From: ASG102@psuvm.psu.edu
Newsgroups: alt.pub.dragons-inn
Subject: [L] Entering the Castle
Date: 13 Aug 92 15:52:31 GMT
Organization: Penn State University

ADMIN: Here is the first post about attacking the Queen's Castle...enjoy.
Time: Just past sunset.

  Sergeant Versuniake was guarding the drawbridge, and he was just starting
to get bored - there was usually not much happening at night - when he saw
two people arrive at the other side.  One of them appeared to be a castle
guard, another was a thin man with long blonde hair, dressed in loose fitting
shirt and pants.

  "Hello?  Let me in, I just made a prisoner!"
  "Private Veikas?  Is that you?"
  "Yes, sir.  I caught this man insulting the queen."
  The sergeant commanded another guard to let down the bridge, and the
mechanism started noisily.

  The two figures trotted over the bridge, and the sergeant welcomed them
with a frowning face.  "Private, what were you doing outside the castle?"
  "I captured this man here."
  "No, I want to know why you were outside in the first place."
  ""
  "Well?"
  "I... I fell from the wall."
  "You did what?"
  "I fell from the wall.  See, there was that dog, and when I looked over the
wall, I slipped and fell.  Luckily, I fell into the moat and didn't hurt
myself."
  "You are not wet!"
  "I went to my mother, and she washed my things.  She had a visitor - this
man - and he insulted the queen, so I brought him with me."
  "You should have come here immediately!  Go to Corporal Dronular and get
your punishment!  I'll check that!"  The sergeant smiled at the prisoner.
  "So you insulted the queen, ha?  I don't want to be in your place.
Private, bring him to the queen, then return to your post, and then go get
punished!"

  The two got in, went round the corner, stopped, and wiped the sweat off
their faces.
  "*I fell from the wall!*" said the prisoner.
  "It was all I could think of!  I'd like to see *you* at my place!"
  A voice came out of nowhere: "Bakr!  Brycur!  I know you are nervous, but
we don't have time for discussion now.  Let's go on.  This way."

  The cloaked Luthor guided Brycur at the arm, and Bakr followed them in the
guise of Private Veikas of the Castle Guard, directing a halberd at Brycur's
back.

  They travelled down the twisted corridors of the castle.  Nothing looked
different from the last time Luthor was here, but it felt different.  When
the Queen was still sane, Luthor thought of her as a kind and gentle woman.
The castle was constantly filled with the sounds of music and laughter, but
now, because of the Queen's insanity, the guards were tense and the only
sounds that filled the castle were screams from the Queen's Red Room.

  They rounded a corner and wnet down another hallway, passing another castle
guard.
  "Veik, I thought you were going to take a nap," said the guard as they
passed.
  "I was, but I'm sort of busy right now," Bakr said feigning recognition.
  "Sucks, don't it?  Are we still on for cards tonight?"
  "Uh...sure thing, but I might be late."
  "What else is new?  See ya in a few hours then."

  Bakr countinued walking down the corridor, trying to control his breathing.
He decided that he was not meant to be a spy, it made him too nervous.

  Luthor took them up a narrow staircase which lead to a door.
  "This is the room of the queen's bodyguard.  Keep him talking until I can
sneak into the room and get behind him.  We only have one shot at this, so
don't screw it up," Luthor wispered.
  Bakr knocked on the door.  A few moments later, with Bakr's heart beating
so hard that he thought it would jump out of his chest, the door opened.
The man opening it was a human, over six feet tall and very muscular.  His
scarred face told a tale of many battles.  A dark shadow on his head was
all that remained of his hair which was shaved for combat reasons.  His
dark eyes looked over the image of Veikas, looking for signs of attack, not
because he felt threatened, but out of habit.  Veikas' look of pure fear
told him that things were as they should be...this private had always been
afraid of him.
  "What is so important that you have to disturb me private?" he asked, in
a voice that demanded obedience...


Bakr ibn Ja'far ibn Musa al Mekneshi, apprentice mage.
Newsgroups: alt.pub.dragons-inn