Re: Mittens' Memoirs
Seventh encounter. (10/7/08)
We rested in the bar, the three men drinking their ale like it was going out of style. ZAP! The lightning struck again! Titanus and the Wizard vaporized, and no-one replaced them! We were down to four people. We then searched the place and found a large sum of money and two very interesting items in one of the rooms. One was a ring that allowed everyone to share their experience and the other was a box that grants wishes for magic items in exchange for gold (or vice-versa).
We used the box to gear up then stepped out. The final building had yet to be cleared. We decided to chance it. The paladin opened the door. Inside was a desk and several rows of storage shelves behind it. The team filed in and engaged in battle. Two zombies attacked from the right and left. Then two rancid black balls of slime hit the paladin and Shootem, apparently fired at them from behind the shelves. I attacked the nearest Zombie and Angel yanked Shootem out of range of the zombie that was in his face.
"Aww HELL!" the paladin groaned as he tried to pull the sticky tar from off his armor, "This stuff saps strength! I'm not going to be much use to the team like this!"
Him and Shootem both, and soon me and Angel if drastic measures wern't taken right away. I decided to risk running past the nearby zombie. It caught me with a punch as I hurdled over the desk, but I made it to the back of the room and attacked the nasty little thing that was tossing that muck. There were two of them, corruption corpses, but I couldn't reach the second.
Angel and Shootem focused on their zombie while the paladin dueled the zombie that had attacked me. I managed to take out the corruption corpse in front of me about the time Angel and Shootem finished off their foe. Then I had to choose between helping take out the second corruption corpse or helping the paladin with his fight. I chose to let him fight alone, it was starting to look personal between him and his zombie.
"I am DONE with you!" he shouted. There followed a loud bone-snapping, wood-splintering, gut-bursting kind of sound. Sort of like snap, crackle, pop!
After the rest of us finished off the last of the corruption corpses, I walked back to the front of the building to inspect his handiwork. Two arms and legs were sticking out of a paste-smeared dent in the wall.
"Looks like you made it a permanent part of the wall," I mused, "Interesting interior decorating style."
We stepped outside to take our rest and ZAP! The wizard re-appeared. Also, Shootem was replaced with a dwarf cleric, and Angel was replaced with a human child. This was starting to become a commonplace occurrence. The ring did the work of explaining what had happened so far. After we discovered the boy had no idea how he got here, but was already an accomplished wizard, the five of us noticed a white cloth waving in the doorway of the building. A halfling cautiously stepped out.
"Friends," he said, "I'm not a zombie! Please don't hurt me!"
The halfling bowed low. “I’m Muya, messenger of the mighty Tavege. You have done him a great service in cleansing this village! If you’ll allow me, I’ll go tell of your deeds and I’m sure you’ll receive a fitting reward. His fort is but half a day’s journey from here taking the east road.”
"OK," said the paladin, "So why are you still here?"
"I was frightened by the zombies so I hid!"
"Not that. Why are you still here?"
"OH! Right! Off I go then!"
Off he ran. We weren't about to walk all night so we spent the night in the tavern. The magic box came in handy the next morning when we discovered it could be used to wish for a delicious breakfast. We traveled the east road without anyone talking about their past. Nice when a understanding of mutual privacy is reached without any awkward conversations preceding it.
Narration:
Fort Tavage stands on top of a large hill and is surrounded by a 20’ tall wall made of sharpened tree trunks, giving it the appearance of an orcish stronghold. It’s massive doors are open revealing a bustle of activity inside.
A huge bald man, standing 7’ tall and built like a mountain greets you. “I’m Panap, the general of Tavege’s army,” he says with a smirk, “Welcome to our humble home. I’ve heard of your exploits in Parn village. You have my thanks for purging that place. We, the Yansay don’t take kindly to zombies or their masters, but we do take very kindly to those who obliterate them. Come! Our little village has much to offer powerful fighters such as yourself.”
He leads you inside the fort. Most of the buildings are built into the walls: stables, barracks, storage, etc., In the center, a large open pit with 10’ vertical walls has been dug. Most everyone here is geared in leather armor, but some have chain or scale mail. All look upon the newcomers with eagerness, like celebrities have entered town.
“That’s the colosseum!” Panap announces, grinning proudly with a gesture to the pit, “It serves for training our soldiers, and also for providing entertainment. Many a glorious death match has been fought there. Seats for our guests! Food and drink!”
Wooden chairs are brought out and set at the edge. Panap motions for the guests to sit. A large keg is rolled out and opened. Mugs are filled with stiff ale and given to the guests. Bread, meat, and soups are served.
“Bring in the entertainment!”
A captured goblin is shoved into the pit and tossed a spear. Then a drake is herded into the pit. The two begin a fight to the death!
"My money's on the drake," said the dwarf. Me and the paladin both agreed.
As the fight progresses, a man sitting on a chair carried on the shoulders of two soldiers is brought to the guests.
“Master Tavage!” Panap says with a salute to the one sitting on the chair.
Tavage steps off the chair. He’s well built, but surprisingly short. Probably no more than 5’6” tall. Also, he wears what looks like basic leather armor.
“Entertained?” he asks. (Waits for reply)
“Then perhaps you’d be interested in a contest for a valuable prize.”
"Yep, interested," answered the paladin.
"We often challenge one another to fights in the pit, and I invite you to do the same. You can challenge anyone you choose here. Challenge an ally from your team, challenge some of our goblin prisoners, even challenge me if you like. Obviously anyone's free to refuse, but they'll be known to be a coward."
"I challenge the paladin!" said the dwarf, jumping to his feet.
Tavage looked pleased with his enthusiasm.
"You're on," said the paladin, "I ain't no coward."
"Nevertheless," Tavage continued with an air of disappointment with the rest of us, "You needn't fear death in these matches. I have medics on standby to heal anyone who falls in battle."
"I'd like to try my hand at goblin bowling," the wizard said.
"I'm with him," me and the human boy agreed.
"Very well," Tavage answered.
He explained the rules of our matches. There were some large sums of money to be earned by the winners. The pit was divided in half with a make-shift fence to separate the two matches. Me and the two wizards fought three goblins. In the time it took us to defeat them, the paladin and the cleric fought two matches and started harassing us with "aren't you done yet?" questions and "we're calling you out!" challenges "Us two verses you three!"
The goblins put up a good fight, but eventually we defeated them and accepted our allies' challenge. We started at opposite sides of the pit. Our opponents said some prayers for strength and the two wizards stepped forward and hurled magic missiles at them. Seconds later they were back to full strength thanks to the cleric.
Hit 'em fast, hit 'em hard. Only strategy that'd work. I charged straight at them. The paladin got the drop on me, issued a divine challenge, and smashed me with his hammer. I was locked in mortal combat. It was a test of our might. Which would dish out more punishment faster? I called upon all the fires within, and with a little help from my new magical veteran's armor, unleashed a devastating double burning blade attack! Down went the paladin, and the medics rushed him off the battlefield.
"It's in the bag now!" I thought to myself, "Three vs. one!"
With a feral howl, the dwarf was upon me. His mace introduced itself to my face and fires like nothing I've ever felt before engulfed me from head to toe. Next thing I knew I was on the sidelines with the paladin while being pieced back together by Tavage's medics. Talk about taste of my own medicine!
"You're lucky that attack connected," the paladin told me, "My next attack would have been the end of you."
"I don't doubt it!" I answered, "That's why I threw everything I had at you."
The crowd of soldiers was cheering wildly, and as soon as I was well enough I joined in the cheers! One vs two! The wizard summoned it's dread fireball, but the dwarf evaded it's first attack. Much to my surprise, instead of retaliate, the dwarf went straight for the kid! The strategy worked. The boy was soon carried off the battlefield by the medics and cured.
One on one now! Could he pull it off?! By then he was head-to-toe charred and bloody, but he chased the wizard around the arena, closing the distance between them with surprising speed.
"You couldn't hit the ground if you aimed down!" the paladin taunted the wizard.
"Must be something wrong with my flint," the wizard shouted back, "Can't seem to light any fires!"
There was some truth in what they said. Attack after attack was evaded by the nimble dwarf. But at last, a magic missile to the face ended his rampage. What a match!
Tavage commended us for fighting so fiercely, and awarded the winners large sums of gold. The cleric was given the largest sum, 400 gold, which he shared with the paladin. We were invited to return to the sidelines to wager on the combat we'd inspired in Tavage's men.
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:02, Wed 08 Oct 2008.