A new adventure begins
After Kel Tuh Las has been caught trying to steal some Nztrv (who would have thought it with a dexterity value of 3/10), he now has to answer the questions of the guard rearing up in front of him. The fact that he is being held down by two other guards probably prevents his usual strategy in social conflicts: using his fist or magic axe.
As a result, after some stuttering from Kel Tuh Las, the group is taken away by the guards and finds itself in a locked storage cellar in the Chiraque residence. The stolen stone is of course no longer with them, but they find riches such as rotten potatoes, a few torn rags and a pile of dead rats swept up in the corner. In the unrestrained loot madness of each individual, all the items, apart from the rats, end up in some pocket of the slave uniform.
After a short time, the group hears footsteps outside the door, which is immediately pulled open. A huge, hairy man enters the room and throws a ball of colourful clothes into the room. With a Russian accent, he mutters an indistinct “Get dressed” into the room, which he immediately leaves again. A closer look at the clothing reveals that they are various costumes. In addition to a frog and jester costume, a horse costume can also be chosen, which must be worn by two people. As Löwenzahn is afraid of possible new consequences if he does not comply with the instructions, he throws himself purposefully into the frog costume. In order to avoid a horse costume with serious back problems, the group decides to put little Theo in the jester costume. Aldric thus forms the head and Kel Tuh Las the horse’s backside. The foreshadowing that Kel Tuh Las rarely makes well thought-out decisions that would require a head was actually a coincidence here.
After a short time in new clothing, however, the group is overcome by the urge to explore the residence for themselves. Surprisingly, the door is unlocked and the group enters a long corridor with two rooms off to the right, which turn out to be a storeroom and a wine cellar. Here the group packs up all the food and drinking tubes that can be transported secretly. Aldric also leaves a greeting for the guests in one of the wine barrels, using it as a toilet. This gives Kel Tuh Las a great deal of pleasure, as he is still stuck behind Aldric in the double costume as a horse’s ass.
While the last drop is still falling into the barrel, the group suddenly hears footsteps in the corridor. The hairy giant they already know marches quickly down the corridor past the storerooms with two guards in tow. Kel Tuh La’s sense of diplomacy is immediately aroused, he worms his head and one arm out of the back of the costume and grabs the first available wine bottle. He slams it on the floor, holds the bottle as a weapon in his free hand and manoeuvres the horse’s backside next to the door frame of the chamber. Even Aldric’s loud protests do not make him let go of his bargaining tool and he stumbles helplessly after his backside. His absolutely secret manoeuvre does not really go undetected, however, and a few seconds later the now even larger-looking man stands up in front of Kel Tuh Las. Despite his fearsome, stooped posture and only a limited view from the back of the horse, the flood of insults that the giant hurls at Kel suggests that his action has not been met with great enthusiasm. Meanwhile, both guards draw their weapons and point out to Kel Tuh Las, sword at the ready, that it might be a good idea to drop the opened bottle of wine now. Despite his intelligence of 8, Kel Tuh Las is slow to understand this hint, while Aldric desperately tries to get his hind leg under control again. But after Kel also realises that his adventure could come to an end sooner than he had expected, he drops his improvised McGyver weapon.
Aldric and Kel Tuh Las are flanked by both guards with their weapons drawn. The group enters a spacious, round room in the centre of which a wide staircase leads from the cellar to the upper floor. They can already hear a loud babble of voices from down here, which is repeatedly drowned out by loud toasts. They slowly climb the stairs, where a guard “accidentally” kicks a horse’s hind leg. The anatomy of the horse costume briefly shows every conceivable misalignment and Kel Tuh Las’ nose, which makes acquaintance with the steps, also takes on a new orientation. At the top of the stairs, the group finds themselves in a wild crowd, through which they fight their way to the forecourt of the residence. But even here it is no less crowded, and the proportion of drunk and staggering people is all the higher. Find out what kind of show our four showmen put on and whether this is the start of a new career in next blog Arkanthia Pen and Paper.
