(ooc: There's just one problem, uss -- I don't think Tiamat put any elves in his world. But I guess he wouldn't object if they were to be put into it, just as he didn't object to my race of archangels. Right, Tiamat?
And... (gasp
) Don't make your necromancer
too powerful, okay, uss? I think there are already a lot of complaints around these boards regarding 'uber' characters -- many of them being directed against Tiamat himself.
)
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Marduk nodded as he listened to the ogre's words. "Could that urn have served as some kind of prison for that being whom the ogre referred to as Jonathan?" he wondered. After all, that being appeared right after the urn was broken -- or so the ogre claimed. Meanwhile, LRRH walked to the ogre and gave him a kick in the shin. "Bad, bad man!" she cried. "Now you got your lesson from uncle Mar-dook!"
"Stop that, child," admonished Marduk. "Don't be rude."
Then suddenly the archangel felt a terrible chill run up his spine. Instantly he recognised the presence, albeit remote, of extremely powerful and hostile magical forces being set in motion -- forces so potent he might not be able to hold them at bay on his own. From the tremors he felt in his body, he could also tell that lives had been destroyed by those forces.
"Uncle Mar-dook, is something the matter?" asked Hansel when he saw how Marduk seemed momentarily frozen as if shocked about something.
"I'm fine, child," reassured Marduk. "But I've sensed that there are some very bad people around. I think we really need to leave now. Come."
Clenching his hands into fists and putting them together close to his face, Marduk closed his eyes and whispered a word. A large boat appeared before him, the ogre and the children. "Wow," exclaimed Gretel.
"Get inside, everyone!" commanded Marduk. "Hold tight!"
The boat began to
fly. Faster and faster it flew, with Marduk outside pushing the craft while his mighty wings flapped in the air. "Wheeeeee!" cried Hansel, Gretel and LRRH happily. "Uncle Mar-dook is really good!" The ogre cowered in the boat, too startled for words.
Presently the boat soared beyond the clouds and ascended to a clear sky. And in the distance, a tiny speck could be seen. As they approached it, the speck slowly revealed itself for what it was -- a vast city, suspended in the sky...