Glorm shifted his straps for the sixth time in the last ten minutes and cursed his luck, and all humans. Whenever he thought they had any kind of socially redeeming qualities, they seemed to bend over backwards to demonstrate an incomprehensible lack of understanding of the fundamentals of civilized behavior. Why else would El Sid have been so incensed at his efforts to retain the Tabbac and Liquor that was currently strapped to his back? His armor and weapons were on Johnny Rotten, necessitated by the weight of the goods he carried, but El Sid had adamantly refused to allow the horse to carry any of the trading stock. What had the Sid expected? To abandon it?
He wondered for a moment if that actually *what* the man had expected, shuddered and discarded the thought. If these people were actually THAT weird, he was a fool to be traveling with them. No, undoubtedly, there had been some other, more surreptitious way to get the goods out that he had missed, and the Sid was irritated at his lack of thought, nothing else. But no matter how many times he thought about it, he could not come up with anything that sounded more sensible than lowering the stuff down the window off the back alley.
Of course, there were higher goals in life than fine brandy and pipe weed, and Glorm could have understood El Sid’s irritation if there had been mitheral or gems at stake.
He shifted his straps again and wiped his face with the back of his sleeve. The cursed weather had it in for him too, the warm dry days of the past week turning hot and humid just in time for the march. It would be just his luck if they were hit with a rainstorm.
He grumbled a bit more, then had a thought. He waited to the right moment and picked up his pace to catch the Sid. "El Sid" he called as he moved closer. The Sid glanced back and slowed up until Glorm was beside him. "What know you of this Cidan?"
The Sid thought for a moment. "Not much. Closest town of any size, about half way up the Peninsula, perhaps a three day march. I believe they are a "protectorate" of Cherifyr... in other words, they pay extortion money to prevent being molested. They are big enough to have a company of Redcloaks stationed there, a few temples and the like. Big enough to have a number of boats, which makes it possible we could book passage there without raising too much of a fuss. Any of these dinky villages along the way would remember us too well for my tastes."
"Ah, yes, it be important to remain incon.. incon..."
"Inconspicuous" completed the Sid.
"Yes. In-con-spic-u-os. We must needs keep a low profile." Glorm nodded sagely. "Otherwise, it be much too easy for people to track short dwarf carrying two hundred pounds of kegs on his back." He smiled and waved at a small caravan that was headed in the other direction, with two wagons and a half dozen mounted guards. They stared back at him, craning their necks as they passed for a better look. Glorm rolled his eyes skyward and started to whistle a tune as off key as he could make it without getting too obvious.
"Glorm."
"Yes, El Sid?"
"Glorm, your mother was a... all right, load up Johnny Rotten at the next break. Get your armor on."
Glorm smiled. "As you wish, El Sid."
"Oh, and Glorm. As you said, we are trying to be in-con-spic-u-os. And dwarves are not common in these parts. So I hope you won’t mind wearing a heavy cloak with a hood. And those boots with the eight inch heels we had made for you. You’ll look a bit more normal at least."
Eight inch thick heels on a road march? Armor and a heavy cloak in this heat? He was about to say something, saw the look in the Sid’s eye, and shut his mouth with a snap. Sabrina damn all humans.
Glorm listened with half an ear as El Sid quizzed Krinn about the Pranan city states north of Cherifyr. He had an uncomfortable feeling in the pit of his stomach that kept him from asking more about the trading possibilities ahead of them.
Krinn frowned as she tried to remember some of the lessons from her mother’s classes. "North of Nyquet is Urakou territory. Frequent Urakai and Urakou raids come through the mountains. Occasionally, raids come from the East, through the forest, but Nyquet has always faired well in these battles."
"Interesting. Go on."
"Nyquet is well fortified, and has a reputation for extremely tough fighters. Primary exports are minerals; iron, coal, some silver and gold, sulfur, and the like, outstanding weapons and armor, and Urakai Battlemagic. Primary imports are foodstuffs that keep and non-battlemagic. Only light merchants can make it upriver, somewhat limiting trade. They get a lot of support and admiration from the other city states since they hold the line against the Urakai. The phrase "You can bet on Nyquet" is frequently used to indicate a sure thing, since they have never lost a major battle to the Urakai."
El Sid nodded. "OK, what about Chelto?"
Krinn shrugged. "A pretty run of the mill Pranan city state. Primary exports are minerals. Primary imports are magic, weapons, and armor. They are constantly fighting with Cherifyr over the Cidan protectorate... Cherifyr dominates there because of its Navy and shipping, but Chelto is actually closer. Only small ships can navigate up and down Velet Kriage, the small river coming out of Chelto. There are some unusual spells known only in Chelto to move large barges up river, but it is very slow."
Ed Sid looked thoughtful. "So we could continue on to Chelto and catch a Pranan coast hugger?"
Krinn looked confused for a moment, then nodded, "You mean one of those dinky merchants... the ones about raider size, but really slow? The answer is yes."
"Hmmmm... OK, the more options the better off we are. What about Penne?"
Krinn replied "I know very little about Penne. No real imports or exports; in fact, no real trade routes at all. They hold their own against the Urakai, and unlike Nyquet the Urakai are not forced down specific mountain passes. Oddly enough, the plains do not hold any Urakou settlements; they are all north of the mountains." Krinn stopped for a moment, then went on "the Elves dislike Penne, but I’m not really sure why."
They were rounding a bend in the road. Glorm heard the sound of a sword sliding from its scabbard before he caught sight of the man hiding behind the tree not 20 feet to his right. His initial impression was one of a man giving hand signals to two other men not far off. Instantly Glorm realized this must be the leader; take him out and the others will run like the cowardly dogs they are! The practice sessions in Cherifyr had left Glorm feeling oddly confident about his combat skills. All too often these clumsy humans assumed anyone his size was week and slow; little did they realize the dwarf was twice as quick as most of them. Glorm eyed the thicket of trees, and spotted a weakness. Instantly he sprinted directly at his man ducking his head to avoid the arrows that were no doubt being loosed at his head. At the last minute Glorm made a mighty leap landing nimbly atop the 7 foot boulder between him and his man. He let a slight grin cross his face as the surprised fool looked up at the maniacal dwarf. "Nite Nite!" he said; leaping down on the man his hammer swinging in a smooth arc.
@ GLORM moves from 5 9 to 5 8
@ GLORM attacks Bad Guy 1 and hits for 3 times damage doing 20 points
@ Bad Guy 1 knocked down by force of blow!@ EL SID rolls a 9, CASTS Invisability
Krinn was surprised at Glorm’s sudden charge, but gamely tried to prep a spell. Lurkers meant ambush, and ambush meant missile weapons. She could help with that. She tried to focus, felt the spell begin to build, then cursed as she lost it and it fizzled.
Glorm realized he might have been too confident when he felt the pain of a wound in his side. One of the robbers had moved blindingly fast and had come up behind him.
@ M:1 + H:8 + W/MP:4 + PA:2 - CA:2 - D:11 - ; CP:2 -> 1 x dam
@ Bad Guy 2 attacks GLORM and hits for 1 times damage doing 14 points
@ skipping the rest of the combat resolution program
In the meantime, with the first man down, Glorm caught sight of the one hiding in the background with a crossbow. He dodged as the man aimed and fired, but the arrow grazed his side. There was a searing pain out of proportion to the wound, but it passed quickly. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught the blue flash of Delrin’s lightning bolt, and heard a man curse raggedly. He had other things to worry about; he turned to the man that had attacked him from behind, leaving the first one on the ground and hopefully dead. A sudden heavy wind sprang up from nowhere... Krinn’s gale spell had finally gone off. He and the other man traded blows, each connecting. The splat of another lighting bolt was drowned out by Fuji’s battlecry, a cry that ended mid stream with a solid thud. Glorm didn’t have time to look as he swung again at his target. The man he had knocked down was not dead, and had actually regained his footing and took a weak swing at Glorm, a swing that connected due to his preoccupation with the second man, but did little damage.
More lighting bolts sounded off, and Glorm watched in satisfaction as the man he had been fighting caught two bolts in the side and collapsed, crisped. He turned back to the first man.
4
/ \ / \ /
\ / \
/ \ / \
/
\____/ \____/ \____/ \____/
\____/ \
\
/ \ / \ /BAD \ / \ /
\ /
\____/
\____/ \____/ GUY \____/
\____/ \____/
5
/ \ / \ /
\ 5 / \
/ \ / \
/
\____/ \____/ \____/ \____/
\____/ \
\
/ \ / \ /
\ / \
/ \ /
\____/
\____/ \____/ {BU}
\____/ \____/ \____/
6
/ \ / \ /
\ {SH} / \ /
\ / \
/
\____/ \____/ \____/ \____/
\____/ \
\
/ \ / \ /
\ / \ /
\ /
\____/
\____/ \____/ {BU} \____/
{BU} \____/ \____/
7
/ \ / \ /BAD \ {SH} /BAD \ {SH} / \
/ \
/
\____/ \____/ GUY \____/ GUY
\____/ \____/ \
\
/ \ //--\\ 1 /
\ 3 / \
/ \ /
\____/
\____/ |RO| \____/ {BU} \____/
\____/ \____/
8
/ \ /****\ |CK| / \
{SH} / \ / \ /
\
/
\____/ *TR* \\__// GLRM \____/ fuji \____/ \____/ \
\
/ \ *EE* /bad \ /
\ / \
/ \ /
\____/
\****/ guy \____/ \____/ \____/ \____/
9
/ \ / \ 2 /
\ / \
/ \ / \
/
\____/ EL \____/ \____/ \____/
\____/ \
\
/ \ SID /
\ / \
/ \ / \ /
\____/
\____/ \____/ \____/ \____/ \____/
10/ \
/ \ / \ /
\ / \
/ \
/
\____/ \____/ \____/ \____/
\____/ \
\
/ \ / \ /
\ / \
/ \ /
\____/
\____/ \____/ \____/ \____/ \____/
11/ \
/ \ / \ /
\ / \
/ \
/
\____/ \____/ \____/ \____/
\____/ \
\
/ \ / \ /
\ /****\ /
\ /
\____/
\____/ \____/ \____/ *TR* \____/ \____/
12/ \
/ \ / \ /****\ *EE* / \ / \
/
\____/ \____/ \____/ *TR* \****/ DELR \____/ \
\
/ \ / \ /
\ *EE* / \ /
\ /
\____/
\____/ \____/ \****/ \____/ \____/
13/ \
/ \ / \
/ \ / \ /
\
/
\____/ \____/ KRIN
\____/ \____/ \____/ \
NEW
MELEE ROUND
DELRIN
changes weapons to a LIGHT_BOW
H:12
+ PA:2 + CA:4 - D:5 - ; CP:1 -> 3 x dam
GLORM
attacks Bad Guy 1 and hits for 3 times damage doing 19 points
Bad Guy 1 knocked down by force of blow!
Bad Guy 1 knocked out!
EL
SID moves from 3 9 to 2 9
H:7
+ W/MP:1 + PA:2 + CA:9 - D:5 - ; CP:2
-> 3 x dam
Bad
Guy 3 attacks FUJI and hits for 3 times damage doing 20 points
FUJI knocked down by force of blow!
FUJI knocked out!
H:8
+ W/MP:1 + PA:2 + CA:4 - D:11 - 4; CP:2
-> 1 x dam
Bad
Guy 5 attacks GLORM and hits for 1 times damage doing 5 points
The man Glorm faced must have been distracted by his companion’s demise, because he left himself open for a slam in the side of the head with Glorm’s Hammer. Glorm’s satisfaction was short lived as an arrow grazed his neck. He turned and charged the crossbowman, suddenly realizing that he had taken a lot of damage in the past few rounds of blows. As he moved, he heard Krinn cry out "NO SHOT," then a few seconds later he heard her scream of outrage... "The bastard’s hitting Fuji while he’s down!" He didn’t have time to worry about it. As he charged, the man backed up while trying to reload, doing neither very successfully, then finally dropped his weapon in a panic and yelled "I surrender! I surrender!" El Sid suddenly and unexpectedly appeared to his side, also threatening the man. Glorm did a quick scan, noted three down, one surrender, and no other hostiles in sight. It looked like it was over.
NEW MELEE ROUND
GLORM
has a 19 DEX, rolls a 8 on 0 dice, saves
H:7
+ W/MP:1 + PA:2 - CA:7 - D:6 - ; CP:1
-> miss!
DELRIN
attacks Bad Guy 3 and misses!
EL
SID moves from 2 9 to 2 8
Bad
Guy 3 has a 8 DEX, rolls a 12 on 0 dice, misses save
EL
SID moves from 2 8 to 3 7
H:8
+ W/MP:1 + PA:2 - CA:16 - D:11 - ; CP:2
-> miss!
Bad Guy 5 reloads
NEW
MELEE ROUND
BG3 IS DOWN, TRIPPED ON FUJI’S BODY
H:7
+ W/MP:1 + PA:2 + CA:1 - D:6 - ; CP:1
-> 1 x dam
DELRIN
attacks Bad Guy 3 and hits for 1 times damage doing 13 points
Bad Guy 3 knocked down by force of blow!
GLORM
moves from 5 6 to 5 5
EL
SID moves from 3 7 to 4 7
EL
SID moves from 4 7 to 4 6
Bad
Guy 5 moves from 6 5 to 6 4
GLORM
moves from 5 5 to 6 5
KRINN
rolls a 7, CASTS LBOLT!
Bad
Guy 3 has a 16 LUC, rolls a 14 on 3 dice, saves
Bad
Guy 3 hit by KRINN's LBOLT spell, taking 5 points of damage!
NEW
MELEE ROUND
H:7
+ W/MP:1 + PA:2 - CA:3 - D:6 - ; CP:1
-> 1 x dam
DELRIN
attacks Bad Guy 3 and hits for 1 times damage doing 15 points
Bad Guy 3 knocked down by force of blow!
Bad Guy 3 knocked out!
H:12
+ PA:2 + CA:1 - D:7 - ; CP:1 -> 1 x dam
GLORM
attacks Bad Guy 5 and hits for 1 times damage doing 5 points
EL
SID moves from 4 6 to 4 5
EL
SID moves from 4 5 to 5 4
BAD GUY 5 SHOUTS "SURRENDER! I SURRENDER!"
FINAL
HIT POINTS:
Fuji
is down 8, putting him at < ¼, > ½ and therefore bleeding. Two melee rounds to death.
Glorm
is at 1, staggering and about to drop
Delrin
is down 5 points from max
Krinn,
El Sid are at normal.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
3/ \____/ \____/ \____/ \____/ \____/ \
\ / \ / \ /BAD \ / \ / \ /
\____/ \____/ \____/ GUY \___ / \____/ \____/
4 / \ / \ / \ 5 / \ / \ / \
/ \____/ \____/ EL \____/ \____/ \____/ \
\ / \ / \ SID / \ / \ / \ /
\____/ \____/ \____/ GLRM \____/ \____/ \____/
5 / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \
/ \____/ \____/ \____/ \____/ \____/ \
\ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ /
\____/ \____/ \____/ {BU} \____/ \____/ \____/
6 / \ / \ / \ {SH} / \ / \ / \
/ \____/ \____/ \____/ \____/ \____/ \
\ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ /
\____/ \____/ \____/ {BU} \____/ {BU} \____/ \____/
7 / \ / \ /\o/B\ {SH} / \ {SH} / \ / \
/ \____/ \____/ | O \____/ \____/ \____/ \
\ / \ //--\\ / \D / \ / \ / \ /
\____/ \____/ |RO| \___Y/ {BU} \____/ \____/ \____/
8 / \ /****\ |CK| / \ {SH} / \ / \ / \
/ \____/ *TR* \\__// \____/ fuji \____/ \____/ \
\ / \ *EE* /\o/B\ / \ / \ / \ /
\____/ \****/ | O \____/ \____/ \____/ \____/
9 / \ / \ / \D / \ /\o/B\ / \ / \
/ \____/ \___Y/ \____/ | O \____/ \____/ \
\ / \ / \ / \ / \D / \ / \ /
\____/ \____/ \____/ \___Y/ \____/ \____/
10/ \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \
/ \____/ \____/ \____/ \____/ \____/ \
\ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ /
\____/ \____/ \____/ \____/ \____/ \____/
11/ \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \
/ \____/ \____/ \____/ \____/ \____/ \
\ / \ / \ / \ /****\ / \ /
\____/ \____/ \____/ \____/ *TR* \____/ \____/
12/ \ / \ / \ /****\ *EE* / \ / \
/ \____/ \____/ \____/ *TR* \****/ DELR \____/ \
\ / \ / \ / \ *EE* / \ / \ /
\____/ \____/ \____/ \****/ \____/ \____/
13/ \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \
/ \____/ \____/ KRIN \____/ \____/ \____/ \
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