Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
Playing the Game
Story Hour
The Thorns of Winter -(updated 8/1/2023)
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Nthal" data-source="post: 8199434" data-attributes="member: 6971069"><p><h2 style="text-align: center"><p style="text-align: center">The Conflagration of Home and Hearth - 2/15/2021</p> </h2><p></p><p>Mobad came crashing down onto the floor, but quickly rolled and with his great axe swung it at one of the encroaching figures scrambling towards Bookshelf. The axe bit deeply into the back of the musky corpse, causing it to stop. It twisted around and leapt at Mobad, staring with rotten dead eyes. Three others, swarmed towards the orc, each one’s boney claw like fingers trying to rend Mobad’s grey skin.</p><p>Downstairs, Doxx swung his staff, landing a series of blows against one of his opponents, and cracked its skull. But heedless of the damage, the corpses pushed the woman backwards. Sage swung his armblade, igniting it with green flame and searing the stinking rotten flesh on both the corpses. But they clung onto Doxx, and quickly pushed him over the open trap door, and then all three tumbled down into the darkness below.</p><p></p><p>“Doxx!” Rosa yelled as she ran forward in an attempt to grasp the falling woman. But her fingers grasped nothing but air as they fell. She looked at Sage and The Blade, her face aghast.</p><p></p><p>“Stand back citizen,” The Blade yelled, and pulling his bow out he deftly swung into the darkness with a hand on the trapdoor’s edge to assist him in his descent. Sage however, simply shrugged and stepped forward, and ropped down into the hole Rosa heard the resulting cracking and splintering of flagstone below in the black depths.</p><p></p><p>Mobad swung his axe around trying to cleave his foes into pieces, when he heard the sounds of an incantation. Suddenly he found himself surrounded with ice and rime, that struck the dead men. Their limbs cracked and snapped as bone shattered in the sudden frost, and he took advantage in the change, swinging his axe and smashing the skull of another corpse, the broad flat side, causing its skull to crumple.</p><p>Sage saw little beyond the faint light from above. But he quickly ignited his armblade, sought out a target. The green flames illuminated the woman, who’s fists, and knees connected with the ribs of the corpses clawing at her. Sage then swung quickly, cutting across the spines of the scrambling dead. They twitched, and Doxx crawled out from under them and stood, breathing heavily.</p><p></p><p>The Blade needed no light and shot the corpses at close range. One of his arrows struck so hard, that it pulled the corpse to the wall, and hung it in a grotesque display. Turning he shot at another corpse, who only paused a brief moment before continuing to stumble forward.</p><p>“Thanks for dropping in,” Doxx said dusting themselves off. The juggernaut nodded, and the pair turned to look around. Crates of wood, shelves, barrels and broken furniture were littered around the room. Doxx squinted and wrinkled his nose. The cloying sent of musk was strong in the room, causing them to cover their mouth and nose with the front of their cloak. Then as the sound of a distant impact and yells echoed above, they heard the slow scraping of leather on stone far closer to them.</p><p></p><p>Looking around, Sage saw shadows in the darkness, making their way to their feet, and slowly shuffling towards them. Sage raised his shield in preparation and said grimly, “However, we aren’t alone.”</p><p></p><p>The Blade fired another quick volley of arrows, and they struck another corpse, causing it to stumble and fall to the floor. But it had barely rested there a moment, before it started to climb back upright. “Yes, and they aren’t getting the message to stay down,” The Blade muttered, and nocked another arrow.</p><p></p><p>Bookshelf squinted as the white snow drifted down from the ceiling. Mobad brought down his axes blade down on the back of another corpse, cleaving through bone all the way to the floor. Ripping it away, wood splinters flew everywhere, and he quickly swung and connected with another trying to claw at him madly. To his surprise, two of Mobad crushed foes were struggling to rise. From behind the warforged, he heard a noise and he whirled around and saw more bodies scrambling from another room straight at the warforged. Bookshelf backpedaled towards Mobad when he heard another noise near the orc.</p><p></p><p>From the ceiling a filthy young girl dropped from hole above. Her long hair streamed behind her, covered in a mixture of tar and dirt. He wasn’t familiar with the ages of humans, but this one wasn’t a child, and might have been in what was…early teens? She ran with nothing more but stained rages, and a dagger covered in blood. Mobad’s most likely.</p><p></p><p>“Interesting,” Bookshelf said, and they started an incantation. He focused on the magic and created null spaces around the orc, his driftglobe, himself, and then on a whim the girl. The then tilted his head, and muttered, “Perhaps ice alone does not suffice.” In Bookshelf’s open palm a bead of light appeared and then blossomed into gout of flame engulfing the floor.</p><p></p><p>Rosa, felt the rush of heated air pushed down the stairs, causing her hair to whip around furiously. Tearing her eyes from below, where the Juggernaut and the old woman stood now back-to-back, while The Blade circled around them, taking shots in the darkness. Then she saw to her surprise a young human teen running down the stairs, holding only a bloody dagger in her hand. Flames chased and licked at her unable to set her or her things ablaze. Rosa, stood up and ran towards her, as the girl made for the front door, when she saw motion outside the windows flanking it. Rosa yelled at the girl helplessly, “Don’t open the door!"</p><p></p><p>The girl if she heard, gave no indication and simply ran toward the door in desperation as the flames surrounding her fell away. She grasped the knob to the door, turned it, and flung the door open. She backed away quicky and screamed as; another half dozen figures streamed inside slowly, bottling each other up as they forced their way through the open door. The girl shivered in fear, and held her dagger close, when she heard a thunderous roar. Turning she saw a great brown bear, lumbering forward and placing itself between the girl and the pack of bodies squeezing through the now door.</p><p></p><p>“What’s going on upstairs?” Doxx said, hearing the distant roar.</p><p></p><p>“Rosa has found a problem and is dealing with it in her own way,” Sage remarked.</p><p></p><p>“Its more than that; I think Bookshelf cast a spell based on the sound,” The Blade said, loosing an arrow and nocking another.</p><p></p><p>“That’s nice. What about…about…us?” Doxx said in a dreamy voice. Sage turned to glance at the woman in alarm, and saw her stumble falteringly, towards a corner of the room, cluttered with debris and crates. As he watched, he was surprised to see the corpses ignore Doxx as they stumbled past them.</p><p></p><p>“Doxx! Get back here citizen!” The Blade barked, but made no moves to block the old woman’s effort.</p><p>The Juggernaut spent no more time thinking about the problem, and lunged at a pair of close figures, igniting his armblade once again. The sizzling sound of flesh against fiery steel, and the dull crack of bone were the grim reward for his attack, causing one to fall, and the second to stumble. Glancing over his shoulder he watched as Doxx stumbled towards the corner, seemingly unconcerned with the throng of musky corpses around trying to kill them. Or at least only Sage for now as The Blade kept his distance and used his mobility to stay away from their clumsy foes.</p><p></p><p>Doxx blinked and stumbled towards the sweet musky odor that pervaded the air. As their eyes got used to the dim light, they could make out a mass of roots and vines in the corner. It’s glistening dark green leaves dripped with oil and slime onto the floor. As they approached, a vine moved, and the tip unfurled into a sickly yellow flower, with spots of brown. As it opened, the smell of musk engulphed him in a cocoon of love. The flower reached forwards and Doxx could only briefly acknowledge the pain that coursed through his mind as he stared helplessly at the blossom that beckoned him forward.</p><p></p><p>Mobad opened his eyes and saw the bodies around him were scoured of their flesh, leaving only charred bones behind. Confused he glanced down at himself and saw no signs of burns or soot. Tuning to look at Bookshelf, they appeared nonchalant as the fire on its palm died away. But as it did the flames caught on the wooden rafters and walls. Grunting again, he knew that there was little time before the beams would burn away and the roof would collapse down upon them.</p><p></p><p>“Neat trick, choosing not to burn,” the orc grunted, looking around for another opponent. “Where’s the girl?” he asked, and Bookshelf pointed down the stairs disinterestedly. Mobad grimaced and spat, “Your work is bringing down the—”</p><p></p><p>A shriek cut off the orc, and he leapt downstairs, leading with his axe and colliding with another one of the wretched bodies. Standing again, he wasn’t terribly surprised to see a bear fending off more. What did surprise him, was the girl, rather than hide and cower had thrown herself at the corpses, tears streaking down her cheeks. Grasping the haft of his axe, he grinned and threw himself at the corpses as well with a fierce roar. While he didn’t care much for humans, this one had fire. Fire he could respect he thought as he hewed limb from bodies. Beside him, the bear bellowed and charged into the throng of corpses in a storm of claws and teeth. The bear tried to push the girl behind her, but the girl simply rolled beneath the bear’s legs and continued her assault against the corpses.</p><p></p><p>The roars of orc and bear stood in contrast to a high-pitched screaming. Sage didn’t understand what was happening above, but the situation around him was already a mess. And now black clouds of smoke were descending into the cellar, making breathing difficult and vision even poorer. His blade had cut through the last of the corpses, their charred remains now hacked into pieces, Sage turned to see what had occupied Doxx. Moving forward cautiously, he saw a flower with delicate filaments attached to the skull of the old woman. Shaking his head, he lifted up his armblade. From his forearm extended a trio of dragonshard crystals. Quickly they spun around and each one launched a brilliant white bolt of energy, each one striking the body of the sick plant that held Doxx in its thrall. In between each one, an arrow from The Blade’s bow also struck deep into the flesh of the plant. As each bolt and arrow struck, the vines and roots quivered, and finally the flower tore itself away from the woman, and it emitted a fresh blast of musky pollen into the air.</p><p></p><p>“What is this with the produce attacking us?” The Blade grumbled aloud.</p><p></p><p>Doxx stood there a moment, and then vigorously shook their head. Looking up they were taken aback by the giant plant that now slowly shambled forward towards them. Gritting her teeth, she grasped her staff in both hands and spun, striking the monstrous plant twice. It quivered, leaves and fronds trembling, when another burst of green flame cut and severed tendrils. Sage hacked and sawed at the plant; the smell of burned musk now mixed with the acrid smoke from above. Root and vine fell away and Doxx hit the center of the plant with their staff before finally punching twice more at the bulb in the center, causing the vines to collapse in limp heaps on the cellar floor.</p><p></p><p>“Thanks Sage, that musk made it hard to think,” Doxx said sounding disappointed in themselves.</p><p></p><p>“Its something foul indeed,” Sage said. “Perhaps Rosa can explain it. What’s going on—”</p><p></p><p>From the cellar entrance and the cracks in the boards above, the light of flame from, followed by the roaring sound of heated air. The three looked at each other and scrambled to the cellar trap door. Doxx quickly bounded and climbed out, as if they were decades younger. The Blade easily jumped and with a quick twist of his body, leapt out. Sage grumbled, and rumbled below the trapdoor, and with great effort heaved his bulk upwards, catching the edges of the door with his arms. Pulling himself up he groaned at what he saw.</p><p></p><p>Mobad was cleaving corpses, now covered in flames, as a Bookshelf calmly walked down the stairs, using a beam of frozen white light on another. Rosa was clearly the bear in the room and was finishing up mauling a corpse. However, he tilted his head in confusion at the whirlwind of a girl, crying and screaming with dagger in her hand.</p><p></p><p>“We need to leave!” The Blade yelled. “It’s going to collapse!”</p><p></p><p>Rosa gave out a giant roar, and lumbered through the doorway, followed by the warforged, the elf and the old woman. They stood outside looking at the conflagration, now consuming the house. Wood cracked and steamed, splintered in the heat, as the roof started to fall in upon itself. Just then, part of the wooden frame fell, collapsing the front doorway behind them.</p><p></p><p>“Where’s Mobad?” Rosa yelled, as the fur pulled back into her face and body as she returned to her normal size. Then came a rumbling from the second floor, as it collapsed. As it did so Mobad burst out of a window, with his great axe in front of him clearing the way, and over his shoulder, kicking and screaming the dirty girl. He ran from the disaster behind him and slowed and gently put the girl down on her feet.</p><p>The girl looked at them all with a dead eyed look, with tears still streaking down her face. She slowly turned around and looked at the house, as the four walls finally gave. And as they all watched, the structure folded in on itself, in a final gasp of flame and smoke. The girl sank to her knees and fell forward onto her hands, her body heaving.</p><p></p><p>“I’m…I’m…I’m sorry. Jeda. Kalin. Kester. Vern…all of you,” she said in between ragged breathes.</p><p></p><p>“Now little girl. Can you tell—” Doxx started to ask in a sweet grandmotherly voice.</p><p></p><p>“Shut up!” the girl spat. With effort she stood up and whirled to regard the party with a cold glare. Taking a deep breath, she spoke again.</p><p></p><p>“I am Adrissa Tannoch, and this is <strong><em>my</em></strong> Ranch. Who in Dolurrh are you?”</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Nthal, post: 8199434, member: 6971069"] [HEADING=1][CENTER][CENTER]The Conflagration of Home and Hearth - 2/15/2021[/CENTER][/CENTER][/HEADING] Mobad came crashing down onto the floor, but quickly rolled and with his great axe swung it at one of the encroaching figures scrambling towards Bookshelf. The axe bit deeply into the back of the musky corpse, causing it to stop. It twisted around and leapt at Mobad, staring with rotten dead eyes. Three others, swarmed towards the orc, each one’s boney claw like fingers trying to rend Mobad’s grey skin. Downstairs, Doxx swung his staff, landing a series of blows against one of his opponents, and cracked its skull. But heedless of the damage, the corpses pushed the woman backwards. Sage swung his armblade, igniting it with green flame and searing the stinking rotten flesh on both the corpses. But they clung onto Doxx, and quickly pushed him over the open trap door, and then all three tumbled down into the darkness below. “Doxx!” Rosa yelled as she ran forward in an attempt to grasp the falling woman. But her fingers grasped nothing but air as they fell. She looked at Sage and The Blade, her face aghast. “Stand back citizen,” The Blade yelled, and pulling his bow out he deftly swung into the darkness with a hand on the trapdoor’s edge to assist him in his descent. Sage however, simply shrugged and stepped forward, and ropped down into the hole Rosa heard the resulting cracking and splintering of flagstone below in the black depths. Mobad swung his axe around trying to cleave his foes into pieces, when he heard the sounds of an incantation. Suddenly he found himself surrounded with ice and rime, that struck the dead men. Their limbs cracked and snapped as bone shattered in the sudden frost, and he took advantage in the change, swinging his axe and smashing the skull of another corpse, the broad flat side, causing its skull to crumple. Sage saw little beyond the faint light from above. But he quickly ignited his armblade, sought out a target. The green flames illuminated the woman, who’s fists, and knees connected with the ribs of the corpses clawing at her. Sage then swung quickly, cutting across the spines of the scrambling dead. They twitched, and Doxx crawled out from under them and stood, breathing heavily. The Blade needed no light and shot the corpses at close range. One of his arrows struck so hard, that it pulled the corpse to the wall, and hung it in a grotesque display. Turning he shot at another corpse, who only paused a brief moment before continuing to stumble forward. “Thanks for dropping in,” Doxx said dusting themselves off. The juggernaut nodded, and the pair turned to look around. Crates of wood, shelves, barrels and broken furniture were littered around the room. Doxx squinted and wrinkled his nose. The cloying sent of musk was strong in the room, causing them to cover their mouth and nose with the front of their cloak. Then as the sound of a distant impact and yells echoed above, they heard the slow scraping of leather on stone far closer to them. Looking around, Sage saw shadows in the darkness, making their way to their feet, and slowly shuffling towards them. Sage raised his shield in preparation and said grimly, “However, we aren’t alone.” The Blade fired another quick volley of arrows, and they struck another corpse, causing it to stumble and fall to the floor. But it had barely rested there a moment, before it started to climb back upright. “Yes, and they aren’t getting the message to stay down,” The Blade muttered, and nocked another arrow. Bookshelf squinted as the white snow drifted down from the ceiling. Mobad brought down his axes blade down on the back of another corpse, cleaving through bone all the way to the floor. Ripping it away, wood splinters flew everywhere, and he quickly swung and connected with another trying to claw at him madly. To his surprise, two of Mobad crushed foes were struggling to rise. From behind the warforged, he heard a noise and he whirled around and saw more bodies scrambling from another room straight at the warforged. Bookshelf backpedaled towards Mobad when he heard another noise near the orc. From the ceiling a filthy young girl dropped from hole above. Her long hair streamed behind her, covered in a mixture of tar and dirt. He wasn’t familiar with the ages of humans, but this one wasn’t a child, and might have been in what was…early teens? She ran with nothing more but stained rages, and a dagger covered in blood. Mobad’s most likely. “Interesting,” Bookshelf said, and they started an incantation. He focused on the magic and created null spaces around the orc, his driftglobe, himself, and then on a whim the girl. The then tilted his head, and muttered, “Perhaps ice alone does not suffice.” In Bookshelf’s open palm a bead of light appeared and then blossomed into gout of flame engulfing the floor. Rosa, felt the rush of heated air pushed down the stairs, causing her hair to whip around furiously. Tearing her eyes from below, where the Juggernaut and the old woman stood now back-to-back, while The Blade circled around them, taking shots in the darkness. Then she saw to her surprise a young human teen running down the stairs, holding only a bloody dagger in her hand. Flames chased and licked at her unable to set her or her things ablaze. Rosa, stood up and ran towards her, as the girl made for the front door, when she saw motion outside the windows flanking it. Rosa yelled at the girl helplessly, “Don’t open the door!" The girl if she heard, gave no indication and simply ran toward the door in desperation as the flames surrounding her fell away. She grasped the knob to the door, turned it, and flung the door open. She backed away quicky and screamed as; another half dozen figures streamed inside slowly, bottling each other up as they forced their way through the open door. The girl shivered in fear, and held her dagger close, when she heard a thunderous roar. Turning she saw a great brown bear, lumbering forward and placing itself between the girl and the pack of bodies squeezing through the now door. “What’s going on upstairs?” Doxx said, hearing the distant roar. “Rosa has found a problem and is dealing with it in her own way,” Sage remarked. “Its more than that; I think Bookshelf cast a spell based on the sound,” The Blade said, loosing an arrow and nocking another. “That’s nice. What about…about…us?” Doxx said in a dreamy voice. Sage turned to glance at the woman in alarm, and saw her stumble falteringly, towards a corner of the room, cluttered with debris and crates. As he watched, he was surprised to see the corpses ignore Doxx as they stumbled past them. “Doxx! Get back here citizen!” The Blade barked, but made no moves to block the old woman’s effort. The Juggernaut spent no more time thinking about the problem, and lunged at a pair of close figures, igniting his armblade once again. The sizzling sound of flesh against fiery steel, and the dull crack of bone were the grim reward for his attack, causing one to fall, and the second to stumble. Glancing over his shoulder he watched as Doxx stumbled towards the corner, seemingly unconcerned with the throng of musky corpses around trying to kill them. Or at least only Sage for now as The Blade kept his distance and used his mobility to stay away from their clumsy foes. Doxx blinked and stumbled towards the sweet musky odor that pervaded the air. As their eyes got used to the dim light, they could make out a mass of roots and vines in the corner. It’s glistening dark green leaves dripped with oil and slime onto the floor. As they approached, a vine moved, and the tip unfurled into a sickly yellow flower, with spots of brown. As it opened, the smell of musk engulphed him in a cocoon of love. The flower reached forwards and Doxx could only briefly acknowledge the pain that coursed through his mind as he stared helplessly at the blossom that beckoned him forward. Mobad opened his eyes and saw the bodies around him were scoured of their flesh, leaving only charred bones behind. Confused he glanced down at himself and saw no signs of burns or soot. Tuning to look at Bookshelf, they appeared nonchalant as the fire on its palm died away. But as it did the flames caught on the wooden rafters and walls. Grunting again, he knew that there was little time before the beams would burn away and the roof would collapse down upon them. “Neat trick, choosing not to burn,” the orc grunted, looking around for another opponent. “Where’s the girl?” he asked, and Bookshelf pointed down the stairs disinterestedly. Mobad grimaced and spat, “Your work is bringing down the—” A shriek cut off the orc, and he leapt downstairs, leading with his axe and colliding with another one of the wretched bodies. Standing again, he wasn’t terribly surprised to see a bear fending off more. What did surprise him, was the girl, rather than hide and cower had thrown herself at the corpses, tears streaking down her cheeks. Grasping the haft of his axe, he grinned and threw himself at the corpses as well with a fierce roar. While he didn’t care much for humans, this one had fire. Fire he could respect he thought as he hewed limb from bodies. Beside him, the bear bellowed and charged into the throng of corpses in a storm of claws and teeth. The bear tried to push the girl behind her, but the girl simply rolled beneath the bear’s legs and continued her assault against the corpses. The roars of orc and bear stood in contrast to a high-pitched screaming. Sage didn’t understand what was happening above, but the situation around him was already a mess. And now black clouds of smoke were descending into the cellar, making breathing difficult and vision even poorer. His blade had cut through the last of the corpses, their charred remains now hacked into pieces, Sage turned to see what had occupied Doxx. Moving forward cautiously, he saw a flower with delicate filaments attached to the skull of the old woman. Shaking his head, he lifted up his armblade. From his forearm extended a trio of dragonshard crystals. Quickly they spun around and each one launched a brilliant white bolt of energy, each one striking the body of the sick plant that held Doxx in its thrall. In between each one, an arrow from The Blade’s bow also struck deep into the flesh of the plant. As each bolt and arrow struck, the vines and roots quivered, and finally the flower tore itself away from the woman, and it emitted a fresh blast of musky pollen into the air. “What is this with the produce attacking us?” The Blade grumbled aloud. Doxx stood there a moment, and then vigorously shook their head. Looking up they were taken aback by the giant plant that now slowly shambled forward towards them. Gritting her teeth, she grasped her staff in both hands and spun, striking the monstrous plant twice. It quivered, leaves and fronds trembling, when another burst of green flame cut and severed tendrils. Sage hacked and sawed at the plant; the smell of burned musk now mixed with the acrid smoke from above. Root and vine fell away and Doxx hit the center of the plant with their staff before finally punching twice more at the bulb in the center, causing the vines to collapse in limp heaps on the cellar floor. “Thanks Sage, that musk made it hard to think,” Doxx said sounding disappointed in themselves. “Its something foul indeed,” Sage said. “Perhaps Rosa can explain it. What’s going on—” From the cellar entrance and the cracks in the boards above, the light of flame from, followed by the roaring sound of heated air. The three looked at each other and scrambled to the cellar trap door. Doxx quickly bounded and climbed out, as if they were decades younger. The Blade easily jumped and with a quick twist of his body, leapt out. Sage grumbled, and rumbled below the trapdoor, and with great effort heaved his bulk upwards, catching the edges of the door with his arms. Pulling himself up he groaned at what he saw. Mobad was cleaving corpses, now covered in flames, as a Bookshelf calmly walked down the stairs, using a beam of frozen white light on another. Rosa was clearly the bear in the room and was finishing up mauling a corpse. However, he tilted his head in confusion at the whirlwind of a girl, crying and screaming with dagger in her hand. “We need to leave!” The Blade yelled. “It’s going to collapse!” Rosa gave out a giant roar, and lumbered through the doorway, followed by the warforged, the elf and the old woman. They stood outside looking at the conflagration, now consuming the house. Wood cracked and steamed, splintered in the heat, as the roof started to fall in upon itself. Just then, part of the wooden frame fell, collapsing the front doorway behind them. “Where’s Mobad?” Rosa yelled, as the fur pulled back into her face and body as she returned to her normal size. Then came a rumbling from the second floor, as it collapsed. As it did so Mobad burst out of a window, with his great axe in front of him clearing the way, and over his shoulder, kicking and screaming the dirty girl. He ran from the disaster behind him and slowed and gently put the girl down on her feet. The girl looked at them all with a dead eyed look, with tears still streaking down her face. She slowly turned around and looked at the house, as the four walls finally gave. And as they all watched, the structure folded in on itself, in a final gasp of flame and smoke. The girl sank to her knees and fell forward onto her hands, her body heaving. “I’m…I’m…I’m sorry. Jeda. Kalin. Kester. Vern…all of you,” she said in between ragged breathes. “Now little girl. Can you tell—” Doxx started to ask in a sweet grandmotherly voice. “Shut up!” the girl spat. With effort she stood up and whirled to regard the party with a cold glare. Taking a deep breath, she spoke again. “I am Adrissa Tannoch, and this is [B][I]my[/I][/B] Ranch. Who in Dolurrh are you?” [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
Playing the Game
Story Hour
The Thorns of Winter -(updated 8/1/2023)
Top