This night, our rowdy band finds itself near the stairs that leads up to your lodgings. As the group gathers round, you notice a rather hard-edged man at the Dragon Table. It is called such since there usually is a match of Dragon Chess in progress. You overhear the man chastise a young elf. “Idiot! If your people would stop hugging trees perhaps they could put their brains to actual use. What’s the point of long-life if you are just as dumb as the Oak you fell out of?” You see the man move his Thief into a position to checkmate the elf’s King. By the looks of the board, it was a quick game. The elf, ashed faced, stands up and leaves without a word.
A discrete question to Birgit, your barmaid, finds out that the man is Khellek, who recently overtook the Green Dragon’s resident Dragon Chess champion two months ago and has not been defeated since.
“Well, since the delight of the ladies has been thwarted for the evening, I suppose I will have to make do with thumping a neophyte at the most elegant game,” announces MacColl before standing and striding over to the dragon chess board.
“Khellek? MacColl. If you’re done warming up, perhaps you’re ready for a real challenge?”
Khellek looks down upon you, and in a nastily voice, “you have yet to earn a name, so do not pollute my ears with such babble. You DO have your own set of Dragon Chess pieces, do you not?”
{a short time passes}
Feeling his purse 5 orbs lighter, MacColl sets down at the boards, feeling perfectly confident but with an unease he can’t put his finger on. Of course, he’d watched his masters play the game often enough at the academy to know the basics, but he’d never actually played before.
Meanwhile, Vec glances up from his meal and the schematics for a 15-foot-long rope bridge that he was sketching. While he lacks experience with Dragon Chess, Vec cannot resist the opportunity to learn from a game played between two masters. He rolls up his schematic and wanders over to watch.
MacColl set out the pieces slowly, following Khellek’s lead to try to avoid mistakes in the set up…Already he could tell he was missing something…
MacColl did “win” the right to go first. Thinking back to some the opening moves, he opened up with a couple of pawns and advanced with his Troll, seeking to crush whatever came its way. Khellek seemed to be working another board, which lured MacColl into a false sense of security.
After a few moves, MacColl heard an Vec whisper to himself “I wonder if MacColl realizes that Trolls cannot fly. Perhaps I can engineer something…” Wondering what he meant was quickly cleared up when Khellek’s Wyvern came swooping down from the top tier to take the unprotected Troll.
This was an unexpected turn of events as MacColl had never seen a key piece taken so quickly. No matter, he thought. It pulls Khelleck out of position.
The Chess Battle raged on! MacColl, not realizing it, was executing the Pomarj Charge. A reckless gambit that only the fool hardy, the uninitiated, or the psychotically brilliant would employ. Khellek’s normally cool facade appeared to crack just a bit.
MacColl’s reckless march to Khelleck’ king continued, sacrificing his Hobgoblin Pawns and swapping a Dwarven Knight. Khelleck executed a Furyondy Castle to short up his defense against the onslaught.
Khellek gets aggressive, bringing out his Dragon Queen. A risky move at this point, but it could be devestating if used correctly. The flank of the Pomarj Charge is the horrible weakness of this tactic. Khellek masterfully hammers with this Queen and Basilisk with impunity.
Vec started babbling about the merits of the Kirkoff Gambit and was pointing to others how it was set up. Of course there was no such thing as a Kirkoff Gambit and eventually Khellek turned his eyes to Vec. “Any more babbling or interferance from you and I shall declare this match over.”
Despite the brutal savaging his Charge by the Queen and her entourage, MacColl’s remaining forces have nearly reached the Furyondy Castle’s defensive walls. The board ran red with the blood of many lost minor pieces and pawns. The croud gasped as Khellek tensed at the onslaught. Be then he eased back, smiled, and continued the battle.
Khellek continues to rely on risky moves with his Queen, Basikisk, and Rook. The Furyondy Castle holds…but barely. MacColl throws everything he has, sensing that it is “all or nothing.” Patrons in the Green Dragon gather around to see the outcome. Bets are running 2 to 1 against the upset, but those are the best odds that have been seen since Khellek grabbed the Title.
Although Khellek’s queen is not in the best position, he knows he must force a breakout to strike at the soft defenses of MacColl. Khellek sacrifices it all to break the seige, losing key pieces as he blasts open a huge hole in the Charge. He has one chance to defeat the upstart.
The croud tenses as Khellek performs a series of manuevers while keeping his King just out of reach of a Checkmate… The crowd erupts! Khellek manages to slip his Doppleganger into position just as MacColl was one move away from Checkmate!
Khellek turns to you. “MacColl, is that correct? Although I sensed you are but a pup at Dragon Chess, you are a formidable opponent. With study, you too could be a Master.”
MacColl smiles on the outside and with flair tips his last units over in surrender to the victor.
“I look forward to a rematch, sir. You were quite a… challenge.”
With that he rises, gives a stiff bow to Khellek, and moves to go to his room, alone.
Inside, he was furious at himself. Surely he could have won. He would determine how he had lost. He would learn until he defeated this “Khellek” and assumed his rightful place as Dragon Chess Master of the Green Dragon Inn.
Comments
Bravo! Great write-up with humor and a good “voice” for Vec.
That comment was for the adventure writeup, but this one was good too. Fleshes out the feel of the characters and campaign nicely when you have players willing to netgame and do adventure writeups. I believe the rule of “No XP, No Loot without player writeup” may have to be enforced when I take up the screen again. :)
RE: Write-ups:I like to see things from the players POV. It lets me know if something came across wrong. And as I have stated, I am not looking for Shakespear. A 5 or 6 bullet points is fine by me.
Agreed – well written Paul.