INTERACTIVE STORY

[GrimaldineGrimwold]

Treguard was getting impatient: “Come on team, what is our answer?” The others sat in silence. Finally Pickle ventured a guess. “A glade?”

“Falsehood,” was the call from the wall, “Mushroom was the Truth I sought. Here is my second. I spend my years running the Race of Time. But if you were in a race and passed the person in second place, what position would you gain?”
Kully immediately jumped up. “You’d be first! First!”
“Falsehood,” was again the response, “Only Second would you be. First was not the Truth I sought”. The lips of the creature raised in a strange distorted smile. It was many a year since She had fed upon human flesh: now perhaps, the chance was again at hand.
“Here is my Third and Last. I can contain many things. To do me is to repress or hide. But if you had a lot of me you would be courageous indeed. What am I?”
The silence laid heavily on the antechamber. Treguard, clearly averse to the prospect of being eaten,  was shouting at his assistants to think more carefully. The answer, however, was not in their grasp. Panic set in, and they began to quarrel.
“Reeddles ees too deefeecult. And elves, they shout out seelly answers. Eef Treguard ees eeaten, then Dungeon ees surelee deeestroyed, and castle and all. I have eenough of theese games. I leeave thees world and go back een…” Suddenly a wave of understanding passed across her face:
“Bottle!”
“Truth accepted. One is the score. I tell little more. Your Quest is to Awaken the Antithesis of that Horror which you have allowed to re-emerge in these halls, and thus commence the Final Battle between Good and Evil. No more than One had you True, so no more I teach you. And now, I hear the Sleep of Time calling once more…”    

[Malefact]

"Ooh! Theeese wall monsters are very scary!" whimpered Majida. "Ees just like that Brollachan!"
"Similar, Majida," said Treguard shakily, "but this particularly category of monster is even more dangerous because it actually knows things!"
"Just like a Blocker with attitude!" cried Pickle.

"What ees Blocker?" asked Majida. Treguard rolled his eyes (making him feel giddy due to the darkness of the helmet) and turned back to the table.

[GrimaldineGrimwold]

[[Hi everyone. The posts have been wonderful on this thread, a real joy to read people's contributions. I just wanted to comment on my last addition. I hope people don't think I've pushed this too far, but I had a thought. Surely just rescuing Sidriss from LF wouldn't be much for them all to get so worried about. At the start of the story we learn the whole Dungeon was in danger: I thought we needed something a little more frightening in prospect. And then I thought, "Ooh, Merlin and Mogdred never did get their final battle on screen." I don't want to push this too far in any particular direction, so interpret things however you want. But what if LF hadn't captured Sidriss? What if something or SOMEONE else has gained control of Sidriss's body once it had been released by Treguard's bumbling assistants? What on earth would happen if LF and Mogga got started at destroying one another, or worse, decided to team up? There are so many possibilities in so many directions.]]

[Malefact]

[[Well, Merlin and Mogdred are alter egos of the same person - different manifestations if you will. Incidently, this story could make for some interesting dialogue between Merlin/Mogdred and Lord Fear.]]

[Malefact]

"What's on the table, Treguard?" asked Kully.
"There is a key, a ruby and a potion labelled 'Sinister'" he said.
"But where ees scroll?" cried Majida.
"There aren't any in the old realm," said Pickle.
"So what has happened to the new one?" asked Majida indignantly.
"Hopefully we can find out," called Treguard, "but for now, what items do you think I should take? I've been here too long, you know!"

[GrimaldineGrimwold]

[[I love the thought of Majida insisting there should be a scroll! That's so her! I'm still taken with the Mogga/Merlin idea. There's the potential for so much nice banter, as you say, Malefact. I'd love to see what LF would make of Merlin in bumbling old fool mode, and how Hordriss would take the dent to his pride when Merlin, who he'd since replaced as "leader" of the Powers That Be, returns. A scene of LF talking to what he thinks is a captured Sidriss but who talks in Mogga's voice and style could be quite funny too.]]

[Emii]

"Couldn't you take all three items?" Kully suggested. Treguard rolled his eyes again, and nearly fell over.
"Kully, if you haven't noticed, I only have TWO hands."
"You could put the key in your mouth?" Pressed Pickle, remembering when he had been in the same position.
"No no - I daren't risk that creature coming back." said Treguard hurriedly. "No doubt she is watching our actions as we speak."
"Take the Key and the Potion, then - they seem more useful than anything else."
Treguard and Majida were apprehensive at Kully's suggestion. He studied the bottle from under his helm.
"Sinister? That doesn't sound very reassuring to me."
"What would you suggest then, Master." asked Pickle slyly, knowing that Treguard would be stumped. He was right.
"Perhaps we should take those items then...Yes. Yes - I have an idea for any setbacks."
But he wouldn't tell them what it was.
Treguard picked up the key and the bottle, and asked them which way to go next.
"There ees dorr strraight ahead off you." Said Majida. "Walk forrwards."
Treguard did as he was told and dissappeared through the black doorway. Beforethe new room came into focus, the advisors heard a long, loud scream, followed by a long loud yell that sounded suspiciously like Treguard.

[Malefact]

[oh dear! "Sinister" is Latin for left. A re-think is needed, methinks!]

[Emii]

[why rethink it? just cos its latin for left, doesnt mean it has to be used for that. If you wanted it used in that way you should have included it in your post, as not all of us speak latin. Once you finished your post, as stated in the rules, what goes into the next post is entireley up to the next poster ]

[Pooka]

The next room came into focus, and the assistants immediately saw what had made Treguard yell.

"Oh... uh... it..." Kully stuttered. Majida and Pickle just gaped at the viewscreen.
Kully continued. "It... it... it's... it's... it's me!"
She certainly seemed to be right. There was a Kully in the chamber in front of Treguard, and a Kully sitting in the advisors' space. They were exactly identical.

Pickle looked from the Kully next to him, to the Kully in the Dungeon, to the Kully next to him, to the Kully in the Dungeon...
...the Kully next to him, the Kully in the dungeon, the Kully next to him, the Kully in the dungeon...
...theKullynexttohimtheKullyinthedungeontheKullynexttohimtheKullyinthedungeontheKullynexttohimtheKullyinthedungeontheKullynexttohimtheKullyinthedungeon...

Pickle screamed.

"What sorcery is this?" screamed Treguard. "Kully, why are you in the dungeon?!"
"But I'm not!" screamed the real Kully. "This Kully is not... not... not Kully!"
Majida looked almost as confused as Treguard felt.
"How can it not be Kully?" asked Treguard.

There was a very long silence.

Pickle clapped his hands, breaking the silence. "Master," he said quietly, "has it said anything idiotic yet?"
"No..."
"Then it's not Kully, is it?"
Treguard and the assistants all cheered and clapped. As this sound, the fake Kully began to speak. Treguard, Pickle and Majida listened intently to its words. They sounded almost robotic...

(Kully, on the other hand, was still puzzling over what Pickle had said... and then said slowly - to herself - "Hold on... was he just making fun of me...?")

[Emii]

"The daughter sits no more, stands no more, speaks no more, is no more, but sees, hears and knows."
Treguard puzzled under his helmet, while the advisors stared at the Kully on the screen. She was creepy, almost lifeless as she spoke, gazing blankly at nothing. The fake Kully's bottom lip shook as though in fear, and her face paled.
"She know's, sees and hears in the depths of another level..."
Another voice was speaking, exactly in time with the Kully on the screen, with the exact words and in the same tone. Pickle and Majida turned and looked at Kully, then at each other in horror.
"...she fades, wishes, but knows you will be too late. If only you had the key that isn't." Finished the two Kully's in synchrony.
"Pickle? I heard two voices! What's going on?" called Treguard.
"Kully?" Pickle touched her shoulder gently. Kully's eyes rolled back and she fell rearwards off the bench in a dead faint. Majida looked at the screen as she helped Pickle pull Kully back into a sitting position.
Fake Kully was gone.

[GrimaldineGrimwold]

Pickle continued to aid Kully while Majida guided Treguard to the food on the floor to his right: it was a lemon, and grimacing as he put it in the knapsack, Treguard knew he'd be ill in the morning. Whilst her body was still limp, Kully was slowly regaining some kind of consciousness of her surroundings.

With a bitter taste lingering in his mouth, Treguard was becoming angry again, and he started shouting at the walls around him. "Lord Fear, this is against the rules! Harming advisors is strictly forbidden." He listened carefully, but received no response. Treguard understood a little of Fear's mind, and knew it was out of character for such a stunt not to be followed by some childish boast in person. The more he thought about it, the stranger it seemed. Such psychological devilry had never been one of Lord Fear's favourite weapons: his was the technomagic of machines, saws, and steel, not the subtle manipulation of the mind. But if not Lord Fear's work, then what? Or who?

Majida had been thinking on it too, and if not reasoning as well as Treguard, had jumped to the same conclusion: "Eet ees something to do weeth one wee seee before when wee take sword from-"

"Don't say any more, Majida!" Treguard's voice was firm. "Do not mention the name. You do not know the power it possesses. Of you three, only Pickle knows of old the Evil about which we speak. And he has more sense- now, at least- than to utter its name. Already I feel the shadows stirring. Things are moving quicker than I anticipated." He stopped himself, and took on a warmer tone: "I know this is hard for all of you. You disturbed something that should have stayed bound forever." The look on his face now was one of regret. "I should have taken more care to ensure He could never re-emerge. But, as ever, Time Turned, the next Season began and I trusted to Hope that it should not be so. I was indeed angry that you reawoke this peril, but the fault shall always lie with me."

"Master, we must move on. Evil cannot win so easily, never it can't! There may still be time- mayhap this message was not one sent by Him, but instead as a warning. We must trust to Truth and Justice, as you always told me, Master. And the only way is onward!"

A wry smile touched Treguard's face. Pickle at least was finally showing some sign of maturity. It had taken long enough. "Very well then, which way do you want me to go?"        

[Emii]

"Therre ees dorr to left and right of you...and therre ees frightknight over right dorr. Left then, I theenk?"
Pickle agreed, but was a bit too preoccupied trying to keep Kully in a sitting postion - she kept flopping backwards. Majida began to guide Treguard, who went willingly, towards the door. Just before he disappeared into the blackness, Kully spoke again.
"Treguard - I knew what was happening..."
Treguard stopped.
"What do you mean, Kully?"
"Yes - what do you mean, seely elf?" said Majida suspiciously, and a bit miffed at having her advising chance interrupted. Kully continued.
"I didn't feel like my mind was being taken over by anyone - I just...knew the words."
"How?" asked Pickle. He was starting to think maybe he wasn't going mad, then Majida piped up.
"Eet ees magic - when you speak words, I also have deja-vu feeling..."
Pickle and Kully looked up sharply.
"That's almost it." Said Kully, now fully recovered. "I had a strange feeling, I'd heard those words before - a very long time ago."
"Well, if you three remember later on where you heard it, let me know immediately. In themeantime - take me into the next room!" said Treguard, and they turned back to the screen pondering.
WHOOOOSH...
Treguard appeared in the next room, and the first thing they noticed, amongst many other things in the room, was one of Lord Fear's floating orbs, very much like the one in his Fear Stick, or the one he was trapped in once.
The light in it was out, and the fog had floated to the bottom of the orb and sat there like a dormant liquid. It looked dead, yet it still floated.

[Malefact]

[[sorry, Emii, I wasn't thinking Maybe it can be given to a guard (Fatilla could make a return, since this is the Old Realm) to use a Wellway (a chance for more "What ees thees?" from Majida!)]]

  "What in the world....?" muttered Treguard.
"It looks like some kind of recepticle, master," said Pickle.
"You're right, Pickle," Treguard replied. "Maybe someone's trapped in it."
"I don't know," said Majida uneasily, "it could be dangerous!"
"We're in danger already, Majida," snapped Treguard and immediately began stumbling around.
"What are you doing?" asked Kully.
"I'm looking for an Anode of Power," Treguard called. "That's the only thing that can neutralise one of these things."
"How do you know there's one there?" asked Pickle.
"Rules of the dungeon, idiot elf!" replied Treguard. "There must always be an opportunity to overcome an obstacle - the means to do so are either always present with or preceed the problem."

  After a few minutes of fumbling, Treguard emerged from a pile of debris with an Anode.
"See?" he said smugly.
"Well done, master!" cried Pickle.
"Do you think we should risk it, though?" asked Kully.
"I agree!" said Majida nervously.
"As I've said before; many actions are possible in the dungeon, many more are plausible but what's unforgivable is inaction and indecision!" Treguard boomed. He then promptly rolled the Anode into the field.

  There was a brilliant flash of light and everyone was temporarily blinded (apart from Treguard who, of course, was protected). When everyone's vision was restored the first thing that Treguard heard was a gasp from Majida.
"What is it?" he cried.
"It's me, Treguard, you sanctimonious fool!" shouted Lord Fear.

  He was lying on the ground where the field had been. His face was charred and his clothes were torn.
"He's on the ground Treguard!" cried Kully.
"I can just see him," replied Treguard. "Well, Lord Fear, would you mind explaining what's going on?"

[GrimaldineGrimwold]

"I might ask the same of you," came the response. "I mean, old thing, you're getting on a bit to be traversing the dungeon." He quickly corrected himself: "My dungeon, Treguard."

"I don't think you're in any position to threaten in your current state, Lord Fear. And you know the rules, I've freed you, so the least you must owe me is some information. Tell us what happened."

"Very well, old fruit. No need to get your beard in such a twist." He grinned at Treguard, but hadn't managed to incite the Dungeon Master this time, so continued. "I was minding my own business, as I do," he said, trying to perfect a look of innocence, but failing dismally, "When who should walk in the Black Tower but little Sidriss. I couldn't believe my luck. All I'd need to do would be booby-trap her and send her back to daddy, and I'd have one toasted Hordriss to enjoy. And gloat over, I'm sure I would have gloated a bit. Just a little, Treguard, you know me." No-one was rising to his bait today. This was no fun at all, he concluded, so proceeded to tell the rest of the tale: "There was something a little bit strange about the little brat, though. I know she's not the brightest thing out there, but she stumbled in like a walking corpse. I thought it might be the after-effects of some of the other little traps I've laden her with to trick the old fool, but when she spoke, I knew something was really amiss..."