This is a one shot adventure "The Devil Box"

You have traveled for several days, heading towards the infamous festival the people of Muffin's Honor call The Shackling. As you crest a small rise, you note a small farm just below you. A sign before you reads:

"Only chance for a decent bite until Muffin's Honor"

The smell of fresh baked bread wafts out of a small cottage at the edge of the property. As you pass the sign, the opposite faces reads:

"Last chance for a decent bite for three days"

You nod your head in agreement, having just come from that direction. Your stomach nods in unison with a slight growl. As you enter the establishment, a motherly human woman welcomes you to Rusty's Inn and Pub.

"Darling, you look parched, have a seat, and what can I get for you?"
This message was last edited by the GM at 06:15, Thu 17 Apr 2008.

A furtive shape scuttled along behind the paddock fence, keeping to the shadows, barely making a noise above a whisper. He was entering human lands now, and had to be extra careful.

Carefully he peeked through the gap in the fence. No-one about. Good, good, still good.

But when he turned back, he got the fright of his life and as a huge and terrible monster loomed over him. Quickly he threw himself through the gap in the fence, and peeked back from the safety of the other side. "Shoo now away you will, Mr Cow." he hissed, then took off along the ditch before the great beast could moo and give away his position.

With stealthiness and caution, he approached the sign and tried to read it. He'd picked up some of the surface world language, during his travels underground and the times recently spent above. "Muffins... bite... Mmm." His stomach began to rumble, reminding him all too sadly of the dried mushroom rations and cold rat in his pack. Muffins were human food, he was sure, and he guessed a good one if they could be said to have 'honour'.

He had an idea.

Dashing closer to the village like a brave and hungry rat, he stayed out of sight of humans and crept beneath windows. No one saw the sneaky gnome, even when he detoured through an open window and out the back door, right under human noses.

Then finally he was right outside the door of the "'Rusty Inn And Pub?'" Could buildings get rusty? He didn't know; the surface-world was so strange.

Taking a moment to catch his breath, he weaved a little magic and placed a glamer about himself. Now there a stood a human man - short, dark, dressed in drab grey traveller's clothes and bland of face. It was as utterly forgettable as a human could be.

His disguise done, he stepped inside.



He almost jumped as the human woman spoke to him, but he quickly recovered his composure. "Muffins. Food. Uh, food and muffins I would like, yes please." Ha! A perfect disguise.


OOC: Disguise Self SLA, 20 minutes
This message was last edited by the player at 07:47, Wed 07 May 2008.

Caitlin was limping a little but she tried to hide it from Loorn who could get so over protective if he thought his lover was hurt. "It's just a small stone." she thought, knowing fully well that the musclebound barbarian would carry her to hell and back if she showed it to him. She looked up at him and tossed a strand of her black hair out of her face, her emarald green eyes lingered on his massive form for a moment then gave him a warm smile. Loorn was an exceptional person. Not just in his physique but also in the way how he had put his trust and confidence into Caitlin. He was the first one who truly loved her, despite of her looks and other shortcomings. He was the only human worthy of her trust, the only one in the world that she would trust... ever.

The pretty Illuskan lass saw the sign and looked at her lover again, gently she poked his 6-pack tummy with a slender finger, fully expecting to hear his stomach giving off a hungry grumble. "We should get something to eat, don't you agree?" she smiled again and pressed her taut body, which was clad in black studded leather armor, into the man at her side.

Loorn had seen her limp for quite some time and was wondering when Caitlin was to give it up and actually say something, Loorn might be a bit slow but he wasn’t blind. Why wouldn’t she ask for help, ask to slow down… anything. But she kept going, pressing on despite everything. He would have done anything she had asked for, he had in the past and would in the future as well… He hoped it hadn’t anything to do with their last fight in which she had sworn she hadn’t been hit. Not that she had allowed him to see for himself.

“You just want to see me naked…” She had retorted and killed the request then and there… Caitlin could really be wilful and he let her, sometimes he even wondered if he could steer her will if he actually tried… probably not, if anyone was steering someone it was she guiding him.

Caitlin saw the sign first and pocked Loorn in the stomach suggesting them to take a bit. He smiled down at her and felt that he actually was hungry. Looking at the sign he again wished that he had learned the ability to read.

“Yeah, that would be wise I guess… I would prefer a real meal than an additional day of day rations.” Feeling her body against his Loorn placed his arms around her and lifted her off the ground and gave her a kiss, his shining chain shirt gleamed in the sun and the head of his large great axe stood up just behind his head. It was a quick kiss and he let her down again giving her a wink.

“Come lets see what they have on the menu. My turn to pick…” Turning and with his arm still around his woman he marched in through the door.

Rusty's Inn and Pub is just slightly more than a very large farm home. Rusty and his wife Darla operate the farm with the help of some farmhands and run the Inn and Pub to supplement their income.

Darla looks up from Schnicklegulp's table as Loorn and Caitlin enter, "be with you in just a moment, have a seat anywhere, "looks at Schnicklegulp "Muffin's eh? I'll see what we have in the kitchen, how about some vegetable stew?"

Darla walks over to where Loorn and Catilin sit "and what can I get for you two?"

Ooh, vegetables. Maybe even fresh. He was in luck. "Vegetable stew I will have, yes please." the bland looking ersatz human nodded eagerly. "Mushrooms I will have none." Blegh, he'd eaten enough of those lately, eating deeply into the last of his supplies since he'd arrived.

Now his eyes lit up as a thought occurred. "Meat you do have? Not rat? Meat I shall have with my stew then." Vegetables and meat and muffins; he'd decided to eat fancy tonight.

Once he'd ordered, he found himself a table, for one, in a darkly-lit corner close to the exits, and sat with his back to the wall, spying suspiciously on everyone else. A svirfneblin couldn't be too careful.

Schnickle only hoped his disguising spell and handful of loose change would last the meal.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:15, Sat 10 May 2008.

Not even throwing an eye of Schnicklegulp (it wasn't even certain Loorn had noticed him so far) Loorn shot Darla a very friendly smile.

"We would like a room and something to eat, something roasted for me if you have and for now a large pitcher of water." His arm laid protective over the shoulders of Caitlin.

"Yes, and I would like some of that vegetable stew you mentioned, it sounds lovely." Caitlin said with a sweet smile, that died the second Darla turned her back on the couple. Immediately the eyes of the lass darted this way and that, looking for exits and places to hide or defend best. She would never know when the shadows came alive.

Her arm snaked around Loorn's waist reflexively, Caitlin hadn't counted the days or months they had walked together but despite the trouble they had gone through, it was the best time she had, ever. The realization made her thankful and for the fraction of a second she felt humble and blessed. But the feeling passed quickly and her mind was back to her usual paranoia. A paranoia that had saved their lives repeatedly.

Darla responds to the bland human "Sure hun, I'll try and avoid mushrooms for your bowl... Stew, muffins, and some meat, I'm fairly sure we have some roasted turkey. I'll be back in a moment."

Turning to the lovely couple, "I'll bring out some roast turkey and vegetable stew for you two. I'll have Mella tidy up a room for you two. It's such a delight to have so many customers this eve." With that, she turns to the kitchen and as the curtain slips to the side, you detect the delicious aromas wafting out of the kitchen.

She returns several minutes later with a large, to Schnikle, bowl of vegetable stew, with a lone mushroom in it, a large muffin dotted with dried berries, and a side plate of roasted turkey, which is plump and juicy.

For the lovely couple, nearly a half turkey for the large man, an appetizing leg, prominently sticking out, a bowl of delectable vegetable stew for the lady, and a pitcher of water for the table.

You all hear some footsteps approaching the door, and it opens, in steps a man, still cloaked in shadows from the rapidly dropping sun.

Darla says "Welcome to Rusty's, hungry dear? These fine folk were just settling in with some vegetable stew and turkey, everything raised and grown here on the farm, fresh as can be!"

[Private to Quinlan Fairfellow: Quinlan, this is your opening.]

Quinlan bows low in answer to the woman's welcome: Mylady, you must be a mindreader! Please bring me a plate and a bottle of your best local wine!

Still keeping his hood on, Quinlan scans the room for a good place to sit and find one in the back against the wall. He approaches the table and asks the man sitting there: Please sir, may I take a seat? (To Schnicklegulp)
This message was last edited by the player at 07:01, Mon 12 May 2008.

Loorn wasn’t as paranoid as Caitlin if that was because he trusted that people around him wasn’t to want to harm them or if it was because he trusted on Caitlin’s suspicious behavior to detect anything out of the ordinary he never really thought of. He thanked Darla, picked out a nice table not standing in the middle of the room and headed over to it. To honor that they actually was indoors he took the liberty to act as the gentleman he wasn’t and pulled out the chair for his loved one before he dumped his equipment and weapons in a pile beside his own chair leaving the battle axe hanging in the noose around his waist. The longbow and great axe he placed so he easily could get hold of them if needed.

“It crowds up…” He commented as the newcomer walked in through the door.

Schnickle regarded the man like a hawk. He would have refused, out of a svirf's natural inclination to avoid strangers, but he remembered that he was a human now, and had to act like one. However that was. Presumably that meant being polite and sociable. "Sit, you may." he muttered.

Not paying much attention to him after that, he stabbed the lone and offending mushroom with his fork. He sighed, and quickly gobbled it up to have done with it. Then he ate into the rest of his stew and turkey with gusto, relishing the hot warm food that tumbled into his belly after so long.

Darla brings another bowl of vegetable stew out from the kitchen and another plate of roast turkey for Quinlan.

"Are you two friends?" she asks of Quinlan and Schnickle, seeing as they are sitting together.


"Are you all headed to Muffin's Honor for The Shackling? Tis such a wonderful event, and the animal antiquarian is in town with his collection of beasties too!"


It's a mere 4sp per person to spend the night, dinner and breakfast tomorrow included. For those who wish to spend less, they can take a 1sp discount if they elect to do chores, either in the kitchen, this evening, or in the fields in the morning after breakfast.

I'm Quinlan Fairfellow, and I came for the shackling... guess I will need a good disguise? Quinlan adds jokingly as he pulls back his hood, revealing his dark skin and white hair. Those sitting close to him will note that while his Drow heritage is unquestionable, his physical traits are also definitely human, especially his hazel eyes.
Quinlan wears a dark green leather tunic with silver embroideries over a dark silk shirt (shimmering in purple). His tight-fitting dark pants are tucked into a pair of yellow soft leather boots.
A long bow, of the kind favoured by the Dales militia, is slung across his shoulder and he carries a rapier at his side. You assume he carries more weapons under the travellers cloak he wears.

Finding his money-pouch, Schnickle emptied it on the table with a clatter. A small,  sad and lonely pile of coins appeared, a motley collection of coinage: some marked with spiders and cackling drow queens, others with severe dwarven kings and shields, a number of grubby surface world coppers and silvers picked up off the road, and even a few green brain-marked illithid exchange tokens.

He pondered the problem of what to do with them. There was enough to pay for meals and room today, but was there enough left for the next time? He could save some money and carry out some chores for these big-folk, he'd done worse to survive, but his spell of disguise could not last long enough. He'd have to reveal himself, but would it be safe for a little svirfneblin?

Of course, there was always the option of a sneaky escape...



Friends? By the deep, these humans were presumptuous! They'd only just met, and it could take a svirfneblin a decade of acquaintance to reach only the 'pal' stage. Schnickle shook his head vigorously. "Not at all, no." then went back to his meal.

His magically-concealed pointy ears pricked up as he listened. It must have been some human ritual, this Shackling. Perhaps they tied themselves up with chains. And there was an 'animal antiquarian', which sound most unusual. A scholar of antique animals?

***

He almost leapt out of his chair in surprise as the drow revealed himself. Drow! They were all doomed! Flee! It was only the cower-and-hide-and-look-really-small reaction that stopped him, for he shrunk into his corner in surprise.

Then he caught himself, as wits overtook instincts. Drow, but not quite. Bigger, chunkier. He'd known another drow-blood like that, Illianka, and she had been kind to him. He could almost call her friend.

So anxiously, he watched and waited to see whether the drow would launch on a killing spree or behave more like Illianka would.
This message was last edited by the player at 07:07, Tue 13 May 2008.

Quinlan barely noticed the human's sudden reaction as he revealed himself, it was something he had grown accustomed to over the years. At least he doesn't immediately bring out a weapon... he thinks to himself.
Grinning widely at the lady and the laden plate placed before him he digs into his food, satisfying his immediate hunger before adressing the man next to him:

Would you like to share this wine with me? It's more than half-decent!