The Misadventures of the Missed Adventurers

[Krsqk]

Having finished the spell assembly while listening to Jack, Arthur erects the force shield, which rises fifteen feet above the castle wall and extends a forty-five degree sweep each side of center, giving off an eerie golden glow.

Arthur "That should knock back any arrows, although a ballista could probably get through. A projectile with a small sack of damping flour could, too. Other than that, the buildings are probably safe. I'll have a light drizzle coat the buildings, just in case something flaming gets through." A pattering of raindrops is heard on the nearby structures. "So I can't transmute, then? I can probably get four pounds of lead from a metalsmith without too much trouble." A sudden thought strikes Arthur, and he does some quick calculations in his head, stopping to confer with Narp, John, and D.

John "Jack, you said that burning the lead would leave about four pounds of waste? Do you think the four of us could each take a fourth of it? It might be interesting to study, and I'm sure the guilds and metalsmiths would be glad to take a stab at finding a use for it."

A loud crack comes from behind, followed by four or five in a row. Several large lightning bolts strike the central tower from a group of twenty bandits gathered below, sending sharp stone and debris flying. Three guards, apparently unconscious and lying on the ground, are quickly stabbed by the intruders, who advance toward the tower on the run. A nearby sentinel attempts to halt their assault with a glowing net, which dissolves on contact with the bandits with a familiar series of flashes; the guard is rewarded for his vigilance with a half-dozen bolts through his chain mail. A warning whistle sounds, and a purple flare bursts overhead as four dozen more bandits scramble over the back wall and race to join their companions.

[ooc: This could be a pre-arranged attack, although the scrying spell should have detected them. It could also be the group from the psi's cave, attacking either on standing orders or a captain's/lieutenant's orders. Didn't they have some wizards with them? And how long have we been fighting, since ISTR the baron was around 30 min. away.]

[ September 03, 2003, 05:32: Message edited by: Krsqk ]

[narf poit chez BOOM]

ooc:[seems to me Arther is good at npc control, to. Narp wouldn't try to rip somebody off. Arther's just going to have to lump it.]

Narp "Oh, he means gold. That's pretty valueable here, " shoots "because it's pretty rare. If this get's out that'll " shoots "change. But a fifty-fifty split with the rest " shoots " of us would be fair."

Narp hit's a fouth bandit, then a fifth. And ropes hit the top of the tower and are followed by some assorted spells, including a fireball, two lightning bolts and a green something that cracks through the air, as horsemen enter the other end of the town at a reletivily silent charge.

And in the cavern's under the mountain, five wizard's stand around a pile of magical items, using up their power to create another teleport spell for twenty more bandits.

ooc:[another short post.]

[ September 05, 2003, 06:49: Message edited by: narf poit chez BOOM ]

[Jack Simth]

Jack teleports the spells onto different paths before they can impact anything; the fireball is diverted to a few of the bandits throwing ropes on the tower, who scream momentarily before becoming silent. One lightning bolt hits another, who screams, falls, and twitches on the ground for a second before lying still. The other lightning bolt hits a bandit coated in chainmail, and grounds out. The green spell impacts the chain covered bandit, and he screams as his armor turns to acid, burning his skin off.

A moment later, the smell of burnt flesh reaches the tower.

Jack "Well, I wouldn't be burning all four pounds at once anyway; I'd burn two to get the energy for the gem, and pocket the rest for later. There's no sense wasting good lead; it's dangerous if you don't have anywhere to put the energy. Normally I shape the ash into a mount for the gem - which reminds me, Arthur, what kind of mount do you prefer: ring, necklace, torc, armlet, bracelet, button, brooch, no mount, or something else? Normally I'd throw the unused ash away, but as you believe it has some value, I suppose I can save it. As far as I'm concerned, it's your purchase, Arthur, so it is up to you to determine the distribution. Four even sized chunks with the remainder for experimentation? Works for me. There isn't any residue on them, however. The spell that triggers the burning is destroyed in the process of the burning. The ash is a perfectly normal metal."

Seeing a head poke over the edge of the tower, Jack starts teleporting bandits away, starting with those climing the tower. Most end up well over the battlefield, but he tosses a few back into the forest.

Jack "Also - I'll need to be directed to a lake, preferably a large one, that people don't fish for a living. It's needed to safely burn the lead."

Due to Jack's having forgotten to renew the self-preservation orders on his golems, they are easy prey for the bandits, get dusted, and crumble to dust.

John "I know of one - only the Baron and his guests are permitted to fish there, and they never catch anything anyway. They won't likely notice."

Jack "Oh, and don't worry too much about backfire; I build a safety mechanism into the gems - they examine the energy channel you provide and determine how much the channel can safely take. They then back off of that figure a bit and limit the energy they will provide to the lesser of that amount and the gems' production capacity. If your spells can backfire without one, yeah, it could make backfire worse. However, one of my gems won't increase the chance of backfire."

[ September 06, 2003, 05:24: Message edited by: Jack Simth ]

[Krsqk]

[ooc: After a month-long hiatus, I'm finally trying again, and my RPer's broken. Here goes...]

The horsemen, about fifty in number, ride in a wedge directly at the knot of bandits, who scatter to avoid being trodden on. Jack assists their escape by teleporting several more back over the battlefield. With the few remaining bandits disposed of, the horsemen vanish.

Arthur "Obviously someone's picked up a new illusion since Last time I was here."

John simply smirks and serves up another fireball to the Last bandit climbing the tower.

A shout is heard from the front wall, and the party spins around. Guards and bandits alike are running from the shield wall, on which a large bag of flour is resting. The shield is swaying and buckling in an alarming manner, and the green glow is swirling angrily. Arthur turns pale.

Arthur "The container for the wall is dissolving, which will release all that force magic! Most of it should be directed out toward the bandits, but enough will come back this way that the baron won't like what he finds."

John "Container? What are you doing messing with force containers?"

Arthur "I saw it used once when a mage wanted to reinforce his force wall. I thought it might help reflect larger projectiles. Of course, I only saw it once, and it wasn't exactly a large-scale operation..."

John smacks his forehead in frustration. Before he can speak again, a large gash rips across the shield.

[ooc: Not that good, but the best this rusty old codger can come up with. And Arthur gives a big to Narp for trying to give away his gold. ]

[ October 11, 2003, 20:55: Message edited by: Krsqk ]

[narf poit chez BOOM]

ooc:[well, i forgot about this for today and am doing this kinda late at night. um, if it looks stupid, tell me. Jack is the obvious choice to do something.]

A large green hemisphere appears around the explosion, directing the bLast outward. unfortunatly, it also directs a large section of wall outward. a large number of top stones fly off the wall and begin rolling down the hill.

The remaining bandits decide this battle is not going the way they where told it would and that it is time to leave.

Unfortunatly, the furiously chanting wizard's in the cave do not know what has happened and transport the twenty soldier's, the best, brightest and most well-equiped. Right into the castle's great hall, where they immiediatly head upward to deal with the Last reported major resistance.

ooc:[one Last fight.]

[Jack Simth]

Jack surveys the battlefield.
Most the ground is covered in thick mud, and blood stains the ground a dark red where the dead and dying are strewn. A muddy trunk floats on a thick patch of mud at the bottom of the hill, stained slightly red with the blood of those it crushed. An empty helmet is stuck on the stub of a broken branch. All is quiet, save for a few shouts in the distance of fleeing bandits.

Jack "It looks as though we've won. The place is a mess, but that's expected."

Jack tilts his head to one side for a moment, apparently listening to something nobody can hear.

Jack "John, were you expecting any guests to pop in about now?"

John "No, why?"

Jack "Well, I just caught the faint echo of an inbound teleport. Someone popped into the main hall a few moments ago - quite a few people, judging from the mass in the teleport."

D "About how many people, would you say?"

Jack "Oh, thirty or forty, depending on how much they are carrying."

D "And if they were wearing chain or plate?"

Jack "Then it would be about twenty. But we've won - what good would reinforcements do now?"

[ October 15, 2003, 21:02: Message edited by: Jack Simth ]

[Krsqk]

Arthur, who has ruefully been surveying the damage to the baron's residence, quickly checks for signs of life from the great hall.

Arthur "Not sure what you caught, Jack, but that's a negative from my readings. I can't find anything down there." He goes back to his damage assessment. "I know one thing for sure, though--I don't want to be here if the baron returns to this mess. We have some major renovations to do here, not to mention fixing the little problem you dumped in John's workroom." At this, John glares in Jack's direction, while Jack completely misses the act.

Jack "I know what I'm saying. There was a teleport, and there are people in the hall."

Arthur "There can't be. If they were there, I'd know. I'm not getting any return from there or anywhere near there. It's not like there are two dozen armed bandits marching up here to get us. Do you need me to go and check for you?"

Arthur walks over to the door and yanks it open to reveal the first of the bandits, who was reaching for the handle himself. The enemy are well-armed and well-armored, each equipped with full plate armor, solid-looking bucklers, and a mix of halberds and one- and two-handed swords. They appear to be operating under some form of speed and strength enhancement, judging by the ease with which they carry their equipment. Arthur is greatly surprised, but still manages to get off a fireball and spring back before the bandit can react. The fireball hits the armor and disappears. It appears to have been absorbed by the armor. Two similar spells quickly dispatched by John meet a similar fate. The bandits, twenty in all, pour through the doorway into a staggered double line before advancing on the party.

[ooc: I'm envisioning some sort of amulet which absorbs incoming magical energy and redirects it, possibly using it to heal the wearer or to power some other artifact. I'm also assuming the plate armor is of good enough quality to stop anything sort of a very-short-range hit from a crossbow or a gravity-assisted hit by a longbow, similar to the late era French and English plate armor.]

[ October 16, 2003, 03:56: Message edited by: Krsqk ]

[narf poit chez BOOM]

ooc:[tired...oh well.]

Narp "Jack, enhancement spell! Then get us to a room somewhere in the castle!"

Narp charges towards the bandits. With a couple of seconds, his movement becomes a blur as he shield-rushes the middle bandit. The flour on his sheild hisses as Narp slams into him. Unfortunatly, the bandit's strength and speed is unafected. Fortunatly, Narp is stronger and faster. In the background, as he shoves his sword up underneath the bandits helmet, he can hear Jack.

"The spell on the bandits appears to attract and absorb any spells not in enchanted items. If there enhancement is alchemical, it would allow them to make more powerfull amulets than usual, since no discriminatory routines need to be added."

Arther, Narp and John "Just teleport us!"

Narp whirles and blocks a strike from the right with his sword, blocks on the left with his shield and kicks at the one in front of him, knocking the bandit back. And keeps backing up so they don't suround him.

ooc:[Better enhancements, better training. But still outnumbered.]

[ October 17, 2003, 04:44: Message edited by: narf poit chez BOOM ]

[Jack Simth]

Jack "Right."

Jack blinks, and the party finds itself in an inner courtyard, hidden from view of the tower by an intervening building.

Jack "We need a small army of our own, don't we?"

Jack begins forming golems, their bodies sized and shaped like Narp's, and teleporting swords and shields in from the fallen on the battlefield to equip them with.

Jack "Now, I don't know any swordsmanship, and can't program them with it. However, if you could show them the basics, Narp, they can memorize the motions instantly. Their skills will never be a match for even briefly trained troops - they can only repeat motions and adjust aim; they can't improvise - but their durability, tirelessness, and strength should make up for much of it."

Jack pauses for a moment.

Jack "Let's see... is there anything else I should be doing with these?"

ooc:[Such as cloaking them with an illusions of our appearence, or having D make them invisible, or having Aurthur/John equip them with fireball spells, or ....]

[ October 18, 2003, 00:26: Message edited by: Jack Simth ]

[Krsqk]

[ooc: You could always just teleport the golems over the bandits and have them "drop in" for a visit *snerk* ]

Arthur "Well, it isn't much good to equip them with offensive spells. Perhaps a regeneration effect? We could add some armor to them. Oh, and the enhancement spell couldn't hurt, either."

John "Judging by what Jack said just before teleport, no spell is going to Last long if it isn't actually embedded in an object. Anything we do will probably dispel on first contact with a bandit. I don't know if a golem actually counts as an object, but we could embed the spells in a rock and incorporate that into a golem."

Narp is already busily swinging his sword. Five golems are attempting to imitate him. The lack of originality is amusing, but the strength behind the blows is staggering. Once they pass muster, D casts invisibility and silence on them.

Arthur "The only other thing I can think of would be some communication, but they seem almost too simple for that. I guess quantity will have to make up for quality this time." Not finding anything immediately requiring his services, Arthur sits on a large rock and begins patching up a portion of the wall which he can see from his seat.

John "When you're done, Jack, you could probably send a few illusions of ourselves around to the other side of the tower. Come to think of it, you could just tack the illusions to golems. Give one a real bow, and he may even get lucky and pick off a bandit or two. At least it will divert attention from where we are." John inhales the vanguard of a visiting swarm of gnats, causing him to cough quietly.

[ October 18, 2003, 05:03: Message edited by: Krsqk ]