Death in the Arena

Part 2 of the Arena of Xarxes

Wounded in his first fight in the arena, Rugen was escorted under armed guard to the medic. Before the doctor could attend to his wounds, the Inquisitor arrived.

"Do not fret, Templar," the Inquisitor commanded, "we will patch up those wounds. We have far more in store for you."

Rugen replied with a sarcastic "Thanks."

The Imperial snorted in derision. "You may not thank me after your treatment. On my orders, the doctor will not be using standard medical technology. He will be using paroxymed."

Rugen's eyes widened slightly. Most people would not have noticed, but an Imperial Inquisitor is not most people.

"Ah, so you have heard of it," the Inquisitor continued. "It is very effective in healing any wounds, so you will be back in the gladiator pit in no time. Of course, its healing process is very painful, akin to the proverbial rubbing salt into a wound, although much more, er, uncomfortable."

The doctor arrived and began treatment. Rugen was roughly strapped to the treatment table. As the Inquisitor walked from the room, he chuckled while Rugen's screams echoed off the walls.

Once Rugen's wounds were healed, he and Tee were brought to the arena once again.

This time, the opposing doors opened and out rushed four large, powerfully built men practically naked from the waist up. They wielded an assortment of wicked looking two-handed axes.

"Brutians," stated Tee. "They love nothing better than to kill."

Soon, the Brutians were upon them, hacking away with their axes. Our heroes dodged, ducked, and parried, trying to stay away from the nasty blades. Rugen parried one attack, but this left him open to another one of the enemy. He swung; Rugen managed to get his club in the way, but the power of the blow pushed aside his club. The axe buried itself in his arm. Rugen screamed, then riposted madly. His blow caught the Brutian on the side of the head and the enemy collapsed in the heap. The other opponent facing him slashed at Rugen's legs. Rugen managed to skip away, but the blade grazed his thigh, opening another deep wound.

Meanwhile, Tee was facing his own assault but his android reflexes prevented any blows from landing. One of the Brutians took a wild slash. Unbalanced, he spun around slightly. Tee wasted no time in landing a shot to his head. Another Brutian was down. 

Before Tee knew what was happening, the remaining Brutian facing him leaped upon his back. Normally, an android would have no difficulty grappling with a humanoid, but the Brutians are incredibly powerful. The Brutian kept Tee's arms in his grip while he beat relentlessly upon Tee's skull. In moment's, Tee sank to his knees then collapsed face first into the sand. The Brutian stood and raised his ax over his head, ready to strike a killing blow on Tee.

Suddenly, the Brutian felt a weight hit his back. He stumbled forward and fell into the dirt. Regaining his feet, he turned and saw a bleeding Rugen standing in front of Tee. All the other Brutians lay dead upon the sand. Screaming in rage, the Brutian rushed the Templar. Despite his wounds, Rugen easily parried the blows. Stepping inside the ax's blade, Rugen jammed his club into the Brutian's guts. While the barbarian doubled over and struggled to regain his breath, Rugen spun, raised his club, and brought it down upon the Brutian's head. The last opponent crashed to the earth.

Rugen rushed to Tee's side, anxious to determine if he still functioned. As he checked for vitals, he heard a voice behind.

"Tsk, tsk. Such a waste."

Rugen turned to see the Inquisitor standing over him.

"Oh, don't worry Templar. We will fix your friend . . . this time. Of course, who knows what might happen in later fights? But then, this could all be avoided . . ."

"What are you talking about?" Rugen growled.

"The plans, Templar. Give them to me and you both will be safe."

"Never!" Rugen yelled as he leaped forward and rushed the Inquisitor. Suddenly, a flash of pain raced through his nervous system and he collapsed.

"Uh, uh, Templar. You should know better than that," the Inquisitor stated as he held up a hand-sized electronic device. The Inquisitor glanced at the device, smiled, and simply said, "the controls to that collar of yours."

Stay tuned for part 3!

Gladiator

Part 1 of the Arena of Xarxes

In our last episode, our heroes' ship was destroyed by an Imperial cruiser. They jettisoned successfully but were caught up in a tractor beam.

They were taken inside the airlock, where they were met by a squad of Imperial troopers with blasters leveled. Having no choice, our heroes surrendered. They were taken into custody and interrogated extensively, but they would not divulge the fate of the research. After many fruitless sessions, the interrogator had to report to the captain.

"So they still will not talk?"

"No Captain," the Inquisitor replied. "The Templar's discipline is too strong and the other is an android. None of our usual methods will work on an artificial being."

"Have your engineers tried to hack into his cerebral processors?"

"Yes, sir. However, the information has been encoded and protected. We cannot access it without frying its entire system."

"So? One less Federation robot the better."

"But it would also fry the information, Captain."

"Pity. It appears that there is nothing left to do. Dispose of them."

"Wait, sir. I may have a better idea," replied the Inquisitor with an evil smirk upon his face.

Days later, our heroes were transported to the Imperial planet Xarxes. It was arid, squalid, and brutal. The Xarxians' favorite past time was gladiator games, and Rugen and Tee became the latest participants in this brutal sport. Stripped of their uniforms, fitted with obedience collars, dressed in the traditional breech-cloth of Xarxian gladiators, and armed with rudimentary clubs, they were escorted to the arena by blaster-toting guards. At the entrance to the arena, they were met with an Imperial Interrogator.

"Welcome to your new life, Federation stooges. You will now entertain us, and risk death every day. Of course, there is a way out. Turn over the research plans and I will change your assignment. Oh, you will still be slaves, but I can find you a much less dangerous post."

"Save your breath, Inquisitor, we will not betray the Federation." Rugen retorted.

The Inquisitor snorted, then ordered them to be escorted into the arena.

Rugen and Tee walked into a large, dusty, oval field surrounded by stands. The stands were filled with cheering patrons. Workers were cleaning up the remains of the last bout, shoveling body parts onto a grav sled. Speakers blared and the workers hurried from the field. Then, a door across the field from our heroes opened. Out rushed a swarm of short, bluish creatures with sharp teeth and long claws.

The enemy

Our heroes advanced upon the creatures, swinging their clubs. Rugen connected, swatting the little gremlins aside. They were weak, so one blow would incapacitate them. Unfortunately, they seemed to many to count! The beastly beings swarmed around the legs of our heroes, slashing and clawing. A group of them managed to trip Tee. He fell flat on this back. One of the gremlins leaped at his face, ready to claw his eyes out. Rugen knocked aside his attackers, spun, and smashed the gremlin attacking Tee. The android was able to scramble to his feet, kicking aside the creatures.

Rugen and Tee stood back to back, fending off the gremlins each time they surged forward. One managed to leap upon Rugen's arm and take a deep bite. Rugen screamed in pain but managed to shake off the beast. Another was able to dig its claws into Rugen's abdomen, tearing away at the flesh before Rugen brained it.

Nevertheless, the clubs of our heroes whittled down the horde's numbers, until only one remained, Finding itself alone, it ran away in fear for its life, but one of the guards blasted it into oblivion with his laser rifle. Rugen, his blood pooling at his feet, and Tee remained standing.

Rifle-armed guards escorted the duo of the field. As they exited, the Inquisitor was there. He ordered the guards to escort Rugen to the medics. "After all, we do not want him to die before his time."

One of the guards was assigned escort duty. Once they got out of earshot of the Inquisitor, the guard whispered, "Have courage. Help is on the way."

Stay tuned for part 2 of the Arena of Xarxes.

Blast!

The Conclusion of the Caverns of Tantalus

Our heroes are trying to recover some critical research before it falls into Imperial hands. They entered the Caverns of Tantalus and in the last episode reached the laboratories. They are facing a deranged security bot. More from Rugen's video log:

We turned and saw the security bot level its blaster at us.

"Wai . . ." I began to cry out but I was too late. An energy bolt discharged from the blaster!

Tee and I were encased in a sparkling energy field, but we felt no pain or adverse affect.

"An electrostatic defense field," the bot explained. "It will provide additional defensive benefits."

Relieved and thankful, we left and headed immediately to the laboratory's central control room, where we would find the research.

We made it to the room without incident and rushed inside. On the floor lay a burning security bot. Beyond it was a man, he looked like a scientist, and a looming hulk. The figure turned upon hearing our entry. It was an Imperial soldier in a full battle suit. He leveled his weapons at us and began to blast away. Tee ducked for cover and began to return fire. I leaped up and forward, clearing the beams of lethal energy and landing next to the Imperial. Flicking my sword to full power, I thrust its blade into the armor. Sparks showered the room. The soldier swung his arm at me, knocking me aside. He pointed his blaster at me and fired. I rolled to one side, but still felt the heat of the beam scourge my skin. I gritted from the pain, spun, and landed another blow.

The Imperial retracted his blaster and engaged his own stun sword. I stood ready to meet his attack, when I felt something hit my side. I turned for a fraction of a second to see the scientist with a light laser in his hands. He must have shot me, but the security bot's electrostatic defense deflected the beam. Tee took aim and stunned the scientist with one shot.

I turned back to the Imperial soldier. He began hacking at me but I parried his blows. Back and forth we went, until I finally spied an opening. I thrust; it penetrated the armor. I could hear the soldier grunt, then he collapsed.

We woke the scientist. "Where is it?" I demanded.

He laughed at me. "Do you really think you can make me talk?" he scoffed. "Even if you do find it, you are doomed. I alerted my comrades. There is an Imperial cruiser waiting for you."

We tied him up and rapidly searched the room until we found the research files and downloaded them onto a disk. We then destroyed the computers and fled.

Soon, we were racing through the atmosphere and into space. Sure enough, there was an Imperial cruiser waiting for us. Our runabout was faster, however, and we began to outpace them. Unfortunately, they were heavily armed and blaster fire began to light up the sky around us. 

"Make it quick!" I yelled to Tee as he worked on the navigation calculation to take us into hyperwarp. Then I engaged the remote turret and began firing at the cruiser. Perhaps a lucky shot could distract them. As luck would have it, an explosion shot from their hull. One of their gun emplacements had been crippled!

Unfortunately, too many turrets remained. They opened fire. An explosion ripped through our shuttle. Our roundabout began to spin uncontrollably. A hull breach! Tee had to stop his navigation calculations to deal with the breach. More enemy fire and more explosions! Our engines had been hit.

"We need to abandon ship." Tee stated.

"We need to destroy the research first!" I said.

"Wait. give it to me." I gave Tee the disk and he downloaded it into his memory banks

"Do not worry. They will not be able to hack into it."

I nodded and used my sword to melt down the disk. I then donned an escape suit and the two of us jettisoned from the disintegrating ship. In a moment, the cruiser loomed above us. A tractor beam caught us in its grip and pulled us into the enemy ship.

What's next for our heroes? Find out in the next episode of

TALES OF THE TEMPLARS

(and it won't take 5 months either).

The Kobold Caverns

A Rowan Adventure

Our heroes, the Templar Rowan, the druidess Lyla, the assassin Snake, and the priest Jacor, learned that kobolds claimed an ancient dwarven mine and were launching raids on the neighboring villages. They were assigned the task of infiltrating the mine and ending the kobold menace.

Here is Rowan's report:

We made our way safely to the entrance to the mine and entered. As we meandered through the caverns we were beset by a horde of kobolds. We managed to beat them off with no difficulty. As we entered the next, rough-hewn cavern we heard a rumbling sound. Suddenly rocks began falling upon us. My comrades managed to dodge clear but a large rock struck me upon the head. I was knocked to the ground and received a mild concussion.

We continued through the caverns, more kobolds. We also encountered swarms of rat but Lyla charmed them and sent them away. Then we entered a barren room. From a corner we heard clanking sounds. An ancient dwarven construct rose up and attacked. We battled it but it knocked me to the ground. As it directed its attention to me the Snake sneaked around behind it. With a precision strike, he thrust his blade into one of the servos, crippling the machine.

Proceeding forward we entered the cavern of the Kobold King. He was several times larger than the usual kobold and towered above us. He wielded a large spiked club. He struck me with it and I was knocked unconscious. He then turned upon Snake and Lyla. Jacor took the opportunity to heal me and I stood up groggily. I returned to the fray and together we took him down.

At this time, we were wounded and in need of rest. We established, set the watch, and rested up. After a day, we were attacked by more kobolds but killed them.

We reached a mine shaft and lowered ourselves down, reaching the lower level of the mine. We encountered a pair of rock men and with difficulty defeated them. We meandered through more passages; fortunately we encountered no more foes. Finally, we entered a huge cavern. In the center was a pile of treasure, and upon it sat a fire serpent, a large dragon-like creature.

We immediately went upon  the attack. It struck me, then struck Lyla and Snake. It then reared back and belched fire upon us. The flames licked upon us and seared our skin. Jacor healed when he could, keeping us in the fight. We managed to get in some telling blows. I then rushed in and with a mightly lunge struck deep into the wyrm's vitals. He thrashed around, giving Lyla the opportunity to send a hail of rock-hard thorns into the beast's heart. With a roar, it collapsed and breathed its last.

The Silver Psalter

After a very long hiatus, we finally finished the quest for the Sliver Psalter.

 In the last report, the party had been attacked by goblins during the night and then finally reached the ruins of the Monastery of St. Magnus.

Here is Brother Rowan's report:

Once we reached the monastery we poked through the ruins but found nothing of significance. We then decided to proceed into the monastery's catacombs.We wound through the twisting corridors until we heard a clanking, metallic noise above us. Looking up, we could see a metal with with sharpened iron spikes falling toward us. Lyla the druid and Jacor the priest managed to dive clear but Snake the reformed assassin and I were wounded when the spikes impaled our limbs. Fortunately Jacor was able to heal us and we could proceed. We then ran into a party of goblins but we dispatched them without much difficulty. We found that they were guarding a room with human captives chained to the wall. After we released them they told us that the captives were being used in human sacrifices. They also warned us of a giant spider in a nearby room. We avoided that path and went in another direction.

A little way further into the catacombs, we ran into three slavering worgs. After a mighty battle, we dispatched the dread beasts. Then we walked into a lair with more worgs forcing us to fight another pitched battle. After a little rest and recuperation, we were able to proceed.

Eventually, we found our way into a room used by the goblins. Tables and chair were strewn around. Only one goblin was in the room, but he was a major threat. Sitting upon what looked like a wooden throne was a massive, brutish goblin. When he saw us, he bellowed in rage and attacked with two spiked flails. I was able to block an attack with my shield, leaving the brute open to attack. My comrades did not hesitate. Under our assaults, the goblin lord fell. It was in this room that we found the blessed sword that is now in my possession.

The goblin lord was protecting the entrance to the crypts one level below. We climbed down the stairs into this lower level. In our first encounter on this level, we found ourselves engulfed in smoke. The odor of sulfur filled the air. Then the smoke parted and a demonic creature attacked. He grabbed me by the throat, nearly strangling me, until he threw me to the floor. The rest of the party responded. Jacor called upon the judgment of the Lord to smite the entity while Lyla used the power of nature to scourge its material form. Snake was able to sneak around and backstab it. With their attacks distracting the demon, I was able to rise and strike it as well. Together, we were able to vanquish the fell creature.

Throughout this level, we encountered a number of demonic or undead beings, including skeletons, imps, and hellish hounds, until we finally found our way into a crypt filled with tombs. In this crypt was a man on robes surrounded by animated corpses. Horrifyingly, this necromancer was raising the deceased as zombies!

We rushed to the attack, but the zombies blocked our path to the necromancer. Snake and I tried to cut through them while Jacor and Lyla used their powers to strike the necromancer. We began to take wounds so Jacor had to switch to healing. Whenever we would destroy one of the zombies, another would take its place. The powers of the priest and druid won out, however, and the necromancer fell. From then on, it was not difficult to mop up the remaining zombies. Searching the necromancer, we found the Silver Psalter, which we have duly returned to the Temple. 


Game note - the general "plot" was inspired by an adventure written for the Dead Simple RPG. Go the Dead Simple page for some great stuff.

The Laboratories

Part 3 of the Caverns of Tantalus

In the last episode, Rugen and Tee survived a pit trap and an attack from a giant spider. They found the entrance to the laboratories on the lower level.

We made our way down the metal staircase that took us into the laboratories that had been meticulously excavated from the caverns. Instead of rock, the walls and floors were made of metal. As we carefully wound through the hallways, we heard the clank of footsteps on the metallic flooring. I peered around the corner. Two armed men in gleaming red power suits stood in the hall, blasters drawn. Fortunately, they faced away from me.

"Imperial legionnaires," I whispered.

That was my mistake. The artificial walkways acted as an echo chamber and the sound of my whisper carried to the troopers. They turned and fired but I ducked behind the corner. I could hear them rushing towards us. I looked at Tee; he nodded; in a blink of an eye, our plan was set.

We jumped into the hallway, surprising our foe. I leaped forward and slashed my foe. My stun blade shorted his suit and he collapsed. The other trooper turned toward me, but Tee blasted him. He stumbled backward, wounded but saved by his suit. He tried to activate his comm device, but I was too quick. My blade hacked through his helm and he went down as well.

We tried to find our way through the maze of corridors but soon became lost. We entered a room that held a lot of technical equipment. As we peered around, we heard a voice.

"Halt!" it commanded.

We turned to look. Facing us with a drawn blaster was a Federation security bot.

"What is your business here?" it demanded.

"We are Templars serving as agents on behalf of the Federation. We are acting on official business."

"What is the password?"

My mouth dropped. Password? I looked at Tee, my expression of surprise clearly indicating that I did not recall receiving a security password during our mission briefing. Tee just shrugged his shoulders.

"If you cannot provide a password, you are clearly intruders. Prepare for elimination." The bot raised its blaster at us.

"Elimination? Wait!!!" I yelled, raising my hands.

"Password reset, authorization code Alpha 3281 Uniform Tango." Tee commanded.

"Password reset initiated," replied the bot. "State Federation security ID code."

Tee then rattled off his ID code and proceeded through the lengthy security protocol. We were then rewarded with a friendly "Password has been reset. Welcome to Inventory."

We then had a brief conversation with the bot. It had not seen any Imperial troopers but it was able to provide us directions to the main laboratory. With a courteous but unnecessary thank you we headed to the door. 

"Remind me to have a little talk with Mission Planning." I commented to Tee.

Just then we heard a stern "Halt!" I turned to see the bot pointing its blaster on us again!

Will Rugen and Tee survive the fickle moods of a deranged security bot? Tune in to find out in the next episode of . . .

TALES OF THE TEMPLARS.

A Creepy Crawly in the Caverns

Part 2 of the Caverns of Tantalus

Last time, our heroes fell into a pit trap but Rugen managed to grab the edge, and Tee, before plunging into the yawing, bottomless, chasm. Let's return to the action.

I began to slide into the abyss. Suddenly, I felt two strong hands grasp my arms. I looked up. Tee had made it to the ledge and was pulling me up. Saved!

Once we were again standing in the cavern, Tee easily jumped across the pit. He then threw me a rope. I swung over and rappelled up to the other side. From there, we continued to make our way through the cavern, using the oil trail as our guide.

Finally, we came to a door cleverly disguised in the rocky wall. Nevertheless, there was a small control panel. Tee accessed it and began to try various passwords to open the door. As he was doing this, a tremor shook the caverns and rocks began falling on our heads. We took cover as best as we could by kneeling up against the wall. Fortunately, the tremor subsided, but it left us distracted and unaware.

That's when I felt it. A large mass fell upon my back and I felt a stabbing pain in my shoulder. Howling with surprise, I spun my body, flinging the mass to the ground. It was a large spider-like creature.

I felt a searing in my flesh. I recited a quick prayer, and the pain subsided. The monstrosity circled, looking for an opening. It pounced again, but our reactions were faster. Tee blasted it with his laser while I struck it with my stun blade. The impacts knocked the creature to the ground, wounded and dazed. We did not hesitate but attacked again. I leaped upon the spider-thing while Tee shot again. Both our attacks struck home and the monster was finished.

Tee was then able to return to the control panel and shortly thereafter the door opened. We gazed down a flight of stairs into the gloom of the research station's laboratories.

Tune in next time for Part 3!