Organization: Penn State University
Date: Thu, 19 Nov 1992 09:42:07 EST
From: The Dreamer <ASG102@psuvm.psu.edu>
Newsgroups: alt.pub.dragons-inn
Subject: [Mista][L] Someone Knocking ...


Luthor surveyed the scene before him.  Only three of the small Earths had
been destroyed so far.  The others, slow as they were, had made it to the
Dragon's Inn.  The first of them to make it there tried to go through the
doorway.

------------
E A R T H :
M U S T O B E Y M A S T E R E N T E R I N N B R I N G O U T S I D E
W H A T I S T H I S I T W O N T L E T M E I N T O T H E I N N B U T
I M U S T G E T I N O R I W I L L B E H U R T B Y T H E M A S T E R
P U S H H A R D E R I T D O E S N O T W O R K W H A T I S W R O N G
M E L D I N T O T H E E A R T H G O U N D E R I N N A N D E N T E R
T H R O U G H T H E F L O O R B L O C K E D H E R E A L S O P U S H
H A R D E R N O U S E I A M T R Y I N G M A S T E R B U T I C A N T
G E T I N N O N O T T H E P A I N I A M T R Y I N G I S W E A R I T
W H Y W O U L D I D I S O B E Y Y O U S T O P T H E P A I N A N D I
W I L L T R Y A G A I N I A M S O S O R R Y M A S T E R P L E A S E
S T O P T H E P A I N T H A N K Y O U M A S T E R I K N O W W H A T
T O D O N O W I U N D E R S T A N D Y O U A R E V E R Y C L E V E R
-----------

Luthor saw the creature try to force its way through the doorway,
but the magic that held out hostile forces worked.  The creature tried
again.  The doorway shimmered and emitted a high pitched whine, but again
the doorway held.

Trying a different tactic, the creature disappeared into the ground.  With
his mage sight, Luthor saw a magical field flicker UNDER the inn, but again,
the magic held.  Moments later, the creature came out of the ground again.
Its fellow Earths were at the front walls of the inn.  As a unit, they moved
to equally spaced positions on the wall and with a mighty blow, they struck
the wall.  The sound from the crash was a deafening rumble.

The magic that reinforced the walls of the inn was weakened considerably
by this blow and the magical drain that was caused by something in the Low
City.  Fearing that it would buckle under the second hit that was sure to
follow, Luthor receded into the shadows.
----------

The "Ultimate Dark Hooded One" sat in the corner and watched the other patrons
of the inn.  No one noticed him because he refused to make a sound.  He just
watched and waited.  Waited for what?  you might ask.  Well, he had been
watching and waiting so long that he had forgotten.  All he remembered was
that his goal was to be the most mysterious person in the inn and what a
competitive crowd this was.  He was so good at being stealthy and mysterious
that everyone in the inn not only forgot about him, but also ceased caring.
He laughted to himself (silently of course).

Suddenly, the shadows parted and a blacker than BLACK form emerged.  The
"Ultimate Dark Hooded One" was so suprised that he jumped out of his seat
and let out a high pitched "Eeep!".  The golden skinned elf turned to him
and siad, "Sorry, I thought this was an empty corner" and patted him on the
back.  The "Ultimate Dark Hooded One" was mortified.  He had been discovered
and now the Rabble stared at him intently.

He would have to leave the inn, wait a while, and then make another
mysterious entrance before retreating to his dark corner.  Having nothing
better to do, he followed his own plan, but he was met with the unexpected.
As soon as he went outside the inn, he was attacked and reduced to a bloody
mess by an Earth elemental.  As it stomped on him, he did not make a sound,
and as everyone lost interest, he mysteriously faded away.
----------

Luthor finished scaring the wits out of a patron with a cloak that was almost
as BLACK as his.  Then he remembered what he was here to do.  He walked to
the center of the bar room, reached inside his cloak, and pulled out the
Gem of Chaos.  He walked to the nearest table and addressed the Mind Flayer
who was sitting there.  "Excuse me sir, but I need your table, the inn is
in danger."

E'Karam's tenticles twitched briefly and then he answered, "Most certainly.
Anything I can do to help?"

"Not unless you can do something about Earth elementals." Luthor cleared off
the table and set the Gem in the middle.  After spilling the Mind Flayer's
drink, Luthor was struck by the smells of strawberries. 'Odd that a Mind
Flayer should have a craving for a Halfling drink,' Luthor thought.

After E'Karam left the area, Luthor focused on the Gem.  He built up the
ressonance and spoke:

_______         ____  ____   ____                                   ____
   |    |    | |     |      |          |      |   /\   |     |     |
   |    |____| |___  |____  |___       |      | /    \ |     |     |____
   |    |    | |          | |          |  /\  | |----| |     |          |
   |    |    | |____  ____| |____       \/  \/  |    | |____ |____  ____|

 _____    __                   ___                    __           ___
|       /    \  |     | |     |    \        |    |  /    \  |     |    \   |
|      |      | |     | |     |     |       |____| |      | |     |     |  |
|      |      | |     | |     |     |       |    | |      | |     |     |  |
|_____  \ __ /   \___/  |____ |___ /        |    |  \ __ /  |____ |___ /   O

Just in time for the second hit of the Earths outside the inn.  Luthor held
his concentration on the Gem and the walls of the inn knowing that their
magic had faltered.  He could feel Serene's concern from across the room,
but he could offer her no words of reassurance.  Serene held Mista close.

Luthor hoped that Eric, Firecat, and the other patron who had helped, could
do something about the Earths.  He could not keep the walls up forever.

     Love and Peace and Wrecking Crews,
               -The Dreamer-