Fanfic One Story at a Time Epic (F1STE)

[Maharg67]

F1STE 1.10[11]

 

Elielifolk warriors came charging at the settlement, of Dinkyblue, in podleather armour over their strange angular boneskinned bodies, the boneskin being extra natural armouring. They held large shimmering energy-plate shields and their armour shimmered softly with energy stkifields but neither form of protection was relatively very strong.

 

Again, and again, the mass grown humanoids fell to a well aimed barrage of bullets and tripod-crossbow fired bolts. Getting closer they ran into showers of arrows, death from on high, dropping more of them. Elielifolk reanimators brought warrior corpses back to false life but they were slower, less powerful, than were alive warriors.

 

When the attackers got even closer to the settlement they began to fire off fairly short ranged stkirayguns shooting off short bursts of stki-energy beams.

 

The Arisers there fired repeatedly with powerful bolt-action rifles, taking down one or two Elielifolk warriors with each amazingly well aimed shot.

 

The Elielifolk turned and retreated while the firepower from Dinkyblue ceased in order to allow them to escape. Trouble was it was greatly feared that it had only been a testing attack and it had used up much of the available ammunition in the settlement. At least spent casings could be reused, along with many arrows, but the settlement was in big need. What would the next Elielifolk attack be like.

 

Elielifolk dead disintegrated with amazing speed, just as they had been grown with amazing speed, and the unnaturally resurrected ones do so with even greater speed than the others.

 

An Elielifolk envoy party came to Dinkyblue to sue for peace, to ask to have most of the gear back from the fallen warriors, apart from some given over as compensation for the unprovoked attack, and then trade-diplomacy relations began. The Elielifolk no longer wished to dominate the Originating Basinland but to share it fairly with others. They had only attacked, the envoy confessed, out of fear of something far more terrible than the ElieliEmpire coming from the north-west. It was a foe that the ElieliEmpire had met in battle three times and had been driven back each time with big losses though they had also caused much damage to the enemy.

 

The enemy was the exotic alialifolk who came like an army of naked, glowing, angular humanoids that did not appear to use any weapons or tools or other devices. Instead they spat, projected and otherwise used colour coded energies reflecting that of their hairless boneskinned bodies.

 

Except were they the real threat or were they, like the Elielifolk, fleeing from a greater menace?

Edited February 5, 2018 by Maharg67

[Robert55]

:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: well focused, plot is alittle confusing but should work out if you are carefull noy to add to many threads.

[Maharg67]

F1STE 1.11[12]

 

Alisa lay flat on her belly, quietly observing the Elielifolk envoy party meet up with a large force of encamped Elielifolk warriors, workers, hawk scouts with riding hawks landed, and what looked to be other diplomats and some officers. Easily half were warriors. "Well, what Gaiamother Gaiafairia sensed, as we did, turned out to be true. They lied about any large Elielifolk force being in the area."

 

Benjamin frowned softly. "If they lied about that, what else did they lie about?"

 

Alisa responded. "We have more intelligence to collect before we can even start to answer that question. Yes, I know it was a rhetorical question."

 

Benjamin sighed. "It was and it wasn't; I was hoping you had one of your wonderful surprise answers."

 

Alisa frowned. "Very well, I sense that the Elielifolk are indeed very frightened by something but it is not the Alialifolk. Gaiafairia pointed out that the Elielifolk do not normally fast grow warriors that way, even in smaller numbers. Slower grown warriors are stronger, more enduring and harder to damage. It would take a real emergency for them to do so. The other puzzle is that the Fivelifolk are quite territorial and yet all appear to be transmigrating this way. That is the Alialifolk, the Elielifolk, the Iliilifolk, the Oliolifolk and the Uliulifolk. They have been tradional enemies, for thousands of years, fighting carefully refereed ritualistic battles against each other."

 

The short, plump, man was suddenly sitting next to them almost as if he had always been there. He spoke quietly but could easily be heard. "MrLFM is my title! That is Mister Little Fat Man. I am one of the Little Fat Family, the LFF, that diverted you to this world and away from the deadly trap that treachery had directed you towards. The Splintermass has been betrayed by the the most powerful of the Clonelord Factions but the Splintermass has learned the truth and has struck back, with the assistance of allied Clonelord Factions. A dark influence was behind the betrayal and that was the SecretEnemy that serves the GreatEnemy. I have released the ways to five newly created suncavernlands below the Originating Basinland for the Fivelifolk to exist in but with some strong compromises. I have given them special gifts as I have done with others, including you and your people."

 

Alisa watched MrLFM carefully and knew, with dead certainty, that she could trust him deeply. "There is something familiar about you."

 

He nodded. "You are my clone-daughter, Alisa, and have gained special enhancements and abilities from me. Indeed, the LFF has generally strengthened the whole Splintermass as part of our ongoing war with the GreatEnemy. The Splintermass, Kaled and Thal Alliance has become known as the Skaro Federation while the DalekEmpire, CyberEmpire and Exori have become the Skaro Confederation. Already they are becoming commonly known as the SkaroFed and SkaroCon. The SkaroFed is a far more stable alliance than is the SkaroCon but the SkaroCon is far more aggressive than is the SkaroFed. The Fivelifolk were forced to flee from a large SkaroCon force of daleks, cybermen and evati."

 

Evati were bioengineered clone creatures with far less individuality and freedom than splinterclones once had before they broke off from the Evori. Yet the splinterclones had still been slaves.

 

Benjamin spoke. "No wonder the Fivelifolk were pushed out of their territories. We have fought all of the SkaroCon members, in many battles, and we splinterclones know they are all lethal fighters just as we are."

 

MrLFM frowned softly. "The GreatEnemy set up the Great World War of Skaro, doing so through the SecretEnemywho caused the treacherous manipulations from another people of Skaro, that is the indigenous Skarati. When humans arrived, in three great sleeperships, at Skaro they were drawn into a Gameworld with out their knowledge. The savage, cunning, brutal, Skarati had their world turned into a Gameworld they went looking for scapegoats for their rage, which they did not find for the three other indigenous peoples easily drove them off. When humanity arrived, to form the three nation-states of the Thals, Kaleds and Exori, they decided the newcomers would be fine scapegoats. They were to suffer terribly for their aggressive stupidity by becoming slaves of the GreatEnemy through the SecretEnemy. The Skarati, also known as the Palefolk, are here on the NewEarth and have become allied to the SkaroCon though not part of the SkaroCon."

 

Alisa nodded. "Stealthy, cunning, exotic enemies with bizarre powers. The Splintermass burned them out of Skilanti, Shezlanti and Fentlanti on the bigger supercontinent on Skaro. One remembers, through the Splintermass, raining borer-burner bombs from the air after the Skarati kept attacking our supply convoys. We tried to do as little collatorial damage as possible but borer-burner bombs are not too precise in their targetting. Yet some other influence drove away, or hid or otherwise protected the innocent and not so guilty. Was that the LFF that helped?"

 

MrLFM shook his head. "No, but we do have some very interesting allies such as the Gaiagoddess. Yes she really does exist along with the Gaiagods and others of the Gaiagodhood. Perhaps she helped. The LFF is restricted in how much, and how, we can assist mortals but I will be making contact with you again, meaning both of you and your comrades. Be well and be careful!"

 

Then MrLFM was gone almost as if he had never been there.

Edited February 5, 2018 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

F1STE 1.12[13]

 

A quiet time came upon the Blueisblue Region when the Elielifolk quietly regained most of their gear and went to their new homeland while the Alialifolk, Iliilifolk, Oliolifolk and Uliulifolk went to their new homelands deep underground. Then came word that the arriving daleks, cybermen and evati were more peaceful, positive, rebels escaping their more evil cousins. Soon they were settling into the Originating Basinland with their changed names of the oaleks, cyberhumans and itave. Cyberhumans were more human like than the bigger, slower, more powerful cybermans. Oaleks were fanjet lifted, squat saucers instead of the pepperpot shape of daleks. Itave were more individualistic, less mass controlled, smaller and more agile but weaker than were evati.

 

Alisa led all but three of her people on a Multiquest questing quest through the area, moving stealthily away from Dinkyblue, buying tickets to the Longblue River Ferry, and travelling on that through a big river glowtunnel that took them into a far larger glowcavern than that holding Dinkyblue. Trueblue was on the shores of the same river. The Arisers stealthily got off the ferry only to be met by the Trueblue mayor, and other dignitaries welcoming them to Trueblue and offering them discounts at market malls along with other incentives to get them to stay a while.

 

Once the Arisers, any of them, had been somewhere they could all go there instantly through Risercube/1, back to that place. As splinterclones, any one of them could do the same with out the Risercube but it cost more effort, energies and was more intricate to carry out. The Risercube augmented splinterclone intrinsic abilities. There were other such, natural and Risercube augmented, abilities.

 

With the 'stealth' aspect of the questing quest being an obvious failure, Alisa's group investigated the Trueblue Markets and no merchants were foolish enough to try to cheat them. The splinterclones hid their disappointment at not getting a chance to fleece anybody.

 

They saw a progression of monks, and nuns, of the Ocker Religion passing by in their feet wearing what they called 'thongs', with their big brimmed hats with strings hanging of the rim with small corks, their faces splashed with thick layers of white stuff, their wearing of baggy shorts and Tshirts with odd sayings printed on the front. They would say things like 'have a good day', 'did ya have a good weekend' and 'God bless a barbi, a tinny and a nice cup of tea'. It was an amazingly laid back religion which is why is was very popular.

 

The splinterclones were amazed by the kind of thing they had never encountered before. They were soon on their way back to Dinkyblue with bags of market goods and overpriced Ocker souvenirs; the Ockers were not so dumb after all that they could mildly fleece splinterclones and leave such happy at being so. That was after the Arisers had devoured free snaggers (sausages), big mugs of milky tea and lamingtons (odd cube shaped cakes) so maybe the splinterclones were not so fleeced after all. They did leave a nice big donation making the Ockers most happy.

Edited February 5, 2018 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

F1STE 1.13[14]

 

The Gaiamother sat, with two attending Gaiasisters, in the lower level of Cubechamber/1 of Risercube/1, facing all 13 splinterclones along with some of the new auxiliaries serving the splinterclones. Scruffman was there and laying with his head in Scruffman's lap was Scruffhound.

 

Gaiamother Gaiafairia spoke diplomatically. "The reason the people so quickly discovered your secret mission was that you are two metres tall, despite being only 6.5 years old, and you move like the deadly fighters that you are. Also you always wear the same kind of clothes and other gear. Word has travelled, of you and your deeds, through out much of the Blueisblue Region. The settlements of Dinkyblue, Trueblue, Soblue, Noblue and Sureblue. Dinkyblue, Trueblue, Soblue and Noblue are on the shoreline of the Longblue River while Sureblue is on the shore of the Deepblue Great Lake; all have learned of you, have even seen photographs of your faces."

 

Alisa said. "Well, that explains it! Is there something about the colour 'blue' that fascinates local people?"

 

Gaiafairia sighed. "Strange patterns of subtle influence seem to flow through this whole greater region and beyond or, in other words, I don't know!"

 

Davis grinned. "Do people sing the blues, here?"

 

Gaiafairia nodded. "Of course! The Longblue Serenade, the Deepblue Serenade and others such musicals are famous! Entertainment troupes will often carry out such musical plays."

 

Davis sighed. "I kind of meant the OldEarth style blues as originating in the United States of America. Vague splinterclone shared memories go back to the OldEarth and to listening to the blues."

 

Alisa frowned softly at Davis. "Now that we can get back on course, the Ocker Faithful gave us some interesting information. That is that many local humans, along those who came with them, first arrived in Sleepership/M12. Did it survive the landing and where is it?"

 

Gaiafairia spoke. "At the bottom of the Deepblue Great Lake and the term 'deep' is not used lightly. Lifepods bobbed up to the surface and thus the lifeforms, equipment and supplies gained the surface. My own ancestors came from Sleepership/M12 also known as the GloriaSister III of the GloriaSister Sleeperships."

 

Alisa spoke. "Is there any Zerotech still on the sleepership?"

 

Gaiafairia: "What is Zerotech? Unless you mean as in the Zerobomb that created the Originating Basinland?"

 

Alisa: "Yes but Zerobombs are but one form of Zerotech and there are more dangerous forms of it, some of them being much more dangerous. One of our tasks is to track down Zerotech, analyse it if given the chance to do so, and to destroy it. We have captured a Zerobomb and it is in an extremely safe place that is only indirectly linked to this Risercube."

 

Then she went on. "We have some meernoids, and large type meerkats, here. They were seeking safety so we gave it to them. They spoke of something chasing them, some dark force going after smaller population type exotic species."

 

Gaiafairia nodded. "It is true! They are the Palelords and the followers-minions that serve them. Where are the meernoids and meerkats?"

 

Alisa: "Either in status or in hiding, as meernoids, because they are worried you will be angry with them because they stole some stuff before running away from Dinkyblue."

 

Gaiafairia: "We are not happy about what they did but they are forgiven; of course, they later on do some repentance work as compensation."

 

The meernoids, not in status, slipped quietly into view and so did the meerkats not in status, as they mimicked the actions of their taller cousin people.

 

Goompatasa, leader of those meernoids and meerkats, spoke with her softly gruff voice. "We have made some fine artisan made gifts to give over to the orphans of Dinkyblue!"

 

Gaiafairia smiled. "Why did you flee from Dinkyblue when you were under the protection of the GaiaOrder?"

 

Goompatasa hissed softly. "Because, Gaiamother, one of your Gaiasisters is both a traitor and a cult-follower of the GreatEnemy through the SecretEnemy. She is not here."

 

Gaiafairia sighed. "Just as we feared, Gaiasister Gaiaforta vanished two weeks ago, taking valuable items with her. She had been acting strange for some months, increasingly so, and had been losing her Gaiapowers though she was never great with them in the first place. She began to exhibit darker, more negative, forms of powers. I sent a message to Trueblue to be passed onwards until it reached the Gaiamotherhigh. There are Gaiabrothers on their way as led by a Gaiafather. Some Gaiamothers, and Gaiasisters, are actually male while some Gaiafathers, and Gaiabrothers, are actually female. The Gaiafathers, and Gaiabrothers, enact the harsher side of the Gaiacharter while the Gaiamothers, and Gaiasisters, enact out the softer side of the Gaiacharter except that the situation is a little more complicated-subtle than it would first seem to be."

 

Alisa nodded. "Like the Ocker Religion?"

 

Gaiafairia sighed. "Even the GaiaOrder finds the Ocker Religion to be somewhat baffling."

Edited February 5, 2018 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

F1STE 1.14[15]

 

Teleporting, through the Risercube, a group of seven splinterclones went with one robot, one android, one cyborg dog and one cyborg-clone, materialised in the glowcavern where they had met the meernoids and meerkats. From there they moved carefully along a series of connecting glowtunnels until they reached an extremely large glowcavern with its far off walls being hazy because of the distance.

 

Prize points had been expended, the results had been semirandom, and now they sought a coppery prize globe. They found it drifting in the air, in a large thornbush-thorntree sheltered clearing. Three young adults, not as tall as those of the splinterclone group, who were all two metres tall, were busy trying to get the bronze globe to do something.

 

With them was a crow, a dog, a cat, a molerat like creature, three robots, and some humanoids along with yet others.

 

Alisa flickered and was suddenly standing next to the three young adults. She smiled at their futile efforts to have the prize globe do something. Then she reached out and made it vanish with a soft shimmering.

 

The young woman turned and frowned at Alisa. "You just stole our find. We found it first. I am Saltis of the Rank Scavengers."

 

Alisa smiled. "I am Alisa of a harmless group of adventurous, adventuring adventurers."

 

Alisa snorted. "Yes and I am a florist! I can sense others of your kind out there, and others with you. I have great, and very powerful, powers that are very powerful."

 

Saltis: "You didn't really need to point out twice that your great powers are very powerful; once would have been enough!"

 

Saltis thrust out her chest, and her smallish breasts, beneath her buttonshirt. "You took our find!"

 

Alisa sighed. "Not your find, our prize as part of the GreatGame! That's why I could activate and you couldn't. Where you from?"

 

Saltis shrugged. "WashingtonDC! We are radhumans and triplets sharing the same type of good looks. I am Saltis, this is Ramsey and the last is Rubin. Over there is Molie the radmolerat, Crowcrow the radcrow, Juber the raddog, Tinlegs the robot, Thomas the radcat, Moomoo the radcow, Tannin the radhuman, Tangleit the radghoulman, Wheelticky the robot, Eyebie the robot, Scroobie the radroach and Hattie the radhuman. We number 15."

 

Alisa shook her head. "More than 15. We splinterclones know there are others out there who are very well hidden, who are linked with you. Also what about the very small and very cute-adorable baby girl in that amazing pouch on your front?"

 

Saltis frowned. "Really, you shouldn't be able to see Supertinzi and you shouldn't be able to sense the Reflective13 or the Reflection13."

 

Alisa sighed. "Unless you want to stay here, there is somewhere good that we can take you."

 

Saltis shrugged. "How long will it take us to get there?"

 

Some minutes later the Rank Scavengers were in Risercube/1.

Edited February 5, 2018 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

F1STE 1.15[16]

 

A new 100mx100mx100m cubechamber was added to the Risercube being one great open space partly filled with a great rising structure of columns, buttresses, flying-buttresses, rampways, enclosed elevators, platforms, emergency slideways, enclosed buildings, semienclosed structures, pipes, gridwork, statues, fountains, garden areas, canalways of flowing water and so much else.

 

The meernoids, and meerkats were soon all out of status and had moved in. They were soon happily thriving and productively working. Soon they were joined by the Rank Scavengers and the Scruffies of man and dog.

 

More 10mx10mx10m cubechambers appeared, each divided into two sublevels except for one with some a large mechanism at the center of it being a multilevel command-control structure with enclosed levels, heavy safety-security and other network-systems.

 

Ariser13/1/2 materialised in 13 arisercapsules in a smaller cubechamber dedicated to that and related purposes. Sanki, Sandy, Dentu, Ablie, Kantt, Bruce, Lansh, Ollie, Henry, Boris, Alice, Horus and Sabbo were the new splinterclones and with them came a robocomputer, three cyborgs, three androids, three cyborg dogs and three robots along with 13 remoterobots. Ariser13/1/2 would focus on operating Risercube/1 while Ariser13/1/1 would focus on 'away missions' except that swap overs would take place for experience, extended training, purposes.

 

Saltis stood, with Supertinzi sitting comfortably on her head in her rainbow coloured nappypants and silky singlet. She hugged a very tiny dollybear to herself as she studied Alisa carefully.

 

Alisa smiled at the very small baby figure. "You are wonderfully, wonderful in your wondrous wonderfulness."

 

Supertinzi smiled at those words and then promptly fell asleep. Saltis carefully moved the very small one to the wonderfully decorative pouch on front of her. "Those were the kind of words that she loves to hear but, even with out them, she already loves you. You are linked to the LFF and to MrLFM. He brought us from WashingtonDC, of the Fallout Dynamics Gameworld, to the Originating Basinland. We can go back there, for a time, and scavenge more prize loot."

 

Alisa nodded. "Scavenging prize loot is a good objective to carry out. Your people should be happy here."

 

Saltis nodded. "Yes but I will miss even the crazy, dangerous, ever interesting DC Wastelands."

 

Alisa sighed. "You could use a Sensory Stimulation Virtual Reality program of WashingtonDC to keep in practice with being in the WDC. Then some of you could come with us on an actual mission to your old home that you would be well rewarded for, that is your whole group."

 

Saltis and each of us personally, of course, as you are."

 

Alisa shook her head. "We splinterclones do not think-work that we. We have short lifespans and then are replaced. We are 6.5 years old and the new splinterclones are just starting outside life at 1.5 years of age."

 

Saltis hugged Alisa hard and the splinterclone blushed a little but hugged the shorter Saltis back. Crowcrow, the radcrow, landed on Alisa's shoulder and gave her ear a friendly nibble.

Edited February 5, 2018 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

F1STE 1.16[17]

 

Benjamin led a squad5 through the temple garden area of Dinkyblue, none of the splinterclones having been to the area of mostly small semienclosed establishments of worship or faith. Two cyborg dogs, and a splinterclone like android, went with them. The GaiaOrder had a gaiatemple but not of worship but of a focus of living, everyday, practical faith. Semiwilderness gardens were cultivated there, growing herbs and foods along with attractive scenery to relax by.

 

The five were headed that way when they saw an amazing sight. Five semibare fat bottoms poking up into the air as the five worshippers of Bogus the Precious God of Amazing Fascination, chanted in a horrible ear hurting fashion. The two cyborg dogs shook their heads in mild annoyance. Benjamin gave subtle hand signals to the other splinterclones.

 

With such speed, that the movement was invisible, the five took out their pea shooters and fired with deadly precision plus accuracy along with power. The pea-shooters were safely hidden by the time the five Bogus Worshippers cried out in pain and were soon jumping up and down, looking around in shock and anger. By the time they did so the squad5 was gone from sight.

 

At the Dinkyblue Gaiatemple, Gaiasister Gaiatamph sighed. "Now the Bogus Worshippers may be painfully arrogant, annoying in many ways, but really did you have to shoot them..." Suddenly she broke out into soft laughter. "In truth you gave them a painful but very useful lesson with out doing any actual physical harm to them; you only hurt their pride. Gaiamother Gaiafairia is dealing with a very angry Archbishop High of Bogus Bespoken. In truth there are only five Bogus Followers in existence, as far as the GaiaOrder knows."

 

Benjamin grin-smiled. "In truth we only wanted to stop with that horrible noise. It even got to the cyborg-dogs Sniffems and Harryfur though Andie the androids didn't seem to mind."

 

Andie spoke in a very human manner. "It was horrible a noise and it was not all natural. Something else lay behind it, beneath it, was causing it to be more provocative. I am a specialist detection android and my special instruments picked up some odd subliminal energy patterns."

 

Gaiatamph did not appear surprised. "Yes, that would go along well with reports as given by other people. The five Bogus Worshippers are most unique, being tall fat human figures who arrived one day about three years ago. They took over a long abandoned temple site with a dark reputation to it. Soon after began the annoying chants, disturbing smells and other phenomena that has caused unrest amongst others in the temple area. Matters have been growing slowly-steadily worse."

 

Benjamin nodded. "Then it is time to take a closer look at the site."

Edited February 5, 2018 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

F1STE 1.17[18]

 

The five of the great, fatty, human like entities bounded across the secret temple chamber, causing the ground to shake as the supermutant fatamoths sought to crush the intruders. Splinterclones decoyed them away from the softly throbbing, smelling, screeching Zeroboco as Alisa worked on its console, attempting to tune it proper like. Then, abruptly, the awful smells turned wonderful, the screeching turned into beautiful, low level, melody and the fatamoths stopped as if they had ran into an invisible wall.

 

With blissful expressions on their big, plump, faces the supermutants took out large earplugs, and noseplugs, before laying prostrate with happiness in front of the properly tuned Zeroboco. It was a demiZerotech artefact of the kind that needed careful care of but no destruction. Soon the positive effects, of the Zeroboco, would be reaching out through the temple district of Dinkyblue and beyond.

 

A small party of Gaiafollowers arrived even as the squad5 departed with its two cyborg-dogs and one android auxiliaries. Alisa knew, somehow, that her being a clone-daughter of MrLFM had given her the extra necessary to reprogram the Zeroboco totally, locking down the new programming and erasing the troublesome programming that some negative influence had put into it.

 

The Zeroboco would remain in Dinkyblue where it would remain active while the GaiaOrder kept it secure while caring for the now far more pleasant behaving fatamoths, the big fat human looking supermutants. They were the creations of the infamous, Gamelord, faction of the Genus Gambit Glorious. Or so had read the data found in the databank of the Zeroboco for it had been agents of the GGG that had made disturbing that piece of demiZerotech. The Genus Gambit Glorious were quite criminally insane.

 

There had been other data found there, very vital data that should theoretically not have been there. The GGG had either been tricked into putting it there, had been betrayed internally or it had been a wild coincidence; the splinterclones had grave doubts about wild coincidences.

Edited February 5, 2018 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

F1STE 1.18[19]

 

Life was settling down nicely in Risercube/1 as Alisa led Ariser13/1/1, complete with 13 auxiliaries, along the northern shoreline of the Longblue River. From Dinkyblue the went to Trueblue, pacing swiftly along a wide riverside dirt road. They moved around convoys of motor vehicles and even more animal drawn ones, mostly pulled by horses or great big birds known as mohabirds that had four legs, the wings having gone back to being legs though their bodies were still covered with feathers.

 

At Trueblue they paid to be taken to the Deepblue Great Lake at moderate speed. Acting as tourists, they did some fishing on the way, making a fair catch of stripefish, jellybellys and one river-shark. The small river-shark ended up happily living in the Lifecube pool in the Risercube, along with some of the fish, but others were given over to the motorboat's crew as a gift.

 

Captain Eredus suck rancid smoke in from her wooden pipe and blew it out over the river waters where a small bird protested at the stink of it. "Aaahhh, there be strange stories about the Deepblue. I know because I made up most of them or so did my mother or grandmother. Yet there be stories that are much older and ring true unlike the yarns we speak of that are clearly bogus and by that I do not mean that supposed god of that temple in Dinkyblue."

 

Davis nodded. "Like the one about the river pirates; that sounded rather likely to me."

 

Eredus shook her head. "No, that is just common sense good advise of the understandable type. No, the story not to be believed is the one about the upside down aquatic humanoid people, that is floating upside down, deep down in the depths of the river."

 

Alisa spoke. "That is true. The Upsidis people float that way so as to plunge deeper away from surface threats when they appear and to be able to see threats coming from below."

 

Eredus grinned. "Very good but you could leave the stories to my family."

 

Alisa took a well done sketch out of her shoulderpack and passed it to the captain. "A fisher fell overboard and was sucked down by a current, when he saw those upside down floating humanoids. The humanoids, he stated, kept on glancing downwards as if nervous of something. They all had long spears or shorter tridents but not for hunting for they eat waterweed and very small fish one can not catch with a spear or a trident. The fisher awoke, on the shoreline, with a vague dream like memory of talking to one of the Upsidis Elders in a curious bobbing shell like house."

 

Alisa went on. "Your task is to take true tales and try to make them sound false because you are a secret Gaiasister."

 

Eredus smiled. "I suppose that Gaiafairia told you so."

 

Alisa shook her head. "No, it was guesswork that you just confirmed as true. Why do you not want such stories to be known as true, trying to make out that there is nothing fantastic about the Deepblue?"

 

The Gaiasister sighed. "You really do gain much valuable experience through the Splintermass. Almost every group that has gone to investigate the depths of the Deepblue has been drawn there by such stories. Almost every such group has vanished totally except for survivors from eight of them. All survivors had suffered great horror, were often damaged of mind-body-spirit and tended to die very soon after they were found. There are five survivors, all but one of whom are quite insane."

 

Alisa nodded. "You are that one?"

 

She shook her head. "My brother, Etelus, who was always too restless to be of the GaiaOrder, is the survivor. He used to be wild, annoyingly humorous and generally boisterous; now he is the very opposite of that. He is a semirecluse dwelling in the Gaiatemple in the settlement of Sureblue. Do you wish to speed up going there?"

 

Alisa shook her head. "I want to hear more of those tales that are supposedly not true, to gain other information about the lake that you might have to offer along with trying to find out who those people are who have been trailing us."

 

The captain grinned. "Oh those are just pirates sussing us out as possible victims."

 

Alisa shook her head. "No, not those, I mean those following us along the southern shoreline where people do not seem to live."

 

The captain frowned. "Now, that is serious. On the southern shore, and south of it, are the Blueslands where dwell tribal cannibals, barbarian animal peoples, cliches, stereotypes, rogue modders, ragegeeks and other horrors. It is said the the Rritew ever battles the evil Rditoe, and the even more evil Rublishep, in order to reach false godhead as the Ruthoa. Further southwards there is the never ending war between the PepsiCola and CokaCola Empires."

 

Alisa shook her head. "And I thought of Skaro as being crazy!"

Edited February 5, 2018 by Maharg67