Fetzen

Kings and Killers: A Classical Fantasy Adventure (Chapter 1)

Fyr

@Sol Grim@Spiffy

Just as the greatest pirate that had ever lived was about to turn around and go back inside, what might have felt like the largest hand ever grown at the end of an arm tapped onto his shoulder firmly. "Didn't you, in all your amazement about yourself, forget something ?" the skeptical voice of Fyr would reach Dalious' ears.

"I... want... my... axe... back!"

Fyr tried to remain calm, but hoped that the very deliberate pause he had inserted between each two of his words would be enough to deliver the message of not accepting 'no!' as an answer. "And if you just run inside and frantically start searching anyone or anything, we might lose track of the exit we just found again!"

Fyr bowed and pick up the next piece of solid looking stone he could find, something there definitely wasn't a lack of right next to a cavern's entrace. Given they were in a desert, the mushroom cave's walls were less soaked in water than one might have expected from the average underground tunnel and thus also less covered in dirt and moss. That wasn't something Fyr couldn't replace with violence though, rubbing stone against stone so hard that a visible set of lines was left behind on the wall anyway. "I will make one of these each time we encounter any kind of crossing so we can just backtrack from whereever we end up. It also allows us to determine where we already searched and where we didn't, alright ?"

Fyr hoped that the greatest pirate that had ever lived, in all his self-glorification, would fail to realize the obvious problem with the sign Fyr had just created immediately: It was not an arrow or anything everyone would understand intuitively, but more of a rune as it was more common in the Northern lands he came from, but rarely seen elsewhere. A humble attempt at installing a backdoor should Dalious suddenly decide to just leave everyone behind once he had found whom and whatever he wanted. Given the fact that they had just been a team fighting for their lives, this pirate had jumped the gun towards giving instructions without asking a little too fast for Fyr's taste. Was he just in search of a crew he could hire for a tiny budget ?

"Now let's find Cicero and then our gear!"

Fyr headed inside and guided his steps straight back to where he believed they had decided to go south instead of east. Or no... not they had decided this, again Dalious had all on his own!

The Five Senses - Second Arc (Accepting New Players!)

Týfurkh

For the vast majority of their introductionary trip through the vast prison, Týfurkh had remained almost remarkably silent. Part of this certainly was because he had to guide -- or rather drag - a certain Chres behind him so the latter wouldn't do anything very predictable, but no less stupid. Another part of this however was simply because he was boiling internally. Something quite outrageous was going on here, but unfortunately all of those sharing this assessment seemed to have come to the conclusion that he was the one responsible for it and not just yet another of its victims. Just how many open insults would he have to endure before he'd either try to abandon the pactmakers no matter what that fancy being had said, or at least start beating the shit out of Tayla due to sheer frustration about her demeanor ?

So far however, he had managed to silently drop all thoughts about exacting verbal revenge: He could have reminded the others that he was not the one breathing heavily after going up all those ramps despite the fact he was probably larger than Tayla, fancy princess and Karina combined. He could have asked the Lord whether this experimental wyres could be reconfigured so to suppress the urge for alcohol instead of magic or just given a rant about how one could dare to call a facility 'safe' that, in its core, relied on things one did not even understand. Or he could just have slapped Tayla right in her face when she had mentioned 'the fat one' and asked for his imprisonment.

Then it happened. At first, Týfurkh didn't even realize what had truly happened to Tayla and honestly suspected something serious. Once he became aware of the true culprit flying over their heads however, it felt more like even the divergence had seen the need for some compensatory justice. He straightforwardly decided not do anything and just let Tayla vomit out their guts, hoping that his demonstrative lack of effort would be enough to destroy any of these absurd 'love bug' theories!

Yet, the more time passed and the more Lys asked for someone to do something, the more this felt wrong, too. Maybe this would turn out to be a wasted opportunity if he continued that way..

"Well still better than not helping her, but putting up this accusatory tone about others not helping her, isn't it ?" Týfurkh snapped back at Lys as he stepped forward towards Tayla. It was hard, but he just had to swallow this vengeful comparison off the odds of his giant feet hitting the Lord's feet as the latter made a sudden move against the odds of bird poop hitting Tayla's slit of a mouth. No... true revenge was made not by adding insult to injury, but by letting the facts speak for themselves.

"Hold still!" he addressed Tayla with a strong voice so she'd be able to hear it despite all the regurgigating sounds and the screaming of hers, but it was more of an announcement of what he was about to do next than an order for whose successful execution he'd wait. Instead, he reached out for the woman's head and tried to hold it in one place and direction suited for the undisrupted flow of whatever might still come out of her mouth. And that even though, given her panic, it might need the force to crush a thousand love bugs for this...

"Someone make him- or herself useful and get water!" he shouted towards the others. "It got into her mouth!"

Was there any piece of cloth he could use ? Poop in her mouth would come out by spitting eventually, but he needed to make her get rid of that ugly feeling on her face! Well, he knew he had cloth on his body, but only beneath his armor! Tayla however... She wouldn't realize a small piece from the lower end of her clothes missing, and even if she'd be able to understand the good cause it had been used for, right ? It was quite easy to use his foot to wedge in one end between it and the floor she was now resting on and to use his other hand to rip off a piece.

"Close your eyes firmly! I'm going to wipe your face clean!" Given that water was still to come, spitting on the piece of cloth would have made the cleaning all the more effecting, but also all the more provocative. So Týfurkh decided to do it the dry way by just adding some more pressure as he started swiping away the poop trails the best he could, still holding her head.

Good thing your 'love bug' isn't behind bars yet as you requested. And should you ask for that a second time after this, I'm just gonna slap your face into oblivion! Týfurkh thought. Yet at the same time he knew that Tayla was just part of the problem. Someone else had made up this entire, stupid love triangle story, and he needed to find out who...

If only the magic suppressing properties wouldn't still be somewhat present. He could have used his magic to help cleaning her teeth! A blast of wind right into her mouth maybe, or some very high frequency vibration ? Of course there was serious potential she'd feel either seriously hurt or seriously sick afterwards, but it really wasn't like she wasn't already doing that.

Kings and Killers: A Classical Fantasy Adventure (Chapter 1)

Fyr

_{@Sol Grim@Spiffy}

Fyr frowned as he saw the other demonfolk being... taken apart... by Dalious and the former slaves. Not that this particular individual hadn't deserved it in his opinion, but just a little bit later would have been nice! There could never be enough interrogation if one had the opportunity. And then there was the fact that they all proceeded southwards now. Sure, the eastwards direction could be a trick, but the impression that the exit was down south could just be an illusion as well.

Where was his beloved axe ? What if they'd all even run away and force him to do the same once out of here so he'd never get the chance to retrieve it ? Or what if those demonfolk had even dared to disassemble it and melt it down already ? Just the thought alone felt nasty enough already!

"Anybody got something to burn ? Some of the stones here look as if one could make sparks with them. I want to test something before we continue!" He really would have liked not to raise his voice so much, but anything more silent and nobody would have heard him. They all seemed very enthusiastic to get out as soon as possible. Not that he wasn't, too...

The Mystery (WolfLover + Fetzen)

"Oh yes, instructions...." the other male behind his desk mumbled loudly enough for both of his visitors to pick it up easily, but still more to himself than towards anybody else. The piece of furniture he sat in front of appeared to have a nearly limitless supply of yet undiscovered drawers and storage containers given the fact that the officer spent more than a minute digging through them in order to find something. That something, in the end, turned out to be a rather thin stack of parchments with letters written all the more neatly.

"Here, your instructions. I haven't read through them myself to their fullest extent, but I will give you a brief summary of what I've understood. As a general advance warning however, I am not the one ultimately in command of you, and have been provided with somewhat limited knowledge about this matter myself. Some higher ups are running this, some... very higher ups I ought to mention!" The officer nodded slowly several times to underline his own words. "So, see me more of a proxy. I will happily forward any complaints you might have, as long as they affect those in charge of this mission."

So, in other words: No, the screwjob with the missing guide had actually been a rather local affair...

Valentin reached for the parchment, but only took a glance at the top cover before handing it over to Amara. He obviously was not in the mood to read that thing right now, but all the more willing to just listen. If Amara would dare to dig into the document however, she would find a quite detailed, foldable map of the entire kingdom along with a rather generic greeting, the details concerning their contract and the potential reward, and a rather long list of things they were supposed not to do while on the this job (primarily to handle things on a strict need-to-know basis and not to involve any unncessary individuals) and, of course, a motivational description of why what they were doing was so important and what the scholars thought what they might find or not find.

"So..." the male continued, taking in another volume of air before starting his speech:

"This is a very delicate thing. You are not supposed to talk to anybody about this unless strictly instructed to do so or if you happen to have a damn good reason. No need to mention that your employers will ensure to check this reason's validity afterwards...

Strange events have taken place and you are to investigate, to cut it short. You have a map that not only contains the direction you have to go, but should also have a vew special markings spread along your route. These are designated locations where certain arrangements have been made for you so to avoid any uncalculatable trouble. I think the individual letters next to the crosses designate the type of arrangement you can expect to find there: rooms already rented for you, supply caches, people checking in on you."

The officer rolled his eyes.

"Do I need to state explicitly what I think what the latter's real purpose is ? Supervising you, of course. Whatever help those 'people' might be is probabyl more a facade than anything else. I don't know, but these are not my or anybody else's soldiers. So... don't expect high standards, okay ? Wouldn't be surprised if these individuals will turn out to be more scoundrel than anything else. I and you will just have to trust your employers which, as already mentioned, are very high up the command chain."

"So please read through this now and check whether the markings are there and if you have any questions."

Beta Testers Needed

I'd be happy, too :)

Poo's Particular Interests

I've decided I have room for one more, but I might not be the fastest to respond due to a busy real-life schedule in general! If a spot's still open, I'd like throw my hat into the ring for the bandit/cabal RP :)

Kings and Killers: A Classical Fantasy Adventure (Chapter 1)

Fyr

A gambeson... It felt quite a little weird and that not only because he had not worn any protective gear in a long time, but also because back in his homeland, they used different stuff in general. It was quite the tight affair in his case to say the least, but Fyr could clearly see that it was way better than nothing and gave the former slave who had donned it an appreciative nod.

None of them seemed to be willing to stay behind, none of them seemed unmotivated or afraid and even Dalious right next to him seemed to be driven by the urge to exact revenge upon those demonfolk. Fyr turned around and tightened his grip around his shovel, then decided on his callout to start the attack: "I want my axe back!" As if slaying all the guards had any real potential to get him closer to knowledge about its whereabouts... but at least then he'd be able to search with all the profoundness and privacy necessary!

Given the number of marching feet, Fyr did not even start to hope that they'd manage to approach the guards unnoticed. He did count on them not expecting such a large number of people under so little control however and exchanged a brief grin with Dalious. "Are you ready for something ?" A brief pause, then he continued: "I mean, you look like quite the quick and maneuverable person. I'm sure I could help you to be even more of a surprise to them..."

It didn't take long for the stampede to reach their first destination however. "We need to talk about my idea before the next fight! It was too late now, but there certainly were more guards to come after these, which they hopefully would be able to dispose of quickly. Fyr thrusted forwards giving the impression of a wandering earthquake, his shovel in one hand and his other fist ready to strike. It was not as much of a bloody mess as it had been in Cicero's case earlier, but a much more mangled one on the individual level as Fyr managed to deflect the guardsman's blade with the shovel first and then made it break through the demonfolk's ribs and stop the heart from beating. The other one ? Well, there was Dalious and plenty of former slaves it would have to deal with...

Rolls

Attack against first guard: 1d20+3 = 23

The Mystery (WolfLover + Fetzen)

Knock twice? That actually was the first really useful bit of information they had ever gotten since venturing into this building. Valentin couldn't help but try to exchange a quick smirk towards Amara, then did as they were told and hammered against the door. Yes, hammered. He wanted to make sure they were being noticed with topmost priority and that nobody could claim anything different for some petty excuse. Aside from that, the overburdening number of offices apparently had gotten to his nerves.

"Yes ?" a stern male voice answered the prompt from inside. Valentin opened the door which, at least, was not nearly as massive as the one guarding this particular arrangement of rooms as a whole.

"Oh, you two! Welcome to my little chambers! I've hoped to see you a little earlier. I hope nothing's disturbed your journey here ?"

Valentin gnashed his teeth behind tightly sealed lips. Either the person in front of them was completely oblivious or very audacious. "Oh well, yes! Everything went fine until the last couple hundred yards!" it burst out of him. "And after having gone through those I have to say that the only place even more disappointing than this one to meet you would maybe have been the sewers!"

Silence. The other man leaned back behind his quite large and ornated desk, the chair protesting against his somewhat overweight figure. Then he just started to laugh. "Welcome to bureaucracy! Normally we only have soldiers here, people who either know this place inside out already or have learend to obey without complaint. You two belong to neither category and I was afraid you'd encounter problems, but apparently my request for a personal guide for you... hasn't gotten very far."

"Now would you please sit down ?" and he gestured towards two chairs standing in a corner.

𝕯𝖊𝖑𝖛𝖊 ✦ 𝔞 𝔤𝔬𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔠 𝔣𝔞𝔫𝔱𝔞𝔰𝔶 𝔯𝔬𝔩𝔢𝔭𝔩𝔞𝔶

Varandas

Sleep. The great unknown everybody embraces at the end of a long, hard day, yet at the same time many people fear for it seems to take away a third of our already short time on this world for an unclear purpose. Rest and regeneration for our bodies, they say. Couldn't the gods, nature or whatever root cause for our existence you believe in have designed us in a way that we don't need such things though ? The sun doesn't tire and neither do the growing trees, so why do we have to ?

Luckily, research and basic thinking have made significant progress over the last few centuries.

The conclusion, to cut it short, is that you, my friend, under no circumstances should be tempted to think that your new body would allow you to just get away without sleep. You might no longer have warm blood flowing in your veins, no longer experience the primordial fear of death the very moment you can't breathe freely anymore, but you still have your mind. It working properly and being able to provide you with thoughts and memories in an ordered, understandable manner actually is a positive result of sleep, too. You will suffer the same mental deterioration as a drunkard or anybody else who is deprived of sleep, so don't even try.

You also shouldn't try to stray too far away from the sleeping customs you might have learned in your earlier life. A bed might be far less mandatory for you than before, but still it will save your bones and tendons some unecessary and hard-to-fix wear and tear if you don't spend your restful nights standing upright instead of on a pile of pillows. Also the people around you, probably already hard pressed by your mere appearance, might feel just a tad more comfortable in your presence if you don't burden them with too many weird, unfamiliar new habits.

- Enthrallment in a nutshell. A pratical guide for newcomers. Madawc, 99852

A small cloud of dust burst out of the old, sturdy pieces of parchment as Varandas closed the heavy tome and put it down on the small table besides him. Would he ever have imagined to be given a manual for his body one day ? Probably not. And despite this, he had to admit internally that he had not even read through the massive book entirely yet. Too ugly some of the detailed drawings, too profound the fear of reading something he really didn't like because it didn't meet his hopes and expectations and way too great the urge to just try out everything like a small child who's been given a new toy to play with.

The most depressing fact however was that the text was one and a half centuries old and still many parts of it felt so far ahead of time. The world really must have turned into quite a shittier place over the last couple of decades. Or Madawc was just a madman who had taken his out-of-the-box existence and transferred it all too happily onto his thinking. Both, perhaps.

Anyway. It was time to get up!

The idea of obfuscating any weird, rotting smell with cheap perfume had been a very good one. Okay, Madawc had mentioned something like this in his book as well, but he hadn't mentioned a lot of the tricks Varandas had figured out himself to make it last longer! That stuff was not exactly super cheap, which probably was the reason why Varandas could merely bathe in the glory of nothingness coming out of the bottle today. Empty... Great. How was he supposed to get over with this ceremony without olfactory assistance ? People would start thinking he was overdoing things and already trying to exhibit post-mortem behavior even before having truly been sent into that dungeon of theirs!

Or wait... Maybe they had some fancy smelly stuff there for him to use ? One should never give up one's hopes prematurely!

So, step two: Getting into daytime clothes. Varandas could outright skip that -- even just trying to carefully maneuver his shirt over that glowing crystal in his chest at least twice a day had proven to be an unbearable and costly nuisance almost from day one. He had transitioned to just replacing the shirt when it was too worn out long ago.

So where was all his other stuff left then ? This rented tavern room was as tiny as it was dirt cheap, but still it seemed possible to lose track of things in here. Okay, he had just dumped all of his gear onto two large piles on the floor, too. Shame on himself! The brief period of searching also gave him the opportunity to ask himself another question though: Was appearing in full gear even allowed at this ceremony or would that be too disrespectful ? And should he ask the innkeeper for an empty barrel before he left ? There was the saying that a rich man's wine barrel bottom was a poor man's shield and maybe he could use that sooner than he would have liked, but on the other hand it would be more of a burden -- and a humiliating one on top of that. Hell why did he even think about anything like 'humiliation' at this point anymore now that he had embarked onto this journey of almost certain no-return ?

Even for something like this one first had to get to the starting point, however. When given the choice, people always preferred to give directions to a living person and not the walking corpse. Today however he could make people laugh by telling them it was for attending a living funeral! An ironic joke it was somehow in his case, really...

Kings and Killers: A Classical Fantasy Adventure (Chapter 1)

I strongly assume it is possible still, but of course the GMs and Co-GMs have the definitive word on this :)