Graywolf-ELM
Explorer
Cool, bug animated Omar.
GW
GW
Don't laugh..... it's here.
Jon Potter
First Post
Ah, silly, silly cleric.
Never switch deities. Never.
I am curious to see who the seated figure turns out to be...
Never switch deities. Never.
I am curious to see who the seated figure turns out to be...
Hairy Minotaur
Explorer
Omar swings his fist into the gut of Finrod, the dwarf’s fist was a lot more solid than flesh and bone should be and it seemed to sting a little as well. Finrod backpedaled from the dwarf and as Omar’s fist receded from the elf’s abdomen, Finrod saw it covered in blood, his stomach was bleeding. Omar’s other fist swung for Finrod’s head, this time the elf ducked as saw dozens of wasp stingers stinking out of the flesh of Omar’s fist, in-between knuckles and even out of the finger joints.
Finrod slashed his blade across the thigh of Omar and watched in horror as instead of the blood he expected, a writhing mass of black red wasps erupted from the wound and launched themselves at Finrod. Screaming in terror, Finrod fled back to the entry ramp.
“We are at a disadvantage, no?” Paquito ponders
“What? You what to retreat now that we’re within reach of some great prize? Coward!” Gorfine exclaims
“You don’t know that there’s actually a prize to be gotten do you? Or that you would even want it, Omar looks to have been granted immortality, but I wouldn’t want to get it that way.” Sillaqui scolds the rogue minotaur
Another eruption of wasps sounds from ahead of them, convinced even Gorfine that retreat now was the best option until they could find a way to deal with this wasp threat. They found Finrod cowering at the bottom of the ramp.
“What’s wrong twig?” Gorfine asks
“I can’t climb the ramp, too steep and the dirt is loose, I can’t get a grip.” Finrod replies shaking in terror
“Nonsense, you’re just too afraid to retreat by yourself.” Gorfine insinuates
The drone of wasp wings drowns out further conversation as the animated form of Omar descends upon the party; Paquito shoves Sillaqui out of the way as he impales Omar with his spear. The Minotaur Lord wrenches the weapon free tearing the dwarf’s body along his right ribcage with a horrible gash. The wound unleashes a new flock of bugs that descend upon Finrod. The elf attempts to beat back the swarm with his hands but is soon overmatched as hundreds of the critters alight upon the elf.
“Retreat!” Paquito shouts as his hefts up Sillaqui and begins a slow ascent up the dirt ramp followed closely behind by Ratchet.
Gorfine instead ignores that order and stabs Finrod several times in the back, the minotaur didn’t know if that was a “thank you” or a “you bastard” look in the elf’s eyes, but Gorfine could care less. The elf would lose his fight eventually and there would be two of those things after them instead of just one.
Ratchet used his races innate ability and blinked to the top of the ramp, just inside the hallway leading to it, and found himself in a dead end corridor. Gorfine, accustomed to climbing all kinds of surfaces, easily outdistanced the encumbered Paquito and reached the top of the ramp, only to find the large stone idol which had been sitting on the floor of the room not half a minute ago blocking his path. Gorfine thought he saw the stone figure’s eyes narrow but dismissed it as a trick of the light, until it raised it’s massive arms slammed Gorfine into the ramp. The stunned minotaur stumbled back and collapsed prone. Luciann trailed behind the rest of the party, unaccustomed to treacherous climbing the elf was driven on by a wanting of not to become what Omar had become.
Paquito saw Gorfine fall, and unable to locate Ratchet, assumed he had come to the end of his life. He put Sillaqui down along side him and touching her cheek one last time mouthed the word “go”, he then charged up the ramp spear in hand mouth curled in a sneer of defiance. The idol slapped at the approaching Paquito, but could not deter the sorcerer from his goal as Paquito thrusts the spear into the eye of the idol and watched his hopes snap like dry kindling as the spear was rendered useless.
A low rumbling sound came from the idol, as if the living stone figure mocked Paquito. Paquito’s hands came together and the Minotaur Lord issued scorching rays from his hands into the center of the stone figure, nothing happened, not even a burn mark. It raised it’s arms again to strike, Paquito stood there not wanting to dodge what fate had deemed his ending would be. He wished the giants could have been here to save him, he wished Benat had come back from her training to snipe this thing from afar. The stone fists came down and struck not Paquito but an intercepting Sillaqui who crumpled to the ground and dropped her cargo, a very stunned Luciann.
“No!” Paquito shouted as he bent down to protect Sillaqui, who was still breathing and looked up at Paquito
“Couldn’t let you go without trying first.” Sillaqui whispered
Luciann sent magic missiles into the idol and watched as they bounced off harmlessly, “impossible” Luciann sighed
Gorfine watched the proceedings from his prone vantage point and decided that to live and fight another day was the best option here. He slowed his breathing and made a concerted attempt to appear for all intensive purposes as dead to anyone who might casually glance in his direction.
The idol reared back for another attack, but a shimmering glow appeared around it’s form, the idol twisted in the archway and turned back to reveal a determined Ratchet unloading a searing light spell into the back of the idol. Paquito watched as the idol seemed to shimmer and in a moment of clarity, deduced why he hadn’t seen his efforts rewarded. The Minotaur Lord rose to his feet and looked down at Luciann.
“Get up and blast that thing, now!” Paquito shouted as he opened his mouth to call forth the magic of the collar he wore around his neck, a dragon’s gout of fire engulfed the idol.
Luciann stood up and released his scorching rays into the idol as Ratchet fired another searing light spell as the idol. Sillaqui rolled over on her stomach and breathed a cone of ice chilling air at the idol. The combined might of the effects caused the illusion of perfection to shatter and the form of the idol to explode in a shower of rock and debris. The shrapnel was unable to get through Paquito’s and Sillaqui’s tough skin, Ratchet was able to duck away from most of the blast, however Luciann was struck by the head of the idol and his head was crushed as a result of the victory.
Sillaqui and Ratchet attempted to administer first aid but the elf was beyond simple repair. They lifted him off of the ramp and into the hallway where they stayed with him until he ceased breathing. While searching the debris, Paquito located a small bejeweled ring and pocketed it for safe keeping after it’s magical aura was far beyond anything Paquito could comprehend. Paquito then hefted Luciann over his shoulder as the remaining group headed back for the safety of the maze.
“What about Gorfine?” Ratchet asked
“Leave him; I have no use for those you do not wish to participate in a team sport. No?” Paquito answered
Gorfine of course crept up the ramp and into the darkness of the earth after he was sure Paquito and his buddies could no longer hear or see him.
******************************************************************
Luciann was reincarnated as a drow, as a reward for sacrificing himself; Paquito gave him the ring found in the idol rubble. The ring gave Luciann immense intelligence and wisdom at the expense of his health as it brought his Constitution to 2 and transformed his head into the head of an ibis. Thus ended Luciann’s days of adventure as he retired from active participation and designed aquifer and many magical items for the minotaur tribe.
Ratchet stayed with the tribe for a few more months before deciding to try his luck striking out to make his on fortune, to this day he is still annoying subterranean evils with his own band of gnomish hunters.
Finrod and Omar’s bodies were never recovered.
Korg returned to the maze two years after he left to construct and lead a shrine to Umtala, he now counts about half of the minotaurs and a few members of other races as members and his church seems to be flourishing.
Gronar never returned and Korg does not speak of him, although a few have heard snippets of a prayer Korg gives once a month that mentions Gronar, but nothing more than that.
Benat finished her training, but never visited the maze; she spoke with Korg a few times when the giant had need to visit the elven town. Soon, she too struck out on her own.
Lothred is currently seeking ways to extend his life from centuries to eternity
Sillaqui resides in the maze and spends her days singing to the children and retelling the deeds of the “reluctant minotaur and the giants.”
Paquito hasn’t been seen in days, having disappeared from his own room one night. He finally had turned the small key his mentor gave over in his hand one too many times and decided to try it on his own door. After hearing a click, Paquito opened his door to find he was no longer in the maze or even on the material plane. Even closing and reopening the door did not work. Currently he is advertising for a way back to his material plane; however, no one in Arborea seems to really care.
Finrod slashed his blade across the thigh of Omar and watched in horror as instead of the blood he expected, a writhing mass of black red wasps erupted from the wound and launched themselves at Finrod. Screaming in terror, Finrod fled back to the entry ramp.
“We are at a disadvantage, no?” Paquito ponders
“What? You what to retreat now that we’re within reach of some great prize? Coward!” Gorfine exclaims
“You don’t know that there’s actually a prize to be gotten do you? Or that you would even want it, Omar looks to have been granted immortality, but I wouldn’t want to get it that way.” Sillaqui scolds the rogue minotaur
Another eruption of wasps sounds from ahead of them, convinced even Gorfine that retreat now was the best option until they could find a way to deal with this wasp threat. They found Finrod cowering at the bottom of the ramp.
“What’s wrong twig?” Gorfine asks
“I can’t climb the ramp, too steep and the dirt is loose, I can’t get a grip.” Finrod replies shaking in terror
“Nonsense, you’re just too afraid to retreat by yourself.” Gorfine insinuates
The drone of wasp wings drowns out further conversation as the animated form of Omar descends upon the party; Paquito shoves Sillaqui out of the way as he impales Omar with his spear. The Minotaur Lord wrenches the weapon free tearing the dwarf’s body along his right ribcage with a horrible gash. The wound unleashes a new flock of bugs that descend upon Finrod. The elf attempts to beat back the swarm with his hands but is soon overmatched as hundreds of the critters alight upon the elf.
“Retreat!” Paquito shouts as his hefts up Sillaqui and begins a slow ascent up the dirt ramp followed closely behind by Ratchet.
Gorfine instead ignores that order and stabs Finrod several times in the back, the minotaur didn’t know if that was a “thank you” or a “you bastard” look in the elf’s eyes, but Gorfine could care less. The elf would lose his fight eventually and there would be two of those things after them instead of just one.
Ratchet used his races innate ability and blinked to the top of the ramp, just inside the hallway leading to it, and found himself in a dead end corridor. Gorfine, accustomed to climbing all kinds of surfaces, easily outdistanced the encumbered Paquito and reached the top of the ramp, only to find the large stone idol which had been sitting on the floor of the room not half a minute ago blocking his path. Gorfine thought he saw the stone figure’s eyes narrow but dismissed it as a trick of the light, until it raised it’s massive arms slammed Gorfine into the ramp. The stunned minotaur stumbled back and collapsed prone. Luciann trailed behind the rest of the party, unaccustomed to treacherous climbing the elf was driven on by a wanting of not to become what Omar had become.
Paquito saw Gorfine fall, and unable to locate Ratchet, assumed he had come to the end of his life. He put Sillaqui down along side him and touching her cheek one last time mouthed the word “go”, he then charged up the ramp spear in hand mouth curled in a sneer of defiance. The idol slapped at the approaching Paquito, but could not deter the sorcerer from his goal as Paquito thrusts the spear into the eye of the idol and watched his hopes snap like dry kindling as the spear was rendered useless.
A low rumbling sound came from the idol, as if the living stone figure mocked Paquito. Paquito’s hands came together and the Minotaur Lord issued scorching rays from his hands into the center of the stone figure, nothing happened, not even a burn mark. It raised it’s arms again to strike, Paquito stood there not wanting to dodge what fate had deemed his ending would be. He wished the giants could have been here to save him, he wished Benat had come back from her training to snipe this thing from afar. The stone fists came down and struck not Paquito but an intercepting Sillaqui who crumpled to the ground and dropped her cargo, a very stunned Luciann.
“No!” Paquito shouted as he bent down to protect Sillaqui, who was still breathing and looked up at Paquito
“Couldn’t let you go without trying first.” Sillaqui whispered
Luciann sent magic missiles into the idol and watched as they bounced off harmlessly, “impossible” Luciann sighed
Gorfine watched the proceedings from his prone vantage point and decided that to live and fight another day was the best option here. He slowed his breathing and made a concerted attempt to appear for all intensive purposes as dead to anyone who might casually glance in his direction.
The idol reared back for another attack, but a shimmering glow appeared around it’s form, the idol twisted in the archway and turned back to reveal a determined Ratchet unloading a searing light spell into the back of the idol. Paquito watched as the idol seemed to shimmer and in a moment of clarity, deduced why he hadn’t seen his efforts rewarded. The Minotaur Lord rose to his feet and looked down at Luciann.
“Get up and blast that thing, now!” Paquito shouted as he opened his mouth to call forth the magic of the collar he wore around his neck, a dragon’s gout of fire engulfed the idol.
Luciann stood up and released his scorching rays into the idol as Ratchet fired another searing light spell as the idol. Sillaqui rolled over on her stomach and breathed a cone of ice chilling air at the idol. The combined might of the effects caused the illusion of perfection to shatter and the form of the idol to explode in a shower of rock and debris. The shrapnel was unable to get through Paquito’s and Sillaqui’s tough skin, Ratchet was able to duck away from most of the blast, however Luciann was struck by the head of the idol and his head was crushed as a result of the victory.
Sillaqui and Ratchet attempted to administer first aid but the elf was beyond simple repair. They lifted him off of the ramp and into the hallway where they stayed with him until he ceased breathing. While searching the debris, Paquito located a small bejeweled ring and pocketed it for safe keeping after it’s magical aura was far beyond anything Paquito could comprehend. Paquito then hefted Luciann over his shoulder as the remaining group headed back for the safety of the maze.
“What about Gorfine?” Ratchet asked
“Leave him; I have no use for those you do not wish to participate in a team sport. No?” Paquito answered
Gorfine of course crept up the ramp and into the darkness of the earth after he was sure Paquito and his buddies could no longer hear or see him.
******************************************************************
Luciann was reincarnated as a drow, as a reward for sacrificing himself; Paquito gave him the ring found in the idol rubble. The ring gave Luciann immense intelligence and wisdom at the expense of his health as it brought his Constitution to 2 and transformed his head into the head of an ibis. Thus ended Luciann’s days of adventure as he retired from active participation and designed aquifer and many magical items for the minotaur tribe.
Ratchet stayed with the tribe for a few more months before deciding to try his luck striking out to make his on fortune, to this day he is still annoying subterranean evils with his own band of gnomish hunters.
Finrod and Omar’s bodies were never recovered.
Korg returned to the maze two years after he left to construct and lead a shrine to Umtala, he now counts about half of the minotaurs and a few members of other races as members and his church seems to be flourishing.
Gronar never returned and Korg does not speak of him, although a few have heard snippets of a prayer Korg gives once a month that mentions Gronar, but nothing more than that.
Benat finished her training, but never visited the maze; she spoke with Korg a few times when the giant had need to visit the elven town. Soon, she too struck out on her own.
Lothred is currently seeking ways to extend his life from centuries to eternity
Sillaqui resides in the maze and spends her days singing to the children and retelling the deeds of the “reluctant minotaur and the giants.”
Paquito hasn’t been seen in days, having disappeared from his own room one night. He finally had turned the small key his mentor gave over in his hand one too many times and decided to try it on his own door. After hearing a click, Paquito opened his door to find he was no longer in the maze or even on the material plane. Even closing and reopening the door did not work. Currently he is advertising for a way back to his material plane; however, no one in Arborea seems to really care.
Graywolf-ELM
Explorer
Wow, I hadn't realized you were so close to the end of the campaign. Thanks for coming back to give it words here.
GW
GW
Hairy Minotaur
Explorer
Well, this was a campaign started during a break from a regular campaign we were all playing in. We came to a stopping point in this game when the regualr one picked up again. However the regular one only last another 3 sessions and when it came time to decide what to do next, people either wanted to stop playing for awhile or they wanted to start over.
Paquito, Korg, Lothred & Ratchet's players jumped to the new game the rest of the players didn't. Paquito and Korg's players still have their character sheets so it's always a possibly that these characters might be re-visited which is why there's a little epilogue.
Thanks for reading I hope it was an enjoyable ride, the other story hour in my sig. contains the same ruleset so "monsterous" races appear in the party there as well. Although no giants.
Paquito, Korg, Lothred & Ratchet's players jumped to the new game the rest of the players didn't. Paquito and Korg's players still have their character sheets so it's always a possibly that these characters might be re-visited which is why there's a little epilogue.
Thanks for reading I hope it was an enjoyable ride, the other story hour in my sig. contains the same ruleset so "monsterous" races appear in the party there as well. Although no giants.
Jon Potter
First Post
I'm with Graywolf-ELM. I didn't see The End coming.
It's nice to see a wrap-up to the campaign, but I'll miss these guys. No?
Any chance you'd be willing to pull back the curtain one last time? What sort of a critter/template did Omar assume there at the end?
It's nice to see a wrap-up to the campaign, but I'll miss these guys. No?
Any chance you'd be willing to pull back the curtain one last time? What sort of a critter/template did Omar assume there at the end?
Hairy Minotaur
Explorer
Jon Potter said:
Paquito's player was sad to see him "retire" and Finrod's player had created a Maug ranger to take the elf's place and was all set to go. Korg's player wanted something a little easier to play (the write may make it sound as if the giants were having a blast, but most of the time they had to stay out of the way due to size and/or INT issues). I know where Paquito is and I've even relocated the maze to the new campaign (I dropped 1 plot hook there, but the party as a whole didn't bite). If the new group goes a certain way they may meet the Minotaur Lord trying to find his way home.
Omar was "infested" with the abyssal swarm (wasp) template from Green Ronin's Advanced Beastary.
Finrod's character was a little perturbed by Gorfine's player's actions, which is why I wrote that Paquito left Gorfine there (Gorfine's player didn't join the reformed group and he continuously claimed he was playing his alignment the whole time).
Hairy Minotaur
Explorer
Resurrection
Paquito looked out over the crystal clear river that wound its way through the copse of trees he had called home for a week now. The sun had never been brighter than it was on this plane, the nights never so darker and the life never so greener. Arborea was truly a plane of life and vibrancy, even breathing it the pure air seemed to invigorate the minotaur. He was passed trying to physically get back to his home world, returning magically was beyond his current abilities and those he spoke with on Arborea seemed disinterested with his plight. Caring more for their own hunt than for the cause of one wayward minotaur.
He had spent all day watching for signs of yet another hunting party hoping that the next one would have a mage of a power capable of sending him home. The sound of beating hooves drew his attention towards the river as a huge wolf bounded out from the cover of trees on the other side of the river bank. It was followed by several large horses which carried a group of orcs towards their quarry. Paquito stood and raced for the river’s edge, he watched as the orcs drove the wolf into the river. The orcs then pulled up suddenly and parted as they allowed a shaman to come forward, the shaman began intoning a spell as Paquito reached the river a stood at an intercept bearing with the wolf.
“Hail travelers! I am Paquito Flaccido and I can help you capture this beast. No?”
The orcs seemed confused by Paquito’s presence, but not as much as the wolf which changed its direction and turned to run up river through the water. The huge animal easily bounded through the liquid as the orcs began shouting their objections to this turn of events. The shaman’s spell went off just as the full length of the wolf’s body had passed the minotaur on the river’s edge. A great wave of water more like an open hand of shifting liquid formed at the bank in front of Paquito. The minotaur backed away as the watery hand grew in height to over twenty feet forcing up the water along Paquito’s side. The hand moved away, streaming for the orc’s side of the river. Had the wolf not changed course it would have been swept up and carried over to the orc side. Paquito watched the diminishing figure of the wolf as it raced away to freedom. He then turned back to the disappointed faces of the orcs as they remounted their horses and began to cross the swift moving river. Run was all Paquito could think to do and he took off as fast as he could in the other direction.
The minotaur’s leg were great in short bursts of speed for a charge but were ill suited for a long distance chase especially against forty mounted orcs on heavy warhorses. Still Paquito was quite proud when he had managed to get ninety feet ahead of the orcs before they started spurring on their horses in earnest. The orc’s cavalry ran alongside Paquito once they had caught up with him. The orcs were content to let Paquito tire himself out before taking their prey down via their own accord. Once Paquito realized this as well he stopped running and pulled up to conserve what breath he had left.
“Ho there travelers, out playing with the dogs today. No?”
“That was not a very life conserving move you made back there.” An orc spoke up
“What? I was merely trying to support your cause of a big dinner with lots of friends. No?”
“Your untimely arrival has cost us a fine meal and angered Gruumsh, our god demands retributions be paid.” The orc paused before continuing, “in blood.”
“Well, who am I to restrict the bloodletting practices of your fine band of horse huggers. No?”
“Your blood.” The orc returns
“You wouldn’t want my blood. I’ve tasted it before and it has high iron content, tastes like rust. No?”
“That is for Gruumsh to decide. Collect the half-boar what Gruumsh does not claim tonight we will dine on.” The orc responds
“Now here, this is not…” Paquito was unable to finish his speech as he was clobbered on the back of his head by an iron shovel wielded by an orc behind him.
The orcs threw Paquito in a skid and dragged him behind a lone horse with an orc rider. Then band then turned north and rode through a thick forest. Paquito bounced along the ground several times the skiff overturned and dragged the minotaur along face first over the rough ground. This caused the effects of the shovel stun to be short lived as the force of the ground and repeated blows to the front of his head, helped wake the minotaur from his violence induced slumber.
As the band slowed down to move more effectively through the thick underbrush of the old growth forest, Paquito seized upon a daring escape plan. As the top of his skid was jarred to the right due to hitting a stone, Paquito threw his weight that way as well and managed to overturn the skid. The rider halted to go back and right the skid. As he did Paquito threw his head back and aimed his mouth at the rope connecting the skid to the horse. The orc bent over to see if there was anything wrong with their captive since his neck was twisted severely. Paquito watched as the rope, horse’s arse, and orc face all came together like a celestial conjunction. The minotaur opened his mouth and loosed a gout of flame engulfing all three images in one blast.
The orc reeled backwards and fell on his rump as he pawed at the burnt hair on his face. The rope caught fire quickly and the spooked horse took off as fast as it could. Paquito was dragged another ten feet before the rope failed and the skid deposited Paquito on the ground. The alarm raised, several riders had already turned their horses around and were coming back to see what the commotion was. Paquito worked quickly trying to break free of his bounds before the orcs were upon him.
Sillaqui checked one last time that she had gathered everything she would need before heading for Corridorian’s quarters. The maze mage had found a promising lead on the whereabouts of the tribe’s leader and she wanted to head out as soon as possible. The half-dragon bard twisted the handle to the maze mage’s quarters and pushed the door in, amazed at the large creature that greeted her.
“Blue lady go look for Pokey, Korg go too.” The proud giant stated
“I fear this mission will be more successful the quicker it can be accomplished and the trampling noise of a hill giant across the landscape will not bring about quiet conditions.” Sillaqui explains
“Pokey give Korg purpose after Gronar die. Korg will go find Pokey.” The hill giant counters
“I tried to keep him out, but he refused to believe we had left him in charge of the tribe in our absence.” Corridorian explains
“Corridorian your magic will be far more beneficial to bringing back Paquito than Korg’s will. I’m sorry Korg but we need you to stay here and watch over the tribe while we’re gone.” Sillaqui responds
“Korg no take no from blue lady, Korg have own magic, blue lady think Korg not good enough. Korg show blue lady new tricks.” Korg’s chest swelled with ego.
“We all three can’t go, there will be no one to watch over the tribe with any authority.” Sillaqui protests
“Korg already know plan, go to where Pokey is, grab Pokey, shove Pokey back through gate, Pokey safe, Korg hero. Korg got the plan.” The hill giant offered
As the Arboreal sun melted against the western horizon, a Half-dragon bard and a hill giant cleric were plane shifted next to a mighty river. Below them the hoof prints of dozens of horses fled towards the east.
“That way.” Sillaqui pointed to where the hooves were leading them
“That way.” Korg said and pointed in the same direction, “because Korg pointing that way.”
The bard shook her head and trudged to the east with the hill giant lopping along behind her.
Yep, it's back... I also found some more material from Tharhack's day that I will be posting soon as well for those that liked his story.
Paquito looked out over the crystal clear river that wound its way through the copse of trees he had called home for a week now. The sun had never been brighter than it was on this plane, the nights never so darker and the life never so greener. Arborea was truly a plane of life and vibrancy, even breathing it the pure air seemed to invigorate the minotaur. He was passed trying to physically get back to his home world, returning magically was beyond his current abilities and those he spoke with on Arborea seemed disinterested with his plight. Caring more for their own hunt than for the cause of one wayward minotaur.
He had spent all day watching for signs of yet another hunting party hoping that the next one would have a mage of a power capable of sending him home. The sound of beating hooves drew his attention towards the river as a huge wolf bounded out from the cover of trees on the other side of the river bank. It was followed by several large horses which carried a group of orcs towards their quarry. Paquito stood and raced for the river’s edge, he watched as the orcs drove the wolf into the river. The orcs then pulled up suddenly and parted as they allowed a shaman to come forward, the shaman began intoning a spell as Paquito reached the river a stood at an intercept bearing with the wolf.
“Hail travelers! I am Paquito Flaccido and I can help you capture this beast. No?”
The orcs seemed confused by Paquito’s presence, but not as much as the wolf which changed its direction and turned to run up river through the water. The huge animal easily bounded through the liquid as the orcs began shouting their objections to this turn of events. The shaman’s spell went off just as the full length of the wolf’s body had passed the minotaur on the river’s edge. A great wave of water more like an open hand of shifting liquid formed at the bank in front of Paquito. The minotaur backed away as the watery hand grew in height to over twenty feet forcing up the water along Paquito’s side. The hand moved away, streaming for the orc’s side of the river. Had the wolf not changed course it would have been swept up and carried over to the orc side. Paquito watched the diminishing figure of the wolf as it raced away to freedom. He then turned back to the disappointed faces of the orcs as they remounted their horses and began to cross the swift moving river. Run was all Paquito could think to do and he took off as fast as he could in the other direction.
The minotaur’s leg were great in short bursts of speed for a charge but were ill suited for a long distance chase especially against forty mounted orcs on heavy warhorses. Still Paquito was quite proud when he had managed to get ninety feet ahead of the orcs before they started spurring on their horses in earnest. The orc’s cavalry ran alongside Paquito once they had caught up with him. The orcs were content to let Paquito tire himself out before taking their prey down via their own accord. Once Paquito realized this as well he stopped running and pulled up to conserve what breath he had left.
“Ho there travelers, out playing with the dogs today. No?”
“That was not a very life conserving move you made back there.” An orc spoke up
“What? I was merely trying to support your cause of a big dinner with lots of friends. No?”
“Your untimely arrival has cost us a fine meal and angered Gruumsh, our god demands retributions be paid.” The orc paused before continuing, “in blood.”
“Well, who am I to restrict the bloodletting practices of your fine band of horse huggers. No?”
“Your blood.” The orc returns
“You wouldn’t want my blood. I’ve tasted it before and it has high iron content, tastes like rust. No?”
“That is for Gruumsh to decide. Collect the half-boar what Gruumsh does not claim tonight we will dine on.” The orc responds
“Now here, this is not…” Paquito was unable to finish his speech as he was clobbered on the back of his head by an iron shovel wielded by an orc behind him.
The orcs threw Paquito in a skid and dragged him behind a lone horse with an orc rider. Then band then turned north and rode through a thick forest. Paquito bounced along the ground several times the skiff overturned and dragged the minotaur along face first over the rough ground. This caused the effects of the shovel stun to be short lived as the force of the ground and repeated blows to the front of his head, helped wake the minotaur from his violence induced slumber.
As the band slowed down to move more effectively through the thick underbrush of the old growth forest, Paquito seized upon a daring escape plan. As the top of his skid was jarred to the right due to hitting a stone, Paquito threw his weight that way as well and managed to overturn the skid. The rider halted to go back and right the skid. As he did Paquito threw his head back and aimed his mouth at the rope connecting the skid to the horse. The orc bent over to see if there was anything wrong with their captive since his neck was twisted severely. Paquito watched as the rope, horse’s arse, and orc face all came together like a celestial conjunction. The minotaur opened his mouth and loosed a gout of flame engulfing all three images in one blast.
The orc reeled backwards and fell on his rump as he pawed at the burnt hair on his face. The rope caught fire quickly and the spooked horse took off as fast as it could. Paquito was dragged another ten feet before the rope failed and the skid deposited Paquito on the ground. The alarm raised, several riders had already turned their horses around and were coming back to see what the commotion was. Paquito worked quickly trying to break free of his bounds before the orcs were upon him.
Sillaqui checked one last time that she had gathered everything she would need before heading for Corridorian’s quarters. The maze mage had found a promising lead on the whereabouts of the tribe’s leader and she wanted to head out as soon as possible. The half-dragon bard twisted the handle to the maze mage’s quarters and pushed the door in, amazed at the large creature that greeted her.
“Blue lady go look for Pokey, Korg go too.” The proud giant stated
“I fear this mission will be more successful the quicker it can be accomplished and the trampling noise of a hill giant across the landscape will not bring about quiet conditions.” Sillaqui explains
“Pokey give Korg purpose after Gronar die. Korg will go find Pokey.” The hill giant counters
“I tried to keep him out, but he refused to believe we had left him in charge of the tribe in our absence.” Corridorian explains
“Corridorian your magic will be far more beneficial to bringing back Paquito than Korg’s will. I’m sorry Korg but we need you to stay here and watch over the tribe while we’re gone.” Sillaqui responds
“Korg no take no from blue lady, Korg have own magic, blue lady think Korg not good enough. Korg show blue lady new tricks.” Korg’s chest swelled with ego.
“We all three can’t go, there will be no one to watch over the tribe with any authority.” Sillaqui protests
“Korg already know plan, go to where Pokey is, grab Pokey, shove Pokey back through gate, Pokey safe, Korg hero. Korg got the plan.” The hill giant offered
As the Arboreal sun melted against the western horizon, a Half-dragon bard and a hill giant cleric were plane shifted next to a mighty river. Below them the hoof prints of dozens of horses fled towards the east.
“That way.” Sillaqui pointed to where the hooves were leading them
“That way.” Korg said and pointed in the same direction, “because Korg pointing that way.”
The bard shook her head and trudged to the east with the hill giant lopping along behind her.
Yep, it's back... I also found some more material from Tharhack's day that I will be posting soon as well for those that liked his story.
Jon Potter
First Post
Wahoo! I guess Santa wasn't paying too much attention to me this year, 'cause it looks like Christmas is coming after all!
Hairy Minotaur
Explorer
Cow tipping
“You’ve yet to explain your absence or what befell Gronar after you two left.” Sillaqui prodded in hopes of learning more about why Korg chose to keep those events secret.
“Korg left for Vision Mountain to seek Umtala’s wisdom. Korg found it; Gronar did not see it the same way. Korg now back to finish promise Korg made to Pokey.”
“So there’s no chance Gronar will be back? Whatever will you do without your moral compass to guide you?”
“Korg not need stupid trinket to tell Korg where north is.”
“That’s not what I meant, I mean if there’s no one to watch out for you like Gronar was doing what is going to happen when you have to be the one to make the decisions? You were always the follower to Gronar’s sword arm, whose path do you follow now?” Sillaqui’s words danced through Korg’s head like a drunken bugbear, loud and ungainly. Korg didn’t want to think about having to be the one to make the tactical choices Gronar did, but as the bigger of the two by a factor of three, he knew that the little blue lady would likely go where Korg pointed; trouble was Korg didn’t remember why they were going this direction at all.
“Korg wonder why Pokey left to come here?” The giant spoke trying to steer the conversation away from questions he didn’t want to answer
“Maybe he found the lure of adventure to great to quell even for one as grandiose as Paquito.”
“Korg think you here because you love Pokey.” Now it was Sillaqui’s turn to squirm in the questions
“I.. am here to find the tribe’s leader, I dare not let worry enter my mind for mistakes are easily born of distraction.”
“Korg think that is fancy way of saying yes. That’s okay, Korg hope you have lots of little blue baby Pokeys.”
Sillaqui sat in distant silence.
“Find him! Overturn every log, every stone, and every dead body! I want the sacrifice found within the half hour or one of you gets sacrificed in his place!” The orc leader shouted out orders to his troops, the chaos in the midst of the orc band was unmistakable, several orcs writhed on the ground with their heads in the their hands, their faces burned by the gout of flame from Paquito’s fire breath.
The minotaur absent mindedly rubbed the amulet around his neck, the magic contained therein had saved him on several occasions before and once again had proved its worth. Scanning the nearby trees for the next large trunk to hide behind, Paquito spied a game trail off to his left and a horse trail to his right, the one his captors had traveled. Rolling a mental dice, Paquito darted off for the middle of both trails, not wishing to follow either. With the din of the orc band slowly dying behind him, Paquito raced through think underbrush and intertwined tree limbs as he sought freedom.
“Which way did he go? Who saw him escape?” The orc leader demanded from two orcs who had been burned so badly they were stricken blind. The two orcs were held up by two subordinate orcs apiece, their arms hook so that the orc’s chests were puffed out so that even in their pain they showed no sign of weakness.
The orc leader backhanded the one on the left and open-handed slapped the one on the right. Chapped and scorched lips shattered from the force of the blow and began to bleed. Both orcs tried in vain to moisten the wounds with their tongues only to make the sensation worse as their rough tongues scoured over the damaged lips.
“Both of you make me sick and are an utter disgrace to the orc race, one prisoner. One prisoner! And you let him escape, we’re not talking about a pixie that is tiny and invisible, we’re talking about a ten foot upright cow! And you let the damn thing walk away as if it paid you!” The orc leader lambasted at the held orcs
“S.. I.. “ Was all the right one could get out as seared flesh tore and broke from the flexing of facial muscles.
“What? Were you trying to spit something out? Perhaps forgiveness for your lax in duty!” The orc leader shouted
*gurgle* came the response
“Redblood son of Dreskor.” The right orc stiffened up at the sound of his formal familial name being used, he tried to answer with a “Sir” but only hissed in pain.
“You’ve failed for the first and last time.” The orc leader finished and ran the orc through with his broadsword, the wounded orc fell in a heap and soaked the ground beneath him with blood.
“Cregnaw of the Blood Mists.” The other held orc stiffened at the sound of his name as well, fully prepared for his fate. The blade strike was swift and the body was left where it lay to nourish the ground.
“Twenty minutes. Twenty minutes to find a single large dazed and panicked cow, is this band up for it or should I place all of you on nursery duty where your weakness can confront you the rest of your life?” The orc leader demanded
“No Sir!” Came the unified response
Paquito hoped that by at least eluding the orcs for awhile that their tight time schedule would force them to give up the chase and they would leave him alone. He bounded through thickets, large bushes and trampled smaller ones. He head pounded harder with each heartbeat, he reckoned he likely had suffered a concussion with all the banging his head took on the skid. He would need to find someplace to stop and hide quickly or his head would force him to go prone and hope for the best soon.
“Sergeant Krivemlor, bring me the banner!” The orc leader ordered, once the large banner was brought over the orc leader held it aloft. Crafted from the femur of a tyrannosaur the bottom joint had been filed down to a point that was filthy with dirt as the band routinely thrust it into the ground when they knew the end was near for their opponents. With the banner in hand, the orc leader recited a prayer to Gruumsh and four worgs instantly appeared next to the orc leader.
Speaking their barking language, the orc leader gave the worgs a description of Paquito and instructions to hunt down but not kill the minotaur, maiming was allowed but the sacrifice must be alive and coherent for it to be useful for the orcs. With the directions handed out, the worgs took off in search of a scent they picked up almost immediately, the scent of fear.
Paquito stopped for a moment, his head felt like it was pulsating out of his skull and made it nearly impossible to think let alone run. Paquito closed his eyes and tried to will the pain to the back of his mind. He had nearly succeeded when the sounds of several dogs barking invaded his quiet respite and not only were they getting closer, they seemed to be heading directly for him. Paquito pushed his way forward a few more steps and entered a small depression in the forest floor. Paquito squatted low in the brush and waited for the first one to leap at him.
He wouldn’t wait long as he heard the body of the excited worg bursting through the brush in front of him, as soon as the leaping form erupted from the bushes above him, Paquito unleashed a scorching ray into the sky. The worg landed with a smoldering thud behind him and whimpered softly. Barking behind him told Paquito that he had alerted more of his fellows to come check out what befell one of their numbers.
A barking sound on the right brought forth another large worg, this one however did not burst through the underbrush, and instead it half jumped into the depression. Startled by Paquito’s large presence the worg was ill-prepared to ward off the minotaur’s horns as Paquito managed to sink both of his venom dripping horns into the hard skin of the dog-like creature. While the damage from the horns was only enough to piss off the worg, the toxin in its blood was more than enough to teeter the large dog to one side and send it into convulsions.
More barking surrounded the minotaur now and he realized that if the orc band hadn’t caught up by now they would be soon and then there would be no escape from forty trained soldiers. This time the worgs paced a circle around the minotaur, hoping to flush the large beast out from his semi-useful defensive stand. Paquito knew they were toying with him waiting for him to make a move before they pounced on him. Had it just been the worgs he would have sat back and waited for their hunger to override their tactical advantage and force the worgs into mistakes. However with an orc war band beating a path to his location and not in a happy mood, Paquito knew he would have to try and flee.
With two of their numbers down and dying, the remaining two worgs abandoned any pretense of a contract with the orc leader and bounded into the depression flanking the minotaur and looking to tear his throat from his body and devour his heart. Paquito showered the one that came at him from in front with magic missiles but that only caused the worg to aim its jaws lower as the missiles struck the back of its neck. The one in his face bit down on Paquito’s left forearm while the other attached its jaws to the back of Paquito’s neck and begin to shake its head back and forth violently trying to rend the minotaur’s flesh from his head. The pain in his head was excruciating now and he wished he would just blackout from the pain than try and think his way through it. His felt the worg’s teeth sink further into his neck as blood began trickling down his back. Paquito bit the worg gnawing on his forearm back on the snout. The venom from his collar seeping into the wound and causing the dog to seize on the spot, with only one worg left Paquito tried to twist around to get at the on his neck. The worg however was determined to either rip his neck out or bleed the minotaur dry.
Unfortunately for Paquito neither occurred as the worg took a powerful blow from a broadsword that cracked its skull across its nose. The worg yelped as it let Paquito go, and then whimpered off into the brush to tend to its wound.
“Your spirited escape has put us behind, so we will be forced to just drag you behind the horses instead of that comfy skid we made for you and you ungratefully burned. String him up; this time hit him hard enough that if he does open his eyes he won’t know the difference.” The orc leader directed.
“You’ve yet to explain your absence or what befell Gronar after you two left.” Sillaqui prodded in hopes of learning more about why Korg chose to keep those events secret.
“Korg left for Vision Mountain to seek Umtala’s wisdom. Korg found it; Gronar did not see it the same way. Korg now back to finish promise Korg made to Pokey.”
“So there’s no chance Gronar will be back? Whatever will you do without your moral compass to guide you?”
“Korg not need stupid trinket to tell Korg where north is.”
“That’s not what I meant, I mean if there’s no one to watch out for you like Gronar was doing what is going to happen when you have to be the one to make the decisions? You were always the follower to Gronar’s sword arm, whose path do you follow now?” Sillaqui’s words danced through Korg’s head like a drunken bugbear, loud and ungainly. Korg didn’t want to think about having to be the one to make the tactical choices Gronar did, but as the bigger of the two by a factor of three, he knew that the little blue lady would likely go where Korg pointed; trouble was Korg didn’t remember why they were going this direction at all.
“Korg wonder why Pokey left to come here?” The giant spoke trying to steer the conversation away from questions he didn’t want to answer
“Maybe he found the lure of adventure to great to quell even for one as grandiose as Paquito.”
“Korg think you here because you love Pokey.” Now it was Sillaqui’s turn to squirm in the questions
“I.. am here to find the tribe’s leader, I dare not let worry enter my mind for mistakes are easily born of distraction.”
“Korg think that is fancy way of saying yes. That’s okay, Korg hope you have lots of little blue baby Pokeys.”
Sillaqui sat in distant silence.
“Find him! Overturn every log, every stone, and every dead body! I want the sacrifice found within the half hour or one of you gets sacrificed in his place!” The orc leader shouted out orders to his troops, the chaos in the midst of the orc band was unmistakable, several orcs writhed on the ground with their heads in the their hands, their faces burned by the gout of flame from Paquito’s fire breath.
The minotaur absent mindedly rubbed the amulet around his neck, the magic contained therein had saved him on several occasions before and once again had proved its worth. Scanning the nearby trees for the next large trunk to hide behind, Paquito spied a game trail off to his left and a horse trail to his right, the one his captors had traveled. Rolling a mental dice, Paquito darted off for the middle of both trails, not wishing to follow either. With the din of the orc band slowly dying behind him, Paquito raced through think underbrush and intertwined tree limbs as he sought freedom.
“Which way did he go? Who saw him escape?” The orc leader demanded from two orcs who had been burned so badly they were stricken blind. The two orcs were held up by two subordinate orcs apiece, their arms hook so that the orc’s chests were puffed out so that even in their pain they showed no sign of weakness.
The orc leader backhanded the one on the left and open-handed slapped the one on the right. Chapped and scorched lips shattered from the force of the blow and began to bleed. Both orcs tried in vain to moisten the wounds with their tongues only to make the sensation worse as their rough tongues scoured over the damaged lips.
“Both of you make me sick and are an utter disgrace to the orc race, one prisoner. One prisoner! And you let him escape, we’re not talking about a pixie that is tiny and invisible, we’re talking about a ten foot upright cow! And you let the damn thing walk away as if it paid you!” The orc leader lambasted at the held orcs
“S.. I.. “ Was all the right one could get out as seared flesh tore and broke from the flexing of facial muscles.
“What? Were you trying to spit something out? Perhaps forgiveness for your lax in duty!” The orc leader shouted
*gurgle* came the response
“Redblood son of Dreskor.” The right orc stiffened up at the sound of his formal familial name being used, he tried to answer with a “Sir” but only hissed in pain.
“You’ve failed for the first and last time.” The orc leader finished and ran the orc through with his broadsword, the wounded orc fell in a heap and soaked the ground beneath him with blood.
“Cregnaw of the Blood Mists.” The other held orc stiffened at the sound of his name as well, fully prepared for his fate. The blade strike was swift and the body was left where it lay to nourish the ground.
“Twenty minutes. Twenty minutes to find a single large dazed and panicked cow, is this band up for it or should I place all of you on nursery duty where your weakness can confront you the rest of your life?” The orc leader demanded
“No Sir!” Came the unified response
Paquito hoped that by at least eluding the orcs for awhile that their tight time schedule would force them to give up the chase and they would leave him alone. He bounded through thickets, large bushes and trampled smaller ones. He head pounded harder with each heartbeat, he reckoned he likely had suffered a concussion with all the banging his head took on the skid. He would need to find someplace to stop and hide quickly or his head would force him to go prone and hope for the best soon.
“Sergeant Krivemlor, bring me the banner!” The orc leader ordered, once the large banner was brought over the orc leader held it aloft. Crafted from the femur of a tyrannosaur the bottom joint had been filed down to a point that was filthy with dirt as the band routinely thrust it into the ground when they knew the end was near for their opponents. With the banner in hand, the orc leader recited a prayer to Gruumsh and four worgs instantly appeared next to the orc leader.
Speaking their barking language, the orc leader gave the worgs a description of Paquito and instructions to hunt down but not kill the minotaur, maiming was allowed but the sacrifice must be alive and coherent for it to be useful for the orcs. With the directions handed out, the worgs took off in search of a scent they picked up almost immediately, the scent of fear.
Paquito stopped for a moment, his head felt like it was pulsating out of his skull and made it nearly impossible to think let alone run. Paquito closed his eyes and tried to will the pain to the back of his mind. He had nearly succeeded when the sounds of several dogs barking invaded his quiet respite and not only were they getting closer, they seemed to be heading directly for him. Paquito pushed his way forward a few more steps and entered a small depression in the forest floor. Paquito squatted low in the brush and waited for the first one to leap at him.
He wouldn’t wait long as he heard the body of the excited worg bursting through the brush in front of him, as soon as the leaping form erupted from the bushes above him, Paquito unleashed a scorching ray into the sky. The worg landed with a smoldering thud behind him and whimpered softly. Barking behind him told Paquito that he had alerted more of his fellows to come check out what befell one of their numbers.
A barking sound on the right brought forth another large worg, this one however did not burst through the underbrush, and instead it half jumped into the depression. Startled by Paquito’s large presence the worg was ill-prepared to ward off the minotaur’s horns as Paquito managed to sink both of his venom dripping horns into the hard skin of the dog-like creature. While the damage from the horns was only enough to piss off the worg, the toxin in its blood was more than enough to teeter the large dog to one side and send it into convulsions.
More barking surrounded the minotaur now and he realized that if the orc band hadn’t caught up by now they would be soon and then there would be no escape from forty trained soldiers. This time the worgs paced a circle around the minotaur, hoping to flush the large beast out from his semi-useful defensive stand. Paquito knew they were toying with him waiting for him to make a move before they pounced on him. Had it just been the worgs he would have sat back and waited for their hunger to override their tactical advantage and force the worgs into mistakes. However with an orc war band beating a path to his location and not in a happy mood, Paquito knew he would have to try and flee.
With two of their numbers down and dying, the remaining two worgs abandoned any pretense of a contract with the orc leader and bounded into the depression flanking the minotaur and looking to tear his throat from his body and devour his heart. Paquito showered the one that came at him from in front with magic missiles but that only caused the worg to aim its jaws lower as the missiles struck the back of its neck. The one in his face bit down on Paquito’s left forearm while the other attached its jaws to the back of Paquito’s neck and begin to shake its head back and forth violently trying to rend the minotaur’s flesh from his head. The pain in his head was excruciating now and he wished he would just blackout from the pain than try and think his way through it. His felt the worg’s teeth sink further into his neck as blood began trickling down his back. Paquito bit the worg gnawing on his forearm back on the snout. The venom from his collar seeping into the wound and causing the dog to seize on the spot, with only one worg left Paquito tried to twist around to get at the on his neck. The worg however was determined to either rip his neck out or bleed the minotaur dry.
Unfortunately for Paquito neither occurred as the worg took a powerful blow from a broadsword that cracked its skull across its nose. The worg yelped as it let Paquito go, and then whimpered off into the brush to tend to its wound.
“Your spirited escape has put us behind, so we will be forced to just drag you behind the horses instead of that comfy skid we made for you and you ungratefully burned. String him up; this time hit him hard enough that if he does open his eyes he won’t know the difference.” The orc leader directed.
