I'm am so sorry to hear about dramatic changes. Thanks for letting us know and not just disappearing. I wish you all the best in whatever comes your way.
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Nadiya holds out her potion of lesser restoration to Kain, presuming it will help him feel better after the attacks. "I only have one of these. But I can try to treat other wounds if needed." She looks pointedly at Nirdosh, but waits for him to speak up if he needs attention. Once she has tended to wounds, she rejoins Vreya and Leta and goes down to the archives. "Well-spotted," she says to Vreya when she notices the trap.
Hey, sorry, I know I'd posted I'd been offline and I think I just sort of lost track of what was happening. I am here though. Life has been throwing me a few curveballs which has been slowing me down but I should be able to continue to post. Do hope everyone else is okay.
"Who is hurt?"
Hope she's okay!
Dealing with a family emergency. May be offline for a bit. Please bot me as needed.
Could we bot Miruna to do something? Or did she already go?
Sorry for being slow on my part... suffice to say, it's been a week. Should be able to keep up but please bot me if needed. Nadiya's not the best person to be dealing damage at these things (other than trying to attempt a touch attack to do positive energy damage, which has its own hazards) and I'd like to save as many of my resources as can for going deeper into the area, so I'd like to see if the others are able to finish it off before I make my contribution.
Nadiya keeps Mishka close now that she's delivered the spell to Valeska. To Kain, closest to one of the shadows, she also offers protection, this time calling upon the enduring spirits of her ancestors to ward him from harm.
She also pulls out a bottle of alchemist's fire.
Nadiya quaffs her potion and moves back toward territory where she can use her magics more safely. Mishka, having delivered the spell to Valeska, trots alongside Nadiya, staying close to her feet.
I will shortly be drawn into holiday events and obligations and be slower online for the next week, possibly two weeks. I will check in if able; bot me if needed. Of course I expect many of us may be slowed down a bit, so I look forward to seeing you the other side of the season. Health and happiness to you and yours in the coming New Year!
Since Valeska appears to be most in the open, Nadiya casts bear's endurance and scritches Mishka behind the ears, transferring the spell to her. "Bring this boon to Valeska, then return to me immediately." She whispers to Valeska via message: "Mishka is bringing you a fortifying spell." The cat bounds out of the basket on Nadiya's hip and runs toward Valeska to rub against the countess's legs in order to transfer the spell. Nadiya also takes a potion of bear's endurance out of her haversack and prepares to quaff it.
Nadiya's face flickers from excitement to concern, as she stands at the edge of the doorway. She sees Nirdosh warning of something, and Bashuk tensing... and something chilling at the edges of the streets. She gestures to Vreya to stick close to her and Leta, and whispers via her message spell to Leta that something is wrong.
Nadiya turns to Leta at the entrance to the larger archive. "We should go get Vreya, I think she will want to see this." If Leta agrees, she heads back out to tell the dwarf of their findings.
Nadiya turns to nod in gratitude to Leta as she advances.
Once the party catches up with Leta, Nadiya eyes the archive, and involuntarily takes several steps before it. She's never had a formal education, but has always had a great thirst for knowledge. Whether listening in on lectures in larger cities where she traveled to or discovering old books on sale in caravans and seeing what new worlds they led to. And, after all, she is now, through some ridiculous turn of fate, magister of a whole county, so it would only be her duty to gain what information she could while the opportunity presented itself. She pauses, catching herself at her own movement. "I think I'd like to see what's in there," she explains, belatedly. "Though perhaps as long as we go not to far from each other, we might split up and explore what else is here."
Nadiya nods at Bashuk. "Agreed." She adjusts her dancing lights as needed as the party joins up with Leta.
"They are trapped for now. And we should continue our investigation; Vreya's theory is good but we should be sure there is nothing else going on here. If it is just the rust eaters then the orcs will no doubt gladly perform an extermination. That prior investigations failed suggest there is more going on down here and we should save our resources for that." Nadiya pauses, then hastily finishes, "On my opinion of course." She is otherwise ready to follow Leta's lead into the next area.
"Good thought, Vreya. I am no engineer, but that would make sense. But if that is the case, are we in danger of the place collapsing on us?" If Leta reports on a nearby academic district, Nadiya suggests they might find records of how the place was constructed.
Really sorry to hear that. Hope you have the support you need. Take care of yourself and we'll see you when you're ready.
Before Bashuk begins, Nadiya as promised (quietly) casts web over the doorway to prevent any creatures waking up from immediately charging them as they work.
From the descriptions of the room it sounds like we could barricade them in fairly well with non-metal debris (since they've already eaten all the metal). And if you just want to attack, do it. We've been stuck on this like for a couple weeks now.
Bashuk, just want to be very clear, not trying to yell at you the player, just trying to get us past the impasse, as I expect if we do nothing we'll end up in a fight anyway. Leta votes seal. Bashuk votes attack. Valeska, Kain? What do you think? (Hope Kain is okay after the hurricanes.)
Nadiya rolls her eyes as she hisses through the message spell. "Then stop wasting time and lead the charge!" She is not usually so blunt. She stops herself from immediately apologizing and will only hope she has time later. But she is well aware the creatures will not sleep forever, and she finds the back and forth frustrating. She reaches for her spell component pouch. "Or I shall cast web over the door and that will hold for 70 minutes while we prepare a barricade with the wood debris we found here. Stop me, now, if you wish a different course of action." She prepares to cast.
"Crossbow bolts are steel. Arrowheads are steel. I do not know if they will hurt them--unless perhaps magic protects them, then my crossbow will work. But I do not see the point of waking them and luring them toward us." Nadiya sighs. "But the longer we equivocate, the more likely they waken. We either sneak attack out of necessity, with fire and ingenuity... or we seal them within. Which is it to be?"
Nadiya replies via message, which she's been keeping going since they entered. "Or could we block the way to the nest so they can't get out? That way we do not have to risk Sasha."
Nadiya nods, steps back, and if there is time, casts bear's endurance on herself.
Thanks for the nudge! Update came right as I was in the middle of a big project and I somehow entirely missed it. Hope Kain has avoided more hurricane difficulties.
Nadiya creeps closer to the others. She whispers to Bashuk. "What if I web the door? Or will that get in your way?"
Nadiya, ever slowly exploring and trying to take in all around her, pauses at the curios at the wall. Using detect magic, she sees if any radiate magic. If they do she will note this to the party and try to identify them. If none look magic, she picks up a couple she thinks may be of historical interest.
Ever lagging behind she takes up the rear when Bashuk moves on.
"I often make use of a magical iron stake spell, so I've got a quantity of iron filings in my component pouch--and I prepared the spell today, so they are ready to hand. Of course, the spell itself might distract them, although it's not exactly the most efficient use for the spell, if it saves someone's armor or weapons, so be it. On the other hand, if they are here and can sniff it out, I may draw them to us..." Nadiya frowns, checking the clasp on her spell component pouch carefully.
Nadiya snaps her fingers. "Of course! They are eating it. They are eating the iron!" Then she looks around and realizes the party is already several yards ahead of her as she's been standing looking at things. She jogs to catch up with the group, sending her dancing lights ahead and behind to illuminate where they are looking. She repeats her realization. "The creatures, some kind of giant bugs, their spit or something, it breaks down metal and they consume it as food. Common in underground and strange places. We should be careful if they are still around. Don't want to loose your swords... or your belt buckles." She spots the utensils in the case and smiles. "Reminds me of some kitchens I've seen in northern Ustalav. Strange what seems familiar..."
Yikes! Definitely a legit reason to not be around on the boards! Hope you get power back as soon as you can and you and yours are safe.
"Four-legged creatures. Insect like, but quite large... I'm not well versed in things dwelling underground... what would they want with the iron?"
Nadiya looks away from the walls as "Barrels are very useful things, but not exactly art. Whoever did it, needed it more desperately than they needed a barrel. Or something destroyed the metal, but not the wood..." Turning her thoughts to more practical analyses, she kneels by one of the ravaged containers, and tries to figure out who did this, how, and when... signs of tools pulling out the nails, or something else extracting them? Are there signs this was recent activity, of people who dwell here now, things snagged on the wood or tracks in the debris?
"What a shame," Nadiya says aloud what Kain doesn't. "So cynical, to see only value in a mere stone and not what it serves as a part of a greater work." She is trailing the group well behind, and her eyes have yet to leave all the details she is taking in, and she looks like she is talking to herself or to the wall she gazes upon. "Of course we have mortal needs and require materials to fill them... life is meaningless without the stories that teach us, inform us, and that we will tell others. How much meaning have we lost, how much history is gone, how many souls have been erased because a greedy heart tore something apart for its raw components, failing to see the greater value? What are we if our stories are only about destroying things? Does that make us empty vessels of destruction? What stories will those who come after tell about us?"
Nadiya stares at length at the depictions of the Quest for Sky, both to take in the information and notice oddities. She is so engrossed you might need to nudge her along, as the cat wending around her legs is not adequate.
A bit indisposed this weekend so apologies if I am slow to respond.
Agree wholeheartedly with Hassan/Valeska. Gaming should be fun, and I've been there, when a game starts feeling like an obligation or chore rather than a fun thing. I've pulled out of GMing when that was the case and would blame no one else for doing the same. Vayelan, I'd urge you to at least take a formal hiatus of a week or two and then revisit whether you want to keep going. If the break feels like a weight lifted off your shoulders and you don't look forward to returning to the game, that gives you an answer. And if you know now you need to close things, that's okay too. I do agree this group is great and look forward to playing with all of you, whether here or in another game.
I will be slower than usual during the long Labor Day weekend. Will post when I can, but please bot me if necessary. Nadiya will cast dancing lights as needed to provide lighting and maintain message to aid in exploration if the party spreads out. Fine to use her spells as is sensible for any combat that breaks out.
Yeah I don't want this to be a pain in the rear end. I was just asking because you had asked us if we needed some skill check prompts, and I was thinking if I could see where we were and what directions we could go in, it might occur to me what I should do. This is absolutely not necessary and there are other ways to explore. (This said if you find a good map such as the one Bashuk offered, cool!)
I'm fine with either of those marching orders. Maybe it does make sense for Bashuk to be in back, as she can see in the dark behind the group.
1. Is there a map of this area? The links go to places we've been previously, not where we are now. (If no, that's okay, but if there is a map it may help us navigate/keep track of where we've been.) 2. May I suggest automating our exploration a bit? These are always hard to manage in PBP and I find this helps things tremendously. We assume we carefully look around where we are (roughly a "take 10" on Perception) and then go to a new area. If there's absolutely nothing of note as we proceed, we keep moving until we enter a new place with at least details of note, if nothing else. As the GM describes the superficial traits of the places we enter, we can always opt to interact deeper with the surroundings. So for example, if we enter a bedroom (not that I think we'll be in bedrooms here, but just for example) where a monster is hiding that our Perception allows us to hear, the GM would say "There is a bed, rug on the floor, and a wardrobe. Nothing particular stands out just looking at the room, but you hear a faint scratching noise coming from the wardrobe." He won't assume we open the door of the wardrobe (or check under the rug or what have you), but of course that should prompt us to be careful and do a little more poking. And if deeply searching the room would reveal nothing it is plainly stated so we don't get stuck waiting for nothing to happen.
"I have heard dwarves speak of the way they use symmetry in their designs... all the more so historically. Since the city above ground had three rising levels... this underground side probably has three levels mirroring it, going deeper." She looks around, and Misha hops out of her basket, sniffing the ground tentatively, whiskers perked as she takes in the new surroundings. "I doubt whatever is causing the earthquakes will be up here, but we should keep an eye out for murals or things that might give us hints as we find the way deeper."
BTW Vayelan I think we are waiting on you to move us into the next area.
Nadiya is ready and follows the party in.
Nadiya makes sure Mishka has eaten and is nestled securely in her basket after going through their morning of spell preparation. She casts mage armor on herself and message on the party so they can communicate quietly and/or if they get somewhat separated. The latter she will renew regularly if it is about to wear off. She is as ready as she can be.
Aye! Except I screwed up and delay poison is a 2nd level spell. So it would be 300 gp not 2 for 100. Drop the stubborn nails and get 1 potion of delay poison (I also have antitoxin if need be; but given we're going to the underdark a lot of underground critters have poison so). Thank you. I will put the wand, the potions of lesser restore, delay poison, and air bubble in my haversack. Nadiya will tell everyone all the contents of her haversack in terms of healing or combat supplies in case something happens to her, so they can retrieve what they need.
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