From: alaric@sti.com (Alaric Tekiahyn)
Newsgroups: alt.pub.cloven-shield
Subject: Re: [Chalamar] Sam's shoulder
Date: 7 Jan 1993 21:09:12 GMT
Organization: Software Transformation, Inc.
Distribution: world
NNTP-Posting-Host: smurf.sti.com

In article <1993Jan6.221515.25871@ultb.isc.rit.edu>, jempci@ultb.isc.rit.edu (J.E. Mason) writes:
] "Alaric, is our destination far?  How long will it take to get there?  If it 
] requires a large length of time, and if it is safe to be here, out in the open,
] but surrounded by the destrier herd; I suggest that those of us requiring
] nourishment,"  he glares at Sam, "take care of their hunger now, before we have 
] other encounters.  Obviously eating in flight can be dangerous.  And while
] we're at it, we should take care of other *ahem* needs that we cannot attend
] to on destrier-back."

Alaric nods in assent.

"I agree," he replies.  "Any who lacked the foresight to take care of -
 ah, bodily needs - before we left should do so now.  Fortunately, we have
 travelled little enough distance so far that we will lose little by the
 delay.  We are as safe here as anywhere in Shadow, and much safer than
 we shall be later on our journey."

He pauses, thinking.

"As to the length of our journey...   I will try to explain this as best
 I can.
"What the mere shadow-walker does - he who uses magic to shadow-walk -
 is to simply travel normally through the plane of Shadow, relying upon
 the different...  scales, you could say...  of the two planes to increase
 his speed.  Entering Shadow from the prime material - your normal world -
 and travelling one league in Shadow, then re-entering your world - will
 normally leave you around seven leagues from your starting point.
"What we are doing is something different, and more complicated; something
 that cannot be accomplished by magic alone.  It requires an intimate
 knowledge of the plane.
"When I speak of the polar regions of this plane, you must understand that
 the poles of the Plane of Shadow are not locations as such.  Rather, they
 are...  properties of the plane.  To take you toward the poles, I must
 manipulate the properties of the plane around us as we travel.  The faster
 we travel, the greater the changes I am able to make, and the faster we
 approach the poles.  Since the polar regions are, in a certain sense, the
 same distance from all parts of the plane - that is to say, it takes as
 long to reach the polar regions from one part of the plane as from any
 other - having reached the polar regions, we can then turn about and leave
 them, and choose to return to the more normal regions of the plane in a
 far different region than that from which we left.  We can travel, in this
 manner, far further than we could ever travel by conventional means in
 the same time; and the closer we approach the poles, the greater the
 distance we can gain."

He pauses, looking around.

"...Does this make sense to everyone?
"There is, however, a certain limitation.  If we stop, our surroundings -
 or the properties of our surroundings - tend to gradually revert to normal.
 Thus, if we stop, we lose ground.
"In the short time we have been travelling so far, we have gained little
 ground to lose.  Later on, this will not be true.  Therefore, once we
 resume our journey, we should do so ready to continue non-stop as far as
 we may.  I expect our journey to take around eight hours, and to return
 us to the Prime Material - to your world - about a half day's journey
 from our destination."

He glances once more around the party, his gaze perhaps lingering a
moment longer on Sam than on the other party members.

"So, if there is anyone who has needs to take care of before beginning
 an eight-hour ride - please do so NOW.
"One word of warning," he continues, indicating several boulders and
rock piles in the vicinity.
"If you plan to use any of these rocks as a screen, be sure to give
 them a wide berth, or you may find yourself unexpectedly meeting a
 stone-viper.  Stone-viper bites are excruciatingly painful, and usually
 fatal.  I am fortunate enough to have built up a resistance to the venom;
 you do not have that advantage, so beware."
 

-- 
      "Eternal vigilance is the price of freedom."  --  Thomas Jefferson
    ......................................................................
    Phil Stracchino : phils@sti.com : alaric@sti.com : The Renaissance Man
      PGP 2.0 - Freeware public-key data encryption.  Get it and use it!
           Finger alaric@sti.com for PGP 2.0 info and my public key
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