Ballad of Cody O' lamaturtle

[MercTroop]

Gray dwarf sat across the table holding up a red gem in his left hand to the candle light. Stroking his beard with his right hand he studied it carefully. Nodding his head he gets out of his chair and walks to the other side of the table. Cody sits there picking his nose grinning like a fool.

Whack. Dwarf hand slaps Cody across the back of his head. "It's a fake, and what am I suppose to do with ferret tail?" Dwarf said as he shook his head.

"Market on ferret tails will get big once my ferret statues start to sell." Rubbing the back of his head with his clean hand and wiping a booger on the table. Cody gets hit again as the dwarf slaps him in the face this time.

"How many times do I have to tell you not to wipe your boogers on the dinner table." Dwarf says throwing the gem on the ground he takes a deep breath and walks over to a keg placed in corner. Grabbing a stein he pours a drink for them both.

"Gramps thanks for every thing. One day I'll come back with sacks of gold and we can finally live good." Cody says with a wide smile.

A stein full of ale is placed on the table as the dwarf takes his seat. "At least I'll be a rich ghost then." He remarks as they both laugh before a ackward silence falls on them both.

Finishing their drinks they both shake hands and bid each other fare well. Cody walks out of a small make shift shack into a small cavern. Small under ground settlement was mostly asleep Cody walked off out of sight of the shack.

Dwarf walks inside and starts to make him self some thing to eat. Reaching into a cabinet he finds all his plates and silver ware are missing. "Damn it not again Cody. Not again!" he yells loudly.

Much later at a gnome caravan...

Holding up a handful of silver ware and plates. "How far will these get me?" Cody says with a wide grin.

[MercTroop]

Time spent in a Fist prison changed Cody. Accused of murder guards showed no restraint in trying to get him to confess. When word from candle keep proved his innocence, the guards left him alone. Spending remainder of his time in a cell for theft.

Days seemed to pass like weeks in his cell. Eventually they dragged him onto his feet and pushed him out of the barracks gate. Stumbling into the streets Cody cursed the Duke, most of all he cursed Cross and Kara. For now he was in the wealthiest part of Baldurs Gate, items the Fist confiscated cost allot of gold.

Bumping into a passing noble Cody apologizes to the man as he watches him walk off. Inspecting the contents of the stolen gold purse he mutters how stingy the wealthy are with their gold.

[MercTroop]

Talking to Roland eventually lead to the revelation that Cody isn't a dwarf. A shocking truth that was confirmed by two other passers. Distrout he ran into the forest realizing that he had been lied to his entire life. What else had his grand pa lied to him about he wondered. Was his Grand Pa even his grand pa?

Walking for hours he eventually arrives at Beregost doing only dwarven thing he knows he enters the tavern. Drinking his sorrows away, he enters into a sad dwarven song. That gets even sadder as he cries into his stein as he sings.

Next day Lathander priests find him passed out on top of the temple, wearing a dress and nursing a bottle of spirits close to his chest. It takes them better half of the day to get him down, by which Cody slips on a shingle and falls off the roof on his own.

[MercTroop]

Determined to get revenge it quickly became apparent Cody would need magic if he was going to beat a magic user. Holding up a scroll of spell mantle he could barely read he frowned. Picking his nose he thinks over his options. With no gold or job he couldn't afford to buy a scrolls.

Pulling his finger out of his nose he looked at the small booger he had pulled out and flick it away from him. Looking where it lands he notices a large building sticking up from the center of the city. Then answer to his problem accurs to him, he will rob the Ishtari tower vault.

[MercTroop]

OOC: This conversation had me laughing so hard I couldn't even Rp after Garox last comment.

[MercTroop]

Cody walks through a dense forest. Suddenly bushes shake violently behind him. As he turns around a scantly clad elf women emerges in panther fur. Walking towards him she begins to make out with Cody. Her Cold metallic mouth embracing his own.

"Kitty your mouth is cold." Cody says licking his lips.

Owning his eyes slowly Cody is greeted with his face inside a bed pan. Glancing around he finds him self in small room. A man in a simple robe stands over Cody. His face twisted with various degrees of confusion. Behind him a second man in a metallic plate mail stands with his arms crossed.

" Don't move I'm brother Alex. Your in the temple of Illmater, I'm glad to see your awake." Man in robes says as his face turns into a smile.

"I have been assigned to be your physical and emotional counciler during your rehabilitation. When you were brought in here we almost lost you a couple of times. There were a few complications.." Alex says as he holds up a hand mirror.

Glancing into the mirror Cody see's his reflection. Horribly scarred upper half of his face sticks out. Running down over his left eye before stopping. Clenching both fist Cody stares in shock at his reflection.

"We did every thing in our power to save your life. Our magic couldn't completely repair the amount of damage you.." Alex gets cut off as Cody lunges at the man and starts to choke the man.

"You basturds what did you do to my face? I look like the female version of Jorn." Cody yells as he tries to kill the priest.

Man clad in full plate rushes forward and grips Cody hands easily over powering him and holding him down.

"We'll discuss this more once you've had a chance to calm down." Alex says as he holds his neck in pain. His silent guard lets go of Cody and follows Allex out the door.

Cody sits on his bed glancing into the mirror.

[MercTroop]

Leaving the temple of Illmater, Cody wanders the streets of Baldur Gate. Stealing a bottle of rum from a wagon shipment he climbs onto a ware house building at the docks. Watching the sea he tries to drown his sorrows.

A small child walks up to the ware house wall. Standing silently the child just stares at Cody. A man walks up to the kid.

"What are you looking at?" Man says as he approaches.
"There is a monster on the roof." The child says pointing up wards.

Looking up at Cody the mans face turns to shock before he quickly grabs the child and they walk away. Cody watches them until they vanish behind a wall. Raising the bottle of rum in his hand up he looks at his reflection in it.

Only rage swelled up inside him. Fist had to answer for their crimes, starting with Beren Cross.

[MercTroop]

Cody Returns to the temple of Illmater.

It took Cody a while to come to terms with his badly scarred face. Temple of Illmater did its best to help him cope, getting him to talk about the situation, doing community service, reading him bed time stories that end well. What really helped him was his night time raids of medicine storage rooms.

Cody quickly became ready to face the out side world again. Mostly because the guard positioned at the medical storage room neck was too fat to put into a choke hold.

Back out on the street Cody uses the coping methods he learns in the temple of Illmater. Writing Beren Cross a strongly worded letter. As he goes to deliver it to the Flaming Fist, he see's his face in a puddle. Crumpling up the letter he hires a assassin to have Beren publicly executed instead. Feeling better about him self he goes to the nearest tavern to drink.

[MercTroop]

Strolling through the woods Cody will was sapped from him. A figure emerged from the woods, the darkness concealed his every step. His ever word compelled Cody to do his bidding.

Trapped with in his own body Cody is blind folded and taken to the creatures lair. A gathering of vampires surround him as he is unblind folded. Unable to get his own body to run away or fight back he played their games.

Failing to solve the puzzles they gave him accompanied by a light feeding. He was traded to one of the other vampires and taken in the back. Glowing thayan torture device light up before him. Holding onto the devise as he was commanded, the blinding pain eventually caused his body to collapses exhausted.

Waking up in the forest with lacerations covering his body. Kept alive by the regeneration enchantment in his back pack. Cody crawls to the main road until he see's people standing around. When he wakes up after being healed he continues towards Baldur Gate.

Only vampires he can recall the names of are Alaster and Gladinya. Forest now holds a new found fear for Cody.

Shortly after recovering, shipments of Garlic go missing. Cody can be seen garnishing all his food with garlic, wreaking of it like he has been bathing in hot garlic water.

Despite having left the vampires grasp. He has the nagging feeling he isn't completely his old self...


OOC: Thanks again tot he Dm who held the event.

[MercTroop]

Constantly getting blamed for his actions Cody grows sick of being at the end of misfortune. Deciding to change his life he tries to apply to the temples of the Triad. Most of the clerics and paladins turn him away.

Getting fed up he tries to get acceptance from one of the travelers around the camp fire. As usual most of the followers of the triad turn him. That is until he meets Meri, giving him a book of Illmater she sets Cody down a new path.

Learning about the teachings of Illmater is more difficult then Cody expects. He still takes on side jobs as a mercenary, albeit he takes fewer jobs on. Slowly he begins to slip into old habit of stealing again. Teachings of forgiveness are at odds with Cody own hatred that steadily builds with each day.

[MercTroop]

Luck of the draw?

Tymora fortune, or Beshaba anger?

Kid stood near camp fire offering passers a chance to pick one. Have their fate changed. Unable to resist Cody played. First card started off good, he ended up with a brand new sword. Good quality almost better then thunder hammers. Second draw caused world to blur before he ended up in a small shop.

Women behind the counter looked like a orc, as Cody's dark vision switched on. She just stared at him, Cody waved at her before moving to the door. Walking out the door he was horrified at the sight he saw. Drow every where.

Walking back inside the shop Cody had to get a feel for where he was. Cracking the door slightly he watched them pass by. On his lips he prayed they were not loltians. Watching a human walk down the street in robes he decided to test his luck.

Few drow examined him for a moment but they paid no attention to him over all. Wandering the city he quickly found where Duergar of the city lived. Living amongst them was vastly different from duergar he had lived with. His hated enemies Mind Flayers lived with in the city.

Cody determination to leave Sshamath pushed him to find a way back to the surface. He would sleep light with a dagger for nights that follow.

[MercTroop]

Gnome who's name he quickly forgot and renamed Olsin became Cody closest friend in Sshameth. Watching each others back, gnome offered to help Cody back to surface. Or just to a different settlement that wasn't run by drow.

Gnome told Cody of a portal to surface. Along the way they encountered a lolthian priestess, it seemed Olsin was in love with her. He bowed and they shared friendly words, or as friend as a drow could. Looking at the gnome, Cody decided he would kill Olsin on surface if he would not come with him to live. Leaving his friend in the hands of a lolthian priestess was too cruel of a fate.

Pair took long task of traveling through the under dark. Surviving by ambushing and taking what they could when they could. Eventually their hard work paid off and they reached the portal to the surface. Olsin warned Cody that their might be trouble on other side. All Cody could think about was getting away from the drow as fast as possible.

As pair exited on the other side of the portal they walked in on a drow raiding party taking a rest. Following fight was one of the most brutal Cody had ever been in his life. Out numbered by drow who then summoned their demon minions.

Each side knew that surrender would be met with a slow and painful death. Olsin was an incredible fighter throwing him self into the middle of the fight, drawing their attention. Cody moved around the fight striking those who showed any sign of a opening, before vanishing from sight.

Drenched in blood, the pair crawled to the top of Durlog tower. Where they spent their final time together bandaging their wounds. It was at this point Cody found him self unable to kill Olsin, after he refused to come with Cody. Perhaps in the future cards of fate would allow him to visit the gnome in the future.

Out side the tower, Cody chased the gnome around trying to grab him for a hug. They shared a friendly exchange of words before the gnome asked for gems Cody had hinted at giving him. With those words spoken, Cody ran across Durlog bridge. Gnome stood there looking unsure at what was happening. As Cody vanished over the hill he knew the gnome would not follow him into the basalisk.

[MercTroop]

Morning started off pretty normally. Praying to Beshaba he leaned his back against a tree stump. Prayer included his normal range of compliments for the goddess, concluding with him dedicating his kills to her. Taking a deep breath he lifted the crossbow in his right hand. Rolling out of cover a Wyvern stood over corpse of a deer. Firing a bolt it pierced the back of the creatures neck.

Second bolt automatically loaded into the holder. Wyvern turned around screeching loudly as it spread its wings. Greeted by a second bolt to the chest. Charging forward, it smashed down the tree Cody had been using for cover. Making a run out into open to avoid falling tree, creatures tail whipped against his breast plate knocking him down.

Creature collapsed as it tried to turn around. Its breathing became short and shallow as poison bolts took effect. Standing up Colt dropped his Crossbow and unsheathed a long sword from his back. Wyvern suffering was quickly put to a end...

Collecting small bounty for his work in Beregost Cody felt pretty good about him self. Walking down the road he couldn't believe his eyes. A minotaur with biggest horns he had ever seen was standing on the side of the road. Beshaba was truly in a good mood. Not realizing he would regret not ignoring it he unsheathed his blade and prepared to collect another bounty.

[MercTroop]

Minotaur stood on a patch of grass seemingly conversing with a human. Behind the man stood a dark skinned man who just watched in silence. Approaching the minotaur Cody prepared to slay the creature, that was until the man beside the beast laid claim to it. It wasn't the first time Cody had showed down with another bounty hunter, he had no intention of backing down.

As the minotaur, cody and the man talked it quickly became clear that a fight would ensue. Man cast a spell fading from sight, as Cody rushed forward he struck at the air. A blast of energy followed from the air knocking Cody down. Minotaur charged forward brandishing a battle axe towards Cody. Rolling onto his feat Cody used his skills to hide from sight to evade the duos attack.

It quickly became apparent why the man laid claim to the minotaur. He was working with the creature. As Cody stalked through the forest a short distance away he saw a hin wrapped in dark leather talking to the air. Shortly after a blast of energy crackled from the sky destroying a patch of grass near Cody.

Destruction of the forest continued for a few hours as Cody ran from cover to cover. Eventually he gave up hope of the man showing him self for a counter attack. Retreating to Beregost Cody went straight to the temple of Lathander. Pretending to make a gold donation he recooperated his wounds until he could come up with a plan to leave Beregost.

[MercTroop]

Around noon time a elf huntress finally showed up. Convincing her to help Colt and help him hunt down the minotaur should it appear again. Pair set off down the trade way. It didn't take them long to spot the minotaur and his friends.

Following the huntress Cody hoped the women would be eager to slay the minotaur and his pals. As he hoped huntress persued the minotaur into the forest. Staying back using a hill as cover, Cody watched her approach the beast. Knowing its friends they were probably near by.

Watching her talk to the minotaur Cody could hear near by foot steps. Yelling it's a ambush he fired his cross bow wildly at the air around her. Then burst into a dash along the trade way. Huntress trailed behind him with the minotaur clearly in pursuit. Women stumbled as the minotaur quickly loomed over her.

Seeing his chance Cody raise both hands in the air giving them the finger. Activating the magic in his gauntlets the haste speed allowed him to make a quick get away. Not hesitating in leaving the huntress behind, Cody didn't look back as he ran towards Baldurs gate.