[Last Time, on El WHAT?!: Our Heroes accidentally got themselves into a test that they hadn't anticipated. Faced with the choice of who would live and who would die, they all chose to die. Luckily for them, the dragon left an escape clause hidden in the fine print, and Harold chose... wisely, and obtained the first Rhyme, which is now residing in his head, ready to read him at the slightest provocation.] [We open on the remaining members of our little group as they exit the temple carved into the hillside. The light doesn't seem TOO much brighter, thanks to the disco floor inside the cave, but it still blinds them for just a moment.] [Session... START!] * Emmet shields his eyes with his arm, palm twisted to face the sun. "Oh," he says, somewhat surprised. "Where are we?" * Tiffany moves quickly outside the vicinity of the lair and leans heavily against a wall. She lets out a steadying sigh. * Nick does likewise. "Don't ask me, I got here after all the action." * Emmet's eyes adjust quickly, revealing the still mostly-deserted goblin camp. * Fadi blinks, trying to adjust to the light. "Goblin camp, remember?" * Emmet lowers his arm slowly and studies the camp for signs of activity. Just in case. * The few goblins that are scurrying around on errands still seem eager to ignore you. We're trying to find our mentors, I believe. Oh, this is the goblin camp? Huh, didn't realize. * Fadi puts his shades on. "Anyone find it odd that all the weapons were disturbingly similar in make to our own?" * Emmet holds his newly acquired shield and warhammer at the ready. "Well, the guy who carried this," he gestures with the hammer, "was pretty much human. He could have been buying this stuff." * Nick pulls out his own sunglasses. "Aaaahhh." * Fadi shrugs. "You got a point." ... wait, buying his weapons from the village? I can't believe the others would allow that, or wouldn't investigate someone buying so many. Oh. I hadn't thought of that. I guess we could ask when we get back. Is it time to go back yet? * Tiffany looks up briefly at Harold, but attempts to avoid eye contact. I thought we were going back... Tiffany? Is something wrong? I dunno, if you can't buy something.. Somehow saying 'sorry' doesn't seem enough. There's just so much pressure here. I don't know how you all handle it. I just don't think about things that don't make sense. * Fadi shrugs and grins. "If you never face death, you'll always look away." I'm with Harold. We have to do the job in front of us, one at a time, until we get home. ... Unless you guys are talking about something else that I missed entirely. * Tiffany nods. "Then.. I won't run away again. I won't cry. I promise. Next time... Next time you can rely on me." Don't worry about it. It's all fate, or destiny, or whatever. So if you weren't strong enough to be here.. you wouldn't be. Right? * Fadi nods. * Tiffany nods, a fierce look in her teary eyes. She's fighting back more tears. Successfully, so far. * Tiffany then stares into space for a moment before refocusing. "Draghmal just contacted me. He says he'll be here shortly to pick us up." * Nick grins and crosses his arms. "Cool." * Fadi smirks. * A moment later, there's a colossal *BOOM* and a sudden wind pushes you all back towards the hillside as several people teleport in. * Nick stumbles backward. "Whoacrap!" Where WERE you people? * Fadi steps back a few feet, then regains his balance. * Tiffany blinks at the sudden *bamf* and then points toward the cave. Hey, Draghmal. We just saw your big brother. * Emmet staggers back a bit. He glances over at Tiffany when the easily recognizable figure of Draghmal appears. ... Draghmal! * Fadi waves to Dragh. "Heya." Or maybe he was an uncle or something.. I heard. The real question is, why did you suddenly drop off the face of the earth for so long? Hey. We should leave. What's left of that army will be back any minute. * Nick shrugs and puts his sunglasses away. I... didn't think it was all that long. * Emmet turns to Alexis. "What is the best way to leave, sir?" Well... like they said, sir, we were speaking with a dragon. By teleport, obviously. Since we're going someplace our dear sorcerous friend knows so well, it shouldn't be particularly difficult for him. * Tiffany moves over near Draghmal. * Draghmal sighs. "I KNOW you were talking to a dragon. Fine. If you don't want to tell me... just fine." Everybody join hands, please thank you? Oh. * Tiffany moves to join hands. * The veterans swiftly join hands, leaving a link at either end for our heroes. * Harold joins hands, looking a bit guilty. He can't quite tell exactly what Draghmal wants to know. * Emmet moves closer to Draghmal and Alexis, and joins hands with whoever is closest to him there. * Fadi moves to join hands as well, flipping off his shades in one smooth motion and placing it in one of his pockets, then taking hands. * Nick shakes his head a little, joining hands. * A feeling of power builds in the air for a moment, and then you all get to experience the somewhat sickening feeling of going from your normal size to being as big as the universe in an instant, and in that same instant, shrinking down until you're in a separate place. Some would call being one with the universe enlightening. It doesn't feel very enlightening to you. * All around you, the goblin camp has been replaced with the street just outside Alfred's forge. * The townsfolk slowly peek up from behind walls, out from behind corners, and out of windows as the last echoes of the bang fade away. * Tiffany takes her hands out of the circle and use them to grab her stomach. "NNNGH." * Emmet lifts a hand to his head and stops partway, before bashing his head with his own shield. * Harold wobbles in place, looking stunned. * Fadi pops up and... Doesn't look good. He looks around really quickly and, unfortunately for him, can't keep it in longer and throws up as he backpedals, trying to keep the slop from hitting his shoes or anyone else. * Nick looks a little dazed, but manages to keep both his balance and his lunch in place. ..Whoa, that was awesome. * The elder adventurers all leap swiftly back as Fadi lets loose. * Nick then looks down at his now-splattered footwear. "..But this isn't cool at *all*.." WELL. That was unexpected. * Fadi finishes blowing chunks. "Something there" *throws up one more mouthful* "Didn't agree with me..." Obviously. * Harold swiftly turns away from Fadi, one hand over his own mouth. * Emmet steps away from Fadi, wrinkling his nose as he does. "Okaaay." * Nick turns away and tries not to look at either Fadi or his shoes. "I need to get these washed.." Yeah. I think you should go take a rest. All of you. You've earned it. * Fadi smacks his mouth. "Got something I could drink first?" That's not a bad idea.... * Tiffany just nods and waits to meekly follow the party. * Blind Edward appears behind Nick. "And you may want to examine what you found. It may be... important." A drink and a rest. I like the sound of that. * Nick tries hard not to jump, and doesn't succeed. "..Er, yeah, sir." * Alfred hooks a wineskin from just inside his door and tosses it lightly to Fadi. "Enjoy." * Fadi catches it and chugs it briefly. "Thanks. Good stuff." * Nick starts walking off to the inn. "Now, to find someone willing to clean these damn shoes.." What do you mean, 'examine what we found'? Examine. Appraise. Determine what is magical and what is not, how things may best be used, and their overall worth. Ohh... how do we go about that? Detection of magical abilities is generally the province of wizards and clerics. Yeah, I picked the lock. You all can look at the stuff. * Nick waves and heads off. ... do we _have_ a wizard or a cleric? ... well, definitely not a cleric. * Harold sighs. If a sorceress can do it, then I certainly don't know how. For general appraisal, it is best to either trust your own instincts and training, or find a reputable appraiser you think you can trust. Oh. Do we have any of that either? I'm not sure my instincts and training would let me know whether this hammer is special, unless maybe I practice with it a bit. * Fadi shrugs and knocks on his armor. "It's metal, I can move in it, seems like good stuff to me." * Harold sighs again. "Are there any reputable appraisers around here?..." * Edward grins. "No. No there's not. Couldn't be." ... nnnn. * Fadi grins. I guess we'll just have to sit on this stuff until I manage to get some spells, then. So what DID you find? Are you sure it's okay to carry it all around? I got a lot of... metal. * Emmet holds up the shield and the warhammer. "These, and a small sword, too." The armor I'm wearing too. Mmm, anything else? Nick found us a box of money, too, I think. And he grabbed some other swords. Money is always good. A little unwieldy sometimes, but good. We weren't exactly sure what was worth keeping and what wasn't, so we took as much as we could carry. I suggest that you keep them for a rainy day. You never know when you'll need extra weapons. As long as they aren't weighing you down too much, mind. * Tiffany takes in the sage advice... though it's not as useful for her as for those who are able to carry such things. _I_ suggest you go to the inn, rest for a while, and figure out what you need to do next. We'll all be around if you need any advice, too. Well, maybe not Alexis, but other than that... Yes, sir. Going to the inn is definitely what we need to do first. Shall we? * Emmet looks around a bit to get his bearings and then heads toward the inn. "Let's." * Fadi nods. "Yeah, sure." * Tiffany follows. * Fadi walks torwards the inn, too. * The inn is open, and pretty well deserted at this time of day. * It should be another hour or so before the evening crowd starts coming in for beer. * Emmet looks around the mostly deserted room. "Nap first or talk first?" I'm up for a nap and a bath. Sounds good to me. Yes, I could definitely use some time to unwind. Just try to hide what we found in your rooms for now? Eight and seven. It's risky, but I can't think of what else we could do... * As the rest of the group enters the inn's front door where you made such a mess earlier, Nick is just finishing up a bargaining session. * Nick is debating with the innkeeper. "Oh, come on. Eight and five's the absolute most." * The innkeeper smiles. "Done." * Nick reaches into his pouch and hands over the coins. "And I need to get my boots washed." Hm? * Fadi smirks at Nick. "Sorry 'bout your shoes." ..No, wait, nevermind. * Nick pulls off his boots and holds them out at Fadi. "*He* can wash them." * The innkeeper snickers loudly. "More's the pity. Really." * Fadi eyes Nick. "Not so sorry anymore. You sure you want me to wash them?" He grins. Hey, if you want to mess 'em up, you'll just have to go without sleep. * Nick grins back. If you're going to fight, take it outside. * Emmet shakes his head. "I'm going to take my nap either way." Agreed! * Fadi shrugs. "Sure thing. Hope you don't mind wet shoes for the next few days, though." Do we have rooms already? Just use a washcloth, man. It's not like you puked *in* them. * Fadi grins. Yeah. Your friend here just sealed the deal. A full week, two meals a day, and one bath each. Great. Thanks, sir. Thanks, Nick. So... where ARE our rooms? Do we need keys for them? * Nick sighs and reattaches his money pouch. Upstairs. No locks, you won't need 'em. Great. Thanks again. * Emmet heads for the stairs, and climbs them to find his room. I'm gonna get that bath pronto.. * Nick follows, lugging his totally-full backpack. Hey, as for the bath, I say ladies first! * Harold nods to the Innkeeper and begins heading upstairs, his footsteps slow and heavy now. "That's fine with me, Tiffany, I think I'll be sleeping first..." * Fadi nods. "Yeah. Don't suppose you'd have a washcloth handy? Someone needs some 'clean' shoes." Fine. I'll take my nap first. Somebody just wake me up when it's my turn, huh? * The innkeeper tosses Fadi a horrifically dirty bar rag. * Fadi catches it and goes out-back to clean off the shoes. Yeah, sure, they're probably gonna be horribly dirty anyways, but who's shoes *aren't* dirty by now? [And, on that note... Session End!]