Rumble Strike

Thanks Zeph, I am glad you think so because I realised after I wrote it all out that I didn't ask your permission to use her I have to commend Scubacarrot as well, whose roleplaying gave such a good opportunity for me to literally play out the struggles within Tarn at the moment.

Tarn slept, the powerful effect of Ennoc's Wine gripping him almost immediately, his mind playing over the maelstrom of feelings he was having. He was alone, facing all the other Dastan heroes. They were catcalling and insulting, even his friends like Atramor and Nyx, and at the centre was Constance, the head of the Dragon Knights, who leered at him. He looked down, and saw the Bomb XX in his hand. He shouted, and threw it at the arrayed heroes. An explosion of light and power scorched him, flaying the skin from his bones until he looked like the unddead creature in the Hall. Everyone else was untouched, save Constance, who collapsed, a trickle of blood spilling from her mouth, looking stark against the paleness of her face. The assembled heroes pointed at him, and shouted "Murderer!" and other foul swears in Titaanian. Then they were gone, vanished, and Ella Septrine stood next to him, cald in her maroon dress as always. The young daughter of Emperor Septrine smiled softly at the skeletal Tarn, and gently touched the hole where his cheek would have been. "Tarn, you have to let this go. No-one blames you for what you did. You made a choice and you fought for what you believe in. That is all a hero can do. You battled bravely for Dastan alongside everyone else, and you saved it. The Empire will thrive thanks to the efforts of you and all the other heroes." He stared at her, seeing and seemingly understanding for the first time the forlorn wisdom of epochs contained in her eyes, a contrast to the carefree youth of her beautiful face. "This... this is a dream!", said Tarn, never the sharpest cutting implement in the drawer. "No my dear, no it isn't," smiled Ella, her touch restoring his skin. "Go forward in peace, Tarn. Let your experiences in Dastan guide you as all tragic events must, but do not be a slave to them. Do not let them overshadow everything you have done and everything you can do in the future. I believe in you, and I know one day you will return to me, absent of burden, and we shall rejoice together." OOC: Hope my use of Ella is OK here, Zepher.

The subforum colours and banner are looking very nice!

Now that we have a subforum, do you all think it may be a good idea to have a thread dedicated for player trades and sales for weapons/artifacts/consumables? I think with the speed that the Heroica Hall topic moves, it can be difficult for people to see any opportunities being presented.

Tarn accepted Guts' gift of the Ennoc's Wine with a wan smile. He wasn't sure if Guts really meant all that about it being good for the soul, but the young Barbarian was still haunted by events in Dastan so thought it was worth a try. He ignored as best he could, the presence of the undead figure in the cloak. Tarn was unpleasantly reminded of some of the vile creatures he had faced on Quests such as Crozen Porthiar's burial chamber, but put those thoughts aside too and quaffed the wine straight from the bottle. It went down a little too fast and he started choking, but other than that the liquid was a fiery yet strangely mellow concoction.

Tarn was surprised at Guts vehemence. He saw the Raider as being more pragmatic than him, thought that maybe he would have some gruff platitudes about 'at least you fought for what you thought was right', but no. Guts was disgusted. Tarn defended himself, his voice quiet as always. "You weren't there, Guts. Each group was being manipulated by traitors to Dastan, nothing was as it seemed. We made the best choice we could, even if it ended up wrong. I did not like fighting the other heroes, that's why I agreed to use the bomb. To end it quickly." He was gratified that De'kra had spoken up too. Though the shade was hard to understand, he knew De'kra had been massively disturbed by his use of the bomb, and was pleased to see that they could still talk to each other after it all.

I really like the use of the CMF Black Knight armour with Thothwick, Flitwick. It works very well with the Metasimian head.

Tarn spoke sadly and does not look the older man in the eye. He would not have told anyone who wasn't there about this, but he actually respected Guts as a straightforward character who got things done. "There was a misunderstanding which pitched 3 different groups of heroes from Heroica on to different sides. There was a Dragon Knight who we believed to be working for the enemy. Nerwen and some others did not believe this, and opposed us trying to take her in. In order to end the battle swiftly I used a dangerous bomb on everyone, blew myself through a wall, still have the scar on my head from the impact. The Dragon Knight did not survive, and we later found out she was an innocent. It is a decision I will regret til my dying day." The words were somber and recounted mournfully.

Tarn grimaces at Guts' insistence on calling him Valco, knowing the Raider only does it to wind him up does not make it any easier to take. He bows low to Nerwen. "We are already acquainted. Our paths crossed in Dastan when I made a tragic mistake. But I fought valiantly to rectify it afterwards."

Excellent, I thought that he might be like the witch and be a temporary trader.

Tarn sees Guts back in the Hall, and brings him over a flagon of ale. "Hail, Guts. Have a drink! How goes your advanced class training, you are much different to when we Quested together all those months ago."

Sorry to hear that Adam, hope it is healing well now. Sandy, how long is Fabian sticking around for?

There are loads of good deals around at the moment. In addition to the Amazon ones, Tesco in store are clearancing some City, Ninjago, Star Wars and Cars stuff at over 50% off, such as Cole's Tread vehicle at £14, Prisoner Transport at £6.50, Sith Nightspeeder and Ewok Attack at £12, Cars Ultimate Race £12. Also Collectible Minifigs series 7 at £0.97 each.

Congratulations to the RA and most importantly the people who provide their free time and knowledge to help others learn about photography and writing. I have learned so much since I joined.

I think my Advanced Class decision became a bit easier!

"Hail William", said Tarn morosely. "You are not Questing again straight after Dastan?"

Tarn watched many of his friends leave the Hall to go on new adventures - and yet still he felt the paralysing weight of indecision pressing down on him. He could not decide what he wanted to become, or for that matter, what he wanted to do next in terms of Questing. He considered going back across the sea to his village in the Titaan mountains, but was sure Rystael would just tell him to follow his heart and believe in himself. This was exactly the same thing his friends told him - Ella, the daughter of one of Dastan's emperors, had not blamed him for the death of Constance, even though it was a responsibility he bore himself. Nyx, the lovely yet fiery battle mage who he had fought alongside many times in Dastan, also had told him his actions were heroic, that his fighting prowess and bravery on behalf of Dastan outweighed the negatives that had sadly occurred there. Yet still he could not shake this lethargy. If he chose poorly again, who else would suffer? Who else could die? He nursed his ale, lost in his own black thoughts.

Interesting how different QMs do things, I use a roll of 1 as a Shield and work down from there, which is how I interpreted the rules. And neither of my Quests had a banner

Yeh, we had some good role playing banter but it's not the most exciting read for anyone else.

"Atramor is a braver soul than many give him credit for, and a good friend." I don't know why I missed him off the list. Probably cos you 3 did all the work and he came along late and took all the credit

I normally have the power of my role playing convictions - Tarn actually turned down the Ancient Crown that was dropped by the ghostly Emperor Brunt because he believed it to be cursed. Atramor, of course, had no such concerns

Hmmm, so go Bezerker to fit character, or Raider to play the system.

Tarn spoketo Arthur, the young Barbarian's voice hoarse with unbidden emotion. "Wren wanted Ella as a host body for when she raises a God. Ella was chosen because she has visions, is connected to the spiritual world. You and Cronk and William stopped her being taken in that final battle, which has scuppered her plans for now. Hopefully one of you can put an end to her once and for all."

I'm thinking now, in pure gameplay terms, that Raider might be the way to go. Tarn would keep a Frenzy-style Shield, and be rolling in money. Can't see a drawback really. With the way people buy Mead all the time, Bezerker's Shield roll seems underpowered.

Why do you think Tarn does not suit being a Shaman? And no, Tarn would not be rocking the bare chested look if he did become a Shaman. I know heroes can go back and forth on Advanced Classes, but not many seem to have taken up the option. So in pure role playing terms Tarn would be a Shaman because his mentor is a Cleric, and it would be honouring him. In gameplay terms Bezerkers look really fun to me, although I would hate to lose the ability to Frenzy, it's so useful!