2003-10-07 Three pools of darkness ooze from tree to tree in a dark forest. One embraces a tree and bulges in the middle as if straining. Hi: Bah! What meager sustenance! Lo: Nothing but rockwood and shadowthorn. I'm starving, brothers! Hi: How did we get in to this mess, brothers? Mid: It was your idea to forage on the island, brother. Hi: But it was YOUR crazy scheme that got us here, brother! Lo: crazy scheme! Hi: And where is your plan to get us BACK, brother? You have none! We're stuck here, brother, and it's all your fault! Fool. Lo: Brothers, look! A wan moon begins to peak faintly over the horizon. Hi: The destroyer rises. We must seek shelter. The shadows skitter quickly from tree to tree. Mid: Here, brothers! A hole! The shadows quickly converge on a leafless tree with a cavity in its roots Hi: Ho ho ho! What have we here, brothers? Lo: Food! Within the hole is a rat-like creature. The shadows descend upon it, enveloping it in darkness until only its face can barely be seen. The rat's eye grows wide and it lets out a squeal. Its face becomes emaciated and skeletal as the shadows suck the life force out of it. When the shadows release the rat, there is nothing left but desicated skin and bones. Hi: Bah. Pitiful. Lo: (whines) But I'm still hungry, brother. Mid: We killed it, brothers. If we had let it live, it would have fed us another day. Hi: Shut up! If you hadn't consumed so much, this would not have happened, brother! Fool! The shadows sit in the cavity in silence as the moon rises. Three pairs of eyes peek out from the hole beneathe the tree. The rays of moonlight shine brilliantly through the murk of the forest. Suddenly, the tree sprouts a few leaves to capture the pale light. Lo: Sussstenace! A tentacle of shadow creaps out of the hole and makes it way wormlike along the dark side of the tree toward the nearest leaf. Mid: No, brother! Hi: Fool. The shadow stops just short of the leaf and quivers. The other two watch from the cavity in the roots. Lo: Food! As the shadow extends a tendril out to the leaf, the leaf suddenly drops off. Moonlight strikes the tendril, burning it down to a stump. Lo: Aieee! Mid: Oh, brother. Hi: Ha ha ha! Pricked by the shadowthorn yet again. Brother, will you never learn? The shadow on the tree trunk slinks back into the hole. Lo: I hurt. And I'm hungry, brothers. Hi: Fool. Later. The moon is past its zenith and beginning to descend. Only one pair of eyes looks out from beneath the tree, the others are closed. Suddenly, one star in the sky seems to grow brighter and then explodes in a small burst of sparks like a firework. The sparks quickly fade and the star is gone. Mid: (whispering) What a fell omen, my brothers. Moments later a faint streak apears in the sky, like a shooting star. Instead of crossing the sky, it glides toward the watching shadow. It resolves into a lumpy gray object which lands on the ground in the shadow of a neighboring tree. The object seems to be lit by something other than the bright moon overhead - it is clearly visible despite the shadow falling across it, and seems to have no shadow of its own. Mid ventures our to seek the object, braving the moonlight. He looks at it curiously, but when he touches it, it rises off the ground and approaches him. Mid backs away but soon is caught against the trunk of the tree. The object flies right at him and embeds itself into him. He is left woozy and dazed, unsure what happened. Hi and Lo are distrubed to find him outside when the moon sets, but Mid fends them off and they resume their quest for food. A few days later, Moira, Nutsy, and Josh enter the world through a portal. The Brothers can smell their life force almost immediately, and race to find them. Mira casts a guide spell to find the fragment, and of course it sends them walking toward the brothers. The brothers reach them as they near a clearing. The glow of the moon is beginning to show on the horizon. Low wants to attack, but Hi stops him and shows the other brothers how to sneak up on their prey from behind and attach to them. Hi attaches to Josh, who slumps and stops walking. The others notice shortly and turn to ask why he has stopped. Mid attaches to Nutsy, and Lo to Moira. Josh says he is exhausted, and the others agree. The moon is getting brighter, so Hi wispers into josh's ear and suggests that he would feel better if he was deeper in the forest. Mid feels an attachment to these creatures for some reason, and rebels against Hi. Hi tells josh to go deeper into the forest. Mid tells Nutsy they should stay where they are, and Nutsy convinces josh to come back. As Josh passes through a beam of moonlight, Moira notices that his shadow is lumpy and cloying. Sensing danger, she casts a light spell, causing her staff to glow. The brothers are distressed. Lo is beaten back the most, keaning in pain, since he is closest, and Moira notices that the light makes her feel less week. Mid wimpers and hides behind Nutsy. Hi begins to attack Josh more vigorously and starts to vigorously envelop him. Moira casts a brilliant light into the sky above them, again beating back the brothers. However, Hi cackles that they can't be beaten so easily, saying something like one can't excape one's own shadow. Nutsy call to moira to surround them with light. She expands the light until it becomes a dome, shining on them from every direction. The shadows shrief and writhe. Nutsy runs up to josh and peels Hi off him, throwing Hi to the ground near Josh's feet. Nutsy then peels Lo off Moira (who stands taller) and leaves Lo writhing at Moira's feet. Nutsy begins to reach for Mid but Mid detatches voluntarily and falls to the ground near the other two. Nutsy, Josh, and Moira watch as the puddles of darkness are burned away by the light. Soon there is nothing left of Hi and Lo, but Mid does not completely disappear. There is something of Mid which is not shadow. He begs for mercy and collapses. Moira ends the dome of light. Mid stands but Moira threatens (with a flash from her wand) that if he turns on them she will finish him. They question him. Mid says that he has felt wierd lately and would rather seem friendship than attack them Nutsy asks if he has seen an unusual gray object, and Moira's guide spell points to Mid.