You have arrived in the sleepy fishing village of Aaminiut in the crown of the world close to the frozen land bridge between Avistan and Tian Xia The buildiong come in two types the Long houses of the Ulfen and the more rounded dwellings common to the Erutaki
You see some fishing folk repairing a lot of nets and baskets by the shore. Further out some seal can be seen in the ocean but your attention is drawn to the Ulfen man fixing a board to wall at the entrance to a long house. It depicts a strange creatures head and underneath are some patterned scratches and under them are the words Hunters required Speak to elders
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A well-postured middle-aged elven man looks at the announcement. "It seems they have a little annoyance here. I should have guessed. Well, I suppose it is as good place as any to start proving the finesse of our tactics."
He is dressed in simple but functional clothes, and he carries a pair of wooden poles or staves on his back. His longish blond hair is combed neatly, he has proud eyes and a constant slight smirk.
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A tiny Wingless sprite riding on a rather large corgi peers at the sign. "Hunters? That sounds straightforward." She sounds almost disappointed. "Well, we should help out if we can!"
She has a shortbow and a quiver of tiny arrows, as well as a miniature pistol at her hip--though quite large for her. The weapons almost look like toys, but her bow is taut and her arrows sharp.
Waving up at the elf she says, "Hello! I'm Shimmer and this is Cupcake. We've been traveling around!"
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Sprouting from a dank, dark, colorless cave, our saproling hero unfolds his annulus into thin stalks, pulling himself out from the upside-down "hole" dug into the cavern's ceiling. Experiencing individualized consciousness for the first time, he is surprised to hear his own voice "Let me see now - what do I do with myself now that I can move?"
Touching his mycelium into the dirt below him, he "feels" for his "voice", connecting himself to a greater invisible collectivized consciousness of particulate matter, tapping that system for access to information beyond the ken of most creatures - and certainly mundane invertebrates! - asking in tandem several questions at once (including the one enunciated), and receiving sufficient answers to satisfy the new sensation coursing through his body - curiosity!
"I need to make friends now! But. Where can I find friends?" enjoying the moment with newfound glee, he holds the question inside of himself - indeed, some things are best discovered on their own - and why not this!
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A youthful being with vulpine head and wagging tail behind arrives at the scene. His milky white fur with dark shades covers all his body, visible on parts not covered with cloth. He nods to the others and gives them a charming fox smile before he introduces himself. ”Delta Variant is my name, everyone.
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”Hello Shimmer! Hello Cupcake! Hello Ember! Hello Delta Variant! Hello Friend! I have taken on a moniker in your language: Coenocytic Hyphae Rapport!” the strange little fungus man walks right up and touches his soon-to-be new friends on their foreheads, where their third eye might be ”I am sensing a preferred custom of shortening salutary monikers for ease of pronunciation on animalian tongues” he smiles here, learning so much so rapidly!
”You can call me Hyphy!”
Walking over to the bounty board, he traces the markings with his feelers, exclaiming ”Unable to decipher much more than to find the one whose name is Elders! Where is this person might you think?”
The Ulfen man has sat down next to an Erutaki man and is looking over some pieces of ivory. He looks up at all of you and calls out
If you are interested in the hunting job He pauses briefly and lets you approach before explaining (in a loud enough voice that carries to everyone
Over the past weeks, a creature some of us have come to know as the “Whitefang Wyrm” has been spotted lurking near our settlement, stealing fish from our nets and baskets and leaving nothing but wreckage in its wake. We believe the creature’s lair is somewhere on or across the ice floes of Whitefang Bay. As this creature poses a threat to the survival of all of Aaminiut’s residents, we have prepared a sack of ivory and oosik carvings from the Erutaki and silver bracelets and armbands from the Ulfen, payable to whoever ends the creature’s attacks on our food supply. Proof of the creature’s defeat must be presented to claim this bounty.
He turns to the Erutaki man Did I miss anything Seshu?
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"Hmm..." the little fungus man wonders aloud "Do you think it can be done peaceably?"
Jaded Purple and Envious Green compliment eachother over the body of the small leshy, whose eyes, Black as Midnight, glisten with a "cuteness" customary of many of his kind, pupil-less and disproportionately large for a creature of such stature. And yet, despite all this, the sweet tone, the soft demeanor, the bright eyes - something else lingers about his persona... something from another world... something just at the tip of perception... a tinge of something altogether different...
"What is Seshu?" asks Hyphy, stacking his questions in parallel, his little mind racing!
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"Ha! You might have angered them!" Delta exclaims his opinion. "It might require peace offering so that the Whitefang Wyrm will not attack anymore." he adds, which obviously his invention. Has anyone seen this Wyrm? What do they look like?"[/b] his tail wagging while waiting for their answer to his questions.
Some have seen shiny fin running down its spine dds Bjorn the Ulfen
If you want to travel lots of ground quickly in these parts you will need a dog sled. I can offer two dog sleds for hire each for 5 silver. One sled can carry up to three people. If you have your own dogs a sled is 3 silver
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"A shiny fin? That might mean your hope of peaceful solution succeeds, good... fungus", Toavandil Hanustar says to Hyphy. "It is probably more afraid of us, as it rightfully should be. After all the matter was not to kill it, but to end the stealing. Escorting the little creature away should serve as well."
"We will help these simple people and deal with this annoyance. We should head there quickly. Ten silver and we go."
He takes a gold piece from his purse and pays for the sleds with dogs. He pulls shorter of his poles from his back to be at hand. "It is better to be ready, something dangerous can attack us on the way."
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Shimmer explains what she knows, but waits until Bjorn and Seshu aren't listening.
"This is a dog," she says, patting Cupcake's head, "although not the same type of dog. And Cupcake is special anyway. Most dogs are normal animals. Actually, I don't think Cupcake is a good comparison."
"I have some silver. A dog sled would be fun! But they shouldn't charge us money for tools to do their job."
Those who are searching for signs of the wyrm make perception checks followed survival checks to track the wyrm
Ember and Shimmer do not see much besides snow and ice and snow and ice
Delta and Hyphae spot the fake trail is fake trying to lead you on to some unstable ice and combining your hunters training together you spot the trail that does not lead you onto the unstable ice
You make your way to a cave where you think the creature lives. THe sun is high and you can see a good way into the cave with lots bright reflections inside
Shimmer and Delta entering with weapons drawn (shimmer hanging back)
Hyphae and Toavandil scouting
Ember?
You enter the cave and find the dragon cleaning its claws like a cat. it senses your approach and issues a hissing challenge
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"So you're not attacking us. The people in town think you're hostile, and they're afraid of you hurting them. But I'm sorry, I don't understand you."
If Shimmer thinks the dragon doesn't seem to be understanding her either, she'll try the other languages she knows to see if they can start to communicate: Sylan, Celestial, Cyclopean, Gnomish, Jotun, and Vudrani.
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"Interesting! A dragon!" Delta exclaims excitedly. But when he hears Ember that the wyrm isn't a true dragon, he dismisses the kobold. "Nah, just look at him. And don't say that in front of him, He is not a true dragon? You might hurt his feelings." he tells Ember. "Now that you can understand what our dragon is saying, perhaps you can really our message to him. What do you think? What do you think?" he asks while wagging his tail behind him while looking back at the dragon and then to Ember.
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Hyphy looks at the corgi, then at Shimmer, then at Ember, then at the dragon ”Those two share a bond, so we have to find another way. Though I do not speak your language, you seem to understand me. I am called Hyphy, and we are sent here by Bjorn and Seshu, elders of the village nearby, which has plenty of fish. A large creature as you can easily take as much fish as you want, but, what if you didn’t have to? I am confident we can work things out, just tell us what you really need, and that is one way forward!”
While he talks, the rash on his lips turns a cool icy blue, detecting the color to be soft and comfortable on the wyrm’s arctic temperament, glistening gently in the icy cave.
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Shimmer hugs her corgi, who looks at the wyrm with sad, adorable eyes. "I can't give you Cupcake, but you don't want him anyway. He's not really a dog, he's made of magic and a part of me."
The sprite smiles slyly. "Though it does seem odd that such a proud person must stoop to stealing and coercion. If I didn't know better I'd think you weren't very great at all... But obviously you are! Pertussis you can point us towards the true thief, then? A dragon could never do something so beneath them! But if you were to protect the village, ensure nothing else is stolen from them, you'd win their feature and respect."
The creature dashes towards you
Before belching an oily frigid vapour at Delta and then taking a swipe at hyphae with its claws
penalty to this save if it’s grabbed or flat-footed.
Critical Success The target is unaffected.
Success The target is clumsy 1 for 1 round.
Failure The target takes cold damage and is clumsy 1
for 1 round.
Critical Failure The target takes double the cold damage and is
clumsy 1 for 1 minute.
shimmerAs you only rolled if you were speaking draconic you may retain your hero point
Party is up
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Slashed nearly to death, our chipper mushroom hero’s demeanor rapidly transforms!
Growing nearly a foot taller, his soft green flesh darkens to a midnight purple, his jet pupilless eyes sharpen into abyssal daggers, little dark green veins develop across the entirety of his body, and his jaw unhinges completely, causing his voice to deepen as he booms horrendously
Indeed, no longer “cute”, a terrifying shriek accompanies the verbal threats, as the Whitefang Wyrm’s eyes are locked in hypnosis with Hyphy’s, stoking his deepest fears as the neurons in his tiny brain are stimulated by occult meddling!
◆) Demoralize
◆) Evil Eye
◆) Concordant Choir
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Hero Point:
"Ahhh!" Delta screams when he is belched with a frigid vapor. "So cold!" he complains. He then cautiously steps back, and seeing Hypae is hacked with claws, he blesses the fungus leshy with some positive energy and heals the same with a touch. He feels though that life seeps out of him in the process, but he does not mind. "Be healed!"
◆ Step
◆ Cast a Spell, Healer's Blessing
◆ Cast a Spell, Heal, HP for Hypae
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Well, fine then. Predictable.
Shimmer sees an opening. It's... fine. It's good enough, even.
She nudges Cupcake, who moves towards a corner that gives her a clearer shot, and raises her bow. She takes the shot.
And then she... takes another shot. It's not the most clever strategy, but Coenocytic Hyphae Rapport seems to have needling the opponent down; more literal needling is called for.