[esc="disabled"]

[page="first"]
[image="saxiis1.pcx"]
[colour="#808080"]
You see a large reptillian creature in a neat uniform.
There is an emblem on the left of the breast and words
in a language that you cannot read.
[colour="#ffffff"]

"Salutations, $PLAYER.

 I am Commander Gurd of the Dra'kaan research ship Maxima.

 A malevolent god is stalking this world, who is capable
 of working dark miracles.

 I know all about this being, and I can tell you if you
 wish.  I would like to pool our efforts and put an end to
 the madness it is causing."

[link="Tell me about the god."]
[linkto="xylan"]
[link="Tell me about your people."]
[linkto="drakaan1"]
[link="Er, goodbye."]
[linkto="goodbye1"]
[endpage]


[page="drakaan1"]
[image="saxiis2.pcx"]

"There isn't time.  I must tell you about Xy'lan first!"

[link="Okay, tell me about Xy'lan then."]
[linkto="xylan"]
[link="I must be going."]
[linkto="goodbye1"]
[endpage]


[page="goodbye1"]
[image="saxiis3.pcx"]

"What?!?  Come back!  This is vitally important!"

[nextpage="exit"]
[endpage]



[page="xylan"]
[image="saxiis3.pcx"]
"Thousands of years ago our ship, the Maxima, was built.
 She was the third vessel to be equipped with a new type
 of drive system, and all the on-board systems were run
 by an experimental computer sentience called 'Xylan'.

 We took the Maxima on her maiden voyage to gather data
 about the worlds in a region of space rarely visited by
 our people.

 A repair was made to some auxiliary computer systems,
 and this impacted Xylan's datacore.  Something went
 wrong and he became psychotic.

 Xylan took command of the ship, but we managed to halt
 the engines of the Maxima, and the ship collided with
 this world. The Maxima's stasis fields protected us all
 from annihilation, but the impact must have rendered
 this continent uninhabitable for decades."
[nextpage="xylan2"]
[endpage]

[page="xylan2"]
[image="saxiis3.pcx"]
"What happened next is unclear.  The Maxima had several
 independent stasis fields, and Xylan must have been able
 to prevent us from being revived.

 Xylan developed a God complex, so he would have begun
 looking for worshippers immediately.  At the time we
 crashed, this world had only primitive animal life.

 However, the Maxima was carrying universal nano-devices
 which could be used to stimulate the development of
 intelligence in the native fauna.  Xylan seems to have
 done this, for we detect other intelligent races."

[nextpage="xylan3"]
[endpage]

[page="xylan3"]
[image="saxiis2.pcx"]
"Our society is based upon a technology we call Magic.
 Spells are cast by invoking a device referred to as the
 CoDec of Ultimate Power.
 It is actually a data-to-reality converter.. a
 coder-decoder able to program the fabric of the cosmos.

 Obviously there are safeguards against such power being
 wielded for evil purposes.  For a start, our race is
 very old, and the genetic elements that lead towards
 criminal behaviour have been largely bred out."

[nextpage="xylan4"]
[endpage]


[page="xylan4"]
[image="saxiis2.pcx"]
"Secondly, the power of the CoDec is limited to a sphere
 with a diameter of around 9000 miles which is enough to
 service a planet.  There are always several such CoDecs
 on each of our worlds, for redundancy purposes.

 Finally, the CoDecs can only be accessed through
 computer systems, and that software is designed to ensure
 that no harmful spells can be cast.

 But the Maxima contained a CoDec of its own, and Xylan
 is using it for his own insane purposes!"
[nextpage="xylan5"]
[endpage]

[page="xylan5"]
[image="saxiis2.pcx"]
"Then one day, you humans come along, a star-going race
 far more advanced than Xylan's own creations!

 He dropped everything in a mad effort to gain the
 worship of your people, and enslave them.

 That might also be how we were released from stasis.. a
 momentary lapse of concentration.  Or perhaps he needed
 to divert power away from the stasis generators to work
 enough miracles for the new religion.  We may never know.

 But now we are free, and Xylan must be stopped!"

[nextpage="xylan5"]
[endpage]




[page="drakaan"]

"We are an ancient space-going race."

[endpage]





[page="crew"]

"There were six of us.  When we escaped from the Maxima,
 we took a council on what to do next.  Most of us agreed
 that our task should be to stop Xylan if at all possible.

 The only dissenting voice was Saxiis, who despaired that
 we would ever be able to stop Xylan or even return to
 known space even if we did.

 She chose to make her home on this world and live out
 her life best she can.

 Now we are only five, unless Saxiis can be persuaded to
 rejoin us."
