Monster Mashup - Master Thread

Game Master CaveToad

As the group begins to disperse slightly, Grobly takes the opportunity to give Bazzt a quick kick awake, before hopping onto the bats' back. With three powerful beats of the animals wings, the two were airborne and rising at dramatic speed. The goblin lets off a yell of glee as he rises higher, screaming for his companion to go higher, and faster. It had been a very long time since Grobly or Bazzt had flown under a real sky.

The two will rise up, just beneath the clouds, and begin a few wide circles of the groups clearing, trying to get the best view of the surrounding terrain as possible. After a few minutes up in the air, the Goblins paranoia will override his excitement, and he will head back towards the group.

The tiny construct fixes Qahnaarin with its lumpy glowing eyes. No emotion emanates from the creature. "I have no knowledge of this location. The method utilized to transport the entirety you see here, was a form of plane shift. I had chosen a mountain temple, which may no longer exist. We would be within 5 and 500 miles of this location. I cannot tell you more."

Although impossible to read, the emotionless construct seems to interact little with the group unless addressed directly. It may be waiting for a specific event to occur or waiting for the group to decide on a course of action.

Grobly you wheel swiftly into the sky and circle about. You seem to be on a hilly plateau area, nestled high between a mountain range. The most critical piece of information you glean is that snowmelt seems to fill a small mountain lake perhaps five or so miles away. This lake when full, appears to overflow and empty through a break in the mountains crashing from the alpine heights to the lower mountains and you suspect eventually through the foothills. You see no signs of settlements, no smoke or evidence of clearing the forested areas. The lake is quite far, but you see no signs of watercraft or lakeside inhabitants.

As Bazzt comes down to a landing, Grobly will jump off his mount in excitement, hopping from foot to foot. "There be a lake that way! We could reach it by nightfall!. No houses, or castles. But rivers! A river leading down and down! We follow that and we can find more longshins, and then Master Goodwyn!"

As Mlinzi returns to the group, bearing the fruits of his search, he makes his report.

"Looks like we're in luck. Seems like it's early summer, and there's plenty of stuff to burn." He sits down cross-legged on the ground, spreading what he found for everyone to see. "It's not a lot, I'm afraid, but it's something. The big news is that we're not far from water. I'm pretty sure I saw an eagle carrying a fish off in that direction," he points, indicating the general area where he saw the eagle. "That'll mean water and a good place to fish, if nothing else. Forest looks dry, though. If we're gonna light a fire, better do it out here in a clear space, or things could get a little warmer than we'd like. There's lots of birds and small game, so if somebody's good at setting snares, we could get food that way, too."

"Mlinzi and I were able to gather food for about 10 of us. Once Grobly returns from reconnaissance, I would recommend that Grobly, Kiki, and Hseir-Shae move to the forest to see if they can find any additional food that Mlinzi and I may have missed."

"If Sly, Tavros, and Karkoran wouldn't mind some manual labor, we found several fallen trees that could be brought back. We could start assembling lean-to's and fires. While it seems like it's close to summer, the nights may still get cold enough."

"Gunther, I believe I came upon deer tracks and possibly a den of sorts, although it was unoccupied. I believe if we stake it out, we may be able to put your bow to work if you're up to it.

Great news Grobly, Mlinzi! I assume they are referring to the same body of water...

We should try and make the lake before nightfall, those with a knack can scrounge up food along the way. Making camp here, then relocating tomorrow may just be a waste of time.

With nothing to pack up, Shaeyl checks that his katana sits firmly across his back, the handle riding over his right shoulder.

Sly watches enviously as Grobly launches into the air. "I eagerly await the day that we grow our wings," he says to his Scalebrothers.

"I do not mind manual labor, Miss Champawat. We shall be happy to procure what is needed, even if it is for fire." He says the last word with obvious distaste.

@Sly "Thank you great one, your help is most appreciated."

@Shaeyl Nygct "Why is there an urgency to make the lake by nightfall?"

Gunther draws his weapon once more and nods at Champawat. "Aye, that sounds like a fine plan. If ya lead th' way, I'd gladly follow ya." He approaches the catfolk man with measured steps, seeming to completely ignore the presence of the darkness spell affecting the area.

"We're gonna need a fire tonight. I expect it'll get cold, and some of us barely have decent clothes." Mlinzi looks around, realizing just how many of them there are, then decides to amend his statement. "Make that several fires. Even with that, we might have to sleep uncomfortably close tonight just to stay warm." The Vanaran ponders the pile of food he had managed to collect. "Still, we should eat some of this before we go. No sense dragging it through the forest, and if my hands are empty, I can look for more food on the way there."

Mlinzi can feel the first pangs of hunger already. Being as active as he is, he can burn through a lot of calories in a day. He looks down at the eggs, and decides he'll keep them for himself, plucking them up and carefully putting them into a pocket where he hopes they will be safe from getting smashed. "Have to wait until we get a fire going to cook these, though. Everybody keep an eye out for flat rocks we can use for plates and cooking."

Mlinzi glances around, gauging how ready the others are, knowing it can be difficult to get a group like this moving. Hopefully their impatience will prompt fast action.

Why spend time building shelter here, if tomorrow we need to relocate? Let us find an easily defensible location near the lake. It is only 5 miles, less than two hours to walk there.

Grobly nods in enthusiasm. "Lets go to the lake! Many fish!" Grobly will hop up on Bazzt, and whip him forwards (with all of his 10' land speed) "We can eats and sleep when we get there!"

I doubt Grobly would get far, if no one initially stops him.

"The forest offers us wood for fire and building. It offers us high vantage points and cover to hide in. It offers building materials to craft bowls, arrows, and spears with. It offers us food in many forms, including deer if I'm right, and deer offer us hides and leathers."

"I would build shelter, a simple lean-to, from the sun so that those with night eyes can rest and be ready for night watch once the sun is down." I would take any with ranged weapons on the hunt soon, so that we are ready before dusk."

"I would be glad to take a hunting trip to the lake. As for catching fish, I am as at home in the water as I am on land, for I spent my youngling years in the swamps and pools of my homeland. I can catch many fish for us, do not worry."

"As for gutting and cooking them, my claws will allow to gut them easily, and I have some experience cooking over an open fire."

With his ability to breathe underwater, as well as his 45 ft swim speed, there's not much that can out swim him, I'm sure. Oh, plus enlarge, which gives him reach.

"I like Champawat's thinking, though I'm worried about tonight."

Turning to the Catfolk, Mlinzi continues. "You're right that if we're out in the open, we've got the wind, but that forest is tinder dry, and it's all pine. One stray spark, and we're all cooked. On the other hand, the hunters might be smart to stake out the lake. Animals have to drink, after all, and they don't have fancy spells like we do. Plus, lakes usually have muddy banks where you can pick up a trail."

Turning to the rest of the group, the Vanaran rubs his chin. "Anybody have an idea for how to boil water if we need to? Might make eating things like roots and tubers a bit easier, and I think I can make a tea that'll help keep us from getting sick." He grimaces. "Though I hope we don't actually need it..."

"Yes, bigger game might be found at the lake. It seems we are heading to the lake, brethren."

Hseir motions a hand towards one of the bushes on the edge of the forest.

"If I could have but an hour to prepare my magic for the day, I could enhance several of those berries into a full meal, even for a ravenous hunter such as I."

The Druid spell, Goodberry, turns 2d4 berries into full meals for a Medium creature. I could prepare that twice, and get 4d4 meals for us, in addition to any fish/game we can catch.

@Mlinzi "I agree with you on many points Mlinzi. The lake is also flat, allowing viewing from long distances. Easy to spot things near it, like a large family of monsters, or several camp fires. And yes, we will cook away from the forest. Another benefit of stones, they can be heated and placed in the water. Hopefully a few of our kin have magics to move the stones without touching them once they're heated. We will go to the lake, I just don't think we need to rush to it tonight."

@ Hseir "Thank you brother. I will see to having spits ready for when you return."

late entry, i wanted to be mostly done before i jumped in to avoid any retconning

The plinking sound of a small stringed instrument heralded the presence of Lump. He climbed out of a hollow log to sit on top, brushing black soil off of his fine cloth bedclothes, which consisted of blue cotton trousers, blouse, and nightcap. His skin is bright green, like an emerald in the sunlight; and his skin is mottled gold like a prospector's sift-pan. He has big golden orbs for eyes, with the oddly-shaped black irises of a normal frog. The grippli was hardly bigger than a human two-year-old.

"I'm glad everyone has a plan. Let me know when you find a tavern, and I can make some MONEY!" Had he been avoiding doing any heavy lifting, or was he asleep? you may wonder.

As he mentions money, the musical notes he plucked on the fine mandolin changed from simple scales to the opening riff of a song he would often idly play in his downtime in the old plane.

As he plays, he looks up from the strings to the brothers and sisters he knew to be dancers.

"We will all be looking for Goodwin, Quassine. As someone has pointed out, we can't all travel together. If it turns out that the best way to split up is for me to go with you, then yes, I would be very happy to do so." Xanya answered Quassine before diving back into her preparations.

While the pair had been busy gathering food, Xanya had prepared herself for the day. She hadn't take long to study the book before she started to pull out various vials, pouches and jars. She mixed herbs, powder and liquids of all colors together in a new empty bottle. The task consumed her completely and she didn't pay much attention to nor interact with her surroundings. While she worked she kept humming and muttering to herself, the names of the various ingredients, durations and a lot of the time just counting the time between adding one substance before adding the next one. "I wish I had some way to make this stronger, at least I can make myself stronger this way." She thought to herself. It took one hour to brew her mutagen, but she was done about the same time they returned from hunting.

She thinks through what extracts to prepare for the day while the others begin their discussions. If they run into people, it would be nice to be able to hide her true identity. That didn't seem likely, but she should at least leave room for the possibility. The drug to heighten her senses and be better able to react would be useful, but it had such a short duration that she would have to guess in advance when to use it. That could be difficult. It was the same issue with the force shield, if it came to battle, she wouldn't want to waste her time drinking. That left the healing potion. She could make one of those. If she needed healing, she wouldn't have time to wait to make it. She could leave the other two concoctions to be decided later. Her decision made she quickly jumped back to work, completing the process in about a minute.

Once she was done with that she was ready to join into the discussion. She starts with an incredulous tone and a matching expression. "Why would we decide to waste a day just because it's already the middle of the day. If needed we can travel in the evening or during the night. What should decide if we travel or not is if we are too tired. I say we make it as far as we can in one day. First to the lake, then following that along the river. We can still travel for another eight hours towards civilization, clothes, missions to acquire stuff we need and information leading to finding our master. I say it's crazy to decide to sleep or build the day away." Xanya finishes with an angry huff and blazing eyes.

@Maks: " how about the winter solstice then."

" I will see if I can hunt down a deer or something, where do we meet up?" raising her tiny hands she adds "I ain't much good at gathering berries and stuff, at least not for people of your size."

"Seven or so months still seems much." she said as she looks over the state of the nearby flowers. "But I believe we can be certain to return around that time." Maks wags her tails in response to Kiki.

She looked to Xanya, head askance, and ear perked. "Sister, it never hurts to be prepared. Quickly thatching blankets and the like here will take no more time than it would once we arrived where we were going. And we'll be prepared before we arrive!" her tails continue to swish. "Though... I don't think any of us can really speak for what the others should be doing. If I knew someone to be more of a leader, I'd suggest that they handle things for everyone... but I know how power can corrupt." she finished, her tails stopping swishing.

Sora, having quietly explained to Miyu what was going on, hopped back over to Maks. The fox shook its fur, and then sneezed in the sunlight. Then it stood, and padded over into the darkness to get a better look at everyone inside.

"Should Makoto stay close, I will be capable of providing food as well. What little time I have had on Nirvana has been with the finest hunters in the land, who seek to pass their knowledge on to others."

"If you intend to split apart to form smaller efficient groups, I will act as messenger between your various groups. The master would will it so." says Jovar in his flat voice, similar to Goodwin's own, but a bit off in pitch and tone.

Mlinzi's eyes brightened at the Homunculus's offer. "Ah! There's one problem solved! Thanks Jovar!"

Something Makoto said got him thinking, though. "Hmmm... you know another thing that might be at the lake? Reeds! If there were some long reeds, we could weave them to make bedding and containers. It wouldn't be the best bedding, but it would be better than nothing!"

As everyone begins to make plans of their own Eleanor approaches Jovar with some questions. She was somewhat impulsive in her own way but it didn't seem like the right time to go marching off into the woods. "Why did you choose this place Jovar? Does the temple you spoke of hold some significance to our mission?"

"The temple location I chose is a branch of the sect to which Master's friend Kaoo Lor belonged. If the temple still stands and practices the same arts, they would surely have record of Kao Lor and the fate of his progeny. It has been thousands of years. One thing I have learned in reading the books in Master's library is the temporary nature of these things. There may be a large degree of research and investigation involved to track down this information. It would thus seem prudent to split apart to more efficiently follow any and all leads. Unfortunately due to the nature of the magic we used to come here, we are far from our initial target location. A challenge which I suspect Master has trained you all to meet."

"I'm sure we'll get by," Mlinzi says to the Homunculus with what he hopes looks like a confident grin. "So, if we do split off into groups, who should go with who?"

Xanya claps her hands happily and nearly jumps up and down on Cryxial's back. "This information about the monastery changes everything! It's an actual lead. I believe we should try to find it, or at least the ruins of it so we can find more about Kaoo Lor. Do you know anything more about the monastery or the surrounding area Jovar? We seem to be in the mountains now, was it somewhere in some mountains? Maybe following the river down isn't the best idea after all? Though then again, finding civilization could allow us to look for directions instead of wandering blindly. I don't suppose anyone have a way to locate the monastery?"

Shaeyl responds to Xanya, he mentioned earlier that his aim may have been off by anything from 5 to 500 miles. Beginning any type of investigation before we even have the most basic of our needs taken care of may prove to be folly.

Greebins suddenly jumps to his feet, then spends a second adjusting his clothes and fur. He looks around, then says to Shael, "Bring someone that can hunt with you then. Food and water are not so hard to find if you know how to look. And permanent shelter won't do us any good, since we will all be traveling. If Jovar intends to relay information, then the only thing left for us to do is choose our travel companions and the direction we are going in."

Tavros hums to himself. Knowing that they will most likely part ways soon, he takes an odd comfort in the bickering around him. As he looks around, he reminds himself of each of his siblings' strengths and training, confident that their abilities will serve them well in the trials to come. They would see each other again soon, he told himself.

As everyone fell into their cliques or ran off to attempt to be useful in some way, Maks found herself displeased with the situation.

Displeased because while she knew a lot... she wasn't particularly useful. Her skillset was positively cosmopolitan, and while she was able to mend wounds, inspire others, and on occassion provide spells of dubious value... at the end of the day, she didn't have anything to really offer in the way of survival itself. Her Eidolon had expressed that it was a hunter, and she could certainly identify plants, and creatures and structures of all kinds... but she wasn't like the rest of her brothers and sisters when it came to the sort of 'in your face' utility that they brought.

She found herself sighing, a huffing sound, as her tails danced, one still waiting beside Lucina. "I hope we find civilization soon." she said, quietly.

"Don't worry, Maks." Hseir said, moving to pat her shoulder gently.

"I realize that your talents are not aimed at wilderness survival. But some of ours are. We'll take care of you, I promise."

Makoto's tails sway slightly as she nods. "Thank you, Hseir." She still seems perturbed, though. "I think I'll need to learn on the fly, perhaps." she says, trying to reassure him that she'd be fine.

Kiki leaves the globe of darkness and stops close to Maks on her way towards the edge of the forest, she prefers natural shade and wants to get a feel for the forest and maybe take te chance to finaly hunt again.
"He is right Maks, we all have different tallents, you might not be good at wilderness survival, but I am and I have never been to real civilization, I would be lost there without someone like you. If you want to, I could take care of you till we reach some form of settlement."

"Perhaps. I don't know. I think that we each need to probably determine what our goals are in order to truly make sense of things. It may be that splitting into groups such that everyone has what they need is ideal... but it might also be better to send each according to their abilities; send those that can blend into society to do so, those more adapted to climbing to scale the mountains, and so forth.." she said, still thoughtful. "What do you think, Xanya?" she finally raised her voice enough to be heard above the general din of the dome of darkness. Amongst those in the cloud, she had at least been the most friendly that hadn't come back out. If not the most sane. But she seemed as good a representative of the darker scions as Kiki.

Karkoran had stepped away from the group for a while, moving off into the forest with Warcat. Together they sought some solitude and a chance to hunt.

Finding a large flat rock, Karkoran took stock of his small alchemical pouch, arranging the vials and making mental notes of the ingredients. Where able, he would gather minor components from the area around him, herbs, minerals, some moss or lichen. He prepared an extract for shielding in battle, and left the other one up to a later whim.

He took a moment to focus his energies on the hunt. The divine magic filled him briefly, available if needed. Though no longer an initiate of Baphomet, he kept his spirit open, and venerated nature more than brutality now, reveling at times in his bestial feral nature. It was comforting and kept the dark thoughts and nightmares at bay. He focused on several disciplinary maneuvers, meditating and then doing some brief drills to get the blood flowing, always ready for battle. Then, he and Warcat hunted.

Survival: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (8) + 8 = 16
Survival, Warcat: 1d20 ⇒ 8

Karkoran summons water as needed and they find enough food to feed themselves with a small amount left over. It was easy enough for Warcat to flush a nest of birds and for Karkoran to hurl his aklys clubs at the quarry, providing meals for them.

After some time Karkoran returns unerringly to the group, weaving through the maze of pine trees to deposit a spare rabbit into the hands of one of the others who had been sitting or debating courses of action.

He listens to the discussion of the scouting report and nods.

"If we must make our way to this temple, I suggest we travel to the lake first, and then follow it downstream. Eventually we will stumble on a miner panning for gold or a logging camp or fisherfolk. Our scouts can alert us and we can send our more social folk to parley for information regarding the temple or civilization. We can get a basic idea of what country we are in, who rules, and the general state of things. As exciting as it may be, wandering around the wilderness without any concept of the reality here, seems foolish. These lands may be embroiled in war, we may be seen as a battle force, or spies. Perhaps when night falls, the dead rise, and those stuck outside are taken. Perhaps there is no civilization, and we spend months finding only the ruins of past empires. For one, I am ready move and will join any group who will take Warcat and me."

Xanya hears the shouting Kitsune and moves towards her. That is, Cryxial moves, she just rides him. She doesn't really like to shout when she doesn't have to. Well, except for when she liked to shout. Sometimes it was just refreshing to make as loud noises as possible, but she didn't feel like doing that now. The globe of darkness of course moves with her, seeing as she is it's anchor. The shadow from the darkness is not very strong, it's like the cool shade of the forest on a bright summer day, not like some dark cave or hidden dungeon. Even people normally hampered to see in darkness should have no problems to see within in.

When Xanya comes closer a smile is visible on her face. She is happy about having been chosen out. "What do I think? A lot of things. Some of them you probably don't want to hear. Your tails give me a lot of ideas, while some of them are pleasurable, others not so much... I will not cause you pain though, oh no, that would be evil." She gets a sad look on her face before brightening up again at her next thought. "I will do good. Pleasure on the other hand, that is good right? Well, unless it is forced?" Now she looks confused. "Where were we? Oh yeah, what do people want to do and how to do it? I think we all have the same goal, to rescue Goodwin. We should each contribute to the best of our abilities towards that goal. I believe that forming complementary groups with a wide array of skills would be more beneficial than putting everyone who does the same in the same group. That way each group could handle a wider array of situations and people wouldn't get in the way of each other trying to do the same thing. For example, I absolutely hate it when people charge in front of me to block my access to get at the enemies. I want to ride them down, tear into them and blow them apart with the force of my blow. However if someone is blocking my path, that could be difficult."

Mlini perks up at the mention of climbing. "Yeah... I should probably stay away from humans unless there's a good reason." He shook his head, not wanting to think much about his past experiences with the hairless ones. "I'd definitely do better out in the wild. I'm not the best survivalist, but I can take care of myself. I'm a great climber, though, so cliffs and trees won't pose any problem for me. If we can get our hands on some rope, there shouldn't be an obstacle I can't get us over."

He tries another smile at Maks, hoping it comes off as friendly and not a threatening leer. Silently, he curses his face for being so bad at expressing positive emotions. Knowing she's unsure of herself, the Vanaran tries to cheer her up. "Don't worry. We'll get you through this just fine. It's gonna be rough for a few days, but I'm sure things'll get better soon. Besides, I expect we'll all need someone to raise our spirits sooner or later." He gestures to the Kitsune's totem spear. "Once we're settled don and have a campsite, I'm sure some music would be welcome."

When Karkoran returns, Lump stops playing long enough to listen to his report.

"I hope if everything is ruined, we at least find books." he says to the minotaur.

After a moment, he adds, "We can't be the only ones left. Who will be my adoring fans then?"

As the Derro speaks, Makoto's tails seem to subconsciously move behind her, and then as the Derro continues to speak, Maks begins to open her mouth to say something, then snaps it shut, as Xanya finishes the last line. "I thought you were talking about the people in the way, for a moment. Everyone keeps saying 'Save Goodwin'. I think that we all understand that he needs to be saved, but we have to have plans before that. We need to split up if we are to get anything done." she states, nodding agreement, "And having people capable of covering others' deficits... without stepping on any tails or toes seems wise, yes."

"But how do we begin to do that. I suppose if Jovar knows much of what Goodwin knew, he would be the best to arrange us in such a way. of course, if I had my shipping log here, I'd likely be able to determine with relative ease who had the most palatable personalities to one another, but I never really committed it to memory, because there were constant tiffs altering it. Aside from sticking with Lucina, I can't even begin to imagine who precisely I would prefer to travel with." she says, shaking her head. "This would all be so much easier if we had actual leaders... but everyone is simultaneously the hero and villain in their own stories..." her tails twitch, as she lazily looks over the dome and its inhabitants. "One thing that I think might be wise, is to group those with poor dark vision together, so that we don't ruin each other's natural capabilities. I would prefer bright light, for example and am useless in the dark... and you're less capable in the light, but far from useless in the dark."

She then turns her attention to Mlinzi, "I... actually think that performing might be something I'd like to try to focus on, now that you mention it. If we're careful, we can form a small traveling troupe, and use that as a way to gather information, spread the word that not all monsters are evil, and that sort of stuff. It might be a little on the dangerous side for us, but if worst comes to worst, we run away." she shrugs lightly. "And infiltrating common society would probably be the most effective way to gather the information we need most. Searching a five hundred mile radius area just seems... impossible."

Mlinzi nods at the Kitsune's assessment. "All very good ideas! Just... be careful. Sometimes people can be... cruel, and I'd hate for you to have to go through what I did." He grows uncharacteristically somber, having a harder time pushing back the unpleasant memories of his past. As if in an attempt to distract himself, he continues. "Hopefully the temple will be visible from the air, and Grobly will be able to spot it quickly. If not, we'll definitely need clues. A 500-mile radius of mountainous terrain could take years to search, even if we all go in different directions."

I feel like there's a way to use statistics to help us here. Given the random distribution of distances, shouldn't it be possible to discern the distance we're most likely to be from the temple? I leave this to the IRL math nerds and the IC wizards and such to figure out.

"We could also sort by what actions people wished to take, no matter how well our skills complement if you spend more time trying to figure out if we should stay or go would be a large waste of time."

Karkoran looked down at the small frog creature. "We will find books and more. I highly doubt the world is desolate. The gods can be cruel and capricious.." he noted, pausing briefly, the continued, "..but there are many who are just and would work to keep their flock safe. Music will always inspire until the end of time. You will find those who will enjoy your artistry." Karkoran himself often struggled to enjoy music or art, instead throwing himself into different vocations that had more functional results. He spent as much time at the forge as in the library or the lab, and just as often in the wilds, but never in the glade where many of his artistic 'kin' spent their time.

Kiki imagination, barely kept in check befor, goes wild at Xanya's tangent about pleasure.

" I go both ways. I was always curious about civilisation and am perfectly able to survive in the wilderness. I could go to the dark places within civilisation, so those of you who chose to walk in the light don't have to, I am a creature of darkness by nature, more so than most of us, on the other hand goint to far of places few have seen and lived to tell the tale would be interesting as well, on jet another hand exploring some ruins or catacombs created by people how many generations ago would be fascinating as well, on the last hand I don't realy mind where I go, as long as it is not a desert and its interesting, wherever you go there are always chances for adventure and fun. " she finishes looking at Maks's tails and bringing her imagination to heel, again.

'and may be I can repai Godwin for saveing me'

Gunther raises an eyebrow as the others discuss matters, but keeps silent. He tests his bowstring lightly, grinning softly as it replies with a low twang. Whatever the others decided, he would be up to the task of both hunting for and protecting them.

I am glad I decided Tavros is too innocent to understand all these innuendos.

Also, if Xanya doesn't like people charging before her, she would probably not like to be in a party with Tavros as that is basically exactly what he's going to do if he goes first. Although obviously he wouldn't intentionally try to block her access.

Tavros grin at the idea of performing but then lets out an uncharacteristic growl at the thought of people hurting is family for just performing. He quickly shakes his head, returning to his peaceful expression as he forcefully resumes repressing thoughts of negative events. All the stress and excitement must be getting to me.

Re: Distances- It's been a while since I did stats, but on average we'd end up 250 miles from our location. Although I'm not sure that applies since this was a single casting of a spell. Plus there's the fact that a DM is involved, which potentially makes us a non-random distance from our goal.

"Me, I just want to help wherever I'll be most useful. I want to keep everybody safe if I can, and do my part to help find Goodwin. I don't know what I'd be best for, though. I'm no great wilderness survivalist, and I don't think I'll do too well in town, either. Still, I've got skills that would come in handy in both areas. My nightvision's great, and I'm good at climbing and hiding, so if I go to the city, I can hide out on rooftops during the day and sneak around at night. In the wilds, I can take care of myself and help others get around in high places, but that's about it. I'm a really good fighter, though, so if my group runs into danger, I can keep 'em safe."

"I hope so," Lump replies to Karkoran. "i don't want to sleep in the wild any more than i have to. I've grown accustomed to the finer things. But wandering around and being inspired to write new songs sounds fun.... i, too, am capricious, though no longer cruel."