"I don't think so, Momo, I think they are trying to kill you."
Deth steps to 10' away from the blue crysamel. Growing to large size he stabs his spear at the creature.
His spear glances ineffectively off the beast.
Round 2
Crysmals (Blue)-1 NL: Both of the creatures seem to withdraw for a moment before reappearing surrounding Momo!
Crysmals (red) -4hp:
Delia: Inspire Courage
Nininox: Redirects the flaming sphere.
Aenon:
Momo: Darts away from the teleporting crystal scorpions!
Momo:
Aenon:
Deth:
Momo:
Aenon:
Deth:
Momo:
Aenon:
Deth:
The fighting continues leaving you battered and bloodied but in the end, the crystalline creatures lie broken on the cavern floor and the gems are now free for the taking.
Delia looks around at her companions, breathing heavily from the exertion. "That was interesting." She looks at the crystals for a moment and ponders. "Were the gems their eggs? Or do you think they were protecting them? Or maybe just attracted to them because of their looks? What a strange incident..."
”This species definitely would have been nice to study. They might have dated back hundreds of years. However, our responsibility is to the village now. We just can’t justify taking rash chances with the others so close by anymore,” the gnome explained to the others, almost trying to justify the actions to himself more than the others.
Delia looks around at her companions, breathing heavily from the exertion. "That was interesting." She looks at the crystals for a moment and ponders. "Were the gems their eggs? Or do you think they were protecting them? Or maybe just attracted to them because of their looks? What a strange incident..."
"Maybe we should hold onto the gems for a bit and see if they hatch into anything," Momo suggests. She doesn't know much about where the crysmals came from and feels uneasy about magic.
"For now, I think we've cleared out the cave. We should return to colony and see what needs attending to." As the party returns to the curface from the choker den, Momo turns to Deth: "How is building the Infirmary going?"
Aenon groans as he tests the mobility of his arm, at his companions discussion he looks over and interjects "Whether the gems were eggs or not, those creatures were far too dangerous to be left alone this close to the colony. If you feel the need to study them in the wild, be my guest, but I'd rather not have something that packs that much of a punch on our doorstep." With that, he places a wet rag over a particularly nasty-looking bruise from one of the scorpions.
”I can’t think of anything else we need to do in this place. I’m ready to report back to he others, and let them know about all the interesting gems here.”
Deth looks over the remains of the smashed crystal scorpions. "What a fascinating and dangerous creature. He casts some Cure Light Spells to help the group recover. "I have most of the supplies gathered together. Soon I hope to start building." he tells Momo. Before Deth leaves the caves he starts prodding all the walls with his spear. "Just checking for more illusionary walls." he remarks.
The one wall faded with the death of the creatures and a thorough search of the cavern reveals nothing new. You return to the surface and report what you found, now feeling that the colony is finally secure, for the moment at least.
The house designated as A7 was initially slated for the two clerics, Eamon and Kurvis. The clerics have since decided that for their friendship and sanity’s sake, it is best they live apart and have given up their claim on the house. Luetin, who is now the settlement’s only blacksmith, wants the house because it is close to the smithy and he expects for his son and daughter to arrive in the colony on a future trip. Harcourt wants it because he’s wealthy and intends to bring his fiancée to Talmandor’s Bounty to start a family. The wealthy Carrolby family also plans to extend its business interests to Ancorato once the colony is on its feet, which gives Harcourt a sense of entitlement. Ramona gave Luetin first rights to the house so the blacksmith could keep an eye on the smithy, even though the smithy has its own quaint living quarters. She told Harcourt, however, he could have it if the blacksmith changed his mind. The two are now at odds.
Later while Ramona is inspecting the possible mining site Luetin Calewick and Harcourt Carrolby draw your attention as what seems to be a heated dispute begins to devolve into a shouting match at near the fire pit in the "square".
Harcourt shouts " You don’t need all that room for yourself!
Luetin refuses to budge, whereupon Harcourt begins to insinuate that a “working class” man wouldn’t understand the demands placed upon people of business. "You would be far better or sleeping in your shop. Closer to your work... we're you belong. A businessman such as myself has certain, needs. Nothing that someone of your kine might grasp."
Luetin fires back "Ya richr little prick, ye only wanr that house cause its inside the palisade... scarde something grey and lankey might sneak up on ya in the night I reckon. Prissy coward ye are and without even the balls to own up to it!" This is enough to start a fight.
The two men as approximately 20 feet apart and looking as if they want to kill each other. Their boisterous shouts are attracting a lot of attention from the other colonists. Neither is carrying a weapon.
Know. Local untrained.
Nox loooked at he others. ”We have to stop this. If the villagers start fighting amongst each other, we will never calm them down. That could wreck the whole town.”
He turns to look at Delia. ”You are good at talking with people. Could you talk them down?”. Nox will Aid the attempt, if it happens.
Harcourt's condescending speech catches Deth's ears and he makes his way towards the fight while Leutin responds with his accusation of cowardice. He steps between them and grows. "Gentlemen! Everybody here is necessary and no one is a coward." He turns to Harcourt. "I know that Ramona gave Luetin first dibs on the house, and that's the way it stands. Period. Might I suggest that you ask nicely or at least make some sort of offer to Leutin if you want the house. That would be the businessman's way of dealing with the problem." He turns to Luetin. "Don't call people cowards. You should know better." He addresses both of them. "We are all alone in a dangerous, wonderful land, let's not start fights we don't need to."
Aid another diplomacy
”If Deth is right and the House was promised prior, then I agree with him 100%. Out here we can’t backtrack on deals...we have to look out for ourselves and operate within the laws that we have established. This will keep us from anarchy. And trust me, normally I’m not the person arguing that laws always need to be respected. But here, I think that’s exactly the case. ”
If the group can calm the situation down, the gnome offers for both of the men to join he and the group for a drink form one of the kegs.
Aid another diplomacy
Delia nods and joins the others as she literally steps between the two men. "I agree, that if Deth is correct in his recollection (and I have no reason to dispute it) then Luetin shall have first claim to the residence. No only that, but I do believe being that close to the smithy would benefit the entire colony." She glances cooly at Luetin. "Now, I understand your frustrations with Harcourt's condescension, but this is a good time for you to prove to him that you are the better man and ignore his words. What say you? Extend to him your hand and show everyone that you are a good man?"
To Harcourt she turns and gives him a sidways glance. "You should be ashamed of yourself for such an elitest attitude. You should know that no man or woman is better than another simply for their station. The world cannot move without skilled persons such as Luetin. Now, I suggest you apologize for your words, or would you rather be seen as the pompous fool or would try to throw around the weight of his coin? I can assure you, not many people would risk their lives for such a person. And in this wilderness far from civilization, you will need everyone looking out for each other."
Having never been much of a fan of Harcourt, and his words here only making things worse, Aenon is a little disapointed that his party seem opposed to seeing the rich kid have the snot beat out of him. Nevertheless, he joins Deth between the two men, making it clear that a fight will not end well for anyone.
Momo watches as her companions jump into the dispute. She watches the scene with a little distance, plucking at the string of her bow. Who'd want to live inside the palisade? Cowards.
Your words make it clear for the two men that coming to blows here and now is not in their best interest but without further intervention tension may reignite.
”Would you two like to tap a keg with the rest of us? I don’t want there to be any hurt feelings. Maybe we could reach an agreement for Harcourt to receive the next home the group is able to build. I think that might be fair, if the mayor would agree. How about that?”
"That's a marvelous idea." Deth adds. "Let's get a drink.
"I was getting a bit thirsty myself." Momo still holds her bow in her hands even though it's lowered. She leans on her left leg, moving the dirt around with the toe of her right boot.
"I guess this is a drinking night then." Aenon chuckles and heads of to track down some ale.
With the prospect of opening a cask of ale and the light-hearted nature of the evening go a long way towards mullifying the men. THough you still detect an undercurrent of mistrust.
Aid another Diplomacy
The gnome eagerly taps the keg and passes out mugs to everyone. ”See now fellas, this is what I’m talking about! The Drunken Hero would be most happy at us all setting aside our differences, enjoying a drink and some merriment!”
Momo talks about how they should all go hunting, but quiets down after one of her companions gives her a look.
Deth spends his time trying to broker a deal between the two colonists. He's pretty sure that since the forge actually has some living quarters that Leutin's main problem with Harcourt is his better than thou attitude and his assumption that Leutin would just give up the place.
Delia sits down with the men carefully listening to them as they explain their grievances. Calmy reassuring them that despite the austere conditions of the colony for the time being things will be getting better very soon. She negotiates an agreement between the men, the blacksmith where he will help to provide building materials and horseshoes for the young man's stable when the next ship arrives in return he'll give up all claim to the house and relocate outside of the palisade.
After the agreement, there's a round of drinks shared and a good deal of fun that evening.
Lyra Heatherly, looking winded and distraught runs into Talmandor’s Bounty in search of help. Breathless, she explains that she and Milo Cattenbury were exploring and mapping the area near Talmandor’s Bounty when Milo fell into a patch of quicksand. He has so far managed to tread water, so Lyra ran back to the settlement to get help.
”Ah, I’ve never encountered quicksand before! Any of you experienced in dealing with that particular danger? I’d suggest we head there quickly, however!”
Having little to contribute in settling the dispute, Aenon was left to spent most of the day drinking, but now, with a chance to do something useful, he springs to his feet. "Worry not little one, I've dealt with this before." He exclaims while pointing an unsteady finger at Nox. "Give me five minutes and I'll have this.. this.." Aenon loses his train of thought as he grabs a coil of rope from his backpack and heads of in the completely wrong direction. It takes him a minute before he returns, and with a sheepish grin asks "Where was this man of yours again?"
Nox laughed at his buzzed friend. ”Cayden always said that alcohol made helping more fun! And maybe just a hair more dangerous,” he continued, rushing to follow the others toward the quicksand.
Delia joins the others, swaying slightly on her feet as she does. "Do we have any long tubes? I recall seeing a local guide in the Mwangi once use this long tube to blow an air pocket around someone that was stuck in quicksand! She said something about it stabilizing the pressure around the victim to make it easier to pull them to safety!"
"I knew you had some rope somewhere." Deth jokes as he guides Aenon towards Lyra. Lyra, can you take us there?" he asks as he goes through the colony's inventory in his mind, trying to remember if there is any bamboo or other item that could be used as Delia suggests.
"The real question my friend, is why you don't have any." Aenon looks at Deth as though he just finished delivering a grand thesis on the human condition. Satisfied with his dispensed wisdom, he turns to Lyra, throws her over his shoulder and marches off, proudly proclaiming them to be off to great adventures.
"I'd like to point out that it weighs you down. Get's caught on protuberances and is hard to stow." Deth says just before Lyra gets hefted by the monk like a sack of potatoes. "Umm, Sorry." he apologizes to Aenon's hapless victim.
”Oo, no one said anything about piggy back rides! Maybe one of you can carry me on the way back home!”
Aenons eyes quickly dart around before giving Nox a conspiratorial look.
"If you're looking for piggyback rides, I think you're better off asking our hulking brute over there." He discreetly nods in Momos direction.
Aenon goes quiet for a moment, contemplating a witty comeback to Deths insults to all things rope. With his mind fruitlessly pawing at the wall built by the nights drinking, all he can come up with is a sulky: "Well I'd like to see you save this guy without it."
"I'm not saying, its not incredibly useful, my friend. Not just for me." Deth replies.
Momo doesn't hear Aenon's teasing words because she's too busy watching the trees sway gently in the distance. "I've never encountered quicksand before. How fast does it run?"
"I've only heard tales about it in books. I've heard its well nigh undetectable and will suck you under the earth in minutes." Deth says as he continues towards the murderous hazard.
Its a few minutes hike north of the colony you can see what appears to be a human form struggling in the distance. Map updated
The areas outlined are possibly quicksand
The areas outlined are possibly quicksand
As you approach the area described to you, you can see Milo managing to stay afloat about 100 feet ahead of you. As you begin to move forward you see him struggling to stay afloat, clearly exhausted by his efforts!
Patches of quicksand present a deceptively solid appearance (appearing as undergrowth or open land) that might trap careless characters. A character approaching a patch of quicksand at a normal pace is entitled to a DC 8 Survival check to spot the danger before stepping in, but charging or running characters don’t have a chance to detect a hidden patch before blundering into it. A typical patch of quicksand is 20 feet in diameter; the momentum of a charging or running character carries him 1d2 × 5 feet into the quicksand.
Effects of Quicksand: Characters in quicksand must make a DC 10 Swim check every round to simply tread water in place, or a DC 15 Swim check to move 5 feet in whatever direction is desired. If a trapped character fails this check by 5 or more, he sinks below the surface and begins to drown whenever he can no longer hold his breath (see the Swim skill description in Using Skills).
Characters below the surface of quicksand may swim back to the surface with a successful Swim check (DC 15, +1 per consecutive round of being under the surface).
Rescue: Pulling out a character trapped in quicksand can be difficult. A rescuer needs a branch, spear haft, rope, or similar tool that enables him to reach the victim with one end of it. Then he must make a DC 15 Strength check to successfully pull the victim, and the victim must make a DC 10 Strength check to hold onto the branch, pole, or rope. If both checks succeed, the victim is pulled 5 feet closer to safety. If the victim fails to hold on, he must make a DC 15 Swim check immediately to stay above the surface.
At seeing Milo struggling, Aenon immediately drops Lyra and rushes forward into the hazardous terrain. He ties one end of his rope around his waist while simultaneously trying to avoid the pools of quicksand. He runs toward the drowning man while leaving the end of his rope trailing him, for the others to grab onto later.
Each "round" is a move action but as I said this is going to be more of an RP encounter rather than strict rules.
Deth stops and grabs the unattended end of Aenon's rope, muttering under his breath. "Damn it. He got to carry his damn rope." He looks around for a tree to help tie it off. Seeing Aenon run ahead, he decides to not tie it to a tree, but follows about 30' behind him.
The gnome took a back seat on this rescue. He wasnt strong enough to really help with the pulling very well. He did try and grab ahold of this end of it, to aid as much as his slight frame would allow.