Roleplay 1000 Wands of World Wrecking Wonder IC

[⚕⚕⚕]

"*hah*...*hah*...that was foolish..."
Hastria gasps out, a few tears rolling down her face.

Bierstout jumps clear of the rush of water as the glass prison shatters, returning the axe to his back as James rushes forward to assist the flopping and sputtering girl. He's had enough of conjured liquids over the past day, thank you very much.

"Jings an' crivvens, lassie!" Bierstout swears, remaining close by should Hastria need any more help than one man can provide. He's agitated, not because that a wand was destroyed and profit was lost from this venture, but rather because the girl was almost killed by her own rash mistake. "Foolish ain' the half of it! Whatever possessed ye to vandalize a Wizard's wand? Yer lucky ye ain' drowndead, or worse!"

Then he sees what else the wizard's revenge has done, poking right through her clothing, and can't help but recoil in mild horror. at the slightly-monstrous sight. "By Gaius, ye've got spikes growin' out yer back!"

 

[Draco]

Bierstout jumps clear of the rush of water as the glass prison shatters, returning the axe to his back as James rushes forward to assist the flopping and sputtering girl. He's had enough of conjured liquids over the past day, thank you very much.

"Jings an' crivvens, lassie!" Bierstout swears, remaining close by should Hastria need any more help than one man can provide. He's agitated, not because that a wand was destroyed and profit was lost from this venture, but rather because the girl was almost killed by her own rash mistake. "Foolish ain' the half of it! Whatever possessed ye to vandalize a Wizard's wand? Yer lucky ye ain' drowndead, or worse!"

Then he sees what else the wizard's revenge has done, poking right through her clothing, and can't help but recoil in mild horror. at the slightly-monstrous sight. "By Gaius, ye've got spikes growin' out yer back!"

"I know...*sniff* I felt them grow while I was in that box."

Hastria turns around so as to sit up properly.

"And had I not destroyed the wand, Varrys and Theodoric would have turned us all into cocks. It did not affect the creature shot by the missiles, but those nearby. I felt the chill when Varrys first fired it, and again when I turned back. All we would have had, had they tested it, was several dead chickens and all of us forced to turn against our will in the morning."

 

[Abyssgazer]

Lazily with disappointment Boris thumped his tail on the ground as he held his position on watch as everyone fussed over the softskin thief.

"Gift Giver, is the softskin finished with her drowing? If she is then we can go where your desires seek." He asked in the dwarven tongue eager to find ways to earn money to make up for what maybe lost for destroying the wand.

 

[Shipmaster Sane]

"I say we go back into town"
James says to no one in particular, turning over a piece of glass with his staff.
"If nothing else we need to mark the Wands somehow. Perhaps some paint, or glue."

 

[⚕⚕⚕]

"And had I not destroyed the wand, Varrys and Theodoric would have turned us all into cocks. It did not affect the creature shot by the missiles, but those nearby. I felt the chill when Varrys first fired it, and again when I turned back. All we would have had, had they tested it, was several dead chickens and all of us forced to turn against our will in the morning."

"Cocks?" Bierstout is momentarily confused. He's not sure what phalluses have to do with chickens — or with anything else going on right now. Maybe the girl is less innocent than he thought? But then he remembers that the common-tongue word has a second meaning. "Ah, so it were tha wand that turned ye inta'a chicken. But I dinnae think those two'd be so reckless once ye told 'em about it. We could'a nevah touched tha wand again, stead'a smashin' it ta bits. The great Gambledore is nae gonna be happy about that."

He looks with pity on the downcast girl. "P'raps if we do a good enough job with tha rest, he might be willin' ta fix ye up?"

"I say we go back into town"

The young dwarf shakes his head. "Nay, we cannae go back like this. We'll hafta make up fer the broken wand, and whoever heard o' an adventure where they had ta go home the next day? Asides, ah need ta return the bandits' booty ta tha rightful owners in Drakesville, an' the farmhouse needs ta be looked at."

But perhaps . . . "If'n the lady's had enough, mebbe ye kin take her back? Though those spines might frighten tha neighbors . . ."

"Gift Giver, is the softskin finished with her drowing? If she is then we can go where your desires seek." He asked in the dwarven tongue eager to find ways to earn money to make up for what maybe lost for destroying the wand.

He finishes wrapping up his bag and slings it onto the shaft of his axe.

"Patience, my scaly friend. She is but a child in years, and of a softer disposition than us. But let us indeed be off, for the passage of the sun does not wait for anyone, and our task is great. One thousand wands to test, and as she has shown us this may be more imperiling to ourselves than expected."

He checks the ten magic-missile wands in his belt — a glue wand, a hand-tingling wand, a mystery wand, and seven wands yet unused.

"And who knows. If fortune smiles upon us, we may find a solution from magic for the problems caused by magic."

 

[Shipmaster Sane]

" The great Gambledore is nae gonna be happy about that."

He looks with pity on the downcast girl. "P'raps if we do a good enough job with tha rest, he might be willin' ta fix ye up?"

The young dwarf shakes his head. "Nay, we cannae go back like this. We'll hafta make up fer the broken wand, and whoever heard o' an adventure where they had ta go home the next day? Asides, ah need ta return the bandits' booty ta tha rightful owners in Drakesville, an' the farmhouse needs ta be looked at."

But perhaps . . . "If'n the lady's had enough, mebbe ye kin take her back? Though those spines might frighten tha neighbors . . ."

James shakes his head, before spitting on the ground.
"To hell with the great Gambledore, and twice hell on his venture. We lose nothing but a single gold piece not yet in our hands for every wand lost. I would as soon sink that barrel to the bottom of a lake as not for a wizard's sake. A single gold piece, not yet in your hand, is not much a thing at all."
He points at the massive broken container Hastria was stuck inside.
"There must be fifty stone of glass here, a gaffer will pay in real money for such."

 

[Grav]

Varrys weighing in. “Let’s just leave the glass and keep moving. No bandit or villager is going to go in to the forest after today. So I say we continue investigating the farmhouse.”

 

[Draco]

"Ah, so it were tha wand that turned ye inta'a chicken. But I dinnae think those two'd be so reckless once ye told 'em about it. We could'a nevah touched tha wand again, stead'a smashin' it ta bits. The great Gambledore is nae gonna be happy about that."

"And should I have had such sense, I would not have so n-nearly drowned, w-would I?"
Hastria replies, the indignant tone of her voice masked by the tremulous notes of subsiding fear.

James shakes his head, before spitting on the ground.
"To hell with the great Gambledore, and twice hell on his venture. We lose nothing but a single gold piece not yet in our hands for every wand lost. I would as soon sink that barrel to the bottom of a lake as not for a wizard's sake. A single gold piece, not yet in your hand, is not much a thing at all."
He points at the massive broken container Hastria was stuck inside.
"There must be fifty stone of glass here, a gaffer will pay in real money for such."

"...*sniff* there is much glass there to move, and much weight behind it. Could'st the cart even carry such a load?"

 

[Abyssgazer]

He finishes wrapping up his bag and slings it onto the shaft of his axe.

"Patience, my scaly friend. She is but a child in years, and of a softer disposition than us. But let us indeed be off, for the passage of the sun does not wait for anyone, and our task is great. One thousand wands to test, and as she has shown us this may be more imperiling to ourselves than expected."

Letting out a drawn out breath death didn't mean much, to die was to return to the swamp, to be released from the endless mud and rot back to nothing. It was with the power of Boris the dwarf's gift that the vodka clan could face predators they normally would run from and win.

Rapping his knuckles on his shield. "Death is not feared, death can come from the snake or the rat preying in the reeds of the swamp. All understand, from hatchlings to elders. Boris will face death for a thousand measures of gold so I may drink master made drinks of the mana of Boris. Should they run, then Boris will take thousand measures of gold." Boris said as he collected another three unknown wands while moving the two he'd used before into a pouch so he knew where they were and keeping one unknown effect wand in his hand.

 

[⚕⚕⚕]

"To hell with the great Gambledore, and twice hell on his venture. We lose nothing but a single gold piece not yet in our hands for every wand lost. I would as soon sink that barrel to the bottom of a lake as not for a wizard's sake. A single gold piece, not yet in your hand, is not much a thing at all."

"Ah signed a contract with tha great Gambledore, an' assepted his gold," Bierstout counters, beginning to wax vexed at the disrespect shown to the venerable wizard and to their undertaken quest. "An' so did all'ah ye. An' ah dinnae intend ta go back on me word an' honor, jus' because'o'ah little taste o' danger an' magic. An' even if ah was so craven, ah'd be afeared ta touch those wands after what ah'd just seen."

"There must be fifty stone of glass here, a gaffer will pay in real money for such."

“Let’s just leave the glass and keep moving. No bandit or villager is going to go in to the forest after today. So I say we continue investigating the farmhouse.”

"...*sniff* there is much glass there to move, and much weight behind it. Could'st the cart even carry such a load?"

The young dwarf shakes his head. "If'n the two o' ye truly intend ta give up the quest, ah wouldnae begrudge ye the entire sum o' tha glass. By all right it belongs ta the lassie anyway, since she's tha one who was sufferin' fer it."

He takes a hard look at the shattered prison. "That's supposin' ye still think walkin' out on the Wizard's contract is canny. If'n tha price fer breakin' one wand was almost drowning, ah kin imagine there're much worse punishments in store." He's not exactly happy with the magical consequences, but as far as he knows that's just how wizards handle agreements, and since he doesn't intend to renege it's not exactly relevant to himself anyway.

"Death is not feared, death can come from the snake or the rat preying in the reeds of the swamp. All understand, from hatchlings to elders. Boris will face death for a thousand measures of gold so I may drink master made drinks of the mana of Boris. Should they run, then Boris will take thousand measures of gold."

"I do not fear death either, my friend. What I fear is that I will not have the chance to complete this adventure, that if I die my name will be forgotten instead of sung form the lips of bards. Now that I have had a taste of the hero's life, to be forced to return to a life of repetitive mundanity by a curse or infirmity would be a fate crueler than death. It would be as if you had been cursed to never again drink a drop of ale or spirits."

Not standing around to see what James, Hastria, and Theodoric eventually decide, Bierstout loads his bag onto the Wizard's cart, placing it down next to the barrels of wands. He then walks around to the front and takes up the two horses' reins, ready to lead them to the farmhouse.

 

[Grav]

"Ah signed a contract with tha great Gambledore, an' assepted his gold," Bierstout counters, beginning to wax vexed at the disrespect shown to the venerable wizard and to their undertaken quest. "An' so did all'ah ye. An' ah dinnae intend ta go back on me word an' honor, jus' because'o'ah little taste o' danger an' magic. An' even if ah was so craven, ah'd be afeared ta touch those wands after what ah'd just seen."



The young dwarf shakes his head. "If'n the two o' ye truly intend ta give up the quest, ah wouldnae begrudge ye the entire sum o' tha glass. By all right it belongs ta the lassie anyway, since she's tha one who was sufferin' fer it."

He takes a hard look at the shattered prison. "That's supposin' ye still think walkin' out on the Wizard's contract is canny. If'n tha price fer breakin' one wand was almost drowning, ah kin imagine there're much worse punishments in store." He's not exactly happy with the magical consequences, but as far as he knows that's just how wizards handle agreements, and since he doesn't intend to renege it's not exactly relevant to himself anyway.

"I do not fear death either, my friend. What I fear is that I will not have the chance to complete this adventure, that if I die my name will be forgotten instead of sung form the lips of bards. Now that I have had a taste of the hero's life, to be forced to return to a life of repetitive mundanity by a curse or infirmity would be a fate crueler than death. It would be as if you had been cursed to never again drink a drop of ale or spirits."

Not standing around to see what James, Hastria, and Theodoric eventually decide, Bierstout loads his bag onto the Wizard's cart, placing it down next to the barrels of wands. He then walks around to the front and takes up the handles, intent on pulling it himself if need be.

Varrys just looks at the dwarf weirdly and goes on to the cart. He then lightly taps the horses to start moving. “Now let’s keep moving, the wands must be tested.”

 

[Abyssgazer]

"I do not fear death either, my friend. What I fear is that I will not have the chance to complete this adventure, that if I die my name will be forgotten instead of sung form the lips of bards. Now that I have had a taste of the hero's life, to be forced to return to a life of repetitive mundanity by a curse or infirmity would be a fate crueler than death. It would be as if you had been cursed to never again drink a drop of ale or spirits."

Not standing around to see what James, Hastria, and Theodoric eventually decide, Bierstout loads his bag onto the Wizard's cart, placing it down next to the barrels of wands. He then walks around to the front and takes up the horse's reins, ready to lead it to the farmhouse.

Making a pleased thrill at the gift givers bravery as softskins called it as he plodded along following the dwarf, loading his pack and barrel of ale into the wizard's cart.

"Then Boris will protect the softskin of the gift giver from prey that seek to harm him."

 

[FriedCFour]

As you all debate what to do and where to go, and argue over glass, you begin to hear crying from up the road. Soon, you see a small ragged group of people coming from up from barleyville, some heavily wounded and most with scratches and bruises. At least a few are pulling a cart with several wounded people inside. There are around a dozen of them making their way up. The crying appears to be coming from a young child, who is saying "what happened mommy? Why'd our house all fall apart? Why'd the ground change like that?"

 

[Abyssgazer]

Having finish any preparations needed Boris assumed the holy pose meditating on his light inebriation on the greater matters of alcohol and brewing. His mind pondering over the fermentation of various plants and coveting the bitterness of hops and cleaner taste of dwarven and human brews.

Breathing as he continued his meditation he spoke. "Gift Giver, we are ready to travel to the not swamp place again. We should go there before the sun finishes it travel across the sky."

 

[Shipmaster Sane]

"Ah signed a contract with tha great Gambledore, an' assepted his gold," Bierstout counters, beginning to wax vexed at the disrespect shown to the venerable wizard and to their undertaken quest. "An' so did all'ah ye. An' ah dinnae intend ta go back on me word an' honor, jus' because'o'ah little taste o' danger an' magic. An' even if ah was so craven, ah'd be afeared ta touch those wands after what ah'd just seen."



The young dwarf shakes his head. "If'n the two o' ye truly intend ta give up the quest, ah wouldnae begrudge ye the entire sum o' tha glass. By all right it belongs ta the lassie anyway, since she's tha one who was sufferin' fer it."

He takes a hard look at the shattered prison. "That's supposin' ye still think walkin' out on the Wizard's contract is canny. If'n tha price fer breakin' one wand was almost drowning, ah kin imagine there're much worse punishments in store." He's not exactly happy with the magical consequences, but as far as he knows that's just how wizards handle agreements, and since he doesn't intend to renege it's not exactly relevant to himself anyway.

James shakes his head
"An accord in bad faith is no accord at all. I gave no word of honor to that fairy-man, who offers us decent odds at blowing our own hands off with his "Testing". You can keep your quests, and keep to them as you like, but mark me well master Bierstout, I'll not be lightly shaken loose from a fortune that's fallen into my hands."

As you all debate what to do and where to go, and argue over glass, you begin to hear crying from up the road. Soon, you see a small ragged group of people coming from up from barleyville, some heavily wounded and most with scratches and bruises. At least a few are pulling a cart with several wounded people inside. There are around a dozen of them making their way up. The crying appears to be coming from a young child, who is saying "what happened mommy? Why'd our house all fall apart? Why'd the ground change like that?"

James cuts short his comments as he notices the travelers and moves off to speak with them.

 

[Draco]

As you all debate what to do and where to go, and argue over glass, you begin to hear crying from up the road. Soon, you see a small ragged group of people coming from up from barleyville, some heavily wounded and most with scratches and bruises. At least a few are pulling a cart with several wounded people inside. There are around a dozen of them making their way up. The crying appears to be coming from a young child, who is saying "what happened mommy? Why'd our house all fall apart? Why'd the ground change like that?"

Hastria puts on a spare shawl to cover her back before proceeding towards the group from the village.
"Hail!"

 

[⚕⚕⚕]

Varrys just looks at the dwarf weirdly and goes on to the cart. He then lightly taps the horses to start moving. “Now let’s keep moving, the wands must be tested.”

As you all debate what to do and where to go, and argue over glass, you begin to hear crying from up the road.

Not feeling at all sanguine about the rather lacking enthusiasm of some of the other members of their little group, but unwilling to stomach any more delays to their next explorations, Bierstout mutters unintelligibly to himself as he finishes checking the horses' harnesses and gives the cart a good shove to help them get it started. Amidst the din of plodding hoof-falls and snorts, and the creaking and banging of the axles and cargo, he almost thinks he hears something in the distance. But with such strange and exciting adventures waiting just ahead, he quickly dismisses it as a figment of his overactive imagination. He can hear about whatever James and Hastria ended up deciding to do after he's returned.

Breathing as he continued his meditation he spoke. "Gift Giver, we are ready to travel to the not swamp place again. We should go there before the sun finishes it travel across the sky."

"If we make haste, my reptilian friend, I suspect that we shall arrive there ere the sun reaches its zenith," Bierstout replies as he walks alongside the cart. It's tempting to join the lizard meditating up on the seats, but a hardy dwarf like himself can handle such long marches with relative ease. Better to save the horses' strength in case the scholars get tired, he thinks.

And so, hurrying along back to the farmhouse, he completely misses the refugees coming in from the opposite direction . . .

 

[FriedCFour]

And so the party splits once more. With the villagers you recognize them as the Fimpletons, an outskirts dwelling family not too far from here that work as tanners. As they approach, Mr. Fimpletons wife Adrianna walks up and says "goodness, Hastria and James! I am glad to see you made it. The whole town was swallowed up, suddenly dropped deep into the earth in a massive sloping pit. Our house was on the edge of it and fell over. We were lucky enough to all live, a few of my kin were in the house when it split in half with the foundation giving out." Motioning to the cart.

"What are you doing out here, anyways? Do you have any idea what happened?"


With the other group you make your way through familiar paths, past the piles of corpses where you did battle, and up to the farm house once more. However, as you approach you can see a very new, all to unexpected sight. Three men stand around the farm house, wearing bright pink robes, hoods, and leather chest plates, with the letters MAM emblazoned vertically on their chest. They also carry clubs and shields of leather and wood. They continue to glance off to the left down a separate path, as if waiting for something to appear. What do you do?

 

[Grav]

And so the party splits once more. With the villagers you recognize them as the Fimpletons, an outskirts dwelling family not too far from here that work as tanners. As they approach, Mr. Fimpletons wife Adrianna walks up and says "goodness, Hastria and James! I am glad to see you made it. The whole town was swallowed up, suddenly dropped deep into the earth in a massive sloping pit. Our house was on the edge of it and fell over. We were lucky enough to all live, a few of my kin were in the house when it split in half with the foundation giving out." Motioning to the cart.

"What are you doing out here, anyways? Do you have any idea what happened?"


With the other group you make your way through familiar paths, past the piles of corpses where you did battle, and up to the farm house once more. However, as you approach you can see a very new, all to unexpected sight. Three men stand around the farm house, wearing bright pink robes, hoods, and leather chest plates, with the letters MAM emblazoned vertically on their chest. They also carry clubs and shields of leather and wood. They continue to glance off to the left down a separate path, as if waiting for something to appear. What do you do?

“Hail, strangers, where have you come from?” Varrys got off the cart and jogged yo to the men.

 

[Shipmaster Sane]

And so the party splits once more. With the villagers you recognize them as the Fimpletons, an outskirts dwelling family not too far from here that work as tanners. As they approach, Mr. Fimpletons wife Adrianna walks up and says "goodness, Hastria and James! I am glad to see you made it. The whole town was swallowed up, suddenly dropped deep into the earth in a massive sloping pit. Our house was on the edge of it and fell over. We were lucky enough to all live, a few of my kin were in the house when it split in half with the foundation giving out." Motioning to the cart.

"What are you doing out here, anyways? Do you have any idea what happened?"

"The entire town, you say? We rode out this way to get a closer look at those strange lights. But, truly the whole town gone?"