Navero 23
From: dparsons@jarthur.claremont.edu (Daniel Parsons) Newsgroups: rec.games.frp Subject: Navero XXIII Distribution: world Organization: Harvey Mudd College, Claremont, CA 91711 Keywords: Navero, of the Correct and Unalterable Way
- Navero, male human cleric, 4th level
- Dania, female 1/2-elf MU, 4th level
- Kortul, male human fighter, 3rd level
- Razuli, male human fighter, 3rd level
- Arlor, male dwarf thief, 3rd level
- Kory Silvertongue, male elf bard, 2nd level
- Topash, male elf druid, 3rd level
Morning came, foggy and dim, to the marshes. Nothing had come to the camp to eat us in the night. The nocturnal sounds of the swamp were uninterrupted. The mists were very thick; feeling somewhat vulnerable, we loaded the skiff and set out, pausing now and then to bash an adventurous crocodile on the nose. In the fog, everything seemed subdued and quiet, as if listening, and waiting for something. Thick, gnarled trees rose up from the hidden ground, vines and mosses and strangleweed hanging from their branches.
Kory: "Oh, I just LOVE what they've done with this place! So totally retro-primeval. I must say, this dampness suits you quite admirably, dear magic-user. The way your robe clings to you is SO evocative of the dreamy summer days of my distant youth."
Dania: "Leave me out of your wet dreams."
Arlor: "I wanna go home."
Kory: "You be quiet. I'm quite happy here."
Navero: "I wish it weren't so wet. This would be a nice place; those trees over there are kind of nice."
Kortul: (Starts) "quiet!"
Kory: "What? Be QUIET? Don't you understand me? Of course you don't. To remain quiet is against the rules of my chosen profession. Why, I come from a veritable royalty of splendidly harmonic issuance, perhaps the finest..."
Razuli: (Clamps a hand over Kory's mouth.) "Bard, ya got three choices: shut up, dive in, or start losing appendages. Your tongue won't be last."
Kory: "Music haters."
Topash: "No; there is a disturbance near here."
Razuli: "You feel a tremor in the force, Obi-wan?"
Topash: (sigh.) "No; something is watching us."
Dania: "I don't see anything."
Kortul: "'course not."
Arlor: "I really wanna go home."
Dania: "So start swimming."
Navero: "Maybe it would be a good idea if we all tried to be quiet?"
Party: Yea, sure, right kiddies, etc. (Party stays quiet maybe 2 minutes.)
Kory: "Damn. I gotta go to the bathroom."
Topash: "Why didn't you go before we started?"
Kory: "Oh, your buffness? You too, Raz. Could I trouble you two kind gentlemen to pole us over to the side, by those reeds? Thank you kindly."
Razuli: "Shit, Bard. But not here."
Kory: "That's what I'm trying to do."
With faint but audible grumbling, the skiff was poled over to the side of the river. Kory jumped out and went into the bushes. Then, suddenly we all heard a great crackling, like trees being torn up and pushed aside; a blast of chill air swept over us. A big black shape rose up out of the mists on the opposite shore, opened it's jaws, and spit. The glob of digestive acid hit the skiff amidships, spattering everyone; we all dove into the water to wash the vile liquid off. Everyone but Navero, that is. He was hit full in the face with the glob, and, without even a chance to scream, dissolved into the bottom of the skiff. The acid ate out the bottom, and the whole thing went down.
Party: AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!
Twang! Light! Hurl!
Spellcast! "Kill the *%&$@\%*&!!"
K K A BBB L A M M
"Bolt!" KK A-A B-B L A-A MMM
Twang! K K A A BBB LLL A A M M
Throw! Ka-Thunk! Twang!
Whunk!
Twang! Twang!
(Plus many other sounds commonly made by a badly frightened party unloading into some poor defenseless little dragonling.)
The baby Black wobbled in mid-air a bit, then silently crashed into the middle of the river. Being a small shallow river, it was only partially submerged, so we spent another couple of rounds filling it with arrows and bolts and magic until we had assured ourselves that it was dead.
Dania: "Is it dead?"
Kory: "It damn well better be!"
Razuli: "Where's the priest?"
Kortul: "In the boat."
Dania: "Where's the boat?"
Kortul: "On the bottom."
Dania: "Oh fuck it, not again."
Dania splashed into the remains of the skiff; most of our equipment was acid-seared and water-logged, but some was salvageable. Of Navero, she was able to find a shoe, a few teeth, and not much else. Kortul and Razuli waded out to the Dragon; they were careful to stay upstream, as the water was already becoming laden with it's noisome blood. By this point, the thing was quite dead; sadly, the hide was too badly damaged to be of much use, and we knew of nothing else that had value.
Kortul: (Prying out a canine) "Treasure?"
Razuli: "I got no idea where it is. Better find some to satisfy snot-face. Are we going back there?"
Dania: "Remember the chits? Forget running."
Topash: "A monetary prize would be of some use. This `snot-face' you mention seems unnecessarily obsessed with money, however; perhaps if he did not receive any, he would realize the utter futility of concern over material wealth."
Razuli: "Yea, yea, what he said. Let's get rid of these things and get outa here."
Kory: "My feelings exactly! I wish to skip merrily through the woods, free of the dismal chains of bureaucracy! Besides, this dumb little thing clashes with my tunic. Let us be done with them!"
Dania: "Right. I'll look into it. But first we find this thing's treasure."
Topash: "I shall look into that." (Shapechanges into a sparrow, flies off.)
Dania: "Don't go alone, you... oh, you idiot."
The sparrow flew off in the direction the dragon had come from. The land in this direction was higher than usual, almost dry; following the dragons trail was not difficult. It had been moving along beside them for some time; no doubt awoken from a gorged sleep by all the noise the others had been making. It seemed to have come out of an overgrown spot on a small, gentle hill. That seemed the most likely spot for the lair.
Sailing on his borrowed wings, Topash flew into the trees, gliding between their high and noble trunks. They were tall and straight, unusual for the area, and further apart than usual. Faint depressions in the earth indicated that other trees had once stood there, but had been thinned away, allowing these others to grow higher. They effectively screened a large area from the air, preventing the occupant from being seen from that angle. It was amazing that a dragon which seemed so young could have done all this.
Fluttering deeper in, the ground vegetation thinned, revealing the occasional track. Most of these were ordinary; rabbit or such. Some were dragon's tracks; however, a couple of these were quite a bit larger than a small dragon could be expected to make. A very uncomfortable thought began to rise; Topash nervously flew on, to make a startling and disconcerting discovery at the center of the wood. He elected to quietly leave and inform his new companions of this unexpected turn of events.
(Sparrow shrieks into the middle of the group like a bat out of hell, changes into an elf in mid-air and crashes to the ground. Topash stands up.)
Topash: "Can the boat be repaired? QUICKLY?!?"
Razuli: "I doubt it. You didn't find the treasure, did ya?"
Topash: "No, I'm afraid not. Instead, I found your baby's parents. Do you know anything about dragons? Like, they rarely have children? And that those children are valued more than the earth itself? And they get a trifle annoyed with people who kill their children?"
Arlor: "I'm going home."
Kory: "Oh, Christ! How did you people ever talk me into going on this ill-fated expedition? You told me, Dragon! Singular! I'm terribly sorry, but multiple dragons is not in my contract."
Dania: "Goddamn it all.... We better get the fuck out of here!"
Kortul: "Useless. On foot. They're flying. Will defoliate whole swamp to find us."
Topash': "I must agree. They are going to be quite upset when they find out."
Razuli: "Waitaminute, waitaminute. `When they find out'? They don't know yet?"
Dania: "Yea, didn't they hear us?"
Topash: "Ah, no. They're asleep. Older dragons sleep more heavily."
Kory: "Oh.... Asleep, you say, dear woodsy-type-person?"
Kortul: "Have to kill them."
Razuli: "That just might be possible, kids. Where are they?"
Topash: (Hmm...) "There seems no other option, so... this way, please."
Dan Parsons
NAVERO XXIII
"There sure are an awful lot of dragons around here."
