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AVATAR CHRONICLES I : THE RETURN OF THE AVATAR

On one of the many parallel worlds in the multiverse…

Episode 3

(Insert “Enchanted Festival” by Matthew Pablo at www.matthewpablo.com)
Chapter Two: Gabriel’s Story
LOVE
Earth, Poughkeepsie, NY
The Present…
Sunset fell on the battlefield. The medieval battle reenactment was over. Lord Gabriel
Dane’s forces had defeated those of Lord Robert Darrington’s after a fierce three hour
battle. As the members for the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA) sat down to a
medieval banquet in their finest noble attire, they began to talk about bestselling science
fiction & fantasy novelist Gabriel Dane’s latest novel.

“A toast to Lord Dane for a hard fought victory! “, said John as he raised his wine goblet.
Everyone else raised their goblet in response.

“Gabriel, I must say that I was not expecting that last disarming maneuver. Most
impressive!”, said Robert, “By the way, I heard that the first book in your new fantasy
series, The Avatar Chronicles, reached #1 on every Bestseller’s List in its first week of
release. Two million hardcover copies! At this pace, I think it’ll outsell your Time Lord
series.”

“So, how did you come up with the idea for your new book series?”, asked Henry.

Gabriel Dane paused for a moment before answering. “For the last nine months, I’ve
been having these strange dreams about a realm named New Britannia. It seems so real
to me, as if I’ve actually been there…”, said Gabriel.

“Come on, quit joking, Gabriel!”, said Sarah, ” You probably came up with the idea over
drinks at the Foxfire Club.”

“So, Gabriel, any truth to the rumors that you are currently dating supermodel
Alexandra Covington?”, asked Brian.

“No!”, answered Gabriel, as he touched the white gold ankh pendant dangling from his
neck, “You know that Shannon was the only love of my life!” (Loop as needed. Music fades out.)

(Insert “Ireland’s Coast (Game Edition – Live Players)” by Matthew Pablo at www.matthewpablo.com)

Gabriel suddenly thought back to when his late wife had given him the pendant as a
fourth anniversary gift following a romantic candlelit dinner in their suite at Ashford
Castle in County Galway, Ireland.

“But Shannon has been dead for three years!”, said Brian, “Don’t you think it’s about time
for you to move on?”

As Gabriel looked at the Irish Claddagh ring on his finger, he remembered the first time
that he and Shannon met. Gabriel had been on a book tour of the United Kingdom to
promote the thirteenth and final book in his Time Lord series, The Death of a Time Lord. After
wrapping up the book tour, Gabriel had decided to spend a couple of days taking in the
sights of Cardiff, Wales. As a VIP member of famed Irish mezzo-soprano Shannon
Donohue’s fan club, he had been one of the twenty-four lucky fans chosen at random for
a meet and greet with Shannon following her concert that evening at Cardiff International
Arena. When it was Gabriel’s turn to have her sign a photo for him, their eyes locked and it truly was love at first sight. Later that evening, they met for drinks and talked long into the night about their interests, their hopes, and their dreams.
One year later, they were married in a lavish wedding ceremony at Ashford Castle in
County Galway, Ireland. At the wedding, one of Gabriel’s friends, Charles Whittaker,
Professor of Irish Studies at the University of Notre Dame, noted that Gabriel was a very
lucky fellow because Shannon was a striking beauty who bore an uncanny resemblance
to Brigid, the Celtic goddess of fire, water, & healing. Gabriel had dated many beautiful
actresses and models before he met Shannon, but all those relationships were shallow
and short-lived. Shannon was different. She truly was Gabriel’s soul mate. The five short
years they had together were the happiest days of Gabriel’s life.

Jessica saw the sad look in her dear friend Gabriel’s eyes. Jessica had known Gabriel
since their freshman year at New York University twenty-two years ago. They had even
dated briefly, but soon discovered that they made better friends than lovers. Jessica
knew that Gabriel had never really been the same since losing his wife, Shannon, to lung
cancer. The best doctors in the world couldn’t figure out how someone in excellent
physical condition could suddenly develop Stage IV lung cancer and decline so rapidly.
The doctors had been unable to identify the pathogen, other than the fact that it appeared to be
extraterrestrial in nature.

Shannon died three months after her initial diagnosis. As Gabriel’s closest friend, Jessica
had been one of the few people with him at Shannon’s bedside as she passed away.

(Music fades out.)

Jessica shot Brian an accusatory glance and then tried to defuse the situation by quickly
changing the subject.

“Honestly, Gabriel, I don’t see how you have any time to write these days, in light of
your blossoming pop career!”, said Jessica, “Your debut album, Shadows and Light, has
been # 1 on the pop album chart for eight weeks now. Ten million copies sold! Every
time I turn on the radio, I hear your debut single, Song Of Love, and all I ever hear from
my teenage stepdaughter Lori and her friends these days is “Who is that sexy masked
NIGHTSHADOW fellow?”

Everyone laughed.

“Gabriel, you are a true Renaissance man – author, singer, songwriter, martial artist,
armourer and swordsmith.”, said Morgan, “Is there anything you can’t do?”

Gabriel was about to respond when, suddenly, a lunar rift appeared a few feet behind
him. As the shocked diners looked on, a tendril of white energy emerged from the rift
and pulled him in.

In the confusion, the other diners failed to notice that Jessica smiled as her eyes briefly
glowed. “I hope you find what you’re looking for in New Britannia, Gabriel.”, she
whispered to herself.

The lunar rift deposited him on a grassy field. Gabriel got up and looked around. He
saw a lone white dove soaring overhead. Suddenly, there was a slight breeze and Gabriel
noticed a skull lying at his feet. He picked it up and was instantly flooded with
memories from the final battle with Lord Shadowreign forty years ago. Gabriel quickly
dropped the skull and staggered back.

“Where am I?”, said Gabriel, ” This looks like Falura Field in New Britannia, but that can’t
possibly be…”

(Insert “Heroism” By Edward J. Blakeley)

Gabriel suddenly felt a tingling sensation in his head and quickly turned around to face a
seven and a half foot tall , highly muscular, bald warrior with a Van Dyke beard, who
was wearing black studded leather armor with a skull-shaped belt buckle and wielding a
massive, two-handed red battleaxe, which had an eerie black glow. Gabriel could swear
he heard the battleaxe whisper “Feed me!”

“Ah, another avatar for me to kill!”, bellowed the warrior, “Never let it be said
that Malgor the Mighty wasn’t fair. Pick up the sword and defend yourself!”

Gabriel reached for the sword lying on the ground. Malgor the Mighty swung his
massive battleaxe directly at Gabriel’s head. Gabriel tried to parry, but the force of the
enchanted battleaxe shattered his sword in half. Gabriel barely managed to dodge the
next blow, thanks to the lightning fast reflexes he had developed during his many years
of martial arts training in the Far East. He quickly dropped the broken hilt and countered
with a dragon fist punch followed by a butterfly kick. Malgor was knocked back a short
distance, but quickly recovered. Gabriel did a quick combat analysis. Malgor’s armor
prevented Gabriel from attacking his pressure points and paralyzing him. Furthermore,
Gabriel’s powerful punches and kicks barely seemed to faze Malgor. The only vulnerable
area seemed to be Malgor’s unprotected head.

“Is that the best you’ve got?”, laughed Malgor, “I’ve killed over 600 other potential
Avatars since I arrived here from Earth six months ago, and most of them were a lot
tougher than you. No one can escape my Muramasa Battleaxe! PKs rule! In the end,
there can be only one Avatar!”

Muramasa Battleaxe? How was that possible? Everyone knew that Muramasa was a
famous swordsmith, Gabriel thought to himself as Malgor swung his mighty battleaxe at
Gabriel’s head again. Gabriel dodged the blow and countered with a phoenix eye strike
to Malgor’s temple. Malgor immediately coughed up blood, dropped his battleaxe, and
fell flat on his face, dead. Gabriel noticed that Malgor’s corpse suddenly began losing
muscle mass rapidly. Soon, his corpse reverted to its true, five foot tall, 130 lb form.

(Music fades out.)

(Insert “Conquerors” by Alexandr Zhelanov)

Gabriel heard the battleaxe whisper to him, “Take me…” He felt compelled to pick up the
battleaxe and examine it. As soon as Gabriel grasped the battleaxe, he was instantly
bombarded with images from the battleaxe’s past.

Despite its massive size, it did not feel heavier than a normal sized, one-handed ax. The handle had strange runes engraved in itand there was a blood red gem embedded at its base.
Gabriel heard the battleaxe say,”Feed me blood and I will make you strong! Strong enough to defeat
all of your enemies!”

“Do not try to tempt me, foul demon!”, said Gabriel, “The battleaxe has revealed the
truth to me! Malgor’s real name was Marvin Blatz aka Hack N Slash, a professional video
game player. You were simply using Marvin by preying on his bloodlust and his need to
win at any cost. Once he decapitated his 666th victim, you would have been freed from
your prison to wreck havoc on New Britannia. I will not let more innocent blood be
spilled!”

Gabriel’s eyes suddenly turned bright white as he strongly gripped the battleaxe.
Suddenly, the battleaxe was engulfed by white fire which erupted from Gabriel’s hands.
Gabriel seemed unaffected by the flames , but the battleaxe screamed out in pain,
“Arghh….the white fire burns…How dare you resist me!…I am the demon lord Argax…I
will not be defeated by a mere mortal !” The battleaxe began to glow bright white.

Gabriel hurled the flaming battleaxe high into the air. The battleaxe screamed, “No……!”
as it exploded. Gabriel’s eyes reverted to their normal appearance.

(Loop as needed. Music fades out.)

(Insert “Tower of Great Lords” by Alexander Zhelanov)

Gabriel’s keen sense of hearing alerted him to the sudden presence of three hearts beating
behind him and he quickly turned around.

“Most impressive, Gabriel.”, said the elderly,white bearded robed figure standing in front of
him, “I’ve been expecting you. Allow me to introduce my assistant,Theodric, and my good
friend, Carlin.”

The young monk standing next to the old man stared in awe at Gabriel as the small metal fragment in the palm of Nystal’s right hand began to glow bright white. The archer standing
next to him seemed intrigued by this turn of events.

Suddenly, there was a flash of light and the Avatar’s Sword of Virtue appeared in
Gabriel’s hands. The sword suddenly began changing shape, transforming into the
Masamune Dragon Katana! Being a highly skilled swordsmith himself, Gabriel marveled
at the level of craftsmanship. At the base of the golden blade was a circular hand guard
comprised of two intertwined dragons (one red and one black). The red silk wrapped hilt
had a solid gold dragon’s head pommel with red ruby eyes.

Both of the red ruby eyes and the eight Runes of Virtue engraved on the hilt began to
glow and Gabriel could swear that he heard a dragon roar emanate from the sword!
Unbeknownst to anyone, all across New Britannia, the Nine Legendary Dragons
suddenly began to awake from their forty year slumber.

Upon opening his eyes in his Underworld lair, the black dragon Kuroseth used the
bond he shared with the members of the Nightshadow clan to appear to Gabriel
in a vision and said, “Greetings, Gabriel Nightshadow! I am Kuroseth, one of the Nine
Legendary Dragons. Long have I waited to renew the covenant with the Last Dragon
Lord!”

At the abandoned ruins of Castle Genar, former base of operations for the Nine Dragon
Lords, overlooking the cliffs of Avan, a strong gust of wind blew away the cobwebs in
the main Council chamber as all of the torches throughout the castle suddenly lit up.

Meanwhile, back at Falura Field, a startled and somewhat confused Gabriel sheathed the
katana in the red lacquered scabbard which had suddenly appeared at his side. Everyone
failed to notice that an image of Gabriel’s late wife Shannon briefly appeared in his white
gold ankh pendant as well.

“Theodric, please fetch me the enchanted black plate armor we recovered from the
crypt.”, said Nystal, ” You don’t remember me, do you?”

“No, have we met before ?”, asked Gabriel.

“Something’s not right.”, said a puzzled Nystal, as he reached out and touched Gabriel’s forehead with the palm of his hand, “Someone’s placed a mental block in your head in order to prevent you from remembering your past lives. Let me fix that.” (Music fades out.)
(Insert “Dream Raid Full Version (Mock Up)” by Matthew Pablo at www.matthewpablo.com)
Nystal’s hand glowed for a moment and then Gabriel was instantly flooded with memories from the past. He remembered that he and his fraternal twin brother, Lucius, had both held the rank of Primus pilus (senior centurion of a Roman legion – equivalent in rank to a Lieutenant Colonel today) in the Roman army prior to being chosen by Lord Order and Lord Chaos to be their respective champions in their eternal battle. Gabriel had been reborn in many different bodies over the past 2,000 years, as were the companions who Lord Order had seen fit to grant him to aid in his never ending battle with Lucius. In addition to Nystal, there were always two other male companions and a female companion as well. Nystal was different from the other companions because his form never changed, as he was immortal. The only thing which comforted Gabriel was discovering that, as he was constantly being reborn into new bodies, so too was his beloved wife, Shannon. He looked forward to seeing her again in his next life, for they had so little time together in this one.
The last recovered memory which Gabriel had was being handcuffed to a chair in a darkly light room in an abandoned warehouse sometime in 1987. Seated across the table from him was a very tall (about 6’ 10”) albino man with long white hair. He was dressed in the attire of a proper Victorian gentleman, with a red silk puff tie, a black Bancroft double breasted vest, and a black Victorian Cutaway Coat.
“My master would prefer that I do a complete memory wipe of your mind, but it seems that your innate mental defenses are far stronger than I had anticipated.”, said The Tall Albino Man, “The best I can do is to place a mental block that will prevent you from remembering anything from your past lives.”
As The Tall Albino Man reached out towards Gabriel’s forehead with his pale white hand, Gabriel said, “One day, I will find you and I will make you pay for this!”
“You’re welcome to try, but I highly doubt that’s ever going to happen.”, replied The Tall Albino Man, with a wicked smile on his face.
The last thing Gabriel remembered seeing was The Tall Albino Man’s platinum, diamond encrusted ring on his outstretched hand. What was that symbol in the center? Gabriel concentrated on the memory and the blurry image came into focus. It was the symbol of Chaos! (Music fades out.)
(Insert “The King’s Crowning” by Telaron)
“I remember everything!”, exclaimed Gabriel, as gave Nystal a bear hug, “It is good to see you again, my old friend. What has transpired since we last met?”
“New Britannia is in grave peril! Lord British’s half-brother, Lord Shadowreign, is preparing to attack this realm in six months time with an alien invasion force he has gathered at the other end of the universe. Our only hope of stopping him is recovering the nine fragments of the Amulet of Vazur and summoning the Nine Dragons of Legend! But this task will be very difficult, for Lord Shadowreign’s minions are everywhere, including your brother, Lucius!”
“Why am I not surprised?”, replied Gabriel.
“Welcome home, Avatar!”, said a smiling Nystal, “We have much work to do!”

High above, the lone white dove happily cooed as its eyes briefly glowed. It turned and
flew off towards the horizon. (Music fades out.)

*****************************************************************************************************
(Insert “ Radakan – Old Crypt” by Janne Hanhisuanto for Radakan)
“At last, I am finally able to penetrate Nystal’s cloaking field!”, said the handsome, dark-haired young nobleman as he peered into the scrying pool, “So, that’s the new Avatar?”

“Yes, Duke Garen.”, replied the fat, balding, middle-aged wizard Marek, who was
standing to the right of him.

Lucius (i.e. Duke Garen) immediately sensed his brother Gabriel’s soul in this new form, but decided it was best not to let the others know about this fact, for these mere mortals knew nothing of their eternal battle.

” I am not impressed.”, replied a smirking Duke Garen. He turned to the beautiful, red-
haired young woman clad in black leather armor and wielding a double-bladed sword
standing to his left. The young woman was the spitting image of Gabriel’s late wife,
Shannon! Marek leered at the woman while Duke Garen had his back turned to him.

“Annese, take two dozen of your best assassins and proceed to the Valley of Fallen
Heroes and ambush the Avatar and his companions as they pass through there. It is
fitting that their final resting place should be among the tombstones of our ancestors.,”
commanded Duke Garen, “Bring me back the Avatar’s body. Dispose of the others as
you see fit.”

“Yes, my Lord,”, replied Annese.

She pressed a button on the hilt of her double-bladed sword and twisted both halves of the hilt in opposite directions. The double-bladed sword separated into two single-bladed ones which Annese placed in the two sheathes on her back. She bowed, turned
around and exited the room. No one noticed the flames which momentarily danced in her eyes.

As Annese exited the room, she found her second-in-command, Lareth, waiting for her.
“Assemble the Black Scorpion, Crimson Cobra, and Yellow Centipede squads.”, said
Annese, “Our master has given us a mission and we must depart for the Valley of Fallen
Heroes immediately.”

“Who’s the target?”, asked Lareth, “Hopefully, more of a challenge than our last one…”

“It’s the new Avatar and his companions.”, replied Annese.

Lareth smiled. “Worthy foes indeed! Mistress Vala would have been proud to see what a
fine job you’ve done as the leader of the Dakari Sisterhood of Assassins these past
seven years.”, she said, before turning around and hurrying down the staircase to the
barracks. Annese followed shortly thereafter.

Meanwhile, back in the chamber, Duke Garen, waved his hand to dismiss Marek and
turned back to observe the Avatar and his companions in the scrying pool.

“And Marek, if I ever catch you looking at Annese like that ever again, I will make sure
that you suffer horribly before I kill you.”, said Duke Garen, “Annese is mine and mine
alone! Is that clear?”

Duke Garen’s eyes suddenly glowed bright red and Marek suddenly was flung
backward across the room. He hit the wall hard and crumpled to the floor.

“Yes, My Lord…”, groaned Marek, as he slowly got up and hobbled out of the room,
grimacing in pain.

Once Marek had departed, Duke Garen turned his attention back to the scrying pool, but
suddenly the image of the Avatar and his companions faded away as two large glowing
red eyes appeared in the now pitch black water. A disembodied voice spoke to Duke
Garen.

“Do not underestimate the new Avatar. He may be untested, but I sense great power
within him. He would not have been able to defeat my former servant Argax were it not
so.”, said the voice.

“I know. But even if Annese and her assassins fail to kill the Avatar, they will greatly
slow down his progress in obtaining the fragments of the Amulet of Vazur.”, replied
Duke Garen,” Without Nystal to guide him, the new Avatar will not know what to do.”

“Indeed.”, said the voice.

“I have good news to report.”, said Duke Garen,“ Our support of the Homeguard has reaped enormous rewards.
Marius has convinced a significant porion of the population that the offworlders are invaders who pose a serious threat to our way of life.
Many avatars are now being killed on sight by Homeguard members as soon as they emerge
from the lunar rifts. Even if Annese and her assassins fail, the new Avatar may yet be
killed by loyal Homeguard members or sympathizers. There is also growing
dissension in the Great Council over Lord British’s latest reforms. Lord British
has reduced the tax rate on the commoners while increasing the tax rate on the nobility.
He has been using the excess money to fund programs that benefit the commoners –
increased food distribution to the poor, and construction of affordable housing and
schools. He has also tried to reduce the power of the nobility by forcing them to
contribute 25% of their personal troops to the Royal Army. The most vocal opponents of
the reforms, the Dukes Gramal, Heron, and Jobin, have already joined our cause. With
their support, we now have over 400,000 troops in New Britannia at our disposal.”

“Excellent!”, replied the voice, “That, combined with the 600,000 troops that I have
assembled in this realm, should be more than enough to defeat the troops loyal to Lord
British. You have done well, my son. Lord British is a fool! He should have been paying
more attention to what the nobility wanted instead of trying to help the common people.
Soon I shall finally return to New Britannia and reclaim the throne from my weak and
pathetic brother!”

Lord Shadowreign’s maniacal laugh echoed throughout the chamber.

(Loop as needed. Music fades out.)
************************************************************************************************

(Insert “Covert Operations” by artisticdude)

Duke Garen failed to notice the listening device attached to the skylight above the
chamber. The young woman crouching on the roof pushed a button on her headset and
the device retracted itself. She turned her head and it was apparent that she was the
woman from Theodric’s vision! The athletic, attractive, young, red-haired woman was
clad in black leather armor with two swords strapped to her back.

“Hmmm, Valley of Fallen Heroes. It looks like Nystal and the Avatar will need my help.
Time to repay my debt to you, Nystal!”, said Amber Raine.

Amber turned and walked over to the edge of the balcony. She pulled out her grappling gun and
fired a grappling hook line down to a tree located below. After tying the other end of the line
to a chimney, she pulled out a leather strap and slung it over the line. After waiting for the guards down below to pass by on their patrol route, she slid down the line, landing behind the tree. Amber knew that her pet wolf, Mori Tura, and her black horse, Inferno, stood waiting for her behind the nearby hill.

One of the guards sensed something was wrong and circled back to investigate the area near the
tree. As he passed by the tree, Amber emerged behind him and choked him until he fell to the
ground unconsciousness. Propping his unconscious body up behind the tree, Amber quickly
scanned the area for other guards. Seeing none, she made her way over the hill, then mounted her horse. As she, Inferno, and Mori Tura rode off, the explosives which she had planted in the castle’s weapons storage shed began to detonate. Chaos erupted as the sharp weapons stored there became deadly projectiles, impaling many of the soldiers scrambling to put out the fires.

(Loop as needed. Music fades out.)
***************************************************************************************************
(Insert “Winds of Stories” by HorrorPen)

Back in Jerahl, two burly men dragged a blindfolded Mingo into the warehouse and shoved him

into a chair. Mingo’s hands were bound with enchanted, hand forged iron shackles which prevented him from using magic or his innate abilities. One of the men removed his blindfold.
A mysterious black hooded figure entered the room and said, “You two may leave now!”
The two burly German men turned and left.
As soon as Mingo heard the man’s voice, his eyes grew wide and he began sweating profusely.
“No, it can’t be! The Nightmare Man…”, whispered Mingo.
The Tall Albino Man removed his hood and smiled.
“Ah, I see you remember me from our last encounter, Mingo!”, he said, “Your cousin, Nystal, isn’t around to rescue you this time! Tell me where he is!”
“No, I will never betray my cousin!”, replied a defiant Mingo.

“We’ll see about that!”, laughed The Tall Albino Man, as his eyes began to glow

Mingo started singing, “I am a teapot, short and stout…” and prayed that The Tall Albino Man wouldn’t cause too much damage to his mind this time. (Music fades out.)

***************************************************************************************************
(Insert “The Path Revealed” by Eliot Corley )

Lord British and Fire Lotus were having afternoon tea on the balcony of the castle when
they both spotted the flash of light from nearby Falura Field.

“That flash of light…”, said Fire Lotus, ” I wonder what it means.”

“It means that the new Avatar has been revealed.”, replied Lord British, “It seems Nystal
was right after all.”

“This is good news, my Liege, because the next lunar eclipse is due to occur in six
months, “, said Fire Lotus,”I hope that the new Avatar will be ready by then.”

“Me too.”, replied Lord British, “The fate of New Britannia lies in the Avatar’s hands.”

“Well, I must be returning to my tavern to prepare for the evening crowd. Thank you for
the afternoon tea, My Liege.”, said Fire Lotus.

“My pleasure. You know how much I enjoy our daily conversations! “, replied Lord
British, ” The castle seems so empty while Lady Arabella is away visiting her relatives in
Jerahl. I’ve been so busy these days that I haven’t had a chance to catch up with any of
our other old friends.”

“Then you really must stop by the tavern this evening! David will be making a rare
appearance and performing some of his new songs.”, said Fire Lotus.

“I will definitely be stopping by the tavern tonight! It will give David and I a chance to
reminiscence about the good old days, catch up on current events, and honor those who
are no longer with us. It also gives me a reason to sample some of this new Fire
Mountain ale I’ve heard so much about. Is it really as good as they say?”, asked Lord
British.

“Indeed it is, My Liege. Demand has been so high, I’ve had trouble keeping it in stock.
My next shipment of Fire Mountain ale isn’t due to arrive until the middle of next week,
but don’t worry, I do still have a bit of it left in my private stock for both of you to
sample.”, replied Fire Lotus.

“Excellent! “, said Lord British, “I look forward to it.”

Fire Lotus departed.

As soon as she left, Lord British went to the library room. He searched one of the bookcases
for The Book of Aramus. After making certain that no one else was around, he pulled on the
book and a hidden doorway was revealed. He walked down the stairs to a secret laboratory
filled with strange equipment powered by Tesla generators. He walked over to the vertical
healing pod and peered through the translucent case where the real Lord British stood in
suspended animation. The impostor looked at the computer readout next to the pod. It said:

HEALING CYCLE 99% COMPLETE
TIME REMAINING 179 DAYS 23 HOURS 55 MINUTES 30 SECONDS

“Rest well, my son. I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you when you were growing up, but I’m
here for you now. You’ve accomplished far more in your lifetime than any of my other
children. I’m so proud of you. Your people will have need of you again soon. I will
continue to watch over them until you are ready to return to us.”, said the impostor as
he began changing into his true form, that of Barek of the Old Gods!

(Loop as needed. Music fades out.)
***************************************************************************************************
Several hours later, Mingo finally lost consciousness. The Tall Albino Man was physically exhausted from his attempts to penetrate Mingo’s mental defenses.

The two burly German men returned.

(Insert “Melvin and Waldorf” by Joe Reynolds – Professorlamp at www.jrtheories.webs.com)

Hans, the taller of the two, spoke.

“Master, were you able to extract any information from him?”, he asked.

“Yes, although his mental defenses have gotten much stronger since our last encounter!”, replied a very exhausted Tall Albino Man, “ At first he tried to confuse me with some nonsense about a lizard named Krisskar, some adventurers named Jeb, Ed, Lyra, and Shania, armored squirrels, talking penguins, and some Red Hat and Blue Hat gnomes! “

“Gnomes?”, said the shorter one, Gunther, “Didn’t they all die out long ago?”

“No one really knows for sure, little brother,”, replied Hans, “But it’s been ages since one has been sighted!”

Gunther then made the mistake of saying, “It was good to see your sister, Vastra, again, master! She’s so hot!”

The Tall Albino Man became very angry and his eyes began glowing again.

“Don’t talk about my precious Vastra like that!”, he shouted, as Gunther suddenly began having trouble breathing.

As Gunther began gasping for air, his brother Hans said,”Please forgive my brother, master! He is still young and often speaks without thinking. I’m sure he meant no disrespect! Isn’t that right, Gunther?”

Gunther nodded, as his face began to turn blue!

“Very well, I will forgive you this time, Gunther!”, said The Tall Albino Man, as his eyes stopped glowing, and the color began to return to Gunther’s face, “But if you ever speak of Vastra like that again, you will die! Do you understand?”

“Yes…master!”, stammered Gunther, “Thank you for sparing my life!”

“Take Mingo and teleport back to Owl’s Head. Dump him at Fire Lotus Tavern and then return here.”, said The Tall Albino Man, “We will intercept Nystal and his companions in the Magasa Forest!”

“At once, master!”, said Hans and Gunther.

Hans and Gunther picked up the unconscious Mingo and carried him away.

(Loop as needed. Music fades out.)

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

(Insert “Colossal Boss Battle Theme” by Matthew Pablo)

Later that same evening, Duke Garen entered a secret chamber underneath his castle bearing
a bloody sacrificial dagger and a black bowl adorned with demonic images. A well-
preserved skeleton lay on a stone slab in the center of the chamber. Duke Garen placed
the dagger on the corner of the slab. As the clock struck midnight, Duke Garen poured
fresh, virgin, female blood from the bowl on the bones and cast an ancient, forbidden,
dark magic spell. Red smoke formed around the corpse and muscles, veins, and skin
quickly began to grow on the bones. When the resurrection process was complete, the
bald man opened his eyes and sat up. Duke Garen handed the man a black robe to wear.

“How long have I been dead?”, inquired the man.

“A very long time, hundreds of years.”, replied Duke Garen.

“Why did you bring me back?”, asked the man.

”I have need of a highly competent general to command my troops in my upcoming war with Lord British.”, replied Duke Garen, “Would you be interested in the job?”

“Yes, very much so. I must pay back my “old friend” for killing me in that magic duel!”, said the man, “Revenge shall be mine!”

“Excellent! Welcome back, Lord Blackstorm!”, said Duke Garen, with an evil grin on his face.

“No, Lord Blackstorm is dead!”, said the man, “From now on, call me Lord DarkStarr!”

(Music fades out.)

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

Sir Stile Teckel Presents
The Avatar Chronicles 1 – Return of the Avatar
Directed and Produced by Lord Baldrith
Writer and music supervisor Gabriel Nightshadow
Casting director and court Jester Time Lord
Assistant Casting Director and Director of Public Relations Amber Raine

Cast appearing in this episode:
Steven J Goldman as John
Thornrage as Robert
Asclepius as Henry, Morgan, Brian, Malgor the Mighty, Demon Lord Argax, Kuroseth and Lord DarkStarr
Joe Garrity as Gabriel Nightshadow
Elizabeth as Sarah
Dame Lori as Jessica
Lord Baldrith as Nystal and Mingo
Trenyc as the Tall Albino Man
Duke Greigor as Duke Garen
Chips36 as Marek
Indi Martin as Annese
Kami as Lareth
StaticGrazer as The Voice
Amber Raine as Amber Raine
Littlegeeklost as Fire Lotus
Sir Cabirus as Hans and Gunther

With Cipheruzmad as Lord British and Barak of the Old Gods

And starring Asclepius as the Great Storyweaver

Music Credits for this episode:
“Enchanted Festival” by Matthew Pablo at www.matthewpablo.com
“Ireland’s Coast (Game Edition – Live Players)” by Matthew Pablo at www.matthewpablo.com
“Heroism” By Edward J. Blakeley at www.opengameart.org
“Conquerors” by Alexandr Zhelanov at www.opengameart.org
“Tower of Great Lords” by Alexander Zhelanov at www.opengameart.org
“Dream Raid Full Version (Mock Up)” by Matthew Pablo at www.matthewpablo.com
“The King’s Crowning” by Telaron at www.opengameart.org
“ Radakan – Old Crypt” by Janne Hanhisuanto for Radakan at www.opengameart.org
“Covert Operations” by artisticdude at www.opengameart.org
“Winds of Stories” by HorrorPen at www.opengameart.org
“The Path Revealed” by Eliot Corley at www.opengameart.org
“Melvin and Waldorf” by Joe Reynolds – Professorlamp at www.jrtheories.webs.com
“Colossal Boss Battle Theme” by Matthew Pablo at www.matthewpablo.com

Stay tuned for the next and final episode in this enthralling saga!

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AVATAR CHRONICLES I : THE RETURN OF THE AVATAR

On one of the many parallel worlds in the multiverse…

Episode 2

(Insert “Beauty of Chaos” by grindhold and grindhold.de)
Chapter One: Enemies and Allies

Somewhere on the road between Kingsport and Owl’s Head

Five years ago…

It was a warm summer day, and about two dozen members of the Church of Chaos (twelve armed, twelve unarmed) were traveling by horseback from Kingsport to Owl’s Head.
“Be on the lookout, my sisters!”, said the lead rider, Sister Agnes, commander of the Shadow Guard, the military branch of the Church of Chaos, “I have received reports that Dark Elves may be nearby!”
Sister Amber Raine rode alongside Sister Agnes. As her second in command, she was well aware of the dangers they faced passing this close to the forest. Amber’s recently acquired pet wolf, whom she had named Mori Tura, trotted alongside her.
“Sister Agnes, are you sure we brought enough Shadow Guards with us?”, asked Amber.
“You worry too much, Sister Amber Raine!”, replied Sister Agnes, “We can easily handle a group of Dark Elves!”
Amber’s pet wolf, Mori Tura, suddenly came to a halt and started growling loudly. He stared in the direction of the woods.
“What’s wrong, boy?”, asked Amber, “Do you sense danger?”
Suddenly, Amber heard a familiar whizzing sound as an arrow struck Sister Agnes in the heart and she fell from her horse, dead! (Music fades out.)
(Insert “Dream Raid Full Version (Mock Up)” by Matthew Pablo at www.matthewpablo.com)
“Sister Beatrice, you and the rear guard help our unarmed sisters to seek cover!”, yelled Amber, “Everyone else engage the enemy!”
Amber was surprised to see five dozen Dark Elf archers, swordsmen, and mages, come charging out of the woods! Amber and her sisters dismounted and took up positions. Her archers took cover behind some nearby boulders and began firing poison-tipped arrows at the Dark Elf mages who were casting fireballs, while her mages began casting Chaos Bolts at the enemy. Sisters Amber, Melody, and Carlita rushed forward to engage the Dark Elves in hand to hand combat.
Amber used her twin swords to finish off two Dark Elf swordsmen who charged at her, but did not see a third Dark Elf swordsman sneaking up behind her. As he raised his sword and prepared to backstab her, Amber’s wolf leapt into the air, tackled him and ripped out his throat! Amber turned and nodded approvingly.
Sister Amber and her fellow Shadow Guard members put up a good fight, but there were just too many Dark Elves to deal with. One by one, Amber saw the others fall, until she and Sister Melody were the last two Shadow Guard members left standing to defend the nine surviving unarmed Sisters who were hiding behind some nearby boulders. All seemed lost…
Then Amber suddenly felt a sharp pain in her back as three Dark Elf poison-tipped arrows struck her. No problem, thought Amber, my enhanced healing factor should be able to handle this! But something felt wrong this time. Everything went black as she lost consciousness and fell to the ground… (Music fades out.)
(Insert “Flights of Fancy” by Eliot Corley)

When Amber regained consciousness, she found herself lying on a mat in a cave, clad only in her underwear and covered with a blanket. Apparently, someone had removed her armor and put some sort of salve on her wounds and bandaged her up. Her pet wolf, Mori Tura, sat beside her with a somber look on his face. Once he saw that she was conscious, he smiled and bent down to lick her face. Amber patted him on the head as she sat up.
“Ah, you’re finally awake! You were unconscious for about a day.”, said a white-bearded fellow clad in a white robe with black trim. The back of his robe was emblazoned with the image of a black hourglass.
“Thank you for saving me, kind sir! But what of my sisters?” said Amber.
“I’m afraid they were all slain by the Dark Elves.”, said the somber fellow, “You are fortunate that I happened to be riding by after the massacre. Your enhanced immune system couldn’t handle the heavy dose of Badophan poison you received. Badophan poison is extremely rare and is the only type of poison which is fatal to elves. It appears that you were specifically targeted, as I could find no trace of Badophan poison on the arrows which struck two of your fellow Elven sisters. My cure poison and healing spells did not seem to have any effect on you. You seem to have an extremely high natural resistance to magic. Thank heavens my late friend, Christopher Nightshadow, taught me a thing or two about herbal remedies long ago.”
“My sisters were all slain?”, whispered Amber Raine, as her eyes appeared to glaze over, “I have failed in my duty as a member of the Shadow Guard! I should join them in death!”
Amber reached for the dagger she had strapped to her leg, but the old man swatted her hand away with his wooden staff.
“Don’t throw your life away like that!”, admonished the old man, “You did the best you could under the circumstances. You were surprised and seriously outnumbered. There was nothing you could have done to change the outcome. What transpired was meant to be!”
“No, I can’t believe that! Our Lord Chaos would not want his most devoted followers to be slaughtered a bunch of foul creatures!”, exclaimed Amber.
The old man sighed.
“I have seen much during my 5,000 years of existence and can assure you that this was a fixed point in time. Your sisters’ fate was sealed the moment they embarked on this journey. Your destiny lies elsewhere!” said the old man.
“Who are you?” asked a wary Amber.
“My name is Nystal and I am here to help guide you to your proper path, Amber Raine!” replied a smiling Nystal, as his eyes began to glow. (Music fades out.)
*************************************************************************************************
(Insert “Liyan” by Elerya)
The Port City of Ardoris
5:00 PM, The Present…
“Keep moving!” barked Amber Raine to her prisoner as they emerged from the lunar rift outside the port city of Ardoris, located at the southeastern tip of Novia. The prisoner’s hands were bound behind his back with Darby style handcuffs. Her pet wolf, Mori Tura, trotted alongside.
(Music fades out.)
(Insert “From Tome to Tome” by Eliot Corley)
The charming and handsome bandit leader, Red Badger, flashed a grin, as he turned to Amber Raine, and said, “It’s not late for you to let me go! I’ll offer you triple whatever your employer is paying you. You know what they’ll do to me if you turn me over. How could you do that to a hero of the common people in good conscience?”
Amber snorted in disgust.
“A hero to the common people?” replied Amber, “I suppose you’re going to say that you’re like Robin Hood, robbing from the rich to give to the poor!”
“Why, of course!” said Red Badger.
“Don’t lie to me!” Amber angrily replied, “I know for a fact that only 10% of your ill-gotten gain goes back to the poor in the form of food or gold. The other 90% you keep for yourself!”
“I have expenses! I have many men to support!”
“Hogwash!”, retorted Amber, “You spend the bulk of the money on wine, women, property, and rare and precious forms of art and literature!”
“I admit I do have an appreciation for the finer things in life.”, said Red Badger, with a devilish grin, “Especially beautiful and strong women, such as yourself! Wouldn’t you like to be my girlfriend, Amber? I could shower you in diamonds and pearls and silk dresses…”
“Shut up!” said Amber, as she punched him in the jaw!
“Ow, that really hurt!” exclaimed Red Badger, as he rubbed his bruised jaw.
“I always honor my commitments! My word is my bond.”, said Amber, as she glared at Red Badger, “I’ll not be bought off with trinkets! Speak of this anymore and I will show you the meaning of real pain!”
Red Badger knew Amber was being serious, so he decided to keep his mouth shut.
(Music fades out.)
(Insert “Asian Duet” by elerya)
As they approached the giant stone archway which marked the entry point to Ardoris, the normally stoic Guard Bob suddenly smiled and waved to Amber.
“Good to see you again, Amber!”, said Guard Bob , “ You’ve been busy I see..”
“Yes, the Mayor will want to see this prisoner right away.”, replied Amber, “He’s the Red Badger!”
“The Red Badger?!”, exclaimed Guard Bob, “We’ve been trying to catch him for the last six months! I am very impressed.”
“Thank you, Bob.”, replied Amber, “Apprehending him wasn’t easy!”
“By the way, I get off in an hour. Mind if I buy you a drink then at The Bear Tavern?”, asked Guard Bob.
“I’ll have to take a rain check.” said Amber, apologetically, “After I drop off this fellow and collect my bounty, I have to get back to Brittany right away!”
“OK, next time then…” said Guard Bob, trying to hide his disappointment.
(Music fades out.)
(Insert “Asian String Suite” by BossLevelVGM)
Amber escorted the prisoner to the front gate of the Mayor’s luxurious mansion, which, like much of Ardoris, had an Asian theme to it. A magnificent white marble water fountain in the form of a globe held in the palm of an enormous hand stood in the front yard. She informed one of the two guards at the front gate who she was and the nature of her business. The guard rushed inside to inform the Mayor and Amber and her prisoner were soon ushered into the Mayor’s back office. The Mayor was seated behind his desk with his back to them, gazing out the window at his well-manicured zen garden. Two armed guards took up positions on either side of the door behind Amber and Red Badger.
“Well done, Amber, you’ve succeeded where my guards have failed!”, said Mayor Stile Teckel, as he turned around in his chair to face them, “So, you’re the notorious Red Badger who has been attacking my trade caravans? You’re a lot smaller than I expected.”
Red Badger started to speak,” Mayor Teckel…”, but the mayor cut him off with a gesture of his hand.
Turning to Amber, Mayor Teckel said, “As soon as I received your message, I sent men to the secret cave hideout which you described. They were able to apprehend a dozen of the Red Badger’s men and recover about half of the stolen loot.”
“Tell me where I can find the rest of your men and the loot and I promise you a swift and merciful death!”, said the Mayor, “Refuse, and I will have my men torture you until you provide us with the information and then you will be drawn and quartered at high noon in the city square!”
“Wait, that’s not necessary!”, said Red Badger, “I have even more valuable information to offer in exchange for my life!”
“What sort of information?”, asked a curious Mayor Teckel.
“It wasn’t by chance that I targeted your trade caravans, Mayor Teckel! I was acting under orders from my boss!”
“Your boss?’, asked Mayor Teckel, “..And who might that be?”
“Duke Garen!”, replied Red Badger.
“What? That’s utter nonsense!”, said Mayor Teckel, “Duke Garen has no quarrel with me and is a highly respected member of the Great Council. He would not be consorting with criminals such as you!”
“I know it’s hard to believe, but it’s true!”, said Red Badger, “Duke Garen is angry for losing the bid on the Nimada casino construction project to you! The potential revenue from the first casino to be constructed in New Britannia will be enormous!”
“Indeed it will be!”, replied Mayor Teckel, “I’ve already entered into negotiations with The Bear Tavern to provide food and beverage services for the new casino, which will be built here in Ardoris. Duke Garen did seem somewhat disappointed in losing that bid. Perhaps you are telling the truth…”
Mayor Teckel stroked his chin as he pondered the validity of Red Badger’s claim.
“I wouldn’t trust a thing this scoundrel says!”, said Amber, “He’s trying to stir up trouble and save his own skin!”
“You have a point, Amber.”, replied Mayor Teckel, “If Red Badger is lying, and I make a move against Duke Garen, that would be disastrous! I would not want someone as rich and powerful as Duke Garen as an enemy!”
“Amber, you doubt my sincerity?”, asked Red Badger, “Well here is a bit of information you might find interesting. Duke Garen has men searching for your old friend, Nystal!”
“Nystal? Why would Duke Garen be interested in Lord British’s former adviser?”, asked Amber.
“I don’t know why he’s interested in Nystal, but I do know that he has dispatched men to every city, town, and village in New Britannia.”, said Red Badger, ”Do you want physical proof? Reach into my vest pocket.”
Amber reached into Red Badger’s vest pocket and pulled out a folded up piece of parchment. Opening it up, she saw a wanted poster of Nystal which had been distributed to all of Duke Garen’s men. The wanted poster instructed his men to apprehend Nystal and bring him back to Duke Garen’s castle just outside Brittany for questioning. Amber showed Mayor Teckel the wanted poster and then folded it up and put it in one of her belt pouches.
“Well, it seems for once you were telling the truth, Red Badger!”, said Amber.
“Guards, take him away and throw him in my private dungeon. I will notify the Shogun Siranto and he will decide what to do with him!”, said Mayor Teckel.
“Hey…”, said Red Badger as the two guards dragged him away.
After they left, Mayor Teckel took a small pouch full of gold coins out of his desk drawer and handed it to Amber.
“Good work, Amber!”, said Mayor Teckel, “I suspect I will be in need of your services again soon!”
“Well you know how to reach me should the need arise!”, replied Amber, “What do you plan to do about Duke Garen? I know you’ve already tied up a significant portion of your assets in the Nimada project. Without sufficient supplies and materials, the project will fail and you will be ruined!”
“I will have to plan my next move carefully.”, said Mayor Teckel, “Duke Garen is not someone to be underestimated. I’ve spent too many years building my business empire to allow it to be brought down by that man. What are your plans, Amber?”
“I have to track down my old friend, Nystal, and warn him of the danger.”, replied Amber.
“Good luck to you!”, said Mayor Teckel, shaking Amber’s hand.
“You too, Mayor!”, said Amber.
Amber turned and left the room. . (Music fades out.)
(Insert “Innocence” by Eliot Corley)
Outside the Mayor’s mansion, Amber found Mori Tura patiently sitting by the front gate. As Amber approached, he got up and they began walking down the street. Suddenly, they spied three teenage boys picking on a young, ten year old girl.
“Please give me back my ball!”, asked the young girl.
“I don’t think so!”, said one of the boys, passing it to one of his friends. The second boy taunted the girl by holding the ball in front of him. As the girl reached for the ball, he suddenly pulled it back beyond her reach and then tossed the ball to a third friend.
The third boy held the ball out, just above the girl’s head. The little girl jumped up to get it, but the boy suddenly held it high above his head, beyond her reach! The little girl jumped up again, but to no avail. The three boys started laughing.
The little girl looked like she was about to cry, when Amber and Mori Tura walked up.
Amber glared at the boys and said, “Give the little girl her ball back!”
Mori Tura started growling.
The three boys suddenly looked very nervous. The third boy handed the ball back to the little girl.
“Now leave! And if I ever catch you bothering this little girl again, you will surely regret it!”, said Amber, as Mori Tura eyes suddenly turned bright red and he bared all of his sharp, pearly white teeth.
“Ah, it’s some sort of demon wolf!”, cried one of the boys. The three boys turned and ran away as fast as they could.
“Good boy!”, said Amber, patting Mori Tura on the head, as his eyes returned to normal and he smiled at the little girl.
The little girl walked up to Mori Tura and began petting him.
“Good wolf!”, she said, “Do you want to be friends?”
Mori Tura nodded.
Amber introduced herself to the little girl.
“Hi, my name is Amber, and this is my pet wolf, Mori Tura.”, said Amber.
“Thank you for helping me, Amber.”, said the little girl, “Those boys were really mean.”
“I don’t think you’ll ever have to worry about them bothering you again.”, replied Amber, “Right, Mori Tura?”
Mori Tura nodded.
“What’s your name?”, asked Amber.
“My name is Chariya.”, said the little girl.
“Chariya? I know someone with that name…”, said Amber. (Music fades out.)
(Insert “Maria’s Theme” by Janne Hanhisuanto)
Amber suddenly remembered that, right after she recovered from the Badophan poison five years ago, Nystal had introduced her to the holographic form of his wife, Chariya. This little girl looks exactly like her, Amber thought to herself. This can’t be a coincidence. I better let Nystal know about this when I find him.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Chariya.”, said Amber, shaking her hand, “Now I think it’s best if you run along home now. I’m sure your parents must be worried.”
“There you are, Chariya!”, shouted a blond-haired, blue-eyed, middle-aged man clad in a knight’s tunic, as he ran over to hug Chariya, “You had me so worried! Never wander off like that when your grandmother falls asleep on the sofa!”
‘But it is so nice and warm and I wanted to play outside with my ball!”, said Chariya, “Three older boys were really mean to me, but this nice lady and her pet wolf scared them away!”
“Thank you for coming to my daughter’s aid!”, said the knight, as he shook Amber’s hand, “I am Sir Charles Campbell, Knight Commander in Lord British’s Royal Army. Ever since my wife, Helen, passed away three years ago, it’s been rather hard keeping an eye on Chariya. My mother is getting very old and I had just sent our servant Niles to the market to fetch some lamb for Chef Robert to prepare some nice lamb stew for dinner. I was tending to our garden out back and didn’t even notice that Chariya had wandered outside.”
“Well, no harm done.”, replied Amber, “But you have to do be more careful, Chariya! Mori Tura and I may not be around the next time you get in trouble. Do you understand?”
“Yes, Amber.”, said Chariya, as she nodded her head, “You and Mori Tura must be hungry. Would you like to join us for dinner?”
“I don’t want to impose…”, said Amber.
“Nonsense, it’s the least I can do!”, replied Sir Charles Campbell, “I won’t take no for an answer!”
“What do you think, Mori Tura?”, asked Amber, turning to her pet wolf, “Should we join Chariya and her father for dinner?”
Mori Tura thought to himself – I really wish I could speak. I hate being trapped in this wolf form. His mind drifted back to the past… (Music fades out.)
******************************************************************************************************
(Insert “Soliloquy” by Matthew Pablo at www.matthewpablo.com)
Five and a half years ago…
Castle New Britannia
Samuel was hard at work in his studio in Castle New Britannia completing the painting his liege, Lord British, had commissioned of his lovely wife, Lady Arabella. As he moved his enchanted paintbrush (said to be once owned by the great Italian artist, Caravaggio, an influential figure of the Baroque period) across the canvas, images suddenly appeared, despite the fact that he was not using any paint at all! A few more touches and it was complete. Samuel gazed at the painting. He knew that his liege would be very pleased with it.
Setting down his enchanted paintbrush, he got up and examined the other paintings he had recently completed for his liege, which were leaning against a nearby wall. One was a rather peaceful painting of a warm spring day in the Valley of Fallen Heroes. Taking a closer look at the background, he noticed two odd things which he hadn’t been aware of before. First, that single white dove flying overhead – was it his imagination or was its eye actually glowing? And where did that smiling, purple llama standing atop a nearby hill suddenly come from? Strange indeed… Samuel moved on to the second painting, which depicted Castle New Britannia as it would be viewed from someone standing near the front gate. He suddenly noticed that there appeared to be a light on in one of the upper tower rooms and a figure standing in front of the window. Who was that? Samuel peered closer…he couldn’t make out the person’s face – just, a shadowy, hooded figure pointing a finger – directly at him! This was getting to be too eerie…Samuel moved on to the third and final painting, which was a head shot of a black wolf staring right at the viewer. There was something odd about the eyes. When viewed one way, the eyes appeared yellow, but when viewed from another angle, they appeared to be red!
Since being appointed by Lord British to the position of Royal Artist, Samuel was afforded the privilege of keeping some of his own artwork to decorate his own quarters or to sell as he saw fit. Now it was time to paint something for himself. Samuel picked up a blank canvas and placed it on his second easel. Picking up his enchanted paintbrush, he let his imagination run wild as an image slowly started to form on the blank canvas. When he was done, he gasped. Before him was the face of the most beautiful, red-headed elf he had ever seen! There was a sad look in her eyes, though, that hinted at some hidden pain.
Samuel was suddenly interrupted by the sound of a rather familiar, annoying voice.
“Greetings, Samuel! How are you doing on this fine spring day?”, said Duke Garen, as he entered the studio.
“Just fine, Duke Garen.”, replied Samuel, as he forced himself to smile, “What brings you here today?”
“I was visiting Lord British to discuss some court business. I’m here to offer you a business proposal.”, said a smiling Duke Garen.
“What sort of business proposal?”, asked Samuel.
“I have always been a big fan of your artwork, Samuel. I will pay you double whatever Lord British is currently paying you, along with food and lodging, if you come and work for me instead.”, replied Duke Garen.
“Thank you for the generous offer, Duke Garen, but I must decline.”, said Samuel, “I am quite happy working for Lord British.”
“You are refusing my offer?!”, yelled Duke Garen, “How dare you…”
“I think you should reconsider, or you will surely regret it…”, hissed Duke Garen.
“I don’t take too kindly to threats, Duke Garen.”, replied Samuel, “Furthermore, I don’t think that Lord British would tolerate this sort of behavior either. I…” (Music fades out.)
(Insert “Dark Amulet” by Matthew Pablo)
Suddenly, Samuel found that he could neither move nor speak!
A hooded figure appeared in the doorway and was pointing his finger at Samuel, just like in the painting! The figure pulled down his hood to reveal a Tall Albino Man with red glowing eyes!
“I always get what I want! If I can’t have you, then I will make sure that no one else will either!”, hissed Duke Garen.
Glancing over at the painting of the wolf, Duke Garen suddenly had a wicked smile on his face.
“So you like wolves, Samuel?”, said Duke Garen, “Very well then. A wolf you shall be!”
Duke Garen started casting a spell and Samuel felt himself changing…
A few moments later, he glanced over into the dressing room mirror behind Duke Garen and saw that he was now a black wolf identical to the one in the painting!
“That will teach you for defying me!”, cackled Duke Garen. He nodded to the Tall Albino Man.
The Tall Albino Man smiled and extended his arm, pointing towards the door. In his mind, Samuel could feel, rather than hear, the command “Run away little wolf – far far away!”
Samuel was suddenly no longer paralyzed and was compelled to run out of the studio as fast as his legs could take him. He ran out of the castle, through the streets of Brittany, and into the nearby forest.
After about an hour, he was finally free of the Tall Albino Man’s influence and was able to stop. He was totally exhausted and panting. Samuel looked around. He was deep in the forest and completely lost. Suddenly, he heard the sound of growling behind him. He turned around to find himself facing a giant brown bear! The bear swatted him aside with one of his sharp claws. Samuel landed on his back nearby. He felt the sharp pain from the deep claw marks in his chest and saw the rapidly expanding pool of blood forming on his black fur. The growling bear was rapidly approaching, but Samuel didn’t even have enough strength left to right himself. What a terrible way to die, Samuel thought.
Suddenly, the bear was struck in the chest by three throwing knives and a figure in black suddenly jumped in front of him and finished the bear off with a pair of swords! Everything faded to black as Samuel lost consciousness. (Music fades out.)
(Insert “Path to Lake Land” by Alexandr Zhelanov)
Several hours later, as Samuel slowly regained consciousness and opened his eyes, he realized that his head was lying in someone’s lap. His mysterious savior had apparently bandaged his wounds and was petting him on the head. Stephen looked up and found himself staring into the face of the beautiful, red-headed female elf whom he had painted earlier that day!
“Are you feeling better, boy?”, she asked, in a very soothing voice.
The elf identified herself as Amber Raine, and, turning to Sister Agnes, asked if she could keep the wolf as her own. Sister Agnes initially refused, as pets were forbidden in the church, but Amber was insistent, pointing out that the wolf would surely die if they left him in the wilderness. Seeing Amber’s devotion, and obvious love for the wolf, Sister Agnes interceded with the High Priestess, and Amber was allowed to keep him, on condition that she became totally responsible for his upkeep.
Thank you, Sister Agnes!’, replied a joyful Sister Amber Raine. “I think I will name him Mori Tura!”,
Amber Raine turned to her new pet wolf and said, “Hi, Mori Tura! My name is Amber Raine. I think we’re going to be really good friends!”
Samuel looked up into Amber’s eyes. He had always been popular with the ladies of the court because of his incredible good looks and his position as Royal Artist, but he had never found anyone he wanted to spend the rest of his life with – until now. He found it rather ironic that now that he had found his one true love, he was cursed to be in this wolf form. But, at that very moment, Samuel knew that he would never leave Amber’s side. He hoped that one day he would find a way to break this curse and give her all the love she deserved. Right after he ripped out the throats of that damn Duke Garen and Tall Albino Man!
******************************************************************************************************
Back in the present, Mori Tura nodded.
“Well, it’s settled then!”, said Amber, “Mori Tura and I would be happy to join you and Chariya for dinner!”
“Excellent!”, said Sir Charles Campbell, taking hold of Chariya’s right hand., “My home is just down the street.”
Amber and Mori Tura followed the two of them to Sir Charles Campbell’s Founder Knight home near the stone wall marking the edge of the inner city. As they entered the home, Chariya smiled. Amber is such a nice lady, she thought to herself. Perhaps father will like her and she will become my new mommy. (Music fades out.)
******************************************************************************************************
The Magasa Forest
5:00 PM, The Present…
(Insert “Battle Theme A” by cynicmusic at www.cynicmusic.com and www.pixelsphere.org)
Theodric had decided to scout ahead of Nystal when suddenly he heard the sounds of men shouting and strange humming and clanking noises. He heard a man shout, ”Hurry, I think he fled this way!”

Soon, Theodric found himself facing fifteen Oracle flies, spiders, and Obsidian soldiers!

“You there!”, yelled one of the soldiers, “Did you see a ranger come this way?”

“No, sir!”, replied Theodric.

This didn’t make any sense at all, Theodric thought to himself. Why would there be some of the Oracle’s droids running around here and allied with her bitter enemies, the Obsidians?

“I see.” , replied the soldier, “Seize that man! We will take him back to the Temple for conversion. He will make a fine addition to our army! All hail the Oracle!”

Two of the other soldiers stepped forward, but Theodric grabbed hold of his long staff and began spinning it around.

Suddenly, one of the soldiers fell back dead, an arrow sticking out of his chest!

“That arrow came from up there!”, shouted the other soldier, pointing to some nearby trees, ”I…” He never got to finish his sentence as he, too, was cut down by another arrow!

One of the Oracle flies fired a laser beam at one of the trees. Theodric heard someone grunt in pain, and a figure fell from one of the nearby trees. The figure quickly rolled on the ground to extinguish the flames coming from his left shoulder and quickly came up on one knee and fired another arrow at the Oracle fly. The Oracle fly exploded into tiny pieces.

“Attack!”, yelled the enemy commander. The remaining soldiers, spiders, and flies surged forward.

A massive Obsidian soldier charged at Theodric. “Those who do not serve the Oracle shall die!”, he yelled, as he swung his sword at Theodric’s head. Theodric easily dodged the attack and knocked him to the ground with a legsweep. He knocked him unconscious with his staff before he had a chance to recover.

The ranger fired three more arrows in rapid succession at their foes, taking out an Oracle fly, an Oracle spider, and an Obsidian soldier. I’ve never seen an archer move that fast before, Theodric thought to himself, as he smashed an Oracle spider into a tree with his long staff.

Thanks to his enhanced sense of hearing, which he had developed during the years he spent immersing himself in the martial arts at the monastery, Theodric heard a humming sound coming from some distance behind him. He quickly turned around and saw an Oracle fly which had flown behind the ranger undetected.

“Look out, behind you!” , yelled Theodric, as he quickly grabbed one of his hunting knives and hurled it at the Oracle fly.

The Oracle fly was impaled against a tree! The ranger nodded to Theodric, then dropped his bow (for he had run out of arrows) and drew his long sword. The two of them stood back to back and quickly dealt with the remaining foes who had surrounded them.

After the last foe had fallen, the ranger shook Theodric’s hand and introduced himself.

“Thanks for the help. I’m Carlin, the Druid Archer.” , said the ranger.

“I’m Theodric. Glad to be of assistance.”, replied Theodric, “Why were those soldiers and droids pursuing you?”

“That was one of the Oracle’s hunting parties which I happened to stumble across.”, replied Carlin, “Although the Dragon Lords helped Lord British and the Avatar defeat the Oracle long ago, some of her droids and neurologically implanted human soldiers still exist and continue to follow their prime directive: seek out humans to convert into Oracle followers. There must be an Oracle temple nearby because I know that the droids have a limited range. You know, I wouldn’t be surprised if remnants of the Obsidian Eye’s forces still exist today as well.”

Meanwhile, a short distance away, Nystal suddenly cried out in pain.

“What’s wrong, my love?”, asked Chariya, as Nystal began clutching his head with both his hands.

“The pain! My head feels like it’s on fire!”, screamed Nystal. (Music fades out.)
*****************************************************************************************************
(Insert “Invasion” by Eliot Corley)
Nystal suddenly found himself on the astral plane and facing Vastra, who was clad in sexy, green silk lingerie.
“Hello, Nystal. Miss me?”, said Vastra, with an evil grin on her face.
How dare you mentally attack me, you witch!”, roared Nystal.
“Now is that any way to talk to your ex-fiancee?”, replied Vastra, feigning a look of disappointment.
“I won’t fall for your tricks, Vastra!”, said Nystal, “It’s a good thing I figured out before our wedding 2,000 years ago what a lying, scheming witch you truly are! I was a well respected scholar, but that wasn’t enough for you, was it? First you tried to seduce my best friend, Gabriel, and then I caught you in bed with First Consul Lucius Cornelius Cinna on the eve of our wedding! You were just using me as a means to obtain wealth and power!”
“Of course, my dear!”, answered Vastra, “That is what matters most in life!”
“What are you doing in New Britannia anyway?”, asked Nystal, “I have no doubt that you have enchanted some poor noble with your feminine charms!”
“I am here on behalf on my master, Lord Chaos, to give you a warning.”, said Vastra, “ Abandon your quest to find the new Avatar! Let Lord Shadowreign conquer New Britannia and dispose of his brother, Lord British. I understand that, after 200 years, you still have been unable to create a new body for your wife, Chariya. While I don’t know why you would settle for someone who is far less beautiful than I, if you join us, my master will see to it that your wish will be granted!”
Nystal was tempted by Vastra’s offer, but said, “I will never serve Chaos!” “Get out of my sight Vastra, before I do something I regret!” Nystal’s eyes started glowing.
“Don’t say I didn’t want you Nystal”, said Vastra. “You will regret opposing us!”
Vastra’s eyes started glowing, and then another shadowy cloaked figure suddenly appeared beside her. Nystal couldn’t make out his face, but saw his eyes glowed bright red.
The force of their combined mental attack was too much for Nystal.
In the physical world, Nystal lost consciousness and fell to the ground.
(Music fades out.)
*****************************************************************************************************
(Insert “Medieval” by Miguel Herrero)
Meanwhile, Theodric and Carlin heard some disturbingly familiar sounds. They turned around and found themselves facing another thirty Oracle flies, spiders, and Obsidian soldiers! These Oracle flies and spiders seemed much larger, were jet black in color, and sported razor sharp adamantium mandibles. The Oracle spiders had spider web cannons mounted on their backs.
Carlin muttered, “Damn Oracle droids…”

*****************************************************************************************************
“HEY! WAKE UP!”, Chariya shouted.
“What?”, said a groggy Nystal, as he regained consciousness , “What happened?”
“You suddenly got dizzy and passed out!”, replied Chariya, “Hurry, you must help Theodric and Carlin before they are captured or killed by the Oracle’s hunting party!”
“No! I will observe and advise, but I will never get directly involved in a conflict ever again!”, said Nystal.
“But if you don’t intervene they will die, or even worse be converted into mindless Oracle drones, like those captured Obsidian soldiers were!”, said Chariya.
“I…can’t…”, said Nystal.
“Why not?’, asked Chariya.
“Because the last time I did…you DIED!”, sobbed Nystal, tears rolling down his cheeks.
Chariya’s holographic form suddenly appeared alongside Nystal and stroked his cheek.
“Oh, my darling, even after all of those years, you still haven’t forgiven yourself for my death, have you?”, said Chariya.
“No, I guess I haven’t . And despite mastering all of the schools of magic over the past 200 years, I still have been unable to create you a new, immortal body! In another 300 years, the cube’s power source will be depleted! ” said Nystal, choking back the tears,
“I know how hard you’ve tried, dear.”, said Chariya, putting her hand on his shoulder, “But even if you fail, 500 years is far longer than the little time we would have had together if I still had my mortal form. Remember that I feel in love with you because you are a good and kind-hearted person, always helping those in need, and striving to do what is right.”
Chariya leaned over and kissed Nystal on the cheek. The spark of energy tingled.
“You’re right, my dear, it is time for me to take action!” said Nystal, as his eyes began to glow.
****************************************************************************************************
Despite taking down fifteen of their foes, Theodric and Carlin were now completely surrounded.
“Surrender and you will be spared!,” said the enemy commander.
Carlin spat blood in the enemy commander’s face.
“I would rather die than become a mindless servant of the Oracle!”, shouted Carlin, as he assumed a battle stance with his bloody long sword.
“Very well then, I will grant you your wish,”, replied the enemy commander, “Kill the unbelievers!” (Music fades out.)
(Insert “Almost Out” by HorrorPen)
But before anyone could react, four of the Oracle spiders and four of the Oracle flies were hit by Nystal’s Chain Lightning! Nystal then cast Gust, causing one soldier to smash into a tree. Theodric heard the soldier’s bones break, as he fell to the ground dead. A Stone Fist caught another soldier in the chest, causing him to cough up blood and drop dead.
Two soldiers charged at Nystal with swords drawn from opposite directions. He disarmed them both, and then grabbed both of them by the throat and smashed their skulls together. After dropping their dead bodies, another soldier wielding a battle axe charged straight at Nystal. Nystal dodged his attack and then punched a hole straight through his chest! The stunned soldier looked down at the gaping wound and fell to the ground dead. Nystal hit another soldier in the face with his Flame Fist, decapitating him in the process, and sending the soldier’s flaming head flying! It struck another soldier right in the face, killing him as well!
A few minutes later, he heard Chariya say, “That’s enough, dear. They’ll all dead now.”
Nystal’s eyes stopped glowing and he surveyed the carnage. He had single-handedly wiped out half of the Oracle’s hunting party! Theodric and Carlin stood in awe.
“Thank you for coming to our aid, master!”, said Theodric, “I did not realize how truly powerful you were until now!”
“Good to see you again, old friend!”, said Carlin, shaking Nystal’s hand.
“Carlin, I know you have been busy tracking down that Dark Elf archer, Elirebin Shademaster, but I really need your help.”, said Time Lord, “ Theodric and I are on our way to meet the new Avatar. The fate of New Britannia rests in our hands.”
“Of course, I will help you, Nystal.”, replied Carlin, “I’ve waited many years to avenge the murder of my adoptive parents, but I can be patient a little longer. And how is my Elvish sister, Lanthirthel, progressing in her magical studies?”
“Lord Baldrith tells me that she has mastered Fire Magic and is starting to learn Water Magic.”, replied Nystal, “You really should pay her a visit sometime soon.”
‘No, I don’t want to distract her from her studies…”, said Carlin, “…and her location must continue to remain a secret. Her life remains in danger as long as Elirebin remains free.”
“I know.”, replied Nystal, “Perhaps it is best that you keep your distance from her until Elirebin has been found and dealt with.” (Music fades out.)
******************************************************************************************************
(Insert “Red Curtain” by HorrorPen)
Meanwhile, back at the warehouse in Jerahl, Vastra handed drawings of Nystal, Theodric, and Carlin to her young lover, Marius, leader of the Homeguard.
“Make sure that all of our people know that these men are to be taken alive. They have information vital to our cause and must be brought here to headquarters for interrogation!”, said Vastra.
“Of course, my dear!”, replied Marius.
Vastra grabbed Marius and pulled him in close and gave him a passionate kiss.
“I will see you in two weeks.”, said Vastra, in a sexy voice as she whispered in his ear, “I must hurry back to the castle now!”
“I will be counting the days until we are together again!”, said Marius, before departing.
After Marius left, a black cloaked figure emerged from behind a curtain.
The cloaked figure removed his hood, revealing his identity.
“The love struck fool has no idea what’s really going on, does he?”, asked the Tall Albino Man.
“No, he doesn’t.”, replied Vastra, with a smirk on her face, ” I’m always amazed at how easily men are distracted by a beautiful face and body.”
“Indeed, dear sister, no man has ever been able to resist you, except that old fool, Nystal!”, said the Tall Albino Man.
“Yes, I will make sure that he suffers greatly for rejecting me!”, said an angry Vastra, “After he has been both physically and mentally tortured, I will crush that Radozan mind cube with my bare hands in front of Nystal’s eyes and then I will rip his beating heart out of his chest and show it to him as he dies!”
“Well, dear sister, I guess I better make sure never to get on your bad side…”, said the Tall Albino Man.
“Don’t worry, big brother, you know how much I love you!”, said Vastra, as she gave him a big hug, “You’re the only family I have left!”
“Remember, I will always be here for you, little sister!”, replied the Tall Albino Man, as he lovingly stroked Vastra’s hair and deeply inhaled her lavender perfume. She smelled so good, the Tall Albino Man thought to himself. (Music fades out.)

Sir Stile Teckel Presents
The Avatar Chronicle 1 – Return of the Avatar
Directed and Produced by Lord Baldrith
Writer and music supervisor Gabriel Nightshadow
Casting director and court Jester Time Lord
Assistant Casting Director and Director of Public Relations Amber Raine

Cast appearing in this episode:
Amber Raine as Amber Raine and Chariya
Kami as Sister Agnes
Lord Baldrith as Nystal
Asclepius as Red Badger
David Peters as Guard Bob
Sir Stile Teckel as the Mayor of Ardoris
Chips36 as teenage boy
Lacr0bat as Sir Charles Campbell and enemy soldier
Duke Greigor as Duke Garen
Sarg as Marius
Avatar Acid as Theodric
Bryan D Taylor as Enemy Commander
Carlin Archer as Carlin
Majoria70 as Vastra
Trenyc as the Tall Albino Man

And starring Asclepius as the Great Storyweaver

Music Credits for this episode:
“Beauty of Chaos” by grindhold and grindhold.de at www.opengameart.org
“Dream Raid Full Version (Mock Up)” by Matthew Pablo at www.matthewpablo.com
“Flights of Fancy” by Eliot Corley at www.opengameart.org
“Liyan” by Elerya at www.opengameart.org
“From Tome to Tome” by Eliot Corley at www.opengameart.org
“Asian Duet” by elerya at www.opengameart.org
“Asian String Suite” by BossLevelVGM at www.opengameart.org
“Innocence” by Eliot Corley at www.opengameart.org
“Maria’s Theme” by Janne Hanhisuanto at www.opengameart.org
“Soliloquy” by Matthew Pablo at www.matthewpablo.com

“Dark Amulet” by Matthew Pablo at www.matthewpablo.com
“Path to Lake Land” by Alexandr Zhelanov at www.opengameart.org
“Battle Theme A” by cynicmusic at www.cynicmusic.com
“Invasion” by Eliot Corley at www.opengameart.org
“Medieval” by Miguel Herrero at www.jamendo.com
“Almost Out” by HorrorPen at www.opengameart.org
“Red Curtain” by HorrorPen at www.opengameart.org

Stay tuned for the next episode in this enthralling saga!

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Good evening internet! This is StaticGrazer, with a few great stories from Womby

Background music “Crystalline” by Smartsound.

Heading South

Faren Dahl looked in his purse. Two gold pieces. Enough for a loaf of bread.
His cat Morticia glared at him.
Or a fish.

Things were not going well for Faren. He used to cart items from Kingsport to Owl’s Head, but since the ships had stopped arriving he had nothing to do, and nothing to do meant no income.
“I guess there’s no other choice” he remarked to Morticia. “Time to join the town guard. If they’ll have me.”

Lord Enmar looked him over carefully, and then asked “Do you have any next of kin?”
“No” replied Faren. “Well, apart from my cat.”
“You’re in luck then.” replied Lord Enmar. “We have a number of openings. How familiar are you with the southern part of the island?”

Something New

The chill winter breeze played with the last remaining autumn leaves as it swept through the forest.
The wolves stirred as they detected an unfamiliar scent, and moved to investigate. As they started to cross the clearing they suddenly paused, their fur standing on end, and crouched low, backing slowly away.
The creature looked vaguely human in shape, yet seemed to glide rather than walk as it moved relentlessly forward.
One by one, others of its kind emerged from the shadows before the scene was plunged into darkness by a dark, menacing cloud that kept pace with their advance.
As they moved northwards the lights of a village grew ever closer.

Letter to the Editor

Please do not misinterpret what I am about to write. I love Kingsport, and (most of) the people who live here. Having said that, though, I feel the need to point out a few things that have become glaringly obvious as I have settled into this delightful town.

Firstly, the town gates. Or lack of them. Take for example the coastal entrance. I refer specifically to the inability of the lone guard on duty to close the gates if the town is attacked, because there are in fact no town gates!

Secondly, the rising incidence of petty crime. I recall a time in my youth when people could leave doors unlocked, in the knowledge that fellow members of the community would have no desire to enter their houses and steal their belongings.
Yet what do I see now? Some trusting citizen has left a trunk on the end of a pier, and I see many people, some of whom I recognise, blatantly removing items from it in broad daylight!

Thirdly, while I have no wish to make false accusations, I suspect that a certain unsavoury character loitering in the vicinity of the docks is up to no good.
He may in fact be selling contraband, and I for one do not understand why the town guard has thus far failed to investigate.

Lastly, we have all heard the strange sounds emanating from the sewer. Why has no-one investigated? Surely this is not beyond the capabilities of our local law enforcement.

I remain, as ever, your loyal reader
Womby Fluffington

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AVATAR CHRONICLES I : THE RETURN OF THE AVATAR

On one of the many parallel worlds in the multiverse…

Episode 1

Prologue: New Britannia, Forty Years Ago

COURAGE

The shattered full moon of the lunar eclipse shone bright red in the night sky above
Falura Field. A lone white dove let out a mournful coo as it soared high above. Down
below, tens of thousands charred, frozen, and dismembered corpses littered the blood
stained battlefield, as healers tended to the few hundred surviving members of Lord
British’s army. Lord British lay on the grass, applying pressure to the deep sword wound
in his side. A few feet in front of him were the shattered fragments of the Amulet of
Vazur, with which the evil Lord Shadowreign had unleashed the power of Eight of the
Nine Legendary Dragons (Gold, Silver, Bronze, Copper, Red, Black, White, Blue)
upon New Britannia. (Thankfully, once the Avatar had shattered the Amulet with his
Sword of Virtue, Lord Shadowreign lost control of the Eight Dragons and they flew back
to their lairs and went to sleep.) Lord British was surrounded by piles of bone dust, the
remnants of Shadowreign’s powerful army of undead warriors.

(Music fades out. Insert “Viracocha’s Demise” By Eliot Corley)

Lord British’s attention was drawn back to the present by the loud clanging of swords.
He saw the Avatar and Lord Shadowreign locked in mortal combat in front of the Celestial Lunar Rift. The Avatar’s black and gold armor gleamed in the red moonlight.

“I was so close to summoning the Celestial Dragon, Ashara!”, yelled Lord Shadowreign, an imposing figure clad in red and black armor, ” Curse you, Avatar! Lord British stole everything that should have been mine – the throne and Lady Arabella, the woman I love! Why are you helping such an evil man?”

“No, Lord Shadowreign, you are mistaken.”, replied the Avatar, ” Lord British is a good person and our rightful ruler!”

“Avatar, why are you content being Lord British’s lap dog? Our nation has grown weak and pathetic under Lord British’s rule. In the days of old , we were known for the courage of our knights as we expanded our empire by conquering those who opposed us. Nowadays, the other nations consider us to be a toothless tiger, more interested in making peace instead of war. Join me and together we can bring glory back to our nation!”, said Lord Shadowreign.

“Never! You were once a good person, but you have forsaken your virtues and are now driven only by dark desires! You are not worthy to rule over anyone!”, the Avatar shouted, as he swung his golden Sword of Virtue with all of his might.

The Sword of Virtue made a loud humming sound as it sliced through the air and made contact with
Lord Shadowreign’s massive, unbreakable, ebony blade, Darkstorm. Lord Shadowreign’s blade shattered into a hundred pieces.

Lord Shadowreign dropped the broken hilt and took a step back, a startled expression on
his face.

“What?! This can’t be…”, he said.

“Surrender and Lord British may show you mercy!”, said the Avatar, as he pointed his
sword at Lord Shadowreign.

” Never! If I can’t rule New Britannia, then I shall see it destroyed!”, bellowed Lord
Shadowreign,” But first I shall make you pay for ruining my plans, Avatar! Feel my
power!”

He began hurling bolts of red mystic energy at the Avatar, who deflected them
away with his sword. Lord Shadowreign began glowing bright yellow as he unleashed
even more powerful mystic energy bolts at the Avatar. The Avatar was slowly being
pushed backward by the force of the bolts.

“You are no match for me, Avatar!”, said Lord Shadowreign, as one of the bolts struck the
Avatar in the chest. The Avatar fell to his knees, momentarily stunned. Were it not for his enchanted armor, the Avatar would have been vaporized.

Lord Shadowreign’s eyes suddenly turned pitch black and he levitated several feet
upward. His body was now surrounded by a crackling globe of red mystic energy.

“Now all of you will die!”, Lord Shadowreign bellowed.

” I will not let you destroy New Britannia!”, said the Avatar, as he dropped his sword
and hurled himself at Lord Shadowreign . The Avatar felt agonizing pain as his flesh
began to burn once he penetrated the outer surface of the energy globe and plowed right
into Lord Shadowreign.

“No…!”, screamed Lord Shadowreign, as they were both propelled through the Celestial
Lunar Rift. After they passed through the lunar rift, the Avatar saw the look of anger
and disappointment in Lord Shadowreign’s face as he realized that he had been defeated.

“Curse you, Avatar!”, shouted Lord Shadowreign. The Avatar simply smiled. He knew
that New Britannia was safe. His work was done. Now, it was time to rest. Then,
everything exploded in a sea of red.

Lord British heard a loud explosion and saw a giant plume of red energy erupt from the
lunar rift before it was sucked back in and the the lunar rift collapsed in upon itself and
vanished. Everyone on the battlefield stood in shocked silence.

Lord British was unaware that a small golden metal fragment had been propelled out of
the lunar rift just prior to its collapse and had fallen at the prophet Nystal’s feet. Nystal
quickly picked up the fragment and slipped it into his belt pouch before anyone could
notice.

Suddenly, the Avatar’s Sword of Virtue shot up into the sky. It paused for a few
moments as the eight Runes of Virtue engraved in the hilt began glowing. Then, the
sword suddenly vanished in a flash of light.

“My Liege!”, exclaimed Fire Lotus, as she rushed to Lord British’s side and examined his

wound. (Few people knew that, in addition to being the city’s favorite tavern owner, Fire
Lotus was also a highly skilled healer.)

“You are badly wounded. Let me apply this healing salve and bandage your wound.”, said
Fire Lotus.

“Thank you, old friend. The wound does not appear to be responding to my healing
spell, perhaps because of the enchanted ebony blade which Lord Shadowreign used to
inflict it.”, replied Lord British.

Lord British sighed as Fire Lotus tended to his wound. ” New Britannia has been saved but at what cost? Thousands of my finest soldiers lie dead and our greatest champion,
the Avatar, has been lost!”, he said.

“This is a sad day indeed for all of New Britannia, My Liege.”, replied Fire Lotus, “But
your men showed great courage in the face of insurmountable odds and their sacrifices
were not in vain. This terrible year long ordeal is finally over and we can finally begin to
rebuild that which was lost.”

The tall, slender, white bearded prophet Nystal walked over to Lord British and Fire
Lotus.

“My dear Fire Lotus, you are mistaken. We may have won this battle, My Lord,
but the war is not over.”, said Nystal, “ Lord Shadowreign was not destroyed. The ancient forbidden dark magic which now courses through his veins have made him far too powerful to
be killed by conventional means. He has been seriously wounded and transported to a far
off planet in another universe. Lord Shadowreign will return at the full head of a powerful
army to reconquer New Britannia in forty years at the time of the next lunar eclipse.”

“Nystal, you are truly a wise prophet, but are you certain of this?”, asked Lord British.

“Yes, My Lord, of this I am certain!”, replied Nystal.

” How will we stop Lord Shadowreign when he returns?”, asked Lord British, “The
Avatar barely managed to defeat him, at the cost of his own life.”

” The Avatar’s physical form was destroyed by the mystical energies unleashed by
Lord Shadowreign, but his soul is eternal.”, said Nystal, “ It was shattered into 35,000 fragments
which were carried through the portal to your home planet, Earth. These soul
fragments now reside in the most worthy of Earth’s inhabitants. Over the next forty
years, these avatars will be drawn here to New Britannia and compete
amongst themselves to determine who will be The One True Avatar.”

“But will the new Avatar be revealed in time to stop Lord Shadowreign?”, asked Lord
British.

“Yes, I will work to ensure that happens. Until next we meet…”, answered Nystal. He
leered at the lovely Fire Lotus for a moment before vanishing in a cloud of white smoke.

(Music fades out.)

(Insert “Rise of Spirit” by Alexandr Zhelanov)

“Do you think Nystal’s prophecy is true, My Liege?”, asked Fire Lotus, “There are
rumors that he is slowly going mad, as others have recently reported seeing him talking to
himself and to inanimate objects on several occasions.”

“No doubt he would be acting strangely, considering how much time he has been
spending in your fine establishment lately. I suspect Nystal is rather fond of you.”,
answered Lord British.

“My Liege…”, stammered Fire Lotus, as she blushed bright red.

“Nystal did warn us about Lord Shadowreign’s plans and his past prophecies have
proven to be true, so I see no reason to doubt him now.,” replied Lord British,” I was so
happy the day my younger half-brother James arrived here in New Britannia from Earth.
We were so close growing up. I can not believe how far he has fallen. I am grateful that my mother and stepfather did not live to see this day. For now, we must make sure that the Amulet of Vazur does not fall into the wrong hands.”

Lord British cast a spell and the shattered fragments rose from the ground and flew off
into the sky to various remote parts of New Britannia.

“And so it begins…”, said Lord British, as he gazed up into the night sky.

End of Prologue (Music fades out.)
******************************************************************************************
( I am assuming that people in New Britannia physically age at roughly one-fourth of
the rate they would here on Earth.)

(Insert “A Winter Tale” by Johan Brodd)

Introduction: Mount Krendor, Four years ago…

TRUTH

A cold arctic wind swept though Mount Krendor, as it continued to snow heavily. A
solitary short, chubby figure, clad in a tattered brown robe, staggered across the
mountainside. The young monk Theodric was beginning to regret his decision to sneak
out of his monastery a week ago after receiving a vision compelling him to come here.
(At the monastery, Theodric was one of the five monks currently writing sections of The
History of New Britannia, Vol. 1, an important responsibility for someone so young. He
had been assigned the task based on the Grand Abbot’s personal recommendation to
Lord British.) (Music fades out.)

(Insert “World Travel” by Dan Knoflicek)

Suddenly, Theodric found himself standing in a lush garden next to a crystal clear
stream. His limbs no longer ached; in fact, he felt full of energy. Theodric looked down
and saw he was now clad in a comfortable white silk robe with blue trim and covered in
mysterious golden runes which he could not decipher. In his right hand was a massive
leather bound book. Theodric could not decipher the writing on the cover or the content
of the pages contained within. He peered into the stream and saw his face. He appeared
to be at least ten years older than he was now, complete with a full beard. Theodric also
appeared to be in much better shape than he was now, with most of his excess body fat
replaced with solid muscle. He heard a sound and looked up to see a lone white dove
soar overhead towards the massive Tree of Knowledge atop a nearby hill. Theodric
could see a beautiful, red-haired woman in a black robe with red trim also covered in
mysterious golden runes standing beneath the tree beckoning him. He did not recognize
her face. (Music fades out.)

(Insert “A Winter Tale” by Johan Brodd)

Then everything suddenly turned to white and he found himself back on Mount
Krendor.

In the distance, the shining beacon of light continued to beckon, but Theodric could go
no further. He had been walking for hours and could no longer feel his limbs. Theodric
collapsed from exhaustion and lost consciousness.

A pack of hungry snow wolves spotted the unconscious figure and came charging out of
the nearby woods. A hooded figure suddenly appeared next to Theodric’s unconscious
form. The hooded figure turned and looked in their direction. The snow wolves
suddenly stopped in their tracks and began whimpering. They quickly turned around
and ran off in the opposite direction. The hooded figure picked up Theodric and flung
him over his shoulder. They both vanished in a flash of light. (Music fades out.)

(Insert “Flights of Fancy” by Eliot Corley)

Theodric awoke to find himself in a mountain cave, clad in a warm, dry robe and lying
on a mat next to a burning fire. He could hear the loud roar of the snowstorm outside.
An elderly, white bearded cloaked figure sat across the fire from him.

“It’s about time you woke up! You’ve been unconscious for three days.”, said the old
man, ” Here, have some fine wine from Fire Lotus’ Tavern. It will warm you up a bit.”
The old man handed Theodric a wine flask.

“Thank you for rescuing me, kind sir. I am Theodric, a monk from St. Valdine’s
monastery. Who are you?”, asked Theodric.

“You may call me Nystal.”, answered the old man.

“The mad prophet, Nystal?”, said Theodric, “I heard that you were once an advisor to
Lord British himself long ago. What happened to you?”

“I’ve been busy searching for the new Avatar for the past thirty-six years, for Lord
Shadowreign will be returning soon and only the Avatar will be able to defeat him once
and for all.”, answered Nystal.

“But wasn’t Shadowreign slain by the Avatar and Lord British thirty-six years ago?”,
asked Theodric.

“No, he was merely defeated. I have chosen you to help me locate the new Avatar and
record the details of our journey for future generations. We will then help the Avatar
recover the lost fragments of the Amulet of Vazur, for only an Avatar wielding the full
power of the Nine Dragons can hope to stop Lord Shadowreign and his invading army.”,
said Nystal. He pulled out a small golden metal fragment out of his belt pouch and held
it in the palm of his hand. The fragment began glowing faintly. “This will lead us to the
new Avatar.”, said Nystal.

“What is it?”, asked Theodric.

“It is a fragment of the Amulet of Virtue, which was worn by the original Avatar when
he died battling Lord Shadowreign thirty-six years ago. “, replied Nystal, ” It is
mystically linked to the new Avatar and will glow bright white when we find him or
her.”

“Who are you, really?”, asked Theodric,” Tell me the truth. I can sense when people are
lying to me.”

“Ah, yes. One of your many hidden gifts. You are a learned man. Tell me what you
know about the Old Gods.”, said Nystal. (Loop as needed. Music fades out.)

(Insert “The Fall of Arcana (Epic Game Theme Music)” by Matthew Pablo at www.matthewpablo.com)

“According to the Book of Aramus, long, long ago, Britannia faced a grave crisis
known as The Great Cataclysm. On the moon Faralen, an enormous obsidian egg
which had lain dormant in an underground cave for a thousand years was struck by a
dark magic spell cast by the evil wizard Sintar, the last surviving descendant of
Mendarc, who wanted revenge against Lord British for the crimes he committed
against his ancestors. (Sintar himself would later be hunted down and killed in a
magic duel by Marian, leader of the Council of Mages, on New Britannia.) The newly
hatched Star Serpent threatened to destroy Faralen, which would have had
catastrophic consequences for Britannia. Lord British had the Avatar jump into the
Well of Eternity at the Temple of Argosa. The Avatar was instantly transported to the
underground cave on Faralen. After a long and fierce battle, both the Avatar and Star
Serpent were seriously wounded. The people of Britannia assumed that both of them
perished when the moon Faralen exploded.

After the Avatar failed to return and Faralen exploded, Lord British went to the
Cadatep atop Mount Helios and cast an unknown powerful magic spell which had been
entrusted to him in an effort to summon the Old Gods for help. And in case you forgot, Cadatep is a stone circle of gods, it’s a 25 foot tall obsidian statue arranged in a circle. It’s rumoured to be the spot where the old gods first set foot on Britannia, long long ago. (Music fades out.)

********************************************************************************************
(Insert “Hall of the Ancients” by Eliot Corley)
The Old Gods had originally visited us thousands of years ago in Britannia when we
were still primitive cave dwellers. The Old Gods lived in a silver city named Ghidara
which floated in the sky. They were masters of both magic and science. The Old Gods
mated with our women because their females could no longer bear children; hence we
are all descended from the Old Gods. (In fact, it is said that the members of the
Twelve Great Houses who sit on The Great Council are descended from the members
of The Old Gods’ own Council of Elders.) The Old Gods taught us how to make fire
and clothing, tools and weapons and gave us laws to govern us. After many years, the
Old Gods left us, saying that their other children needed their help but promised to
return someday to aid us if necessary.

The most famous of the Old Gods was the warrior god Darhan, ruler of the Old Gods.
Darhan had three sons. The eldest, Jonir, was a mighty warrior and sorceror, but he
had a heart as black as night. He took great delight in tormenting mankind. The
second son, Barek, was wise and kind, and a powerful sorcerer. He used his gifts to
aid mankind. The youngest son, Galen, was a brave and powerful warrior, who
helped his brother Barek oppose Jonir’s attempts to subjugate man. Eventually, Barek
and Galen were forced to use their combined might to slay their evil brother, but not
before Jonir managed to impart much of his knowledge of dark magic to his secret
apprentice. (As we learned thirty-six years ago, his secret apprentice was Lord
Shadowreign.)

Among the other Old Gods was a wise and powerful renegade whose true name has
been lost to the sands of time. A brilliant scientist, this inventor of time travel
technology was one of the three founders of their society (the warrior god Darhan and
the female mage god Siral being the other two) and was highly respected by the other
Old Gods. He called himself Nystal, and he strongly disagreed with some of the less
enlightened members of The Council of Elders who felt that less developed
civilizations should worship them as gods and serve as slave labor. Nystal resigned
from his position on The Council of Elders and left Ghidara soon after the Old Gods
originally departed from Britannia in order to explore time and space on his own. Of
all of the Old Gods, Nystal had spent the most time interacting with our people and
developed a real fondness for us. He promised to return someday to see how we were
doing, but has not been seen since his departure all those years ago. (Music fades out.)

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

(Insert “ Last Minute” by HorrorPen)
Upon casting the spell, the thirty obsidian statues began glowing bright white and
emitted beams of energy which caused a column of white light to form in the center of
the circle where Lord British was standing. Lord British was rapidly propelled upward
into the sky by the column of light as the astonished members of The Great Council
looked on. Meanwhile, the people of Britannia began to panic and ran for cover as the
smallest fragments of Faralen began striking the planet as meteorites,
demolishing structures and causing numerous fires.

When all seemed lost, the floating city of Ghidara suddenly appeared in the sky high
above Castle Britannia. All Britannians were instantly transported to Ghidara. Our
people witnessed the destruction of the planet from the depths of space as the largest
fragments of Faralen smashed into our planet, causing it to explode.

The Old Gods used something called a hyperdimensional drive to transport their city
through the vortex to a parallel universe where Faralen had only partially been
destroyed. (These parallel universes originally came into existence long ago when the
Avatar shattered the Gem of Immortality in order to make Mendarc mortal once again
and allowing him to be slain.) This parallel world was uninhabited because it’s former
inhabitants were not visited by the Old Gods in the distant past and ended up killing
each other in The Barbarian Clan Wars. After relocating us here to New Britannia, the
Old Gods helped us rebuild all we had lost by providing us with advanced
knowledge, technology and materials.

After several years, Darhan and the rest of the Old Gods departed our new world to
explore other realms. Soon after the Old Gods’ silver city of Ghidara left Mount
Krendor and soared off into space, both Lord British and the Avatar suddenly
reappeared in a flash of light in Castle New Britannia while the Great Council was in
session, with no memory of what had happened since their disappearance. When
news of their reappearance spread to the general populace, some of the people
wondered why Lord British now appeared to have a more youthful appearance, but
most people overlooked this fact because they were just happy to have their beloved
ruler back. The Book of Aramus suggests that some of the Old Gods never left and
may still walk among us, but today most people believe that Aramus’ account of the
Exodus and Founding of New Britannia is merely a fable and that the Old Gods never
really existed at all.”, said Theodric. ( Music fades out.)

(Insert “Medieval Theme 1” by Alexandr Zhelanov)

“Really? Is that what you young people believe today? What would you say if I told you
that everything described in the Book of Aramus was true?”, asked Nystal.

“How could you possibly know that?”, asked a skeptical Theodric.

“Because I was there to witness it!”, replied Nystal, “We wouldn’t have these problems
with Lord Shadowreign today if Darhan had simply followed my advice and personally
dealt with his son Jonir before he began down the path to darkness. I guess he was
blinded by a father’s love for his children.”

“You knew Darhan personally?”, asked a stunned Theodric.
“Indeed. A brave and powerful man, but certainly not the wisest.”, replied Nystal,
“Stubborn as a mule. Loved beautiful young women and wine. Not as much as I do, of
course.”

“You still haven’t answered my original question. Who are you?”, asked Theodric.

“I am Nystal, although in the past I have also gone by the name Hawkwind and
Time Lord. You must promise me never to reveal my true identity to anyone! For over
5,000 years, I traveled through time and space and, while helping those in need, made
many enemies who would like nothing better than to see me dead. That is why I altered
my physical appearance after I left the city of Ghidara long ago.

I deeply regret that I was not in Britannia at the time of the Great Cataclysm. Had I
forseen the rise of Sintar, perhaps I could have done something to stop him. Contrary to
popular belief, despite our mastery of time travel, the Old Gods are not all-knowing.
Thankfully, the summoning spell I had entrusted Lord British with on my last visit to
Britannia in my guise as Time Lord was successful and the majority of Britannians
were saved and relocated here to New Britannia.

About two hundred years ago, my timeship was badly damaged following a hostile encounter
with a Jinrazi battlecruiser and I was forced to crash land here on Mount Krendor. Based on
this civilization’s current rate of development, suitable replacement parts for my ship’s damaged quantum field generator won’t be available for approximately another 2,000 years.
In the meantime, as far as the world is concerned, I am simply the mad prophet Nystal!”,
answered Nystal.

Nystal noticed Theodric’s puzzled expression.

“You have no idea what I’m talking about, do you?”, said Nystal, “Forgive me,
sometimes I do tend to ramble on a bit. Theodric, you are about to play a pivotal role in
the history of New Britannia!”

“So, why did you choose me to aid you in your quest?”, asked Theodric.

“You remind me a lot of your grandfather Tiberius at this age.”, replied Nystal.

“You knew my grandfather?”, asked a surprised Theodric, “I never got the opportunity
to know him. He died before I was even born.”

“That is most unfortunate. Like you, he was extremely bright and inquisitive. Always
spoke his mind.”, said Nystal, “We often debated long into the night about many topics
such as philosophy, law, politics, and science. He rose from humble beginnings to
become the greatest scholar of his era. That is why Lord British chose him to write his
biography, Lord British: The Path of Virtue.”

“I know. Lord British’s biography is still required reading in school today.”, replied
Theodric, “Did you know my grandmother as well?”

“Of course! When I first met Talia, she was an incredibly beautiful, fiery tempered,
powerful young mage – the exact opposite of your grandfather. Nobody thought that
they would make a good couple, but I knew they were meant to be together. I
introduced them to each other and, as you know, they ended up having a very long and
happy life together.”, said Nystal, “By the way, how is your grandmother doing these
days?”

Nystal smiled as his eyes briefly glowed. (Music fades out.)

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

(Insert “Painted Dreams (Mock-Up)” by Matthew Pablo at www.matthewpablo.com)

That evening, as Theodric slept, Nystal teleported out of the cave.

In a moonlit clearing in the woods north of Libris, stood a small wooden cottage. A wisp of grey smoke rose from the chimney. A white-bearded wizard sat on a rocking chair on the porch, smoking on a long bamboo pipe. In front of the cottage, a young female elf was practicing her fire magic.

Lord Baldrith stopped smoking on his pipe and said, “Lanthirthel, try that again! I want you to envision the fire forming in your hands. Shape it into a ball and let it loose upon your enemy!”

Lanthirthel concentrated and uttered the words of magic. A small ball of fire formed in her hands and she hurled it at the plate armor covered scarecrow standing in the distance. The fireball found its target and the scarecrow erupted into flames.

Lord Baldrith cast the ice spell, Douse, to extinguish the flames.

“Excellent, my dear!”, said Lord Baldrith, as he smiled, “To think, just a month ago, you had trouble forming a fireball! I’m very proud of you.”

“Thank you, master!”, replied Lanthirthel, “ You are such a great teacher!”
“Indeed he is!”, said Nystal, who had suddenly appeared behind Lanthirthel.
“Godfather!”, exclaimed Lanthirthel, as she turned around and gave him a big hug, “I haven’t seen you for so long!”
“Yes, my child, I’ve been rather busy searching for the new Avatar!”, replied Nystal, “I see that Lord Baldrith has taught you well. You’ve made considerable progress since I last saw you three months ago!”
“It is good to see you, master!”, said Lord Baldrith, as he rose from his rocking chair and walked over to shake Nystal’s hand, “ Lanthirthel gives me too much credit. She has a natural gift for magic which is rare even among Sindarin elves. Thank you once again for entrusting me with her training in the mystic arts!”
“Lord Baldrith, you were my finest student. It was only natural that you would be the one to train Lanthirthel!”, said Nystal, “By the way, how’s the staff holding up?”
“It has served me well all of these years!”, replied Lord Baldrith, grasping the long, curvy staff with red gem on top, “I always thought that this was a fine graduation present, Nystal! As a matter of fact, just the other day, I had to retrieve it from an annoying imp who stole it!”
“I’m sure you taught him the error of his ways!”, said Nystal.
“Indeed! I won’t need to worry about him ever returning here to bother us again!”, replied a grinning Lord Baldrith.
“How is my brother Carlin doing?”, asked Lanthirthel.
“He is busy tracking down a lead which he hopes will lead him to that Dark Elf archer, Elirebin Shademaster, who slew your parents.”, said Nystal, “Did I ever tell you how your father, Arahaelon, saved my life long ago soon after my arrival on New Britannia?”
“No, godfather.”, replied Lanthirthel, “I would very much like to hear that story!”
“Well then, let’s go inside and have a seat around the fireplace!”, said Lord Baldrith, “I’ll boil us a kettle of water and we can have some nice, hot tea while listening to Nystal’s tale!”
Lord Baldrith, Lanthirthel, and Nystal entered the cottage.
Nystal would not end up teleporting back to the cave on Mount Krendor until four hours later…
(Music fades out.)
**************************************************************************************************
The next morning the snowstorm ended and the sun came out. As Theodric was
finishing packing up their supplies, Nystal walked over to him and handed him a well-
crafted, oak long staff.

“Take this.”, said Nystal,” You will need it during our long journey. I assume you have
been trained in its use.”

“Yes, I have.”, replied Theodric, ” In fact, the Grand Abbott said that I showed such a
natural proficiency with it that he assigned me the task of training the new monks how to
use it to defend themselves. Do you expect us to encounter many dangerous foes on our
journey?”

“Indeed.”, said Nystal, “Lord Shadowreign’s minions are everywhere and they will do
whatever it takes to prevent the new Avatar from appearing to oppose their master’s
return.”

“I see.”, replied Theodric, “Won’t you need a weapon to defend yourself as well?”

“No.”, said Nystal, “In addition to my innate abilities, I have also mastered all of the
schools of magic. Trust me, we’ll be fine!”

Theodric suddenly had an uneasy feeling as Nystal smiled at him.

***************************************************************************************************
(Insert “March of May” by MyCannonSing)
Meanwhile, at a warehouse in the port town of Jerahl, located on the southwestern tip of Novia, a large crowd had gathered to hear Marius, the handsome, charismatic, young leader of the newly
formed Homeguard,speak.

“These past decades, our world -our home – has been invaded by offworlders, each claiming the mantle of our greatest hero. A mere thirty-six years after tha Avatar gave his life to halt the evil of Lord Shadowreign, these pretenders claim to fill his boots! And yet while these Avatars are small of heart, their impact has been all too large.They have gorged themselves on the property of defenceless farmers, merchants and travellers. They have quenched their thirst for blood with the lives of innocent civilians, and when not content to merely pillage and murder they have slaked their vile lusts upon our women. And where is the protection owed to us while our sons are bloodied and our daughters violated? What shelter have our hard-earned taxes purchased? Lord British has done nothing to stop the influx of offworlders, and precious little to curb their actions. For our homes, for our wives, and for our children, we have no choice! It is up to us to take up arms and let these invaders know that they are not welcome in New Britannia!” said Marius.

“But, Marius, what can we do to stop these offworlders? They have been numerous
reports of slain offworlders coming back to life as if nothing had happened.”, asked a
beautiful, young, blue-eyed, blonde woman in the audience.

“Yes, it is true that these offworlders seem to be quite resilient, but they can be
destroyed. Fire, decapitation – just some of the tools the Homeguard have found to be effective.”, replied Marius, “And we can teach those who have the will to do what we must. So, who will fight for our homes and our dreams? Who has the courage to turn back this tide? Who will stand with New Britannia – who will stand with us?”

“Death to the offworlders! All hail, Marius! All hail the Homeguard!”, chanted the crowd,
as they began waving their swords, battleaxes, and sharp farm implements in the air.

Later, after the crowd dispersed, Marius secretly met the blonde woman backstage.

“I’ve missed you so much!”, exclaimed Marius.

“Me too!”, replied the woman,”It’s been so hard for me to get away from my husband!”,
as they embraced and passionately kissed.

“That went even better than I expected!”, said the woman, “I think we managed to recruit
another hundred members to our cause!”

“I know I am merely the public face of the Homeguard, my dear!”, replied Marius, “You
are the one writing the speeches and providing most of the financial support for training
and weapons. But Vastra, will you ever tell me your real name? ”

“In time, lover! Right now, I think we should concentrate on other things!”, said Vastra,
with a devilish grin.

End of Introduction (Music fades out.)

Sir Stile Teckel Presents
The Avatar Chronicle 1 – Return of the Avatar
Directed and Produced by Lord Baldrith
Writer and music supervisor Gabriel Nightshadow
Casting director and court Jester Time Lord
Assistant Casting Director and Director of Public Ralations Amber Raine

Cast appearing in this episode are as follows:
Staticgrazer as Lord Shadowreign
Duke Greigor as the original Avatar
Littlegeeklost as Fire Lotus
Lord Baldrith as Nystal
Avatar Acid as Theodric
Indi Martin as Lanthirthal
Sarg as Marius
Marjoria70 as Vastra
Lacrobat, Asclepius, chips36 and Elizabeth as the crowd
With cipheruzmad as Lord British
And starring Asclepius as the great storyweaver.

Music credits for this episode:
“Soliloquy” by Matthew Pablo, at www.matthewpablo.com
Viracocha’s Demise” by Eliot Corley at www.opengameart.org
“Rise of Spirit” by Alexandr Zhelanov at www.opengameart.org
“A Winter Tale” by Johan Brodd at www.opengameart.org
“World Travel” by Dan Knoflicek at www.opengameart.org
“Flights of Fancy” by Eliot Corly at www.opengameart.org
“The Fall of Arcana (Epic Game Theme Music)” by Matthew Pablo at www.matthewpablo.com
“Hall of the Ancients” by Eliot Corley at www.opengameart.org
“ Last Minute” by HorrorPen at www.opengameart.org
“Medieval Theme 1” by Alexandr Zhelanov at www.opengameart.org
“Painted Dreams (Mock-Up)” by Matthew Pablo at www.matthewpablo.com
“March of May” by MyCannonSing at www.opengameart.org

Stay tuned for the next episode in this dramatic adventure!

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Hello everyone, this is Asclepius
Again I am delighted to welcome our guest narrator JLWChambers
He is bringing to us a delightful story by Womby, entitled
The Journey
Background music “Painted Dreams (mockup)” by Matthew Pablo at www.matthewpablo.com.

The Journey

Sharon was exhausted. She had been running and hiding for two days and nights now – ever since those abominations had emerged and began terrorising the southern Vale. She was unarmed, and had not eaten since she fled her farm.

An hour ago she had sought shelter at her cousin’s property, only to find his decapitated body in front of the smouldering remains of his house. Her last hope was a vague memory she retained from her childhood.
Somewhere in the nearby hills was a cave, and that cave led to a vast underground cavern. Her sister had wanted to explore it then, but Sharon had been too timid. Perhaps now it could take her to safety.
It seemed like a reasonable plan, given that she had no other options.

It took some searching, but eventually Sharon recognised the oddly shaped rocky overhang that looked a bit like a nose, and squeezed into the small cave entrance hidden behind some shrubs.
Turning the first corner she was plunged into darkness, and paused while her eyes adjusted. A soft luminescence emitted by moss covering parts of the tunnel walls gradually became visible.
It made navigation difficult but possible. Cautiously Sharon crept further down the cave.

After a few more turns the tunnel branched, and Sharon was faced with a choice.
She figured there would be many such choices, and decided to always take the leftmost branch, and if that didn’t work out, track back and try the next.
She had always been methodical like that, a trait that her sister Rachel found annoying. She missed her sister, more so now than ever.

The scratching of claws on rock made Sharon freeze in her tracks. Slowly inching forward, she saw that the tunnel opened up into a large cavern with several exits.
The source of the sound was a Kobold. It had apparently been prospecting, and was now loading rock samples onto a small cart. After a short while the creature tossed his pick on top of the samples and headed off into one of the exits, pushing the cart in front of him.

Sharon feared becoming lost in these endless tunnels even more than she feared the Kobold, so she decided to follow him at a discreet distance.
Maintaining that distance proved surprisingly easy, as the Kobold’s cart made quite a racket. Keeping track of his location was not difficult.
Well, for a while that is. Until there was a loud crashing sound, followed by deathly silence.

A couple of turns later and Sharon found what remained of the Kobold’s cart.
It lay in splinters, with rock samples scattered everywhere. All that remained of the Kobold were dark stains on the tunnel walls and a steady drip of blood falling from a large hole in the roof of the tunnel.

With her eyes fixed on the hole, Sharon crept past and continued on.
Sharon was starting to feel faint from hunger now, and thirst was a constant preoccupation.
The violent death of the Kobold had been unsettling, and she began to wonder if she had made the right choice in entering the cave system.
Her sister would have said “Nothing ventured, nothing gained” and pressed on. Sharon was now forcing herself to be more like her sister simply to survive, and the strain was beginning to show.
In fact, it seemed she had begun to hallucinate. Sharon swore she could smell fried onions. Wasn’t that a stroke symptom? Or was that burnt toast?
Following her nose, she broke her rule and turned right at the next junction. A gentle upward slope took her through a couple of turns and then a blinding light marked an opening through which she could see blue sky.
Sharon forced herself not to run as she passed through the opening and found herself on a narrow ledge. Immediately below was a small cottage, from which the inviting smell of fried onions came.
Sharon half fell, half slid down the rocky slope to the base of the cliff.
Picking herself up she crept over to the window and peered inside. An old man was cooking a meal, and looked up as he noticed her at the window.
“Goodness me, you look exhausted. Please, come inside and rest.”
A few minutes later Sharon was recalling her harrowing experiences between mouthfuls of food as she eagerly devoured the shared meal.
The old man listened intently, and his brow furrowed as Sharon recounted the creatures that she had witnessed in the southern Vale, and the fate of her cousin.
“You have been lucky,” he said, “but I also detect a strength and resourcefulness that few possess. The kind of attributes that mark a good mage.
I am retired now, but in my day I made quite the name for myself.
I am happy to share that knowledge with you if you are interested. That is, unless you have somewhere better to go.”
Sharon nodded, and decided to stay.

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Hello everyone, this is Asclepius.
I’m delighted to welcome again our guest narrator JLWChambers, he will be bringing us a great story by Womby, entitled

An Accidental Discovery

Background music is “Haunted – Desolation” by Eric Matyas at http://soundimage.org/

An Accidental Discovery

It was by far the tallest tree in the forest, however its luxuriant foliage and the dense surrounding woods made it impossible to see beyond the first few branches.
Rachel was determined to climb it, for surely it would provide breathtaking views of beautiful autumn scenes that she could capture in her paintings.
Unfortunately the lowest branch was far beyond reach, and she was about to abandon her idea when she noticed a glint of light.
There, just above the lowest branch, something metallic was reflecting the morning sun. It looked like a switch of some kind.

Spurred on by curiosity, Rachel took an arrow from her quiver and slowly pulled back the string on her bow.
The morning breeze had paused, and all was still as she let loose the arrow. A miss, but close.
Trying again, she this time managed to strike the lever, and a weighted rope plunged to the forest floor from somewhere above.
Rachel examined the rope. It was sturdy, seemed fairly new, and was knotted at regular intervals.

Rachel did not hesitate further, and began her ascent. Reaching the lowest branch, she noticed carefully concealed foot and hand holds, and used these to press on.
Her backpack was made large and cumbersome by her easel, so she placed it together with her bow and quiver in a convenient hollow before continuing on.
She was about two thirds of the way up when she noticed the platform above her.
Continuing on she came to a small trapdoor and paused, listening. All she could hear was the gentle rustling of leaves in the wind, the occasional creak of the platform as the tree moved, and some animal sounds from the forest below.

She decided to chance it, and gently pushed up on the trapdoor, lifting her head to see if she could spot any danger. All appeared to be clear, so Rachel pushed open the trapdoor, climbed through, and quickly closed it again.
She found herself in an elaborate multi-story tree house. A wooden ladder led upwards to one or more additional levels, and through the main door she caught a glimpse of a rope bridge extending towards another tree.
Glancing at a table she noticed crafted items of a clearly recognisable style. Elves!
On the wall was a large parchment containing a map of the island. The various towns and villages were clearly circled and annotated in a script that she could not decipher.

Just then she was startled to hear movement from the floor above, and quickly hid under the table.
A pair of legs appeared and walked over to the table, standing on the trapdoor that she had just climbed through.
Carefully Rachel reached forward and released the latch on the trapdoor, and the startled elf disappeared as he plunged over 200 feet to the ground below.

Grabbing the map Rachel hastily folded it and stuffed in her shirt, then retreated the way she had come.

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Hello everyone. This is Asclepius, with another wonderful story from Greyhaven. It is entitled

The Correct Technique for Dealing with Trolls

I am also delighted to welcome littlegeeklost to join in the narration.

Background music is “Blackmoor Tides” by Matthew Pablo at www.matthewpablo.com

Greetings All

I hope that you have all taken the opportunity to have a read through Sir Frank’s mighty fine written piece “Death” in the Scribes of Novia forum. A story where young Sir Frank comes off second best to a troll (of the classical variety). The result is somewhat unfortunate, hence the title of the piece.
Should a troll get hold of a true warrior, it is of course the troll that is in trouble, and not the hero. I will elaborate:
There are those who are quick to panic when they are grabbed by a troll, but this should be no real cause for concern if you follow the correct procedure for dealing with the situation.
As the troll’s hand closes around you, be quick to flip your belt-mounted morning star 90 degrees to stop the fingers getting too tight a grip. As it lifts you off the ground it is time to get ready to exploit the troll’s primary weakness – they are particularly sensitive to loud noises. Even Beowulf figured that one out (eventually).
As you are lifted towards its face, and it prepares to bite your head off, just lean to the side and holler as loud as you can in its ear-hole. That should cause it such discomfort and aggravation that you will be quickly dropped (or thrown) to the ground.
Be sure to take advantage of this opening. Smash it as hard as you can on the toes with your trusty warhammer. As it doubles over in pain, this will bring its head down within range of an upwards swing of the hammer. If you put your back into it, and you are using quality equipment, then you can damn near knock it’s head off.
‘ang on matey ! What happens if it is a deaf troll or one without any ears on it ?
I’m sorry Bronwyn, but that is a stupid question which does not merit an answer…
I ain’t got a warhammer or one of those star thingies either – can’t we just shoot it up the ol’ schnoz with a poison arrer?
Ha ha, it might have a big nose but I don’t think it would keep its head still long enough for you to aim at it.
You raise a good point though. Because of their regenerative capabilities, once downed it is important to finish the troll off with poison or fire…
Finish? Bloody rubbish! Start ’em off with a bit of flame, that’s what I say! Much better than thrashing about with a hammer!
Did I tell ye about the time me an’ the Bomb Squad fixed a bunch o’ high-ex around a troll’s privates an’ set em off with a fireball?? I tell ye summut lad, there’s nowt what sorts a troll out faster than exploding gonads!

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Hello everyone, this is Asclepius, with the second part of a compelling story narrated by Isaiah. It is entitled

The Cure, by the Vagabond, Part 2.

Background music is “Lurid Delusion”, by Matthew Pablo at www.matthewpablo.com

The Cure, by the Vagabond Part 2 of 2

My wife continued… “He also accuses me of being a member of an Obsidian Order, and he thinks people are after him and sending him magic messages.” I felt completely betrayed, and  I gave my wife an angry look and I gritted my teeth.

I knew without the context of what really happened that the alchemist would surely think I was crazy and would prescribe far more potent herbs than I needed. I just wanted the suffering to go away, I didn’t want to become a vegetable. Nevertheless, I accepted this situation.

The alchemist didn’t seem phased by what she told him. Yet I didn’t get the impression  he was a member of the Obsidian Order. I think he was just a normal alchemist going about life. There were more horses outside, and the alchemist said “I’m sorry for all the noise we get lots of horses though here. I’m just asking just in case… Do you think the horses are relevant some how?” I shrugged and admitted “well actually yes. I feel like somebody is trying to send me a message.” Now I know he thinks I’m crazy. At this point I’m beginning to think I might be crazy too. In fact I welcome the thought because maybe this could all go away.

I left that place feeling a bit of relief. Maybe the Obsidian Order is going to have mercy on me. As long as I take this medicine that will numb my mind, they will be able to claim I was just insane and people will deny what really happened to me. It really did happen though… WAIT I don’t want to think those thoughts because they can read my mind. I began to force myself to think “I really believe I am crazy,” after each time I think about the obsidian order so the Order knows that I am going to be obedient and keep their secret locked up safe. It seemed like a good deal.

Two weeks later… I felt a whole lot better. The racing thoughts, and the horrible feelings have completely left me. I was still terrified that somehow it was only temporary. I did still see scratchings on the walls, but it didn’t seem significant to me like it did before. I thought either the Obsidian Order had put misleading graffiti on the wall to help me think I am getting better, or maybe none of this ever happened. I still cannot explain the things that happened during that time. Although I’m fine now and I don’t care. The herbs caused me to gain lots of weight, but at least I feel better. I still have crazy moments, but maybe I was just crazy. I don’t want to remember if I am not crazy. If anybody reads this, get help if you are having any experiences like mine. It seems real. Even if it is real just go get help, and get free.

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Hello everyone, this is Asclepius, with a great little story from Vyrin, entitled

Mark’s Tales of the Unremarkable, No 1.

This is a prequel to a number of tales which we will be featuring in future episodes. Background music is “Step by Step, by Smartsound.

Mark’s Tales of the Unremarkable, Number 1
Introduction

Hello reader, my name is Mark. The first unremarkable tale I will tell is me. You see, I just woke up in the Vale one day. No light, no disorientation, no unexplainable phenomena. I went to bed one day back in my apartment, and woke up in the Vale, wherever this is. My first thoughts here were pretty straightforward. I figured I had to find something to eat and a place to live and that’s what I did. I stumbled onto an abandoned cottage outside Owl’s Head with four walls and a solid roof. I’m still hoping the owners are gone, not dead really, just not coming back.

Since I was a court reporter, I figured I could offer my services as a scribe. Lord Enmar and a few other nobles give me work now and then. I don’t need much so it’s a steady job. To fill my time I travel around and talk to all the other unremarkable people of the Vale. For some reason I feel I have more in common with them than my outlander brethren. I’m not the type to stare off into the distance with my chin upraised and a furrowed brow. Nor do I feel like crafting stories fraught with breathless enthusiasm for adventure. There are mundane things here too and this world is more than a playground for those of us from elsewhere.

All I know is that if you’re still reading, you must not have much to do with your time. That makes you pretty unremarkable too.

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Hello everyone, this is Aclepius, with another wonderful story narrated by Isaiah. It is entitled
The Cure, by the Vagabond, part 1.
Background music is “Lurid Delusion” by Matthew Pablo, at www.matthewpablo.com.

The Cure, by The Vagabond (Part 1 of 2)

I’ve lived on the streets for months now after I wrote my other letters. Now that I’ve written about my dealings with the Obsidian order to warn people, the thoughts have been getting worse. I fear there will be no escape from this terror I am feeling inside. It is miserable, and I feel like I’m on the edge of an endless and eternal suffering. Killing myself may lead to worse suffering if the Order has some how magically has a hold on my soul.

There seems to be no way out. I’ve known of alchemists that use herbs to quite the thoughts of madmen. I didn’t want to go to them because I know that I am fine except for the fact that the Obsidians are pushing evil thoughts into my head. Not only thoughts, but they manipulate my mind so that I feel unexplainable rage, and dysphoria that felt like an inward fire mixed with unending weakness and the feeling of not wanting to move, and yet not moving makes me feel worse.

That’s it! I’m going to an alchemist. I thought that maybe if I went along with the Obsisians’ plot to make me look crazy, that they would leave me alone. It couldn’t hurt. In fact if I pretended that I believed I was crazy then maybe the Obsidians would stop wasting their time with me. Maybe they will let me live in peace so that I don’t talk about them again. I should never have spoken openly about them. The strange thing is my wife found me, because she was worried about me, and she wanted to help me go to one of the alchemists for help. I knew this was a setup by the Obsidian Order, but at this point I was suffering so much I didn’t care. I knew she would tell the alchemist that I was crazy and totally twist what happened so that she looked right, and I looked crazy, but I was fine with that at this point.

We traveled to Kingsport and I found one of the alchemists in the town. Lots of crazies travel through there due to the fighting on the nearby island. When I entered the house of the alchemist he asked me what I was experiencing. I was fearful to be honest. I didn’t want to break any more rules of secrecy. Also right before I began speaking I could hear several mounted people riding by the house. I knew how the Order sends indirect messages, and I knew that the sound of the horses was there way of letting me know they had troupes watching me in case I said something wrong. So I told him that I always feel bad, and I have uncontrollable thoughts and miserable feelings.

Then my wife looked at me, and said “That isn’t all of it…

To be continued