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VOLUME SEVEN, ISSUE THIRTY December 19, 2000
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Calendar of Events
NEWS AND REPORTS
Horoscopes by Mme. Decara
LEGENDITES
Announcements
A Strange Occurence in Tara
The Lazarus Effect
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\ |----------------------------------------------------------------------| /
/__| LegendMUD Calendar of Events |__\
'----------------------------------------------------------------------'
[All times are system time unless otherwise specified]
-|- -|- -|- -|- December -|- -|- -|- -|-
Thursday, December 21th, 7:00 pm Q & A in the OOC Auditorium
Monday, December 25th Merry Christmas!
*/\*/\*/\*/\*/\*/\*/\*/\January/\*/\*/\*/\*/\*/\*/\*/\*
Monday, January 1st, 8:00 pm First Night Celebration
Saturday, January 6th, 3:00 pm Three Kings Day Casino Game
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\ |------------------------------------------------------------------| /
/__| NEWS AND REPORTS |__\
'------------------------------------------------------------------'
.+'''+. .+'''+.
Horoscopes by Mme. Decara
'+,,,+'
+---------------------------------+---------------------------------+
| SAGITTARIUS (Nov 23 - Dec 21) | CAPRICORN (Dec 22 - Jan 19) |
| | |
| Your optimistic view will carry | Use your steadfastness and your |
| you through while taking direct | organizational skills make the |
| approaches on chancy adventures.| most of your practical goals. |
+---------------------------------+---------------------------------+
| AQUARIUS (Jan 20 - Feb 19) | PISCES (Feb 20 - Mar 20) |
| | |
| Never without a full waterskin, | Your compassion and sensitivity |
| people naturally seek out your | brings serenity to others amidst|
| friendly and generous company. | the turbulent sea of confusion. |
+---------------------------------+---------------------------------+
| ARIES (Mar 21 - Apr 19) | TAURUS (Apr 20 - May 20) |
| | |
| Let your new mantra be, "I AM!" | Tired of always being the solid,|
| Only you must avoid adjectives | dependable one? Take the bull by|
| like angry, furious, and stupid.| the horns and shake things up. |
+---------------------------------+---------------------------------+
| GEMINI (May 21 - Jun 20) | CANCER (Jun 21 - Jul 22) |
| | |
| Mercury's child thinks before | Serenades by moonlight bring a |
| speaking, perhaps others could | troubling discord into harmony. |
| learn from your fine example? | Show your loyalty with pearls. |
+---------------------------------+---------------------------------+
| LEO (Jul 23 - Aug 22) | VIRGO (Aug 23 - Sep 22) |
| | |
| Insolence doesn't become you. A | Analyze your surroundings to see|
| natural entertainer need not be | where you can best employ your |
| churlish nor immature to amuse. | energies to improve your world. |
+---------------------------------+---------------------------------+
| LIBRA (Sep 23 - Oct 23) | SCORPIO (Oct 24 - Nov 22) |
| | |
| Don't let easy-going charm allow| Desiring idealistic situations |
| others to steam-roller you into | isn't a weakness. Failing the |
| silence that leads to unbalance.| dedication to achieve them is. |
+---------------------------------+---------------------------------+
________________________
/ \
o O | Wonder what folks are |
`\|||/ | doing over at LegendMUD?|
(o o) \________________________/
ooO_(_)_Ooo________________________________________________________________
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/__| LEGENDITES: Information Regarding the People of Our World |__\
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Announcements
Archmage has reached 300 million experience!
The Guardians of Justice Clan was formed by Ganymede.
[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]
A Strange Occurence in Tara
Herbert West
As many of you now know I have assumed a more innocent form of late, this was
of my own choosing and has been greatly appreciated and for many more reasons
than the obvious one, that I will live longer. You see with this new young
and virile form I have chosen to seek out the love of my life and take her
hand in marriage. The only objection to this before was the vast age
difference between me and Trixie. Her Uncle McDougan had violently objected
several times and had threatened me with death after my rather botched
attempt at kidnapping her.
This if course one of the reasons I rejoiced in the new form the gods had
bestowed on me, though I am still older than Trixie it is only by a few years
and this I see as an advantage for we all know her fiery spirit can sometimes
need a guardian.
And so it was that this weekend past as I walked through Tara with my darling
I decided upon conversation with Trixie and Xerox that today should be the
day of our marriage. And so it was arranged without the blessings of the
gods, the trappings of religion or the expense of ourselves or our family
that we were to be married at 3pm that day.
The marriage itself was simple enough, held in the prestigious hayloft of
which I had been a resident so many years ago, the grooms who I lived with
had always been rather mean to me for being english but they knew that with
my special deals with Tika they would be kept well fed so they loved me. And
so the loft was decorated and prepared and Trixies own Uncle Mc Dougan lead
the ceremony.
As I ran from my rented room in the Silver Branch I began trembling
nervously, it is rather hard to deal with anything as important as a wedding
when you are twelve. And so I bounded up the ladder and almost fell on my
wife to be but narrowly avoided that by flopping onto Darkness my friend, who
was awfully shocked at being used as such a landing pad. And so with only a
moment to look at my darling in her beautiful new wedding dress I stood and
the ceremony began.
After much time spent deciphering Uncle McDougans speech we were well
underway, laughing and carrying on. And with only the briefest of
interruptions by a mouse and the deaths of two innocent grooms we proceeded
on to the vows. Simple enough, a small speech by me about my love for
Trixie, and hers was to gift me with her favorite blanket. Those attending
were filled with tears and laughter and then we were married.
A beautiful kiss and a few wines later it was over, like so many things
in this life.
It was only an hour later that Uncle McDougan asked us to come back to the
hayloft for a moment, when there he drew a sword and asked that I pledge
allegiance to him and his kin. This I did without question, you cannot know
how scary a drunk Scotsman with a sword. As he "knighted" me I felt a chunk
of my arm seperate and the seeping of blood through my shirt. McDougan
hiccuped slightly and told me it would heal. And I was officially inducted
into proud clan McDougan.
And so it was that this excited adventure took place in the beautiful lands
of Celtic Ireland, and now I must finish this little tale before my new wife
beats me about the head with something.
With greatest love,
Herbert West.
[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]
The Lazarus Effect:
By: Gaelus Errec Valthalas
...Comforting darkness, blissful and warm, quiet. Movement.
"Will he rise...?"
A breath, warming inside, slow, the sound of a heartbeat. Thump.
"He will rise..."
Soft as velvet, caressing his skin, covering him with its warmth. Thump-thump.
"How do you know...?"
Tingling at the back of the mind. Calling, screaming, lulling. Thump-thump.
"Vampires share a link between them all. They know when another vampire is
about..."
Laughter, blood, slaughter, cries for mercy. Memory, flitting, fleeting,
morbid. Thump.
"His wife does not know...?"
Black hair, running to her hips, a smile brighter than the sun, rounded
curves and soulful dark eyes. Pregnant, children, Dalin, Iashellya. A gypsy
Lady, his wife.
"The Lady believes he is dead. I would have too if not for the Link..."
Screaming death, pain erupting in his chest, darkness.
"What of his enemies...?"
Steel clashing, blood dripping, painful blows.
"They do not now that I saved him after they left..."
Servant, human, bloodless, vampire.
"Then let him rest while he regenerates..."
Strength fading, breath hard, thought slow, memories fast...
... An eye opened in darkness, looking at a stone ceiling, vision only half of what it was. Naked in the darkness, laying on the stone, cold seeping into his skin. He shivered, the first sign of life in nearly two months.
Pain blossomed from the scar on his chest, making him wince in agony. Will
power pushed him to sit and he grabbed his head in agony. Two sets of
memories ran through his head, one not his. He looked about, his eye taking
in all that he could in the dark.
"You have awakened, my master," a hissing voice said from the depths of the
room, somewhere just beyond his sight. A cloak found itself draped about him
and he shivered, feeling the warmth of the wool. "I thought that you would
not have awoken for another month."
The master blinked his eye and winced, fingering the eyepatch that covered
his left eye. "What... happened?" he weakly asked. Pain ached from all
over, new scars covering his body. His fingers went from the eyepatch to the
scar on his chest. A flash a pain behind his eyes...
...Blackthorne moved with great pain, picking up the stake that fell from
Rictor's hand. Gaelus hadn't seen it and could have died right then and
there. He ground his teeth and struggled against his bonds. "You wouldn't
dare," Gaelus hissed, fear lighting his face.
The knight looked backward, unsure at the others. He raised his hand and
drove the stake home into Gaelus's heart, blood fountaining and staining
Blackthorne with its blackness. A scream, torn from the depths of his soul,
echoed off the walls, ceiling, and spilled out into the streets. Gaelus
looked at Blackthorne, his eyes in pain. "Thank...you....." he whispered
before the blackness finally took him. His last thought: Serene...
He blinked back pain, his breath coming in shallow gasps and sweat beaded on
his brow. "Are you all right, my master?"
"I'm fine," he lied. His stomach ached and he felt emaciated from the lack
of food or energy for... two months, did his servant say? He shivered and
drew the cloak about him.. The other in his head shivered too. Memories
flowed from himself and the other. This place was a refuge in Romania, the
one place he could find sanctuary while he healed.
"There is food for you, master, if you are able to eat." 'Food' was not as
the other would know it, but the blood of a human, something to take away the
sting of hunger. The other wouldn't approve, but there was no time to be
picky. He turned his good eye to the struggling form of a small girl and his
stomach growled...
... The twilight began to fall as he slipped through the streets of
Provincial France, searching for the place he left for his wife. People
moved as they saw him, their eyes going to his eyepatch and then to his
emaciated build. The gates to her home were of wrought iron, worked into a
simple design. The guards stared at him as he passed through them, leaving
behind a feeling of awe and fear. Each of them crossed themselves, believing
that they had seen an apparition of their departed lord.
The house staff ran in different directions, screaming and begging for their
god. He mounted the stairs with haste, wanting to see his wife. Her door
was of polished wood, inlaid with small carvings in mother of pearl, small
lillies in bloom. Opening it, he saw her, sitting in her chair and staring
out the window. Her hand rested on her stomach, now swollen with the time
that passed. She must have heard the door open, but she did not turn about.
He moved, sinuous as a snake toward her, his memories stilled as she filled
his vision. He reached down, his lips touching her cheek. She jumped and
withheld a scream.
"H-how...? You're dead..." Serene couldn't find the words. Her hands shook
as she stared at him, her mind screaming for something to grasp. "My-my
husband...?"
He smiled slightly and pulled her up into his arms, kissing her fiercely. It
had been two months, endured with pain and want, hunger and need. "I missed
you, dearest, " he breathed into her hair as he held her close.
"Oh, Gaelus," she whispered, burying her face into his chest and sobbing
quietly. "I thought..."
"Shh," he whispered back. He withheld a wince as she touched the scar on his
chest. "I'm here, and that is all that matters." He sat weakly in the chair
and pulled her into his lap. They found solace in a kiss. He had risen from
the dead, the Lazarus effect...
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Legendary Times is published by the immortals of LegendMUD. Please send
all replies, additions, or corrections to our address at lt@legendmud.org
for inclusion in the next edition. We, however, reserve the right to
moderate this discussion, and may object to some submissions.
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