The old dwarf sat at the back of the Belching Dragon near the vast fireplace. His face was horribly scarred on the left side and periodically his hand would come up and rub the scar tissue in an obviously unconcious gesture. A foaming tankard of ale, just arrived from the tray of the pretty serving wench, sat on the old water-ringed table. His eyes sparkled in amusement as he regarded the two human boys nervously shuffling their feet in front of him.
"So, what be ye wanting then?" he asked them. He made a rough face, then grinned hugely as the boys quickly shuffled backwards a couple of steps. "Ah, don't be afraid of me lads. Ugly I may be, but I'm not going to bite ye."
The bolder of the two boys looked him in the eye. "They said you'd show us... you know, about the trick. The thing you did to get the Sultan to let you go?"
The dwarf grunted. "Trick, is it?" He pondered the situation a moment, then chuckled. "Alright, well maybe t'is naught but a trick when all's said and done, but.." he held up an admonishing finger, "I'll wager there's not but one person in the world can do it. And you're looking at him!"
"Over here," he said, making his way toward the large common room. The ceiling here was high and there were many tables arranged in the big space. He led the way between two tables set close together at the center of the room.
"So, do ye know why I had to perform that trick for the Sultan?", he asked. "Well, it's because of his Master of Blades," he went on, not waiting for an answer. "Seems his Master didn't like certain comments I made about his prowess with a blade - or rather, lack thereof - and took his grievance to the Sultan. Since I was an emissary for the Dwarven king at the time, he couldn't draw blades with me, but my life was forfeit if I couldn't satisfy the Sultan.
"Ach, anyhow, one of me party, Grimbeard - had a mighty cocked sense of humor, that one - well, he told the Sultan about this 'trick' I could do. Ha! The Sultan didn't believe it, but he made me a wager. Said I could choose any two of the finest weapons from the Master of Blades' armory if I could demonstrate this for him. If I did it to his liking, I got the blades. If I failed..."
"What?", asked one of the boys. "What if you failed?"
"Why, then, he'd have me head." He stopped between the two tables and glanced at the ceiling. "This'll do lads. Now, fetch me a half dozen apples."
While the boys ran off for the apples, the dwarf drew the short swords sheathed at his belt, checking the blades carefully. They were obviously of excellent quality and superb craftsmanship. He hefted them, still in awe at their perfect balance. Then he set one on each table beside him. A crowd of regulars had begun to gather now, watching with interest. He found a familiar face among them.
"Akto, go fetch me warhammers, will ye? Over by the fire."
The boys arrived back with the apples just as Akto returned with the warhammers. The dwarf leaned one warhammer against each table, handle within easy reach. Then he took the apples, arranging three along each table edge, about a foot apart.
"Okay lads, step back," he said.
The crowd moved back, giving him room, and the dwarf picked up the swords, tossing them straight up in the air. Each blade whirled end over end, drawing almost to ceiling height, then falling back. He caught them and tossed them again, all in one smooth motion. At the top of their arc, he leaned over, grabbed the warhammers, and tossed them up as well.
Soon, the air was filled with whirling, spinning weapons, glints and shards of firelight flashing from the shining blades and a deep whoop, whoop sounding from the furiously spinning hammers. The weapons were a blur in the air now, only easily tracked by the glints of firelight cast from the metal.
Suddenly,
*snick*, and an apple fell in two pieces, cut cleanly and exactly in half.
*clang* the warhammers were struck together, then went whirling back into the air with the spinning blades.
Again, *snick*, *clang* and another apple lay on the table, cleany sliced in half.
Four more times, and all the apples lay on the table in perfect halves. The dwarf slowed his furious juggling, setting each warhammer on the tables first, then the swords. The crowd was silent for a moment, then erupted in applause and cheers. The dwarf bowed with a flourish, slipped his swords back in their scabbards, grabbed up his warhammers, then made his way back to his seat by the fire.
Later, as he sat enjoying one of the many free ales he'd received, the boys sat opposite him.
"That was... wow, it... is that what you did for the Sultan?"
The dwarf laughed. "No, boy, not exactly. When I did it for the Sultan, he had 6 slave girls with an apple in each hand. If I drew blood from any of them, it were me head. But, as you can see, me head's still firmly attached to me shoulders. And them girls haven't any scars on their palms from me!"
He laughed again.
"Sir," the boy said. "Excuse me for asking, but what happened to your face?"
The dwarf quickly sobered up. "That be a dark tale, boys. A tale of undead, unholy tombs, and the fires of purification. T'is best left for another time. Now, get yerselves home. It be late."
As the boys left, the dwarf drained an ale, his hand absently rubbing his scarred face.
21)RDD5: GRT STR I (24) 22)Bard5 23)FTR13 24)FTR14: EWF:Handaxe/ EWF:Warhammer/ CON (19) 25)RDD6 26)RDD7 27)Bard6: Epic Prowess 28)FTR15: CON (22) 29)FTR16: DR I 30)FTR17: DR II 31)FTR18: DR III 32)Bard7: STR (25) 33)FTR19: GRT STR II (26) 34)FTR20: EWS:Warhammer 35)FTR21 36)FTR22: GRT STR III (27)/ EWS:Handaxe/ STR (28) 37)Bard8 38)FTR23 39)FTR24: GRT STR IV (29)/ Armor Skin. 40)RDD8: STR (30)
AB: +42 (+40 dual wielding)
Maximum HPs: 640
Naked AC: 25 (35 in plate and shield, 32 in plate and dual-wielding)
Bard Song will add +2 to AB and damage, +1 to all saves, +8 HPs, and +1 to skills.
Good HPs, damage reduction, Bard Song boosts, good saves vs spells, and decent AB. This guy can dish out the damage either dual-wieling, or sword and board. He can mix it up with 2 different damage types as well.
*A note: the story has him using short swords, but the build has handaxes. Short swords are sexier for the story, but I prefer handaxes for the build. _________________ It's rogue, dammit, ROGUE!!!
Edited By griphook on 09/27/05 19:32
Nice story, nice build Cinn.
That guy is tough! And he's coming at you with a poker in one hand, and a smasher in the other - how are you going to get away?
Great HP, AB, and DR. Very effective meleer. And having Bard abilities is just icing on the dual-wielding cake.
Why did you stop at RDD 7, can you make it to RDD 8? If you can fit in RDD 8 you get another AC bonus from Dragon Armor (+1 at level 1, +2 at level 5, +3 at level 8, +4 at level 10). It looks like the Bard Song doesn't bring any improvements from Bard 8 to Bard 9, so I'd encourage you to take RDD 8 in place of Bard 9 (but earlier in the build).
Griphook, note at level 39 he has "Fighter 25" - should be "Fighter 24" methinks
Nice job as always Cinn.
Kaliban _________________ This space for rent
Thanks Kal. You know, the reason for that 9th Bard was to get both Discipline and Spellcraft to 43. However, I'd completely forgotten that RDD has both skills in his skillset.
Griphook, if you'd be so kind, could you make the following changes?
1) Change the build from FTR 24/Bard 9/RDD 7 to FTR 24/Bard 8/RDD 8
2) Change level 39 to FTR 24 instead of 25
3) Change the final Lore skill to 8 ranks instead of 10
4) Change level 40 to RDD 8 instead of Bard 9
5) Raise his final AC values by 1 each.
6) Change maximum HPs to 640 from 636
Many, many thanks, and thanks to you Kal for catching that. _________________ It's rogue, dammit, ROGUE!!!
No problem ...Done
You da man, griphook! _________________ It's rogue, dammit, ROGUE!!!
Crap. I think I forgot a feat at level 39. It would be the FTR24 bonus feat: Armor Skin. (That would put his AC values up by 2 each as well). _________________ It's rogue, dammit, ROGUE!!!
I was just curious as to why not go RDD 10 and Fighter 22, or is it that the wings are ugly.
Quote: Posted 09/27/05 14:21:22 (GMT) -- IppyDip
I was just curious as to why not go RDD 10 and Fighter 22, or is it that the wings are ugly.
Ugly wings was a consideration (though only a minor one). Mainly for variety and for the fact I wanted all the feats I took. Granted, I'd only lose Armor Skin and end up picking up 1 AC from RDD level 10 (net loss of 1 AC), but it was basically just for something a wee bit different than your standard RDD 10/Bard x/FTR x.
You could certainly drop 2 FTR for the extra 2 RDD levels. Wouldn't afffect the build's integrity at all (and would end up giving you better stats in the end).
I guess I should mention this (and some of the other builds I've recently posted) are old ones I've polished up a bit from their original incarnation and thought I'd put them up here. They're not all uber builds, but I felt most of them were playable, interesting, somewhat different, or a combination of those three qualities. This one I posted simply because I had the story in my head for some time, and the story was tied to this build. _________________ It's rogue, dammit, ROGUE!!!
Quote: Posted 09/27/05 14:21:22 (GMT) -- IppyDip
I was just curious as to why not go RDD 10 and Fighter 22, or is it that the wings are ugly.
Ugly, floopy wings are always a consideration
Kaliban _________________ This space for rent
Great build and concept, Cin. He seems like he would be a lot of fun to play in any environment. The story was also excellent, and it was nice to see Old Grimbeard make a cameo. _________________ Got Hommlet? World of Greyhawk Action Server (with 1/2 price ales on Mondays!)
Ariel, Ookla, RIDE!
This build looks great - strong for soloing, strong for grouping, a rock-solid frontliner with bardsong. _________________ Experience is the mother of good judgement; bad judgement is the father of experience.
You da man, griphook!