Return to Port Lorrel

As we play, occasionally we'll close a thread and open a new one to keep the size of threads (and relative complexity) down to a dull roar. Here's where we store the closed posts from the history of Errant Road.
Locked
User avatar
Jack Rothwell
Teller of Tales
Posts: 2405
Joined: June 17th, 2010, 7:35 am
Location: Liverpool, England

Re: Return to Port Lorrel

Post by Jack Rothwell »

Tamina accepted the pat in good, but confused, grace. As she look up from Udo's patting hand she saw the last of the cultists taking a backflip off the wall, aided on his way by a well placed shot from Jamie's rifle.

The humanoid got up and patted herself down. She helped Udo to his feet with a toothy grin and called for Gary.

"Hey! Umm... grumpy driver man! The coo... cun... coast is clear! Peoples can move along now!"
Alberich
Noble Knight Protector
Posts: 1892
Joined: October 5th, 2008, 9:58 am

Re: Return to Port Lorrel

Post by Alberich »

[OOC: The enemy are behind the wall firing through loopholes; that's why the firefight has gone on so long with so little effect. But with the latest development it is about over anyway.]

Tamina's healing power had renewed Udo's body at the expense of her own energy. A single stroke of her fur renewed his spirit. Here indeed was a reward for heroes! Now he would have to show himself a true champion.

As she sank exhausted beside him, behind his rock of choice, and curled up for a mid-fight nap, he seized up the Big Man Frontier Blaster. And not a moment too soon! Taking the cue from Jamie's increasingly infrequent shots, one of the enemy had started climbing over the wall, to see if it was time to rush the caravaneers. Udo fired several blasts, and while it was Jamie who actually drilled the man, the new fire taught them they needed to wait until nightfall.

So for the next couple of hours, it was Udo who let off the occasional gout of energy to no effect, while Taminia rested and Jamie cursed, expending what little she had left on efforts to nail them through the loopholes. (Which, had they not been shooting back, she could probably have pulled off.) Nera cried sometimes, and Gary tried to comfort her with little success.

Finally, the sun sank behind the hills, and the battleground became too dark for marksmanship. There was some shouting from among the enemy, as they made ready to avenge their losses of the day. Someone with keen hearing would hear the shouted orders, suggestions, and instructions from whatever improptu "leadership" had arisen behind the wall. They were to advance on the enemy - if they saw staff blasts or muzzle flash, fire at it and then rush it. They'd get 'em for sure! The fifteen who remained, including hammer and halberds and all five rifles, clambered over the wall and began to advance in a line.

They appeared to have forgotten that cats can see in the dark.
User avatar
Jack Rothwell
Teller of Tales
Posts: 2405
Joined: June 17th, 2010, 7:35 am
Location: Liverpool, England

Re: Return to Port Lorrel

Post by Jack Rothwell »

Tamina watched the approach of the last of the cultists with furrows of confusion in her brow. The tentative way they made their way up, over and down the wall made no sense to her, could they not see the edges they teetered so close to?

The last few hours had given the kobold the chance to recharge, and the change from gun fight to advancing (mostly) melee group finally created a set of circumstances where she could be useful. She grinned, flexing her fingers so the claws unsheathed. They gleamed dully in the near darkness.

"Hey!" She called. "Jay-me! Don't hit me with the gun-thing! Bullets hurt!"

With that the kobold channeled her favorite spell, a sustained boost of adrenalin which turned her limbs into pistons and her heart into a hummingbird wings beat. As an added bonus, the momentary flash that ran across her body as the spell took effect was bright enough to leave sunspots in the eyes of the highwaymen who were still adjusting to the dark.

"We are so- hurk!" Finished the lead man as Tamina charged up the ramp and opened his throat with a swipe.

Tamina plowed through the group in a flurry of kicks, punches and opened-handed swings. She didn't kill everyone she hit, but everyone she connected with either struck the ground motionless or fell sideways off the ramp (some even cheerfully declaring how screwed they were even as the life blood poured from their wounds). The humanoid's run took her into a tackle as she connected with one of the riflemen and went tumbling over the magical construct, hitting the ground with a thud and leaving behind half a dozen bewildered and very exposed cultists wondering what the black and white blur that took out most of their troupe was.
Alberich
Noble Knight Protector
Posts: 1892
Joined: October 5th, 2008, 9:58 am

Re: Return to Port Lorrel

Post by Alberich »

As the dark-blinded enemy approached, Tamina's flurry-attack quite simply destroyed them. Some she slashed and some she kicked, and some turned and shot each other in the hopes of getting her. Udo and Jamie avoided the same mistake by holding their fire - but as the enemy were running in all directions, one or two got too close, wearing colors that practically glowed in the dark. They got stabbed and kicked in very painful ways.

One crossbowman tried to run away in the dark. Perhaps a long life eating mush was best after all. He tripped on the rocky ground and fell and knocked himself silly; another tried to pick his way away with more care, but he escaped or not at Tamina's pleasure.. All of which is to say, the field belonged to the Bold Caravaneers. The five-foot wall hadn't disappeared, but it didn't run flush to high cliffs the way the other one had, so they would be able to get around it whenever they wished (tonight or in the morning). Ester was not far now.

Their fallen foes were at their mercy. The ones that lived could be abandoned, bound, or finished as they wished. Most, quite literally, had never known what hit them. The ones that did know got hit just the same.
User avatar
Jack Rothwell
Teller of Tales
Posts: 2405
Joined: June 17th, 2010, 7:35 am
Location: Liverpool, England

Re: Return to Port Lorrel

Post by Jack Rothwell »

With the ambush duly (eventually) dealt with the kobold scrambled back to the top of the magic wall with a grin on her face. Her mouth machine-gunned speech as a by-product of the effects of the spell she'd used wearing off and the adrenalin from fighting in such a dangerous situation.

"Did I do good? Thought I did good! Shall we go?" Tamina added a stream of babble which wouldn't have even made sense to someone who spoke the kobold language. She grabbed her heels and slid down the tree-made slope to the ground near the wagon.

"An excellent suggestion." Chipped in Gary. "If we ride hard we'll be in Ester before midnight." The nephew of the man who owned the caravan clambered awkwardly into the back of the vehicle and opened a small barrel, immediately filling the nearby air with the smell of fermented fruit. The down-beaten wagon driver dipped a tin cup into the liquid and drank it down as though it were a glass of mineral water. "Dont' forget to loot the bodies... if I'm lucky then uncle won't mind the missing property, the bullet holes and traumatized horses if he sees a return on his investment."

"Yay!" The southern-continent native made her way merrily from one unfortunate bandit to the next, amassing a bundle of blades, bows and blunt instruments as she went.
Alberich
Noble Knight Protector
Posts: 1892
Joined: October 5th, 2008, 9:58 am

Re: Return to Port Lorrel

Post by Alberich »

Well before midnight, the one-wagon commercial enterprise rolled into town. One of the prominent commercial enterprises was Scorz's Nephews, Traders in Weapons, Camping Gear, and Miscellaneous Bandit Loot. Later, the group would learn this was the remnant of what used to be Ester's leading industry - selling off the equipment of hopeful bandit/mercenary/assassin/security groups that set up near Lorrel to prove themselves. With the Eiesenfaust in the ascendant, things just weren't what they were...

Lodgings would not be hard to find in one of the local inns, they'd be able to feed and wash the now-filthy baby, the morning promised no difficulties in delivering Gary's goods and paying off his guards, and everyone could go whichever way she pleased.

Udo, in a dream-like state, hoped Tamina would want to lodge with him...because if she'd curl up and catnap right by him...he could....he...could...pet kitty! Koboldvoratrelundar. Whatever. But if he wasn't to her liking, and it was time to part ways, he wasn't going back to banditry. No, he had proven himself in battle, and would take his place among the elites, by finding a large retail outlet to guard.
User avatar
Jack Rothwell
Teller of Tales
Posts: 2405
Joined: June 17th, 2010, 7:35 am
Location: Liverpool, England

Re: Return to Port Lorrel

Post by Jack Rothwell »

OOC Just want to wait until Sareth adds his two pennies before I post again./OOC
User avatar
Sareth
RPG All-Star
Posts: 2604
Joined: August 23rd, 2007, 8:54 pm

Re: Return to Port Lorrel

Post by Sareth »

Upon finishing the escort, Jamie's mind went to the obvious place. "Beer. I need beer. Where do you think we might find some, Tami cutey?"

****

"And there they go into town," Jasmine nodded in satisfaction. "See? I told you they wouldn't need help."

"Yes, of course. This is excellent," the still unidentified man nodded. "So now we simply need to find them in that mass of humanity. Any suggestions?"

"Yes. I think we need a drink."
Image
Image
Alberich
Noble Knight Protector
Posts: 1892
Joined: October 5th, 2008, 9:58 am

Re: Return to Port Lorrel

Post by Alberich »

At this late hour, in a town this size, there was only one inn open - the Sign of the Flatiron. Only a few serious late drinkers were there.

Gary, normally first in line for wine, beer, or "ardent spirits," did not join them. He had only one interest: Bed. He went there. Udo, by contrast, was flush with joy after their famous victory. He eagerly joined the girls at the bar.

[OOC: I'm writing as if Nera has been placed with Gary or at least someplace safe, but it's up to you to clarify in your own posts where she is.]

It didn't take him long to start boasting about the group's encounter with the Order of Expendables, and the ease with which they'd slaughtered them. He wasn't exaggerating his own role more than a little -- his imagination would take time to do that -- but he did use a lot of "we" as opposed to names ('cause saying all those nouns, can really wear you down).

The bartender, a bald and burly stereotype, commented that they seemed to have finished off the entire order, or at least its footsoldiers. Their leader, a wizard who went by the name Winslow, and who was actually lodging at this very inn, probably wouldn't like that. He'd been bitching about something a few hours ago and maybe that was it. Anyway, what would the ladies be having?

[OOC: We're close to the end of my involvement in this part of the story - it's up to you whether Udo gets kicked to the curb or kept around a little more, and whether you want anything to do with Winslow.]
User avatar
Jack Rothwell
Teller of Tales
Posts: 2405
Joined: June 17th, 2010, 7:35 am
Location: Liverpool, England

Re: Return to Port Lorrel

Post by Jack Rothwell »

"Beer pleeeease!" Tamina repeated for the fourth or fifth time that evening. Numbers weren't her thing anyway, and the last drink had suspended what little learning she had in the area. The bartender placed a foaming mug full of liquid that the southern continent native was almost certain was drinkable. She clunked a couple of coins left from her, now distressingly depleted, purse on the sodden bar and meandered merrily back to the table the 'convoy' had laid claim to.

The pub was a fairly solemn place but Tamina didn't mind. The day's exertions had left her feeling elated despite the late hour, and it seemed she wasn't the only one. She tipped a wink at Ooh-doh chatting to the women back at the bar in what she considered a harmless gesture of amiability and furrowed her brow in confusion at the red color the would-be bandit turned in response. One of the girls he was talking to gave her a saucer-eyed expression, despite her drunkenness she winced in annoyance, she knew what was coming next...

"Catgirl!" She exclaimed.

"Kobold!" Tamina reflexly slurred back. She finished her semi-stagger and planted herself in her seat. Her seat for the evening being Jaime's lap.

The kobold clumsily traced a hand down the side of the mercenaries face and grinned, feeling gladder than ever that she'd made the decision to leave the Southern Continent, at least for a while.

"Did good today." She said. "Glad we took the job."
Locked