Suzuki Stumpy

Don't forget the famous quote from Arthur C. Clarke: So it may well be that some 'ancient artifact', rather than being inherently 'magic' in the sense of the supernatural, is, in fact, simply a piece of technology, the knowledge of which has been lost over time...

As time passed on the island and Dahr-Ol's wounds healed, Barin recalled Elfwynn's words: "The orcs drove the river folk from this isle. We should not consider it a long term refuge. The sorcerers often tell a tale about this river. They claim to have slain a mighty king of men who fled a battle. I've no idea how true it is. The orcs will fear the reaving we did. But their masters will desire to relive an old glory." The following evening as the company settled around the fire he recounted what he knew of that tale... "You mentioned the tale of Isildúr." He began, directing his gaze to the Northlander. "Few of the folk of men recall the details of the tale in this age, outside those wise souls entrusted with the keeping of histories. But we Dwarves, have longer memories." Lowering his voice, forcing all to lean in and listen to his tale, he began... "Isildúr was indeed a great king of men - ruling over the kingdoms of Gondor in the South and Arnor to the West." With a nod to Cecil he added, "In fact, your homelands were under his rule master Hobbit." "As the tales recall, Isildúr and his company were making their way to visit the house of Elrond on the far side of the mountains and were beset by Orcs on the trek northwards, near what we know today as the Gladden fields. The histories tell that the menfolk were vastly outnumbered, but staged a valiant defense, repelling the Orcs with their shield wall tactics but alas, the foul creatures regrouped and came again under the cover of darkness and slaughtered the company to a man. Isildúr however, managed somehow to evade the attack - some say that he was advised to leave his men and attempt escape before the Orcs came back, others that, heartbroken at the death of his son he fled the battle. Whatever the truth of that tale, he made it to the river, but the swift current carried him back down the river towards the marshes he was attempting to escape, and espied by Orc scouts, was slain by their archers." Barin took a moment's pause to draw on the stem of his pipe and take a mouthful of water from his flask before addressing his next comment back to Elfwynn. "Whatever the truth of the matter, you are right - the Orcs will be incensed enough to give chase once they realise what has occurred within the marshes, but I doubt they will be of sufficient mind to come this far up the river and cross to this isle. Even their overseers are simple enough creatures that if there is no immediate chance of battle they'll quickly lose interest, and have no real taste for histories. Especially ones that occurred thousands of years ago, so I think we're safe enough here for now. We will, however, need to exercise caution should we return that way to complete our mission." OOC Using folklore to recount an abridged tale of Isildúr's fate at the Gladden fields...

I figure that Barin would know some detail of the slaying of Isildur since the Dwarves are longer lived than men and also tend to be decent historians … so I’ll try to dredge something up today or tomorrow….

In response to Elfwynns comments about the old tales of men on the river … would Barin know enough about that to recount the tale given his folklore trait?

For three days, Barin stumbled along with his companions. Three long, slow, agonizing days back through the marshes to where they had left the boats previously and then paddling back up the Great River, against the current, to a now deserted Trader's Isle. His spirit was lifted slightly by the recovery of his friend - at least to the point where he could walk himself. This proved to Barin that Dahr-Ol was indeed made of stern stuff and was at least out of immediate danger of death. His injuries would still require tending though, and time. Elfwynn was also suffering, but putting on a brave face for all concerned. As the days passed, Barin felt his own strength beginning to return, and once back at the Isle, he spent his days between tending to Dahr-Ol as best he could - albeit this mostly restricted to spending time with the big man - conferring with Núr who still, for all his suffered hardships, spent time wanting to know more about the geography in this part of the world and tending to his maps. Finally, he spent some further time sitting by the small mound of stones that had been left. Their meaning was obvious - and on finding a suitably large rock nearby, he began the slow process of shaping it into what he hoped would be a fitting memorial to Winfrith's grandfather.

Just signed it. Halfway to getting a government response already. Although still a long way to go before it's guaranteed to be debated in Parliament.

Last I heard, none of the petitions were available for signing anywhere in the world (still waiting here in the UK for government approval)

As his foe fell to the ground, dead, Barin sank to his knees in the mud, leaning his forehead on the haft of his axe. Breathing heavily, the stocky Dwarf's last reserves of strength finally gave out and he remained there, oblivious to the frantic ministrations of his companions. He knew not in that moment whether Dahr-Ol, Elfwyn or the man they had initially tried to save were alive or dead and had not the energy to care. It was only when Ernstyr began instructing the party on constructing a litter for the Beorning that he realised that his friend was still clinging on to life and that the company was preparing to move out. Stumbling exhausted, to his feet, he followed in the wake of his companions, Núr helping him along with his kit which he was too tired to care about until the company decided to stop and rest for the night. Doing what he could to help conceal themselves he eventually sank down into the black depths of oblivion and slept ...

I was thinking more along the lines of some form of ablative armour rather than energy shields. But again, I'd be surprised if an industrial unit had anything more than rudimentary radiation shielding for the outer hull areas as a protection against cosmic rays and the like. Maybe somewhat thicker skin around the habitable areas.

At the moment, the campaign in the UK is stalled somewhat whilst Parliament approves the petition (there's a mere 20 signatures on it at present, and no-one else can sign it until its approved). Hopefully that'll happen in the next couple of days.

Paddy shakes his head. "I'd be seriously surprised if we've got any form of shielding on this bucket. If we're lucky, we'll have some plate armour on the more vulnerable sections I guess, but that's really only gonna protect against any debris floating in our general direction. Nah, we might be able to rustle up a mining laser or two for defense if we can get those turrets into service. There's also that huge mass driver - although I've no idea if that's aimable, or if we'd have to get lucky and hope that someone parks in its firing line so we can fling chunks of rock at 'em."

Barin's strength was almost faded. By now he had registered, somewhere, that Dahr-Ol was down and out of the fight, as was Elfwynn. Indeed, there was but Gram and he left in the Meleé, and scant aid from the archers in this mist and the tall reeds. He knew that if he didn't bring his opponent down now, in this very instant, that it could all be over for him. Gram's words did give him a boost though he could barely hear them over his own ragged breath and the clash of steel against steel. One more swing, that's all it would take. It was all he had left to give. Attempting a feint, he stumbled, deliberately, trying to throw his opponent off-balance and leave him open for a swift upward blow from his axe...

Because on mobile, the username isn’t displayed?

At the top ... where it says 'User Guides' in the menu? ... although they do need updating

True. The setting in revolutionary China and the (necessary for Westerners, I guess) explanation of the historical context did detract slightly from the story flow (which is one of the reasons I suspect the Netflix adaptation moves much of it to the UK), but still and incredible piece of work. Hopefully, the sequels will flow better - primarily because of their length. They’re both far larger volumes than the first… Still, I’ve just embarked on reading the first book of the Silo trilogy for now, so they can wait.

The Orc's heavy, curved blade sliced across Barin's forearm, opening a deep, welling cut. Luckily, it was the arm with his buckler, rather than the one swinging his axe. However, the shock and pain of the blow momentarily staggered the stout dwarf, and the loss of blood he was now experiencing was definitely beginning to tire him out. Unable to disengage from his foe now, he tried to back away slightly whilst swinging his axe once again. This time, in a low horizontal sweep intending to take his foe out at the knees... OOC The protection tests come out at a total of 10 against TN12 (4 on the feat die, +4 from helm and +2 from protection mastery) ... if the helm doesn't offer any other specific protection modifiers against the blow from the orc, I'll spend a point of courage to convert the test into a success and avoid the wound. Also, this turn, moving from forward into open stance to try and avoid any further injury.

Yep. Must be 30 years at least since I last saw anyone offering physical PbP services.

Just finished reading The Three-Body Problem. Blimey, it was good. Now got the second and third books arriving tomorrow.

From the corner of his eye, Barin saw the huge Beorning crumple into a boneless heap on the floor, just as one Orc's huge curved blade nearly took the tip of his nose off. Luckily for the dwarf, he moved his head at just the right moment to avoid losing it. He screamed bloody defiance at his remaining assailants. His own blow swinging wide had unbalanced him slightly, so Barin shifted his stance slightly to regain his footing before swinging his axe once again at his nearest assailant. He realised that he was now horribly exposed to danger with Dahr-Ol being out of the picture, and despite Gramtyng weighing in swinging his blade like an avenging knight, began to consider the possibility of retreat. OOC One more round here in forward stance, and then, if he's still up and about and able to, Barin will retreat to an open stance for the next round...

Can also confirm that all my games also appear to be suffering the same issue.

Somehow, the Orc he was battling was still standing, despite having struck two good blows. Indeed, his concentration on his foe was so intense that Barin failed to notice the wounds Dahr-Ol was taking beside him, or the blow coming from his side that connected. Luckily, the blow was not too severe, failing to penetrate the Dwarf's armour, but enough to momentarily wind him. Nonetheless, he was determined that his current foe would be going down with his next blow. Regaining his footing, he swung at the creature before him for a third time, his Axe describing a wide arc aimed squarely at the Orc's hip. If the blow connected and wasn't enough to kill the foul beast, then he hoped it would be enough to shatter the creature's leg and leave it defenceless upon the ground.

Barin grunted as he took a glancing blow to his ribcage from another one of the creatures, yet he couldn't afford to take his eye off the creature he was currently locked in combat with. His axe had bitten deep on the first blow, and he hoped that the fall of their leader beneath Dahr-Ol's blows would be enough to demoralise and distract them. Spinning his axe within his grip, he bought it through the backswing now with an upward strike diagonally across the foul beast's torso, aiming to take it through the chin and skull if he were lucky. He determined that there would be one less creature to fight very, very soon.

Well, I guess it doesn’t have to be a violent bout of madness, it could merely be a sense of existential dread…

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