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Chapter 2, Scene 2 Act , Scene 2 • 08/12/2016
The next morning–er, evening, a dynamic made more confusing by the Marquis’s requests for his breakfast–came all too soon for the intrepid band of misfits, and soon, the mission was to be complicated further, and not just because some members of the party seemed to be late for breakfast.
“Right, so, your commander asked for money for… These supplies?” He seemed mostly to be talking to himself. “Hm, it will be a bit of a stretch, but I suppose I could dip into the vaults. It will pay to have fewer angry villagers at my door, getting uppity.” He sighed, forgetting his guests for a moment. “They think, just because the Usurper happens to have certain biases against people of my… Condition. And let me tell y–”
“Sir?”
“What, Cedric.”
“Another one of the mor–The villagers, has shown up. Or, maybe he’s a villager. He’s very muscular, perhaps a farmhand?”
The Marquis sneered, teeth sharp and bared. “Bring the intruder in. We’ve had enough trouble out of them as it is, so perhaps a demonstration is due.”
Cedric nodded and hurried out, and soon, the prisoner, in chains, clanked his way into the room.
The Marquis propped his feet on the table, wine glass in hand. “Hm, perhaps he could be of use to your little mission. Or I could kill him. My, but the possibilities are endless.”
A new player has entered the field, and things are looking a little iffy for the poor guy. Will you take him in willingly, as an ally? Will he perhaps move the group to take him in? Or will he perhaps be shoved upon you?
In the words of the Marquis, the possibilities are endless.
Xander the Red (youKlutz) moved • 08/16/2016
| Klutz won control of the story by completing this challenge with a strong outcome. |
“Or I could kill him.” said the Marquis. That got Xander’s attention!
“Wait - kill me?!? Why?” Xander blurted out, looking around the room incredulously.
What have I stumbled into?!?
“Look, I came here for work. You know, ‘Will work for food’, right?”, Xander said with his fingers doing the air quote thing that country bumkins do to emphasize phrases that were used by educated people. “That’s me!” he emphasized with one thumb pointing to himself, despite the chains around his wrists.
“Look - I’m strong!”, Xander continued, grabbing one end of the dining table with both hands and lifting it waist high.
Food, dishes, and utensils slid off the other end of the table as a noisy result, but that didn’t stop Xander.
“I’m good with a sword.”, the chained prisoner continued, as he unsheathed a surprised guard’s long sword, and started a few drills with it.
“And,” he said proudly, puffing up his chest, while dropping the borrowed sword, “I’m good with the ladies.”
He turned towards a surprised female servant, and, with all the machismo he could muster, said, “How you doing?” adding a wink and a head nod to the servant whose shoulder he had put an arm around.
Then, he released the stunned servant and turned toward the Marquis and group of diners. “See, I can be of great help!” he said with his arms wide open, as if to say ta-da!
Tómi (youMatjaza) moved • 08/19/2016
The ashen-colored Tómi strode up to the prisoner, looking him over a bit. The man was quite a bit bigger than the little lad, but the malice in the boy’s blood-red eyes was unnerving.
“A brute,” Tómi finally said. “However…a reasonably skilled one. Your ability with a blade may be needed in the days to come, thick-headed one. Your…other professed abilities, less so.”
He frowned, and stayed stock still, regarding the man for a few more moments, before he walked back towards the others.
“Taking him as a servant and killing him, however, are hardly mutually exclusive where I am concerned. With his intellect…there would hardly be a difference if he were a zombie…and in doing so, we could be assured of his loyalty.”
He turned to look at the prisoner again, and sneered. “Though…in current times, I suppose he may be easier to transport while he lives. The townsfolk are so…disapproving of the dead, these days.”
He gave an odd, wheezing sort of laugh. “Whatever we do with this lost soul…do not imagine this is sufficient to fulfill your duty, Marquis.”
A smirk, as he returned his gaze to the prisoner. “And you…I think it is well to allow you to join our cause…but be assured, should you come, you will commit yourself to our cause fully. Otherwise…I will put less consideration to the prejudices of the townsfolk. Yet for now…I shall leave your fate to the others.”
With that, the boy’s normal coloration flooded back in, and he wavered on his feet as his eyes returned to normal.
A confused expression flickered across Tómi’s face for a moment, and he looked around. He wondered how long it had been this time. Probably not long–the room was still the same, and the Marquis person still looked cranky.
It was always weird when the other one took control…but that was Tómi’s purpose, after all. It was weird, but it was an honor.
He got his balance back more fully, and looked slowly around at the others. There was Hee, and Val, and the Marquis, and…
“Oh! Hello!” he said with a bright smile, as he waved at the prisoner, not even noticing the chains. “Are you here to help? I’m Tómi! It’s nice to meet you, sir. What’s your name?”
Xander the Red (youKlutz) moved • 08/22/2016
“Uhhhhh…” Xander replied. “Does that mean I’m hired?”
Xander obviously didn’t understand all those words spouting from this lad, but he seemed happy to meet him.
The narrator continued the scene • 09/08/2016
The Marquis was starting to remember why he kept his gates locked. He rubbed his temples, then the bridge of his nose, wondering why he had to deal with this nonsense before he could enjoy his meal. He was dying of thirst, after all.
Still, he watched the kid with an eyebrow raised. That was something to be wary of–and stay wary of. Certainly, he had seen all sorts come through his door–it was hardly anything he hadn’t seen before, such a shift–and he had his… Perhaps questionable loyalties to certain groups, but this was something else entirely. He made note of it, then crossed his arms, glaring at the group in silence.
Heath RockHard (youTwisted_Gnome) moved • 09/13/2016
“I think it’s like the boy said,” Heath says. He had watched as the whole conversation transpired. One huge white eyebrow lifts at his young charges words. “Are you willing to devote yourself fully to the mission. If so, then welcome. If not…well your choice. But take a little advice from someone who has been around for too long. Any harbor is a safe harbor during a storm.”
The narrator continued the scene • 09/24/2016
The Marquis rolled his eyes, irritated that he had to deal with this after their little threat not so long ago. “Alright, then he’s yours, hoo-rah. Please just take him and go, before he harasses more of the servants or breaks something.” He crossed his arms. “I’m not even hungry anymore.”
He cleared his throat, speaking louder. “Your… Employer can expect my assistance, at least in a monetary sense, from me, though I hope he notes that his choice of ambassadors are… Anyway. Enjoy your new warrior-peasant. I’ll be waiting for the next set of… Whatever you are, to be coming to collect.”
He looked at them for another moment, then scowled. “Well, what are you waiting for? Shoo!”
Well, the Marquis is at least on your side, though he’s not too happy with having to deal with guests–then again, he’s not the friendliest of folks. As grouchy as he usually is, maybe the fact that you’re not all dead-eyed and gray is a good sign!
Now, it’s just a matter of finding the meeting spot on Jorlin’s map: his handwriting isn’t the best, but hey, a map’s a map, even if this one is… A little hard to read. And the forest is a little thick.
But hey, it’s an adventure, it can’t all be easy!
Tómi (youMatjaza) moved • 10/05/2016
The moment that the group left the castle, it was back to merry travel songs for Tómi. If anything, the boy seemed cheerier than before–having a new traveling companion was exciting, after all! Between verses, he was nearly constantly peppering poor Xander with questions.
“Xanny! Xanny!” he said, as they turned one corner of a secluded forest path and Heath paused for a moment to try to figure out just what in the world Jorlin had written on the map. (Tómi had volunteered to read the map himself, but everyone involved seemed to recognize at once that that wouldn’t be the best idea). “Xanny, have you had lotsa adventures? I bet you have, right? That’s why your gear’s all different stuff, isn’t it–there was the time you fought a dragon an’ it ate your gauntlet, an’ the time you helped the undead legion an’ they gave you one of their holy holey breastplates, an’…”
Xander was looking rather puzzled by this point, as Tómi continued making up a rather fictional life story for him. He looked over at Heath for a moment.
There was an “ooh!” from Tómi in the meantime, and when Xander looked back, the boy was gone.
“Tómi?” Xander asked, and looked around. He tapped Heath on the arm, calling his attention, and the dwarf groaned audibly, muttering a fair number of dwarven curses under his breath.
They called and called, and ultimately had to head off the trail to look for the boy. When they finally found him, he was staring up at a striking, blood-red flower hanging from a tree.
“There you are, lad!” Heath muttered, stomping over towards him.
“Oh! Hello, Hee!” Tómi said, smiling as he turned to face the others. “Look! Isn’t it pretty?”
It was the fourth or fifth pretty thing he’d found in the last couple minutes. They’d passed a trail of vibrantly-colored plantlife on the way here–the boy must’ve found each new one catching his eye.
“Yes, yes,” Heath muttered, and grabbed the boy’s arm. He yanked Tómi back, just as the big pretty red flower opened further, revealing huge fangs, and lunged for him. The fangs snapped shut a half an inch from the boy. “It’s also carnivorous. Come on, run!”
Together, the group ran through the forest, the giant flower nipping at their heels. Xander and Heath warded it back occasionally with their weapons, but it was distance, in the end, that saved them. The flower had reach, but ultimately, roots were roots and it just couldn’t stretch any further.
“Thank you, Hee!” Tómi said, as he stared wide-eyed back at the slowly retreating flower. “That was real scary.” He looked at the dwarf. “You really know a lot ‘bout flowers, huh? Hey! Is that one colored all red like that ‘cause it eats people?”
They had rather more important concerns than Tómi’s newfound interest in botany, though–the most pressing being figuring out where in tarnation they’d ended up. Between searching for Tómi and running from the giant plant, they’d ended up pretty far away from the trail…and with the low quality of the map, it was going to be hard to figure out any landmarks.
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