Another campaign reduced to naught but bones and dust in the wasteland. :(
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I feel like we’ve stalled out here.
Do I get bonus XP for MacGyvering spell components?
Once Sienna has filed off enough pieces of her fingernails for two little piles, Cassiel takes them and stows them in another pocket. He then takes a handful of sand from his boots, bites his finger and lets several drops of blood fall on it, turning it a rusty red. He stashes this bloodstained sand in his boot, with the other piles of sand inside.
GM:
While he rests, Cassiel runs his fingers along the stitched designs on the inside of his cloak, memorizing them as thoroughly as he can.
...please, ancestors, I hope this hare-brained idea works.
Cassiel looks on as Yarig crushes the rock into a fine powder. "...yep. That'll do." He takes the rock powder from Yarig. After a moment's thought, he stuffs the powder into a pocket in his pants.
Cassiel slides a couple of rocks out of his boot and hands one to Sienna. "Thank you." He then turns to Yarig. "Hey, big guy. Think you can crush this rock with your bare hands?"
"Just pieces. Don't need the whole thing, I promise."
I'll be honest--"I need some of your fingernails" is a sentence I never thought I'd type, even in the context of a tabletop RPG.
Cassiel sighs. "Okay, I know this is going to sound strange, but I need some of your fingernails." "...I'm figuring out a plan for us to survive in this madman's arena, and if it's going to work, I need something small and blue--like your fingernails."
Once he has a few rocks in his boots, Cassiel sidles over to Sienna & Yarig. He turns to Sienna first. "Has anyone ever told you that you have lovely nails?" He whispers to her.
Cassiel looks askance at Ekee, but when he realizes what she's trying to do he starts his search anew, discreetly looking for a few palm-sized rocks and sliding them into his other boot. ...now, how do I explain this? Nibenese tradition--a way of honouring our ancestors by carrying the same earth they walked upon in our boots. Sure.
"...er, yes. Of course you do." Cassiel reluctantly admits after handing over his gear. I mean, I can't exactly argue with a mage who can throw FIREBALLS around. He taps his foot inside his boot, feeling the needle and spool of thread stashed inside. Cassiel then glances around at his party members, his mind racing. Alright. Don't panic. There's still a way out of this. Just need sand... He takes a seat in the sand, letting some of it slide into one of his boots. ...alright. Red I can take care of, but blue... blue... where am I supposed to find-- ...then he looks at Sienna's hands. His eyes briefly widen. ...blue. Bingo.
One more thing--are there any rocks nearby? About as big as someone's hand, maybe?
Alrighty then. Thanks. :)
GM, would I be able to palm a needle and thread into one of my boots before handing over my gear?
Ah. Alrighty then. Wow. I'm really sorry that happened. :(
Somehow, I figured you would be. :)
For anyone interested, I've decided that I'd love to run a DARK SUN campaign of my own. Here's a link to the recruitment thread.
Cassiel's face visibly pales and he stares, wide-eyed at Ekee. "Ekee... you know how most people have a little voice that tells them to quit while they're ahead? Please listen to it. Before you get yourself--or all of us--killed." He hisses.
Arcane. Riiight. Cassiel looks between the half-giants, then the archers, and the party before looking back at their 'employer'. "Well, you drive a hard bargain, sir. With an offer like that, how can anyone say 'no'?"
Cassiel blinks. "...that's it?" Play along. It's the best option for now. He shrugs. "Y'know, if you wanted gladiators, you could have just SAID so in the first place and avoided all this. Seems a bit needlessly complicated to me." "May we at least keep our clothes?"
Before the team proceeds up the mountain, Cassiel changes into his newly-embroidered pants.
And when the half-giants come up the trail. And when the archers reveal themselves above them. And, of course, when their 'patron' cackles. "Argh! Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal!"
How narrow is the trail? And for that matter, how steep is it?
I'm sorry for your loss, Ko-Tik. It was a pleasure gaming with you. And regarding relaxing the character tree rules, I'd be down for that. I'd love to give the Druid class a try as one of my character options.
"Oh?" Cassiel's voice seems to waver with nerves. "Well..." After giving it some thought, he speaks up again. "...I've never camped on a mountainside before. We could try to do that."
Cassiel nervously eyes the roc circling overhead. "Well. That's... that's a very big bird."
This is going out to all the games I'm either playing in or running: I'm in the path of Hurricane Dorian, so I'll be battening down the hatches and preparing for the worst. I'll try to post updates in the games I run on Monday. If I'm holding anyone up in the meantime, please go ahead and bot me.
DM (Camp): While taking watch, Cassiel will attempt to create a spellweave of colour spray into his new pair of pants.
He embroiders a geometric pattern of falling petals into the left hem of his new clothes.
Incidentally, thri-kreen don't need to sleep.
Cassiel comes back from the market with a few things, the most prominent of which are a large sack, a length of giant-hair rope and a grappling hook. He's also come back with a pair of breeches and some thread, for some reason.
Once the party is out on the road, he brushes off his cloak. "A large cloth sack for the egg, some rope and a grappling hook to get us to it, and some pants. You never know--could always use a spare pair." "I can take first watch, if no one objects."
Cassiel starts looking for a market stall with blue veils.
"I doubt we're getting lucky. I make a point of never trusting anyone richer than I am." Cassiel replies. "He flashes around that much money without any bodyguards--or, at least, if he has bodyguards, we haven't seen them. Anyone throwing that much money around in public without protection is either hopelessly foolish or incredibly dangerous."
...are we all still here?
Once he's reunited with the others, Cassiel gives them a grin. "Well, we're not going to get anything done standing about. To the market!" And once they've started moving, he walks next to Sienna. "What do you make of our employer?" He asks, his voice low.
DM: Cassiel pouts on the inside as the hooded crazy homeless man leaves.
...I suppose I should've seen that coming, really. He waits a few minutes before departing and looking for the others.
DM: Cassiel nods in thanks.
"By the way, I didn't get your name."
DM: Cassiel looks down at the gold piece in his hand, then back at the old man. "Right then. I get the impression that I'll need some supplies. I don't suppose you'd know where I can find some? Or who to speak to?"
DM: Cassiel was going to introduce himself when the strange man started his rapid rambling.
"Er--" "--yes, I--" "--uh--" ...quite a pair of lungs on him. Eventually, once the man slides a gold piece of his own towards him, Cassiel finally sees a chance to get a word in. "...yes. Hello, my name is Cassiel. It's a pleasure to meet you." He starts, rather bewildered. "I figured this... Lord Trilsta, was it? Was up to no good. I make a point of never trusting anyone richer than I am." He takes the offered gold piece. "Should I warn the others? I'm certain they have their suspicions as well."
Cassiel blinks in disbelief. He catches the gold piece thrown to him and cradles it as if it were a newborn babe. There is no way on Athas that this noble is on the level. Who is he, really? "...of course." He smiles and puts the gold piece in his purse. "I'll see about procuring my gear now." With that, he makes his way to the building with the bas-relief tigone.
Cassiel feels a momentary wave of relief before it's replaced with his usual caution. DM:
He gives the watching man the slightest of nods, the fingers of his right hand briefly twitching--his middle and ring fingers together, his index and pinky fingers splayed out.
He takes note of the dingy little building with the bas relief tigone. "How soon are we to set out? If we're going into the mountains, we ought to make preparations first."
"If my... talents... are discovered, it's likely that I would be enslaved by the templars, both as a heretic and so that I can be sold to some noble to use my magic for their gardens and foot-washes. So I try not to draw too much attention when in the city." "Rest assured, they won't learn of them from me." Cassiel shrugs. "I mean, if they snatched you up I'd have to return to grubbing for water out in the desert. That's not exactly fun."
Cassiel's eyes widen when he sees the amount of money dumped into Yarig's hands. ...20 gold... 20 gold... how much water could you buy with that?! That's insane! His eyes dart around, looking for anyone else who might have their eye on the noble, and he catches a glimpse of a bearded man in a cloak. He turns his eyes back to Yarig and the noble. "Well. You earned a noble's ransom with a monster carcass. With a reward like that, what sane man would refuse such an opportunity?" Cassiel chuckles. There has to be something more to this. There has to be a trick. No one is this generous.
"Why, certainly. I suppose Raam's quite lovely this time of year."
I'm good either way.
"Some of them even arrive without meaning to eat anyone." Cassiel comes up alongside Ekee with a lit torch.
Cassiel makes sure to stand away from anyone else, hunched over his burning torch, making a show of keeping the flame burning bright. Supposedly, it'd help keep the spell he was casting under his breath out of sight.
"...well, that's always a good sign, isn't it." Cassiel dryly responds. "Something big's coming, I'll wager." He pulls out a torch and his fire kit and starts trying to light it.
"Sienna - my name is Sienna. Like the red-brown color." Cassiel nods. "A fitting name." "I hope you brought food and water. The oasis near here is the famous Oasis of Black Water, renowned for its death-curse upon anyone who drinks from it. And it's not particularly wise to cross the wastes like this by yourself - did you come with anyone else? A caravan? A mount?" "Oh, I have my own food and water, you don't need to worry about that." He gestures to the waterskins stashed on his belt. "As to crossing the wastes? I'm proud to say that I had no need of a caravan or a mount--I've learned from a young age how to find my own water and scrounge up my own meals from the desert. Once you know how to recognize monster territory and start travelling by night, it's... well, not exactly easier, but doable."
Cassiel nods along. "Speaking of these ruins, if you plan to remain here, would you mind overmuch if I accompanied you? This place is vast--and undoubtedly dangerous. I'd certainly be grateful for such charming--and dangerous--company."
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