What will you do?
The pair stand in the now empty room, scattered here with minor bits of left-over dust and one silver key. They exchange perplexed glances, and then Steve! crosses and retrieves the key and chain, hanging it around his neck. Gladiola nods in approval, looks around once more and asks "Well, shall we get out of here?"
Walking through the open doorway, the broken door hanging from mangled hinges, the two find a landing leading to a staircase disappearing around a corner. They begin to descend...
Gladiola begins to hear faint whispers coming from below as they go deeper in to the bowels of the manor. As she looks up to see where they come from, she sees nothing before the spiral stairway bends out of view. The whispers grow louder and then a rumbling sound follows. The rumbling becomes a thunder as she sees a large round boulder bounding down the stairs after them.
"Steve!! RRRUUUUUNNNNN!!
The adventurers fly down the stairs and quickly come to their end at a landing. It is a small room with two doors. One open to a hallway, one closed with a small keyhole right in the center.
What will you do?
Steve! bounds to the locked door and jams the silver key into the centrally-located lock. "It won't turn!" he yells to his companion over the ever-growing din of the incoming boulder. "Into the other room! QUICK!" The two leap through the open doorway seconds before the boulder smashes into the door, the stone door jamb barely containing it's momentum. They land ungracefully on their faces and take a moment or two to collect themselves before looking back to behold the boulder, crammed tightly in the open doorway, with dust and stone powder gently descending through the air.
"Are you unharmed?" asks Gladiola, picking herself up and offering a hand to her chum. He politely waves it away and heaves himself to standing, nodding that he is fine. The hallway is dimly lit by a torch near the doorway which has miraculously stayed burning despite the rush of air from the boulder. However the other end of the hallway recedes into black. The two share another "what else are we going to do?" glance before Gladiola removes the torch from its holder and they begin to head towards the end of the hallway.
As it turns out, the hallway is more of a tunnel, going on for some time before coming to an end with another set of doors.
Steve! opens the left door and they both step through to find themselves in a small room. There are two doors. One open to a hallway, one closed with a small keyhole right in the center. As they look behind them, the doorway they stepped through is now gone without a trace. They both start to feel mildly ill.
What will you do?
Again Steve! slides his silver key into the door on the right. He looks back at Gladiola, who gives him a hopeful 'thumbs-up!', then looks back to the door and turns the key.
'click!'
As the key does its job, the door swings slowly, and silently, open. From inside comes a symphony of savory smells. Meats, breads, desserts... Neither Steve! nor Gladiola can remember the last time they had something to eat or drink, so the olfactory attack on their senses makes their heads swim. They step into the room and find tables piled high with the greatest assortment of amazing foods and fabulous ales that either had ever seen! The two of them stand together, taking in the feast, but finally they can resist no longer and dive forward, feeding ravenously on whatever they can put their hands on.
As the two gorge themselves on all manners of delicious things, they begin to hear a conversation approaching. Suddenly, a pair of servants come through the archway that leads to the kitchen. One holds jugs of wine, while the other has a large cake. They seem shocked to find the adventurers feasting and stand for a moment frozen and aghast.
The large male holding the cake speaks up, "Who are you? How did you get in here?"
The female drops a jug of wine and begins to turn to run.
In a blink of an eye, time stops for Steve!. He can't move his eyes, but can see everything frozen in place. As he stands confused, unable to move or speak, he hears the voice of The Wizard in his head.
"Doesn't that man look to be about the same size as you? And that woman, she's about Gladiola's size isn't she?"
Instantly time begins again.
What will you do?
"Oh, good!" pipes up Steve!, "You're here at last! We were thinking we'd been forgotten. Come over to this side, will you?" he asks, gesturing nonchalantly. The servants stop and look from the intruders to each other and back, obviously confused. "Well?" Steve! continues. "What are you waiting for? You ARE the servants sent to get the next courses for the feast, are you not?" The servants nod slowly. "Well alright then, get over here! We've tasted several of the possible items and can verify that there is no poison, and we would recommend the turkey legs, the apple flambé, the greens with gravy..." Steve! continues to wave his hands confidently over various dishes from which he's sampled, and Gladiola, having finally caught on to his gamble, follows his lead. The servants, swayed by the confident nature and bold manner of these strangers, wander to their side of the table to begin gathering the next dishes for serving.
No sooner have the servants come close to our heroes then they are unconscious, naked and shoved under the tables, hidden by the heavy canvas table coverings. Steve! and Gladiola finish adjusting their slave garb but realize there is no place for them to hide their weapons.
"I guess we'd better get the hang of these new powers fast, eh?" mutters Gladiola as she begrudgingly hides her hammer in a cranny by the open doorway. Steve! slides his bow in a crevice above the door. They both grab the sharpest kitchen knives the tables have to offer, as well as a few of the dishes they'd not yet had a chance to disturb, and head down the back hallway from whence the servants had come.
A large entourage begins to turn the corner and make its way toward the dining room. They are a mixture of large humanoid creatures, most clad in armor and with assorted weapons. A few possess crimson robes that cover their forms. Spotted by the group, Steve! and Gladiola make their way back to the dining hall. The group talks amongst each other and Steve! can make out a few of the conversations.
"Did you hear that the ones from the prophecy have come to the Fortress of Ultimate Sorrow(tm)?"
"Yes, but it is of no worry. I heard that Lord Malgamamarsh sent Fionaming after them. They're probably already dead, perhaps even part of the feast."
"But what of the prophecy? Shouldn't we be on our guard?"
"They can't reach us here. They would have to avoid the boulder trap, make it through the enchanted time tunnel, and then have one of the mystical keys. I think that's highly unlikely."
A particularly brutish fellow motions toward Gladiola, "You there! Bring us some more wine slave girl!"
"The Barons should be arriving soon, be on your manners."
Congratulations! You've made it to level 2. Check out your new powers on the M.E.A.T. power sheet
What will you do?
This group enters the dining hall and takes seats at many of the food-laden banquet tables. Gladiola brings one of the wine jugs to those who demanded it, along with a handful of pewter goblets. As she shares the libations, Steve! places the food he's carrying back down on the table, slyly rearranging those dishes that they'd already decimated. He sees a hand peeking out from under the table cloth and kicks it back into hiding. More armor-clad and robed men-things begin to pour into the room, and within a few there is a party atmosphere in full swing. Steve! and Gladiola are kept extremely busy, running from barked demand to barked demand, although they're careful to scarf down more bits of food as they work. (because how could one power the new, excellent level 2 powers w/out fuel, right?)
As Gladiola scurries to another table with a full wine jug she crosses in front of the dining hall door and nearly barrels into 5 powerful figures just entering the room. She maintains her disguise, apologizing profusely with head bowed and rushes to her waiting customer, but as she looks behind her she sees that these new guests are very different from those already seated. Sure enough, at a sharp call from the last to enter the entire room falls silent and every seated man leaps to attention at table side. Once they are given their due, the men enter and take over completely the head table which has been left empty thus far. These new figures exude both power and danger, and they seem to be able to see all in the room at once. Steve! and Gladiola hope that their roles of servants will make them as invisible to these newcomers as they have been to all the others. Finally the imposing group takes their seat, and in response the Master of the Guard yells a new command and the rest of the room seats themselves as well.
One of the smaller underlings who is particularly ugly whispers to his neighbor, "The Barons seem most displeased this evening. Perhaps their panties are fitting too tightly, tee hee hee!"
One of the Barons turns his head from his meal toward the inconsiderate knave. He rises from his seat and points his open hand toward him. He then clenches it slowly as if some unseen object was grasped within it. The giggling whelp begins to clutch his head and wince in pain. He stands and begins to shriek as his skull collapses. His lifeless corpse falls to the floor and the Baron retakes his seat. It would seem that rudeness will not be tolerated. Gladiola catches sight of a green octagonal gem glimmering in the candlelight as it pokes out of a pouch around the now dead diners neck. A quick survey of the room shows similar pouches around the necks of all the seated warriors.
"Clean up that mess." the Master of the Guard booms.
What will you do?
Gladiola rushes to the sloppy, gooey mess that was once Mr. Clever-bottoms, grabbing his ankles and dragging him down the hallway toward the kitchens, leaving a red streak in her wake. Once she reaches the kitchens, seeing no obvious place to leave such a site, she shoves the body into one of the over-large sink troughs, but is careful to remove the pouch with the gem before dropping his top half. She removes the green gem and examines it closely. Nearly the size of a plum, the gem is fairly flat and faceted-cut. The front reflects light brilliantly, but she notices that there are words carved all down the gems flat back. The words are in a language she's never seen before.
She knows that the pouch will arouse suspicion if she hangs it around her barren, slave girl neck. Instead she slips the pouch with gem inside into her armor undergarments, the stiff protection of which hides beneath the servant gown. She grabs 2-3 damp rags from the non-soiled sink and begins to wipe up the blood and gore that has followed her down the hallway, until at last she has returned to the banquet hall. The overall merriment of the room has increased, with a few of the larger, more decorated soldier-types entertaining their men with tricks such as balancing a sword on their armored head or setting their hand on fire.
As she enters the room, she sees Steve! grab a goblet of ale and a torch. She moves toward him, worried that his bold moves will anger the room, but before she can reach him a fountain of fire bursts forth from his mouth! The room falls silent for a moment, and Steve! takes this opportunity to repeat the trick, holding the fountain a few seconds longer this time. He stands, his mouth now empty of wine, and scans the room for reaction.
At last, one of the Barons begins a slow but sincere clap. The rest of the room follows his lead and within a moment the room has erupted into applause and cheers for more. Steve! daintily curtsies and turns to Gladiola, giving a wink. He then drops three round fruits into a bowl, dousing them with cooking wine and setting them ablaze as well. Guarding his hands ever so slightly with a fine layer of his own fireball flames, to protect the palms from scorching, Steve! takes the fruit one by one and juggles them jauntily to the giddy enjoyment of the crowd.
One of the Barons begins to laugh heartily, "Ha ha, these servants amuse me! I can't wait to rape and kill them!"
"You are right Istholden, these ones do look especially ripe for a good raping."
Just then a large raven comes flying in to the room and lands on one of the Baron's shoulder. It leans its head towards his ear and appears to be speaking. It then flies away in the same direction it came from.
"The prisoners have escaped! Quickly return to the barracks and ready yourselves!" The Barons rise and stomp out of the dining hall. The others follow hastily, dropping their food and goblets where they may. All except a few stragglers who remain behind.
"This feast isn't over till I've had me a servant." one of the brutes chimes in eyeballing Gladiola. They quickly descend on her and begin to rip at her clothing. Her magical armor revealed, they leap back.
"You! It cannot be!"
They draw swords from their backs and make ready to battle the adventurers.
What will you do?
With all of their focus on Gladiola and her true nature, the guards have briefly lost focus on Steve!. Using that to his advantage, he silently slides his bow from its hiding spot above the doorway toward the kitchen. "Good sirs!" he calls, lining up his magical arrow and channeling his inner frenzy. "I would say that is NO WAY to treat a lady! Let alone a warrior!!" As the soldiers turn their focus back to him he lets loose a Hail of Arrows splashing down on their heads. 1D20=5. (sad clown noise here.) Steve! miscalculates his shot and the arrow splits right before impacting the ceiling. Most of the arrows stick with a chorus of thwaps. Not effective, but distracting.
Steve!'s attack also gives Gladiola the opportunity to leap back to her feet and, shedding the last of the slave girl garb, she steals back her hammer from its hidey hole. "You will very much regret your poor manners." she growls, waiting for the final arrows to land before leaping in to deliver her own form of education. She swings her hammer in a whirlwind over her head, creating a cyclone of air, and leaps into the crowd of soldiers who still stare at the sky looking for more missiles. As she makes contact with the crowd she roars angrily "DEATH STORM!!!" and lets the hammer have its OWN way with the soldiers. 1D20=10 (come on, give me dice to support the epic build-up!) The ruffians are caught up in the whirlwind and tossed to and fro. As they spin, Gladiola's hammer connects again and again. As the storm subsides, the foes are strewn about the hall. They appear to be injured, but not finished.
What will you do?
"Looks like you've injured some," hollers Steve!, scooting across the floor to a better vantage point, "but they’re not finished! Let's try a little of THIS!" and with his final word Steve! spins up an orb of flames in both hands, hurling it toward the piles of bodies starting to get back on their feet. 1D20=7
Seeing that the fireball was not all Steve! was hoping for, Gladiola adds to his blaze, targeting the front edge of soldiers and calling down the wrath of her one true God to smite them flamishly. "Burn, you infidels!" she snarls as the power leaps from her to them. "See what my gods think of men who would defile a lady!" 1D20=15
Steve!'s magical fire splatters across the fallen foes burning away at their armor. They leap to their feet and begin to attempt to extinguish the flames. Just as they seem to be gaining control of the fire, a wall of holy flames erupt from the floor. Their flesh begins to melt away as they scream in agony. The blaze subsides, leaving only bones and the remains of scorched armor.
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