The Chelon Rose

Act 2: the Invasion

The Tales of Martin of Brune

Dead Man Walking

Part II of III | Part I | Part III

As for Martin, well he is true to his promise of always telling long stories for as he always says "no story is worth telling unless it is in episodes".

So here is episode 2 of Dead man walking. Remember to be here at the apple tree inn tomorrow evening for the final thrilling installment!!!!

“A beggar walks the streets of Palace, cold and alone and drenched to his very soul. The streets are empty and lonely as if the driving rain has washed away the life and blood from the city. Yet a gleam catches this beggar’s eye and he raises his head and tries to pear through a river of rain. There, high, high up upon the mighty walls of Palace he sees a magical sight. Beautiful young man and women dance naked around a canvas tent held aloft by bejeweled stilts. Inside are many mighty and wealthy looking men, not one of them wet from the rain. The beggar shakes his head to clear away the mirage, accepting to himself that he once again has had far too much to drink....”

“”That is my final offer Darrian” fat Gorgon exclaims as the two groups meet utop the impressively wide and arched walls of Palace. “you can keep all the gold and treasure you like, but the weapon is mine.””

“”How can we accept such an offer” Darrian replies “you have not told us where this place is, or what this place is, you have not said how much treasure there is and you have not said what the weapon is. You have not even said for how long we must go.””

““We leave in the morn, early. We travel for one day and camp. The next day you go into this place but you must be out by sunset. Inside there is ample treasure I guarantee it. And the weapon…” Gorgon smirks “you will know when you have found it.””

“”By the twin heads of Mishapevad Gorgon, why would we accept such an ambiguous offer” Darrian exclaims half laughing half mystified. He indicates to his men “come on, we are leaving this hoax of a tent and the foul breath of this man possessed by the mad spirit of greed and mayhem.””

“Darrian’s party leave the tent and strike off along the wall road. But before they are ten feet away Gorgon shouts “You WILL accept my offer! because I know what happened to your friend Wren.””

“So you see, it was not gold or treasure, as is commonly believed, that convinced Darrian to accompany Gorgon on this vile quest. So when you hear this falsity, from the ignorant maws of the common street bard, you tell them from Martin of Brune, “Darrian’s men were of higher morals then that”. But equably, if a bard tells you he knows what happened to the Ranger Wren, you call his bluff, for there is nobody who knows that story; you can take that from me, I’ve looked into it.”

“They did accompany Gorgon and they did camp that night, by a calm brook next to a broad flat field, which by day is full of the yellow Chochris flower used by old crones to poison kings. This yellow blossomed field held more secrets than just its deadly poison, oh yes indeed its secrets were mighty, for when Darrian’s men awoke…..”

“Wait, wait, wait” Martin says waving his hands about as if to abruptly end the story “I can’t go on”. The atmosphere of the story is broken as Martin finds a stool near the bar and orders a drink, ignoring the audience he begins to tune his lute. It is only after being repeatedly berated by the audience for not finishing his story, he reluctantly returns to the podium by the furnace.

“Very well, but I have warned you my friends and allies” he says “I have warned have I not! that I fear to tell you this story. No, not because it is full of woe, though it is. Not because it is full of strangeness, though it is that too. Not even because it is full of death and gore, though it is all this and more my friends. No, I fear to tell you this story because of what it might do to my reputation as a famous bard. For who would believe it? And what bard would tell such foolishness? Yet I say to you all: it is as true as Draphoph’s hide is foul. For before these men awoke that morning, by that peaceful brook, in that field full of the poison Chochris flowers, right there not more than a hundred yards from their slumbering forms, appeared a mighty and gothic castle.”

“They awoke to this tall and magical castle, strewn with strange yellow light and shimmering with glittering wonder as if it had been transported here from deep within the Elfen Wood. It was all Darrian’s men could do to not attack the fat man Gorgon, for they feared some sort of trickery and accused him of drugging them.”

“”You have poisoned my mind with that foul Chochris flower and put into my eyes pixie dust and illusions” said Bigstar the giant.”

“”You have performed some powerful charm about me and my friends and have robbed us of our senses like a thief would some jewels” said Gweneth the wizard.”

“”You have struck us down with your foul breath and I have come to the afterlife” said Grulof the barbarian.”

“”No you are all wrong” said Darrian their leader “for this is none other than the One-Hundred Year Castle. A thing spoken of only in legend and lore. A thing so strange and remarkable few credible sages will admit to its existence. Yet exists it does, right here before us my friends, appearing only once every hundred years, as god is my guide, this thing is real” and of course his party believed the preacher Darrian, for Darrian does not lie and has the counsel of gods. And the famous preacher’s words carry such a weight of persuasion that all present acknowledged the legend must be true.”

“Gorgon smirked happily at Darrian’s men, “so you see, I am true to my word and now you must be true to yours…””

, you have been listening to Martin de Brune (aka Wayne Kington) at the Apple Tree Inn.

Author: Martin de Brune (aka Wayne Kington)

created: 14 February 1998 | Last Updated: January 18, 2002

© Skabo