EZ_Zebulon
09-11-01, 01:26 PM
TRUE TALES OF ZORBAN ZEBULON
Installment One:
THE MECHANICS OF DOOM!
Zorban insisted that it could be rebuilt, though no one knew whether be meant Ak’Anon or his invention, the cause of the city’s destruction. He didn’t build it with malicious intent, the invention that is, but when it was finished the thing seemed to have a malicious intent of its own, leaving a path of destruction not yet seen by Gnome kind.
He wouldn’t tell anyone what it was, oh he’d let you look at it, but it was one of those contraptions that you had no idea what it would do until it did it, and it always did what you least expected it to do. Whenever asked, the tips of his old wrinkled lips would shoot up so that they nearly reached his ears, and he’d say in a sly voice “You’ll see”. The only clue he gave us was saying that “Those Blasted Elves” wouldn’t be trespassing in Steam Font anymore once they got a load of his Precious’ potential.
I swear upon the name of Brell that the thing was twice the size of an Ogre! How many Rogue Clockworks he had to slay just to find the material to make it with was beyond imagination. It had wheels made of thick steel that looked like those on a wagon, except there was a long band of hinged metal attaching two of them on each side making for two oval shaped wheels that looked like they could bend over, and grip onto any surface and never slip.
On top of the two oddly shaped “tracks/wheels” was a large metal box the size of two Gnome dwellings placed one in front of the other. On top of this was a large round chimney, which would billow smoke from the burning coals in the base of the machine. In front of the box was a long rectangular window, and when Zorban allowed you to look through this window you’d see gadgets and mechanisms that would make any Gnome heart skip a beat. Both beautiful and horrifying in their complexity. These flashing, cranking, turning, bobbing things played major parts in the fantasies of any Gnome allowed to see them. The “dwelling”, which Zorban later referred to as the “Hot Box” with a mad giggle, could rotate 360 degrees. The rotation was controlled by a huge steering wheel in its center.
Sticking out of the technological marvel of a “dwelling” was a long hollow staff made of the same kind of metal. The edges were as thick as the arms of Dwarf. The hollow was tall enough for a full grown Gnome to stand up in and long enough for ten of them to lie down in, it was the pride and joy of Zorban. It was also the device that was the key to Ak’Anon’s destruction when it started shooting out huge projectiles with long puffs of steam. The projectiles were filled with a strange yellow chemical that would explode when the bottles that it was contained in were thrown against a wall. Zorban acquired a few hundred vials of this cantankerous concoction from his long journeys into the West, where he met primitive Finger Wagglers that referred to themselves as Shamans.
You could enter the Hot Box through a hatch in it’s top. He’d disappear for days on end into that large box, that looked so much like a coffin made for a @#%$. If you’d stand next to it while he was in there, you could hear him clanging, banging, and cranking away at the multitudes of strange devices within.
It took him five years to collect enough material, two years to fashion them together to form his doodad of destruction, and about ten minutes for a member of the Dark Reflection to hop in the driver’s seat in the middle of the night and destroy half of Ak’Anon.
I stand on guard during the night shift, in the tunnel that leads to the Central Lake so I was one of the first Gnomes to see it. Lucky me I guess. I heard a rumbling like that that would issue forth from the belly of a hungry Giant, and hisses like that of a demonic snake. A single green light flashed on in the far dim reaches of the tunnel, from the direction of the light came a high pitched, screechy voice
“Stand aside or feel the wrath of the Dark Reflection!”
So, I stood aside! I’m no fool. I knew exactly what was coming and I knew that there was nothing I could do about it. I‘m afraid that my partner didn‘t share in my supply of life saving cowardice. The poor boy stood directly in the path of the metal beast, straightening his back and drawing his sword.
“Halt in the name of Brell Serilis!” He shouted bravely, though I think I heard his voice crack a bit. The grumbling started again and this time it kept getting louder. The green light which at first was a small pinpoint, started to grow larger and larger, until it filled the entire tunnel with a sickly green glow. It was coming faster then I thought was possible for the Technological Titan, faster then my partner could possibly run. He soon became a grotesque ornament on the front of the “Hot Box”. Screaming even after his torso melded with unforgiving metal. He slipped under the tracks and his screaming quickly ended.
His wasn’t the last shout of horror and pain that echoed through the halls of Ak’Anon that night. From my alcove I didn’t see much, but I heard everything. Heard the screams, and the metal clangs as one by one armor covered Gem Choppers threw themselves in the path of the Beast. Heard the gigantic steam-powered machine raining terror upon the citizens with its huge cannon. It never would have been stopped if it weren’t for the clumsiness of the rogue operator, who drove the thing right into the lake in the back of the city, where it was sucked into the giant wooden turbines and thrown over the edge of the waterfall. We found Mithraug, the driver, dead in the Hot Box later that night, half his skull caved in.
Zorban was exiled from Ak’Anon and Steam Font by the council. Forced to live among the Big Folk for the rest of his days. That was five years ago. He’s still out there, somewhere, still inventing, I’m sure of it. Building his contraptions, some of infinite usefulness, others of terrible destruction.
Whether or not he wants vengeance on the council and the rest Ak’Anon for making him live among the Big Folk for an accident which he kept insisting “Wasn’t his fault!” Only time will tell.
[authors note: I'll be releasing another installment next week...whether you like it or not! If you are pleased by this then click in next time for the next heart combobulating True Tale of Zorban Zebluon called:
MITHRAUG RISING!]
Edited by: Zebulon at: 9/11/01 3:27:42 pm
Installment One:
THE MECHANICS OF DOOM!
Zorban insisted that it could be rebuilt, though no one knew whether be meant Ak’Anon or his invention, the cause of the city’s destruction. He didn’t build it with malicious intent, the invention that is, but when it was finished the thing seemed to have a malicious intent of its own, leaving a path of destruction not yet seen by Gnome kind.
He wouldn’t tell anyone what it was, oh he’d let you look at it, but it was one of those contraptions that you had no idea what it would do until it did it, and it always did what you least expected it to do. Whenever asked, the tips of his old wrinkled lips would shoot up so that they nearly reached his ears, and he’d say in a sly voice “You’ll see”. The only clue he gave us was saying that “Those Blasted Elves” wouldn’t be trespassing in Steam Font anymore once they got a load of his Precious’ potential.
I swear upon the name of Brell that the thing was twice the size of an Ogre! How many Rogue Clockworks he had to slay just to find the material to make it with was beyond imagination. It had wheels made of thick steel that looked like those on a wagon, except there was a long band of hinged metal attaching two of them on each side making for two oval shaped wheels that looked like they could bend over, and grip onto any surface and never slip.
On top of the two oddly shaped “tracks/wheels” was a large metal box the size of two Gnome dwellings placed one in front of the other. On top of this was a large round chimney, which would billow smoke from the burning coals in the base of the machine. In front of the box was a long rectangular window, and when Zorban allowed you to look through this window you’d see gadgets and mechanisms that would make any Gnome heart skip a beat. Both beautiful and horrifying in their complexity. These flashing, cranking, turning, bobbing things played major parts in the fantasies of any Gnome allowed to see them. The “dwelling”, which Zorban later referred to as the “Hot Box” with a mad giggle, could rotate 360 degrees. The rotation was controlled by a huge steering wheel in its center.
Sticking out of the technological marvel of a “dwelling” was a long hollow staff made of the same kind of metal. The edges were as thick as the arms of Dwarf. The hollow was tall enough for a full grown Gnome to stand up in and long enough for ten of them to lie down in, it was the pride and joy of Zorban. It was also the device that was the key to Ak’Anon’s destruction when it started shooting out huge projectiles with long puffs of steam. The projectiles were filled with a strange yellow chemical that would explode when the bottles that it was contained in were thrown against a wall. Zorban acquired a few hundred vials of this cantankerous concoction from his long journeys into the West, where he met primitive Finger Wagglers that referred to themselves as Shamans.
You could enter the Hot Box through a hatch in it’s top. He’d disappear for days on end into that large box, that looked so much like a coffin made for a @#%$. If you’d stand next to it while he was in there, you could hear him clanging, banging, and cranking away at the multitudes of strange devices within.
It took him five years to collect enough material, two years to fashion them together to form his doodad of destruction, and about ten minutes for a member of the Dark Reflection to hop in the driver’s seat in the middle of the night and destroy half of Ak’Anon.
I stand on guard during the night shift, in the tunnel that leads to the Central Lake so I was one of the first Gnomes to see it. Lucky me I guess. I heard a rumbling like that that would issue forth from the belly of a hungry Giant, and hisses like that of a demonic snake. A single green light flashed on in the far dim reaches of the tunnel, from the direction of the light came a high pitched, screechy voice
“Stand aside or feel the wrath of the Dark Reflection!”
So, I stood aside! I’m no fool. I knew exactly what was coming and I knew that there was nothing I could do about it. I‘m afraid that my partner didn‘t share in my supply of life saving cowardice. The poor boy stood directly in the path of the metal beast, straightening his back and drawing his sword.
“Halt in the name of Brell Serilis!” He shouted bravely, though I think I heard his voice crack a bit. The grumbling started again and this time it kept getting louder. The green light which at first was a small pinpoint, started to grow larger and larger, until it filled the entire tunnel with a sickly green glow. It was coming faster then I thought was possible for the Technological Titan, faster then my partner could possibly run. He soon became a grotesque ornament on the front of the “Hot Box”. Screaming even after his torso melded with unforgiving metal. He slipped under the tracks and his screaming quickly ended.
His wasn’t the last shout of horror and pain that echoed through the halls of Ak’Anon that night. From my alcove I didn’t see much, but I heard everything. Heard the screams, and the metal clangs as one by one armor covered Gem Choppers threw themselves in the path of the Beast. Heard the gigantic steam-powered machine raining terror upon the citizens with its huge cannon. It never would have been stopped if it weren’t for the clumsiness of the rogue operator, who drove the thing right into the lake in the back of the city, where it was sucked into the giant wooden turbines and thrown over the edge of the waterfall. We found Mithraug, the driver, dead in the Hot Box later that night, half his skull caved in.
Zorban was exiled from Ak’Anon and Steam Font by the council. Forced to live among the Big Folk for the rest of his days. That was five years ago. He’s still out there, somewhere, still inventing, I’m sure of it. Building his contraptions, some of infinite usefulness, others of terrible destruction.
Whether or not he wants vengeance on the council and the rest Ak’Anon for making him live among the Big Folk for an accident which he kept insisting “Wasn’t his fault!” Only time will tell.
[authors note: I'll be releasing another installment next week...whether you like it or not! If you are pleased by this then click in next time for the next heart combobulating True Tale of Zorban Zebluon called:
MITHRAUG RISING!]
Edited by: Zebulon at: 9/11/01 3:27:42 pm