A Tunnels and Trolls® play-by-post adventure run by khara_khang
You are all standing in a heavily wooded and very humid swamp in ankle deep malodorous water. Misquotes [sic] buzzing around you. Looking in all directions it looks much the same. Looking around at the group you see; Tosal, your brother Taran, Jack de Crampon, Desuma, Domina, and Shipy, who has climbed up the side of a tree to get out of the water. The canopy high overhead blocks out any direct sunlight, but you can still tell it will be dark in less than an hour. Last you remembered it was morning. A large flock of egrets takes flight far off to your left, as if disturbed by something. What do you do?
Slapping at a particularly large "misquote" (OOC: Are these mendacious mosquitos? :), Desuma says, "Well, wasn't that fun? Now let's just hope we've ended up in the right swamp AND the right time."
"I want to do a little recon---see what disturbed those egrets and maybe get a look above the trees to find landmarks. Taran, could I persuade you and your crossbow to come with me?"
"That sounds like a good idea to me. You like to pick up men, don't you? In the meantime, I think we should camp for the night up in the trees - we wouldn't want to wander the swamp in the dark. Those sleeping could lash themselves to a tree to keep from falling out."
"Desuma, I have one thing to say to you---stick in the mud. Everyone should pick up a stick to probe the mud in front of you for quicksand. This looks like just the spot for it. Taran, are you with me? There isn't much light left."
If Taran agrees then Domina will cast a Batwings spell on herself and carry Taran.
Is this OK with everyone else? Any other ideas?
Feeling a little worse for wear, Jack starts to re-attatch some of his detatchable body parts which had just been forcibly detached at the hands of that low-brow Morg. "And I thought I was being so charming too when I told her that she had a nice rib cage. Ahhh...temporal paradoxes these days! So stand-offish!"
"Sounds like a good gameplan, you two. I for one could use some shuteye. Feels like I've been running around Toad's Store for aeons." Jax looks around for a worthy stick for swamp-prodding and then for a worthy tree for eye-shutting, which he will do under the cloak of invisibility.
"Don't do anything I wouldn't do, T," Jax admonishes his trouble-prone brother. "And for Arahk's sake, don't get yerself skewered!" Jax adds, biting off the head of a delectable sun-dried lizard.
Just then, some kind of warbling bird in the distance makes its call: "Bee dee bee dee bee dee!" Taran looks at his brother and considers his admonition. "Got it!" He says, then turns to Domina: "Let's go!" Before being lifted up on bat wings, Taran makes sure his crossbow has a bolt cranked tightly and straps his gear down for in-flight travel.
No Desuma, they are not lying mosquitoes, they are flying mosquitoes... heh, heh. Nice bird noises Taran.
Casting Bat Wings spell on herself Domina scoops up Taran like a Black Widow spider holding her soon-to-be-eaten mate. Lifting Taran up through the canopy and out of the swamp the view above the tree tops is beautiful as the sun disappears. Far off in the distance to your left you see a thick column of smoke rising. Heading towards the spooked egrets you notice a single male human running, heading toward your friends in the swamps below. You see several dozen Lizardmen chasing him. From the direction of the column of smoke you see a very large prehistoric bird with a rider winging it your way. What do you do?
Finding several sticks everyone prods the soupy muck. Having found herself a doable tree for the night Desuma climbs up into it. Shipy smiles as he watches Desuma climb from below until seeing Jax's frowning expression and stops smiling. You hear the splashing of water coming your way!
"Red alert, dudes! We got company!" Jax states the obvious. He unsheathes his vorpal scimitar and makes sure it glints menacingly into Shipy's face.
Jax positions himself behind the thick trunk of Desuma's tree, flips up the hood on his magic cloak (thereby removing himself to the plane of invisibility), and awaits the oncoming splashes. He listens particularly for a loud Taran-sized splash, but he nevertheless has much faith in the demoness.
"Whoa... Jaxer' watch out where the frell yus' waving that over-sized pig-sticker!" Glints of metal flickering menacingly in my frightened Hobbit face.
The splashing water suddenly gets louder as a single human bursts into view running straight towards your group. You see it is male in his late twenty's, a coil of rope on one hip and a sheathed sword on the other. He has nothing in his hands. Weaving to and fro through the swamp he stops nearby, bending over breathing very heavily.
"Hi people, bout' frakking time you get here! My name is Martek the Swamp Rat; of course you already know that, right? Stay here and you all's die. There are lots of creatures behind me! Come on, I'll lead ya' out of here before darkness falls." Turning away from you Martek takes off running into the swamp. Its almost dusk. Do you follow Martek or let him go? If you follow after him you must also run.
You hear more splashes coming your way. Dozens of them if not more. Or do you stand and fight?
More or less re-assembled, Jack slides his bow off his shoulder, nocks up an arrow (no pun intended), and scurries around to hide behind Jax who seems to him quite the more substantial hero. Then noticing, or rather not noticing his newly achieved invisibility, Jack simply cowers behind the same tree. "Ah..the rear guard action! Uh...I mean guarding the party's rear, not yours Jax. How thrilling!" he says.
"Come fiends!!! Taste 150 proof wrath at a bargain price!!!!"
If we see our troops assembling to defend the poor hu-man, Taran will happily offer his "almost-never-misses" crossbow bolt in his defense, but only after consulting with his pilot and navigator, of course. Don't want to attract too much attention to themselves, he thinks.
Jax frowns at the multitude of splashes that were fast approaching. Most Orcs, when confronted with this split-second decision, would choose to stand and fight. Screw the scrawny hu-mann, it's clobberin' time!
But Jax is not your everyday Orc. Mentally, at least, he is more like 1 part Haroouugh (see Agents of Lerotra'hh), 2 parts Orc (and a not too insignificant part sun-dried lizard---after all, you are what you eat). And his Haroouugh part is utterly spooked by the specter of being pursued relentlessly by a swarm of enemies in unfamiliar territory. Chase that thought down with the fact that Martek is their only potential ticket out of the swamp, and voilà, you have a decision, "sillee Orc," as Lilac would say.
"That's the spirit Jack, but we're outnumbered and on their turf," Jax says as he pops into view for the sake of his friends. "Dudes, follow that hu-mann! He's our way outta this mudpit!" Before Martek gets out of sight, Jax galumphs after him in the muck.
With the splashing getting louder, and whatever making it obviously getting closer, and all of his companions getting scarcer, Jack hikes up his skirt and makes a quick exit stage left following the rest of the party.
"Let's head back to the rest of the gang. It looks like they're going to need help."
If the flyer gets close enough that we can recognize it as a lizardman, then Domina decides that this must be a scout for the 'war party' below---she suggests killing the mount out from under it, with Taran firing a bolt while she launches a L3 TTYF.
"Will you be able to keep up on those short legs of yours?"
[If Shipy answers yes] She takes off like a bloodbat out of hell after Martek, being careful to follow his path as closely as possible, for fear of quicksand.
[If Shipy answers no] She scoops the hobbit up and runs after Martek, being careful to follow his path as closely as possible, for fear of quicksand. Hopefully, she can catch up to Jax, and pass this 'Shipy'-load of trouble off on him before she tires out.
Quickly the the prehistoric bird with a lizardman rider moves in on you two, much faster than you could have ever expected (like a speeding hawk swooping in on its prey). You see the Lizardman holding a single glowing tipped spear. As they close with range Domina locks her legs around you and launches a level 3 "Take That You Fiend" spell at the prehistoric mount. Since a protection spell was already cast on the prehistoric bird, Domina's spell is instantly reversed on herself. [GIVE THE SPELL DAMAGE TO YOURSELF.] Stunned, Domina drops like a rock towards the swamp (Remember, you were above the tree top canopy). You do have a chance to do something (like shoot the rider or something else), since this all happens at the same time.
"No, I don't think so Mistress Desuma!" I retort, still clinging to the side of a tree to keep out of the muck.
Jack and Jax both take off running after Martek. Grabbing the Hobbit under one arm you follow just as quickly, being careful to follow their path as closely as possible, for fear of quicksand. Martek doesn't slow up, running in a zig-zag pattern through the swamp as if he knew where he was going. Looking over your shoulder you see the shadows of more than 30 creatures approaching where you were a moment ago.
Unable to continue carrying the Hobbit-load named Shipy more than a few hundred yards in a full sprint [with a ST: 10], you pass him off to Jax and put him on Jax's back.
Martek stops for a second to look around (breathing heavily), specifically looking at the swamp floor. "Come on people we have less than 10 minutes of light left. Suck it up." Turning to his left Martek takes off running again in the evening dusk.
Shipy almost immediately starts yelping in pain, "Ow! Ow! OW!" with each bound Jax takes. "Jaxer!" the Hobbit manages to squeak, "Your pack.... OWW!"
"Must be the bagh nakhs!" Jax thinks, smirking.
"Sorry little dude!" Without missing a stride, the medium-sized Orc plucks Shipy off his pack and sticks him under a triceps. It is a classic football hold, but Jax doesn't realize it. Another day and another time, and he might have invented a new sport that could have been all the rage in Khazan. But in this timeline at least, he merely stiffarms his way through the swamp after Martek.
Following Domina's lead, Taran fires his crossbow, and trusts that the seek-enchanted bolt will home in on the rider of their pursuer. "Thank goodness for the enchantment," he thinks as he is not quite on stable ground! [[RI: L0SR vs Dex: 6+3=9, made it!]] Taran watches as his bolt zooms in on the rider, then gasps in horror as Domina suddenly drops in altitude. Then, straining to keep his eye on his bolt, he sighs in depression as it veers off at the last second. (So said the GM offline....) The lizardman rider veers close with a sneer, as if to finish them off, but zooms away as Taran and Domina head for the tree tops.
With nothing left but his quick wit and more G-forces than he knows what to do with, Taran quips, "Dang, Dom! Ya coulda warned me about the turbulence!" He braces himself for the impact, pointing his measly buckler down to deflect any pointy limbs on the way to a fateful splat.
Hmmmmmmm, let's see now. L3 TTYF with Domina's IQ does 60 points of damage, and her CON is only 36, soooooooo ... one of two things happen.
Unfortunately, the impact with the trees, and quite possibly the ground below, should finish her off. Either way, as DeForest Kelley would say, "She's dead, Jim."
Let us bow our heads and have a moment of silence for our dearly departed sister-in-arms.
Silence.
More silence.
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