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
Wulf's Collected Story Hour -- FINAL UPDATE 12/25
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="Wulf Ratbane" data-source="post: 710" data-attributes="member: 94"><p><strong>FORGE OF FURY (Part IV)</strong></p><p></p><p>Halma returned to find his friends in a sorry state. Nobody was dead-- but they were all hanging on by no more than a thread, Halma included. Their most pressing problem was the fact that Kellick was down, and with him, their healing. There was no way they could go on, and no way they could make it back to town, either. And they needed to move-- fast.</p><p></p><p>Wulf dashed into the next room and easily sprung the lock holding the halfling prisoners. "Get out." ("Heh heh... Try not to bump into that half-ogre on your way down the mountain...") The halflings took one look at Wulf and the rest of the battered heroes and wisely concluded that a friendly escort back to town was out of the question. They dashed out and headed for town-- and the party's own halfing looked more than ready to join them. </p><p></p><p>Halma hoisted Kellick under one arm and Misty under the other, and surveyed the carnage. </p><p></p><p><strong>Over forty dead orcs.</strong></p><p></p><p>Crom, count the dead, indeed. But if that was just the welcoming party, the depths of the lair were not going to be any picnic.</p><p></p><p>The party decided to move out into the wilderness, not far from the mountain-- but not on the path home, either. If the orcs were going to send out a revenge party, they were going to have to track them down. Strangely, there was no reprisal, and within a couple of days the party was back to full strength and ready to assault the lair again.</p><p></p><p>The party was doubly cautious, but there was an eerie silence as they returned to the mountain. No guards waited for them at the mouth of the cave. Once again Wulf checked every step leading into the great mountain, extra thorough-- and this time, no one complained. The party slowly moved on to the rope bridge. </p><p></p><p>The bridge was cut. The bodies were gone. Wulf moved over to check the secret door for traps, when the halfling let out an agonizing wail. The party turned to see what terrible trap he'd sprung.</p><p></p><p>"I FORGOT TO LOOT ALL THOSE BODIES!"</p><p></p><p>Wulf silenced the halfling with a look and returned to his work on the secret door, eventually proclaiming it trap free. Halma stepped forward, well-used to the routine. "Open door now?"</p><p></p><p>Wulf and Keldas weren't sure. Maybe it would be better to get the bridge back up and go in the front door. Wulf felt certain he could climb across the side walls. Keldas didn't want to risk sending anyone across alone. Back and forth, they argued in hushed whispers, while the halfling paced the edge of the crevasse and wondered how many bodies were down there. </p><p></p><p>"I kick door now." Before the party "leaders" could dispute his rash decision, Halma booted the door open and surprised a pair of orc guards who were obviously, at that very moment, contemplating doing the exact same thing to the heroes. They didn't last long. </p><p></p><p>The party moved into the large room beyond. Keldas turned to Halma. "Is this the way you came before?"</p><p></p><p>"Aye, meant to ask yer about that... How did yer find your way back here?"</p><p></p><p>"Easy. Follow left hand wall."</p><p></p><p>"Good on yer, boy. Got a good head on yer shoulders-- keep it there."</p><p></p><p>"Yes, but do you recognize anything here?" Keldas wanted details. Any more guard rooms? A common room? Where were all the orcs?</p><p></p><p>"Dunno. Run through in dark. Drop torch to hold sword... kill orcs." Halma shrugged; the unlikely heroism of his solo dash through the orc lair was completely lost on him.</p><p></p><p>The party moved north through the deserted lair. A side passage led off to the right-- back to the atrium. Halma must have come that way. They continued north to a set of steps leading up into another hallway, where a statue kept solemn watch. The passage headed east, but turned north again rather quickly. A couple of doors branched off on the right, but the passage continued on and disappeared into the darkness ahead. Wulf cleared everyone out of the short hallway, posting Halma at one door, Keldas at another, and sending the halfling trotting up the hallway to keep an ear out to the north. "Just sit tight while I take a peek at this statue..."</p><p></p><p>"Right then..." Wulf rolled up his sleeves and checked it over. "If I know dwarf traps... an' I do... there ought to be a trigger plate here..." (click) "Bloody hell."</p><p></p><p>A cloud of poison gas puffed out of the statue and into the hallway. Wulf grit his teeth and waited for the burning to pass. "Now THAT'S how a dwarf finds a trap. (cough) All clear now, right." </p><p></p><p>Wulf rejoined the party, waiting safely in the northern hallway. He moved to the first door and crouched down to check the lock. Not locked. No traps. No sound. No problem. "Kick the door, Halma."</p><p></p><p>Boot-- empty.</p><p></p><p>Next door. Not locked. No traps. No sound. No problem. "Again, Halma."</p><p></p><p>The orcs were ready and waiting. They loosed a pair of wolves onto the party and opened fire with their bows. A door across the room burst open, and the half-ogre leapt into the fray. "Who dares to challenge Big Ulfe?"</p><p></p><p>"Me again, ye daft bastard! Wulf Ratbane, back to finish the job!" Wulf took up position just outside the room, as Halma went into a rage and dashed in. Misty jumped past Wulf and crouched menacingly in the doorway to hold the spot that Halma had just vacated. With Wulf hurling javelins with both hands, and Halma already frenzied in their midst, the orcs were quickly put on the defensive. It looked to be an easy fight.</p><p></p><p>Unfortunately, things were not entirely as they seemed. The witch suddenly appeared in the corner, just as her spell took effect on Halma. Despite the hatred raging through his system, Halma's will faltered. The party watched helplessly as their front-line powerhouse slowly lowered his sword... and ran.</p><p></p><p>There was a mighty cheer from the orcs. Those with their axes drawn lashed out at the barbarian as he turned his back on them. He took several nasty wounds, stumbled, but kept going. It was all his friends could do to get out of his way as he burst out of the battle line and headed for the exit. They knew there was no way they would catch him.</p><p></p><p>Keldas was the first to regain his composure and react. He ordered everyone to back up and created a glittering, blinding cloud of dust in the doorway. Wulf and Misty stood just on the edge of the cloud and attacked anything foolish enough to charge through. A couple of wolves went down, but the orcs learned from their pets' mistake. When the cloud finally cleared, it was Big Ulfe who stepped through and dropped Misty in a single blow.</p><p></p><p>The halfling was maintaining his vigil to the north. ("Yep. All clear up here. Still... all... clear...")</p><p></p><p>This wasn't Wulf's kind of fight. He preferred a good honest "throttling from behind" to this "toe-to-toe with the enemy leader" business. But, if the party was going to survive, he was going to have to hold the line. Fortunately, he had Keldas at his back to help him. He felt the elf's light-fingered touch and energy infused his whole body. He'd seen this effect before-- <em>Rapid Strikes</em>, but he'd never been the lucky recipient. It was always Halma, the front line warrior, who got Keldas' enhancement spells. But this time, it was Wulf. He liked it. Oh, he liked it very much. His axe lashed out at an orcish-footsolider... then his dagger... and his axe again... He was suddenly the terrifying threshing machine he always fancied himself. ("Look ma! Two hands!")</p><p></p><p>Wulf fell back on his tried-and-true battle plan: Concentrate on the weakest link. He trusted to his incredible dwarven fortitude (and his rather un-dwarflike nimbleness) to weather the storm of blows that Big Ulfe rained down on him. And it worked. He took down every pissant warrior who dared to step up to the plate-- but was being slowly worn down by Big Ulfe. Every time the big half-ogre's axe came down, Wulf was certain it would be the last. He knew there was a fine line between a glancing blow and a nasty shot to the vitals.</p><p></p><p>Keldas-- who'd somehow never found the time to learn any flashy offensive spells, what with all his Transmutation studies-- used his trickery to <em>Reduce</em> Big Ulfe to half his size. Granted, a <em>Magic Missile</em> would have been more directly effective, but the <em>Reduce</em> was a lifesaver. It gave Kellick time to drag Misty out of the fight and bind her wounds.</p><p></p><p>And the halfling maintained his vigil to the north. ("Nothing to worry about up here, guys! Yep... all... clear...")</p><p></p><p>The orcs were running out of warriors, but Wulf was running out of stamina. Even another glancing blow from Ulfe's axe would take him out. </p><p></p><p>That axe... that was no orcish axe! At half size, Wulf could now see that Ulfe was wielding a normal battle-axe. Wulf could see the dwarven runes running across the blade, he could read the maker's mark: Durgeddin. So the orcs thought they could just take over a dwarven stronghold and loot their antiquities? Bloody hell they could! "Yer going r-r-right into the Book o' Grudges, ya p-r-rick!" Wulf was overcome with a renewed thirst for vengeance.</p><p></p><p>It didn't hurt that Wulf could hear Halma's footsteps returning up the hall-- it had a miraculous effect on his morale. Wulf leapt past the half-sized half-ogre and came up in a wide battle-stance behind him, and in mere moments Halma burst back into the fray. Ulfe was flanked-- a crazed barbarian on one side, and a bloodthirsty dwarven rogue on the other. May the Gods have pity on his soul.</p><p></p><p>Wulf struck first, and his ancestors smiled on the moment. His axe struck a vital spot and clove deep, deep, deep into the half-ogre's hide, dropping him to his knees. Keldas, ever the nimble opportunist, leapt into the room and drove his longsword into Ulfe's chest-- smiling with elven arrogance, as if to claim credit for the kill. Halma didn't have time to squabble over bragging rights-- there were still orcs to kill-- and he stalked across the room to kill the orc witch in a single blow. His greatsword made short work of the few orcs who tried to escape.</p><p></p><p>The halfling celebrated the sweet victory by returning to the room to go over the bodies and look for chests... and stuff. Wulf was pre-occupied with the battle axe Ulfe had been wielding, turning it over and over in his hands to admire the workmanship. There was no question that he'd lay claim to it. Nobody said a word, in fact.</p><p></p><p>Always handy with the obvious observation, Keldas stood over Wulf's shoulder, his trained gaze for all manner of the arcane carefully studying the runes covering the blade. </p><p></p><p>"I think it's magic."</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Wulf Ratbane, post: 710, member: 94"] [b]FORGE OF FURY (Part IV)[/b] Halma returned to find his friends in a sorry state. Nobody was dead-- but they were all hanging on by no more than a thread, Halma included. Their most pressing problem was the fact that Kellick was down, and with him, their healing. There was no way they could go on, and no way they could make it back to town, either. And they needed to move-- fast. Wulf dashed into the next room and easily sprung the lock holding the halfling prisoners. "Get out." ("Heh heh... Try not to bump into that half-ogre on your way down the mountain...") The halflings took one look at Wulf and the rest of the battered heroes and wisely concluded that a friendly escort back to town was out of the question. They dashed out and headed for town-- and the party's own halfing looked more than ready to join them. Halma hoisted Kellick under one arm and Misty under the other, and surveyed the carnage. [b]Over forty dead orcs.[/b] Crom, count the dead, indeed. But if that was just the welcoming party, the depths of the lair were not going to be any picnic. The party decided to move out into the wilderness, not far from the mountain-- but not on the path home, either. If the orcs were going to send out a revenge party, they were going to have to track them down. Strangely, there was no reprisal, and within a couple of days the party was back to full strength and ready to assault the lair again. The party was doubly cautious, but there was an eerie silence as they returned to the mountain. No guards waited for them at the mouth of the cave. Once again Wulf checked every step leading into the great mountain, extra thorough-- and this time, no one complained. The party slowly moved on to the rope bridge. The bridge was cut. The bodies were gone. Wulf moved over to check the secret door for traps, when the halfling let out an agonizing wail. The party turned to see what terrible trap he'd sprung. "I FORGOT TO LOOT ALL THOSE BODIES!" Wulf silenced the halfling with a look and returned to his work on the secret door, eventually proclaiming it trap free. Halma stepped forward, well-used to the routine. "Open door now?" Wulf and Keldas weren't sure. Maybe it would be better to get the bridge back up and go in the front door. Wulf felt certain he could climb across the side walls. Keldas didn't want to risk sending anyone across alone. Back and forth, they argued in hushed whispers, while the halfling paced the edge of the crevasse and wondered how many bodies were down there. "I kick door now." Before the party "leaders" could dispute his rash decision, Halma booted the door open and surprised a pair of orc guards who were obviously, at that very moment, contemplating doing the exact same thing to the heroes. They didn't last long. The party moved into the large room beyond. Keldas turned to Halma. "Is this the way you came before?" "Aye, meant to ask yer about that... How did yer find your way back here?" "Easy. Follow left hand wall." "Good on yer, boy. Got a good head on yer shoulders-- keep it there." "Yes, but do you recognize anything here?" Keldas wanted details. Any more guard rooms? A common room? Where were all the orcs? "Dunno. Run through in dark. Drop torch to hold sword... kill orcs." Halma shrugged; the unlikely heroism of his solo dash through the orc lair was completely lost on him. The party moved north through the deserted lair. A side passage led off to the right-- back to the atrium. Halma must have come that way. They continued north to a set of steps leading up into another hallway, where a statue kept solemn watch. The passage headed east, but turned north again rather quickly. A couple of doors branched off on the right, but the passage continued on and disappeared into the darkness ahead. Wulf cleared everyone out of the short hallway, posting Halma at one door, Keldas at another, and sending the halfling trotting up the hallway to keep an ear out to the north. "Just sit tight while I take a peek at this statue..." "Right then..." Wulf rolled up his sleeves and checked it over. "If I know dwarf traps... an' I do... there ought to be a trigger plate here..." (click) "Bloody hell." A cloud of poison gas puffed out of the statue and into the hallway. Wulf grit his teeth and waited for the burning to pass. "Now THAT'S how a dwarf finds a trap. (cough) All clear now, right." Wulf rejoined the party, waiting safely in the northern hallway. He moved to the first door and crouched down to check the lock. Not locked. No traps. No sound. No problem. "Kick the door, Halma." Boot-- empty. Next door. Not locked. No traps. No sound. No problem. "Again, Halma." The orcs were ready and waiting. They loosed a pair of wolves onto the party and opened fire with their bows. A door across the room burst open, and the half-ogre leapt into the fray. "Who dares to challenge Big Ulfe?" "Me again, ye daft bastard! Wulf Ratbane, back to finish the job!" Wulf took up position just outside the room, as Halma went into a rage and dashed in. Misty jumped past Wulf and crouched menacingly in the doorway to hold the spot that Halma had just vacated. With Wulf hurling javelins with both hands, and Halma already frenzied in their midst, the orcs were quickly put on the defensive. It looked to be an easy fight. Unfortunately, things were not entirely as they seemed. The witch suddenly appeared in the corner, just as her spell took effect on Halma. Despite the hatred raging through his system, Halma's will faltered. The party watched helplessly as their front-line powerhouse slowly lowered his sword... and ran. There was a mighty cheer from the orcs. Those with their axes drawn lashed out at the barbarian as he turned his back on them. He took several nasty wounds, stumbled, but kept going. It was all his friends could do to get out of his way as he burst out of the battle line and headed for the exit. They knew there was no way they would catch him. Keldas was the first to regain his composure and react. He ordered everyone to back up and created a glittering, blinding cloud of dust in the doorway. Wulf and Misty stood just on the edge of the cloud and attacked anything foolish enough to charge through. A couple of wolves went down, but the orcs learned from their pets' mistake. When the cloud finally cleared, it was Big Ulfe who stepped through and dropped Misty in a single blow. The halfling was maintaining his vigil to the north. ("Yep. All clear up here. Still... all... clear...") This wasn't Wulf's kind of fight. He preferred a good honest "throttling from behind" to this "toe-to-toe with the enemy leader" business. But, if the party was going to survive, he was going to have to hold the line. Fortunately, he had Keldas at his back to help him. He felt the elf's light-fingered touch and energy infused his whole body. He'd seen this effect before-- [i]Rapid Strikes[/i], but he'd never been the lucky recipient. It was always Halma, the front line warrior, who got Keldas' enhancement spells. But this time, it was Wulf. He liked it. Oh, he liked it very much. His axe lashed out at an orcish-footsolider... then his dagger... and his axe again... He was suddenly the terrifying threshing machine he always fancied himself. ("Look ma! Two hands!") Wulf fell back on his tried-and-true battle plan: Concentrate on the weakest link. He trusted to his incredible dwarven fortitude (and his rather un-dwarflike nimbleness) to weather the storm of blows that Big Ulfe rained down on him. And it worked. He took down every pissant warrior who dared to step up to the plate-- but was being slowly worn down by Big Ulfe. Every time the big half-ogre's axe came down, Wulf was certain it would be the last. He knew there was a fine line between a glancing blow and a nasty shot to the vitals. Keldas-- who'd somehow never found the time to learn any flashy offensive spells, what with all his Transmutation studies-- used his trickery to [i]Reduce[/i] Big Ulfe to half his size. Granted, a [i]Magic Missile[/i] would have been more directly effective, but the [i]Reduce[/i] was a lifesaver. It gave Kellick time to drag Misty out of the fight and bind her wounds. And the halfling maintained his vigil to the north. ("Nothing to worry about up here, guys! Yep... all... clear...") The orcs were running out of warriors, but Wulf was running out of stamina. Even another glancing blow from Ulfe's axe would take him out. That axe... that was no orcish axe! At half size, Wulf could now see that Ulfe was wielding a normal battle-axe. Wulf could see the dwarven runes running across the blade, he could read the maker's mark: Durgeddin. So the orcs thought they could just take over a dwarven stronghold and loot their antiquities? Bloody hell they could! "Yer going r-r-right into the Book o' Grudges, ya p-r-rick!" Wulf was overcome with a renewed thirst for vengeance. It didn't hurt that Wulf could hear Halma's footsteps returning up the hall-- it had a miraculous effect on his morale. Wulf leapt past the half-sized half-ogre and came up in a wide battle-stance behind him, and in mere moments Halma burst back into the fray. Ulfe was flanked-- a crazed barbarian on one side, and a bloodthirsty dwarven rogue on the other. May the Gods have pity on his soul. Wulf struck first, and his ancestors smiled on the moment. His axe struck a vital spot and clove deep, deep, deep into the half-ogre's hide, dropping him to his knees. Keldas, ever the nimble opportunist, leapt into the room and drove his longsword into Ulfe's chest-- smiling with elven arrogance, as if to claim credit for the kill. Halma didn't have time to squabble over bragging rights-- there were still orcs to kill-- and he stalked across the room to kill the orc witch in a single blow. His greatsword made short work of the few orcs who tried to escape. The halfling celebrated the sweet victory by returning to the room to go over the bodies and look for chests... and stuff. Wulf was pre-occupied with the battle axe Ulfe had been wielding, turning it over and over in his hands to admire the workmanship. There was no question that he'd lay claim to it. Nobody said a word, in fact. Always handy with the obvious observation, Keldas stood over Wulf's shoulder, his trained gaze for all manner of the arcane carefully studying the runes covering the blade. "I think it's magic." [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
Playing the Game
Story Hour
Wulf's Collected Story Hour -- FINAL UPDATE 12/25
Top