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[Lazybones]

Originally Posted by arun

wait no more 4e stories....does that mean no more stories are just that they will be based off a different set of rules? *please say it's the latter*

Well, thus far the writing bug shows no signs of easing up, although I have been a lot busier of late, which has reduced the time I have to write. But yes, the ideas that I have percolating would use other systems than 4e. I'd share more but I still need to check a few things before I know for sure what I want to do as my next project. Let's just say that one idea would revisit an old setting of mine, and the other would explore some of the games I've been running in the CRPG arena.

Thanks for the support! You guys have kept me posting here for so long, with your feedback.

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Chapter 13


The common room of the Halfmoon Inn looked smaller than it was at first glance, with swirling clouds of tobacco and other smokes drifting thick among the heavy pillars supporting the ceiling almost ten feet above. The crowded nature of the chamber was bolstered by the use of the available space, which placed the long bar in a U shape in the middle of the room, and curtained alcoves off to each side that offered a small modicum of privacy to premium customers.

The place looked fairly busy, with maybe thirty patrons and staff at the tables and bar. A majority of them were halflings, but the rest comprised a diverse collection of humans, dwarves, orcs, goblinoids, and other races both common and unfamiliar. Many of them had the pale, sallow look of those who spent most of their lives underground, out of the reach of the bright sun above. A few glanced up as the newcomers entered, but their attention returned quickly to their private conversations or to their drinks.

“Oh, crap,” Rendil said. They followed the halfling’s eyes to the far side of the room around the bar, where the largest ogre any of them had ever seen was causing a stir.

The ogre, clad in a vest of mail links that might have barded a warhorse, stood over the remains of what had recently been a table and bench. A halfling lay in the splinters, his coat soaked with ale, a confused look on his face that was quickly evolving into terror. He stared up at the ogre, blinking, trying to take in what was going on. Those patrons nearby were doing their best to ignore what was happening, although a few hastily took up their possessions and made for the door.

“I said, what you lookin’ at, you little crudder? You deaf, o’ somepin?”

“Where the hell do you think you’re going?” Carzen hissed.

Jaron blinked; he’d crossed halfway through the room before the fighter’s question drew him up. He realized that Beetle had disappeared, and that meant trouble, even as he took in anew just how big the ogre was. He was so tall that its head scraped the rafters bolstering the ceiling, but beyond that he was thick, with meaty arms that were thicker around than Carzen’s torso.

Jaron swallowed, and started forward again. The ogre had bent over the terrified halfling, close enough so that spittle from his jaws sprayed over the halfling’s face. He hadn’t made a move toward the greatclub slung across his back, but that meant little; the ogre could have crushed every bone in the halfling’s body with one fist.

“What did I tell you about breaking furniture in here, Brugg?”

The voice came from a newcomer who entered the room through the low doorway in the rear wall near the end of the bar, presumably from the inn’s kitchen. Jaron’s jaw dropped as he recognized its owner.

It was Mara.

As the ogre shifted slightly, Mara caught sight of Jaron. She started in surprise, her attention distracted just enough so that the ogre’s sudden movement caught her off guard. Twisting his body, his long reach allowed his forearm to catch her hard across the chest as he spun around. The blow knocked Mara back a good five feet, and only the presence of one of the supporting beams stopped her there. She hit hard enough for Jaron to hear it clearly even across the room, and a sudden quiet spread across the chamber as the fighter slumped against the beam, gasping for breath as the ogre stepped forward to loom over her, blocking her from the view of the others.