Board Thread:What Would You Do?/@comment-33426474-20171111211656/@comment-28718853-20171228233831

I turn to my assistant, Coyote, who mutters, "What are we going to do? If they get in, then we'll have no chance."

That battering ram was looking very intimidating. I turn to Coyote and say, "Unfortunately, I have no clue on how to deal with this problem, but let's not accept that we're boxed in just yet."

Coyote's face falls, and he kicks a section of the wall. I give the armies outside another look. We lacked the resources, the weapons, and the skills to keep back the invaders. This town had always been a simple mining town. If some unfortunate soul happened to get kidnapped, then we were going to have to make due.

Neither Coyote nor myself had a solution to the dilemma presented before us, but perhaps one of the townsfolk did. I ask Coyote, "Did any of the townspeople have a suggestion?"

Coyote perks up and replies, "There was...one."

"Who was it?" I ask. "A woman sir, she suggested that we use the old coal mine in the east, the problem was the aquifer that posed a serious risk to the miners should it collapse, that's why it was blocked off," Coyote answers.

I frown. To use that mine would either mean open season for the mamono, or terrible, watery death. Hang on, maybe we wouldn't need to be trapped down there. I look toward Coyote again and ask, "Doesn't this town have an illusionist living here?"

Coyote nods, "Yes sir, his name was Marden the Magnificent if I recall. Well, just Marden now.  He's quite an aged man, but he's still a master of illusions.  How come?"

"Talk to him, tell him that I have a plan to get us all out of this mess. See if you can convince him to join up," I explain. Coyote has a puzzled look on his face and he says, "Sir, Marden won't be easy to persuade, he constantly swears that he's given up on the practice and always complains that the use of it deteriorates his health."

I sigh and mutter, "Give it a shot anyway, tell him that he's needed for one last act. Then he can rest as he pleases."

Coyote still looks reluctant, but he nods and says, "Yes sir."

Then he was off.

"Hey baby, silence won't save you you know!" an irritated voice from outside shouts. I glance over the side and see the leader of the Dark Elves staring up at me with a glower. "Look, we'll give the men to you just...give us a half hour to get everything properly set up!" I call down, hoping that my rushed attempt to stall them works.

"That bastard's trying to stall us!" a Minotaur declares. "Let's break this door down and get them NOW!" shouts an Ogre. "I'm not trying to stall you girls, we really will give you our men, but we need time to get set up, if we just open our doors and let you all barge in, it's gonna be a disaster!" I explain, struggling to buy time for Coyote.

"That's a load of horse crap!" an angry Orc yells. "Let's bash it down now!" another Minotaur sings.

The siege operators ready the battering ram when the leader raises her hand and shouts to her army, "Hold on!"

All of the mamono just stare at her in stunned silence. The leader looks up to me and asks, "Explain yourself, how are you trying to set things up for us!"

I go into an improvised explanation of how arranging the men to be picked up in an orderly fashion would be much more efficient than a mad dash for the first man in sight. The leader dwells on this for a moment, then says, "Alright mister, you have your thirty minutes."

The invaders groan in anger and annoyance, but the leader quickly shuts them up. She continues, "You better make each minute count, if we find out that you're trying to hatch an escape plan, then you'll be tied to a pole and whipped mercilessly by all of us as our new husbands are forced to watch!"

I gulp and say, "Yeah, yeah got it!"

I hear footsteps and I am relieved to see Coyote come up the stairs. "Marden has agreed to help us sir. I hope we never have to try to convince him to help us again because it was like talking to a brick wall," he says. I grin and say, "At least you managed to get it done. I was able to buy us a precious half hour to get everyone down to the mine."

"Excellent work sir," Coyote compliments as we leave the wall.

We waste no time in corraling everyone into the coal mine, and the woman, whose name was Amber, was thanked greatly for her idea. After a head count to make sure that everyone was inside, Marden creates an illusory wall outside so that when the invading army enters, they'll see what looks to be part of the the hill when it was actually the entrance to the mine.

It was deathly silent in there, so silent that you could cut through it with a knife. We could occasionally hear the sounds of the monsters searching outside, but thankfully, none of them seemed to wise up to the fact that a mind trick was keeping them from the ultimate prize.

Soon, Coyote speaks up and mutters with a hopeful expression, "Sir, we may just manage to elude them, but where will we go next? You are aware that they're going to be expecting the town to be deserted right?"

"Nowhere," Amber pipes up, wearing a devilish smile.

I turn to her and ask, "What are you talking about?"

"You people placed far too much confidence in my idea," she says as she twirls around and gets enveloped in a bright light. When the light fades, Amber, who is now a Dark Mage, stands before us.

I point a shocked finger at her and say, "Quick, subdue her!"

Several men move toward her, but she summons her staff and slams it into the ground. We're all surrounded by a bright light and when it subsides we find ourselves outside the town, and surrounded by horny Dark Elves and Orcs.

The leader walks right up to me and smacks me across the face. "Did you think I was that stupid darling?" she asks as she points to the Dark Mage, "I purposely had her infiltrate your town to see what you and your people were up to. You weren't getting away, and now you've all signed your own rape warrants."

I don't know why, but I swear I could feel tears welling up in my eyes. I feel something placed around my neck and found that another Dark Elf had snapped a collar onto me. The leader places her hands on her hips and says to me coyly, "We're still following through with that punishment I promised dear, but we'll wait till we get back to the camp to do that."

She shouts to the mamono, "Everyone else, have your fun, and meet back at the camp for the public humiliation!"

As I am led away, I think about my pain that was soon to begin. For the other townsfolk, their pain had already started.