Rise of the Dark Knight[Updated 6-22-2003]

[maddman75]

Re: Rise of the Dark Knight[Updated 6-20-2003]

Edit - seemed to have screwed up when I went to change the 'last updated' part.

 

[Snoweel]

Re: A Sudden Assault

Cries went up throughout the town. Olivia and the halfling came out of the temple and the dark clad stranger emerged from the inn, still holding his bowl of soup. They could make out three groups. Two goblins were running toward the center of the village, while three were reloading the catapult. Four more were attacking a group of townsfolk.

Olivia’s father came storming out of his lodge, right between the temple and inn. Though he was into his sixties, he still had his shield and magical blade from his adventuring days. He may be the only knight defending Gavin’s Dale, but a few scrub goblins were nothing to him.

Except for the potion that enhanced the goblin’s aim. The snarling beast threw a javelin at Lord Darkmantle and struck him on the chest. The sword fell from his grip and he collapsed on the ground.

Algernon and Olivia ran toward the fallen knight. The burly warrior placed himself between the goblins and his Lord, while Olivia desperately kneeled by her adoptive father’s side to make certain he was okay. He was breathing, but she couldn’t rouse him. The javelin has some kind of thick black substance all over it.

The halfling grabbed up his crossbow and fired at one of the goblins on the catapult. His aim was impeccable, striking the tiny beast in the throat. He wiped at his sniffling nose and loaded another bolt.

The spiky-haired stranger walked toward the catapult, still eating his soup. He took no action, apparently trying to take in the situation.

Algernon swung his blade, cutting down the closest goblin. The other beast swung back at him, but the blade went wild. He followed up with his dagger and opened the creature’s throat.

In a daze, Olivia dashed inside the lodge and grabbed her crossbow off the wall. Seeing that her father was safe, she launched a bolt at the goblins manning the catapult. One of them squealed as it took a bolt in the shoulder, but kept working on reloading the catapult.

By this time the goblins had disarmed the villagers and began slapping chains on them. The stranger calmly set his spoon into his bowl and raised a finger. He spoke arcane words of power, and a glowing red bolt of energy flew across the battlefield, felling one of the beasts.

The halfling fired another bolt at the catapult, but his target managed to duck it. The creatures let loose and a flaming ball of pitch struck the temple, setting the thatch roof ablaze. The three that were chaining the villagers made a run at the sorcerer. Their spiked club drove him to the ground and into unconsciousness.

Old man Preston emerged from the burning temple and made for the Lord. His simple spell couldn’t revive him, so he started cleaning the wound. Algernon made a charge at the goblins who remained while Olivia tried to snipe some with her crossbow.

Two of the creatures charged at the halfling while two fought off the tall agile human. He swung wide, giving the creature an opening. He quickly followed up the creature’s clumsy attack by driving his dagger into his guts. A bolt from Olivia finished the other one off.

The halfling fired his crossbow, dropping one as he charged ahead. The other, seeing that all his allied had been felled, threw his arms up. Wiping his nose again, the halfling told the creature to get on its knees and aimed his crossbow at his head. “Don’t move.”

Old man Preston told Olivia and Algernon to get Lord Darkmantle inside and went to see to the stranger that had been felled.

 

[maddman75]

Anthorp

They arrived at the city in under a week, riding the horses hard. They decided to split up, Eeredrick and Id would find some Red Swamp Lilies to cure Lord Darkmantle, while Olivia and Algernon talked to Baron Kartark.

The market was bustling, offering wares from all over the Isle and beyond. The crowd seemed to ignore the halfling while Id stuck out like a sore thumb. Soon enough, the found a stall where a halfling was selling herbs.

“Do you have Red Swamp Lilies?” Id asked directly.

The halfling took a draw from his pipe and looked up from under his hat. “Maybe I do and maybe I don’t. Why?”

“Well, I want to buy some.”

The small man set his pipe down and smiled. “Well in that case I do have some.” He hefted a small back onto the counter. “That should be plenty. Little bit of this stuff goes a long way.”

“How much for the bag?” Id asked as he pulled out his coin pouch.

“That depends. How much you willing to pay?”

“Um, I don’t know. How’s twenty gold?”

The halfling beamed. “That would do just fine!”

Before they walked off, Eeredrick leaned in close. “Excuse me, can I ask you something?”

He took another draw from his pipe. “I suppose you can. Not promising that I’ll answer, but you can ask.”

“Well, do you know anything about…our kind that uses magic.”

He leaned back a bit. “Maybe I do and maybe I don’t. Why, who’s askin?”

“Oh, I’m Eeredrick. I want to learn. You know anything about that.”

“Like I said, maybe I do and maybe I don’t. Wouldn’t be much of a secret club if I just told anyone, now would it. But you look like a good enough sort.” He pulled a small book from under the counter and handed it to Eeredrick. “You practice at that, and if its your sort of thing come back and see ol’ Paundrius.”

“Thank you – I will!”

The two companions headed for the Dire Boar Inn, right across from the Keep at the center of town. They wondered how Olivia and Algernon were faring with Baron Kartark.

 

[megamania]

Well done. I will be checking this as often as I can.

Gavin...a little girl whose dad might die...have you ever read Battlechasers?

Keep it up

 

[maddman75]

Nope, can't say I have. And Olivia's player has been very understanding about me messing with her backstory . This is a great group and I can't wait to DM for them every week.

 

[megamania]

excellent