An Aesthetic shows you to a small reading room.

Stories of Ansalon from the view of Sivaan.

A little gully dwarf runs by and says 'Wordwrap Off 65 80.'
The gully continues 'Want color back? Turn Color Back ON!!

Astinus says 'Enter the main library here to view only the author list.'
Astinus gently places a private journal on the table in front of you.
You note the spine bears the word 'Sivaan' scribed in vibrant purple ink.

Author:    Sivaan         
Date:      Mon Oct 26 02:23:05 2015
Subject     The hunt continues..

"Wait!" one of my bozaks, Blashik, whispered in my ear as I was raising
my arm. "The spell has not yet taken a hold of him." The wizard before us
was reciting a long incantation from a scroll. I could feel the magic
charging in the air around me, but the bozaks understood the arcane arts
better than I. I heard the volume in the mage's voice rise and Blashik
hissed: "NOW!"

I raised my sword and pointed it towards the wizard. Two dark shapes flashed
from shadow to shadow; kapaks flanking the figure a second before I leapt
forward, sword raised and wings out-stretched. Two arrows whizzed past me,
both finding their mark, their poison no doubt already working its way into
the magus' bloodstream. The mage whipped around to face the source of the
projectiles and found me diving towards him.

For his part, the wizard glanced down at his scroll and continued the spell.
I felt space warp in front of me as the spell reached completion. The mage
let go of the burning scroll and spoke a few short syllables in the language
of magic. I raised my shield as lightning issued from his fingertips which
saved me from the worst of the damage. Thrown off by the wizard's formidable
reactions, my sword swing was wide and he danced aside easily.

The two kapaks found themselves having to re-maneuver to avoid the portal
that had formed, not knowing where it might take them. In a last ditch
effort I swung my shield at the magus, catching him squarely in the chest
and knocking the wind out of him. He crumpled backwards and I tried to press
the attack. He glanced up and tumbled backwards, into the portal and out of
our reach.

We stared at the portal for a moment as it faded and glanced around the
room, each trying to blame the wizard's escape on each other. Fortunately,
the wizard had left behind one of his bags. I motioned Blashik towards it.
"Grab that. It no doubt has magical protections. If you do not think you can
safely open it, keep it safe until we meet up with our forces." I
re-sheathed my unbloodied sword on my back and hissed a curse. 

Author:    Sivaan         
Date:      Wed Mar  9 00:47:26 2016
Subject     The First Trough

Sivaan could smell the rot of freshly decomposing corpses long before he
saw the source of the smell. It lingered in the air and wove its way through
the trees of the forest, drawing scavenger and predator alike. Following the
destruction wrought by the auls' voyage from where they had unloaded the
ships had been easy; the Highlord would be pleased.

As trees began to thin, a kapak wormed his way through the other draconians
to Sivaan and saluted. Sivaan stopped and returned the salute as the Fangs
continued their march forward. "Commander Sivaan, the town is about a mile
ahead. The hobgoblin left a couple dozen behind to guard the corpses."

Sivaan gave a begrudging nod of approval. "Good. Rejoin your Fang." The
kapak saluted and left, and Sivaan continued moving. The commander was still
unsure if Qahsoud was more clever than he looked or just lucky, but keeping
the aurak's subjects safe from scavengers had most likely saved Qahsoud's
life - everyone knew one more slip-up would be the hobgoblin's last.

A quarter hour later, Sivaan crested the small hill overlooking the town of
Que-Fallan. The goblinoids had already moved to one side of the town and
stood staring in awe at the steady flow of draconians streaming in.
Unbeknownst to them, they were the first outside the Black Wing to see this
many Fangs at once - and the Fangs that had undead under their control were
still a day behind.

Taking a deep breath of satisfaction, Sivaan motioned his staff forward.
Drawing a line in the air with his clawed finger, Sivaan commanded: "I want
a trench and rampart from there to there and around there." Pointing into
the distance he continued: "Krish's Fang there, Hotep's there, Boter and
Tsakar's Fangs there and Kull's Fang there. The auraks and bozaks will begin
tomorrow at sunrise, as will construction of the holding ditch."

With a nod from Sivaan, the staff, each knowing his responsibilities, broke
from the commander. "Terk!" Sivaan said loudly to one of his sivak pages,
"send those things ahead to Qahsoud, " with a gesture to the goblins and
hobgoblins. "Better yet, go as one of them - make sure they keep their
mouths shut." Terk smiled hideously and nodded before turning to carry out
his task. 

Author:    Sivaan         
Date:      Thu Mar 24 01:35:57 2016
Subject     The Second Trough

"BURIED?!" Sivaan hissed, making no attempt to conceal his anger. The
sivak that had briefly joined the auls nodded once and pointed to the west
where the goblinoids had buried their dead. Cursing under his breath, Sivaan
flexed and relaxed his wings and muttered. It would take a week to disinter
those bodies and raise them. "Very well. We've no choice but to cleanup the
Fewmaster's mistake. Continue with the fortifications and holding pit, but
have the auraks postpone their rituals." The clerk nodded and left to tell
Lazar the commander's new orders. "How are we on food?" he said, turning to
one of his lieutenants.

"We'll be fine, " the lieutenant said, then added with a chuckle "it seems
the Que-Mont were preparing for a siege." Sivaan nodded approvingly and
dismissed his officers before sitting down to write his report. Qahsoud was
getting bold, but inside Sivaan had to agree with his decision. Qahsoud's
command over the auls remained tenuous and he had to show them he wasn't the
Highlord's puppet - however false it was.

             *      *      *      *      *      *      *      *  

The incessant groan was boring its way into their heads. The draconians were
accustomed to the hundred or so that accompanied a battlefield Fang, not
well over a thousand packed into an eight foot deep pit. "If an army comes,
the 50 of us will only slow them down.. why in Her name are we even here?"
the aurak captain hissed to his fellow officer as he took another swig of
the spirits left behind by the Que-Fallan.

The sivak he was talking to shrugged. "I think it is more to keep those
things {Iin then others out, " he replied as he threw a mostly consumed deer
haunch into the pit. He watched idly as the ghouls clawed towards it. "Not
like anything would want to get in there.. even the wildlife gives this
place a wider berth since our arrival." 

The aurak finished off the skin of spirits and threw it into the pit. "The
commander will rotate us out in a week.. until then, enjoy the spirits, " he
said, reaching into his robes and tossing another skin to the sivak. "I
doubt we'll ever need these ones, " he said, gesturing to the writhing
masses below them. "The auls are bolstering are ranks just fine."

Staring off into the pit, the sivak muttered: "That doesn't make this noise
any more bearable." 

Author:    Sivaan         
Date:      Thu Sep 28 13:33:47 2017
Subject     Undelivered

Sivaan's features distorted and changed from their natural, draconian
appearance to that of the lifeless sailor he dropped to the dusty ground.
The Black Wing's intelligence said that the elf messenger was awaiting a
ship from Stone Rose and that this would likely be the last opportunity to
stop him. Sivaan knew not what information the elf had, only that it
shouldn't be delivered.

As he entered the city, Sivaan made his way to the river docks in search of
the ship that the elf had booked passage on. Fate smiled on him, as the ship
was looking for deckhands, and Sivaan signed on, using the name Darrin
Teltie. None noticed that his eyes flicked occasionally to the armored elf
standing proudly at the ship's bow.

The ship set sail the next morning. Sivaan, having been on similar missions
countless times before, knew how to interact with the other crew just enough
to avoid notice, but not so much as to betray himself. His target had booked
one of the ship's two private rooms, the other being used by a minotaur
returning to his ship. The elf kept to himself, mostly, which would make
killing him and assuming his form easier.

Sivaan waited until the final evening before the ship would leave the Stone
Rose River to New Sea before striking. He was one of three others working
the predawn shift and could easily slip away for more than long enough to
kill the elf. He took advantage of his assumed forms size and tone to
stealthily make his way to the guest quarters.

Sivaan opened the door quickly but quietly, made his way in and closed it
behind him. The elf looked up, broken from his trance, and grabbed for a
dagger at his bedside. Sivaan was upon him, a dagger of his own in hand. The
initial assault caught the elf off guard, but he quickly recovered and soon
the two were crashing around the room, engaged in a brawl.

The elf fought well and Sivaan's own fighting ability was hampered by his
human form. Hoping to finish the fight and take his victims form before any
where alerted, Sivaan shifted back to his natural form. The elf felt
Sivaan's scaly hands close around his throat and as his vision faded could
only see the hideous gleam in his attackers reptilian eyes.

Suddenly, the two were knocked over. The minotaur from across the hall had
barreled through the doorway, shattering its hinges. Pushing off the wall,
Sivaan sprung over the dead or unconscious elf into the minotaur, both
crashing through the opposite door. Both unarmed, the two gouged, gored,
grabbed and bit until the sound of the crew padding across the deck forced
Sivaan to finish the fight.

With a surge of strength, Sivaan grabbed the minotaur by the horns and
slammed it backwards, splintering the deck. He turned and made for above
decks swiftly on all fours, knocking sailors aside. Bursting outside, Sivaan
saw it was still not yet dawn. He scampered up the rigging, looked back down
once to see his pursuers far below him, and jumped from the mast, spreading
his wings. He turned to the northwest and flew away into the darkness,
beating his wings occasionally. 

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