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 80. 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 heavy platinum-covered book on the table in front of you.
You note the spine bears the word 'Zail' scribed in earth-colored brown 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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