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Well... that stinks. But I completely understand your decision. Thank you so much for the time and effort that you have put into this game, and all of the other party members for participating in this adventure. It has been a joy to be a part of and will certainly count among the highlights of games I've been a part of, finished or no. Agreed, that I've enjoyed your style and hope you run another sometime. So long, and thanks for all the natural 20s.
"W-we have to end this, f-fast..." Aza says, resorting to pulling out her lesser healing want to attempt to staunch Iradyiel's wounds more.
"I-I've got my own," Aza mutters in response, rushing forward with soothing light glowing in her palms. She moves behind Iradyiel, touching his back and sending a splash of positive energy his way.
Aza holds back a gasp as Pious rushes in, and despite his display of skill, is still swatted aside by the creature. With Achahut following, it takes Aza a good second to try and hold herself back from doing the same. She had to help, but she doubted she could do much from out here. Growling, she waits to see if Vedic's pit will take hold of the beast. If so, that could give her enough time to heal her allies...
Aza gingerly hefts the stone in her withered hand (already feeling clumsy with her damaged nerve endings), but, feeling the magic power present in it, she gives it a whirl, hurling it forward at the massive creature.
Aza's sleep is somewhat restless - even with some certainty that the skeleton wouldn't leave its chamber and assault them, it was still unnerving to have it stamping around like an angry lizard in an invisible terrarium. The next morning's vaudeville routine with the small mimics did little to calm her nerves, but when she was able to laugh, she did feel some of the shadows shake off from her psyche, tripping over herself in an attempt to pull the mimic off of her foot as it attempted to bite it off with underdeveloped teeth. With the rest and preparation, she felt much more confident in the upcoming combat. With a breath, she renewed her air barrier and stood behind the rest. There was little in way of spells she could cast at this creature, especially with her more powerful abilities affecting an area, but she could at least give her team's attacks an edge. "I'm r-ready," she mutters, getting prepared to cast a blessing on her allies alongside Chest Thumper's spells.
It's a giant skeleton, how could it not be animated‽‽‽
Also, I may have mentioned this before, but again, swarms are frigging terrifying, and I am obligated to bring up just how many spiders CT summoned;
A swarm of Diminutive creatures consists of 1,500 nonflying creatures
Aza shivers at the sound of 12000 spider legs scuttling towards whatever had made the howling sound, but felt some comfort that Chest Thumper was controlling them. However, his report that they had not found anything was certainly less comforting. She leans heavily on her staff, taking a few halting steps forward to get into the hallway behind the group. Could it have possibly just been the wind? She sticks to the back of the hallway, the bulk of their frontliners not allowing her to see what was beyond the door...
Apologies for my absence, folks... I had some personal stuff suddenly erupt, I need a bit of time to catch up but I should post soon.
"Ah! Y-yes," Aza nods to chest thumper, fumbling in her robes to pull her wand from its resting place. The new passageway's sudden appearance had briefly distracted her, the wonder at seeing something so ancient suddenly be rediscovered filling her mind with both worry and wonder. She brings the wand to Iradyiel first, and then Vedic.
My current working theory is that Pious is getting his powers from Groetus, jeez.
With her acidic orb failing to find its target, Aza draws upon a different spell in her arsenal, pulling her fear for Iradyiel into her hands and uttering a whispered command before releasing it onto the strange chest beast. If this thing can actually be frightened, I'll eat my hat, she thinks to herself.
Cries in burning hands and electric breath.
Having such a long relationship is dang enviable. Cheers to you and yours.
Aza, wincing as she feels her spell fail against the strange creature, follows Vedic forward, conjuring a globule of magic pain in her fingers as she does so, before hurling it at the creature.
Aza gasps at the sounds of conflict coming from the south of her, and begins to move quickly towards Iradyiel to help. Getting closer, she begins to make out the strange, living chest. "Wh-what?" With little time to comprehend exactly what she's seeing, she makes a few motions with her hand and points a blackened finger at the strange monster, whispering dark words under her breath.
"Why is th-there so m-much ooze in the jungle," Aza wondered to herself, not really expecting an answer, and trying to not mention how embarrassed she was for thinking this place went directly to the sky temple. She needed to pay better attention. These jellies were getting out of hand... still, seeing Achahut nursing a serious-looking wound, she retrieved her wand of minor healing and brought it to bear. "Y-you're hurt, just a moment..."
Aza lights her lantern and hangs it from her belt as a light source. She doesn't balk at the obscene graffiti, but she does go out of her way to look at anything other than it, examining the maps closely, and taking a few notes in her journal. At the mention of destroying the maps, Aza opens her mouth to say something - but doesn't. It was Achahut's right to do so. "Thank you for permitting us to use this inf-formation," Aza says, bowing slightly.
Aza sighs with a little relief as the vines both drop to the ground, now motionless. "It's okay Achahut," she says, approaching the lizardfolk. "That's what having allies is f-for. Are you injured?" Her face has more than a bit of concern behind it. After helping to administer any healing required, she will return to examine the rubble-strewn staircase. "Are w-we sure it's stable? Do we want to go down it now or take a rest first? If it leads to the temple I doubt it w-will be undefended."
Aza peers into the foliage to see if she can see any sign of whatever might be there.
*retroactively adds a perception check to Aza's post...* *It's bad enough that it doesn't matter anyway*
Even as Aza blesses the party, she is suddenly aware of plants snaking around her ankles, and leaps backwards out of fear, kicking at the rapid plant growth. "Ack!" While she starts towards Achahut, she can't think of any spell that would work on an animated plant... except for that one, but there was too much clumping for her to consider it. She regretfully moves towards Francis, looking into the bushes that have been suddenly plummeted with rocks, waiting for an opportunity, while keeping an eye on her friends in case she could patch anyone up.
Aza has only a few moments to consider the history of this place - Cyclopses! Cyclopi? I wonder how big their ships may have been. How strong the winds to carry them may have been... before Array alerts them to a possible presence. Immediately on guard, she moves up, close to Pious, and holds for a moment. They should wait for it to come out, yes? "H-here," She gestures quietly to Iradyiel and Vedic with one hand, gathering divine energy in the other.
America is big. Really big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist, but that's just peanuts to America. ...I used to live in the midwest and we'd road trip out of there all the time. Never to anything as cool as a gaming retreat, though.
"W-wow," Aza mutters under her breath, looking at the tower - despite her disappointment, what little remained of it still signaled something more impressive to her. "This must've been something incredible, once..." She will attempt to keep pace with Achahut, but is distracted by the intensity of the crumbling structure. She will take a moment to pick through some rubble if anything interesting catches her eye, but is a bit more interested in the caves Achahut has mentioned. What was this place? she asks herself, looking around on the off-chance that any sort of identifying mark hadn't been washed away by time.
"I do not trust them," Aza declares, as they move forward. "If they mean to bring harm to the Hearth... Well, w-we should simply be cautious of them. I bel-lieve everyone should be heard out, if they are willing to speak, but they were c-certainly lying to us about something. And if th-they had something worth lying about, well... I have my doubts that their lying was noble." Aza sighs softly, her hair shifting with the wind. "But we have bigger problems to deal with. Wh-when we return to Pridon's Hearth, we can discuss this with local government, but if they try to ambush us, we will be ready for them." She nods solemnly towards Achahut - "I thank you for your assistance in guiding through the swamp."
Yeah, that'd be my meta guess, but I don't think Aza's heard of Norgorber. Still, kind of crappy followers with that slip-up, part of me feels like they deserve to be caught :P
These guys are about to get dunked on.
Aza fights back a frown as she looks over Rogar and his equipment, his horse... this seemed strange. She looked towards Pious, Chest Thumper, Iradyiel, Francis... even Vedic - if this was to be a hostile encounter, they could all certainly handle it. She was glad to be traveling with such intimidating friends, more than usual. If these riders meant them ill will, then the knights could handle them. But first, if there was a danger of a ranged assault... thinking of what Vedic had gone over, she decided to speak tactically - "You are just prospectors, then? Apologies f-for forgetting you. N-nisha can come down and we can break bread together, your horses seem tired, and we could continue this discussion, and possibly talk about wh-where you are going? If we head back to the Hearth before you, we could deliver a message to the Count..." Let them come to us, Vedic had said. So, she would. She gives a meaningful look to her companions, hoping that she wasn't the only one who picked up that something was wrong with these folks - and to wait to try to get them all within range in case a fight broke out - though hopefully this was just a misunderstanding.
Aza takes a brief, but wary step forward, leaning into her staff - just a moment ago she had asked the winds to surround her with protection, but perhaps she would not need them? "Greetings, R-Rogar, replies the oracle with a small bow and a tip of her wide-brimmed hat. "I am Aza, and we are the Papaya Kn-Knights, of Pridon's Hearth." she winces somewhat at tripping over the word. "You will have to forgive our caution, but we have experienced a good deal of hardsh-ship and danger. There are a number of tribes and peoples that scatter this area, and they can be very territorial." She sighs and shakes her head, recalling all of the tense encounters they have had thus far. "We could perhaps point out terr-r-ritories for you to avoid, if you wish? Are you new arrivals to the Hearth? How did you come to be so far out here? You said you were prospectors?" She is a bit curious, considering their own difficulty even with experienced trackers in the group.
Thanks to all for continuing to play! This group has been super exciting, the characters are fun, and the situations tense and memorable. I especially want to say I am super happy with the length of posts. Sometimes we post shorter ones, of course (and that's definitely a necessary option), but I feel like everyone gives their posts and characters space to breathe - like CT said, it's not just "I hit it with my sword" or "we go here", the party just feels so textured. It's great. On a bit of a personal note, I also have to say that I've never played a character like Aza before - usually I play pretty chaotic neutral fare, and pure good characters (even paladins) are difficult for me - but since coming down from a few issues in my own life and working on more personal reflection to become a better person, Aza has been a great outlet to move forward and visualize some of those changes I want to make. And also she can breathe lightning, which is pretty cool, too. I may have to go with Pious's voluntary natural 1 on diplomacy, it made me burst into laughter when I saw it. That and the entirety of the hurricane encounter was certainly one of the most dramaticool game events I've been a part of. It's been a blast, and I can't wait to see what happens next! AB
"In th-this... this was a special case, I feel," Aza says, stumbling over her words, recognizing her own rash actions in the fight and how they hurt the party. "It was important we help Achahut, and I do not believe we could have pulled the dinosaur's focus." She bites her lip. "But perhaps if we come up with a plan... s-something that we know ahead of time, that we are all aware of," she practically involuntarily flicks her eyes to Pious for a moment, "We can execute that without confusion, and so we don't have to try and make a plan in the m-middle of the chaos of combat..." She nods to Vedic. "I kn-know we can't plan for everything, but if we have a core idea, we could avoid being in... too much danger. So what do you think, Vedic? Do you have any thoughts on that?"
Counting meatspace, I've definitely run longer games, but I'm a forever GM so being a player long enough to get past level 2 is pretty rare for me. I tend to run campaigns pretty quickly, but my longest one is still on-going (Strange Aeons, we're right around 1.5 years and are just at the end of the 3rd book).
Post 1000, about 11 months from when we started! This might be turning into the longest-running game I've been a player in... At least in the past 6 years or so.
Aza nods in agreement as the group confers briefly with each other. "If she is an outcast, then w-we should take her with us. To see the Hearth, and... sh-she deserves new life, after what has happened, and if we can help her with that, we should." At Iradyiel's question of where to go, she chimes in after Chest Thumper - "I th-think that if we are to fight this threat, we should make sure we are adequately prepared." She gestures to her heavily drained healing wands, tucked back in her robes. "After the dinos-suar, if what lies at the Sky Temple is anywhere near as dangerous as that, then we must be ready." She nods to Achahut. "We will make sure no harm will come to you if you return to Pridon's Hearth with us."
Aza can wear armor but doesn't out of wizard solidarity :P Plus her wind armor keeps pace pretty well with some enchanted light armor, since I don't want her to lose move speed. However, if at some point Aza decides to take a little dabble into necromancy, a bone quarterstaff wouldn't be unthematic... The -2 on damage rolls hurts, though. I hope you enjoyed that fried food here, we are certainly the best at it... although there's much less of it up here in the Pacific Northwest. I've heard of Glass Cannon, but haven't made the decision to dive in... I'm just on the border of having too many podcasts at the moment, since I usually only listen to them on my walk to and from work. I will toss out a recommendation for the Film Reroll, though, if people haven't heard of that podcast, which is basically "Let's convert movies into RPGs and see what antics we can get into!" It's a bit irregular, but the episodic nature of it makes it really easy to just pick a fun movie and jump in! Their Home Alone episode was inspired.
Aza expresses a moderate amount of discomfort from the thought of slicing her hands, already worthless as they were, but still does so, out of respect. "We will. I promise that I will do all I can to n-not harm innocents, and to rem-move the threat to your tribe and ours... somehow. We will speak with the chief, and Daruthek will terrorize no one any longer." Afterwards, she quickly bandages the wound, not using healing magic, worrying that might be conceived as rude. She will also peer around the isle at some point, though it is doubtful that she would notice much more than the keen-eyed members of the Papaya Knights.
Aza, surprisingly, could feel herself agreeing with Vedic's point of view - her emotional response was immediate. "Th-that isn't unity, that's a dictatorship! If all dissenters are removed, then there can be no change and no variance?" Aza bit her lip, worrying about going too far and insulting the lizardfolk society. If that's the case, they are no better than ants... she thought to herself. "Achah-hut, if this is true and they are working to conquer these lands, you can help us. If Daruthek has corrupted the tribe so much, then it's n-no longer your tribe... and we sh-should seek to remove that infection." The oracle wrings her hands together with some nervousness, but continues. "I cannot tell you how to live y-your life. But the colony wants to live in peace. Th-there are so many things out here already trying to kill us..." Aza looks down at the slain dinosaur for a moment, taking a brief step away from it. "There is no point in trying to kill each other. Please, help us to defeat th-the evil that threatens your tribe and ours. Help us restore some order to this place. You still have purpose in this life."
The oracle's comfort levels were returning with each of her friends being healed and back in a stable condition, and a large, fuzzy hug from Francis helped her get her mood set right. This Lizardfolk was... strange. Coming here just to die? No one should have to do that. She was a bit shocked at this simple determination to die. They certainly had some rash and bold members in the Papaya Knights, but fighting to die? "N-no, there's no need for that!" Aza practically shouted, trying to cut off the idea of a duel that Iradyiel would likely deny, but she was somewhat certain that Pious might step into. "I don't wish to disrespect you, but, th-there's no need for you to die, here. You do have a future, and if you... you can still live and make an impact! Just because you lost you family, it doesn't mean you have to give up..." Aza felt a pang of sadness hit her chest, but powered through it. "W-we can help. We are looking for the Mireborn, seeking to understand their assault on our homestead and negotiate with them." She nods in agreement with Iradyiel's statement. "Does Daruthek have something to do with that? What plans did he h-have that were so opposed?"
Aza breathes deeply and the mists that masked her presence drift away, causing her to suddenly materialize in front of Iradyiel’s gesturing club. Breathing heavily from her wounds, she wordlessly pulls her lesser healing wand from beneath her robes, and stumbles over to Pious and begins to wave it. A force of nature. Lizard folk, zombies... they don’t have anything on the destruction of pure nature.
Once she affirms that Pious is healed, she moves over to Chest Thumper, spitting a glob of blood onto the ground as she does so.
Finally, she turns the wand on herself, sighing in some sense of relief as she feels the cracked bones mending themselves from the waves of positive energy.
With that work done, she sheathes the wand, breathing and recovering from the mental strain of the quick yet brutal combat. ”I am Aza,” she finally responds to Achahut. ”I am glad we were able to h-help, but...” Cautiously, she takes a few steps towards the lizardfolk, somewhat concerned. ”Why are you an outcast?” Perhaps that was mentioned earlier, Aza had a vague recollection - but the excitement of battle had washed it away...
As Aza finally catches her breath from the staggering attack, she tastes the tinny blood pooling in her mouth. Something in her was bleeding. She waves her hand, trying to catch onto something that wasn't there, stumbling backwards. She mumbles to herself under her breath, teeth gritted. "No one dies today." It's a phrase somewhere between anger and determination, but as she goes to cast a spell, her defensive posture and split focus between the dinosuar, her team, and the lizardfolk distracts the oracle from her spell and causes it to fizzle out from her invisible lips.
Aza:
Aza's invisible shriek of pain echoes through the air as she feels something (or many things) crack under the pressure of the tail, coughing briefly for a moment before almost collapsing to the ground, using every ounce of her willpower to keep herself just upright.
In the middle of rushing over to assist the lizardfolk, Aza catches Vedic's fall out of the corner of her eye - panicking, she slides to a halt, her eyes darting between the members of her party in the deadly melee. She couldn't choose... but she had to act. Yanking her nearly spent wand of healing from beneath her robes, she brandished it and invisibly dashes back to Vedic, giving him a small poke and hopefully clearing his wounds.
Quick note! I just noticed you're rolling Aza with a +4 for init, which doesn't reflect her taking improved initiative this level! She should be getting +8 to it.
Aza nods with some sadness at the sudden engagement on the diseased creature, but it was true. She had no spells strong enough to cure the beast, and nothing that could keep it from assaulting them. But she could still help the lizardfolk woman, and stop her from committing... stop her from perishing. "I will s-stabilize the woman," she mutters to the rest of the party. "Be careful." With a light step, she began to hustle forward, suddenly disappearing from sight, her form vanishing into wisps of fog.
Aza winces heavily as Pious simply walks through the threat they were attempting to avoid - but it seemed as though he was willing to push on. A driven man, indeed. She moves forward to examine him, but it seemed that it was beyond her wands' healing abilities to fix, and with Chest Thumper's assurance that he could tend to the inquisitor, Aza moves forward with the group. As they moved towards the source of the sounds of conflict, Aza was shocked at the scene - what was the lizardfolk doing? Biting at her blackened thumb out of nervousness, she moves a few inches closer to the fight to get a better look at the situation.
"I don't kn-now if the creature will calm down if we don't stop that l-lizard from antagonizing it..." mutters Aza. She quickly raises her voice into a shout that she hopes the warrior would hear - "Wait!! The creature is sick and dying, th-there's no need to... This is not an honorable thing! This is not a noble f-fight! It is already sick," If the lizardfolk wished to die, that added a much different color to their previous encounter... She moves forward, looking for an opening to do something to stop this fight.
I mean, not to play favorites or anything, but also Francis has been Most Valuable Party Member since day 1. Too bad we don't have any summon spells or anything... I just have a lot of paranoia about the trap triggering some kind of explosion on the bridge. I think I've just seen too many fantasy movies where the bridge breaks...
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