Myri frowns, thinking to herself, "He's got more attacks. Rise up in the air and fry him from a distance?" "Oh!" she seems startled to find that Ameiko (& maybe Rhost too?) is there as well. "Um, trail mix? It's an...um...Rhost special." She offers her bag around.
Ameiko nods her thanks and grabs a small handful to munch on.
"Rhost. I 'ave a request fer a meal fer tomorrow. She says.
Watching her hands roam over the wet curves: "That's a good start, actually. What I see is a pretty harpy who has not been properly @#*!ed in quite a little while. I think I might like to assist in that regard."
Her hands start to find interesting places, and her hips and chest begin to ever so slightly move back and forth. <Well. I won't deny that it's certainly time I had a good proper @#*!ing. Of course, if I'm truly to be properly @#*!ed, I think that may very well take the combined efforts of both of you.>
Jorun finally breaks it by asking, "How'd I do?"
DATES: Gozran 15 – Gozran 20
LOCATION: The Path of Spirits
SPECIAL ENCOUNTERS:
WEATHER: N/A
WIND: N/A
DAY/NIGHT CYCLE: Underground
AVERAGE TEMPERATURE: 30 degrees Fahrenheit / -1.1 degrees Celsius
DISTANCE TRAVELED: 96 miles
TOTAL DISTANCE FROM SANDPOINT: 5491 miles
TOTAL TIME SINCE LEAVING SANDPOINT: 230 days
Deeper into the tunnels you travel, in the darkness, along narrow ledges at the edges of vast chasms, through networks of caves barely worked by human hands, past an underground lake of murky water.
On the nineteenth day of Gozran, you sight 5 faintly glowing spectral figures following the Path of Spirits from south to north. They wear what some of you recognize as nomadic ritual garb, but all of them are headless.
The apparitions seem inclined to ignore you, silently passing by on whatever strange errand they are engaged in.
When the ritual is complete, there is a long, quiet pause.
Jorun finally breaks it by asking, "How'd I do?"
As Ameiko watches the spirits float by, she gets a thoughtful look on her face.
"The next critters we encounter might not be so preoccupied," she says. "We should set up advance and rear guards."
AC: 21, Touch 11, Flat-footed 20 (includes Magic Vestment)
Active spells: Magic Vestment
AC: 21 (+9 armor, +1 Dex, +1 Natural), 11 touch, 20 flat-footed
You're right, the deflection bonus from Shield of Faith applies to Touch AC. And I forgot I no longer have a Dex bonus to lose when I'm enlarged. So yes, 24/12/24 is correct.
Mel rolls her eyes when she see the much larger Hrunndalf. "In this case, I really should have said unarmed, but my own fault."
Since combat rounds have not started yet at this point, Hrunndalf smiles and drops the sap, which promptly returns to its original size.
"Tell me if I need to make it even easier," he says.She grins over at Ameiko and Kalimac, "Just so I don't get dinged on the lesson part of this test. Tactically sound is to move the heck away from the large, slow, ground-bound behemoth and use spells that ignore his armor."
Hrunndalf nods. "It would be no contest if we used offensive spells. I have no defense against Fireballs from the sky. In a real battle, I'd have to rely on friendly casters, archers, and airborne cavalry to deal with such things," he contributes.
She clicks her tongue against her teeth, "And since the spell that he just cast will give him a third attack if I stay in close, it's a far better for me not to let him stand still." And with that she moves away, Hrunndalf's larger size letting him take a swipe at her, but she ends up 60 feet from the large man.
Hrunndalf retracts his hand quickly as the vanishing illusionary image shocks him unexpectedly. A frown appears on his brow.
For a breif second black energy surrounds her hand but she cuts it off with a curse. "ווי פיל ווי איך וואָלט ווי צו אפילו די פּלייינג פעלד רעכט איצט, אַז טאַקע איז ניט וואָס דעם עקססערסיסע איז פֿאַר." And instead she closes her eyes and internalizes whatever energy she was about to use.
"קיין פּראָבלעם. איך וועט פאַלן מיין ספּעלז אויב איר קאַפּ דייַן," Hrunndalf offers.
Hrunndalf is not about to run after his mobile sparring partner at a fraction of her speed. He drops into a low stance and beckons Melinda with the four fingers of his right hand.
Grapple attempt, +3 Divine Power, +2 Enlarge Person:
50% miss chance from total concealment (high is good):
Hrunndalf's CMD is 26 (= 10 base + 6 BAB + 6 Str + 0 Dex + 1 size + 3 deflection)
"Rhost. I 'ave a request fer a meal fer tomorrow. She says.
Rhost slows in his food prep to better hear the request as meat lightly sizzles.
As Lio and Mel talk to the miffed Ulf, Alaric leans over and mutters to Rhost: "Think we should get Ulf some flowers? So he knows we still think he's pretty?"
"Little chocolate still," Rhost offers back, almost successfully not smiling.
Myriana sits down next to Kalimac, her eyes fixed on the combatants, appearing perhaps a bit thoughtful. "Do you really think its such a good idea to give your opponent an advantage over you? I mean, I know they're friends...and this is training, but..." She shrugs, "I guess they have a better measure of their strengths and weaknesses then I do."
"Training is the best time to find out that you have weaknesses. That way you can fix them. So you should always try to give your training partner advantages over you. This isn't about winning a fight, but building skills."
On the morning of the 21st day of Gozran, the last day of your 28th week of travel since leaving Kalsgard, you come to a tunnel that has clearly been worked. The floor and walls have been smoothed and decorated with faded cave painting of starry skies, colorful auroras, and pale, headless shades marching along the path.
Regularly spaced hewn stone pillars decorated with star carvings stand on either side of the tunnel. Atop each pillar sits a bleached human skull, painted with a red demonic face, all facing north.
You have reached the Uqtaal Necropolis.
Almost all of you recognize the star carvings as a symbol of Desna, but Alaric identifies the skulls as symbols of the same Tian god the earlier cairn was dedicated to.
With a smile Mel does move in, fully expecting Hrunndalf to take a swing at her when she gets close. She did not expect him to close his eyes and swing wildly. He misses, the blow going wide, but Mel stops her own action.
Concern on her face, she says simply, "איך אָפּגעבן."
And then she starts to walk back over to Ameiko and Kalimac.
"Okay," says Rhost. "Warming. Yeast bloom easier."
Mel helps as best as she can and when the bread it cooked, well as soon as Rhost says it is finished, she cuts two nice slices for herself. After a pause, she cuts two for Rhost.
Then a lemon which she cuts into slices, carefully layering the sour fruit onto the hot oatmeal bread. As she finishes she offers the lemon to Rhost, and with a happy grin, bites into the concoction that she made.
In the evenings, running from the storm (and underground), Rhost's forge falls silent.
"Mostly finished," he says.
Standing up behind Zaiobe, she presses a kiss on the shorter woman's neck, her eyes locked on Alaric. "After all... I like to think I craft a pretty convincing argument."
Lio looks over at Rhost, who is busy cooking. "Any suggestions fer music?" She asks him.
"Solemn. Happy. Both together?" Rhost continues to chop.
Mel, munching on a piece of oatmeal bread topped with slices of lemon, finds Ameiko early in the morning. With a smile and a flourish, Mel pulls out an old, battered, slightly bent wand, "Not much, I know. But this is my contribution to the 'keeping Ameiko's butt from being perforated' fund."
"It's all right, love. I have the equipment for both of us. Open your mind while I open Z."
Alaric's mind welcomes Mel inside, to feel him. Barely controlled. Needing. "And now, Mel... you can choose how we @#*! her."
<Personally, I think that if I take a good, close, hard look at your equipment, we'll discover that your f%@~ing abilities are well up to par,> Zaiobe says, her fingers playing over Melinda's skin, her body pressing against Alaric's. <But it's clearly entirely in your hands how the f%@~ing will proceed, so that's up to you.>
Mel, munching on a piece of oatmeal bread topped with slices of lemon, finds Ameiko early in the morning. With a smile and a flourish, Mel pulls out an old, battered, slightly bent wand, "Not much, I know. But this is my contribution to the 'keeping Ameiko's butt from being perforated' fund."
"Thanks, Mel," she says, taking the wand. She smiles a little ruefully. "Think they'll let me raid the Imperial treasury to pay everyone back for keeping me alive?"
While leaving civilization, but before the Death Storm, Alaric approaches Ameiko. "Hey, I don't know what the cold does to strings, but I figure it can't be good. I picked you up some replacements."
"Why, thank you, Alaric," she says. "Yeah, the weather has been hell on the tuning."
"Thanks, Mel," she says, taking the wand. She smiles a little ruefully. "Think they'll let me raid the Imperial treasury to pay everyone back for keeping me alive?"
Mel smiles, "Nope." Her grin gets bigger, "Obviously you have to pay me back with music lessons for Milena."
A pause, "And if someone tries the trick that Hrunndalf did, wait for the eyes to close to put holes in them... They'll never see it coming." Mel chuckles at her horrible pun.
Alaric, walking next to Koya, looks around the tunnels. "What exactly is this place?"
Alaric, walking next to Koya, looks around the tunnels. "What exactly is this place?"
"Right now?" Koya asks. "A desecration of what used t' be a way of showin' respect t' the dead."
"Right now?" Koya asks. "A desecration of what used t' be a way of showin' respect t' the dead."
"Poor phrasing on my part. What was this place?"
Mel smiles, "Nope." Her grin gets bigger, "Obviously you have to pay me back with music lessons for Milena."
"Oh, you're going to be that kind of parent?" Ameiko asks, smiling. "Got her instrument all picked out yet? Signed her up for the best pre-pre-pre-school already?"
To the rest of what Melinda says, she nods.
"Poor phrasing on my part. What was this place?"
"From what Spivey tells me, the Uqtaal believed that th' souls of th' dead migrate to the North t' be with Desna. So they thought it'd be nice to build 'em a tunnel so they didn't have to climb all th' way over th' mountains t' get there."
Finally her eyes open, chuckling at Zaiobe's words, "I don't know, love. You really don't seem... convinced enough." Smiling at him, she whispers into Z's ear, the words easily carrying to him, "So maybe you should put your cute little hands on his body and suggest that @#*!ing you is want he really wants." A playful kiss on the ear, "Don't you dare let him come again... yet."
With that Melinda holds Zaiobe tight, settled between her wings, Mel's belly pressing into Zaiobe's back. One leg pushes in between Zaiobe's thighs, spreading her, as Melinda's hand goes down to replace Zaiobe's own. Melinda's eyes locked with Alaric's.
More shyly, "And when you are ready to lose control... touch me with your energy... just in case she needs an extra boost."
"From what Spivey tells me, the Uqtaal believed that th' souls of th' dead migrate to the North t' be with Desna. So they thought it'd be nice to build 'em a tunnel so they didn't have to climb all th' way over th' mountains t' get there."
Alaric nods sagely. "Well, they're dead, so they already had a pretty rough day. Be rude to make them climb on top of it."
He considers the surroundings some more. "Is that where Desna is? The north?"
Alaric nods sagely. "Well, they're dead, so they already had a pretty rough day. Be rude to make them climb on top of it."
She inclines her dead. "Exacterly so."
He considers the surroundings some more. "Is that where Desna is? The north?"
"The North Star is considered t' be an aspect o' Desna. I always interpreted that a little less lit'rally, m'self."
But after a valiant effort, she manages to get out, <I ... y ... yes.>
Following Melinda's instructions, her hands begin tracing their way over Alaric's sides.
<App ... apparently ...>
His chest.
<If you want something ...>
His stomach.
<You'll - ah! - AH! - have to ...>
Lower.
<C - c - convince her ...>
"The North Star is considered t' be an aspect o' Desna. I always interpreted that a little less lit'rally, m'self."
"Otherwise it might seem silly."
"Otherwise it might seem silly."
"Heh. Heh heh heh."
"That's right, actual demons walk t' earth, ya got a girlfriend that was born t' a virgin ... kinda ... an' a livin' storm is currently tryin' t' kill ya, but lit'ral interpretations o' mythology are silly."
"Heh. Heh heh heh."
"That's right, actual demons walk t' earth, ya got a girlfriend that was born t' a virgin ... kinda ... an' a livin' storm is currently tryin' t' kill ya, but lit'ral interpretations o' mythology are silly."
Alaric grins, casting a sappy look in Mel's direction. "True, but only one of those things is worthy of worship."
Alaric grins, casting a sappy look in Mel's direction. "True, but only one of those things is worthy of worship."
Koya smiles. "Ain't love grand."
Koya smiles. "Ain't love grand."
"For once we agree on something."
A week or so after the I Never game, Alaric ambushes Sandru. "So? Anything?"
Sandru hesitates. "Well ... I wouldn't say it's going badly ..."
The long tunnel with its stone pillars curves hundreds of feet into the rock. The painted skulls stare at you with unblinking, sightless eye sockets as you travel past them.
The tunnel opens out into a wide, high-ceilinged cavern, bisected by a deep crevasse that is spanned by a carved bridge. At each end of the bridge, stone pillars support a flat lintel, carved with star-shaped niches set with red-painted human skulls.
To the sides, two dusty portals of stone mark the faces of angular towers built into the rock, with narrow slit windows overlooking the bridge.
As you enter the cavern, six decapitated walking corpses emerge from those portals, three on each side. Unlike the apparitions of earlier, these creatures are decidedly not ignoring you. They shamble towards you, arms outstretched.