Action 1:
Zeljka's vision finally cleared and the faces of Nsizi and Min came into view. She didn't know if she was disappointed or relieved that she was still alive. "Obviously not dead, then. And I was a bit clumsier than I should have been. Hopefully I learned something for next time. I'm just going to sit here for a bit until I can trust my legs. If you want to go study some of the books, I'll come when I'm able."
Action 2:
The half-orc grunted, "I don't like it. Leaving. It's like turning tail and running." She sighed, "But, we need help and a proper rest. Maybe Evalina is back and we won't know unless we go back up."
Yeah, Nsizi, did you make up your mind on who your '+1' will be?
Like I said, don't be limited by stats. Just pick who you want to play.
A halfling, a lizardman, Evalina, heck, maybe even Hamsa herself comes back.
Just pick something! :)
"I don't like it either," Nsizi agreed. He collected as many books as he could carry, and headed back towards the secret tunnel, and a ride on the rotating plinth.
I think a lizardfolk would be very good for RPing. And as you mentioned, perhaps this is Achahut's 'punishment'.
I would make Achahut either a fighter, ranger, barbarian, or brawler.
If you go with Othok, he would most likely be a fighter or a brawler.
Take your pick and we'll stat him up.
Nsizi was heartened to see Achahut still alive - he'd been afraid the mjusi would be killed on sight. However, he was alarmed to see no sign of Evalina. "Please, could you tell us what happened to our friend? Where's Evalina?"
tag
Responding then to the chieftain's question, the Bas'o said, "We hate to take the time, but we need to rest. If you can give us a quiet place for eight hours or so, then we will head straight back down. And if you can spare any warriors, we could really use some help."
The human had translated some of his words for the rest of the Mireborn, and frankly, Achahut was surprised any of them were still alive. When he heard the request for help, he quickly realized that here was a chance for him to die with honour, to die fighting. Straightening, he said to his chief, "I will help the apes fight. I will bring honour to our people."
tag
Achahut already had stats as a 5th level fighter so you do not need to do any work.
I sent a PM with those stats.
Done. :)
The human had translated some of his words for the rest of the Mireborn, and frankly, Achahut was surprised any of them were still alive. When he heard the request for help, he quickly realized that here was a chance for him to die with honour, to die fighting. Straightening, he said to his chief, "I will help the apes fight. I will bring honour to our people."
The chieftain was surprised, not even her two husbands were brave enough to face the evil spirits.
She addressed Achahut, "You are not afraid of evil elemental lords? No sane mjusi would dare the underbelly of the temple."
One of the husbands accused him, "It's a trick. he probably will run away."
tag?
Achahut thought about her words. Slowly, he said, "Sane? Perhaps I am not. Sane mjusi do not challenge the chieftain's decisions, either, not if they want to live. Sane mjusi do not give up an honourable death to travel with apes. But I have travelled with them, and they have shown me their strength, and they have also shown me kindness. If they are brave enough to face the evil spirits, in part to help our clan, then I can do no less. And if I am killed, then perhaps the ancestors will consider me redeemed."
Turning to her husband, he showed his teeth in a show of scorn. "I am Achahut. I do not run away. I did not run when you came for me. I fight when it is right to do so. Would that all my people were the same."
He turned to the dark ape, who was translating his words into the ape tongue for the benefit of his friends. "I will fight with you, if you will have me."
I think you are all a little light when it comes to wealth, especially Achahut. The module has been light on treasure in general and you are not using some of the better items (+1, corrosive rapier).
So let's bring every one up to the 10,000 gp wealth level.
we'll handwave the acquisition of this treasure so try and make it as organic as possible. Something given to you by the lizardfolk or your weapon now just being magical instead of MW. Things like that.
Questions?
Game on!
"I'd appreciate someplace I can study undisturbed," Min added. "There's a spell in this book," she tapped the Praet Memorial Spellbook, "that might be quite helpful to us if I can copy it into this book," she indicated her own.
Yes, Achahut for sure but even the rest of the PCs.
I haven't crunched the numbers but does Min have 10,000 gp in value?
Action 2:
"I will fight with you, if you will have me."
Zeljka still felt like her bell had been rung a little too hard but she nodded at the lizardman. "We would be foolish to turn away help from such an experienced warrior. We have fought beside each other before and I'm glad we'll have the chance to do so again."
"I will help the apes fight. I will bring honour to our people."
Apes, is it? Min thought, half-amused, half-insulted. Well, it's only fair: we do call them 'lizardfolk,' after all, and never asked them how they felt about it.
OK, let's take one more day to get equipment sorted.
I also need to know where you are going to explore next so I can set up that scene.
Please discuss, preferably IC but I'll take OOC, and let me know.
Questions?
Game on!
Zelkja: drop the +1 dagger for a +1 falchion.
Min: get your wand and scrolls
Don't forget to plan and tell me where you're going...
Nsizi was at about 8000 with all those scrolls, so I'll upgrade to a +1 spear and call it even.
Achahut: Can we upgrade him to a +1 heavy pick, a +1 amulet of nat armour, and a belt of giant strength?
Achahut was somewhat surprised when the chieftain signalled to her husbands to release him. Even more when he was allowed to collect his weapons and armour, and go with his new companions to the hut that had been assigned to them.
In polyglot, he asked them to describe all that had happened so far. They did so, translating back and forth amongst themselves to be sure they didn't forget anything. The felt the scales on his neck stiffen - it did indeed seem a place if incredible evil. For just a moment, running away seemed like a good option.
"One seed stone is broken, and three are left," he summarized, making sure he understood. "Which one to find first? In the place of cold air? Under the water?" He specifically did not mention the place of fire; he rather hoped he died before having to face that one.
Nsizi was at about 8000 with all those scrolls, so I'll upgrade to a +1 spear and call it even.
Achahut: Can we upgrade him to a +1 heavy pick, a +1 amulet of nat armour, and a belt of giant strength?
Spear +1 is OK.
Achahut already has natural armor so the amulet would not stack. Pick something else. The other stuff is OK.
You may swap out the spell if you want.
Game on!
"Have you any wizards in your tribe? Uh, mjusi who throw magic?" She waggled her fingers and made dancing lights appear in the air between them before dismissing them with a sweep of her arm. "If they have any wands or scrolls I could use, it would help us defeat the Swamp Speaker and stop the storm."
Min retreated to one of the cleared rooms of the temple, trying to block out the sound of the wind, rain, and thunder, as she pored over the pages of the Praet Memorial Spellbook that contained the runes for dispel magic.
Four hours later, she set down her quill with a feeling of satisfaction and a crick in her neck from craning over the books for so long. "There," she sighed. "At least that's done."
"Success!" she reported to Nsizi and Zeljka after emerging from her seclusion. "If I can get some rest tonight, we might have a less violent way of deactivating the other storm seeds."
Look in turn 159 for a 'map'.
There are roughly four 'stops' for the plinth, you've already explored the SE one.
Unless I hear from you, I will roll to see which one of the other three you explore next.
I intend to move this along later this evening.
Questions?
Game on!
Nsizi said, "I too, have learned how to ask the spirits to protect us from the cold. Perhaps we should finish exploring that tunnel next. Now we only have to hope that we are not blown away during the night."
"There should be one more electrical seed, a water seed, and a fire seed," Min replied thoughtfully. "Although we found the first electrical seed in the Cold tunnel, it really seems we ought to find the second in the Air tunnel, the water in the Water tunnel, and the fire in the Fire tunnel ... or I don't think much of the Evil Temple designer who set this place up," she finished with a sniff.
Nsizi wasn't sure about Min's reasoning. "It seems that we came into that place behind the water and earth tunnels. Remember, it was a secret door that we found. Perhaps for the Evil Temple Designer to check on his rooms. I believe there might be something at the end of the cold tunnel. We did not go right to the end."
Zeljka grunted while the others discussed which tunnel to go to next. "It doesn't really matter. Min said that all four storm seeds need to be destroyed so we keep looking until we do just that. If there are four seeds and four exits off the plinth, we should go to the next one."
Turn 179 - Achahut Joins the Struggle
Read the OOC.
Questions, comments, and/or suggestions?
Game on!
Zeljka grunted while the others discussed which tunnel to go to next. "It doesn't really matter. Min said that all four storm seeds need to be destroyed so we keep looking until we do just that. If there are four seeds and four exits off the plinth, we should go to the next one."
Oops, we cross-posted so the post above did NOT make into the turn recap.
However, I left a place to continue that conversation so it's still valid.
Game on!
The mjusi explained that a contingent of Song'o came and talked to her. "She said to tell you that she needed to hunt down a fugitive but did not say anything else."
"Oh dear," Min said quietly, exchanging glances with Nsizi and Zeljka. "Hamsa Gadd and Mr. Blackwell."
As they stepped off the plinth, Nsizi went to each of his companions in turn, and asked the spirits to help them endure the cold they were about to enter.
This time they didn't stop at the secret door, but kept moving down the icy hall.
As they approached the room with the icy orb, Nsizi looked around. "No guardians? They must know we are down here. Perhaps there is a trap?" He stepped aside, to allow Zeljka to look.
Zeljka's voice rumbled as she spoke, "I wouldn't say there aren't any guardians, there are statues.". The half-orc carefully moved forward, expecting danger at any moment.
The mjusi explained that a contingent of Song'o came and talked to her. "She said to tell you that she needed to hunt down a fugitive but did not say anything else.""Oh dear," Min said quietly, exchanging glances with Nsizi and Zeljka. "Hamsa Gadd and Mr. Blackwell."
Zeljka growled low in her throat, "We shouldn't have left them alive."
Zeljka growled low in her throat, "We shouldn't have left them alive."The mjusi explained that a contingent of Song'o came and talked to her. "She said to tell you that she needed to hunt down a fugitive but did not say anything else.""Oh dear," Min said quietly, exchanging glances with Nsizi and Zeljka. "Hamsa Gadd and Mr. Blackwell."
Yeah, I figured I would complicate things make things more interesting.
Everyone likes a recurring villain, right? :)
Game on!
Zeljka's voice rumbled as she spoke, "I wouldn't say there aren't any guardians, there are statues.". The half-orc carefully moved forward, expecting danger at any moment.
As far as the half-orc could tell, the statues looked like... statues.
-------------
[/dice]
"Is that one of the seeds?" Min wondered in a hushed tone. "Which one? There isn't a cold one. Is it frozen water? Is there any way to tell?"
So I need to know what you want to do.
There are the statues and there is the floating orb inside the icy cage.
There's also going back out and trying another tunnel.
I'd like to move this along today...
Questions?
Game on!
"Is that one of the seeds?" Min wondered in a hushed tone. "Which one? There isn't a cold one. Is it frozen water? Is there any way to tell?"
Zeljka snorted, "How many types of floating orbs do you think are down here? If it's not one of the seeds then what is it? I'll get a closer look and see if I can disable this one. Maybe you two should stay back."
Still not trusting that there aren't guardians or traps protecting the floating orb, the half-orc approaches with much caution.
Achahut was very uncomfortable down below the tunnel. He expected every statue to come to life, and ghosts and evil spirits to pass through the walls at any moment. As the big grey half-ape moved in to do magic with the floating ball, Achahut warily examined the statue on the left. Rather than wait for it to come alive, he decided to take preemptive action, and swung his heavy pick at it.
"Bufi, wait," Nsizi asked. "Can we not try Mina's new magic spell first? If this one explodes, you might not be so lucky this time."
Ring of protection instead of amulet of natural armour?
"I could send Hep," Min volunteered. "She's not very strong, but it's no great loss if she gets blown up."
Just made it.
These are Kapoacinth gargoyles, feel free to learn one fact and share with the others.
"Aha!" Achahut snarled in triumph. "Achahut not tricked by your spirit disguise! I will turn you to dust!"
The pick smashed into the creature as second time, and bits of rock and rubble fell to the floor.
Startled by Achahut's sudden attack of the statues - that weren't in fact statues, Nsizi responded instinctively. Taking his spear, he stepped to the west so that Achahut wasn't in the way, and he hurled it at the creature.
Action 1:
Zeljka couldn't see any way to get past the bars that didn't involve their destruction.