Log:Dark Horse - Demon, Scene 1

Dark Horse - Demon 2005/09/10 	 Dark Horse

1

The Dark One's castle.

Several hours after Dark Horse is tossed in the cell, and about an hour after the changing of the guard, the castle is filled with the sound of explosions, one every few minutes. They continue unabated up until the time the warrior returns to the dungeon. "The Dark One wishes to speak with you. Please follow me." he unlocks the cell door.

Dark Horse raises an eyebrow at the explosions, and nods the warrior when he's summoned. He gets up, and dusts himself off to be led off to the Dark One.

The warrior leads Dark Horse up a number of flights of stairs, along corridors, and finally into a hallway with narrow unglazed windows. Dark Horse notes this is the ground floor, so the dungeon must be three levels underground. In the courtyard outside the windows Dark Horse sees rubble scattered over the dirt, and a group of demons using a huge siege crossbow to fire into the sky.

Dark Horse shakes his head, looking around, and mutters to himself, "Must be a war on, I guess." He continues to follow, happy to be out of the cell, at least for the time being.

BRAAZZZAPPP!!!

The hallway lights up in brilliant glare as a electrical bolt strikes down into the courtyard, killing some of the demons and injuring the others. "Yes." The warrior answers, having overheard you. "There's been a war going on since before my father was born, and probably still be going on with my children are old."

Dark Horse shields his eyes as the flash of light comes up. He talks as he walks along behind..."So...um...who are you fighting? And why?"

"The Army of Light." The warrior shrugs. "This reign is part of the Five Principalities. We're under the domain of the Isle of Mages, so we're a small part of the Army of the Night."

Dark Horse answers, "Oh." Clearly he doesn't have a clue who ANY of those are. "So, are...both sides made up of demons?" He looks around some more as they walk.

The warrior shakes his head. "No. There are demons in the Black Lord's forces, along with the rest of his undead. But their the only ones I know of. Our forces are humans, Demonkin, they are the ones outside, obvious why their called that but they aren't demons, just one of the local races, Ogres, and Trolls. The ones attacking us now are dragons. They have the Elves, Nagas, and some of the Dwarves as well."

Dark Horse nods again, "Oh." . o O (Well, that explains a little about the dragon hunting, then. Sort of.) He keeps quiet for the rest of the walk, just taking in everything as best he can.

The warrior leads you through more hallways, past a great hall were healers are busy at work, and finally into a council chamber where a middle aged man in wizard robes and a younger woman wearing chain armor are talking. They turn to face Dark Horse as he enters. "Welome to Castle Dark." the man says.

Dark Horse looks around the room, and then steps forward, "Thank you. I think." He chuckles quietly, looking at the two individuals.

"You picked a poor time to visit." The woman tells Dark Horse. "Which leads to the question, how did you get here?"

Dark Horse smiles...or at least it looks like he might be. "Uh...yeah. That. Well, a friend of mine had asked me to investigate a chest. I unlocked it, and opened it, and one of your big gruesome guards grabbed me, pulling me into your castle."

The man thinks, "A portal disguised as a chest. That must be... Do you come from the magic poor world?"

Dark Horse shrugs, "I don't really have a basis of comparison, I'm afraid. There's not a lot of it, that I know of. Certainly...not as much as here, I'd say."

"You said you were asked to investigate that chest. Why?" the man asks, "and what has happened to the chest's owner?"

Dark Horse nods, "The answer to the second question is...'I have no idea'. I know he replaced the real Hiram, who's sitting in the cell that was next to mine. As for the first...well, there was something suspicious about it, and the circumstances of the hunt. I'm a detective. I tend to make it my business to find things out. Even when it comes back to bite me. Like this."

The man and woman look at each other. "He knows about the substitution." The woman says. "Yes. And about the hunt. I wasn't happy with sening Lrran there in the first place." the man tells her. Then he turns to face Dark Horse. "There's no reason to continue holding Hiram here. If we return you to your world, will you take a message to Lrran?"

Dark Horse nods slowly, "May I take Hiram with me, and return him to our world?"

Both the man and woman nod. "Yes, of course." the man confirmed. "I just told you there was no reason to hold Hiram here any longer."

Dark Horse smiles, "I just wanted to make sure. Not having a reason to doesn't mean you wouldn't."

The man nods.

Dark Horse nods, "I am willing to deliver the message, then." He smiles again, "Before you send us back...may I ask your names? Just so I know who to thank for returning me?"

The woman tells the warrior to bring Hiram up to the council chamber.

The man shakes his head. "Names have power in this world. I am known as The Dark One. It's a title that comes with the castle. This is my daughter. You can call her Commander."

Dark Horse nods, "I'm sorry...I didn't mean to offend." . o O (Oh man...this is the kind of stuff my sister used to talk about...names of power, and the like.) He adds, "Thank you again. Will the message be like...a scroll or something?"

The woman smiles, "No, it's a verbal message. Tell Lrran to come home."

Dark Horse nods, "And he's the one who replaced Hiram, yes?"

The man nods. "Yes, that's correct."

Dark Horse nods, "Not a problem. I'll find him, and let him know."

Dark Horse adds, "I'm assuming he can travel back and forth as he likes, unlike myself."

The man explains. "No. Lrran has the skill, but your world hasn't the magic strength for mages from this world to use our more powerful spells. He can return via the chest, in the same way you arrived."

Dark Horse nods, "Sounds easy enough to me. But...what about the chest after he's gone through? Would it need to be disposed of? Or kept someplace?"

Dark Horse shrugs, "Otherwise, it'll be a constant portal to your world."

You aren't carrying anything.

The woman tells you. "Lrran will know to leave a triggered spell to cancel the portal after he uses it."

Dark Horse nods, "Alright...fair enough."

The warrior returns to Hiram. The man asks Dark Horse, "Are you ready?"

Dark Horse nods, "As I'll ever be. As long as this trip doesn't involve getting tossed by a demon..."

The man shakes his head. "No, nothing like that. I'm sorry your world has become involved in our war. I'm sorry our world is involved in this war for that."

Dark Horse nods, "I know it's not really my place to intrude...but is there no chance for peace here?"

They both shake their heads sadly. "No." the woman says, "The leaders of each side are utterly opposed to each other. And they're immortal."

Dark Horse nods, "I'm sorry, then. Well, perhaps I shall see you again, under better circumstances."

The man nods, lifts his hand, and a gray haze surrounds you and Hiram. When it clears you find yourselves in a hunting camp. Hiram recognises it as the hunting camp Rolande and Hiram stayed in when Rolande was in the Rockies.

Dark Horse says, "We're in the Rockies? That bites..."

Dark Horse sets about looking for clues in the area...anything mystical in nature.

You find nothing of that nature. Just a closed down hunting camp.

Dark Horse sighs, "I guess we both need to get to Colonial Bay now. Maybe I can convince Starguard to airlift us, since I was doing this for one of their members."

Dark Horse says, "You...so you can hook up with your boss...and me...so I can get home."

Hiram nods. "I have my PDA and credit account. If not I can buy tickets to there. Why Colonial Bay?"

Dark Horse smiles, "That's where Rolande is currently. I assume you want to work with him again."

Dark Horse rubs his chin..."Assuming...that time moves in the same speed in both areas."

Hiram nods. "Yes. He needs me to organise his hunts. Let's go."

Dark Horse tries contacting the (relatively) local Starguard branch on his radio, and explains the situation in fairly simple detail. To see if he can get a ride to CB.

Dark Horse smiles, "I should have taken more pictures while I was there. The Commander was a good looking woman."

Hiram grins. "I won't miss the cell, but I'll miss the meals. The food was excellent."

Dark Horse chuckles. "Next time I'm there, I'll actually try it. I was too paranoid."