About a week ago I began to think of adding some flare into the first series of adventures for Shani and Pania, those two elven outlaws. Over the past couple of days I’ve been writing some things down. I decided to treat the story as though Pania were writing it, but from the third person view. These will be a part of the third draft of Black Mask & Pale Rider. But for now, I decided to post up all 9 intros for each part of the story. Here they all are.
Prologue
Pania Alow sighed as she read over the note one more time, her eyes dancing over the neat, elven script carefully. Lyssa Stormwater, Pania’s best friend and lover, had borrowed her horse Triumph. Adding to that, Lyssa was being joined by Ari and Shani, as the three were off on a grand adventure; some itch that Lyssa needed to do. It was important, that was all that mattered.
Such thoughts of adventure left Pania thinking about the past, how far she’d travelled in her life, and how it affected her at this very moment. She thought about that as she sat down at the large and very ornate oak desk in her quarters at the Shining Lady temple. As she held her quill between tender fingertips, she thought how different her life was now, as compared to how it was before. When did she stop becoming a bard and start becoming a holy knight? Pania snorted a small laugh as she checked her candles, lighting those that she’d need. The memories were coming back slowly, and she’d be writing well into the evening.
Before she sat down at her desk, she opened a small cabinet and took out an ornate box. Using a key, she opened it, and looked inside. There, laying inside the small container, were a pair of weapons. On her home-world of Terra-Kal, no one would know them. Called Smith and Wesson, Pania dubbed them her Twin Volcanics. Items from another place and another time.
They held a story, just as much as the memories that drifted through the elven bard’s mind. But where to start, that was always the problem. The beginning, the middle? Or the point where she first met Shani on that road outside of a town called Harrisburg.
It would be a story of adventure, of daring and excitement. Instead of mulling over what to write, Pania Alow just began to write.
Between Raisin’ Hell an’ Amazin’ Grace
The air was warm as Pania walked the streets of the market in Stonebridge. Farmers had come in from the south to sell their wares, a vast array of vegetables and fruits, along with wood carvings and crafts. Street performers would put on a show, giving the market a festive feel to it. It wasn’t anything like the spring and fall festivals at the Brockton Academy of the Arts, but it was still something wonderful.
Pania browsed through the vendor displays, took a look at the craft-work, and even made a couple of purchases for herself. This break from her writing was needed. She’d already been writing madly for three days, recollecting what she and Shani had done, putting things into notes and then beginning the process of writing it all out. There was some embellishing, mind you, but this was a story of adventure. Still, much of what she wrote was one hundred percent true. She had hoped that she could go over some of it with Shani before hand, but she had taken off on another adventure, aiding Lyssa with something that had been lost and needed to be found.
Pania stopped browsing as the sight of a tall elf came into view. Proud and humble all at once, Pania knew who it was right away. Sywyn Wennemein, Shani’s older brother. She smiled as he came closer, browsing through the crafts as though he had a purpose in mind. Pania moved a bit closer to him, bumping him gently with her shoulder.
Sywyn turned with some alarm, even more so when he saw who it was. A nervous laugh escaped his lips as he held onto a wooden carving of a dragon that had small sapphires for eyes. “Pania,” he said with a soft voice. “I wasn’t expecting to run into you here.”
“Oh, I needed a wee break,” she replied as she motioned to the carving. “Gift buyin’?”
Sywyn looked to the dragon in his hands and then to Pania, smiling sheepishly. “It’s for Vindy,” he said quietly, as though the person he spoke of was nearby. “She likes sapphires, and this is the only thing I’ve found with them.” He reached into his satchel and produced some coins, handing them to the vendor, along with the carving. The vendor took it, and wrapped it up carefully. Once the transaction was complete, Sywyn returned his attention back to Pania. She had a sly grin on her face. “What is it?” he asked with some embarrassment.
“When’s the day tha’ weddin’ bells start ringin’, luv?” she finally blurted out.
“Ah… well… ” Sywyn stammered slightly. Vindy had been his first true love, and someone he didn’t even know he was looking for in a partner. He’d known her for years, but it wasn’t until recently that he’d seen her in a different light. “We haven’t officially decided upon that yet.”
“Fair ‘nough,” Pania replied. The two started moving through the sparce crowd of the market, continuing to talk as they went along. “I’ve been writin’, lately,” she mentioned off handedly. “Started writin’ down the thin’s I remember from when ye sister an’ me first met.” She paused a moment and smiled slightly. “‘Least when we first met durin’ our travels. Ye know, no’ when she still ‘ad ‘er pigtails.”
Sywyn chuckled a bit at the memory of his younger sister when she was a child. “As long as it doesn’t include the tail of three young knaves and how they harassed their younger sisters during the Brockton Festivals. Shani still reminds me from time to time how I used to pull her pigtails.”
“Oh c’mon!” Pania replied with a grin. “The wayward adventures o’ three young boys b’fore they found they own stock in trade? Tha’d be golden,” she said with a teasing grin. Sywyn merely rolled his eyes and shook his head. “Seriously,” Pania continued as she spoke in more hushed tones. “The mem’ries ‘re there. I feel I need ta put ’em ta paper.”
“As long as you don’t go too overboard,” Sywyn cautioned. “The truth is what needs to be written.”
“An’ only the truth shall be written,” Pania replied with a coy smile. “‘Sides, who on Terra-Kal would b’lieve the thin’s wha’ took place anyway, hmm? Far as anyone’ll know, it’s a tale o’ two people jus’ born ta raise ‘ell.”
Gunslingers, Vampires & Saviours
Pania set down her quill and stretched in her chair. She’d been writing for several hours and only now decided a break was needed. Just as she rose from her desk, a small tapping came at her door, followed by the quiet creaking as the door opened up. Pania smiled pleasantly as she saw the white blond hair and bashful smile of her younger sister Pylia.
“Ev’nin’, Py,” the elven bard said as she approached the younger elf and gave her a hug. Pylia replied in her usual manner, as she conveyed her greeting in sign language. Mute from birth, Pylia never allowed the disability to slow her down. She learned sign language, and so did her sister and brother Mandrel.
Pylia signed her greeting, and asked if her sister could join her for a small lunch.
“Maybe I should,” Pania replied with a smile. “Need ta take a break from writin’. Been writin’ the first adventures tha’ Shani an’ me ‘ad on Earth.” This caught Pylia’s attention, and she signed quickly as she flashed an excited smile. “No, Py. No’ yet at least. I’ll write them other stories after finishin’ this one.”
What part are you at? Pylia asked in sign.
“Jus’ go’ past the darin’ escape from the sheriff an’ the cavalry,” Pania explained as the pair exited the small room. “An’ introducin’ the small town me an’ Shani entered.” Pylia nodded with a smile and signed again. “Tell ye wha’,” Pania said with a smile as she wrapped her arm around Pylia’s shoulders. “After lunch, I’ll let ye read wha’ I’ve finished.”
Wylde Hunt
Pania carefully lit the candles in her room as the sun began to sink below the horizon. She felt a need for a drink, as she’d be writing non stop all day long. At times, she didn’t even notice how long she’d been sitting. This was much more difficult than the old Kit Carson children’s novels she used to write. Pania opened her liquor cabinet and searched through the many bottles that lay within.
One caught her attention. The old label was yellowed with age and the bottle covered in dust. She’d almost forgotten about it. Had it been so long? A bottle of elven wine, but the label made it all the more mysterious. ‘Bottled in Franklin, West Virginia’ it stated boldly. The elf who brewed this batch was even more of a mystery, at least to the rest of Terra-Kal. Known as a malicious mage, he suddenly disappeared from public life, and never was heard of again.
“Should I let the readin’ masses know,” Pania asked to no one at all. “’R should I merely leave it as a quaint mystery fer the ages.”
I Am The Law
Pania awoke the next morning to the sound of light rain pitter patting on the roof of the flat. A gentle rain, but enough to wake her. She walked slowly to her closet as she sorted out what she was going to wear for the day. More writing was obviously something she had planned, but there were some small errands she’d promised for family and friends.
As she went through her clothes the soft clanking of a metal object sounded out as it struck the floor. Pania stopped and bent down to see what had fallen. Carefully, she found it and picked it up. A silver star. Etched into it were the words ‘Oxford Sheriff Department’ along with a name underneath that.
Shani Wennemein.
Death On The Bayou
Pania stopped suddenly as she entered her room. The head priestess of the Shining Lady was in her room. And she was reading through the papers on Pania’s desk. “Mistress Arewella,” Pania said in a quiet voice as she tried to hide her slight annoyance. “I werena expectin’ ye ta come by.”
“You have squirrelled yourself away in here,” Arewella announced as she rose from the chair behind Pania’s writing desk. “Some were rather worried. I came to see if everything was alright. And then I find this,” she said as she held up some of the papers. “A holy knightess of the order does not while away the hours writing of fanciful tales which seem to glorify acts not becoming of a knight at all.”
“Mistress,” Pania replied as she kept a calm and even tone in her voice. “I felt a need ta write down me mem’ries an’ detail some events which set me on the road ta b’come a knightess.”
“And these memories,” Arewella stated as she carefully set down the papers on the desk. “You write them down and plan on profiting from them.”
“They tell a story,” Pania again replied, this time her annoyance more evident in her voice. “An’ each part o’ ‘istory is in a way a story. Me only profit is ta keep this on paper so tha’ the mem’ries willna be forgotten.”
“I see,” Arewella remarked with an impressed nod. “Then perhaps you will entertain me by detailing this place called Shreveport.”
Wild West Show
“Yer bloody kiddin’ me!” Mandrel Alow remarked with a laugh. “Ye cannu be serious. Arewella ‘ung onto every word?”
“No word o’ a lie,” Pania said with a grin as she crossed her heart. “I think I’ve achieved the mark o’ archivist with tha’ wee performance.”
“So wha’ next,” Mandrel said with a sly grin. “Any chance o’ more adventures after this one? I mean, there were Pueblo, an’ when we ‘ad ta go rescue Pylia.”
“We?” Pania said with a laugh. “As I recall it were me an’ Shani tha’ hitched up the ‘orses an’ went barrelin’ off inta the great north plains o’ Canada.”
“Well, aye, tha’s true,” Mandrel said as he sat back in his chair. “Bu’ keep in mind, it were me leadin’ a group o’ adventurers ta battle the arch wizard.” Pania let out a scoff and rolled her eyes. “Alright. Sywyn lead the group. Bu’ still, I played me part.”
“I’ve go’ an idea,” Pania stated with a smirk. “When it come time ta write tha’ adventure, we’ll write it t’gether, deal?”
Shot Down, In A Blaze O’ Glory
Pania sat behind her writing desk for an uncomfortably long period of time as she watched Shani Wennemein’s expressions. There were two more chapters that needed to be written, and Pania wanted Shani to go over what had been written so far.
“Ya realize,” Shani said for the first time in two hours after Pania handed her the manuscript. “A lotta this stuff didn’t ‘xactly happen this way. Mostly accurate, mind you.”
“It is ’bout the pair o’ us,” Pania reminded. “No’ so much a tribute ta us, bu’ somethin’ we can give ta our children.”
Shani let out a laugh, knowing full well what Pania’s sexual orientation was. “So y’all tryin’ ta tell me there’s a bun in the oven? Who’s the lucky fella?”
“Alrigh’, may’aps no’ me own children, bu’ maybe yers,” Pania said with a smirk. “Tha’ is, if ye can find someone willin’ ta tame ye.”
“I don’t need tamin’ none,” Shani scoffed. “’Sides, think I found somebody.” Pania did a double take as she stared at the elven gunslinger. Shani just smiled as though she had the world’s biggest secret, then handed the manuscript back to Pania. “Y’all got two chapters ta go. Finish ’em, an’ I tell ya all ’bout it.”
Eternity
Pania lifted her head from her desk as the door to her room gently opened. She looked around in a daze as her world began to focus. At first she was angry, because it may been the Mistress Arewella come to check on her again, but she smiled as she save the red hair of her lover, Lyssa Stormwater.
“I was worried about ya, Panny,” Lyssa stated in a soft voice that was filled with a bit of teasing. “You’ve been locked away in yer tower for a while.”
“Tower o’ me own makin’,” Pania replied. “Been busy writin’ ‘way the past few days while ye been gone.” She yawned and stretched in her chair and then smiled to Lyssa. “Did ye find wha’ ye needed ta find, luv?”
“Mostly,” Lyssa replied with a weak nod. “I’ll tell you the whole tale in the morning.” Lyssa looked over the papers strewn on Pania’s desk for a moment. “You’ve been busy. More of those Kit Carson books Shani’s told me about.”
“No,” Pania replied as she shook her head. “Ye said ye wanted ta know more ’bout me. More ’bout me past. Here ye can learn tha’ an’ ’bout Shani too. Go on an’ read it. While I finish the las’ chapter.”
Using a two tablespoons of olive oil, cook until they are soft and light brown. Make sure to keep the fire low and constantly move the pan around to allow for even cooking time.
Once the sauteing is mostly done add garlic. I don’t own a garlic press so I use two tablespoons of jarred garlic, which you can get in the produce section of your local supermarket.
Add the tomatoes, and set to simmer. Stir often to prevent sticking. While this simmers, start to brown up the ground beef. Season to taste with salt and pepper. 
Lower the heat on the ground beef and using a slotted spoon, scoop out the ground beef and mix it with the tomato, onion, and pepper mix. Please use extreme caution when working with hot grease and oil.
Leave the beef mix to simmer for a few minutes, stirring every few minutes. While this is going on, add the egg noodles to a pot of boiling water. Add a bit of salt to the water to help it boil a little faster. After this is finished, take the mushrooms add them to the grease left over from the ground beef. Saute until tender.
Once the noodles are done, drain them, put back in the pot and add the beef vegetable mix. At this time also add the corn and olives. Then take and put mixture into the two casseroles dishes.
Finally, add grated or shredded cheddar cheese to the top of both dishes. Place in the over for about thirty to sixty minutes. Remove and let cool for about ten minutes.
Enjoy.
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