Tales Of The "stella De Ora" Party, The blunderings of a group in Enroth

Gather round children and I tell you a tale. A tale of courage and passion. A tale of Grand Adventure™. A tale where the plot is so thick, you will think it mentally retarded. The tale of the Stella de Ora party of adventurers.(Stella de Ora is a perennial Lily for you young'uns)

Prologue

Our story begins with the Sara the Archer. Her aim is as deadly as she is beautiful. She was raised in a small town called Hamshire which cannot be found on any map made by a civilized country. It is not a bad place for a human to grow up, but unfortunately, her parents spent most of their time playing Arcomage(available wherever novelties are sold) so she had to raise herself. This led her to be very self-sufficient and she chose Method VI for stats. (Method VI uses pre-set levels with extra points allotted afterwards) One day, as luck would have it, she saw a flyer on the local tavern calling for "Adventurers Brave and True" to go to the Free Haven Town hall for a job. Seeing this as the perfect opportunity to be able to afford a new-fangled Wizard box, with Spider net-working and a pink-tufted mouse, she left for the town of Free Haven. Free Haven being a rather large city at the time.

Our story now turns to Grom the Sorceror/purveyor of the orange arts. His power with wielding the great forces of the cosmos was so great that he could give a dragon heartburn with Firebolt. He was born of wedlock to the Grand Wizard of Kriegspire(who for as much as anyone knows doesn't have a name) and the Empress of the Smallpan Islands( which are the size of a good table). Having such high pressure to excell and having a failed romance with one of the castles maids(there actually being many more than one failed relationship) he decided to go to a place where his true abilities could shine. And maybe catch a truly inspiring play that shows grace and art and manatees. As one could guess, he rolled a 3 on his wisdom stat. He eventually wormed his way to Free Haven. Perhaps he could meet a secretary who could appreciate his genius and sense of art.

In the house of Grey Poupon(Big mobster and purveyor of fine arts) in the town of Free Haven, Manny the Knight(though he was never knighted) awaited work from none other than the 9th scribe of the house. Being an out of work dwarf was difficult in such times, what with Rocklin being deposed and missing and a rather girlish dwarf running the show. Also adding to his list of difficulties were his drinking, gambling, and ducking addictions. The ducking actually being due to his height. He rolled a natural 4' 10" on height. The scribe appeared three fingers before sundown and said with a nasally voice, "Sir, I do not believe that you have an appointment". Manny, who had been waiting all of 29 minutes, could not believe that he was being denied work on a technicality. So furious was he that he whacked the scribe with his shield and took off before the He-man-esque guards could "lay the smack-down". He quickly ran to the closest inn and climbed inside a whiskey bottle.(whiskey bottles being made of ent-trunks in those days)

The final person to have their pre-party history told is Robin the Cleric. Not much could be said of her past other than she is human(or so she's been told) and that she had a penchant for making people see the good and happy aspects of what was a downright bad situation. She joined the Priestesshood of Happy MooMoos(not to be associated with the violent group in a galaxy far far away), located in downcity Free Haven, at a young age. Her stats are unknown as both she and the gods seem to have misplaced her character sheet. How did she come to meet with the rest of the group I hear the children ask, well, she was walking down the street at about 7pm when she heard and saw quite a commotion coming from the inn. She wondered what she should do, but before she could enter to spread peace a rather sauced dwarf flew through the wall missing the aimed for door.(troll bouncers are strong but lack accuracy, the gods do not favor them) Blinking through the dust she approached the dwarf who was looking for parts on the ground. "Hello, would you like to know how the great Moo can bring peace and happiness to you and your clan?", she asked. "Whuff", was all the half patei dwarf could say. She decided to bring him to the temple, but decided to drop him off at the Town hall.(him being heavy and newly squishy, plus the Town Hall was conveniently located 3 feet away)

Thus all companions of the to-yet-be formed Stella de Ora arrived in one place under an auspicious sign of a sword going through a planet. Okay kiddies, thats all for today. Go home and see about bringin me food for next story session. We starving artists do not get payed well...or at all.

This post has been edited by Demosthene on May 30 2007, 09:01 AM

*ring ring ring* Do you hear that young people. That sound tells us its... Everyone, "Storytime!" Thats right. Now, when we last left our heroes(for lack of better term), they had wandered (or been dragged) to the Town Hall in Free Haven. It is one of the larger towns of the world and has an unusually high amount of drive-by arrowing.

Chapter 1 The formation of the Stella de Ora and Timmy

In the town hall there was much activity. Over 200 adventurers from the stalwart Leeroy to the questionable Sheltem had arrived for jobs. Apparently the loss of Sweet Water(known for its inn and rather large hill) made for a lack of work in the adventuring field. Sara, being level-headed, decided to move to a low density corner, which worked out well for her as the barbarians and dwarves were giving each other looks. Grom was towards the front of the line but he stepped out to question an elf chick with tatoos on their deeper meaning. She walloped him with a stick. So he had to go to the back of the line. Dragging Manny 3 feet took quite a long time. Robin opened the door and said in a cheery voice, "Hello, can someone take care of Mr. Dwarf?" No one paid much attention as they were more interested in the fight that broke out between a dark elf and a Mr. Vetinarii.

The battle raged on, bottles were broken, poor clerks were given the time of day (9 at night), and a general hoohaw. Jobs were given out on a "first come first serve" basis. There were not enough jobs for everyone, but as luck would have it, half the prospects were unconscious. Or asleep. Sara stepped up to the desk and an emotionally unstable man said, "We only have a few jobs left...Have this one(handing her a piece of parchment)....please don't yell at me". She skimmed the surface and thought that it might require more than one person. She asked several people, but to no avail. Poor Robin stood at the doorway(not in the least bored) and volunteered.

"Hello, I am a representative of the Happy MooMoo cult of Moo. If you need a healer or wish to know more of the peace and joy that the great Moo can give you, then I would be happy to join your party", Robin said. It only took one glance for Sara to feel rather disturbed at the smile and shut eyes of this radical. But since no one seemed to want her company she agreed. She also put some bandages(a leader has to be responsible) on the dwarf. She asked him if he wanted adventure and a semi-steady paycheck, to which he mumbled through his bandages, and she took it for a yes.

"Excuse me Miss, but I see you are putting together quite a band. I am in need of funds to further my pursuits in the interest of art and would be absolutely ecstatic if you would permit me to join your entourage.", Grom said with a slighty oily tone. "Uhm, what services would you bring to the group, Mr...?"
"Grom, Student of the Arcane, next-in-line to the rulership of a chain of islands, and I can help guide the group in choices of art and literature."
This sounded good to Sara and she invited him along. She signed the parchment with the groups name(which she made using a democratic way, with her having the only vote) the Stella de Ora Party. Needless to say, when the group learned of this the next morning there was opposition. All coming from the dwarf who had managed to chew through his bandages.

After a quick breakfast of 2 eggs, ham, some green, and what smelled like grog, they were on their way. To test their mettle and prove themselves worthy of the title "Hero". That or make money, but this sounded better on the business cards. Walking all of 101 feet to a fantastically shallow well, they saw the objective of their quest. Their quest being, Lost: Local Timmy, cash reward on delivery, dead or alive, last seen playing around wells. They set up a rope and climbed down(though they could have hopped in and out) and witnessed quite a site.

"This is Timmy?", Sara asked.

"Awww, he's so cute. He looks like a big puppy", said the mentally questionable Robin.

"Lets kill it!", shouted the half-drunk dwarf.

"Now Mr. Manny, I'm sure that we could train this beast to be our unholy hound to tear our enemies a new breathing hole", Grom "eloquently" put.

This discussion, though entertaining, had kindled a hunger in Timmy. Not since yesterday had he eaten. And elves were not that filling. Edging forward he prepared to feast. The cleric of Moo, thinking he wanted to play, started to coo...er, that is "moo". *Moo* Suddenly Timmy felt something he had never felt before. *Mooo~* Pain! Fear! Gastric Intestinal Distress! The Mooing of that woman was like cold nail running down his misshapen spine.

"Do you think you could quite that infernal *mooing* of yours. You are simply aggravating, like too much butter on a toast point", Grom said with a flare of a torch light accross his fingers.(which is worthless in combat, but is good for a scare against supersticious peasants, at least until a lynch mob forms)

"Now Grom, I think Robin is only doing that to try and calm Timmy down", said the Leader.

"Hey, art-boy. When yar done whining, think of a way to get Fido out of here", Manny said with his usual tact.

"Oh look, Poochie just loves Moo's moo", said the moo-er.

Timmy, now beyond sense, leaped at the closest target to silence the racket. Unfortunately that target was Grom, who proceeded to freak out and unleashed a 4 Fire skill Fireball. This, coupled with GID, caused a double explosion. The party was surprised to find they were alive, except Robin who had a heavenly insider. Timmy however was nothing more than burnt do fur. Fantastic smell. They took the fur and cashed it in at the town hall. The clerk, the same one Sara got the quest from, was all to happy to give them the reward.(But happier to see them leave) The reward from the quest was as follows: 300 exp each and a total of 500 gold pieces. Not bad for a simple task.

They quickly spent the money(come on, its Free Haven, even water costs a gold) and some of what they had before the quest to buy; a slightly less battered shield for Manny, a Fine bow for Sara, Cure Wounds for Robin, and a pair of Steel Boots for Grom.(who lacked AC before and after the purchase.

Well kiddies, thats the end of that chapter. Stay tuned for more as the exciting adventures of Tales Of The Stella de Ora continues. Next time, Chapter 2 Ribannah bans some trolls. Well, not really.

Fan of Tales Of The Stella de Ora? Have any opinions or thoughts that you think may enlighten other fans or the Author on his crystal throne? Have any questions on how a starting mage such as Grom has access to a 4 skill point Fireball? Then leave a post in this topic and the Author will do his best to respond. Have a pleasant evening!

Live! From the backwater country of Enroth, Arcomage Productions is proud to present Tales Of The Stella de Ora Party! With your host, Joresh! ...At least we would, but Joresh was ashamed to be a part of our show so we went with the previous narrator.

Last time on TOTSDOP, the party is forged and they receive their first quest. With sexy...er, explosive results. They also bought some overpriced junk.

Chapter 2 Goblins Galore gat ghe Goblin Gamp

The day after their victory over Timmy, the group(meaning Sara, the only one up before 11) went to the Town Hall for more writs of employment. It should be noted that the place was not cleaned up from the last brawl and some adventurers still cluttered up the place.

Walking up to the clerk Sara asked for a job. The clerk, whose name was Archibald, said with a creepy tone, "Sorry there lass. All them good jobs be taken. You could ask what the bounty hunt is".

"Ok then, what is this months bounty?", Sara asked hesitantly.

"Devil King"

"What!"

"'Ey, I don't make the decisions around here"

"...Are you sure there isn't any work?", she asked in a rather desperate tone. (The purchases the previous day were more than the reward for Timmy. They were very flat broke. Worse than most Jazz musicians)

"Not so much as a lost puppy. *wink* Though I did hear a rumor. Click on the rumor button for more".

*Click*

"Right, well, a bunch of adventurers came in one day and they says, "Oi, gov, we just saw a 'uge camp o goblins. Looks like they are aiming for Lord Stone's castle"."

"Do you know where they were talking about?"

"Probably the flat-land 20 or so furlongs to the South"

"Ok, thanks", Sara muttered and moved to the door with as much grace as a Weight Watcher.

Back at the inn\tavern, the ones they hadn't gotten thrown out of for Manny's clicking on "have a drink" many times to see if it would open a menu or Robin's attempts to convert the bartender, Grom was very busy. Pouring over his spellbook, he uses low sodium water, he prepared for the day and whatever quest Sara brought back. He halfway respected her, which is more than he could say for Cloud-for-brains or Drunk-Trunk. Manny was being sick in the corner and Robin was humming.

As she entered the room!, not much happened. Grom asked about the quest, Sara told them about the goblins, Manny was sick, and they ate brunch. Except Manny. He was sick.

The travel didn't take long, the "20 furlongs" turned out to be 3 miles. The area was littered with burned out huts, dead fire pits(as opposed to the kind that move around), and trash.

Sara, doing her duty as leader, said, "All right, spread out and look for anything we can sell".

"Pillage and plunder", said Manny who proceeded to be sick.

"I wonder if the goblins were hurt", asked Robin with a crinkle to her impassively smiley demeanor while picking through half-decayed boots.

Grom looked at her and with his usual charm said, "Goblins are the most pitiful life form among humanoid life on this planet. They are crude, boorish, warlike, and they hate the artistic genius of Sir Wellhelm Monastor".

With wide-eyes Robin asked, "You mean the god of the black clover, Monastor, who serves under the Great Moo?"

"Silly girl, he is a man. Talented, but..."

...But before he could say anything, two figures appeared through some newly formed mist. Seeing an opportunity, Robin greeted them with a customary "Hello, we are adventurers combing the goblins camp. Who are you?"

The slightly larger figure, who looked like a wizard, swept his hair out of is face and said, "Hi, I'm Harry Potter.

"And I am Ron", said the second figure, whose hair was rather dirty.

"Hello Harry", said Sara, who had come to see what the commotion was about, "what bring you out to the middle of somewhere?"

"Ron and I are on our way to deliver a very important message, isn't that righ Ron", Harry said with the slightest bit of venom.

"Sure Harry, the Mad Professor was most insistant"

Harry shot Ron a gaze. The party by this time had gathered to hear what was going on. Manny was sick.

"Ron, you know our task is top secret."

"But Harry"

Whack! Harry hit Ron with his wand. Then decides to keep doing it. "This'll teach you to keep me and your sister apart!"

"Umm, Mr.Harry, I don't think you should be hitting on your friend", Robin said.

Just then a noise in the distance echoed accross the flatbread-land. This apparently spooked Harry, because he trotted towards the sound brandishing his wand and a chocolate frog.

Ron got up still fearful of the angry wizard, but then spilled the beans. "Harry is under the service of a wizard called Xenofex. He is planning to give a scroll to a man named Saruma-..Sulman. Please you must stop him"

"Aha! You too turn against me! First the Ministry and now you! I will make your life a living hell now Ron!", Harry shouted going even livid or vermillion with rage. He advanced on the cowering Ron when his head twisted a funny way and he fell to the ground.

Manny, holding a dented axe, asked, "Can we finish looting now that that drama queens shut up?"

"Thank you for defeating the evil Harry Potter! Hermione will now love me for who I am and not just the friend of the famous Potter", Ron said with gusto as he vanished with a poof of smoke.

"That was weird", said Sara.

"Everyone we have the misfourtune of meeting seems absoulutely insane", Grom said, not having spoken in a while.

"Loot the corpse!", yelled Manny and proceeded to be sick from over-straining himself.

On the corpse they found a Letter addressed to Sulman by Xenofex. In the camp they loot a small handful of gold, a few clubs, and a lot of potential. They also aquire a quest of "Show the Letter" to a man in New Sorpigal. Since they have no quests or opportunity for money in Free Haven, they hop a coach to New Sorpigal.(using most of the handful of gold)

Next time on TOTSDOP, the heroes arrive at New Sorpigal. What awaits them there? What challenges will they face? Will Sara finally get a competent crew? Tune in next week, or whenever its done, for another exciting episode of TOTSDOP.

Are you a Fan of Tales Of The Stella de Ora? Have any opinions or thoughts that you think may enlighten other fans or the Author on his crystal throne? Have any questions on how a starting mage such as Grom has access to a 4 skill point Fireball? Then leave a post in this topic and the Author will do his best to respond. You sleep good here!

I'm not too sure about that Harry Potter bit. You just opened a can of worms with me...

This part was funny. Out of all the spells Harry could have used with his wand, Avada Kedavra, Petrificus Totalus, or the Cruciatus Curse (to name a few), Harry simply decided the best thing to do was hit Ron with a stick! Yeah right.

I was wondering...is your goal for this fan fic to drop as many names as possible? You've alluded to LOTR, members of this forum, and now Harry Potter. It's simply too much for me.

Customers! Haha, thank you Lady Arwen for your most elloquent way of saying its completely nuts. =^^= Writing Harry Potter as a semi-angst ridden wizard working for Dr. Xenofex was quite fun. For readers who do not get his intro (Hi, I'm Harry Potter. And I am Ron) it is from an online Flash cartoon called "Potter Puppet Pals". I highly reccomend it, but you don't have to take my word for it.

Actually, I do not plan that much in advance of writing each chapter, beyond the basic quest\idea. Things just seem to flow better if I do it off the top of my head. (it also makes it much stranger and\or funnier)

As to the names~ maybe. The MM series does a good job of implying parody or downright parody.(check command codes for Tomb of Varn in MM6) I try to follow suit, but it winds up nutty. (On a side-note, writing this started as a self-made dare. Partially to draw attention to the lack of MM fanfiction and to bolster confidence in other writers by its lack of polish. Or Polish. ^^ If I would have saved it to txt file and waited till the next day, I probably wouldn't have posted it. Self-doubt and all that)


Without further a~do!, its time for TOTSDOP! Tales Of The Stella de Ora Party for viewers just tuning in.

Last time on TOTSDOP, the party overcame the unsermountable power of Harry Potter, found a letter signed by a friendly sort named Xenofex, and made their way to New Sorpigal.

Chapter 3 Letters, Watches, and Goblins

New Sorpigal was like a small village made of Legos compared to the grand splendor of Free Haven. Though it did have cleaner fountains and less armed transients by the name of Lincoln. They were heavily armed with writs and copper chains.

Grom, understandably, was perturbed by its utter lack of museum or theatre. "Philistines! Goblin-kin! French middle-class!", he said not knowing half of the words he said.

Sara went(ran) off to the tavern, A Lonely Knight, not waiting(or wanting) to hear the inane ramblings of her companions in arms.

"I think it is lovely. Look! Green grass! Cows! Moo be praised!", said Robin.

Manny, having recovered from being sick, but wishing he was sick to stop from hearing, said, "As soon as we can get money, I'm gonna get a big bloody leg of Moo, drink its blood, tear it to pieces with my axe, and eat it raw!"

"Noooooooo!", exclaimed Robin as she whacked Manny with a mace.

"Aaagh! Damn vegan!", said Manny hefting his axe.

Sighing, Grom said, "I should have stayed at home. Unstable experiments or not. Anything is better than this. Please great Rembrandt, send me home to a less mentally rending land."

At the tavern, Sara was making progress. Like a Locked-on-target she saw a rather shady man (who happened to have a bootleg Follower of Baa after his name for some reason) and approached him.

With a look that can only be described as "Holy Crap", the shady man said, "Shhh, I know of your quest. They come for you. It is not safe here. My name is Strider."

"Strident?"

"No, Strider. I am a Ranger from the north and...", he trailed off after seeing some rowdy midgets. "Sorry lass, I seem to have gotten you confused with someone else. Though if you want to join our Companionship we have room for one as breathtaking as you and maybe a friend."

Not knowing how to respond, Sara walked away and left the man who probably was using a fake name. She went around talking to people not knowing of the impending civil war outside. A man came in, sat at a plain table, and ordered Spice. She talked to him, learned his name to be Potbelly, and found he was an acolyte of Baa. Seeing an opportunity she asked about the letter.

Surprised, he said, "You're the messenger? What happened to Steve? No matter, here's some gold. Now go before we attract attention", not noticing that the whole room was watching.

With the bag of gold in hand, 1000 pieces, she left with a small thank you. Upon exciting, she saw a grand spectacle. Okay, it was really just an incensed cleric and battle dwarf whacking at each other with a mage in a fetal position nursing a broken nose. Happens all the time right? She managed to sort things out, which alludes to her awesome leadership skills, and told them of the completion of the letter quest. To fix the broken\bruised parts, they tried drinking from the fountains. Aside from ingesting pennies, they felt much better.

They decided to pay the Town Hall a visit. The clerk, a rather game-ish woman, bid them greetings and a "I need your help". She told them of Goblinwatches plight (Goblinwatch Quest acquired) and hurried them out the door without telling them the vital details. They even had to ask the wandering townsfolk where it was.

They arrived at the structure and tried to open the door. The door is locked. They traveled all the way back to the Hall, enduring much hardship, got the key from the clerk, traveled back and put the key in the lock. Grom turned the key and it broke. Feeling the venemous stares and the happy closed-eye-ness, he kicked the door open. His boots came in handy! They entered the foreboding fort.

The first thing that impressed upon them was how *clean* it looked. White stone, possibly marble, graced the ceiling, the floor, and even the doors. The torches even burned clean. They could have stayed all day, except they had a job to do. And they hadn't eaten in 12 hours.

"Mr. Grom, do you have the Wizard Eye spell", Robin asked.

"No", said Grom, "I didn't wish to learn a simple spell that took up Gems every time I cast it."

"I have the spell", said the bow-twanger who cast the spell.

"AHA!", said a large skull with one eye. "Ahhh!", said the freaked out group.

Settling down the dwarf said, "This is why dwarves go for Earth magic instead."

"Do you see any hostiles", wondered the mage.

"Just one. Right around the door on the right", said the Archer.

They opened the door and the door after that. When Robin said, "Rats. Rats are helpful in the teaching of turtles martial arts." (this brought a lot of blank stares)

Grom went up to the giant rat, poked it with a dagger, and they went through the next door. Opening the door they saw a rectangle room at a right angle to the room they were in. Peering around the corners they attracted the attention of some goblins! They goblins ran at the group.

"Turn-based mode", yelled Sara.

"Doo-doo" A large hand became visible.

"Why can we only move as a group", said an unhappy Robin, "its like we are joined at the hip."

"Okay, fine", said the leader who turned off turn-based mode. *daa-daa*

The goblins rushed forward. Sara fired a several arrows into a goblin killing it. Grom cast Toxic Cloud which really killed a goblin, but used all his Sp. Two goblins attacked Manny, goblins and dwarves get along like peas and a knife, but he whacked one, splitting its head open and showering him with confetti. The other goblin got a glancing hit on the dwarf causing minimal injury. Manny attacked and missed. The Goblin attacked and missed. After several attacks, Manny did a maximum damage roll and the goblin fell apart. The only goblin left attacked Robin. She was cut twice, but she whacked the goblin hard with her fountain-enhanced strength. Note, mace migraines are killer.

After the battle they looted the bodies (gold! said the dwarf) and looked at the strange panels on the wall. Pressing it slide it upward revealing a cubby hole. They opened all the cubby holes revealing 3 chests. Manny, the only one have a disarm trap skill, was volunteered by the group to open the chests.

After a couple minutes of working on a chest he exclaimed, "Got it". Whereby the chest exploded knocking out the dwarf.

"Wow, I thought that the first dungeon we came to would have level 1 trap difficulty", said Sara in astonishment.

"Here I go!" Robin then opened all the chests (including the opened\exploded chest) and was very happy. One of the chests contained the Goblinwatch Codes which was the quest item they needed to retrieve. She then had the task of curing the dwarf.

Loot in pack and a smoked dwarf they went back to town and collected the rather tidy reward. They also sold the cheap equipment, but decided to keep the money. They then rented a room at the inn and planned their next undertaking.

Are you a Fan of Tales Of The Stella de Ora? Have any opinions or thoughts that you think may enlighten other fans or the Author on his crystal throne? Have any questions on how Grom killed a giant rat with a dagger? Then leave a post in this topic and the Author will do his best to respond. And Congrats to Arwen the Dark Elf for the first non-me post! Pleasant dreams!

This post has been edited by Demosthene on Jun 4 2007, 10:00 AM

Actually it's quite funny. Keep going.

I'm quite a fan already! keep it up

More fans! All 3 of them. ^^ Hmmm, yes, I plan on doing quite a few more, at least till Chapter 20 or so. Probably a lot more. It is fun and when a chapter is finished it is very satisfying. Note to potential authors, it is more satisfying than anything you could do on the computer.

Welcome to the world of Might and Magic-craft! Where dragons fly and Puff deals with smuggling Hobbits Weed. Also where a lot of strange stuff happens.

Last time on TOTSDOP, Sara showed a Potbelly a letter for 1k gold, tempers flare over cows, the party does a jaunter into Goblinwatch keep for the codes and gets their first taste of real combat. (Timmy and Harry not being drug out battles)

Chapter 4 New work in New Sorpigal

After a night of partying and jokes about goblins, the party arose refreshed and exited the tavern with gusto. And it was raining and dark and no-one was outside.

"I think we should split up to search the houses for quests", said Sara, the leader.

"I believe I will search the tavern", muttered a very damp Grom, "this damp does not do wonders for the socialite."

"Socialite. Ha! Yer more of a pansy than a socialite. As much grace as...er..", Manny broke off as he saw the fiery stare from Sara.

"If its ok, I would like to try the Town Hall again", asked Robin who looked a bit blue.

The party then split up and went in search of hapless citizens. Manny found a snake charmer, some experts, and then he went into a shack with a distraught woman.

"Ye need help there", asked the mercenary-like dwarf.

"My poor girl is missing. I have no idea where she went. Could you please find her", she asked.

"If there be a reward then my posse will look into it"

"Oh, thank heavens! Yes, you can have this ring. It is gold, but fire does not harm it"

Manny took one look at the gold and accepted the task of finding her little girl, who was/is(maybe) Angela. (Find Angela Quest) He then went next door and opened the door. There stood a very strange man with a tophat.

"You look like an adventurer! I have need of strong warriors to bring me back a trophy. It is the heart of the Queen of Spiders who lives in an Abandoned Temple of Baa to the Northwest of town. Beware! There is a deadly curse placed upon...", the man said before he was cut off.

"Fine, and what award will be given for the heart"

"Four score and seven hundred gold"

As would be expected, he accepted the quest (Bring the SpiderQueen Heart Quest) and went to find the rest of the group.

Grom, meanwhile, combed the patrons of the Lonely Knight for quests or hints. Aside from learning who the proprietar of the Howling Moon was, he found little. That is, until Mr. Potbelly approached him and asked him if he could retrieve something for him.

"It is a silver chandelabra that is used in our most sacred of rituals. It was left in our temple nearby when we had to leave because of the infestation. Animal Control said they didn't have any cubes. If you returned it to me, you would be well rewarded and would be known as a friend of Baa", said the Cultist with a greasy tone.

Not seeing other opportunities Grom said, "Fine, we will accept your task. Are there traps or locked doors?"

"Of course not. We are a peaceful religion and our doors are always open to the poor and downtrodden", lied the Baa-ist.

Quest accepted, Grom waited for the others to return. (Retrieve the Chandelabra Quest)

The Town Hall was a great place for learning about things Robin decided. With little fuss, she had accepted several quests and signed up the party for the towns newspaper, The Sorpigal Inquisition. The quests were; to bring back some chimes from a Temple of Baa near Castle Ironfist, To Rescue Sherry, the town healer, and Investigate the Shadow Guild. (quests accepted)

Sara had the least productive experience. All she found was where the training hall was, some magic expert teachers, and a strange guild that probably involved assassinating farm animals. So, disheartened, she returned to the tavern.

At the tavern, the quests accepted were told in detail and unhappy comments were made on the subscription to The Sorpigal Inquisition.

"Once you sign up for a subscription, you sign up for life", warned Sara.

"Such a blasee paper", said the art critic, "all it has is local shop trades, some people trying to sell used work-out equipment, and a section devoted to gossip. Hmmm, did you know that Prince Nicolai is quite the ladies man?"

"I got some quests though", parlayed the Disciple of Moo.

Manny, not being one to give mercy, said,"Pretty crappy ones too. They all deal with Castle Ironfist."

Robin, anger rising at last, yelled,"They're better than killing an innocent spider just to bring its heart to a man in a tophat!"

"Aren't you going to step in", asked Grom to Sara.

"I'm going to take a page from an old religion and say 'Meh'", Sara said while shrugging, "its not worth the effort."

The fight which dwindled to a low burn after a nail biting 2 minutes, spelled the end to a very rainy and forgetable day. The next day would hold great excitement as they attempt to complete the quests accepted today.

Are you a Fan of Tales Of The Stella de Ora? Have any opinions or thoughts that you think may enlighten other fans or the Author on his crystal throne? Have any questions on how it never rains when you play in Enroth? Then leave a post in this topic and the Author will do his best to respond. And Congrats to Evilmaster and Sinbad for their posts! Goblin gruel good!

Hello kiddies! Demosthene here! It is time for you to learn about comprehensive insurance and just you wait until you are old enough to be breakin' yer hips bungee jumpin' off of 100-story buildings. It can save a lot of~....*Fizzle* We interrupt this public service announcement to bring you another exciting chapter of TOTSDOP! (If there are more spelling errors than usual, it is because my my hand hurts a bit so its harder to type. I will also write up some character sheets so you can see what skills\spells\equipment they have. It will be updated with the stuff gained from this chapter on it)

Last time on TOTSDOP...not a whole lot happened. Aside from getting some re(quests) and a subscription to "The Sorpigal Inquisition" Newspaper. Oh and they learned of a rumor about Prince Nicolai being a ladies man.

Chapter 5 Snakes, why'd it have to be snakes.

The party was quite busy with expedition preparations, now that they had a bunch of quests that involved one dungeon.(hopefully without the dragons) They checked their equipment for damage, bought some cheap helmets from the armor shop, Sara learned Protection from Electricity, Grom learned Earth magic, Protection from Fire, and Protection from Earth. They also went to the local magical goodies shop, the Seeing Eye, to buy some healing potions. General store prices being at the gouging level.

Once inside the shop the party set about looking for useful potions and scrolls. Except for Sara. She had found a glass display case that had Wizard Boxes, designer mouses and rats, and crystal clear viewing windows. The nearby case had a golden keycard, but it didn't receive much attention. Noticing the potential customer, the saleslady walked towards Sara.

"I see that you are looking at the Wizbang G4. It is a really good artifact. I own one myself."

"Yeah, uhm, I'm just looking...I really can't afford it right now."

"We do have a new financing plan through all of the Enrothian Banks"

"...really? Hmmm."

Thankfully, Grom noticed the lack of leadership and went looking around the shop. Manny and Robin were left holding the goods. Having found Sara, and noticing the crafty wizbox seller, he walked at a higher pace than normal.

Trying not to sound dismayed by the expression of girlish joy and giddiness on Sara's face, as oppossed to her normally more mature look, the spell-flinger said, "Sara, we're done buying supplies. We should go and finish the quests that the berserker and cultist accepted before it gets dark. I for one do not wish to spend the night in a dirty, wet dungeon."

Sara, just noticing he was standing there, said, "But Grom, its the Wizbang G4~! Look! Its got 3 eagle eye resolution, quad soundstones, and a Perdition processor."

"We still have to go." At this Sara's expression soured.

The saleslady, fearing a missed sale, added,"We are also offering a buy-now pay-later option."

"Sorry, not today", said Grom dragging Sara away before she could un-sour.

After they went through the door she said, "Thanks Grom. I can't control myself around those things. They're just too cool."

With a half-smile, the first half-smile he smiled since joining the group, he said,"Well, we need a leader. One with the patience to deal with merchants, brigands, and non-elected officials. And I don't think I would be able to keep Wolfgang and Puck from killing each other alone."(this being as close as he got to complementing anyone who was not a maid)

They joined up with the party by the central fountain. The dwarf and human were not talking much, but it seemed to be about tea and apples. With a few red and purple potions, two scrolls of Energy Blast, and lighter money pouches they were ready to go. They walked past the temple and guild to the bridge northwest of town. They were partially accross the structure when a band of goblins showed up.

The lead goblin said in a very nasally voice, "Heh! Give us all your money or you are going down pie! And then we'll use your women to buy us pimped-out coaches!"

Another gobin said,"Yeah! And use your corpses as furniture!"

The lead goblins asked,"What!?"

"Ah...nuthum!"

The party whipped out their weapons ninja style.

"Woah! You guys have weapons!", said the now wishing-he-wasn't-lead goblin. "I thought you guys were peasants from town! Run!" At which the goblins ran away at incredible speed.

Not knowing how to respond to this, the party continued on towards the Abandoned Temple of Baa. Only to see a company of unfriendly mages. Knowing that mages use magic, Sara and Grom cast protection spells and Robin cast bless.(which involved a prayer to Moo about letting their tails hit home) They then rushed the mages. Sara though, fired her bow killing one before the others got close.

Manny ran head first into a very unlucky mage and swung his axe in a way that would make a berserker proud. Robin, being careful not to get near the dwarf, started to whack heads with her mace. Grom cast firebolt a couple times at mages not wearing red. Overall, the mages were disorganized and freaked out when arrows rained down on them and a creature rushed them like a hellhound. Their shouts ranged from, "Watch your six" and "Abracadabra" to "We're all going to die!".

The battle won, with the mages not even hitting one of the heroes with their hastily cast spells, they went about collecting wallets and boots. There were also a couple crates nearby which provided some coinage.

Loot collected they approached the entrance to the Abandoned Temple. It seemed to be fairly new construction, though stone is hard to judge and Manny wasn't saying anything. Gathering their courage, though in Robins case obliviousness, they went through the entrance.

~~~Intermission~~~~(note, this is so I can stop and rest my hand. I'll write the rest of the chapter tomarrow. And I can get some sleep. Toodles!)

~~~Remission~~~~(This is where Robotech...TOTSDOP is back!)

Contrary to expectations the room they fell into(too much courage) was rather nice. It had tile flooring, a still burning fireplace, torches, and paintings. The thoughtful cultists had also left some small piles of gold on the floor.

"That was nice of them", said Sara.

The Moo-ist asked," But if they're nice, then why does Moo hate them?"

"Ha, its because they steal and plunder...they seem pretty cool", said the dwarf who must be part pirate.

Grom looked down the stairs. "We have company."

Several large and hungry bats flew towards the group, but seemed to have trouble maneuvering in the small space. After a few whacks, the bats fell, the party only suffering a few bites, but nothing serious or diseased. They then went down the stairs and took a right coming to a large door.

"Be careful, there are enemies on the other side", said Sara looking at the Wizard Eye viewer.

Cautiously opening the door, Manny walked into the room with axe at the ready...but didn't find anything. The rest of the party moved in, but as soon as Grom, having Torch Light on, entered they could see their enemies.

"Snakes. Cobra genus I believe. Very poisonous as well", said the well-learned Grom.

Sara and Manny did not seem troubled by having 3 foot high snakes and looked ready to crack what passes for their spines. Robin meanwhile, was sweating and shaking like there was no tomarrow. And when it comes to snakes you can't be sure if there is a tomarrow.

"S-s-s-nakes! There are freakin' snakes on my Plane!", with this she started to go berserk. Anything and everything in her path was mutilated worse than a chainsaw block party.

"Look at her go. Surprising really, I would have thought she would be fine with snakes. Peace and love and whatnot", said Grom with an eyebrow raised.

"She's as crazy and violent as they come! Ha! Too bad she ain't always like this", said the dwarf with alignment issues.

The snakes, being very dead, Sara asked,"Robin, you can stop beating the dead snakes." Robin slowed her whacking and looked befuddled. "Its okay, its just me. Sara. The woman with the bow."

Tearing up Robin said, "The snakes....I killed the snakes. Oh~ Moo forgive me."

"Now now, I am sure he will", as she said this Robin clung to her. She cast a "help me" look at the others, but they were busy looting the area.

After the ordeal, they decided to try the cave straight accross from the entrance room. They followed the path through the cave to a large room with a bunch of spiders, bats, and a chest. The bats were no problem, the group just retreated slowly and killed them as they came.

The spiders were tougher. There were 6 smaller orangy-brownish ones(meaning they were only 3 feet accross and 2 feet high) and 2 larger blue ones (meaning 4 feet accross and 3 feet high). They picked off 4 of the smaller ones with arrows and firebolt, but the rest got in close. Manny was bitten by a small one as he tried to cleave it. He had to try a horizontal swipe instead. Grom was pincered by a larger one(getting poisoned), twice, before he was able to crispify it. He then drank a purple potion (cures poison) and gagged on its purple soda taste. Sara was hit as she tried to take on the other large one, but she poked it in the eye and it died. Robins chainmail caused the last small brown spider's strike to glance off, afterwhich she smacked it with her over-used mace.

After the battle, they searched the corpses, not finding a thing, and moved towards the chest. Manny opended it with no problem and unloaded the contents, including the silver chandelabra requested by Potbelly, and they proceeded to move on when a huge cascade of sparks fell from right above the chest. They ran to the side of the cave and were lucky to only suffer some small burns. Robin cast Cure Wounds a few times to heal the party up, and using most of her sp, and they proceed down a tunnel. They came to a fair sized cavern, cleaned up some local infestation, and took a right.

In a circular cavern they saw a little girl. Assuming it to be Angela, Manny said, "Okay little girl, yer coming with us. We have candy~."

"Waaah!', screamed the little girl.

Sara shot Manny a look ("What, I thought children liked candy", complained the creepy man) and tried to comfort the girl. She picked her up and Angela joined the party as an NPC.

They headed out and took a right further into the caves. At a large cave they saw dozens of snakes and spider. Robin started to go into a catatonic fit, but calmed down when Grom cast a fireball dead-center of the critters. It was a good move, except it caused pieces of charcoaled snake to fly through the air and hit Robin in the face....the following scream could easily spook a banshee. It also alerted the creatures that resided nearby to seek out prey.

The following battle was hectic to say the least. They had to do a slow retreat to the smaller passageway just to keep from getting surrounded. Sara's sword flashed out striking spider's legs. Grom tried to keep the most distance, not having a long weapon or good armor, and cast firebolt untill he ran out of sp, which didn't take long. Manny used his axe to sever cobra's hoods from their heads and swung his shield to knock several spiders back. Robin tried to remain calm as she flailed with her mace but didn't hit much. The battle didn't seem to go very well, the entire party was poisoned from spider or cobra bites as well as bleeding profusely, but the tide of enemies slowed and then stopped.

Hurridly, the party drank the last of their healing potions, Robin and Grom were still poisoned, and cast Robin cast her last healing spell. Slightly better off, they pushed on. They didn't bother looking through the mat of deceased enemies and the went down a slope into what seemed to be a snakes lair. Sara grabbed some cobra eggs, never know when they could come in handy, and Manny looted a chest. Continuing onward they came to a large cavern. It was oddly empty so they moved on and came to two chests. They looted them and headed back. They got a nice reception as they came back into the large cavern. A huge red spider(a queen, and lets just say it was BIG) and 3 large blue spiders scuttled towards to run-down party.

Not seeing any other choice, Sara and Grom read the words on the scrolls of Energy Blast and large green squigles of energy burst forth from the pages and hit the spider. The energy burned clear through the 2 blue ones and the vaporized several legs on the other blue. The queen was burned, but it would take more than that to kill a vicious creature such as her. The queen leaped at the group and tried to behead Manny. Its great pincers punctured holes in his shield and he let go of it. The queen tried to get the shield off, but it bought the party time to hack away at it. Robin bypassed the queen and picked off the blue spider. It was Manny's axe that dealt the killing blow to the spider. He also used it to cut out the heart, a grisly trophy of their hard-fought battle. They retrieved what was left of his shield and left the cave.

Running as fast as their exhausted feet would carry them, they took a wrong turn and had to retrace their steps. An hour later they exited the dungeon. They paid a quick visit to the temple(and paid some more) and then the inn where they would get a night of well-deserved rest. They would cash in the quests the next day. Having company was also nice, even if she was 7 years old.

Are you a Fan of Tales Of The Stella de Ora? Have any opinions or thoughts that you think may enlighten other fans or the Author on his crystal throne? Have any questions on how cool Energy Blast is? Then leave a post in this topic and the Author will do his best to respond. Play Arcomage! Pirate Stew Hehehe!

This post has been edited by Demosthene on Jun 8 2007, 08:41 AM

Greetings there fans and newcomers! Welcome to another escapade of TOTSDOP. The author would like to apologize for the seemingly late-ness of the next chapter. For he/I have been playing MMII and World of Xeen(Cloud and Darkside combined). Trying DOSbox for the first time and with some tweaking, it runs pretty well. Without it doesn't work at all. So~I am happy with the new/old game I can finally play again. Yay!

Last time on TOTSDOP, the party raided the Abandoned Temple of Baa in Northwest of New Sorpigal. They saved a girl named Angela, found a silver chandelabra, and cut the heart out of a spider queen.

Chapter 6 Enter the Goblin King

The day after raiding the Abandoned Temple, and resting at the inn to cure their exhaustion, the group was ready to go collect on the rewards. First stop, Potbelly, who met them downstairs at a table. To say there was a meal on there would be like saying a giant is normal. It could have fed a dozen starving mage students for a week. Sara went to go cash in while the others got breakfast.

"Ah, well? Have you found the chandelabra", asked Potbelly buttering up a biscuit.

"Yes, here it is", said Sara who handed it to him.

Potbelly, mouth full of said buiscuit, said,"*munch* Bewifur. Abfofufry Beawafur."

Sara stared with growing discomfort, at the man as he easily put away a slice of ham 2 inches thick. He also dribbled crumbs the size of walnuts all over his shirt as he said, "Here you go, 1000gold. Its all I have left besides traveling expenses."

Oh cheese, Sara thought, you would probably buy a coach to eat the horses. But instead, she said,"Thank you and if you need any jobs done just contact us at this address." She hands him the official TOTSDOP business card and scuries over to the table the rest of the party is at.

Manny looking up, asked,"Want a chunk o' ham?"

Sara went green. Robin frowned, "Wouldn't you like a turnip instead? Its healthy for you and lets the poor piggies live."

Sara grabbed some vegetables, the only thing Potbelly hadn't been scarfing. After the quick meal they headed out to the poor mother's house. They let themselves in and Angela ran to her mother with a "Yipee!". It brought raised brows from more than one party member.

"Oh thank heavens you found my poor baby! I don't have much, but here is the ring I promised you", she said as she gave Manny the ring.

Manny blinks. "If its gold then why is it green", he said holding it up.

Grom, being semi-polite, said, "Thats because you are holding it meatloaf. It needs to be identified at a shop."

Sara thanked the mother, gave her a business card, and they ran all the way to the house next door.

In the creepy darkness stood the man in the tophat. "You have returned. Do you bring the trophy?", he asked in a very evil sorcereror tone.

Grom handed him the heart, which still beat, and said, "Here you are sir. The queen was a challenge, but with our abilities, we managed to kill it." This brought a *harumph!* from the dwarf who was mourning his lost shield.

"Excellent. Now I can brag to Stonewall Jack that I am the great warrior now. Muahahaha! Here is the promised reward", he said as he handed Grom 4 score and 700 gold. (780 gold, an odd amount no?)

"Thank you for your patronage", said Sara who also handed him a card. Their quests complete, they left for the central fountain to plan their next move.

With a smile on her face, because it was sunny and they accomplished something, Robin said, "How about that Moo? We are heroes to the people of this town!~" Even as she said this, a messenger boy, who looked out of breath, asked, "Are you the people who helped free Goblinwatch?"

"Yes we are", said Sara, "What news do you bring"?

"*huffpuff* well, *huff* the mayor Frank *puff* want to see you. *cough* He says its urgent", he choked out and collapsed.

"It must be pretty important if he sent a messenger 50 feet to find us", conveyed Grom.

They went to the Town Hall passing the collapsed boy. Robin smiled an patted the boy on the head as she went by. At the town hall they found a very distraught Mayor.

"You're all here? I thought there would be five of you...No matter, there's a group of goblins who have taken Goblinwatch again. Not just any goblins, these things are tougher, faster, and wear armor. They have made demands to the town", says Frank as he lifts up a keg-sized scroll, "Can you help us?"

Manny got a vigorous aura about him as he said/shouted, "Killing goblins for profit. Lets do it!"

"Goblins just want to be loved~"

"No they don't. Sir, is there a reward for this Herculean undertaking?"

Frank waved his hand, "Yes, yes, of course"

"Then we accept", said Sara, "but first we need to go fix some equipment."

The party first went to the Knife Shoppe, sold unused weapons, but didn't buy anything. They only sold daggers. The next stop was the armor shop, where Manny in an effort to replace his lack of shield, he kept what was left of his old shield because it was a good shield that kept him warm on those cold and lonely nights, and bought a superior Steel Shield. The party also bought some gauntlets.

The last shop to be visited was the magic shop, the Seeing Eye. Remembering what happened on the last visit, Sara stayed clear of the Wizard Box section. They sold some useless goods and they paid the owner to Identify the ring. After about 2 seconds the Identifier-ess said, "Its a one Ring. It gives a slight boost to all stats and it makes the wearer heal wounds like trolls."

"Dibs", said Manny before the others could say so. He then put on the ring and felt...not much different. "Darn, I thought I would be Manny the Strong"

"Nyah~Nyah~", said Robin with her tongue out. She then proceed to run out of the store followed by a rampaging dwarf. Grom sighs as they head out towards Goblinwatch.

Once at Goblinwatch, they notice something strange. A kind of odd chanting. They don't see any goblins out front, so they head to the back of the keep. Goblins are standing in a large circle with joined hands singing something. A large and very well groomed goblin in fancy robes is in the center of the circle leading the chant. As the party gets closer, they hear the chant stop and the robed goblin start a speech.

"For far too long have the humans stood in the way of true Peace and Love. We offered our lands to them in friendship, taught them how to build houses with stone, and taught them the effectiveness of soap. Now!, my bretheren, they have broken our spirits and helped make us into such poor creatures. But! But I say! Our cousins from the cold wastes of Jadame have blessed us with knowledge of a great god of power. The God of Boo! Almighty Hamster of Squeek!" At this all the goblins said, "Hail Sqeek!"

"There's too many of them", said Grom who was seeing if he could adjust the blast radius of his fireball.

"Let's just go in there and tear 'em apart!"

"I don't think that would be a good idea", said Sara putting a restraining hand on Manny.

They noticed Robin who stood in awe of the spectacle. "They know of Boo! He is one of the gods who serves under Moo himself! He is so cuuuute~!"

Wanting to prevent her from going to join them, the group tackled her. "Wagh!", said the now tackled girl.

This unfortunately tuned the attention of the goblins on them. "Brothers! We are discovered! Use the new weapons and skills that Boo has given you and slay them in the name of Peace!" The goblins then rushed the doomed party.

"Ah, crap", said Grom as his adjusted-fireball spell spiraled into the air taking out a few clouds.

The goblins quickly closed in and the party went into a defensive position. But, as luck would have it (which happens quite often with the heroes of a story), the fireball had blasted a hole in the sky. Strange Cosmic Ooze dripped from the hole and landed near or on the goblins. The goblins not burned alive or smothered found themselves face-to-face with a strange humanoid sludge-like monster. Several (meaning most) goblins ran away to eat another day.

The only goblin left standing or limping was the Priest of Boo goblin. He did a strange jig while yelling "Cartoon-Cartoon!" and a blast of orange flame came down from the sky and struck the Cosmic Ooze. It took heavy damage, but it attacked the goblin. The blow smashed whatever defensive spells he had on, along with some bones, and he flew 20 feet. After landing, he whipped out a flail with 5 different colored heads(while saying "I'm the Goblin King, sludge!") and went to work flailing around. After a few very brief rounds with the creature it died in a brilliant display of cosmic fire.

Opponent vaporized, the turned on the party. He approached them with flail in hand, but was stopped as a frowning Robin seemed to be casting a spell. "How dare you make Boo out as being an ultra violent warrior hamster!" Just then a ray of light arched from her hands to blaze into and onto the helpless goblin. Luckily(for him, not the party), he survived. After the battle with the ooze, he did not have enough strength to fight a full strength party. With a snarl he said, "You have not seen the last of me, the Goblin King!" Then he disappeared into a fast-acting portal.

"Wow. That was so cool", said Sara, who was in her girlish demeanor again.

"Impressive. I did not know you had any Light spells", said Grom.

Manny did a savage grin, "He just wanted 'Peace and Love', right?"

A shocked Robin stammered, "I-I...I didn't know I knew any light magic. And for your information Dwarfey, Boo is a non-violent hamster god who likes sqeaking. That blasphemer was just using him to create a militaristic empire for himself."

"Then we should go and report all of this to the Mayor. Especially that hole in the sky...", said an almost-lofty Grom.

Back at the town hall, they told the Mayor all that had transpired. "So its over then? Good. At least now we can have some peace around here. We still need you to take care of the Chimes of Harmony and rescuing Shelly though. Hint hint, nudge nudge."

"We'll take care of that later", said Sara. "Can we get the reward now?"

They receive the reward which is 250 gold and a Barbed Thorns tatoo. They are told how to equip tatoos, some basic ones, and Sara equips the Barbed Thorns tatoo. (It's magical barbs seem to become alive and lash out when the owner strikes at an opponent with a weapon. It also makes the owner have blood that becomes like sap and slows\stops bleeding quickly. It is a 'Special" type tatoo as opposed to normal/artifact/relic.)

The excitement done for the day, the party heads back to the Lonely Knight inn, where a happy innkeeper collects even more money for the party. Sara wonders if it would be cheaper if they purchased a long-term residence room there. The next day would offer great surprises as the group travels to either Castle Ironfist or the Islands of Mist. Only time will tell.

Are you a Fan of Tales Of The Stella de Ora? Have any opinions or thoughts that you think may enlighten other fans or the Author on his crystal throne? Have any questions on how many gods and goddesses are in the Moo Pantheon? Then leave a post in this topic and the Author will do his best to respond. SUPER QUIZ! The person/persons who correctly answer (In what Might and Magic did Cosmic Oozes drip from the sky near a castle?) will be featured in an upcoming chaper! Let Them Pass!

Hmmm, no one has posted or sent an answer to the quiz...Perhaps they are not reading the final paragraph, which is slightly different each time, isn't it my precious. Precious has nothing to say except beware the fat hobbit. For those people the Quiz iz " In what Might and Magic did Cosmic Oozes drip from the sky near a castle?" *Hint: its not Swords of Xeen or MM9 or Heroes of Might and Magic 4* People can answer with a post or sending a message, though I would prefer a post. Makes it look like I have a larger fanbase than I do. Hehe. People who answer correctly will be featured in upcoming chapters of TOTSDOP. The quiz is extended until Tuesday the 19.

Last time on TOTSDOP, the party cashed in on the quests, Manny claimed a One Ring as his, Sara took a Barbed Thorns tatoo, they found out about a Goblin King who was a false cultist of Boo the hamster god, Grom blasted a hole in the sky with a tampered fireball, a Cosmic Ooze caused problems, the rest of the party(and Robin) find out that Robin has light magic when she blasts the king, and they prep for travel.

Chapter 7 Falagar! Come with me!

After receiving some praise for the defeat of the Goblin King(though he got away), and spending a night at the inn, they were ready to travel to another place for more adventure, experience, and money. Money being the more useful choice. Noting that they had amassed knowledge from all their Experiences(mostly strange), Sara, the leader of the group, said, "I think we should get some official training so we can actually do things by ourselves and not rely on divine luck"

"Not bloody likely", said Manny with a dark tone.

Still, they were persuaded to pay a visit to the training hall. The instructor taught them many things and they increased their skills. Some of the training methods seemed odd though. Grom wondered why his magic skills improved when the instructor taught him to poke things with sharp objects. They then went about town and learned expertises from local teachers of magic.

All set, they headed out of town and took a left, heading for the docks. They stopped at a point when they noticed a breakaway path.

"Where does this one lead", pondered Robin, cleric of Moo.

Sara looks at the map, "I don't know, we haven't explored there yet."

Grom points to the area on the map, "It shows a small lake and a house."

"But how do we know if its accurate if we haven't been there and brushed away the black fog?"

Manny starts along the path and says back to them, "Come on, we may find some heads to bash and gold that needs plunderin'."

Robin blinks, which is hard to do when her eyes were closed in a happy smile-state, and said, "Ninjas are cooler than dwarven pirates."

They head along the twisting path between two hills and come to what looks like a Magical Nerd-fest. Sorcerors and mages of all sorts, though no females would be caught dead in such an embarassing group. They were gathered, more or less, around a large fire and were listening to a mage with blue on his clothing give a speech. For some reason, most figureheads like giving speeches, thought Sara.

They approached quietly and got ready to strike...but their cover was blown by a mage with a serious case of acne. "Intruder alert! Intruder alert!", he cried and the whole consortium was turned towards the group with spells a blazin'. The group split up and ran in different paths towards the mages. Except for Grom who dodged a few spells and as the mages focused on the other incoming party members, he prepared to cast a few spells to even the odds.

The dwarf was the first to reach the mages and with his fervor they fell like grass to his lawnmower skills. He did get hit a few times by spells and flailing staves. Grom, with a twisted smile, chose this opportune moment to unleash a fireball at the mages. The mages pre-emptively learned the fly spell and flew twenty feet into the air with the blast. It didn't teach them feather fall though. Manny was knocked on his back and was feeling toasted.

Seeing the fireball, Sara slowed and fired her bow a few times at the freaked out mages. Their weak armor not slowing down her deadly aim one bit, every mage hit had a tendency to die. She reached melee range and unleashed deft cuts with her longsword. Though not as deadly, it lowered the chance of mages getting off a spell.

Robin ran, though it was more of a skip, towards the mages. She whacked mages on the noggin as she went by and managed to avoid most of the spells directed at her.

The battle, which was not easy seeing as how they got hit by flame arrows, cold blasts, and a couple weak lightning bolts (and dubiously accidental friendly 'fire'), but the group persevered until the last mage was dead or at least bullied into submission. Manny seemed to dislike Grom even more, but Sara had no real proof he did it on purpose. Many years ago, there was an accident involving apprentices, fast-food, and fireballs. Since then, fireball spells have to have a disclaimer notice on their packaging and instructions.

They looted the chests, not getting much of note except for some super posable collectable dolls with cases, uniforms, and magical pet statueettes. They picked a few widowsweep berries and went to the house nearby.

They checked who lived there by mouse and walked inside. The whole place was filled with magical brick a brack (drum an dran for all you lovely foreigners) and in a large central room they found an old man sitting a throne of porcelain with multicolored sand drawings and crystals arrayed around it.

"Excuse me, sir? Are you Falagar the Gatemaster", inquired Sara.

"So cool", said Robin as she touched a statue and almost knocked it over. "Look, crumpets!", she exclaimed as she took and ate a few crumpets in record time.

Grom was standing perfectly still as he said, "Shhh. Quiet. Don't disturb the Wizard. A spell with this much power can be--- oh @#$@*$*$*#&&@(!)." He had forgotten to tie his pack correctly and some cheap items fell to the floor scattering some sand and rolling a crystal a few feet to land behind a bookshelf.

Manny rolls his eyes and said, "Yeah, you were saying Oh-so-careful-wuss."

Falagar opened his eyes, yawned, and asked, "Who the hell ate my crumpets?"

Everyone pointed at Robin who had circular-stand-tial evidence around her.

Eyes narrowing behind his bushy brow he said, "Those were for my brea---wait somethings not right. Where is the sardonyx of Dr. Shroud?"

"What?", asked the group.

"The saronyx of Dr. Shroud!", not seeing any recognition he sighed and said, "Its a dark crystal with a smiley face on it."

"Mr. Grom knocked it behind the bookshelf", said Robin trying to be helpful.

Grom pointed and yelled, "Traitor!"

"You're not upset over yer beach", asked Manny pointing to the colord sands.

"What...oh, no. The sand is there just because it looks so psychedelic and out there man", Falagar said falling into a strange, hazy pattern. He quickly broke out of it and said, "What day is this?"

Sara said, "Friday."

Falagar groaned and pointed to his ceiling where a glowing purple haze had begun to appear. "We are too late now"

He had barely got off these words when a strange twisting effect seemed to force everything in the room into the center above the throne and then violently tossed them back. Then all became neon colors, strange music about electric lutes, and yellow boats. It seemed quite a long time, but as suddenly as it started, it stopped, leaving a nauseas party out in some thick grass.

They looked about after giving themselves a few minutes to stop the spinning in their heads or being sick. Manny was the first to say, "Where in all of Chicago are we?"

He was correct in that this was a place they had never been to before. They saw a nearby town and headed towards it. It was a walled city and the plackard near the gates said "Fountainhead".

"Thats an odd name for a town", said Sara as they entered the town.

The first thing they noticed was how white and clean everything was. The walls and floor seemed to be made out of pure marble and ornate fountains were found every couple feet.

They couldn't find any person walking the streets, but they noticed something strange. Out of the fountains flowed a thick green oozed and not the crystal clear water that one would think of in such a setting.

"Eww", said Robin looking green herself.

"I think we should go to the tavern to learn about this", said Manny, the dwarf with ulterior motives.

"You just want to hit the tap", said Grom.

"And I think ye need a tap on the head", said the pirate\knight hefting his axe.

"I think we should go to the tavern", said Robin bringing stares, "we could stock up on food and learn rumors from townspeople."

"Ok, off to the tavern it is", said the leader.

It took some looking around, all the doors looked the same, but they found the tavern. They entered the slightly smokey atmosphere and took a table near the back. They got served some cheap beer by a barmaid in a dirty outfit and they prepared their questions so as to not look like foreign devils.

Are you a Fan of Tales Of The Stella de Ora? Have any opinions or thoughts that you think may enlighten other fans or the Author on his crystal throne? Have any questions on what by George is going on? Then leave a post in this topic and the Author will do his best to respond. Don't forget to try the Quiz Question. Go go Goblin-gadget!

Dwarven Pirates are SO much better than ninjas

Well, this spells the end to the Quiz...no-one so much as guessed. You can find Cosmic Ooze dripping from the sky in Might and Magic II: Gates to Another World. Maybe I should make them easier. Hmmm. On a side-note this is the second try for posting this chapter. My computer froze after I hit the send button and lost all my progress. Damned 'puter. It was written very well too. So this may not be as good, but I remember a good amount of what was in the first write, so enjoy! (I will release it in several parts of one post so I don't loose my progress, grrr.)

Last time on TOTSDOP, the party killed a bunch of almost-defence-less mages, they found a house belonging to Falagar, they found him on his throne of porcelein, they disrupted his circle of stones, the spell goes awry, and a portal tosses them into a foreign land. They enter a town called Fountain Head and head to the tavern.

Chapter 8 Toto, I don't think we're in Enroth anymore

The party had gathered at a table in the local tavern to gather information from the locals. They each headed off to different parts and combed the locals for info. Most of them needed a good combing.

Manny found himself talking to a group of pixies on sugar. They immediately started, in shrill voices, "Look! Look! Hey dwarf! Do you have money you can part with!?"

Grimacing menacingly, he said, "No I don't, you! Get a job!" After he said this he wacked a pixie with a stein off the table and walked off. The pixies were silent for about 3 seconds and then started chattering at a hundred miles a minute.

He walked over to a burly, sweaty man and asked, in typical gruff fashion, about a job. The man said, "Yeah you look strong enough. I can pay ya 50 gold for a weeks work."

"Ha! Only 50?! I can make more money collecting bottles from this tavern", Manny practically shouted.

"Yeah I bet! This bar is the cleanest you'll ever find! Especially after I get done usin' ya as me mop", the man said and was about to say more except a bottle flew through the air and knocked him on his head. This was followed up by people from one table saying, "Got 'im" and accompanied by a couple cheers.

Shaking his head, Manny went to the bar and acquired a pint o' stout and sat down at the party's table. Robin had a bit more luck. She had found an old coot who at least seemed to be on less than his 8th pint.

"Ah, young lass, be you an adventurer", he asked in an old man tone.

"Yes, I'm part of the Stella De Ora party. Do you need some help, Mr...", she replied.

"I am Radagast the brown of pantaloons. I have need of adventurers to recover 5 silver skulls of mine. A man named Lothar, another skull collector who especially prizes mimirs, has hired some local critters to steal them from me", he said.

"Ok, we can help, Mr. Radagast", she agreed. (Find 5 silver skulls quest accepted) She then went to the party's table and started on her dinner. Green eggs and humus.

Grom also had some luck. He learned from a shifty eyed dog that the world was named Terra and it was comprised of five big islands, many small ones, and a lot of water. He then saw a couple of merchants, they were counting different sizes of coins and talking about trade, and he walked on over.

"Greetings, I am Grom, I am a traveller. Is there anything happening since I have last seen this town", he asked.

"Happened? Not much really, just some sludge and a rat problem, but nothing compared to bigger cities", said the taller merchant.

"Have you heard about the deep", said the shorter.

"The deep? You mean the ocean", asked Grom.

"Yes. You should stay out of the really deep Deep", said the taller in conspiring tones.

"Why, are there Kukemsa serpents there", asked Grom.

"Haha, nope. Just some pirates", said the taller.

"What about the big bosses? The Pirate Queen and Sinbad's Ghost Ship. On the ghost ship you can see a skeleton crew led by a strange spirit. The ship is also half-see-through and is really cool", expounded the shorter.

"I thought no-one who saw the ship lived to tell the tale", asked the taller.

Grom decided to cut the conversation short and said tactfully, "I see. You have been a great help. Now, I must be on my way." He then left the arguing merchants and headed back to the table. He then found his food missing, dwarf Prime Suspect #4, so he headed to the counter. He purchased a pouch of peanuts and platter of spicy roc wings.

That was when he saw her. The most beautiful thing female he had ever seen. She had flaxen hair, wore a pristine lily-white toga-like garb. (He missed the tooled leather scabbard at her side though) He almost dropped his nuts and then decided to go talk to her.

He coughed\laughed with excitement\nervousness, which is very uncharacteristic, but he managed to get it under control, and asked, "Hello, may I buy you a drink?"

The lady said in a puzzling tone, "Queto VAl BERU Ni umn QoeRqEr Zod."

Half guessing, Grom asked, "Hello Miss Beru, do you speak Lemming? Gumn do vutin to so ka?" Lemming being one of the more obscure dialects he knew. All three of them.

She motioned her hand and a giant of a man, though it is a bit of an understatement, came over to her side. She spoke some words to him at which he nodded. Grom thought to himself, oh Krap-infilth I am so screwed.

The man, instead of acting like a jealous boyfriend and pounding Grom into next tuesday, said, "Greetings mortal. I am Jorgen, bodyguard, and interpreter to Beru. You seem to be a sorceror and native to a world apart from here."

"Uh, yea, I am Grom. I'm from a place called Enroth", said Grom nervously.

The man's eyes narrowed as he asked, "Do you serve Xeen, Kreegan, or Crodo?"

"I have no idea who those are", Grom said with a slight chuckle and hoping he didn't screw up what little life he had.

"Xeen is a necromancer who decided to shed his mortality for power and has subjugated a land against its will. Kreegan are a strange race of devils who are the enemies of the Ancient ones and will bring death to your world. Crodo is a gatemaster and high sorceror. He has challenged Xeen many times and lived to tell the tale. He has also helped to stop the Kreegan from destroying Zenobia and Krynn", answered Jogen.

"I'm afraid I have not heard of any of those", said Grom half-truthfully. He had read in ancient texts, at his home in Castle Kriegspire, about a gatemaster named Crodo. There was not that much information about him though.

Jogen turned to Beru and said a few words in her language. She smiled and told him something. Jogen nodded and said, "You have been deemed not to be an ally of Xeen or of the Kreegan. As such, is there any need that cannot be fulfilled here?"

Grom thought a bit and made a hard decision. He said, "My party and I have become stranded here after a portal spell went awry. Do you know anyone that can help us?"

Jogen thinks a bit before saying, "Crodo could help you return to your land. However, he does not come by this world often. If we see him then we can tell him to meet you at this tavern if you wish."

"That would be great", said Grom.

Beru turns to Grom, gives a small bow and what seems to be a farewell, and walks to a plain wall. Jogen bids Grom fortune and follows suit. A rectangular section of the wall seems to shimmer and become like a window. Bluish sparks fall from the edge of the opening on the wall. On the other side or the gate is a green pasture filled with flowers and sunlight. They then walk through and the wall becomes a wall again. Shaking his head, Grom walks back to the table. He finds his spicy roc wings to be cold and uses firebolt to toasty them up.

Sara, the groups leader, had not heard anything of value. Mostly how local crops were doing and having drunk patrons hitting on her. She smiled when she thought about her stinging hand. She had hit on them. She was about to chalk up her time as wasted, when she spotted a bard fiddling with some multi-colored string. Not caring if he was a bard, minstrel, or Frankie Lain, she approached him.

"Oh beautiful Wren of Evening Glade, you have graced my presence a thousand fold upon what meeting Princess Zelda would. Pray tell, what is your desire", the bard asked in a poetic, if not sappy, manner.

Sara suppressed a giggle and said, "I am trying to find about the local area. Oh, and I am trying to find an old wizard named Falagar."

The bard shakes his head theatrically, "I am afraid I have not heard of such a man. If I do hear of his wherabouts, then I will contact you. If you would care to have a seat, then I will play a song."

She has a seat at a nearby table, disrupting a happy old couple. As the bard whips out his decrepit-looking lute, several dusty fossils near the bar boo. Most of the patrons, however, quiet down as the bard plucks a few chords to test.

The bard does a half-bow and says, "Greeting again, people of Fountain Head. Today, I will start off with a tale. A tale about what is happening now to our land."

"When Outlaws ruled the West, and Fear filled the land~ A cry went out up for heroes with guts to take the West in hand~"

Here he stopped and asked, "Who here wishes to take up the mantle of Crusader and rid our land of the goblins and orcs who plague our land."

Feeling a strange compulsion, Sara stood up and said, "I will! Me and the Stell De Ora party will put an end to their evil!" At this Manny snorted foam, Grom hung his head, and Robin, who seemed infected with the bard's charm said, "Cool!" (Defeat Goblin and Orc Horde Quest Accepted)

The bard played several more songs and told a few short tales before retiring to his leaky room upstairs. The party told each other what they had learned from the locals and not so locals. They quarreled a bit at Sara accepting such a dangerous task.

"Come on, its not like we have much to do until we find Falagar or Crodo contacts us. Besides...we could get some money and fame", Sara said in a justifying tone.

"Ok, fine. We need te get some gold...yar...", said Manny wincing at the 'yar'. It seemed a bit out of his standard vocabulary.

"Fine", was all Grom said. He was a bit deep in thought about Beru, Jogern, and Crodo.

"We're gonna be super-heroes! Or super-ninja's! Yay", said an enthusiastic Robin.

The party then went outside took a few wrong turns. They wound up at a large fountain that contained mostly green sludge. They plotted their next move and looked at a map of the surrounding area. But something was moving in the distance.

Are you a Fan of Tales Of The Stella de Ora? Have any opinions or thoughts that you think may enlighten other fans or the Author on his crystal throne? Have any questions on if Beru and Jogen are significan characters? Then leave a post in this topic and the Author will do his best to respond. Board the plank and set sail!

This post has been edited by Demosthene on Jun 20 2007, 08:59 AM

\o/ You are SO fast, hehe, I can't really keep up with you since I am pretty busy right now, but I will read the newer parts soon \o/

Evilmaster

Haha, I actually think I'm going rather slow. Since my health is good recently, I want to try and do as much as I can. I've been procrastinating since I've been playing old DOS games like Darkseed, Martian Memorandum, etc. Very neat games. >.> Darkseed can be a bit freaky deaky if played at midnight while in a mental state of superior thought. On a side note, the chapters are seemingly longer, so I will upload them in parts so if you find a half done chapter then do not fear, it will be finished soon.

Ok, its time for a new Quiz! The question is "In Might and Magic II, Ninjas have a hidden ability called assassinate which allows them to deal heavy damage to practically everything. In Might and Magic III did Ninjas also have this ability?" The person\people who answer correctly will be told in post (ha) and will be featured in the story. Tell your friends to read TOTSDOP and enter the Might and Magic: TOTSDOP Super Quiz Challenge!

Previously on TOTSDOP, the party combs the tavern for info on the world and quests, they learn the planet is called Terra, Grom tries to hit on Beru the crazy beautiful gal who doesn't speak Lemming, Robin accepts a job from Radagast the Brown! about finding 5 silver skulls, Sara accepts the bards eloquently put request of wiping out some goblins and orcs, and they learn of Mr. Crodo who can help them if Beru and Jogen can find him.

Chapter 9 Vhy am I dripping vith goo...I mean ooze

The party was standing around a large fountain somewhere in the town of Fountain Head. They couldn't tell you where since they were lost like some Wacko with the boat schedule. A slurping noise garnered the attention of the party who was looking at a map and arguing that it was not correct since it was made before the Cataclysm and showed a lake. They whirled about weapons at the ready....only to see a mass of green bubbles crawling, for lack of better word, towards them. It opened its ruby red eyes and stared at the group.

"Kph, hahaha", laughed Sara who was expecting something the size of a moose.

"Its so cute! Like a bubble bath", said a bubbly Robin.

Grom wears a wry smile, "I was expecting something a bit more monstrous."

The green bubbles draw together to form a human shape. It then bubbles and shoots a glowing purple diamond-shaped blast at the group. It hits one of them then leaps to hit the rest. It doesn't seem to do much damage.

"That tickled", said Grom, "was that a spell? Remind me not to buy it."

"Hehe, lets kill it", exclaimed Manny in his typical fashion.

Manny then hacks away at the bubble man and it disintegrates. "That was easy", said the killer dwarf. Several clacks on stone were sounded and a great many bubbling sounds. The party was rushed by a bath of bubble men who were intent on the utter destruction of the criminals who killed Walter, the bubble man.

Sara raises her sword and utters the battlecry, "For Crumpets!" With this, the party proceeds to wipe out the bubbe man army. In about 4 rounds, the bubble man are dead down to their last, and a soapy film has coated the ground. Not wanting to be in task of cleaning up, the party runs northward right into a hole.

It was dark, really dark. If you were out in space it would not be as dark as down this pit. Grom wove his hands in a very un-intricate pattern and said, "Torch Light." And a ball of flame appeared and all was clear. The party then turned around and saw a ladder and a sign that didn't belong. On it said "Beware of Hole". Apparently the local kids thought vandalism was fun and uprooted the sign from up above.

The party looked around the underground place and saw a few barrels and a bat. The bat saw the light and freaked. They saw no more of the critter so they turned their attention towards the barrels.

"Who wants to open a barrel", asked Sara.

"Not me! I've had enough of exploding chests and traps. Have the Pansy do it", says Manny shaking his head.

While they are bickering, Grom prods the barrel with a dagger and focuses his attention on finding out what it contains.

"Does he mean me", asked Robin with a puzzled look. Manny grunts. "Ok...here I go..." Robin then displaced Grom and uncorked the top of the keg, not easy seeing how its made of pine, and half-dove into the barrel looking for goodies. She popped out a few seconds later covered in green goo an showed off what she found. 1000 gold and a silver skull! Manny also devoloped an eye twitch and murderous stare.

Before anyone could stop him, Manny smashed the others open and found 2000 gold and 2 silver skulls. He also ingested some goo and was poisoned. The party then moved onward after a brief bit of gagging and drinking of super-sweet purple potion.

The followed the path until they came to a pendelum with a rather rusty looking blade. Deciding to chance it, Sara ordered everyone through. Onward they continued, after a slight dicing, right into a large-ish room filled with bats. These ones rushed the party only to suffer a quick fiery death by Grom with the Fireball in the Cavern. They check some barrels for some stat boosts, 2 silver skulls, and 2 leather bows. They also see a strange bluish statue of a head, one on each of the 4 main directions.

"I will teach you how to spot secret doors for 250 gold", it says with all the personality as a Bob Dole.

"I don't need it", said Manny refering to dwarves natural ability to spot the obvious.

The rest of the party bought the skill and they headed out. They then wander around and find two more head statues that offer Direction Sense and Danger Sense. The party picks them up and drops off some more gold. They then head accross the way and Manny picks the lock on a large metal door. It reveals a small room with a barrel. Sara checks it and feels mighty and she picks up a silver skull as well.

The group goes through the twists and turns of the Underground Scene when there is a noise. Sara motions for them to stop and they draw their weapons. Two strange beasts that resemble rats, but have antlers and are simply huge, charged the party.

Manny rolls out of the path of one and gets off a nice whack to its side. It stumbles and the dwarf goes to work on making rat-venison. The other slams into an un-nimble Grom and he collides with the wall and throws Robin off balance. The sorceror is knocked unconcious and slides to the floor drooling. Sara slashes at the beast with her longsword scoring it several times before it turns around. It tries to gore her and succeeds in producing a few nasty punctures. Robin and Manny come to the rescue with mace and axe and overcome the thing.

Gasping for air Sara asked, "What was that?"

Robin casts cure wounds on Grom and said, "It looks like a big rat."

"Damn big one", said Manny with an astonished tone, "Even in the mines there aren't ones that big."

After healing up they move onward. They come to another blue four headed statue that asked, "Wither I am and Wither I go, forever I am without you, what am I?"

The still groggy Grom said, "That isn't a very fair one now is it? Its Love, for one cannot truly command love without it...That or Life."

The statue paused and opened its mouth. It seemed to try and make sense of the jibberish that Grom answered when it started to sputter. In a spectacular spray of stars and motes it exploded. The party moved further south and they saw a warning on the wall. It said, "The Rat Overlord is Near!"

"Whats a Rat Overlord", asked Robin.

"Another one of those damned Moose Rats we fought below", said a very black Grom.

They continued onward when a booming voice said, "Turn back or Perish."

They don't heed the voice in their heads and continue south. They come to a wall that had several cracks in it and the newly purchased skill goes off. Sara and Manny bash against the wall several times and break the door. They also get injured in the process. "They should have used the handy metal picks", said Robin looking at some miners picks two feet away.

Three Moose Rats can be seen and Grom feels rather vengeful. He casts a full strength fireball at the group. The explosion severely limits their life-span, but only kills one. Sara fires arrows into a charcoaled one bringing it to its knees. Robin casts Light Bolt and the rat suffers a burnt hole right through the neck, killing it instantly.

"Heh, easier that time, eh ball watcher", chided Manny. Grom glowered at the dwarf and he muttered several curses in several tongues. He also wondered why the gods plagued him with being in such a group.

Sara sees a ladder and started to climb it. The rest of the party followed suite and they found themselves in a strange little room. Also occupying the room was a rather large chest and a drooling Moose Rat.

"Finally...grah...freshman...and womans", it said in passable Terran. "Fear my..name..."

It then attacked and got too close for fireball. Grom dodged a swift goring and cast firebolt whenever he got a clear chance. Robin cast bless on the party and was hit pretty hard, but her chainmail absorbed most of the impact. Sara stabbed at the Rat Overlords head and danced back from a mauling. Manny blocked a hit and swung with his axe, somehow missing the 8 foot beast.

Panting, Sara said, "We won't win at this rate." Right after she was bowled over and on the verge of the unconscious.

Grom ran out of Sp and moved forward to stab, but didn't seem to have the strength to really do any damage.

The Overlord attacked Manny doing a number on his bones. "Argh, you will feel the wrath...of....", said Manny right before he took a hit which shattered his helmet and knocked him down for the count.

"We're gonna die", yelled Robin who got off a critical hit to the rats moused hair.

"Stand strong, we're not gonna die here", said Sara defiantly. Grom was hit 6 times for deadly damage. "Well, crap!", she added.

"Buy me some time", she ordered the cleric.

"What", the cleric asked the retreating archer.

Ten feet away, Sara aimed carefully and fired three arrows in rapid succession. The arrows penetrated the thick fur over its chest, puncturing the heart and lungs. The Rat Overlord gave a forceful cry as it fell to the ground.

"Yeah", exclaimed a happy Robin. She then looked at the unconscious Manny and dead-several-times-over Grom and said, "Um, should we get them to the temple?"

A curious Sara said, "Nah, we'll look in the chest first." She then opened the chest that had a sticky note reminding the Overlord to lock it and a ghost wiffed out.

"Thank you mighty adventurers for freeing me! I am Morpheus, guardian spirit of Fountain Head and I say there is a spoon! You have saved this town!", the spirit said and then disappeared. (+5000 exp to all characters, even the deceased)

Manny, who's ring had helped him regenerate enough health to be conscious, said, "A ghost huh, too bad robe-boy ain't alive. He would've liked that....So, are we gonna loot his body and leave him for the rats."

Robin looks unhappy and Sara gives a warning look. They then sack the chest for 2500 gold, rope and hooks, a red potion, a green potion, a spell scroll of storm shield, a coral shield, an iron robes, and an amulet. They go back through the cavern carrying the dead Grom and exit into the sunlit town.

They stop off at the temple and heal up and tell Grom of what happened. For his great sacrifice, he takes the amulet. They pay a visit to the armory and fix up their gear. Robin learns the shield skill and equips the coral shield. Manny, Grom and Robin also learn the bow skill and purchase a crossbow, and two short bows. They pay a visit to Radagast the Browns office, but find him gone to meet someone named Gandalf. So they leave the skulls with the receptionist and collect 5000 gold and 5000 exp. They pay a visit to the training facility and acquire more strength and hone their skills.

They then visit the Raven guild and Sara and Grom acquire the Arcane magic type, they both get energy blast, shrapmetal cloud, and Grom also gets Fire Aura. Robin gets the Devotion magic type and Heroism. Most of their money spent, they head towards the gates of the town and the great adventures and riches that await them. Even though they are only going to kill goblins and orcs.

Are you a Fan of Tales Of The Stella de Ora? Have any opinions or thoughts that you think may enlighten other fans or the Author on his crystal throne? Have any questions on how bad experiences were when you or the author fought the Rat Overlord for the first time? Then leave a post in this topic and the Author will do his best to respond. Safe and Secure!

This post has been edited by Demosthene on Jun 27 2007, 08:08 AM