Ghirrak remains alert, taking a turn on watch silently.
Marius followed along toward the rear of the group, under the theory that he'd be well placed to intervene if anything tried to creep up behind them and pick off any stragglers.
Continues to dance and skip through the jungle foliage.
*Skippy, skippy, skippy*
"Oooo... Look-it all'a trees..."
Bryson's Grove of Respite spell provides a wonderful place for people (especially spellcasters) to eat and rest comfortably, although the watch standers (and Bryson himself) are constantly interrupted by the increasing numbers of bold scavengers attracted to the area by the Tyrannosaur corpse.
The next day, after morning meal/spell readying, you all set out into the jungle itself.
The jungle is an environment unlike any other encountered by most of the northern temperate climate origin homebodies.
The triple canopy of leaves, branches and dangling vines leaves the jungle floor in shadowy light, and even in midday there are hollows and shaded spots you cannot see into at all. (Darkvision people excepted.)
The most immediate impression is the feeling of suffocation. Under the canopy, there is no feeling of air movement. Couple that with near 100% humidity and temperatures of 95 deg F. (35 deg C.), sweat bursts from peoples skin, but does not evaporate to carry heat away during the hottest part of the day. (10am-5pm)
Because of this everyone in the party is afflicted with the Fatigue condition during this time of day.
The only thing that mitigates this is the afternoon torrential downpour. This happens for a few minutes to two and a half hours every afternoon. There is some relief as it feels like a warm shower, but afterward it is even more humid than before.
Travelling through the jungle is difficult, due to the extensive undergrowth of fast growing vines and brambles. Hacking through these areas takes a lot of time and muscle power to open a single file trail for the rest of the party to take.
Fortunately, there are occasional game trails that can be followed for a while. Even better than that, there are numerous creeks and streams that also can be followed for a while. You have to keep a sharp eye out for quicksand, as that will take much time and effort to get people free once you realize you're in something more than just mud.
For all this, overland travel is halved. Even for mounted folk.
Among the party, Skald seems to have some Ranger training at least; moving through the overgrown terrain easily, pointing out hazardous creatures, clean water and fruit safe to eat.
Professor Forol also seems to be knowledgeable about the jungle, though he is easily distracted by the next exotic flower or insect behavior.
And with jungle plants there come jungle animals.
From the smallest crawling insects, to poisonous serpents, to streams infested by biting fish, to flying insect swarms, to constricting snakes dropping from branches overhead, to dog sized running carnivorous dinosaur packs, to pouncing panthers, to shrieking terror birds, there are many things to fend off as you travel.
Fortunately, with everyone in the party armed with at least a fire hardened spear, you are able to form a thick hedge of spear points to fend off most animals.
All the player characters, please make a post telling how you are assisting the rest of your expedition through the various jungle hazards during the day.
Bryson will continue to cast Grove of Respite each night.
During the worst part of the day, he will offer to cast Communal Endure Elements (2nd Lvl in Ultimate Combat) 3 times a day. Assuming that the PCs as well as Annie and Prof Urol can take care of themselves, he can offer 4 hours of reprieve to 18 other members of the party, but that will take up nearly all of his 2nd level spells.
Bryson will hunt and forage for food, and help guide and protect the group.
Take 10
Knowledge (geography) 19
Knowledge (nature) 22
Survival 27, +2 to find food and water
Bryson will try to regularly confer with Skald and Urol, making sure to tell Skald that he's doing a good job.
Bryson enjoys fears the feel of the jungle. He can feel the primal pulse in his blood. This jungle is where he belongs and it shows in his demeanor. He is more confident and brash than ever before and sometimes evidences a youthful sort of insubordination with Ghirrak.
He tries to sate his harsher urges by hunting and tries to clean his soul by bringing his kills to the group.
Bryson does not actually travel with the group, but leaves signs and markers for them to find. He is seen only when speaking with Skald or Urol or the other PCs, unless given direct orders by Ghirrak.
Sunny is most obviously 'Home'. Her lithe, thin frame more easily copes with the environment's harsher qualities.
While on the march she tends to skip ahead of theg roup slightly more as her preffered method of traversing the jumgle foliage is not to hack her way forwards but twist and slide between the fronds, disturbing the green world as little as possible.
She too does her best to help steer the group's travels as best her skills allow. Always looking for the larger gaps betwen trees. The shallower places to ford streams and rivers. Keeping to higher elevatons so as not to have the group caught in the blind end of a foliage choked gully or ravine.
Burisma sends Welt a little ahead to sniff out Bryson’s markers, and potential threats. When able, Welt speaks with the local fauna to suss out dangers nearby. Burian himself keeps an eye out for hazards - harmful plant life and identifying other dangers of the wild.
Marius was decidedly not at home in the jungle, possessing little in the way of applicable knowledge or skills for the environment. He could protect himself from the oppressive heat (and perhaps one or two others if need be), and could conjure a floating disc to bob along in his wake, carrying their supplies.
Otherwise, he was inclined to let others take the lead and learn from them where he could.
Ghirrak travels along, stoically providing an example for his crew, carrying the weaker passengers when on the brink of exhaustion, and keeping a keen eye out for danger, his vision piercing the darkest corners of the jungle.
Sunny energetically moves among the plants, trees and vines; splashing through streams and mud, but her land legs are rusty.
She often fell jumping between trees, shaking down a shower of insects when she grabbed a vine, and plunged neck deep in quicksand when stepping past a stream. She even had to be rescued by a fast talking Welt when she was wrapped up by a Boa constrictor. At the end of the first day, she was the most bedraggled.
But she was not alone in that. Despite the use of various spells to mitigate the dreadful environment, everybody was tired, sweating and filthy at the end of the day.
At dusk, everyone collapses with relief in Bryson's pocket paradise. But even then Annie insists on self exams to deal with bug bites, fungi, mysterious rashes and outright wounds gained during the day. Plus, leaches.
Sleep is fitful at night. The absolute blackness surrounding you contained noises; creeks and rustlings of things moving around you, and on occasion the death shrieks of unfortunate creatures dying in the teeth and claws of a predator.
Those with low-light vision see eyes glowing off in the vegetation (and not an even number of them either).
You have enough people to let spellcasters rest during the night, which is some comfort.
__
The next few days follow the same pattern. The only difference is, Bryson and Sunny stumble over lone stone blocks with some carved markings. The markings are unreadable even with magic, the only thing you can tell is that they are thousands of years old.
After the day's travel Sunny simply...
Collapses afer her trials, tribulations and the effects of the local weather upon her lythe tanned self.
About five days in, you suddenly break through a dense thorny vine bank into a vast open area.
You see you have come to a vast depression in the jungle that stretches nearly 6 miles across.
The clearing is made up of rough ground, spattered with clumps of tall grasses and the occasional furrow. The lowest ground is a large ring of shallow lakes surrounding a center hill perhaps a mile across each.
The primary inhabitants are a herd of enormous dinosaurs
At this moment, you see a young diplodocus who has wandered too far from the herd and has been attacked by a flock of six terror birds and is running straight towards your position at the thick foliage at the edge of the clearing.
The sight of the dinosaur being hounded and snapped at by "Those horrid birds..." fills Urol with rage, and he calls out to you frantically to help the poor beast.
At this moment, you see a young behemoth who has wandered too far from the herd and has been attacked by a flock of six terror birds and is running straight towards your position at the thick foliage at the edge of the clearing.
As the rumble of approaching animals draws closer Sunny's large blue eyes scan the area all around the group.
Though he finds his heart agreeing with Urol, it's not worth endangering the others. Burian turns to the crew.. "Move! Take cover, but don't go too far! Don't get separated!"
Bryson has one casting of Remove Disease each night. He'll cast it as Annie directs.
Bryson starts to jump at the birds to tear them apart, but catches himself. Instead, he casts Speak with Animals and tries to scare them off.
Marius readied himself for a fight, preparing to cast a glitterdust spell to disrupt the flock if Bryson's attempt to warn the birds off proved unsuccessful.
"Officers brace for a fight! Everyone else take cover. NOW!!" Ghirrak shouts as he prepares to engage the oncoming creatures.
Taking her que from Ghirrak and the others SUnny helps direct the people towards the higher ground and thicker trees to one side of the trail they've come through.
Organizing the more capable spear weilders to the fore between the tree boles.
HopIng the tree trunks will act as a break against the larger creature's on comming bulk and the bristling spear points will keep the lard birds at bay.
Two of the terror birds scream back at Bryson-cat.
Sizing up the situation, the juvenile diplodocus and it's terror bird attackers are about 100 feet away. At their speed it will take only two rounds to reach the edge of the jungle clearing, at the start of the pathway you and your castaways are on. And because you had to hack through dense jungle vegetation, your companions behind you will not be able to dodge out of the way of the oncoming dinosaur and its attackers in time.
During the next round, the range will decrease to 40 feet.
What would you like to do?
Sunny frantically attempts to get people both 'Back' further into the jungle foliage and more off to 'One side' of the trail. Trying to get as much trees adn branches between every one and the on comming mountain on legs.
"Marius! If we can't get them to change course, a fireball might be the only thing to stop them from plowing through our entire line!~" Ghirrak says as he braces himself, considering his limited options.
Bryson sqwaks back at them
Bryson casts Ball Lightning at the two lead terror birds before launching himself at the lead bird.
Ball Lightning
Ball Lightning
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Reconsidering his strategy, Marius also went with lightning, conjuring a small stormcloud crackling with malevolent lightning part-way between himself and the oncoming mob. Hopefully, the cloud would serve as a deterrent, prompting the dinosaur to veer off, rather than continuing its headlong rush towards the group. He could then send the cloud to harry the birds.
Despite your ushering people to duck to the side or back down the trail, the column cannot duck aside and is only just now turning around, so there is no movement yet.
Bryson's ball lighting floated forward and discharged on Terror Bird 5 for some damage, but Terror Bird 4 ducked out of the way of the other one with surprising speed.
Marius' Thundercloud also floated forward and struck the juvenile Diplodocus with a flash and a BOOM!, causing it to stop (stunned) and flail it's limbs for this round.
Before Bryson can attack, Terror Birds 4 and 5 charged forward screaming to attack!
for a possible slashing damage.
for a possible extra slashing damage.
for a possible slashing damage.
The other Terror Birds tear into the Diplodocus, number 2, 3 and 6 tearing great bloody chunks from the larger dinosaur.
Bryson activates his Miasma ability.
Starting at 5th level, if a blight druid is adjacent to a creature at the beginning of its turn, the creature must succeed at a Fortitude save with a DC of 18 or become sickened for 1 round. A creature of the animal, fey, or plant type that fails its save is nauseated for 1 round and sickened for 1 minute thereafter. If the creature makes its save, it is immune to this effect for 24 hours, as are creatures immune to disease. This ability replaces trackless step and resist nature’s lure.
He also moves the spheres of energy to effect one of the dinosaurs.
Ball Lightning
Ball Lightning
As the lumbering wall of lizard continues to rush closer and the large chickens frenzy all over Master Bryson and the two chickens attacking him Sunny moves back towards the crew to try and help, if not get them back further into the trees, at least stop them from emerging and becoming a target for either the rilly big lizard or the chickens.
"Back! Back in't tha' trees! We's got's ta form up less'n tha' chickens be eatin' us ta 'night!"
She tries to organize people so that they can present a defence of spear points towards the onrushing foes. She glances over a tanned shoulder and gives a small sigh glad tha the big lizard has, at last, stopped..... For now...
It wasn't exactly the outcome he'd hoped for, but Marius would chalk it up as a win.
With the big lizard stopped (at least for now), he turned his attention to the birds, sending the thundercloud to harry one of Bryson's attackers and launching a lightning bolt at two of the birds on the lizard's right.
Ghirrak explodes forward with blinding speed, slamming his fist into one of the trailing terror birds with devastating force.
After the bolt fires, Burian moves in front of Marius and takes a moment to gesture until a faint nimbus briefly glows around his form.
Round 1 complete_________________
Bryson activates his Miasma ability.
As the lumbering wall of lizard continues to rush closer and the large chickens frenzy all over Master Bryson , Sunny moves back towards the crew to try and help, if not get them back further into the trees, at least stop them from emerging and becoming a target for either the rilly big lizard or the chickens.
She glances over a tanned shoulder and gives a small sigh glad tha the big lizard has, at last, stopped..... For now...
Marius Hawk
With the big lizard stopped (at least for now), he turned his attention to the birds, sending the thundercloud to harry one of Bryson's attackers and launching a lightning bolt at two of the birds on the lizard's right.
5-foot step to reposition. Casting lightning bolt as shown by the line on the map and repositioning the thundercloud to zap the bird while still hopefully acting as a deterrent.
Ghirrak Ironfist Wed, Jan 22, 2020, 04:34 am | FLAG | LIST | REPLY
Ghirrak explodes forward with blinding speed, slamming his fist into one of the trailing terror birds with devastating force.
After the bolt fires, Burian moves in front of Marius and takes a moment to gesture until a faint nimbus briefly glows around his form.
Ponderously, the juvenile diplodocus turned left, away from the jungle trail. It’s tail swung through Ghirrak and his opponents space at knee high (Ref save DC20 or knocked prone). Bird 6, surprisingly made it, jumping up athletically to allow the tail to swish by underneath him.
Terror birds one and two continued to lash savagely at the dinosaur’s flank, bleeding it even further.
Terror bird three, stung by the lightning, charged forward to bite at Burian.
for a possible damage.
Terror bird four, harried by lightning and thunder, tore at Bryson in his madness.
.
Fail. Regular miss
for a possible damage.
for a possible damage.
Terror bird five just stood there stunned and nauseous.
Terror bird six attacked Ghirrak.
for a possible damage.
for a possible damage.
for a possible damage.
As one of the terror bird's claws manages to score a line on Ghirrak's arm, the captain retaliates with a powerful series of blows.
With the thrreat of being stepped on turning away Sunny gives the survivors a cheery smile, nods at their stances and arrayed spears before turning and running off to help beat off the giant chickens that threaten the rest of her freinds.
Bryson directs the balls of lightning to continue to damage the one dinosaur.
Ball Lightning
Ball Lightning
While he takes up his scimitar against the other.
Scimitar +1:
Marius left the thundercloud where it was to continue zapping the bird for the moment, conjuring some mage armour of his own in case he became embroiled in the general melee.
Burian whips his hair at the nearest terror bird, and wraps it up to keep it grounded.
Round 2 completed
As one of the terror bird's claws manages to score a line on Ghirrak's arm, the captain retaliates with a powerful series of blows.
Iron Limb Defense. Start and end in same spot. AC increases 2 points to 26
With the threat of being stepped on turning away Sunny gives the survivors a cheery smile, nods at their stances and arrayed spears before turning and running off to help beat off the giant chickens that threaten the rest of her friends.
Bryson directs the balls of lightning to continue to damage the one dinosaur.
While he takes up his scimitar against the other.
Marius left the thundercloud where it was to continue zapping the bird for the moment, conjuring some mage armour of his own in case he became embroiled in the general melee.
Burian whips his hair at the nearest terror bird, and wraps it up to keep it grounded.
hit for .
miss.
hit for .
hit for .
hit for .
hit for .
Terror Bird 3, outraged at being grappled by such a tiny thing, whipped out its head to bite/grapple Burian with its 10ft reach.
for maybe . Then .
Terror Bird 5 is still stunned, nauseous and staggering about.
for maybe .
for maybe .
for maybe .
Sunny tumbles closer,
And under Burian's hair as the larg bird tries to peck at her freind.
"We is gon'a be havin' chick-ann tonight!" Sunny exclaims as she tries to thump away at the feathered menace. It's feathered bulk resisting her enthusiastic efforts.