the flame of justice
Thorn and Bernard looked at each other and at the puppet body that Peotr had recently inhabited. They quickly lashed it down and awaited the return of the their companions. For many minutes nothing happened and they began to worry. Then Thorn heard a familiar voice and dashed into the night. Bernard contemplated his situation and decided it was best to seek his body rather than await it's return. He easily scaled a drain pipe and gained entrance to an upper bed room. Squeezing into a mouse hole he began his search. He soon came upon a smoke filled room, where his body was seated with others. The smoke danced lazy circles around them as they sat in a dazed stupor. With exaggerated stealth, he made his way across the room and positioned himself behind his body. The appearance of the newly recovered Peotr caused him to delay his attack, but he soon was back in his own body and stumbling down the stairs, Peotr in tow, eyes on the lookout for his companions.
---------------------------------
When I awoke, I was not sure where I was...and then the smell reminded me. It seems that that evil puppet had polluted my body with copious amounts of alcohol. My head swam and I could barely stand. There was a viscous knocking on the outhouse door and I quickly pulled myself together. The puppet body was on the floor and had to be hidden. As I picked it up, I remembered how easily it was for us to recover from our wounds, so I ripped it's head off before stuffing the body into the hole. I admit that my pride got the better of me and I used the puppet head for a purpose that it was not intended as it passed beneath my buttocks. It appears that the alcohol had more of an effect than I had previously thought. I stumbled out of the outhouse and managed to convince the 'person' that I was one of them and headed into the inn. I knew that Peotr was somewhere in there and I had hoped to find the bodies of my other companions and help them recover them. I managed to spy Kelios, passed out on the bar and stumbled towards her. I had begun to collect her body as well as the blessed hammer of lord Dorvin when one the crowd spotted the second pinhole in my neck. They pulled Kelios from me and began to attack me. I knew that I could not leave her to this awful mob so I quickly put down the person in front of me as I leapt upon a chair, a table, bounced off of a wall, swung onto the hanging lamps and landed upon the bar. Unfortunately, I only got as far as the table. I stepped wrong and crashed to the floor. Damn that puppet again! If not for the foul brew he had forced into my body I would have easily made such a move. Luckily for me, the drunken louts had just as much luck and I easily deflected their clumsy blows. I rolled over, kicked a table at them and rushed out of the inn. I would have to come back for Kelios. As I ran, the crowd gave chase, wielding pitchforks and torches. I could see an alley up ahead and quickly smashed a window to distract their attention as I ducked into the alley. It was only after the glass was falling that I realized it was the window to the toy shop and I had just let everyone know that we had escaped. I slipped through the alley and out of town. I would circle back to the inn and recover my companions while the crowd searched the town for me.
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Thorn was lost. She had forgotten that the town was enormous compared to her new size. She couldn't even find her way back to the inn and the safety of her new companions. She heard people coming her way and hid behind a barrel. The people stopped on just the other side and started arguing amongst themselves. And then she knew hope! She recognized her voice! She heard someone fall to the ground and start retching and could just see the face of her body. The other people laughed loudly and moved away leaving her the opportunity that she needed. She plunged the needle into her neck and was suddenly hunched over being violently ill. As she stumbled to her feet she saw one of the town exits illuminated in a shaft of moonlight. She made her decision and rushed out of town, into the forest. She had had enough of these lunatics. If the lady willed it they would meet again...hopefully far from this cursed place.
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Kelios hauled herself from the sewer and struggled to put her body back together. The dog had been a tough fight, but eventually she had escaped, although even she could not quite remember all of the details. All she remembered was a dingy room, with hundreds of puppets nailed to walls, crying for help. She was forming a plan for rescuing the souls of the townsfolk when she was distracted by a shiny pebble. As the moon went behind a cloud she lost interest in the pebble and stealthily made her way back to the inn. As she entered she saw Peotr and Bernard surveying the wrecked common room. They looked like they were waiting for someone to come back. She paid them no heed and moved upstairs, looking for her body. She found a locked door and with great skill managed to pick the lock and search the room. The lady had smiled upon her! She had found her body!. Although she was looking much worse for wear. Half of her hair had been shaved off, pieces of bread had been stuck up her nose and rude writing covered her buttocks. As she tried to free herself, her body began to move and she quickly stabbed it's neck. Now she contemplated her situation; half naked, gagged and tied to a bed with no one aware of her location. But at least she had seen a shiny pebble.
-----------------------------------
I had circled the town and was now back at the inn. I was as silent as the wind as stealthy as a cat. I climbed a drainpipe and tumbled into an open window. I could sense someone in the room with me and was about to investigate when the door was thrown open. Bernard and Peotr stood in the doorway and the light illuminated the form of Kelios upon the bed. I must say that those puppets have strange ideas and deserved to be put down. Only a truly deviously evil person could have conceived of placing Kelios in that position. We quickly freed her and compared notes. It seemed obvious that we had to find Figleo and stop this evil at it's source. Since he was not here he must be in the theater. We took our time and circled around outside of town before sneaking into the alley behind the theater. We spied 4 people guarding the back entrance and quickly silenced them. Once again the actions of Kelios worried me. We had knocked the guards unconscious while she had killed them. I could almost see a mantle of evil starting to form around her, but surely that was my imagination.
We moved about back stage, ignored by everyone, as they were in preparation for the upcoming play. We spied Giseppi on stage, announcing the play, but made a shocking discovery! We found the body of the real Giseppi in a bloody sack hidden back stage. Every puppet in town must have attacked him, for every part of his body had either a pin hole or a pin stuck in it. We followed the Giseppi puppet further backstage until it caught sight of us and screamed for Figleo, who seemed to appear out of nowhere. Bernard and myself attempted to squash Figleo, but his straight razor kept slashing and hitting us. I managed to entangle him with a cloak and Bernard covered him with some oil. Peotr and Kelios lite the Giseppi puppet on fire and it was stomping about the stage, harassed by some dogs that Peotr had summoned from somewhere. Giseppi attempted to smother the flames in the stage curtain, unaware that it had been coated with oil. As the curtain fell, we could see the seats and the children that were watching everything. For a few seconds they thought that this was part of the show, but then they became scared and started to run for the door. Some of the puppets on stage also tried to attack us, although Kelios did an excellent job of distracting the dragon puppet. As is all too common in these melees, people lose track of happenings. I saw Figleo burst into flames and run towards the back door, pursued by everyone but me. A burned out Giseppi hulk fell to the floor and stopped screaming. I ended up in a battle with the dragon and some other people who must have been guarding outside. But then I saw a great miracle. The benches had begun to glow with a pure light. Eventually the shapes of many of the townsfolk appeared and the shapes rushed to our aid. They held down the puppets and rushed the children to the doors. I could see the flames spreading on the stage and moved to protect the children. I moved them into the town square and tried to console them. Eventually the glow of the fire lessened and my companions emerged from the theater. When Figleo had finally fell to the flames the other puppets had stopped moving and the few adults left had regained their senses. The night was ours!
But there were still sad days ahead. Many of the adults had not survived and many graves were dug over those next days. The townsfolk begged us to rededicate the statue of lord Dorvin, which Bernard and I did with great relish. I would have preferred to have had the towns learn a lesson with less loss of life, but such is not the will of the lady. The children will never forget such a night.
We never did find the body of that traveling entertainer, Thorn. I pray that the lady had other plans for her.
---------------------------------
When I awoke, I was not sure where I was...and then the smell reminded me. It seems that that evil puppet had polluted my body with copious amounts of alcohol. My head swam and I could barely stand. There was a viscous knocking on the outhouse door and I quickly pulled myself together. The puppet body was on the floor and had to be hidden. As I picked it up, I remembered how easily it was for us to recover from our wounds, so I ripped it's head off before stuffing the body into the hole. I admit that my pride got the better of me and I used the puppet head for a purpose that it was not intended as it passed beneath my buttocks. It appears that the alcohol had more of an effect than I had previously thought. I stumbled out of the outhouse and managed to convince the 'person' that I was one of them and headed into the inn. I knew that Peotr was somewhere in there and I had hoped to find the bodies of my other companions and help them recover them. I managed to spy Kelios, passed out on the bar and stumbled towards her. I had begun to collect her body as well as the blessed hammer of lord Dorvin when one the crowd spotted the second pinhole in my neck. They pulled Kelios from me and began to attack me. I knew that I could not leave her to this awful mob so I quickly put down the person in front of me as I leapt upon a chair, a table, bounced off of a wall, swung onto the hanging lamps and landed upon the bar. Unfortunately, I only got as far as the table. I stepped wrong and crashed to the floor. Damn that puppet again! If not for the foul brew he had forced into my body I would have easily made such a move. Luckily for me, the drunken louts had just as much luck and I easily deflected their clumsy blows. I rolled over, kicked a table at them and rushed out of the inn. I would have to come back for Kelios. As I ran, the crowd gave chase, wielding pitchforks and torches. I could see an alley up ahead and quickly smashed a window to distract their attention as I ducked into the alley. It was only after the glass was falling that I realized it was the window to the toy shop and I had just let everyone know that we had escaped. I slipped through the alley and out of town. I would circle back to the inn and recover my companions while the crowd searched the town for me.
-------------------------------------------
Thorn was lost. She had forgotten that the town was enormous compared to her new size. She couldn't even find her way back to the inn and the safety of her new companions. She heard people coming her way and hid behind a barrel. The people stopped on just the other side and started arguing amongst themselves. And then she knew hope! She recognized her voice! She heard someone fall to the ground and start retching and could just see the face of her body. The other people laughed loudly and moved away leaving her the opportunity that she needed. She plunged the needle into her neck and was suddenly hunched over being violently ill. As she stumbled to her feet she saw one of the town exits illuminated in a shaft of moonlight. She made her decision and rushed out of town, into the forest. She had had enough of these lunatics. If the lady willed it they would meet again...hopefully far from this cursed place.
----------------------------------------------
Kelios hauled herself from the sewer and struggled to put her body back together. The dog had been a tough fight, but eventually she had escaped, although even she could not quite remember all of the details. All she remembered was a dingy room, with hundreds of puppets nailed to walls, crying for help. She was forming a plan for rescuing the souls of the townsfolk when she was distracted by a shiny pebble. As the moon went behind a cloud she lost interest in the pebble and stealthily made her way back to the inn. As she entered she saw Peotr and Bernard surveying the wrecked common room. They looked like they were waiting for someone to come back. She paid them no heed and moved upstairs, looking for her body. She found a locked door and with great skill managed to pick the lock and search the room. The lady had smiled upon her! She had found her body!. Although she was looking much worse for wear. Half of her hair had been shaved off, pieces of bread had been stuck up her nose and rude writing covered her buttocks. As she tried to free herself, her body began to move and she quickly stabbed it's neck. Now she contemplated her situation; half naked, gagged and tied to a bed with no one aware of her location. But at least she had seen a shiny pebble.
-----------------------------------
I had circled the town and was now back at the inn. I was as silent as the wind as stealthy as a cat. I climbed a drainpipe and tumbled into an open window. I could sense someone in the room with me and was about to investigate when the door was thrown open. Bernard and Peotr stood in the doorway and the light illuminated the form of Kelios upon the bed. I must say that those puppets have strange ideas and deserved to be put down. Only a truly deviously evil person could have conceived of placing Kelios in that position. We quickly freed her and compared notes. It seemed obvious that we had to find Figleo and stop this evil at it's source. Since he was not here he must be in the theater. We took our time and circled around outside of town before sneaking into the alley behind the theater. We spied 4 people guarding the back entrance and quickly silenced them. Once again the actions of Kelios worried me. We had knocked the guards unconscious while she had killed them. I could almost see a mantle of evil starting to form around her, but surely that was my imagination.
We moved about back stage, ignored by everyone, as they were in preparation for the upcoming play. We spied Giseppi on stage, announcing the play, but made a shocking discovery! We found the body of the real Giseppi in a bloody sack hidden back stage. Every puppet in town must have attacked him, for every part of his body had either a pin hole or a pin stuck in it. We followed the Giseppi puppet further backstage until it caught sight of us and screamed for Figleo, who seemed to appear out of nowhere. Bernard and myself attempted to squash Figleo, but his straight razor kept slashing and hitting us. I managed to entangle him with a cloak and Bernard covered him with some oil. Peotr and Kelios lite the Giseppi puppet on fire and it was stomping about the stage, harassed by some dogs that Peotr had summoned from somewhere. Giseppi attempted to smother the flames in the stage curtain, unaware that it had been coated with oil. As the curtain fell, we could see the seats and the children that were watching everything. For a few seconds they thought that this was part of the show, but then they became scared and started to run for the door. Some of the puppets on stage also tried to attack us, although Kelios did an excellent job of distracting the dragon puppet. As is all too common in these melees, people lose track of happenings. I saw Figleo burst into flames and run towards the back door, pursued by everyone but me. A burned out Giseppi hulk fell to the floor and stopped screaming. I ended up in a battle with the dragon and some other people who must have been guarding outside. But then I saw a great miracle. The benches had begun to glow with a pure light. Eventually the shapes of many of the townsfolk appeared and the shapes rushed to our aid. They held down the puppets and rushed the children to the doors. I could see the flames spreading on the stage and moved to protect the children. I moved them into the town square and tried to console them. Eventually the glow of the fire lessened and my companions emerged from the theater. When Figleo had finally fell to the flames the other puppets had stopped moving and the few adults left had regained their senses. The night was ours!
But there were still sad days ahead. Many of the adults had not survived and many graves were dug over those next days. The townsfolk begged us to rededicate the statue of lord Dorvin, which Bernard and I did with great relish. I would have preferred to have had the towns learn a lesson with less loss of life, but such is not the will of the lady. The children will never forget such a night.
We never did find the body of that traveling entertainer, Thorn. I pray that the lady had other plans for her.
posted by groodude at 3:11 p.m.
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