Adventures in Buc's Den

"The Buc's Den Journals (nt)"

Posted by The Buc Den 5

"Day One- The wreck and a bit of luck"

Posted by Penn-Hedley III on 06-30-00, 09:29 PM (CST)
The "Muddle" is lost. The crew had a lapse in vigilance and we drifted too close to shore. Then, though I hate to say it of my friends, I am afraid that everyone but me panicked. Lacking proper support, there was nothing I could do to save the ship. Fortunately my cool thinking got us close enough to the beach to swim ashore, but we were stranded. We drug ourselves ashore and realized almost at once where we were. Buccaneer's Den. Bad show. We attempted to call for help, but there is something wrong - that strange chap Pinkwater says it is some kind of magic tampering with the ether, or some such rot. Didn't really understand. A lot of mumbling. At any rate, here we are stranded in this hostile place. We got ashore with no supplies of any kind except for our daggers. I immediately deduced the most serious need was for tools. These are still available from the merchants on the island, but you have to get to them first, and of course we had no funds. We would have to kill some game in order to get the money for basic tools. As the most accomplished hunter among the stranded, I accepted responsibility. Searching the area for signs, I discovered that the only nearby creatures were four giant serpents (all around us) and four people. Four? There were our trusty healers Raul and Scott, the leatherworker Gareth, and someone named Spalding. Spalding was here! He no doubt was leading a rescue party sent to bring us back! I rushed out to meet Spalding. Do you know there are people on Buc's Den called "Bone Dewds" who are very rude? Hrmph. That was Spalding. He attacked me almost as soon as I stepped from the healer shack and followed me back inside. I don't think I had even wounded him before he struck the fatal blow. Then, a surprising thing happened. Raul the healer, who had shown no interest in the combat while I was still alive, suddenly decided to avenge me. He attacked and killed Spalding there in the shack. Once I was rezzed I searched the body and found a wonderful windfall- over 200gp, a full set of bone armor, a jar of honey, a ringmail tunic, and a longsword! Suddenly, due to the courageous sacrifice of well, hrmph- ME actually, we were in business! Now we needed to get the money to a tool merchant.

"Day 2- The long sneak"

Posted by Smudge on 06-30-00, 11:31 PM (CST)
"I don wanna go on no boat," says I, "Why should we go out on no boat?" But that Penn-'Edley, 'E don't lissen ta nobody. Wal, it were real nice fer a while. We 'ad some good ale and the weather was fair and the boat a'rockin'. We thought that Penn-'Edley 'ad some kinda idee whar 'e was goin' and whut 'e was doin'. So we all dozed off and thet crazy 'Edley ran smack inta Buc's Den Eye-land. Then Ajax's rabbit, Longfellow went burr-zerk and Pinkwater tried to fry it wi' a lightnin' bolt and 'omer whacked 'im an all the time 'Edley runnin' around 'ollerin' "Don't give up the ship." Wal, the ship gave us up quick enuf, it did. Sank like Ranger Sargent Prigg after 'is fifth beer. At least we all got ta shore okay, but we was some shook when we figgured whar we was. We 'ad ta git some supplies an' purty quick. Penn-'Edley took the first watch an' boy was 'e ever lucky. 'E was as surprised as the rest o us whin thet 'ealer killed the bone guy, but 'e tried ta pree-ten thet thut was 'is plan all along. Then we all knew it wuz up ta me ta git the money to the carpenter way up north an' bring back the tools. Thanks to the bone guy loot, I 'ad decent armor (ar 20) for the trip, but it war clear I wasn't gonna win my way there fightin'. So I sneaked. I 'id and sneaked an' waited an sneaked an' 'id again. It took me three trips afor I got over the first bridge. I brung back a few giant sir-pants fer the 'ealers. I din 'ave ta die ta git thar 'elp like 'Edley did. I jus brung them in an 'id and the serps an' 'ealers 'aved addit. "ealers always won. I dint tho. I brung back a brigand an' thot I cud take 'im myownself. Almost did, but 'e got me. Still, I made shore 'e was inside the 'ealer shack an' they finished 'im. I got to the bath 'ouse three times an' 'ad ta turn back. I wuz pie-zoned onct and knew I couldn't make it back, so I lit a fire, but I died ennyway but got my stuff. I killed a brigand on me own over at the bath 'ouse and kilt a pie-rate in the jungle tryin' ta sneak up on the car-painter. The serps really like ta 'ang out around the forge. 'ad a bitta trouble wit' a doppleganger too. Finally, I made it. Bought tinker tools an' pick an' shovel an' some in-gots and brung them back fer Penn-Ed ta make inter more tools.

"Day Three- Wood you be my friend?"

Posted by Ajax Mayflower on 07-01-00, 03:47 AM (CST)
Let's get the story straight on the shipwreck. Mr. Benn-Hedley was just subbosed to take us for a boatride around Britain Bay on a three hour tour. A three ho-ur tooour. But he got lost. Then we all fell asleeb and Benn-Hedley had the Shib bointed straight at an island. Longfellow, my bunny friend, was the only one baying attention, and when he saw what was happening he tried to wake us up and warn us. He did it, too. But Benn-Hedley didn't know what to do and just kebt running in circles. Binkwater thought Longfellow was attacking him and he tried to "zab" him, but Mr. Oldham stobbed him by bunching him in mouth as he cast the sbell so it kinda came out "Corb *mumble*" and it didn't work. Mr. Smudge did one of his "slids into the shadows" thingees and hid under a bench. So we just kebt banging into the island til the boat sank. We all would have drowned, except that Longfellow rescued us one by one in the ocean and drug us up on the beach. The last I saw of him, he was swimming out again, brobably trying to save more of our subblies. But even a bunny has his limits, and he never came back. *sniff* I sure am gonna miss that brave little guy. Since then, Smudge came back from the carbinter and Benn-Hedley made me a hatchet and a hammer to go with my dagger. My job at that boint was to make wood stuff. I chobbed a bunch of trees and made shields, staves, a bunch of bows to sell, and, most imbortantly, some fishing boles. A brigand tried to mug me while I was chobbing, but I kilt him with my hatchet without even breaking a sweat. That was subbosed to be the end of my work for now, but I let the easy killing of the brigand make me cocky. I decided to check out the way to the brovisioner. I found the blight over there and an ent and a whole bunch of sick grizzly bears and a mage. They got me binned against a wall and killed me good. Benn-Hedley ran over and recovered some of my stuff, but the ent got some of the best. Later, Homer somehow managed to get the ent into the healing shack and hid from it, so the healers killed it and we got the stuff back. The next things we needed were food, bandages and ore.

"Day 4- Something Fishy"

Posted by Pinkwater on 07-01-00, 10:27 AM (CST)
I was all a *mumble* plot. I didn't want to go on any *mumble* boat ride and I said so, but they are all SUCH good friends of mine and would feel SOOO *mumble* bad if I didn't join in the fun. Innocent that I am, I bought it. I put up minor objections when that mentally *mumble* giant brought his rat along. When the *mumbles* got to the spot where they were going to dump my body (depriving science of a valuable treasure), they sent the rabid rat to attack. When he didn't succeed, that *mumble* Homer Oldham attacked me himself. That grimy *mumble* orphan poacher disappeared and I'm sure he was sneaking up on me with a knife, while the Pin-Hed was jumping around try to get behind me where he could get the drop on me. They were so intent on their plot to murder me, they wrecked the *mumble* boat. Once we were on the shore and they realized what a *mumble* fix we were in, they recognized that their only hope for survival rests with my scientific genius, and they all acted as if nothing had happened but a shipwreck. But I know. I've always known. They are waiting for their chance, and I'm waiting for mine. The first few days were actually quite pleasant. The others kept bringing things into the healers shack that died and kept dying there themselves. I had almost unlimited body parts for conducting *mumble* experiments and all of the medical facilities of the healer's clinic at my disposal. These *mumble* healing clowns are real Keystone Curers. They are slow to react to medical emergencies and fail in their higher-level spells 75% of the time. All the better for my work. Finally, they are starting to get hungry and they came to me. I told the *mumbles* that I had been getting PLENTY to eat but they just looked at me funny. They gave me a fishing pole and kicked me out of the shack, no doubt confident that the local denizens would finish me. No such luck. I fished without incident for some time, then went to work cooking. Before I finished my *mumble* watch, we had stockpiled almost 500 fishsteaks and sold many rarer fish at a profit. They used the money to buy hides, and that kama-kazi boater Penn-Hedley sewed them into several sets of studded armor. I'm off duty now, but I never sleep.

"Day 5- Don't mind mining"

Posted by Homer Oldham on 07-01-00, 10:42 AM (CST)
I have no clue what happened. I guess everyone pretty much did what they always do. Penn-Hedley acted with incompetence and then panicked, Pinkwater jumped to conclusions, Smudge hid, Ajax worried about his bunny, and I had no clue. And the boat sank. Difficult as our situation is, I am amazed at how well things are going. By the time it was my turn to act, we had a pretty nice set of armor made up of ring mail, bone, and studded. I had a captured longsword and a wooden kite shield. A lot of the stuff was high quality. My job was pretty simple: to mine ore. So that is what I did today for hours. I had to fight an earth elemental and that was tough with the weapons and armor available, but I killed it with only one "time out" for healing. I was also jumped by a pirate and a bone dewd. I killed the pirate and the healers got the pirate and the healers got the dewd. Among the loot was a real treasure: two orange potions! I am finished now, and have loaded up a pack with over 1000 plain iron ores and all of the assorted by-products. As soon as we get some bandages, I will take it to the forge myself.

"{for your eyes only} By the way..."

Posted by Homer on 07-01-00, 10:48 AM (CST)
Longfellow is fine. He spoke to me before he left and said he was sorry he couldn't stay and help us, but he had to think of his family. He swam to another island to find his own survival. He said he couldn't stand to be "marooned" with us, except it sounded more like he said "moroned".

"Day 6- Sickness and medical supplies"

Posted by Smudge on 07-01-00, 11:11 AM (CST)
They woked me up to let me know it was time to sneak again. This time, I'd 'ave ta cross the near bridge and turn left (South) and cross 'nother bridge and go down the road to the provisioners. They gave me 1500gp to buy bandages wit'. Jus' me cuppa tea, a' course. I 'ad no trouble crossin' the bridges, but then thengs got kinda dicey. Thar's a big ol' blight thar, an' the place is infested with diseased wolves and (much worse) grizzleys. I 'ad ta thin those out a bit, so I 'ad ta fight some. I 'ave a captured kryss and a bit o' armor now, so I kin take a 'ealthy grizzley. The pie-zone from these sick ones makes things trickier (especially until I get the bandages). My strategy was ta 'ang in there fightin' until the critter was dead or run off, then light a fire an' try ta rest away the pie-zone. Worked okay as long as I didn't get to low on 'ealth afore I rested. Onct I got to the blight, I dee-tected a mage, a necromancer, a pie-rate an' a doppleganger in the vacinity. I got the drop on the pie-rate and gave 'im a new smile. The rest I avoided, tho the necromancer sent some a' 'is friends ta 'arass me. I took them inside the provisioner's shop wi' me and kilt them with a angry mob a' sick bears bangin' on the walls. I bought almost 500 bandages ('ey- I 'ad ta take out me tip, dint I?) and 'eaded back. I dint sneak much goin' back, jus' outran 'em. Still, when I got back to the 'ealers I was alive by a thread and pie-zoned ta boot.

Day 7: "Disaster strikes"

Posted by Homer Oldham on 07-01-00, 12:26 PM (CST)
I felt pretty good heading out. I had an AR of 23, a longsword, a nice supply of bandages, and two orange potions as I carted my huge supply. I should have been more worried when I got almost to the bath house with no sign of trouble. From there upward it was crowded though. There was the normal nest of serpents, two adept mages, a couple of brigands and a master of the wind. As I was pondering how to get through that nasty outfit, a bone dewd jumped out of hiding right in my face. I couldn't take him so I ran around the bath house to shake him. I did that okay, and found myself face-to-face with an adept mage. I decided it was time to see if we were ready for those guys, and waded in. I managed to kill him without anyone else getting into the fight, but the mage had put a curse or two on me, so my abilities were diminished. When I looted him, I was amazed to find NO reagents. I hoped this would not continue to be the case, or we could be here a lonnnng time. As I got ready to move on, I was jumped by a brigand who was backed up by another adept mage. This was a bit risky, but I stayed to fight. I badly wounded the brigand and he ran. Since I needed to get out of the range of the mage anyway, I chased him. Somewhere along the line I must have taken a wound or poisoning I was unaware of, because I thought I was fine and just administering the killing blow on the brigand, when suddenly, I died. This was embarrassing. I was at the far end of the lagoon with all of our ore in a crowd of bad guys who would soon be pawing through my belongings. We had to try to save the shipment. Penn-Hedley drew the short straw and headed out along the east bank of the river and lagoon. As he slipped past the inn, he was jumped by a bunch of bad guys and turned East. Suddenly, the earth opened up and he fell into a hidden ravine. He couldn't climb back out. Worse, the enemies above him could slash down at him and wound him, but he could not even see them most of the time. He fought a courageous running battle through the ravine, but was finally killed by an unseen assailant near the eastern shore, his body still imprisoned in the crevice, out of reach from the surface. Meanwhile, the shipment of ore was still in danger of being lost, so Smudge went out. He did not want to end up like PH3, so he stayed close to the shore until he was well North of the lagoon. It didn't matter. He somehow fell into the same ravine system that had swallowed Penn-Hedley, and quickly found himself under attack from unseen assailants. He fled West, looking for a place to hide. Being himself, he found one, but it was way over beyond the forge. From there, he began sneaking through the tunnels he patiently worked his way clear across the island to the spot where PH3 had fallen and recovered most of his belongings. He still could not escape, however, so he huddled up to wait. Eventually, he was released, no doubt by divine intervention, as he has no clear memory of how he escaped the trap. Meanwhile, there was still a tiny hope for recovering the ore. Pinkwater was sent. He made it to the site of my body, but the forces of evil had counted on just such a recovery effort. They popped out of hiding all around him when he approached and quickly killed him and stripped him of his belongings. This was a terrible blow to our progress. We must now take stock of where we stand and inventory the remaining supplies, then back up as many steps as necessary to figure out what to do next.

"Day 8- Losses not as bad as feared"

Posted by Penn-Hedley III on 07-01-00, 02:10 PM (CST)
Perhaps the setbacks from the ore shipment loss and its aftermath will not be quite as bad as we feared. All of the ore was lost, and much other valuable equipment, but we still have all basic tools and serviceable weapons, armor, food and medical supplies. We will bolster each of these categories before we head North with another shipment, to be on the safe side.

"Day 9- Gone Fishin'"

Posted by Pinkwater on 07-02-00, 11:02 AM (CST)
My *mumble* assignment today is replenishing our food supply. Once again, this was done almost without *mumble* incident. Have you noticed that I am the only one around here who can do their job without making a lot of *mumble* trouble and fuss? I fished up a couple of walruses, which added to the food and leather supply, and one wave elemental which I was able to kill with only a little help from the healers. I also fished up a message in a bottle which gave the location of another *mumble* shipwreck. How badly do I want to get on a boat again. I threw it back, but Pinhead saw me and made me fish it out again, so it is in our supplies (for now). I also got a treasure map. If it had been on the island, that would have been real interesting, but our *mumble* cartographer-shipwrecker says it points to Ice Island, instead. I ended up cooking up over 500 fishsteaks and made a lot of money selling the rarer varieties.

"Day 10: We can take these guys!"

Posted by Ajax Mayflower on 07-02-00, 11:19 AM (CST)
I went wood chobbing to make us some money. We will use it to buy leather for making studded armor, since some of us are wearing bieces of blain leather after the disaster. I got bored and did a bit of hunting. I killed a brigand and a birate and found a neat treasure! A magic longsword. Binkwater says it is a "Longsword of Quality." I like to use a big axe, so we gave it to Homer. I also killed another adept mage and found a "Master of Wind" on our half of the island. I started to run, but decided we needed to know what these guys have, so I fought him. More brecisely, I killed him. We're thinking now that there is nothing on the island we can't kill, if we handle it right (that means helb from the healers on the bone dewds). However, there is also bad news here. On none of the mages we have killed have we found a single magic reagent! That was one source we had hobed for to escabe. We did get one scroll, so there is still hobe. Three mages, one scroll (a disbel sbell). This could be a long vacation. Anyway, I chobbed about 3000 logs. I turned them into bows to sell because that's quick and easy and allowed us to stockbile some exceptional bows (there are no birds, but we have now gotten 6 arrows and one bolt among our loot). I bought a lot of leather, saving plenty of money for Smudge's bandage run.

"Day 11: The first signs of skill loss"

Posted by Penn-Hedley III on 07-02-00, 11:45 AM (CST)
I set about tailoring some natty protective garments from the newly-purchased leather. During the process, I noticed a problem. Now, I was never a bloomin' master tailor, but I find that the repeated death-resurrection traumas have now noticeably impaired my abilities. I can still make smaller studded items of high quality, but studded tunics and trousers are now barely in my capability. I never make a quality one (they were always rare) and I have to go through an immense quanitity of hides just to produce one such item. I shudder to think of the consequences if we were to lose Ajax's smithing skills. Nevertheless, I was able to replace all of the plain leather gorgets and trousers that had crept into our wardrobes.

"Day 12: Back to the Mines"

Posted by Homer Oldham on 07-02-00, 11:54 AM (CST)
When I got up this morning and went to get my shovel, I found that the sight of it made me physically ill. Losing the first load of ore and the tedious work, even more than the constant danger, is starting to wear on my spirit. I just completed my 25th consecutive meal of fish steaks. Well, maybe that is a tiny exaggeration. Ajax captured a small bunch of grapes a few days ago (we each got 3 grapes for dessert, and Pinkwater cooked up a few walrus ribs yesterday. Oh, well, *dig* *dig* *dig*. Another 1000 plain iron ores and the normal assortment of rarer ones. No incidents to speak of. There is a necromancer just over the inlet to the south that has been shouting obscenities at me, but I seem to be just out of his magic range. An alligator was padding around just offshore for a while, but he declined my invitation to dinner.

"Day 13 (appropriate): The bloody Necro War"

Posted by Smudge on 07-02-00, 01:02 PM (CST)
My job, yer see, was to take a wad o' cash and sneak to the pro-vishners for bandages. The problem was that the neck-romancer over there, who 'as been spyin' on us from across the water fer some time, had taken up re-seed-ants on the South end of the second bridge. Now, I could prob'ly 'ave snuck by 'im, but I figgured that 'aving 'im on the bridge behind me would be a risky prop-o-ease-shun in case I 'ad to beat a 'asty retreat, as I am want ta do, from time ta time. So I cleverly decides ta lure 'im away ta the North past whar the tanks kud deal wit' 'im later. Them Necros 'ave more tricks than I figgured. Instead a chasin' me like a proper magic fool, 'e kept surroundin' me wi' 'is pesky minions, then zappin' me wi' 'is magic. 'E finally pinned me in against the riverbank and kilt me an' made off wi' the bandage money. I rezzed and tried ta git some o' me stuff back, but I only succeeded in lurin' 'im across ta our part o' the eye-land. I decided ta 'ide out behind the 'ealers shack an' let the tanks take care o' the bloke, as they 'ad become quite 'andy whackin' on magic types. Old 'omer 'ad told us of 'ow 'e used ta whack neck-romancers at the crossroads of Brit in 'is younger days. Wal, I guess they don't make tanks and neck-romancers like they usedta, 'cause this guy whipped 'omer and Ajax and Penn-Edley up one side and down 'tother. 'E kilt them North, South, East and sidewise, lootin' as 'e went. Ya coont see no grass on the eye-land 'cause it was all covered wi' the bodies o' nekkid shipwrecked idjits. Then they re-luck-tint-lee dee-sided ta fall back on our fav-o-rite dirty trick, an' let the 'ealers take care o' 'im. As I said afore, neck-romancers don't properly get 'erded like most bad folk. 'omer died so many times gettin' im inta the shack, it looked like 'e 'ad lured 'im in wi' a trail o' 'Omer bodies, like a bird after bread crumbs. The ol' boy did it, tho, then sit back ta watch the demise o' our most 'ated enemy.
Oops.
We watched in dis-bee-leaf as the no-good grave robber kilt first one 'ealer, then 'tother. Now whut? At that time, I wuz th' only one alive outside the shack, tho I 'ad nothin' on me but my deathrobe. 'omer and Ajax were both ghosts. Pinkwater was 'oldin' our main stock of supplies, and 'e was 'idin' somewhar inside the shack. We warnt shore whar PH3 was, but we thought 'e was in there too, an' 'e 'ad some stuff we needed ta save ('aving managed ta sneak out an' loot a couple o' our bodies earlier). So 'omer, Ajax an' me were cut off from our colleages, our supplies an' our shelter. We knew there was an ol' traveling 'ealer named Carl at the other end o' the eye-land, so that was whar we needed ta go. But we needed ta save whut we could uf the stuff scattered over the battlefield. Thet wood be ME job. So I sneaked 'ere an' thar an' ran when I was spotted, but I found a coupla bodies thet 'ad not been picked clean and collected whut I could. Then I re-equipped meself to th' point thet the zombie and skelaton minions swarmin' around cud not kill me wi' out 'elp from ther "daddy". I cleared sech critters from around Carl and 'id in a shack nearby. Then Ajax an' 'omer came down an' after many failures an' waits fer manna (ol' Carl 'as a kind 'art but 'e's not rilly a verry good 'ealer). Wal, we was still in a pickle. Killin' the neck-romancer livin' in our old house, was clearly not a option. Whut we 'ad ta do, wuz git 'im outta thar. Natcherly, ol' 'Omer speaks up an' sez, "I got 'im in thar, it's my job ta git 'im out". We cudn't afford ta lose any more stuff, so 'omer jus' took our only newbie dagger an' a load of firewood an' went off ter see the neck-romancer. Not one gud brain sell in thet ol' grey 'ead, but that 'omer is one brave cuss. 'E did it, too. He fought an' dodged 's way thru them minions, an' lured them away from the shack. Then 'e walked right up to the front door o' the ex-'ealers shack an' opened it and called the neck-romancer dirty names ta' git 'im ta come out. Mostly, the necro 'e jus' threw out lightnin' bolts an' skelatons (an' one dee-man which was a considerable in-con-vee-knee-ants). Finally, 'omer called 'im a life-insurance cheat, an' thet did the job. As soon as that Necro got out o' the shack, 'e killed 'omer, but the ol' boy 'ad come through. We moved back in, but all the bodies was gone by then. After a while, new 'ealers arrived from 'ealer 'eadquarters (I guess Carl complained about the overtime). We 'ad ta accept thet we wood 'ave a neck-romancer fer a neighbor fer a while.

"Day 14: Aftermath of a bunch of *mumbles*"

Posted by Pinkwater on 07-02-00, 01:12 PM (CST)
Well, it could have been worse, I suppose. They might have killed ME. We took inventory after the Necro War, and found that we still had plenty of food and basic supplies, although the *mumble* bandage shortage was starting to cause concern. We lost some of our best pieces of armor and weaponry, including our magic longsword. We were back where we were a few days ago, except weaker and with undesirable new neighbors. Actually, I think, under other circumstances, the necromancer and I might have been good friends, but the fact that his minions leave no bodies behind really frosts me.
And watching him slaughter my fellow islanders over and over and over again, I could not help but think: "What a bunch of *mumbles*!"

"Day 15: Until I get it right"

Posted by Smudge on 07-02-00, 01:43 PM (CST)
'Ey, it weren't ME fault. Sure, the neck-romancer follered me 'ome an' I led 'im right inter our back yard, but it couldda 'appened ta ennyone. Now everbuddy is throwin' me dirty looks like it wasn't me as rescued Ajax an' 'Omer. I was almost GLAD ter git away from everbuddy ta git on wi' me mission. Almost. Even wi'out the neck-romancer it war a tough job. The joint was crawlin' wi' bone dewds, diseased grizzlies, an' giant serpents. Yer see, when yer sneakin', ya kin take quite a few steps wi'out ennybuddy knowin' yer thar. Sooner ur later, tho, ya step on a twig, or somesuch an' everbuddies ears perks up an' they 'eads right at yer. If yer real good (I 'ave been tol' I am) you kin 'ide again real quick, but it is tuff on the nerves, so ter speak. At one pint, I was 'idin' next to a tree wi' a gy-ant sir-pant rapped aroun' me legs an' a bone dewd standin' on me toes wonderin' whut it was 'is nose 'ad bumped inter. Gives yer lotsa practice swallowin' quietly. I did the job tho' an bought the bandages, killin' a brigand jus' fer fun in the process. I was tired o' sneakin', tho so when it war time ta 'ead back, I jus' ran thru the street makin' a noise like an' amby-lance wagon but nobuddy kin kitch me when I gits movin' an' I made it back wi'out a bruise. Wi' 'bout 700 clean bandages.

"Day 16: The shipment(s) must go through"

Posted by Homer Oldham on 07-02-00, 02:16 PM (CST)
I was determined to make the ore run to the forge much more successful than the last one, when I lost the entire load.
"No unnecessary risks."
I repeated it over and over, because, you see, I have a tiny little weakness in that area. All went smooth, as it often does, until I got to the end of the bath house. Suddenly, I was ambushed by a rogue knight and another necromancer, lead by pirate named Xyla (who I seemed to remember from when I was killed with the last load). They chased me back across the bridge, but I lured them North and then slipped back to the road. There I found Xyla, who was not so tough without her goons. She fled but I ran her down and avenged my earlier murder. But Wait! More than revenged. There, among her belongings, was the entire first ore shipment! Sadly, she had no more of my things, having apparently settled on the ore for her share or already having pawned the rest. I was elated! Now I could make up for the earlier failure. I headed North. There were other nasties around, but I slipped through them and (for once) the area around the forge was clear. I quickly smelted all of the ore. I am not the smith that Ajax is, but I know my way around a hammer and tongs, so I set about reinforcing my armor with plate pieces and making a set for Ajax to wear when he came back to make the really good stuff. I found that my skill loss now prevented me from making plate torsos and greaves economically, so I made those pieces in chainmail, still a big improvement to my bone-and-studded. I made it back to the healer shack without incident (kinda disappointing-I was itching to use my new gear). As I got ready to turn the stuff over to Pinkwater, I realized I had no bags for sorting out all of the stuff I had forged. I had some change left over from the tool purchases I made on the trip, so I just ran over to the leather shop for bags. Guess who I bumped into. Yep. Our friendly neighborhood necromancer. He was illegally parked in a handicapped space right in front of the leather shop. I decided to lure him away, forgetting all of my earlier promises to myself. You're right again, he pinned me down with his minions and killed me. I was still carrying all of the ingots and new armor and weapons. The boys swung into action immediately. Penn-Hedley bravely ran out and lured the necromancer to the East (HE did it without getting killed), and Smudge ran out to recover my belongings. The necro had *yoinked* something, but we could not figure out what it was, everything of importance was recovered.

"Day 17: Re-armed and dangerous"

Posted by Ajax Mayflower on 07-02-00, 02:43 PM (CST)
I am sorry for two things. First, I abologize for writing this in brose, not boetry. I jus' don't have time to do it right, but I bromise to make a little song about the adventure later, if we get back. The other thing I am sorry about is that there are no bunnies on this island. That is not fair, and I intend to write a very cross letter to Mr. Dundee. I got to the forge with very little difficulty, taking all of the ingots with me. Amazingly, the nasty critters left me alone the whole time I worked at the forge. I made new armor for everyone (blate for Homer and I, chain for Benn-Hedley, and ringmail for Smudge- leaving the best leather stuff for Binkwater). New weapons, too. Most of it was quality and excebtional, but skill loss is getting to me. I had to make a LOT of blate torsos and greaves just to get a few high-quality ones, so I ended up with fewer high-quality sets for everyone than the ore should have broduced. I can no longer work azurite at all (brobably not a broblem, since Homer most likely can't dig it up anymore).

"Day 18: Status Report"

Posted by Penn-Hedley III on 07-02-00, 03:10 PM (CST)
hrmph. Well, we have accomplished all of the stages of our escape but one. We have established ourselves on the island and stockpiled supplies with food, bandages, and kindling. We are now fully armed (not counting a severe arrow shortage) and armored. The only thing left is to find a way out. This will not be easy or quick, apparently. Although we have killed several mages, we have recovered only one scroll, so it may be a long time before we get our hands on a recall or gate scroll. The only chance we know of that we have for reagents is to find a map to treasure buried here on the island, which also might be a long time. Our next step is to hunt down and kill all killable mages on Buc's Den and collect the loot, hoping for scrolls. Knowing that we may be here for some time, we also have to be concerned about skill loss. In particular, we must safeguard Ajax's smithing, Homer's mining, Smudge's hiding, and perhaps my tailoring. Pinkwater's fishing and cooking are important, but we have thus far kept him out of danger and will continue to try to do so. We must consider buying training here on the island for these critical skills. We have a lot of extra plate and leather armor we can sell, and other ways to make money. We will put that all together and check the feasibility of buying the skills back up. We must also reduce our death rate. In addition to getting off the Island, we would also like to nail that bloody necromancer, just once. Before we leave, we might try one last plan I have. I am thinking that maybe a combination of ourselves (in tag-team) and the healers might be able to kill it. We won't try that until we have the means in hand to leave the island. If we fail, we will come back, with full equipment, and teach the heathen a lesson!

"Day 19: The Mage Hunt, phase A"

Posted by Ajax Mayflower on 07-03-00, 09:18 PM (CST)
Now that we were fully equibbed, it was time for us to hunt down evil mages (except Necros) and kill them for reagents and scrolls. But first, we needed to make our neighborhood safe. During the Necro War, the rotten guy kept summoning minions when he couldn't get at us, and our whole half of the island is crowded with zombies and skelatons, roaming around and swarming at anything that moves. The necromancer is just SE of the shack, there is a rogue knight and a dobbleganger just North, and two cranky bone dewds hidin' around here someblace. Well, that is what I keeb the axe sharb for. Undead are easier than trees, but bone dewds are tougher. I fought my way across the oben grown, clearing a bath straight Northeast. Then there were so many they closed in on me, and I couldn't move. My strength was draining away. I bicked the direction where they were only about two deeb and I bushed forward swingin' as hard as I could. Two whacks abiece were all I could afford- one more "boofed" away. Five down and I was free. I ran down to Ole Carl and he batched me up. Then I headed West again, drawing away a few at a time, and whacking them down. About the time I was running out of skelatons and zombies, up pops the necromancer and a bone dewd. I ran, with lighting bolts and fire bursting all around me and a bone dewd chopping on my backside. I lost the necro in the woods, but I was badly hurt, so I headed for Carl, still chased by Mr. Bones. That meant running through the jungle. I got tangled in the underbrush just short of Carl and at the same time a second bone dewd popped up. It was bad enough that they killed me, but then my sbirit had to stand and watch while they murdered sweet old Carl. I hurried back to the groub and asked Binkwater for another set of gear to go get my stuff and avenge Carl, but Homer and Benn-Hedley said fighting bone dewds in the jungle is crazy. Besides, I had lured all of the worst bad guys out of our way. Why lure them back? I subbose they are right. At a time like this, if I had a bunny, I would sit and bet its little head and feel better. I miss my bunnies.

"Day 20, the Mage Hunt, phase B"

Posted by Homer Oldham on 07-03-00, 09:59 PM (CST)
During the metal smelting, Ajax and I had knocked off all of the adept mages, brigands, and pirates we could find. We continued that during the Mage Hunt. We sold all of our extra armor (beyond a reasonable backup supply) and loot and came up with just over 10,000 gp. Ajax and I split it and bought training boosts in mining and blacksmithing. Of course, we had to go back to the forge. There is another necromancer who hangs out just West of there, and we avoided him, but killed everything else. I keep finding stuff we lost earlier in the strangest places. A brigand way out in the boonies to the Northwest had Pinkwater's floppy blue hat. After Ajax cleaned up the North and East, it was up to me to handle the South and West. I have gotten very good at killing giant serpents (one at a time). In fact, me, Ajax, Penn-Hedley, and even Smudge now do it as a matter of course. I found a lot of mages, brigands and pirates South over the water. There was a spirited battle with a mage named Charlotte in the abandoned "Bloody Dagger" saloon. She was hiding behind the counter throwing spells while her diseased pet wolf blocked the only approach to her. The Master of the Wind to the Southeast put up quite a fight, too. I managed to kill a bone dewd, too, before I lost my exceptional two-handed axe- it really made a difference. I tested myself against a rogue knight, too. I didn't so much as scratch his armor with my axe, but I think I put several nasty notches in his sword with my helmet before I remembered a previous appointment and took my leave of him. I finally made one mistake with a serpent and died of poisoning on my way back to the shack. Nothing was near to loot me, however, and Penn-Hedley came out to collect my gear.

"Day 21: Explorations to the South"

Posted by Penn-Hedley III on 07-03-00, 10:24 PM (CST)
Homer's ghost awakened me well before breakfast tea time with a lot of "ooo-ooo"ing and pointing that let me know the assignment I was undertaking for the day was exactly that: another burial detail. It is beginning to become difficult to find a spot of open ground where one of out party is not already interred. It was still early when I finished gathering Homer's duffle and got his body tucked away. What was this, his 2064th or 2065th? I wonder if he has lost count here on the island. Hrmph, if he has he probably won't admit it.
Well, the day was bright and the there were several hours until afternoon tea, so I decided to take a bit of a stroll, exploring the jungle toward the South end of the island to see what dangers or opportunities might be lurking there. I found a couple of brigands and a pirate, which I killed myself- no sense in troubling the warriors with mere rabble. I also found that there are a lot of bone dewds out there, and one gargoyle. The gargoyle is interesting. A bit sticky fighting one of those in the jungle, but they have been known to carry reagents and scrolls in quantity, and our "mage hunt" strategy is failing (we have killed about a dozen mages, all we could find on the island except for the necromancers, and we have collected only two worthless scrolls and no reagents). It is best we keep Gov'nor Gargoyle in mind in case things get desperate.

"Day 22: Spyin' thangs out, as it were."

Posted by Smudge on 07-03-00, 10:51 PM (CST)
Since we've kilt all thangs we kin kill that's easy ta git to, the "'igh command" is thinkin' we need ta change our strat-ee-gee a mite. It's gettin' mighty risky goin' deeper an' deeper inter the jungle ta kill, an' it's not gettin' us Jack Squat, if'n ya kin fergive the expression. So we're gonna con-sinned-rate our effurts on rebuildin' ourselves a mite, makin' money by fishin', minin'/smithin' and choppin'/bowyerin'. In the meantyme, maybe we kin come up wi' a treasure map or somethin' ta git us a way out. Before we skip off thru the daisies wi' our picky-nicky baskets, we'd best know whut's whut. So I was sent out to scout the em-mead-dye-ate vye-sin-a-tea. I found no sign o' trouble close in or between us an' the docks. I didn't see any 'int of that neck-romancer, but 'e's out that someplace, I reckon. Most of the bone dewds is way over east past Carl's replacement. Thar's a rowg knight and a dee-pop-pull-gang-grr thet hangs out near the North bridge, but they've kinda lost interest in us. There are no good targets left for us ter kill (that was one brigand I seed, but he ain't thar no more.) It looks ta me that it is safe enuf fer fishin' and minin'. Loggin beyond the few close trees might be a might riskier, but nothin' Ajax kint handle. One strange thang. I found a big stack o' stuff down on the dock. Looked like some worked lumber an' other stuff an' it smelled funny. I 'ad the others take a look, but they couldn't make no sense o' it, either. We figgured it might me some weird sick bone dewd trick, so we dint touch nothin'.

"(separate journal) day 22"

Posted by Longfellow Bunny on 07-03-00, 11:00 PM (CST)
I slipped over to see how the Big Stinkies were doing on the main island today. I took the houseraft I built and used the steamjet motor, which is pretty quiet. I was surprised to find they have not yet descended to naked rock-wielding savagery yet, but I give it about another week. I saw nothing to rekindle my confidence in their survival skills. I left a prefabricated boat and a large stock of vegetables from the farm I have started on the East Island, but they just came around and sniffed it and scratched their heads and wandered off. Poor Ajax looks sad and I feel sorry for him, but a bunny can only do so much and they are hopeless.

"Day 23: I feel like *mumble* Ahab"

Posted by Pinkwater on 07-03-00, 11:19 PM (CST)
The *mumbles* planned to jumping right into a mix of fishing, chopping/carving and mining/smithing, but my fishing accomplishments were proving so promising we have just kept at it. Besides amassing a huge supply of food, I have brilliantly managed the business side of the enterprise amassing a large profit. More importantly, I have fished up 7 maps. None of them were on the island, but that should only be a matter of *mumble* time. We also got a pleasant surprise from the loot of the second *mumble* wave elemental that attacked me: reagents. We got black pearl, spider silk and garlic. One down, two to go. The *mumble* wave elemental that yielded the reagents managed to kill me before it died. I took a *mumble* skill loss in fishing for the first time, which we cannot *mumble* afford. I drew on the fishing profits (15,000) to immediately retrain, and gave the rest to Homer and Ajax to further bolster their *mumble* own. I also have fished up 4 messages from other *mumble* shipwreck victims. Ha! Only if there is a *mumble* reward! There was also another attempt on my life. (Besides the "conveniently" slow *mumble* response to the wave elemental). I wanted to use an oven to speed up the cooking process. The only one available is in the old "Bloody Dagger" in *mumble* enemy territory. Homer ran over there to "make sure" the coast was clear. I got there and cooked without trouble, but on my way back, I was accosted by a rogue knight and barely escape. Coincidence? *Mumble*!

"Day 24: Resource Status Update"

Posted by Homer Oldham on 07-03-00, 11:26 PM (CST)
We are in great shape with food and medical supplies. We have plenty of weapons and armor, but no longer have full sets of exceptional plate. We are also out of the exceptional 2-handed sword weapons that have proven so effective. We also need to raise more cash for training (See Penn-Hedley's report). Therefore, we will take some time for wood chopping and mining and smithing. Perhaps the mining will turn up a map or two, if my skill loss has not effected the likelihood. Once we have made some progress on skills and equipment, we may concentrate on fishing, since it has been going so well.

"Day 24 (b.): Skills and training status"

Posted by Penn-Hedley III on 07-03-00, 11:36 PM (CST)
I tested our abilities and found that Homer had lost between 3 and 4 percent of his mining skill. Ajax's smithing was down 4 to 5 percent, and Smudge's hiding a bit more. The retraining we have purchased should cut that loss in half for Homer and Ajax. Pinkwater's fishing skill is back to the maximum. If we are careful, we can also retrain secondary skills, to the extent training is available. Fighting skills should not be a problem, with all of the practice available. The only real skill problem we have if we must stay here for a long time is in the healing skills, for which there are no teachers on the island, and which are critical to our survival. Magic skills have suffered irreplaceably, but Pinkwater and Homer have a long way to go before they lose the ability to gate or recall, once reagents or scrolls are obtained.

"ooc"

Posted by Homer's Player on 07-04-00, 06:18 AM (CST)
I am back on the road for the workweek already (I know, I'm nuts, but what can you do). Anyway, that means I am connected to the internet by North Georgia phone lines that will not permit me to exceed 24k bps. This makes fighting anything like bone dewds too suicidal, even for me. So what online time I get will be limited pretty much to the characters mining, fishing, and logging until Friday. If I have not escaped the island by then, I should be ready to take on a bunch of respawned enemy. If I HAVE gotten away from Buc's Den, the characters will probably be wanting to launch a punitive revenge mission to go back and purge the island and be looking for bloodthirsty volunteers to accompany them, if anyone is interested. But first, they have to get away.

"Count me in..I hate them darn mages and necros" Posted by Rykus on 07-04-00, 09:31 AM (CST)


"i too will join you! luck! (nt)" Posted by fani on 07-05-00, 02:16 PM (CST)

"Day 25: Working Feverishly"

Posted by Homer Oldham on 07-05-00, 01:05 PM (CST)
We are all sickened with the Badcon Flu, perhaps caused by living so near an untreated blight. Our reactions are slowed dramatically, and we should probably just hide out in the shack, but there is much work to do, and who knows what might have spawned around us by the time we feel totally well. I checked out the whole area today, and found it pretty clear. There are 5 or 6 bone dewds to the North and Northeast and a dopple or two in the same areas, but they are far enough away that we should be able to avoid them. I killed a serpent, but there are not many of them close in, either. Then I went to work with my shovel. Before I turned in, I mined 3000 plain iron ores, with the normal mix of fixings. I killed a couple of EEs and a whole mess of slimes, but found no maps. I won't smelt the ore until Ajax is back to full strength as a smith.

"Day 26: Oobs!"

Posted by Ajax Mayflower on 07-05-00, 05:12 PM (CST)
I feel rotten. Everything seems to be in slow motion and I have trouble getting started or changing direction. I was subbosed to chob trees and make us money to get our skills back, but there are not many trees close to the healer's shack. So I had to go into the woods a bit. I was chased by Claude the Bone Dewd and lured him across the river. A dobbleganger, too. I had to fight a serbent, too. I'm not so good a healer as Homer, and I waited too long and died. I'm sorry, I know I'm not subbosed to do that. I made lots of money, though. Homer and I are almost back to full skill at mining and smithing.

"Day 27: I thought eating *mumble* fish was good for you."

Posted by Pinkwater on 07-05-00, 05:19 PM (CST)
I am beginning to hate *mumble* fish even more than I hate *mumble* chickens. That is the only good thing about this *mumble* islands. No chickens. I am fishing again. I have fished up another map and another wave elemental. *mumble* nothing.

"Day 28: Hehehehehehehehehehehehehe"

Posted by Pinkwater on 07-05-00, 08:30 PM (CST)
I am *mumble* free! I fished up two more *mumble* maps- none to Buc's Den and killed two more *mumble* wave elementals. The second killed me, but I had lured him into the healer's shack. Those *mumble* quacks managed to finish what I started and rezzed me, and there they were! The reagents I needed for recall. In seconds, here I am in Moonglow, free and safe. The nightmare is over for me. Now, the *mumble* question is... what should I do with this very interesting opportunity to deal with the *mumbles*. Hehehehehehehehehehehe

"Day 29: A terrible tragedy"

Posted by Ajax Mayflower on 07-05-00, 08:40 PM (CST)
We are very worried. Binkwater is missing. He was alone on duty fishing for us. The last anybody saw of him was when he woke up Benn-Hedley to read a couple of maps, but they were not any good. What could have habbened to him? Even if he was... if something... where is his sbirit? Could he be trabbed in those terrible caves again. I can't believe it, but I miss his nasty old mumbling. Benn-Hedley was holding most of our subblies while Binkwater was on watch, so we didn't lose too much. Excebt a friend.

"Day 30: Scouring the Island"

Posted by Smudge on 07-06-00, 10:30 AM (CST)
I made a search of the eyeland as far out as seemed proo-dent and found two things missin' as shoulda been thar. Pinkwater was one. The cranky mage is gone, plain an' simple. Frankly, I suspect the rascal found hisself a way off the eye-land and left wi'out us. If'n 'e did, 'e best keep runnin'. I also failed ta detect any sign o' our Archy in-a-mee the neck-romancer. Thar is still one ta the far West, but I don't reckon it's the one as 'as been the source a' all our troubles. Whar that one went, I've no idear, but I won't shed no tears if'n I never see 'im again, neither.

"Day 31: Saved by a miracle!"

Posted by Homer Oldham on 07-06-00, 05:59 PM (CST)
I got up early this morning, since I have to assume responsibility for our fishing since Pinkwater disappeared. I was about to step outside when suddenly the interior of the healer's shack was filled with an unearthly blue light. I turned to see a moongate open. I was stunned and lost precious moments gaping at the unexpected sight. Beyond the gate, I heard a voice, garbled by the magic. Much of it was unintelligible, but I was sure I heard "5 minutes"- then the gate blinked out. I quicky roused the others and we gathered up our supplies. It seemed like hours rather than minutes, but at last another moongate flickered and then flared into existence in the same spot as the first. We lost no time leaping through, finding ourselves on the Britain docks. I went through last, but Smudge, who went first, said he say a flash of maroon cloth disappear behind a building. Pinkwater? But how- and why hide? We have since discovered that Pinkwater indeed returned before us, but I suppose we shall never know more about our rescue than we know today.

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