h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

*GL ponders what he has just learned as he finishes his gruel. The existence of the third amulet disturbs him, but he is somewhat comforted in the knowledge that it currently has no master and seems to be guarded. He thinks about Vomar. His amulet had not given him the 'evil presence' warning, but it had also not given him the 'good soul' signal. So Vomar must be as he said: neither good nor evil, simply self-preservationist. On balance, GL thinks, this is good. It means that Vomar is unlikely to commit any truely evil acts. However, it also means that he cannot be completely trusted. At least until one has earned his loyalty. This type of character is difficult to befriend, but once done, he will be steadfast and true.

GL continues to think. It is obvious that he must act to secure the third amulet before it can fall into evil hands. Vomar has given a clue to its location and he seems to have access to all of the powers of the Star. The best way to obtain the third amulet, then, seems to be through a partnership with Vomar. GL consults his intuition, which confirms that this is the correct path. GL smiles, as something about Vomar suggested adventure, and the idea of adventure greatly pleases GL.

GL stands up. Thinking that it might be best if he were still thought to be imprisoned here, he pushes at the straw in the corner which has served for his bed until, with the blanket thrown on top, it appears to contain his sleeping body. His daily gruel will disappear as usual, although now it will provide its thin sustenance to the rats instead of to GL. Taking one last look around, GL is satisfied with the illusion.

He walks over to the east wall and presses the Diamond of Wixon Brae to one of the massive stones that makes up the wall. He speaks some words and the stone begins to move inwards. He steps back, drawing the stone further inwards until there is room to walk behind the stone and through the wall. He walks behind the stone and repeats the process, drawing the stone back into the wall. When the stone is back in place, he walks out of the unoccupied cell that he finds himself in and makes his way stealthily out of the castle. He heads in the direction of the tavern that he saw in his dream.*

*Vomar, meanwhile, is listening to a Bard at the nearby tavern. The song is about a future time when two armies known as Stump and Chop will battle for the fate of the universe inside a fortress in the stars*

I've never heard anything more far fetched in my life....

*sea, still trying in vain to get out the door, feels the hairs on the back of her neck prickle, a sure sign that something evil is afoot. her eyes widen, and she looks back into the tavern, trying to find the source of the evil and finding nothing. she exits the tavern and looks around, trying to get a direction to head*

Air! Glorious air! LINE's lungs exploded as he returns from his state of stone. The amulet's glowing starts to fade and he discovers the witches are gone, leaving cold ashes from a kicked out fire and a strange pot with a translucent liquid...*he pockets it hoping it will be useful in the future*

*she smiles a deceptivley sweet smile and gives a hard but playful shove to her companions mind and then she draws back into herself. she holds up her hand as a signal for him to wait and pictures the dungeon she has just seen with the two strangers inside it. then she builds up a picture, slowly, piece by piece of what she had seen in the less clear one's mind. creation was not one of her stronger metafunctions and it was quite sometime before she had the picture of the ancient amulet on the stone seat guarded by monsters. then she wandered, she wandered across this strange land that she had time traveled to, and she looked, all within her own mind. she searched and searched and searched until finally she found it but the picture was not the same as it had been. the third amulet now had an owner. she watched for a while and then eventually she came back to herself and opened her eyes. all this she had been projecting into Vlad's mind*

there we go love. now don't tell me it wouldn't be fun to go and show those lightweights real magic and get ourselves some amulets into the bargain. the one in the dungeon is hiding now of course, he's put a spell on the surrounding land so i can't see him as he is now.

*for a second she look slightly dissapointed but then she quickly brightens*

ah but there's always the old fashioned way, and the oter two have no idea. what do you suggest my love?

Siun: *gives Quoth a decidedly hurt look* Am I not allowed to want to talk to someone I find interesting? Eh?

Canaru: Miss Siun I-

Siun: *looks back at him* Enough, Canaru. Switch off.

Canaru: *sighs* Oh all right... *There is an audible click as his bright green eyes go dark brown and his joints go stiff*

Siun: *looks back at Quoth, smiling charmingly* Now then. where were we? Ah yes, I was being hurt. *Her expression changes suddenly from smiling happily to looking like she's about to cry. Subsequently, a solitary pearly white tear rolls down her cheek* Okay. *sniff* I'm hurt. Now it's your line. *grins slightly, then goes back to looking dejected*

*Vomar approaches Siun and Quoth*

You two look like trustable sorts. I don't suppose you would be interested in an adventure? There's a promise of danger, seeing as there seems to be other forces interested in what I want. If I get what I want, I promise great treasure.

*Vomar hopes that the spell he put across the land will work well*


Erm, positivefreak? I was the one who put up the spell, not Garius.

*Quoth looks at Vomar distractedly*
Quoth: I, uh, um,
*He looks back at Siun*
Quoth: I'm sorry, I didn't mean to, but I-
*He looks back at Vomar*
Quoth: Yes? What do you want? Do I know you?

I'm always up for having some fun. Let us seek out some jewlery then?
*stands and walks over to her chair*
You need some toys, come with me
*extends his hand to her. and leads her across the room to a door, which he opens to reveal a rather large closet of almost every known weapon and usfull device known*

Take your pick sweetheart

*reaches in and takes a few weapons and a pack of equipment*

Siun: *glares up at Vomar* Can I help you? *looks at Quoth* Do you know him? *taps Canaru's arm. Canasru's eyes burn bright green again and his limbs once again become mobile*

Canaru: Miss Siun?

Siun: *looks at Vomar*

Canaru: *smiles, greedily fondles his scary-looking gun* Would you like me to...? Miss Siun?

Siun: Ieh. Watashi i... aw, bugger the Ipponese right now. *whispers* Just... You know, look menacing.

Canaru: *nods and grins like a shark that's about to attack something*

Siun: So what, *she looks at Voram and Quoth* precicely is going on then, gentlemen?

Canaru: *Grinning like a maniac who's just been given something sharp and is contemplating what to do with it.*

I was merely inquiring as to whether or not you people would enjoy partaking in an adventure. If everything goes as I plan it, it promises danger, adventure, treasure, and character building life experiences that'll probably come in useful some day.

If it doesn't go as planned, I can still probably guarantee all of that except for the treasure. But, to show you that I mean well,....

*Vomar pulls out the bag of coins that was thrown at him earlier, and lays two extremely pricy coins in front of each of them*

I have no idea what land these coins come from, but if you examine the materials they are made of, you will find them to be extremely rare, so their base value should still be enough persuasion.

*looks kinda sheepish*. uuuuh i knew that i was just testing! well everyone knows what i meant anywayz right?

*she claps her hands and grins happily at the sight of all the weapons*

ha ha you certainly do have alot of toys to play with, this is going to be so much fun. I'm well glad I bumped into you, normally time travel is rediculously dull.

*she dances round for a bit laughing manically and clapping her hands and as she does so she seems to change. when she came through the portal she seemed slightly dull and drab......tired perhaps. but now as she stopped dancing her bright green eyes were twinkling and her pale white skin seemed to shine like mother of pearl. she most definitley had her energy back*

can i tell you a secret? * she speaks quietly* normally when i time travel i lose my metafunctions, i can normally only have them back in my own time but watch this.............

*she clicks her fingers and the whole castle changes to ice, every single detail carved out of ice. then she clicks her fingers again and the illusion is gone*

don't you just love it! I have creation, psychokenesis, healing, mindspeak and now all these new toys. *she grabs a few of the weapons and then grabs his hand and almost drags him through a wall and into the open air*

Now my love, where shall we begin?

*suddenly and for no apparent reason she seems flicker and drops to one knee, she quickly gets up again and tries to regain her dignity*

it seems i have my metafunctions back but not without compromise. god dammit!!!!

better garius love?

Aye, much better


*GL is walking down a wooded mountain path, his breath leaving intermittent ephemeral clouds behind him. The moon filters through the tree branches above him to leave a shifting pattern of ebony and silver on the path before him. As he walks, he is deep in though but nevertheless aware of the sounds around him. The sharp snap of a twig in the woods beside him startles him out of his reverie and halts him in his tracks. He listens intently for a long time, but hears no further unusual noises. He is still uneasy, however, and decides to take some precautions. He changes into wolf form and pushes his way into the woods. He sniffs the ground around the area where the sound came from and eventually picks up a scent. He pauses, considering the irony of himself being stalked by a wolf. With a mental shrug, he returns to the path, but continues in his wolf form.*

Quoth: Look, stranger, I have no time for th-
Siun: We accept *she puts an arm around, him smiling*, dont we Mr...er?
Quoth *mutters*: Quoth
Siun*beaming*: Quoth!

Good! This adventure will start as a simple one: uniting with a person who has the second piece of this.

*Vomar pulls a spherical crystal out of his cloak, and shows it to them*

This is the Star of Skara Brae. It is the first piece of an ancient amulet of power. Like many other amulets of power, this amulet has amazing power. Hence the name.

One piece can do many things. It can never be stolen from the owner, it can create magical auras that prevent magical sight, distant scry and communication powers, some battle powers, mild shields, the list goes on.

Two pieces together could provide the power of legends. You know the type: collapse mountains, near invincibility, temporal travel, mind control, the list goes on. It also seems to have the ability to create a banana split at the mention of the word "antidisestablishmentarianism", although the use of this ability is questionable.

The powers of three pieces together are unknown, especially when you consider the fact that it was lost centuries ago, and rumored to be in the possession of a tribe of witches. Not the good kind of witches, the band kind, complete with most of the stereotypes seen in most halloween stories.

I know the owner of the second piece of the amulet, and have seen the location of the third. For this adventure, I will expect you to accompany me at least until I have united with the owner of the second piece.

*Vomar puts the Star of Skara Brae back into his cloak*

Meet me at the city gates in an hour. We begin our trek then.

*Vomar leaves the Nearby Tavern, and heads towards the local "Dangerously Insane Adventure Equipment Shoppe"*

Intro: I am a Schia Night Elf. In an age before mankind my people strove to surpass the gods with our power. But we nearly destroyed ourselves. Having forsaken all forms of magik we have sworn to protect the younger races from our very mistakes. After centuries of battling rogue mages and demonic entities our bodies have developed a natural immunity to magik.


~~~~~~~~~~~

*Golden eyes narrow as the woman steps from the building. The night seems to darken around him as he unlimbers his bow. The small movement is enough to attract the eye of the human and Xai utters a curse.*

[Xai] You are perceptive for one so young.

*Xai throws back the hood of his color shifting cloak to reveal a long face framed by raven black hair. His trileaf armor flexes as he leaps nimbly from the tree.*

Al'Xai, forgive me, but isn't your character just a /bit/ like Ardeth Bey from "The Mummy" and "The Mummy Returns?" ...But dun't get me wrong, I think Ardeth Bey is /the/ hottest man in the universe. So carry on. *pleading eyes* Please.

Siun: *smiles guiltily at Quoth* Erm... *picks up her coin* D'you know what kind of metal this is?

Quoth: *blank look*

Siun: It's the same kind of metal that I use for Canaru's computer chips. And some cultures find it highly valuable in other things as well. More valuable than gold. And a very high value for trade. Basically meaning... *her voice drops to a whisper* we're jolly stinking /rich./ *stands* Now come on, there's an equipment shop down the road. We can get all scary looking down there, all right? *yanks him by the arm to a standing position*

Canaru: *Is obviously now not so angry about Quoth's... existance. He shoulders his scary rifle and turns to Quoth.* Shall I get your bags, Master Quoth?

Welcome, Xai! It took me a few minutes but I finally realized that the woman you are talking to in the above post is sea. At first I thought that you thought that Vomar was a woman, since he was the last person to exit the Nearby Tavern. But then I followed the link to the post you were replying to and found out that it was sea. Anyway, now everyone will know.


*The wolf continues silently down the wooded path at a rapid pace. At a place indistinguishable from any other place along the path, the wolf suddenly halts. He waits, listening, for a long moment. Satisfied, he looks up and down the path, then enters the woods on one side of the path. He travels purposefully, atlthough circuitously through the woods and stops just outside of a clearing. The clearing is surrounded on 3 sides by forest and the fourth side is the blank rock face of a cliff. Again, he waits, listening, for a long moment. Cautiously, he enters the clearing, pads across to the rock face and changes into human form. He turns around and peers intently into the woods around him. Finally, he turns back to the stone wall and presses it in 3 places in a distinct pattern. A doorway sized piece of the rock face slides noiselessly inwards to reveal a tunnel extending into the rock. GL enters and presses a switch on the wall. The rock door slides shut, leaving no evidence of a door on the cliff face.

GL proceeds down the bare rock tunnel and emerges into a well-lit and luxuriously appointed room, which has several doorways leading off of it. He enters one of these doorways and returns a few minutes later with a steaming mug of tea. He sits down at a computer monitor and views the highlights from the security tapes from the time he was imprisoned. Only two occurrences triggered the security recordings. The first occurred shortly after he allowed himself to be caught. It was a search party combing the woods and happening on the clearing. They took no particular notice of the clearing and continued on their way. The second was triggered by a bear wandering through the clearing. It paused to eat some blueberries near the cliff face, then continued on its way. So, then, no problems there.

GL sipped his tea. This was a luxury he would not likely be to experience again soon. He would have to leave his quarters as soon ah he had gathered the supplies he needed, otherwise the amulet may give away its location in some way. After all, that was why he had allowed himself to be captured. For the moment, however, he gave himself up to the enjoyment of his tea.*

*The Shoppe Owner's eyes bulge at the equipment list given to him by Vomar*

Owner-Vomar! This is much more extravagant than your traditional supply list!

Vomar-I made out like a bandit on my last job. I can afford more luxuries now.

*The owner shrugs, and turns to get the things on the list*


Elf Cloak
Ring of Shielding
Adamantium Dagger
Cross-bows and Mithril Arrows
Mithril Sword
Frobozz Magic Puzzle Solver
Lantern
Rope w/Grappling Hook


*The owner returns with the items on the list, and takes Vomar's money (as well as buying some older equipment that Vomar decided to get rid of*

Vomar-Thank you. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go meet with the local mage.

*Voamr exits after checking a clock, which shows only forty-five minutes remaining until he must go to the town gates*