From Rags to Liches

[Terraspaz]

OOC (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=163810)

"Taste Justice, Evil Cretin!" You turn and recoil just in time to see the dirt clod hurtling through the air, a moment before it crashes into your face, separating into tiny flecks of brown. "Oh no folks! The Super Devil Prince is immune to our dirt magic! Guess it has to come to blades..." Griffin bends down and picks up a flimsy twig, a mere 2 feet long. A sly grin crosses your face, as you remember the many battles the two of you shared growing up. Working together to defeat Mr. Grawl's evil sorcerer chickens, or saving the world from the menacing steam-god being summoned from your mother's pot of boiling water.

Those adventures were becoming a rarity as you both became 16, and men. Instead, your days have you both working beside the other men of the village, tending to the field. The 15 other men lift their heads, taking a glance toward you and Griffin. Most return to work, shaking their heads and allowing a small chuckle. "Hey Super Devil Prince! You wanna get back to those carrots?" Griffin shoots you a grin, dropping his bough, and picking his spade back up.

[Imbasel]

Drake chuckles and says " I'll get back to these carrots soon enough Griffin. I'll wager you a copper, that I get done work today before you. You want in, or are you too afraid of a challenge?"

Drake quickly starts work again, his powerful muscles cutting into the ground with his spade, getting the carrots ready for harvest.

OOC: I'm guessing since I'm farming I have no armor or weapons correct?

[Terraspaz]

"You're on!" Griffin tears into the earth, preparing the carrots for easy picking. "Now that's more like it" your dad calls out. Always a calm, collected man, Nathan Rodan has always had a solid, simple plan for dealing with hardships your family has faced. During that drought of a few years ago, it was he who coordinated the water gathering and rationing for the whole village, to ensure that the people, and the crops survived.

The challenge goes on for some time, with you and Griffin nearly finishing up an entire row, each. As you near the cart, you hear a pair of anguished screams come from behind. You turn and see two of the villagers on the ground, with sturdy oaken javelins lodged firmly into their chests. Beyond them, just emerging from the tree line are a squad of brownish figures, clad in studded leather armor, armed with curved, sickly longswords and a small shield. The field erupts in yelling, with some racing toward the wagons to arm themselves, a couple rushing to the aid of the fallen workers, and still others standing their ground armed only with hoes and spades.

"DRAKE! Get back to the house, check on Ma and Joyce!" As the chaos begins, you see Griffin sprint away from the creatures, back towards town. A wave of battle races towards you.

What do you do?

[Imbasel]

Drake smiles as he and Griffen compete. Sweat forms on his brow, and he works hard to out-work him. Suddenly, creatures emerge from the forest. Running Drake grabs his armor and. Throwing it on his back he runs back to his mothers house to make sure she lives. He grasps his longsword with his right hand, and his shield with his left. Together they make a wall that cannot be breached. He then sprints will all his effort to his house.

OOC: I'm not going to put on my armor until I arrive at my house, since I won't have time. Also I rolled in OOC, and rolled a 4. Needless to say I think you go first.

[Terraspaz]

You race home, the high grass scratching at your legs as you ignore the curved, windy trail contoured to the hillside, and take a straight, direct path to your house, and more importantly, your mother and sister.

The mile long hike, (now lessened by the shortcut,) had never seemed longer. While the weight of the breastplate slung over your shoulder is great, it's little compared to the burden of worry you carry all the way to the house.

As you near the door, you hear screams and shouts from the neighboring homes, all too far to join efforts in their own defense. Behind you to the left, a small squad of three hobgoblins hustle towards your house. By your guess, the patrol has about two minutes before they'll reach your doorstep.

Joyce and your mother open the rear door to meet you, faces shocked at panicked. They stand, eyes wide looking to you for guidance, and direction.


I've got a google doc uploaded for battles and such. We'll give this method a try, and adjust accordingly.

https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AtUy8B1jva83dHJFVmUxb3k4aGxkOVR5RlpxeURWU Wc&hl=en&authkey=CNmx6e0E

[Imbasel]

Drake rushes into the room sword in hand and shield at his side he quickly turns to his mother and his sister Joyce. He looks at their faces and sees the fear in their eyes. As sweat pours off his body he says in gasps "Goblins..... Attacked us in the field.......... So many...."



He catches his breath and says " Ma help me get my armor on. Joyce, take and move everything you can and barricade the other door. Then take everything, and move it to this door. The second Ma is done putting on my armor, close this door and barricade it with stuff you have piled next to it.
"

As his mother helps Drake put on his breastplate he says "
Take any weapons you have anything pots, pans, knives, anything you can use in case they get by me. Do not under any circumstances come out unless Griffen, Dad, or I come and get you ok.

At night the goblins will have the advantage."

Drake, smiles a brave smile for his mother and steps outside, shield in his left hand, and longsword in his right. In glistening armor, he defends his homestead, from those that would harm it.

[Terraspaz]

You hastily don your armor, and while it isn't perfect, it's leaps and bounds better than taking a spear to the simple shirt. As the last of the cutlery and cookware gets collected, and distributed between your mom and sister, you hear loud grunting and yelling at the back door. After a slight pause, you hear a loud CRACK

[Imbasel]

Drake swears and yells " Nooo." He races around the the house to fight the goblins that tried to sneak in.

[Terraspaz]

You dash around the side of the house and discover that door has held very well against the brutal blow of the creature. The bright yellow eyes of the three creatures turn to you, and raise their shields, growling from the backs of their throats. You're unsure if they are growling at you, or towards each other, but you're fairly certain it's not a good thing for you.

OOC: You won initiative, believe it or not. You're up!

[Imbasel]

Drake brandishes his sword, and as fast as lightning cuts it to the first goblin. As the goblins face becomes a sneer he slashes his sword down shouting "For my family" His foot arches around the goblin trying to trip him as he shouts.

[Terraspaz]

The goblin hops to his right, harmlessly sailing over your foot. Caught off-balance, you're unable to parry his powerful slash, and it catches your shoulder in a painful blow. The other creature, fortunately, leaps forward to finish the job, but you easily duck under his wild blow.

Behind you, the door to the house crackles inward, leaving a large pile of rubble over the barricade. While it is still too cluttered to easily move through, it's still open enough to permit a thrown blade... a detail which your mother takes advantage of. You see a knife whiz out from the house, clanging off the creature's armor.

[Imbasel]

Drake lets out a groan as an agony of pain comes from his shoulder, quickly he moves over to the goblin that broke down the door. He quickly, does some quick footwork, and tries to trip up the goblin. As he falls he slashes his blade at the goblin.

[Terraspaz]

As the goblin reels to break through the barrier into the house, your sweeping kick sends him crashing to the ground, with only the slash of your blade to erase the memory of that pain. You knock him against the house with your sword, and as he bleeds onto the ground, he briefly mumbles, and then falls passive.

The other two, seizing the opportunity to finish you off, strike at you, but get their blades tangled up in their attacks, and they bounce harmlessly off your armor. As you steel yourself for another attack, a second knife whizzes by your ear, catching the side of a goblin's face. It screams out in rage, and glares towards the doorway, still impeded with the barricade, and the broken door.

Amidst the monster's screams, you hear the growing sounds of humans from the other side of the house. It's too faint to make out anything, what with the growling of the goblin.

[Imbasel]

Drake smiles as with a mighty slash of the sword the goblin collapses against the house. He looks at the other too and smiles as he sees a dagger fly through the air. He shouts "Nice shot, Ma, keep it up."

He then turns to the wounded goblin, and slashes at it with his sword, attempting to finish the job his mother started.

[Terraspaz]

"That's right! Stay out of my house! Get back! Get back!" A rolling pin flies ineffectively out of the house as swords continue clanging against your armor.

You now notice the clattering of horse hooves approaching the other side of the house, growing with the accompaniment of human voices.

[Imbasel]

Drake smiles as his mother shouts out taunts. He quicky shouts back " Keep it up Ma, I think helps coming. He then turns to the goblin, who he had missed by a mile. Quickly, he clears his mind. A path emerges for his sword to, slash. He then quickly, brings it down getting ready to cleave the goblin in two.

[Terraspaz]

Dodging from side to side, you evade another pair of deadly blows from the creatures, who now have you cornered against the side of your own house. The creatures close in, and suddenly there's a lot less evading room than there was before. As the fiend on the right raises his blade, a knife comes spinning from the crumbled doorway, slashing across the beast's throat, ending it for good.

The one on the left, enraged, lets loose a furious battle cry, mere moments before being torn apart by the fastest moving blade you've ever seen. The corpse slides apart, revealing none other than Tychron Steeltoe, sheriff of the village. "Sam Hells, kid, you alright?"

"It's alright Joyce, come on out!" Your mom calls out, as she and your sister peer out from the destroyed doorway. "If y'all are okay, I'm gonna go check on the others. No tellin' how many of the bastards there are. Stay safe, and Pelor be with ya." Lightly lifting the brim of his hat, Tychron slams his feet into the sides of his horse, and they tear off towards the next house.

[Imbasel]

Drake walks over to his mom and sister and gives them the biggest hug he's ever given them. He says "Mom, sis are you ok? Don't scare me like that, alright?"

[Terraspaz]

Ma smiles. "And you thought I just did knitting all day," she says, grinning as she stretches out her right arm. A stiff breeze rustles through the air, and you realize just how much energy you've expended, and how sweaty you've become as the air rushes across the giant stains on the back and front of your shirt. Fighting real beasts is very different from the childhood quests of yesterday.

The breeze carries no noise from the farm, with the sounds of battle now subsided. "I hope everyone's alright,", your mom says, gazing southward toward the fields, Joyce tightly clutching her mom's left leg.

[Imbasel]

Drake looks at Joyce and says "Sis are you alright? Why are you holding your leg?"

[Terraspaz]

"I'm just scared... I want dad."

I wasn't clear on explaining that one. She was hanging on to your mom's leg, not her own.

[Imbasel]

Drake nods and says " Ok, sis I'll go get dad alright. I want you and mom to go back in the house and board things up, again. Grab the swords and armor from the goblins. They will be able to protect you if something else comes ok. I love you sis everything will be okay."

Drake gives her one last hug, and then without looking back jogs to the fields where he was working. He jogs not daring to think of what happened to Griffen and his father.

OOC: Out of curiosity how old is Joyce?

[Terraspaz]

Quite tired, the rush of adrenaline having passed through your system, you lumber up towards the fields. Before you can see over the final hilltop, you can smell what awaits you. From the peak of your tiny mountain, you see dozens of bodies, both goblin and human strewn about. The village seemed to have held out though, as they only standing figures have recognizable faces, and happy names that rush to memory.

Nathan Rodan was not among those sorting the chaos of the field, and nor was Griffin. You walk over to one of your neighbors, a short stout man who you suspected knew a thing or two about fighting, to ask if he'd seen either your dad, or Griffin. ...But as you headed over to him, a face down figure in the now-bloodied dirt solved the first of those two mysteries. As you stare down at the impossibility, a firm. calloused hand plants itself onto your shoulder. "I'm sorry, son," Tychron says. "Ain't a bit of justice for a boy to have to wake up one day, and find this. ...I'm sorry for your loss."

The day passed, and the sun slid into the horizon almost with an appearance of shame. Long shadows ran about the town, as the town grew to a quiet, slow mourning. Services would be held tomorrow, but tonight, everyone was left to their own personal griefs. Shock would render many of the village sleepless this night, and none moreso than Joyce. While Ma screamed and cursed the very life that could've spawned such terrible murderers, Joyce simply stared into nothing.

And no one had seen Griffin, or any of his family.

OOC: Joyce is 10, fair bit younger than you.

Also, this's is likely my last post for the evening, so you aren't kept waiting. I know we're still in the introductions stage of the game, but how do you think it's going so far? More of anything, less of anything, or is this about what you had in mind? Feel free to post comments in the OOC thread

[Imbasel]

As Drake walked over to the bodies he felt, a cold feeling of dread. All the people he knew, that he worked with every day dead, gone. He searched for his father, and soon found him.

His father, dead mutilated by goblins face down in the ground. Tychron's words fell upon deaf ears as Drake was consumed by grief. Carrying his father back, he saw his mothers face. Grief, and pain was etched across her face, and she cried out against the injustice of it all.

Drake tried to comfort Joyce, as he realized that he was now man of the house. All she did was recoil from his touch, withdrawn.

As the night wore on, Drake could stand it no longer. He turns to his Ma and Joyce and says" I'm going to find justice for our father. I will come back only when those that killed him are brought, to my sword."

With, his armor and shield he walks to Tychron's house. He raps the door gently to get the mans attention.

OOC: I'm quite enjoying it. The fight with the goblins was fairly intense and you did a good job with the tension during the battle. This is about the same setting I had in mind. Also, since it already occured I'm guessing if I had saved the father Ma and Joyce would have died? Also, how do you intend to handle xp?

[Terraspaz]

"Door's Open." You open the door to find a darkened room, with an array of lit candles by the door, and windows. The only truly dark part of the room is in the far corner, where a gruff voice mutters. "Drake? What in the hells are you doin' out at this hour? Don't you know those creatures could still be out there?" You hear a rattling as Tychron emerges from the shadows, a loaded hand crossbow lowered at his side.

He waves his armed hand at a chair on the fringe of the shadows. "Have a seat. Feel free to a drink if you want." He gestures at a dark, cloudy, foul smelling bottle on a nearby table. "Now... formalities aside, what do you want, kid?"

OOC: I was planning on handling XP based on events. (i.e., complete a bit of the story, gain a level. On average, you can expect to gain a level every two or three encounters. If you were planning on using XP for crafting stuff, we'll need to adjust that system, obviously, but I think it'll work for now.

And yeah, staying behind to defend the fields would've doomed either your mom, sister, or both.

[Imbasel]

Drake gives the man a respectful nod as Tychron steps forward. He says to him " No thanks, I would prefer to stand right now." Drake walks in and crosses his arms and it can easily be, seen that he is wearing his heart on his sleeve.

Drake turns and says " Do you know, where the goblins came from? I want to go back to their lair and track them down. I want justice to be done for my family. I want the towns-people to be safe. I want no more mothers, fathers, or sons and daughters to be killed. Can you help me? I need to do this, I need justice to be done."

OOC: That works great for me, on how I level.

[Terraspaz]

As your eyes become more adjusted to the darkness, you can begin to see the outline of Tychron's sturdy figure. "There's a fire in you, boy. I can see that, plain as day. You gotta know that with the unfortunate passin' of your father, you're in charge of your home now. Taking care of your ma, and sister. That's a heavy responsibility. And you aren't gonna shirk it by chasin' off on a grand suicide mission, leaving the two of them helpless should anything else happen!"

But..." He takes a long draught from the cloudy bottle. "A man needs justice, and to put demons like this to rest, if only in your head. And I can see that fire's burnin' too hot to let that demon cool off, in this life, at least. I don't know where these abominations are coming from, why they came in the first place... hell, I don't even know if they're comin' again. ...But I have some ideas. I've got a few ideas to figure this out, but before I let you on board, you gotta promise me something, kid.

When we go out on a job, you do EXACTLY as I say. If I say run, you run. If I say fight, you fight. You understand?" He gently sets the bottle down on the table, letting it hit with a soft <thinck>. He stares intently into your eyes, awaiting your answer.

[Imbasel]

Drake pauses for a moment thinking This isn't exactly what I had in mind, but it will do I suppose. Anything I can do to, avenge the death of Father I will do.


Drake nods respectfully to the man and then salutes he says " As you wish sir, what would you have me do?"

[Terraspaz]

"Very good. Tomorrow at dawn we're going to head south, to speak with some... well... less than honorable folk. You've probably heard of them, actually. The Wayward Outcasts?"

You indeed remember hearing about the Wayward Outcasts. People of all walks of life, artisans, bandits, farmers, sorcerers, anyone who isn't accepted by society. The only requirement to joining the Wayward Outcasts, is a promise of loyalty to the band, and to never harm another member of the band. Outsiders, however, aren't as respected, or cared for. You remember that a man named Wind leads the Outcasts, but don't know anything about him.

"They're our best shot at finding out where those hobgoblins are comin' from. What I want you to do is go home, pack your things, and be ready to leave at daybreak. Give your Ma and sis a kiss goodbye, and tell them you'll be back in a couple weeks. Johnson" who you remember as the short stout man from earlier "is headin' up the reconstruction efforts, so he'll be takin' care of them while you're gone. Any questions, kid?"

[Imbasel]

Drake nods and asks says " Sir, I have a question about my friend Griffen. Do you know what happened, to him sir? I did not find his body among those that are in the fields. I wouldn't think the goblins would take prisoners , but maybe I'm wrong."

[Terraspaz]

Another swig from the bottle. "I dunno. We haven't seen any of the Firebloods since the attack, dead or alive. The house was in huge disarray, so I'm bettin' they got some things together as fast as possible, and split town. Can't blame 'em, really." Another drink. "Some folks just don't have it in 'em to stand their ground, and fight for their home. And all they know is runnin'.

But to answer your question, I don't know where they are."

OOC: The Two Page Mark!

[Imbasel]

Drake nods suddenly weary, and says " Thank you sir, I appreciate it, I'll be going now." Drake salutes and quietly shuts the door.

He walks the way home in silence, and soft tears stream down his face as he remembers the bodies laying in the fields dead and gone. He approaches his house, and sees the back door still in shambles. Quietly, he slips back into the house.

[Terraspaz]

You return home, and aside from the broken doorway, the house looks completely peaceful. You enter the house, and head in, towards your bedlay. You see that Ma and Joyce are asleep in the same bed, Joyce curled up next to your Ma. Though Ma lies still in the unconsciousness of sleep, Joyce has a continued grimace, and a shaking that implies dreadful nightmares. You hang your armor atop your bedpost, laying your blade next to the bed, in easy reach should following attacks occur. You worry about the difficulty of sleep, with the worries of your family, your friends, and of the imminent journey with Tychron tomorrow. However, the fatigues of the day eventually catch up with you, and you drift to sleep.

...Shadowy figure... ...Wall of fire... ...a sky scorched with death... ...Eyes, burning with complete blackness... ...Pain.. ... ...pain...

Despite the terrors of the previous day, the chickens remain largely unphased. The roosters let loose their ceremonial call, waking up everything in sight. The sun is barely beginning to crest the horizon, and you feel slightly recovered from yesterday. The gash in your shoulder still hurts, but looks to be on the mend.

OOC: Up to 8 HP.

[Imbasel]

As Drake awakes, he suddenly feels as if he is a man for the first time in his life. A great weight has been placed upon his shoulder, and only time would tell if he could take the burden. Rising, as the rooster crows he quickly slips on his shirt. Throwing on his pair of trousers he gets his armor, on and places his sword in his sheath.

His shield lying on the table Drake writes a note

"Ma and Joyce-

Last, night I went to go see Tychron to see what he knew about the attack. I'm going with him, along with a small group of others to go and find the Wayward Outcasts. I will get vengeance for our family, and father's memory shall live on. When I'm gone Johnson will take care of you, and watch the house. I love you girls, and I will always be here for you. I will be back within a couple of weeks.

-Drake

Drake smiles and places the letter on the table. He then goes to find Tychron to begin his path of vengeance.

[Terraspaz]

You creep outside, and make your way to the edge of town. Your shadow stretches long across the plain, as the sun just barely peeks out from over the treeline. Off toward the center of town, you see a great mound of wood and tinder piled ten feet high. While there were a pair of wooden boxes you could make out, you know there was no way the church of Pelor was ready for such a massacre. However, the safety from disease, and the spiritual peace of those fallen dictated that those for which boxes weren't present be covered in cloth, and then set alight all the same. You think you can make out the strong figure of your father under one of the shrouds... but that's just your mind playing at you, you realize. There's no way you could pick out an individual figure under a shroud. It's time to put that childhood naivety aside, and assert your manhood. Your family needed a strong adult, not a weak child. With this resolve, you meet Tychron on the edge of town.

"Got yourself packed, I see. Hope you've got what you need, kid. We ain't gonna see this town again for quite some time. We've got a week's trek, and with any luck, we'll be right back the week after. I get uneasy leavin' town for this long, but what must be done must be done. So let's hit the road, and git goin'." Tychron adjusts several straps on the side of his horse, laden with several satchels, mostly containing water and food. "We're savin' the horse, best we can. Don't wanna get out there, and have a pooped out ride, you see."

The travel is easy going, and laden with many familiar sights. Much of this land you'd travelled as a boy, going to and from crop sales with other families in town. Though there was a certain alien feeling travelling through these same familiar lands walking with a sword on your hip, and a very different purpose in your heart. The hills and fields roll one after another, until at midday the last of the settlements drift to the rear, and the expanse of the plain lies before you. A lone dirt trail, in patches overgrown with weeds, cuts through the landscape, adding some contrast to an otherwise uniformly tan field.

As the evening begins, a small thicket of woods nears on the left. Shortly before it is a cart, clearly designed to be pulled by some sort of animal. The cart lays forward against the ground, still upright, but quite immobile with the animals quite absent, as seems to be the driver.

You notice some movement inside.

[Imbasel]

Drake groans, as the pack begins to wear on his shoulders. After traveling for several hours all he wanted was a hot meal, and a nice bed.

The scene before him ended that however. Instantly, he withdraws his sword and creeps, down low. He enters a combat stance and whispers " Sir I think this could be a trap. Right in the middle of the road, this wagon is just laying here? There could be archers in the tree line, and people hidden inside the wagon.

Still I will do as you command sir."

[Terraspaz]

Nodding, Tychron calls out from a distance "Hello! Anybody in there!"

The flap of the wagon peels back and you see a bald, bearded figure peer out from behind the cloth. He wears simple clothing woven from grasses of the field. "Oh heavens, thank goodness you're here. For a while I thought that no one was going to come... these roads are barely travelled as it is. " The man pulls the flap all the way open, revealing a cart filled with several crates, though it is difficult to see what lies inside. "My horses, they were pulling along and all of a sudden went berserk! I had to let them loose before they ripped the cart apart. I'm way too far from home to make it back by nightfall, an... ...do you hear that?"

You hear a faint rumbling, as a horse's gallop.

ooc: Roll for Initiative

[Imbasel]

Drake turns around to the sound of the gallop and whips out his sword ready to fight.

[Terraspaz]

A screeching whinny rises from the right, as two horses wildly charge up the hill, coming into view towards you. Their skin a soft tan, these horses have clearly been well cared for, free of blemishes and disfigurements.

On the rear flank of the left horse sits a tremendous insect, and you notice it possesses a stinger stuck quite firmly into the horse. The horse seems oblivious to its presence, as it races madly towards Tychron. He draws his blade, and while he is too late to parry or dodge the incoming blows, the hooves clang harmlessly off his armor. Tychron screams out a battle cry. The stranger retreats back behind the folds of his wagon.

You're up! Battle map is here
https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=trEVe1oy8hld9TyFZqyDVQg&authkey=CNmx6e0E&hl=en#gid=0

[Imbasel]

Drake looks at the horse, and shouts " Don't worry boy, calm down I'll help you out." Drake takes his sword out and slashes at the bee, to get it from the horse.

[Terraspaz]

Running up to the horse's side, you reach over the horse slashing at the winged creature lodged in its back. The horse paws at you as you run past, but you are far too quick for it.

As the sword carves a chunk out of the side of the bee, it is knocked away from the horse, and turns its fury out on you, but strikes nothing but air.

Seeing you dash to the other side of the horse, Tychron calls out "Excellent Drake, keep it distracted! Confuse the beast and it won't know how to dodge!" Stepping opposite the horse from you, Tychron grasps the hilt of his sword, raises it and brings it crashing down on the horse's head.

The horses, enraged at the commotion around them, turn toward Tychron, and strike him with both hooves, but he easily dodges out of the way of three of the blows. A fourth catches his shoulder, and he grunts in pain, still with plenty of fight left in him. The bee is angrily buzzing in your face, as the horse turns to focus its attention on Tychron.

[Imbasel]

Drake smiles as his blade cuts through the bee, like a knife through hot butter. Digging the blade out of the creature he slashes again, trying to end its life.

[Terraspaz]

You feel a wash of ease pass over you as the bee slides apart, falling to the ground in two distinct pieces.

Meanwhile, Tychron raises his hilt again, but as he brings it down for a second blow, he receives a kick to the face from that very horse, and his strike is directed to the side. Nose bloody, and an angry scowl on his face, Tychron adjusts his stance, ready to begin attacking with the edge of his blade. "I'm through messing around with you dolts!"

[Imbasel]

Drake looks at the horse that struck Tychron. He says " Sorry, about this buddy." He takes his sword out, and hits the beast with the flat of it trying to knock it out.

[Terraspaz]

"Don't bother going soft on these things, kid! They'll tear you apart if you do!" Tychron deftly swings his blade down onto the first horse, wildly missing, distracted by the pain in his shoulder. The horses hit him simultaneously in the chest and lower back, and he lets out a bellowing yell. "Kill the bastards!"

OOC: I'm going with a -4 penalty for using a lethal weapon in a nonlethal way. The Feat "Improved Unarmed Strike" would erase that. I can't remember if that's a published rule, but I've used it for a while.

[Imbasel]

Drake grimaces and cuts his sword at the horse shouting " Sorry Nelly."

[Terraspaz]

"Nelly" shrieks in a ear-splitting screech as your blade, closely followed by Tychron's, bringing the horse to its knees in pain. The screech subsides, as the beast lapses into unconsciousness

The other horse, largely unaware of what had happened to its companion, continues clanging against Tychron's now bloodied armor.

OOC: I forgot to account for the flanking bonus earlier. That nonlethal attack where you rolled an 11 did hit.

[Imbasel]

Seeing his friend being wounded by the horse, Drake lets out an imhuman scream, and slashes his sword at the horse.

[Terraspaz]

Tychron stares at the now headless equine as you sever its head completely from its body. The foaming mouth snarls and sputters at you as it thuds against the ground, the burning fire of hatred in its eye slowly fading toward cold lifelessness. Such mad symptoms... you've never seen such an affliction before, and have no idea what the poor beast actually had, though you're fairly sure the Bee was responsible.

"Gotta say, kid... you sure know how to use that thing more than you lead on. You've got an arm on ya, I'll give you that. Heh heh!" Tychron withdraws a small metal container from inside his armor, loosens the cap and upends a large swallow into his mouth. As he uprights the flask, offering it to you, the figure lifts the flaps of the wagon once more.

"Well one thousand rat-pisses! There's no way I can get this thing home on just one horse's power! Absolutely no way I'll make it to a settlement by nightfall with my effects! Thanks for killing my only hope of getting back home!" The man is wearing a light blue robe, as well as a awful scowl on his face. Lines of tension dart across his face, and his eyebrows are furrowed, accenting his very pronounced widow's peak. A light crossbow is attached to his hip, but he appears otherwise unarmed.

He runs his hands through his thinning hair, glaring at you.

ooc: And with that, we'll drop out of initiative. Nice finisher, by the way!

[Imbasel]

Drake looks down at the ground and shakes his head. He says " Sir, I deeply apologize for what we had to do. I know we cannot make up for the loss of your horse, but with permission from the captain I would like to make a compromise.

You are looking to get to a settlement safely, and I wish to repay you in some small way. What say you to us escorting you to the next settlement. We were planning on traveling for a bit, and will most likely be near another town. Captain what do you say?"

[Terraspaz]

Tychron grumbles a bit, nudging the horse's decapitated head with his boot.
"I didn't breed Dasheen here for simple use as a pack mule... but I guess we can't just leave him stranded like this. But we still have a problem. Strong as Dasheen is, she still can't pull this wagon all by herself. Besides, I think we've done more than enough, SAVING YOUR LIFE!"

The man in blue sneers. "Well, by the grace of some god, you only managed to knock out one of the horses. See, you can still see it breathing. Now, if you'll give me just a moment..." The man retreats within the folds of his wagon, and you hear a rustling sound, interlaced with mild swearing for about a minute. Afterwards, the man proudly hops down from the crate, with a leather belt adorned with a silver buckle around his waist. The man takes a deep breath, leans down next to the horse, and the belt briefly flashes a faint blue. The horse twitches, and groans in pain, still laying on the ground. Well, he still hurts like all hells, but he'll be alright.

The man turns to both of you. "And don't get me wrong, I don't condemn your 'valiant' attempts at protection. Only your ineptitudes in killing. But I'll make you a deal. You let me use this horse here to help pull my cart back home, and keep a watch for any more of those infernal bees, and you can have this belt." He taps his buckle, and you recognize it as a Belt of Healing, an item capable of restoring significant wounds of many sorts.

OOC: Ding! Gain a level!