House Medani Detection Office: The Lady in Blue..Part Two

[Express2.0]

So..nearly fours years ago,when Eberron was first released, I began a story hour that played up the pulpy, noirishy side of the setting. And with that, my fantasy detective story was born. And I had fun writing it.

However, real life got in the way..my group got tired of 3.5, people moved. I got married, moved, bought a house and had a child.

We tried to keep the game alive even using Savage Worlds, but to no avail.

An then, 4e came out. And then the 4e Eberron book. And we got the band back together.

I've missed writing about our characters, so I will begin again, catching up and continuing the tale.

Click here to read the story thus far: http://www.enworld.org/forum/story-...tion-office-lady-blue-updated-12-03-05-a.html

 

[Metus]

Hey Express. I remember your original SH; I enjoyed it quite a bit. I didn't read the last few pages of the original one because I thought you had left and it had been discontinued. I'm glad there's more for me to read in the original thread.

I'm also glad to hear there are going to be more SH entries. I look forward to them.

 

[Black Bard]

Hello, Express!

Like Metus, I also remember your first Story Hour, buy I think that I never got to the end, as I thought you had discontinued it.

Glad ti know you're back!

A question, though: you guys have converted the PCs to 4E?

Cheers,
BB

 

[Express2.0]

Ok- about 6 years after originally starting, and a year after restatrting, I'm back should any care Long story short, the game continues using just the Eberron Campaign Guide and the Explorer's Edition of Savage Worlds a hacked version of Spirit of the Century. This is Eberron as when it first started and we all made up details about it..six years ago.

Back to the story...

I looked away from Bynara and cut a withering look at Dorbo. "Couldn't you just let things go just once?" I asked.

We should be off to find help for Hennet. Now we had to run through the rain to stop Bynara from finding trouble.

I started to turn to chase down By, when I caught sight of Anvil's face. He had an odd look on his face, that is to say as odd as his normally stoic self allows.

Anvil was looking past me, past Bynara, upward into the rainy sky. I followed his gaze.

Above the House Tharashk outpost, a swirling green circle was forming. It was as wide as the building below it disc shaped. It roiled and turned, and bathed the outpost below it in a weird green light.

For a moment the rain seemed to slacken. Then the ground itself seemed to buckle as a curtain of green light descended upon the Tharashk building. A shockwave of force knocked myself and the others down.

"What in the ..." I grunted trying to regain my feet. Through the rain, I saw Bynara ahead running toward the light.

"Nooo" I muttered..."don't run TOWARD the light."

I was quickly following with the gnome and warforged right behind me.

 

[Express2.0]

The Green Curtain

As I splashed through the rain, I looked over at Anvil and Dorbo.

"Any ideas about that...thing in the sky?"

"Gotta.... be..ah..portal..." Dorbo gasped as he ran alongside me.

"Agreed" added Anvil, moving fluidly in the rain. "Although a more precise analysis is of course impossible at this time."

"Great." I responded. Portals.

Bynara had reached the front gate of the squat Tharashk embassy. Normally it would be secured, but no doubt the shockwave had unsecured it.

As we approached, my arm and shoulder began to burn; to be more precise, my dragonmark began to burn. I became light headed, weak and fell to the wet pavement.

Ahead, the curtain of green light faded and disappeared. The pain faded as well, and Dorbo and Anvil helped me to my feet. "What in Khyber's name..." Dorbo growled," ya alright?"

I nodded, not quite sure.

We reached the gate to find Bynara arguing with a lone guard. The young human held a halbred akwardly in his left hand as his right arm hung limply by his side. Nearby the prostrate form of another human lay face down in the courtyard.

"....this is the sovereign territory of House Tharashk, and no one may.." the sentry intoned.

"Shut up" Bynara interrupted." I..we can help. And you don"t look in any shape to stop me anyway."

I looked at Bynara, her sudden altruism puzzling..we can help? Help with what?

Dorbo pushed through and checked the prone form. "Dead" he mumbled.

"Its Master Truane.." the sentry answered, shaken. " He dropped without a sound when the green light fell..it was...."

The sentry was interrupted by great roar from the squat blockhouse that was the center of the Tharashk headquarters. The roar was like that of a wild beast, only angrier. And it was unnatural, like something from another world-or plane.

The door to the outpost flung open, to reveal a familiar face and the source of the great roar. Gyger.

Only Gyger was different. Oh he still looked greasy, but was bigger now; as tall as Anvil. He looked stronger too, and his eyes glowed with the green light from the now fading portal.

And did I mention the four tentacles that emerged from his torso? He had those too. And he looked really really mad.

And he was coming our way.

 

[Funeris]

I'm not sure how I missed this gem of a tale when I joined the boards way back when, but I'm glad that it has resurfaced.

Keep writing.

~Fune

 

[Express2.0]

(Thanks BTW)


Bynara considered the changed Gyger. "Huh, I guess these Thrashk thumb breakers did pinch Gyger after all." she remarked almost casually, despite the rain, portal, and strange transformed monster before us.

With a quick motion she drew her blade, and her face exploded in a feral toothy grin."I knew that squint was up to more than smuggling dirty books! I am so going to enjoy pounding on him- even if it is for free."

Dorbo sputtered. "What?! Are ya thinkin' a stayin' and fightin'?"

Across the courtyard, two half orc archers appeared in the doorway of the Thrashk HQ. They quickly fired a volley, and both missiles struck Gyger in the back.

With his tentacles flailing, Gyger turned to see his attackers. With a growl of displeasure and betraying nothing that he was damaged by the arrows, he stalked back to the building, slowly.

To their credit, the half orcs stood their ground.

Dorbo, stood in front of me." Calib, ain't our fight..we should go. Everything about this case, form Hennets craziness, ta that dragon figure, to this portal..and, and Gyger for pity's sake, cries out somethin' out of this world."

Dorbo was red faced, excited, scared. "And its a place I ain't wantin' to be considering." he added.

He forgot the scroll case, too I mused.

In the doorway, reinforcements arrived, and a sharp battle ensued.

Back in seminary, I wasn't a great scholar. Many things interested me- cosmology, occultism, pantheons, legends of Xendrik; but I was never a student of it all, not really.

But all we had encountered pointed toward things even a dunce like I could figure out. It was something extraplanar. Worse yet, evidence pointed to a place I didn't want to think about either.

Xoriat.

Gyger slapped down two guards and bloodied another. He took two more arrows for his trouble and didn't flinch.

I reached out and healed the young sentry. We would need his arm.

"OK were staying. And helping."

Dorbo groaned. "Its half your fault we are even here," I pointed out. "Besides we were looking for Gyger-well there he stands."

I drew my blade. "We help..and if we live maybe we can compare notes with the Thrashkers."

Bynara was already sprinting toward the building before I finished speaking.

 

[Express2.0]

A quick note: I inexplicably said that we were using Savage Worlds for our game. I corrected the post in this thread..we are using the rules Spirit of the Century. Our group tested Savage Worlds and 4E, but SoTC really fit our type of game and play perfectly.

 

[Express2.0]

The Bubbling Gnome

As Bynara closed on Gyger, the battle had all but stopped. By the doorway, the half orcs of House Thrashk stood watching, unbelieving at their attacker.

Gyger was growing.

Bubbling.

Already standing taller than any normal gnome, Gyger's body was seized by a series of violent paralytic spasms. His body-his torso, legs, and tentacles bubbled and grew. His dun suit tore and fell away.

He was getting bigger. And instead of attacking, we all just watched in horror.

With a great roar, more tentacles erupted from Gyger's form. Some ended in weird green glowing eyes, others were vestigal appendages worth nothing. A green ooze issued forth from Gyger's skin. In a mere matter of moments, the gnome transformed from a bipedal form to a 15 foot wide amorphous blob consisiting of a half dozen eyes, eye stalks and tentacles. Gone were a visible head, or discernible
legs or arms.

For a moment I thought I heard Gyger's voice- the voice I heard below the bookshop cry out in a muffled voice: "Noooooooooo."

"Eww" Bynara said, her face crinkled in distaste.

Then the blob attacked. A tentacle reached for Bynara who quickly parried and slashed. But her blade seemed to glance off harmlessly.

I attacked, as did the half orcs. Blades, spears and arrows went into play, but the Gyger blob seemed unaffected, and continued to wreck havoc on the orcs.

As I avoided another blow, I looked to Anvil and Dorbo. Dorbo seemed to be looking for something in his artificer's vest; Anvil looked pensive, and lost in thought as if trying to recall an old address.

"Magic!" I cried, exasperated. "Anvil do something!"

The warforged unleashed a volley of arcane missiles. Gyger responded with a cry of otherworldly pain. Dorbo found his wand and did the same. Gyger was hurt. Magic could hurt him.

A retaliatory tentacle slashed at Dorbo, knocking him to the ground. The blob slithered toward him with surprising quikness and raised a tentacle that was nearly as wide as my waist. Dorbo was too slow to get out of the way.

In desperation, I cut at the beast , but was also knocked down.

From the corner of my eye, I caught sight of Bynara. She jumped on the tentacle that threatened Dorbo and held on for dear life.

Distracted, Gyger tried to shake the shifter off, to no avail. Dorbo fired his wand again. Gyger howled with pain, and finally succeeded in dropping Bynara to the ground, where she landed with a thud, unmoving.

Anvil moved forward as I dodged oozing tentacles to try to get to By. Then Anvil spoke and spoke loudly.

"Stand back! Fire in the hole!"

Fire in the hole?

The half orcs retreated with surprise as Anvil unleashed a fireball. Dorbo met me at Bynara and we drug her a few feet until the blast of flame knocked us down.

Gyger burned. With terrible shreiks he violently turned and twisted, unable to stop the burning or prevent his end. Soon he stopped moving and fell silent, his body still aflame.

Dorbo was kicking dirt onto my trousers, which had caught afire. I turned to Bynara, who was beginning to open her eyes slowly. She flared her nostrils as she caught the smell of burning flesh.

"Did we win?" she asked weakly.

 

[Express2.0]

"Its a sho-what?"

Thirty minutes after the battle, Anvil, Bynara, Dorbo and myself were standing in a corner of the compound waiting. We had been disarmed and were now under the watchful eye of a Thrashk guard. Gyger's transformation and the portal had understandably unnerved the half orcs, and we were detained while they tried to straighten things out.

"A shoggoth" Anvil replied.

By the gate a knot of Tharashkers were speaking to two of the Zil constabulary, who no doubt were attracted by the appearance of a green portal in the sky. Though I couldn't hear the conversation, I knew they were no doubt being politely rebuked off of sovereign House territory.

"And what is a shoggoth?" I answered turning my gaze to Gyger's charred and still smoldering carcass. A few men stood by the remains, trying to figure out the best way to remove this macabre decoration from their compound.

"A shoggoth is a lesser servitor of the lords of Madness. It was created by the daelkyr and perhaps other unknown creatures from the Plane of Madness." Anvil replied placidly. "A creature of protoplasmic bubbles, without shape able to take many bizarre forms."

Anvil was positively chatty.

"Gyger was a shoggoth? Or did he turn into one?" I asked.

Anvil stared at the corpse. "Evidence is too sparse to formulate an answer. But my past studies do support my observation."

I turned to Dorbo for his input. The gnome was pacing back and forth, eyeing Bynara who was reclining on the ground wearing a smirk on her face.

"I ain't gonna thank her." Dorbo grumbled." She didn't nae save me, and Not gonna let ya lord it over me."

I rolled my eyes. Things never change. I was going to get Dorbo's attention when an entourage ofsix half orcs approached.

They were led by a tall hulking half orc who favored the orc side of his heritage. He wore the largest sword I've ever seen on his back. His face also wore a very unhappy look.

"I am Krusk." he said in a deep voice, stopping in front of us. "I am acting chief of this station. I have lost two fine Dragonmarked House members this day. Know that my patience is thin."

Krusk took a step forward, he face darkening. "You will tell me who you are and why you are here-and quickly- or I will have you drowned in the nearest canal."