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The Adventures of Olgar Shiverstone (Angelsboi: In memorium)
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<blockquote data-quote="Olgar Shiverstone" data-source="post: 263738" data-attributes="member: 5868"><p><strong>Chpt 2, cont.</strong></p><p></p><p>Olgar was busy nursing a grudge, so Wodyn explained the most recent events. “So the girls murdered, in order, were named Kelly, Irene, and Lydia?” Belarn asked for confirmation.</p><p></p><p>Wodyn smiled. “Sounds like someone twisted IS sending a message. The first word is probably KILL.”</p><p></p><p>“Aye, an’ the next word’ll be Belarn, if’n we don’ get about our own business!” Olgar insisted. “Would ye bloody let it drop? We’re not makin’ any gold pokin’ ‘r noses in other folks’ problems!”</p><p></p><p>“You’re just mad because your head’s all swelled up!” Belarn retorted. “I think we should help!”</p><p></p><p>“Ye would, runt! An’ if’n ye do, I’ll give ye enough lumps t’ match me head!”</p><p></p><p>The group strolled onward, evil spirits temporarily banished. They came to the town square, where the pavilion was set up for the evening’s performances. A few performers, and a large crowd, arrived early. One young half-elven bard was signing autographs by the stage, surrounded by a large group of giggling teenage girls and one gangly young man who appeared to be flirting with the bard.</p><p></p><p><em>Yech,</em> Olgar thought. <em>More poetry spouting pansies. Need a good brawl here, they do.</em></p><p></p><p>Some of the crowd was just as interesting. One bystander, a scrawny man with a tufting, scraggly goatee, had carved himself a large area in one corner of the pavilion. Bet the locals’ gave ‘em the room outta respect fer tha; furball ‘n not ‘im, Olgar thought. The man had a druidic air about him – staff, woodsy outfit, all-natural fibers. Or maybe it was the gigantic white tiger that lay beside him.</p><p></p><p>Wodyn walked up and looked the tiger in the eye. <em>Bloody nature lovers.</em> Olgar remained out of earshot, but he could see Wodyn get into a discussion with the druid that rapidly became heated. The druid and his tiger stormed off in a huff.</p><p></p><p>Wodyn returned. “Little disagreement about the natural order of things, nothing important,” he said, “nice tiger, though.”</p><p></p><p>“Bloody nature lover. Let’s go. I ha’ enough culture ‘n festin’ fer today.”</p><p></p><p>The adventurers finally reached a small cluster of shops, where they split up to follow their own interests. Olgar, after discovering with disgust that the local master smith was a halfling of all things, decided to follow Wodyn. After an entirely too long discussion with some shopkeeper about the merits of votive candles – <em>who’d a’ thought th’ man wi’ the big axe had a thing fer colored ‘n scented candles</em> – Olgar went and waited outside until the rest of the group finished purchasing supplies. Together they began to walk back toward the Temple of Kraig.</p><p></p><p>They were passing the Temple of Moloch – obvious in its red and black theme, evil looking gargoyles staring down from the cornices – when they came across another row. A man in black and red priest robes was arguing with one of the local constables and his patrol. The guards, it seemed, were going to arrest old Father Jebediah Maeyi of Moloch for the murder of a young girl, one Lydia Ferrier.</p><p></p><p>Olgar was going to continue on –<em> hang the dark priest </em>– but Wodyn just had to get involved.</p><p></p><p>“What’s going on here?” Wodyn asked.</p><p></p><p>The constable filled him in on his suspicions. “Utter nonsense,” the dark priest replied, “They distrust us because we serve Moloch, but we have done nothing wrong!”</p><p></p><p>Wodyn turned to the constable. “What evidence do you have linking this priest to the crime?”</p><p></p><p>“Well … none,” the constable admitted. “But everyone knows they did it. They serve Moloch. There’s been trouble before. We’ve just never been able to catch them at it. I’m taking him in, so it doesn’t happen again!”</p><p></p><p>“Wait a minute,” Wodyn replied, “nothing you’ve said has convinced me. What sort of trouble was there before?”</p><p></p><p>“Uh …” the constable admitted sheepishly, “there hasn’t been anything since the new priest here arrived. But there were all kinds of odd happenings under the old priest!”</p><p></p><p>The priest of Moloch spoke up. “I freely admit that there may have been difficulty under Father Nomasday. He was … odd. Luckily, he disappeared some weeks ago. I am in charge now, and I assure you nothing of the sort will happen. We want to be respected members of the community!” He turned to Wodyn. “You look like an honest sort. I would be willing to pay you to clear my church’s name!”</p><p></p><p>Wodyn and Belarn both looked uneasy at the prospect. “Wodyn, conference,” Olgar called, and the party huddled away from the constable and priest.</p><p></p><p>“Nomasday’s the name o’ the priest we offed back in Aurora Falls,” Olgar explained. “So if he were th’ evil one, well, more evil tha’ this lot, anyway, i’s likely tha’ this here evil priest is telling the truth. His gold’s as good as any. If’n ye want to uphold some justice, why not clear ‘em?”</p><p></p><p>Wodyn nodded. He turned back to the constable. “Since you really have no evidence to take this man in, would you be willing to allow us to investigate this matter and see if we can find who is responsible?”</p><p></p><p>The constable considered, then nodded. “Right. You’re working for Aerolite City in this. Bring me any evidence you might find.” He took his patrol and departed.</p><p></p><p>Wodyn turned back to the priest of Moloch. “So, what’s it worth to you if we clear you?” he asked.</p><p></p><p>The priest considered a moment, looking the group over. “How about … 300 gold each, except for the dwarf. I think I can cure his little … problem.” This with a wicked grin.</p><p></p><p>“Sold, yer worship!” Olgar piped up. “Ye hired ye’self some detectives! Jus’ make sure ye can lift me little curse!”</p><p></p><p>The party departed and the priest went back into his temple. Just around the corner, Wodyn and Streith broke into a dead run down an alleyway, rapidly leaving Olgar, Belarn, and Yuusdrail behind.</p><p></p><p>“What was that all about?” Belarn asked. Olgar shrugged. He and the halfling continued back to the Temple of Kraig. They didn’t notice that Yuusdrail remained behind in the alley.</p><p></p><p>Nelum was still working on his identification spell when Olgar and Belarn returned to the temple, so the two went down and cooled their throats for a while in the common room. Two hours passed, and Streith and Wodyn finally returned. Wodyn has Yuusdrail tucked under one arm.</p><p></p><p>“Where’ve ye been?” Olgar demanded. “An’ why’d ye go runnin’ off like that?”</p><p></p><p>“Yuusdrail got arrested,” Wodyn replied. “There was another murder, and they found her standing over the body.”</p><p></p><p>”An’ ye bailed ‘er out? “ Olgar shouted, “Are ye daft man? She’s a bloody Kobold! She probably DID kill ‘er!”</p><p></p><p>“Yussdrail no kill. Man already dead,” the kobold offered. Olgar looked incredulous. <em>Aye, coulda been rid o’ that runt lizard-dog, an’ the fool bails ‘er out!</em></p><p></p><p>“The victim was a man this time,” Streith explained, “in fact, the boy we saw mooning at that half-eleven bard earlier today. Name was Lander Heartson. The guard found the body in an alley, with Yuusdrail standing over it. It was the same alley that a little while before, Wodyn and I saw that same bard talking to a peasant. They bolted when they saw us, so we tried to chase them down, but lost them.”</p><p></p><p>“Now we’ve got KILL,” Belarn said.</p><p></p><p>“Aye, next two victims’ll probably spell ME,” Olgar replied with a sneer. “So ye think the bard’s behind all this?”</p><p></p><p>“Makes sense,” Wodyn said. “He was near the sight of the last body. He had access to the other victims through the competition. And we saw him not two hours before with the last victim. He’s connected somehow.”</p><p></p><p>“So wha’s next?” Olgar aked pointedly.</p><p></p><p>“We question him. He’ll definitely be at the performance tonight. We just have to slip back stage.”</p><p></p><p>“An’ how ye propose we do tha’? We’re all not exactly inconspicuous!”</p><p></p><p>Wodyn grinned slyly, then looked over at the dwarven bard who was sitting in the opposite corner of the room. “I think we can come up with something. We’d better hurry; the competition starts soon.”</p><p></p><p>Olgar followed his gaze. “Not on yer life, man! I ain’t gonna!”</p><p></p><p>An exchange of some coins and an hour later, Olgar was trussed up like a perfumed fop, point man for their backstage infiltration. A little of Wodyn’s gold had smoothed over his protests, with the hope that the disguise was good enough that no one would recognize him. His greatsword was camouflaged to look like a lute strung across his back.</p><p></p><p>The party formed up and was preparing to leave for the town square when there was a commotion in the street outside. They quickly ran to see what was happening.</p><p></p><p>Out in front of the temple of Kraig, a huge white tiger was mauling a frightened, robed man. It was the same animal they had seen earlier, but the scrawny druid was nowhere in sight. Wodyn drew his axe and ran to assist the man. One swing of the axe, and the tiger was knocked unconscious to the street. Wodyn checked the animal, then helped the man to his feet.</p><p></p><p>“That you so much,” the man began breathlessly, “You’ve saved me from that awful beast. I’m Edgar Mayfield. The creature is a menace. I insist you destroy it!”</p><p></p><p>Wodyn shook his head. “You’re safe now, and it won’t hurt anything. We’ll see it gets properly confined.”</p><p></p><p>“No!” the man insisted, “You must kill it! It’s sick! It serves an evil druid, who worships an evil god of disease and decay. The man infected it with a disease! Kill it before it attacks someone else!”</p><p></p><p>Wodyn raised an eyebrow, but turned to examine the beast. Streith walked over and examined the creature as well. <em>Another nature lover, </em>Olgar observed.<em> Can’t stay focused on the task at hand.</em></p><p></p><p>“There does appear to be some foam about his mouth, and other symptoms,” Wodyn reluctantly agreed. “It could be rabid.” Streith nodded in agreement. </p><p></p><p>“You’ll kill it then?” the man asked.</p><p></p><p>“No,” Wodyn replied, “but we’ll make sure it doesn’t hurt anyone.”</p><p></p><p>The man began to protest, then shut his mouth and scuttled off. The scrawny druid was approaching.</p><p></p><p>“Brandon!” the druid exclaimed, when he came upon the body of the unconscious tiger. <em>Brandon?</em> Olgar thought. <em> Odd name fer an overgrown kitty. ‘Course, the god o’ th’ paladins is named Ryan. Twouldn’t put it past a nature lover.</em></p><p></p><p>“Give him back to me, you’ve hurt him!” the druid demanded of Wodyn. The scrawny man’s lower lip extended in a pout, and he seemed to be on the verge of tears.</p><p></p><p>“The cat is fine,” Wodyn replied calmly, “I just knocked it out. It attacked an innocent man unprovoked. It looks as if it may be rabid. I’m going to see that it gets quarantined.”</p><p></p><p>“No you won’t!” the druid replied, “he wouldn’t do anything like that! He must have been provoked. The man was probably evil! Now give him to me!”</p><p></p><p>“No,” Wodyn insisted calmly, “we’re going to take care of the animal. Now stand aside.”</p><p></p><p>“No, I won’t let you, he was provoked I tell you!” the little man was hopping up and down now. Wodyn just shook his head sadly. “I’ll stop you!”</p><p></p><p>The druid stepped back, and made some strange motions toward the ground around the party. In a flash, weeds and small plants sprang up from between the cobblestones, wrapping around the adventurers feet and legs. The man grabbed the tiger and began to run away, dragging the cat behind him.</p><p></p><p>Olgar attempted to throw a spell to delay the man, but the grasping plants interfered with his movements and prevented him. Streith broke free of the plants, readying a hand axe in case the druid threw another spell. Wodyn also broke free, and charged ahead to the man.</p><p></p><p>The druid stepped back out of Wodyn’s reach, mumbled a charm, and reached down and touched the tiger. The creature roared back to consciousness, turning on Wodyn and roaring at him.</p><p></p><p>Wodyn shook his head sadly, and struck the creature, again using the flat of his axe. The blow was far too strong, though, for the creature collapsed, dead, blood running from its mouth and ears. </p><p></p><p>The druid burst into tears, and bent to retrieve the body of the animal. As he did so, the body shifted and shimmered, transforming into the form of a young man. The druid hoisted the body over his shoulder and ran off without another word.</p><p></p><p>Wodyn walked back with a pained expression.</p><p></p><p>“Wha’ was tha’ all about? Think that’s our murderer?” Olgar asked.</p><p></p><p>“Dunno,” Wodyn replied. “Could have been a weretiger – maybe a pair of them – could have been some victim that the druid polymorphed into animal form. Hard to say who was telling the truth. Cat definitely looked rabid, though. ” He shrugged. “Nothing we can do now. Let’s be off, then.”</p><p></p><p><em>Aye, just as likely some homoerotic love triangle,</em> Olgar thought,<em> best be getting’ back to business. We’ve a murd’rer t’ catch ‘n some gold t’ earn!</em></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Olgar Shiverstone, post: 263738, member: 5868"] [b]Chpt 2, cont.[/b] Olgar was busy nursing a grudge, so Wodyn explained the most recent events. “So the girls murdered, in order, were named Kelly, Irene, and Lydia?” Belarn asked for confirmation. Wodyn smiled. “Sounds like someone twisted IS sending a message. The first word is probably KILL.” “Aye, an’ the next word’ll be Belarn, if’n we don’ get about our own business!” Olgar insisted. “Would ye bloody let it drop? We’re not makin’ any gold pokin’ ‘r noses in other folks’ problems!” “You’re just mad because your head’s all swelled up!” Belarn retorted. “I think we should help!” “Ye would, runt! An’ if’n ye do, I’ll give ye enough lumps t’ match me head!” The group strolled onward, evil spirits temporarily banished. They came to the town square, where the pavilion was set up for the evening’s performances. A few performers, and a large crowd, arrived early. One young half-elven bard was signing autographs by the stage, surrounded by a large group of giggling teenage girls and one gangly young man who appeared to be flirting with the bard. [i]Yech,[/i] Olgar thought. [i]More poetry spouting pansies. Need a good brawl here, they do.[/i] Some of the crowd was just as interesting. One bystander, a scrawny man with a tufting, scraggly goatee, had carved himself a large area in one corner of the pavilion. Bet the locals’ gave ‘em the room outta respect fer tha; furball ‘n not ‘im, Olgar thought. The man had a druidic air about him – staff, woodsy outfit, all-natural fibers. Or maybe it was the gigantic white tiger that lay beside him. Wodyn walked up and looked the tiger in the eye. [i]Bloody nature lovers.[/i] Olgar remained out of earshot, but he could see Wodyn get into a discussion with the druid that rapidly became heated. The druid and his tiger stormed off in a huff. Wodyn returned. “Little disagreement about the natural order of things, nothing important,” he said, “nice tiger, though.” “Bloody nature lover. Let’s go. I ha’ enough culture ‘n festin’ fer today.” The adventurers finally reached a small cluster of shops, where they split up to follow their own interests. Olgar, after discovering with disgust that the local master smith was a halfling of all things, decided to follow Wodyn. After an entirely too long discussion with some shopkeeper about the merits of votive candles – [i]who’d a’ thought th’ man wi’ the big axe had a thing fer colored ‘n scented candles[/i] – Olgar went and waited outside until the rest of the group finished purchasing supplies. Together they began to walk back toward the Temple of Kraig. They were passing the Temple of Moloch – obvious in its red and black theme, evil looking gargoyles staring down from the cornices – when they came across another row. A man in black and red priest robes was arguing with one of the local constables and his patrol. The guards, it seemed, were going to arrest old Father Jebediah Maeyi of Moloch for the murder of a young girl, one Lydia Ferrier. Olgar was going to continue on –[i] hang the dark priest [/i]– but Wodyn just had to get involved. “What’s going on here?” Wodyn asked. The constable filled him in on his suspicions. “Utter nonsense,” the dark priest replied, “They distrust us because we serve Moloch, but we have done nothing wrong!” Wodyn turned to the constable. “What evidence do you have linking this priest to the crime?” “Well … none,” the constable admitted. “But everyone knows they did it. They serve Moloch. There’s been trouble before. We’ve just never been able to catch them at it. I’m taking him in, so it doesn’t happen again!” “Wait a minute,” Wodyn replied, “nothing you’ve said has convinced me. What sort of trouble was there before?” “Uh …” the constable admitted sheepishly, “there hasn’t been anything since the new priest here arrived. But there were all kinds of odd happenings under the old priest!” The priest of Moloch spoke up. “I freely admit that there may have been difficulty under Father Nomasday. He was … odd. Luckily, he disappeared some weeks ago. I am in charge now, and I assure you nothing of the sort will happen. We want to be respected members of the community!” He turned to Wodyn. “You look like an honest sort. I would be willing to pay you to clear my church’s name!” Wodyn and Belarn both looked uneasy at the prospect. “Wodyn, conference,” Olgar called, and the party huddled away from the constable and priest. “Nomasday’s the name o’ the priest we offed back in Aurora Falls,” Olgar explained. “So if he were th’ evil one, well, more evil tha’ this lot, anyway, i’s likely tha’ this here evil priest is telling the truth. His gold’s as good as any. If’n ye want to uphold some justice, why not clear ‘em?” Wodyn nodded. He turned back to the constable. “Since you really have no evidence to take this man in, would you be willing to allow us to investigate this matter and see if we can find who is responsible?” The constable considered, then nodded. “Right. You’re working for Aerolite City in this. Bring me any evidence you might find.” He took his patrol and departed. Wodyn turned back to the priest of Moloch. “So, what’s it worth to you if we clear you?” he asked. The priest considered a moment, looking the group over. “How about … 300 gold each, except for the dwarf. I think I can cure his little … problem.” This with a wicked grin. “Sold, yer worship!” Olgar piped up. “Ye hired ye’self some detectives! Jus’ make sure ye can lift me little curse!” The party departed and the priest went back into his temple. Just around the corner, Wodyn and Streith broke into a dead run down an alleyway, rapidly leaving Olgar, Belarn, and Yuusdrail behind. “What was that all about?” Belarn asked. Olgar shrugged. He and the halfling continued back to the Temple of Kraig. They didn’t notice that Yuusdrail remained behind in the alley. Nelum was still working on his identification spell when Olgar and Belarn returned to the temple, so the two went down and cooled their throats for a while in the common room. Two hours passed, and Streith and Wodyn finally returned. Wodyn has Yuusdrail tucked under one arm. “Where’ve ye been?” Olgar demanded. “An’ why’d ye go runnin’ off like that?” “Yuusdrail got arrested,” Wodyn replied. “There was another murder, and they found her standing over the body.” ”An’ ye bailed ‘er out? “ Olgar shouted, “Are ye daft man? She’s a bloody Kobold! She probably DID kill ‘er!” “Yussdrail no kill. Man already dead,” the kobold offered. Olgar looked incredulous. [i]Aye, coulda been rid o’ that runt lizard-dog, an’ the fool bails ‘er out![/i] “The victim was a man this time,” Streith explained, “in fact, the boy we saw mooning at that half-eleven bard earlier today. Name was Lander Heartson. The guard found the body in an alley, with Yuusdrail standing over it. It was the same alley that a little while before, Wodyn and I saw that same bard talking to a peasant. They bolted when they saw us, so we tried to chase them down, but lost them.” “Now we’ve got KILL,” Belarn said. “Aye, next two victims’ll probably spell ME,” Olgar replied with a sneer. “So ye think the bard’s behind all this?” “Makes sense,” Wodyn said. “He was near the sight of the last body. He had access to the other victims through the competition. And we saw him not two hours before with the last victim. He’s connected somehow.” “So wha’s next?” Olgar aked pointedly. “We question him. He’ll definitely be at the performance tonight. We just have to slip back stage.” “An’ how ye propose we do tha’? We’re all not exactly inconspicuous!” Wodyn grinned slyly, then looked over at the dwarven bard who was sitting in the opposite corner of the room. “I think we can come up with something. We’d better hurry; the competition starts soon.” Olgar followed his gaze. “Not on yer life, man! I ain’t gonna!” An exchange of some coins and an hour later, Olgar was trussed up like a perfumed fop, point man for their backstage infiltration. A little of Wodyn’s gold had smoothed over his protests, with the hope that the disguise was good enough that no one would recognize him. His greatsword was camouflaged to look like a lute strung across his back. The party formed up and was preparing to leave for the town square when there was a commotion in the street outside. They quickly ran to see what was happening. Out in front of the temple of Kraig, a huge white tiger was mauling a frightened, robed man. It was the same animal they had seen earlier, but the scrawny druid was nowhere in sight. Wodyn drew his axe and ran to assist the man. One swing of the axe, and the tiger was knocked unconscious to the street. Wodyn checked the animal, then helped the man to his feet. “That you so much,” the man began breathlessly, “You’ve saved me from that awful beast. I’m Edgar Mayfield. The creature is a menace. I insist you destroy it!” Wodyn shook his head. “You’re safe now, and it won’t hurt anything. We’ll see it gets properly confined.” “No!” the man insisted, “You must kill it! It’s sick! It serves an evil druid, who worships an evil god of disease and decay. The man infected it with a disease! Kill it before it attacks someone else!” Wodyn raised an eyebrow, but turned to examine the beast. Streith walked over and examined the creature as well. [i]Another nature lover, [/i]Olgar observed.[i] Can’t stay focused on the task at hand.[/i] “There does appear to be some foam about his mouth, and other symptoms,” Wodyn reluctantly agreed. “It could be rabid.” Streith nodded in agreement. “You’ll kill it then?” the man asked. “No,” Wodyn replied, “but we’ll make sure it doesn’t hurt anyone.” The man began to protest, then shut his mouth and scuttled off. The scrawny druid was approaching. “Brandon!” the druid exclaimed, when he came upon the body of the unconscious tiger. [i]Brandon?[/i] Olgar thought. [i] Odd name fer an overgrown kitty. ‘Course, the god o’ th’ paladins is named Ryan. Twouldn’t put it past a nature lover.[/i] “Give him back to me, you’ve hurt him!” the druid demanded of Wodyn. The scrawny man’s lower lip extended in a pout, and he seemed to be on the verge of tears. “The cat is fine,” Wodyn replied calmly, “I just knocked it out. It attacked an innocent man unprovoked. It looks as if it may be rabid. I’m going to see that it gets quarantined.” “No you won’t!” the druid replied, “he wouldn’t do anything like that! He must have been provoked. The man was probably evil! Now give him to me!” “No,” Wodyn insisted calmly, “we’re going to take care of the animal. Now stand aside.” “No, I won’t let you, he was provoked I tell you!” the little man was hopping up and down now. Wodyn just shook his head sadly. “I’ll stop you!” The druid stepped back, and made some strange motions toward the ground around the party. In a flash, weeds and small plants sprang up from between the cobblestones, wrapping around the adventurers feet and legs. The man grabbed the tiger and began to run away, dragging the cat behind him. Olgar attempted to throw a spell to delay the man, but the grasping plants interfered with his movements and prevented him. Streith broke free of the plants, readying a hand axe in case the druid threw another spell. Wodyn also broke free, and charged ahead to the man. The druid stepped back out of Wodyn’s reach, mumbled a charm, and reached down and touched the tiger. The creature roared back to consciousness, turning on Wodyn and roaring at him. Wodyn shook his head sadly, and struck the creature, again using the flat of his axe. The blow was far too strong, though, for the creature collapsed, dead, blood running from its mouth and ears. The druid burst into tears, and bent to retrieve the body of the animal. As he did so, the body shifted and shimmered, transforming into the form of a young man. The druid hoisted the body over his shoulder and ran off without another word. Wodyn walked back with a pained expression. “Wha’ was tha’ all about? Think that’s our murderer?” Olgar asked. “Dunno,” Wodyn replied. “Could have been a weretiger – maybe a pair of them – could have been some victim that the druid polymorphed into animal form. Hard to say who was telling the truth. Cat definitely looked rabid, though. ” He shrugged. “Nothing we can do now. Let’s be off, then.” [i]Aye, just as likely some homoerotic love triangle,[/i] Olgar thought,[i] best be getting’ back to business. We’ve a murd’rer t’ catch ‘n some gold t’ earn![/i] [/QUOTE]
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