[Mkguild] MK story Past Present and Future part 1

[christian okane]

 Here is part 1 of my latest Metamor Keep Story. It takes place in May
708CR. It helps to have read my older story First and Last which is
available here: http://metamorkeep.com/story/First_and_Last.php

   Feel free to make comments and enjoy!
Chris
The Lurking Fox.



Past, Present and Future
by Christian O'Kane and Stealthcat

May 708CR

   "THERE'S TOO MANY!" the legionnaire shouted. "We're going to die!" The
two soldiers were back to back as a dozen green skinned lutins charged
straight at them.

   Edmund used his massive shield to slam into two of the lutins rushing at
him sending them tumbling backwards. But the respite was fleeting as three
more replaced them. Edmund stabbed the first to reach him in the stomach as
he desperately parried the spears of the other two.

  "Ed, get up."

   One of the spears slid past his shield and the metal bands that made up
his armor and sank deeply into his chest. The searing pain shot through his
whole body.

   "ED! WAKE UP!"

  The cheetah in the bed stirred and tossed about but still didn't awaken.
The shock of cold water on him brought Edmund awake instantly and he sat
bolt upright in bed his eyes wide and his whole body shaking. All he saw
around him was the warmth and safety of his bedroom in Metamor Keep. "What?"

   "You were having a nightmare," Stealth standing next to the bed with a
pitcher in hand.

   "We must return to the haunted wood," Edmund said solemnly.

   Stealth blinked. "Ed, go back to sleep."

   "I'm serious!" The paladin said.

   "I know!" Came the reply and Stealth turned and left the room.


****************


   The room was quiet, the only sound was the faint and steady ticking of an
elaborate clock that hung on a wall. The room's two occupants were seated at
a large table. Resting on the table was a half full bottle of wine and two
goblets of pewter.

   "Rick, look at this table and tell me what you see." The fox ordered with
his head turned down.

   Rickkter scoffed under his breath and looked at the table, on it was a
map of the Eastern Giantdowns with several of the vulpine's painted scale
models presumably representing real world units. "I see the northern
wastes."

   "And your strategy?"

   "Who's strategy? You've placed several legions from Metamor around a
handful of enemy soldiers in an area of no strategic importance."

   "So it would seem!" The fox said and then turned to his shelf for another
scale model. "Nasoj is unpredictable! He has tricks up his sleeves." He
placed it down behind the Metamorian positions causing several of them to
rattle. "Now what do you see?"

   "A giant enemy crab," was the response. Rickkter peered closer at the
figure. "A nicely painted one."

   "And now the tables are turned, what do you do now?" The fox asked,
staring at him.

   Rickkter rubbed his chin and then reached down at the table, turning one
of the keepers the other way, facing the crab, "Attack it's weak point for
massive damage."

   Misha leaned forward, closer to his friend. "And how do you know where
the weak points are?"

   "That's the difficulty," Rickkter responded, eyes narrowing in
irritation, his statement almost a question. The raccoon could not help but
wonder where the fox was going with this line inquiry. And if there was one
thing Rickkter hated it was guessing games.

   Misha picked up the model crab and looked at for a moment. "Rickkter. I
need your help. Are you up to a little trip?"

   "A little trip?" The raccoon asked suspiciously. "To where? The
Giantdowns?"

   "The Amber Order ruins," the scout said bluntly.

   "The ruins on the mountain top here in the valley?" The raccoon asked.
"Why? We haven't been there since we fought with Bolva."

   "I've ignored the place for too long," the fox explained simply.

   "Do we really need to explore that place?" Rickkter snapped. "We already
have enough problems without disturbing those ruins and uncovering more
trouble."

   "Yes! We might find another automaton there!" Misha replied cheerfully.

   Rickkter stared at his friend for a moment with a cold, hard gaze.
"Metamor can't survive another one like Madog. I'm not sure we can survive
Madog!" The raccoon quipped. "Just leave them both there then he'll have a
friend."

   "Rickkter! That's a stupid thing to say!" Misha snapped harshly.

   "You're right, he'll just follow you home," Rickkter said without looking
up.

   Misha's eyes narrowed and he snarled at the raccoon. "Why won't you admit
that Madog is a good thing to have at the keep?"

   "I'm not blinded by my emotions." Rickkter answered, "Madog is not a
child!"

   "And he's not a monster either," Misha countered.

   Rickkter looked at the fox with harsh glaring eyes "What is he, Misha,
what is he? Tell me"

   "What are you?" Misha countered and pointed a finger at Rickkter. "I know
Madog better than I know you."

   Misha expected some sort of witty reply but Rickkter simply shrugged. "Do
any of us really know who we are? Aren't we as much a mystery to ourselves
as to others?"

   "What I know is that I trust you," Misha said earnestly. "What I don't
know about you is not worth worrying about."

   Rickkter gave a chitter of laughter. "You make it sound so easy."

   "It is that easy," Misha answered, "I've trusted both you and Madog with
my life more than once. You were there with me at Stepping Rock when we
fought that ogre. And when Bolva threatened everyone I trusted Madog and he
saved us all."

   "And what of Bolva?"

   "That is another reason to go. To be sure he is still in his cage," the
fox said.

   "You don't know for certain?" Rickkter asked, surprised and worried.

   "I haven't revisited the ruins but I know Madog and Omega do so
regularly," the scout answered. Misha leaned forward, closer to his friend.
"Can you honestly tell me you're not interested in exploring the ruins of a
castle that was home to a group or mages. Mages who practiced magic that is
now long lost to the world?" He asked in a soft voice.

   Rickkter glared at the fox for a moment, his only movement was the slow,
steady swishing back and forth of his tail. Then he laughed out loud. "You
know the answer to that already!"

   "I really need you there for support," the fox added earnestly.

   "Why are you suddenly going back to the ruins?" Rickkter asked. "It was
almost a year since we were there."

   Misha leaned closer to his friend and when he spoke it was in a soft
whisper. "Recently I was visited by a strange woman."

   That caught the raccoons attention. Seeing as he lived in a magical,
sentient castle filled with talking animals and had a metal fox as a pet for
Misha to describe someone as strange meant they must have really been
strange. "Oh?" He said with some excitement creeping into his voice.

   "She claimed to be from the far east," Misha explained. "But this woman
didn't look like she had traveled that far."

   "What did she want with you?" Rickkter asked.

   "Supposedly she wanted some clock gears repaired," Misha explained. "But
these were NOT clock gears. They were clearly part of an automaton
mechanism."

   The raccoon took a sip of wine. "What did you do? You accepted I hope!"

   "Of course," was the fox's response. "These parts were old and the magic
in them was clearly automata."

   "Another collector perhaps," Rickkter commented with a shake of the head.
"Someone with bits and pieces."

   Misha shook his head. "I've had plenty of those and so have the Marigund
mages guild. This seemed different. Far different. For one she didn't try to
sell me the parts for some obscenely high sum."

   Rickkter gave a chitter of laughter. The raccoon picked up a small metal
figure of a centaur and examined it for a moment. "It seems you attracted
the attention of someone else interested in automatons. That's interesting
and exciting."

   "Dangerous too," Misha responded. "I'm starting the believe everything
involving Automata is dangerous. I've no idea what she really wants but it's
certain she was testing me and my abilities."

   The raccoon put down the figure of a centaur. "That makes sense. There
are many people who claim to use automaton magic but so far you're the only
one to actually use it."

   Misha sighed deeply. "Why me? Why does all this seem to come to me?"

   Rickkter shrugged. "That is a question I cannot answer. All I can say is
that sometimes we chose and sometimes we are chosen."

   "I didn't even get the chance to be asked." Misha commented with a shake
of the head.

   The raccoon leaned forward. "Are you sorry you found Madog?"

   "No," Misha responded quickly and firmly. "Never have I regretted finding
and fixing Madog."

   "So what of this mystery woman?" Rickkter asked between sips of wine.
"Any idea who she is and where she came from?"

   Misha shrugged. "No idea but she certainly wasn't from the far east.
That's for certain. She couldn't have traveled that far."

   "Could she be from the Giantdowns?" Rickkter asked.

   "If she wasn't from the east the woman had to be from the Downs." The fox
looked at his friend. "What do you know of the Giantdowns?"

   "Little," Rickkter responded honestly. "You've spent the last several
years wandering around the Giantdowns and studying the region. You actually
wrote a book of Giantdowns myths and legends. So you know more about it than
me but one thing does come to mind; the Dragon wars."

   "That's what came to me too," Misha said. "But all I have are legends and
stories of dragons and automatons fighting monumental battles all over the
Giantdowns."

   "Why not ask the Lutins?" The raccoon mage questioned.

   Misha looked at his friend with a puzzled expression. "You're serious?"

   The raccoon nodded his head slowly. "The lutins have lived in the
Giantdowns since long before the Dragon wars. They fought on both sides in
it and they're sure to have some knowledge and probably relics as well. If
there are any remains I'm sure the Lutins have found them. Since Kelrag has
made an alliance with Thomas why not ask him?"

  "I never considered that," Misha said, surprised. "I'll have to be very
careful about how I phrase any contacts with him."

   "Of course," Rickkter added. "He already knows of your interest in
Automata. Everyone knows of Madog, even the Lutins."

   "They're the only ones to show no interest in him," Misha commented.

   The raccoon cocked his head to one side. "None at all?"

   "None at all," Misha answered with a shake of the head. "No attempted to
capture or even study him. I've never heard so much as a single mention of
him by them. They seemed to have gone to great lengths to avoid him. Perhaps
they remember the Dragon wars better than everyone else and want nothing to
do with Automatons."

   "Or it can be the fact that Madog personally defeated a Moranasi by
ripping the mage to pieces," Rickkter muttered.

   Misha gave a yip of laughter. "Good point. But still I can't help but
wonder what the Lutins do remember about that war."

   Rickkter shrugged. "Undoubtedly they remember quite a lot but there's no
way to find out. At least not yet."

   "Recently Madog suggested I visit a new arrival here at the keep," Misha
said calmly without looking up.

   "Madog suggested it?" Rickkter asked surprised.

   "He said there was something I should see," came the explanation.

   Rickkter cocked his head to one side. "Oh?" The raccoon asked curiously.
"And what was there to see?"

   "He had arrived from Lom only a few months ago." Misha added in response.

   "From Lom?" Rickkter asked and pointed to the north, in the direction of
the Giandowns. "The same Lom Shi'Un as the Dragon Wars? I didn't think they
let people leave that land."

   "Yes that Lom," Misha answered. "And they don't. His departure was an
exciting tale of pursuit and escape."

   "Just getting from Lom to the Keep would be a considerable achievement,"
Rickkter commented. "Why did he leave?"

   "In a country owned and run by Lillith he dared to not worship her and to
be a Follower. You might have seen him around, dragonish, shockingly white
scales with a brown spinal mane," Misha said waving his arms behind his head
in imitation of the dragons mane.

   Rickkter shook his head side to side. "So another dragon here at the
keep?"

   "We only have a few," Misha answered.

   "One dragon is too many," the mage quipped. "I've seen him on occasion."

   Misha gave a yip of laughter. "True sometimes but at least this dragon is
friendly. And he brought back some interesting Automaton items with him."

   Rickkter leaned closer to his friend. "Enough to make another automaton
like Madog?"

   The scout gave a firm shake of the head. "No. Mostly bits and pieces from
a wide variety of sources. There was a dozen gears of different sizes and
materials. Four sections of what I think were skin or armor. One four inch
long curved claw that can slice through steel like a knife thorough soft
cheese. A complete eye, still in the socket and in amazingly good condition
was fascinating. And a lot of other pieces that I have yet to identify. The
most interesting was a finger from some human shaped automaton," Misha said.
He spread his arms out wide. "It was three feet long and eight inches in
diameter."

   Rickkter's eyes narrowed for a moment as his tail swept back and forth.
"That would make the entire figure one hundred feet tall!" He exclaimed.
"Where did he get all of them?"

   "From Lom," the scout answered. "What really excites me is that they
might be remains from the Dragon wars. They were certainly not created by
the Amber order. The magic used is quite different from that in Madog and
Omega."

   "Discover anything truly interesting?" Rickkter asked. Understanding that
his friend had not revealed everything yet.

   "A small box about the size of a bread box, filled completely with
automata," the fox gestured with his hands mimicking the boxes dimensions. "
On top were a half dozen of the most delicate figures I've ever seen," Misha
said with the delight plane to hear. "You know what it was? A music box!
When it was activated beautiful music played and the figures danced. Not
just spun around, they actually danced a sophisticated and graceful dance
movement."

   "That's amazing," Rickkter asked. "What was left of it?"

   "It was intact," Misha responded. "All I had to do was a little cleaning
and adding some lubrication. Then it worked perfectly! It had to be at least
a thousand years old and except for some dents and scratches it was intact.
It's odd how something so delicate could survive so perfectly intact and yet
the hundred foot tall titan was destroyed utterly."

   "Not so surprising," Rickkter replied. "Something as big as that titan
would be hard to conceal. Everyone would see it and know where it was.
They'd also attack it and do whatever they could to destroy it. But that
music box is small and easily concealed. It would have been treasured and
locked away in some unknown corner."

   Misha nodded his head. "Good point! It's certainly a better use for
automata then making more war machines."

   "Where did he get all these treasures?" Rickkter asked.

   Misha shrugged. "He claims he found them by just exploring and purchasing
from various junk and art dealers."

   "Just?" Rickkter asked, amazed. "Is he aware of the value of them?"

   "He is now," Misha responded.  "I made it clear how valuable they were
and how dangerous it is to own them."

   "He knows how to keep a secret I hope," Rickkter questioned. "I am not in
the mood to have to deal with some greedy fool trying to steal them and
causing all sorts of mayhem here."

Misha took a sip of tea. "I would think so, he kept his religious beliefs
secret for years in that Lilith-ruled land. I offered to buy them but he
turned me down. I'll be sure to keep an eye on him."

   Misha's laughter turned briefly into a sullen moue, then he brightened
again, fixing the raccoon with a firm stare. "So, you've danced around my
question without giving me a firm answer.  Will you come with me to the
Amber Order ruins?  Please, Rickkter.  We may need your magic."

   His friend let out a long sigh, eyes drifting heavenward before closing
with a shake of his head. "Fine, Misha, I will go with you.  But if I think
things are getting out of hand I'm dragging you and anyone else you plan to
rope into this crazy venture right back here to the Keep!"

   Misha's tail actually wagged. "Excellent!  I'm glad to have you along,
Rick."

   "And," the raccoon war-mage said, crossing his arms and scowling, "just
so I know, who else did you plan to rope into this little adventure?"

   His scowl turned into outright disgust when he heard the exuberant
answer.

End part 1


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