The Eternal Lost Lurker (EternalLostLurker@worldnet.att.net)
Foreword
Just what the hell *is* this, you ask? It's simple.
A long time ago, back when I first got started on the Internet, I was
introduced to a marvelous little online multiplayer RPG called "GemStone
III". At that time, only America Online and GEnie had it, and on a crowded
day, 300 people were playing at once.
I immediately fell in love with GemStone III.
Over the course of the next year and a half, I went through a multitude of
characters. My best characters, sadly, always met early deaths from various
causes: being ganged up on by nasty high-level characters, AOL account
suspension, etc.
Although I never personally advanced a character past level 9, I
accumulated enough experience with the world of GS3 to rival even the
oldest Lords and Ladies.
Of course, it's had its bad moments. Especially when AOL went on the
Unlimited plan, and an average night of GS3 meant putting up with over 1800
other players, over half of whom were theives, assholes, and/or both. It
got to the point where the only time to play was between 3 and 6 AM.
Then AOL and Simutronics ended their contract to offer GS3 to AOL
customers, and GS3 moved to the Web. While it remained crowded, the people
were now paying to play, and so there was less bullshit. Not too much less,
but less.
That was July. I was on Prodigy, and had to pay 1.50 an hour extra to play
GS3. I was, at that time, getting more and more fed up with Prodigy, and
preparing to leave it.
Now, due to a lack of time, and a lack of money, I've had to sadly retire
from the lands of Elanthia.
I really, *really* miss GemStone III.
Thus, this little side-project of mine. Don't take it seriously, as it's
not really going to have much of a plot to speak of...it's going to be more
like a soap opera, going through the lives of various people seeking
adventure, fame, and profit in Elanthia.
The catch: here, all the major players are favorite anime characters.
I'm working a lot of anime characters, and maybe a few noteworthy
characters from other sources, into the world of Elanthia, the setting of
GemStone III. Again, this is just a little side-project I'm going to play
with while working up the next chapters of my other fics.
For those of you who have played, and do play, GS3: I played sparingly
during the middle months of this year. Most of my experience with GS3 is
from before the time of the Web. So if something looks wrong, or seems to
be amiss, it's because I'm working with the more familiar, older workings
of Elanthia. If you happen to be reading this, and you're a GS3 player,
please be courteous and remember the rule about staying in-character while
playing the game. (In other words, kindly don't talk about this fic
online...I'd rather not have my mailbox flooded with weird mail from GS3
players and Simutronics people ^_^;;;).
If you happen to see a non-anime player name in here you recognize, it's
probably coincidence, except in a few situations in which I will be using
people I met and traveled with and/or quarreled with in Elanthia. No
disrespect or offense towards anyone is intended.
If you happen to be a GameMaster, GameHost, or other Simutronics employee
and are reading this...please don't sue. ^_^ Look at it this way: if
nothing else, I'm attracting more business for you guys, right? ^_^
One more quick note: I'll be adding some scenery and locales to Elanthia
which don't quite belong to the original layout. I will, however, be using
the true map of Wehnimer's Landing and its surroundings exclusively.
And *no*, nobody's traveling to Icemule. I never found the time to go
there. ^_^
If you are completely unfamiliar with GemStone III, and after reading this
are curious about the game itself, you should go to the GS3 website:
http://www.gemstone.net, and check it out for yourself. If you plan to sign
up, I think the going rate right now is 9 bucks a month, but don't take my
word for it.
Enough rambling, let's get started...
GemStone III, Elanthia, and all related terms, locations, and concepts are
the property of Simutronics, Inc. No infringement on their rights is
intended...if anything, this work of fanfiction is homage to their
incredible online roleplaying environment.
All anime characters represented herein are property of their creators and
the companies who publish the works in which they appear.
All additional characters are either the property of the author, or the
property of the player who controls the given character in GemStone III. In
the latter case, no disrespect is intended towards the player.
The Eternal Lost Lurker presents:
J E N S U T O U N I I I
-----Into Elanthia-----
"IS THERE AN EMPATH HERE!?" bellowed a voice from the north gates of
Wehnimer's Landing. Ordinarily, such a shout would be ignored, swept into
the constant flow of noise that traffic in and out of Land's End Road
generated. However, the stout man which had issued the shout bore a measure
of respect...or at least fear...in the Landing. For he was Lord Genma
Saotome, the master rogue, and most of the denizens of Wehnimer's knew
better than to cross him.
Tofuu Ono, a young empath, stepped up to Lord Genma. "I'm an empath,
m'lord," he said.
Genma nodded brusquely, and laid a small figure on the dirt road. It was a
young girl, with fiery red hair, wearing a tattered, shredded leather
jerkin. A gaping wound marred her abdomen as blood pooled around her, and
her left arm appeared to be broken in several places.
Tofuu frowned, and knelt beside the girl, checking her vitals. She was
alive, if only barely. He nodded. "I'll do what I can," he assured the
middle-aged rogue. Closing his eyes and concentrating, Tofuu focused on the
girl's abdominal wounds. Gradually, the bleeding stopped, and the wound
began to close over with undamaged pink skin. Tofuu gasped loudly, and
collapsed to the ground, his own abdomen ripped open. After a moment, he
murmured a phrase of magic. He passed his hand over his shredded stomach,
and the wound closed up, leaving a series of thick, ugly scars in its
place.
"Thank you, young empath," Lord Genma said, and reached into his pockets.
He handed Tofuu a few hundred silvers, and scooped the girl up again. "By
the way," Genma added as Tofuu pocketed the coins, "do you know of any
clerics who specialize in curses?"
"Curses?" Tofuu blinked. "You might try Subaru. I think he frequents the
trophy room at the Raging Thrak." Genma nodded his thanks, and left.
The runner knocked on the wooden gate to the House Tendou, and waited. A
House servant opened the door, and nodded to her. "I have a message for
Lord Soun," she said. The servant received the message from her, and
motioned her to wait. After a moment, he returned, stating no reply was
neccessary, and closed the gates. The runner took the next sealed message
from her pouch, looked at it, and jogged to the south.
From the north, a squat, bald figure in an orange tunic and trousers
shuffled up to the gate, and knocked on it. The servant opened it, and
looked down at him. "Yes? What do you want?" he demanded.
"I wish to speak to Lord Tendou, about training under him," the youth
stated matter-of-factly.
The servant chortled. "Is that so?" he sneered. "The only way you get to
Lord Soun is through me!" With that, he drew a silver mithril broadsword
from his sheath, and swiped at the bald midget.
"I am Kuririn, and I accept your challenge!" he yelled. Reaching into his
belt, he pulled a dull red dagger, and brandished it menacingly. The
servant guffawed.
"What do you expect to do with a simple drake dagger, foolish boy?" he
taunted.
Kuririn smirked, and raised the dagger over his head. He began spinning it
rapidly. The servant stepped back when a ring of fire formed around the tip
of the whirling knife. "How...that's not possible! You can't summon the
fire magic out of a drake weapon like that!"
"Wanna bet?" Kuririn shouted. "HOU-EN-ZAN!" He thrust his hand forward.
The blazing dagger whirled through the air, and sliced through the stunned
servant's throat. Although his carotid artery was severed, he didn't bleed
much, as the passage of the fiery knife cauterized the wound instantly. The
man was dead before he hit the ground. The dagger stopped burning, and
pinned itself into the ground.
A young woman emerged from the main house, and blinked. "Oh, my."
Kuririn frowned. "I didn't...intend to kill him."
The woman stepped forward. "You did this?" Kuririn gulped and nodded. She
sighed. "Well, you defeated the doorman. I'll take you to see Father now.
I'm Kasumi Tendou."
Kuririn bowed respectfully. Kasumi lead him into the main house, while one
of the gardeners tossed the body onto his cart and hauled it inside the
gates. His timing was perfect, as the constable strolled past only seconds
later.
Lord Soun Tendou, a skilled old warrior, wept nostalgically as he read the
parchment before him. His old friend, Genma Saotome, had returned to
Elanthia, with his son Ranma. Soun smiled. Unlike Genma, who was a rogue
through and through, he knew Ranma had been trained as a warrior. The boy
would be the perfect husband for one of his daughters.
"Father?" Kasumi said. "We have a guest. He has asked to speak to you
about training."
Soun looked up. Standing beside Kasumi was a short, bald fellow, in the
process of sheathing a drake dagger which seemed to be freshly stained with
blood. "He defeated the guard?"
Kasumi nodded. "Yes, father. He killed the guard, in fact. With one blow."
Soun blinked, and raised an eyebrow. "With a drake dagger?"
"Yes, m'lord," the stranger said, bowing.
"Impressive," Soun said. "Kasumi, please fetch some elven champagne from
the cellar. The good stock," he added. "I'm already in a celebratory mood."
"At once, Father," Kasumi said, and hurried off to get the refreshments.
"You have picked a very interesting day to seek me," Soun said. "I didn't
catch your name?"
"Kuririn," the fellow replied.
Soun nodded. "Today I will be reunited with an old friend of mine, Genma
Saotome."
Kuririn's eyes widened. "The famous rogue Lord? The one who can pick locks
with his navel?"
Soun guffawed. "That's what they say about him. Wouldn't surprise me a
bit."
"Wow..."
"He's returned to Elanthia, and is bringing his son Ranma. If you're good
enough that you could cut down one of my guards with a drake dagger, I'm
sure I would like to have you around as a student, and a sparring partner
for both Ranma and for my youngest daughter."
As if on cue, the front door burst open. "Dad! I'm home!" called a tired,
ragged female voice. Soun and Kuririn looked up.
A girl strode through the door, dressed in battered brigandine armor,
heavy cowhide boots, a cobalt blue iron helmet, and, absurdly enough, a
knee-length orange skirt. An orange oilcloth backpack hung from her back,
complemented by the orange oilcloth pouch on her belt. She carried a
massive ora war hammer in one hand, and a dented brass coffer in the other.
Beyond her garments and possessions, she had unevenly cut blue-black hair,
which was splayed into two ponytails where some of it had come out of the
ribbon binding it. The hair that remained bound in the ribbon only hung
down to her shoulderblades, while the rest of it hung a good six inches
longer. Kuririn decided her hair had been a casualty of some recent battle.
Her face and arms were smudged with soot and dried blood. She had a nasty
bruise around her left eye, and a few minor scratches on her neck.
Soun smiled at his youngest daughter. "Welcome home, Akane. How was your
day?"
"Great!" she said. She held up the coffer. "Got this off a titan," she
grinned.
"That's nice, Akane. Go get cleaned up and heal yourself, we've got
company and more is on the way."
"Okay!" she said, bowing to Kuririn, then heading upstairs. Soun sighed
and shook his head. "That girl..."
"Oh man," the redhead groaned as she came to. Genma had taken her to the
secure upstairs room at the Raging Thrak Inn. He grabbed a flask from his
backpack, and poured the hot water from it over the girl. Her form
distorted, and she became a young man. "What the hell was *with* that crazy
sorceress, anyway? Sheesh. It's not *my* fault our voices sound the same."
Genma sighed. "You know how it is, Ranma my boy. Sorcerors and sorceresses
love abusing that damn Mana Disrupt spell."
"Man, tell me about it," Ranma groused. He looked at his left arm. "Shit.
This sucks," he grumbled.
"It could be worse, boy. At least you're alive, thanks to that kind young
empath, and at least I had the right herbs to fix that arm with."
"Yeah, but it'll be a long time before it works right again, unless we
make a stop at the herbalist."
"No time for that now, boy. We have an old friend to meet."
"Yeah? Then why did you wait so long to change me back, huh?"
"Foolish boy! I was looking out for your health, you ingrate! Do you know
what the shock of changing form could have done to that arm?"
"Well you had the stuff to fix me up with, why didn't ya?"
"...I just got that ten minutes ago," Genma admitted.
"Huh? Didja go to the herbalist?"
Genma shook his head. "Stole it off some dead guy in Town Square," he
mumbled.
Ranma threw his hands into the air. "Sheesh."
"Well, off we go," Genma said. The two gathered their packs, and left the
Inn.
Outside, as they passed through Town Square Central, someone tossed a
flask of water from the treehouse overlooking the Square. It impacted
neatly on the heads of Ranma and Genma.
"Aw jeez," Ranma said, wringing water out of her hair. "This sucks."
The large kobold (large, that is, for a kobold: it was only four and a
half feet tall) standing beside her held up a sign that read, "Sure does."
"Damn, stupid...if I ever get hold of that little...OOOOH THAT MAKES ME SO
MAAAAD!"
The blond-haired giantman warrior bigsweated as the small sorceress he
travelled with ranted. "I don't get it...so her voice sounds like yours. So
what? That's not so terrible."
"Not to you, maybe," the sorceress said. "But dammit, Gourry, I'm the
great Lina Inverse! I won't stand for having someone out there with a voice
that sounds like mine!"
"But...didja have to Mana Disrupt her, Lina?" Gourry asked.
Lina screamed in frustration. "Of COURSE I did, idiot! How else am I gonna
tell her I'm pissed off at her?"
"Uhhh...walk up to her and say, "I'm pissed off at you?"
Lina facefaulted. "Anyway, I swear if I ever see that little redhead
again, I'll do worse than Mana Disrupt her!"
Gourry paled. "You'll use Eye Spy in front of her?"
Lina mumbled a spell, and gestured at Gourry. A vein in his neck exploded,
spurting blood all over the place. "Shut up," she grumbled.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Kunou makes a challenge to Rei, while more than
one person is snooping around for information on the
enigmatic albino.
Jikai ni: ReGenesis: Half Impact, 3:3.
Saabisu, saabisu!
---
Reunions and tearful farewells in Tokyo, and the
start of a dangerous trek to find the Escudo, as
the young defenders of Cephiro prepare for the
dangerous battle to come.
Jikai ni: Onna: Red Side, Chapter 20.
Don't miss it!
---
Also coming soon:
BlueSeed: Rainbow of Souls chapter 2
JenSutoun III: Into Elanthia
---
The Eternal Lost Lurker
EternalLostLurker@worldnet.att.net
1 disc down, 2 to go...
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