In the cargo hold of the shrieking ship of Shriekpot...Sigmund realizes that he hasn't introduced himself yet. And that simply won't do, will it?
"I don't know if I have been introduced to you, I'm Sigmund GrimDrake, and went through the same process than Kevin and Morton. I just wanted you to know who am I currently, as I have changed since the last time you saw me.""Don't really REMEMBER YOU THAT WELL, though that might just be MY MEMORY PLAYING TRICKS ON ME! PLEASED to meet you. AGAIN. PRESUMABLY. I'm the CAPTAIN. I'M SURE YOU REMEMBER ME."He seems about to extend his hand, but he probably suddenly remembers he's intangible, pulling his hand back and looking at the large man at the same time as Sigmund addresses him.
"Excuse me, but I think that we haven't met before, so, would you mind explaining who are you, what is your business in this vessel? We usually don't get guests here."The large man looks humbled by the fact that somebody finally publicly acknowledged his presence in the room.
"Who, me? I'm Humongous Hugh Haliburton, I doubt you've heard of me. I live in the docks, and I'm here because a fellow came up to me and asked me whether I could do some hauling."Suddenly,
Scott appears in the doorway, coming up to the large man.
"You. Come with me. Booze awaits.""Oh, there he is. I have to go now. Pleased to meet you all."Humongous Hugh follows Scott out of the ship, leaving
Kevin, Sigmund and the Captain alone. They stand there for a moment until Kevin speaks.
"Nice story! I think I'll go find Mort now, he hasn't seen me after the change yet. Do you know where he is, Sigmund?"Sigmund considers the question. Where could the desk be? Where can any man or piece of furniture be said to truly
be?
Scott, meanwhile, takes Humongous Hugh to the Feisty Jelly, where they approach the barkeep.
"Two barrels of pure, distilled hangover, please," he says, handing two gold coins to the man.
"Two barrels of the Special, then - they're out back," he says, pointing out the back door.
"I'm assuming I don't need to be showwin' you the way? Just out the door, really."Hugh nods, then heads out. Moments later, he is back, two barrels held in his arms.
"These aren't very heavy, I notice.""Well, the Special's a bit lighter than water - nothing I can be doin' about that."Ah, the Special. Manna from the heavens, to be sure.
In the streets of Shriekpot...Mark realizes one thing about this situation - he is most certainly in deep shit. Therefore, only one course of action makes sense - he must cheese it most verily!
[Mark escape roll vs. Guard encirclement: 2+1 vs. 1]
He backpedals, tumbling right into a guard, yet miraculously keeping a hold on his books! The guards, not expecting him to run so quickly, fail to move in for the capture, allowing Mark to begin running!
[Mark escape roll: 3+1]
[Guards pursuit rolls: 1, 3, 1, 4, 1, 5, 3, 1, 4, 2+1]
Fortunately, his ducking and weaving allows him to lose at least four guards almost immediately as he runs down a perilous alley!
[Mark escape roll: 3+1]
[Guards pursuit rolls: 3, 1, 5, 5, 2, 2+1]
He then manages to lose another one by diving over a convenient fence, and only two guards still manage to gain on him!
[Mark escape roll: 3+1]
[Guards pursuit rolls: 2, 6, 5, 4, 4+1]
He nearly gets away, too, but of the four guards still pursuing, two of them reach Mark, performing valiant tackles!
[Tackle: Guard 6 vs. Mark: 2+1 vs. 5+
1+
1]
[Tackle: Guard 7 vs. Mark: 3+1 vs. 1+2]
Though the first one flies past Mark, the second one manages to get him, grabbing onto his skeleton and trying to take him down!
[Opposed Strength: Guard 7 vs. Mark: 1+1 vs. 6]
Mark just kicks him away, though, resuming his run!
[Mark escape roll: 5+1]
[Guard pursuit rolls: 3, 3, 4, 6+1]
The tackling guards fall behind, leaving only one two more following him!
[Guard Sergeant vs. Mark: 4 vs. 4+1]
As he runs, Mark observes some kind of weird thing sail past him, two balls connected by a string. How odd.
[Mark escape roll: 1+1]
[Guard pursuit rolls: 5, 5+1]
He is so distracted, in fact, that he runs right into a wall, allowing the two remaining guards to catch up to him rather easily!
[Grapple: Guard Sergeant vs. Mark: 5+1 vs. 3+
1]
Mark is then seized by the rather heavily breathing helpful man, who puts his metallic arms in a rather inconvenient hold.
"You run fast, my friend. Manacle him, MacDermott," he says to the other guard, who also seems to be rather out of breath by now.
[MacDermott manacling roll: 5]
Public Peace Officer MacDermott secures Mark's right arm to his left leg and his left arm to his right leg, then manacling the left and right legs together, quietly grumbling throughout the process. The manacles, surprisingly enough, are sufficiently small to restrain him rather nicely.
"You see, MacDermott? It always pays to bring the juvenile delinquent manacles with you, heavy though they may be. Now, be a dear and get those books back to our friend, will you? Remind him that he had better make good on that money, though. This was exhausting."MacDermott nods, picking up the books carefully and leaving. The sergeant sighs, turning to Mark.
"Well, my friend, we had best take you to the jail, eh? Amateur shoplifter though you may be, this was quite the outrageous crime, I hear."He starts to poke Mark into a certain direction, leading him out of the alley they are currently in.
In the den of the shrieking ship of Shriekpot...Morton is somewhat distraught at the news.
"Oh... Oh dear." A moment of silence follows.
"I had wondered why the chair was left alone on the deck. I had seen Chef Niklas when he was a fish and wondered at his predicament, he spoke something about an event that took his body and weapons away, although he sounded more concerned about the weapons. Try not to feel too bad, good Mage Erin, one cannot go against the orders of their bound master, you had little choice in the matter of turning him into a chair, I've learned that bound to Master Gary. It seems I was right in that it was an accident, however, and while I feel sad for Niklas in his current state, I recall he wasn't very lucid previously.""Well, yeah, but I kinda drove 'im to the point where he flipped out, ya know? I think, at least. Not sure what happened."Well, but it's not like being furniture is all that terrible. It can be good for a man, really.
"I have experience with being furniture after all, it isn't so bad, I can rightly say," Morton notes cheerily.
"It's kinda... different for ya. Y'can see, hear, move semi-normally - he can't. He's in that chair, trapped almost completely.""I will say, good Mage Erin, that your concern about the situation does tell me good things about you, I can promise I place you in a favorable category." "Well, good intentions hardly count, do they, if ya screw everything up? Thanks, though. Validation's always good.""Perhaps I can help mediate, though? Do you think that if we could convince Master Artiste that Niklas has calmed down, he could be changed back? I know Niklas, we've worked together for a while, perhaps I can help reconciliation for the accident, things happen after all, yes? I wouldn't consider myself the best brewer if I had just woken up. Does he even know that we're here?"He taps the chair for a moment.
"Niklas, can you hear us?"The chair doesn't move in any way.
"I dunno what's happening to the poor schmuck in there. I've never been an object before. Like, an actual object. I don't think he can tell we're here. Well, by sound, anyway."In Karina's home...Darren hates to disappoint someone, really.
"Well," he says, experiencing a pang of reluctance as he gets perilously close to revealing important information,
"I'll tell you, if you really want to know. Typically, I'm not supposed to, but for you, I can make an exception."Karina shrugs.
"Sure, I guess. Do you use a spellbook or something? Like a spell-notepad of some kind? Or is it one of those crystals that allow you to bend light or something? Or are you a mentalist? Putting images straight into my mind and whatnot?"
Author
Topic: Life Begins At Death - Epilogue: We Live And Live Again (Read 538303 times)