Condolences. Perservere.
Sorry to see you go Doombringer/Zova.
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Sorry, I've been mostly offline with a bad cold. It seems to be on the outs now though. Did Tenoch make it to the doorway in order to peek out at any remaining guards who may be preparing? Is the map updated?
This does not bode well...," Tenoch says, his form rippling softly as he takes on a different focus and moves out into the room.
I'll likely be offline until Wednesday (Nov 12th). Tenoch can keep doing his thing, although if we're up against armed and armored guards, he might keep his shield on. If he gets damaged, switch vermin focus from ant to worm.
Tenoch moves in to position himself near one or more of the men.
Glaring down at the unarmed men, Tenoch's form ripples taking on a different insect-like aspect. He then looses and drops his shield to the ground so that he can grip his longsword two-handed before slashing it down.
Tenoch nods, "Makes sense. Less to worry about for when the alarm is finally sounded. Zova and myself may stand by the door, and prepare to move in to strike those inside. Nera could ready her bow to strike one of the ones further away, in case we cannot get to him in time. Do you have some concoction that you have put together that may be of assistance?"
"Will the others be joining us, or will they enter the hall with the ogre some time later?" Tenoch asks as he waits for the two tied up servants to be hoisted upwards to be shackled in the cells. After a moment he shrugs and moves along with the other two.
"Wait," Tenoch says, approaching the chimney. "Pull these servants up with the rope," he calls softly upwards, tying each of the prisoners to the rope to be lifted, "and shackle them alongside the guard. No need for there to be anything for someone to find should they visit the kitchens before we have made our escape." The beast then looks at the clothes of the servants and then his large form. Probably better to just use the clothes in our sack... Not like I could pass for a servant. He absently munches on some of the food Ardra had prepared as he pondered their situation.
Tenoch moves up to the other servant, his sword placed into it's sheath. "Worry not. The half-orc is correct. You have given us sufficient assistance to pay for your lives. You will sleep now, and perhaps awaken with a headache when we are long gone and all is safe." He then smashes his fist to the side of the man's head to knock him out.
You might need to roll that Acrobatics check to jump, Zova. Not sure what your bonus is there, since you don't have your sheet posted/linked. I suppose, if it's high (even with the ACP from the chain shirt), taking 10 may still beat the mystery 'fairly difficult' DC.
Tenoch sighs inwardly at the human's reaction to his appearance. Although it must have been particularly terrifying to them with my stepping from the fire... The beast moves around the two humans glowering at them, allowing his presence to back Ardra's words.
Tenoch's form seems to shift slightly as he moves, spiderlike to the rope and down it after Ardra. He prepared to move rapidly to confront any present in these kitchens.
Is "jumping out to avoid the fire" faster than "relying on fire resistance"? What is the jump DC? Do we take 10 on that too, or is that only for the climb?
"The cooking fire would not pose much of an obstacle to me, either. My skin is naturally hardened against it. Still, the two servants could easily run off to warn the guards before we have completed our descent. We would need to be quick and silent...," the beast says before slinging his shield across his back. " Seeing as Nera had yet to take any of the weapons, he offers her the dagger he recently had used. [b]"Here. Perhaps we'll find a better weapon for you soon. Consider taking a bow to strike at our foes from afar."
Tenoch hefts the man and carries him back to the cells, finding manacles of the appropriate size, he shackles the man into them, leaving him as he had been, not that long before.
Hmmm. You may have a point, but I figure he deserves a reward (life) for helping us out so much. It will be up to his own conscience to deal with the fact that, thanks to him, most, if not all of his colleagues (some may even be friends) will have died thanks to him. Living with that might be more fun. Heck if we had some cash, I might slip him some, just cause (although it might not look good when he's found).
When he's finished answering the other questions, I think he'll be amenable to being knocked out. We can even lock him up in the manacles if we like, to keep him out of the way. We did kind of say we'd let him live if he helped, and some of us (LE) would respect that (although if he dies due to other circumstances, such as us burning the place to the ground, that's not on us). Besides, I'm not sure about the mechanics of using a person as a shield.
It seems that Branderscar is no longer living up to its reputation with card games and the like occurring here. Lax leadership may make things a bit easier for us, though. Tenoch examines the map and listens to the guard's fearful replies, having nothing further to add.
Well it's clear he doesn't seem to have any mammary glands, lol. Wasn't sure if it was a typo or actually intended. Tenoch also doesn't need the dagger he has, so Nera (or Ardra) is welcome to it
Tenoch raises... what could potentially pass for an eyebrow at the guard's revelation of Blackerly. "A nightly card game? How many people are involved in such a game? Those who have just left shift, or those who should be on-duty?" The beast then nods at Ardra's response to his question on writing. "Indeed. A nice red map should do. Your finger will work perfectly as we won't need the fine details. Alternatively you could carve it into your colleague's chest, but I figure that may not be so palatable to you."
With Nera's Dex, she could probably make some decent use of one of the bows, at least in the near term. @Ardra: Tenoch is a he.
Tenoch takes and dons the gear as he receives it, listening to the man's fearful chatter. He looks aside at Zova with her question on religion, but concentrates on making sure the equipment fits him well enough to fight in. "Do you go home off-shift, or remain in some barracks somewhere?" the beast says before adding: "Perhaps you could draw a rough map."
I expect we'll have two shields (one from each of the guards) so it shouldn't matter about that. Yeah, low dex here too. But heavy armor would require a feat or dip into another class, so I'll likely forgo that.
High strength (20, or 22 with Ant focus) tends to lend itself to a two-handed style (since we get that extra half again damage). Particularly when you can get AC from other sources (I may pick up Armor of the Pit feat later, and get more NA with Beetle focus) and/or some form of quick healing (such as Worm focus for fast healing 1). Sword and board may be the way for us to go in the short term, though, since it could add to our 1st-level survivability (although the extra 2-3 damage from two-handing could as well). One of us could also go with reach weapons if we only need one front-liner. I don't know Zova's feats, but if Power Attack has been chosen, that would easily put her ahead of Tenoch in the two-handed area should we come to a point where we have to choose. Particularly since she's full BAB and Tenoch is 2/3.
Tenoch looks at the surviving guard, his mouth tentacles playing over the bloody dagger as he 'licks' it clean. "I expect you will not be needing your finery," he says. "Best remove them on your own, or else she may have to do it for you," he finishes pointing at Zova who was now looting the corpse of the man's colleague. "While you're at that, tell us about the manpower in the prison. Leadership, shifts, patrols, numbers, locations..."
"As you and I are likely to meet our opponents up close and personal," he replies to Zova, "we may each want to take a set of armor... and a sword, although I would prefer something with a little more heft."
Tenoch looks at the hapless guard, his knife held ready. He then looks down at the guard's fallen companion before looking back at the man. "You may be in luck. I'd say we only need one of you alive for information," he says before crouching down and slashing the guard's throat, taking care to keep the blood from splashing onto the armor or uniform.
I'm going to be away all next week and might not be able to post until the 20th. I'll do my best to keep track of things (and maybe on the rare occasion even post) on my cell/tablet/or whatever I have (assuming I have wifi for the latter). Smurf on!
Tenoch shakes his head. "I do not think that we could all stand in that blind spot and not be seen. One... perhaps two of us could ensconce ourselves there. Some will need to remain behind in the cell at their positions... Even so, if their attention is drawn to this cell, it will be obvious to them that some are missing, without them having to leave their post. We could use the clothes in the sack to at least mimic the shape of those missing but their attention would still need to be elsewhere or the lighting dealt with in some fashion." "If Grumblejack were the distraction, as Coral had suggested, their attention may be off of us enough that they could be fooled. At least for a short time. He would have to still seem as if he were imprisoned, however. A loose ogre is a good reason to sound the alarm."
Having read the gameplay thread first, I was at something of a loss to figure out what was going on until I saw the discussion posts. Still, no big deal. It was rather a funny and different situation. I could just see the dumbfounded look on the guard's faces as they looked through the new window at us.
Tenoch's gives a snort of surprise as Ardra shows the contents of the sack. "It seems that woman knows more about us than we do of her," he says, taking the symbol showing an image of a red and black wasp, the symbol of the Swarm Lord Graffiacane. After looking at it for a moment, he hides it in his rags. The beast accepts the dagger from Zova, turning it over in his hand. "It's better than nothing, I suppose, although something a little more sizeable would have been more welcome... but, in my experience, a beggar cannot choose their gift." The monstrous tiefling nods at Ardra's assertion of keeping back in order to maintain a low profile and turns to Coral on her reply. "True. But let us all keep an ear open for the guards should they decide to patrol. If we tell you to get back, so it quickly so we can maintain our ruse." "That being said, now that we are free of our manacles, I do not think we have a couple of hours in order to mix liquids, as a simple visit will allow them to see the truth... That minature laboratory does not look easy to hide. We may wish to begin our escape as soon as we have a plan."
Umm, Zova did what now? Aside from my agreeing with Ardra in that what is said on the Discussion thread stays in the Discussion thread until it is posted IC, does it take no time to pull things from it? There is some potential that one or more of us may have noticed and say "Please... Stop..."
And as I think about it, since it has yet to be revealed IC. I may change the god. Rather than Baalzebul, I might go with Graffiacane, one of the Malebranche known as the Swarm Lord. It seems to fit the concept better.
Let's go with the symbol due to the Divine Hunter aspect. I'll assume it's there then when I post.
Given the ranger and druid require a sprig of holly or some other sacred plant as a divine focus, presumably a hunter would as well. Alternatively, since Tenoch is a Divine Hunter, a holy symbol of his deity (Baalzebul) could work. In other words, could one of those things be in the sack too?
Tenoch cocks his head as he listens should the guards approach. One of his eyebrow ridges rises as he seems to ovehear something. "Apparently this prison is not what it used to be. Blackerly seems to run a gambling den in the gatehouse and allows drinking on duty. It seems the new warden, a wizard with an owl, stays in his tower... We may have a better chance at this than initially expected." The monstrous tiefling watches as Ardra unlocks herself and replaces her hands to hide their freedom. "That could work." He glances back to the door. "There does seem to be a blind spot to one side of the door. One person may be able to hide there and strike the one within while the other is over here checking on the prisoners...," he frowns. "Of course, we would then need some way of making darkning the area so they would not be able to notice the absence...," he continues looking around at the sources of light in the area, "or make it look as if that person was still here and perhaps create some distraction to be sure they weren't looking in this cell too closely...," his sunken baleful eyes move over to the ogre as he finishes.
I meant how is the lighting made? Everburning torches? Regular torches? Something else? Do they douse them at 'night'?
If one of them hangs back we wouldn't be able to jump at both of them from within the cell. Note the guard hanging back was also "gripping something in his hands". Can we get a perception to determine what it is (e.g. bow, deck of cards, a private itch)? What sort of arms and armor do the guards sport? Clubs. Blackerly had a sword. Anything else? What is the lighting situation in the cell block? As an aside, does anyone have detect magic with spellcraft and can use it on the veil to determine its properties? Knowing what's in it might save us from bad guesswork later on. If not, or it can't be determined, we could spend the time until shift change guessing what might be in there. Of course, also, how do we determine when shift change has occurred, unless they regularly patrol the cell block and we see it's someone different?
"Pretty dove? I was merely using the honorific you had attributed to the woman," Tenoch replies to Coral, his head cocked to the side in confusion as he examines her attitude. "I have not seen her, so cannot comment on her appearance. Such things are not important to me. Getting out of here is."
Turning back to Zova he speaks. "I cannot speak to your constitution, but in my life amongst the vermin, I have learned a few things and can be quicker to recover than...," he pauses as Zova calls out in Infernal at which point he snorts in amusement, the slits in his face flaring. "And so the decision is made," he says softly to the powerful half-orc. "Of course, there's no guarantee they would even recognize that tongue nor understand your threats." The beastly creature then settles down to his earlier corpse-like position, to wait and see the results of Zova's action.
Tenoch smiles at Ardra. "I may take you up on that offer of cologne, although I expect were I given leave to bathe, much of this stench may be washed off. A side-effect of being forced to live in garbage pits and sewage," he says, glancing aside in thought. "It seems what they deem good for me, was not something they considered sufficient for an offering to their God," he finishes with a shrug. The monstrous tiefling glances at Coral. "That 'wheat-haired hussy' brought us things we previously did not have that could very well be instrumental in our escape. Lockpicks are useful. Weapons are useful. Even the lantern could be of use to those of you who have difficulty seeing in the darkness. And who knows what may be in the sack or pouch, or what the potion may be." He nods at Nera's plan. "Agreed. After shift change, if that is a time we can determine, one pair of guards will be fresh, and the others who were replaced will not be should an alarm sound and they be called to act." "As for guaging the guard's response, one group may act very differently than another, so I am unsure as to the information we may gain from it. Although we may gain some information on timing for when they do act, it is also possible that they would beat us into silence, which means we may not be as fit to act when the time comes... If we do go this route, perhaps I should be the one to draw their ire."
Yeah, it's probably at least one, although for courtesy, we probably shouldn't post more than say 2-3 times over and above what the one with the lowest number of posts has made.
The monstrous tiefling watches as the veil floats past him, taking a look at the symbols on it. Nodding at Zova, he replies, "Indeed. I live, such as it is. We'll see if that changes in a few days, or if we are able to use that thing to help us get out of here." At Ardra's words of revulsion, the creature's face seem to shift, perhaps in a visage of annoyance, it is hard to tell. "'It' has a name," the hideous being says to her, "and that name is Tenoch. As we are all in the same situation here... prisoners... I would ask that you stow your Mitran sensibilities. I have had enough appearance-related prejudice on the outside, I won't have it here." He sighs and shakes his head. "In any case, you are right. A plan would be wise. Perhaps a night outing, if time can be determined here. Observation of the guard's movements may be useful as well." "As for the symbols," he continues, "two of them appear to be a weapon, blades of some sort, and the large central symbol seems something akin to the symbol of Asmodeus, perhaps an identifier as to the one who seeks to aid us. The veil is clearly magical. If there is one among us who may be able to determine its properties, perhaps they can do so."
"So someone on the outside has an interest in our welfare," a gruff voice arises from the large brutish form that had been hanging quietly in the middle of the group, "and has even given us something that could aid in our escape?" Apparently, despite the deathly-seeming greenish-grey skin and the stench, it was not a corpse. The form shifts, head lifting and the lank hair hanging from it's scalp parts to reveal dark orbs peering from a monstrous visage. Slits open in the face where a nose should be as the creature takes a breath, it's mouth opens into a gruesome smile, small writhing tentacles hanging where there should be teeth. "Now that is interesting."
Wow I see a bunch of gameplay posts. I guess things have been moving along, lol. Found a bit of time, so I'll see if I can catch up and post something. As for templates, being in a similar boat as Zova, I think any of the undead templates aren't really on for Tenoch. The Worm That Walks might fit his theme, or just a fiendish or half-fiend template might work. Or just stick with vanilla, we'll see. As for links to Azzy. Tenoch follows Baalzebul who is an underling of the Dark Prince (much like Moloch is, except Baalzebul got the smack down from Asmodeus a while back).
Tenoch Itzcoatl. Monstrous Qlippoth-Spawn Divine Verminous Hunter of Baalzebul. Cast out from birth, even the orphanage didn't want him. Learned to survive in the slums, garbage pits, and wilderness. Desecrated a Mitran temple due to their hypocrisy. Tenoch can have a vermin companion, but when they killed his last, the giant fly that connected him to the Lord of Flies, he became infused with its power (continuous Vermin focus due to dead companion) so he'll be fine without one. Note weekends I'm rarely online. Luckily, it seems weekend posting isn't a huge requirement.
Tenoch here has 10 skill points per level, so could qualify (and the hunter is a divine/skill hybrid [half druid, half ranger] as previously mentioned). No trapspotting though.
lol. and *cough*Hunter*cough*Divine/Skill*cough* ;P
Out of curiosity, do you plan on taking one person from each 'category' (e.g. martial, arcane, divine, skilled) or is that merely a method of keeping things organized after a fashion? I ask as there are some classes/characters whose role/capabilities may overlap into other categories.
Updated with the appearance/personality/background fluff. Too bad there aren't that many disguise-as-a-class-skill traits (and those few are regional or racial). This fellow is actually more ugly than most, but tended to stay in the shadows, heavily wrapped up in fabric, or in locations the good, upstanding citizens of Talingarde would not normally visit (e.g. garbage dumps, slums, wilderness).
Dotting for interest for a Qlippoth-spawn Hunter (Divine Hunter & Verminous Hunter archetypes) follower of Baalzebul, Lord of Flies. STR: 18
Don't forget that the recruitment post was asking for 2-3 posts a week. Perhaps some were feeling overwhelmed that things were progressing at a much faster rate. @Adria: It's an artefact of PbP that in order for the game to feel like it's flowing and not losing members, that everyone posts once in a while. You don't even need to perform an actual action. You can post your thoughts, emotions, and non-combaty type actions too (clenched fist, scratching an itch, even picking your nose {if that's something the character would do}).
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