The Boar's Head Pub

[Argh]

*******Setting*******

A smoky and cavernous space, filled with the sounds of laughter and cheerful drunkeness, the Boar's Head Pub is a great gnarled cavern buried in the roots of a worldtree on the edge of the Known World.

Sprites with their melodious voices(and oversharp teeth) and Trolls covered with the remains of somebody else's dinner seem to have successfully ignored each other, and are having a grand old time inside. Perhaps it's due to the heavy, perfumed musk from Harpies preening near the center tables, or the smoke from an Elemental made of steaming iron. Whatever the cause, somewhat intelligent beings from all over the Land Beyond have gathered around to drink in this most famous hall.

[Drago]

A toast to the owner.

------------------
"My soul to nothingness: but I will strive against all doubtings, and will keep alive..." ~ John Keats's Sleep and Poetry

[Argh]

A huge and mishapen ogre with evil eyes stared over the enormous iron bar, glaring at the patrons. Her name is Ilfred, and she's been serving ale for so many years that many of the folks who booze around here think she came with the place. . .

An elf with ruddy cheeks approached the bar, weaving a bit from an excess of fire-dancing. He grinned and tipped his hat back, and looked at the rim of his glass. Ilfred's stare pierced through his reverie as she said, "So, whatchu want elf-boyo drinkman?"

"Ah, just a leeetle bit more of that. . . that. . ." he paused for a moment, lost in thought. . . "ah, that Chateau Beauxbeux from the Grimwald Forest, ah . . . Year 19823 of the dwarf king Kriegshammer. . ." If it's possible for a race as arrogant as the Elves to be both worried and puzzled at the same time, he certainly seemed so, as he blurted "ah, no. . . wait, that's not it. . . it was. . . ah. . ."

We shall never know what the wine was- but we're sure it was good stuff, for when Ilfred threw the elf into the Drunk Tank(which also does triple duty as a jacuzzi and emergency vampire barrier) he took quite awhile figuring out:

A. Which end was up
B. Why he was suddenly surrounded by mermen
C. That water isn't air

Eventually, however, these questions were happily settled by the judicious application of a sharp trident to his elfly posterior, whereupon our poor(and thus far, unnamed) protagonist . . .

[This message has been edited by Argh (edited 22 May 2001).]

[monty]

***setting elaborated***
Monty the Plebeian King entered the Boars Head, made his way to one of the darker sections and finds himself a comfortable rock to lean back on. He throws his mostly brown (severely worn and multi-patched) cloak on the ground to keep the dust off of his royal posterior, whips out a large wineskin supposedly filled with an amusing liquor that he traded for this afternoon, and prepares to take a squirt of the brew.
Monty sat down on cloak. He can't quite recall the name that the stranger called the liquor(and strange he was, appearing out of nowhere on a wide soft thing).
The fella had said the drink was called, something, didn't actually make sense. It sounded something like a "Pan Galag-tick Gargle-BLasta." Well, he understood the reference to Pan, but he had never heard of a Galag tick. Maybe the drink was made from the blood of the Galag tick, wherever that was.
Oh well, he had drunk weirder things before. Monty squirted a shot into his mouth, and suddenly had the feeling that his head had been hit by a large brick that had been rather unpleasantly wrapped around a lemon. He was just beginning to reel from this (good thing he was already on the ground) when he suddenly had the feeling that he had been hit in the head again!, this time with a large lemon that had been rather pleasantly wrapped around a brick.
Monty settled down for a light snooze, thinking Hmm...has quite a kick, that one. Nice aftertast...


[This message has been edited by monty (edited 18 May 2001).]

[This message has been edited by monty (edited 18 May 2001).]

[VampiricDread]

Cautiously, I entered the Pub. I know nothing's amiss because it's quite late, but people fill the room with music and laughter.
Nevertheless, I feel the comfort of my wooden, hidden weaponry, my special throwing vials of Holy water, and the rest of my equipment in my fight against those foul creatures known as vampires.

I've lost my family, friends, and too many party adventurers to them, but I see some others in a corner, that fit the description of survivors in this wretched land. One was peculiar about the wine, the other was a non-chalant, charming person.

I'll approach them. Maybe they can help to fight off this plague I dedicated my life to eliminate...

------------------
I wish I had more time to adventure...

[This message has been edited by VampiricDread (edited 18 May 2001).]

[monty]

****
Monty wakes up, looks around in confusion.
"What the H*ll? This isn't Hoom Forest!"
He looks over to the right and sees an old friend. Trying to sit up, Monty realizes that the world is still an unsteady place. He decides to call from the comfort of the floor.
"Hey VampiricDread! How's it hanging?! You got to try some of this. Got it off of this guy named Arthur. Don't think he was the legendary King though."

[Drago]

After raising his mug of ale high, Drago sits down and puts his feet up on a nearby rock. This adventurer has traveled long and far during his journeys through the years. He has been a poet, a dragon slayer, and many other things. Enough to encompass several lifetimes. Now he finds himself in this strange pub full of laughter and revelry. He sees a few friends around from jouneys past. "Hello VampiricDread and Monty. A toast to your health," he says. He takes a sip of his ale; closes his eyes and rest his head up against the wall. He decides to relax for a bit.

------------------
"My soul to nothingness: but I will strive against all doubtings, and will keep alive..." ~ John Keats's Sleep and Poetry

[Argh]

A Vampire whose name is unpronouncably vague entered the Boar's Head Pub, swinging something vaguely disturbing from his right fist. It almost looked like a small head on a chain, when the light hit it right. . . and he had a scowling, grim visage that suggested that he occasionally dined on Hunters.

Seating himself at a distant table, between a sour-faced Troll and a lovely(but deadly) Neelu, the Vampire ordered from one of the harried Halfling waiters, who tried to take the order as quickly as possible: "hi, thisistheBoar'sHeadPubandI'mGloffliyourserverwould youcareforsomethingtodrinkoreat?" Knowing that the Halfling would screw up anything else, the Vampire kept it simple and said, "blood, shaken, not stirred" in an icy voice. The poor Halfling then set a new land speed record heading for the kitchen, knocking over a befuddled Owlbear that had somehow gotten past the bouncers.

Meanwhile(there's always a meanwhile, isn't there?) Bargehead the Garrolous Dwarf entered the hall with a host of other talkative bowing dwarves in variously colored clothes. They kept muttering snatches of songs that hadn't been popular for long ages past- something about "under hill and under stone" while they scuffled across the chipped wooden floor.
Bargehead stopped before Ilfred, and asked in his loud(and garrolous) voice, "So, what do ya have 'ere, ya pansy barkeep? Got any beer worth the drinking? Aye, it's all the same with these here bars and pubs and clubs and cafes these days, ain't it? No Dwarf canna get beer worth fighting and scrapping over, nosirree, what d'ya say to that, eh?"

Ilfred, who'd just as soon bite your head off than speak to Dwarves at all, scowled down her long warty nose. It could be seen that she held a full magnum of Bertle's Best Booze in one scruffy hand, and was contemplating the kind of exit interview one has when one has smashed a patron into smallish bits, when. . .

[Argh]

The elven lord suddenly noticed something swimming out on the edge of his(usually) keen vision. If he hadn't been nearly so drunk(and wet and kicked and poked, mind you) he'd have noticed that it was the sad visage of a Vampire Hunter, and the Hunter was lookind down from a great distance- or perhaps that was just the wine.

Unfortunately, just at that moment there was some sort of confusing noise in the background- it seemed that a whole crowd of people were singing, "Oh ee Oh, Oh e Oh!" over and over again, for no apparant reason.
Dusting himself off(which is hard to do when one is soaking wet), the still nameless elven lord introduced himself to the Hunter now standing before him in the traditional Elf manner, by slapping both of the Hunter's cheeks and singing a bar from "My Way".

Now that the formalities were over, the elven lord grinned and gestured over to a table, saying, "Boy, do I have a tale to tell you!"

[This message has been edited by Argh (edited 22 May 2001).]

[VampiricDread]

Soon after greeting the party, I noticed the Vampire that entered the Pub. My blood boiled at its sight, and a deep desire to exact revenge came up.

Seeing how tense I was, Monty pulled me down to sit and handed me a mug of frosty ale, whispering "Not here, not now."

Trying hard to dominate my emotions, I sat and replied "Not here, yes. But not yet".

Then I saw the thing being served blood by an afraid Halfling...

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I wish I had more time to adventure...

[monty]

"Boy, they'll let anyone in this place."
Monty thought of several punishments suitable for the Vampire, but since this was a 'civilized' place, he had to throw half of the ideas out immediately. Some of the others would work quite well though.
Turning to Vampiric Dread, Monty said, "Hey VampiricDread, why don't we show this thing some hosptitality." Borrowing a vial of holy water, Monty flagged down a waiter
"Would you be so kind as to add some of this fine fluid to the vampire's order? Thanks a lot!" Monty then sat back down, relaxed, and waited for the show to begin. A smile lit his face. Nothing like giving a vampire heartburn to put a smile on your face. This place can let anyone they like in here, doesn't mean that we can't have some fun.

[This message has been edited by monty (edited 23 May 2001).]

[Argh]

The elven lord sipped on a bottle of Bertle's Best and burped. Staring around at the assembled group of adventurers, he noticed that at least one had been unfortunate enough to have sampled the Two-Headed Annoying Guy drink, which is a bit on the strong side for anybody who's not at least part Troll.

Mumbling a bit, he started to say something about "the Gem of. . . ah. . . let's see. . . it was. . ." until he was interrupted by a roaring curse from the Vampire across the hall, who'd apparantly drunk something unpleasant. The Vampire spat out a stream of what appeared to be burning blood while holding the Halfling responsible in one fist. When he'd calmed down, he stared at the Halfling in his odd Vampish way, and soon the Halfling started to turn slowly, like a zombie, toward the table where the adventurers sat.

With growing horror, the elven lord realized that this somehow meant he was now on the bad side of a Vampire, and he very quietly muttered, "I sure hope you people realized what you've done with that prank. . . we'd better go, don't you think?"

But it turned out that there wasn't any need, for the Vampire, after carefully recording each face with his cold dark eyes, turned into a veritable cloud of bats and flew out of the room.

The elven lord and all present blew big sighs of relief, drank up another brew, and listened to the sound of a rather garrolous dwarf arguing with Ilfred, of all creatures! At one point, the bearded little fellow was gesticulating and saying something about "-anna drink that bat pee! If you knew better, you'd suggest that me and me mates roll ourselves in pigswill and call ourselves supper! You know that they don't even fully hull their hops first, madam? Well, it's like this-"

For some strange reason, Ilfred didn't seem to appreciate this Last comment(ogres are incredibly intolerant of the word "madam" in any setting not requiring pain) and, with great restraint(for an ogre) simply picked the dwarf up, placed his garrolous and angry form upon an enormous platter used for drinking games, and slid him all the way into the back row of seats- in fact, not very far from our heroes. . .

[This message has been edited by Argh (edited 24 May 2001).]

[VampiricDread]

"Oh, well, another Vampire to be on the look out for", I said to my friends. "Just as a measure of precautionary antecipation, please take these small vials, that you should drink the contents from, and rub your neck with a bit of it, when we leave".

They all looked suspiciously at the little bottles, and me, then back again to the bottles.

"It's nothing more than a rather potent garlic extract. It's good for everybody's health, but Vampires don't appreciate it much. You may complain about a slight side effect, especially if you are thinking of people of the fair gender, because of the smell of your neck and a positively...ahhh... potent breath."

The elven lord took one, raise it to eye level for closer inspection, and exclamed:
"It's elven made! Where did you get it?"

"Oh, back in Beladriel Forest."

"You've been there?", he seemed appauled. "Only my people are allowed there!"

"Well, if you must know, my family and I lived nearby. When the Vampire formerly known as Birubiruash killed my family, the Elves took care of me, because my father was seen as a nice neighbour, and a elven-friend."


------------------
I wish I had more time to adventure...

[Trekkie]

I dived into the pub, grabbed my phaser from its pouch and yelled, "Eat radiation, Bat Boy!" Without really looking, I aimed it at everyone in the pub in turn, but without firing.
Several people screamed, gulped down their beer and dashed out of the pub.
"Where did he go?" I asked disappointedly.
Monty shrugged and ordered another beer. "Ah, he probably went back to his home or something."
VampiricDread licked his lips before taking another swig of beer himself. "You've gotta admit, it was a shame. I wanted to slay it myself."
Despite this, I smiled. "Oh well, at least I'm safe. I'm a Vulcan and vampires don't drink green blood."
Drago, nearly falling off his stool with laughter, sneers, "Will you phone the Enterprise for help?"
I grinned, sat down and ordered a grenadine and lime drink. I knew that my Starfleet communicator wouldn't pick up any signals in this RuneSword world.
After I'd finished the drink, I murmured, "I really wanted to kill that vampire, you know. I would have become famous, or earned a reward. But I suppose, in this world, only men are allowed to kill vampires."
As soon as I had said that, a blonde-haired sixteen-year-old girl kicked the door down and ran up to the bar. "Have you seen Xander and Willow anywhere?" she asked.

------------------
Visit Pogimon Central at www.angelfire.com/tv2/pogimon (http://www.angelfire.com/tv2/pogimon) and its companion site, www.geocities.com/mewtwo_alex (http://www.geocities.com/mewtwo_alex) !
(Trust me, I'm a Trekkie!)

[Argh]

At that moment, just as things seemed to be calming down, Bargehead the Garrolous Dwarf stood up, shaking the remains of his(lousy) beer out of his beard with great vigor.

He suddenly looked at the elven lord with perspicacious(don't ask) eyes and said, "Haven't we met before, boyo?"

The steadily growing crowd of adventurers, some of whom were actually sitting on one another's laps at this point to get to the table, sat and stared at this new arrival. Drago whispered something funny to VampiricDread, who chuckled as the elven lord looked at Bargehead quizzically and said, "Well, I don't normally associate with your. . . people. . . but somehow you seem familiar. . ."

Bargehead scowled and said, "Well, of course I look familiar, boyo! Why, Last time we met, I seem to recall hauling you out of a pit full of Goblins. . . or have you forgotten?"

"Oh, you're that stump- er, Dwarf! Why, I haven't seen you since we Last went searching for the Gem of EverLasting Sunshine. . . say, I was just about to start talking about the new Quest I'm putting together. . ."

"Well, Last time weren't bad, laddy, what with all the killin' and treasures and all- alrighty, let's hear what you're planning now." Bargehead settled back on one of the wooden chairs, ordered a new beer and nodded as the elven lord started speaking about. . .

[monty]

Monty got comfy. He was always one to help out. He looked around at those gathered around and was glad to see all the differences. Even a few human women were here. Monty looked around for Lady Pendragon.
"Wonder where's gotten off to?"
He scratched absentmindedly at the tattoo on his left shoulder and took another squirt (very small this time!) from his wineskin before offering it around the table.


[This message has been edited by monty (edited 25 May 2001).]

[VampiricDread]

"Master BargeHead, please join us, and help us follow that tale of yours, shared with the elves. I'm sure we're all curious of a party of elvenkin and dwarvenkin working together."

Monty chuckled and grabbed a pitcher of the ale from a passerby maiden, to the distressed looking of disapproval of Ilfred.

"Well, Elf and Dwarf. You seem to have a tale to share. I'm not going anywhere now, and I'm pretty sure the Plebeian Lord next to me is also very much interested. Please ellucidate and ellaborate on your previous statements, if you will."

After a pause, I added "If you tell us your tale, we might give you some insight into the Eorian valley."
------------------
I wish I had more time to adventure...

[This message has been edited by VampiricDread (edited 25 May 2001).]

[Drago]

He drank some of Monty's wine. "Quite good, did you make it yourself?" Drago said. Monty replied, "no, it was made by a group of monks from Argos. This fine wine was given to me as a reward for defending their monastery from a group of thieves." This is a robust, exquisite wine Drago thought to himself. It reminded him of his wine cellar back home.

------------------
"My soul to nothingness: but I will strive against all doubtings, and will keep alive..." ~ John Keats's Sleep and Poetry

[Downunder Tom]

Downuner Tom, A Kender from a another land enters the pub watching a Gaul thief fleecing all the pubs customers with a shell game, The owner comes over and asks him to leave but but he refuses, the owner calls over his bouncer, a two headed ogre to throw the thief out on this ear. The owners says to me that he does not mind people running games in his pub as long as they don't give the pub a bad name. In one corners a twoup type game and a another a spin the bottle are running.

Tom


(Just a little bit of fun!}

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Wth a little help from my frieds , we can make this the best RPG ever.


[This message has been edited by Downunder Tom (edited 27 May 2001).]

[monty]

Monty waves a greeting to Downunder Tom. It's been a while since Monty has been in Tom's neck of the woods, but he'll always have a spot in his heart for anywhere that the Southern cross shines on.

[This message has been edited by monty (edited 27 May 2001).]

[VampiricDread]

"I must rest." I got up, and asked for a room upstairs.

"If you want one of our dearies, love, I may be able to accomodate you for a reasonable fee", Ilfred replied.

"Where can I get some rest, Ilfred? I have to sleep, you know." I gave her a few silver coins.

"Since you're being so nice, love, I may have a room for you, then."

Ilfred escorted me to the upper floor into a small room, and handed me a key.

"Sleep tight, then. Do lock your door."

The room was barely able to drop oneself onto a bed of bale. I prayed a safety from bugs prayer I had learned from a Priest, and went to sleep.

....
....
....


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I wish I had more time to adventure...

[Argh]

After absently following Ilfred's conversation with VampiricDread, which was an unusually nice conversation. . . the elven lord slowly started to tell his tale, while swishing a small pint of bitters in between sips of wine.

"Well, I suppose I should start at the beginnning, right? Well, 3000 thousad years ago, my ancient ancestors were in the middle of a war with this dreadful horde of demons called the T'hula, who'd emerged from a trapdoor in time that an angry Eternal opened. After the war had continued for almost 50 years, my great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandfather turned towards his wife, who was busy talking about shrubberies or some such nonsense-"

"Do get on with the important parts!" Bargehead snapped.

"Oh. . . er, very well, my stout companion!" Said the elven lord lightly, and Bargehead snorted loudly and patted his barrel chest, which was hardly fat, and then waved his hand to encourage the Elf to get on with the story.

"At any rate, and to make a long long long story very short, the T'hula invented this special thingy called the Gem of EverLasting Darkess to aid their warriors. Basically, this Gem was said to 'blacken the face of the Earth', and it was also said to 'blot the Sun from the sky'. We Elves have the ability to see in the dark somewhat, but our enemies were cold-blooded creatures. . . and things started going very badly. . ."

Bargehead laughed. "Ha! I'll bet that was a sight to see! You skinnies- er elves, m'lord- must've been in deep trouble! 'Course, back then we were still mainly living in the far northern keeps, below the icepack of the Great Freeze,we were. . ." Bargehead ground to a halt, noticing that Monty and Drago were both starting to yawn. . .

"Well, it was a very bad scene, to be sure," the elven lord responded, "but we Elves are not to be equalled in magical feats, when put to the test. . . and we came up with a solution. After several decades of warfare, one of our mages created the Gem of EverLasting Sunshine, a device of truly Elven beauty. . . which 'shone across the sky like a hundred dawns breaking' and gave the Elves enough light to kill by."

Bargehead stirred from his seat, and exclaimed, "So your people were the ones who ended the Great Freeze! We still tell stories of the caverns that were awash in melted glacier ice, and the tales of woe and misery. . ." Bargehead began to rummage around his bag of Useful Stuff, and eventually pulled out a worn but serviceable Book of Woe, in which he entered new writings for the Neverending Saga sung in the lowest deeps.

"Er. . . yes, well. . . we eventually had some problems with it too- namely, some nasty sun rashes and a few too many parched throats- it was horrible!" Bargehead just grunted and continued to scribble furiously, no doubt planning a massive war of revenge a few centuries from now, when the Elves had forgotten all about this little slip.

"Well. . . ah. . . anyway. . . we eventually hid it away, along with the Gem of EverLasting Darkness, in great magically-trapped tombs at the poles- until recently, when somebody, er, lost the password that opened the gates to the place. . ." He blushed and said, "It was, unfortunately, one of my cousins. . . so I am honor-bound to retrieve the device, so that it may be re-buried in a newer, nicer tomb, and, uh. . . using a shorter password."

"Figures! You Elves would lose yer arses, if they weren't firmly glued in place! Why, my mother once told me of an elven maiden who lost her eyeballs once, while applying makeup! And then there was the time that an Elven lover lost his-"

The elven lord was swift to interrupt with, "Well, that may be so, but the plot is thicker than that. . . the Gem of EverLasting Darkness is missing from its tomb, and my cousin's memory loss is rather total. A shame, really, he was very good at Trivial Pursuits and such, even if he was a bit of a drip."

"So someone may. . . possess that horrible Gem?" Drago interjected, looking worried. Meanwhile Monty was heard muttering, "Always the same, these darned Quests. . . gotta save the world again. . ."

The elven lord beamed, and said, "Right in one! Now all we have to do is. . ."

[This message has been edited by Argh (edited 29 May 2001).]

[This message has been edited by Argh (edited 29 May 2001).]

[This message has been edited by Argh (edited 29 May 2001).]

[VampiricDread]

After a few hours sleep, interwoven with Elf meditation (you know Elves don't sleep, just meditate on Nature), I went down to the Pub.

Though it was sun rising, and most of the Pub's hands were busy at cleaning, the windows were fully oppened, and the morning air was fresh and invigorating.

The Elven Lord was pissed drunk, like the Dwarf in front of him. I wondered what the business was to have them sit at a table for so long.

I got out and the morning dawned with the singing of birds. I rushed to the wood hill nearby, to relax, but Jonesy was waiting fo me there.

"Hello, Vamp."

"Don't call me that, Jonesy."

"Don't call me Jonesy, then." It said, feigning offense taken.

"Should I call you by your name, then?"

"No, no, no. Sorry, VampiricDread."

"What is it then?"

"The elf in the Boar's Head... He's been talking..."

"Come on. I hate riddles in the morning, you know that!"

"Very well, then. Ask your former companions. He told them of the Gems of EverLasting, and he is setting up a party on prizes that are not his." With this, Jonesy went away, as fast as a Wood Sprite could.

I went back to the Boar's Head Inn. It was deserted, but I was given the same table.

"I think your friends went to sleep", a maid said.

"I'll wait, if you don't mind. Bring me some tea, fresh bread, butter and cheese, please".

I was puzzled! Why would an Elven Lord, in fact why would any elf mention the Gems of EverLasting? I saw no point in brooding over it, so I took my meal, went to the stables and practiced my morning rituals and body tune-ups, before returning.

It took some hours waiting before they showed up...

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I wish I had more time to adventure...

[This message has been edited by VampiricDread (edited 29 May 2001).]

[monty]

Monty crawled out from under a nearby table. Something had definitely shat in his mouth Last night. At least he had gotten out of the way. He ran his fingers through his short hair and looked around.

"Hey VampiricDread, good morning."
Monty offered VampiricDread some dough crescents. In between bites, Monty told VampiricDread of what happened Last night and asked him a question. "Do you have a nickname or something short we can call you? Vampie doesn't really fit you, but we can't call you in a hurry with 'Hey VampiricDread!'"

"The quest sounds prety important. I'd hate for the world to go all dark or light. I can offer some magical muscle and some fighting skills."

[Drago]

Drago awoke from his slumber; washed up and went downstairs. He drank way too much Last night and was still feeling the effects. After eating some elven muffins for breakfast
he rejoined his friends and exclaims: "Good morning you guys. Quite an adventure we have in store for us; I hope Monty let you in on all the details VampiricDread."


------------------
"My soul to nothingness: but I will strive against all doubtings, and will keep alive..." ~ John Keats's Sleep and Poetry

[VampiricDread]

"Good morning, Drago. Yes, Monty has just told me what you discussed Last night. I have some reservations on the quest, but I'll help you out, if you want to. Do you know where to start?"

And to Monty "Why don't you call me just Dread, then? It's just a name of no consequence."

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I wish I had more time to adventure...

[monty]

Monty smiled. "OK, Dread I like. That'll work!"
Monty looked around. "This may sound like a dumb question, but does anyone know what the surrounding area is like? I'm not from around here."

[This message has been edited by monty (edited 30 May 2001).]

[Drago]

"Well, I suggest that we pack up our things, and leave the tavern to start out with. We should go to the town of Northia which is nearby the elven lord's tomb. Ask a few questions to the townspeople, and further inspect the tomb for any clues the elves may have missed in their investigation" Drago stated.

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"My soul to nothingness: but I will strive against all doubtings, and will keep alive..." ~ John Keats's Sleep and Poetry

[VampiricDread]

"Won't the elven lord and Bargehead, the Dwarf, join this company?", I said.

It seems strange to go on with them, I reflected, but then again, this is strange company.

"I'm as ready as I can be, and packed, so I'll wait for you."

"But you're carrying nothing!", Drago exclaimed. Before I could speak, Monty winked an eye, and said "Don't be deceived by the looks of Dread. He's packing, I'm sure."

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I wish I had more time to adventure...

[monty]

Monty went up to the barkeep and bartered for some road rations and various other sundries. Ilfred wasn't much in a bargaining mood, she started her side of the conversation with a left hook. Monty did manage to get her settled down enough to get what he wanted.
He gave up much of a thick rod of dwarvish hacksilver and some elvish woodcarvings in trade.
As they prepared to leave, Monty turned to VampiricDread. "To continue from before, Names are very important where I come from. Nothing is 'just' a name."



[This message has been edited by monty (edited 31 May 2001).]

[VampiricDread]

Well, I thought, I've never been to Northia, and I can use the change of airs, though it's strange that the Gems of EverLasting were hidden around those parts, but an elf is an elf, and questioning their reasonings can take more time than asking an Ent which way is north.

"If you know that, you know also that names carry a magic of their own, my friend", I said to monty. "Even the names we elect to use, or accept upon ourselves, Plebeian King."

With a wink from the corner of my eye, we both laughed. Monty being taller than myself, and stronger, is nevertheless a character of quick humour and a friendly smile, but quite dangerous and effective in a fight.

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I wish I had more time to adventure...

[This message has been edited by VampiricDread (edited 01 June 2001).]

[Argh]

Drearily shaking themselves out of bed, the elven lord and Bargehead slowly tramped down the stairs.

Bargehead was already laden down with gear, and sat heavily at the bar, trading "how to skin a Troll" jokes with Ilfred. The elven lord, wrapped only in a silken smoking-robe, lounged at a table with an enormous glass of orange juice in front of him.

Seeing that the others were preparing themselves for a journey to the Far North, the Elf smiled lazily and said, "Er. . . there's no need for that. . . we'll just take a. . . um. . . yah. . . er. . . oh! A Cloudgate!"

Several members of the gathering band looked at the elven lord with thinly disguised annoyance. Drago was heard muttering, "But what about the cost? Isn't that really expensive?"

The elven lord, doing his best to look cool and collected, simply said "Well, it's all paid for- don't worry about the cost." Bargehead looked incredulous, but the elven lord said, with a sly grin, "Well, we Elves do have some advantages- having lived over 774 years, for example, it's surprising how much interest compounds, if you invest it in Dwarven banks and don't spend much. . ."

[This message has been edited by Argh (edited 01 June 2001).]

[This message has been edited by Argh (edited 01 June 2001).]

[VampiricDread]

"A CloudGate! Where are you going to get one, my lord? It's not that you don't have the funds to put us all using it, from what I can see."

The Dwarf seemed to be on the verge of an hearth attack, fuming like a salamander, or just about any other fire elemental. He was speechless, looking at each one of us for help.

"We are but five, now: your Lordship and your friend Bargehead, plus the Plebeian King, the misterious Drago, and myself. Are we enough of a party to go after the quest you proposed?"


------------------
I wish I had more time to adventure...

[monty]

"Cloudgate, hmm?" Monty shakes his head. "Nope, haven't done that yet."

Monty turns to VampiricDread and says. "True. Names, even ones like you said, have Power. I try not to use my lofty title for anything other than to remind myself that, as far as I have come, I am but a humble man, no better than anyone else. I do not like to hold myself above others. One benefit is that, while I am a little out of place around the high-brows (no offense misseur elf) I find all sorts of friendliness among the masses. My grandparents were streetsweepers and I am comfortable around those who work hard for a living. I always enjoyed helping out my grandparents and I don't ever want to forget my humble roots."

"So, is it time for all the party people to jump on a cloud?!"

**VampiricDred wrote: the dwarf was on the verge of a HEARTH atack!!!!
Haw haw!! ROTF mispelling laugh!!!**

[This message has been edited by monty (edited 02 June 2001).]

[VampiricDread]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by monty:
[B**VampiricDred wrote: the dwarf was on the verge of a HEARTH atack!!!!
Haw haw!! ROTF mispelling laugh!!!**
[/B]<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Clarification: you cannot be 100% perfect, though you may try. There's heart, and hearth, both dear to a Dwarf. I should have ammended the word to heart(h) to get my initial idea conveyed, but thinking is one thing, writing is another. I'm sorry...

[monty]

Quite all right. I do the occasional mistype myself, this one was just funny to me. Like you said, heart and hearth are dear to a dwarf. I was trying to picture a dwarf having a hearth attack!

[monty]

((Back in Character))
Monty says to VampiricDread, "I think we're enough to start this quest. We have an elf, a dwarf and a few humans already. Who knows who or what we'll pick up on the way?"
Monty finishes stashing away little goodies here and there amongst his person. His backpack bulges at the seams, a few of which have torn under the strain. "She'll hold," Monty said, pointing to his pack. "Always has." He opens it up and shifts a few of the contents around. The party see a few odd things pop in and out of the pack, including what looks like a small ball of fur. "Never can tell what you'll need on a trip!"

Drago looks at VampiricDread and Monty.
"What a pair! One of you looks like he's carrying nothing and the other looks like he's carrying everything!"

[VampiricDread]

"I guess we'll never know what we need until we need it", I said. They all looked at me like I was a moron for stating the obvious. I shrugged and added:

"Shall we get going? We're wasting good daylight, or is any of you waiting for someone else to show up?"

------------------
I wish I had more time to adventure...

[monty]

The gathered party leave the dank and dusky confines of the Boar's Head.

[Downunder Tom]

Downunder tom wakes up, thinking that must have been a party and a half Last night.

He gets up quickly brushes him self off and runs after Monty and the group.

When he catches up with them we askes if he can join them, as his thief and tinking skills might be usefull to them



------------------
Wth a little help from my frieds , we can make this the best RPG ever.

[monty]

"Of course you can come!! You never know when you might come in handy." Monty laughs and gladly welcomes Tom on their quest. "Only, stay out of my backpack!"

[Downunder Tom]

Tom Shakes Monty's and frieds hands and picks up his sack of items the he has found, Kenders are not really thiefs but just loan things to see how they work and sometimes forget where they got them. Of course it could be dangerous with Gnome devices as most of them seem to blow up instead of working like there ships which is too big for a Kender to steal anyway.

In his other hand he picks up is Hoopak a strange combination of staff and sling.

------------------
Wth a little help from my frieds , we can make this the best RPG ever.

[This message has been edited by Downunder Tom (edited 04 June 2001).]

[monty]

"Glad to have you with us Tom. No trip is boring with a Kender along!"
Both Bargehead and the elflord look suspiciously at Tom, like he is some sort of deranged second cousin.
Monty is glad to be outdoors again. The day is bright and sunny, birds are chirping, and the grass is a brilliant green. Not a cloud in the sky...A giant can be heard in the distance, winning an argument with a large tree that doesn't want to become a club.


[This message has been edited by monty (edited 04 June 2001).]

[VampiricDread]

I was pleased to see a Kender join the party, if for nothing else, their natural merry and innocent disposition (though their borrowing habits are somewhat upseting).

In the distance, a rendering sound of timber being broken just showed the giant got his point over the tree..

------------------
I wish I had more time to adventure...

[Argh]

The party stopped, looking warily at the Giant, until the elven lord came around the bend(he was chatting merrily with Bargehead about ancient traps in the rear of the party). The elven lord looked up at the Giant(which was just starting to think about whether or not Kender are tasty) when he whispered in Monty's ear, "We should really get out of here, don't you think?".

Monty looked at the elven lord and grinned. He wasn't afraid of such a stupid(if powerful) creature. The giant began picking its teeth with bits of the treetop, and slowly moved one of its legs as if to give chase, but the party was soon out of sight- and it being a hill giant, that meant out of mind.

About thirty minutes later, they arrived at a tiny hut that stood in front of a larger house. The elven lord gestured to the party to walk up to the hut, and they were greeted by a very strange and wizened figure.

The figure was humanoid, and had a somewhat human face- but its incredible layers of wrinkly nut-brown skin made its face look somewhat like a collection of leather gloves. Its wide dark eyes stared from under its dark brow. . .

[VampiricDread]

"Is this where we get to the CloudGate, my lord?" I asked the elf.

------------------
I wish I had more time to adventure...

[Downunder Tom]

Well we are waiting for a reply we hear a big crash in the distance ....

Tom tells the others that giant was not going to make a snack of him and decied to get in first by tieing the giants shoe lances together and that was the giant falling over we heard. He also shows them a strange device that he got from the lord when he was not looking. The others look displeased thinking that lord will be after them when he works it out.



------------------
Wth a little help from my frieds , we can make this the best RPG ever.

[Drago]

While the party of adventurers is waiting for a reply to Vampiricdread's question Drago goes into his black leather backpak and brings forth a small trinket. It is a little golden pocketwatch with a cluster of diamonds in the shape of a dragon encircling a moon and a sun. The back of it is engraved in a few different ancient Languages: egyptian, chinese, and another one that is unrecognizable to him. He describes it as an old family heirloom passed down from his great, great grandfather William Thomasticus.
In the final days of the Great War he had uncovered it while exploring a cave during a reconnaissance mission. "It has the ability to stop time for a brief period," Drago states.
"How long a period of time?" Monty asks. "Five minutes," Drago says. The third ancient language was known by Drago's great grandfather but he died before he could pass on his knowledge. Perhaps someone from the party could decipher it.

------------------
"My soul to nothingness: but I will strive against all doubtings, and will keep alive..." ~ John Keats's Sleep and Poetry


[This message has been edited by Drago (edited 08 June 2001).]

[monty]

the mysterious figure seated them on the floor of the small hut, there being only room for an earthen bed and a small table in the corner. He left breifly and returned with a small bucket. From this bucket he served the purest water Monty had ever tasted.
VampiricDread remarked that the water tasted like it had certain properties versus evil and asked if he could fill a vial of the fluid.
The wizened creature, who had yet to talk, motioned VampiricDread to go ahead.

As the party drank, the elven lord explained that the larger house belonged to a Powerful Lord of the area, who had control of a cloudgate that appeared now near the top of the the tallest tower of the house.
"This being before you is the gardner of the House. He is a very ancient and wise being who has taken care of this part of the Land for many generations. No lord would try to remove him because he keeps the orchards producing, the grass green and the water pure, as you can attest to. He comes with the property, so to speak. He is kin to both myself and the dwarf. It is my opinion that he can help us gain access to the cloudgate."

"Wait a minute," Monty said, slightly confused. "I thought you said that this cloudgate was already paid for?"

The elven lord motioned the party to a small window that looked onto the larger house. "Gaze up at the manor house. See the flag flying above the main entrance? That is the flag of a new lord of the manor. My deal was with the previous owner."

"I know the device that flies," VampiricDread said, noting the red field and large black fist upraised in the center. "He is in league with evil Powers."

"Just so, VampiricDread, Just so. That is why we cannot approach the manor as civilized beings."
The elven lord reached into his bag and removed some elvish delicacies and passed them with both hands to the owner of the hut.
His eyes danced and a long tongue snaked over his teeth. Showing courtesy, the figure portioned the bread up into small pieces and passed it aorund for all to share. His breath smelled like freshly turned earth.

[monty]

Monty examined Drago's precious watch. "Maybe it's Mayan. 'Tis said that their ancestors came from Asia."

[VampiricDread]

"So what now?" I exclaimed. The elven lord seemed to be going catatonic, probably due to much of a previous heavy night, his dwarf friend just about the same.

"Allow me some room", I asked the others. I opened both their mouths, and dropped in from a small vial. Then I poured some of the water that was given by the Gardener.

Both of them writhed a bit, but were soon back to reality.

"What's going on?", were the dwarf's first words, going for his axe.

"Calm down", I replied,"you were poisoned. Probably at the Inn."

The Kender looked me up, as monty did, but Drago said:

"Ok, you two. Gives us some answers. How are we supposed to get into that?"

------------------
I wish I had more time to adventure...

[This message has been edited by VampiricDread (edited 08 June 2001).]

[This message has been edited by VampiricDread (edited 08 June 2001).]

[Downunder Tom]

The Kender jumps up and says "with my skills , I will find a way, there's not lock that can't keep me out and no trap that can be set that I can't disarm, so lets stop thinking about and lets get on with it."



------------------
Wth a little help from my frieds , we can make this the best RPG ever.

[Drago]

"It is not mayan. I had it inspected by a few linguists. It is an unknown language not from my home planet. Perhaps the elven lord recognizes it?" Drago replies.


------------------
"My soul to nothingness: but I will strive against all doubtings, and will keep alive..." ~ John Keats's Sleep and Poetry

[VampiricDread]

" I think we all understand your... huh... special skills, Tom. But I'm more worried about the tennants in there," I said.

------------------
I wish I had more time to adventure...

[Drago]

The elven lord replies, "Yes, I recognize that language on your watch. It's mordor."
Drago smiles and thanks the elven lord for helping him.

------------------
"My soul to nothingness: but I will strive against all doubtings, and will keep alive..." ~ John Keats's Sleep and Poetry

[VampiricDread]

**********************************

Plot note

**********************************

Argh, where are you? You started this, but if you don't give your input soon, we'll surely go on (like Dread's counter poison failing, the Elven lord and the Dwarf getting hauled back to the Inn, and the rest of us going to storm the place, or trekking the long way).

********************************

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I wish I had more time to adventure...

[monty]

The elf tried to respond to VampiricDread's question, but he started to cough and pains racked his body.*Cough* "We," *Cough* "Ugh!" He said no more as he doubled over in pain. The dwarf faired little better. His dwarvish constitution obviously helped him escape much of the poison's effects, but he was still not up to fighting.

"we have yet to meet the enemy and already two of us are down!" VampiricDread said, the heat of anger rising the level of his voice.

The groundscreature tended to the elf-lord and dwarf while the rest of the party tried to come up with some way to get inside the manor.

The party examines the manor house for signs of what is going on inside. All they can tell from the small hut's window is that all the entrances are guarded day and night. The guard looked fairly strong, with at least one of them weilding a magical weapon. Downunder Tom saw a humanoid creature fly overhead and land in an open window of the highest tower one night.
Other than that, nothing could be seen. No one had entered or left the manor since they arrived. The party would have to go on a search of the surrounding area in order to find a way in, or try to overwhelm a pair of gaurds and break in quickly.

"What can you tell us of who is inside?" VampiricDread asked the groundscreature.

The groundscreature, mute though he was, managed to convey through hand gestures, scawled sand sigils and reenactments that most of the previous dwellers in the manor had been killed when the new owners took over. Their bodies had been dumped on the front lawn and he had buried them in the Manor's cemetary.

The party got the impression that all sorts of foul creatures had moved into the manor, though the new owner was a large furry being, possibly from the North.

"Perhaps, This person has come from where the tomb is." Drago spoke up.

"Perhaps," the elf-lord whispered. he was still feeling the after-effects of the poison.

Monty had an idea. "Hey, why don't we send Downunder Tom and our host on a reconn mission? See if they can find us a way in? They are the sneakiest pair here."

[This message has been edited by monty (edited 16 June 2001).]

[Downunder Tom]

Downunder Tom agreed to having a look around for another way in, lots of these big manors had ways for the lord to get away while the other keeped the enemy busy.

But he says "After what happened, I would rather someone who could warn me could also come. if something was going to happen, nothing against our host of course, He must have been silenced for a reason but he might remember if there is a way in."

[Downunder Tom]

Downunder Tom agreed to having a look around for another way in, lots of these big manors had ways for the lord to get away while the other keeped the enemy busy.

But he says "After what happened, I would rather someone who could warn me could also come. if something was going to happen, nothing against our host of course, He must have been silenced for a reason but he might remember if there is a way in."

[Drago]

"I will go along with you old friend," Drago replied. He went into his backpack to retrieve some necessary materials for reconaissance. He handed off his backpack, cloak, and hat to Monty for safe keeping.


------------------
"My soul to nothingness: but I will strive against all doubtings, and will keep alive..." ~ John Keats's Sleep and Poetry

[VampiricDread]

Ok, you two. Take care, and take this", Vampiric Dread said, while presenting Drago with a small, 2-inch, greenish, carved box.
"This is an artifact from the Elves. You hold it so, press here, and it shows a dim beacon of diffuse light. You press here again, and the light is off. I would appreciate you returning it to me, after your reconnoitering".

Tom eyes flashed of envy at this new toy, and wondered what the grim human raised by elves was packing with him.

"We'll look after our friends and wait for your return", he said, while producing a pouch of mithelbas leaves, a rare medicin plant, and giving each of the sick a leaf each to chew or suck, as well as they could.

To monty, Vampiric Dread said: "That's my Last and most potent attempt to counter the poison, without going into magic. I don't think we want to expend runes and reveal ourselves. They are stabilized, but depending on the poison, it could take some days before they recover".

"Why were they poisoned, Dread?"

"They brought the quest, didn't they? I think there are more interested parties than I was ready to accept. The tale of the EverLasting Gems is not strange to me, but I will not tell you what the Elven Lord chose to undisclose. Not yet, at least. Trust me on this, my friend. I have reasons for not speaking more now, or until the need is at hand".

Tom and Drago left with stealth. The rest of us went to waiting, taking care of the poisoned, and attempting to keep shifts...

[This message has been edited by VampiricDread (edited 16 June 2001).]

[VampiricDread]

****** Call to arms *****

Please post your character description on the appropriate thread, my friends. It will help run this adventure forward.

Thank you.


*************************

------------------
I wish I had more time to adventure...

[Downunder Tom]

Was What I said when I first joind enough of a character discription?

To Continue back in character .....

After Picking up his hoopak Downuner Tom and his new friends depart to look around the area, checking for grass sections that might be false, rocks that move, trees and there stumps that are not tress at all, and just old plain holes that have been covered to hide them, Ofcourse also checking that who ever now lives in the manor has set no traps to capture or kill unwanted guests

[Drago]

After searching for hours for a way into the manor Tom cries out, "I think the rocks on the side of this wall are loose." Drago runs over to inspect the wall. He sees an outline of a door in the wall. He tells Tom to help him pry it open. "It must be a secret entrance to the manor. Come on Tom put your back into it it's not that heavy," Drago says.
They are able to open the massive dry-stone door revealing a tunnel entrance. The lining of the walls are very damp. The floor is covered with rat excrement. The odor is simply revolting. The tunnel is lit by a few small torches with silver handles. Tom takes one out of it's holder to light the way as they continue their journey.

------------------
"My soul to nothingness: but I will strive against all doubtings, and will keep alive..." ~ John Keats's Sleep and Poetry

[VampiricDread]

While Drago and Tom where out, monty and I were doing our best for our poisoned friends.

The poison was not the same, of course, but we had no clue. All we had was to hope for some recovery, until the moment we had to use some magic, and expose ourselves. The leaves, I kept dissolving in hot water next to them, but we had to come out to the starry night.

"Do you think they'll recover, Dread?"

"I don't know. They're stable, from what I can see, but not knowing the two poisons used is like facing two daggers from the dark". I shook my head in disbelief."I never expected we would be attacked this way, though I antecipated some action when the Elven Lord mentioned what was, or what I thought was, a kept secret".

"Will you tell me about it?"

"Not yet, my friend. All that there was to be known is out in the open, and the Elven Lord should have never discussed it openly".

"Do you think him a traitor, or a Dark Elf?"

"No, unless he was recruiting to get rid of the opposition, but that's difficult to conceive, when he had a Dwarf beside him. I'm sure he's sincere. Careless, maybe light-hearthed, but sincere."

We strolled back together in silence and tended to our friends in need. I only hoped they would recover soon...


------------------
I wish I had more time to adventure...

[Downunder Tom]

At the same momment in outside a dark damp cave....

Tom and friends get ready to enter this dark , damp cave, They get there weapons ready and use any magic protection they have to give them extre defence and any other magic they have to give them attack advantages they can.

They don't know what horrors the new owners might have sent down to protect the caves and any dungeons that might be down here.

They enter the dark cave slowly, tom checking for any traps that might be set to stop them, He also looks for hidden entrances that might lead off in any direction. The party looks for places that might be safe to return to if they need to camp and regroup later.



------------------
With a little help from my friends , we can make Runesword the best RPG ever.

[Drago]

Tom and Drago continue walking slowly through until they come upon a separation in the tunnel. "Should we go left or right?" Drago asks.

------------------
"My soul to nothingness: but I will strive against all doubtings, and will keep alive..." ~ John Keats's Sleep and Poetry

[Downunder Tom]

Lets ask our host, he might remember which was is the best to go.



------------------
With a little help from my friends , we can make Runesword the best RPG ever.

[monty]

The groundscreature motions to the left, making motions like it's the way up or at least towards the tower.

[monty]

Monty reaches into his backpack and pulls out a tattoo needle, some ink, and an old bone (It is a bone that is carved into the shape of a bone). He begins to tattoo a design on the side of it.

[VampiricDread]

******************************************

Side note:

Argh,

We all know you're back. Do you want to continue with this? Please post your decision. Thanks.

*******************************************



------------------
I wish I had more time to adventure...

[Downunder Tom]

We continue down the left checking the walls to see if there is anything hidden, the is a lighted area ahead, Downunder Tom grabs some ammo to load the hoopak ready....

[Drago]

Drago continues walking with Tom. He unsheathes his sword. He is prepared for battle, but hopes it will not be necessary. There has been too much death in his recent travels. May fate guide them in their endeavors.

[VampiricDread]

Deeply concerned, I see the poison is probably stronger than my puny attempts at countering it. My companion is not happy with the situation, and wants to use Rune Magic.

"If we use magic now, we might trigger a warning that may kill Drago and Tom", I said.

"If we don't, these two will die, Dread."

"Ok. I cannot argue you that. Are you able to do it by yourself, or do you need my help? Time's running short for these two."

------------------
I wish I had more time to adventure...

[monty]

"I can do it," Monty says. "There's a couple of different ways. Give me a minute to come up with the best." Monty slipped into his backpack and went to work looking for away to save his companions...

[Downunder Tom]

Meanwile back in the cave...

The 3 friends enter the lighted area, it seems to be some sort of storage room, there are rats everywhere and what was in the crates, boxes and sacks have been long ago destroyed by the rats.



------------------
With a little help from my friends , we can make Runesword the best RPG ever.

[VampiricDread]

I picked up my other lantern. I saw the Kender and Drago finding their way in, but moments later, it was blank, either to magic or loss.

Anyway, this showed that using magic to help our poisoned companions was not barred to us, since I was not getting to them.

"We can use magic, monty, without fear of detection."

Monty eyed me slantly, and kept on whatever he was doing... I thought not to interrupt him any further.

I longed to get outside, into the open.

------------------
I wish I had more time to adventure...

[This message has been edited by VampiricDread (edited 28 June 2001).]

[monty]

((INSIDE the Manor))

Checking a door in the opposite wall, Tom heard many iron footsteps beyond. Sounded like many men dressed in heavy armor. A few stopped right outside the door.

"You hear something?" an authoritative voice said from the hall. "Sampers, check that door."

As quietly as they could (which is very quiet for a kender, not so much for the other two) Tom, Drago and the groundscreature hid amongst the boxes. The rats disguised much of the noise.

The door opened, and the three could see a man armed with a crossbow and dressed in light armor come into the room. Three other stood in the hall behind him.

"It's a storeroom. Rats." Sampers said.

"Get on in there and check it out. We don't want any more suprises."

Shaking his head, Sampers entered further and looked around. As he made his way around the storeroom, it was clear that he would soon be able to see the groundscreature...

((OUTSIDE the Manor))
Monty, assured by VampircDread that magic was allright, decided to use a nature-based magical approach anyways, so anyone who picked up on what was happening might think that the groundscreature was doing something.
As prepared as time allowed, Monty started with the elf, who was the easier of the two. Taking a good hard look at the poison in the elf's body, Monty determined that it was a magical poison, designed with elven physiology in mind. He also saw that it could not be easily rid of, it had to be in a host, or the one who made it would know what was happening.
Might not be as harmful to a human, Monty thought. Wasting no more time, Monty swept the poison from the elf's body from head to toe. The poison could be seen, as it became more and more concentrated, as a large black swelling. Monty directed the poison to the elf's left foot. Gathered in one place, the poison began to rot and destroy the foot. Monty quickly cut a slit in the elf's foot and sucked the deadly poison into his own body.
As ready as he was, there was still much pain. But he did not die. And there was more to do. Convulsing slightly, Monty transfered a liitle of the poison from his mouth to a small plant that Dread had picked earlier. With a touch or two of magic and a drop of elven blood, the plant was made into a simularucum of the elf lord. The plant wilted and died immediately. Hopefully that will convince anyone that an elf was killed from the poison, Monty thought. The elven lord would be OK. His left foot was black, swollen and bleeding, but he would live.
After he stopped shaking and sweating, Monty turned to the dwarf.
Looking closely at the poison, Monty sighed heavily, this one wasn't so easy. This poison was very deadly to anyone. But it was not like the other poison. It could be removed from the dwarf. Monty began to tend to the dwarf, but he could not do it, his strength was gone for the moment and he collapsed.
"Dread...you must...assist me. I.. cannot..."

[VampiricDread]

"Nice," I thought. Instead of two poisoned persons, I now had three in different stages of distress. To monty, I put another leaf in his mouth, and let it restore his tired body from the strain.

I attended the foot of the elf to the best I could, then turned to the dwarf. He would be naturally resistant to my magic, so I had no hopes there.

I had to do something, and fast.

------------------
I wish I had more time to adventure...

[monty]

Monty rolled around, trying to shake off the poison. He knew that something had to be done with the dwarf and soon.
Monty stood up, although rather shakily and with the help of Dread. "I'm all right." Monty said. Dread wasn't convinced.
He went over to the dwarf and suggested to dread that together they might be able to heal the dwarf some.

[monty]

Monty asked Dread to get a lot of firewood. "We can burn the poison out of him. Dwarves can take a lot of heat, but I bet the poison can't. It will break down and become inert, hopefully before the dwarf does. We can take turns tending him, watching for signs and ensuring that we don't kill him in the process."

[VampiricDread]

"Won't it scorch his beard?" I said as I wnt out to get the firewood.

------------------
I wish I had more time to adventure...

[monty]

Monty giggled weakly. "A hairless chin is the least of his worries."

[Drago]

Drago, Tom and the grounds creature huddled together silently. "Be very, very quiet" Drago whispered. "I have the ability to make myself and those in proximity to me invisible" the grounds creature replied. "Well why don't you go ahead and do that already then" Tom states emphatically.
He removes a few runes ftom a small bag he is carrying and begins chanting. He finishes just before the guard appears. He looks straight at them and sees nothing. Sampers calls out, "No one here captain. All is well."

[VampiricDread]

I packed the fireplace to the limit, and kept a good amount of logs nearby. Under monty's instructions, I dragged the dwarf near by the scorching heat, after throwing a bucketfull of water on him. I had him placed along the fire, and I kept water by.

"Use the water only when you see him burn, Dread."

"Can I use it on me, as well?", I said as I got drenched in a bucket.

"Why don't you take you cloak, Dread?"

I came to him, staring in the eyes a few inches apart. "You wouldn't want me to take off my cloak, monty. Trust me."

The smell of burning hair got me back to my job in no time. It was like working a furnace: keep the fire hot, and avoiding too much burn on the roasting dwarf.

After some time (it seemed hours), something oily started to drip from the dwarf's fingers. I got a casserole to catch it, but it burned it through, and the stone below.

Before I could get a glass container it had ceased, and the dwarf was giving out life signs again.

"Get him away!", monty shouted.

I picked up a bucket of water, poured it on him, and rolled him away.

Monty got up and looked him over.

"The poison's gone. Good. Dread, can you tend to his burns? I still need to recover."

"Sure thing."

I got a flask of Midael's unguent and started applying to his burns. Midael's unguent is a rather useful thing, when dealing with burns, though it has a drawback: your subject usually wakes up in need of some alcohol, and more often than not, a few pints of strong beer...

That meant sending the 2 back to the pub, which we managed. I asked some forest help to get them closely guarded, and we waited back for our two adventuring scouts...
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I wish I had more time to adventure...

[This message has been edited by VampiricDread (edited 01 July 2001).]

[Downunder Tom]

After the clanking sound of armor dissapears in the distance, Downunder Tom says its safe to continue now, we don't need to worry about the guards we ere after who is in charge.



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With a little help from my friends , we can make Runesword the best RPG ever.

[Drago]

Drago and the party continue walking. They pass by the kitchen of the manor. "I am very hungry" the grounds creature says. Tom and Drago agree with him to get a quick bite to eat. There are several pasties and assorted meats in the kitchen. The food is tantalizing.

[VampiricDread]

"I can use the lantern I gave them to talk to them, monty. But I'm afraid we could put those 2, plus the minion in danger. What do you think?"

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I wish I had more time to adventure...

[monty]

"what do you want to tell them?" Monty said to VampiricDread. "The great news that we now are less than we were?" Monty walked over to the only window of the hut. "Don't get them down. Let them have their fun and find out when they get back." "You know what, we might want to join them. Look outside, Dread. The clouds are moving in..."

[Downunder Tom]

Tom looks around and notices some small cooking devices that have been created by the new owners, he goes to pick them up, but he is told to leave them as they don't want them finding missing items and knowing that some has entered the manor until there ready too. They do pickup a little extra food for later as there is enough to feed a army in this kitchen and it won't be missed.

In a big pot on the stove there is some kind of thick soup or stew that smells awlfull, Draco finds some powder that he is carrying and pours it into the mix and stirs it in, he says that will take care of them.They will either be too sick or too sleepy to worry about us. It won't reaaly hurt them, will Last long enough for us to to what we have to and they won't be able to work out what was the cause and there is no cure that they have.


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With a little help from my friends , we can make Runesword the best RPG ever.

[Drago]

The group leaves the kitchen and continues exploring the manor. They come upon two massive golden doors. The doors are decorated with diamonds, rubies, and emeralds. There are two platinum colored letters on the left door. They are C.D.

[Downunder Tom]

Tom checkes the door for traps, then he listens but can hear nothing due to them being so thick. He asks the others shall we knock or just barge right in...

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With a little help from my friends , we can make Runesword the best RPG ever.

[Drago]

"Barge right in" Drago says.

------------------
"My soul to nothingness: but I will strive against all doubtings, and will keep alive..." ~ John Keats's Sleep and Poetry

[Downunder Tom]

Finding the door open they slowly enter, to find that this is a small entry type room where people wait to be anounced before entering the main meeting room. It is sparsly furnished with an old painting, which we are told was the original owner, there's a small table and a couple of chairs as well.



------------------
With a little help from my friends , we can make Runesword the best RPG ever.

[VampiricDread]

"What if we try to follow their tracks, monty?", I said. "The quest is significant, and I'm sure some of the Vampire Lords are behind it. Our friends are secured at the Inn, and I've placed surve..."

"aha! So you admit to having your own spies!" monty snapped.

"No, not spies. You must understand that Elves commune with Nature, and I was grown by them. Mind you, this is not an issue I like to talk about lightly, so assume I have friends in the Nature around us who may provide assistance."

I saw that monty was not convinced, but there was nothing I could do.

"Well? What's your decision?" I finally said, cutting the silence.

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I wish I had more time to adventure...

[Downunder Tom]

We decied to get ready for the big battle, checking our weapons but keeping a good look out for guards the might be coming to report to there master, Tom decied to get a breath of fresh air and spoted some movement out side from where we started and says "it lloks like out friends have healed the other and are comming to help, we better wait for them."

SideNote :

Is everyone to busy testing runesword to contine this story?, it hadn't been touched for 5 days and I did'nt want it to llok like I'm taking over!

Tom


------------------
With a little help from my friends , we can make Runesword the best RPG ever.

[monty]

side note: sorry Tom. I am a little busy. Give me a couple of days. leaving for germnay on monday and am getting ready for that.
I was thinking it would be cool to have a run and fight all the way to the cloud gate! Jumping aboard at the Last minute. hat do you think?

[Downunder Tom]

To Heven or to Hell this is the question, My thought that therse new owners are so evil I was going down not up.....

If I open the doors to the main room it was going to be filled will all sort of horrr with a big opening in the floor with this depp red glow coming from below......

Well that was my thought.

Tom


------------------
With a little help from my friends , we can make Runesword the best RPG ever.

[monty]

Side-note continued:
that's some good thinking, but I was thinking that we weren't really interested in getting rid of the new owners, more concerned with the bigger quest for the gems. Thought it would be better to keep on that trail by going through the gate than getting tied up here.

[Downunder Tom]

Thats OK , maybe if you like my direction...

The Devil has stolen the gems to take ove the worked not being happy to the just rge Never Regions but wants it all.... we could when se enter the room hasve the choice of both direction and we can explore one then other?. who says it is where it first was taken anymore the trail could go for as long as we want.

Tom


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With a little help from my friends , we can make Runesword the best RPG ever.

[Drago]

The adventurers enter the room. They are immediately detained by an eletrical field. "Ahhhh" screams Tom. "Who is doing this to us," Drago says. The guards encircle the explorers. One of the guards replies, "the Count is the one who is restraining you filthy rogues." What will become of our brave travelers? It seems they need help.

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"My soul to nothingness: but I will strive against all doubtings, and will keep alive..." ~ John Keats's Sleep and Poetry

[Trekkie]

BRING BACK BUFFY.

OR AT LEAST A BUFFY-LIKE CHARACTER

OR SOMEONE JUST LIKE ME WHO KILLS VAMPIRES.

Plz!

[VampiricDread]

Seeing that monty is catatonic, I leave him to the care of the Inn, and move swiftly to the forest. After some time, with the help of friends of the wood, I find the spot where the secret door is (thanks the Gods there are scents!), and I move forward.

I'm worried the advance party may have been ambushed or trapped, but I dare not use the lantern yet.

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I wish I had more time to adventure...

[VampiricDread]

In need of nothing better to do, I fast forward my friends, and get to them in time. An electrical field, and some minions, though too many for me to tackle.

They carry their limp bodies, without any care as to removing their weapons, so I follow them. As the Last stopped to take a pee, I knocked him out, but he clanged, as he falled.

"Hey, Gurk! What's up?", a voice said from ahead.
"I've pissed, okay?" I replied. There was some laughter ahead, and I kept following the party, until they got out of the corridor and entered a room.

One of them said "Where's Gurk?"

"Gurk, you stupid slob, get here now!"

Since they got silence as an answer, one of them said at Last:

"Turk, go check on your brother."

"Yes, boss."

As the man passed by me, I gave him the same treatment, and let him clang to the floor.

"What was that?" the bosses'voice exclaimed. "Turk! Gurk!"

I carefully dragged the body to a turn in the tunnel, and waited. A few of the guards passed by, and I moved on. Two of the remainder guards were dead, before the other 3 understood what was going on. I used an Elven light bulb to blind them and dispatched them to their destiny.

I moved to my friends and tried to shake them up awake...

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I wish I had more time to adventure...

[This message has been edited by VampiricDread (edited 12 August 2001).]

[Drago]

The help they need finally arrives.

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"My soul to nothingness: but I will strive against all doubtings, and will keep alive..." ~ John Keats's Sleep and Poetry

I looked at this thread once, there was something about a guy being held to a fire while poison dripped off or some such....

Something else about someone really not wanting to see what the other looked like with cloak off...

Lonnie Courtney Clay

Quests for gems ? I am reminded of a trick which I used in "Hack". If you ever played that game, then you know about trap doors. What I would do is (to avoid starving to death) fall throgh a trap door to the next level. If I found a monster to slay, then I would eat it and return upstairs. Then I would exit to DOS and delete the level I just visited, having carried everything useful upstairs. I repeated this until I had a maximum hit points etc. character. I also exploited the bounds 256 characteristic. For example scrolls weighed three units. So if you carried 84 the net weight was only 2. The same went for everything else. Somewhere I still have a ghost level saved which has a full stack of every type of object, which can be carried easily. The minotaur was a pushover....
The same thing goes for the Balrog in Moria.

Lonnie Courtney Clay

Okay, I found what it was that I read before - 01 July 23:15 Was that how I got pulled into this mess here ?

Lonnie Courtney Clay

[Downunder Tom]

Tom only being stunned by the shock while there talking and being distracted by the noises in the corridor Tom ties the bosses feet together. and then lies quite like he is still shocked.

The boss calls out again for the guards and hears nothing and decied that he will have to go and get help to carry the bodies and find out what happened to his guards. He tired to take a step and there is a large thump as he crashes to the ground in a heap .... Tom and Draco tie him up to find that he is only one of the small boss and there is still bigger fish to capture.

Tom


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With a little help from my friends , we can make Runesword the best RPG ever.

[This message has been edited by Downunder Tom (edited 12 September 2001).]

[Drago]

"I think we should wait for our friends before we move on" Drago replies.

[VampiricDread]

SPECIAL INTERMISSION

Do gather 'round. The concept was going well, but the story got paralized. Argh's missing, and he was leading the plot.

I propose we re-evaluate the "co-operative" adventure.

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I wish I had more time to adventure...

[Downunder Tom]

Sidenote continued:

The Last message that we would wait for our friends, so I've bben waiting.... It looks like we either ran into a brickwall or a door that can't be opened... I don't know if the beta testing of RSII did it or everyone just lost intrest but we do need a way yo get it moving again

Tom

[Drago]

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Downunder Tom:
Sidenote continued:

The Last message that we would wait for our friends, so I've bben waiting.... It looks like we either ran into a brickwall or a door that can't be opened... I don't know if the beta testing of RSII did it or everyone just lost intrest but we do need a way yo get it moving again

Tom<hr></blockquote>

It was the beta test.

[Argh]

Sorry guys, I didn't know that I had to keep it moving- my thought was that it would kinda self-perpetuate if we could get new folks writing sections, and then I could put it into a silly comic, or something http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif