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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.
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 note that on the following days, my posting can get unpredictable:
Tuesday/Thursdays - all day, as they are the 2 busiest days of my work week
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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Norbwald is an armored purple haired gnome. They look a bit dishoveled and down on their luck, frequently drinking from a contained wrapped in a old canvas bag.
"Call me Norbwald. Need a few more coin to get through the week. Hopefully get a real society mission soon." sulks the gnome.
"I used to run an orphanage for aspiring fighter children in absalom, but ever since the new weight restrictions on the flickmace, business just hasn't been the same. The change literally killed me." jokes Norbwald.
He'll offer a sip of his hidden beverage to anybody that's polite enough to listen.
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A golden furred Shoony walking with a polished oaken staff goes over to the post and reads the note. He gives the bird a suspicious look, keeping his small body between the bird and his staff.
Scratching behind one of his ears, he mutters “Going to need more people for something like this.”
Seeing the gnome nearby, he waves him over.
“Any chance you’re looking to earn some coin?” He points up at the posting. “Pretty sure this is a job best done with a group. Hopefully stegosauruses are easier to herd than cats.”
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A bronze-skinned woman just finished communing with the moon and stars, despite the fact that it is already daytime. She believes that behind the blue mantle of the sky resides the stars and the moon, though she does not have proof of it. All she knows is that she can feel their presence any time of the day. She folds her star chart and puts it in her bag. She begins walking to wander her body and mind when she finds the bounty post on a given board she just passes by. She reads its contents and finds it to be interesting. Not bad to help somebody round up those carnivorous creatures. The Stars and the Moon are surely leading me here, she tells herself.
She looks around if there are others reading it and she finds there are indeed. She begins to introduce herself to them by sharing a fun fact about the stegosauruses. "You interested about this post as well? Did you know that stegosauruses are carnivores and are best lured with various meats? If I were you, I will bring some meat so that we can easily round them up. Anyway, I am Sybille. It is nice to meet you!" she tells them with pride and a wide smile on her face.
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Bitty Blue peeks out from behind one of the soaked tents, her draconic tail curving up like a question mark. Bitty loves this damp tent city. There's so many places to hide, and the blue cloth of many of the tents have faded to a soft sky color that's similar to Bitty's own skin tones. She and her best friend, Egg, can just blend in, unnoticed.
But the woodpecker undoes her plan. Bitty loves all animals. She stares up at the bird, absolutely entranced. "Um... Hello Woodpecker. Do you need any help?" she asks hopefully. It's not until a few minutes later that it dawns on her that the woodpecker is actually posting a notice to the board. Her eyes widen. "Oh! You're a familiar!" Bitty curtsies to the woodpecker, and says, "I'm Bitty! My grandma Beryl can talk to animals, but I haven't figured out how to do that yet. It's nice to meet you!"
Then she looks at the notice again, and actually reads it.
Bitty turns to Egg, the big blue dinosaur egg nestled in her backpack, and calls out, "Egg, Egg! There are baby dinosaurs, just like you, and they are lost! We have to help them!"
She rushes up to the elderly gnome who appears to be out walking his very well-trained pug dog, and to the tall bronze-skinned lady who just joined them. Bitty asks, "Are you three going to help the baby dinosaurs too?" All of her normal shyness is forgotten, as the baby dinosaurs need her!
"I'm Bitty, and this is my best friend, Egg." She listens for a moment. "Egg says that the baby dinosaurs need our help! Egg also says that it is nice to meet you!"
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A young half-orc prominently wearing the symbol of Erastil, with a bow slung over his shoulder and a quiver at his back, stares at the woodpecker. It wasn't just that the animal was posting notices--someone identifying themself as "of the Green Faith" likely had something to do with that--it was the question of how.
A woodpecker's beak might be something like a chisel, but that seemed like a job for a tool more like a hammer.
He's sufficiently focused on that that he doesn't take in the content of the notice until he hears others talking about it.
"I can help," he says. He raises an eyebrow at Sybille. "But I think we might have more luck appealing to their curiosity.
"I'm Josef." He pronounces the second syllable a little oddly. "-ehf."
"I'm a village acolyte. I'm not really much of an adventurer..." The wayfinder at his belt argues otherwise. "I've been doing some traveling, though. Um... I'm a healer! Should probably say that first."
He smiles gently at Stick. "Talking to animals isn't the difficult part of talking to animals."
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A staunch woman with a jaded look and the jaded facial expression of someone who once led a different life walks in. She's carrying a strange mix of Taldan heraldy and woodland survival gear, along with a greatsword that once must have belonged to a holy warrior. She throws a puzzled at Norbwald, hesitates in a moment of apprehension, but then decides to introduce herself Penelope Tyaden she says, the fourth, with a heaviness that suggests the previous three fared a lot better.
Your have dedicated yourself to a noble cause, and bear the consequences she says, as if she knows what she's talking about.
Dinosaurs on the loose. Looks like it will be a hunt once more. Fortunately these are gentle creatures. She raises an eyebrow when she sees Bitty and her egg Baby dinosaurs? I would not presume these creatures are a match for the demons of the abyss, but baby dinosaurs may set you up with a deal of underestimation. Also, your egg... Penelope wonders if she really should be pointing out the obvious ... might get damaged if we get in a ruffle.
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As you all gather around the board, the woodpecker, who has been hovering anxiously around flies closer to you, only to fly away a short distance, then return, as if telling you "Follow me!" Finally it tires of this game. It flies back and pecks Penelope on the head quite firmly, causing the warrior to chase after it.
You follow the woodpecker and you eventually 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."
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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 **
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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“So impatient!” Branch says as the woodpecker knocks on Penelope’s skull. He starts chasing the bird, tongue lolling as he runs, keeping in mind the directions from the posting of where the group should go.
Seeing the mess, Branch listens intently to Xila as she explains what needs to be done. He nods his agreement when Norbwald tells her to rest.
“I can try to fix the pen while others are chasing the young.”
He pounds the stakes back into place and gets the ropes mostly untangled. Where the ropes are too tangled he replaces them some rope from his own pack.
After that, he tries to help by running ahead of the various dinosaurs and trying to herd them towards the enclosure. Although this does little to calm the young, it does get them moving in the right direction.
Finally he tries to help with some of the babies that are stuck in the mud. He carefully tries to balance on some logs that have been knocked into the muck as he attempts to guide the dinosaurs out.
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“Pardon me, Bitty, but if you can’t talk to animals then how are you talking to an egg?”
Bitty smiles at Branch. "Egg's a terrific listener. Um... Are you a familiar too? I've never seen one my size before."
He smiles gently at Stick. "Talking to animals isn't the difficult part of talking to animals."
Bitty nods, eyes wide. "Ooh, you get it!"
Baby dinosaurs? I would not presume these creatures are a match for the demons of the abyss, but baby dinosaurs may set you up with a deal of underestimation. Also, your egg... Penelope wonders if she really should be pointing out the obvious ... might get damaged if we get in a ruffle.
"Egg!" Bitty's eyes go wide, and she pulls Egg out of her backpack and cradles Egg close. "Don't listen to her!"
"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...
"Oh, anything for the dinosaur babies!" Bitty rushes everywhere to try to help the dinosaurs, trying to pull babies out of mud, disentangling babies from the fence, and making soothing dinosaur chirps. "Chirrrrp, come here babies! Do you know that I'm going to someday hatch a baby dinosaur just like you?"
Unsurprisingly, talking to the baby dinosaurs is what she does best.
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"Egg!" Bitty's eyes go wide, and she pulls Egg out of her backpack and cradles Egg close. "Don't listen to her!"
Penelope takes a moment to process the situation, then concludes that the sylph is a few mushrooms short of a faerie ring, and decides not to push the issue. Beside, the sudden insistent appearance of a woodpecker is more urgent.
Begone, shoo! Penelope shouts in frustration as she gets harassed by the woodpecker. She runs alongside Branch to the clearing.
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Onward! In typical Taldan style, Penelope sets out to run after one of the creature, no animal can match the Taldan physique
Which, of course, is inaccurate. Her second try involves stalking one of the creatures, jumping out from behind a tree...
...which gets her closer...
With increasing levels of annoyance, she finally decides to call upon her knowledge of the wilderness
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“Pardon me, Bitty, but if you can’t talk to animals then how are you talking to an egg?”Bitty smiles at Branch. "Egg's a terrific listener. Um... Are you a familiar too? I've never seen one my size before."
Branch chuckles at her question. “No, I am a wizard. My people are the shoony. We are rather rare even on the isle of Kortos. I would be surprised if I were to meet another of my kind here.”
Thinking a moment, he adds “I have heard of some sprites adopting corgi as familiars. Those would be nearly as large as us, but I’ve never heard of them walking upright.”
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"That's a lot of dinosaurs."
As Branch works to repair the enclosure, Josef starts trying to lure the stegosauruses (stegosauri?) back towards it. He uses a series of curious birdcalls, those that he learned fast away and that the dinos are unlikely to have heard before.
He takes a break from that to analyze the broken pen and see if he can spot any clues about what went wrong here.
While he's doing that he collects an assortment of leaves, and then sets about combining those with other ingredients from his own trail trains to create what he hopes is an enticing meal with enough of an unusual scent and appearance to appeal to both their palettes and their curiosity.
While the application is a little different, these are adaptations of hunting techniques he learned while studying with the priests of Erastil.
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Selena starts by approaching one of the dinos as she dances her hips towards it, hoping that it will be mesmerized and eventually follow her as she then makes her way, continuing the dance, to their pen, with her head up the sky to look into the star behind the blue sky to guide her movements.
Feeling that she isn't doing well with that trick, she tries talking to the dino instead, making baby dino sounds, telling the dino that if the dino will follow her to the pen, she will give the meat that she keeps in her bag (which she does not have if she is being honest to herself). "You want meat, right? Why not follow me, you cutie dino, so that I can treat you one? Come, come!"
Content with what she has done with the dino, she turns herself to another dino on the loose and draws her star chart to consult on how she can deal with the baby dino effectively. "Tell me, O Stars, and guide my ways! O Moon, shine thy light upon your servant and reveal the truth to guide this dino back into its pen!" she exclaims, as if in a ritual or something.
Whatever dawns on her, she will do it however ridiculous it might be because because the moon and the stars tell her so.
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Branch attempts to repair the enclosure but the last knot he tied gives way and the wall collapses again. He goes into sheepdog mode and attempts to herd the large babies and manages to push one back into the pen. He tries to balance some logs to get some babies out but his routine doesn't quite interest them.
Bitty Blue appears to be everywhere. She tries helping the babies out of the mud, which succeeds. Unfortunately her attempt to untangle some vines almost results in Egg dropping from her pack and smashing onto the ground. Finally, her soothing chirps at the dinos get them to follow her back to their enclosure.
Penelope attempts to run a baby dino down but it turns out to be faster than her. She sneaks up behind one and jumps out at it, startling it and sending it back to the enclosure. Finally, she tries to remember some wilderness survival tricks to coax them back to the pen. Unfortunately, she only remembers tricks that would entice bears and not dinosaurs.
Josef attempts to use birdcalls to lure the dinos back to the enclosure. Surprisingly, it works as some of the baby dinos head back. He heads over to the enclosure to look for clues. He finds somethings and shares his find with Xila. Finally, he calls upon the techniques he learned while studying with the priests of Erastil and successfully applies them ().
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You successfully herd the dinosaurs back into the enclosure and close the gate.
"Thank you! 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."
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Tired but not the least bit embarrassed, Penelope return to the pen. Excellent effort, Josef, she nods, and adds the almost rythmical sentence you are most skilled in bushcraft and as well in matters religiose
While we seek your cubling, remain attentive to further escapes, Penelope states to Xila in a way that could easily be confused with instructing. After all, the price of captivity is eternal vigilance, she adds.
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Xila looks concerned as Norbwald shares his findings.
"I wonder if the thief captured more dinosaurs than little Babs. If you do find other dinosaurs other than Babs, do bring them back to me so I can try to reunite them with their herds."
She hands you four vials. Two red ones (Minor Motions of Healing) and two golden brown ones, which turn out to be Lesser Eagle Eye Elixirs. "Take these. They may help you with your search."
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Josef makes it look easy and easily follows the tracks. Based on the lay of the land, he discerns that they lead to a specific hill nearby. He also notices the tracks of a compsognathus near the camp. As you head up the hill, you begin hearing insults in a goblinoid tongue being shouted.
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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
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Branch watches where Bitty Blue walks and tries to follow her. He is at least somewhat successful in spite of obviously not knowing what he is doing.
When Babs calls out and Bitty Blue starts running towards the baby dinosaur, he follows her but keeps looking over to where Sybille is with an obvious worried expression.
“We shouldn’t split the group…”
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Bitty Blue runs up the slope to Babs' side. With some soothing words, she begins to cut the baby dinosaur free. What she doesn't notice, is that in her haste, she's spotted by the meanie, who roars out in heavily accented common.
"SO! You try to steal from Glorzia's pack! We will eat well! ATTACK!"
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COMBAT TRACKER
Round: 1
Tactical Map
Active Conditions:
Before Your Turn:
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Those with ** may go
**Branch Barker - AC 16, 13/13
Bluey
Bitty Blue - AC 17, 17/17
Glorzia
Norbwald - AC 18, 16/16
Brownie
Penelope Tyaden IV - AC 17, 22/22
Sybille Sybil of the Cosmos - AC 15 (16 w/shield), 16/16
Josef - AC 15, 17/17
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Branch runs up and imbues Bitty's weapon with power.
Glorzia roars at one of the tiny dinosaurs beside her.
"Attack! Or I'll be using you for a new pair of boots!"
Deciding that it's more afraid of Glorzia than of you, Bluey charges Bitty Blue and attempts to bite her.
As Bluey's teeth pierce Bitty Blue's leg, she feels a burning pain in the wound.
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COMBAT TRACKER
Round: 1
Tactical Map
Active Conditions:
Before Your Turn:
DC 16 Fortitude: Bitty Blue
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Those with ** may go
Branch Barker - AC 16, 13/13
Bluey
**Bitty Blue - AC 17, 16/17 (Magic Weapon)
Glorzia
Norbwald - AC 18, 16/16
Brownie
Penelope Tyaden IV - AC 17, 22/22
Sybille Sybil of the Cosmos - AC 15 (16 w/shield), 16/16
Josef - AC 15, 17/17
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CONDITIONS AND EFFECTS REFERENCE
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Maximum Duration: 4 rds
Stage 1: 1d6 Poison, Enfeebled 1 (1 rd)
Stage 2: 1d8 Poison, Enfeebled 1 (1 rd)
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Bitty easily shakes off the poison. She whispers to Bluey, "Don't worry, I have no intention of hurting you." Instead, her tail lashes from side to side as she glares at the meanie.
Bitty strides forward like the vengeful dinosaur mama that she is and attacks the coward who would turn beautiful dinosaurs into footwear.
◈ Interact to draw Bitty's now magic weapon.
◈ Stride
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Bitty shakes off the poison. She draws her weapon and charges at Glorzia, hitting the creature in the shoulder. Glorzia roars in pain (). Glorzia draws a large sword at her belt and swings it at Bitty Blue.
Glorzia roars in triumph as both her strikes connect, opening nasty wounds on Bitty Blue and dropping her to the ground.
"NOBODY steal from Glorzia! We eat you now!"
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COMBAT TRACKER
Round: 1
Tactical Map
Active Conditions:
Before Your Turn:
DC 11 Recovery: Bitty Blue
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Those with ** may go
Branch Barker - AC 16, 13/13
Bluey
Bitty Blue - AC 17, 0/17 (Magic Weapon, Dying 1)
Glorzia (-10)
**Norbwald - AC 18, 16/16
Brownie
Penelope Tyaden IV - AC 17, 22/22
Sybille Sybil of the Cosmos - AC 15 (16 w/shield), 16/16
Josef - AC 15, 17/17