Hurgah status: AC 20, hp 64/72, claws/bite 3 of 6 left, rage rounds ? of 15 left. (Could the Beetle please guesstimate how many rounds of rage Hurgah burned during the flight?)
With a quick and dirty review, I count 6 used - 9 of 15 left - and Hurgah's period of fatigue is well clear as well (ended).
Moonpate can have the water. Hurgah finds monk blood to be both delicious and refreshing.
[Monty Python] It's a bit salty today, sir. [/Monty Python]
"Well, wizard. We got away. Now what?"
As they touch down on the unforgiving and uncaring sand Moonpate looks around the desolation, puffs out his prodigious cheeks and lets out a mighty sigh of relief tinged with the pain and frustration of their disastrous encounter with the Examplar.
He sees Hurgah rummaging through their sack of supplies and joins in taking stock of their situation, accepting the remaining light healing potion.
CLW:
"Ahh Hurgah, you saved my life back there. I will never forget, and if I ever actually get the opportunity to return the favor you can count on my pledge. With the luck that we will surely need more of 'ere soon, I will also toast your prowess and valor to every gen I meet hence."
"By Baldo's balls, what a mess! May the flees of a thousand gnolls chew the smug look off of that traitorous hag Thalia's face for putting us in this pickle. Gads! Speaking of pickles, I could eat a barrel and pickle myself after. Please tell me ya found some eats, or better yet several flasks of ale that the dwarves were saving, no doubt for this very kind of circumstance."
"Ahh friend Hurgah, did ya' see what happened to our mates? They escaped, but ta where? And how will they find us 'fore those cursed monks do. No doubt the Examplar has her fiend dogs after us now. We need ta find a defensible position, if possible, and recover our energies. Gods, what I'd give for a castin' of Meekin's Portable Lounge of Potations! Now, that would be just the rest we need."
Moonpate looks around the forlorn landscape and wishes, not for the first or last time, that he was someone or somewhere else.
Sooron returns Hal's whisper, "You may well be right. I would like to wait upon events first. She has already blessed me greatly this day, and it would serve us all ill if we did not first see if there is something She wishes us to do here before we leave.
Belleson borrows a trick from Gandel's playbook and uses a message cantrip to quietly join the conversation. Meanwhile he starts poking deeper into the antechamber.
"Can you get us out of here Donkor? I thought whatever you did was a one way trip. No offense to Schmoosh, but I'm with Hal - we can't rely on the fruhgen. He's seems kinda childlike."
"Mmmmm, there's magic in this chamber, by the way. I can sense it."
Sooron whispers back again, "I'm not entirely sure. All I can do is ask Pharasma for the power and hope she grants it to me. The decanter...the gateway...does not look as if it will be able to help me again any time soon."
The fruhgen continues its discussion with the tall strangers, occasionally swimming in circles as it speaks, creating loops of bubbles while Gandel looks on. Whatever it is that they are discussing, the female appears to be thoroughly entertained, the male decidedly less so.
After a minute or so, there is a sudden flash of red light from the male newcomer’s hand. His ring now glows a cherry red. Their expression changes—they are now both much more serious. They gesture towards the room where you are hidden.
The female suddenly switches back to Taldan and you can understand her once more.
“You’d best come with us little one,” she says to Gandel. “It won’t be safe for you out here. You’ll want to hide while they pass by.”
At that, Schmoosh rockets through the window into the antechamber where the Dune Squad is clustered.
“Hey everyone,” the fruhgen says, “It would be best if you were all hidden so that. . . wow, that’s really good!”
You can see the two tall newcomers are swimming towards the open windows. They are about to arrive imminently.
. . . No doubt the Examplar has her fiend dogs after us now. We need ta find a defensible position, if possible, and recover our energies. . . "
Anything specific you are looking for? Otherwise, perhaps a Survival check and I’ll give you some options. But it is an open shifting desert. There’s not much to choose from.
Continuing to maintain his postion in the shadows, Breach gestures to the others to stay calm. Knowing these strangers are likely to to be of help, it will be wise not to spark their ire.
Anything specific you are looking for? Otherwise, perhaps a Survival check and I’ll give you some options. But it is an open shifting desert. There’s not much to choose from.
I initially thought to keep moving, but now I am thinking that it will be impossible to predict their search pattern and I would rather spend the time finding something even remotely defensible where we can rest and maybe recover some arcane energies and/or study/swap some spells out. We certainly want to keep scanning the horizon for any sign of pursuit or danger with as much advanced warning as possible.
Here's a Survival roll, for whatever its worth:
Continuing to maintain his postion in the shadows, Breach gestures to the others to stay calm. Knowing these strangers are likely to to be of help, it will be wise not to spark their ire.
Donkor stops .whispering and is very very quiet.
----------
Schmoosh and the two tall newcomers swim inside the antechamber, positioning themselves so they are out of sight of the windows. They look around at the five of you with slightly bemused expressions, perhaps wondering what five humanoids are doing here.
In particular, the female looks at the dwarves with their waterlogged beards and hair flowing in a zillion random directions in the current.
“So,” she says with a laugh, “Come here often?”
Her partner quickly shushes her. “The patrol will pass, but we should remain out of sight.”
----------
Knowledge Planes
“So,” she says with a laugh, “Come here often?”
Returning her smile, Jason says:
"I'd come here more often if I knew that you-"
Belleson suddenly picks up on the look from the female's companion and stops himself,
"-two nice folks were here."
Hoping to recover, he keeps his voice low while he adds, "I'm Jason - a pleasure to meet you. Maybe later I can give you the tour and you two can tell me where I am exactly."
Oh, I'll settle for something high with commanding views, approachable from one direction via a bottleneck. Or maybe a nice hidden cave, impeccably furnished of course.
I initially thought to keep moving, but now I am thinking that it will be impossible to predict their search pattern and I would rather spend the time finding something even remotely defensible where we can rest and maybe recover some arcane energies and/or study/swap some spells out. We certainly want to keep scanning the horizon for any sign of pursuit or danger with as much advanced warning as possible.
Here's a Survival roll, for whatever its worth: 1d20 ⇒ 17
Hmmmm. Well with that kind of roll, perhaps we should upgrade your options from “terrible” to “poor”. It’s still a dessert in the middle of nowhere.
Options:
1. The highest dune in the vicinity – a large crest about 50 feet up. It’s wide and flat enough on top to easily accommodate two people. It gives you a very good vantage point to see who is coming and clear high ground in the event of combat. Unfortunately it is a very poor hiding place; you would be visible to anyone searching at quite a distance. Also in the event of strong wind, this would be first dune to get shaved which sounds a bit treacherous. Though, as I am fond of mentioning for no particular reason, the desert has been unusually calm for days now so this seems less likely.
2. I can’t find you a cave. There is one rocky outcropping, however. It is a series of jagged boulders atop a sandy elevation. You could squeeze in-between them, get full cover, and not be seen. Better still, if you climb up on the rocks every now and then, which are about seven feet high, you’d get a half-decent vantage point, including a decent view of the dig site. The downside is it would be cramped in-between the rocks and not particularly comfortable – a tough place to recuperate and prepare spells. Also, if you were a search party, this is probably one of the first places you would check—the desert here has very few terrain features, and this rock cluster is one of them.
3. There’s also a bit of a bluff to the south. This is a large dune about thirty feet high which is a sheer wall on one side. If you move behind it, you would be obstructed from sight from anyone coming from the other side. As a bonus it would give very good protection against the wind should the aforementioned non-existent wind suddenly change. The bluff itself is crumbly though and won’t support your weight, so you cannot climb up it for observation, and you’re completely exposed to anyone approaching from the opposite side.
4. Random desert divots. There are many non-descript valley’s between dunes. While they give a decent hiding place, they offer little in terms of observation. You won’t see anyone until they are pretty much on top of you. Since there are hundreds of them though, the odds of someone stumbling upon you by chance seems low.
So, see anything you like? The sun is starting to set. It looks magnificent, though the two of you are a little too frazzled to appreciate it.
"What, you never heard of aquatic dwarves before?",Breach ask in a joking manner.
"What, you never heard of aquatic dwarves before?",Breach ask in a joking manner.
"Truly there's a first for everything," she responds, still thoroughly enjoying herself.
The male interjects by tapping his brightly glowing ring, trying to silence his companion. "Er hem!"
Karek responds positively to the fun-loving female. He laughs in what would be a hearty way, if he weren't trying to be silent. He shakes his head bashfully, but uses his new swimming talent to turn a couple of backflips, evidently contradicting himself.
** spoiler omitted **...
Otherwise, I am agreeing with Hurgah that option 3 will have to suffice with him keeping watch. Moon will certainly be useless at night unless their is a very bright moon, with no dark vision or decent sense of smell.
Geez, this survival stuff on the lam is damn hard! Thanks for the challenge. :)
One idea that I had involves summoning a few earth elementals and having them rearrange/fashion a more spacious and hidden cave-like spot on the rocky outcropping mentioned in Option 2. I would appeal, in Terran, for their utmost efforts in aiding and hiding us from the enemies of the elemental clans by creating this shelter and just maybe getting their assistance in spreading the word amongst their kin. Perhaps the elementals and/or other gen can lead any pursuers on merry chases away from our hiding spot, or create false trails and otherwise befuddle the villains.
Otherwise, I am agreeing with Hurgah that option 3 will have to suffice with him keeping watch. Moon will certainly be useless at night unless their is a very bright moon, with no dark vision or decent sense of smell.
Geez, this survival stuff on the lam is damn hard! Thanks for the challenge. :)
Cool beans. Sounds like Moonpate is thinking like a true conjurer!
Summoned elementals can indeed be used to perform tasks when their summoner is versed in the appropriate language, as Moonpate is. Further his summoning charm ability will increase the duration of each of his summons up to a full minute in length (10 rounds).
Still, that’s not a lot of time for them to reconstruct a secret bat cave, but why not give it a shot. With earthglide, they can definitely erase your tacks (love that idea, btw). I wonder if creating a false trail is within their abilities – I’ll think on that.
What they can’t do – and I’m not sure you actually meant this – is help you out after the spell's duration. Even though you speak the language and are gradually getting on pretty excellent terms with elementals, it would seem, recruiting them for ongoing support is more akin to summon planar ally and outside his power level. So having them patrol around for ongoing villain befuddlement won’t work unless it’s especially timed for when your foes actually appear. he just gets the one minute. (Now if yet another Tiny-sized gen pops up, you are free to try to cajole it into helping out as you have described above, but at the moment you seem fresh out.)
Your Summon Monster IV will get you a medium-sized earth element, or 1d4+1 small.
Your Summon Monster will get you 1d3 small.
What are you going for? I’d say in terms of construction power, Moonpate estimates a Medium elemental equals 2.5 small ones.
"Wait - did we lose the halfling?"
"Shush!!"
She gives the others a sly wink at her companion's expense.
Jason's eye's widen.
"Oh no - is he still out there? What's coming?"
"Hrrumph. Am I the only one who does not find drowning to death amusing?" whispers Hal with his arms crossed.
Breach slowly lifts a single, thick finger to his lips and gently signals for all coversation to cease till the "thing" passes.
"Why do these damned things have to live under water?", Breach ask his commander. The older dwarf just shook his head and answered, "Where else would ya have the devils live?" With that the cave shaman cast spells enabling the small contingent of dwarven warriors to enter the murky subterranean lake unhindered by the failings of terrestial beings. As they drifted down for what seemed to be an enternity, hob-nailed boots finally made contact with the rocky bottom kicking up small mushroom clouds of silt and algea. The special helms they wore allowed them to see cleary, but even with their innate ability to see in the darkness visibilty was limited.
Communicating only by hand gestures, the squad moved off toward a spot that had been designated as the last known location of the fiend they sought. As they drew nearer the site things began to come into view. Things that would turn the stomach of less stout races, yet served only to raise the ire of dwarves. Seeing clumps of humanoid victims being held in grip of a massive aboleths tentacles forcing to partake of its life preserving mucus and engaging in soul crushing acts of profanity, one of the dwarves broke silence with a cry of protest to Torag.
In an instant the hulking beast was upon them. The warrior next to Breach was struck in the arm by one of the fiends tentacles instantly transforming his limb into a mass of jelly like flesh. Poor Oleg roared in shock and pain as two more kinsman were struck dumbfounded by a pulsing pattern of light. Breach sensing they would all soon fall pushed off to the side, yet little escapes the eyes of a deep fiend. Twisting its great body to engage this new threat, the Aboleth's face came in line with the dwarf just in time to find a spiked shield spinning through the water and burying deep into its central eye.
When the beast jerked wildly in equal parts rage and pain, the dwarven commander sprung out slamming a peculiar looking harpoon into the monsters side. Yanking hard on a small piece of rope on its end that seemed to be connected to something in another dimension, a blast of light suddenly engulfed them all landing them on the open plane out side their strongholda and in the presence of an entire battalion of beared warriors. Wasting little time the army fell upon the floundering monter hacking it to bits in a matter of seconds.
Shocked by the actions which had just transpired, Breach simply stood wide-eyed and confused. Walking up to the younger dwarf, Breach's commander placed a stout hand on his shoulder and said,"We were lucky it was only a juvenile, son. The Caver's Harpoon saved us this day, but I am not so sure it would have worked had we faced an adult. Now go and retrieve your shield, boy. Once again that thing has won the day."
Wishing his cherished shield and the aboleth skin wrapped handle of his war axe were in his hands now, Breach prayed a silent prayer to Torag that they may find a way to make it back to their own world before drowning or worse claimed them in this one.
Very cool flashback! This group is great for flavor, story, and rolling with the Beetle's mad genius punches.
"Hrrumph. Am I the only one who does not find drowning to death amusing?" whispers Hal with his arms crossed.
"No! Not amusing at all,” says the fruhgen, “but afterwards could you tell me what it was like?”
The exceedingly tall male starts to reprimand Schmoosh for perpetuating the discussion, but then stops himself, giving up. He looks at the light on his ring which is slowly becoming dimmer.
He turns and risks a look out the window, still concerned as to what happened to the halfling.
. . . flashback with an aboleth attack. . .
Breach's weapons are getting pretty legendary. Hopefully Moongah will take good care of them.
"The patrol has passed - we are clear." He points to his ring which is now a dull unlit crystal. He looks to the five of you. "I hope your friend found a good hiding spot because I don't see him."
"While impossible to say, we probably have under an hour before the next patrol. Whatever you are trying to do here, you'll probably want to complete it before then."
Looking to his companion he says, "[Untranslatable], let's be on our way."
"Schmoosh - a pleasure as always."
"What we seek is a way back to our plane friend. We were hoping you could help with that dilemma. I am Halstadt of Angradd, well met".
"Well, friend Hurgah, we are in the middle of nowhere being hunted by infernal monks and who knows what else. Our options are slim, unlike my very sore waist. We can attempt to hide, or we can become the hunters, though I don't know how effective I can be as night approaches. Yonder rocky outcropping methinks would serve either purpose as well as any other feature in this cursed desert. We could hide up there and ambush any villians that come too close and make them rue the day they sold their souls. Or, I can summon some earth elementals and beseech them to carve us out a hidden and sealed cave from the rocks and sand. We would then, with any vestige of luck we might have left, be able to rest through the night. You are the fiercest hunter and protector I have ever met. What do your instincts tell you?"
"Gods, I wish I knew what happened to our comrades!"
"What we seek is a way back to our plane friend. We were hoping you could help with that dilemma. I am Halstadt of Angradd, well met".
"indeed sir, and lady" Donkor says backing up the dwarf. "assistance returning to our own plane is all we seek. In return, we could offer the double blessings of both Angradd and Pharasma. Additionally, I will be happy to perform a divination for you, if you have any questions that are vexing you."
Karek pipes up as well, now that the apparent threat has passed. Yes, dad's all we wand. I will habbily drade de answer do my riddle iv ye hab a way back do our blane. Furdermore, I promise to lend whad aid I ken do whadever ye be wishin' do accomblish.
In the meantime, though, Karek will step to the balcony to see what has become of Gandel.
. . . flashback with an aboleth attack. . .Breach's weapons are getting pretty legendary. Hopefully Moongah will take good care of them.
----------
"What we seek is a way back to our plane friend. We were hoping you could help with that dilemma. I am Halstadt of Angradd, well met".
"Pleased to meet you sir," the exceedingly tall man says as he moves towards the open window to exit. "I am Faren." He then adds a string of words which sound incomprehensible, but your sense of it is he simply gave his last name. “This here is . . . well I believe she suggests you call her Orchid, as her name does not quite work in Taldan or most of your languages, I’m afraid. A trouble our people frequently encounter.”
“Orchid is just fine,” the female newcomer adds.
"Indeed sir, and lady" Donkor says backing up the dwarf. "Assistance returning to our own plane is all we seek. In return, we could offer the double blessings of both Angradd and Pharasma. Additionally, I will be happy to perform a divination for you, if you have any questions that are vexing you."
“Where is home?” Orchid asks.
“It doesn’t matter – we can’t help them,” says Faren to Orchid.
Karek pipes up as well, now that the apparent threat has passed. Yes, dad's all we wand. I will habbily drade de answer do my riddle iv ye hab a way back do our blane. Furdermore, I promise to lend whad aid I ken do whadever ye be wishin' do accomblish.”
“You see!” cries Schmoosh pointing his glide trail at Karek, “he knows! The sad tale and the whale! You can’t leave!”
Faren smiles at Karek’s suggestion, ignoring the fruhgen for the moment. “Thanks for that, but you probably don’t want to get mixed-up in our research. It sounds like you have enough problems of your own right now.”
“Hey this is great and all,” says Jason, “But what happened to Gandel?” The sorcerer follows Karek to the open window. Breach warns both of them to take care, but Jason is already swimming out to the balcony.
“Here I am!” reports [GM PC] Gandel as his vanish spell suddenly concludes. He is standing on the ledge of the balcony looking down at the street below “And you won’t believe what I saw pass through here!”
With a leap he swims to the window ledge, reuniting with Karek and Jason. He looks to Faren and Orchid. “Is this place under martial law or something? That was no patrol. That was an army!”
----------
An army of whad?
"Marid primarily," supplies Faren, "and those that fill their armies, tritons, elves, and merefolk."
"I'm afraid you've come at a very bad time."
"Or the perfect time, depending on what you are trying to accomplish - the city has been evacuated."
"Hold on, hold on - Gandel, you scared the crap out of me. Warn me before you do that again."
Turning to Faren and Orchid, "Are you saying nobodies home and we're all trespassing?"
"That's exactly what I'm saying," she answers with a mischievous grin. As if to emphasize her point she swims over to the bookshelf and pulls off one of the more ornate glass books and begins flipping through it, the book's golden lettering shining in the waters.
"Nobody except for the military, that is. Who would no doubt want to know how a band of smallfolk infiltrated their city at such a critical time."
"The monks and their soldiers are soft, and die easily, but they have vast numbers and the help of that shrewd sand sage. Many I could slay, but not all. Best to hide now and regain our strength. Call your elemental allies and make us a cave. Then we will bring fear and pain to them."
"An army eh? We could certainly use an army right now. That is secondary to oxygen at the moment though. What is going on that an army is assembled and this city has been evacuated?"
"An army eh? We could certainly use an army right now. That is secondary to oxygen at the moment though. What is going on that an army is assembled and this city has been evacuated?"
"They don't know. . ." Orchid says as she puts the pieces together for herself. "Schmoosh haven't you told them anything?"
"They just got here!" protests the Fruhgen.
Faren answers Hal.
"A'Viss is a doomed city. It has only days. It will likely be overrun - at least for a time - I pray the Marid will reclaim it one day."
"The aqua-politic has turned rather ugly at present, at least if you travel to this depth. Six powerful maridian families have fallen into feuding, while the denizens of the darkest waters have formed an unlikely alliance: the elder kraken, the aboleth and the brine drakes. Their attention has now turned to A'Viss and this metropolis of legend is headed for a dark time. Fortunately the civilians have all left."
Faren looks to Donkor, "If you are a diviner as you say, you will know that this is no tale."
"Orchid and I are here to chronicle this legendary city in what could be its final days, hoping to preserve its beauty in pictures and writing," and as he looks at Orchid handling her glass text, "and admittedly by procuring the odd trinket - but we too dare not stay very long."
"The monks and their soldiers are soft, and die easily, but they have vast numbers and the help of that shrewd sand sage. Many I could slay, but not all. Best to hide now and regain our strength. Call your elemental allies and make us a cave. Then we will bring fear and pain to them."
"Very well. As my master is fond of saying, "change is at least as good as doing nothing". Of course, he used to say that when he was deep into his cups and was want for nothing. Alas, we are in need of much, least of all a few kegs to ease my aching body. Ahh, enough talk then."
Moonpate trudges wearily through the sand up to the rocky outcropping and plops his prodigious backside onto as comfortable a rock he can find. He then composes his mind, picks up a handful of sand and with an expert's focus calls forth a group of earth elementals.
In Terran: "Lords of the earth and sand, I friend Moonpate, have great need and a great task set forth for you. Enemies of the clans hunt us across your sands. You know them well as the clumsy and foolish diggers yonder. Shelter us from their hunt. Create for me a cave amongst your rock and sand here that will see us through the night safe from their infernal sight and prying claws. Move, dig, and shape the earth for me so that we may later visit vengeance upon them!"
Moonpate trudges wearily through the sand up to the rocky outcropping and plops his prodigious backside onto as comfortable a rock he can find. He then composes his mind, picks up a handful of sand and with an expert's focus calls forth a group of earth elementals.
----------
Four elementals go to work hastily constructing a hidden cavern beneath the rocks. They create a thin rough shaft with a few hand and footholds which in turn connects to a slightly wider chamber below. The beauty of their work is that the "unearthed" rock and sand is shunted into a hidden air pocket even deeper within the earth so that no sign of the construction exists.
Meanwhile a fifth elemental glides around as fast as it can in the 72 seconds it has, evaporating all signs of trails or passage that it can.
Unfortunately the elementals have little understanding of concepts like comfort and if they understand beauty, their version is unrecognizable by mortals. As such, the end result is neither comfortable nor pretty. Rather, it is cramped and dark. But as far as you can tell the entrance is expertly disguised. A large boulder sits atop the entrance, with the air hole expertly hidden. Although the boulder was moved only seconds ago when the elementals beckoned Moonpate and Hurgah inside, it now looks as though it has rested in that spot since time immemorial.
When they are done, the five elementals enter the cave a final time and become inert as their vacating spirits exit the rocks that once composed their form, only now those same rocks suddenly form the central supports that prevent the cave from collapsing in on itself from the rocks above.
As an added bonus it is mercifully cool down here, though Moonpate will require light for about an hour at some point if he plans to review his spellbook. In theory he could do that at dawn using the small pool of light that will filter down the air hole.
"In the face of such a threat they would still bicker? Politicians. I wonder if such dark forces here have anything to do with what are clearly dark forces amassing around the dig site".
Hal smiles sheepishly, "Sorry just thinking out loud. Faren, Orchid, can you take us somewhere that we can rest and restore ourselves. Perhaps we can find some way to help you in return for your aid".