Legion World Forums LEGION OUTPOST Mission Monitor Board A Castle in the Sky (complete with a Denney's)

A cloud floats serenely just north of Mount Future overlooking Legionopolis. It is a very large cumulonimbus, the type often called a thunderhead. It is shaped like a giant castle. A thin braid of golden wire runs from the cloud to the very peak of Mount Future. That seemingly fragile strand both anchors the cloud to the mountain and grounds the cloud channeling it's electrical output into the depths of the mountain.

This cloud is the home of Zardi the Eternal Man.

Step onto the cloud and discover it's secrets, if you dare. But beware... for here live all the creatures that modern man has declared to be myths, fantasies, legends, and tall tales. They owe their very existence to Zardi, and their loyalty to him in all things great and small is unquestioning and unwaivering.

A floating castle, eh?

Is this a threat? Or are you offering tours?

I should note that while I am extending an open invitation to all Legion World Citizens to visit my humble abode and while I pledge to abide by the universally accepted rules of hospitality for the duration of any and all visits, it would be wise for certain people to... hold in abeyance... any grudges they may have against me.

You know who you are and you have been warned.

Faraway Lad ports into a small room in a tower towards the rear of the cumuli-castle. Unfortunately he is slightly “tipsy” from the effects of the many glasses of Port he has been forced to consume during a diplomatic reception on Veereponder, a minor planet in the outer rim. Seeing a large drinking horn he decides to “have one for the road” and taking the horn, takes a large swig and hiccups and teleports somewhere faraway.

In a small cell down in the mountain, alarm bells begin to ring and the golden wire starts to smoulder and vibrate as mythical creatures run back and forth.

The creatures of the castle stir.

They know something is amiss, but they do not notice the nigh-transparent figure that floats past them.

Even those whose senses are normally atuned to those beyond the existence of flesh and blood are baffled. The Psi-Felines of Cortovon VI, long thought to be extinct even in the realm of myth and legend, growl and hiss. One takes a swipe at where the figure should be, but she is beyond even there grasp - as long as she so wishes.

Presently she arrives at a grand crystal, encased in a stature made of cloud yet as tough as diamond. Like the cloud it is (yet isn't), the statue slowly changes shape. From amorphous cloud a Pegasus takes shape, growing from vagueness to perfect detail. But with perfection the statue returns to unshapen fluff. As the transparent figure watches from afar, the statue changes from Hippogriff to Pegasus to a giant Troll. She aproaches.

Her presence causes images to take shape within the crystal, which is unchanging except for its color. The crystal is about 6 feet wide, a perfect gem with an infinite number of facets - one could lose sanity trying to fathom the intricacy of the gem.

The image of a face projects itself onto the crystal. It is a woman, a elfin woman in pain.

"She is trapped," says the visitor. "Here, in this castle of cloud? Answers, there must be..."

But fear overcomes her. Yes, the master of this castle may not be able to harm her... yet if she is correct - if she knows who he actually is, then he may know how to hurt the one still living thing she holds most dear...

"Did I err in not seeking out the aid of the LMBP before now? Will they listen to me? Trust me?"

The one called LardLad seemed taken with her. If she could find him, there might be hope...

{in another section of the castle...}

My quest to find the one whom I am supposed to marry brings me here...to this strangely familiar place. It is so much like my own home 1,000 years in the future! Can this "Zardi" be the one?

{she ponders another for a moment...}

The Ranger, the one called Bartholomew...he may still be the one. Yet he is still in love with the one he lost. I must seek out this Zardi, and beyond if necessary, until I know for sure.

{wonders into a garden where the mythic animals she encounters seem quite taken with her}

In the center of the cloud castle stands building that appears to be a single massive block of marble adorned with heavily barred windows and a single solid granite door. This is Zardi's redoubt. His last line of defense. Within this fortress live his most favored retainers, Winter Fey, Minotaurs, and Satyrs from old Earth. While Psi-Felines from Cortovon VI and Gryffons from Sitris stalk the open grounds between the redoubt and the castle proper.

Inside the redoubt, the Castles Major-Domo, an ancient Minotaur named Barley Horn, is stating worriedly into a scrying pool. “The Master will not be pleased Carrie Ann. An unauthorized visitor has drunk from the 'Horn of Loki.' The backlash sent feedback down the tether and interrupted flow of power to Cack. Queen Hoo-Rah is most unhappy.”

“The Master can easily crush any objections the Cackles might raise.” his primary assistant, a small winged faerie replied in a surprisingly deep voice as he settled onto the Minotaur's right shoulder. “The damage has been repaired, but we don't know who entered the Rangarnok Room or why they did it.”

The faerie adjusted his breastplates and pulled a small scroll from his cleavage. “Near as we can measure the fool drank almost a pint of Asgardian Mead. So we'll know who it was soon enough; when he or she goes into a berserker rage that brings about half of the city below to ruin.”

*Knock-knock-knock*

Hello?

Would Zardoz be around?

<Barley Horn answers the knock>

There is no one by that name in residence here. Nor has there ever been anyone by that name in residence here.

May I be of assistance?

Yes, I hope you may.

The man claiming to be master of this place has pledged to abide by the laws and practices of our world. Yet we are receiving reports of energy disruptions to our friends and allies. Those reports suggest that this very castle is the epicenter of those disruptions.

I have been asked to investigate.

<Barley Horn opens the door wide and gestures for Kent to enter>

The scrying pool is over here...

<A massive hand reaches down and swirls the crystal clear water in a black marble fountain. The water clouds for a brief moment then calms and shows a picture of the Castle's Rangarnok Room with the 'Horn of Loki' on it's pedistal. Behind the horn a tensioned spool of golden wire slowly moves back and forth maintaining the connection to Mount Future.>

This Castle is composed of magically altered cumulonimbus cloud matter. It continuoiusly generates electricity so when we stop moving we need to ground it out. That cable in the background is the ground wire. A few years ago Mearl Dox contacted us and requested our help in providing electrical power to the Cack Dimension.

That is where our ground line now leads.

Earlier today someone or something unknown entered the Rangarnok Room and took a long drink from the Horn of Loki. We are investigating in and attempt to discover the identity of the perpetrator.

But to your question, Moving the Horn of Loki, a very ancient and powerful artifact disrupted the Castles Magical Balance and caused the disruption of power flow to the Cack Dimension.

Thank you for your cooperation.

I hope we can keep each other informed on our respective investigations.

Once a perpetrator is discovered, there will of course be proper legalities to follow, and Legion World laws take precedence.

But...

Just how long has this castle been here? It sounds like it has been several years. I will need copies of all your permits for permanent residency of the castle, and airspace and right-of-way permits for the power line as well. Procedure; I'm sure you understand.

<Barley Horn smiles down at Kent and shakes his massive head slowly>

Carrie Ann! Bring our guest to the records room, show him the cupcakes we received from Mearl Dox.

<The Fairie appears on Barly Horn's right shoulder and adjusts his breastplates before launching himself into the air>

You realize that our poor castle lacks the reputation and universal respect accorded to the LMBP, Mr Shakespeare. And that when the Supreme Ruler of the Universe asks a favor of us we have no choice but to comply as best we are able?

<Carrie Ann begins to glow brightly>

Follow Him, he will show you everything you need to see and make sure you don't get lost on your way out.

My thanks, Mr. Horn.

(seated in the records room, Kent pours through all the information he can come across. After an hours, once convinced that he is no longer being watched (and employing every tech and charm he has access to in order to monitor who is watching him), he gets up and inspects the spider webs that line the far end of the archive room.)

Aha! Zardoz was telling the truth! He does have every assortment of mythological and near-mythological creature imaginable... but he made one big mistake...

(Kent reaches into his Portable Tesserect (tm) and pulls out what appears to be an empty jar. Opening it, he speaks into it.)

Otto? We were right.

Otto?

Otto, it's time.

(a spider appears in the jar, crawls out, and pauses to look at Kent. The two eventually nod, as if a conversation had concluded. The spider crawls out into the webbing and literally vanishes.)

Well, old friend, we've got our foot in the door.

"Wow!" the LMBPer Shadowplay in Candlelight, now known as Candle, steps from the shadows as the door closes behind Kent.
"Achoo!"
"I dislike spiders, but I won'd snush this one because his name is Otto."

"Here I am, in the Archives when I'm on a cloud castle with lots of mythical stuff all over the place. I'm so outahere!" she says, opening the door a crack and peaking out.

"I wonder where that Kardi is and how to get 'authorized' to visit?" she whispers as she sneaks into the hall.

The hall is flooded with light, so instead of melting into the shadows, as she did when she materialized in the Archives, Candle flows seamlessly into the light, again disappearing.

Drifting from light to shadow, back and forth as needed, Candle wanders the halls, peeking into darkend, silent libraries and massive aviaries filled with singing and flying bodies, darting beween masses of foliage.

At the last such ayrie, she stops to watch, not the birds or the butterflies, but the faeries.

" "

And thinking only of the wonders before her, she looses her concentration and appears, suddenly, in the hallway.

"Oh-oh!" and glances around, shuddering.

NOTHING THERE!

"Halleluiah," Candle whispers, melding again with the light.

She searches with her mind, to find someone to tell her if it's all right for her to be in this story.
She sends a few empathic messages and impressions around Legion World, but can't find anyone who can give her permission.

Then, feeling very tired, she floats through the light to nestle with a couple of sleeping faery children. Gaudy pinks and oranges, signs of their newness of life, are wrapped around them like cashmere blankets.

"They smell like orange blossom honey and cinnamon . . ., soft as neutria fur . . .."

Curling up around them, she counts, "One , two , three zzzzzz."

Hmmm... It seems we have a visitor... It would be inhospitable to interrupt her sleep, so...

<He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small bag of golden dust.>

A few grains of sleep-sand should be sufficient...

<He sprinkles a tiny amount over Candle's sleeping form and a golden vail settles over her.>

Barley, please move her to the North Tower. I sense that there is far more of Glinda than Esmeralda in her... Let her sleep for a few hours then send some cherubs and a unicorn to wake her with a breakfast of Berries and royal jelly...

She will be a fine addition to our family...

long after Kent has finished his research, he keeps finding new excuses to stay. There are thousands of years of old tomes in these vaults, volumes no one could possibly (based on the dust and webs) could have looked at in many a lifetime.

it occurs to him that he should leave, report back to MWF, but like an addiction, Kent cannot pry himself out of the room. Otto looks down from afar and sees what his friend and employer cannot: Kent is bespelled, magickally unwilling to leave.

One more thing Barley... actually two.

I have been sensing a... ghostly presence... have Carrie Ann deploy the Dreamcatchers...

And tell the kitchen to send a tray to the records vault every six hours or so... I believe our friend Mr. Shakespeare has become engrossed in his research. Have a cot and some sleeping silks placed in there also...

{riding unicorns in the garden she's found}

Surely, the one who rules this kingdom in the clouds is a fine, beneficent ruler!

<Zardi is standing in his central chamber watching Hot Chick in the scrying pool.>

There is something decidedly odd about this one... I don't trust her... But, it's far too soon to take any overt actions.

Send one of the Fairie Princes into the garden, promise him a human harem if he can seduce her within the next six hours. I doubt she's a virgin, so his love binding won't hold for more than 72 Hours, but that should buy us the time we need.

(outside the Castle, a wind forms into Luna, she flies into the entrance)

I think that Zardi entered the Security building just as I left. I do not believe this mans intentions are for the good of Legion World, I mean me...dammit.

(Luna walks around and sees being she has not seen since she was fresh to the realm of men)

This is odd, I thought mortals did many of their natural mystic beings in. Time to wonder that another later, I need to find Kent. This place is strong, I dare not try to tap into it to feed my spells, I shall have to hope that I can still find him with my sense blocked.

(Luna walks down, when a path seems to open next to her, she feels like it has always been there, but can't recall seeing it when she came in, against her better judgment, she enters the path)

Kent?!

<Behind MysticLuna Barly Horn watches her turn down the path that just opened before her.>

The Master was right... A Wierd Sister.

Carrie Ann, prepare the cauldron, we'll need a vat of healing potion before this is done...

It will be done, my master.

(dons best glamours and telepathic misdirectionings, and approaches Hot Chick in the gardens)

Why, greetings, my dear. My staff did not tell me we had such an... enchanting guest awaiting me.

(reaches out, kisses her hand)