* According to Wikipedia, "at all matters" is an inherently vague phrase capable of many liberal interpretations.
And now we know!
Karek will wear his armor on his watch, and thus remain reasonably stationary, so as not to disturb his companions. He will range slightly, spending some time on either side of the camp, staying inside the perimeter. He has no problem relying on darkvision.
Donkor will join Karek before his prayers. He will also remain reasonably stationary, at the opposite end of the camp from Karek. He does not have darkvision, so will have to muddle through as best he can as a plain ol' human.
Listening to the prayers of his new found comrades brings a sense of comfort to Jason. Not a religious man himself, but he remembers the prayers of his former friends before they would retire for the night.
Thinking of this reminds him of the dangers that surround him. He mutters a magical phrase and casts a spell on himself. The desert comes alive in the dark.
Moonpate can take the dawn watch, since he does not have darkvision, and will gladly do most of grub cooking and cleaning since he is relatively useless in the dark of night.
Thalia will take the bight watch, although after the dawn watch, she will have to attune herself to nature and prepare her spells then.
Gandel retrieves a wand from his pack and uses its magic to heal the wound he suffered at the tusks of one of the splicer beasts. Seeing that no one else requires healing, the halfling bard stows the wand back in his pack.
The wind seems to go out of Karek's sails as he rises above the surface of the sand. Breathing hard, he wanders over to where he left Aleson, and sees his glasses lying on the ground. Crushed in the panic of the battle, he scoops them up and puts them in a special pouch on his pack. He opens his pack, and takes something from the top. He puts another pair of glasses on, and turns to the party.
I lose more glasses dad way.
"Here, Master Karek, I can mend those for you," Gandel offers.
"Gandel, while the rest track down the camels and gather gear let us make a thorough exam and sketch of one of the more intact carcasses. I'm sure your Pathfinder lodge would appreciate the lore and I would bet Baldo's balls that some alchemists or seers would relish the ichor and tusks for some significant coin."
"Of course, Master Moonpate! Just let me fetch my journal and a pen," Gandel replies, quickly retrieving said items from his pack and setting to documenting all that the two can learn of the beasts.
Gandel retrieves his tent from his haversack and quickly pitches it with practiced ease. The industrious halfling cheerily assists Moonpate with preparation of the meal, whistling a merry tune. As the discussion turns to watches, he offers to assist with the dawn shift.
Karek does offer his broken glasses to Gandel. He watches in mute surprise as Gandel mends them. He takes them back, and examines them closely. He stows them carefully back in his pack, and shakes Gandel's hand with a smile.
Danky, Drabsbringer!
Moonpate . . . will gladly do most of grub cooking and cleaning since he is relatively useless in the dark of night.
The industrious halfling cheerily assists Moonpate with preparation of the meal, whistling a merry tune. . .
Dinner is a relatively sad affair, Moonpate and Gandelplot work together to provide “Moonplot Kitchen” but despite the good humour the two provide, all they have to work with is travel rations. On the other hand, a service of heated and spiced rations is better than the cold spread you would otherwise be forced to endure. Moreover, it hasn’t been long since you enjoyed the feast at the Kothi so your belly will not complain too hard.
(Not that it all matters. . .)
Night: Karek and Donkor
Midnight: Hurgah (We’ll add Breach so Hurgah doesn’t feel the sting of social rejection)
Dawn: Halstadt, Moonpate, Gandel
Jason and Thalia will focus on getting a good night's rest.
(Last call for corrections. . .)
"Donkor in the Dark"
Donkor will join Karek before his prayers. He will also remain reasonably stationary, at the opposite end of the camp from Karek. He does not have darkvision, so will have to muddle through as best he can as a plain ol' human.
Normally this is pretty challenging, but luck is with Soroon this night. There still isn't a cloud in the sky and the moon is a waxing gibbous (three-quarters full and growing). As such, in terms of Donkor's duty as a sentry, in some ways his vision is superior to the limited range provided by darkvision. Once the low-fuel campfire finally goes out, his eyes will slowly adjust even better. In the event of combat - as Donkor remains persuaded is inevitable - his human eyes will still be a liability, but overall, it's not that grim.
-----------
OOC: Hey Moonpate, how come the GM keeps looking for any excuse to make a stray reference to the weather pattern?
After thanking Moonpate and Gandel for his meal, Breach singles out Karek:
"All right, I'm turning in then - not bad for a first day eh?"
"Now Karek, since you're a young'n - take a moment and take a tip from a veteran. I spent many a night as a watchman."
"Being on watch for a pack of adventures is different than guard duty back home. Here, and remember this part, the watchman's duty is not to protect everyone from an intrusion, your first duty is to wake the party. Wake first - attack second." The elder dwarf tries that one more time for good measure, hoping some of the others will overhear him. "Wake first, attack second."
"There, good! Now find a good route and your shift'll be over before you know it. Hurgah and I'll be back to spell you off. Just make sure our Pharasma priest doesn't accidentally wander off in the dark and get lost, okay?"
Well that would seem to be the last of the posts getting in any precautions before night falls, so it would seem to be my turn. . .
The transition between night and day in the desert is even quicker than in the northern lands. As soon as the great red ball drops out of sight, the sky quickly darkens and everything goes quiet. A half hour later, the great moon begins its travel through the sky. It’s so bright you can even see the moon-scar on its lower half.
Karek and Donkor begin their watch.
At first it’s a quiet night, almost peaceful, but that is soon to change.
Donkor knew it was coming. Unlike the others, he hadn’t truly ever let his guard down. The fight wasn’t over.
They had only forced the creature into a tactical withdrawal. Perhaps it would wear them down over a succession of battles, exhausting their resources while it continuously formed more opponents.
Perhaps it would save everything up for one massive strike. All he knew was that it was coming – and soon.
.
. .
. . .
. . . .
. . . . .
. . . . . .
. . . . . . .
It began as a growl.
Karek spins around and looks for Donkor. He’s heard it too.
But it wasn’t the same growl that preceded the prior attack. This time it was different – deeper somehow – and louder.
It sounded like a much larger creature – or perhaps even a chorus of many.
Whatever it is, it’s close – very close.
Somehow it’s gotten right up to the perimeter without being spotted. Yet none of Breach’s bell traps have been tripped.
The growl is growing louder and louder. At this rate there will be no reason for the sentries to wake the party, the attackers will see to the warning.
Baldo’s Balls! (As Moonpate might say)
The sound is coming from inside the perimeter! Impossibly, the growling creature has gotten past Donkor and Karek and it’s already inside the heart of the camp! It’s progressed to the sleeping area!
Brandishing their weapons, the sentries race to the center of the camp where they find. . .
They find a creature unlike any they have encountered before
It is:
“ZZZZZZzzzzzzzzZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzz”
You don't wanna see the stats on that thing.
I totally shoulda milked that even longer. Breach and Donkor's watch is otherwise uneventful.
Baldo’s Balls! (As Moonpate might say)
Well done Beetle! You certainly had me going.
Had me worried Thalia was going to die in her sleep, well played GM!
Karek pauses, his hammer raised high above his head in preparation for a lethal blow. He glances up at Donkor and shakes his head in amusement. Looking up at the sky and seeing the moon directly above, he pokes the sleeping Hurgah.
We 'eld em back. Yer durn.
We 'eld em back. Yer durn.
It is Hurgah’s (and Breach’s) turn indeed, but his shift is equally uneventful. As is the dawn shift.
Spellcasters: if you haven’t re-jigged or replenished your spells feel free to do so.
Donkor
As he prays to the Lady of Graves, Soroon senses a portent of doom from her sacred boneyard. For some who continue this journey, death awaits. Of this, it is certain. Accustomed to such things, Soroon finds that the certainty brings him an inner calm.
Halstad:
Somewhere in the heart of your prayers, Morgrym feels as though his deity is urging him to hurry to his destination. (Then again Angradd is always urging his followers to rush forward and never hang back unnecessarily.)
Once the camel train is packed up, the party heads out. It’s going to be another hot day!
Do be so kind as to remind me what, if anything, you have planned to protect yourself from the heat.
If there’s anything different with regard to today’s travel plans, let me know. Otherwise it’s business as usual.
I will redo my spells later this evening sometime, but the only real change I have planned regarding travel, is to memorize two Endure Elements, and cast one on my wee horsy.
Upon being fooled by Hurgah's immense night noises, Donkor whispers a thank you to Pharasma for not actually inflicting this ferocious beast upon him. He then heads to prayers, and stirs briefly afterward to cast a spell on both himself and his horse before finally going to sleep for the night. In the morning, he scouts around the perimeter of the camp site, looking for tracks to show that the splicer beast may have come and examined them in the night.
My most relevant ability being Survival I guess,
He of the large dome will be sure to cast Endure Elements when the heat becomes too much.
this travel and adventure not being her style is certainly taking it's toll on her, she no longer smells of saffron water, her hair had not been washed that night, and her sleep was interrupted by the dying throes of some great beast which did not end until some time around midnight, and started again before the dawn.
Silently, Thalia takes her position at the front of the pack, her eyes peeled for anything that could be unusual or dangerous on their way to the dig site.
As the new day in the desert begins to heat up, Gandel retrieves a scroll from his pack and reads the magic words inscribed upon it.
"I hope we get there soon," Gandel thinks to himself. "This traveling through the heat of the day is killer! And after today I've only got one scroll of the spell for enduring the heat left. Oh, well. If I need any more after tomorrow, maybe Master Moonpate or one of the priests will take pity on me and help me out. If not, at least I have this hot weather outfit I borrowed from the Kothi."
"Are we still on track to get to this site within the next day Gandel, Thalia? Once we do get close we need to get our stories straight and reconfirm our plans for separate entry to the site".
"As far as I can tell, we are heading in the right direction, but as you said, we are going to be needing to set our stories straight."
Thalia quickly casts know direction to make sure that, despite her outward confidence, they are actually heading the right way.
"As I said to the adventure captain thingie, guy, I can get us pretty much in anywhere...getting our dear Hurgah here will be a relatively easy, every woman needs an intimidating body guard, and as for everyone else, hmm..."/b]
Thalia quickly glances over the group and makes notes on who she could get in and who she couldn't, making sure to send Jason a quick wink and coy smile.
[b]"Well, It would make sense for Jason to accompany me, what young lady travels without her beloved fiancée? I also just need a small, itty, bitty, little favour from our dear Moonpate here. Would you like to have a reckless and frivolous younger sister for a while? Would you help me by becoming my over-protective, over-bearing older brother?"
"If everyone is okay with this group, I could easily come up with a story and reason for us being here, and I can make it very believable to boot. If not, please speak up and out your ideas forward, I can work with just about anything you guys throw at me."
Jason checks the harnesses on Beazix after eating a quick breakfast. The sun's heat is already burning through him. Without looking down he slips his hand into the haversack hanging from his shoulder and a wand almost jumps into his hand.
"En fuego ra!", he says as he touches the wand to his chest. The heat from the sun dissipates from his body.
As a new day dawns, Hurgah renews his arcane protection with a few mumbled draconic words. He takes no steps to protect himself from the heat of the sun, for what is a little heat to someone with the blood of a red dragon in their veins.
"Thalia, I thought the plan was to go in small groups to draw less attention to ourselves and allow us to scout this dig from different angles".
A response for Donkor Soroon:
I take it the idea is that he casts divination at 11:59 p.m. so that he gets a new divination for the following day.
(Woah! This is a very accurate divination)
Question: "What is the most effective way for us to infiltrate the dig site"?
Answer: "ditch the dwarves!" (just kidding)
Perhaps the answer received is so accurate, the essence of the Lady of Graves even answers the questions she feels Soroon should have asked. . .
Then suddenly the spell terminates - it is as though the tiny sliver of Pharasma's truth which focused on Soroon's spell is suddenly diverted to something of greater consequence.
"Halstadt remembers true. I will be approaching the leader of the dig site as a "researcher" interested in the gen and elemental activity going on, with Hurgah as my trusted bodyguard. If I can stay close to Khymrasa, we should be able to be of maximum use."
"Thanks priest! The desert is more brutal than I even imagined."
". . .Once we do get close we need to get our stories straight and reconfirm our plans for separate entry to the site". [/b]
"Good thought," responds Breach. "We can't just make this up on the fly. And once we split up where and when shall we reconvene? Is there a way to communicate between us?"
"I have spells that will allow communication for short sentences. This I can do at least twice in a day. It makes sense for us dwarves to stick together, perhaps as mercenaries looking for guard work".
"I have spells that will allow communication for short sentences. This I can do at least twice in a day. It makes sense for us dwarves to stick together, perhaps as mercenaries looking for guard work".
Donkor joins the discussion, "Although we have spurned Her guidance thus far, I sought her guidance last evening through a simple divination in the best way to gain access to the camp. I believe she has answered that question and more. She Who Plans has been very gracious to me, her humble servant."
"I wish to share with you the wisdom which she has offered to me. Please accept it with your own grace, and offer thanks to Her."
"This is what Pharasma spake unto me in the dead of night:
Follow smoke, leads to hole,
But too far down, lose thy soul,
In slaveman's clothes, way shall find,
But Sandsage still, not so blind,
Many eyes, watch the way,
Promise of clock, his hand will stay,
Legends of past, form Scarab's wall,
Mix lies with truth and dig will stall,
When Suekahn's count strikes Fifty-six,
Death will come and..."
"The spell ended at this point. I believe Her attention focused on something more important than our worldly concerns. I believe any plans we form to continue our mission must revolve around adhering, as best we can, to these words of wisdom."
Donkor then ceases speaking, to allow others to offer their advice and interpretations.
"Good thought," responds Breach. "We can't just make this up on the fly. And once we split up where and when shall we reconvene? Is there a way to communicate between us?"
Moonpate talks to his camel in a loud voice.
"A voice on the wind whispered to my ear as its breeze caressed my pate. It said to find a place just outside of the dig site for a rally point once the camp comes first into view. The voice also told me that you should be more careful when you spit, that you should bathe profusely at first opportunity, and to stay upwind of my more savory travel companions. As you well know, a camel does not tease another camel about the shape of its humps; so take advice from the wind for the ephemeral truth that it is. What say you? Go back to my bottle? Why, that is an excellent suggestion."
Moonpate produces yet another hidden flask and takes a lengthy pull before corking it with a satisfied flourish.
I believe any plans we form to continue our mission must revolve around adhering, as best we can, to these words of wisdom."
Donkor then ceases speaking, to allow others to offer their advice and interpretations.
"Oi! Did you hear that friend camel. Such pronouncements from the great beyond must surely befuddle you. If only they were as clear as the sayings of my dear master. He would say at this point, "Rise up out of the enigmatic egg in the hidden land".
Here, let me scratch your head for you friend camel."
Actually, thank you for playing an interesting diviner!
I believe any plans we form to continue our mission must revolve around adhering, as best we can, to these words of wisdom."
Are you sure it's not just recycled 80's lyrics from the GM's old album collection? Cause that could be kinda awkward.
"A voice on the wind whispered to my ear as its breeze caressed my pate. It said to find a place just outside of the dig site for a rally point once the camp comes first into view. The voice also told me that you should be more careful when you spit, that you should bathe profusely at first opportunity, and to stay upwind of my more savory travel companions. As you well know, a camel does not tease another camel about the shape of its humps; so take advice from the wind for the ephemeral truth that it is.
"Oh go back to your bottle o'domed one," says the elder dwarf.
What say you? Go back to my bottle? Why, that is an excellent suggestion."
Moonpate produces yet another hidden flask and takes a lengthy pull before corking it with a satisfied flourish.
For the seven of you cashing in on an endure elements (Karek, Hal, Breach, Donkor, Jason Moonpate and Gandel):
At different times during the mid-morning your prior spell suddenly wears off. As soon as it does the desert heat hits you like a wall and you know you will be drenched in sweat in minutes. Fortunately you have ready access to another day's protection; moments later you are comfortably cool once again.
Speaking of navigation. . .
"As far as I can tell, we are heading in the right direction, but as you said, we are going to be needing to set our stories straight."Thalia quickly casts know direction to make sure that, despite her outward confidence, they are actually heading the right way.
The right way you say. . . Thalia remains very confident that she continues to steer the party east, north east as requested. Both magic as well as the path of the sun in the cloudless sky reinforce that the path is true. What she doesn't know for certain, is whether the direction she takes will actually get her to her desired destination.
The day draws on.
The great orange orb beats down on your tireless camels who impress you with their perseverance.
Both Xian'an and Soroon keep an eye on the desert tracks, but they spy very few - just the occasional trail of a desert snake or spider. The lack of birds suggests that wherever it is that you are headed exactly, there will not be water.
Hours later, as the orb draws low towards the dunes, the party keeps an eye out for a suitable location to encamp, settling for a defensible patch of high ground.
Soon it is time for the return of Moonplot kitchen, a drab affair that does not improve on its second night, but the hardy among you have suffered through far worse.
Thalia though, seems rather distracted at dinner:
As the last of the sun is going down, Thalia spies a thin trail of smoke deep in the distance - possibly several miles away. She suspects that she's spotted another campfire. But if so, the glow of the fire itself has been hidden in a low laying dune. Once the night takes hold, the smoke is invisible against the sky at this distance. She makes a mental note that the smoke trail was almost directly north, perhaps a tad to the east.
This far from Sothis and away from the River Sphinx, the east Osirion desert is too large and too uninviting for this to be a coincidence.
At any rate, here goes my knowledge roll. As usual, all of my stats are +5, so please just pick the appropriate one.
+ whatever assisted knowledge the others are willing to help me with.
Karek doesn't participate much in the planning discussions, opting instead to alternately scan the horizon, carry on a mimed argument with the contents of his backpack, or wrestle Aleson back on course, depending on what the party is doing at the moment.
He has stated his willingness to serve as a mercenary or a companion, and prefers to go in with Breach and Hal, at least until the party gets close enough to examine the pyramids. Which Karek is very excited to do.
We mide hab un easyer dime iv I predend I dinna speak da common dung. Dey wood vollow me bedder!
"I do not wish to alarm you gentlemen, but I do spy a column of smoke over to a little east of true north, and am pretty sure that it is another campfire, I will take the first watch with Halstadt, more eyes mean more opportunity to react accordingly."
Thalia settles down for watch and marvels at the turn of events that led her to this group and on this adventure, the excitement not making her like this journey any more, and wishing she were in a nice bed with silk linens and a servant or two at her every beck and call.
[ooc] Finally had a chance to sit down and spend some time with my divination. Hasn't cleared a lot up for me. :)
Sometimes Pharasma is more into foreshadowing than illuminating.
I would like to make the appropriate knowledge checks please, assisted if others are willing to help me, to tell if Donkor is familiar with Sandsage, Scarab's Wall, and Suekahn.
Donkor does recall Gandel speaking about a "Sand Sage" earlier back at the Kothi - is that the same thing? His comments were pretty far down on this page here.
With his roll, Soroon would be able to confirm there is such an Osiriontologist, a mysterious Keleshite who is well-regarded in Sothis, but nothing more than that.
However, his roll does tell him that a Scarab is a really cool looking beetle, largely regarded for its hip swinging ways and skill at pawning N00bs at Starcraft II. (i.e. Scarab's wall means nothing to Donkor)
I suspect that the bit about Suekahn that you started the game discussion thread is not IC knowledge.
Correct - and we might see more of Suekahn in a cut scene later on as well but a 20 won't be enough for Donkor to have any personal knowledge.
1d20 + 18
Just FYI there Ekeebe, one of my GMing quarks is I roll Perception off-screen. That way Thalia doesn't get to know if she is missing something because of a bad roll or because there's nothing there to spot. So no need for a Perception check unless requested.
I keep her insanely awesome +18 bonus noted on a pad nearby when I post. I rolled her Perception to note the smoke trail for example.
. . . I will take the first watch with Halstadt, more eyes mean more opportunity to react accordingly."
Thalia is added to the first watch of the three watch cycles. That's presently with Karek and Donkor, did she confuse Karek with Halstadt or was she proposing to swap some folks around? (The three frumpy dwarves do all kinda look alike.)
Anu waited in silence as the men slowly gathered. The older slaves would tell their stories, but none of it mattered. He was just glad to be able to finally rest his muscles after a rough day’s labour. The moon was beautiful tonight. But he did have to admit, the two old men had attracted something of a crowd as they waited for their rations.
“Listen, I’m telling you what I heard,” said the first.
“You didn’t see nothing,” said the second
“Exactly – I didn’t see anything. It’s what I heard.”
“And what did you hear then?”
“It was a voice – an empty voice, kinda like the wind.”
“Kinda like the wind?” interrupted Anu sharply. “Or exactly like the wind, cause that’s probably all you heard.”
“It wasn’t the wind. In case you ain’t notice the wind's been dead for days. If it weren’t you’d need to take cover from the stinging sand. But you’re too green to know that yet.”
“Now that you mention it,” said the second. “Khymrasa has been awful lucky with the weather these last few weeks.”
“Luck ain’t got nothing to do with it I tell you,” said the first. “They say she’s hired the Sand Sage, remember? I bet you he controls the weather around here. Now quit changing the subject. This is about what I heard. Not about some wizard for hire.”
“Okay, okay then – what did this mystery voice of yours say?”
“Well I couldn’t make it out exactly, but it sounded like two words. They were spoken slowly and they sounded like they was comin from below, from the bottom of the excavation pit.”
“Yeah?” The men were interested now.
“The first was - well I’m not sure exactly: Ahn Sells anofa.”
“What the &*$# is that?” said Anu.
“Well I said I didn’t know, but it was the second word that got me.”
And?” asked the second.
“The voice was saying ‘Enter’”
“Enter? Are you sure?”
“Yeah – I’m positive.”
“That’s crazy.”
“Yeah.”
“I dunno,” reflected the second. “It sounds a bit like the type of crazy you might hear if you was digging up a pyramid that shouldn’t be dug up.”
“Oh give it a rest already,” said Anu. “The Exemplar knows what she’s doing or we wouldn’t be here.”
“I only know what I heard,” protested the first.
“I just hope you’re right kid,” said the second responding to Anu, “I just hope you’re right.”
The rations arrived and the men went quiet.
Hal will make a knowledge history roll to see if anything in that divination ties to anything he may have read or learned. In the morning after his divination is complete he will discuss it with the group.