From: rigler@galileo.ifa.hawaii.edu (Aaron Evans)
Date: Thu, 17 Sep 1992 05:49:54 GMT
Newsgroups: alt.pub.dragons-inn
Subject: [KQ] Thk [Nestor's] French Fries?

The sunlight streaming through the front door of Nestor's is momentarily
eclipsed by a large reptilian shillouette, causing the room's lunchtime
crowd to look up from their meals in curiosity.  The looming figure speaks 
to a small waif standing at his side.

"Thank you for guiding me to Nessstor'sss.  You would make an excellent 
ssscout in my army, young manling."

There is a jingle of coins, and the Low City youth scampers off with more
gold than his father typically earns in a year's hard labor at the docks.
Plus, he's got a neat-o story to tell his pals...

The bulky lizardman steps across the threshold, dripping blood and sewer 
slime onto the floor and bringing a ripe stench with him.  Around the room, 
patrons gasp and stand up, tipping chairs and spilling drinks.  Several 
hands fly to the hilts of daggar and sword.

Kron stands and shouts,  "At ease, good citizens!  The lizardman is with
us.  He is in my service and I will account for him."

The barkeep chimes in, "Aye, and he's got gold to boot, which is always
welcome in my establishment.  But he'll have to wash up around back first."

Thk returns and seats himself at the KronQuestor's table after first 
rinsing himself off in the horse trough outside.  He nods around to the
others and bares his teeth in a grimace.  Very quickly, he outlines his
recent adventure down in the Gaps, concluding with, "...and ssso I found
thiss lizard of my tribe, but he wassss a...a T'chathizor...a rogue, a
renagade, and behaved disgracefully towardsss me, sssso I sslew him.  A
pity.  We could have ussed him.  And he wass clever with that black sssword. 
My armor was scored in several places."

The others glance at each other in bewilderment.  Marcel demands, "So you
just left the evil sword down in the sewers?  Where anyone can find it and 
misuse it?"

Thk shrugs,  "Wass that unwissse?  Yess.  Yess, I wassn't thinking.  S-
ssorry Marcel.  But I know where I left it.  I will go back and recover it--"

Kron interrupts.  "No, Thk, you can get the sword later.  We can turn it
in to one of the temples.  They'll know what to do with it.  But for now,
let's prepare ourselves for the task at hand.  Eat up people, and then
I'll outline the plan."

Thk nods, then places a medium sized pouch of coins on the table.  "I 
took thisss from a room in the Factory.  Ssspoils of war."  He tugs open
the drawstring, and about three dozen gold coins of the realm spill out
onto the table.  A small fortune, but many of the coins are covered in 
a fuzzy greenish patina.  Thk explains, "Thisss isss why I cannot carry
objectsss of metal.  The prime powerss of the Sssea God's Trident corrode 
and destroy all metalsss in closse proximity."  Thk slides the pile of 
coins across the table to Lady Azzar.  The food arrives, and Thk continues
between mouthfuls of squid.

"Yesss, the Trident corrodes all metalss.  All metalsss that is, except 
for thessse sswordss I carry, and my two lucky ringsss.  Which remindsss 
me..."

Thk fishes around in another pouch and tosses a greenish object on the 
center of the table.  The KronQuestor's lean forward in curiosity, and 
they see it is the scaled finger of a lizard man.  Identical, in fact,
to Thk's left ring finger, except that this one has been clearly bitten 
off its owner's hand, and it bears a crudely hammered iron ring.  

The finger jerks, and begins to writhe and twitch across the table top.

Thk observes this grotesque display for a few moments, and then calls out 
to the barkeep to bring a side order of french fries, heavy on the ketchup.


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