Volume Seven Issue Twenty-Three

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VOLUME SEVEN, ISSUE TWENTY-THREE                    September 28th, 2000
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                          TABLE OF CONTENTS
 
                          Calendar of Events

                            LEGENDITES
                           Announcements
                          Toafu's Request
                         An Early History
                        The Captain's Cross
                    LadyDagger: An Introduction
                       Honor Lost and Gained

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/__|  LegendMUD Calendar of Events                                        |__\
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[All times are system time unless otherwise specified]


                   o o o o o o o   October   o o o o o o o

      Thursday, October  5th, 7:00 pm       Q & A in the OOC Auditorium
      Thursday, October 12th, 7:00 pm           Happy Columbus Day!
                                            Q & A in the OOC Auditorium
      Thursday, October 19th, 7:00 pm       Q & A in the OOC Auditorium
      Saturday, October 21st, 7:00 pm       Clanbuilding Seminar


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      o O | Wonder what folks are   |
 `\|||/   | doing over at LegendMUD?|
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  /__|  LEGENDITES: Information Regarding the People of Our World     |__\
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                              Announcements 

               Moo has reached 100 million experience! 

                               *    *    *

Woe, Shmeck and Scotta have joined the Knights Templar. We look forward to
seeing these junior knights in action in the holy land in the weeks to come!

Tancred de Gisborne,
Master of the Temple.

The Lost Children of Atlantis were formed by Elisa. The Bahan Sopeth clan was
formed by Judah. The Collective was disbanded by Harlequin.

                               *    *    *

The sorcerer Soze, the bladesmaster Todd, and the government official,
TaxCollector have all traded their souls for servitude of the Seven Circles.
Moreso, we welcome our official cheerleader Cenja as well!

Marcel Alexander, Esquire.



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                             Toafu's Request

    ...from a letter found on the ground near Tara. Written in sloppy penmanship
laying near a bottle of Vodka and empty beer bottles, we have printed it as
well as we could translate it.

As I sit here and think about my previous experiences I know now that my
shooting skill has been impaired from my long addiction to alcohol. It tastes
good and keeps my pains away so I can rest, and it keeps me from shaking.  At
first it seemed that my addiction actually helped my skill, and I always
drank before battle.

Before this I relied on a steady aim and now I just shoot till they are
dead.  I recently lost all my possessions...instead of replacing my weapon
with the same one, a M-82 in 50 cal., which required a lot of deep
concentration before shooting, I have chosen to a more convenient and
managable model, a 1911 colt 45. semi auto. I can twirl, reload, and shoot
quicker and not shoot myself (which happened 3 times with the bulky M-82).

So now I keep my bottles and flasks close to keep my pains silent and try to
sneak up on em and shoot em' till they look like a spaghetti strainer and
then backstab em' with my katar which causes utter pain. If my alcoholism
causes problems, I will likely drop my shooting skills for the love of the
drink.

So please stop calling me an expert sniper.... I'm only an alcoholic sniper.

                                                   The one, the only.
                                                         TOAFU

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                               An Early History

They were at war. They were always at war. Beyond the endless wastes the
hordes of the Nameless would attack without rest. The frontier posts were
always fighting, but there was nothing unusual about that, and they were far
away. Not usually a problem. As of late however, the attacks had been getting
more and more frequent, and their strength of numbers during each attack was
becoming overpowering. The three border towns between the castle and the
front line-usually ample space to fend off attacks-had fallen in as many
days. The Nameless were just outside the city limits.

	'Master Arx, you must leave now,' the servants would plead.

But I would always refuse. Where would I go, anyway? They are advancing far
too quickly. No, I must make my stand here. What would it look like to the
townspeople if the son of the Baron, the only noble left in this town, was to
leave? If this city cannot even hold back the hordes for a short while, then
all hope is most certainly lost.

The city guards in these parts were usually some of the best.  But best or
not, when you are outnumbered eight to one, or worse, there is only so long
you can stand. The townspeople in these parts were no stranger to a sword
either, but even with their valiant efforts, the Nameless were soon
approaching the keep, a tide of death and corpses falling in their wake. By
now it was too late to leave, even if I did want to. Which I did not. They
had surrounded the keep and would soon breech the main gates. Arrows flew in
through the tiny windows high in the keep. They were master archers as well
as swordsmen. Footsteps. Getting louder, louder. They were outside my door.
Splinters flew everywhere as it smashed into a thousand pieces.  Then there
was the light. The stinging bright white light, hurting my eyes. And then the
darkness, the bleak darkness of unconsciousness.

I think I woke in some sort of forest, not wholly dissimilar to the ones
around the town, but this one somehow deeper and thicker. I saw some faces, I
think. They were foreigners, from nowhere I could recognise. Maybe they were
from beyond the wastes, beyond the Nameless. I was only awake for a few
seconds before again falling asleep, or falling unconscious, I cannot
remember which. I next remember waking up in some sort of inn. A tall man who
called himself Erich was helping me. The tongue he spoke was unfamiliar to
anything I had ever heard before, but I gathered I was in a place called 'Der
Phoenix' by a large painting hanging behind the counter. Apparently some
travellers found me in the forest outside the city and brought me here. It
was so bright. The sun was so much larger in the sky.  Much brighter than my
world. My world, with my family...

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                        The Captain's Cross

Knee deep mud. It smells like blood. Probably because a substantial part of
it *is* blood. The groans of the wounded and the dying, grown men weeping
like little boys for their mothers. The piercing, throbbing pain of metal
scraps embedded in the captain's flesh.  Everything is business as usual at
Verdun, France, 1916.

Captain von Luttke takes a quick survey of the situation as the English
bombers retreat. A little less than half his men are still standing.
Acceptable losses, that's what it's called. He did not even get the time to
ask the names of some of the young men now lying as lumps of bloody flesh in
the mud of the deep trench.

The perimeter is secured for another day at least. The iron cross on the
captain's chest gleams brightly in the late afternoon sunlight, as a quiet
reminder of the glory that it supposedly is, to fight and die for der
Kaiser.

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                    LadyDagger: An Introduction

I was born in the city of Tara in the great land of Ireland.  My mother and
father got very ill and died when I was just a wee lass Left to make my own
way in the world I decided to take the path of the long sword. I wandered
from Tara to learn my way, alas no matter how many times I wandered Tara was
where my journeys always ended.

Tara is where I met my first love EldritcH. Everywhere we went you could find
us together, until one fateful and sad night EldritcH died a very violent
death in the heat of battle. I prayed for death to take me as well on the
fateful night. Alas, instead of death the angels sent me a friend -- his name
is Adran.

Adran sat with me and comforted my tears until the wee hours of the morn
Whenever, I would turn sad or blue there he was. We grew very close during
time. The longer we were friends the more you would find us together.  One
night in early spring Adran and I were out walking. He led me to a quiet
pastoral scene, he kneeled down before me and asked me to marry him. I was
overjoyed and all but screamed "YES". This was one of the happiest days in my
life.

One day during my travels I met an interesting Irish rogue by the name of
RogueMoon.  RogueMoon wanted to start a clan by the name of 'The Avengers'.
He wanted the clan to be a family of sorts. I agreed to help him form this
clan, and to be an active member. The Avengers were just what I was looking
for. A family of tight-knit people that cared about each other and the
world. Helping pour souls that had lost all their worldly belongings,
helping displaced people find their way again. I put my heart, blood, and
soul into The Avengers.

When I wasn't with my new found family, I was with the man I love and adore.
Adran is wonderfully romantic. He takes me on long walks in the moonlight.
Romantic candlelit dinners. My favorite is when we go to the ballroom in
Agrabah and dance the night away.

We were married in mid April at a beautiful altar in Germany. TheThing
performed a beautiful service, that was filled with love and caring. All our
friends were there and watched. My friend and sister clanmate Cloud_Kitten
gave me to my love.

Soon after we wed Adran and I started building our home at the exact spot he
proposed.  We have 3 glorious children, Timmy, our son, we adopted right
after we wed. We have 2 beautiful daughters Jewel and FighterFrog.  I also
have a wonderful and fiesty sissy, Frenchy.  I have a wonderful life full of
family, clan and friends.

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                         Honor Lost and Gained:
                  By:  Gallowglass Alexandria D'Aramand

Wrapping the bandage about the festering wound, Gallowglass sighed and pulled
the bandage back over it.  Something had gone terribly wrong as of late,
namely with her bonding Dashiva, her Lord-General.  He suffered from the
taint, of which she had been aware through their bond.  It now festered in
her, since she tried to take within her some of his taint in order to keep
him alive longer.  Sighing once again, she laced her fingers over her
stomach, trying not to think of the ball of ice in her belly.

"Is everything well, my Lady?" the maid asked.  Something was bizarre about 
the woman, from her yellow eyes to her long nails.

Gallowglass nodded and waved her hand in dismissal.  The door shut with a 
quiet click, letting Gallowglass know that the maid had left.  Grabbing her 
cloak, she eyed the silver sword on its rack.  That was part of her past, an 
ancient relic that she couldn't leave behind, not for herself or the Gods' 
Will.  She pulled the cloak about her and stepped outward into the hall, 
trying to avoid the Guards that told her to stay under the orders of Dashiva 
. . .

. . . The inn that Dashiva normally stayed at was rough, with shady
characters always within, talking of quests and their armor, or of more dire
things. Staring like a country girl, Gallowglass made her way to the corner
table that Dashiva sat at, quietly drinking potent alcohol. She could tell
through their bond and it made her feel light as he continued to drink.

"I was not aware that you normally drowned your sorrows in alcohol," she 
said, taking a seat near him.  He looked up and blinked, then gave her a 
wary smile.

"You found me through the bond, didn't you?"  He sneered momentarily, at a 
voice within his head, she supposed.

Gallowglass nodded.  "I need to show you something of grave interest, my 
love," she said in a low voice.  Her cloak hid her face from the others.  
Standing, she swept out of the inn, gliding as she went.  The unusual ease 
that she did that turned more than a few heads, mostly in wonderment, but 
others in thoughts that shouldn't be expressed.

He followed, unaware of what she wished of him.  She stopped, sitting on a 
large, overturned trunk of some long forgotten tree left to rot in the 
forest.  She smiled wearily and looked about, making sure it was safe to 
talk.

"What is this grave concern?" Dashiva asked, breaking the momentary silence 
between the two.  He looked down at her, seeing the serenity of her face and 
wondering where he had seen that before.  Her large green eyes were a part 
of his dreams, along with her slender body . . .

She pulled up her sleeve and removed the bandage, revealing the festering 
wound.  "This is what happens when a woman is bonded to a man who can 
channel," she said without preamble.  "I tried to take part of the taint 
from you so that you would not suffer from the madness any more than you had 
to."

He sat on his heels, looking into her eyes.  He saw the pain within them, 
but yet he didn't feel her pain.  "I don't understand."

She sighed and pulled her sleeve back down. "That taint will cause a man to
rot if he is not taken care of. I took the risk of taking part of the taint
within to keep you from rotting just as I am."  Her face slipped slightly,
but she recovered quickly.

He wrapped her into his arms and whispered, "I don't want you hurt.  Please
do not try taking the taint within any longer. It is my fate to suffer this,
not you."

She pulled back, looking away.  "I don't want to see you rot away like some
corpse." She raised her hand to his cheek and closed her eyes, going against
his wishes. She took more of the taint within, feeling it course through her
veins like oily fire, filled with corruption and death.

Dashiva felt the cold rush come through him and shivered as he removed her
hand. "I told you not to do that again," he said, his voice harsh in his own
ears. Gallowglass looked away and shuddered.

Her shuddering induced more of that fateful coughing that she knew she would
experience as she had before. Blood came to her lips as she coughed
violently. Wiping the blood unceremoniously from her lips, she turned back to
him and looked deathly ill.

"Are you all right?" Dashiva asked, his voice now filled with concern 
instead of that cold harshness that he had always known.

"I am," she lied.  She rested her head on his shoulder and took a few 
shallow breaths, afraid that breathing would induce the coughing again.

"I love you too much to let you be hurt like that."  He brushed away her 
tears and looked into her pale green eyes.  Her eyes were like sea water, 
the colors shifting like waves, sparkling in the sun.

"I love thee as well," Gallowglass said, her voice quiet.  Her hand brushed 
his cheek and she felt an uncontrollable surge of Power come through her, 
riveting her hand on his cheek.  She writhed in pain, along with him until 
it subsided.  Falling backward, she stared unblinking at the sky.

Dashiva crawled to her side and fell, breathing labored.  "What happened?" 
he demanded.

"Oh Light, no.  No," she whispered.  Her futile efforts to grasp Power 
failed for a third time.  She couldn't feel anything.  So cold, so numb.

He lifted her head and looked into her eyes.  They no longer held that 
majestic quality that he loved.  Her stare was flat, holding no warmth, no 
emotions at all.  "I can't feel you through our bond."  He left her sitting 
up and turned to stare at the rising moon.

Tears cascaded down her cheeks, gentle like a trickling stream.  "What will 
happen to us?"  She remembered all the tales that her teachers told her when 
a man became severed from the one who bound him.

"I don't know," he said, his eyes rimmed with fury and sorrow.  Pain wasn't 
enough for him.  He would seek death.

"You don't need to die," she wept.  Her head rested on his shoulder and 
cried, but he didn't turn to comfort her.  Dashiva's hand gripped his sword 
hilt tightly, not knowing what to do.

"There is something I can do, but it may kill us both if I fail."  He 
sounded determined, in a death-bound way.

"What is it?" she asked, wiping the tears from her eyes, but still feeling 
the pain of loss.

"Back at the farm, one of the men that I knew discovered something that no 
one knew possible.  He taught the men how to bond their wives, so that they 
would know that their husbands were well wherever they went.  I know how, 
but I don't know how it will affect you."

She stared at him, poleaxed.  "In my realm, only women could bond men, not 
the other way around."  Gallowglass took a deep breath.  "You are asking me 
to give up what I believe in to make this possible."  Hands shaking, she 
turned Dashiva around.  "I will do it, so long as that I remain with you."

He nodded solemnly.  Closing his eyes, he reached out his hand to cup her 
cheek.  Saidin coursed through him and into her, bonding the two.  She cried 
out in pain and fell to her knees.  "Are you okay?"

She climbed weakly to her feet and nodded.  "I can feel you, in my head."  
She hugged him fiercely, whispering her thanks to him.  Gallowglass hadn't 
noticed the youthful face she now had, giving her elvish beauty more credit 
than it originally had.

"But you cannot use the Power.  What will happen with that?"  He held her 
close, smelling the lavender scent of her soap through saidin enhanced 
senses.

"I will live as I have before.  A warrior if I must, a wife at will."  She 
smiled and they shared their first kiss.  Both knew that this would only 
last as long as she occupied herself with something, to take away the pain.

He broke off the kiss.  "I should escort you back to the inn where you can 
rest.  It has been long for both of us."  Taking her hand, he led her to the 
inn, chivalrous and honoring the woman he now learned to love.


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