Turn 30Location: The Mushroom Kingdom
Time: Afternoon
Weather: Cheerful
Light: Plenty enough
Turn IntroAfter being hit by one depressing note after another, the remaining Heroes return to the Kingdom, and subsequently, the royal family. Being out in a forest for a whole day will do a number to your stomach if unfed, and there's plenty of news to tell the King.
Turn ResultsEveryone: Return to the Kingdom.After a long walk back the way they took to the forest in the first place, our Heroes find themselves at the gates of the Mushroom Kingdom once again. A guard lets them in. Another one escorts them through town. After so much hatred and conflict, it's good to see the cheerful, bustling city outside the castle gates. Humans and Toads go about their merry business, and various shopkeepers peddle their wares out of makeshift shacks on the side of the many walkways.
The guard takes them through a twisty maze of the paths that Fuzz and Ochita would often walk as children. Eventually, after passing the fifteenth or so grocery store manned by a small person in a red-and-white mushroom cap, they reach a large gate. The escorting guards motions to the two castle guards on the outside to open it, and they do so.
A few more moments and the rag-tag crew are inside the reaches of the Toadstool Castle proper. They walk up some stairs, and through an arching set of wooden doors, and on a twin set of thrones, just above a checkerboard floor and surrounded by red wall tapestry awaits them King and Queen Toadstool.
Despite living as a soldier for some years in the Kingdom, most of the four living heroes had not, before now, formally met the King and Queen. In fact, most of the Kingdom knew of them only by their laws and public speeches. Because of this, there was a common misunderstanding that the troublemaker and social butterfly of the bunch - Princess Peach, of course - was the one truly in charge. But this was not true.
The King rose off his throne upon seeing Red, Bradley, Oomph and Fuzz enter their royal chambers.
"Greeting, err... Welcome, uhh..." he said, very unsure of himself. The Queen subsequently stood up, and our heroes remembered to kneel.
"I apologize for my husband's inadequacies with direct meetings. As I'm sure you're all aware, I'm Queen Sarah Toadstool III," she said. "And this is King Michael Toadstool III."
The others stood back up, but Red and Bradley froze. Being such silly and carefree beings, they had no idea how to react to this situation.
The queen continued. "Though our guards sent the message and ordered the recruitment, we're the ones who issued the order for our top-ranking soldiers to determine the location of Bowser's Castle, so that we may send our armies there and sieze the princess and the Brothers Mario. So I must ask of you: are you successful in this mission?"
Fuzz saw that Red, who he believed was going to say that the mission was a failure, was still frozen in a kneeling mission, and spoke up himself. He spent many minutes speaking of the encounter with King Piranha, the dark creature, the black walls, Ochita's and Taric's deaths and, finally, their meeting with Grimtoad.
The King looked surprised at the mention of Grimtoad. His inadequacies, for that moment, were irrelevant.
"You mean to tell you that my nephew, who, after a full
week of supposedly investigating a way to combat the living darkness, and yet not setting foot instead the Kingdom the entire time, is alive and well?"
Fuzz had no idea how to react to this. He told the King about the Power Stars, the claiming of the Forest Star, and Grimtoad's plan to defeat Bowser. He didn't know what else to say.
"Why would Grimtoad be concerned with defeating Bowser? He knows we have our armies for that. Unless, like always, he has a trick up his sleeve." said the Queen.
"I thought the lad was dead. And after hearing those rumors about the Magikoopa who wanted control of his magic lance..." The King drifted off into thought and visible worry as he was saying this.
"Never you mind. We'll play along now -- after all, there's not much else we can do. Your new mission is to sieze control of the Aqua Star. Do not fail us in this," declared the Queen.
"But first, I'm sure you're hungry. How about a feast, prepared by the Kingdom's finest cooks?" said King Toadstool. And they feasted well.
After they had eaten, they gave their thanks to the cooks (even Bradley, who did not really need food to survive). After that, they headed back to the main hall, where awaited them two completely new faces. The Queen introduced them to everybody.
"After hearing about the losses of Taric and Ochita, I've made a decision, and a recruitment call. This is Zachary and Joe. Zachary is a famous archeologist that I'vd assigned along with you to investigate the stars and darkness, whereas Joe is another top-ranking soldier with the strength and passion for fighting of three Toads in his veins. They'll both be assisting you. I've given them each 500 gold, but I'm giving you 200 gold each, too. If you need any more, sell your unwanted wares in town! After a little while, I'll expect you all to be at the town gates, geared up and ready to find the Aqua Star," said the Queen at that moment.
As the guards escort everyone out, the King calls out to them.
"By the way, Bradley, Red and Oomph! I don't believe I ever thanked you," he shouted.
Red asked what the thanks was for. The King said to him thus: "For deciding to fight for justice instead of malice."
After this, the whole crew were escorted back to town. It was time to go shopping!
Player ListName: Red
Race: Koopa Paratroopa (Red)
Bio: A swordsman who got fed up with Bowser and left the army.
HP: 15/15 MP: 10/10Other stats:Armor Value +1
Slashing +1
Piercing +0
Crushing +0
Active skills/spells:Shell Cover (Two 6's away from upgrade!)Passive skills/spells:Air FightingFlyingShine the WayThick Shell IIEquipment:200 Gold
Bronzelight (worn)
Bronze Shortsword (wielded)
Piranha Plant thornsWingblade200 coins
Name: Bradley Oliver Oakes
Race: Boo
Bio: A rather cowardly ghost even by Boo standards. However, he's always admired the story of Mario and Luigi, and when he learned they were captured, he decided to take a stand for once in his life and try to rescue them!
HP: 15/15MP: 10/10Other stats:Armor Value +0
Slashing +0
Piercing +0
Crushing +0
Active skills/spells:Darkness IFire IIce ILightning IPassive skills/spells:FlyingChronic ShynessEquipment:Spellbook of the Elements (bound)
Iron Club (wielded)
Red mushroom x3
Smithy's Mini-anvilFrostknife200 coins
Name: Oomph
Race: Koopa (Green)
Bio: A former football player who kicked out of the bowser leagues for falling in a pit chasing after Mario.
HP: 15/15MP: 10/10Other stats:Armor Value +0
Slashing +0
Piercing +0
Crushing +1
Active skills/spells:Shell CoverHeal I (2 natural 6's from upgrade)
Passive skills/spells:Thick Shell ISpookEquipment:Bronze Shortsword Haunting Club (wielded)Spellbook of Healing (bound)
Koopaball Club350 coins
Name: Fuzz
Race: Human
Bio: A blacksmith recruited by the Mushroom Kingdom, he is tall and well built, with black hair and grey eyes.
HP: 15/15MP: 5/5Other stats:Armor Value +0
Slashing +0
Piercing +0
Crushing +1
Active skills/spells:Fireball I (Two 6's from upgrade!)Power StrikePassive skills/spells:Quick LearnerEquipment:600 coins
Steel maul. (wielded)
Cute One Turn OutroA new mission. A new meeting. And lastly, new friends. Everything changes in time, especially for the Mushroom Kingdom Heroes.
Will post Joe and Zach's sheets next turn. For now, assume all you have is 500 gold or 200 gold, and the available shops are a weapon shop, armor shop, item shop and magic shop. You'll have to visit them to see what they have.
Also, anyone who figures out what the King and Queen are references to gets FIVE COOKIES because no one will figure it out.