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Back to Empire on the HPe3000
... and ...
This is a first draft of a story set in the world of Greyhawk.
It is based on a home campaign so some of the people, places and things
may be different. Any helpful comments or suggestions are very welcome.
Thanks
Jason Zavoda
There was a smell, sharp but choking, then the feel of heat, a
great simmering wave that became a smothering blanket, stifling, a
physical presence in the air. Edouard nearly gasped, but the call from
Kalfashow was too great, it washed over him and put all his other
thoughts and senses aside.
He had turned off from the passage he'd been following down a
slanting tunnel, somewhere ahead was the source of the great heat and
the burning smell, but he could see nothing but the stone walls and the haze
of torchlight far away. The tunnel made a turn, the way went to his
left, but only for a dozen feet. A sharp wedge of stone split the passage
right from left, broadening out in both directions till the way was wide
enough for a wagon to pass.
To the left the wide stone tunnel was lined with weapons, heaped
with shields and armor, piled with bits and pieces of metal waiting to
be fixed or melted down. Bags of coal and cuts of wood were mixed within,
a rough storage nook, though large enough to fit a peasants house
between the walls and roof.
Edouard paused, he glanced at a row of swords hung high upon a
wall, but his head turned to the other way. The call came from the right,
not from the storage nook. His blade was not hidden among the weapons
there or buried beneath a sack of coal.
The righthand way was broad and slanting down, it was from here
that his sword called to him, and from here that the heat pulsed out. It
had become so great that he was cooler inside than without, the thickness
of the air made his eyes tear, a cloud of smoke, black as a rain-filled
cloud, hung against the ceiling.
As he crept forward he could see the source of the heat and smoke,
a massive forge, its edges taller than a man, a huge bellows set above it,
unmoving, waiting to breath life into the coals and make the red sparks
dance. The walls were hung with weapons, helms and bits of armor, all
formed for giants, Edouard felt like a child stepping into his fathers
armory.
The room seemed empty, but there were wings which went off to
either side, Edouard could not see what they contained from where he stood
crouching in the outer hall. The call came to him again, it sang with
great allure, he could not resist.
* * *
"I would like to just sit here, but we need to move the table
over." said Telenstil. "There is a viewport set up there in the door
and I want to watch for our companions arrival."
"As long as it isn't just something to keep us busy." laughed
Gytha.
"I know that when I get a chance I will lay down for several
days." said Ghibelline.
"I thought you elves never slept." said Gytha.
"Hah!" it was Ghibelline's turn to laugh. "That is a fable,
we need our rest, though there is truth in the tale. We sleep, though
you could say that we elves sleep with our eyes open, even when they are
closed."
The table was made for the bugbear guards, it was large but
not giant sized, sturdy but crude, it screeched across the stones as
they dragged it, pushing it up against the door. Telenstil climbed up,
there was a small cover set between metal runners that blocked the
viewport, he slid it aside and peered out into the room beyond.
* * *
(To Be Continued)