Subject: D&D Cartoon On-Line Fan Club Newsletter Spring 1999 -- Part 4!
Date: Sun, 21 Feb 1999 14:55:21 EST


Dungeons & Dragons : Breaking the Ties that Bind
by Jeanne Kalvar
Disclaimer:  Part 1 and 2 for this story, and the initial premise were
developed by Sorka, and can be found on her web page at
http://www.cybercomm.net/~rhiannon/sorka.html.  She can be reached at
rhiannon@cybercomm.net, but she is not responsible for any abuses done to
these characters from now on. Dungeons and Dragons is owned by TSR, and I
believe that all the characters contained within that you recognize
currently belong to Marvel Productions.  The ones you don?t recognize belong
to either Sorka or myself.
This story is very dark in places - rated PG13 for mature themes, but a
fairly mild PG-13 right now.    Any feedback received most gratefully to
jadehunter@msn.com.
Due to the extreme length of this story, and this newsletter going to a
quarterly basis, I will be posting new chapters at a rate of once or twice a
month on my web page, http://www.geocities.com/~jadehunter/.  Anyone who is
archiving this story who wants to receive a copy of new updates is welcome
to them...just write me and I'll mail them to you.  Thanks!

Part 3:  Old Fears, New Fears

 Detective Pendleton examined the expensive clock on the mantle while he
waited for the men and women in the room to get settled.  Not for the first
time, he thought about getting out of the business.  He could look down at
the mutilated body of some poor punk dredged out of the river without a
qualm, but the expression of despair and hope he saw on the faces of parents
with missing children cut him to the bone. And there wasn?t much hope they
could get from him.
 Turning from the fireplace, he looked across the lushly-appointed living
room of the Montgomery estate.  Officer Granger stood stoically by the door,
ready to be called on at need.  His uniform, meticulous down to his boots,
was a silent reassurance to the rest of the people in the room: The law was
there. It was doing its duty, and everything was under control.  If only
Pendleton could be so sure.
 The owner of the mansion was seated in a dark burgundy chair, his long
fingers steepled before him.  He watched the detective with dark eyes and a
thin-lipped frown.  Steven Montgomery, as Pendleton had come to find out
over the last two years of communicating off and on with these people, was a
hard, reserved man, unable to break himself free of the bottom line.  What
he was like before his son disappeared, the detective didn?t know, but since
then, he?d seen the well-known financier offer larger and larger rewards for
information about his son, Eric.  It never occurred to the man that some
things could not be bought.  Beyond a reward of nearly $50,000 dollars,
though, it was hard to tell if he missed his son at all.
 Professor Curry and his wife were not nearly as withdrawn, and new hope
shone in their faces as they sat together on a loveseat.  The professor, an
astronomer at the local university, had worked hard all his life to provide
the best for his family.  A slender man, with skin like chocolate and hair
brushed with gray, he held his wife?s hand as they talked softly together.
His wife Eileen, ten years his junior, had been one of his graduate
assistants when they met.  Pendleton shook his head.  Ethan was a lucky man.
And unlucky.  Diana, from her file, apparently had inherited the best of
both their traits.
 Amanda Grayson could have been a beauty, once, but now her blonde hair was
stringy, tied back from her face with a rubber band.  She still wore her
uniform from the supermarket?she must have come straight from work.  Her
blue eyes looked tired and worn, and a little bloodshot.  Pendleton knew
from her background check that she had come out of AA a year ago; it was
tears, not the rum and coke, that reddened her eyes now.  The mother of the
oldest boy, Hank, her hands trembled as she lit a cigarette.
 The O?Brien?s were the hardest to read.  They had always been emotional
people, but now they seemed to be laughing and crying at the same time, and
were trying to stop both.  Dan was an electrician, Margaret sold real
estate.  Nothing in their background to indicate any enemies who would want
to get to them through their two children.  Pendleton could understand their
confusion.  They had just gotten back a son they had thought lost forever,
but their daughter was still missing.
 Pendleton looked around the room once more, and sighed when he realized
that this, indeed, was everyone.  Mr. and Mrs. Sydney had passed away within
months of each other last year.  After their grandson had disappeared, they
lost the drive to push on.  They had been in their late fifties when their
daughter left her newborn with them and left town with a European ski bum.
It wasn?t too surprising that the heartbreak and strain of the last few
years cost them their health and their lives.  Pendleton wondered if anyone
outside this room even cared if Russell Sydney was alive any more.

The detective stepped forward.  ?Excuse me.  As some of you may have already
heard, there has been a break in the case.  Bobby O?Brien has been found.?
The silence was deafening. ?He has been found alive, and reasonably healthy.
He is currently at Mount Sinai Hospital for the night for observation, and I?d
like to thank Mr. and Mrs. O?Brien for taking the time to leave his side
so we can explain what our people have learned.  We?ll try and keep this
short.?

The Currys? hands were clutching tightly to each other, but there was light
in both of their faces. If one was alive, then maybe they all? ?Diana??  Dr.
Curry asked, his voice trembling with hope.

Pendleton raised a hand.  ?No.  He was found alone.  Officer Granger here
will explain the circumstances, and then I?ll tell you where we?ve gone from
here.?

The policeman stepped forward.  ?I was running routine patrol on Route 240
outside the entrance to the amusement park where the children disappeared
when I noticed a number of people gathered on the grass bank on the side of
the road.  I stopped my car and got out, and saw they were standing around
Bobby, who was lying on the ground, apparently unconscious.  He was dressed
in the clothes he had disappeared in.  He couldn?t have been out for long,
because he started to come too before I?d even reached him. His face, arms,
and legs were well scrapped up, as though he?d taken quite a fall, and he
was bleeding just a little from his head.  At first, I figured he?d been
knocked off a bike. I got him cleaned up, and did a routine check against my
missing children file.  Sometimes you get lucky.  Bobby O?Brien came right
to the top of the list.?

Margaret wiped away a sniffle.  ?That?s when you called the police
department and let us know?? she asked softly.

Granger nodded.  ?Yes.  I questioned a few witnesses.  No one saw him get
dropped off, but they did see a red minivan going down 240 at a high rate of
speed around the time he was found.  He may have been pushed from that
vehicle.  I couldn?t find any other evidence at the site.?

Pendleton took over.  ?Our doctors looked Bobby over when he was brought
into the hospital.  That?s brought us a few insights.  Wherever he?s been,
he?s spent most of his time outdoors, probably in a desert or arid climate,
from the extent of his tan.  He hasn?t been molested, but there is evidence
of some physical abuse.  Blood tests show that at some point, probably a
year and a half to two years ago, he was bitten by some sort of rattlesnake,
but traces of the venom are too faint to be sent to our herpetologists.  He
was treated with an antivenom at the time, however."
The O?Brien?s had not known about the results of the blood tests, and talked
quietly among themselves.  Pendleton let the families consider that for a
moment, then continued.  ?He suffered some trauma to the head approximately
a year and a half ago.  Xrays show a healed fracture to the skull above the
left temporal lobe, one that was re-broken during his recent fall.  Although
it does not seem that the injury was severe, even a temporary effect on
blood flow in the brain can alter memory.  Although Bobby appears to be
fully recovered, it seems that this injury, or a reactivation of this injury
caused by his fall has confused his perceptions of what happened to himself
or his friends."
?When interviewed, Bobby said his sister and his friends were trying to
escape through a rift from a place that the ride carried them too.  He said
they were always stopped by someone he calls ?Venger? and that someone else
called ?Dungeonmaster? kept telling them ways to escape, but they never
worked, and they continued to be trapped.  He goes on to talk about their
fantasy adventures.  We, unfortunately, are forced to conclude that these
are misperceptions. Our psychologists are working at interpreting them.?

 The detective went on, talking about things like child slavery rings in
Mexico, hypnosis, and stress-related dementia.  All Amanda could think about
was that last morning before Hank disappeared.  He was a good boy, better
than she deserved?.

?Mom, I?m going to the Amusement Park with the others.  Remember to take in
your check.?
?Don?t stay out too late.  You know how I worry.?
?I won?t.  See you later, Mom.?

She shivered suddenly.   Had Pendleton said something about a cave-in?   She
wasn?t sure why, but she knew at that moment Hank was not going to come
back. Not ever.

*************************************************

After all his friends had left, Eric did follow a merchant train?to the next
town.  His first thought was to find a trainer. This town was much larger
than Standwell, and Eric had heard that a company of mercenaries, The Red
Blades, garrisoned there.  Only a few months ago, he would have marched
right up to the captain and demanded to be trained, but he knew better now.
He would have to apply and, if there was someone willing, he would have to
prove he was worth the trouble.
He approached the inn where the officers were housed with what he hoped was
confidence, not arrogance. There was no guard at the door.  He stood there
for a moment, wondering if he should knock. Then he saw a rope by the door.
When he pulled it a bell sounded inside. The was door opened a few moments
later by a tall, muscular woman with auburn hair. She looked him over with
what a well-practiced eye. He swallowed nervously under her scrutiny.

?I take it you want to apply to the Blades.? Her voice was smooth but deep;
it carried the weight of authority.

?Yes... uh?if you would let me.? Eric started to have some doubts, but he
had to do something.

?Well, don't just stand there. Come on in.?  She led the way inside without
waiting to see if he was following. He fell in behind her, and she went to
the first door of a long hallway.  Inside, the bedroom had been converted
into a recruiting office, well organized and very professional. The woman
took the seat behind the desk and motioned for him to take one of the seats
closest to him.

?First, let me tell you that I see a lot of young men and women come through
my door. Most of them didn't have a lick of training. Others had enough to
get themselves killed.? She looked him over again. ?But you have got to be
the first person to come here straight out of the wilds in one piece. So
tell me what brings you to my door.?

Eric gave her a wary look. ?It?s a long story. Are you sure you want to hear
it?  I mean, I wouldn?t want to bore you or anything.?

?The more I know of you, the better I'll be able to gage your ability.? Eric
took a deep breath and told her his story.  Everything.  Even the bit with
the bogbeasts. And Queen Zinn. ?I must be crazy,? he thought, for the ten
millionth time.

She listened carefully as he spoke. Her face was neutral through the whole
thing, save for her right eyebrow, which lifted on occasion. When he was
done there was a long silence.  ?Well...? she began, ?I must admit I never
thought I would have one of His students in front of me.? She was thoughtful
for a moment. ?It is our custom to have those that don't have their own
equipment work for it before they get any training. You look to be worn
ragged and already physically fit. Despite the wealth of your armor, I bet
you haven't got two coins to rub together.?

He nodded, his heart sinking, as he thought he had failed.  ?Don?t suppose
she?d take a fifty dollar bill and call it even,? he said to himself as he
waited for her to finish.

?Well, it wouldn't be the first time I let in a hard luck case.? She smiled
at his look of astonishment. ?Don't get too cheerful yet. There are a few
conditions to my letting you in.?

?What conditions?? Eric asked, his excitement building.

?First, regardless of you experience in the wilds, you'll be given the
standard training all new recruits get in the art of survival. Second, since
you'll need as much training as possible, I think we will forego the
fortnight of work detail. But to do that, you have to do one thing.?  She
paused, making sure she had his attention. ?I want you to sell your armor.
It's worth enough to outfit you with all the equipment that you'll need, and
to last you some time in good stead, I would say.?

?You know, I never even thought to sell it,? he said, absently toying with a
gauntlet. ?I've lived in this thing for almost three years. You would think
that I wouldn't want to part with it.? He laughed a soft sad laugh.

?There is something else to consider?, she began thoughtfully. ?That armor
would set you apart from your fellows. If you let me sell it you'll be on
equal footing with them.?

?I certainly don't want to be snubbed by my peers.? He chuckled a little at
the irony of that, and pulled off both gauntlets. ?Sell it. Maybe some
distance from my past will help me build a future.?

***************************************************************

Xalen grinned at her new apprentice, leaning against her own staff.  ?All
right. You?ve proven to me that you are more than capable of handling a
staff.  I?m impressed.  We need to get you some throwing knives, naturally.
And a second change of clothes.  Do those boots fit??

Diana looked down at her new, thigh-high leather boots, and the crisp white
tunic she wore belted above them. ?Just great, Xalen.  Hey, can I go into
town with you to get the knives?  I want to stop by the Healer?s house and
check to make sure Presto?s settling in all right.  Maybe he knows how the
others like what they are doing.?

Her master frowned, looking thoughtful.  The bright morning sun picked up
all the highlights in her corn-yellow braids; she looked as though she had
just gone out for the day, rather than tutoring her apprentice for three
hours.  Diana couldn?t believe the way she never broke a sweat.  ?Very well,
Diana.  I need to make some arrangements anyway.  But you should know, we
are leaving tomorrow, far to the east.  A strong warrior does not test her
metal against stray troglodytes in lands such as this.  In the last two
weeks, you?ve gained a little skill, and proven to me that I do not need to
hold your hand every step of the way.  It?s time to leave these civilized
parts and find something a little more exciting to do.?

Diana shook her head as she slung the staff over her shoulder and started
down the road towards the town.  She had been getting a little bored with
the constant drills, but if she was leaving town, then she really was
leaving everyone.  Still, she had to wonder what her new Master thought was
exciting.

Presto was on his hands and knees in the garden in front of Madeline?s
cottage, pulling weeds.  He didn?t seem to notice Diana as she approached.
He was dressed in a simple blue shirt and brown pants, and his red-brown
curls were drenched with sweat.  The garden was as lush as a jungle, and
Diana decided that it must be hard to figure out which was a weed or an herb
in a garden that size.

?Hey there, Presto!? she called, and couldn?t help but grin at the way he
startled when he heard his name.

Recovering himself quickly, Presto climbed to his feet and pushed his
glasses back up his nose.  ?Hi, Diana,? he said with a warm smile.  ?I didn?t
see you there.  How?s it going??

Diana idly spun her staff, looking hard at the ex-magician.  Somehow, in the
last two weeks, he?d grown a lot paler, except for the spots of color in his
cheeks, and his face looked drawn.  But his eyes bothered her most. Nothing
had changed, but they didn?t seem to be looking at her.  He was focused on
some point over her right shoulder.  She glanced back, but there was nothing
there.

?I?ve been doing just fine.  Xalen?s great.  She takes training very
seriously, but at night we talk, and she tells me all about all the places
she?s been over the years.  I feel like I can almost do as much with a
regular staff as I could with my old one when I?m around her.?  Presto
looked away at that, and she hurried on, ?But I still get it wrong half the
time.  How are things here??

?Oh, all right, I guess.  Mostly, Madeline?s been telling me all about her
plants.  And I weed.  And prune. And sometimes dig.  Nothing much.  Remember
the giant worms in the Garden of Zinn??

Diana nodded.  She could tell he was trying to distract her from something,
but she couldn?t tell what.  ?I remember the look on Eric?s face when he
first saw one.?

Presto grinned and picked up a smaller worm from the ground at his feet.
?Well, we?re getting much better acquainted.?   He let the worm fall.

Diana smiled at the joke, but her face turned serious. She took a step
closer.  ?Presto, are you feeling all right?  She?s not mistreating you or
anything, is she??

Presto?s eyes wandered up towards an area of clear blue sky above Diana?s
head. ?Me? Oh, I?m fine.  I think I caught a little bit of a cold.  I?.? His
eyes widened.  ?Get down!? he shouted, diving towards Diana to knock her to
the ground.

The two of them tumbled through the flowerbed together, landing at the
bottom of the hedge.  Diana hurriedly crawled out from under Presto and
brandished her staff.  ?What, Presto? Where?? She looked around wildly,
trying to locate the enemy, but the day was as clear and pleasant as it had
been a moment before.

Presto pulled himself up, looking around wildly.  ?Venger, he?.?  He paused
as he realized that Venger was nowhere to be seen.  ?I thought I saw?I?.? He
closed his eyes as he got to his feet.  ?Sorry, Diana.  Guess it?s been so
long since we?ve seen him, I started imagining him.  At least he?s less
scary than my old gym teacher.  Are you okay??

?Me?  What about you?? Diana thought, settling her staff butt into the
ground.  ?I?m just fine.  Maybe you should take it easy for a while, my
friend.  I wish I could stay, but my Master is leaving tomorrow, and I need
to catch her before she disappears.  Are you sure everything?s all right??

?Of course.?  Presto smiled and shrugged, and gave her a hug before she
left.  When she was gone from sight, he looked accusingly back at the patch
of sky that had opened up to reveal Venger preparing to hurl a bolt of magic
down onto them both.  ?Okay,  Presto.  If you have to see things that aren?t
there, why can?t you pick some face better than that one?  At least while
they?re around? Huh??

Madeline came out from her house into the garden, called by her apprentice?s
shouts. ?Did it happen again??

Presto nodded.

Madeline walked up to the boy, and put her beefy arm around his shoulders.
?You don?t have to be out here, pet.  My garden is perfectly capable of
tending itself.  I?m sure I can find a good book inside, and I have fresh
peach pie.?

Presto just nodded a second time, allowing himself to be led into the house.

*************************************************
--------------------------------------------
The wind blows.                               Jadehunter@msn.com
The river is cold.                              UD Dept of Geology.
The hero rides forth;
He may never return.

COMING ATTRACTIONS......
Howdy!  This is a new space in the newsletter that will feature either
"trailers" or sneak previews of upcoming fan fiction.  So enjoy!

v
Sneak Preview of "The Wishing Stone"
Part one: Presto?s wish
by Draculich@aol.com
Sheila, Diana, Bobby, Hank, Eric, Uni, and Presto were gathering in a huge
clearing in a forested area. The birds were chirping and the wind was blowing
through the blades of grass making a rhythmetic sound as though it were a
song.  Sheila stopped to listen more carefully to the wind.  Soon words and
music started pouring into Sheila?s head like a pitcher of water pouring into
a bucket.  The words became a song that sounded so familiar yet so new to her.
        When a bobby takes a bobby flying through the sky.
The words would pour into her head, but it made no sense to her; she had no
clue what it could mean, but it did mention her brother Bobby.  She thought to
herself for a moment that Bobby could be in harm's way, but she dropped that
thought right away because it was only in her mind, wasn?t it?
A few minutes later Presto walked up to Sheila and leaned casually next to her
because she looked worried more worried than usual. "What's wrong Sheila?" he
said with a high pitched nasal voice.
"Oh nothing is wrong," she said in a worried voice.
"You can tell me," Presto said with a serious concern.
"You do hear the voices right, tell me I am not crazy," she said to Presto in
a stuttering voice.
"No, I don?t hear any voices, but I know you are not crazy," Presto said
"Thanks," she said to Presto, giving him a kiss on the cheek.

Soon he too began to hear a song that was totally unfamiliar to him -- yet in
some peculiar way, it was not.

Presto asked the rest of the group to come over there, but they told him to
get his butt over there instead.  Presto walked towards the group and stumbled
onto a rock and fell, his glasses falling to the ground as well.
"You clutz!" Eric said. "Can?t you walk three feet without falling once?"
Presto looked up at Eric, then at the ground, and found a nice rounded rock.
Presto picked up the rock, thinking that it might be good luck, and stuffed it
into one of his robes pockets.
"What are you doing, picking daisies?" Eric said.
Presto ignored Eric and picked up his glasses and put them on.
"Much better," Presto said, "I can see once again."
Presto continued to walk toward the rest of the group, forgetting about the
stone he stashed in his robe. "Did you hear the voices that me and Sheila
heard?" Presto said in his high pitched nasal voice.
"No, we didn?t," they all said in unison. "Besides we were discussing why
Venger hasn?t made any attempts to attack us."  Presto and Sheila both looked
at each other and shrugged their shoulders and dropped the subject.
Meanwhile, the birds seemed to stop chirping and the wind stopped blowing;
consequently it was quiet -- too quiet.
"Hey, where is Bobby?" Sheila said in a frightened voice.
"He was with us discussing why Venger hasn?t tried anything," they all said
except for Sheila and Presto.

TO BE CONTINUED......

v

Titanic.
One of the grandest ships ever to set sail in history. A doomed oceanliner,
carrying thousands of people, each with their own story.  What if our favorite
little band of adventurers had ended up on that boat?  What would have
happened to them?  What could have happened to them? Who would sink -- and who
would swim?
To find out, watch for D&D Elseworlds: Ship of Dreams
Coming Soon from your friendly neighborhood Amy H!