An Aesthetic shows you to a small reading room.

Stories of Ansalon from the view of Brint.

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 worn folio on the table in front of you.
You note the spine bears the word 'Brint' scribed in unearthly grey ink.

Author:  Brint
Date    Fri Sep 13 22:49:02 2002


Subject  Brint Grinstable




My story begins roughly forty years ago, where I was born to my father, a
young newly inducted Solamnic Knight, and my mother, a Qualinesti he saved and
won the heart of in his earlier years.

About my lineage, my father was of eastern Solamnic blood, and my mother from
the house of weavers in Qualinesti.  My grandparents on my father's side were
simple inkeepers.

However, as my father's line goes farther back, there are more and more
Knights of the Sword and Crown.  My father unearthed these records from his
father's ancestral lands.

He reclaimed these lands from the marauding goblin tribes out of Lemish.  My
great grandfather had held them in paternal order for what records say were at
least ten generations, but since my grandfather was handicapped he could not
inherit them.

So, when my grandfather abruptly died and my great uncles unfit to rule, the
lands fell into ruin and goblinoid infestation.  Then, my father trekked to
Vingaard to join the Solamnic Knights.  Then my story begins.

After my father was Knighted and sought the fiefdom of his ancestors, he wed
my mother and slowly reclaimed the land from the wilds and the goblins.  When
I was born, there was enough room to live a modest lifestyle.

My father was called into service again by the Knights with rumors of the
growing menace of the Knights of Takhisis.  Showing valor and honor, he
quickly raised in ranks.  After only several years, he became High Justice.

Furthermore, Lord Tillov Lifestar bestowed noble title upon my father, because
evidence pointed toward it in my great-grandfather's files but the records
were sparce and vandalized by goblins.  We now had a definite lineage and an
official family Crest in Vingaard Keep.  We were all proud and honored with
such distinction.  Then, my father served in the Misfourtune's Year, telling
my mother and myself that he would return with the blessings of Paladine.  We
never saw him again.

After several months of no information or income from him, my mother was
forced to bring his degnerate distant cousins to help her manage the estate. 
That was the beginning of the end.

Each of my three uncles, which I called them out of something I used to call
respect, began squandering my family's money and prestige to sate their own
gluttonous appetites.

They were fat, weak, lazy, petty, and most of all dishonorable.  I was ashamed
to share kinship with them.  None of them cared anything beyond the next meal
or exotic entertainment of the evening.  They even abused my mother.

By this time I had begun training of my own.  Befitting only a Solamnic Noble,
I was educated in etiquitte, grammar, conduct, the Measure, and chivalry.

My mother hid funds from my detestable uncles to further my own education.  I
told my private tutor that I hated them, each of them, and he thought there
was something wrong with me.  If only he knew.

Even though I looked little like my father, without the blue tint in hair, I
had his dedication and sense of honor.  I progressed quickly, even though I
had many more years to study than a human.

As my uncles began removing the guards to save their pay for Caergothean ale,
I noted strange footprints coming closer and closer to the manor's walls.  I
told this to my mother, who tried to work against the invaders, but failed
because my uncle my uncles had usurped power from under her.  Because I was
still considered a child I could do little to intervene.  Then, on the worst
night I remembered of drunken gluttony, it happened.

Entire tribes of goblins, I suspect from the groups that my father had removed
from his lands, had come in petty vengeance to try to win the fertile
farmlands back.

Because my uncles had removed most of the guard, and a sub-minimal amount were
left, it amounted to nothing less than a butchery.  I awoke to the screams of
peasants and the glare of fire consuming peasant shacks.



Author:  Brint
Date    Fri Sep 13 23:04:56 2002


Subject  Brint Grinstable part II




I ran out to the antechamber to see my uncles and the last of the token
resistance they could steal from defending the township.  They had tried to
barricade the great doors but the swarm of goblins had began to move the great
entrydoor from its giant hinges by sheer force of weight.  One of my uncles
blubbered in a cowardly whimper while the half dozen guards failed to steel
their resolve, seeing the tide of death that stood before them.  They fled,
throwing their weapons down.  As the door gave way, a hand dragged me into the
kitchen.  I turned, seeing my mother.  She was ashen pale and held a package. 
Rushing me through the kitchen and down into the cellar, she prayed out loud. 
Distantly, I heard the death screams from my t three uncles.  Good riddance. 
Reaching the end of the nearly depleted wine cellar, she gave the knapsack to
me and told me to run to Vingaard.  There, regents and allies of my father
would care for me.  As she opened the door I turned about.

At the entrance to the cellar stood several goblins holding torches and
knives.  My mother screamed for me to run and that she would be fine.  The
last thing I heard as I ran through the rough hewn exit was her death scream
and the sound of a fir fire starting.  I did not look back.  I ran out into
the night air smelling burning timber and hearing screams of peasants being
slaughtered.  Before I knew it, I was surrounded by burning houses.

I looked around and saw the pathetic peasant militia being torn to shreds by
hordes of goblins.  I was resolute to face death, but it was not my fate.  The
next thing I saw saved me.

It was of a beautiful woman, dressed in dark armor that moved ominously in the
firelight.  She called out to me, and I followed.

Leading me through the maze of firey buildings, I could hear her voice in my
head.  I have been watching you, and heard your thoughts, Brint.  I know we
together could bring order to this world.

Together, we could stop such pathetic people like your uncles from having
power.  You can have the honor that your father enjoyed and bring order to
this weak and pathetic world if you will follow me.  I followed.

Through the collapsing shells of houses and goblin packs, the lady led me to
the forest east of my keep.  There, she bade me rest and wait until morning. 
I fell asleep as if in a trance and had dreams of what I could accomplish.

When I awoke, she was gone, but through the treeline, the main thoroughfare to
Neraka blazed its path.  I knew my place was at Takhisis' side, who I dreamt
was my benefactor, and I knew what I had to do.

I opened my sack, and looking inside, I saw a longsword, travelling clothes,
and enough money for luxurious lodging all the way to Vingaard.  Only three
miles west, the road branches off to Vingaard, but I did not take that way.  I
had no regrets



Author:  Brint
Date    Mon Jan 20 16:07:11 2003


Subject    Defence of Tii'Mhut (1)



My mission was set: destroy the barbarian hordes that are threatening our new
city of Tii'Mhut with 100 soldiers.  I left that morning in charge of the 100
mercenary soldiers Lord Konan gave to me to complete my goals.  They were all
inferior solders to the Dark Queen's armies, but they were still superior to
any ignorant barbarians who threatened our lands.  They marched in their
closest simulation of our orderly ranks as I rode a dark horse in front of
them.  Our goal was roughly a day's march in front of us, and we covered about
twenty miles.

We settled for the first night in a valley surrounded by the Khalkists.  As
the soldiers went about eating and sharpening their inferior weapons, I sat in
my tent, thinking of a strategy.  Of my 100 soldiers, twenty had bows and some
kind of formal archery training.  I planned to use these men to send arrows
into the lightly-armored mass of barbarians.  Of the eighty remaining
soldiers, most were men-at-arms, wielding either battleaxes or swords and
shields.  After the archers severely weakened the barbarians, these men would
have to clean the rest up.  I secretly longed for a dozen knights or squires
like myself, for they had the skill and training of at least two of these
mercenaries each.

I spent the remainder of the evening praying to Her Dark Majesty for our
mission to succeed.  With the powers she had given me and the authority to
lead these lessers, I was sure she guarunteed us victory.  I could feel her
blessings run through my veins as I sat in silent communion.  I heard the
mercenary soldiers settle down and go to sleep, the only sounds accompanying
my prayers being the feet of the watches and the sounds of the valley.

The next day saw me up before dawn, like usual.  As I stretched to warm my
cold body, the watch ended and the soldiers woke up.  They took longer than I
thought to eat and break camp, but we still began to march in the early
morning.  If we could keep up a brisk pace we could reach Tii'Mhut while there
was still daylight.

The day passed slowly and I rode silently, listening to the soldiers try to
keep pace with those setting it and failing miserably.  Nevertheless, we
managed to reach the city by early dusk.  The city itself was nearly complete.
 All of the buildings were rough and everything just needed to get a finishing
touch.  The only part that mattered to my objectives, however, was the wall,
which was the first thing to be built.  We broke up and the soldiers went to
their preassigned barracks as I rode to the keep.

The next morning, I looked over the soldiers again.  I split them up into six
groups: two groups of ten archers each, three groups of twenty swordsmen each,
and one group of twenty axemen.  I made one man out of each of the divisions a
sergeant and put him in charge of his group.  Speaking with each of the
sergeants, we organized our defense for when the barbarians would strike.



Author:  Brint
Date    Tue Jan 21 21:39:04 2003


Subject    Defence of Tii'Mhut (2)



Pre-dawn greeted me once again as I rose out of my chambers inside the keep. 
I quickly ate and prepared for the day ahead.  By the time I was out into the
courtyard, the men under me were already ready for a battle.  The men on top
of the walls surrounding the city reported a clear horizon, however, the
reports of scouts said that the barbarians were only several hours away.

As I stood surveying my men, a sweaty and panting man ran up to me, delivering
new news: the barbarians have been gauged at about four hundred strong and
were compromised of several groups.  It seems like a certain clan claimed the
land that our city now sits on as their own, and decided to gather their
neighbors in some attempt to retake the land now possessed by the Queen.  I
scoffed and checked our defenses again.

The walls and gates surrounding Tii'Mhut were broad and tall, and would keep
most uninvited people out, but they could still climb over if they had many
ladders.

I seriously doubted that the barbarians had any kind of siege weaponry, and so
arranged for the two groups of archers to split up into groups of five and man
the walls.  Reports estimated the barbarians to be about 400 strong, so I had
to weaken them from a distance with the archers.  As I had planned earlier,
archers would weaken the attackers then I would send out the melee divisions
to move the fight away from the city.  There, we would overwhelm the
barbarians with superior training and equipment.

I waited the rest of the morning speaking to the six sergeants about the
battle ahead.  It seems like some men were confident in our ability and others
were afraid of the odds.  I knew that we would see the day.

Soon after noon, the barbarians appeared on the horizon.  They swarmed over
the ridge of rocks distantly surrounding the city and ran toward the walls of
the city.  I prepared the archers on top of the walls, who nocked arrows and
waited.

As soon as the barbarians were within bow range, I ordered them to fire.  Each
volley claimed a life in the tight knit body of the invaders, and soon, nearly
a quarter of them were dead.

I then ordered the eighty men-at-arms to march outside the city gates.  As the
last group passed the gates, I ordered them shut.  The archers continued to
rain arrows into the thinned ranks of the swarm of barbarians as they
approached my troops.  When they were close enough to engage, I ordered the
archers to stop firing and wait for isolated groups.  It would have done no
good to kill our men in the face of such odds.

The neatly organized ranks of my soldiers weathered the first wave of the
barbarians.  The enemy was crudely armed and unarmored, proving easy prey for
the swords of the mercenaries.  Within an hour of skirmishes and breakaways,
the fight was over.



Author:  Brint
Date    Tue Jan 21 23:19:03 2003


Subject    Defence of Tii'Mhut (3)



It was nearly dusk as the remaining handful of barbarians fled into the
evening.

Our survivors picked amongst the barbarian dead for fallen or injured
comrades.

The night was spent with the mercenaries drinking and waiting for the rest of
their pay.  I stayed in isolation, having no wish to engage in any of their
drinking competitions or singing.  I slept soundly, the overwhelming victory I
had organized with the will of the Queen guiding me making me confident.

The next day was spent rousing the soldiers to dig mass graves for the enemies
and another for the fallen mercenaries.  Of the hundred men I was assigned, 63
survived.  We had killed 374 barbarians, and a little over a dozen fled.  It
took all day and several broken shovels, but the men managed to dig enough in
the rocky soil to bury the fallen.  I performed the funeral services with a
small group of Skull Knights overseeing the city.

I left later that day alone.  It seems that the contract that the mercenaries
took kept them to guard the city until it was complete, so I left there alone.

I made much better time to the keep just on my horse, and I arrived within a
day.  I was not the worse for wear, although the week before had seen my
greatest trial in the service of the Dark Queen.

The Storytellers of Ansalon, The DragonLance MUD

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