The Misadventures of the Missed Adventurers

[narf poit chez BOOM]

ooc:[well, i forgot about this for today and am doing this kinda late at night. um, if it looks stupid, tell me. Jack is the obvious choice to do something.]

A large green hemisphere appears around the explosion, directing the bLast outward. unfortunatly, it also directs a large section of wall outward. a large number of top stones fly off the wall and begin rolling down the hill.

The remaining bandits decide this battle is not going the way they where told it would and that it is time to leave.

Unfortunatly, the furiously chanting wizard's in the cave do not know what has happened and transport the twenty soldier's, the best, brightest and most well-equiped. Right into the castle's great hall, where they immiediatly head upward to deal with the Last reported major resistance.

ooc:[one Last fight.]

[Jack Simth]

Jack surveys the battlefield.
Most the ground is covered in thick mud, and blood stains the ground a dark red where the dead and dying are strewn. A muddy trunk floats on a thick patch of mud at the bottom of the hill, stained slightly red with the blood of those it crushed. An empty helmet is stuck on the stub of a broken branch. All is quiet, save for a few shouts in the distance of fleeing bandits.

Jack "It looks as though we've won. The place is a mess, but that's expected."

Jack tilts his head to one side for a moment, apparently listening to something nobody can hear.

Jack "John, were you expecting any guests to pop in about now?"

John "No, why?"

Jack "Well, I just caught the faint echo of an inbound teleport. Someone popped into the main hall a few moments ago - quite a few people, judging from the mass in the teleport."

D "About how many people, would you say?"

Jack "Oh, thirty or forty, depending on how much they are carrying."

D "And if they were wearing chain or plate?"

Jack "Then it would be about twenty. But we've won - what good would reinforcements do now?"

[ October 15, 2003, 21:02: Message edited by: Jack Simth ]

[Krsqk]

Arthur, who has ruefully been surveying the damage to the baron's residence, quickly checks for signs of life from the great hall.

Arthur "Not sure what you caught, Jack, but that's a negative from my readings. I can't find anything down there." He goes back to his damage assessment. "I know one thing for sure, though--I don't want to be here if the baron returns to this mess. We have some major renovations to do here, not to mention fixing the little problem you dumped in John's workroom." At this, John glares in Jack's direction, while Jack completely misses the act.

Jack "I know what I'm saying. There was a teleport, and there are people in the hall."

Arthur "There can't be. If they were there, I'd know. I'm not getting any return from there or anywhere near there. It's not like there are two dozen armed bandits marching up here to get us. Do you need me to go and check for you?"

Arthur walks over to the door and yanks it open to reveal the first of the bandits, who was reaching for the handle himself. The enemy are well-armed and well-armored, each equipped with full plate armor, solid-looking bucklers, and a mix of halberds and one- and two-handed swords. They appear to be operating under some form of speed and strength enhancement, judging by the ease with which they carry their equipment. Arthur is greatly surprised, but still manages to get off a fireball and spring back before the bandit can react. The fireball hits the armor and disappears. It appears to have been absorbed by the armor. Two similar spells quickly dispatched by John meet a similar fate. The bandits, twenty in all, pour through the doorway into a staggered double line before advancing on the party.

[ooc: I'm envisioning some sort of amulet which absorbs incoming magical energy and redirects it, possibly using it to heal the wearer or to power some other artifact. I'm also assuming the plate armor is of good enough quality to stop anything sort of a very-short-range hit from a crossbow or a gravity-assisted hit by a longbow, similar to the late era French and English plate armor.]

[ October 16, 2003, 03:56: Message edited by: Krsqk ]

[narf poit chez BOOM]

ooc:[tired...oh well.]

Narp "Jack, enhancement spell! Then get us to a room somewhere in the castle!"

Narp charges towards the bandits. With a couple of seconds, his movement becomes a blur as he shield-rushes the middle bandit. The flour on his sheild hisses as Narp slams into him. Unfortunatly, the bandit's strength and speed is unafected. Fortunatly, Narp is stronger and faster. In the background, as he shoves his sword up underneath the bandits helmet, he can hear Jack.

"The spell on the bandits appears to attract and absorb any spells not in enchanted items. If there enhancement is alchemical, it would allow them to make more powerfull amulets than usual, since no discriminatory routines need to be added."

Arther, Narp and John "Just teleport us!"

Narp whirles and blocks a strike from the right with his sword, blocks on the left with his shield and kicks at the one in front of him, knocking the bandit back. And keeps backing up so they don't suround him.

ooc:[Better enhancements, better training. But still outnumbered.]

[ October 17, 2003, 04:44: Message edited by: narf poit chez BOOM ]

[Jack Simth]

Jack "Right."

Jack blinks, and the party finds itself in an inner courtyard, hidden from view of the tower by an intervening building.

Jack "We need a small army of our own, don't we?"

Jack begins forming golems, their bodies sized and shaped like Narp's, and teleporting swords and shields in from the fallen on the battlefield to equip them with.

Jack "Now, I don't know any swordsmanship, and can't program them with it. However, if you could show them the basics, Narp, they can memorize the motions instantly. Their skills will never be a match for even briefly trained troops - they can only repeat motions and adjust aim; they can't improvise - but their durability, tirelessness, and strength should make up for much of it."

Jack pauses for a moment.

Jack "Let's see... is there anything else I should be doing with these?"

ooc:[Such as cloaking them with an illusions of our appearence, or having D make them invisible, or having Aurthur/John equip them with fireball spells, or ....]

[ October 18, 2003, 00:26: Message edited by: Jack Simth ]

[Krsqk]

[ooc: You could always just teleport the golems over the bandits and have them "drop in" for a visit *snerk* ]

Arthur "Well, it isn't much good to equip them with offensive spells. Perhaps a regeneration effect? We could add some armor to them. Oh, and the enhancement spell couldn't hurt, either."

John "Judging by what Jack said just before teleport, no spell is going to Last long if it isn't actually embedded in an object. Anything we do will probably dispel on first contact with a bandit. I don't know if a golem actually counts as an object, but we could embed the spells in a rock and incorporate that into a golem."

Narp is already busily swinging his sword. Five golems are attempting to imitate him. The lack of originality is amusing, but the strength behind the blows is staggering. Once they pass muster, D casts invisibility and silence on them.

Arthur "The only other thing I can think of would be some communication, but they seem almost too simple for that. I guess quantity will have to make up for quality this time." Not finding anything immediately requiring his services, Arthur sits on a large rock and begins patching up a portion of the wall which he can see from his seat.

John "When you're done, Jack, you could probably send a few illusions of ourselves around to the other side of the tower. Come to think of it, you could just tack the illusions to golems. Give one a real bow, and he may even get lucky and pick off a bandit or two. At least it will divert attention from where we are." John inhales the vanguard of a visiting swarm of gnats, causing him to cough quietly.

[ October 18, 2003, 05:03: Message edited by: Krsqk ]

[narf poit chez BOOM]

OOC:[posting.]

Narp "OK, i got a plan. If one of you can increase the amount of sunlight up on top of the tower. Like a magnifying glass? Make them sweat alot?"

D "Illusion magic deals with light. I can cast such a spell. The heat won't kill them, but in about a half an hour, they will start looking for a drink. You have come up with a way to keep them on the tower?"

Narp "Yeah. Arther, you close and bar the door on the inside and then, Jack, you teleport all the golems to the inside. give them instructions to push against the door until they can fight somone. Maybe add a few every time we get low on golems. In the meantime, maybe we could finish fixing the castle. Not to mention healing the defenders. I should have read that book on architecture." His gaze wander's for a minute.

Which is less than it takes for Arther to close the door, lift the bar onto the brackets to lock it, Jack to modify the instructions on the golems a little then teleport the golems into the room and D to cast a magical magnifying glass over the tower.

OOC:[um, need practice.]

[ October 21, 2003, 07:06: Message edited by: narf poit chez BOOM ]