Some Unexpected Arrivals
The Never Ending Quest - Episode 4120
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The befuddled stableboy eventually notices that three naked bodies have
appeared in
the straw, and is suddenly wide awake. The man looks as though he is one
of the "Fred
twins", as Fred 1 and Fred 2 are called by the townsfolk. (Explaining
about analogs
was thought to be too difficult, and potentially frightening. Some folk do
wonder,
though, why parents would give both twins the same name.)
As far as the stableboy is concerned, all dwarfs look alike. He has never seen one naked before, however, and is interested to learn that the stories about the disproportionately large size of one particular part of their anatomy are in fact true. Most of his attention is given to the woman, though. She is tall and strong, yet beautiful. She appears to be about six months pregnant. By far her most noteworthy feature, however, is that she is as black as the ace of spades, as the Walants saying has it. He remembers the stories of his home village, about coal-black succubi who come to steal men's souls away. But he is a man of the world now, he tells himself, and beyond such superstition. Nevertheless, he decides that making an evil-warding gesture with his fingers can't hurt. The lad establishes that the trio are merely unconscious rather than dead. Then he goes to seek assistance, since this is rather out of his league. (Meanwhile, not that far away, Inquirer is wondering why her pouch suddenly feels heavier. Could it be one of those gravity shifts that indicates the final collapse of the slipgate system is near?) Whilst the boy is gone...
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JH (Inquirer's fear is groundless, of course)
9/8/1999 11:30:20 AM
Extending Enabled
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