Author Topic: Chapter One: Stranger Things Have Happened (Read 38424 times)

sirpercival · « **Reply #80 on:** July 05, 2012, 03:45:04 PM »

Ariston looks up from his book, closing and stowing it in his jacket again. "Hmm? Oh, yes. You're welcome. ...what were we speaking about, again?"

Bozwevial · « **Reply #81 on:** July 06, 2012, 12:33:36 PM »

Completely taken aback, Kaytiss lets out a strangled yelp as the liver slaps against her dress, blood spattering everywhere. She leaps up, sending the liver flying across the room at Marie, who swats at it reflexively and manages to pluck it neatly out of the air. There is complete silence for a moment or two before Marie, looking as though she is trying very hard not to scream, sets the liver down on a bare spot of table, pulls out a handkerchief, and begins scrubbing furiously at the dwarven blood all over her hands.

After another very lengthy pause, Kaytiss, breathing hard, turns to Human. In a voice of forced calm, she says, "What am I supposed to be looking at?"

PipTheBlue · « **Reply #82 on:** July 10, 2012, 01:58:11 AM »

"Why, 'tis what you requessssssted, Kaytisssssss" it twists its head, puzzled by the dwarfess' reaction. "Poison of the darkish elves, the liverRRRRR is soaking with it. Its nature is aRRRACCHHHnoid, but... different. Different so it affects sturdy dwarfmen eeeeeeaasily. Still... child's play, RRRRReeeaaaly." Human grins horribly once more.

Bozwevial · « **Reply #83 on:** July 10, 2012, 03:18:50 PM »

Marie's face is by now so white she practically seems to glow in the dimly lit tent. Her scrubbing speeds up yet again.

Kaytiss, meanwhile, seems to have been caught off-guard by the news, and her exasperation with Human evaporates. "Really? I mean, I suspected underhanded tactics, but this...Can you analyze the poison some more, give us means of identifying it, antidotes, preventative measures? Anything you could do to help would be wonderful."

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Nanshork · « **Reply #84 on:** July 10, 2012, 03:38:57 PM »

Meanwhile, Rodric looks around muttering to himself. With every sentence he gets progressively louder, yelling in the end. "Where's minion gotten himself to? Probably trying to play with the dwarves again. Minion? Where are you? MINION!" He then realizes that people are looking at him and smiles sheepishly. "Sorry."

A six limbed..thing with no eyes comes bounding into the tent. It is covered with an obviously durable carapace and its teeth and claws look designed for ripping into tender flesh. "Aww, there you are! Who's a good little minion? You are, yes you are," Rodric says affectionately, scratching between the joints of the thing's carapace and then patting it on its side roughly. "Leave those poor little dwarves alone." Minion then stands up and reveals that it actually has two legs and four arms and is slightly taller than Rodric himself. Despite its eyelessness it "looks" at each of the others in the tent denoting that it has more intelligence than Rodrics introduction implied.

Amechra · « **Reply #85 on:** July 11, 2012, 03:25:29 AM »

Boz

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phaedrusxy · « **Reply #86 on:** July 11, 2012, 11:55:36 AM »

Urglmek stares at the strange, 6-limbed creature for a moment, trying to decide if it is an insect, reptile, or mammal, and then notices it staring back at him, and coughs and turns his head away in embarrassment.

Bozwevial · « **Reply #87 on:** July 13, 2012, 04:20:02 PM »

Quote from: Amechra on July 11, 2012, 03:25:29 AM

Boz
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How much longer do you think I need to read the treaty?

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Marie flinches as Minion charges into the tent, and Kaytiss grips the arm of her chair very tightly. With the latest addition to the room, it is rather crowded indeed.

Amechra · « **Reply #88 on:** July 13, 2012, 07:15:17 PM »

Boz

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Sarai looks up from the papers in her hands, and clicks her tongue in annoyance.

"It seems I'll have to move to somewhere quieter to read this. Marie, attend to me."

She turns, and walks out of the tent, searching for a secluded area to spend a few hours reading.

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Bozwevial · « **Reply #89 on:** July 22, 2012, 05:15:22 PM »

After another small pause, Kaytiss turns back to the rest of the group. "Now, there are several other important tasks that we should handle in the meantime. While I have no doubt that you are capable--" she glances at the splatters of blood on her dress "--I'm not familiar with your exact skillsets, so I'll let you decide which ones you wish to tackle.

First, there's the matter of the alleged poisoning. We should certainly investigate this matter further. Accusing the drow of underhanded tactics without sufficient evidence will do nothing to help our cause, even though I doubt they have any intentions of doing things properly.

Second, while you were away, I was informed that the prospectors have discovered something extraordinarily peculiar within the crater walls. They seemed fairly concerned with it but weren't able to elaborate on what exactly it was.

Third, some of the more belligerent drow have been harassing people in the camp, usually over magnified slights and imagined wrongs. Having that stop would be extraordinarily helpful."

phaedrusxy · « **Reply #90 on:** July 22, 2012, 05:36:14 PM »

Urglmek says "And I suppose you want these things done without resorting to violence." and sighs heavily.

Bozwevial · « **Reply #91 on:** July 22, 2012, 10:57:49 PM »

"Hmm? Wherever did you get that idea? Violence is fine. Just make sure that it's justifiable violence. I'm trying to avoid all out conflict, but if you have to slap around a few elves to get the message across, I will happily look the other way."

phaedrusxy · « **Reply #92 on:** July 22, 2012, 11:01:15 PM »

Urglmek looks confused as he lowers his head and begins muttering softly to himself "Hmm... is there such a thing as unjustified violence?"

sirpercival · « **Reply #93 on:** July 23, 2012, 03:06:30 PM »

Ariston perks up. "Hey, that second one sounds interesting. I'd like to go investigate, if that's alright with everyone else..."

phaedrusxy · « **Reply #94 on:** July 23, 2012, 03:13:13 PM »

Urglmek takes that as a cue that it is time to leave, and walks out of the tent still muttering to himself, heading towards the crater while looking down at his feet and seemingly counting on his fingers.

Nanshork · « **Reply #95 on:** July 23, 2012, 04:18:48 PM »

Rodric smiles at Ariston. "Would you like some company? Traveling with a familiar face is always enjoyable, Minion isn't much of a conversationalist."

The giant six-limbed creature rubs it's head against Rodric's shoulder and he pats it absentmindedly.

Bozwevial · « **Reply #96 on:** July 25, 2012, 10:54:22 PM »

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Back outside, the camp seems completely awake and active. Amidst the excited jabber of mercenaries, smiths, surveyors, and the veritable army of other dwarves bustling around with a riotous host of tasks, it's nearly impossible to think straight. The camp's inhabitants are careful to give your group a wide berth, though.

A few drow stand out from the crowd, partly because of the hoods and goggles they wear to protect themselves from the sun and partly because most of the crowd comes up a little ways past their waists. They stay back from the main throng, hidden eyes watching your group as you go past.

Eventually you come to a small knot of dwarves huddled around a short table, on which is set a heavily dirt-encrusted mass of some sort. Gleaming bits poke through the dirt here and there, and all the dwarves are whispering excitedly to each other. None of them, however, is touching the object.

Nanshork · « **Reply #97 on:** August 04, 2012, 11:05:40 PM »

Rodric walks up to the group of dwarves and flashes them a smile that shows a few too many teeth to be called pleasant. "Find something?"

sirpercival · « **Reply #98 on:** August 05, 2012, 07:15:26 AM »

Ariston looks at the lump of dirt and metal, eyes gleaming. "Yes, uh, you, Gurdin --" he points to a dwarf he recognizes, "-- tell us what's happened here."

Bozwevial · « **Reply #99 on:** August 05, 2012, 07:34:58 PM »

Gurdin, whose face is notably bereft of beard and covered in a thick layer of burn scars, grins at Ariston. "Pulled this outta the wall last night. Wanted to be careful with it and sneaky-like so's those elves wouldn't make off with the thing, so Urist over there tried tasting it so's he could see what it was." He jerks his thumb over his shoulder at a dwarf lying flat on his back, eyes staring vacantly at the sky. "Said it tasted like everything before he went limp and fell in. Lucky he's wearing his harness. We haul him back in and bring it up, not with our bare hands of course, and we've been poking it a bit since then. 's tested positive for every type of metal I know and then some, but we've not tried cleaning it up much because of what happened to Urist."

"Think we could try feeding it to the elves?" one of the others suggests, earning himself a cuff on the back of the head.

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Author Topic: Chapter One: Stranger Things Have Happened (Read 38424 times)