[Story Hour Sampler] Post Your Favorite Story Hour Installment

[carpedavid]

My Land of the Crane story hour is set in an oriental land known as Tanayari. The heroes, who are representitives of their clan, have embarked upon a journey to take an offering to the spirit guardian, Hi no Tsuru. The following entry is from the beginning of their journey, and we join them in the middle of their investigation into the sowing of salt into a town's rice fields.

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"Wait, Fu-chan," Kakeru suddenly said, "Let me go with Takashi." Fukasu looked at him, puzzled, and he replied, "You can fly over there quickly, but it'll take me longer to get there. So I should probably go first."

"Ok, we'll cover you."

Kakeru nodded, and he and Takashi crawled up over the road, down the other side, and began wading slowly through the rice paddy. Every time one of the saboteurs paused, Kakeru and Takashi paused as well. Kakeru could feel his heart pounding in his chest, and his own breathing sounded like a hurricane in his ears. Musashi and Fukasu struggled to control their own breath as he readied his bow and she drew her ninja-to.

Takashi closed to within striking distance a moment ahead of Kakeru. He braced himself, took a deep breath, and lunged at the closest black-clad figure. The ninja looked up just in time to dodge out of the way of Takashi's powerful fist. Unfortunately for the young monk, this gave the ninja the perfect opportunity to jab his blade into his opponent's ribs. Uh-oh, Takashi thought, as the ninja-to pierced his side.

Now aware that they were under attack, the other two ninja reacted. One identified herself as the leader by barking out orders to the other, who rushed Kakeru. The ninja slashed at the young shaman, but missed wildly. Emboldened, Kakeru projected his will into the spirit world and beckoned the dancing spirits of flame and fire to come to his aid. He could see them dancing toward him, scurrying across the hazy terrain of the sprit world, when he felt a stabbing pain in his torso.

His vision snapped back to the material world, and he looked down to see a ninja-to sticking out of his stomach, right above his navel. The ninja smiled and ripped the blade out, sending a spray of blood out across the water. Kakeru coughed once, spit out a mouthful of blood, and collapsed.

"No!" Fukasu screamed as she launched herself into the air. Her powerful wings sent a spray of water out around her with each beat. Musashi nocked an arrow, drew the bowstring, paused to let his breath synchronize with the beat of Fukasu's wings, and then let fly. The arrow zipped across the water, passing just under the half-oni's right wing, before missing the lead ninja's head by less than an inch.

While the shot missed its target, it provided Takashi with the distraction he needed, and he slammed an open palm into the leader's solar plexus. Even from his potition across the water, Musashi could hear the breath burst from her lungs. Should I charge? he wondered for a moment. No, he realized, crossing the water will take too long. I will better serve my friends from here.

The ninja followers tumbled into position to flank Takashi, and were just about to strike when Fukasu swooped in from above. She landed in the middle of the group, which caused the two followers to cower in fear, and then tumbled behind the leader.

The first ninja, who Takashi had jumped, screamed and swung wildly, catching the young monk in the side of the face. "Ow!" Takashi cried as blood poured down over his chin. I can't take many more of those, he thought. The ninja leader swung at Takashi as well, but a well timed gust of wind from Fukasu's wings threw off her aim.

The monk from the Temple of Thunder and Lightning looked to his left to see one of Musashi's arrows pierce the second ninja's neck. The young man collapsed, his arterial blood creating a slick on the surface of the rice paddy. Takashi looked back to see the ninja leader staring at her fallen companion, and he took the opportunity to slam an elbow into her nose, causing her to yelp in pain.

"You die!" she screamed as she swiped at Takashi once again. This time, he easily sidestepped the wild swing, but he ran right into the first ninja's blade. Blood poured out into his robes as the blade was withdrawn, and he began to feel woozy. Concentrate, Takashi, he warned himself.

"You motherless dog!" the lead ninja screamed at Takashi. He raised his arms in an attempt to defend himself against another slash, but watched her face contort in pain instead. She gasped, gurgled, and fell face-forward into the warm, copper-colored water. Fukasu placed her foot on the woman's back and pulled her ninja-to from between the corpse's shoulder blades.

The first ninja screamed again as his leader's lifeless body joined that of his friend, and he slashed wildly again. Takashi tried to move, but the loss of his own blood slowed his reactions, and the blade cut deeply into his chest. Oh, hell, he thought as the world went gray.

Fukasu ignored the half-mad ninja and dove to the ground next to Takashi. She placed her hand against his neck to check for a pulse and found one, albeit weak. Thank you, great ancestors, she thought, for keeping my friend alive. She looked up at the remaining ninja and wondered if she would have to kill him next.

A third arrow from Musashi answered that question. The man cried in pain as the arrow sliced through his thigh. He turned and started to run, screamed in pain again, and hobbled as quickly as he could move. Fukasu turned her attention back to Takashi and Kakeru, and she began ripping off pieces of her robe to bind their wounds.

As she tightened the first of the makeshift bandages, she heard another scream, followed quickly by a splash, and looked up to see Musashi standing over the body of the last ninja, the string on his bow still quivering.

"Fu-chan? Are they still alive?" Musashi yelled as he sprinted toward Fukasu, who he could see was hurriedly bandaging their two fallen companions.

"Yes, but we need to get them back to town."

"Will they make it back?"

"They're stable, at least for now," she said as she picked up the young monk's body and placed it on the first cart. "Help me with Kakeru-kun," she said as she grabbed the young shaman's feet. Musashi knelt down and grabbed his childhood friend around the shoulders, and then grunted as they lifted his substantial weight.

"We need to burn the bodies," Musashi said, nodding toward the fallen ninja.

"We should probably save one to see if Takayama-san can identify it."

"Good idea," Musashi grunted as they set Kakeru down. "Let's burn the two of them, and then I'll stay here with the remaining one."

"Why not bring it with us?" Fukasu said, puzzled.

"I would not disgrace Takayama-san by bringing the corpse of a criminal into his town," Musashi said, indignant. "Once you get Kakeru-kun and Takashi-san taken care of, you can ride back with him. He may also be able to identify anything out of the ordinary about this area."

"I'm not convinced, but this isn't time to argue," Fukasu shrugged.

The two travelers from Kurosawa pulled the corpses of the ninja onto the road. They poured lamp oil over two of them, and then Fukasu ignited them with a spark from a set of flint and steel. They watched the corpses burn for a minute, hoping that it would be enough to sever the tie between the bodies and Yomi, the realm of the dead.

"Will you be ok?" Fukasu asked as she climbed into the cart with her unconscious friends.

"Yes, Fu-chan," Musashi replied, seemingly without concern, "Just hurry."

***​

Fukasu entered Takayama's manor with as much bluster as she could manage. Rice-paper doors slid open all over the house as the young half-oni carried Kakeru and Takashi's unconscious bodies inside, shouting for Takayama all the while.

"What's going on?" Takayama yelled as he ran toward the group. Various servants crowded the hallway, and it took him a minute to push through. "Oh, great ancestors!" he exclaimed once he saw Fukasu standing over the limp bodies of her companions.

"Do you have anyone that can help?" Fukasu implored.

The kuramoto of Takayama sakagura stared at the scene mutely for a moment before answering, "What? Oh yes, of course!" He turned to one of his young servants and said, "Go fetch Chuichi-san. Quickly!" The servant ran out into the village, and Takayama knelt down next to the three adventurers. "What happened?"

"We ran into three of the ninja that were salting your fields," Fukasu said.

"Ninja?" Takayama looked shocked.

"Yes, ninja," Fukasu said matter-of-factly, "This is the work of someone dedicated to hurting you."

Takayama stared at the two bloody bodies at his feet and let out a great sigh. "This is unbelievable," he said, shaking his head. "Wait, where's Musashi-sama?"

"He's waiting back in the field. We need you to come back with us to see if you can identify the any of the corpses of the dead ninja."

Takayama looked disgusted, "Why would I know any ninja?"

Fukasu shrugged, "We're just trying to eliminate all possibilities."

After a moment, the servant returned with a middle-aged man dressed in robes similar to Kakeru's. "Chuichi-san," Takayama stood up to greet him. "Fukasu-sama, this is Chuichi-san. He is our town shaman. Please allow him to help."

Fukasu nodded as Chuichi knelt down next to her. He looked at the bodies of her companions, and then looked over at her and nearly jumped out of his skin. Fukasu sighed, and patted him reassuringly on the shoulder.

"My apologies, Fukasu-sama," the shaman said as he recomposed himself.

"It's ok - just help my friends."

The shaman nodded, and Fukasu watched as he summoned the same blue energy that Kakeru had always used to heal her. Less than a minute later, both of her companions were up on their feet. While Fukasu filled them in on the events that had transpired after they had been knocked out, Kakeru looked down at the hole in his robes. He poked one finger through, and gently rubbed his belly. Well, he thought, that didn't work out too well.

***​

Musashi leaned against one of the remaining carts. I hope they get back soon, he thought, it's getting cold out here. A chill ran up his spine, and he shivered involuntarily, which caused him to look around. He couldn't see anything out in the darkness, and he couldn't hear anything splashing through the field, so he took a deep breath. Get control over yourself, Musashi. Fear is not an option for a samurai.

The wind whipped across the fields, rippling the standing water. The horses snorted nervously, and a low, deep drone, like a tree groaning in the wind, caught his ear. He looked around in alarm. I can't see any trees, he thought. Was that one of the horses? What was that sound? He looked at the cart he was leaning against, at the corpse of the ninja rising to its feet, at the road stretching off into the darkness, at the two horses, and then back at the reanimated corpse... What the? Oh, great ancestors!

 

[Felikeries]

I find some of the first and last quite more entertaining,however that's too
typical so a found this.

The Quest Begins II

“tell me Kelidor what brings you to the services of Eiweyes,she is a sorceress
herself,though I don’t doubt the reasons for the choice of thee and Zea were
a greatly entrusted account of thyne’s own talents”Kreth asked as they sat
at the campfire,each rather dissillusioned by the first encounters as to what the rifts and their creations may hold.

“there is little reason,Zea was accompanied by myself from the South,durring
our stay at an Inn she had met with me of charms grace,and we discovered that Gethree was our destination,….the governess was aloting a pay to those who’d serve as a spellcasting guard for her,though we didn’t have much ineterest,there were no other plans”

“The story of the rifts and that we were to meet with the Fraith and thief that had arrived was a great answer for us to complete our vow,and find again the virtues for adventure that I know I live upon finer than the wholly waters of a fresh april river”Zea then answered the bantar,with her impressions,and Thea made her words voiced..

“little worth for the living if they can’t make away with the living who
step in their way….a fight to the death you’ve joined you realize,the rifts
have a dark source of power,and nought and dire eyes will hail those who
find victory…that we may”Thea set the mug whence they each responded and gathered their first toast and sentiment that this was a fine way to take the faith of their fighting souls to adventure’s fate.


The path was no more….the Delvins didn’t respond to the natural ground in any chagrin but,they had to be much more carefull,about finding their way,and as they did so what was to be when they approached Elven lands.The simplicity of this was not an unkempt switch for any who passed however,for they realized that with the ways for travel not there for most,the problems escue within the area must be great,perhaps even the result of the weaves they were looking for,or the beings affected reaction,and fear for their safely kept villages to be found by the commonor-who may bring with them the unwanten-this twist unconforming to help as the group offered,non the less did not take away from what they were there to do,and when they met the first intimidated elf to find them,they knew there were words of charismatic gith to be made,if they were to be fie and hey to the mission they intended.

The shrubs were misconcieving at a spot reached at mid-day,the air calm,no breeze,and the dirt almost too natural looking;so they stopped to have a closer look.

“we’re perhaps standing within the makes of the original path,finaly,to be certain
on our way with no err,….hmmm I shall dispell this with air elements,take the
Delvin beyond the area”Kelidor stated the purpose and force of arcana to be
used,and the others moved to beyond the clearing.Concentrating with intention that nary stiffled the image of a chastizing battle,the air fell into etheral trinklets that floated earthward,then another casting swarn into effect with words and hand waving surged an imploding crash before the ethers touched the ground,and vortex’s of wind dancing with arcana ripped about for a awhile then vanished.The air settled
it’s discomfort of dust and fleckery finally revealing as all looked upon it the lay way bricks of a path settled at each side of the plain dirt,10 ft –and upon a few the remains of a blood-magityne deposit,that sat in grimly rasputine to the avail just made upon the discovery.

“though we go now with direction,we know not to what,the Elves beist as they may,have
little interest in leaving scars of the slain on the trade routes,another day and we’ll
be met by scouters if they still live”Zea stated,as Kelidor spoke not looking at
the glops upon the path perimeter,and they made off at a quickened canter,speeding the mighty Delvin beasts at sure enpowered interest to travel miles that day.

As they suddenly slowed with Thea leading the group,a worn bit of ruffened ground forming a path of sorts had been the making for aways,-they knew there was a reason for this,as each felt the intention to travel this new route to great means before the sun was
spent.

“there are Teacateyles,harrowing might forms,I’m not certain”Thea stated as they realized the strange scream of a frightened birds,and a low barely heard growl,for this to be of the wyrms they were not sure.

“eiey….the shadow dances…there….we are in danger the unseen enemy is near”Kelidor made the motion,and there they viewed a shadow,unaturely scratching it’s huant across the ground,-a tree,the branches,beyond the path,darting images that beckoned danger.

Zea dismounted first and cast a spell that sent a wasp of cloud like material forward towards the last place the shadow was seen,as it made to 60 ft,it fell upon the creator
of the shadow it’s invisibility being uncalibrated by the mists forming,which then finally broke the sorcery.A black scaled 10 ft troll,with horns and glowing purple eyes,and a silver wand in one hand and a black dagger at waist,with an evil stare looked upon the party and this time growled with damnation,taking them aback,and foretelling
of the battle.

“demon….what be your intentions”Zea asked,as they each took to fighting proclivity.

“Speak not…..fools I am not alone,there are demons who follow me they will kill thee with great calor,if not you fall upon my dagger first”it took the dagger,and waved the wand,this sent a wave that threw them back 15 ft,but they didn’t fall,and weren’t very certain however about their next trick against this troll foe.

“what demons….you speak in fear for you’re life,but we have no such fear,the
first strike landed upon thee for preaching of attack,will be far worse than
you’re meager trickery”Kreth spoke as approaching,with copper sword forward and shallow carefull steps.

“we will fight,they will fight each of us,there is no attack that will wait….see it approaches”the troll motioned and the sound of gurggling anger was nearing,then the shouts of elves,and an arrow flew past them and dug into a tree.

Within a moment the 4 beasts were there,engulfed in an undead type field,but they were fully alive,a refuse from the rifts,it looked as though-3 elves were chasing them,each with an arrow set for attack,and two met the Chenexfer’s but fell away from the power
shielding that was still there.

The Troll jumped upon one,and dashed the dagger about wildly as the Chenexfer scuttled in no way hampered,leering at the enemy to gash a poisenous wound.Spells were cast by Kelidor and Zea,the elements did no use for the group as they knew the weapons could not injur the creatures when their fields were still alive,however Zea’s spell did affect this
very needed counter,causing the flickers to die away,as the creature leaped forth and slashed at her,Thea cut at it blocking the attack,and the two girls stepped away as Kreth took to battle with it and soon the foes were able to be attacked,dispondent from the lacked defense at first,but wildly angry,and moving about making attacks reliant on
weakening the adventurers with a poisen imbued gash.As Kreth finally sent a sword bransting into the chest,he backed away and made the ethereal familiar dash into the flurry and attack with ferver.

“thank you….the beasts are weakened –we lead this to an end now”one elf called,and fired an arrow into the one Kreth had gotten,finally killing it.

The troll finally stood,limping with a wound,obviously poisened,but the Chenexfer was
worse,it was not alive.An elf soon fell to a poisen attack that left it convulsing on the ground,and Thea swishing in great arcs,bade an opening on that same beast,and chopped a wound spilling it’s blood and poisen slop from the pealed flesh.

‘no….the poisen will kill our friend….please do you have a flask of curing or spells that can help”one elf stopped from taking arrow shots,and called to them,as tugging the now motionless elf to the side.

Zea approached,as the troll,Kreth and Thea bared down on one,untill it was pinned against a tree,and with a same swooning mighty swipe the Fraith and the theifess severed the Chenexfers nap,sending the morbid visoning from it’s finall sights scurdling across the ground.

The final creature knew there was a problem,and made away,no followers,alive for now,but vengence may be what they were considering,for now as they gathered at the
Elf,it looked as though it was not a poisen surge that it could survive.

The group rode into the village area,nestled against a 400 ft hill,with many trees not but a few feet beyond the perimeter gate.The troll,who was still a devious lot,was allowed to
attand as well,but they kept a watchfull eye,more than likely it was not of any truelly
good intentions.The three scouts had been looking to do just as that which they encountered them as –tracking and defending the village from the new terrible monsters that arrived in greater numbers now than in the seasons past.The path it was explained was deemed too easy for the enemy to make damning passage about the lands,and so a great invocation was cast that made dirt cover it entirely,and some trees were teleported to offset any clue of it’s being there.The nightime was worse,so they had chased,and then nearly been chased by these Chenexfers way beyond the normal task,but the field which
denied any weaponed attack was making them in fear for the battle,untill Zea had found the way of undoing it,they had won,however one elf had not made it,and that night,the ways of the cultutre and their acceptance as an ally was borne of the funeral,and dancing and drinking,that trumpeted the scour of luck and the court of victory in means for celebration within the scars frought.Beheld of images of the elves,they drank through the
night,the air still and dark,as the fear for the lands that fell under the patterns of death the rifts created was taken to the grave for mortem extritiux,better now than they had first imagined the immersion of their worth to lend a strength for any of the lands was met with approval,the troll lost the vile sneer,and danced with a playfull femme d’elf
and their mission for understanding was made,as they spoke of their quest,and the elve’s told of the nature of the wrath that had been fallen upon their land.

 

[megamania]

This Storyhour has only just begun. I will list the first two since the first one gives hints to the force behind the Pathfinders and the second shows what I am looking to do with the storyhour that is different. DRAWINGS!

As a qyuickie for those unfamiliar with Eberron Dragons. They are the sages of the world whom are trying to figure out the Draconic Prosphecy. Some dragons are happy to figure it out and watch it unfold. Others are not. Some want things to happen faster or slower, to the betterment of the world, for the betterment of themselves. This story is about a dragon whom has a family line that aids it in "fixing" the history / fate of Eberron. It is a patron to two adventurers sent to see to it things occur and for the right reasons.

THE PATHFINDERS
SEGMENTS 001
“Finding the Path”

The stars were full and clear on this hot and humid summer night. The stars seemed to wink and twinkle as two figures walked up the grassy hillside. The father and his young son. The father, very large and majestic, paced himself as the much younger and smaller child tried to keep up. He spoke softly and gently as they arrived.

“Do you see the village there- by the shore line my son?”

“Yes father. They look like little ants from here.”

“Yes, I suppose they do. Does that make them any different?”

“No father. They are all a part of creation.”

“Go on.” Says the proud and wise father.

“They are a part of the great circle of life. They all share in Khyber, Eberron and Siberys creation. They share it will us.”

“Very good son.” And he places a warm arm on the young son’s shoulders. It nearly drives the child to the ground.

“Is this why you brought me here? To see the humans?”

“No my son. It is time you learned of your heritage, potential and the Prophecy.”

“The Prophesy?”

“Yes. I study it daily. Most often from this very spot.”

“woooooow.” Says the wyrmling as he looks to the night sky. “How do you study it?”

“It is within the stars. They speak to you.”

“But they are so far away! How do you hear them?” The blue wyrmling’s large eyes grow wider in amazement and awe.

“Hahhahahahahaa. You have much to learn. Today you take your first steps. Today you choice your human aid.”

“Aid? But we’re dragons. We don’t need help. Especially from human fishermen. They smell all fishy and yuck!”

“Not all men fish. And not all men smell of fish. Have you ever seen the male human visit me?”

“I’m not supposed to.”

The large blue looks down with raised spiked eyelids.

“I saw him once from the bushes near our home. Who is he father?”

“Paploose is MY human aid. He helps me make the prophecy clear”

“Really?” Says the small dragon. “He must be very smart!”

“Hahahahaha… indeed but as smart as I.”

“Paploose travels the world and tells me if what I have foreseen has become true. He is very important to me.”

“wow.” Says the blue wyrmling in deeper and more serious thought.

“Today- it is YOUR turn young Axiom of Argonnessen. Today you are to study the stars. Allow them to reach out to you. To fill your mind. You will see riddles and cryptic messages emerge within your mind.”

“I will?”

“Oh yes. And most importantly, tonight you will choose the human family that will aid you.”

“Tonight?”

“Yes, by dawn you will know whom to reach and contact. They will be on the island somewhere. Possibly a fishermen or a barbarian. Maybe something else. The point I am making is you will know on sight once the stars have touched your mind and soul.”

“wow” says the little dragon. Suddenly he realizes his father is leaving. “Where are you going?”

“The stars will not speak to dragons that remain too close together. This is a private pact you make. I will be within the valley near the ford collecting goods from the farmers for your mother. I will wait for you.”



And thus did Axiom sit and stare at the stars ….this was 800 years ago. Today, the war still goes on with no end in sight. The year- 986 YK.

 

[megamania]

and now for something different- please check out Segment 002-
Attached Thumbnails


looks like it won't send over the attachments so you'll need to click it to see.

 

[talien]

Arcanis: Gonnes, Sons and Treasure Runs

1) This installment is titled "Dark Bargains."

2) I chose it because it sums up all six characters. The problem is, they've just gone through a lot of trouble to finish a quest, and then realize at the end that the right thing to do is abandon it.

5) Story hour link: http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=103252

As they entered, the smell of decay and mustiness of the ageless seemed to engulf them. Swirling miniature dust storms formed and died with every move. Kham sneezed.

The chamber was titanic in its size; large enough to swallow entire buildings whole and still have room left over. Thousands of scrolls, tomes and books occupied an entire side of the room.

"This library is bigger than the Great Library of Coryan," Quintus whispered, one hand holding his side.

The other side of the chamber was occupied with table after table of alchemical apparatus and potions.

"It seems that the Ventaka rulers have enough to keep them occupied for generations without ever stepping foot outside," said Ilmarė.

Helac led them into the chamber and then, bowing deeply, backed out.

In the center of the room was a large screen made of wafer-thin jade. Backlight by a simple light, a skeletal creature stirred from its repose. The terror that emanated from it was palpable.

When it spoke, it was a lethargic croak—part groan, part scream.

"I am told that you have been instrumental in thwarting the invaders from imprisoning us?"

Elabac cleared his throat after a long pause. "I am Elabac of Solanos Mor. I have traveled…through many perils…to meet with you. I seek…your intervention…in entreating Neroth…to grant me life beyond life."

"I still don't think this is a good idea," whispered Kham.

Quintus hushed him.

"We have heard you, Master Elabac of Solanos Mor," responded the thing behind the screen. "And what will you offer to us for our prayers on your behalf?"

Elabac looked surprised. "What can I offer? I seek this gift…not for personal power…but to help my people."

The creature seemed amused, if that were possible. "If we are to persuade our Lord to grant you life beyond life, then you will have many years indeed to help your people. But Ventaka needs you now. With the betrayal of the Nierites, we will need quality arms to defend ourselves."

"I know where this is going," whispered Kham.

"Pledge to remain here for the next 20 years," the thing said, "and we will do what we can."

Kham took a deep sigh.

"We will need time to prepare. Wait in the antechamber until you are summoned."

And with that, Helac returned to usher them out.

They were standing in an uncomfortable chamber, filled with the corpses of the dead and not quite dead.

Quintus was pacing. "Why are we waiting? Master Elabac, is this not what we came here for?"

The wizened dwarf seemed startled. "I had not…expected…these turn of events."

"The best laid plans of dwarves and men often go awry," said Ilmarė with a smirk.

"Oh that's very helpful, thank you," said Kham. "Look, dwarf, I don't like this any more than you do. What is there to decide?"

Elabac looked thoughtful but said nothing.

Quintus winced, rubbing his wounded side. "You do realize that we came all this way at your request. Nearly every one of us died. I swore to see Illiir's will done and I have been true to my word. Now you must follow through with your part."

Vlad stood in front of Elabac, arms crossed. "It's a serious decision. Give Master Elabac some time."

Quintus also crossed his arms. "I have been skewered, you have been stabbed, and Kham nearly got his brains spilled across the ground twice today. We have battled Nierites, Reavers and thugs. We have pledged to defend him on this quest and we were true to our word. Now we are here and he is not SURE if he wants to go through with it?"

A spider dropped down onto Quintus shoulder. He brushed it off in a huff. "I am a patient man, but enough is enough. This place is disgusting and I want to go home!"

There was a knock at the door. Everyone turned to watch Helac enter the room with a delicate tea set.

"I find dat de tea helps one dink clearly."

He handed out teacups of some steaming concoction.

Kham looked down at his saucer and noticed a note was stuck under it. He read it quickly

Kham loudly slurped the tea down. After a beat, he said "Excuse me, I need to pee. I'm going to ask Helac where I can go without accidentally desecrating one of his ancestors' resting places."

Quintus glared at him but said nothing, his arms crossed in one corner of the room. Vlad was talking with Elabac while Ilmarė stared skeptically into her teacup.

Outside, Helac was waiting for him.

"I do not dink your dwarven friend understands de implications of de transformation he is about to undergo."

Kham closed the door behind him. "Yeah, I know. Life must be a real barrel of laughs when you're half-dead."

The bald man shook his head. "No, it is not. Dat is my point. If Elabac wishes to craft de perfect weapon, he will lose his passion completely."

"Why are you telling me this?"

The bald man's eyes darted to the emerald on Kham's coat. "I believe ve have much in common, you and I," was all he would say.

Kham walked back into the room and shut the door behind him.

"Alright, this decision is a bit more complicated than I thought. Upon becoming undead, Elabac will lose his passion and emotion. Without that passion, he'll never be able to craft the perfect weapon. Give him 20 years of this depressing place and this whole quest will have been in vain anyway."

Ilmarė arched an eyebrow. "You came up with all that just now?"

Kham shrugged. "I do my best thinking when I pee."

"Perhaps you are right…" said Elabac. "If I lose my passion…my fire…then all that I sacrificed…has been in vain. Come…let us leave this place of death…and go home."

Quintus smacked his forehead. "So this truly has all been for naught."

"Not for naught," Vlad reminded him. "Wait until you see one of Master Elabac's failures in action."

 

[Angcuru]

This is the first post from my PbP Story Hour: A New Power. Although it is a prologue to the actual game, I chose it because it introduces the reader to some of the themes central to the game.



“Master Tabano, does his mean we won’t see you again?” The padawan asked the question that had been nagging his mind ever since they had landed on Coruscant.

“It may, Arias. I’ll be taking a new padawan learner, but we may see each other more often than you expect. You and Miera are more than ready for this and you know it. If not for the strain of preventing a full scale war, the council would have summoned you both for the trials long ago.” The togruta replied.

“I hope that is the real reason why we weren’t called earlier…” Arias looked down past his feet, through the clear shell of the turbolift at the early morning sun shining past the countless buldings.

“I hope so too, Arias.” Miera spoke up.

“Now now, Miera. If the council disapproved of my taking two padawans when I did, they won’t have the same sentiment now. Not only is the need for Jedi greater than ever in these strained times, but you two are the most gifted padawans I have ever had the privilege to train.”

“Ha. We’re the only padawans you’ve trained, master.” Arias said with a grin on his face.

This brought an amused grin to Tabano's multi-colored face as. "True enough. Even so, I have never heard of anyone completing the training as rapidly and thoroughly as you two have."

"You give us too much credit, master." Miera smiled. "It was due more to your persistance than anything else."

Tabano smiled at his two human padawans. "Now you give me too much credit."

The turbolift slowed to a halt, and the doors opened to the lobby, with the Jedi Council just past a set of doors on the other side of the room. The receptionist indicated that they should be seated until the Council called for them.

After several minutes of waiting, the doors opened and shut as a familiar figure walked out, rubbing the sides of his head.

"I take it the council is becoming more thorough in its debriefings, Obi-Wan?" Tobano asked.

"Hmm?" Obi-Wan Kenobi looked up, surprised. "Torm Tabano? With Arias Falm and Miera Pannar too? Of course its you, you're the only rainbow with two padawans in the order!" He stepped forward with a grin and clasped hands with the togruta. "It's been a long time, old friend."

"It most definitely has been, Obi-Wan."

"Ah, Miera, Arias. You're looking well."

"So are you, Master Kenobi." Miera and Arias replied in unison.

"Ah, don't be so modest. You don't think I've forgotten how you came to aid Anakin and I last year, have you?."

"Well, they're only droids, sir. It wasn't anything extraordinary." Arias said.

"Wasn't it?" He patted Tabano on the back. "Ah, I wish I could stay and chat, but I'm running on a tight schedule."

"Yes, that seems to be the case with so many in these times. Be safe, Obi-Wan." Tabano returned the gesture.

As Obi-Wan entered the turbolift, the receptionist gestured for Arias and Miera to enter to council room.

Miera took a deep breath as they stood up. "Wish me luck."

"You won't need it." Arias smiled at her.

***

Several years later on the Ice Planet of Hoth...

"I REPEAT: Our entire battalion has been pinned down by at least 2, no three dozen droidekas!" The clone trooper yelled into his comms reciever. "Casualties are at 27 percent and piling up fast! We need support NOW!"

"Any response, trooper?" His commanding officer queried, crouching behind a wall of dead troopers piled on the rim of the crater they were holed up in long enough to replace the power pack on his blaster rifle.

"None yet, sir. There's too much chatter on the com network to get a clear signal." The comms trooper slapped the side of his wide-spectrum communications transmitter in frustration.

"Keep trying, then."

After several minutes of repeating the same message into the transmitter, he barely heard the response over the hellish blaster fire. "Message recieved, trooper. Put your commanding officer on the comm."

The trooper tapped his commanding officer on the thigh, and handed him the comms reciever as he crouched down.

"Yes sir. Casualties are currently at...35%. If this keeps up we'll be slaughtered within the hour. Firing coordinates, sir? Hold for a moment." The trooper commander stuck his head up over the barricade or corpses to point a guidance laser at the nearest cluster of droidekas, and nearly had a fix when a blast hit him square in the neck, decapitating him in a shower of blood combined with scorced flesh and armmor.

The comms officer went to retrieve the transmitter, only to find that it had been disintegrated. The trooper discarded the comm unit and took up his blaster, trying to get a bead on the droidekas, but he could only see the blinding white snow of the raging blizzard. No use trying to sense them with infrared either. The cold cooled the droids' frames to the point where they were indescernable from their surroundings, but at the same time lit up the clone troopers like a cluster of stars gone nova.

There was simply no way that they could survive this, and the trooper knew it. It's a good thing that clone troopers are incapable of fear. He aimed his blaster toward the nearest source of droid baster fire and hoped to hit something other than snowflakes. Out of nowhere, a blue light suddenly shone from behind the group of droids. Two blue lights extending from a single point, actually, and that could mean only one thing.

The dual blades spun in a rapid, continuous arc as they rushed the cluster of droidekas so fast that the trooper could barely follow them. The tight cluster of half a dozen droidekas fell apart almost simultaneously, as if their joints had suddenly decided to separate.

A crashing noise from the opposite side of the barricade caught the trooper's attention. A pair of droids lay in a smoking ruin, as another was suspended in the air at least ten meters above a fourth droid, and suddenly fell to collapse onto another two, destroying all three.

"All troopers cease fire! Grendades concentraded on points 6.0 and 12.0!" The remaining troopers hurled their last grenades, alltogether taking out at least fifteen droids. The comms trooper, now the commanding officer, then hurled their last thermal detonater, but unluckily the winds changed precicely as it left his hand, blowing the explosive directly towards the exact center of the troop formation. It was a VERY good thing that clone troopers were incapable of fear.

Just before the detonater was about to hit the ground, it halted and shot off in a completely different direction. In fact, it was headed towards a group of droidekas. The grenade detonated in a flash, showing that at least five droids had been melted down in that blast.

With that last flash, all was silent. The blue light disappeared, and two figures strode out of the snow toward the trooper.

"Generals Falm and Pannar, thank you for your assistance!" The comms trooper stood stock straight and saluted. Not that they could likely see him in the snow, what with his white armor and all.

"Report, trooper!" Arias demanded.

"Casualties at 45%, ammunition-"

"Noted, gather your troops for evac. A transport is on the way. All resistance has been eliminated, prepare to return to your ship." Miera said.

As the trooper gathered the remaining troops and equipment, Meira and Arias headed back towards their airspeeder.

"Well, that's another planet conquered for the glory of the Republic." Arias grumbled.

"Arias, it's not like we set out to take it. The seperatists tried to set up a staging area here, and we stopped them."

"Obviously. And now to prevent them from setting up another, we set up a permanent defense station in orbit and utilize the planet for "The Republic"'s purposes."

"You've been more and more critical of the Republic lately, Arais. Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, especially." Miera help up a datapad indicating their fighters' position.

"You would be too if you didn't blindly follow your orders like you do."

"What? You follow them just as I do."

"True, but you never question them. You never even try to figure out why the war is turning out the way it is." Arias spotted their craft.

"Just what are you getting at?" Miera tapped in the entry code to her starcraft.

"I'm not entirely sure, but there's something suspicious about the whole war. There's something rotten at the core of it." Arias sighed as he entered his starfighter. "I need more time to think on it."

"Then you can think on it on our way to Coruscant."

The two Jedi took of with not another word between them.



Once they landed their fighters in the docking bay of the RCS Interdictor, they headed for the command deck.

Arias could never get over the fact that every damned officer, deckhand, technician, and soldier on these things looked exactly the same. It was just downright....creepy. Sometimes he even thought that the droids looked like them.

As they entered the command deck of the cruiser, it was of course the officer in charge of plotting the ship's course that recognized them, instead of vice versa.

"Generals, do you have orders?"

"The planet has been taken, officer. As soon as the occupation force has arrived, we depart for Coruscant." Miera said.

The CP officer did a few quick calculations before replying. "Sir, we are too low on provisions to head directly to Coruscant. We will have to make a brief resupply stop at Alderaan first. ETA once occupation forces arrive, approximately two weeks, plus or minus three days."

Arias smiled. "Perfect..."

"Sir?" The CP officer said.

"Nothing, good work. Carry on, officer." Miera said, hiding a smile.

Arias poked Miera in her shoulder. "What're you smiling about?"

"The same thing you are." She grinned knowingly.

Arias noticed the CP officer looking curiously at them. "Ah yes, sparring time. Shall we?" He held out a hand down the corridor that eventually (after eight or ten thousand turns it seemed) lead to a sparring room they had had installed on the ship.

"Yes, lets." Miera said after looking at him quizically for a second.

Fifteen minutes later, they were facing each other, wearing their simple Jedi garments, sans cloaks in a room that looked more like an ancient... dojo they were called on some worlds than it did the inside of a starship.

"So what shall we practice with today, Arias Falm?" Meira said mockingly. "Lightsabers or Force Techniques?"

Arias gave her a mock scowl. "I suggest lightsabers. You haven't been using yours enough lately. I must admit though, I did like the idea of using droids to bludgeon other droids into submission."

"You liked that, did you? But you're right, I do need to practice my swordplay." Miera flicked her wrist, bringing her blade to her hand from a shelf on the wall.

Arias did the same. They ignited their lightsabers with the always-familiar snap-hiss. Arias' being a blue double-blade, Miera's a green single blade.

"Would you prefer defense or offense first?" Arias said.

"I'll take defense." She said, just before he dashed forward with a swing to her side. She blocked it easily. He always went easy on her, though.

Arias preferred to go on the offense more than the defense, mostly because Miera needed the most work in that department, but also because it was so easy with her that he had time to think about whatever vexed him.

Today it was a culmination of what he had been pondering for the past few years.

High overhead swing, blocked.
This is the third system this month that had come under the direct control of the republic.
Low slash to the side, blocked.
That wouldn't be so vexing if it wasn't for the fact that the republic in this case was the Grand Army of the Republic, commanded by the Jedi, who were more or less commanded by Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, whether the Council openly accepted this or not.
Quick jab to the abdomen, dodged.
Wasn't it Master Windu who said that Jedi are keepers of the peace, not soldiers? Weren't soldiers exactly what the Jedi had become?
Slice from below to the knees, blocked.
It started just after Obi-Wan had discovered the oh-so-convenient clone army that was just waiting to be used. Obi-Wan had told me that Jango Fett, the original, had been recruited by a man named Tyrannus, in some moon or whatever, but it was outside of Republic space.
Spin around, chop to the neck, dodged. She's getting better at this.
But the Camino had said that Saipher Dias had comissioned the army on behalf of the Republic. Saipher Dias was a Jedi from Naboo, always a great supporter of Palpatine, helped him to become a Senator, even. Saipher dias later turned to the Dark Side and was killed.
Another spin with another attack the the neck, a stab this time. Blocked.
Palpatine became Supreme Chancellor more or less because the Trade Federation attacked Naboo while in an alliance with a Sith Lord.
Whip around, stab to the hip. Dodged.
A Naboo senator who opposed the formation of a republic army was the near-victim of several assassination attempts. Palpatine himself had suggested that Obi-Wan and Anakin investigate this, which lead to the discovery of the clone army, and that the bounty hunter who had attacked the senator was the same who was contracted to be the original for the clones.
Now she's going on the attack. A swing to the waist, dodged.
Obi-Wan tracks the bounty hunter to Geonosis, a seperatist world where he is captured and put up for execution. An attack on a Jedi by a near-hostile world is considered an act of war. Mace Windu heads a rescue operation, while Yoda gathers up the clones to provide backup. The war is begun. Supreme Chancellor is voted Emergency Powers, becoming something of a temporary dictator voted into office.
Slice to the wrist, blocked.
The seperatist leader is revealed as a Sith, who suggests the the Senate is under the control of a Sith Lord...WHAT THE?!?
Thrust to the shoulder...connects.

"DAMN IT ALL!" Arias cursed aloud, not even noticing the wound, and that he has dropped is blade and fallen onto his rear..

Miera dropped her lightsaber to the floor and hurriedly inspected the wound. "I'm sorry I thought you were going to block it you could have blocked it why didn't you block it are you alright does it hurt a lot-"

"I'm fine!" Arias growled. Actually, now it's starting to hurt. "Ooh....maybe not." He began to feel dizzy, and lay back on the floor.

Miera placed a hand on the wound, and the new hole in Arias' body began to regenerate itself. "I'm sorry, I was too serious about it. I hope this doesn't hurt too much."

Arias noticed that she was crying. He reach up with his non-wounded side hand and stroked her cheek. "I know you would never purposely do anything to hurt me, Miera."

She smiled weakly and held his hand against her face. "So you forgive me?"

"There's nothing to forgive. It was a lapse in concentration on my part."

"That's some lapse. I almost killed you."

"Well, I'm not dead and there won't be a scar, so lets imagine that it never happened in the first place." Arias smiled.

"Sounds like a good idea. So what broke your concentration?"

Arias stopped smiling.

"What? Is it something I did?" Miera looked concerned.

"No, nothing you did."

"What then?"

"You know how I've been thinking about what we've been doing all these years? This whole war, what it's all about?"

"Yes, we're fighting to protect the Republic."

"No, no we're not. I've been thinking it all over for years now, and it just hit me."

"What did?" Miera prodded the spot where the wound had been, to make sure it was fully healed.

"This...everything. The whole war, the army, the seperatists, the Jedi...everything's part of a impossibly elaborate coup."

"What are you talking about?"

So he explained to her what he had been considering as they had been sparriing, every little coincidence that he had found. When you put it all together, they weren't coincidences. It was a conspiracy, a plot. A plot to slowly eat away at the Republic and remake it as Palpatine's personal Empire. Little by little, just so that noone would notice unless they were unjustly paranoid and had access to all the information and resources that Jedi had. And Jedi weren't supposed to be paranoid. Arias just happened to be that lucky exception.

They lay slumped against the wall. Arias worked his shoulder to make sure that it was in working order. Miera stared into space, a picture of disbelief.

"It's just....it's....too much to take in."

"Now do you still think I was wrong in questioning what we're doing here?"

"No, I believe you. You've never lied to me about anything. You have every reason not to lie about this. It just seems so...impossible."

"And there's not a damned thing we can do about it."

"Why not? We could take this news to the Jedi Council and-"

"You know that they're suspicious of us already. They think that we're in danger of falling to the Dark Side, just because we broke one little tenant of the Jedi code."

"Hmph. 'There is no passion; there is serenity.'"

"And what is love but the ultimate passion?"

Miera smiled weakly and rested her head against Arias' shoulder. The non-stabbed shoulder, she knew better than that. "Well, we haven't fallen to the Dark Side, have we?"

"To think that the Jedi Order has become the tool that brings the Sith to power. That's irony for you."

"Makes you question your faith, doesn't it?"

"I was just thinking the same thing." Arias stood up and retrieved his lightsaber.

Miera did the same. "So what do we do now?"

"The only thing we can do." Arias said. "We leave."

Miera just nodded in agreement.



Several hours later, they lay abed. Arias held Miera close, abentmindedly stroking her hand.

"We'll have to leave it all behind, you know. Everything." Miera said.

"Yeah. There's no way to avoid it. We'll have to leave Republic Space. Maybe not for good, but for a long time."

"Arias, once I knew the truth, everything became clear. Not just my thoughts, but my visions, the future."

"What do you see?" This is the way it always was for them. The was the fighter, the action, he did the planning and got things done. She was the more mystical one, seeing what would happen, where, and what might be done to stop it.

"I see the Galaxy like a disc of light, with little blue spots wherever the Jedi are. There's a darkness creeping in. The light is growing dimmer, and the blue spots are slowly disappearing, one by one. The light turns to black, and the blue spots soon follow the light into oblivion. Now, in the black, there are two spots that are perfectly red. But there is light still. So little, but still there. Two dots, neither red nor blue, but white, at the edge of the black, barely detectable, so very dim, but undeniably there."

"Those two white dots. Those are us, aren't they?"

"There's more. There are more white dots eventually, around the two. It looks like there is another blue dot showing up far, far later, but I can't be sure."

"So the Republic will fall, and Palpatine will have his Empire."

"It can't last forever though. No matter how long he reigns, he will fall in time. That's his one huge flaw, but he doesn't see it that way, I think. When he is gone, the black will fade away and be again replaced by the light. But no matter to him. If he's gone, he doesn't care what happens. It could burn for all he cares. And he will fall. Tyrants always do." She snuggled closer to him.

After a few minutes, Arias asked the inevitable question. "Tomorrow, then?"

"Tomorrow."

 

[Brakkart]

Comments: This has to be my favourite seesion of the campaign thus far, simply because I got to use Dracotaurs, one of the coolest new monsters 3rd edition has produced. The looks on my players faces when shown a picture of one of these things (from MM3) made my day!

The party are investigating why the Yuan-ti have been stealing spell components from a merchants warehouse in Baldur's Gate, and have just raided the merchant coster that the snakemen were using as a front company for their activities. But as the players have recently realised (many sessions later), the Yuan-ti did not send the Dracotaurs after them...

(Forgotten Realms) Rise of the Snakemen - Part Seven

Making their way back to the Inn, the party found it locked to them at 2am, and so snuck into the stables attached to it and crashed in a couple of empty stalls. Zamtap meanwhile concluded his part in a ceremony designed to dedicate a new mechanical clock intended for the cities main marketplace, and was offered a cloister room to spend the night in. Accepting, he gratefully slipped into the oblivion of sleep.

Everyone was woken only a few hours later, Zamtap for morning prayers, the others by the stableboy bursting in on them, and then promptly making his excuses seeing the amount of blood most of the group were covered in. They made use of the horse trough and scrubbing brushes to clean the worst of it off themselves, and gathered their things from their rooms, setting out then into the city. Noob and Gylippus went off to sell the various loot they had gathered during the night, Elena headed to the temples to buy a supply of potions, whilst Aeron, Ki and Jebodiah made a beeline for Buckman's store, to report their success to him.

Zamtap declined an offer to take part in any more of the dedication festival, as several more inventions were to be commended in the days that followed, saying that he had stayed in one place long enough and that as a travelling priest he should really be off to see more of the world. With the well wishes of the temple ringing in his ears, he headed back to the Blushing Mermaid to meet with the others (making only a short stop at the Temple of Mystra on the way to purchase a healing wand), only to find upon arrival that they had already left. After a quick conversation with the stableboy, he gathered that at least some of them had gone to talk to Buckman and he decided to head there also in the hope of catching up to them, somewhat alarmed by the boy's graphic description of how bloodied his comrades were.

Reaching Buckman's store as it was opening, the wizard, monk and barbarian were shown inside and up to their eastwhile employers office, whereupon they explained their activities of the previous evening and handed over the letter that they had recovered from Broca House. Buckman grew increasingly pale as they related the massacre of the cultists, and he dropped a bag of coins onto his desk, telling them it was payment for sorting out the theieves who had plagued his business. He then re-read the letter and growled, seeing the part about Waterdeep, and he asked the group where they were headed. Aeron replied that he did not know about the others, but that Waterdeep was his home and he intended to follow this trail to there.

Glad to hear it, Buckman asked the others to go and continue what they had started, he not wishing to start losing supplies from his Waterdeep store to fuel the Yuan-ti's plans. At that Zamtap arrived at the store and was sent upstairs to meet with the others, who brought him up to speed on what had transpired in his absence, along with some earnest pleas from Jebodiah for healing which the cleric duly granted, patching up the dwarf to the best of his ability.

Buckman being well connected informed the group that he had little fear of reprisals for the slaughter from the Flaming Fist, as afterall most of the wizards in the city he knew by first name, and wizards commanded much power and respect as many served in the citys defence force. He also told the group about Esau Enoch, a man wanted in most of the cities along the Sword Coast for unspeakable crimes as he fancied himself a scientist. Authorities had on numerous occassions discovered his grisly laboratories, but never the man himself.

Too he told them that Wolfhill House was a well known ruin, located in the Mere of Dead Men north of Waterdeep, and that it was supposedly haunted.

With that additional knowledge to ponder, the group bade him goodbye and they set out for Kelvin's Thorp, meeting Elena, Noob and Gylippus enroute to Kelvin's Thorp, the lady pirate complaining the whole way that they should have taken a ship. Reaching the village at just past nightfall, they opted for the first tavern they came too and staggered into The Greasy Ferret, each of them slapping down 1 silver for a bed in one of the two large bunkhouses and heading straight to bed. Well all apart from Zamtap, who made sure he had a few beers first.

Woken early the next morning by a bell clanging as one of the caravan masters awoke his men for an early start on the road, the group groaned and made their way into the tavern for breakfast, only to be informed that the tavern didn't serve it, as the vast bulk of their customers were from caravans that usually had a cook waggon with them. Muttering curses, the group split up with several of them knocking on villagers doors and offering them coin to join them for breakfast. Elena and Jebodiah had a different idea, and they joined the queue for cooked breakfast at a cook waggon and getting themselves a free breakfast of bacon and eggs as the cook had not yet had the time to memorise who was in his caravan, it only having left Baldur's Gate yesterday.

Walking over and joining them, Zamtap put forth the idea of hiring on with the caravan as guards and before the others really had time to discuss this he headed to the caravan master, a big man who having already donned his half-plate was pulling on a tabard... a yellow and black tabard, bearing a familiar looking Z insignia. Immediately wary, Zamtap succeeded only in annoying the man, before heading back to the others. He did not drop the idea of signing up with the caravan though,but Aeron was having none of it, and the rest of the group breathed a collective sigh of relief as the caravan moved on out of the village, leaving them behind.

At that, Noob decided to buy a horse, and the others, all flush with coin from the monies that Noob and Gylippus had divided out, followed suit. Heading to the large stables, each purchased a suitable mount, saddle and tack and as a group they set off, soon passing the Zhent traders and heading towards Waterdeep, many days ride away.

After four days of easy travel, things got more complicated a few hours after passing the spur in the road that led east towards Scornubel. A thundering noise approaching the road from the east alerted them, and the group spurred their mounts to a gallop, intending to outrace whatever it was that as yet remained unseen by the crest of a ridge. Unfortunately, while they were able to stay on a mopving horse, neither Ki or Zamtap possessed any real skill at horsemanship and their mounts steadfastly refused to speed up. Just then the source of the noise burst over the crest, a large pack of scaled draconic centaurs, led by a brute with a battleaxe who upon seeing the group snarled out "Thats the ones we are looking for, kill them all!!". With that the Dracotaurs roared and thundered down the slope towards the two groups.

With no time to waste, the groups dismounted and sent their mounts packing, as they took up defensive positions, those that had ridden ahead racing to try and make it back to the stragglers before the Dracotaurs reached them and overwhelmed them. Taking it upon himself to draw the attention of the uncoming creatures, Jebodiah snarled and ran straight for them. As Gylippus and Noob drew the attention of a couple of the approaching beasts on one flank, so the other six , including the chieftain charged into the others, the chief giving into his battle rage as he slammed into the dwarf, battleaxe tearing a gaping wound in the small barbarian. With two Dracotaurs bearing down on her, Elena grinned as Aeron empowered her with a bulls strength and she leapt at her opponents, dancing amongst them, their attacks meeting thin air again and again, as her cutlass slashed here and there, swashbuckling at it's finest.

As Ki and Jeb battled without much success, one of the creatures that had been been going for Noob and Gylippus, spotted Aeron spellcasting and ran around the outside of the battle to get at him. Seeing the creature thunder towards him, the air genasi grinned and sailed skywards, his natural ability to levitate serving him well and putting him beyond the creatures reach... or so he thought until a ball of fire was spat up at him, narrowly missing him, even as he shouted out "They can breathe fire!!" to warn the others of the new development.

Gylippus and Noob meanwhile were fighting a guerilla style battle away from the others, having drawn off one Dracotaur from the pack, harrying the creature with arrows, making use of some trees to keep it from charging them. Proving successful they soon felled the creature and moved to help out the others, even as Elena's luck finally ran out and after felling one of the Dracotaurs that she was battling, the second landed a series of blows on her. Still, she remained standing and with a nimble step, moved in and finished off her second opponent.

Aeron had been only momentarily distracted by the Dracotaur underneath him hurling a spear up and through his left leg, and he gritted his teeth as he dropped Gedlee's electric loops onto his foes, stunning them. With his opponent finally vulnerable, Ki eviscerated one Dracotaur, freeing himself and Zamtap to rush to the aid of Jeb, who was standing fuelled solely by sheer force of anger by now. As Ki drew the attention of the chieftain, the cleric did his best to patch up the dwarf, even as the remaining Dracotaurs encircled them. Things looked bleak for the trio, as their companions raced to reach them, in time...

 

[el-remmen]

Just bumping an old thread for those who might never have seen it. . .

 

[howandwhy99]

Thanks for bumping this. I actually have something to post now. Below is from the OD&D storyhour I'm sorely behind in. Regardless, it's posted to daily. So please feel welcome to read along, if you like what you see here. (what follows are 3 installments)



Ben’s bed was soft and welcoming at the temple. Fasting and praying the previous two weeks had really taken a toll on his body and he relished the chance to sleep in the next day before the ordination. Unfortunately, he slept for less than half an hour before he was shook awake. Surrounded by total darkness, fear welled up in his gut. Darius’s voice spoke. He was collecting the party again for an urgent meeting. Exasperated, Ben dressed and followed the dwarf to the barracks of the keep. The group had been given a room of bunks for their own use within. Everyone inside looked very tired. Then Ben noticed one new person, a rather strange woman who was dressed in animal skins and what looked like tree limbs.

“This is Holly Greenwillow”, Darius said. “She has heard rumors of us from, uh… different sources. She sought us out to join in our fight. She wants to help us defeat the Giant and those at the caves.” Ben looked at Darius. “This is why you woke me up?” Darius grimaced. “No. Igor has learned something very important. We were waiting for you to arrive before beginning.” Ben sat down grumpily next to the others. Darius began telling the story of how the team had met and their adventures at Outpost Xavier. As Holly listened intently, Dram, Dalin, Mirel, and even Brother Ben took a part in explaining all of the details. Ben felt a little in awe of everything that had happened now the whole story was voiced at once. Afterwards, Holly related how she had learned of the party’s deeds and explained further about the carnage the Giant’s forces were inflicting on the surrounding wilderness. Listening to her Ben felt tired, but he could understand why the others had trusted her intentions.

Pointing to the barrack’s walls, Darius revealed how they were now paying for the privilege of staying within. He had found out earlier in the week from one of the sergeants that militia soldiers were to serve for only one month. Then they were free to return to their families and homes. Several groans were heard around the room. Ben rolled his eyes and Igor’s left eye began rolling in a completely different direction than his right. Darius went on about how essentially they were operating on their own. “We no longer hold any rank within the military of Margrave County. You will need to remember this when dealing with the soldiers here and if or when we appeal for aid with the Chaos Caves.”

Darius nodded to Igor and the chef stood up. Holly was escorted out of the building for the time being as they felt she was still too unknown to them for what would be said. Igor began by telling them in his raspy, whispery voice that the message had to remain secret at all costs. “We ‘re bein’ ‘unted. And the Good Man Barth ‘s one o’ those ‘unting us.” He would not explain how he knew they were being hunted, but Kayla backed Igor’s assertion completely. A number of people were looking for the team. These hunters had two motives in mind. One was to find out what information the party knew. The other was to stop them from giving that information to anyone else. Kayla said if one of them were caught, he or she would be tortured and killed. Dram spoke up anger. “And we sat and discussed our own plans right in front of them!”

Igor continued with another piece of news he believed was related. He had visited Mouse’s shop before calling the meeting. Only Mouse had not been there. In fact, Mouse had packed up and left the keep. “Only none o’ the watchguard saw ‘im leave”. His shop was locked and his supplies stored away. Igor explained how earlier in the morning he had learned some of the books from Quesquaton had been traced back to Mouse’s trading post. When Igor informed Mouse of the news, he acted strangely and kicked Igor out of the shop for the rest of the day. “I was tryin’ to get ‘em books back,” but Mouse must have started packing directly afterwards. “Well, what happened to the books then?” asked Brother Ben. “And how did he get them in the first place?” Igor would only say Mouse had sold them several weeks ago and the books were no longer in the Keep.

It was a lot of information to digest. It was agreed it would be better to discuss what they needed to do in the morning when everyone was more coherent. As they were finishing talking, Mirel hurried to her family’s house. Holly was brought back inside told to find a bed near the others. She explained she preferred the outdoors and would rest on the floor if necessary. Darius and Kayla kept watch and talked in hushed tones in the corner. It was only then Darius really hit on the reality of their situation. A much tighter security needed to be kept and it had to start immediately. Igor volunteered to keep watch and to fetch Mirel back to the barracks for safety. He pulled out a potion he had purchased from the alchemist shop. “NO SLEEP” Ben read on its label. Downing the mixture, Igor’s body tensed and his eyes began to water and spin like never before. Brother Ben wondered just what ingredients were in the elixir. Igor bounced up and ran out the door and into the street. For all the world, he looked like a madman on the loose.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

The sweet embrace of sleep was again enveloping Brother Ben as he lie on the hard barrack bunk. An irritating noise was bothering him though. Ire… Ire… Ire… “FIRE IN THE KEEP!!!!” Darius was shoving people awake and pulling them up to their feet. “THERE IS A FIRE IN THE KEEP! OUTSIDE!! AT THE INN!!” Ben shuffled to the door in his nightrobe. A bright blaze lit the street and sky down to his left. The tall, three-story Inn was cloaked in black smoke and orange flames. Fearing an attack Brother Ben put on his shoes and grabbed his flail. “There’s no time for armor”, he thought as he ran out the door towards the flames. As he headed down the road he realized the fire was beginning to spread to adjacent buildings. “The temple is right by the Inn!”

Igor was escorting Mirel back from her parent’s house. She guessed she should not be surprised he knew where her home was, but Igor was looking more paranoid than usual. When they turned the corner to the main street they saw the fire coming out the windows of the Inn ahead. “IIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEYY!” Igor screamed in lunacy. “We need to raise the alarm!” cried out Mirel. Igor let go of her and bolted towards the Inn. Mirel trailed after and started pounding on the closed doors along one side of the street. “Get up. There’s a fire! Please…get up!” People started coming out of their homes and pointing at the flames. As Mirel kept moving closer to the Inn, she spotted the front of the keep temple. Oddly, its large front doors were open and a figure lied on the ground in the shadows within.

In desperation, Igor sprinted with wild speed to the front of the burning Inn. A wooden sign with the picture of a man with fire in his hands still hung outside it. Igor dumped the water barrel outside the door over his entire body and ran into the building. Inside the flames covered most of the walls and were licking the ceiling. Near the tables in the common room several bodies were piled on the ground. Igor inspected them. They were the innkeeper and his family. All were stabbed in either the heart or throat. Bounding up the smoky stairs he began banging on doors. Opening each as he ran along he noticed every occupant had been stabbed. “The fire is only a diversion’, he thought. “They mean to kill everyone in the keep.” Pulling a cloth over his mouth and a couple of blankets over his body, Igor hurriedly looked for any possible survivors.

Darius was having difficulty waking the others inside the barracks. Kayla relieved him and he ran out after Brother Ben. Also fearing the fire was a sign of an attack the dwarven paladin stopped and ran backwards in the direction of the inner bailey instead. Quickly covering the short distance, he began pounding on the door. “It seems my life’s work is to forever pound on this damnable thing!” A watch called out from the near central gate. Darius answered, “We’re under attack! Where is Lady Devereaux? Is she okay?” The guardsman said he would pass on the message. Frustrated, Darius began running back towards the burning Inn.

Cautiously Mirel moved to the front of the temple. Lights like flame flickered within. Looking down at the floor in the vestibule she saw the body of a man with no head. It wore the clerical robes of a Brother. A scream built in Mirel’s throat but froze when she looked back up and straight at Turko and Zerk. The two men were holding torches on the far side of the entrance room. A rotund form with a cane in one hand was walking from the shadows into their light. Mirel’s feet grew wings as she flew from the temple’s doors. She ran up the road towards the Inn and her friends inside the barracks. People were congregating in the streets now. Some stared in shock. Others were talking about the fire. Mirel saw a form of a man in robes backlit by the Inn’s flames and running directly towards her. As the form drew close Mirel saw light flash over its face, the face of Brother Ben. Mirel screamed in terror.

“What? What’s going on?” Ben checked over Mirel who had gone white with fear. “Go to the barracks! Go to the barracks! Don’t go to the church!” Mirel shouted back. She started running again and arrived at the Inn where a crowd of people had gathered. Darius ran up to her from the other side. Shouting orders and moving people into a line he started a rough bucket brigade to help put out the Inn. Ben’s head swirled in emotion and pain. He had to know what was happening at the temple. Running forward he saw its main doors were open ahead. CRASH! Sound reverberated through the entire keep and a goodly, bright light cascaded out of a hole in the temple’s roof. Ben was slightly deafened by what he thought was a thunderbolt landing next to him. Across the entire keep faces turned startled by the noise. Mirel ran back to Brother Ben’s side and readied her sling as he pulled out his flail. Booming laughter echoed out over the Keep and its inhabitants. Evil laughter.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Heading back down from the third level to the second, Igor looked for any rooms he may have missed. He believed he had inspected all the guests staying at the Inn. Every room had been full of visitors hoping to celebrate Midsummer’s Day Feast and to either watch or partake in the games. Now he knew all of those people were dead. Coughing and gasping for air, he fought to stay awake. Fortunately, the NO SLEEP potion helped Igor from passing out from the smoke, but it was also making him shake uncontrollably. He picked up the last body he found. “We’ll need evidence. Something to prove this was not an accident.” Stuffing it in his pack, he pulled over the thick blankets he had draped over himself to protect from the flames. Breathing in the fumes, he began to feel dizzy again. His reddened eyes searched for the nearest exit they could find. Locating one Igor leapt through.

Outside Darius was shouting at the bucket brigade to keep tossing water. But every eye in the keep was turned toward the light shining out of the top of the temple. No one saw the flaming body leap out of the Inn’s second story window until it was too late. Igor landed on three of the onlookers and buckets went flying. Back at the barracks Kayla finally managed to rouse Ormand the Redd. She asked him to watch Dram and Dalin who still slept in their drunken slumber. Holly had left hoping to escape the keep altogether. She believed it was an unsafe place even under normal circumstances. “I hope she made it out okay”, thought Kayla. Going to the door she looked up at the mysterious white light flowing towards the night sky. Suddenly, startlingly, a figure appeared in the brightness as if from nowhere.

A large black reptilian flying creature hung in the light. It was as dark as the night sky above it. Upon seeing the creature, an ice-cold shiver of fear ran down the backs of every onlooker in town. The wave of fear was almost visible as those closest were affected first. Mirel closed her eyes and bravely ran torward the temple. Brother Ben panicked and chased after her hoping some safety could still be found in that holy place. The crowd near the Inn began to scream. Terrified, the people began running in different directions, some even went inside the Inn. Igor ran under a covered alley close by, huddling in the shadows. Kayla and Ormand the Redd dived under bunks when the wave of dread reached them. Only Darius was not afraid. He eyed the creature, daring it to make the first move. “No one comes in to my house…” he thought.

Dram and Dalin sat bolt upright waking from their stupor. Dalin began pulling on his armor, but Dram simply grabbed his sword and shield and ran outside in his nightclothes looking for the source of danger. Brother Ben grabbed and crestled Brother Thom’s headless body in the doorstep of the temple. Mirel moved past him into the vestibule and hid underneath a bench. Looking around she was glad not to see anyone else. All the fear suddenly drained from her body. The crowd’s screams stopped from the street outside too. Darius saw the light go out from above the temple. He could not see so far in the dark, but he felt the creature had disappeared too. Captain Radcliffe arrived at his side and said in awe, “That… that was a Dragon! A real true Dragon!” Darius dragged the captain behind him and ran to the temple.

Inside Brother Ben saw all the interior doors were closed, but the main one leading to the congregation hall. It had been torn off its hinges. Father Hedrach appeared in its doorframe just as Darius and Radcliffe ran in from the outside. The Father was bloodied, swelled up, and wobbling on his feet. Ben ran over and tried to hold him up as Darius’s hands sent healing power into the old man’s body. BOOOM! Father Hedrach expanded and exploded blowing away the entire front half of the temple. Brother Ben experienced a weird floating sensation, as time seemed to slow. Bits of six different bodies floated in the bloody mist as the blast continued to expand. “I am dead”, Ben realized. Then he felt his soul detach itself from the last fragments of his natural form. He began floating upwards way from the carnage below.

 

[Kid Charlemagne]

Thanks for bumping this, Nemm! Er, Remm.. er... OK, I'll just post.

This is a brand-spanking new Story Hour, The Golden Key: From the Casebook of Nigel Spenser. I am a player in this campaign, which is a mere 3 sessions old. The DM is eris404.

The setting is Victorian England, 1888, but with a magical twist. Elves, dwarves, and the like walk the foggy streets of London, and danger abounds. Sherlock Holmes is a real person, and that well-dresed fellow you see in the corner pub? He might be a gold dragon.

The characters are independent investigators working for Lloyd's of London, the famous insurance company. The main characters are Nigel Spenser (my PC), Orla Taoseitch (I hope I spelled that right), Artimis Swain, and Sandor Kertesz.

In their first case, they are tasked with recovering an item stolen from a London locksmith's shop.

A key, that in the words of its (legal) owner, "opens everything..."

This is the third installment.

**********************************
Orla leaned forward. "What exactly do you mean? It's a skeleton key of some sort?"

"No, no… Well, yes, I suppose, after a fashion…"

"It's enchanted," Nigel replied, more statement than question.

"Yes. It is capable of opening any lock that it is touched to, any kind of lock that I have ever attempted to open."

"Who knew of the key, and more specifically, who knew of its properties?" Nigel asked.

"Very few. My shop assistant knows of its existence, but not of what it does. I try not to use it very often, in fact I haven't used in almost two months."

"Where was that? And I'll need the name of that assistant; we'll have to ask him some questions, as well." Orla jotted the details in a notebook while Nigel stood up and paced around the back of the shop. He noticed the cash register, and hit the lever opening it. The till was full. Curious.

"Do you mind if I look through these files, Mr. Melthorpe?" he asked, indicating a filing cabinet. Melthorpe nodded his assent.

"Adrian Poole is his name, I'm sure he had nothing to do with it; he's been with the shop since my father's days. And the last time I used the key… that would be at the British Museum. They had an unusual old book with a very strange lock on it. They couldn't figure out how it opened. They've been a good client over the years, some of the more unusual jobs that I've done."

"Who was present there?" Orla asked.

"The curator was there, and a young man."

"And his name?"

"Gerald Whisk.. wait, no… Wist. Gerald Wist."

Nigel thumbed through the files in the cabinet. He noticed right away that one file was not neatly placed as were all the others. He pulled it out, and examined it closely. It was a bill of sale, and Nigel was just about to put it back when something caught his eye.

"Do you have the letter you received luring you here?"

Melthorpe nodded, and pulled it out from his jacket. Nigel examined it, comparing it to the bill of sale. Then he smiled a wide grin.

"I can at least put your mind at ease that your friend, Mr. Hunt had nothing to do with this," he stated plainly. "Observe here, on this bill of sale. There are impressions, here, over the signature, which happens to be that of George Hunt. The size and shape of the impressions, and of the letters themselves, match perfectly with the signature on the letter you received. This bill of sale was used as a template to forge the signature on the letter."

"Your attacker, can you give us a description of him?"

"He was an Orkling, tall, very large… olive skin, long hair, tied back like a sailor. Rather shabbilly dressed. He had a single tusk sticking out of his mouth, very odd. It was capped in iron."

Orla grinned. "I'm sure he'll be hard to find."

The investigators examined the rest of the shop for any other clues. The found a small leather pouch inside one of the torn up chairs, filled with small diamonds. Melthorpe identified them as being part of his savings; the Orkling thug had apparently stolen several others, but had missed this one. They thanked the locksmith and stepped out in the street where Artimis and Sandor waited. Sandor was interrogating the urchins, amusing them by juggling several of his vast collection of knives. The children were clearly enjoying it, swarming around him.

"The children saw the Orkling arrive," the knife-thrower explained. "He threatened them to keep them quiet."

"Well, that worked," Orla quipped.

"I gave the older boy one of my knives. One of the smaller ones."

"Lovely. Arming the urchins," Cass muttered.

Sandor turned to Nigel. "I saw no marks to indicate that the shop was broken into. His story seems to hold up."

"But if no one broke in," Nigel said, "how did the forger get Mr. Hunt's signature?"

"Time to go see Mr. Poole, I think" Orla replied. "About the key, does that symbol mean anything?"

"The raven in flight?" Nigel asked. "Yes, I think it does. The raven is the symbol of the Raven King."

"Who is that?" Artimis asked.

"He's a sort of mythical former King of Northern England," Nigel explained. "A powerful wizard. The folks in the north are fond of reminding others that they do not truly consider Queen Victoria to be their Queen. The Raven King rules the north, even though he disappeared four hundred years ago. Victoria is merely a steward."

Meanwhile, Amanda sized up Sandor. "Just how many knives do you carry, anyway?"

Sandor opened his jacket. Glittering steel covered nearly every square inch.

"Twenty. Well, nineteen, I just gave one to that boy."

"Hmm. I count two empty sheaths," Amanda responded.

Sandor stared at her, then inventoried his armaments. "Basszameg," he swore, looking around for the now-long-gone children.

"Fooking urchins."