Classic-Castle Roleplay: September

[Lord_Of_The_LEGO]

Greetings, roleplayers!

Additions to the continuing epic should be posted here. Any questions regarding the CCRP should be posted in this thread.

Let the adventure continue!

[Lord_Of_The_LEGO]

"...get that tyco upstart... as for the Lone Ranger... lock her up... drag... questioning... lock... tyco... get... lock her up..."

"Yes sire!" Peter saluted an empty suit of armor, as crisply as he could under the circumstances. For some reason he couldn't exactly recall, he didn't seem quite able to stand up properly. But his orders were as clear as mud.

He staggered from the room, determined to capture Lovana or the Lone Ranger.

O-22
Bulls Isle

Peter had not gone three paces before he ran into Gerrik.

"What the tyco?" Gerrik grabbed Peter by the shouldered so he could get a good look at the Bull.

"Are ye drunk?"

Peter swayed. "Must get...Lone...Ranger...megabloks..."

Gerrik suddenly reconised the bewieldered Bull as the poor bloke who Lord Barbod had punched.

"Buildit...you brain's rattled, just a sec..." Gerrik shouted over his shoulder, "Hey, Lone Falcon, c'mere!"

The Lone Falcon rushed in. "Oh dear..." he murmured.

"'Ere, hold 'im while I feed him this sleeping draft..."

The Lone Falcon did as he was orderd, and soon Peter was dozing peacefully.

"We better tell Lord Barbod 'bout this bloke, we don't want him messing up things..."

[The Green Knight]

"What? But I'll die if I go home. I don't have any food."
"Well there is that I suppose. All right then, come with me."

Grid: M-8
Location: Drullen Bell Keep
Two figures made their way through the crowded corridors of the drullen bell keep. Alex was in the lead. The forestmen knew him. He wouldn't be stopped. Close behind was Walf. He had his hood down though he couldn't help looking up and staring at the new sights. No one noticed him though. Everyone was busy with all the work that needed doing. Quietly they made their way to the storage rooms.

"Wow! Look at all the food!"

"Shhh! Let's get what we need and go."

After the provisions it was weapons. The two already had weapons but Alex was after something else. Reno's sword was still in the keep and Alex was going to bring it back to him. "Wait a minute." he thought. "First I had better find Luxus."

"Wait here for me Walf. I need to speak with Bjarn."

Alex found Bjarn, busy as usual."Bjarn, have you seen Luxus?"

"What?"

"Have you seen Luxus?"

"Luxus? No I haven't. Shainya," He called to the girl as she passed. "Have you seen Luxus?"

"No," she said. "I've been looking all over for him. I haven't seen him since the night..." Shainya stopped. "You don't think..."

They did. "Poor Luxus." Alex thought. "Tyco that wizard!"

"I'm afraid it's more of that devilish wizard's work." Bjarn said. Shainya started to cry. Bjarn put his arm around her "It's all right Shainya."

Alex wanted to say something but he wasn't that good with words. "She hasn't been the same lately." He remarked to himself. "Looks like time to leave." Returning to Walf, he headed to the dungeons. Alex didn't know why, but for some reason the sword had been locked up.

[The Green Knight]

Grid: G-10
Location; the Fire Breathing Fortress

"Drop your weapons and your lives will be spared."
"It can't be." Caimlin whispered. "The deceiver!"

It was a sad day for the Dragon Masters. Caimlin was in the dungeon attending to the wounded men. More were being brought in by the slaves every minute. It was good to see that not all of the knights outside were dead, but then, most of them were pretty banged up.
~
Meanwhile Dacker was up in Lord Void's magic chamber, planning his next move.

"Where's Bargon?" Dacker asked as he searched through several vials on a self. "That idiot was supposed to bring me the dragon weeks ago."

"Bargon is dead."

"What!"

"Targon captured him and brought him back."

"And the dragon?"

"Somewhere in the neverwood. I don't know where though. Bargon was killed before I had a chance to speak with him."

"And you let them kill him?" Dacker was angered now.

"Caimlin poisoned him while I was away."

Dacker cursed under his breath. More work. "Where does Lord Void keep his healing potions?" he asked furiously. "Wait I think I found one." Dacker took the vial and administered some of it to Coal Bloods eye. "Blasted archer!" he murmured under his breath.

"I'm sorry but why did you need the dragon again?"

Dacker rolled his eyes. "That dragon was the same one who attacked me 35 years ago. He gave me a poison that nearly killed me. BloodVaine saved me, but apparently he didn't get all the poison out of my system. That dragon's blood is the the only antidote. If I don't get it I will die!" Dacker sighed. "Forgive me but dying makes me very tense. I should thank you really. Today's battle may have gone baddy if you hadn't locked the knights out of the fortress. That reminds me... By the authority of the highest lord BloodVaine, I bestow on you the title of king. This land shall be yours and your descendants, under the rule of BloodVaine, forever. Now, Del Grakken, your kingdom awaits."

[The Green Knight]

Grid: M-18
Location: Fright Knight island.

Targon was snickering. Not out loud but inside. "This'll show that flat faced Elbadar! Thinks he can steal my job does he? Well I guess he doesn't have what it takes to come on this, 'highly important mission'. I hope vampires attack and he dies. Better yet, maybe he'll have an unfortunate accident involving a cooking pot and some fishing equipment." Targon thought back to the time when Bargon tried to outdo him at home. Somehow a stolen vase turned up in his tent and as a result, he was demoted to the lowest rank possible. Maybe something like that was in order here.

"Targon."

The voice jolted him out of his thoughts. It was The Sorceror King.

"Wake up Targon. We have a job to do here and I want you to stay alert."

"Yes sir." Targon saluted. "Stay alert!" he thought. "Stay alert! Stay alert. stay alert. stay al...
.
.
.
.
I'll bet I'd make twice the leader that he is. 'Stay alert targon!' What a grouch. If I were in charge my men would adore me..... Well maybe once my hair grew back. And that Elbadar would be on dragon poop duty... ...Permanently! Yeah...."

[Jack Craft]

The Lone Falcon did as he was ordered, and soon Peter was dozing peacefully.

"We better tell Lord Barbod 'bout this bloke, we don't want him messing up things..."

Gerrik and the Falcon entered the courtyard just as the throng of Bull supporters were dispersing back to their posts and jobs. Jack noticed the two searching for Barbod, and ambled over.

"You two look about as happy as cheese at a mouse festival. You saw the folk stand behind Barbod-- he's bright as gold to them!"

"It's not that, Jack," the Falcon explained, "it's that soldier Barbod hit-- we found him wandering and addled. I fear he was hurt worse than we thought."

"Brix and Blox. I'll give him the eye-over again. I thought he'd be out for a tide, at least."

Gerrik went off to let Barbod know about the trouble, while the Falcon and Jack headed back to the barracks. Jack was sorting though his pack as he went, pulling out small parcels and holding them in his mouth as he looked for more. He was absurdly reminiscent of a squirrel collecting acorns, though the Falcon made no other comment aside from offering to hold one or two of the parcels. He could see one was labelled spleen, another liver, and one jangled with small bits of something metal. Jack finally turned a couple of the bundles over the Falcon, which give his mouth something to do besides carry.

"Aye, I'll soon have the fellow up and marching again. I was a churgeon for a while, you'd probably guess."

"No, I don't think you'd mentioned it," the Falcon replied, slightly amused.

"Oh, to be sure of it. Didn't hold with the whole bloodletting, though-- never saw how spilling more of a fellow's blood could make him better. Cautery's not too bad, though, if ye know what you're doing..."

He arrayed the bundles around Peter's pallet and set to work, chatting the whole while.

"Aye, well, the thing of it is, Barbod's whack stirred up his blood and threw his humours out of balance. He's clearly got too much Red Choler... or maybe Phlegm? Hmm. Let's see his eyes."

Jack peered speculatively into an eye which utterly failed to peer back.

"Nah, nah. Phlegm it is, Jack's certain-sure of it. We'll put it right, right enough. Let's see. Crushed bees... some burned feverfew to liven his blood. Aye. This'll do him some good."

Jack poured a sloppy paste into the unconscious guard's mouth, while the Falcon privately winced at the contents. Still, it didn't smell too terrible-- sort of like a stale bit of bread smeared with pot-herbs. He wondered if it would help any. Jack seemed confident of his work, but then again, he had seemed pretty sure about his carpentry, too...

****

Several hours later, Peter woke up complaining of a belly ache and a sore throat-- but he was coherent and seemed to have recovered from his concussion.

[Formendacil]

Grid: M-8
Location: Drullen Bell Keep

"I'm afraid it's more of that devilish wizard's work." Bjarn said. Shainya started to cry. Bjarn put his arm around her "It's all right Shainya."

Alex wanted to say something but he wasn't that good with words. "She hasn't been the same lately." He remarked to himself.

Sir Dractor had noticed that Shainya was somewhat out of sorts as well. Unlike Alex, he knew nothing of Luxus, having never even heard of the boy, but it was no surprise to him that Shainya was acting a bit differently. They all were, everyone in Drullen Bell. And for good reason, too. Being on the edge of a possible attack didn't have a good effect on most people, and from what Sir Dractor had heard, Shainya was also going through something of a romantic crisis that involved the recently vanished Reno Regga.

Sir Dractor was no healer, and not a man familiar with the intricacies of romance, but he knew that Shainya's mind needed to be taken off of her troubles. And she needed to be kept out of Bjarn's hair. The Forestman king looked at her almost as a daughter, and he had enough troubles on his plate. In addition, Sir Dractor was still training the commoners in the use of weapons.

So it was that he approached Shainya the morning after Alex returned with Walf during breakfast.

"Yes, Sir Dractor?" she asked, not looking up, as he came over to her place at the high table.

"How are you with weapons?" asked Sir Dractor. "You're aware, no doubt, that I'm supposed to ensure that all the civilians in the Keep are armed and able to defend themselves, in case of an attack."

"Hmm... yes," said Shainya, not entirely truthfully. The fact was, she WASN'T aware of the fact. But it was hardly Sir Dractor's business to know that. "I can defend myself adequately, thank you."

"How are you with a blade?" asked Sir Dractor, persistently.

"With a sword?" asked Shainya. "I'm, well... I've never really tried."

"Good," said Sir Dractor rising, and pulling a light, shorter sword out in front of him. It was a fine blade, crafted of the best Old Grey Armoury steel, and embossed with gold and rubies. "I found this in the armoury. It was made for a Forestwoman queen many decades ago. Bjarn wants me to instruct you how to use it." That stretched the truth a little, Bjarn had actually said nothing of the sort.

The sword was just the right size for Shainya, and because of its lightness, was not too heavy for her smaller frame. She took it, stood up, and swung it tentatively.

"What is it called?" she asked.

"It has no name that I could find," replied Sir Dractor. "Bring it to the sparring courts this evening, and I'll teach you how to use it. If you show aptitude, you'll probably think a name for it yourself. Be there at seven, and don't be late."

Without giving Shainya a chance to refuse, Sir Dractor walked away, leaving Shainya with the understanding that she was EXPECTED to show up at seven, whether she liked it or not.

[Lord_Of_The_LEGO]

"What are you doing?!?" screamed Marus.

"The pendants are near, I can feel them!"

Q-14
the airship Arklyndellys Vulondur, above the Leo Ocean.

Lord Void appeared to be steering with sheer mental instinct. The airship's speed increased to maximum and Marus groaned, muttering under his breath what could have been prayers. Suddenly the Arklyndellys Vulondur jerked to a stop, Marus and Gib were thrown to the deck.

"Gib!" Lord Void snapped, "Take the helm! Don't press any buttons and keep her steady!"

Gib obeyed and Lord Void moved to the side of the airship, now hovering only a few feet above the ocean's surface. Lord Void closed his eyes and preformed a simple summoning spell. After a few tence minutes, a collum of water suddenly errupted from the Leo Ocean. The Pendants of King Kris flew into Lord Void's hands. His eye lighted up in their old evil way, but faded again when he realised the power of the Pendants was no more. They had served their purpose, rising the god-dragon Eroth Gamus to power, and now they were mere trinkets. But no, he was wrong, there was something still in the Pendants...

"Megabloks!" Lord Void exclaimed, "There's...there's someone alive in there!"

"What?" Gib was confused and astounded.

"Stand back," Lord Void commanded, and he dropped the Pendants onto the deck of the Arklyndellys Vulondur. He summoned his staff of power to him and relaxed, concentrating...probing...which incantation had been used to imprison these persons?....Lord Void pressed and folded the Mana lifeforce, probing deeper...deeper...

Ah.

Lord Void knew what he had to do. The spell that he was about to preform would weaken him greatly, but if the three persons in the pendants could aid him and Gib and Marus it would be worthwhile.

A great burst of engery errupted from Lord Void. The Mana was disrupted once again, but not nearly as much as when BloodVaine had stunned all of Drullen Bell Keep. There was a crack and suddenly the energy shut off. Lord Void slumped to the deck, exhausted.

Reno, Aros and Luxus lay on the deck not three feet from him, staring.

Oh tyco... Lord Void fumed inwardly.

Aloud he managed, "Ah...Reno Regga...alas...we meet...once again..."

[Barbapple]

Peter
~~~

Several hours later, Peter woke up complaining of a belly ache and a sore throat-- but he was coherent and seemed to have recovered from his concussion.

He groaned as he stood from the bed, slowly. His head felt clearer than it had- - or had it? He couldn't remember if he'd already been up.
He rose from the bed and strode to a nearby window, looking at the reflection of himself in the glass.
"Oh.."He said, studying himself in the mirror, "That's gonna leave a mark..."
He studied the contents of the room, looking for small things of use. He bundled up a length of rope, a few jars, his sword, and a nice, soft blanket.
putting these things in his pack (with the exception of the sword, which he strapped to his side) he exited the room.
He was now thinking streight. And what he needed, was a ship.

[Formendacil]

Grid: M-18
Location: Fright Knight island.

The Sorceror-king frowned at Targon. The Dragon Master's mind was not on his work. He was too busy reading things into his appointment that didn't exist. The simple fact was that the Sorceror-king didn't want to let Targon out of his sight for too many days. Unlike Elbadar, Targon's loyalty was somewhat... seasonal.

He shoved Targon to the back of his thoughts. The fool's idea of self-inflated importance was annoying, but not yet troublesome. More important matters were at hand.

Ahead lay a small lake. Once they reached it, the Sorceror-king ordered a halt. He stepped ahead of his men, and thrust his staff into the crystalline waters. Enormous ripples spread from the point of contact, generated not by the force of the staff, but by the magic behind it.

Then the centre of the lake was thrown into turmoil. A human-seeming spectre rose from its waters.

"Who seekest the knowledge hidden within?" it asked in a hollow-seeming voice.

"I am the Sorceror-king, chief servant of the Dark Lord."

"Have thou the token?"

"I do not."

"Then thou must leave, or else choose one from among thy company to battle the guardian."

"Bring the guardian on," said the Sorceror-king calmly, eagerly.

"As thou wishest," said the spectre, "but remember, only thine champion mayest fight the guardian, else the battle be in vain." The spectre vanished, but in its place rose a great, dragon-like, waterbeast. A Locknest monster!

"Release the dragon!" the Sorceror-king ordered the Dragon Masters. "He is our champion!"

Released from his leash-chains, the dragon eagerly leapt forward to do battle.

[The Green Knight]

Grid: M-8
Location: Drullen Bell Keep

Returning to Walf, he headed to the dungeons. Alex didn't know why, but for some reason the sword had been locked up.

"Ohhhhhhh... What I'd do for an ale right now. Ohhhhhhhh...."

The green fox felt sick. It had started that night with the wizard. The green fox had been frozen for a full five minutes and when he could finally move again he felt sick. It was only worse now. In the time following the incident he had been totally forgotten. He hadn't seen anyone. Not even a the jailer who usually brought him his daily bread and water. The worst part was that someone had taken the keys.

"No hope of escape now." the fox thought. "Funny, I always thought it would end like this. Well, either like this or Frankie. Poor Frankie. He got dunk one day and decided to insult the local sheriff."

The seriff didn't kill him though. Frankie did himself in when he tried hiding in the city well.

"Yeah, I could see myself going like that."

Suddenly the green foxes lamenting was interrupted. "What was that?" His heart leaped. "Noises! People!" Two figures crept into the dimly lit dungeon. "Hey! Hey you! You two kids. Get me out of here!"

Alex and Walf jumped. "Who's there?" It was Alex talking.

"It's me! Well, that is to say... The Green Fox and a pleasure I'm sure. But that doesn't matter. Listen, I've got to get out of here. I've been rotting in this dungeon for weeks... months... years... Ok, maybe just days. But I haven't had any food. I'm just about dying here."

Alex was skeptical. "Does Bjarn know about you?"

"Well... I don't know. Who is this wacha call... Bjarn fellow anyway?"

Alex looked straight into the green Foxes eyes. "You wouldn't be lying to me, would you?"

"Aw have a heart! As if I'm not on the edge of the grave already. What with the pain in my belly and the scratch on me head. I'm feeling a faint! I can see the light! That's the end for me. I'm coming lor-"

"Oh shut up! Your making my head hurt. We'll get you out but if you try anything I won't feel bad about cutting your up boots."

"My boots?"

"While they're on your feet!"

"Oh! Well I wouldn't worry about that. No need to be boot'n up my cuts. I mean... coot'n up my buts. Or but'n up my coo- Sorry but I'm not feeling myself with all this nothing in my belly. You wouldn't happen to have a little ale on you? Either of you?... Probably not."

[The Green Knight]

Q-14
the airship Arklyndellys Vulondur, above the Leo Ocean.

Gib stared in disbelif. He had seen a lot of strange things since he left the neverwood but this... This topped them all. Those pendants had people in them! Gib looked at Jackal. The wolf was fine. He didn't seem fazed one bit. Gib on the other hand had been fazed ever since he left the neverwood. First the fire breathing fortress. Then the airship and the view from the air. It was all new and rather frightening too. In the neverwood he was in charge, but here.... Here he was defenseless. Gib didn't like the position he was in, but then, he couldn't help it now.

[Green Fox]

"Oh! Well I wouldn't worry about that. No need to be boot'n up my cuts. I mean... coot'n up my buts. Or but'n up my coo- Sorry but I'm not feeling myself with all this nothing in my belly. You wouldn't happen to have a little ale on you? Either of you?... Probably not."

"So," he continued, "would any of you's be willin' to out me break, or whatever? I know of a fellow with lotsa' ale in 'is house..."

Alex and Walf just stared at him.

He continued:

"Welllll, excuse me, yer' 'ighness, but some of us value ale more 'an others..."

Realising suddenly that this wouldn't get him anywhere, he dug up the short sword he had stolen from the armoury earlier.

"Would ye's accept 'dis as payment for gettin' me out?...

[Formendacil]

Grid: M-18
Location: Fright Knight island.

Released from his leash-chains, the dragon eagerly leapt forward to do battle.

The dragon and the Locknest beast were of about the same size, the water beast perhaps a few cubics larger. But the Sorceror-king had no doubts as to the eventual success of his dragon. Unlike the Locknest, the dragon had projectile breath, and greater mobility due to his wings.

The dragon swooped in, fire blazing. The flames raked the back of the Locknest, who dove forwards, dousing the flames, before bursting out of the water, and wrapping its long tail around the descending dragon. They plunged together back into the water, wildly thrashing.

It was claws and teeth against claws and teeth. The dragon's fire was nigh on useless in the watery world, but he continued to spout flames anyway, perhaps out of frustration.

Finally, the iron-horn claws of the dragon pierced the streamlined skin of the Locknest beast, whose long teeth had as yet failed to pierce his scaly hide. The dragon tore at the wound it had created, and the Locknest beast succumbed, dropping to the lake floor. The dragon spread its wings, and returned to shore.

The spectre rose again from the water.

"Thy champion is victorious," it said, "come thee to hear mine words."

"Reward the dragon," the Sorceror-king ordered Targon before wading out into the lake. "And wait for me. I expect to be back quickly." He strode through the water, until he reached the spectre, having sunk no deeper than his knees, thanks to his magic. The spectre bent over the Sorceror-king, and began to speak to him, but nothing he said came to the ears of the Dragon Masters on shore.

Soon the spectre vanished, and the Sorceror-king returned to shore.

"Let us return to the Bombardier," he commanded. "I have what I need."

[The Green Knight]

Realising suddenly that this wouldn't get him anywhere, he dug up the short sword he had stolen from the armoury earlier.
"Would ye's accept 'dis as payment for gettin' me out?...

Grid: M-8
Location: Drullen Bell Keep

Alex looked at the sword doubtfully. He was a spear man himself, but he took it anyway. "So tell me Green Fox, why exactly are you in here?"

"No reason... Just stole a couple a things is all. Some gold, a hat and ... uh ....Bjarn's *cough* girlfriend. *cough*" Alex's brow furrowed. He hadn't heard about this. "Ok so maybe the gold and the hat didn't matter. But Bjarn loved J'anrya. I think he holds me responsible for letting her... But that's not important. How about getting me free?"

Alex produced a small vial from his pocket and poured it on the lock. "Dragon tears," he said. "Reno gave them to me." The solution started dissolving the metal as Alex watched. "Strange," he thought. "I wouldn't have thought Bjarn to hold grudges. He certainly didn't chose sides when Dale and Reno were fighting over Shainya. Now that was a fiasco. Poor Dale. For a while there everyone thought that Reno had killed him. Come to think of it... I never found out what convinced them otherwise."

"So you lied to me." Alex said. "You do know Bjarn."

"Aw, now that's a bit of a harsh way of puttin it. Note that I never said I didn't know Bjarn. All I sai-"

The Green Fox was interrupted by a loud clang as the door swung open. "I'm free!" he said. "After all these years of tormen- And you two... You both have my eternal thanks. You may not believe it but let me assure you that words cannot express how obliged I truly am. And for that simple reason I won't waste anymore time express'n and will leave you two to your ...eh... business."

"Wait just a minute Fox. I'm taking you to Bjarn."

"What! No, you can't do that! He'll just throw me back in a cell or worse, break out his fists again. Hey, we had a deal."

"Yes, and who knows how you came by this sword. Besides, Bjarn isn't like tha-"

"Listen kid, I've known Bjarn for a lot longer then you and I wouldn't be surprised if he locked you up too for letting me out!"

Alex considered this. It didn't seem like Bjarn at all. Still... "All right." He said. "I am leaving the keep tonight in search of my friends. As penance for your crimes and in payment for your release, you will accompany me. Oh, and if you come you'd better keep the sword. We won't be going to the armory on our way to the docks. Do we have a deal?"

The Green Fox thought about this. On the one hand he didn't want to go back to Bjarn and on the other, he didn't know what might happen if he left with the boy. Now if only he had a coin to flip...