|
|
Post by Timeon on Feb 23, 2015 18:01:39 GMT
www.dungeonworldsrd.com/The process of learning the acclaimed Dungeon World format - to practice. Current chunk to be tested - combat. For dice rolls, visit rolz.org/drCheck out Dice Rooms, and enter the room DW
Your name is Shreddie. You are a bard. Though you're a master of your trade, you've never really travelled far from the realm of Waterchuckle. This is one of the only sane corners in an otherwise troubled word. There are no roads leading to the rest of civilization, because there really isn't much civilization out there. Sure, there's cities, city-states, city-cities and Cities, but none of them are civilized. They're dangerous and kind of shit. That's where you come in. You're far away from these places, safe in the realm of Waterchuckle, the only bastion of civilization. What are you doing? You've just been muscled out of the city of Waterchuckle by rival bards. So you're off to find work. Where are you looking for it? In one of the little villages on the borders of the wondrous Waterchuckle district. It's evening when you catch sight of plumes of smoke drifting over the treetops. You're hoping it's coming from chimneys and hearty hearths at the local inn. As your pony crests the hill, you catch sight of desolation. The village has been manhandled. In fact, it is on fire. Bodies litter the grass. Your pony senses what is possibly you panicking, and bolts, throwing you off of its back in the process. It runs back from where you came. As it thunders down the hill, a hail of arrows fly from the trees, striking it down. Sucks to be you, Shreddie.
|
|
|
|
Post by Devius on Feb 23, 2015 18:05:09 GMT
When faced with the ancient plight of fight or flight, Shreddie sits firmly in the flight camp, so he bolts towards the nearest bush for cover.
|
|
|
|
Post by Timeon on Feb 23, 2015 18:09:43 GMT
Defy Danger - Dexterity
10+ - You hide successfully
7-9 - It is a thorn bush, but you keep quiet.
1-6 - It is a thorn bush. You scream.
|
|
|
|
Post by Devius on Feb 23, 2015 18:14:50 GMT
Shreddie dives into a bush but finds it full of prickly thorns, letting out a high-pitched scream, he undoubtedly draws the attention of all hidden snipers and maybe more. Unsure of what to do, he segues his yelling into his hit song Fighting is Like Not Cool, Yo with the hope of confusing his attackers (Defy Danger CHA: 6). While creating this distraction, he tries to discern the location of the sharpshooters (Discern Realities WIS: 9).
|
|
|
|
Post by Timeon on Feb 23, 2015 18:31:31 GMT
Shreddie's voice pierces the evening like a cat in heat. The tense situation means his performance is sub-par. He's had better performances, ones where he wasn't being pricked by thorns while hiding for his life.
"I hear him! Over there!" somebody calls.
Shreddie would have had a hard time distinguishing anything in the fading light, or hearing anything while singing, but the voice was audible enough to give him a sense of where his attackers were coming from. They were on his side of the wood, down the road by the dead pony, to be sure.
|
|
|
|
Post by Devius on Feb 23, 2015 18:35:28 GMT
No time to lose, Shreddie sprints off in the direction opposite to the voice (Defy Danger DEX: 8). He sheds a single tear over the loss of his beloved mount. I'm sorry, Li'l Sebastian, I can't avenge you.
|
|
|
|
Post by Timeon on Feb 23, 2015 18:37:15 GMT
Shreddie's sudden burst must have caught the unidentified rapscallions by surprise, for they shouted in alarm.
"The singing man!" a woman's cry, hoarse and guttural, thick with a foreign accent.
The opposite direction took Shreddie down towards the village, smoking ahead. A few arrows whizzed past. His pursuers were not far behind.
|
|
|
|
Post by Devius on Feb 23, 2015 18:41:59 GMT
Being a Bard, Shreddie was all too familiar with the saying "from the frying pan into the fire". He figured he might as well take it to heart and decided he would try to hide in one of the burning houses. His pursuers would think no sane man would try to hide in a burning building and give up the chase, it was genius! (Defy Danger DEX: 8)
|
|
|
|
Post by Timeon on Feb 23, 2015 18:48:30 GMT
Diving through an open window in one of the nearest buildings, Shreddie found himself crouching besides a dead body. The peasant was face down, his blood smeared across every nearby surface.
There was indeed a fire, but it was eating away at the roof, and had not yet reached the lower floor. A crashing sound warned Shreddie that the building would not hold forever, though.
Oh well.
He could hear the strangers arguing outside over the sound of the fire, but could not make out what they were saying.
Shreddie realised he could either wait in the same spot, risking the fire (Defy Danger - CON), flee through the house and try escape through a backdoor (Defy Danger - DEX) or find a third option in the brief window available.
|
|
|
|
Post by Devius on Feb 23, 2015 18:57:05 GMT
The deafening roar of the flames and creaking of the supporting beams made Shreddie reconsider. Hiding in a burning house? What an awful idea! If the fires didn't do him in, the collapsing roof would. He decided to try to make his way through the backdoor. But before doing so, he couldn't resist giving the dead peasant a quick once-over in search of loot and other stuff (Discern Realities WIS: 7). Even in mortal danger, Shreddie's curiosity got the better of him, he would have to endure the house just a few more moments (Defy Danger CON: 4).
|
|
|
|
Post by Timeon on Feb 23, 2015 19:06:03 GMT
Shreddie is surprised to find a strange signet ring on the peasant, engraved with twirly symbols that he can not recognize.
Nonetheless, there was no time to waste studying the damned thing. The building wasn't going to hold up forever.
Heading for the back door, Shreddie opened it without a second thought, not realising what danger could be behind it. He found himself face to face with a couple of strangers.
They stared at him. He stared back. Their faces were tattooed, their eyes amber-yellow, their teeth sharp, hair wild... Elves.
"Who are you?" the first elf asked, drawing his sword as the fires burned. Were these even the same people looking for him?
|
|
|
|
Post by Devius on Feb 23, 2015 19:11:23 GMT
"I'm just a travelling Bard!" Shreddie exclaimed, holding up his lute like a shield for proof. "Please, I don't know what's going on." He tried a nervous smile for sympathy (CHA: 10).
|
|
|
|
Post by Timeon on Feb 23, 2015 19:19:12 GMT
Holding his lute up with one hand, fist clenched about the ring with the other, Shreddie elicited a look of calm surprise from the nearest elf. The other whispered something that sounded obscene, but was ignored.
The nearest elf grabbed his clenched fist, and pried his fingers open, revealing the ring.
"You are one of them!" the elf said, eyes wide, pushing his friend out of the way.
"We can not just let him-" the other elf began, but was promptly backhanded.
"The Code demands it." the nearest elf said. "You are young, you do not remember."
Rubbing his face, the second elf passed Shreddie a hateful glare and spat at his feet. This caused the first elf to howl in disgust and surprise.
"Forgive us, Elf-kin..."
A bunch of other elves rounded the burning building to join the commotion. Confusion was clear on their faces, till the cry of "Elf-kin!" went up.
They argued amongst themselves in strange creole, until turning back to Shreddie.
"There was a time when an Elf-kin would be respected above all else, but the Queen's will is undeniable. All Men must die. We will bend her rules and let you walk away, if you abide by the Old Way, and defeat the one who spat upon you in single combat."
|
|
|
|
Post by Devius on Feb 23, 2015 19:33:07 GMT
Shreddie cast a glance from side to side and quickly determined there was no running this time. When faced with only a single option, Shreddie decided to embrace it wholeheartedly. "The old way? Of course we must follow the old way." He said with a chest full of fake confidence. "I'll have you licking your spittle off the ground in moments, my rude friend." Brandishing his lute, Shreddie stepped back to make what little distance he could in the rapidly forming circle of people. "A word of warning before we begin, though. The tones of my lute have been known to their knees merely by their sound. How long will you endure, I wonder?" He bluffed, and began to softly strum a single chord (CHA: 5). |
|
|
|
Post by Timeon on Feb 23, 2015 19:43:28 GMT
A single chord is as far as he got. The Rude Elf pulled out a pan flute.He began to play a tune. Within a minute, half the elves were rolling around in the mud crying. The burning village casts a dancing glow over the spectacle, as the sun set on the horizon, shards of light spiking through the trees to the sorrowful tune. "WHYYYYY!" one of the elves wailed. Shreddie soon recognized the tune - or rather a variant thereof. It was a ballad commemorating the fall of the first empire, which had set the groundwork for civilization on the continent. Ruled by elves, until barbarians had taken it down stone by stone, casting elvenkind into exile... to the winds. "And what was your song about, Elf-kin?" the Rude Elf asked, finishing his song. |
|
