It looks like there's no room for VV to get in without provoking an AOO? In that case, she'll stop outside and sheathe her sword in preparation to draw her bow.
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Valki Valka's blue eyes narrowed when she saw the globs bearing down on Rhangil. Whirling her heavy blade once before her, she ran at the nearest one, prepared to slash the glob into lesser globs.
"I think we should go now," Valki told Felix, suiting word to action and dashing towards where Othrev and Rhangil had disappeared with sword in hand.
Congratulations! :)
Still here.
VV would also prefer to go the dry route, if we're voting. She's down with Takek's plan. Do the bug butts still give off light underwater? I would think so, but I'd like to know for sure. If they do, and we go the water route, VV will suggest tying them to a stick or anything else long the party has, and using them underwater to make sure we don't suddenly step off a shelf or get attacked by unseen underwater monsters. That dry route is looking better all the time. :P
"Those glowing parts of the bugs should give us a little light for a day or so." Unwilling to suggest they wait for her stomach to settle, Valki Valka gave Takek a questioning look. "Can Gorum cure this blasted water-sickness? I will offer my next kill to him if he does."
Valki Valka spat on the ground to clear her mouth, then took a swig of clean water. That done, she clasped Rhangil's shoulder, shaking him gently. "Well done, Rhangil. You are a man of surprises." Shaking her head, she muttered, "And my stomach is weaker than I thought. My ancestors will not be proud this day."
Some primal hunter Valki Valka is! Can't hit the broad side of a barn. :P
Valki Valka backed away, swearing, and fired again...
...but her eyes were watering, and she couldn't aim properly.
"I will not be mauled by a- hurk- ghraulgrhakh," Valki Valka's aim was ruined by losing her last meal all over her foe. She backed away from the insects, weakly swatting at the one following her with her bow.
Trying to hold down her gorge, Valki Valka raised the bow in her hands and fired at the nearest bug.
Valki Valka puked up the putrid water remaining in her lungs, wiped her mouth with her arm, and nodded for Takek to douse her with clean water. "A foul entrance to a foul place," she noted in a choked voice, wringing out her long black hair. Drawing her bow from her back, she nocked an arrow and, with a small bout of dry retching, motioned for someone to take the lead. That she didn't take it herself indicated just how ill she was feeling.
Just wanted to say that Takek's player is sick, which is why he's been so quiet. He'll be with us as soon as the plague has been destroyed by his immune system.
"The ground will grow slick with the blood and oil of our enemies," Valki Valka promised, clearly believing this to be a comforting talk that would banish all tears. She nodded to Val. "Your hospitality will be most welcome when we return, victorious!" With a gesture inviting her companions and husband to join her (and a final kick to the ruined robot), she stalked off in search of Master Kyte.
A bit dismayed by the idea of a crying Kellid, Valki Valka focused on what she knew. "Yes, we will rescue your father. Can you tell us anything of where he was going?"
Yes, thank you for keeping us posted! :)
Rhangil reaches out and devastates the machine with his spell, followed by an excited Valki Valka smashing its remains with her greatsword. The girl leans around the doorway with a grin. "You must be kellid!" "That I am!" Valki Valka pronounced proudly, lifting her heavy sword free of the wreckage of the robot. Wires snapped and loose gears clinked on the ground as she pulled her sword up and surveyed its new nicks. Rhangil walks over to the woman. "Val Baine, I presume? Are you alright?"
"She is not bleeding," Valki Valka observed. She turned to face the woman and speak, but before she could...
The reddish bruises on her face already fading, Valki Valka kissed Takek back enthusiastically, if briefly. "A little blood is nothing. You missed the fun! It's all that heavy armor, it makes you slow like a tortoise," she teased, extricating herself with a laugh. Still smiling, she turned to what was presumably Val Baine. "I am Valki Valka, and this slow-shelled man is my Husband, Takek Iron-Back. Do not be alarmed by the android - it is Othrev, and has done no one harm that I have seen. The one by your robot is Felix, and the other is Rhangil. We have gathered to rescue your father." She sheathed her sword, eyeing the robot. "What was this thing doing here?"
VV has taken a 5'step to allow anyone else who wants to rumble into the room. :)
Valki Valka recovered her balance and wiped blood seeping from the corner of her mouth away with her arm. The moment water gushed over the robot, she lunged forward again, laughing. Well did she know this trick! "Well done!" she shouted to Rhangil as the smell of ozone and spitting sparks emanated from the robot where he had touched it. Then she aimed to lop the thing's body in half while it was distracted.
"Destruction!" Valki Valka's shout may have been about the demolition the robot was performing, or may have been her intent for the thing itself. Either way, she rushed the apparatus through the open doorways, swinging her sword wildly. A little too wildly; she accidentally struck the doorjamb, hacking off a piece of it rather than the robot.
That was enough confirmation for Valki Valka. She tore into the building, seeking whoever needed help - likely Khonnir's daughter.
Haha, I totally forgot about taking 10. :P
Θ3Ξ5 notices the detritus building up around the town and the empty stalls at the market as they pass. "This town depends on the Torch,and. If it cannot be relit, this one expects that many will be forced to leave. Those who do not have somewhere else to do will probably perish." It shifts its attention to the rubbish piles. "They will probably perish from disease before starvation. Although if no one is able to keep Crowfeather Palace operating, then dehydration or poison will be the primary cause of death. This one wonders how many lives would be lost." Θ3Ξ5 says all of this with no hint of sadness or concern. Valki Valka's nose wrinkled at the detritus. She could only shake her head in wonderment; how had these people survived for so long, soft as they were? The armor that was the Torch had disappeared only to reveal the town's soft, flabby belly, ready to be gutted by cruel reality. "A large number, I would expect," she said curtly in answer, watching one of the coddled children of the town play in the dirt. It twisted her heart to think that the children would pay for the townsfolk's folly - and their ill fortune. Children were always hostages to their parents' odd views. She scowled and strode a bit faster. As they approach the Foundry Tavern the commotion gets Θ3Ξ5's attention. "There is something going on in the back. Could the Ropefists be causing trouble at Master Baine's doorstep while he is missing?" "Let's find out!" Valki Valka drew her sword and charged around the corner!
The Kellid frowned, considering the words of her companions. Then she growled impatiently. "Bah. Philosophy is the province of my Husband. I will trust to know evil when I see it, and see what separates it from useful tools." She swiped at the air irritably, as if to knock puzzling ideas away. Then she grinned. "And there is only one good way to deal with evil."
Rhangil stands and bows to Dolga Freddert. "Thank you for helping us Councilor Freddert." He turns and skips excitedly out of the room following the others. "I can't wait to get my hands on that automaton! Studying new tech is amazing!" Valki Valka gave him a suspicious look, chewing over his words for a moment. Then she nodded. "Studying to destroy, is it not so?" "Will you continue to speak for the group Master Takek, Mistress Valka? You two appear to have some skill with it. This one has a lack of such skills. The relations of the non-constructed still confuse this one. It is appreciated." The Kellid woman shrugged. "Your words have been wise enough so far. But it is true that my Husband has a gift with words. If he would wish to stop you from speaking, that would be an entertaining fight to watch." She smiled brightly, as though suggesting that the group duel to speak were a great joke. Kellid humor. ;P
"It is good," Valki Valka declared in agreement, stuffing her writ into a pouch. She nodded to Othrev as well. The android was growing on her. "As you say, let us see this monstrosity, and collect what gear and magic we will need. Fare you well until we meet again, Dolga Freddert."
Valki Valka had been pleased to hear that this would be a true challenge. This talk of automatons and metal walls also pleased her, for all that it raised her hackles; this sounded like what she had been born to do. She looked at Rhangil approvingly as he asked to see the automaton. It would be good to study such a thing up close, and learn where its weak spots were. But one thing she knew was that you had to hammer everything out in a contract. "Dolga Freddert, I am Valki Valka. We must take additional supplies with us if we are to bring Khonnir Baine safely back from the Darklands beyond the skymetal wall, or wherever he might be. Will you supply us with what we need? A map, food, what else might be required?"
Heh heh. Thanks for the PSA, Takek. Valki Valka will indeed continue to correct everyone (except the DM ;P). Once she's more fond of everyone, she will relent and answer to Valki. To the bad guys, she's either "Valki Valka," or "Gods have mercy! It's her again!" ;P
DM:
Valki Valka relented; it was not truly her intent to terrorize the cityfolk. They could not be blamed for having no backbone - their lives were too soft. Nodding, she patted the man on the shoulder, releasing her grip. "Very good. Before you go, can you tell me what sort of gear it was that was so fancy? I'm sure you noticed, since you are so clever."
"To Town Hall!" Valki Valka declared, ready to go.
It was clear that such an eventuality as Θ3Ξ5 spoke of had never occurred to Valki Valka. She nodded gravely. "It is Valki Valka. And your plight is reason enough. Be welcome, then, and join us. It may be that I can learn yet more of their evil ways from you, Othrev."
Valki Valka punched Rhangil in the shoulder in approval. "That is the spirit! Let us root Them out from under every rock!" She raised her cup in toast, then drained it, preparing to stand and head for the gambling hall. "Let us go hunting at once. And if honor is not our only reward, so much the better!"
DM:
Woo! "Anyone who fights the League has spirit, and is so welcome," Valki Valka agreed, not keeping it down at all. "But why do you wish to fight them, Othrev?" She seemed genuinely interested in learning what an android had to gain from such a fight.
DM:
"Surely you remember where you saw her last?" Valki Valka pressured, putting on a diplomatic smile. That always seemed to work for Takek.
While she grinned her predatory grin at the man, the smile didn't reach her deep blue eyes. "Conspiracy!" Valki Valka declared. "I have heard that a purple-haired woman arrived before the Torch went out, and vanished when it was gone. One of Their spies, no doubt."
Taking credit for other people's ideas isn't really Valki Valka's thing.
A huge grin crosses Rhangil's face, if it weren't for the look in his eyes people would find it creepy. "Sounds like a marvelous story, Valki! But as long as the Torch gets re-lit all else is secondary." "Valki Valka," Valki Valka corrected him with a scowl. She wasn't sure re-lighting the Torch would be a part of finding Khonnir, but there was no reason to argue about it now. "Arguments," for Valki Valka, often meant "brawling."
DM: Normally Valki would not spare any time for townsfolk daydreaming out loud, but when he mentioned this woman's connection to the Torch, Valki waved to her husband that she would catch up to him later, and pursued the young man. Tapping him on the shoulder, she got directly to the point. "Who was this woman you speak of? What was she doing here, and where did you see her last?" Looming over the man, she left her hand on his shoulder so he couldn't run off.
Satisfied with Takek's acknowledgement of her great sacrifice, and reasonably pleased with Θ3Ξ5's response, Valki Valka raised the cup pushed into her hand to Θ3Ξ5, and was about to take a drink when Rhangil entered and addressed them. "I am Valki Valka," she proclaimed, shooting Rhangil and "Othrev" a dark look that immediately lightened into one of welcome. "And my Husband is almost correct. Our latest adventure was nothing to speak of. A paltry number of desperate vagabonds we drove off." She sniffed, then leaned forward conspiratorially, setting her cup on the bar. "It is our next adventure of which I wish to speak." "The loss of the Torch is not the blessing I would have thought," she began, not adding that it wasn't mainly because she wasn't responsible for it. All things were relative, as her husband was fond of saying. "The loss of Khonnir Baine, no one would count a triumph. No one here," she qualified with a scowl. "Thus, we will thwart Them by rescuing Khonnir Baine," she said with satisfaction. Those who knew her, knew that They were the Technic League, her pet obsession. Valki Valka threw back her drink, slammed down the cup, and called for another round. "I know what you will say, Takek. We may not accomplish this task alone. For greater certainty, if lesser honor," she sighed mournfully, "we may form a group to go after him. What think you of THAT tale, Rhangil?" She raised her chin proudly, smug with the prospect of challenge to be overcome, honor to be had, and a great foe to tweak the nose of. At least, in her mind.
"Gorum's lessons are too subtle," Valki Valka grumbled in what had to be the most unusual claim about Gorum heard locally. There was humor in her tone, though, and she grabbed Takek's head, leaning in to give him a strong kiss. "Reverstoudt! A fine room for my fine husband," she grinned, then slammed her hand on the bar, rattling all that stood on it. "But first, a strong drink to celebrate life. A round for us and our companions!" She peered at the shadowed face of Θ3Ξ5.
"Othres. Will you drink with us?" Her tone was noticeably cooler, but not hostile; she shot a glance at Takek, as if to say, See? I have learned great tolerance of the unnatural.
Like Takek, Valki Valka towered over most others, and when she entered the inn, she had no trouble spotting him. Pushing unceremoniously past those in her way with easy strength, she cleared a path to where he stood; what animosity her passage brewed was quickly stilled by the sight of the heavy sword and club she carried across her back, well-worn with frequent use. Her sword alone bore nearly as many nicks and dings as she did scars; unlike her scars, the nicks in her broad greatsword were not faded. The sword's nicks were new, and would soon disappear under meticulous whetting; the scars looked old. Kellid in appearance, all furs, leather and mail, her long black hair held back by a fur-lined leather headband, her fierce nature was not dimmed by the manner in which she greeted her husband. Wrapping her arms around him from behind, she lifted him, armor, pack and all, off the ground and swung him about in a circle with a yell that briefly drew eyes. Planting him back on his feet, she punched his shoulder and smiled a lupine smile. "More work done in Gorum's honor!" she announced, nodding to the innkeep before turning back to Takek. "But it was hardly worthy of our time. A dozen bandits? Bah! Next time, I will track down a quest that will bring honor to us, as well as to your god," she challenged. Takek knew full well that Gorum was also her god, but whenever she was dissatisfied, he became Takek's. Edit: Othres it is! Thanks, Θ3Ξ5.
Sorry I've been silent - I lost my internet connection yesterday, and have been suffering withdrawal delerium until now. :P I'll have an intro up sometime today (I have some work I need to do first). Also, how in the heck do you pronounce Θ3Ξ5? I sense nicknames in the future...
"Hrah! I see many battles in the distance. I am honored to fight in them, and in such company. Come, Husband, do not let the Godspeak tie your tongue!"
I believe it just modifies them. So you would still get the boost to strength. Thanks for confirming that! In that case, Valki Valka is ready to go.
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