An Aesthetic shows you to a small reading room.

Stories of Ansalon from the view of Zail.

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 metal bound tome encrusted with jewels on the table in front of you.
You note the spine bears the word 'Zail' scribed in dark blue ink.

Author:    Zail           
Date:      Sun Feb 15
20:01:27 2009
Subject     Adventure of Sorrow

Zail
looked around at the lush forest, he and his brother Dominic,
were
scouring. Hugging close to the wall of the mountain, he
spied a cave
entrance some distance in front of him. Judging it
worthwhile to explore,
Zail motioned to Dominic to follow as he
prepared to enter the cave.

Seeing his brother brandish his
staff, Dominic drew out his twin elvish
short swords, and plunged
into the darkness of the cave after his brother.
Both half-elves
scanned the inside of the cave with their elf sight,
looking
around, they both saw the life aura of two goblins
hunched in the back next
to a faint fire.

Up until now, both
brothers had spent much of their life under the tutilage
of their
parents. Their father being a solamnic knight of minor reknown,
and
their mother a Qualinesti elf maiden, its safe to assume
their life had been
rather dull and uneventf ul.

Both remembered
the long hours spent being taught by their father. Knowing
their
half human heritage would never allow them service in the Knights
of
Solamnia, he still taught them much of the Oath and Measure.
He taught them
combat and taught them honor.

Their mother,
however, saw a change in her two boys. The first born,
Dominic,
showed the merit of his father. Strong of mind, and of build,
he
had the brawn of his father. Yet it was in his younger
brother, Zail, that
she saw the signs.

Zail had gained much of
his father's brawn and strength. Yet, his mother had
seen his
relentless hunger for knowledge and exploration. Many a time,
she
would spie Zail reading books she had procured from her
homeland. 

Yet, both Zail and Dominic were inseperable. Each
enriching the skills of
the other. Once they had attained an age
worthy of their parents, they were
given a choice.

The choice
was this, should they stay with their parents and learn the
ways
of the elves and the knights further, or should they wish to
indulge in
their youth, strike out to make their own mark in the
world. Safe to assume,
the two brother's chose to strike out into
the world whole heartedly. And
thus they found themselves in a
goblin cave adventuring.

*Now back to their adventure*

Zail
motioned for his brother to halt some paces behind him, so he
could
sneak up behind one of the huddling goblins. Lashing out
with his staff, the
goblin fell, skull cracked open like a
walnut.

Seeing Zail claim one goblin, Dominic dashed forward to
skewer the other on
with his sword. Exhaulting in their victory,
Zail knelt down and began to
search some of the goblin's
treasure.

Yet, not mindful of their dangerous surroundings, a
third goblin snuck up
behind Dominic.

Zail had turned to show
his brother the loot, when he spotted the Goblin
launching itself
at Dominic. Too late, he watched as the goblin's sword
pierced
his brother's chest.

Just as the sword pierced the half-elf's
chest, a strange man entered the
cave, flinging a throwing knife
at the goblin. Assuring that the goblin was
dead, he retrieved
the dagger and stood back away from the half-elves.

Crying out
in anguish as his brother fell at his feet, blade protruding
from
his chest, he looked on in horror as his brother convulsed
from the poison
on the blade. Knowning not what to do, Zail drew
a dagger he had found and
placed it over his brother's heart.
Leaning down to his brother, Zail
whispered in elvish," 
forgive me brother."

Zail's face drifted into a stone mask, as
the blade of the knife pierced his
brother's heart. Feeling his
brother's body cease shaking, he looked at the
man. " kill me,"
 he mutters as the death of his brother settles on
his
mind.

Looking down at the distraught half elf, the man turns
to leave. Turning his
head he chortles,"  Doing that would shit
on your brother's memory."

Devoid of emotion, Zail stands,
lifting his brother's corpse and placing it
over his shoulder,
and begins the long journey back to his home. 

Author:
   Zail           
Date:      Fri Feb 27 01:18:26
2009
Subject     Funeral of Dominic

 Zail looked off
into oblivion. He still couldn't believe all of which
transpired.
So much so that he still stood at the bole of the
Vallenwood
tree, in which his brother was entombed.

The sight of
the goblin's lunge stood fresh in his mind. Yet, through the
haze
of his sorrow a faint flame arose. Sealing the entrance of the
tree, he
muttered the last of his prayers and turned to leave.
His mind was ill at
ease, to say the least, to feel the spot
where his brother used to reside
remain empty. Never again would
he feel his brother's protective eyes watch
his back in their
adventures.

Unbeknownst to the mourning half-elf, a strange man
spied upon him from the
the shrubbery lining the near road.
Thoughts tore the the strange man's
mind, decisions on whether or
not to claim this man. Changing his vision,
the man spied the
growing aura around the man, magic. Seeing the aura about
this
Zail, the man decided to reveal himself to the half-elf. 

Zail's
vision shifted from the past to the present just as a man
revealed
himself from the shadows. Eyeing the man, he took into
the account the blood
red robes the man wore.  What do you want
mage?

The mage's bearded face cracked into a grin,"  you
elfkin, for within you I
see the whispers of magic." Eyeing
Zail as a jeweler eyes a gem, the mage
determined Zail's worth
and bade him follow.

Scrutinizing the mage, Zail shrugged, after
all, what else could possibly go
wrong? 

Author:   
Zail           
Date:      Sun Mar  1 21:06:22
2009
Subject     Past, Present, and Future.

Zail looked
around as he followed the red robed mage. Vallenwood trees
rose
up here and there, and many other naturish creatures swarmed
about. Yet
he did not take heed to much of what he was
witnessing. In his mind he still
saw his brother, saw all the
failing he could of prevent, but didnt. 

Either way, the mage
would have none of the ill at ease crap that he kept
hearing from
the half-elf, so he decided to halt for a bit. Looking at
Zail,
the mage remarked on the leather armor and staff worn by
him. "To have the
essence of magic, you carry yourself as some
sort of staff wielding ninny
don't you?" chuckled the mage. The
mage grinned even further seeing the
remark hit a chord with the
half-elf. Zail's eyes flashed with anger, "
better to be a
warrior than a sniveling bookwarm, Human." Zail walked over
to
a particular bush and removed some of the berries hanging from
it.
Popping the berries into his mouth, he sucked on he blood red
juices of the
bush, eyes glazing over, he fell down to the floor
from the effects of the
Bloodberries.

The mage cursed loudly as
the foolish half-elf fell down in a heap, "Damned
elf, don't
you know to NOT eat things that grow in the wild unless
you
actually know what they are?" Cursing vehemently, the mage
withdrew an herb
from one of the pouches within his robes and
crushed it into a fine powder.
After mixing the powder into a
small mortar, he added water to it from a
skin at his waist, and
slowly poured it into the half-elf's mouth.

Zail's eyes
fluttered open as the antedote took affect on him. Realizing
his
folly, Zail shoved himself up and cursed loudly as he stood
up and fell back
over against a Vallenwood.

Realizing that he is
stuck for the time being, Zail looked over to the mage,
who took
the half-elf's actions as one hilarious sight, " What is your
name
mage?" The mage stood up, and after securing his
components, walked over to
the ailing half-elf and helped him
down onto the ground, " My name is
Bregor, Red Robe Mage of the
Conclave."

The mage looked at the half-elf man, " I take it
your Zail, by your
mutterings back at the burial." Seeing
something grumble to life in the
half-elf's eyes, the mage
quickly changed the subject. "How is it you never
came to know
the magic that wells within you?", the mage commented.
Looking
at the wary half-elf.

Zail looked at the mage and
thought about it himself, he remembered his
mother discovering
his gift, and his Solamnic father Condemning it. Looking
at the
ground the half-elf muttered, " My mother discovered my
talents. Yet
my father condemned them, deeming it unfit for one
of his blood. Yet, even
so, my brother showed signs of it as
well. Thus it led to our parent's
seperation. And us for leaving
to adventure the wilds." 

The mage understood somewhat of the
half-elf's past, yet he cursed the
Solamnic fool for not allowing
the two brothers the power which they held
within them.

Bregor
sighed and stood up, extending a hand to Zail, " Well, we'll
have to
remedy that now won't we?" 

Zail took the man's hand
and stood, eyeing him questioningly, " You, you
will teach my
the ways of magic?

A big grin spread across the Red Robes
face, " Aye lad, I will try."

Looking on in disbelief, Zail
shrugged, " Alright then, when will we
begin?"

Grinning
Bregor chuckled and pointed past the elf, at the tree which
held
his brother's corpse, " Looks like we already
have."

Zail looked back in disbelief as the bole of the tree
closed, as if
embracing his brother. Tears came to Zail's eyes.
Turning back to the
Bregor, Zail tipped his head and followed
behind the mage, chatting with him
as they depared for a long
journey. 

Author:    Zail           
Date:     
Fri Mar 13 04:06:11 2009
Subject     Precursor

 The sun
warmed the half-elfs face as he sat against a Vallenwood
tree,
thumbing through one of the many books of study that Bregor
had bestowed
upon him. He lazily closed his eyes and began to
drift off to sleep when a
shadow blocked the sun.

Bregor cursed
as he came upon the dozing half elf. Muttering about the
lazyness
of youth, he grabbed Zail's staff from against the tree and
clunked
the dozing half elf on the head, "Wake up you blasted
whelp, if your going
to learn how to use your magi c, you must
first learn what it is." He raised
a hand and silenced the
swearing half elf. " Save your breath, just read
the

damned
books,"  he growled at Zail.

Zail huffed and puffed for a few
moments but soon grew quiet as he lost
himself to the books. Some
of which described elven magic. Taking a moment
to glance away
from the books, he scowled as he witnessed Bregor himself
dozing
against another tree.

Sighing, he looked down at the book in his
hand and looked at the cover of
it. He ran a hand over the worn
leather, or what he thought was leather,
cover. Scanning the
Silver runes on the spine of the book. Soon he tired of
that
particular tome and decid ed to pick up a black one inscribed
with Gold
and Silver runes.

Thumbing through some of the
pages, he began to realize that most of the
words written in the
tome were of a language he did not understand. Holding
down two
pages in particular he slowly began to speak some of the
strange
words.

The words slid off his tongue with a serpentine
grace. He gasped as a slow
chill spread through his body, as if
someone injected icewater into his
veins. Soon the area around
himself began to grow dark.

Bregor's eyes flew open as he felt a
dark force begin to descend upon the
area. Launching himself to
his feet, he kicked the tome away from Zail's
pale hands. Eyeing
the young mage, he watched as the young half elf's
lifeforce
slowly drained away. Closing his eyes, Bregor reached into a
pouch
at his side as crushed the grains of sand over Zail,
quickly knocking the
young half elf out. Turning his attention to
the book, he planted his feet
and prepared for the worst.

An
etheral voice slowly grew from the dark pages of the tome,
" You cannot
stop me this time, Bregor. I will enter this
world."

The etheral voice soon grew in power as it
continued to taunt the mage.
Grunting in effort, Bregor cringed
as he felt his will begin to be sapped by
the aura of the tome.


Brow furrowed in grim determination, the mage pulled out a wad
of bat guano
from his pouch and muttered words from memory. The
tome dissapeared as a
massive fireball engulfed the blackening
tome. 

Bregor leaned against a Vallenwood tree heavily, feeling
his energy drain
from the spell. He scanned the area, and soon
kneeled next to the unconsious
half elf as he felt the presence
dissapate.

Waving his hand, shakily, over the sleeping half elf,
he scowled when Zail's
eyes fluttered open.

Zail's eyes
fluttered open, severing the tie from the "other world", as
the
demon's clawed hand reached for him, "What was that,"  he
gasped. Cold sweat
poured down Zail's ashen face as he looked up
at the weary red robe. Bregor
sat against the same Vallenwood and
looked over to Zail," That was a beast
from the abyss, my lad.
One of the many dangers of magic."

"That tome that you read
from once belonged to a dark robe colleague of
mine. I once
thought, that particular book was hidden from the world. Yet
it
found it's way back to me after all these years."

Bregor
drew a flask from within his robes and handed it to Zail. Zail's
eyes
watered as the potent smell of Dwarven Spirits wafted from
the opened lid.
Tilting the flask to his lips, he gulped down two
swigs.

Whiping the tears from his eyes, Zail handed the flask
back to Bregor,"  Is
it gone?"

Bregor tilted the flask to
his lips and took a long, burning draft from the
flask,"  for
now my lad, for now."

Both men sat against the Vallenwood
tree, weary from their misadventure,
contemplating the future to
come. 

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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