From: albert@chain.ssctr.bcm.tmc.edu (Rick Jones)
Date: 14 Aug 1992 23:38:00 GMT
Newsgroups: alt.pub.dragons-inn
Subject: [KQ] Marcel [Warehouse Sewer] Les Miserables


        Marcel and the warehouse thug tumble down into the darkness.  The
two of them land below on a greased chute, dumping them out and to the
side, into the sewers running alongside the (now infamous) Warehouse.
The two dropped in the murky water running through the middle.

        Let's take a break for a minute to look at what's going on with these
fellows shall we?  It seems to me that you might get lost without a
scorecard.
        Marcel Delacroix:  Is from an alternate Earth called Magna Veritas,
ruled by the spiritually corrupt Cyberpapacy.  He accidentally arrived in
Generica after getting caught in a reality storm.  He got wrapped up in the
Kron storyline when he ran into Thk, the lizard-man prince.  Even though he's
been there only 24 hours, he's been accepted into the loose group of
adventurers who agreed to help Kron unravel the mystery of his missing
sister.
        The thug is named Keflek, an errand boy for the folks who run the
Warehouse.  He's obviously a Joystix addict (the constant runny nose).
He's a bully and a braggart.  He's brave enough to attack someone
fully half his size, so long as he's attacking from behind.  He drew
guard duty today, and was unlucky enough to run into Marcel, cut off
from the rest of the party.
        About fifty yards upsewer are two others imporant to this part
of the saga.  The first is Thk'.  In a fight a few days ago, Thk's hand
was severed.  Unfortuntely for him, this was the hand that had his
powerful Ring of Regeneration.  So, left to it's own devices, it grew
a new body.  It somehow got a powerful black sword, and is "king" of the local
Tunnel Croc population.
        The other, is 'Raelf, a Traveller/Wizard.  He's a dimension traveller
that the wizard ...sage met at Miskatonic University on Earth.  The two
travelled back to Generica, and 'Raelf's been busy with the midget
giant, SunStorm's quest for his dragon, TrueSilver.  Due to temporal
strangeness having to do with the Dragon Quest, 'Raelf is now looped in time.
His younger self is battling gargoyles over the Dragon's Inn, and his
older self is looking for Thk and Marcel for some reason yet to be revealed.
        The last thing I should mention before Marcel and Keflek come up
for air, is that the section of sewer they landed in is full of Tunnel
Crocs.  The Warehouse Management periodically drops raw meat, small animals,
and the occasional competitor down into the sewers so that the crocs stay
nearby for occasions just like this one.

        And now, back to the story....

        Marcel's head burst up out of the foul sewer-water, gasping for breath.
A second later, a somewhat dazed Keflek did as well.
        [Way to go, boychik.  That's what, 3 traps you set off.]
        Marcel ignored him and looked around.  /Perhaps this is the
home of the Levaithan Mister Kron mentioned?/  <<Activate Thermograph>>
A few large shapes appeared in the water, swimming quickly towards the
pair.  "Monsieur, get out of the water, creatures are coming."
        Keflek ignored him, and reached for his sword.  His hand grasped
muck where the hilt of his short sword was supposed to be.  "Must've fell
out in the tumble,"  he thought. "Oh shit, the crocs."  He started to
flounder around, desperately trying to find his sword.
        Marcel waded downsteam twoard the advancing crocs.  "Run.  I will
slay the crocs."
        "Sure pal, better you than me," thought Keflek.  "I'm outa here."
        Marcel drew his broadsword, tried to find a stable piece of
sewerbed to stand on.
        [We could run.]
        /From crocodiles, surely you jest./
        [Yes from crocs.  Why God, did you stick me with this schmuck?  What did
I do to deserve this?]
        The T-crocs approached. << Boot Tactics Chip >>  Holding his
sword two handed over his head, Marcel stood stock-still, so as not to
give off any more vibrations to give away his position.  The three crocs
approached in something approximating a "V" formation.
        When the lead croc was close enough, Marcel sliced down, cutting
it's mouth in half.  It hissed in pain, while the other two attacked.
One locked its mouth on Marcel's leg while the other snapped at his right
arm.
        Marcel realized that, even if it couldn't injure his leg, the croc
was going to pull him from his feet, and would keep him under until he
drowned.  He punched at the croc on the surface with a mailed fist, and
now with room to maneuver, he stabbed downward with his broadsword.  The
monofilament edged blade easily pierced the brain of the croc on his
leg.
        The other croc pressed their attacks, snapping at his arms and
legs.  Marcel was off balance, as the dead croc was still latched onto his
leg.  "Dieu M'Adiez," he muttered under his breath.  The injured croc,
after taking a blow to the body remembered the old saw regarding
discretion and valor, and swam back downstream.  The third, however refused
to give up.
        After one of Marcel's swipes, it barreled forward and latched onto
Marcel's arm, pulling him off balance into the water.
        The water bubbled for a minute, then suddenly grew still.

        A few seconds later, Marcel jumped up, coughing and sputtering.
        "I have decided that I do not like this place," he muttered,
after throwing up a few quarts of sewer water.
        [So, where do you think oaf-boy went?]
        /Upsewer, I think./  He looked up at the chute in the ceiling he
fell out of.  /I cannot go back that way, but I do think the knave would
know his way in./
        "So, what's a nice paladin like you doing in a dump like this?"
asked a lizardman resembling Thk, from up river.
        Marcel whirled around.  "Do I know you?  Thk, is that you?" He squinted
at the lizardman, bearing an struggling Keflek.
-- 
Rick Jones				Systems Support Center
albert@bcm.tmc.edu			Baylor College of Medicine
Voice: 713-798-7352			standard disclaimers apply
"Hard to say, Ma'am. I think my cerebellum just fused." - Calvin