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A Savage Tidings Tale
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<blockquote data-quote="Olgar Shiverstone" data-source="post: 3904156" data-attributes="member: 5868"><p>They exited the practice room and entered a small dog-legged hallway which led to yet another doorway. As Athal approached, there came a sudden clicking on stone followed by a snarling sound, and Athal darted through the doorway with a yell followed by the rest, one after another. Thalas paused in the doorway, looking into the small stone-walled chamber beyond, in which the rest of the group had surrounded another one of those wolf-spider crossbreeds that they had encountered on the <em>Blue Nixie</em>. As frightening as the creature was, it was hardly holding its own, surrounded as it was by seven hardened adventurers pounding on it with their weapons. They made short work of the creature, and soon it collapsed.</p><p></p><p><em>Well, that was anti-climactic</em>, Thalas thought. <em>These wolf-spiders make lousy guard dogs.</em></p><p></p><p>Oddly, the wolf-spider was wearing an iron collar attached to a thick chain. The chain led to a hole in the opposite wall, next to an archway leading into the next room. After examining the chain, they stepped through the archway into the room beyond.</p><p></p><p>The next chamber was well lit and decorated with carved frescoes and inlaid tile. A large hexagonal table of polished wood dominated the room; on one wall hung a large colorful map of Sasserine while on the opposite was a slate on which the names of a number of ships had been written. Thalas moved to the slate, reaching into his pouch for a bit of parchment and an quill he kept there for just such an occasion.</p><p></p><p>The slate seemed to contain lists of various ships coming and going from Sasserine, with their cargoes and indications that some of them had been "holed". In large letters of red chalk in one corner was a list of all the names of the party (minus Kithkanan) with an annotation: "Vanthus, fix this NOW!!!". In the opposite corner was scrawled an additional bit, but it was in a language and script Thalas had never seen. He copied the foreign bt of doggerel as best he could, and took appropriate notes on the shipping information, then turned to the others.</p><p></p><p>"Looks like they've been expecting us. They have all of our names. I don't know what it means, but they've done something to some of the ships."</p><p></p><p>"They're up to something else, too," said Athal, who was examining the map. "There are red, blue, and gold flag pins on this map. Some are on the garrisons, a blue one on the Kellani family estate, and red on the Islani family hold, and a gold on Vanderboren manor. No other clues to what it means, though." </p><p></p><p>Thalas shrugged, and the others shook their heads with blank expressions. Clearly they had stumbled into some involved criminal enterprise beyond mere thievery, but it was anyone's guess as to what it was. They were all a bit tired and punchy, but determined to find Vanthus before leaving, so they once again exited by the remaining door and pressed onward. </p><p></p><p>From the succeeding hallway came the sudden stench of decay, and they burst into a room where a swaying, shambling figure on the far wall slowly began to turn to face them It looked like a bugbear -- one of those hairy, bestial, over-large cousins of goblins -- but it didn't move quite naturally.</p><p></p><p>"Zombie!" cried Kithkanan, bounding forward to slash the creature. Thalas channeled, and shot arcs of green fire at the thing, slowing it, as the blow from the others weakened it until Morderas finally dodged forward and hamstrung it with a slash from one blade, then severed its head with a backhand slash of the other.</p><p></p><p>They stepped past the now-still bugbear corpse into an opulent chamber. The walls were painted in violet, with silver lanterns hanging at points around the room. The floor was covered with a plush purple carpet. One wall held a large bookcase upon which stood a number of fine statues of animals, stuffed animals, and other fine furnishings. A second wall was covered with a large mural displaying a fleet of ships under full sail entering Sasserine harbor triumphantly, flags bearing the seal of the Lotus Dragons fluttering in the breeze. the center of the room held a polished darkwood table upon which sat a large bowl of fruits and vegetables.</p><p></p><p>Impressive as the room was, the beautiful woman standing against the far wall was even more so. Of moderate height, she was buxom, with raven hair, ruby lips, and slanted, violet eyes. She smirked as she saw them enter, motioning grandly for them to approach. Her companions -- two black-armored thugs and some sort of ravenous dinosaur creature that stood on two legs almost to the height of a man -- merely growled and looked menacing.</p><p></p><p>"Well, well," the woman purred. "I am impressed. You sneak into the most powerful guild in Sasserine, kill half of my men ..."</p><p></p><p>"All of them, unless we miscounted," Morderas interjected.</p><p></p><p>"... and then stand here calmly to confront me. Perhaps I have misjudged you. Given what you've accomplished, I have an offer. You can spend your time working for the noblewoman for pennies, or you can go to work for me and my organization. The rewards will be far better, and given the fact that you've come this far ..."</p><p></p><p>"Given what we've done, you ought to surrender," Morderas suggested. </p><p></p><p>Athal laughed. "Are you Vanthus' fluky? Did he leave you here to delay us? Where is he? Give him up and we'll let you go!"</p><p></p><p>"And besides," Thalas added, "if what we've seen is the best you can offer, we really don't stand to gain by joining your crew of incompetents."</p><p></p><p>Her sultry smile turned to a grimace, and she made a slicing motion across he throat with one hand, releasing a chain that led to the dinosaur's collar at the same time with the other. The thieves whipped out their rapiers and closed, as the woman began to screech in an unearthly warbling tone.</p><p></p><p>In the hallway behind Thalas, where Rhiannon and Quinn had remained with Kirsh, there was a sudden cackle of laughter and a gasp from Rhiannon. Thalas heard a voice say: "I'm afraid this little charade is over, my dear. It has been fun following you, but I'm afraid I'm going to remain with my mistress after all." Thalas could hear a gasp from Quinn, but couldn't turn to look back out the doorway, as the raptor had charged Athal.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Olgar Shiverstone, post: 3904156, member: 5868"] They exited the practice room and entered a small dog-legged hallway which led to yet another doorway. As Athal approached, there came a sudden clicking on stone followed by a snarling sound, and Athal darted through the doorway with a yell followed by the rest, one after another. Thalas paused in the doorway, looking into the small stone-walled chamber beyond, in which the rest of the group had surrounded another one of those wolf-spider crossbreeds that they had encountered on the [i]Blue Nixie[/i]. As frightening as the creature was, it was hardly holding its own, surrounded as it was by seven hardened adventurers pounding on it with their weapons. They made short work of the creature, and soon it collapsed. [i]Well, that was anti-climactic[/i], Thalas thought. [i]These wolf-spiders make lousy guard dogs.[/i] Oddly, the wolf-spider was wearing an iron collar attached to a thick chain. The chain led to a hole in the opposite wall, next to an archway leading into the next room. After examining the chain, they stepped through the archway into the room beyond. The next chamber was well lit and decorated with carved frescoes and inlaid tile. A large hexagonal table of polished wood dominated the room; on one wall hung a large colorful map of Sasserine while on the opposite was a slate on which the names of a number of ships had been written. Thalas moved to the slate, reaching into his pouch for a bit of parchment and an quill he kept there for just such an occasion. The slate seemed to contain lists of various ships coming and going from Sasserine, with their cargoes and indications that some of them had been "holed". In large letters of red chalk in one corner was a list of all the names of the party (minus Kithkanan) with an annotation: "Vanthus, fix this NOW!!!". In the opposite corner was scrawled an additional bit, but it was in a language and script Thalas had never seen. He copied the foreign bt of doggerel as best he could, and took appropriate notes on the shipping information, then turned to the others. "Looks like they've been expecting us. They have all of our names. I don't know what it means, but they've done something to some of the ships." "They're up to something else, too," said Athal, who was examining the map. "There are red, blue, and gold flag pins on this map. Some are on the garrisons, a blue one on the Kellani family estate, and red on the Islani family hold, and a gold on Vanderboren manor. No other clues to what it means, though." Thalas shrugged, and the others shook their heads with blank expressions. Clearly they had stumbled into some involved criminal enterprise beyond mere thievery, but it was anyone's guess as to what it was. They were all a bit tired and punchy, but determined to find Vanthus before leaving, so they once again exited by the remaining door and pressed onward. From the succeeding hallway came the sudden stench of decay, and they burst into a room where a swaying, shambling figure on the far wall slowly began to turn to face them It looked like a bugbear -- one of those hairy, bestial, over-large cousins of goblins -- but it didn't move quite naturally. "Zombie!" cried Kithkanan, bounding forward to slash the creature. Thalas channeled, and shot arcs of green fire at the thing, slowing it, as the blow from the others weakened it until Morderas finally dodged forward and hamstrung it with a slash from one blade, then severed its head with a backhand slash of the other. They stepped past the now-still bugbear corpse into an opulent chamber. The walls were painted in violet, with silver lanterns hanging at points around the room. The floor was covered with a plush purple carpet. One wall held a large bookcase upon which stood a number of fine statues of animals, stuffed animals, and other fine furnishings. A second wall was covered with a large mural displaying a fleet of ships under full sail entering Sasserine harbor triumphantly, flags bearing the seal of the Lotus Dragons fluttering in the breeze. the center of the room held a polished darkwood table upon which sat a large bowl of fruits and vegetables. Impressive as the room was, the beautiful woman standing against the far wall was even more so. Of moderate height, she was buxom, with raven hair, ruby lips, and slanted, violet eyes. She smirked as she saw them enter, motioning grandly for them to approach. Her companions -- two black-armored thugs and some sort of ravenous dinosaur creature that stood on two legs almost to the height of a man -- merely growled and looked menacing. "Well, well," the woman purred. "I am impressed. You sneak into the most powerful guild in Sasserine, kill half of my men ..." "All of them, unless we miscounted," Morderas interjected. "... and then stand here calmly to confront me. Perhaps I have misjudged you. Given what you've accomplished, I have an offer. You can spend your time working for the noblewoman for pennies, or you can go to work for me and my organization. The rewards will be far better, and given the fact that you've come this far ..." "Given what we've done, you ought to surrender," Morderas suggested. Athal laughed. "Are you Vanthus' fluky? Did he leave you here to delay us? Where is he? Give him up and we'll let you go!" "And besides," Thalas added, "if what we've seen is the best you can offer, we really don't stand to gain by joining your crew of incompetents." Her sultry smile turned to a grimace, and she made a slicing motion across he throat with one hand, releasing a chain that led to the dinosaur's collar at the same time with the other. The thieves whipped out their rapiers and closed, as the woman began to screech in an unearthly warbling tone. In the hallway behind Thalas, where Rhiannon and Quinn had remained with Kirsh, there was a sudden cackle of laughter and a gasp from Rhiannon. Thalas heard a voice say: "I'm afraid this little charade is over, my dear. It has been fun following you, but I'm afraid I'm going to remain with my mistress after all." Thalas could hear a gasp from Quinn, but couldn't turn to look back out the doorway, as the raptor had charged Athal. [/QUOTE]
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