<font color="yellow">
MARIA
Barely able to move, Maria reaches slowly into her bodice, and pulls out the tiny fetish TAOWolf had given her when she first arrived. She holds it tight in her hand, and repeats the word TAO taught her to say, over and over and over......... "a' dion, a' dion, a' dion, a' dion...."</font>

<font color="brightred">The amulet starts to whisper again to Shadowhound, "fight the whispers of the wind, child, fight hard.......I need you..........fight for me......."
The stone flashes bright blue, the bloodstone in the middle growing warm with power.............</font>

THE TAVERN

<font color=skyblue>The Devourer</font>
<font color=silver>..... Yes! O! Yes! .... The possibilities a mind such as this possesses .... hmmm ..... perhaps I shall .... <font color=skyblue>[Maria has begun to speak softly as she holds the fetish]</font> ..... But what is this? Your strength is remarkable, woman .... remarkable indeed .... but .... Ah! So horribly misdirected ..... the same bond that prevents me from simply devouring the lot of you holds your outsider gods helpless against me ...... Such a splendid gesture, however! Such a gift! The fear that follows broken heroism has the most delightful taste of all ...... Yes! First you and then that fool with the amulet ......</font>

<font color=skyblue>The Wind shifts its movement, growing still and allowing the air to thicken with a caustic humidity. Tendrils of poisoned air reach slowly toward Shadowhound, winding themselves around his body and insinuating themselves into his breathing. The stinging vapors gathering around her loosen Maria’s grip on the fetish and it falls harmlessly to the floor. Mercifully, she faints as the sneering of the Wind reaches once more into her mind ......</font>

ooc: Another post to follow in short order .....

[ 02-26-2002: Message edited by: Cyril Darkcloud ]</p>

THE TAVERN

<font color=skyblue>The Devourer</font>

<font color=silver>Ah! And now to taste ..... Wait! ..... What???? No! The fool could not have ...... But, the taste of his life is abroad in the winds ..... how?????</font>

<font color=skyblue>The restless movements of the Wind grow suddenly still and the hunger turns its attention away from its victims.</font>

ooc: Shadowhound – HINT: RUN!
Neb: If your character needs to get free .....

<font color=silver>Yes .... somehow the winds of the curse have changed .... but what could possibly have ...... Ah! Wait, there is an echo in his breaths, an echo of ..... A NAME???? ...... Yes, yes, a name .... a woman’s name ..... He has brought an outsider into his life ..... The splendid fool! ..... I do so look forward to making her acquaintance ..... O Yes! Perhaps I shall consume her as I did his wife ..... or .... perhaps, yes, there is a better ..... Yes! O! Yes! That shall do nicely ......

..... But ..... I did not think even his defiance was so great as to move the winds a second time ..... and for an outsider! ...... He must be broken ......</font>

<font color=skyblue>And the stale air begins to move again, seething with the hungers of a deep and ancient hatred .....</font>

[ 02-26-2002: Message edited by: Cyril Darkcloud ]</p>

Neb felt the Dead Wind's grasp on his mind weaken, he was near to death with weakness and his bloodlust lifted, he would have little chance to escape so he decided that he might as well go out with a bang, if that thing had tapped into his mind he was going to hurt it, bad.

Gathering whatever little psychic energy he had remaining he prepared to unleash the Mindflame, a highly dangerous power which could literally fry the brains of lesser beings, killing them or putting them in a coma, he had no idea what it might do to the Dead Wind.

The tavern patrons that still remained, along with Shadowhound would have their lives endangered when he unleashed the Mindflame, the majority of it's power would be directed towards the Dead Wind though, along the link that it used to access his mind.

Neb meditated for a few seconds, and then unleashed the Flame.

(OOC: The Dead Wind is probably too strong to be hurt by the Mindflame, if it will even affect it at all, Neb will be more or less helpless when this ends though.

Shadowhound and the tavern patrons are in much greater danger than the Dead Wind, the tavern patrons will probably be knocked unconscious or killed, while Shadowhound will at least be dazed or possibly stunned.)

<font color="skyblue">She hesitates while trying to wake Cyril, feeling one of the runes starting to burn softly on her leg. She looks down, and the rune FEHU on her calf glows red. She thinks to herself, "Maria,....Shadowhound...oh no.......". She starts to trying to rouse Cyril more fiercely now, shaking him.

"Wake up, na'geamhraidhean madah-allaidh, please wake up"...She rises still naked, and lifts the SpiritSword, staring at the bloodstone in the hilt, her hands on the twin moonstones on the pommel.......................</font>

[ 02-27-2002: Message edited by: TAOWolf ]</p>

<font color="lime">MEANWHILE IN THE FOREST NEARBY

~A child uneffected by the Ill Winds blowing in the area, is playing by the waterfall on the southeast side. She is a pretty little thing, about 4 years old, with black hair, and huge blue eyes.~

~She is pretending to move rocks, like her father, playing at building a house for her cricket.~ "Here you go now, Tabby, soon I will have your mansion built." ~She grabs a rock almost as big as her, and starts pushing it out of the way. It suddenly comes free in her hands, and falls to the pool of water below....She looks back up, and stands in shock at the sight before her................~</font>

<font color="yellow">A rumble is heard thru-out the land......an omen, of things past, and things yet to come..........a power from the Age of Legends has just been awoken.............</font>

<font color="lime">~The little girl sits down hard, her pretty blue eyes never leaving what she has uncovered, and in a voice that is not her own, a voice that carries itself on the wind towards town says, "Behold, I am released once again.......are you ready for me? Do you remember your oaths? We shall see, YES, we shall see"..........~her eyes change color slowly to a dark moss green, glowing with an inner light, and her hair starts growing, becoming longer, with silver streaks, she slowlys starts to age, until she looks to be a young woman of her thirties, but her eyes....her eyes are by far older than time itself. She stands, and looks down into the valley, watching the wind....."She is mine, and so shall he be.....yes.......we shall see............."</font>.

[ 02-27-2002: Message edited by: TAOWolf ]

[ 02-27-2002: Message edited by: TAOWolf ]</p>

<font color=white>ELSEWHERE – a place where life is lived close to the skies

Kiria’na [Ki-ri-ah-NAH]</font>

<font color=pink>She sits nervous and alone on the stone ledge, her eyes searching the night for the great Nomad, the star he had shown her. “Look there,” he had told her his breath embracing her with paternal warmth, “look there for when I look to the skies that is where I shall find you.” Even as her eyes locate the star the winds have borne the touch of his life to her – Father! she wants to cry but even that word is denied her, there is only that terrible word with which to name him, Seh’rul, a name which she will never speak. Her lips open, but no word leaves her mouth.

Standing, she opens herself to the wind as she has learned. – A touch, his touch! But ..... how .... why now? There has been a change! – She will understand later, perhaps. But his touch is here and she will feel it. Her eyes flash in her happiness and she lightly steps off of the ledge and into the wind-borne touch of that one she would again name “Father.”</font>

[ 02-27-2002: Message edited by: Cyril Darkcloud ]</p>

THE TAVERN

<font color=skyblue>The Dead Wind

The surprise and force of Neb’s attack bring an abrupt halt to the soliloquizing [ooc: gotta like that word] of the Wind. Again the air shifts in its movement and its caustic embrace enfolds the psionic.</font>

<font color=silver>Is there no end to the surprises of this place that does not know the sky? Your mind is even more resilient than I had expected ..... perhaps, I was right to consider ...... Yes, O yes! You shall serve rather nicely! Yes, you might walk where I may not. You know this strange land and the ways of its people ..... And .... O! So delightfully better! You have walked within their minds. And so you shall continue to do, only I shall walk with you ..... Yes! Never have I had so promising a herald ..... Just a portion of myself, enough to savor this thoroughly ..... Yes! O yes! So many to others upon which to feed!</font>

<font color=skyblue>There is a sudden and violent shudder in the Wind and the psionic’s body is lifted off the floor. His mouth opens to scream only no sound escapes and a tendril of dead air separates itself from the roiling currents and fills his lungs. Slowly his body returns to the floor, seductive murmurs awakening his mind and filling it again with power.</font>

<font color=white>ooc: Neb – consider yourself the host.</font>

THE TAVERN

<font color=gold>Shadowhound

Finally the numbing, terrifying stillness of his whispered fears relaxes its hold upon him. His throat and lungs are burning from the caustic air and it is difficult even to stand. And then he sees, finally sees, the recently slain bodies and the gibbering madness on faces of the few still alive. He screams and the scream frees his weakened limbs to move. The half elf flees the tavern, running out into the storm and not stopping until he is well into the forest. He leans gasping against a tall maple, very weak, but alive .... but still hearing the whispering madness of his own fears within his mind.</font>

ooc: Shadowhound – I didn’t want to take over your character, but there was no other way to get him out of the tavern alive and with something of his sanity left. At the very least, he’s gonna be having very severe nightmares for a long time after this....

[ 02-27-2002: Message edited by: Cyril Darkcloud ]</p>