FLUFF: Jammers: [Grp I] Turns 21, 22, & 23 Chapter 1 pt A

The Past Adventures of my Jammers PBEM game.

For me, one of the joys of PBEM gaming is the ability to revisit the
old adventures by reading the turn summaries. I think they make great
fan fiction.

This game has been going on since September, 1997. I thought folks
might enjoy reading the old turns in order, as fluff fiction. I know
I post the current turns as fluff as well, but the past turns were,
well, six years ago and new list members, as well as some old, may
still enjoy getting the old reads in their mailbox once per week. If
not, let me know and I'll stop sending them.

To give folks an idea of how much is still to come, the game is now
in Turn 33 of Chapter 7. Chapter 1 has 30 turns...

This Group included Radick, Leera, and Grigree
Note that Group III (Nilaroo and Jamila) join this group towards the end.

----------- = Meanwhile, elsewhere...
*********** = Later...

IC:
Radick leaves Leera and Grigree behind and heads to the market.

After reaching the 'Twisted Thumb', Leera (and Grigree) wait for Radick to
arrive. When he does,  maybe ten minutes after them,  Leera says to them
"If there's trouble, I'll try to get away. If I succeed, meet me out here.
If I can't get away, for goodness' sake, help me!"  Before entering, Leera
pauses and steps inconspicuously into an alley and  changes her appearance
to that of an elderly crone dressed in rags.

Grigree enters the "Thumb" and moves towards the bar. Finding a stool near
the edge, he orders a drink and turns around  in his chair, facing the main
floor.  The barkeep looks up from the customer he is speaking with and
sends an ale Grigree's way. Grigree scans the room, and keeps an eye on
Leera and Radick.

Grigree sees the barkeep(B), a middle-aged human male with very short,
black, wavey hair wearing a white apron speaking quietly with another,
taller middle-aged human male(4) sitting at the bar.  The serving wench(W),
a human female who looks like she has a bug or two she'll pass on for a fee
is nibbling at a bowl of porridge on the bar.

Three more human males sit at the table by the door,  two appear to be old
men(1,2), well past their prime.  The third is on the young side of
thirty(3).  A rapier in its baldric hangs from the back of his chair as he
plays a quiet game of Dragonchess against one of the old men.

In the back corner three more figures sit, nursing ales.  Two appear to be
human, one blond(7) and one with brown hair(6).  The third is an old,
scarred half-orc(5).  His hair is grey and sparse, showing the scar from a
sword cut to his head.  Swords and daggers hang near at hand for all three.

Leera enters the tavern a minute or so after Grigree and proceeds to look
around.  As she does so the serving wench calls out, "Head back to the
street, trash,  no scraps here for beggers!"  Leera feigns deafness and
replies "No, I don't want any meat."

"I said get out, ya old bitch, before I toss ya out." the wench replies sourly.

Radick steps in behind Leera and approaches the bar, an almost indecent
smile upon his face.  With a slight hesitation he looks about the place,
and takes in the various patrons, then he winks and smiles at the wench.
"Get me an ale lovey, and don't spill a drop of it."  Radick then turns and
moves straight to the table at the back.  Grabbing the empty chair at their
table he spins it around and sits across it hanging his arms over the back
of the chair.

The wench completly ignores Radick and starts walking threateningly towards
Leera.

Leera pauses and pulls out two gold pieces.  She cackles "He He He, I want
stew, with plenty of greens, and these little darlings (she rubs the coins
together) will get it for me! Bunarha will eat well tonight, yes I will!"
She then shuffles forward and tosses one of the coins to the wench. "Step
lively missy!" She cackles again and moves off to find a place to sit.

The serving wench catches the coins then grabs Leera by the arm and starts
dragging her towards the door.  "Get that begger trash out of the bar,
Arirellan." the bartender growls.  Tossing Leera into the street the wench
says sourly "And don't come back, ya old hag!"

Seeing that Leera is handling the situation, Grigree relaxes back into his
chair, and continues scannig the room. He smiles slightly to himself, but
doesn't otherwise react to his crewmates' antics.  Instead, he watches the
reactions of the other patrons.

Meanwhile, Radick doesn't seem to pay any attention to those events as he
faces the gentleman at the table. He smiles and says "The name is 'The
Axe'." Pausing a moment as he notes their cold stares, he reaches into his
shirt and draws forth the carcass of a rabbit. "Might any of you know
someone who could help me with skinning a little furry creature?" he says
through a bit of laughter.

The half-orc snarls, "This is a private table."

"Well, then if you could just direct me to a fellow by the name of Gantius,
I will leave you ladies to enjoy your tea."  Radick stares coldly into the
half-orc's face.  His manner has changed swiftly from the entertaining,
jovial person who entered to a deadly serious man who sits there now.

The three men playing dragonchess get to their feet and hurry from the tavern.

With a savage growl the half-orc stands,  grabbing the table and flipping
it over into Radick's face.  Radick is hurled backwards out of his chair
and sprawls on his back onto the floor.  The other two,  not surprised by
the half-orcs sudden, savage move leap to their feet, drawing blades.

Round 1:
Radick rolls toward the center of the tavern as his hands grab his battle
axe.  He rolls out of the way as the blond man's dagger slashes towards him
and then launches himself past the blond fellow and lets his axe slash
deeply across the man's gut as he rolls towards the wall.  "This is no way
to treat a prospective employer." he mumbles as he dodges out of the way.

Grigree watches the battle.

Seeing the chessplayers exit the bar post haste,  Leera (as Bunarha) pokes
her head back into the bar to see what's happening. When she sees Radick
flat on his back and in danger, she quickly looks around for the watch but
sees nothing about which resembles the watch.

The waitress moves behind the bar for safety as the bartender and his
friend watch the fight with interest.

Round 2:
Radick glances at the approaching foes and realizes that he is now with his
back to the fireplace. He steps towards the bar area slightly but then
changes direction and finds the blond's dagger waiting for him.  The blade
sinks deep into side and leaves a burning sensation after it.  As the
dagger lands Radick's axe whips out at the blond gentleman  and whiffs over
his head.

The half-orc and other thug pause, weapons out, having surrounded Radick.
The half-orc snarls,  obviously about to say something when in from the
street come a group of six figures in black chainmail  They stand, blades
and maces drawn, near the door before heading toward Radick. All have the
crest that appears on
Radick's ring emblazoned onto their chest plates. Those nearby can hear the
clink of the armor and the weapons.

Round 3
Trying to keep the injured blond between himself and the half-orc, Radick
again strikes but this time he feints at the blond gentleman and dives and
rolls past him, striking at the half-orc's leg just above the knee but
finding his target is no longer there.

The half-orc has already turned from Radick, and hurled two knives at the
chainmail figures as he and the brown-haired thug rush them.  The knives
simply pass through the figures as they move to stop the thugs' assualt,
landing on the floor with a distinct thump.  The figures in chainmail swing
their swords and maces hard at the thugs silently, except for the clinking
of their armor.  Their blows pass through Gantius and his companion
harmlessly.

Round 4
Radick pauses, only a moment, to check the extent of the wound received.
Looking at his foes about the room he quickly determines that he must end
this quickly.   Suddenly he draws his battle axe into position and turns to
charge the blond man but that individual has already vanished,  leaping
over the bar and through the door behind it.

Grigree gets up and throws himself crosswise at the half-orc and the guy
next to him, knocking them both to the floor.

Leera (still looking like the withered hag, Bunarha) steps forward through
the doorway. As she does so, her hands, moving with grace and dexterity
that belie her appearance, extract from a pouch a few grains of red, blue,
and yellow sand. Stretching out her hand, she releases a blinding wedge of
multicolored light. The light envelops the chainmail figures as well as
Grigree,  the half-orc and his friend. Grigree and the thug fall unconcious
where they lay following Grigree's leap,  but the half-orc growls as he
tries to roll to his feet. Leera cries out 'Radick, this way!' "

Round 5

Radick dives towards the half-orc sliding behind him as he rises. Radick's
battle axe snakes upwards between the bastard's legs slicing his lower
stomach region.  Quickly Radick rolls out of the way to the side to avoid
any response.  Unfortunately,  the half-orc is quicker, despite his wound
his sword arm reflexivly swings about as he spins to face Radick,  and
slices clear to the bone on Radick's right bicep,  Radick collapses to the
floor unconcious and bleeding heavily.

The half-orc continues his spin as Radick goes down,  turning to face the
crone who is obviously a witch.

Leera mutters arcane syllables and then takes a threatening step forward
towards the half-orc. As she does so she gives him an unobstructed path to
the doorway. He pales and flees the tavern.

The men in chainmail continue swinging and dodging blows from invisible
opponents for a moment, then vanish.

The bartender and the man he was talking to continue to watch events from
the bar as the waitress cowers behind it.

Leera looks around and after acertaining that no one in the bar has hostile
intent, she rushes to Radick's side. Drawing her dagger, she slices a strip
of his leather legging and uses it to tie a tourniquet around his right
arm, above the wound.

The gentleman who watched the events from the bar gets up and walks towards
Leera,  his hands held wide in a non-threatening manner.  "I am Koanidd,"
he says,  "This man will die if not given aid. I can heal him,  for 50
gold."  Leera glances at him warily,  she sees a human male in late middle
age,  tall and thin with long brown wavey hair and green-brown eyes.  He
wears a brown cloak over a suit of ringmail and a mace hangs at his side.

Leera stands and replies "For obvious reasons I don't think it would be a
good idea for me to identify myself or my companions. Suffice it to say
that we are members of an adventuring company based on the Rock. I
personally don't have 50 gold with me, but you may have all the gold that I
do have, and all the gold that the injured man has, as well. Whatever else
is needed to make up the 50 gold you will be paid. I give you my word."
Leera looks around again before continuing "Please, heal him while I obtain
what gold I can."

"I'm afraid I don't work on credit, hag."  He smiles grimly, "I'll wait
till you see what you come up with."

Leera frowns and rummages in her pouches and pulls out 22 gp. She then
rifles through Radick's belongings and takes whatever gold he's carrying.
She mutters,
in a low voice, 'The others had *better* pay me pack for this..." As she
mutters, she can be seen to glance anxiously at Radick. It is obvious that
she is concerned over his well-being.

As she does so,  the man lying on the floor sudenly rolls to his feet.
Leera looks up from Radick at once but before she can react he's out the
door and into the street.  Shaking her head in frustration,  she continues
looking inside Radick's clothes.

Finding nothing of value in Radick's pockets, Leera turns to Koanidd and
explains that she has only 22 gold to offer at the moment. "I give my word,
though. You will be paid. If you go to the Royal Playhouse at highsun
tomorrow, you will be met by one of our company. He will pay you 35 gold.
The extra should compensate you for the wait. Now please, heal him."

He laughs,  "No credit, do I look a fool? I will take his ring, battleaxe,
and those bracers in addition to the gold.  That should come to around
fifty gold in value."  He grins at Radick ashen face, "Quite a bit of
bloodloss, eh?"

Grigree sits up suddenly, grabbing for his swords and looking for foes.
Finding none,  he rubs his eyes and realizes Leera (still in crone from) is
rifling through Radick's clothing as he lies on the floor.

Grigree shakes his head, trying to clear it, then looks back at the scene
next to him.  He attempts to stand up, but slips in some spilt ale, which
he finally notices is also all over his fur.  "Noi' jetat," he mumbles to
himself, then carefully gets to his feet.  From this new height he notices
the blood all over Radick.  Grigree rushes over to Leera and asks, "Is he
dead?"  All the while he keeps an eye on the man with the mace.

Hearing Grigree moving Leera looks over at him and calls "Friend Hadozee,
have you any gold?  Our friend is sorely wounded and this gentleman cleric
(nodding toward Koanidd) demands fifty gold to save his life."

Grigree kneels down next to his friend's body.

Leera continues "I have only 22 gold. Our friend (glancing at Radick) does
not seem to be carrying any money. Do you have 28 gold? Else we must carry
him back to our friends to see if any of them can heal him."

Giving the man standing next to him a questioning look, Grigree says, "Do
your magic, healer.  You'll be paid."

Leera says to Grigree... "Come, it's obvious he's more interested in
taunting us than in earning our money. If he's not willing  to wait 24
hours for the rest of his money, I say we leave now and take our friend
(nodding at Radick) with us. One of our own healers will do the job and we
won't owe this man (looking up at Koanidd) anything. I've stopped the
bleeding, after all."

"How many times do I have to say no credit, " the priest sneers, "I'll not
see more then the 22 you give me know if I were to accept your offer. You
are unskilled in the healing arts, I see, your friend will not survive more
then twenty feet past the tavern's door.  I have made a fair offer,  but
will be happy to ignore the axe,  if I can have the gold,  the ring, and
the bracers.  Or give me fifty gold and your friend will not even lose the
arm. Of course, your friend might not die, he might just lose his arm." He
concludes with a wan smile.

At this moment Nilaroo and Jamila enter the bar; they see the obvious
remains of a fight, though the only body down seems to Radick.  Grigree and
some begger crone are crouching over him and speaking to a man standing
nearby.  Radick's clothes looks like they've been rifled through.  The
bartender has gone back to washing mugs with an occasional glance at the
scene while the serving wench has taken a straw broom and is sweeping up
the mess at the far end.

Radick continues to lie on the florr, blood oozes out past a tourniquet
that was applied to his badly mangled arm, and additional blood flows from
a wound to his side. Although his clothes appear to have been rifled
through, they still rest on his body, despite the bad wounds he has
received.  He is unconscious, or dying, or maybe even dead, but he
certainly isn't dancing a jig.  Radick's axe lies by his side, and from the
blood on its blade he clearly did not let his foe get away unscathed.

Leera (the beggar crone) hears someone enter the tavern and leaps to her
feet, her hands dipping into her pouches. She immediately sees that the
newcomers are friends and calls out "'Pon my word, but it's good to see you
two! Our friend here is sorely wounded... we've paid this good cleric to
heal him." Before either Jamila or Nilaroo has an opportunity to say
anything, Leera continues... "We've not mentioned our names or the name of
our company while we've been here... let's not give the fiends who did this
(glancing down at Radick) a means to track us."

Jamila nods in response and has a quick look around the bar, while keeping
an eye on the priest.

Leera glances nervously around before speaking once again "Speaking of
which... we didn't kill any of them, but merely drove them off. I suggest
we get out of here before they return."

And with those words, Jamila moves to get a better view out of one of  the
front windows so she can watch the street for any sign of  trouble.  With
the occasional glance back at her comrades, she places one of her cutlasses
beside her on a table for easier use.

Meanwhile, Grigree reaches down to his belt and pulls of a pouch.  Tossing
it up to Koanidd he says, "Take what you need."

Koanidd takes the puoch, smiling, and opens it.  He quickly removes the 28
gold he needs and tosses it back at Grigree's feet.  Then he kneels next to
Radick and pulls a small black medallion out from inside his clothing and
pulls its chain over his neck.  Grigree can see that the medallion has
coiled cobra carved upon and etched in gold paint.  He places his right
hand on the wound on Radick's bicep and begins murmering to himself.  The
torn and ripped flesh quickly melds together,  leaving only a small white
line where the slash had been.  Then he examines the cut on Radick's side,
frowning.  "Your friend has been poisoned, I'm afraid.  I can heal the
wound but the poison has already entered his blood,  but whether he lives
or dies will depend upon how strong he is.  I'm afraid I have no antidote,
nor can I identify the poison."  He looks towards Grigree, "Believe me when
I say that if I had such I'd be happy to sell it to you." he then places
his hand on the wound in Radick's side, which quickly stops bleeding and
seals as well as the first.  As Koanidd stands and places his medallion
back beneath his armor Radick wakes,  still weak from loss of blood but
conscious and able to move.  Koanidd meanwhile has returned to the bar and
his interruppted conversation with its tender.

Seeing Radick's eyes flutter open, Leera kneels down beside him and says
"Friend Axe... you have been wounded and poisoned. We have payed to have
the wound healed, but we must quickly get you back to our friends to see if
any can cure the poison. The men we fought have been driven away, but may
return at any moment. Two of our companions have already arrived." She nods
in the direction of Nilaroo and Jamila. "None here know our names or the
name of our company. Let us keep it that way." Leera stands and offers
Radick a hand "Can you walk?"

<continued in Part B>
--
"...How shall a man judge what to do in such times?!"
"As he has ever judged," said Aragorn "Good and evil have not changed
since yesteryear..."
J.R.R. Tolkien, _The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers_

Paul Westermeyer,  pwestermeyer@????????.??.com