5.15.2006
Day ?: The Guardian Of Terminal B
Ron looks up at you from where he's sitting cross-legged. "Oh yeah, you know, that makes a lot of sense. Hey Greg, what do you think of that plan?"
"Look, no offense, Mr. Big Magic Player, but really, who's the magic-user here? I am, that's who. And I'll have you know that I've played lots of Magic in my day. I got into the game during Arabian Nights, that's how long I've been playing. I have an original City in a Bottle, and I had a Black Mox until I was forced to re-ante with some gay little cheese card some twelve year old brat snuck into a tournament. I was in the process of building an all-black-border beta set when I met my untimely demise. So I think I know a thing or two about how to play Magic."
"Hey Cinder," says Ron, "if you have any more tips, just let me know."
Vrill sighs and heads back over to the other corner, grumbling. "Can we just get out of here now?"
Everyone on board, the boatman pushes off and rows across the lake. The game of Magic concludes one way or another.
...
You travel for what must be a few more hours. Vrill says "We're sort of pushing the timing here. We probably won't be able to rest, or if anything, just once to regain spells, depending on how long it takes to find the exit terminal in Terminal B."
You walk through the gloom of L2, following underground passageways until you get to Terminal Z. It seems you're mostly underground in L2, under a huge forest. You certainly see large roots pushing through the dirt ceiling above, and large worms writhing in the soil walls. It's sort of unnerving, but again, you're dead, so what do you care?
Finally, you come into what seems to be a large root cellar. A rickety wooden staircase heads up, and you exit into a dank, barren cabin on the outskirts of a massive overgrown forest. You leave, and see a trail heading towards a massive, impossibly high brick wall. The other direction heads into the forest, and as you look around, you realize this forest also is impossibly large.
Vrill reads from the guidebook. "'L2 is the infamous Graveyard of the Titans, a massive prehistoric woodlands where ancient dinosaurs clash with huge colossi.' Clash of the Titans, heh heh. It's a good thing we didn't have to... hmm, wait a sec... 'The Graveyard is rumored to be the location of several legendary artifacts forged by the titan gods, including the mystic Orb of Teeth and the Hundred-Bladed Sword.' Oh my." Vrill dog-ears the page in the guidebook and puts it in his pack.
The trail leads up to the brick wall, and ends in a little, human-sized door. In you go.
...
It's brilliant, with a blinding white light giving way to complete darkness. After a while, the blindness wears off, and you realize you're standing at the entrance to terminal Z. Terminal Z, like the robot graveyard, seems to be one massive citadel, surrounded by a circular bridge suspended in absolute space, although there's no outer sphere as in the robot's land. And unlike the robot realm, terminal Z is not all shiny and new. On the contrary, the place is gloomy and decrepit, and the inner citadel appears to be a massive black iron cathedral.
"The Cathedral of Zelba. Let's not go in there," says Vrill.
"Jesus will..." starts Ron, but Vrill cuts him off. "Don't start," says Vrill curtly. "Look, no offense to Je- to your big ol' god, but we're in Zelba's domain here. So don't fuck around with other gods."
There's a decaying iron bridge encircling the cathedral, over gaping empty space. You proceed around the cathedral, passing right by the front. A huge metal barricade blocks off the stairs leading up to the front doors, and an enormous chain and padlock holds the doors shut. Leering at the top of the stairs in front of the doors is what seems to be a giant skeletal gargoyle, easily 20 feet tall and 10 feet squat. It's motionless, but watches you with large eyes as you calmly pass down the metal bridge, heading towards another portal on the far side of the terminal... the exit to your final destination, the legendary Terminal B.
...
It's a simple wooden door, the kind you might find leading to your inn room or into a 10'x10' room in your standard dungeon. It's suspended in space at the end of the thin, rusted metal bridge. The door has an average looking padlock on it, with an exceptionally large keyhole.
Seated on a tall wooden stool next to the door is a gnome. Around his neck on a chain is a large key, most likely which opens the door to the terminal beyond. There's a sign letting you know you're on the right track:
The gnome looks exceptionally bored. He's unarmed and unarmored. Besides the key, the only other objet of interest is a baseball hat he's wearing that says 'Hello Airport... A Nice Place To B'. You're not sure if there's a missing 'e' at the end there or not though. As you approach, he looks up and frowns.
"Sigh, not again. Hi there folks. This entrance, or exit, what-have-you... it's off limits." He points to the sign. "So just head on back to where you came from. Sorry, I don't know anything more than that, I'm just doing my job of making sure no one passes through here."
He sees the skepticism on your faces. "Yeah, I know what you're thinking, and I strongly advise against it. I mean, just think about it. You know who the god-damn management is around here?" He points to the temple behind you. "And I'm the one, sole guardian here? I know you think there's something to be found beyond, but there's not, and I'm only gonna tell you once. Try to get by, and you'll find out why I'm the frickin' guardian. So what's it gonna be, folks?"
Vrill looks at the lot of you and prepares to cast.
The gnome says one more time: "Really, I'm not screwin' around here. You think you're special, maybe you can go talk to The Management and convince 'em otherwise." He points again to the massive black temple, and gets down off the stool, rolling up his sleeves. "Otherwise... well, nuts."
So what's it gonna be, folks?
"Look, no offense, Mr. Big Magic Player, but really, who's the magic-user here? I am, that's who. And I'll have you know that I've played lots of Magic in my day. I got into the game during Arabian Nights, that's how long I've been playing. I have an original City in a Bottle, and I had a Black Mox until I was forced to re-ante with some gay little cheese card some twelve year old brat snuck into a tournament. I was in the process of building an all-black-border beta set when I met my untimely demise. So I think I know a thing or two about how to play Magic."
"Hey Cinder," says Ron, "if you have any more tips, just let me know."
Vrill sighs and heads back over to the other corner, grumbling. "Can we just get out of here now?"
Everyone on board, the boatman pushes off and rows across the lake. The game of Magic concludes one way or another.
...
You travel for what must be a few more hours. Vrill says "We're sort of pushing the timing here. We probably won't be able to rest, or if anything, just once to regain spells, depending on how long it takes to find the exit terminal in Terminal B."
You walk through the gloom of L2, following underground passageways until you get to Terminal Z. It seems you're mostly underground in L2, under a huge forest. You certainly see large roots pushing through the dirt ceiling above, and large worms writhing in the soil walls. It's sort of unnerving, but again, you're dead, so what do you care?
Finally, you come into what seems to be a large root cellar. A rickety wooden staircase heads up, and you exit into a dank, barren cabin on the outskirts of a massive overgrown forest. You leave, and see a trail heading towards a massive, impossibly high brick wall. The other direction heads into the forest, and as you look around, you realize this forest also is impossibly large.
Vrill reads from the guidebook. "'L2 is the infamous Graveyard of the Titans, a massive prehistoric woodlands where ancient dinosaurs clash with huge colossi.' Clash of the Titans, heh heh. It's a good thing we didn't have to... hmm, wait a sec... 'The Graveyard is rumored to be the location of several legendary artifacts forged by the titan gods, including the mystic Orb of Teeth and the Hundred-Bladed Sword.' Oh my." Vrill dog-ears the page in the guidebook and puts it in his pack.
The trail leads up to the brick wall, and ends in a little, human-sized door. In you go.
...
It's brilliant, with a blinding white light giving way to complete darkness. After a while, the blindness wears off, and you realize you're standing at the entrance to terminal Z. Terminal Z, like the robot graveyard, seems to be one massive citadel, surrounded by a circular bridge suspended in absolute space, although there's no outer sphere as in the robot's land. And unlike the robot realm, terminal Z is not all shiny and new. On the contrary, the place is gloomy and decrepit, and the inner citadel appears to be a massive black iron cathedral.
"The Cathedral of Zelba. Let's not go in there," says Vrill.
"Jesus will..." starts Ron, but Vrill cuts him off. "Don't start," says Vrill curtly. "Look, no offense to Je- to your big ol' god, but we're in Zelba's domain here. So don't fuck around with other gods."
There's a decaying iron bridge encircling the cathedral, over gaping empty space. You proceed around the cathedral, passing right by the front. A huge metal barricade blocks off the stairs leading up to the front doors, and an enormous chain and padlock holds the doors shut. Leering at the top of the stairs in front of the doors is what seems to be a giant skeletal gargoyle, easily 20 feet tall and 10 feet squat. It's motionless, but watches you with large eyes as you calmly pass down the metal bridge, heading towards another portal on the far side of the terminal... the exit to your final destination, the legendary Terminal B.
...
It's a simple wooden door, the kind you might find leading to your inn room or into a 10'x10' room in your standard dungeon. It's suspended in space at the end of the thin, rusted metal bridge. The door has an average looking padlock on it, with an exceptionally large keyhole.
Seated on a tall wooden stool next to the door is a gnome. Around his neck on a chain is a large key, most likely which opens the door to the terminal beyond. There's a sign letting you know you're on the right track:
Exit
to Terminal B
This exit off-limits by order of the management.
We apologize for any inconvenience.
The gnome looks exceptionally bored. He's unarmed and unarmored. Besides the key, the only other objet of interest is a baseball hat he's wearing that says 'Hello Airport... A Nice Place To B'. You're not sure if there's a missing 'e' at the end there or not though. As you approach, he looks up and frowns.
"Sigh, not again. Hi there folks. This entrance, or exit, what-have-you... it's off limits." He points to the sign. "So just head on back to where you came from. Sorry, I don't know anything more than that, I'm just doing my job of making sure no one passes through here."
He sees the skepticism on your faces. "Yeah, I know what you're thinking, and I strongly advise against it. I mean, just think about it. You know who the god-damn management is around here?" He points to the temple behind you. "And I'm the one, sole guardian here? I know you think there's something to be found beyond, but there's not, and I'm only gonna tell you once. Try to get by, and you'll find out why I'm the frickin' guardian. So what's it gonna be, folks?"
Vrill looks at the lot of you and prepares to cast.
The gnome says one more time: "Really, I'm not screwin' around here. You think you're special, maybe you can go talk to The Management and convince 'em otherwise." He points again to the massive black temple, and gets down off the stool, rolling up his sleeves. "Otherwise... well, nuts."
So what's it gonna be, folks?
