[SleepyShadow]

@Dr Bwaa:

I was really liking this until the end, where you suddenly decide It is sound and light and void...? I thought the point was that It is elementally opposite to Light and Sound. Also, depending on what It is, "It That Seeks" is probably more correct.

Frank is crazy (and I was making up his dialogue on the spot at the time), so don't bother critiquing his grammar too much. Besides, I'm pretty sure that Yog-Sothoth can be whatever he/she/it/cat wants to be

@Lady Moreta:

Sounds like Dwarves are secretly Mythbusters

They weren't until now

I'm a bit confused about why we've gone from talking about something called 'The Watcher from Beyond' to 'It Who Seeks'. It sounds like Frank is explaining the contents of the book, but he's using a completely different name with absolutely no context as to why.

*shrugs* At the time, I was about as confused as you are. The adventure I was running gave me very little to work with. It never explained to me why Frank referred to Yog-Sothoth by those names, or indeed why an old cultist was now a carpenter. I was just using what little it gave me and making up the rest as I went along.


Anyway, moving right along ...


"I Thought Monks Sucked"

Spoiler

Lupin quickly drew his pistol and aimed it at Frank's chest. "Don't make me do it, Frank. Just calm down."

Frank drew in a long breath, seeming to compose himself. He wiped the dribble from his wrinkled face and slicked back his long grey hair. He removed the long black overcoat he wore, revealing the long white shirt and loose black trousers he wore. His soft black shoes slid gracefully along the dusty stone floor as he eased into a fighting stance, though he bore no weapons.

"I am calm," the old man said firmly. "It is my duty to protect this sacred place from intruders such as you. Come at me with all your might."

Lupin fired his pistol, the sharp noise reverberating throughout the room. However, Frank was already on the move, effortlessly stepping to the side before the halfling shot. Lucy quickly fired her bow, but the old man swept his hand through the air, shattering the arrow before it could reach him.

"Stupid old man," Derive snorted, "don't you know that you've been outdated?"

He struck with his short sword, the blade bursting into flame as he attacked, Frank narrowly avoided Derive's thrust, and he counterattacked with blinding speed, hammering his knee into the young man's stomach. Derive staggered backward, the wind knocked out of him. Frank pressed the advantage and spun through the air as he slammed his heel into the side of Derive's head. The young man flew across the room and smashed into the wall, then slumped to the floor.

"I find your lack of faith in monks disturbing," Frank chuckled darkly.

"Dodge this, old man," Lupin growled.

A bolt of brilliant blue energy flew from the halfling's fingertips and flew unerringly toward Frank, exploding as it struck the old man in the chest. He stepped backward from Lupin, eyeing the gunmage warily.

"Your powers are weak," Frank said calmly.

Lucy fired another arrow at Frank, but the old man swatted the arrow out of the air without taking his eyes off of Lupin.

"No fair!" Lucy shouted, stomping her foot.

Frank leaped through the air, his gray hair fluttering behind him like the tail of a comet. He smashed his foot into Lupin's ribs with a sickening crack. Clutching at his chest with his free hand, Lupin whipped his pistol up and fired, but Frank smacked his arm away, causing the shot to fly wildly across the room. Before the halfling could react, the old man grabbed him by the throat, picked him up off his feet, and slammed his head into the floor. Lupin lay very still, blood trickling out his nose and mouth.

Lucy took a panicked step away from Frank and fired her bow at his back. The arrow merely grazed his shoulder. The old man turned slowly to face the cat girl, his eyes filled with grim determination.

"I have you now," Frank smirked.

The old man hurtled through the air like a gray projectile, but Lucy proved faster and rolled out of the path of his attack. She landed on her feet and nimbly sprang into the air, firing her bow once more. Frank caught the arrow just before it could strike his head. He sprang into the air to meet Lucy, but the nimble cat girl kicked off from the ceiling, hurtling to the ground to avoid the old man's kick. She landed on the back of a chair as Frank came to rest atop the rotting chandelier hanging from the ceiling.

"You are strong, young one," he admitted, "but your fight ends here."

"Not yet," Lucy said as she fired her bow one last time.

The arrow struck above Frank's head, severing the rope that held the chandelier aloft. The old man cried out in alarm as the heavy fixture came crashing to the ground and burst asunder as it slammed into the cold stone floor. Lucy sighed in relief and slid down into the chair once she saw that Frank lay very still atop the ruined chandelier.