[IC] Mike's Campaign, Part I: Into the Mists (Inactive)

Game Master Mike Kimmel

Nu'mara looks at Ceer. "I was not paying as much attention as I should have been, but the camp should not be far. I was not running for that long."

"A good plan," the ex-mercenary agrees, "but we should be careful that they don't simply raise the alarm rather than investigate."

Grinning, "Ah, then perhaps an attractive young ape-ess would suit better?"

Battered though he was, Mo'butu realized a good line when he heard one, laughing heartily at Ku'ada's joke. "Now that is an idea, if you can creat an attractive one..."

Laughing, Ceer replies, "I like the ape-ess idea! I might even be able to provide some sound to go with it."

He looks down at his wounds and think I knew I should have bought more of those healing potions. Maybe I can buy some more at the camp.

Should I roll when I drink my potion of clw? Not sure if you do max, avg?

beauty is in the eye of the Beholder, badum ching!
Smiling back at Mo'butu and Ceer, "Not to you or I, but to an ape-man... between us, Ceer and I can give them quite a show. Now, we must go before these creatures awake from Ceer's sorcery. Perhaps someone should sneak ahead and scout towards the camp? I will need to see these creatures to witch at them and it would be advantageous if Malgri's guards were alerted to our actions."

Roll for the potion. I do average hit dice because it's a "permanent" aspect of your character. Roll for the other stuff. :)

Rheed rolls his eyes at the jokes, but grins along with the others, "yes, I can take a look up ahead to find us a target. You do know what an... ape-ess looks like, right?"

He looks over to Ceer, "can you use your magic get a message to the guards?"

"Yes I can, but I have to be rather close though. Maybe within 30 feet or so. I was thinking some sort of sound that would go with the ape-ess, but did you have something else in mind?" Ceer says.

"I will accompany you, Rheed."

Watching Ceer and Rheed, Ku'ada interjects, "If we can get within 120 feet and are able to see them, I would be able to speak with one or two guards through a sending."

With my earlier 26 roll on Ku'ada's knowledge of ape-men, do I know what a rather attractive young ape-lass would look like? :D

With my earlier 26 roll on Ku'ada's knowledge of ape-men, do I know what a rather attractive young ape-lass would look like? :D

Heh. Sure, why not? It shouldn't be hard to extrapolate using what you know of animals/nature and the appearance of these ape-men.

Rheed nods to Nu'mara, then responds to Ceer and Ku'ada, "If, as you say Ku'ada, we can inform the captives of our plan, then they might be able to help us. When Nu'mara and I reach the camp, we can try to find a suitably concealed place for you to contact them."

Responding to Ceer, "A little bit of sound will give life to the seeming. A bit of ooh-la-la." Grin.

Turning to Rheed "Good, then let's be off. I suppose the rest of us will follow at a distance while you and Nu'mara take the point."

"Alright," Rheed begins, turning to Nu'mara, "shall we go?"

Without waiting for a response, he heads towards the trail leading to the camp.

can we take 10 for the stealth checks, or do you want us to roll?

I plan to post parralel until it seems a good point to join in.

Corvus arrived at Nantambu, wet through. The journey east from the Terwa Lake had taken longer than expected due to the weather. She breathed a small sigh of relief when she saw the Pathfinder lodge. This was always a popular meeting spot for travellers, and perhaps someone may be in need of assistance.

She was surprised to see the shop and lodge closed. Spying a note, she walked forward to read it.

"Unforseen circumstances?"

She surveyed the ground. Even with the wet weather, there were clear signs that a party of at least four people travelled east from here not long ago.

"Hmm...following the Ruby Trail to Malgri's camp? Well, four of them or not, they may need a helping hand."

Ignoring her weary legs, Corvus picked up the pace to follow the group.

Nu'mara falls in step next to Rheed. "I hope it is not too late. The ape-men were already becoming impatient when I escaped." She comments giving Rheed a short glance.

Ceer watches Rheed and Nu'mara start along the trail. He turns to the others and says, "Let's not get them get too far ahead" as he starts along the trail.

Ku'ada falls in beside Ceer and starts quietly discussing magical specifics, mostly unintelligible to those who don't speak "arcana".

Ceer don't forget to drink your potion!

Thanks for reminding me! I better drink one of my Mage Armor potions too right before we get there. :)

Drinking Potion of Cure Light Wounds 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4

Taking 10 on stealth is fine in this sort of "prepared" situation. By the way, Nu'mara's skills don't seem to have her armor check penalty factored in to their totals. And should her Perception be +6 rather than +7, or did I miss a +1 from something? Lucky for you it makes no difference in this scene:

Nu'mara and Rheed continue along the trail with the others not far behind. As they get closer to the camp, they veer off the trail so as to have a place to hide. Nu'mara knows that the ape guards generally patrol about 50 feet away from the camp.

Moving cautiously, the two of them creep forward through the undergrowth. Just as they are about to move a bit closer to the camp, Nu'mara spots movement in the bushes a mere 30 feet away: An ape-man is moving stealthily around the camp in a counter-clockwise direction, currently heading towards the road. (The ape is moving east. The road is now running north towards the camp.) The ape-man does not seem to have spotted Nu'mara and Rheed, but it was a close call.

I'll post a link to a map soon.

I believe you are right about the perception, but my Armor check penalty is 0 because the masterwork chain shirt and armor expert trait.

I believe you are right about the perception, but my Armor check penalty is 0 because the masterwork chain shirt and armor expert trait.

Gotcha, somehow I missed "armor expert." Thanks.

Corvus follows the group's trail towards Malgri's camp. After four days she comes across the signs of a skirmish.

"Nine down. And recent too."

Corvus scans the group quickly and realises that a handful are still breathing.

"Time I wasn't here."

She picks up the trail and notices another person has joined the group.

"They're heading towards the camp but the pace has slowed. Perhaps stealth is the order of the day. I don't want them thinking I'm something to be dealt with. Hopefully being human will be enough!"

Corvus continues as quietly as she can, her anxiety not to be mistaken for an ape-man balanced by her willingness not to miss out on any action.

Nu'mara will actively scan the area while moving. Perception 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (16) + 6 = 22 24 concerning ape-men

Nu'mara looks through the undergrowth and can see the tents and low wall which mark the edge of Malgri's camp. She can see some ape-men standing guard on the road, as well as a few others seated outside the entrances to a few of the tents. There are probably about five apes patrolling around the perimeter, like the one nearby.

Let's see if this works:

Map: Arrival at Malgri's Camp

Green is jungle, tan is road, orange is crumbling wall (about 5 feet high), gold is canvas tents. A=Ape, Nu=Nu'mara, Rh=Rheed, etc. The tents are marked with numbers to distinguish between them. The dark gray area is stuff you can't really see yet.

Stealth 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (12) + 9 = 21

Nu'mara sneaks back toward the others and relays what she has seen. "Where do you think would be best to place your illusion?" She asks Ceer and Ku'ada.

Seeing Nu'mara move back to consult with the others, Rheed remains almost completely stationary, watching the ape-man moving towards the path.

Stealth 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (6) + 5 = 11 (eep!)

As he does however, his legs begin to cramp up, forcing him to adjust his stance. He looks anxiously to the Ape-man as he shift his weight, trying to gauge whether he has been revealed.

"If there a place to hide close to the path, it would be best to place it right in the path, so that the highest number of ape men would see it. It occurs to me that our best option might be to draw the guards away and then deal with them out of listening range of the camp. Perhaps we could set an ambush up here or a little farther back, and then Ceer and I could draw them out towards you."

Rheed doesn't need a stealth roll at this time unless he's going to be moving about. I had the ape take 10 on his Perception and he didn't see you while you were taking 10 on your stealth. Nu'mara needs a stealth roll (already made above) because she's moving back to the others, but Rheed doesn't if he's staying where he is... assuming the ape doesn't come closer. It looks like he is traveling east right now, though, towards the path.

"Interesting plan", says Ceer as he sips one of his potions of Mage Armor. There is a brief shimmer around his body as he finishes the vial of liquid. "Now I'm ready", he says as he loads his crossbow.

Rheed doesn't need a stealth roll at this time unless he's going to be moving about. I had the ape take 10 on his Perception and he didn't see you while you were taking 10 on your stealth. Nu'mara needs a stealth roll (already made above) because she's moving back to the others, but Rheed doesn't if he's staying where he is... assuming the ape doesn't come closer. It looks like he is traveling east right now, though, towards the path.

phew!

Nu'mara thinks for a minute. "If you draw them back toward you, Rheed and I can come up behind them and we can have them flanked."

"Excellent... even better!", Ku'ada exclaims in a hushed tone. "If something goes wrong and we need your assistance, perhaps Ceer here can have our lure let out a delighted shriek, squeal or some other noise to let you know when to close in. We'll give you a moment to let Rheed in on the plan."

Turning to the other non-sneaky types, "Let us head into the jungle here, and lay our trap."

Ku'ada turns towards the jungle on the east side of the path.

You can use map coordinates to let me know where you intend to go. For instance: The ape moves to Z13 and attacks! Please keep coordinate/map talk in OOC comments though so as not to mess up the in-character narrative.

Nu'mara heads back toward Rheed to let him in on the plan.

Stealth 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (10) + 9 = 19

As she reaches Rheed, Nu'mara leans over and whispers to him. "They are going to lay the trap and then we will come out of hiding in flanking position."

Mike, do Rheed and I have to move to be able to see the trap go down?

Ceer flashes a grin and whispers, "Good Luck" to the others. He hefts his crossbow and follows Ku'ada into the jungle.

Were you thinking of O40 on the map? Or further south?

Forgot about the 30' range. Yeah, let's try O40. I'm looking for line of sight to the top of the path but some obscuring vines/trees/etc. Does O40 work for that?

Ceer crouches down beside Ku'ada and peer through the jungle towards the path leading to the camp. "I can't see very well through these vines, Ku'ada", Ceer says. "Maybe I can do something about that."

Ceer mumbles an incantation and points to a few of the vines obscuring their vision. He gently moves several of them aside and wraps them around a nearby tree, providing them a view of the path leading North.

"Ahh...much better", he says to Ku'ada as his hand drops to his crossbow again.

Ceer cast Mage Hand, so he and Ku'ada can stay hidden while getting line of sight to the path.

O40 works well. Nu'mara and Rheed can see that point just fine as well from where they are. I'll update the map. Is O40 where you intend to move, or to place the trap? From what I gather, that's where you want to place the trap. Let me know if I should make any changes to your positions: Updated Map. Note that the patrolling ape has moved slightly. He is patrolling quite slowly. I've also marked the potential spell/trap area.

Hate to say it but I think we were thinking about moving to 040, but let's amend that to O42 and place the illusion at O36

Whispering to Ceer, "Ready Ceer? Here we go."

Ku'ada mumbles an incantation, then burns a bit of fleece.

An ape-ess appears out of the jungle and tentatively walks into the path. She is young, tender, and definitely in heat, her face flushes cherry-red at the sight of the ape-men on patrol. She appears abashed, yet seductive.

oops. updated again. If anyone wants to be at a different spot, let me know. PS- love the alias for the illusion.

One word. Awesome! I would like to move as close to the road as possible without exiting cover. Stealth 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (14) + 9 = 23

I almost forgot, I'm trying to be stealthy in the woods 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 2 = 3 *crap!*

Rather than constantly posting new links to the map, I think I'll just post map links in my GM profile. That cool with everyone? I can't think of a better place to put it where you all will have quick access to it. I suppose you could always bookmark it.

lol...that's great!

As soon as Ceer sees the ape-ess appear he mutters an incantation and points towards the illusion. He tries to impersonate the sound of an ape-ess in heat. Growing up in Nantambu he remembers field trips to the jungle while attending the Magaambya arcane academy. He smiles to himself as he remembers trying to imitate the jungle sounds with his friends. His wizard professors never appreciated his vocal range.

Should I make a Knowledge(nature) check to imitate the sound of an ape-ess in heat? Not sure if I deserve a bonus, since I grew up near the jungle. Here is my check if needed 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (4) + 7 = 11

Upon seeing Ku'ada's illusion, Rheed does a double take before grinning quietly and drawing his sword and axe in preparation for the ambush, then follows Nu'mara towards the path.

Stealth 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (8) + 5 = 13

Nu'mara draws her axes and prepares for the ambush.

Ugh, ate my post. Knowledge: nature is fine.

Seeing the "ape-ess," the warrior brandishes his spear, then relaxes. He calls out to her, making noises which are difficult to interpret. Then he turns and shouts something to the other apes. His dialect of Polyglot is very hoarse, but those who speak the language can tell that he said something along the lines of, "Our prayers have been answered!" Several of the apes begin to move forward to see what's going on, though one stays behind at the entrance of the camp.