An Aesthetic shows you to a small reading room.

Stories of Ansalon from the view of Valek.

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 small book on the table in front of you.
You note the spine bears the word 'Valek' scribed in vibrant red ink.

Author:    Valek          
Date:      Thu Oct 30
15:49:10 2008
Subject     Pursuit of Power - Chapter
1


How does one being the story of their life? For our
purposes, we shall
start with the event that changed my path, and
led me to become the person I
am today. My parents and I left our
village to go hunting on the second
Majetag of Gildember. We
travelled for 3 days into the forest before coming
upon a family
of wild boar. We were all excited due to the fact if we
killed
the whole family, we would eat well for the next week. As
my father drew
back his bow and let loose first arrow, I started
to get that uncomfortable
feeling that we were being watched. As
the boar was stunned by the arrow
lodged in its throat, my father
dropped his bow and charged in, quickly
decapitating the boar
with his axe. Silently he turned to the two younger
boars and
slaughtered them as well. As we loaded the bodies on to our
cart
to make the long walk home, we noticed a rustling in one of
the nearby
bushes. Once more, with pinpoint accuracy, my father
loosed his arrow, this
time, only to see an elf fall down dead,
an arrow piercing h is right eye.
As my mother went to check the
body, we heard a scream as a sword lashed out
and sliced her
midsection open, dumping her stomach on the ground. Three
elves
now surrounded the body of their slain kinsman, faces covered
with
tattoo's, dressed in green and brown tones.

"Wild elves" my
father whispered.

Speaking in the common tongue but with heavy
accent, the apparent leader
stated "You have taken one of ours,
and we one of yours. The balance is now
restored. Leave our
forest now and touch nothing else."

I glance over at my father
to see his hand resting on his dagger, anger
filling his face.
With a hoarse cry my father flings his dagger at the
closest elf
and charged, falling dead to another arrow. As I charged
forward
to my fathers side, only to find his usually bright green
eyes, dull and
lifeless, feeling for a pulse beside the arrow
that pierced his throat. I
reached down for something, anything I
can use to attack the people that
murdered my family. My hand
closes around a stone, and as I jump up to
attack these
creatures, the elf nearest me kicks me in the temple. My
last
thought as I faded into the black was "Someday, I will have
my revenge
against these elven scum..."


TO BE CONTINUED IN CH.
2 

Author:    Valek          
Date:      Fri Jun
12 22:49:19 2009
Subject     ...excerpt from Valek's
Journal...

Day of Nuindai, 22nd the Month of
Hiddumont


...been stuck in this dank hole too long. One would
think with my skill,
escaping from this pit would be simple. All
the spells I have mastered and
committed to memory, all my work
USELESS! This cell seems to have been
specifically designed
for those of us with knowledge of the arcance, for it
prevents me
from uttering a single sound, never mind the complex spells
that
would free me. This cage wont contain me for long... This
thaumaturge will
be free. 

Author:    Valek       
  
Date:      Sun Jun 21 19:13:23 2009
Subject    
...Valeks Journal...15th the Month of Rannmont

Day of
Nuindai, 15th the Month of Rannmont


...three weeks and still no
word from my Master. I was warned by one of the
other mages at
the Tower that he was furious with me for my actions. Still,
this
silence has me worried. There is more I must learn from him
before my
apprenticeship is ended. My actions may have been rash,
but I need this.
Still, mayhap it is best to behave, for the
moment, I cant be removed before
I am ready...


Author:    Valek          
Date:      Thu Jun
25 22:33:18 2009
Subject     The Fire Salts

Standing
outside the chambers of the Archmage, Valek ponders the task
at
hand.

"Journey to Xak Khalan and collect a specimen of fire
salt from the Fire
Elemental in the forge."

Walking
downstairs, Valek enters his room in the Tower to collect what
items
he will need to the trip. A plain pair of black gloves,
and a glass jar are
placed in his pack. Unrolling a map on the
floor, Valek loses himself in it,
plotting the best course for
the trip. The Archmage had given him a few days
to complete the
task, so mundane travel was more sensible to Valek, giving
him
time to prepare a plan of collection.

Travelling to Xak Khalan
took longer the Valek had hoped, running into a few
creatins on
his way through Tantallon that needed to be taught a
lesson.
Never bother someone when you have no clue what they are
capable of. But
even with the interruption, eventually he arrived
at the ruined city. The
enterance to the city seemed almost to
shine in Nuitari's light. Valek gazes
up at the black moon,
noticing the moon in high sanction, grins
confidently.

Entering
the ancient city, Valek finds his mind wondering if the storys
of
the kobolds some of the mages speak of is true. Walking south
along a dark
corridor, the Archmage's warning runs through
his mind, ever thinking about
the elemental. Coming to a
4-way intersection, the faint sounds of a hammer
clanging off an
anvil can be faintly heard coming from the east. 

Valek utters
the words, 'invisibility'.

Valek starts to fade from view as
he turns down the eastward corridor,
towards the location he
thinks is the forge. Stepping silently, Valek
manages to pass a
small group of kobold's muttering something in their
native
tongue. A distance away, Valek catches a glimse of a yellow
glow,
getting stronger, and warmer as he gets closer. Kneeling
down about 30 yards
from the doorway, Valek reaches into his pack
and retrieves the glass jar,
and his black gloves.

Valek
utters the words, 'fireproof'.
black gloves are
surrounded by a protective aura.

Valek puts on the black
gloves and picks up the jar, moving slowly towards
the open
door to the forge. Inching into the room, I see my quarry, the
Fire
Elemental watching another enterance into the forge.
Stepping silently up
behind the Fire Elemental, I hold my jar
near his knees, trying to capture
some of the salts his body so
readily disguards. Smiling to himself, Valek
is pleased with the
progress he is making.

'This is such a simple task, the
Archmage will be pleased with my progress.'
'This shall
be enough for me to start my studies with the Archmage. This
was
easier then I feared.'

Valek stands quietly, putting the
cover on his jar, now holding a fair
amount of the fire
salts. Placing the jar in his pack, Valek turns quickly
to
leave, tripping over the kobold who had entered the room after
him. With
a loud curse, Valek falls to the ground near the door,
alerting the Fire
Elemental to his presence. Valek jumps to
his feet and starts to flee the
room, but not before his right
arm is cut deeply by the axe of the Fire
Elemental. Running
down the hallway, turning north at the intersection,
Valek never
stops running to look back. Once outside of Xak Khalan,
Valek
stops to concentrate for a few moments.

Valek utters the
words, 'gate'.

Walking back to the Tower, Valek looks
forward to his next summon from the
Archmage.


Author:    Valek          
Date:      Wed Jul
22 20:43:27 2009
Subject     Training under the
Archmage

Walking out of the Archmage's chambers
clutching the book in his hands,
he excitely heads out of the
tower. Leaving the tower, Valek heads out into
the garden near
the Tower, and rests under a tree. Running his hands over
the
book lovingly, he opens it to the first page the Archmage has
marked and
begins to study. 

As the sun sets, Valek casts a
small spell to give him some more light.

Valek utters the words,
'continual light'. Valek twiddles his thumbs and a
bright
ball of light appears.

After spending the entire night studying
the spells the Archmage instructed
him to, Valek decided to
go out into the world, and try his luck with some
of his new
spells. Making his way from the tower to the woods
surrounding
Solace, he searches for a victim for his new
abilities. Coming across a
boar, foraging for food, Valek holds
his hand up pointing at the boar, and
speaks the spidery language
of magic, and grins as the power pulse through
his body, and 3
magic missiles strike the boar in the throat. As the
boar
stumbles over, badly injured, Valek walks over and while
speaking the
language of magic again, grabs the boar's shoulder
as he casts chill touch
and kills the boar.

Grinning evilly
to himself, Valek begins the walk back to the Tower, excited
at
the possibilities these new spells have given him. Arriving at
the Forest
of Wayreth, Valek takes his time to get back to the
tower, eagerly awaiting
his Masters next lesson.


Author:    Valek          
Date:      Tue Aug 
4 15:24:34 2009
Subject     Training under the Archmage Pt. II
and Ancient History intro

The meeting with his Master,
the Archmage of the Black Robes took only a
few moments,
but had been of immense importance. In his hands, palms
sweaty
with nervousness, the book of spells is held tightly. A
new group of spells,
protective in nature, had been assigned to
him by his Master. The Archmage
had said that with mastery of
these spells he would be able to feel the
darkness of Nuitari
envelope him, protecting him from his enemies. To those
he passes
in the Tower, Valek seems a man possessed. He walks with a
single
minded, determined gait, heading straight for the library.


Taking a seat at a vallenwood desk, Valek opens the book to
the marked pages
and begins to study. Checking the tabs the
Archmage marked in the book, he
sees the spells of armor,
sanctuary, shield, and earthshield. Over the next
week, Valek has
just about disappeared from everyone, only those who
come
searching in the back corner of the library would discover
him, still
engrossed in the book, repeating the words to the
spells assigned by the
Archmage. 

Deciding to try one of the
spells, Valek gazes at the book again, and speaks
the language of
magic while holding a chain link. The link expands into a
shell
of glowing armor that bonds to Valek. He grins evilly as he tucks
the
book into his robes, and leaves the library. If what his
Master had told him
was right, which it had so far been every
time he spoke, the next step for
him would be his hardest, the
Test...

But before the Test, he had some things to take care of
that were starting
to reappear from his past, some things only 2
others knew about. 

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.'