~BBW, Intrigue, Magic, ~XWG - another Gastromancer story rocks up, as Mary travels to the fabled City of Samarkand, meeting old friends, new friends, and a deadly new enemy
Chapter 1: Crossing the Desert
Mary couldn't believe her luck. Not only was she in Ohman, Finally, but she managed to get there on a nice plane. She had managed to become part of a group who were going on an adventure/archaeology holiday, which meant going out into the deep desert. For the first time in her life she was getting somewhere without mishap, standing on top of a sand dune, looking down into the Wadi Tishtrya, and felt so exhilarated for climbing it.
To be fair, though, it was amazing how "Kind" people were to cripples, but Mary knew that sympathy is what she was really getting. A man without a left hand was seen as some horrible accident possibly involving an extreme sport or an accicent. A twenty-something woman without a left hand was typically seen as a tragic tale of hardship and woe, cut of in her prime. She needed to be careful, though, as Wadi Tishtrya was dangerously close to the Saudi Arabian boarder, and from what she heard from Alexa, she didn't want to cross it.
"Mary, are you alright," the sympathetic voice of Trisha.
"Yeah, don't worry, I'm fine," Mary replied, waving her hook hand over to them. She had gotten this at a local doctors in Romania, and whilst it had caused no end of problems on the plane, it was useful to have the little box of all the add-ons. If one thing was for certain, the next pirate theme party she went to was going to be much easier.
Trisha nodded, helping to lead the camels across the spine of the dune, It was mid-afternoon, and after sheltering under a rock enclave just big enough to fit all seven of them under, it was still blisteringly hot. Mary felt like she had already sweat the 25lbs she had gained back at the floating castle off.
"We need to descend into the basin," Felix muttered, "People have been saying that there was a ruin here, so we need to investigate."
"Felix," Mary said, "how are we going to get back up? First rule of walking in a desert, never go off the dunes, its a nightmare to get back up, and if its facing east west, then you get boiled when the sun comes round!"
Mary knew her Geography would come in handy, and it had.
"Mary, who asked you?!" Felix exploded; he was small, about the same height as Mary, who knew from experience that short people needed to make up for it.
"We let you on this trip, but youre still not a part of the team yet!" Felix had an alpha male mentality "Anyway, we could be finding our fortune down there in lost artefacts!"
"Tell that to the Firbolgs!" Mary replied as Felix began to descend into the basin, her, the others and the camels following suit. Luckily for them, this was a North south facing basin, and so the north side gave them a bit of shelter from the heat of the sun.
"Stop here!" Mary said, Felix ignored her, beginning to run.
"Felix, thats too dangerous!" Trisha yelled, Felix replied by middle fingering the lot of them. Running down at break neck pace, Felix hurtled down the side of the dune, Mary sliding down after him, praying that something stopped him before he hit the Wadi, and the possibility of quicksand.
Felix stopped, but as though he had landed face first on a brick wall. He slid off, cartoon-like in nature, lying on the ground, speechless with amazement. The others stopped and gawked, Mary carried on, knowing what it was, thought not quite believing it. She picked out a brush from her back pack, she threw it at the invisible wall, it bounced straight off it.
"I can't believe they've rigged a magical barrier of this size!" she muttered.
"Whatever it is," Felix said, "I'm not going near it, it must be aliens or something!"
"Not Aliens... Magic!" Mary replied, putting her hand on the barrier and slowly moving around, "This, if Im not mistaken, is a Custom made, Grade 3 Gastromancy barrier with added Shadomancy invisibility, which means...."
"What are you talking about?"
"Theres an opening around her somewhere, probably guarded by something. The book said a Giant, and... yes... yes I found the entrance!"
the Gates of Ishtar stood, huge and imposing, the Guardian Giant standing outside. Giglamesh stood, towering three times as tall as Mary, his Viking battle dress deeply unfitting for the environment he was in.
"Who Seeks the Gates of Samarkand?!"
"I am Mary Growgon, a Gastromancer who has business with your king inside!"
"Shamash has mentioned your arrival, young one, welcome inside."
"Wait a Minute!" Felix tried to follow her inside, But shrank back and Giglameshs enormous sword slammed into the ground in front of him.
"Who Seeks the Gates of Samarkand?!"
"I'm sorry, guys," Mary said, "This is as far as you go, Witches and paranormal beings only."
She turned to them, "And trust me, if you forget about this, it will be for the better!"
"Why, this could be huge!"
"And that is the reason why you need to forget about it." Mary turned and walked through the Gates, into Samarkand.
The huge city sprawled out before her. Spires and pillars, domes and columns, turrets and towers, streets and shops, gardens and gantries, flying carpets and magical moving crystals. Whites, golds, blues, reds and yellows, fusing and melding around lilacs, greens and oranges. Shouts of a market place, mixed with the music of enchanted instruments and talented players. The smell of spices and goods, with the aromas of perfumes and sands. The books never come to seeing the real thing, Mary decided. She walked down, seeing Firbolgs, Fae, Yokai, Genies, Vampires, Giants, Dwarves, a whole myriad of races.
Mary Growgon?
Mary turned to see the stony form of a Coutl move forward, his body made up of thousands of tiny pebbles, fused together with pure magic, his body moving fluidly despite this, his face that of an old man.
My name is Chuichu, a Caperioa teacher in Samarkand, moved here from El dorado, and a Neighbour of a special friend of yours who wishes to see you again.
Mary followed Chuichu, who lead her through a back ally, into a residential district. He took her through into a house, up a short flight of stairs and opened a door.
Youve found her!
A Genie of reddish hue stood up.
Who is it, Enki came a voice from another room
Come and see for yourself, my dear!
Mary, oh its so good to see you!
Anita, six-months pregnant, ran forward and flung her arms around her old friend.
The Gastromancer: Samarkand
by Irish Bard
by Irish Bard
Chapter 1: Crossing the Desert
Mary couldn't believe her luck. Not only was she in Ohman, Finally, but she managed to get there on a nice plane. She had managed to become part of a group who were going on an adventure/archaeology holiday, which meant going out into the deep desert. For the first time in her life she was getting somewhere without mishap, standing on top of a sand dune, looking down into the Wadi Tishtrya, and felt so exhilarated for climbing it.
To be fair, though, it was amazing how "Kind" people were to cripples, but Mary knew that sympathy is what she was really getting. A man without a left hand was seen as some horrible accident possibly involving an extreme sport or an accicent. A twenty-something woman without a left hand was typically seen as a tragic tale of hardship and woe, cut of in her prime. She needed to be careful, though, as Wadi Tishtrya was dangerously close to the Saudi Arabian boarder, and from what she heard from Alexa, she didn't want to cross it.
"Mary, are you alright," the sympathetic voice of Trisha.
"Yeah, don't worry, I'm fine," Mary replied, waving her hook hand over to them. She had gotten this at a local doctors in Romania, and whilst it had caused no end of problems on the plane, it was useful to have the little box of all the add-ons. If one thing was for certain, the next pirate theme party she went to was going to be much easier.
Trisha nodded, helping to lead the camels across the spine of the dune, It was mid-afternoon, and after sheltering under a rock enclave just big enough to fit all seven of them under, it was still blisteringly hot. Mary felt like she had already sweat the 25lbs she had gained back at the floating castle off.
"We need to descend into the basin," Felix muttered, "People have been saying that there was a ruin here, so we need to investigate."
"Felix," Mary said, "how are we going to get back up? First rule of walking in a desert, never go off the dunes, its a nightmare to get back up, and if its facing east west, then you get boiled when the sun comes round!"
Mary knew her Geography would come in handy, and it had.
"Mary, who asked you?!" Felix exploded; he was small, about the same height as Mary, who knew from experience that short people needed to make up for it.
"We let you on this trip, but youre still not a part of the team yet!" Felix had an alpha male mentality "Anyway, we could be finding our fortune down there in lost artefacts!"
"Tell that to the Firbolgs!" Mary replied as Felix began to descend into the basin, her, the others and the camels following suit. Luckily for them, this was a North south facing basin, and so the north side gave them a bit of shelter from the heat of the sun.
"Stop here!" Mary said, Felix ignored her, beginning to run.
"Felix, thats too dangerous!" Trisha yelled, Felix replied by middle fingering the lot of them. Running down at break neck pace, Felix hurtled down the side of the dune, Mary sliding down after him, praying that something stopped him before he hit the Wadi, and the possibility of quicksand.
Felix stopped, but as though he had landed face first on a brick wall. He slid off, cartoon-like in nature, lying on the ground, speechless with amazement. The others stopped and gawked, Mary carried on, knowing what it was, thought not quite believing it. She picked out a brush from her back pack, she threw it at the invisible wall, it bounced straight off it.
"I can't believe they've rigged a magical barrier of this size!" she muttered.
"Whatever it is," Felix said, "I'm not going near it, it must be aliens or something!"
"Not Aliens... Magic!" Mary replied, putting her hand on the barrier and slowly moving around, "This, if Im not mistaken, is a Custom made, Grade 3 Gastromancy barrier with added Shadomancy invisibility, which means...."
"What are you talking about?"
"Theres an opening around her somewhere, probably guarded by something. The book said a Giant, and... yes... yes I found the entrance!"
the Gates of Ishtar stood, huge and imposing, the Guardian Giant standing outside. Giglamesh stood, towering three times as tall as Mary, his Viking battle dress deeply unfitting for the environment he was in.
"Who Seeks the Gates of Samarkand?!"
"I am Mary Growgon, a Gastromancer who has business with your king inside!"
"Shamash has mentioned your arrival, young one, welcome inside."
"Wait a Minute!" Felix tried to follow her inside, But shrank back and Giglameshs enormous sword slammed into the ground in front of him.
"Who Seeks the Gates of Samarkand?!"
"I'm sorry, guys," Mary said, "This is as far as you go, Witches and paranormal beings only."
She turned to them, "And trust me, if you forget about this, it will be for the better!"
"Why, this could be huge!"
"And that is the reason why you need to forget about it." Mary turned and walked through the Gates, into Samarkand.
The huge city sprawled out before her. Spires and pillars, domes and columns, turrets and towers, streets and shops, gardens and gantries, flying carpets and magical moving crystals. Whites, golds, blues, reds and yellows, fusing and melding around lilacs, greens and oranges. Shouts of a market place, mixed with the music of enchanted instruments and talented players. The smell of spices and goods, with the aromas of perfumes and sands. The books never come to seeing the real thing, Mary decided. She walked down, seeing Firbolgs, Fae, Yokai, Genies, Vampires, Giants, Dwarves, a whole myriad of races.
Mary Growgon?
Mary turned to see the stony form of a Coutl move forward, his body made up of thousands of tiny pebbles, fused together with pure magic, his body moving fluidly despite this, his face that of an old man.
My name is Chuichu, a Caperioa teacher in Samarkand, moved here from El dorado, and a Neighbour of a special friend of yours who wishes to see you again.
Mary followed Chuichu, who lead her through a back ally, into a residential district. He took her through into a house, up a short flight of stairs and opened a door.
Youve found her!
A Genie of reddish hue stood up.
Who is it, Enki came a voice from another room
Come and see for yourself, my dear!
Mary, oh its so good to see you!
Anita, six-months pregnant, ran forward and flung her arms around her old friend.
