"Do we have time to treat them? I mean, it's sad that they're sick kids, but the fact there's an Imperial Star Destroyer in orbit would imply we're on a tight schedule. We need to get a move on."
As much as he hated slogging through the mud, Kalus did not relish the thought of spending a prolonged period of time in a village with people who had tried to kill him. That was a recipe for ending up dead and dinner.
When informed of the equipment that you'd need to treat the sick felucians Valus looks a little crestfallen. " The only place around here that would have that kind of gear would be the Imperial prison. " He shakes his head. " Listen, I want to level with you. I can only think of three reasons you'd be traipsing around the swamps here. One, your ship crashed and you're stranded here. Two, you're on the weirdest tourist trip ever or Three, you've come here to raid that facility for some reason. Now if you are here to make some kind of attack on the prison, I'd like to help. I've got a small herd of Kybucks, you could use as mounts and I'm sure I could convince the Chief to give you a felucian guide and maybe in return you could bring back any medical supplies and show the felucians how to use them... "
Russel considers Valus' offer, "While I am not proficient with any sort of healing I would be more than happy to agree to those terms, anybody object?" Russel looks around at his companions.
"If we have time on the way back, we'll drop off the requisite medical supplies. Hopefully we can grab faster transit than a kybuck at the base."
Leaning over to Avizzi, he whispers, "What in the moons of Yavin is a kybuck?"
"That plan sounds fine." Avizzi passes his judgment on the idea, without directly committing the group to the action--mounts and a guide would help, certainly, and if they didn't happen upon medical supplies, it wasn't really their fault. Besides, it wasn't as though there would be any retribution from jungle-dwelling natives once they left the planet.
At Kalus's question, Avizzi gives the man a quizzical look and shakes his head. "How should I know? I've never been here."
"If we have time on the way back, we'll drop off the requisite medical supplies. Hopefully we can grab faster transit than a kybuck at the base."
Leaning over to Avizzi, he whispers, "What in the moons of Yavin is a kybuck?"
"Hopefully a transport of some kind."
" Hey, Kybucks can move at quite a clip, you know. " Mandrake says to Kalus. " Come on let's go meet the chief. " He walks out of the hut, and heads back toward the centre of the village. " This is great, ever since the Imperials set up that base things have been tough for the tribe. I tried to convince the chief that we could take it out but, well they don't like to go there. They call it the vanishing place. Felucians that have gone scouting out that way have never come back. The others say they can sense he pain of those that never returned. " he reaches the Chiefs hut. " wait here... " he steps through the doorway and you all hear him speaking with the chief in the guttural language of the natives. A minute or so later he emerges, the Chief right behind him. Obviously extremely old, the tendrils around this felucians head appear to be shrunken and damaged. His body is covered in scars, and one arm looks withered and blackened as though infected with some kind of shrivelling disease.
He looks the group over, slowly walking past Taril, he looks Nomi in the eyes for a moment, stopping as if noticing something. Then moving on, his gaze passes over Avizzi and Russel and comes to rest on Kalus. The withered tendrils around his head writhe and then droop a little. Finally he addresses the group speaking in the guttural Felucian language, Valus translates. " So you have come to Felucia, and are planning to attack the evil ones at the Vanishing place. Why do you do this? "
Nomi steps forward. "The evil ones have an ally of ours held prisoner. We go to free them."
Kalus looks at the Chief and thinks, This guy's seen combat. I'll bet he fought during the battle of Felucia.
As the Chief's gaze settles on him, he feels somewhat discomfited by it. It seemed to be a little too...knowing. Shrugging it off as the planet getting to him, Kalus says, "We'll likely also end up causing some trouble for them. If we cause enough, they may be forced to abandon their base, which would allow you to have a bit more freedom to move about. We'll make sure they don't find your village if we can't run them off."
The old felucian bobs his head in a slightly circular motion and replays in his guttural tongue. Mandrake continues to translate.
" Yes they take many, they have taken some of my people as well... I have scouted the area myself a time ago, when the first scouting party did not return. I sensed so much pain, the pain of my people. It emanates in waves from the western side. Please, if find any of my people imprisoned there, release them as well. "
" Trouble for the evil ones is good. If they could be driven off, we would owe you much. Yes if they find the village we must move but with the sick Young this would be difficult. "
" The tribe is with you, I will instruct one of my shamans to guide you to the facility, but he will not enter... "
Russel steps next to Kalus and whispers, "Drive them out? That is a pretty optimistic view of what we are looking to accomplish isn't it?"
"Not what I was thinking, either. I suppose we can overload a reactor or something. That'll drive them out real fast. Still, it got us a guide to the facility, which means less wandering around lost."
Nodding to the chief, Kalus says, "We can free any of your people we come across. I'm certain that all are held in the same general area, so it should be doable."
Taril manages not to spit the drink out , offering the Felucian a wan smile of thanks.
She goes to join the others, catching the conversation in the middle. Frowning, she tries to follow the disjointed discussion, then nods as she figures out what was going on.
"Sure, whatever we can do." she says guilelessly, knowing full well it's doubtful that any Felucians survive in that Imperial compound.
"...."
The chief speaks with Mandrake for a moment then with a last look at Kalus, shuffles back into his hut.
" Ahh, the Chief would like to see you, and ah, you inside for a minute, is that alright? " Valus says looking from Kalus to Nomi. " Everyone else should make any preparations they need. If you need your wounds looked at head over to that large hut there, where one of the shamans can help you out. Then meet us at the Kybuck pen. It's over that way, on the edge of the village. " Valus then follows Nomi and Kalus into the chief's hut.
Looking at Nomi the chief speaks. " I feel your connection to the Great Tribe, " Valus translates, standing off to the side. " Your companion has the potential to join as well. " He turns to Kalus " but I sense the shadow as well. You must be wary of your trail. " He shuffles toward Kalus and places a hand near your temple. Kalus is suddenly more aware of the abundant life surrounding the village and a second later he hears faint guttural whispers speaking in the felucian tongue.
Looking back at Nomi the chief continues. " You're connection to the Tribe is strong, maybe there are skills we could learn from one another? "
Nomi: Hp: 22/34
Kalus: Hp: 20/24
Warily, Kalus enters the hut, carefully observing the chief and Mandrake, looking for signs of betrayal. He takes a seat next to the fire, and listens to the chief's words.
"Potential to join the Great Tribe? I don't know what the Great Tribe is, but I'm not looking to stay here for long to join it. And what do you mean by shadow?" He turns to look at his shadow, not noticing the chief moving towards him. When he turns back, the chief is there, touching his temple.
Shaking his head at the sense of life and the guttural Felucian tongue, he misses the chief's words to Nomi, and looks at chief and asks, half in wonder and half in horror, "What did you do to me?"
"I'm not anything much more than a student of the Force--not even that anymore really. If you want to know how to cheat at pazaak or be the last one standing after a cantina brawl I've got a few moves, but that's about it. I'm not really all that big on the whole tribal thing anymore."
Valus has a little trouble translating Nomi's words. The felucians not really having a concept of cheating at pazaak, but eventually the chief seems to understand and bows his head to her. " I understand... I hope you can find your trail again. Watch over this one, " The chief points at Kalus " That he doesn't become lost in the shadows. Now I will rest. "
The chief stares into the fire and Mandrake sort of indicates that the meeting is over and begins heading for the door.
Russel looks at Taril, Virssyl and Avizzi, "Taking long enough in there eh?"
"Don't call me that. And let's not mention any of this to the others."
Glancing at Nomi, he sighs and says, "And maybe we'll talk about this later."
"I hope you got useful advice in there," Avizzi says, eyeing the pair. It's obvious that he won't drive them to tell exactly what occurred, though--and the clear sense is that he doesn't care. "Maybe a good idea of how to change a stealthy rescue mission into destroying an Imperial base for the locals." Nothing was ever simple when it came to the Empire, of course, but things seemed to be getting out of hand quickly.
"What? And spoil the surprise?" Nomi says passing by to collect her things.
"What? Did no one like my blow the reactor plan?" Kalus asked, attempting to hide how the chieftan's revelation had shaken him.
Mandrake follows Kalus and Nomi out of the Chiefs hut after a moment. He looks around at the group. " Well follow me and I'll get you all saddled up on a Kybuck... "
He heads to the edge of the village where there is a penned area with a small herd of the strange mounts .
As Mandrake saddles up some of the creatures for you a few felucian shamans approach offering to treat your wounds.
" Don't worry, these animals are well trained and quite gentle. " Mandrake says.
Just as everyone is getting settled on their mounts, including your felucian guide, you all notice a low whining noise of a speeder bike. Looking about you spot a lone scout trooper watching you all from the seat of his speeder bike. He starts as you notice him and shoving his electrobinoculars away, he throttles the bike into motion and starts to zip away.
" Oh Frag! " Mandrake exclaims. " If he gets a message back to the base the village is done for! " Mandrake swings up onto another Kybuck and urges the animal into a run. The Kybuck leaps forward at an amazing speed chasing after the scout trooper...
Russel: Hp: 12/26
Nomi: Hp: 22/34
Kalus: Hp: 20/24
Russel grimaces at having to ride an animal being much more comfortable with a speeder. Once the scout is spotted he pursues.
The Felucian shaman treats Russel's wounds with a storage smelling poultice and bandages.
While Kalus and Nomi met with the chief, Taril , bored, played idly with a tall purple mushroom, slowly bending it until it nearly touched the ground, then releasing it, watching as it bounced back and forth.
She's relieved when they finally come out with Mandrake, holding back any pithy comments as he leads them to the kybuck pen.
When then Imperial scout flies off , she grins, "Finally , some action!"
She spurs her kybuck in pursuit....
As the Shaman treats his wounds, Kalus says nothing about what transpired in the hut, studiously looking elsewhere.
Mandrake shows them to where the kybucks are. He looks at them somewhat cautiously, as he had never ridden an animal before. As he goes to mount, he mutters, "I really hoped a kybuck was a type of swoop."
Sitting in the unfamiliar seat, he looks about. Upon spotting the speeder bike roaring away, he shouts, "He can also report that we're coming, which means they'll be ready for us. Let's get him!"
Avizzi wordlessly urges his own mount into action as the scout takes off, drawing his pistol from its holster as he grabs the reins.
Nomi kicks her mounts flanks and pounds after them.
The Kybucks spring forward racing after the trooper's speeder bike through the swampy area around the village. Their feet send up huge splashes of swamp water as they run through and then dart into the dense jungle. They duck and weave through the enclosing fungi that drops low over the terrain. You can all make out the whine of the speeder's engine up ahead, but for now you've lost sight of the trooper...
As you reach the end of the game trail there seems to be two paths ahead one that leads through some thick foliage and another that travels through a an old hollowed out truck of a massive felucian mushroom.
As you reach the end of the game trail there seems to be two paths ahead one that leads through some thick foliage and another that travels through a an old hollowed out truck of a massive felucian mushroom. Unfortunately you didn't see which path the trooper took.
Perception check success: You manage to middle your way through he foliage and back onto a trail.
As you reach the end of the game trail there seems to be two paths ahead one that leads through some thick foliage and another that travels through a an old hollowed out truck of a massive felucian mushroom.
Seemingly getting the hang of riding a Kybuck, Kalus pulls up towards the front of the group, glimpsing the trooper through the foliage. Quick drawing his blaster, he takes a shot at the trooper, not expecting to hit, but maybe to give him something to think about.
Looking between the two paths, he decides that the trooper may think dense foliage is the way to lose them, so he veers that way.
Avizzi snaps his mount into motion, and even catches up closer to the trooper, but he doesn't bother taking the shot. His slugthrowers don't have the capacity of blasters, he's less likely to find ammo at the base, and Avizzi's fairly certain he won't make that shot. Glancing to the side, he sees Kalus fire before moving into the dense foliage. In hopes of heading off their prey and cornering the trooper, Avizzi take the other path, urging the kybuck into the mushroom trunk.
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"What... I... won't... give... for... a... speeder... right... now!"
Nomi follows Kalus.
Russel holds onto the reigns feeling more comfortable on the beast then he thought he would.
Ride
The comfort almost leads to complacency and he buckles down following Avizzi through the mushroom.
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With a whoop, Taril pulls ahead, head tentacles pulled straight back by the acceleration of het Kybuck.
Faced with an instantaneous decicion , she takes the most interesting one: into the hollwed out trunk....
Kalus and Nomi dart left, their Kybucks ducking and weaving through thick foliage, dashing around sinkholes and leaping over trenches!
Any hero who succeeds on the Ride check by 5 or more also gains a +5 circumstance bonus on Ride checks in the next round.
Any hero who succeeds on the Ride check by less than 5 manages to help direct his or her kybuck to the next zone without any difficulties.
1-2-3, Your Kybucks zip into the hollowed out trunk of a giant mushroom, and you find yourselves traveling through a series of hollow logs and underground tunnels. The heroes and their mounts must lower their heads to prevent scraping the ceiling of these natural passageways. As the kybucks zip through the underground tunnels, chunks of moss and other fungi droop down from above, while breaks in the ceiling let occasional rays of light shine down on the you.
That hero must succeed on an opposed grapple check (versus the roots, which have a +2 grapple bonus) to continue to the next zone.
A failed check means that the hero and his or her kybuck becomes stuck in the natural tunnels, and on the following round the hero can take a standard action to disentangle from the roots.
And rapidly showing he really doesn't know how to ride the animal, Kalus sees the trench approaching and pulls up, keeping the kybuck from jumping. He rides the animal around, knowing he lost time but hoping to make it up.
Lekku flying all about, Taril grins fiercely, eyes narrowed against the wind, as she lays low on the kybuck's neck, letting the creature have its rein, it's speed never faltering.
Avizzi continues to keep up the pace on his mount, although Taril actually pulls up ahead of him for a few moments. The togruta is also grinning, exhilarating in the thrill of the chase--the hunt.
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From a mound of rotting vegetation Nomi hauls herself up on her elbows and spits and growls. "Pi-TOOEY Stupid tree!"
Looking back over its shoulder at her the kybuck farts wetly.
Russel 's grip on the reins are so tight his knuckles are white!
Ride
Russel, more wary now, pushes the creature to faster speeds, if this trooper gets away...
Taril, Russel and Avizzi errupt from the underground tunnels back into the light and the mushroom forest. Before you can get your bearings on the sound of the speeder ahead a massive claw sweeps aside a giant mushroom followed by the head of a mighty Rancor! The beast, bleeding from a massive wound in its side, lashes out in pain, swiping at you all with its claws!
Nomi gets back on that flatulent Kybuck and rides after Kalus. Emerging from the thick foliage you both come upon one last trench to jump. Ahead and to your right you see your companions dashing past a flailing Rancor! Ahead you can hear the sound of the troopers speeder through the jungle.
[/Ooc]
Next round you'll need to climb out of the trench...
Approaching the trench, Kalus says, "Jump, boy! Leap! Hya!"
Either because it knows he's clueless or plain orneriness, the kybuck proceeds to stop at the trench and go around, causing Kalus to grumble about how this time it's not his fault.
"Ya!" Taril shouts as the Rancor rears up, flattening herself against the Kybuck's sturdy frame trying to avoid those terrible claws.
The pain is amazing, even for a glancing blow, but Taril maintains her hold on the Kybuck, noticing it giving her a look, "I'm OK, keep going. HA!" she shouts, urging the beast on to greater speed.
Ride - Force Point -
Russel sees an opportunity and takes a shot!
Ranged Attack
Blaster Damage
Tapping perhaps into the ornery-side of the Force, Nomi wills her mount over the trench.
Avizzi urges his kybuck forward, and even grins again when the rancor appears. He snaps the reins smartly and urges his mount through the great beast's legs, darting just under it as it swipes at Taril Sha. Moving forward as he gains speed, Avizzi finally figures he's got a clear enough shot to fire at the trooper with his pistol.