Henry E. X. Splorer's page

Init: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (16) + 1 = 17

The image flickers to life showing a grainy tan and beige picture show! A staticy voice starts to speak from above,

"-hy are we doing this? Oh, its on?!?"

The movie shows Henry Splorer standing in the woods, gun in hand and dressed in his iconic hunting outfit. He begins speaking in a loud showman voice,

"Hello! I'm Sir Henry Edward Xavier Splorer, hunter extraordinaire! A good hunter must know how to sneak up on his prey! There are many ways to do so but today I'll teach you how to use a simple method known as the 'Leopard Crawl'!"

The old hunter than lies down on his stomach and begins to craw using his elbows and knees. Still crawling he continues,

"It's a simple but useful crawl! It lets a hunter not only keep hold of his weapon to fire but also gets him lower that a normal crawl would!"

He stand up with a bit of difficulty and looks at the camera,

"Well, thanks for watching! Happy Hunting!"

He than says in his normal voice,

"Don't you think thats a bit too short, Shiv-

The roll of tape finishes suddenly and your left with a blank light and a low whir.

Suddenly Henry jerks, and when his jaw opens again, the voice that comes out is Henry's!

"No, no, no, Miss Lane. Your here because your a self righteous b%+$* that's so full of herself that you blame yourself for something you had no part of and you continue to disrespect your "love" by flirting with any whore you happen to come across! Yes, THAT'S why your here, Miss Lane."

Henry doesn't answer,standing stock still with his hunting rifle trained on the guests.

Then no more.

Twice...

His body jerks once...

Its a loud, raspy, painful moan, that seems to echo through the manor, drowning out the rain and thunder! His breathing quickens and his body starts convulsing! Lance and Hank rush towards the couch while the others look on in fear and worry!

Henry E. X. Splorer suddenly jerks up into a sitting position, his skin wrinkled, eyes white, yet full of fear. He stares directly at The Vixen, and let's out a gaging noise as he attempts to reach out to her!

Then he falls back...

The old hunter's eyes well up, but he has a confused look on his face as if he doesn't know why he's sad.

He reaches up to touch your face but his hand only rises several inches before flopping back down. He then rasps "Addy... you look... so pretty, Addy... I missed you..."

You attempt to figure out what is afflicting the old man but this doesn't look like any curse or spell you know. In fact, it seems like a spell might be wearing off...

As the Vixen begins to loosen his collar, Henry's eyes flicker open.

His eyes a gray with cataracts and the winkles on his face seem to only become more prominent.

His eyes slowly trace their way around the room before landing on the Vixen's face...

He then speaks in a low and raspy voice, as if talking hurts.

"Victoria...? Is that you...?"

Henry watches as the doctor leaves, his mouth slightly open, before remembering that an odd man had just insulted him and his staff. He whips back toward Caledon and yells,

"You think you're a clever one, huh?!?! We'll see how clever you are with a bullet in your chest!"

He lifts his gun AND... stops... and looks around... his face turns pink and he lowers his gun... he begins to fiddle with his bracelet and lets out a series of "I'm sorry"s "I don't know what came over me"s and a few moans.

He then collapses to the floor.

And with that the dinner party comes around the corner.

Heading the charge is Henry, now armed with a rifle. Behind him is Mr. DeVill, clutching the top of his cane violently, and Mr. Minkins, nearly hiding behind his boss. Next come Hank and Lance, both with very serious expressions on their face. Then hobbles up Madam Zulu, her face red and smoke practically coming out of her ears. Lastly, Mr. Frogmouth comes lazily trodding up the stairs, eyes hidden by his hat and hands in his pockets. Martha seems to be standing at the bottom of the stairs, looking up with a worried expression.

"What in the blazes is going on?!?" Henry shouts. His face had lost all traces of friendliness, and his age was now prominent on his wrinkled face.

Hank nods the type of nod you give someone when you haven't a clue what they just said but your sure that they're right. It seems like the wonders of the modern world are to far ahead for this dwarf!

With that, Henry leans forward in his chair and joins the the conversation.

"Miss Aivion is quite right! I, myself, use the Westmount. Simple, I know, but reliable! But, then again, Miss Aivion here would probably be a deadshot with just about any gun! You should have seen her! They brought me in to find a rather sneaky chap, and once I did, she gave him a good blast to the arm! And he was a fast bugger to! Oh! I know! How about you show us your skills!" he finishes, suddenly standing up. He turns to the wall of pinned insects and points to the top, "How about... That one!" he says indicating a small frame at the top with a beautiful set of emerald wings inside. It frame was at the very edge of where the candle light and shadow met, making it almost hidden.

"Come! Shoot the frame down! Now look at how she does this fellers, you could learn something!"

Sure enough, everyone, except Madam Zulu, seem to be quite interested!

Henry looks embarrassed for a moment before he says, "Well, er, the professor canceled at the last moment... Like he usually does... And these people are Mr. Minkins, er, Mr. DeVill's assistant, and, um, that is Miss Cashara Aivion, and old friend, and that is my niece, Addison and her partner, Fashionbug."

Standing in front of the statue, next to the silver chair, is Henry, dressed the same as before. He raises his hands impressively and flashes a large grin.

"Ta-da! Natures bountiful feast! Please, dig in!" he laughs as he sits in the silver chair.

Hank and Martha quickly go forward and start stacking their plates with food. Hank then takes a seat on Henry's right (your left) while Martha sits on the right of the gold chair (also your right).

Lance pulls out a chair for Cashara and then takes a seat between her and Hank.

Madman Zulu sits on the left of Henry and Mr. DeVill sits next to her and Mr. Minkins next to him.

The Vixen had the choice between sitting between Martha and Minkins of across Martha but before she can make a choice, Mr. Frogmouth walk bare foot down the stairs, soaking wet, and sits across Martha leaving The Vixen to sit between Martha and Minkins.

When everyone has taken a seat nota chair is empty except for the gold one.

"Oh ah, Dr. Amp will be joining us soon. But in the meantime, eat! You'll need plenty of energy for the hunt and the morning comes faster than you think! I trust your rooms were to your liking? "

You can answer he question and then have a "free time" exchange with someone before the next "event"! Again sorry that I post slow and the story is a bit slow but we are getting close to the action!

As Cashara’s features seem to twist and become more refined Henry finishes his story, turns around, and opens his mouth to speak when Shivers leans forward and whispers something in his ear. Henry then nods and looks to his guests and says

”Well, I have something to attend to so err… Drinks will be served in the billiard room,” he gestures to a pair of double doors to the left, ” and I have had each room set up for your personal tastes, so if you find anything wrong, please just ring the call bell and Shivers will assist you… err… yes, that's about all I had to say… So please, enjoy yourselves!” he says as he walks/runs away.

Your Host looks up at the clouds with a mixture of worry and annoyance the stands in front of the doors and clears his throat.

”Alright friends, here we are. Now I know it looks like rain but before we go in, I would like to ask that you follow some simple rules. First, I ask that you all avoid using magic while you're here. My colleague, Dr. Amp, has installed a wonderful invention of her own creation, that dampens magic powers, but I would hate to turn it on in case of emergencies... Oh! And speaking of Dr. Amp, she asks that no one goes into her lab or quarters. There are things in there that could kill you if you're not careful. I also ask that no one wanders at night and that no one locks their doors, in case of emergency… and lastly, please do not go near the kennel…” he says as he points towards the large pit, ”... the dogs don't take kindly to strangers. But besides that, you have free reign over the island and house, so feel free to look around the manor! Your things have been brought to your rooms and your names are on the doors. Oh. your rooms are on the second floor by the way. Dinner is in an hour then curfew an hour after that. We have a big day tomorrow so I encourage that you get your rest. But enough ranting! Let's get in before it starts to rain!" and with that, he throws open the large wooden doors…

Henry seems taken aback for a moment before slowly opening his mouth and saying...

"Well I suppose... Yes... As long as it doesn't SEEM like magic it should be fine... But once again, my apologies everyone, you see, Buckley's last owner put him on display in a museum, and the one before that was a priest who thought of him as a demon, and the the one before that was a mad wizard and... Well you get the point..."

He then glares at the Bigfoot with the same look that DeVill gave Minkins. Buckley bows his head in shame as he picks up the bags he was carrying and continues to lumber up the stairs. As he does, Shivers scampers out of the way with all the grace of a wounded animal as he late out a soft whimper. Henry turns to his guests and gives them a smile before his face darkens and he begins to angrily hobble up the staircase.

So the pattern for the start of this is...
You pick a person to talk to/free time.
A scripted event happens.
This will happen a few times in till the hunt begins!
Apologies if this seems a bit restrictive but I fin setting up my adventurers like a video game help a lot!
Right now is free time till you reach the house!

"BUCKLEY! CEASE!" Henry shouts, his face bright red and his finger pointed at the beast.

The butler stops and pulls back, then turns around and hangs its head in shame.

"I am so sorry everyone!" Henry says as he turns to his guests. "I'm afraid Buckley here isn't to fond of magic, so it would be very much appreciated if you would refrain from using spells in till the hunt begins. This is actually the first of a few rules that you will be told when we get to the house, but in the meantime just, please, no magic. I would hate to turn the magic dampener on..."

not bad Vix she says of course I brought a nice shotgun to the hunt. Got any Turkey running around here Henry?

"Why of course! Buckley here herds them. He's quite fond of the birds but if hunting turkeys is what you want, turkeys is what we shall hunt!"

@Cashara

"Oh, you flatter me to much! Really, I just tracked a few fellows, nothing special!" Henry answers your comments with a smile on his face and pride in his voice.

@Rorx

Henry seems taken back, but then his smile reappears and he let's out a laugh.

"Oh yes, I do suppose the years have not been kind to me. But don't fret, I can still shoot a rhino a mile away! "

@Faison Bug

As the little fairy flys around the newcomers she get a warm and jolly feeling from Uncle Henry, as one would expect. From the butler name Shivers she feels a slight warmth, like that several candles might give off. The large monster, Buckley (apparently), she feels a big fat nothing. The same aura most animals would give off.

@Everyone

Henry then turns around and, while hobbleling backwards, say " Oh quick show of hands! How many have brought a firearm?"

All the guests, sans Madam Zulu and Mr. Frogmouth, raise their hands.

"Alright, well we have extras. Oh and of course you brought one, Cashara, but what about you? Rorx? Addy?"

.... as you all say hello to your old friend you suddenly stop and lose a bit of your smile. This wasn't Henry… well at least the Henry you remember…

The man before you had aged significantly. His once broad, strong frame, that was large and imposing, was gone, replaced with a small skinny form. His once bright. Fiery red hair was now grey and dull. His once perfect posture was now stooped and his knees were now wobbly. His skin was wrinkled with much more than just smile lines and his clothes now hung off his body instead of the tight fit that outlined his muscles in the past. Even his hat seemed to fall around his head more, like a child pretending to be a pro hunter.

But despite the changes that come from age, you can still see that it is the Henry you knew. His large magnificent mustache is still curled under his large nose and the light of joy, love and adventure is still glowing in his eyes. He was dressed head to toe in tan clothing, a loose shirt with shorts. He's wearing high, sturdy boots and a large dome-shaped cap. And finally, he has cords of beads, animal teeth, and feathers around his neck and left wrist and a baby blue string of pearls around his right one.

He gives a bright smile and a large hug to Addy then grabs her shoulders to get a better look at her.

” Oh ho ho! Well, look at you, Addy! I must say, it is so nice to see you again!

He also gives a wide smile to Fashion Bug who he says

” Well, I've seen a lot of things in my time, but not this! But it's so nice to meet you in person, err, fairy…

He also greets Cashara with a smile and a hug and answers the question with

” Yes yes, nice to see you as well. Everything has been taken care of! Oh and everyone! Buckley and Shivers here will take your luggage!”

Sure enough, the shaking man and monster pick up your bags and begin the walk up to the mansion.

Henry then turns to Rorx and grasps Rorx’s large hand with both of his and shakes it up and down.

” it is so nice to meet you again Master Rorx! It is truly a delight to know you received my letter! I was sure it wouldn't get to you, but, well, here you are!”

He goes to each guest and bow, shakes their hand, or gives them a hug as Naylar starts the motor and begins to sail away.

” Mr. Naylar will be back in three weeks, don’;t worry! Now once again, I would like to thank you all for coming!” Henry says once hellos have been made. ” I would like to apologize for Dr. Amp’s absence, but she locked herself in her lab again… don't worry! She’ll be out for dinner! She always has something she has to work on! Oh, speaking of dinner, it will be served in about an hour or two, so please feel free to explore the ground as you wish! But first, if you would fallow me to the house. Again, thank you for coming!”

With that, Henry turns and begins to march off towards the house.

you can pick someone to talk to on the walk there or we can skip that if ya want! Sorry for the delay in posting!

...And between those two was a third, and much more familiar figure...