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<blockquote data-quote="RangerWickett" data-source="post: 634" data-attributes="member: 63"><p>In a meta-game moment, let me explain as best I can Bhurisrava's calling out of death. It was basically Chad's (Bhur's player) first time roleplaying, and he hadn't had a chance to fight anything. I guess maybe he was bored, or frustrated, but for some reason in the middle of their trek through the woods (I'd never expected them to chase after the horse-killer for that long), he started saying that Death was waiting to get them, but he wasn't going to let Death get the jump on them. He started shouting, "I call out Death!" in a tone of voice that is really unique to Chad. I wish you could all hear it.</p><p></p><p>I hadn't planned anything aside from their horse getting killed (I just wanted to give them a reason to stay in the Haranshire), so until Chad started that spiel I was at a loss for what to do. Then I shrugged and decided, okay.</p><p></p><p>"Death appears, and he's chasing Nikal."</p><p></p><p>I don't know why I did either of those (Death or Nikal), but my inspiration often comes from odd places, and in mid-game. It was at this point that the rest of the game just kinda crystalized. I winged the battle with the cloaked figure, and when I had to figure out why he was there, everything just fit. From this point on in the game, I actually knew what I was doing.</p><p></p><p>Occasionally thereafter, Bhurisrava would call out Death again, just because he felt invincible, or because things were going slow and he expected something to happen <em>any second</em>. It became a handy tool he inadverdently provided to help me realize when the game was lagging, and so I'd usually kick up the pace at those moments, even throwing in a battle that I hadn't planned 'til later. </p><p></p><p>Games can be rather fun when the DM isn't fully prepared.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><strong>Chapter Five: Unreasonable Demands, Part Two</strong></span></p><p></p><p><em>Dramatis Personae:</em></p><p>Hera “Harley” Fyana, 1st level Vaneljesti Elvish bard</p><p>James T. Rocket, 1st level half-Elvish fighter</p><p>Bhurisrava, 1st level Innenlesti Elvish cleric of Christianity</p><p>Nikal (NPC), 4th level Innenlesti Elvish fighter</p><p>Allarliao Ursdail (NPC), 12th/4th level half-Tundanesti Elvish alt. ranger/fighter</p><p>Roth VanMuren, 1st level human barbarian</p><p></p><p>The man introduced himself as Roth VanMuren, a traveler who found an old house in these woods and has been squatting there for about a year now. He’s wretchedly filthy, smelling almost as bad as a latrine (more accurately, a combination of urine, alcohol, and wet dog). His black hair is dirty and clumpy, down to his shoulders, and the dirt on his face makes his green eyes rather startling. He wears chainmail over a loincloth, and nothing else. He wouldn’t even wear the loincloth except that he needs it to keep the chainmail from chafing. </p><p></p><p>He’s rather interested at the squishy man Harley, James, and Bhurisrava had just killed, but he would rather talk about it in his house than out in the woods. He warns that there are some Goblins about, so its safer inside. </p><p></p><p>Bhurisrava helps Harley wrap her squishy hand in a moist cloth since her hand started to itch as it got dry. Meanwhile, James picks Nikal’s unconscious form off the ground and carries him across his shoulders. They leave the Illithid body in the grass, including all the various squishy things it had on it. It has no possessions aside from its cloak, some shattered potion vials, and two more tentacled things like the one it threw at James. Just to be safe, Bhurisrava smashes the tentacle sword a couple times with his warhammer, and then they set off toward Roth’s hut.</p><p></p><p>The trip is fairly short, only about ten minutes, and during their walk Roth tells them that he’s from Kequalak, traveling around because he doesn’t like people very much. Not large groups of them, at least. When they near his hut they can hear the barking of a large dog, which Roth says wasn’t actually his. He just sorta found the dog there when he squatted on the property, and the dog has kept hanging around. That at least explains the ‘wet dog’ aspect of Roth’s aroma. The alcohol smell seems fairly apparent as well, since Roth has a small keg of ale on a tree stump in front of the plain log and mudbrick house.</p><p></p><p>As for the scent of urine, James starts to lay Nikal down on a bed of sheets in Roth’s house, but the smelly man warns him to stop. That pile of sheets is his piss pile, where he urinates at night when he’s too lazy to go outside in the cold.</p><p></p><p>“Lovely,” Harley remarks to her friends, and she and the others take care where they’re walking. </p><p></p><p>Actually, the rest of Roth’s little house is fairly clean, and there are actually two spare rooms with beds that must’ve belonged to the previous owner. Harley and Bhurisrava are nervous, but Roth gives no hint that the previous owner might have died of foul play. Instead, Roth offers them ale and some dried meat, and listens as they explain what they know. During the conversation, curiosity gets the better of James and he pries through Roth’s piss pile with the tip of his sword, discovering a small cache of gold coins and a soiled loincloth. James, though eager for money, decides . . . um, it’s best not to, um . . . take a fellow warrior’s treasure. Right. He returns to the story and tries to shake off the disturbing knowledge by making jokes about Harley’s screaming when the stalker attacked her.</p><p></p><p>For the rest of the night they take turns watching Nikal (as an excuse to make sure Roth doesn’t attack them while they’re asleep), but even the noise of renewed thunderstorms wake the tormented Elf.</p><p></p><p>The next morning, however, sunlight seems to do the trick. While Bhurisrava is finishing his morning prayers, Nikal awakens with a start, then relaxes when he realizes he’s safe. Complaining about a painful headache, he tells them what happened the night before. He was traveling to Milbourne on horseback with Tauster’s apprentice, a young lady named Jenneleth. They rode even through the rain, Nikal hoping to catch up with them before they left the Haranshire, and Jenneleth returning from Tauster’s with some potions the local militia had requested so they could better defend against a group of Orcs to the north. They were both trying to travel swiftly, both on horses, when Jenneleth’s mount fainted and dropped her to the ground, breaking her leg. </p><p></p><p>Nikal looked around and saw the dark figure approaching, calling into his mind for the book. He at first tried to fight off the cloaked warrior, but something forced him to drop his weapon. He only barely had the willpower to force himself to run so the stalker wouldn’t cut him down. Since he didn’t have the book, could not fight the creature, and needed to draw the attacker’s attention away from the wounded Jenneleth, he tried to ride off on his own horses, shouting to the figure that it would never get the book. He had barely gone a few dozen feet when his own horse started to waver and fall, so he leapt out of the saddle, grabbed a carrying bag, and bolted into the woods. He ended up running/staggering for over an hour, occasionally seeing mental illusions conjured by the stalking figure. He’d heard Bhurisrava’s voice shouting, and so he ran in that direction, and that was the last he really remembered.</p><p></p><p>Harley, James, and Bhur explain what happened after that, and then they decide as a group that they need to first report to Allar. Harley wants to make sure Jenneleth is safe, and she convinces them to go check on the young apprentice first. In order to reach Thurmaster (where they assume Allar is), they need to get out of the Thornwood, and the fastest route out will pretty much run into Jenneleth’s path. Harley cinches the deal by saying that in case Allar went back to Milbourne, if they tell Jenneleth they’ll be at Thurmaster it’ll be easier for the ranger to find them.</p><p></p><p>Roth, amazed by these odd goings on, offers to help. They set out as soon as Nikal gets back on his feet (but they leave the dog behind), and then the smelly Roth guides them down a well-traveled path that is relatively free of the brambly foliage of the Thornwood, and when they reach the Churnette River that marks the forest boundaries, he shows them where best to ford. </p><p></p><p>Harley notices with relief that the squishy patch hasn’t spread, but she has to change her wet wrap every few hours to keep the flesh from getting sore. She hopes that either Tauster or Jenneleth might be able to provide some type of cure, because the squishiness has horribly impaired her manual dexterity. She can barely even manage to palm daggers or spin Ricochet on the tips of her fingers anymore [meta: the affliction gave her a –8 penalty to manual Dexterity, which still left her with a Dex of 12, plus an impressive perform skill].</p><p></p><p>They ford through the river, Roth stopping for a brief moment to ‘bathe’ before he comes out on the other side. They quickly spot the tracks of two horses heading west toward Milbourne. Roth looks around for other tracks but doesn’t see anything. He can tell that the horses were traveling fast, and that the tracks were made last night while it was still raining, so they guess that Jenneleth must have managed to get away. Just to be safe, Nikal heads west to Milbourne while the rest of them travel east to Thurmaster.</p><p></p><p>A little before sunset they reach Thurmaster, walking through its main thoroughfare which is even muddier than the day before. Roth, complaining about how hot the sun was today, asks if any of them have a bucket so he can gather some ‘sunblock.’ Harley laughs to keep from being too terribly disturbed, while Bhurisrava apologizes for not being able to help him. James just strides to Tauster’s house and knocks heavily on the door. A few moments later, Tauster opens the door and lets them in.</p><p></p><p>To their barrage of questions, Tauster says that the book is still safe, but no, he doesn’t know where Allar is. The old man again calls Harley ‘Jenny,’ apparently confusing her with his apprentice Jenneleth. Bhurisrava finally convinces Harley to play along with the old man’s ramblings to make him happy, so Harley pretends to be Jenneleth, saying that yes, she did deliver the potions to Milbourne, but along the way she had some trouble, and her hand got damaged. Taking pity on his poor apprentice Jenny, Tauster looks at Harley’s arm, takes a few samples by scraping off dead skin, then says to give him a few hours so he can make an antidotal oil. In the meanwhile, he asks the group of them to get comfortable. He even casts a cooling spell to make the room’s temperature more bearable.</p><p></p><p>They ask where Allar might be, and Tauster shrugs, thinking he might have gone to his keep that’s a few miles away to the north. Earlier in the morning a man arrived and talked to Allar for a few minutes, and then they both left. Tauster doesn’t recall who the man was, but he knows he’s seen him before. </p><p></p><p>Fairly tired from traveling and not wanting to miss Allar if he happens to return, they rest at Tauster’s place. Roth volunteers to clean the man’s gutters, even though there aren’t any trees near his house that could drop leaves to clog the gutters. Nevertheless, grime has accumulated over decades, and so Roth climbs on the roof and begins scraping the grime away with a dagger. James notices with displeasure that Roth treats all of his equipment very poorly. Even the man’s bastard sword looks dented and chipped in places, and most of his chainmail is rusted. </p><p></p><p>Just as the sun is setting, while Roth is finishing up his house chores, he sees a sexy young woman walking out of the swamp from the south. She’s gorgeous, with long black hair and vivid jade eyes, and her figure is impressively displayed by tightly-fitting black and green leather patterned like small scales. He calls out to her as she nears Tauster’s home, asking her name and if she’s there to see Allar. A few moment’s later, Roth opens the door to the house and calls in to them, “There’s a hot babe here named Inzeldrin, and she’s uh, lookin’ for Allar.”</p><p></p><p>The name seems familiar to the party, but they just shrug and ask Tauster if they should let her in. Tauster says he’s too busy, and tells ‘Jenny’ to handle it. </p><p></p><p>Harley goes to the door with the others backing her. She sees the ‘hot babe’ standing a few feet behind Roth, and notices that people are looking at them from the porches of all the nearby houses and stores, their expressions a mixture of worry and curiosity. Nervously Harley asks how she can help the lady.</p><p></p><p>“Tell me where Allar is. He failed to fulfill our agreement this month, and though I don’t particularly need the cattle, I won’t tolerate this slight.”</p><p></p><p>Harley looks to James and Bhurisrava, then to Roth, but all of them shrug. Harley turns back to Inzeldrin, putting on the pleasing face she’s developed in her years as a performer who has had to deal with abrasive fans.</p><p></p><p>“I’m sorry, I don’t know where Allar is. We’re waiting for him too. The wizard of the house, Tauster, says-”</p><p></p><p>“I know his name,” Inzeldrin interrupts.</p><p></p><p>Harley nods apologetically, gritting her teeth. “Yes, well he thinks Allar should be getting back from his keep later this evening.”</p><p></p><p>“You work for him? Good, come with me. All of you.”</p><p></p><p>Nervously, Harley edges forward, and the others get closer out of curiosity. Bhurisrava’s eyes widen when he gets a good look at the woman, and his mouth opens slightly. Before anyone has a chance to say anything, the world seems to shift around them, brightening in a flash, then snapping back to normal. Their surroundings have changed, and they are no longer in Thurmaster, but standing in a farmed field a few dozen feet away from a medium-sized stone fort. A few small houses are visible in the distance, but the area is fairly dark except for the keep’s torches.</p><p></p><p>They overhear a shout from the battlements: “Oh ****! It’s the Dragon again, and she’s got somebody with her.”</p><p></p><p>Then they remember who Inzeldrin is. The Mistress of the Shrieken Mire, a several hundred years old green Dragon, now disguised as a ‘hot babe,’ and apparently angry at Allar for something.</p><p></p><p>A quick discussion goes on between Inzeldrin and the guards atop the battlements. They claim that Allar hasn’t been to the fort for several days now, and that none of his associates are even in the Haranshire. His wife’s north in Tundanesti, the Minotaur went off on a quest a few years ago in Kequalak, and the Gnomish wizard is supposedly at some sorcerers’ convention in Tennas. Inzeldrin is angry and threatens to kill them all if she finds out they’re lying, a threat which the guards blanche at nervously, but seem to take in stride. Inzeldrin growls softly, then tells them to send Allar or anyone else who shows up to meet with her. </p><p></p><p>With that, the Dragon lady looks at the party, sneers that they were no use, then turns to face back to Thurmaster. James tries to grab her before she leaves, planning to show her who exactly is useless, but the tiny woman simply shoves James with one hand, sending him fifteen feet through the air and nearly knocking him unconscious. While everyone runs to tend to James, Inzeldrin teleports away.</p><p></p><p>A few of the keep guards come out, one of them offering a bit of healing magic. They inform them that a few years back, Allar, David, and the others made an agreement with Inzeldrin. The old Dragon had been looking for a mate, and was eager to gain new territory in preparation of having children, so to sate her appetite they had agreed to provide her a monthly tribute of one cow or three pigs, in exchange for her agreement not to raze the local villagers, and to occasionally help drive off other dangerous creatures that might come through the area, like giants and other Dragons. The guards know that a cow was put out this month, so they bet that Inzeldrin is just trying to reneg on the deal and find an excuse to expand her territory without provoking the ire of Allar and his friends. The guards speak quite respectfully of Allar, and claim that if Inzeldrin ever made trouble, the ranger would almost be able to take her on by himself. </p><p></p><p>They point the party back in the direction of Thurmaster, and the four of them start walking again, reaching the small town in a a little over two hours. Groaning from the effort, they first check on the progress of Tauster’s cure for the squishiness. Much to Harley’s dismay, Tauster says it’ll be done in a few more hours. Sighing, James escorts Harley to the river to find some water to keep her hand moist, while Bhur and Roth make dinner for the old wizard.</p><p></p><p>At the river, Harley wonders to James what they’re going to do and why someone is after them. She thanks James for helping save her life the night before by cutting off the sword, and says that he’s the first real friend she’s had for several years. James smiles and shrugs, telling her not to worry about it. He’d gladly hack at any of his friends if it’d help save their lives. Harley laughs and relaxes.</p><p></p><p>Meanwhile, in Tauster’s small shanty, Roth is mixing together some dough and spices for biscuits, while Bhurisrava tries to help Tauster find some spell components in his ‘tower.’ (Tauster had a small, two story round building attached to the side of his shanty house, because he firmly believes that every wizard should have a tower). A knock comes at the door, and Roth puts down the mixing bowl to answer it.</p><p></p><p>At the river’s edge, a few hundred feet from Tauster’s house, Harley notices light spill out of Tauster’s door as its opened. Her hand sufficiently re-wetted, she turns to see what’s going on.</p><p></p><p>Roth looks blankly at the people waiting on the other side of the door. There are a half-dozen stout men poorly attempting to hide swords behind their backs, plus a balding man with red hair and a scar across his nose, and an athletic man with blonde hair, blue eyes, and a scimitar at his hip. Remembering the description, Roth smiles. “Oh, you must be Allar.”</p><p></p><p>Allar smiles, then draws his scimitar, the metal glinting brightly. “Right, and if you don’t make any trouble and hand over the book, we won’t kill you.”</p><p></p><p>Roth blinks in surprise, and then shouts a warning as the red-haired man begins to chant a spell. Allar tries to slam Roth against the wall, but Roth doesn’t budge. But then the red-haired man’s spell takes hold, and Roth feels his limbs lock up, leaving him unable to move. Allar shoves again and knocks the smelly man over easily, and the small force rushes inside, looking for the book.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="RangerWickett, post: 634, member: 63"] In a meta-game moment, let me explain as best I can Bhurisrava's calling out of death. It was basically Chad's (Bhur's player) first time roleplaying, and he hadn't had a chance to fight anything. I guess maybe he was bored, or frustrated, but for some reason in the middle of their trek through the woods (I'd never expected them to chase after the horse-killer for that long), he started saying that Death was waiting to get them, but he wasn't going to let Death get the jump on them. He started shouting, "I call out Death!" in a tone of voice that is really unique to Chad. I wish you could all hear it. I hadn't planned anything aside from their horse getting killed (I just wanted to give them a reason to stay in the Haranshire), so until Chad started that spiel I was at a loss for what to do. Then I shrugged and decided, okay. "Death appears, and he's chasing Nikal." I don't know why I did either of those (Death or Nikal), but my inspiration often comes from odd places, and in mid-game. It was at this point that the rest of the game just kinda crystalized. I winged the battle with the cloaked figure, and when I had to figure out why he was there, everything just fit. From this point on in the game, I actually knew what I was doing. Occasionally thereafter, Bhurisrava would call out Death again, just because he felt invincible, or because things were going slow and he expected something to happen [i]any second[/i]. It became a handy tool he inadverdently provided to help me realize when the game was lagging, and so I'd usually kick up the pace at those moments, even throwing in a battle that I hadn't planned 'til later. Games can be rather fun when the DM isn't fully prepared. [size=3][b]Chapter Five: Unreasonable Demands, Part Two[/b][/size] [i]Dramatis Personae:[/i] Hera “Harley” Fyana, 1st level Vaneljesti Elvish bard James T. Rocket, 1st level half-Elvish fighter Bhurisrava, 1st level Innenlesti Elvish cleric of Christianity Nikal (NPC), 4th level Innenlesti Elvish fighter Allarliao Ursdail (NPC), 12th/4th level half-Tundanesti Elvish alt. ranger/fighter Roth VanMuren, 1st level human barbarian The man introduced himself as Roth VanMuren, a traveler who found an old house in these woods and has been squatting there for about a year now. He’s wretchedly filthy, smelling almost as bad as a latrine (more accurately, a combination of urine, alcohol, and wet dog). His black hair is dirty and clumpy, down to his shoulders, and the dirt on his face makes his green eyes rather startling. He wears chainmail over a loincloth, and nothing else. He wouldn’t even wear the loincloth except that he needs it to keep the chainmail from chafing. He’s rather interested at the squishy man Harley, James, and Bhurisrava had just killed, but he would rather talk about it in his house than out in the woods. He warns that there are some Goblins about, so its safer inside. Bhurisrava helps Harley wrap her squishy hand in a moist cloth since her hand started to itch as it got dry. Meanwhile, James picks Nikal’s unconscious form off the ground and carries him across his shoulders. They leave the Illithid body in the grass, including all the various squishy things it had on it. It has no possessions aside from its cloak, some shattered potion vials, and two more tentacled things like the one it threw at James. Just to be safe, Bhurisrava smashes the tentacle sword a couple times with his warhammer, and then they set off toward Roth’s hut. The trip is fairly short, only about ten minutes, and during their walk Roth tells them that he’s from Kequalak, traveling around because he doesn’t like people very much. Not large groups of them, at least. When they near his hut they can hear the barking of a large dog, which Roth says wasn’t actually his. He just sorta found the dog there when he squatted on the property, and the dog has kept hanging around. That at least explains the ‘wet dog’ aspect of Roth’s aroma. The alcohol smell seems fairly apparent as well, since Roth has a small keg of ale on a tree stump in front of the plain log and mudbrick house. As for the scent of urine, James starts to lay Nikal down on a bed of sheets in Roth’s house, but the smelly man warns him to stop. That pile of sheets is his piss pile, where he urinates at night when he’s too lazy to go outside in the cold. “Lovely,” Harley remarks to her friends, and she and the others take care where they’re walking. Actually, the rest of Roth’s little house is fairly clean, and there are actually two spare rooms with beds that must’ve belonged to the previous owner. Harley and Bhurisrava are nervous, but Roth gives no hint that the previous owner might have died of foul play. Instead, Roth offers them ale and some dried meat, and listens as they explain what they know. During the conversation, curiosity gets the better of James and he pries through Roth’s piss pile with the tip of his sword, discovering a small cache of gold coins and a soiled loincloth. James, though eager for money, decides . . . um, it’s best not to, um . . . take a fellow warrior’s treasure. Right. He returns to the story and tries to shake off the disturbing knowledge by making jokes about Harley’s screaming when the stalker attacked her. For the rest of the night they take turns watching Nikal (as an excuse to make sure Roth doesn’t attack them while they’re asleep), but even the noise of renewed thunderstorms wake the tormented Elf. The next morning, however, sunlight seems to do the trick. While Bhurisrava is finishing his morning prayers, Nikal awakens with a start, then relaxes when he realizes he’s safe. Complaining about a painful headache, he tells them what happened the night before. He was traveling to Milbourne on horseback with Tauster’s apprentice, a young lady named Jenneleth. They rode even through the rain, Nikal hoping to catch up with them before they left the Haranshire, and Jenneleth returning from Tauster’s with some potions the local militia had requested so they could better defend against a group of Orcs to the north. They were both trying to travel swiftly, both on horses, when Jenneleth’s mount fainted and dropped her to the ground, breaking her leg. Nikal looked around and saw the dark figure approaching, calling into his mind for the book. He at first tried to fight off the cloaked warrior, but something forced him to drop his weapon. He only barely had the willpower to force himself to run so the stalker wouldn’t cut him down. Since he didn’t have the book, could not fight the creature, and needed to draw the attacker’s attention away from the wounded Jenneleth, he tried to ride off on his own horses, shouting to the figure that it would never get the book. He had barely gone a few dozen feet when his own horse started to waver and fall, so he leapt out of the saddle, grabbed a carrying bag, and bolted into the woods. He ended up running/staggering for over an hour, occasionally seeing mental illusions conjured by the stalking figure. He’d heard Bhurisrava’s voice shouting, and so he ran in that direction, and that was the last he really remembered. Harley, James, and Bhur explain what happened after that, and then they decide as a group that they need to first report to Allar. Harley wants to make sure Jenneleth is safe, and she convinces them to go check on the young apprentice first. In order to reach Thurmaster (where they assume Allar is), they need to get out of the Thornwood, and the fastest route out will pretty much run into Jenneleth’s path. Harley cinches the deal by saying that in case Allar went back to Milbourne, if they tell Jenneleth they’ll be at Thurmaster it’ll be easier for the ranger to find them. Roth, amazed by these odd goings on, offers to help. They set out as soon as Nikal gets back on his feet (but they leave the dog behind), and then the smelly Roth guides them down a well-traveled path that is relatively free of the brambly foliage of the Thornwood, and when they reach the Churnette River that marks the forest boundaries, he shows them where best to ford. Harley notices with relief that the squishy patch hasn’t spread, but she has to change her wet wrap every few hours to keep the flesh from getting sore. She hopes that either Tauster or Jenneleth might be able to provide some type of cure, because the squishiness has horribly impaired her manual dexterity. She can barely even manage to palm daggers or spin Ricochet on the tips of her fingers anymore [meta: the affliction gave her a –8 penalty to manual Dexterity, which still left her with a Dex of 12, plus an impressive perform skill]. They ford through the river, Roth stopping for a brief moment to ‘bathe’ before he comes out on the other side. They quickly spot the tracks of two horses heading west toward Milbourne. Roth looks around for other tracks but doesn’t see anything. He can tell that the horses were traveling fast, and that the tracks were made last night while it was still raining, so they guess that Jenneleth must have managed to get away. Just to be safe, Nikal heads west to Milbourne while the rest of them travel east to Thurmaster. A little before sunset they reach Thurmaster, walking through its main thoroughfare which is even muddier than the day before. Roth, complaining about how hot the sun was today, asks if any of them have a bucket so he can gather some ‘sunblock.’ Harley laughs to keep from being too terribly disturbed, while Bhurisrava apologizes for not being able to help him. James just strides to Tauster’s house and knocks heavily on the door. A few moments later, Tauster opens the door and lets them in. To their barrage of questions, Tauster says that the book is still safe, but no, he doesn’t know where Allar is. The old man again calls Harley ‘Jenny,’ apparently confusing her with his apprentice Jenneleth. Bhurisrava finally convinces Harley to play along with the old man’s ramblings to make him happy, so Harley pretends to be Jenneleth, saying that yes, she did deliver the potions to Milbourne, but along the way she had some trouble, and her hand got damaged. Taking pity on his poor apprentice Jenny, Tauster looks at Harley’s arm, takes a few samples by scraping off dead skin, then says to give him a few hours so he can make an antidotal oil. In the meanwhile, he asks the group of them to get comfortable. He even casts a cooling spell to make the room’s temperature more bearable. They ask where Allar might be, and Tauster shrugs, thinking he might have gone to his keep that’s a few miles away to the north. Earlier in the morning a man arrived and talked to Allar for a few minutes, and then they both left. Tauster doesn’t recall who the man was, but he knows he’s seen him before. Fairly tired from traveling and not wanting to miss Allar if he happens to return, they rest at Tauster’s place. Roth volunteers to clean the man’s gutters, even though there aren’t any trees near his house that could drop leaves to clog the gutters. Nevertheless, grime has accumulated over decades, and so Roth climbs on the roof and begins scraping the grime away with a dagger. James notices with displeasure that Roth treats all of his equipment very poorly. Even the man’s bastard sword looks dented and chipped in places, and most of his chainmail is rusted. Just as the sun is setting, while Roth is finishing up his house chores, he sees a sexy young woman walking out of the swamp from the south. She’s gorgeous, with long black hair and vivid jade eyes, and her figure is impressively displayed by tightly-fitting black and green leather patterned like small scales. He calls out to her as she nears Tauster’s home, asking her name and if she’s there to see Allar. A few moment’s later, Roth opens the door to the house and calls in to them, “There’s a hot babe here named Inzeldrin, and she’s uh, lookin’ for Allar.” The name seems familiar to the party, but they just shrug and ask Tauster if they should let her in. Tauster says he’s too busy, and tells ‘Jenny’ to handle it. Harley goes to the door with the others backing her. She sees the ‘hot babe’ standing a few feet behind Roth, and notices that people are looking at them from the porches of all the nearby houses and stores, their expressions a mixture of worry and curiosity. Nervously Harley asks how she can help the lady. “Tell me where Allar is. He failed to fulfill our agreement this month, and though I don’t particularly need the cattle, I won’t tolerate this slight.” Harley looks to James and Bhurisrava, then to Roth, but all of them shrug. Harley turns back to Inzeldrin, putting on the pleasing face she’s developed in her years as a performer who has had to deal with abrasive fans. “I’m sorry, I don’t know where Allar is. We’re waiting for him too. The wizard of the house, Tauster, says-” “I know his name,” Inzeldrin interrupts. Harley nods apologetically, gritting her teeth. “Yes, well he thinks Allar should be getting back from his keep later this evening.” “You work for him? Good, come with me. All of you.” Nervously, Harley edges forward, and the others get closer out of curiosity. Bhurisrava’s eyes widen when he gets a good look at the woman, and his mouth opens slightly. Before anyone has a chance to say anything, the world seems to shift around them, brightening in a flash, then snapping back to normal. Their surroundings have changed, and they are no longer in Thurmaster, but standing in a farmed field a few dozen feet away from a medium-sized stone fort. A few small houses are visible in the distance, but the area is fairly dark except for the keep’s torches. They overhear a shout from the battlements: “Oh ****! It’s the Dragon again, and she’s got somebody with her.” Then they remember who Inzeldrin is. The Mistress of the Shrieken Mire, a several hundred years old green Dragon, now disguised as a ‘hot babe,’ and apparently angry at Allar for something. A quick discussion goes on between Inzeldrin and the guards atop the battlements. They claim that Allar hasn’t been to the fort for several days now, and that none of his associates are even in the Haranshire. His wife’s north in Tundanesti, the Minotaur went off on a quest a few years ago in Kequalak, and the Gnomish wizard is supposedly at some sorcerers’ convention in Tennas. Inzeldrin is angry and threatens to kill them all if she finds out they’re lying, a threat which the guards blanche at nervously, but seem to take in stride. Inzeldrin growls softly, then tells them to send Allar or anyone else who shows up to meet with her. With that, the Dragon lady looks at the party, sneers that they were no use, then turns to face back to Thurmaster. James tries to grab her before she leaves, planning to show her who exactly is useless, but the tiny woman simply shoves James with one hand, sending him fifteen feet through the air and nearly knocking him unconscious. While everyone runs to tend to James, Inzeldrin teleports away. A few of the keep guards come out, one of them offering a bit of healing magic. They inform them that a few years back, Allar, David, and the others made an agreement with Inzeldrin. The old Dragon had been looking for a mate, and was eager to gain new territory in preparation of having children, so to sate her appetite they had agreed to provide her a monthly tribute of one cow or three pigs, in exchange for her agreement not to raze the local villagers, and to occasionally help drive off other dangerous creatures that might come through the area, like giants and other Dragons. The guards know that a cow was put out this month, so they bet that Inzeldrin is just trying to reneg on the deal and find an excuse to expand her territory without provoking the ire of Allar and his friends. The guards speak quite respectfully of Allar, and claim that if Inzeldrin ever made trouble, the ranger would almost be able to take her on by himself. They point the party back in the direction of Thurmaster, and the four of them start walking again, reaching the small town in a a little over two hours. Groaning from the effort, they first check on the progress of Tauster’s cure for the squishiness. Much to Harley’s dismay, Tauster says it’ll be done in a few more hours. Sighing, James escorts Harley to the river to find some water to keep her hand moist, while Bhur and Roth make dinner for the old wizard. At the river, Harley wonders to James what they’re going to do and why someone is after them. She thanks James for helping save her life the night before by cutting off the sword, and says that he’s the first real friend she’s had for several years. James smiles and shrugs, telling her not to worry about it. He’d gladly hack at any of his friends if it’d help save their lives. Harley laughs and relaxes. Meanwhile, in Tauster’s small shanty, Roth is mixing together some dough and spices for biscuits, while Bhurisrava tries to help Tauster find some spell components in his ‘tower.’ (Tauster had a small, two story round building attached to the side of his shanty house, because he firmly believes that every wizard should have a tower). A knock comes at the door, and Roth puts down the mixing bowl to answer it. At the river’s edge, a few hundred feet from Tauster’s house, Harley notices light spill out of Tauster’s door as its opened. Her hand sufficiently re-wetted, she turns to see what’s going on. Roth looks blankly at the people waiting on the other side of the door. There are a half-dozen stout men poorly attempting to hide swords behind their backs, plus a balding man with red hair and a scar across his nose, and an athletic man with blonde hair, blue eyes, and a scimitar at his hip. Remembering the description, Roth smiles. “Oh, you must be Allar.” Allar smiles, then draws his scimitar, the metal glinting brightly. “Right, and if you don’t make any trouble and hand over the book, we won’t kill you.” Roth blinks in surprise, and then shouts a warning as the red-haired man begins to chant a spell. Allar tries to slam Roth against the wall, but Roth doesn’t budge. But then the red-haired man’s spell takes hold, and Roth feels his limbs lock up, leaving him unable to move. Allar shoves again and knocks the smelly man over easily, and the small force rushes inside, looking for the book. [/QUOTE]
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