Legend 17 - The Active Scroll

Legend 17 - The active scroll 
 
There was a place where serenity and happiness covered the land like 
new fallen snow. Its invisible magic gave all inner strength and joy that 
sustained them in the face of the hardships of life, as it was intended... 
However, on a day when there was a double rainbow at dawn there came a 
stranger who could not feel the peace or be touched by the joy of others. 
As he moved through the hills of this paradise, his condition grew grim, 
which caused much concern in the villagers. What manner of disease did 
this foretell that nothing could stir or warm his soul? The wise women of 
the village took him in and tried to bring him happiness, but he 
would have none of it. They called in the Elders of the Valley, and they 
studied the large man who had no smile or sparkle, nor had he any name. 
They too came to no result, and the depression of the 'Large One' as he 
was to be called, grew deeper and deeper. He seemed to even slow down in 
his movements as time itself was having trouble reaching him. The 
'Elders would exclaim proverbs when he was mentioned: "Happiness comes fr 
om within....serenity with others can not come till serenity with yourself 
comes..." all of which sounded great and wonderful, but had no affect on 
changing the situation which was getting worse by the day. 
On the tenth day after his arrival, there was another double rainbow in 
the evening and from it came a rider. He, the villagers had heard of in 
legends and they were certainly not going to have any of his antics in 
their hills for where ever he went nothing was ever to be the same. 
The alarm was sounded and the guards were warded in place. However, they 
were too late for the foul mouthed fellow with the ugliest four legged 
creature in time, had already approached the 'Large One'. This actually 
angered some of the villagers, who could accept his challenge of their 
lives, but to pick on the nearly comatose stranger was quite petty. 
The 'Little One' made no notice of the villagers unless they stood 
directly in his path to the 'Large One' then he would touch his mount and 
it would let out the most outrageous 'Hee-haa-Onk Onk' noise that was most 
likely the start of a spell to turn one into a ten toed frog or some such 
as he was famous for...though in all fairness it never did last long.... 
...as he approached the other, the anger on his face was quite intense and 
only the beast seemed to be amused by the whole thing, for the rider 
shouted out: "You worthless bag of star trash, that we could even be on the
same temporal plane is an insult that I will not let pass, let alone that 
we are....don't sulk and hide in that self pity routine, save that garbage 
for someone with half a twit for an idol...look at me when I call you, dust
brained toad spit...why do I have to do everything myself, you lazy self 
centered morphallaxis moron...still playing the mopey dopey?...I've seen 
better sulks on an Imp with a broken mirror, I've seen better scowls on a 
baby balrog at bath time..." 
On and on, the little one went dancing around the immobile form of what 
was slowly becoming apparent, a friend of his, for why else spend so much 
effort on a stranger or an enemy (odd thinking was a pattern of these 
villagers who obviously never met a true enemy). Even a few kicks seemed 
to not stir the Large One. As the verbal fury and outpouring continued 
to mount, the beast at first beamed and then smiled, and soon begin to 
laugh in its ugly repulsive manner. At the height of the noise the beast 
could hardly stand from its own hysterics... 
"...you laggard, dilatory, two bellied sea slug...I'll fix your stare...." 
With this the Little One reached into his pocket and took out a Runewriter 
and a scroll. The villagers froze for this was now moving into serious 
arcane confrontations. With a dramatic flare he wrote the Rune for 
'Stone' on the Scroll and placed it in the sun light. Taking out from his 
pocket a handful of silver and an item off the Large One he counted: 
"...One, two, three, four...seven...come out of it you nestorian dupe,...
"..twenty, twenty one, ...this is really going to fix you for all time...
"..thirty one, thirty two...be a rock head see if I care... 
"..thirty six, thirty seven, thirty eight...you pagan dog, don't make me do this..." 
The magic aura around him was the most intense blue ever 
seen. Just before he could count out the last coin on the scroll, a 
transformation took place and instead of a mount stood a replica of the 
'Large One' who laughed and said: "My good little fellow, it appears that 
I can indeed 'MAKE' you do some things. I believe I have won and would 
you so kindly acknowledge the same." 
"Won? Never, did I do anything...why no, nothing happened the spell 
didn't go off. You got nothing on me..." 
"Now who feels abused Little Fellow?" 
"Abuse?...I've seen better abuse in a Vampire School of Dentistry, 
"I'll show you abuse..." 
 
And in a flash, the pair was gone, leaving behind the scroll all charged 
and ready to go. This the villagers took it and put in a special case 
with a warning on the inscription and the story of its intended use, so all
who examine the item can know the danger that rests within and how to use 
it or use it not as the case may be.
The village may have fallen into ruins by now, but anyhow the scroll has
never resurfaced. Find the village, find the scroll and its case.