 |
| Hm... more reference to full moon... and howlin. Sounds completely not ominous. |
I guess I'm lucky I heard the howl. I get out my sword and engage the horrific spider.
Round 1
Spider: 8-2=6
I hack downwards on the spider's left, and tear off the first two legs there. The creature slumps to the side, and flails its other legs at me in the darkness.
Round 2
The legs on the creatures left go next. Hack. Hack. The creature's face is forced down into the ground as only the back four legs are left. And yet, it persists in trying to attack me.
The beast hisses into the ground and pushes itself towards you. What horrible god created these giant predatory spiders anyways?
Round 3
I shear the last legs from the left side with simple, direct hacking. And still, the jaws of the beast work to try and bite me as it flails uselessly about.
Round 4
Two more legs come off, and I don't even think it's necessary. The creature is far past being a threat. I leave it hissing and gnashing on the ground.
"Okay, grumpy," I say to the beast, "Make a lot of noise if anything else comes now. Try to eat it, if you can." I pat it on the head with the flat of my blade, and it tries to bite the steel.
Tired, I go back to sleep under the sheepskin. Hopefully it will make noise and wake me up if another monster comes by.
I pull the sheepskin tighter around me and try to keep out the cold. It doesn't work. You can't keep out something that starts in your viscera.
Eventually, I turn to the East, and set myself along the path in search of the hammer halves.
The cave robs me of the Sun's warmth, but the sleeping troll holds surprisingly little fear. What is it in this woods that makes me so uncomfortable, if not monsters like this? It is as though the whole place has an air of menace about it...
Spider: 6-2=4
The legs on the creatures left go next. Hack. Hack. The creature's face is forced down into the ground as only the back four legs are left. And yet, it persists in trying to attack me.
The beast hisses into the ground and pushes itself towards you. What horrible god created these giant predatory spiders anyways?
Round 3
Spider: 4-2=2
I shear the last legs from the left side with simple, direct hacking. And still, the jaws of the beast work to try and bite me as it flails uselessly about.
Round 4
Spider: 2-2=0
Two more legs come off, and I don't even think it's necessary. The creature is far past being a threat. I leave it hissing and gnashing on the ground.
"Okay, grumpy," I say to the beast, "Make a lot of noise if anything else comes now. Try to eat it, if you can." I pat it on the head with the flat of my blade, and it tries to bite the steel.
Tired, I go back to sleep under the sheepskin. Hopefully it will make noise and wake me up if another monster comes by.
Choice: Victory: 140
 |
| Nah, I'm sure after the attack of a giant spider I'd sleep like a stoned cat. It's all good. |
I stand in the heat of the Sun and let it soak in. Let it smother the cold fear of the night. I breathe deep.
Eventually, I turn to the East, and set myself along the path in search of the hammer halves.
Choice: East: 267
I think it's time to spelunk!
Choice: Cave: 196
 |
| Aha! I am the spider this time! |
I put my luck to the mettle and creep towards the bag.
Choice: Thieving: 376
Sure, no problem, I have a 10 in Luck, so let's give it a test. It's very unlikely that I'll... 11. Yup, that's about right.
Luck: 10-1=9
As the troll opens his eyes and stares down at me in sleep blurred anger, I pick up the rock and put it back. "Sorry, didn't mean to disturb your rock." I smile wide, and utterly false.
The troll smiles back. His teeth are long and sharp and without humor.
Choice: Unlucky: 310
 |
| Oh boy, odd Stamina! |
Oh, well.
Round 1
Lucky: 15-2=13
I begin to step back, and the troll's tremendous club knocks me off my feet with a long practiced swing.
Round 2
Lucky: 13-2=11
I gasp as the air is knocked out of me. I try to stand up, but I see the club coming and this time I fall flat. My heart is going like a jackhammer. I scramble across the room, and the club keeps coming. HIs reach is absurd, and his strength staggering. I can only keep running from it, never quite getting my wind back.
Round 3
Lucky: 11
Troll: 9-4=5
Luck: 9-1=8
The club hits the stone wall near me hard, and a shower of splinters bursts off of it. The whole club is ripped almost in half, and the reach suddenly so much less. I feint forwards, and when the troll staggers back to parry me, I weave left, grab a handful of the splinters, and then fling them in the trolls face. As he tries to rub the wood from his eyes, I dig my sword into his right thigh. Hard.
The red blood splatters across me. It is an unceremonial way to gain the Lady's color, but I seem to be doing it a lot on this journey.
Round 4
Lucky: 11
Troll: 5
The troll kicks out at me, but I dodge to the side. The two of us stand across the cave, breathing heavily and regaining ourselves.
"You know," I say, "We could just forget this. I'll leave. No trouble."
The troll roars and throws a rock across the room.
Round 5
Lucky: 11
Troll: 5
I bring up my sword and knock the stone aside. "No, really," I say, "This is just a misunderstanding, we can just..." but the troll is now lifting up his stone chair with a grunt of effort, and preparing to throw it at me.
"Very well."
Round 6
Lucky: 11
Troll: 5
He heaves up the chair, and staggers back with its weight. I move while he's unbalanced, but the chair proves to be a surprisingly good shield. He can't see me to heave it at me, though.
Round 7
Lucky: 11-2=9
Troll: 5
He shoves the chair forward even as I try to move around it. It doesn't land on me, thank the Lady, but it does smack me in the chest hard enough to send me reeling.
Round 8
Lucky: 9-2=7
Troll: 5
I'm still reeling when the troll gets his club back. I know he has it back, because a moment later I feel the splintered thing smashing into my back. I fall to all fours on the hard stone.
Round 9
Lucky: 7
Troll: 5
I roll behind the chair and stagger up to my feet. The troll and I play a childhood game of 'catch the thief' as he tries to get me and I keep the chair between us.
Round 10
Lucky: 7-2=5
Troll: 5
I just about have my wind back and am ready to dart out again, when the troll kicks the chair over and the heavy back falls on me, pinning me to the ground.
Round 11
Lucky: 5-2=3
Troll: 5
I try and pull myself out from under the chair, but the troll just steps up onto the furniture, and I can feel my leg bones straining under the weight. "Lady, please!" I call to the air.
Round 12
Lucky: 3
Troll: 5-4=1
Luck: 8-1=7
I manage to get my sword hand free, and stab upwards, right into the troll's groin. I can't say for sure what anatomy I cleave, but it does include the left inner thigh, and a good hunk of muscle therein. The troll stumbles backwards in the pain, and hits the bottom of the chair still sticking up behind him. He falls onto it, and brings the whole chair back up on its feet with him. My legs are suddenly blissfully free of the crushing weight. I drag myself away from the chair's potential falling arc and groan with the pain of it.
Round 13
Lucky: 3-1=2
Troll: 1
Luck: 7-1=6
With a pained, roar, the troll comes for me. He's limping almost as bad as I'm crawling. His tremendous, stony hand grabs my leg and hauls me back. His jaws are open, and those fangs, those horrible fangs, are inching towards my flesh.
Round 14
Lucky: 2
Troll: 1-2=-1
I drive my boot heel right into his eye as he hauls me close to his maw. The blow is hard, and the troll squeal with pain. As he lifts his hand to his eye, I see my opening, and drive my sword point first into his neck. The squeal loses all pitch and noise and becomes just a wheeze... and then nothing.
I lie on the ground panting.
Choice: Victory!: 101
I am too tired to stand, so I just spill the contents across the floor.
"Five coins and a bell," i say to the voiceless corpse, "For this you sell your life?" I shake my head and groan. "I would have let you keep them to stop the fight, too."
My sigh echoes through the dark cave.
When I have my wind back I limp out of the cave. I lean against the side of the mouth and devour some of my rations. Chakli and thepla and puri fill my mouth, and then my stomach. In time I feel well enough to start walking again. I head up to the North.
Eating 3 of my rations.
Rations: 8-3=5
Stamina: 2+12=14
Choice: North: 25
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