The Misadventures of the Missed Adventurers

Jack Simth · #1 June 22nd, 2003, 07:28 AM

After walking for a while, the group comes across a very orderly cobblestone road that looks freshly put down, which appears to head towards the town.

Jack "That's odd; how did this road survive all the changes?"

Jack looks at the road more closely.

Jack "Ahh, I get it - natural magic. Some of the more skilled craftsmen have it without knowing it. In the case of cobblestones, it shows up as an enchantment on the stones that keeps them in place; that enchantment must have doubled as a stabilizer while things were shifting. Interesting."

D "Yes, but the real interesting question is why someone went to the trouble of building a cobblestone road outside of town."

Jack "There may have been a town here at the time. Remember Arthur's house?"

D "You have a point. Still though, cobbles are usually only put down in wealthier neighborhoods; perhaps this was the route to the local manor?"

Jack "That would make for a good road to have bandits on, what with the tax money and merchants and all, wouldn't it?"

D "It might. Of course, it would be routinly patrolled by the local lord's knights to prevent that."

Jack "Yes, but with all the confusion, some strange things might happen. Ah well, we shall see."

narf poit chez BOOM · #2 June 22nd, 2003, 07:40 AM

ooc:[help! a cliche's got me!]
narp, quietly "don't look now, but somebodies watching us."
D "where?"
narp "forty feet ahead, behind the reddish-brown tree. one of you should check for more."

narp shrugs his shoulders, as if he's stretching. it also loosens the straps of his sheild.

Jack Simth · #3 June 22nd, 2003, 07:56 AM

ooc:[Oh, I don't know - Arthur's experience suggests some twists are possible, doesn't it?

]

D (quietly) "That's the lookout. Now that I'm looking, I can sense six more completely hidden behind the trunks of large trees, presumably waiting for a shout from the lookout. There are three about ten feet ahead of lookout and three about ten feet behind. It would appear that their plan is to have travelers surrounded."

Jack (quietly) "Also, there is something bothering me about that cherry tree behind the lookout. So, should we walk into the trap or try to preempt it?"

ooc:[Have you ever read the Xanth series? They have some very interesting cherry trees there....]

narf poit chez BOOM · #4 June 22nd, 2003, 08:09 AM

ooc:[please, no punishment, or i shall have to 'fire' you.

]

narp "well, this seems simple if one of you has an invisibility spell. you just cast a spell of silence on the lookout, D. then, jack, you put him in a bubble and one of you makes sure it's invisible from the start. then we charge. or one of you could put an invisibility spell on us and then D casts silence, then we charge. or we could just charge."

[ June 22, 2003, 07:11: Message edited by: narf poit chez BOOM ]

Jack Simth · #5 June 22nd, 2003, 08:52 AM

ooc:[Ahh, you have read Xanth, or at least heard of it. Let's see, we did give D invisibility, right? If not, we have now.]

Jack (quietly) "Hmm, then we could take them one by one, couldn't we?"

D (quietly) "Nobody's watching the lookout; sloppy of them. I can handle the invisibility, and the silence; unfortunately, invisibility spells fall apart at the first brush of battle. Invisibility is good for a first strike, but we would be visible again after that."

Jack (quietly) "All right then; we silence and contain the lookout, then take them down one at a time?"

D (quietly) "That's the plan."

Jack (quietly) "Won't the others hear the battle sounds?"

D (queitly) "Not much we can do about it."

With that, D silences the lookout, and Jack places a bubble around him, while D makes the bubble invisible.

As D, Narp, and Jack approach the lookout, the lookout tries to signal his comrades, and looks very panicked when he can't.

Jack (quietly) "So, which one first?"

ooc:[Okay - so you decide what the tree does, and which way it goes.]
ooc:[Actually, there are a few twists we could put on this fairly easily - there isn't anything that says these people have to be bandits, after all; one person to challenge travelers while several lurk in the shadows for backup works well for toll roads or tax collectors or the local law enforcement or ....]

[ June 22, 2003, 10:07: Message edited by: Jack Simth ]

Jack Simth · #6 June 23rd, 2003, 08:58 AM

ooc:[Well, it has been about 24 hours since the Last post; that clears me for making another despite that I was the Last to post, doesn't it? Just in case, I'll keep it short.]

The lookout, panicked at not being able to shout out, tries to run.

With the barrier up, he hits it head first, and falls unconcious.

Unfortunately, the barrier makes a loud ringing noise at this, alerting the people in hiding, who peek out from behind their trees, and see the lookout lying prone on the ground, and the party of adventurers standing nearby. Of course, they make the logical conclusion that they are under attack.

Jack "I knew there was something we were forgetting."

narf poit chez BOOM · #7 June 24th, 2003, 03:42 AM

ooc:[i suggest that as an addition to the world, that the empire be currently at a low point, at only 1/5 of the continent, and that there be little contact between the continents generally, at any time. that would allow for greater diversity. toll collecters? we could be mistaken for the local bandits...]

at that moment, there is a shimmer in the air behind them and a burly-looking soldier, probably a sergeant, appears. there is an amulet on his chest, and a large crossbow in his hands. he shouts "HALT, BANDITS!".

seeing as he is twelve feet away, narp decides to halt and put up his hands. at the same time, he says "we're not bandits."

sergeant "his lordship and his wizard will decide that."

ooc:[so now we have a lordship? and his? wizard?.]

[ June 24, 2003, 02:43: Message edited by: narf poit chez BOOM ]