A little story
Tekhne
this:
---
Draner slid across the ice and skipped down the stairs. At the bottom
he was greeted an emporer lich. "No problem," he thought, as he slid
his blade through the soft, undead flesh and and took away whatever
life still drove on the unholy monster. Looking around he saw a
couple of greater molochs, a few doppleganger kings and a werewolf
king or seven. Nothing out of the ordinary. Draner led them into a
tunnel, and when they were all in line he shot a single arrow (+0,1d6)
through all of them, killing them instantly.
After clearing out the eastern side of the level, he moved onto the
western side, where he discovered an army of chaos warriors. His
perfect eyesight meant that he was able to see all of them, and it was
not a pretty sight. No, not because they were in any way scary or
anything like that, but simply because chaos creatures don't care
much for their looks and are downright ugly. Draner, on the other
hand, was more handsome and good-looking than any other creature in
Ancardia, and with a charisma to match.
He decided he'd use a dagger to defeat these fiends, and so equipped
a single normal, iron dirk in his right hand. It didn't really
matter what weapon he wielded. He was grand master of them all,
plus his incredible strength made any weapon into an absolute killer.
Yawning, he began hacking through the corrupted bodies around him. It
took a while, despite the fact that he was twenty times faster than
the average quickling queen.
None of the enemies were able to hit him, of course. No, he wasn't
wearing any armour, but his dexterity and toughness gave him such
great defense and protection that nothing could ever harm him. Even
magic could not penetrate his defenses. But still, after he
encountered the wuthering masses of primal chaos he got bored of this
hack and slash and decided to cast a fireball. His extremely close
attunement to the mana-flow of Ancardia meant that he barely had to
concentrate to cast the spell, and the tiny amount of mana reserve
used (and what a tiny tiny amount that was) regenerated within but a
few seconds. Plus, his incredible strength of will meant that the
fireball had a rather large radius. Suffice to say, just one dungeon
level wouldn't be enough to hold all of this fire.
The flames blazed through the wuthering masses of primal chaos, and
the ghost lords beyond, and all of the chaos warriors and chaos
wizards that he could sense hidden behind the walls around him. The
balors seemed unperturbed by the inferno around them, though after
seeing all of their legions of chaos get burned to ash within moments
they did start to look slightly uncomfortable...
One of the daemons teleported beside Draner. Balors are dumber than
they look. Draner kicked him, and his foot smashed right through the
balor's thick shell and crushed the life-force beneath. He waited
until a few more balors were in line and sent a Magic Missile
streaming towards them. The first hit wiped them out completely, but
the Magic Missile continued and bounced off the far wall. It raced
back towards Draner and swept through him, but he took no damage from
such a minor attack, even though it had been cast by him. The Magic
Missile bounced off the wall behind Draner and went flying backwards
again...
Several hours later the Magic Missile finished it's rebounds and
disappeared into nothingness. Then Draner turned towards the last of
the balors, the greater balor, Fistinarius. The chaos beast towered
high above Draner, filling up almost all of the space around it. It's
body looked as if it were made of something even tougher than solid
eternium. Beneath the thick shell was like a raging inferno of hate,
malevolence and pure chaos. Draner punched the greater balor and it
crumpled into dust.
Draner dusted off his hands and headed towards the gate. It was a
huge construction, though it looked like it was not any sort of
construction made by man. Age old magic swirled around it in a
multi-coloured haze and Draner could feel the waves of chaos emanating
out from some hideous and foul plane beyond. Of course, he was
completely immune to this whole "corruption" thing. He honestly
didn't know what all the fuss was about.
He stuck his head through the gate to see what was beyond. Nothing
interesting. He pulled his head back out and teleported to each of
the levers and pulled them. He went back to the gate and saw that it
had it had been shut off, and that the area around it had become still
and lifeless. "I guess that's it," he said to himself, and turned
around to head off back to the surface and out of this grimy dungeon.
As our intrepid hero makes his way back towards daylight (and that
won't take very long) let us examine this fine example of a man. His
mother had been a mighty enchantress, yet his father was only a lowly
shepherd living in the vicinity of his mother's tower. The past
behind this had seemed a little mysterious, though his incredible
ability to learn meant that he very quickly figured it out. During
his youth he had always been very athletic, yet also spent a lot of
time in the nearby forests. Plus his uncle would often teach many
interesting stories, which he would share with his friends (his very
many friends), making him even more popular than he already was. And
he always received a huge amount of support from his parents, who
tried to help him along in any way they could.
No one was ever really sure exactly which month Draner was born in,
but some say it was the secret thirteenth month of the year, the month
of WADOMF, said to be the month of invincibility. It's hard to say
exactly which profession he belonged to, since he was a master of all
of them. There was no greater archer or swordsman, woodland warrior
or martial artist, mana-wielder or lord of the dead, psionic or druid;
he had dabbled in them all, and he was the absolute best at them all.
There simply was no better, plain and simple.
His PV and DV were limited only by the amount of numbers the screen
could display. All of his stats were 99. His speed was well in
excess of 100000. His chance of missing a monster was so close to
zero that it didn't really matter. When he caused damage, he didn't
cause damage, he killed. There had never been a monster created that
could ever even come close to harming Draner. Nothing that could
survive even one hit from him. There was no enemy that could kill
him.
Yet.
He reached the final flight of stairs and ascended upwards, out of the
Caverns of Chaos. He breathed deeply the fresh morning air and
sighed. It had been worth it, he felt. It was still dark, but a
faint haze could be seen about the peaks of the mountaintops on the
eastern horizon. A new dawn was coming to the Drakalor Chain and
Ancardia, a dawn free from the incursions of chaos, marking a new era
of hope, freedom and happiness. Finally there would be peace in the
four lands, and Draner was proud to have played his part in it.
He readjusted his backpack and set off on the hike towards the exit of
Drakalor Chain. Home, he thought, so long since he had been there...
He couldn't wait to get back there, to see his family and friends. He
would get to recount his adventures and tell of his great bravery. He
might even gain political power and become king of the land. But that
didn't matter to him right now. All he wanted was to see her face
again, to see her smile. That was all that mattered to him. He
sighed deeply. So many months he had been away... would she still be
there for him? He shoved the thought out of his mind and trekked
onwards.
When he finally reached his destination he turned around and looked
back. The sun had reached above mountain peaks and the whole valley
was bathed in yellow light. He surveyed the land - it's rolling
plains, the lush greens forests, a quiet clearing here and there.
This had been his home for many months now, and he was about to leave
it all behind forever. "Farewell," he said quietly before turning
around to head out of the Drakalor Chain for the last time.
Then he heard a rustling noise to his left. He spun round and drew
his two-handed sword "Vanquisher", but could not see anything. He
was about to sheath the sword and put the noise down simply to wind
when he felt the air in front of him move. He acted purely out of
instinct and leapt backwards as something swiped through the space
he had just occupied. Something inside of him told him to run, and
to run fast. Not one to argue with himself, he did, and ran as fast
as he could to get away from whatever had just nearly hit him. And
when he noticed that whatever was after him was catching up he ran
even faster. He was supposed to be able to see invisible; how could
this creature remain elusive to his perception...? And how in the
hell was it able to go faster than him?! Draner was experiencing
something new: Fear. And he was about to experience something else
new: Pain.
Black quarrels, made of pure obsidian, shot out of what looked like
thin air. Draner dodged most of them, but one of the quarrels buried
into his side and filled him with pain. He stumbled and almost fell
as he felt deadly poison coursing through his veins and a great and
horrible sickness sweeped over him. Blood was gushing out of the
wound and the air around him seemed to swirl and make him dizzy. He
could barely move, but managed to stumble in a random direction. He
heard whatever was after him get closer and quickly shook his head and
focussed. He quickly recoevered from the sickness and poison, the
confusion wore off and he turned round to face whatever beast had
attacked him.
Sensing the air move nearby by him, he dodged to the side. Then,
gripping his sword firmly, he shoved Vanquisher into the space he had
felt the attack come from. He hit something and applied more pressure
to the weapon, hoping to pierce through to this daemon's heart and
take away it's life before it could harm him further. But as he did
so a corrosive acid started eating away at the artifact sword. The
warrior gasped as he dropped the hilt onto the ground, the blade now
completely dissolved. Something swiped through the air and he quickly
ducked and rolled away.
Then, calling on his magic, he summoned a ball of lightning to strike
down whatever fiend had been able to destroy one of his prized
artifacts. The sparks crackled through the area around him, and he
saw the shock waves pummel into some sort of monstrosity before him.
For a moment the creature was outlined against bolts of electricity
and Draner's eyes widened in fear. It was huge, far greater than the
greatest of greater titans, and the immense structure seemed immune
to the lightning around it. Then the sparks dissipated and the
monster disappeared again. Draner quickly sent a magic missile
streaming into the point where the daemon had last been, knowing that
the creature could not be immune to a bolt of pure energy. Yet when
the bolt struck the monster it instantly rebounded and headed straight
back towards Draner, striking him full on in the chest with three
times the force he had put into the spell.
Draner screamed and almost collapsed, but managed to stay upright
through sheer force of will. "So, you wanna play tough, eh?" he
grunted under his breath. "Well, two can play at that game..." He
reached into his backpack and fumbled around until he found what he
was looking for: a wand of far slaying. "Let's see how you like
this..." He had the feeling that none of his spells could harm this
beast, and so he decided to take a risk and put all of his energy
into a single charge of this wand, hoping that all of that force put
together could smash through the creature's defenses and destroy it.
He concentrated, then focussed his magical energies into the wand, and
channelled all of his power resources into releasing a huge bolt of
energy through the wand. The ray screamed outwards at supersonic
speed, and Draner was thrown backwards by the force of the blast from
the wand. The energy blast pummelled into the monster and the
pressure punched through it's shell, striking deep into the daemon
body and wringing through the beast like tidal wave. It screamed in
pain and rage, a terrible screech that ascended normal sound and
caused Draner's ears to pop.
But the creature did not die. It rushed towards Draner in a mad
killing frenzy, seeking to snuff the life out of the disgusting thing
that had managed to harm it. Draner almost froze with fear. His
last resort hadn't fully worked and now he was defenseless. He took
a very cowardly posture and dodged the first two attacks from the
creature. But the thrid attack hit and he was struck on the shoulder.
A sharp talon ripped through his flesh and his left arm was torn off
completely. Draner suddenly felt *very* bad off. His rock-solid
muscles suddenly turned to mush, he felt greatly slowed down and his
supremely fast reflexes dissipated, his thick, tough skin became thin
and very soft, he suddenly forgot loads of things he used to know,
he almost lost the will to live, he felt his amazing charm simply
disappear, his skin became covered with warts and boils, he felt a
gigantic rift between him and the mana-flow of Ancardia and he was
suddenly almost as blind as a bat. All of his equipment, his clothes,
everything he was wearing or holding, turned to dust, and his backpack
suddenly also turned to dust, along with all of the items it
contained.
Now it was Draner's turn to scream, which he did, very loudly, and he
thudded against the ground before rolling aside to avoid the monster
that leaped towards him. It seemed a hopeless situation, one that he
could not escape from. It looked as if he were completely doomed.
Then he noticed that not all of his equipment had been turned to dust,
that a single item remained. It was a small, wet herring he had
purchased from a ratling trader. He quickly picked up the foul-
smelling fish from the ground and wielded it as his only weapon. This
may seem like a stupid thing to do, but with his learning now reduced
to one, you can't really blame him.
Taking a chance, he flung the herring with his good arm towards where
he thought the creature to be. Even though the daemon was invisible,
it wasn't too hard to aim at such a big monster. The fish splatted
against the creature and for a moment the master karmic ochre greater
gibbering giant quickling eternium king chaos banshee acid diamond
blink moloch archmagus dornbeast mimic eye battlebunny hivemind
doppleganger duelist rust monster gorgon emperor was fully visible in
all it's armoured and betentacled glory. Then it and the herring
exploded, splattering green and purple goo everywhere.
Draner wiped the goo from his face and looked around. He had defeated
the beast. He picked himself up off the ground and bandaged up his
shoulder. He glanced back across the valley that had been his home for
the past few months. He was glad he could finally get away from this
hellhole.
Then, as he turned his back and headed to leave the Drakalor Chain once
and for all, there was a movement of air as the other twenty master
karmic ochre greater gibbering giant quickling eternium king chaos
banshee acid diamond blink moloch archmagus dornbeast mimic eye
battlebunny hivemind doppleganger duelist rust monster gorgon emperors
rushed in for the kill...
---
All credit for the creation of the master karmic ochre greater
gibbering giant quickling eternium king chaos banshee acid diamond
blink moloch archmagus dornbeast mimic eye battlebunny hivemind
doppleganger duelist rust monster gorgon emperors, and for the
inspiration for this story, goes to Adam Biltcliffe, a man with a very
frightening imagination.
--
Tekhne, AIM: Tekhne Evincio
Sarcasm is a sign of genius.
Blannings
Serves that guy right for using his powers for good. Didn't he ever read a
few books? Didn't he know that he should have become an evil sorceror and
sat on a throne going "MWAHAHAHAHA"?
"Tekhne" <djp...@ukonline.co.uk> wrote in message
news:41n8ns41fl6tqb59s...@4ax.com...
> I don't know if anyone's ever written fics based on ADOM, but I wrote
> this:
>
> ---
>
> Draner slid across the ice... imagination. (Story deleted to preserve the
board)
Adam Biltcliffe
> All credit for the creation of the master karmic ochre greater
> gibbering giant quickling eternium king chaos banshee acid diamond
> blink moloch archmagus dornbeast mimic eye battlebunny hivemind
> doppleganger duelist rust monster gorgon emperors, and for the
> inspiration for this story, goes to Adam Biltcliffe, a man with a very
> frightening imagination.
**demonic laughter echoes through the shadowy halls of
rec.games.roguelike.adom as everyone packs up their possessions and
heads for the herring farms**
jw
adom
>> All credit for the creation of the master karmic ochre greater
>> gibbering giant quickling eternium king chaos banshee acid diamond
>> blink moloch archmagus dornbeast mimic eye battlebunny hivemind
>> doppleganger duelist rust monster gorgon emperors, and for the
>> inspiration for this story, goes to Adam Biltcliffe, a man with a very
>> frightening imagination.
>
Woo! Let's get a petition to put it into the Monster Memory :o)
g.
Blannings
rat corpse, swing it round your head by the tail and hit people with it
"Adam Biltcliffe" <abilt...@bigfoot.NOHORMELPRODUCTS.com> wrote in
message news:snbnnpb...@corp.supernews.com...
> Tekhne <djp...@ukonline.co.uk> wrote:
>
> > All credit for the creation of the master karmic ochre greater
> > gibbering giant quickling eternium king chaos banshee acid diamond
> > blink moloch archmagus dornbeast mimic eye battlebunny hivemind
> > doppleganger duelist rust monster gorgon emperors, and for the
> > inspiration for this story, goes to Adam Biltcliffe, a man with a very
> > frightening imagination.
>