Welcome to XMMMRMMMMMMRR kuuuun@RM5X xMMMMM puuuxnn@RVMX! .xnm@HMRMhnx@ @@@@h@RM @M$RRM" .z@RMMRMMM!'@@@@h@RMP""" :RRM .zMM# 9MMM#" .MMM":MMM .@M" *MMR^ `>MMZ @MMMMMM6G. MMMMH@u+ ~ .@MM MMMf :RMmnnxxxx. :$RRM M@*"` `^9MM !MMM""*"" XMM8MM*MMMMM ^""***M*MMM> :RRRM MMR...unMMM" :MMMLx@MRRdMM" JMM(dR -... .HMMf :RMMMF MMMM*""" xMMMMMMM6h@M" 'MMM."MM888MM88M" :RMMM" #MMM> :8HMM`~ XMUH dRMMMX MMP"""#MMX .z@RMMRMMM!' R@M dMMM% xRMM" dMM" :RMf dMM :MM *MM :MMMdMRMMM> MMMf dRM" MMM RML.u@RM*" MMMH@@@Nnu 'MMMMf :MMRM@M dRMM8MBMMMK dM#MMMMMk ^"""*P#8MX' MMMf RMMM@fJRM" :RM~ @MR RML.u@ . uMMM XMMM `?MMM ****************************** * * * Type 'connect guest guest' to login as a guest. * * Type 'connect ' to login to your existing character.* * Type 'WHO' to get a list of connected players. * * Type 'QUIT' to logoff. * * * ************************************************************************ [ December 20, 1998 ] Pine Bluffs Amidst the trees and foliage of freshly scented pine, any traces of sky slowly dissolve underneath a deciduous canopy. In great girthed fashion, the great stout redwoods claw for space, figthing twig and branch with its nearest neighbor, competetor, or passerby. Birds chirp and bounce at any disturbance, knocking thin needles to the forest floor. Almost imperceptibly, the lush ground slopes as it scrambles up the Mountain, tilting the land slightly askew in its frenetic dash. Contents: Blitzkrieg [Dacschund] [P] Obvious exits: South leads to Base of Mountain. Northeast leads to Mountain Path. Up leads to Sky Above Grid Alpha. Blitzkrieg wanders into the area, muttering and barking to himself. Blitzkrieg It's a ... uh, it's a giant dacschund. It's basically a black dog, with spots of brown above the eyes, around the muzzle and lower jaw, and along the paws. When it barks (as is often the case), the noise is suprising loud, sharp, and not really as yippy as one would expect from a small dog. Other than that, there's nothing really all that remarkable about the dog, except that it seems more agressive than most little dogs and that it seems to have a bit of a cockeyed look to it. Argen is up a tree, lying on a tree branch against the trunk. Blitzkrieg staggers in, taking the odd step horizontally for every couple of steps forward. Muttering and barking offhandedly to itself for whatever purpose suits it, the dog meanders about the forest without giving much evidence of any real destination in mind. Various twigs and wood chips are rather entangled with his fur coat and general personage, kinda like he'd been buried under an exploded tree. But nothing like that'd ever happen to Blitzy. Nuh uh. Anyway, he's down there, plodding about the forest. He goes left to right, and after a few minutes right to left... and after a little longer, left to right... after a while longer, high to low. Then kinda high left to low right a little later. Then... well, you get the picture. Argen stares down at the dog in utter confusion, not bothering to hide her expression, hidden as she is by pine-needles. Blitzkrieg toddles to and fro and then some for a while longer, eventually settling to a stop more or less in the middle of nowhere and sitting thoughtfully. Or what passes for thoughtfully. Presumably lost, the dog attempts to get its bearings. "Um. Arf! Yeah. Darkside. Mrf. Base thingy. Bark! Go past trees. And green stuff. Woof. Walk lots. Grrrarf! Yeah." He starts eyeing a number of trees around him, as if expecting big arrows to materialize upon them to show him the way. "So. Mrf. Yeah! Arf! That way." Most observers with a marginal eye for navigation would note him about to toddle off towards the Axalon. Argen calls down in an even voice, "You should head towards the jungle." Blitzkrieg stops his minor trot, ears perking up as he looks around with a complete and utter lack of a clue. "Aroooo?" he inquires in general. It's not the first time a tree's talked to him (or any other element of scenery, at that), but they generally tend to sound a little different. "Um. Yeah! Jungle. Green green. Bark! Goin' there." Argen continues, "You might wish to do so. Soon." Argen stays still, not wanting to betray herself to the...creature...below. Blitzkrieg blinks in apparent consideration, then loses whatever train of thought that had left the station as he starts to scratch behind his ear with a hyperactive bit of intense motion. That task done, he looks about blankly. Hmm. Was going to do something, wasn't he? A squirrel bounds into his field of vision, promptly tearing himself away from his muse and setting him to bound across the ground after it, yapping excitably. "Grrrarfarfarfarfarf!" Blitzkrieg is going neither in the direction of the Axalon nor Darkside nor any landed vehicle of extraterrestial origin, it probably should be noted. Argen sighs and repeats. "Jungle. Go there. Now." Blitzkrieg eventually recedes into the distance, although his incessant yapping takes a while to fade from hearing. Blitzkrieg heads off to Base of Mountain.