Firhoc Thenal

UP: Sonoma

    It is with an eager pen that I bring you this story of strange magics! Your correspondent was having a drink at the Yew Merry Center for All (known far and wide as "The Y") on Wednesday night when he had the great honor of meeting the glorious Lord Halston Montil, who heads Lord British's efforts to stop the Followers of Armageddon from achieving their evil goals. With his golden blade in hand and his fine suit of armor, he was the very picture of an honorable knight and a man of truth and power. Your correspondent was in awe...but little did I know what amazing thing would soon embarass him!

    Shortly after Halston entered the place, the royal engineer Fergus MacLeda appeared. His arrival had been expected by all but myself, for being newly arrived I was not familiar with the events of the night before. I had a fellow tavern-goer relate to me the story of 24 hours earlier.

"D' man over dere, Fergush, wid da pretty green armor? 'e was here lasht night too. He come by after da sword. Did ya hear about da sword of Junin?"

    I admitted I hadn't heard anything about Junin's sword. His axe, I'd heard had lopped heads off bodies all across Britannia, but I'd heard no mention of his sword.

"Oh, see, 'e brung 'is long sword in here...well, let m' see. 'e brung hisself in here, disguised like, an' sat down right dere. And den 'e jumps up, reveals himself like, and den sticks da table wit 'is sword! And den Fergus gets wind o' it, and comes by t' look at d' sword."

    Thus aquatinted with the facts preceding, I payed renewed attention to the dialog between Fergus and the guard. Fergus offered that he had something the guard should see, and handed over the sword. The guard looked at it a bit and then...well, get this! He started to try to hold this sword, as if to test its balance or some such, when it exploded! A trapped sword! Trapped against his Lordship's guard specifically, it seemed, or maybe set off remotely (for Junin himself was once again visiting incognito from time to time this night).

    Halston leapt in pain and his hand looked charred. Knowing how tough Halston is and looking at the severity of the wound, many folk guessed it might have killed a lesser man. And the strange, strange sword? A mangled mess.

    Halston gave his hand over to a healer for treatment and promised to redouble his efforts to track the Followers. At that, he asked about Seer Cepheus' prophesy about the Followers, since Junin has said the night before (according to my source) that it would be two days before the end!

    Fergus and others knew the prophecy, which rambled like this:

Smoke and fire, soot and ash.
Shadowed twilight come to pass.
Blackened symbols, glowing red
Wisps of Darkness 'round piles of dead.

From the Town Cryer - The Journal of Ultima Online, Saturday, December 5th 1998