The Great Library of Palanthas

An Aesthetic shows you to a small reading room.

Stories of Ansalon from the view of Arduron.

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 journal on the table in front of you.
You note the spine bears the word 'Arduron' scribed in deep black ink.


Author:    Arduron        
Date:      Sun Mar 20 04:31:38 2016
Subject     Dragons Point

Wind was sweeping in off the coast, the scent of rotting corpses carried in the breeze. Darburd and his companion Jowen stood atop a hill overlooking their village that had seen the ravages of an unstoppable plague. The two had travelled to Kern for further training in their warrior disciplines, yet never received any word from their village declaring the apparent crisis they were in. "{OOur home has fallen, Jowen. What do we do now? Do we return to Kern?" Darburd asked. "I'm not sure...Perhaps we should go bury the dead." Jowen responded. The two glanced at each other before looking back at the village, unsure of the dangers of entering the village. For a time they just stared silently into the village, then they noticed movement near the edge of the village. They both watched in disbelief as someone began walking away from the village, the person was too tall to be anyone other than an ogre. Looking at each other they both knew that this person may be the only one that knows what happened, or they may be the person that caused the disaster. Running down the hill they both unsheathed their swords prepared to confront the stranger, yet the closer they got the figure became more familiar. Darburd and Jowen slowed down and nearly stopped as they recognized who it was, dropping their weapons neither of them could believe what they saw. "Don't bother going into the village. It's over, no one else is alive." "{OArduron!? What happened? How was everyone infected? What caused this to...to kill them all?" Darburd and Jowen had stopped short of approaching Arduron, they could see the signs of infection on his face. His clothing was tattered and ragged as though he had been through a struggle or some sort of fight. He also seemed incredibly fatigued, his eyes didn't look normal and he seemed to be staring off into nothingness beneath his low hanging eyelids. The fact that he could be contagious, the last of the village still carrying the disease long enough to pass it on before he perished had Darburd and Jowen wary of coming any closer to him. "He was here, yet he never appeared. I could feel his presence as a dark cloud swept into the village. Without a word uttered he spoke to me as I watched everyone succumb to the infection. You two had only been gone a couple days when it occurred. They cried as they watched their young, with no chance of fighting the infection, wracked with plague sores and vomiting blood until their bodies gave up and they died. After that, they screamed trying to fight the disease as it caused their skin to slowly tighten around their bones before rupturing. No one could function well enough to bandage the wounds, many bled out while others merely gave in to the infection. He told me I would watch them die...he told me this is the beginning. I was afflicted, I suffered in the beginning but I never got worse. I have not slept since the infection befell the village, yet I feel no need to..." The two stood horrified at what Arduron had just told them, they couldn't believe what they heard. Could it be true that the Black Wind had descended upon their village and brought with it this damning plague? "Did he tell you why this happened? Why our village? Why you?" "There is much to be done, he has left me with a task that I have accepted and will pursue. Darburd, my brother and, you, Jowen my friend, I would ask you both to pursue this task with me. Help me ensure that our people served their purpose to a greater goal. Their suffering will not go without cause..." Arduron had made a request that made both Darburd and Jowen very uneasy, they did not have enough information to know if what Arduron was telling them was, in fact, what happened. They had both known Arduron had been experimenting with simple arcane incantations, things that they couldn't understand and that neither of them were sure that even Arduron understood. Though Arduron was inexperienced with the arcane he was undeniably one of, if not the, most intelligent in the village. His mental prowess gave him an advantage over many others he competed with during sparring battles. He had already gone through the warrior training in Kern, that matched with his ability to outsmart his opponents made him a very capable fighter. Arduron had informed his friend and brother about the tragedy that hoccurred in their village, yet he did not offer the full extent of what happened after everyone had died. He could not present that information to them if he hoped to persuade them to come with him. He was provided more information than he was letting on, he hadn't slept because he was entranced, it was as though he was possessed. Arduron had collected the bodies as they were falling, the people of the village were to wracked by the infection to take notice that he was conducting rituals with them as they were on the brink of death, harvesting what was still left of their life force that the disease had not yet driven out of them. Darburd and Jowen could never know, they must be under the impression that Arduron survived under the blessing of the Black Wind. They must never suspect that he was instructed to harvest from the suffering to increase his own strength as well as to gain the power needed to continue forward with his task. "{OWe will go with you, but are we to just leave the bodies of our people strewn about the village? Where will we go?" "You mustn't return to the village for fear that you two may contract the infection. I can control whether or not I pass it on to you, but the bodies of the dead have no such control. We must move on, we must carry out the task bestowed upon us..."

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 mentions 'We have had over 868 storytellers on Ansalon pen their epic stories here for all to read.'

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