Wizards and wars

The four follow the sign, and soon come to a ramshackle wooden hut. The inside looks suitably impressive, with ornamental drapes, and thick candles proving the only light. In fact, this confuses Istal somewhat. In his experience, the more showy the shop, the less likely the goods are to be genuine. This shop is very showy, and yet he can sense the items within are indeed magical. The proprietor sees his confusion and cackles.
€˜It€™s what people expect, y€™see,€™ he explains. €˜There€™s more fakers out there than real shops, so yer average customer expects to see all the trappins. Load o€™ nonsense of course, but that€™s how it is. Same as why I€™m out in the sticks. People see a shop in town, they don€™t trust it. If it€™s harder to get to they do.€™
He shrewdly scans the four of them for a moment, then wanders around the shop, plucking spell scrolls seemingly at random from the shelves, and places them on the counter.
€˜Y€™look to be on a journey and expectin€™ trouble. If you want to buy any spells, it€™ll be one o€™ these.€™

The spell scrolls on offer are:

Fire - Allows the caster to create bursts of fire. At higher levels, allows the caster to control existing flames. 200 coins.

Ice - Allows the caster to create shards of ice from air moisture. At higher levels the caster can create a blizzard. 200 coins.

Speed - The caster can boost the agility of themselves or a comrade for a short period of time. More intelligence = more duration. 750 coins.

Illusion - Allows the caster to create and dispel illusions. You cannot dispel an illusion placed by someone with a higher intelligence stat than your own. 1000 coins.

Identify - Allows the caster to know what an item is, what it does, its origin, etc. If used on a living creature it can determine what their attitude is towards you, and even what its weak points are, if any. More intelligence = more facts known using this spell. 3000 coins.

He also takes a tray of what seems to be jewellery from under the counter.

€˜These€™re charms,€™ he explains. €˜Make sure they€™re in contact with yer flesh and they€™ll have all sorts o€™ benefits. Y€™can€™t use more than two at once though. Each one€™s 500 coins.€™

The charms on offer are all stat bonuses, and will add one to a stat.

Ever one to look for opportunities to make money while travelling, Fennel asks if there are any jobs that need doing.

€˜As a matter of fact, a group of Magivores moved into the woods shortly after I did. The bu**ers feed on magic, y€™see. I can€™t do a thing to €˜em, and they€™re always trying to get at my stock. If y€™can get rid o€™ them for me, you can have any one thing from my stock for free. Interested?€™

Being a physical tank, I dont need anything. Maybe some charms later, but not now.

Ill also pass on buying, but Ill certainly go after those beasties for him. Preferably get them into some narrow area so I only have to fight a limited number at a time so they dont swarm me.

If I succeed, Ill take the identify.

Oh, I didnt notice this sidequest thing. Ill help Alex, and if I suceed, take the strength Charm.

hmz, Ill be on Alex side too, and I fancy that Speed spell myself

Ill join the others. :)

Sorry for lack of updates, business happened.

Did it involve retcons?

No, but it involves a very interesting typo. I meant to say life happened, but got business instead.

Sorry again for the delay, I feel bad about it seeing you all got your plans in so quickly. I should just point out for clarification, the reward is one item, not one per person. Anything else you want should be bought.

Update next post.

The four decide very quickly that they will take on the job of ridding Grimwold of the troublesome Magivores. Following his directions, they soon come to a cave, where he says the three beasts live.
Piled outside the cave is a heap of trinkets and scrolls, but all bear a faded look. When examined, they crumble to dust, all the energy within gone.
According to Grimwold, although they do not sleep, they dislike light so they will all be in the cave waiting for the moon to rise. How will you approach this?

i syggest that Istal go in, cast the radiance power, while we remain covered, then the rest of us charge in and smash them up a bit. I myself making sure to use my battle sense ability.

Ummmm dont mean to be rude or anything but am I in at the moment or am I going to be in at a couple more chapters.

Not yet, although I have worked out a scenario to insert you.

I agree with Alex. Blind the Magivores and let the others destroy them. If they come near me, let fly a Rain of Fire and yell to the others to get the hell out of the way. :proud:

Go with them. Sorry for the delay, thought this hit a dead end

Sorry for delays again. Family matters.

Its okay Frank, were patient. Go at your own pace. :)

Heh. There are going to be even more delays. I lose internet access on the 31st, and I probably wont be back until at least the 10th of August.

Me go bed now.

Wow, thats wonderful...not. In more ways than one. :lame:

Hope you manage, Frank. Dont die on us, now.

Right. Update next post. Probably the last for a while

A plan is quickly worked out, and Istal approaches the cave mouth. He can dimly make out moving shapes within. It can only be the Magivores.
With a cry, he lets out the Radiance of Aman spell, illuminating the cave for a brief second. The Magivores shriek and raise their massive hands to shield their eyes, and at this moment Fennel and Chayne charge into the cave, weapons drawn. Cliff slinks in afterwards, hoping his more battle hardened allies will finish the job before he has to risk his own neck.
The plan quickly goes downhill though, as the Magivores quickly recover. Fennel is knocked to the ground by a clubbing blow, although Chayne leaps in and sinks his blade into the arm of the one that attacked Fennel. It roars more in anger than in pain, and knocks Chayne down too. What they lack in teeth and claws, they make up for in brute force.
Istal warns the three of what he is about to do, and lets forth another Radiance spell. However, the Magivores are ready for him this time, and they seem to drink in the light as fast as he can produce it. He tries to use his Rain of Fire next, but that is also absorbed, and if anything the Magivores seem more powerful now.
One Magivore tries to stamp down on Fennel, but she rolls out of the way, and retaliates with a sword swing that opens up a deep gash down its side. She tosses her sword to Chayne, who was disarmed in his previous engagement, who finishes off the wounded creature with a swift neck-height blow. Fennel meanwhile slips a knife out of her boot, and throws it with deadly accuracy at another Magivore, which rears back in pain. Cliff pounces on the wounded creature, sinking his own knife into it with two deadly blows. The last, already wounded from Chayne€™s first attack is quickly dispatched by the two warriors.
All that remains is to gather the dropped weapons, and take three heads as evidence, and the party treks back to Grimwolds to collect their hard earned prize.

Choose one spell from the listed selection, and if you want anything else you€™ll have to buy it.

Fennel will choose identify. After this I presume we are going to set off going onwards to our main quest?

Istal will take speed. He needs to be faster.

See you in a while, Frank. :)

Im not officially back, currently typing this from my sisters laptop which is on dial up. Pity me.

Should be back properly sometime towards the end of next week.

Im back properly. Updates will begin again possibly tomorrow.

At Fennel€™s insistence, the group decide to take the Identify scroll as their reward. Identify is added to Fennel€™s inventory, and Istal decides to buy Speed for 750 coins. Istal has 250 coins left.

Once again, they trek through the quiet forest, with only birdcalls and intermittent rainfall providing any sound. The going is tough, but they make good progress. Eventually, they come to a clearing with a solitary tree in the centre, and decide to set up camp. The quiet and the sweet smell of the tree soon makes the four drowsy, and despite themselves, they soon fall asleep.

They are woken again by a cry. Fennel has been snatched up in the branches of the tree, its twigs pushing themselves into her flesh, and glowing red. It€™s draining her of blood!

Istal will use his Rain of Fire instantly, while advising the others to try and shield Fennel. If the tree is somehow able to absorb the attack, keep using the spell repeatedly until the tree can no longer take it. It may drain Istal of some energy, but it is a sacrifice I am willing to make.

Fennel will attempt to thrash wildly to keep the twigs from entering her body and break some already there. Cast my battle sense if possible.

Ill go with Kody and shield Fennel

Forced fully awake by the tree€™s intrusion, Fennel immediately begins to struggle, managing to withdraw her sword and begins to hack and slash at the branches entwining her. Fortunately, the tree is an instinctive predator, not an intelligent one, and so it makes no move to prevent this. She drops to the ground, and quickly rolls out of the way as Istal shoots a Rain of Fire spell at the tree. Instantly, it goes up in flames, and the four just run away from the scene, Fennel pulling out twigs as she does so. They don€™t stop running until the forest is some way behind them, and pretty much collapse and sleep where they fall, save for Fennel who binds her wounds first.

Unbeknown to them, the forest fire never really got going. Grimwold teleported himself to the fire€™s location, and casts blizzard spells at the tree until the fire died down, tutting to himself as he does so. €˜I don€™t know,€™ he mutters. €˜Every time a wizard gets mixed up with these Sweetsnare trees, I have to come along and put €˜em out afterwards.€™

The next morning, they start out again towards Yurell. By the time they rest again for the night, the town is visible in the distance. Suddenly, there is a bright light in the sky, and an explosion to the west.

Head cross country towards the explosion , trying to if I encoutner any witnesses on the way - cross examine them, using my spells to verify

...Any other plans? Anyone?

Follow Alex, I guess.

follow kody, U guess

Sorry for lack of updates, Im a working man now.

Just for reference, despite my absence from everything I am still alive - I just havent had any internet since I moved into my uni house for the year - fortunatly, it should be getting installed on friday.

Im ready when everybody else is.

Just bringing this thread back up again to see if there is any more interest in Franks RPG, and whether he wants to continue it: Im really still quite interested in taking part in it, but if Franks too busy (or too lazy :lame:) then its okay, dont wanna bug him.

Tis up to you whether you want to continue this Frank.