KidCthulhu
First Post
In case anyone was wondering, Meepo is a classic kobold sorceror/8. Threeba was a Nilbolg, with 4 levels of psion (telepath). I'll post their stats here soon!
KidCthulhu's Scarred Land story hour
- Thread starter Piratecat
- Start date
Iron Chef BBQ
First Post
The Brightwing Sisters and 100 Words (run of 05-19-03)
Words written in CAPS are from American Heritage Dictionaries’ 100 Words Every High School Graduate Should Know. All 100 words have been used in the game summary below. A list of the words can be found at 100 words and their definitions can be found at http://dictionary.reference.com/ --Chef
Our intrepid band of FILIBUSTERS is fresh from the fall of the Meepoan OLIGARCHY which they promptly loot. Deke quickly takes a PECUNIARY tally. They find the equivalent of 2,000 gold, but mostly in copper coins. Such are the spoils of war. Deke finds one strange coin in the mix with the letters E-U-R-O (EURO) written on it. It’s not worth anything as near as he can figure so he tosses it into the grass. They also find a blur potion, an invisibility potion, a scroll with shield, invisibility and teleport, bracers of armor (+1), a wand, a ring and tanglefoot bags. Lucre searches Threeba and finds a small crystal around her neck. When he picks it up, he can hear voices, the multitude of BELLICOSE voices Threeba lived with inside her head. The voices grow weaker until at last they fade away. Lucre, remembering the vision of Threeba as a VORTEX on the psionic plane, crushes the crystal in an act of EXPURGATION. He finds another, similar crystal in her pocket. It feels empty to him, like a closet for his mind. (It’s a crystal capacitor). From the markings on the ring Kenyan is pretty sure it’s a ring of protection. Marja stands over the body of Meepo. He seems so small now. She remembers how EVANESCENT he was in gaseous form and wonders if she can learn that spell.
They head out in the direction of Mansk, a remote city that Borin has heard of because they have a temple to Enkhili there. Kalina spends her days in eagle form presumably to scout ahead, but secretly because she enjoys the opportunity to merge her body with the natural world around her. Kenyan continues to write songs of the party’s adventures which Lucre attempts to get him to BOWDLERIZE. Instead Kenyan INCULCATES the party members so they can all sing along. They move through rolling hills, none of them PRECIPITOUS, and grasslands speckled with DECIDUOUS trees actively engaged in PHOTOSYNTHESIS. Basically, the trip is JEJUNE.
On the sixth day out Kel sees a herd of white horses running across the plane. No one else sees or hears anything. Kel drops to his knees and thanks Corean for this holy vision. The rumors of trouble at Hooffall had left Kel LUGUBRIOUS, but now his heart is uplifted by the good omen despite the fact that in every settlement along the way they hear tales that Hooffall has been cursed.
At eventide of the sixth day the party approaches a fairly large settlement for the area with about 20 or 30 houses and well-tended fields. They see a rickety sign hung in place with OXIDIZING nails. It has the white horse of Corean carved into the top and crude white letters that read, “Welcome to Treadle, Pop. 960.” The town looks neat, but poor. In the center of town they find a large square with four buildings, one on each side, surrounded by pickets. The pickets were obviously meant as a defense, but they appear rarely used. In fact, some of the local homes have strung laundry lines to them. Clearly defense is not a QUOTIDIAN chore. Around the square they find Zolo’s Livery Stables, the Waving Stalk Tavern, a long low building marked Civic Hall which joins to a Pantheon, and a dry goods shop with an ornate sign that reads “Treedy’s, Provisioners since 100 av. (For reference it is the year 150 av.) The entire town appears quite charming which makes the party feel it must be DELETERIOUS in some way.
The party leaves their horses with the blacksmith, Zolo, for one night for a mere 7 coppers. He’s very chatty and amiable. He is unaware of any trouble at Hooffall, but says no one from the town has been there since the Spring Rising (vernal EQUINOX) six months ago. He shows them some of the horse shoes he has WROUGHT and promised to replace a few that their horses threw.
Next they decide to explore Treedy’s. A little bell hung over the door rings as they enter the shop. A round middle-aged woman steps from a back room. “Look around and let me know if you need anything. My name is Willow,” she says with a smile. “Oh, we also NOTARIZE.” Inside, wherever the eye chooses to fall it meets with a barrage. Every surface, every wall, every nook is filled to the brim with gadgets and goods. There are baskets of seeds, a wall of ladies’ bonnets, toys, dried food and mushrooms although nothing exotic. On the counter are two rows of clean glass jars filled with every imaginable sweet. “Copper candy!” Marja exclaims. “Wow, I haven’t bought a bag of copper candy since I was a little girl.” Lucre wants to know who would eat candy made of copper, but Deke explains that it only costs a copper. Deke’s mouth waters at the luxury he could never afford in his childhood. Marja pulls out a couple of copper pieces, buys a bag of hard licorice and fills the other with random treats. She passes them around while they explore the rest of the store.
On the wall of hats Deke finds a fez of gold fabric with a shiny gold tassel. He’s taken with it like it’s a new toy and plunks it down on the counter. “Uh, Miss,” the shopkeeper calls Marja. “Your pet is playing with the hats. I don’t want no CHICANERY here.” “Oh, let him buy whatever he wants,” Marja dismisses the shop lady’s concerns. “He has his own money.” “Yes, I am my own FIDUCIARY agent,” Deke answers FACETIOUSLY. Still Willow WINNOWS some of the smaller more expensive items off of the counter. Marja moves over to a row of hair ribbons and starts picking out a few brightly colored ones for her thick black braids and selects a few for Borin too, now that she has taken it upon herself to make sure his/her hair is neatly braided each morning. Lucre calls out that she should pick a few neutral colored ones for his beard, nothing CHURLISH. She selects a few and takes them over for his approval. Lucre stands at a pile of silk rope that he intends to buy, and as Marja passes he whispers that he suspects mind control on the shop lady. He finds something odd about the town although he is reluctant to IMPEACH it on so little evidence. Marja moves behind a rack of farm tools and casts detect magic silently. Meanwhile Kenyan has found a vest and water skin of shiny white leather with bright blue beads. He is completely taken with the ensemble. He puts the vest on and searches for a mirror to admire himself. The others think he looks a little FATUOUS. “Sorry, son. We don’t have no mirrors here. They’re rare and expensive things in the wilderness.”
Marja wanders around the shop carefully scanning for magic with her enhanced ACUMEN. As she approaches each of her companions something radiates from them. Wow! She’d never realized how highly charged they were? Nothing in the shop glows at all. It appears that everything is quite mundane. She heads to the counter with her ribbons and looks carefully at the shopkeeper. Indeed, the woman has a glow, the distinctive PARAMETER of magic. Marja concentrates on the aura. Ah, it has the green shine of enchantment. She whispers to Lucre and Kel, then she announces in a loud voice, “Shoot, I left something in my horse’s pack. I’ll catch up with you later. Come along, Deke,” and the two stroll out of the shop into bright daylight.
Marja adjusts her vision to the bright outdoors. The PARABOLIC sign over Treedy’s has the faint glow of an illumination spell on it, but otherwise no one or thing she encounters glows of magic. Kenyan and Kalina catch up with them as they wander around the small town. Kel, Lucre and Borin head for the temple to look for some healing potions, but not before Lucre decides he must ask the shopkeeper if she knows she is enchanted. The woman is taken aback. Of course, she’s not enchanted. What a silly thing to say. Unfortunately, the only person with a dispel magic scroll has left the shop so Lucre simply says he must be mistaken and leaves for the temple.
The Pantheon to the OMNIPOTENT is a triangular building with the front door at the right angle. The altars to the major gods line the HYPOTENUSE, while the lesser gods fill niches along the shorter sides. The INFRASTRUCTURE seems to be large heavy stones which must have been hauled from a considerable distance. All the other buildings in town are made of wood. Kel, Lucre and Borin meet Magyar, a young but wizened cleric, the YEOMAN of this ZIGGURAT. First Lucre must protest that there is no statue to Goran, god of the dwarves and a PARADIGM among the gods, in the pantheon. Borin lights a candle at the foot of Enkili, how IRONIC that a formerly NONSECTARIAN dwarf barbarian should be chosen by such a god. They tell Magyar of their journey to Hooffall. Magyar has been hearing rumors of trouble. Fewer caravans than usual have come from there. He has come to expect several regulars every year, but has not seen them this fall. In particular, no horse herds have come through at all. Twice he’s had a disturbing dream of two burning eyes telling him the gods can’t help him, that the gods are a sham, and he must give up hope. He has not yet embraced NIHILISM, but he’s been unable to SUBJUGATE a feeling of dread. Kel tells him the story of his AUSPICIOUS vision as a sign of hope, and Magyar is inspired to keep the faith. He sends them on to Regger, the tavern keeper. If anyone in town has healing potions, he would be the one. People often barter at the tavern, and he comes across an array of odd goods.
Just as they arrive at the tavern, they run into the others drawn there by hunger. Marja reports that the rest of town is hopelessly mundane. Deke sends Marja into the tavern first while the rest wait a few minutes outside, “To get the staring over with.” Kenyan tries to USURP her entrance since he will clearly turn more heads especially with his new vest, but Borin, who finds the vest VACUOUS, trips him so while Kenyan spends a few minutes cleaning himself up VEHEMENTLY, Marja enters the bar and parks herself on a barstool. She already has a drink in hand (presumable for which she did not pay) by the time the others enter and find a table.
The tavern is a large room with an open kitchen and wood-fire oven. The most delectable smells permeate the room. Every surface is abutted with stepladders, and the floor behind the bar is much hirer than the floor in front of it. Behind the bar they spy a hafling who must be Regger, cleaning a glass and chatting with Marja. Two women who seemed the right ages to be his wife and daughter, scurry about the kitchen and tables climbing up and down ladders with trays of food and drink. All the utensils in the kitchen are made for tiny hands. In fact everything is like a doll’s house, or a study in NANOTECHNOLOGY. Unlike some of the seedy bars they’ve been patronizing in Vesh, this place has a homey feel. Boy, they’re really going to regret when they inevitably smash this place to bits.
Marja brings her drink over to the table and informs the group that Regger doesn’t have any healing potions on hand. He does occasionally come across some so he’ll let them know. He’d asked her the party’s business in the area, but through CIRCUMLOCATION she'd evaded the question. The little hafling comes to take their order, scurries away and promptly returns with a tray twice the size of herself balanced on her head. From it she serves mugs for everyone and four large pitchers of beer, two stout and two ales. She places several loaves of warm bread on the table and informs them that the stew will be right up. When she returns, she’s carrying a huge ceramic pot on her tray and small bowls to go around. She leaves the lot, and everyone helps himself. How such a little creature manages to CIRCUMNAVIGATE the tavern without a spill is a mystery. Borin takes a loaf of bread, tears it in half, keeps a MOIETY and passes the rest around the table.
As they chow down they overhear the conversation of two women sitting in the corner. They are both wearing armor. One wears the insignia of the Order of the Morning Sky, the holy healers of Madriel. They are deep in conversation. “I think Goran got it wrong. He misunderstands the strategic importance of Irontooth Pass.” Lucre can’t help but introduce himself. They are Vella and Mira Brightwing. Mira is a priestess of Madriel, and her sister… Well, when she extends her arm to shake hands with Lucre, his tattoo glows. He glances down and sees that briefly a III glows on her forearm. She looks at him, “They’ve reestablished the twelfth?” Then she looks at the rag-tag party: a boy in the shining armor of Corean, a man with a winning smile in a white leather vest, a filcher in a gold fez, a slightly rumpled elf with polar bear armor and a battle axe, a graceful woman with purple hair cooing to a wolf…. “Well,” Lucre looks around sheepishly. “We’re INCOGNITO so our appearance BELIES us.” “Of course,” Vella nods reassuringly. “Beltray never was a XENOPHOBE, but I might have thought there’d be one Veshian among you.” Then she continues, “I’m just surprised and pleased that Beltray redeemed the family name, albeit with such an inHOMOGENEOUS group.” She relates a story of how Lord Beltray’s great-grandfather was accused of betraying Vesh by selling cohort secrets when Mormo attacked the city, how he was exiled and the twelfth cohort ABROGATED in shame. His grandfather worked quietly to regain the family lands, and through decent living and a humble attitude made headway through the prejudice against the family. Then Beltray’s father was the hero at the Battle of Corwin’s Run. All was forgiven by this REPARATION, but as far as she knew there was no intention of recreating the twelfth cohort. That, she presumed, was Beltray’s own achievement.
Lucre, however, is much more interested in their previous conversation. He invites them to join his group and continue their conversation. Kel seems oddly excited about these women, too. Borin, who is on his second bowl of stew and third mug of ale, not being ABSTEMIOUS, doesn’t understand. “I think Kel has a crush,” Marja whispers, noting Kel’s OBSEQUIOUS behavior, and discretely points at Mira. Deke calls out for more bread and asks if the sisters have eaten. They say they have. Mira is surprised and turns to Marja, “Is he your familiar?” “No,” responds Deke. “I’m a fully-ENFRANCHISED member of the group.” Marja laughs, “That’s good because I’m not about to become a SUFFRAGIST for filchers.” Mira chuckles lightly, and Kel who is usually SUPERCILIOUS toward Deke’s antics laughs too.
The Brightwing sisters had been speaking of the rift between the dwarves and dark elves of Drindal. These two peoples where ANTEBELLUM comrades below ground, and when the Titan Wars began and Titan Churn attacked they fought side-by-side to defend their lands. Through some confusion that no one seems to be able to clearly explain the dwarves believed the Drindali betrayed them, and they abandoned the elves in battle. Some say Thulkas, the Drindali god, almost died and now lives, FECKLESS and broken, in a statue. Others believe Goran has gone mad. Whatever did happen, the end result is that the dwarves now fight a two-fronted war, the Charduni on the surface and the Drindali underground. Mira feels strongly that both races will fall if they don’t unite against the TOTALITARIAN kingdom of Chardun. Lucre gets stubborn and defensive, his HUBRIS showing through, but Borin jumps in seeing the reason. Years spent away from his own people have left him with fewer prejudices. Whatever the old arguments were, it’s time to start again with friendship for the common good. Lucre grows quiet. How can any of this be? Not willing to ABJURE beliefs he’s held since childhood, he does decide to give the matter more consideration. The Drindali are evil, at least he’s always been told so. Kel beams at Mira’s intelligence, and her gentle persistence that through the gods, we will all find peace. Marja watches closely, but can’t tell if the feelings are RECIPROCAL.
The Brightwings are in town visiting an elderly aunt. They’ve been told that outside the city there is a nest of diggers attacking cattle, and since they’re here, they’ve promised to take care of the problem. Having never heard that NOMENCLATURE, the party asks for the TAXONOMY of Diggers. Diggers, apparently, are large bugs. Shoot, how hard can it be to exterminate a bunch of bugs. The party offers to help. They then tell the sisters about their journey to Hoofall. The usually DIFFIDENT and awkward Kel does most of the talking with Kenyan INTERPOLATING information about his own feats of daring. Kel finishes with the story of his vision on the planes. Mira seems impressed. They also tell the sisters about the enchantment spell on Willow at Treedy’s, and ask them to join the party on their journey to Hooffall.
To RECAPITULATE the conversation of the evening, the Brightwings plan to spend one more night with their aunt. They offer to check on Willow on their way. They accept the offer for help with the diggers but decline to commit to Hooffall. They promise to meet the party back at the tavern in the morning.
The evening ends quietly. The LOQUACIOUS Kenyan wanders through the tavern telling stories and singing songs. Kenyan claims to have written every song he sings. Evidently the laws of PLAGIARISM don’t apply to bards. Marja sits with Borin and Lucre practicing the Dwarvish LEXICON. Kalina seems to be engaged in a SOLILOQUY, but is really talking to Fang. The little hobbits KOWTOW to the party probably because of the huge quantities of ale they manage to consume, and everyone sleeps peacefully. Kel dreams about a white horse grazing in a verdant field. A beautiful woman with dark hair and pale skin crosses the field and pets the animal. Kel wakes up confused, but with a smile on his young face.
At breakfast the little hafling brings them a note. She hands it to Borin, who of course is uninitiated in ORTHOGRAPHY. He hands it on to someone else. “Decided to get started without you, lazybones. See you in the fields to the north.” It ends with directions.
How GAUCHE,” Kenyan remarks. “You’d think they’d have the social grace to let us eat our breakfast. Pass the GAMETES and toast.” Kel is suddenly KINETIC and in a big hurry to head out. He runs off to fetch the horses and asks the haflings to pack a lunch for the road. Borin, taking a LAISSEZ FAIRE attitude on the sisters’ actions, refuses to budge until his belly is full of fried eggs, bacon and bread. Kalina finds a double yolk and mutters something to Fang about MITOSIS although she has no concept of what a CHROMOSOME is. Still in half an hour they’re on the road.
In the distance they see a field covered with enormous molehills rather un-natural looking TECTONIC structures that gave the planes a GERRYMANDERED appearance. Two hunched figures are lying in the middle of the mounds. Kalina sooths the horses and settles them at a safe distance. They travel the rest of the way on foot.
Deke heads out across the field to the two figures as silently as possible, but his feet disturb some stones. Ten feet ahead of him a big bug-like creature about 10-feet long pops out of the ground. Deke backs up and freezes. Marja launches an ice knife and hits it square in the face. It howls, and another one pops up. It spits at Deke who deftly dodges as yellow acidic POLYMER burns the ground. The HEGEMONY of these bugs over cattle is indisputable.
Kalina turns into a hawk and flies to the two figures. She arrives there just as Deke tumbles between the two bugs and up to the bodies in an amazing show of maneuverability. They quickly assess the situation. Both sisters are INCONTROVERTIBLY dead. They listen again, but fail to hear any RESPIRATION. They holler to the group. Kel curses. What were they thinking? Why didn’t they wait? He casts bulls strength and rushes into the fray. The TEMPESTUOUS battle has begun.
Borin, who never spends much time thinking beyond the matter at hand, rages and rushes in to confront the second digger who extends a large pincer and tries to pick the slender elf body off of the ground, but finds that it’s a slender elf body with a stocky dwarf density. It’s attempt to ENERVATE him fail. Borin’s battle-axe swings forward and back. The creature lets out a piercing screech as black UNCTUOUS ichor drips down its torso. No HEMOGLOBIN here.
Kenyan finishes the first creature off with missiles from his wand, singing all the while. He loves that wand. They’re not quite the QUASARS that fireballs would be and not near the THERMODYNAMICS, but magic missiles are not bad.
Suddenly a third and fourth digger appear. Marja hits one of the SANGUINE creatures with another iceknife. The bug reels around in distress and spies Lucre. It tries to grab him with its pincer, but only scrapes against his armor. He snaps his fingers and his magic sword appears in his hand. He raises it to strike when Marja sends three magic missiles from her fingers. They wiz around either side of Lucre’s head, hit the bug squarely in the belly, and the creature falls. Lucre stamps his feet in rage and rushes over to Borin to attack the last remaining bug. Kalina flies in and touches Borin with the tip of her wing passing her healing energy into his body. With renewed strength he swings through cutting a deep gash in the bug’s belly, then he pulls back and catches the creature again on the backswing lopping off its head. He continues the swing around and hits the final bug. Kenyan again fires his wand. Suddenly, Deke is standing there, and his rapier slides effortlessly between two scales into the bug’s soft flesh. He feels a cord of some kind, probably a main artery, and with a simple flick of the wrist he causes the cord to snap. The creature falls dead.
The planes are silent once more with the gentle sound of birds chirping in the trees. It is an eerie METAMORPHOSIS. Deke and Kalina again turn their attentions to the poor Brightwing sisters. To Kel’s credit, he turns first to attend to Borin’s wounds before rushing over, but he continually mutters, “What were they thinking? Why didn’t they wait?” with a TAUTOLOGY that doesn’t even annoy Deke, it’s so sincere. In an EPIPHANY, Deke notices that the ground around the bodies isn’t soaked with blood or PLASMA, and Kalina finds a pair of heel marks. Fang sniffs around. “It doesn’t smell like blood,” he howls to Kalina. “It smells like dust, horses and rotten meat.”
Words written in CAPS are from American Heritage Dictionaries’ 100 Words Every High School Graduate Should Know. All 100 words have been used in the game summary below. A list of the words can be found at 100 words and their definitions can be found at http://dictionary.reference.com/ --Chef
Our intrepid band of FILIBUSTERS is fresh from the fall of the Meepoan OLIGARCHY which they promptly loot. Deke quickly takes a PECUNIARY tally. They find the equivalent of 2,000 gold, but mostly in copper coins. Such are the spoils of war. Deke finds one strange coin in the mix with the letters E-U-R-O (EURO) written on it. It’s not worth anything as near as he can figure so he tosses it into the grass. They also find a blur potion, an invisibility potion, a scroll with shield, invisibility and teleport, bracers of armor (+1), a wand, a ring and tanglefoot bags. Lucre searches Threeba and finds a small crystal around her neck. When he picks it up, he can hear voices, the multitude of BELLICOSE voices Threeba lived with inside her head. The voices grow weaker until at last they fade away. Lucre, remembering the vision of Threeba as a VORTEX on the psionic plane, crushes the crystal in an act of EXPURGATION. He finds another, similar crystal in her pocket. It feels empty to him, like a closet for his mind. (It’s a crystal capacitor). From the markings on the ring Kenyan is pretty sure it’s a ring of protection. Marja stands over the body of Meepo. He seems so small now. She remembers how EVANESCENT he was in gaseous form and wonders if she can learn that spell.
They head out in the direction of Mansk, a remote city that Borin has heard of because they have a temple to Enkhili there. Kalina spends her days in eagle form presumably to scout ahead, but secretly because she enjoys the opportunity to merge her body with the natural world around her. Kenyan continues to write songs of the party’s adventures which Lucre attempts to get him to BOWDLERIZE. Instead Kenyan INCULCATES the party members so they can all sing along. They move through rolling hills, none of them PRECIPITOUS, and grasslands speckled with DECIDUOUS trees actively engaged in PHOTOSYNTHESIS. Basically, the trip is JEJUNE.
On the sixth day out Kel sees a herd of white horses running across the plane. No one else sees or hears anything. Kel drops to his knees and thanks Corean for this holy vision. The rumors of trouble at Hooffall had left Kel LUGUBRIOUS, but now his heart is uplifted by the good omen despite the fact that in every settlement along the way they hear tales that Hooffall has been cursed.
At eventide of the sixth day the party approaches a fairly large settlement for the area with about 20 or 30 houses and well-tended fields. They see a rickety sign hung in place with OXIDIZING nails. It has the white horse of Corean carved into the top and crude white letters that read, “Welcome to Treadle, Pop. 960.” The town looks neat, but poor. In the center of town they find a large square with four buildings, one on each side, surrounded by pickets. The pickets were obviously meant as a defense, but they appear rarely used. In fact, some of the local homes have strung laundry lines to them. Clearly defense is not a QUOTIDIAN chore. Around the square they find Zolo’s Livery Stables, the Waving Stalk Tavern, a long low building marked Civic Hall which joins to a Pantheon, and a dry goods shop with an ornate sign that reads “Treedy’s, Provisioners since 100 av. (For reference it is the year 150 av.) The entire town appears quite charming which makes the party feel it must be DELETERIOUS in some way.
The party leaves their horses with the blacksmith, Zolo, for one night for a mere 7 coppers. He’s very chatty and amiable. He is unaware of any trouble at Hooffall, but says no one from the town has been there since the Spring Rising (vernal EQUINOX) six months ago. He shows them some of the horse shoes he has WROUGHT and promised to replace a few that their horses threw.
Next they decide to explore Treedy’s. A little bell hung over the door rings as they enter the shop. A round middle-aged woman steps from a back room. “Look around and let me know if you need anything. My name is Willow,” she says with a smile. “Oh, we also NOTARIZE.” Inside, wherever the eye chooses to fall it meets with a barrage. Every surface, every wall, every nook is filled to the brim with gadgets and goods. There are baskets of seeds, a wall of ladies’ bonnets, toys, dried food and mushrooms although nothing exotic. On the counter are two rows of clean glass jars filled with every imaginable sweet. “Copper candy!” Marja exclaims. “Wow, I haven’t bought a bag of copper candy since I was a little girl.” Lucre wants to know who would eat candy made of copper, but Deke explains that it only costs a copper. Deke’s mouth waters at the luxury he could never afford in his childhood. Marja pulls out a couple of copper pieces, buys a bag of hard licorice and fills the other with random treats. She passes them around while they explore the rest of the store.
On the wall of hats Deke finds a fez of gold fabric with a shiny gold tassel. He’s taken with it like it’s a new toy and plunks it down on the counter. “Uh, Miss,” the shopkeeper calls Marja. “Your pet is playing with the hats. I don’t want no CHICANERY here.” “Oh, let him buy whatever he wants,” Marja dismisses the shop lady’s concerns. “He has his own money.” “Yes, I am my own FIDUCIARY agent,” Deke answers FACETIOUSLY. Still Willow WINNOWS some of the smaller more expensive items off of the counter. Marja moves over to a row of hair ribbons and starts picking out a few brightly colored ones for her thick black braids and selects a few for Borin too, now that she has taken it upon herself to make sure his/her hair is neatly braided each morning. Lucre calls out that she should pick a few neutral colored ones for his beard, nothing CHURLISH. She selects a few and takes them over for his approval. Lucre stands at a pile of silk rope that he intends to buy, and as Marja passes he whispers that he suspects mind control on the shop lady. He finds something odd about the town although he is reluctant to IMPEACH it on so little evidence. Marja moves behind a rack of farm tools and casts detect magic silently. Meanwhile Kenyan has found a vest and water skin of shiny white leather with bright blue beads. He is completely taken with the ensemble. He puts the vest on and searches for a mirror to admire himself. The others think he looks a little FATUOUS. “Sorry, son. We don’t have no mirrors here. They’re rare and expensive things in the wilderness.”
Marja wanders around the shop carefully scanning for magic with her enhanced ACUMEN. As she approaches each of her companions something radiates from them. Wow! She’d never realized how highly charged they were? Nothing in the shop glows at all. It appears that everything is quite mundane. She heads to the counter with her ribbons and looks carefully at the shopkeeper. Indeed, the woman has a glow, the distinctive PARAMETER of magic. Marja concentrates on the aura. Ah, it has the green shine of enchantment. She whispers to Lucre and Kel, then she announces in a loud voice, “Shoot, I left something in my horse’s pack. I’ll catch up with you later. Come along, Deke,” and the two stroll out of the shop into bright daylight.
Marja adjusts her vision to the bright outdoors. The PARABOLIC sign over Treedy’s has the faint glow of an illumination spell on it, but otherwise no one or thing she encounters glows of magic. Kenyan and Kalina catch up with them as they wander around the small town. Kel, Lucre and Borin head for the temple to look for some healing potions, but not before Lucre decides he must ask the shopkeeper if she knows she is enchanted. The woman is taken aback. Of course, she’s not enchanted. What a silly thing to say. Unfortunately, the only person with a dispel magic scroll has left the shop so Lucre simply says he must be mistaken and leaves for the temple.
The Pantheon to the OMNIPOTENT is a triangular building with the front door at the right angle. The altars to the major gods line the HYPOTENUSE, while the lesser gods fill niches along the shorter sides. The INFRASTRUCTURE seems to be large heavy stones which must have been hauled from a considerable distance. All the other buildings in town are made of wood. Kel, Lucre and Borin meet Magyar, a young but wizened cleric, the YEOMAN of this ZIGGURAT. First Lucre must protest that there is no statue to Goran, god of the dwarves and a PARADIGM among the gods, in the pantheon. Borin lights a candle at the foot of Enkili, how IRONIC that a formerly NONSECTARIAN dwarf barbarian should be chosen by such a god. They tell Magyar of their journey to Hooffall. Magyar has been hearing rumors of trouble. Fewer caravans than usual have come from there. He has come to expect several regulars every year, but has not seen them this fall. In particular, no horse herds have come through at all. Twice he’s had a disturbing dream of two burning eyes telling him the gods can’t help him, that the gods are a sham, and he must give up hope. He has not yet embraced NIHILISM, but he’s been unable to SUBJUGATE a feeling of dread. Kel tells him the story of his AUSPICIOUS vision as a sign of hope, and Magyar is inspired to keep the faith. He sends them on to Regger, the tavern keeper. If anyone in town has healing potions, he would be the one. People often barter at the tavern, and he comes across an array of odd goods.
Just as they arrive at the tavern, they run into the others drawn there by hunger. Marja reports that the rest of town is hopelessly mundane. Deke sends Marja into the tavern first while the rest wait a few minutes outside, “To get the staring over with.” Kenyan tries to USURP her entrance since he will clearly turn more heads especially with his new vest, but Borin, who finds the vest VACUOUS, trips him so while Kenyan spends a few minutes cleaning himself up VEHEMENTLY, Marja enters the bar and parks herself on a barstool. She already has a drink in hand (presumable for which she did not pay) by the time the others enter and find a table.
The tavern is a large room with an open kitchen and wood-fire oven. The most delectable smells permeate the room. Every surface is abutted with stepladders, and the floor behind the bar is much hirer than the floor in front of it. Behind the bar they spy a hafling who must be Regger, cleaning a glass and chatting with Marja. Two women who seemed the right ages to be his wife and daughter, scurry about the kitchen and tables climbing up and down ladders with trays of food and drink. All the utensils in the kitchen are made for tiny hands. In fact everything is like a doll’s house, or a study in NANOTECHNOLOGY. Unlike some of the seedy bars they’ve been patronizing in Vesh, this place has a homey feel. Boy, they’re really going to regret when they inevitably smash this place to bits.
Marja brings her drink over to the table and informs the group that Regger doesn’t have any healing potions on hand. He does occasionally come across some so he’ll let them know. He’d asked her the party’s business in the area, but through CIRCUMLOCATION she'd evaded the question. The little hafling comes to take their order, scurries away and promptly returns with a tray twice the size of herself balanced on her head. From it she serves mugs for everyone and four large pitchers of beer, two stout and two ales. She places several loaves of warm bread on the table and informs them that the stew will be right up. When she returns, she’s carrying a huge ceramic pot on her tray and small bowls to go around. She leaves the lot, and everyone helps himself. How such a little creature manages to CIRCUMNAVIGATE the tavern without a spill is a mystery. Borin takes a loaf of bread, tears it in half, keeps a MOIETY and passes the rest around the table.
As they chow down they overhear the conversation of two women sitting in the corner. They are both wearing armor. One wears the insignia of the Order of the Morning Sky, the holy healers of Madriel. They are deep in conversation. “I think Goran got it wrong. He misunderstands the strategic importance of Irontooth Pass.” Lucre can’t help but introduce himself. They are Vella and Mira Brightwing. Mira is a priestess of Madriel, and her sister… Well, when she extends her arm to shake hands with Lucre, his tattoo glows. He glances down and sees that briefly a III glows on her forearm. She looks at him, “They’ve reestablished the twelfth?” Then she looks at the rag-tag party: a boy in the shining armor of Corean, a man with a winning smile in a white leather vest, a filcher in a gold fez, a slightly rumpled elf with polar bear armor and a battle axe, a graceful woman with purple hair cooing to a wolf…. “Well,” Lucre looks around sheepishly. “We’re INCOGNITO so our appearance BELIES us.” “Of course,” Vella nods reassuringly. “Beltray never was a XENOPHOBE, but I might have thought there’d be one Veshian among you.” Then she continues, “I’m just surprised and pleased that Beltray redeemed the family name, albeit with such an inHOMOGENEOUS group.” She relates a story of how Lord Beltray’s great-grandfather was accused of betraying Vesh by selling cohort secrets when Mormo attacked the city, how he was exiled and the twelfth cohort ABROGATED in shame. His grandfather worked quietly to regain the family lands, and through decent living and a humble attitude made headway through the prejudice against the family. Then Beltray’s father was the hero at the Battle of Corwin’s Run. All was forgiven by this REPARATION, but as far as she knew there was no intention of recreating the twelfth cohort. That, she presumed, was Beltray’s own achievement.
Lucre, however, is much more interested in their previous conversation. He invites them to join his group and continue their conversation. Kel seems oddly excited about these women, too. Borin, who is on his second bowl of stew and third mug of ale, not being ABSTEMIOUS, doesn’t understand. “I think Kel has a crush,” Marja whispers, noting Kel’s OBSEQUIOUS behavior, and discretely points at Mira. Deke calls out for more bread and asks if the sisters have eaten. They say they have. Mira is surprised and turns to Marja, “Is he your familiar?” “No,” responds Deke. “I’m a fully-ENFRANCHISED member of the group.” Marja laughs, “That’s good because I’m not about to become a SUFFRAGIST for filchers.” Mira chuckles lightly, and Kel who is usually SUPERCILIOUS toward Deke’s antics laughs too.
The Brightwing sisters had been speaking of the rift between the dwarves and dark elves of Drindal. These two peoples where ANTEBELLUM comrades below ground, and when the Titan Wars began and Titan Churn attacked they fought side-by-side to defend their lands. Through some confusion that no one seems to be able to clearly explain the dwarves believed the Drindali betrayed them, and they abandoned the elves in battle. Some say Thulkas, the Drindali god, almost died and now lives, FECKLESS and broken, in a statue. Others believe Goran has gone mad. Whatever did happen, the end result is that the dwarves now fight a two-fronted war, the Charduni on the surface and the Drindali underground. Mira feels strongly that both races will fall if they don’t unite against the TOTALITARIAN kingdom of Chardun. Lucre gets stubborn and defensive, his HUBRIS showing through, but Borin jumps in seeing the reason. Years spent away from his own people have left him with fewer prejudices. Whatever the old arguments were, it’s time to start again with friendship for the common good. Lucre grows quiet. How can any of this be? Not willing to ABJURE beliefs he’s held since childhood, he does decide to give the matter more consideration. The Drindali are evil, at least he’s always been told so. Kel beams at Mira’s intelligence, and her gentle persistence that through the gods, we will all find peace. Marja watches closely, but can’t tell if the feelings are RECIPROCAL.
The Brightwings are in town visiting an elderly aunt. They’ve been told that outside the city there is a nest of diggers attacking cattle, and since they’re here, they’ve promised to take care of the problem. Having never heard that NOMENCLATURE, the party asks for the TAXONOMY of Diggers. Diggers, apparently, are large bugs. Shoot, how hard can it be to exterminate a bunch of bugs. The party offers to help. They then tell the sisters about their journey to Hoofall. The usually DIFFIDENT and awkward Kel does most of the talking with Kenyan INTERPOLATING information about his own feats of daring. Kel finishes with the story of his vision on the planes. Mira seems impressed. They also tell the sisters about the enchantment spell on Willow at Treedy’s, and ask them to join the party on their journey to Hooffall.
To RECAPITULATE the conversation of the evening, the Brightwings plan to spend one more night with their aunt. They offer to check on Willow on their way. They accept the offer for help with the diggers but decline to commit to Hooffall. They promise to meet the party back at the tavern in the morning.
The evening ends quietly. The LOQUACIOUS Kenyan wanders through the tavern telling stories and singing songs. Kenyan claims to have written every song he sings. Evidently the laws of PLAGIARISM don’t apply to bards. Marja sits with Borin and Lucre practicing the Dwarvish LEXICON. Kalina seems to be engaged in a SOLILOQUY, but is really talking to Fang. The little hobbits KOWTOW to the party probably because of the huge quantities of ale they manage to consume, and everyone sleeps peacefully. Kel dreams about a white horse grazing in a verdant field. A beautiful woman with dark hair and pale skin crosses the field and pets the animal. Kel wakes up confused, but with a smile on his young face.
At breakfast the little hafling brings them a note. She hands it to Borin, who of course is uninitiated in ORTHOGRAPHY. He hands it on to someone else. “Decided to get started without you, lazybones. See you in the fields to the north.” It ends with directions.
How GAUCHE,” Kenyan remarks. “You’d think they’d have the social grace to let us eat our breakfast. Pass the GAMETES and toast.” Kel is suddenly KINETIC and in a big hurry to head out. He runs off to fetch the horses and asks the haflings to pack a lunch for the road. Borin, taking a LAISSEZ FAIRE attitude on the sisters’ actions, refuses to budge until his belly is full of fried eggs, bacon and bread. Kalina finds a double yolk and mutters something to Fang about MITOSIS although she has no concept of what a CHROMOSOME is. Still in half an hour they’re on the road.
In the distance they see a field covered with enormous molehills rather un-natural looking TECTONIC structures that gave the planes a GERRYMANDERED appearance. Two hunched figures are lying in the middle of the mounds. Kalina sooths the horses and settles them at a safe distance. They travel the rest of the way on foot.
Deke heads out across the field to the two figures as silently as possible, but his feet disturb some stones. Ten feet ahead of him a big bug-like creature about 10-feet long pops out of the ground. Deke backs up and freezes. Marja launches an ice knife and hits it square in the face. It howls, and another one pops up. It spits at Deke who deftly dodges as yellow acidic POLYMER burns the ground. The HEGEMONY of these bugs over cattle is indisputable.
Kalina turns into a hawk and flies to the two figures. She arrives there just as Deke tumbles between the two bugs and up to the bodies in an amazing show of maneuverability. They quickly assess the situation. Both sisters are INCONTROVERTIBLY dead. They listen again, but fail to hear any RESPIRATION. They holler to the group. Kel curses. What were they thinking? Why didn’t they wait? He casts bulls strength and rushes into the fray. The TEMPESTUOUS battle has begun.
Borin, who never spends much time thinking beyond the matter at hand, rages and rushes in to confront the second digger who extends a large pincer and tries to pick the slender elf body off of the ground, but finds that it’s a slender elf body with a stocky dwarf density. It’s attempt to ENERVATE him fail. Borin’s battle-axe swings forward and back. The creature lets out a piercing screech as black UNCTUOUS ichor drips down its torso. No HEMOGLOBIN here.
Kenyan finishes the first creature off with missiles from his wand, singing all the while. He loves that wand. They’re not quite the QUASARS that fireballs would be and not near the THERMODYNAMICS, but magic missiles are not bad.
Suddenly a third and fourth digger appear. Marja hits one of the SANGUINE creatures with another iceknife. The bug reels around in distress and spies Lucre. It tries to grab him with its pincer, but only scrapes against his armor. He snaps his fingers and his magic sword appears in his hand. He raises it to strike when Marja sends three magic missiles from her fingers. They wiz around either side of Lucre’s head, hit the bug squarely in the belly, and the creature falls. Lucre stamps his feet in rage and rushes over to Borin to attack the last remaining bug. Kalina flies in and touches Borin with the tip of her wing passing her healing energy into his body. With renewed strength he swings through cutting a deep gash in the bug’s belly, then he pulls back and catches the creature again on the backswing lopping off its head. He continues the swing around and hits the final bug. Kenyan again fires his wand. Suddenly, Deke is standing there, and his rapier slides effortlessly between two scales into the bug’s soft flesh. He feels a cord of some kind, probably a main artery, and with a simple flick of the wrist he causes the cord to snap. The creature falls dead.
The planes are silent once more with the gentle sound of birds chirping in the trees. It is an eerie METAMORPHOSIS. Deke and Kalina again turn their attentions to the poor Brightwing sisters. To Kel’s credit, he turns first to attend to Borin’s wounds before rushing over, but he continually mutters, “What were they thinking? Why didn’t they wait?” with a TAUTOLOGY that doesn’t even annoy Deke, it’s so sincere. In an EPIPHANY, Deke notices that the ground around the bodies isn’t soaked with blood or PLASMA, and Kalina finds a pair of heel marks. Fang sniffs around. “It doesn’t smell like blood,” he howls to Kalina. “It smells like dust, horses and rotten meat.”
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Iron Chef BBQ
First Post
(contact) said:
I double-checked, and I don't think so. Did you count E-U-R-O in the first paragraph? Euro was one of the words on the list, as odd as that is.
Chef
(contact)
Explorer
Ah, E-U-R-O. Pretty tricky.
Although, if you think about it, without that word, our American high school graduates couldn't use Euro as a slang prefix for anything they wanted to designate as coming from Europe, like 'Euro-wave', 'Euro-blend', or 'Euro-trash'.
But why wasn't 'Afro' on the list? (raises eyebrows)
Although, if you think about it, without that word, our American high school graduates couldn't use Euro as a slang prefix for anything they wanted to designate as coming from Europe, like 'Euro-wave', 'Euro-blend', or 'Euro-trash'.
But why wasn't 'Afro' on the list? (raises eyebrows)
Iron Chef BBQ
First Post
Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf? (run of 06-16-03)
Our intrepid band of weary adventurers stands around the broken bodies of the Brightwing sisters. They are deeply saddened by the deaths of these bright and capable women. Borin, Lucre and Marja are all pretty badly wounded so as the party discusses what to do next, the healers wander from person to person attending as best they can.
They decide to light the speak with dead candle they found in the tent of the Charduni anti-Palladin. Kel holds the candle, lights the flame and addresses Mira. Dark black smoke curls up from the candle and swirls around the dead figure. The smoke penetrates the body, through the ears, nose, mouth, and they hear a slow sucking sound, and high-pitched squeal that starts out very faintly and grows in intensity until they are covering their ears against the terrible wail. Mira’s body writhes in pain. This upsets Kel, but he holds the candle tighter and begins, “What killed you?”
“Glowing eyes. All I saw were glowing eyes in the darkness. Terrible. Help me!”
Sweat is pouring down Kel’s face. “Where?”
“In the alley near my aunt’s.” The body screams. “The pain! Make it stop!”
Kel is flustered and anxious to put poor Mira out of her misery. He means to ask if they were attacked before or after they went to see Willow, the enchanted shopkeeper, but instead he asks, “Before or after you saw your aunt.”
“Before,” Mira cries. The candle burns low, and the flames lick at Kel’s hand. They are hot, and Kel drops the candle. The flame goes out. The smoke stops, and Mira’s body falls lifeless.
“I asked the last question wrong,” he apologizes. The entire party is shaken. Marja puts her hand gently on Kel’s shoulder. “We can assume it was after seeing Willow, on their way home. You did good.”
They gather up the bodies as best they can and head back to town. They discuss what to do next. Lucre feels an obligation to figure out who killed the sisters, and Kel points out that once the trail grows cold, they may never be able to solve the murder. Borin, however, will not be swayed from their mission. Kalina concurs. They must all be focused on Hooffall. Tracking down this killer would certainly put them in danger, perhaps even cause more deaths, and make helping Hooffall all the harder. Marja thinks that this may actually be a ripple effect from the problems at Hooffall. Save Hooffall, solve the murder. Lucre and Kel are persuaded. They will all stay focused on their mission, BUT they will return this way to find the killer when their mission is completed.
They stop at the Inn to speak to Regger. It has occurred to them that they don’t know the name of the sisters’ aunt or where she lives. He, of course, knows. She lives at the end of Big Head Alley, and her name is Miss Charlotte. She used to be the schoolteacher, and is really smart, hence the name “Big Head” Alley.
As they step into the alley, Fang’s hackles rise. He backs out of the alley and is afraid to proceed. Kalina spends time calming him. He isn’t being very clear, but she tells the group that whatever he’s afraid of is no longer in the alley. He says he smells, “a grave, big, bad and angry.” Finally, Kalina manages to coax him through the alley, and they find themselves standing at the door of Charlotte Brightwing.
Suddenly, the realization of what they’re here to do hits them. They all become sullen and gloomy. Deke knocks at the door. Miss Charlotte is white-haired and spry. Her sharp blue eyes sparkle. She asks them all in, and Kel breaks the news. “Right outside my house?” she mutters. “I didn’t hear a thing, and I stayed up half the night waiting for those girls.” Then she drifts into reverie. “They were good girls, they were. Always helping other people. And very bright. I taught them to read and write in this very room.”
That gives Lucre an idea. “Marja, show her the note.” Marja pulls the note supposedly written by one of the sisters from her pocket. Charlotte is sure that’s not either of their writings. In fact, she’s pretty sure it’s not anyone from this town. She has personally taught everyone in this town for two generations to write, and she taught the way her predecessor taught her. No, that is definitely not Treadle handwriting. She wonders if this has something to do with all the mess they’ve been hearing about Hooffall. The party is surprised. So few people in town ever mention troubles there. Well, Charlotte concedes, the town likes to keep their troubles to themselves.
They leave the poor woman to her to her grief and head back to town. Marja and Borin head for the temple to speak to Magyar. The others head back to the Inn. Kenyan has an idea. He tries to casts detect magic, but Regger protests. “No making with the boom in my bar!” he protests. “No, no,” Kenyan bluffs. “It wasn’t a spell. I was preparing to sing you a song.” Kenyan strikes a pose and begins to sing. Remarkably, he manages to sing a song about a happy frog, and between the verses, he casts. As he suspected, Regger glows with enchantment magic.
Distracted by Kenyan’s song, Regger doesn’t notice Kalina casting too. She dispels the enchantment, and they question the hafling. Nothing seems to have changed. They tell him about the spell. The only thing that seems different is that he has a vague memory that he wasn’t supposed to tell anyone something, but he can’t remember what that might have been. “I seem to have a hole in my brain,” he muses.
Our adventurers hit the road which is more like a well-worn path through the woods. Kalina, in hawk form, scouts up ahead. Everyone is tired, many are still wounded so they move slowly on horseback. They stop to munch on bread, cheese and ale around mid-day. The cheese those little haflings make in Treadle is pretty darn tasty.
About two hours later as they’re coming to the bottom of a small valley Marja hears something up ahead. “I hear a dog panting,” Marja says. “A what?” The others are perplexed. “A dog panting. You know, like this: ha, ha, ha.” As the group begins to laugh at Marja’s dog imitation, they all spot dark forms cresting the hill in the distance. Fang growls. He can smell them from here – Wolves!
The group spreads out with Kenyan taking his customary defense-of-the-rear position saying, “Everybody fan out in the classic protect the bard pose.”
Borin tumbles from the saddle and runs up the hill. Lucre also dismounts, but instead of running to meet the huge creatures, he spends a moment to reach inside his head to unleash his power. He calls it reach, but the rest of the group call it weird freaky arms. Kel spots a pair of glowing eyes. Remembering Mira’s post-last words, he charges on his mount, a huge war horse. Both of their armors catch the dim light through the trees.
There are six wolves, the one in the middle has the yellow glowing eyes and is much larger than the rest. All are larger than Fang. Kel reaches the largest one and scrapes across its side with his lance. Suddenly, Kel is surrounded by wolves. One puts a huge slash through his horse’s right rear leg severing the tendon. Three others lunge, pulling Kel from his steed and ripping at his body.
Kalina swoops down onto Kel. Fang rushes in too. Touching both the young warrior and his horse Kalina calls upon the power of the surrounding pine trees. Fresh sap-filled needles fall upon them filling the air with a strong pine scent. Suddenly, the wolves turn away. They can no longer see or smell Kalina, Kel or the horse. (invisible to animals)
Now the only creature within the wolves’ reach is Fang. The wolf-leader rages, foams at the mouth and lunges at Fang. Over the growls the sound of Kenyan singing fills the air.
Borin rages and moves into a position opposite Fang. The masterwork battleaxe flies through the air down onto the back of the nearest creature. He’s getting used to the extra height this elf body gives him. Out of nowhere Lucre is by his side (psionic burst) charging the same creature, his sword crashing down into the wound left by the axe.
The wolves rush from Kel to these new attackers giving Borin, Fang and Lucre an opportunity to attack again as the creatures approach. All three create huge gashes across the creatures’ torsos. Lucre severs a back leg, but then the wolves attack! They tear at Fang’s throat, and he falls unconscious. The party gasps as one as they see him fall. Garnet, Marja’s familiar, is particularly alarmed to see a fellow creature drop to the ground. “That’s why I wear my animal friends as jewelry,” Marja reassures the tiny snake delicately wrapped around her wrist.
Marja rises into the air and hovers over the red-eyed wolf, out of reach of its jump. She fires magic missiles down upon its nose and eyes. The wolf snarls and snaps, but being unable to reach Marja, it bites at Lucre tearing a bloody gash in his arm.
Kalina swoops down and regenerates Kel while Kenyan attempts to inspire fear, but these dire wolves don’t seem to be afraid of anything. From a safe distance, Deke, the tiny filcher, shoots arrows into the fray.
Borin barrels in with a full attack. One! Two! His great axe crashes down on the back of the red-eyed wolf. A sickly cracking sound rises over the howls and snarls. The glowing red eyes go dim, and the creature falls. Borin continues his swing straight through to the next wolf severing off a leg. Moving like a whirlwind, he spins 360 degrees and catches the same creature under the chin. This beast falls dead next to the corpse of its leader. He turns again and lops off the ears of the next wolf within his reach.
Lucre clucks in admiration as he turns his attention to his closest foe. His sword comes down hard on the creature’s back, snapping its spine. Its back legs go limp, and it is unable to lunge. Lucre steps out of reach of its snapping jaws and taunts it.
Again the wolves close in attacking the nearest conscious members of the party. Kalina yells that this behavior is odd for wolves. With their leader dead, they should retreat. She suspects mind control. She swoops down to stabilize Fang. Since she has now touched an animal, she and Kel are now visible and scented to the wolves, but they should have more interest in the animate Borin and Lucre than in the unconscious, but rejuvenating Kel.
Marja, Kenyan and Deke continue to pepper the remaining three wolves with ranged attacks, magical and mundane. Borin tumbles in to flank with his cousin and lops of the jaw of the nearest wolf. Remarkably, the creature does not fall. Lucre counters by cutting off the creature’s tail and finally gets his kill. The poor jawless wolf looks at its tailless hind end and dies of ignominy.
There are two wolves remaining. They attack Lucre who is beginning to look bad. He fears he won’t stand through another attack. Marja shoots six magic missiles, one at a time. She kills one wolf and wounds the other. Kenyan moves into harm’s way and heals Kel back to consciousness. Kel sits bolt upright scaring the bloody crap out of Kenyan. Kel hears the faint whinnying of a horse in his ears. He mumbles a prayer of thanks to Corean.
Deke sneaks in with his rapier and skewers the lone wolf in an indelicate location. The creature turns in surprise, and Borin swings with all his force. Finally, the party drops in exhaustion surrounded by the bodies of the slain enemy.
The healers tend to the wounded while sheepskins are donned. Borin laughs at the thought of how they must look as they turn into sheep and back again for the healing properties of the transformation spells. They find a copse of trees and set up camp for the night. All fall into a sound sleep except those keeping watch.
Since Deke has great night vision and no spells to sleep for he takes the midnight watch. He hears a sound in the brush and sneaks in to investigate. He sees a figure shrouded in red smoke. Although he is completely hidden, he can’t resist. He steps into the clearing and …. Suddenly, the party is awakened by Deke’s screams.
Deke staggers into the camp clutching his neck. He looks noticeably weakened. “I mooned it, and it bit me!”
Our intrepid band of weary adventurers stands around the broken bodies of the Brightwing sisters. They are deeply saddened by the deaths of these bright and capable women. Borin, Lucre and Marja are all pretty badly wounded so as the party discusses what to do next, the healers wander from person to person attending as best they can.
They decide to light the speak with dead candle they found in the tent of the Charduni anti-Palladin. Kel holds the candle, lights the flame and addresses Mira. Dark black smoke curls up from the candle and swirls around the dead figure. The smoke penetrates the body, through the ears, nose, mouth, and they hear a slow sucking sound, and high-pitched squeal that starts out very faintly and grows in intensity until they are covering their ears against the terrible wail. Mira’s body writhes in pain. This upsets Kel, but he holds the candle tighter and begins, “What killed you?”
“Glowing eyes. All I saw were glowing eyes in the darkness. Terrible. Help me!”
Sweat is pouring down Kel’s face. “Where?”
“In the alley near my aunt’s.” The body screams. “The pain! Make it stop!”
Kel is flustered and anxious to put poor Mira out of her misery. He means to ask if they were attacked before or after they went to see Willow, the enchanted shopkeeper, but instead he asks, “Before or after you saw your aunt.”
“Before,” Mira cries. The candle burns low, and the flames lick at Kel’s hand. They are hot, and Kel drops the candle. The flame goes out. The smoke stops, and Mira’s body falls lifeless.
“I asked the last question wrong,” he apologizes. The entire party is shaken. Marja puts her hand gently on Kel’s shoulder. “We can assume it was after seeing Willow, on their way home. You did good.”
They gather up the bodies as best they can and head back to town. They discuss what to do next. Lucre feels an obligation to figure out who killed the sisters, and Kel points out that once the trail grows cold, they may never be able to solve the murder. Borin, however, will not be swayed from their mission. Kalina concurs. They must all be focused on Hooffall. Tracking down this killer would certainly put them in danger, perhaps even cause more deaths, and make helping Hooffall all the harder. Marja thinks that this may actually be a ripple effect from the problems at Hooffall. Save Hooffall, solve the murder. Lucre and Kel are persuaded. They will all stay focused on their mission, BUT they will return this way to find the killer when their mission is completed.
They stop at the Inn to speak to Regger. It has occurred to them that they don’t know the name of the sisters’ aunt or where she lives. He, of course, knows. She lives at the end of Big Head Alley, and her name is Miss Charlotte. She used to be the schoolteacher, and is really smart, hence the name “Big Head” Alley.
As they step into the alley, Fang’s hackles rise. He backs out of the alley and is afraid to proceed. Kalina spends time calming him. He isn’t being very clear, but she tells the group that whatever he’s afraid of is no longer in the alley. He says he smells, “a grave, big, bad and angry.” Finally, Kalina manages to coax him through the alley, and they find themselves standing at the door of Charlotte Brightwing.
Suddenly, the realization of what they’re here to do hits them. They all become sullen and gloomy. Deke knocks at the door. Miss Charlotte is white-haired and spry. Her sharp blue eyes sparkle. She asks them all in, and Kel breaks the news. “Right outside my house?” she mutters. “I didn’t hear a thing, and I stayed up half the night waiting for those girls.” Then she drifts into reverie. “They were good girls, they were. Always helping other people. And very bright. I taught them to read and write in this very room.”
That gives Lucre an idea. “Marja, show her the note.” Marja pulls the note supposedly written by one of the sisters from her pocket. Charlotte is sure that’s not either of their writings. In fact, she’s pretty sure it’s not anyone from this town. She has personally taught everyone in this town for two generations to write, and she taught the way her predecessor taught her. No, that is definitely not Treadle handwriting. She wonders if this has something to do with all the mess they’ve been hearing about Hooffall. The party is surprised. So few people in town ever mention troubles there. Well, Charlotte concedes, the town likes to keep their troubles to themselves.
They leave the poor woman to her to her grief and head back to town. Marja and Borin head for the temple to speak to Magyar. The others head back to the Inn. Kenyan has an idea. He tries to casts detect magic, but Regger protests. “No making with the boom in my bar!” he protests. “No, no,” Kenyan bluffs. “It wasn’t a spell. I was preparing to sing you a song.” Kenyan strikes a pose and begins to sing. Remarkably, he manages to sing a song about a happy frog, and between the verses, he casts. As he suspected, Regger glows with enchantment magic.
Distracted by Kenyan’s song, Regger doesn’t notice Kalina casting too. She dispels the enchantment, and they question the hafling. Nothing seems to have changed. They tell him about the spell. The only thing that seems different is that he has a vague memory that he wasn’t supposed to tell anyone something, but he can’t remember what that might have been. “I seem to have a hole in my brain,” he muses.
Our adventurers hit the road which is more like a well-worn path through the woods. Kalina, in hawk form, scouts up ahead. Everyone is tired, many are still wounded so they move slowly on horseback. They stop to munch on bread, cheese and ale around mid-day. The cheese those little haflings make in Treadle is pretty darn tasty.
About two hours later as they’re coming to the bottom of a small valley Marja hears something up ahead. “I hear a dog panting,” Marja says. “A what?” The others are perplexed. “A dog panting. You know, like this: ha, ha, ha.” As the group begins to laugh at Marja’s dog imitation, they all spot dark forms cresting the hill in the distance. Fang growls. He can smell them from here – Wolves!
The group spreads out with Kenyan taking his customary defense-of-the-rear position saying, “Everybody fan out in the classic protect the bard pose.”
Borin tumbles from the saddle and runs up the hill. Lucre also dismounts, but instead of running to meet the huge creatures, he spends a moment to reach inside his head to unleash his power. He calls it reach, but the rest of the group call it weird freaky arms. Kel spots a pair of glowing eyes. Remembering Mira’s post-last words, he charges on his mount, a huge war horse. Both of their armors catch the dim light through the trees.
There are six wolves, the one in the middle has the yellow glowing eyes and is much larger than the rest. All are larger than Fang. Kel reaches the largest one and scrapes across its side with his lance. Suddenly, Kel is surrounded by wolves. One puts a huge slash through his horse’s right rear leg severing the tendon. Three others lunge, pulling Kel from his steed and ripping at his body.
Kalina swoops down onto Kel. Fang rushes in too. Touching both the young warrior and his horse Kalina calls upon the power of the surrounding pine trees. Fresh sap-filled needles fall upon them filling the air with a strong pine scent. Suddenly, the wolves turn away. They can no longer see or smell Kalina, Kel or the horse. (invisible to animals)
Now the only creature within the wolves’ reach is Fang. The wolf-leader rages, foams at the mouth and lunges at Fang. Over the growls the sound of Kenyan singing fills the air.
Borin rages and moves into a position opposite Fang. The masterwork battleaxe flies through the air down onto the back of the nearest creature. He’s getting used to the extra height this elf body gives him. Out of nowhere Lucre is by his side (psionic burst) charging the same creature, his sword crashing down into the wound left by the axe.
The wolves rush from Kel to these new attackers giving Borin, Fang and Lucre an opportunity to attack again as the creatures approach. All three create huge gashes across the creatures’ torsos. Lucre severs a back leg, but then the wolves attack! They tear at Fang’s throat, and he falls unconscious. The party gasps as one as they see him fall. Garnet, Marja’s familiar, is particularly alarmed to see a fellow creature drop to the ground. “That’s why I wear my animal friends as jewelry,” Marja reassures the tiny snake delicately wrapped around her wrist.
Marja rises into the air and hovers over the red-eyed wolf, out of reach of its jump. She fires magic missiles down upon its nose and eyes. The wolf snarls and snaps, but being unable to reach Marja, it bites at Lucre tearing a bloody gash in his arm.
Kalina swoops down and regenerates Kel while Kenyan attempts to inspire fear, but these dire wolves don’t seem to be afraid of anything. From a safe distance, Deke, the tiny filcher, shoots arrows into the fray.
Borin barrels in with a full attack. One! Two! His great axe crashes down on the back of the red-eyed wolf. A sickly cracking sound rises over the howls and snarls. The glowing red eyes go dim, and the creature falls. Borin continues his swing straight through to the next wolf severing off a leg. Moving like a whirlwind, he spins 360 degrees and catches the same creature under the chin. This beast falls dead next to the corpse of its leader. He turns again and lops off the ears of the next wolf within his reach.
Lucre clucks in admiration as he turns his attention to his closest foe. His sword comes down hard on the creature’s back, snapping its spine. Its back legs go limp, and it is unable to lunge. Lucre steps out of reach of its snapping jaws and taunts it.
Again the wolves close in attacking the nearest conscious members of the party. Kalina yells that this behavior is odd for wolves. With their leader dead, they should retreat. She suspects mind control. She swoops down to stabilize Fang. Since she has now touched an animal, she and Kel are now visible and scented to the wolves, but they should have more interest in the animate Borin and Lucre than in the unconscious, but rejuvenating Kel.
Marja, Kenyan and Deke continue to pepper the remaining three wolves with ranged attacks, magical and mundane. Borin tumbles in to flank with his cousin and lops of the jaw of the nearest wolf. Remarkably, the creature does not fall. Lucre counters by cutting off the creature’s tail and finally gets his kill. The poor jawless wolf looks at its tailless hind end and dies of ignominy.
There are two wolves remaining. They attack Lucre who is beginning to look bad. He fears he won’t stand through another attack. Marja shoots six magic missiles, one at a time. She kills one wolf and wounds the other. Kenyan moves into harm’s way and heals Kel back to consciousness. Kel sits bolt upright scaring the bloody crap out of Kenyan. Kel hears the faint whinnying of a horse in his ears. He mumbles a prayer of thanks to Corean.
Deke sneaks in with his rapier and skewers the lone wolf in an indelicate location. The creature turns in surprise, and Borin swings with all his force. Finally, the party drops in exhaustion surrounded by the bodies of the slain enemy.
The healers tend to the wounded while sheepskins are donned. Borin laughs at the thought of how they must look as they turn into sheep and back again for the healing properties of the transformation spells. They find a copse of trees and set up camp for the night. All fall into a sound sleep except those keeping watch.
Since Deke has great night vision and no spells to sleep for he takes the midnight watch. He hears a sound in the brush and sneaks in to investigate. He sees a figure shrouded in red smoke. Although he is completely hidden, he can’t resist. He steps into the clearing and …. Suddenly, the party is awakened by Deke’s screams.
Deke staggers into the camp clutching his neck. He looks noticeably weakened. “I mooned it, and it bit me!”
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