A Tunnels and Trolls® play-by-post adventure run by khara_khang
Jack touches the great Sphinx looking double doors, and a burst of flesh-removing energy instantly strikes him. Since Jack has no flesh and is only harmed by damaging magic he shrugs it off as he would any compliment and pulls open the doors.
The moment the doors are opened, Jack's Dagger of Time and sheath jump from his skeletal possession and land back together next to what can only be the Earth Dragon Helm in the back of the room. Inside the large room and standing shoulder-to-shoulder are 10 Demon Warriors, all of which have their weapons drawn and are waiting for you.
About fifteen feet behind the Demon Warriors, you see a pile of loot, consisting of the Earth Dragon Helm, a suit of Dragon Armor, the Dagger of Time, a large diamond, three large vials of liquid, 2 rings, a skull, and strange looking shield.
"Attack!" yells Martek, charging forward.
"Get'm GrappleJax!" yells the hobbit, not even considering charging forward, as he surveys the area for somewhere to hide his rotund form.
Once within hand-to-hand combat range, Martek's magical rope wraps around his waist, forms two fifteen foot long legs that carry the Swamp Rat over the Demon Warriors to the back of the room where the loot is (with the rope lowering him back down).
Jax notes two of the Demon Warriors peel off their chorus line to intercept Martek at the rear of the room. He rushes over to that side of the room with his EverSharp™ blade leading the way.
Shipy calls out, whilst looking desperately for a Hobbit-sized shadow, "Remember Martek's words: if you kill one, they return as two!" He suddenly smarts from a math headache---kind of like an ice cream headache, only worse by an order of magnitude.
Heeding Martek's words as he did last time, Jax swings his blade prematurely, with combat-honed speed and finesse, in a wide arc perpendicular at every instant to the closest Demon Warrior's blade. His hope is to buy "Ropelstiltskin" time to activate the helm and dagger by foreshortening their opponents' weapons, but sparing their lives.
"Anything I need to know about these guys," Taran calmly asks his brother Jax while raising his over-and-under crossbow to take aim, "before we get down and dirty with 'em?" Taran asks this, keeping in mind that his brother and crew had already defeated some of them in the hallway outside the room. "And, are we sure we wanna take on this grizzly crew?" he says, less sure, but still calm. Taran makes room for the melee participants to rush past him and sets up his sniper position just inside the doorway of the room. "I'm not getting locked out of another battle," he thinks to himself, recalling the demon in the sewer goblin wizard's room that almost ate his brother for lunch, according to Shippy's [sic] account, anyway.
Assuming Jax or anyone else does nothing to stop Taran from firing away, Taran will indeed fire with both bolts, reload as quickly as he can, and repeat ad nauseum.
Exasperated that the charge began before he could cast a spell, Bela curses, "That mother superior jumped the gun!" He quickly casts Hidey Hole (cost 6, leaves 16 ST left), thus making invisible anybody close to him. Those near him can see each other, though, so are not immediately aware of their protection. Stepping through the door, Bela grabs Shipy by the collar and hauls him in. "It's okay, Shipy, just stay close to me and they can't see you. Got that, Taran? You're in a hidey hole, and it moves with me."
Domina was in front, so is not invisible (she can cast her own HH, though). Desuma will be invisible if she was near Bela, but can be made visible just by stepping away from him (about 10-15 feet). Assuming Desuma (hey, that rhymes!) was not out the door when Bela cast the spell, Bela adds,
"Desuma, if you want to be seen, just step away from me, about that far," Bela gestures, "and come back to be hidden again."
While the others do their stuff, Bela stays near Taran. He pulls out his manople in case close work is needed [Bela actually draws his daggers; see retraction --ed.]. Bela just hopes Martek won't leave them in the lurch if he gets the gadgets working.
Note to GM: the Manople, like the Pata, has a built-in gauntlet, so should also add 1 pt of armor (see dictionary of weapons).
He gasps as he watches his ticket to glory go flying across the room, subject to forces far beyond his control. He gasps again as he watches Martek go chasing off after it. Then he gets right pissed off.
"You Rat @#*#!! I'm the special boy around here and so help me you're a dead man if you even lay a pinky on that dagger. What part of "MINE" don't you understand arse-bargle!."
He draws his rapier, whips the ends of his cape, buckles his swash (or swashes his buckle---I've never been too sure about that one) and peels out across the room to vent his grievance, demons be damned.
What kind of GM would I be if I didn't know what a simple Manople was! The nerve to even ask such a question! Can you describe it a bit more... uh, er, for the readers of course, (heh) not for me. <Holds up milk carton with Mike & Linda on it>
"Good plan Bela, but they can see invisible if they try, and I bet my asteroids they're trying now! OK, Bela, I'll stay close, but release me as I want to be behind you, not the other way around!"
Two demon warriors move on Martek. Like living steel, Martek's rope defends him against both warriors while he puts on the Earth Dragon Helm.
Two demon warriors intercept Jax. Attempting to foreshorten their weapons, Jax fails (this round), and he receives a nasty wound opening up his left leg.
Two demon warriors intercept Domina. Domina avoids their blows this round attempting to stall them for the moment.
He looks like a deer caught in some modern spotlight.
He did a Hidey Hole spell getting; himself, Shipy, Taran, and Desuma with it. They are invisible.
Two demon warriors intercept Jack, keeping him from going to Martek. Both score hits on Jack, chipping away bone and breaking one rib.
He fires one shot each at the two remaining demon warriors. His first bolt catches one in the armored chest, and hits the other in the kneecap.
One of the two unattached demon warriors whom Taran shot draws a javelin from his back and throws it at Taran. The thrown javelin narrowly misses Taran by inches, burying itself hand-deep into the stone wall. A second later, the javelin discharged a fifteen foot wide circle of arcing lightning. Bela, Desuma, Shipy, and Taran are all thrown to the floor flopping around bravely like fish for a moment. When the javelin's energy dissipates a second later, only Shipy and Desuma are unconscious (they missed their SR's).
(ROUND ONE IS OVER. TIME FOR ROUND TWO.)
Is Taran wounded or was he just stunned? Also, I assume the Hidey Hole isn't working anymore.
The sniper-orc picks himself up off the ground and staggers to his feet. Taran surveys the situation, and considers switching his aim to the two demons attacking his brother. He doesn't worry about his aim, counting on the magic of the bolts to do the precise aiming. Instead, he hurriedly loads his bow and fires again, accompanied by an ancient clan Dracon battle cry.
If the demon warriors advance upon his position faster than he can load a couple more bolts, he'll exchange his crossbow for his bastard sword and enter melee. If Taran has to step outside the doors to give him more room to maneuver, he will do so.
P.S.: Taran keeps an eye on Martek. After all, he just met the guy in the hall and only has an abbreviated summary of the dagger and helm elements of the mission and what they're doing in the temple anyway.
For the reader, a manople is a short sword made somewhat like a fork, with a short sword blade in the center and two shorter extensions coming from the base. It is used primarily to disarm foes. As such, it has a built-in gauntlet to protect the hand and wrist.
If Bela is on pure defense and has Dex higher than his foe, the disarm will be automatic. The book does not state explicitly that the user of the manople must win the combat round as well. I can imagine a defense against this based on pure massiveness or power of attack, so I like to roll combat on both combatants and assume disarming is automatic unless the foe has a significantly higher attack roll (like 40 more, or perhaps double).
Of course, Bela would use it purely in defense mode---attack being somewhat useless, here.
I just read in the T&T book, and I was mistaken about three things. The Manople requires 16 STR to use to disarm, it disarms by breaking the weapon, not removing it, and there is no chance of success if Bela's defense total is less than the demon's attack total. So, he would not have drawn the manople after casting his spell. He'll have to use his daggers, instead.
"Frak™!" Jax shouts, fighting the urge to look at how badly he is cut, "why does it always happen to my left leg!" (Jax lost his left foot in his first adventure, Agents of Lerotra'hh (he got it back)) The pain only serves to focus his swordsmanship.
"Ok, guys, there's one thing you should know," he says to the twin Demon Warriors while switching his swordarm fluidly, "I'm not left-handed!"
Jax's plan adapts to the Demon Warrior's formidable prowess: he now parries their blows as best he can, and if his vorpal blade slices their weapons in the process, that's all the better!
"Zzzzzzzzzzzzz".
I cast Bat Wings upon myself and take to the air, trying hard not to remember what happened the last time I used that particular spell. Snarling a blistering oath in demonic, I soar deftly past the two cretins below, hopefully avoiding their javelins. As I make my way toward the pile of goodies, I notice how much the helm resembles a lizardman skull. I'll try to beat Martek to the dagger; failing that, I'll try to grab the shield. I crack my whip as I swoop overhead and try to snag the dagger with it.
"Now, now, let's not be greedy, Martek. Party favors for all!"
Frak™, he's already grabbed the helm! I can just see Martek vanishing in a puff of smoke, leaving us to face enraged demon warriors (hey, I'm a demon warrior!) or worse yet, an enraged Death Goddess.
I just got back from moving my mother, and I may not get around to posting till late tomorrow, so here 'tiz. It's late, so sue me if it goes astray.
Note to GM: I'm going to make some assumptions, here. Feel free to modify my post as you like with your next post if you need to.
"Ooh, I'm tingly all over..." Bela gets to his feet as Taran does. Seeing his fallen friends and the fast-approaching demons, he knows he needs more time. Bela casts Glue-You, slowing the movement of any demons withing 30' by half, thus effectively giving Bela two moves to their one. [GM: if you interpret the spell as affecting only one victim, then Bela casts it on the demon Taran hit in the chest]. That cost him 4 STR, leaving just 6.
Maybe later, Bela will go into shock at all these amazing powers around him, but for now, the sight of Domina's abilities just reminds him not to get on her bad side. Seeing her go after Martek is a relief since he knows he must stand his ground for the sake of his friends. On a hunch, turning to Taran, he says, "I'm just about pooped. Got any toys in that bag of yours to help? We've gotta do something fast."
"Hell's bells, why do I keep forgetting about this?" Taran snatches a rod from his bag and tosses it to Bela, adding, "This'll get your mojo rising," then turns to deal with his foes.
Depending on how the GM interprets the Glue-You and the damage to the one demon's knee, Taran may have time to use the crossbow, again.
Glancing at the writing on the rod ("Good for 50 uses, up to 20 STR at a time. Use of this product implies agreement to terms of the licensing agreement printed on the wrapper."), Bela grins, like a boy with a brand new Red Rider™ BB rifle. "Okay, let's see how well they skate," he says as he casts Freeze-Pleeze at the floor before the feet of the demon(s). [Normally, it does 3d6+25 (a ranged attack), but should do much less with where it was aimed.] The hooves of the demons are indeed quite useless on ice, and the attackers end up sliding about, doing a very good Bambi impersonation.
"Oh Cripes that hurts!" Clutching his chipped rib, he starts rolling around on the floor yelling "Medic! Medic!" until he realizes that all the nurses are preoccupied and that this isn't Normandy. Whatever that is. Coming to his senses, he dashes back to the far wall hoping to haul out the javelin intended for Taran and hurl it back to its rightful owner.
Hey, Cal, I do keep forgetting about that! Excellent! I always envisioned the serpent power totem as more of a palm-sized totem, but rod easily fits the bill. rod = totem pole maybe? Anyway, I love it when folks incorporate Taran into their moves. Especially when they incorporate stuff from Taran's oft-forgotten stash of junk!
The Orc watches in awe at Bela's use of the power totem. He'd always wanted to use that, and Michael of the Midnight Magicks [sic] never got around to teaching him how to spell more than the alphabet. "You rock, dude!" he emits to Bela as he concentrates on another volley of crossbow bolts.
Taran stays clear of the icy floor and gives Jack a horrified look at his attempt at grabbing the electric javelin. Then again, the skeleton absorbed the shock of the doors, maybe he could handle a shock stick.
Hidey Hole isn't working anymore and yes you are wounded, as is Shipy, Desuma, Bela, Jack, and Jack. With Jax, Shipy, and Desuma being the worst off in that order.
Suddenly awake again, the prone hobbit considers a comical solecism, but instead just says "Frak™!"
Suddenly awake again, the prone leather clad lady considers blaming the nearly (also prone) Hobbit, who would make a lovely yard ornament/bird bath if he were holding a bowl, but then remembers the Ralathor conundrum she faces.
Dashing across the room, Jack pulls the javelin from the wall. He also notices 10 more demon warriors appearing in the doorway behind Taran.
His Glue-You spell takes effect (on all the Demon Warriors in the room), allowing his second action.
His first bolt hits one of the Demon Warriors battling Jax in the neck (killing it). Two more appear in its spot in a buff of smoke. Taran spins to face the 10 new demon warriors.
Switching hands (his leg bleeding heavily), Jax removes the head and weapon of one of his foes, thus creating two demon warriors. Now four demon warrior surround him.
Swooping in, Domina grabs the shield, the near weightless Dragon Armor, and the fist sized diamond. Martek already has the helm and dagger, and Domina realizes she would have to enter combat with two Demon Warriors and his rope to take it away from him.
Finding opening when Martek is looking up at Domina (whom he thinks is trying to take the dagger from him) a Demon Warrior sinks his blade hilt deep into Martek's body, and then withdraws it. Martek gasps in pain but remains standing.
He draws the "Dagger of Time."
With a blinding flash, everyone in the room is instantly displaced in time, reappearing 20 feet above a lake somewhere in the wilderness in the middle of a warm day. Everyone but Domina falls into the lake. People with heavy weapons, armor or lots of equipment sink quickly. All of the Demon Warriors sink to the lake bottom. Martek's rope pulls Jax back up from the bottom of the lake.
As Bela tumbles down, he tightens his grip on the totem, and tries to make some semblance of a dive. He doesn't really succeed, but manages to not swallow too much water in the process. Coming to the surface, he sputters, "I didn't expect that. What's next, the Spanish Inquisition?"
"No one expects the Spanish Inquisition! Our chief weapon is surprise!" Bela hears from above. As he treads water, he sees a rowboat drifting out of the mist. In the rowboat are two figures dressed in religious garb. "And fear," the voice continues, "... Our chief weapons are surprise, and fear, and ruthless efficiency.... Come again. Amongst our various weaponry are: surprise, fear, ruthless efficiency, ...."
By this time, Bela has almost swum out of hearing, doing an easy sidestroke. His burdens make the going slow, but he travels light. His progress improves after he tucks the totem away. He lost the bich'wa he had been carrying somewhere between the temple and the lake. He swims on, looking for the shore and his companions.
The rowboat mysteriously vanishes back into the mist. "Cardinal Biggers, Where did everybody go?" is the last thing Bela hears from them.
In the last 30 minutes, Bela has been shocked twice, space warped once, temporally warped, run over by an over-eager orc, and met several new companions. As he swims on, he remembers how little he's had to eat, lately, and hopes his meager rations are not getting wet.
"Frak™!"
"Double Frak™!"
"Triple Frak™!"
"Gurblegurblefrak™ble!"
Taran dumps the crossbow with cranequin attachment he'd had strapped across his back, unstraps the the buckler he'd looted from the sewer goblin wizard, and, having lightened his load enough (he surmises) tries to swim his way to the surface. He keeps an eye out for passing (sinking) Demon Warriors and also his ever-stinkin' brother who can't swim.
"Although," he thinks, "this lake water might do my ever-stinkin' brother some good."
Assuming Taran makes it to shore without incident, he swims to a shore if he can spot one.
A goldfish swims in one eye and out the other, finding nothing of any particular intrest inside Jack's head. He looks around for Martek (presumably still wielding the Dagger of Time) and finds him dragging Jax's carcass off the lake floor. With a singularly loud "GIMME!" he splashes his way towards Martek to get the dagger back.
In other words, Bela travels pretty light, so should not have trouble staying afloat. He makes sure not to lose the totem, but loses the dagger he was carrying. He swims to shore, if he can find one, keeping a lookout for his companions.
The pain of his leg wound allows Jax little control over his instincts, and when his swordarm finds an opening, it takes advantage of it, to Jax's dismay. It seems to Jax that as the fallen Demon Warrior is replaced in twain, a sudden wind rushes up and knocks the feet out from underneath him. Or is he falling? Yes, it's the latter. Better sheath that vorpal blade, Orc!
Then, SMACK!
Jax feels his body impact a solid surface, like brick, or metal. No, it's just water, but at his weight and velocity, it might as well be tempered steel. He blacks out.
The next thing he knows, he's coughing up water on a pebbly beach and his studded armor and InvisiCloak™ are drenched. His right hand is still gripping the hilt of his vorpal blade in its scabbard, like it was grafted there.
He feels stinging, mind-numbing pain in his left leg, and has a horrible flashback to Gristlegrim, when his Mountain Troll buddy Forckum Drul-Chaser pulled his body, blistered and nearly blinded, out of a pool packed full of man-o'-war. But the pain turns out to be just a slab of meat hanging limply from his left thigh.
His meat.
"Ohhhh, fewmets!" Jax moans, as he holds his meat in place, then notices a rope slithering of its own accord off his waist.
Martek's rope.
It suddenly dawns upon him: the Swamp Rat was right. The dude had saved him from drowning. How had he known?
Circling just above the water Domina plucks Taran from the water like an over-sized lake bass, and carries him the fifty yards to shore.
Swimming along slowly with Shipy holding onto her neck, both Desuma and Shipy make it to shore.
Sinking to the very bottom of the lake, Jack walks out on the bottom. As he suspected... old bones don't float!
Quickly swimming to shore Bela exits the water.
The magic rope keeps Martek from drowning, and pulls Jax back up from the lake bottom, hauling them both to shore with very little trouble.
Even with his bleeding and throbbing leg, Jax hobbles over to happily greet his ever-stinking (now less so) brother to make sure he is all right. Seeing his bleeding wound Shipy removes a vial from his crotch and gives it to Jax grumbling something about the high cost of keeping the Dracon brothers alive! Jack rushes over to Martek and takes the "Dagger Of Time" from Martek's belt (luckily not drawing it). Martek lets him take the dagger without any resistance.
Removing the Earth Dragon Helm, Martek holds his stomach, grits his teeth for a moment and then looks around at everyone... especially Jack. "Come on, we don't much time, he'll be nearby very soon and we can't miss him." Turning away, Martek heads up a trail away from the lake. A narrow trail of blood follows him.
Jax takes Shipy's vial, which he knows to be a healing potion, but he balks at his own selfishness. His wound would eventually heal on its own if cleaned and bound, but Martek's had the look of death. Jax checks everybody else. Yep, Martek's wound is worst.
He says to Shipy, but in a voice for everyone to hear, "Thanks Shipy for your generosity. Dracons never forget a favor. But I'm going to give this to Martek, who needs it more. All this time, I've refused to trust Martek, and for vacuous reasons. Pride, maybe; how could a feared Dracon Warrior let himself be rescued by a mere Swamp Rat, and now twice?
"It's our lack of trust in this man that nearly got him killed. But he risked his life, despite some of our best efforts to stop him, to save us from certain doom back at the Temple. I think it's high time to let his actions speak for themselves. He has earned this Orc's respect, and I hope, for all of our sake, yours as well." Jax says the last sentence, looking each of his friends in the eye (socket), except for Desuma, of course.
Jax holds his leg meat in place with his left hand, and hobbles up the trail. He motions for the others to follow and notes Martek's lifeblood staining the sandy soil. He sighs at his brand new boots as they make squishy noises against his water-logged feet. Reaching Martek, he touches him on the shoulder, "Martek, here, pour this in your wound while you tell me who we're expecting. Not a Ralathor stripling, eh?"
Jax binds his leg.
Once again, Bela is all wet. On the beach, he pours the water out of his boots and pack, trying not to think about what it has done to his journal. He can't remember the last time he made a copy, but he remembers his father's words, "Save early, save often." He looks up as the shadows of Domina and Taran pass over and he picks up the pace to catch up as the others climb the hill. "Keen are the eyes of the elves," they say, and it is true of Bela. The wound of Jax looks nasty, but the struggling steps of Martek and the blood trail he is leaving seem worse. Bela observes the glint of the bottle of elixer as he approaches, and learns a new lesson about the races of Troll World when he sees Jax offer it to Martek. His long legs allow him to catch up quickly.
When Bela catches up, Jax is attempting to administer to Martek. As soon as Jax has a moment, Bela stops him. This time, he returns to the formal speech of his family, saying, "Your sacrifice is most noble, worthy Orc, but there is no need for you to carry this burden, for I have also been taught in the healing arts, as well as those of war. Here, let me see." Bela pulls out the totem, casts Poor Baby through it on Jax's leg. As the wound quickly heals, Bela looks up at Taran with an expresion of awe, saying, "The power in the totem is great, for never could I have done this on my own. It is fortunate for your brother that you carried such a thing. I am weak; may I hold on to this until after this adventure is over?"
The spells Bela cast in the temple (Hidey Hole (6), Glue-You (4), he never did cast the ice spell), left him with 6 STR. His personal adds are down by 3, and in combat he will not have the stregth to use his manople. 6 STR means he can only carry 600wu, and just 300 easily (30lbs), so he will leave the manople behind, thus losing 80wu, or 8lbs. The totem can cast up to 20 STR of magic at once, and Bela saves 4 STR by way of his staff and experience, so he can heal up to 12 CON points: cost = (12con * 2) - 4str = 20. As long as he does nothing too strenuous, he will regain 1 STR for each full turn (10 minutes).
"Mmm! Mmm! It's ya birthday! If it ain't y'all, shake it anyway! Thanks, chump!" Jack prances around wiggling lewdly, shaking the dagger (in scabbard, natch) in everyone's face.
"Looky-looky but no touchy-touchy, now plebs! BAH HA HA HA HA HA! I'm red hot!" He struts up the path after Marek congratulating himself shamelessly ("Who da man? I da man! Who da man?" Sexy black back-up singers materialize in a cloud above his head dressed in revealing lingerie. "You da man Jack!" "Yeah...right on! Give it to me!", etc.)
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