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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Joachim" data-source="post: 1461976" data-attributes="member: 9531">THE LUCKY MONKEY…NOT SO LUCKYMaple rushed downstairs.  The beating on the door continued.  The diminutive woman surmised that it had to be Keygan Ghelve again.  Ever since the gnome had been released from prison, he had been badgering Maple to sell the old locksmith shop back to him.  Maple couldn’t help him as the shop officially belonged to Rusty and Tilly, and despite their long absence she hadn’t given up hope of their return.  Considering the alternative, that it could be members of the town constabulary, Maple almost wished that it was the idiot gnome.Hitting the bottom floor, the rogue trotted over to the door and threw it open.  “For the last time, I can’t sell…”  Maple stopped in the middle of her sentence.  On the other side of the door was Rusty, a giant (obviously a warrior of some sort) covered in strange tattoos, and…TILLY!!  Tilly had looked better, but it was definitely her mate.  Despite his slumped posture, pale complexion, and the dark circles beneath his eyes Maple threw herself at the little warrior.  She squeezed into him as tightly as she could, tears of joy welling in her eyes.”Let off, there lassie.  Your fine young man here has just been raised from death, and he’s liable to be a little bit tender,” Rusty said.  Looking at the dwarf, Maple nodded, and regained her composure.  Remembering that she wore the pants in that relationship, Maple wiped her eyes, put her hands on her hips and demanded, “So, where have you been all this time?  I thought that you were just going to Red Gorge for a few days.  Its almost been a full month that you have been gone!”  Tilly shrugged.  “I guess you’ll have to take that up with the powers of the Abyss, because that’s where we have spent most of the last few weeks.”  Maple opened her mouth to retort, thought for a second, and then decided that discretion was probably best in this case.Chuckling to himself and shaking his head, Rusty interrupted the lover’s reunion.  “Maple, this here is Grimm.  He’s…not from around here, and he’s gonna be stayin’ in Jzadirune with me and my people for the time bein’.  Don’t be worried about him.  He wouldn’t hurt a fly.”  Maple looked up at the newcomer, mouth agape, and slowly nodded.Pushing past the Tilly and Maple, Rusty led Grimm down the passageway into the deep dark below Cauldron.-----------------------------------------------------------------------Tilly stood alone on the balcony of the old locksmith’s shop.  It was late, probably shortly before midnight.  The halfling sighed looking out over the rooftops, noting the puffs of smoke rising from many of the chimneys.  Tilly craned his neck, looking back into the bedroom.  Maple was there, sound asleep.  It was good to be home.  He was starting to relax again, to feel whole once more.The front door opened.  Grimm came out, and gave the halfling a little wave, and headed down the street.  Tilly smirked.  The half-ogre had been hired to be a bouncer at the same tavern where Gardrid had once been employed.  It was Grimm’s first night to work there, and he had been given the graveyard shift.Tilly stayed on the balcony for the better part of an hour, just breathing the city air and taking in the sights of Cauldron at night all while collecting his thoughts.  Looking up at the stars, the halfling noticed something odd.  It was a shooting star, but not like one that he had ever seen before.Normally, shooting stars lasted for less than a second, but this one crossed the skyline slowly, it brightness never dimming.  Tilly concentrated on the odd celestial event, and then he realized that the streak was getting bigger, as if it were coming closer.  ‘That’s impossible!’ the little rogue mused.  Then Tilly noted a low rumbling coming from the sky.As Tilly watched as the streak changed into a massive ball of flame, and the rumbling grew louder still.  Tilly couldn’t believe it.  He looked on the street below, the few people out and about at the late hour were looking up at the sky too, so the halfling knew that he wasn’t imagining it.  The streak carried over Cauldron, and appeared to be descending somewhere to the south and west of the city.  Tilly realized in horror that the path of the massive fireball would take it right over the Lucky Monkey.---------------------------------------------------------------------------The Lucky Monkey was hopping.  Serving wenches ran back and forth carrying trays of food and big flagons of ale.  The kitchen was completely slammed.  Shensen smiled.  It had taken quite a bit of time to get the inn and tavern back on its feet after the massacre that had occurred here just a few months before.  Thanks to some hard work and dedication by the surviving staff members, the place was taking in paying customers by the score.Shensen left the serving room to get a breath of fresh air.  Being a druid, she didn’t like being cooped inside for extended periods of time.  She stepped out the back door and breathed deeply.  It was then that the half-drow realized something odd.  The sounds of the jungle, such as the insects, birds, and apes, had been oddly muted.  The druid knew that such a lack of sound was not uncommon before some natural disaster.  Then Shensen heard the rumbling.Walking away from the building and scanningl around the horizon, the druid's eyes locked on the ball of fire.  Unlike Tilly, Shensen didn’t see a streak of fire across the sky.  Instead, was Shensen saw was a great ball of fire growing larger and larger.  The druid realized that it was bearing down on the Lucky Monkey and its immediate vicinity.  Shensen ran back into the building and tried to alert its inhabitants of what was coming.  She prayed to Chauntea that they weren’t already doomed.  Her prayers went unanswered.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------From the balcony, Tilly watched in horror as the ball of fire streaked into the horizon.  Immediately, the ball was replaced by a great flash of light and a colossal plume of smoke and flame in the shape of a mushroom.  Seconds after detonation, an immense shockwave struck Cauldron.  Tilly watched as shingles and chimney tops flew off of home.  Several small wooden structures collapsed under the force of the wave, and Tilly had to grab the railing on the balcony to prevent from being knocked to the floor.----------------------------------------------------------------------------Caine lay in bed, staring at the ceiling of the orphanage.  Gretchen, the house mother, had kept a room especially for the ascetic after he had provided a very generous donation.  Caine didn’t ask for the privelege, but took the chance to spend some quality time with the young children.A loud boom came from outside, followed by a blast that rocked the structure.  Caine could hear that many of the children had woken up and started screaming for help.  The Apostle of Peace had no idea what had just happened, but he feared the worst.Caine had a hunch that he would soon have to gather the Bright Axes to investigate.</blockquote>

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