Call Me Meriweather (FFD)

A Survey
Following the directions on a bulletin on the adventurer's board at the inn, you locate an old, gray-bearded merchant. He smiles and speaks to you in a throaty voice, "Thank you for coming to see me about my request. You see, the Pravoka region has not been explored in several years and I would humbly request a group of explorers to traverse the countryside and report significant landmarks to me. Do this and return successfully, and I shall give you gold aplenty."

"Now I hear there are thirteen adventurers in the area capable of this task. Please organize them into three groups so that I can send one to the southern plains (most difficult area -- think about the enemy upgrades in the real game), one to the northwestern delta (second most difficult), and one to the northeastern forest (easiest). The adventurers available are as follows."

HIM Muteki Atma Dave Mlinko Max Bob Guy John Stephen Obsidian ToST Eric Undine

[Feel free to lobby Undine over the coming days or let me know if you do not wish to be a part of this next quest. Otherwise, her words are final.] =)

(Guy)

Anyway, Guy returns back to the inn, where his room was still awaiting him, drops to sleep, wakes up, and walks outside the inn, where a female red mage appeared to have gathered a few of his comrades.....

The Fake-Out
Undine let out a sigh as she looked at the rag-tag group of adventurers before her. This was the best she had to work with? And what's worse, she was one of the worst of them. This wouldn't do at all. It was time for some serious strategizing.

A boastful Red Mage named Atma volunteered for the most difficult of the three assignments, but she questioned whether any of them could really handle it. No, this was one of the least pathetic adventurers, and she needed him where she could be sure he would make a difference. "Request denied!" she snapped.

"Now listen up," she started, "because I'm only going to say this ONCE. The following areas shall be assigned groups consisting of the following:"

"Eric, Obsidian, Stephen, and ToST. You will be assigned to the Southern Plains. This area seems most... appropriate... for your level of ability." She knew that this was the most dangerous of the three areas she was tasked with exploring, and that these were the weakest of the bunch. Their odds of survival were basically negligible, but by assigning the weakest warriors to the hardest task, that increased the odds of successful completion of the two less difficult ones by assigning stronger members to them. She didn't particularly like the thought of sending these poor fools to their deaths, but a good tactician needed to know when to make sacrifices.

"The next group shall consist of Dave Minko, Bob, Max, and Atma. You will go to the Northeastern Forest." She had noticed the smell of alcohol on Dave Minko and had heard murmurings of an unnecessarily violent and unstable Black Belt around Pravoka. Though he seemed strong, she didn't trust him to complete any potentially difficult task, and so sent him to the easiest area. Because of his instability, she knew it would be important that strong people were with him so that they could restrain him if he lost it. Additionally, the Lute she noticed Atma carrying could prove invaluable in soothing the man's temper.

"That leaves John, Guy, Muteki, and HIM to go to the Northwestern Delta." She was perhaps most familiar with the abilities of mages, and so felt more comfortable in predicting their abilities. As such, it made sense to assign them the more difficult of the two feasible tasks. Besides, they were the only ones left.

"Once you complete your missions..." her eyes scanned across the crowd, fixating for a moment on ToST, Stephen, Obsidian, and Eric. She shook her head and continued. "Report back to me. I will relay your findings to Meriweather, and then return with your shares of the reward." She smiled to herself, fully intending to take her half from the gross reward and then equally distribute the remaining net amongst the returning survivors. Only completing two surveys might diminish the reward, but it should still be fairly decent, and enough to allow her to afford whatever upgrades were available to her here. "Well, what are you waiting for? Time is money!"

Selecting Teams
[In case anyone couldn't tell, the preceding post was a joke. And of course, all insults involved were made in total jest ;-)]

Undine stood looking at the group of adventurers before her. She sized them up and took note of their descriptions and inventories, though regretted that she lacked information on the specific spells that the mages had [I'd ask, as that would make sense, but I don't want to drag this out too much]. How best to group them for the task at hand?

As she was thinking, a Red Mage named Atma bravely stepped forward and volunteered for the most difficult of the tasks before them. He seemed to be among the strongest of the group, so she nodded and designated him a member of Group 1, which was to head to the Southern Plains. At this point, the Black Mage Muteki voiced his desire to be paired with Atma, citing his demonstrated ability as a strategist. Seeing Muteki properly leveled for the job, she saw no problem with this. Now, who to fill in the remaining slots...?

To begin with, she wanted to make sure that the group going to the Southern Plains was the overall strongest. With 13 adventurers, it made the most sense to make this the 5-member group. It also made sense to assign a Fighter to this group. She chose Bob to go with this group, though would have no problem switching his place with Max should they so desire, as they seemed nearly identical. This group might be taking the most punishment, so she assigned a White Mage as well. Much like Bob and Max, there seemed to be little difference between Guy and John. She flipped a coin and picked Guy, however, this difference was also negligible, and she would gladly allow them to switch places if they so wished. Finally, the fifth member would be herself, the least EXPerienced adventurer, but as a fifth, rather than fourth member, she needn't match the strength of the other four. There were several reasons for this. For one, as far as she could tell, she was the only mage with the INVS spell, which could prove useful for the difficult enemies of this group (I really wish I had spell lists). Additionally, while her HP were quite low and there was some question as to whether she had the HP for this group, she did have the armor for it. Finally, as the tactician deciding these groups, she didn't feel right taking the easiest route, even though the thought had occurred to her as tactically valid. She wanted to take the more difficult route somewhat as a matter of preference, but would not have done so were there not a valid strategy behind it. She was concerned that she was inefficiently placing two strategists on the same team, but Atma seemed amenable to the idea (and even suggested it), and perhaps they could work together effectively to better strategize (and hopefully not end up with a case of too many proverbial cooks). She hoped that if she had erred in joining the hard team in her weakened state, that she would at least live to regret it.

The next two groups were basically trying to find the right balances of average strength. HIM seemed Atma's peer in power, and so fit nicely in Group 2, headed for the Northwest Delta (wherever that was). A White Mage would be an asset to this group, so she assigned John to this group as well. Dave Minko was another L6 adventurer with good HP and decent offense and a good supply of potions, and so she assigned him here as well. She was about to place Max in this group as well, but she wanted to make sure that even the easiest survey had someone that could take hits. As the last remaining member, she chose ToST, the Thief, to round out this team.

Finally, for the last group going to the North East Forest, she chose Obsidian, the Black Mage, Eric, the Black Belt, Stephen, the Thief, and Max, the Fighter. She doubted that this group would have any troubles even if Max and ToST swapped places, but she was concerned for their well-being and wanted to make sure they had a decent meat-shield.

"Alright," she began her address "we prepare to leave soon. Please let me know before we leave if you have any reservations about the current group arrangements. Remember to take care, and that if the task is more difficult than expected, that your lives are more important than completion of this survey. I wish the other teams luck in their tasks. When your survey is complete, meet back here, and then we can report our findings to Meriweather."

Universal

[Astral carried the story quite nicely. I'll just move into the group stories and request a volunteer from Max's group to control Max's actions. In future character updates, I will post spell inventories, but we'll leave it a mystery just for this quest.] =)

Northeastern Forest
No matter who Undine picked, she had to send a group to the easiest segment. And this group was no less indignant than any other. Several of them muttered, "I'm better than this. I should be in the southern plains. Oh well, better make the best of it." Unbeknownst to them, they were moving through thicker brush than their group 2 counterparts. Fortunately though, their first encounter was in a small opening near the northeastern peninsula.

Battle 1
[Battle begins. IGUANA12. Please enter your commands.]

Round 1

Obsidian: Casts Lit on IGUANA1 for 40. Perfect strike!

IGUANA2: 1-Hit 23-Damage against Eric

IGUANA1: 1-Hit 30-Damage against Stephen

Stephen: Critical! 1-Hit 30-Damage against IGUANA1

Max: 1-Hit 19-Damage against IGUANA1

Eric: Misses against IGUANA1

[Max 140/140, Eric 73/96, Stephen 73/103, Obsidian 71/71. IGUANA12 remain though iguana1 can hardly crawl.]

(Eric)

Watching as the flash of LIT strike the IGUANA, Eric unwittingly flinched, and hesitation swiftly turned his once-graceful swing into a wild miss with the nunchuck kicking up dirt instead of IGUANA blood. Though the spell came from Obsidian, a black mage who helped him not too long ago, that did nothing to stop this reaction. He's still a black mage, and Eric's past won't let him stay calm around those who wield only black magic.

Shortly after others start wondering whether that other IGUANA's attack did more to Eric than is visible, Eric straightened out, and said "I'm fine, don't stand around! Stephen, Max, show your swordsmanship on that other iguana, I can take care of this one."

Round 2

Stephen: 1-Hit 15-Damage against IGUANA2

IGUANA2: Misses against Eric

Max: 2-Hits 71-Damage against IGUANA2

Eric: 1-Hit 8-Damage against IGUANA1. Terminated.

Obsidian: Casts Lit on IGUANA2 for 15. Terminated.

Victory: Party members gain 153 experience and 25 gold

A fantastic effort in round 2 produces the premiere victory of the Meriweather quest. The group continued their journey to where the northeastern forest bled into the plains of the northeastern peninsula. On this border, there was a mud hut bearing two doorways. Stephen halted the group and moved them to a shadowy area with vegetation to observe. Every now and then, an imp would wander in or out of the hut from the east. Obsidian tugged at Eric to move toward the rear exit and pointed at Max and Stephen to move toward the front. It was to be an ambush. Two unsuspecting GrIMPs emerged from each doorway.

Battle 2
[Max 140/140, Eric 73/96, Stephen 73/103, Obsidian 71/71. Please let me know if you healed between battles. GrIMP12 against Obsidian and Eric. GrIMP34 against Stephen and Max.]

Preliminary Strike!

Max: 1-Hit 47-Damage against GrIMP4. Terminated.

Stephen: 1-Hit 17-Damage against GrIMP3. Terminated.

Obsidian: Casts Lit on GrIMP2 for 29. Terminated.

Eric: 1-Hit 10-Damage against GrIMP1

[Autobattle]

Eric: 1-Hit 15-Damage against GrIMP1. The backhand finishes the job.

Victory: Party members gain 36 experience and 18 gold

A quick victory and the four entered the house from the opposing entries. The inside was cloaked with steam from a steadily boiling cauldron. The mysterious bubbling sound was broken only by a scraggly old voice, "oooh, thank you for supplying more experiments." A few foreign words later and the confused party members were assailed by four BONES, clearly raised from the shrapnel of the deceased gray imps outside.

Battle 3
Ambushed!

BONE2: 1-Hit 9-Damage against Obsidian

BONE4: 1-Hit 15-Damage against Eric

BONE3: 1-Hit 10-Damage against Stephen

BONE1: 1-Hit 1-Damage against Max

[Max 139/140, Eric 58/96, Stephen 63/103, Obsidian 62/71. BONE1234 remain.]

Max: 2-Hits 70-Damage against BONE4. Terminated.

Stephen: Critical! 1-Hit 42-Damage against BONE3. Terminated.

Obsidian: 1-Hit 13-Damage against BONE2. Terminated.

Eric: 1-Hit 20-Damage against BONE1. Terminated.

Victory: Party members gain 18 experience and 3 gold

"Some ambush…" Eric snickered at the ease of the battle. "Next?" A cool breeze ran through the hut, clearing the steam and revealing the owner of the summoner's voice. It was a gold-bearded man clad in a white robe, and he was none too pleased at the eradication of his minions.

Battle 4
[Max 139/140, Eric 58/96, Stephen 63/103, Obsidian 62/71. WIZARD remains. No healing between battles.]

WIZARD: 2-Hits 63-Damage against Max. Max gasps in horror at an enemy that can penetrate his armor so easily.

Eric: Misses against WIZARD

Max: 2-Hits 54-Damage against WIZARD

Obsidian: Casts Lit on WIZARD for 22

Stephen: 1-Hit 7-Damage against WIZARD. A cruel twist of fate brings the wizard 1HP from his demise.

[Autobattle]

WIZARD: 1-Hit 36-Damage against Stephen

Eric: Misses against WIZARD

Stephen: 1-Hit 2-Damage against WIZARD. Terminated.

Victory: Party members gain 138 experience and 75 gold

With the foes vanquished and the residence under control, Stephen knew what came next… looting! He directed Max and Eric to relax and stand guard at the opposing doors with Obsidian as back-up to whomever required assistance. Stephen then took to sifting through the wizard's belongings as only a thief can. He was thorough and careful, much to the liking of his comrades. Even more to their liking, he was able to locate several items of interest.

Wanting to be accepted by his new allies, Stephen selflessly presented the discoveries to the group. "I found four items stashed amongst the old man's clutter: a CURE spell, an ICE spell, gloves, and a cap." Max interrupted the find. "Guys, we've got company!" Max and Eric stationed themselves at the doorway and the attack began. Five imps approached Max's door and four imps approached Stephen's door. Two of the imps approaching each door were clad in gold -- something previously unseen.

Battle 5
[Max 76/140, Eric 58/96, Stephen 27/103, Obsidian 62/71. Please let me know if you healed between battles and which treasures you took (first come first serve). The spell treasures can be carried and can only be learned by appropriate classes. Stephen and Obsidian must pick a doorway to assist while Max and Eric need only enter commands. Max's targets WzIMP12 GrIMP123. Eric's targets WzIMP34 GrIMP45.]

(Obsidian)

"Thanks for the Cap and Gloves, they're much appreciated, my now slightly more protected mushy vital organs thank you as well," Obsidian said as he quickly equipped them before battle.

Stephen: Used 2 Heal Potions on himself for 60HP

Max: Used 2 Heal Potions on himself for 60HP

Eric: Used Heal Potion on himself for 30HP

Round 1

Stephen: 1-Hit 15-Damage against GrIMP4. A near kill.

WzIMP2: 1-Hit 1-Damage against Max

Max: 2-Hits 77-Damage against WzIMP1. Terminated.

WzIMP4: Casts Fire on Eric for 24

GrIMP2: 1-Hit 1-Damage against Max

GrIMP5: 1-Hit 7-Damage against Eric

Eric: 1-Hit 19-Damage against GrIMP4. Terminated.

WzIMP3: Misses against Eric

Obsidian: Casts Ice on WzIMP4 for 18

GrIMP1: 1-Hit 1-Damage against Max

GrIMP3: Misses against Obsidian

[Max 133/140, Eric 57/96, Stephen 87/103, Obsidian 62/71. Max's targets WzIMP1 GrIMP123. Eric's targets WzIMP34 GrIMP5. Two imps fall, seven to go.]

Round 2

WzIMP2: Casts Fire on Max for 28

WzIMP3: Misses against Eric

Max: 2-Hits 91-Damage against WzIMP2. Terminated with a decapitating strike.

GrIMP3: 1-Hit 1-Damage against Max

Obsidian: 1-Hit 5-Damage against WzIMP4

WzIMP4: Misses against Obsidian

Eric: 1-Hit 22-Damage against WzIMP4

GrIMP5: 1-Hit 6-Damage against Eric

GrIMP1: 1-Hit 1-Damage against Max

Stephen: 1-Hit 14-Damage against WzIMP4. Terminated.

GrIMP2: Misses against Max

The fire spells ignite the various belongings strewn about the floor of the abode. It won't be long before the mud hut itself becomes liquid enough to collapse in on itself, which brings a newfound sense of urgency to the battle.

[Max 74/140, Eric 52/96, Stephen 27/103, Obsidian 62/71. Max's targets GrIMP123. Eric's targets WzIMP3 GrIMP5.]

(Eric)

Eric takes a moment to consider how much effort was needed to kill a single WzIMP, and how much time they have left. In the heat of the battle, the fires flying all over will turn the hut into their grave in short order, if they don't get out quick enough. Looking over, Eric notices Max swinging his Short Sword through the imps like they were no more substantial than the air he breathes. Though more imps remain on his side, Max will finish sooner than Eric, at this rate.

And looking for the fastest way out, Eric puts aside his nunchucks, points to Max with one hand, and pulls out a HEAL potion with another. Hopefully, his allies will clear the way through the other door while he stands in the way of the magical imp and his cohort.

Round 3

Obsidian: Casts Ice on WzIMP3 for 9

Max: 2-Hits 55-Damage against GrIMP1. Terminated. "Can't smoke me out!"

Stephen: 1-Hit 22-Damage against GrIMP5. Terminated.

WzIMP3: Casts Lit on Eric for 28

Eric: 1-Hit 8-Damage against WzIMP3

GrIMP2: 1-Hit 1-Damage against Max

GrIMP3: 1-Hit 1-Damage against Max

The smoke thickened and the structure walls were beginning to transition from solid to liquid. This building was falling and falling fast.

[Max 72/140, Eric 24/96, Stephen 87/103, Obsidian 62/71. Max's targets GrIMP23. Eric's targets WzIMP3.]

Round 4

Obsidian: Misses against WzIMP3

Stephen: 1-Hit 9-Damage against WzIMP3

WzIMP3: Casts Fire on Stephen for 33

Eric: 1-Hit 20-Damage against WzIMP3. Terminated. The last of the wizard imps perish at Eric's hand.

GrIMP2: Misses against Max

GrIMP3: 1-Hit 1-Damage against Max

Max: 2-Hits 77-Damage against GrIMP2. Terminated.

[Autobattle]

Max: 2-Hits 59-Damage against GrIMP3. Terminated.

Victory: Party members gain 169 experience and 72 gold


 * THUMPSQUISH* The roof, now more liquid than solid, collapsed just as Eric led his comrades from the doorway. "Phew, we made it. Those wizard imps have a bite to th..."

Eric's face had grown ashen. For though the three had escaped, the extra round it took Max to butcher the final imp cost him his chance and left only a lifeless hand reaching out of the mud. As the others turned to the point of Eric's gaze, he was already in action, slogging through the mud to reach the hand. What happened next was a Herculean effort that consumed all of Eric's strength and adrenaline. He plunged his upper body, face-first, into the bog, latched his arms around the unconscious Max, and pulled... pulled against the sinking mud and his burning muscles until once again both men reached cool fresh air.

Obsidian and Stephen cast a vine into the mud. Eric could do nothing more than hold the vine and Max as he was dragged to safety. The group rested for nearly an hour, tending to wounds, and preparing for the journey home. This was the sort of experience that forged the bonds of friendship. The rest was not to last, though, as a pack of hungry wolves approached.

(Obsidian)

"Stupid being out of magic charges... I guess my staff will have to do."

Battle 6
[Max 21/140, Eric 24/96, Stephen 54/103, Obsidian 62/71. The burial consumed 50HP from Max. GrWOLF12 WOLF1234 remain. Please let me know if you healed before battle.]

Max drinks his last healing potion for 30 HP

Eric downs a heal potion for 30 HP

GrWOLF1: Misses against Stephen

WOLF2: 1-Hit 1-Damage against Max

Stephen: 1-Hit 21-Damage against WOLF2. Terminated.

WOLF4: Misses against Stephen

Eric: 1-Hit 21-Damage against WOLF1. Terminated. It only takes one poke to get the chewy center. =)

Obsidian: 1-Hit 14-Damage against WOLF4

GrWOLF2: Misses against Stephen

WOLF3: 1-Hit 9-Damage against Eric

Max: 1-Hit 46-Damage against GrWOLF1

[Max 50/140, Eric 45/96, Stephen 54/103, Obsidian 62/71. GrWOLF12 WOLF34 remain.]

GrWOLF1: Misses against Eric

WOLF3: 1-Hit 1-Damage against Max

WOLF4: Misses against Eric

Max: 2-Hits 86-Damage against GrWOLF1. Terminated.

Stephen: 1-Hit 15-Damage against GrWOLF2.

GrWOLF2: 1-Hit 3-Damage against Max

Obsidian: 1-Hit 9-Damage against WOLF4. Terminated.

Eric: Misses against WOLF3

[Max 46/140, Eric 45/96, Stephen 54/103, Obsidian 62/71. GrWOLF2 WOLF3 remain. I will autobattle if anything remains next round.]

WOLF3: 1-Hit 10-Damage against Eric

Stephen: 1-Hit 18-Damage against GrWOLF2

Obsidian: Misses against WOLF3

GrWOLF2: 1-Hit 1-Damage against Max

Max: 1-Hit 36-Damage against GrWOLF2

Eric: 1-Hit 21-Damage against WOLF3. Terminated. Another 1-poke kill.

[Autobattle]

Obsidian: 1-Hit 8-Damage against GrWOLF2. Terminated.

Victory: Party members gain 141 experience and 17 gold

Though they had been through a lot, the group had not traveled a great distance. This was beneficial as they returned to Pravoka first and garnered some extra time to relax and restock supplies until the other explorers joined them.

Max is now L6! +25HP, Str, Agi, Int, Vit, Luk

Stephen is now L5! +25HP, Str, Int, Luk

Obsidian is now L5! +2HP, Int, Vit, L2 and L3 spell charge

Eric is now L5! +6HP, Str, Agi, Int, Vit, Luk

[Max 45/140, Eric 35/96, Stephen 54/103, Obsidian 62/71. Feel free to stay at the inn / make purchases. Next update will offer some more choices.]

Northwestern Delta
It felt like a return trip to Pravoka. The foursome made their way to the thick western forest. Hours of walking and cutting through the thick forest undergrowth finally led them to an encounter. Movement would prove awkward with the entangling brush, but the enemies would be under the same limitations.

Battle 1
[Battle begins. OGRE12 CREEP12. Please enter your commands.]

HIM: Successfully casts SLEP on OGRE1 OGRE2 and CREEP1

CREEP1: Wakes up of its own volition

ToST: 1-Hit 9-Damage against OGRE2. ToST was disappointed with the neck-chomp.

CREEP2: 1-Hit 25-Damage against Dave Mlinko

John: 1-Hit 12-Damage against OGRE2

OGRE2: Remains asleep

OGRE1: Remains asleep

Dave Mlinko: 1-Hit 12-Damage against OGRE2

[HIM 113/113, Dave 101/126, ToST 104/104, John 84/84. OGRE12 CREEP12 remain.]

HIM: 1-Hit 23-Damage against OGRE2. OGRE2 wakes up!

CREEP1: 1-Hit 9-Damage against HIM

ToST: 1-Hit 15-Damage against OGRE2

CREEP2: 1-Hit 17-Damage against HIM

John: 1-Hit 8-Damage against OGRE2

OGRE1: Wakes up!

Dave Mlinko: Critical! 1-Hit 30-Damage against OGRE2. Terminated.

[HIM 87/113, Dave 101/126, ToST 104/104, John 84/84. OGRE1 CREEP12 remain.]

CREEP2: 1-Hit 13-Damage against HIM

OGRE1: 1-Hit 3-Damage against HIM

ToST: 1-Hit 14-Damage against OGRE1

HIM: 1-Hit 13-Damage against OGRE1

John: 1-Hit 8-Damage against OGRE1

CREEP1: 1-Hit 21-Damage against Dave Mlinko

Dave Mlinko: 1-Hit 18-Damage against OGRE1. The surrounded OGRE looks overwhelmed.

[HIM 71/113, Dave 80/126, ToST 104/104, John 84/84. OGRE1 CREEP12 remain.]

CREEP2: 1-Hit 24-Damage against Dave Mlinko

OGRE1: 1-Hit 19-Damage against Dave Mlinko

ToST: 1-Hit 18-Damage against OGRE1

HIM: 1-Hit 33-Damage against OGRE1. Terminated.

CREEP1: 1-Hit 23-Damage against John

Dave Mlinko and John smash their weapons against the dead ogre for good measure

[HIM 71/113, Dave 37/126, ToST 104/104, John 61/84. CREEP12 remain.]

CREEP1: Misses against HIM

John: 1-Hit 10-Damage against CREEP1

CREEP2: 1-Hit 23-Damage against Dave Mlinko

HIM: Casts Cure on Dave Mlinko for 19 HP

Dave Mlinko: 1-Hit 26-Damage against CREEP1

ToST: 1-Hit 20-Damage against CREEP1. Terminated. ToST's blade nearly gets stuck in the goo.

[HIM 71/113, Dave 33/126, ToST 104/104, John 61/84. CREEP2 remains. I will autobattle if this next round fails to finish the battle.]

HIM: 1-Hit 30-Damage against CREEP2

John: 1-Hit 9-Damage against CREEP2

ToST: 1-Hit 17-Damage against CREEP2. Terminated.

Dave Mlinko: Used Heal Potion on himself for 30HP

Victory: Party members gain 258 experience and 105 gold

They walked for what seemed like forever after the battle… through the forest, across a small desert, and north into the deltas despite the Dave Mlinko rope bridge being a short trip to the south. Rivers and streams splayed themselves about the surroundings, but still the adventurers continued north -- until they reached a cave.

HIM and Dave led the expedition into the cave with ToST guarding the entrance and John in between. The group quickly deciphered this was no mere cave, but a dwelling of sorts. Pots and brooms of all things were scattered about the premises, John swore he saw one move but assumed his eyes were playing tricks on him. They weren't. "Guys, we've got company," reported ToST as several creatures made their way into the cave. Four appeared as imps, but were clad in gold. They bore serpents around their necks, which presently crawled to the cave floor and prepared for their own assault.

Battle 2
[HIM 71/113, Dave 63/126, ToST 104/104, John 61/84. WzIMP1234 ASP1234 remain. Please let me know if you healed between battles.]

Dave Mlinko: Used a Heal Potion on himself for 30HP

Round 1

ASP1: 1-Hit 6-Damage against ToST

ASP2: 1-Hit 6-Damage against Dave Mlinko

HIM: 1-Hit 16-Damage against WzIMP2

WzIMP4: 1-Hit 11-Damage against John

WzIMP1: 1-Hit 1-Damage against HIM

ASP3: 1-Hit 1-Damage against HIM

WzIMP3: Misses against ToST

ToST: 1-Hit 10-Damage against WzIMP1

Dave Mlinko: 1-Hit 9-Damage against WzIMP4

ASP4: 1-Hit 10-Damage against John. POISON. John shakes his bitten hand in pain.

John: 1-Hit 16-Damage against WzIMP1. The hammer strike puts the imp into critical condition.

WzIMP2: Critical! 1-Hit 15-Damage against HIM

[HIM 54/113, Dave 87/126, ToST 98/104, John 40/84. WzIMP1234 ASP1234 remain.]

Round 2

John loses 2HP from the poison

ASP3: 1-Hit 3-Damage against Dave Mlinko

ASP2: 1-Hit 9-Damage against John

ASP1: 1-Hit 1-Damage against Dave Mlinko. POISON

WzIMP2: 1-Hit 1-Damage against HIM

ASP4: 1-Hit 1-Damage against HIM.

Dave Mlinko: 1-Hit 16-Damage against WzIMP1. Terminated.

HIM: 1-Hit 17-Damage against WzIMP2. Terminated.

John: Casts Cure on himself for 30 HP

WzIMP3: 1-Hit 6-Damage against Dave Mlinko

WzIMP4: Casts Fire on Dave Mlinko for 38

ToST stabs the dead WzIMP2 for good measure.

To add insult to injury, two werewolves must have noticed the commotion and has now joined the fray against both friend and foe alike.

[HIM 51/113, Dave 40/126, ToST 98/104, John 59/84. WzIMP34 ASP1234 WrWOLF12 remain.]

(ToST)

"Hmmm... ToST thinks.... It's not very good if Dave were to go down..."

"Then again, we could really use my attack"

"However, that would mean going without his two hits"

"Awwwww... geez, I guess I'll be a team player this time"

ToST pours a heal potion down Dave Mlinko's throat****

Gee, I hope that shopkeeper in Pravoka didn't drink from that bottle before sealing the cork.....

(John)

The battle wasn't looking too good, two people poisoned, and two people injured. John noticed ToST was giving Dave a Heal potion, so he decided to go cast cure on HIM.

Round 3

John loses 2HP from the poison

Dave Mlinko loses 2HP from the poison

WrWOLF2: 1-Hit 13-Damage against Dave Mlinko

ASP1: 1-Hit 6-Damage against Dave Mlinko

HIM: Casts SLEP on WzIMP4, ASP3, WrWOLF2

WzIMP4 remains asleep

ASP4: 1-Hit 1-Damage against HIM. POISON

ASP2: Misses against HIM

John: Casts Cure on HIM for 17 HP

ToST: Used a Heal Potion on Dave Mlinko for 30HP

WrWOLF1: 1-Hit 19-Damage against Dave Mlinko

ASP3: Remains asleep

WzIMP3: Casts Fire on John for 35HP

Dave Mlinko: Misses against WzIMP3

Over the clamor of the battle, a voice emanates from further in the cave. "What is all that racket! If that thief is back, you'll pay!"

[HIM 67/113, Dave 30/126, ToST 98/104, John 24/84. WzIMP34 ASP1234 WrWOLF12 remain. Even though you were unlucky this round, Dave is correct the Werewolves have an equal chance to attack the WzImp / Asp group as the party.]

John loses 2HP from the poison

Dave Mlinko loses 2HP from the poison

HIM loses 2HP from the poison

ASP4: 1-Hit 7-Damage against John

ToST: Used a Heal Potion on John for 30HP

ASP1: 1-Hit 1-Damage against HIM

HIM: Casts Cure on Dave Mlinko for 31 HP

WrWOLF2 wakes up!

WzIMP3: 1-Hit 1-Damage against HIM

WrWOLF1: 1-Hit 7-Damage against HIM

ASP2: Misses against ToST.

John: Casts Cure on himself for 19 HP

Dave Mlinko: Used a Heal Potion on Dave Mlinko for 30HP

ASP3 wakes up!

WzIMP4 wakes up!

[Autobattle]

Without warning, John fell to the floor fighting convulsions. His body was aglow with an energy it did not understand how to contain or release. John: Casts Fade for WrWOLF1-262 WrWOLF2-319 WzIMP3-344 WzIMP4-345 ASP1-292 ASP2-273 ASP3-265 ASP4-251. Terminated all around

Victory: Party members gain 505 experience and 133 gold

As the magic finished its expulsion from John's body, he required HIM's assistance to stay on his feet. A haggardly old lady now visible further within the cave broke the stunned silence that brought an end to the battle. "Well, well, well. What have we here? I sense no thieves -- merely a group of inexperienced adventurers and one poor vessel that reacted to my FADE scroll here. You're an unusual one," she said as she looked at John. She took one step toward the group, tripped, and somersaulted forward spewing a volley of oaths at nothing in particular. ToST shrugged his shoulders and propped the old lady up.

"As you little ones can infer, I am blind without the crystal those thieving elves stole from me. Bring it to me and I shall reward you with a fine bouquet of potent herbs and potions. As proof of my sincerity, stay here with me for just an hour or two and I will remove your poison and cure your wounds." The group consents to this and helps the old lady to her home several shafts away from the entry.

An hour later, the hideous and foul-mouthed hag made good on her words (HP recovered, poison removed, SP NOT recovered). "As another token, I will allow you to choose between the liquid I hold in that barrel over there and the item in the jewelry box." The box was small and could hold something of value whereas the barrel held several potions of some sort.

[HIM 113/113, Dave 126/126, ToST 104/104, John 84/84. I'll give you ~16 hours to pick between the barrel and the jewelry box before I do a mini-update for your group only. Dave, feel free to post your RP in that time as well.]

Dave’s Story
Dave looked at John,then the enemies,then John,then the enemies again.Dave had done something to that effect during a drunken rage a few years ago,but to see John perform that attack stunned dave.John wasnt really well-known for being a powerful god,he just kinda sat in the background and faded away.To see him do that was a stunner,to psay the least.

Dave then saw the witch in the corner,and stared for a few seconds.She seemed familiar somehow,but Dave could not figure out why.The witch stumbled around blindly and adressed the group

"Well,well,well.What have we here? I sense no thieves,merely a group of inexperienced adventurers and one poor vessel that reacted to my FADE scroll here.You're an unusual one," she said as she looked at John.

She attempted to walk towards the gorup,but tripped,fell,and successfully humiliated herself in front of the four.Dave still searched his mind,trying to figure out who she was.He had heard of her,but couldnt remember where for the life of him.The group carried her back to her cave,and he was still figuring out who she was.She mentioned that she needed help finding her crystal and Dave was still thinking.She cured their poisonous wounds and he still was figuring it out.

Then it hit him like a ton of bricks.This was Matoya,an old friend of Dave's sensei Tenchi who he referred to constantly as the greatest magician and foreteller in the world.If there was anything happening in the near future,Matoya probably knew about it,although she refused to tell her own future because she claimed that there wasnt much of it left,even though she said that 50 years ago.Maybe she didnt want to change fate,who knew.

However,Dave knew Matoya could tell her everything about what would happen next in his quest for revenge,but without the crystal,she said she was powerless.Dave,nonetheless,knew she had to have seen who stole it.

"Did you see who took your crystal?"Dave asked as the group decided what treasure to take.

"I dont know the name,since I have never seen her in my foretelling,but it was a woman,and she had long brown hair,and she was wearing a blue shirt and she had the strangest staff,it looked like a normal iron pole with a baton chained to it.She was leading a band of those theiving elves in here,and then she hit me in the legs and took it."

A drop of water in the dank cavern dropped onto Dave's head,but he didnt notice it,as he was too busy wondering what Audrey was up to to notice.He sensed trouble,as it seemed Audrey had enlisted the help of even more forces to take down Dave.Dave expected something like this,but not from the elves,of all people.

Audrey sat down on the floor of an abandoned building,polishing a crystal with a spare robe.She was tense and nervous,because what was coming up next had the potential for a major screw-up if she said something wrong.Dominic had a tendency to get over-demanding at times,but he knew she was right,even if her actions may be questionable.

Surely enough,Dominic burst in,late for their prearranged meeting.Audrey barely had time to say hello before Dominic burst in,uttering a stream of oaths.He was a splendid figure in his silk shirt and blue pants,with his purple cape flowing behind him.He certainly looked very classy without his clunky suit of armour on,but Audrey didnt have time to worry about his appearance

"Audrey,please tell me that the elves outside are just asking for cookies,because I am not in a good mood right now."

They are our new assasins"Audrey said,smiling brightly."How do you like them?"

Dominic shook his head in utter disgust.

"YOU IDIOT!You sided with Lord Astos,didnt you?Didnt I say something to you about aligning yourself with that guy?"

"I dont recall what you said"

"I believe I said something along the lines of trusting Astos is like fishing for sharks using yourself as sharkbait.You CANT align yourself with him,he executed people at random when he ruled Elfland,which is part of the reason he was chased away,in case you didnt know that."

"You forget we have a hold over him." Audrey said "He needs the crown and the Crystal badly and is willing to pay top dollar for it.Since Bikke cannot get much more money pirating from this town,we desperately need the funds and manpower,because Dave is beating a bloody path through this godforsaken place using the pirates."

Audrey still fumed when she thought of the story a lookout had told her of Dave,their current bounty,and Stephen,the escapee,killing four pirates,while the other four ran away like scared girls.Audrey marked the four for execution and was planning on carrying that out tomorrow.

"I still cant believe you aligned yourself with that scum Bikke.He is not worth our trouble." Dominic said,taking his axe out and spinning it.

"Well,we needed a money source and motivation for Dave to come after us,or else our scheme does not get off the ground.Since Bikke could do the dirty work of killing Erin,it seemed like a logical move at the time.You hear that,Dominic?It was LOGICAL,which is a method of thinking you are not accustomed to."

"Easy for you to say,you arent the one with the dead brother or the discharge from Coneria's Royal Guards!"

"Well you arent the one who has the lost love interest,so I have as much emotion invested in this as you do!"

The two began to seethe with rage and started crying,but they both calmed down,realizing they did need to work together to down this behemoth.Audrey then tried hard to be her standard tactful self.

"How are the imported monsters coming along?Are they moderately efficient yet?"

Dominic allowed himself a small chuckle before continuing.

"I set two of them loose underground,and I hear from my scouts that five adventurers have stumbled into their territory,and apparently some of them were with Dave when they came here.This should give Dave.....even more motivation for walking into our trap."

"Well,that should even things up a bit,if anything.But dont worry about it,because even if they do survive,we still have 200 thou to purchase some more."

Dominic and Audrey both smiled,knowing that they were close to revenge now.

"Even if he gets past our monsters,he cant kill us,because the Gods make me invulnerable.Just a little longer,then we can both have our revenge."

"Indeed...."

(Tost)

ToST ponders...

Letsee... potions or what's in a jewelry box..

Well, I still have 3 potions by my own accord, but all I know, that could be the fabled Elixir in that barrel.....

But the box..... hmmm... could it possibly contain nothing..... or is Matoya's actual name Pandora, and she's looking for us to open the box....

For all we know, that liquid could be poison to coat our weapons in, but some good it would do against werewolves, asps, and arachnids.....

That settles it!!!!!


 * ToST chooses Matoya's (Pandora's) jewelry box!!!****

(FSA)

[With two jewelry box votes and one abstain, majority rules even if John were to vote for the barrel. Did somebody say Pandora?]

The group decided on the box leaving treasure hunter ToST to examine the box for traps and then open it. "Looks clean to me," he said. He reached his hand in and pulled out a slightly tarnished circular metallic object. Matoya interjected, "that, my young adventurers, is the copper bracelet I wore when I was a much younger girl. Some of your more magically inclined friends may be interested in trying it out."

There was nothing more to do than say some good byes to the witch and head back. This was surely an interesting find to report to the group. They walked for awhile to the edge of the tree-covered wilderness enveloping northern Pravoka where two iguanas emerged for battle.

Battle 4
ToST: 1-Hit 14-Damage against IGUANA2

IGUANA2: 1-Hit 16-Damage against HIM

IGUANA1: 1-Hit 17-Damage against HIM

John: 1-Hit 5-Damage against IGUANA2

Dave Mlinko: 1-Hit 7-Damage against IGUANA2

HIM: 1-Hit 23-Damage against IGUANA2

[HIM 80/113, Dave 126/126, ToST 104/104, John 84/84. IGUANA12 remain.]

(ToST)

ToST ponders the solution to the bracelet.....

hmmm... seeing how I wasn't in Coneria to begin with, therefore i couldn't have wooden armor....

I was waiting for some decent armor, because I wasn't going to waste evasion for 1 measley armor point.....

...but 4 points.....?

Then again, Matoya said she didn't like thieves.... [frowns] that means it probably wouldn't work well for me.

{sigh.....}

I might regret this, and you're going to owe me BIG TIME....

ToST surrenders the copper bracelet to John****

(John)

"Thanks ToST. I will pay you back when I get enough money."

ToST

But that bracelet is Matoya's Special bracelet... there's prolly an extremely good reason why she said to give it to a spellcaster... ToST would have to wait to become a Ninja for that to happen…

Round 2

Dave Mlinko: 1-Hit 15-Damage against IGUANA2

HIM: 1-Hit 28-Damage against IGUANA2

John: 1-Hit 12-Damage against IGUANA2. Terminated with a nice 1-2-3 punch from the allies.

IGUANA1: 1-Hit 21-Damage against Dave Mlinko

ToST: 1-Hit 3-Damage against IGUANA1. ToST decides this was not his best approach.

[HIM 80/113, Dave 105/126, ToST 104/104, John 84/84. IGUANA1 remains. I will autobattle after this next round.]

Round 3

HIM: 1-Hit 26-Damage against IGUANA1

IGUANA1: 1-Hit 19-Damage against Dave Mlinko

Dave Mlinko: 1-Hit 20-Damage against IGUANA1

John: 1-Hit 8-Damage against IGUANA1

ToST: Misses against IGUANA1

[Autobattle]

John: 1-Hit 11-Damage against IGUANA1

IGUANA1: 1-Hit 24-Damage against Dave Mlinko

HIM: 1-Hit 31-Damage against IGUANA1. Terminated.

Victory: Party members gain 153 experience and 25 gold

Theories abounded on the way home as to why the group was not confronted by further creatures. Perhaps it was Dave's intimidation. Perhaps it was Matoya's copper bracelet. Regardless, fortune served them well as they returned to the city of Pravoka. Seeing Max and his various comrades wandering about the city, they decided they were the second group to return, but they indubitably had much more to report.

Dave Mlinko is now L7! +7HP, Str, Int, Vit, Luk

John is now L6! +28HP, Agi, Int, Luk, L3 spell charge

ToST is now L5! +26HP, Str, Agi, Int, Luk

[Please see universal message]

Southern Plains
Atma and Undine led the pack south with a lively discussion on various battle stratagem. This newcomer red mage was a welcome sight for Atma, who always enjoyed an intellectual debate. The party broke through the southern forest into open plains. They were in a valley with mountains to their northeast and northwest. And they were being approached by a group of enemies.

(Undine)

Undine looked at the group of monsters approaching them. She cringed as she saw a Were Wolf and three Geists. She didn't really care about the GrImps; Atma, Bob, and now that she had a Short Sword, herself probably stood a decent chance at one-shotting them, and their attacks were likely to be inconsequential to all but Guy and Muteki.

She quickly scanned the threats before them and summoned up her knowledge. The Werewolf had 68HP, and the Geists had 56HP each (the GrImps a measly 16). Anyone could see that the paralytic touch of the Geists were the most immediate threat, but she knew that the potential poison of the Werewolf was a far greater threat in the long run, as no one had brought any Pure Potions on the survey.

"We need to take out that Werewolf," said Undine with a seemingly calm demeanor as she unsheathed her sword and targeted the Werewolf, "focus your attacks there. Obviously, we don't want to waste our attacks choose other targets as necessary, but this Werewolf must die even if it means wasting a strong attack to finish off a weakened opponent. Atma and I can do 15 to 36 damage with our attacks, Bob can do 2(21 to 48), and anyone with FIRE can do 10-40 (...right?). Guy, do you know HARM? If so, this might be a good time to use it. (it sucks to lose a CURE charge, but potentially taking out 3 paralyzers in one shot might be worth it). Those are my thoughts. Atma, anyone else?"

(muteki)

"Be careful around the living dead. Most are cursed beings whose very touch can stop your very movement, make your vision fade, and other such effects." Muteki told his companions.

Atma, Bob, and Guy all had sudden looks of shock at Muteki's sudden calm, strategic, sane moment. Undine asked why everyone was so shocked when Atma responded, "We will explain later. Right now there are enemies we must defeat."

Although everyone but Bob wondered where Muteki gained the knowledge about the undead that only white and red mages are taught while in training.

(Guy)

Guy moved out with the large group, pleasantly surprised to be chosen to go to the area that seemed most dangerous. Conversing with the group as they set out, a group of enemies emerged. Muteki's lips were moving, he was saying something, but he just saw the Geists. Abominations of life, a symbol of the decaying of the world. They would not exist in happier times, and now that Guy finally had his Harm spell, he would ensure that they would not be around in these times.

Battle 1
[Battle begins. WrWOLF, GEIST123, GrIMP12. Please enter your commands.]

Round 1

GEIST2: 3-Hits 3-Damage against DragonAtma

GEIST3: 3-Hits 3-Damage against Undine

GEIST1: 3-Hits 3-Damage STUN against Undine

Muteki: Casts TMPR on Undine

Undine: Remains stunned

DragonAtma: Casts Fire on GEIST1 for 41. The geist emits a nightmarish howl.

GrIMP2: 1-Hit 14-Damage against Muteki

Guy: Casts Harm for GEIST1-67 GEIST2-43 GEIST3-45. GEIST1 is terminated.

Bob: Misses against WrWOLF

WrWOLF: 1-Hit 27-Damage against Muteki. Two enemies strike at the rear of the formation.

GrIMP1: 1-Hit 9-Damage against Guy

[Bob 135/135, Atma 114/117, Undine 72/78, Muteki 60/101, Guy 78/87. WrWOLF, GEIST23, GrIMP12 remain.]

(Undine)

Undine tried in vain to move, still paralyzed from the Geist's touch. She looked at muteki, who had received a sizeable wound from the Werewolf, but by the looks of muteki's reaction, the bite didn't carry any venom. She tried to be thankful for small favors from fate. They still had a chance to make it out of this, though she wouldn't play much of a role. She felt all the more irritated as she glanced at her sword, which was shining with a sharper edge than usual, thanks to muteki's spell. If she could break free of her paralysis before it was over, she'd take out her frustration on whatever monster was left.

(Guy)

Guy had the satisfaction of watching his spell do serious harm to the undead, obliterating one of them with a dry crackling shriek, but was brought out of his near trance by a scream of pain. He watched Muteki move away from the WrWolf clutching his arm in pain. Torn between a desire to finish off the undead, and his training that dictated he help his comrade, his vow to protect won out. He moved to Muteki and began to apply a cure spell.

(muteki)

Muteki saw Guy preparing a Cure spell while heading towards him.

"There is no need right now Guy! The faster we can get rid of these enemies the less damage we have to worry about taking! I see the urge to purify the Geist’s in your eyes. Do that instead. I would help you but I have this idiot to take care of."

The Werewolf snarled and bore its teeth as Muteki finished his last statement.

Guy started running toward a Geist as Muteki turned toward the Werewolf with his head tilted down. Muteki then rose his head to the point where his eyes were barely visible by the Werewolf when a wicked smile came to Muteki's face.

"Now let's see if that venom of yours is combustible!" Muteki exclaimed as the Werewolf's eyes widened and a puddle of urine appeared under it.

Round 2

GEIST2: 3-Hits 31-Damage against Muteki

Muteki: Casts Fire on WrWOLF for 24

GEIST3: 2-Hits 2-Damage STUN against Bob. The GEIST cackles with glee at removing the physical powerhouse.

WrWOLF: 1-Hit 23-Damage against Guy

DragonAtma: 1-Hit 17-Damage against WrWOLF

Guy: 1-Hit 11-Damage against GEIST3. The cackling GEIST is terminated.

Undine: Cured!

GrIMP1: 1-Hit 1-Damage against Bob

GrIMP2: 1-Hit 6-Damage against Guy

[Bob 132/135, Atma 114/117, Undine 72/78, Muteki 29/101, Guy 49/87. WrWOLF, GEIST2, GrIMP12 remain.]

(Guy)

Moving away from the Werewolf, Guy noticed Muteki seemed to be in a lot of pain. Yet he was already consuming what appeared to be one of the heal potions the well intentioned fool gave them. His own wounds were not small anymore, but they could wait until (hopefully) after the battle. Spotting the final Geist moving behind the immobile Bob in an attempt to hide, Guy moved to attack it, but was unsure if he could kill it....

(Undine)

Undine tensed her muscles as she finally recovered from the paralysis. She was still somewhat stiff, but at least able to fight. With Bob out of commission, she now had the highest attacking power in the party, and decided to put that to good use on the Werewolf. They'd avoided poison so far, but she didn't want to press the party's luck. Bent on putting Muteki's TMPR to use before it wore off, she charged at the Werewolf.

Round 3

GEIST2: 3-Hits 27-Damage against Muteki. Muteki's life hangs by a thread.

WrWOLF: Misses against Undine

Muteki: Used a Heal Potion on himself for 30HP. "Now stop that!" yelled the irked mage.

DragonAtma: 1-Hit 16-Damage against WrWOLF

GrIMP2: 1-Hit 1-Damage against Bob

Bob: Paralyzed!

Guy: Misses against GEIST2

GrIMP1: 1-Hit 1-Damage against Bob

Undine: 1-Hit 49-Damage against WrWOLF. Terminated by the tempered blade.

[Bob 130/135, Atma 114/117, Undine 72/78, Muteki 32/101, Guy 49/87. GEIST2, GrIMP12 remain.]

(muteki)

"Dang it Guy! The point is to hit them!" Muteki yelled as he downed another Heal potion for his own safety.

(Guy)

"Yeah? Well you just keep on trying to block their attacks with your vital organs!" Guy shouts back at Muteki.

Muteki had a point though, perhaps he should concentrate more on his attacking. Looking back at the Geist, Guy saw Atma moving to end it's unlife. Looking for the GrImps, he saw them dancing around Bob, poking and prodding his ankles. So, he moved up and tried to apply his hammer liberally to the first GrImp's head.

(Undine)

Undine breathed a sigh of relief as she struck a fatal blow against the Werewolf. They had managed to evade any poison, so they still had good odds that no one would be going back to Pravoka in a body bag. She was somewhat concerned at all the attention that Muteki was attracting however, especially since Black Mages usually have fairly good "LCK." Maybe it was something he was wearing that attracted them, or perhaps an odd odor, or even a curse? She would have liked to help heal him, but a certain Dean had decided things would be better if she couldn't.

Weighing her options for the coming round, she decided it would be best to attack Geist2. Although she was tempted to go after the unclaimed GrImp, she was envisioning an irritating scenario where the Geist paralyzed Atma before he had a chance to kill it. With two people attacking the severely weakened monster, they were almost certain to take it out next round, one way or the other.

Undine rolled her eyes at the banter between Muteki and Guy, but she ended up cracking a smile as she rushed toward the Geist.

Round 4

Muteki: Uses a Heal Potion on himself for 30HP. Muteki will need a bathroom break after the battle.

Undine: 1-Hit 38-Damage against GEIST2. Terminated.

DragonAtma swishes at the air with his sword at the inanimate geist.

Bob: Cured!

GrIMP2: Misses against Undine

Guy: Critical! 1-Hit 26-Damage against GrIMP1. Terminated with a fabulous smash to the imp's noggin.

[Autobattle]

Muteki: 1-Hit 12-Damage against GrIMP2

Undine: 1-Hit 51-Damage against GrIMP2. Terminated. "Thanks for that temper, my hooded friend."

Victory: Party members gain 261 experience and 113 gold

Atma and Undine walked about a mile to the east and west, leaving the group to recuperate and clear the battlefield. Undine returned with reports of a dead-end to the inner harbor while Atma reported some additional exploring. East it was, and it wasn't long until they were discovered once again. This time, it was a pack of wolves more difficult than any other they had faced thus far.

Battle 2
[Bob 130/135, Atma 114/117, Undine 72/78, Muteki 32/101, Guy 49/87. WrWOLF, GrWOLF12345, WOLF123 remain. Please let me know if you healed before the battle.]

DragonAtma: Casts Cure on Muteki for 17 HP

Guy: Casts Cure on Muteki for 31 HP

Guy: Uses a Heal Potion on himself for 30HP

Round 1

GrWOLF4: 1-Hit 6-Damage against DragonAtma

GrWOLF2: Misses against DragonAtma

GrWOLF3: 1-Hit 27-Damage against Muteki

WOLF1: 1-Hit 1-Damage against Undine

Undine: 1-Hit 15-Damage against GrWOLF1

Muteki: Casts TMPR on DragonAtma. Atma's blade shines with resilience.

Bob: 2-Hits 72-Damage against WrWOLF. Terminated.

WrWOLF: 1-Hit 1-Damage against Undine

Guy: 1-Hit 21-Damage against WOLF1. Terminated with an efficient hammer strike.

GrWOLF5: Misses against Undine

DragonAtma: Misses against WrWOLF

GrWOLF1: Misses against Guy

WOLF3: 1-Hit 1-Damage against Bob

WOLF2: 1-Hit 1-Damage against Undine

[Bob 129/135, Atma 108/117, Undine 69/78, Muteki 74/101, Guy 79/87. GrWOLF12345, WOLF23 remain.]

Round 2

WOLF2: 1-Hit 10-Damage against Muteki

GrWOLF4: 1-Hit 10-Damage against Bob

GrWOLF3: Misses against Bob

DragonAtma: Critical! 1-Hit 66-Damage against GrWOLF1. Terminated with a skilled strike from his tempered blade.

GrWOLF2: 1-Hit 1-Damage against Undine

Bob: 2-Hits 84-Damage against GrWOLF2. Terminated.

Undine chops the defunct GrWOLF1 in half. No zombies coming out of that thing.

Muteki: Casts Fire on GrWOLF3 for 16

WOLF3: 1-Hit 1-Damage against DragonAtma

GrWOLF5: Misses against DragonAtma

Guy: 1-Hit 22-Damage against WOLF2. Terminated. Guy confidently bashes on wolf after another.

[Bob 119/135, Atma 107/117, Undine 69/78, Muteki 64/101, Guy 79/87. GrWOLF345, WOLF3 remain.]

(muteki)

"I just can't seem to force myself to leave something I have burnt alive." Muteki stated as he pulled out his blood stained dagger. "Damn, I knew I should have bought the stainless steel one like I saw on that infomercial. 'It slices, it dices, it cuts through bone with ease' they said, but noooooo, I had to go and be stingy with my gold."

(Guy)

Drawing back Wolfslayer, sacred hammer born in a crucible of fire, Guy moves to attack the final wolf that now fled at the sight of the sunlight reflecting off Wolfslayer.

Guy's Conscience: Hey! Don't get cocky, you know very well that hammer was one of several made after the trip Dave, John, and yourself made. It's not sacred! The weaponstore owner even hung one up on a display board! Pah....the very idea of weapons that fare well against certain monsters. That's like stating a sword fares better against dragons, or enemies of the sea!

Guy's Ego: Shut up! I finally found an enemy I can kill that don't creep me out like......creeps or imps.

Guy's Conscience: What about Zom....

Guy's Ego: If you even mention the undead I swear I will just run around casting Harm on my allies.

Guy's Conscience: Fine, let's just hope he can keep this up.

Guy's Ego: Agreed.

Round 3

GrWOLF3: 1-Hit 5-Damage against Bob

GrWOLF5: 1-Hit 25-Damage against Guy

Muteki: 1-Hit 14-Damage against GrWOLF3

DragonAtma: 1-Hit 37-Damage against GrWOLF3. The wolf's demise is imminent.

GrWOLF4: Misses against Undine

Undine: Misses against GrWOLF3

WOLF3: 1-Hit 1-Damage against Bob

Guy: 1-Hit 26-Damage against WOLF3. Terminated. Three in a row!

Bob: 1-Hit 52-Damage against GrWOLF5

[Bob 113/135, Atma 107/117, Undine 69/78, Muteki 64/101, Guy 54/87. GrWOLF345 remain.]

(muteki)

"Wow. The wolf is missing two of its legs and you still missed it." Muteki stated toward Undine.

After setting his sites back on GrWolf3 Muteki lightly said "Oh well." in a much more sinister voice.

Muteki happily decided to get rid of one of GrWolf3's remaining legs.

(Bob)

"Bah, the GrWolf didn't die but this time it will" Bob said while he was charging to kill GrWolf5.

(Guy)

Wincing a bit in pain, Guy surveyed the battlefield. With Muteki standing over the nearly dead wolf, and Bob (hopefully) poised to finish off the wolf he attacked earlier, his next target was clear. There was one healthy GrWolf left, and hopefully it would not be so healthy when introduced to the business end of a hammer. Of course, a few stabs from his allies swords would help him in that.

(Undine)

Hearing muteki's jab, Undine turned to him and responded in kind. "Well, I suppose my swordsmanship might be a bit tarnished, but I'll bet I could still hit you, wolf-bait." She flashed a smile, and continued "but for now, let's just try and kill these wolves before they take out another bite of your spleen." Seeing muteki already eyeing the nearly-dead GrWolf3, and Bob intent on finishing what he started on GrWolf5, she thought her efforts would be best applied joining Guy in attacking GrWolf4. Since GrWolves have 0 Absorb, she, Guy, and presumably Atma would stand a good chance at downing it this round... provided she could hit it, of course.

Round 4

GrWOLF4: 1-Hit 18-Damage against Guy

GrWOLF5: Misses against DragonAtma

Undine: Misses against GrWOLF4

DragonAtma: 1-Hit 41-Damage against GrWOLF3

Muteki: 1-Hit 15-Damage against GrWOLF3. Terminated.

GrWOLF3: 1-Hit 8-Damage against Bob

Guy: 1-Hit 17-Damage against GrWOLF4

Bob: 1-Hit 40-Damage against GrWOLF5. Terminated.

[Autobattle]

GrWOLF4: 1-Hit 2-Damage against Undine

DragonAtma: Misses against GrWOLF4

Undine: Misses against GrWOLF4

Guy: 1-Hit 22-Damage against GrWOLF4

Muteki: Misses against GrWOLF4

Bob: 2-Hits 82-Damage against GrWOLF4. Terminated.

Victory: Party members gain 336 experience and 48 gold

The quintet continued toward the east and followed the curvature of the mountains heading north. They slowly climbed in elevation, vigilantly aware of the invisible dangers that could lurk around every hill and in every niche.

They finally reached the northern edge of the land in the form of a precipice extending far to the sea below... one could almost call it a peninsula... It was then that the earth began to sway and tremor with the force of ten ogres. They easily located the cause of the tremors and prepared themselves for battle.

(muteki)

Muteki looked up at the large creatures that had set their sites on them. He was almost completely dumbfounded by their sheer size. They were over 5 times the size of the ogres they had previously fought. And from the looks of their muscles they didn't appear to be able to be taken down with anything in Muteki's arsenal.

Muteki knew this and looked around at his allies. Bob was the most buff out of all of them and it seemed like he would be their best bet at beating these.... giants, if you will.

"Bob! You will need to be the one doing most of the work, so make sure you don't die!" Muteki yelled to his BFS wielding companion.

(Undine)

Undine looked upon the approaching Giants, nervous as to their prospects for the upcoming battle. These things had a damage capacity of 38 to 76, 12 Absorb, and 240HP. This was probably the battle she had been waiting for to use her charges of INVS. If it wasn't, she shuddered to think of wait was up ahead. Bob was physically the strongest, and the offensive gap would only widen after TMPR was cast [I think you made the best possible choice muteki]. He was also the most likely to get hit. As she started chanting the INVS spell on Bob, she was left with a feeling of foreboding, that someone wasn't going to make it out of this battle alive... if indeed anyone did.

(Guy)

Looking up at the huge things that loomed against the horizon.......Guy contemplated running all the way back to Cornelia. One of them would be enough, but two such beasts.....Guy didn't feel he had enough battle experience for this battle, but would do as his comrades did. He wouldn't be of much use, but he saw Muteki and Undine aiming spells at Bob. His best course of action would be to follow Bob's lead.

(Bob)

Bob looks at the towering figures approaching and immediately he saw Muteki and Undine readying 2 spells for him. That made him much calmer and he charged for the kill. (That is before he gets squished by the Giant's Clubs).

Battle 3

[Bob 105/135, Atma 107/117, Undine 67/78, Muteki 64/101, Guy 36/87. GIANT12 remain. Please let me know if you healed between battles.]

Guy chugs 2 Heal potions for 60 HP

Muteki uses a Heal potion on Bob for 30 HP

Muteki uses a Heal potion on himself for 30 HP

Bob gives a Heal potion to Guy

Round 1

GIANT1: 1-Hit 55-Damage against Muteki

Undine: Casts Invs on Bob for 40 Eva

DragonAtma: Casts Fog on Bob for 8 Abs

Bob: 1-Hit 30-Damage against GIANT1

Guy: Casts Ruse on for 80 Eva

Muteki: Casts SLEP on GIANT2

GIANT2: Remains asleep

[Bob 135/135, Atma 107/117, Undine 67/78, Muteki 39/101, Guy 87/87. GIANT12 remain. Please let me know if I bolluxed up any of the pre-battle healing. There was a lot of back and forth.] =)

(muteki)

Before Muteki could get his Tmpr spell off he was suddenly kicked by the first Giant as if he were a soccer ball and didn't stop flying until he hit a tree. He almost unknowingly cast a Slep spell as he was still embedded in the tree, but fell to the ground almost immediately afterwards. He slowly got back to his feet and realized he hadn't cast Tmpr on Bob yet and rushed to do that.

(Undine)

Undine was pleasantly surprised that one Giant was temporarily incapacitated, and that both Bob and Guy, the Blink tank, were perfectly healthy. She was concerned for muteki, who, as usual, was attracting more than his fair share of unwanted attention. At this point, all they could do was go with the plan and hope for the best. She knew her role, and started casting her second INVS spell on Bob.

(Guy)

Guy feared for Muteki's vital organs. Getting bit by wolves was no fun, but he was fairly sure that getting smashed by a club into a tree was not good either. His first instinct was to heal Muteki, but there was a plan to be carried out. Never mind that Guy had tried out this plan against Dave in the Arena battle, and was met with failure, but he had a hammer now! And the Giants were only 3 or 4 times larger than Dave. Striding as confidently as he could to the front of the line (If you can call being pushed forcibly by Undine and Atma being confident.), Guy proceeded to cast Ruse again, and pray to the God of Misses and Non Critical Hits.

Round 2

GIANT1: Misses against Muteki (Muteki must have made fun of the RNG's mother or something)

GIANT2: Remains asleep

DragonAtma: Casts Fog on himself for 8 Abs

Undine: Casts Invs on Bob for 40 Eva

Muteki: Casts TMPR on Bob for 8 Dmg

Bob: 2-Hits 57-Damage against GIANT1

Guy: Casts Ruse for 80 Eva

Guy moves to the front position of the group

[Bob 135/135, Atma 107/117, Undine 67/78, Muteki 39/101, Guy 87/87. GIANT12 remain.]

(Undine)

Undine was somewhat surprised by the outcome of the next round. Things were going better than expected so far, although with muteki keeping up his pattern of attracting the ire of the monsters, she was starting to wonder if perhaps the INVSes would have been better spent on him than Bob. But now, their defenses were set, and it was time to begin the full offensive (barring transfer of potions if they consume a turn). Shifting to a combat stance, Undine began chanting a FIRE spell to be targeted at Giant1.

(Guy)

While finishing casting his 2nd Ruse, Guy's heart sank when he saw the giant move to Muteki and aim a powerful kick his way. However, he was very very pleased to see Muteki jump out of the way. The Giant was no wolf, his hammer would not be that effective, but it would require a true group effort to down the Giants, and every little bit would help. Guy moved to attack one of the tree like legs that the Giant had, hoping that would inflict some sort of damage.

Round 3

GIANT2: Remains asleep (and the RNG redeems itself)

GIANT1: 1-Hit 21-Damage against DragonAtma

Undine: Casts Fire on GIANT1 for 30

Muteki: Misses against GIANT1

Bob: Critical! 2-Hits 153-Damage against GIANT1. Terminated!!

Guy mashes the dead GIANT's skull to make sure there are no ZmGIANTs... yet.

DragonAtma hands Muteki 4 HEAL potions

[Bob 135/135, Atma 86/117, Undine 67/78, Muteki 39/101, Guy 87/87. A sleeping GIANT2 remains. You are making this way too easy! *returns to creating his Frankenstein-esque WzZmGrWrRFrRockGasWarmechEye*]

(muteki)

As Muteki tried to attack Giant1, he suddenly saw its foot coming down on his location so he had to jump out of the way instead of worrying about attacking. He then turned his attention back to the battlefield only to see something that one wouldn't believe unless they saw it with their own eyes.

As Bob was doing an overhead swing that was aimed at the Giant's foot, his tempered blade suddenly slipped from his hands and fly an incredible distance upwards directly into the giant's left eye. The blade was unseen for about 2 seconds when it suddenly popped out the Giant's right eye and landed back in front of Bob. The blade apparently ricocheted inside the Giant's skull scrambling its brains, and the poor thing fell over dead instantaneously.

Muteki wasn't the only one in awe. The rest of the team were in shock as well. That is when Muteki asked Atma for some of his potions and Atma agreed with a stutter. Muteki then quickly downed a potion to recover from his soccer ball moment.

(Guy)

(wow)

(wow)

(WOW!)

(ahem)

Moving to attack the awake Giant, Guy was a few seconds slower to attack than Bob. And it was a good thing he was, for Bob's tremendous sword throw attack had slain the first Giant!

A hush fell over the battlefield. Finally, three sounds broke the silence. The first was a thump. Looking back, he had noticed that Undine had momentarily fainted, apparantly mumbling something about "the odds......the odds of that....." as Atma and Muteki helped her to her feet. The second was of Guy's own hammer as it came down upon the dead Giant's skull. This did nothing to the skull, as his hammer was not even strong enough to crack a Giant skull. But it did ensure that the thing was indeed, dead.

The final sound was of the second Giant, snoring loudly.

The group looked at each other, and a faint smile leapt to all of their lips.

Muteki waved them all forward, as he dropped back to drink a potion so he could recover some of his wounds. Guy would have stayed behind also to use his own potion on Muteki, but this opportunity was too good not to pass up.

Hoping for the same fortune this round, Guy moved to strike the Giant....hopefully without waking it up.

(Undine)

Undine was shocked to see the Giant fall from an attack that obviated her own (the Giant had exactly 157HP before Undine attacked). She looked over at the still-sleeping Giant, and felt a sense of bewilderment and disbelief. In a battle she was sure would have at least one (and most likely multiple) casualties, she now felt it was more likely than not that everyone would live through it. The next round was guaranteed to be free of any attacks against them, giving them a chance to deal the Giant a severe blow before it even woke up. Though misses might detract from their end total, the median damage of all attackers (minus muteki, who is guzzling a potion) is about enough to drain Giant2 of half its HP. She anticipated another 2 to 3 rounds would most likely see them to victory. With the only person capable of being one-shotted by the Giant (barring a critical) muteki, the odds were looking good, especially since THEORETICALLY, muteki was the least likely to get hit (though recent events have suggested otherwise...).

Getting ready for the next round, she started casting another FIRE spell. She had considered a regular attack, but decided to go with the option that was guaranteed to hit just to be safe.

Round 4

Muteki: Uses a Heal Potion on himself for 30HP. He hoped this GIANT would hate him somewhat less than the prior.

Bob: 2-Hits 67-Damage against GIANT2. GIANT2 painfully awakens to the terrifying corpse of his friend.

Guy: 1-Hit 6-Damage against GIANT2

Undine: Casts Fire on GIANT2 for 38

DragonAtma: 1-Hit 11-Damage against GIANT2

[Bob 135/135, Atma 86/117, Undine 67/78, Muteki 69/101, Guy 87/87. GIANT2 remains. I will likely autobattle after this upcoming round.]

Round 5

DragonAtma: 1-Hit 14-Damage against GIANT2

Muteki: 1-Hit 6-Damage against GIANT2

Bob: 1-Hit 27-Damage against GIANT2

Guy: 1-Hit 12-Damage against GIANT2

Undine: 1-Hit 16-Damage against GIANT2

GIANT2: Misses against Guy

[Autobattle]

Muteki: Misses against GIANT2

Undine: Misses against GIANT2

Bob: 1-Hit 28-Damage against GIANT2

GIANT2: 1-Hit 33-Damage against DragonAtma

Guy: 1-Hit 7-Damage against GIANT2

DragonAtma: Critical! 1-Hit 32-Damage against GIANT2. Terminated.

Victory: Party members gain 879 experience and 439 gold

"Woo hoo!" "Yeah!" "Unreal!" The group shared exclamations at their unlikely triumph. Two giants were dead before them, and they thought they heard the growl of a distant being. Perhaps it was the Gods disgruntled at them or thunder from a brewing in the west. But that was not to be. Muteki saw and reacted to it first and emitted a strange mixture of oaths that can only be described as follows: " Madpony manure Garland's mama Masamune in my eye!"

The other members looked at Muteki as if he had eight eyes before they turned to see four more GIANTs approaching them. "Run like the wind!" And run they did south, west, and north through the mountains and all the way back to Pravoka. They burst into the city far from their pursuers and collapsed in exhaustion. What they did not know was that GIANTs are a vengeful sort that, upon seeing a fallen comrade, will not stop until they destroy all involved with his death. They were being hunted.

Muteki is now L7! +2HP, Str, Agi, Int, Vit, L1 spell charge

DragonAtma is now L7! 3HP, Agi, Int, Vit, Luk, L1 and L3 spell charge

Bob is now L7 (+2 levels)! +56HP, 2Str, 2Agi, Int, 2Vit, 2Luk

Guy is now L6! +29HP, Int, Luk, L3 spell charge

Undine is now L5! 3HP, Agi, Int, Vit, Luk, L2 spell charge

[Feel free to stay at the inn / make purchases and continue onto universal]

HIM’s Departure
After resting and milling about the town tending to various errands, the group met at the front gate of the city and headed towards the sponsor of their expedition. Unfortunately, they were interrupted by a growing whirring sound coming from the sky. As they appraised the situation, a floating ship became visible amongst the storm clouds on the western horizon and worked its way quickly toward Pravoka.

It was a small ship with many propellers maintaining its aerial buoyancy, and it landed in the town center, much to the interest of the citizens. The pirates and thieves of the crowd could not sheath their hungry eyes yearning for such a treasure. Three women clad in what appeared to be soldier uniforms disembarked from the ship and scanned the crowd. "Commander HIM! We have found you!"

The crowd and party collectively gasped. The world seemed to stand still as HIM reacted. He recollected enough of his past to know this was his home, and after warmly saluting the soldiers, he turned to his comrades for a farewell.

(HIM)

The wings of heaven are descending The touch of her naked skin's amending The skies will collide Only for a little while And it will take us through the night

The voices in HIMs mind always spoke annoyingly... but they always seemed to mirror the truth before him. He gazed to the sky and half expected the Final Approach to appear in the clouds. Alas, the pleasure ship was fully destroyed and perhaps swallowed by Leviathan itself.

Celes was the first to emerge along with the other warriors HIM did not recognize. Her firm voice took shape in prismatic sprays beyond the crowd and found it's mark in his heart. HIM knew without a doubt that he was a stranger in this land... this land simply did not want him or his kinds here. Perhaps his own mind formed these illusions and perhaps they did not. He felt out of place since the moment he arrived, he had to leave once more and travel to the North.

He turned to his fellow comrades, and the most emotional sight he beheld embraced him. His lips quivered, his eyes swelled with tears. They came forth in raindrop hews, and cascaded down his cheeks. All the emotion he kept inside rushed forth and he began to mutter inconsistent notations while trying to look at his old comrades spots.

"Thank you my angel..." like belly dancing concubine. "Thank you for the blood and tears..." and for the table dance. "Wholeheartedly I thank you dear..." for our short romance

The voices and HIM now sprang to life as one, as they both could be heard in shouts throughout the Pravoka.

"We shout and call for rejoicing! We hear the sound of angel wings! Escape us as we close the ring and into the fire we will fall! Our desire, our flame, our call! So be it, once for all!"

And with the tears streaming still, he barely holds himself up after what changes came about his body. The damned voices, the invisible guests, where now partly in control of HIM. The two warrior maidens rushed to his side, and dragged his body into the war ship named the "Triple Cross."

Celes took her farewell, and turned on her heel and boarded the ship. The rumble of the engine cluster turned as the battle ship raised itself into the air, and navigated itself north of the towns present location as the engine cluster fired up the main propulsion. Strange indeed... you could almost taste the foreboding notion that they would meet again someday. For better or ill... only the sisters of Fate knew this for sure.

V__V

~Fin~

(ToST)

ToST visits Dahlia and Amelia***

Remembering earlier incidences with the shopkeeper... ToST uses an intermediary (either Dahlia or Amelia) to buy 2 heal potions*** Heals up to 5, G down to 168 if I am correct...

ToST stays at the inn*** for a night of hot thief lovin' with 2 beautiful (and adventurously understanding) women G down to 143 if I am correct

Upon arrival of the airship...

ToST talks to HIM***

"It was nice questing with you. I hope it's not the end."

"By the way, that's a mighty fine ship you have there... does it have cannons?."

"I was hoping of one day to visit Eblana to request Emperor Edge to allow me the training for the Eblana Elite Exemplary Enforcer Ensemble (5-E). Is there a way I could get passage, either by buying my way or working on board until my fare has been paid (I'm a good cook, and an expert cannoneer {I bet you never expected that!})?"

as far as the Universal Plot goes.....****

ToST ponders for a moment....

Hmmm..... as many happy memories I have in that Inn already...... and as much as i'd like to see that Item Shopkeeper flattened for his indiscretions.... the armor shop where Dahlia works in to the South of town... and It's currently unguarded.... MAN, I wish i had access to one of those cannons on that airship...."

(Undine

Undine never really got a chance to know HIM, but she waved a farewell to the departing Red Mage. It seemed like the thing to do.

… Undine reacted with some surprise when she was presented with a CURE scroll from Group 3's exploits, but gratefully accepted it. She was somewhat less impressed when she found out she was the only one in all three groups that could use it, but thankful nonetheless. Upon (re-)learning the spell, she offered to use her remaining spell charges on anyone who didn't have spell charges to save them an Inn trip before she herself stayed there

Assault on Pravoka
Feeling some sense of closure with his fellow adventurers, Commander HIM bid the crowd farewell and followed the soldiers to the airship. The ship took off with a rumble and headed north.

The rumbling of the airship did not cease, even after it breached the horizon. "We're under attack!" shouted a man wearing a mohawk from near the inn. "They're coming from the south too," another citizen added.

[The four GIANTS had isolated their prey to this city and begun their assault, two from the north and two from the south. If the ones from the north are not defeated in 3 rounds, the inn will be destroyed. If the ones from the south are not defeated in 3 rounds, the item shop will be destroyed. If you wish to participate, choose a direction and a command. Battle will begin next round. Anyone is also welcome to an inn stay and shopping beforehand, so just let me know.]

Pre-Battle

Muteki stays at the inn, equips some gloves, and takes ICE from Dave Mlinko

DragonAtma stays at the inn and purchases SLOW

Dave Mlinko stays at the inn, purchases 3 heal potions to get to 9, and de-equips his nunchucks

Max stays at the inn, purchases gloves, a wooden shield, and 2 heal potions

Bob stays at the inn

Guy stays at the inn, purchases INVS and MUTE, and one heal potion

John stays at the inn and equips the copper bracelet and sells the cloth

Stephen stays at the inn and purchases 3 heal potions

Obsidian stays at the inn and uses 200g from Eric to purchase TMPR

ToST stays at the inn with his escorts and purchases 2 heal potions

Eric stays at the inn, loans 200g to Obsidian, and purchases 3 heal potions

Undine stays at the inn, takes CURE from Dave Mlinko, and purchases TMPR and gloves

Inn
Round 1

GIANT1: 1-Hit 30-Damage against DragonAtma

Muteki: Casts SLEP unsuccessfully

ToST: 1-Hit 11-Damage against GIANT2

DragonAtma: 1-Hit 19-Damage against GIANT2

GIANT2: Misses against Bob

Eric: 1-Hit 12-Damage against GIANT2

Bob: 2-Hits 75-Damage against GIANT2. Several solid strikes clearly rattle GIANT2.

John: Casts Fog on Muteki for 8 Abs

[Bob 191/191, Atma 90/120, Eric 102/102, ToST 130/130, John 112/112, Muteki 103/103. GIANT12 remain. Please enter your commands.]

(Eric)

Taking in some comfort that a Black Mage can completely fail in a spell, Eric then quickly realizes that it's not a good thing when it's for keeping everyone else alive. Before hitting himself between his logic and phobias, Eric somehow manages to force himself to attack the GIANT (2) again.

(muteki)

Muteki was rather in awe at how his spell seemed to have no effect. He knew that the spell was rather unruly and that it couldn't be specifically aimed, but it had never entirely missed before.

That is when he saw three squirrels fall out of a tree near the Giants. Muteki then noticed the other animals in the surrounding forest. Apparently the animals know when the Giants aren't going to harm them, or else they would have run away and Slep would have been useful. However with them there (and with some psychic advice from his allies) he decided this was as good a time as ever to test his new Ice spell.

Round 2

GIANT1: 1-Hit 59-Damage against DragonAtma

ToST: Misses against GIANT2

DragonAtma: 1-Hit 23-Damage against GIANT2

GIANT2: Misses against DragonAtma. The red mage just barely manages to roll away from the follow-up strike.

Bob: 1-Hit 32-Damage against GIANT2

John: 1-Hit 1-Damage against GIANT2

Eric: 1-Hit 15-Damage against GIANT2

Muteki: Casts Ice on GIANT2 for 64. A well-aimed block of ice encases the GIANT's head, suffocating it. Terminated.

[Bob 191/191, Atma 31/120, Eric 102/102, ToST 130/130, John 112/112, Muteki 103/103. GIANT1 remains. Please enter your commands.]

(Eric)

Eric swiftly throws a HEAL potion at Atma. The one-track mind the GIANTs seem to have against Atma makes it appear he's in desperate need of instant healing. Whether Atma or John can get their spells in fast enough, Eric doesn't want to take that chance. A third healing won't be wasted, even if Atma is spared the next assault.

Besides, between Bob and, as much as he hates to admit, Muteki, Eric's attacks are rather useless in comparison. That, and he wants to clear out of the way of the next spell Muteki sends out.

Lastly, Eric could have sworn he saw what looked like a faint red lightning flash by him coming all the way from the south side. The source appears to be coming from something glowing like the sun held by one of the light warriors fighting the GIANTs there. The intense power from TMPR spells are having their effect, it seems, as he only sees one towering figure in the distance. Eric quickly focuses back on getting that HEAL potion to Atma.

Round 3

DragonAtma: Casts Cure on DragonAtma for 28 HP

John: Casts Cure on DragonAtma for 25 HP

Muteki: Casts Ice on GIANT1 for 25

Bob: 2-Hits 63-Damage against GIANT1

ToST: 1-Hit 13-Damage against GIANT1

Eric: Uses a Heal Potion on DragonAtma for 30HP. Atma feels like a new man!

GIANT1: 1-Hit 28-Damage against Bob. Bob smiles, pleased with his ability to absorb such a massive blow.

[Bob 163/191, Atma 114/120, Eric 102/102, ToST 130/130, John 112/112, Muteki 103/103. GIANT2 remains. Please enter your commands.]

Round 4

GIANT1: Misses against Bob

Bob: Critical! 2-Hits 116-Damage against GIANT1.

Muteki: Casts Ice on GIANT1 for 44. Terminated. A masterful 1-2 punch lands Muteki consecutive GIANT kills.

Victory: Party members gain 879 experience and 439 gold

John is now L7! +4HP, Str, Agi, Int, Vit, Luk, L1 charge

ToST is now L6! +3HP, Str, Agi, Int, Vit, Luk

Eric is now L6! +32HP, Str, Agi, Int, Vit, Luk

[See universal]

(Eric)

Eric swiftly throws a HEAL potion at Atma. The one-track mind the GIANTs seem to have against Atma makes it appear he's in desperate need of instant healing. Whether Atma or John can get their spells in fast enough, Eric doesn't want to take that chance. A third healing won't be wasted, even if Atma is spared the next assault.

Besides, between Bob and, as much as he hates to admit, Muteki, Eric's attacks are rather useless in comparison. That, and he wants to clear out of the way of the next spell Muteki sends out.

Lastly, Eric could have sworn he saw what looked like a faint red lightning flash by him coming all the way from the south side. The source appears to be coming from something glowing like the sun held by one of the light warriors fighting the GIANTs there. The intense power from TMPR spells are having their effect, it seems, as he only sees one towering figure in the distance. Eric quickly focuses back on getting that HEAL potion to Atma.

Item Shop
Round 1

Max: 2-Hits 68-Damage against GIANT3

Dave Mlinko: 2-Hits 14-Damage against GIANT4 (first 2-hit karate chop for Dave!)

GIANT3: 1-Hit 40-Damage against Obsidian

GIANT4: 1-Hit 53-Damage against Max

Guy: Casts Ruse on himself for 80 Eva

Stephen: Misses against GIANT4

Obsidian: Casts TMPR on Max for 8 Dmg

Undine: Casts TMPR on Max for 8 Dmg. Flames of power surround Max's blade.

[Max 112/165, Dave Mlinko 133/133, Undine 81/81, Stephen 128/128, Obsidian 33/73, Guy 116/116. GIANT34 remain. Please enter your commands.]

(Obsidian)

OUCH!

Obsidian goes flying through the Item shop window after the brutal hit from the Giant. "I can't possibly survive another one of those, but I need to get another TMPR on Max... I sure hope this doesn't attract more unwanted attention..."

(Guy)

As Guy cast Ruse on himself, feeling the air shimmer with the decoys around him, he watched as Obsidian got kicked through a window.

"Hmmm, this looks familiar."

(flashback to Muteki getting soccerballed into a tree.)

"What is it with BM's I travel with?"

Shrugging to himself, he wondered at the proper action. The plan was to Ruse himself up to near invincibility, but Obsidian was very hurt. He couldn't take another shot like that. There were enough bodies around to take a hit. Also, it looked like Max's sword was about to explode with all the power emanating from it. Therefore, Guy moved to Obsidian's side and lay his hands upon him, preparing to Cure him.

Round 2

GIANT4: 1-Hit 69-Damage against Dave Mlinko. Dave is slammed into the wall adjacent to Obsidian.

Undine: Casts Cure on Obsidian for 30 HP

Obsidian: Casts TMPR on Max for 8 Dmg

GIANT3: 1-Hit 27-Damage against Max

Guy: Casts Ruse on himself for 80 Eva

Dave Mlinko: 1-Hit 11-Damage against GIANT3

Stephen: Critical! 1-Hit 38-Damage against GIANT3

Max: 2-Hits 140-Damage against GIANT3. Terminated with a massive strike from his nigh uncontrollable flaming blade.

[Max 85/165, Dave Mlinko 64/133, Undine 81/81, Stephen 128/128, Obsidian 63/73, Guy 116/116. GIANT4 remains. Please enter your command.]

(Obsidian)

Thankful that it was Dave that was flung into the wall this time, and even more thankful to see one of the beastly giants fall to the highly tempered blade, Obsidian knew it was time to switch to a final offensive. "The bigger they are, the harder they fall," Obsidian said as he aimed an ICE blast at the Giants feet.

Round 3 Stephen: 1-Hit 8-Damage against GIANT4

Obsidian: Casts Ice on GIANT4 for 68. The GIANT's feet are encased in painfully frigid blocks of ice.

GIANT4: 1-Hit 57-Damage against Stephen. Another wildly painful strike.

Guy: Casts Cure on Dave Mlinko for 31 HP

Max: 1-Hit 71-Damage against GIANT4. Max buries his blade into the GIANT's knee.

Dave Mlinko: 1-Hit 10-Damage against GIANT4

Undine: Casts Cure on Max for 30 HP

[Max 115/165, Dave Mlinko 95/133, Undine 81/81, Stephen 71/128, Obsidian 63/73, Guy 116/116. GIANT34 remain. Please enter your command.]

Round 4

GIANT4: Misses against Guy

Stephen: 1-Hit 12-Damage against GIANT4

Max: 2-Hits 96-Damage against GIANT4. Terminated.

Victory: Party members gain 879 experience and 439 gold

Max is now L7! +26HP, Str, Agi, Int, Vit, Luk

Guy is now L7! +4HP, Str, Agi, Int, Vit, Luk, L1 charge

Undine is now L6! +24HP, Str, Agi, Vit, Luk, L3 charge

Stephen is now L6! +2HP, Str, Agi, Vit, Luk

Obsidian is now L6! +26HP, Str, Agi, Int, Vit, Luk, L3 spell charge

[See universal]

Meriweather
At long last and with much less celebration than they should have received after the literally giant victory, the group returned to the merchant and reported their findings to him… a mystical cave to the northwest inhabited by a witch, a dangerous peninsula to the southeast, and a now-defunct mud hut to the northeast. After working with the group to construct a rudimentary map, "thank you, young adventurers. You have done well. Here is your well earned reward." The man hands each of the adventurers 500g and shuffles back to his home to ponder next steps.

Quest (3) Call me Meriweather complete!

Quest (4) Battle Royale automatically initiated >=)