Anovat's page

Thanks for being upfront about this, GM. No hard feelings.

Anovat nods along at the plan. He's concerned that his slow speed will be a factor in being useful, but he doesn't voice that concern.

I'm finding it hard to stay engaged at the pace we're moving. I'm not sure why.

It can be. I (ooc) don’t care if we kill the thing or not. It just seemed like a good chance for some rp while we waited.

Same for me.

"Oh, okay," Anovat says pleasantly.

"Hmm."

Anovat is silent for a moment as he plods along, doing his best to keep up with the others.

"I don't have much experience with undead things. This seems like treating it as a guard animal, but without a leash. If I were Travis or Truther, I don't think I'd trust it not to betray us."

He turns to address Emercy.

"Also, I thought many religions won't associate with undead. I can't imagine all of these future miners being okay with this."

Anovat gives the ruined temple a nervous side-eye as they move past it on their way along the trail.

"We probably don't need to bring that much gnoll meat back with us. It would be better to destroy it before it attacks any of the miners Truther and Travis need to bring this way. Or anyone else who may come by."

"Also, who is the offering to?" Anovat asks the creature.

To the others he adds in a low voice "We don't want to be dishonest if we don't have to.'

"The southwest entrance looks like it leads to smaller rooms, which seems like it would be better than facing as many gnolls might be in the long entryway of the southeast entrance."

"Are you... um, going to check when we get in there?"

Anovat is interested in any conversations going on, but otherwise, he is silent as the caravan travels. The spirits of the dessert are so different than the spirts of the mountains, although there are many similarities. He wants to learn as much as he can about them before they head underground.

Are we travelling under a banner or flag with that symbol on it?

Anovat sighs as his claws revert back to normal (yet rocky) fingers. He stares longingly after Yasmin and Crag for a moment before returning to the rest of the group.

I was too slow. I didn't even touch the bandits.

No, you're right. I forgot that. Only the first roll would count. As you said, not that it matters this round.

Anovat descends the hill the party is on and makes his way to the edge of his stone call effect, his fingertips growing rocky claws as he moves. There he waits for a target to get in range.

Readied action to attack the first enemy that Anovat can reach.

Claw 1 + Power Attack: 1d20 + 6 - 1 ⇒ (4) + 6 - 1 = 9
Damage: 1d4 + 3 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 3 + 2 = 8

Claw 2 + Power Attack: 1d20 + 6 - 1 ⇒ (5) + 6 - 1 = 10
Damage: 1d4 + 3 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 3 + 2 = 9

Anovat casts heightened awareness on himself and does his best to keep a lookout in all directions.

I'll take the option to dismiss the spell for a +4 to initiative when the time comes.

This may be too soon for the planning you have in mind, but Anovat will cast stone call on the gnolls if they start to charge when they arrive.

Anovat sits up straighter on his camel, keep his eyes trained on the trail ahead.

"Yasmin, what if they can see you looking at them? Then they might know that we see them, and they might decide to leav--Hm. I see."

Anovat also turns to look in the direction Truther pointed out.

"I am ready."

Anovat is pleased to see the camels. He was worried about his slow gait holding the others up. But now he sees that there are enough mounts for all of them.

Good luck with the surgery!

*********

Hey, I worry that this is going to sound more aggressive than I mean it to, but with the slow rate of our posting, I'm not interested in anything overnight in this city. I'm excited about moving forward with the adventure. No hard feelings if anyone else wants to rp overnight, though.

Expecting that everyone would be making their way to try fried scorpions, Anovat is somewhat taken aback by John Billings Bryant's request for an accounting of abilities.

"Oh! Um, I have a little druidic training that mostly helps me against violent actions, but most of my training has been listening to the spirits of the stones. They sometimes help me use magic to use rock and earth to defend myself better."

My current spell list, but I can pick any of them from the shaman list each day:
2nd—barkskin, hold person (DC 16); stone call[S]
1st—heightened awareness, protection from evil, stone shield; magic stone[S]
0 (at will)—create water, detect poison, guidance, purify food and drink (DC 14)

Plus, Anovat has energy resistance (acid) 5.

Good luck on your surgery!

"Oh!" Anovat nods in pleasant surprise at this uptick in potential riches and nods his assent. He may have been raised in the wilds where there was little need to buy wants and needs with gold, but he was also raised by a dwarf.

He is ready to do what needs to be done to support this excursion, but he would not have thought of the questions that John Billings Bryant is asking.

4,000 gold seems like a lot of money to Anovat. He's not even sure what he could find to purchase that that's expensive. But John Billings Bryant thinks that they could get even more from the depths of Zolurket?

Anovat leans forward, listening intently.

Oh man, good luck with that. Unexpectedly losing power for days is no fun.

Anovat takes an experimental sip of the brandy. His eyebrows shoot up as he enjoys the sensation, but that leaves him unprepared for the burning sensation, and he has a mild coughing fit before the dwarves can answer Yasmin's questions.

"Sorry," he says clearly embarrassed. But when the conversation continues, he takes another sip of the brandy.

Not sure of the social niceties expected of him, Anovat bows, which is what he saw a couple of the citizens of Solku do to each other as he walked through the city, just now.

At the offer of a drink, his face splits into a wide smile and his eyes light up.

"Yes, please, thank you! Whatever you have for the others is fine."

Anovat follows silently, doing his best not to slow the group down. He's been in cities before, but he's still not used to them, and Solku is unlike any of the other places he's visited.

Hey all, I'm leaving on vacation with my family tomorrow for Spring Break. I expect that I will still be able to post, but I may be delayed.

"I hadn't realized that the spirits of the earth speak to you!" says Yasmin. If it were anyone else, Yasmin would have thought them crazy, but given that she was talking to a creature of stone, she found it entirely credible.

"When they choose to, yes. Often what's important to an earth spirit is not what most others consider important, but I always find it fascinating.

"I am looking forward to seeing what the spirits deep in Zolurket have to say."

Anovat thanks the captain for a safe journey and offers her a bow.

After they de-plank, the oread places the small chunk of marble he's carried in his pack on the stone (or earth?) pier at the end of the dock.

"Thank you for taking this journey with me, spirit. I hope you see many great things now that you are here. Good bye."

He walks off with the others towards wherever Alidelia leads them.

Heh, I feel like there's a lot of red flags about the answer that the pirates repeatedly attack a ship they can't steal from, and that the poison seemed targeted only at Alidelia, while the rest of the combat was merely a distraction. But I'll chalk it up to Anovat not knowing the rest of the party well enough to voice those opinions. I'm happy to move on to Solku.

Ha, it's only a two point difference in our Heal bonus, and I rolled higher.

Also, you picked two classes that only get two skill points per level, whereas both of my classes at least get four. Neither of us focuses much on Intelligence, though.

Anovat looks over his shoulder into the water the elves escaped into before turning back to Alidelia.

"Why do they attack you?"

Wordlessly, Anovat kneels down to assist Emercy in his ministrations.

Aid Another/Heal + guidance: 1d20 + 8 + 1 ⇒ (16) + 8 + 1 = 25

During their work, the oread casts detect poison on Alidelia's wound.

That spell, plus a DC 20 Wisdom check will determine the type of poison.

Wisdom: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5 <-- Nevermind!

Anovat checks the sides and bow of the boat, to see if any more distractions are forthcoming. If he doesn't see anything, he'll follow John and the others up towards the upper deck.

Perception: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (8) + 9 = 17

Only the one trident hits Anovat, stabbing into him. I need a Fortitude save, Anovat.

Fortitude: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (19) + 6 = 25

Anovat grunts in pain as the three points pierce his stony skin. Meeting the eyes of the elf who stabbed him, he grimly responds with his claws.

Claw 1 + Power Attack: 1d20 + 6 - 1 ⇒ (3) + 6 - 1 = 8
Damage: 1d4 + 3 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 3 + 2 = 6

Claw 2 + Power Attack: 1d20 + 6 - 1 ⇒ (17) + 6 - 1 = 22
Damage: 1d4 + 3 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 3 + 2 = 8

Seeing Yasmin and Emercy confronting the crocodile, but nobody confronting the three humanoids that have boarded the ship, Anovat veers his course to intercept the first one.

He surmises that the opportunity for diplomacy has passed.

Claw 1 + Power Attack + Guidance: 1d20 + 6 - 1 + 1 ⇒ (19) + 6 - 1 + 1 = 25
Damage: 1d4 + 3 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 3 + 2 = 8

Claw 2 + Power Attack: 1d20 + 6 - 1 ⇒ (13) + 6 - 1 = 18
Damage: 1d4 + 3 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 3 + 2 = 9

@GM of the Mines--can you add the Roll20 map as a link at the top of the gameplay or in the Campaign Tab, etc.?

I would appreciate this, too.

As he lumbers towards the beast, his heavy footsteps pounding on the smooth wood, he spies something over the far side of the boat.

"Look out! There are more things in the water over there!"

Distracted, Anovat turns back to the crocodile and pauses his advance to make sure he doesn't blindly run into it's lethal jaws. He casts guidance on himself.

Ah, apologies, I don’t think I’ve mentioned using Roll20 before, no. I just usually use it for every campaign, and I made an assumption it would be fine. Sorry about that!

If it doesn’t work for you, Anovat, I can just move your token and generally explain it and everyone else can use it. Or we can not use it at all and just go theatre of the mind/another site that does get the job done, whatever works for all of us.

Thanks for the clarification. I'd still like to give it a shot.

"Oh dear."

Anovat thinks that if he had completed his druidic training, he might have been able to convince the croc to look for food elsewhere. But he didn't finish, so he prepares himself to use the skills he did finish training for.

Anovat casts barkskin oh himself and activates his deinonychus aspect for a +2 to initiative.

Anovat's rocky fingers change shape, elongating slightly and forming sharp, stony claws as he cautiously approaches the beast.

Was Roll20 mentioned before now as a thing for this campaign? Did I miss that?

I've never used Roll20 before, and I'm fairly certain that it's going to be blocked at my work, where I do a good chunk of PbP gaming. I've downloaded the app to my phone and am willing to give it a shot, though.

I've joined using the link above.

@Anovat--I think we're sailing on a river, not an ocean. (Sorry if I'm mistaken in fact or presumption.)

Oh dang! I swear I thought we were crossing a major sea. Okay, Anovat has some weird mental block about the size of large bodies of water. This is now canon.

"I was raised in the Mindspin Mountains. I was raised my a dwarf named Berolt who, at first, wanted me to be a druid like he is. But my talents lay in different areas, and Berolt was wise enough to see that.

"What about you?"

Anovat smiles pleasantly.

"I can swim.

"You?"

At the announcement that the mealtime was over, Anovat -- who eats rather slowly -- speeds up to shovel in the food remaining on his plate. (He is now eating slightly less slowly.)

Finally, he gets up, and if they haven't left yet, he thanks Alidelia and Captain Zekeriss. He goes up top to see what the view is like. Spying Yasmin, he walks over to her and tries to strike up a conversation.

"Do you know that feeling that some people get when they stand on the edge of a cliff? Most people feel fear, but for some, that fear feeds an exhilaration. That's what I feel right now when I look over the water. This ship is like a floating cliff, and the water below a dangerous expanse to fall through until the end."

Anovat looks around the table as the others talk about witches and gnolls. He guesses he understands why those topics would be more interesting to some than his question, so he can try again to find out what caused the cave-in beneath Tar-Urkatha another time.

"Like wizards, witches can sometimes be talked to. My mentor was a druid who liked to talk a lot, but that might have been because he was mostly solitary.

"Will the gnolls talk, or are they too fortified? How do they keep themselves fed from inside the mine?"

Anovat samples a bit of each type of food he's never had before, which is probably most things on offer.

"I was under the impression that meals onboard ships were simple affairs.

"But you mentioned a cave-in? Do they know what caused that?"

Understandable. Holidays always slow down PbPs.

Yeah, the holiday season always slows down PbP games. Just so long as nobody disappears, we should be good.

Anovat thinks of the only non-water drink he's ever tried before and asks for a mead. His mentor taught him how to make it, and considering his mentor was a dwarf, brewing the mead was one of Anovat's duties.

Once the captain asks if everyone is ready to eat, the oread nods once and watches with rapt attention.