D&D ADVENTURE! THE DOMAIN OF THE UNDER-DOG

Eggbert had enjoyed his bath and a good meal, but hs mind was preocupied with what had become of the paladin and the elf. So when the news came that they were called t an audience with Papa Toe-Toe he was pleased that they would soon be getting back into the action. Pcking up his gear, he followed Robin and Bufo...
Happy new year everyone.
 
Upon hearing the news that the Kobold bully-boys had brought, Rambulge ceased bathing and set about clothing himself.

What would the rotund chieftan say?

He hoped they would receive weapons and equipment, but he also had a nagging suspicion that Papa Toe-Toe might have had a change of heart...
 
Seu stood over the prone form of Sir Merevain. The words he had cried to the lady hung heavy in the crisp air as he wiped his gauntleted hand across his sweating eyes wearily. His body ached with his various hurts, his skin blackened with frostbitten wounds in numerous places. Across the lake, a continuous cracking and splitting sound began, as the iced-over surface was rent asunder in the wake of it's guardian's passing.

What was he guarding, here in this lake?

The centre of the lake began to bubble and boil as if some white-hot object were rising to the surface. A light, dim at first, but growing steadily, was beginning to form in the deep, cold waters. What was happening here?

The paladin's reverie was halted by a trembling in the ground. It soon became a mighty shudder, then with a deafening roar, a nearby icebound mountain suddenly stood up and had a look around itself.

"That's no mountain..." muttered Seu. The form that had risen from the earth was a massive ice-giant, impossibly large, huge boulders of ice crumbling off it's shoulders and from it's icicle beard and exploding onto the ground. It's hands were the size of houses and his legs could clear whole miles in a single stride. The great head swung back and forth, searching, searching... the giant's eyes rested upon the boiling lake and the tiny, shining figure standing on it's shore.

"Oh... shiiii-"

Seu looked around desperately for some kind of cover, anything that he could conceivably hide behind, but there was nothing. The ground leapt like a frightened deer as the giant came striding across the plain towards the paladin with a speed that seemed to defy physics. Thrown from his feet by the repeated impacts, Seu could only cower as the massive hand scooped him up, along with most of the ground beneath him, and lifted him high into the air to stop before the icy gaze of the giant's terrible eyes. With a voice like continents colliding, the giant spoke.

"WHO ARE YOU, TINY MORTAL, THAT DARES COME HERE AND RELEASE MY SERVANT? SPEAK UP NOW."

The blast of frigid air that billowed from the giant's cavernous mouth smelt ancient and musty, and was so strong it nearly blew the armoured knight clean off the massive palm...


______________________________________________________


The party was led through a warren of gloomy, dank tunnels, that stank of wet dog and other less pleasant things. The Domain of Papa Toe-Toe was impressive, in it's own way, and they marveled at just how extensive the excavations beneath the mountain had grown. Hundreds of excitable kobolds yipped and barked as the heroes were led from chamber to chamber, and it soon became clear they were being led on a 'scenic route' to show off the realm of the Under-Dog. Every now and then, one of the bully boys would point and grunt at some feature, such as the grisly trophy skulls and skins set on stakes and spears along the thoroughfares, a good mix of yuan-ti, human, and a few that none could identify (Bufo confided: "Papa Toe-Toe claims he killed all these in mortal combat, but I reckon most of them were chucked in the pit and he just ate them..."). They saw caverns filled with what looked like giant silkworm larvae, huge bundles of white fluffy cocoons tended by kobold serfs (Bufo again: "You don't want to know what they are for...") and rooms filled with hanging carcasses that may or may not have been preserved - who knows what a kobold would be prepared to eat?

While they wandered the halls, Bufo regaled them with tales of his misadventures since they had last seen him in that entrance tunnel, wrapped in the silenced cloak of Hisston. Not that anyone had asked him, mind you, but stopping Bufo from talking about himself was almost as hard as stopping him eating, and stopping him eating was harder than stopping the rotation of a galaxy.

"...and I was like, the most silent stalking thief you didn't ever hear, creeping down that corridor like a BAWSE. I saw a bunch of snakemen having a bath, and it was weird because they were like naked but some of them had, erm, strange private wares, and they were all scrubbing each other and then I saw this door, and it looked pretty interesting so I went through and I was in a hallway full of doors and it smelt funny in there, and I followed the smell and there were these weird zombie things walking around doing jobs and I found some rooms with treasures and I looked at some of the treasures and then, THEN I saw this one room full of strange jars and like, barrels but they were made of glass and in the barrels there were gross things floating and then one of them looked at me and I screamed and it turned out the cloak wasn't working anymore and then this black snake came out of nowhere and grabbed me and I kicked him in the private wares but he didn't seem to care much and then they took me to this lady who was huge and she had a snake tail and she had a whole bunch of... wobbly privates, and she asked me some questions and I was nervous and then I tried to eat some nuggets but I dropped one and then I tried to get it and she... called me a stupid and told them to chuck me in the hole, and then they did... and that was how Papa and them all found me, stuck in the webs..."

Finally they came to a roughly round room that had what appeared to be barred windows made of sturdy lashed timbers. Beyond these apertures, there was almost total darkness, though the party got the impression the space beyond was vast. Out in the distant dark, hundreds and hundreds of strange glittering reflections could be seen, just pinpoints of luminous spheres that occasionally flickered and bobbed about.

Bufo shuddered, eyeing the windows cautiously... "ugh, I hate this bit..."
 

Asslessman

Member
"I Ermm... I mean I am.... oh dear Lady, I'm not afraid, I'm not afraid, I'm not afraid, I'm not afraid, I'm not afraid, I'm not afraid, I AM SEU ANTHEUS, KNIGHT OF THE LADY OF THE LAKE, SON OF ROLAND ANTHEUS, MASTER OF WYRMROCK CASTLE..."

The blizzard that followed (just the breath of the giant) filled the silence that followed Seu's presentation.

"Damnit, that one is not a courteous one it seems... I have been summoned here for a reason unknown to me and have had to fight Sir Merevain. My quest is to retrieve what was taken from my mistress, the Lady of the Lake and this quest has brought my companions and myself much farther than I would have ever imagined. It is no my intent to come in the way of servants of good..."

Seu "detects evil" from the giant
 

weazil

Moderator
Bawse? Bari wondered what the hell that meant.

The word had drawn him from his reverie. He had been lost in his own world as he thought about how little time he was spending in the sun these days and how often death seemed to be looking over his shoulder. A far cry from sharing the ideals of free love and beneficial friendships.

Nevertheless, Jordann had seen fit to post him here and so far she had kept him alive. He looked up to the heavens (and indeed, the damp ceiling) and kissed his tiger's tooth in reverence. "Thanks, Babe."

Bufo continued his summary. Bari noted that the snakemen (and snake ladies?) had been washing each other and pondered the deeper meaning of this. At the end of the day, were there really any differences between snakemen and everyone else? Didn't we all just need love?

Suddenly, everyone stopped. Holes in the wall purported to be windows, but Bari couldn't make anything out - he wasn't sure if they were above ground or not. Wait. There were lights and they moved. Bari stepped toward the window to take a look.

Sorry for the total silence from me. Life has just been too busy and I've been battling to find the time and energy to keep up. Here's hoping things will stay settled. I'll send through the spell list on the next post.
 
Bari wandered over to the windows, curious.

"I wouldn't if I was you..." muttered Bufo. Bari peered through the rough bars into a great dark cavern that dropped down from their vantage point, which was like a balcony really, in hindsight.

"What are those things?" Bari asked, then squealed in a most masculine fashion as a huge hairy insectile leg shot through the bars and pinned him firmly to the floor. The sticky hairs on the foot were well and truly attached to his bedsheet robes, and he was lifted bodily from the ground and squished against the wooden bars as the creature on the other side tried to haul him through. Fortunately, the wood held, even with the repeated impact of Bari's armoured arms against the rough construction, and the bully boys were able to drag him down and detach the leg without too much fuss. A couple of them chuckled through their long snouts as Bari quivered on the floor, the now-familiar smell of fear-shit beginning to creep into the chamber...

"Spiders," announced Bufo to noone in particular, "they keep and train spiders. They have hundreds of them, some are real giants. They even ride them and stuff. They breed giant moth larvae to feed them all. It's pretty gross."

They were led away from the spider-gallery and finally found themselves outside Papa Toe-Toe's audience chamber. The bully boys made a lazy pretense of frisking the party down (they didn't even bother checking Robin, his glare was way too intimidating, even for the bullys). Then they were ushered inside.

Papa Toe-Toe was reclining on a crude divan, similar in fashion to the one the Misstress had in her chamber. The fat kobold's rolls of blubber flowed over the sides hideously, and numerous kobold servants darted here and there, attending him with fans and back scratchers and baskets of victuals. Bufo, only recently released from such tasks himself, winced as he saw a small kobold nearly enveloped in a particularly liquid patch of fat. Some fates were worse than death.

Papa Toe-Toe smiled benignly at his guests and gestured to a low table that was set before him, laden with wooden platters of meat, scraps of bread, bottles of liquor, meat, meat and more meat. It was pretty much a meat-feast. Bufo's belly gurgled nonetheless. Food was food. He set upon the protein like an animated stomach with limbs, devouring all before him.

"Yes, yes, eat my dear friends, eat. Papa Toe-Toe welcomes his esteemed guests, help yourselves and we will begin to make our plan of attack. It is already day-break and the yuan-ti will soon rest. It is then that we must make our move. But for now, eat! Eat your fill!"
 
"Hmmm....maybe this isn't so bad after all" Rambulge thought aloud as he took in the plethora of meat laid out on the table.

Thankful that Bufo had already started gorging himself ( Rambulge didn't want to appear to be a glutton, or too fond of their "hosts") the spell sword pulled up a chair and began digging in.
 
Seu stretched out his senses to the giant, and the rippling power of the evil emanating from the impossibly large creature almost drove him to his knees.

The massive giant brought Seu closer to his face to examine him in detail.

"So, you were sent here by the Lady? Then it seems our arrangement is truly at an end. That is a shame for you, little mortal, and for your world, for now it is my world. I shall begin the process of awakening the frost giants, and soon the endless winter will cover all the lands in it's pristine shroud. The age of ice and death shall begin anew!"

The very air seemed to shake around Seu as the giant appeared to grow ever larger. Great hills of ice sloughed off the shoulders of the great creature as he stood straighter and taller than before.

"Before I crush you like the tiny bug that you are, do you have any further words? It would amuse me greatly to hear what message your lady may have for me now that she has forsaken our deal..."

___________________________________________


Papa Toe-Toe nodded indulgently at Bufo and Rambulge as they tucked in. Duke shrugged his shoulders and grabbed a rack of juicy ribs. Papa looked expectantly at the rest of the party as they stood, seemingly unwilling to commit to the kobold feast; the awkward silence was broken periodically by Bufo coming up for air before diving back into the meat platters.

"Not hungry?" boomed Papa. "Well, no matter. We have plans to make. I had your tiny man draw in the rest of the map of the temple above. It now shows the private area where the misstress' general had his quarters (before your great warrior killed him) and also contains the laboratory where the white snake does his work".



"As you can see, the paladin is being held in a secret chamber behind one of the private rooms. There is an elf being kept in the adjacent room – he has been tortured also. My children have dug a small tunnel big enough to fit your tiny man ("I have a name you know! It's omnomnommmm"), or a gnome, or both, into the quarters. We have also prepared a small collapse that will gain your team entry to the misstress' chamber. This will get you close to the misstress but the chamber is full of her personal guards and hangers-on. Worse, the adjacent chamber, the waiting area, contains a full regiment of her finest, most loyal warriors. You would have witnessed this for yourselves on the way to the pit."

Papa paused as a small kobold dangled precariously over his maw and lowered a large drumstick of some kind into the cavernous gullet. Papa slurped it up and chewed the meat around in his mouth, eventually spitting the bone out and scoring a bullseye on another of his hapless 'children'. Papa Toe-Toe bellowed with laughter as the creature screeched and scampered off, and he shouted "It's good to be the bawse!"

"Bawse? That word again?" muttered Bari.

"YES, I'm the bawse! It's the koboldi word for 'leader.' Get educated brother!"

"Now the problems I see are this: If you do not act quickly and secure the doors to the Grand Audience chamber right after we trigger the collapse and let you in, you will soon find yourselves outnumbered before you can defeat the misstress. There is a mechanism that allows the doors to be sealed against attack from the outside – ironic, don't you think, that it will potentially seal them in with their fate?"

"The second problem is this – the party that frees the paladin will not be able to rejoin the rest of the group, as they will be cut off in the main part of the temple and he is far too big to fit back down our tunnel. Unless you have some way of travelling through walls, they will also be unable to escape except through the main entrance or back through your secret portal – but that is not the direction I think you want to be going in, is it...?"

Papa settled back and observed the reactions of the party.

"Oh, by the way, the private quarters are filled with mindless slave-monsters that will attack intruders on sight. They are pretty whack-daddy." He nodded again and opened his mouth for the next intrepid kobold to shove some beef in.
 

Asslessman

Member
The paladin paused for a split second... just what message could he have for a flippping Frost giant ? What would the Lady want him to say to such a malevolent creature ?

What would Robin do ? He would probably not have got caught in the first place and he would just keep quiet and shoot arrows...
What would Rambulge do ? Rambulge would probably wet his pants and then dash at the giant in a blast of magical energy, that was something Seu didn't feel comfortable with...
What would Eggbert do ? Eggbert would probably say something only Eggbert would understand... and just thinking about what Eggbert usually said made his head hurt... and he couldn't pull a dove from his sleeve either like the Mage could.
What would Bufo do then ? Bufo would eat, but there was no food to be eaten. Bufo would fart, but Seu couldn't resign to resort to such extreme means... Bufo would lie. Yes he would lie and he would use such words... Seu just didn't know half those words...

What would Bari do then ? Bari would most probably cleanse himself with that awkward ritual and he would probably take a pose with his loincloth hiding far too little. But Baru would talk about Love, That he would.

"EVERY TIME THE LADY MOVES OR SENDS ME, IT IS WITH LOVE IN MIND. I DO NOT HAVE THE ABILITY TO TELL YOU WHAT SHE MEANS IN EVERY OF HER ACTIONS BUT I CAN SASURE EVERY BREATH SHE TAKES, SHE HAS LOVE IN MIND. THAT I CAN TELL YOU. I AM BUT A SERVANT TO HER CAUSE AND WHEN SHE SPEAKS I OBEY FOR I KNOW HER CAUSE IS RIGHT. I MEAN, JUST LOOK AT HER, ISN'T SHE LOVE INCARNATE ! "
 

weazil

Moderator
"Oh," Bari said, nodding. "Bawse. I dig. Uh, being pinned to the floor by giant spiders messed up the hearing, is all."

"Anyway." Bari motioned for the party to form a huddle so they could discuss the approach.

Okay, so its not actually the plan. Its just a line in the sand around which we can discuss. I had a feeling this would be easier to do OOC than through dialogue, not because I don't like the dialogue, but it might take a little while.

Anyway, Bari needs to go into the throne room because he needs to touch the six breasted wonder just to check if they're rea- I mean, to remove her curse. It feels like invisibility would go a long way to helping him do that, although she might pick up on the smell (like the other big bugger did). Any suggestions on how to approach a six breasted deaemon without detection? Alternatively, does anyone have any spells to enhance speed?

As a curious aside, Bari can cast a spell (he doesn't have it memorised) called Stone Meld, which allows him to insert himself entirely into a block of stone of at least the same dimensions as himself, so it might be that we can tunnel to a suitably sized piece of stone in the throne room wall that he can insinuate himself into before bursting through at an appropriate time on the other side. Perhaps we can even get really, really close to the daemon (without her being able to smell him?)

As for Seu, it sounds like only Eggbert and Bufo can go in there anyway. I suppose Eggbert does have spells that can help people move through objects - perhaps this is a way to get Seu back down the tunnel? Although I suspect Seu would just like to beat his way to the platoon of snakemen standing guard over the daemon so he can go rabid?

Also, nobody go anywhere until Bari's cast Prayer on everybody.

Finally, Bari memorised these spells:

LEVEL 1:
Cure Light Wounds
Cure Light Wounds
Cure Light Wounds
Cure Light Wounds
Cure Light Wounds



LEVEL 2:
Silence
Hold Person
Hold Person
Aid
Chant


LEVEL 3:
Remove Curse
Remove Curse
Prayer

I could have just put Stone Meld there, but I'm a good person and I'm investing in some Karma.
 

Asslessman

Member
I won't comment on "the plan" for obvious reasons but I fully taste the irony of playing the knight in armour AND being trapped in a dungeon waiting to be rescued... ;)
 
Asslessman":1p41j2xm said:
What would Bufo do then ? Bufo would eat, but there was no food to be eaten. Bufo would fart, but Seu couldn't resign to resort to such extreme means...
:lol:

"Well I can certainly get myself from A to B, but to steal a paladin from under their nose... I think maybe we will need Bufo to demonstrate his unique talents."
Regarding getting Seu out I think we will have to play it by ear. I have wraithform which i could use to get myself from Hisstons quarters to the throne room to reunite with you guys. I can only cast that spell on myself. Bufo could escape back down the tunnel. But we would have to invent some way to get Seu out. I have an invisibility i could cast on Bari. I also have lots of illusion and a ventrilloquism for causing a distraction, but nothing for unlocking doors. I think that the "demoness" is basically an illusionist and may not have any direct way of stopping you getting close. Its the snakemen minions which are the danger.

Eggbert pointed to the map with a diminutive finger. "Papa Toe-Toe, might I ask what is known about the white snakeman and his lab?"
 
I have been laxer than a laxative relaxing when it comes to updating this game but as JB's complaining reached a fever-pitch I am kicking the cow in the guts, so to speak. I hope you are all still keen to catch that damn mouse! ;)

Papa Toe-Toe appeared to have drifted off into some reverie, so Eggbert's words hung in the air with an awkward heaviness. Suddenly the great kobold snapped back to attention.

"What? Who? What banana? Oh, you lot, hahaha. How are you enjoying the meat? Hmmm? Yes... now where were we?"

The abruptness of Papa's address made Bufo fart nervously with surprise. One of the bully boys shifted and grunted something. Papa's face turned stony.

"Now look here, we have a deal, okay? The contents of that laboratory are mine, and noone, NOONE is to touch it, capisce?"

The flabby monster glared at each of the heroes in turn. A few of them appeared to have got it.

"Now look, i've told you all I can about the layout and what you need to accomplish. There is one more thing I will do and then you will be on your own until such time as the Misstress is defeated." The great dog rapped on the arm of his battered divan and from somewhere there was a yipping commotion. The doors to the chamber flew open and a procession of kobolds came staggering in under the weight of numerous sacks filled with heavy objects. They pushed their way to the great table, where plates of food were shoved aside and drumsticks rolled onto the floor (Duke and Bufo snapped at each other like rabid dogs as they scuttled around trying to snaffle them up). The kobolds upended their sacks on to the table, where weapons and equipment of all shapes, varieties and conditions cascaded across the rough wood.

"BEHOLD!" bellowed Papa Toe-Toe, "I have emptied my grand armoury to aid you in your quest. Take what you need, take it all, use it to defeat the oppressors above!" The big kobold raised his arms in the air in an odd, triumphant pose, as the heroes regarded the pile of weapons. There were certainly usable items there, but nothing much worth crowing about...

Papa has provided you with a selection of weapons, most of them look fairly mundane and all have signs of wear. There are the ones of note:

1 x Bronze Tetsubo (a type of oriental club)
1 x steel mace
2 x tarnished Yuan-Ti khopesh (curvy swords)
2 x dented longswords
assorted daggers
1 x Yuan-Ti longbow (with a quiver of 30 snake themed arrows)
1 x helm, crested with a gaudy plume
2 x battered shields, one snake themed, one has a rat on it


The plan will rely on several things being accomplished in a short amount of time:
1) securing the door will be vital. The mechanism is strong but it has fragile components in the form of gears and pulleys that will foul up if damaged
2) getting Bari close to the Misstress. His remove curse spell is a touch-range spell so he needs to get very very close. Eggbert has established that the Misstress is an illusion covering what appears to be a young woman but the problem with illusions is THEY CAN STILL KILL YOU IF YOU BELIEVE IN THEM. Bari will need to take a test if he is detected to see whether he believes the illusion is not real or he could get diced up. An illusion isn't as deadly as the real thing but it is more than deadly enough to account for a lone cleric.
3) rescuing Seu and Yngwie. There are only two heroes small enough to fit in the passage that leads to the private quarters, and once in, they can't get Seu out the same way. Fighting your way through the temple is an option but not a great one. A party of 4, two shorties and two half dead guys will need to think of some way of either rejoining the group or making their own exit. Perhaps searching their immediate area may turn up something useful... ;)

So, maybe a show of volunteers will help get this game moving again! Hands up who:

1) wants to be in charge of destroying the gate
2) wants to help Bari get to the misstress (and how will you help?)
3) wants to go with Bufo to save the Paladin? (Obviously only Eggbert can volunteer but he doesn't HAVE to).
4) wants to lie around on a torture rack being a big sissy?

Oh and i forgot to include the location of the pit in the last revised map - so here it is. The Pit.

Bari was still not feeling at ease, the memory of giant spider leg pinning him down was still too fresh. Caught in his unsettling thoughts, he almost didn't hear the odd little trilling noise coming from the High Clerist's stave...

_____________________________________________________________________

"LOVE...... LOVE? LOVE!!"

The giant's voice boomed over mountains and plains, and seemed to shake the world to it's very core. The heap of scooped-up frozen earth beneath Seu's feet began to slide and crumble through the tree-sized fingers and threatened to toppled the battered, armoured warrior.

"YOU COME HERE BRINGING LOVE TO THE ICY HEART OF WINTER? WHAT A JOKE! BAHAHAHAAH!"

The sound of the mocking laughter was so loud that Seu's ears gave up and replaced it with a ringing that made him gasp. He fell to his knees, his gauntleted hand still gripping the cold iron Holy Avenger.

"I'M GOING TO SEND YOU TO YOUR LADY NOW, TINY MAN. AND BY THAT I MEAN I AM GOING TO CRUSH YOU AND FLING YOUR REMAINS TO THE FOUR WINDS. FAREWELL LITTLE WARRIOR."

The light of the sun was blocked by a giant hand that loomed aboove Seu, ready to come down upon him and crush him like a bug. It seemed to hang there for a really long time...
 

Asslessman

Member
"You can't... I mean you just can't send me to her because she just never leaves my thoughts and heart. Now call me little all you like, a man's worth is not measured by his size but by his actions..."

His grip tightening on the Holy Avenger sword, Seu ran amongst the debris ...

Good to be back :grin:

Seu is going to run till the giant's wrist, if the space permits, he'll jump from the hand toward the giant's heart to dive his holy sword into it. If it's outrageously too far away, he'll just run to his forearm.


Just for fun, here's Seu IRL in the middle of a frozen lake in Canada a month ago...
DSC00405.JPG
 

weazil

Moderator
No actual actions - just saying good to have you back!

Busy preparing for some warhammerage over the weekend, so role play activity will have to wait until at least Sunday.
 

Asslessman

Member
During his run on the giant's hand, Sue wondered about his companions... poor things were probably starving to death, crippled by their fall into the pit, some of them might even have died from the injuries. They were probably alone, desperate, waiting fro him to go and release them from their pain and fears...
Was Robin going to be okay ? he who loved open air and nature above all ?
Was Rambulge going to bear another seperation from friends after being seperated from his mother ?
Was Bari going to... well, Bari would probably be OK as long as he could "cleanse" himself (gosh those mental images)
What about Eggbert ? Seu had heard they could die from missing a meal or for smoking too little, would he stand ?
And Bufo? Wel lBufo wold most probably surronded by fecal matters if he wasn't dead and either way he would be just fine...
And Yngwie ? would his soul bear the load of not being able to avenge his people ?

That was more than he could say, Seu only knew that on such an occasion time for words was past, this was the time for steal and elegant dashes amongst ruins...
 
Bufo looked miserably down at the hanks of meat he held in both hands. Eggbert's words still hung in the air about his ears, like flies hanging about a three day old kobold dropping.

"Yeah, okay, I guess we'll go get Seu. But without the dying part, okay?"

Despite all they had been through, or maybe because of it, the little halfling was actually missing the poncy paladin, and wanted to be out of this horrible, nasty, smelly place. He gathered up what articles he could find that might be of use (there were some rocks he could use in a makeshift sling) and a couple of rusty daggers and nodded at the gnome to show he was ready to roll.

Bari's stave continued making it's funny little trilling sound. Noone seemed to pay it much heed though...


_____________________________________________________________


Seu ran like his life depended on it, because it very much did. The shadow of the massive hand descending upon him blocked out all the light from above, and the ground beneath him was sliding and slewing as the earth began crumbling through the frost giant's fingers. Seu slid, jumped, dived and skidded off the palm and made for the long pale forarm with it's forest of strange, icy hairs. The palms of the giant came together with a thunderous clap of noise and a massive blast of displaced air that blew the paladin off his feet, and off the giant - he was plummeting!

The great hanging icy beard of the giant rushed up to meet him, and suddenly he was entangled in the icy strands, grabbing at them as he tumbled and seeing them shatter in his grip. He tumbled head over feet, until he found himself clear of the beard and falling, rushing and tumbling against the body of the creature. He lashed out with his blessed cold iron blade, felt it bite deep, and held on as it sliced a keen line through the pallid skin, a long, smooth tear that slowed his fall. Cold mist gushed from the wound and the monster looked down and gave a mighty howl. Gale force winds buffeted the paladin and he bounced from the giant, the blade tearing from his grasp and spinning away, glittering in the daylight. Seu was now free-falling between the giant's legs, the distant ground coming closer and closer. With a prayer to the lady on his lips, the brave warrior prepared for the end, but with a sudden, painful, limb-wrenching lurch, he was grabbed by something with steely talons and great, sweeping wings. As consciousness fled him, he was aware of only one last though as the rhythmic beating of the wings lulled him into slumber.

Time to go back.


_____________________________________________



Bufo was worming forward on his stomach, following Eggbert through a tiny, dusty, dirty tunnel that stank like kobold. He had lost track of time completely - for all he knew, they could have been in there for weeks, though it was unlikely as he would probably have eaten the gnome by now otherwise. Bufo had trusted the kobolds when they said he could have fitted in their tunnels, but right now he was really, really regretting that seventh steak. His belly was bulging, and he was painfully aware of it, lying as he was. It was like he had swallowed a child's kick-ball. The gnome didn't seem to be having any difficulty at all - in fact being underground suited his folk rather well, though the smell he could have done without.

"Are we there yet....?" Bufo grumbled. Eggbert whispered back. "It seems we are almost there. Our kobold guide has cautioned us that from now on, any noise we make could potentially be heard by the snakemen. Well, actually, he said 'shuttup, snakes ahead,' but I gather that this was the implication." The gnome trailed off thoughtfully.

Pretty soon they came to a halt - Bufo knew this because he suddenly butted his head on the gnome's boots in the darkness. There was a silent pause, then:

"The kobold says the way is clear for us to exit the tunnel... more or less."

Bufo gulped. He was beginning to have second thoughts about this whole thing. He wondered what the others were doing right now...
 
Sated of his hunger, the all too familiar feeling of dread passed over Rambulge as he watched poor Bufo and Eggbert head off.
It was crunch time, and there could be no more delay...the spell sword felt like his balls were vanishing.

He took the steel mace and the battered shield emblazoned with a serpent from the pile of weapons on the table and made a few test swipes with the mace.
It felt good to have a weapon in his hand once more.
"I will destroy the gate" he proclaimed, his voice quivering slightly with emotion "or die trying" and he looked down and away dramatically.
The heroism of the moment was tarnished slightly as he set down his weapon and rummaged in his pants for a moment- much to Rambulge's relief his balls were still there.
 

Asslessman

Member
During his fall, Seu had almost been paralyzed with the ground nearing... "don't look down..." so Seu had looked up... sadly the sight offered from a fall between the giant's legs was even worse and that's when Seu was truly shocked... the pain he suddenly felt as his limbs seemed like ant's in a child's hand got him out of his terror but lead him behind the dark veil of consciousness, the sound of wings the only thing he sensed before...
 
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