Guest Kasmandre Posted June 5, 2002 Report Posted June 5, 2002 The stairway sloped downward beneath the intruder’s dark boots. Despite his best efforts to walk quietly, the sound of his footfalls echoed against the slowly curving stone walls surrounding him. He squinted into the seemingly infinite darkness, relieved only by a faint trickle of light coming from the entrance at the top of the stair column far above. The intruder cursed his poor judgement in not bringing even a torch to light his way. Just as he considered turning back to get supplies, the stairway ended abruptly and he found himself standing in a large room. The intruder looked around nervously, suddenly realizing that the light here was brighter than the stairway behind him had been. The light was still insufficient to see very far, but the very fact that there was an increase in lighting this far underground, lighting that seemed to come form the very air around him, was more than enough to give the intruder second thoughts. For the first time since walking through the ancient stone entrance half-hidden by the desert sand, he began to worry. "To hell with the treasure," he thought, "I'm getting outta here!' He turned around quickly to run up the stairs in a hasty retreat, but he was stopped short by a wall of solid stone where the stairs had been only seconds before. The intruder's worry began to flare into a full-fledged panic as he began to search franticly along the length of the wall for the opening that he knew had to be there somewhere. He was so intent on his task that he didn't notice the light in the room increase even further, just enough to see to the other end of this cathedral-like room, revealing several small piles of something that could be treasure. Unfortunately, the intruder's attention was on other matters at the moment. He was able to divert his attention, however, when his ear caught the sound of soft cackling coming from a darkened corner. He turned slowly, his terror rising with each passing second. Slowly a small hunched over figure emerged from the deep shadows and began to speak in a horse, crackling voice . "Fool, come to search for riches in this ancient tomb without even a torch to light your pathetic way." The figure laughed even harder as it crouched next to one of the darkened piles. After a moment, it picked up a small, round item from the pile and carried it as it walked closer to the intruder, occasionally tossing it between its hands. "Would you like to see the treasure I have here? The treasure you came down here to find?" the figure asked offhandedly as it advanced yet another step, close enough for the intruder to see its features: pale strands of dirty, stringy hair poking out of a head like a dried-up skull featuring a deeply cracked with wrinkles. The figure's eyes were sunken deep into its skull and its split lips were locked in a menacing sneer. "Would you like to see what you get for daring to violate this sacred tomb? Would you like to see your reward?" The figure paused for a second as an evil gleam passed through its eyes. "Then CATCH!" it screamed as it thrust the round object toward the intruder. The intruder clumsily caught it without removing his eyes from the ghastly visage of the figure before him. Slowly he took his gaze away from the sunken eyes and cracked lips and lowered it to what he held in his trembling hands. A skull! He was holding a human skull! He instantly dropped it and threw himself against the wall, beating his fists against it in a vain attempt to escape the creature that was now coming even closer. The skull shattered as it hit the hard stone floor, breaking into countless shards of jagged bone. At that same instant, the tomb's mysterious light vanished, leaving the room's occupants in total blackness. "You are a fool to have come here," the figure's voice echoed in the darkness, "You should have headed the warnings, for I feed off fear and I drink terror like the choicest wine. And now have you, you intruding coward." The intruders screams echoed up the long, twisting stone stairwell, losing little of their volume as they screeched out of the tomb's entrance. Unfortunately, there are few to hear such noise in the middle of a desert, and those that do hear know better than to enter into the tombs of the damned. -*-*-*- Hope it's up to snuff; you can reach me at johnact1@comcast.net . -------------- Kasmandre Because it was there
Wyvern Posted June 6, 2002 Report Posted June 6, 2002 Kasmandre carefully turns the nob of the door leading into the Recruiter's Office, clutching his application with his free hand while silently praying that the Elder of Initiates will recognize his talents and accept him into the guild. No sooner has he entered the office then he notices a man in a grey coat and detective's hat sitting at the Recruiter's desk, cracking his knuckles and filling the room with rings of smoke. Since the man is seated at the desk where Wyvern usually accepts applications, Kasmandre takes the man sitting there to be the Elder of Initiates... He doesn't realize that the grey cloaked individual seated is actually one of Wyvern's arch nemisis', Detective I. M. Clueless, who had broken into the office in the hopes of capturing the overgrown lizard and ending his evil scheming once and for all... Kasmandre grins and quietly walks up to the Recruiting desk, briefly coughing due to the smoke and laying his application down on the desk. When he sees that the grey cloaked man seated there appears to be brooding and hasn't taken notice of him yet, Kasmandre decides to get the man's attention... "Excuse me, Wyvern sir?" No response... just more billows of smoke and brooding... Now frowning, Kasmandre decides to rap his fist twice on the desk top and exclaims: "Excuse me, Mr. Elder of Initiates?!" The sound of Kasmandre's fist on the Recruiting Desk awakens I. M. Clueless from his deep concentration, and the exhausted looking detective looks up to the applicant with an expression of utter surprise. Wipping out a gun, I. M. Clueless jumps out of his seat and points it straight at Kasmandre, exclaiming: "Wyvern! I have finally caught you! You're surrounded, there's no escape!" A look of confusion spreads over Kasmandre's face as he stares at the man with the gun, and the applicant mutters: "Wait a minute... aren't you Wyvern?!" Suddenly realizing the situation he's gotten himself into, Detective I. M. Clueless quickly puts his pistol back away and nervously seats himself back down at the desk. There was no other way out of this tight situation, he would simply have to play along with it... "Of... Of course!" responds I. M. Clueless finally, putting out his cigarette on some random important document. "Of course I'm Wyvern! Who else would I be?! After all, I'm sitting here thinking about money and girls, and you're my applicant!" "Uuuuhhhh..." murmers Kasmandre, raising a brow and now looking at I. M. Clueless suspiciously "Right..." Quickly snatching Kasmandre's application from the desk top, I. M. Clueless rapidly skims through it, now beginning to panic and smoking five cigarettes at a time. "This is a very good application... I love detective stories!" "Uhm... Actually, it's supposed to be an adventure..." At that very moment, two large P.I.A agents in black suites barge into the room and advance at Detective I. M. Clueless. The private eye just has enough time to stamp Kasmandre's application 'ACCEPTED' before being tossed out the window by the two large men. The P.I.A agents then also toss a large anvil with the words "And Stay Out!" written on it after the detective. After the two large men in black suites have finished their dirty work, they turn and apologize to Kasmandre, explaining the entire situation and how I. M. Clueless was impersonating Wyvern. In compensation, they let Kasmandre keep his accepted Pen application... OOC: On a more serious note... A very good application Kasmandre, certainly ACCEPTED! Welcome to the Pen is Mightier then the Sword, I look forward to reading more of your stuff! I'll mail you the password info right away. Once again, welcome! [image]http://members.shaw.ca/kea/am/wyvy.jpg[/image] ------------------------------ Almost a Dragon... "My life is one big crime, I try to scheme through it." -Common, "The 6th Sense" Owner of the Decanter of Endless Booze. Edited by: Wyvern00 at: 6/6/02 12:47:22 am
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