Subject: D&D Cartoon On-Line Fan Club Newsletter #5, Part 5 Part 3 of "Henry Hood: Prince of Theives" continued! * "For the last time, I was only going through the forest because I was looking for Lady MacGregor and her brother!" Eric spat as he struggled against the ropes that tied him to the small chair he sat in. He looked up as Henry walked into the room, and somehow managed to swallow back the fear he felt. "She IS here, I am certain. I saw her brother running through your village not five minutes ago." "What is your story, knight?" Henry asked as he sat down across from Eric. "You must surely know the consequences of your passing through here, yet you came -- by yourself, no less." Jacob grinned as he held up Eric's coin purse. "You needn't worry, Henry -- we've relieved the gentleman of his valuables. Shall we let him go back on his snively way to Venge, like the others?" Henry looked at Eric questioningly. "No, Jacob, because," he said as he leaned closer to Eric, "I don't think he really wants to go. At least, not yet." Eric's pangs of fear were soon overridden, as he became so aggravated by Henry's statement that he was almost near a conniption. "How DARE you assume that I would want to have anything to do with...." Henry ignored him as he got up and paced around Eric. "Let us see -- let me guess. The knight gets his purse stolen and returned by the most wanted man in the kingdom, the knight wonders why his purse was stolen and returned by the most wanted man in the kingdom, so..." Henry smiled as he leaned over to look at Eric, "the knight returns to ask the most wanted man in the kingdom WHY he stole his purse and then returned it." Eric snorted. "You cannot possibly know anything about what I would be thinking. You're nothing but a common criminal." Henry shook his head and glared at Eric. "You pompous, arrogant fool. I know exactly what you are thinking. I WAS you." Anger began to rise in Henry's voice. "I did what my father did, what his father did, and what his father's father did before him. You do it mostly because you have to, not because you want to. And in the end, it gets you nothing. Nothing!" Diana and Preston, standing silently in the back of the room, looked at each other with concern. They'd never seen Henry so angry before. But Henry was not done, and swirled Eric's chair around forcefully so he faced him straight-on, and continued with a growing rage. " But by the time you realize that, your life is gone, and everything you cherish with it. Does THAT sound familiar to you?" Eric's face was as pale as a ghost. "I -- Gray?" Eric mulled in his head slowly. "Gray -- you're not, you could not possibly be Lord Gray's son....." Gray was such a common name, and when Venge had ever spoken it to Eric, he had assumed that Henry was some peasant's son who had turned to a life of crime in some vain attempt to balance the fortune of those like him. But as he looked into Henry's eyes, he knew it was true. "But you're supposed to be dead." "Don't believe everything you hear from Venge," Henry spat at him, "Or haven't you figured that one out already?" Preston stepped out of the corner towards Henry, baffled at the scene that had just transpired in front of him. "Uhm....Henry, what should we do with him?" Preston seemed afraid of the answer he might get. Henry gave Eric one last look of disgust. "Lock him up," he said curtly. With that, he turned and walked out the door. Preston let out a small sigh of relief as Diana walked up next to him. "Preston, what just happened here?" "I wish I knew, Diana," Preston sighed as he looked at Henry's retreating form. "I wish I knew." * "Henry, what's wrong?" Sheila asked as she ran towards him. Her face grew even more pale. "Does Venge know that we are here?" "No, it's...it is nothing," Henry said as he shook his head. "You look angry, did something happen?" Sheila asked. Her blue-green eyes reflected her deep concern. Henry sighed and shrugged his shoulders. "Oh, it's Eric. I am afraid his attitude got the better of me." Sheila smiled wryly at him. "Eric's personality is rather an acquired taste -- who would actually want to acquire it, though, I am not all that sure." "No, it is not that," Henry said. "It -- it is just that I used to be just like him. Arrogant, foolhardy, out for myself and not others. I really never knew how truly good my life was, how much of a treasure my family was, until...." he trailed off. Sheila stood next to him, not really knowing what to say. Henry sensed the awkwardness of the moment between them and tried to change the subject. "I will leave him locked up and under guard for now until I can figure out what to do with him," Henry leaned against a nearby tree's trunk and looked up at the sun. "I do know that one thing is for certain -- whether Eric end up staying our prisoner or not, as soon as Kelek and Warduke arrive, Venge and his armies will still descend upon us like a pack of bloodthirsty animals." * "When are Kelek and Warduke due to arrive?" Venge said as he brushed off his ceremonial armor. His weekly address from the castle balcony had not been as heavily attended as it had been over the last few weeks. Even the support that Venge's men enforced among the people was waning, and he knew that Shad Dem was right. There was no better time to try and bring the warring factions together than tonight -- with his wedding announcement. "The messenger would be just reaching their outpost men to the South now, sire," Shad said. "I do not think they will get the message until midday tomorrow. I would expect them back in two days' time after that." Venge sat down in his throne chair and stroked his pointy chin in thought. "Excellent. Call the stationary troops back here, and tell Sir Eric to start drilling the Royal Palace Guards and the Noblemen's Officer Corps. It is of tremendous import that we attack in full force -- and by surprise." Venge's thoughts were interrupted as he saw a shadow outside in the hallway. "What is it? Come in at once!" he demanded. A young messenger stood at the doorway, looking as if he was using every ounce of his energy to keep from shaking like a leaf in fear. "S-S-S-Sire," he stammered, "Sir Eric has not checked in since he left this morning." "Left?" Venge looked puzzled. "Left for where? I gave him no leave today." "I, that is, uhm, no one knows where he went, Sire," the young man stammered. "What do you mean, no one?" Venge barked, rising up from his chair menacingly. "I -- I --..." the young man stammered again. "Be gone, you fool!" Venge yelled at the young man, who skittered down the hallway. Venge slammed his fist on the armrest of his chair. "Shad, summon a group immediately to look for Sir Eric. If he has deserted me, he will pay dearly for his betrayal." As Venge madly paced around the room, he didn't notice the messenger outside, still in the hallway, amazingly more composed -- and still listening to every word he was saying. * "I do not like to complain...." Eric started as he peeked outside a small window. "Hah!" Diana snorted at him as she watched the perimeter outside of the cottage he was imprisoned in. "That is all you have done since you got here. Tell me knight, is there ever a moment that you are NOT complaining?" Eric ignored her. "As I said, I do not like to complain, but I am very hungry. Even Venge feeds his prisoners," he added, hoping the association would anger her, and her insulted pride would buy him at least a few crumbs. "Do not worry, prisoner," Diana smiled wickedly at him, "you shall get what is due to you." Whacking the side of the cottage with a few forceful blows from her quarterstaff, Diana walked away as Preston took over her watch. Eric looked out at Preston as he sat down on the small chair outside the cottage. "Your friend has the warmth and personality of a wild boar," Eric grumbled. Preston couldn't fight an amused smile. "That is your opinion, but it is not a correct one. How can one form an opinion on someone whose name they do not even know?" "Wonderful," Eric moaned. "A philosopher. Is this part of my punishment?" Preston sighed and picked up his spellbook, leafing through its pages absently. Eric sighed in boredom, and after a few minutes of silence between them, the sound of sprightly flute songs began to cut through the evening air. Eric jumped back up towards the window. "What is going on here? A we-have- captured-Sir-Eric celebration?" Preston couldn't stop an amused snort. "Do you truly think the entire world revolves around you? Never mind -- do not answer that. If you must know, we are having a celebration for some of our people this evening." Eric squinted as he tried to look across the village to the center square. As he looked down, he saw Preston gazing wistfully at Diana, who had emerged from her cottage in her flowing royal purple ceremonial dress. Eric smiled wickedly as he looked at Preston. "She may have the personality of a boar, but your friend's beauty rivals that of the very sun in the sky." "Yes...." Preston trailed off, then startled by his admission, he looked up nervously at Eric. "So, I was right, you ARE in love with the Warrior Princess over there," Eric smiled sarcastically as he yelled, "Oh, M'Lady? M'Lady! Could you come over here please? There is something I think you ought to know..." Preston's face turned crimson again. "Stop that immediately!" he hissed at Eric, jumping in front of his window as Diana turned to see what the shouting was all about. "Is everything all right over there, Preston?" Diana called back to him as she helped Marion carry a large platter of food. "Y-Yes, Diana, everything is just fine," Preston nodded vigorously, struggling to keep himself in front of Eric so Diana couldn't see what Eric was trying to do. "Are you certain? If he is giving you any trouble, I can..." "No, No, no, it is fine, I assure you," Preston said. "Tell Henry I will be along in a few minutes to join in the feast, once Jacob takes this shift back over." Still looking a little unsure, Diana nonetheless nodded and continued back to her work. As soon as Diana was out of earshot, Preston whirled at Eric angrily. "Have you forgotten who you are here, sir? You are a prisoner! It is not wise to upset your captors." Eric shrugged. "What are you going to do about it, sir?" he sneered sarcastically. He craned his neck to look out at Preston and caught sight of his spellbook. "Turn me into a toad?" Eric began laughing hysterically at the very thought. Who does this man think he is? Preston thought, utterly baffled by their prisoner. It was less than a day ago that he cowered in fear in the back of the royal carriage, yet today, he was as bold as the legendary Sir Lancelot had been. Was he insane? Or was it some strange part of his personality? Preston was more inclined to believe the first option. "You are VERY strange, knight," Preston shook his head and sat back down. Eric continued, unfazed. "Is Henry Hood REALLY the son of Sir Edmund Gray?" Preston sighed heavily. "Yes, if you must know." "Then why is he robbing people?" Eric muttered, more to himself than Preston. "Why does he not take his lands back over and run them himself? That's what all noblemen do when their fathers grow old and pass away." Preston's eyes widened as he got back up to look at Eric. "That is what you think? That Sir Gray just quietly passed on?" Eric nodded. "And his family went to live with their relatives in the North, their tenants sold their lands to Venge, and..." Eric's face grew pale as he looked at Preston, "and young Gray was killed...in the war..." "You honestly do believe everything that Venge tells you," Preston shook his head gravely. "That story is nothing but a dire insult to Master Gray, one of the finest men I have ever known." Eric shifted up towards the window even more. "So...what DID happen?" Eric somehow knew that he did not want to hear the answer. "Venge demanded allegiance from Henry's father. When he refused, Venge made Henry's entire family pay for their refusal by....by..," Preston stopped for a moment, trying to compose himself, and swallowing back the lump forming in his throat, he continued, "Then, Venge forced every tenant on Henry's father's land to work as his own servants. Those that refused met the same unfortunate fate as the rest of Henry's family." Preston said, not able to stop the tears from welling up in his eyes at the recollection of it all. "Whatever Venge told you is of no consequence. And," he finished, looking pointedly at Eric, "if you think it could not happen to ANY nobleman, you are gravely mistaken." With that, Preston sat back down, head in his hands. This information was almost too much for Eric to process. That Venge would concoct some story about Henry's being dead so that he could get his hands on his family's vacated lands, he could believe. But to inflict such a punishment on an entire family for no reason other than spite was something he had thought was beyond even Venge. Preston's last words were the ones that stayed in his head. If you think it could not happen to ANY nobleman, you are gravely mistaken. Eric had long thought that Venge was not to be depended upon, but he would most certainly never harm Eric's family if he ever thought.... The very suggestion of it sent chills down Eric's spine as he sunk down to the cold dirt floor of the cottage. He had come here to solve a riddle, he remembered. It looked like he'd found an answer -- even though it may not have been the answer he was hoping for. * End of Part 3 Thanks again to Vic for all her help and encouragement! Catch the next issue for Part 4! * ****************************************************************************** ******** D&D CARTOON NEWSLETTER TRIVIA CORNER! Here?s our newest Trivia Question, generously supplied by Patrick Drazen! See if you know the answer to this question: ?In spite of the name of the series, many of the episodes feature neither a dungeon nor a dragon, some feature one or the other, but only FOUR EPISODES FEATURE BOTH! For no prize in particular, I submit this question to you to submit in your next: "What four episodes have both a dungeon and a dragon?" Stumped? Not stumped? Racing to your VCR to check for the answers? Well, when you?re done with that, be sure to send me your answers (that would be at IllyanaAM@aol.com) under the heading ?D&D Newsletter Trivia #5 Answer? no later than April 20th, 1998. Winners will be heartily praised and congratulated in the next issue! Good luck, young adventurers! ****************************************************************************** ******** D&D CARTOON REUNION! Remember A-Ha? What about the Cabbage Patch Kids? And breakdancing? Punky Brewster? He-Man and She-Ra? The Keaton family of Family Ties? And who could forget Big Country? (I still love that song). (sigh) Ah, those were the days..... Seeing as many of us in the fan club will soon be attending the unspeakable horror that is a 10th High School Reunion in the not-too-distant future (I'm afraid that mine will be more like Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion than anything else) -- and inspired by Patrick Drazen's ongoing web-page tale -- I thought a nifty feature for this issue would be for all of us to take part in predictions for our favorite realm-wandering grads. Let's say it's been ten years since the series ended. What do you think that Hank, Sheila, Bobby, Diana, Presto, and Eric are up to? Has the group gotten home? Did they get to graduate from high school? Or college? Or maybe they're still stuck in the realm? (which has to be a wee bit of a morale buster for them, I would imagine). Are they happy? Are they married -- maybe even to another member of the group? (Note my not-so subtle Sheila and Hank reference!) Do they have nifty careers? Do they commute and deal with the nightmare that is people going 20 (or less if you can believe it) in the fast lane on a 65-MPH road on their way to work or to run errands? (NOTE: in case you're wondering, this is my life, driving the living nightmare that is the highways of Central Florida. Why must they insist upon reading their maps and driving at the same time! What's the matter with these people???? Aaaaaargh.) If they're still in the Realm, has one of them become Dungeon Master? Have they finally defeated Venger and/or ousted him out of his castle in the Realm? Is Tiamat still around? You get the idea. Send me your stories, your bulletins, your updates, your musings, your old sophomore year Shakespeare essays, whatever -- just let me know what you think our favorite Realm-wandering friends would be up to these days. E-Mail me or send an attached text file to: IllyanaAM@aol.com no later than April 20th, 1998! ****************************************************************************** See you in Issue #6...where we will have the results of our second-annual poll! Toodleoo!