| Time Orphan
Fred 1 goes to the Southern Caves to slay a dragon. He kills Velus.
He & Astra 1 are sent to a deadly swamp. Astra arrives alive and well,
but Fred arrives with his back torn out and dead. Astra must continue on
alone.
After stumbling across a scene where she sees a teenage boy turn into
a dog (none other than Velus by his appearance) the warrior princess is
rather confused about the turn of events, since they contradict what she
knew what had happened. The dog disappears magically to places unknown.
Astra soon comes upon a woman who appears to be her weapon trainer, but
that is impossible. First her teacher fell in battle 15 years ago. Second,
this "corpse" doesn't show signs of those fifteen years having passed.
After a bit, Anina (the weapon trainer) and Astra establish they are who
they say they are. Anina initially didn't believe Astra to be who she claimed
to be, since Anina's last memory is of Astra being a nine year old girl.
Something is up.
They set off together, and are soon dismayed to find that they are not
only hundreds of miles away from Aqualaria, they are 16 years in Astra's
past. Someone has changes things by teleporting Anina away from Aqualaria,
disrupting the way history had unfolded as Astra remembers it, Astra is
BACK in the past. Her very presence is changing things, increasingly as
they get nearer to home.
Still, they must get to Aqualaria to see what needs to be done.
So, they soon get a dress and a staff of sorts for Astra and are on
their way.
Later, they come across a sign of a massacre, and Anina says something
about the area smelling like a swamp. This causes Astra to fall to the
ground in a catatonic state, since she'd watched Fred die horribly and
then had forgotten about it (blocked it).
This is a thing to explore later, for there is nothing that Anina nor
Astra can do about this at the moment.
Eventually it comes to light from another ambush survivor that the Dragon
of the Southern Caverns has traveled back in time and is using it's knowledge
of future events to alter things to it's advantage. The dragon has unleashed
a plague of giants upon Allaria and Aqualaria, which is basically making
things..... interesting.
But Astra also has knowledge of future events and makes plans with Anina
on reaching the rulers of Aqualaria and fighting knowledge with knowledge.
But things aren't as they seem.
Later, the warrior woman stop a weapons merchant on his way to market
and try to finagle the purchase of a horse or two to make their journey
more swift. It soon becomes apparent that this is going nowhere when a
childish cry of joy is heard from the bushes and the NINE year old Astra
comes crying out of the bushes, babbling about how her royal convoy had
been on it's way to a secure sight where Allarian and Aqualarian forces
could unite to better fight the giants.
The child had watched her own mother die before her....her friends and
family killed.
Her own mother's wish had been for the youngster to run for safety,
and so Astra had.
The last scene she'd seen was that of the Dragon of the Northern Caverns
swoop down and begin slaughtering the giants.
The nine year old had been too busy and frightened by the slaughter
to think that the dragon was actually helping....instead of doing something
sinister. The dragon who had swooped down and attacked was a Champion sent
by Rules and Agents to fight the evils unleashed by a demonic duel known
as the Brazen Man and Randall Flagg.....but that's a different tale for
later. The dragon had seen the girl run, but had more pressing matters
at hand as he tried to help the few survivors of the ambush.
Later, the dragon had changed into human form to try to reassure the
child that he was there to help, but the nine year old proved to be more
skilled at hiding.....so the dragon never was able to find the nine year
old.
Before the adults could make heads or tales of this, the demon known
as the Brazen Man appeared and magically put them all (except the merchant)
to sleep and teleported them all to Terra Prime for later fun and games.
He had also sent a newly resurrected Fred (the one in the swamp) to Terra
Prime so the revived knight could play a part in a bitter betrayal.
The Brazen Man would have been angered to know that the mind control
spells that he'd cast on the still unconscious (and recently revitalized)
Fred had been blocked by Minestus after the dragon had revived Fred.....but
that's a different story.
The teleportees awaken months later, and are startled to find other
analogs about (as well as a unicorn couple and a woman who just can't stop
dancing).
Later, they all get captured by Orcs.....
What I call the Thaobath Universe.....
Fred D'Honaire
Lord Fred was sent by his king to slay the Dragon of the Southern Caves.
Once there, he met Astra and slew Velus. Now Velus was either a Hell Hound
or a dragon in the form of a Hell Hound. It's not exactly clear. Anyway,
the dragon Minestus then translocated both Fred and Astra to the Calamari
desert to die. He was quite angry that they had killed Velus, you see.
Luckily the pair was rescued by Dr.Vincent Priceless, but then Fred was
accidentally dismembered. Dr.Vincent attempted to magically restore him,
but during the procedure Astra unintentionally broke his concentration.
Fred died and was sent to Hell. Why Hell? Maybe it was the Hell Hound's
revenge (actually....this Fred led a rather....bad life.....appearance
to the contrary....alas). To make a long story short, Fred didn't like
Hell very much and when a demoness offered him a chance to get out he took
it. His mission was to betray any and all who would have aided him in his
original quest to slay the dragon. The first two people on the list...Astra
and Andrea. Fred was then sent back to the mortal sphere as a Thoabath,
or Oathbreaker. He soon came upon Andrea and found his way back to Astra.
The threesome then journeyed to the home of Belboz the Fell.
Princess Astra of Aquilaria
On a quest of her own, Astra went to the Southern Caves and was captured
by the evil Velus. But she was rescued by Fred and Velus was killed. The
dragon Minestus then translocated them to the Calamari desert where Dr.Priceless
saved their lives. Fred was accidentally dismembered and during the magical
operation to restore him, Astra unintentionally distracted Priceless and
found herself teleported back to Minestus' lair. She passed through a magical
archway and was then trapped in a room and turned into a werewolf. Minestus
returned her to her human form, but then assured her that his revenge was
now complete. She then found herself outside of the Croix Keep, magically
teleported there by the Dragon. She then met Andrea. Together they discovered
that the Keep had been betrayed by Lucien, Lord Croix's advisor, and that
it was now in the hands of the Dragon's forces. Lucien taunted Astra, for
he knew that Astra was still cursed. Astra killed Lucien and then she and
Andrea escaped to the nearby forest where Astra was reunited with Fred.
They then journeyed to the home of Belboz the Fell. Astra didn't know what
Minestus' curse was, but she wanted to be free of it and Belboz was a magician
of great renown.
Lady Andrea of Croix
Andrea is a young, overly-protected and very bored noblewoman. Her father
is the Lord of Croix Keep, located in the Lordship of North Umbria somewhere
in the Kingdom. One day she decided that enough was enough and she left
the Keep in search of excitement, a few thrills and maybe a little romance.
She left in the middle of the night and the first person she met was Astra.
Astra ordered her to return home and so the two went back to the Keep.
But they discovered that the Keep had been betrayed and was now in the
hands of the Dragon's forces. They escaped to the nearby forest where Astra
decided that she would seek out Belboz the Necromancer. Andrea refused
to go with her because Belboz was a black magician and too dangerous. She
left Astra but soon became lost in the forest until Fred appeared and took
her with him as he hunted down Astra. When the three were reunited, they
all headed off to the home of Belboz. Belboz the Fell Belboz is a necromancer.
He delves into the darkest secrets of the dead. He can bend the forces
of nature to his will. He communes with the spirits of the Outer Planes.
He's the kind of guy you don't mess around with. But when Lord Fred suddenly
appeared in his doorway, Belboz got scared. Fred showed him the terrible
symbol carved into the flesh of his palm. Belboz recognized it. He knew
what Fred had become and all Belboz wanted was for Fred to go as far away
as possible. But Fred was there for a reason and so Belboz reluctantly
let him and his companions, Astra and Andrea, into his home. Astra then
told him that she had been cursed and wanted it lifted. Although she did
not know what the curse was, she did tell him what little had been told
her by Minestus and Lucien. Andrea related the tale of the Ergot Mushroom
which changed people into beasts under the light of the full moon. Since
all the pieces seemed to fit, it meant that Astra would soon turn into
a blood thirsty beast. Belboz agreed to cure her but he needed time; unfortunately
the moon would be full the very next night. Which brings us back to where
we started. Astra has run off, afraid of the monster she will become, unwilling
to endanger her friends. And Andrea is now alone in a house with a black
sorcerer and a demonic knight.
Whatever will happen next?
What happens next is that after Fred and Andrea track Astra down, she's
in the throws of the beast, and Andrea is almost wolf chow when you guys
got teleported to Terra Prime! As for Belboz the Fell, he met Belboz the
Necromancer and Ghost, who'd been on a mission to free all others killed
by the Phage (a plague unleashed by a reptilian race the Military calls
the Enemy) and let them get on with their Afterlife up Above....or Down
Below. Well, the Ghost won. Good and just, since THIS Belboz was a pretty
good fellow (that causes a few eyebrows to rise again....but nothing more).
Thaobath is eventually revealed and sent back to Hell (only to return
yet again as the Brazen Man).....
Andrea becomes an apprentice to one of the dragon mages and soon is
happily studying the Magical Artes. She also gets a rather stern lecture
from one of the Synizn's about the dangers and downsides of being a lycanthrope,
thus curing her of any mistaken romantic notions about becoming one for
a sense of freedom that would come with it.....
Astra eventually becomes known as Astra 8 after getting cured of lycanthropy
by the Rule. She soon becomes the head of the military of Aqualaria since
she has a great grasp of stragety (since she'd been groomed for it more
than any other Astra) and soon is able to finally defeat the Orcs.....
However, though she has seen that her Fred had betrayed her, she still
can't help but wonder about what could have been. For a while she found
it difficult to trust any other Fred due to what her Fred had attempted,
but she eventually got over it....only to have her heart flipflop on the
matter. When the new elfin Champions arrived with the new analogs who'd
been rescued from the Orcs, Astra 8 learned about how a single fact had
changed the course of things for that Fred turned elf (halting a repeat
of what happened with her Fred in creating another Thaobath).......
Astra 8 also learns that the "Fred" that had traveled with her had been
entirely possessed by the demonic entity known as Thaobath and there had
not been a tortured soul called Fred being ridden by the demon (gross breach
of metaphysical standards for a demon)......
Astra 8 and the others offer their services as Champions to Rule 1 and
Agent 1 if they are allowed to travel to Astra 8's Terra and save the still
suffering Fred from Thaobath......
-
 "Now
we switch gears and speak of Terra Prime!" B'elanna says finally.
-
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