The Tavern

As flames begin to engulf the bar, Olaf realizes he must get out! Olaf begins moving steadily for the door, watching to see what Man #1 and Niels do.

<OOC-- He's too far off and moving too fast to get into a melee position. If you're throwing at his hamstring, -8 to your reflex roll for an attack to disable his leg.

As it currently stands, Olaf is standing in the doorway located behind the bar. A fire is raging behind the bar and threatens to cut Olaf off from the main area of the tavern next turn (he could always run through the flames later, but I'd make you do a reflex roll to see if you get burned). Niels is standing a few feet inside of the tavern, on the other side of the actual bar counter. Unknown man #1 is making a break for it and will soon be out the door and gone. Niels can close to melee range on his turn because he's closer, but Olaf is too far to beat Unknown man #1 before he makes it out the door. Unknown man #2 is hiding under a table in the middle of the room and isn't clearly visible. -->

<OOC-- Niels, your turn

Unknown man #1 is running past you out the door, Olaf is coming around the bar to avoid the flames, Unknown #2 is hiding under a table towards the middle of the room -->

<OOC - my bad... I thought it was the Unknown men's turn>

Niels, in one fluid motion brought on by many years of experience, drops his pistol into its holster and pulls out his second gutting knife. With a fierce, hoarse battle cry ("For my Boat and for Justice!") he charges towards man #1!

Note: Niels is currently too busy to worry about the ethics of this entire situation.

Attack!
Reflex: 6

Garfunkel carried out 1 launched of one d20 :

3

Body: 9 + 5 + 3

Garfunkel carried out 1 launched of one d20 :

19

Unknown man #1 rolls

DaMavster carried out 2 launched of one d20 :

7 , 19

Niels swipes his knife at the fleeing adversary, but the unknown man deftly sidesteps it (9 vs 16 ) and charges out the door. He tears down the street, ducks into an alleyway, and disappears.

<OOC-- Unknown Man #1 is gone for now. Combat order is now:
Unknown Man #2 - Currently under a table in the middle of the room
Olaf- Walking around the bar to enter the main room
Niels- Standing near the doorway to the building -->

Unknown man #2 calls out, "Hey! Promise not to shoot me if I come out?"

Olaf, you may elect to end combat or continue it for your turn.

Niels says, "Yeah. What that weird Ninja guy just said!"

<OOC In story, I am Olaf, a cowboy character, not Edge the ninja.>

<OOC-- Personally, I think Niels is legally insane, so be happy he decided to recognize you as human! -->

The man calls out, "Hey, I didn't ask for this! My brother said this would be an easy score..."

Slowly, the man comes out from under the table, still holding a sword, but with the blade lowered. Then he notices the fire. "Ye gads! Why hasn't anyone put that out! Quickly, before it spreads!"

<OOC-- Remember, as far as you know (well, Olaf at least), the bartender and his wife are still in their room -->

Sensing the gravity of the situation, Olaf turned on his heel to rush into the back rooms to check for survivors.

Roll for leap over fire?
Reflex = 9

Edge carried out 1 launched of one D20 :

5

Roll for check for survivors?
Cunning = 12 + 1 when searching = 13

Edge carried out 1 launched of one D20 :

5

Olaf, apparently deciding that heroism sometimes has to hurt, jumps through the flames in order to search for the barkeeper and his wife (14). The flames are hot, but haven't quite spread far enough to hurt Olaf as he dashes through them.

Once in the inn section of the tavern, Olaf runs into the barkeeper and his wife, both carrying a bucket of water and heading the other way. The barkeeper looks relieved to see Olaf, "Oh sir! It was horrible it was! I thoughts them burglars were gonna kill us all iffen I didn't keep me mouth shuts abouts em!"

The bartender is interrupted by his wife, the serving maid, "Dear, we don't have time to explain everything! Remember the smoke? The tavern's on fire! That has to come first!" She turns to Olaf and hands him her bucket. "Here sir. I'll go and get more from the bath. Please forgive my husband. He was scared, that's all."

The serving maid turns and runs back the way she came, apparently to gather another bucket of water. The bartender lugs his bucket towards the fire.

<OOC-- Niels, your turn. You're alone in the main tavern area with the unknown man -->

<OOC... oh yeah. Cowboy, not Ninja. My bad >

Niels, thinking that the unknown man is a seal, asks the man, "Do you like codfish or trout better?"

Suddenly, noticing that that strange cowboy man is gone, Niels looks around the room. He sees the bartender and friends frantically trying to put out the fire.

"Egad! The room is on fire, and some people (and a rabbit!) are trying to put it out! Wait... This is bad! I WANT the building to burn down. After all, a guy took my boat!... once.... earlier..."

A very perturbed Niels runs towards the bartender and tries to roundhouse kick the bucket out of the man's hand.

Reflex: 6

Garfunkel carried out 1 launched of one d20 :

10

<OOC-- Niels, I don't know how to anticipate you -->

Niels leaps towards the flames, kicking at the bartender's bucket (16 vs 10). He connects with his foot, throwing water everywhere. As luck would have it, most of the water still ends up on the fire, but Olaf and the bartender get doused fairly thoroughly.

The fire hisses, but doesn't go out. However, the blaze is diminished enough so that it's now safe to walk between the bar and the inn sections of the tavern.

Meanwhile, the unknown man, shocked at Niels' actions, hesitates and doesn't realize that he can escape... for the moment.

Olaf witnesses all of this. What does he do?

Hearing Niels' dialogue as he tries to stop the firefighting process, Olaf immediately confirms his perspective of the old man. He is crazy!

Olaf runs to cut off the exit of Unknown Man #2, believing this man may be the solution to the fisherman's boat problem, or at least some problem ailing the tavern on this night.

Olaf dashes out into the main section of the bar to block escape routes from the tavern, leaving Niel with the barkeeper. "Niel, you blunder-bludgeon! What are ya thinkin'? Why are ye doin' this tah me?"

Niels says "Becuase my boat was stolen! Doncha see? You wouldn't help an old, despairing man out by giving me free room and board for an indefinite period, and so now my problems are all your fault!"

Niels still seems to not have a firm handle on this thing we know as "logical thinking."

"But I will let you go if you answer me this one question: Squire Austinian stared through the dirty soot-smeared window on the 22nd floor of the castle tower. Overcome with depression he slid the window open and jumped through it. It was a sheer drop outside the building to the ground. Miraculously after he landed he was completely unhurt. Since there was nothing to cushion his fall or slow his descent, how could he have survived the fall?

"If you can answer this riddle, I will refrain from burning down your only means of livelihood!"

"You crazy coot! There's no time to be playin' games! If the ale goes up, the whole tavern could go! And you're inna the tavern!!!"

Niels looks down, noticing for the first time the burning conflagration nearing his feet.

"Oh. Good point."



"EVERYBODY RUN!"

Niels, still dragging the Bartender by the throat, runs towards the exit.

The bartender, noticing for the first time Niels' hands around his neck, is dragged towards the tavern exit. "Halp! I'm being abby ducted!"

Meanwhile, Unknown man #2 is staring around him in amazement, unsure what to do.

Niels, playing out of turn, runs outside the building.

[Search roll]
Cunning: 15

Garfunkel carried out 1 launched of one d20 :

20

Niels runs outside of the burning building with the bartender in tow. Looking around (35 - success), Niels notices that the night is darker than normal. A low rumble draws his attention towards the sea. There, just a mile off the shore, is a tsunami. Rapidly approaching shore, it grows in height as the rumble turns to a roar.

Meanwhile, Olaf and the unknown man #2 rush outside to see what's causing the earthshaking rumble. They join Niels and the bartender and look out to sea, just as the massive wave crashes through the village, washing away everything and everyone.

As the water recedes, it is clear that the village is mostly intact (the ancient builders of these structures built them to last). The fire in the tavern is well put out and a dripping barmaid staggers out the front door. Across town, the unknown man #1 is stuck in a tree, nursing a bleeding gunshot wound to his shoulder and trying to figure out how to get down. A few hundred yards deeper into the forest, a bruised Magthol is trying to untangle his robes from the pile of brush he was hurled against as he fled the oncoming water.

However, the intrepid 4 are nowhere to be found. Just where are Olaf, Niels, the bartender, and unknown man #2? We may or may not find out any time soon...


THE END...OR IS IT?