Sunday, June 3, 2012

The Gem Quests of Grvl The Gnome: Seeking An Emerald

 Seeking An Emerald

A gnome merchant named Grvl is hiring adventurers to seek out gems of great value and power.

Two adventurers, Xavier (thief) and Crush (fighter) took on a seemingly simple task to explore a cave in the hills about 5 miles to the west of the town of Rashan. If they found any gems and especially the gem specified, they would be paid 1000 gold pieces each. Grvl only wants the gems so they can keep anything else they happen to find.

Both Crush and Xavier plod their way to the hills without much of interest happening and they realize that there are several cave openings to choose from. Upon exploring several of them, they notice that one of the cave openings has a curious marking above it resembling a star, roughly cut into the rock just above the opening.

They decide that if any gems of great value were to be found, this would indicate someone had marked this cave for some purpose and was likely the spot to look.

After each lights a torch, they enter the spacious cave opening side by side and walk about 60 feet until the left wall of the cave falls back to create an chamber that appears to be at least about 100 feet in diameter. The path along the right wall continues forward for an indeterminable length.

They agree to split up and Xavier the thief will explore the chamber while Crush the fighter continues exploring down the tunnel.

As Xavier begins to explore the chamber, he hears a clickity-clacking sound and spies a pile of rubbish near the far wall. He creeps forward toward the pile and is suddenly surprised by a giant scorpion that emerges from behind the pile, rushing out at him.

Paralyzed with fear, Xavier is ruthlessly attacked by the scorpion, taking great damage from the huge pincers and is at last stung by it's fearsome tail with stinger. He dies instantly from the poison.

Hearing the noise of combat from behind him, Crush turns around and rushes back into the chamber to see the largest scorpion he has ever seen standing over the un-moving body of his partner Xavier.

Pulling his large war hammer from his belt, he rushes at the scorpion, determined to do serious damage and hobble the creature before it can cause him much harm.

The behemoth scorpion moves slightly at the last second and the mighty swing of the war hammer glances off the harder exo-skeleton with barely a scratch.

Nearly simultaneously, the giant stabs it's tail with sharp stinger at Crush and impales it into him, injecting it's venomous fluid into him, killing him instantly.

In the faint glow of fallen torches, we see the massive scorpion grab the thief's limp body and slowly drag it behind the pile it emerged from. The next day, it claims the body of the fighter Crush and devours him as well.

Next episode, "The Rescue party".

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