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So, I've been off-forum for an age. I had to give up my job and home to look after my dying father, who then died (as dying people tend to...); but enough of that! I have managed to write a fantasy trilogy which is available on Amazon for Kindle, starting here... Fair warning: the books aren't for everyone. There's adult themes (including some BDSM stuff). I've got them listed as 'erotica' and well as 'fantasy' to try to make sure that people aren't seeing stuff they're not interested in (and, in theory, to help keep impressionable young minds away from them). They're set in a world of my own creation, 'The Land of Levels', which pokes gentle fun at some of the standard tabletop and computer RPG tropes (the books aren't primarily comedies... hopefully funny in a few places, though). There's a bunch of references gamers (and students of mythology) should get in there. The protagonist is Ren, a felid (i.e. cat-girl) who gets bound as the familiar to an apprentice dark mage, and dragged along on his adventures with his less-than-perfect party. They're light reading stuff (more 'Mils and Boon' than 'Tolkien' to be honest). Anyway, it'd be great if interested people could check them out. Cheers all, for reading this post! :)
Victor finds that, in practice, rigging up even a simple net trap is somewhat harder than he'd imagined, and Feast makes a rather satisfying meal out of old Rumblegrump. The six woodsmen appear to just go about their repetitive business - every now and then one glances towards your party, but they make no moves to approach or break off from their tasks. By the time Victor is giving up on his makeshift trap, one of the six woodsmen, who was emptying water from buckets into a large open barrel next to the cottage, has tied his two buckets to ropes on a shoulder yolk, which he then hefted into place before turning and heading out of the clearing (down a trail on the opposite side to where your party is). A second has stepped to the door of the cottage, unlocked it with a hefty-looking iron key he's wearing on a leather thong around his neck, opened it, and headed inside carrying a large pile of firewood. That leaves four woodsmen in the clearing - three methodically going through the garden pulling up weeds, and a forth chopping firewood into an ever-growing pile.
I'm not sure how much our missing guys have been on the site at all in the last few days, so reaching out, as such, isn't a simple matter. Obviously it'd be nice if people could post every day (and/or let us know it they're quitting the game) but I fully understand that Real Life trumps gaming, so I don't really like to push. On the other hand, players still checking in should feel free to keep posting - there's no need to wait for everyone to have a turn, especially out of combat. I like to wait a little in combat, or before moving on from a scene, as I know I post at different times of the day (I have a weird work schedule) and don't want people to feel too rushed (i.e. if you check in at the same time each day and suddenly I've posted two or more rounds of combat since you last checked). Unfortunately we've not played enough for me to really know what different characters' 'standard' actions in any situation will be, so if we (for example) skip people in combat at the moment I'll likely default to them doing nothing (or going full defense if in the line of fire). I think I mentioned before, but if any players are checking in but don't want their characters to do anything, then it's always much more helpful to post something to that effect than to post nothing. With these play-by-post games it's always a little tricky, especially in the start, as players generally don't want to step on each others' toes (and usually don't know each other in RL) so sometimes you end up with these situations where someone suggests something, in-character, and everyone gets into a spiral of waiting to see what the other guys are going to do, or how they're going to react, before posting themselves. I suspect my games can be worse for that than some, because I do like to throw in encounters where it's up to the PCs to take the initiative (like with old Rumblegrump and this current situation) rather than simply chucking endless 'Ambush! Hahahah! Roll Initiative!' encounters one after the other. I like things more on the sandbox-side of the scale (even though I realise that these play-by-post games, more than face-to-face games, tend to need some 'plot rails' to get players going) as, for me, the basic point of playing an RPG is getting to make the decisions for your character and, as a GM, I love it when players come up with clever ways to deal with the situations that I've thrown their way. I've come to believe though that the downside of such an approach (in play-by-post games at least) is the possibility of players more used to the 'plot rails' ending up just waiting to react to stuff, instead of being proactive in their approach to the game... ... but in this case I'm guessing it's more likely just Real Life edging out people's gaming time... :)
Rigging up an improvised net trap like Victor's suggesting will take 20 minutes and a DC 15 Survival check. The DCs to spot or avoid such a trap are fairly low, but if these guys react in the single-minded fashion their counterparts at the fallen bridge did it's unlikely they'd even bother to try to avoid it. Technically a large net could catch four medium-size creatures, but how many (or few) you get in position at the same time will depend on how you lure them over.
Fallow nods to Victor, and frowns a little at Feast's antics, but says nothing. When everyone is ready, she leads the way into the forest that continues atop the cliff. As promised, after a little while of pushing through undergrowth, you come across a path - a shade wider than the game trails you followed earlier, but not by much. Fallow heads right along the path, which winds through the forest... ... After the better part of an hour, Fallow signals for you to stop and be quiet, then edges forwards to where the path emerges into a clearing illuminated by the mid-afternoon sun. The clearing is about thirty feet across. In the middle of the clearing is a single-story fieldstone cottage, roughly fifteen feet wide and ten feet deep, with an uneven roof of dark thatch and a stone chimney on the left-hand side (as you face it) from which wisps of smoke are rising. Ivy climbs the walls in places, and the rest is mottled with lichen. A single wooden door and a window with wooden shutters can be seen on the front of the cottage. Surrounding the cottage, and filling most of the rest of the clearing, is a well-tended garden of various vegetables and herbs. A total of six men, clad in a manner similar to the woodsmen you fought by the fallen bridge, occupy the garden, each seemingly fixated on some repetitive task or other - such as chopping firewood or weeding the garden. Each man carries a woodsman's axe. If they've noticed you, they're not showing any interest in you... 'Don't be fooled,' counsels Fallow, in hushed tones, 'they look like men, but they're really the dead, animated to serve Granny Gullveig. I...' she offers Victor a nervous smile and shakes her head as she concludes, '... I'm sorry, I can't risk the witch's wrath. I hope you catch your bad person. Maybe... maybe I'll see you after you've finished your business here?' Giving Victor a quick peck on the cheek and an apologetic look, the cloven-hoofed young lady bounds off into the undergrowth, away from the cottage...
LOL - you could slap the Troll Styptic on her and see how well she responds to pain... ;) By the way, a large javelin is about 10ft in length and weighs 4lbs, and a large net weighs 12lbs ('cos Pathfinder's all about ignoring the cube-square rule when scaling these things up...). BTW, is Eugen taking any actions, or taking any stuff, before the party move on?
Fallow laughs her light, lyrical, laugh in response to her whispered antics with Victor. Turning to Feast she indicates Victor as she announces, 'Well I'm definitely having this one first,' she then gestures in general towards the remaining males in the group and asks Feast, with a grin, 'which one are you going to start your celebrations with?' Seeing Zhen partake of the ale, Fallow smiles and answers his question, 'There's a trail through the undergrowth that leads to Granny Gullveig's cottage from here, it shouldn't take more than half an...' she trails off for a moment as she glances over Tashewren's fine clothes and Eugen's silk robes, and corrects herself, '... it shouldn't take much more than an hour to get there. I mentioned that Granny keeps dead men to tend her garden? They'll attack uninvited guests... and Granny Gullveig herself is very dangerous... but if your bad person took the long way round she's unlikely to get there before us... assuming you still want to go?'
Fallow seems happy to press her near-nude body against Victor as he pulls her close . She whispers back to him... Victor:
'I'll hold you to that, giant-slayer... after all, I've never had a human before...' ... before pushing away to squat down and uncork the fallen Rumblegrump's waterskin. She sniff it, then quaffs a mouthful and grimaces, 'That's the worst ale I've ever had the misfortune to taste,' she comments... before drinking a few more goodly mouthfuls then holding the skin up and grinning, 'would anyone care to join me?'
By the by, since Victor has identified it, I'll just let you know that the Troll Styptic provides fast heal 2 and negates bleed effects for 2d4 rounds, but requires a DC 15 Fortitude save to avoid being sickened for the duration due to pain (so, not good for in-combat use). Neither the Bloodblock nor the Troll Oil provide any 'instant' healing (the former helps with Heal checks, and the latter helps to stabilise you and prevent bleeding for an hour after you drink it). Just in case you guys decide someone needs healing now... unfortunately, it's just one dose of each, and they can't be divided between people (so a potential 2d4 x2 hit points healed via the Troll Styptic for one person, nothing for the others). As usual, post what, if anything, your characters are taking (and update character sheet inventories where applicable).
Tashewren vanishes Feast, then leaps out to be a target - Rumblegrump obliges by bellowing and hurling the javelin he had in hand and ready towards the nobleman... the missile misses Tashewren by a proverbial whisker and ends up embedded, quivering, in the ground next to him. Feast, momentarily invisible, moves over and pulls the first over-sized javelin the ogre had cast free from the tree it had transfixed. Victor leaps across to the cliff, a little in front of Zhen, causing Rumblegrump to try to clothesline the anti-paladin with one meaty forearm as he makes the jump... but Victor twists in the air, avoiding the wild blow, runs a couple of steps up the ogre's arm to his shoulder, and plunges his greatsword into Rumblegrump's flesh, just above the clavicle, burying the blade to the hilt vertically through the ogre's chest! Rumblegrump momentarily has a rather perplexed expression on his face, before his eyes roll back, blood spurts from his mouth, and he totters backwards a few steps before collapsing, unmoving, to the ground! Fallow peaks from behind the cover of her tree, pan-pipes clutched and ready, before her large, expressive, eyes widen even more at the sight of Victor standing atop the felled giant, 'Wow!,' she manages, eloquently. After blinking a couple of times, she bounds over to the cliff with ease and, after gingerly poking Rumblegrump's cooling corpse with one of her stone daggers a couple of times (just to make sure...), she steps close to Victor and looks up at him, 'That... that was incredible!' she gushes, before touching her fingers to Victor's chest, tilting her head downwards and looking up at him through her long lashes, a slight smile playing at her lips as she adds, 'you know... you're a handsome man too, Victor...'
If Rumblegrump is searched you find in total... A large greatclub, four large javelins (four total - including the two hurled), the large set of hide armour he's wearing, his large net and large longspear. Inside Rumblegrump's large knapsack there are two small earthenware bottles and an earthenware jar each containing different foul-smelling substances, a collection of stones and pebbles, a large waterskin containing a gallon of ale, an earthenware jar of honey, a hunk of venison, and six fox pelts. There's also the ogre's fifty-foot length of rope lying nearby. Perception or Craft (alchemy) DC 15:
One of the bottles contains an alchemical substance known as bloodblock which aids in skilled healing, the other a substance known as troll oil which, when drunk, helps to keep one alive if badly injured or bleeding within the next hour. The jar contains a paste-like substance know as troll styptic which actually causes wounds to close and heal, albeit in a rather painful manner. One dose of each in total. Fallow points off into the forest atop the cliff, 'Granny Gullveig's cottage isn't far now, when you're all ready.' Pressing herself close to Victor she stands on tip-um-hooves and whispers into his ear... Victor: 'Unless you want to celebrate your victory now, big guy...'
So... I still need both initiative checks and rolls for all declared actions, such as attack and damage rolls, if the plan is to actually attack old Rumblegrump - unless Victor and Zhen's plans are to just jump over and stand there? There's no surprise involved, so people do get to declare actions for a full round, not just a single movement action. Sorry if that wasn't clear.
So, I'll need to know what people are doing in reaction to Tashewren's last actions (it'd also be helpful if you let us know if your character isn't doing anything too - just so I'm not waiting around for a post that won't happen). You can make your initiative checks (but let me know if anyone's delaying or anything too), and all the relevant checks for any actions you declare as well.
Peaking out from behind their respective trees, Victor and Zhen both see that... Victor and Zhen: ... Rumblegrump appears to have attached a rope to something further into the forest atop the cliff. As you watch he hauls on the rope, grunting with the strain, until a large fallen log, ten feet or so long, which must weigh a good two tons, bursts free of the undergrowth. Stepping over to the log he removes the rope, then puts his misshapen muscular shoulder to the thing and starts rolling it towards the lip of the cliff. Suddenly he spots you and grabs up one of his javelins . Meanwhile, glancing between you both, Fallow asks, in a whisper, 'So... Tashewren's pretty and all, but does he ever... you know... do anything? Apart from bark out orders, that is...'
Zhen hardly needs the rope as he bounds up the tree with even more grace than forest-native Fallow demonstrated. A couple of trees over the cloven-hoofed young lady herself is perched on a branch, leaning her back against the trunk as she watches Zhen's ascent. Catching his eye she smiles and winks, 'See,' she says softly, 'I told you it was easy.' With her bow slung across her back, she takes her panpipes out from her belt pouch once more, then risks a quick peak in Rumblegrump's direction, before ducking back behind cover, a worried expression on her face. Calling down to the others she reports, 'He's got three javelins left, as well as that big spear, the net and the club, all laid out ready... but he seems to be doing something with a rope... maybe we should hurry this up?'
Oh - Rumblegrump isn't green... not sure where that idea came from..? Ogres tend to look kinda' pale in Paizo images, but personally I generally think of them as appearing as large, misshaped, versions of whatever human ethnicity is local - since 'ogres' in fairy tales and the like are usually just big, mean, cannibalistic people (and often live in castles and stuff like local rulers would, so I guess the subtext on those tales isn't too subtle...). In regards to Tashewren's latest plan, note that even if Rumblegrump spent a round drawing and hurling a javelin at something it wouldn't negate his natural reach - so there's still a risk of at least one Attack of Opportunity coming into play if people go in to melee him. Stopping him attacking at all for at least a round may be a safer bet (followed by hoping that the combat-guys can drop him before he does get to act). The same can be said for distractions which don't negate his attacking in some manner, of course.
At Victor's words Fallow stops backing off. Her large, expressive, brown eyes dart for a moment between Victor and Tashewren, then she nods to Victor, 'Yes,' she agrees, 'you're right, of course. Just,' she glares at Tashewren, 'no tree-killing.' Stepping through the undergrowth, Fallow reaches Victor's side then, with seeming ease, bounds about five feet straight up, catches hold of the rope, and rapidly ascends the tree. Once she's at the top of the rope, she nimbly hops from one branch to another, moving a couple of trees across, to give others room to ascend. Rumblegrump bellows something at her as her athletic form gracefully flits from cover to cover behind the mighty trees, but Fallow simply responds with a light, melodious, laugh. Trying to judge her moment to retrieve the over-sized javelin, Feast realises that, whilst Rumblegrump doesn't have a javelin in hand and ready to hurl, he could definitely draw and hurl one in the time it would take her to move to the one embedded in the tree and pull it out.
As she's ignored and the party start to talk to each other in frustrated tones, Fallow (still looking nervous and wary) begins to back away into the undergrowth... Victor's second attempt at a throw snags his grapnel firmly onto a branch at maximum height, leaving an easy rope-climb up the sturdy trunk of the tree he selected, without exposing oneself to attack from Rumblegrump.
Rumblegrump bellows something guttural down at you all, seemingly in response to Feast's own bellowing, but not in any language you understand. EDIT:
Just to make it clear - Feast's 'log bridge' wasn't felled and moved either - she chopped it down and it fell into place. Sorry if that wasn't clear from my post at the time. As for fighting the ogre: If picking it off from the ground it will have a certain amount of cover (due to the lip of the cliff and the high angle you'd need to fire at), but then you all can stay in cover too. You'd need weapons with enough range, of course - I believe Zhen has a bow, and I think Eugen had a sling listed too. It's possible to climb a tree (on the non-ogre side) to get closer, or even level, with the ogre, to lessen the range. Keep in mind he has a ten foot natural reach, and a twenty foot reach if he switches to using that large-sized long-spear I mentioned he's packing. It's only a five foot gap from the trees to the edge of the cliff. Climbing trees further back from the cliff edge will end up with too much in the way to get shots off at the ogre from range. Since the trees tend to range from fifty to a hundred feet tall, it's also possible to climb higher than the level of the cliff, which could grant the 'attacking from a higher level' bonus - maybe combined with a charge if leaping down to melee Rumblegrump. The trees have branches that can support a character's weight, as well as trunks to ascend, so it's not a big deal to move round the trunk, or even from tree-to-tree and the like. If trying to melee the ogre, watch out for attacks of opportunity - a certain amount of team co-ordination would probably help. Delay is a great combat option, if the party is acting on a plan (i.e. waiting for Rumblegrump to be dazed or distracted somehow before attacking him). I kinda' wish ogres spoke orc now, after Feast's provocative comments - but, alas, Rumblegrump doesn't speak orc or common. Luring or knocking him off the cliff would seem ideal, if you can come up with a way to do that (I can't, off the top of my head...). EDIT: oh, and just in case it isn't clear - if Fallow leaves you'll have no guide to take you to Granny Gullveig's cottage, which will kind of make the whole 'shortcut' deal pointless - you'll need to backtrack to somewhere near the spiders and try to pick up the assassin's trail once more from there...
On the 'hefting a big log' plan, note that a tree seventy feet tall and an average of five feet in diameter weighs well over 60,000lbs... so not even a couple of enlarge person spells are going to help you there... The checks I noted above were for felling such a tree so it falls into place. Trees are heavy. On the other hand, Tashewren's clearly a city chap, so he's got an excuse for not realising that... ;)
Fallow looks rather horrified at Tashewren's plan, 'These trees have stood for generations and you just want to kill one?' she asks, eyes wide and a slight tremor in her voice, 'These trees right here are easy enough to climb, and it's just a hop over to the top of the cliff once you're up one - I've done it before. I... I thought you said you were the good guys...' she tightens her grip on her bow, her other hand moving closer to her arrows as she awaits an answer...
If you guys are thinking of chopping down a tree to fall as a slope to climb up, it needs to create a less than 60 degree slope to make a difference to the Climb DC (it would reduce it to DC 0 though). It'll take a tree seventy or more feet tall, thirty-five or so feet back from the base of the cliff. More importantly, it'll take a DC 15 Survival check and an axe to do the chopping, with a base time of an hour - more choppers and high rolls reducing the time (Feast chopped the last tree down solo in half an hour 'cos she got a great roll). On the other hand, I'm pretty sure I saw rope on a couple of people's character sheets, and climbing a knotted rope with a wall (or big tree) to brace against is also a DC 0 Climb check, and a lot quicker to deploy. Plus, you know, there's a chance that Fallow likes trees... ;p
'Healing? No,' Fallow shakes her head, 'I can create all sorts of sounds and, on occasion, help someone sleep or laugh, but Rumblegrump wasn't lulled when I tried to make him sleep... and I'm not sure he even has a sense of humour... My Lord Elwyn possesses healing magic - be he comes and goes as he pleases, and I wouldn't have any idea where he is right now. It's said that some visit Granny Gullveig for healing - but Mother says that it's not the nice kind of healing, and it always comes with a price that's too high.'
Note that Vasterius the raccoon was on -2 hit points and failed a stabilization check (DC 10 Constitution check, with a penalty equal to how many hit points into minus he is) so was then on -3. Eugen - you'll need to keep rolling to see how damaged he was before he stabilised (or if he stabilised at all...). You can also attempt a DC 15 Heal check each round (well, each round the little guy is still alive) to try to stabilise him that way too. All that will have taken place before the current scene, of course, but I can't imagine the outcome would change anything between then and now, so just make the rolls so we know if Eugen's carrying a familiar or the raw materials for a new furry hat in his familiar pouch... ;) Zhen - don't forget Zhen got hit by the swarm twice (due to wearing medium armour and not having fast movement), so he's lost 6 hit points in total right now. When making anti-Rumblegrump tactical decisions, keep in mind the range involved (especially for any spellcasting), and the fact that he's on top of a cliff, not a hill (you can't charge up a cliff to melee him)... and the fact that one hit from an ogre will likely drop anyone in the party... On the other hand, think of the XP! :)
Whilst your party discusses tactics, the ogre shouts something down at you in a deep, booming, voice... but in a gruff language none of you speak. Fallow leans back against the tree she's taken cover behind and sighs, 'I suppose a little quiet was too much to ask... I don't know what old Rumblegrump is saying, but I think he knows we're here. How are you planning on getting to the top of the cliff without him skewering you? I'm not sure...' she stops, mid-sentence, then quickly rummages through the pouch attached to her belt, '... hang on, maybe I can...' she pulls out a beautifully carved set of pan-pipes, peeps out from behind her tree just a little, and starts to play a haunting, soulful, tune. For a moment Rumblegrump, at the top of the cliff, seems to waver, the lids of his eyes starting to close... then he shakes his head and bellows some sort of invective, dropping the net he was holding to the ground next to him, pulling one of the javelins from where they're strapped to his back, and hurling it towards where Fallow is. The cloven-hoofed young lady ducks back behind the tree as the over-sized javelin embeds itself in the trunk in a shower of splinters. It's then Fallow's turn to mutter something you don't understand beneath her breath as she shrugs, 'I guess it was worth a try - but it seems he's too bull-headed to be swayed by my tunes...'
Knowledge (nature) DC 13: Now you've seen Fallow demonstrate her skill with the pan-pipes, you realise that she must be a faun - the offspring of a satyr and some other fey (or sometimes an elf or a dwarf). Fauns usually have goat-like characteristics, whilst Fallow has deer-like characteristics, but such variations amongst fey creatures aren't too unusual. Fauns are usually gentle hedonists, enjoying wine, music, dancing, nature and carnal pleasures. They tend to have goodly principles and are dedicated to their natural habitats. They have been known to aid, or even befriend, those rustic humanoids who are hardworking, and who make peace with the land and don't take more than they need. They command some limited musical magic - as Fallow just attempted (and failed) to demonstrate - but are overall less powerful than their satyr sires.
Fallow nods at Tashewren's rousing words, 'Yes,' she agrees, 'it's our duty to stop bad people hurting others,' she smiles again, 'you're so brave...' she murmurs, then blinks, shakes her head a little, and hastily adds, '... you and your friends are brave, I mean - to risk angering the witch!' she glances towards Victor and winks, 'I hope you're good at swinging that big weapon of yours, Victor...' Turning, the cloven-hoofed young lady heads off into the undergrowth, pausing to look back for a moment, 'Gather your friends quickly and follow me and,' she winces a little, but sounds like she's trying her best to be diplomatic as she adds, 'if you could make a little less noise, that would be wonderful - Granny Gullveig and your bad person aren't the only dangerous things in the forest...' [Assuming everyone eventually follows... feel free to make Stealth checks if you're willing to follow Fallow's advice...] ... Fallow leads you through the forest for a little under half an hour, eventually reaching the base of an earthen cliff, where the forest floor seems to abruptly rise a good sixty feet. Most of the trees in this part of the forest are around fifty to one-hundred feet tall, so some rise higher than the sudden elevation of land, and on the plateau above you can see that the forest continues atop the cliff. Fallow peers up the cliff, 'Up there,' she explains, 'it's a shortcut to the witch's cottage. The long way round takes hours...' she trails off, then gestures for everyone to get back, even as she hides herself behind a wide tree-trunk. Looking up a figure can be seen pacing at the top of the cliff - a muscular and misshapen humanoid brute, a good ten feet tall, clad in crudely-stitched hide armour, with a giant long-spear and a bundle of equally large javelins strapped to his wide back. Slung across his shoulder is an over-sized knapsack and in his hand he's fiddling with a large net. Propped up against a tree next to him is a large two-handed club, which seems almost the size of a tree itself! Fallow mutters something (which, by the tone, could well be cursing...) under her breath in the lyrical language she speaks, then whispers, 'That's old Rumblegrump the ogre - he's a nasty piece of work... I'm pretty sure he works for Granny Gullveig,' she risks a quick peek out from behind the tree she's sought cover behind, then glances across the party, 'he's a blight on these parts, so you'd be doing us all a favour if you helped to get ride of him... but if you'd rather try the long way...' she shrugs and concludes, '... well, it's up to you.'
The cloven-hoofed young lady frowns a little as Victor arrives, clearly noting the bear trap he's carrying... but then smiles, 'Of course,' she mutters, 'pretty Tashewren told me you'd been removing traps...' she seems lost in thought for a moment longer, then looks Victor in the eye, 'I'm Fallow,' she replies, 'I'm glad to meet you...' she glances at Tashewren, then concludes, '... good guys.' Seeming to think for a moment, Fallow then says, 'Granny Gullveig's very dangerous - a witch who brews potions and poisons. She makes dead men work her garden and deals with all sorts of bad types. I guess I could take you there, but I'm really not sure it's a good idea...' [She'll need some convincing, and a successful Diplomacy check, to agree to that...]
[Tashewren and Fallow are close enough that their conversation can be heard by the rest of the group (i.e. you'd all make the Perception check by taking 10), although with the trees and undergrowth you may not see them until you get closer. They can hear what the rest of you say too, of course. You can all gather together without further incident (unless someone wants to cause an incident).] Listening to Tashewren's words Fallow appears to relax a little. Taking a step closer to the nobleman, her eyes glance up and down his form for a moment and a smile tugs at the corners of her mouth before she shakes her head slightly and her eyes meet his once more, a more serious expression gracing her pretty face as she replies, 'Mother says that the Barons of men have an ancient agreement with we of the forest to not hunt or cut down trees on this side of the river... but that some men are bad and not even your Barons can stop all of them...' she looks thoughtful for a moment, then adds, '... I've not seen any other man come this way, but there was a woman. She was in dark clothes and had a... a...' she seems to struggle with finding the right word for a bit, then tries, '... one of those strange machine bow things that hunters use? The needlessly complicated looking ones? She had one of them on her back. She moved much more quietly than you and your friends (although that wouldn't be difficult...) - I think she has some elf-blood.' The cloven-hoofed young lady pauses to think once more, then points in a roughly southerly direction and adds, 'She's been through here before, I think she visits Granny Gullveig's cottage... so I guess she's probably a bad sort..?'
'I'm Fallow,' the cloven-hoofed young lady replies, 'the forest is my home, yes... I guess you must live beyond the river?' she gestures in what Tashewren takes to be the rough direction of the gorge he and his compatriots recently crossed, 'Mother says I mustn't cross the river - that's where the realm of men begins. Men set traps with metal jaws and hunt for sport and chop down all the trees and...' she trails off as a twinge of worry creeps into her soft, lyrical, voice. Taking a step backwards she eyes Tashewren with a little more suspicion as she continues, '... you're not like that, are you? Maybe...' she glances around nervously before concluding, to herself as much as to Tashewren, '... maybe I shouldn't be talking to you...'
Victor moves through the thick undergrowth away from the swarming spiders, with Eugen, Feast and Zhen following suit, although with the samurai's armour slowing him down, he fails to out-pace the spiders... [There's difficult terrain everywhere at the moment, so it takes Eugen a full round to move 30ft (no chance to cast as well). I'm assuming Feast is moving, and not just brushing at spiders, otherwise she'll drop this round... and it'd be a shame for that Barbarian fast movement to go to waste... The grease from a grease spell isn't inherently flammable (it's a first level spell that's already pretty good...).] The spiders keep biting poor Zhen for a while longer... but the mass of their swarm seems to have turned its attention to their fallen giant counterpart and, as the samurai keeps moving away, the wee beasties remaining to harass him crawl off and head back towards their fellows... [Zhen takes an additional 3 points of damage. In addition, Victor takes 1 Strength damage and Zhen takes 2 Strength damage from the spiders' poison, and both need to save again - Victor at DC 11, Zhen at DC 13 (as he's been dosed again). Save or fail that'll be the last save for Victor (the poison has a 2 round duration), but if Zhen fails again he'll need a third save (also at DC 13) because of the higher dosage he's taken. You might as well roll 'em all now, as the spiders aren't interested enough to keep chasing you when they can eat 'mommy' instead...] Meanwhile Tashewren is wandering (let's be honest) pretty randomly away from the danger (about sixty feet away from the rest of the party, even if they headed in the same direction as he did) when a figure suddenly drops from a tree maybe fifteen feet in front of him. She's a tanned and athletic young woman with long, powerful, legs which are covered in short chestnut colour fur. The fur is dappled with white spots, and her legs end in cloven hooves. She sports a diminutive tail, long ears and tiny horns and wears little besides a simple loincloth with a pouch on the belt, a quiver for arrows, an intricately carved boar’s tooth on a simple thong necklace, and a friendly smile. Thankfully her long brown hair falls strategically enough to cover her modesty. In her hand she carries a simple looking shortbow, at her belt are sheathed four primitive stone daggers with basic leather wrapped hilts, and slung over her shoulder is a curved signal horn and a waterskin. Her large and expressive brown eyes meet Tashewren's with a look of curiosity. She says something to him in a pleasant, lyrical, language he doesn't understand, then frowns for a moment and tries again, 'Are you a man, pretty one? I've had little reason to use the tongues of men before...' she glances over Tashewren's shoulder, back towards the rest of the party, adding, '... are your friends alright? The eight-legs have nasty bites... probably not a good idea to crash through the forest like deranged bristle-backs near where they hunt...'
[Well, it's been the better part of a week since Eugen last posted, so I'll just say he tries to break free...] Struggling, Eugen manages to detach himself from enough of the web strands that he's no longer in danger of being reeled in... [and no longer entangled] Wading through the undergrowth, Feast grabs the spider's web-line, before it can react to Eugen's escape and, with a mighty tug, pulls the over-sized arachnid off it's web! The monster spider crashes to the forest floor amongst you, its eight legs twitching in the air as it struggles to right itself... Un-slinging his bow, Zhen nocks an arrow, pulls, and sends it flying into the side of the monstrous spider - dark ichor spurts from the thing as it squeals once more. Between the fall, the arrow, and Eugen's opening splash of acid, the giant spider's beginning to look the worse for wear - it starts to right itself... when Feast takes a bite [AoO as it stands from prone], causing more ichor to spurt into her mouth as the spider squeals one last time, twitches, then slumps immobile to the forest floor... ... just as Feast, Eugen, Victor and Zhen get swarmed by the giant spider's less-giant-but-more-numerous little friends. The masses of coin-sized spiders crawl over the party, finding their ways into every nook and/or cranny they can, their painful little bites quickly accumulating as they rapidly go from annoying to dangerous... [Eugen takes 5 points of damage, Feast takes 2 points, Victor takes 4 points and Zhen takes 3 points. Each of those four also need to make a DC 11 Fortitude save or take 1d2 Strength damage. Vasterius (Eugen's raccoon familiar) takes 6 points of damage and starts to bleed out...] Tashewren laughs [hey - it is an evil game, right? :)] and moves even further away from the danger... [Victor has an action left this round (since neither of his posted options turned out to be relevant thanks to Feast turning out to be the tactical genius of the group... ;p ) and you can all post your actions for the next round too.] [EDIT: sorry, those damaged by the swarm also need a second DC 11 Fortitude save to avoid being nauseated from the swarm's distraction ability too... nasty little buggers that they are...]
Eugen's arcane chanting and gesticulation is followed by an acidic hisss and an unholy squealing from above the group... which is, itself, followed by multiple glistening white strands lancing down from the direction of the squeal to spray across, and adhere to, the quick-reacting wizard. The strands of web now covering Eugen lead upwards, where they twist together into a single rope-like cord, still connected to the spinnerets of the pony-sized spider hanging upside-down from a ceiling-like sheet of webbing twenty feet above. The giant spider's eight beady eyes are fixed upon its latest meal as it begins to gather in the web that has snagged Eugen, threatening to hoist the wizard into the air... ... Meanwhile, the thousands of coin-sized spiders which appear to inhabit the same web start to swarm down the nearby tree-trunks, heading towards the rest of the group... Seeing the spider swarm heading his way, Tashewren moves, as best he can through the thick undergrowth, to at least provide them with one less target... ... Victor draws his blade and readies himself, but the giant spider doesn't seem interested in descending, and smushing a few of its diminutive brethren (out of the thousands heading for the group) seems like an exercise in futility... [You are all standing in difficult terrain due to the undergrowth - so half movement and no running or charging. There are plenty of trees about (for cover or climbing) of course... although I can't imagine cover will do much against a swarm...] [Eugen is entangled (half speed - for a total of quarter speed for him at the moment, -2 penalty to attack rolls, -4 penalty to Dexterity, needs a concentration check of DC 15 + spell level to cast spells without losing them). It'll be a standard action and a DC 12 Escape Artist check to break free, or a DC 12 Strength check to burst the webbing - although Eugen will take a -4 penalty to the Strength check if he goes that route. He's not been lifted into the air yet... but that seems to be the giant spider's intent for its next action...] [Round one is next... order will be Eugen, Feast, Zhen, spiders, Tashewren then Victor - but feel free to post out-of-order (the order is just the order actions will be resolved in). You can also post a few alternative actions if you like, dependent on what happens before your character goes, if that helps.]
Feast quickly locates a perfect candidate tree, a fifty-footer near the edge of the treeline and already starting to lean the right way. A bit of skilled hatchet-work should cause it to fall across the gorge, and it looks sturdy enough to take the impact and remain relatively intact too. [With Feast's great roll she'll have the tree felled solo in a half hour. Others can help with a successful DC 15 Survival check (and an axe) with successes reducing the time taken proportionally).] With the final axe-blow the mighty tree falls, taking branches off its fellows as it crashes past them, and flexing a little as it smashes down across the gorge with a dreadful racket that causes birds to take flight and woodland creatures to scurry away in protest... Once settled, the fallen tree looks quite secure and, even with a slick, mossy, covering doesn't seem too much of a challenge to cross [it'd be a DC 7 Acrobatics check, so you don't even have to roll for that one]. Across the gorge Feast and Zhen both manage to pick up the assassin's trail (starting from where the bridge originally terminated) - a trail that plunges back into the darkened depths of primal forest [difficult terrain undergrowth, with plenty of concealment and trees for cover]... ... After about an hour forging ahead through the untamed wilderness... Eugen:
... Vasterius starts to feel nervous - glancing down at the little guy, you see he's looking upwards, you follow his eyes... Eugen, Tashewren and Victor: ... glancing upwards, you notice that a carpet of thick webbing is strung like a ceiling between the tree-trunks about twenty feet above you. Thousands of coin-sized spiders scurry across the webs... but it's the silhouette of a spider the size of a pony, carefully and silently crawling into a position right above you, that causes the greatest concern... You guys can all roll initiative and declare your actions for the surprise round!.
Eugen punches air - Feast and Victor feel the breeze as the telekinetic blow goes wide of its mark. With a step, Zhen brings the blade of his sword vertically down on the last of the woodsmen. The man's bald head splits in twain in an impressive spray of gore... which once more vanishes like smoke as the man collapses as nothing but a pile of bones held together by armour and clothing... [Apart from bones, there's three woodsmans axes (battleaxes), three daggers, three sets of leather armour, and three sets of rather shabby working man's clothes. None of the 'woodsmen' appear to have been carrying any coins or even personal mementos or the like.] Once Tashewren finishes dragging up the fallen rope bridge [although with Strength checks like that he may need a hand... ;)] it can be seen from the clean break that the ropes securing the bridge were definitely cut with a blade, and recently (with the last few hours) too. The assassin's trail ends at the bridge, unless you can somehow cross the gorge... [It'd be a DC 20 Acrobatics check to jump the gorge, with a DC 20 Reflex save allowed to catch the edge of the other side if the jump's failed by 4 or less. It'd be a series of DC 15 Climb checks to climb down the edge of the gorge (60ft at quarter speed), followed by a DC 15 Swim check to swim the river and another series of DC 15 Climb checks to ascend the opposite side of the gorge. Feel free to come up with something smarter! :)]
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