Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
Playing the Game
Story Hour
League of Assassins - Conclusion
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Silver Moon" data-source="post: 910160" data-attributes="member: 8530"><p><strong>Chapter 53, “Assassins and Rhinos and Minotaurs, Oh My!”, July 11th, 3:40 P.M.</strong></p><p></p><p>Lannon sees Narg’s body lying on the floor and yells out “Medic”, prompting Serita to run in that direction. Colonel Tenbar charges into the room just as the enemy in the corner pulls the sword out of Hiroshi and the elderly man falls to the floor. He lands on his hands and knees, apparently still alive, and begins an interesting transformation. His hair retracts and his body bloats up, his nightgown ripping to shreds, and his skin takes on a grayish hue. Both enemies are momentarily distracted by this, allowing time for Tenbar and Lannon to charge over to where Narg has fallen and engage that foe in battle. </p><p></p><p>Both dwarves are successful in fighting their opponent back and away from Narg, giving Serita time to reach her fallen comrade. Hiroshi has now completed his transformation, and is now the form of an adult rhinoceros. The rhino charges the enemy before him, pinning the man into the back corner of the room. The dwarves continue their onslaught against their foe, who tries twice to hit Tenbar, both blows deflected by the Colonel’s magical shield. Narg does not appear to be breathing, and Serita casts a Neutralize Poison on him followed by a Cure Serious Wounds. The man fighting the dwarves falls, Tenbar striking the death blow, and Lannon moves to help Hiroshi. The rhino uses his horn to gore his own opponent, before succumbing to the poison in its system and falling over. Lannon attempts to move out of the way, but the falling rhino pins him to the floor. The damage is minimal, but leaves him trapped within sword range of the other enemy. One player comments “This is like the film ‘The Night at the Opera’, with people dropping left and right in a crowded room.”</p><p></p><p>Fiona has now reached the doorway, and tosses a Magic Missile spell into the remaining foe. Tenbar closes the distance and engages the man in battle, as Lannon manages to pull himself out from under the Rhinoceros. Lannon then comes to Tenbar’s assistance, and the two are able to soon finish off their foe, who had already been mortally wounded by the rhino. Serita gestures to the unconscious rhino, and asks “Who or what is this?” “Hiroshi, and he’s been poisoned” Tenbar replies. She hits him with the same spell combination as Jacob and Narg, which brings him back to consciousness. </p><p></p><p>The situation appears under control in the room outside, and the Greyhawk Lantern is activated to scan the room for invisible foes. The fallen bodies of the five other people who were on guard duty are checked, two still being alive, who Timothy and Vincenzo administer Neutralize Poison and Cure spells upon. Kharole checks the wounds from all six, and talks to the three still alive, confirming that at least four of them were apparently stabbed simultaneously, so the two dead enemies in the corner room were not alone. Efforts are redoubled to search the building, finding the door to the outer hallway unlocked, the door to the outside still shut and trapped. The army soldiers outside also report seeing and hearing nobody until the party sounded the alarm. Kharole concludes that the enemies had teleported into the outer hallway, and the others probably left via the same means. </p><p></p><p>Serita uses Speak with Animals to converse with Hiroshi. She confirms that he had used a pair of the Animal Transformation statues that the party had gotten the prior year while in the Orient. He tells her “It seemed the best idea at the time, since it had both armor and offensive capabilities.” He tells her “Those people were trying to kill me. I think I’ll stay in this form until the magic wears off, in another ten to twelve hours.” She concurs, relating this to the others. “Fine, but he isn’t staying in my room like that,” Narg exclaims. A player comments “Just what we need, a Kung-Fu Rhino” “Is that anything like a Ninja Turtle?” another player replies. Furynick says “Hey, I have an idea! Why don’t we all turn into rhinos!” They choose to ignore him. </p><p></p><p>Mojo then suggests “You know, if Hiroshi isn’t going to be physically around then why don’t we let everyone know that he was assassinated? Then they won’t be after him anymore.” Everyone, including Hiroshi, concurs with that idea. Timothy points out that Kindor would need to find another hearing judge and another auctioneer. “Then that’s his problem,” the barely conscious Narg states. </p><p></p><p>Serita, Lannon and Melito check out the weapons from the two dead enemies. Both of the swords they were carrying have thin metal tubes attached to the flat of the blade. The tubes have a spring and plunger mechanism inside linked by a wire in the hilt. The hilt itself is partially hollow, with a reservoir to hold some type of liquid. Based on different notches to stop the plunger they conclude that the shortword held three doses of poison and the longsword five. One of the men has another shortsword sheathed on his belt, which appears to be fully loaded with the poison. The poison is confirmed as being the exact same type as was used in one of the crossbow bolts that hit Tenbar two days earlier, Melito telling the dwarf “It looks like your friends are persistent.” </p><p></p><p>Only now does Vincenzo finally realize that his clerical assistant Cheveyo is missing. “What? How did we not notice that? He’s nine feet tall with four arms!” Narg mutters. “Too busy keeping you guys alive,” Serita comments. Mojo reminds everyone that Cheveyo’s father, a half-minotaur/half-demon, has been using assassins to try to find him. “I’d better try a Reflecting Pool,” Serita states. </p><p></p><p>A basin is filled with water and she casts the spell as the party gathers aground, along with Tenbar and Melito. The water fills with the image of Cheveyo, being held by a 20-foot tall minotaur. He is apparently in some type of tavern, and also surrounding them are six others, two humans attired in dark clothing and four minotaurs. One of the humans is questioning Cheveyo. The other human suddenly looks up and begins to peer around the room. “Uh oh, I think they’re on to us,” Kharole comments. “I don’t recognize the tavern,” Mojo states. “Pull back,” Kharole comments. Serita moves the image back which very briefly shows the outside of the building, a two-story wooden lodge type building surrounded by trees. The spell then ceases, with Serita commenting “He stopped it.” “Yeah, but not until after I recognized it,” Melito states. </p><p></p><p>Melito tells them that the building is called the Baron’s Arcane Lodge, and it is located in the inner city around a mile to the northeast. One of the player’s comments “Minotaur in the Inner City was one of my favorite novels in Junior High. It’s about this white minotaur who goes to an all black minotaur school and…” “Enough” another player interjects.</p><p></p><p>Melito continues “It is Jawlton’s most exclusive inn, owned by a Baron named Russell Donelley. It is situated in a part of the city with aristocratic residences. The Donelley Estate is a large plot of land where a grove of trees surrounds the main building, to give it a country inn appearance. Ki-Geloryn had approached the Baron about having auction guests stay there, but was told that the Lodge had been rented out for the entire summer, the guests having arrived in mid-May.” </p><p></p><p>The party is divided about what to do next. Both Serita and Vincenzo want to go storm the place, but Narg is more cautious, stating “Don’t you see. That is why they took him. They want to split the party and leave either the items or targets with less protection.” Mojo points out that the ILA convention will last for two days beyond the auction, so there will still be time to mount a rescue mission. </p><p></p><p>Lannon points out that “If we wait another day we’ll have the Castle back, which will give us a safe place for the targets to hide and the original stealth team will then be available to help.” Serita comments “Assuming they haven’t killed each other by now. Narg’s wife Vallessa is pregnant, and those sudden mood swings could have gotten to her.” Narg says “Well, if we open it up and she’s standing by a pile of bodies, I’ll forgive her.” Mojo adds “Me too, some of those guys were very annoying .”</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Silver Moon, post: 910160, member: 8530"] [B]Chapter 53, “Assassins and Rhinos and Minotaurs, Oh My!”, July 11th, 3:40 P.M.[/B] Lannon sees Narg’s body lying on the floor and yells out “Medic”, prompting Serita to run in that direction. Colonel Tenbar charges into the room just as the enemy in the corner pulls the sword out of Hiroshi and the elderly man falls to the floor. He lands on his hands and knees, apparently still alive, and begins an interesting transformation. His hair retracts and his body bloats up, his nightgown ripping to shreds, and his skin takes on a grayish hue. Both enemies are momentarily distracted by this, allowing time for Tenbar and Lannon to charge over to where Narg has fallen and engage that foe in battle. Both dwarves are successful in fighting their opponent back and away from Narg, giving Serita time to reach her fallen comrade. Hiroshi has now completed his transformation, and is now the form of an adult rhinoceros. The rhino charges the enemy before him, pinning the man into the back corner of the room. The dwarves continue their onslaught against their foe, who tries twice to hit Tenbar, both blows deflected by the Colonel’s magical shield. Narg does not appear to be breathing, and Serita casts a Neutralize Poison on him followed by a Cure Serious Wounds. The man fighting the dwarves falls, Tenbar striking the death blow, and Lannon moves to help Hiroshi. The rhino uses his horn to gore his own opponent, before succumbing to the poison in its system and falling over. Lannon attempts to move out of the way, but the falling rhino pins him to the floor. The damage is minimal, but leaves him trapped within sword range of the other enemy. One player comments “This is like the film ‘The Night at the Opera’, with people dropping left and right in a crowded room.” Fiona has now reached the doorway, and tosses a Magic Missile spell into the remaining foe. Tenbar closes the distance and engages the man in battle, as Lannon manages to pull himself out from under the Rhinoceros. Lannon then comes to Tenbar’s assistance, and the two are able to soon finish off their foe, who had already been mortally wounded by the rhino. Serita gestures to the unconscious rhino, and asks “Who or what is this?” “Hiroshi, and he’s been poisoned” Tenbar replies. She hits him with the same spell combination as Jacob and Narg, which brings him back to consciousness. The situation appears under control in the room outside, and the Greyhawk Lantern is activated to scan the room for invisible foes. The fallen bodies of the five other people who were on guard duty are checked, two still being alive, who Timothy and Vincenzo administer Neutralize Poison and Cure spells upon. Kharole checks the wounds from all six, and talks to the three still alive, confirming that at least four of them were apparently stabbed simultaneously, so the two dead enemies in the corner room were not alone. Efforts are redoubled to search the building, finding the door to the outer hallway unlocked, the door to the outside still shut and trapped. The army soldiers outside also report seeing and hearing nobody until the party sounded the alarm. Kharole concludes that the enemies had teleported into the outer hallway, and the others probably left via the same means. Serita uses Speak with Animals to converse with Hiroshi. She confirms that he had used a pair of the Animal Transformation statues that the party had gotten the prior year while in the Orient. He tells her “It seemed the best idea at the time, since it had both armor and offensive capabilities.” He tells her “Those people were trying to kill me. I think I’ll stay in this form until the magic wears off, in another ten to twelve hours.” She concurs, relating this to the others. “Fine, but he isn’t staying in my room like that,” Narg exclaims. A player comments “Just what we need, a Kung-Fu Rhino” “Is that anything like a Ninja Turtle?” another player replies. Furynick says “Hey, I have an idea! Why don’t we all turn into rhinos!” They choose to ignore him. Mojo then suggests “You know, if Hiroshi isn’t going to be physically around then why don’t we let everyone know that he was assassinated? Then they won’t be after him anymore.” Everyone, including Hiroshi, concurs with that idea. Timothy points out that Kindor would need to find another hearing judge and another auctioneer. “Then that’s his problem,” the barely conscious Narg states. Serita, Lannon and Melito check out the weapons from the two dead enemies. Both of the swords they were carrying have thin metal tubes attached to the flat of the blade. The tubes have a spring and plunger mechanism inside linked by a wire in the hilt. The hilt itself is partially hollow, with a reservoir to hold some type of liquid. Based on different notches to stop the plunger they conclude that the shortword held three doses of poison and the longsword five. One of the men has another shortsword sheathed on his belt, which appears to be fully loaded with the poison. The poison is confirmed as being the exact same type as was used in one of the crossbow bolts that hit Tenbar two days earlier, Melito telling the dwarf “It looks like your friends are persistent.” Only now does Vincenzo finally realize that his clerical assistant Cheveyo is missing. “What? How did we not notice that? He’s nine feet tall with four arms!” Narg mutters. “Too busy keeping you guys alive,” Serita comments. Mojo reminds everyone that Cheveyo’s father, a half-minotaur/half-demon, has been using assassins to try to find him. “I’d better try a Reflecting Pool,” Serita states. A basin is filled with water and she casts the spell as the party gathers aground, along with Tenbar and Melito. The water fills with the image of Cheveyo, being held by a 20-foot tall minotaur. He is apparently in some type of tavern, and also surrounding them are six others, two humans attired in dark clothing and four minotaurs. One of the humans is questioning Cheveyo. The other human suddenly looks up and begins to peer around the room. “Uh oh, I think they’re on to us,” Kharole comments. “I don’t recognize the tavern,” Mojo states. “Pull back,” Kharole comments. Serita moves the image back which very briefly shows the outside of the building, a two-story wooden lodge type building surrounded by trees. The spell then ceases, with Serita commenting “He stopped it.” “Yeah, but not until after I recognized it,” Melito states. Melito tells them that the building is called the Baron’s Arcane Lodge, and it is located in the inner city around a mile to the northeast. One of the player’s comments “Minotaur in the Inner City was one of my favorite novels in Junior High. It’s about this white minotaur who goes to an all black minotaur school and…” “Enough” another player interjects. Melito continues “It is Jawlton’s most exclusive inn, owned by a Baron named Russell Donelley. It is situated in a part of the city with aristocratic residences. The Donelley Estate is a large plot of land where a grove of trees surrounds the main building, to give it a country inn appearance. Ki-Geloryn had approached the Baron about having auction guests stay there, but was told that the Lodge had been rented out for the entire summer, the guests having arrived in mid-May.” The party is divided about what to do next. Both Serita and Vincenzo want to go storm the place, but Narg is more cautious, stating “Don’t you see. That is why they took him. They want to split the party and leave either the items or targets with less protection.” Mojo points out that the ILA convention will last for two days beyond the auction, so there will still be time to mount a rescue mission. Lannon points out that “If we wait another day we’ll have the Castle back, which will give us a safe place for the targets to hide and the original stealth team will then be available to help.” Serita comments “Assuming they haven’t killed each other by now. Narg’s wife Vallessa is pregnant, and those sudden mood swings could have gotten to her.” Narg says “Well, if we open it up and she’s standing by a pile of bodies, I’ll forgive her.” Mojo adds “Me too, some of those guys were very annoying .” [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
Playing the Game
Story Hour
League of Assassins - Conclusion
Top