Gob Smash One

Game Master Tacticslion

"MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM- Spicy!" Shaedo sighs with bliss as she tastes the apple sauce. "It's like a woven tapestry of flavors! The clove, pepper, ginger, apples and fire-so good!" Spooning the sauce into her mouth, Shaedo's floppy hat hops on her head, and her silvery hair suddenly shifts to a fiery red with streaks of blonde, and still with a few silver-white highlights, giving it the appearance of flame. Shaedo doesn't seem to notice the sudden change in hair color as she finishes the apple sauce. After she is done, she delicately wipes her face with a handkerchief and then thanks Ceru profusely, "Thank you mizz Cerulean Seas- it is a good thing we have you along for the trek!"

Sooooooooooon.

Dijiron fiddles about with his spiffy new uniform and tries to cool himself. "By the First Vault, these people have no idea how to properly equip a noble creature of fur. I will have speak with their quartermaster-" It is then he notices the excitable Halfling nearly skewer his pet. "Taq!" he cries in alarm. [/b]He is not a pest! He is my familiar and my friend! How could harm such an adorable creature?"

Taq takes this opportunity to hide inside Dijiron's cloak. [b]"And now it's even hotter. Wonderful"

"'Disease?' There are quite a few stereotypes about Halflings I could mention if I cared to. Wait. Where are you going? I'm not finished admonishing you!" Dijiron knows that it is too late and Layla has bounced to the next conversation. "What have I gotten myself into?

After the screaming longshanks finished his tirade about the generousity of the other longshanks, a goblin looked at his pile of "gear". After a moment he strode among it and carefully put each item in his mouth, chewing thoughtfully before spitting it back into the pile. Picking out the things that he need, he donned them with no short of effort, rolling around in the pile making a racous din. "Grrbn...HRRRBLLL..raks.suacken...BBlLLrrrggG." he grunted rolling about. When he finally stood, he was in a more orderly state than most would have thought possible, with boots and small medium blue armor. He attached some of the spikes to his left arm and then put one of the dark red dusters on over that, puncturing the leather of the duster coat on said left arm. he than tore the right sleeve completely off, leaving his right arm bare and his left a heavily armored spike covered monstrosity.

He was green skinned and had ears that stuck out like the sails of a ship, but his bow was superbly crafted and the getup he made for himself named him an experienced killer.

After his tussle with the gear pile he stared the strange "donkey" in the face for a good solid minute. "You are called Mange." he stated in raspy common.

Trundling over to the campsite, he stared at the pot of applesauce. "Hey! You's gonna eat that mushy mush?" he asks over a ferocious growl of his insatiable goblin stomach. To the dismay of the group his hungry stare scans from the apple sauce to the fox and fairy as well.

What disguise? I aint wearing no disguise! Why this is the Standard Soldiers kit as issued by High Command, Emergency-General Amita Narahari herself! Its standard! And I have left nothing behind. What are you doing here if you don't know that??
And besides, I... Is that soup?
Stone seems distracted by the smells wafting about Must resist...
The front lines? excellent! The closer to hit them with my crossbow!
he then shows you his "crossbow", what you had previously thought was an umbrella is in fact a crossbow (and not a warhammer) with some sort of shield attached to the front and the standard Regalia splashed across the front (looks kind of like this)
He then follows the others over to the group around the pot of stew, including standing next to Ooxe...
BTW, despite being covered in heavy armor and loaded down with a massive amount of gear and wielding a weapon weighing almost twice as much as him, he IS still quite stealthy... He only has 2 ACP, he has 22 dex, is small and is a goblin >.> Still stealthy ^.^
Oh ya, most of his crunch is done. Most.

Beylinda sitting next to her mount is more than happy listening on the conversation that is taking place not very far from her while she peels an orange

Sunny has posted on this page, but not in character.

However, Sunny has been in character very often!

The following are to be taken in-character over the course of recent events (if Sunny prefers any of them not to be, simply inform me, and it will be changed, but I'm pretty sure she'll be good with it).

*Bounces to attention*

I be here! (^_^)

*Laughs brightly, enjoying the gathering of teh cute folks. (^_^)

*Skips over*

Hey-YA there!

*Sticks out/offers a hand*

M'name be 'Sunny' in'a speakin' of tha' peoples. How be your selfs, then?

(^_^)

*Looks around...*

It in't midnight where I be at. Still late afternoon.

Though, t'is slightly cold an' rainy.

Here? Whut's all this talk about years? I can't never get peopl's years straight in me head. People's all'a'ways be talkin' strange about it, like. Whuts wrong with only poppin' over ta' see friends an' relatives every couple of decades? I dun't get it...

*Scratches blond mop of hair...*

Beylinda, on the other hand, has been a bit quiet. Not anti-sociable, but so far very into her armor and Alkenstar Mountain Donkey and such. However, she may well have interacted with all of you.

Should you wish to continue the social interactions taking place before my next post, that's entirely fine! Simply presume "a few more minutes" pass first.

Further, if conversations are cut off in the middle - that's fine, too! You don't know when this sort of thing will happen, so... it makes sense!

This is not a time pressure or a rush - I understand many of you have jobs or real life. This is, instead, to give you all time to focus on what's happening, and react before tomorrow.

EDIT: and it will take me just a little to craft the next post anyway. :)

Let's see... So far Layla has chatted with Eris (whom she thinks of as in charge), Lulu (whom she thinks of as a friend), Shaedo (whom she thinks of as nifty), Ceru (whom she thinks of as nice), Dijiron (whom she is keeping an open mind about cuz she's not prejudiced in the slightest), and Stone (of whom she is very suspicious, cuz she actually is quite prejudiced).

If Sunny is being outgoing and introducing herself around, Layla would smile and grinningly introduce herself back.
"The name's Layla! You seem like a happy person! You ready to get those gobs?"

After Vitreous introduces himself to Ceru by the applesauce,
"Wow, you got a lotta names! So, do we call you Vitreous here, or what? Oh, yeah, I'm Layla. Hi."

If Beylinda is hanging back, Layla might not have much interaction with her yet.

Layla doesn't know what to make of Ooze, and mostly just eyes him warily or tries to ignore him while still keeping an ear out to make sure he's not approaching from behind to slit her throat. When he seems to be ready to eat Kallisti and Pix, she definitely keeps her hands on her twin kukri until the threat passes.
"Hey. The stuff in the pot's the food. The critters ain't. I'm Layla the Twin-Blade. And just who do you think you are?"

Addressing Ooze directly, "That was a masterful performance! Can you teach me how to put a uniform on like that? By the way, I'm Vitreous. What do they call you around these parts? Are you a dwarf too?"

Vitreous seems a little confused that something that looks like a goblin is calling itself a dwarf. He is beginning to think that this is some kind of code name for goblins.

"Greetings Layla, we gnomes collect names like we collect interesting shaped pieces of rock or metallic gears and things. While my name collection is modest, I am thinking up a new one to add, maybe you would help me with this during our trek to goblin tower?"

In response to Vitreous's first question,
"Hmmm... I got one! "Mustachio!" See, it suits you cuza your impressive mustache!"
Then, in a quiet whisper back,
"Shhh... They're definitely gobs. I dunno whether they actually think we're dumb enough to think they're not, or whether they're so messed up in the head as to think they're not, but our Squad Leader Eris thinks there's more here than meets the eye, or something like that, an so we're supposta go along with it, for now."

Lulu was looking around, watching all the fellow small folks have some fun. however now she decides to keep an extra close eye on Pix.

she glances over at the fox. her eyes light up and she bounces her way over to see the fox.

hey there, I'm Lulu, do you talk? I've met a fox that talked, once. glancing up at the fox's owner, she remembers something about being a squat leader or something like that.

ahhh. hello up there. Lulu yells hands cupped around her mouth like it really gonna amplify her tiny voice.

A side note for anyone here who may be new to play-by-post:
When we're saying what a character does, we type in normal text like this.
"When we're saying what a character actually says out loud, we put it in quotes and make it bold like this, by putting a lower-case b in brackets before the text and a backslash then b in brackets after the text."
When we're posting something completely out of character, like a side note to the GM or a question about how someone is doing in real life, we make it blue, like this, by putting ooc in brackets before the text and a backslash then ooc in brackets after the text.
When we want to make a skill check or attack, we roll dice by putting dice=Perception or whatever in brackets, then putting 1d20+6 if your modifier happens to be six, then putting a backslash and dice in brackets afterwards.
Like this: Perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (18) + 6 = 24
I think I got that all straight. Please correct me if I'm wrong! :)

Ooze looked at the plethora of other small like folk around. He first addressed the one called Layla. "Ooze thinks he is Ooze?" he replies slighty confused and not getting the social implications of the question. Then to the mustacheod one, "Ooze is champion goblin, not dwarf. No beard." he strokes his chin where a large beard would be, as if to berate Vitreous for the stupidity of his question.

Note: I am not using the standard "[b ]quote goes here [ /b]" format in the following post because not only did this happen in the past, but your memories are slightly fuzzy. In the future, NPC interactions will fall into that standard format.

Thank you. :)

* some time later *

It was really kind of harsh.

The drill sergeant would not stop screaming. About anything.

~ "Everyone out of the Mess! IMMEDIATELY!"

~ "Hustle, hustle, hustle! NOW! Let's go, ladies!"

~ "This, heyah, is your bunk! It is your intimate and best friend! You will make it nice, or I will kick you until I'm tired, then have someone else kick you! I do not want to kick you, so MAKE IT NICE!"

~ "Take better care of your Mount!"

~ "Do NOT eat sloppily - you want the green rat-biters to hear you?!"

~ "THE PROPER WAY TO ADDRESS ME IS 'SIR, YES, SIR!', DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?!?"

~ "THERE IS A ROACH ON MY BOOT! KILL IT! KILL IT! KILL IT! ~ ARG!! - ... oh, whew, it's dead. Good work private Ooze. NO, I DON'T MIND THE SPIKED-ARMOR-MADE HOLE IN MY FOOT - THIS ONE KNOWS HOW TO TAKE ORDERS! Hah! He even *ugh* eats it! Way to show no fear!"

~ "WHERE IS MY DINNER! CLEAN THIS PLATE!"

... and so on.

And yet, you have to admit, you did feel more in shape, even after only the few hours that he pushed you harder than you've ever been pushed before - each of you finding the limits of your endurance, your abilities, and your training. Exhausted but, somehow, more in shape, despite the fact that such a thing shouldn't normally be possible.

Sure he really needed to lower his blood-pressure. Sure he seemed to be way too self-important and... 'excitable'. Sure he was a bit extreme. Sure he was completely incoherent at times.

... but he seemed to know what he was doing, and to know it well. And, impossibly, you could feel and see the physical results.

So it was with some trepidation and bone-deep muscle weariness, yet a grudging amount of trust (or at least confidence that he knew what he was doing) when he commanded you over for "a few rounds of training drills."

"GOBBIE," he said - well, screamed - in response to your collectively weary faces, "DOES NOT TAKE A BREAK!" It was really impressive. "GOBBIE DOES NOT REST!" Seriously, how did he not go hoarse? "GOBBIE WILL KILL YOU UNLESS YOU ARE READY AT ALL TIMES! EVERY MINUTE YOU SIT AND 'RECOVER' YOU GET WEAKER, AND EVERY MINUTE GOBBIE SQUATS IN THE HILLS, HE GETS STRONGER - NO, NOT LITERALLY, OOZE - AND GOBBIE JUST WANTS ONE THING: KILLIN'!"

And with that, he sets you to your tasks.

He sets you into small squads with "killing" exercises. Your job: climb through the obstacle course. Of course, he has a half-dozen mages and anther handful of adepts casting grease on it, and you, and everything you care about. There's even a riding portion.

"'IT'S SLIPPERY' YOU SAY?! YOU THINK GOBBIE CARES ANYTHING ABOUT SLIPPERY?! THE ONLY THING HE KNOWS IS TO 'SLIP' YOUR THROAT!"

He sets you up with tinkering with really dangerous things. Alchemical weapons - acid, cold, and shock. Broken weaponry - including guns - against people with clubs that were supposedly non-lethal. Magical items you need to repeatedly activate within a certain amount of time. There was one that you were not to touch. Unfortunately, and, of course, when the Sergeant displayed grappling technique on Dijiron and they gruntingly bumped into the table, that's exactly the one that rolled off the table and onto the rocks, spraying a colorful burst onto a group training together on wand-rifles - one that just so happened to be comprised of the three tallest members.

How many are affected: 1d3 ⇒ 2
Who?: 1d3 ⇒ 3
(1 = Sunny/Eris, 2 = Eris/Beylinda, 3 = Beylinda/Sunny)
[ooc]Roll Reflex, Fortitude, and Will saves, please, if you're affected.

Afterwords, the Sergeant is entirely unfazed.

"YOU THINK GOBBIE WOULD SHOW YOU SYMPATHY?! NO!! GOBBIE WILL SHOW YOU DEATH!! YOU WANT SYMPATHY?! LOOK IN THE DICTIONARY BETWEEN SPIT AND SYPHILIS!!"

The drills continue.

Instruction on weaponry.

"KNOW THIS: KILLIN' IS MY BUSINESS, LADIES! AND BUSINESS IS GOOOOOOOD!"

Beating you all to within an inch of your life with bludgeoning weapons as you hopelessly try to parry. Water - in buckets - dumped over you, as you sink in mud and need to claw your way out. Swimming in a man-made pond... with weights attached. Forcing you to run laps and do pushups while he sits, stands, or walks on you. More work than you've ever done before.

After the last of you are literally unable to go - every limb you have trembles with the monumental effort of not moving, while breath is a precious commodity, and independent movement - much less talking - is entirely impossible - he finally... finally stops shouting.

"Adequate." he says. He quietly pulls your effectively-unable-to-move bodies into a row.

An armored figure walks up from somewhere, moving as gracefully as a dancer on stage. Her armor is strikingly similar to each of your own - bearing small, striking touches that remind of each of yours in surprising ways.

The sergeant, upon noticing, quickly stands snapping stiffly to attention. He's sweating. Heat? No.

Fear? Nervousness? Maybe closer.

You've seen him afraid before - that roach incident - but there is something much deeper about this terror. Something primal. He's... shaking.

"Sir!" his deep voice squeaks like a mouse trapped by a cat, "Your High Command, Emergency-General Amita Narahari, how may I be of-"

"None of that, please." a soft and accented voice, so beautiful, it sounds like music cuts him off. "Simply, 'General' will do, Sergeant. Thank you." It's like music. Like a symphony. Even if you don't like symphonies, there's something about this one that makes you want to just... listen.

The figure removes the sealed Dwarven boulder helm, and incredibly gorgeous Vudrani human woman is revealed. It's... hard to directly look at her... but hard to stop. Something powerful about her catches the attention. Her beauty inspires feelings of humility, and desire to assist her. For at least some of you... that's really, really weird. And entirely normal... for... some... reason?

"How are they?" the celestial choir of her soft, accented voice gently sings.

"Sir!" the sergeant says, "I have pushed them until they cannot be pushed anymore! They have entirely co-llapsed! I have successfully found all of their limits!"

"Oh, poor souls!" she says in a voice where the sergeant can't here, but you - each of you - can. A small frown of worry crosses her face, and the sun and moon are worthless ashes, the earth dust, and all that is good and tasty lost forever. She brightens after a moment, and the celestial bodies are all restored, and the world and food and all that is nice and tasty is right again.

"We can't have you too weak to finish your training. Here: allow me to help."

She removes several vials from her pouches - one for each of you - and, tapping it gently, sprinkles the sandy-liquid contents over your head, over your chest, over your arms and legs, and, at the last, propping up your head, a little into your mouth. It's... it's delicious.

A few deft and gentle gestures from her gloved hand; a soft word, and a quick few commands in a language you don't speak - it sounds Vudrani - and suddenly you feel hands... massaging you... and massaging the very delicious oil into your skin and muscles and bone, even through the armor. Everything begins to feel very, very good. Although you still can't speak more than a whisper, or even sit up, you're starting to recover - quickly.

Casters, you may make a spellcraft check.

"There." she says, smiling brightly, all things right in your world, and everything that makes you happy come true, as the heavens sing about it, "That should be sufficient."

She stands, putting her helm back on. A swift cantrip causes the last of the glowing oily dust - what little got on her - to vanish from her glove.

"Sergeant." she says, "Please - take care of these people. They are... important, and require... deft handling."

"Y... y... y-yes, your High Comma-" he starts.

A small frown of worried proto-disappointment creases her brow. Everything is simply awful. All of your hopes dreams are dead. The sergeant killed them.

" -uh, I-I mean, General!" he finishes.

She smiles softly, relaxing from her concern before, both relieved and pleased. Your hopes and dreams live! The sergeant restored them to life!

"Thank you, Sergeant." Ah, the sound of her voice is like your happiness taking flight and filling the world. "Please, initiate these fine beings into the Special program." she looks at you benevolently with a smile. You realize that you well and truly love her. She is your sister. Your mother. Your best friend. Your world. Even if these concepts mean nothing to you... they do now. And they're important, because they apply to her. You would do anything for her. Anything. ... anything.

The helmet is placed over her head once again, secured, though the visor is still up.

"Soon, the other handlers will come for them. Thank you again, Sergeant. And," to the group "all of you as well. I'm glad to call you 'friends'." she says, sweetly. Your life is the best thing.

She shuts her helm, and the effect, whatever it was, is gone. Just like that, she's a warrior in armor - armor that reminds you of yourselves, and the other members of the group; a warrior that moves like a dancer; but a warrior. She spins and walks away, quickly, gracefully. You... can't remember her face. Or, now that you think on it, her voice, either.

Soon, each of you are feeling entirely recovered. Entirely recovered. And ready to train.

The training begins again, but instead of hard body-shaping (and exhausting) drills, you're broken apart and put into groups who study similar things. This one might study melee. This one ranged. Over here is spellcasting. Occasionally, you're given some refreshments - so delicious! -, and your energy seems to simply never stop.

More drills. More time. Day into night, maybe? At some point, you're brought to your beds. You think, anyway. You're pretty sure that you saw them, at least once. Maybe. More drills. More time. At some point, someone started putting a ring on your finger, and had you use it to touch a book. So... many... books. So many! And... you read it, and remembered! Libraries passed by in a matter of moments! You memorized books! Drilled with sharp weapons! Read more books! Cast a spell! Ever-more books! Here's how to take a full-body-check! More books! Boot-to-the-head! Books! Here's what magic healing feels like! More books! Twist the knife like so...! Pamphlets and anatomy guides! Slit the arteries this way~! Aaaaaaaaalllll the books! Rain! Sunshine! Moonlight! Night! Day! Attack! Train! Read! Memorize! Perfect! Gear up! Ride! Go forth! KILL!

...

...

...

At some point, you realize you're handed a map. All of you - all of you - are mounted up. Rested. Ready to go.

"You're mission." the sergeant says, "is to explore this place here. Hightower." He hands a map over. "Go find out if Gobbie has set up shop there. Eliminate him if he has. Then report back, if you're able. You're the finest recruits I've ever trained."

He nods smartly.

"Now, YAW!" he says, and, somewhat surprised, and not entirely sure what just happened, your mounts begin taking you out of the fortress, East, toward this, "High Tower" in the hills between the Shattered Range and Mwangi.

What happened over the last two days, exactly?

Hard to say... but you know where you're going now, and what's going to happen. You're going to kill goblins.

That's all for now. Will update more later. Ran out of time for real life thing that's entirely good, but sprang up unexpectedly. More explanation forthcoming. Feel free to discuss. :)

Dijiron sniffed the air. sulfur, singed flesh, and saliva... Goblin

He walked over to the Goblin calling himself "Ooze" and said "The boorish drill sergeant's rambles flew over my head sometimes but I am still quite sure that this expedition is about fighting Goblins. What are you doing here?"

sorry this happened before your giant post. Also we are doing past tense right? Because I've seen both past and present so far

spellcraft: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (3) + 9 = 12

Dijiron, you do not recognize the spell the general cast, however, you can roll a Knowledge (arcana), should you wish. The cantrip, however, was a relatively unique variant of Prestidigitation, or something very much so like it; there are some subtleties at work that seem to link its cleaning/soiling function to another spell... Purify/Putrify Food and Drink, perhaps?

Also, from the PM: Perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (1) + 5 = 6; you can tell something's unusual, but...

Yours (and anyone else's) is welcome to happen before mine, Dijiron. Past or present tense are fine - it's future tense you have to look out for. :D

You guys all have "a few more minutes" - in-character, out of character you have until sometime tomorrow - to respond to each other and make a few more posts. At some point before too long, I'll want some reactions to the things that occurred in my recent post above as well - consider how your characters would think or feel after what was apparently several days of magical read/memorization, and highly arcano-alchemical modification for specialized highly intense training. You would more or less "wake up" fully, as if from a daze, quite some time after beginning your ride from Alkenstar into the lower hills on the other side of the Shattered Range; in fact, the majority of your journey is completed. You don't know exactly when or how - you only vaguely remember the intervening days - but you are only a couple of days away. Although you've run into a few roving bands - well, gangs, really, of about four or five at a time - of mutant goblins, they've not been anything you can't handle; they haven't even been dangerous to you. No subtlety or strategy - they begin screaming quite some distance away, run, and don't stop until they're dead - which almost always happens by the time they get close.

Still, you know that's not where you're going. You're going to the ancient, abandoned locale of Hightower. Your mission, whether or not you choose to accept it, is to explore the place, if there is any goblin presence there to smash it, and then, if you still can, report back. Glory lies in Hightower. Your destiny. And, more importantly, so do your orders.

Of course, there might not be any goblins at all. This might be a "dry milk run" - a wasted mission. That was, you all begin to remember now, a distinct possibility. The Sergeant even thought it was a probability.

Anyway, you're headed through the "Vangeline Pass" near the South-Western border of the Mana Wastes and the North-Eastern border of Geb, near where the Mana Wastes come close to (and, though it's not entirely visible on the map, sometimes overlap with, both the Mwangi and the southern grasslands).

Map of Golarion, if you care. Though it is an excellent map, it's a bit confused, I'm afraid; check out Shattered Range and Alkenstar entries for details. You are not leaving the Mana Wastes, but you are leaving Alkenstar. You are not entering Geb's borders. Any of you with Geography or Local Knowledges can confirm this.

Kn(Arcana): 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (4) + 9 = 13

Godsdamn these rolls to the deepest layer of the Abyss!

I prefer playing in present tense myself ... makes the actions feel more immediate ... however I can adapt if a GM wants to standardize it the other way. Sounds like either is fine for Tac, though. Now, back to a reaction to our conversation before the epic, and fascinating, huge post above...

When Layla hears Ooze admit he's a goblin, she can't help but utter a triumphant
"Ha!"
When Dijiron asks what he's doing here, she seconds it with a challenging
"Yeah!"

She may be cut off by the drill sergeant at this moment, or maybe there's time for more responses, depending on if anyone wants to post more on this line of conversation. :)

A critical piece of gear seems to be missing?! Flint and steel or other means to create fire.

This is post announcement
Digging around in his packs and the mules saddlebags frantically, Vitreous exclaims, "They seem to have forgotten to supply us with a mundane means to make a fire. Don't they realize that not all gnomes are pyromaniacs and usually don't have the means to set things on fire with their minds?"

This is as good a time as any - Dijiron, you find that, after the training, you can take 10 on the Knowledge (Arcana) rolls at this time. I will let you slightly state that you did so during the much later ride. You cannot seem to do so with your Perception, at least not any more than normal.

Your new total is thus... 20 instead of 13. No, you don't know why, just yet, and, of course, Dijiron doesn't think in terms of dice rolls. In any event...

Dijiron found himself reminiscing on the few moments they'd seen High Commander Emergency-General Amita Narahari has few clues to go on, so he couldn't be certain at all, but, as he came to himself on the donkey <insert name here> at a... *shudder* guess, it would probably be safe to say that not only was she familiar with magic, but intimately familiar. She was... exceedingly well practiced. Eerily so.

Pre Anouncement

"My apologies, dear sir. I was assuming that the strange big folk here were calling goblins dwarves as a code or something. Not sure how else to explain that fellow over there with the umbrella." Vitreous politely informs Ooze as he backs away a bit slowly.

"I gots me own flint n' steel. You can use it if you need it!" :)

If anyone wants to roll knowledge, survival, or similar about your trip, please feel free.

Strangely, during all the training, you still seem to have time to buy - or to have bought? Where did those days go? What did happen there, exactly? - other mundane, magical, or similar supplies. Any item, up to 3,000 gold in value, is available...

Also, you all seem to still have rations. As do your donkeys. You're not exactly sure what you've been eating over the past several days and hundreds of miles, but... it doesn't seem to have been trail rations...

And yes, please post reactions as "pre-announcement" and "post-announcement" in ooc text.

Should you wish to continue the social interactions taking place before my next post, that's entirely fine! Simply presume "a few more minutes" pass first.

Shaedo saw the ratfolk enter the room, and was at first very excited- Another kitsune? She thought at first, but then realized something is a little different about this one. Bold of him to wear his true form openly like this.
She decided to see how he takes to a riddle- a fool-proof test of one's foxiness. "Greetings noble creature of fur. I'm Shaedo. Care for a game of wits? Here, I'll begin: is it your idea, or mine? You see it right before you, yet to it you are blind. What is it??(tehehe)" 

Disclaimer of my own: should Shaedo end up having an actual riddle match with anyone, I may end up getting stumped. In any case, she would be much better at it than I would!
In this particular instance, it's quite possible she will be interrupted, before anything gets started. It is a mannerism I would like try to play up with her at least a little if anyone is game for it!

One more thought: I wanted to have her give some people a glimpse of her true, foxy form before the adventure began- she may not have a chance to this time. Might have to give the description later on, but I intend to create another alias for her other form and maybe post a link to it here, at least.

post-announcement

"Whoa. Um. Hi, guys. Does anyone else feel like they're just now snapping out of a daze or somethin'? Who's got the map? Are we goin' the right way? Maybe we should come up with a strategy for our approach..."

Knowledge (Local): 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (15) + 6 = 21
Perception: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (8) + 8 = 16
Profession (Hunter, esp. of Gobs & other local vermin): 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (19) + 6 = 25
Stealth: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (4) + 11 = 15
Survival: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (13) + 6 = 19 (+1 to track) (+2 to avoid getting lost)

Meanwhile, as the squadron rides toward 'High Tower'...

Eris droops in her saddle, tired to the bone. Certainly the last two days have been interesting, she thinks, but it's been far more than a woman of my delicate sensibilities should have to face! She yawns. "Kallisti, dear, watch the squad for me, would you? I'm just going to rest my eyes for a moment..."

Eris gently snores, sleeping peacefully as her mount hits a bump and her journal--a study book with a tasteful black lambskin cover, embroidered with a gold 'K'--falls to the ground.

Soon the journal is snatched up and shared up and down the donkey train. Much to everyone's amusement, the journal contains Eris' notes on each of her fellow squad members!

Anyone who wants to read from the journal is free to do so, while Eris sleeps on in blissful ignorance! See journal excerpts below:

I think I am a bit confused, pre, post announcement? i am not really understanding here.

More post-announcement...

Layla scans the group riding along around her.
She sees their leader napping, the other two tall folk (or are they?), the two gobs, the two gnomes, the two furry-ish folk, and the two li'l ladies (including herself). Plus an extra donkey. Yup. All here.
She scratches Scrappy behind the ears as she awaits response to her queries and scans the horizon for gobs.

Lulu, pre-announcement is stuff happening back in the mess hall before the epic post in which we got trained, mesmerized, and sent on our way, or whatever. Post-announcement is the stuff happening now on the donkey trail to Hightower.

Lulu, I made this post (<- link; I say this in case it's hard to see in the ooc-text) which "ended" things at the Mess Hall - that seems to be called "the announcement" - hence, anything you're talking about that happens after that - while riding donkeys in the wilderness of the Mana Wastes - is "post announcement". However, people can continue to chat for a short time more before that actually occurs, hence "pre-announcement". Time here and now is a little... flexible... for posting.

EDIT: basically, what Layla said. Ninja!

Also, I'll be opening the actual Gameplay thread tomorrow, after everyone's had a chance to respond to the "announcement" post. That'll be when things actually start, game-wise.

Here is some post-announcement stuff. Time to see if I can weave a description of Shaedo's true form into recent events. Hopefully I can do it justice!

Riding on a donkey and wearing the same armor mid-night blue armor that Shaedo donned when she first entered the mess hall is a little fox-headed girl. She yawns widely revealing a mouth of needle like teeth in her little canine mouth. Her mouth closes and she sniffs the air with a little black nose.

The eyes are recognizable; they have the same distinctive violet color and soulful prominence of the girl who introduced herself as Shaedo to everyone two days before. Most remarkable though, are the two tails, one silver and one orange bobbing along with the fox girl as she rides her donnkey along with the rest of her party.

Oh, I thought it was bad enough just getting up early in the morning, she says in the same lyrical voice, Whoa- watch the bumps there Ramsy- wait- Ramsy, yes that's your name. When'd I name you? She pats her donkey.

Then she regards Layla hearing her comment about waking up from a daze and then planning an approach.
Yeah, my memories are all blurry too. Kind of forget who I was one day to the next, if that makes sense. I sure feel good now though. She scratches behind one of her ears, and her eyes turn up into the corner of her head for a moment.
Planning an approach is a good idea. But... if I remember, we don't know where the gobbies are, or if they're even around the tower. Maybe ask one of the gobbies in our group where they usually like to hide or hang out?

Previously during training:

Reflex: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (3) + 7 = 10

Spellcraft: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (5) + 7 = 12

Even tough the drill sergent was doing his best beylinda tried her best during all the different exercises. She never complained once.

This was indeed a strange land and a stranger magic. The bard tales didn't lie that much about the mutation and the wild magical effect that happened here. I understand why most people would rather avoid this place.

again when the mutated goblins attacked to held back during the fight as she studied how everyone else reacted and used their preferred methods for disposing of the threat.

After getting his chance to read his entry in Eris's journal. He chuckles under his breath something about elephants and then crosses elephants out and writes in Wooly mammoths.
Anyone else want to take a look at the squad leader's journal before I hide it amongst her things?

Somehow it doesn't seem strange at all to Layla that Shaedo is a fox person. It's almost like she knew it all along. Having already glanced through Eris's journal when it was passed her way and told that it talked about her (Very astute observations from their leader!), Layla decides to rifle through her own backpack and make sure she has all her most important stuff. In the process of doing so, she discovers,
"Oh, hey, I have the map!"
She pulls it out and looks it over, using the above knowledge, perception, profession, stealth, and survival checks, plus the bonus from the map, to consider their route, likely goblin hideouts, information about recent tactics of this strange new group of blue goblins, the stealthiest approach to Hightower, etc.

Gaaaaaaaaaaah lots of text posted since I went to bed. For simplicity's sake and to keep things from being confusing, I'm not gonna post anything "pre-announcement" and just assume if Ceru didn't introduce herself to you yet she did now and she fed you prodigious amounts of applesauce.

Issue 2: I started buying all my stuff in PCGen to help me make sure I did the math right and then forgot to set it to the 10% discount so I bought everything full price, and rather than do it all over again, could I just pretend--if this math is correct as I am terrible with percents and fractions--that I have 3300 gold to buy things at full price with rather than 3000 gold to buy things at a 10% discount?

Post Announcement

Anyone else want to take a look at the squad leader's journal before I hide it amongst her things?

Ceru deftly takes a peek, and her eyes widen in surprise, then narrow as she becomes offended. "She's clearly been talking to my father and it's mostly not true!" She hands the journal back, then retakes her position in the riding formation. She then reaches into one of her pockets and pulls out an apple tart she doesn't remember making and tosses it to Kallisti, curled up amongst Eris's saddlebags. Vengeance. Sweet vengeance.

"Talking of my father," she says, "I swear there was a moment in the past few days where all the stuff he used to try to teach me almost made sense! Which is to say yes, Layla, I do feel like I am snapping out of a daze. It's all very strange!"

Side note from Tac:

Beylinda, please also make a Fortitude Save and a Will Save, reference the training accident.

Sunny, when you can, please make Fortitude, Reflex, and Will Saves, reference the training accident.

Any other spellcasters, feel free to make Spellcraft or Knowledge (Arcana) checks to learn more about what happened to all of us in training.

Peace!

Dijiron was mildly surprised at Shaedo's call to conversation. Many non-furred species didn't care for ratfolk, much less seek out conversation with them. "You're one of the first sentients I've seen to respect one of the furred races. And I am I always up for a game of wits!" He smiled politely as she spoke her riddle. It was the first time he had heard it; most of the riddles told at the academy have to do with magic.

"Let's see then, 'Your idea or mine?' Something false? There but not there must mean something insubstantial. A lie, perhaps? Lies are the idea of the liar not the victim. Could be an illusion? I don't smell any material components on you but you could be a sorcerer. Perhaps something more mundane like the "illusion" of a non-magical street performer. What are those called again...a 'sleight of hand?'"

Sometime later when the journal is found and passed around

Dijiron understand that the point of journals was to keep thoughts private but since she wrote about him it seemed only fair that he should look or perhaps that was just a justification to assuage his conscience.

"I've never met one of the ratfolk. I've only ever heard rumors. But at first glance, Dijiron strikes me as an exceptional member of his race. There's a sharp, inquisitive intelligence in his eyes. Judging by the caster armor he chose, there's a strong likelihood that he's a wizard, and the rodent--'Taq'--is probably his familiar. Oh, and I believe I overheard him say something about a 'First Vault'--I wonder what that is? "

Dijiron knew it was foolish but he couldn't help but feel giddy at the compliment. It was rather like receiving a compliment from a teacher on an essay. Yes, Taq is my familiar and I would like everyone to take a good look at him so no one gets confused and tries to stab him again. Also, the First Vault is the domain of Abadar, God of cities and civilization.

First a little Pre-announcement...
"Yes! I might say you have the wits of a fox, my furry friend! You have danced to the tune of my little question, and rephrased my trick to a truth of your own no less true! A sleight of hand, an illusion, all of these. The trick answer to my trick question is a trick! (hehe!) Oh, now it's your turn!"
Shaedo appears very happy that Dijiron likes riddles and seems good at riddling, as if this were a testament to exceptional character.

Don't know if Shaedo would have had the chance, but one other thing she definitely would have done prior to the announcement- after some riddles and after meeting everyone- is sing a little song of friendship and adventure. Probably to a familiar Sylvan tune that any gnome or fey related person would recognize.

Dijiron was elated that He answered the riddle correctly even if the answer was imprecise. HE was scrunched up as he tried to think of a good opening riddle. His tail flicked about behind him as it always did when he had to concentrate.

"What has roots that nobody sees, is taller than trees, up, up it goes, and yet it never grows?

Wow! There are so many player's that there is a lot to respond to! I love it!

Lady Firedove is, indeed, correct: Beylinda, I'll also want you to make a fortitude and will save (unless you don't care to), and Sunny will need to make one of all three saves. As it is, Beylinda starts at the sudden surge of colors across her body, but... the beam covers her completely - it's just too wide and too large to dodge.

Now, I need to respond to a few other dice rolls. Information is in spoiler for Layla due to Wall Of Text spells being passed out like candy, but, because the game hasn't quite started yet, feel free to chat freely about it - it's presumed that time is a little "loose" at present. Once Lulu, Stone, Ooze, and Sunny get the chance to respond, I'll open up the gameplay thread and the real game will begin. Spoilers for dice rolls, then, and chatting in-character may - may, mind you - not be so easy.

Beylinda: Huh. It'll be really funny if none of our arcanist roll a high enough Spellcraft to figure this stuff out. Hm. Also, give me a Knowledge (arcana) - after the Encampment, you find, you can take 10.
- Reflex 10: as described, sadly, you have no where to go as the beam washes over you.
- Spellcraft 12: unfortunately, there's little to guess about the general. She certainly used a variant of Prestidigitation - some sort of combination with Purify/Putrify Food and Drink, it seems, not something a normal spellcaster would be skilled enough to do, but... hm... very odd.

Oh, yeah. Something that the GM does need to put into spoiler text...

And now... post-announcement. Go, go Bard-ic knowl-edge!

aracana: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (18) + 3 = 21 What happened?
nobility: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (20) + 3 = 23 Who was that super-pretty lady? Any known kin? Heraldry?
planes: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (18) + 3 = 21 What was with her voice and other-worldly appearance? Anything - planar - about her?

religion: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 3 = 6
Anything divine about her face - that I am not able to remember in detail - beyond appearance?

geography: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (6) + 3 = 9 Where are we?
geography: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (9) + 3 = 12 Terrain around High Tower - best stealthy points...??

history: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (4) + 3 = 7 How long have gobbies held High Tower, and area around it?
history: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (16) + 3 = 19 Blue gobbsies- known to history or totally new phenomenon?

geography: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (18) + 3 = 21 Blue, green, cultural, language, differences?
arcana: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (11) + 3 = 14 Blue gobbsies? Powers, origins?

And pre-announcement!
"HMMM... Good one... " Shaedo thinks with a little smile on her face, her eyes searching the air as if the answer were written there. "No roots, tall, going up- something abstract - history? No, we -well, people- learn the roots of that in books... Maybe more tangible... Goes up... Buildings- no... we can see the roots of those as they are built... hmm... ah, a hill! No, too small- oh, a mountain, yes, a mountain! Is that it? (tehehe)"

pre-announcement. This could just keep going until the GM has to stop us :P

"Very good! I shall endeavor to write down some more challenging riddles. My favorite is one for wizards sadly so I don't think you would get it through no fault of your own."

On the donkey trail...

"Okay, listen up, guys, we've got some decisions to make!"

Layla rises in the saddle to her full halfling height, and positions herself to command the group's attention. Her sharp voice may (hopefully) even wake the dozing Eris.

Intimidate: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (17) + 6 = 23

Layla is not trying to demoralize, frighten, or even command the group, but just get everyone's attention and impress upon them the seriousness of the situation despite her cute appearance.

"We've been riding for almost a couple weeks now, and we're only a day or two from Hightower, so we better get ready. If we want any kinda stealthy approach, we're going to hafta do something different than what we're doin' now. Now, I'm not quite sure why Alkenstar has sent us so far out near Geb, but there may be quite a threat headquartered at this tower. However, it's also possible that we'll find it abandoned by now. I've seen distant groups of gobs along our way, headed back toward Alkenstar, and if all the tracks we're passing are any indication, whole huge armies of gobs, hobgobs, and other hostiles have already headed back toward Alkenstar some weeks ago. I'm kinda worried about what carnage we'll find when we eventually get backta base, but for now, since we're already so far out, we have a mission to complete, and we better do it well!"

Feel free to check out the Layla spoilers in the GM post above. She tries to share as much as possible of that info with the group, asking for ideas, curious about what the strange bipedal mounts may be, trying to figure out whether to send a couple stealth scouts from the group ahead, etc. If Eris wakes up, she defers to her leadership, but seems to naturally act as something like her Lieutenant, trying to get the specifics of the mission in order.

Agreed!
Shaedo arches her eyebrow, "I should like to hear your wizard's riddle. You have culled my curiosity, though I shall gladly try to answer any challenge you can give me, in writing or otherwise!"
Shaedo then wears a tricksy grin, "But first, it's my turn!" Shaedo then sings the following in perfect meter with rhyming notes: "Wings of wind, a poet's grin, I have no appearance to see, yet evoke visions of splendor and beauty. What am I? (tehehe!)"

"'No appearance to see' means immaterial again. 'Visions of Splendor and Beauty' often appear in books. Words?" He seems unsure. He has read legends and accounts of journeys but doesn't not know poetry as well.

"A song! Of course! Now that 'Wings of Wind' part makes sense. Still ,I was close enough to establish my intellectual dominance. Here is my Wizard's riddle in return: 'A light from a creature of shadow doth appear. It is not summoned from the creature but from its rear.' What is the light?

post announcement and Layla's rolls

Hmmm...given the evidence of foot claws and the smaller size, my preliminary guess would be members of my own race, unfortunately. Then again, as we are in the Mana Wastes, it could simply be more mutants. I hope I don't have to fight my kin." A frown spread as best it could across Dijiron's snout. His ears folded inward making the fear and frustration all the more evident.

lots to catch up on, by the time I'm done reading no time to post. anyway I am still way back at the announcement so i'll roll spellcraft for that first but if its already overwith then tough I'll roll it anyway

spellcraft becuase sombody said to roll this: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (7) + 8 = 15

if its too late for that to matter then I will just assume that was a practice roll for anything else

now to sift to the next thing

ok reading through, missed sevreal oppurtunities--oh well, next should I start rolling various skill checks becuase despit the walls upon walls of text coming through, I am getting lost quickly.

all through training time Lulu was not exactly the best choice for this outfit. she barely followed directions, always haveing an excuse one way or another. now on this journey she has spent a bit of time trying figure out what to do.

Lulu's minimal redundant and useless skill checks:

know arcana becuase there was magic used someplace: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (19) + 5 = 24
know nature we are outside: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (3) + 5 = 8

perception to see or hear something: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (15) + 4 = 19

and time on line is nearly at an end. will try and catch up later, but I hope you guys done mind if Lulu is operationg a scene behind everyone, I'll just stop by and state the obvious

First, something a little fishy...

Phew! You're telling me, Lulu! I've got to write it!

Oh, and strangely... people are receiving clarifications in their mind with what Layla is actually telling them. Like she's talking to them in their heads, too, somehow...

On the donkey trail...

"Okay, listen up, guys, we've got some decisions to make!"

Layla rises in the saddle to her full halfling height, and positions herself to command the group's attention. Her sharp voice may (hopefully) even wake the dozing Eris.

(Intimidate Check)

Layla is not trying to demoralize, frighten, or even command the group, but just get everyone's attention and impress upon them the seriousness of the situation despite her cute appearance.

"We've been riding for almost a couple weeks now, and we're only a day or two from Hightower, so we better get ready. If we want any kinda stealthy approach, we're going to hafta do something different than what we're doin' now. Now, I'm not quite sure why Alkenstar has sent us so far out near Geb, but there may be quite a threat headquartered at this tower. However, it's also possible that we'll find it abandoned by now. I've seen distant groups of gobs along our way, headed back toward Alkenstar, and if all the tracks we're passing are any indication, whole huge armies of gobs, hobgobs, and other hostiles have already headed back toward Alkenstar some weeks ago. I'm kinda worried about what carnage we'll find when we eventually get backta base, but for now, since we're already so far out, we have a mission to complete, and we better do it well!"

Feel free to check out the Layla spoilers in the GM post above. She tries to share as much as possible of that info with the group, asking for ideas, curious about what the strange bipedal mounts may be, trying to figure out whether to send a couple stealth scouts from the group ahead, etc. If Eris wakes up, she defers to her leadership, but seems to naturally act as something like her Lieutenant, trying to get the specifics of the mission in order.

Knowledge Local re Hightower: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (16) + 5 = 21

Ceru nods at Layla. "I think a stealthy approach would be a good idea. Those of us skilled at laying low, no height jokes intended, could move ahead, just to get a sense--'case the joint' as the thieves put it in stories. Even if it looks abandoned from the outside, that still tells us something--but since the mission parameters are in part to explore the place, we should safely get a good look before we go in!"