Tarren the Dungeon Master's page

Yeah, maybe we should get back to all in the same timeline.

The creature stumbles around in confused circles for a while, but then picks up a scent. Unity sense it too. Smoke. The owlbear storms off in the direction the smoke comes from. As the owlbear and Unity approach the smoke and both hear people. They were loudly joking with each other, but they get quiet at the noise of sticks cracking beneath the owlbear's feet. The owlbear gets quiet when they do; ignoring Unity, she peers through the thick brush at the men in the clearing.

Unity can see the men as well. They're sitting around a fire over which sits a cast iron frying pan. Beside the fire, are two very large eggs.

The men listen cautiously waiting for another noise, waiting for confirmation that they have reason to be afraid. The owlbear waits too, allowing her rage to grow inside of her.

Unity have a chance to act before either the beast or the men do.

Convinced the creature is about to attack, Unity tense and prepare to pounce!

The creature is fast and angry. It lunges forward and roars again when Unity tense. It beats extends its wings out to the side making itself significantly larger and beats the air around itself, but does not attack.

Intimidate: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (7) + 10 = 17

At that moment it appears to hear something to the East. It turns and crashes off into the woods in that direction.

Unity can make an attack on the creature if they wish. Unity can also pursue if they wish. Or both.

Clearly the creature is out for blood. Just another savage animal in the forest.

The creature, however, doesn't attack immediately. Roll for initiative if you intend to attack.

The creature sees Unity's intimidating posture and makes their own Intimidation check in turn. Intimidation: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (6) + 10 = 16

If Unity are not running away in fear, make a Sense Motive check.

A large hulking creature bursts into view. It is the size of a bear, but has feathers instead of fur. Its face is wide and bear-like, but the eyes are even bigger and it has a beak rather than fangs.

It wails and flaps its winged arms furiously.

Unity are not very stealthy. The cracking of branches as Unity follow the sound just happens to come when the animal has paused in its plaintiff roars. The animal stops crying. Clearly it has heard the snap. It has detected Unity.

The creature isn't trying to be stealthy. The thunderous footsteps and snapping branches tells Unity that something large and bestial in charging towards them.

Tarren the Dungeon Master wrote:

"You have a friend competing in the Swords ranking? Impressive. If I were a betting rabbit, I'd ask for inside information," says Mr. Rabbit with a grin. "A short-range laser? That's easy enough."

As he talks, he spins up a model of a laser in holographic space. The model is blue, but, he grabs components from the holographic representation of his inventory and adds them to the projection, turning that part of the holograph green to show it is completed. "87% complete," Mr. Rabbit says, reading the text on the side. "I know where I can get the missing pieces, but it will take me a day or two. Are you watching your friend compete? I'll swing by the tournament tomorrow and tell you how it's progressing."

"So this part here... and the laser interfaces here?" Henri is in student mode watching Mr. Rabbit work.

"Yeah, we are intending to watch the competition. I really know nothing about it. I hope Theo does, but I'm not actually sure he did this with a lot of forethought."

Mr. Rabbit looks rather serious. "Above a certain ranking, these fights are until surrender or death. I do hope your friend has thought about which he will choose should such a choice become necessary."

Tarren the Dungeon Master wrote:

A wide dirt road heads out of town, running parallel to the shore at first, but then slowly curling away from it. Several trails branch off of the road. One heads into the forest, another down to a bunch of small homes along the shore.

Stay on the road? Down to the houses? Up into the woods? Make a Perception check regardless.

They trot off into the woods, sniffing at the air and looking warily around them.

[dice=Perception]1d20+11

Unity smell a little smoke coming from a campfire not far off the roads. They hear the sound of voices in the same direction. Further away, deeper into the woods, they hear a plaintiff cry of an unfamiliar animal. Something is either hurt or upset.

"Life has actually been quiet. We've visited home for a short time. One of my friends stayed here to participate in a contest, a tournament. He won't be available to travel with us until after that takes place and I was hoping you might be willing and able to help me use the other crystal to install a short-range laser for self-defense on our ship. And I'd love for you to get a look at her, anyway. She's quite special, said no pilot of his ship, ever."

"You have a friend competing in the Swords ranking? Impressive. If I were a betting rabbit, I'd ask for inside information," says Mr. Rabbit with a grin. "A short-range laser? That's easy enough."

As he talks, he spins up a model of a laser in holographic space. The model is blue, but, he grabs components from the holographic representation of his inventory and adds them to the projection, turning that part of the holograph green to show it is completed. "87% complete," Mr. Rabbit says, reading the text on the side. "I know where I can get the missing pieces, but it will take me a day or two. Are you watching your friend compete? I'll swing by the tournament tomorrow and tell you how it's progressing."

Unity is currently disguised as a local, so they leave town without issue. Once outside they go down the road a while before slipping off and resuming their hexapodal form, which obviously ends their disguise. They head for the most wilderness area they can find, curious again about what the wild places of this world hold.

[dice=Roll in case you want to use it]1d20

A wide dirt road heads out of town, running parallel to the shore at first, but then slowly curling away from it. Several trails branch off of the road. One heads into the forest, another down to a bunch of small homes along the shore.

Stay on the road? Down to the houses? Up into the woods? Make a Perception check regardless.

The Stealth checks were to avoid detection around Tarokh HQ where Theo was staying. It was more of a discretion check than a Stealth check, but it was successful and Theo doesn't see you.

Theo, unaware of the presence of his teammates and not wondering why a large covered wagon has appeared in the middle of one of the Tarokh courtyards, makes his way down to the beach where he does stunts for the gathered crowd. His successful rolls still apply as nothing has changed for him.

Unity makes his way out of Tarokh. Last time he flew out, I believe. If he's walking out this time he can do so in the disguise of a local or with that note from the King of Coins giving him permission. What would Unity like to do now that he is out of the city.

Henri makes his way to Mr. Rabbit's shop. Mr. Rabbit drops what he is working on to greet his friend. "Henri! You're back! I assume you had some adventures?" asks Mr. Rabbit.

What does Zellgato want to do in Tarokh?

And a Perception check from Theo .... Do you notice these guys. They're pretty discreet.

You also said, since you were going back one day, that you would avoid contact with Theo.

Anyone leaving G.D. (Henri, Unity, and/or Zellgato) make a Stealth check. Theo, make a Perception check. Failure may require Theo being thrown off and needing to reroll those successful checks he made earlier.

I'm sorry I have been so slack. Beginning of a semester. Health stuff.

Henri wants to visit the day before the competition. Theo just had that day. Since no one objected, I will assume you're cool with that. Everyone, except Theo, arrive at Tarokh, shortly after Theo has headded down to the competeition.

Gay Deceiver arrives back in Tarokh with Henri, Unity, and Z on board. "And, what kind of disguise would you like me to wear, sir," G.D. asks, calling Henri 'sir' as she does when she's annoyed. "An ox cart? A dragon? A canvas covered wagon?"

This dream feels very close to an ancestral memory. You'll see why.
Unity reigns.

Unity dream of stalemate

They are eating the goat god. The goat god is eating them. Each heals from what it consumes from the other. Together they are as an Ouroboros, caught in an eternal cycle of consumption and regrowth. But it is not perfect. With each cycle, they are each a little smaller. Shrinking, shrinking, shrinking away...

Unity dream of reigning

They lay on a great stone, as one after another, animals come before them. The weak, they cull and eat. The strongest, they merely scratch, that they may copy their strengths for themself, before sending them on to breed. Those in between are turned back, to try again to grow stronger. It is a responsibility that has grown tiresome, but who else is ready to take it on?

Are some of the animals humanoid?

Unity dream of stalemate

They are eating the goat god. The goat god is eating them. Each heals from what it consumes from the other. Together they are as an Ouroboros, caught in an eternal cycle of consumption and regrowth. But it is not perfect. With each cycle, they are each a little smaller. Shrinking, shrinking, shrinking away...

Unity dream of reigning

They lay on a great stone, as one after another, animals come before them. The weak, they cull and eat. The strongest, they merely scratch, that they may copy their strengths for themself, before sending them on to breed. Those in between are turned back, to try again to grow stronger. It is a responsibility that has grown tiresome, but who else is ready to take it on?

Are some of the animals humanoid?

Theo chats with those who wish to. The Olympian puts on his best PR, answering questions to the best of his ability.

[dice=Diplomacy]1d20 + 19

Once the judging is complete, the godling does walk back to TAROT HQ to rest for the next day, likely working out before bed.

The Olympian is much loved, but there are still some local favourites.

After some assessment of his abilities and a consultation with an oracle, it is decided that Theo will begin competing with in the Round of Sixes and work up from there. His first fight will be at 5th bell (11 am).

Tarren the Dungeon Master wrote:

"They're nosy," says G.D. She pulls up and displays what looks like a law enforcement case file on one of them, but, on closer inspection, she has just generated this file herself as if she was investigating them. "Especially this one! He kept trying to test the limits of one of my buffers. MY BUFFERS HAVE NO LIMITS. They know I'm amazing, but I won't let them find out how amazing. I can work with them without revealing too much. Don't worry. I got this."

"Yes, I'm sure you do. Good. Do you have schematics for short-range lasers that this amplifying crystal would be compatible with?"

Henri would like to get the short-range laser working and time really shouldn't be a concern, right? Because of time travel shenanigans? Or should we return to visit with Mr. Rabbit? I've lost the thread, I'm afraid.

I don't have a preference for how it proceeds, and you're right that you could time travel there, with some minor risks.

"Amplifier crystals? I mean, we could do something with that, but ... where exactly did you get these?" asks Evie.

Given another day to work, Evie can hook up a Legal Light Laser Cannon (Direct-Fire, short range, 2d4 ship damage.) Mr. Rabbit could probably do the same.

By morning G.D. is equipped with camouflage and ready to travel. Back to Tarokh in time to see Theo compete or would you like to have Boston Theoretical work on the weapons?

The crowd is impressed. The bookies nod and consult one another. The swaggering contestants look stoic. The crowd of women and handful of men smile lustfully. The odds are even that Theo makes it to the rank of 8 of Swords. They start to swing against him making it further. Theo is encouraged to rest well and return the next day.

Without any further contributions to offer, Unity go off to take a nap.

Though on their way, they realize they could really use a shower after the nastiness of the chupacabras, so they do that first.

A great trans-dimensional goat-god bleats in the darkness outside of Unity's dreams.

"Ma..What!" Theo wakes with a start. Once the situation is explained, he answers. "Thank you."

The Olympian gets up, stretches, exercises, showers and gives his armor and The Angel Sword a quick polish. After making sure we was very presentable, Theo walks down to the shore to official sign up for the tournament.

A long stretch of the shore has been cordoned off. Shirtless would-be warriors, mostly eager young men, strut and flex and swing swords. Occasionally, two of them engage in a mock duel, trying to impress the crowd. The crowd divides itself into three groups: (1) other established swrords, looking out for any up-and-coming threats; (2) bookies, trying to get a sense of what odds to give for the unknown contestants; (3) lustful onlookers--mostly, but not exclusively, women--salivating over the shirtless warriors.

If Theo wants to impress the crowd there are a number of skill or ability checks he could make.

A stand for registering sits in front of a dais upon which sit two thrones. Neither the King nor Queen of Swords is present.

"Ma..What!" Theo wakes with a start. Once the situation is explained, he answers. "Thank you."

The Olympian gets up, stretches, exercises, showers and gives his armor and The Angel Sword a quick polish. After making sure we was very presentable, Theo walks down to the shore to official sign up for the tournament.

A long stretch of the shore has been cordoned off. Shirtless would-be warriors, mostly eager young men, strut and flex and swing swords. Occasionally, two of them engage in a mock duel, trying to impress the crowd. The crowd divides itself into three groups: (1) other established swrords, looking out for any up-and-coming threats; (2) bookies, trying to get a sense of what odds to give for the unknown contestants; (3) lustful onlookers--mostly, but not exclusively, women--salivating over the shirtless warriors.

If Theo wants to impress the crowd there are a number of skill or ability checks he could make.

A stand for registering sits in front of a dais upon which sit two thrones. Neither the King nor Queen of Swords is present.

Henri goes aboard Gay Deceiver while the team works to "meditate on the problem of the crystals," but really he wants to talk with G.D. to see what she thinks of the crew and if she's OK hiding from them in plain sight or if she thinks she communicate with them, especially as mods are being installed. He will also ask if she has schematics for a short-distance heat ray that would utilize the amplifying crystal in her extensive data banks.

"They're nosy," says G.D. She pulls up and displays what looks like a law enforcement case file on one of them, but, on closer inspection, she has just generated this file herself as if she was investigating them. "Especially this one! He kept trying to test the limits of one of my buffers. MY BUFFERS HAVE NO LIMITS. They know I'm amazing, but I won't let them find out how amazing. I can work with them without revealing too much. Don't worry. I got this."

The crew will work through the night and have G.D. ready to go by morning. Weapons would take longer.

Theo sleeps well and is only awoken by one of the staff members at TAROT HQ reminding him that he intended to register for the tournament today. The tournament itself starts tomorrow, but today is a big show of the contestants so that people can start putting their bets down. The location is familiar to Theo. The contest is being held down near the part of the shore where he fought the Last Atlantean.

Evie and her crew begin making the changes necessary for the ship to have holographic stealth abilities. They aren't as sure what to do with the two Martian amplifying crystals Mr. Rabbit asked Henri to collect one of. Perhaps, Mr. Rabbit will know what to do with those.

Evie begins to rotate the 3D model on their datapad, showing how the projectors would be shielded by transparent omnisium mesh "Kind of like the crystal fragment we've been allowed to study" she says in a tone that hints she knows something about Nissa's wand and something about the properties of the crystalized omnisium it is made from.
"Shielded like this, they won't be damaged. The components would be internal and the programs can run off the ship's computer. We can also install some basic cloaking technology. Nothing as sophisticated as the Atlantean Marauder's technology, but Verve has figured something out."

"That sounds reasonable to us," Unity agree.

"Okay, well, heat rays aren't really my area, but this is what I've come up with for the camouflage ...," says Evie, sharing a datapad covered in calculations and diagrams that would require an Engineering check to decipher. Seeing a few confused looks, she elaborates, "See, these six holographic projectors would work in tandem ... Am I wrong in assuming that sometimes you might want to make this ship look like, say, a 20th century garbage truck or a barn or some other thing from, let's say, a different time period? I'm just speculating about your needs here."

Once outside, Theo puts on the magical belt.

"Hey. Thanks a lot. For your help in there", The Olympian chagrins at the Coin Agent. "Please pass on my thanks to The Coin King."

Theo, I asked on Discord about whether you have a Strength enhancement bonus already and, if so, from where. I'm thinking about how this magitech device would interact with your tech.

I don't think the tech has been named. In lieu of something official that is different, I'm dubbing her Evangeline, Evie for short.

"Evie, you've studied the ship more than anyone other than myself. What are your thoughts on weaponry options?"

After spending some time with Evie, Henri would be thinking if he's seen anything to indicate that there's any reason to be suspicious of her or if he trusts her as much as Verve. He's trying to decide if it's safe to introduce her to Gay Deceiver.

Evie, an undergraduate intern from the University, has been both doing math and fangirling out as three legends of Boston Theoretical have come over to hang around and chat while she works. She looks like, at any moment, she's going to say something about how she'd been a fan of TAROT since high school. The team's three-year disappearance would account for much of the years since she was in high school.

"Me?" she says, her voice high-pitched. She calms herself and, with her voice in a normal pitch, says, "You want my opinion? You don't want to bring this ship into combat. That's the whole point of the stealth. Defensive weapons should cover your escape -- short-range, big blast. Offensive weapons should be long range and precise. This is too special of a craft to endanger in ship-to-ship combat."

She pauses and looks a bit embarrassed. "But, that's just my opinion."

The Olympian hold his hands out before him. "Okay. 100 gold coins..OR.. I take you upstairs and give you a mind melting orgasm?"

[Dice=Diplomacy]1d20 + 17

She smiles a bit, but raises a finger and points a the middle of Theo's forehead. He feels a pang as his thoughts are probed. "Perhaps you are forgetting why you wanted this belt in the first place, or are your feelings there untrue?"

After a pause she says, "Make it 150 gold pieces."

The servant of the King of Coins rushes over to pay. He shoots an almost imperceptible dirty look at Theo and a very perceptible sympathetic look to Seven of Wands.

"Miss?" says the Wand with one eyebrow raised.

"He's from away, Seven of Wands" explains Oberon's servant.

"Apparently," she says haughtily and then turns her attention to the belt. She examines the runes on the outside of the belt, "The runes are giantish, but the belt is dwarven made. They read 'True strength comes from good character'."

"I have a feeling," she says. She starts flipping the belt around looking for something. Eventually she finds a way to unfold two layers of the thick metal studded leather and finds more writing inside the belt,"yes, there it is, 'lacking that, have this'. Yes, Dwarven humour 'True strength comes from good character, lacking that, use this.' Others reading the runes see only the serious line, but the warrior and his friends know about the hidden writing. It's an enchanted belt granting the wearer strength."

She passes it back to Theo.

"100 gold pieces, please," she says, extending a clay jar for Theo to deposit coins he probably doesn't have in.

A belt of Giant Strength +4 for Theo. This is a superhero game, after all. I think it's time for some super ability scores ...

I don't think there was a statblock for the ship.

Maybe we should come up with one. I'm sure I'll make you fight something.

Let me do some preliminary research and let you know the parameters. You are right that it will be mostly a timeship, not an assault ship, but you may get in a scrap here or there ... maybe get chased by a giant goat god.

"We like the idea of fighting that thing we saw on foot even less," Unity say. "And it needs to go." "We can't imagine anything good is coming of it indirectly devouring the blood of millions of goats from many worlds. But we do have other priorities right now."

The Boston Theoretical techie looks from Unity to Henri and back again throughout this conversation, wide-eyed but not doubting anything either says. She is definitely enjoying the chance to sit on the working away, listening to two transdimensional superheroes talk about goat gods.

Theo thinks about it for a few moments. "Eh, I'll take it to the Wands. Haven't really met those guys yet."

The King of Coins shakes Theo's hand after they arrive back at his tower and then sends one of his servants to guide Theo to consult the Wand on duty. The servant carries with him a letter of introduction from the King.

"The runes are giantish, I think," says the servant as he leads Theo across town. "They look similar to dwarvish because dwarves descended from giants. Not many people know that."

Tarokh is quiet. Everyone is home for dinner. It takes 30 minutes to reach a small building in the courtyard surrounding the Tower of the Wand. A young woman is on duty.

"Seven," says the servant, greeting the woman and handing her the letter of introduction.

"What have we here then," she asks after reading the letter. She points at the belt.

"We also got a glimpse of a gigantic bloodthirsty goat god that was eating the chupacabras when we had a brief glimpse through a momentary portal."

Verve laughs as if Unity have made a joke, sees that they haven't, and looks concerned. "A gigantic bloodthirsty goat god? Perhaps we should keep a closer eye on chupacabra infestations in the future. Henri is in the enclosed bay down there, if you'd like to see him."

Tarren the Dungeon Master wrote:

"Why not take a position of greater authority? My Knight is old and has long spoken of stepping through one of those gates to a place he loves more than here. He met his wife there and would return with her, leaving Tarokh, the city of his birth, behind forever, dying quietly in Elven lands. Why not replace him? Become the Knight of Coins. You've earned it today. Why risk death in the tournament?"

"I can't go into it, Oberon", Theo smiles to himself as he rests his head on The King of Coin's shoulder. "It's a private matter. But The tournament is a way to secure a future for himself and my children."

"Well," says Oberon. "Then whatever that belt is, it is what you need to secure that future, such is the curse of that old stronghold. You could take it to the market to get appraised, or go to one of the Wands."

Unity do not leap into combat with the... goat-god. The chupacabra were patheticly weak compared to them, but not only are there millions of them here, that creature must be large enough it might well be able to fit *Unity* in its mouth. No, better to take this material back, perhaps to plan a future expedition with companions to confront this threat.

They head back to the cruiser and report their success.

Unity find the ride home a bit faster, but also longer, than the ride there. Verve, or whomever at Boston Theoretical is controlling the craft, sends Unity to the upper heights of the troposphere before plunging back towards Boston in a wide arc, constantly slowing the craft's descent until it can circle and hover over HQ before landing vertically.

A Fortitude save of DC 15 keeps from tasting your last meal a second time.

A half-dozen jealous BT staff watch Unity descend from the craft. "Enjoy the ride?" asks Verve. They all grin mischievously.

Theo and the King of Coins ride through arch together. They return to where they left, the stretch of land on the far side of the hills of Tarokh, inaccessible to most of the people of Tarokh, but not to the many Knights, Pages, Kings, and Queens who live in the towers and castles on top of the hill.

"There are many other gates to explore, my friend," says the King of Coins, spurring his horse. He shouts over the noise of the horse and the wind and branches. "But only Knights, Pages, Kings, and Queens get to do so freely. Why do you wish to enter the tournament of Swords? At best you come out 8th or 9th."

He is heading straight back to his tower, knowing that Theo is hurt, but does not stop talking along the way.

"Why not take a position of greater authority? My Knight is old and has long spoken of stepping through one of those gates to a place he loves more than here. He met his wife there and would return with her, leaving Tarokh, the city of his birth, behind forever, dying quietly in Elven lands. Why not replace him? Become the Knight of Coins. You've earned it today. Why risk death in the tournament?"

[dice=Athletics]1d20 + 18

[dice=Acrobatics]1d20 + 18 Weird.

Theo runs and leaps on the back of the waiting horse. "Find what you were looking for, Oberon?" [dice=Diplomacy]1d20 + 17

Theo catches up and jumps onto the horse and Oberon urges it forward.

"Not in this place, and neither did you. No one does," says Oberon. "It's a cursed place ... or blessed. Some pretty old divination and enchantment magic holds sway here. We think it's an old Dwarven stronghold. The runes above the inner arch read, 'You cannot always get what you want, but may all who labor here get what they need.' Whatever that is you're holding in your hand, it's probably what you'll need to claim a rank in the competition."

The horse carries both of you towards the arch leading back to Tarokh.

Another roar from the dragon alerts Oberon that it is through the entrance. He spurs the horse one more time makes a rude gesture to Nightsky as he appears in the sky above his lair swooping towards you.

Theo's free hand grabs the runed belt as he lands on the pile of coin.

"Master Nightsky. It was a pleasure."
[dice=Acrobatics]1d20 + 18

The godling tumbles and flips through the small side entrance.

The dragon roars in anger and rushes after Theo. It will take some time to squeeze through the exit made for dwarves or humans.

On the other side of the exit, Theo sees the King of Coins on Theo's horse, his own horse having been the first casualty of the dragon. For a moment it might have looked like the King was going to abandon Theo with the dragon, but he waves to Theo, encouraging him to run and leap onto the horse.

Tarren the Dungeon Master wrote:

The crew begin to examine the ship, using fairly non-intrusive scanners to do so. They're getting readings on her and making comments to each other. They know that this ship is different. She attracts a lot of attention and would no matter where she goes. Unless one of the upgrades is some kind of camouflage, that's inevitable. Verve spends half-an-hour constructing a holographic representation of G.D. while their technicians scan everything. "There," they say, privately to Henri. "We can work with the data the ship let us collect, but depending on what you want done, you might need to let us bypass some of your security protocols."

In public, Henri nods his approval at the technicians' care and methods, offering, "Let's discuss the suggestion of camouflage and analyze the data."

In response to Verve's private comment, "I propose you and I have a meeting on the ship so we can all discuss this. All of us." He looks at Verve meaningfully with his addendum.

Verve takes the hint and says, "Let's go back to my lab. We will be able to look at the holographic map we've made of it. I've got a omnisium threaded paint on the walls; we can't be spied on from any dimension."

There are some cloaking options here. You might be able to find some other nice things.

[dice=Reflex]1d20 + 9

[dice=Charisma]1d20 + 1

The fails to dodge the line of acid, but finds it propels him into a pile of treasure. A huge leather belt with metal disks engraved with strange runes sits atop a pile of coins.

The side entrance the King of Coins exited through is just in front of Theo. It's too small for the dragon to get through without squeezing.

Unity are immensely disappointed in their prey's near-inedibility. They turn from it in annoyed disgust and get back to their work.

Unity don't have Physical Science trained.

Unity examine the odd vein of white rock carefully, trying to identify if there's an active portal. If they don't find anything, they try to cut out a sample with their claws and take it back to the cruiser.

Unity find it difficult to pry loose a flake, but, when they succeed at doing so, they know it immediately. For a brief moment, Unity see a flash of a dimension beyond, one that this thread of crystal seems to connect to this dimension.

The dimension, or, more likely, a pocket dimension, appears to be a long series of hives climbing from the ground and descending from the sky. The hives must be at least a mile high, because the millions of creatures buzzing around them insect-like are, apparently, chupacabra. Millions of chupacabra nest in hives, popping out of this dimension, and returning full of blood, like mosquitoes.

In the center of this field of hives sits a black, four-horned goat dressed in flowing burgandy robes, fires burning in braziers all around him. The goat-god opens wide his mouth and the flying chupacabra stream in so thick that he has to gulp them down and open his mouth again.

Unity has half-a-second to leap into this pocket dimension if they wish to fight a goat-god, but ... It's a very big goat-god.

Tarren the Dungeon Master wrote:

The dragon spends its turn realizing Oberon has fled and turning back angrily to face Theo.

The godling runs straight at the black dragon. But instead of attacking, The Olympian will attempt to jump and flip over the dragon and run to the side entrance Oberon ran through.

"Thieves! Thieves!!" hisses Nightsky as Theo runs past. He sprays a line of his acidic spittle at Theo's back. Damage: 10d6 ⇒ (2, 1, 4, 5, 3, 1, 6, 1, 3, 5) = 31. Make a Reflex save for half and roll a Charisma check as well to see how lucky you are.

[dice=Physical Science]1d20 + 14

[dice=Piloting]1d20 + 19

Henri will make a point of explaining that he has a closer-than-average connection to the ship if he is able to concentrate. To that end, he will attempt to meditate to communicate with Gay Deceiver and ask her to perform some obvious task like opening or closing a hatch. After his demonstration, he exhorts them, "Don't treat her like a ship, my friends. Treat her like family."

The crew begin to examine the ship, using fairly non-intrusive scanners to do so. They're getting readings on her and making comments to each other. They know that this ship is different. She attracts a lot of attention and would no matter where she goes. Unless one of the upgrades is some kind of camouflage, that's inevitable. Verve spends half-an-hour constructing a holographic representation of G.D. while their technicians scan everything. "There," they say, privately to Henri. "We can work with the data the ship let us collect, but depending on what you want done, you might need to let us bypass some of your security protocols."

Unity try a few bites of Chupacabra to see if it's any good. They've not had much occasion to hunt something they can eat, they're not going to pass up the opportunity now.

Once they've either determined this prey is not good to eat or they've eaten their fill, they head back to where the chupacabras had been lairing and draw the Sword of Truth, wondering if there is a portal of some kind in the area.

The chupacabra has almost no taste, but the taste it does have is unpleasant. Mostly, Unity taste goat blood. The thing is little more than a sack of goat blood. The chupacabra is capable of clumsy flight despite its small wings because its bones are hollow. They too fill with goat blood when it eats, probably making the flight clumsier.

Unity, later, find the Sword of Truth vibrating at the spot where the chupacabra were first spotted. Using it as a divining rod, Unity soon find an empty cliffside lair. The sword vibrates audibly at a vein of white stone in the rock.

Physical Science check to identify the stone.