Newsgroups: alt.pub.dragons-inn
Subject: Killian continues more...
From: z_falkrg@ccsvax.sfasu.edu
Date: 30 Jul 92 11:48:28 CST
Organization: Stephen F. Austin State University

>>	As we sat and argued, a party of fifteen horsemen came up behind us.  
>>They were decked out in impressive clothes and several were armed with mighty
>>weapons and strong armour.  We thought that we had been pinched for sure.
>>	"Ho there strangers!  Do you seek the reward?" the leader of the band
>>asked.
>>	"Greetings mi'lord.  Well actually, we do."  I replied.
>>       
>>	Killian again reaches out to the bottle to quench his parched throat.


>     Jenever listened attentively to the tale of this "weretiger"; his
>promised to be an interesting adventure.   After a few more drinks, she stood
>and walked over to the table, dragging an additional bench with her.
>     "I join in?" she queried, smiling sweetly to belay any opposition.

	"Of course pretty one!", Killian bellowed as the lady sits down.
	"Never let it be said that Killian refused the company of a lady as
fair as yourself.  However, I can see in your eyes that you do not believe that
I am what I claim to be."
	Killian's blazing emerald eyes lock on Jevever's.  His features start
to flow and change, the round pupils elongating into the slits characteristic
of a cat.  His armour and clothing melds with his body, and his shoulders
broaden and shift.  In a transformation that would seem to be excruciating, the
half-cat/half-man maintains eye contact with the new lady, never once showing
any signs of pain.
	Seconds later, where a drunken bard once sat, a tiger now stands.  With
a soft rumble, the striped cat rubs up against the leg of the lady who simply
sits and stares.   The tiger cocks it's head and seems to grin as the change 
once agian takes place.  The armour reappears, the hair vanishes, and his 
orange-red hair with one black stripe forms on his head just as it had been 
before.
	"I trust you are convinced of my sincerity mi'lady," Killian mumbles.
	With the show over, Killian settles back in his chair and continues his
story.

	The leader of the mounted party glared down at us after I had revealed
our intentions.  With a sigh he answered, 
	"Very well, you were here first, therefore you have the right to take
actions without our interference.  The Riders of the Plains are men of honor."
	Naturally I was shocked to find such chivalry in this day and age.  As
I looked down at the camp of so many armed men and an idea suddenly struck me.
	"Lords, we are but three and cannot best so many warriors as are seen
below.  We relinquish our claim and will give you permission to continue."
	"WHAT!!  You sneaky..." Ebon bellowed before I silenced him with a
gesture.
	"Very well," the leader said, "Riders...CHARGE!!!"
	With that, the riders charged down the embankment on the unsuspecitng
camp.  Several stopped outside and started to hurl huge balls of fire into the
tents, setting them and their occupants ablaze.
	"Quickly now, while the distraction is still good.  Let us sneak into
the camp and find the whelp we seek."
	"Oh, I get it," said Ebon as realization of my plan dawned on him.
	"Huh...what," is all Jareth could mutter before Ebon and I were racing
down the hill.
	The Riders and thier mages quickly threw the camp in complete chaos. 
The three of us worked our way in, avoiding any combat, and started to search. 
With the melee raging about us, we weaved and ducked between the infernos that
several of the tents had become when we spied three horsemen throwing a large
bagged bundle on the back of a horse.  The bundle wiggled until one of the
riders clubbed it on one end, then it was still.
	Ebon roared a challenge, with Jareth quickly on his heels.  The riders
quickly spured thier mounts to a breakneck speed, and they raced away from the
blazing camp.  
	Jareth and Ebon both hopped on nearby horses and started to race off in
pursuit.
	"Come on cat-man!" Jareth bellowed.
	"I cannot ride.  I would just slow you down.  Go on and I will catch
up.  Besides, what if that is not the whelp?"
	"Very well," Jareth replied as he tore off after the riders.
	While the carnage was still raging, I searched the rest of the tents. 
I found no prince, but I did find a storehouse of goodies.  Taking a handfull
of the biggest and brightest gemstones, I ducked out of camp.  I got a good
distance away before the Riders realized that their quarry was not here.  With
a grin I shifted to tiger form and raced off after my companions.  A tiger is
fast, but not as fast as a galloping horse, so it took me a while to catch up
to my fellows.
	What I saw was not surprising.  Jareth was layed out on the ground, a
huge gash in his chest.  Two of the three riders were in similar condition. 
The last of the riders and Ebon were circling each other on foot, each looking
for that fatal opening.  I shifted back to human form about 30 yards away. 
Readying my sling, I waited for an opening.  
	The two warriors continued thier deadly dance, taking occational swipes
at one another.  Ebon got in a lucky shot with his glaive and his opponent
howled in pain.  Just as Ebon was going in for the kill, he slipped on a loose
rock and fell.  The rider pulled his sword back for what would most assuredly
be a killing blow.
	Mumbling a prayer, I spun the sling and released it's bullet.  The
sword blade was coming down as the stone struck the man's unarmoured head.  The
blow was sufficient to knock him out and his sword fell to the ground beside
Ebon.  The rider quickly followed his blade.
	Trotting up to check on the bundle, Ebon regained his feet and went to
check on Jareth.  As Ebon tended to the still alive "knight", I cut the sack
open to reveal a young and effeminate boy who was just comming around.  I
removed his bonds and gag and then helped him to his feet.
	"It's about bloody time you rescued me you lot of incompitent idiots! 
I nearly died because you clods were dallying about doing whatever you were
doing."  the young man screeched.
	"If you are not careful, you may still end up dead you ungrateful twit. 
Reward or no, I will not tolereate being insulted by the likes of you."  I
scolded.
	"Wh..Wh..Why of all the nerve!  Never has a commoner spoken to me in
such a manner.  You will be flogged for this insult you contemptous knave," the
young lord stammered.
	"Maybe if someone had, you wouldn't be the spoiled bastard I see before
me.  You are destined to rule these lands?  I pitty them, and I have had just
about enough out of you,"  I said as I clubbed him over his noggin with my
staff.
	The young lord crumbled and I went to check on Jareth.  Ebon was
carefully ministering to his wounds when he awoke with a groan.
	"He won't be happy about it, but he will live."  Ebon said as he helped
Jareth to his feet.  "We ready to go home?"
	"Finally," I replied.
	We gathered our quarry and tossed him on the back of a horse.  Ebon
showed me the basic of riding a horse and we headed back for the hamlet.  We
rode out of our way and with some haste to avoid the Riders.  I did not want to
be around when they found out we used them for dupes.
	After a day and a half of travel, and several thumps to the head of our
ward, we arrived back in the town.  We immediately went to the sheriffs
station and depositied the young man.  
	"What happened to him?" the sheriff asked.
	"He is still breathin and mostly unhurt.  Where is our money?" Ebon
replied.
	"True, a deal is a deal." the sheriff said as he reached into a
strongbox.  
	He gave us each 1000 silvers for our task and we took our leave. 
Standing outside of the station, I suggested that we re-stock our provisions
and leave this place.  It had probably become unfriendly by now.  They agreed
and we spent our money and went our separate ways.  
	I couldn't resist the temptation to walk by the station once more
before I left.  Shouting came from within.
	"WHERE IS THAT INSOLENT, FIRE-HAIRED DOG?!?!  I WANT HIS HEAD!!"
	With a grin, I vanished into the crowd and left the city far behind me.

	"That, dear friends, is what has led me here today."  Killian says as
he drinks yet again from the bottle of wine.
	"As you see, I am no stranger to the road or adventure, and my
"ability" may be of great use to a party.  Now my fair stranger, would you care
to dance with me?"  Killian asks the woman who had joined, extending his hand.

#############################################################################
#    Rob Falk                   | What do you do to a guy who double        #
#     a.k.a. Tora               |   crosses you and then steals you girl?   #
#                               | You let him keep her.                     #
#    Z_FALKRG@CCSVAX.SFASU.EDU  |              --Rutger Hauer "Deadlock"    #
#                               | Life is a sexually transmitted and	    #
# Disclaimer:  Whatever I say   |   terminal disease                        #
#   is nothing more than the    |   	       --I really don't know        #
#   nonsensical ravings of a    | They're coming to take me away!  Ha Ha!!! #
#   lunatic mind...             |              --Napoleon XIV               #
#############################################################################

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