Nah, not at all. This sort of thing happens. Sorry to see the game go, but I'm not sore about it. Glad to have been a part of it while it lasted. Hopefully, I'll be seeing all of you around the forums here again soon!
Search Posts
Landon glances around at the others before giving a gentle shrug. "I haven't got any better ideas than that. I say we do it."
All leveled up here, as well. +8 HP
Looking forward to the fun that the Debilitating Injury will bring. Make it way easier for all of us to hit things/not get hit by things whenever I can sneak attack.
Definitely peruse the maps and then make for some treasure hunting!
"That's...a good point. Okay, we'll carry the torch," Landon replies as he sparks up the torch with a few careful tries at the flint and steel, "until we get back to the entrance. Then we'll toss it behind us and make a break for the hills, so to speak. Sound good?"
Landon shakes his head and unslings the pack from his back, setting it at his feet so that he can dig about inside. After a moment, he pulls a torch out and passes it toward one of the other two, before rummaging about again in search of his flint and steel. "If it's all the same to you, I'd rather get this done now so we don't come in tomorrow morning to find that some other monstrosity has taken up residence here. Hold this, please."
"While I'm tempted to agree, we should probably at least take a look around. Make sure that thing doesn't have any eggs sitting around someplace," Landon suggests as he glances around the massive room, looking for anything that might be a centerpiece or the focus of the creature's "work."
A wince plays across the half-elf's features at the swinging scythes the creature has for claws as they descend on Olaff. Fortunately, he is able to shrug off the brunt of the blows and Landon immediately moves to try to turn the fungus-bug-thing into paste again.
The rogue breaks into a broad grin as Olaff skirts around the beast to set him up again for a proper flank. He makes a mental note to buy the viking a drink or three later, when they get back to civilization. In the meantime, he steps closer and sweeps both saps out at the beast again.
Landon nods his thanks to the frog and he moves again to try to bludgeon the beast into oblivion.
Fully expecting this sort of turn of events, Landon lashes out with his sap the moment the beast comes in range. Sadly, there is only so much he can do without a bit of help from his friends.
Landon's saps find their way into his hands the second he lays eyes on the creature, but he makes no move to advance toward it. Yet, in any case. He has seen what it can do with those claws and is in no hurry to be on the receiving end of a disemboweling. Maybe it is time to try a bit of polite discourse. At least until the thing tries to make some sort of hostile action. "What is your work? What're you using the parts of innocent people for?"
Landon blinks in surprise up at all of the fungal insanity in the massive chamber above them. He proceeds forward, doing his best to keep his wits about him as he tries to look in every single direction at once. They could not have simply been fighting on a nice, sandy beach out in the sun instead of some bizarre, fungus-choked ruin. Oh, no, this just had to be another dungeon. Grumbling good-naturedly under his breath, he makes his way further into the ruins and keeps his eyes peeled for anything that might be important. Or dangerous.
"Watch out for something bad, got it. Come on, the longer we wait here, the more time whatever is up there has to get ready for us," Landon murmurs just a touch impatiently as he slowly edges toward the stairs. Maybe if he can just get a bit of a peek up ahead, he can tell what Olaff is concerned about.
Landon whistles low and shakes his head gently as he takes a few numb steps into the room, looking slowly around to take it all in. He forgets where he is for a moment or three as he loses himself in awe of the room's beauty. The smell of fungus outside the door quickly brings him back though, and he shakes his to clear it. "Wow. We, uhh. Yeah, Olaff's right. Adelaide, you mind scribbling down a crude map so we can get around easier later? In the meantime, I'm gonna check elsewhere." The rogue makes for the door again, dropping into a low crouch as he slips down the hallway they have yet to head down.
"No way to know until I try, is there?"
He was already tugging his lockpicks free of his pocket when he saw the door and as he steps forward, he jerks his thumb over his shoulder. Toward the hallway that he took a quick peek down before making for the door, preferably, but he is not so picky. "Olaff, do us all a favor and keep an eye out, yeah? If something big and scary pops out the door, I'll make sure to yell loud enough that it's obvious what's there." With that, he gets to picking locks.
"I appreciate it, Olaff. If I spot anything that, you'll be the first to know," Landon assures the big viking man before he moves to skulk a good twenty feet ahead of the rest of the group. He keeps his eyes peeled and ears perked in the darkness for anything that might indicate that danger is ahead. Or anything that is remotely interesting. Particularly like treasure.
Landon quietly grunts his agreement with Olaff that he would rather be fighting out in the open, but dutifully moves to poke his head inside the door. "Honestly, I don't care who they were worshipping. I just wanna kill that thing and get out of here as quick as we can. Hopefully without finding a hive of those things."
Landon, sadly, just cannot catch a break from the heat and he draws a hand up to wipe the sweat from his brow. Pushing the slick hair out of his eyes, he nods along with the others. "Follow the suspicious arrows dotting the ruins to a building that potentially has a killer creature that stole our friend's kidney. This is a weird plan, but I haven't got a better one. Payback it is." He shakes his head in wry amusement and takes point on the group, making certain to be as stealthy as he can. Just in case.
Landon casts a glance back over his shoulder at the group before he moves in closer, but quickly notices that the rest of the group is not actually following. With furrowed brows, he slinks back in their direction and whispers as quietly as he can. "What's the deal? We going after these things or what?" Upon hearing their stances on the matter, he frowns thoughtfully and then gives a shrug. "I guess they aren't hurting anything. Even if they do look all sorts of freaky. Let's go around."
Upon hearing the bizarre creatures stacking fungal growths, Landon crouches low and glances back to the rest of the group, drawing a finger up to his lips. With that, he does his best to ghost forward and keep his eyes peeled for anything that might be important. Such as more of these creatures right around the corner. He means to get as close to the ravine as he can without alerting anyone, but fate will see how successful that is.
Landon gives a sudden jerk as he is startled from his dreams by Olaff's chatter. With a grumbled, "Morning," he flops back down onto his bedding and rolls over again. All the better to get a bit more shut-eye while the casterly types prepare their spells, of course. When they are good and finished, he pushes himself up to his feet and runs a hand through his hair to shove it out of his face with a nod. "All right. Let's get this over with. I just hope these bombs work on the thing."
Landon sets to packing up all of the goodies they have acquired before standing to join the others. "Busy's right. Any idea how we're going to take out that crazy fungus-bug-thing?"
"Uhh. Yeah, tons of good stuff. Come take a look. Some good stuff in here to combat plants, but I don't know how well it'd do against the fungus." He frowns thoughtfully as he sets to plucking things out of the chest to set them in a neat little row beside him. Polish beside bombs beside the bizarre wire. "Looks like mostly supplies to combat the jungle stuff. Could be real useful, though. Say, Olaff, you want to try wrapping this thing around the hilt of your sword?" Just in case, he takes another good long look at all the nooks and crannies of the chest. Never know when there might be a hidden compartment.
Landon, upon spotting the chest, is already pulling his lockpicks out before he is even asked to deal with it. He offers a quick nod at the frog and the viking before he moves to drop to one knee and set to work. "Just, uhh. Try to keep it quiet for a minute so I can hear the tumblers, okay? Thanks." With that, he leans in close and does what he does best.
Hey, sorry about how MIA I've been lately, everyone. Finals and holidays combined to bring all sorts of craziness to the table. That should all be calming down now, though.
"Or completely overrun by fungus," Landon agrees with Adelaide as he moves to make a careful, methodical search of the place. Better to have four pairs of eyes checking around than one alone, in his mind. Especially if there is anything that might be of use here, for later.
"Probably for the best if we look things over today before it gets much darker and then call it a night. That way we can get a good, early start in the morning." Landon nods in agreement and starts off toward the house in question, tugging at the neck of his leathers to try to get some cool air in among all the sweat.
Landon slogs his way back through the jungle's punishing heat yet again, his jaw set and every intent to remain stoic. But damned if he is not grumbling inwardly every second of the way about why he left this hell hole in the first place. Still, he does try to stay solemn as he contemplates exactly how he might have better saved the aged explorer's life. Maybe if he had been quieter or more attentive to their surroundings. Or maybe if he had suggested the man stay nearer the back of their group. Not that anyone likely believes that he should have done anything else, but that is what he thinks one does at funerals. Berate themselves for their shortcomings in regard to the deceased. "Probably for the best if we don't go running around the forest at night," he suggests when Adelaide pipes up, "there are all sorts of things in there that come out at night that you don't want looking at you like you're food."
Landon stays silent through the explorer's entire speech, his jaw clenched and one hand holding Bandrift's. That thready pulse only gets weaker and weaker with every further word, but the half-elf does not try to stop him. There is nothing they can do for him but listen. When Bandrift finishes, he watches as the life leaves the man's eyes and lets out a world-weary sigh. Setting the hand over the man's chest in what he hopes to be a position of repose, he moves to stand and look at the others. "I'm with Adelaide. He wanted us to help that villager and as much as I'm loathe to stick my neck out for somebody else, I was just holding a guy's hand as he died." He pauses a moment to digest those words for himself, his expression grim. "We should bury him first. So all this...muck doesn't take him before we can. I don't know if going after that thing's the best call, but we can argue that later."
Landon skids to a halt as the beast zips off into the ruined city, staring uncertainly after it. Judging from the way their surroundings look at the moment, the odds of being able to find the creature without getting lost in the process are not high. The image of an entire swarm of such monstrosities swooping out of one of the ruined buildings to descend upon a lone traveler draws a shiver down his spine. He reluctantly turns to jog back to Sborki and the mortally wounded Bandrift. "I don't know that we can. I mean, I've never been to this place before and that thing clearly knows it better than we do. What if there's more of them? You saw what it did to him; splitting up to search for it sounds like an awful plan, to me." Just the same, he cannot in good conscience leave an injured man to gurgle and die alone, especially in this fungal forest. He collects his saps on the way back, securing them safely in his re-wound wrist sheathes, and kneels beside Bandrift. Rather than look over the wound, he simply watches the aging explorer's face and takes one of his hands, feeling for a pulse at the wrist.
With a quick glance at the severely wounded Bandrift, Landon breaks into a dead sprint after the beast. Adelaide probably knows a bit better than he does what the man's chances are at the moment. He may as well do something to help instead of standing around like a sod. So, as he slides nimbly past Olaff and the pillar beside him, he sweeps his gladius out at the bizarre creature again. If he can hit a limb and make it drop whatever organ it pulled out of Bandrift, so much the better.
The frown that crosses Landon's features at his ineffectual first try is quickly replaced by a grimace when the beast continues to tear at Bandrift. He drops both saps in favor of drawing his twin gladius and giving it a second try. This time, with Olaff's help.
Landon glances around belatedly at the cry from Sborki about the creature, but does not actually manage to spot it until too late. It is already practically atop Bandrift by the time he realizes it is even there. Which naturally lends itself fairly well to launching himself off toward the beast. The rogue makes a break for Bandrift and the creature, taking a quick peek in Olaff's direction. It seems that the viking is well set to be directly opposite to their new foe. Perfect. He skirts around the back of their fearful leader and skids to a halt beside him, saps in hand. For the moment, he will simply have to wait until Olaff is handy to inflict some serious pain. For the time being, something quick and dirty will have to do.
Though Landon does try to keep his eyes peeled for anything he might be able to spot, the heat seems to get to him a bit more than the rest of the group. He hooks a finger into the collar of his armor and tugs it aside as he tries to catch his breath, taking a quick pull from his waterskin. "Yeah, tell me about it, big guy. Anybody else feeling like a baked potato still in the oven right now?"
"Yeah, definitely don't touch anything. Even the walls. This place looks liable to come down on your head if you so much as sneeze on it." Landon skirts back around until he is standing on the outside of the door that the arrow points out, looking in at the others. As fun as it might be to peruse all manner of ruined relics, he does not want to be encased in a stone tomb any earlier than he has to. "I'm in. Let's just keep moving before we put down roots, y'know?"
"Yeah, you and me both," Landon agrees with Bandrift as he patrols the edge of the room, keeping his eyes peeled for anything out of the ordinary. Particularly in the form of traps. He really would not put it past Aspis to leave something nasty for anyone who comes in after them. Pointedly avoiding going through the door that the arrow points out, he works to circle around the back of the building so that he might check the outside of that door. Just in case. Assuming he is able to navigate around the building in the first place. "Just, uhh. Don't touch anything yet, yeah? I'd rather not have the whole damn building coming down on our heads."
Burn it. Burn it all. Also, that was dark as heck and I loved it. Well done.
Landon, for all of his efforts at trying to break the poor man free, is rewarded with... Well, he really is not sure what to call it. Or that he even wants to put it to a name, considering this is what will be haunting his nightmares for the rest of his life, probably. Half-turning, he draws an arm up to over his nose and mouth as he works not to vomit. The moment Adelaide suggests they leave, regardless of how panicked she sounds, he nods in agreement and follows. Anything to be away from the corpse. He manages to regain his composure eventually, but the rest of his walk sees him treat his steps with far more care than before lest his entire foot get swallowed up by the rot. Quicksand would be absolutely horrifying in this bizarre, sickly sweet smelling hell. By the time they reach the stone building, he has grown very tired of the vile colors that surround them. "What I wouldn't give for a bit of green. Never thought I'd hear myself saying that. I'm usually much more of a gold and silver kinda guy," he muses to his companions before trying to sneak up to the stone building. If there is someone or something inside, he does not want to be the one to alert them to the sudden company.
A grimace colors the half-elf's features at the sight before him, the thought of how it would feel to have your last moments consumed by the crushing weight of rot creeping into his mind. It is only exacerbated by the bizarre death rattle that hits the air which causes him to give another jerk down into a low crouch. He half expects something to come leaping out of the mushrooms, but the realization of what is making the sound is far more grim. With wide eyes, he lunges out of the underbrush (if it can even be called that) to hurry toward the man in question. "He's-- I think he's alive! Gods, get him out of that stuff!" Landon bolts for the rot-choked man with all haste, barely grinding to a halt without bumping into him. If he can, he will use one of his short swords to slice a neat hole where he thinks the man's mouth is. Once that is done, he sets to work trying to carve through the layer of fungus in an effort to free the man within.
Landon nods in agreement silently with Sborki and he circles around the odd clearing, doing his best to stick to the shadows and bizarre foliage. If he can, he tries to get around to the front of the individual where he might better catch a glimpse of its features. On the way, he is sure to tuck his saps into his wrist sheathes and draw both of his gladius, just in case.
I liked it! You did a great job with the portrayal, I could really picture it in my head, too.
The rogue peers around in awe and a slight bit of disgust at the rampant rot throughout the forest, never having seen such a thing before. Especially not in any of his travels. This is...vile beyond words, he finds himself thinking, but his reflexes kick in the moment he spots the frozen man. Dropping into a low crouch, he makes for the nearest bit of something or other to hide behind and obscure himself. With a silent glance in Olaff's direction, he will exchange a confused look with the viking and a shrug before he starts that way. Better to figure out who or what they are up against before it spots them first.
Landon, otherwise quiet for the planning portion simply due to his lack of knowledge of most of nature, quickly nods in agreement. He moves up with Olaff to the front of the group, though he stays just a bit to the side of the path where the undergrowth is plentiful. All the better to remain hidden within. "Yeah, I'm with Adelaide. Let's get going and plan on the way. Walk and talk. Nobody has an idea of what or why this could be happening?"
Landon, who has kept fairly quiet throughout the entire discussion, nods politely to the old man at the mention of being introduced. "Landon, nice meeting you. Sorry to hear about the current...situation. I'm a locksmith, herbalist, scout-- I do a lot of odd jobs," he finishes lamely, leaving the truth of the matter up to interpretation. "What sort of invasion, exactly? Is it just plants or what is it? You said it took your leg, but what did?"
Yikes! My condolences. I think you're fully justified not wanting to deal with PbP stuff for a bit, especially after Paizo ate your post. That always drives me nuts. Hope things start looking up for you, GM!
Nope! We can move on whenever. |