Newsgroups: alt.pub.dragons-inn From: rudnick@cfatrw.harvard.edu (Bret Rudnick) Subject: [VampQ] Out of the Frying Pan... Message-ID: Date: Thu, 13 Jan 1994 05:11:10 GMT ============================================================ [VAMPQ] Out of the Frying Pan... Admin [The cast of characters for the [VampQ] thread: Character Created/Managed by --------------------------------------------------------- Ja'nis arsmith@lamar.ColoState.EDU (Alan Smith) Bluestar Dreamer (in absentia) Gemini (Feline familiar of Bluestar Dreamer) Moria Runecaster Master Hawk Rathan Barbar Morning Reaper Ah (Blood spider created by Rathan) Turion "Mr. Sinister..." a salamander (Turion's Travelling Companion) Billy the Torch JGE103@PSUVM.PSU.EDU Matte Kudasai Matt Hebert Tomonobu Fujiwara rudnick@cfatrw.harvard.edu (Bret R. Rudnick) Synopsis: After retrieving specimens of the Vampire Orchid, the object of their quest, the group have narrowly escaped a trap set by their "host", the vampire Pericles. They now seek a way to escape from the Undead Plane and return to Generica. Rathan's evil duplicate on this plane, Wrath, has "escaped" with the party and is so far mistaken for Rathan.] Admin [As always, comments/questions welcome.] ============================================================ The party was hiding in a clearing that Ja'nis had scouted out, not far from the crossroads where the narrow ledge path descended to the castle of Pericles. It was well hidden within a patch of "live" foliage, and here they paused to dress wounds and think about what their next course of action would be. The previous commotion of Pericles' guards running to and fro along the roads had died down, and all was quiet and still again. The still unconscious Tomonobu was carefully stretched out where his companions had placed him. His head rested in the lap of the watchful Matte. "He's coming around," she said quietly. Tomonobu slowly opened his eyes and Matte helped him sit up. His hands first went to his swords to make sure they were still there, then he brought them to his head, which still ached. "What happened?" Moria and Bluestar did not meet his gaze but instead stared at the ground. Without looking up, Bluestar sent to Moria, >You should _NOT_ have hit him so hard! He is only human, after all!< "You were struck from behind," Matte said quickly, hoping any confrontation or problem could be avoided just at the moment. "We carried you out and we're hiding near the road between the castle and the village." "I'd say you were, uh, backstabbed! Rather cowardly blow to lay low such a great warrior," Rathan replied, while drawing several quizzical looks form the rest of the group. Ja'nis just gave him a dirty one, and went back to scanning the horizon. "I remember breaking into the room where Mathew and Ja'nis were held, but no more." Tomonobu quickly looked around. "Where's Mathew?" Ja'nis bit her lip and looked away. "Didn't make it," the voice of Billy said. "Yeah, he bit the big one," sneered Rathan. This drew Ja'nis' full attention, but besides a shocked look and another dirty one, not much of a response. She mentally made a note to discuss the ramifications of Matthew's death on them with him, sometime in the near future. Moria's eyes narrowed dangerously as she raised her head to glare at Rathan. "Show some respect for the newly departed . . . lest ye join him in his slumber." A quick look at Blue followed by a very perceptible whitening of her knuckles followed. Angrily, she climbed to her feet and walked a few steps away from the group. Tomonobu drew a deep breath and let it out. "Hm. Are we all accounted for? Any serious wounds? Where's Turion?" "We're scratched and bruised but mostly OK," Matte answered. "We've got what we came for. Now we have to get out of here." "If the pattern holds, we'll see Turion shortly on the road," Bluestar added. Tomonobu slowly stood to make sure there were no ill effects. "The gate is on the other side of the village. Now that 'Festival' is at its height we should be able to move through the village with little difficulty, providing we don't run into Pericles' guards." "I don't think that will be likely," Rathan added. "The villagers don't like his experiments and dabbling in 'life'. Also, I know a short cut through the village." "Perhaps we can make that work to our advantage," Tomonobu answered. + + + + + + + + Meanwhile, in the castle of Pericles... 'Boss, wake up. BOSS!! Come on, you can't just let yourself bleed to death.' 'What's this buzzing in my head?' 'Boss, it's me, Ah. You have to change into your human form. I can't bandage you when you're a mound of muck.' Outside Pericles' castle an unusual sight is occurring. A large blood red spider is dragging a red sack made of webs. Inside the sack is a pile of mud and plant matter that is slowly metamorphisizing into a man. Once Rathan resumed his human form, Ah began to weave a web over the wound in his master's side. "Ah, I'm so tired. I think I'll just lie down here for a bit and sleep. I'll catch up to the others later," with that said Rathan lay down behind some bushes and fell asleep. "Don't worry Boss. I'll take care of you." Later Pericles' kitchen help would tell tales of a determined red spider that gathered up all the live food then disappeared from sight. Some still insist that the red fluid left behind by the spider were tears. + + + + + + + + Matte had never seen anything like this. The streets were alive with people. [The people themselves, however, were not. Many of the revelers showed parts of decayed limbs and faces behind their costumes.] Extravagantly costumed figures leered at her from all sides, and the air was filled with a chaotic jumble of sounds. It was even rather difficult just finding their way back through the town along the route they had first taken. The landmarks Matte had tried to identify on the way to Pericles' castle looked different now. The balconies of the larger buildings and the rooftops of most of the others were dangerously full of participants looking for the best place to experience Festival. The creatures perched there occasionally tossed trinkets down to the crowd below. Finally, though, the stubby exorcist thought she had identified a spire that was familiar. As she turned to point it out to the rest of the group, Matte was struck in the face with a necklace of beads -- an apparently intoxicated ghoul failed to catch the trophy for which he had shown his organs, and he stumbled about the ground in search of it. Startled, Matte grabbed them in her hand and was about to toss them away. A squirming sensation, however, caused her to take a closer look. As she examined the necklace, she realized the "beads" were actually tiny, naked men and women who had been impaled [certainly involving enchantment for them to still be living] on a slender wire. Though Matte could not hear their voices, she could see them writhing in apparent pain. There must have been dozens of them on this one necklace alone. She used the charm in her blouse to try and ease their pain [though, she reserved most of its power for the possible conflicts ahead], then deposited the string of people into an empty pocket. As the little exorcist continued down the street, careful not to get separated from the party, she came to the sickening realization that the surface upon which she had been walking was not the smooth, level path it should have been. It was littered with other strings of beings, some of which included tiny humans, horses, cats and dogs, as well as other, more exotic creatures in miniature. She also noticed that the objects she had taken for coins and medallions were not quite what they at first appeared. They were, in fact, metal slugs in which somewhat larger human and humanoid heads were embedded, their scarred and twisted profiles emerging from the disks with frozen expressions of pain. Matte collected as many of the necklaces as she could, and traded some of her coins for them with other revelers. Matte was very careful where she stepped from then on, and the party continued deeper into the town. "Hey, Wrath! Looking scrumptious tonight," an Erinyes called forth to Rathan. "So these are the newcomers I heard Hellen talking about?" "Sorry Laurana, I'm afraid you can't get a piece of the action tonight. We have a few prior engagements that take precedence." "Ahh, such is death." After taking in much of the sights that the town had to offer during the Festival (and disgusting all but Wrath), Wrath led the group through a section of town involving many narrow twisting streets and alleyways. Billy, with his invisible bracelet in place, had been wandering along with the crowd to filch anything worthwhile from the pockets of the locals. He had so far been unsuccessful, and now complained about the deserted streets through which they were being led at the moment. "Don't worry, this is the fastest way out of here. Besides, you don't want to run into Rommel again?" There was a loud noise, like a crack of thunder. "Is it a bit unusual for there to be storms in this season?" Billy asked. "Why, it's unheard of," replied Wrath. "Wait a minute, how d'you know that?" Billy questioned Wrath. "Because I have lived here all my death. I'm afraid it is time for us to part company." Wrath then snapped his fingers and large numbers of the walking dead entered on both sides of the alley. "Get'em boys." -- |--------------------------------------------------------------------| | Who makes the rules? Someone else! -- Oingo Boingo | |--------------------------------------------------------------------|