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Post by Leandros Aurthurian on Feb 16, 2023 15:42:35 GMT -5
The knight eyes up the last beetle trying to escape, lines up his shot, and then hucks his halberd. It is not a clean hit, but the pointed end pierces just enough of a chunk off that the beetle squeals in pain before tipping over dead. Halberds were not meant to be thrown, but desperate times.
With a relieved breath, he whistles Byrr over. He catches the reins and swings onto the back of the horse as it gallops past him at full speed and get out of the way of Shaa's technique. Leandros then leans over to pick up the halberd as they pass before catching up to Shaa.
"Clever work back there! I'd offer you a ride as well, but I doubt we would both fit." He grins, happy to see neither of them seem too terribly injured.
Leandros pulls Byrr to a slow stop once they finally catch up to the caravan, coming to trot beside them once again. At a quick glance some boxes seem damaged, but things were relatively unharmed.
"Every coin I lose from this is coming out of your pay!" Ever the businesswoman, Gemma seemed only concerned about profit, though with the adrenaline of battle and seeing a good fighter in Shaa, Leandros can much more easily shake it off this time.
He looks back to Shaa, making sure he kept up, "Are you all right friend? Hopefully nothing got you, I could feel the heat even through my armor.
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Post by Shaa Rhunn on Feb 18, 2023 10:19:20 GMT -5
Shaa chuckles a bit after catching up. Who me? Yeah, fine fine. He says after brushing off a bit of charred hair. The smell of it is pretty rotten but being smelly was worth the alternative of being crispy beetle sludge. After taking some time to survey the damage and hearing about Gemma’s comments on docked pay, Shaa was pretty pleased with the results. No one was dead, the caravan was still moving, even a bit ahead of schedule. The damage to the actual cargo was minimal. Some if the live stock ended up in the charred side but there was a certain allowance for that kind of thing on these trips.
There was something curious however. The mystery man and his plain cart seemed to both be completely unimpacted by the assault. Even the carts up front, the furthest away from the battle, sustained some peripheral damage. Shaa didn’t want to point it out just yet lest he raise suspicion but there was definitely something up with either the man or his haul or both. It may have nothing to do with the beetle assault but there was something in the equation of the situation that was missing and missing pieces could lead to destroyed caravans.
Hey, everyone looks ok for the moment. We are still have about another day’s journey before we hit the oasis. What do you say we make camp for the night, finish the repairs and….check to make sure everyone is “ OK” Shaa says with a not so subtle wink.
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Post by Leandros Aurthurian on Feb 18, 2023 13:31:47 GMT -5
"Not a bad idea, after an event like that it will give everyone a chance to settle."
Gemma grumbles thinking it over, "All right, but double time in the morning then!"
Leandros helps lead the caravan off the side of the road so they can start making camp. He takes down some water barrels, opening them up to give the livestock and horses a chance to drink. Next, a little food trough is set up for them. Lee always liked focusing on them first since they rely on people where as others can just grab what they need. As it seems like others are setting up their own tents and getting settled, Leandros leaves Byrr with the other horses and makes his way over to the minotaur.
"I don't think good guard, bad guard will work on our mysterious friend. Could just go bad guard, bad guard, or skip the tactics all together and confront him. You seem clever and shrewd, I'll trust your judgement out here." Leading a caravan in an unfamiliar land certainly was out of Leandros' comfort zone, but Shaa didn't seem to mind. And he'd already proven to the knight how clever he could be on the battlefield.
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Post by Shaa Rhunn on Feb 19, 2023 21:15:29 GMT -5
As they schemed together considering their next steps, Shaa found himself at a bit of a loss. They had trued trickery. They had watched the man come out unscathed during a bug invasion. Even looking at him now, he was cool as a yeti, like he knew some big secret that made him untouchable. Leandros suggestion of just confronting him was the kind of thing that made Shaa continually poor for having to pay damages. No, this needed a lighter tough.
I have an idea, hold out your hand. No matter what don’t drop me. Shaa breathed deep and pulled out a red coat from his bag of the infinite. Swinging the coat around his shoulders and giving a shake, he lets Leandros in on the plan. Ok I’m going to shrink down. When I do, I am going to need you to sneak me over and drop me in the cart. That way we can see what he is up to when no one is looking. And ummm, let’s just keep this between us yeah? Shaa shakes one final time and starts to shrink, smaller and smaller. He grabs Leandros by the hand and when small enough, he hauls himself up into his palm, only 6 inches high. It’s a weird feeling considering he is usually one of the biggest people around but it’s just the kind of thing no one would ever expect from him. Especially not this smug creep. ( on a tiny high pitched voice) ok I’m ready. Drop me in the cart when he’s not looking.
Red Rogues Coat- Shrink to 6 inches
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Post by Leandros Aurthurian on Feb 20, 2023 6:54:08 GMT -5
Leandros is certainly surprised to see the massive minotaur become diminuitive, the abilities of magical items still took him by surprise. People casting spells he understood for the most part, but a coat having magic was still a sight to see. It is a teneous game to make sure he holds his hand in a natural way, but avoid clenching his fist and crushing Shaa.
The shady looking man doesn't seem keen on leaving his cart, sticking by it even as other drivers start to join together in little groups for dinner. This guy was clearly hiding something and wasn't doing a great job of hiding it. He is just a person though and even as careful as he wants to be, he cannot ignore the call of nature. When he steps away to do his business, Leandros strides over to the wagon.
The knight stops in front of the cart to pretend to retighten his greaves. He puts a hand on the wagon to pretend to help hoist himself back up, depositing Shaa on the cart.
"Hey, don't touch my cart!"
Leandros puts up his now empty hands defensively, "Just needed the support standing up, takes a lot to get all this armor moving."
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Post by Shaa Rhunn on Feb 22, 2023 2:03:31 GMT -5
As soon as Shaa hit the cart, he slid down quickly and quietly into the dark below, just like before, he didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. All the boring cart stuff was just bigger. He patted himself down a bit, marveling at how small he was. Man, if he could only find a muffin now, he would be set for weeks. With no muffins or evidence, Shaa sat down patiently and waited. It wasn’t long before he could hear voices from the outside.
This delay is unacceptable. We need to get to the oasis and we need to get there now. It was the cart man, and he sounded upset. You need to calm down. I am in charge of this caravan and I decide when we move, not you or your employers. Was that Gemma? What was she talking about. You have been paid well for your services. It is up to you to deliver. Not me, not the caravaners or those hooligans you hired as security. That’s right. My job is to get us to the oasis, and we are getting there. Those beetles set us back and if we didn’t make repairs, we wouldn’t make it all. So you say. Indeed I do. We are in the home stretch, just keep your head down.
Shaa peeked out from the carts cover. The man was stroking a clear crystal around his neck that Shaa had noticed before. After a moment, he his the crystal under his robe. The man looks around again and disappears. Shaa takes the chance to escape by dropping down and running under the cart.
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Post by Leandros Aurthurian on Feb 22, 2023 17:16:21 GMT -5
"If you are dissatisfied with the security, I can find some more fire beetles and let you take care of them yourself." An unusually brusque reply from the knight, but he had little patience for those that sat on the sideline and complained while others did work.
There is some grumbling from the man as he returns to his cart, Gemma shooting him a non-withering look. It wasn't praise, but it was about the most anyone else had gotten out of her. Leandros parted from the cart and went to claim his own space to rest for the time being. Between his broad shoulders and the warhorse beside him, he did his best to offer Shaa a place to bulk back up and not raise any suspicions. He tried to keep his eye on the suspicious cart though.
Man....he and Shaa should've worked out a signal or call in case help was needed or just whenever this was done. He could only up the minotaur was pulling off a miracle.
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Post by Shaa Rhunn on Feb 23, 2023 18:51:03 GMT -5
As tiny Shaa runs under the cart, a million things are running through his mind. That guy did work for someone but who? There was nothing in the cart, why was he even in this stupid caravan? And what was up with that crystal, he had seen something like that somewhere before, he just couldn’t place it. Shaa was so deep in thought, he almost didn’t notice the sand rat, staring at him in the dark. Sand rats were actually all over the place but you tended not to notice them until they started trying to eat your provisions. But as Shaa was only 6” tall, this normally diminutive creature was now the size of a large horse.
Woah there buddy. I am not really tiny. I promise you, you do not want to do this. The sand rat put its ears back into stalking mode and started to slink towards him in the dark. I can totally see you bro. You really don’t want to mess with me. I am not what I look like! As he said it, realization dawns on him how he knows that crystal. That bastard. As the rat prepares to pounce, Shaa throws off his coat, immediately retuning to his large size. It is hard to tell who was more surprised. The rat or the now wide eyed cart man. Just were did you come from!
Shaa stomps his hoof at the rat who takes off into the darkness. Turning to the cart man, Shaa gives him a mysterious grin. Ohhh man, you almost had me. We have been walking together this entire time and if it wasn’t for that stupid rat, we would have delivered you tomorrow, no questions asked. No one the wiser. I kept saying to myself, where is the cargo? Where is the stupid cargo? But you don’t HAVE any cargo do you? No. You aren’t dropping something off. You are picking something or, more precisely, something’s up.
Several people have started to gather around in interest. The cart man is looking more nervous now than ever before. I told you that I was here on a fighters guild commission which was true. Actually, we get all sorts of commissions in the guild. One in particular stood out to me a couple weeks ago. I was planning on looking into it when I was done here. A story about children being kidnapped and perhaps being sold on the black market. It was weird though. They were disappearing en masse, no trace. Not the run of the mill street urchins or vagabonds no. These were kids with families, some powerful families. But they disappeared and then nothing. No demands. No ransom. Just gone. The crowd was getting very talkative and anxious now. They could all understand the implication but where was the proof? These guy had no kids in his cart.Even so, you could see the sweat glistening off the man’s face in the firelight.
Shaa walked over to the man and grabbed him roughly by the cloak. You are out of your mind beast! This is just slander. I will be sure your guild hears about this scandal. Shaa just looks at him and laughs. Oh really? Be sure to put this in your report. Shaa reaches into the man’s cloak and pulls out the crystal from earlier. With a hard yank, he breaks the chord that is tying it around the man’s neck. As he does so, the cart begins to shimmer. Suddenly the cart is no longer empty, but full of medium sized cages. Not big enough for adults, but just so for a halfling..or a human child. The crowd gasps and starts to clamor for answers.
Why would you need to hide cages buddy? Seems a bit sketchy to me. But I’m old school. You know when the last time I saw something like this was? I was at a pop up market. Weird dude at a stall was selling them. His pitch was pretty interesting. Hide anything, he said. Hide your treasure, your mistress….your shame… With a swing of his hand, Shaa smashed the crystal against the iron wheel of the cart. As he did so, the man vanished and in his place stood a Chthonian Mind Flayer, staring at him with as much hate as he could muster. I see you squid face. AND YOU ARE NOT GETTING AWAY WITH THIS!
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Post by Leandros Aurthurian on Feb 23, 2023 21:04:34 GMT -5
Well.....Leandros was unsure of whether or not this could be counted as a miracle. A spectacle, for certain, but not a miracle. Shaa is quite the detective though, just through observation Leandros is learning a lot about taking a more creative approach. Outside of Capitol Landing where he has any modicum of influence, it will take more than being big and looking tough to get information out of people. Changing sizes might be a step too far for him, but the art of subterfuge could be better explored.
He slowly stands to make his way across the sands, taking his time to let Shaa build his case against the man. Leandros didn't want to interupt his flow or have the man try and call on him to stop the minotaur. The knight is curious, he hadn't heard about disappearing kids, but it certainly seems to track. It explains all the oddness of the man.
The final reveal puts a nail in the coffin to explain everything. He only knew what he read about these creatures in books, but it all added up.
"So you wormed your way into tricking the caravan leader that you were a part of this group and act as if you're meant to be here. It is unfortunate for you that Shaa has a keener eye than most. Give up now or start thinking about which dune you want to be buried under."
Leandros parts through the crowd and finally comes to join Shaa, ready to grab the mind flayer if he tries to bolt.
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Post by Shaa Rhunn on Feb 23, 2023 21:54:05 GMT -5
The mind flayer slowly starts to back up. He is easily almost as tall as Shaa now except his head has tentacles, like a squid, in front of his mouth. He is wearing a dark robe and has long spindly fingers. His skin, bluish in tint, is stretched tightly over the bone. The crowd is all around him now so Shaa is curious as to where exactly he thinks he’s going.You think you have won do you troglodyte? Shaa felt his intelligence was being slighted but as he wasn’t sure what a troglodyte was exactly, he didn’t push the point. The short sightedness of the races of this world never cease to amaze me. You have stumbled out of your depth warrior. You are dealing with an intellect too deep for you to possibly fathom. Not that you need to mind you. You will, of course, be much too occupied…dying.
The creature raises his hands and mounds of sand start erupting all over the camp. Under each mound is another fire beetle and they are moving quickly. The caravan is excellent cover. No one would have noticed. A lone merchant can be just as easily effective. I can already picture their moppish faces as I tell the tale. “Oh no! Our poor caravan was attacked by fire beetles and our security was so inept, everyone died. I was only barely able to escape. Boo hoo! Hahaha! And of course, if anyone comes to check, that is exactly what they will find… Due to his somewhat chaotic nature, Shaa sometimes gets accused of being evil. But this guy, was like seriously evil. Like eating the last muffin evil. Like drinking the tears of orphans evil. Well crap.
When the caravan started to see the beetles emerge, they start to run back to their carts in a panic. This gives the flayer his chance to escape while Shaa and Leandros are forced to once again, deal with the beetles. Ughh , I am pretty sure I killed you guys already! Eerrgghh! the beetle screeches. Shaa kicks one hard and sends it flying off into the distance. Lee all take care of the bugs, you make sure that squishy bastard doesn’t get away!
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Post by Leandros Aurthurian on Feb 23, 2023 23:14:39 GMT -5
"Oh sure, leave me with easy job!" He says with a small laugh. Honestly this was the best course, Shaa had some area attacks that could deal with crowds much more effectively than him.
Leandros pulls his halberd, body sheathing itself in a golden aura as he does.[1] The mind flayer will immediately move in to try and grasp the knight, but a jab step forward thrusts the tip of his halberd into its chest, the reach keeping them apart.
"Do not think me so weak you feeble minded mortal!" The oddly shaped head pulses and a psionic blast sends Leandros backwards in the sand, tumbling over a cart.
"Solaria's blessings." Leandros shook his head as he stood up, thank the gods for all the armor he had to pad his fall. He scrambles to his feet as the Cthonian holds out a hand with three colored orbs to fire at the knight, two flying at him and one trying to hit Shaa from behind.[2]
One of the blasts goes wide as the knight ducks and sprints back towards the creature, but the second skids off his midsection deflected by his aura. He once more used the reach of his weapon to swing for the creature's hands and prevent it from casting another spell. Leandros swings in a wide uppercut, letting the halberd reach its full extension before bringing it down in a heavy overhanded swing.[3]
It attempts to throw up an arcane shield, but the hand is nearly broken by the shaft of the halberd as the axehead cuts deep into its chest.
1. Guardian Spirit 2. MF casting Tri-Beam 3. Titanic Reach
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Post by Shaa Rhunn on Feb 24, 2023 0:53:45 GMT -5
As Shaa looks at the panicked caravaners, he gets a tired feeling in his stomachs. If there was anything he really hated it was rework. He couldn’t afford to create another sand worm here lest he wreck the entire caravan. But he needed to take them out all at once. Well, that tares it, he was going to have to do this the old fashioned way. As he calls out to the group to hide behind their carts, Shaa notes a bright light to his left. He is able to turn just in time to have the magical blast strafe his shoulders. Gooses butt feathers… Shaa makes a mental note to pay squid face back for that if he gets the chance.
A fire beetle pops up to his side. Before it gets a chance to spew fire at him, Shaa grabs its mouth shut. The beetle starts shaking. Under the pressure of the spray, it has no where to go. As a result, the beetles head explodes under the pressure. Shaa hand gets a bit singed from the blow back as he shakes off some of the spray.
Ok kids, back up and watch the show. Shaa pull’s energy from the soul of the earth. Rocks and stones cover his hands and feet to give them protection. Shaa then focuses on the earth magic around them, Shaa slams his hands together and grows into a giant 40 foot tall Minotaur. Hands and feet covered, he starts stomping all of the beetles flat. He watches carefully to make sure hot beetle juice doesn’t spray as he stomps them until there is only a hot mass of beetle viscera left on the floor. The caravaners watch with a mix awe and horror as he finishes his gooey work.
Squid face! Let’s finish this!
Fighters Sense Giant Size Art of the Iron Fist
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Post by Leandros Aurthurian on Feb 24, 2023 19:43:05 GMT -5
Leandros looks back to Shaa with a bit of awe before looking back to the mindflayer with a little laugh, "Last chance, I doubt this will be pleasant for you."
The mind flayer had psychically held back Leandros' first strike, giving a little ground from how hard he hit. Squiddy hands wriggle to cast another the spell as the tentacled face wriggles with laughter.
Dark magic seems to shoot out from its hands creating an ethereal chain between itself and Shaa, "Now what will you do knight? Strike me and you'll grk!"
Before it could finish explaining the spell, Leandros drove his halberd through its chest while it attempted to monologue. He didn't know the spell, but he figured the best way to circumvent it was eliminating the caster. The flayer whithered with a dying squeal, but that's when the knight realized his folly.
The creature had cast Soul Shackle to bind itself to Shaa and share any damage between them. He looked behind him to check on Shaa only to see him wounded. "Gods, I shouldn't have rushed to end it. Shaa! I'll find a healer, just hold on friend."
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Post by Shaa Rhunn on Feb 24, 2023 22:00:21 GMT -5
Shaa felt a sharp pain in his chest. Feeling something wasn’t right, he releases the earth energy and shrinks back down to his normal size. Why does he feel so woozy? The world starts spinning and swimmming. He can hear voices talking to him, but he can’t quite make them out….then…darkness. He sits in darkness but he is somewhere, even if it is dark. Where was he? It was quiet here wherever it was, peaceful. From out of the darkness, he sees two lights coming towards him.
Shaa ..Shaa… The voice sounded familiar. Shaa….you have to wake up. Mom…is that you? The two lights burned brighter. Come on you pansy, GET UP! Dad? I don’t know how. In here, alone in a dark…in a dark nothing. Shaa Shaa. (in unison) YOU ARE NEVER ALONE….
The lights burn so bright, Shaa can no longer see the darkness. There is only the warm light. It burns through his very center and feels like it goes forever. Shaa opens his eyes. He is lying flat on the ground. He can see several people running around shouting. Hey! He’s awake! Get the knight , he’s awake! Shaa closed one eye and looked around, trying to focus on something. The world looked really weird from the ground and half dead. Shaa put his hand to his chest. Someone was holding some sort of towel on it, and it felt pretty wet with blood. Shaa opened the other eye. The person holding the moist towel on his chest was one of the caravaners named Graff. Apparently Graff had gotten the short straw.
How’s it going over there Graff? Graff seemed pretty upset at the whole situation. You DIED! And then…and then you weren’t. Wow, that sounds pretty rough. I know right! Shaa tried to lay still and breathe. They were still a dauphinois out from the oasis so any help might be a ways off. He could feel Graff switching out the towel and pressing hard on his chest. Hey, reach into my bag for my med kit. Its not much but it’s better than watching me slowly bleed out. Graff starts pulling out items. He gets to the jolly bag of gifts. What’s this? A roulette wheel in a bag. Give it a try. Ok. Graff reaches into the bag and pulls out….oGcEFZFs
Soul Guardian Jolly Bag of Gifts- Four Sided Top Bag of the Infinate
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Post by Leandros Aurthurian on Feb 24, 2023 22:14:03 GMT -5
A bit unceremoniously, Leandros had grabbed a priest by the arm and quickly lead him to the minotaur. The man clutched a holy symbol of Solaria and whipsered a spell before the hole closed on the minotaur's chest.[1] Leandros sighs as he kneels down beside the minotaur.
"I may regret this, but your food and drink is on me in Sol City for as long as we are both alive. It's the least I can do for this. I didn't stop to think what magic that thing had cast....I should not have been so thoughtless. Charon would be a lesser place without you."
He offers a hand to help Shaa up if he feels up to it. The guilt on Leandros' face is very visible, accident or not, killing someone is never something to celebrate. It would have been even worse if it was someone he quickly came to respect.
1. Massive Healing
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