chris@houxe.UUCP (C.SOTINSKY) (03/24/84)
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Subject: Tark Cindel, Road Robbers and Intrigue [Issue 5]
Intro: Our heroes have joined a merchant caravan to the capital
city of Tark Cindel; for the clerics it is a mission
for their temple, but for the rest the motive is purely
excitement and a way to see the world. As we rejoin them
they are departing from Blund, hearts filled with anticipation.
The trip to the capital was almost uneventful. Graeham, the head guard,
was suspicious of the party and hence uncommunicative. Though, he did
open up a little after they were attacked one night. Gary was on watch
with Donal (another guard, and the friendliest one of the bunch, for which
Gary was quite grateful). After being cooped up in the cooking wagon
all day, it was nice to get out and stretch, and tune into the quite of the
forest. He was quite lucky that after a while he detected something rustling
out in the woods. Donal allowed him to go a little ways into the woods
to see if he could get a better idea of what it was. Unfortunately, Gary
was only able to identify a very, very acrid smell, before he chickened out
and headed back to camp to report. Donal and Gary then woke everyone up.
A large insectoid monster came crashing out of the woods, and was promptly
set upon by Brunhilde, Odyssa and all the guards but Graeham. It was
quite a frightful thing to see, and the stench made their eyes water and
their throats ache. Alexis and Gary attempted to get off some spells.
Before they had a chance to complete them, Odyssa had been snatched up
by one of the beast's pincers, and was being waved in the air.
At the same time, the monster let go a powerful blast of air, disrupting
Alexis' spell and knocking her to the ground, along with some of the
guards. Gary was lucky enough to get his sleep spell off before collapsing
on the ground to retch. The monster slept, and Brunhilde promptly
severed it's neck. With great delight, too. Upon recovery, everyone took
a good look at the thing and then settled in for the rest of the night.
Gary took some time to do something funny with the monster, but no one
was really paying attention.
Upon reaching town, the goods were dropped off and everyone was given Alyosha's
permission to pursue their own activities for the evening, with orders
to be back by six the next morning for the return trip.
Alexis sped off to visit her parents, who ran a high-quality armory
business on the right side of town. Odyssa went directly to the
Athenian temple, presented her 'credentials', and explained her
mission. The acolyte who met her, led her to a large metal chest,
about 4'x3'x2', which had been waiting for her arrival.{METAL chest
-?-for alter robe patterns?} Odyssa expressed doubts that she needed the
chest, but was assured that she definitely DID need the whole chest
to successfully meet her commitments. With assistance from the temple
guards, she managed to get the HEAVY chest loaded into a borrowed
wagon. Not being an experienced teamster, Odyssa almost ran down
a young man as she drove back to the warehouse. She was unable to
apologize as he vanished quickly into the crowd after deftly averting
a trampling. She had only enough time to catch a glimpse of his
face, and make a personal vow to apologize if she ever saw him again,
as she continued on her way.
After a visit to her deity's temple, Brunhilde went bar hopping
and got thrown out of a few taverns. Gary went wandering about and
came across the Magic-User's Guild, a hotel/resource center for
transient spellcasters. He went in and discovered in the bar,
a beautiful, [and I mean BEAUTIFUL; Charisma > 18], young woman.
Gary obtained two glasses of the best wine, and went to
introduce himself. There was a moment of doubt, but the lady was
receptive, and released the crowd of admirers gathered around her.
They talked for a while, Gary suggesting dinner, and the lady declining.
She was waiting for a "very good" friend of hers, and would be busy.
She did fill him in on the news about town, including the rumors of
a plot to overthrow King Threor. He soon took her hints that she'd
rather be alone, and left. On his way out the door, he was quite
surprised to meet none other than J. C. Penee. They had a few words,
but J. C. was eager to meet his date (Gary smiled to himself at this
comment) and couldn't linger. Bored, Gary then went to the local
MU shop across the street to browse and kill time.
At six the next morning the party re-grouped at the warehouse. Alexis
was all excited about her family's big news; her sister was getting
married in June. She bent Brunhilde's ear as Brunhilde simply
tried to survive the after effects of her night on the town. Odyssa
spent a few minutes, quietly coaxing Alyosha to include the metal
chest of "robe patterns" with his other goods for transport back
to Blund. Gary reviewed the culinary supplies. Finally the caravan
was set to depart. Alyosha bid them farewell as he went to take
care of pressing business, and the wagons pulled out of Tark Cindel,
heavily loaded.
The first few days travel went without incident, but on the third evening
as the crew set camp for the night, they were attacked by a pack of
monsters. Owl Bears came at them from the left and ogres from the right.
Leading the attack from the rear was a tall, dark and handsome Magic
User. The battle raged on for what seemed to Gary an eternity. Brunhilde
became a one woman assault team as she rose to the occasion in the
furious agitation of her berserker nature. Blood was everywhere,
confusion was rampant as one by one the regular Dorsai guards were
slain. But even Brunhilde couldn't keep up the pace and match wits
with the MU/illusionist, and it was Alexis, tired and at the end of her
limits who finally laid the first and last blow on the MU, ending the
attack. In the end, Donal found himself left with only the Blunders to
join him in rejoicing over their eventual victory.
It was a disheveled and somber party which finally limped back into
Blund. The cargo was saved, but the loss of five Dorsai guards
weighed heavily on the Blunders spirits as they went to collect
the balance of their pay for the trip. J.C.Penee was even less pleased
to learn of the disaster, and refused come across with the full
amount which had been promised. The Blunders were too tired, and
miserable to fight him, and settled for half what had been promised
just to be free and home again. There was a good deal of resentment
on both sides as they parted company.
Odyssa managed to persuade Brunhilde to assist Alexis and herself
in delivering the chest of patterns to the temple. Gary accompanied
them mostly for moral support, being of little use in hard labor.
He did express concern over the incongruities of the chest, and
mentioned the tales he had heard in T.C. of plots to overthrow King
Threor. Alexis was exceedingly upset at the suggestion of a coup,
as was Odyssa. When the patterns had been delivered, they thanked
Gary & Brunhilde for their help, and agreed to meet them at the
boarding house in the morning. Gary & Brunhilde then departed, while
Alexis and Odyssa entered the temple on the premise that they must
take care of their devotional obligations.
Once in the safety of their cloister, the two clerics attempted
to discover what was going on--i.e. what had they REALLY been transporting
and what was known among the faithful regarding the rumored coup
plots. They were successful in one respect; they learned that
the chest actually contained valuable temple artifacts being moved
to Blund for safety, just in case the political climate turned
against Athenians in T.C. But when they asked about what (if anything)
was being done to avert the coup, they were put off by the elders with
statements to the effect that they should "trust in Athena". Finally,
they gave up their investigations, paid their respects to their
Goddess, and went back to the boarding house for a bath and a
decent nights sleep.
Ah, to dream, in peace and safety--quiet uninterrupted slumber--
a dream, only a dream...
[Next Issue: Midnight Callers & New Companions]
Edited by: Chris Sotinsky [houxe!chris] & Lynda Feng [houxz!llf].