Not sure I'm worthy to follow up on a Killa Koala story, especially that one--it was one of the finest pieces of writing I've seen on this forum, even the parts that weren't lifted from Tolkien. But anyway, this is the epilogue Killa’s account of Jaws’ visit to the Fellowship, post number 396 in this thread.
Epilogue
The sun set over Gondor, and the nation's fields and orchards glowed in its rays. The Great River Anduin drew a sparkling blue curve through the vast tapestry of green and gold. The sky above them was crisscrossed with the contrails left by craft landing in the starport to the west, and these, too, were suffused with light. Vincible and ricbayer sat atop the Tower of the Moon, drinking in the scene.
Presently, vincible stirred, and glanced toward ricbayer. “That visit from the Special Forces emissary went far better than I expected.”
Ricbayer chuckled. “Did you see his face when we introduced him to our “minister of Foreign Relations”? I nearly ruined it all by laughing. Theoden’s awesome, he can pull that shit off with a straight face.”
They shared a laugh. “And we got a little bonus, too,” vincible said slyly.
“Oh? What are you talking about?” ricbayer asked.
“I’m sure you know about the magic of the shamans of the wild men of the south,” vincible began. “It’s based on the principle that a piece of a creature retains some of its essence, even when it’s detached from him. So if you have a bit of a man’s hair, you use that can make him go bald. If you have a bit of his blood, you can make him feel faint and weak. And so on. Crude but effective. The only catch is that you can’t take the piece from him by force.”
“Simple enough, I suppose,” ricbayer replied. “So you got some of his blood?”
“Better,” vincible smirked. He opened a small sack by his side, and showed ricbayer the contents. A single bedsheet.
“What’s that?” ricbayer reached out to touch it, then paused and began to guffaw.
“Yes,” vincible said with mock sadness, “I’m afraid our good master Fish couldn’t keep his fins to himself on this trip. Before he left, he couldn’t resist bedding a poor goblin girl. And this gives us far more power over him than mere blood, skin, or hair…”
“Hmm…” ricbayer tapped his chin thoughtfully. “So what do we do now?”
“For now, nothing.” Vincible stood and began to pace. “The Special Forces are powerful, and we don’t want to antagonize them unnecessarily. But someday, this little item may allow us to manipulate events, or perhaps give us an edge in negotiations, if that turns out to be required.” Vincible closed the sack, and with a small gesture renewed his Spell of Preserving on its contents. “Obviously this does not go beyond us two. Theoden would not understand.”
Ricbayer nodded his agreement. “Theoden doesn’t even tolerate minor torture. He would be horrified at the mere thought of a spell of impotence. Truth be told, it makes me queasy as well.”
Vincible grinned. “It doesn’t have to be a spell of impotence. If we chose, we could make it a magic of virility as well. But even so…” his faced turned grim. “I love this land, and have sworn to protect it. Have you ever seen a starfleet batter a world into submission with Mass Drivers? I still have nightmares of it…” he trailed off into silence, and turned to gaze out over the Gondor. The sun had set, and darkness smothered the Vale. Just when ricbayer thought he would speak no more, vincible began again. “To protect Gondor, I would use forbidden magics, I would torture innocents, yea, I would even cast a spell of impotence should that be necessary.”
“So be it,” was ricbayer's quiet response.
[Message Edited]
[Message Edited]
Stardock Forums
