"What Do You Do?"

[ManInTheLoft]

"What Do You Do?"

closed​

Halloween Night, 2020

You are 3 sorority friends, leaving a costume party in the wee hours of the morning. You are dressed as a swordsman, a wizard, and an elven archer.

You are walking down the middle of a suburban street; after hours of partying, you are drunk, laughing, singing, and feeling no pain.

You see what appears to be headlights coming and think it's a car. But you hear a strange sound: metal shoed horse hooves slamming on concrete. You begin to realize that what's coming is not an automobile but instead is a coach drawn by 6 horses.

You move to the sidewalk, but the coach's direction remains set upon you. As you stare, it passes through parked cars, trees, and a fire hydrant without crashing and without affecting those objects.

It's going to run you down, and no matter which direction you move to get out of its way, it's still beating down on you.

Just as the front pair of horses is about to run you over, there is a flash of light and pain.

The next you know, you are inside the coach, and sitting with the three of you is a young, handsome man wearing a crown.

"Welcome," he says, "my name is Prince Rupert. I thank you for joining my Quest."

Over the next few moments as he continues to speak, you realize:

• You are no longer drunk; you are clear headed.
• Your party costumes, made mostly of synthetic materials, have changed into ancient age dress made of cotton, wool, linen, leather, and other natural materials.
• Other things you carry are also real: the swords and daggers are now metal not plastic; the bow is wood and sinew cord not Fiberglas and synthetic twine; and the magic book is now an ancient tome not a random old hardback with the words Magic Spells written on the outside in permanent marker.
• And you will find over time that you yourselves have changed: the swordswoman will feel more fit and stronger; the witch will feel more intelligent and wise; and the elven archer -- who already quickly came to realize that her pointy, plastic ears are now very real -- will come to feel more nimble, agile, and confident.

"Five hundred years ago," the Prince begins his tale, "as I was about to be crowned King of Hamburg, replacing my recently murdered father on the throne, the powerful witch, Grendalyn, entered the castle and demanded that her daughter, Madeline, be crowned Queen.

"It was no secret that Madeline was my father's child. He had acknowledged this publicly and had offered to care for Madeline and her mother financially, even allowing them to live in the castle after my mother's death in childbirth three years after my own birth.

"But that hadn't enough for Grendalyn. Madeline had been born 1 day before I was, and Grendalyn had been demanding for nearly 2 decades that Madeline, as the elder issue of the King, was the heir to the throne.

"I had had many conversations with my Father the King over the years about Grendalyn's claims. After his death, I had been willing to discuss some form of power sharing with Madeline. But Grendalyn and Madeline had disappeared years earlier and no amount of searching could find them.

"That day in the throne room, before I could even consider how to respond, my father's Chief Advisor, who was to be my Chief Advisor as well, ordered my guards to seize the witch and her daughter and throw them in the dungeon.

"But as they rushed her, Grendalyn casted a powerful spell.

"Instantly, all of the males in the throne room, save me, simple vanished.

"I would soon some to realize that all of the males across the kingdom who had ever taken coin from the crown treasury ... guards, soldiers, advisors, tax collectors, the castle's laborers from blacksmiths to groomers to butlers ... they had all simply vanished.

"Grendalyn told me that I would live forever, which at first didn't sound so bad.
But then she told me that no man would ever serve me again, for to do so would cause their death. It was a punishment for my father's refusal to honor the contribution to the world of women and, even more so, his refusal to acknowledge the legitimacy of Madeline, his female heir, which Grendalyn said was based upon Madeline's gender and not her status as being illegitimate since my father had, in fact, acknowledged her as his own.

"It was true, the part about the contribution of female subjects to the crown," Rupert said with a solemn tone and expression. "Women cleaned, cooked, sewed, cut wood, birthed children. But beyond that, they were allowed to do very little. They couldn't write poetry or paint or even teach their own children. They only performed the most basic tasks to satisfy the needs of their husbands and their kingdom.

"Within days, that kingdom had collapsed," Rupert continues. "Without sheriffs and their Deputies, there was no enforcement of law and order and the criminals began to run wild. Without generals and their soldiers, enemies flooded in from foreign lands and claimed my lands as their own. Without scientists and healers and builders and teachers, all of whom had been male under the traditions of my forefathers, civilization simply collapsed.

"And I did as Grendalyn said I would. I lived. For the past five hundred years, I have watched in horror as my homeland suffered through war, famine, disease, and senseless violence as powerful men -- and women! -- fought each other for control.

"Five hundred years passed and all I could do was watch from afar," Rupert says. But then a bit of a gleam in his eye and a smile on his lips appears. "But there was a hole in Grendalyn's spell, as I have learned there are in all great and powerful spells.

"While I could no longer draw the loyalty and service of men," he says, looking between the three sitting with him, "I could, however, do so with women."

He gives you all a moment to consider what he is saying, then continues, "I ask of you, no, beg of you. Join me in my quest to regain the throne of Hamburg. Join me in returning law and order, peace and prosperity to a land that has not seen it in half a millennia.

"In return, I will give you each your own lands within my kingdom, to rule as your own."

What do you do?

• Obviously, you're going to say yes, otherwise the story ends here.
• But will you ask more questions I haven't already answered?
• Will you negotiate?
• More?

Things to do first

• You said you wanted to choose your own character images. Do that, please.
• Can you give descriptions of what each character looked like?
• PM me with any OOC questions, comments, or concerns I did not address above.

 

[Ritapita]

"What the hell's he doin'?" Ellen asks with a bit of annoyance at the sight of the oncoming vehicle seeming to maintain its direction right at them. She is dressed as an Elven Archer with her bosom lifted and a good deal of her torso's flesh exposed. Her tight, athletic ass was well displayed as well in a pair of second skin yoga pants she decorated with markers to be part of her costume. She was surrounded by Frat Boys all night at the party. (profile, coming; image)

"Where, who, what?" Vicki asks, too blitz to even know what her friend is saying. She'd come to the party dressed as a Viking Shieldmaiden and has even more more of her delicious body on display. A chain link bikini top made of plastic barely contains her C-cup breasts and does nothing to hide the shape of her always hardened nipples. Down below, she wears the bottom half of a modest black bikini with a similar layer of plastic chain mail that hides just a little more than the bikini does, which isn't much. (profile, coming; image

"I think he's drunk! He's gonna hit us!" a more panicky Wynonna calls out as she tries to drag her friends away. Winnie, as she is known, had come as an Elven Magic User, which had disturbed Ellen because Winnie's ears were generally viewed as being more realistic. Winnie had been friends with both of the other girls all their lives. She'd also been the shyest of the three. Even though they were in college now -- adults, Vicki had reminded her -- Winnie had come almost entirely hidden beneath layers of cloth, all but her very cute face and long, naturally red hair. (profile, coming; image

Suddenly, somehow, they are inside what they realize is an old coach, like something out of a Disney Princess story or one of the many movie or television versions of Robin Hood or The Three Musketeers. And a man is telling them he is a Prince.

And they all feel different. And their costumes are more real. And the weapons, wow, they're real and heavy!

Winnie looks to the wayward "F" volume of an old set of encyclopedias that she had been pretending was her Magic Spells book. Now as she looks at it, she realizes finds the hard cardboard and canvas covers replaced by thin but tough sheets of tree bark. Rather than being held together by thin string and glue, the binding is 5 leather thongs strung through hand drilled holes.

Opening it, she finds the thousand-plus, super thin paper pages replaced by a couple of dozen relatively thicker sheets of parchment. Winnie knows that parchment is made via an ancient process using stretched and cleaned lambskin, a labor intensive process abandoned centuries ago by all but the most dedicated historical artist. And instead of seeing an encyclopedia's "F" section, it is filled with what Winnie somehow knows is ancient Elven runes.

"Five hundred years ago," the Prince begins his tale.

He tells them about a witch named Grendalyn, her daughter Madeline, and a powerful spell that kept him alive for 500 years. And he talks about the proper place of women, to which all three of the women react, knowing that while a lot had changed over the millenniums, there is still a long way to go before anything close to equality is realized.

Then he surprises them by begging them to help him regain his throne. Vicki -- who somehow is no longer blitzed and as clear headed as she's ever been -- is about to ask why the hell the three females should help this strange male regain control over his kingdom when he tell them, "In return, I will give you each your own lands within my kingdom, to rule as your own."

As the coach continues bouncing along down the street, the three women somehow know that this is real and not some alcohol-and-Ecstasy-induced dream. They don't know how they know it, but they do.

"How are we supposed to help?" Winnie the Wizard asks. Her Book of Magic seems to vibrate in her hands, tempting her to open it again. When she does, she realizes that she can now read some of the first page of the book, though looking further she sees the rest of it is still indecipherable. The first page is a vague sort of Index, a Table of Contents, and it beckons her to want to learn to read the rest of it. She looks to her two friends and says firmly, "I'm in."

"Why do I look like a slutty Conan the Barbarian?" Vicki asks, not appearing to have been paying any attention to the conversation. She's pulling at her chain mail costume, which now is no longer plastic but is actual, authentic, chain mail. The black, Lycra bikini bottoms she had been wearing are now some sort of animal hide. And her Fiberglas sword is solid steel. "Did I really go to a party looking like this?"

"You always go parties looking like that, you slut," Ellen says, laughing.

Vicki looks to her friend's scantily clad body and says, "Pot and kettle, whore. Pot and kettle."

Ellen only laughs as she cups her beautiful bosom and boosts it a couple of times. She looks to Winnie and says firmly, "I'm in. I dunno why. But, Jesus, something about this. I mean, I feel great! I'm in."

Ellen and Winnie look to the third girl. Vicki shrugs, saying, "All dressed up, just need somewhere to go. I'm in."

The ever thinking Winnie asks with some concern, "But, you still haven't answered the question. How are we supposed to help? We're just 3 Coeds. We're not even really what we appear to be."

Again, as if answering her question, the still open Book of Spells startles Winnie by vibrating in her hands. She looks down and see some text seeming to glow on the parchment. She can read it, and she turns to the next page. After reading a moment -- in an Elvish tongue! -- Winnie holds her hand out before her, open and palm up. A ghostly object begins to materialize. It's a compass, and a glowing dial points a direction.

"That way," she says, confident that she's being told where they are supposed to be going."

(OOC: I will create profiles for each of them today sometime. Right now I have somewhere to be.)

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Ellen the Elven Archer:

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^​

Vicki the Viking Warrior

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Winnie the Wizard (elf also)

 

[ManInTheLoft]

"How are we supposed to help?" Winnie the Wizard asks.

"You each have strengths and abilities you do not yet understand," Prince Rupert reassures them. "They have always been inside you. You only needed an adventure to bring them forth."

He sees the compass manifest magically in Winnie's hand. He nods toward the drapery hiding the Wizard's view of what was outside the coach. Smiling, he says, "Take a peek."

Each of the women pull aside the drapery at their respective window and see that it is daylight and they are most certainly not near the campus anymore. The suburban street is gone. Parallel to the beaten down rutty road on which they are traveling are the remains of a once spectacular cobblestone highway that can no longer be used because of a lack of maintenance over centuries. The rutty path divides often, curling around major potholes, like a meandering river finding a new path after a flood.

Off to one side of the coach are high mountain peaks. Rupert informs them while looking specifically to Winnie, "The Magical Mountains. It is thought that the power behind your Book of Spells comes from a cave in those mountains. Unfortunately, Grendalyn originated from there as well. Her power emanates from those peaks. It is a dangerous place, but at the same time it holds great wonders and great riches."

To the other side of the coach were rolling hills of wild grass lands behind them and thick forests on the taller hills behind them. Rupert again speaks, again picking out one of the trio, Ellen. "The Elven people live in those hills. You will need to go there for reasons of which I cannot speak now. It, too, is a dangerous land. But again, it is full of wonders and great riches, too."

Finally looking to Vicki and nodding her attention to the land and water in front and to the right of the coach, Rupert says, "Beyond that great sea is an army of Warrior Women. When you are ready, you must go there. They await a leader to follow to victory. You are that leader."

Rupert waits for their reactions to what he has said, then beats on the wall of the coach. The coach slows, then stops. Rupert invites the others out, seeming to indicate that he will follow them. When they emerge, though, he closes the door behind them and stays inside.

They will see that there is no one driving the coach. In fact, there aren't even any reins leading to the horses.

"You must begin your adventure in the Magical Mountains," he says before rapping his fist on the coach again. And the horse take off, leading the coach away with not another word from their supposed leader.

What do you do?

• Head southwest for the Magical Mountains? It's surely a 3 day walk through rolling grass covered hills and forested foothills just to reach the base of the range, which you can see from here includes at least 6 peaks over 5,000 feet and one that might be 9,000 feet tall.
• Head southeast for the Elven Mountains? That looks even farther, perhaps 8 days walk. The mountain range there doesn't look as tall, but it looks deeper.
• Head northeast for the ocean and, beyond it, the land of the Warrior Women? This could mean looking for a boat capable to crossing the sea, which from where you are standing has only a watery horizon.
• Or, finally, head northwest, to a small village that you can just barely see. You could probably reach it before nightfall, presuming of course that the days here are 24 hours long and the sun is moving in the same direction it did back at your no absent homeland.

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Vicki, the Viking Warrior: profile, coming; image

Ellen, the Elven Archer: profile, coming; image

Winnie the Wizard: profile, coming; image

 

[Ritapita]

All three of the young women are shocked when they look outside. Considering what had already taken place, they shouldn't be, of course.

Even more shocking is that Prince Rupert then just ditches them in the middle of nowhere. They watch the coach -- without a driver, how can that be? -- head off down the dirt road and disappear over a hill.

They jump into a back and forth conversation about the craziness of what's happening that ends with Vicki pointing towards the village nestled in amongst some rolling hills and saying, "That way!"

"Why that way?" Ellen asks.

"Because I'm hungry, and there's going to be food there."

"And we need more information," Winnie adds. "Rupert didn't tell us enough. I'm sorry, but I'm just not that excited about hiking off into the mountains that are the home of the Wicked Witch of the West without knowing what the heck we're getting ourselves into."

"What the heck?" Vicki teases. What the heck, really?"

The other two tease the shy Winnie about being such a goody two shoes until finally she says, "Fine! Hell! What the hell we're getting ourselves into."

"Say what the fuck," Vicki demands, getting support from the chuckling Helen. "Say it or we're not going anywhere."

They tease her more, even engaging in a tickle attack until finally Winnie caves and hollers, "What the fuck we're getting ourselves into."

Satisfied, the older two women take hold of their mild mannered friend and head off toward the village. They don't what they are going to find, but if it doesn't appear too dangerous, their intention is to find food and drink.

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Vicki, the Viking Warrior: profile, coming; image

Ellen, the Elven Archer: profile, coming; image

Winnie the Wizard: profile, coming; image

 

[ManInTheLoft]

As you near town, you pass near a decrepit hut, outside of which a woman is on her hands and knees, digging up root crops with a stick. There is a toddler nearby in filthy, tattered clothing; an infant cries from a basket nearby. The scene screams deep and lasting poverty.

What do you do?

1. Pass by without acknowledging the woman.
2. Offer the woman something of value. (Do you have something of value to give up?)
3. Offer to help the woman with her work?
4. Other?

Note: I am sending you a PM titled "DON'T OPEN YET", with results of the above actions. Decide what you're going to do, then read the PM, then write your post.

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Vicki, the Viking Warrior:

• Profile (coming); image.
• Warrior Level = 1
• Weapons: Broad sword.
• Possessions of importance:
  • None stated yet.

Ellen, the Elven Archer:

• Profile (coming); image
• Archer Level = 1
• Weapons: Recurve Bow
• Possessions of importance:
  • None stated yet.

Winnie the Wizard:

• Profile (coming); image
• Wizard Level = 1
• Magic Spells:
  • Compass: Level 1 -- Will indicate which direction they should travel for their current mission or task. Can use once/day/level.
• Possessions of importance:
  • Book of Spells.

 

[Ritapita]

"That's so sad," Winnie the Wizard whispers when they see the woman and her living conditions. "Should we do something to help her."

"I'm hungry, and thirsty, and I need a beer," Vicki the Viking responds. "Besides, we were sent on a mission."

"Our mission is in the other direction," Winnie reminds Vicki. "You came this way, the wrong way, so don't talk to me about--"

"Knock it off," Ellen the Elven Archer cuts in. She gives Vicki a light push in the direction of the hovel and grabs Winnie by the hand. "We'll go see if we can help her."

The woman is wary as the three approach, moving to her infant and calling the toddler to her. As the trio near her, it becomes obvious that she is much younger than she'd previously appeared.

"A hard life," Winnie whispers to the others. To the woman she asks, "Can we help you with your work, ma'am?"

The woman only stares. It's obvious that this is concerning to her: three strange armed women -- okay, two -- approach from nowhere and offer to help her with her work.

"I'm hungry," Vicki whispers yet again.

"Turnips?" Ellen asks, ignoring her friend as she looks down into the basket. "We haven't eaten in more than a day. If we dig them up for you, would you cook us a meal?"

"Turnips?" Vicki asks in dismay. She looks about the property, then mumbles, "Can't we look around for a McDonalds or--"

"Shush!" Ellen cuts her off. Donning a wide smile, she asks the woman again, "If we were to dig up the turnips, that would free you up to care for your babies."

She glances to the still crying infant. "She looks hungry. You could feed her while--"

"Gone dry," the woman mumbles. When the trio doesn't seem to understand, the woman reaches up to grope a breast and clarifies, "Got no milk. Well's gone dry. Baby's gonna die whether you dig or not."

Winnie flinches suddenly, startling the others. She looks at her Book of Spells to find a sort of shimmer moving about the runes on the cover. She opens it and finds that she can read another set of runes on the Table of Contents page. She smiles, looks between the others, and says with joy, "I think I can help with that."



It takes a lot of convincing, but Ellen is able to con Vicki into using the tip of her sword to break the packed dirt around the turnips and in less than an hour they have taken four buckets of turnips up to the house. The woman shows them to the root cellar, which they find absolutely empty!

As Ellen and Vicki are gardening, Winnie is reading the another now decipherable page of the Book of Spells. It is simply called "Heal" and can be performed with some basic ingredients easily found about the property and the repeating of a chant found on the page.

"I've never done this before," Winnie admits with an embarrassed smile and a blush. Then a thought comes to her. "Are you okay with magic...? With me casting a spell on you?

The woman just shrugs apathetically. "Will it make milk...? Save my baby?"

Winnie doesn't know, honestly, but the Book of Spells seems to think it will, otherwise it wouldn't have signaled her. She begins putting the ingredients together in a small wooden mug full of steaming hot water. In no time at all, a wonderful, natural scent begins to fill the otherwise nasty smelling hovel.

"Oh," Winnie says suddenly, looking to the woman. "We need a drop of your blood and a drop of your baby's. We need to add it to the ... well, whatever this is."

Even before Winnie finishes explaining, the woman has retrieves an old knife, sticks her middle finger, drips a drop or two of blood into the mix, and picks up her still crying baby to do the same to her.

"Won't make her start crying, at least," Winnie says, trying to relieve the despair hovering all about them. She stirs the mixture, which turns the color of blood, then tells the woman, "You have to drink it all."

"Gonna poison me to death?" the woman asks with such casual apathy that Winnie wonders whether she might actually be hoping it will. The woman sips, grimaces at the awful taste, then takes a gulp, and another, and another until finally it's all gone. She shrugs. "Not as good as turnip soup, but..."

It is now that Ellen begins coming in repeatedly with bucket after bucket of turnips. Both of them head outside together, and Winnie explains about the Spell. "I don't know if it will work. What happens if it doesn't? What if I just killed her? What do we do with that baby and that little girl?"

They look down and see the little girl. She looks up at them with sad eyes as she eats the leaves and yellow flower of a dandelion. Winnie whispers, "So sad."

"What if your spell works?" Ellen asked. She looks to the toddler and asks, "The baby can nurse, but what about this one?"

"She'll nurse, too."

Ellen looks confused. "What're you talking about? She's too old."

But Winnie laughs. "No she's not. Hell, if her mother could produce milk for the next decade, both of those kids would eat just fine."

The two of them get into a conversation about breast feeding, but they are interrupted when a turnip bounces up to them and Vicki hollers, "Why am I the only one getting dirt under her nails?"

All three of them finish loading up the last bucket and head back inside...

...and what do you know, the woman has her baby -- now silent for the first time -- at a nipple that is producing perfectly. There are smiles all around and congratulations. The toddler had followed the trio inside, and she goes to her mom to suckle on the second teat.

"I'll cook," Vicki says, surprising the others. She tells them she used to spend hours in the kitchen with her mother. "I need herbs or mushrooms or anything you can find outside."

"There," the woman says, nodding toward a crate in the corner. They find some little bottles of herbs, about the only edible items in the hovel, and as Winnie and Ellen begin slicing turnips and Vicki prepares the frying pan, the woman tells them, "My name is Treena. Who are you?"

The three had previously talked about whether or not they should reveal their mission to strangers, deciding not to do so. They simply tell her they are travelers whose coach was robbed. "We lost everything but what we are carrying."

"Are you going into the town?" Treena asks with a tone of concern. When Winnie says there were, the woman says, "There are some things you should know first."

(OOC: I let you decide what she tells. And I like the PM idea. And do I add the Heal Spell level or do you?)

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Vicki, the Viking Warrior:

• Profile (coming); image.
• Warrior Level = 1
• Weapons: Broad sword.
• Possessions of importance:
  • None stated yet.

Ellen, the Elven Archer:

• Profile (coming); image
• Archer Level = 1
• Weapons: Recurve Bow
• Possessions of importance:
  • None stated yet.

Winnie the Wizard:

• Profile (coming); image
• Wizard Level = 1
• Magic Spells:
  • Compass: Level 1 -- Will indicate which direction they should travel for their current mission or task. Can use once/day/level.
• Possessions of importance:
  • Book of Spells.

 

[ManInTheLoft]

(OOC: I will add the Heal Spell level)

Treena is simply in awe of what has happened. Her breasts came back to life so quickly she could literally see them filling up with milk.

"The village is called Briarcliff," she tells the trio, "and it is a dangerous place."

She speaks of a lack of law and order in any such degree. "The Sheriff was strung up, the Sheriff before him and the one before him, too. The Lord of Briarcliff, Count Royden, he don't care much for the town 'cause he get no taxes no more. The Taxman, he strung, too."

Treena tells them that a gang of about 12 men had taken over the town two years ago. "Since then, they tax us to starve. Killed my man three moons ago. Took my food. My goats."

Her eyes fill with tears as she adds, "Took my sister, Netta. I hid her each time they came, out in the grain, but last time they found her. She's only a baby."

Netta had actually recently reached the age of consent (OOC: 18 of course) but to her older sister, she was still just a baby. Treena continued, "Rumor is they be holding her in town, waiting for their Boss Man to come back from some place distant. He's 'sposed to decide what to do with her, but I know already. He will sell her as pure meat to some rich lord who'll rob her of her virtue."

Treena's face lights up. She asks, "Maybe you save her? Yes? Please? Pay you, he will."

Then they ask who she means by he, Treena tells them that Netta was betrothed to a Lesser Lord in the Magical Mountains. He was supposed to come get her on the Day of her Coming of Age, but there had been a major storm that collapsed some roads in the mountain passes, blocking their way.

"You saves Netta before she's defiled," Treena says, "and he'll pay you gold coin."

(OOC: Sending you another PM. Decide your actions, then read the PM.

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Vicki, the Viking Warrior:

• Profile (coming); image.
• Warrior Level = 1
• Weapons: Broad sword.
• Possessions of importance:
  • None stated yet.

Ellen, the Elven Archer:

• Profile (coming); image
• Archer Level = 1
• Weapons: Recurve Bow
• Possessions of importance:
  • None stated yet.

Winnie the Wizard:

• Profile (coming); image
• Wizard Level = 1
• Magic Spells:
  • Compass: Level 1 -- Will indicate which direction they should travel for their current mission or task. Can use once/day/level.
  • Heal: Level 2 -- example of use is when she caused a woman to once again lactate for the survival of her children.
• Possessions of importance:
  • Book of Spells.

Red indicates new.

 

[Ritapita]

Treena speaks of Briarcliff and of how dangerous it is. After she speaks of the 3 murdered Sheriffs, Winnie the Wizard asks her friends, "Are we really going there? I mean, this is really starting to feel really real."

"We just have to be careful," Ellen the Elven Archer says. She had been contemplating their situation a lot since arriving, and she'd begun feeling more confident in it and in herself. She adds, "We just have to watch each other's backs."

"We're fine!" Vicki the Viking Warrior says with obvious confidence. She's been sitting on a stool wiping clean her sword of the dirt from the garden, and now she stands to brandish it before her like some brave movie hero character. Talking about no one in particular, she says, "Bring'em on."

When Treena asks the trio to save her sister from being sold into sexual servitude, Vicki doesn't hesitate to say, "We'll get her back for you."

"What are you talking about?" a surprised Winnie asks. "We're not some Special Forces hostage rescue squad. We're just three Sorors from Alpha Kappa Alpha who found themselves swept up in this crazy fucking fantasy!"

"Fucking," Ellen says softly, giving Vicki an elbow. "I think our little girl is finally growing up."

The three of them discuss and argue and imagine for several minutes inside, then take the conversation outside. They return finally, and Vicki tells Treena, "We're going to town ... to save your sister."

"The best time is half 'tween dark and light," Treena says, meaning what the trio would consider 2 or 3 in the morning. "Most'a the men will be drunk, including the Watch Standers, one pair at each end of town. I can get you in."

"We will go then," Vicki says.

Outside, the trio had discussed who should be making the big decisions that involve them all. There are 3 of them, of course, and they could have decided that majority rules. Instead, they'd decided that all big decisions needed to be unanimous.

Vicki looks to her friends and asks, "Okay?"

They agree, after which Vicki says, "We have a couple of hours before dark. I'm going outside to train."

Vicki, who is 22 years old, is the athlete of the trio, having played multiple sports starting with soccer as a 3 year old. She fully understands that practice makes perfect.

"Me, too," Ellen agrees. She picks up her bow, laughing and saying, "If I had known my toy bow would turn into a real bow, I would have taken a fake Compound Bow to the party. But, this works, too."

Just as Vicki had been an athlete, the 21 year old Ellen had been an outdoors enthusiast all her life. She and her family had been what she called roughing it campers; they used basic tents, never camp trailers or RVs, and hadn't even taken gas or battery operated lanterns or cook stoves.

Part of that roughing it for Ellen had included learning to hunt with a bow. Sometimes the family only brought an emergency quantity of food with them and instead fed from what the forest had to offer. Ellen got good enough with a bow to join the US National Archery Team. She'd taken hundreds of ribbons and trophies over 15 tears with a bow in her hands. Her biggest disappointment had been barely missing making the Olympic team, twice.

And what about Winnie, the youngest at 20? Well, she'd been a book worm all her life. She'd spent as much time with a book in her hands or a laptop open to some educational or informative website as the other two had spent on a sports field or out in the woods.

She'd done her own sort of competing in her field, too.
She'd been on multiple teams and in multiple clubs that her friends jokingly called egg head activites. Tease her they did, yet Vicki and Ellen had always been proud of their friend and supported when they could. They had even cheered her on with pom poms at a Debate Club event in high school and had done a social media play by play for her during their University's Regional Science Knowledge Competition just a few months ago.

"I think I'll go find some shade and look through my Book," Winnie says. The tome suddenly vibrated in her hands like a cell phone on mute alerting her to an incoming call. She giggles. "Yep. That's what I'll do."

Outside, Vicki begins swinging her sword around like she'd seen so many movie characters do. It was one part athletic, one part dance, and one part don't cut your own ear off.

Ellen found a soft, rotten log to loose her arrows at without fear of breaking off an arrowhead. Her fantasy world arrows had metal heads that had been pounded out and notched, as opposed to rock arrowheads.

And Winnie finds her shade in which to study, although as the sun falls behind the forested hills, she is looking for sunshine as the temperature dropped.

+++++++++++++++++++++++​

Vicki, the Viking Warrior:

• Profile (coming); image.
  
• Warrior Level = 1
  
• Weapons: Broad sword.
  
• Possessions of importance:
  
  • None stated yet.
    

Ellen, the Elven Archer:

• Profile (coming); image
  
• Archer Level = 1
  
• Weapons: Recurve Bow
  
• Possessions of importance:
  
  • None stated yet.
    

Winnie the Wizard:

• Profile (coming); image
  
• Wizard Level = 1
  
• Magic Spells:
  
  • Compass: Level 1 -- Will indicate which direction they should travel for their current mission or task. Can use once/day/level.
    
  • Heal: Level 2 -- example of use is when she caused a woman to once again lactate for the survival of her children.
    
• Possessions of importance:
  
  • Book of Spells.
    

Red indicates new.

 

[ManInTheLoft]

"We're going to town ... to save your sister."

Teena is overjoyed at the news, of course.

Over the next hours, as the trio are training and studying, Treena cuts and sews her best blanket into cloaks for Vicki and Ellen, whose sexy Halloween costumes make then a bit obvious here.

The three heroines-to-be come to realize just how differently they are in this world than they were back in their real world:

• Vicki, while already a strong and fit athlete feels even more so now. She handles the sword as if she was raised carrying it. Sword Skill Level = 3; needs experience. (Speaking of which...) Experience Level = 1
  
• Ellen finds herself putting arrow after arrow within inches of the same spot at which she is losing them. She feels stronger, too. Archery Skill Level = 3; needs experience.(Speaking of which...) Experience Level = 1
  
• Winnie opens her Book of Spells and once again finds she can read more of the Elven runes. She adds to her list of spells:
  
  • "Distract": distracts others from what you are doing. 1 person/experience level (XL) for 10 seconds/experience level. (At higher XLs, the ask can be more involved.)
    
  • "Enchantment": enchants others, leading them to do minor things they likely wouldn't do otherwise. 1 person/XL. (At higher XLs, the ask can be more involved.)
    
  • "Mind Reader": allows hearing others thoughts. 1 person/XL for 10 seconds/XL. (At higher XLs, the ask can be more involved.)
    
  • "Avoid": allows the user -- the Wizard or another person upon whom the spell is casted -- to predict and avoid physical attacks or other actions of danger to them. 5 seconds/ XL of magic user, 1 recipient/XL of magic user.
    

+++++++++++++++++++++++​

Vicki, the Viking Warrior:

• Profile (coming); image.
  
• Warrior XL = 1
• Sword Skill Level = 3; needs experience.
  
• Weapons: Broad sword.
  
• Possessions of importance:
  
  • None stated yet.
    

Ellen, the Elven Archer:

• Profile (coming); image
  
• Archer XL = 1
• Bow Skill Level = 3; needs experience.
  
• Weapons: Recurve Bow
  
• Possessions of importance:
  
  • None stated yet.
    

Winnie the Wizard:

• Profile (coming); image
  
• Wizard Level = 1
  
• Magic Spells:
  
  • "Compass": Level 1 -- Will indicate which direction they should travel for their current mission or task. 1 use/day/XL.
    
  • "Heal": Level 2 -- heal a wound or improve a patient's health. I use/day/XL. (Generally worth 1 HP of healings. For examples, see Post #6 (improved breastfeeding).
    
  • "Distract": distracts others from what you are doing. 1 person/experience level (XL) for 10 seconds/experience level. (At higher XLs, the ask can be more involved.)
    
  • "Enchantment": enchants others, leading them to do minor things they likely wouldn't do otherwise. 1 person/XL. (At higher XLs, the ask can be more involved.)
    
  • "Mind Reader": allows hearing others thoughts. 1 person/XL for 10 seconds/XL. (At higher XLs, the ask can be more involved.)
    
  • "Avoid": allows the user -- the Wizard or another person upon whom the spell is casted -- to predict and avoid physical attacks or other actions of danger to them. 5 seconds/ XL of magic user, 1 recipient/XL of magic user.
    
• Possessions of importance:
  
  • Book of Spells.
    

Red indicates new.

 

[Ritapita]

After sundown, Treena feeds the lot of them, explains her thoughts on how to get into Briarcliff, and builds an unusually large and warm fire to make the Heroines comfortable, so they can rest. The three of them lay down on Treena's dirty, beaten down straw bed for sleep.

None of them sleep well or for long.

"It's time, " Treena says when she gently wakes the three early in the morning.

Before they leave, Winnie the Wizard again mixes up a potion for Treena. She tells her, "In case I don't come back, I want those babies to eat."

Treena doesn't like the thought of that, asking, "Are we sure this is a good idea?"

Winnie laughs, saying, "This was your idea."

They laugh together, more because it lessens the tension than because it was funny.

The Heroines leave following the path Treena had shown them in the light of day. They come to within sight of where Treena says the Night Watch should be if they aren't off drinking or fucking or both.

"Let me go first," Winnie says. The other two object, but she tells them about the spells she learned today. "I can Distract or Enchant them long enough for you to skip up behind me in the dark."

It takes some doing, but Winnie convinces them. The plan: Winnie goes first, then Vicki (and her sword) and Ellen (and her bow) follows by 100 feet or so, close enough to attack if necessary but far enough back to not easily be seen.

If they get lucky and there is no Night Watch, they will continue through the shadows to the back of the Red Fox Inn. It was a favorite stop over tavern of the Lord of Briarcliff, Count Royden, before the town fell out of his control.


Treena knows that the Gang has taken over the Inn. She believes her sister is likely being held there. The trio will try to get into the back inconspicuously.

+++++++++++++++++++++++​

Vicki, the Viking Warrior:

• Profile (coming); image.
  
• Warrior XL = 1
  
• Sword Skill Level = 3; needs experience.
  
• Weapons: Broad sword.
  
• Possessions of importance:
  
  • None stated yet.
    

Ellen, the Elven Archer:

• Profile (coming); image
  
• Archer XL = 1
  
• Bow Skill Level = 3; needs experience.
  
• Weapons: Recurve Bow
  
• Possessions of importance:
  
  • None stated yet.
    

Winnie the Wizard:

• Profile (coming); image
  
• Wizard Level = 1
  
• Magic Spells:
  
  • "Compass": Level 1 -- Will indicate which direction they should travel for their current mission or task. 1 use/day/XL.
    
  • "Heal": Level 2 -- heal a wound or improve a patient's health. I use/day/XL. (Generally worth 1 HP of healings. For examples, see Post #6 (improved breastfeeding).
    
  • "Distract": distracts others from what you are doing. 1 person/experience level (XL) for 10 seconds/experience level. (At higher XLs, the ask can be more involved.)
    
  • "Enchantment": enchants others, leading them to do minor things they likely wouldn't do otherwise. 1 person/XL. (At higher XLs, the ask can be more involved.)
    
  • "Mind Reader": allows hearing others thoughts. 1 person/XL for 10 seconds/XL. (At higher XLs, the ask can be more involved.)
    
  • "Avoid": allows the user -- the Wizard or another person upon whom the spell is casted -- to predict and avoid physical attacks or other actions of danger to them. 5 seconds/ XL of magic user, 1 recipient/XL of magic user.
    
• Possessions of importance:
  
  • Book of Spells.
    

Red indicates new.[/QUOTE]

 

[ManInTheLoft]

As Winnie descends the path and nears the huts on the village's perimeter, a man steps out from the shadows: the Night Watch is on duty after all.

"Halt! Who goes there?" he calls.

(As you posted), when she is challenged, Winnie casts a Distract Spell. The night watch turns away, toward the town, thinking he's heard someone behind him.

"Halt! Who goes there?" he again calls out but this time to no one at all.

+++++++++++++++++++​

What do you do?

Okay, this might look hard, but it's actually very simple to follow. Just do each step one right after another. If you are told to skip down to a step, totally ignore everything in between.

(BTW, this is the process we will use in the future. When it is necessary to post all of these steps again, I will do so. But I think that once we've gone through this first time, I will only have to tell you the odds and you will be able to conduct the attack/surprise/melee without all of the bullet point steps.)

• If Vicki charges the night watch from her place in the darkness:
  1. Flip a coin.
     • If heads (which is better than tails in all circumstances), go to #2 below.
     • If tails:
       • Vicki won't reach the night watch in time to strike with surprise. (You can create and post your own reasons why this surprise failed.)
       • Both Vicki and Winnie will realize this.
       • Winnie casts "Enchantment" (as you posted), suggesting something to the night watch that will aid in Vicki's surprise. Proceed to #2.
  2. Flip a coin.
     • If heads, go to "Surprise Successful" below.
     • If tails:
       • Vicki won't reach the night watch in time to strike with surprise even after Winnie casts "Enchantment". (Again you can create and post your own reasons.)
       • Flip a coin:
         • If heads, go to "Melee".
         • If tails, the night watch charges Winnie, intending to kill her. Go to "What about Ellen the Elven Archer?" below.

"What about Ellen the Elven Archer?"

• The presumption is that Ellen is providing cover, not actually charging.
• Therefore, her contribution is as follows: if at any time, she looses an arrow at the night watch, flip a coin:
  1. If heads:
     • She strikes the night watch.
     • Flip a coin:
       • If it's heads, that's a HP of damage. Flip another and another and another until finally you flip tails, and the total number of heads is the total damage done by that one arrow. If it is greater than the NPCs HPs, the NPC is dead.
       • If it's tails or the number of successive heads is not greater than the NPC's HPs, the arrow didn't kill the NPC.
       • HOWEVER, any successful arrow strike gives Vicki the initiative in the attack above.
     • If it's tails, the arrow missed and had no affect.
• Ellen can loose an arrow every 5 seconds. I'll let you be the judge of how fast things are moving.

Surprise Successful

• Vicki has succeeded in attacking the night watch with surprise.
• She strikes without him being able to defend himself, though, that doesn't mean she actually struck him. (She is new at this after all.)
• Flip a coin.
  1. If head, the night watch is killed in a single strike. Go to "End of Successful Attack."
  2. If tails:
     • Flip a coin:
       • If heads, return to "C" above and repeat. (This is a loop giving you a second strike at the night watch before he gets to strike at you.)
       • If tails, wow, you really need some more practice. Go to "Melee" below.

Melee

• Note: A PC can retreat from a melee at any point, though NPCs (Non Player Characters) will fight to the death. If your PC retreats, the turn for that PC typically ends there, so that I can determine if the NPCs take chase. But, use your common sense if you wish to continue with the rest of the scene without having to involve me.
• Melee occurs when there is no surprise on either side.
• This night watch is a Level 2/1 NPC, meaning:
  
  • He has 2 HPs (Hit Points), the damage he can take before he is killed because he has an XL = 2.
  • He has 1 AP (Attack Point), the damage he causes if he strikes you, because he's only carrying a small sword.
  [*]You are currently a Level 1/3 PC (Player Character), meaning:
  
  • You have 1 HP because your XL = 1. Don't get hit, or you're likely dead.
  • You have 3 APs (Attack Points) because you have a Weapons Skill Level = 3.
• Flip a coin:
  1. If heads, you got in the first strike (aka "initiative" in D&D):
     • Flip the number of coins equal to your Weapon Skill Level.
     • This is how much damage you did in that one strike.
     • If the damage you did (or the total of this and previous attacks) is equal to or greater than the NPC's HPs, that NPC is dead. Go to "End of Successful Attack."
     • If the damage you did (or the total of this and previous attacks) is less than the NPC's HPs, repeat "D" above.
  2. If tails, the NPC got in the first strike (aka "initiative" in D&D):
     • Flip the number of coins equal to the NPC's AP.
     • This is how much damage the NPC did to your PC.
     • If the damage the NPC did (or the total of this and previous attacks) is equal to or greater than your PC's HPs, you're dead. Wow, that was a short and tragic adventure wasn't it?
     • If the damage the NPC did (or the total of this and previous attacks) is less than your PC's HPs, repeat "D" above.

End of successful attack

• Once the night watch is killed, your PCs can move on. (You might want to consider dragging the body off into the shadows.)
• Head for the back of the Inn:
  • You have a 50/50 chance of getting to the Inn undetected and a 50/50 chance of getting into the back of it without being detected.
  • In both cases, you will be detected by a pair of armed NPCs 2/1.
  • I'll let you roll for this.

 

[Ritapita]

(OOC: No, it doesn't look that hard at all. I can't believe how much work you put into that! Amazing!)

"Halt! Who goes there?"

Winnie's heart leaps in her chest at the sound of the Night Watch's voice. She freezes, silent and still. Soon, the man appears, coming out of the shadows and into the moonlight. He challenges her for a name and reason for being out here at night.

"I was just taking a walk under the stars," she finally gets out. The man is getting closer to her. Even in the dim light of the not quite full moon, she can see his eyes taking a walk up and down her body. A hungry expression fills his face, and she knows she is just moments away from being raped. She points a finger toward the village, saying in Elven, "Du ser, men for at du ser, du lytter, men hører du, du fornemmer, men forstår du."

Winnie been practicing the spell all evening, sometimes using Treena's toddler as a subject, sometimes using her two friends. The little girl had only been confused when Winnie pointed and said You look but to you see, you listen but do you hear, you sense but do you understand. Ellen and Vicki, though, had been annoyed, finally telling her that if she did it to them again they were going to start practicing on her with their weapons.

She fears she screwed up the spell when the Night Watch doesn't immediately turn to where she is pointing. But then he spins in place and calls toward the still village, "Halt! Who goes there?"

Winnie looks over her shoulder for help, and after a moment sees a dark shape hurrying her way: Vicki. Winnie looks back to the Night Watch, wondering whether her friend will reach the man in time.

But it isn't the only thought in Winnie's mind. Her friend is running at a stranger with a sword in her hand, intent on -- Oh God! -- killing him! Murder! That's what it is. The taking of a life. Oh sure, the guy's a bad man and probably doesn't deserve Winnie's pity or sympathy.

Or does he? This evening, when she, Vicki, and Ellen had talked about the fact that they would most likely be killing someone tonight, Winnie had asked, "What about the janitor on the Death Star?"

The other two had just stared at her dumbfounded until she began to explain. "Star Wars. The Death Star. You had Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine and General Tarkin and General Hux--"

"Hux wasn't on the Death Star," Ellen had cut in, the other Star Wars fan in the trio. "He didn't come into the story until--"

"Really!" Winnie cut her friend off. "My point is, on the Death Star, you had all these really bad guys. But what about the janitor. I mean, was he really a bad guy? Or was he just a guy looking for a job to feed his family, something that paid better than minimum wage and might have benefits."

Both of her friends laughed at her, but she pressed her point, which led Vicki to ask, "What is your point?"

Winnie had taken a deep breath, then asked with all seriousness, "Are you really going to so easily kill someone tonight if you have to? Even if they're no more guilty or evil than a janitor."

"A janitor isn't going to come at me tonight with a sword," Vicki said. Then she'd added, "If he comes at you with a sword, do you want me to let him come?"

That had been enough to convince Winnie that they would do what they needed to do, to protect themselves, to save Treena's innocent little sister, and to help bring Law and Order back to the land by putting Prince Rupert back on the throne.

(Flip a coin = tails)

Winnie looks back to the Night Watch and sees him turning back her way. He's going to spot the advancing Vicki, she knows it. She steps closer to him, making a gesture she'd learned from the Book of Spells as she speaks, "Sire, can you help me find my kitten. I think it's right there, between your feet."

The Night Watch gives Winnie an odd look. He's about to ask her what she's talking about when he sees the dark figure rushing him. "Halt! Halt there!

(Flip a coin = heads! Yea!)

Suddenly, a whistling sound passes Winnie. The Night Watch cries out in agony as an arrow strikes him...

(Flip a coin = tails, bummer.)

...in the shoulder. He teeters back a bit, grasping at the shaft, stunned a bit. But he remembers the attacking figure -- it's a woman! -- and he raises his sword...

(Flips 3 coins for damage = heads, tails, heads = 2 more damage >> 3 total, dead)

...but Vicki stabs her blade at the man, sinking it into his chest. He falls to his knees, an expression of shock and pain and surprise on his face. Vicki pulls her blade back, and the man tips over to the ground, dead.

"Are you okay?" Vicki says turning to Winnie.

But Winnie is in shock, staring at the body laying on the ground in the moonlight. "He's dead ... you killed him."

"We killed him, little Miss Wizard-made-it-possible," Vicki says. She leans down and wipes the blood from her blade across the man's trousers. Ellen arrives, paying more attention to the arrow's placement. She says, "I knew I pulled at the last second."

She removes the arrow from the man's body, looking to see if the metal arrowhead is still intact ... (flips for 50/50) ... smiling as she sees it's still there.

"We killed him," Winnie murmurs. "I knew it was going to happen, but..."

The other two pull the youngest of them back to reality, and they hurry into the shadows again to continue onward. They simply leave the Night Watch where he was.

They are surprised to get through the village and to the back of the Inn without being seen, but upon arriving, two men come walking out the back door. The men spot the women, and not knowing them draw their weapons.

(Flip a coin = heads) But it's too late for the nearest man. Vicki slashes her sword before her and cuts the man across the stomach. (Flip = heads). He stumbles back and regains his footing ... just in time to have the end of Vicki's sword penetrate his neck. He drops like a sack of potatoes.

(Flip = tails) Meanwhile, the other man had pulled a dagger and charged Ellen. (Flip = tails) But the man was drunk and entirely missed the Elf.

Ellen had had an arrow out and notched, and now she pulls it back and looses it. (Flips 3 = 2 HPs) The arrow penetrates the man's throat, and down he goes to the ground, gagging as blood spills out on the ground and fills his windpipe and thus his lungs.

This time around, the three women work together to pull the dead off into the shadows. The back door of the Inn is open, so they cautiously wander inside...

 

[ManInTheLoft]

You're all still alive! Woohoo!

I have increased some XLs, weapons skill levels (which I have changed to Attack Points, AP), and more below:

+++++++++++++++++++​

Inside the back of the Inn, you hear and (as you move forward) see what you would expect to hear in a tavern at 3 in the morning: people laughing and talking and music (someone playing a stringed instrument accompanied by a wind instrument).

What do you do?

• The tavern floor is before you, with 6 men drinking and cavorting with a pair of tavern whores. You could go out and get a drink, I guess.
• There is a set of stairs to your right. There's a 1 in 3 chance you may be seen.
• There's a door leading into a room on the left. You don't know what/whose in it, but you could check it. There is a lock on it, but the skeleton key is hanging on a nail near the door.
• You could always retreat.
• Or you could just start killing people.
• Other?

When you decide, open the PM I just sent you.

+++++++++++++++++++++++​

Vicki, the Viking Warrior:

• Profile (coming); image.
• Warrior XL = 3
• Sword AP = 4
• Weapons: Broad sword.
• Possessions of importance:
  • None stated yet.

Ellen, the Elven Archer:

• Profile (coming); image
• Archer XL = 3
• Bow AP = 3
• Weapons: Recurve Bow
• Possessions of importance:
  • None stated yet.

Winnie the Wizard:

• Profile (coming); image
• Wizard Level = 2
• Weapon AP = N/A for now.
• Magic Spells:
  • "Compass": Level 1 -- indicates direction to task. 1 use/day/XL.
  • "Healing": Level 2 -- heal or improve a PC/NPCs health. 1 HP/use/XL, 1 use/day/XL.
  • "Distract": distracts others for 10 seconds/XL, 1 target/XL.
  • "Enchantment": enchants others into do things for you. 1 target/XL, 1 minute/XL.
  • "Mind Reader": read thoughts of a target. 1 person/XL for 10 seconds/XL.
  • "Avoid": recipient of spell gets initiative in all melee and also avoids other dangers. 10 seconds/XL of magic user, 1 recipient/XL of magic user.
• Possessions of importance:
  • Book of Spells.

 

[Ritapita]

The three stand in the shadows of the tavern for a long moment, watching the men and whores (?), as well as looking to one another for ideas.

Winnie holds a finger up in a wait gesture, then holds her other hand out, palm up. She concentrates and whispers an incantation. The ghostly compass appears again. Its dial points to the locked room.

"She's in there," Winnie whispers, adding, "I think."

Vicki raises her sword and Ellen draws back an arrow as Winnie retrieves the key on the wall and opens the lock. The squeaky door opens but alerts no one.

(Flip for 2 in 3 chance of being correct = correct)

They find a young woman inside the room, sleeping. She fits Treena's description of her sister. Winnie goes to her, puts a hand over the girl's mouth, puts a finger over her own lips as the girl awakes with a start, then asks, "Are you Netta?"

(Flip for 2 in 3 chance of being correct = correct)

The girl nods her head. Winnie tells her, "We're here to rescue you."

They get the girl to the hallway and...

(Flip for 2 in 3 chance of being escaping without being caught = accomplished)

They head off into the dark, taking a different route out of the village just in case the dead Night Watch was discovered. Do they make it?

(Flip for 2 in 3 chance of escaping without being caught = NO!)

Suddenly, the light of a torch is seen from the direction of the dead Night Watch.

"Run!" Vicki tells Winnie. "Take the girl! We'll deal with these guys."

But Winnie grasps at Vicki, telling her, "Wait!"

As the other two Heroines watch a charge of at least 4 men, Winnie begins chanting, casting an "Avoid" spell on Vicki. Vicki now has Initiative in the upcoming fight for 20 seconds.

Then, Winnie surprises them by saying, "Kill those fuckers!"

Winnie grabs Netta's hand and hurries off into the dark as the other two enter battle. The approaching men are about 10 seconds away. Ellen notches an arrow she already has out, aims, and looses...

(Flips = 3 HPs) ... her target flinches as the arrow penetrates his chest and he goes down. She notches another arrow and looses it at a man who already has his sword lifted to swing at her. But there is no doubt that she can hit him from here and she puts the arrow right through his neck. He's dead before he hits the ground.

Meanwhile, Vicki -- who has Initiative for 20 seconds, easily steps to avoid an attacker's sword thrust and she attacks...

(Flip = wow!) Surprisingly, she misses the man entirely! But she is ready to attack again before he is and stabs...

(Flip = nice!) Her blade sinks into his torso, and he cries out in anguish before falling to the ground. Vicki spins to find a 5th man just arriving and -- still with Initiative -- steps and spins and slashes...

(Flip, twice = miss, crit hit) The man, who hadn't been drinking, is nimble enough to avoid the swing of the rookie swordsman, but he stumbles over the rough ground, and before he can attack Vicki, she slices through the dark again, cutting his head clean off!

The night is suddenly silent once more, with the exception of the torch sizzling some of the dried grass around where it has fallen. The two women just survey their surroundings a long moment. Then, Vicki commands, "Get the weapons."

"What?" a surprised Ellen asks.

"We're supposed to be starting a revolution against an evil witch and her minions, right?" Vicki asks as she begins searching the pockets and purses of the dead men. "Revolutions cost money and require weapons, or haven't you been watching CNN and paying attention in your world events classes?"

It takes Ellen a moment to become involved. She's looking between the village from which these men and more might come and the two dark figures just now cresting a hillock on their way to safety. But she does begin snatching up swords and daggers. She's disappointed to find no bows, but then she realizes that if she had, she and Vicki might not both be alive right now.

"Let's go," Ellen begs. "I can't carry anymore than this anyway."

Vicki snuffs out the torch, and they turn to follow Winnie. They carry with them 4 swords and 4 daggers. Vicki also found coins (OOC: though I will let you decide how much these thugs had on them).



The sun is rising by the time the four women reach Treena's home. The mother of two is, of course, delighted and relieved to see her sister alive again, and she asks quite bluntly, "Did they rape you?"

"No, sister," Netta says.

"We have to get out of here," Vicki commands, adding as she draws Treena's attention to Netta, "All of us. They'll be coming for us when they see she's gone."

They don't pack anything but the kiddies; Treena doesn't have anything of value other than her children anyway. They simply head for the Magical Mountains.

After they have a chance to calm down, Vicki asks Winnie, "Did you do something to me back there? Cast a spell on me? What's that one called?"

Winnie explains the Avoid Spell, then looking to Ellen, says, "I figured our Viking Warrior would likely engage those guys more than you. Please, Ellen, don't think--"

"I don't," Ellen interrupts, smiling reassuringly. "You made the right call, Wizard Winnie."

They all share smiles. Treena points them toward a creek in the woods that has a well packed trail that will then get them into a gorge that cuts through the countryside for a couple of miles. "It'll get us to safety ... or get us trapped. But it's better than being out here in the open."

Winnie tries to incant her Compass Spell again, but nothing happens. She somehow knows that she has limitations on some of her spells, though, she doesn't know how she knows this.

They decide to take that direction anyway.

+++++++++++++++++++++++​

Vicki, the Viking Warrior:

• Profile (coming); image.
• Warrior XL = 3
• Weapons:
  • Broad sword: AP=4
  • Short sword: AP=3
  • Dagger: AP=2 (4 if Surprise).
• Possessions of importance:
  • Coin (amount to be determined).
  • 2 extra sword and dagger.

Ellen, the Elven Archer:

• Profile (coming); image
• Archer XL = 3
• Weapons:
  • Recurve Bow: AP=3
  • Dagger: AP=2 (3 if Surprise)
• Other Possessions of importance:
  • Coin (amount to be determined).
  • Extra sword and a dagger.

Winnie the Wizard:

• Profile (coming); image
• Wizard Level = 2
• Weapons:
  • Dagger: AP=0; she has no experience or desire to use it but could if threatened. (2 if Surprise).
• Magic Spells:
  • "Compass": Level 1 -- indicates direction to task. 1 use/day/XL.
  • "Healing": Level 2 -- heal or improve a PC/NPCs health. 1 HP/use/XL, 1 use/day/XL.
  • "Distract": distracts others for 10 seconds/XL, 1 target/XL.
  • "Enchantment": enchants others into do things for you. 1 target/XL, 1 minute/XL.
  • "Mind Reader": read thoughts of a target. 1 person/XL for 10 seconds/XL.
  • "Avoid": recipient of spell gets initiative in all melee and also avoids other dangers. 10 seconds/XL of magic user, 1 recipient/XL of magic user.
• Possessions of importance:
  • Book of Spells.
  • Coin (amount to be determined).
  • Extra dagger.

 

[ManInTheLoft]

The four of you make it to the creek, where Treena and Netta need a rest. Treena feeds the children while the others do as they will do; Netta rests.

You resume your trek, and as you are passing through the narrow gorge, you are set upon by two men to the front, then two men to the back. But before things get violent, Treena calls out, "No! They're friends."

She identifies herself to one of the men, and he rushes forward to hug her. Treena explains, "This is my uncle, Trevor."

The men invite you to their camp, up a trail and back into the rocky hills. Once there, you find there are 9 men, 6 women, 4 children, and 3 infants. They are all hiding out from a gang who call themselves the Lawmen. "They use violence and rape to terrorize the local population into doing as they wish. They are the men who control Briarcliff."

Trevor invites the three of you to stay here as long as you like. Treena tells you, "I will stay here with my uncle. I am safe here."

She then looks to her sister and -- remembering her promise to the three Heroines -- says, "You shall take my sister to Lord Brawn as we agreed."

Netta's face fills with despair. It's obvious that she doesn't want to become this man's wife. But Treena continues, "You will take Netta to him and you will collect your gold, as promised."

What do you do?

• Do you give up your Quest for now and stay with the refugees?
• Do you continue onward toward the Magical Mountains?
• Do you continued onward with Netta in tow?
• Do you do something different?

I will send you a PM, as always.

+++++++++++++++++++++++​

Vicki, the Viking Warrior:

• Profile (coming); image.
• Warrior XL = 4
• Weapons:
  • Broad sword: AP=4
  • Short sword: AP=3
  • Dagger: AP=2 (4 if Surprise).
• Possessions of importance:
  • Coin (amount to be determined).
  • 2 extra sword and dagger.

Ellen, the Elven Archer:

• Profile (coming); image
• Archer XL = 4
• Weapons:
  • Recurve Bow: AP=3
  • Dagger: AP=2 (3 if Surprise)
• Other Possessions of importance:
  • Coin (amount to be determined).
  • Extra sword and a dagger.

Winnie the Wizard:

• Profile (coming); image
• Wizard Level = 2
• Weapons:
  • Dagger: AP=0; she has no experience or desire to use it but could if threatened. (2 if Surprise).
• Magic Spells:
  • "Compass": indicates direction to task. 2 uses/day/XL.
  • "Healing": Level 2 -- heal or improve a PC/NPCs health. 2 HP/use/XL, 2 use/day/XL.
  • "Distract": distracts others for 10 seconds/XL, 1 target/XL.
  • "Enchantment": enchants others into do things for you. 1 target/XL, 1 minute/XL.
  • "Mind Reader": read thoughts of a target. 1 person/XL for 10 seconds/XL.
  • "Avoid": recipient of spell gets initiative in all melee and also avoids other dangers. 20 seconds/XL of magic user, 1 recipient/XL of magic user.
• Possessions of importance:
  • Book of Spells.
  • Coin (amount to be determined).
  • Extra dagger.

BTW, I discontinued the Red highlighting. It was simply too time consuming. Each post, just look at your characters for the current numbers.

 

[Ritapita]

Vicki the Viking Warrior, Ellen the Elven Archer, and Winnie the Wizard move off to speak in privacy. Vicki is adamant: "I want the gold we were promised. I don't care if Netta doesn't want to be this guy's sex toy. Considering her options, it might be the best thing for her anyway."

"And I'm sure this Lord of hers would take in Treena," Ellen adds. "It would be the best for the children if Netta marries this man."

Winnie doesn't like the idea of forcing the teen to give herself over to this nobleman in the mountains. But looking around her, she knows that this is no life for Treena's children. She considers the options, then tells her friends, "We take them all."

Vicki and Ellen look at her with surprise, almost simultaneously asking, "What?"

"All of them," Winnie repeats. "Men, women, children. We tell the Lord that if he wants Netta, he has to offer the lot of them his protection. That means homes, land to farm and ranch, jobs. Or he doesn't get his sex toy."

They discuss the crazy idea for a long moment, then Vicki turns to the gathering of refugees and calls out, "Do you guys know how to use swords and knives and bows and such?"

The response they get is enthusiastic, even if they don't look anything like warriors. Vicki says as she indicates her sword, "I can take a day or two to train the ones who don't know how to use a sword. I'm feeling pretty good with this thing. And most of them have the look of farmers who have never held anything more dangerous in their hands other than a pitch fork or wood chopping ax."

"I saw a boy hunting with a bow," Ellen adds with a reluctant tone. "He had to learn to make and use it from someone. Maybe there are others who could learn."

"Are we talking about training an army?" Winnie asks.

"You're the one who wants to take them with us," Vicki reminds her friend. "If we want to be safe, everyone who is capable of carrying a weapon needs to, and everyone who carries one needs to know how to use it."

They talk more, then return to the group and explain their idea. Treena is very supportive of the idea; it means she will be able to stay close to her sister. Then Vicki drops the bomb.

"If you come with us, you will be under my command."

Some of the men laugh while others just shake their heads. Treena's uncle says in a tone that's more informative than confrontational, "No man's going to take orders from a woman."

"I'm not just a woman," Vicki says, pulling loose the two ties of her cloak that (for the most part) have been hiding her womanly figure. It falls away, revealing her now-again scantily clad body. The response is typical: ogles, jeers, lewd comments, and promises of treating her well if she'll just take off the rest of what little she is wearing.

"Pick your best warrior," Vicki says as she sheds the extra blades she's been packing and retains only her own broad sword and one dagger. "Pick your best man ... and if I defeat him, the rest of you pledge your loyalty to me."

There is more laughter and jeers and promises of hard but enjoyable treatment of the knot hole between her tree trunks. Then, Trevor steps out before Vicki. He's carrying two clubs, one of which he tosses through the air to Vicki. She drops the dagger and snatches the wooden weapon out of the air.

"I'm the best warrior amongst this rabble," he tells her. "After I defeat you, we will all go see this Lord who wants to wed or bed my niece ... but when we do, we'll do it with me in command."

Vicki sticks her broad sword's tip into the ground and smiles. "And if I defeat you?"

Trevor gives Vicki an exaggerated bow and tells her, "Then I will call you Commander ... and so will my people."

There is great excitement amongst the male refugees and even a few of the females over this fight. Winnie calls Vicki to her, though, pretending to simply be talking to her about the fight and the sense in it as she whispers, "I can cast an Avoid Spell and even a--"

But Vicki cuts her off, "No! This has to be legit. I won't cheat."

"You'll get your brains beat out of your head," Ellen says. "Look at him. He's big and strong and ... well, he might know what he's doing with that club or not, but why take the chance?"

"No," Vicki insists. "This has to be all me and nothing but me."

They don't like it, but Ellen and Winnie step back and wish Vicki luck. The Viking Warrior turns, approaches, and says, "Okay, then ... for the gold medal."

+++++++++++++++++++++++​

Vicki, the Viking Warrior:

• Profile (coming); image.
• Warrior XL = 4
• Weapons:
  • Broad sword: AP=4
  • Short sword: AP=3
  • Dagger: AP=2 (4 if Surprise).
• Possessions of importance:
  • Coin (amount to be determined).
  • 2 extra sword and dagger.

Ellen, the Elven Archer:

• Profile (coming); image
• Archer XL = 4
• Weapons:
  • Recurve Bow: AP=3
  • Dagger: AP=2 (3 if Surprise)
• Other Possessions of importance:
  • Coin (amount to be determined).
  • Extra sword and a dagger.

Winnie the Wizard:

• Profile (coming); image
• Wizard Level = 2
• Weapons:
  • Dagger: AP=0; she has no experience or desire to use it but could if threatened. (2 if Surprise).
• Magic Spells:
  • "Compass": indicates direction to task. 2 uses/day/XL.
  • "Healing": Level 2 -- heal or improve a PC/NPCs health. 2 HP/use/XL, 2 use/day/XL.
  • "Distract": distracts others for 10 seconds/XL, 1 target/XL.
  • "Enchantment": enchants others into do things for you. 1 target/XL, 1 minute/XL.
  • "Mind Reader": read thoughts of a target. 1 person/XL for 10 seconds/XL.
  • "Avoid": recipient of spell gets initiative in all melee and also avoids other dangers. 20 seconds/XL of magic user, 1 recipient/XL of magic user.
• Possessions of importance:
  • Book of Spells.
  • Coin (amount to be determined).
  • Extra dagger.

 

[ManInTheLoft]

For anyone who's been following our story, we are having a lot of fun with it, but neither of us really has the time to invest into it as it is currently being written. We are going to put this off until we either have such time or find another way to write it that takes less time. If you are subscribed, please remain so; we'll be back.