A Tunnels and Trolls® play-by-post adventure run by khara_khang
Ouch, that's gotta really hurt. You will have to post what both Domina / Desuma are doing since they are separated now.
Neither of you being a friend of gravity, you quickly learn its effects. Falling to the ground like bird droppings, both of you hit the tree tops painfully and tumble into the swamp muck below.
You vaguely remember a Lizardman holding a glowing rock above your face mumbling something.
Opening your eyes and still stunned from the fall, you sit up dazed, feeling somewhat lucky you don't have any death dealing wounds. Unfortunately the dozen or so Lizardmen standing around you would seem to disagree. Like making a good omelet, the Lizardmen give you an old fashion beating.
An hour later you both awaken in the pitch black darkness, each of you being dragged by two Lizardmen (in a group of more than fifty Lizardmen). [IF YOU HAVE NIGHT VISION YOU CANNOT SEE THE LIZARDMEN SINCE THEY ARE COLD-BLOODED. YOU JUST SEE SHADOWS.] You have both been stripped buck naked and have a metal slave collar around your necks and are covered in swamp muck. [YOU EACH HAVE A CON OF 5 OR LESS.]
Tosal Thoth hasn't posted in a while. If you don't post again soon Tosal... something will hit the fan! <Looking around for him>.
After running longer than you ever care to run again Martek stops in the darkness ahead of you (bending over breathing heavily). You also notice even in the darkness you are all now standing on solid ground. "This is Temple Isle. No Lizardmen will come here, don't worry. Let's go see Magi the fortune teller. She's been waiting on you, I hear. Sorry I couldn't save your other friends Chooks'. They're more than likely lizard food my now, anyways. Ya comin'?"
Following Martek for a few minutes of brisk walking, you see a very large and old stone temple with cat-like statues everywhere, some of which are huge. Do you follow Martek up the steps into the temple?
As he runs blindly through the swamp, with Shipy under his arm, Jax suddenly feels a pang of severe pain in his side. He nearly drops Shipy in the muck, and slows slightly, considering whether to turn back for his brother.
"What are you doing!" Shipy yells from underneath his brawny arm. The worried look on Jax's face is answer enough. "Domina's got him! He'll be fine! Keep up the pace! Bust a move! Chop-chop, big guy!" Shipy shouts when Jax's stride allows it.
Jax is well aware that the last time he felt such a pain, his brother had died from a balrog-induced case of Completely Heinous Response Implicating Systematic Total Momentum Absorption Syndrome (a.k.a CHRISTMAS). He shudders with the thought. "ClusterFrak™!" Jax grumbles under his breath and picks up his pace.
When the party (sans Taran and Domina) reach solid ground, he drops Shipy to the ground and reluctantly follows Martek up the temple steps, with a pointless glance skyward over his shoulder. "By Grabthar's Hammer," he thinks, resigned for the worst, "You will be avenged!"
Taran glances at Domina, or at least her heat signature. He is glad to see that she is alive. Before he can repress the thought, he also realizes how happy he is to see her completely naked, albeit covered with swamp slime. Turning back to face forward, Taran tries to keep his dignity and his head held high as he is forced along.
Taran is also glad he took the CON bonus at making level 3.
Domina awakens slowly, her whole body one big bruise. "Well!" she thinks, "a bit of mud wrestling is one thing, but this swamp slime, ... ewwww!"
She decides to feign unconsciousness for a while longer, hoping for a chance to cast some 'Poor Babies' on herself and the hapless Taran. Perhaps there'll be a moment when the foul lizardmen aren't observing their beaten, shackled, helpless captives too closely. And if that slave collar is locked, instead of welded on, a well-timed 'Knock Knock' spell to free them. She seeths inwardly at the loss of her sword, not to mention her brand new boots! "Hmmm," she ponders, "wonder what they'll think of our sun-dried lizard snacks?" Peering at her companion through barely slitted eyes, she's glad to see he survived their disastrous plunge. Seeing him lift his head, she is exasperated at the stubborn orc pride that is keeping him from faking being hurt worse than he is. Noticing how "happy" he is to see her, she sighs inwardly, "Oh, well, he wouldn't have been able to fake being unconscious much longer, anyway."
Once the gorgon gets her breath back she quietly casts 'Detect Magic' spells on Martek and the temple. "It wouldn't do," she thinks, "for all of this to be some elaborate phantasm of our enemies."
Assuming nothing unusual is discovered by her spells, she follows the "Swamp Rat" into the temple.
Looking down, Jack notices that he's run all this way with his feet stuck on in the opposite direction. A progresive stance tempered with a conservative soul he thinks to himself...He sits down on the steps to re-adjust.
To his companions, "Now I maybe neither reliable nor in full possession of all my sober factulties much of the time but I could have sworn that we had two others with us who are now not with us. I would also assume that they've fallen prey to our pursuers. I also know that we haven't seen any dead bodies to confirm their demise and warrant any hasty revenge as of yet. I also think that it would be ridiculously un-heroic if we left them to their fate without even a minor effort at a timely rescue. Chin up folks! Let's leave ye olde fortune teller to her ruminations and get on with killing some saurian arse, if you please..."
Seeing you smiling (towards Domina) even in the darkness, a nearby Lizardman hits you in the gut with his pole weapon causing you to double over in pain. The chain attached to your slave collar continues dragging you along through the muck until you can regain your footing and your lost breath.
A second smaller group of Lizardmen join your group. They lead a naked and very beautiful (albeit slime-covered) female elf. She is put in line with the two of you. Quite a bit of time passes as you continue walking. Maybe four hours or more, you guess. As the Lizardmen pause, they force the three of you to sit close together beside a rotting tree. Seeing the two of you, the elf feels very uncomfortable.
Listening to the Lizardmen, you understand fragments of what they are saying. They are talking about eating one of you.
The slave collar is locked on, not welded on. Attempting to cast "Poor Baby" on yourself fails, as the slave collar seems to block all spell casting.
"I'm Cambrea. Do you two have a plan to escape yet?" the elf asks, whispering very softly.
"Thanks Jax, I've never been carried so gracefully before!" I pick the swamp muck out of my hair.
Casting Detect Magic, you discover the entire Isle is magical, with the most power radiating from the temple. Only Martek's rope shows up magical, giving off bad magical vibes.
"Where's Tosal Thoth?" asks Martek, looking around and not seeing him. "Jack de Crampon, at least that's what you told me yer name was once before, if you go out there without any help you will get captured or die. Now bring your bones inside!"
(TELL ME WHO STAYS OUTSIDE AND WHO ENTERS.)
Entering the very large and empty temple following Martek, he eventually leads you to a pugly old woman seated at a stone table.
Our usually bubbly Dracon brother seems to have aged visibly. He glowers briefly at the Hobbit, snaps a crick out of his shoulder and addresses the skeleton flatly. "Well said, Jack. But I know my brother and I know the demoness. They are either dead or beyond 'heroic' rescue." Pausing, he continues, his obvious, very un-Orclike anguish held in check, "Perhaps this Magi knows their fate. And Tosal's, for that matter."
As he walks rigidly up the steps behind Martek, Jax ponders the so-called Swamp Rat's words. "Have we met before, Martek?" He has an odd feeling that this question will get much mileage in the days to come.
His blood reminds him that he has no great love for elves, but Taran has always been an example of a tolerant orc. His days as an Agent of Arakh Gnahk taught him that much, at least. The battered, bruised and slimed orc tries to be somewhat comforting to both his companion and the newcomer. He can't keep his eyes from wandering, but in the darkness he hopes no one will notice. He mentally curses that in all his years he'd never taken a mate. With two beautiful creatures so close to him in the darkness, Taran wonders if their tantalizing forms will be the last he'll ever enjoy.
He pushes such thoughts from his brain and whispers in response to Cambrea, keeping the nearby lizardmen in his periphery. "I'm Taran, and I have a plan." Taran deliberately avoids using the 'es' sound as it carries farther and louder in the night air.
The rotting wood of the tree trunk crumbling under him, Taran feels around for any sticks or pieces of hard wood he might use as a lock pick, or if it comes down to it, a weapon. At the very least, he'll grab some handfulls of dirt for the old "throw dirt in the eye" trick. "Some plan," he thinks to himself. He studies Domina and Cambrea's collars. If they're anything like his, he might use theirs as a model for his own in order to figure out how they're assembled, locked, and how to open them. Given a reasonable chance (i.e. when he thinks no one is looking), Taran will try to pick or force his own lock.
"By the way," Taran interprets, "they're getting hungry, and we're on the menu." Seeing the females' frowns, he apologizes with a pout and shrug. "I thought you'd want to know."
What little lizard man tongue Taran knows, he tries to flex to keep tabs on what their captors are saying.
"Well, Hell!! It seems like I'm the only one around here with any 'spine'! Arrgh! What a pile of play-by-the-book dullards!", he shouts and slumps down on the stairs of the temple to pout obnoxiously.
Jack is not going into the temple. By the way, no offence. The flames are all in character and are only meant to be interpreted as such. Jack's a little melodramatic and quite a prick, particularly when he's sober....
Looking at the glowering Jax, I smile at him as only a once-carried Hobbit can, and then pause next to Jack as the others enter the temple. "Don't have a freaking snit Jack. We're all in this together. Not many of the party members like me, but at least I'm a team player Jack! Look it up and learn it. Call it Hobbit déjà vu, but I also feel like I've have been here before, Jack." I point a chubby finger at Jack. "Ya stay out here and somethin's liable to happen to you!" Quickly I race to catch up with Jax and the lovely Desuma.
Almost as if it were pre-planned (by some Game Master), a large winged creature swoops in silently and snatches you from the steps, careful not to touch the dirt from Temple Isle. In mere seconds you are up and away from Temple Isle without a sound as the Gargoyle looking creature carrying you continues gaining altitude. What do you do next Jack? Do you draw a weapon and attack the creature, or go along for the ride?
It seems our group has broken into three subgroups:
I will post again for the other two groups when Desuma and Domina post. I like to give everyone a chance to respond before continuing. Please add the appropriate *G1/G2/G3* to your posts until the groups reunite. Thank you.
"Y'know, Taran dear, if your tongue hangs down much further, you'll be drinking swamp water."
Every opportunity that she has, Domina will attempt to use her great strength to weaken her collar. If she feels it about to give, she will stop, because she doesn't want to show her hand to her captors yet.
She whispers to Taran, "This infernal collar is keeping me from casting any spells. Could your plan use a distraction? Even five centuries of experience as a succubus isn't going to help seduce one of these---unless he's exceedingly kinky - but we could stage a fight. Either you and her---you know, the age old orc/elf enmity, or she and I could have a good old fashioned cat fight. All males seem to be amused by that. So, what's the plan, Taran?"
[Taran mentions they are on the menu. --ed.]
"Smooth move, you twit," Domina thinks to herself, "we could have broken her leg so that she couldn't keep up. She'd be the entree and we'd be safe for a time." Domina realises that, with the typical male attitude Taran is taking towards elven cheesecake, diplomacy is the order of the day, so she will keep her "pragmatic" nature in check.
Is this "bad" as in evil, or otherwise?
(Desuma enters the temple.)
Desuma will allow Shipy to catch up with her, as she has a question she wishes to whisper to him, namely, "What is the name of the fortune teller that Grimsteel works for?"
Desuma bows respectfully to the old woman and waits to be addressed.
Flipping the whole world a boney bird from his vantage point, Jack contemplates the frailty of human existenz and counts himself fortunate to be dead already. He does not in fact go so far as to draw a weapon yet, discretion being the better part of valour. He instead hangs on to see where this is all going to get him, thinking that:
Taran wonders how Domina continues to read his thoughts about their collective nakedness. It's almost as if the world were a play-by-post game and his thoughts were on a message board for all to see. Heck, it's not as if he really IS drooling. Maybe Domina's just trying to cover up her own ogling with sarcasm, Taran decides, feeling all the more orc-ly (kind of like manly, except in an orc kind of way). If he weren't naked, he'd certainly feel it! "No matter," he thinks to himself, not stopping to wonder what a message board is, anyway. Taran considers Domina's suggestion about a distraction, but frowns at her idea of breaking Cambrea's legs, even if she is an elf, and even if it means they stay out of the boiling pot that much longer. Taran could be tough, and even mean, but cruelty just seems to far a leap for him. Of course, if he were a lizard man, he might keep the females prisoners around for fun, and the male prisoners around for *ulp* appetizers.
"A distraction will only do good," Taran offers succinctly, wrestling with indecision, "if there is something to distract from. With these collars on, I don't see how far we're going to get, with or without a distraction to do it." Taran sighs, and tries to work at his own collar, using any twigs or rock shards he can get his hands on.
Taran also wonders how he can read Domina's thoughts. Maybe the world really
IS a PBP game. Oops!
This is not AD&D, so any spell detecting "bad" means bad, as in harmful,
or something intelligent which is not controllable. In T&T terms, Elric's
sword Stormbringer would detect as "bad."
"You could say that Jax! Humph! I did save your life once before, that's all!
I seem to remember you were drowning at the time."
"Grimsteel doesn't work for any one person, she just delivers messages. I
told ya' that once before. Madame Toubow would be the name of the fortune teller
from Khazan. You're not thinking this is the same one are you Suma?" Approaching
the fortune teller I swallow hard and turn pale as it is indeed the same small
pudgy woman. Out of fear and not thinking I grip onto Suma's long leg.
Madame Toubow looks at each of you. "In a different time or place we would be
friends. With things as they are, you need all the help you can get if you are
to crush the wicked Lizardmen vermin." The tiny little woman pauses a moment,
choosing her words better.
"I am willing to help you Jax/Desuma/Shipy. This was the reason they took
some of your friends: an attempt to stop you from accomplishing your goal. But
there is still a small chance to solve this puzzle if you work together and
listen to me. If you are willing, I do have a plan!"
Martek shifts uneasily, then turns and trots off. A minute later he returns
and says, "Frak™! I warned him! They took Jack de Crampon!"
Without warning, the three of you are pulled to your feet and your group of
Lizardmen continues walking. Sometime after this, a winged demon (carrying Jack
de Crampon, although you don't know this) screeches in an ear shattering noise
as it passes over head at breakneck speed. The Lizardmen pause for a moment to
look up. One of them says (which Taran can understand) "Good! Vanrethzzz' will
be happy we have another party member!" For the next four hours you continue
walking, making it somewhere around midnight.
Your efforts to weaken your slave collar with your great strength yield
little success.
You hear one of the Lizardmen say, "We will take the prisoners to Vanrethzzz'
as the Shaman ordered. They are the special ones he is hunting for." Roughly
translated from Lizardman tongue to Common tongue, Vanrethzzz' means Ralathor.
Well after midnight you exit the swamp onto a narrow road and continue
walking. By the early pre-daylight hours you enter a lightly forested area and a
base camp of several thousand Lizardmen and other creatures.
The winged demon speeds silently away, and after a few minutes of flying, the
demon screeches with an ear shattering noise, for what reason you have no idea.
The demon's feet also act like hands. The ten foot tall lanky creature appears
sexless, hairless, and steel gray in color. Its eyes are orangish red. As would
any good delivery service, the winged demon takes you to a huge encampment of
Lizardmen and other creatures in a lightly forested area. The camp itself is
spread out over a thirty or forty acre area. You estimate several thousand
creatures are gathered here, maybe even twice that number. You are guessing, and
it is dark.
Landing within the camp, the winged demon releases you and flies away. Dozens
of Lizardmen surround you. "Look! The entertainment is here!" says one Lizardman
in Common tongue. Unless you fight them, they strip you of all possessions and
march you away.
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OOC
khara_khang
OOC, re: desuma_malevois' last OOC
Martek, to Jax as they entered the temple
Shipy, answering Desuma
GM
khara_khang
GM, to Domina and Taran
GM, to Domina
GM, to Taran
GM
khara_khang
GM, to Jack
This page updated: Mon Jan 09 14:22:24 2006
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