Sol Grim

Kings and Killers: A Classical Fantasy Adventure (Chapter 1)

Dalious was dragging his hurt foot, he used the spear as a cane and kept moving forward. It hurt... Looking behind him, he saw a trail of his own blood.. His mind was moving, hallucinating possibly. Everything felt surreal.

"Why do you keep going?" the spear suddenly spoke. Dalious furrowed his brows, unsure if that had actually happened or not. He kept slowly trudging on..."What's the point?" the spear seemed to ask.

"I'm in my prime spear, at least until you started talking! Also you have a literal point! Dalious took a pause and stared at the weapon. "Anything else on your mind?" he asked.

...Nothing. As if it never happened.

"Well, good conversation I suppose...you did f*ck me over on that jump. It...it really hurt landing on that spike."

As he reached some stairs he could do nothing but look intently at the light coming from above. "Am I dead?" he wondered.

Kings and Killers: A Classical Fantasy Adventure (Chapter 1)

Dalious

Athletics roll

1d20+1=15, success

Dalious didn't even feel the pain upon impact, his adrenaline enough for him to hoist himself up on the other side of the spear trap. Then it hit hard. A sheering pain in his right foot, looking down at it he could see it was covered in his blood. The pain became so overwhelming that he just stayed there for the moment, listening to the four guards laughing and making fun of him. After all, he was supposed to distract as many of them as he could to let Cicero do his thing. This wasn't how he foresaw it going down but nonetheless it was kind of working.

The pirate just sat there holding his foot and started yelling, "WHYY!? WHYYYY!!?? F@#$ING HELL, SON OF A B/+#$, MOTHER &$$&&#¥€√, SEVEN F&$##--&$ HELLS. SO STUPID!! IM SO F$#@&ING STUPID! SON OF A &$@$&!!! @$&&$#_$#@#_&&$##_--++-$-(+&$$_-!!!!!!"

+1 bonus action

Movement

Spear possession

1d2=1, heads=success

He was then able to get up, using the spear he somehow still held as a cane. He began simply limping away, still swearing at himself under his breath.

Gear

Clothing: Prisoner garb
Weapon(s): Manzur's spear

Kings and Killers: A Classical Fantasy Adventure (Chapter 1)

Dalious

Dalious pointed out Fyr to Cicero. "That one, the large bald one...Fyr I believe they called him. He doesn't much talk but I've heard stories from the others that he once killed two guys with his thumbs. His f*ckin' thumbs, can you believe that sh*t!? I believe the stories cause I also heard them from the guards. Man's built like a bull. Anyway they didn't scold the lad cause he works so good. I've spoken to him once or twice and he gives me vibes that he'll help us out. One time I think he even laughed at one of my jokes...or at least he chuckled...eh, it was a sly grin but who's judging?"

When he and Fyr looked right at one another, Dalious gave a soft and polite wave. He tried to give a hand signal to the worker but his gaze ventured off. "He saw us right?? He's not ignoring me or something!?"

As Fyr tossed a mushroom closer toward them and began blinking as he went to pick it back up, Dalious raised a brow. "What's he...? Does he have a fly in his eyes or something, the hell!?" It took a moment longer but Dalious just then figured out he was trying to tell them something though he didn't know what. Dalious turned back to Cicero and took a deep breath. "I have a terrible plan. See that hallway over there? There's a spike trap in there, a relatively newly built one thanks to Finny. I'll distract them all and run in there, hopefully some chase me. I'll leap over the trap with this spear, giving you time to kill as many as you can from behind. Try to work your way to Fyr and the others, I'll double back and we take out what's left. Sound good?"

Dalious didn't even wait for a response, he simply rushed out and made his way toward the hallway yelling and singing an old pirate shanty as he went, "What would you do with a drunken sailor, what would you do with a drunken sailor, oh what would you do with a drunken sailor early in the morning? Put 'em in the brig until he's sober, puttem in the brig until he's sober, oh put him in the brig until he's sober early in the morn." He had reached the tunnel hallway and ran in, not knowing if any were giving him chase but it sure felt like they were on his heels. "Way, hay and up she rises! Way hay up she rises, way hay up she rises early in the..." Dalious reached the spike trap, dug the spear head deep into the dirt before him, and attempted to pole vault over while screaming "morninnn ahgghhh!!"

Kings and Killers: A Classical Fantasy Adventure (Chapter 1)

Dalious knew how to talk to these ruffians, tell them what they want to hear but not enough to be overtaken by them. He'd already seen to many stand up to their kind and get beaten down.

"Come on Finny," Dalious said, walking toward their given destination. He had secretly been plotting an escape plan since he got to this place, but had never quite found the right moment. This might be it, he thought. Cicero was in the shadows with his man and there were only four of these ruffians around. He also took note of the rope tied around the pickaxe given to them, something that could be used to climb up that trap hole.

Dalious gave Finny some signals with his hand as they began working, noticing the group guarding them began to pay less and less attention to them the further they worked on. He motioned his fingers to tell Finny that they would take one each, Cicero would take one...then together they take the last. To Finny it looked like a bunch of finger's dancing and a lot of slit throat references. Finny shrugged, not knowing what he was trying to say.

Dalious huffed. He may need to take them all out by himself, he just hoped Cicero was nearby. Dalious clenched the pickaxe, almost ready to strike one of them. Then...Finny grabbed at his chest and shrieked, he fell to the floor on his own and began shaking as if having a seizure.

"He's... he's having a stroke!" Dalious yelled. "Please....let me help him!"

Kings and Killers: A Classical Fantasy Adventure (Chapter 1)

Regardless of the insults, Dalious was pleased to hear that he was called 'captain'. It almost made him appreciate these thugs moreso, however he knew it was a ruse.

Once Sharpwit got into his face, shovel in hand, he listened closely to what the man had to say. "It depends how you define a rat," Dalious replied, though their attention shifted to a sword they had found in the sand... Cicero's.

"You'll not here a word from us," Dalious said in response to the sword. "In fact I'm quite certain one of those demonfolk must of accidentally lost it. Not a peep from me though, all yours..."

Dalious turned away to his duties, muttering under his breath so none could hear, " I'm going to slit your throat with it, fare I get the chance..."

Kings and Killers: A Classical Fantasy Adventure (Chapter 1)

Dalious buried the newcomer well, leaving the man room to breathe. He looked dead to the pirate, but Cicero said otherwise. Even though Dalious had known Cicero and Gwyn for a very short time, what they represented to him was a new change of life he desperately needed. Seeing Cicero once again had sparked a fire of freedom to him that he had felt long been diminished.

As the gang entered the area, Dalious finished up covering the newcomer while his group covered for him by standing up together in a line.
"Just some rats," Dalious replied to the gang member. It wasn't the first time one of their traps was set off by them.

roll, deception

1d20+3=7 fail

One of them faked a punch at Finny's gut, not connecting but enough to make the elder man think it would. Finny fell back on his own, in pain from his old body, and the gang all simply laughed at the outcome. Dalious clenched his fists but did nothing, moving on to his daily work.

Kings and Killers: A Classical Fantasy Adventure (Chapter 1)

Dalious

"Well, at the moment I'm trying to figure out what in that very same divine's name you are doing here..." he started, but before he could speak more Cicero beat him to it. Dalious quickly realized with the man's next sentence that he was not here to save him at all and it left the pirate with a disheartened feeling. "Betrayed you!? My word! I was holding down the fort waiting for you lot to come help me. That red headed wench!!"

"Ah, yes," Finny butted in. "Tell us more about that red headed woman again!"

"She tricked me, knocked me out, then sold me into slavery," Dalious reminded the old slave. "She is the literal reason why I'm rotting away in this pit with you fools!"

"Yes, her...she sounds lovely," Finny added.

Dalious huffed, then turned back to Cicero. "Nylah, was it? Yes, that was her name. She was a bounty hunter, I had her right where I wanted her when...when...it all becomes fuzzy after that. She had a crew, or hirelings, whatever they were they captured me and took us deep out at sea. They sold me to a slave vessel, then they sold me to the bastards running this joint. So you see, I was simply waiting for you and Gwyn to return. I was loyal, fooled by Nylah's incredible attractiveness. Something that I will never let happen again, you know...assuming I don't rot in this place."

Dalious crossed his arms as Cicero changed his tone and the subject to a more immediate one. "Well, your tracking skills have not let you down mate. We are being held prisoner by these demonfolk. They..." He was interupted by the sounds of a gang approaching. "Whatever plan you come up with, I'll follow suit." The group then started moving back to their places.

Kings and Killers: A Classical Fantasy Adventure (Chapter 1)

Dalious

As the two newcomers fell down the sand trap, the group of slaves huddled around Dalious took notice and sat up from their rest. Everyone knew what had just happened, though none were quick about doing much about it.

"Aye, the 'ol loose stone bit worked!" Dalious said to the group. "Which of us helped make that trap? Deserves a praise!"

Wiry raised a hand but said nothing.

"Wiry! Fine work. You'll get half of half of my shrooms, assuming we get more than half of what we halved last week. Anyway, I think they were wearing armor. Fish 'em out boys!"

No one moved.

"More mouths to feed," Toothless Tom spoke.

"-But less work to do!" said the oldest and skinniest of them, Finny. His finger was pointed and shook toward Toothless Tom as if his point was more important.

"Let 'em figure their own way out," Toothless Tom added. "If you can't get outta that sand, then you's can't make it here. Who cares if they die, that'd be two less mouths to feed."

"Damn it I'll fish them out myself," Dalious went to the pile of sand to start digging, Wiry jumped in to help once he had started.

"-Well, technically it'd be the same amount of mouths to feed if they died," Finny continued. "Since they weren't here's before, them dying means we're right back to where we started, see. On the number of mouths to feed, I mean. Less of course you count that poor fella Marty who fell into that pit of spikes this morning."

Dalious paused from digging to look over at the aged Finny in bewilderment. "Marty's dead? I'm not aware of any pit of spikes around these parts." Wiry was able to pull both men out from the sand by himself as Dalious got distracted by the current conversation.

"We built it last evening," Finny explained. "Me and Wiry, just down those halls." He pointed.

"Divine's hell, and you didn't think that might be something to mention to the rest of us?" Dalious wondered as Finny simply shrugged. "That's the third man we lost to our own contraptions in two weeks. Hell, at this rate we're killing ourselves quicker than the guards are Finny!! From now on, if one of us lot makes a new contraption, we at least have a mild discussion about it. Fair? Right then."

Dalious turned to see the two men that were freed from the sand. As their faces became clearer, one of them became familiar to him. He squinted his eyes and stared at the man to be sure. His eyes widened upon his own confirmation.

"If you've come all this way to kill me, I assure you I can explain everything," Dalious said to Cicero, taking a step back. "Rather, if you've come all this way to save me...you're doing a piss poor job mate."

Kings and Killers: A Classical Fantasy Adventure (Chapter 1)

Ok I finally joined discord but the link is invalid now? Can I get it again?

Kings and Killers: A Classical Fantasy Adventure (Chapter 1)

Cool I'll have to download discord when I have time, this week's gonna be a busy one for me tho so may take me awhile.