The Forges of the Mountain King Chapter 1- Bottom's Up!

[larryfinnjr]

Cinara blinks once and is instantaneously transported to a foreign land- the past, the glowing hearth, the shuffle of slippered fleet as Nanna Slag hoves in to view- complete with knitted chainmail and ‘dem-chewers’ (metal-replacement teeth), Nanna puts her battleaxe aside and sits on the edge of your bed. You are only six years old, you pummel your shale and limestone pillow into shape and settle into it- Nanna Slag has a gleam in her eye. Tonight’s promised story, about a clan of ‘bad Dwarves’ called the Tannheim is going to be a exciting, your certain... it seems Nanna really has forgiven you for killing ‘King Morris’, her favourite pet Toad.

Yet you remember little of the story; only the cold sweat and terrible screams (your own) hours later when you awake for the first time from the nightmare, you remember the nightmare of course, or at least the end of it, you have been there so often. Great leering Dwarves, with misshapen faces, each forty feet tall and made of solid stone chasing you around your room, only your room is much bigger and there are puddles on the floor. Thankfully, you are too quick for the ponderous beasts and manage to dodge, duck and dive to avoid their great clashing; smashing weapons-, you spot your escape, squeeze through a set of gleaming metal bars and rush headlong down a natural cavern passage too small for your tormentors to access.

Safe, you exit into a larger chamber, you remember smiling as you come to a stop, smiling as you steady the beat of your thunderous heart...

That’s when the great serpent grabs you.

Your last memory being crushed in the creature’s ever-tightening grasp.

That is when you awake- screaming, and spot just in time a glint of light in the corner of your room- the glint of Nanna Slag’s dem-chewers.

I remember the screams. Not too sure if it was because Nanna kept her teeth next to my bed or specifically because of the nightmares, but I do remember nonetheless.

As for King Morris...that was an accident. And I refuse to talk about it anymore.

I do miss my pillow though......................

 

[Ressurectah]

Krogan never ran faster in his life! Geting to the Grand Hall was never this far! With his rusty axe, he was making much noise. Only words that echoed in his mind were FREE FOOD AND BEER for volunteers!
He can`t remember when he was so happy... At the moment of his arrival at the hall, he frantically looks left and right to find the closest table that has the biggest amount of food and free seat available.

OOC Krogan is not interested at this point in the lottery (or any other at this point), just the shear amount of beer and food available for him to gorge upon

 

[Goonalan]

"Pssst!"

Krogan looks left, then right. Nothing.

He carries on eating and drinking.

"Pssst!"

Krogan looks left, then right. Nothing.

He carries on eating and drinking.

"PSSST!" Followed by a Thud sound.

Krogan looks down, beneath the table, there's a Dwarf hidden there.

The Dwarf is rubbing his head- having just banged it on the underside of the table.

Krogan stops eating, or rather stops taking bites, he continues to chew.

He stares at the Dwarf beneath the table, the Dwarf is male and wears baggy dark clothing with a hood, only his face and beard are visible- the Dwarf has a lot of scar tissue on his face. So bad are the scars it looks like someone or something has been playing noughts on crosses on his skin. A lot.

The Dwarf under the table stops rubbing his head, turns and grins at Krogan, then fishes behind him for a sack- something moves within the sack.

The Dwarf smiles at Krogan again, this time the full beam- even his eyes are smiling. His teeth however are black and mostly rotten.

The Dwarf leans in closer, and in a harsh whisper utters-

"Do you wanna buy a weasel?"

Krogan stops chewing, puts his drink down and devotes the whole of his brain to the present- and the Dwarf, with the grin, with the sack... with the weasel?

The sack moves suddenly- the Dwarf thumps the sack, the sudden movement ceases.

"It's magical?" The Dwarf nods at the sack, and then grins some more.

OOC: Try using the Integrated Dice Roller next time, a Skill Check of some sort- just to try it out and get used to it. Cheers Zoki.

 

[Ressurectah]

Krogan thinks for a moment... which probably lasted quite longer in the head of the small ugly dwarf. " Magic? ", " Lemme see" and holds out his massive palm over , so that the dwarf could open up the sack and show Krogan the *magic* weasel.

OOC - I am having a brainfart all the time, so could you please tell me how to change the background of the text to white, like you guys do when we write OOC. Btw, Krogan can rarely say no to kind smile and honest folk that wear it. (too bad that his insight is crappy)
He generally believes in good in people....yeah, he is crazy that way...

 

[Goonalan]

The Dwarf, very cautiously, opens the neck of the sack, something reddy-brown and fury snakes just out of reach deep within- the something hisses and launches itself at one of the Dwarf's hands- a brief struggle ensues, eventually the Dwarf wins and gets the sack shut again.

Certainly there's a weasel in there, and a feisty one at that.

OOC: Roll me a Perception Check as part of your next reply.

The Dwarf turns to look back up at you, wipes his nose on the back of his hand, and whispers-

"He's called 'Threeways', he can smell fear- although that's not the magical bit, he can go invisible- when he wants to..."

The Dwarf under-the-table grins some more.

"Four gold coins and he's yours?"

He holds your gaze.

OOC: How do you do the OOC- simple, highlight the text you want OOC and then click on the button in the menu above the reply box marked OOC, it's between the button marked pbp and GM. Oh and make sure you tell me what you're using your Skill Check for- what were you trying to find out with the Insight check? Although a '9' is not great.

 

[hairychin]

Poetry, bloody poetry, how had Len gotten into this. Muscles, bravery, even stringing a couple of sentences together in front of the ladies, but bloody poetry. And everyone was watching now.

And every second he waits the pressure builds with the expectation - it all hinges on this, winning the heart (or more importantly the chest) of the lovely Mss Mineshaft - bloody poetry!!

There's only one thing in Len's head and he can't clear it to let anything else in. He must know something else, something more approrpiate, but no, there's nothing else in there, and he's got to say something.

Deep breath, here goes:

"There once was a powerfull wizard
Who had a great pain in his gizzard
So he ate wind and snow
At fifty below
And farted a forty day blizzard"

Bloody poetry!!

Len's sure he's blown it now, but looks up in hope that childish charm can somehow, miraculously win the day? Bloody poetry!!

OOC: Not sure if childish charm counts as Diplomacy, Bluff, Streetwise or straight Charisma but the same bonus applies - nothing.

 

[Ressurectah]

Krogan peeps inside the sack...

After seeing what he saw, he considered the offer that was presented to him. Since the day he was able to wield butchers knife, he rarely had the opportunity to interact with live wildlife. Not to mention, that his father never let him keep a pet. 4 coins didn`t matter much, since he probably ate twice that amount just now.
" Alright my friend, lets make a trade... Threeway, meet your new master"
With a very big grin, Krogan put his hand into the sack, to get his new friend out of it. Krogan is happy to have at least one friend on his way to the glory...

OOC: Insight check was for the claim that the weasel was magical in nature...

OOC: There is the perception check you requested

 

[Goonalan]

"There once was a powerfull wizard
Who had a great pain in his gizzard
So he ate wind and snow
At fifty below
And farted a forty day blizzard"

The assembled masses goggle in awe, jaws drop- the sonorous ballad delivered with style and panache- maybe even a little elan.

But they are not the audience that Len seeks to impress.

Rita looks stern.

Very stern.

Then something strange happens...

Very strange indeed- her eyes suddenly cross, her cheeks puff and billow and she...

Laughs out loud, a roaring backslapping venture of a laugh, past risible and towards euphoria, the laughing fit lasts less than ten seconds.

Rita composes herself, although there's nothing that can shake the twinkle in her eye.

"Very naughty... Very naughty indeed Len, I mean... Leonard. Here..." Rita motions for Len to take her arm.

"Let's play King & Queen of the Bottoms for the night- lead on my Lord, for I shall surely follow."

With that the pair saunter forward, eyes on each other, the crowd with grumbling grace, and a few graceless catcalls, melts away.

"Where to my Lord?" Rita adds, and smiles some more.

 

[Goonalan]

Krogan peeps inside the sack...

" Alright my friend, lets make a trade... Threeway, meet your new master"
With a very big grin, Krogan put his hand into the sack, to get his new friend out of it. Krogan is happy to have at least one friend on his way to the glory...

The under-the-table-Dwarf palms the four gold coins, biting each in turn to check the quality- grins, actually he grins quite a lot- from ear-to-ear, and...

"Right, my Lord- best dash, I'm... er... late for something."

And with that is gone, at speed, although Thud- he does bang his head en route.

Krogan hefts the sack, the Weasel seems to have plenty of energy- it's certainly thrashing around a lot, still- time to see what his money has brought him.

He thrusts one great meaty hand in to the sack and...

Threeways introduces himself.

OOC: See Attack and Damage roll below.

Alas Threeways bite is... ineffective, it merely latches on to one of Krogan's caloused fingers- nips the skin and hangs on as Krogan withdraws his hand.

Threeways hangs there- jaws locked tight around Krogan's finger- not even piercing the skin- Threeways attempts to wrestle the Barbarian (basically the Weasel is snarling and shaking left and right in an attempt to bring its prey down- its prey being you).

Something suddenly strikes you as odd- you mentally work your way backwards along the disassembly line at which you work- replacing hacked of pieces of meat back on to the beasts you butcher each day. For Krogan this is like some mental jigsaw puzzle, although without the picture to guide you.

That's it- there seems to be a pattern, most of the creatures you butcher have... one... two... three... and four legs.

Whereas Threeways has... 'that bastard Dwarf' just three.

The Weasel with one less leg continues to wrestle with your finger.

 

[ripjames]

OOC: Just want to introduce myself IC.. and find a purse to acquire

Marded rushes into the large crowded room.. He has been running from what he thinks are members of the thieves guild looking for him. He hasn't been paying his dues and really he has no intention of doing so, he is a thief after all, and there is really no honor among thieves afterall.

He quickly looses himself in the crowd hoping to hide in here until what ever this is breaks up and than sneak out in the dispersing crowd. Looking aorund he sees a dwarf with his hand in a bag of what appears to be a weasel attacking him. He considers helping out but that would only draw attention to himself so the dwarf is on his own, besides he dosen't see a purse on the dwarf either.

He also spots a couple strutting around arm in arm together the female looks familiar, he may have met her before. The male dwarf may have a nice purse to lift.