The admin apologizes for being lazy...

Father Cory said...

They should ask the old man's name and story. Then ask for some food or a Dr. Pepper.

Knick said...

they should also ask if there is an accomplished mage nearby that they might be able to hire.

second_clone said...

Grandpa Charlie should try to summon a bloodhound to aid them in the search.

Knick said...

Perhaps Bryan should ask for some deodorant so he can freshen up a bit.

Knick said...

And perhaps they should not sit there in the living room for too much longer. Just a thought.

"Perhaps you could help us out," Corious said, "It'd help to first get some background information about yourself." "Of course," The old man began, "My name is Vladimir. I'm an inventor. My daughter and I have lived here peacefully for a long time. I built this house just before my wife died some years ago. Anyway, not but a year ago, I succeeded in what is probably my most fantastic invention to date! The Quantum Displacement Machine! The very teleporter that brought you here." "What's a quantum?" Bryan interrupted. "I don't know, but it's a catchy word!" Vladimir replied, "Now then--I was originally going to get rich off of my invention, in hopes that my daughter and I could move to some fancy estate and stop living lower than peasants, but over time, as word spread about my machine, it's been sought after for nothing but selfish evil means. We've tried to keep people away; my daughter has set countless traps in the forest, but even that has been to no avail." The room was silent except for the clock ticking, and Vladimir looked up. Bryan was daydreaming as he stared at the girl, Grandpa Charlie was dozing off, and Corious was deep in thought. "Hey," Corious finally looked up, "Have you got anything to eat around here?" "Yeah!" Bryan snapped out of his daydream, "Have you got any Dr. Pepper??" "What's a Doctor Pepper?" Vladimir asked. "I don't know, but it's a catchy word!" Bryan beamed. Corious rolled his eyes and the Vladimir motioned for his daughter to get some food. "Also," Corious spoke again, "Do you know where we might find an experienced mage nearby?" Grandpa Charlie was suddenly wide awake, "Hey!" He protested, "I'm an experienced--" "NOT that we need to replace my grandpa the wizard here," Corious cut him off, "But it might be nice to have TWO people savvy in the arts." Grandpa Charlie settled and began to rock in his chair. "Your grandpa is skilled in the arts of magic?" Vladimir asked. "Well, actually he's just--" Corious was interrupted by his grandpa this time. "Let me demonstrate!" Grandpa Charlie leaned forward in his chair, "It seems to me that a bloodhound would be very handy in our search for my wife!" Grandpa Charlie stood up and waved his arms about, "Aykmay Eemay Anmay Igbay Oodhoundblay!" There was a flash of light and a small pink and black hog fell from the air. It squealed when it hit the floorboards and then it dashed off towards the kitchen. "Not the bloodhound I'd had in mind..." Grandpa Charlie said, lowering his arms. "Maybe if you'd said the spell in Bloodhound Latin instead of Pig Latin?" Corious suggested. "Have you got any deodorant!?" Bryan suddenly said out of nowhere. The group stared at him. "Because uhhh..." He glanced at each of them, "Somebody smells like a pig?" Vladimir cleared his throat and said, "In answer to your mage question, there is a village about 10 miles south from here. You might find one there." "That reminds me, what did the elf say to the wizard after telling him his shoe was untied?" Bryan said. Everybody stared at him again in silence. "Mage'ja look!" ... At last, Monique came in with the food and not a moment too soon. She was carrying a platter of meat and bread, and a pitcher of water. "That's not pork, is it?" Bryan asked as they all sat down to eat. "Eat fast, guys, we need to get moving." Said Corious.

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Knick said...

Yeah, pretty much the only thing that happens here is Bryan hitting on the girl. Not much else is possible.

Father Cory said...

Twice.

Again :P

They sat there in awkward silence for just a moment until Bryan (who was grinning at the girl the entire time) finally broke--nay shattered it, "So is it hot in here or is it just you?" The girl stared at him. "err...Just kidding." He hesitantly laughed. "Oh thanks!" "I mean...not that you're not, I just...uhhh...So you said your name's Jennifer?" "I never told you my name." "Oh. Is it Jennifer?" "No." "Oh. I figured. You're prettier than all the Jennifers I know." Corious expected the girl to shoot Bryan in the foot any minute now--not that he hadn't shot himself there enough already--but to his surprise, the girl half smiled almost amusedly and the gun lowered just a tad. "My name is Monique," she said, "Monique Sharma." "Aww, Monique. That was my next guess." Bryan replied nodding. Suddenly they heard footsteps, and a moment later, her father walked into the room wielding a gun of his own. "I've had it up to here with you people!" He shouted, "Always sneaking onto my land trying to get your slimy hands on my inventions! I oughtta just..." He stopped suddenly when he saw the three sitting there. He was staring at Grandpa Charlie. "Hey," He said, "You look awfully familiar..." Grandpa Charlie looked up at him and said, "Can't say the feeling's mutual." The man raised a finger up to his own eyes and from his perspective, he held it across Grandpa Charlie's eyes like a visor or a mask. "Yes," He said, "I've seen you. You were blindfolded. They were taking you somewhere!" The seated fellows' faces all brightened with relief as the man lowered his gun. "Are these two with you?" he asked. Grandpa Charlie nodded. "Well any enemy of my enemies is a friend of mine. Come into the living room and tell me how you got here." ... A while later, seated in the living room, they finally finished explaining their story. The man was very approving and asked if there was anything he could do to help them out.

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Knick said...Corius should ask Grandpa Charlie if he meant that his GRANDMA was always amazing at pinochle.

Jason said...He should also take a look at the books and see what they are. They may have useful information.

Corious spoke over his shoulder to his grandpa as he quickly perused the book collection, "So ummm...you just said 'my grandpa' was amazing at Pinochle, but I'm going to assume you meant Grandma." "Huh?" His grandpa continued to stare at the floor, "Yes, she was quite amazing." Bryan began to snicker, "So you guys have tried a lotta Pinochle, but have you ever tried a Pinochle-lotta?" Corious groaned as Bryan burst into laughter and grandpa sat, paying no attention. Corious had just enough time to scan the books and vaguely read off some titles. Most of them were history books about lands and people, and there were also a few that looked like they might be journals. That was all he saw before the girl arrived at the top of the stairs and swung the gun barrel right at his face. "In the chair, NOW!!" Corious obeyed and hastily retreated to the others, where he had a seat. "Not a movement now," she approached the three of them, gun still raised, "My father will be up soon."

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bobby said...

Corious should ask Grandpa Charlie why he has been so suspiciously quiet.

Knick said...

then look around for helpful items.

Father Cory said...

And Bryan should have a muffin.

They all sat down and Corious looked over at his grandpa. He was staring at the wall. "Grandpa Charlie," Corious said, "You haven't said much--what are you thinking about?" Grandpa Charlie snapped out of his daze and looked over at his inquirer, "Pinochle!" he replied. "...what?" "Your grandpa was always amazing at Pinochle. It seemed like she'd shoot the moon 2 or 3 times every game, even if she didn't have a great hand. She'd always....shoot the moon..." Bryan and Corious stared at Grandpa Charlie as he gazed down wistfully at the floor. Finally Corious spoke up again, "Well! I'm going to have a look around." and he raised to his feet and walked towards the back of the house. "Hey," Bryan called to him, "If you find any muffins, let me know, I'm starving!" "You like muffins?" Corious called back. "Muffins!" "I'll uhhh.....let you know." In the dimly lit part of the house, Corious quietly roamed around, shifting his eyes from place to place. Scanning the area, he found some candles, some books, a pair of glasses, a couple kitchen knives, a green hat, two swords mounted on the wall, and a broom. The broom probably hadn't been used much because there was a lot of dust on everything and the floor wasn't all that clean. Suddenly they heard footsteps tromping up the stairs.

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Elyse said...

Corious and company should march to the house, while looking for escape routes.

bobby said...

With Bryan being terribly distracted by the good looks of the girl.

Knick said...

corious should hide the mood ring inside mr. jimbo so that it doesn't get taken from them

Everybody walked out of the shed and squinted in the light of the sun. To their left was a small blue house partially built into the side of a steep hill. They began walking and Corious leaned over to Bryan and whispered, "Keep an eye out for an escape route. Give me a nudge if you see one." "Huh? Oh uhh...sure thing." Bryan replied, gazing over his shoulder at the girl behind them. She was quite stunning, with dark hair and dark features. She looked like the type of girl who could conquer the world someday. Corious pulled the ring off his finger and his glow faded away, though no one could tell in the bright sunlight. Then he looked for a place to hide it in Mr. Jimbo, but there were no openings. He tied it to Jimbo's neck ribbon instead, and tucked it in so it couldn't be seen. Then he glanced around for a getaway. They were in a grassy meadow surrounded by enormous tree on all sides. Some of the trees must have been about 70 to 100 feet tall. There were no paths leading anywhere, but the forest was open enough that you could run through it in any direction. From deeper within the woods, Corious could faintly hear the sound of moving water, and oddly enough, that's all he heard. There were no birds, no crickets, no other noises at all. They got to the house and went inside. There was light coming in the windows at the front, but in the back where the house was swallowed up by the hillside, it was dark and hard to make things out until their eyes could adjust. For now, they could see that it was just an ordinary looking house. "Have a seat." The girl said commandingly to the guys, "I'll be right back. Don't bother trying to run away, I've got traps set all over the forest. You won't make it past them all." And with that, she walked into the darkness, headed down some stairs and the three fellows were left alone.

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bobby said...

Bryan should use a cheesy pick-up line on the girl while Grandpa Charlie attempts some kind of defensive spell.

The fellows were all taken aback by the girl before them, swaying the gun barrel to and fro between the three of them. She looked very serious, and her trigger finger twitched. "I've had quite enough of you fiends," she shouted, "Coming in here and using my father's inventions as you please!" The girl, though her expression was very hard and set to kill, was quite lovely. As a result, Bryan was the first to blurt anything out, "Wowza, did we teleport to heaven, 'cause I think I see an angel!" There was an ear-splitting bang and Bryan fell over backwards. Corious and Grandpa Charlie about jumped out of their skin. Bryan raised his head and looked down at the steaming hole in his pant leg. It was just a warning shot. Grandpa Charlie suddenly felt a need to protect the "youngin's" and decided to activate his defensive maneuvers against the gun. "By the forces of nature," He began to wave his arms around awkwardly, "I summon my spell of bullet repelling energy fields!" There was a bizarre vorpal sound and four pumpkins suddenly fell from the ceiling. "Hmmm," Charlie scratched his head, "I must've done the motions wrong." "All of you!" The girl shouted and motioned with her gun, "Come out of there! To the house! March!"

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Father Cory said...

Corious should flip the lever...you never know what might jump out of the electricity.

Knick said...

Then he should look for instructions for the machine.

bobby said...

Bryan should try to convince Corious that it is really unnecessary to read instructions.
Then ask Grandpa Charlie if he knows what's going on.

"What about the lever?" Corious stepped forward and flipped it down. The machine began to hum louder and light up, until the entire room was pitch white. ..err snow white that is. Then, silent blackness again as their eyes readjusted to the dark and the dim glow of the machine's orb. "There have got to be instructions around here somewhere..." Bryan coughed, "ummm...girls read instructions, Corious." "Do you always pretend to be manly?" Bryan coughed again and turned to the old man in the doorway, "What do you make of this, Mr. Charlie sir?" The old man stroked his beard, squinted, and raised a hand as if speculating about great and profound thoughts, "It's either a moose executer or a transportation device. The first time I was brought through here, I was blindfolded. When I came back I was nearly unconscious. However, I remember those familiar humming sounds. I suggest one of you lads get it going, pull the lever, and step inside." "I vote the all manly Bryan." Corious pointed. Bryan rolled his eyes and reluctantly accepted. The button was pressed, Bryan entered the ring, and the lever was flipped. A growing hum. A flash of light. Eyes refocused in the darkness. Bryan was gone. ... About two minutes later, the machine began to hum again, on its own, and there was another flash of light. Suddenly Bryan reappeared on the platform. His face was bleeding and his front side was covered in dirt. Corious' face lit up with excitement, "What happened!? Did you get in a fight? Are there enemies on the other side??" "No, I fell off the platform." Corious groaned and Charlie suppressed his wise old laughter. Bryan ignored his own agitation and suggested they all step in. Another button, another lever, another flash. When their eyes refocused, they found themselves in another dirt room, this time with walls and a ceiling of wood. There were gardening tools strewn about, and some old paint cans in the corner. "Are we in a shed?" All of a sudden the front door was ripped open and a girl stood silhouetted with a gun in her hands, pointed straight at the Grandmother Rescue Society™.

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