Stories about Hulurin Tosscobble -

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dergon darkhelm
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Re: Stories about Hullurin Tosscobble -

Post by dergon darkhelm »

"Urrghhh!" It was the closest thing to a word ever utterred by the man they called "Ramble", the mute Shandakulian with whom Hully had recently made his way northward to the Rauvin Vale close to SIlverymoon. Unfortunately, that moan came as the man was being cut down by volley after volley of magical projectiles being fried from the fingers of the orcish spelllcaster. Hully shook his head. Two hundred gold coins wasn't enough to risk entry into the dark cavern packed with beasts.


Ramble fought hard, ignoring the wounds and fatigue of extended battle. With his huge sword he had cut down four of the five warriors that guarded the wizard and made his way close enough to strike with his blade. But it wasn't enough. As Ramble closed and readied to strike, the orc reached forward menacingly with an outstretched hand and with a jolt and the smell of ozone, knocked the human backward. Ramble's head hit the wall hard. Hully could hear the crack of the skull. The mute traveller fell in heap, blood pouring from his ears.

The hin looked only slightly better. Two crossbow bolts had caught him during the early combat in the cave, and the wizard had hit him with a pair of the magical projectiles as well.

Hully knew he would have to act quickly. The orcish wizard knew the halfling was somewhere, and turned in a slow circle. Hully got his chance as the orc exposed his neck. He quickly stepped out from his hiding place and fired. The arrow sped true. With luck the artery would be ripped with one shot, ending this affair. But Brandobaris must have been too busy to inform Hully about the wizard's arcane protections. The arrow struck a magical barrier and bounced harmlessly away. So did the second that he had fired in rapid succession.

The halling's face went grim. Ramble was dying on the floor of the dank cavern, the one surving orc guard quickly made for the hin, raising his morningstar, and the wizard began a chant in some strange, foul tongue.

He was going to die here. In some stinking cave at the edge of civilization next to a human mute he hardly knew.............unless Brandobaris was truly with him.

WIth an urgency born of desperation Hully made his prayer. "Trickster, Ye know I done tried. I practiced te make the jump. Ifn ye want me te live then now time fer that practice te pay off."

The halfling focused his eyes on a flickering patch of shadow on the floor, wavering in light from the brazier in the center of the room. He took a final deep breath in and lept for it.


"Gruuzuuk! Drak fol kurk! Drak fol kurk!" The orcs shouted. The halfling had simply disappeared in the shadows. The shock and alarm on the piggish faces of both the orcish guard and the warlock was evident. The two looked about with concern, quickly moving back-to-back to prepare to fight against the non unseen halfling.

But Hully was done fighting. As he had practiced for so many hours, he kept his heart rate and breathing slow as he silently crept to the side of his fallen human comrade. He silently poured an elixer down the Shandakulian's throat and watched.

Hully resisted the urge to shout an exclamation of relief as the warrior's eyes flickered open. The orcs, now distracted and looking for a hidden foe, had forgotten Ramble. With surprising speed and equal force Ramble lept to his feet and charged. With one massive blow he brough his great sword through a huge arc with such force as to sever the orcish wizard at the torso and continue the cut into the adjacent orc guard, killing them both instantly.

_____

The cavern went silent. Both the halfling and the human were now breathing hard and still bleeding from multiple wounds.


As the pair went about the morbid business of severing the warlock's head, and the profitable business of looting the chests of silver at the back of the cave, Hully looked to a patch of darkness in the far corner and thought he saw a pair of shadowy eyes staring back.

He flipped the old sembian coin that, as usual, had somehow appeared in his hand and under his breath he oathed.... "Thank ye, Trickster. I owe ye anuther."
Last edited by dergon darkhelm on Tue Jul 19, 2011 3:10 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Stories about Hullurin Tosscobble -

Post by thinkpig »

Cool stuff Dergon:)
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dergon darkhelm
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Re: Stories about Hulurin Tosscobble -

Post by dergon darkhelm »

It was middle night as Hully sat near the small creek at the edge of Lowhill. The same small flat rock where he had for so many hours communed with his god was now a staging station. As soon as he had been released from the humans’ interrogation in the small village of Cantrev Koart he had made quickly for Lowhill to recover his gear. The tallfolk still held Tam Why in bondage and she looked as if she had been badly beaten. Would they execute her soon? And who knew how long she could manage indoors in captivity? She could barely walk inside a roofed building under the best of conditions.

It was time to go get her out.

It had been some time since Hully worked alone, but he quickly found the rhythm once again. He blacked the metal studs on his leather armor and the blade of his small dagger with coal oil. He made sure he had accessible with one hand any vial he would need. A parchment to climb shear walls as a spider would, a parchment to allow him to fall slowly should he need jump from a height. A fifty foot coil of his ultralight-weight elven rope. His magical tools to pick any locks he might come across. He slipped the wand he had found near Baldur’s Gate up his sleeve. It should work to incapacitate any group of humans with a cloud of noxious vapors. He fingered the small orange glass bead, purchased in Skaug which held the power of a wizard’s fireball and placed it gently in his coat pocket.

The plan was thus: He would scout Cantrev Koart and find where the humans were holding Tam Why. If there were only a pair of gaolers, he would simply use the wand to make them buckle over sick, then cudgel them to unconsciousness. Pick the lock, have the hin lass down a potion of invisibility and …. run for it.
If they had her under heavy guard, however, it might get messy. The small tannery on the eastern side of the village would make the best arson target. The tanning salts and oils would add ferocity to the blaze caused by the fireball bead. Then, as the tallfolk fought the fire, return to the plan above. Hully didn’t want anyone to die but………. They were torturing, evil basterds, he told himself. If he found the mayor, perhaps he would gut him…he hadn’t decided yet. No, damn it, Hully. This is a rescue job. Hully fought with his conflicted emotions as he finished preparations.

Finally, Hulurin drew up the cowl on his magical hood. He let the deep night shadows atop Lowhill envelope him and exhaled hard as he felt the commune with the darkness. Unnoticed and with an angry and hateful visage fixed to his face, he stalked toward Cantrev Koart.
Last edited by dergon darkhelm on Wed Oct 12, 2011 12:59 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Stories about Hulurin Tosscobble -

Post by CloudDancing »

I love Hully as the dark anti-hero. Very cool.
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Re: Stories about Hulurin Tosscobble -

Post by Lucifer »

Hmm even as a Dark tiny little Hin-beast ..Dergon still plays a "Guardian" in NwN2 :P
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Re: Stories about Hulurin Tosscobble -

Post by MaskedIllusion »

Really enjoying this story. Can't wait to read more.
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Re: Stories about Hulurin Tosscobble -

Post by Inwintersshadow »

Nice work DD. :)
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Re: Stories about Hulurin Tosscobble -

Post by Burt »

Aye, keepin' it real dergon.
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Re: Stories about Hulurin Tosscobble -

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Image
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Re: Stories about Hulurin Tosscobble -

Post by Blindhamsterman »

It's True, Hully is pure win. I LOVE this short story, very very cool.

also, I wish I could 'like' the Chuck Tosscobble picture
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Re: Stories about Hulurin Tosscobble -

Post by kid »

you can like it. I think you are likiing it.
so win all around.

Sorry Tam got out before Hully got a chance
to go all Batman and save her.
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dergon darkhelm
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Re: Stories about Hulurin Tosscobble -

Post by dergon darkhelm »

(( Three rides later--- Elient 28))

Hully smoked nearly the entire night away as he sat at the edge of the Lowhill beirgaarten. The rich scent of nexalan weed filled the air. It was near to Highharvestide and the halflings were busy with both the work of preparing for the cold, wet islands winter and for the coming festival of celebration of the Earthmother's bounty.

As was his custom, Hulurin sat apart from his kin, feeling not enough of them to join their revelry, but nonetheless enjoying their happiness from a distance. Tonight, however, he felt closer than he had before.

"You think that Tam has survived then?" Father Bogo made the queery as he smoked his own pipe alongside.

"I reckon she just fine now, Father. Hells! That bear plucked 'er out of the river an' run off wit' like she were no more 'n a dog's chewbone. No tallfolk ginna be able te follow 'er. I reckon my purse be hurtin' more'n her. " Hully smiled thinking back to the events of the prior day.

Tam's dearest companion, Nook, the great bear, had been turned to stone by a human wizard while attemping to free Tam from captivity and bondage in Cantrev Koart. Hully had hired a wizard from the mage's council in Callidyr to sail to Gwynneth and perform a spell of reversal. The tallfolk of Koart, "'specially that cousin-fookiin' basterd Lord they gots", thought Hully, had sought to interrupt the ritual and take the two halfling again into custody.

"Trickster were lookin' o'er us both this time 'round, Father. All Sevens an 'Levens it were. Tam be safe. Nook be made o' flesh, an' I got te give a rousin' "go fook yerself" te that Lord Koart..........all in a good day."


Father Bogo frowned. He frowned partially at the profanity, but also at the knowledge that Hully's behavior was likely to continue to irritate the tallfolk of Koart, who still viewed most halflings as a threat.


Hully paused, noting the priest's displeasure. " I know. I know, Father. What I s'posed te do? Let 'em come an' give ME a beatin' now? No thankee no how! I dinna wanna put ye in a pen wit' slicked pig 'ere Father but, fook. That Lord Koart deserves e'ery bit o' misfortune that come 'is way ifn ye ask me."

Father Bogo just shook his head and the pair returned to their pipes, sitting in silence a long while.

"I did right by my kin, din't I Father?" Hully wore a hopeful smile as he looked toward the halfling priest.

Bogo gave a small sigh but then spoke , "You did right by your kin, Hulurin Tosscobble. "

The pair of small hin still sat smoking quietly on the grass as morning came. The sun soon crested the eastern hills. As it always did, it stung Hully's eyes as the light came brighter. But this morn, as the the night time gray and black gave way sunkissed autumnal orange and yellow and ochre, Hully seemed this morning not to mind the pain.
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Re: Stories about Hulurin Tosscobble -

Post by kid »

Thank you. nice read.
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Re: Stories about Hulurin Tosscobble -

Post by dergon darkhelm »

Selune was waxing from gibbus and cast a pale light through clouds onto Corwell grove. Hully sat at the water's edge, his cloak wrapped tight against the chill air, and tried to "meditate upon the waters of the Moonwell" as he had been instructed.

" I can't do no relaxin' with no tree-creature shufflin' about an' lookin' oe'r my shoulder... I ain' never gonna git te figgerin' this out ", the halfling thought to himself while looking askew at treant as he tried to clear his mind and concentrate on the bow as Newander had spoken.

A half a moon had passed since he had handed over his bow (and a laird's fortune in magical crafting sundries beyond his reckoning) to the druids of Corwell grove. He had pulled the shortbow out of the impossbily deep and still waters a ride later and it was now ....transformed! But transformed into what? It looked more like a leafy, twisty branch of an ancient duskwood than it did a bow.

" Newander said ye'r suppposed te clear yer mind an' commune with damned rootbow", Hully thought to himself as his natural impatience resurfaced. He could not help but think back to the finding of the original bow and he smiled a bit.

It was within a season of his first arrival on the isle and an evil had arisen in Darkhorn Castle. Hully took the job that the Corwell druids had offerred... to root out the darkness in the Keep.... purely for monetary gain. He had not been disappointed. By the time he left the place he had hundreds of coins, a few gems, and pockets stuffed full of fine sausages and cheeses to keep him sated and flush for moons. And, in one of the best hidden crates, he found the bow. Though it bore no maker's mark it was surely a fine weapon.

It had been a good night. The Tempites had done the bulk of the fighting and he had done the bulk of the finding....the way the Trickster meant it to be.

That was, until the group returned to grove. *Hully smiled a bit as recalled the large Tempus woman warrior shaking him upside down from his heel, motuh agaps as his secreted loot from the excursion came splashing down along the bank of the Moonwell*

" Cyric damn yer scatterheaded mind, Hully!", the halfling cursed himself trying to refocus on the strange druid-warped bow that now rested across his lap.

Finally after some time, Selune passed into a deep blanket of cloud that cast thick shadows about the whole of the grove. Hulurin relaxed, much in the way he did in his middle night communes with Brandobaris. His mind rushed open.

A language as fluid as falling leaves and flowing brooks filled his mind as if a floodgate had opened. He heard the sound of the Moonwell, deep and silent yet full of ancient life and knowledge. He saw his bow, once pulled from a dusty crate in a cellar of Darkhorn Castle now transformed into a living thing of branch and vine and leaf. The words spoke over and again: "wh'Mnar s shr jonaravh MY nsshyp Nyayi". Hully did not understand the words..... but he understood. This was a bow of the Moonwell....... a living thing that fed upon the mystical druidic water of the Moonshae Isle, fed by the magic of the Earthmother he knew little of. This bow of the Deep Moonwell would lend itself to him, but would always be of the Grove.

Suddenly Hully awoke. It was near to dawn and the druids had departed, leaving him alone at the bank of the magical pool. He slowly rose, wiping first drool from his mouth then mud from pants then decide to tested the leafy rootbow. ....... He nocked an aroow, aimed across at an old stump, and from thirty paces buried three arrows within a fist size cluster. Hully smiled at the result, noting the magic of the bow, and exited the holy place of the druids of Corwell.

Again the Moonshaes had given him a great gift. Again his debt to the isles had grown.
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Re: Stories about Hulurin Tosscobble -

Post by dergon darkhelm »

Hulurin Tosscobble leaned back comfortably against the stalk of the huge mushroom colored in violet and umber. It was but one of hundreds similar fungi that lined the walls of this huge cavern. The mild phosphorescence given off by the strange dangling filament at the tip of the thing was quite enough light to allow Hully to read a recently purchased book of local lore.

He took a long swig of the strange ale served here, supposedly also fermented from mushrooms, and gave a contented smile. The brew was an acquired taste, but one he found himself rapidly acquiring.

They'd been in this cavern for a number of days now. Well, it felt like a number of days. In actuality there was really no way to confidently assess the passing of time in the endless night of Barrenrock. The Underdark seemed to have only "now" with a notion of "later". At least, if the deep gnomes were marking the passage of days and hours Hully hadn't seen it.

*The halfiing shrugged to himself* The slight temporaal disorientation was not enough to spoil his mood. Not even the total lack of pipeweed in the deep cavern trading post could darken his spirits. No, Hully felt as strong and calm as he had in many, many months.

In this place of dark he needed not don his dark hood to avoid the mid-day sun. He hadn't had to wince painfully while travelling in bright daylight. He had not had one of those burning headaches that always seemed to follow when he had beenoutside in light for extended periods.

To the contrary, the eternal night of the Underdark seemed to improve Hulurin's sight, making his visual acuity stronger, sharper.

And the shadows........

Everywhere in this deep dungeon cave was either darkly shaded or wholly blacked. Hully was never more than a step, hells he was never more than a hair's breadth away from a point where he could make his shadowleap. The shadows would at times seem to be nearly living entities here, coiling up around his legs and dancing around his head as if inviting him to join in their play.

He knew the elves hated this place. They felt out of sorts without Selune and her tears above them. The cavern ceiling above was like a heavy weight placed upon the chests of Elenaril and Korlar, slowly stealing their breath with a dull crushing pain. But for Hully the ceiling of stone was more like a blanket, comforting him from the painful brightness of the surface.

*he flipped another page of Volo's Guide to the Underdark[/i, looking for signs of portals and passages to the surface*

The elves (and somewhat less so Jonathon, the fourth of their unfortunately-diverted party) were eager to return to the surface. But Hully found himself without any sense of urgency.

He was beginning to view this mishap as perhaps Brandobaris' blessing of fortunate happenstance. He smiled to himself, letting that particular thought linger.

He was still lost in the daydream when Jonathon walked astride the him in the mushroom patch.

"Time to ready your gear, Mister Hully. The elves wish to investigate a potential exit"

Hully nodded affirmation.

"I be ready", he said. But in reality he thought he might wish to stay longer in the shadows of the underdark.
Last edited by dergon darkhelm on Sat Mar 09, 2013 8:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.
PCs: NWN1: Trailyn "Wayfarer" Krast, Nashkel hayseed

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gsid: merado_1
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