GM Rednal's Planehopping from Bard's Gate (Inactive)

Game Master Rednal

"Yep, sound safer that way..."

Asem will study the hive creatures though with Mimicry, perhaps turning into one of them could help in case of troubles

While Will isn't familiar with these specific insects, their behaviors look common enough to make a few inferences. The first thing that comes to mind is bees (although that might just be because of the hexagonal structures you keep seeing). The hive will almost certainly swarm intruders to protect itself if anyone gets too close, and it likely has hundreds of guards at its disposal.

However, going by the fact that you haven't already been attacked, the hive seems fairly docile. There's probably a trigger of some kind (like getting too close or hitting one of the members) that would set it off - alas, there's no way of knowing what that is... though it looks like the Gargoyle ahead of you really doesn't want to get much closer than it already is. So there's that.

"I suggest we leave but watch over the hive for when the gargoyle leaves. We can then follow it to it's home," Will suggests.

Stealth: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (15) + 9 = 24 To hide outside.
Perception: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (20) + 10 = 30 To spot the gargoyle as it leaves.

"Sounds like a good plan, or when he leaves the hive we can try to capture him... Honestly speaking, while there might be a bounty on their heaads they didn't look that dangerous to me, so perhaps sharing a few words with one can help us not make a mistake..."

Stealth: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (3) + 8 = 11
perception: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (10) + 10 = 20

"What if there are other exits from the hive? He might slip away and we'll never even see that he left."

Going by the sheer number of tunnels you'd seen, it was quite likely there were other exits the gargoyle could use. Turning back and just leaving it be was still an option in its own right, of course - there was nothing compelling you to hunt down every gargoyle other than your own desire to. Alternately, any method that could drag it away from the hive might allow you to take it down... though as you talked, you saw it starting to scoot further away from you.

The orbs don't sound that big and there isn't a lot around to hide so I figured it'd be easy to spot him.

Even if they're not that big, if it comes out on the far side, then flies away from us we pretty much will never even see it, and even if we did we'd be too late to catch it.

"Well it would have to leave somehow, we can just try to follow it away from the hive when he does I guess..."

Do you feel you've settled on a plan yet? If not, I can just advance things anyway - I don't want choice paralysis to freeze the game. ^^

I meant for us to split up in a triangle around the hive orb. It'd be hard pressed to leave without is knowing.

fine for me

Sounds fine to me, hopefully we don't get brutally murdered :D

Pfft, would I do that? 8D

...I mean, yes, but would I do that HERE?

...I mean, yes, bu- MOVING ON.

With your discussion, you backed off, aiming to get to the surface, surround the orb, and generally try to get to a point where you could monitor the entirety of the orb. The Gargoyle didn't hesitate to take off in another direction, darting into a separate tunnel. You did notice that it had a good flight speed, though it wasn't moving at its fastest pace... probably to avoid provoking the large hive. The question now, was... could you go fast enough to beat it to the outside?

"Or it will run as soon as we let it," Will commented. He should have expected that. It was edging away even as they debated. And if it got away, they may never find it's home. Will took a vial from his pouch, a rune of wind was carved into it, added something from another pouch and shook until it glowed. Then he downed the concoction and sped after the gargoyle. In fact, he was practically a blur once the extract took effect, traveling twice as fast as a normal human.

Expeditious Retreat will last 5 min. Will will follow as best as he can.

Anders opened his mouth as if he were about to say something, but then Will zipped away. Instead, he followed Will more cautiously since he was less confident that he could flee the hive if it was made angry. Once he had left the hive behind he intended to pursue with all possible haste.

Asem rushed to follow his companions and the gargoyle, better not to get the creature out of sight for too long. Sure he could take wings once outside, but those beasts had already proven to be way faster than him in the air.

If there was a positive, it was that you seemed to be closer to the side you'd entered from than the gargoyle was from an exit, and Will was easily the quickest to reach the surface. Some thirty seconds after he did, he saw the Gargoyle burst out of a different tunnel and start flapping into the air as hard as it could, clearly trying to leave the globe entirely.

It is currently within medium range.

As the gargoyle wheeled through the sky, Anders channeled the weariness of endless patrols and hours of combat into a small shard of folded memories, then hurled it at the fleeing creature.

Exhausting Strike (Ranged Touch): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (1) + 8 = 9

Well... I tried.

Well Asem can take a flying form, but that's a move action, so I guess I won't be able to catch up right?

Well, somehow he did it. Will didn't see the gargoyle at first and thought it might have beat him out. Then he saw it rocket from the hive. His first thought was to take it down but then he wouldn't figure out where it was going. Will shoots after the gargoyle, following it as long as it stays in sight. He could head back to the others to tell them of it's direction.

Prooooobably not.

Watching the Gargoyle flap away, it was becoming more apparent why special forces had been recruited to attempt this particular mission. The strange nature of this plane gave the rocky beasts a hideous advantage over pursuers, especially if they were inclined to flee. The good news? You had taken down some of them, and while one seemed to have gotten away, you'd already earned a reward. Some might say knowledge was the real treasure... and those people were, in fact, correct. The knowledge of experiences was a wonderful thing.

By which I mean you can all level up next time you go rest. ^^

Will got to an intersection and stopped. The gargoyle was heading up. And the only way up was...way over there. And it was still heading up. And the only way up after that was...

Will walked back to others, face neutral, but disappointed internally. "It has escaped."

"We could try to chase that thing through these orbs for weeks. Perhaps we should go back to town and turn in what we have, then see if there are any rumors about nests or other areas they congregate. Perhaps we can think of a good way to ground them so they can't escape so easily as well."

"Yeah, maybe we can shop some gear or magic trinket that can help slowing and catching them up if we find a proper town around here..." Asem mused, there was a hint of frustration in his voice though, as the creature had managed to flee. Or perhaps, he reasoned, he could at least try to figure out a way to fly faster so that he can actually match their speed while in the air.

Trudging back to town took a bit, given the wild geography on the plane and the general lack of anything resembling a permanent landmark. Finally, however, you saw the mithril city in the distance... and the sky was getting noticeably dimmer, despite the lack of a sun or true horizon.

"I can attempt to create Tanglefoot bags or we may purchase our own. Should we all throw I am sure at least one will take effect. But we will have to be wary of when to throw as the creature may plummet off the edge. Then we will have no proof of slaying." Will spoke as he followed the others back.

I forgot what we were supposed to do with the ears. Who to talk to.

"Well if they don't fall too fast, I can try to catch them as they are plummeting" He mused. "We haven'tested how falling of a sphere works after all..."

"How does one fall off of a sphere? Isn't the concept of 'down' just relative to the sphere anyways? As for stopping fleeing gargoyles, I plan on getting some tangleshot bolts. They won't hurt the things, but they should be good for clipping their wings, even at a distance."

Going by what you'd experiences, 'down' on a sphere was relative to that sphere. They were a lot smaller than a planet, and the horizon was really weird, but the downward pull was strong enough to let you keep your footing. The roads between them were another matter entirely - fall between those and you'd go down until you either landed on something else or reached the bottom of the plane. Neither was likely to be a pleasant experience, although certain magics - like Feather Fall - made it a dangerous but survivable option. The globes appeared fixed in space and didn't really move relative to each other, or the roads would have shattered long since, making it mostly predictable.

Will takes out an arrow, looks at it, then looks at Anders. "I had not considered that. I also have not perfected the formula for the tanglefoot bag either. Something to work towards. Where do we turn in the ears?"

I assume we go see them. I forgot who that was.

"They tend to run a bit pricey, normally. I've only got enough for a couple bolts. Who knows how much they might cost here. As for where to turn them in... I don't actually know? We could check back in with the celestial we met when we arrived perhaps?"

"No idea either... I guess we can go back to town and ask around maybe?"

Yeah I don't think it was ever explained, but I guess the characters might know where to turn in the ears?

If nothing else, talking to the guards in town would almost certainly get you to wherever you could turn the gargoyle ears in. Given the apparent size of the hunt - with many people going out every now and then - there was almost certainly an ongoing place to handle the affair.

"Good point." Anders and the others headed back to town as quickly as they were able with the twisting paths between globes.

Once they arrived, they made it a point to find one of the more humanoid guards. "Excuse me, where are the officials that collect the gargoyle ears? And can you recommend a good inn for non-native travelers such as ourselves?"

At this point, Will already has his notebook out and is scribbling designs for a tangleshot arrow...before he has seen how they were made. He doesn't look up at the guards, merely keeping Anders in her peripheral vision.

Asem just followed his companions, keeping his eyes open for signs of trouble.

At Anders' question, the guard - a mouthy, earthen beast that was as humanoid as you could get - grunted a bit. "Guard station down the main road. The Brass Vine, down Adamantine Lane, is welcoming to your kind." A moment later, it leaned close and began sniffing Anders.

"Ah... thank you." Anders replied a bit awkwardly, clearly unsure how to interpret the sniffing. He hurried along down the road to the guard station, then nudged Will. "You've got the ears, right? Let's get this taken care of so we can go eat, I'm starving."

"Asem does," Will says holding up one of his many vials and peering at it. He doesn't notice the guard's strange gesture. He puts it away to focus back on the town. It was still an interesting place with it's strange people not of the material plane and it's walls and roads of metal. A fortune in metal. He wondered if the people here had to live in such houses or if they could trade for more mundane construction material. So interesting, this place.

"Yeah sure, I wonder what do people eat here... Hopefully not just rocks?

He mused while walking toward the guard station where they could unload their intial and quite meager so far, reward.

The bounty - 250 GP per head - was delivered quickly enough as the body parts were traded in. Most of the local buildings did look to be made out of mithril, at least on the outside, but peeking through doors and the occasional window revealed that the insides were decorated for considerably more variety. (That said, you did notice a bit of gray dust on your exposed skin and clothing.)

After getting your money, the trip to the Brass Vine went simply enough. The tavern was about average in size for this city, but went up for three floors. The bottom was large and open, and various humans and humanoids were inside, chatting each other up.

"So they're in the middle of the last Colosseum battle, right?" You heard someone saying. "It's four sides. One was the people who put the king back on the throne in Stonemoat, one was a fire-breathing Cerberus, one was a chariot pulled by Nightmares, and the last was these two giant elephant men. And most of them just beetled for the local heroes, and one of the elephants actually vaulted up to the stands in pursuit of this flying Sorcerer. Probably would've gone worse for them if that noble lady on the local team hadn't Banished the Cerberus for a bit. I'm tellin' ya, Primes get themselves into the weirdest situations."

"Colosseum battles? Sounds like fun doens't it?" The young man grnned after overhearing one of the fellow customer at the inn. "A shame we already got a job to do right? Personally I don't think I'd stop at few ears..."

"Depending on the local rules, sounds like it could be an exciting competition or a good way to get brutally dismembered. Can't say the second one sounds very fun to me," Anders replied with a smirk.

Will looked up from his musings. Did someone say Cerberus? The actual Cerberus? The three-headed guard hound from hell? Disregarding any social ques, Will walks over to the table discussing the Colosseum and asks directly, curiosity too much to handle. "How did someone banish the Cerberus? How did anyone summon it for that matter? The beast has power equivalent to a demi-god correct?"

One of the men looked over, seeming cheered by Will's interest. "Nah, nothin' that strong. Dog was one of the lesser ones - pretty much unstoppable to farmers who can't tell the difference, but not a real threat in the big scheme of things. That match would've gone a lot worse otherwise. Group was alright, but middle-tier at best. Anything truly strong would've gone right through them. If you're looking for arena matches, though, you wanna get to a junction like Edge. Places like that got the best shows. ...Maybe start somewhere a bit smaller if you want to compete, though."

"This Colosseum? You fight magical beasts? Are they all summons and return to the home plane? Do you get to keep them as prizes if not? Can you buy the creatures from them or do you have to battle? Where is Edge? What is a Prime?" Will shotguns question back at the man. This seemed like a wonderful opportunity to acquire ingredients for crafting. Or just learning about the new and strange creatures wandering the Planes. It could lead to some fascinating inspiration.

"Pretty sure we're primes, Will. We come from the prime material plane."

"So, guys, do we want give arena fighting a shot, or shall we go on with the hunt?"

The man at the table just laughed at Will's questions, then nodded to Anders. "Your friend has the right of it." he said. "Prime material's an important part of the cosmos, and that's what we call those of you from it. Not the only place mortals live, of course, but most of them. As for 'where' Edge is... well, like most planes, direction is basically optional. Couldn't even begin to point ya. It's a major junction plane - portals to a lot of other places, with security to stop people from fighting too much. Colosseum rules are always local. Places with summoners are pretty popular, though - creatures ain't real, but can put on a great show. Keeps costs down, too. Of course, if killing foes is your thing... well, look and you'll find." he took a long drink from his mug.