The Great Library of Palanthas
An Aesthetic shows you to a small reading room.
Stories of Ansalon from the view of Dartain.
A little gully dwarf runs by and says 'Wordwrap is at 65. You change? 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 'Dartain' scribed in rich grey ink.
Author: Dartain Date Mon Dec 17 15:01:42 2001 Subject Looking to tomorrow for vindication The 2 moons Dartain could see were high in the sky casting bright white light with tinges of red onto the ground. The fire was burning low in the height of evening. Lord Dartain Fireblade sat in front of it with a whetstone sharpening his blades keenly. His eyes smoldered it seemed brighter than the burning coals in front of him. It was apparent that but one thought was on the High Justice's mind. One single burning thought that was so prominent in his mind that it gave his normally good natured seeming face into a fearsome scowl. He had been in a terrible mood for a long time now. Ever since he had heard the terrible news that sent him into mourning as well as given him a thirst for blood. Galen Pathwarden was dead. A knight of great authority and loyalty throughout his career in the knighthood. Dartain had joined the knighthood at nearly the same time as Galen, they sparred and trained together for many years. They were knights alongside one another, battles and entire wars were fought back to back on many occasions. They had both become High Knights and sat on the council together. And now he had died to the hands of demonic forces used by the Knights Of Takhisis? Dartain's face had become entirely red and his sword was now sharp as a razor and just as keen. They would not get away with killing his nearly life-long freind. There must be Justice for the death of this great knight, and Dartain would have it. Thoughts of blood flying in an arc from his blade spun round his head. He has sworn to reclaim the body of Galen Pathwarden to be entombed in the High Clerist Tower, and he would have his revenge on those who had brought him to his demise. They would be flayed by his blade and die in a pool of red at his feet. He will not rest untill he has done this. All the while Dartain thinks about it, he prays to paladine to give him the strength to seek the justice for his freinds death, and the opportunity. Lord Dartain sheaths his blades and stands up, finished with his thoughts he banishes them by speaking for the first time in 3 hours saying "Those bastards are just one sword stroke away from the most painful moment of their lives." This having been said he walks back into his tent drawing out his war maps and planning out his attack, and his vengeance. Author: Dartain Date Tue Dec 18 21:19:45 2001 Subject ooc (That story was meant to be in the mind of dartain, in his own words. The word revenge in his mind is not in it's conventional meaning, it is in the form of justice. The exaction of revenge, being the punishment of a wrong doer(s) in a poetically just manner. not just running out and kiling someone for hurting you, it is the just due of a great knight and freind to be avenged in the old ways of honor. It is to be a fiar thing, not something just relentlessly murerous, dartain is honorbound to the life of his freind, and will seek his unholy destroyers and exact mortal justice upon them, so they may be sent to paladine with their souls to receive divine trial and justice. Just to get help people understand the stories real meaning as it was done in odd words and manner) Author: Dartain Date Mon Dec 24 17:27:12 2001 Subject Justice With all the changes in the knighthood and the fall of his freind Galen Pathwarden Dartain Fireblade knows only 2 things. Est Solarus Oth Mithas, and justice. Revenge meted out with honor and mercy. The justice of a knight of solamnia. Justice sought ought against not only a single foe, but an army. This will take far more patience and wisdom than if it were a single man. A cohesive fighting unit must be made of these militia, many battles must be carefully planned and won, and along the way Dartain must be ever watchful that his honor not slip and his justice does not become simple slaughter. It is now that Dartain addresses his men. "Loyal men and Knights of solamnia, I thank you for your presence! We are in our darkest hour and only paladine knows what the legions of takhisis are up to right now. We must fight not only with our blades, but with faith, courage, and most of all honor. We, as good and noble men know that it is not the action nor the victories that make a warrior great, but the manner in wich these battles are won! We must take our family names and leave them unto our children with their honor unsullied, and their world protected from evil." Dartain pauses a moment for cheers from the knights and for the militia to take in what he is saying. "Many many great men have died already! Died with honor! We must not let their sacrifices be in vain, we must fight with every ounce of faith we possess to oust this evil from our lands! My own freind of decades has fallen, for him and for all of our lost comrades I seek justice! I shall honor my country by defending it, and I shall honor my fallen comrades by destroying the evil that took them from us!" Dartains fist slams into a nearby table hard enough to splinter and crack the wood "If we are not victorius then our sons and daughters will be FORCED to worship takhisis! Do not fool yourselves into thinking that just because these so called knights of takhisis claim to have honor that they will not execute those who openly worship the gods of rightousness!" With this many of the men growl deep in their chests like animals set to protect their young. " We will fight with our lives, and untill our last breath is gone from our bodies, our blades must still be swinging! Take them with you! Try to take TWO with your dying breath!" The men jump to their feet, looking fierce, even the militia looking as if they have killed 100 knights of takhisis and had grown fond of the flavor of their blood. "We will -not- lose! Have faith! Paladine shall guide our swords into the hearts of our enemies, even those that have already died once! Perhaps if our faith is strong enough, he will bless us with the spirits of the knighthoods honored dead to cast down the undead our enemy doubtless is raising." The men look slightly troubled at the mention of undead, but their blood has been boiled so that it strikes no fear into their hearts. The reaction Dartain was after. "To those of you who are militia, I offer small plots of land and even small titles wich will allow you to petition for knighthood yourselves so that you may then pass the honor you shall prove in the days ahead, onto your children!" With this a very large portion of the crowd begins to hoop and hollar. "I offer this to ANY man who is willing to DIE for this land! Any man that fights with honor and dignity befitting a knight shall have the opportunity to BECOME one! I shall soon make signs to be posted everywhere, stating this!" Dartain pauses a moment and then adds "And remember, to defend this land is not enough if they all starve due to this war destroying or stealing their food. So we will give the hungry of the land nourishment as well, I have provisioned for this and soon I will need you all to help me in executing this. We shall have our cake and eat it too, so to speak. And we ourselves will dine upon JUSTICE! Author: Dartain Date Tue Jul 23 10:01:58 2002 Subject a cloaked figure in the dark Deep night falls in the city and a large bodied figure roams the streets, blending in with the many others lurking the shadows here. If one were to pay attention to this person in particular they would notice him stopping at every building, studying everything he sees. They would notice him when he entered the sewers and began mapping them out. The figure bends down and places something within the sewers that the citys guards will soon wish they had seen. Of course the guards could not have done so, this person was calculated and careful, the shifts and routes of every guard in the city memorized already. Emerging from the sewers the cloaked man makes his final stop of the evening at a tall, foreboding temple where items are placed and concealed all around it's base. His job finished the cloaked man exits the city and walks deep into the mountains to a massive warhorse. "It is time to go now buliwyyd." At this the horse ceases to be a horse and becomes a gigantic silver dragon. "It's about damn time Dartain, what took you so long? You reek of goblinshit." Lord Dartain only laughs at this, mounts the dragon and flies for home as quickly as he can, before flights of blues and reds catch their scent. Author: Dartain Date Sat Jun 11 17:38:40 2005 Stamp 1118529520 Subject Noble Families Return pt.2 "How far behind us are the rest of the fleet, Gerard? It's been 2 days since we docked and they should only have been a day behind us." Gerard looks up to respond to Dartain with a bit of worry on his face "They should have already been here sir, and the you know who say they smell something...." With a grumble Dartain responds to the haggard seadog of a man named Gerard "This isn't good, something must have happened.. have the men unload the rest of the ships holds... except for 2 dragon darts per ballistae, 3 cannonballs per canon, 2 barrels of greek fire and 2 barrels of gunpowder. Have four of our friends check north, east, wes,t and south, to see if they can find out more.. or find more of thier friends." Gerard nods grimly, and sets about his task. Dartain turns to another man, a somewhat young man in solamnic armor "Sir Feltain, go ask about the cities militia.. they may be needed soon, and make sure the cities ballistae are in working order... Gerard is having dragon darts unloaded from the ships and our friends sense of smell says we may need them." At this point Dartain pulls out a map of the area and begins to study it "I hope this is nothing, but i'll take no chance... father and grandfather wouldn't have..." Meanwhile the rest of the ships... A haggard sea captain stands at the navigation wheel headed towards kalaman when a deckhand runs up with bulging eyes "Captain! We have spotted many ships bearing symbols of Takhisis ahead! And they have Dragons circling above them! Should we wake the silvers and golds?" The captain grunts out a response "You fool, that fleet outnumbers us to badly... we'll have to sit back out of sight so that we don't engage them untill they are closer to Kalaman where Dartain is in command of the rest of us... then we might have a fighting chance. I only wish we could get word to him..." Author: Dartain Date Sat Jun 11 17:54:42 2005 Stamp 1118530482 Subject Noble Families Return pt.3 Sir Feltain returns to Dartains side out of breath "The militia isn't numerous, but they have been training quite a bit it seems, perhaps out of boredom or because of past attacks.. they seem dubious but are mobilizing at our request.. and the ballistae are in great condition. Gerard brought up dragon darts for all of them." Dartain gives a slight smile before saying "Excellent, make sure the militia know how to load and fire the dragon darts" Sir Feltain nods before exiting the room, passing Gerard on the way out. "Gerard, what do you have to report?" Gerard seemed to be speaking before Dartain even finished "All of the gear but what you made exceptions is offloaded, and our friends have confirmed it... they smell chromatics, lots of them. However, it seems paladine shines upon us as the ones we sent out in cardinal directions came back with wings each." Dartain nods, seeming to smile and frown at the same time.. an expression inherited from his grandfather. "Thank you Gerard, I have been studying the maps and if the kot intend to get a foothold in Solamnia at kalaman they will likely try to sneak men to shore well to the sides of the city so that the heavy merchant traffic doesnt spot them.. an invasion size force would be quite hard to miss. Take the extra barrels of gunpowder, stuff them with bits of scrap metal.. broken arrowheads and such and set them along the roads around the city, camoflauge them and connect them with oil covered rope. " Gerard nods again, waiting for Dartain to finish "Tell Sir Feltain to send riders to neighboring lands to gather more militia.. and inform them to prepare to evacuate the women and children. I also need you to pick up some more platinum for the dragon darts, and to paint several riders lances to look like Dragonlances.... so the enemy won't know the differance. We must be subtle in all of this, so that the enemy does not know we are aware... keep our friends where they cannot be smelled." At sea "Captain! We are only a few hours away from Kalaman port!" The captain turns and says "Of course, have the men prepare.. this won't be easy. We'll be running skeleton crews on all but the two ships who have gone ahead and carried men to shore with the extra supplies... they should have made it there in time to reach kalaman before this goes down... thankfully the old saying is true, an army moves on its belly." The deckhand nods, looking a bit pale. "Yes Captain, and when should we soak the decks?" The captain laughs heartily.. obviously trying to make both the deckhand and himself feel better. " We will soak the decks and set the gunpowder soon as both the enemy and kalaman are in sight. Just remember when I give the word to hit the water swimming back towards the rowboats we'll be dropping here in a few moments" The deckhand nods, looking as if he might get sick. Author: Dartain Date Sat Jun 11 18:07:22 2005 Stamp 1118531242 Subject Noble Families Return pt.3 Dartain sits staring at a beautiful Vallenwood carved case in front of him. He reaches down and opens the case with reverance to look at his most prized posession, a gift of his father as well as Paladine.. a Dragonlance. One of precious few belonging to this fleet... but this one his HIS... his grandfather used it and his father used it... and now he will use it one the back of the very same Dragon the great gold wyrm Buliwyyd. Sir Feltain enters the room and waits for Dartain to turn around before speaking "Dartain, the militia is formed into ranks and the surrounding cities have sent many men, apparently they don't want a repeat of past times here." Dartain nods with a smile, closing the vallenwood box before him. At this point, Gerard bursts into the door "Dartain! Our men have arrived, from land! They say that a massive kot fleet will be here within a few hours!" Dartain nods, as if he already knew this. "Did they bring the essentials from thier ships?" Gerard nods affirmatively, "Yes, and they say that all but the two ships they used to become landbound are sailing just out of the fleets sight behind them! They also say that they saw many more rowboats hitting shore from a distance. They dont believe they were seen by these other people.. they might be kot.." Dartain nods again and stands "Mobilize the men, load the ballistae... and saddle the dragons, and make preperations to block the gates closed if we cannot hold the city. Have the non-militia citizens been prepared for evacuation with supplies?" Sir Feltain nods affirmative to this. "Then prepare yourselves men, today we will do battle with overwhelming odds.. again." Author: Dartain Date Sat Jun 11 18:19:11 2005 Stamp 1118531951 Subject Noble Families Return pt.4 Sir Feltain walks into the command room "Dartain, I have spoken with a dwarf... apparently he knew about the incoming enemy fleet... and has been digging a path for the citizens to evacuate through quickly." Dartain gets a look of genuine surprise on his face "That is wonderful, have them begin evacuating now... with the cities treasury and all the food stores they can carry... this city may fall but there will be no resources left in it to plunder." Sir Feltain nods at this "All is in readiness sir, and our dragons say they cannot smell the chromatics where they are... which suggests that the clerics have succeeded in keeping the chromatics from smelling them as well." Dartain seems pleased as he rises and walks to where Buliwyyd awaits him, holding the carved vallenwood box. "We may likely lose this city today, but the kot will pay for it.. we will blunt thier edge." Author: Dartain Thu Sep 22 01:26:44 2005 Subject The Hunters Before me stood many gathered people, we had been training in secret for months. Such a varied assortment of people here. Virtually every race was represented. Many different proffesions as well, warriors-scouts-mages-priests. Our organization hunts evil in all of it's forms, mainly the militant knights of takhisis simply because they are the most proliferant and the currently most active. However, research has been done in the library of palanthas.. By searching out the survivors of supernatural beast attacks and myths to find the weaknesses of evil creatures as well as the way to track them. As I sought out information on supernatural evil I found many of the surviving slayers and in some cases their children joined me in my mission. I am quite amazed as to the true extent of races present. There were even some GNOMES here! They had produced many valuable accoutrements to the cause, of course they were generally meant for a differant purpose but once use is found use is made. We train vigorously and keep our identities as secret as possible. Many precautions are taken, a measure of armor covers nearly all of our bodies.. Especially considering the amount of encountered undead. Likely only exceeded in numbers by the knights of takhisis, undead are a main target of The Hunters and many of them have attacks which require only the breaking of flesh. Our numbers are now in the low thousands, not an extensive number when compared to militant organizations like the solamnic knighthood or the knights of takhisis, but we are well trained and potent. Skills from all walks of life are observed, enchanted items of mages, prayer beads from clerics, the combat skills of warriors, stealth from scouts rangers and thieves, hand to hand skills of monks. Each have their specialty yet all learn as much as possible from others. We cannot afford to ignore any form of talent, as we know that evil takes many many forms and has it's own talents. One of our most succesful tactics so far was taking heed of the age old adage "Evil turns upon itself" We have discovered most types of evil have natural enemies who are also evil, most suspicious of whatever evil is currently the strongest such as the knights of takhisis. We know the kind of things each form of evil leaves behind and after surgical strikes upon one form we leave the trappings of it's counterpart and thus evil turns upon itself and does much of our work for us. Yes, I am proud of those who have gathered around me... We might do MUCH, far more aggressive and accepting than the solamnic knighthood we fill a neccesary void. I remain loyal to my Solamnic brethren and shall never betray them or my families honor.. Though only those Solamnics who are of The Hunters know that I have joined them. Knowledge and secrecy are our weapons, and we shall bring the age of despair out of darkness!
The Storytellers of Ansalon, The DragonLance MUD
Astinus points to the massive wall of books behind him and bids you to make a selection.
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