Storytime: Encounter

Posted by Stropp on February 6, 2009

The following is a little role play story I wrote a couple of years ago now and posted on the old Ministry of Offence guild forums. I found it after checking in and reading through a couple of old posts, and thought you might enjoy it.

Stropp looked up at the sun.

It was at least three hours since he had set out from the base camp on the hunt. This particular beast was proving elusive, forcing him to track it deep into the jungle. If he didn’t manage to track it down today, it would escape, only to return at a later time to terrorize the merchant caravans who brought much needed supplies to Grom Grol.

He felt a nudge at his side, and looked down into the eyes of his companion. The purring intensified as the tiger rubbed against him.

"Feeling hungry eh, Nibbles?" asked Stropp. "Okay, I think we can have a short break, then we need to continue."

Reaching into his bag, Stropp grabbed a chunk of ham, ripped a portion off, and tossed the rest to Nibbles who devoured it happily. The tiger was more content here in his homeland, the sights, sounds, and smells more familiar than the harsh desert of Tanaris where they had just completed several assignments.

As Stropp started to rise, the tiger abruptly stopped purring, ears back. Then the crack of a twig. Hopeful that he had found his prey, the young orc carefully pushed aside the leaves blocking his view of the little used jungle track. Carefully scanning the area revealed nothing. Then, some leaves moved about ten meters up the path as if something not quite incorporeal had brushed past, heading towards him. Footprints appeared in the mud directly in front of him. A rogue, not being particularly careful, was now only a meter away.

As he reached for his gun and prepared to fire there was a commotion on the path in the opposite direction. A gnome appeared over the rise rushing hurriedly towards his position. Stropp felt the rage rise in him. He really hated gnomes. They were always more trouble than they were worth, and they were always so annoyingly cheerful.

As the gnome approached, the rogue decloaked. "You’re late", the dwarf said in a strong brogue accent. "Where’s my gold?"

"Here, here", replied the gnome, "terribly sorry. There’s a lot of horde activity in Booty Bay today. I needed to be careful. Here’s your money. Where is it?"

The dwarf removed a small ornate lockbox from his bag. "Here," he said as he pushed the lockbox at the gnome and in the same movement took the coin purse being offered. Having received his prize the dwarf moved off in the direction he came, cloaking before passing around the bend. The gnome put the lockbox in his robes, and with a big grin on his face, started to head slowly back up the track.

Satisfied that the rogue was out of sight and earshot, Stropp stood to full height and pushed through the bushes out onto the path. The gnome turned, his grin turning to horror as he saw the massive orc standing before him glaring. He let out a shriek and bolted up the path. Stropp raised his weapon and fired off a concussive shot which sent the gnome sprawling into the damp mud.

"Go", said Stropp, and Nibbles darted toward the gnome who was getting to his feet. Stropp sensed the flow of energies around him as the gnome channeled bolts of arcane force. The mage managed to get off two bolts before Nibbles careered into him like a feline juggernaut. Stropp staggered under the impact of the magic missiles, but managed to raise his gun, carefully aim, and fire off a shot that tore through all the gnomes shielding and armor, flinging him backwards through the air and causing massive injuries.

The mage landed flat on his back, and did not rise.

"Let’s see what you have here", murmured Stropp as he strode over to the corpse. Kneeling he winced, realizing that the missiles had penetrated his armor, tearing flesh and breaking ribs.

"I hate gnomes, Nibbles". The tiger looked at him in agreement, hungry to sample his handiwork.

There wasn’t much of use in the gnomes possessions. A few coins, an incomprehensible magic book, and some cloth items that might bring a few silver. Reaching for the lockbox, Stropp studied it for a few moments, before wrenching it open. Nothing inside except for a letter, and a vial of powder. Stropp, opened the letter and started to read it. His eyes opened wide, all thought of the hunt now forgotten.

"I’ve got to see Leper."

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