drnuncheon
Explorer
Session Fifteen, Part Seven: Blind Luck
"Damnit! Not again!" Di'Fier complained, as he fought to keep from being mired in the soft stone. He swung the sword at where he thought the beast was, but it merely sank into the softened rock. One again he could hear the shouts of those around him, and he swung again - empty air. "Where the hell did it go?" He stumbled away, until he stood once more on solid stone.
"Di'Fier!" he could hear his partner cry. "It's got Varesh!"
He knew he'd never make it through the muck - not as blind as he was. Reaching to his belt, he pulled out his dagger, listened for the sound of its voices, wound up, and sent the blade flying.
Dru hovered, looking on in shock. What the hell is he doing? Time seemed to slow as she watched the dagger spin through the air. She could see what was going to happen: the dagger would hit hilt first and bounce off the rubbery skin, or give the thing a papercut at best - and then it would eat Varesh.
She watched as one of the creature's largest mouths bubbled to the surface, directly in the dagger's path, stretching open in a silent scream.
She saw the blade pass within a hair of bouncing off the teeth.
She saw it vanish inside the thing's mouth, heading deep into the body.
And then she saw the creature collapse, deflating into a puddle of rot and gore, with Varesh lying weakly in the center.
Di'Fier stumbled forward, waving his blade in front of him like a deadly cane and shouting: "Where did it go? What happened? Dru? Paden? Varesh?"
Compiler's Note: One of the problems with writing up a game is that sometimes, nobody is going to believe you. I didn't believe it myself, but I watched as Di'Fier rolled - and hit. Then he rolled the miss chance for being blinded - and still hit. And then he rolled maximum damage. I like to think that series of rolls in some way makes up for the ones that led up to the die-tossing incident...
(Di'Fier says I should report that the die is still out there somewhere.)
The trapdoor creaked open, and Dru looked out on the central tower of the lighthouse: an enormous room, nearly fifty feet on each side, and more than twice that in height. Stone stairs circled the room, climbing in a spiral to the summit of the lighthouse, far above.
The room was lit by a thousand candles - thick yellow pillars perched on the railing of the stairs, the melting wax dribbling and running over the sigils incised into their surface. Inside the bricks, she could feel the Yellow Sign throbbing with power. She clutched the Jade Serpent to her chest and rose out of the trapdoor, clearing the way for the others.
Far above, nearly at the summit of the tower, six faces peered over the railing at them. Five bore the disctinctive features of serpent people, and the sixth was - no nobody's great surprise - Milton Drac.
"Well, well, well." Drac's elegant voice floated down to them. "I see you have dispatched my pet. No matter," he chuckled. "The ritual is almost...agh!" His carefully prepared speech was interrupted by a cry of pain.
Di'Fier lowered his wand and grinned.
"N'tal! Dispose of them!" Drac snapped, as he whirled and climbed through the ladder to the top floor.
The robed serpentman nodded, tearing his garment free of his body as he leapt onto and over the railing. Arcane syllables spilled from his inhuman mouth and he hung suspended in midair. His yellow eyes narrowed as he looked down at his foes. "Come, then," he invited, as his minions unslung their bows and began to descend the steps. "My Master will be pleased to receive your souls."
Compiler's Note: Short update. Longer one later, hopefully. I was going over things with Di'Fier and Dru last night, and we estimate that there are probably 4-5 updates left until the end of Book One. After that - since Dru's short will probably still be going on - I will devote myself to changing the early parts of this Story Hour from log format into actual stories, as well as other tasks relating to the compiled edition (the master list of NPCs, etc). If anyone has suggestions for something they'd like to see in the compiled edition - sort of DVD-esque special features, if you will - I am certainly open to hearing them!
"Damnit! Not again!" Di'Fier complained, as he fought to keep from being mired in the soft stone. He swung the sword at where he thought the beast was, but it merely sank into the softened rock. One again he could hear the shouts of those around him, and he swung again - empty air. "Where the hell did it go?" He stumbled away, until he stood once more on solid stone.
"Di'Fier!" he could hear his partner cry. "It's got Varesh!"
He knew he'd never make it through the muck - not as blind as he was. Reaching to his belt, he pulled out his dagger, listened for the sound of its voices, wound up, and sent the blade flying.
Dru hovered, looking on in shock. What the hell is he doing? Time seemed to slow as she watched the dagger spin through the air. She could see what was going to happen: the dagger would hit hilt first and bounce off the rubbery skin, or give the thing a papercut at best - and then it would eat Varesh.
She watched as one of the creature's largest mouths bubbled to the surface, directly in the dagger's path, stretching open in a silent scream.
She saw the blade pass within a hair of bouncing off the teeth.
She saw it vanish inside the thing's mouth, heading deep into the body.
And then she saw the creature collapse, deflating into a puddle of rot and gore, with Varesh lying weakly in the center.
Di'Fier stumbled forward, waving his blade in front of him like a deadly cane and shouting: "Where did it go? What happened? Dru? Paden? Varesh?"
Compiler's Note: One of the problems with writing up a game is that sometimes, nobody is going to believe you. I didn't believe it myself, but I watched as Di'Fier rolled - and hit. Then he rolled the miss chance for being blinded - and still hit. And then he rolled maximum damage. I like to think that series of rolls in some way makes up for the ones that led up to the die-tossing incident...
(Di'Fier says I should report that the die is still out there somewhere.)
The trapdoor creaked open, and Dru looked out on the central tower of the lighthouse: an enormous room, nearly fifty feet on each side, and more than twice that in height. Stone stairs circled the room, climbing in a spiral to the summit of the lighthouse, far above.
The room was lit by a thousand candles - thick yellow pillars perched on the railing of the stairs, the melting wax dribbling and running over the sigils incised into their surface. Inside the bricks, she could feel the Yellow Sign throbbing with power. She clutched the Jade Serpent to her chest and rose out of the trapdoor, clearing the way for the others.
Far above, nearly at the summit of the tower, six faces peered over the railing at them. Five bore the disctinctive features of serpent people, and the sixth was - no nobody's great surprise - Milton Drac.
"Well, well, well." Drac's elegant voice floated down to them. "I see you have dispatched my pet. No matter," he chuckled. "The ritual is almost...agh!" His carefully prepared speech was interrupted by a cry of pain.
Di'Fier lowered his wand and grinned.
"N'tal! Dispose of them!" Drac snapped, as he whirled and climbed through the ladder to the top floor.
The robed serpentman nodded, tearing his garment free of his body as he leapt onto and over the railing. Arcane syllables spilled from his inhuman mouth and he hung suspended in midair. His yellow eyes narrowed as he looked down at his foes. "Come, then," he invited, as his minions unslung their bows and began to descend the steps. "My Master will be pleased to receive your souls."
Compiler's Note: Short update. Longer one later, hopefully. I was going over things with Di'Fier and Dru last night, and we estimate that there are probably 4-5 updates left until the end of Book One. After that - since Dru's short will probably still be going on - I will devote myself to changing the early parts of this Story Hour from log format into actual stories, as well as other tasks relating to the compiled edition (the master list of NPCs, etc). If anyone has suggestions for something they'd like to see in the compiled edition - sort of DVD-esque special features, if you will - I am certainly open to hearing them!