Rankev's finger motions weren't quite right, and altho he got the spell off, it did no damage to the creature. And because he was flustered by the fumbling, he left an opening for the creature to attack.
Rankev - take d8 damage.
Teren misses the crystal, and in reaching for it puts himself off-balance, allowing the creature to attack in return.
Teren - take d8 damage.
Zathra strikes true, but only inflicts a minor wound on the creature.
What do you do?
Zathra continues to stab at the creature, sure if it's death at her hands.
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"Vile Rapscallion! Power shouts as the beast takes a large chunk out of his side. "Impudent cur! You know not what kind of predicament thou hast incurred! 'Twill be but an insignificant bother to make thy be but a footnote of history! Watch now as I modify thy agglomerate in a most distressing manner!"
Teren tries again to dislodge a gem from one of the creatures.
Again, Sarthel strikes out at one of the creatures with her mind :
And opens herself up for an attack :
"Onric, Rankev - I could use some healing over here!"
The beast attacking Zathra finally dies, but a new one takes its place.
Rankev's bolts finally finish off one of the creatures that have set upon him, but a new one takes its place.
Rankev - take d8 damage.
Teren, you over-extend yourself, opening yourself up for an attack.
Teren - take d8 damage.
What do you do?
Onick comes over to Sarthel and heals her of 8 HP.
But she is at -1 Forward because his healing is painful and distracting.
Sarthel doggedly strikes out at the creature which attacked her with her mind :
But merely leaves herself open for another attack :
" We should withdraw. Go, I'll cover you, " Teren says. He feints, then closes his eyes...
And his form shifts into a buffalo, blocking the hallway.
It's not so much a corridor as an open cellar. You're in the entry room, and there are open doorways along its walls going into other rooms.
Since you would have made the first roll for your Defend, I'll give you 3 Hold on that. What do you want to do with it?
Those of you above ground suddenly hear footsteps approaching, and someone...whistling? You turn to see what's going on and see...
"Withdraw from what? These?" she says as she dodges a swing. "Why? Also, why would you cover me? I am clearly the better warrior, as I am happy with my own skin and do not crave the skin of others." the last part is almost interrupted by a swipe towards her midsection, which she parries with the butt of her spear at the last moment.
"Besides, even if we were in danger of being overwhelmed, retreating into a restrictive place with multiple entrances would not be my first choice. Better a more open place that we can see our adversaries coming."
With a momentarily lull in the battle, Zathra finally has a moment to look around. She shrugs at Teren and says "Fine, we'll do it your way." and begins a fighting retreat upstairs.
Between Zathra's fighting retreat, and Teren's Buffalo Defense (TM), everyone manages go get back up the stairs to the stone floor of the ruined castle without further injury.
Now that they've had a taste of blood, the creatures try to follow you up the stairs, but since they can only exit one at a time, and there's multiple people attacking from all different sides, they all fall quickly.
As the last one falls, you all suddenly hear footsteps approaching, and someone...whistling? You turn to see what's going on and see...
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A man comes strolling along into your midst. He's in good shape, very handsome, and dressed in stylish leather. He exudes an easy-going aura, ill placed in this site of death almost to the point of carelessness.
"Oh ho! And what have we here? Merry adventures in search of daring and phat loots? What stage are you in thy quest? Have you passed the vignette, or are you still listening to a mysterious voice telling you how to kill rats in a basement?
Or are you through all that and you've been given a nemesis and a vague-but-important list of duties that you are deliberately ignoring in the face of minor requests made by complete strangers that seem to place misguided faith in your abilities and pay overly-well for relatively minor tasks?
But! Above all, please don't tell me that I'm late come and you're on your way to the end encounter with some BBEG, for that means that I've missed all the exciting parts and will surely die with only a some whispered word to hint at a complicated backstory and a hope to be explored in the prequel. And wouldn't that be just awful?"
The man happily stares at you as if waiting for an answer to an obviously simplistic questions.
To Teren, Zathra will snort and say "I didn't know you had a jester in your group. That is delightful!"
Buffalo-Teren gives the newcomer a long stare from one huge eye, then snorts and shakes his shaggy head. The buffalo shrinks back down into a human form. "Merry? Do we look merry?" he asks the newcomer. Zathra's quip is met with a tired grin.
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"Ha!" responds Brian, pointing good-naturedly at Zathra. "The Scathing Skeptic! Behind a tough exterior lies and equally stinging interior. Brilliant! I've got to write that down," he says, taking out a pen and parchment, "Ha. 'Jester'. I've never heard that one before.
And a shape-changing pragmatist! Oh well done. Would you say that you're more of a jaded pessimist with a haunted past looking for redemption, or an eternal optimist that's encountered some difficulty and you're trying to make your way back toward salvation?
Oh, and where are my manners. I'm Brian WhiteAngel. Bard and thespian extraordinaire!"
He goes back to scribbling in his journal.
"So, Brian, do you sing and dance? Juggle?"
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"Ha! Nay nay, to divert my attention to such drite and primitive forms of ephemeral amusement would dilute my penultimate skill. I am a Wordsmith! 'Twere it the written word or the matters of the Orator, I claim second fiddle to no man, sir! To no man!
Whether it be on the field of battle, 'round the campfire, or in a lover's bed, my verbage will play the Strings of Fate like an old fiddle, crafting and forming the audience in the manner most marvelous!
But come come, we do not have all day to for me to prattle on and tell you of my many, many, many accomplishments. From the looks of the poor serfs and peons in thy midst thou art on the most devious of quests: The Escort Mission!
Alas and alack it seems I'm in the nick of time. Do the children get stuck on odd bits of unsmooth terrain? Are the adult followers more like suicide machines, rushing in to combat that they are inept at? Yes, yes, it's an old story, predictable as Fallout.
Well, I usually get wrapped up in a romantic subplot right about now. If you could just show me to either a young maiden already promised to a rich or powerful man that does not love her, or some cold amazon who's heart merely needs someone to 'understand' her to so she can grow into the chosen one, I'll be about my work.
Oh, to where do you escort them? Since they are hapless villagers, I assume you're leading them to a place of refuge with a fast and deadly enemy hot on your heels?"
Somewhere, you hear a dog bark.
At the bit about the "cold Amazon", Teren does crack a grin, considering that this fop is talking to Zathra.
Teren gestures at the entry to the dungeon. "Not much of a refuge, but it's what we've got. Coming?" he asks, as he heads down again.
As they assess the environment, Teren will keep an eye out for the fox-creature, trying to calm it and keep it from bolting.
"You talk to much fool. You're as bad as..." Zathra does not finish the sentence, but instead surveys the surroundings.
Teren - The dead beasts stay in their current form. If however, you pry the pink crystal off their foreheads, they revert to the fox-like form.
Zathra - there's a portion of the second-story floor still intact, where the inner stone walls formed a corner. It would make an excellent watch-post.
"I have found a location where someone could keep watch. It would be as safe as any in this place."
So, you all get everyone into the cellar, and settled. The rations are handed out for a meager meal for all. With so many people, each one only has to take an hour per day on watch.
The Knight speaks up, saying "I had suggested earlier that we mount an expedition to the Blackened Grove, in order to provide long-term sustenance. But friend Teren says that the Grove is a dangerous place. Does anyone have any thoughts on this, or how we are to sustain ourselves in the long run?"
"Hunt, kill, and eat. Is there a different way to feed yourself?"
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Brian smiles at Zathra as he passes him, on his way to introduce himself to the Knight. "Good sir, some have said that civilization is built on agriculture. I think it's going to be big someday," he replies smoothly.
Brian walks up to the knight and takes her hand, lifting it to be kissed as only a professional who practices kissing hands can. "And a most good evening to you...ma'am? Can I call you ma'am? Or do I refer to all knights as 'sir'? If you could provide me with a name, that might do well to advance this...subquest?" he says romantically, certain that his love interest sub-plot has arrived.
"And, my lovely knight, I would wager that so BOLD a party of haughty adventurers such as we, with so great a quest before us shall make quick work of any and all threats that might appear! Let not the mere rumor of some swagadocious bragadocio stand in the way of these people and safety!
After all, life is dangerous, and the brave man can die but once. Whereas the coward dies many times," he ends, brazenly coping from about a dozen plays. But the classics are classics for a reason.
"Right now, anywhere seems 'dangerous'" Teren comments. "I think a trip to the Grove is our best bet. We'll need to hunt either way, but having some supplies would mean we could only send experienced hunters. "
"Then let us go to this grove and be done with it. Standing around talking is good breath wasted."
So...who's going? The Knight, the PC's (including Sarthel), and...anybody else? Perhaps Onric should stay behind to protect the non-fighters (altho many of the kids seemed to be trained in the art of fighting)?
The Knight rebukes Brian roughly, saying "You may call me 'Knight'! And I am most definitely *not* part of your 'subplot', whatever that is."
You spend your first night in the cellar peacefully, and get a better night's sleep than you've had in a long time.
The next day, Brian, Sarthel, Teren, Varus, and Zathra load up their gear, take no rations (to provide more for the children), and head out.
I'm going to call this a Perilous Journey, so you need to pick a Quartermaster, a Trailblazer, and a Scout. Except the Quartermaster is hunting for food, so they'll make a Hack and Slash roll instead of +Wis.
Who's volunteering for what?
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Brian fully believes that he's uploaded a "modification" to his reality, and the frosty she-knight is now clothed in only a chain mail bikini. His eyes widen at the fully improbable charms now laid bare for all to see (he believes) but is also taken aback at some unforeseen circumstances.
"Ah! It seems that this mod has also set your romantic subplot to 'hard' difficulty. Ah, well, no matter. I've unlocked all the dialogue options, so this game play plus one is just expanded content. Perfection!"
Any time not asleep, Brian spends regaling the group of stupendous feats of heroic heroism that border on the physically impossible. Many of them seem to involve an impossibly muscled hero (which may or may not be the narrative version of himself) wielding swords the defy all laws of physics to slay grotesquely huge monster which defy both the laws of physics and evolution.
After awhile one might wonder if the story didn't involve some scantily clad warrior-maiden, he might not get paid.
"Nay nay! Let's not burden ourselves with rations! We'll need to keep up our Supply number for the starting kingdom, or they won't have enough seed to start the harvest. If we can maximize our initial growing season, we can upgrade to swordsmen before the opposing AI can zerg us with cheap spearmen. Total PWNage!
Hence, I shall farm the wilderness on our trip! With these sandboxes usually you can't take two steps without tripping over something begging you harv3st it's leather-equivalent or dubiously useful meat source."
"Buffoon, you prattle incessantly. Do not make me take your tongue away." says Zathra.
With an 8, Brian manages to provide the group with an adequate, but not abundant, amount of food for the journey.
Zathra - with only 3 PC's in the group, you'll have to take on one of the jobs.
Between Zathra and Teren, whoever posts first gets their pick of job, and the other PC will have to take the last job.
Zathra will take the position of Scout, since that way she will just be responsible for us being ambushed and not getting lost.
Roll it! +WIS
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"Okay, yes, we've got it. You big Barbarian man, you no likely talky mans. Very cliche." The he smiles sadly at Zathra. "Awww. Did the devs not have time to give you more dialogue options? Oh, don't worry about it, we'll find lots of mooks for you to cleave through mightily so you can maximize your build.
And maybe I'll find a mod for you? Would you like that? Maybe a colorful backstory? Do you see yourself more as avenging your destroyed village, take as a slave as a child and then grew up in gladiatorial pits where, in time, your victories could not easily be counted before earning your freedom, or, that you grew up in a far-off homeland, and joined your people in a mighty attack when a powerful western nation made a fort-city on the wrong side of what you thought were your borders? Then, after razing the fortress in a victorious juxtaposition of your barbarous vigor, you found the taste of civilization to your liking and you travel now, until one day you are king by your own hand?"
Teren spends his time blazing a trail, and tries to decide if the new arrival has partaken of the wrong plant, or is just daft.
But makes the mistake of looking for the Grove in its original location, forgetting that the knight reported it had moved...
Brian WhiteAngel
Rankev "Power" Davis
