Glad to see the thread alive.
Thanks again all for the compliments. 
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Blitukus let a deep breath out. Fale Siegedriven... her name passed through his mind several times, along with his memories of the times long passed... gone forever. If only the past could be changed... none of this would have ever, ever happened. It was unfortunate that the past was frozen in stone, but it was as it was. As he followed the river on his way out, a large army of goblins charged in. Blitukus checked the seal of the hatch, and continued in his current direction. They charged on the other side of the river towards the now abandoned dwarven fortress, ignoring Blitukus entirely. Had they planned to storm their former masters the entire time? Goblins have a preference for back-stabbing indeed... Blitukus sighed, and continued. Soon he passed near a town, and continued on the road north. He would revisit the town in which he had met Ori to disclose what had happened. He continued reading through the books and papers, reading the first bit of "The Worlds Easiest Atom Smasher" and becoming thoroughly impressed with it. The pages of the book were crisp and pure, unlike the rough paper and scrolls he was used to, and the covers... the covers still fascinated him, bendable, foldable, yet solid and strong. The covers smelled faintly of industrial chemicals. The text within was all printed by machine, the diagrams and text sharing equal levels of ink. The materials were amazing... yet nothing was flashy or adorned. This book was obviously designed to be produced en masse. What the book detailed was scientific concepts that Blitukus had a hard time believing at first, particles impossibly small that moved at such impossibly great speeds... and did what when they moved at those speeds? The book discussed in detail scientific devices the size of entire cities in scale, billions of moneys in cost. Whatever civilization printed this book, whatever civilization was present in that year 1991 was fully industrial, vast, and enormously powerful... and shared its wealth and secrets with its citizens, dedicating vast resources to science and discovery. Blitukus thought, if he had to predict a year for his dream of utopias metropolis to become reality... it would be near the year 2000. A deep sense of pride filled Blitukus as he thought about it. He had developed the first example of true production en masse used to such benevolent ends... was this bright future an indirect result of his work, like the snowflake falling, causing vast effects? Blitukus' sense of pride subsided, and he sighed. Dracha was the only person he knew that had any chance of living long enough to see that year. Blitukus knew... Armok wanted something from him, but it was the collective Universe that drew him towards a common goal... why would the universe give him such knowledge in dreams, aiding him to find his mother? Perhaps Blitukus speaking to his mother was in the universes best interest somehow. Much of this seemed extraneous... the energy projector, knowledge of these impossibly small particles, the sense of scale of the universe, other worlds... maybe the Universe was nudging Blitukus in the direction of building something far more complex and powerful than a wave transmitter... but he still didn't know what or why. On the other hand, it was entirely possible that the collective universe had not been speaking to Blitukus and Blitukus had thought of these things on his own. Blitukus sighed. He would look into these ideas while he built and operated the wave transmitter. No matter what the forces of nature, civilization, and the heavens desired... Blitukus was left with one goal alone, contacting his mother once again.
Blitukus ate as he read, studying both books for details that could aid him in his quest. He started to draw connections between the forces and particles described, but as the sun advanced into the sky, Blitukus felt rather drowsy, and it was unwise to continue driving while drowsy considering the human wagons and other obstacles that would occasionally occur on the road. Blitukus pulled off to the side of the road and stopped, locating a nearby pond and taking a drink of water. He then sealed himself into the armored vehicle, lay back, and allowed himself to sleep. That day, he found himself processing in the most abstract manner what he had read about. The gravity that held the planets and stars together and in position, the electromagnetism that shot through the skies, that could be generated and manipulated, even the forces that projected energy and held together the very smallest parts of matter entered his thought process. He found himself standing on a platform in pitch black, empty space, before him glowed the equations he had read from both books... tiny particles, incomprehensibly small, buzzing about, moving chaotically at high speed, and immense planets slowly moving in a predictable manner filled the background. The particles... the planets were pieces of a puzzle it seemed. A puzzle that Blitukus felt held one of the universes most powerful secrets... if only the pieces could be put together. The equations also shared some remarkable commonalities... but there was a stark contrast between the world of the particles and the world of the planets. Blitukus found the pieces of the puzzle, where the boundaries lay, where the pieces fit together. A truly spectacular picture of the interaction of forces, energy, and matter was coming to be. He felt as if centuries were passing in this one dream... yet also felt as if time was counting in the billionths of a second. Blitukus eventually pieced together much of the puzzle... but the largest pieces, the planets, extreme masses over colossal scales, the forces dealing in the most visible way with these entities... seemed to follow an entirely different architecture than that of the impossibly small, rapidly moving particles. It wouldn't fit, not after dozens of tries. It was as if two entirely different sets of rules governed these two realms, and these rules often conflicted. Blitukus gave up, and the dream ended.
When Blitukus awoke, he immediately sensed the presence of a powerful being. Armok had been watching his dream... and was slightly disappointed in the outcome. What did Armok want with secrets that, if the legends were to be believed, he already knew anyway? Blitukus felt the presence leave. Maybe it was just a fluke, merely a bad gut feeling. Maybe. Blitukus himself was disappointed with the results. He knew the universe only churned by one set of rules... these two apparently conflicting realms had to be, in their most simplest and elegant essence, two parts of the same thing. Whatever this thing, this vast secret, was, Blitukus saw it was something truly beautiful yet astonishingly powerful... the key to the universe perhaps? Perhaps this roadblock was simply a means to keep mere mortals from tinkering with the powers of the gods.
Then again... it was all wild speculation based on a dream and a gut feeling or two. Blitukus had more solid and concrete goals to pursue at the moment. He sat up, started the generators, and continued driving. Blitukus continued reading "Of Electromagnetism", and began to sketch out a design on the margins using the dried goblin blood on the floor, sketching out his plans for the wave generator. It needed components to handle the current, to turn it into a proper wave suitable for transmitting, but these components were made of materials that Blitukus actually had in his mines, materials that he previously disregarded as simple rock. He would have time to think and dream, but putting too much time and resources into wild speculation almost always resulted in waste. He left that dream as simply part of his memory, for now. He continued into the night, passing through another town, continuing north, then stopping at the northmost town, the plains and forests having given way to more frigid grasslands. He stopped the armored vehicle in the middle of town, the town having for the most part gone to sleep, The mayor approached, and Blitukus stepped out. The town was being repaired, patches placed over holes, walls being sealed. Already the magma and char had been dispersed for the most part. The mayor spoke, "You're back! This means you are victorious?" Blitukus nodded. The mayor continued, "Excellent! No longer will the goblins destroy our buildings and endanger the lives of our citizens and their children! Thank you, Blitukus. We are all deeply grateful." They shook hands, but Blitukus felt no pride in the war. The mayor continued, "I see you've arrived ahead of Ori as well!" Blitukus responded, "... Ori.... will not be coming home... and nor will those who served under him. They fought bravely and perished... I nearly perished as well, and consider myself lucky to have survived." Blitukus looked down, the bitter sadness of the war coming back to haunt him. The mayor stood still and silent for several moments. The mayor commented, "This is a bright day for our nation, but it is shrouded by the darkest clouds, Blitukus." Blitukus nodded slowly, "I feel the same. They were my comrades." Another moment of silence passed under the cold, stary night sky. The mayor spoke, "I will be sure they are properly remembered... their loved ones informed... Still, despite these losses... all that fought bravely are responsible for saving many more lives. It is for this that we are and forever will be indebted to those that fought. This includes you, Blitukus. You were the last one standing. You risked your life for those who didn't even fly the same banner as you. We are forever in your debt for these heroic deeds. The Siegedriven legacy lives on... I remember the days when your mother performed similar acts of heroism... I was but a child then, but am glad I finally have a chance to meet one of the legendary Siegedrivens." This warmed Blitukus' heart. He was not proud of the war, but this, what the mayor had just said, he felt was a very high honor. The mayor handed Blitukus a small box, and spoke, "I had arranged for the minting of several souvenirs before you had returned. Please accept this as a token of our eternal gratitude." Blitukus accepted it, and looked into the box. It was a medal of valor... something that the northern army hardly issued to anyone at all. Blitukus accepted the token, and again shook hands with the mayor. Then, they both saluted one another... but found that they were both saluting in remembrance of those who had fallen. After they had finished, the mayor asked, "So, this is goodbye then?" Blitukus nodded, responding, "May you find peace of mind and heart as well as prosperity in the future. This peace is something I must seek myself, for it lies elsewhere for me." The mayor nodded, "I understand. Goodbye, and good luck, Blitukus. It was truly a miracle meeting you." With that, they parted, both walking slowly, saddened by what had taken place. It was a loss... but it could have been much worse. Blitukus picked up a hand full of dirt as he climbed to the cabin of his armored vehicle. He stood by the cabin, and opened his hand. The dirt was slowly cast away by a gust of wind, the small grains drifting into the air, far away, nothing but a memory. Blitukus found himself getting teary eyed, and shut his eyes, lowering his head, and sighing. It was over... it was time to let go. He would have to put the death of his fallen comrades and allies behind him... but one death in the conflict... his mother... was a death that he could never put behind him. Until he spoke with his mother... spoke his final words to his mother, the words that he was too late to speak that one winter night... there was no force in the world that would bring his heart to peace. Not even death itself could. Blitukus climbed into the cabin, and sealed the hatch above himself. He continued driving, leaving the road, continuing north of the frigid grasslands into the tundra. He followed the river, passing through tundra and more frigid grasslands, passing through a muddy valley into raw glacier. The night wore on, and he passed through a glacial valley, following the mountains to his right, retracing the path he had took in a wagon... those 3 long years ago. There it was... the tunnels to his home. He parked the armored vehicle within the storage, powered it down, then stepped out. He walked out of the storage onto the snowy glacier, then looked out into the distant, frozen horizon. The war... it was over... he was home, finally home. For a moment, the sadness was broken, and a sense of relief came over Blitukus. He smiled and spread his arms, facing into the wind, embracing the bitter cold as if it were a dear friend. An aurora waved in the sky above as the matter kicked out of the sun at enormous speed became entangled in the energies of the worlds magnetic fields. Blitukus kept smiling, looking up. The universe, in all of its forces and aspects and contents, was truly beautiful when viewed on a grand scale. Blitukus looked across at the horizon again, and stopped smiling. It was beautiful... until ones point of view were placed back within the confines of the world, where the ugliness and corruption of local evils can dominate the view. Such corruption was luckily no longer in Blitukus' local area... but its effects were still felt.
Dracha landed behind Blitukus, sending a plume of snow flying toward Blitukus. Blitukus jumped and dived into the snow as if it were an instinct, evading the rushing plume. His mind was still firing impulses as if it were a combat situation, even though it was over. Dracha asked, "A little skittish today, are we?" Blitukus stood up, and spoke, "That... that was Hell, Dracha." Dracha replied, "Really?... Yeah, I understand... I had a feeling that was going to happen. Back when I was a little one, there was a battle between the archmages that tore the landscape apart and made life a living hell for many of us. I was afraid the wars of technology would reach a similar point... and I'm glad as hell you stopped it before it had a chance to get any closer. I did a bit of research on who you were fighting, and it wadn't looking pretty at all. You're a hero now, Blitukus." Blitukus smiled, and tried to hug Dracha, but found size differences made it rather impractical. Blitukus spoke, "I just hope someone invents a more mature way for people to settle their conflicts... or at least actually invents a less destructive way to wage war." Dracha replied, "Oh there's been a less destructive method of battle for a long time now! A type of battle that nearly never kills anyone." Blitukus asked, "What is it?" Dracha stood up on her hind legs and swung at the air after assuming a fighting stance, "A good ol' boxin' match, 'specially fun if you're drunk at the time!" Blitukus laughed, and pondered the thought of wars being decided not by technology or numbers, but by the result of a boxing match between national leaders. It could be put in an arena and made into a form of public entertainment! Blitukus snickered further at the thought. But, another thought arose to comfort him. Despite the pains that ate away at his heart, at least he had a friend to help make life bearable, especially since melancholy had a tendency to get in the way of achieving ones goals.
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You know, space-age humans do some of the funniest dumb sh*t... *points to instance of mars-orbiting spacecraft crashing into the planet because someone did the math wrong translating between imperial and metric*
[ November 15, 2007: Message edited by: AlanL ]
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Topic: A Kobold's Quest II (Read 76135 times)