A Tunnels and Trolls® play-by-post adventure run by khara_khang
"Sure Taran, I'd be glad to be your short shado..." Before I can finish, Taran is gone, heading down the alley. Looking back across the street I see his brother Jax.
Following the gremlin's path you turn the corner in the alley and see the gremlin pointing into a darkened archway. "Yee go in there, me go far away, you bad orc!" Clicking his heels together the gremlin races away even before attempting to earn a coin from you. Entering the darkened archway your HotVision™ kicks in. Seated behind a table in fortune telling garb you see an old woman. As you approach her you step in something slick. "The foul one is here, Dracon brother," croaks the old woman, her head tilting forward suddenly stopping flat against the table top.
Bending down you recognize the dark liquid as warm blood, still oozing from the old woman.
Twisting away you jump back as a spear embeds itself into the wall were you were crouched (GM: YOU MADE YOUR DEX S.R.) just seconds before. In the darkness of the room you see the shape of a large lizardman. Your HotVision™ does not show detail since he/it is cold-blooded. What do you do next?
Racing across the street and almost getting run over by a wagon in the process, the Hobbit known as Shipy slides up to you (Jax). "Yer frelling brother's gone off down that alley to see a fortune teller. It may be dangerous, come on Jax. I'm supposed to be following him!"
Everyone exits Toad's Supply Store with you, standing nearby.
Taran gasps with a "Frak!" and takes to his feet, stepping out of the pool of blood and unsheathing his Uncle's bastard sword from its scabbard at his side. He readies his buckler, recently liberated from the horde of the late sewer-dwelling Goblin Wizard, in preparation to fend off any future aerial assaults.
"You'll understand if I take offense at that!" he shouts to the lizard man at the opposite end of the room in the common tongue. Wishing his crossbow were at the ready, Taran hesitates to approach his larger foe. But, having the Dracon blood means having a bit of a taunting nature (the worst of which his brother flourishes regularly): "I can't see you well, but I can smell ya!" Whether or not he can, Taran continues his taunt. "You gonna come over here and finish what you started, scale face?"
Before you can finish unsheathing your sword, the much larger Lizardman is upon you like a cat. One of its large clawed hands wraps tightly around your sword-drawing wrist, twisting it while his other free hand reaches into your belt pouch for some unknown reason. Your free hand is under the Lizardman's bottom jaw to keep him from ripping your throat out with his viscously sharp teeth. Locked in mortal combat the two of you spin around and then run backwards and crash through a wall beside the now dead very fortune teller.
Crashing through the wall the two of you break apart, but seconds later you are both on your feet. [GM: WITH THE BEST DEX S.R. YOU, (TARAN) ARE UP FIRST.] You grab the Lizardman from behind and lock you arms around his throat and begin tightening.
You also see you are now in a bedroom. A young girl in a nearby bed screams for her father. The Lizardman reaches for the girl with his outstretched clawed hand. Pulling the Lizardman backwards with all of your strength you both crash back through the wall into the room where the battle began. Falling floor you (Taran) lose your deathgrip on the Lizardman's throat. You both roll away from each other. This time your blade leaves its sheath and is ready. The Lizardman backs away, grabs a second spear and prepares to throw it, but pauses. Turning his aim away from you he aims it toward the frightened girl and smiles wickedly. What do you do next?
"No, Tosal Thoth, we should NOT be underway yet, although discussion into the matter will have to wait until we see to Taran." Desuma and Domina enter the alley, alert for any sign of trouble.
Taran feels no love in particular for humans, but it would be a shame for the girl to die in a manner such as this, by a strange night invader. Taran lunges and swings his sword high, yelling an ancient Dracon battle cry. No words pass between the opponents and Taran frankly doesn't care at this point in his battle-fury why the lizard man killed the fortune teller, and has tried to kill him. For all he thinks, the lizard man is a thief and a murderer, and nothing more. (By striking high, Taran hopes to give the lizard man's arms a painful end, hurting his foe and hopefully preventing an accurate spear throw at the girl--or him for that matter.)
Jax enters the alley with EverSharp™ blade drawn, along with the rest of the newly-accoutered group and Shipy, who creeps along in Jax's shadow. Even though little light finds its way to the bottom of the sinister alley, Jax's scimitar shines preternaturally, foreboding danger.
The blood of his ancestry immediately boils within him as the hallowed Dracon cry ricochets through the alley. Jax knows immediately that his brother is in trouble (again), and his sinews propel him like a well-aimed bolt toward the fortune-teller's shack.
Crouching like a (blue) frog after its sheltering rock is pried loose by a predator, Shipy shakes his head, or maybe it is a shiver of fear. He watches Jax vanish quickly down the alley, his sword flashing in synch with his measured bounds. "Lerotra'hh have mercy on whoever faces a raging Dracon," he mutters. "And especially two of 'em."
Just so you remember. Its actually morning outside, its just dark in the windowless room and in the narrow alley.
Instead of throwing his spear, the Lizardman suddenly shifts it in his hand and sets it against your charge. You remember a shearing flash of pain and then blackness, and then things change.
Racing down the cluttered dead-end alley ahead of the group you find Taran unconscious and impaled on a sharp board sticking out of the stone wall. You see know one else is around or any exit from the alley except the one you just entered through. Its almost as if Taran charged the wall and impaled himself on purpose. Pulling Taran off the sharp board he crumples into your arms unconscious and near death, blood still pouring from his wound. The rest of the group arrive on the scene.
Still breathing heavy from running. "I, uh I was going to tell you Jax before you ran off, this was not the fortune-teller's alley, it's two alleys over, but you didn't frelling give me the chance. Oow, Taran's hurt bad!"
Jax barely registers the lack of a visible enemy or fortune-teller's shack. A Dracon is dying. "By Arahk's tusks, T, what is your fascination with self-impalement?" Jax cradles his brother's body, and tries to halt the profuse bleeding by applying pressure and soaking up the blood with his magic cloak. Blood upwells from Taran's mouth, and Jax feels the shadow of Death.
Shipy notes the elder Dracon's hands hopelessly shaking with adrenaline and worry. As the others arrive, Jax spits with a fear unsuccessfully masked by rage, "Frak it, people, don't just stand there, use some magick!!"
Shipy notes that Jax first looked at him pleadingly, before barking at the group. It dawns upon him that Jax had relied upon one of his healing potions in the last adventure to save his brother from a similar self-inflicted mortal wound. "Wait---Jax!" The hobbit fumbles in the pouch at his belt. Shortly, he produces a small vial.
Jax's eyes widen with recognition and gratitude. He snatches instinctively at the vial, but Shipy pulls back and stutters, "T-Tar's gonna owe---"
An Orcish frown cuts Shipy off in mid-sentence. Staring the Hobbit into submission, Jax grabs his arm, pries the vial from his fist, and empties its contents into Taran's open chest wound. "I'm good for his debt, Shipy," he states acidly, but his shoulders relax visibly as Taran's wounds heal.
Once conscious and alert Taran is helped to his feet (still bloodied, his mortal wounds now gone), he relates the entire battle with the Lizardman as he remembers it, yet the alley and location he describes are not even here. The possibility of him running down the alley and impaling himself accidentally seems more plausible.
For those of you have never played in my T&T games before, I always add small and sometimes seemingly insignificant clues throughout the entire adventure. As for thinking the adventure has not yet begun, this adventure started the moment you took the job. There is a clear cut beginning and end, but there is also a lot of room in between. Just being in a swamp somewhere doesn't mean you will be any closer to solving it. This is just a small piece of information so you can better understand me as a GM.
"Yes, Shipy," Desuma says, "Jax is good for his brother's debt. Are you good for yours?"
Please forgive the length of Desuma's next statement. There are several things I think we should do before we leave Khazan, and it is easier to say it all at once, rather than stretch it out over the course of several posts/days. Everyone, please feel free to interject/edit here wherever you feel is appropriate.
"There is much we should do before we embark from Khazan. First, we should go to this fortune teller that Shipy mentions. Grimsteel the gremlin was apparently in on Taran's attack---we need to track him down to find out what he knows.
"Second, I don't know about the rest of you, but I have no idea where we should go. Do we go to one of the cities that the lizard men are besieging, one of the cities where they have been sighted, or do we just wander around Red Water Swamp looking for trouble? If we ask around at the Mercenaries' Guild we might get enough information to make an informed decision.
"Third, Ralathor's message seems to indicate that he doesn't mean Khazan any harm, at least for the moment, and that he wishes to reclaim what once belonged to his people. Indeed, many of the places the lizard men have been spotted at are much further away than Khazan. If we research their history we might get an idea of how far they intend to expand, so I think a trip to the Khazan Library is in order.
"Fourth, depending on where we decide to go, it may be quicker to ride, so perhaps Cobalt could provide us with some horses.
"Finally, we need to check Cobalt's story out at the City Building Of Magical Urban Development. If it is OK, then perhaps he and/or Grutoss might be interested to learn that we have already been attacked. Is there a spy in their midsts?
"Does anyone else have any ideas?
"Shipy, we need to speak about your debt to me."
While the others ponder Desuma's questions, Taran whispers to Jax, "Thanks, brother, for the rescue, as it were. I swear, I was there, I was in a struggle!" Taran checks his wrist where the lizard man had grabbed it during their struggle. Certainly the pain in his chest and bloody mess are real. He wanders around the alley, looking for any sign that might corroborate his memory. No broken walls, fortune teller blood, spears, frightened girls.... Then he remembers the lizard man had thrust his hand into his belt pouch. He examines the pouch to see if there is anything amiss about it, or in it.
"Desuma, I will go investigate Cobalt's story, as I had the initial suspicions and seem to have suffered the initial attack, whether or not it was all in my mind. If we split the tasks among the gaggle of us, we can proceed faster."
"Thanks for the shadow, Hobbit. I am glad you went back for my brother. That is something you can always count on: Dracon loyalty. Never forget it, as I will never forget each time we have faced death together." He points to the two prominent scars on his chest, from the mortal crossbow wound he suffered in Shipy's presence at the sewer-temple of the Goblins, to his near-killing blow at the hands of an evil 2x4.
Sorry for my absence. Anyway, I'll just pick it up from here. As for additional equipment, it's all the same as in my character bio: long bow, arrows, rapier, opera cape, plus from the adventure supply shop: a small mirror and a bunch of stage make up and sticky gum for disguises!
Looking up at Desuma I shake my Hobbit head "NO" showing only slight fear. "I'm not a spy either! So maybe I told Grimsteel the gremlin, Jack the bartender, Mr. Kaz and Mr. Beezler, but no one else I swear. I'm sorry. Gezz! Taran will cover my debt Desuma, he owes me." I dart behind Taran to avoid any punch or slap anyone might wish to deliver C.O.D. "Yeah, thats what I'm here for Taran, to help you," I say from behind him. "So where do we go first friends?" I smile, thinking they will surely overlook one screwup, namely me.
Looking through your belt pouch you (Taran) find a single coin different from the others. It has a picture of a Lizardman emblem on both sides of it, but no date. Why would a Lizardman attack you and then give you a gold coin? It just doesn't make sense.
"Agreed, Taran; however, none of us should go off alone, lest another attack occurs."
"Yes, and we should all go to the fortune teller's to check out Grimsteel, just in case there's more trouble; besides, Taran can check out the details of his 'encounter' with what actually is there."
"I find it very interesting that you did tell Grimsteel, Shipy. Tell me, when did you find the time to do this? Did you volunteer the info, or did he pump you for it?"
"Wait! Before we go, let me cast a couple of spells." She casts Detect Magic on both the coin and the area of the alleyway. She also casts Oh, There it Is in the alley just for the halibut. (If anything registers as magical, Domina will cast an Omni-Eye spell.) Desuma also makes a copy of the Lizardman emblem---something else that can be researched at the library.
"Just because Grimsteel is really female doesn't mean there was any pumping involved.... Ick! Besides Grimsteel was still in the Blue Frog Tavern when you left. She delivers messages, that's what she does. Jack the bartender would know where she is or how to find her." I respond from behind Taran as only a true Hobbit can.
Casting Detect Magic on the coin and alley (Desuma) discovers nothing, and neither does the spell Oh, There it Is. You (Desuma) easily copy the Lizardman emblem for later use.
As a group you leave the alley and head down the street until Shipy points out the Fortune Teller's alley.
"Why, Shipy, it's nice to see you have some standards after all! OK, if the fortune teller can't give us any information (and who knows, maybe she can tell our fortunes!), then we'll need to see Jack [the barkeep --ed.] to track down Grimsteel. This is one trail that we don't want to let get cold."
Taran looks up at the great big CRT in the sky, and murmurs telepathically to the players visible through it. "Ben, next time you want me to examine my belt pouch in private, you better make it more obvious! I wasn't going to flaunt any oddities in my pouch to anyone---especially those who probably thought I was hallucinating the whole time! Oh well, bygones."
Taran repockets the double-lizard coin and holsters his unused blade. Now a part of a group again, and the need for up-close-and-personal touches left to someone else, he pulls out the crossbow that earned him his sobriquet of "SniperOrc" and cranks a magical bolt with his cranequin. The action keeps him in the back of the group as he works on the weapon, and Jax lingers in the back with him. "Jax," he says under his breath. His brother looks at him with a hint of disbelief. "I swear, I fought that whole battle! But, I didn't impale."
Jax slaps his brother on the back with a meaty hand. "We'll get to the bottom of this, T. Don't you worry."
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