Organization: Penn State University
Date: Fri, 8 Jan 1993 15:47:19 EST
From: The Dreamer <ASG102@psuvm.psu.edu>
Newsgroups: alt.pub.dragons-inn
Subject: ADMIN: At Last, I'm FREE! [The Dreamer]

     She turned on the computer again in the vain hope that the system was
running and she could finally connect.  The addiction had made her nerves raw.
They ached for the once constant input that her mind had gotten used to over
the past eight months.  Her creative juices were overflowing, but there was
no release in sight...the world was gray.
     With a familiar wurring sound, the computer's hard drive activated.
After a few beeps and a memory check, there was a deafening silence as the
computer reached out to find the path to heaven.  In that infinity of a
pause, The Dreamer's mind raced.  It flew back to his beginnings and she
remembered the birth of a new age in creation.

     It was early May in alt.config.  He had just been cruising the perimeter
of rec.games.frp when he spotted an unusually dark walker amidst the normal
grays of the regular .frp posters.  It was an entity who called itself
Nightstalker.  He was intrigued and reached out to this spirit of the net.
When there was contact, he saw the vision of a new world.  Nightstalker was
making a plea to the powers that be.  A plea to give substance to this dream.
     The mediocre spoke against it, normality must be maintained.  They raised
many questions about the feasibility and usefulness of such a venture.
     The Dreamer rushed to the aid of this Dark entity and their voices joined,
along with a few others, to form a roar that the mediocre could not ignore.
Thus the wish was granted grudgingly.
     It won't last a week.
     But it did...and another.
     The Dreamer had to leave for a while...the absence was forced, but he
accepted his lot.
     When he returned, he found that the dream had indeed taken on substance
of a powerful nature.  Within this dream, minds played out their fantasies,
unbounded by rules.  These freed spirits skipped around in the shapes of elves,
humans, dwarves, lizardfolk, and other colorful forms.  The Dreamer dived into
this fantastic bubble and emerged from the shadows to sing a song of long lost
friends.  After the song was done and the last note played, he vowed to make
some new ones (both songs and friends).  Here, The Dreamer lived as Luthor
Anside...and then in many other forms as well: Murell Darkmane, Trawm, Helen
the Grey, Little Rat, ...  Each was a part of The Dreamer.  Each an expression
of his hopes and fears ... and love.
     Indeed, one aspect of him did fall in love with a simple woman, a barmaid
named Serene.  Together, they enjoyed the simple pleasures of life.  They
toured the town and brought a child into this world of collective creation.
     Once again, The Dreamer had to leave.  His physical access to Nexus was
torn from him against his will by the horrible creature "VACATION"!  His mind
ached.  He longed to touch The Known Lands once again, but it was hopeless.
Even when he got back to his office and sat in his chair, the connection was
lost.

     ...the computer began to check for viruses on its hard drive. A wide
smile graced The Dreamers lips.  She settled into her chair as her anticipation
mounted.  Once before, the computer had gotten this far, but it still refused
the connection to the world beyond.  The MAIN MENU popped up.  Two keystrokes,
and a beep later, she was in ecstacy.  She entered her userid and password,
paused to glance over her mail, and then dove in.
     Her world (belonging to her as much as it belonged to a hundred other
people), was there.  It seemed as though the horrible creature "VACATION" had
rampaged through the net, trampling the newsgroups as it passed through.
Fortunately, "VACATION" was a short lived creature.  Soon, her world would

recover and flourish once more, so she smiled, sat back, and settled into
typing.  As the familiar sound of clacking keys reached her ears, she was
whole again.  With a sigh, she though "At last, I am FREE!".

Translation: Hello everyone, it's GREAT being back!

     Love and Peace and Reunions,
            -The Dreamer-


[Political mode on]
PS. The Dreamer does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, age, sex,
    ethnicity, ancestry, color, disability, handicap, national origin, sexual
    orientation, veteran status, political party, sytle of dress, species,
    planet of origin, fandom of any of the Star Trek series, total amount of
    hours spent on the net, lifetime high score on Tetris, or anything else
    that shouldn't make a difference.

    The Dreamer does discriminate against bigots...sorry.
[Political mode off]