Part 4: Can't He Just Use a Coffee Mug?
Update 3: Can't He Just Use a Coffee Mug?
"Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Are all of you ready to brave the caverns under Middlegate and retrieve Nordon's goblet?"
"It's just a cave. How bad can it be?"
"I can't see a thing. What gives?"
"Ah, excuse me for a moment... let me just prepare a Light spell..."
"There we go. Much better." "Wait, why was it so dark when there are all those flaming torches on the wall?"
"Why, all the smoke from the torches was making it dark, of course! This place doesn't have very good ventilation."
"I've faced danger every day of my life and come out better for it. If warnings could stop me... well, I'd probably have fewer scars, be less orange, and not be an outcast from my tribe. Maybe there's something to be said for listening to warnings after all, but it's too late to turn back now."
"What's all this about, then? We came here for adventure, not a lesson in astronomy."
"Ah, that's more like it. To arms!" "And if you can't hit their arms, to legs instead!"
"Too easy. Who's next? I was just getting warmed up."
"Fight all you like, just don't try smashing open this treasure box. I'm having enough trouble with it without you blundering into it. Honestly, warriors have no sense of subtlety." "You're one to talk, Tusky." "Ha! Have you looked in a mirror lately? Or maybe you can't recognise yourself as a half-orc underneath that zesty coating you've picked up? Now stop distracting me. I just need to open this last latch, and..."
In the box were several thousand gold coins' worth of weapons and armour. We didn't actually get this off those particular goblins, but we did get it off an encounter down here.
"Whew. That was worth it -- and I didn't even set off a trap. Naturally, since I was the one taking the risk of opening the chest, I'll claim the dagger." "That armour looks like it's my size." "Then if there are no objections, I'll take the maul."
"It's nice how they take the trouble to mark their lairs like this. Makes it so much easier to find them and root them out like the weeds they are. Godobor, will you do the honours and pick the lock?"
"Heh. Honour. That's a word I haven't heard applied to me in a long time, but I'll unlock the door at any rate. Keep your weapons ready."
"Oh my. What unusual-looking pigs." "Those are orcs -- and there's a wizard working with them! Kill him first!"
"Uh-oh. A bunch of goblins are coming up behind us."One of the goblins just called in five more allies. Fortunately, they can only do this once per battle, and the orcs are all that the party should be worried about anyway.
"Perfect! Right in the noggin!" "It's what David and Goliath would be like if Goliath was the one with the sling." "Hey, you know I'm sensitive about my weight! Knock it off!" "Can you two at least wait until the battle is over to start bickering?"
"Battle's over." "I wonder what that wizard was doing here. Was he a rival of Nordon's?" "Who knows? The important thing is that their treasure is ours now, including the goblet."
"Hmm. I don't see a goblet here, but one of the orcs was wearing a fine suit of armour." "Eh, Cale can have this one."
"Hey, here's the goblet! It rolled over into the corner. Time to get out of here before any more orcs show up."
"I never knew there was a convenience store in Corak's Cave." "Actually, I think those are map coordinates. Whatever happened to Corak the Mysterious, anyway? I've heard that soon after accepting the post of court wizard and moving to Luxus Palace, he disappeared without a trace." "Nobody knows. That's why he's called Corak the Mysterious." "But he was called Corak the Mysterious even before he disappeared!" "I know. Mysterious, isn't it?"
"Well, we're done here for now. Time to claim those numerous rewards from Nordon."
"Wait, 'a goblet'? Not 'my goblet'? Are you telling us you sent us down there to fetch some old goblet that wasn't even yours?"
"Well, er, yes. Technically it belonged to an old wizard who'd thrown in his lot with the goblins down there. But at least you're getting plenty of gold out of the whole deal, right?"
"Hm. Well, I can't say I like being deceived. But everyone's got what they wanted in the end, and we've eliminated a threat to the security of Middlegate, so I suppose we can let it pass." "I don't care about that, I just want to try out my new Eagle Eye spell!"neongrey waved her hand and muttered an incantation. A small round object fell to the ground with a soft wet thud.
"Is... is that what I think it is?" "A bit too literal, huh? I guess I'm still a little rusty." "You know, after all that business with the rival wizard, I'm a little curious about what other skeletons Nordon has in his closet."
"And it looks like we won't have to go far to find out!"
"The kind of skeletons that are made out of bones, apparently." "Turn Undead should make short work of them!"Ten seconds later...
"Well, that was an easy battle. We may as well visit Nordonna now and see what she wants from us."
"What, another trip down into the caverns? Haven't we risked our lives enough for one day?" "Godobor! If we want to enjoy this town's hospitality, it's only fair that we offer something in return. We'll be sure to keep an eye out for Drog and Sir Hyron, ma'am." "Geez. Are all barbarians such do-gooders where you're from?" "Firstly, we prefer the term 'nomadic warriors'. Secondly, it's been a long time since I had anything to do with my people. And thirdly, there's nothing wrong with doing good when and where you can."
"Godobor makes a good point, though -- we'll never survive in the caverns if we don't go in without a good night's rest. If the kobolds have kept Nordonna's sons alive for this long, chances are they'll keep them alive until morning. We can set out tomorrow."
"If we can defeat a small army of goblins, a few kobolds won't stop us."
"The Lich Lord always gave us magic weapons. Why don't you?"(Note the enormous difference between Julius's HP and McGuffin's: this is what makes up for a barbarian's inability to wear any decent armour.)
"So we're off to rescue innocents from the clutches of evil. Maybe I'm not such a failure as a Paladin after all."
"Not that I'm complaining, but don't archers normally use bows?"
"This dagger would probably be more useful if I wasn't so far back in the party order."
"I've reached level 3, and that means I have access to level-2 clerical spells. Why don't we take a look at them?"1. NAME: Cure Wounds
COST: 2 SP
TYPE: Anytime
TARGET: 1 character
DESCRIPTION: Cures more serious wounds, restoring 15 Hit Points to the character.
"If First Aid hasn't got quite enough kick to it but Power Cure would be too much, this is the spell to use."2. NAME: Heroism
COST: 2 SP + 1 Gem
TYPE: Combat
TARGET: 1 character
DESCRIPTION: Temporarily elevates a character 6 levels of experience. Spell lasts for the duration of combat.
"This spell costs a gem, but it's worth it when you need it. For most classes, 6 extra levels means at least one more attack per round."3. NAME: Nature's Gate
COST: 2 SP
TYPE: Non-combat, Outside
TARGET: Entire Party
DESCRIPTION: Using the forces of nature, opens a portal between two locations in the land of Cron. These locations vary with time (days/years).
"I don't know this spell yet, and I've never heard of any temple that sold it. It might be good to know if we ever needed to leave an area quickly and didn't care where we went, or if we knew what day to cast it on to go somewhere in particular."4. NAME: Pain
COST: 2 SP
TYPE: Combat
TARGET: 1 monster, not undead
DESCRIPTION: Cripples monster with pain, inflicting 2-16 damage points, unless the monster is immune to pain.
"Well, I can't say I feel right about hurting someone like this, even a monster. But sometimes it just has to be done."5. NAME: Protection from Elements
COST: 2 SP + 1 Gem
TYPE: Anytime
TARGET: Entire Party
DESCRIPTION: Increases all characters' resistance to fear, cold, fire, poison, acid and electricity. Amount of the increase depends on the caster's experience level. Spell lasts 1 day.
"A fine spell, if I do say so myself. If you ever think you might have to face a monster with elemental attacks, you may as well cast it. It lasts all day, and it's better to be safe than sorry."6. NAME: Silence
COST: 2 SP
TYPE: Combat
TARGET: 4 monsters + 1 per level
DESCRIPTION: Prevents the monsters from casting spells for the duration of combat, or until they overcome the spell.
"I don't find too much use for this spell: most of the monsters that can cast dangerous spells also have a high resistance to magic."7. NAME: Weaken
COST: 2 SP + 1 Gem
TYPE: Combat
TARGET: 10 monsters
DESCRIPTION: Weakens all monsters affected, reducing their physical damage by half until the spell is overcome.
"A good spell to know when a horse is about to kick you in the face, and it doesn't work too badly on monsters either."Well, that's it for today. Next update: more new characters!