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Sniktch's Story Hour Prelude - From the Beginning (UPDATED 04/22)
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<blockquote data-quote="Sniktch" data-source="post: 438099" data-attributes="member: 7704"><p><strong>Return to the forges. Jack gets a new toy.</strong></p><p></p><p>They returned to the forges. The area was still, the only change since they left the rotting stench of the darkmantle corpses. Something had dragged one of the noisome squid-like carcasses about halfway across the cavern and eaten a large portion of it.</p><p></p><p>Ike prodded at the stinking pile and snorted, “Looks like our choker friend got a meal after all.”</p><p></p><p>They spent hours searching through the small buildings, huddled together and alert against another attack. In each they found the same collection of rusting tools, the same anvil; in other words, they found nothing. Finally, in the southeastern most pair of rooms, Eli made an exciting discovery.</p><p></p><p>“Look everyone!” he caught their attention. “The anvil in this area is on a sliding base. If we find the catch and trigger it I believe we’ll find a hidden compartment.” He groped around the base of the anvil, then, “Ah, here it is.” A faint click followed, and then the anvil slowly slid away, revealing a small shaft leading downwards, a series of iron rungs arranged in parallel lines one foot apart providing hand and foot holds for easy climbing.</p><p></p><p>It was a tight fit, but Jack squeezed into the opening and lowered himself to the bottom of the shaft. “There’s a passageway down ‘ere, but it’s a tight fit fer a dwarf ta squeeze through, so I’m not knowin if’n we’ll all fit.”</p><p></p><p>Ike thought for a few seconds. “How about Quinn and Eli join you and you see where the passage leads. The rest of us will wait for you to return.”</p><p></p><p>Eli nodded and started climbing down the shaft with Quinn behind him. When they both reached the bottom, Jack started down the tunnel, leading them in narrow single file into the gloom. The light from the lanterns died as they moved further into the cramped corridor, and Eli was forced to call a magical light so that he could see. After thirty feet the tunnel opened into a small, round chamber six feet in diameter. In the center of the chamber lay an ironbound box detailed with a series of dwarven figures in assorted positions.</p><p></p><p>Jack checked the chest and tried the latch. “Not locked,” he said, then, “Yeowtch!” He stuck his finger in his mouth and began sucking at the tiny wound, then gazed fearfully at the small needle sticking halfway out of the latch. </p><p></p><p>Eli pulled the needle free and stared at it for a moment, then started to laugh. “I think you will survive, Jack, unless you bleed to death. Look.” He held the pin forth for them to examine; while at one time the trap may have been deadly, it had been set so long ago that the poison had long ago dried off and flaked away. </p><p></p><p>Jack started laughing too, a deep, rumbling chuckle that sounded like water rushing over stone, and knelt back in front of the chest. Lifting the lid revealed a beautiful weapon, a steel battleaxe covered with inlaid runes of silver and gold that covered every inch of the blade. The shaft was also all steel and decorated with circular gold runes spaced every few inches down its length. The last part of the shaft was wrapped with a grip of landshark hide, and a steel ball with a single silver rune was attached to the very bottom. The symbol was in dwarven script and Jack made it out to read “Voltare.”</p><p></p><p>Eli invoked a spell of magic detection, then cried out and fell back shading his eyes. The elf babbled senselessly for a minute, explaining once he recovered. “The axe is enchanted, and stronger magic than I can currently comprehend. I was stunned when I tried to discern what sort of magic the weapon might be imbued with.”</p><p></p><p>At that moment Quinn, who had been keeping watch, shouted in alarm. A strange creature had crawled into view, dropping from a large crack in the ceiling of the tunnel they had not previously noticed. It was about four-foot long and covered in a glistening, rubbery green hide. The slug-like tail and body ended in a head straight from nightmare, a sharp, curving beak, two beady eyes imbedded in the flesh above the beak, and the whole head ringed by four tentacles covered with razor sharp barbs.</p><p></p><p>The beast undulated into the cramped confines and attacked. Quinn smashed it with a powerful blow from her heavy mace, but the weapon simply bounced off the rubbery hide. It responded by tearing into her with its tentacles, digging terrible wounds in her flesh and flinging her to the side. Quinn collapsed against the wall, moaning and bleeding. Eli did not have space to safely cast a spell, so he stabbed with his rapier. The blade stuck the thick skin and bent, unable to penetrate. Eli staggered back to the wall, a long gash running the length of his forearm.</p><p></p><p>Jack yelled a battlecry and grabbed the axe from the chest, moving to confront the beast. It slashed at him with its tentacles, one digging painfully into his side and two others shredding the skin from his shield arm. He struck it a glancing blow in return and was relieved to see that the axe did bite into its flesh, green blood welling up and oozing from the cut. It screeched in pain and renewed its attack upon him, scoring several more hits on his midsection and tearing a flap of his cheek away. Jack struggled to remain conscious and alert through the pain.</p><p></p><p>Remembering the rune he had read on the steel ball, Jack raised the axe and shouted “Voltare! Strike true an’ cleave the beast dead!” As he spoke, the axe flared into life and the dwarf felt a tingling, numbing sensation running up and down his arm. Sparks and glowing arcs of crackling energy began leaping along the spidery runes traced all along the blade and shaft, surrounding the weapon with a blue nimbus of electricity.</p><p></p><p>Jack swung the sparking weapon with all his strength, driving it into the monster’s head. As electricity conducted itself through the creature’s body it exploded, covering the three injured heroes with a layer of green ooze and cooked monster flesh. Jack said ”Voltare” again and the blade returned to normal. He turned his new weapon over and over in his hands, exulting in his newly found power.</p><p></p><p>*****</p><p></p><p>Meanwhile, the others were growing bored. They had been waiting long minutes for the Eli and the dwarves to return, and they had begun discussing sending the halfling down the hole to make sure nothing had happened. Welby really didn’t want to go; the dark hole made him feel claustrophobic. None of the others could really fit comfortably, and the argument was now several minutes old – Grick and the Crow pleading with Welby to see what was taking the others so long, and Welby steadfastly refusing to enter the black shaft.</p><p></p><p>Artimas, tired of the argument, wandered off to inspect some of the forges on his own, and Ike tailed him to keep an eye on him. The mage was inside one of the buildings now, poking through the rusty tools while Ike waited outside, watching for any signs of the choker. Suddenly he heard a gasp from inside and a clattering. Spinning around and peering into the room, he saw that the choker had moved onto the roof of the building and attacked Artimas, and was trying to pull the struggling wizard up through the aperture.</p><p></p><p>Ike shouted to the others, raising the alarm, and charged into the building. The choker bruised his ribs with a crushing slam, but he continued forward and hit the beast on the tentacle wrapped around the kicking Artimas, forcing the choker to drop him. Artimas rolled into the corner and sat up, pointing his finger at the monster. He shouted a series of arcane syllables and a ray of blackness shot out and hit the beast. As the spell of enfeeblement took effect the choker’s muscles sagged and wasted away right before the astonished half-orc’s eyes. The creature screamed in terror and pain and tried to flee once again.</p><p></p><p>Grick heard Ike’s shout and reacted immediately, leaping to the roof of the closest building. He saw the beast crouched on a nearby hut, engaged with someone inside of the building. As he leaped from rooftop to rooftop, closing the distance, it let out a shriek and tried to flee, but it did not see the swiftly approaching monk. Grick saw it heading towards a large pile of rubble in the southern portion of the cavern and angled to intercept.</p><p></p><p>The choker vaulted from the last building, its mind clouded with fear and pain. If it could just reach its lair in the fallen debris it could hide from these hated intruders until they left again. In midair a large form crashed into it, driving it earthward. Grick grappled the small, slippery creature by its neck with his powerful arms and twisted sharply. He was rewarded with a loud, sharp crack. He landed on his feet and let the monster’s corpse fall from his fingers to the floor.</p><p></p><p>*****</p><p></p><p>Eli and the dwarves returned from the shaft once Jack had finished binding and healing Quinn’s wounds and she had returned the favor. He showed off his axe with pride, yelling “Voltare!” once and swinging the crackling blade through the air. The others congratulated him on his find; surely this weapon would prove very useful in any future battles.</p><p></p><p>They found nothing else in the forge area, and no way to proceed, so they returned to the hallway and prepared to enter the eastern passageway for the first time. The tunnel turned south and continued fifty more feet before it ended in a large, ornate stone double door. The door had been sculpted in the image of Moradin, chief of the dwarf gods, the crack separating the two halves running down the center of the god’s features. In Moradin’s right hand he gripped a bar carved to resemble a mighty warhammer. The head of the hammer rested in the god’s left hand, effectively barring the door shut.</p><p></p><p>The companions contemplated the sturdy portal, wondering what trials and adventures awaited them beyond.</p><p></p><p>Next: the Hall of Dwarven Kings</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Sniktch, post: 438099, member: 7704"] [b]Return to the forges. Jack gets a new toy.[/b] They returned to the forges. The area was still, the only change since they left the rotting stench of the darkmantle corpses. Something had dragged one of the noisome squid-like carcasses about halfway across the cavern and eaten a large portion of it. Ike prodded at the stinking pile and snorted, “Looks like our choker friend got a meal after all.” They spent hours searching through the small buildings, huddled together and alert against another attack. In each they found the same collection of rusting tools, the same anvil; in other words, they found nothing. Finally, in the southeastern most pair of rooms, Eli made an exciting discovery. “Look everyone!” he caught their attention. “The anvil in this area is on a sliding base. If we find the catch and trigger it I believe we’ll find a hidden compartment.” He groped around the base of the anvil, then, “Ah, here it is.” A faint click followed, and then the anvil slowly slid away, revealing a small shaft leading downwards, a series of iron rungs arranged in parallel lines one foot apart providing hand and foot holds for easy climbing. It was a tight fit, but Jack squeezed into the opening and lowered himself to the bottom of the shaft. “There’s a passageway down ‘ere, but it’s a tight fit fer a dwarf ta squeeze through, so I’m not knowin if’n we’ll all fit.” Ike thought for a few seconds. “How about Quinn and Eli join you and you see where the passage leads. The rest of us will wait for you to return.” Eli nodded and started climbing down the shaft with Quinn behind him. When they both reached the bottom, Jack started down the tunnel, leading them in narrow single file into the gloom. The light from the lanterns died as they moved further into the cramped corridor, and Eli was forced to call a magical light so that he could see. After thirty feet the tunnel opened into a small, round chamber six feet in diameter. In the center of the chamber lay an ironbound box detailed with a series of dwarven figures in assorted positions. Jack checked the chest and tried the latch. “Not locked,” he said, then, “Yeowtch!” He stuck his finger in his mouth and began sucking at the tiny wound, then gazed fearfully at the small needle sticking halfway out of the latch. Eli pulled the needle free and stared at it for a moment, then started to laugh. “I think you will survive, Jack, unless you bleed to death. Look.” He held the pin forth for them to examine; while at one time the trap may have been deadly, it had been set so long ago that the poison had long ago dried off and flaked away. Jack started laughing too, a deep, rumbling chuckle that sounded like water rushing over stone, and knelt back in front of the chest. Lifting the lid revealed a beautiful weapon, a steel battleaxe covered with inlaid runes of silver and gold that covered every inch of the blade. The shaft was also all steel and decorated with circular gold runes spaced every few inches down its length. The last part of the shaft was wrapped with a grip of landshark hide, and a steel ball with a single silver rune was attached to the very bottom. The symbol was in dwarven script and Jack made it out to read “Voltare.” Eli invoked a spell of magic detection, then cried out and fell back shading his eyes. The elf babbled senselessly for a minute, explaining once he recovered. “The axe is enchanted, and stronger magic than I can currently comprehend. I was stunned when I tried to discern what sort of magic the weapon might be imbued with.” At that moment Quinn, who had been keeping watch, shouted in alarm. A strange creature had crawled into view, dropping from a large crack in the ceiling of the tunnel they had not previously noticed. It was about four-foot long and covered in a glistening, rubbery green hide. The slug-like tail and body ended in a head straight from nightmare, a sharp, curving beak, two beady eyes imbedded in the flesh above the beak, and the whole head ringed by four tentacles covered with razor sharp barbs. The beast undulated into the cramped confines and attacked. Quinn smashed it with a powerful blow from her heavy mace, but the weapon simply bounced off the rubbery hide. It responded by tearing into her with its tentacles, digging terrible wounds in her flesh and flinging her to the side. Quinn collapsed against the wall, moaning and bleeding. Eli did not have space to safely cast a spell, so he stabbed with his rapier. The blade stuck the thick skin and bent, unable to penetrate. Eli staggered back to the wall, a long gash running the length of his forearm. Jack yelled a battlecry and grabbed the axe from the chest, moving to confront the beast. It slashed at him with its tentacles, one digging painfully into his side and two others shredding the skin from his shield arm. He struck it a glancing blow in return and was relieved to see that the axe did bite into its flesh, green blood welling up and oozing from the cut. It screeched in pain and renewed its attack upon him, scoring several more hits on his midsection and tearing a flap of his cheek away. Jack struggled to remain conscious and alert through the pain. Remembering the rune he had read on the steel ball, Jack raised the axe and shouted “Voltare! Strike true an’ cleave the beast dead!” As he spoke, the axe flared into life and the dwarf felt a tingling, numbing sensation running up and down his arm. Sparks and glowing arcs of crackling energy began leaping along the spidery runes traced all along the blade and shaft, surrounding the weapon with a blue nimbus of electricity. Jack swung the sparking weapon with all his strength, driving it into the monster’s head. As electricity conducted itself through the creature’s body it exploded, covering the three injured heroes with a layer of green ooze and cooked monster flesh. Jack said ”Voltare” again and the blade returned to normal. He turned his new weapon over and over in his hands, exulting in his newly found power. ***** Meanwhile, the others were growing bored. They had been waiting long minutes for the Eli and the dwarves to return, and they had begun discussing sending the halfling down the hole to make sure nothing had happened. Welby really didn’t want to go; the dark hole made him feel claustrophobic. None of the others could really fit comfortably, and the argument was now several minutes old – Grick and the Crow pleading with Welby to see what was taking the others so long, and Welby steadfastly refusing to enter the black shaft. Artimas, tired of the argument, wandered off to inspect some of the forges on his own, and Ike tailed him to keep an eye on him. The mage was inside one of the buildings now, poking through the rusty tools while Ike waited outside, watching for any signs of the choker. Suddenly he heard a gasp from inside and a clattering. Spinning around and peering into the room, he saw that the choker had moved onto the roof of the building and attacked Artimas, and was trying to pull the struggling wizard up through the aperture. Ike shouted to the others, raising the alarm, and charged into the building. The choker bruised his ribs with a crushing slam, but he continued forward and hit the beast on the tentacle wrapped around the kicking Artimas, forcing the choker to drop him. Artimas rolled into the corner and sat up, pointing his finger at the monster. He shouted a series of arcane syllables and a ray of blackness shot out and hit the beast. As the spell of enfeeblement took effect the choker’s muscles sagged and wasted away right before the astonished half-orc’s eyes. The creature screamed in terror and pain and tried to flee once again. Grick heard Ike’s shout and reacted immediately, leaping to the roof of the closest building. He saw the beast crouched on a nearby hut, engaged with someone inside of the building. As he leaped from rooftop to rooftop, closing the distance, it let out a shriek and tried to flee, but it did not see the swiftly approaching monk. Grick saw it heading towards a large pile of rubble in the southern portion of the cavern and angled to intercept. The choker vaulted from the last building, its mind clouded with fear and pain. If it could just reach its lair in the fallen debris it could hide from these hated intruders until they left again. In midair a large form crashed into it, driving it earthward. Grick grappled the small, slippery creature by its neck with his powerful arms and twisted sharply. He was rewarded with a loud, sharp crack. He landed on his feet and let the monster’s corpse fall from his fingers to the floor. ***** Eli and the dwarves returned from the shaft once Jack had finished binding and healing Quinn’s wounds and she had returned the favor. He showed off his axe with pride, yelling “Voltare!” once and swinging the crackling blade through the air. The others congratulated him on his find; surely this weapon would prove very useful in any future battles. They found nothing else in the forge area, and no way to proceed, so they returned to the hallway and prepared to enter the eastern passageway for the first time. The tunnel turned south and continued fifty more feet before it ended in a large, ornate stone double door. The door had been sculpted in the image of Moradin, chief of the dwarf gods, the crack separating the two halves running down the center of the god’s features. In Moradin’s right hand he gripped a bar carved to resemble a mighty warhammer. The head of the hammer rested in the god’s left hand, effectively barring the door shut. The companions contemplated the sturdy portal, wondering what trials and adventures awaited them beyond. Next: the Hall of Dwarven Kings [/QUOTE]
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