jj@rabbit.UUCP (01/10/84)
As we left the party before Christmas, we had the following situation: Gavalin on the floor, with a badly sprained ankle. Slider standing over a stranger with his sword at the stranger's throat. Izugami carrying around a pitcher of beer, and NOT offering the party any. Trylla fixing up the somewhat messed Balinor, who took a bad arrow shot to the back. Balinor staying very still, and waiting for Trylla to finish binding his wound securely. Bjarney singing a very calm sort of song at the first stranger, Fjosjne, who is now asleep and tied up. Lendell standing a watch of sorts, having just cast a spell. Ayudante standing by the door doing something that seems to be of an informational nature. The situation, for the minute, is quiet. ====================== The silence is broken by Gavalin, who says, "My old teacher always told me to CONSOLIATE the situation. It appears that right now the thing to do is to establish the security of the inn. First, somebody tie that jerk on the floor. <Lendell is already moving to do this, so...> Second, make sure ALL the doors are locked, and check to see that the shutters are barred and blocked. <Slider says, "I know that, just as soon as this turkey is taken care of. I'm tempted to take care of him myself!> Third, someone should go upstairs and check out the front of the building. Fourth, it just occurred to me, you know, that we have a couple of hostages here. Maybe the people outside just might care about that. Then again, they might NOT care much either." Trylla says, "Well, it occurs to me that these two idiot jocks, or whatever they are, just might know something. Perhaps we should ASK them. Of course, I wouldn't DREAM of being any less gentle than they were to poor Balinor." <It should be here noted that Trylla's usually gentle, if somewhat brittle demeanor has become considerably less gentle in the last few minutes, starting sometime around when she took a good look at the sleeping Fjosjne.> At this point, Bjarney interrupts to say, "First, let's head upstairs. Gavalin, can you make it up the stairs?" Bjarney and Gavalin then head up the stairs, while Slider <who started moving as soon as the other stranger was tied up> checks out the doors and windows. Lendell is seen to be helping Slider, but he seems a bit dazed, almost like he is concentrating on something else at the same time. Izugami hands a small package to Trylla, saying "Here, this might make Balinor a bit more comfortable." and heads upstairs behind the slowly climbing Gavalin. Before he's ouf of sight, Ayudante calls him to the front door for a second. The two of them have a short conversation. [The contents of the conversation aren't detailed here, but they are not private, and concern where the two outside strangers are, and where they're moving, at least as far as Ayudante can tell.) Izugami then heads upstairs. Ayudante asks Slider if he can have the bucket of water that Slider is carrying, and then motions to Slider to get ready to toss it out the door at the strange writing on the steps while he opens/closes the door rapidly. <Note, Ayudante is NOT opening the door right now, just preparing to.> He concentrates for a few seconds, and then says "NOW!" [Open. Splash. Close. THUD!] "THUD???!!!!" says Ayudante. "Hmmmm. There isn't anyone near the door!" Slider taps Ayudante on the shoulder and points to the bucket, which is now in pieces spread across the floor from the door to the place where Slider is standing. "Hmmmm. That's certainly not quite right, now, is it, Slider? Methinks that we shall NOT undertake that step when we come to it, now." Meanwhile, from upstairs, Bjarney is heard to call out, "You out there. If you ever want to see your boss again, drop your weapons and stand in sight of the door. You have 30 seconds from NOW." The only reply that is immediately evident is a quiet "thwipppp" from the side of the small window that Bjarney is peeking from, followed by a twang from the next room. (Where, not too surprisingly, Gavalin and Izugami are hiding, with bows at the ready.) Shortly after the twanging sound, there is a soft gasp from outside. Downstairs, Ayudante, who has been periodically concentrating on the outside, looks a bit pained, and says, "That's one. Ouch!" Bjarney "Twenty seconds, or Fjosface gets it." Ayudante calls out, "He's gone from my range, I think he may be leaving." Bjarney calls from upstairs that the other, and apparently last, stranger has left to the east, toward the road, without his partner, who seems to be down with two arrows in him, one in the leg, and one in the upper left quadrant of the chest. (Gavalin is heard to comment, "Good shot, there, Izzy, remind me to stay on the right side of that bow of yours!" At this point, Ayudante comments that there is little sense in looking for Dokkalfar in the dark, so they might ask the prisoner (the one who is awake, at least) who/what this is all about. Gavalin picks the sleeping Fjosjne up and carries him toward the fire. Slider grabs the other (concious) stranger, and drags him toward the fire also, finally positioning him against a chair looking at the fire. The stranger closes his eyes, and complains about the bright light. At this point Ayudante, Lendell, Trylla, and Gavalin all start asking questions, with Bjarney a step behind. Bjarney roars "Quiet!" and asks the stranger something in the same odd language that he used a little while ago on Fjosjne. After a few attempts, Bjarney backs off in disgust, and says "I can't say out loud, [at least on THIS net], what he told me to do. I don't think he really cares to enlighten us." Izugami says "Too bad, Fjosjne won't be up for an hour or so, maybe he'd know when he was beat." Ayudante heads toward the front door, and wanders about a bit, concentrating occasionally. The stranger sits for a while, and then starts to say something. In the middle of the first word, he keels over, and stops breathing. <Trylla looks at Fjosyne, and notices that he, too, has stopped breathing.> A closer look reveals that Fjosyne and the other stranger both appear to have massive burns about the head and shoulders. Gavalin says "My ankle still hurts, I think it's badly sprained. Funny, I've never done that before!" ============================ Finally, we're back to the normal schedule. The next moves are due by next Sunday. I'll post the results either on Sunday night or Tuesday night.