TerraDave
5ever, or until 2024
Pretty lively write up, includes some unarmed combat and a weapon redirecting manuever by the monk like Shin Rao in the 2nd to last para. From his blog.
The Adventures of Oleander Fellswallow: Fugitive
Posted By: WotC_PeterS, 4/4/2008 11:15:39 AM
In which Oleander escapes from a prison boat in unpleasant company, and comes to meet the first friends he has had in six years.
Let me introduce Oleander. He's a young halfling who likes having fun with friends. He's used to bending the rules a bit - staying out after curfew, trespassing, exploring forbidden places with his friends. The last time he had such an adventure was six years ago. He spent the intervening time in prison with a brand of exile on his left temple. They were not good years.
Now, he's being transferred to Zardkarath, the island prison-fortress of the Arkhosian empire, and he's in the company of several unpleasant characters. They're all secured in the hold of a prison transport until something calls the guards away and there is a large ruckus. Siezing the moment, the prisoners broke out of their prison, ignored the commotion on the deck, and leapt into the ocean to swim to safety. Which was no mean feat with wrists and ankles in irons!
Oleander and the unsavory group washed ashore on a deserted beach. To introduce the cast: Shin Rao, a lean, tattoo-covered human; Zorag Grimbolt, a filthy dwarf who mutters to himself and constantly creates puffs of fire between his hands; "Sharkface," a bulky dragonborn who seems content to follow the last member; Eightson Bilger, a human who looks more than ready to leave Oleander dead and unburied if the little halfling displeases him. As distasteful as it was, Oleander tried not to displease Eightson.
Traveling along the beach looking for some way off the island, the intrepid halfling tried to work his hands out of his cuffs, with limited success. Spotting a town in the distance, the band headed that way. Oleander was dismayed when the thugs beat and burnt they way into the colony and onto the only ship in harbor - which turned out to be a pub built from an old ship, and certainly not seaworthy. Eightson and his gang took the pub and the bartender (a gentle tiefling) hostage, drinking and seeking a solution. Town guards soon came and were held off by warnings of bloodshed and demands for a ship.
This went on for hours. Oleander made himself scarce, helping the bartender. He eventually wriggling free of the irons on his arms (a fact he concealed). The aging tiefling, sensing Oleander's dissatisfaction with his allies, allowed the halfling to arm and armor himself from a hidden cache of goods taken from unruly pub patrons.
Then the heroes arrived. An eladrin woman negotiated with Eightson, coming down the stairs into the taproom after a few calming words, and then hell broke loose. She lashed out with a longspear at the same time that a dragonborn cleric and a human warrior rushed down the stairs behind her, and a wizard and a tiefling burst from a hidden chamber. They struck for the dwarf firestarter first, afraid of the bar's destruction, and Oleander surprised them by entering the fracas on their behalf.
Oleander spent more of the fight than he preferred with the chain of Eightson's manacles wrapped around his throat, but he survived. The cleric did not. Shin Rao, the quietest and least assuming of the fugitives, turned out to be the most dangerous. He surprised everyone by fighting unarmed, his blows leaving the heroes unable to fight back. His most devastating move was when he rolled around the eladrin's longspear, which might have killed him, and sent it into the heart of the dragonborn priest. The priest said no more.
And that was how Oleander Fellswallow came to meet Andraste, Alex, Bartho, and Melech, and bid farewell to Balasar, who was almost unknown to Oleander.
The Adventures of Oleander Fellswallow: Fugitive
Posted By: WotC_PeterS, 4/4/2008 11:15:39 AM
In which Oleander escapes from a prison boat in unpleasant company, and comes to meet the first friends he has had in six years.
Let me introduce Oleander. He's a young halfling who likes having fun with friends. He's used to bending the rules a bit - staying out after curfew, trespassing, exploring forbidden places with his friends. The last time he had such an adventure was six years ago. He spent the intervening time in prison with a brand of exile on his left temple. They were not good years.
Now, he's being transferred to Zardkarath, the island prison-fortress of the Arkhosian empire, and he's in the company of several unpleasant characters. They're all secured in the hold of a prison transport until something calls the guards away and there is a large ruckus. Siezing the moment, the prisoners broke out of their prison, ignored the commotion on the deck, and leapt into the ocean to swim to safety. Which was no mean feat with wrists and ankles in irons!
Oleander and the unsavory group washed ashore on a deserted beach. To introduce the cast: Shin Rao, a lean, tattoo-covered human; Zorag Grimbolt, a filthy dwarf who mutters to himself and constantly creates puffs of fire between his hands; "Sharkface," a bulky dragonborn who seems content to follow the last member; Eightson Bilger, a human who looks more than ready to leave Oleander dead and unburied if the little halfling displeases him. As distasteful as it was, Oleander tried not to displease Eightson.
Traveling along the beach looking for some way off the island, the intrepid halfling tried to work his hands out of his cuffs, with limited success. Spotting a town in the distance, the band headed that way. Oleander was dismayed when the thugs beat and burnt they way into the colony and onto the only ship in harbor - which turned out to be a pub built from an old ship, and certainly not seaworthy. Eightson and his gang took the pub and the bartender (a gentle tiefling) hostage, drinking and seeking a solution. Town guards soon came and were held off by warnings of bloodshed and demands for a ship.
This went on for hours. Oleander made himself scarce, helping the bartender. He eventually wriggling free of the irons on his arms (a fact he concealed). The aging tiefling, sensing Oleander's dissatisfaction with his allies, allowed the halfling to arm and armor himself from a hidden cache of goods taken from unruly pub patrons.
Then the heroes arrived. An eladrin woman negotiated with Eightson, coming down the stairs into the taproom after a few calming words, and then hell broke loose. She lashed out with a longspear at the same time that a dragonborn cleric and a human warrior rushed down the stairs behind her, and a wizard and a tiefling burst from a hidden chamber. They struck for the dwarf firestarter first, afraid of the bar's destruction, and Oleander surprised them by entering the fracas on their behalf.
Oleander spent more of the fight than he preferred with the chain of Eightson's manacles wrapped around his throat, but he survived. The cleric did not. Shin Rao, the quietest and least assuming of the fugitives, turned out to be the most dangerous. He surprised everyone by fighting unarmed, his blows leaving the heroes unable to fight back. His most devastating move was when he rolled around the eladrin's longspear, which might have killed him, and sent it into the heart of the dragonborn priest. The priest said no more.
And that was how Oleander Fellswallow came to meet Andraste, Alex, Bartho, and Melech, and bid farewell to Balasar, who was almost unknown to Oleander.
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