An Aesthetic shows you to a small reading room.

Stories of Ansalon from the view of Takhisis.

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 large tome gilt in gold on the table in front of you.
You note the spine bears the word 'Takhisis' scribed in purple ink.

Author:    Takhisis       
Date:      Thu Dec 11
02:45:27 2008
Subject     The Knife of Dracart pt 1

The
cave walls were slick with moisture, and screams reverberated off
of
the slate walls. The narrow passages pulsed, seeming almost to
breathe.

In the corner of the large central cavern, hidden by an
outcropping of rock,
a man crouched, watching the center of the
caverns intently. His clothing
was dark, but a pendant of
Solinari hung from his neck, barely visible in
the folds of his
clothing. He stared intently as a small group of
black-robed
figures moved in the center of the cavern, carrying what
appeared
to be a large rock to an alter that had been placed in the
center
of the cavern. Suddenly, the light fell fully onto the
rock, and the man
gasped as he saw that it was made out of gold!


He leaned forward intently, as he watched the figures separate,
and form a
circle around the large gold rock. Two figures stepped
forward to grasp
hands over it, and the rest stood silently,
watching. Squinting, the man
could see that one of the figures
wore the medallion of Takhisis emblazoned
on his robes, and the
other seemed to be wearing the black robes of a
magic-user.
Slowly, they began to chant in unison, their hands now
closed
around what appeared to be a dark knife, smeared with some
kind of liquid.

Their chanting grew and grew, as the two figures
raised the knife high over
the lump of gold. Suddenly, as the
very air seemed to hum with their power,
they thrust the knife
into the top of the rock. It shattered, to reveal some
kind of
golden creature, which was writing in pain. Slowly, the
creature's
gold skin began to darken, and it's small cries of
pain grew more shrill. It
writhed and began to tear down the
middle, forming two lumps of golden flesh
which continued to
writhe and change, until two small lizard-like creatures
were
formed. The man gasped again, for he knew now what the lump of
gold
must be: a gold dragon egg. 

The two creatures were handed
to some of the robed figures, and a new gold
egg was brought
forward. Before he rightly knew what he was doing, the
hiding man
had begun to run towards the circle in the middle, crying
out
words of magic. As he ran, he raised his hands, and pointed
at the two
closest members of the circle. Darts of light flew
from his fingers, flying
into the dark clerics, and leaving a
hole in the circle, through which he
ran. Towards the center he
ran, towards the two with the knife. He knew he
could not kill
them all, but he could feel the evil of the knife. It must
be
destroyed. 

He leaped up to the alter, ignoring the smoke
that began to rise from his
feet, and pressed his hand to the
cleric's chest, crying out more words of
magic. Frost began to
form on the cleric's robes, and he fell to the ground,
his hand
blue and frozen, as the knife fell to the ground. Quickly
turning,
he shoved the black-robed mage out of the way, and
grabbed the fallen
dagger. It burned his hand, and his flesh
sizzled, but the man had no time
to worry about that. He could
feel the evil of the thing, and knew that his
magic would be
unable to destroy it. As the circle of dark clerics closed
in,
murder in their eyes, the man knew what he had to do. Closing his
eyes,
he once more muttered words of power. The knife grew hotter
and hotter in
his hands, and a wind whipped up, though there was
no source, as a small
hole opened in space. The man quickly threw
the knife through it, and sighed
as the portal winked shut behind
it. Even he did not know where it had
gone.

He had time for one
sad smile before the dark clerics were upon him.

Meanwhile,
somewhere in Estwilde, the portal opened, and the knife fell
out.
A passing thief noticed the shining black blade, and picked
it up, thinking
to sell it. But the knife felt warm, and he liked
the way the handle curved,
so he tucked it into his belt, and
headed on towards the Kalaman port. He
had a ship to catch.


Author:    Takhisis       
Date:      Thu Dec
11 02:46:21 2008
Subject     The Knife of Dracart pt
2

Later that day, the Emperor of the Dragonarmy walked
through the cavern, examining the corpses.  
 
"One man did
this?  How did he get through our guards?" He asked the man
standing beside him.

"The human paid a guard to let him
through the door.  I've already had the man killed."

The
Emperor looked at the alter. 

"And the knife?"  His voice
was quiet.

"Gone.  I do not know where it is, but Dracart
assures me that the knife's powers
 would force it to remain on
Krynn."  

"Find it.  Without the knife, we cannot make more
draconians.  That is unacceptable.  
That is our priority now. 
Find that knife, Harkiel."

"Do not presume to lecture me,
human.  If your plans had not forced me to preform my 
part of
the ritual weeks ago, this would never have happened."
 
For a
moment, it seemed, the man beside the Emperor was gone and an
enormous red
dragon stood in his stead.  Then the man stood there
again.

The Emperor spoke again:

"Spread the word to your
dragons.  We must have that knife."
 
And so the order went out
to all of the Dragonarmies: to find the Knife of
Dracart.

Author:    Takhisis       
Date:     
Wed Jan  7 23:07:35 2009
Subject     Knife of
Dracart

The wind and rain whistled down the sides of the
Khalkist mountains,
and beat against the wings of Harkiel, the
Ancient Red Dragon.
On he flew amidst the lightning that flashed
and cracked past
his enormous head, ignoring the bolts, even when
they struck
his body.  He could sense it. 

Onward it drew him,
the taint of the Dark Queen heavy in the air as he flew.
He could
almost taste the knife.  Forged by Dracart, imbued by Wyrllish,
and 
finally quenched by Harkiel himself, it was crucial to the
coming war.  

Up ahead, nestled in a small box canyon, he
spotted the flare of human
magic.  Folding his wings, he dived
swiftly, flaring his wings at the last
moment to land.  His
impact with the earth caused the entire mountain to
tremble,
which pleased Harkiel.  Rocks and grit flew into the air, as
he
looked towards the glimmer of magic.  It was a small cave,
hidden behind 
several boulders.  Harkiel shattered the rocks
with a  word and stomped
towards the cave. 

The canyon was
narrow, and Harkiel was forced to shape shift into human form
to
avoid bringing down the mountains around him.  He hated human
form.
The barrier shimmered and flared as the rain struck it. 
Harkiel paused 
for a moment, staring at the pitiful magic,
analyzing it.  Sneering slightly,
he made a fist, and slammed
into the barrier.  Just once.  

The air...flexed...as he struck
the barrier, which shattered.  Smiling grimly,
Harkiel strode
forward into the cave.  The knife was there, all right.
sitting
in the dust like a forgotten children's toy.  Harkiel
scooped up the knife,
and strode quickly back towards the
entrance to the cave, already
shifting back to his original form,
shattering the cave with his magic as he 
walked out into the
night.  

Airborne once more, knife clenched in his claw, Harkiel
paused for a moment.  
He could feel the taint of the knife, feel
its love of destruction seeping
into him, mixing with his own
evil.  He wanted to destroy.  Turning once 
more, he headed
towards Palanthas.  They would know fear this day. 



Author:    Takhisis       
Date:      Fri Jan 
9 04:24:25 2009
Subject     Knife of Dracart:  the search is
over

The air above Palanthas was cold as Harkiel limped
through the air.
For the first time in centuries, mortals had
fought him, and indeed, 
caused serious damage.  His right wing
flapped, almost useless from 
the holes caused by arrows and
spells.  He felt pain, and it enraged
him.

More painful than the
hurt wing was the feel of defeat.  The mortals
had not only hurt
him, but they had driven him off before he could 
destroy
signifigant parts of the city.  

The Knife of Dracart pulsed in
the grip of his taloned claw, as he 
slowly turned, and flew
towards Sanction.  The mage would be happy to
have his little
knife back.




And so, the Knife of Dracart was returned to
the gathering forces
of the Dragonarmies, where it was once more
put to use, corrupting
the eggs of the Good Dragons.  And the
Armies of Takhisis continued
to grow... 



Author:  
 Takhisis       
Date:      Tue Jun  2 18:26:19
2009
Subject     Dragon's Eggs


The captain of the ship
"Dragon's Fire" nerviously wiped his face with a
dirty rag. As he
looked over the side of his vessel to this strange shore
his
orders had brought him to, his eyes were drawn to the crates that
were
being loaded onto his vessal. Along the shore, he could see
other ships
being loaded with similar cargo. 

None of the other
captains knew what was in the locked and sealed boxes.
Only a
handful of officers aboard the small fleet knew. The men who
had
loaded the boxes had all been killed, as his orders had
instructed. He
watched nervously the heights above the shore. The
Emperor himself had
assured him that the dragons of Good would
not interfere with his mission,
that they were in a magical sleep
from which they would not awaken, but
still, he worried. A dragon
was nothing to disturb. He watched, as the
crates were loaded. He
knew each one was patched, sealed, and padded, but
still, he
worried. Who knew how fragile a dragon's egg was?

Finnaly, the
eggs were loaded, each in their individual containers. As
the
captain lead the small fleet away from the islands, he felt
his spirits
begin to lighten. Perhaps they would make it after
all. Three days past on
their journey. The sea grew rougher, and
the clouds more ominous, but the
fleet continued on. Then, on the
morning of the 4th day, a sail was sighted
by the lookout. The
captain looked through his telescope and swore. A
solamnic fleet!
What could they have been doing out this far?! 

"Men! Oars!
Move! Our lives depend on it!" He set about raising the flags
to
alert the other ships of the fleet, but he knew it was
hopeless. The ships
of the dragonarmy fleet were merchant
vessals: built for shipping, not
speed. The Solamnic fleet was
war vessals. They would run down the pitiful
merchant ships and
capture the cargo. Survivors would be hanged. The captain
was
just raising the last signal flag when he noticed, up ahead, the
largest
storm he had ever seen. 

"All ahead! We'll lead them
into the storm."

With oars and sail, they charged forward,
straight into the heart of the
massed clouds.

Days later, all
along the coastlines of Kyrnn, thrown there by currents,
wind,
and perhaps by the hand of a God, crates began to wash ashore.
They
were sealed, both physically and magically, and resisted all
tampering. Some
were carried off by thieves, some by treasure
seekers. None were able to
open the boxes, but one thing was
sure: the search had begun. 

Author:    Takhisis      

Date:      Fri Jun  5 18:27:43 2009
Subject    
Eggquest:  the ending

The Emperor of the Dragonarmies
looked out from his window high
in a tower in Sanction.  A noise
from behind him signaled the 
entrence of his aide, but he did
not turn.  

"How many did we recover?  Will there be enough
for our plans?"

The Aide, even though he knew the Emperor
could not see him, nodded
anxiously.  

"Yes, master.  The
Clerics think that we will have plenty.  Also,
there are plans to
aquire more of the eggs as well."

The Emperor nodded to
himself.  This was excellent news. When the
fleet had crashed, he
had been so enraged that he had killed his 
laste aide. 


"Excellent.  Alert the clerics. I want them working around
the
clock on this.  Nothing may interfere with our plans."

The
aide left, closing the door behind him.  The Emperor
allowed
himself a smile.  Yes.  Things were comming together
nicely.

And far away, locked behind celestial walls, A dark
goddess echoed
his malicious smile.  

Author:   
Takhisis       
Date:      Fri Aug 28 17:39:32
2009
Subject     The Champ

Tollas OOCs 'anyone want a
shot at the champ?'

--> Tollas got toasted by a solamnic guard
at Steel Street

Author:    Takhisis       
Date:
     Wed Mar  3 21:17:17 2010
Subject     The Death of the
Emperor


As his failing heart slowed, pumping weakly
in a futile effort to sustain
life, the Prophet of the Queen
Luerk Trell struggled to speak. He gurgled
incoherently, choking
on the lifeblood bubbling up through his throat. The
red fluids
overflowed at the corners of his mouth like some grotesque
goblet
filled too full. 

Despite the horrific damage to his
body, he felt the pain slowly subsiding,
like a warm sheet being
draped over him. He snickered to himself, more dark
blood
dribbling down his chin. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the
red
robed magi rummaging through his precious cargo. But he no
longer cared,
there was nothing he could do to stop the
wizard.

With a blackened hands, he grasped the front of his
clerical robes, wiping
his slick hands on the finery. His
delicate fingers, burnt almost to the
bone came across a deep
hole in his chest. He pressed softly, feeling his
beating heart
for the last time.

With lifeless eyes, the Conqueror of
Palanthas, Emperor of the Dragonarmies,
Chosen of the Queen, (and
numerous other titles) past into the beyond. In
the following
moments of silence, he was truly and utterly still.

Then,
creeping through the cobbled stone of Palanthas, a deathly
chill
permeated the still air. Hardly noticeable at first, it
spread from the
center of the dead prophet's body. But defying
the laws of nature, the deep
pools of blood began to bubble and
boil. As if the very nature of gravity
had reversed, great globs
of blood, flesh and ichor dripped into the air,
dissipating into
nothing. But as the physical remains of the Prophet
disintegrated
upward, the soul of the fallen remained chained to the
Abyss.

Dragging the soul through the crust of Krynn itself, the
goddess Takhisis
reigned in her prize, licking her lips in
anticipation. And as her faithful
awoke in the afterlife, he
looked around and asked, "But my Queen, where are
the
virgins?" 



Author:    Takhisis      

Date:      Tue Mar  8 17:44:54 2016
Subject     The Dark
Storm.



The knight had never felt so much evil in one
room, it was almost
overwhelming and indeed he felt weak at that
very moment as even more of the
Dark Queens servants, Highlords
of the plague known as the Dragonarmy,
filled the room. There
were hundreds in attendance from all branches of the
massive
network of the Queens evil militant forces. The knight had to
keep
focused as he stood in the back, he wore the emblem of the
wretched filth
and had snuck in with the Red wing forces after a
long march straight from a
fresh battle. The armor was beat up
from the most recent battle, he had
slain the original owner
himself. This particular helm afforded the knight
with a face
shield which helped to conceal his identity. 


As he gazed
through the crowd making a mental note, he suddenly felt
warmth
within him. He felt stronger and then heard a booming
voice not his own,
within his head. He had never heard, but at
once knew it was his god,
Paladine communing with him. The god
was with him, he knew it and he knew
the god was watching this
swarm of evil as intently as he himself was. Just
as the last few
important lords entered the chamber and the doors were
barred
shut he felt his connection with Paladine disappear. He was
left,
cold and weary, alone with his fears.


At the same instant
that Paladine had left him the knight felt a great
darkness enter
the chamber and indeed saw a beautiful woman manifest herself
at
the altar in the center of the great hall. She was not quite
whole, more
of a shadow or mist, but even in this faded form she
commanded authority and
emanated great evil to every corner of
the room. It was impossible for most
of the followers to look
away from her for a moment and the knight wondered
if she saw him
for what he truly was.


The Dark Queens voice boomed through the
great hall with anger and malice
towards her followers. She was
clearly not pleased with their efforts and it
was plain to see.
Many in the crowd were cowering like dogs, groveling in
some
cases, begging for forgiveness. The knight could not understand
what
was happening to them or see any physical harm happening to
anyone. Many of
the higher ranking officers were in better shape,
but many had blank, almost
dazed looks on their faces. They
seemed to be in a trance of some sort but
the knight could not
tell from his vantage point. His gaze meet with the
misty form of
Takhisis and she gave him a wicked smile before continuing
with
her demands of the highlords and other forces. The knight felt
drained
and stumbled back a step immediately upon meeting with
her gaze. The guard
next to him caught his arm and scowled an
order for him to clean himself up.
With a curt nod the knight
ducked out and left the great hall at once. He
had to get a
message to his harbor contact and send word to the knighthood.



Author:    Takhisis       
Date:      Tue
Mar  8 17:46:32 2016
Subject     The Dark Storm. Part
II



The knight handed the shipwright a sealed message
with strict orders to set
sail right away for Palanthas. He had
little time to discuss matters further
and quickly left for fear
of being noticed on the docks. He travelled the
most direct route
from the docks to the city gates, intent on heading back
to his
fangs camp outside the city. His head was spinning and his mind
could
not shake the Queens gaze. The knight turned down a dark
side alley unaware
that he was being followed. He did not exit
the side street.


The Highlords within the black wing received
images of a mighty swarm of
goblins landing on the island of
Schallsea in droves. The beaches were
overrun with landing
parties and the hoots and war cries of excited, blood
thirsty
goblins and hobgoblins turned loose could be heard all across
the
southern parts of the island. The scene faded away to show a
mass grave of
villagers and a horizon full of burning buildings
and smoke. Burn the
island, slaughter the innocent and raise an
army. The island is a choke
point for our naval forces.
Takhisis hisses with venom in her voice.


The Highlords within
the red wing saw a massive horde move low into the
valley
carrying the banners of the red wing. It is an orderly march and
the
throng of infantry splits in to two groups allowing siege to
be brought to
the front lines. Looking down across the valley
stands the gates of
Thorbardin. Crush them. a female voice
booms across the entire valley. On
command the entire force
shouts Glory to the Queen and begins rushing across
the valley
floor towards their intended target.


The Highlords of the
smallest wing, the white wing witnessed a group
travelling on a
path through the ice and snow, it was a blizzard and
bone
chillingly cold. The small band bearing the sigil of the
white wing was
determined to do the Queens bidding and reach the
great ice caves. It was a
dangerous journey through the Ice Reach
to be sure but that was hardly the
part that unnerved the troop.
Their mission was to wake the great beasts and
call them to aid
the Queen. White dragons that have been asleep for
centuries
would be difficult to work with and nearly impossible to
control.
Fortunately the troop had brought along some slaves as
an offering to the
massive beasts. 


Author:   
Takhisis       
Date:      Tue Mar  8 17:54:18
2016
Subject     The Dark Storm. Part III



At once
the green dragonarmies heard their gods demands: A dark
champion
will rise to slaughter the children of Eli! I call forth
a dark champion of
the green wing to do my bidding and rid me of
these vermin. Who will answer
the call? Who will claim blood in
my name? the Queens voice bellowed loudly.
The scout surveyed
the immediate area near where the children of Eli were
reported
to be. He had trained his entire life for this and he was not
about
to fail his majesty in this important mission. He ordered
his small band
forward searching for a sign. He would find them
for the commander of the
green wing as he was instructed. He and
his scouts were determined to prove
he was the dark champion his
Queen sought.


The blue wing Highlords witnessed a vision
depicting their forces descending
upon the northern regions near
Lemish. There was more finesse with their
movements, unlike the
red wings wild rush upon Thorbardin. The forces of the
blue wing
were calculating in their approach and systematically moved
north
securing each village and road as they went. It was clear
their target was
closer to the knights where a disciplined force
would be most needed. 


In the minds of all the dark armies,
these images burned brightly before
slowly fading away. Some were
left with dull aches, other stunned and
motionless. The touch of
the goddess was strong, but slowly fading as the
great immaterial
form of the Queen dissolved into a southern moving wind.
There
was a great silence, an eerie emptiness that was entirely
uncommon
amongst such a congregation. Even the rumbling of the
Lords of Doom seemed
subdued. The entire armies waited for a true
scion of darkness to speak
first. 



(OOC) HUGE HUGE HUGE thank
you to Paladine for collaborating so much on this
story. I
apologize for the long wait, I hope it was worthwhile for those
of
you waiting. If this is the first you're hearing of this, feel
free to reach
out to your local DA merchant of death :) All are
welcome to participate. 

Author:    Takhisis      

Date:      Tue Oct 31 14:04:58 2017
Subject     HSQ2017
Intro Prompt



This is the deepest, darkest cavern
youve ever been unfortunate enough to be
exploring. If it werent
for the light youre carrying, youd see nothing but
pitch black
darkness. It is almost suffocating. But instead, you see that
the
walls of this cavern are slick with some oozing green ichor, and
the
occasional mottled fungus that struggles to survive. Whoever
brought you
here did you no favors.


Suddenly, your light goes
out for the longest second of your life. And when
it flickers
back to life, the hairs on the back of your neck stand on
end.
Someone or something is RIGHT behind you.

So you have two
choices: you can run and hide, or you can turn and die.

Which is
it going to be? 

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.'