An Aesthetic shows you to a small reading room.

Stories of Ansalon from the view of Arvail.

A little gully dwarf runs by and says 'Wordwrap Off 65 80.'
The gully continues 'Eyes hurt? Turn Color OFF!! (regular story dates)

Astinus says 'Enter the main library here to view only the author list.'
Astinus gently places a dirty book showing much wear on the table in front of you.
You note the spine bears the word 'Arvail' scribed in dull black ink.

Author:           Arvail
Date    Tue Jan 17 01:27:24 2006
Subject   Journal Entry (day 1, week 1, month 1)

My father intends on teaching me a few tricks of the sword today.  I'm
not sure if I'm up to the challenge.  So much fear rests on making him
proud.  Perhaps one of these days I'll just run off..  No that would be
a bad idea, I need to prepare myself.  Who knows, maybe these lessons he
teaches me will come in handy.  My older brother left for the training
camps last week.  He's always been the jewel of the family, everyone has
always seen him as the one who will go and bring honor to the family.  I
hope he fails, it'd be one less shadow to live in.  I just wish I
could...  Move on.

If only I were older, I'd show my brother what a real warrior is. 
*sigh* I must give it time.  Patience is such a pain.

Many of my friends are getting excited about training.  I don't know why
it's not like this war is going to last much longer.  Her majesties
wrath is swift and she will finish the job quickly.  That is all for now
journal, until next time, keep my thoughts safe.

Arvail Banestag-

Author:           Arvail
Date    Wed Jan 18 01:54:52 2006
Subject   Journal Entry 2

Today father taught me the basics in parrying and general sword
fighting.

It was very difficult at first as the sword I was given was a tad bit
too big for me.  But after a few hours of practice I improved and was
able to utilize the power of the large weapon to some effect.  Earlier
this evening my father lead me to the cellar of our cottage and pulled
out an old box that I had often wondered about.  Inside the box was an
assortment of medals and old weapons that had been used by my father in
ages past.  Amidst all the clutter, he pulled out a large shield with a
Black Dragon painted upon the face of it.  After wiping it off I could
see that this shield meant a great deal to him from the way he pondered
over it.  He handed the shield to me and asked if it fit.  Stunned, I
took the shield and fit my forearm into it, a perfect fit.  He then
nodded and with a tearful eye shut the trunk and lead me back upstairs
and into the back field.  There was a large stump in our back field that
my father and my brother before me had used to practice on.  My father
instructed me to practice ramming the stump with my shield. I rather
confused as to why he wants me to do this, but he instucted me to do it
every day into I can begin pulling the stump out of the ground. Perhaps
this bashing practice will come in handy some day, but I don't see how.
After instructing me about the stump my father headed inside with a
worried look on his face.  I'm so confused as to why all the people in
town are growing more and more depressed.  It cannot possibly be that
this war is getting to them this badly.

I've decided to name the dragon on the shield my father gave me. I will
call it the Shadow Dragon. Perhaps it can become a friend to me and
dwell in the shadows of my predicessors along side me.

Goodbye for now Journal.

Arvail-


Author:           Arvail
Date    Thu Jan 19 01:20:05 2006
Subject   Journal Entry 3

Well, another day comes and goes.  Today I was left mostly to myself to
work on my training.  This stump bashing is exceeding tiresome.  So I
switched on and off today with the bashing and sword play.  Some of my
friends invited me to go box with them today and were dissapointed when
I told them I had to keep training.  Perhaps I can go box in a few days.
 I think I am getting better with the sword fighting.  I'm able to stay
in tune with my father when we fight fairly well, even though I know
he's going easy on me.  But he has allowed me to use my new shield, the
Shadow Dragon.  It was rather cumbersome to use at first, but I'm
getting the hang of it now. Much to my unliking my father nailed two
large strips of metal to my wooden sword today, doubling its weight and
making it harder to swing.  But even with the weight I'm finding that my
continues working is paying off with quicker blows and stabs.

I'm still not sure why my father has had a worried look on his face
lately, but today there was a town meeting that I believe pertained to
his stress. I'm afraid to ask what the meeting was about and I don't
think he's going to say anything.  I'm very tired tonight from all the
training today so I think I'll end it here, goodnight journal.

Arvail-


Author:           Arvail
Date    Fri Jan 20 02:16:00 2006
Subject   Journal Entry 4

Today I aquired my very first kill.  It wasn't, however, a kill like
most people might think.  It all happened very quickly.  I had just
finished up a few swinging exercise on the stump in the back field and I
was in the process of cutting up some fire wood when out of nowhere this
damned Kender came flying out of the woods with a pack of wild dogs hot
on his tail.  The Kender ran right by me with a grin and when I turned
around the five wild dogs were eyeing me for their next meal.  The
largest one jumped at me and without hesitation I slammed into it's
incoming jaw as hard as I could with my shoulder.  I felt a dull thud
against my shoulder as the dog collided with me, his head made thee same
sound as a rock being thrown against a tree, he fell to the ground with
a wimper.  With the wood hatchet in hand I threw it with all my might at
the dog that was just to my left.  Much to my dissatisfaction the dull
end of the hatchet hit the dogs right thigh and he let out a loud yelp.
This loud yelp is what scared the rest of the dogs off, and they all ran
away snarling angrily at eachother.  Their leader lay dead at my feet,
as I had crushed his skull and broken his neck with my shoulder.  My
father heard the noise and came outside only to find me standing in
front of the dead hound.  After telling him of my encounter he merely
patted me on the back and chuckled something off about kenders. Thinking
about it now, I believe he said it would have been better for me and the
wolves if I would have aimed my shoulder at the Kender.

Apart from that we recieved word today that my older brother has arrived
at the training camps and that he will be assigned to a division in a
few weeks.

That is all for now journal, time to go ice my shoulder.

Arvail-

Author:           Arvail
Date    Wed Jan 25 02:22:56 2006
Subject   Journal Entry 5

Well, it's been over a week since my father started training me in the
arts of fighting and I think I can comfortably say that I'm learning
very quickly.  After my encounter with the wild dogs my father thought
it would be good to learn some basic boxing skills so he allowed me to
attend the village boxing match with some of my friends.  I entered the
middleweight section and after winning just two fights I was omped by a
boxer of much higher skill than my own.  Upon returning home my father
merely laughed at my pummeled face and said he had expected as much with
my level of training.

Unexpectedly he asked me if I wanted to beat the boy who had defeated
me, I nodded of course and he tossed me a pair of hand wraps and a
helmet and told me to meet him outside in ten minutes.  That was
yesterday, all day today we've been practicing hand to hand combat.  It
feels nice to feel like I'm learning something new.  Although I'm still
shaky as far as my sword skills go, I'm sure these boxing techniques
will assist somewhere.  I don't know when I'll ever be able to defeat
the person who beat me, I don't even se how it's possible, but I'll keep
training and see if anything pays off.  I'm rather pummeled tonight from
fighting with dad today so I think I'll end it here tonight, goodnight
journal.

Arvail-

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 sighs as he recants 'We saved 864 books from Ansalon from before the great Cataclysm through today.'