Turn 115
> Teleport to gnome before he sends his complaint and knock him out.
> Suffocate the gnome in butts!
Shuuk decides to take drastic action to stop the gnome from filing his complaint and knocks him out using the power of butts! ...You're pretty sure something was lost in translation between the brain voices there somewhere, but whatever. The gnome is now thoroughly unconscious thanks to your noxious gas attack. Nyk looks like he might throw up, and Balt looks like it reminds him of home...
> Give Nyk the brand, and have him stealth.
He already has the brand in his treasure box of multiplying, but he turns on his stealth powers.
> Balt: Find the contract loopholes which you can exploit.
> have "our side" point out that the contract was to serve Shuuk for his life time
"There must be a way around all this! I need your help with this dammit and you're supposed to serve me for my entire life!"
...i wOULDN'T sHOUT tOO lOUDLY aBOUT tHAT, yOU aRE very sQUISHY eVEN fOR a mORTAL... aNYWAY, aS mUCH aS i wOULD lOVE tO sPEND more oF mY tIME iN tHE pRESENCE oF sTUPID mORTALS iN tHIS fREEZING cOLD pLANE oF eXISTENCE, i'M aFRAID mY kNOWLEDGE oF dEMONIC cONTRACT lAW wOULD nOT bE sUFFICIENT tO cONVINCE aNYONE oF aNYTHING. tHERE aRE cREATURES wHO hAVE eXISTED sINCE thE dAWN oF tIME wHOSE sOLE pURPOSE iS tO wRITE eVER-mORE-mISLEADING cONTRACTS wiTH wHICH tO fOOL tHE sIGNATORIES. iT'S kIND oF a nATIONAL pASSTIME.
> Shuuk, bALT, and Nyk then go through the portal.
Not wanting to hang around and wait for the monster-army to show up again, Shuuk, Nyk and Balt step through the portal where the two golems now stand idly in the sterile little office. As soon as Balt steps through however, a darkness falls over the room and a floating fireball materialises in front of him.
MINION BALTHAZAAR! YOU ARE HEREBY SUMMONED TO BEUROCRATIC PROCEDURES ROOM 8265B-1 REGARDING POSSIBLE BREACH OF CONTRACT. REPORT THERE IMMEDIATELY.
The fireball and the darkness disappear as quickly as they appeared.
hUH. tHAT wAS fASTER tHAT i tHOUGHT tHEY'D bE. mUST bE sERIOUS... oH wELL, sEE yOU aROUND pUNY mORTALS, i'D bETTER nOT kEEP tHEM wAITING! oH! bUT yOU'D bETTER hANG oN tO tHIS i gUESS...
Balt hands the Wand of Firestorm back to Shuuk and then with a crack, Balt vanishes.
"But... He's gone?! But we need him to smoosh the bad guys! BALT! COME BACK!"
"I think it's just you and me again for a bit Nyk... I'm sure he'll come back eventually. Come on, we'd better hurry up and get out of here before those monster guys realise what the hell is going on."
Glancing quickly around the sparse room, Shuuk notices a diagram on the wall, a filing cabinet and small bare desk. There are two doors in the far wall.
> Jorgen: Ask his newfound army what they think they can accomplish, then prepares to lead them out of the underdark.
Far underground, Jorgen prepares to lead an army out of the darkness...
"So... What do you think we can accomplish up there? I mean, last we saw, things were pretty bad. There was a whole city of human refugees forced into some ancient city and then Merilla's army-"
"SUM undergrownd citee? Yoo ur toking abowt owur old hom! Wee yoosed too lif in a hyooj citee far abuv us now with lots of uther creetoors and hoomins. Merilla miyt haf driven us owt wuns, but she will not do it agen! Today wee wil go hom and tayk owur citee bak! Wee haf secret tunels that wil tak uss bak theyr but yoo must not see them becos yoo ar not of th'Underdark. Yoo can cum with us if yoo agree to go blinded or yoo can go back the saym way yoo got heer if yoo preefer? Yoo wil find uss eesilee in battl aneeway I think!"
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► Show Spoiler
Just a reminder too, because it's been aaaaages since we've seen them, but the 4 squarks and a redshirt are still waiting for Jorgen & co. at the top of the Grue-pit if that affects any of your decisions.
Also, I've recently moved from using Paint (not sure what I was thinking) to Photoshop so please bear with any random stylistic changes that causes! (Like Jorgen's weird hair. I promise I'll have that fixed by next time...)
SHUUK
INVENTORY: Demon broker's business card, torn oversized white robes, Makeshift bone hammer, non-magnifying spyglass, bag from shrine (containing: book, scrap of paper with numbers, letter, talisman, pouch of silver powder), Runed Battleaxe, Barman's Best Friend, Red Orb of Spying, gold tooth shaving, tiny lump of sulphur, Wand Of Firestorm (5 Charges, fire-based area attack)..
WEARING: Light armour, deerskin trousers, leather boots, tunic, leather belt, mysterious brooch, greaves.
ABILITIES: Summon demon
bALTHAZAAR
INVENTORY: Giant, glowing magical sword
WEARING: Giant chainmail shirt
NYK
INVENTORY: 1 Slime-covered (probably poisonous) dagger, Lucky pebble, bag of dried berries, ALL the squark keys, Box of Duplication (contains Demon Brand).
WEARING: Prisoners rags, Helmet of Plus-A-Jillion (bucket), Ninja mask, silver whistle + key, Really Boring Cloak.
ABILITIES: Sneak, Unarmed Attack, Detect Evil, Protection from Evil (passive).
JORGEN
INVENTORY: Pair of dice, ukulele, crossbow & bolts, firewall shield, longsword.
WEARING: City Watch uniform (leather trousers & boots, scale armour shirt, red tabard).
ABILITIES: Bard Songs
Redshirts x6
INVENTORY: 3x Simple swords, 3x Leather Armour.