"Fourth Fantasy - Discovery in Jade" by Timothy and Daryn of Faibanx MUCK Daryn steps up to the counter and rings the bell. *PING PING* Daryn appears to be a mix between a bird and a humanoid. His avian heritage is visible in his face. The features of a falcon, big, dark eyes, hooked beak and blinding white feathers. On his back two large strong looking wings that look as if they could easily carry him through the skies. He stands upright, about six feet tall. His arms are humanoid, but end in sharp claws. His legs and strong and sinewy, and he is supported by two bird's feet, each foot sporting three toes and one heel, capped by a sharp talon. Quite the sight he makes. Timothy descends the wrought-iron staircase to the main lobby of the Fantasy Factory. the Fantasy Factory lobby(#497RJ) The room you are in is the front lobby of the Fantasy Factory. Large, brown-tinted plate glass windows look out onto East Peger Road, filtering the light that comes through, giving the interior a dim, tan cast. A door to the outh leads out to the sidewalk. The floor is made of long slats of wood, tightly fitted against each other and burnished to a rich, deep-wood sheen. A long counter runs across the far side of the room on which is a cash register, a guest book, a small bell and an ink well. The wall behind the counter is completely covered from ceiling to floor with glass-doored shelves save for a small door which leads to the ack. Each shelf is full of items ranging from vials and urns to small stone plaques and other knick-knacks. The walls are hung with several paintings showing various furry creatures of different sizes, physiques and activities. A row of chairs sits in front of the windows where clients can wait. Finally, behind the counter, a black-iron aircase winds its way up through the ceiling behind the counter. Obvious Exits: aircase the ault ack room treet Contents: Daryn SIGN - Fantasy Price List ------------------------------------------ Timothy nods to you as he enters the room. "Good day, sir... You're right on time." Daryn smiles, "I try to be punctual when it comes to appointments." Timothy laughs genially and walks around behind the counter before leaning up on it with both elbows. "Now, good sir, I do believe you are familiar with our policy... 15 Kruft and your fantasy will be yours. Is that acceptable?" Daryn nods, "That's but a pittance." Timothy nods and holds out his paw. "Excellent. I try to provide good service for a reasonable fee..." Daryn gives Timothy 15 Kruft. Timothy smiles at the payment. "Thank you, sir. Now, for your fantasy, I do believe I have acquired the perfect item to bring it to light... Wait here for me." Daryn watches you go, "You have?" he asks curiously. Timothy opens the trap door behind the counter and descends into... The Vault (the Fantasy Factory)(#504RJ) This dark chamber is lined with shelves, has barrells and boxes littering its floors in a symphony of ordered chaos. There is a feeling of narrowly contained power here, as if there is some great arcane force being dampened. All along the nooks and crannies of this place, you can see numerous items, antiques and knick-knacks. Obvious Exits: ain lobby Contents: Pendant of the Fae(#436C) Macro-Injector(#435C) Origami Paper(#575C) the Jade Dragon(#569C) Kangaroo Shoes(#503C) Barter Coin(#515C) Timothy carefully picks up the Jade Dragon and heads back upstairs. Timothy smiles and places a small statuette on the counter between you and he. "Here we go... The Jade Dragon!" Daryn looked at the sculpture on the counter. This sculpture of a Chinese-style dragon is made from one piece of pure Jade. It is carven to resemble a sinuous draconic form coiling around a large ocean-side rock around which waves crash majestically. On its flat bottom is the series of three Mandarin characters that glow with a faint blue light. Daryn looks at the statuette, "This? This will bring my dreams to light?" he chirps, looking confused. Timothy nods slowly, running his soft paws around it's surface. "It will under the right circumstances..." He nods for you to pick it up. "Please, follow me and bring the Dragon..." Daryn nods, carefully picking up the dragon and looking to you for the right direction. Timothy says, "Follow me..." and walks through the rear door into a fine, dimly-lit wooden hallway. Fantasy Factory main hallway(#500RJ) You find yourself in a wide, wooden hallway that connects the ain lobby of the Fantasy Factory to the rkshop floor to the rear. On either side of this hall are two sets of three doors. Each one has a label, through . Each is a fantasy room where clients can go to purchase, negotiate or even experience a fantasy. Obvious Exits: rkshop floor ain lobby Daryn follows Timothy as the fox smiles and heads into one of the offices to the side. Fantasy Factory - Office 1(#542RJ) This is a sparse office, with a hardwood desk, four chairs in front of it, a laptop computer, three file cabinets and a few paintings on the walls showing past fantasies sold to prominant clients. Obvious Exits:
hallway Timothy motions for you to sit down as he moves behind the counter. "Well, first of all, you *do* understand that for this fantasy to work, you'll have to temporarily have your memory wiped that you requested it. That way -to you- it will be fresh and new..." Daryn nods, slowly sitting down with the figuring on his lap. "Yes, I understand that." he says simply. Timothy nods amiably. "Good, good..." He opens a drawer and takes out a small file folder and flips through it for a second. "Let's see... Bigger than three hundred feet ... no blatant sexual references ... huge claws and scaly feet..." He mumbles through the checklist before looking up. "Well, everything seems to be in order. Is there anything you need to clarify before we begin?" Daryn nods slowly. "Yes, I should mention that this dragon should be highly intelligent. He should also be very forceful. Timothy nods. "And you should be merely a toy -nigh indestructible- in his way; there for his amusement...?" Daryn nods, "Yes. To trample, crush, grind, kick around, anything he desires. Timothy smiles, setting the file down. "Very well, sir... Your fantasy will begin ... NOW!" The statuette in Daryn's paws begins to tingle and feel cooler to the touch, almost as if it were exposed to a chilling frost. The light glinting off of it into the room starts to become greener and darker, the walls and furnature starting to blur and fade... Daryn's mind, grapsed by the arcane power of the Dragon, starts to roll back, taking things in stride as the small office dissolves to reveal a small campground in the mountains where he'd been years before as a teenager. Indeed, he has travelled back to this place to explore the land of his youth. Although, strangely, the small town at the bottom of the ravine that he'd passed through, was no longer there, but -instead- nothing but flattened ruins... Daryn ponders this for a moment as he walks along a trail, the place seems very familiar to him, everything looks the same except for the village. He wonders what happened as he makes his way further up the mountain. The landscape is lush and rich, although only broken by the occasional buzzing of insects. No sound of squirrels, rabbits or even birds graces this beautiful mountain landscape. Years ago, you and others in your class would come here on trips sponsored by your guardians and parents. Rumors of ancient brigand treasure or buried, arcane secrets from mages long past dotted the colorful tales that circulated about this mountain and -now- it almost has a supernaturally quiet air to it. Indeed, just ahead, you see a small structure, looking tattered and in disrepair that wasn't here decades ago... Daryn walks towards this structure, wanting to have a look and see what it is, and what it's doing here. He approaches cautiously. Tall beams of wooden logs stand at odd angles to each other; tatters of flags and banners set at their peaks in a haphazard disarray to the memory of those who had once marched with them into battle. Long grasses grow around their bases that obscure small, white piles of objects in the grass. As Daryn looks closer though, he sees all-too-easily what the objects are. Skulls and the remains of armor lie scattered through the banners and battered seige engines of several forgotten armies. Bashed and mostly crushed, it almost looks as if the bones were pushed here and the pikes of wood driven into the ground in the middle of the trail as a warning... A warning of what, the young GryFalcon didn't know. However, as he looked up along the rising trail, a cold sweat broke his brow. The entire section of trail both before and after the grisly bones, was depressed into the ground; a massive paw-print festooned with four huge claw depressions surrounds the area like the grim borders of a cemetary... Daryn shudders, whatever made this print would have to be absolutely HUGE. His curiosity, and the thought that just maybe he can find this huge beast get the better of him and he slowly and cautiously starts down the trail. A low rumble shakes through the ground. Several small rocks shudder and roll down off of some nearby cliff-faces as Daryn moves back along the trail. The huge shock soon fades though; shuddering through the ground as the young GryFalcon regains his breath. What was that? But before he can ponder it again, another shock ripples through the ground... Followed by another. And another! But worse, they were getting louder! Daryn shudders, trying to hold his balance as the shocks now start to rock the very ground he stands on. The GryFalcon looks around, not quite understanding what could make something this pronounced. Rock after rock skitters and crashes as the ground continues it's punctuated shaking. The insects stop their buzzing and soon, a huge, cool shadow falls over you from behind as you scan the treeline for any sign of a source. The booms stop. A heavy, deep rush of breeze over stone echoes behind you from where the shadow has fallen. A scent of something alive and the feeling of something of great presence fills your peripreal vision. A blast of hot wind buffets your back, ruffling your feathers as you realize something collossal has come up behind you... Daryn slowly trns around, and looks ... up.... to see Timothy the Dragon behind him. Timothy is a powerfully muscled, lithe dragon. Standing powerfully on all fours, the quadropedal saurian's scales are a light blue with white highlights on his chest and belly. His long tail sweeps behind him studded with small spires of bone that get smaller as they reach the tip. Huge, folded wings lie against his back, rustling gently as he strides purposefully forward. This collossus's feet leave huge paw-tracks in the hard ground, his four-toed feet adorned with giant claws that are scaled with smooth, tight-fitting diamond shapes. Towering over Four hundred feet tall from paw to shoulder, the huge dragon smiles cooly at the world around him with a dominant air. From tip to tail, his massive, heavily muscled body is easily a Thousand feet long; his tail and neck making up almost half of his total length. Bigger than the largest dinosaur to ever walk the earth, as Timothy walks, tremors vibrate through the ground, shaking even the most solid and ancient of trees and hills. Timothy looks down at the small man standing in the trail, feeling the gentle breezes of the mountain wash down over his scaly hide. His collossal muzzle breathes in and out with a powerful steadiness that would put the most powerful bellows to shame. Indeed, as the collossal dragon hisses out a breath over spire-like teeth with a long, sinewy tongue, you can smell the very essence of the mountain on this being's breath... Daryn's eyes widen as he stares up at this dragon. He gulps nervously, not knowing what he should do. He starts to slowly backpeddel... You say, "HALT MORTAL!" The booming voice echoing out from the mouth of the titan before you undulates down it's long, sinewy neck like a proclomation from the Gods themselves! He lifts one huge forepaw, it's claws raking at the solid rock beneath them and raises it menacingly over your head. The shadow from it's presence is dark and spans at least fifty feet to either side of your body... "YOU HAVE TRESPASSED!" Daryn stops cold, all around him is shadow, above him, an awesome presence. "I .. I.. This .. " he stammers, beside himself. "THIS IS *MY* MOUNTAIN!!! " booms the giant with a finality. "ALL WHO COME HERE DO SO TO EITHER ATTEMPT MY DEMISE OR MEET THEIR OWN UNTIMELY END! WHICH IS IT FOR YOU?!! Daryn shakes his head, managing to collect enough of his courage to form a sentance. "Neither! I grew up here! This is my home!" Timothy's eyes narrow slowly, his long neck lowering his head down towards you where you stand in the shadow of his claws. Each of the towering spires of bone clutch and twitch above you like stalactites some dozen feet long and four feet thick at their bases. As the head peers closer, one huge, glistening eye peers at your huddled form curiously and a vast breath draws through his nostrils, inhaling your scent. "YOU COME FROM THIS MOUNTAIN...?" Daryn Nods slowly, "Y-Y-Yes. I grew up in a nest ... N-not far from here..." he stammers, eyeing the huge claws in awe. Timothy rumbles a deep snarl and lowers his claws lower towards your tiny body. The sheer span of them -as they near your head- would make it impossible for you to roll out of the way. In fact, these collossal digits are no-doubt what left the huge crevace further down the trail. "ALL WHO COME HERE HAVE PERISHED, LITTLE-ONE... NATIVE OR NOT!" Sneering at the small avian, he licks his muzzle hungrily, focusing his eyes on your little shape with some interest similar to how you've seen a cat play with a mouse. "TELL ME, WHY SHOULD I SPARE YOU?" His voice lowering to a rumble like thunder, the dragon plants his clawed digits on either side of you, the scent of scales and dragon musk fills your nostrils as he makes a cage from his pointed fingertips on all sides of you... Daryn shivers, looking around him as he is caged in. "I cannot think of anything..." he squawkles, looking at the size of those immense claws... "Oh my.... "coos, falling over, overwhelmed by the dragon's might. Timothy snarls as he slowly squeezes his fingers together; the claws digging up the ground beneath you and hefting you upwards in the constricting prison towards the underside of his claws. "YOU HAVE NOTHING OF VALUE TO OFFER ME THEN... I SHALL TAKE WHAT I NEED." His matter-of-fact proclomation fills your ears like a living crack of thunder, his fist closing relentlessly around you; the huge pads of his foot getting closer and closer and closer... Daryn sqawks, shiveringand squrming in the giant's grip. "No! Please, I'm sure you can ... Find something for me?" he chips, terified. Timothy's voice BOOMS from outside the tightening cage of fingers, his blueish scales collapsing around you like the constricting bands of a snake. The giant starts lowering his paw groundward and you can feel the weight of it pressing down against your head as he begins to close his fist. "INDEED?!! LITTLE ONE, I HAVE ONLY ONE NEED AND YOU CANNOT FULFILL IT WITHOUT A TRUE DESIRE TO SERVE ME... BETTER TO STEP ON YOU NOW AND END YOUR LIFE RATHER THAN HOLD OUT A HOPE THAT YOU CANNOT HOPE TO ACHIEVE!" Daryn shudders, "But.. But..." he squawkles, wriggling around as the light starts to disappear. Darkness surrounds Daryn as the giant dragon's claws compress the little feathered man up against his paw pads and between yards upon yards of compressed turf, dirt and rock. Soon, only a tiny slit of light shows and a vast draconic eye appears beyond it on the other side. "BUT PERHAPS..." mutters the giant outside. "PERHAPS YOU CAN GIVE PERMISSION TO BE THAT TO ME WHICH NO ONE ELSE HAS EVER DARED..." Daryn blinks, looking into that one eye, "Wha-what's that, Great One?" he asks, hoping beyond hope that this is a way out... Timothy laughs in his low, thunder-like voice, the certainy of it as without question as the intellect peering at you from behind that one, singular eye. "WHAT I WOULD ASK IS YOUR ENTERTAINMENT, MINISCULE-ONE... YOUR ANTICS MADE ETERNAL FOR MY PLEASURE..." Daryn blinks, unsure what to do... "You mean... Be a toy to you?" he gasps. Timothy snarls deeply, his eye narrowing as it peers into the close darkness of his fist. "YOU ARE ALREADY A TOY TO ME, INSECT!!" he booms. "BUT TO BE MY ETERNAL ETNERTAINMENT, YOU'LL NEED TO WILLINGLY UNDERGO ... MODIFICATION..." Daryn shudders, "Modification?" he chirps, nervously. "DO YOU AGREE OR DO YOU DIE?!!!!" boomed the dragon menacingly! Daryn slowly nods... "Yes, I agree." he squawkles, unsure what to make of the whole thing. Still, it may be a way out.. Timothy's voice chuckles in a low, ominous fashion. But the chuckle doesn't seem to end. As the deep sound echoes around you in your scaly prison, you hear an almost unperceptible chant woven into the dragon's deep, gravelly voice. The words are arcane and uknown by you, but you can feel the force of their intent. As the chant continues, you feel a shiver run down your spine and a tingle ripple through your skin. The dragon begins to pull his fingers open, letting in some fresh air as his intonation receeds... "BY YOUR OWN FREE WILL, THIS IS DONE..." Daryn slowly nods, he doesn't know just WHAT was done, but he expects that it is for your enjoyment... Timothy's paw lifts higher and higher from you, the danger receeding with every foot it backs away. The dragon peers down at you and smiles a broad, draconic grin from one side of his toothy muzzle to the other. But then, just as his giant paw is lifted high over head, the giant brings it CRASHING downwards onto your tiny form! You feel the pressure agianst your body knock you to the ground! Your flesh and muscle and bone protest as you feel -in an instant- your body deform and flatten, pushing your breath out of you in a booming shockwave that makes surrounding trees shudder and quake! The huge, scaly claws press you into the dirt, feeling you flatten and distort; crushed by tons of weight pressing incessantly down upon you! Daryn has but a moment to utter a SQUAWK as he is instantly mashed into the dirt. Is this it? Is this how it will end? he ponders. Then he realizes that he is still conscious despite the crushing of his body. Timothy feels a shudder of completion run through his body as he slowly grinds his paw to and fro in the dust and dirt that surrounds the crater of the little Daryn. Gradually, as you find yourself about to pass out from lack of air, sparkles showing in your vision, the giant dragon paw lifts off of you slowly, small divots of earth and plant matter dropping off it's base over your slowly re-forming shape... "WELL, THAT WAS SATISFYING..." Daryn blinks, taking in deep breaths as he lays there shuddering.. "Wha... What happened...." he mutters, staring straight up at the huge dragon's paw. Timothy's smile slowly fades. "IS THE TOY DEMANDING AN ANSWER OF IT'S OWNER...?" He asks menacingly. With an idle flick of one finger, the huge dragon knocks your body over and stands up on all fours again, looming over you. The underside of the beast's body is criss-crossed with blue diamonds of scale, collossal and smooth as he starts to walk over you. "ALL OTHERS WERE GONE TOO QUICKLY..." rumbles the giant, "BUT YOU; YOU WILL LAST FOREVER..." With that, the giant stomps downwards with another paw, your little, up-turned face wide in shock as it crushes into you with the force of a freight train! Daryn once again SQUAWKS. No time to even react as he is turned to mush once again by the force of your step. He feels every bone pulped and decides that he ill not say a word anymore, and let this dragon do as he wishes. Timothy's huge foot pulls away from your form, again raining down with stone, dirt and debris. Half buried in the foot print, you find your body slowly pulling itself back together as the giant dragon continues to walk past overhead. His head looks back as his hind legs stomp towards you, making the ground shake and rumble. "RUN, INSECT! RUN!" commands the dragon as boom after boom heralds the coming of his hind-legs! Daryn squawks and jumps to his feet. Turning and running as fast as he can, tripping over debris as he fights frantically to stay away from those feet... Although somewhere deep within him, he enjoys it... Timothy's huge body, looming over head keeps pace with you as the dragon virtually gallops forward. You watch the thundering of the dragon's feet pounding the ground, sending shockwaves beneath your feet, causing you to stumble and falter. Closer and closer the giant hind feet get, pounding nearer and nearer to your little, panting body...! Daryn can't do much more than run as fast as he can. He can't try to leap out and fly away, the dragon's body prevents that. He turns his head as he runs to look at the dragon's hindfeet, letting out a low coooooo.... The giant foot comes crashing down again, towards the tiny, feathered traveller! His eyes grow wide as the wind rushes past and the huge, scaly digit crashes downwards! >>WHOOOMMMM!!<< The ground shakes and rumbles, but the huge foot, rising up as quickly as it came down, has missed the tiny Daryn by only a few inches. The giant toes spreading on either side, lift upwards as the giant dragon moves on by... Daryn lets out a sigh of releif as he slows his pace, seeing the dragon's foot ahead of him... Magnificent... he thinks to himself. The relief, however, is short lived. Still looking on at the retreating foot, a thundering, crashing sound approaches from behind the small Daryn. Turning abruptly, he can barely take a breath as the dragon's giant tail, bearing forward in the wake of his body, crushes down on top of the hapless GryFalcon! Long, strong, scaled muscles compress and crush the tiny man, squeezing him effortlessly into the ground; dragging him along as the giant dragon slowly stops in his gallop. Gradually, he stops, turns around, and lifts his tail... Daryn once again finds himself in a position that is becoming more and more familiar. Crushed beneath a huge dragon's appendage. He wriggles a bit, but his gaze is staring straight up at the thick tail. The giant, serpentine tail slowly lowers and starts to press your tiny, pulped body into the ground, swishing to and fro as it grinds you deep into the soil. The dragon's deep, heavy-throated rumble of satisfaction can't even be heard over the rushing of your own blood in your ears. Flattened, you soon find the air returning to your lungs as you look up to see the tail lifting high above. Then, before you can take another breath, it comes CRASHING down on you again! Then, lifting, it pauses over you -deep in your furrow- and then SLAMMS down on top of you again! And then Again! And AGAIN! Deeper and deeper you feel yourself flattened and driven into the ground until, finally, the giant dragon allows his tail to drag itself over you as he turns around to lower his huge face down to your buried body... Daryn oooofs, repeatedly. Thump after thump, driving him deeper and deeper into the earth. He stares upwards, breathing heavily in his deep furrow, to awed to even utter a single word. Timothy lowers his head right up to the long furrow containing your slowly, re-constituting form. His breath ripples over you like a hot, summer wind as the dragon smiles. "NOW, LITTLE ONE, ANSWER ME... ARE YOU INTACT?" Daryn nods slowly ... "Yes." he chirps softly, looking up at the dragon with a mixture of awe and contentment in his eyes. Timothy senses your emotions and nods his huge head slowly, taking it all in. For several minutes, the giant dragon merely loods down at you, his giant, wet eyes taking in your miniscule, helpless form before him. Then, slowly rising, the giant draws himself up to sit on his haunches. Like a small mountain rising up, the powerful muscles of the titan ripple beneath his blue, scaly hide. Steam seethes from his nostrils as he draws himself up taller and taller and taller. Huge, rippling bands of scales cross his belly as his huge, hind legs dig into the ground on either side of your half-buried form. Slowly, the giant dragon swings one paw out over your form as if in a stately pronunciation of some title or decree. "GOOD," he says simply, his thundering voice still shaking your tiny form. "YOU ARE NOW MY PLAYTHING, LITTLE ONE. NO MORE WILL I FIND MY LIFE LACKING IN COMPANIONSHIP OR RECREATION..." Daryn blinks, then smiles broadly as he looks up at you, "I ... Thank you.." is all he manages to say. He draws himself up, sitting up in his deep furrow. "What now?" he asks, almost afraid.. Timothy's face slowly re-adopts it's earlier, feral grin. With a lightning swipe, the giant dragon raises one arm and SLAMMS it down onto your tiny body! With a deep-throated laugh wreathed in smoke and steam, the collossus grinds your body into a paste again, back and forth in the soil. Slowly, as you reform, you find yourself pinned between two, great toes. The giant looks down at you where you are clenched firmly; partially under his paw. "WHAT NOW?" he echoes. "NOW, MY TINY TOY... WE GO HOME..." With that, the giant dragon starts walking -ever so slowly and stately- up the mountain. And, with each step, you feel your trapped body squish and flatten, only to reform just in time for the next step... In this way, the giant dragon slowly carries you over the mountain to the valley where you will be his plaything for the rest of your invulnerable days... The vast landscape gradually fades into a soft green glow before your eyes. As the blurs slowly resolve themselves, you find yourself sitting in the Fantasy Factory's Office number one, Timothy sitting opposite you with a winning smile... "Welcome back..." he says in a dragon-like tone. Daryn smiles hugely, "My, you do offer great stuff here!" he coos, "Allow me to properly pay you... Daryn gives you 1000 Kruft. Timothy blinks in surprise and smiles. "My dear sir, I could not possibly take such a payment from you!" He rises with a smile and holds out his hands for the Jade Dragon. "But perhaps we can meet halfway... I will count this money as an account for you. Never again shall you have to pay me for a Fantasy... All I ask is that you understand I will have other customers as well. Is that acceptable?" Daryn puts down the Jade Dragon so that Timothy can pick it up slowly again. Daryn nods slowly, "That is fair." he chirrips, "To me, it is money well spent!" Timothy smiles as he takes the Dragon back to put in the vault. "Then, this transaction is at an end..."