Shkai'ra:
Galtman does a double take when he sees the huge warrior-woman.
"Yes, ma'am! We do have a private room all ready. I'll have a boy escort you on up. He can help you with any gear you may have. New in town?"
Food and drink are arranged and Galtman points out the nearest bathhouse.
Hammer:
Wearily you ride into Elcadan. You receive many looks as you ride the boar through the town.
The city has sure grown since the last time you were here. Finding your uncle's house is not as easy as you first thought it would be.
Darkness has fallen by the time you get your bearings. You spot your uncle's house in the distance. It is strangely all dark.
Nearing the house, you can see that not only is there no lights on, but all the doors and windows have been boarded up!
Puzzled, you stare for a bit. A slight movement reaches your eyes. You thought you saw a figure moving in the shadows in back of the house...
Ambar:
Nightfalls and your off to find the deed. The house is as it was this afternoon. As you walk around the building, you suddenly see a dwarf riding a boar. You duck into the deep shadows. You cannot be sure if the dwarf saw you or not.
Now what?
SUBJ: Shkai'ra FROM: RDI Minku 06/16/93 S#: 493679
"Yes, I just arrived in your fair town and plan to enjoy at least a few days rest." says Shkai'ra, "My gear is out on my horse, which is the red one with the barding."
She watches as he sends out a boy to get her gear, then shows her up to her room. Once there she asks him to help remove the armor, then leaves after doing it.
She soon returns downstairs wearing a tunic and leather breeches that does not hide the sensual curves and movement of her 6'9", 200# frame.
She eats the meal and drinks the mead, while listening to the other patrons talk, then returns to her room with the bottle.
She comes downstairs again with a bag and heads for the bathhouse. After bathing, Shkai'ra returns to her room for the evening.
The next morning, Shkai'ra comes downstairs wearing a clean tunic and breeches, similar to the ones she wore the evening before, sporting both long swords and leaves to have a look around Elcadan.
SUBJ: The Hammer... :> ... 1 (R) FROM: ShadowFoxx 06/19/93 S#: 410647
If the citizens bothered noticing such things in the cosmopolitan city of Elcadan, they might think the resolute looking Dwarf trotting by on his War Boar of fearsome aspect in the gathering dusk, heading into the heart of the city, was on an urgent mission...
As he continues past The High Road Inn without slowing, looking neither left nor right, they might, perhaps, also reasonably think he knows wherefore he heads so determinedly as with a Purpose...
On Both counts they would be Wrong!...
For it is merely The Hammer, still flush from his latest series of exploits, come back to town, thinking to, perhaps, visit Relatives...
AND, Hammer Being The Hammer, is not only Not sure just How to get There from Here (because he can't Remember Where Exactly There IS), but wonders if he can control his recalcitrant mount When he Gets there... no War Boar at all... only Percy, the most Useless, in Hammer's estimation, Slab of Bacon Walking he's had the misfortune to encounter...
He Knows he's headed to see his Great Grand Uncle, Dorshak Krane, a GemCutter of some repute... it's just been so long since he's been in Elcadan, that the city has changed on him... some things look familiar, but most of the landmarks he'd been used to those many years ago have vanished into the maw of Progress...
He wouldn't BE so confused if so much of his attention didn't have to be focused on Percy... though quite fearsome Looking, Hammer knew the contrary creature could Bolt in Panic at Anything at any moment...
How he came to be astride Percy was a Long Story... but suffice it here to mention only that the Dwarf had discovered to his Dismay that the Beast possessed 3 speeds.. all Trials for the impatient Hammer:
A wandering, idling, "that looks like a dandy place to start rooting over there, eh?" Walk... where even the single minded Hammer could barely keep its microscopic attention span centered on the object at hand... Travel...
A bone jarring Trot... huffing & chuffing along... upraised tail a flag for the world to see... which WAS a ground eater, but which the unfortunate Dwarf's shuddering backside insisted felt like riding a worn saddle stuffed with rocks down the teeth of an enormous endless Saw...
And a wild, careering, switch-backing Gallop... front legs stretching out & flicking the road back beneath it... ears flopping madly... panicked squeals & grunts ringing heavenward (since THIS speed was Never invoked voluntarily, but was reserved by Percy for nothing less than the steady 3x a day headlong, wall-eyed Flight)... slobber flying (usually up right into Hammer's face)... & hind legs, seemingly belonging to another animal entirely, leaping with abandon from side to side in a vain (but valiant) attempt to pass the fore, as it careens uncontrollably down the road, Hammer, along for the ride, bouncing & clinging for dear life...
Hammer is about to Give Up... perhaps to attempt to retrace Percy's route - if he CAN - back to The High Road... when ahead things drop into sudden recognition... This is It!...
Wrapping his gnarly fists lower into the chain bridle... Hammer sets his sturdy legs in the stirrups & begins to lean back strongly... hollering...
"Whoa!... Percy... Whoa-a-a!...
"WHOA!, I said...
"Stop!... Quit!... Halt!... Slow DOWN, Already!!...
"You Stupid Hawg!... WHOA!!... or I'll Brain Yer, yer :Beepin': Idiot!!... THIS Time I'll Really DO it, I swear I will!!...
"Last Chance!!!... I MEAN It!!!...
"WHO-O-O-o-a-a-a-a-a-a, PIG!!!!...
Hauling back mightily, face showing the strain, Hammer finally gets Percy's undivided attention & the Great Tusked Razorback awkwardly hip-hops to a snout skyward/forelegs splayed/shoulders down/stern high skidding Stop... pitching Hammer forward... & almost from the saddle...
Counting to 10 slowly... Hammer looks about as he rubs his mistreated nose (which has been rudely re-introduced to the high saddle horn for the umpteenth time this trip)... & studies the dark & boarded house...
"Yep... that's the place, alright...
"Hmmmmmm... Don't look like Great Grand Uncle Tightwad keeps particularly late hours anymore...
"Sa-a-a-a-ay... don't look like The Old Goat is to Home, even...
"Maybe fer Permanent...
:brightening considerably:
SUBJ: Shkai'ra FROM: RDI Minku 06/20/93 S#: 397604
Shkai'ra smiles as she notices the men staring at her while she walks by them as she looks around the town.
She then sees the Laundry Service Shop and makes a mental note to take her dirty clothes there to be cleaned.
She will then continue looking around, heading for another part of town(New Town) to look for a Bazaar, then a Wine and Beer Shop.
SUBJ: Hammer 3 (R) FROM: ShadowFoxx 06/19/93 S#: 433228
Hammer considers the implications of THIS development momentarily... his thoughts beginning & ending with the possibility of an INHERITANCE for Schista's little boy, Slag (Hammer's REAL name - Slag QuartzCrusher, actually... Hammer being short for HammerHead... a commentary on certain aspects of his personality, mayhap)...
This Elcadan Season, The Hammer is a fine specimen, indeed... a full 48" high, his stocky frame carries its 175# solidly...
Salt'n Pepper hair pulled back into his customary twin tails, moustaches most masculine drooping, full beard flowing majestically down his chest... piercing brown eyes peering haw like above his proudly noble bulbous nose... still all in the habitual Black of a Way Finder, head to toe, even after all these seasons wandering in the surface world...
Y-e-e-es, Sir... Hammer is a Dwarf in his Prime... just ASK him... HE'LL tell you...
Dismounting & muttering threats, shoving an apple in Percy's mouth to keep him occupied & thoughts of Bolting at bay... while keeping a death grip on the chains attached to the presently contentedly grunting, but notoriously untrustworthy to Stay that Way, Hog... Hammer advances, specutively scrutinizing closer the lightless, shuttered dwelling that was once the domicile of his Great Grand Uncle... the RICH GemCutter...
As he nears the building... tugging the reluctant Percy along... thoughts of the feasibility of taking a sort of "personal inventory" come creeping unbidden into his head... but then... WHAT!... What's THAT!?!...
Hammer notices a shadowy figure moving around the rear of His House...
Sudden visions of THIEVES looting his rightful property snap into focus before the Dwarf's Eyes!!!...
No Account ELVEN Thieves (he Bets)... the WORST Kind (& he should know having been adventuring with Many of Them!)... are Undoubtedly engaged... even as he stands Shocked by Almost Inconsolable Grief before the future Inheritance that Good Old Great Grand Uncle Dorshak - may the gods rest his soul - has (beyond the shadow of a doubt... almost) Left his Favorite (Surely - he didn't HAVE any others!) Great Grand Nephew (several times removed, certainly... but WHO would even Consider such Trifles)... in LOOTING (!!!)... HIS House!!!...
The Outright Audacity of It!!!...
The Sheer Shocking Magnitude of this... this... Desecration!!!...
Have they NO Sense of Decency!?!...
Is there NO Depth of Depravity they will Not Plumb in their Degradation & Despoliation of the Memory of that Fine Gentleman - His Beloved Great Grand Uncle Dorshak!?!?!...
The SHAMELESS... Swine... er... DOGS!...
Filled with the Indignation of the Righteous... a veritable volcanically mountainous "the gods are on MY side!" Sense of Moral Outrage... Hammer advances at the Charge!!!... powerful legs pumping... dragging Percy along by Main Force!...
"STOP!!... THIEVES!!...
"Call the Watch!!... Alert the Guard!!
"THIEVES!!... Looting MY House!!!
"Help!!!... "HELP!!!...
"Grave Robbers!!!... Assassins!!!...
"Murderers!!!... Child Molesters!!!
"THIE-E-E-E-E-EVES!!!!...
Wrapping Percy's chains about the first handy projection he encounters, on the fly... Hammer draws his Trusty Axe, &, brandishing it threateningly overhead... Never One to Shrink from a Solemn Duty... gives Chase...
With the Speed, Agility, & Courage only Service to the Cause of Justice can Give (Especially if it involves the Justice of preventing something or somebody from coming between Hammer & His...er... Assets - No Matter if they have only the Remotest Scintilla of a Chance to be called HIS... the Inalienable Right of those Assets TO that remote scintilla must be defended Vigorously at ALL Coats!), Hammer is ON the Shadowy Figure...
Yea!... for, Verily, is it said...
If His Cause Be Righteous...
His Strength will Be as 10!...
SUBJ: Ambar (R) FROM: Reveler 06/20/93 S#: 399673
The place was quiet, and did look deserted, as they'd said it would be. Ambar was regarding it from his own unique hiding place when... the apparition arrived.
The dwarf OBVIOUSLY couldn't ride the beast he was astride. And look at his armor! What self-respecting dwarf would wear...
Ambar's mental dissection of the obvious illusion's faults was somewhat stealthily interrupted by the rest of his brain, which had finally worked out that the dwarf was headed here, and was about to ride THROUGH him!
Quick feet ducked to one side, entering the shadows imperceptibly. The damned thing could probably SMELL him! Pepper. I KNOW I had pepper...
Ambar was still patting down his pockets when the dwarf charged around the corner. Ambar froze, but that wasn't necessary. The dwarf STILL couldn't see him.
But then, a blunder of staggering proportions was committed by the somewhat unfortunately real dwarf. He rough-handedly looped the harness of that... CREATURE around Ambar's extended elbow, and charged off in the wrong direction!
Ambar Minyalante' had had enough. Quite enough, thank you.
He shimmered into existence, and his voice caressed the enclosed alley, intended for none but the perpetrator of this unspeakable indignity. Heavy syllables in flawless dwarven thudded like hammers into the shorter figure. "You blank-minded blunt-picked soft-handed PIG rider!
The dwarf spun on his heel (in a location frequented by at least one local mutt, noted Ambar) and faced him. Ambar's voice quieted even further, but did not lose its tone, which sounded offended beyond belief. "I am Ambar Minyalante', asked by the Landowner's Guild to locate a certain document on these premises, as the inhabitant has been declared dead."
Violet eyes flashing with anger now, Ambar advanced a step forward. His six feet of height forced his profile free of the building's shadow, and his silver hair shone around his grey elven features. "I was undertaking this task quietly and without attracting undue attention when you explode with accusations, and then proceed to tie this... this... PIG to me!"
"On guard, sir, and guard yourself well!" Ambar's rapier (alas, not his fair lost love, stolen, and possibly even hidden within these walls) flickered forth from its sheath, a slender needle of silver framed in moonlight.
Ambar's brain was trying to get his attention, but he wasn't going to be daunted by the fact that he'd just drawn with his left hand and had straightened his arm...
The slithering clink of the great boar's harness striking the ground finally got through, and Ambar turned slowly to face the thing snuffling at the heel of his well-tooled boot. "Leather is what you'll be if you relieve yourself there!"
SUBJ: The Hammer.. redux... :> (R) FROM: ShadowFoxx 06/21/93 S#: 400851
As Hammer legged it down the side of his beloved Great Grand Uncle7s ex-abode... waving his battle axe... ululating the Clan QuartzCrusher War Cry... he heard a Dwarf!...
Re-Enforcements!...
Assistance!...
Succor!...
NOW they'd get them Elves!...
But... wait a MINUTE!...
WHAT did he Say!?!...
Skidding to a Halt, Hammer whirls...
It's ANOTHER (!) ELF!!!...
He's Surrounded!...
AMBUSHED!!!...
TRAPPED!!!...
They must have Known Great Grand Uncle HAD left this House to Him... & had lain in Wait... planning Foul Assassination!...
Dancing from boot to boot... ready to Go Down Fighting, surrounded & alone. by an unscrupulous Cabal of Blood Thirsty Assassin/THIEVES, bent on the gods know WHAT dark deviltry, in the Defense of Great Grand Uncle's (& more to the Point - MAYBE Hammer's) Palatial Estate... Hammer prepares to take on the tall, scrawny, frizzy-haired, sissy-lookin' one right in front of him First...
Him what's got the skinny little stickery-thing... Hmmmm... must be some kinda new fangled Wand, maybe... of Gnomish Extraction, looks like... he's a WIZARD (!) then...
uh-OH...
Hammer begins to sweat...
A Black Necromancer, then... probably got his necrotic decaying minions closing in even Now... maybe THAT accounts for the Smell... :wheee-ooo:
But... where's the fellow Dwarf what spoke... & called him a "Pig Rider"?...
He hesitates... murmuring to Haela BrightAxe to be ready to succor one of her children facing impossible odds Soon...
(And... Istus, Olidammara, & Tymora, too... Hammer ain't one to flaunt the odds, y'know... any port in a storm... heh heh heh)
By the gods!... the assassin/THIEF Spoke again!...
In Almost Understandable Sorta Dwarven TOO!...
What IS This?...
:sniff sniff:
WAIT a minute...
Keeping an eye on the Elf, Hammer raised his Boot &... Awwwwwwwww...
Don't them Elves got ANY Manners!?...
Right HERE in the Alley?!?...
GEEZ!...
Disgustedly, Hammer stares at the unsanitary Necromancer/Thief...
"Amber MindyerWanky?...
"What kinda Name's THAT!?... you one-a them... :waggles Axe back & forth in the universal questioning gesture:... kinda Elves?...
"HO... Foul Assassinin' Necromancin' Elf THIEF what got absolutely NO upbringing at ALL...
:scraping boot along alley pointedly:
"*I* am Slag QuartzCrusher... maybe you Heard-a Me (?)... The Hammer (!)...
"Hero of the Battle of...er... Skull Caverns...
"Single-Handed Slayer of... uh... the Dreaded Hydra-troll of... um... Blood Lizard's Peak...
"...and... and... Rightful Owner... by the gods... probably... of This... MY Great Grand Uncle's abode... what I caught You LOOTING!...
"You already Know that though... bein's yer here to Kill me in a dastardly Plot... for Some Reason I ain't Quite got figured Out yet...
"But I Warn yer... you & yer Gang o' Skulkin' Thugs & Undead Critters won't find ME the Easy Mark yer did THAT Old Goat... er... me Beloved Great Grand Uncle Dorshak!...
"I'm Ready, Elf... Go Ahead... Make MY day... Step IN It...
:scraping boot again surreptitiously:
What was that the Elf said?... Great Grand Uncle has been "declared" Dead?... What's THAT mean?...
Deciding Not to Whack the Elf just YET... Hammer asks...
"LandOwners Guild?...
"Recover a Document?...
*The WILL!... I KNEW It... he's here to get THE WILL!... Gank me outta me rightful Inheritance!*
"'Declared' dead?... what yer Mean, Shadow Skulker?...
"Didn't YOU Kill 'Im?... & ain't yer, with yer Gang o' Slithery Elven Cutthroats & yer Foul Minions o' Darkness...
:looks around impatiently for same:
"... Here, NOW, to Kill Me & Loot the Place?...
"And Steal his Will, what leaves this Place to ME... his Favorite Great Grand Nephew?...
:noticing Ambar has Percy's reins on his elbow for the first time:
"Sa-ay... Watch Percy, Elf... he's a Mite Skiitish, y'know... he'll be Gone fer Parts Unknown if'n yer let drop them reins...
"He-e-e-e-ey!... What you doin' with me Pig, ANYway!?... Stealin' Him TOO!?...
:shuffles into ready position:
"On Guard, yerself, Pig-Stealer!... House-Looter!... Necromancer!... Critter of No Correct Upbringing WhatsoEVER... & Questionably Oreinted Bearer of a Girl's name to Boot!...
"I can see you THINKS I'm really IN it this time... you havin' the drop on me with that Gnomish Wand of Death & Destruction & All... & real Cowardly-like usin' me poor Pig fer a Shield...
"But Schista's little boy, Hammer, didn't get HERE shrinking from Long Odds... No, Sir... just Come & GET Some whenEVER yer ready...
:dances a little shuffling war dance... pushing first his Axe & then his Shield forward... belligerently taunting... undoubtedly striking terror into the heart of the Creature that has ambushed him... with his obvious bravery & steady stalwartness in the Face of Doom:
But when Ambar lets slide the reins & turns to the now free Percy...
"He-e-e-ey!... I said Don't Let GO them Reins... you gots 'taters in yer ears, Wizard?...
Hammer sees his "investment" in the Problem Porker running wall-eyed down the darkened street in his mind's eye... Gone Forever...
Since all his day to day mundane worldly possessions are ensconced upon Percy... the Battle to the Death can just WAIT!...
Hammer moves forward slowly... hurriedly sheathing his Axe... & coaxing in his gravelly voice...
"Easy, Percy... ea-a-a-a-sy Big Fella...
"Don't make no sudden Moves, Elf... I'll get to Killin' yer Later... There's More Important Business to take care of First...
Percy sniffs at Ambar's boot... perhaps able to "relate" to what he detects there... grunting questioningly...
"I don't suppose yer'd... Real SLOW... pick up them reins, would yer?...
"MayBE I won't Kill yer at ALL then...
Percy, sensing something afoot, sidles away around Ambar as Hammer tries to get close... keeping the Elf between himself & the Dwarf...
"C'mon, Elf... I'll be chasin' him into Next Week... back all the way to Tahelangone, probly... Long after YOU'RE Buzzard Bait, I kin tell YOU...
"C'MON... I'll even take back most-a them things I said...
"I'll... I'll even Help yer look fer the Will... execrable accented Dwarven user & Looter that yer are... if'n yer'll just pick UP them reins... THEN we can settles this... like we wuz gonna...
:slyly: "Might even be some little somethin' in it fer yerself, yer know... assumin' I don't get around to Killin' yer... wuz yer to Help Me out here...
"Easy, Percy...Who-o-o-a-a, I says... Go-o-o-od Pig... Ni-i-i-ice Pig...
"He-e-e-ere piggyPiggyPIGGY... Hammer's gots a NICE Apple here... right Here behind me Back...
Percy keeps sidling warily around Ambar... tiny porcine eyes glued on hammer... snout locked to the Elf's boots... chuffling & snuffling...
"Why, I tells yer there, MindyerWanky.. I MIGHT even sees me way clear to gives yer... uh... a Whole GOLD Piece... wuz yer to just... reach down... & snatch UP them reins... yeah... I sure Could... MAYbe even TWO... "I... *grrrrrr*... Promise... :gag:
"Don't be Skeered, Elf... he LIKES yer... you kin DO it... he don't bite THAT hard... Trust me, I KNOW...
The tableau continues to play out in the darkness of the alley... Hammer & Percy warily eyeing each other... engaged in their Waltz around Ambar...
SUBJ: Ambar FROM: Reveler 06/22/93 S#: 409868
This was too much. He'd always known the dwarves were crazy, but this was hilarious. "That's MeanyuhLANtay to you, you lazy-witted dullard. But I assume sarcasm's wasted on a lawn ornament such as you, and my steel would probably bend trying to pierce your thick hide, so..."
The elf's hand was a pale blur as it flashed downward. Settling the main gauche back into its sheath on a downward journey, the deep red of the garnet set in the silver signet ring on his right hand caught the light for just a moment, certainly not enough to read the coat of arms engraved into it. Percy, who had found his true love at last and wasn't about to abandon her merely because she was boot leather, paid Ambar no mind as he picked the leash up and held it out toward the ridiculous dwarf.
"Your accent's execrable, lawn ornament. Not only that, but your pig smells, and you could do with a good drenching yourself. Tie this to something, and let's go inside and see if we can insure your inheritance, and then find a tavern that's still open at this hour. You can spend my two gold on a round or two, and tell me what you're doing in town."
"And tomorrow," he continued, pointedly looking the dwarf over from head to toe, "once you're somewhat more presentable and smell less like a barnyard, we shall go to the Landowners Guild and see your inheritance confirmed... unless we fail to find this document."
As a sign that Ambar considered the discussion at an end, his rapier slipped back into its sheath with a soft whicker of sound. "And then we shall see how your pig and my camel get along. Tell me... might you be seeking gainful employ? I might have something useful soon, if you're any good with that axe."
"Achmed," he said in VERY oddly accented common tongue, "please put that down. The... Hammer seems quite inclined to be reasonable, and you'd only break the crate." Something creaked quietly behind Hammer, and Ambar smiled. "SO much better. Shall we, my fine lawn ornament?"