18Granite100A001-03-02 The Silence that Atis thought hung in the air slowly disappeared, and a rising sound of screaming came forth . . . What over Obuk was happening? The answer came when, out of the closest house on the right, a doctor came running out, face covered in blood.
~Help us! I must withdraw!
The doctor ran off without explanation, but entering the house he was in clarified: something had massacred a human weaver and attempted to butcher her quickly. What a bloody mess! The sounds of screaming had faded to those of pained yells and panic. Further in. Going to the next house on the row, Atis opens the door to find a human animal trainer cornered by a hideous beast with black, warty skin, trunk for a mouth, and no eyes of any kind.
The beast bit the cornered human while his ally uselessly beat upon its back. Atis, while not directly hostile to the monster, hacks off its head from behind with a clean sweep, and watches the human as the life fades from it not one tick later. Once the life left him, Atis wrested the trunk of the beast off his forehead, and with a sickening splat it rolled off into the darkened room. After a conversation with the wounded companion, Atis takes her leave, continuing south towards the city proper. Brave Ender of Bora Grieveddour. Not a bad ring to it.
While she was pondering how she was able to tell which internal organs in the human were mangled beyond recognition, a goblin lasher steps out from behind a roadside tree, dragging a copper-studded scourge behind it with deliberate carelessness.
~This road is patrolled for protection. Its 25 copper to pass on yer way.
-25 copper? Why would I have that?
~Look here, even the peasant traders can cough that up. I aint harming nobody in a way they can't recover from.
-I am a King's Server for the great Kubuk Windclimates of the Blotted Archs. You will let me pass on my business.
~Like hell! Why, I saw a two-legged elephant walk by just a few hours back! The price will be 25 silver, taxman.
-I will not pay a bandit! Instead either flee or give me your name so that I might inform the Lord of this town of your ways.
~Ill just have to take it from your corpse then, I see!
The goblin was fierce in her attack, but without armor the first slash that landed was debilitating. Her foot split apart and she fell down, rolling onto her back in an attempt to get away. Jumping atop her, Atis cracks the goblin's skull and checks the body. The giant cave spider silk socks were better than her own regular spider silk ones, so she took them, as well as the copper face mask and scourge as a present for the Lord.
The town of AlliedTired itself was a disheveled wreck. All of the northern outlying houses were abandoned, and about half of the shops were boarded over or showing structural damage. Whatever this place used to be, it wasn't that any longer. The Lady of these parts, that Imam 'BasementRooters' Ibullipata, lived in a villa to the west of town, suggesting this was the capital. Hrrrmm.
Talking to the locals, Atis learned that the humans had two subterranean structures; a catacombs and a sewer system. The bandits would likely have a base in one or both. By chance, she happened to be closer to the church than the keep, and so decided to check it first.
She wouldn't admit it to these strangers, but Atis decided to tour the catacombs before heading to the keep for a reason. Atis had heard stories of the massive structures that humans decide they need to dispose of their waste. A dwarf would have no use for such things, and to add insult to a miner's trade they smoothed the whole structure! As if their scat needed a royal sendoff!!
Glad to get out of the sweltering heat of the city, Atis scanned the catacombs, finding that voices from above carried a ways down here. Heh, she was almost certain that the bandits were down here now, what with
that marvelous piece of human engineering!
As she suspected, the leader was down here. When she approach it, a goblin, it spun around, red eyes narrowing to slits as if assessing her. Deciding not to make a huge commotion, it instead put a slender finger to its lips and pursed them, asking Atis not to give away its presence to the people above. It was a priest and a surgeon, talking about a better way to consecrate the dead. Talk of blessing silver tools seemed to be the nature of their meeting.
Atis walked up to the goblin crossbowman, and identified herself as a King's Server, to which he shot her in the chest. Grimacing through the pain, Atis used her strength to pin the beast to a statue and gut it. Its eyes seemed to glow brightly for a brief second, and Atis felt dizzy. Her response was likely the proper one: cut off its head. The goblin had silver bolts, but the was otherwise no taxes to collect. She would search the keep and some of the sewers briefly, but had no intention of wasting her time,
If you are wondering, the numbness is part of the 'terrify' spell the goblins use. numbness of lungs, pain of heart. The goblin himself is in the statue.
As she walked back towards the scorching light of the outside, Atis felt . . . different. It wasn't just that the spell was fading. She felt more important to the world. She decided to call herself
Atis Gusilakmam Akrulkulbet Dum
or
Atis Coppersink the Tin Adulation of Mouths
-The suburbs around the town AlliedPresent are seemingly empty. Atis sneaks into
town, only to hear battle.
-In the first house I go to there is a mangled body; a bloody mess, and sounds
of fighting further on
-I find a monster attacking a human, and lope off its head as it bites a human in
the head. The head goes flying.
-I put away my axe, and the human dies, monster head still attatched to his own
head
-I spread the rumor, and further down the road a goblin lasher acosts me.
-He demands a toll, 25 copper, to ue his road. I explain who I am and he demands
25 silver instead. I ask him for his taxes, and he replies 'he ain't a part of
no filthy dwarfy civ' and attacks with his scourge.
-Jumping atop the lasher after slashing his foot Atis aims at his right hand, and
the hack chips a bone, forcing it to cry out and drop the axe.
-When it is dead, Atis takes it giant cave spider socks, as well as it weapon and
face mask as proof of her kill. This was not a member of her kingdom, and likely
owed no taxes - to her king
-AlliedPresent itself is a semi-populated ruin of a city, half the shops abandoned or
ruined. The outer housing was completely abandoned, with semi-wild dogs wandering
the wreckage. This city had seen better days.
-Stopping at the church, Atis decided to tour the catacombs before heading to the
keep. Atis had heard stories of the massive structures that humans decide they
need to dispose of their waste. A dwarf would have no use for such things, and to
add insult to a miner's trade they smoothed the whole structure! As if their
scat needed a royal sendoff!!
-The temperature outside was sweltering, and Atis was glad to feel the damp cold
of the Earth. No place for a furry dwarven lass.
-The leader of the criminal group was a solitary goblin, found eavesdropping on
the priest and a surgeon. He creature assumed an air of importance, and when
pressed attacked without mercy.
-The goblin crossbow leader shot Atis in the chest, bruising the ribs.
-The golbin casts terrify, and Atis hack her neck. She bleeds out after dodging
onto a statue. No taxes were collected.
- I have my hero name! whoot! Atis Coppersink the Tin Adulation of Mouths!.
Or Atis Gusilakmam Akrulkulbet Dum.
-I save, quit-
---
Pink-orange mark is trail.
Blue marks are
points of interest. improperly placed.
-Next we go to the keep and hopefully meet Imam the aged Lady of The Velvety Realms in her hamlet to the west of AlliedTired.