trans_9 | Monsters and Mazes

One of the knives cuts into his back. He hadn't figured the raving savages for having that much cunning. A mistake he doesn't plan to make again.

He swings the hammer again, not at the goblins hiding and attacking from under the bed, but at the bed itself, trying to collapse it atop them before jumping onto its surface, always moving, trying to put space between himself and his attackers to keep them from getting under his guard, and make them come into his zone of attack if they want to get their own shots in.

Perfect! With an explosion of splinters and the crunch of wood (Or is that Goblin bones?) That's one less knife wielding monster to worry about.

The room is starting to look like a tornado hit it. The remaining Goblins are keeping a wide distance on Chase and have opted to start flinging books, goblets, plates, knives and anything else they can lay their grubby little hands on at him.

"You want to play that game? Let's rock, you little bastards!" He is the pitcher of pintos, flinger of fords, and inventor of Buick ball. He knows this game.

Chase hefts the ruins of the bedframe and flings it back, once the hammer is slung back over his back.

The table soon follows.

Sure, he has a crossbow in his 'fighter's weapon array', but that's not nearly as fun.

Or as effective. The last thing the little blighters saw was heaps of wood before they were flattened and silence filled the air as the dust settled.

Some weird sort of ringing noise set off and a chest appeared in the corner that most assuredly had not been there before. A reward?

Huh, what the hell? He's not used to rewards popping out of nowhere... and he does not trust it. He prods the chest with the hammer first, then uses said hammer to take the top off of it. What does he care what condition the chest is in? Besides, best way to avoid trapped locks. That idea, at least, he's used to.

No traps this time, Just a single silver ring at the bottom of the chest. Something the Goblins couldn't sell maybe? It was particularly shiny though for being in an old chest.

The spiral stairs led along the wall of the tower heading up to the next level where who knew what challenge awaited him.

A ring? What the hell?

He picks it up and puts it on a finger experimentally. He's used to the idea of magic trinkets, even if most of his personal stuff is weapons and armor.

Once its on his finger, he heads for the stairs.

The ring feels warm but other then that nothing terrible happens. Time will tell.

The next floor appears to be a personal living area with a big thick rug in the middle, bookshelves and such along the walls and a staircase on the other side of the room leading up the the next level. Pleasantly enough there are no monsters on this floor.

Huh, he knows he made a fair amount of noise down below, so the lack of monsters bugs him more than having a few guardians in here would. Ignoring the books as largely useless, at least to him, he does at least a quick search of the room for anything he's missing - moving the bookshelves a little to look behind them, pushing the rug aside and so on, going in an organized circuit about the room to make sure he doesn't miss anything he should be noticing.

If he doesn't find anything, he continues upward.

Yikes! The moment he touched the rug it sprang to life trying to wrap around him like a snake!!

Possessed rugs are not anything he has experience with, or any reason to expect. As such, it initially succeeds, and a hammer is not an ideal weapon for fighting evil clothwork.

Not a stranger to grappling, anyway, he pulls the hammer up lengthwise at stomach level to limit its ability to crush the air out of him, plants his hands on it, and begins trying to leverage and muscle his way free.

Crashing about fighting the magicked rug sends both hero and trap crashing into one of the bookshelves raining thick tombs down upon them. For something made out of fabric it's surprisingly strong, but not stronger then Chase. Now it was a battle of will to see who would wear out first. The spell or the hero?

This is where he's glad he picked half-orc. It comes the closest to matching his natural garou endurance, even if it lacks the potent regeneration or magical gifts he's used to. The hammer being used as a brace also helps keep it from crushing his ability to breathe, so long as the weapon doesn't break.

When they hit the bookshelf, he presses back against it, intentionally sawing the constricting fabric back against the wooden surface while he continues to fight to try and force his way free.

Clever move! A rip and a tear are his reward weakening the trap which proceeds to use it's smaller torn bit to try and strangle him while the rest became weaker and started to fall from him.

He'll give it credit for persistence, anyway. As soon as he's got his body mostly free, he slams against the opposite wall, putting as much distance between the fallen bits and tatters as he can. He uses the wall to scratch at one side of the carpet while fighting the rest with one hand, trying to get enough space to get the hammer handle under it to pry it away from the strangulation.

With one last desperate clench the rug snaps and falls to shreds on the floor. Well done hero!

The books however...appear angry and being bothered. The flap into the air and begin to swoop at Chase giving him not a moment to celebrate his victory over the rug.

The first few he swings the hammer at to get some space and clear spots in front of him, fighting back across the room.

That, of course, is just a lead in to a favorite tactic, already useful - he picks up the bookshelf, and throws it at the largest grouping, front down, trying to trap as many as he can under it to limit the number he has to deal with.

As the Bookshelf connects with another loud CRASH! and pins down a handful of his enchanted foes some text scrolls along the wall.

+3 to Bookshelf throwing skill.

...whatever that meant.

The remaining books flew in formation down into the fireplace where they lit themselves aflame. Now quickly running out of time as they burned brightly they threw themselves at Chase trying to light him as well.

His armor incidentally? Iron. Pretty good at deflecting such weak attacks. Just don't let it get too hot.

Suicide tactics. Those he understands as well. Might be sad that this is not remotely the first time an enemy has lit themselves on fire and charged him.

Rather than trying to kill them, if they're going to kill themselves, he stays near the wall to guard one flank, and keeps moving around the room, using the hammer more to keep them at bay or halt their momentum coming forward, just trying to mostly minimize contact until they get too burnt too fly.

Not the most iconic heroic way to go about it, but fighting was always the one thing he did smart.

And smart was rewarded in this game. Soon the books were nothing but burnt memories and ashes on the floor, while the remaining enchanted books were pinned under the bookshelf.

The room like the other, was totally thrashed, but Chase was alive and not even that badly hurt. Not bad for a days work.

On to the next level?

He's not about to leave unleashable demonic books alive behind him to find a way out or be freed. He might need to get out this way. He piles up the carpet scraps on the fallen bookshelf, then tosses one of the flaming remains on top of it to make sure the trapped books and carpet bits burn, after he makes sure nothing else will catch fire here.

He may not get this whole 'conventions of fantasy' thing, but he knows his raiding.

Then he starts upwards.

Good plan, great plan.

Only one downside to this plan. The fire is growing now, fed by the much more substantial meal of wood. The walls and floor are made of stone with wooden support beams so it'll be a bit before the building is burnt, but the smoke is rising up after chase. Might wanna hold your breath as you make your way to the next floor.

The next floor has a trap door in the floor that you have to open to walk up into it.

He tried to make sure the beams and the rest were unlikely to catch, figuring the shelf and scraps would burn out eventually. He can hold his breath for a bit meanwhile, and close that trap door behind him.

He pushes it open violently to try and get rid of anything atop it, figuring he's already made quite a bit of noise, thus ruining chances of surprise, so he just hauls himself up as quickly as possible.

Just how good are your reflexes?

Because the minute you peek through the door a bolt of lightning will be flung at it. Just ya know...a warning. Here it comes!!!

The upside - Chase's reflexes are excellent. He's as fast and dextrous as he is strong.
The downside - he's not used to wearing metal armor, and its highly conductive.

The end result is he avoids the worst of it, but some electrical burn is inevitable, his hair is standing on end, and he's jolted off his feet and slammed into the wall.

Were it not for that whole practice at the instant stand stuff he's been drilling hard into everyone, he'd likely be on the floor at the mercy of whoever threw the bolt, but like reflex, he kippups back up, even if he's a touch shaky.

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