Sisco

"I'd like to motion that we can go somewhere after we reach four out of six votes for the place, so that we don't have to wait all day to go somewhere because some people are too shy to speak up."

"I suggest the pumpkin patch."

"Just be careful of my backlash," Jess said to Tomas. "In the heat of battle, one usually doesn't notice if her sword swings to far backward!"

"I'm fine with going fifth, if you want Tesni to go fourth," Jess said, looking down at her sword. "Let's discuss strategy for multiple targets. It sounds like we'll be fighting quite a few things, so I think this is necessary."

"Just remember that I'll have a poisoned blade for two battles, so anyone I hit will be weakened in every wave of fighting."

Jess went and sat with Ranger Docken. "I'm all packed up, and ready to go," Jess said, ready to begin her quest.

"NO DESERT?!" Jess goes on a killing rampage, demanding her desert.

"Oh, shut it human," Jess said with a slight smile.

Jess smiled and sat next to Tesni. "Perhaps we will," Jess said. "I can't wait to use Blohdhurm again!"

How do we use the vials of poison? Do we simply put (poisoned) beside the weapon, and subtract a vial of venom from the inventory? I figure that that's how it's done, but I wanted to make sure before I did it.

Shit, we're screwed, Jess thought with a worried look on her face.

Jess walked into Heroica Hall, wandering nervously over to the questboard, wondering if she had been selected for the Harvest Time quest. It didn't take long to find her name, and Jess's smile broadened when she saw her friend Tesni's name also on the Harvest Time quest. Her happy demeanor quickly eased, however, when she saw Eric's name not on Harvest Time, but on Looking Through the Wares. Too bad, Jess thought. It would have been fun for all three of us to go on an adventure together. At least I still have Tesni. Jess soon saw her friend, waved, and went to see her.

"Come on then, I'll talk to the innkeeper and get you a room." Jess and Tesni walked to the inn. Jess talked to the innkeeper, who gave Jess a room key, which Jess gave to Tesni.

"Much better indeed, Tesni. Too bad about the prejudice. Show's how ignorant some people are, eh?"

Jess walked up to the door of Heroica Hall. Seeing her friend Tesni hesitating to go in, Jess was concerned. "What's wrong, Tesni?"

Seeking to flee from the madness in Heroica Hall for a few hours, Jess walked into the marketplace, her measly ten coins burning a hole in her coin purse. She promptly saw the vials of venom at Portia's Potion Shack, and headed there. "One vial of venom, please," Jess said, as she handed over her five coins. Pocketting the venom with her other bottle, Jess walked over to Gnomeo's Toolshed. "Nevermind," Jess told the dwarf, after looking through his wares. Jess then walked back to Heroica Hall, her two vials of venom jingling together with every step. Summary: One vial of venom from Portia's Potion Shack, leaving 5 gold.

Jess woke up at the table. Sheesh, what do they put in those drinks? Jess wondered, dazed. Jess noticed that the Barbarians were comparing swords. She decided to put her own in as well, even though hers was much smaller and thinner than the Barbarians' hefty blades. "Blohdhurm. It means "Blood Harm" in my native tongue. It's oft poisoned, so it causes harm to my enemies' blood. Quite a few people have died from this sword..." Jess trailed off, seemingly lost in thought.

"The inn was very good! My father was friends with the innkeeper. If you need a bed, I'm sure I could arrange it for you at the inn," Jess replied. The beer and stew made finally made it to Jess. Jess took a long drag of the beer, then got to work on her stew. It was very chunky, and looked as if there might have been an eye or two in it, but Jess ate anyway, as she hadn't eaten in a fairly long time.

Jess awoke in the inn. How long have I been out? Jess wondered to herself. No matter, let's go see what all my friends at Heroica Hall are doing. Jess walked into Scheherazade's bar, taking a quick look around, she spotted Eric and Tesni. Smiling, Jess ordered a beer and some stew, and went and sat by her barbarian friends. "Hello! What a fine day it is today! What have you barbarians been up to?" Jess asked, feeling renewed after a good night's sleep.

I have a good idea for a quest, and I'd like to host it after I got a few others under my belt. The Pitch: Some family (or farmer, or whatever, I haven't ironed out all the details yet) discovers a cave on their property. They want some heroes to explore it for them, as they've heard some eerie cries coming from within. There would be quite a few paths the heroes could take, and each one could lead to any number of traps, monsters, battles, or even treasure. It's pretty much a sprawling dungeon that I have in mind.

Jess raised her mug. "To Rolf." Jess drank deeply, thinking of her heroic brother, without whom she probably wouldn't be sitting here today. "He was my inspiration to join Heroica. I read a poster that was tacked to a tree one day, advertising Heroica. I instantly thought of Rolf, and came here." "Now if you fellows don't mind, I think that I'll be retiring to the inn across the street now. Don't want to fall asleep in here again, do we?" So Jess stood up out of her chair, and slowly walked to the door, slightly wavering due to the amount of mead and ale she had drunk. Jess nodded to her new friends before walking out the door, to check into the inn.

"Alright, I'll gladly tell a tale or two," Jess replied, thinking of a story. "My brother Rolf and I set out one day for Paness City. We were going in search of Rhunön, the legendary sword maker. She had known my father, and had promised to make us some swords. We had gone a year earlier, and she finally sent word that they were finished. So we went to receive our swords." Jess fingered the hilt of her sheathed sword, remembering the story. "We reached Paness City without incident, and found Rhunön easily. I, being the despicable rogue I am, received this longsword that I still wield to this day. I named it Blohdhurm. My brother was more of a knight-ish kind of fellow. He received a shining greatsword. He gave no name to his sword." "After receiving our swords, Rolf and I thanked Rhunön and departed back home. As we were about to begin traveling on the road we'd always used, a stranger stopped us. He told us of an alternate, faster route through a canyon to the East. We thanked him for the information, and decided to try this new route." "Traveling on the alternate route, we stopped for the night. It had certainly seemed like the road was actually taking us a lot longer to get home, as we wouldn't have had to stop on our old route. But Rolf put it up to us starting later than usual, and so we settled down for the night." "My acute sense of hearing detected the clang of a sword accidentally bumping against a shield. Rolf must have heard it as well, because both of us leaped to our feet, and grabbed our weapons. We weren't in our armor, as we had been sleeping seconds before, but we figured we could handle whatever could be coming at us. We had no tent, only twin bedrolls, so we simply stayed on guard, and waited for the intruder to come." "A figure walked into the light of the fire. It was the stranger that had directed us to this route! He was dressed in full armor, and was accompanied by four of his friends, similarly armored. Rolf and I simply stared, feeling like idiots for not being careful enough to just go on our old route and not get ambushed like this, with only our leather jerkins and pants on. The stranger greeted us, as smug smile on his face. He told Rolf and I of travelers he had killed, convincing them to go on this road. He said he wanted our fancy swords, and would kill us to get them." "Rolf didn't take to that threat too well. Rolf, with the speed only an elf could have, ran straight at the stranger, and beheaded him with his new shiny greatsword. The stranger's body fell to the ground, as his head rolled into the bushes. The stranger's companions stood for a moment, dumbfounded. They then yelled a battle cry, and ran to avenge their fallen comrade." "Rolf and I met them with fierce determination and slashing swords. Rolf easily stabbed through the first, and began dueling the second. I ran at the third, using the hilt of my sword to bash his helm in. He was momentarily stunned, so I pressed my advantage and cut his head off, so I could begin work on the fourth." "Rolf was gaining the upper hand when I went to fight with the fourth of the dead stranger's companions. This man was tall, and built like a stone wall. He was also very well armored. He was slow, though. We dueled for quite a while. My mind was reduced to 'hack, slash, parry, hack slash, parry, parry, parry, slash'. I was not going to let this wall of a man overpower me. I landed a flying kick to his chin, making him stumble backward. I then went on the attack. I backed him onto a tree, where he managed to land a blow to my left arm. Pain sliced through me. Then, out of nowhere, Rolf stabbed the man in the armpit, and the battle was ended. The last thing I remember was taking a fleeting glance at the blood-soaked road, and then I blacked out." "I woke up a week later at home. My mother was standing over me, smiling sadly. I rose wearily, and asked her where Rolf was. She told me that he had carried me home after I blacked out, and barely made it home. He had laid me on the table, calling for my mother, when he had collapsed of exhaustion. He died the day after. It turns out that the third of the strangers had landed a blow to his kidney, mortally wounding him. It was a miracle that he made it home at all, especially while carrying me." "To this day I think of him often. I keep his sword, the one that he saved me with, in a glass case at home. I go to his grave every chance I get. Rolf was a great man, and I'm glad to have had him as my brother." Jess slumped into her seat. She had not meant to reveal that much about her past, but it had all come spilling out. Jess took a sip of her ale.

Not yet with Heroica, but I used to have the most excellent adventures with my brother Rolf. Would you like to hear of a couple?