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The Fall of Civilization
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<blockquote data-quote="the Jester" data-source="post: 4651009" data-attributes="member: 1210"><p>When Cook finds the woman looking straight at him, he thinks fast- as fast as he can. Glancing at the sleeping tangle of figures on the bed, he holds a fingers to his lips and steps inside brazenly, acting for all the world like he belongs here.</p><p></p><p>“Who are you?” the nude woman murmurs. “Don’t wake his lordship,” she adds.</p><p></p><p>Fortunately for Cook, he had grabbed up a tray of oils and fruits before poking around, to help hide his true intentions were he caught. Now he silently thanks his foresight as he replies in a whisper, “I am Doctor Lee. I am here to bring tea to the lord Pythock.” Seeing her dubious expression, he hastily adds, “And to give him a massage.”</p><p></p><p>Her face clears. “So it’s dwarves this month,” she mutters to herself. “You should wait until he’s awake,” she whispers. “He has a very foul temper when he is woken.”</p><p></p><p>“Oh, I would not want to invoke that!” the cook declares quietly. </p><p></p><p>“Although, if I were to wake him in the <em>right way...</em>”</p><p></p><p>“No, no- let him sleep. Last night’s celebrations went deep into the night. Perhaps I can offer you a massage instead?”</p><p></p><p>The offer distracts her sufficiently, and soon Cook hurries out of the room, the woman having fallen back asleep and the general having never stirred. The dwarf sighs in relief; <em>That was a close one!</em></p><p></p><p>He continues his explorations with increasing caution. There are a few servants up and about, but with the livery he is wearing, none of them question him. <em>The general must go through many servants, hiring and firing them quickly, or they would know that I do not belong,</em> he realizes. <em>General Pythock must be a harsh master.</em></p><p></p><p>It isn’t until he is poking about in the garbage that he finds the remains of a fulcantha plant.</p><p></p><p><em>This is it,</em> he realizes immediately. And with a sudden insight, he realizes, <em>And this is the garbage from daVoi’s office. But from what we have learned, it wasn’t him- it was a scrawny lackey of his. </em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>Millbury.</em></p><p></p><p>***</p><p></p><p>The pair of owlbears bursts from the interior of the cave. One rushes up on Kratos, who is blocking the entryway, and grabs him in a furious hug, tearing at him with its beak. He screams in pain as it rips a great chunk of his shoulder open, but the blood makes him slippery and he is able to slip free of it. Then he pulls out his <em>terror maul</em> and deals a mighty blow to the owlbear!</p><p></p><p>The second owlbear hoots in frustration, unable to get past its mate because Kratos is maintaining his position in the entryway.</p><p></p><p>“Don’t let it out! Don’t let it out!” shouts Heimall, hurrying up and firing a crossbow bolt into the lead owlbear. “You can hold it, Kratos! You must stand firm against the enemies of the Empire!!”*</p><p></p><p>The owlbear in the lead howls as Nowhere Jones tumbles in with a <em>setup strike</em>. It slashes its razor-sharp claws at Kratos, savaging him over and over.**</p><p></p><p>The party clusters at the entrance. Heimall and Torinn keep Kratos on his feet as they hammer the lead owlbear with attacks. It gives out a loud screech that stuns Torinn. Unfortunately for the owlbear, it also stuns its mate. </p><p></p><p>Torinn, however, is now easy prey. It rips into him, bringing the dragonborn down with a series of terrific blows and bringing into its lethal hug. </p><p></p><p>“Torinn!” cries Heimall. “NOOOOOO!!”</p><p></p><p>“Not yet,” gasps Kratos. “Not on my watch! TORINN!! STAND UP, SOLDIER!! FIGHT!!!” he roars.***</p><p></p><p>The dragonborn groans, but Kratos’ words reach him. <em>Can’t go down like this,</em> he thinks. <em>Must fight back!</em> With a mighty roar, he breaks free of the owlbear’s grasp. Then with a flick of his wrists, he brings his spiked chain around in a <em>righteous brand,</em> smacking the owlbear across the arm. It howls. </p><p></p><p>The party presses their momentary advantage, but the owlbear has other plans. Its mate is howling behind it. It grabs Kratos again, tearing into him, but he manages to twist loose and then swings his maul into the owlbear’s head! It staggers, and Nowhere Jones slips a <em>sly flourish</em> under its guard, finally dropping the first one!</p><p></p><p>Now that only one owlbear remains, the party retreats from the entrance. Torinn utters a <em>healing word</em> to restore some of the damage Kratos has taken. Then he prays to Lester and invokes a <em>bastion of hope,</em> aiding all of his companions.</p><p></p><p>The other owlbear charges forth, but with all of them able to cluster around and flank it, it only takes a few moments more for the battle to end. Nowhere Jones lands the killing blow on this owlbear, too, and grins with satisfaction. “I didn’t even know how bad ass I am,” he chortles.</p><p></p><p>A search of the owlbears’ den reveals that it does not hold the shaft that the heroes are looking for, so they move on. They are not far from their goal. In less than another hour, they find it- a wide-mouthed shaft with narrow, treacherous-looking steps hewn from the edge, spiraling down. Warm, moist air, redolent with sulfurous smells, rises gently from below.</p><p></p><p>“Smells interesting,” comments Hkatha. </p><p></p><p><em>Tieflings,</em> thinks Vann-La. </p><p></p><p>The party moves down the shaft. It bottoms out in a natural series of caves that prove to be infested with fire bats and a tangler beetle. Hkatha snorts in disdain at the fire bats, and his tiefling resistance to fire proves pivotal in the battle. He is able to move about and fight almost with impunity; he immediately shows some skill with magic, which Sta’Ligir cocks an eyebrow at. The beetle is quickly wounded enough that it retreats out of sight along a high ledge; the party pursues it after dealing with the bats and finishes it off. Behind its lair, they find the Caratite- a strange thing about the size of a large tea kettle. It is dark like coal, but has a sparkle to the grain, and many small transparent crystal formations are growing within it just at or below the surface. </p><p></p><p>The party takes it and leaves. </p><p></p><p>***</p><p></p><p>Cook has dinner with one of the servants. He knows that the longer he remains at Pythock’s estate, the more likely he is to get caught; he also knows that he already knows too much. </p><p></p><p>But surely, there must be more to learn...</p><p></p><p>He gets the servant blisteringly drunk on good dwarven mushroom-brew and plies him for intelligence. Chiron daVoi is not popular with the servants; and they view Millbury more as one of the bosses than as the help, with all the visceral dislike that implies. </p><p></p><p>And the fulcantha plant? It definitely came from daVoi’s office. Not that a servant would testify to that or anything; but now Cook <em>knows for certain.</em></p><p></p><p>Deep in the night, he sneaks away and returns to the barracks. He knows too much for him to get caught at spy games now. They would no doubt kill him, and his friends would not have the evidence that he found. Besides, they might start worrying about him and do something rash if he doesn’t return soon.</p><p></p><p>***</p><p></p><p>The others return from Black Gorge. Along the way, they cross a long line of giant ants carrying little bits of flesh somewhere. They had seen it on their way into the gorge, but now they take more notice. </p><p></p><p>”For them to still be here, there must be an awful lot of meat,” Heimall reasons. “We crossed hours ago... and there are a lot of them. Maybe we should check it out.”</p><p></p><p>The party follows the trail of ants to where they are getting the meat, and they discover a pile of massacred dwarves. “Ugh,” comments Vann-La. </p><p></p><p>“You said it,” Sta’Ligir agrees. He looks the ants over dubiously. They are the size of small dogs, with a few even larger. “I don’t know that we want to mess with their food, here.”</p><p></p><p>“Why mess with a bunch of dead dwarves anyway?” Vann-La inquires. “Whoever killed them probably took any valuables that they had.”</p><p></p><p>“Good point,” agrees Iggy. “All right, let’s go back to the city.”</p><p></p><p>Distractions cast aside, the party turns back towards Fandelose. </p><p></p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>The High Civilizer is quite elated to see the Caratite safely delivered to him. “This will help me construct my door!” he says. He thanks the party profusely and tells them, “I haven’t much money to spare, but I do have an item that might be of use to you. I certainly don’t have a use for it.” He hurries off and returns with a magical symbol, which he gives to the group and they promptly give to Torinn.</p><p></p><p>Then they return to the barracks, where they find their dwarven cook just waking up after a long adventure in Pythock’s mansion. </p><p></p><p>“Did you find anything out?” asks Sta’Ligir.</p><p></p><p>“Did I ever!” Cook exclaims. “Oi, look at this!” He pulls out the papers that he stole, as well as a couple of fulcantha leaves. </p><p></p><p>“You found the plant!” exclaims Kratos.</p><p></p><p>“It had already been thrown away, but I found it before it was burned or taken from the estate. And the papers indicate that General Pythock has already taken <em>a year’s advance</em> on his pay.”</p><p></p><p>“And he has already spent it all,” Hkatha nods. “This matches up with what I saw at the Gentleman’s Club. He’s deeply in debt to Millbury, daVoi’s henchman.”</p><p></p><p>“If he knows we have been investigating him, he may move against us- maybe send assassins or something,” Vann-La points out.</p><p></p><p>“<em>Or</em> he may move against General Argos.” Heimall’s voice is grim. </p><p></p><p>“We should inform Councilor Keflingorn,” Vann-La says, but just then, there is a knock at the door to their room. Cook grows pale; everyone freezes. A moment later it opens, and a servant, dressed in the livery of the Bronze Council, steps in to the chamber.</p><p></p><p>“Good afternoon,” he says. “I hope that I’m not interrupting anything.”</p><p></p><p>“Not at all,” replies Heimall.</p><p></p><p>“Good. My name is Martin. Please, come with me,” the servant says.</p><p></p><p>“Who sent you?” demands Torinn.</p><p></p><p>”I come on council business,” Martin begins. </p><p></p><p>“WHO SENT YOU?” roars Kratos.</p><p></p><p>The servant cowers back. “I, I, Councilor Willow,” he stammers. </p><p></p><p>“Help us, and we may lend leniency to you,” Hkatha states.</p><p></p><p>“What?” </p><p></p><p>“Bring him with us,” declares Heimall. “There’s no time for this. We need to get to the colonel and give him our evidence. There’s no time to waste!”</p><p></p><p>“Wait, you’re supposed to come with <em>me</em>,” Martin protests.</p><p></p><p><em><strong>Next Time:</strong></em> The Argos Affair concludes!</p><p></p><p></p><p>*<em>Inspiring word</em> time- already, halfway through round 1!</p><p></p><p>**Thank you, action point- two double attacks on Kratos in one round. Ouch!</p><p></p><p>***I believe that this may have been his first use of <em>stand the fallen,</em> a totally kick-ass power.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="the Jester, post: 4651009, member: 1210"] When Cook finds the woman looking straight at him, he thinks fast- as fast as he can. Glancing at the sleeping tangle of figures on the bed, he holds a fingers to his lips and steps inside brazenly, acting for all the world like he belongs here. “Who are you?” the nude woman murmurs. “Don’t wake his lordship,” she adds. Fortunately for Cook, he had grabbed up a tray of oils and fruits before poking around, to help hide his true intentions were he caught. Now he silently thanks his foresight as he replies in a whisper, “I am Doctor Lee. I am here to bring tea to the lord Pythock.” Seeing her dubious expression, he hastily adds, “And to give him a massage.” Her face clears. “So it’s dwarves this month,” she mutters to herself. “You should wait until he’s awake,” she whispers. “He has a very foul temper when he is woken.” “Oh, I would not want to invoke that!” the cook declares quietly. “Although, if I were to wake him in the [i]right way...[/i]” “No, no- let him sleep. Last night’s celebrations went deep into the night. Perhaps I can offer you a massage instead?” The offer distracts her sufficiently, and soon Cook hurries out of the room, the woman having fallen back asleep and the general having never stirred. The dwarf sighs in relief; [i]That was a close one![/i] He continues his explorations with increasing caution. There are a few servants up and about, but with the livery he is wearing, none of them question him. [i]The general must go through many servants, hiring and firing them quickly, or they would know that I do not belong,[/i] he realizes. [i]General Pythock must be a harsh master.[/i] It isn’t until he is poking about in the garbage that he finds the remains of a fulcantha plant. [i]This is it,[/i] he realizes immediately. And with a sudden insight, he realizes, [i]And this is the garbage from daVoi’s office. But from what we have learned, it wasn’t him- it was a scrawny lackey of his. Millbury.[/i] *** The pair of owlbears bursts from the interior of the cave. One rushes up on Kratos, who is blocking the entryway, and grabs him in a furious hug, tearing at him with its beak. He screams in pain as it rips a great chunk of his shoulder open, but the blood makes him slippery and he is able to slip free of it. Then he pulls out his [i]terror maul[/i] and deals a mighty blow to the owlbear! The second owlbear hoots in frustration, unable to get past its mate because Kratos is maintaining his position in the entryway. “Don’t let it out! Don’t let it out!” shouts Heimall, hurrying up and firing a crossbow bolt into the lead owlbear. “You can hold it, Kratos! You must stand firm against the enemies of the Empire!!”* The owlbear in the lead howls as Nowhere Jones tumbles in with a [i]setup strike[/i]. It slashes its razor-sharp claws at Kratos, savaging him over and over.** The party clusters at the entrance. Heimall and Torinn keep Kratos on his feet as they hammer the lead owlbear with attacks. It gives out a loud screech that stuns Torinn. Unfortunately for the owlbear, it also stuns its mate. Torinn, however, is now easy prey. It rips into him, bringing the dragonborn down with a series of terrific blows and bringing into its lethal hug. “Torinn!” cries Heimall. “NOOOOOO!!” “Not yet,” gasps Kratos. “Not on my watch! TORINN!! STAND UP, SOLDIER!! FIGHT!!!” he roars.*** The dragonborn groans, but Kratos’ words reach him. [i]Can’t go down like this,[/i] he thinks. [i]Must fight back![/i] With a mighty roar, he breaks free of the owlbear’s grasp. Then with a flick of his wrists, he brings his spiked chain around in a [i]righteous brand,[/i] smacking the owlbear across the arm. It howls. The party presses their momentary advantage, but the owlbear has other plans. Its mate is howling behind it. It grabs Kratos again, tearing into him, but he manages to twist loose and then swings his maul into the owlbear’s head! It staggers, and Nowhere Jones slips a [i]sly flourish[/i] under its guard, finally dropping the first one! Now that only one owlbear remains, the party retreats from the entrance. Torinn utters a [i]healing word[/i] to restore some of the damage Kratos has taken. Then he prays to Lester and invokes a [i]bastion of hope,[/i] aiding all of his companions. The other owlbear charges forth, but with all of them able to cluster around and flank it, it only takes a few moments more for the battle to end. Nowhere Jones lands the killing blow on this owlbear, too, and grins with satisfaction. “I didn’t even know how bad ass I am,” he chortles. A search of the owlbears’ den reveals that it does not hold the shaft that the heroes are looking for, so they move on. They are not far from their goal. In less than another hour, they find it- a wide-mouthed shaft with narrow, treacherous-looking steps hewn from the edge, spiraling down. Warm, moist air, redolent with sulfurous smells, rises gently from below. “Smells interesting,” comments Hkatha. [i]Tieflings,[/i] thinks Vann-La. The party moves down the shaft. It bottoms out in a natural series of caves that prove to be infested with fire bats and a tangler beetle. Hkatha snorts in disdain at the fire bats, and his tiefling resistance to fire proves pivotal in the battle. He is able to move about and fight almost with impunity; he immediately shows some skill with magic, which Sta’Ligir cocks an eyebrow at. The beetle is quickly wounded enough that it retreats out of sight along a high ledge; the party pursues it after dealing with the bats and finishes it off. Behind its lair, they find the Caratite- a strange thing about the size of a large tea kettle. It is dark like coal, but has a sparkle to the grain, and many small transparent crystal formations are growing within it just at or below the surface. The party takes it and leaves. *** Cook has dinner with one of the servants. He knows that the longer he remains at Pythock’s estate, the more likely he is to get caught; he also knows that he already knows too much. But surely, there must be more to learn... He gets the servant blisteringly drunk on good dwarven mushroom-brew and plies him for intelligence. Chiron daVoi is not popular with the servants; and they view Millbury more as one of the bosses than as the help, with all the visceral dislike that implies. And the fulcantha plant? It definitely came from daVoi’s office. Not that a servant would testify to that or anything; but now Cook [i]knows for certain.[/i] Deep in the night, he sneaks away and returns to the barracks. He knows too much for him to get caught at spy games now. They would no doubt kill him, and his friends would not have the evidence that he found. Besides, they might start worrying about him and do something rash if he doesn’t return soon. *** The others return from Black Gorge. Along the way, they cross a long line of giant ants carrying little bits of flesh somewhere. They had seen it on their way into the gorge, but now they take more notice. ”For them to still be here, there must be an awful lot of meat,” Heimall reasons. “We crossed hours ago... and there are a lot of them. Maybe we should check it out.” The party follows the trail of ants to where they are getting the meat, and they discover a pile of massacred dwarves. “Ugh,” comments Vann-La. “You said it,” Sta’Ligir agrees. He looks the ants over dubiously. They are the size of small dogs, with a few even larger. “I don’t know that we want to mess with their food, here.” “Why mess with a bunch of dead dwarves anyway?” Vann-La inquires. “Whoever killed them probably took any valuables that they had.” “Good point,” agrees Iggy. “All right, let’s go back to the city.” Distractions cast aside, the party turns back towards Fandelose. *** The High Civilizer is quite elated to see the Caratite safely delivered to him. “This will help me construct my door!” he says. He thanks the party profusely and tells them, “I haven’t much money to spare, but I do have an item that might be of use to you. I certainly don’t have a use for it.” He hurries off and returns with a magical symbol, which he gives to the group and they promptly give to Torinn. Then they return to the barracks, where they find their dwarven cook just waking up after a long adventure in Pythock’s mansion. “Did you find anything out?” asks Sta’Ligir. “Did I ever!” Cook exclaims. “Oi, look at this!” He pulls out the papers that he stole, as well as a couple of fulcantha leaves. “You found the plant!” exclaims Kratos. “It had already been thrown away, but I found it before it was burned or taken from the estate. And the papers indicate that General Pythock has already taken [i]a year’s advance[/i] on his pay.” “And he has already spent it all,” Hkatha nods. “This matches up with what I saw at the Gentleman’s Club. He’s deeply in debt to Millbury, daVoi’s henchman.” “If he knows we have been investigating him, he may move against us- maybe send assassins or something,” Vann-La points out. “[i]Or[/i] he may move against General Argos.” Heimall’s voice is grim. “We should inform Councilor Keflingorn,” Vann-La says, but just then, there is a knock at the door to their room. Cook grows pale; everyone freezes. A moment later it opens, and a servant, dressed in the livery of the Bronze Council, steps in to the chamber. “Good afternoon,” he says. “I hope that I’m not interrupting anything.” “Not at all,” replies Heimall. “Good. My name is Martin. Please, come with me,” the servant says. “Who sent you?” demands Torinn. ”I come on council business,” Martin begins. “WHO SENT YOU?” roars Kratos. The servant cowers back. “I, I, Councilor Willow,” he stammers. “Help us, and we may lend leniency to you,” Hkatha states. “What?” “Bring him with us,” declares Heimall. “There’s no time for this. We need to get to the colonel and give him our evidence. There’s no time to waste!” “Wait, you’re supposed to come with [i]me[/i],” Martin protests. [i][b]Next Time:[/b][/i][b][/b] The Argos Affair concludes! *[i]Inspiring word[/i] time- already, halfway through round 1! **Thank you, action point- two double attacks on Kratos in one round. Ouch! ***I believe that this may have been his first use of [i]stand the fallen,[/i] a totally kick-ass power. [/QUOTE]
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