Astinus' Office
Dominating the center of this room is a massive birch desk. Legend claims this desk has supported the thousands of volumes of history Astinus has recorded. A large pot of ink, a container of sharpened quills, and a candelabra complete the desks decorations. Small windows line the room, allowing light to trickle in and gently illuminate the entire room. A comfortable couch rests against the west wall. Tapestries hang on the walls between the windows. Shelves line the walls, filled with tomes of the more recent records of heroes and villians upon the face of Krynn.
The librarian notices you aren't reading anything...
Astinus hands a miniscule pocket book to an Aesthetic standing by you.
You note the spine bears the word 'Haemir' scribed in glowing white ink.
As you glance down at the page you read..
From the pages of Haemir's book..
Author: Haemir
Date: Sun Jul 11 15:03:14 2010
Subject A families failure
Growing up as the youngest cousin in the Silvanos blood line had its
distinct advantages. The best tutors and weapons instructors where always
made available to help with martial studies but it also had its
disadvantages. Every time I ventured into the forest wanting to explore or
be alone there would be a group of bodyguards out of sight but I still knew
they were there and so was never really alone.
There was also the pressure to perform as my father and his father and his
father and his father had done. They were all respected Mages having
survived the Test of High Sorcery and for a time served on the High Council
of the Conclave. They tested me for magical aptitude and although they all
said I was capable the act of casting a spell seemed to elude me.
Frustrated by the constant lessons in concentration and meditation I also
threw myself into practice of the more mundane martial arts such as knife
fighting and the use of different types of bows.
Finally they gave up on me becoming a Wizard and I was allowed to start
going on internal patrols of the Silvanesti home lands. These dull routine
patrols held no place in my heart. I wanted to be out on the borders doing
what really mattered, expelling those who dared to cross into our lands
uninvited. Those who came to cut down our precious forests and hunt the
plentiful game that flourished under the protection of the wise Silvanesti.
Author: Haemir
Date: Mon Jul 12 12:00:41 2010
Subject Right of Passage
Looking back on that day I realised it was a right of passage unlike any
that could be planned. I'd been allowed to join a border patrol for the
first time. Id been demanding to be transferred to the active border regions
and patrols but until last month had been denied.
We had set out from Sithelnost and followed the river north and west to the
border and then started our patrol. It was the first time I'd been out of
the safety of the forest and the open grasslands leading to the dessert
north of us was fascinating.
We moved by night using the light of the moons and stars and kept a look out
during the day for foreign travellers. It was on the fifth day out that we
spotted the camp of a small band of travellers on the opposite side of the
river to us but moving towards the one fordable place where we planned to be
in two days time.
Like us they moved at night but were a lot more noisy, whooping and
screaming as they moved, and slower too and we reached the ford ahead of
them.
The patrol commander ordered us to take up positions on both sides of the
river to ambush who ever it was that was coming into our territory. He
seemed to have a good idea of the make up of the noisy band we were going to
ambush but would not divulge it to me or any of the others.
They were very careless or complacent. They hadnt even sent a scouting party
forward to investigate the ford and were coming from upwind so their fetid
stench was what reached us first. The second thing to reach us was the sound
of their guttural languages, a mixture of what must have been goblin and
human as that is what this patrol was made up of. Finally they came in to
sight and began to cross the river into the lands of my ancestors.
When they were half way across the order to attack was given. We broke cover
and a volley of arrows rained down upon the invading host. The thrill of
killing unworthy scum that dared to come into the land was exhilarating.
This was unlike hunting the animals of the forest and plains for food.
Those that didnt fall under the rain of arrows turned and ran back towards
us and we closed in on them with weapons drawn. I dont remember much of that
first fight with a real enemy desperate to survive but I do remember clearly
how, when the last goblin turned and started running, some force generated
by the anger of my prey escaping caused me to lash out with all my will and
a magical arrow sprung from my hand and drove itself between his shoulder
blades killing him instantly.
Author: Haemir
Date: Mon Jul 12 20:08:50 2010
Subject Betrayed by my own powers
After that fateful night, that I realised I could do magic and had the
potential to be a Wizard, I kept trying to use the techniques taught by the
tutors in Silvanost but to no avail.
It was purely by accident that I discovered the source of my powers. Rather
than quiet contemplative meditation for focus my mind on the energies
required it was when i was angry and frustrated that the magic would flow
from me.
Once I realised that it was easy to channel all my pent up anger and
frustration and soon my magic was more reliable and stronger. Now I just
needed more to learn so that I could destroy my enemys with more than just a
fiddly magic missile. I had heard the tales of how armies of elves had
fought with the aid of great wizards and destroyed all those that stood
against them and I wanted to be like those wizards and destroy all those who
threatened our way of life.
By the time we had returned from our patrol and the commander had reported
my magical awakening I felt I was ready to go to the tower and begin my
studies.
On returning to Silvanost I was greeted almost as a hero but also with
suspicion as I had never been able to muster even the smallest signs of
being able to wield the arcane powers. I was placed before the high council
and told to demonstrate what I could do. I knew deep down inside that this
was my last chance to make my parents proud and so I dug deep down and used
all the anger and hatred I could muster and hurled it at the targets they
had set up for the demonstration.
I saw the looks of shock pass through the council as the watched the
demonstration of my powers. When I was finished they stood as one and filed
out with out saying a word to me. Less then 5 minutes passed before they
returned with the high priest who started an incantation I had heard once
before when an elf had been expelled from our midst. By the time I realised
what was happening I was bound by the words of the spell and found myself
magically transported to the northern edge of the Silvanesti lands with the
final warning in the spell ringing in my ears.
I vowed then that I would find the tower of high sorcery on my own and join
as my father had and his father had and his father had and show them that I
was a great a Wizard as they had ever been.
Author: Haemir
Date: Sat Jul 17 07:57:01 2010
Subject From the Light a desciple of Darkness is borne
The first few weeks alone were the hardest. The final words spoken to me
by the people I had served loyally still echoed in my mind. I had been
banished for all eternity, never to return on pain of death.
The feeling of betrayal festered and grew until it turned to anger, anger so
great that I could fuel any spell my heart desired with it.
As I moved through the lands of Blode, seeking a safe route to the tower of
Wayrest, there were many times that I came across patrols of goblins and
hobgoblins. Each time I left a trail of bodies having picked off the last
member of the patrol as the moved along until the fools realised they were
the hunted not the hunted. I learned an important lesson while slaughtering
those filthy creatures and that was that I could feed of their fear, it was
almost like I could draw on it and use it to power the next bolt of arcane
energy to strike one of them down.
As I moved west towards the plains of dust the patrols were re-enforced with
hunting dogs. I'd managed to kill almost a third of their patrol before they
realised they were being hunted. Only then did the foolish little creatures
release their hounds to track my scent. There must have been some being with
a semblance of intelligence up their chain of command to send them out with
dogs.
They kept circling my position pushing me back against a cliff, for although
they couldn't see me with the aid of the dogs they could track my scent. As
I stood their wandering what would become of me, I looked up into the dark
night sky and for the first time sensed the presence of the dark moon. I
felt his power then radiating into the night and heard his whisper to me...
jump
I didn't hesitate when I heard his command and as a reward for obeying my
new master the words a new spell formed in my mind and as I channelled
energy into those words I felt wings sprout from my back and I found myself
soaring on the currents blowing up the cliff face.
Not knowing how long these wings would last I set off west towards where I
knew Tarsis lay hoping to find someone there that could guide me to the
Towers of High Sorcery.
Author: Haemir
Date: Tue Jul 20 21:22:54 2010
Subject Lessons hard learned
What I had thought was desert turned out to be foul smelling swamp lands
and I was grateful for the gift of flight that Nuitari had bestowed upon me
but even that I discovered was not a permanent boon.
All to soon I found myself waist deep in foul smelling water, that is when I
couldn't find a dry route through Sable's infernal swamps. The meagre
rations I had managed to loot from my fallen enemies rotted quickly in this
place and the water was not fit for even goblins to drink.
I found it best to rest during the hottest part of the day and only move
from late afternoon till there was no light to navigate by any more, and
then Id rest again till the false dawn and proceed till it got too hot to
move again.
After 3 days I had no water and no food and there was nothing worth hunting
in these infernal swamps. My vision was starting to blur from a mixture of
dehydration and exhaustion. It was during this period of delirium that I
remembered some of the teachings my tutors. Reaching deep into my reserves
of anger I slowly recited the long forgotten words of a spell I'd never
mastered but somehow knew and felt my water skins slowly start to fill. it
was the sweetest tasting water I'd ever had the privilege of drinking and
that help to restore my spirits and my faith in my new master.
Thinking more clearly now, I once again drew on that well of betrayal and
hatred, and began an incantation that would provide me with sustenance for
the journey ahead. I was not surprised when I felt my pack getting heavier
and upon investigation found an assortment of berries that I quickly
consumed.
Feeling reinvigorated and knowing that Nuitari still looked down upon me
from the heavens I once again tried the spell that had given me wings to
evade the pursuing goblins. I felt the wings extend from my back again and
new that it was time to travel west towards where I knew the plains of dust
began. By sunset I set down on the edge of the wasteland finally free of
that oppressive swamp.
Read More
He states simply 'You might start with that one.. or you could take a look at the latest story..'
The Latest Entry
A journey beyond the seas of Urione.
by Theon, posted on Fri Sep 22 13:00:17 2023.
In the heart of the underwater city of Urione, amidst the coral palaces and
shimmering kelp forests, lived a young (read more)....
The Storytellers of Ansalon, The DragonLance MUD
Astinus points to the massive wall of books behind him and bids you to make a selection.
Authors:
All|
A|
B|
C|
D|
E|
F|
G|
H|
I|
J|
K|
L|
M|
N|
O|
P|
Q|
R|
S|
T|
U|
V|
W|
X|
Y|
Z
Astinus says '
There are 18 authors starting with the letter H
who have stories in the Palanthas library.'
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