Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Goonalan" data-source="post: 3810125" data-attributes="member: 16069">Bloody hell... I mean, Bloody Hell (try it with astonishment). That's the nicest thing anyone's said in a while, and on the money with the characterisation. Bugger, I'm going to have to write some more.Honestly, thanks, for taking the time to renew my faith, in lots of things.Very much appreciated. No really, I mean... Bloody Hell.Onwards, ever onwards... hope this one's not too bad.Dungeon Crawl Classics #11 The Dragonfiend Pact For 2nd Level CharactersTurn 31: The Diddymen.“Where now?” Newt squeaks and grins.Anya stares at the map; she points the way- “there”, she squeaks back.The adventures head off down the tunnel.Bec is the largest of the Diddymen, or rather people, just a little over one-and-a-half feet tall; the Barbarian, Jim, and Cas are however bulging with muscles, at least for their size- Anya has managed to successfully cast all three of the ‘Bull’s Strength’ spells they found in the locked scroll case.Newt, on the other hand, is tiny, a little less than nine inches tall, and weighing well… almost nothing at all.Anya shimmers, her Mage Armour scroll takes effect.“Remember silver or magical weapons.” Cas squeaks, then heads on.Barely has he finished the words when ahead comes the sound of squeaking, and not from any members of the Goodman Gang this time.“Rats.” Newt warns.Bec charges into the fray, there are over a half-a-dozen of the rodents, each as big as an adventurer; he swipes wildly, and misses.Fwung.Fwung.Newt fires, catches one of the creatures in the throat, it gargles, collapses, and dies. Anya’s crossbow sings, the tiny bolt lodges in the Rat’s maw; it swallows, chokes, hiccups and turns belly-up. Two down.“Charge” Cas shouts/squeaks.The second wave hits- Ala slashes and connects, leaving a bloody trail, another Rat flops down dead. Cas stabs forward, another one bites the dust. Jim charges into another, an over-arm blow with his axe- dead.Five killed in the brief exchange the other Rats flee. Fwung.Newt pegs another; it sinks to the tunnel floor, kicks a while, and then expires.“It’s not bad… being short.” Newt finishes.They move on- towards a larger chamber ahead, they can feel the change in the air movement, the muddy tunnels seem to breathe, at least echo with the winds passing.Anya pushes to the front, her wand ready, eager to get an attack in.The chamber ahead is only ten feet in diameter, but appears huge to the shrunken adventurers, as do the two Badgers that squat at the far side of it, bristling with anger- snarling, and standing, rather towering, over them the Werebadger, Tarn, back in half-Badger half-Man form. Still wounded and yet much healthier looking than before. Tarn spots them, notches an arrow and lets it fly, and then another.FWUNGFWUNGThe first missile shatters into the stone wall by Ala’s head, the second strikes Cas, but only a glancing blow.Newt is first to react, he tumbles into the chamber, comes up hidden behind a large rock, dodges into sight and fires; another poisoned crossbow bolt shoots towards the Werebadger.FwungAnd hits, but it’s only a pin-prick in the creatures matted fur.Then the poison strikes, Tarn stiffens and then just as suddenly relaxes, much diluted the poison has no effect.“Kill them my furry fiends.”Tarn sneers; the Badgers rush to obey.The furious creatures smash into the front rank- Cas and Anya. Anya is caught by a flailing claw, blood bubbles to the surface, she dodges hard right and out of the melee- Bec fills the gap, swings hard and leaves a bloody gash on the Badgers snout, the creature instinctively backs away. The second Badger claws at Cas, with the same result- a line of blood appears along his forearmAnya fumbles for a scroll, gets it right, and intones in a whisper- a haze of floating lights appear, circling the giant Werebadger’s head, Tarn shakes and twitches once or twice, tries to clears the fog the Daze spell has conjured in his mind, he fails and is left standing statue silently shaking.Jim leaps into the fray, swings hard at a Badger, and connects, and yet the creature just snarls some more and launches its counter attack, Jim dodges back, just in time, the giant Badger snaps its jaws shut on empty air.Ala steps into the fray, slices with all her might, but misses by some distance, the Badger rears up ahead of her, ready to lunge down upon her, pummel her, smash her into the cold stone floor, Cas steps into the gap, swings hard, and splits the beast open- guts and innards tumble out, he dodges back as it deflates and collapses.He’s not done however; the Paladin dodges past the fresh corpse, and hurtles towards Tarn. “To the death.”He cries.ThwungA silver crossbow bolt protrudes from the giant Werebadger’s thigh, still dazed; it doesn’t make a sound, nor register the hit.The second Badger snaps and claws at Bec, full of Rage at its partner’s demise, the Barbarian however is too quick for it, he dodges right and round to the side of the creature, slashes and slices- the Badger finally ceases its struggle and collapses. Anya fumbles another scroll out, another Daze spell aimed at Tarn, this time however the magic founders, Tarn shakes his head more violently, he’s coming out from under her spell.“Charge.”This time it’s Jim who sounds the call, catching up with Cas, Ala swiftly follows in.The Paladin rushes forward and round-house cuts, his sword strikes a stone on the floor and leaps from his grasp, his momentum sends him tumbling forward, flat on his face, prone before the terrible creature. He struggles to rise, looks up, and up, and up at the towering figure that blinks and comes alive, grins down at the sprawling Paladin, as it looms over him.Tarn drops his bow and plunges forward onto all fours, sinks claws and teeth into Cas’ back and shoulders, rakes and rips- shreds the Paladin.The creature stays low to the ground, over the now unmoving Paladin, pressing him down, crushing Cas into the cold stone floor.Newt scurries forward, crouches behind another fallen rock.ThwungHe misses. Bec and Anya lumber forward to meet the seemingly invincible foe, the latter intoning another spell en route, a cold white Ray of Frost lances out and burns a freezing patch into the Werebadger’s side, it hardly seems to notice.Jim arrives, still charging, rolls under the Werebadger’s swipe and slices, leaving a shallow cut in his axe’s wake. Ala follows Jim in, trying to get to Cas, but is sent scurrying back as the creature lashes out again, she dodges the blow and brings her longsword down on the its clawed hand, another hit, another line of blood- and yet it only serves to further enrage the creature.A massive clawed hand smashes down and around, thumps into Ala, knocking the wind out of her- leaving her breathless, barely clinging onto her sword, then in the same motion lifts and flings her into the air, sends her flying, spinning backwards, she crashes into the cold stone floor a dozen feet away- unmoving.Newt presses himself into the stone; his hands shake as he applies another dose of poison to a silver crossbow bolt, he gulps and stares hard at Ala’s crumpled form.Bec sees his opening, dodges into range and beneath the Werebadger’s thickly furred neck, stabs up and buries half his sword’s length into the creature’s throat; blood spurts out, showering him as he withdraws the blade. And yet the thing fights on, even as it bleeds, it reverses a little, then snaps its jaws shut on the spot where Bec had just been standing, the Barbarian dances backwards grinning insanely.Anya points and mumbles; a bolt of force, a Magic Missile, thumps into the Tarn’s side, the Werebadger winces.Jim leaps in and slashes wildly, nearly over-balances, he catches himself as he stumbles closer, his axe swipe well wide of the mark, and at the last instance dodges back, out of reach, avoiding the creature’s reaction swipe. Buoyed by his non-fatal mistake the Ranger steps into the fray again, axe before him he challenges the fell creature.“Is that all you’ve…”And is crunched, a huge clawed hand mashes him into the cavern floor, Tarn reaches down, lightning quick, and bites and gnaws on one Jim’s flailing legs, the Ranger kicks, scrambles and screams and somehow manages to struggle free of the creatures grip- his lacerated leg produces a slick of blood that soaks through his breeches in an instant.Newt pops up for a second, takes in the situation, “feck”, and then aims and fires.THWUNGThe bolt hits home, buries itself in the side of the Werebadger’s skull, the creature instantly stops what its doing- looks around, suffers some sort of ‘where am I?” moment, followed by a “who am I?” moment. Then the poison swirls into Tarn’s brain, it shakes its head, letting lose a shower of blood and slather, roars like it’s the end of the world.“To the death.” It finally whispers, and then grins.The poison has no effect.Newt slumps down hard, hidden behind his rock eerie, “well I’m out of ideas”, he intones, but there’s no one there to hear him. Bec, fortunately, is a lot more single-minded, or stupid, I forget which- he slashes  again at the huge beast before him, misses as Tarn shuffles back, a cascade of blood and bile leaking from his wounds. “Kill it for Pelor’s sake, kill it.”Anya screams, invoking a god she certainly doesn’t believe in, her voice is steady and yet her hands shake and fumble as she tries again to load her crossbow.Jim struggles to his feet, drags his axe behind him, the stumbles into a half charge and slashes again, either it’s his vision, or, well… it’s just that Jim’s not that hot when it comes to the toe-to-toe stuff, his blow sails well wide, thung’s into the stone floor almost sending the weapon shuddering from his hands. He stumbles backwards, overbalancing, at the same instant a clawed hand slashes forward; he’s just out of reach.“Damn.” The Ranger whispers, then, “please… this time.”Then he spots something, or rather someone, moving, “CAS”, he screams.The Paladin levers himself up a little, shakes his head- woozy still, and attempts to get his bearings.The Werebadger follows Jim’s scream, snakes its head down, and spots the Paladin rising, it steps forwards, not back, and brings one clawed foot hard down, slamming into Cas’ chest, crushing him down onto the floor again. Tarn transfers his weight to the back leg pinning the Paladin, ribs crack, crunch and break. Cas wretches and coughs up a river of blood, he flails wildly, no air, no breathe, no last words, almost lost to the dark.ThwungAnother silver crossbow bolt bites into the Tarn’s flesh, The Werebadger spins back round, the pressure on the Paladin’s chest recedes, blood bubbles from Cas’ mouth as he takes another breathe. Newt slumps against the rock, closes his eyes, remembers to breath, then fumbles to load another bolt, he’s crying. ThwungAnya’s shot flies high and wide.“Damn, damn, damn…” She mutters while trying to slot another bolt into the weapons mechanism, the bolt dances in her hands, she can’t seem to get a grip on it.Bec rushes into range again, lances his sword forward, then staggers back with the effort, the blade doesn’t even cut the creature’s flesh, the Barbarian dodges but it looks to the untrained observer to be nothing more than a slurred stagger, much too slow, he’s caught by a clawed hand, sent tumbling back, head-over-heals, comes to rest nearly ten feet away. The Barbarian lies on his back, his blinking eyes trying to focus on something, anything, “I deserve this”, he thinks and then levers himself back onto his feet, stands tall and sucks in a huge lungful of air, he swiftly bends then crouches, stars fill his vision, the blackness between the myriad points of light looks inviting- calm, at peace, “perhaps I can forget now”, he sinks to one knee, sways a little, remembers the cool feel of the stone floor, puts a hand down to renew the memory- he’s sinking.Jim stumbles forward again, slashes, the momentum of his axe spins him around, on the second circuit the axe connects, bites into Tarn’s leg, and brings the Ranger staggering to a halt, rocked by his own blow.Tarn looks round and down, to the tiny axe man, the Werebadger meets Jim’s gaze, and grins.Then pushes off from Cas, crushing the Paladin again, set to launch itself forward to smash into Jim, to finish the job once and for all.The Werebadger goes nowhere, instead slips and flounders, Tarn looks down and under, to the place where Cas has just sunk his pin-sized dagger, into the tendons at the back of its right leg, it’s a small wound, but it seems to have hit the sweet spot, Achilles would be proud.“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHHH.”It’s a human voice, and in absolute agony, the giant Werebadger screams.“feckingSANDWICH.”Tarn turns forward, just in time to see Bec stab his two-handed sword clean though its right eye, a splurge of gunk erupts from the deflated orb, soaking the Barbarian who still grips tight to his sword.Then everything stops.Goes quiet.The Werebadger blinks its one good eye.Gulps.Then again.But can’t keep it down.It opens its mouth to a torrent, a waterfall, of blood, bile and worse.“Nooooooooooo…” Delivered in a soft whisper.The creature slowly folds, comes to rest on the stone cavern floor- dead.Silence.Then.“ALA.”A croaked cry, it’s Cas’ voice, and it’s an order.The Paladin collapses back onto the floor, and closes his eyes.Next Turn: The Road is Long.</blockquote>

Verification