Down the Verdant Path...new PbP GM (Inactive)

Game Master R. Sweet

Ayla noted above that she has her own wand, so Koani would have used Ayla's wand on Ayla, and Koani's wand on Minna. Narissiel appears to be a brand new character, so she won't have a wand.

Koani helps MInna with her injuries, and then tries to revive Narissiel.

CLW: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 1 = 7
CLW: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5
CLW: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 = 6

Koani, Blarg, Ayla, Minna, and Narissiel are now all at full health.
7 charges from Koani's wand and 3 from Ayla's wand used.

Quon, Herbie, do you need any help?

Minna looks around warily, not sure of whether to trust her eyes or not. "Bags, huh..." she muses aloud as she edges toward one of the extinguished campfires.

Perception: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (10) + 8 = 18

The 12 bags are variably colored and hang 10' up in the trees. Most of the bags are colorless blobs and some emit sounds, growling, barking, cheers, etc.

Pokeitpokeitpokeitpokeit

"Um...so what now?" Minna asks, trying to ignore the strange urge welling up inside her. "Try one of the trails? Or should we see if those bags have any uh...bag-fruit?"

Minna, your eye catches on one particular bag. It has liquid dripping from it. Bright, multicolored iridescent liquid.

Another bag, verdant green, seems larger than the others.

A third is a strange bag indeed. It seems made of reddish grey fur...wait, is it growling?

A fourth bag, blood red, seems to emit the cadence of a rousing speech.

Narissiel staggers to her feet.

"Thank you." she tells the others. She picks up her longbow and sheathes her rapier. Then she goes over to Minna to see what she's found.

I suppose Minna is working herself up to pokeitpokeitpokeitpokeit..are her eyes growing bigger at the thought of those gem like teardrops? Does anyone want to pokeitpokeitpokeit?

Though all of the bags are intriguing in their own right, Minna's eyes settle on the one dripping the iridescent liquid.

"Hey, think that's the little gnome's missing color?" she asks, edging closer. "Let me see if I can...nudge..." she huffs, lifting her lucerne hammer up to give the bag a little poke. "Someone watch to try and catch it if it falls, alright?"
__________

I figure even 10' foot up is still within reach for someone wielding a reach weapon :)

Oh dear Minna, you should have watched where you stepped. One of the vines comes loose, and slams into you.

slam attack: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (15) + 7 = 22
damage: 1d8 + 7 ⇒ (4) + 7 = 11
plus grab: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (16) + 13 = 29

Ouch....to be continued...when I get home from work, roughly 8 hours.

Back at the Pin Cushion brigade
Herbie helps attend to the wounded as the group mills about collect their gear and themselves. He attempts to see what the Monkey and Porcupine have on them hopefully something of use and then he sets out with the rest of the group.

A bag, a bag, anything for a....What?
Perception: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (5) + 3 = 8
Herbie begins to try and look at the bags and the area around them but before he can Minna's attempt to poke the colored one results in something happening. Seeing the Vine lash out at her he tries something possibly rather stupid rushing forward he holds up his viney arms and waves them in the air like he just doesn't care.

Herbie, I literally lol'ed. Heeeey I think I love you! Also, if someone wants to roll init for me, we can get the party started. Herbie's cuz is at +0. Otherwise, it waits until ~1030pm EDT.

Herbie, looking around the site of the whirlwood massacre, you find a mwk composite longbow, 40 arrows (minus what I used), a dagger, and 2 potions. The first potion has a heart etched in it, the second has a bounding frog (Quon?).

Ok then. Thx Herbie. Here we go.

The Party
Herbie's cousin Viney. (You SUCK Herbie!)

Acting first
Koani
Narissiel
Quon
Acting second
Ayla
Minna
Herbie

Pleasure to be of help Sweet. The love bud is always accepting of the love. :p

Koani sees Herbert waving his appendages around and waits to see what happens. i.e. delaying until after Herbie.

Quon has had no damage, thanks

After the combat Quon folds his net carefully and then follows the others. His big eyes bulge a bit more when they see the frog on the bag, but he then jumps back as the vines attack! Fortunately Herbie seems to be able to speak to this cousin of his, so Quon waits to see what happens.

Delay
I have placed tokens on the last map, including a medium token for the vines. GM, can you position these so we know where everything is?

Narissiel draws her sword and moves over to help Minna, hopeful that little Herbie has luck in calming down the wild plant-life...

Moving beside Minna and drawing her rapier as she goes. Then readying an action: If the vine attempts to harm anyone (damage or constrict) she will stab it with her rapier.

Previously, on 'Adventures Under the Well':
Ayla, after receiving a bit of wanding, Yawns and stretches her arms toward the sky. "Ayla sleepy." Kicking the Vanara for good measure, she proceeds with everyone else forward into the Forest.

Currently, on 'As the Vines Wave'
Watching Herbie waggle his arms toward the Viney Protrusion, Ayla walks up next to him. Pulling her fists up into a guard by her face, she looks almost expectantly toward the hanging vine. Readying a Punch if the Vine turns Vine-olent!

yeesh, you guys are as bad as me! Of course, it's better than the dirty looks I usually get.

Contiuning to wave around wildly with his spindly arms Herbie continues his commune with the wild Foliage with a little nod and Wink to Ayla as if to say "Hold your blows" he start groaning, moaning and growling like an ancient oak being buffeted by a storm.

Speaking like this takes forever. If only they understood Taldan a sigh can be heard from Herbie and he struggles with the proper phrases as the interpretation from Common to Vine-ish doesn't really corilate.

Previous Roll was a 19 Not sure which Skill would work with a Wild-Plant-Empathy Check here or if its just straight Diplomacy so feel free to add or subtract as needed (Diplomacy -2, Prof. Herb +9, Kn. Nature +6)

R. Sweet you should have expected this lol! I have cultivated and Harvested a few more puns that I am holding on to for just such an occasion

Cousin Viney curls some leaves, twists tendrils, and does a full body shimmy.

GM rolls with it.

Herbie: give me an idea of what you're telling Viney.

Cousin Viney curls some leaves, twists tendrils, and does a full body shimmy.

Would he Address us as 'Roots' or would he use the more formal 'Rouths'? Sometimes the Thick accent makes it a bit tough to understand.

That's a good question. But, Herbie's the only one that can understand it right now.

Minna struggles, having found herself trussed up like a holiday turkey and sporting a new shiner to boot.

I Want To Get Away: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5

"This...is the worst day..." she groans, unable to budge the vines an inch.
__________

Told you I'd be busy at work today :P

going to post this so all can Meta and "listen" in :)

Herbie surprised that his cousin is shocked with speech he begins to 'speak' further. The little Herbalist starts to sway with the wind his leaves tinkling together like a wind chime.

"Brother Vine. My name is Herbert Shimmerleaf, watcher of the vale, defender of the grapevine and master herbalist. I along with this group of wanderers have set out to locate that which has been lost." exhaustion begins to set in with all the motion of communication Herbie does something he would rather not do in this place, but the time has come for him to gather some much needed nutrients and become more like his cousin in fauna.

Herbie begins to shift in appearance. His legs begin to take root. A look of fear appears upon the Leshys face as it begins to fade into his plant form. The soil seems odd both acidic yet alkaline.

Herbie 'speaks' further "O great Vine Brother who's roots run deep and far. I am sorry we have entered your grove unannounced. Are you the guardian of this grove? This grove at the heart of our quest? Might we garner passage though, collect what we have come for and leave with out a trace? We will take what does not belong and return to our realm faster than the morning glory grows.

Reverting back to his more mobile form he shudders and grasps Ayla's arm for support and to steady himself.

Ayla, completely confused by Herbie's transformation, Growls low at Cousin Viney as they both waggle various viney appendages at each other. "You Hurt Herbie! No Hurt Herbie!" Right as she is about to swing, Ayla catches Herbert's transformation back into the Cute little leshy. Supporting the Little Buddy, she looks at him confused. "Herbie OK? Plant no hurt Herbie?"

Koani gently helps catch her little plant friend as he shudders. "Erastil be praised, you seem to be OK, Herbie. Let me know if you need any help, OK?"

"Thank you for your concern. That transformation is quite taxing but I will be ok." Herbie begins to catch his breathe and then starts as the final words of Cousin Viney come across. "I was not able to get anywhere with the guardian but he did mention The Hunt Masters are returning now!!! Prepare for the unexpected." pulling a potion from his bandolier he drinks the transparent blue liquid in one gulp.

Potion of Shield. Merabian Mentorship kicks in take 10 on spell craft check for 16 against DC16 to add Shield to my Formulae book at no cost.

Quon seems shocked at Herbie's transformation "Herbie, are you one of those priests of nature? I heard they can change into animals, but I guess it makes sense that you change into a plant"

"Quon, I am not really a priest of Nature but more so one with Nature and Nature is one with me. Makes for a great game of hide and seek I'll tell you. Was great with the human children that would go running through my vineyard back home in Merab."

At Herbie's warning, Narissiel draws her longbow, sheathes her rapier and prepares herself for battle.

"Tell it to let Minna go."

She is still grappled, right?

Outlanders and thieves! declares a muscular man with goats’ legs and glowing green eyes. Casting back his cloak to reveal curling horns atop his head, he continues, We of the Whirlwood wild hunt do hereby doom you unto death! yellow

From another quadrant of the grove, a furry scout pipes up. Clortho, please. For all we know, they have been sent here by Ng, or another one of the Eldest. let make this one green.

Ssstuff it, Ronronne, hisses a third hunter, Why can’t we just agree to have a good old fashioned hunt, yess? Blue/Purple?

Because, Xox, says the wolflike fourth, we cannot hunt without our full complement. Where is Daisag? red

Koani holds her bow in one hand and an arrow in the other, trying to be non-threatening but clearly ready for a fight.

"Who is Daisag?"

Daisag is our 5th. He is the Varana we left at the whirlwood to protect our area from harm. replies Xox.

"I think that banana is already peeled. He attacked us when we got here."

Newly surrounded, Ayla does the most reasonable thing given the current circumstances. Pulling a few apples from her Backpack, she offers them to the Quartet of Questers. "Ayla have apple. Ayla share apple. Friends?"

Profession(Merchant): 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (13) + 9 = 22 Or Diplomacy at 6 higher

Are those Granny Smith or Red Delicious apples? asks the woolen wolf.

"They are Ayla's own new variety. You should try one, they're good."

diplomacy assist, Patient Optimist: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4

Still bound up in the vines, Minna feels her blood pressure beginning to rise and has to resist the urge to Hulk out give in to the bloodrage.

"Yes, we're super sorry about your friend," she says instead. "All we want to do is help our little gnome friend get her groove back and then we'll go home and never bother you fine people again. So...could you ask your viney friend here to let me go?"

Diplomacy (Aid): 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 2 = 8

She tries to smile, but it's more like a deranged grin at this point.

XOX throws his are around Ayla's shoulder, take an apple, and bits into it.

hmm. Tasty. Very good. You make the finest kind of prey. He turns to the other members of the hunt and suggests. What do you mates? Shall we give them a sporting chance with a head start?

Viney, let pointy ear go...

Koani sighs dramatically. "I guess it will have to be a hunt, considering you could never win an archery contest against us..."

Narissiel nods. "So true, Koani..."

Viney will let his best friend go...players have one round to skedaddle, initiative to follow later tonight.