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NOW LIVE! Into the Woods--new character species, eerie monsters, and haunting villains to populate the woodlands of your D&D games.
Welcome to the Halmae (updated 2/27/07)
- Thread starter spyscribe
- Start date
Can't wait till next update to see how the party plans their horrible bloody revenge of DOOM!Baron Opal
First Post
Angcuru said:
Indeed! And, DOOM is something we know well, and have come to expect from these fine heroes.
spyscribe
First Post
Part the One-Hundred Ninety-Seventh
In which: revenge can certainly be served cold, but it can also be served wet.
The sailors all stand by silently, wondering what will become of them. Reyu thanks the octopus for its service, and dismisses it. Thatch takes a foot and pushes the corpse of the guardsman he just killed overboard. Once the splashing subsides, the only sounds are the one remaining guard still struggling in the water and Euro, keening softly.
After closing Lira’s unseeing eyes, Reyu goes over the rail where Eva is still holding the guard underwater with her sword. With the situation once again in hand, it seems a bit… excessive. She looks to Eva. “Go ahead and fish her out.”
Eva lifts her rapier, dries the blade on her tunic, and then sheathes it. “You fish her out,” she replies and walks back to join Thatch and Anvil by Lira’s body.
(Author’s note: How’s that for touchingly vindictive?)
###
“Can you fix her?” Thatch is asking the cleric.
Anvil shakes his head. “I cannot.”
“What about…?” Eva starts to ask, but is unwilling to finish the question and concludes instead, “you know… Like… when it was me.”
“It may be possible,” Anvil replies, “but we will have to return her body to Dar Pykos within—” He abruptly cuts himself off, holding up a hand for silence.
The sending in his head says, "Barnabus says he has not seen anyone for several days. Consider this a debt owed."
Anvil thanks Chi’i in nineteen eloquent words and then concludes with, “May Ketennek’s Justice be upon you.”
He then informs the others of the content of the message.
“So we still haven’t found Barnabus,” Eva summarizes.
“Indeed, it would appear not.”
“And if we were taken here to get rid of us, what’s happened to Annika and Kiara?”
“If we are all lucky,” Anvil observes, “the Count has taken Annika to manufacture magic items for him and is holding Kiara hostage for her good behavior.”
“And if we’re not lucky?”
“He has discovered Kiara’s nature and had added her to his collection.”
Thatch flexes a fist. “So how are we going to rescue them?”
“As a first step… I would suggest we find Barnabus.”
###
Thatch goes over to the bow where the guard is still foundering in the water. He reaches down, grabs her by the hair, and pulls her up out of the water, just far enough to get a breath. “Ready to play nice?” he asks.
The guard merely coughs and sputters. Thatch shrugs. “Oh well.” And pushes her back under.
A few seconds later he pulls her up again. “How about now?”
“Yes! Yes!” she chokes, trying to talk before her mouth is clear of seawater. “I was just following orders, I swear.”
“What were you orders?” Thatch asks.
Eva mutters under her breath, “If they were to keep us alive, you did a really lousy job.”
“We were supposed to put you ashore on the island and then leave you there. That’s all I was told.”
“What’s on the island?”
I’m not sure. One of the Count’s… creatures. Please, just pull me up on the boat.”
Thatch looks over at the red pool on the deck that used to be Lira. “I’ll think about it.”
Reyu walks over and looks down at the half-drowned human. “Give us a reason. Tell us something… interesting.”
“Like what?”
“What do you know about Barnabus?”
“Nothing— No! No! Don’t put me under! I mean, I’ve only seen him once. He’s an older man, human, gray-haired with a beard.”
“Go on,” Reyu chides her.
“He lives on an island, alone. No one’s supposed to disturb him.”
“Where is the island?” Thatch asks.
“I don’t— Nooo—!” The rest of her protest is lost as Thatch drives her head underwater once again.
###
Meanwhile, on a clean patch of deck, Anvil takes out the copy of the map smuggled to them the night before by Simone and shows it to the captain.
“Do you know which island Banabus lives on?”
The captain gapes. “Where did you get that?”
Eva glares at him. “That is not the issue.”
The captain gulps. “Umm… yes, of course not…” He gathers himself. “I’m sorry. I don’t know which island he lives on.”
“What can you tell us about this map?” Anvil demands.
“Well… the map shows kind of what’s on each island, and what’s gets shipped there, and how frequently. Like, the red islands, on the outside. Those are the dangerous ones.”
“What gets sent there?”
“Sheep, mostly.”
“And these routes to the purple islands?”
“Those islands are uninhabited. They just get a cleaning crew once every week or so.”
Reyu has come to join the conversation, although she ignores the unintelligible map they are discussing. “Like the island we found with all of the different buildings.”
“What of the other colors?”
“Right. The orange ones have sentient creatures on them, who live there, but aren’t… you know… citizens of the County. The yellow ones are what we’d call inhabited.”
“Even these two that are under guard?”
“Those are for the Count’s guests.”
“His ‘guests?’” Although Anvil stresses the irony on the word “guest” the captain does not.
“Craftspeople and their families,” the captain clarifies.
“What about that yellow island,” Anvil points it out, “that no one ever goes to?”
“Oh, that’s for exiles. Criminals.”
Anvil sighs. He’s not sure they’re any closer to finding Barnabus than they were before this little excursion. Although now they have at least (thanks to Chi’i) confirmed that there is a genuine Barnabus to find.
However, there is one more island that catches his attention. It’s colored orange, and the supply route indicates that it receives a small amount of food on a weekly basis, but it’s located must closer to the Count’s main island than the hues island, which is also orange, or any of the other parts of the Count’s “collection.” When Anvil asks the captain about it, the other man does not know who or what might live there.
###
Anvil walks over to where Eva has joined Thatch and the two are venting frustration by hitting the last guard and then forcing her underwater.
“Pull her up,” Anvil directs Thatch.
Thatch does and Anvil shows her the map. “Do you know who resides there?” he asks her.
The woman shivers in the water. “Are you just going to kill me anyway?”
Thatch shrugs. “I haven’t made up my mind yet.”
Anvil nods to the fighter. “Bring her up onto the boat.”
“How do we know she’s not just going to attack us all?” Eva asks as Thatch hauls the guard up onto the boat by the back of her neck. “Do you know how to keep her from casting?”
Anvil pauses. “Put that necklace on her. The one we have which kills casters who attempt to use their magics upon us.”
There is a pause.
(And believe it or not, we all managed not to laugh… yet.)
“Oh yes,” says Reyu. “I’ll get it.”
The guard looks from Anvil to Reyu and back again. “You’re bluffing,” she says. But she doesn’t sound too sure of herself.
Reyu returns with a crude necklace and drops it over the woman’s head. “You are welcome to try and see what happens, human.”
Eva adds, “It didn’t go well for the last one.”
The guard gulps and is quiet.
(And that’s when we all burst out laughing.)
###
Stupid note for the easily amused: BadMonkeyJeff was checking out various options to bring Lira back from the dead, and had initially concluded that we were going to have to find someone able to cast ressurection as it was highly unlikely we would be able to get her body to someone able and willing to perform raise dead before the caster level limit expired. Which led to the legitimate question of whether there are any 13th level clerics in the Halmae.
Fajitas: Well, there are, but they are very rare and considered very powerful.
BadMonkeyJeff: Then again, we probably work for several of them.
Fajitas: There is that.
SpyScribe: And I was definitely on company time.
In which: revenge can certainly be served cold, but it can also be served wet.
The sailors all stand by silently, wondering what will become of them. Reyu thanks the octopus for its service, and dismisses it. Thatch takes a foot and pushes the corpse of the guardsman he just killed overboard. Once the splashing subsides, the only sounds are the one remaining guard still struggling in the water and Euro, keening softly.
After closing Lira’s unseeing eyes, Reyu goes over the rail where Eva is still holding the guard underwater with her sword. With the situation once again in hand, it seems a bit… excessive. She looks to Eva. “Go ahead and fish her out.”
Eva lifts her rapier, dries the blade on her tunic, and then sheathes it. “You fish her out,” she replies and walks back to join Thatch and Anvil by Lira’s body.
(Author’s note: How’s that for touchingly vindictive?)
###
“Can you fix her?” Thatch is asking the cleric.
Anvil shakes his head. “I cannot.”
“What about…?” Eva starts to ask, but is unwilling to finish the question and concludes instead, “you know… Like… when it was me.”
“It may be possible,” Anvil replies, “but we will have to return her body to Dar Pykos within—” He abruptly cuts himself off, holding up a hand for silence.
The sending in his head says, "Barnabus says he has not seen anyone for several days. Consider this a debt owed."
Anvil thanks Chi’i in nineteen eloquent words and then concludes with, “May Ketennek’s Justice be upon you.”
He then informs the others of the content of the message.
“So we still haven’t found Barnabus,” Eva summarizes.
“Indeed, it would appear not.”
“And if we were taken here to get rid of us, what’s happened to Annika and Kiara?”
“If we are all lucky,” Anvil observes, “the Count has taken Annika to manufacture magic items for him and is holding Kiara hostage for her good behavior.”
“And if we’re not lucky?”
“He has discovered Kiara’s nature and had added her to his collection.”
Thatch flexes a fist. “So how are we going to rescue them?”
“As a first step… I would suggest we find Barnabus.”
###
Thatch goes over to the bow where the guard is still foundering in the water. He reaches down, grabs her by the hair, and pulls her up out of the water, just far enough to get a breath. “Ready to play nice?” he asks.
The guard merely coughs and sputters. Thatch shrugs. “Oh well.” And pushes her back under.
A few seconds later he pulls her up again. “How about now?”
“Yes! Yes!” she chokes, trying to talk before her mouth is clear of seawater. “I was just following orders, I swear.”
“What were you orders?” Thatch asks.
Eva mutters under her breath, “If they were to keep us alive, you did a really lousy job.”
“We were supposed to put you ashore on the island and then leave you there. That’s all I was told.”
“What’s on the island?”
I’m not sure. One of the Count’s… creatures. Please, just pull me up on the boat.”
Thatch looks over at the red pool on the deck that used to be Lira. “I’ll think about it.”
Reyu walks over and looks down at the half-drowned human. “Give us a reason. Tell us something… interesting.”
“Like what?”
“What do you know about Barnabus?”
“Nothing— No! No! Don’t put me under! I mean, I’ve only seen him once. He’s an older man, human, gray-haired with a beard.”
“Go on,” Reyu chides her.
“He lives on an island, alone. No one’s supposed to disturb him.”
“Where is the island?” Thatch asks.
“I don’t— Nooo—!” The rest of her protest is lost as Thatch drives her head underwater once again.
###
Meanwhile, on a clean patch of deck, Anvil takes out the copy of the map smuggled to them the night before by Simone and shows it to the captain.
“Do you know which island Banabus lives on?”
The captain gapes. “Where did you get that?”
Eva glares at him. “That is not the issue.”
The captain gulps. “Umm… yes, of course not…” He gathers himself. “I’m sorry. I don’t know which island he lives on.”
“What can you tell us about this map?” Anvil demands.
“Well… the map shows kind of what’s on each island, and what’s gets shipped there, and how frequently. Like, the red islands, on the outside. Those are the dangerous ones.”
“What gets sent there?”
“Sheep, mostly.”
“And these routes to the purple islands?”
“Those islands are uninhabited. They just get a cleaning crew once every week or so.”
Reyu has come to join the conversation, although she ignores the unintelligible map they are discussing. “Like the island we found with all of the different buildings.”
“What of the other colors?”
“Right. The orange ones have sentient creatures on them, who live there, but aren’t… you know… citizens of the County. The yellow ones are what we’d call inhabited.”
“Even these two that are under guard?”
“Those are for the Count’s guests.”
“His ‘guests?’” Although Anvil stresses the irony on the word “guest” the captain does not.
“Craftspeople and their families,” the captain clarifies.
“What about that yellow island,” Anvil points it out, “that no one ever goes to?”
“Oh, that’s for exiles. Criminals.”
Anvil sighs. He’s not sure they’re any closer to finding Barnabus than they were before this little excursion. Although now they have at least (thanks to Chi’i) confirmed that there is a genuine Barnabus to find.
However, there is one more island that catches his attention. It’s colored orange, and the supply route indicates that it receives a small amount of food on a weekly basis, but it’s located must closer to the Count’s main island than the hues island, which is also orange, or any of the other parts of the Count’s “collection.” When Anvil asks the captain about it, the other man does not know who or what might live there.
###
Anvil walks over to where Eva has joined Thatch and the two are venting frustration by hitting the last guard and then forcing her underwater.
“Pull her up,” Anvil directs Thatch.
Thatch does and Anvil shows her the map. “Do you know who resides there?” he asks her.
The woman shivers in the water. “Are you just going to kill me anyway?”
Thatch shrugs. “I haven’t made up my mind yet.”
Anvil nods to the fighter. “Bring her up onto the boat.”
“How do we know she’s not just going to attack us all?” Eva asks as Thatch hauls the guard up onto the boat by the back of her neck. “Do you know how to keep her from casting?”
Anvil pauses. “Put that necklace on her. The one we have which kills casters who attempt to use their magics upon us.”
There is a pause.
(And believe it or not, we all managed not to laugh… yet.)
“Oh yes,” says Reyu. “I’ll get it.”
The guard looks from Anvil to Reyu and back again. “You’re bluffing,” she says. But she doesn’t sound too sure of herself.
Reyu returns with a crude necklace and drops it over the woman’s head. “You are welcome to try and see what happens, human.”
Eva adds, “It didn’t go well for the last one.”
The guard gulps and is quiet.
(And that’s when we all burst out laughing.)
###
Stupid note for the easily amused: BadMonkeyJeff was checking out various options to bring Lira back from the dead, and had initially concluded that we were going to have to find someone able to cast ressurection as it was highly unlikely we would be able to get her body to someone able and willing to perform raise dead before the caster level limit expired. Which led to the legitimate question of whether there are any 13th level clerics in the Halmae.
Fajitas: Well, there are, but they are very rare and considered very powerful.
BadMonkeyJeff: Then again, we probably work for several of them.
Fajitas: There is that.
SpyScribe: And I was definitely on company time.
spyscribe
First Post
Quick side-note:
If anyone is heading out to Origins, go find the Halmae's own "Bad Monkey" Jeff Tidball, who will be working the Atlas Booth. Tell him what Kettenek's Justice demands, and get a free Captain's Coin from his new game Pieces of Eight!
If you're not going to be at Origins, he'll also be spreading the word of Kettenek (and Atlas) at GenCon.
If anyone is heading out to Origins, go find the Halmae's own "Bad Monkey" Jeff Tidball, who will be working the Atlas Booth. Tell him what Kettenek's Justice demands, and get a free Captain's Coin from his new game Pieces of Eight!
If you're not going to be at Origins, he'll also be spreading the word of Kettenek (and Atlas) at GenCon.
thatdarncat
Overlord of Chat
Woot!
*adds another must do item to his gencon list*
*adds another must do item to his gencon list*
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