SilentFu
12-01-2004, 08:55 PM
<DIV>Wet. Coughing up water. Eyes stinging from the salt. Flesh falling from bone. Burning. I drifted for what seemed days. My mind drifted in and out of consciousness...thoughts of the past pervaded. We knew what had happened. Goodbyes were fleeting. Tearfilled eyes of families saying farewell for what could be the last time. We all saw it coming.</DIV> <DIV>The moon. The moon had literally torn itself asunder. Luclin had somehow managed to undo its celestial bonds -- violently -- and cast down great fury and horror. The astronomers of Ak'Anon needed not focus their eyescopes. On the outskirts of town we could see lights fill the air. Gone were the days of the pale blue fireworks with pretty yellow ribbons in the sky. Now they filled with red explosions -- the ages old Gnomish signal of warning. The large towers of Ak'Anon could be seen in the distance, the huge castle gates opening to allow refuge to any who sought it. Anyone could have seen the cause for alarm. We all saw it coming. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Imagine the horror. The once bright omen in the sky, home to many an adventurer and crafter, being destroyed in such a fashion. A thousand silent cries all at once. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I was brutally woken from my dream by a crack to the head. My torn and burned body had crashed up on a small atoll of rock amongst the endless sea. Ocean of tears indeed. In the brief seconds before complete unconsciousness I see a light in the distance. Sails? Then nothing. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I remember calculating the distance to the moon. Quick figuring in my head told me I had no more than 6 minutes. Just enough time, I had thought to myself. I ran with haste to my small enclave embedded in the rolling hills outside Ak'Anon. In this life I had been an inventor of sorts. A tinkerer, if you will. I had once devised a method for moving a large amount of grain, water, beer...anything really. I had constructed a large sphere of a special alloy. The idea was simple really. A sphere could easily be rolled, even when full. Would it work? Could I maybe crawl inside and wait out the impending firestorm? There wouldn't be time to find out. We all saw it coming.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Streaks passed overhead. Long, yellowish orange slashes began appearing. My calculations had been wrong. Ah! Foolish gnome. It was summer, the baranthyms were a dead give away. Luclin would have been close this time of year. In the distance I saw one of the streaks fall. At first, everything was calm. A brief flash of light, but nothing more. We all saw it coming. </DIV> <DIV>I had reached my sphere and was busily stuffing it with bedclothes, food, my faithful pup Skip, hay, and whatever else I could find. It started as a rumble in the distance. The shockwave was immense. I saw homes in the distance literally vanish from my eyes. Rock, sand, fire, trees, gnome, water. It was coming. I had merely seconds to vanish inside my steel cocoon. At once we were picked up by the massive shockwave. Thrashed around. We seemed to hit something solid, I heard crackling of branches. The shell of my steel sphere was heating up. Quickly. Could it be? I was weightless. Merely floating in air. How marvelous! What a wonderful feeling. Another huge roar and my weightlessness had transformed into immense pressure. I couldn't breathe, my lungs straining for air. The metal clasp gave way and the door to my tiny sphere flung open! I was falling....Skip was nowhere to be found. This seemed to hurt more than the burning of my skin. Another abrupt collision resulted in my head slamming against the steel of the sphere. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>"Ahoy!" "A body down below Cap'n" "Man overboard!" "Is it alive?" "Fourth one tonight, lets hope so!"</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I was alive. Burned, bleeding badly. Suffering from a mild concussion. I briefly stirred and a cheer erupted. "IT'S ALIVE! Rescue the poor thing!" I felt a renewal of hope as I was wisked from the water. Humans were onboard. They were mumbling near me. Something about a war near Freeport. Reports of a huge orc army. Talk of an Avatar from the God's themselves. I drifted back into unconsciousness. War? How could there be war with the world being destroyed. We never saw that coming. </DIV>