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(Note From Stile Teckel)
I just wanted to say thank you to everyone involved in this project. Its a fairly large piece of work and what amazes me the most about it is how FAST those involved put it all together. Wow!!! A Thanks to Time Lord and Gabriel Nightshadow for your work in writing this please and allowing us to use it. Also to Amber Raine for her guest appearance! I have something else to end at the end of this. Last but not least, Lord Baldrith for continuing to partner with me in this project!
(End note from Stile)

Hello everyone.  Lord Baldrith here with the first long story written by community members Gabriel Nightshadow and Time Lord.  Very awesome and exciting story here.  I do the narration and male voices and Amber Raine does the voice of Chariya.  Also, I produced the story so that it sounds decent (Hopefully) 🙂  Hope you enjoy it!  There will be 3 parts.  It is around 50 minutes for all 3 parts.

Here is the text for this first part:

Once Upon A Time Lord…

By Gabriel Nightshadow and Time Lord

******************************************************************************

University of Texas at Austin

Tuesday, October 14, 1980, 4:00 PM

“WAKE UP, Professor Graham!”, said the young, college student as he shook the dozing Time Lord.

“What…oh, I must dozed off while grading these exam papers.”, said Time Lord as he raised his head off his desk and put on his black framed glasses, “Sorry about that!”

“I just wanted to stop by and say how much I’ve enjoyed your course so far, Professor.”, said the young man, “Although my true love is computers, I’ve always had a special interest in astronomy. One day, I hope to actual make it up into space.”

“I see.”, replied Time Lord, “I’m glad to hear that you’ve found my lectures to be interesting. As you know, this is the first course I’ve taught since coming to this university.”

“I found your work on Ohio State University’s SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) program to be quite fascinating.”, said the young man, “Do you think we will make succeed in finding concrete proof of extraterrestrial life in our lifetime?”

“Of that I have no doubt!”, replied Time Lord.

Noticing the Celtic Dragon doublet poking out of his backpack, Time Lord said, “Ah, I see you have an interest in medieval culture! By any chance, do you belong to the SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism)?”

“Why, yes I do, Professor.”, replied the young man, “In the SCA community, I am known as Shamino.”

“It might surprise you to know that I, too, belong, to SCA.”, said Time Lord, “Unfortunately, since moving here from Ohio, I’ve been too busy to keep up on the latest SCA events.”

“Well, as a matter of fact, we’re holding a tournament here in Austin this weekend. Here’s the time and location.”, said the young man as he scribbled the details down on a slip of paper and handed it to Time Lord, “By what name are you referred to in SCA circles, if I may ask?”

“I am known as Hawkwind, the bard.”, replied Time Lord, as he slipped the slip of paper into his vest pocket.

“I hope to see you there, Professor.”, replied the young man.

“Thank you for the information, young man, but forgive me, I seem to have forgotten your name..”, said Time Lord.

“That’s quite understandable, Professor.”, replied the young man, “It’s such a large class. I wouldn’t expect you to remember everyone’s names. My name is

Richard Garriott.”

“A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Mr. Garriott.”, said Time Lord, as he rose and shook Richard’s hand, “I will endeavor to regal you and the others with exciting tales of the past at the evening banquet.”

“I look forward to it! See you in class on Thursday, Professor!”, said Richard as he turned and left “Professor Martin Graham’s” office.

He did not see the big grin on Time Lord’s face.

Time Lord pulled out his pocket watch and checked the time.

“Oh dear, I’m going to be late for my appointment with Dean Hardman!”, said Time Lord.

Time Lord straightened out his rumpled, brown tweed suit and ran out of his office, slamming the door behind him.

As he raced across campus, Time Lord failed to notice the young woman exiting the campus library. He collided with her. Both of them ended up sprawled on the ground.

“I’m so sorry, miss, I should have been watching where I was going.”, said Time Lord, extending his hand to help her up, “I…”

As soon as Time Lord got a good look at her face, he was suddenly left speechless. Who was this heavenly creature?

“That’s all right, Professor.”, replied the young Thai woman, as she took his hand and he pulled her up, “No harm done.”

“Do I know you, miss?”, Time Lord asked, “You face seems awfully familiar. You’re not one of my students, are you?”

“No, I’m afraid not, Professor Graham.”, replied the woman, “I really wanted to take your class as an elective this semester, but the registrar’s office said the class was full.”

“That is most unfortunate.”, said Professor Graham,” I really do wish to make this up to you. I’m on my way to an appointment with Dean Hardman right now, but perhaps I can buy you a cup of coffee later at the Star Café?”

“That’s not really necessary. Professor Graham.”, replied the woman, “… but I really would like to hear about your work on Ohio State University’s SETI project. How does 5:30 PM sound?”

“That should do nicely. I should be done with Dean Hardman by then.”, said Time Lord.

As the young Thai woman turned to leave, Time Lord said, “Wait, miss! I forgot to ask you name!”

The young woman turned and said, “My name is Chariya Campbell.” She smiled at Time Lord, then turned and walked away.

*******************************************************************************

The meeting with Dean Hardman was all a blur. Time Lord couldn’t wait

to get to the Star Café to see Chariya. As he entered the café, she beckoned him from a corner booth.

“I’m so sorry for being ten minutes late. My meeting with Dean Hardman ran longer than expected.”, said Time Lord apologetically.

“That’s OK, Professor.”, replied Chariya,”Let’s order.”

Chariya summoned a waitress over. The waitress’ name tag indicated that her name was Gerta. She looks awfully familiar, Time Lord thought to himself.

“What can I get you two?”, asked Gerta, with a pleasant smile on her face.

“Well, Professor, I understand that you’re from Cardiff, Wales. Don’t you normally have tea at this time of the day?”,” asked Chariya.

“Indeed I do.”, replied Time Lord, “A cup of Welsh Brew tea, please. Plus a slice of your wonderful apple pie.”

“I’ll have a cup of Jasmine tea and a slice of apple pie as well.”, said Chariya.

“OK, I’ll bring your order to you shortly.”, said Gerta, who winked at Time Lord as she turned to leave.

Chariya began asking Time Lord questions about his research related to the SETI project at Ohio State University, which Time Lord gladly answered in great detail.

During the course of their conversation, Time Lord was able to find out many things about Chariya’s personal life. She had been born in a small village in Thailand, but lost her entire family in a flood when she was only an infant. As the sole survivor of her entire village, she was dubbed “The Miracle Baby” and taken to an orphanage in Bangkok, where she was adopted by a wealthy investment banker, Charles Campbell, and his corporate lawyer wife, Helen, and taken to their home in Dallas, Texas. As an only child (because Helen was unable to conceive or carry a baby to term due to medical complications.), Chariya had often dreamed about tales of dragons and knights in shining armor saving damsels in distress. She developed a interest in medieval culture and became an active member of the SCA, where she was known by the name Caitlin O’Dell. An excellent chef, she was quite adept at preparing medieval dishes and was a pretty good medieval seamstress as well. Chariya also had an interest in astronomy and hoped one day to travel to the stars. She was pursuing dual Master’s degrees in Asian Studies and Business Administration here at the University of Texas at Austin.

The more that Time Lord learned about Chariya, the more he realized that she was the one he had searching for his entire life. Although Time Lord had been with many women in his 5,000 year existence, he had yet to find one whom he wished to share his life with. Chariya was the one!

Time Lord and Chariya did not realize how long they had been talking. Two hours later, they were suddenly interrupted…

“Hi, Chariya!”, said a friendly voice.

Both Time Lord and Chariya turned their attention to the young fellow who had stopped by their table.

“Hi, Trevor!”, replied Chariya, “How goes the preparation for tomorrow night’s debate against the University of Texas at Dallas?”

Time Lord recognized the preppy. He was Trevor Montague, head of the University’s debate team. A handsome fellow with blond hair and blue eyes, he was the son of James Montague, a billionaire oilman, and major donor to the University. Time Lord suddenly had an uneasy feeling as Trevor flashed his pearly whites and spoke.

“Just fine, Chariya.”, replied Trevor, “But remember, I may be the captain of the debate team, but you are clearly the smartest member of our team. I was planning on having a late night supper after the debate at Chez Zee. Care to join me?”

“Thank you for the invitation, Trevor, but I have to study for my biochemistry midterm after the debate.”, said Chariya, much to the relief of Time Lord, “I’ll just grab something quick at the dining hall.”

“OK.”, said Trevor, who clearly looked disappointed for a moment.

He smiled again and said, “See you on stage tomorrow evening. The debate begins at 7:00 PM sharp!”

“See you then, Trevor.”, said Chariya.

After Trevor left, Time Lord was greatly relieved.

“Chariya, my friend ,Richard, told me that there’s an SCA tournament being held here in Austin next weekend.”, said Time Lord, “Would you do me the honor of accompanying me to that event?”

Before Chariya could answer, they were interrupted by Brad Thompson, the handsome, muscular captain of the Univeristy’s football team.

“Hey, Chariya!”, said Brad, “After this weekend’s game, me and the guys are having a victory party at Kappa Sigma fraternity house. Care to join us?”

Time Lord was starting to feel really insecure. How could he hope to compete with all of these handsome, young men vying for Chariya’s affections? Sure, he was wiser and wittier than these young studs, but still…

Much to Time Lord’s surprise, Chariya said, as she winked at him, “Sorry, Brad, but my boyfriend and I have other plans this weekend.” She reached out and put her hand on top of Time Lord’s.

“What?”, said a stunned Brad, “You’re not telling me that this old geezer is your boyfriend?”

“Hey…”, said an indignant Time Lord, but he was suddenly interrupted by Chariya’s gentle kiss!

“Uh…I’ll see you around, Chariya.”, said Brad as he turned and walked away.

After Brad left, Chariya smiled and said, “I would love to accompany you to next weekend’s SCA tournament, Professor!”

“You don’t know how glad I am to hear that, but please stop addressing me as Professor. You’re not my student.”, replied Time Lord, “My name is Martin.”

“OK, Martin!”, said Chariya, as they continued holding hands and staring into each other’s eyes.

Time Lord was on cloud nine!

******************************************************************************

A large field somewhere near University of Texas at Austin

Saturday, October 18, 1980, 9:00 PM

“Christopher leapt onto the demon’s neck and drew his Dragon Katana. Plunging it deep into the demon’s skull, he pulled it straight down his neck and spinal column. The demon roared out in pain. Christopher quickly sheathed his Dragon Katana as the demon’s eyes turned white and its lifeless form began falling. Christopher jumped and fell a short distance before landing right in the saddle as Kuroseth swooped in to catch him. The demon’s body crashed into the river with a loud boom as the cheering villagers, who had heard all of the loud noise and come out of their homes to observe the entire battle in the sky, greeted Christopher and Kuroseth as they landed nearby. Christopher explained to the villagers that the demon was the true culprit and that Kuroseth was a friend. Christopher’s wife, Katherine, and his five-year old son, Michael, came running. Christopher hugged them both. Michael walked over to Kuroseth and patted him on the nose. Kuroseth smiled.

And that is how Christopher Nightshadow met the great black dragon, Kuroseth, and became the First Dragon Lord.

In time, Christopher Nightshadow would gather together eight other knights who had bonded with the remaining eight dragons of legend and formed the Great Council of Dragon Lords based in Castle Genar. They would help their liege preserve the peace for the next 150 years, but that is a tale for another evening, my dear friends. The hour grows late and all of the wine has been consumed. So ends this tale from Hawkwind, the bard.”

All of the SCA members clapped after Time Lord finished his tale. Later, Shamino approached him, and said, “That was a fine tale you told us this evening, Hawkwind. I look forward to hearing more about these “Dragon Lords” in the near future.”

“Many thanks, Shamino.”, replied Time Lord, “Have you met my companion, Caitlin O’Dell?”

“No, I can’t say I’ve had the pleasure.”, replied Shamino, as he bowed to Chariya, “Pray tell, how did the two of you end up together?”

“Well, you could say it was love at first sight.”, replied Chariya as she held Time Lord’s hand and exchanged glances with him.

“Hawkwind, you are a very lucky fellow to have such a fine woman as your companion.”, said Shamino, “Do remember to treat her right!”

“Indeed, I shall, Shamino!”, replied Time Lord, “Good evening to you!”

After young Richard Garriott had taken his leave, Time Lord turned to Chariya and asked, “Did you really mean what you just said?”

“Of course, I did silly!”, answered Chariya, “I would very much like to be your girlfriend.”

“Oh, you don’t know how happy I am to hear you say that!”, replied Time Lord, as he took her in his arms and passionately kissed her.

*****************************************************************************

Once Upon A Time Lord (Part 1 of 3) Written by Gabriel Nightshadow and Time Lord-Narrated by Lord Baldrith, Amber Raine as Chariya.

(Another note from Stile Teckel)
Time Lord has been amazing (as have many more such as Gabriel Nightshadow) in supporting Lord Baldrith and I since we have started this project. I just wanted to share one of his latest posts of encouragement and say thank you!

I actually wrote that, thinking I was writing it as a Privet Message …. when I realized that I had placed it here on you thread, I thought to myself hmm… “it’s just as well here as it would be there, so I’ll just leave it”:p you all seem so very busy in the PM with it all happening around me.

I hadn’t had to sit and watch my mother’s stage performance since I was a very little boy, for lack of a baby sitter o_O She was the lead singe actress of many different off Broadway plays back then which all are now so old many here may have never seen or heard of them. One of which was called “The Rainmaker” which went through so many transformations and eventually became one of Hollywood’s Movies starring Burt Lancaster and Katharine Hepburn…. Yet I had the privilege to have seen in it’s original stage production which ran for some years after the Movie had been made. I was only 2-4 years old at the time. The stage manager, actors and choreographers would all stop by me between their breaks and ask their only audience member “Time Lord-mini-me:p” how I was enjoying the performance and what I thought about it thus far. I can’t say that I enjoyed it all that much as I had to sit quietly alone there by myself through so many rehearsals 🙁 but when I got to see those plays with the audience all there, I was truly fascinated seeing everyone so dressed up and all applauding at my mom 🙂 on stage. I had to do the same for many of her plays until I was around 8 or 9 years old.
I eventually went on to become a small time child cowboy actor through my teens, but the production of such westerns was nothing much more than riding a horse every now and them, waving around a gun or 2 and maybe a small part in a shootout. But it was all quite natural to me having grown up in the theater watching my mom:)
Those were the end of my acting days as I began my adult life entering the US Army Infantry at age 18….

So, those were very dusty and dusty eyed memories I had while watching you all, reading all your posts through the Production PM 😀
And I must say, you all played your parts there”very well”! 😉
*A Very Grateful Standing Applause*
~a nostalgic ~Time Lord~:rolleyes:

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4/14/2024 Update:
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Hi Everyone, Lord Baldrith here with the 2nd story of Islug.  I love doing this comedy…Very good writing to practice my comedic voicing on!

Here is the text version:

OOC NOTE ON THE ORIGIN: This is a piece making fun of how sometimes NPC’s can be rather lacking in conversation and that sometimes game bugs can put coin back into your pocket.

Islug walks out of the leatherworking shop after a long day of study with the trainer. Whistling to himself, pleased with the new skills he has learned. Suddenly he stops and a grin spreads on his face as he sees a tavern. He stops in, has a few drinks (depending on your perspective) and ends up sleeping in one of the upstairs rooms. Next day as he’s smiling to himself with thoughts of the lovely Wench from the previous night as he is about to see to the days hunting, he notices his money pouch seems a bit heavy. Looking inside his eyes go wider as he sees five gold coins in it. Now knowing that before he paid for his latest training he only had 5 gold coins he begins to think back as to whether he had in fact actually paid. On thinking about it he clearly remembers paying! “Hmmm, must’ve gave it back me being famous an all. Just ave to keep it”. Few minutes go by an he’s about to head out for the hunt and he’s thinking to himself “Well, nothing for it, I ave to go give it back, cant face guild mates knowing I stiffed some trainer”. Heading back into the shop he notices no one is around except the trainer so heads straight over to him “Excuse me lad, but I appreciate ye giving me this back, but I can’t take it. Services rendered an all that”. Islug holds out the pouch. A few seconds go by “Look lad, its okey really, take it.” Few more seconds go by “Lad, this is nae funny, will ye take the damn gold?” Few more seconds go by “Least say something lad.”

Few more seconds go by “LAD IM GETTING”G REALLY ANNOYED HERE!! TAKE IT OR SAY SOMETHIIG!!!” Islug starts shaking his crossbow at the vendor “LEAST YE CIN DO IS AVE THE C…” *THUNK*. Islug’s crossbow is now empty, and the trainer falls to the floor with a pool of blood running around him. “Ermmmm….oops?” Islug looks around quickly to make sure no one noticed him, shrugs and leaves the building as he says to himself “Well, glad that’s taken care of”. LATER THAT NIGHT Drifting inside the local tavern, you clearly hear Islug yell “That’s right, drinks on me tonight!!!”.

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4/11/2024 Update:
-Links to the .mp3 on this post are now broken
-You can listen to the Mp3 File for this post now, on Youtube, here:
https://youtu.be/Sc_E4sX6IJQ

(Edit note From Stile – A personal thank you to Vandigeth who gave permission to allow us to do this piece for a podcast).

Hi Lord Baldrith here with a great Story by Vandigeth called the Cavern.  Also seen on the community spotlight last year.  I am doing some voicing of multiple characters.  It’s a big challenge to remember who is who 🙂  Here is the link:

https://www.shroudoftheavatar.com/?p=25591#more-25591

Here is the Text version of the story:

The Cavern

She stood on the rocky precipice looking out upon the dense rock that filled this cavern. The sound of water filled the air before her; its smell gave what little freshness there was to be had in this dank place. A humid mist permeated the air and diffused the light across the cavern.

Jumping down from her precipice, she rejoined her companions across a small wooden bridge over the sheltered river. The stalagmites and other cavernous formations spoke to the absolute timelessness of this place. To her left was a modest waterfall, an obvious inlet of moisture from the surface far above this place.

The tread of one’s shoe was important here unless great care were taken. Moisture put off by the river both beautified the cavern but acted as a deadly host to her earnest companions. A simple mistake with one’s footing could result in a fall into the river below, or gravity between the rock and one’s head. However, she had much more experience moving through these so-called ‘catacombs’ than any of her companions.

Finally, she caught up to the companions. Two of them, both male, were a wealthier sort from the cities. Flush with cash and equipment, they hired her to guide them across the continent on a pilgrimage to a famous shrine of Honor. Both were showing their inexperience now as they began to question her about the caves to which she had become so familiar.

“Yintara, does this place have a name? It is simply incredible in its size and scope.” The one man stated with his academic urban tone. “Come now, speak girl.”

She shook her head, “Nah, ‘tis but a dank old cavern. We should move along.” The lie was to guard the secrets of the cavern. Of course it had a name, but it would do them no good.

The other man spoke up, “Think of it Jinta, we could name it after ourselves at the college back home.” A sparkle of ambition and pride filled his eyes that dwarfed the sparkling jewelry with which he adorned himself.

“A marvelous mark of discovery on our record it would be Klint.” Jinta nodded in agreement in awe of the underworld before him.

Yintara kicked some stones across the cavern floor into the river below to kill some time while the gentlemen stroked their egos and waxed intellectual about their geological knowledge. She watched as the river flowed by with a slight roar that echoed throughout the cavern. She casually listened to Klint and Jinta.

Jinta turned to Klint, “Yes, the formation over there came from the droplets of water of ceiling depositing calcium over centuries or more…” he trailed off into a diatribe of geological knowledge for a time. Klint didn’t back down, and showed his knowledgeable side too and they engaged in speculations that would challenge the Virtue of Humility itself. All the sorts of creatures that may or may not exist living in these caverns and the ecosystems they might participate in.

Klint walked over to his right to a stalagmite. It was thick, at least the width of a man, but at the base of the formation was a strange batch of white growths. They disguised themselves well as rocks, but it was a living organism down here beneath the surface. All part of an ever growing underworld taking shape beneath the feet of civilization.

“Yintara, any idea what these are?” Klint poked at one with a beautiful jeweled knife in his hand that had inlaid gemstones in the shape of an ankh. He attempted to lift one from the ground with the tip of his blade.

“I wouldn’t do that if I was you.” She stated frankly without even looking at what he was doing.

Klint stopped and looked over at her. “Why not? And you didn’t answer my question.” He looked over at Jinta for some support in what could be a confrontation.

“Ya didn’t hire me to give you the grand tour, just to get ya across these caverns.” She stated as she chewed a leaf of some kind in her mouth. “Just don’t mess with it.”

Klint took some offense to her words and marched over to Jinta. “Who exactly does she think she is? She works for us, and…” Jinta cut him off before he could finish his statement.

“Don’t let it bother you. What is to be expected of folks from outside the cities but poor manners and lack of thirst for knowledge.” He said with a condescending tone, “We must remind ourselves that we are on a pilgrimage to the shrine of Honor, and it is Honor we will bring to ourselves and our home city and even mankind!” His grandiose speech seemed to effect Klint’s mood, but Yintara remained unbothered now spitting at the river below.

Klint nodded and returned to the small organism on the rock floor. “We are here for the advancement of all mankind and bring Honor!” He boasted loudly over the roar of the river throughout the cavern. Returning with his knife, he once again began prodding the little white thing on the floor.

With a sigh, Yintara turned to face her employers and watched as they observed the specimen. She looked up at the ceiling of this cavern and noted the well-known curtain shaped formations along it. The wide arches always impressed her in this place, even for as often as she sees them.

“Ya realize I’m paid by the hour, aye?” She shouted over to them in hopes to move them along.

“Shush girl, we are studying and well aware of your payment as we arranged it for you.” Jinta stated with authority as if she were a servant girl inside his island castle off the coast of his property. The jingle of coin in his purse was an alluring sound as they jabbed the strange thing.

Yintara rolled her eyes and kicked her feet as she attempted to kill more time, but slowly began making her way back to the wooden bridge. She was all too familiar with this place. Her family was from a town beneath the surface where they traded with passers-by on the highways of the underworld. A sort of black market, one could say. Her childhood was spent combing these caves and learning all their secrets. Finding employment on the surface as a guide brought extra money in for her family back home since business could rise and fall depending on all sorts of circumstances.

Her parents had taught her about the Virtues, but in her hometown none was more celebrated than the Virtue of Humility; however, in turn mostly forsaking the remaining Virtues. She surmised that perhaps the most forsaken Virtue of their town was Honesty, but that was a debate left to wiser men she thought. These companions she was guiding were committing a hubris of great scale for her and her culture, an offense not taken well by denizens of these caverns. Humility was respect. Humility was everything.

“Come, girl, we have a task for you.” Jinta stated plainly now acting as though he could simply control her as he saw fit. He hadn’t even bothered to look up at her to bark his order.

She approached a few feet but maintained a distance. “What is it?” She asked with restraint. It was all she could do to not call him ‘boy’ in return, but that would endanger her own sense of Humility.

“We want you to lift this thing off the ground for us. You must know how.” He continued to not even look at her. “Come now girl, we haven’t got all day.”

“No.” She simply stated and walked away.

“Listen here, we have hired you to work with us along our journey and…” He now spoke to her as if he were a father or some authority figure.

“No, you listen here. I’ll leave you to wander lost in these caverns for the rest of your days if you don’t watch yourself.” With that, she turned and walked some distance away to restrain the fury building inside her.

“Think of the Honor we will bring civilization with this discovery!” He pleaded to her sense of the Virtues, “Have you no Virtue, girl?!” He turned back to the specimen with disgust. “We will figure it out ourselves and you will wait for us then.”

It had become a matter of pride now for the two, she thought. They wouldn’t easily let this one go until she complied with their wishes or they figured it out for themselves. A smirk streaked across her face as she realized that things had become all too easy for this venture.

Jinta held in his hand a flat blade, jewel encrusted as well, with the mark of a chalice on it. He was now shoving it underneath the white organism disguised as a rock. He was focused on getting this thing detached from the floor now to save his pride.

Klint stood up and looked out around the cavern. Very light purple specks floated around the cavern that he hadn’t noticed before. They were few and perhaps he had easily missed them. He shook his head as he wiped some sweat from his brow after fooling with this specimen for easily fifteen minute now. Very rarely had he engaged in such hard work in his time, and watched Jinta forcefully remove this specimen from the floor.

“Pchffffffffffft.” The specimen broke off and burst open releasing a cloud of the purple spores. Jinta and Klint immediately began coughing as their lungs filled with the foreign agents. In less than a minute the cloud had dispersed and they looked around for Yintara. She had vanished into the darkness of the caverns around them.

They tried to talk or yell for her but the coating of spores in their lungs and larynx had deadened their ability to speak. Quickly the two men got to their knees and pulled out their fine leather canteens and attempted to drink and wash away the spores. The water was rejected as they spit it out onto the floor of the cavern, and dizziness began to sweep over them.

“Your hubris to the Virtue of Humility has swept upon you. Feel your punishment.” Yintara’s voice could be heard echoing throughout the chasm now. The echoes obscured her exact position from them.

Jinta pulled from under his shirt a prized golden, emerald studded miniature chalice on a gold chain around his neck. He grasped both hands around the chalice and began rocking back and forth as the weakness began to spread throughout his body.

Klint had regurgitated onto the floor and rose to desperately search for Yintara’s location. He stumbled across the bridge and around a column, searching for who he believed had all the answers and could have prevented this. Finally fatigue began to overcome him as the spores took full effect inside his body. Looking at Jinta, he finally understood and fell to his knees again. From under his shirt he removed a jewel encrusted ankh of a considerably heavy metal.

He grasped it with both hands began to mouth some kind of words or prayer. Perhaps hoping for the compassion of some deity, or the compassion of Yintara to finally descend from the shadows and end this nightmare. As they both knelt there praying the spores progressively reduced their consciousness. Soon they would be overcome by the spores, and they believed death surely awaited them.

Slowly they both fell flat onto the floor of the caverns and slipped into a deep sleep. Klint blinked his eyes a few last times and noticed a pair of shoes quickly approaching them. Hopefully Yintara had heard his plea for Compassion, he thought as he finally slipped away.

A dream began in his mind, and it seemed as though Jinta had joined him in a conscious state, both joined together somehow in this dream. A voice spoke to them from a white light surrounded by blue and then darkness. It tried to teach them of Humility to bring about some change in them. Walking them through clichéd examples of how their actions had affected others, and what they could do to help reestablish their Virtue of Humility.

Meanwhile, Yintara had found the men after they had fallen unconscious and the spores had dissipated into the stale atmosphere of the caverns with a large sack slung across her shoulder now. Her lungs and Virtue had long adapted to the spores, barely affecting her anymore, but it was always important to respect nature. Slowly but surely she methodically unbuckled, unlatched, and removed all the belongings from Klint as though she had done this a hundred times before.

She stuffed his jeweled ankh into the sack with his fine leather canteen. The fine Baron’s clothes would make a wonderful addition to her father’s shop back home. The coin purse held in excess of five hundred gold, a worthy sum for any journey. She questioned how they could be so stupid as to not have a hired an escort accompany them into the caverns, but they were not alone in this stupidity. Perhaps they trusted too much in people’s Honor, she thought.

After stripping Klint clean of valuables she moved into Jinta. Jinta’s equipment reflected a very sincere devotion to Honor and forsaken all other virtues. Almost everything, including his belt buckle, had an Honor chalice engraved upon it. His clothes had the markings of a Duke upon them, and they would fetch a fine price at the markets. Searching his coin purse, he carried with him in excess of seven hundred gold. She had really struck it rich on this venture.

Sorting through the coin purse she found a note deep inside. Unraveling it, she found written upon it “Jinta, should the girl prove invaluable I deem that we should double her pay upon completion of services rendered. It is both the Honorable, and Compassionate, thing to do. –Klint” A slight pang of remorse swept over her for a moment. To mock this note would break her own notions of Humility. The thought of leaving these two gentlemen, no matter how hoity and condescending they may be, now left her feeling sour about the situation.

She sat back and thought about it for a moment. Perhaps overcome with the sense of Compassion that Klint had, she decided that they weren’t going to get there stuff back but she wouldn’t leave them completely helpless. Reaching back into her sack she removed each of their blades and left it by their sides for when they awoke some hours later. Taking the note she found, and a piece of charcoal from Jinta’s coin purse, she drew a shoddy map to return them the way they came and left it under Jinta’s knife.

Finally feeling as though her duty to Compassion and Humility had been served, she hoisted the sack over her shoulder and fled into the darkness of the deep caverns once again. The sound of her footsteps echoed softer as the cavern became completely still. Only the roar of the river now remained in this cavern.

Klint began blinking as he awoke. He went to grab his necklace to thank Compassion for bringing them back but realized it was gone. Not only was it gone, but everything was gone except his undergarments and his knife beside him. He shook his head and slammed his fist into the rock floor realizing now that they had been robbed. He had to wonder if she had been planning it this whole time.

Looking over at Jinta, he saw that he had already awoken and was sitting on a rock nearby looking at a parchment with his knife in hand. He walked closer to Jinta and asked, “I’m guessing the spore acted as some kind of sleep-inducing hallucinogen. It was like we were in the same dream.” Klint sat down next to Jinta.

Jinta simply nodded as he stared at the paper.

“What’s that?” Klint asked trying to get something out of him.

“It looks like a map. I’m guessing Yintara didn’t want to leave us to die down here.” Jinta stated with a resigned voice. “I dreamt of Humility too; I think those spores joined us in a dream somehow. They connected us in some way.”

Klint looked around the cavern. “Well, I suppose we had better get moving. We’ve got no food or water and we won’t last long down here.” He stood up and began moving toward the small wooden bridge.

Jinta sighed and looked at Klint. “Aye, you’re right. We’d best be going.” He walked over to the organism that had sprayed them earlier. “We may as well take it for study and get something out of this trip besides a moral lesson.”

Klint laughed, “Grab it and let’s move.”

Picking up the dead organism, Jinta joined Klint by his side and they both looked down the dark tunnel from where they had come sometime earlier. “Do you think anything is down there?”

Klint shrugged, “I don’t know, there wasn’t when we came this way.”

The two began moving toward their destination with blades drawn and a wary walk. It was nearly a day’s journey to the surface from here, and that was with a guide. As they passed the threshold from the cavern into the tunnels ahead, a large shadow skittered through the darkness beside them. Unaware of the dark red eyes watching as the two passed into the dense interconnected tunnels of the system known on the surface as the ‘catacombs’. As they disappeared into the distance so did the red eyes in tow. Soon all that remained was the roar of the river in the ancient cavern known as Rogue’s Rest.

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Here is one I wrote a few months ago as a sample.  I guess it can be included here too.  A bit creepy, wonder if we can have dark gloom scenes like that in the game!

The Band of Bards

How the gloom was tended by the will of the fallen angels. Every bit of ash in the campfire had been blown away by the wicked winds heckling through the trees. The fall of the crackling oaken branches was subdued by the angry raindrops pouring down upon the dreary shattered clearing.

The place where the tent had been so neatly sited was now just a memory in the passage of time. The darkened passaged leading to the serrated mountain was all that remained of a place once full of laughing and singing mere hours before. The small band of bards had quickly retreated from the massive droplets of water which suddenly poured on their faces like wave of cold water from a turbulent sea.

Unfortunately, the wind beaten path leading them to the mountain was also littered with broken branches, jagged rocks and pieces of broken glass from their own supplies. The wind made it nearly impossible to tread quickly to the asylum of the mountain. Some had fallen into the mud from disorientation of the water and wind on their faces. The stronger of the bards was unable to see properly to grasp the hands of distraught others, and instead stumbled into the broken path themselves. Shrieking with pain the members of the band were further terrorized by loud bursts of thunder overhead, thrashing sounds echoed in their heads from the painfully shrill cracking of the massive gale.

Suddenly, the wind became calm, and the road became clear. The band of bards struggled to stand on their feet. They staggered painfully to the jagged mountain. The darkness seemed less perilous, and for the first time since the goblets of wine had been torn from their hands, they felt a sense of hope. They all struggled towards the opening, with heavy steps and bloodied limbs, then entered into a narrow opening within the massive mountainside.

The interior of the opening was dank. The only light was dimly lit from the half moon glowing faintly through the thick clouds in the sky. All of their belongings had been lost and broken, and the only pursuit they could hope for was a freezing night mashed together in this small damp cave. With no blankets or fire, they huddled together and chatted tearfully.

One of the bards pulled a small harmonica from his pocket and played softly. The dank air lightened, and the band of bards slowly drifted to sleep.