Zarisha furrows her brow as the giant crabs rise to the surface. "Let me see... crabs? What eat crabs?" She draws the holly wand from her belt and a feather from one of her many pouches. She makes an invocation as she slips one of the blades off of her bandolier and throws it at the nearer crustacean. "Glint! I can do better than that."
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These are common giant crabs. They're resistant to most forms of damage except for bludgeoning damage. They're particularly vulnerable if they're flipped onto their backs.
Crabs are particularly vulnerable when they're flipped onto their backs
Zarisha sends some throwing stars at Black but they fly over its head.
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COMBAT TRACKER
Round: 1
Tactical Map
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Those with ** may go
**Grammy Thistledown - AC 16 (18 w/shield), 17/17 (2 actions)
**Tibal Sega - AC 17, 13/13
Zarisha al-Sakawi - AC 18 (19 w/buckler), 17/17
Blue
Jaariko 'Baby Huey' Niqo - AC 18, 15/15
Jig Gnasher - AC 18, 15/15
Green
Marcus Howe - AC 19, 21/21
Black
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Tibal takes a moment to grab the strands of magic around her takes a deep breath, sucking in more air than her slim form would seem to be able to hold. With a few magical gestures, she expels the air with melodical and truly ancient elvish as her words and winds form a magic encasement of compressed air around Jaariko's dragon pistol helping fuel it's shots.
"May your shots aim true, Jaariko!"
She then uses what little is left of her magically charged air to from a thin barrier around herself.
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Grammy sends some lighting at Blue and Green but they manage to avoid the worst of the damage. Tibal imbues Baby Huey's weapon with mystical power before erecting a shield in front of herself.
Blue swims over and swings a massive claw at Baby Huey.
Apparently the electric attack had a worse effect.
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COMBAT TRACKER
Round: 1
Tactical Map
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Those with ** may go
Grammy Thistledown - AC 16 (18 w/shield), 17/17 (2 actions)
Tibal Sega - AC 17, 13/13 (AC 18)
Zarisha al-Sakawi - AC 18 (19 w/buckler), 17/17
Blue (-3)
**Jaariko 'Baby Huey' Niqo - AC 18, 15/15 (Magic Weapon)
**Jig Gnasher - AC 18, 15/15
Green (-3)
Marcus Howe - AC 19, 21/21
Black
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Apart from it being a crab you don't recognize anything special about it
Jig and Baby Huey discharge their firearms at point blank range at the crab. Although Baby Huey hits once, it appears that their weapons do more damage to themselves that the crabs...
Green moves closer to the dock and swipes at Jig with a large claw.
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COMBAT TRACKER
Round: 1
Tactical Map
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Those with ** may go
Grammy Thistledown - AC 16 (18 w/shield), 17/17 (2 actions)
Tibal Sega - AC 17, 10/13 (AC 18)
Zarisha al-Sakawi - AC 18 (19 w/buckler), 17/17
Blue (-11)
Jaariko 'Baby Huey' Niqo - AC 18, 12/15 (Magic Weapon)
Jig Gnasher - AC 18, 12/15
Green (-3)
**Marcus Howe - AC 19, 21/21
Black
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Marcus pulls out his maul and whacks Green on the shell. Cracks start to appear on the shell.
Black climbs onto the dock and attempts to swipe with a claw.
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COMBAT TRACKER
Round: 2
Tactical Map
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Those with ** may go
**Grammy Thistledown - AC 16 (18 w/shield), 17/17
**Tibal Sega - AC 17, 10/13 (AC 18)
**Zarisha al-Sakawi - AC 18 (19 w/buckler), 17/17
Blue (-13)
Jaariko 'Baby Huey' Niqo - AC 18, 12/15 (Magic Weapon)
Jig Gnasher - AC 18, 12/15
Green (-8)
Marcus Howe - AC 19, 21/21
Black
Zarisha draws a sigil in the air with her wand. Lightning crackles from the tip of the wand to streak toward the nearest of the crabs. "Take that and run back to where you came from!"
She then draws another sigil in the air before drawing and throwing a small blade from her belt.
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Tibal steps back from the splash zone of the two guns, having taken more cuts from them than she has since she came to this timeline. She then whips up another magically charged gesture of air, creating but uses the air to create massive amounts of friction at the atomic level and fires it at the two crabs standing next to the gun wielders.
"Huh, Still don't know why this is called a 'cantrip.' I swear, back in my day, a 'Cantrip' was only useful for cleaning or entertaining children!"
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Zarisha draws a sigil in the air and sends lightning at Blue. It doesn't get out of the way in time and roasts where it stands, steam coming out from cracks in its shell. She then hurls a shuriken at Green, which lodges in its eye, killing it instantly. Grammy steps forward and attempts to bash Black but misses. Tibal also sends a lightning bolt at Black which also doesn't get out of the way in time and also roasts where it stands .
After the last crab falls, several judges approach you and demand to know what happened.
"What has happened here?! Where did these creatures come from?!" one demands.
Zarisha looks around the shore before sliding the holly wand into her belt and answering the judge. "Your guess is as good as mine," she says. "But they were probably drawn to all the fish pilling around here for the competition."
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The judge looks a bit disconcerted at Baby Huey eating the crab by himself and looks a bit doubtfully at Zarisha.
"I believe you could be right, but this is the first time I have seen this sort of event happening, and we have had this competition here for years."
Other judges are beginning to circulate among the crowds, a good number of them focus on Demed's overflowing basket. Unnerved by the attention, Demed comes clean and confesses that he had been using a magic bait to attract the fish. The judges are furious and want to disqualify him as his antics endangered other participants. Deka requests that Demed be allowed to continue but without the magic bait. The judges, however, are not convinced.
"As much as my competitive spirit would like to win this competition," Zarisha says, pushing her way into the ring of angry accusers, [b]"I don't see where the rules disqualify the use of magic or enchanting the bait so it wouldn't be fair to disqualify him. Besides, I am certain Demed did not mean to summon a quartet of egregiously oversized crabs. They could have injured him or his sister just as easily."
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Tibal pulls up the magic bait and points at a small point where two of the magic circles arc to each other through the water. "Oh, I'm positive that Demed didn't mean to have this happen. Any basic magic user knows these two spells should not touch as they can cause shorts in the spell structure and have nearly random results from the spell fizziling, ramping up in intensity or power, or, worse, exploding! It looks like a genuine accident where the water acted as a conduit. Because this was in the water, there should have been some insulation on one of them, however, normally, in the air there's no need."
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The judges accept your explanations, but Demed does not get away scot-free. Most of his catches are disqualified but Demed is allowed to continue. He is humbled at your effort to advocate for him and promises not to use anything he doesn't understand.
"Thank you for speaking on my behalf. I won't use anything I don't understand in the future. I might have caused lasting harm to my new friends."
After the crabs have been moved aside for the post-tournament feast (), the tournament resumes.
Marcus steps to the bank and proudly displays his catch. Tibal tries to reverse time and use her fish trap again but this time she doesn't succeed. Jig gets frustrated and fires his spoon gun into the water. The forks and knives go everywhere but he luckily manages to stab a fish. Zarisha quietly heads over to some of the water plants and manages to catch a fish. Grammy experiments with other bait and finds one the fish like. She casts her line into the water and lands a large fish. Baby Huey again attempts to create a new trap but it falls apart when he drops it into the water. ()
All in all, your team does a great job in the tournament. At the end of the day, the judges tally up the scores and decide unanimously that your team has won. They walk up to each member of the group and hand you a small pouch containing 4gp.
"It's very clear that your team has won the tournament! You all earn the title of Silver Sovereigns. We would like you to come back and defend your title next season!"
Deka and Demed are deeply grateful for and impressed by your actions during the event. "We are honored to have been beaten by competitors such as yourselves! You should come back next season and defend your title!"
Thanks for playing! Stand by for B10! :)
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After winning the Silver Scales Tournament in Anthusis, you find yourselves 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 close by. 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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Part way through the trip up north, you realize that the always austere Tibal has gone off her own direction, most likely to check in with the Grand Lodge in Absalom. Instead a slow moving leshy starts traveling with you instead. The deep red, black, and blue colored algae that makes up their body is definitely not the normal color of algae, much less plants, but anyone with a good understanding of the Abyss would recognize it as a common abyssal plant.
They plod along a large rainstick serving double duty as a walking stick with a bag of supplies slung across their shoulder. They look up at everyone with slowly blooming smile on their face, and, in a surprisingly low voice for such a small creature, comment, "I would be okay with rounding up some dinosaurs... And it seems this kind bird might show us the way, as well."
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Jarriko clicks his beak looming over Jig. Te small goblin suddenly finds himself thrust into the air in a massive smothering grip of Baby Huey's wings. "Friends should be nice! We love them, and squeeze them." He lets the goblin loose, looking far more disheveled than usual as they head off for some dinosaurs.
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Grammy Thistledown puts her head in her hands and shakes her head.
"Oh my, a poor druid's work is never done. What is it this time? They should know better than to try to demestocate wild animals. Oh, I suppose the Green Faith beacons me to fix this. And here I thought these would be my retirement years."
"That is an interesting problem to have," Zarisha says with a small chuckle as she reads the notice. "I doesn't look like they were domesticating them, Grammy. They're trying to return them to the wild."
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Lilting Rill gives a warm smile at Grammy Thistledown. In their low bass, they purport, "Could be that the Dinos wandered in of their own volition, but it's not safe or good for them to be where they are. Also, this could be a case of someTHING not someONE. I mean I was created from abyssal energies perverting the Findar Forest due to old cyclopian ruins. Not really something you can blame on anyone. Why don't we go get the full stiry before passing judgements?"
Lilting then slowly turns and meanders up to the woodpecker. "I think we are ready, please lead the way."
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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
The woodpecker flies off and comes back. It repeats the process as if wanting you to follow it. Finally it flies up to Baby Huey and pecks him right on the top of his head before flying off, causing the large tengu to chase after it.
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.
So, we have officially entered the (shock, gasp in amazement, no one saw this coming) skill check encounter. Each PC has 3 rounds of skill checks to attempt to fix the pen round up dinosaurs, or even investigate the area to see what went wrong with the enclosure in the first place. Almost any skill can be used, provided you give a good in-game explanation of how you are using it.
Creative solutions may get bonuses
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 describe how you will use the skill in this situation.
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 **
Those who successfully passed the Nature check earlier can get a bonus to the skill check if they use the information during the roundup.
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 skill checks. You may use the same skill as a previous check, but with a -2 penalty.
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Grammy Thistledown walks up to the man and pats him on the shoulder.
"Appologies young man, I had you pegged wrong. Is a noble thing you are doing. I appreciate it. Not many young men would sacrifice coin to the green faith so readily." She reaches into her pocket and pulls out a small snack for the woodpecker and offers it to him.
(((Wild Empathy: Here you go young one, you did a good job bringing me to your human. Thank you.)))
"Well, I'd better get to it. Tell me young man eh, er . . . you belong to an order? I'm partial to . . . leaves myself?"
Grammy Thistledown then gets to the area where she's supposed to be hearding Dinos.
"Now, how did that dance go?" She starts making a bunch of weird sounds and girating in a funny way, not making threatening movements, but certainly dancing in a strange way as to create a spectacle.
(+1 if my weird strange dance helps)
"No, that wasn't it . . ."
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Jig wanders through the gathering of dinosaurs, grumbling to Kevin (his gun) about his inexperience with the beasts.
"It's no good, Kevin! I am a sea goblin. These big stompy guys aren't paying attention to me."
He turns his attention to one of the littlest dinos, "Hey you! Naughty little guy."
He backs up into a bigger stego and says, "Whoa! Easy there, bub. Come on, let's go back to the enclosure together; I have celery!"
Once back to the enclosure, he looks around to see what could have transpired.
"They're not very bright, but they're curious creatures," Zarisha comments as she surveys the mess.
She swishes her cloak back and forth behind her as she approaches one of the wandering stegosaurus. Then she tries to manhandle it into the pen.
She goes in search of pleasantly aromatic leaves. Zarisha shakes them about as she tries to lure a stegosaurus or two into the enclosure.
After a little bit, she squats down in the middle of the pen and starts whistling in an effort to draw their attention.
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Lilting knows little about dinosaurs. they'd know more about plants than creatures sadly.
Lilting gives a small nod at the woman's request and starts to move to the pen where the steggys should be gathering and stands on a pole, moving their rainstick-walking stick back and forth as an almost tuning fork and accompanying instrument for the deep wordless song they start to sing.
Seeing that their music has gathered more than a few of the playful little things, the leshy keeps up the tune, adding in some cajoling ups and downs to the tune.
Finally, trying to keep the mass of dinos they've amassed in place and not moving away, they give surprisingly scary looks at any dino trying to move away. Despite being tiny, their scale like leaves rise like a cat's hackles and deep back-red energy rises from underneath, only to settle once the dino stops moving.
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You discover the footprints of a clawed creature and signs that part of the enclosure was chopped or torn apart.
Lilting Rill performs a song and dance routine and gets the dinos to follow them in the style of the Pied Piper. They then try to sweet talk the dinos to following back to the pen but are rebuffed. Staring them down, however, has more success. ()
Baby Huey hops around and squawks loudly trying to calm down the baby dinosaurs. Unfortunately his actions have the opposite effect and the babies run away from him. ()
Zarisha walks over and grabs two dinos by their tails and manhandle them back into the pen. However, the effort must have tired her out as she is unable to find any aromatic leaves to lure them back and the tune she whistles don't interest the babies. ()
Marcus has a look at the broken enclosure and heads off to find the materials to fix it. He returns hauling several logs and vines. He heads off to corral the babies and manages to send several back to the enclosure. ()
Jig walks up to the smallest baby dino and yells at it. The baby dino gets scared and walks back obediently. He then walks up to a baby dino about twice his size and nicely offers it food, which follows him back to the pen. ()
Grammy heads over to Xila and rewards the woodpecker. Xila smiles her thanks at Grammy's compliment. Xila's fatigue masks her confusion, however, wondering why Grammy called her "young man". Grammy then performs a strange dance trying to lead the dinos back to the pen, but does not succeed. ()
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As soon as Jig mentions footprints, Xila's eyes perk up.
"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 go after Babs? I'd go, but I need to stay here to make sure these babies don't break out again. Take these. They may help you in your search."
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.
"Grammy? Can you follow the tracks?" Zarisha asks as she fails to make any sense of the stomped and churned ground around them.
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Gammy easily follows the tracks and, based on the lay of the land, discerns that they lead to a specific hill nearby. She also notices other footprints nearby. She recognizes the tracks as that of a compsognathus near the camp. You ascend the hill and before long, you hear a loud voice that doesn't sound particularly friendly.
"You little pipsqueak! You're so small you're of no use to me!!"
"Wait for me--us!" Zarisha calls after the tengu as she follows.
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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. When you ascend to the top of the slope, you see Babs, tightly lashed to a massive wooden stake a short distance west, toward the hill’s face. The hatchling is unharmed, but frightened. He strains against his restraints and begins letting out throaty cries when he sees you.