Thread: ATM II RPG
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Old 10-30-2006, 11:26 AM   #266
Hookbill the Goomba
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Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: On A Cold Wind To Valhalla
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Hookbill the Goomba is lost in the dark paths of Moria.Hookbill the Goomba is lost in the dark paths of Moria.Hookbill the Goomba is lost in the dark paths of Moria.Hookbill the Goomba is lost in the dark paths of Moria.
Smilog twisted and turned but the creature would not let go of him. It was tall, probably about nine foot in height, with long branch like growths poking out of him every couple of inches. From head to tow, he was covered in swamp slime. On each foot he had eight root-like tows that seemed to grip the ground like an old soggy sock. His legs were long trunk-like poles that seemed to have no bend or knee at all, but shot up straight into his torso. His large branch-like arms dripped with slime and frogspawn. The face was that of an old man with a long beard of leaves that hung down to the ground where small orc children had been caught and strangled and lost to the world eons ago.

"And what," said the creature, "might you be? A Dwarf? With an Axe?"

"No," grunted Smilog, "I'm an antelope with a pheasant." The creature's eyes widened and his mouth opened wide to reveal a black hole into nothingness, out of which came the most foul stench of rotten beans.

"You antelopes have changed," it said, but then shook itself, "wait a moment! You're lying to me aren't you?" he squeezed Smilog tightly until he became incredibly uncomfortable.

The Dwarf made vague nodding movements with his head until the creature seemed to be pleased with him. "So what," he asked, panting, "are you then? A troll with a skin problem?"

"Eh?" said the thing, "no. Not a troll. I'm an Ent, you see. A Swamp Ent, if you will, as you little folk seem bent on giving names to everything that is slightly different. Slimebeard is my name, Slimebeard will do. I look after this swamp. So, who are you and what are you about?"

Smilog did not reply immediately as he began to try and think about what it was he actually did. Besides making snide remarks at every advises meeting, he had done very little until the Mount Zoom adventure had begun. "I'm Smilog," he said at last, "I work for Roggie of Mordor. It's an awful job and I'm going to quit as soon as I get back to the mountain." Slimebeard seemed to shiver at the name of Roggie, all his leaves quivered and his eyes shut.

"You work for him?" he cried, "Well, maybe you can help me. You see, one of his assistants stole something from me and he keeps it in his office as a paperweight. It's an object of unimaginable power! It can destroy all of Middle Earth if it's not kept secret! Now with those blasted blue Wizards running around, who knows what will happen?"

"How do you know he's using it as a paperweight?" asked Smilog, momentarily ignoring the fate of Middle Earth.

"Well," said Slimebeard, before pausing again to think, "you see," he tried, but again he fell silent, "there's something about clouds involved. It doesnt matter! Just get that thing and throw it into the fire!"

"A little cliche isn't it?"

"Shut up!" Slime beard cast Smilog away towards the Mountain. Through he air he flew, hitting a family of ducks on their way to a holiday in Gondor. With a thump, the dwarf landed on the head of a Troll!

***

"Not so fast!" cried a voice from behind. Tollin turned around to see a tall, thin figure of a man, covered in cuts, bruises, seaweed and leeches. His clothes were rags and his face looked like it had been thrust down Roggie's own personal sewage system. And indeed, that was the case.

"Who the devil are you?" asked The Barrow Wight, drawing his ridiculously immaculate, golden hilted, jewel encrusted, rune covered sword. "Good gracious me, you look worse than Tom Bombadill after he's had a one too many light ales." The Barrow Wight had, on one occasion, invited old Bombadill to a party, there he had drunk too much and decided to roll around in the garden in the rain before jumping down a chimney he could not fit down and final smashing his head into an ironing board for five hours.

The man stepped over the threshold and tripped on an eggshell that was there for some reason and slammed into the floor with such force that three of his teeth fell out. "A cur-th on all egg-th!" he said. "I'm Andvari," he staggered to his feet, "I need-ss to find-ss that-ss Dwarf!"

"He's dead," said Tollin before receiving an elbow in the stomach from The Barrow Wight, "Or missing," he corrected himself, "I cant' remember which." The man's face became downcast and he seemed to have a tear in each eye. One fell to the ground where it met with some blood stains he had left earlier.

"We need-th to find him!" said Andvarri, "sss-so we can-ss find the gold!" The Barrow Wight laughed and placed his sword back in it's scabbard.

"By jove!" he cried, "that sounds like fun! Let's hop to it!"

Last edited by Hookbill the Goomba; 11-09-2006 at 12:17 PM.
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