"I'll take that as an undecided. Something in between
then." Bizzy begins to explain.
"What I have here
is a set of the legendary Gnome Tomes -- special linking
books. They've been in my family for centuries, though
most of them are still blank and unused. There never
were many adventurers in my family. A bunch of home
bodies, you could say.
"Well, anyway, here's how
they work. First, you have to have a calling. Next, you
have to find a Linkin Log. Now if you touch a Linkin Log
and you have a calling, then a corresponding page
will appear in one of the books. This book here must be
Elkae's book. See? There's a picture in it already. And
I can tell you it's the same as the Linkin Log she
touched."
The Professor looks at Bizzy, thinks
for a moment and then nods his head. "Go
on."
"Once you touch the Linkin Log and the page
appears in your book, you must then finish the journey
as quickly as possible. If you don't, the image on the
page begins to fade and you eventually end up trapped
just like Sirrus and Achenar. The upside is that if you
finish the journey and return home before the image
fades, then the page is yours forever and you can use it
to return to the location at any time." Bizzy hopes the
Professor understands.
"Like I said, this is
Elkae's book. The image is still pretty bright, but it's
beginning to fade. If she doesn't return on her own by
late tomorrow ... well ... then we've lost her. No
rescue mission has ever been successful. We'll just have
to wait and see."
"Isn't there anything we can do
to help her?" asks Thietris.
"Not a thing,"
sighed Bizzy. "So far as I know, not a bleaking thing. I
just thought you'd like to know."
"Who do those
other two books belong to?" asked the Professor
hesitantly.
"I don't know for sure yet, though I
have my suspicions. Both the books are still blank, but
I've heard tell at least two more will get the calling
soon. There may be others as well. Keep an eye on the
rest of the books, Professor, in case an image should
appear in one of them. Those Linkin Logs are everywhere,
but they're not dangerous to you unless you're called."
And with that Bizzy closes Elkae's book, lays it atop
the other two, and jumps down from the desk. He slowly
toddles over to his wheelbarrow and heads back to his
secret room near the water garden. As he walks, he
worries.
As Elkae and Falling Burro walk along
the dark passage there comes the sound of a link being
made from up ahead. The two stop and FB gets a little
antsy. There's a shuffling sound which slowly gets
louder. The light from Elkae's fire marbles barely show
some movement in the darkness ahead. They can hear it's
breathing now. Slow and raspy breathing as it slowly
shuffles forward. The two start to step backwards when
the thing steps into the light. It's big, and
ape-like with huge claws and it grins at Elkae showing a
mouthful of big sharp teeth... It's also wearing a vest.
With a nametag. Says 'Barry'. It's holding a clipboard
and a large box under one arm. Barry sets the box
down and holds out the clipboard and a pen. There's a
note and a form clipped to it. Note says, 'sign here,
please.' Elkae pulls herself together and signs for
the package. Barry bows and shuffles through the
paperwork on his clipboard eventually placing his hand,
er paw, on it and links out. The note is taped to the
top of the box.
To: Elkae From: Kestryll
& Company
Zandi said we had to find a way to
get this one to you. Don't know when next package will
be as Zandi went on vacation. He sends list. I ship.
Contents: 4
Thermi. 4 fire marble lanterns, minus
marbles. Usual assorted treats. Archaelogy tools.
Brushes, chisels, etc. Spelunking items. Rope,
etc. Other misc items supposedly of value to
you.
While the hood was still more or less
deserted, Ronda wandered around, gazing with happy
curiosity at all the subtle, and not so subtle changes
that had occurred since last she was in the
cavern.
Finding the D'ni Internal Supply, and
delighted to do so, she enters and looks around, trying
to remember all the things she forgot to bring this time
down.
"Oooh! Nig Fewtons!" she exclaims, and
seeing as the plate is on the counter, for obvious
common comsumption, she helps herself to a couple.
Munching her Newtons, she strolls up and down the
aisles, figuring that if she saw any of the things she
needed, she'd then remember that it was indeed something
she needed...
Hi Cordelia!!!
[[[[[Cordelia]]]]]
In cavern: Ronda KI #
589268 - Atrus shard ~ TMP When the going gets weird,
the weird turn pro.
With the sound of a link-in and a few
under-his-breath grumbles, TV stumbles back to the hood.
He is quite disgruntled about having to deal with the
'public disturbances' that had been reported in Tomahna.
He stumbles along to the light garden, and takes a long
sit on a rock to catch up on the plot and mentally
reconstruct himself. As he sits, his KI suddenly beeps
on, displaying one of the images that he had planned to
show anyone who didn't believe his last mission:
"*sigh*, it's gonna be a long day..."
Tom
Melon KI# 00028864 no, im not living in a pretend
world where live still exists; im just too lazy to
change the signature
Thietris Professor Thietris Squirrel, CEO,
President and Managing Director, Institution of Advanced Exploration
of Myst Worlds
posted
I'm just going to the surface, Cordelia.
I'm in rather a - why are you looking at me like
that?
Professor T is wearing a rather
tasteless t-shirt and a pair of shorts. He takes his
leave. He seems in a desperate hurry. He arrives in the
desert (sunny version), sits in the folding chair, taps
out a number on his mobile phone, and puts the phone to
his ear. He goes through the weird contortions - puffed
out chest, double chin, pursed lips -
- ...
please leave a message after the beep.
Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep.
-Drat! Uh, this is
Zandi. Elkae, uh, I probably know more about why you're
here than you do. That's why it's important that you
listen to what I have to squeak [cough] say. When
you get this message, please go as quickly as you can to
Professor Thietris's Institution. I think that's really
where your home is. And that's why it's important you go
there now, Elkae. I can't explain why right now. Err.
Goodbye.
A face had been watching from the
trailer window. He couldn't hear the professor's phone
conversation. The professor looks worried about
something, Zandi was thinking. Well, so would I be, in
that terrible outfit! He suddenly stops wiping the
saucepan he'd been drying, and looks down at his T-shirt
and shorts.
Cordelia stood stock still, in a state
of total amazement. She had never in her whole life seen
a squirrel wearing such a tasteless t-shirt, and as for
the shorts
She finally
recovered from the shock and looked around The
Institution.
All was quiet, not a soul to be
seen.
"I think it must be a holiday. Maybe I'll
pop back to my Relto and do some Spring Cleaning while
it's so quiet."
She slapped her hand to the book
on her hip and
disappeared.
Cordelia Personal
Assistant to Professor Thietris Squirrel, CEO,
President and Managing Director, Institution of
Advanced Exploration of Myst Worlds
Veronica sat up and groggily surveyed
the room. She had slept so long, she couldn't remember
where she was at first. Hearing Grizz yelling for her,
she grimaced. "I'll be right there!" she snapped
irritably.
Walking into the store she continues
the tirade. "What time is it, what day is this, my head
is killing me, my legs are sore from all that jumping,
is the coffee ready and where is my breakfast?" She
plops down on the stool by the counter, misses the seat
entirely and lands on her
backside.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I'm no
longer a danger to
society. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Grizz tries to muffle it, but he can't,
and his laugh as Veronica lands on her backside rolls
around the front of the store.
When he calms
down, he notices Veronica sitting there, face red with
embarrassment, yet an angry light in her
eyes.
"Umph...coff...um...well, it was pretty
funny!" he says. "And as for breakfast, I had mine long
ago. You know where things are, and I'm sure you 're
quite capable of cookin' your own." He turns away, then
turns back. He says, right into Veronica's outraged
expression, "By the way, you sure do know how to make
good
coffee!"
_______________________________ Prop.
D'ni Internal Supply Co. "If we don't have it, you
don't need it!"
Veronica pulled herself up and brushed
off her jeans, all the while glaring at Grizz. She eyed
the food supply and small stove and remembering her last
attempt at cooking had resulted in a small fire, she
settled for some fruit instead.
"What is there to
do around here, anyway? It's rather dull, don't you
think? Why would someone want to live here, there are no
high quality stores, no hair salon and I haven't seen
a..." Suddenly Grizz puts a broom in her hand. "There is
plenty to do around here, Nica. I suggest you get to it.
You can start on aisle
1."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I'm no longer a
danger to
society. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
During the night, Bizzy crept into the Professor's
office to check the image in Elkae's Gnome Tome. He
flipped open the small book and stared at the page for
several minutes, hoping the image would
change.
The image, once bright and colorful, was now
black and swirly. Bizzy decided he'd best keep this to
himself. The others would find out soon
enough.
Sipapu is a Hopi word that refers to
the place where they and all of the animals that now
exist in this world emerged from the underworld
beneath.
"Barry, is it? We've never met. I'm
Elkae Knutsson of the D'nial Tehl and this is my friend,
Falling Burro. Falling Burro, meet Barry Bahro. Bahro,
Burro, Burro, Bahro." [Incredibly, she says that with a
straight face.] She extends a hand but Barry seems too
pre-occupied to notice. Still, he seems nice enough. She
signs for the package, being careful to return the pen,
and slips three bills under the clip on the clipboard.
[Elkae assumes these guys make union scale, but coming
down here is really above and beyond.] Barry looks
askance at her, then flashes a toothy grin and links
out.
She digs through the contents of the box.
Bear Kachina
"A Bear Kachina?! I
wonder why Zandi would have sent me this, since he said
to stay away from kachina dolls." She sets the doll down
and digs the Kachina Dictionary out of her black
bag and begins to read:
The power and magic of
the Bear prevents and cures sickness. He symbolizes
power, strength, courage and
healing.
"Hmmm. He seems like a handy little
fellow to have around." She carefully tucks Bear into
her black bag and returns her attention to the latest
goodie box. "Phone batteries! I hope they're fully
charged." She grabs one and swaps it for the dead
battery in her satellite phone. The display lights up
and she attempts a call to the surface but, instead of a
dial tone, she hears only static. With a fiddle-dee-dee
air, she tosses the useless device back into the black
bag.
She finally removes everything from the
box, placing some things in her bag and others in
Falling Burro's saddle bags, and then sets fire to the
box with a fire marble. As she warms her hands over the
flames, she glances over at FB and notices he seems
agitated. She figures it's probably just the after glow
of the acorn mead. As usual, she figures
wrongly. ________________ It sure is dark in
here!
Experimental Program
1
"I'll take that as an undecided. Something in between
then." Bizzy begins to explain.
Supplier of umbrellas to the D'ni for
Centuries.
@ Grizz. Oh, if
only we still had Live. I'd be tempted to start a
Tasteless T-Shirt & Shorts
Neighborhood.
