Difference between revisions of "UO:2017-08-23: The Shattered Obelisk: Talking Through Wisps"

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A small mouse dreamed in a box of yarn by the inn’s hearth. Sherry was enjoying a most satisfying piece of dream gouda and watching a play she had seen so long ago. The chair was built for a child, and one of the actors had been nice enough to loan her a cushion. She was watching a man smash a paste gem with his prop sword when someone sat in the empty seat beside her. She nodded to the man and continued to watch the soliloquy on stage.
+
Heigel looked around nervously. Suddenly, a window exploded outward, and a smoking rune landed at his feet. The mage shook his head and knocked on the door. When the frustrated mutterings on the other side didn’t acknowledge him, he entered the house. The room was cluttered with books, runes, and random artifacts piled against the walls. The table was covered with dirty dishes and highly toxic reagents. A disheveled mage in blue robes stood at the center of a pentagram.
  
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After listening for a few moments, the man beside her started talking, “As this is one of the few events I did not witness, I often wonder if the Stranger understood the importance of his act. Did he know that shattering the gem would lead to everything that followed?”
+
Gilforn didn’t seem to notice him, so Heigel waved at the other mage. Gilforn smiled at him and waved back, before starting another casting on a blank rune. After a second shattered window, Gilforn seemed ready to talk. “I don’t understand. I’ve double-checked my calculations. The arcane geometry was perfect. It not as if some massive structure is occupying the same ethereal space as Britannia or anything.”
  
−
Sherry turned to look at the speaker. He appeared to be an older human, wearing a light blue robe. He was smiling at her, but there was a hint of sadness in his eyes. He would have been perfectly normal if not for his shadow, which formed the silhouette of a grandfather clock on the wall behind him. “Do I know you?”
+
Heigel coughed. “I really need to speak with you.”
  
−
The old man nodded, “I spoke to three people that night: a virtuous king, a doubtful lord, and the small mouse who would tell the world. I met with the others each again, so it seemed fitting to finish the circle. My name is Hawkwind.”
+
Gilforn gave an embarrassed grimace. “Sorry, it’s so easy to get lost in one’s experiments. What can I help you with?”
  
−
Sherry stared at the Time Lord in awe, “So this is not a dream?”
+
Heigel started his practiced spiel, “I’m calling together Moonglow’s best and brightest, because I believe we face a crisis. After talking with a wisp—”
  
−
“All dreams touch the place I walk, but some dreams are something more. I have much I need to tell you, but we are not alone.”
+
“Wisp! Where?” shouted Gilforn as he hid behind a chair.
  
−
Sherry looked around the theatre. The audience were not the people she remembered, but strange beings. There was a granite-faced man who watched the play in silence while being waited upon by skeletons. A blustering red-faced man holding a great torch shouted at an usher. With a voice like the wind across crystal, a laughing woman sang along with the minstrels on stage, but the laughter did not reach her cold eyes. An older woman with pale skin and blue hair stared at Sherry like a hungry shark. In the back corner, there was something hidden by shadow.
+
“The wisp isn’t here. I spoke with the Xorinite creature earlier.”
  
−
Sherry whispered to Hawkwind, “Who are they?”
+
Gilforn cautiously stood back up. “Go on.”
  
−
“Powers and principalities. Great beings who have noticed Sosaria for the first time. In trying to avert a tragedy, I have inadvertently drawn their attention.”
+
“We were exchanging information a few weeks back, when the wisp asked if I was interested in sharing messages with a mage from beyond Sosaria on the topic of ‘interdimensional movement’ to and from Sosaria.”
  
−
“What are you going to do about it?”
+
Gilforn looked giddy with excitement. “Ethereal pen pals! I’m hoping you said yes.”
  
−
“At this moment, what little I am capable of.” Hawkwind’s body seemed to shimmer slightly, and Sherry saw that his hands and feet were bound. “With this sliver of freedom, I am talking with you.”
+
Heigel realized he had Gilforn’s full attention for the first time. “Given the terrible threats that have come to Britannia from across the Ethereal Void, it seemed the duty of a responsible citizen to learn such information.”
  
−
“But I am but a mouse.“
+
Gilforn replied, “And also you were really curious.”
  
−
“You have acted when others, more powerful and better able, did nothing. Those you need to find and encourage will trust you, just as I did so many years ago.” Hawkwind turned back to the stage. The play was ending, and the actors stepped forward. There were hundreds of them, all of Britannia, people she recognized and those she didn’t. Those she needed to find. They gave a great bow, and Sherry woke to the clock striking one in the morning.
+
“That too. With the wisp’s help, I have been exchanging letters with this other mage about the nature of the space between worlds, relics in the Ethereal Void, and important current events that affect Sosaria.”
 +
 
 +
Gilforn grabbed a scrap of paper and a broken quill from the table. “Tell me everything!”
 +
 
 +
“I don’t want to go into details yet, but what I’ve learned has me very worried. That is why I’m inviting important mages to meet at the Lycaeum tomorrow at dawn. Everyone needs to be there. Promise me that you will hear what I have to say.”
 +
 
 +
Gilforn nodded, “Of course I’ll be there. I’ll even set my alarm clock.” He motioned to a pile of tinkered gadgets and socks. “Hmm, I wonder if all of this will change my calculations…”
 +
 
 +
Heigel bid Gilforn farewell and headed back to the Lycaeum. He looked over his list, “Dexter. Check. Dryus. Check. Gilforn. Check. Only a few more to invite. Everything is going so well.” Still he couldn’t shake the feeling he was being followed.
  
  
  
 
References:
 
References:
−
* https://uo.com/wiki/ultima-online-wiki/fiction/the-shattered-obelisk/hickory-dickory-dock/
+
* https://uo.com/wiki/ultima-online-wiki/fiction/the-shattered-obelisk/talking-through-wisps/
  
 
</div>{{InfoFooter UOFiction| type = Official Fiction}}
 
</div>{{InfoFooter UOFiction| type = Official Fiction}}

Revision as of 04:43, 8 September 2017


Talking Through Wisps

Author: EM Malachi Published: August 23, 2017




Heigel looked around nervously. Suddenly, a window exploded outward, and a smoking rune landed at his feet. The mage shook his head and knocked on the door. When the frustrated mutterings on the other side didn’t acknowledge him, he entered the house. The room was cluttered with books, runes, and random artifacts piled against the walls. The table was covered with dirty dishes and highly toxic reagents. A disheveled mage in blue robes stood at the center of a pentagram.

Gilforn didn’t seem to notice him, so Heigel waved at the other mage. Gilforn smiled at him and waved back, before starting another casting on a blank rune. After a second shattered window, Gilforn seemed ready to talk. “I don’t understand. I’ve double-checked my calculations. The arcane geometry was perfect. It not as if some massive structure is occupying the same ethereal space as Britannia or anything.”

Heigel coughed. “I really need to speak with you.”

Gilforn gave an embarrassed grimace. “Sorry, it’s so easy to get lost in one’s experiments. What can I help you with?”

Heigel started his practiced spiel, “I’m calling together Moonglow’s best and brightest, because I believe we face a crisis. After talking with a wisp—”

“Wisp! Where?” shouted Gilforn as he hid behind a chair.

“The wisp isn’t here. I spoke with the Xorinite creature earlier.”

Gilforn cautiously stood back up. “Go on.”

“We were exchanging information a few weeks back, when the wisp asked if I was interested in sharing messages with a mage from beyond Sosaria on the topic of ‘interdimensional movement’ to and from Sosaria.”

Gilforn looked giddy with excitement. “Ethereal pen pals! I’m hoping you said yes.”

Heigel realized he had Gilforn’s full attention for the first time. “Given the terrible threats that have come to Britannia from across the Ethereal Void, it seemed the duty of a responsible citizen to learn such information.”

Gilforn replied, “And also you were really curious.”

“That too. With the wisp’s help, I have been exchanging letters with this other mage about the nature of the space between worlds, relics in the Ethereal Void, and important current events that affect Sosaria.”

Gilforn grabbed a scrap of paper and a broken quill from the table. “Tell me everything!”

“I don’t want to go into details yet, but what I’ve learned has me very worried. That is why I’m inviting important mages to meet at the Lycaeum tomorrow at dawn. Everyone needs to be there. Promise me that you will hear what I have to say.”

Gilforn nodded, “Of course I’ll be there. I’ll even set my alarm clock.” He motioned to a pile of tinkered gadgets and socks. “Hmm, I wonder if all of this will change my calculations…”

Heigel bid Gilforn farewell and headed back to the Lycaeum. He looked over his list, “Dexter. Check. Dryus. Check. Gilforn. Check. Only a few more to invite. Everything is going so well.” Still he couldn’t shake the feeling he was being followed.


References:

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