Talltree's page

A host shirren scuttles into the hall, shivering. "After Preluria, I don't think I'll ever feel warm again!"

A burst of static comes through the scanner over the bar, followed by a snatch of conversation: "...had to change our destination to Preluria, and we'll be two weeks in the Drift."

Fine now on my end. Thanks for taking care of that!

I'm also seeing it twice, and I appear to have gotten Reputation for it both times.

The chronicle looks good.

If there was a continuation of this, I'd think it would involve Big Mina's relatives--suppose she was a particularly slow specimen, and an immature specimen of the faster sort dropped onto an inhabited world? Or maybe the mission is to smuggle a few of them (carefully locked in stasis) onto an enemy world of some flavor?

Thanks again for running, GM A, and thanks to everyone else who played.

Profession (Archaeologist) check for day job: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (2) + 14 = 16

Thanks for running!

The shirren nods, looking around at the others. "I think so."

"I think rescuing as many of the creatures here as you can and observing Big Mina in situ is the best path forward. Her kin could threaten other worlds, and studying her would give the knowledge we'd need to stop them. What does everyone else think? Tania? Dirk? Chrys? Norbert? Don't let me and Khubelu make the call ourselves--we might be missing something obvious."

Talltree ponders, their twitching antennae the only outward indication of what must surely be strenuous mental effort. "That's...not an easy choice. Are you sure that Big Mina isn't intelligent? This would be much easier if we could talk to it. Even if we can't, though, the question really is which would be easier to move? Can we save as much of the native life here as possible and relocate the ecosystem elsewhere, or can we move Big Mina somewhere else? Maybe the Xenowardens have a way to communicate with it."

"Don't worry, Dirk. I'm sure they'll want us to get close to it, and we'll need someone more athletic for that." Besides, it's probably got some sort of immune response, and we'll end up having to fight off giant stone leukocytes (lithocytes?), or something.

"Loud and clear, base. We've reached the central chamber. I don't know if we have enough bandwidth for a visual." (Or if our comm units have that capability....)

Talltree invokes a macro again and looks around for mystical auras.

Casting detect magic, just in case Big Mina's metabolism is magic.

Talltree takes a moment to clean their brushes, small picks, and vibrohammer before putting them away neatly. "Thank you, Tania. I suppose they'll want us to keep exploring, if we can."

The shirren takes out a set of tools and gets to work.

Profession (archaeologist) check; add +2 if Tania can assist: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (14) + 13 = 27

How about Profession (archaeologist)?

Talltree clicks their mandibles together quietly, inclining their head meditatively. "I wonder...how did she come to be covered by the stone?"

Talltree invokes a pair of minor arcane macros (detect magic and psychokinetic hand). If there are no magical auras in the area they carefully move within range of the item and try to extract it from the grasp of the body.

"Kasathan?" Talltree looks more closely at the parts that are visible.

Talltree considers the creature (?) and its possible habits, discussing what they remember with Tania.

Life Science check, including Aid Another: 1d20 + 9 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 9 + 2 = 13

I should have just taken 10.

Talltree climbs down last, their lights brightening the way.

Is it possible to take 10 on the Athletics check?

Talltree casts a cantrip that conjures a few floating balls of light.

Since Talltree is unwounded, they'll take some time to read up on crest eaters, and also look up the mineral that Mora mentioned (particularly where it's found naturally).

I'm fine either way.

I don't know why my replies are sometimes going up before the post I'm replying to, but it's happened twice recently.

How much more do we have to go? I'm not sure how much of the slow pace is due to us being afk doing summer things, and how much is that we're not exactly a high-damage party.

Talltree freezes in surprise. Good thing it didn't wake up and take exception to us being there...we're less than fleas to something that big. "That's amazing! Do you have any records of anything else like this?"

Talltree looks over their notes for anything Dr. Montressi might have mentioned about nighttime perils, then clacks their claws together in surprise. "Of course! The crest eater is a kasathan animal, and there was an old kasathan starship crashed here. I'll bet it had a few of them on board, and with their diets they probably love it here--spread all over the place. They can just eat bits of the plateau! If there are many of them, though, we'd better get back to the base. One was almost too much for us!"

Are we able to communicate with the base?

"Thanks, Kubelu!" With the tower emplaced, Talltree works to get the equipment calibrated.

Computers check: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (11) + 9 = 20

"Good job, everyone! And best of all, no one is dead!" Talltree sets to work on the tower.

Engineering check: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (3) + 10 = 13

"The terrain here is not very good. It's hard to stake down the guy wires."

Having no luck with their weapon, Talltree resorts to the arcane. Glowing symbols spring into being around their claws as they invoke mystical force against the crest eater.

Magic missile damage; full action cast for 3 missiles: 3d4 + 3 ⇒ (2, 2, 1) + 3 = 8

The shirren tries their laser pistol again, as long as the crest eater is locked in place.

Laser shot vs. EAC: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (13) + 2 = 15
F damage, if applicable: 1d4 ⇒ 2

Talltree fires on the crest eater.

Laser pistol vs. EAC: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (10) + 2 = 12

Initiative check: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (11) + 1 = 12

Talltree keeps their distance from the crest eater, drawing their laser pistol.

Talltree tries to think of any piece of information that might help Chrys with the crest eater.

Untrained Survival check to Aid Another: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (16) + 1 = 17

"Chrys, keep your distance. If it eats rocks, it might find you delicious."

Talltree will try again, if someone at the bottom anchors that end of the cable.

At least, if that's enough of a justification for an Aid Another.

Talltree will carefully pick their way down the slope, bracing using the cable.

Taking 10 on the Athletics check gives a 15 with the rappelling bonus.

"We could just set the parking brake."

"Do any of you have cable? We can tie off to the buggy and rappel down the slope."

"Odd...that looks just like a crest eater, a kasathan predator. If it is, I don't know how it got here. Kasathans supposedly raise them as pets, though, so it might have escaped from some."

Can I take 10 on the check?

I agree with Chrys.

Life Science check: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (1) + 9 = 10

Talltree shrugs. "I don't know what that is. We should take it with us, and record everything else we can."

They peer intently at the mound. "Odd life-form, and well-camouflaged. I wonder if it has roots?"

The shirren jumps in surprise as the opening snaps shut. "Better watch out for those...whatever they are."

Did we happen to rest the tower on or near any of them?

Talltree starts with a cantrip (detect magic) and scans for mystical auras before using another cantrip (psychokinetic hand) to drop various small objects near and in one of the depressions.

"Let's take some time to investigate these features. We need to know if they pose a threat to the tower."

Agreed, unless there's a significant risk to the character. That's not something we can answer, so I'll leave it to GM A to make the call.

I was thinking that a comm link would let Talltree Aid Another from the ground, not make the main roll. Tania would be the best one to actually climb up.

The shirren looks over at Tania expectantly. "I can talk you through the calibration, if you can climb the tower. It looks like Dirk and Chrysanthemum have it braced."