“Fuckity fuck fuck,” Mark said as he quickly dug into his backpack. Reggie ran toward Todd and tried to get him to sit down. Todd gasped for breaths between screams, his face pale as he had one hand cradle the other.
“Need something to stop the bleeding,” Reggie called out as he helped Todd lower to the ground.
“Got rope from a backpack,” Mark said, rushing over, holding a coil of rope.
Pain, as they pulled the bloody stump from his chest and wrapped a rope around it. The fibers of the rope bit into the skin and squeezed more blood out as it tightened. Todd tried to pull his arm away, thrashing as Reggie tried to hold him down. Todd began breathing faster as panic rose, and he lost more blood. The edges of his vision grew darker, his voice growing hoarse as he screamed.
“I fucking hate this game!” Todd screamed out. Reggie and Mark were able to hold him down to the ground and tie the rope around his right forearm. Todd’s world slowly went black.
Non-Crunchy - Chapter 2
Character Creation
Name: Todd Longfellow, Race: Human
Height: 5’6”, Weight: 130, Sex: Male
Archetype: None
HP: 4 / 4, Mana: 0 / 0
Stats:
Physical: 2, Moxie: 2, Spiritual: 2, Luck: 2
Agility: 2, Magic: 2, Mental: 2, Energy: 2.
Relevant Skills:Agility - Dodge, Physical - Intimidate, Physical – Pull
_________________
Bright light tried to burrow its way into Todd’s skull. ‘How much did I drink?’ Todd thought as he slowly opened his eyes, the cool grass against his naked skin and a blue sky above bringing panic. Bringing a hand to his eyes to block the bright sky, he froze as he looked at his hand. Dark skin, much darker than the tan he got from football, covered his arm. Quickly, he rubbed one hand with the other, both arms were the same dark tone.
“Fuck!” Todd said as he sat up. Looking down, all of his body was the same skin color. Chest hair, now a wispy with a few dark hairs. He was sitting in the middle of a clearing surrounded by white barked trees. At the edge of the clearing, four people standing in a small circle, dressed in gray clothing, and wearing backpacks. He noticed his skin was much darker,
Standing up with one hand covering his manhood he took a few steps toward the group. Briefly glancing around for clothing, a dark stain on the ground a few feet away gave him pause. A small trail went in the direction of the group. He could smell the blood, so much of it covered the ground. A tail of flattened grass and dark splotches lead away toward the circle of people. Todd turned and walked away from the group, toward the trees while ignoring his modesty.
“No fucking way,” a voice from behind Todd. Fearing he’d been seen; Todd ran for the trees. The soft grass didn’t hurt his bare feet. As the turf gave away to dirt and fallen branches, he slowed. At the edge of the clearing, he didn’t recognize anything or see a road. Glancing around, some small rocks, branches, and more unrecognizable trees.
Picking up the largest branch, he stripped some of the leaves from it. Standing sideways next to a tree for cover, he stood with both hands on the stick pointing toward the group as they approached. The lower branches of the tree prevented any overhead swings, he swung the branch left to right at chest height.
“Don’t come closer,” Todd yelled, pointing it toward the closest person. The group consisted of four people, one woman, and three guys. The guys all looked like brothers, darkly tanned skin, almost bronze, and the gray sweaters and sweats. Two of the guys chests were covered in blood.
“Dude, we’re not going to hurt you,” the woman said.
Todd swung his branch threateningly. The woman took a step back, as well as two other members. The blood-soaked leader stood his ground and squinted at Todd.
“Todd?” one of the blood-covered guys took a step toward Todd with both hands up in the air.
“Leave me my clothes and walk away, or I’ll kill you .” Todd waved the branch toward the guy. He looked the blood-soaked figure in the eyes, “You’ll be first, I may not live, but I’ll make sure you…”
“Dude its me, Mark,” He said, offering a big smile. “We thought you’d died.”
Todd shook his head, the average-looking guy in front of him not even resembling the semi-nerdy Mark he knew.
“No, he died,” the lady said, glancing back toward where the group had been moments ago. Mark took off his shirt and tossed it toward Todd. Todd stepped to the side and didn’t reach for the bloody item.
“Still not convinced,” Todd stepped a little farther from the group. He moved so the tree trunk was at least between him and the leader .
“Do you remember when I first started telling you about the S&D. RPG system? ” Mark said. Todd nodded his head then stopped and glared at the leader. “Remember what I said to convince you to give it a try?” Todd nodded again. “I told you there were rules to determine how far you could kick a decapitated head.”
Slowly Todd’s hand holding the branch lowered as he remembered Mark telling him that he’d have to skill up Physical – Kick Skull.
“Todd, what do you remember last?” the woman said, stepping forward. “I remember getting you a can of Whoopass, and you started pulling the tab off of it.”
“Yeah, they’re doing this swag thing where you…” Todd’s eyes widened. “Hunter, but you’re…”
“Jax.” Mark pointed to the other blood-covered man holding an axe, then to another figure hanging in the back. “Reggie.”
“Yeah, I’d started filling my character sheet out. I wish I would have written down some magical weapons first.” Hunter glanced back to where the group had been when Todd was woken up. Todd glanced in that direction.
“What’s over there?” Todd said focusing his gaze on where the four had been when he woke up.
“You,” Reggie and Jax said at the same time.
“What happened?” Todd said.
“You tried to do a stunt from Willow. The sword cut your hand off, so you bled to death.” Mark said, waving a hand at himself to get Todd to look at him. “We had just finished burying the body.”
“Guys, he’s back,” Jax said, looking into the woods away from the group. Everyone turned to look in that direction.
An old man with long white hair and a matching beard, dressed in worn leather pants and jacket. One hand held a pitchfork, no shirt; the jacket was hanging open, baring white hair chest to all. Todd picked up the shirt and shook it once before putting it on. Dried blood coated the shirt, but it was at least long enough to cover up his manhood.
“Greetings, my name is Sir Furcas, ” the old man said. Mark and Todd stepped forward, standing between the group and the old man. The sky darkened as if a massive thundercloud had rolled in.
“Once I shall speak, may too the truths be told, thrice you may beseech, go forth if you are bold. Five demands I’ll accept.” A fire burned in the old man's eyes. His skin looked almost a dark red in the shadows. With a smile, the sun reappeared, and the world returned to normal. He held up his left hand with five fingers outstretched on it.
“Where are we?” Todd said. The old man smiled and cleared his throat.
“This is the Pristine Glade, a magical place. Outside of here is the kingdom of Midevia, and its people,” Sir Furcas said. Slowly, he brought his thumb in, leaving four fingers remaining.
“Todd, don’t ask him any questions; we’ll fill you in,” Mark said, placing an arm in front of Todd’s chest and pushing him back a little. Furcas frowned at Mark.
“What’s going on, why my…” Todd tried to say
Mark quickly covered up Todd’s mouth and pulled him backward. Reggie and Jax were there to pull Todd behind the group.
“Invoke my power, spill thine blood, upon the late hour, speak my name. Table I empower, a book understood, the mood dour, all play the game,” Furcas said, his voice singing the lines. He withdrew his index finger, leaving three.
“When one demands information, they seek to understand wha
t is given. By dancing around or giving us some singsong riddle, you are not fulfilling the demand presented,” Mark said, staring at the old man.
The old man sighed and glared at Mark, then one at Todd.
“Fine, You guys summoned me by invoking the power of the table. You all wanted to play this game, so I brought you in here to play.” Sir Furcas said.
“We wish to all go home and no longer play this game,” Mark said, gritting his teeth.
“The terms of the game were to kill the evil king to go home, I cannot prematurely return you.” Furcas brought in another finger, leaving two.
“Fine, transport us to the guy, and I’ll kill him,” Mark said, pulling out a sword. Dried blood covered the blade. Jax,with an axe in hand, stepped up next to Mark. Todd with one hand covering his privaes, also stepped forward.
Furcas brought in another finger, leaving his pinky all by itself. The glade disappeared into blackness. Todd couldn't stop himself from gasping as panic started filling him. A few seconds later, stone floor appeared under Todd’s feet. Disorientation and a wave of vertigo drove Todd to his knees.
Pressing his palms to the floor, Todd’s stomach emptied itself. Acid and bile flowed out, burning his throat. Coughing and gasping Todd spat on the cold stone floor. A hand touched his shoulder.
“You ok?” Mark said offering a hand to Todd and helping him stand.
“No, I fucking hate this game.” Todd looked around, they were in a long hallway twenty feet long and ten feet wide. Wooden doors blocked both sides, Tiny windows dotted the hallway as well as a torch at each end. Jax stood a few feet away, one hand on the door.
“Forward?” Jax said.
“Sure, but I don’t have a weapon,” Todd glanced at the sword Mark had and the axe Jax held. The cold stone floor sucked the heat through his bare feet. Looking wishfully at the boots and pants Mark and Jax had, Todd said, “or pants?”
“Sorry, these are all we got,” Mark paused then looked around. His gaze stopped at one of the torches. “It would be better than nothing.”
“Maybe we should have asked for armor.” Todd said walking to get the far torch, and as he came back toward his friends he grabbed the other torch. One torch in each hand, he avoided thinking about his nudity.
Jax slowly pushed the door open, and stepped forward into a dimly lit room. Mark followed, a shout from the room stopped Todd in his tracks.
“Halt!” a man called out.
“Intruders!” a second male voice called out. Heavy footsteps echo’ed ahead of them.
“Crap,” Jax said stepping to the side to allow Mark entry, Todd followed, allowing the door to close behind him. The dim light was improved as the light from Todd’s torches filled it. The room was twenty foot square with a five foot wide hallway going at an angle. Two soldiers covered in armor plates stood in the hallway, one held a sword, the other a large hammer.
“We come in peace,” Mark said as he held up an his free hand.
Even the backside of Mark’s hands were coated in blood. Todd shook his head and moved a little to the side.
The two soldiers bowed at the waist and briefly Mark smiled; before an arrow thumped into Mark’s chest. The impact knocked Mark back and he slid down the wall.
“Fu…” Mark wheezed but couldn’t say anything more. Jax stood between his friend and the guards. Todd ran over to Mark, dropped his torches, and tried to pull out the arrow.
Mark gasped and blood bubbled from his lips, as Todd pulled the barbed arrow out of his friend. Chunks of flesh remained attached to the tip . Mark whispered, “uckity,” before his body went limp. Tears filled Todd’s eyes as he pulled Mark close to him. Heavy foot steps and the ringing of steel hitting steel broke through the moment of grief.
Todd moved to his left as some footsteps got closer. A familiar figure wearing a wool sweater and pants, fell on their ass directly in front of Mark’s body. Todd glanced at Jax. His friend’s face was coated in blood, Jax looked back at Todd and Todd recoiled in horror. The left side of Jax’s jaw was missing, blood poured from the open wound.
“el,” Jax said, barely able to form the sound.
Todd grabbed Mark’s sword and stood up. The armored soldiers were advancing, the lead held a sword, the one behind was now holding a pole with a large knife at the tip. Todd stood with his feet planted wide, at an angle, sword in front held by two hands.
The lead guard swung his sword low and Todd slashed down to block. Todd’s sword missed the guard’s blade. The guard stepped forward, and pulled his sword upward, slicing Todd from hip to sternum. Pain filled Todd, he dropped his weapon and fell to his knees. Instinctively Todd tried to stop the blood by trying to cover the massive wound with both hands.
As the world started fading away, a steel plated boot flying towards Todd’s face sent him into oblivion.
Blackness, Todd was floating in a sea of ink.
“Hello?” Todd called out, worried he was trapped in some weird prison.
“Todd?” Mark’s voice called out.
“Jax here also,” Jax said.
Todd couldn’t see anyone around him . The black slowly lightened to gray and the old man Furcas appeared in front of him. Furcas looked to Todd’s right then back at Todd.
“Pride induces many faults, children must listen to adults. Careful what ye wish, for vengeance is a cold dish.” Furcas said, meeting Todd’s eyes, then looking to the right and then a little further right. Todd glanced, but didn’t see anything except more gray.
“Seriously just tell us in plain English.” Mark’s voice appeared from Todd’s right.
“I’m allowing you guys to retain these memories in order to remind you this is not a game without consequences. ” Furcas said.
“What?” Todd and Jax said.
“Next time you wait in the black until the whole group is dead and you respawn together.” Furcas said and the world went black.
Todd woke in the clearing. The torches and weapons was missing, and only the memory of his wound remained. Carefully he touched his face… everything was in the right place. He sat up, two unconscious and naked forms on the ground nearby. Todd crawled over to the nearest form. Focusing on the face to avoid distractions, Todd gently started lightly slapping the sleeping form’s cheeks.
Behind Todd, he heard Hunter shout, “Wait, how many times have we done this before?”
“Wake up,” Todd said as he gently slapped the man’s cheek. The man opened his eyes and immediately threw a punch at Todd.
Todd jerked backward and rolled. He maintained the roll to a sitting position a few feet from the waking up guys.
“Aaah!” the waking figure screamed and rolled away from the other naked person.
“Fuckity, fuck fuck!” the other figure said as he slowly sat up.
“Mark, Jax, we are trapped in a game,” Todd quickly said, unable to say anything else. Glancing toward the one who spoke, he said, “I’m Todd…”
“Yeah, I remember,” Mark said, using one hand to cover up his manhood. Mark looked toward Hunter and Reggie. “He, Furcas, spoke to us before bringing us back to life, said he’d let us remember this time.”
Todd stood up, suddenly remembering he was still naked and covering up his privates with both hands.
“You alright?” Todd said, taking a step toward his other friend sitting on the grass.
“Just give me a minute.” Jax rubbed his neck. “It was all so real.”
Todd nodded and followed Mark toward the group.
A few minutes later, everyone was dressed and standing together as a group. Mark took in a deep breath and closed his eyes. After a few seconds, Todd reached out and patted Mark’s shoulder.
“Furcas spoke to us after…” Mark stumbled on his words, “after we died. He said we’d remember this to help us understand this is not a game.”
“But it is a game,” Hunter said.
“A game without consequences,” Todd paused and shook his head, “or with consequences, dammit I’m n
ot sure.”
“Alright, tell us what happened. Everything you can remember,” Hunter said.
Hesitantly, Todd, Mark and Jax told their tale, Jax first, then Mark, and finally Todd.
“I’m only thankful they were not seeking to keep us alive.” Mark said.
“So, we gotta play his sick game; let's review all the rules we remember about it.” Todd looked at Mark. “What do you know about Skills, Archetypes, and Demons?”
Non-Crunchy - Chapter 3
Bards Suck!
Name: Todd Longfellow, Race: Human
Height: 5’6”, Weight: 130, Sex: Male
Archetype: None
HP: 4 / 4, Mana: 0 / 0
Stats:
Physical: 2, Moxie: 2, Spiritual: 2, Luck: 2
Agility: 2, Magic: 2, Mental: 2, Energy: 2.
Relevant Skills: Physical - Awareness, Physical Melee - Fist, Physical Melee - Sword
_________________
“Guys, I figured out how to choose an archetype,” Mark said, looking up from his character sheet as if waking from a dream. “Look at your character sheet and think about choosing an Archetype. First, let's discuss…”
“I’ll be fine, just gonna choose a fighter.” Todd looked at his character sheet and thought about how to choose an archetype. The world around him went white, and he was standing in a cloud of white fog. A deep voice vibrated the air as it spoke.
“Who are you?”
“I’m Todd.”
“Who are YOU!” the voice shouted, even the fog vibrating.
“Oh, you mean what; I’m a Fighter.”
The world shook, and a thunderclap dismissed the fog around him. Todd slumped to the ground. Mark reached out a hand to stop him but was too slow. Everyone looked at Todd.
“Well, as I was saying, some archetypes are underpowered due to the skill system,” Mark said.
“Which ones?” Todd sputtered, and a knot in his stomach twisted.
Highly Unbearable Page 5
