The Great Library of Palanthas

An Aesthetic shows you to a small reading room.

Stories of Ansalon from the view of Jeros.

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 tattered paperback on the table in front of you.
You note the spine bears the word 'Jeros' scribed in light brown ink.


Author:    Jeros          
Date:      Fri Aug 17 14:56:55 2007
Subject     Jeros's Latest Endeavor (Part 1)



Jeros, born in Solace, and taught the essentials of the
blacksmithing trade by
his mentor, soon discovered, after spending several months in the
Conclave as a
new initiate, that he needed money.  In the months that ensued
prior, Jeros's
lack of an eager mentor had forced him into a realization that he
would need to
dutifully inhabit the library and learn new spells with all of
his energies. 
Jeros's liberal spending of coin on rare spell components made
him also realize
that he was going to run out of funds with which to perform his
research if he
didn't get another type of job soon. After preparing his affairs
and waiting
until his new staff from the forest's enchantment was completed,
he set out for
Solace in search of work.

Upon entering his favorite of the local gathering places, the Inn
of the Last
Home, he surveyed the room and entered.  Sitting at the bar, he
began to adjust
his hearing so that he could listen in on the conversations of
others in the
area.  Ordering a plate of food, he opted to eat it from his lap
while turned
around, away from the bar, facing the rest of the room.
Thoughtfully, he cast
casual glances upon the inhabitants of the Inn as he enjoyed a
well-prepared
piece of roasted beef.  When finally he heard something
interesting, it came
from a man in grey leathers covered in dried mud.  He was
discussing the state
of affairs at the "camp" with a tall, dark plainsman in leathers
similarly caked
in mud.

As it turns out, the men were mercenaries charged with guarding
an
archaeological expedition that was based several miles away in
the middle of
several miles away in the middle of a dark part of the forest. 
They had come to
the Inn in hopes that they might find some men like Jeros, who
were in need of
money, so they were eager to take Jeros on.  His job description
wasn't
complicated...

1.)  Observe the tree line for signs of golems, and alert the
rest of the
company if any are spotted.  (Jeros understood what golems were,
but had never
seen one and asked, 'What do these golems look like?"  The
foreman had
instructed him and the rest of the newcomers that they'd
certainly recognize

2.)  Half payment now, and half if you live through the week. 
(It turned into
two weeks, and Jeros did survive--although barely.  He never did
get the other
half of his payment.)  The job, as it turned out, was an
excavation of a ruined
tower that the others had been talking about since Jeros arrived.
 They claimed
that all they really knew was that the tower's original owner was
a powerful
mage who was a master golem crafter.  He used the tower as a
venue from which to
perfect his craft--experimenting on and refining his animation
enchantments. 
Having lived in Solace through all of his youth, Jeros had heard
of the man,
and, as a child, even seen him once, nearly a decade ago.

Rumor had it that the man had died in a violent explosion, which
would explain
why large, moss-covered stones could be found up to ten feet from
the tower's
base.  A massive dark hole, around which broken stone steps led
deep into the
ground, constituted the tower's new state.  It was into this hole
that the
workers delved, returning later with wrapped bundles.

When the chaos broke out it was on the 12th day of Jeros's
employment at the
camp.  There was only one other survivor--a man from Telvaan
named of Evan
Irehorse.  Before it began, Jeros started noticing signs of
movement in the
woods.  He knew he wouldn't sleep well until he poked around a
bit, and explored
around, not seeing much.  He had asked, over a week ago, if they
had ever
actually seen golems in the woods or if it had been just a
precaution due to the
nature of the tower's original owner, and been told that 2 golems
had emerged
from the forest and slain 5 men before being hacked into pieces
by the rest,
which was why the guards had been hired.  On that night, Jeros
was Jostled awake
by an earth-shaking explosion coming from the depths.  Someone
shouted, 'The
vault!  ' (Continued...)  


Author:    Jeros          
Date:      Fri Aug 17 16:06:24 2007
Subject     Jeros's Latest Endeavor (Conclusion)



Jeros was jostled violently awake by an earth-shaking explosion
from the depths.
 Someone shouted, 'The vault!  ' and Jeros was on his feet.  What
he witnessed
next was a terrifying procession of golems the likes of which not
many on Krynn
have been unfortunate enough to have seen.  One after another
seemingly without
end, the massive creatures, constructed of rock or clay or some
other material,
climbed up from the bottom of the tower.  He had little time to
do evaluate what
they were made of, for when one would emerge it would immediately
barrel toward
the nearest man.  Much to Jeros's fortune, the first to emerge
charged directly
for him.  Having little time to react because the construct was
inhumanly fast,
Jeros sent forth a haphazard blast of lightning that destroyed a
small chunk of
the creature's left leg. Looking up, he saw that in that short
span at least
five more golems had climbed up and were charging towards the
barely-alerted
excavators who were just awaking from their tent, swords in hand
and wearing
little but their bedclothes.  Having forced his hulking nemesis
to a crawl, he
prepared another spell--a fireball this time, in consideration of
the minor
damage done by the bolt.  As three of the newly-emerged golems
nearly fell upon
the excavators, they were intercepted by the swirling sphere of
flame, which
blasted them to the ground, but did little damage.

Jeros shouted, "Run!  ' and the men from the tent, having no
formidable
weapons of their own, began to flee.

Quickly scanning the rest of the camp, Jeros saw only the Foreman
and one other
man, combatting a lone golem.  The rest of the hired guards were
nowhere to be
seen!  Other matters required his attention.  The golems he had
knocked back
with the fireball had turned their attention upon him.

I have to get out of here, he thought, while preparing a
spell with which to
help the two men.  He flung one final bolt at the golem in
attempt to buy the
men enough time to escape.  Surprised at the shoulder of the
automaton being
shattered by the blast, the foreman looked to the blast's
source--Jeros,
pointing at the tree line, staring at him intensely.  The foreman
understood,
and tried to run, but reacted too slowly and was cut down by a
crushing blow
from the recovered golem's right appendage.  The other man, Evan
Irehorse, did
manage to escape to the tree line.

Finally, sensing that something was wrong, Jeros turned toward
the golems that
had been advancing upon him.  Although he had taken too long to
cast that final
spell, giving the golems time to get dangerously close, they were
gone!  To his
disdain, they had begun pursuing the fleeing archaeologists, who
were being
massacred.  Jeros uttered an incantation and teleported to
safety.

Including the time he spent figuring out the place to which he
had teleported,
it took Jeros nearly a month to return to Solace.  He learned
that a sizeable
party from the tower of Wayreth had already neutralized the
threat of the golems
that had been occupying the tower, and that the camp had been
completely cleared
out by scavengers after the mages claimed everything magical that
was recovered.
 Jeros did eventually encounter Evan Irehorse again, who was so
thankful for
Jeros's help that he spoke very highly of him to a close friend
by the name of
Lothoemas, the head of a clan of local Mercenaries.  Jeros
inquired of this
mercenary band, remembering his dire financial situation. And the
rest, as they
say, is history...

Author:    Jeros          
Date:      Fri Aug 17 16:21:36 2007
Subject     Jeros's Latest Endeavor (Conclusion)

Jeros was jostled violently awake by an earth-shaking explosion
from the
depths.  Someone shouted, 'The vault!  ' and Jeros was on his
feet.  What he
witnessed next was a terrifying procession of golems the likes of
which not many
on Krynn have been unfortunate enough to have seen.  One after
another seemingly
without end, the massive creatures, constructed of rock or clay
or some other
material, climbed up from the bottom of the tower.  He had little
time to do
evaluate what they were made of, for when one would emerge it
would immediately
barrel toward the nearest man.  Much to Jeros's fortune, the
first to emerge
charged directly for him.  Having little time to react because
the construct was
inhumanly fast, Jeros sent forth a haphazard blast of lightning
that destroyed a
small chunk of the creature's left leg. Looking up, he saw that
in that short
span at least five more golems had climbed up and were charging
towards the
barely-alerted excavators who were just awaking from their tent,
swords in hand
and wearing little but their bedclothes.  Having forced his
hulking nemesis to a
crawl, he prepared another spell--a fireball this time, in
consideration of the
minor damage done by the bolt.  As three of the newly-emerged
golems nearly fell
upon the excavators, they were intercepted by the swirling sphere
of flame,
which blasted them to the ground, but did little damage.

Jeros shouted, "Run!  ' and the men from the tent, having no
formidable
weapons of their own, began to flee.  Quickly scanning the rest
of the camp,
Jeros saw only the Foreman and one other man, combatting a lone
golem.  The rest
of the hired guards were nowhere to be seen!  Other matters
required his
attention.  The golems he had knocked back with the fireball had
turned their
attention upon him.

I have to get out of here, he thought, while preparing a
spell with which to
help the two men.  He flung one final bolt at the golem in
attempt to buy the
men enough time to escape.  Surprised at the shoulder of the
automaton being
shattered by the blast, the foreman looked to the blast's
source--Jeros,
pointing at the tree line, staring at him intensely.  The foreman
understood,
and tried to run, but reacted too slowly and was cut down by a
crushing blow
from the recovered golem's right appendage.  The other man, Evan
Irehorse, did
manage to escape to the tree line.

Finally, sensing that something was wrong, Jeros turned toward
the golems that
had been advancing upon him.  Although he had taken too long to
cast that final
spell, giving the golems time to get dangerously close, they were
gone!  To his
disdain, they had begun pursuing the fleeing archaeologists, who
were being
massacred.  Jeros uttered an incantation and teleported to
safety.

Including the time he spent figuring out the place to which he
had teleported,
it took Jeros nearly a month to return to Solace.  He learned
that a sizeable
party from the tower of Wayreth had already neutralized the
threat of the golems
that had been occupying the tower, and that the camp had been
completely cleared
out by scavengers after the mages claimed everything magical that
was recovered.
 Jeros did eventually encounter Evan Irehorse again, who was so
thankful for
Jeros's help that he spoke very highly of him to a close friend
by the name of
Lorthiras, the head of a group of local Mercenaries.  Jeros
inquired of this
mercenary band, remembering his dire financial situation.  And
the rest, as they
say, is history...

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 868 books from Ansalon from before the great Cataclysm through today.'
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