A Tunnels and Trolls® play-by-post adventure run by khara_khang
When you enter a door, the party will see what happens. Unless they enter with you, all they will be able to do is watch until you have left or solved whatever event is beyond the door. The events may change. Since Krandor doesn't pick a door, then Jay doesn't pick one either (as requested), hence no door for either.
Blerrg stands impassively, like all too many people have been doing as of late. Grunting, he says, "Oh, er, each coin will save just one person. That also includes Jack de Crampon, wherever he/it is. Those having coins exit in that direction." Blerrg points to the single door at the other end of the grand hall.
Krandor sighs with indecision but remains silent thinking that whatever he said would be taken wrong or twisted into some Jay-like drama, so he decides to do nothing but stand there and wait to see to whom Jax will give up the extra coin.
Krandor is a knight, and if Jay even touched him, he would bitch-slap Jay into the following Khazan calendar month. Just in case some of you forget, Krandor is far from being weak, given his magical weapons and unusual magical regenerating abilities.
Amroth-Esa moves to door number two, waiting to see to whom Jax gives up the extra coin.
Jax gives one coin to his brother Taran as is expected.
With Blerrg's words, Felixia knows the extra coin will save only one person.
Brienna calmly readies her axe as she studies the faces of the others. It could be anyone, and the only way she can be sure is to see them bleed green. Brienna considers the possibilities. She also wonders why Lerotra'hh left them to deal with this problem.
Titania, like Felixia, flutters around wondering what will happen next.
"Well beef-cake, who are you giving the extra coin to? Don't keep us in suspense!" says Blodwydd, in her usual straightforward manner, to Jax.
What do you do?
Felixia nods at Blodwydd. "That would be good to know... the rest of us should figure out our last requests and such," she says, trying to smile. "Unless there is another way in which we can... barter for our lives?"
Taran grabs the coin Jax flips to him, and in the seconds the coin glistens in the air from meaty green hand to meaty green hand, Taran's mind quickly sums up the situation---no small feat for an Orc of Taran's mental capacity.
It is all happening so fast---from the Zweetz castle massacre to this grand hall, not to mention Lerotra'hh and Blerrg. "Blerrg!" Taran thinks in surprise. He's not seen that Half-Orc since....
"Blerrg!!" he shouts aloud to the self-proclaimed resource information and reallocation officer. "It's been a long time, ugh?! How's Arahk Gnahk anyway?" His excitement at seeing an old soldier-in-arms is effectively dulled by the news Blerrg has just revealed about the traitor, but Taran grins just the same at the Half-Orc. "Frak, you're lookin' good, for a dead Orc," Taran jokes, recalling that gruesome day when he and Blerrg stood at ground zero for a flaming Balrog bomb. "Wuharggh!!" Taran slaps Blerrg on the back.
"Argh, back to business. Who's this scroll from, anyway? We don't have time for jokes." Taran tries to look at the scroll in Blerrg's hands. "And are you sure we need this here coin?" he glances at Jax. "After all, me and Jax already got one."
"Are you sure you've got one?"
"Oh yes, it's very nice-uh!" Taran pulls out the platinum get-out-of-trouble coin with Lerotra'hh's face on it. He received it a couple of adventures back. Gripping it tightly, he compares it to the one Jax gave him.
Taran isn't exactly good friends with his current band of co-adventurers, but there is something about spilling blood together, watching friends die together, and staring death in the face that makes him want to share the wealth.
Still, he can't help but think this is all a test. Was Blerrg for real, anyway? Taran ponders this silently as he looks at the two coins.
Jax ponders their predicament carefully. "A traitor in our midst?" he wonders silently. "But who?" he thinks. "Not me, and not Taran," he thinks, flipping Taran a coin. He thinks some more. Taran's comments make him wonder if their own platinum Lerotra'hh coins are worth more lives than the paltry one per silver coin in his hand. He starts to ask Blerrg, but....
"Well beef-cake, who are you giving the extra coin to? Don't keep us in suspense!"
"I... I---"
Unknown to anyone else, Blodwydd's enchanted sword speaks telepathically to her, as if having read the path to justice directly from Brienna's mind: "Urish had green blood---tell that big oaf to take blood samples from everyone to see who bleeds like Urish!"
"Uh, right. Tell that big oaf---er, uh Jax... take a blood sample from everyone to see who bleeds green like Urish!"
Jax nods approvingly at Blodwydd's sudden flash of insight. Brienna seems to agree, if he reads her correctly. He looks at his own very red blood oozing from between the kinks in his shoulder armor. "You heard Blodwydd. Let's have it. Show me your blood," he says to everyone present, sheathing his sword to indicate his trust. "If we discover the traitor on our own, the Goddess may be more lenient, and we won't have to barter," he says, nodding at Felixia, "or use up the other coins, T," he directs toward Taran.
"I too wish to see the color of your blood," Brienna says, addressing everyone present. "All of your blood. If there is an imposter here, it may be of the same ilk we just faced. Bleed yourselves." She drops her axe back in its strap and raises her hand in front of her for all to see, then presses the tip of her dagger into her palm. "The traitor will be found out, or we may all die. Bleed yourselves. Now. Any who do not, I will bleed."
Hey khara, you can't have me be the traitor! Nor any other people that have been injured by blade. 'Cause then we would've seen the color of their blood. The only people that haven't been are the Fairies (I think) and Krandor. Therefore, eickeric, we finally get to kill em'!!!
Correction: the only people that have bled in this adventure are Kahi, Jay, Amroth, Blodwydd and Titania. So we can leave them out. [Oops! You forgot Jax and Brienna as well. --ed.]
Yes, I'm bored enough to have gone through all the GM posts to find out.
"You have already seen my blood, however if you feel it necessary to see it again, I will oblige you." Titania says quietly.
But Scooby Doo, being a dog, is evil.
Quite so.
What does that say about the unmasking of Krandor/Uncle Jed?
Much as Hitler attacked Stalin, it merely demonstrates that evil feeds on evil.
Everybody knows, everybody sees
I guess everybody's just smarter than me
Some things you just can't teach
A slow learner
- (from the album American Beauty, by NBB)
I am so smart! S-M-R-T!
- (from the TV show The Simpsons, by Homer Simpson)
Clear as mud, eh?
Act like you know.
Krandor sighs with indecision... he decides to do nothing but stand there and wait to see to whom Jax will give up the extra coin.
I have every confidence that he'll get out alive even without a coin.
Krandor is a knight, and if Jay even touched him, he would bitch-slap Jay into the following Khazan calendar month. Just in case some of you forget, Krandor is far from being weak, given his magical weapons and unusual magical regenerating abilities.
Pick your response, I don't care which one:
It could be anyone, and the only way [Brienna] can be sure is to see them bleed green.
The following argument is OOC since Brienna only thought the above.
We were all, save Krandor and Amroth, hired out of a bar together. Urish bleeds green. Now we're told one of us is a Zweetz agent. How does it follow that we should assume the agent must be green-blooded?
The Death Goddess rewarded us after we assisted her with a 50% chance of a death sentence. Given a choice between working for someone like that, or working for the other side, a sensible person might well work for the other side. There has been at least one person here [Titania --ed.] who has vowed never to work for the Death Goddess again, after all.
The Death Goddess is how old? It's a sure bet she's ticked off several other people as well. If at least one of them decided to go work for Zweetz, s/he would be a red-blooded follower.
Heck, if we were just hired out of a bar, would it be so difficult to believe that Zweetz just hired someone else out as well?
I'm sorry, but I'm just unclear why a green-blooded bug guy would mean that one of us is green-blooded. It's more likely to assume that all bug gods are green blooded, rather than all Zweetz agents. If Urish were human and green-blooded you might have a point, but I don't see it.
Of course, Jay knows nothing of Zweetz, real and fake Death Goddesses, etc., etc., etc., so you might be drawing something from that. That being the case, you might want to explain it to the rest of us.
[Brienna] also wonders why Lerotra'hh left them to deal with this problem.
The soaps are on.
"After all, me and Jax already got one."
"Are you sure you've got one?"
"Oh yes, it's very nice-uh!"
Hee-hee-hee, one of the best things I've read posted in a while....
Taran isn't exactly good friends with his current band of co-adventurers, but there is something about spilling blood together...
What colour was it?
...watching friends die together....
Thanks, Krandor!
"I too wish to see the color of your blood.... If there is an imposter here, it may be of the same ilk we just faced. Bleed yourselves. The traitor will be found out, or we may all die. Bleed yourselves. Now. Any who do not, I will bleed."
"Since none of us seem to be bug gods, it's doubtful we're the same ilk. And save the threats okay? I swear, you've got more testosterone than all the knights in Khazan."
The only people that haven't been are the Fairies (I think) and Krandor. Therefore, eickeric, we finally get to kill em'!!!
Jay isn't interested in killing Krandor or anyone else. He doesn't believe in murder save in self-defense or to save a life.
"You have already seen my blood, however if you feel it necessary to see it again, I will oblige you."
"Well, I'm not. Unless you care to explain some clear correlation between green blood and an employer, this seems like a dumb idea. And besides, Urish bit about a four-pound chunk outta me in the castle. I've got more than enough red all over my back and clothes as it is without stabbing myself just to satisfy the bloodlust of an overzealous hobbit."
"...your deaths will be as quick and painless as possible...."
"...to escape your most certain heinous and gory death...."
How can they be quick, painless, heinous, and gory at the same time in the same respect?
If I were chosing I'd have t'go with this one.
"I tend to agree with Jay on this whole bleeding thing, however I also have no real want to die, not yet anyways. I was kind of hoping for a long life and dying in my bed after I retired, as Confusious' [sic] great curse says, 'May you live in interesting times.' And unlike many I know, I have read Watchmen and don't want 'a violent life ending in violence so that in the end only our enemies leave roses.' I want a violent life ending in serenity so that in the end only the whores and bartenders leave roses." And with that in mind, Kahi holsters his flail and stores his shield on his back. Plucking the dagger from Brienna's hand, he removes his left gauntlet and lightly cuts the tip of his index finger, making the incision just deep enough to draw blood.
Hey khara, you can't have me be the traitor! Nor any other people that have been injured by blade. 'Cause then we would've seen the color of their blood.
Uh huh, what about the secret e-mails?
Pick your response, I don't care which one....
I pick number 6, none of the above.
How can they be quick, painless, heinous, and gory at the same time in the same respect?
I think Blerrg was kidding. Orcish humor, you know.
Felixia flutters above the group trying to figure out some way that they might barter for their lives. At the moment, it doesn't seem possible. Felixia's words are cut short by Taran's boisterous voice:
"Blerrg!! It's been a long time, ugh?! ...Who's this scroll from, anyway? We don't have time for jokes. And are you sure we need this here coin? After all, me and Jax already got one."
Blerrg snorts and shows Taran a glimpse of the scroll signed and stamped by Arahk Gnahk himself. "O yeah, nice to see you alive again, Taran. They don't bring grunt Orcs like us back O mighty Taran, unless they have a need, and in my case even death is no excuse for not shirking my duty. No jokes here, just death and dismemberment." Blerrg chomps his teeth together then says, "It doesn't matter what favor coin you use, as long a you use one per person. I am on a schedule you know." Taran can see a hint of bluffing in his old friend's face, but Blerrg tries to hide it.
[Brienna] raises her hand in front of her for all to see, then presses the tip of her dagger into her palm. "The traitor will be found out, or we may all die. Bleed yourselves. Now. Any who do not, I will bleed."
Brienna's blood is red, but as it leaves her hand and splatters on the polished red tiled floor it changes to green.
Blodwydd starts to cut herself but stops, as does everyone else, when they notice the green blood splattered on the floor at Brienna's feet. "I guess we know who the traitor is now," says Blodwydd, a bit shocked.
"Maybe not," says Krandor, taking a few steps closer to Brienna, looking at her, and then kneeling to touch Brienna's green blood and to examine it on his fingertips before standing up again. "We are talking about high technology I don't understand, with the capability to eavesdrop and change things you see---not unlike magic. It's one of the reasons I have kept you in the dark during this mission. For doing so, I'm sorry, but it was necessary. Anything I would have told you would have been passed straight to the Zweetz agent.
"If you wish to call me a poor leader, so be it. I did what I was told to do. I didn't do it to become popular, or even for any of you to like me. Those things mean far less to me than saving Khazan and its people, and it should to you too."
"Unless you care to explain some clear correlation between green blood and an employer, this seems like a dumb idea."
Krandor walked over closer to Jay. "You have a point Jay, a good one. See, Grutoss said the Death Goddess would plant that thought of the green blood at the end of the mission, not because we are Zweetz agents, but because we might have one traveling with us. She knows the followers of Zweetz love to cause conflict and mistrust. The Zweetz agent cannot leave this room. By creating the green blood, or causing it to appear to be so, the agent revealed itself. We just need to figure out how to find it and work together to do so. The Death Goddess is not going to kill us. We will be well rewarded. Magic and technology are like oil and water: they just don't mix. The sooner we can solve this, the sooner we can leave."
Blerrg smiled a toothy smile and shrugged. "Oooo, remember, I'm just the messenger."
What do you do?
Felixia blinks. "Maybe we should all bleed then. If it's magic, we might all have green blood!" she says, holding her hand out and prickng her finger, letting the blood drop from it.
I think Blerrg was kidding. Orcish humor, you know.
Pssh! As if that were an excuse.
"A technology sufficently advanced is indistinguishable from magic."
Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from a rigged demo.
Amroth follows Jay, and attacks bad things if they come.
I hope you weren't sending me "secret messages," khara, 'cause I didn't get them, unless you sent them to the e-mail I can't get into, and I posted a while back for no one to e-mail me there.
If I were chosing I'd have t'go with this one.
Nothing is keeping you from using it yourself.
"...as Confusious' [sic] great curse says, 'May you live in interesting times.'"
Confusious' great curse was, "May you never know what you're doing, and... hey, just what was I just saying? Who am I? Where's my wallet?" You must have him confused with someone else.
I hope you weren't sending me "secret messages," khara, 'cause I didn't get them....
Then the secret e-mails must be coming and going to super_miles.... [Krandor's inactive player --ed.]
"Unless there is another way in which we can... barter for our lives?"
Try offering money. Apparently, the coins aren't worth very much.
Brienna's blood is red, but as it leaves her hand and splatters on the polished red tiled floor it changes to green.
"Well, that didn't work out too well, did it, buggy?"
Blodwydd starts to cut herself but stops, as does everyone else, when they notice the green blood splattered on the floor at Brienna's feet. "I guess we know who the traitor is now," says Blodwydd, a bit shocked.
...and the other secret messages to r_a_f_i_a_l [Blodwydd's inactive player --ed.].
"Maybe not..."
"Ho, what's this? Does Krandor have another secret solution to the problem trotted out just now when it's needed? Will the surprises never end?"
"It's one of the reasons I have kept you in the dark during this mission. For doing so, I'm sorry, but it was necessary. Anything I would have told you would have been passed straight to the Zweetz agent."
Forgive me for not posting my responses earlier; I spent 7 days laughing at the inadequacies of this "excuse."
"Yes, far be it for a Zweetz agent to find out where one of their own castles was---Demens was an acceptable sacrifice to keep that knowledge a secret."
"If you wish to call me a poor leader, so be it. I did what I was told to do. I didn't do it to become popular, or even for any of you to like me."
Jay plays a tiny little fiddle to emphasize the melodrama of poor Krandor's plight.
"Those things mean far less to me than saving Khazan and its people, and it should to you too."
"Why? To support a society that breeds the likes of you? Khazan can burn for all I care if that's the case.... If you are so concerned with the people of Khazan, you might want to discover where we hail from before you issue meaningless platitudes from your piehole. I'm happy to hear you're not trying to win popularity contests---you shouldn't be. Unfortunately, you are also not winning a great deal of respect from those you were charged to lead either, and that's unfortunate, because you should care about what things like that mean."
"You have a point Jay, a good one."
"And stop kissing up to me now. I find you detestable."
See, Grutoss said the Death Goddess would plant that thought of the green blood at the end of the mission, not because we are Zweetz agents, but because we might have one traveling with us. She knows the followers of Zweetz love to cause conflict and mistrust. The Zweetz agent cannot leave this room. By creating the green blood, or causing it to appear to be so, the agent revealed itself. We just need to figure out how to find it and work together to do so.
I spent the other 2 days of not posting trying to figure out what he's talking about here.
The Death Goddess is not going to kill us.
If she wanted to do that, she could've left us all in the castle.
We will be well rewarded.
Hooray.
"Magic and technology are like oil and water: they just don't mix. The sooner we can solve this, the sooner we can leave."
Well, if technology and magic don't mix, then all the mages can cast Little Feets on everyone and see who isn't affected...
Or, if the Zweetz agent can't leave this room, let's all just go out the Death Goddess's door. Since she won't kill us, whoever can't go is the one...
Or, do we have a Wizard who knows Dear God?
Or, I suppose we can sit down and try to figure this out rationally, by eliminating likely individuals:
As Jax and Taran were singled out by Lerotra'hh as being good agents, and Jax was given 3 "get out of trouble" favour coins, they are probably beyond suspicion. Since any kind of favour coin can do, and Taran and Jax already have a platinum one, this merely compounds their innocence.
The Death Goddess gave Jax more coins than just enough to cover the Orcs, and Jax can give the coins to anyone he chooses, so, being a goddess and all, she should be smart enough to guess he'd give the coin to someone. If he could give the coin to anyone, and they would presumably go free, and she'd have to realize there'd be the possibility he'd unknowingly give it to the agent, whom she wants dead.
Therefore, either the coins will actually do squat for getting you out of this fix, or the Death Goddess is a fool and can't realize something as basic as this, or Demens or Jack were the agent so she has no worries when she gave the coins, or there is no agent, and Lerotra'hh just has a sense of humor and is enjoying watching people squirm.
I tend to think that the coins are meaningful, since Lerotra'hh gave them herself. I also tend to think the Death Goddess is not stupid. Therefore, either there is no agent, or the agent was someone who has already bit the dust.
"Maybe we should all bleed then. If it's magic, we might all have green blood!"
Current argument says it's technology, not magic. But the colour doesn't mean a thing, nor does it prove anything either way. Sigh, perhaps the technology (not mixing with magic) can't be healed with a Poor Baby spell. Since everyone is so zealous to maim themselves, I can cast enough Poor Baby spells to find out.
Amroth follows Jay....
Where the heck did that come from?
"I tend to think that the coins are meaningful, since Lerotra'hh gave them herself. I also tend to think the Death Goddess is not stupid. Therefore, either there is no agent, or the agent was someone who has already bit the dust."
"Or the coins will just do nothing, because she already knows who the agent is. After all, if we can cast a Dear God spell and ask three questions, and if the god who answers is the Death Goddess (it never specifies which god will answer, after all), then it doesn't matter who the agent is because she already knows, and it won't matter to whom Jax and Taran give the coins, since it won't help the bad guy anyway."
Jax nods his head as Jay and Kahi speak, even if he doesn't understand the latter's point [jaxdracon assumes eickeric's and split_94558's last posts were in character --ed.]. The hu-mann Wizard spins an impressive argument.
Therefore, either the coins will actually do squat for getting you out of this fix, or the Death Goddess is a fool and can't realize something as basic as this, or Demens or Jack were the agent so she has no worries when she gave the coins, or there is no agent, and Lerotra'hh just has a sense of humor and is enjoying watching people squirm.
Jax replies after Jay is finished. "Or the traitor is inconsequential to the Death Goddess---she already busted up the main bug---and she is leaving the detective work in the hands," he says, looking down at the two silver coins in his meaty palm, "of her own agents."
Jax shifts his weight as he squeezes his fist around the coins. Together, Taran and he have five favour coins. Not enough to save all ten of them present. "Jay, Krandor, I think you're both onto something. Magic might distinguish the offworlder technology the agent is using. I have doubts that one of us is actually a traitor, as Arahk Gnahk must think. If he had perfect information, he would know which one already. So I can rule out neither the possibility that the traitor is traveling unseen among us, nor the possibility that one of us could merely be carrying the traitor's instruments.
"Some of us received 'magical' items from good Mr. Toad---" he says, looking at Titania and Kahi, "items which he did not explain for one reason or another. My brother and I also carry bolts, gloves and tattoos of dubious origin and effect from our last adventure, though Jay has found that the latter two give off 'good vibes' and are linked to 'summoning alteration magic.' We've already seen the consequences of not knowing the potential of that which we carry," he says, nodding toward Amroth.
"Let's not rule out these possibilities. A magical sweep of ourselves and our possessions by Jay and the other mages among us may indicate a further direction in which to proceed. But I have no intention of walking through that door," he says, pointing to the single door at the end of the grand hall, "without each of you."
"Gorsh... thanks, Jax, you're a real man's Orc. Here's my shield." I take out my shield and set it down in front of Jay. "You can go ahead and cast your spell on it and any spells you want on me, assuming the spells you cast on me aren't painful ones, anyway."
"A noble Orc?!" Titania thinks, "What a rare find this is! Truly this is an unexpected adventure, as the Death Goddess's people promised."
Amroth follows Jay...
Where the heck did that come from?
'Cause my computer is broken and I didn't know next time I'd get online....
Right.
Amroth kicks Krandor in the seat of the pants.
Jay kisses Krandor in the seat of the pants.
Why's Krandor trying to get into the seat of Jay's pants?
Or... Just because that's the hobbit head level, don't presume everyone else does it too, shipppo!
Or... Let it go before it consumes you.
Burn baby burn
Top o' the world, ma!
Taran wonders at Jax's musings about how their magical tattoos might hold some clue as to how to proceed. He hates not knowing something that directly impacts his own self---especially when that something is directly imprinted on his own self. "Ugh, maybe you're on to something, brother."
He flips the coin Jax gave him back to his brother, who has the brains to sort out the mess, and besides, Blerrg confessed that Taran doesn't need two coins. "If we need to, you can give it to somebody else I guess!" he says to Jax.
Taran pockets his own "favor coin" and offers one final thought: "If we're gonna do some magicks on our equipment, I should volunteer up front that my shield here," he gestures, holding up the buckler strapped to his left arm, "and my quiver back there," he continues, jerking a thumb behind him, "got magic in them. And I guess my favor coin, too."
He shrugs. "Other than that, and my tattoo, I'm just a plain Orc with standard stuff, I imagine. But we shall see!"
Taran is glad he doesn't have to spill his blood voluntarily---just yet---in the test for the truth. Wounds from battle, he can handle, but he'd hate to have to scar his pretty, charming self otherwise.
"Other than that, and my tattoo, I'm just a plain Orc with standard stuff, I imagine."
Dude, what about your serpent power totem? It's magical, and one of our Wizards might find it handy about now! ;)
Jaxdracon is correct. Taran indeed has a serpent power totem. (Picked up in his first adventure when, ironically enough, he was a spy among Zweetz forces.) However, he forgot about it. And it's a good thing, too. With all the talk about Zweetz spies, it wouldn't behoove Taran to suddenly produce a Zweetz wizard serpent power totem in his possession.
And as long as we're mentioning magic items that Taran forgot to mention, he's got a beaded necklace that, when worn, makes him appear, speak, and understand as a Lizardman; and 5 magic potions he bought at the onset of this adventure.
So much for being a plain Orc with standard stuff!
(Never trust an Orc with an Intelligence score of 9. Even if that is average on a roll of 3d6.)
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