Newsgroups: alt.pub.dragons-inn
From: kring@efes.physik.uni-kl.de (Thomas Kettenring)
Subject: [L] The Queen's Bodyguard
Message-ID: <1992Aug14.044413.27136@rhrk.uni-kl.de>
Date: Fri, 14 Aug 1992 04:44:13 GMT

Bakr, disguised as a guard, has just lead Brycur in the room of the queen's
bodyguard.  Luthor is with them, made invisible by his cloak, and intends to
assassinate the bodyguard.
---------

>  "What is so important that you have to disturb me private?" he asked, in
>a voice that demanded obedience...

  "I caught this man insulting the queen.  The sergeant at the drawbridge told
me I should bring him to you."
  "Hrm."
  "He said the queen is mad."
  The bodyguard grinned broadly, looked at Brycur, and said "tsk, tsk, tsk."
  "You take him to the queen?"
  The bodyguard nodded.

  Bakr didn't like that.  The bodyguard was not very talkative, but he needed
more of the voice... it would fail.  The whole thing would fail miserably,
and he, Bakr, would be responsible.  His hands trembled.
  "What shall I do now?"
  The bodyguard thought for a couple of seconds, then he finally spoke .
  "You can accompany us to the queen.  It will be interesting to see what she
does with him."  He smirked.  "Perhaps you are even allowed to lend a hand,
since you caught him."
  "F..fine!"

  When Luthor was in position, he pulled out two things, a dagger and a
gold coin.  He prepared to attack and then dropped the coin.  This was his
signal.
  As Luthor thrust his dagger at the bodyguard's back, a ring on the guard's
left hand glowed brightly.  The guard turned quickly before the dagger could
hit and took the attack on the arm.  Luthor was stunned.  The guard must have
a magical warning to attacks.
  With his back to the doorway, the guard took out his sword and started
swinging in wide arcs in an attempt to hit his invisible attacker.  He shouted
"Private, go get help and sound the alarm, we have an assassin in the castle."

  Luthor was no match for this man, even while he was invisible.  The guard
eventually made contact with Luthor, giving him a nasty cut across the chest.

  Brycur grabbed Bakr's "halberd"; as it left his hands, it turned back into
Brycur's family sword, which had been disguised using Bakr's power of illusion.
He moved to attack.

  Of course the bodyguard knew now that the guard was not on his side, as he
had given his weapon to the prisoner and didn't make any attempts to get help.
On the contrary, the "guard" quickly closed the door.

  Across the room, a large war dog moved to help his master fight some
invisible foe.  Bakr murmured his spell on Scharidic to control the dog...
but the animal was more resistant to psychic spells than the mage had thought.
Apparently a highly trained war dog.  The spell failed, and Bakr unsheathed
his dagger, which today looked extremely dangerous - sharp and barbed.
And it felt that way, too.  The mage somehow managed to cut into the dog's
rear leg, it howled, turned around, and charged at Bakr.  Oh no!  This was the
end.  It was a real monster of a dog, and it was clearly a much better fighter
than Bakr.
 

Partly written by 
            -The Dreamer-
	    & Thomas Kettenring