--- deliantra/server/pod/books.pod	2007/01/02 22:47:40	1.6
+++ deliantra/server/pod/books.pod	2007/01/02 23:45:31	1.7
@@ -1440,20 +1440,6 @@
 story.
 
 
-=head1 Wolfen the White, The White Hunter, The One Who Listens
-
-Wolfen is one of the three moons orbiting around The World. It is said to
-be the spirit of the legendary hunter Wolfen, who tracked Kalkaruntes, God
-of the Dragons, to is cavern and vainquished it.
-
-In astrology, Wolfen is the symbol of practical mind, swiftness and
-flexibility, but also cowardice and stealing. It is associated with the
-Earth element in Alchemancy. Wolfen is seen as a protector by hunters and
-rangers. Priests of Lythander think it is the reincarnation of the wolf
-that hunts with Lythander in the divine forests of Nerënna. Fenxes see it
-as Fixas, the one that saved them from the Humans so long ago.
-
-
 =head1 The Wizard School of Blue
 
 “Although the School disappeared with the Empire itself from The World,
@@ -1621,6 +1607,20 @@
 angels, a group of adventurers defeated him in 2374EK.
 
 
+=head1 Wolfen the White, The White Hunter, The One Who Listens
+
+Wolfen is one of the three moons orbiting around The World. It is said to
+be the spirit of the legendary hunter Wolfen, who tracked Kalkaruntes, God
+of the Dragons, to is cavern and vainquished it.
+
+In astrology, Wolfen is the symbol of practical mind, swiftness and
+flexibility, but also cowardice and stealing. It is associated with the
+Earth element in Alchemancy. Wolfen is seen as a protector by hunters and
+rangers. Priests of Lythander think it is the reincarnation of the wolf
+that hunts with Lythander in the divine forests of Nerënna. Fenxes see it
+as Fixas, the one that saved them from the Humans so long ago.
+
+
 =head1 Ranisha the Red, The Red Death, The One Who Commands
 
 Ranisha is one of the three moons orbiting around the world of
@@ -1634,4 +1634,237 @@
 god.
 
 
+=head1 Asferenn the Blue, The Blue Sister, The One Who Suggests
+
+Asferenn is one of the three moons orbiting around the world of
+Crossfire. It is said to be the spirit of the legendary wizard Asferenn,
+who was said to have been able to force the gate of the divine dimension.
+
+In astrology, Asferenn is the symbol of wisdom, endurance in effort,
+diplomacy, but also treachery and dark secrets. It is associated with the
+water element in Alchemancy. It is said that the cycle of water creatures
+are strongly influenced by Asferenn.
+
+
+=head1 Story of Lorkas the Fallen, Volume I
+
+I’ll tell you about Lorkas of Amudrias, and how he found the White Bird
+of Hope, and how he capitained it, opening the Gates of the Sun, and some
+stuff like that.
+
+Some say that Lorkas was an angel of Valriel, that fell long ago from the
+Skies, stealing a couple of highly holy artifacts, and hiding them in his
+new underground domains.
+
+Some also say that Lorkas is a dark spirit, a lost soul, an unclean,
+unfaithful, untrusty creature of Doom and Chaos.
+
+But, for what matters, some also said that Fido was a fiction, or that
+the Empire never was more than a dream of a past that never existed. Some
+definitely are foolishly uninformed for sure, and speak more than they
+think.
+
+Because, if they were less quick on jumping to conclusions, they’d
+quickly notice how difficult it is for an angel to fall from the sky and
+never be able to climb back, as if wild gooses were never able to take off
+again once they land after their long journey to the South.
+
+Anyway, as every wise man knows, Lorkas was no angelic creature of divine
+essence, or even a magical creation of a godly force.
+
+Some say that Khelens is the Beginning, first of the Cities of Men. That,
+too, is untrue: before the Age of Khelens was the Time of the Kingdoms
+at War. And before them, the Era of Songor the Great. And going back
+through the thick book of history, you’ll cross Arnistar of the Desert
+Dwellers, the Republic of the Two Rivers, and the Ancient Haemdel, and the
+Kingdom of the Long Wall. And before it, the forgotten towers of light
+that Horadrists built.
+
+
+=head1 Story of Lorkas the Fallen, Volume II
+
+Lorkas was born in Kuratas, a small agrarian state that existed on the
+Coronian Valley, when Songer and Khelens were still in infancy. He was a
+boy that wanted to see everything, to understand the world and its stars,
+and discover its limits, for it was extending much further than the mists
+of his home valley.
+
+But life was rude in Kuratas, and trying to think about anything else than
+your next harvest wasn’t well perceived by most; and, more than often,
+Lorkas dreamed with tears and despair about the Mountains with the white
+tops, and Seas that ended only when they touched the sky, far away.
+
+Tired of his senseless life, he left his parents, his village, his
+friends, when he was only 12, and for weeks walked to the West, until he
+reached the Coast of the Stonewalls.
+
+And there, he saw Ottarakans, the Infinite Ocean that extends west of the
+Old World, and so fell in love for the sea. He then joined the Port of
+Kridatta, which was famous for its ships, as its inhabitants had mastered
+a powerful arcane, so that their boats roamed not only the seas, but the
+very clouds themselves.
+
+Because he was smart and quick-brained, Lorkas soon got enrolled in the
+team of Capt’n Bortaras; and after several adventures I shall maybe tell
+about another day, he took the succession of the old mariner.
+
+Horizon was the name of his ship, and famous was his crew, exploring huge
+territories and fighting the Princes of Sinas, who back then tried to put
+the whole area under their iron, greedy grasps.
+
+
+=head1 Story of Lorkas the Fallen, Volume III
+
+But Lorkas heard about a wonder that him and his crew soon wanted to
+find: The White Bird of Hope.
+
+Buried in the Very East, it was said to be. And so he sailed east; he
+crossed the Great Desert, passed the Mountains of Daigojij, reached the
+forests oft he western normanika. But still was the Bird further away.
+
+Reaching the Eastern Ocean, they decided to try to cross it, despite that
+it was said to be the end of the world. And for 30 days and nights, across
+tempests and monsters, they firmly kept heading east, east, east.
+
+When despair was growing on them, mists magically opened, revealing a
+golden city built on what seemed to be a rich, fertile coastal plain.
+
+People there spoke a strange language; they were small and not unlike
+joyful foxes, and they welcomed Lorkas and his men (and women)
+warmly. Soon, they learned to understand each other enough.
+
+They called themselves “The People of the Mother”, and they had
+never seen the “Flat-Eared Giants” before, although they already met
+“Flat-Eared Beards” and “Flat-Eared Greens” before.
+
+But there was a lady called Sonja. And, although she wasn’t human, she
+seemed brighter, smarter, more beautiful than any other woman Lorkas had
+ever seen before.
+
+Those months were the most wonderful for him - and her - and time seemed
+to have stopped for them in their endless love. But of course it hadn’t.
+
+And after a while, some of his men wanted to go back to their own homes,
+and some wanted for their families to come to the Golden City. And, also,
+there was the Bird.
+
+They had no problem to find the White Bird of Hope - a statue entirely
+made of the purest of the white marble, with gemstones of red ruby as
+eyes. But so much the inhabitants liked it, so they thought that a
+valuable friend was much better than a valuable statue.
+
+And so they said: “Take the bird as a gift of us to your masters, to
+show them we want to make friendship with them. Welcome are the friends of
+the children of the White Bird.”
+
+And so Lorkas left, promising Sonja that he’d soon return.
+
+The people of the Golden City also told him that “The Bird is imbued
+with powerful magic: the one owning it will always keep hope.”
+
+
+=head1 Story of Lorkas the Fallen, Volume IV
+
+When Lorkas came back, he and his men were welcomed as heroes. So where
+does the story turns sour, as Lorkas is said to have fallen from the skies?
+
+Well, when he and his crew came back home, Kridatta was at war with Sinas,
+and for several years, he and his crew fought, using the power of the Bird
+to help them. And during those years, Lorkas kept in his heart the hope of
+seeing again Sonja.
+
+Then came the Fever Plague, that killed a third of the people in the
+Ancient World. And again was the Bird used, and again did Lorkas help all
+those he could help, still having hope of seeing the Golden City again
+soon.
+
+And then, he sent messengers and explorers, as he had become influent,
+rich, and powerful, across the seas, to rebind the ties with the Golden
+City, as he promised. But they all came without finding their way to
+those faraway shores; yet all that time, and for each new mission sent to
+explore the seas and the skies, they seemed closed and closer from the
+goal.
+
+Sixty years passed. The world changed; new kingdoms ruled old cities;
+Lorkas was now an old man that lived in a small house looking at the
+Ocean.
+
+And still, each day, he spent hours waiting, watching the line where the
+sea met the sky, hoping that one day, one would sail back and tell him:
+“we found the Golden City !”. And always he hoped, but never received.
+
+Nearly all of his companions were now dead, and the Horizon had been
+retired long ago, now slowly rotting in the bay, fading souvenir of a long
+forgotten past.
+
+
+=head1 Story of Lorkas the Fallen, Volume V
+
+Lorkas walked to his boat, and where there was only tarnished wood and
+corroded metal, he still saw the fierce ship on which he saw Sonja for the
+first time, so long ago. Who knows what he did, then? One thing is sure:
+the vigile of the Sea Tower of Kridatta, that watched boats coming and
+leaving from dozens of miles away, reported that an ancient ship left the
+bay, with Lorkas sitting at the front of it, holding the Bird, as if he
+was sleeping.
+
+Nobody knows exactly where he went. Was he even dead? Nobody knows. But
+everybody kept hope that, one day, he’d reach the Golden City
+again. Lots of people tried to find the Bird after that event. They all
+accused Lorkas of having “stolen” it. The story became legend. The
+legend became fairy tale. And the fairy tale got forgotten by most.
+
+Yet, Centuries ago, deep in the oldest parts of the Old City of Scorn,
+people claimed to have found an ancient mausoleum, a relic of the
+past. All made of the purest, finest gold. On the walls were engraved a
+man at the wheel of a strange ship, and a woman with pointy ears, watching
+the skies. And many nowadays keep the Hope that the White Bird now sleeps
+down below the streets, having found its way back to home with Lorkas.
+
+But who could tell if it is the truth, or only a silly story? Who
+knows? As for myself, I don’t care: I just hold hope it is. And so ends
+the Story of Lorkas, and so keeps Hope running.
+
+
+=head1 The Prison of Madness
+
+It is said that deep in the underworld there is a vast maze that will make
+everybody who dares to enter die of madness.
+
+It starts in a room, with a row of mirrors to the south. pass through
+those, and carry on slightly further, and you are in the maze proper.
+
+Little is known about the maze, but Worus the Wanderer claimed to have been
+in it, seen many of its wonders and returned.
+
+He also wrote a book that details all the ways and passages, alas, nobody
+could decipher it yet:
+
+gb2trg2gb2gur2rkvg:
+2jnaqre2nebhaq2hagvy2lbh2ybpngr2n2znc2aN,
+2vg2vf2ba2gur2obggbz2ragenapr2bs2n2znc.
+2bapr2gung2vf2ybpngrq2tb2evtug,
+2hc,
+2evtug,
+2evtug,
+2evtug,
+2evtug,
+2evtug,
+2lbh2jvyy2or2ng2gur2rkvg.
+2gb2trg2gb2gur2inhyg:
+2jnaqre2ebhaq2hagvy2lbh2trg2gb2znc2aN1,
+vg2vf2gb2gur2evtug2bs2n2abezny2znc.
+2tb2hc,
+2yrsg,
+2hc,
+2yrsg,
+2qbja,
+2qbja,
+2evtug,
+2qbja,
+2qbja,
+2qbja.2Lbh2jvyy2or2va2gur2unyy,
+2tb2guebhtu2naq2gb2gur2yrsg2gb2ernpu2gur2inhyg.
+
+