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1) I am based in Southeast Asia (UTC +8) so my posting hours may be unusual (especially for those in North America). I usually update at least one or twice per day. Just to keep the game moving, please post at least once every day and at least once during the weekend. If you disappear for more than 24 hours, especially during combat, I will simply place your character on infinite delay just to keep things moving.
2) Please label all three of your actions. Even if you think what you are doing is obvious.
3) If I am unavailable for longer than 24 hours, I will let you know in the Discussion Tab. Out of respect for your fellow players and myself, I ask that you do the same. Real life happens, and real life will always take priority over the game, but out of fairness for your fellow players, please let us know if you will be unavailable for an extended period of time.
4) Please complete the Macros and the Slides linked at the top of the page.
5) Questions, concerns? Feel free to share them in the Discussion tab.
6) Let's have some fun and tell a great story together! After all, that's what we are here for.
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Your adventure begins in the small tent city of Hillcross, which serves as a meeting place for Kellids and others traversing the largest pass through the Tusk Mountains. It is a common waypoint for those traveling to or from the region. The tent city is damp, and the air thick from a heavy rain that occurred the night before, but is still bustling with activity as folk of all kinds pass through.
As you make your way through the city, you hear a tumultuous tapping closeby. Turning to the source of the sound, you see a woodpecker at work, affixing a note to a wooden advertisement board. This note is a hastily scribbled message in Common, calling for help in rounding up
stegosaurus nestlings just outside the city.
As you approach the board, you see the following posted:
Urgent assistance requested! Young stegosauruses loose! Help me return them to the wild! Make haste to the outskirts of town, due west, then south between the two large boulders. Payment of gold provided in exchange for a successful roundup.
—Xila of the Green Faith
As you read the note, you notice the woodpecker hovering nearby.
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One of the strangest beings you have ever seen comes walking down the dusty road. A torn and filthy space suit covers a mechanical body as it sluffs through the dust. That isn't nearly the strangest part though as a cracked glass dome covers the head like some sort of helmet that is filled to the brim with sloshing water. Several strips of adhesive are attached holding the cracks at the seams in crisscross patterns as a dangerous looking sharp-toothed piranha swims within the helmet.
He stops at the sign as the fish seemingly reads it before looking at the goblin and young lad, Arik. A gargled voice emits from a hidden speaker beneath the spacesuit. "Greetings!"
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A young Varisian woman, drawn by the commotion, ambles her way over to join the crowd accumulating near the job board. Her hair is mostly contained by a colorful headscarf with delicate filigree, but a few strands of dark, curly hair hang loose on the sides, seemingly out of defiance. Her clothing is a riot of colors, though red and blue are predominant, and she wears a long scarf around her neck.
She takes a long look at the fish-man before turning to Arik and Tirx. "Well," she says in a dry tone, "you truly can meet any kind of person on the open road."
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he nametab on the filthy suit states X-23, tough there are more missing numbers this is all that is left of the name. The automaton takes a couple steps back, surprised at the commotion. It looks around before realizing he was causing the commotion. "Fish!?" He looks around, sloshing the water within as the fish does a couple of laps. "I am Pygocentrus nattereri." He leans in largely over the group. "Certainly no fish."
Remembering his manners he steps back. From the palm of his hand a small robotic mechanism falls to the ground. As it strikes the cubes unfolds and unfolds and unfolds as it forms into a small barricade mobile by dozens of spider-like legs. "Sentinel." He points to the robot and then to himself. "X-23, I have been told I can seem a bit unnerving. I am getting used to this myself."
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Young stegosauruses aren't especially intelligent, but they’re curious and intrigued by unfamiliar sounds or movements. During the Roundup, you will get a +1 bonus to checks that use this knowledge
Following the bird, you find yourselves in a large clearing in a wooded valley to the west of town. It is here you find a haggard Kellid woman in a patterned cloak of several colors. She ignores the sticks tangled in her hair and the dirt on her face as she chases a juvenile stegosaurus through the mud. All around her, nearly twenty young stegosauruses romp across the clearing, play in pools of mud, and trample the ropes and stakes of a ruined animal pen. For each stegosaurus the woman successfully herds toward the enclosure, another storms out, excited to roam and play.
When you arrive, the woodpecker lands on her shoulder, and she slumps away from the chaos to greet you.
"I am Xila, a follower of the Green Faith. When I heard rumors circulating around Hillcross that this clutch was to be sold into captivity, I knew I needed to return them to the wild. As young as many of them are, I believed their herd must be in the nearby lowlands. I paid the trapper’s fee, which was quite a sum, but money is nothing in comparison to their quality of life. I have kept them here while I searched the valleys. I found a herd nearby, with many young missing—it might even be their family. I intended to reunite them today, but
this morning I discovered them like this. They’re quite the handful."
"Before I escort the young to their herd, I need to round them up and calm them down. There are far too many, and I’m exhausted. Please gather them up and bring them to me, without hurting them. While you’re at it, see if you can find out how they broke free—I don’t want to head into the wilderness only to be set upon by some dangerous creature."
Some of the dinosaurs have their spines wrapped in rope from the makeshift enclosure, while others are stuck in the thick mud left by the night’s heavy rain. Others simply run away from Xila as she tries to lure them to the enclosure, taking advantage of the space to play with each other. The young stegosauruses range in size from 1 to 2 feet tall, 3 to 4 feet long, and 30 to 100 pounds.
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So, we have officially entered the (shock, gasp in amazement, no one saw this coming) skill check encounter. The roundup plays out over the course of 3 rounds, each representing about 5 minutes of activity. You are free to use any skill as long as you can make it fit.
Some Examples:
Nature to calm the dinos
Thievery to untangle ropes
Performance to lure the the curious dinos using odd noises or gestures.
** Be creative **
Each round, you can forego herding the stegosauri and inspect the enclosure. You can make a Perception check to seek. As this is also a secret check, please post your Perception mod and I will roll it for you. You can also attempt both checks but at a penalty due to your divided attention.
Please give me 3 rounds of checks please. If you use the same skill as a previous check, you may do so at a -2 penalty.
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X-23 Doesn't quite deal well with the local wildlife, especially dinosaurs so he sets out on the perimeter to inspect the local enclosure. Finding one of the dinosaurs he tries to shoo it back in as Sentinel charges at it. Finding a weak point X-23 uses his engineering skills and puts them to the test, reinforcing the stability of the enclosure.
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You discover the footprints of a clawed creature and signs that part of the enclosure was chopped or torn apart.
The PC discovers signs that the stegosaurs forced their way out of the enclosure, likely out of boredom.
You don't find anything significant about the enclosure
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Adoril rolls up his sleeves. He bodily pulls a baby from the mud and returns it to the enclosure. He walks up to a baby dino at tries to convince it that he's a friend. The baby starts to ignore him but he yells at the baby to get back into it's pen. The baby realizes that it better obey and does so.
Tirx manages to untangle one stegosaurus from the ropes untangling it. He sneaks up on another baby and manages to scare it and a companion into going back to the enclosure. He then heads over to look at the enclosure to see what happened to it.
Arik checks the enclosure for signs of what happened to it. He then tries to untangle a baby dino and use the rope to form a harness and drag the baby back to the enclosure. Unfortunately, the stegosaurus proves to be completely entangled. Using his rope, he slips the noose over the baby's neck but the creature proves to be too heavy.
X-23 and Sentinel have a look at the enclosure to see what caused the mass escape. They manage to find some refinements to the design of the enclosure in case it happens again. They try to shoo a dino back, but it seems to be more curious of X-23 than afraid of him.
Maurice manages to calm one of the babies but unfortunately isn't able to free it. He then heads over to the paddock to see what happened.
Adria is up.
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Following Adoril's example, Adria sets about trying to help free some of the stuck dinosaurs, hoping that at least someone in their little band can clear the mud from her clothes with prestidigitation.
That particular issue sorted, she then tries to sneak up on some of the more rambunctious dinosaurs that keep running away, then grabbing hold and hauling them back into the pen. Once things are a bit calmer, she takes a lap around the enclosure, looking for any clues that might be useful.
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You successfully herd the dinosaurs back into the enclosure and close the gate. You share your findings with Xila.
"Footprints, you say? Xila asks, "Hang on a moment, I have to count them to make sure none are missing."
Xila begins counting the dinosaurs, tapping at sticks in her hair the way one might count on their fingers.
"...eighteen... nineteen... no, that can't be! I must have counted wrong![b]" Her voice becomes more and more panicked as she repeats the count again. After recounting the dinosaurs for perhaps the fifth time, she cries out in alarm "[b]Babs is missing! Babs is the smallest and youngest of the lot."
"Will you please find Babs so I can reunite all the young ones with the herd. I'd go with you but I need to stay here and make sure another dinosaur goes missing."
Xila hands you four vials. Two are potions of healing while the other 2 are Eagle Eye Elixirs.
One PC may make a Survival check to follow the tracks.
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Tirx has a look and follows the tracks for an hour and come to a hill. As you climb the hill, you start hearing insults being shouted.
Area Map () has been posted.
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As you near the top of the hill, you start seeing find gruesome decorations framing the lair’s entrance. Bones and body parts of various animals hang from ropes and sinew in front of crude paintings of dried blood depicting the skeletons of mammoths and dinosaurs.