From Linear's Journal


Home


I thought renting all the rooms would help us evade any surprise attack. Maybe it did, but who knows. All I know is that I was not quite asleep, but resting, wondering about what that slimy merchant Fernell said about thisÉ this bracelet (did he double-cross me?), and Mosh starts talking that jibberish and then I'm frickin invisible. Pardon my language and it's lack of subtlety. It's been going downhill since I left the friggin forest. Anyway, I am invisible and I hear Seika scream bloody murder. I know what that means: She is administering a decisive ass-kicking. We're under attack. Thank the world for Seika's alertness and extraordinary skill. From what I hear, she leapt out the window onto the back of a flying wizard and beat the crap out of her in mid air.

I wished for Angry Pipe's presence. I don't know, the world seems safer with him nearby. But there was Wad on his feet, standing like a taught-muscled Ragetree, ready to beat the sense out of any attacker. Mosh ran for the door. I shit my pants realizing that I only had spells prepared for calming and negotiating with animals so I could get safely to Lady Grandisse's house. But Mosh had the wherewithal to cast invisibility on me, so I ran through the door and down the hall behind him.

My one useful spell was Summon Nature's Ally, one shown to me by a Druid/Ranger named Serthrow who passed through our forest twice a year. As I turn the corner on the first floor, I ran smack into one of the guard. Busted. So I Summoned a fight-experienced Rottweiler named Bobby Karakichanis. But summoning him meant the end of my invisibility. Frankly, Bobby sucked. A lot of distracting barking, but he just wasn't on him game. He did zero damage. In the meantime, I managed to strike a hard blow with my quarterstaff, but this guard was tough. He hit me back and man did it hurt. Then I heard pounding and hard thuds upstairs and then Wad's unnerving victorious hollers. I swing at the guard again and he effortlessly steps out of the way. Bobby Karakichanis does little more than cheer me on. But right when I realize this guard is gonna kick my ass, there was Wad to pound him into the hotel flooring. Wow. Wad makes bones crunch. I've never seen a man fold in half like that.

We ran outside. I saw that Seika (and others?) had taken out the flying wizard and was engaged in another tumble with multiple guardsmen. That's when I did something odd. Even though I have been trained my whole life to fair well against multiple enemies, and to be prepared for the unexpected, I decided to loot the wizard's body, looking for something that Mosh might find useful. Whether any other action might have changed things, I don't know, but while I was digging around, in flew Hell. My own personal Hell: the vague, thin dude that's been following us since the Lido. Oddly, my first thought (mind you, these things occur in nanoseconds) was, was this guy following Miro, too?

The rest of what happened is all a little hazy, but I'll try to get it down.

The vague, thin man stood before me with a short sword in one hand and a glowing scimitar in the other. Before I could finish my thought about how inept my quarterstaff seemed, I heard what sounded like "sssiing," and felt a light tug on my arm. I looked down to see it fall to the ground. My arm fell to the ground. There's a sentence I never expected to utter. Immediately, the soothing, washing sensations of shock began to make there way through my organs, but I knew I had to fight comfort off. This man was going to kill me. It was obvious that he wanted the bracelet, but it was also obvious that he had no qualms about dealing death.

My courageous friends ran to my rescue while I cast Flare in his face. I needed time to run. It didn't do much, but gave me just enough time (that was close since I had 4 hp left) to reach down and grab my severed arm (now there's something you never want to have to do) and run back into the hotel. Trying to remain conscious, remembering the kind, creviced face of my mentor who has no name, I ran for the courtyard. If I could just get back there, I knew, I had one more bit of magic that would save my life. I could hear the boys fighting valiantly that Sick FuckÉ

Their efforts gave me enough time to stumble back into the hotel's courtyard and turn myself into a small tree: the perfect disguise as well as an answer for the profuse bleeding and severed limb. It worked. But just before that, I took my severed right hand in my left and invited the bracelet to travel from one wrist to the other. And it happened! Just as with Miro, it transformed into a brilliantly colored snake (man, that South Helios magic is something), uncoiled and made it's way onto my other wrist. I quickly cast Tree Shape and it was immediately at rest. A few moments later that Vague Hell came flying over the building and circled the courtyard looking to finish me off. He couldn't find me.

So, thanks to my fellows, I am alive and we still have the bracelet. I am now more determined than ever to get this bracelet into the right hands. These sc.umbags are going to be sorry they tangled with us. I will do my best to return the bracelet to its rightful owner, but now I am committed to bringing down these merging, greedlusting, life-hating evil saltslave empires.

To be continued...