Well, I'm using a different e-mail addy.
Hopefully this one can send a full chapter
of something without scrambling it.

- Valandar the Red

All characters from the series Ranma 1/2 and situations
described in said series belong to Kitty, Viz, the
divine Ms. Takahashi, etc. All characters and situations
pertinent to the world of Tayren belong to me. This
is a fanfiction not intended for profit, but
entertainment. Please don't sue me, I have no money.


                    Oceans of Sky
                A Ranma 1/2 Fanfiction
                 By Valandar the Red


                      Prologue:
              Discussions on the Barrier


     N'akaaran stood on the edge of the plateau, staring
into the endless depths below him. As an akiir, he had
little to fear from a possible fall, but he preferred to
fly in areas where he would at least have some form of
solid ground beneath him. The idea of nothing but
infinity below was actually just a little nauseating.
Easing away from the precipice, he regarded his
companion.
     Boven was a very bookish human, to be expected from
a wizard. He had hired the akiir as a guide, and as a
bodyguard. The truth be told, if a serious foe decided
to attack the wizard, like a grondrim, the hollow-boned
reptile would be in just as much danger as his charge.
The only saving grace was his flight, and prowess with
his wickedly curved scimitar.
     "Ahem. N'akaaran, please come here." Boven's pug
nose twitched in his chubby face, and he was scratching
at the crushed green velvet doublet he was wearing.
Ovinel Plateau was quite temperate, and the chubby human
was not wearing his cloak. Sighing, the guide and
bodyguard walked over.
     "As any schoolboy knows," began the supercilious
wizard, "the world of Tayren was created by the gods, to
test out races for other worlds. The plateaus were
intended to keep all the races separate, until they were
ready to be released to their own worlds. All of the
plateaus terminate within an average altitude of between
ten and fifteen feet above or below the standard average
of all the plateaus."
     "Yes, yes, yes. Look, Boven, I do not need a
geography lesson. I also know that the pinnacles reach
another thirty miles up, and terminate in the Great
Barrier, which glows and dims for night and day. And the
space between the pinnacles and plateaus is a misty,
infinite abyss, in which one can fall long enough to die
of thirst, or hunger if one brought water, before
hitting anything remotely resembling bottom. So what?"
     "So, my boy, do you remember your history? Tell me
of when the old Gods left." The wizard adjusted a pair
of lenses that rested on his nose, and studied the winged
reptile before him.
     N'akaaran, like all other akiir, was basically
humanoid in shape. However, his arms continued from his
hands, with a broad flap of skin stretching from his
sides, connecting to the extremely long last finger,
like the wings of a pterodactyl. It was these wings that
let the akiir explore the plateaus in the days before the
skyships. His lizard like face was relatively expressive,
and his annoyance showed through.
     "When the Old Gods felt their experiments were
ready, they took the most pious of all the races, and
seeded them on the worlds they had prepared for them.
The rest of us stayed behind, most races trapped on their
own plateaus, until the coming of the Artificers. With
the skyships of the Artificers, Far Haven was able to
reach out, and explore the world. Other races came to
acquire these ships from the humans, and, later, from the
Artificers, themselves."
     Boven beamed at him. "Good, my boy, good. Of course,
you forgot to mention that Tayren is infinite to the
north, south, east, and west, as well as down, but has
a definite end, the Great Barrier. Now, what lies beyond
the Great Barrier?"
     The guide sighed, his ruddy scales losing a little
bit of luster. "No one knows. The most common theory is
that the New Gods live beyond there. Some claim that
nothing lies beyond, and others that a mirror of Tayren
can be found there."
     "Well, I have my own theories. I say that the Great
Barrier is nothing more than the boundary separating
our world, from the infinite realms across which the Old
Gods seeded the other races." Taking his glasses off his
face, he wiped them on his pristine, ivory sleeve. "I
believe it may be possible to open a gate through the
Barrier, to these other worlds." A sly grin stole across
the wizard's face. "And just think of the trade
opportunities!"
     "Gold, gold, gold. Is that all you can think about?
Okay, say you can make the gate, only akiir and harpies
are going to be able to use it. The Great Barrier is
thirty miles up! The skyships can't go more than twenty
feet above or below the level of the Plateaus."
Scratching the base of his long, slender tail through his
kilt, N'akaaran continued. "Boven, if you brought some
poor fool through the Great Barrier, and it wasn't able
to fly, he or she'd fall either thirty miles to their
death, or for the rest of their lives."
     "Perhaps. But, my boy, I have a solution!" One
finger pointed skywards, as the wizard turned his gaze
to the fog-shrouded depths. "If the spell is cast with a
sample of mist from exactly thirty miles down, then the
gate will open halfway between - right on level with
the plateaus!"
     "And just how are you going to get a sample of the
mist from that far down?" The akiir had a feeling that
he wouldn't like the answer.
     Boven just smiled at him, like he was a prize hound.
'Yup,' thought the guide, 'I'm absolutely sure I don't
like the answer.'



Notes: The world of Tayren is one I created, originally
  for short stories, and then, later, as a campaign world
  for roleplaying games. The story will continue from
  here, with the most obvious plot point being the most
  unfortunate summoning of the Nerima Wrecking Crew.
  Unlike most of my fanfics, all of the rivalries are
  either intact, or maybe even slightly intensified. I
  just wanted to put Ranma characters in my favorite,
  swashbuckling genre without getting too deep into the
  curses, and this seemed the best way.

  valandar_the_red@yahoo.com, or
  http://members.tripod.com/~Valandar/fanfic.html


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