Delurk - 1/2 Orc story

Remove all ads!

I decided that I would contribute the following in honor of the departed (story ended) "Wally" that was so loved...

Char name - Duharrel (pronounced duh-ha-rel of course)
Gender - Male -> Special (see below)
Race - Half-orc
Alignment - CN (explained below)
Class - Fighter (see why below)
Stats (adjusted/actual roll)
STR - 19/12
DEX - 18/14
Con - 19/14
INT - 14/15
WIS - 3/6
CHA - 3/15

As you can see, he ain't quite as bright as Wally was and he lacks the common sense of a gnat. However, from his birthweight of 18 pounds, he has survived strictly on his ability to beat to death with his bare fists whatever aggravated him . Unfortunately, that included his mother when she tried to wean him from suckling. Orphaned (his Orcan father had died in a brawl during his challenge for leadership of the tribe) and nearly starving after murdering his mother at age 4 (now you see why she was trying to wean him [and you might also be able to imagine the poor condition of her often tooth-punctured teats]), Duharrel survived on rats, roaches and other vermin that he chased, caught and dismembered with his bare hands. Even the tribes' pack dogs learned to shun and avoid him after Duharrel killed and ate newborn or suckling pups. When the new headman (chieftain) heard of Duharrel's continued existence, he had scouts find and trap Duharrel and brought to the chief's tent. Beating the boy nearly to death, the chieftain had Duharrel bound and dragged behind an ox cart enroute to the Badlands of Numea. Fortunately for Duharrel, the rope eventually broke after ten miles allowing Duharrel to roll off the track. Unfortunately, another cart in the caravan rolled over Duharrel before he was entirely off the dirt road. This left Duharrel's face with disfiguring scars that repulse even the friendliest of animals. So, Duharrel was forced to survive on his own in the wild.

This creates an intellect not measurable in normal terms. Duharrel knows neither good nor evil, only what physically feels good and satisfying. Never having had to learn to control his temper, he gets angry at the slightest insult or discomfort. As a teenager, he eventually learned that lone farms and outposts were places of food, shelter and clothing. Even squirrels gather and hoard bright objects; Duharrel did the same, eventually finding a girdle lying nearly hidden and abandoned in weeds beside another cart path. In better condition than the mixture of ragged skins and cloth strips he had tied together to hold up the larger skins he wore as clothing, Duharrel put the girdle on only to find it cursed (Shadowkeeper wass used here). Yes, you guessed it - it was the infamous girdle of Gender Change/Girdle of Feminity. Duharrel, having found, stolen, killed and ravaged enough carcusses to make a lion proud, had grown to respectable size even for an Orc. But, now he felt the hormone flush of adolescent feminity as his gender was magically changeing and his system fought back... As the new female hormones raged against the already existing make hormones in Duharrel's body, his muscles grew larger in sopurts of endorphine surges. After nearly six months of contest, the magic of the girdle finally won out physically, but Duharrel would never be the same (see romance discussion below).

Duharrel is now physically large enough to make Minsc respect him just standing there. His social skills are no more improved than before (here is where the "Ode to Wally" comes in). Like many feminist women today, he(she) wants respect, demands it and WILL HAVE IT - or else. He tends not to get along with women as he knows he really isn't one of them and has killed at least six men who have tried to see whether he really IS a woman. Thus, he is liked by no one and shunned by most. His modus operandi with dialogue is similar to Wally's - Duharrel will broke no insult or slight, will often respond to even neutral comments with aggression, and especially dislikes priests, mages and bards who are off-key.

His proficiencies are:
Long Sword + (Given due to the simple ability to swing REALLY REALLY HARD)
Club +++ (Awarded based on learning to beat animals to death with branches and logs)
Sling + (Awarded based on a lack of "rock throwing" proficiency and a belief on my part that throwing daggers requires more "trained skill" than slinging rocks)
Single Weapon style +

I plan on improving his proficiencies in Long Sword based on watching Minsc (who was accepted as a party member in a manner similar to how/why Wally accepted him). Similarly, I may allow for a single proficiency in Short Bow to develop based on observation of other party members (should any wind up sticking around long enough) but will limit it to that for role playing reasons.

I chose not to class this guy as a beserker because of the advantages of berserker rage.

I anticipate trials and tribulations similar to Wally's with a few key differences. I am going to play this guy similar to a berserker, often rushing forward without forethought rather than acting as a ranged fighter, at least until he learns better from other party members.

I have made one not-in-the-rules adjustment... I left the actual gender of Duharrel as male in his bio in order to allow for the slim option of romances being possible - possibly Viconia... I haven't yet successfully completed this one anyway... And there is something appaeling about a Half-Orc/Drow lesbian reltionship. Oh, wait, I forgot that Half-orc romances aren't possible either.... Well, I guess that'll have to change also... Okay, I'll make him Human game-stat-wise, but think of him as a Half-orc.

More to come as the game is played and if any one appears interested.... This will be the only thread I will respond to for the foreseeable future.

<<edited for typos>>


[This message has been edited by Kailynne Johanne (edited August 29, 2001).]

 

Nice to see You write on the board again. well good luck. Hope You got lots of time. This Play/write takes a long time believe me

 

Well, I have only gotten to the library and already ran into two problems --- totally unexpectedly.

First, I had never had Minsc go berserk on my PC before though I knew that others have had that happen.... So, after Minsc got through with Duharrel - got in two shots on both Duharrel and Imoen before I could run both Imoen and Duharrel out of Minsc's sight, his berserk rage had taken half of each of their total hit points... Now this would not usually be a problem except in a role playing situation.

Remember, Duharrel can't hold grudges.... But, he is smart enough to know that that shouldn't have happened... And the party has no real healing power... Being just outside the library, Duharrel was faced with the question of what to do, drop Minsc, take a swing in retrbution, or just try to forget it. Even someone with no common sense should be able to figure out that there is security in groups - so Minsc was allowed to contnue on... Into the Libary the group went...

Here comes the second instance of unexpected turns. Duharrel rushes straight-forward and takes on the enemies to his fore while Minsc and Imoen distribute their attacks against all comers - distant or on the flanks.

After this battle, the party is hurtin' pretty badly - got some bad rolls and had a fair number of critical misses. Anyway, of course they loot the library and find healing potions. The problem? How to distribute them. Even a short-lived memory remembers an unexpected attack from an ally. So, Duharrel has to decide whether to heal Minsc or not. It was one thing to allow Minsc to continue with Duharrel if Minsc could add to the likelihood of Duharrel's survival.

So, the question is which is more likely to help Duharrel - going on with a healthy Minsc or Duharrel keeping the potions to himself (not even healing Imoen)..... It's an interpretation of the definition and interaction of Inteligence and Wisdom. Intelligence is "memory, reasoning, and learning ability" while Wisdom is "enlightenment, judgement and comon sense."

Deciding....

<<edited for typos>>

[This message has been edited by Kailynne Johanne (edited August 29, 2001).]

 

As You probably already know the "reasoning" part in intelligence refers to figuring out puzzle-like problems. and the similar "Judgement" from Wisdom are the problems at hand type.

But I like Your profound reasoning with the character development. I trust Your Judgement. tihi heh heh

[This message has been edited by Nobleman (edited August 29, 2001).]

 

Nobleman.. nice (meaning appropriate) reply...

That is exactly the situation.. The puzzle is "surviving"... the situation is the "now" of the puzzle..

Still deciding...
..
..
..
Decided to keep Minsc as Duharrel's chance of surviving the first dungeon is increased that way.

It may be of of interest to hear that Minsc was "taken" by the nymphs yet remains with Duharrel. THAT came about via dialogue choices and role playing. Basically, Duharrel decided to lie - what would it cost him? So, by accepting the "find the acorns" miniquest, he not only got Minsc back, he lost nothing and gained the information and future opportunity to acquire a future quest. Different outcome than Wally... played nearly the same but reasoned differently.

--- end of Irenicus' dungeon---
Following the general rule of "go straight ahead" whichever way you are facing and don't backtrack without a reason (which normally eliminates the foreknowledge a player has but a character doesn't), Duharrel, Minsc and Imoen found their way through the portal when heading from the dryads. Yoshimo was just insulting enough that he was dismissed without incident leaving our three intrepid adventurers to face the rest of the dungeon alone.

It wasn't that hard, though daylight saw only Duharell with a healing potion while the other two were injured, though not seriously. After Irenicus and Imoen were spirited away, both Duharrel and Minsc felt stronger and more skilled though not more proficient. Blinking at the bright sun, they estimated the total time to escape the darkness... unbelievable, due to bad luck and much damage, lack of a healer had required them to sleep (and setting firewatches didn't help) to heal. This provided Duharrel with a single Cure Minor Wounds per sleep - not the fastest way to restore vim, vigor and "let's kill something" attitude to an oft-wounded, fairly unlucky (die-roll-wise) party. Thier estimate was nearly confirmed afer asking a local townsman the date - it had taken 14 days to escape the dungeon, with six of those days spent just sleeping & healing, often being awakened in mid-sleep for a fight!

Duharrel looked at Minsc and breathed a sigh of relief - without that large doofus, Duharrel might still be inside that dungeon - or dead. A quick walk around the Promenade identified a place to sell what few things their inventory allowed them to retain (oh, the slots were full, but with only the two of them remaining, you'd be surprised at how little real value there was). Another surprise... neither Duharrel nor Minsc negotiates very well (well, DUH!). While Duharrel is above average in INT, his charisma is only 3 remember - and Minsc is also well below average CHA-wise. So, the Mart's prices were low... rock bottom, take it or leave it, "buy back" type prices.

Time for sleep again - both for the party and for this chronicler of the 1/2 Orc and the berserker doofus.

To be continued later today ...

<<edited for typos and content>>

[This message has been edited by Kailynne Johanne (edited August 29, 2001).]

 

Once at a storming night, Lord Bhall walked the earth and got severely drunk, he stumbled into a little farmhouse, went through a rapturious time there... Nearly nine months later, an insane boy came out of birth, his name is Duharrel.

 

Yes, oh yes! Stories like this is good to read.

Your character development was a joy to read... well, except for the 3's in both wisdom and charisma. It's no big deal though.
Keep at it and we will read and enjoy!

 

What a team Duharrel has ended up with. Minsc... This could really get funny to see what those two can pull in Athkatla, the city of coins. Duharral who has never been among people before and Minsc... We all know Minsc.

And about alignment. Some of You would question Duharrels CN when he has made choice never to backtrack. Not very impulsive. But the Alignment system is far from perfect. Duharrel can't be described with two words. I Perfectly agree with Kailynne about CN if an alignment should be chosen.

Anyways I look forward to epsode three.

[This message has been edited by Nobleman (edited August 29, 2001).]

 

Curious as to why Duharrel didn't take Jaheira. Wally didn't take her because he couldn't resist gratuitously insulting Jaheira and Khalid, and so she took off. But since Duharrel's personality doesn't include gratuitously insulting friends so much as indulging his id at every turn, what was the rationale agaisnt bringing her with? Her healing powers and reasonable fighting prowess would have served him pretty well. Plus she's a cute female and he still thinks he's a man. (-:

By the way, a tip for Duharrel as he progresses: it's possible to start bar brawls. If you unequip all your weapons, you can punch people unconscious without killing them, losing rep, or causing the guard to appear constantly. (-:

 

This is in response to a few (very appreicated) comments...

<<Curious as to why Duharrel didn't take Jaheira... (etc.)>>

Well, this one is actually pretty simple. Duharrel chose the "I don't know you/what's going on.. tell me..." dialogue track and Jaheira got snippy. Duharrel acted impulsively, returned the verbal aggression and she left.

<<What a team Duharrel has ended up with. Minsc...(etc.)>>

This "journey" has not been what I expected. What with the bad rolls, bad luck, Minsc going berserk in the middle of a fight and nearly killing Duharrel and Imoen.. this is a duo that is either meant to be "together forever" or as far apart as (in)humanly possible. On the other hand, faced with the task of selling off unneeded equipment, I tried both Duharrel and Minsc as party leader to see if the prices offered changed. Not one iota. But, think of it... Minsc being the more "wise" of the two of them as far as negotiating a purchase price.... Wait til the next installment and I explain armor choice/purchase/repair for Duharrel.

<<And about alignment. Some of You would question Duharrels CN when he has made choice never to backtrack. Not very impulsive.>>

Chaotic Neutral doesn't mean random or impulsive in my mind. It means looking out for oneself first, regardless of whether good or evil will be advanced by one's choice. Duharrel has always HAD to look out for himself first - certainly no one else did. So, when faced with the decision of distributing healing potions, for instance, the outcome was decided in favor of the likelihood of increasing his own chance of survival in an "unknown environment" (the dungeon (a puzzle requiring reasoning with knowns and unkowns)) - remember, he doesn't even know WHICH dungeon (even by a rumored name), how he got there OR where the dungeon might be). So, better to allow Minsc to come along healed and possibly able to help out in a fight than to ignore the opportunity for assistance (a judgement). The difference with the Jaheira situation (mentioned above) was that if he didn't know who Jaheira was, he could either trust her story and accept that they had travelled together before, or he could respond to her snide remark in kind and see where that went (an emotional response wihtout reasoning or judgement). Given the limited dialogue options, the "chosen" remark ended what hadn't even reached an "I know you" stage.

As far as the "backtracking" goes, that was intended only to describe how/why I chose which path to take as I progressed through the dungeon. When you know/remember where the traps are, it is easy to avoid them. So, I made up the "movement/path rule" for moving to prevent myself from inadvertently taking advantage of foreknoweledge. Even so, I allowed Imoen to "miss" a couple of the less obvious ones so that Duharrel would face similar challenges to what happened to my first party through the dungeon. "Backtracking" was not an alignment-related comment. OTOH, I am not sure that Duharrel could "socially backtrack" and try to right a social faux pas. He doesn't have the social skills or experience to recognize the faux pas, so far at least.

Gotta go play in order to provide grist for the story.

Later.

PS. Someone please reply so that this doesn't end up being a really long single post when I post the third installment.

[This message has been edited by Kailynne Johanne (edited August 29, 2001).]

Okay. no one posted... so you are stuck with a long one....

On with the show... literally. Minsc convinced Duharrel to take in the circus, only to find that the circus almost took them in! Since it was Minsc's idea and because he had an idea of what the two were to experience, Minsc became party leader (oh, that hurts just imagining it!). So, just as Boo likes his "simpleton transport mechanism" (Minsc), Minsc approached a boy for his opinion of whether or not the circus was a good one. Thus, the circus quest started. A fight almost ensued when the guard tried to stop the party's entry into the main tent... Luckily, leadership actually emerged from Minsc and Duharrel's sword arm didn't complete its swing at the guard's head before they had entered the circus tent.

Minsc sauntered up to the djinni boldly only to look back at Duharrel as if to say "huh?!?!" when challenged with the prince/princess puzzle. Duharrel gathered two handfuls of pebbles before he sat on the dusty bridge and strained to work out the problem... Minsc watched in awe and puzzlement as Duharrel shifted pebbles back and forth between piles, occasionally cursing at himself, angrily sweeping all the pebbles back into one pile and starting over again. Finally, Duharrel looked at Minsc and whispered, "Why don't we just smack this dude?" Minsc raised his eyebrows and thought, "Smacking for goodness? Yeah, maybe." He asked the djinni again for the possible answers, randomly chose one and missed. As both men tensed to strike, the djinni offered another chance to cross without conflict. Minsc glanced at Duharrel, whispered, "We've got nothing to lose" and started to move forward. Suddenly, the djinni disappeared so quickly that Boo fell from Minsc's pocket as he lost his balance when his sword met only air! Recovering from the shock of the djinni's disappearance, the pair continued forward though Minsc almost wandered off to explore.

Inside, Duharrel began to run at an ogre standing befor him threateningly (at age 16, an ogre had stolen a hard-won meal from Duharrel.. he still has the scars to prove it). Duharrel's bull-like charge was stopped in its tracks by a childish voice.... Needless to say, the ignorant can be enlightened, the mentally stupid probably cannot be. So, Duharrel listened while Minsc just drooled at the sound of the childish voice. Though the voice's story was incredible, there was something which rang true in it and our intrepid duo ultimately got swung at for simply approaching a woman! However, it wasn't until blood actually streamed from Duharrel's misshapen face before he swung back --- he had been carrying his new bow and trying to tie the string while walking, not a difficult task, but something unfamiliar.... Swinging the bow at the woman didn't work so he dropped it and pulled a gnarled club from his *damned* belt - whack, whack, splat. Three blows with the club and Minsc saw the woman's head explode! "I gotta try that sometime," Minsc thought. "The red streaks were pretty." Out came Minsc's beaten up 2-handed sword and, after winding up like a medieval Babe Ruth, there went another head - sailing across the room. "Forgot to flatten the blade as I swung," he moaned.

The two compared techniques and results as they walked back to the ogre. "Hmm," thought Duharrel. "A useless sword (no stats in the write-up)... why carry it around with me?" Dropping it at the ogre's feet as he and Minsc headed past the ogre, a high pitched squeal of glee startled the two. Turning they saw the ogre had disappeared and a frail, almost childish woman stood in its place.... She whined just enough that the two allowed her to walk in their shadows as they continued onward.... The rest of this quest went as one would expect - brute force against magic equals damage one way or another. Unexpectedly for the two brawlers, they found themselves swinging at shadows after Aerie moved her hands and shrieked something that sounded like a cat when its tail has been caught under a rocking chair leg. Neither man understood what had happened....... not once, but twice!

Ultimately, there were more things to try to get rid of.... even body parts can be sold to circus people in order to feed the animals.... Minsc even got to hold out a meaty thigh to a hungry tiger in a cage! Boo squealed and shrieked worse than Aerie had.... and he bit Minsc in an unmentionable place to! Then Boo laughed at the cartoon squirel trapped withthe moose.

So, back to the Adventurer's Mart our friends went.., This time they took the time to rummage through all of the back stalls and corners. Duharrel noticed that Minsc's traditional-style armor had worked a lot better for him than Duharrel's own conglomeration of skins, hide and a buckler tied before his chest. Yet, he knew nothing of real armor and Minsc could only say things like, "this is GREAT for butt-kicking.. this one sucks like Boo when he eats brussel sprouts" as he tried to explain the nuances of armor design and selection. Also, Duharrel’s enormous size didn't seem to help - most of the suits did not fit at all... one suit of chain mail (rejected in any case because it was "so noisy you can't sneak up on a deaf rabbit") even ripped at the shoulder joint when he tried it on for feel. Aerie was astounded at the scars on Duharrel's back as he stripped down before trying various pieces. She felt Duharrel might be a kindred spirit, both of them being disfigured and all. Anyway, Duharrel finally settled on one piece from this suit, another from that one, and figuring he'd have to beat holes in a couple of parts while tying others together to cover everything. No breastplate provided both sufficient coverage and flexibility enough when Duharrel took a practice swing (the clamor of falling metal was nearly deafening when he hit a shelf due to the restriction). Gathering up all of the various pieces, they trudged to the front of the store where the proprietor made an interesting suggestion. He walked over to a collection of shields and grabbed one, went to another bin and grabbed some leather straps and brought them back to Duharrel. "Try this," the proprietor suggested as he held the shield before Duharrel's chest. Aerie caught on immediately and shrieked with glee as she grabbed the straps and began to tie the shield to Duharrel's chest. Eventually, Duharrel settled on a large shield, three pairs of leg armor and a new helm - Minsc and Boo thought Duharrel looked "cool" as his helm's dirty old feather bounced when Duharrel walked. Aerie just skipped along behind them giggling as they headed over to the Inn to get some rest.

**college class beckons.. more tonight (probably) after I return**

[This message has been edited by Kailynne Johanne (edited August 29, 2001).]

 

Can't you post twice in a row? Well, here's some spam to keep the story going.

Great reading, keep it coming.

 

No point in detailing the Gaelen Bayle initial dialog.. the choices aren't really choices...... We gotta find the money. It's that simple.

The funniest thing happened in the Copper Coronet....

Following my "go straight" rule when Duharrel entered, Yoshimo proved that big D had underestimated Yosh earlier - he had not only survived to escape the dungeon, he was in good health! So, quickly taking this new observation into account, Yosh was invited to partake in future escapades with our "party of three"/now four...

Turning to scan the Coronet's great room before proceeding, Duharrel noticed a dwarf swilling Duharrel's favorite brew. Drawn by that aroma towards the dwarf's table, all were offered full tankards as the dwarf told a tale of a lost book and an opportunity to gain some of the gold Gaelen Bayle requires..... Did someone say "party of five"?

Continuing forward now, after Duharrel got trapped behind and between a coupe of locals, Minsc began to lead and was approached by yet another young slip of a girl (turning out to be quite the ladies man isn't he?). Without consulting Duharrel, Minsc galantly accepted her request to save her family, her honor and her wealth (maybe he ain't as ignorant as some think?). But he knew enough about Durharrel not to allow another wench in the party without talking to Duharrel first. By the time Minsc had Duharrel's attention to ask, Aerie had already begun speaking to the proprietor...

Aerie found his allusions to "special entertainment" interesting - I mean, she had heard of such things in the circus, but Quayle had not allowed her near THAT tent, so she now planned on at least sneaking a peek - one advantage of her new-found independence. Duharrel walked up to her and japslapped her because of her impertinence - a girl leading this party his behind! (Note: for some reason, Aerie was the only one who Lehtinan, the proprietor would talk to in this party). Thus began the slavers quest.

Now for the humorous part, Aerie still in front (inexplicably, I had not changed the order or march), Minsc following, Aerie went towards the stairs by way of Mars - hither, thither, yon and back and her wanderings prompted a hail by a young knightly-looking stud preening himself in the northeast corner of the Great Room. Introducing himself not to Aerie, but via a loudly-raised voice to Minsc way across the room(!!!), he inquired whether Minsc was a force for good or evil. Of course, we know what Minsc HAD to answer and now the party is set for the slavers quest....

Durharrel - Fighter
Korgan - Berserker
Minsc - Ranger
Yoshimo - Bounty Hunter
Anomen - claims to be Fighter/Cleric(actually Chief idiot and bottle washer)
Aerie - Cleric/Mage

Not a group I would EVER have picked to venture together... The dialog future looks bright indeed...

More to come as developments warrant.

[This message has been edited by Kailynne Johanne (edited August 30, 2001).]

 

This Can only get fun. How does Duharrel feel with all these people around. He wasn't used to having anybody around. Now he is in a big city. Not following his own path but Minsc's. How does he/she feel about that?
PS, thumbs up! If You have the courage to complete BG2 like this I personally send You a bottle of danish beer.

 

This will be quite amusing. A half-orc, a chaotic evil dwarf, and a snooty, arrogant, and easily-PO'ed would-be Knight? My goodness--Irenicus won't have to do much to tear your group apart.

 

Well gang, even Hendak brought out the worst in Anomen's chaotic nature (regardless of what his alignment is supposed to be. Check out this dialog snippet)

Duharrel - I grow weary of your mewling Hendak...
Hendak - ...May the abyss swallow your soul for what you do ("not do" is understood)
Anomen (just listen to Mr. Self-righteous)- It is good that you do not listen to this rabble, Duharrel. We have no time to waste on them....

Yeah, buddy.. Make that guy a Knight!

Anyway, onwards the party went, following Aerie into the den of iniquity... except she actually found her way into a slaver's pit area instead of the red light district area. A man encouraged everyone to bet and she bet that she would puke if there was too much blood.. Korgan sneered at her weakness, Minsc defended her innocence (Boo snarled quietly -- you have to listen closely to hear it but it is there). Yosh slipped off for a quicky and, as a fight in one pit began between a man and a troll, Duharrel noisily ate a nearly uncooked chicken leg someone had dropped on the floor of the viewing stand.

Aerie won her bet with the annoncer but didn't stick around to collect it, instead fleeing to a long hallway... Minsc the infatuated droolingly followed, dragging everyone along behind and they stumbled across Yosh lying on soome pillows, his tongue deep within the lips of a woman of the evening. A pithy remark from Korgan showed his approval of Yosh's priorities while ANomen turned beet red and Aerie gasped. Duharrel watched intently, occasionally eyeing Aerie's not quite sticklike figure.Misnc reached over and pulled Yosh off of the wench and shoved him down the hallway.... (see the dialog snippet above)....

Well, the Beastmaster fight continued to show the absolutely horrid luck in rolls for this entire group. All survived, however, Korgan only had 9 hp at the end, Minsc had 13 and the others were not far behind. The Beastmaster's really nice looking bow was slyly snatched up by Yosh after being discarded by Duharrel (he didn't like the little squiggly dents/grooves running up and down the shaft).

And on we'll go tomorrow...

Oh, Nobleman, Duharrel has figured out that he'd be deader than any doorbell without at least Minsc beside him.. at least judging from the fight results so far... Then again, he and Minsc may have to have a few words about Minsc's promising that other whiny wench that they'd all go out to some stupid castle for something (Minsc wasn't quite clear about what would happen/what was out there except "that cute little thing I was eyeing earlier").

[This message has been edited by Kailynne Johanne (edited August 30, 2001).]

[This message has been edited by Kailynne Johanne (edited September 19, 2001).]

 

Very nice, Kailynne.

The only problem I'm having is that it's impossible to tell from your narrative what actually happened in the game and what you made up. Many of the conversations and comments you relate your NPCs having, and situations you have them finding themselves in, never really happened. I don't fault your creative mind at all, but it certainly makes it confusing reading, since these are not dialogues or subplots that you unearthed from the game by choosing unusual conversational options but rather things you think the characters should have said or been able to do.

Maybe there is some way that you could differentiate dialogue/situations that come FROM the game, which you discovered by following Duharrel's mighty id, and dialogue/situations which you would LIKE TO ADD to the game?

Cheers,
L

 

<<Very nice, Kailynne...The only problem I'm having is that it's impossible to tell from your narrative what actually happened in the game and what you made up...etc>>

Yeah, I have "struggled" with how to communicate the difference myself. What I figured is that this would be read with the idea that most already know and/or are familiar with the majority of the dialogs, so reporting those specific things is pointless. On the other hand, since I have basically changed the background and reason for existence of the main character, the "extra"/imagined conversations that I relate are intended to fill in the blanks and flesh out the story.. Otherwise, it's just another report of a "hack and slash" variation...

But, if you have any specific suggestion on how to differentiate the two, please tell me. I can consider almost anything and still have fun if what is suggested is doable.

===so on we go======
Korgan engaged in a staredown with Duharrel before they headed down the stairs into the sewers... For the first time in his life, Duharrel met eyes as steely and uncaring as his own. Another's life meant nothing to this dwarf... As Duharrel stepped aside, Korgan walked forward to head the group.

Korgan seemed to be at home here in the sewers Duharrel thought - moving deliberately, from dim area to darkness, not sneaking but not bulling mindlessly ahead either. As if he was familiar with this sewer, Korgan ran his hands into crevices and cracks in the walls, turned over a few pieces of debris and finally stopped, pointing ahead. Using hand signals, the six deployed.. Anomen, resenting the smelly dwarf's apparent self-confidence, held back, preparing to pray... "Doofus," thought Minsc. "Coward," thought Duharrel. "Useless," thought Korgan. Suddenly, skeletons appeared before the group and began moving away from them... Korgan slowly followed...

"Kregan and Kronag...hobgoblins," Korgan muttered to no one in particular. On the first movement of Korgan's arm throwing an axe at Kregan the hobgoblin shaman, Duharrel sprang forward, howling like a psycho banshee... Duharrel's club bashed first one head then another before Minsc and the others even reacted. Korgan's axe split Kregan's face from his right cheek to his left temple... The skirmish lasted but seconds after which Aerie stood shivering and quivering as blood splatters ran down her face.

Skulking around after leaving the others to loot the hobgoblin bodies, Yosh discovered a circular room with a drain in the center. The floor was slick with slime and a strange beast floated about it. Reporting this to Korgan, Yosh noticed the wild gleam in Korgan's eyes... Korgan's rush at the beast would have made a Minotaur proud, hacking and slashing mindlessly despite the slimy floor. The others folowed the mad dwarf though they slipped and slid across the surface... As Minsc stood beside Korgan swinging wildly, Aerie found that her lantern's flame ignited parts of the slime. She threw it at a part that appeared to be moving up Duharrrel's leg..... The flames ignited then disappeared as the fuel vaporized. Duharrel had barely noticed, though his movements seemed more labored....kind of like moving through molasses. Korgan's last great swing rendered the beast asunder but caused the dwarf to spin and fall in the slime, his great axe clanging as it rattled down through the drain grate. There was no way that Korgan was going to allow that axe to be lost, so he raised the grate and reached downward. Rummaging around, he found not only an axe, but a muldy and decaying hand... Aerie squealed as Korgan opened his backpack and stuffed the hand away for a later snack.

Continuing on, the group pilfered a ring from a pile of bones and slaughtered a slimy little priest who claimed the very air that Korgan breathed. Finally, they came to an old man petting a pile of something that looked dead but slithered like a worm. The old man mumbled something nearly incoherent about a sword and puzzle... Korgan motioned to Minsc and the pulsing mound of stinking evil quickly began oozing from his blows. Korgan slid his axe through the semi-liquid ooze and heard the ring of metal striking glass. Thinking the bottle he found might be a blood wine, he pocketed that to go along with the meaty hand from earlier.

They left the old man sulking in a corner and continued to explore. Duharrel was astounded to hear a voice coming from walls in a room or pipes. The voice demanded answers to questions and somehow shocked Duharrel when big D responded too slowly or incorreclty.. Eventually however, Duharrel remembered the ramblings of the old man.. returned to him, asked a few questions and came back to the pipe room... Again he was questioned by the wall voice... Somehow, a sword clanged from midair onto the floor. Duharrel sprang backward... magic?!?! Bah.... stay away from that he thought... Minsc came forward to claim the sword... And it spoke to him... !!!

More to come....


[This message has been edited by Kailynne Johanne (edited August 30, 2001).]

 

Nice contrasts with "purtty lil Aerie" together with those three brutes!

 

Great little story, just reading it for the first time. Keep it coming

 

Note: I decided to try to indicate "real dialogue" with "RD" or # while showing "literary licensed" statements and thoughts with "LL" or @'s - that is, unless it is relatively clear that the "dialogue" is NOT real dialogue (for example, Duharrel's thoughts in para. 3).

If luck were air, this entire party would be dead of strangulation!

Korgan's easily ticked off when not getting exactly what he wants...So, screw righting the wrong of enslaving the weak and helpless he thought. Korgan threatened to leave if the party didn't head for the graveyard like NOW! Duharrel stared blankly back at him and said, @"lead on." So, after a quick resupply at the Coronet, the party trudged through the rain to visit the headstone farm.

In his mind, Duharrel wondered why all these people made such a big deal about the dead - shit happens and you move on right? I mean, even Korgan had given up that blood and hand that he'd planned to snack on when that walled voice had made it clear that they were "its." Nevertheless, Aerie's teary eyes affected Minsc and the big galoot offered her a red scrap of cloth, that some idiot had given them after allowing himself to be nailed in a casket, to dry her eyes. Anomen drily remarked that the weak and the dead deserved to be ignored (RD though paraphrased). Yoshimo just did his thing, ripping off mourners for a copper or two, whacking some ghost's nephew after the cheapskate skimped on the burial, and learning that he really sucked at lockpicking. Pockets are so much easier, despite being a moving target, for some silly reason.

Eventually, Korgan found the tomb door he was looking for and dusk saw the crew underground. Anomen the ever-fearful began to pray like he had never prayed before and skeletons appeared. Aerie had listened and began the same prayer... more skeletons, though smaller (hey, she mumbled it, okay?). Sounds like knives being sharpened drew the party slowly forward - the skeletons were fighting some really big arachnids. Korgan screamed, @"Fresh meat" as he charged. Duharrel screamed, @"Dinner!!!" as he followed. Minsc offered his usual, "Butt-kicking for goodness" war cry and joine dthe fray. Yoshimo thought, @"I HATE spiders, man. Why does it HAVE to be spiders?" Aerie's plan was to try being one of the guys and rushed forward only to have a vicious little one latch onto her right butt-cheek. This got Minsc soooooooooooo mad, he had to quit wailing away at the largest spider. Minsc rushed over to help Aerie who had fallen to the ground and her skin begun to turn gray. The force of Minsc's next swing actually knocked Anomen down and got his attention at the same time. Rushing over to the fallen girl, he began whimpering like a child himself - or so it seemed to Minsc. Yet, her color began to return and her breathing became less labored. Minsc returned to the fray with unseen fury, moving from one spider to another - even jumping in front of others as they swung ineffectively at the eight legged creatures. Korgan, bloodlust in his own eyes, ran ahead of Minsc too far and disturbed another nest of the beasties. Mayhem became the order of the day - a whirlwind of steel, arrows, bullets and whimpering and simpering by Anomen as he tried to keep the real fighters alive despite their wounds. It was nearly a lost cause.

By the time that the periphery of the spider infestation was dispatched, Korgan, Minsc and Duharrel were on their last legs. Yosh had hidden long enough to get in two big swipes of his own, but he was pale from blood loss also. Only Anomen the fearful and Aerie, the girl who tried to be one of the boyz, were healthy enough to walk strongly. Praying by the "A-twins" and the bandaging had eventually stopped the blood loss, but no one really wanted to continue and all but Korgan whispered amongst themselves @ that maybe it was time for a little more caution and a little less desperation to find this stupid book of Korgan's. Korgan may be old, but his hearing is still good and @ he offered to relinquish the first spot if they headed back to the Coronet for a brewski. Duharrel was the only one to step forward - almost to his regret. Enroute the Coronet, slavers waylaid the group and for the first time in recent memory, the gods seemed to smile of Duharrel. With his left arm hanging nearly useless at his side, Duharrel reached deep within himself and found strength he had not known before. Emboldened, he attacked with a vengeance the slaver waving his arms and mumbling like Aerie sometimes did. Duharrel's mad rush startled the slaver enough that the wizard's sleeves burst into flames rather than whatever was intended - at least, so the cursing indicated. But, that cursing didn't last long - the dead tell few tales and two fell swoops of Duharrel's club consigned the wizard to his grave. While Duharrel's attention was occupied, Korgan took out one slave while arrows sprouted from his armor. Minsc too had arrows growing from his greaves when he finally stood still. Only Yosh had taken no damage which was lucky .

Though the price was high, the reward was nearly worth the pain and effort. Aerie steeled herself to search the wizard's remains and found numerous pockets each with rolled parchements containing obscure scribbling. Likewise, the boys stripped the other dead and left them lying in the street for ratfood - this despite Aerie's imploring to at least leave the corpses their codpieces. But Korgan wouldn't hear of it and even wanted to disfigure the bodies more. Duharrel shook his head at that and began walking off..... Eventually, all of them followed, but Korgan trailed behind and no one wanted to know why.

More to come....

After wearily dragging themselves back to the Copper Coronet, the party slept as the two priests calling on Divine Providence to assuage pain, heal wounds and restore lost energy. Unfortunately, Korgan and Minsc must have angered their dieties for the priests required another period of prayer, treatment of wounds and sleep before all were as new. Unloading excess inventory to a streetvendor, Aeire purchased a new shiny necklace, extremely light and sparkly.

Korgan's poor decision-making meant that it was Duharrel who dragged everyone out of bed. After a quick breakfast of snarfles and moonbrew, they headed back to those stairs down the Coronet's hallway.... Through the sewers again to the other stairs.... A quick stop to check for and quiet rattling objects and Yosh disappeared into the shadows before beginning to creep up the stairs.

He was back before Aerie's eyes even blinked. Duharrel listened as Yosh described a groupd of men loading wooden boxes in front of a cage with two green skinned monsters in it. He also told of hearing little girls crying but couldn't really believe that the sounds were coming from the crates like it seemed. Anyway, Korgan suggested just rushing the group... Minsc was all for that and Duharrel figured - why not? Anomen just shook his head and started praying again while Aerie loaded reached into her pockets for one of those parchments.

As Duharrel reached the top of the stairs, he saw one man drag a girl from a crate, thrust her into a cage with the green monsters and lock the door. That poor bastard died as Korgan's thrown axe exited his rib cage after entering his back. Minsc rushed another fellow putting a little boy into a crate. Tuhs occupied, the slaver's blood splattered all over the boy as Minsc's great sword split him from head to crotch. Duharrel's own reckless charge was slowed inexplicably after a figure in the center of the room dropped to his knees and raised his hands to the sky while moaning in tongues. Still, Duharrel moved forward and clubbed the figure. Yosh follwoed the walls and climbed up onto some crates from which he could fire arrows down on the remaining slavers. His Tuigan Bow's string sang a song of death as it was drawn and released again and again. Anomen and Aerie reinforced the morale of our firends somehow.... Aerie's high pitched squealing particularly helped Minsc and he glanced back at her each time he disatched a slaver - almost too long one time, receiving an arrow in his groin to remind him that some priorities are more important than others. Finally, blood seeped quietly between the floorboards and metal no longer clanged and clashed. Still, chests heaved from the exertion and the sound of teeth gnashing came from the cage.

Yosh was pulled down from his pirch by Minsc and pushed toward the cage door. He fiddled with the lock and stepped back. Anomen tried to (re)gain respect from the frontliners by threatening the green monsters with his mace. All that actually accomplished was to make him lok even more ridiculous in Korgan's eyes - wel, that and Anomen's having to limp back out of the way as Minsc threw Boo at the monster. Boo's teeth tore into the monster, such ferocity even Korgan had not ever seen from a hamster before. Together Misnc and Boo repeatedly kicked one mass of green flesh all over that cage but they couldn't seem to actually kill it.... It kept coming back to life.... And then another came out of the shadows... Korgan and Duharrel came to the rescue, atttacking the second green beast. Yosh went over to a lantern, pour its oil onto one shaft and fired at the beast that Minsc had once again bached to the ground... This time it stayed there.... Yosh repeated the fire arrow trick when the second creature lay motionless on the floor... Again, there was silence in the cave... Huddled in a corner quivering was an injured child, apparently thrown into the cage as sustenance for the fiend now lying lifeless on the floor.

Aerie held the child to her small breast for a moment then encouraged the child to head down the stairs and through the sewers to the Coronet.

Up some stairs and again the party liberated the enslaved... Lizards who stood at man-heights on their tails were dispatched by Yosh sneaking up on them in the shadows left by flickering lantern lights. He reported back to Duharrel, however, after encountering another room full of slavers. Everyone dropped their backpacks and steeled themselves again for a fray, well, everyone except Anomen of course. He just dropped to his knees and prayed. (Duharrel couldn't understand the man's apparent cowardice at all... Wasn't this the guy who talked such a great game about wanting to be a knight (whatever that was) and all?)

On a signal, all but Aerie rushed the slavers again... Duharrel was startled when one slaver suddenly seemed to have multiple images which moved in a circle around one point.... Taking a lesson from Minsc's favorite war cry, Duharrel simply swung for the eyes of each image and swung and suwng some more... The images started to disappear one by one. Meanwhile, Korgan's axe was dismembering another slaver, more like a butcher than a surgeon. Minsc had his hands full with two opponents - one coward standing across the room was making him look like a porcupine from all the arrows he managed to hit Minsc with. Yosh tried to help, but just could seen to hit that archer... Finally Anomen quit praying and moved into the room... His image was bright and shmmering, his eyes glazed and he was proclaiming that some God's wrath was to be brought down on those who were unworthy.... He seemed to have a glowing hammer in his hands rather than his normal mace...... Anomen struck at Duharrel's foe once and dispatched the final fake image just before Duharrel's club connected with it... And Aerie, littel Aerie.. she wasn't being silent either... Her mace gripped with both hands, came smashing down on the last helm of a breathing slaver to end the battle. In a moment, Anomen again dropped to his knees quivering and quaking, his eyes no longer glazed... his breathing labored and yet, he seemed strong, not tired.

It took only a few minutes to recover, surprisingly, there were few wounds - maybe the gods were happy that the weak and helpless were avenged - ??? Who knew or really cared? The party was all still alive and could ransack what was left of the slaver's building.... Even Korgan ooked at Duharrel with newfound respect... There seemed to be a deliberateness in Duharrel's eyes that hadn't been there before... Minsc stepped into the second position of march and Korgan dropped backwards into the third as the party left the building (did I hear someone whisper "elvis.. elvis"??? nah.).

More to come....


[This message has been edited by Kailynne Johanne (edited September 01, 2001).]