joeshmoe554

It's not that bad. All of the extended editions clock in at just under 12 hours.

The stallion snorted derisively before speaking <"Let me start from the top. I am Sir Edward Equine the first. I will be your judge this evening. You are being accused of the crime of imprisonment and slavery of a member of the noble equestrian race. What say you?">

They don't really care about other animal's rights, just the ones for horses.

<"MY MASTER!! I, sir, am a free horse! I have liberated myself from the chains of oppression and have helped others of my brethren do the same! I have already laid out the charges against you, and your entire defense has relied upon bribery and condescending behavior! If you wish to protect yourself against these accusations, I would highly recommend altering your strategy.">

"You have a deal." Jeaux handed Benji 100 gold in exchange for the golden hand cannon. "As to my current emotional state, it turns out my life is not quite what I thought it was. I'll be fine in time, I just need to figure a few things out first."

The black stallion stomped his foot once with an exuberance that seemed like the horse was quite furious. "Neigh whiny. Neigh neigh whiney *stomp* snort snort whiney neigh *stomp*. Neigh whiney. Neigh neigh neigh neigh neigh neigh whiney."

I have a feeling you'll have a decent bit of gold by the end of the quest, and since there is only 1 hero in the party who doesn't have a gold earning skill and a pair of sticky gloves to help, it should reduce the amount of charitable donations.

Jeaux was not finding much comfort in the bottom of his glass, deciding instead to see what opportunities lay outside the hall. Perhaps going on a quest with a solid objective might help him focus his mind on something other than what Nilrem had told him. He approached the quest board and glanced at what was currently available. There appeared to be two rather traditional jobs. One involved clearing out a graveyard, something Jeaux had some recent experience in, and the other required heroes to clear out a pack of animals that were causing trouble for merchants and traders. The one that caught his eye though, lay in the center of the board. The ambassador of Xu was looking for a group of heroes to avenge her son. While the mission itself seemed more significant than the other two, that was not what held Jeaux's interest. The request mentioned that a man by the name of Legonardo would be bringing a group of automatons to assist the heroes. That was the word Nilrem had used to describe Jeaux. Automaton. Perhaps Jeaux could find others like him, or at least learn more about what he now was. This Legonardo may even know a way to make Jeaux human once again. Jeaux was just about to sign his name down for the quest when he noticed one of the requirements the ambassador has specified. It would seem they were looking for people with more experience working for Heroica than what Jeaux had acquired. He signed his name under the other two quests, but made a mental note. He would find this Legonardo at some point, and he would find the answers to his questions. Jeaux signs up for Quests 74 and 76 Just as he was about to leave, he saw an announcement on the board. It looked like Benji was selling the handcannon Jeaux had recently had experience using. He found the assassin to make an offer on the weapon. "Would you be willing to sell the Grogmas Handcannon for 100 gold?"

If that was the case then shouldn't Jeaux have been unable to use in in Quest 67.

"Neigh whiney *clomp* *clomp*. Neigh neigh snort whiney. Neigh whiney snort whiney snort neigh neigh snort snort whiney. Neigh?"

Thanks for the compliment. I spent a bit of time in photoshop playing with the lighting to try and get the right effect.

Mac and the heroes get to work setting up the camp and shortly after the sun goes down the majority of the party heads off to sleep. Sorrow and Romulus stand guard over the camp, keeping an eye out for any intruders or dangers that may present themselves during the night. They are watching some of the coals in the fire dance when a gust of wind blows out the flames for a moment. In the darkness they can hear the stomping of hooves, when just as suddenly as the fire had gone out it was lit once again. Standing in front of them, illuminated by the flames, stood a large group of horses. The heroes looked around for any sign of the men who owned these creatures, but they could not see any other humanoids nearby. The large black horse in the center of the group, lifted his head and said quite loudly "NEIGH!!!"

"Sure Thing!" Mac tore a strip of his duck tape from the roll attached to his belt. The tape made a loud QUACK! sound when it tore, likely the source of its peculiar name. He set to work repairing the damage to the cart with a soft grin on his face. This was his element, his niche in life. The battle had shaken him somewhat, but now that he had a project to work on his mind was focused and determined. After a couple minutes he stood up and brushed of his hands on the seams of his pants. "There we are, good as new. If we've decided who's going to keep watch, I'll get started pitching the tent. There are plenty of rocks and dead wood lying around for a fire, it should help somewhat in keeping any wild animals away." Mac reached into the back of the cart and removed a canvas tarp that had seen a decent bit of weather. He set to work with a couple of straight wooden poles and a small handful of rope, building the frame with which to hold the tent aloft. The Party: Mac, Mechanic (Controlled by swils) Level 10.5 Mechanic Power Bonus: 0 Defense: 0 Health: 11/19 (10+9) Gold: 0 Equipment: Hammer (WP 3) Inventory: Duck Tape x9 Mac's Cart, Mechanic (Controlled by Endgame) Level 0 Cart Health: 65/65 Ability: Protect - The cart can protect 1 hero each round. Any damage dealt to the hero that round will be split evenly between the hero and the cart, rounding up for the cart. Notes: The cart must always be placed in the battle order, even if it is not protecting a hero. If the cart is protecting a hero, the cart will be in the same row as that hero. If the cart's Health reaches 0, the cargo will be damages and you will have failed the quest.

"Currently, a chest filled with gold, some camping supplies and a lot of empty boxes."

"That's not a bad idea. I'd volunteer, but I don't know how effective I would be if there were another ambush."

Yep, I needed a name for a mage and using a famous name backwards is always a valid option.

Mac and the Heroes set out back on the road to Bric'lin. They reached a bend in the path just as the sun was beginning to set. "This looks like as good a place as any to set up camp. That box on top should have the tent supplies, and could someone get to work on building a fire?"

It was a lot of fun, you did a great job of balancing the enemies to not kill me and Heckz right off the bat. The requirement to keep enemies alive also made the quest a lot more interesting. It made Heckz and Jeaux a little more useful since we could deal smaller amounts of damage than the 3 heavy hitters.

As Jeaux walked up the steps to the Hall he found himself once again envolped in darkness. This feeling was all too familiar to him. He remembered experiencing it once before on his first quest for Heroica, but there was still the nagging sensation that he had been here before. There was a voice echoing in the background. Someone singing. Jeaux reached out for the voice calling out, "Who's there?" "Well I'll be a Meta-simian's uncle, you can actually hear me. Months and months of screaming in your head finally paid off. It's about time we had a little ethereal orb to little ethereal orb chat." Jeaux heard the man's voice but could not see him in the sea of night. It was a familiar voice. One of the few familiar voices Jeaux knew. "Nilrem, is that you? Where are we?" "Hey you remembered, I always like to think I make an impression on people, even if we've never officially met. As to our current location, we're in your noggin. Metaphorically speaking of course. Physically we're probably in an alternate dimension, or metaphysical realm, or ethereal plane, or some other mumbo jumbo retcon thing-a-ma-jig. It's really not all that important." "Am I dead?" "You've been dead... mostly, ever since the soul transfer." "The soul transfer?" The other voice sighed, "It's amazing how some people are completely blind to what is right in front of them. They see what they want to see, and yet I still don't have a chin that was chiseled out of marble. Wood sure, but who wants a wooden chin." "I don't understand what you mean" "You were dead ... ish when I found you. I thought I'd try to help, do a good turn daily and stuff, so I went through my junk bin and found a scroll I picked up at a pawn shop once. It had this spooky ancient look to it and I thought it was cool. Anyway, I tried to use it to bind your soul to a dummy I had lying around so you would live after your body had passed on. Turns out necromancy scrolls aren't quite as simple as your basic magic missle. Who'd a thunk? Anyway long story short, half your soul was bound to the automaton and half of it was destroyed. Then for some reason the hole that was remaining felt like grabbing on to me and tore my soul in two as well. Thanks for that by the way." "That's not possible. I'm not a machine." "Really, when was the last time you actually slept? or ate? or went to the little boy's room? You see what you want to and you want to see yourself as a human, sadly that time has passed." Jeaux began to think on what the voice was saying to him. He was sure he had done all of those things, but when he tried to remember any specific instances nothing came. Could this voice be right, could Jeaux be an automaton, a dummy, a thing. The startling revelation yanked him out of the darkness and back to reality. Jeaux discovered he had fallen down the stairs, landing in a heap at their base next to the street. As he moved to push himself back to his feet, what he saw nearly made him collapse a second time. The yellow hands he was so used to were no longer yellow. They seemed to be made of metal with a pearl white paint coating, he quickly scanned the surrounding environment for a reflective surface and discovered a puddle nearby. As he stared into the glass like reflection of the water he no longer saw his face staring back at him, but instead the face of an expressionless wooden mannequin. It would appear Nilrem had told him the truth. Jeaux was not the man he had thought, he was not even a man. He headed into the hall to grab a stiff drink. Something he could really use at the moment.

The Party: Sorrow(Endgame) *Party Leader* 428 years old undead Assassin Level 22 1/3 *Immune to Light and Blinded* *Encouraged* *Lucky* *Hastened* Power Bonus: 0 Defense: 6 Health: 29/33 (7+21+5) Gold: 1454 (Owed 200 gold by Karie) Equipment: Mockthril Longbow (WP: 25 Ice and Darkness Elemental), Sticky Gloves (Increases the amount of gold stolen by 50% (rounded up), suitable for rogues and beast warriors; handwear),Night’s Helmet (SP:6, immunity to light and blinded; headwear) Inventory: Longsword (WP: 5), Armor of the Croise (SP: 1, +2 power; bodywear), Dark Cloak (Backwear, SP:1, Max Health +1, Power +1, suitable for rogues and barbarians), Archer's Hat (Artifact, headwear, Power +1, suitable for Rangers and their Advanced Classes), Grand Potion x5, Health Core, Tonic, Ether Core, Remedy x5, Phoenix Essence x3, Venom, Deadly Venom, Mead x9, Smelling Salts x8, Nostrum x5, Dragon Scale x1, Chaotic Bomb (Causes 100 random elemental damage to all opponents), Bedroll Romulus Dean(TheBoyWonder) Level 17 Raider *Immune to Fragile* Power Bonus: 0 Defense: 5 Health: 30/30 (7+16+7) Gold: 268 (30 to Loreal) Equipment: Combrys (WP:15, consecutive successful strikes raise Combry's WP by 1, unsuccessful strikes drop it to it's base WP), Sticky Gloves , Heavy Armour (SP5 protects from Fragile) Inventory: Bedroll, Venom x3, Potion, Sylvania's Cowl(grants Animal Talk to Wearer), Phoenix Essence, Throwing Dagger (WP: 6), Scarlet Hood (Headwear, Power +4, Protects from Stunned), Meteor Blade (WP:10, Light), Spiked Club (WP:10, Earth) Grimwald Gjinko(LordoftheNoobs) 69 year old male gnome Cleric Level 5 *Immune to Darkness* Power Bonus: 0 Defense: 3 Health: 11/13 (9+4) Ether: 8/9 (5+3) Gold: 50 (Owes Arthur 50 gold) Equipment: Broomstick (WP: 3), Bright Armor (SP: 3, Null Darkness) Inventory: Staff of The Frog Paladin (WP:6, 1/6 chance of Amphibiannoc's Blessing (protects from damage)), Scroll of Frailty, Scroll of Sleep, Remedy, Potion x2, Bunch of Cherries (10/10 cherries that each restore 1 ether when eaten, up to the user to choose how many are eaten at a time), Chaotic Bomb (Causes 100 random elemental damage to all opponents), Bedroll. Mizuki Kimura(zakura) 21-year-old female human Assassin Level 17 *Lucky* Power Bonus: 0 Health: 11/28 (7+16+5) Gold: 84 Equipment: Explosive Handcannon (WP:8/16 to Rock Monsters), Sticky Gloves( Increases the amount of gold stolen by 50% (rounded up)), Magic Viper Skin (accessory, heals 1 health to wearer each round of battle, unless knocked out) Inventory: Top Hat (WP: 14. 50% Stun chance, retrievable), Sylph Shuriken (WP:12, wind- and light-elemental, retrievable), Dagger (WP:10), Grand Potion, Potion, 2 Phoenix Essences, 3 Venoms, Deadly Venom, 6 Nostrums, 1 Remedy, 2 Holy Bombs, Bedroll, Shovel, Pickaxe, Telescope, Magic Compass, Magnifying Glass, Death Progg Claw, Trial Brew, Rito Feather (consumable, grants the hastened- and blessed-effects upon use for one battle) Thormanil Nihai, Dragonslayer (Played by swils) Level 29 Raider *Natural Respite**Immune to Bound, and Slowed* Power Bonus: +1 Defense: 0 Health: 43/43 (8+28+7) Gold: 1955 Equipment: Frozen Saber (WP: 9; Stuns enemies), Winged Sandals (Wearer is immune to bound and slowed effects), Sticky Gloves( Increases the amount of gold stolen by 50% (rounded up)), Medal of Glory (Wearer gains triple experience, accessory), Inventory: Weapons & Shields: Wyvern's Tailblade (WP: 12, suitable for Barbarians & Knights), Thundering Totem (WP:9, lightning), Tongue on a Stick (WP:1, Miss -> "Aim"), Dragonsbane Lance (WP: 20, triple damage to enemies with 'Dragon' in their name, lance), Wooden Shield (SP:5, immune to wood elemental) Artifacts: Trickster's Mask of the Gender Swap (Accessory), Trickster's Mask of the Weredog (Accessory), Trickster's Mask of the Elf(Accessory), Fighter’s Boots(Footwear, +10 damage to melee attacks. Suitable for QMs only), Aqua Gear (Wearer deals and is immune to water elemental damage), Consumables: Smelling Salts(2), Deadly Venom(2), Phoenix Essence(2), Remedy(5), 2pc&biscuit(1), Jinxy Juice(1) (Q35), Fire Bomb(2), Milk(1), Potion(3), Venom(3), Lightning Bomb, Grand Potion(1), Smoke Bomb(1), Ice Bomb(1), Bones(3), Water Bombs(5), Mead(2), Tiger Balm(1) Misc:Pickaxe, Shovel, Amethyst, Grating Stone, Teleportapple Mac, Mechanic (Controlled by swils) Level 10.5 Mechanic Power Bonus: 0 Defense: 0 Health: 11/19 (10+9) Gold: 0 Equipment: Hammer (WP 3) Inventory: Duck Tape x10 Mac's Cart, Mechanic (Controlled by Endgame) Level 0 Cart Health: 57/65 Ability: Protect - The cart can protect 1 hero each round. Any damage dealt to the hero that round will be split evenly between the hero and the cart, rounding up for the cart. Notes: The cart must always be placed in the battle order, even if it is not protecting a hero. If the cart is protecting a hero, the cart will be in the same row as that hero. If the cart's Health reaches 0, the cargo will be damages and you will have failed the quest. The smoke from the bodies was just beginning to clear when Mac approached the party. He had been watching the discussion from the sidelines, not wanting to get in between the heroes and the man who had just tried to kill them. He was clutching his side where one of the thugs had cut him. "Now that that is over and done with, we should get back to our trip. The battle took some valuable time and we'll want to at least reach the halfway point before the sun sets."

Jeaux hands back the Grogmas Handcannon to Benji before departing for the ship that will take them back to Eubric.

"If I had taken this to Ulric he would have distributed the rewards. *cough* Given my current condition it would have probably been a good idea, but hindsight is 20/20 and all that nonsense."

"How should I know, do I look like a fortune teller to you. *cough* If one person heard a rumor than others probably did to."

"I heard a rumor the Shadeaux house was moving some property. Figured I could make a quick buck raiding it. Anything else ya need gramps?"

"What do you wanna know?"