Ananias's page

Hi team, I'm going to bow out of this game. I just haven't found Ananias' voice yet; when it's time for me to post, I too-frequently find myself struggling for what to do or say. It doesn't seem fair to the game to occupy a spot at the table if I don't have the commitment to do my best with it.

Best wishes to you all as you move forward.

"A ride would be quite pleasant... and I like the idea of getting a little more info from the stable boy."

Not sure how knowledge local can help in a place where you never been before and where the locals don't let information out easily. You have, however multiple people that could possibly help you get the info you need to move forward. So far you made friend with the Mayor, the stable boy, Jaleen Halrush (the alchemist), and in a way the sheriff. We could skip the roleplay if you want, but I need to know who you ask.

The theory behind Knowledge (local), at least as it's been described in discussion on these and other boards, is that it represents your ability to get knowledge about a local place, not necessarily how much you already know about it. That's why it's so commonly used in the same way that Diplomacy is used to gather information.

It certainly makes sense, though, that if you're in a small town that doesn't like strangers, there would be a circumstance penalty on the check representing their natural tight-lipped nature.

"That sounds fine to me. I'm not going to argue in favor of going for a swim I never wanted to take anyway."

The blood warrior keeps an eye out while Anna and the others ensure that the investigation in the temple is otherwise complete, then makes ready to find the old house.

"Were we going to investigate the underground tunnels... more than Tolvan's lights revealed, I mean?" Ananias doesn't look enthusiastic to bring this up, but continues. "Not that I'm eager, of course, just that we're here now."

"Well, that was gruesome. Do you think the priest was using those slugs as part of some kind of ritual back here? Just what is going on here anyway?" Despite his seemingly constant flow of unanswered questions, Ananias follows the others to the last unexplored room, posting up to guard the door while Anna inspects and opens it.

"If they were going to wake... why now?" Ananias wonders aloud, even as he begins the incantation to a shield spell.

Ananias stands behind Anna, glad to not be going for a swim quite yet. When the smell of rotting fish rolls over him, though, he brings his hand to his mouth, gagging. "Gonna love to find out what they actually worship here... why would this possibly be a good thing?!?"

Hey all, I got hit hard by a bug on Wed PM, and I'm not quite recovered yet. Thanks for any botting you've done. I'm going to share this message in all of my games first, and will then circle back to posting in-game. That may not happen quickly, however, so please keep botting me until I post again in Gameplay. Thanks!

Ananias nods, recognizing Tolvan's wisdom. "I too grow increasingly concerned about what this water may mean. Though," he motions his hand to indicate his heavy armor, "I'm not exactly equipped for swimming. Maybe it would be best to send these people to safety, explore all of the terrestrial rooms in this temple, then consider what underground waterways might exist."

Vizier = Head of the temple.

Vicar = Assistant
Vizier as 2 sons, Caleb and Everard. They are both Vicar.
3rd Vicar is Garrick, not related to the Vizier

I was just reviewing and noticed that a Vicar Voltiaro was mentioned by the couple, but not seeing a Voltiaro in the above list?

Moved some tokens based on descriptions here.

Ananias remains just outside the door, listening to the conversation but not adding anything else.

Not party to what Anna may or may not have heard through the door, Ananias is surprised to see her throw the door open and begin questioning... someone?... on the other side. He glances toward Tolvan with a lifted eyebrow. Is she always like this? his face seems to read before he moves around behind Anna to hopefully get a view into the room and see who or what she's addressing.

Anna Dunsany wrote:

No, I never got around to seeing that movie. And my guess is that these murals depict less-than-consensual acts. :-S

I will second this. Guillermo del Toro is one of the best directors working today; The Shape of Water is absolutely brilliant.

Ananias steps nearer the door, sensing a change in Anna's attitude. "What is it?" he whispers.

Stepping into the room, Ananias tries his best not to react to the strangeness of the sexual depravity depicted in the carvings. "What... what even is this?!? What are they about?"

He does his best to push the nature of the carvings away, though, as he examines them and the rest of the room for anything... mechanically unusual.

Perception: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (6) + 13 = 19

"Kimberly, how can we put these souls to rest? Pharasma's desires must be taken into account here." As a battlefield commander, he'd had to deal with the mutilated bodies of war often; though this was clearly different, he brings up a stoic shield and gets to business, following Kimberly's direction.

Calling Anna over, he interposes his body between the door and the bodies on the bench, giving her something to distract herself from the horror while they work. "Anna, can you see if this door is safe to go through? We have more to do here, and we must all focus."

Can we reveal the new room on the map? Also, what's the symbol in the slide deck of the eye with two merfolk about?

Ananias steps into the room cautiously, following Danica's arrow. "This does not look like Gozreh..." he mutters aloud, stating the obvious.

Perception: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (2) + 13 = 15

Knowledge (religion): 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2 Is there any recognizable symbology in the arrangement of these bodies? No need to answer, I can see from my roll that Ananias is pretty sure this is in honor of Erastil. It's so obvious!

"As long as we're just seeking statues, and not that thing itself..." Ananias' voice trails away in unease as he gathers near the secret door, waiting for it to be opened.

Ananias interjects from the doorway. "He may not see us as a friend, unfortunately; he was eager that we try his ship, and we were... well... not eager. We might have to soothe his feelings if we want to use that.. apparatus."

His eyes dart away from the grotesque statues whenever they light on one as he continues. "Where would we go, though, if we do head underwater? Do we think to try to find that..." he makes an anxious gesture in the general direction of Anna and the statue she holds, "...that thing? Is that truly what we seek?"

Ananias can use an amulet of natural armor +1; he'll claim one. Do we maintain a loot tracker for this game?

Actually, it turns out that he can't use an amulet of natural armor; it looks like I purchased an amulet of mighty fists +1 when I created Ananias, but somehow never recorded that on his character sheet here. That's a much better option for Ananais, so @GM, unless you have an issue with that, I'll keep the mighty fists instead of natural armor. I will update his profile presently.

Ananias can use an amulet of natural armor +1; he'll claim one. Do we maintain a loot tracker for this game?

Ananias allows his gaze to examine the room in a cursory fashion, but he mostly maintains a post by the door, to ensure that the others can't be surprised while they investigate.

Perception: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (2) + 13 = 15

I agree. Momentum in games is very real. Barring special circumstances, I am in these forums on a daily basis during the week. As long as the action is caught up to my turn, I can reliably post daily on weekdays, and would be happy to maintain that pace.

Is it safe to say that we've lost Kimberly? Her last post in Gameplay was Nov 15.

Extra attack with haste (all prior attacks should include additional +1 from what's shown above, due to haste:

Claw, flank, haste: 1d20 + 14 + 2 ⇒ (8) + 14 + 2 = 24
Damage, S: 1d6 + 16 ⇒ (4) + 16 = 20

Guys, do we have Haste in affect?

I'm not aware of haste having been cast, and haven't been including it in any of my rolls.

Ananias' eyes light up as he sees his vines begin to twist and entwine around this lobster-like creature. He doubles down on his attacks, slashing with a fury that seems blind, but is clearly quite efficiently targeted in actuality.

I think Ananias is the one who is grappled. It's safe to assume that Tolvan would have targetted him with liberating command instead of Danica, correct?

Escape Artist, liberating command: 1d20 - 1 + 18 ⇒ (19) - 1 + 18 = 36

If that didn't work, nothing will; proceeding as if Ananias escaped the grapple (will retcon if not)

The raging warrior's attention is successfully turned to this chuul creature; all interest he had in the acolytes completely forgotten by this enormous beast.

His strategy is simple, rip and tear with his claws, with abandon.

Urgh. Sorry for the delay, I really thought I had made this post!

Ananias keeps his attention on the acolyte that slipped behind him. Conscious of suddenly being flanked, he focuses on eliminating this threat out of a sense for his own defense, if nothing else.

With the bloodrage flowing, Ananias didn't have the mental space to wonder why the acolytes didn't appear to be attacking in any way. He just kept winging his claws around at the acolyte in front of him, attempting to rend flesh from bone in a bloody, visceral mess.

Ananias makes his way back with the others, but struggles to follow Tolvan's otherwise reasonable advice. I can hear them coming... why would we wait?!? We should meet them with claws and blood!!!

As soon as they are sighted, however, Ananias is already moving towards them, even as the black tentacles burst from the ground. The writhing vines growing out of his armor mirror the action of the tentacles swarming from the ground, and Ananias grins a wicked grin. He ducks around one of the more lively tentacles on his way to the closest cultist.

How long between the two combats? I'm counting two rounds: one round to get ready and one surprise round. Ananias stayed in bloodrage in-between, so I'll mark that off, but let me know if I should mark off more rounds.

I just wanted to make this quick post to let you all know that I'm back! As you may have noticed, my goal to post during vacation was a complete failure, so I have a lot to get to; it could easily take me all day to catch up on all of my games.

I'm cross-posting this note to all of my games early. Please feel free to continue to bot me until I post in Gameplay, if there's an urgent need; otherwise, I'll post before the end of the day if my character is up. Thanks!

Cross-posting in all of my games; apologies if you see this more than once.

Tomorrow, I head out for a weeklong vacation to where there are beaches, sunshine, and tropical beverages. I intend to be taking utmost advantage of all of the above (especially the latter). As such, I may have difficulty posting while I'm away; please bot me if necessary.

That said, the resort does have free WiFi, and I just got a new keyboard for my iPad that should allow me to post better on vacation than I ever have been able to before. I will be trying to keep up with all of my games as much as possible.

I expect, though, that my posts will necessarily be brief, even to the point of simply making my rolls without much roleplay. If I am silent in social situations, or not posting my combats, please err on the side of botting me early, rather than waiting; it will likely be better for us all that way.

Thanks!

This game hasn't seen a new post since 23 Nov (almost 2 weeks), and Rannik hasn't posted since 20 Nov.

Is everything okay?

Ananias continues to assault the Gozran in front of him, claws trailing grasping vines.

Has vine strike had any effect so far?

We're approaching Thanksgiving here in America, so this is an early heads-up that I won't be available starting Wed afternoon through Sunday evening. I won't have access to either my home or work computers, so I don't expect to be able to post at all during my absence. Please bot me as needed!

Ananias swings with two feral claws, drawing blood with both. As the first claw strikes, vines wriggle out through gaps in his armor, swiftly growing and entangling the priest in front of him.

This is a heads-up that I'm going to be traveling tomorrow through Monday (26-29 Oct) and will likely not be able to post while I'm away. Please bot me if I'm holding anything up.

You all gain a -1 luck bonus on attack rolls, weapon damage rolls, saves, and skill checks

Ananias has fate's favored, which increases all luck bonuses by 1. Does that counteract this effect? Fated Bloodrager is already applying a luck bonus to saving throws; how do these two effects stack?

I think that yellow means glitterdust and blue is obscuring mist (or it's equivalent), correct? This post assumes that; let me know if I need to do anything different.

Ananias immediately shifts to attention as combat breaks out, with threats flying both ways. The warrior is almost ready to call on his fury when the room becomes enveloped by fog. Deciding he needs to proceed with at least a little more caution, he calls upon his arcane energy. "You pervert your patron's domain, let the fury of nature be your undoing! Vines, grow!" he chants, and a multitude of thin, sinewy vines burst forth from every seam in Ananias' armor. He steps forward into the cloud, seeing an enemy to strike.

Deep in the fog, he finally allows his fury to burst forth. His hands turn to claws as his eyes grow red.

Mechanically, what is vision like in the cloud right now?

In just a couple of hours, I'm heading out of town for my cousin's wedding. I'll be mostly out of touch until Sunday PM. When I'm able to get on, I'll have more of an opportunity to read and less to post due to the type of device I'll have with me, so feel free to bot me if I'm causing a delay.

Perception: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (19) + 13 = 32

How well can Ananias hear what's going on; can he pick up on the fact that things are getting tense?

I am here!

Ananias nods, and stops undoing the straps at his calves. He straightens, and almost instinctively finds himself standing nearly at a formal military attention. He clearly forces himself to relax a bit, perhaps an attempt to undo an old habit, as he tries to keep an eye and ear open for trouble that might surprise the others.

This is unfortunate timing with the revival of the forums, but I am heading into the woods for the weekend to go float down a river. I won't be back until Sun PM, so expect regular posting from me to resume again on Monday.

Ananias grumbles about the shoes. "This is heavy armor; they don't exactly slip off. I'll be a minute here." But eventually gets the boots off and follows the others into the room, staying close to Kimberly.

"We'll have your back if it goes south."

Ananias grins, perhaps a bit too wildly. "I'm learning how to poke the bear. It's, ahh...." His grin widens, then he forces it down, though he can't contain it fully. "It's working."

He too looks at Kimberly. An opening in the cloud cover allows a ray of sunlight to reflect brightly off of Ananias' silver skin. "Maybe they need to be reminded of the gift Pharasma leaves for all."

As they walk, Ananias shares his misgivings. "Gozreh and his worshippers have always been an odd sort--neither for or against any of the causes of good or evil. But this temple, it gives an uneasy feel. Like in this place they do work towards evil ends."

Ananias listens intently; clearly, there was still much he didn't know about what they were investigating. Things going missing? Does she mean like the heart, or is this something else?

Perception: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (9) + 13 = 22

Ananias wonders why Anna keeps looking in windows with drawn shades, and tries to see what he can see through the open windows.

Perception DC 30: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (13) + 13 = 26

"Aside from the mayor, the town hasn't yet showed us a warm welcome. For everyone's safety, I think it's best that we stick together. Let's all go to meet with your contact, and decide our next move from there."

Never split the party!