8.21.2005
You Know That I Know That You Want To Know
Marivhon, just so you know, we're playing house rules: you can drink a potion as a free action. So go ahead and quaff and do whatever, my friend. Go ahead and quaff.
Okay Dave, Hold it is. I think you can only hold three dudes. Four is 3rd level mage if I recall. Anyway, I know you hate it, but they're non-believers. Which means, if you want to know, which I think you do, because I know you, and I know you want to know, and what you want to know is what that means, and what it means is that even if they fail their save, they get a WI check to be immune to priest magic. Uh huh. Now the Grunna thing is beginning to make a little more sense, don't you think?
Anyway, hold manages to catch the Wind, Fire, and Water monks, but Wind and Fire doubt Odin, and aren't held! Their lack of faith is strong! Ol' Brenda's doing some serious pause and studying though.
And Dave, if you want to toss Marivhon another potion, well don't let me stop you. Marivhon, you're mister popular with the potions. So if you're doing that, do it soon.
Cinder, as it turns out, these monks are adventurers. Most monks aren't, being deep in contemplation, but being elemental masters, they've had some adventures. You see, it all started when Shi Jukka, not yet Master of the Quick Flame, just an Initiate of the Slow Flame, it all started when Initiate Jukka had a vision of the Cold Flame. He saw it clearly, a blue flame, that burned cold, frosting to a crisp anything that it burned, or cooled, whatever, you get the gist. For three nights he had the vision, until it consumed his waking days.
He went to the Master, Mysterious X, and confessed that his mediation had been disrupted, that he could not focus, the table would not break. MX asked him a simple question:
"Do you know why this flame burns cold, Shi?"
He called him Shi because Mysterious X liked to keep it friendly and informal with the initiates, you know, not to rub in the whole Mysterious Master thing, which might inspire envy or humor, neither of which was conducive to good, honest meditation.
Initiate Jukka shook his head. "I know not, my master. This troubles me!"
MX said "There is the story of the monk Hirudo. Do you know this story?"
Jukka replied "I know it, master. Hirudo, an elderly monk, heads out of the shrine to fill the bucket with water from the stream. Upon filling it, he finds the bridge has collapsed and he cannot return to the shrine."
"And what did Hirudo do?"
"Hirudo walked a ways down the stream until he found a dead turtle laying in the river. Using the turtle's shell as a stepping stone, Hirudo crossed the river and made his way back to the shrine."
"And what lesson can we learn from this, Shi?" MX smiled. God, he loved these stories.
"Um, every problem has a solution?"
"Yes. And?"
"And... and..." Jukka really didn't know, and felt a little stupid.
"And," explained Mysterious X, "often, the solution to our problem requires a journey into the unknown, where often we encounter death."
Jukka blinked. "Um..."
"Shi, take your naginata and a knapsack with a loaf of bread and a jug of water. Leave the monestary and seek the flame which does not burn. Do not return until you have this flame in your heart."
Initiate Jukka did as the master commanded. Collecting his things, and bidding his friends Brenda and Dong farewell, Shi Jukka left the safety of the monestary for the world outside. For days, nay, weeks, he ventured into the mountains, deciding that a cold place was where the flame of ice would be. He met an ogre and wrestled it to the ground. He dispatched three halflings who tried to steal his jug. He befriended a small orphan. He acquired 1000 xp when he chanced upon a Wand of Magic Missiles. He went into a cave and battled two troglodyte brothers who were engaged in a bitter dispute over how best to cleave a maiden in two. And freeing this maiden, he asked her: "Do you know of the undying flame that burns cold? Do you know where I can seek this thing?"
The maiden replied: "Good monk, who respects my chastity, who has freed me from certain demise, this much I can tell thee. My elder sister, she once told me a poem of the cold flame that turns to ice all that touch it. Seek her wisdom. But I warn you, she has been taken as the bride of a fearsome giant who lives at the bottom of the sea."
Jukka bid her thanks and farewell, and journeyed to the sea. Once there, he left his knapsack behind, taking only his naginata spear thing and swam to the bottom of the ocean, where he found a large castle on the brink of the great oceanic chasm. Entering it, he found it filled with air and could breathe again.
"I'm glad this castle is not full of water!" Shi thought. "I was getting low on air!" He found the undersea castle to be empty, full of furniture and paintings, but all covered. Finally, in a room at the top of a tall tower, he found a young woman sitting in a large chair. As he approached, he noticed that she was unraveling the threads of an ornate tapestry depicting kings and things.
Shi Jukka asked her: "My lady, I'm sorry to interrupt your work, but I met your sister, and she told me you knew of a flame that burns cold. I humbly ask you, please tell me of this flame, so that my dreams may end and I may return to a quiet life of... sorry, I may return to a simple life of quiet contemplation."
The woman looked at him with sad eyes, and said: "Do you know why I am unraveling this tapestry?"
Shi did not.
"Because my husband-to-be is a monstrous giant, and I am to weave this tapestry as the centerpiece for our wedding. When it is complete, we are to be wed. And every day, from start to end, I weave it under his steady gaze. But when he goes to sleep, I work to unravel most of it. Alas, he is awake more than asleep, and I fear that in twelve days, according to my calculations of the average time it takes me to weave vs the time to unweave, that I shall be wed. And that is something I cannot abide."
"I am sorry," said Shi, sincerely. "Perhaps I can solve this problem quickly. For you see, I am but a simple 4th level monk, with naught in this world save my pants, shirt, soft-soled shoes, and my naginata."
The woman told him where the giant slept. Using his Hide in Shadows, Move Silently, Climb Walls, and THACO, Shi crept into the giant's bedroom and slew the giant in a single blow. He returned to the maiden and said "It is done. You are free." They left the castle and swam back to the ocean shore. The maiden handed Shi the tapestry, almost completed, and said: "Take this as a gift of my thanks. You wanted to know of the cold flame, is this true?"
"The cold flame has haunted me. I feel that, although I am pursuing it, perhaps it has been pursuing me all this time."
"The cold flame is the passion that is unreturned. You see, good monk, I am not the maiden you thought." With that, the maiden turned into a large giantess, powerful and terrible. She looked down at the surprised monk and said: "My husband fell in love with the maiden and brought her back to our castle. I was enraged and slew her and took her appearance to appease him. But nothing worked and he was inconsolable. Now at your hands he is dead. My love for him still burns, but chills and destroys all it touches. I will return to our castle to bury him together with the maiden, and mourn my love for him, and his love for her, until the end of my days." With that, she returned to the sea with nary a look back.
Initiate Jukka then knew the cold flame of bitter love, and the hot flame of murderous passion. He returned, neither slowly nor with haste, to the shrine, where he approached Mysterious X and said quietly:
"Love, deceit, desire, the ocean and the flame are all one." And Mysterious X nodded and told him that he was now the Master of the Quick Flame.
...
Anyway, where were we? Right, Cinder and Brogg, you guys smack Chung Wu for 11 total. Mike the zombie shoots Wu for 2 hp more! He's looking pretty bad.
Dave, Jukka naginatas you for 6, I mean, 4 hp (after armor subtraction). Cinder, Chung Wu hefts his hammer and yells "Earth Dragon Smash! 4 hp!" Brogg, Brother Dong runs up the wall, the ceiling, the other wall, and comes down behind you. He says: "Poison Dog Strike!" And PDSs you for 3 hp.
HP check:
Brogg: 16/21
Cinder: 14/20
Dave: 24/28
Marivhon: 2/7
Mike: 17/17
Then, Dave brings some bobcat fury. Let's see... okay, the bobcat can attack either Dong or Chung Wu. Actually, he furies it up on Chung Wu and yells: "Viper Paw! Heartbreaker!" And slices open Wu's jugular with a well-placed bobcat talon.
One down, one held, two others fresh. Bring it.
Okay Dave, Hold it is. I think you can only hold three dudes. Four is 3rd level mage if I recall. Anyway, I know you hate it, but they're non-believers. Which means, if you want to know, which I think you do, because I know you, and I know you want to know, and what you want to know is what that means, and what it means is that even if they fail their save, they get a WI check to be immune to priest magic. Uh huh. Now the Grunna thing is beginning to make a little more sense, don't you think?
Anyway, hold manages to catch the Wind, Fire, and Water monks, but Wind and Fire doubt Odin, and aren't held! Their lack of faith is strong! Ol' Brenda's doing some serious pause and studying though.
And Dave, if you want to toss Marivhon another potion, well don't let me stop you. Marivhon, you're mister popular with the potions. So if you're doing that, do it soon.
Cinder, as it turns out, these monks are adventurers. Most monks aren't, being deep in contemplation, but being elemental masters, they've had some adventures. You see, it all started when Shi Jukka, not yet Master of the Quick Flame, just an Initiate of the Slow Flame, it all started when Initiate Jukka had a vision of the Cold Flame. He saw it clearly, a blue flame, that burned cold, frosting to a crisp anything that it burned, or cooled, whatever, you get the gist. For three nights he had the vision, until it consumed his waking days.
He went to the Master, Mysterious X, and confessed that his mediation had been disrupted, that he could not focus, the table would not break. MX asked him a simple question:
"Do you know why this flame burns cold, Shi?"
He called him Shi because Mysterious X liked to keep it friendly and informal with the initiates, you know, not to rub in the whole Mysterious Master thing, which might inspire envy or humor, neither of which was conducive to good, honest meditation.
Initiate Jukka shook his head. "I know not, my master. This troubles me!"
MX said "There is the story of the monk Hirudo. Do you know this story?"
Jukka replied "I know it, master. Hirudo, an elderly monk, heads out of the shrine to fill the bucket with water from the stream. Upon filling it, he finds the bridge has collapsed and he cannot return to the shrine."
"And what did Hirudo do?"
"Hirudo walked a ways down the stream until he found a dead turtle laying in the river. Using the turtle's shell as a stepping stone, Hirudo crossed the river and made his way back to the shrine."
"And what lesson can we learn from this, Shi?" MX smiled. God, he loved these stories.
"Um, every problem has a solution?"
"Yes. And?"
"And... and..." Jukka really didn't know, and felt a little stupid.
"And," explained Mysterious X, "often, the solution to our problem requires a journey into the unknown, where often we encounter death."
Jukka blinked. "Um..."
"Shi, take your naginata and a knapsack with a loaf of bread and a jug of water. Leave the monestary and seek the flame which does not burn. Do not return until you have this flame in your heart."
Initiate Jukka did as the master commanded. Collecting his things, and bidding his friends Brenda and Dong farewell, Shi Jukka left the safety of the monestary for the world outside. For days, nay, weeks, he ventured into the mountains, deciding that a cold place was where the flame of ice would be. He met an ogre and wrestled it to the ground. He dispatched three halflings who tried to steal his jug. He befriended a small orphan. He acquired 1000 xp when he chanced upon a Wand of Magic Missiles. He went into a cave and battled two troglodyte brothers who were engaged in a bitter dispute over how best to cleave a maiden in two. And freeing this maiden, he asked her: "Do you know of the undying flame that burns cold? Do you know where I can seek this thing?"
The maiden replied: "Good monk, who respects my chastity, who has freed me from certain demise, this much I can tell thee. My elder sister, she once told me a poem of the cold flame that turns to ice all that touch it. Seek her wisdom. But I warn you, she has been taken as the bride of a fearsome giant who lives at the bottom of the sea."
Jukka bid her thanks and farewell, and journeyed to the sea. Once there, he left his knapsack behind, taking only his naginata spear thing and swam to the bottom of the ocean, where he found a large castle on the brink of the great oceanic chasm. Entering it, he found it filled with air and could breathe again.
"I'm glad this castle is not full of water!" Shi thought. "I was getting low on air!" He found the undersea castle to be empty, full of furniture and paintings, but all covered. Finally, in a room at the top of a tall tower, he found a young woman sitting in a large chair. As he approached, he noticed that she was unraveling the threads of an ornate tapestry depicting kings and things.
Shi Jukka asked her: "My lady, I'm sorry to interrupt your work, but I met your sister, and she told me you knew of a flame that burns cold. I humbly ask you, please tell me of this flame, so that my dreams may end and I may return to a quiet life of... sorry, I may return to a simple life of quiet contemplation."
The woman looked at him with sad eyes, and said: "Do you know why I am unraveling this tapestry?"
Shi did not.
"Because my husband-to-be is a monstrous giant, and I am to weave this tapestry as the centerpiece for our wedding. When it is complete, we are to be wed. And every day, from start to end, I weave it under his steady gaze. But when he goes to sleep, I work to unravel most of it. Alas, he is awake more than asleep, and I fear that in twelve days, according to my calculations of the average time it takes me to weave vs the time to unweave, that I shall be wed. And that is something I cannot abide."
"I am sorry," said Shi, sincerely. "Perhaps I can solve this problem quickly. For you see, I am but a simple 4th level monk, with naught in this world save my pants, shirt, soft-soled shoes, and my naginata."
The woman told him where the giant slept. Using his Hide in Shadows, Move Silently, Climb Walls, and THACO, Shi crept into the giant's bedroom and slew the giant in a single blow. He returned to the maiden and said "It is done. You are free." They left the castle and swam back to the ocean shore. The maiden handed Shi the tapestry, almost completed, and said: "Take this as a gift of my thanks. You wanted to know of the cold flame, is this true?"
"The cold flame has haunted me. I feel that, although I am pursuing it, perhaps it has been pursuing me all this time."
"The cold flame is the passion that is unreturned. You see, good monk, I am not the maiden you thought." With that, the maiden turned into a large giantess, powerful and terrible. She looked down at the surprised monk and said: "My husband fell in love with the maiden and brought her back to our castle. I was enraged and slew her and took her appearance to appease him. But nothing worked and he was inconsolable. Now at your hands he is dead. My love for him still burns, but chills and destroys all it touches. I will return to our castle to bury him together with the maiden, and mourn my love for him, and his love for her, until the end of my days." With that, she returned to the sea with nary a look back.
Initiate Jukka then knew the cold flame of bitter love, and the hot flame of murderous passion. He returned, neither slowly nor with haste, to the shrine, where he approached Mysterious X and said quietly:
"Love, deceit, desire, the ocean and the flame are all one." And Mysterious X nodded and told him that he was now the Master of the Quick Flame.
...
Anyway, where were we? Right, Cinder and Brogg, you guys smack Chung Wu for 11 total. Mike the zombie shoots Wu for 2 hp more! He's looking pretty bad.
Dave, Jukka naginatas you for 6, I mean, 4 hp (after armor subtraction). Cinder, Chung Wu hefts his hammer and yells "Earth Dragon Smash! 4 hp!" Brogg, Brother Dong runs up the wall, the ceiling, the other wall, and comes down behind you. He says: "Poison Dog Strike!" And PDSs you for 3 hp.
HP check:
Brogg: 16/21
Cinder: 14/20
Dave: 24/28
Marivhon: 2/7
Mike: 17/17
Then, Dave brings some bobcat fury. Let's see... okay, the bobcat can attack either Dong or Chung Wu. Actually, he furies it up on Chung Wu and yells: "Viper Paw! Heartbreaker!" And slices open Wu's jugular with a well-placed bobcat talon.
One down, one held, two others fresh. Bring it.
