The City of Arch: Arch Academy (Inactive)

Game Master Doomed Hero

Thedra raised an eyebrow. "Actually, we did fight them on your behalf. Like I said, we came here to find you. Spectrum found you first, but I guess didn't have time to say anything before the orcs caught up to you. We didn't make quite as good time through the forest, so we were late to our rendevous."

"The original plan was to use this outpost as abase camp and then venture out to find you. You were already here though."

"Why is that? Of all the places you could have run, why here?"

Eythil seemed momentarily caught off guard by her words.

It's been over 5 years since...

"I... I stumbled across the trail of the Orc scouting party earlier today. I knew there weren't too many of them and I had hoped to follow after and ambush them. My plan had been to draw them to a nearby group of Howlers, I'd skirted the edge of their territory late yesterday evening.

It wasn't precisely by choice that I ended up here, it was chance."

"And you'd planned on taking them all on yourself?" Ariela asks incredulously."At the very least your confidence is....impressive." she says with a shake of her head.

Garridan listens quietly to the infighting, rolling his eyes at the ignorance. 'Community is how we survive against the unending wave of monsters.' He stands and clears his throat. "Perhaps we can leave the bickering to when we finally arrive at this city. This will do nothing, but bolster our enemies. Perhaps we could better spend this time getting to know one another instead of being at each others' throats. Talas and I know each other well, we have fought side-by-side for sometime now. I just met the dwarf and this young woman before we arrived to this strange forest. I do not know you that well and do not know your style of fighting, or your abilities. If we are expecting another assault from these fire-wielding orcs, then let us discuss that."

Ylmen, looking as inflated as possible without putting painful strain on his ribcage, hooted agreeably. "I intent to behave with only civility among those so favored by fortune to be chosen for this journey." He removed his darkened circular goggles from around his neck and cleaned them with the fine grey feathers near his wrist. "My name is Ylmen. I am a student arcane. If your will be with that of your hosts," his eyes once again finding Spectrum and Thedra,"Then I am your friend and servant." He gave a slight bow to Eythil, then to Garridan, before taking a seat.

Eythil crossed his arms. "Well now that most of you have introduced yourselves and your intent to travel to this ... what you call a city through a portal, correct? You can call me Eythil."

Talas takes in the bird man with fascinated, if silent-for-a-bit study, and then he observes the back and forth between the burnt chap-- Eythil-- and Thedra.

Talas settles himself onto one of the tree branches of the fortress, since the little inner chamber's getting quite crowded; one long leg on either side of the branch, hands resting on the bark.

"Garridan's got something of a point," he says mildly. "Whatever our long-term plans are... or differences... we only survived those orcs by merit of everyone here helping, in some way or another. ...alright, and the magical gifts of Lady Thedra and Master Spectrum," he adds on, a bit drily.

"But unless you're planning to leave now, Eythil... then will you stand with us and fight, too? We could use another pair of hands. And, speaking as one who traveled on his own a long time before I met a friend," he gestures towards Garridan, "it's.... a good feeling to know someone has your back."

"My name is Ariela. I specialize is what could be called mystic combat." the young woman chimes in. "I am honored to fight alongside warriors of such varied skills and abilities."

Teral settled down cross-legged into one of the corners of the room, resting his head against the wall. He'd never quite managed to fall into true Reverie (too much human in his blood, he supposed), but he'd never been a deep sleeper, either, and it was easy for him to catch a few winks on the fly.

"Well, unless someone has a particular idea for our defense, I'm going to settle in and wait for dawn. I've got some spells to prepare in the morning."

"Mr. Garridan is correct." Announces the Dwarf. "We must form a plan to defeat the next onslaught of Orcs. I encourage several of us to act as nightwatch and guard. We must be prepared for anything. I am Dolgrin Ironbottom, at your service."

Kenna had acquired an axe from the battlefield and was cleaning it busily. She was settled against the wall, beside the door, listening to the peaceful nonsense around her and humming a bit as she scrubbed filth from the axe's joints.

Suddenly, her mind cleared and the voices of her new troop became sensible. Immediately there was argument and then, just as quickly, peace returned.

The spearman she'd fought beside gave his name as Eythil. She put her chore down and stood up to meet him.

"Health," she said, offering her hand. "Am I Kenna. What's happened on that face?"

"Well I'm sure the rest of you can take comfort in knowing others will watch your back, but I can't. You should all leave here, I should leave here, but I don't think I can ignore a group of you coming to look for me... as for what happened to my face... it was due to this forest and one of them." he finished, looking at Kenna.

A moment passed and he looked back at the rest of the group. "You can't hope to fend off another direct attack. The Orcs were confident they could kill the handful of us there were, but that was before the rest of you came running out of nowhere to engage them. Their blood lust can be sated if they start to lose too many of their number. They'll be more careful next time they return.

First, what kind of magics does everyone possess? I can use smoke and burning magics."

Ariela almost chokes as Kenna introduces herself and asks Eythil about his appearance.

'And they call me blunt.'

Ylmen tended quietly to his wound and listened to the others' words with restrained fascination. Upon Kenna's remark to Eythil ,Ylmen looked first at her and then at him with an entirely coincidental expression of abject horror. When Eythil took it in stride Ylmen shrugged and went back to his task, removing his gear harness and tidying up.

Weaving his fingers together behind his head, Teral replied to Eythil without opening his eyes. "Mostly buffs- er, enhancement magics and some healing at the moment, but you know how it is - I can call up whatever's necessary come the dawn."

Eythil eyed Teral for a moment with surprise.

"You are of the old faith then?" he spoke with an emotion that was hard to pin down, his actual words momentarily changing to something unpronounceable but the language magic cast by Spectrum allowed for him to be understood nonetheless. He focused on Teral as if gauging his response.

Realizing that her previous answer was a bit less than forthcoming, Ariela speaks up in further detail. To better answer your earlier question, I can briefly become invisible, channel elemental power through my strikes or sap an enemy’s strength and vitality as well as a number of minor tricks through focus and discipline. And in most cases I have no need of man made weapons."

"No magic at me," Kenna said cheerfully.

When the exotic looking woman, Ariela, spoke to him he was pulled back to the immediate situation he had created, and realizing that the Half-Elf was probably more interested in trying to rest than answering his questions, Eythil let that matter be for the moment.

"That will help, some anyway... Man made weapons..." he then muttered to himself. Ariela's words got him thinking as he glanced over at his Ranseur. The finely crafted metal weapon leaned against the wall, it was easily the most valuable thing he had come across in his time alone. He'd picked it up off the corpse of young man some years ago. One who had clearly come from a different place entirely, and had fallen to one of the many dangers of the forest. Among its markings had been a strange symbol that he had come across from time to time during his years alone.

It also reminded him vaguely of the stories he had heard growing up with his tribe. As he looked around at the group, the pieces began to fall into place.

The different look, the languages, the unique powers, the markings, why they were looking for me, how they got here, the symbol.

Could it be? Maybe, now focus.

"What other skills do you have? Is anyone good with traps or animals? I have some ideas, but only if someone is decent at either."

He glanced over at Ylmen.
"You can fly, that's a rare advantage over our enemies. Do you think you'd be willing to scout?"

"I've got a sword," Talas said drily in response to all the magical gifts possessed by his new crew. "Always meant to learn the magicking, never quite got around to it..."

He says it lightly enough, but his fingers tap absently against the vial of fire he took from one of the orcs. "...Thedra," he says in a quiet aside, "...would some in the city be able to teach me in this craft? If we live that long, I mean. I've dabbled, but..."

"My eyes are good, and I'm more or less quiet. But that's not as good as flying, I freely grant that. I can take apart a lock, or a snare at a pinch. I'm not usually the one setting them, though."

Eythil eyed Teral for a moment with surprise.

"You are of the old faith then?"

Teral opened on eye and peered back. "Not in the slightest." He lazily grinned. "New faiths are always more exciting."

Garridan smiles to himself as this group of strangers begin to build a common ground at his insistence. 'Erastil would be proud.' When talk turned to their abilities, Garridan was a little stumped; he'd never really thought about the source of his abilities... that had just come to him. "I likewise have no magic, at least not in the conventional sense. Some folk have said I have a mystical connection of sorts with my inner spirit, but I don't know about all that. I am very skilled with just about any kind of throwing weapon, but I suppose that might be rather obvious." He indicated his belt filled with throwing knives, his bandolier filled with alchemical weapons, and the pouches filled with chakram. His prized possession, however, was his boomerang. "I am glad to have met you all. I hail from Varisia, for those of you from Golarion."

Teral snapped his fingers, an expression of relief on his face. "Golarion! That was it! Agh, that was going to bother me for days."

Kenna nodded to Eythil. "Aye, can I trap."

"...Thedra," he says in a quiet aside, "...would some in the city be able to teach me in this craft? If we live that long, I mean. I've dabbled, but..."

"Oh, sure." Thedra replied with a smile. "Pretty much any kind of magic you're interested in. That's one of the reasons we scouted you out. Some people have a sort of "potential." We've learned to measure it. Those people with the 'spark' can learn just about anything in a fairly short time."

"You're one of them. We all are. You could be a sorcerer, or an oracle, or even something weirder like a psychic in a couple months."

Ariela listens with interest, feeling a small swell of pride at the knowledge that she and her fellow acolytes were in fact chosen for their potential.

"I have been trained in military tactics since I were a lad." Said Dolgrin as the group discussed their abilities. "None of that magic, though. We are a courageous race who stand at the front and fight to defend our homes and family." He slammed a fist to his chest in pride.

The conversation continued, the recruits assessing each other's abilities and Eythil trying to figure out who these strange people with the impressive equipment and skills were.

About a half hour later the spell allowing them to easily converse expired. After that the conversations became much more fractured, the differences between them all becoming more stark as the language barriers again asserted themselves.

Well hidden past the smoky tree line two orcs peered into the clearing, watching the group in the high platform. The skirmisher glared from behind the goggles of his mask. "Who are they? They come from nowhere. I followed the tracks of their reinforcements. They end at a cut circle. The grasses and ferns were sheared off. That is where the footprints begin. They speak the sacred tongue of fire, and come back to life when slain."

"They are the taint which we burn away the forest to destroy. The white elf said to our blasphemer prey that they will be here for two days, then will leave." the shaman growled, sacred flames licking between his fingers.

"We cannot allow them to escape!" the warrior said, appalled at the notion. "Their heresy must be purged!"

"We are only two. We could call others, but our losses would be great. They have the high ground now, and they know us. This would be a righteous battle, but not a smart one." The shaman's eyes narrowed in thought.

The warrior glared at the pile of smoking bodies of his kin. "They burn us like wood or vermin. Not even with the most basic of pyres. They insult us like we are undeserving of the simple courtesies of enemies. We would never do that to them."

"No, we would not." the shaman agreed.

"We cannot let this insult go unanswered!" the warrior said, rounding on the shaman angrily.

The shaman's feet flared to fire and his eyes burned. "You forget yourself, little cinder. Ensure that anger is properly directed. Focused and fed, fire can melt steel. Unrestrained, it consumes all and dies."

The warrior steadied himself and nodded tightly. "What will we do?"

"We will watch them. We need to know more about what they are capable of. Track down the closest forest beast, and drive it here. We will see what they do."

The warrior nodded and vanished into the forest like smoke.

Time passed slowly in the forest. It was hot, humid, and smelled strongly of smoke.

The one saving grace was that the embers on the ground kept the scavengers away for a time.

A few hours later though the group began hearing the squabbles of a pack of savage-looking dog-like creatures. When they caught glimpses of them past the pile of bodies and through the smoky haze they looked similar to the elemental they'd faced earlier but without being made of fire. The creatures had braved the smoke to investigate the scent of cooked meat at the edge of the clearing.

Orc bodies were mangled, bones loudly cracked and gnawed, the creatures bestially arguing with each other in high pitched laughing yips that reminded Garridan and Talas of their fateful encounter with the gnolls that had started them down the path that brought them here.

Eventually something larger arrived to feast and the dogs scattered, relegated to observers while a big, grey monster, something like a many-eyed hairless ape tore limbs off the corpses and ate them noisily before dragging away a pair of bodies off to it's den for later.

Then the dogs returned, returning to their noisy squabbling. The light was getting dim. Shadows were long and sinister. The smoke had nearly cleared. It would be dark soon, and the forest held it's breath for the howl that would come with nightfall.

It has now been 6 hours of rest. Everyone regains 1 hit point, and any fatigue conditions are healed. In addition, I allow for partial recovery of abilities and spells as long as characters aren't fatigued and don't have any starvation or environmental damage. So, everyone regain 1/2 your level in spell slots, ki points, or other class-specific expendable ability, OR your level in hit points.

I'll give everyone a day or so to respond and note anything special they've done in this time and describe their partial recovery, then I'll set the scene for the next encounter.

Dolgrin spent his time maintaining his axes and armor, which were coated with sweat and blood, mostly his. Part of his shoulder plate had been crushed when the Orc cleaved Dolgrin's head off, and the Dwarf shakily buffed it back into shape. He continually ran his rough stubby fingers along the perfectly horizontal scar across his entire neck.

Shaking his head, he put down his duties and traveled over to his friends to talk. It may have been about their tactics, creatures to be encountered, the mysterious city, but at least it was something to talk about. Dolgrin, unlike many of his kind, found solace in the company of others. It recharged him, and soon the Dwarf was cracking terrible jokes that no one understood.

Garridan likewise spent his time looking over what gear he had to make sure none of it had been damaged from the proximity to the fire. Once he was sure everything was intact he spent his time getting to know the others in the ragtag group and keeping an eye on the strange scavengers that appeared to feast upon the dead. He told the others about his life in Varisia before the meeting with Thedra and his love of exploring new places. He enjoyed the presence of those also from Golarion, but also made sure to ask about the homes of the others from distant and strange homeworlds.

During the remainder of the time they had with the conversing magic:

Teral opened on eye and peered back. "Not in the slightest." He lazily grinned. "New faiths are always more exciting."

Eythil was put off by his comment but seemed to get his meaning. "Ah, a great spirit worshiper then. I remember a few like you."

"I've got a sword," Talas said drily in response to all the magical gifts possessed by his new crew. "Always meant to learn the magicking, never quite got around to it..."

He says it lightly enough, but his fingers tap absently against the vial of fire he took from one of the orcs. "...Thedra," he says in a quiet aside, "...would some in the city be able to teach me in this craft? If we live that long, I mean. I've dabbled, but..."

"My eyes are good, and I'm more or less quiet. But that's not as good as flying, I freely grant that. I can take apart a lock, or a snare at a pinch. I'm not usually the one setting them, though."

"Hmm, the forest canopy is thick, flying has its limits. More scouts can't hurt. Staying quiet is just as valuable as noticing them coming."

Garridan smiles to himself as this group of strangers begin to build a common ground at his insistence. 'Erastil would be proud.' When talk turned to their abilities, Garridan was a little stumped; he'd never really thought about the source of his abilities... that had just come to him. "I likewise have no magic, at least not in the conventional sense. Some folk have said I have a mystical connection of sorts with my inner spirit, but I don't know about all that. I am very skilled with just about any kind of throwing weapon, but I suppose that might be rather obvious." He indicated his belt filled with throwing knives, his bandolier filled with alchemical weapons, and the pouches filled with chakram. His prized possession, however, was his boomerang. "I am glad to have met you all. I hail from Varisia, for those of you from Golarion."

"It's best to engage them at a distance, your skills will be useful then."

Kenna nodded to Eythil. "Aye, can I trap."

"Good." Eythil responded positively. "I'll need your help capturing some of the native species and bringing them here, and maybe seeing if we can set some the less stable platforms to fall. Orcs are bigger than us, and will fall more easily."

"I have been trained in military tactics since I were a lad." Said Dolgrin as the group discussed their abilities. "None of that magic, though. We are a courageous race who stand at the front and fight to defend our homes and family." He slammed a fist to his chest in pride.

"Mil-i-tary tac-tics?" Eythil sounded out the words with some distaste. "You were the one who got your head cut off for running in against many stronger foes. Forget your courage, that's what got you killed and it will happen again. Be smart not brave, if you want to keep living."

After the conversations had nearly finished, he went to Talas and Kenna.

"I'm going to need both of your help to capture as many howlers as we can. I know where their territory lies."

After the magic expired, Eythil and, if they agree, both Kenna and Talas are going to travel to a nearby Wolf and Dire Wolf Territory and try to capture some of them. The idea is to bring them back here and release them once the Orcs return. Whether or not this will even work on the short amount of time we have to work with, or any other number of reasons is of course up to you.

Back when they could talk:

Talas looks a little uncertain, sliding off the tree branch he'd appropriated to come closer, his head tipped to one side with interest.

"Well... I'm not opposed, but have we nets or other means by which to fashion snares? I have but a single rope with me. Capturing 'howlers', whatever those may be, alive seems like it might need tools. I assume the notion is to loose them near the base of our trees when the orcs return, and stay up high ourselves?"

Even while he speaks, Talas is readying his pack-- he clearly is willing to go, simply asking questions first.

"I don't know how long Master Spectrum's spell will keep us able to understand one another, so we ought be clear on the plan before we proceed."

(I'm willing to go, but if we do leave and avoid 'resting' at this point do we forfeit the benefits of the partial rest, just so I know if I'm tracking HP correctly?)

Correct. Leaving equals no healing.

Eythil was put off by his comment but seemed to get his meaning. "Ah, a great spirit worshiper then. I remember a few like you."

Teral cocked his head and opened his mouth as if to correct Eythil, but shook his head and stopped.

Close enough.

Ariela spends much of the time getting to know her new companions, and the rest of it meditating. Regaining a bit of her focus she centers herself on drawing energy to better protect her body from harm.

Regain 1 slot, spend 15 mins to prepare Shield

It turned out that 'Howlers' were wolves.

Wolves the size of horses.

With careful skill, Kenna tracked them, spotting tracks she first mistook for a large bear. Once she caught on to what they were following, she had second thoughts by Eythil spurred them on.

Eventually they came to a huge fallen tree that had landed on another tree on a hillside and created a serviceable den large enough for the beasts. Either spotted the large wolf acting as a sentry first. it also spotted him. It's hackles rose and it growled like rolling thunder.

They backed off, letting it guard it's territory, and then set their traps. Finally they baited them with substantial quantities of dried meat. Almost a week's worth of rations. Talas and Kenna were dubious, but Eythil was insistent.

It worked. The hungry beasts came to investigate almost as soon as the three were clear of the trap site. The went after the meat, and the trap was sprung, thick ropes and vines hooking legs and yanking the big wolves off their feet and partially up into the air.

One escaped and bolted into the woods. It would not be gone long.

They had two angry, enormous wolves trapped, snarling and trying to twist to bite at their caught rear legs.

Now what?

Earlier...
"I would happily lend my eyes and ears to scouting duties, though I fear I must rest some just at present." Ylmen looked at his wound and hesitated before continuing, "I would be most capable if I could focus on preparing some protections for myself, but my injury will also need rest." From a narrow tube on his harness Ylmen produced a long vial of honey-colored fluid. "I have a curative elixer which I've kept for emergencies, but it may be my best option if I am to focus on conjuring another barrier for myself."

Ylmen recalled the several axes which clattered off his Mage Armor during the fight with the raiders. Any one of those could have killed him had they landed as the first one had. Though the dwarf had seemed to escape his grim fate, Ylmen was in no hurry to test his fortune in that regard.

Unless anyone can expedite Ylmen's healing, he will drink his potion of cure light wounds and settle in to prepare Mage Armor during the rest period.

Anyone with the Heal skill can try to pull this off.

It's a longshot at our level but worth the try for the healer types

Of which apparently we have none. lol

That may be true of the party at large, but don't forget that there are 4 NPC's not statted. I doubt Spectrum has it, but maybe Thedra, Vance, or Kestrel do.

Kestrel, Treat Deadly Wounds on Ylmen: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (19) + 7 = 26
Gain 4 Hp

Kestrel, Treat Deadly Wounds on Dolgren: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (19) + 7 = 26
Gain 4 Hp

Kestrel proved herself quite adept with her healing kit back at the smoldering outpost.

Deeper in the forest, the three scouts looked at the strung up wolves and tried to figure out what to do with them.

Scout group, what do you do? I'd like to move this forward.

Well, Kenna hasn't gotten a chance to weigh in since we began discussing it, unless I missed something, and I'd really like to attempt Kenna's wild empathy before we try riskier options, personally. That said, if we're just more worried about keeping things moving:

Talas hunts some stout bamboo, or similar branches, while Kenna presumably tries to coax the wolves into something less than outright hostility. Ropes and scarves can bind muzzles... and the wolves can be lashed to poles, awkwardly but passably, he supposes, if Kenna has no success.

He thinks how he had definitely not expected to be trying to manhandle especially nasty-looking wolves, in another world, at this time 48 hours ago.

Once Kenna's made her attempt, Talas comes to see the results. If the wolves have not been pacified, he uses his reinforced bladed scarf to try and muzzle one wolf, and his rope on another.

Don't know what that roll might be, a CMB probably? With whatever bonuses you want to apply for the idea that the wolves are already somewhat restrained by the snares.

CMB: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (15) + 2 = 17
CMB: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (15) + 2 = 17

Cmb assist: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (17) + 3 = 20

Kenna circled slowly around the trapped wolves and sat herself upwind. Gently, she lobbed a handful of shrunk meat to the earth before them and waited.

After a time she began to speak, or sing, softly repeating a long chanting phrase.

Wild Empathy: 1d20 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (11) + 1 + 1 = 13

It was possible that before the wolves had been caught in the snares, Kenna might have been able to calm them. At this point though, they were in a frenzy. The angle was wrong for them to be able to reach their caught and elevated hind leg, so they were thinking they were in a fight for their life.

When it became apparent that there would be no calming them, Talas and Eythil resorted to ropes, hoping to bind them but a horse-sized wolf is not an easy quarry to bring down while it still struggled. They juked and yanked and refused to be bound.

Even with Aid from Eythil, those rolls did not beat the wolves CMD.

The whole time they fought back against the efforts of the Recruits, the wolves also struggled to escape.

Escape Artist, W1: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (8) + 2 = 10
Escape Artist, W1: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (14) + 2 = 16

But the snare held tight.

A few hours later a dirty and exhausted trio made thier way back to the outpost in the dark, causing a lot of tension from the group in the trees as they crashed their way through the woods toward them. They finally broke into the clearing and identified themselves, dragging... something... behind them. It was dark, so most of the group in the trees couldn't see well enough to make out the details of what they were seeing.

Whatever it was it was enormous. The size of a small horse. Tufts of course grey fur stuck out of the makeshift net and drag-slet they had it trussed up in. The trip through the forest had been grueling. The net snagged on everything it could, the ground was nowhere even close to flat, and mroe than once the beast in thier net had started to wake up and thrash nesessitating another round of beatings to put it out again.

"What the..." Thedra said as she leaned over the palisade.

Ok, back to business!

The three of you that dragged the wolf back are Fatigued. That was a lot of work."

Eythil's brow dripped with sweat as they cleared the last of the brush and reentered the clearing, his breathing was labored for the first time in weeks but he was glad they had succeeded.

"Alright... tie it up over here. I'll keep watch over it."

Talas helped lash the wolf in place, his every gesture speaking of weariness.

"Wolves here," Talas panted to Garridan as he regained the upper tree branches, "are nothing... to sneeze at. Do you have any water left, I drank mine on the way back."

The humid jungle was unlike the relatively moderate clime of coastal Varisia. Talas was unused to it, and sagged wearily in the fork of two branches, his limbs and face mildly scratched from the trek through the jungle and the many little twigs and thorny vines he'd inadvertently made contact with.

"Going to try and get some rest," he mumbled. "We should post a watch."

"You realize that thing is as likely to kill us as fight anything attacking us do you not?" Ariela says pointing out the obvious.