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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Iron Chef BBQ" data-source="post: 897260" data-attributes="member: 1844">Meepo and Threeba (end of run of 05-06-03)Kenyan comments that he thinks the little creature they just met is a kobald.  He’s never seen one before, but he’s heard them described.  The group complains about the annoyance as they walk along a road with a dense forest on one side and a wide meadow on the other with a stone wall indicating the property line of some long-ago farm.  Their progress is stopped abruptly by a large barricade of vines wound around stakes blocking the road.  Stuck all over the barricade are trophies of war – pieces of clothing, armor and weapons.  Kel spots the tabard of a Veshian guard and fumes.  As they look around they spot small figures behind bushes and suddenly a row of kobalds with bows hop up onto the wall.Marja quickly casts protection from arrows on Kenyan who moves forward to engage in a little “diplomacy.”  He clears his deep baritone.  “Greetings,” he says with a charming smile.  A kobald head wearing a frilly lace bonnet pops up from behind the barricade.  “You are in kingdom of Meepo.  Pay tribute or die.”  Kenyan announces that he can hear casting from behind the vines.Deke rolls into the woods and hides.  Lucre tumbles and jumps over the stone wall and sees 10 more kobalds with spears.  He lands and draws his weapon and sunders the spear closest to him.  The kobald who is now holding splinters looks shocked, but to Lucre’s surprise, doesn’t run away.Another face appears at the barricade.  A figure jumps on top, a fat little female figure with pendulous breasts and huge yellow blood-shot eyes.  She has a mark on her face the size and shape of a hand that glows red then silver.  Lucre recognizes the mark of Titan psionics, a mark he also shares.  “You will pay tribute,” the angry little voice screams, then she looks around her.  “Ooh, and the sun is shining,” her voice sing-songs.  “And you will bring it to me!” her voice turns shrill.Kalina feels a tug on her breast bone and feels her blood thrum.  She senses a connection between what changed in her when she drank the Titan water and what is running through the veins of this creature: The mark of the Titans.Kenyan feels weakness like he has been mortally wounded.  He looks down at his body, but doesn’t see anything so he shrugs it off.  Borin lets out a yell of pain, but remains standing.Kel, outraged by these creatures, uses his ring of the ram.  He points it at her feet, and marvels as a gust of wind springs from the ring.  It gathers momentum and blows dust and debris before it.  The wind and dust swirl into the vague shape of a ram’s head.  The head lowers and buts with great force into the barricade.  The little creature goes flying into the air and falls to the ground behind the vines.Marja quickly casts haste and mage armor on herself while Kalina casts briar web behind the wall.  Out of 25 kobalds she ensnares 15. A tiny red orb falls in their midst and explodes.  Marja falls to her knees, burned and battered.  Deke is amazingly unharmed, and Borin shrugs and brushes soot off of his shoulders.  The others are seriously shaken up.An array of arrows fly through the air aimed at the supposed leader of the group, Kenyan.  “So much for diplomacy,” he laughs as the arrows bounce off of him.  “Thanks, Marja,” he calls over his shoulder.Deke stands up from his hiding place and shoots a crossbow bolt which hits Threeba squarely in the chest.  He’s sure it’s a critical wound, but she pulls the bolt out, extends her long tongue to lick her wound, and it’s completely gone.  Deke isn’t sure, but she looks slightly larger after healing herself.She catches Lucre’s eyes, and they are locked in a stare.  They stand that way for a long time as the rest of the group looks puzzled.  In their minds they have catapulted onto the psionic plane into the middle of a huge forest.  Lucre bends the trees which spring back and hit her sending her sprawling backwards.  In the psionic plane Lucre appears like a dwarf, but she doesn’t look like a kobald.  She has the image of a maelstrom of chaos with body parts and faces appearing and disappearing in a swirling mass.  Inside the maelstrom is another, smaller spinning tornado.  Lucre tugs on his mind and brings himself back to the others.Borin and Lucre feel waves of madness wash over them as they hear her scream.  Borin is nonplussed, but Lucre’s orderly mind is clearly struggling against the chaos.  “There are rules,” he shouts with determination.Kel casts protection from evil and runs forward.  He swings his broad sword straight through a kobald and into another then in a graceful movement, the sun glinting off of his shining armor, he withdraws the sword from the second corpse and thrusts it into a third who falls in quick death.  Marja, still on her knees drinks down a healing potion and sends three magic missiles at 2 heads just peeping up over the barricade.  She sees them fall just before Kalina raises a wall of greenery in front of the barricade locking the sight lines.Deke sneaks through the forest toward the barricade and sees 10 more kobalds with crossbows step out into daylight and shoot.  Kenyan, still in the middle of the road, laughs and sings as the arrows bounce away.  He inspires his comrades with his light attitude and sends a sound burst at the newly appearing kobalds killing four of them.  He sings a song of triumph.Lucre runs around the barricade in search of Meepo, the spellcaster, but ends up once again with eyes locked with Threeba.  Once again they are back on the psionic plane, and she attacks.  Lucre cries out in rage and confusion.  He feels like he is being whipped with fishing lines of insanity.  His orderly mind is crumbling against her chaos.  With all his strength he pulls himself back to the solid, orderly world.Kalina summons a wall of hornets, fashions them into a dome and sets them on top of three kobald archers who fall in agonizing pain.  Suddenly, a cloud of green vapor hits the middle of the road and grows.  “It smells like rotting eggs and vicera with just a souson of arm pit,” they hear the caster chant.  All the kobalds inside the cloud begin to vomit.  Fortunately, Kenyan and Kel manage to move away from the noxious fumes.Lucre spots Meepo as he reappears after casting.  He calls out to the group, and Deke immediately sees Meepo as well and moves in.  Lucre draws his new long sword and bears down on the little pathetic caster.  “Avenge me!” Meepo calls.  Lucre swings, “We have laws in these woods.”  Kel sends a spiritual weapon to continue the attack.  Lucre turns away, and comes face-to-face with Threeba.  Borin swiftly kills the last kobalds in front of him and dashed past 5 more emerging from the woods.  He reaches Lucre, but too late.  He is again locked in a mind battle with Threeba.  He hears the voices that ring in her ears, whispering incoherent words of chaos.  He feels that the rules of his life are slipping away.  He must try to listen to each voice.  If he can only figure out what they are saying, he is sure he can restore order.  What do they want him to do?  Lucre cackles madly and tries to grapple Threeba.  As he approaches he feels waves of chaos wash over him.  He must establish order in his life!  Suddenly, he sees the way.  Only through small things do great things become organized.  He sits down and empties his pack on the ground and begins to count the many items.  Borin is outraged at the sight of his cousin.  Threeba sees him and sings a song in an eerie voice, “Will it come and play with us.  Play now!”  “Don’t want to plan, witch,” shouts Borin as he rushes in and attacks, but no sooner does his axe cut deep into her stomach than she heels and grows larger.Marja becomes invisible and silently climbs onto the stone wall.  She looks down the line of kobald archers and makes a small tsk, tsk sound as she pulls a scroll from her belt.  She reappears suddenly to the great surprise of 18 archers as a lightening bolt shoots from her outstretched hand.  Thirteen fall.  She tosses three magic missiles like she’s pitching in a child’s street game, and three more kobalds fall.  The final two survivors jump from the wall to run away and impale themselves on Kalina’s thorns.  Marja steps back and surveys the carnage at her feet then turns and winks at Kenyan.  “That’s how it’s done.”Kalina turns into a hawk and soars into the air.  She catches sight of Meepo just as he disappears again.  Deke also sees him disappear and readies his crossbow for first sight of him.  Suddenly, another fireball explodes among our heroes.  Kalina sees Meepo reappear and pink glitter falls from her wings.  “Gosh,” thinks Marja.  “Her spells sure are pretty.”  Meepo is now surrounded by a cloud of fairy fire.  Kel’s magic weapon once again finds its mark.  Marja flies up into the air and spots Meepo.  She hurls an ice knife that flies true and hits Meepo in the chest.  Meepo starts to cast.  This is what Deke has been waiting for.  He shoots his crossbow which not only hits, but disrupts the spell just as the shadow of three other Meepos where beginning to appear. Kenyan makes short forays into the green fog to dispatch kobalds.Suddenly Lucre stops counting.  True organization comes from casting off earthly things.  He stands up and starts taking off his armor.  Borin grapples Threeba and pushes her face into the ground.  Once her eyes are removed from Lucre, he stops disrobing.  “What am I doing?  Stupid chaos.”  He picks up his empty bag, marches over to Threeba and covers her head.  Borin keeps her pinned being careful not to inflict any damage lest she continue to grow.Threeba starts to cry.  “Take it off!” she shrieks, then in a strangely calm voice she says, “Take strength in the darkness.  There is another in here.”  Kel approaches her and reaches out his hands.  They glow with the healing sunshine of Corean.  He touches her arm, and the fire burns her flesh.  He is also vaguely aware that his magic weapon is about to take its finale strike.  It stabs Meepo and disappears.  The pink fire falls away too.  Meepo is dead.Marja flies over to the group.  “Hey,” says Lucre, “When you learn to do that?”  “Just yesterday,” Marja admits.  “Pretty handy, huh?”  She tosses down a healing potion for Kel who isn’t looking very good having taken the brunt of two fireballs.  He drinks it down and turns his healing touch to Threeba again.  Kalina lands and turns back into human form.  She pulls some of the leaves off of the vines of the barricade and whispers.  The leaves spread out and touch Threeba’s skin.  Again the healing touch causes Threeba to writhe with pain.  “How can you hurt us?” she asks Kalina.  “You have felt his touch, too.  The magic is everywhere.  The magic is my bunny.”  Kalina is confused, “I guess we didn’t feel his touch in the same way,” she explains.Kenyan moves in and sings a song of health and vigor.  With each chorus he touches Threeba.  She begins to shrivel, and with each touch she cries out in a different voice.  “I feel kinda bad for her,” Kenyan says, but he touches her one last time.  “Goodbye,” she quivers as she dies.  They pull the bag from her face.  Her blood mark sparkles like the waters of the cave Kalina drank from so long ago.  Her blood mark still sparkles, but the voices in her head are silent.</blockquote>

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