Droki allowed himself to be led away from the bars, caught up in Precious's monologue. You manage to guide him out of sight just in time - you hear two low voices call out in Undercommon, "Oi! Droki! Where did that slippery derro get to?" Droki, hearing them, begins to struggle in Maddy and Precious's grip, saying, "No time for gifts! Time to go!"
Dounia's mind raced as Tandyraman spoke. She couldn't believe that he had so much information about her! The meaning of her name (Cyra had it all wrong), the name of her mother! A potter? Not a queen? An unknown father? Ah, he could be a king, and this was his "cover" family, wait, a twin brother?! Cyra never mentioned....Cyra. No mention of a sister. No sister? Then who was Cyra? The world suddenly seemed to stand still. Something was wrong. Deeply wrong. Tandyraman had it wrong. How long did he have to "research" her? A day? He clearly got mixed up. She bowed to the porter, her face a mask of stillness. "Thank you," she said quietly. She turned back to her host, now with a plate of lobster before him. "I should find my team. But Jacote, Shull and Hermika asked that I pass on a message. Shomyendee wants to give it all back. May I bring a message back to them?" Other than the message, her mind was blank. More to the point, her mind was screaming, but she'd shut the door on the screams, and would deal with them later. Probably not too much later, judging how loud they were yelling for attention.
Precious asks Stool to relay his message, but the myconid is still not communicating in any way with anybody. The dwarf casts his spell, and Droki turns towards the antlered dwarf with a confused smile on his face. "Hello, hello!" A second Droki appears again, and Droki smiles at him too. "More friends, no end!" Kalanzar, seeing the charm begin to work, turns his spell towards the duergar instead. His magical arrow slides over the duergar's shoulder, vanishing into the darkness beyond. From above, Hue is poised and ready, not having been noticed by anybody.
Dounia was slowing down to check the door for traps when Zahra barreled past her and through it. She had just enough warning to squint her eyes against the brightness. For a moment she was blind, but there was nothing wrong with her ears. They were back in the arena, and the crowd was cheering! As her eyes adjusted to the bright sunshine, Dounia started to bow deep to the crowd. However, Zahra grabbed her arm, and lifted it high. Grinning Dounia shook her fists to the sky in victory. Then Tymythy was there, spinning his spear, and grabbing her other arm. Taking advantage of her friends' willingness, Dounia used a few carefully placed footsteps to lightly climb/vault up their knees and hips to their shoulder. One foot on each of them, she stood tall, then bowed low to the crowd. Then she leapt into the air, spinning, and came down facing the other way, still on her friends' shoulders. She bowed low again, and then flipped backwards off of them, somersaulting once in the air before landing lightly on her feet. Way to make a spectacle of yourself, she heard Cyra's dry voice chiding her lightly. You'll be the most recognizable thief in the desert.
Dounia worked carefully at the first marked stone with her tools, trying to find a way to disarm the flying fist. Her plan had been to try and use shards of rock to wedge the punching stone in place. However, a big chunk of the surrounding stone came out, allowing her a peek at the mechanism inside. "Wait a second! What's this?" She dug around some more, creating a bigger gap. "Hey Zahra, could I have some light?" She waited for the sorceress to make a small stone shine, then she thrust it into the gap so she could see the inner workings. "Wow! This is so simple, it doesn't seem like it should work at all. I guess it's the magic. So if I take this, and turn it this way...." Suddenly Dounia thrust her leg outwards and waved it in front of the stone. The monk's fist flew across the room, and Dounia's hands worked furiously. The stone retracted, and the column of stone made a horrible grinding and thunking sound as it went back into place. The marked stone, instead of being flush with the wall, was now inset several inches. Grinning, Dounia said, "Watch this!" The she walked casually and stood in front of the first stone. Before Cairee had time to shout at her, the trap triggered. But instead of shooting across the room, the hand flew perpendicularly, within the wall. A series of loud crashes echoed through the wall, as each supporting stone column was broken by the flying stony fist. One by one, the marked stones toppled harmlessly to the floor, as their supporting stone columns were smashed. Finally the rumbling and smashing sounds ended, and all the marked stones were lying on the gauntlet marked floor. Turning to the others, Dounia grinned and said, "I think I broke it." She then walked safely across the room to join Tymythy.
Dounia threw herself backwards as the "carpet" shot a gross tentacle finger out at her. Shrieking in surprise, she landed hard on her rump. "What the hells?!" Cairee whispered, "It's some kind of mold ... but I can't identify it. How did they get it to grow in such a repetative pattern?" "Mold?" Dounia repeated as she pulled herself to her feet. "I've never heard of mold fingers before." She approached gingerly, not getting within five feet of the doorway. "How do we kill it? Water? Fire? Stabbing?" She turned to Zahra, who was still mending the portraits. "We have a magicky thing for you, Zahra. Do you have a fire spell or something? Or maybe ice?" As she waited for the sorceress, she tried to figure out what the thingies were sticking out of the wall, though she wasn't willing to get too close to the doorway.
The derro mutter and hiss as your group moves cautiously into the slums. A few are brave enough, or mad enough, to throw stones or clods of filth at you, though none approach in an outright attack. Hue stays close to Maddy and Dawn's reassuring light. Overhead, Kalanzar scuttles across the cavern walls, his vantage point giving him a good view. After a few moments, you hear his voice, transmitted by Stool. "There! look to your right!" Alex sees a figure that appeared to have the strange hat as described by the captain. A moment later, he seems to vanish straight into the cavern wall! You hurry after him, and discover a cunningly concealed entrance to a narrow corridor. You squeeze in, and file down it. A moment later, it opens into a long cavern lined with stalactites and stalagmites. Water drips from the stalactites, forming small pools on the floor. The glow of faerzress casts an eerie soft light across this cavern, swirling into spiral patterns and casting dancing shadows from the jagged pillars lining the walls. The air smells and tastes slightly metallic, and the sound around you is strangely muted. The dripping of water makes no echo, as if you stood in open air.
Corey you are a maniac. This is bananas.
Obligatory
It didn't take long for the giant to return, this time with an even taller giant behind him. "The dreamlanders, Stonespeaker." Stonespeaker Hgraam was taller than the others, but not the 20 feet that Jimjar had guessed. He wore a simple, toga-like garment that blended in well with the stone of the cavern. His black hair was thin and hung to his shoulders, and he had a bulbous nose and thick lips. His eyes were black. He steps over the trapped area of the floor without making it look like he was avoiding it. For a moment he simply looks at each of you, taking you in with a somewhat unsettling expression. Stool whimpers a bit and snugs himself in closer to Maddy's neck. Finally, he speaks. "You are as Dorhun described you. You are as the walls of the caves have whispered. For the stones have told me of your coming. You must be careful. Something evil stirs in the Underdark. The rock itself cries in pain and horror, and a madness creeps from the blackest depths. Pay heed to the signs surrounding you. A cave with two faces. Rock devoured, and the land overgrown. The pebble believes itself flesh. The earth rejects its wards and the tunnels shake in fury. By these portents, you shall know if evil's presences and of evil's face. This is what the stones tell me, and to tell you." insight DC 13:
The two guards are looking at the stonespeaker with shock and concern in their expressions. Behind him, you can see Dorhun has also approached, but he is standing a bit back, respectfully waiting for the Stonespeaker to finish.
Errde nodded briskly, and handed out the insignia. "Remember, don't flash these about unnecessarily." As you begin to file out, she says, "Oh, I heard that the giant invited you to visit the Stonespeaker. You might want to do that first, before entering the West Cleft District."
The commander's eyes widen as she takes in Kalanzar's expression, and even more, her soldier's reaction to him. The snickering had stopped, and the guards looked deadly serious. Emphasis on deadly. Her voice soft, she says, "Have a care, drow. I do not doubt your mettle, but this is not a place to make enemies." However, she seems to respect his show of spine, and Errde begins to answer Alexandra's questions. "Hmmm. Most desirable is to find out what he's up to. If you can capture him without making more trouble, then bring him if for questioning. If you need to kill him, bring evidence of his activities to me. "Here is what we know. His name is Droki. He has evaded capture for a long time, as if he knows the schedule of the duergar patrols. Even when invisible, they can't capture him. All the Stone Guard knows is that he's living, or making his base, in the West Cleft District. That's derro territory." She shows you a map on the wall, marking the area. "We don't go there unless in force, and to do so would likely produce an uprising of the locals. You won't be welcome there either," she warns. "The Council of Savants are the derro rulers. I suspect Droki is linked to them, and I fear that the Deepking doesn't take the derro threat seriously enough. It's not impossible that a conspiracy even involves elemnts of the clan lairds. If you can help discover what this conspiracy is - if it exists - then I'll be able to purge the corrupt elements. This will earn me great favour with the Deepking." She looks to Kalanzar again, and says, "I will provide you with insignia which will let my people know you're working for me. Keep them hidden unless stopped by the Stone Guard. In that case, show them discreetly. Don't let them fall into other hands." Looking you over, she asks, "Any further questions?" Her tone is genuine, not confrontational.
Thank you for keeping us posted! I will look forward to your return - love this game very much! .) Glad to hear! I love it too, and want to give it the attention it deserves.
Hey all, I've got a lot going on right now, and am finding I don't have the bandwidth for much creativity at the moment. I'm going to officially put this game on pause until the beginning of December, when crunch time is over.
The Stone Guard allowed that they would close the doors most of the way, but not tight, and not lock the cells. For now. It was difficult to judge how much time passed. Jimjar almost immediately fell asleep, snoring softly in his corner. Stool seemed anxious, and paced slowly the perimeter of the cell. It's too similar to your time with the drow, but at least you're not chained to the walls. After waiting a long while, the door to the stairway opens, and another guard holds a whispered conversation with you guards. The door closes, and the duergar open your cells. "The captain is ready." You're led back upstairs another two stories, and finally taken into a large, dark office. An imposing female dwarf meets you there. She is fully armoured and bears an insignia you have not seen on any other duergar. She is flanked by two Stone Guards who remain by the door. "I am Captain Errde Blackskull, commander of the stone Guards," she says, giving each of you a calculating look. "Let me start by saying you are worth nothing here in Gracklstugh. Most of those in my command would sell you off in a heartbeat as the cheapest manual labour. However, I've learned to make much better use of adventurers like you. We have seen that you can handle yourself in a fight. The question is, can you work with cleverness and discretion as well? Are you willing to work for safe passage out of Gracklstugh?"
Dounia was powerless before those powerful eyes. Feeling almost hypnotized, she said, "Zahra is afraid of the magic door because it might be all on her. But I think we should do it soon. I like the look of the trap door, but I'm super good at that sort of thing, so we can wait on it. Maybe we should do that riddle door next, come to think of it. Sounds hard, and to be honest, my team's not that brainy. I mean Zahra is powerful and super nice and charming, but not the sharpest claw on the dragon. Tymythy is clever in his own northern barbarian type of way. I guess Cairee - she worships Saiph - is pretty smart. Not sure if she's good at riddles, though." Suddenly realizing that she was talking too much, she shut her mouth with an audible snap. ** Dounia watched the women's obeisance, and asked, "Which old gods? Where are you from?" Dounia listened carefully to the description of the other teams "rod", and filed it away for later. She wondered if they'd find that same one at the mirror door, or if the pieces were different every time. ** The old cat seemed open to reminisce. Cairee's eyebrows lifted - how old was the tabaxi? She wanted to ask, but didn't want to be rude. Instead she said, "That sounds incredible. Could you tell us more? I've never even seen a dragon, and I don't think I can even imagine it."
Maddy was able to find somebody selling waterskins that seemed well-made and reasonably priced (2sp each, you guys decide how many you now have and pay for them accordingly). The sale was almost derailed when the duergar merchant suddenly became invisible, and didn't seem to notice. He continued with the transaction as if nothing was amiss, and the new skins seemed to float over the table towards you. The money vanished once he took it from Maddy's hand. It was exceedingly odd. Dawnbringer couldn't give you much information about the gold replica weapons. She knows the names of the party members who used them, and can tell you some stories about fighting aberrations, but that's about it. For food and drink, you have two options. The Ghohlbrorn's Lair, which is the inn that Hemeth told you about. It has a dining room, and caters to non-duergar. There's also the Shattered Spire tavern, which serves all those who work and live in the Darklake Docks District.
I'm happy to continue moving forward with four, as long as Darrien is actually committed to engaging. I think three is not enough. I'm also happy to recruit a few more people. Though that can be tricky for an in-progress game. I'm not interested in staring something new. I don't have the bandwidth over the summer to start a whole new property and make a character.
Dounia collapsed into bed with a groan. Compared to the last few weeks, today had been mild - just some chitchatting with people in town. But she was footsore, bone tired, and she had a headache. It had been a long day. And outside, the sun was still blazing. Before coming here, the mystery of the half-day, half-night city had been a curiosity. But now, staying here, it really made her wonder. Why had the city been divided? How? When? Why did people choose to stay here? Dounia was a child of the desert, and hated the constant noon sun. The other side was just as bad - always midnight, always cold sky and sharp stars. It was dawn and dusk she loved the best. When the sun was low in the sky or just past it. When the colours of the desert glowed, and the shadows were long. The time of day was never gentle in the city. The next morning, Dounia got up early. The party started at the song of nine, and they had to travel to get there. Dounia started by availing herself of Haseema's wonderful bathing facilities. That was one thing she had to give the city - indoor plumbing was wonderful. Soon she was be-lathered and clean and smelling like jasmine and apparently amber, though she didn't know that stone could have a particular smell. Zahra had cleaned her robes and mended her sandals, so they looked as good as new. Dounia spent some time painting her toenails and fingernails so they'd match her robes. She tied her hair up and secured her shayla securely with pins - she didn't want to risk being embarrassed or distracted by losing it. Her lockpicks were part of that - she had them secured in her hairdo as well, ready to pull out for easy access. She put her climbing potion in a pocket, just in case. Dounia dug into her stash of stolen jewelry, and found some fake sapphires to wear on her ears and around her throat. Kohl around her eyes and red paint on her lips completed her look. She secured her two daggers to her body, and after great torment, decided to leave the amulet here. Too many opportunities for somebody to steal it at the party. She stood on her bed to reach the ceiling, and stashed it above one of the rafters. Finally ready, she went out to find the others.
Jimjar grabs Maddy by the hand. "Come on, you can do it. You're muscles aren't all that big. You won't get stuck." Seeing how nervous she was in the small space, the svirfneblin urges her, "Go on, push it open. I'll be anybody she can do it in less than 5 seconds." Still breathing hard from anxiety, Maddy moves up to the right side of the door and pushes. Her muscles bunch up from the strain, but the door starts to move. Rather than swing open, however, it pivots from a central axis, crating narrow openings on either side. Once it's perpendicular to the wall, Maddy stops, and the door stays open. Inside, two torches burn on either side of the door. The light is bright compared to Maddy's small jar of algae, and it takes a moment for eyes to adjust. It's a 30x30 room, the walls and floor made of beautiful marble. Directly across is a second door, inset into the marble wall. Again, it's 10 foot square, covered in bronze. The bronze here is shiny as if new. On the door, reliefs of five figures stand poised ready for battle. On the far left is a dwarf pointing a wand at some unseen foe. Next to him is a human holding up a crook'd staff, as if to cast some kind of spell. In the middle, standing in front of her companions, is a half-elf with a blade-less sword hilt in one hand, and a ball of fire in the other. Next to her stands an elf with her spellbook open and her arm outstretched. On the far right is a half-orc in full plate mail wielding a shield in one hand and a smoking flail in the other. Above the door are five more carvings, these ones depicting different numbers of horrible creatures, all labelled with what must be their names. On the top of the door, the N symbol and the runic 5 are repeated, along with these lines: Scourge of the Aberrant, a Netherese Hero lies within this tomb.
@Angie, just doublechecking: the Kuo whom Alexandra and I were flanking and offered the chance to surrender refused and got killed right? You can assume he didn't understand the offer, as Stool wasn't translating. But he certainly didn't look like he was ready to surrender.
I started writing this post at work this morning, but suddenly the site stopped loading. I thought paizo was down, but it was still working on my phone. I guess work finally caught on to my D&D habit, as paizo, giantitp, and hilariously nerdle stopped opening for me (wordle is okay thought). It's only my workstation that won't load them. I can, however use FB, IG, twitter, and all the social media that other people use and I don't. So sad. So I guess I'll be posting from home from now on. At least that gives Maddy a chance to post. I'll post tonight.
Alexandra managed to finally rouse Sarith - he looked a little wild-eyed, but otherwise okay. Introductions were made, and there were a few tense minutes until Maddy came back into range of Shuushar's telepathy. Once the boat was back, the party (now short a gith, but up a halfling) made short work of packing up their paltry belongings and heading onto the boat. The day was long and dark. Shuushar led them into an enormous underground sea. Even the best darkvision couldn't find the ceiling or the "horizon". Shuushar constantly urged them to paddle faster, as he knew his home was close. However, something in the water made him nervous, and he didn't swim. Finally, a dim light could be seen to the east. Shuushar lit up, excited to be home. Sloobludop looked like a massive tangle of reeds, stretching into the distance, lit up by glowing spots of phosphorescence. Shuushar explained the narrow town was squashed on the shore between the lake and a steep cliff reaching upwards. Walls protected the village on the eastern and western edge, stretching from the lake to the cliff. ::We should beach the boat away from the village, as the monitors might confiscate it. We can probably buy a better one, but...:: he left the sentence unfinished. A strange mood settled over the party. This was their first sight of "civilization" since Velkynvelve, but the kuo-toa weren't known for their hospitality. Gathering up their bits, they bid their vessel goodbye (for now?) and slouched towards Sloobludop. They didn't make it very far. Less than five minutes later they encounter a party of kuo-toa. Nine of the fish-folk, though one of them wore a badge of some sort around his scaly neck. One of them was pulling a dwarf along, a rope around his wrist held by his guard. The one with the badge cried something out in undercommon, which Stool translated as ::Arrest them!::
Nice try, but you can't persuade the madness away.
Ksenia:
The character becomes Incapacitated and spends the Duration screaming, laughing, or weeping. EDIT - it'll take Maddy about 1 minute to get to the boat by wading across the small "lagoon"
GM rolls:
The lizards, befriended by Kalanzar, are a little less sure of the others, but are persuaded to be held (especially if they're bribed with little bits of food). Ksenia, stoically accepting the lack of omelets, instead cooks up an amazing fish stew with Kalanzar's earlier bounty. The night passes quietly. Maddy watches the lizards for an hour, then wakes up Ksenia. The dwarf watches the glow of the mosslight on the Darklake's waters. Every now and then a large ripple makes its way to shore, speaking to something moving around beneath the surface. Is it Shuushar, tossing and turning in his sleep? Or the dangers the lizards spoke of? Alex struggles to wake Jimjar for his watch. The svirfneblin is sound asleep, and she has to practically shake him awake. Finally, grumbling, he stands up, stamps off the sleepiness, and takes his watch. Kalanzar settled in for his meditation. He does not rouse from it like he normally does after 4 hours. You awake slowly, having slept well. The moss is comfortable. The warm light it gives off is comforting. It's like waking up in your bed, knowing that your warm, and safe. Why even get up? Best to stay here, resting here. Ultimately, your bladder disagrees. It's time to move. Reluctantly, you push yourself up...or you try to. The moss has tangled into your hair, keeping you down. You pull harder, and the moss pulls back. Adrenaline hits your system, and you yank yourself upright. The moss breaks with an unsettling snap, and you hear a soft hissing. Jumping to your feet, you look desperately around you. The moss has them. All of them. Alexandra lays curled up, blond hair touseled, moss grown over her like a blanket. Ksenia sprawled on her back like a sea star, arms and legs akimbo, moss snaking in through her nostrils. Kalanzar, in the form of a giant lizard, held down by hundreds of tiny lizards, and they're crawling out of his ears with tender morsels of brain matter in their lipless mouths. Maddy, muttering her siblings names, trying to toss and turn, muscles bunching beneath mossy ropes that bind her. Ziyad, his poncho turned into a living carpet of moss, piercing his yellow skin. Sarith, eyes wide and staring, mouth open in a scream. Jimjar, barely visible, hand spasming as if reaching for help. You look upon the scene as if from the ceiling of the cavern. Wait. How can you see yourself? What is happening? It's not real! It can't be! You wrestle with yourself, trying to wake yourself up. Wake up! WAKE UP! You wake up. The moss has its tendrils all over you, but its grip is weak and easy to break. Scrambling away, you back up out of its soft embrace, pressing yourself against the opposite wall of the cave. Everybody, that is, except Ziyad. The moss that wraps around his throat is thick and ropy. Blood seeps from multiple tiny wounds, where the moss has penetrated his yellow skin. His eyes are wide, staring, glowing. No, not his eyes. They've been replaced by the glowing moss orbs. In fact, light shines from several places under his skin, slowly moving just beneath the surface. Ziyad's body twitches, but it's clear he's not doing that on purpose. The gith's spirit is gone, and all that's left is the moss. Jimjar stands, staring, unmoving. Sarith falls to the cavern floor in a heap.
Glad to hear that the family health situation is improving. We love Ksenia, and I'll be glad to have her back. Never worry about taking a necessary break for real life. :)
That's totally fair - I've had characters that just never coalesced for me, and it's no fun to push it. If you're interested in a different character, that's completely doable. If you'd rather step away, also fair. I hate to see you go, but if it isn't fun, then it isn't fun. Definitely don't feel guilty about it.
The arrival at Dark Lake, and Shuushar's joy, lifts a feeling of dread from most of the party. Spreading out, they search the shoreline for anything that might float.
Ziyad and Kalanzar stumble across a strange shape few minutes down the shoreline - something tall and round, leaning out over the water at an angle. Further investigation shows it to be a nearly dead Zurkhwood fungus. You recognize it as the material that most of the furniture in Velkynvelve was made from. Its contained a few grain-like spores that were edible, which they collected (). As important, the "trunk" of the zurkhwood is bouyant. You manage to cut it off near the base, and end up with 21 feet of the stuff. It bobs in the water, and Shuushar guides it back to where you've made camp. Now, the question is, what to do with it? Meanwhile, Ksenia and Jimjar spend an hour looking for food, and find both ripplebark and fire lichen. She also finds a new fungus, a thin, two-foot-tall fungus with a strange yellow cap. Sarith identifies it as torchstalk. "That'll burn more than 20 hours when lit, but be careful. Sometimes they explode when you light them." Ksenia takes the zurkhwood spores and gets down to business making mushroom stew, while the others decide what to do with their floatation device.
Nope. If only they knew, Dounia thought. The silver haired dude sailed straight into a cave. Rulers are weird.
Apologies, I don't know what happened to my brain. Nothing like a week off with the kids, and everybody getting sick, to really derail a chase scene. But. Kids back at school, I'm back at work, so hopefully we can get the adrenaline flowing again. Happy New Year!!
Okay, going to give this chase a try. I don't want to drag it on too long, and I'm not sure how it will play doing it pbp vs irl. During a chase, you have a move and an action, no reaction or bonus action. There are no opportunity attacks. You can dash for 3 turns plus your con bonus. After that, its a CON save DC 10 each round or gain a level of exhaustion. After each turn, you roll a d20 to see if there's a complication. Normally that complication is for the next person running, but that will be too cumbersome for pbp. So you'll be rolling for your own complications. The complication table is unique for this situation, and therefore different from the one in the dmg. It's in the slide deck. If none of the pursuers are in sight, you can attempt to hide by stopping and rolling stealth. The pursuers don't get to roll perception, but rely on passive perception to notice the quarry, unless they stop running to look for you. Right now, you're in an enormous, vaulted cavern, nowhere near the walls. The area is mostly dimly lit with faerzress, with water on the ground. There are some rocks and stalagmites around. The water is frigid. I forgot about that when Ksenia spent a round underwater - I should have made her roll exhaustion. Next time somebody goes under, I won't forget. Probably. There's a new slide in the deck with some of your stats for my viewing pleasure. Can you check your stats and make sure I didn't mess it up? We'll start by Dex, then roll for init for order after that. So Ksenia in the lead for now, and then...
Movement order is:
The pursuers will have their actions after, as they're all behind you. Any questions?? I'll start things off in Gameplay, then you can all give me your actions and complications rolls. I hope we can have fun with this, and enjoy describing our complications. Don't worry, the drow pursuers will be rolling those as well. I'm hoping we can post daily during the chase, but let me know if it's getting to be too much. I'll bot folks as necessary. EDIT: At the end of you post, please tell me how much ground you covered.
Dounia soon forgot about the chest (or at least pushed it to the back of her mind) as she sorted and categorized the treasures they'd managed to salvage. As the others debated the dead man in the tomb, she mused, "It's funny. The top seemed to be all about cold, and doing things that only a cold dragon person could do. Then this guy has stuff that protects from cold, and makes a sword all hot. Seems like he should have had a hot tomb, not a cold one. Though I guess it ended up pretty hot. Weird." "Hey Tymythy, don't you think it's weird that ... GAH!" She had not realized that the warrior was bathing and washing his clothes, and she spun around so fast she fell backwards into the sand. Are all savages so....so....savage?! Cheeks burning red, Dounia busied herself by strapped on the greaved sandals. They were a bit big, but not too bad. She then put on the robes and all the jewelry. The hood doubled nicely as a shayla. She left the shield and ring to the others - whatever it was, it probably was trouble. Once the jewels were back in her pockets, she asked Cairee to fill the jeweled goblet with clean water. Her pinky finger raised, she sipped it as if it were the finest champaign. "Princess Dounia Mehar Mehek Ghali is ready to travel, should her humble servants desire it," she said, trying to sound very mature. "By all means, let us leave this place and travel to climes more agreeable to my royal personage." Later, as they headed north, she said, "So, you figure Koobara Troopa was the dead guy Tymythy toasted? So who were the zombie statues? His guards? Or were they guarding AGAINST him? And what about Zahra's little invisible friends? Did they like Koobara or not? And who were the dead folks in the cells? Were they Koobara's, like, servants or something? I hope they were dead before they got locked up. That would be a bad way to go. Hey, if I die and get a royal burial, will you guys come with me to the afterlife to serve me there too?"
Things were falling back into place. Dounia's bloody and bruised fingers picked up speed. There were only 9 pins left to place. This one went here, then that one, now the bottom one... The fourth one was jammed, and she slammed her hand into it, trying to jam it into place. Dounia's fingernail caught on the pin above it, and peeled back with the force of her blow, but the pin moved into position. Dounia heard Zahra cry out, and she winced. Focus! Cyra scolded in her head. Sweat ran down her temples, and she hoped she wouldn't have to take the time to wipe it out of her eyes. Her fingers were moving almost on their own; she was using touch as much as sight. This one...no, it was jammed by that one, so that one first, yes, there's its place....now that other one. She felt another warm glow from Cairee, and knew that the preistess was praying to her goddess, the foreign Saiph, for her. Dounia was definitely going to have make a donation to Saiph when this was all over. A few times, that little warm glow had clarified a tricky pin for her. At least there's going to be lots of money in that chest! Enough for a donation, and lots left over! Her avarice spurred her onwards, and it all became clear, the final three pins. This one, nestled into the little slot over here, then that one, and finally....
Sorry, I'm in the middle of a move and it's kicking my ass. We should be all the way in this upcoming weekend, so hopefully my brain will have more time for games then.
Hey all, I'm in the middle of a move, so my motivation/availability will be spotty until the middle of Nov.
Dounia sang softly to herself as she assessed her find and began gathering it together. Some of it went in her pockets, much fit in her bag, but the robes were too voluminous. And that box! She wiped the corner of her mouth with her wrist as she examined it. Too heavy by half, but there was no way she was leaving it. Returning to the rope, she called up, "Let out a little slack." She then took the loose end to the heavy box. Dounia took a moment to wrap the beautifully carved planks together in the robe, then bundled them together onto the box. She then took the rope and tied the whole heavy package up. It took a bit of maneuvering to get the rope under the box - hopefully whatever was in it wasn't fragile. Finally she called up, "Okay, pull it up! I'll see what's through the door." She watched the box leave the floor, making sure her knots would hold. She left the hauling to Tymythy and Zahra, and practically skipped across the room. She picked up gold pieces as she went, singing a little song. "One for me, one for Cairee. One for me, one for Tymythy. One for me, one for Zahra. One for AAARRGHHH!!"
Blaze was a little surprised to be asked to take a shift watching. Surely that was why humans built these elaborate structures - to keep them safe at night? Also, warriors such as herself took care of fighting; usually scouts and guards took care of night watch. However, she had to admit that her new herd was pretty small, and it was necessary for each of them to fill more than one roll. "Agreed. If you agree, I will take the early morning watch. Wake me when it is time." She hesitated, then added, "Be sure be in front of me when you wake me." The last thing she wanted to do was kick out in startlement and break a new friend's jaw. Before bunking down, she insisted on walking the perimeter of the house a few times, to check for danger. In reality, she needed to relieve herself, and she doubted their hosts would appreciate if she did that inside. Getting comfortable to sleep was difficult with no herd-mates to drape herself over. However, she was able to gather enough cushions from the furniture to make a pile tall enough for her torso, arms and head to be propped up. In no time she was asleep, a black shadow in the corner of the room, snoring lightly.
Dounia spun in place, scanning for more enemies, then slowly sank to the ground when she saw that they were again victorious. Her head was aching, but as expected, Cairee made it feel better. Cairee. Cairee was still crying. No, not crying. Weeping. Sobbing. Alarmed, Dounia scrambled over to her, checking her for blood, guts or severed limbs. But, she seemed okay. She had a bruise forming around he neck, but nothing worth the tears she was shedding. Maybe she was just in shock from what had happened. It was a lot. Snuggling up beside her, she wrapped an arm around Cairee's shoulders and stroked her hair, like Cyra used to do for her. "Shh...it's okay. We're here with you. Just let it out. You're safe now." She kept murmuring to her, smoothing back her red hair, waiting for the storm of tears to abate.
Team surf basically went down a hill on rollerskates at top speed, whie 2 people bailed at the top of the hill. Shouting would be necessary. In fact, Ksenia, make a Will Save to avoid screaming/shouting as you fall. DC 12
GM rolls:
*10 = 40 feet. *10 = 10 feet. As several of the party members enthusiastically took to the webs, Jimjar looked alarmed and shook his head. To Maddy, he said, "Bet you our next night-watch that we lose one of them." The halfling, exhausted from the climb, allowed herself to be convinced to ride on Sir Tubbyrubs, since the twins wanted to try surfing. Buppido, a mad glint in his eye, also availed himself of the grease and took off down the webs. Maddy, Jimjar, Shuushar and the badger followed along carefully, especially as the webs were slipperier now. As for the surfers.... Topsy flew down the webs after the goblins, hooting with laughter. Turvy followed after Alexandra, giggling as the warlock turned her shaking to her advantage, and shimmied her way down the webs. Kalanzar, taking a more thoughtful approach, watched the goblins carefully, and was able to mimic their descent enough to stay out of trouble. Ziyad was unable to keep his feet, but his harness rig kept him from falling, and he ended up ziplining his way down to the webs. Ksenia and Buppido had less luck. Or rather, they had plenty of bad luck. Ksenia, grease dripping in globs from her feet, made it about ten meters down the webs before her feet went out from under her. She managed to butt-slide for a few more meters before the web snapped beneath her, and she tumbled down into the dark. Buppido had a split-second warning before hitting the empty patch where Ksenia had been a moment before. Dwarf and derro reached out to catch themselves, but their hands found nothing but darkness. Buppido's fall was short; he tangled up in some webbing a mere 10 feet down. Ksenia fell for longer, but it wasn't half as bad as it could have been. She could still see Maddy and the others above her when she finally came to rest in a thick patch of webbing, some 40 feet below.
Worth it.
Hey DM, could you please set up the gameplay tab? If this is showing up in my campaigns, it'll be a lot easier for me to remember to work on it. :)
"Bummer, dude," Yuk Yuk looked disappointed. He moved to watch Spiderbait examine the loot on the bed. "Anything good?" The other goblin shook his head, looking up. His eyes widened, and he said, "Woah, dudes! You guys have all kinds of magic stuff!" He looked a bit hurt as he took the lens down. His voice lower, he said, "You should have insisted on more than just stories." However, stories they had in plenty, as Ksenia served a tasty meal. Stool happily donated spoors - to goblins put a relatively clean cloth down, and the myconid sat in the middle. He puffed up, then "breathed out", blowing spoors onto the cloth. The goblins seemed happy with their sudden bounty. Shuushar's story: Shuushar looked pensive, and after a long moment told this tale: Long ago, a wise queen ruled her land, where the sun was gentle and the rains were kind. Her husband was strong and loving, and her people adored them. However, what the queen didn't know was that her sister had seduced her husband, and lay with him whenever the queen was in court. When the queen found out, she was incensed, and blamed her sister entirely. In fury she turned her sister into a fish-woman, and sent her to live in the deep waters. The sister was furious that the queen forgave her husband, and only punished her, and she grew bitter and hateful. She taught her children to bite and fight, and to hate everything that lived on land. This is, of course, one story of the origin of our deity, Blibdoolpoolp. It is continued heresy by my people, but I have meditated long upon it. Buppido's poem: The derro cackled, then recited this poem: There once was a human named Bates
Turvy's story: "So this one time there were some very brave svirfneblin who got captured by a mean drow with a big bum and ugly face, but they were way smarter than her, and tied her shoes together and so she tripped on her big ugly face, and then they escaped, and she was so mad, and from then on her face looked like her big ugly bum." She looked up at Alexandra, as if hoping for her approval, but Topsy rolled his eyes. He couldn't, however, be convinced to try one of his own. Jimjar's story:
Jimjar pointed to a scar on his right cheek and said, "Here's a story. I once picked a fight with Kord Hammer-hand." The twins gasped in surprise. Turvy said, "You didn't! He's the strongest hobgoblin in Blingdenstone! He'd have killed you!" Jimjar laughed, "He nearly did! It was absolute idiocy on my part. My uncle made a bet, 15 to 1 odds, that a svirfneblin could never knock him out. I couldn't resist! 15 to 1 odds! Imagine!" He shook his head in regret. Once everybody had eaten, Yuk Yuk said, "So, where are you dudes heading? The Gap is long and wide, and there are tunnels all over the place. The Silken Webs can take you to any of them."
"Oh, we found the lantern in the webs, bruh. Along with some other rad stuff. Having light isn't always, like, always safe, right? Some poor dude, had this light, got himself eaten. But, happy to sell it to you, dude!" Yuk Yuk eyed Ziyad. "I mean, you look like you dudes have been dragged through the muck, but you also go some nice stuff, right?" Spiderbait shook his head at Alexandra. "Don't get me wrong, your rhymes are gnarly. But that's more likely to get us killed. Life down here is hard, bruh. Good stuff or gold will keep dudes alive. Poetry won't."
Dounia leaned against the bars. Her head was heavy and her vision blurred. She realized that she hadn't slept, not in three thousand years. She was so tired, so tired. All she wanted to do was crawl through the bars of this cell and curl up and dream. There was a buzzing in her ears. The buzzing became louder. There were voices in it. She could hear a droning monk's chant. "za-e dumu-me.
Dounia felt her mind shouting at her, from a world away. Wake up, idiot! She moaned a negation, comforted by the droning of the monks. Then it was Cyra's voice in her mind. WAKE UP! Dounia started awake, dim marks on her forehead from where they'd rested on the bars. She shook her head, trying to knock the fatigue from her mind. That was a spell. Staggering back from the bars, she turned to the others. "Be careful! I must have missed something - I just got hit with a sleep spell or something. I don't know where it came from, but I've never felt so sleepy." A horrifying thought came to her, and she glanced back at the bars. It was dark, but it looked like somebody was sitting in a chair, their back to her. Were they...asleep? "There might be somebody in here. Though, they couldn't still be alive. Could they?"
Angie here. I'm still in. I'm working on Chihiromi, a kitsune wandering bard/storyteller/historian. I've done a fair bit of work on her physical traits and backstory, and am working on her "stats". It looks like we're going to be fairly caster-heavy, so I think I'll have her lean towards monk-like skills, so she can be useful in combat as well.
Ksenia and Kalanzar:
Ksenia slips away unseen; the speaker is so bemused by Alex's poem that they don't see the stealthy dwarf leave the platform home. Once back in drow form, Kalanzar can further again. He notices two goblins, standing about 70 feet away from the platform. Ksenia does a careful circuit, and sees them too. There do not appear to be any other goblins, and you most certainly aren't surrounded You hear a high-pitched giggle as Alexandra finishes her poem. There is the sound of a soft slap, as though somebody slapped a hand over their mouth, then the sound is cut off. A moment later, traces of a conversation could be heard.
A throat is noisily cleared, and then a different voice says,
Another slapping sound, then more giggles.
Ksenia: Ksenia saw the two goblins high five each other.
The device appears to be a simple, permanent light spell on an orb. There is nothing further to learn about it or attune. I LOVE his poncho!!
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