Navero 36
From rec.games.frp Sun Apr 1 23:16:29 1990 Path: uci-ics!jarthur!dparsons From: dparsons@jarthur.Claremont.EDU (Daniel Parsons) Newsgroups: rec.games.frp Subject: Navero XXXVI Keywords: Navero, of the Correct and Unalterable Way Message-ID: <5721@jarthur.Claremont.EDU> Date: 2 Apr 90 05:50:38 GMT Organization: Harvey Mudd College, Claremont, CA 91711 Lines: 362
Game Master: Aw, come on. It wasn't that bad, was it?
Party: Grumble Mumble Bitch Snarl Glare
Game M: Alright, I admit fooling you about Desmod like that may have been uncalled for.
Kory: I enjoyed it immensely. However, we are quite a bit poorer than we were when we started all this. And we still have no idea where the Orb of Spheres is. I hope you do, dear dungeon master.
Game M: Oh, I know where it is. You'll find it eventually.
Dania: I didn't think we'd actually lose money on an adventure.
Game M: Well, sure! Think of archaeological expeditions; you don't get what you want every time.
Navero: Sometimes you never find it, just spend more and more money looking.
Game M: Exactly.
Dania: Can I get Dania's staff recharged?
Game M: Uh... (Looks in book) Yeah, you can. Look for someone who can do it in the next town.
Razuli: OK... getting us to throw our money away on a useless adventure is alright, so long as you don't start making a habit of it.
Game M: Useless? Oh, no no. But you'll see about that later.
- Navero, male human cleric, 4th level
- Dania, female 1/2-elf MU, 4th level
- Kortul, male human fighter, 4th level
- Razuli, male human fighter, 4th level
- Kory, male elf bard, 3rd level
- Topash, male elf druid, 3rd level
- Meth, male ? thief, 3rd level
We tore out of Methigor into the night. Behind us, violet and red explosions came out of the observatory. The undead around us screamed and wailed and howled and gibbered, with fear and anger and awful hunger. We pushed our mounts to a speed only those which feel no pain can achieve. Gradually, the undead thinned out, and then were gone altogether, as we rode out of their encampments. We then stopped, counted party members, and looked back on the castle. Nothing was left of the observatory tower, and of most of the other towers. The outer wall was breached in places, and the courtyard was filled with fire. As we watched, the walls collapsed, and it all went down.
Dania: "Shit!"
Kory: "Good Lord."
Razuli: "Can we go home now?"
Topash: "I believe we should stay and clean up this mess, and restore the greenery that once covered the land. Someone must do it."
(Pause. Everyone stares at Topash.)
Topash: "...er... maybe not."
Meth: "I'm going to get to the nearest city and spend some time convincing myself that all this was a hallucination."
Navero: "Lots of the undead have been destroyed. What will happen to the Bloodstone?"
Dania: "The idiots will take care of it, probably. They certainly wouldn't miss out on destroying an evil artifact."
Topash: "Hmmm... Shouldn't these horses be returned to the earth, where they belong now?"
Dania: "You wanna walk?"
Topash: "Yes, we'd best do it later."
Navero: "Uh, all the undead that weren't killed are fleeing from the castle. A few hundred of them are coming this way. Shouldn't we run?"
Kory: "Yes, lets. Perhaps we can stop for tea and crumpets another time."
We rode. And rode. And rode and rode and rode well into the night until our butts were threatening to sue us for damages. Nothing came near us, although we saw plenty of things along the way. We did notice that the great black cloud cover seemed to be breaking up; a star could be glimpsed occasionally. When we were finally just too tired to go on, we collapsed in the middle of the road. We didn't bother with a fire this time, and almost didn't set a watch; Kortul saw that everyone else had collapsed, so he lit the lantern and dozed standing up, leaning on his sword. Dawn broke, and with it came a young rider from the east. He was young, older than Navero but not by much, and obviously more used to hitching a horse to something than to riding one.
Rider: (Comes up to camp with a disconcerted look on his face.)
Kortul: (wakes up) "Hmm?"
Rider: "Uh, hello. My name is Barney, I'm from Etheilia. Ah... we saw all those lights out over Methigor last night, and now the clouds are breaking up, and, uh... We were wondering, uh, what happened?"
Kortul: "Castle blown up. Vampire killed. Very messy."
Barney: "You blew up a castle and killed a vampire? Uh, yeah. Why do you have those horses? And why are you all so filthy? And what are you DOING here, anyway? With all the living dead, only an idiot would be out here at night."
Kortul: (sigh) "Shut up."
Barney: "Oh." (Looks at skeleton horses.) "Uh, you guys must ride your horses awful hard."
Kory: "Mgmph?"
Barney: "Oh, hello. I'm Barney, I'm from Etheilia. The council sent me out here to find out what happened. Do you guys know anything about it?"
Kory: (Ponders sleepily for a moment) "I know absolutely nothing about this whole embarrassing incident. Now go away and lemme sleep."
Barney: "On the ground like that?"
Kory: "There's never been a soft'r bed..."
Razuli: "Grgmph?"
Barney: "I'm Barney. I'm from Etheilia. Do you know anything?"
Razuli: "Agg, shit, my back is killin' me..."
Barney: "Never mind. Do you know anything?"
Dania: " ...fuck off... "
Barney: "Uh, maybe you all had better come back to town. We have beds and hot baths there for you."
Dania: "hot bath?"
Barney: "Uh, yeah. I think my mom still has some some of her soup left too."
(Party slowly drags itself up and groggily stumbles to the horses.)
Barney: "Uh, do you wanna ride, uh, I mean... those horses? Maybe we should get you some others. Uh, not that I have others, but I could go back, and, uh..."
Razuli: "Kid, fuck the horses. Lets go."
We very slowly rode on down the road to the east. Barney led the way, and occasionally glanced back at us and our mounts. I'm afraid we must have presented a unsettling sight, but at that point we didn't really care. Had any of us looked up, we would have seen that the black cloud cover was nearly half gone, and snow was beginning to fall in tiny little flakelets. We got into Etheilia, and caused quite a stir; most of the town's remaining inhabitants were out and about, and the place was abuzz with excitement: something had happened, and they wanted to know. All of this we completely ignored as our skeletal mounts carried us to the inn, the House of Dimittus, arriving just after noon. We asked for separate rooms, paid Dimittus, and despite the persistence of the town council, no useful information could be gotten out of us until the next day.
That evening, after we had slept, bathed (those with a mind to), changed clothes, killed all the undead horses and buried them, and generally advanced closer to sentience, we went to see the town council. However, they did not want to see us right then. We noticed an armored carriage with four large, sleek, well-fed looking horses hitched to it, bearing the seal of the governor of Propyla, next to the town hall, along with several well- armed guards. They gave us some nasty looks. We didn't recognize any of them, and I don't think they recognized us in our cleaner-than-usual state. The party dispersed through the town. Navero went out to some farms on the outlying suburbs, which were complaining of undead and wolves. Meth went to his room and did something else entirely. Topash went out into the woods, and got himself thoroughly lost in the green.
Dania: (Goes into the inn, talks to Dimittus.) "Do you sell ale?"
Dimittus: "Well, yes. Ales and wines, with meals. I do run a respectable establishment, ma'am."
Dania: "Great. Gimme a sandwich and two or three bottles of yer best wine."
Dimittus: "What kind of sandwich would you like with your wine, ma'am?"
Dania: "I don't care. Just gimme."
Kory: "Darling little Dania, you shouldn't drink so much on an empty stomach. And what fun is it to drink alone? Razuli! Come 'ere!"
Dania: "Get your own booze."
Kory: "Hmph! Innkeeper!"
Dimittus: (sigh.) "Yes, sir?"
Kory: "Do you have White Ice Ale?"
Dimittus: "I sell Beer, Southern Blend Ale, my Personal stock, and Red Wine. And only with meals, sir. I do not cotton to drunken lewdness or other such depravities."
Razuli: "Shit. Propylan guards coming."
Kory: (Disappears, or rather attempts to. A guard blocks his path.)
Guards: "The council would like to see you all now."
Razuli: "Sure. Be there after dinner."
Guards: "The council would like to see you all NOW. Sir. I must say, you do look rather familiar, sir, apart from being somewhat clean."
Razuli: "...right. How can we refuse such an invitation?"
We were all brought together in the town hall (except Topash, who had disappeared. Meth was physically present, but it was obvious that his mind was... elsewhere.) The council sat at a large horseshoe-shaped table which seated nine; five councilors were present. Also present were 14 guardsmen in the livery of Propyla, a familiar-looking lieutenant, and a bored-looking dandy, all in silks and ruffles and things. We were seated inside of the horseshoe, and told the council everything that had transpired since we set out towards Methigor, omitting only the details which might get us arrested. After hearing our story, the councilors looked fearful, the guardsmen looked skeptical, the lieutenant looked insulted, and the dandy still looked bored.
Navero: "Well, uh... that's it."
Dania: "Yeah."
Lieutenant: "A preposterous tale. Why not tell us of dragon-slaying, hmm?"
Razuli: "Nah, we don't do dragons."
Kory: "Just vampires who want to take over the world. We're specialists."
Lieutenant: "I don't believe you, and neither does anyone else. Ridiculous. Utterly incredible. Please do not take us for the country bumpkins you are used to spinning your absurdities with."
Dania: (grr...) "Look, that's what happened."
Guard 1: "Shut up and don't insult his lordship."
Kory: "Well, whatever. At the very least, I have the stuff with which to spin my tales for eons to come. I can see it now, my name in lights, the cheering crowd, the..."
Lieutenant: "That will be QUITE ENOUGH! You, sir, are utterly unworthy of the attentions you have received this night, much less your ludicrous dreams. I as an agent of the King of the western provinces, forbid you to spin these wild fantasies as truth, in any form, under the strictest penalty of the law! Is that understood?!"
Kory: (Starts to protest mightily. All the guards finger their weapons.) "I, of course, would never willingly break the law as laid down before me by one so prolix. You have the solemn word of Malcom Goldentongue that I shall never spread these foolish tales."
Lieutenant: "See to it, Mr. SILVERtongue. Or I shall see to you all. Now good night, and don't bother anyone again."
The Propyla contingent went back that very night. We also left for Propyla, but only after resting for another day. No one really asked why we wanted to go back to Propyla, it was just a general consensus that we wanted to get away from here, and go somewhere where we could forget about this latest catastrophe for a while. Etheilia was a quiet town, quite suited to relaxing and recuperation, although the night life left a lot to be desired. We bought some more horses, and something else.
Razuli: "What is that?"
Merchant: "That? You have a good eye, sir; that is a Gronk, a splendid pack animal, very strong and capable of traveling far."
(The "Gronk" was a reptilian thing, about 6 feet long and three feet high, and built like a tank. It had beady little stupid-looking eyes, a short, stubby tail, and lots of teeth.)
Razuli: "A horse could leave that thing in the dust, mac."
Merchant: "Not at all! Why, the Gronk may look slow and ungainly, but never was there a speedier beast of it's size. I'd put one against a horse anyday, but not for riding, certainly; too bumpy. But I see that you are skeptical, sir. Lets take it out to the run so you can see how truly amazing it is."
(The merchant puts on a ring, and the Gronk immediately begins following him. The Gronk does move quite quickly, especially out on the open track.)
Razuli: "What's the ring?"
Merchant: "A Ring of Gronk control. Each is personal, and included with every purchase. Your Gronk will never run away with all your equipment, nor will anyone else be able to move it against your will. And, in addition to that, Gronks are never killed by a wayward arrow or spear like horses, for Gronks possess a grace, they are favored of the deity."
Razuli: "Which god?"
Merchant: "That which lies above them all, and is whispered in hushed tones as the mighty DM. The Gronk is his personal favorite, which makes it virtually unkillable."
Razuli: "DM's favorite monster, huh? Alright, how much?"
Gronk: "GRONK!"
(Later...)
Dania: "What's that thing?"
Razuli: "It's a Gronk. C'mere, Gronk."
Kory: "I like it. I think it's cute!"
Razuli: "I'm gonna make some hip boots out of him."
Kory: "Hey!"
The ride back to Propyla was leisurely and uneventful. Many people were traveling back to the west, including lots of guarded wagons; why there weren't more bandits was unclear. Perhaps these WERE the bandits, returning to their old territories. Once back in the Propyla low-town, we set about finding facilities for training; only Dania was really left out, as usual. We also found something else of interest; several posters and fliers put up all over the city.
Let it be known that
after a long Campaign which has only now borne fruit,
the honorable Lordling BENTWICK of Feluca
has proven his right by honor in battle
to succeed his honorable Father,
THE LORD EMODED OF FELUCA
as GOVERNOR of this city under the terms of
Rightful Succession
for his Valiant Slaying in single combat
of the arch-VAMPIRE
Desmod the DARK
and so Dispelling the curse lain on our fair land
by the same
23rd of the Winter season, year 72 AE. Councilor Nunhillis record.
Daniel Parsons
"Jeff, I'm going to kill you now."
"You can't do that. I'm the DM."
