Palathadric

I shrug. "It wasn't me it attacked nor the guild though."

"So that you can murder him as soon as I turn my back? Fat chance!" The guards pause, thinking the situation over. Somehow, Cree's unthreatening manner assuages their fears. "You go in and inform Mister Bonaparte. I should be more than capable of holding them off if they should try something foolish." Lem disappears for a few seconds and then reappears. "It appears he did send for them himself." "Odd, to say the least. Are you sure he wasn't affected by some spell? "He seemed in his right mind." "Well, heroes, if that's what you are, you may pass. I warn you that if you try anything foolish, we will shred you to pieces before you know what's happening." Cheapy nods importantly "Let's go then." Update coming soon. Suspenseful pause.

"Though I hate to slay my new friend's pet, it seems to me that this creature has been hurting mages all day, and obviously the guild has not been able to keep it under control. Therefore, it is my opinion that the mages should be able to do with it as they choose. I fear that the guild may have unleashed it purposely to harm people, though if they did not it is still a threat to mages all over Eubric if the guild cannot control it. Waldorf, you were the one who asked us to help you with this job. Do you have any suggestions?"

"This is Mister Bonaparte's office right behind there. I have to admit that I've not been working for Mister Bonaparte all that long, but I don't recall seeing these guard dogs..." "Shut up, you fool. Claiming to work for Mister Bonaparte indeed!" "You must be one of those new recruits. I knew we shouldn't have trusted the likes of you to come down here. It was only a matter of time before you'd lead humans down here to destroy us all." "We should finish them off right quick, Lem!" "Um...Gus, they're armed." "Crap! They're here to kill Mister Bonaparte, no doubt. They must be the hired hands of some of them farmers." "We should warn Mister Bonaparte." "Please! We mean no trouble. I was sent by Mister Bonaparte to gather these heroes..." Do the Heroes have anything to say or do?

He should, like, sue them...or something.

Seriously, I was hoping for an Eric/Guts clash of kingdoms. Now neither of them will be king. I should have joined the Crescent Union to push Guts through. Anyway, Guts needn't be king in title, but he can still kill the other kings easily.

"If you throw your head at it with speed, you're more likely to kill it, than it you." "If there's one thing that I learned from my time at Heroica is that there are no easy jobs. Something always comes up. There may be easier jobs, but even this last quest, we encountered what could have been a life and death situation for one like you. If you came to Heroica looking to escape the "stress" of life, you're in the wrong place."

I jump up and down in excitement as the bomb unleashes its carnage. "Wow! That was amazing. Maybe when we get back to the hall someone will have to purchase one of those for me." Seeing the kids coming out, I turn to them. "Pleased to meet you both. As our party leader said, we were looking for this really nasty plant. I hope it didn't attack you. Did you get to see the bomb destroy these slimy creatures?" "We're heroes of Heroica. I'm new to the organization, but it's been a...well...blast thus far." I chuckle.

The party's bickering comes to a halt for the moment when they encounter the next obstacle to their journey forwards: "Halt who goes there." "It looks like people to me." "What are our orders concerning people?" "They must not pass." "And why not?" "They can't be up to any good!" "But...I..." The dogs move closer. What will the heroes do?

I wonder how this kid can even be in these halls. "The further you are from danger, the less you can do about it and the more likely you are to be caught unawares."

I clap my hands excitedly. "Oh, yes, please do. My parents never let me touch explosives and I'd so like to see one work. Do you think you'll be able to destroy them all in one big bang?" I say, preparing to attack Visco Usrain from the Front Row if Torald doesn't throw the bomb. "You should go first Torald, so we can watch the bang!"

It's just plain bad luck, but I'm not sure which is the result of which. i think we've found the solution to balancing battles. Make all heroes automatically lucky at the start and all enemies automatically jinxed.

I cast a look Terry's way. "That's not surprising," I mumble. "We're heroes. It's part of the job. Besides, if he's as powerful and mighty as he says he is, what does it matter whether we're here or there?"

Ha, ha! You thought there would be an update? Welcome to Kinto's really big boss fight. Kills you through nervous expectation. Vind has caught the disease already.

Pretzel signs up for Quest #147 "This should prove to be very interesting."

"Well spoken, Jinnipher. Some people don't realize how good they've got it until they abandon what they've got."

Wouldn't midnight, technically be the 1st?

"We're in the sewers. Due to his stance on the slavery of his people, Mr Bonaparte is not eager to carry out his work above ground. He fears that if he is captured his dream of rescuing his people will end abruptly, which would be a shame for anyone in his position. That was also the reason why he selected less...um...experienced heroes, because he knew that those who had served Heroica for a long time may be aligned with one of the houses and might rat out his position...Really, it's complicated. I'm sure you understand."

"A hunter! I hope you didn't use to hunt my kind. I should warn you that where we're going people don't look kindly on hunters. You'd best forget your hunting training for a while, eh?"

The party leader hands out the loot: Party: Cheapy (Allied NPC, Listening to Kellim's instructions) Level 7 Cleric *oh* Health: 14/15 Ether: 7/11 Equipment: None Kheyli (K-Nut) 327 years old female Fairy Level 5 Barbarian Power: 10 Health: 12/12 Gold: 350 Equipment: Gelum Blade (WP:5, Ice-elemental, ignores SP of foes weak to Ice, cannot be disimbued; greatsword), Sylvania's Cowl (Grants "Animal Talk", Headwear) Inventory: Weapons: Rat Club (WP:5, deals Afraid to Vermin-type enemies and Poisoned-by-1 to enemies of all types; club), Electrum Blade (WP:5, Lightning-elemental, ignores SP of foes weak to Lightning, cannot be disimbued; greatsword), Barrager (WP:3 Greatsword) Artifacts: Cultist Cap (regular attacks do damage to Undead; headwear, suitable to anyone), Magic Viper Skin (Restores 1 HP to wearer each round of battle unless knocked out; accessory), Really Hard Helmet (SP: 2, Immunity to Earth, Headwear; Loaned from Kellim), Consumables: Potion x4, Mead, Poison Bomb, Aeolus Bomb (Deals 100 wind-elemental damage to all opponents when used.) Keliim "Demon sworn" *Party Leader!*(Mencot) 37 year old male Human Level 13 Barbarian Power: 18 Health: 20/20 SP: Gold: 4 Equipment: Dwarven Orichalcum one handed battleaxe (WP: 5, Axe), Sylvania's Cowl (Grants "Animal Talk", Headwear) Inventory: Weapons and Shields: Artifacts: Heroic Helm (SP:2, Helm's SP doubles on free hits, Headwear), Wolfish Fedora (+5 WP for each standing hero with Wolfgang reputation and Wolfgang NPC in the party, headwear, suitable for heroes with Wolfgang reputation), Королева's Blessing (When equipped the player gains the ability to Animal Speak to Spiders only, and all spiders are Enamored with him for the first three rounds of battle, accessory), Trickster's Mask of the Gender-Swap (swaps the wearer's gender when worn, suitable for anyone, accessory) Consumables: 10x Potion, 2x Grand Potion, Remedy, 4x Mead, Smelling Salts, 2x Smoke Bomb, Venom, Dirt Bomb, 5x Holy Bombs, Double Rainbow (Gives the user the encouraged, lucky, poisoned by 1, and confused effects), Crimson Haze (Causes a weapon to deal the poisoned by 7 and cursed effects permanently), 2x Obsidian Shard (may be affixed to a blunt weapon to give the Bleeding 2 effect for one battle), 2x Charion beetle horn. Tools: Shovel Quintessa of Heartland (Sandy) 67 years old human female Barbarian Level 2 *Immune to fragile* Power: 5 Defense: 5 Health: 9/9 Gold: 60 Equipment: Rolling Pin (WP:3, club), Heavy Armour (SP:5, protects from fragile-effect, suitable for barbarians, knights, dragoons, skirmishers, regulators and vindicators; bodywear.) Inventory: Artifacts: Sylvania's Cowl (Grants "Animal Talk", Headwear) Consumables: Grand Potion, 5x Potion, 4x Remedy, Phoenix Essence, Mead, Smelling Salts, Nostrum, 2x Smoke Bomb Tools: Shovel, Pickaxe, Magnifying Glass, Telescope, Magic Compass Cree (Pedguin) 27 year old Mopag Level 2 Knight Power: 5 Defense: 2 Health: 11/11 Gold: 0 Equipment: Order Imperial Longsword (WP: 5; Loaned from Kellim), Scarab Shield: (SP: 3, Bearer takes half damage from vermin; Loaned from Kellim), Sylvania's Cowl (Grants "Animal Talk", Headwear) Inventory: Weapons and Shields: Blade (WP: 3, greatsword), Shield of Defending (SP: 2), Artifacts: Consumables: Potion x2, Venom, Holy Bomb Tools: Bedroll The party continues through the sewers. "So, have you all fought many battles before this?"

Natural Respite does its work. "Sewer vermin have really been so troublesome, but I worry that if you can't handle them you will have a hard time handling the challenges that are no doubt to come." Cheaky looks Kheyli's way. "Mr Bonaparte is, no doubt, hiring heroes because he thinks they can do a job where his people can't. Scraping past sewer vermin...well..."

I think the Wolfgang is different.

Hours after sending my letter, I receive a package containing an amulet of the Wolfgang. I gaze at it for a moment and then silently slip it into an inner fold of my cloak. I won't be wearing my support on my shoulders, I think.

A letter finds its way through the levels of Wolfgangers to Ulric Wolfkin, it reads:

Entering the hall after the rather pleasantly-ending quest, I return to see a less-than-pleasant debate going on in the hall over politics. Pulling up a chair close enough to listen in on the debate if it gets interesting, I write a letter...