Giga Games 1/Giga Games.iso/net/d_d/caltech/fluff/spldwarf.flf

Text File | 1993-06-22 | 10.2 KB | 170 lines

              Indigo <[e-mail]>

                The Tales of The Splattered Dwarf
                          Part One


     The floor of the bar was made of a polished oaken wood that
reflected light from the fire.  Though it was a busy night in the bar,
much of the talk was muted, and all was quiet.  In one corner, apart
from the rest of the patrons, a strange hooded figure sat, immersed in
shadows, hidden from the crowd of the bar.
     Suddenly, the figure ros from their seat and moved to the center of
the bar.  The figure threw back the hood of it's cloak, revealing the
finely carved features of an elf.  The elf pulled a chair with him, and
removed a harp from his pack.  He seated himself and began to softly
strum the strings.  As the crowd gathered around him, he began to speak.
     Many years ago, in a faraway realm, a group of adventurers banded
together, and through many years and terrible plights, made their names
known throughout the land.  Herein lies their story.
     The group, which became known as The Adventurers of the Splattered
Dwarf, was originally composed of Martigan Von Husen, a human priest of
Sune Firehair, BA Bloodletter, a half-ogre warrior of enormous strength,
Mesha, a centaur bard, Gneer, a gnome illusionist, Tobas, an elven
magician who practiced the arts of thievery, and Mercone, a half breed
elven woodsman.
     They began in the city of Espar as young, inexperienced adventurers,
new in the world, determined to cahnge everything.  Due to a lack of
items in Espar, the first task that they undertook was the journey south
to the city of Suzail, the capital of the kingdom that they were in.
Along the way, they were waylaid by several creatures that resembled men
with the faces of pigs.
     Although the party was sorely wounded in the battle, they managed to
prevail and then continued southward with their newfound armor and
weapons from these creatures, which they had discovered to be orcs.
     Once the party arrived in Suzail, a couple of days later, several of
them set about selling the items that they had found, while the others
roamed the city in search of employment for the group.
     The group that journeyed to sell their goods was compposed of
Martigan, Gneer, and BA.  Although they soon found a shop at which they
could sell their items, Martigan and Gneer began the plotting which
would earn them the reputation as some of the sneakiest wheelers and
dealers in the city.
     The half-ogre acted as the luggage rack while Martigan attempted to
bargain with the shopkeeper, who continued to insist that he had no need
for their items.  At this point, Gneer walked into the store, jumped up
onto the counter and asked for a considerable number of swords, which
was what Martigan was trying to sell.
     The shopkeeper's jaw dropped as he realized how much the gnome was
talking about spending, and he spun to Martigan and said Done!  As he
paid Martigan, Gneer slipped out of the shop unknown to all, leaving the
shopkeeper with an empty purse, and a full inventory.  After this
incident, Gneer and Martigan were known, and still are as The Wheeling
Dealers.
     The other adventurers had found an employer in the person of Reed
Stoneskin, an extrememly old dwarf, who was hiring adventurers for a
minor expedition into a nearby dwarven mine.  Bright and early the next
morning, the party assembled with their leader outside of the city, and
began the short journey to the mines.
     Although they were not molested during their trek, Gneer got a
glimpse of the darker side of his race - The party was able to see large
groups of shifty looking gnomes in the shadows just out of bow range.
As the group approached the mine, Reed appointed Gneer as mapper, due to
the fact that Gneer has the necessary items, and also the skill.
     The dwarf led the group into the mines, using his dwarven sight to
lead them into the entry room.  Luckily for the dwarf, one of the party
members lit a torch on the way in, which revealed a giant pit shaft in
the center of the room.  Mercone made an extremely lucky grab which
saved Reed's life that day.  After his close encounter with the pit,
Reed told the party that he remembered the pit having been used as a
method of transpoting large goods down to the lover levels of the mines.
He then pointed out the wreckage of the mechanisms that had been used to
transport the goods down.
     The elf came to a stop as his voice twitched, and he motioned for
the barkeep to bring him a drink.  He laid several coins of a silvery
metal on the table near him, and stretched.  Several of the folk in the
bar watched him, and noticing that he was taking a short break, ran out
of the bar, yelling for their friends to come and witness the wonder
that was being told in the bar.

========================================================================

                                  Part Two

     After the company had saved poor Reed from certain death by
 falling down the mineshaft, the dwarf told them of the elevator
 that the dwarves had used in his time to raise and lower things
 within the mine.  He told them of the great chasm just beyond, and
 the bridge that went across it.
     After a quick vote, the party decided to venture to the north, to
 a place that Reed did not remember.  They ventured onward, with Mercone
 in the lead, and BA at the back.  They didn't journey very far before
 Reed remembered what that passageway was for.  After several minutes
 of travel, the companions found stairs leading down, and unanimously
 decided to turn back and continue to explore the level that they were
 on.
     Continuing onward, the party came to the chasm, across which Reed
 could see an extremely large gem, which was one of the reasons that
 he had began the expedition.  Totally unmindful of danger, he ran toward
 the bridge that spanned the chasm.  The companions were considerably
 more aware of the dangers, and once again, the valiant Mercone saved
 the old dwarf's life.
     After testing the bridge, and finding it extremely unstable, the
 group ventured to the south, where they explored a series of rooms that
 had originally been used as housing for the dwarves on the upper levels.
 Even though they found nothing in these rooms, they found yet another
 set of stairs leading down to the next level, which they took.
     Down below, on the next level, they found the entrance to the
 elevator that they had seen on the first level.  They walked onward,
 into the level, and found themselves in a hall with six doors.  Reed
 vaguely remembered that one or two of the doors were definately
 something that should not be opened, but could not remember what.
     The companions prepared themselves for the worst, and choose one of
 the many doors.  The door was opened without trouble, and entering the
 room, the companions found a stash of treasure.  However, Reed was not
 available to tell them what it meant.  While the companions had opened
 that door, he had opened the door across the hall, and had found himself
 falling down the shaft that Mercone had rescued him from at the very
 beginning.
     The companions moved over to the door to determine if they could
 save their guide, but as they did, a hideous cross between a bear and
 an owl sprang from one of the far doorways and charged them, intent on
 having at least one of them for breakfast.
     Thinking fast, as his kind is famous for, Gneer quickly cast off an
 illusion of a dungeon wall in front of the beast.  The beast was now
 trapped into thinking that it was trapped by the wall, while the
 companions sat behind the illusion and plotted a way to get through.
     After several moments of quick planning, the companions were caught
 off guard by the beast smashing through Gneer's illusion.  Apparently it
 had heard their voices through the "wall" and had been able to convince
 itself that the wall wasn't really there.
     Even though their plans were not fully completed, the companions
 were able to defeat the monster, although it required all of their
 resources.  After defeating it, they searched its lair, and left the
 dungeon.
     They returned to the town, Suzail, where they sought healing and
 training.  They spent a considerable amount of time in town, learning
 new skills to supplement those that they already possessed.  While they
 were in town, the town council declared the mine off limits due to the
 fact that a group of goblins had moved into the upper levels.
     Knowing that even greater treasures lie in the levels below, the
 companions chose to return to the mines, even knowing that it was
 against the law.  The promise of treasure and combat led them on.  They
 made the return trip to the mines, and snuck in after distracting the
 guards at the entrance.
     They returned to the place where they had defeated the owlbear, and
 continued downward, finding the stairs down rather easily.  As they
 began down the stairs, they heard a voice crying out from below.  After
 a moment of hesitation, they ran down the stairs to find a small elf
 being beat upon by several gnolls.  Mercone lept into battle, leading
 the rest of them, and the battle was soon over.
     After a moment of talking with the elf, the companions discovered
 that his name was Ikondorian, and that he had been imprisoned in the
 mines by the Cormyrian guards, who seemed to have thought that he had
 done something wrong.  The companions asked him to join them in their
 journey, and he quickly agreed, having nothing else pressing to do.
     The companions spent about an hour roaming around the passageways,
 fighting small, roaming groups of gnolls.  Finally, they entered a room
 where several gnolls were playing at dice.  As the battle began, one of
 the gnolls began blowing on a horn at his side, which was quickly
 repeated from other parts of the complex.
     The companions continued to battle the gnolls, however, and soon,
 there arrived reinforcements for the gnolls.  For a moment, it looked
 as if the companions would have to fight on two fronts, but they
 managed to slay the last of the gnolls in the room and were then able
 to keep the room at their backs.  Many gnolls were sent to visit their
 god that day, and the companions of the Splattered Dwarf were sorely
 wounded.  After finishing off the gnolls, they barricaded themselves
 inside the room and rested.