Best of luck to all. Cheers
-dev
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GRUMPY CAT!
*raises hand*
Haha. I was getting afraid, Lump. Thanks for the assuage!
Crest nods in agreement, then starts gathering his things together.
After looking up what that is, I'm impressed!
Sounds like fun for all. Enjoy! As for the scepter, we were planning on keeping it out of Cliffort, but we may not have a choice. Hopefully it needs to be possessed for someone to activate it. I say we just bring it in, or at least, hide it once we get a bit closer to the fort.
Ah so it is. Got my wires crossed I suppose. Thanks for the catch.
Any chance someone has the material components for an Augury?
"Well, if we're going to head back to Cliffort, we should get started as soon as we can. I'd be surprised if we can make the trip in less than a week. And we don't know what will happen in-between now and then."
On the plus side, I think it's really only one more level until we can get some sort of communication going, with Cliffort at least.
"Bah, you're right. I very much do not like being so outmatched; sitting by and watching, especially with the obelisk potentially in play, is terribly frustrating but you're right Nathan," Crest says, settling in to watch what happens.
"Most everyone can, Nathan; it's really a matter of how well can they swim. If they're after the obelisk, I doubt they'll be able to raise it without extensive use of magic." Crest replies. "Let's say they do raise it. Do we stand by and watch? Make for Cliffort? Or intervene? Perhaps an area of magical Silence would protect us from their song?"
"That's a strong argument..." Crest says, clearly a bit off-put by the thought of being overwhelmed. "You might be right, Nathan."
After a few circles, Crest returns towards the others, mentally noting the positions of the harpies he's seen. Thankfully the obelisk was yet-untouched, though getting close enough to it again left him feeling just as uncomfortable as it had the first two times.
Crest agrees to the plan.
Crest advanced through the water slowly, careful not to splash and diligently keeping as much of his body submerged as he could and still keep watch. He knew his night vision was better than most, and he used that to his advantage, keeping his distance where necessary to skirt any large groups.
"Maybe it's just a coincidence that they're here, and this has nothing to do with the obelisk," Crest says, hopefully. "I mean, we only found it because I was exploring the lake. If we're assuming the harpies are part of the Giant's army, why would they send winged creatures to recover an underwater artifact? Perhaps watching is our only move for now."
"Well, we made it back, but now what? They don't seem to have retrieved the obelisk, so that's good, but what can we do against a flock like this? Even if we started picking off their sentries, there's no way we'd even the odds enough to stand against them before getting caught, or wore down." "Maybe we should wait and see if they move on in the morning? Though there's no chance we could alert Cliffort before they get there, so maybe that's moot. If they are trying to get the obelisk, I don't know how we'd stop them..."
"Yes, definitely not until it's full-dark anyway. When it is, I can summon darkness to keep our fire from giving light- it should still keep us warm though. Until then, anything that draws attention could be lethal. Why don't you all try and dry out, find some respite, and I'll keep an eye on our friends..." Crest says, dipping back into the water, and submerging until everything below his eyes was hidden by the river.
"Well, I'm not exactly eager to throw my life away, but I think we ought to investigate. Maybe we can do so without directly confronting them, Nathan? We could stay back-- really, really far back..."
Concerned, Crest starts working through their next steps out loud. "Following them back to the lake yes, but then what? There's nothing we can do against one hundred harpies, and even if they pass by the lake, it's likely they're headed for Cliffort, and we've no means to warn them. This could be bad..." "I suppose Eleanor and I could get to the lake the fastest, if we leave now and run in and on the river, though splitting up our group again concerns me. Would it be better if we stayed together?"
"Don't worry Mlinzi, it won't get far from my mind. And I doubt Nathan will soon forget either."
"Eleanor is right. We could easily end up doing more harm than good." Crest says. "We should focus on our task out here, and keep looking for signs of the temple, or Father. He would certainly know what to do with the obelisk. Until then, Nathan's right: we speak of this to no one outside of the family. I'm afraid the dwarves and giants would try to use it in their war..."
"Eventually, yes, but not today. We should head for shore, if Nathan is up for it." Crest says, concerned and feeling a bit guilty. "Maybe we can come back with the proper spells and the right tools, but I think we should head for shore while we can. "I'm very, very sorry I lead us here brother, and please know I am relieved you're unharmed."
Crest's heart races at Nathan's outburst and he looks around in a panic. He stays around to make sure the last of his companions start up, especially Mlinzi, then follows, last.
Yeah, you can lift double your max load off the ground in regular conditions, and push/drag 5x. So I guess right now you're at STR 26 with the Bull's Strength, which pretty much covers the whole underwater trip, since both it and air bubble are 4 mins. 26 gets you to 1840 max load, aka lift 3680, push/drag 9200
If you can hit 30, you're at 1600*2*3=9600 max load. So you could straight up just lift it off the ground and walk around with it, even outside the water. I guess even w/o Ant Haul, you're at 3200 max heavy load, so you could push it around, maybe even up your ramps. a) That is INSANE.
On the plus side, we'd have more time to examine it.
hrm, so Lotham's regular STR is 22, which works out to a max carrying cap of 520, except he's large so it's doubled to 1040.
With Bull's Strength (or Rage) and Ant Haul, so STR 26, that's 920*2*3=5520, which let's him drag or push it, excluding any penalties for friction, etc. Buuuut, to get new spells, we would have to camp out on the bridge overnight. That still leaves us with the problem of what to do with it once we've can sort of move it, since we're STILL in the middle of a lake, and at the bottom. We're gonna need a bigger boat (or to give up and come back later.)
After searching the surrounding area , Crest casts Comprehend Languages and inspects the symbol further.
For the record, I am a huge fan of Lotham's desire to play old school Donkey Kong, though I'm concerned Mlinzi might take just a little bit of offense.
Looks like that Enlarge might help now. Too bad we don't have an 'Ant Haul'.
"Investigate the obelisk while you can. I'll search nearby- my vision is better down here. Anyone recognize that symbol?" Crest says to the others, over the Message spell.
"Of course, brother."
"With those time limits, we need to not waste our efforts. Let's plan this out properly, but in the meantime, rest a moment," Crest says, before beginning to cast a number of spells. As Crest finishes each spell he swims over and gently touches each of his companions in turn, and when he does so a small, circling wave encompasses each of them, taking over their efforts to stay above water. "There. That should help a bit."
Swim Speed:
Swim Speed A creature with a swim speed can move through water at its indicated speed without making Swim checks. It gains a +8 racial bonus on any Swim check to perform a special action or avoid a hazard. The creature can always choose to take 10 on a Swim check, even if distracted or endangered when swimming. Such a creature can use the run action while swimming, provided that it swims in a straight line. "Now, I could swim down, make sure we're heading the way and before Nathan uses his Air Bubble spell. No sense in wasting all your time underwater just trying to find the site. I think maybe we should investigate the obelisk first, and depending on what comes of it, the surrounding lake floor. Maybe a Message spell, Nathan, if you have one, then I could get out if front a bit and scout. You might find it a bit hard to see." "As for other spells, I'd say use them before we head down- just make sure Air Bubble is last... I've unfortunately seen more than a few people drown, and I can ensure you it is not a pleasant affair... Anyway, the obelisk is my main concern, and I'll be warding myself against evil for sure. Something about that thing is....strange."
When every is ready, Crest does, starting off at a reasonable pace so as not to tire out anyone too quickly.
"Thank you, Greebins. We'll be back as soon as we can." Crest gestures to the others as he slinks down to the water's edge.
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