plots

Message 403:

Date:     Fri Oct 29 03:26:37 2004 CDT
From:     Rayne (#3105)
To:       *plots (#1506)
Subject:  Trick or Treat

Rayne entered the mountain keep cautiously.  The stench of death was strong and he thought for just
 a moment that it might be best to let Zalbag make the first move, but as he recalled the
 atrocities of their last encounter he let his anger carry him forward.  His footsteps echoed
 faintly off the stone walls.  He knew he should be taking more care in concealing his presence,
 but the sound gave him some measure of comfort.  Anything was better than the maddening silence
 that presided over the keep.
He had made several rounds about the keep, finding not a single clue as to the whereabouts of his
 prey, before finally bringing his search to a halt.  He sighed in frustration as he sheathed his
 longsword and reluctantly turned to make his way home when he noticed something out of the corner
 of his eye.  As he turned his head, he saw the very air before him begin to shimmer as if in a
 haze of desert heat.  Instinctively, he drew his sword and watched attentively as the disturbance
 appeared to take shape in the form of a strange symbol.
In an instant, Rayne's mind had connected a similarity between this mystical character and that of
 the one which had appeared just before a great wall of flame had nearly engulfed him after his
 first encounter with the walking corpse who calls himself 'Master', and with this connection of
 similarity came the assumption that this  symbol would also preceed some cunning attempt on his
 life.  He dove to the ground and rolled away from the apparent threat, but when no flames had
 appeared, he looked back at the symbol in confusion.  The rune merely shimmered out of existence.
Rayne stood up slowly, brushing himself off.  He didn't understand.  Had the spell misfired
 somehow?  Was this a different character than the one before, perhaps meant for some other
 purpose?  He wondered what might have happened had there been a great wall of flame as there had
 been before.  He growled angrily as he stormed out of the keep.  There had to be someone who could
 tell him more about these mystical runes.  He cursed aloud as the thought of having to deal with
 Zalbag and this shadow of a man at the same time pressed itself upon him.