Game Log 02

## The Children of Today

The tribal elders took the children,
all just in their fifteenth year of life, to the Stones of Motion
surrounding the stead. The Sacred Time was normally cold and this
evening proved no different, so all were wearing heavy cloaks over
their normal clothing. The chieftan motioned to Mankar and Astra,
"You two will keep vigil here as it is the task of men to guard
the border just as it is the task of women to safeguard the hearth."
No one mentioned that Astra was hardly a man but as a follower of
Lankhar Mhy, it wasn't deemed odd (except, perhaps, to Astra
herself!)

The villagers led Aud and Ryala away,
leaving the two in a very profound darkness as their torches faded
from view. The sky was devoid of sun and moon and the lights of the
village were far enough away as to be inconsequential. Mankar looked
up and breathed in the night air deeply, letting his breath out in a
puff of unseen vapor. "So, a vigil, eh?"

Astra, apparently enjoying the cold air
less, or at least willing not to hide her discomfort, drew her cloak
around her more tightly. "Hmph. Men's quest! I bet the others
are doing something easy... and warm!"

"Ah, it isn't that b-b-bad!"
The last statement didn't come out very convincing as his teeth
chattered a bit toward the end. He wore his cloak closer and
sympathized. "It's only one night and then..."

"...we're adults!" she
continued his thought.

"It's weird, though. I've never
seen an adulthood ceremony before. I tried to imagine what it's like
in other places where these things happen all the time. Do you have
any idea?"

She shook her head. Curious, she had
looked it up, or tried to, but the books she had access to didn't
have any clue. "Different places have different customs. Even if
I knew, it might not be the same here. Also, it feels like cheating."

"You still tried to find out,
though, didn't you?" He grinned in the dark. She couldn't see it
but knew the grin was there.

"Maybe!" She smiled back,
invisibly as well.

They chatted for awhile and then
settled down for the long watch, having exhausted all the topics for
now.

What felt like many, many hours later
(but was likely just one or two), Astra spotted some shadows blocking
the stars on the horizon. "Ssst! Mankar!" she whispered
urgently.

He shook off the grip of sleep that had
a hand on shoulder and looked where she indicated. "Ah, you're
right. Let's get them!" He indicated good places for an ambush
and slipped into the cover nearby. Astra attempted to do the same,
tripped over her cloak and sprawled right in front of the shadowy
figures.

Groaning, Mankar jumped out and
proclaimed, "Go no further as we are on vigil and are vigilant,
so no further shall you go because of our... vigil. Yeah." He
muttered under his breath, "That sounded so much better in my
head!"

"We are the emissiaries!"
boomed the largest figure. "Name yourselves!"

The boy stood up straight, his six feet
of height on full display. "I am Mankar, follower of Orlanth!"

"Bah, a Trickstery sort of answer!
This journey is only for Gods... are you Gods?"

Mankar suddenly realized what was going
on. "I misspoke. I am Orlanth, lead on, Emissaries."

Astra, quick-witted as every, caught on
as well. "And I'm Lankhar Mhy."

"Hmph, Trickster or Gods, follow
us to the place you will be tested."

The two were led to a dark area on the
ground, obviously a pit of unknown depth. But even without sight, the
sounds – and smells – told the teens what was in the pits.

Pigs. Lots of pigs.

"This the Pit of Beasts!" The lead emissary intoned. "You must cross by any means at your disposal. Mastery over animals is a natural talent for any man."

Astra sniffed dismissively, "Do you know how to herd animals?"

He shook his head. "Unless you count using my net on fish, 'herding', then no. He did say any way though, so let me try this!" Mankar took several large steps backwards, paused, and then ran toward the pit at full speed! Just before the edge, he took a mighty leap and landed neatly on the other side, not even breathing hard.

The girl sighed, "Well, no way I can do THAT." She climbed down provided rope and tried to push her way through the beasts who insisted on gathering around her and blocking her passage.

After a few minutes of this, Mankar threw her the end of his net and she climbed gratefully upward. He laughed, "Having good friends counts as 'any means', does it not?"

They were led to the next area but the coming dawn had made seeing just slightly easier. They heard moans of... pleasure? A sweet, seductive scent was coming from the hole and the barely-visible shapes in the shadows promised much.

The emissary spoke again (was that a hint of a smile in the shadow of his hood?). "This is the Pit of Lust! A man must know passion -- yes! -- but he must also Master himself as well. Again, cross as you can!"

Astra climbed down and barely bothered to look to either side and quickly climbed out again. This test was designed for men and she found little there to attract her attention!

Mankar had a slightly harder time.

After waiting for a time significantly longer than Mankar had waited for her, he finally climbed out of the pit.

"Lose your way?"

"I may have gotten a little, umm, distracted." he said shamefacedly.

She grinned and they followed the hooded men to the last pit. "Finally, the Endless War Pit! All men should be able to smite their foes and protect their kin and kinder! Strike a blow and finish this last challenge!"

Mankar laughed and leapt down. Inside were two trollkin wielding short spears and, it must be said, scared expressions. Without a word, Mankar unsheathed his sword and immediately attacked! After just two swings, he knocked out the trollkin using the flat of his blade. He didn't think this test was supposed to be lethal so he was as gentle as he could be.

After a few rounds of sparring, Astra finally hit her trollkin across the arm with her staff. A rope was let down and they climbed out quickly.

After the last pit, they were led back
to the Stones of Motion. "Before you go further, you must find
your name. Look to the top of the menhirs!"

Without hesitating, Mankar immediately
started climbing one but lost his grip due to the thin layer of dew
on the rock. Undaunted, he tried again and made it about halfway up
before he mistook a patch of rock for a handhold in the dark and
tumbled down again. The third time, he learned from the first two
attempts and finally reached the top.

In the same time, Astra had circled her
rock three times, carefully examining it. With careful calculations,
she plotted her path upwards. Finally, after finishing her plan, she
ascended the stone as if she did it every day, following Mankar by
only a few moments.

At the top, each found two stones, one
with each of their names. Astra pocketed the one with her own name
and went down the way she went up while Mankar dropped lightly to the
ground from a height that would make most people at least pause
briefly.

The hooded figure nodded, "You
have indeed shown your worth. Drink deeply and step forward bravely,
Gods!" He handed each a goblet (much fancier than they were used
to) and drank. Mankar downed his with one swallow whereas Astra
proceeded after sniffing the liquid and sipping carefully.

The boy found his eyes growing heavier
and the time his eyes stayed open was growing shorter and shorter.
Finally, after a unmarked time of darkness, he found himself in a
sunny (and warm) field that he had never seen before. Nearby there
was a huge longhouse, easily larger by ten times in all dimension. He
almost frowned, but laughed instead! "Now, this is an
adventure!"

In front of the doors of the longhouse
stood two guards with spears and gilded armor. "Who goes there?"
They menaced the teens with their spears, eyes unforgiving.

Mankar stated boldly. "We are
Gods, of course! I am Orlanth and this is Lankhar Mhy!"

The guards looked at her and they
appeared troubled. "Is... is that the case?"

Astra nodded quickly. "Of course
it is. Let us pass."

Apparently convinced, they opened the
doors and let the two into the grand hall. At one end, on a throne
of gold set on a tall platfrom sat a noble-looking man that almost
glowed with majesty. His court was arrayed around him, apparently
displeased by the intrusion. Finally the monarch spoke. "What do
we see here? What has come into our hall? Entertain us immediately or
face utter destruction."

Both kids recognized this as Yelm, the
Sun, one of the supreme gods. Mankar stepped forward, "I am the
one that both slew and rescued you! Why should I also amuse you?"

Yelm's face darkened in a most literal
fashion. "The winds are still under the sun and this is our
court. Every person and every god has their place. Know yours!"

Mankar thought about this and bowed,
"So be it!" He started a powerful dance, leaping, stomping,
swirling as if lifted by the air itself. Sometime during the dance,
he pulled out a sword and dagger and the reflections threw light
around the room as he both impressed and shocked the audience.
Finally, he stopped, panting, his weapons crossed above his head. He
sheathed them with one smooth motion, bowed and stepped back.

In the silence that followed, Astra
stepped up and began reciting lyrical poems. This seemed more in line
with the tastes of the crowd and several were nodding and smiling
toward the end.

Yelm spoke after both performances,
"You have pleased us! Go now with no enmity and our blessings.
May the Sun light your path and blind your enemies!"

Mankar was in fine spirits as they
exited through the back of the hall. "Ah, this is fun! I wonder
how many challenges lie before us, 'Lankhar'."

She shrugged. "It could be short
or long, there is no set length."

With a wolfish smile, he said, "Let's
hope for long then... I've never enjoyed myself more!" He even
began to whistle merrily as they walked.

Soon, they came upon a small lake that
seemed odd to Mankar's water-wise eyes. "Don't get too close to
this one; there's something unsavory about it." Before he could
finish, the water began to bubble, then churn.

Astra peered over. "That doesn't
appear to be natural." She sniffed, "No sign of a gaseous
release. I'd say there's something down there."

As if summoned by her, the water bulged
revealing a vaguely frog-shaped head. And, in some trick of scale,
they were no longer standing next to a lake but instead the boundless
sea! "The waters are mine to rule, for all waters come to me in
the end! I am Magasta, last of the great Sea Gods! Cross me if you
dare! Kneel and serve me if you wish to live!"

Mankar snorted and without hesitating a
bit, suddenly threw the net he always carried with him. It settled
neatly over the head of the creature. For some reason, the waters
could not penetrate the net and were somehow trapped by it. Magasta
roared and stormed but could not break free! "Astra, strike
while I have him bound!"

Astra's staff struck the head
repeatedly, driving it back while Mankar's muscles bulged with the
effort of keeping the god in check. Finally, it gave in to their
efforts. "I yield, heroes! You have bested me and may pass."

Just before collecting his net, Mankar
reminded the god. "Some day, we will seek to cross your domain
and our safe passage has been won by this test."

The god slipped back into the water and
a burbling 'so be it' may have been heard from below.

Astra mused, "We've met the Sun
and the Sea... does this quest have more gods in store for us?"

"I think that's your answer
ahead." There was a large creature ahead but, to there was a
weird dichotomy in what they saw. Simultaneously, it was about eight
feet tall and also many hundreds of feet long, its body stretching
out of sight. For a moment, Mankar had an insight into the nature of
the Gods but it was gone as soon as it came.

The eye/eyes of the dragon fell upon
them and, wordlessly, they knew it would challenge them and block
their path if not appeased.

Mankar felt his blood heat up because,
in many ways, he was happier when testing his limits than from any
rewards! He was ignorant of what the dragon wanted so he went with
his heart. "Mighty dragon, wrestle with me! Let's test our
strengths against each other!"

The boy reached out his arms and, after
a second, the dragon did likewise. After struggling for one, two,
three brief moments, Mankar found himself flying through the air and
then crashing into the ground. He picked himself up but instead of
looking angry, he was laughing delightedly!

Astra sighed and stepped up. She began
to recite a tale that was, rumor had it, was originally told by a
Dragon to a human and was translated as best as they were able. It
had many odd asides, passages that didn't make sense to Mankar and
didn't end so much as simply stopped.

The dragon blinked once and then
pointed at Mankar. Its meaning entered their heads though they found
it hard to actually assign words to the message. "You may
continue if you promise that when you encounter a Dragonewt named
Acorn-Falls-in-the-Stream, that you do not harm him."

"And will we be rewarded if we
help him?" Mankar asked audaciously.

The Dragon blinked twice but didn't
actually disagree. It then closed its eyes, obviously dismissing
them.

The boy mentioned to his friend when
they walked away, "I'm going to wrestle that Dragon again."

"Not now!"

"Well, of course, not *now*.
I have to get stronger first!"

The
path took them to a massive set of iron doors. They marvelled at the
size, weight and, it has to be said, the expense! No one had this
much iron only to use it as a simple door!

Mankar
stared at the portal. "Who would make this out of iron?"

Astra
pondered. "Dwarves invented iron. If anyone would have this
much, it would be them. They say that the world is a great machine
and they are the caretakers."

He
eyed the metal. "We should investigate but if there's no one
there, we should take them to make armor and weapons!" He
laughed as he tried pulling open the portal. A simple tug didn't work
so he set his jaw and gave it a great pull until it finally rumbled
open.

What
they saw was the strangest room ever to present themselves to them.
Even in their rather sheltered lives, they had seen pictures and had
things described from far-off lands but no story even came close to
this. The walls, floor and ceiling were all made of metal. There were
boxes covered with raised rivets, rods sticking out, small bits of
metal behind glass twitching and things even less comprehensible. In
the midst of it all a small humanoid sat, pulling rods, watching the
twitching things and pressing the rivets. He was dressed in metal,
his skin was greyish and if hadn't moved, they would have thought him
a statue quite suitable for the room.

Even
never having seen one before, Mankar guessed this was a dwarf. And,
judging by their previous encounters, this must be Mostal, God of the
dwarves!

As they stared, dumbfounded, the dwarf
finally turned his head. "Non-programmed. Unplanned. Elimination
optimal." A small door appeared in a wall and a short metal
creature with wheels for feet scuttled out.

Astra whispered, "Distract it."
She didn't explain further but Mankar trusted her and immediately
started pelting the thing with a few stones he usually kept at hand.
"Yah, critter!"

While it was busy grabbing the rocks,
and the dwarf stared with the faintest hint of confusion, Astra
slipped to one side and started randomly moving rods, pushing rivets
and twisting disks in an imitation of Mostal himself... just without
any knowledge of the device and much, much faster!

"Random factors increasing!"
The dwarf started adjusting the great machine at a speed that left
even Astra's shenanigans looking slow. "Depart. Boots will be
provided at the Open-Handed Market."

A door opened on the other side of the
room... an obvious invitation to leave! "We'll be going then!"
Mankar said brightly. Before he passed through the door he called
back. "We'll be friends some day. I can tell!"

Something that almost looked like an
emotion crossed the dwarf's face but, perhaps due to the ages it
hadn't been used, such gestures were uncertain.

The next area was a wooded glen, once
again putting the two a bit off-balance from the abrupt changes. Yet,
somehow, it all seemed to make sense while they were there and they
would only truly question what they had experienced in years to come.

Sitting in one of the great trees was a
slender woman with pointed ears. Her diaphanous gown that only barely
qualified as clothing for how little it covered. She was looking in
their direction but they realized she was really looking at the sun
behind them and not the mortal children.

Mankar felt his spirit stir as he saw
the beautiful woman. "Well, I think we should definitely go talk
to her! Here, I'll go first."

"No, Mankar."

"Why not? I'm strong, not bad
looking and we're here for great deeds, right?"

"She's an elf, it won't work."

"I'm not oppposed to elves,"
he said, still looking at the woman.

"Do you know anything about
plants? Elves are plants, you know."

"Well, not so much but, in this
case, I'm willing to learn!"

"No."

"But..."

"No! You'll mess it up and then
elves will dislike you. Do you want that? We can achieve, ummm, armed
indifference if we do nothing. That's the best, I think."

The boy sighed and reluctantly gave up.
The elf ignored both of them as they walked by, though Mankar looked
back several times. "I wonder if there will be any other pretty
girls on this quest? Surely that wouldn't be wrong, would it?"

As if on cue, they saw a woman on the
road around the next bend. To the left, hanging in the sky, was an
enormous red moon which caused half of her face to almost glow red.
She was voluptuous to a fault, beautiful as a summer storm and had a
wide, happy smile. "Ah, I'm lucky today! Great heroes, great
gods have come to keep me company." She waved to a table nearby
that was laden with delicous food. "Those who sit at my table
never know want, will live with me forever, and have great power
through their lives."

Astra shook her head and drew back,
repulsed. Mankar confronted the goddess. "Cease your
blandishments! We will not be tempted so easily as that!"

The woman seemed genuinely sad and
disappointed as if her favorite younger relatives had been rude in
front of guests. "Come now. You want your people to be safe and
thrive, yes? Join me and you can be their leader and I personally
guarantee their safety. With the power I grant you, none would do
them harm, even my own forces! I ask for nothing but loyalty and I
offer nothing but bounty and power." She batted her lovely,
lovely eyes. "Please?"

"No!" Mankar yelled. "Your
words are sweet but so is poisoned wine!" He pointed at the
bloated red moon, "I swear we will drag that abomination to
earth and cut out its heart!"

The tiniest flicker of coldness crossed
her eyes before they returned to pools of hurt innocence. "So be
it."

The two hurried past and only after a
minute did Mankar know he was sweating. "I hadn't thought she'd
be so... convincing."

The scholar match a 'tch' sound. "She
was very obvious. I imagine the next time, it may be much more
subtle."

The trail ended in a simple hut in the
woods with no sign of continuing afterwards. "Could this be the
end, my friend?

The girl shrugged, "Symbolically,
it would make sense."

Cautious but unafraid, they entered the
hut. To their surprise, the promise of the outside was met on the
inside. The only thing out of place, perhaps, was a large alynx
sleeping on a pile of wood shavings on the floor.

When Mankar saw the creature, his eyes
lit up. Yinkin, god of the alynx, and Orlanth were soul brothers and
Mankar felt much the same. Without hesitating, he pulled some fish
out of his pouch and put it in front of the feline. "Hello, my
friend, would you like a treat today? They are smoked rather than
fresh but I think they are tasty."

The sleeping alynx opened one eye
lazily and then closed it. Then its nose started to twitch as it
smelled the fish. Finally both eyes opened and it padded to the fish
and began eating daintily for such a large creature. When it was
done, it purred and rubbed against Mankar as if it were one tenth of
its current size.

"Ha, you liked it? If I see you
again, I'll bring more, then!" The cat started into his eyes and
the boy saw unexpected wisdom there. He heard in his mind a rough –
but not unfriendly – voice, "Hereafter, you will be known as
Alynxfriend."

The cat scratched up the the wood chips
to reveal two doors in the floor. One inscribed with the rune of Air
and one with Knowledge. Mankar grinned, "I don't have to be a
runepriest of Lankhar Mhy to figure this one out. He pulled open the
Air door to reveal a boundless blue sky, dotted with clouds and a
swirling wind. He couldn't quite see what was in Astra's door...
probalby a dusty library or something equally boring. "I'll be
going, then. See you soon, Astra!" With that he jumped in,
heedless of the consequences.

For a time, he was like a god.

He flew with but a thought, touched
clouds and the skydome itself, lorded over mere birds and played with
storms like a master of a pack of unruly hounds. All too soon, he
found himself sinking back to earth but that essential understand of
Air remained with him, engraved on his heart forevermore.