug 1992 22:48:59 GMT


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ADMIN:  Character description (yeah, I know it's kind of long, but things
might be a little difficult to understand later without it...)
     Dariel appears to be a man in his mid-twenties, but his light blue eyes
are very wise and they shine with an inner light.  His hair is sandy brown,
short and untidy.  He is good-looking in an innocent sort of way.  His voice
is soft and expressive, and his manner direct but easy-going and gentle.  He
smiles often.  He wears simple, unornamented clothes and carries no weapon.
     He possesses great strength of character despite the fact that his life
is not entirely his own; he obeys the will of one he calls Master, living in
a far distant place named Stronghold.  Stronghold has been at war for a very,
very long time, since before Dariel was created.  They are slowly losing.  As
a minor agent of his Master, Dariel was sent to remove the threat of four
Archons who had journeyed to the world on which Generica is located and
established a base of operations there.  Having accomplished his assigned
duty, Dariel is waiting patiently for his Master to send someone to retrieve
him.  He expects to be waiting for some time.
     He is not really a warrior, more an explorer, by temperament.  However,
Stronghold has fallen upon desperate times of late, and even those who were
not created expressively for battle have been drawn into the conflict.  While
Dariel dislikes fighting, he has a strong sense of duty and does not shirk his
responsibilities.  Wherever he is, he tries to do whatever good he can.  On
the other hand, he is respectful of others, understanding that not everyone
shares his world-view, and does not attempt to impose his beliefs on them.
     He has some rather unusual talents:  line-of-sight teleportation (able to
transfer himself and what he bears to any place that he can see), precognition
(usually on the order of several minutes, with the occasional deeper flash of
foresight), and the ability to perceive the flowing of natural and magical
forces and to sense the basic personalities and feelings of sentients.  These
abilities serve him well when he travels.  He is somewhat stronger than he
looks and does not sleep or eat, unless he wants to, as he can draw sustenance
from his surroundings.  He learns extremely quickly.  Magic of any sort, even
divine influences, have a muted effect on him; fortunately, he does not get
sick and recovers quickly from injury.  He has a small aptitude for healing;
at the very least, he is usually able to soothe pain and restore hope.
     You may wonder why his Master has frivolously left him where he is;
Dariel doesn't know either, but suspects that he is being tested or that he
will be needed where he is found.
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     *I'm sorry, Master, but I never wanted to do this.  You knew that, didn't
You?  As I stand in this ruined tower, the feeling is strong in me that I will
never see You, nor Stronghold, ever again.  Am I so unimportant, that I am a
tool to be used once and then discarded?  Or do You abandon me here, this far
away Place, to teach me a lesson?  Or is it beyond Your abilities to retrieve
me now, I am as an arrow fired in battle and no time can be spared to recover
it?  Or is even my questioning impertient?  Forgive me, Master.  I did as You
commanded.  May the Beacon shine forever.  Tell Nireen I shall miss her very
much.  I miss her--and You--now and always.  Good-bye, my Master.  --Dariel*
     I think my hand was shaking as the message globe recorded my thoughts.
Unfolded on the palm of my hand, it resembled nothing more than a thin disk of
tinted glass.  I dropped the dead Archon's soul amulet, a miniature obsidian
skull, on it and released the disk to bend into a familiar translucent sphere,
trapping the amulet within.  My signature, two pairs of parallel lines tilted
slightly to touch at a sharp angle, glowed faintly as I covered the globe with
my other hand.  There was a burst of light as it was Sent.  It was the last.
By now, the other three globes would have reached Stronghold bearing the souls
of the other Archons, all preternaturally deceased by my hand.
     The final Archon had been the worse.  It was well-prepared and quite
paranoid.  It cared nothing for the price it had paid, blinded by the power it
had acquired through its mad dealings.  In the end, it had been willing to
destroy its body and collapse its tower to kill me and had very nearly
succeeded.
     And now?  I would have to survive here until my Master saw fit to send a
Wayfarer to return me to Stronghold.  It was doubtful that one would come for
several decades at least--Stronghold was under heavy siege and the Wayfarers
had better things to do than pick up stray servants, scattered here and there
as the Master willed.  At least the threat from this Place had been ended,
though it might mean I would be confined here for the immediate future.
     Very well, then.  If this was to be home, I might as well make the best
of it.  Studying the aura of the immediate world showed that it teemed with
life, a large proportion of it intelligent.  The aura also held indications of
many greater and lesser powers, and seemingly boundless extents of energy--it
was no wonder that the Archons had selected this Place as a starting point.
If it had been successfully chained to their will, they would have been
formidable indeed.  It would be best to be wary; such a rich prize might
attract other contenders.  I would have thought that the Master should have
sent a Guardian rather than one such as I, a scout and observer.  Perhaps
none could be spared.
     It would be good to familiarize myself with the ones who dwell here and
with the nature of the place.  There would be cities and civilizations.  With
the high concentration of Power, many of the folk would be wizards and mages.
There would be fantastic beasts and items of wonder, as there always are.
Accordingly, I must travel and learn.  Some of the wild places would trade
for their secrets.  Some of the cities would have libraries and knowledgable
people.  Perhaps there were gateways, maybe even a path back to Stronghold...
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Bernie Hsiung (bshsiung@descartes.waterloo.edu)
"If a messy desk is the sign of a messy mind, then what is an empty desk the
 sign of?"
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