Myvannuii Kerlas's page

The quiet that settles as Father Iverson withdraws, street sounds only vaguely trickling into the Vault, feels faintly oppressive. Myvannuii sighs, discreetly stretching to loosen up after the interview, and turns to the others and the children. Addressing the latter first, she puts on a brave face and coaxes, “Sorry it’s taking so long to get you home. We just wanted to come here first because it was the priests who sent us to look for you. Now, it’s straight home to Mrs. Oakleg! Can you think how happy she’ll be to see you back? Let’s go!”

As she encourages the boy and girl, she hopes that she doesn’t seem too careless, but admits to herself that she will be glad to deliver them to their guardian. Managing children has not been a large part of her life to date, and she would much prefer to keep it that way, magic demanding (and rewarding) so much of her attention. Gently shooing them on, Myvannuii speaks lowly over their heads with the big people. “Once we see Eliza and Terrem safe home, I think we should find Captain Skellerang ourselves; I, for one, do not like having others act on matters touching me when I am able to go personally.” She shakes her head. “That is, if no one objects to rushing about this seething place all together. We can sift it all later – the children should be returned first.”

Myvannuii, still trying to find a way to tactfully answer the mayor’s unexpected summons, meets the cleric’s stern displeasure with what she hopes is equal restraint. Skin crawling with embarrassment, she starts to offer an explanation through a tight grin.

“Father,” she says, wondering interiorly if he really thinks they would be brazen enough to return two of the children while retaining the other for some nefarious purpose, and whether she should be offended or flattered by his estimate of their cunning in that case, “with Gjoren’s woodcraft we were able to follow tracks from Ghelve’s bakery until we fell upon bugbear slavers. After we defeated them, we learned that they had sold the children to an azer smith, who we located and confronted in turn. He refused to surrender. Now, while we rescued Elisa and Borat, the guardsman you asked Captain Skellerang to send with us, escaped with Terrem through the use of magic I was unable to identify. His motives remain unclear, but I will gladly ask the Captain myself if this was part of a plan which we were not partners in.”

Myvannuii forces herself to speak calmly and with even emphasis. The effort leaves her words somewhat clipped as she struggles to control her resentment, the knowledge of the delicacy of the adventurers’ situation as dubious mercenary outlanders proving little comfort to her consciousness of innocence. She awaits the priest’s prodding for details with as much equanimity as she can muster, wishing she’ll be able to navigate his questions without having to drag all of Cauldron into clearing the group of any designs on Terrem.

Myvannuii twitches her ears in mild annoyance, thinking that any overtures of audience with officialdom could wait until they have at least entered the town's walls, never mind delivered their charges. She follows Stone's lead, adding, "I concur; with respect for the Lord Mayor's solicitude, I would prefer to first inform the temple of Abadar, by which we were called together, and reunite the children with their guardian. They have been separated too long as it is, and we would like to set that to rights ourselves."

Myvannuii darts a look of alarm towards the messengers as she hears the exclamation of the one and the precipitate exit of the other. She stalks over to Stone, looking around for Bron, Daegan, and Gjoren so that they can all confer together. She explains her concerns briefly, "Although it's probably best if we are expected, I hope our rider has the discretion to find the guard first before crying the news to all Cauldron's corners. We are short one child, after all, and I'm still not sure what Flask meant by it. Too many matters unearthed by our investigations remain obscure for my tastes."

She frowns down at the sheets she still holds in one hand, then turns to the group again. "Since Flask's flight suggests there's more to these children than we know, perhaps we should keep closer guard until our own return. Shall we share the watch over them tonight? I could begin, or take the dawn watch, as it please you."

Linguistics check: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (6) + 9 = 15. Phooey.

Try as she might, Myvannuii finds the inscribed sheets the group discovered baffling, and she turns away from them only to try again in brief, unavailingly obsessive spurts. On the other hand, the distraction prevents her from spinning out too complicated a prevarication in response to the questions about the party's unusual baggage. Instead, she mutters darkly to herself in the abstracted fashion to which many wizards are susceptible until her lack of progress leads her to set the task aside and attempt to mingle less obtrusively among the clients of the Golden Coin.

Happy New Year (belatedly), everyone! I'm still around, I just didn't want to break character too early when I was outside of the smithy by commenting on the findings, while I guessed that things would slow down in the run-up to and after Christmas.

Myvannuii is glad to have Stone take the children off her hands for a while, though she hopes they don't think that she would turn them into frogs. At least, not unless they really, really wanted her to, and if she could change them back. Since such a feat is beyond her yet in any case, she contents herself with pulling a disarmingly silly face and keeping an eye on Elisa and Borat as the group sets off for Cauldron. If she has a moment, Myvannuii will poke through the stuff from the smithy, her curiosity drawing her to anything unusual. I've got the inscribed metal sheets in mind; Myvannuii doesn't have comprehend languages in her spellbook, but she would be willing to try to do it by brute force with a Linguistics check, or at least try to identify the language, if she could.

“The flying man was the guard who came with us – he couldn’t carry all of you to where it’s safe, though,” Myvannuii says, evading the main thrust of Borat’s questions and avoiding an outright assertion that Flask actually has rescued anyone. As Stone returns from trying to spot the errant guardsman, Myvannuii stands and extends her hands to the children. “The important thing is that the two of you are all right. Now, why don’t we get some light and fresh air? We’ve still got to get you home to Mrs. Oakleg, and it will give you a chance to stretch your legs before we set out.”

She sweeps her gaze around the forge again before turning to the men with a quizzical expression. Bron, Gjoren, Daegan, and Stone – Myvannuii hasn’t been as young as the girl and boy she’s reaching out to since before any of them were born, so she can only hope that her best is good enough to soothe the children. Still, the sooner she gets Elisa and Borat outside and away from the scene of the brutal battle the better, she thinks. Of course, as much as the two don’t need to see the adults ransack the smithy, that makes it more difficult for her to join in the “big people” talk that they need before they can return to Cauldron. With a shrug and a twitch over the children’s heads as much as to say “first things first,” Myvannuii gently leads them outside, trying to calm Elisa, and wishing that she had prepared some magic that lent itself to entertainment today, setting her mind to the task of finding a mundane distraction.

"Yay team!" is right! I'm sorry I haven't been cheering from elegant lavender out-of-character commentary throughout the action, but it looks like we got through just peachy!

Shaking her head as if to clear it of the threads of magic she pulled apart before her spell took effect, Myvannuii grins at the men surrounding the fallen azer in triumph, allowing herself to relax her tense posture in the sudden stillness of the forge. Before anything else, she turns to the children left behind by Flask, hoping they’re unharmed. This is not her area of expertise, so she has to struggle to control her excitement and take any bloodthirsty edge off her grin, trying to smooth it into a gentler smile, lips quirking up at the corners. She approaches slowly, stooping slightly and speaking softly: “You must be Elisa and Borat, right? I’m Myvannuii. Don’t worry, you’re safe now – everything’s going to be all right. Mrs. Oakleg was so worried about you that she called all the guard, and they sent us to find you.”
She pauses to take her next cue from the children, looking them over for any visible injuries. Squatting low, she rocks bird-like on her heels, her head tilted curiously to one side, but trying not to do anything to scare them.

Myvannuii watches in displeasure as the azer weathers a storm of blows. She keeps an outer eye open for a chance to strike while probing the currents of magic with her mind’s – a wave of possibilities sweeps by and carries her instinct off with it. Subconscious racing in the arcane wake, Myvannuii observes distantly that her hand has drawn some stuff from her component pouch: a few drying rose petals, curling into fragile points. Still more or less automatically, she utters a half-remembered Draconic incantation and lets the petals fall. Instead of drifting gently down, they loop briefly out towards the azer like claws before burning away in flashes of dark rose light.
I’m indulging in some purple prose – if it’s too much, I’ll try to rein it in. Myvannuii’s using her bonded item ability to cast sleep instead of one of her prepared spells, and I thought I’d explore what that might mean for a wild mage who attempts to eschew methodical spellcasting. (At the moment, I imagine that it might be a subconscious impulse strong enough to bring an unprepared spell ready to mind for long enough to cast it once. Generally, who knows how it might work for wild mages?) In such close quarters, her best bet would seem to be to cast the spell to leave Bron out of the area and hope Daegan makes his save.
Instantly, her will and consciousness snap to the forefront. Having called up her magic, Myvannuii concentrates on directing it to best effect, even if she is somewhat surprised that that particular spell emerged. Intent on catching the slaver in its power, she tries to keep the others clear, deciding, though, that Daegan’s faith has probably steeled his will sufficiently to endure the influence of her enchantment. DC 15: let’s hope that’s just right to catch who we want to!

Glad that Daegan was able to get Bron back on his feet, as Stone and Gjoren finish off the elemental Myvannuii dances back to resume sniping with her caustic cantrip, hoping that she can hold back to avoid the risks of firing an arrow into the melee as long as everyone's still upright. Casting acid splash: ranged touch attack 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (13) + 4 = 17, damage 1d3 ⇒ 3. She only wishes she could think of some witty reply to the azer's boastfulness as she launches her glob of acid and feels the surge of power within her that presages her renewed connection to the fields of magic she needs to cast her greater spells.

As Bron falls to the elemental's blow, Myvannuii's calculations callously override her concern for the man, and suggest that she now has less of a chance to strike a party member by firing into the melee. Hoping that Bron can hold on for a moment longer, she nocks an arrow and draws, coaxing the missile towards the elemental with a low mutter, "Fly swift and sure, free of our friends." Let's hope Myvannuii's as good a shot as she thinks she is! Attack roll 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (17) + 5 = 22, and - fingers crossed - damage 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 1 = 8. As soon as she's fired, she races behind the line of fighters to stand over Bron and try to fend off any other attacks before Daegan can call forth his healing magic, hoping her delay hasn't exposed Bron to too much danger already. That is, she then moves into position to be able to aid another on her next turn, in case it becomes necessary.

Hearing Daegan's words, Myvannuii snaps her head around to see him turn to Bron as the fighter does his best to fend off the outsiders' attacks. Hoping that Bron can hold them back until the fighting clears enough for him to withdraw, she looks for an opportunity to get so close as to help defend him or fire into the fray once he's out, as needed.
Spellcraft check: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (7) + 9 = 16. Distracted by Bron's predicament and straining to hear properly over the clash of weapons and living flame, Myvannuii only catches the last of Flask's invocation, not enough to identify the spell. As the guard begins to ascend, though, she makes her best guess, hoping that the party can deal with their current troubles before he gets too far away to guess where he's headed with Terrem.

Peering through the smoky smithy and the press of combat, Myvannuii spots the group's foes through the door and tries to place them, piecing together lore she read ages ago. Knowledge (planes) checks for the dwarf and flame beast, respectively: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (16) + 9 = 25, 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (6) + 9 = 15. As Flask suddenly forces his way to Terrem's side, his words calling up unexpected magic that Myvannuii can feel rising in the room, she diverts her attention to the guard's work, trying to figure out what's happening.Spellcraft check: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (14) + 9 = 23. Somewhat belatedly, Myvannuii contributes her abstruse knowledge to the conflict. (Grins.)

"Magic's sake, man! If you're going to charm anyone, turn one of our foes! The children aren't troubling us!" she exclaims in exasperation, her annoyance cutting into her effort to be heard over the sound of the fighting. As the dwarf and the living flame continue their attack, she squeezes past Daegan and breaks right, hugging the wall to make sure the cleric can get past and bring his sword to the battle. If I've estimated distances correctly, I think that places her on a line drawn down from Flask on the updated map. Unsure of Flask's plans, Myvannuii decides to press the assault on the roiling flame, flinging a conjured glob of acid towards it. Casting acid splash: ranged touch attack 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (20) + 4 = 24, dealing 1d3 ⇒ 1 damage if successful.

Thanks, now that the door is open, I think I will revise my action - just making it a double move to get a bit closer.

Hearing the crack and swish as Stone throws himself at the door, bursting it open, Myvannuii starts off again, getting as close as possible without getting in Gjoren's way, frowning as she's delayed by the rocky outcroppings that the party used to conceal their approach. She presses ahead as quickly as she can, balancing the need for haste with the knowledge that she will only be a hindrance until she can get a clear bowshot in or regain the focus necessary to cast something more powerful than a cantrip. Myvannuii will just move another 30' closer than her first move action left her; I'm afraid the cover we used to get close undetected means no running for her this round.

Not pleased that their quarry is willing to risk stifling in smoke rather than face the party outside, putting the stolen children in even greater danger, Myvannuii darts forward towards the door, keeping clear of Gjoren's sighting. Moving 30': one square to the right and then five up from there, on the last map. From there, heart pounding, she lines herself up with the door again, in case the occupants plan to rush out when they think they have an advantage, and so that she's closer to support the rest of the party advancing to help Stone force the door.

Seeing that Bron has closed the distance between the gnoll and himself, Myvannuii decides that it would be best to contribute a spell, and not to miss. She casts magic missile with a wild surge: 1d100 ⇒ 50 - so to normal effect, dealing 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4 damage, barring shield-like effects. As the missile streaks from her pointed finger, she starts trying to collect her thoughts and energies for her next spell. Recharge time: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4 rounds.

Initiative: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (13) + 3 = 16. If Myvannuii still has a clear shot at her turn during the surprise round, she'll take it. Attack and possibly damage: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 51d8 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 1 = 8.Apparently, she won't land a shot this turn in any case.
Twitching her head in annoyance at how far askew her haste has knocked her aim, Myvannuii tries to calmly correct it, watching for the movement of the men closing in on the entrance and ready to switch to her spells if she's at risk of hitting one of them with an arrow.

Myvannuii grins as Stone puts Bron's plan into action, then turns to cast mage armour on herself, calmly speaking the words as she unties a knotted leather thong taken from one of her belt's many pouches, concentrating on transferring the force of the binding to her own person. For an instant, a translucent shirt of loops like glittering mail appears over her clothing, fading from sight - but not touch - the moment after. Happy with her added layer of protection, Myvannuii scrambles down to where Gjoren stands bemused, nocking her own bow beside him. She shrugs, joking, "Mighty and cunning heroes are we! At least - if Bron's stratagem succeeds in drawing our quarry out."

Considering the problem of the best way to proceed, Myvannuii surveys the building again, looking for any advantageous positions. What's the roof like, and how high is it? Can Myvannuii guess how difficult it would be to climb up? She shakes her head, adding, "It appears that we have little choice other than trying to force the door and hoping for the best. It would be better if we could somehow gain higher ground and draw them out, but that doesn't seem too likely without placing the children, one of us, or both at unnecessary risk. I agree that we're not likely to get any readier, at least if I might have a moment to arm myself."

If everyone's agreed to trying the painfully direct approach, Myvannuii will cast mage armour while we form up to force the door.

Myvannuii watches Gjoren approach the building among the crags, her hand drifting nervously between her quiver and spell component pouch, fretting about the possibility that Gjoren will be spotted despite the ease with which he slinks forward. This close to their quarry, it is a struggle for Myvannuii to stay patient, while at the same time she is not so eager to rush into danger unprepared.
Checking to see how well Bron is getting on with re-arming himself, she reflects with some satisfaction on the ease and elegance with which magic protects, but acknowledges its limitations almost instantly, wondering if she has made the best selection of her spells for the day. She then turns back to the building, making sure she notes the positions of the five men and hoping that there won't be any nasty surprises before the group is ready to proceed on its own terms.

Welcome to our new players! It’s nice to have you join us!

Myvannuii is relieved that Ignok was reasonable enough to cooperate and that no one seems to expect her to execute him afterwards, but she is not so naïve as to hope for a sudden change of heart on the bugbear’s part simply because his life was spared. Considering the likelihood that his wounds will prove fatal, either by weakening his next attack or due to infection, she still finds herself wishing that she could impose a geas or at least a curse to hamper further wrongdoing. “In good time,” she thinks, acknowledging the limits of her understanding of magic even as part of her starts the mental exercise of reviewing the underpinnings she’s learned.
As the others offer their last warnings to Ignok before turning to leave, Myvannuii joins hers with a glare from narrowed eyes. Still speaking in Goblin, she simply adds, “Go. Maybe one day you will understand why we have spared you – until then, just count yourself lucky.”
She quickly takes her place in the group as everyone gets ready to leave, purposefully putting on a bright face. “That’s something at least;” she says breezily, “our good baker seems not to be so good after all. It’s more than we knew before. I wonder, though, why anyone would get mixed up in something like this.” Myvannuii steps ahead, trying to pick out the smoke of their destination, while her mood slips until she shakes her head in unhappy confusion. “Slavery!” she exclaims, like a muffled curse, unable to imagine the reasoning behind such a system.

hogarth, I have some questions about converting my character to the final Pathfinder rules and how some of them interact with recharge magic. I’ll post them in the discussion thread to avoid cluttering the game thread up with too many out-of-character concerns. (Beetles off to cast revive thread.)

"Stone has a point," Myvannuii says from the back of the group. "Anything we learn about their leader might help us prepare for when we find him, or to make sense of why bandits would go to the trouble of digging under Cauldron's wall."

Switching to Goblin, Myvannuii addresses Ignok directly, "Say quickly but truly: who is Kazmojen? I heard Drakthar boast of Kazmojen's luck in slaving before you attacked. She pauses to reinforce the consequence by giving air to the silence of dead bugbears, trusting it to suggest how dangerous the party is. What sort of a prey are we hunting? The answer you give will determine how we take our leave of you."

Myvannuii's highfalutin Goblin is mainly carried over from my own bumptious style, but she's also a wizard and not overtly threatening. She's trying to be brusque, and the talk of hunting is an attempt to engage with the mindset of the "cunning bugbear."

Myvannuii watches with satisfaction as her cantrip clouds the mind of her target, rocking lightly on her feet amid the clash of steel warning her not to get careless. Daegan's shouted instruction calls her attention to the wounded bugbear's retreat, and she wheels into place beside Stone, (With a 5' step on the diagonal.) where she doesn't have to peer through the thick of the fight.
Waving almost cheerfully to let Stone know she's there, Myvannuii nocks and fires an arrow at the fleeing bugbear while she still has a clear shot. Attack and damage: 1d20+5=19, 1d8+1=5.

As the bugbears crash into the party, Myvannuii watches the exchange of blows for an opportunity to strike, stepping back to avoid getting pulled into the melee. She moves 15' left from her position on the updated map, in particular. Quickly reevaluating the situation, she notices that one of those attacking Stone is slowing down, while Gjoren's attackers seem undaunted. Dipping into her spell component pouch, Myvannuii pulls out a bit of seed fluff and sweeps her arm towards the bugbear in front of Gjoren with a weirdly cadenced utterance in Sylvan; the fluff flashes silver and blows behind the line of party members toward her target as if carried by a sudden gust of wind. Casting daze (DC 14) and waiting to see how strong the will of these monsters is.

Darian, sorry to hear that you have to withdraw from the game. I hope that real life never becomes too onerous - have fun! (I'm writing tongue-in-cheek, not intending to be cavalier; I just wasn't sure what to say to avoid an absolutely bare-bones "Goodbye!")

Taking courage from the blessing Daegan invokes over the group, Myvannuii watches the bugbears race forward. Knowing that she can't afford to let herself get distracted, she focuses on gauging the distances and angles of the attack, cutting off her annoyance at Flask's ill-luck as his shot goes wide. Running through her options internally ("Too far for that, too close to risk this until we see who they start swinging at...") Myvannuii decides to try her luck with another arrow aimed at the closest bugbear.
This looks more promising! Attack and (maybe?) damage: 1d20+5=19, 1d8+1=9.

Not that anyone expected anything better from bugbears...
As the bugbears justify her suspicions, Myvannuii curses in disgust, "Nai i falmamyr o marwain undulavarlye, thauryrch!"
Rolling initiative: 1d20+3=17.
Quickly reaching into her quiver, Myvannuii nocks another arrow to her bow and fires at the nearest bugbear before Daegan steps in front of her. Switching to Common for the benefit of the others, she shouts, "Seek your slaves elsewhere, vermin!"
Attack roll and, hopefully, damage:1d20+4=8, 1d8+1=4. Piffle. It appears Myvannuii should have taken a bit more time with that shot. Here's hoping the bugbears engage in such a way that she can cast mage armour before being drawn into the melee. I don't mean to sound self-centred - after all, mashed wizards just don't contribute to the mix as well as un- - but with the recharge time of that spell, I don't want to cast it before it's obviously necessary, in case we run into more trouble later where it could come in handy.

I guess I should have been more explicit in my previous post, rather than confirming the aphorism, "Go not to the elves for counsel, for they will say both no and yes." The plan I was trying to sketch out for Myvannuii was to get everyone within bowshot, and then even hail the bugbears, albeit joining a warning shot to the shout, on the incredibly slim chance that the bugbears aren't up to no good. I'm trying to figure out what a CG elf in her shoes would do - I think her alignment would suggest that everyone deserves a chance to prove themselves, but she's also clever enough to predict that these bugbears are likely as evil as any, and to arrange things to let the bugbears know the party means business while giving the party enough room to get a round in while the bugbears charge. Myvannuii probably draws the line at attacking people she isn't absolutely sure deserve it without warning, though. If the plan is to strike without warning, someone else should take the first shot.

Myvannuii frowns as she eyes the distant group of bugbears, weighing Stone's report. She draws an arrow from her quiver and considers it abstractedly for a moment, running a finger along one edge of the head. "If they were intruders in the forests of my home, my people would shoot them where they stood, but as a stranger here, I do not know the extent of Cauldron's lands, and cannot gauge these bugbears' purpose so well as to call for their instant death. I would prefer to avoid combat if possible - but then the bugbears might fall upon others less capable of defending themselves, and we would never know if they had anything to do with the children's disappearance. Perhaps we could learn what we need and then drive them off with a show of force. They may be goblin-kind, but perhaps their cunning will at least recognize a warning shot."

"I seem to have been thinking aloud again," Myvannuii says, shaking her head, turning to Stone and the others with a grin. The grin settles into a grim smile as she adds, "A bugbear should count itself lucky if it receives no graver insult than arrows at its feet. My compunction is likely too scrupulous." She flips her hand down and lets the arrow slide through her fingers to the fletching, holding the missile ready to be nocked.

Rolling onto one elbow, Myvannuii draws her bow from over her shoulder, hoping as she does so that her movements are not too obvious from a distance. She replies softly to Stone's suggestion, "I agree that it would be wise to approach as near as we may while we remain undetected. Hopefully, if we get closer under cover, we will be able to see if these people have carried off the children and retain the benefit of surprise should it become necessary."

Looking the group over, she adds, "I am unhampered by armour, but I have concentrated my energies on other skills than stealth or swordplay; I would prefer not to advance alone closer than a bowshot, which would give me time to defend myself if their intentions prove ill. If anyone spots something amiss, I'll loose a shaft as quick as I can to draw them off."

Hello again! I hope I haven't kept everyone waiting too long. I'll be happy to update to the final rules, but I haven't had the opportunity to read them through yet, so I might lag a bit behind as I read through from what I think is most likely to have changed for my character.

My trip to Boston was good. Unfortunately for you folks, I'll also be on vacation from the 19th to the 25th. Panda, have a good time at Gen Con!

I meant to post this myself more or less midweek, but then the boards went down with the release of the core rules, so I haven't been able to until now. I'm going to be away from the 19th through the 30th, traipsing around British Columbia, and since I don't have a laptop, I doubt I'll have access to the Internet for most of that time. In the interval, could I ask someone to look after Myvannuii for me? I'll be glad to reinstate her to full PC status as soon as I come back.

Myvannuii looks to the east and cranes her neck as she peers into the sky to search for the first evening stars. Turning to the group, she says, "I have prepared a cantrip that provides light, should any desire it, but I would also suggest that we rest soon. Our quarry has quite a start on us, and I doubt that I, for one, could continue for more than another hour or two this night before exhausting myself."
She examines the darkening sky once more as she continues, "As Daegan says, light is a distinguished messenger, swift and forceful - I do not relish the prospect of being spotted and forcing a confrontation when wearied. If we dare hope that those we follow may be or have been travelling slower than ourselves, we may hope to come up with them with an early start."

In response to Flask's question, Myvannuii joins the confident chorus affirming readiness, "All should be well, provisionally; as long as we can stop to refill waterskins as necessary, I have sufficient supplies to meet my needs for a few days."

Not to worry - Myvannuii's using "provisionally" in a non-standard sense intentionally, she's not merely mad. Also: hogarth, I'm afraid I forgot to wish you "Bon voyage" last week. Did you have a good time?

"Agreed," Myvannuii says, dragging the turf of sod over the entrance to the tunnel before running to take her place in the group, standing just far enough to the side to ensure a clear shot past Gjoren. She takes a last look back at the covered tunnel, trying to remember where to look for the edge of the turf if they need to return this way.

Still blinking as her eyes adjust from the darkness of the tunnel to the light of day, Myvannuii watches as Gjoren picks up a fresh trail. Nodding as Stone replies to Flask, she adds, "It's strange that both sets of tracks run the same way - I suppose the ants might have been led here in the hope that they would obliterate any traces left by the original tunnelers. Or perhaps the ants found the track and followed it later, so we'll have to see if the tracks separate further along."

As she speaks, Myvannuii unslings her bow from over her shoulders, taking it in hand now that she no longer has to squeeze through an enclosed space. From her previous travels in the wilderness, knowing that it's often easier for things to sneak up on one than one might think, even in relatively open terrain, she prefers to have the bond that she needs for her spells ready, though she's not so nervous that it doesn't rest lightly in her grasp.

Sorry to keep you waiting, hogarth, it didn't occur to me to speculate about the party's next steps out of character, and I guess I was hoping someone else would step up with a plan. Hmm... I may have to try harder to get into properly chaotic character.

I agree with Panda40; I'm not sure where we would begin to search for the baker generally, but we're already at the tunnel, so if we explore that hopefully the watch can just keep an eye out for Ghelve in case he turns up.

Anyone want to add anything to the story?

I’ll only add to the story if the guards seem unconvinced, in which case Myvannuii will beckon them inside to show them the tunnel and actually speak her thoughts about how the presence of the tunnel should suggest that the baker had disappeared before the arrival of the intrepid adventurers. She’ll also reiterate that, having tracked something to the bakery, we decided to break the door down when we heard something moving around inside that didn’t answer our knocking on the door, although that was rather poor manners. If Myvannuii's intervention proves necessary, I'll post her added explanation in character.

Myvannuii fidgets while the guardsman sounds his horn, knowing that human views on law and order tend to be a bit more stringent than elven, and hoping that she can avoid airing a flippant remark about it. “Now is not the time to expatiate on the power and freedom of change, or the trust that should be placed in individuals,” she thinks. “Thankfully, the suspicious stain and the tunnel should justify our actions. We would either not need to break the door down or, as it is, have the time to dig so far ourselves.”

Trying to avoid metagaming but trying to drop a hint just in case it’s needed: even if we execute our search very thoroughly, it’s only looting if we take something away that we shouldn’t. Is that opaque enough?

Apologies for not posting sooner; I was hoping to take a cue from the others, and didn't get around to checking the thread last evening. Since Perception isn't one of Myvannuii's strong points, what if she aids another - Gjoren - rather than repeating her search? She's got low-light vision, so that might help a bit while poking around the dark tunnel. Of course, if the others think it would be best for everyone to try separately, we can do that instead, after we deal with the new arrival.

Hearing the call from outside, as Bron moves to intercept the visitor, Myvannuii moves to the middle of the room where she can watch through the forced door. In case Stone and Daegan didn't hear from the basement, she stamps on the floor to signal that something's happening upstairs. She hopes that it's only a curious neighbour and murmurs, "It appears that we may have some explaining to do."

Myvannuii strolls around the bakery, deliberately keeping her posture casual but looking the room over carefully. Poking her head into the ovens as she passes the back wall, she exclaims, “Hist! There’s a tunnel here!” She blinks in the darkness and runs her hand along the tunnel mouth, hoping to spot or hit a trace of passage. Perception check: (1d20+2=13). After Myvannuii finishes her search, she steps back from the oven, shaking flecks of soot from her hair.

She stands behind the counter to give Daegan room to check the oven. Pausing for a moment, Myvannuii starts to think out loud, “There’s not much sign of the bakers having been caught up here. If the ants had caught them, wouldn’t there have been more of a mess?” She points at the food scattered about. “The ants don’t seem to have felt like carrying their food away. Could they have come in after what happened here?”

Myvannuii crouches down and starts poking through the mess behind the counter, working from the oven tunnel to the large stain on the floor. Extracting an intact date from a split bag, she blows off an invisible speck of dirt and starts chewing on it while she goes back to work. As her hands get covered with flour and tacky honey in the search Perception check: (1d20+2=19), she looks up at the others from the mess. “I was just thinking,” she explains, “If Mrs. Oakleg’s children were taken through here and the ants did arrive afterwards, could the mess they made have covered something left behind first?”

She stands and wipes her hands clean as best she can before displaying anything she might have found. “Who tunnels into an oven anyway?”

As Stone asks for aid with considerable aplomb considering the gravity of his wounds, Myvannuii stands a moment longer peering into the depths of the bakery over the bodies of the ants, her heart still pumping some last adrenaline through her system, and her mind still occupied by her slowly returning spell power. “Would that I could,” she murmurs, and then snaps back into a more normal mood.
Glancing from Stone’s bloody robes and Bron’s wound to her unharmed self, Myvannuii says, “Not a particularly glorious beginning for me, I’m afraid, and letting others suffer all the blows…” She shrugs apologetically. “It takes time for me to recall the power for my spells, particularly if I armour myself with magic, so I do not wish to do so until I must. Unfortunately, when not using spells I am best served by my bow, but I doubt that I’m skilled enough for you to happily have my arrows flying about you in the press.”
She points to the stain on the ground inside the bakery. “That looks interesting, but we might want to look through the whole mess to try to see what happened here.”

Myvannuii's mouth quirks up in a brief smile as the first ant begins to slow. Her last spell having gone off without a problem, she decides to try to repeat the performance with the ant standing just inside the doorway (behind #0).

Another acid splash:1d100=33, 1d20+5=16, 1d3=1.

Unless by some horrible twist of fate Myvannuii is threatened in melee next round, she'll cast magic missile again at a visible ant that doesn't seem to be dying:1d100=12, 1d4+1=3, 1d6+1=5. Since I rolled a 12 for the wild surge, the damage rounds to 1 point only, and with a 5 round recharge time, here's hoping that Myvannuii doesn't need mage armour before then!

As Gjoren's blow wounds the closest ant, Myvannuii quickly decides to risk pressing the attack. Hoping that her aim will be true, she speaks the words to conjure a fluid orb of acid and flings the amorphous ball at the wounded insect.

Casting acid splash with a wild surge: 1d100=71, 1d20+5=18, 1d3=1. Since that's a ranged touch attack, hopefully I don't need to worry that Myvannuii's just splashed one of the party.

Sorry for the delay, I had a death in the family over the weekend and have been fairly busy.

My condolences. Like hogarth wrote, take your time.

Rounding the corner of the building, Myvannuii steps in next to Bron and Daegan, trying to peer past them into the bakery. Spotting one of the ants (Ant 2 on the map) in the far corner of the room, since she is clear of the melee she focuses her thoughts and prepares to cast a spell that will avoid striking any of the party. With a seemingly careless flick of the wrist and a garbled incantation, Myvannuii invokes a wild surge and casts magic missile.

Here are my rolls for the wild surge, spell damage, and recharge time, in that order: 1d100, 1d4+1, 1d6+1=[74], [1, 1], [1, 1]. Normal damage, but at least the spell will recharge in only two rounds.

Hearing the door break open, Myvannuii leaves her abortive attempt to open the shutters and starts moving back towards the door.

Initiative:1d20+3=13 On Myvannuii's initiative count, I'll actually describe where she moves. For now, I'll wait to see when everyone acts, unless that slows things down too much. I don't want to spin out too many hypothetical actions before my turn.

As soon as Stone tries to force the door, Myvannuii tries the right-hand shutter, hoping to catch a glimpse of what might be inside.

Strength check:1d20+1=3

My grief! I should have tried to help the others, apparently.

Following Gjoren's cue, Myvannuii readies her bow and moves towards the window. Bron's suggestion does give her pause; she shrugs noncommitally, waiting to hear the consensus of the group. She adds, "We could try knocking first, and hope the door holds if, assuming the worst, those inside decide to greet us with steel."

Myvannuii's bow is her arcane bond, so she might need it if it comes to spells.

“Agreed,” Myvannuii says, a grin flashing across her face before a frown replaces it. “I hope that if the children are here that it’s for an improbably harmless reason. If not, not the least of my worries is why those responsible have the effrontery to take them only so far.”

Are the shutters exterior? If so, I propose that we try to open them at the same time as we try the door, so that someone might be able to get a look before everyone rushes blindly inside. We might get a better idea as to what’s going on, without losing the element of surprise.

Myvannuii stands silently and, she hopes, unobtrusively, while Bron and Daegan speak with Mrs. Oakleg. She doesn't want to aggravate the unfortunate woman's troubles by horning in as well, interfering with the others' tactful approach and adding to the barrage of questions that she is sure Mrs. Oakleg must have suffered from anxious well-wishers and mercenaries alike already. She listens from the edge of the conversation and casually looks over the room, drifting about slowly. "I hope I don't look too sinister on the periphery," she thinks, glancing back to the conversation, but not thinking of anything that has not been raised already, does not offer to speak.

Shaking her head in admiration at Gjoren's detection of the tracks, still invisible to her, Myvannuii follows the others.

I'm just checking in with this post; it does sound like a good plan to visit Mrs. Oakleg first.