Jorogumo of the Palace Gardens wrote:
Will save vs DC 18 charm person...1d20 + 8 ⇒ (10) + 8 = 18 resists! In Japanese to the jorogumo: Stay away from me, "fair maiden"! I know what you are! Fox leaps out of the cherry tree and backs away from the jorogumo...
Aa of Monday, 22nd January, at 9:00 in the morning, Ogon Fox remains at large, hiding in the fragrant gardens that give the Shogun's palace its name. His faithful familiar thrush, Orpheus, has been instrumental in keeping him one step ahead of the samurai and ninja hunting the Fox, by acting as aerial scout and directing Fox to evade capture... The little thrush has so far saved his master's life, but their luck is about to run out...
In fact, that very moment, in fox form, Fox was hiding in a cherry tree in the Shogun's gardens as dozens of merciless samurai and ninja hunted him... Orpheus was perched on a nearby branch, his little heart beating rapidly with fear and adrenaline... Damn you, Irish Farewell! I'm going to use you for kindling, you rotten, motheaten piece of... Damn It! I wish Johann was here by my side...
Meanwhile, unlucky Ogon Fox, victim of the cursed intelligent cape of the mountebank known as Irish Farewell, finds himself in the court of the grandson of the Shogun who put a bounty on the heads of Fox's father and all his descendents... Stunned and astounded that he had teleported out of the frying pan and into the fire, Fox tries to think fast, turning into a common fox... but that shape is not innocuous enough in a land where shapeshifting foxes are common, and the Shogun at once is suspicious and demands that his samurai capture the little fox just in case it might be a kitsune of a certain lineage...
Having taken a liking to the Irish Farewell cape of the mountebank while donning it as a raincoat during the past two stormy days at sea, Ogon Fox happens to be wearing the magic cloak, and gets a sudden idea... I know! I'll use the Irish Farewell to surprise these fish-men! I'll just dimension door to the other side of their phalanx and flank with Johann... *BAMF!!*? Fox activates the cursed cape of the mountebank, awakening its evil intelligence and its curse! For the first time it is activated by a new wearer, instead of letting the user dimension door as usual, it teleports the wearer to the worst possible place at the worst possible time! The unwitting Ogon Fox is teleported far from here, to the worst place he could possibly be--In the court of the Shogun who seeks the Fox's head--at the worst possible time--while the Shogun is fully armed and armored, is present in the court, and is accompanied by his deadly samurai bodyguards!
ROUND 1: Fox takes in the situation and ponders briefly... Hmmm... Should I try my mystic bolts underwater? What if I electrocute us all!? Better try a different tactic... Thinking better of using his favorite electricity bolts in the water, Fox instead casts grease on one of the approaching sahuagin's tridents, hoping to make the sea devil fumble the slippery weapon...
A shapeshifter's instinct leads Fox to wonder how the short sword's magic would interact with Johann's abilities, so he proposes a little expiriment and hands the blade over to his coldborn friend while he is in cobra shape... Half expecting Johann to grasp the hilt with his fanged snake mouth, he is delightfully surprised when a prehensile crab pincer grows out of the right lateral side of Cobra Johann's serpentine form to grip the blade in a vice-like crab claw! Marvelous, Johann! Want to borrow it for this adventure? Crabpincer can be used to make primary or secondary attacks while Johann is in a beast shape that has a swim speed!
Knowledge (arcana/history) 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (5) + 13 = 18 good enough for common mythology... @ Cobra Johann: Relax, my scaly chum, I'm all in one piece yet... But where on Earth...or rather, under the sea, are we?? This is some lost, sunken city of unknown origin... Could it be Atlantis, the ancient sea kingdom of Atlas, son of Poseidon? The poet Plato describes a great city of orichalcum, marble and pearl... A central isle with a palace carved by Poseidon from a lone mountain peak, surrounded by three concentric ring-shaped canals, all spanned by bridges of marble, quartz and orichalcum... Temples, groves, stately houses... This place surely matches the description! Fox declares as he feeds Orpheus sips of a potion of water breathing...
Day 1 of sailing, Fort vs DC 15 seasickness 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (15) + 5 = 20 succeeds... Fox gains his sea legs quickly the first day, perhaps taking after his pirate father... He moves freely about the deck and often climbs the rigging to get a bird's eye view of the stormy sea... Day 2 of sailing: Having proven unaffected by the tossing sea the day before, Fox need not make further saving throws this voyage... Finding the stormy voyage somewhat disconcerting but at the same time exhilarating, Ogon Fox passes most of the second day attempting to cheer his shipmates with lovely sea shanties played on his organetto of sounding, alternating these with uncannily accurate imitations of dolphin squeals and whale songs heard during the first day of sailing... Day 3, as the ship descends in an ever shrinking spiral toward the yawning center of a great whirlpool over the ruins of a sunken realm... Fox ties himself to the rail on the starboard side of the Alanqilis with a length of rope, fearful of being washed overboard by a rogue wave! He prays aloud in Japanese to Saint Cecilia: Oh patron saint of musicians, hear the prayer of your devout and humble servant! We are in peril of drowning, Saint Cecilia! Please, in the name of Our Lord Jesus, don't let us die here in the Atlantic Ocean, but send angels to rescue us, if it be God's Will! AMEN!! He crosses himself with one furry hand while gripping the rail with the other... As the ship suddenly crashes on the sea floor, Reflex 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (6) + 7 = 13 fails, and Fox takes 7 falling damage as he is roughly slammed to the deck! *THUD!!* OOF!! Fox is overwhelmed by the sea closing in on him, and momentarily dazed, floats up into the sea a few feet before his tether goes taut, then he regains his wits and untied himself as Cobra Johann swims over to make sure his pal is still alive... |