<font color="skyblue">Standing, she raises her ungloved hands above her head, and throws her head back, speaking in a soft chant only the wolf and the Cloud bringer understand.....

Blue flames flicker into being over her whole body, and an unseen wind tears at her hair and cloak...

Raising SpiritSword, she speaks three words to soft to hear, and throws the herbs in her hand at the wall....

The runes upon the blade blaze into being, bathing the dank air in silver light, and the wall implodes, creating a circle of flames upon the water beyond, as the herbs she has thrown take root with the seeds, and a solid barrier of plant matter create a moderate opening of crawlable space up thru a small whirpool leading to the surface of the moat......

"Quickly, I cannot hold it for long........" she yells at the others, refusing to move until they are at least halfway up the opening.........</font>

<font color=teal>For a moment he stands stunned by what he has just witnessed. The others begin to move, however, and he gathers what breathable air is to found in this place around them. Spree and the young man called Deiter exit first followed by the wolf. He follows more slowly that there might be a pocket of air for the woman whose power has provided this exit. It is a slow climb upward through this narrow tube of twisted roots and vines, but a climb whose every forward motion is a movement into the sunlight that reaches them even here so far below the surface of the dark and stagnant waters of the moat.

They reach the surface and he throws back his head to receive the full light of the sun upon his face. His lungs expand hungrily and he draws breath after deepening breath of the free and living air around them. With a strange silence the tunnel of plants collapses behind them and the moat waters lie still once more for a few brief moments before rushing with a roar downward through the opening to flood the dungeons of the ruined tower.</font>

<font color=silver>ooc: OK let's wrap this up ....
Final post to follow.</font>

<font color=silver>ooc: Before we conclude – a tip of the hat and a very large <font color=orchid size=+3>THANK YOU</font> to Larry for all the work he put into making this such an enjoyable roleplaying experience. You da man!</font> :D :D :D

<font color=teal>He extends his hand and Whisper flies from her perch upon his shoulder to rest upon his palm. With his other hand he lightly brushes the grey feathers of the small owl as he steps to where the young ranger stands. It is good that she has found again this one whom she had feared lost. Stretching out his hand, he places the owl upon her shoulder. “My thanks,” he says softly and then turns to the woman whose throat is banded with silver, she who knows the words of ancient songs. He bends a moment and that he might brush his hand along the coat of the wolf seated at her feet. Rising he stands still before her and simply looks, memorizing the lines of her features and noting the cadences of her breath. The sun-warmed air moves slowly between them and he leans forward to kiss her upon the runic mark within the skin of her forehead. He whispers as he does so, his words borne first to her ears before dispersing outward along the winds which stir in this valley:

<font color=white>“Take this kiss upon the brow,
and in parting from you now
this much must I avow:
All that we see or seem
is so much more than merely dreams,
and the beating vigor of a living heart
and the stormy breathing it imparts
is enough to bear the dark
of our faint and distant dreams
into the bright and wakeful dawn of being.”</font>

<font color= turquoise>[With apologies to Edgar Allen Poe, whose Dream Within a Dream I modified here.]</font>

The burning light of the sun fills the sky and the harsh and cold freedom of the wind thrills his skin. There is an expansiveness about the sky today and he would move within it. He smiles, then, as he steps forward into the free and living air and surrenders to its movement. The gusting currents carry him upward and the grim lines of his face soften. It is the life of a stormwalker, the only life he knows, and it is more than good enough.</font>

<font color=silver size=+3>THE END</font>

Roll the credits, Larry.

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<font color="#ffffff" size="+1"> <u>Ending Credits</u>

<u>Larry: </u> The Mad Modding Mage, originally created by Legolas.
Thanks pal! Your idea made for a wonderful game!

<u>Cyril:</u> The man who began this game about half-way through as a
side-quest and later ended up the victorious champion.
Thanks for your efforts to make this game historic.
You gave it a life that it lacked and helped me bring
it to a conclusion. In fact, this is the first game in
IW history that has an ending!

<u>TAO Wolf:</u> Thanks for jumping in there and making it
interesting and giving it more depth.
It would not have been as good without your input.

<u>K. Spree:</u> Being the last to arrive in the battle, you gave me
a reason to explain a lot with Deiter and I am glad
that you had the chance to rescue him. Since his
disappearance, none of us had much to go on, so I
hope I did you and him justice by letting you
conclude the story the way we did. You deserve the
best!

<u>Neb:</u> My only faithful General. You were on my side from the
very beginning, and stayed there…except for that
trip to Bermuda…but glad you came back and finished
with me.

<u>Madman:</u> Thanks for killing that dragon so that I didn’t have
to. That was the weirdest post I had ever read!

<u>Morgeraut:</u> You added a nice spice to the story that ended
very well, I think. Thanks for playing cool!

<u>Azrael:</u> Thank you for hanging in there and giving the evil
side something to swat at! I will never forget how
you took out my flying demons! That was powerful
magic! Lol!

<u>Lennon: </u> I never did understand your role, or whose side you
were really on! But…thanks for jumping in there,
trying to make a name in the game, and getting
killed by Neb’s thing. It was very graphic
and fun to read!

<u>Talthyr: </u> Although your plot was small… it was no less
important. Thanks for being a part in the last
thread.

Nobody else’s name appears within the last two installments of the game, so let it suffice to say that the Paladins of Keldorn’s Order and the Rangers of Ironworks are to be remembered for their initial participation with the Lord of the Forums…even before it was named as such and was merely a fun hack and slash instead of a dramatic super-game. Thank you all for your participation…also for Mistral who was to be a general on my side until she had real life calling her away. Thanks to all of you folk!</font>
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[ 05-21-2002, 10:16 AM: Message edited by: Larry_OHF ]