Ed, Edd, and Eddy quote:
"My brain stopped."
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I did the same basic check and "mental math" before poking the bear. But I almost always poke the bear.
"So, what's going on in there? Why'd you stop just inside the door? Holy Water shouldn't have stopped anyone here, should it?"
"Given the state of that camp we found, I'm doubting any offerings are left. I figure they should have long since been plundered, or repurposed if you prefer that verb."
"Hunh. MIGHT be a House of Torag?"
"Interesting choice. Very nice to pull the animal away so we can pass without making them feel challenged." As they reach the Y in the road . . .. "Now, who would have built something like that down here? It seems like there hasn't been much traffic down here in quite a while."
Anthiol quietly respects the attempts to lay the elf to rest. When the lichen lights up, he turns slowly, looking at the near-replica of an open sky. "Amazing. THIS is a tale worth recording . . .. Even the gods you don't normally address can see what you do when they want." --- The dwarf takes a scale, then stops and stares at it for a moment. Then he reaches out and touches the others, stopping at the third. "This one. I want to carry this one."
But, but, but, but I don't WANT to see him, let alone hear him! <grin>
"Let me see the vials, and I'll tell you what I can."
"I am always amazed at how people behave. It never seems like they do the little things the way you would expect them to based on how they do the big things."
"Seeking a return to the surface does seem our best course. I have to be curious where the resident has gone, though."
"I am Anthiol Ironhead. I was born here in Kenabres, my parents having chosen to dedicate themselves to opposing the Worldwound. Unlike them, I am a simple scribe, working in the libraries of a small Irorian monastery a short walk from here." He bows to the others, though he will shake hands if they initiate.
"Would be polite to introduce ourselves and not just walk up and start poking around."
"I recommend we keep them with us, even if towards the rear, because we don't know what else is down here and might find them if we leave them behind. At least two of them seem worth y of assistance, and there's no obvious reason to deny the third, poorly behaved or not."
The scholar moves up, readying an attack should one of the things get close enough.
"Maggots? Looks like the things that ate their way out could have been maggots. But the size is astounding. The flies would be larger than a man, don't you think?"
"North it is then. Come on, Gwerm, keep moving. My short legs give me an excuse for not keeping up. Yours are longer. Let's go."
"Well, I could hel . . .." Anthiol realizes that those who both need and deserve help already have it, so he cuts his statement short. He looks a Gwerm, nods, and indicates the fat man should walk in front of him.
It does. I hope not to do so again. Except for moving my stuff out of my office when I retire in about 8 more years. My schedule has been wonky recently with the wife's surgical recovery (everything is going really well, thank you for asking), but I have to get back to work. We have a 3-man front office. The active duty boss, the lead technical guy, and the lead customer service/employee management guy (me). The active duty boss is deployed. The lead technical guy turned up positive for COVID on Wednesday. I head back to work in the morning after being gone for 2 weeks . . .. What could go wrong?
"Good news. The general rule is the larger the beast, the weaker the poison. General rule."
"You have a strange opinion of responsibility, Arrius. Responsible for the one we're treating, certainly. Responsible for the one who is uninjured and able to walk away if he chooses? Very generous of you."
The dwarf takes a swig and tries to assist, as advertised.
"Since you are wishing ill on others, Horgus, it is unfortunate that you seem to have gotten your wish. She is NOT fine, but she is seriously injured. I would recommend you stand very still while we care for Anevia, because we don't know what that huge spider over there plans to do just yet." He waves his left arm in the direction of the immeasurable spider as he moves to see if he can help with the injured woman.
"I can see in the dark as well, though I can't read in it. Used to having lanterns available for that option, though. I see some first aid is underway. I also see digging tools? After a Feather Fall, how would anyone be under the rubble that should have beat us to the bottom? Maybe more rubble was created when the rift sealed shut? That might have done it." He seems satisfied at his own monologue explanation. "Oh, wait. Do you need help digging someone out? Is anyone truly injured?" He will provide assistance where desired and possible.
"That was absolutely not part of the day's planned events. Did anyone else think they saw Terendelev BEHEADED? Not good. Not good at all." The dwarf pulls himself up and takes stock of the immediate surroundings, not overly bothered by the lack of light.
"Tch. The god of honor shouldn't have to tell you that a fair contest between two upstanding people should be, well, fair, and without external aid or involvement. The question suggests that you might not care, though." AS the topic moves on to the Karen cry . . .. "Hmm? Oh, that? I only heard one cry, and there's no sound of combat or people running away, so it was probably a prank of some kind."
Added a spoiler block for the limited use list, as it will get longer as time goes on . . ..
"As you might assume, cold iron weapons are quite popular here. I can think of 5 shops within a few minutes of where we stand that might have a cold iron polearm in stock, but most smithys will be closed for today's events." He'll provide directions and names for each of the five shops (Will's Weapons, Crusader Crunch, Cold Iron Works, Grendel's Glory, and Tareath's Teeth), but without slowing to ensure you can actually follow those instructions later. "I seem to remember that Grendel's Glory has a better reputation for quality of goods, but they charge for it."
Fiddling with the sash holding his loose shirt down around his waist, the dwarf stops short in front of the two Aasimar. "Technically, no. She was mortal like me, not born of celestial influence as were the two of you. One might say you have an advantage in attempting to follow in her footsteps, though I dare say that 'Inheritor' is not really the best way to gain divinity. Either of you might prepare for the Startsone, though, if you really want to reach that far. Even for Aasimar, the odds aren't good, though." The presentation is dry, and he doesn't seem to notice any body language indicating how you receive his comments.
No stress from this side! My wife had a knee replacement done Friday. I've been doing my chores and hers, including watching grandchildren. Surprising how many quick-break opportunities I've had to check the boards, really, but none of them were long enough for me to PLAN anything of note.
Specialization? Meh. History? I plan to keep Planar, Local, and either Religion or Nature constantly trained as well. (Based on the advertised types of opponents.) So, maybe I should call his specialization Occupiers of the Worldwound? Probably a lot of call for that specialization in these parts. I figure his approach to academia is more like a traditional physcist's approach is to science: "Everything they think of as a specialty exists within my domain." Breadth being part of the Irori effort for self-improvement.
Sun Tzu doesn't suggest meeting strength with strength, but strength with cunning. Not even close. I am disturbed that you presented this statement as though you think I indicated he had. If you did come to that conclusion, we have a great deal to work on to establish clear communication. What I was hoping for was an above board discussion of how people want their characters the shine during combat. I don't expect Anthiol to shine during combat. Monks are Swiss army knives. They don't get to be huge damage dealers. They do some supporting damage, provide some battlefield mobility, and the projected feats on my profile show I intend to get into battlefield control tactics (grapple/trip/disarm). With the War Chant Bard Song, I'll be "buffing" by providing temporary feats. Purely situational what and when. I expect he will mostly be a disruptor, interfering with the enemy. But Anthiol was bult to be a dedicated scholar who is going to get sucked out of the libraries and into the battlefield. His only real carried weapon is effectively a piece of history that appeals to him because of the history, but there's a limit to how well he can use it. I'm waiting to find out if he even thinks to pull it out for the first fight or two. I don't know yet. He isn't going to be where he wants to be, but he is going to do what he understands needs to be done, regardless. For instance, Pakk has lived in Kenabres for most of his life and is decidedly an academic. As a fellow scholar, it seems feasible that he an Anthiol have appeared in similar circles, even though Anthiol is much older than Pakk. ABSOLUTELY! And with the near identical bonuses across most of those knowledge skills, they have very probably been studying some of the same texts. Given the limited number of copies of the more significant books, this makes it almost unavoidable that they will have been waiting one on the other for access to a book now and again. Anathiel is physically hard to miss. I expect many are likely to know OF him. Those trained in both planar and religious lore are quite likely to have seen a discussion on not just the planar-touched people in Kenabres, but another focusing on the Aasimar and Tiefling individuals in particular. While Arrius Voralius Constantine is an Aasimar, he doesn't seem to possess the same sort of striking physical manifestation that Anathiel does, so he is less likely to have made a wide impression. A quick glance through his write-up, and I don't see much suggesting a history of intentional interaction. If he needed to do some research for some reason, he could have interacted with either Pakk or Anthiol, of course, but I don't have the impression such an effort would be consistent or dedicated over an extended period. And for asking everyone else's plans and outlooks, Zeno has provided nothing within his profile for us to work from. Maybe that's why he's asking us instead of reading what we already provided? Possibly using the profile to share information at the player level isn't something he's used to doing?
I PMed the DM, but I figured I should let you all know - I'm bowing out. Have a good time, you all. :) <frownie face>
I should also note the whole playstyles/goals thing. I can play an aggressively roll-play game. You know, the games where very few of the posts are about something other than covering pages in the adventure, about beating the opposition and taking their stuff. I'm in a couple now. I can enjoy those, but I don't enjoy them as much as I do games where the players take the time to do non-adventure-based interaction. The role-play posts. There are lots of excuses and opportunities not to make those posts, and I fall to them as often as anyone else. "I don't have time to write what I want to post right now, so I'll get back to it," but before you do others have moved things along far enough it feels awkward to reach that far back. You live your real life and come back some 20 to 27 hours after your last post and find the rest of the group has thrown up 40 wall-of-text posts and you are either overwhelmed about how or where to break in, or you just don't like to do chronomancy posting. As a table-top player, I want to get combats over so I can get back to the more entertaining interactions. Yes, if you look at the typical characterizations of gamer types, I am both an actor and a tactician, but I am primarily an actor type player. My communication style is heavily slanted to non-verbal communications. I don't always manage to describe that important aspect when I try to type in-game, though. Providing those non-verbals in person actually involves very little thought on my part. Describing them while I write is very much the opposite.
I HATE that kind of gameplay theory, because it reduces everything about the game to combat roles. That sort of perspective works well for the crowd who thinks you HAVE to build in certain mechanical ways to have a character that is worth bringing to a table. Anthiol is a socially awkward dwarf who seems to know something about EVERYTHING, carrying an ancestral weapon that is decidedly less than optimal, as it does not allow the use of his class combat abilities. As a player, I am very tactical but tend towards doing "stupid hero stuff." I pay attention to the active combat tropes that were created by the system mechanics, because you have to in order to work well within the game engine. Kill the spellcasters first kinda stuff. I also attempt to apply Sun Tzu, but I can't say I do a good job of it. Heck, most pre-written modules/games don't provide enough information or options (either on the player or GM side) to follow his teachings very well. I think part of my reaction to the sort of gameplay theory is that approaching the game through those lenses means explicitly choosing to follow predictable patterns that will lead to facing opposition strength on strength. Strength on strength is a good way to lose characters. If we can find a way to apply our strengths against their weakness instead of their strength, we can also face more encounters in a given day.
/me waves. |