Aelfric of Apple Wood's page

Shiro says little but enjoys the drink, keeping an eye on the drow throughout the evening.

Aelfric will first check with Pitsnoggle about what is polite protocol or whatnot, but if Pitsnoggle says it is OK, Aelfric will approach the Drow, bow towards them and say "Pardon strangers, I am a new to these lands and I have not seen people like you before. Are your lands near to here?"

Considering that Aelfric tries to talk to even Lizardfolk, who consider human flesh a delicacy, it should surprise no one that he'll try talking to the Drow. :)

For the sake of plot, we can short-cut the dialog; Aelfric is just trying to feel out what sort of people the Drow are.

Pitsnoggle chuckles darkly. "I met Zenith Splintershield when he came through here ten years ago. He must have had a hundred warriors with him, meany looking men with much armorings. He claimed he would scourge the evil from the deepy depths, but we never saw him again. That's all I know."

Aelfric takes another sip and says "That's all you know, but surely you've heard rumors. He came in with a hundred warriors and a hero's dreams, and disappeared without a trace? We've heard tell he is sill alive, but now a cleric in service to insane powers from the beyond. Have you heard anything more? Have you seen any survivors amongst his warriors heading back to the surface?"

Mission relevant:
We don't need to play out the full dialog, but Aelfric will press for rumors about Zenith, rumors of survivors amongst Zenith's men, ask how deeply Pitsnoggle has ventured, ask about the caves of the kuo toa, ask what sort of creatures the kuo toa are, ask if various of the deep creatures or peoples are allergic to or injured by light, etc.


Non-mission relevant:
In general, Aelfric does not know the underground world and will be doing his best to hear all about it from a native guide. He is equally interested in task relevant information (Zenith, the Kuo Toa, etc.) and the non-task relevant information (edible mushrooms, do you have underground herd animals, can you train a firebug to follow commands, are raids frequent or are relations relatively friendly between neighboring peoples, can you eat slimes, what sort of rock is easy to dig through, is there often glowing fungus around or total dark, how do you find water, what lives in the water, etc.) This is a chance for him to learn about a natural environment totally different from his home domain, and he will want to learn as much as possible... You can assume that Aelfric will be chatting with Pitsnoggle (or any other locals) about the local flora and fauna for a lot of the time a local guide is with the party.

“Tolls? Pfft.” He waves his hand dismissively. “No tolls for the men who saved my life! Tolls for drow and duergar.” He looks up at Genar strangely, his nose wrinkling in a comical manner. “You don’t know where you’re going? The deepity be worlds under more worlds you uppy-men know nothing about, each darker and more dangerous than the last. Pitsnoggle the man to guide you, but you need a plan. Were you not looking for intrepid and very lost and probably dead Zenith Splintershield? Crazy dwarfy man be a legend in the Underdark.”

Aelfric takes a sip of the concoction they've been served and then nods. "Yes, we are looking for Zenith, but we have only a little information about him. What are the legends surrounding him?"

Yeah, I (also) was momentarily fooled by the need to hit "next" to see the current posts.

Gerrod starts in surprise and then frowns with a look of intense concentration.

"It would be difficult to leave at the present time. There is work unfinished and much at stake. We will be on our guard. Is there anything we can to to assist you or do you believe yourselves beyond rescue?"

Aelfric responds through the Pin:

Aelfric's raptor pin tingles and a response comes back almost immediately. Gerrod's voice is unmistakeable. "It would be difficult to leave at the present time. There is work unfinished and much at stake. We will be on our guard. Is there anything we can to to assist you or do you believe yourselves beyond rescue?"

Aelfric repeats Gerrod's words to those gathered around him and then responds, again aloud and in thought:

message copied to other list

"How did these guys even know where to find us? It's not like we were broadcasting our presence and it's not like we're out in the open."

Aelfric rubs his temples. "The strands of fate are being plucked at oddly indeed... This Kravichak named himself 'High Jester of the Last Laugh Guild', so perhaps he is high enough in the esteem of his mad god that he was guided somehow... To find us, by chance, in these tunnels seems highly unlikely. It is odd, also, that he left us all alive and with our gear intact, as if we could not harm his cause. He is either so mad that his actions border on divinely guided randomness, or he knows things that render us ineffective in opposing him.

Suddenly resolute, Aelfric grabs his backpack and begins dumping it out to go through his belongings. Sorting the objects into various piles, he says over his shoulder "A further few minutes delay will not greatly damage our hunt for the dwarf. Lay out your things as well. I seek to see if anything has been taken or added to our possessions. The simplest answer is that Kravichak has some way of tracking us, some thing that is in the possession of one of us which reveals us to his searching. Another possibility is that one of us is knowingly or unknowingly aiding our opponents."

Aelfric carefully sets aside his possessions, with all non-magical accoutrements to one side and the few magical or odd items to the other.

Ugh, this made role-playing sense, but now I have to try to remember all the oddities Aelfric has collected... At least there are not so many of those. I'll have to dig through a pile of posts to see if I can get everything.

The holder of the Raptor pin here's the following, in Aelfric's voice:
"Gerrod. Beware; Kravichak the mind-invader High Jester and Last Laugh guildsmen defeated us with poison and mind. Kravichak took from my mind that you have the Chalice of Essence of Madness. They seek you now in the Feverglades. Move and beware. Respond."

As always, sorry about the delay. Glad to hear you made it safe and sound.
OOC:
Thank you for the reminder. I remembered the Raptor pins, but I was under the impression they were of relatively limited range... The spell to which I was referring in Aelfric's last speech was Animal Messenger; I was going to try sending an animal to one of the allies in Apple Wood and then try to have one of them contact Gerrod. I'm glad to hear that won't be necessary.

BIC:
Aelfric says "Perhaps the communication magics may extend far enough to reach Gerrod."

Closing his eyes and focusing his attention on the Raptor pin, Aelfric invokes it's energies, speaking aloud the words he thinks towards the link. "Gerrod. Beware; Kravichak the mind-invader High Jester and Last Laugh guildsmen defeated us with poison and mind. Kravichak took from my mind that you have the Chalice of Essence of Madness. They seek you now in the Feverglades. Move and beware. Respond."

The message has been cross-posted.

Genar shakes the cobwebs from his head. "Metinks we mights needs to get words ter Gerrod somes'ow."

Aelfric frowns while thinking hard. "Damnation! They are ahead of us and moving fast. If they detect us following them, then we will likely be again treated to mental assaults which none of us can prevent as well as more poisons. Hm. If I can pray to Eldath for a boon in the morning and be at the surface to cast it, we may be able to get a message ahead of those madmen. If we can not, then I am loath to abandon our current quest a second time merely to chase after an enemy with the advantage of a long head start..."

DM Note: When Kravichak asked him, Aelfric began thinking about how Gerrod has the Chalice containing the Essence of Madness, and he's gone to the Feverglades to see the Heron-woman. Kravichak was detecting his thoughts - Aelfric could tell from the alien presence in his mind.

Aelfric spits and then answers, bitterness plain in is tone "I told him nothing, but he had the information from my mind as easily as if I handed it to him on a platter. Damnation! All the fancy words in the world are useless, when your mind can be pierced like an apple! I would that we could ward our minds against these hell-spawned intrusions and manipulations!"

Trying to calm himself and focus on anwering the question, Aelfric adds "He plucked from my mind the fact that Gerrod has the Chalice and that Gerrod is visiting the Hag of the Feverglades. If we are fortunate, Gerrod will have moved on and Kravichak will be too late to find him. If we are unfortunate, the Hag will cut a deal with Kravichak and deliver Gerrod and the Chalice to him... We'd best pray for fortune."

“Troublesome adventurers! You force me to use brute force, which I must admit I enjoy – but it wastes resources. You’ve killed one of my guildsmen, an action for which I plan to eventually make you pay.” His bulging eyes swivel to take you all in, then he giggles again. “But not today.” He clears his throat dramatically, then continues. “I am Kravichak, a High Jester in the Last Laugh guild, as you might have surmised, and you are in my power. Please do not try to escape, or I will be forced to kill you all, which is not in my plan. Although I must admit that I enjoy slaughtering bound prisoners.”

Devamil splutters and comes awake, and the guildsman kneeling beside him moves to Dakbyr.

Kravichak continues. “I believe that I have obtained the information that I came for from the swordsman Shiro, but I’m afraid that I must be sure.” He leans over Genar’s reclining form, his face unsettlingly close to the big fighter’s. “You will feel some discomfort as I probe your mind, but rest assured that I will cause no permanent damage. If you relax and let me probe, it will be less painful, and resisting will only prolong the ordeal.” He giggles. “If you feel like resisting however, please do. I must admit that I enjoy prolonging the ordeal.”

Aelfric looks directly at Kravichak and, keeping his voice as mild as he can make it, says "I think our balance already clear; your side initiated the violence and paid the price of it. If it is information you want, there is no need to drive your mind against another's mind; just ask your questions and I'll answer as best I can. Given a chance, you may find our goals do not conflict with yours..."

Aelfric-bear roars and jerks his head toward Phaethon, before falling on the Last Laugh guildsman, clawing, biting, and tearing. He hits with a powerful swipe, almost spinning the man around with the force of the blow. The guildsman throws a small stone down directly on the ground, producing a cloud of whitish smoke in front of him as he takes a short step backward and seems to disappear into the obscured darkness.

So – Phaethon and the bat are fighting two guildsmen, while Aelfric must move into the smoky darkness to get at his opponent..

Aelfric-bear snuffles and backs up a step before rearing up on hind legs to grunt and growl while waiving his paws in the air in front of him.

I.e. 5-ft move back, getting cover if possible, then initiate another summoning spell, burning another high level spell for a dire bat

Heh, getting attacked during nap time is right! Most of the others have managed to go back to sleep!

The dire bat and the other man trade attacks, bloodying each other in the process. They are both still in the fight though, and the hooded man now finds himself surrounded by the two feral opponents.

Aelfric-bear roars and jerks his head toward Phaethon, before falling on the Last Laugh guildsman, clawing, biting, and tearing. The dire bat disengages and swoops down the tunnel towards Phaethon and the other Last Laugh guildsmen, shrieking an ear-piercing challenge.

Aelfric-bear lumbers along behind, and using his sharp animal senses he is able to flank one of the two humanoids he finds in melee combat with the bat. Aelfric-bear swats the dark-clad man...

Info for the GM - I said "brown fur" as flavor text, since that matches Aelfric's hair, but I believe Aelfric can only become a Black Bear (medium size), not a Brown Bear (large size). Just mentioning it so you'll use the right stat block... Next level Aelfric will be able to become the much more impressive Large Brown Bear.

Aelfric-Bear uses the combined scents of the stranger and fresh blood to stay on his opponent, clawing, biting, and clawing.

When he is able to see, Aelfric-Bear shifts position to flank flank an opponent with the giant bat or one of his other allies.

The foggy mist settles, and the view in the alcove and the short section of tunnel is not obscured in any way. The little stretch of tunnel is empty.

If the foggy mist still seems to be a danger (i.e. is above knee level and therefore breathable), Aelfric waves his arms, gesturing to the bat to flap it's wings and blow the mist back out into the corridor. As it does this, Aelfric props the unconscious people up against the walls, so that their heads are above any low-lying mist.

If the foggy mist seems to have settled, Aelfric will gesture to the bat to wait one round, then swoop out into the corridor and left, biting anyone it finds. Aelfric drops to all fours, with brown fur rippling to cover his skin and heavy muscle cording his body. In a moment, a brown bear stands ready to follow the bat in it's attack.

OOC: Hm. Is the tunnel space large enough for a dire bat (10 ft.)? If so, Aelfric will press himself against a wall and start the summoning as quietly as he can.

How do we separate a play-by-post series into threads?

E.g. We have a game going and people split up, with some going to the right and some going to the left. It'd nice to be able follow one set of posts all responding to the "Right hand group" action thread while ignoring the set of posts all responding to the "Left hand group" thread, or vice versa.

Is there any way to set this up?

Aelfric, Devamil, Shiro, Phaethon, Genar and Dakbyr:

Aelfric nods and quietly begins waking the non-spellcasters in the group...

He manages to wake Phaethon and Shiro before he hears a quiet puffing, hissing sound coming from the hallway.

The fog settles over everyone, hitting Phaethon and Shiro just as they wake. Everyone breathes in some of the fine particles, which feel oily and taste unpleaseant.

Round 1: Aelfric holds his breath and finishes waking the rest of the group, gesturing to the awaking people that they should also hold their breaths, by pursing his lips and pinching his nostrils shut with one with one hand.

Round 2: (assuming the cause of the fog is not yet apparent) Aelfric will dig some bandages out of his pack and wet a handful of them, tying them over his mouth and nose as an impromptu defense against the fine particles.

All right gang, if you've gotten this far, you've found it! Go ahead and check in to let me know you're in play. You will need to establish a login and set up an avatar to post. Post in character, or out, as you like, and we'll try to get this thing up and running.

Heya, I'm in (finally). Some left-over notes from pre-joining this list are:

1) Aelfric will want a trained firebug. While traveling, he'll be spending a bit of time observing the bug, trying to see if it has good night vision, good olfactory sense, tremor sense, how it acts when it is relaxed/happy, how it acts when it feels threatened. If Aelfric can get a sense of impending threat or earthquake based on how the bugs behave, he'll want that edge. It's part of the whole listening-to-nature thing.

2) More of the listening to nature thing - Aelfric will be trailing a hand along the tunnel walls much of the time, feeling the stone and asking the underground dwellers amongst the group what the different types of stone signify, which types of stone are prone to collapse, which ones allow water to leak through, etc.

3) Aelfric will have had a note for Gornalunga, given to Oliver, before leaving. I've emailed the contents to you (Chuck) separately. Let me know if you do not receive the email.

Aelfric nodds and quietly begins waking the non-spellcasters in the group, with a finger on their lips as he shakes their shoulder. Aelfric will wait to learn more of what the disturbance may be before waking anyone who needs mental focus for spell preparation.

> Aelfric and Devamil are on guard when the incident occurs. They both

> hear some sort of motion just outside the lighted area of their camp,
> which is in a small cul-de-sac off the side of the main tunnel. The
> tunnel is ten feet wide, the light from the fire beetles extends out
> to twenty feet down the tunnel in each direction, and the cul-de-sac
> is about a twenty foot deep alcove.

> Keith and Dustin, give me your actions. No one has woken up from the
> noise.

Devamil will motion to Aelfric to wake the others. He will take out his sword and move as quietly as possible towards the noise to check it out.