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Wulf's Collected Story Hour -- FINAL UPDATE 12/25
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<blockquote data-quote="Wulf Ratbane" data-source="post: 707" data-attributes="member: 94"><p><strong>FORGE OF FURY (Part II)</strong></p><p></p><p>The next morning, the party arrived in town with the two orc prisoners in tow, firmly bound by Wulf's dwarf-scout over-and-under-double-sheepshag escape-proof knots. The local sherriff took charge of the prisoners, promised they'd have a quick death, and suggested that the party move on to talk to the local baron about the growing orc raider problem. A look passed between the sherriff and Wulf that clearly implied that any future orcs would be best dealt with out in the wilds-- frontier justice. Gotcha-- nod and a wink.</p><p></p><p>The halfling squabbled with himself for a while, demanding that HE be the one to go to the baron and speak on the party's behalf-- despite the fact that Halma had already expressed his intention to go sleep outside in the pastures, and Wulf would rather seek out the local blacksmith than spend time bandying words with the local fop. At Wulf's insistence, Keldas agreed to accompany the halfling-- to make sure he didn't try to cheat the rest of the party out of any reward.</p><p></p><p>The baron didn't waste any time hiring on the heroes to settle his orc problem. The orcs had made several successful raids, carting off scores of valuable breastplates and weapons, and their raids against the local merchants were becoming more bold and more successful. Their whereabouts were no secret-- they were operating out of the old dwarven forges, just inside that big mountain looming over the town. He offered the heroes salvage rights to anything the orcs might have, as well as the usual paltry sum of a few gold coins per man. The halfling stepped up and shrewdly failed to bargain him into double his rates, until Keldas finally spoke up and secured a simple agreement: a larger bounty for the head of the orc leader, and matching daily rates from the local merchants if we ended their problem. The baron agreed to the bounty and promised that he would speak to the local merchants.</p><p></p><p>The party settled down for a few days to prepare. Kelik and Halma spent their time lazing about out in the fields. Keldas retired to his room to study many of the items that party had picked up in the Sunless Citadel, and to scribe a few new spells into his spellbook. Wulf marched in to the local blacksmith and offered a strong pair of dwarven arms to man the bellows-- free of charge-- if the smith would agree to show him a few tricks and help him craft a masterwork chain shirt. The smith matched Wulf for tact and brevity, shrugged, and told him he could sleep on the floor with the other apprentices. Wulf dropped off his belongings in a flea-ridden side room filled with sooty-faced urchins. "Any of yer touch my stuff, I'll gut yer."</p><p></p><p>The halfling got right to work making the acquaintance of the local thieves' guild by striding through town asking random passerby, "Which way to the Thieves' Guild?" and, "What's a fellow got to do to find some POISON in this town? Helloooo? Anybody?"</p><p></p><p>A turn down a random side street finally answered his prayers. His keen halfling ears picked up the sound of a beetle scuttling out of the way of a footpad's step, and he turned to greet the two rogues who had been shadowing him. "Well it's about TIME. Take me to your leader."</p><p></p><p>"Ahh... Oh. Yes. Our leader is aware of your presence in town, and sent us to give you his warmest welcome. If you'd be so kind as to keep a low profile in the meantime, he'd like you to return to this spot an hour before sundown to meet him."</p><p></p><p>"Right. Gotcha. Thanks. Hey! Tell him to bring some poison. Don't worry, I'm in charge of the purse for my whole adventuring company, so I got plenty of money." And with that, the halfling skipped off to rejoin his comrades at the inn.</p><p></p><p>Several hours later, as the first stars started to peep out in the night sky, the halfling pushed his chair back from the table. He patted his over-ripe belly, puffed out his chest, and announced to the rest of the group that he might be a little late getting in. "Yeah," he said, arching his eyebrow arrogantly, "I have a meeting with the local guildmaster an hour after sundown. Yep, yep. Got a few supplies to pick up, maybe roll a couple of rubes, show the local boys a few tricks. Don't wait up, fellas."</p><p></p><p>The halfling returned to the appointed meeting place... two hours late. </p><p></p><p>A local footpad was there to greet him. Despite the halfling's constant protests ("No, no, I distinctly remember he said an hour AFTER sundown. After. This SUCKS! He said AFTER!") the local dutifully explained that, being the guildmaster, and a thief, his boss was understandably A LITTLE PRE-OCCUPIED AFTER SUNDOWN! With better things to do than wait around at the beckon call of some unknown little peck!</p><p></p><p>Nevertheless, the halfling bowed and scraped and managed to set up a meeting for the next day. An hour before sundown. And not surprisingly, he was at the appointed meeting place well in advance of the scheduled time. The exact details of their conversation may never be known, but here is what the rest of the heroes were able to piece together from his disgruntled ramblings:</p><p></p><p>1) The local thieves' guildmaster does NOT sell poison to wandering pecks.</p><p></p><p>2) The local thieves' guildmaster is NOT willing to "loan out" magic daggers to wandering pecks in exchange for a promise of "something much cooler, just as soon as we get back from killing all those orcs."</p><p></p><p>3) The local thieves' guildmaster IS apparently willing to trust wandering pecks with details of plots against the local baron.</p><p></p><p>This last bit of info was discovered the next day, when the halfling excitedly told the rest of the group that they all HAD to go back to speak to the baron. The baron admitted the group to his audience chambers, but was only able to inform them that, as yet, he had not had any luck persuading the local merchants to up the reward-- but that perhaps a successful sortie onto the orc hideout would bring them around. To which the halfling replied, "Oh yeah? Well perhaps I have a little bit of information about YOU that you might be willing to pay for? Hmmm?"</p><p></p><p>The party watched in awed silence, as an ethereal bullseye seemed to appear in the air and hover, just between the halfling's shoulder blades.. "Yeah, you heard me, I know some folks in town and I just <em>might</em> be willing to tell you a few things they told ME. For the right PRICE, of course."</p><p></p><p>One glance over his shoulder at the stunned and horrified looks on the faces of his compatriots, and the realization slowly sunk in. "Uhh... umm... Just kidding. Nevermind. Crazy halfling talk! Bye!"</p><p></p><p>The party geared up, eager to leave town. In a week's time, Keldas' spellbook was brimming with cool new spells, and Wulf had completed a masterwork chain shirt-- ahead of schedule and below cost. The halfling bought a few spare torches and a flask or two of greek fire, and the party slush fund was spent on a couple of healing potions for each of the warriors. They rejoined Kellick and Halma outside the city and started up the mountain. Wulf handed the chain shirt to Halma.</p><p></p><p>"Ey. Put this on, an' don't mention it. Just be there to save my arse, right?"</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Wulf Ratbane, post: 707, member: 94"] [b]FORGE OF FURY (Part II)[/b] The next morning, the party arrived in town with the two orc prisoners in tow, firmly bound by Wulf's dwarf-scout over-and-under-double-sheepshag escape-proof knots. The local sherriff took charge of the prisoners, promised they'd have a quick death, and suggested that the party move on to talk to the local baron about the growing orc raider problem. A look passed between the sherriff and Wulf that clearly implied that any future orcs would be best dealt with out in the wilds-- frontier justice. Gotcha-- nod and a wink. The halfling squabbled with himself for a while, demanding that HE be the one to go to the baron and speak on the party's behalf-- despite the fact that Halma had already expressed his intention to go sleep outside in the pastures, and Wulf would rather seek out the local blacksmith than spend time bandying words with the local fop. At Wulf's insistence, Keldas agreed to accompany the halfling-- to make sure he didn't try to cheat the rest of the party out of any reward. The baron didn't waste any time hiring on the heroes to settle his orc problem. The orcs had made several successful raids, carting off scores of valuable breastplates and weapons, and their raids against the local merchants were becoming more bold and more successful. Their whereabouts were no secret-- they were operating out of the old dwarven forges, just inside that big mountain looming over the town. He offered the heroes salvage rights to anything the orcs might have, as well as the usual paltry sum of a few gold coins per man. The halfling stepped up and shrewdly failed to bargain him into double his rates, until Keldas finally spoke up and secured a simple agreement: a larger bounty for the head of the orc leader, and matching daily rates from the local merchants if we ended their problem. The baron agreed to the bounty and promised that he would speak to the local merchants. The party settled down for a few days to prepare. Kelik and Halma spent their time lazing about out in the fields. Keldas retired to his room to study many of the items that party had picked up in the Sunless Citadel, and to scribe a few new spells into his spellbook. Wulf marched in to the local blacksmith and offered a strong pair of dwarven arms to man the bellows-- free of charge-- if the smith would agree to show him a few tricks and help him craft a masterwork chain shirt. The smith matched Wulf for tact and brevity, shrugged, and told him he could sleep on the floor with the other apprentices. Wulf dropped off his belongings in a flea-ridden side room filled with sooty-faced urchins. "Any of yer touch my stuff, I'll gut yer." The halfling got right to work making the acquaintance of the local thieves' guild by striding through town asking random passerby, "Which way to the Thieves' Guild?" and, "What's a fellow got to do to find some POISON in this town? Helloooo? Anybody?" A turn down a random side street finally answered his prayers. His keen halfling ears picked up the sound of a beetle scuttling out of the way of a footpad's step, and he turned to greet the two rogues who had been shadowing him. "Well it's about TIME. Take me to your leader." "Ahh... Oh. Yes. Our leader is aware of your presence in town, and sent us to give you his warmest welcome. If you'd be so kind as to keep a low profile in the meantime, he'd like you to return to this spot an hour before sundown to meet him." "Right. Gotcha. Thanks. Hey! Tell him to bring some poison. Don't worry, I'm in charge of the purse for my whole adventuring company, so I got plenty of money." And with that, the halfling skipped off to rejoin his comrades at the inn. Several hours later, as the first stars started to peep out in the night sky, the halfling pushed his chair back from the table. He patted his over-ripe belly, puffed out his chest, and announced to the rest of the group that he might be a little late getting in. "Yeah," he said, arching his eyebrow arrogantly, "I have a meeting with the local guildmaster an hour after sundown. Yep, yep. Got a few supplies to pick up, maybe roll a couple of rubes, show the local boys a few tricks. Don't wait up, fellas." The halfling returned to the appointed meeting place... two hours late. A local footpad was there to greet him. Despite the halfling's constant protests ("No, no, I distinctly remember he said an hour AFTER sundown. After. This SUCKS! He said AFTER!") the local dutifully explained that, being the guildmaster, and a thief, his boss was understandably A LITTLE PRE-OCCUPIED AFTER SUNDOWN! With better things to do than wait around at the beckon call of some unknown little peck! Nevertheless, the halfling bowed and scraped and managed to set up a meeting for the next day. An hour before sundown. And not surprisingly, he was at the appointed meeting place well in advance of the scheduled time. The exact details of their conversation may never be known, but here is what the rest of the heroes were able to piece together from his disgruntled ramblings: 1) The local thieves' guildmaster does NOT sell poison to wandering pecks. 2) The local thieves' guildmaster is NOT willing to "loan out" magic daggers to wandering pecks in exchange for a promise of "something much cooler, just as soon as we get back from killing all those orcs." 3) The local thieves' guildmaster IS apparently willing to trust wandering pecks with details of plots against the local baron. This last bit of info was discovered the next day, when the halfling excitedly told the rest of the group that they all HAD to go back to speak to the baron. The baron admitted the group to his audience chambers, but was only able to inform them that, as yet, he had not had any luck persuading the local merchants to up the reward-- but that perhaps a successful sortie onto the orc hideout would bring them around. To which the halfling replied, "Oh yeah? Well perhaps I have a little bit of information about YOU that you might be willing to pay for? Hmmm?" The party watched in awed silence, as an ethereal bullseye seemed to appear in the air and hover, just between the halfling's shoulder blades.. "Yeah, you heard me, I know some folks in town and I just [i]might[/i] be willing to tell you a few things they told ME. For the right PRICE, of course." One glance over his shoulder at the stunned and horrified looks on the faces of his compatriots, and the realization slowly sunk in. "Uhh... umm... Just kidding. Nevermind. Crazy halfling talk! Bye!" The party geared up, eager to leave town. In a week's time, Keldas' spellbook was brimming with cool new spells, and Wulf had completed a masterwork chain shirt-- ahead of schedule and below cost. The halfling bought a few spare torches and a flask or two of greek fire, and the party slush fund was spent on a couple of healing potions for each of the warriors. They rejoined Kellick and Halma outside the city and started up the mountain. Wulf handed the chain shirt to Halma. "Ey. Put this on, an' don't mention it. Just be there to save my arse, right?" [/QUOTE]
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