Krynnspace.
Of the three spheres of the Radiant Triangle, Kyrnnspace has long been considered the most mysterious. It's natives had seen more religious and social wars than Greyspace and Realmspace combined. Strangers were viewed with suspicion. Travellers weaved tales of huge black clouds that could devour an entire world for months at a time, and of icy mists that could drain the life of even the most hardy warrior in a matter of seconds. The divine powers of the sphere constantly interfered with the lives of mortals, and of one another, in an ongoing attempt to better their lot in this one corner of the universe.
So caught up in their own plotting, they paid no attention to the fiery geyser that erupted on the sphere wall, somewhere in the constellation of Paladine. It was simply a signal, heralding the arrival of a set of travellers. A large, crystalline, shell-shaped ship, resting on two narrow booms that resembled twisted vines, entered the frigid night of Krynnspace. In an instant the ship's color changed from the chaotic, multicolored palate of the phlogiston to the deep midnight blue of the open space around it. Small red and yellow lights occasionally flickered from inside the hull like terrestrial fireflies. A soft green light emitted from one large opening, and several figures could be seen walking about. That is, if there was anyone close enough to look.
The Eternal Wanderer II, a re-fitted illithid dreadnought, slowly cleared the fiery geyser of phlogiston that marked the portal through which it entered. Gradually the fire died, and the portal closed.
"All clear!" a voice called.
"Very good," captain Onestar returned. "Lay in a course for the Stellar Islands."
After a few minutes, Meridian called up from the helm room: "We should arrive there in ten days, barring any problems."
Onestar raised his hand in acknowledgement and resumed looking out into the dark night. He quickly noticed how cold the sphere was. It had been a long time since he had visited this particular sphere, and his memory of it was dim and intangible, like the black cloud he could see in the distance.
Elsewhere on the ship, Hall-ee-mor Dargess, the bard first officer, looked out the portal of his quarters, and saw something totally different. This sphere was all too familiar to him. For a time memories of this sphere plagued his dreams, as he battled a foe he could never defeat. Five years earlier he had lost part of himself in the cold night of this sphere. He was determined to get it back, either by finding it, or joining it by ending his own life. Indeed, for him, life had never been the same since that fateful day when the lookout called...
"MINDSPIDER!"
Hall awoke from his trance and scanned the night sky. A small, brown ship was closing on the Wanderer at an alarming rate. This wasn't a vision or memory, this was real. A ballistae bolt flew from the small ship, missing it's target by several hundred feet. These neogi were very bold to challenge a dreadnought at such a distance. Normally they would wait and attack when they were closer. Hall swung open his closet and began to don his elfin chain mail. It had been a long time since he last wore the suit, but something told him he would need it. A few minutes later he was finished, and started running for the main deck.
Weapon crews were running about, trying to get a fix on the small ship that was attacking them. Mindspiders are always a problem to fight. They are extremely agile, making it difficult to get a clean shot at them. This particular mindspider was flying wide circles around the dreadnought, zig-zagging all of the way. Illeria wanted to teleport aboard with some soldiers, but the ship didn't hold still long enough for her get a fix on it. Onestar was barking orders to the weapon crews...
"Fire at will!" he cried. "Mornja, load the starboard bombard! Small arms, to your posts!"
The mindspider appeared to be playing with the dreadnought. The neogi had clearly been waiting for someone to enter the sphere. The Wanderer had just come out of flow stations when the spider ship appeared. One of the Wanderer's light catapults finally found a mark, and the bulbous tail of the mindspider was hit. The crystalline dome gave off a shattering sound as it broke into a thousand shards. This did not slow the mindspider at all. In fact, it appeared to strengthen its resolve. A balistae bolt struck the hull of the Wanderer, sending a shuddering sensation through the ship.
Hall ran to the flying bridge. Pascal had his eyes fixed on the planetary locator. Two lights were visible. One was the Wanderer, the other was the mindspider, making wild circles around the larger ship. Pascal turned to Onestar...
"There is no way we can out maneuver that thing, and at the rate it's going we won't be able to board it either," the arcane stated.
Onestar paused, thinking for a moment, before turning to the speaking tube: "Crystal, see if you can..."
Another shot hit the hull, but from the opposite side. Pascal looked at the locator for any sign of the other ship, but found none. Onestar and Hall ran to the portal and looked out. To their surprise, a grey man-o-war appeared from nowhere.
Elves and neogi working together? That made no sense, but no one had time to question it. Another mindspider had appeared, and another man-o-war, this one a purplish color, was right behind it.
"We've been attacked by a whole bloody flotilla!" Ville shouted.
In seconds, the dreadnought was flanked by all four ships, but instead of firing, the attackers stood fast. Onestar looked at the locator for any sign of an opening, some way they could get outside the formation. He never found it.
"Captain!" someone shouted, "We're being boarded!"
Sure enough, dimension doors were appearing, and enemy troops were entering the body of the ship. The crew of the Wanderer wasted no time, and drew their side arms to engage the invaders. Onestar withdrew his katana and, giving a wild battle cry, jumped down two levels to engage an umber hulk. The hulk was unable to confuse his attacker—Onestar was too experienced to fall for that. His katana struck the carapace of the hulk with a dull thud and cracking sound.
Meanwhile, Hall and Ville were still on the flying bridge, battling three elven soldiers who tried to take the bridge. Ville grappled one to the floor, and the two began to wrestle furiously. Hall uttered some word and his sword burst into flame. He struck one of the elves, causing the elf to fall from the flying bridge to his death three levels below.
While Hall turned around to the final elf, two more appeared and grabbed him! He struggled, but a painful pricking sensation came over his leg, and quickly his muscles gave out. He was dragged through the dimension door.
One of the elves gave a loud cry, and all of the invaders ran through the nearest dimension door. All save those who had fallen or were trapped. In seconds, the invaders were gone and the four ships were preparing to disengage.
Onestar shrieked one command and one of the Wanderer's bombards fired, striking the second mindspider and crippling it. Before the Wanderer even had time to collect itself, however, the three remaining ships had vanished.
"Grapple that mindspider, and take the neogi alive. I want some answers," Onestar roared. His first officer, and his friend, had just been captured and he was determined to find out by who and why.
He was also bothered by how fast the attack had been. In a matter of minutes the ships had appeared, attacked, captured Hall, and escaped. Whoever these people were they were very well trained.
The mindspider didn't look as bad up close. There was a gaping hole on the port side of the ship, but it was still functional. One could only assume that the strike from the bombard had sent the helmsman into jammer-shock. As Onestar prepared to board the other ship, he could hear sounds of combat on board. Apparently the crew of the other ship wasn't going to give up without a fight.
By the time he reached the mindspider, most of the fighting was over. Illeria greeted him on the bridge. Three of the other crewmen were in the process of destroying the lifejammer.
"That bombard hit did more damage than we thought," Illeria said. Several of their pets were killed, so most of their fighting strength was lost. They said they would surrender if we spared the umber hulks. We accepted their surrender... then threw the hulks overboard. They wouldn't have kept their word, why should we?"
"Well done," Onestar said. Neogi can't be trusted so long as their umber hulk servants are around. Without the hulks, neogi could be easily manipulated. Onestar hated the spider-like creatures. They were wicked and cowardly, a combination that was unforgivable.
"Captain!" Phantom's voice came from another room. "We have two presents for you!"
Phantom entered the bridge with four security guards. They were restraining two neogi. The eel like creatures looked furious, but they were gagged, so whatever they wanted to say would have to wait.
"Get them back aboard the Wanderer and throw them in the brig," Onestar said. He looked down at the two prisoners, and his eyes narrowed into tiny slits. "If you fail to co-operate with me," he hissed, "you will receive a taste of your own tactics."
The neogi tried to struggle free as Phantom and the four guards headed back for the Wanderer. Onestar turned back to Illeria.
"Finish looting this wreck and get back to the ship as fast as you can. Take any logs, charts, and writs you find. Once this ship is stripped I'm going to reduce it to space rubble."
"Yes captain," the woman said. She turned and descended a stair well to join some other members of the crew. The sounds of fighting had stopped.
Onestar looked out the portal at the empty space around him. Hall was out there somewhere, and he had to find him.
Wake up Hall, the bard said to himself. Snap out of it. Where in the planes am I?
Hall looked around. He still couldn't move, but his mind was clearing and he could see his surroundings. He was in a detention room of some kind. The walls were rounded, and they had a crystalline appearance. A purplish hue radiated from the walls. I'm on a man-o-war, Hall concluded. This is too dry to be a neogi vessel, and the architecture is all wrong. OK, I'm on a man-o-war, now what am I doing here? What is so important that these people would wait until the Wanderer arrived in Krynnspace just to snatch me?
The bard thought for a few more minutes, then his thoughts turned to escape. He had been in scrapes like this before and escaped. Of course, that was on Cartania, where there was plenty of places to run once you were free. A man-o-war, while a large vessel, did not offer such options. He could see his belongings piled in a corner. He was still wearing his elfin chain armor, but his flaming sword and magic dagger were just out of reach. He was in terrible pain, and he couldn't move.
Something opened the door to the cell, and a small, eel-like creature put its head into the room. It's eyes were a nasty yellow, and it had tiny, razor sharp teeth. Neogi, Hall thought. No wonder I can't move. They must have juiced me with their venom... The neogi looked at Hall, and Hall met the creatures gaze. The neogi cracked an evil grin and called:
"Awake he is! Ready to talk he is!"
At that the neogi vanished and the door was locked again. Like hell I'm ready to talk, Hall thought. It's all I can do just to stay conscious... A few minutes later the door opened again, and an elf entered. At first he was just a black form, but after a few seconds Hall was able to see the elf clearly. He was average height for an elf, but he was a little more muscular than most, and he wore full beard of fine, elven hair.
Wait a minute, only the mountain elves of Cartania have facial hair! Who is this, Hall thought. Hall did his best to get a better look at the elf. With a chuckle, the elf spoke:
"Hello Hall, so glad you could make it." The elf then put his face close to Hall. His features were elven, but he had a distinct series of lines in his forehead. A sudden wave of hatred overcame Hall's paralyzed form as he managed to speak two words...
"Hello, Jamian."
