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Wulf's Collected Story Hour -- FINAL UPDATE 12/25
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<blockquote data-quote="Wulf Ratbane" data-source="post: 753" data-attributes="member: 94"><p><strong>THE SPEAKER IN DREAMS (Part VIII)</strong></p><p></p><p>With their eyes on the column of everlasting fire emanating from the defiled temple of Pelor, they stumbled back to Shuma's shop to regroup and try to figure out what was going on-- and what they'd do next. Shuma informed them that Shella was missing, and that the Very Old Man had gone into hiding. Shuma's apprentices were busy carrying weapons downstairs into a secret chamber before the guard came to confiscate them. </p><p></p><p>Wulf brandished <em>Taranak</em>. "Let's see 'em try to take this away. I'll split 'em from stem to stern."</p><p></p><p>Keldas clucked disapprovingly. "You can't just kill the guards. I'm sure they're no more happy about their new 'masters' than we are. They have families. Wives. Children. What are they supposed to do? This town is their home."</p><p></p><p>"This town is <em>screwed</em>. They should leave. Quit. Hide. Or better yet," he said, as <em>Taranak</em> burst into flame, "get pissed and kick some arse."</p><p></p><p>"You can't kill the guards. They're victims of circumstance."</p><p></p><p>"Right. I'm the circumstance."</p><p></p><p>Keldas sighed. "Do your best."</p><p></p><p>"Not makin' any promises."</p><p></p><p>Halma and the halfling set to work trying to find a way to disguise his greatsword, finally settling on tying it up inside a bundle of long sticks. Wulf nodded; from time to time, the halfling's craftiness came in handy. Halma seemed satisfied, but ready for action as always. "What now?"</p><p></p><p>Wulf looked to Keldas. "Well, we can't stay here. They'll be scryin' us, I'd reckon, an' we can't afford to give up Shuma and this hidey-hole."</p><p></p><p>"We'll move over to the old warehouse we cleared out. That should do for a while, at least. And we'll keep it dark, so they won't know what they're scrying."</p><p></p><p>"Right. An' then what? I can't shake this feelin' that somewhere, somebody needs killin'."</p><p></p><p>"I suppose we should just go back to that weird house, and see if we can find some clue as to who 'The Master' is."</p><p></p><p>------------</p><p></p><p>That night, after moving some of their things to the old warehouse, they prepared to assault the house again. Wulf had reasoned out that the summoned creatures could be kept at bay with a <em>Magic Circle</em>, and Alliane and Keldas confirmed as much (though not without insisting they'd already thought of it...) Keldas changed form again, and together with his owl familiar, they scouted the way to the house and helped the rest of the part avoid a few guard patrols on the ground. (The halfing wondered to himself who'd be warning <em>them</em> if any of the demons happened to be patrolling the skies...)</p><p></p><p>They reached the house, noting that there were still lights in the windows, and more creepy madmen working at desks or wandering through the bookstacks. Alliane stopped a couple of houses away and prepared her protection spell. Halma crept up as best he could two houses farther down. In the center stood the converted library, where Wulf, Keldas, and the halfling lay in wait.</p><p></p><p>On the ground floor, they found one of the old men working at the desk, protected by a couple of the town guardsmen. The guards were clearly in cooperation with the villains, now-- though Keldas' words came back to Wulf and he wondered whether it was voluntary or not.</p><p></p><p>The halfing stepped up and offered to scout the house, pulling a potion of <em>Invisibility</em> from his pack.</p><p></p><p>"Where'd you get that, peck?"</p><p></p><p>"None of your business." He downed the potion and disappeared. It was eerily silent as he crept off into the back room.</p><p></p><p>The halfing crept into the house and looked around the back room for anything useful. He opened the closet door as quietly as he could, but it was also empty. Just as he turned to creep back to the stairs at the rear of the room, the old man came through the curtain that separated the two rooms of the ground floor. He noticed the open closet door and stopped, calling quietly to his two guardsmen. "Hello... we have a visitor..."</p><p></p><p>The halfling moved before the first guardsman had even cleared the curtain. He tumbled past the old man and between the two guards, drew his two daggers, and completely eviscerated the first unwitting guard. He blinked into existence as his other dagger drove into the vitals of the second guard-- another bloody kill.</p><p></p><p>Wulf was up and running, dashing into the house to deal with the sorceror, killing him dead before he had a chance to act. </p><p></p><p>With a look of both anger and pity on his face, Wulf was staring at the grisly remains of the halfling's victims when Halma and Alliane joined them. There was little time to discuss the matter. Keldas had cast <em>Detect Evil</em> and was staring worriedly at the floor. "There's a lot more of them in the cellar... half dozen or so..."</p><p></p><p>Wulf and Halma moved towards the stairs, but Keldas stopped them. "I have a better idea," he said, already shifting shape once again. Before long Wulf was staring at a creature he'd only heard tales of in his youth: a huge, hulking humanoid, with grinding mandibles and a pair of grotesquely muscled arms tipped with rock-hard claws. It had two sets of multi-faceted eyes, and Wulf seemed to grow dizzy staring into them. He quickly looked away.</p><p></p><p>Keldas gestured to the warriors to gather round, then suddenly hunched over and ripped a huge hole clear through the floorboards. Halma jumped through the hole and started hacking around in the darkness. The halfling and Wulf dove through right behind him, quickly seeking out their flat-footed opponents and making mincemeat of them. The screams of the dying sorcerors were cut off in mere seconds, and the house was silent-- for a moment.</p><p></p><p>Upstairs, they heard that sound again-- a tinkling like breaking glass. And again. </p><p></p><p>There were at least two of them, now. Two summoned creatures, and likely two sorcerors.</p><p></p><p>Halma dashed up the stairs to the second floor, and finding it empty, readied his sword to dash up the next flight. Wulf caught him just in time and grabbed his arm. He gestured Alliane to climb the stairs and grinned. "Just sit right there for a bit, m'lady. We'll wait 'em out, right?"</p><p></p><p>They waited a few moments until Alliane could sense that the summoned creatures had vanished. She took another step up the stairs. Again, the sound of breaking glass, and Alliane stopped to avoid forcing the barrier against the outsider.</p><p></p><p>Wulf shouted up the stairs. "We can go on like this forever, yer know!" Sure enough, before long, the way was clear-- the summoned creatures had disappeared back to where they had come from, and the sorcerors seemed to have given up summoning any more. The house was quiet again, and remained so for several moments.</p><p></p><p>"What are they <em>doing</em>?"</p><p></p><p>Keldas checked in with his familiar, who was still patrolling outside the house. The two sorcerors were clearly visible through the windows on the third floor. They were seated at a small table, blithely playing a game of chess.</p><p></p><p>Keldas the Umber Hulk clicked his mandibles-- an eerie sound that might pass for chuckling. He walked over under the table and prepared to rip the floor out from under them. Wulf, Halma, and the halfling readied their blades and nodded.</p><p></p><p>Keldas struck, rending through the crossbeams and collapsing the floor under the two sorcerors. Down came the woodwork, down came the desk, the chessboard, and the chairs-- but the sorcerors hung suspended in the air! They looked none too happy to have their game interrupted.</p><p></p><p>"Uhhh..."</p><p></p><p>"Look out!" shouted the halfing, diving for cover as sheets of whitefire rained down onto them. Wulf dodged out of the way, Keldas and Alliane were hurt badly, and Halma-- ever leery of being burned-- flew into a rage. Wulf started hurling daggers while Halma left the protection of the <em>magic circle</em> and raced off up the stairs. Alliane shook her head and tried to move into position on the floor below to keep him safe, but she could tell it was pointless. The sound of breaking glass once again heralded the arrival of more other-worldly bodyguards. This time a wolf-headed creature and another elephant stopped Halma in his tracks. His friends saw his greatsword come whistling around, then he was pushed out of sight by the swirling melee.</p><p></p><p>Wulf and the halfling had both already thrown what daggers they had. Wulf switched to his trusty sling while the halfling once again started rummaging about for something useful. Another blast of whitefire rocked them, but Keldas held his concentration and returned fire with <em>Melf's Acid Arrow</em>. </p><p></p><p>Suddenly, a bloody corpse came tumbling down the hole. It was Halma-- or rather, what little was left of him. The sorcerors above laughed maniacally.</p><p></p><p>"I'll kill yer, yer bastards!" Wulf found <em>Taranak</em> blazing in his hand. For the moment, his fiery rage held back the genuine loss and sorrow that beat at him like a hammer. He scarcely noticed when another blast of whitefire came whistling down, sending the halfling tumbling for cover and knocking the two elves off their feet. Neither Keldas nor Alliane would be getting up again.</p><p></p><p>Wulf screamed, the taste of blood rising into his mouth, but the halfling was pulling him away. Above, the sorcerors continued to laugh, asking one another, "Why don't they run?"</p><p></p><p>The halfling didn't need to be told twice. He used his dagger to nick a piece of flesh from Halma, and he was gone-- diving right out the second story window. </p><p></p><p>Wulf pushed his rage into that stony, secret place where dwarven grudges go to simmer. His eyes never left the sorcerors as he cut the ears off Keldas and Alliane and chased off after the halfling through the dark streets.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Wulf Ratbane, post: 753, member: 94"] [b]THE SPEAKER IN DREAMS (Part VIII)[/b] With their eyes on the column of everlasting fire emanating from the defiled temple of Pelor, they stumbled back to Shuma's shop to regroup and try to figure out what was going on-- and what they'd do next. Shuma informed them that Shella was missing, and that the Very Old Man had gone into hiding. Shuma's apprentices were busy carrying weapons downstairs into a secret chamber before the guard came to confiscate them. Wulf brandished [i]Taranak[/i]. "Let's see 'em try to take this away. I'll split 'em from stem to stern." Keldas clucked disapprovingly. "You can't just kill the guards. I'm sure they're no more happy about their new 'masters' than we are. They have families. Wives. Children. What are they supposed to do? This town is their home." "This town is [i]screwed[/i]. They should leave. Quit. Hide. Or better yet," he said, as [i]Taranak[/i] burst into flame, "get pissed and kick some arse." "You can't kill the guards. They're victims of circumstance." "Right. I'm the circumstance." Keldas sighed. "Do your best." "Not makin' any promises." Halma and the halfling set to work trying to find a way to disguise his greatsword, finally settling on tying it up inside a bundle of long sticks. Wulf nodded; from time to time, the halfling's craftiness came in handy. Halma seemed satisfied, but ready for action as always. "What now?" Wulf looked to Keldas. "Well, we can't stay here. They'll be scryin' us, I'd reckon, an' we can't afford to give up Shuma and this hidey-hole." "We'll move over to the old warehouse we cleared out. That should do for a while, at least. And we'll keep it dark, so they won't know what they're scrying." "Right. An' then what? I can't shake this feelin' that somewhere, somebody needs killin'." "I suppose we should just go back to that weird house, and see if we can find some clue as to who 'The Master' is." ------------ That night, after moving some of their things to the old warehouse, they prepared to assault the house again. Wulf had reasoned out that the summoned creatures could be kept at bay with a [i]Magic Circle[/i], and Alliane and Keldas confirmed as much (though not without insisting they'd already thought of it...) Keldas changed form again, and together with his owl familiar, they scouted the way to the house and helped the rest of the part avoid a few guard patrols on the ground. (The halfing wondered to himself who'd be warning [i]them[/i] if any of the demons happened to be patrolling the skies...) They reached the house, noting that there were still lights in the windows, and more creepy madmen working at desks or wandering through the bookstacks. Alliane stopped a couple of houses away and prepared her protection spell. Halma crept up as best he could two houses farther down. In the center stood the converted library, where Wulf, Keldas, and the halfling lay in wait. On the ground floor, they found one of the old men working at the desk, protected by a couple of the town guardsmen. The guards were clearly in cooperation with the villains, now-- though Keldas' words came back to Wulf and he wondered whether it was voluntary or not. The halfing stepped up and offered to scout the house, pulling a potion of [i]Invisibility[/i] from his pack. "Where'd you get that, peck?" "None of your business." He downed the potion and disappeared. It was eerily silent as he crept off into the back room. The halfing crept into the house and looked around the back room for anything useful. He opened the closet door as quietly as he could, but it was also empty. Just as he turned to creep back to the stairs at the rear of the room, the old man came through the curtain that separated the two rooms of the ground floor. He noticed the open closet door and stopped, calling quietly to his two guardsmen. "Hello... we have a visitor..." The halfling moved before the first guardsman had even cleared the curtain. He tumbled past the old man and between the two guards, drew his two daggers, and completely eviscerated the first unwitting guard. He blinked into existence as his other dagger drove into the vitals of the second guard-- another bloody kill. Wulf was up and running, dashing into the house to deal with the sorceror, killing him dead before he had a chance to act. With a look of both anger and pity on his face, Wulf was staring at the grisly remains of the halfling's victims when Halma and Alliane joined them. There was little time to discuss the matter. Keldas had cast [i]Detect Evil[/i] and was staring worriedly at the floor. "There's a lot more of them in the cellar... half dozen or so..." Wulf and Halma moved towards the stairs, but Keldas stopped them. "I have a better idea," he said, already shifting shape once again. Before long Wulf was staring at a creature he'd only heard tales of in his youth: a huge, hulking humanoid, with grinding mandibles and a pair of grotesquely muscled arms tipped with rock-hard claws. It had two sets of multi-faceted eyes, and Wulf seemed to grow dizzy staring into them. He quickly looked away. Keldas gestured to the warriors to gather round, then suddenly hunched over and ripped a huge hole clear through the floorboards. Halma jumped through the hole and started hacking around in the darkness. The halfling and Wulf dove through right behind him, quickly seeking out their flat-footed opponents and making mincemeat of them. The screams of the dying sorcerors were cut off in mere seconds, and the house was silent-- for a moment. Upstairs, they heard that sound again-- a tinkling like breaking glass. And again. There were at least two of them, now. Two summoned creatures, and likely two sorcerors. Halma dashed up the stairs to the second floor, and finding it empty, readied his sword to dash up the next flight. Wulf caught him just in time and grabbed his arm. He gestured Alliane to climb the stairs and grinned. "Just sit right there for a bit, m'lady. We'll wait 'em out, right?" They waited a few moments until Alliane could sense that the summoned creatures had vanished. She took another step up the stairs. Again, the sound of breaking glass, and Alliane stopped to avoid forcing the barrier against the outsider. Wulf shouted up the stairs. "We can go on like this forever, yer know!" Sure enough, before long, the way was clear-- the summoned creatures had disappeared back to where they had come from, and the sorcerors seemed to have given up summoning any more. The house was quiet again, and remained so for several moments. "What are they [i]doing[/i]?" Keldas checked in with his familiar, who was still patrolling outside the house. The two sorcerors were clearly visible through the windows on the third floor. They were seated at a small table, blithely playing a game of chess. Keldas the Umber Hulk clicked his mandibles-- an eerie sound that might pass for chuckling. He walked over under the table and prepared to rip the floor out from under them. Wulf, Halma, and the halfling readied their blades and nodded. Keldas struck, rending through the crossbeams and collapsing the floor under the two sorcerors. Down came the woodwork, down came the desk, the chessboard, and the chairs-- but the sorcerors hung suspended in the air! They looked none too happy to have their game interrupted. "Uhhh..." "Look out!" shouted the halfing, diving for cover as sheets of whitefire rained down onto them. Wulf dodged out of the way, Keldas and Alliane were hurt badly, and Halma-- ever leery of being burned-- flew into a rage. Wulf started hurling daggers while Halma left the protection of the [i]magic circle[/i] and raced off up the stairs. Alliane shook her head and tried to move into position on the floor below to keep him safe, but she could tell it was pointless. The sound of breaking glass once again heralded the arrival of more other-worldly bodyguards. This time a wolf-headed creature and another elephant stopped Halma in his tracks. His friends saw his greatsword come whistling around, then he was pushed out of sight by the swirling melee. Wulf and the halfling had both already thrown what daggers they had. Wulf switched to his trusty sling while the halfling once again started rummaging about for something useful. Another blast of whitefire rocked them, but Keldas held his concentration and returned fire with [i]Melf's Acid Arrow[/i]. Suddenly, a bloody corpse came tumbling down the hole. It was Halma-- or rather, what little was left of him. The sorcerors above laughed maniacally. "I'll kill yer, yer bastards!" Wulf found [i]Taranak[/i] blazing in his hand. For the moment, his fiery rage held back the genuine loss and sorrow that beat at him like a hammer. He scarcely noticed when another blast of whitefire came whistling down, sending the halfling tumbling for cover and knocking the two elves off their feet. Neither Keldas nor Alliane would be getting up again. Wulf screamed, the taste of blood rising into his mouth, but the halfling was pulling him away. Above, the sorcerors continued to laugh, asking one another, "Why don't they run?" The halfling didn't need to be told twice. He used his dagger to nick a piece of flesh from Halma, and he was gone-- diving right out the second story window. Wulf pushed his rage into that stony, secret place where dwarven grudges go to simmer. His eyes never left the sorcerors as he cut the ears off Keldas and Alliane and chased off after the halfling through the dark streets. [/QUOTE]
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