Things are on a bit of a hiatus right now anyhow, but I am away until the 10th and will have sketchy access. If things kick back up before my return please GM PC Vasrik and Black Fin.
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Congrats Jace! Awesome news. Why don't we just go with Alarien's watch proposal then. Though I'm cool if anyone wants to re-jig.
Alarien isn't a spellcaster, so she just needs enough sleep to not be fatigued in the morning. Great! Though if I recall correctly that mystic number is left vague. We may need Jace to tell us, or we might have to experiment. She's also one of two (Cordell being a half-elf also has low-light vision) with low-light vision. I think Cordell's got "Child of the Sea" which swaps out his low-light. Edit: Flamethrower is ahead of me. Also, as a cleric, Bellamin only needs to pray/meditate at a certain time of day for spells, rather than the wizard's rest for 8 and study for one. Same with druids, and I think oracles as well. Ah! Yes of course! Good point. We'll just need those three PCs to avoid fatigue then.
I'm OK with that! Though once we know how long the stopover is and possibly how long we require to avoid fatigue we can re-jig.
Re: Watch How do you guys like to set your watches? How many hours of darkness do we need to cover? We are now down to 5, so one way to set this could be to divide it into thirds: 2
We've got only one PC with darkvision and one with low-light. So if we can do halves we're better off. We want our spellcasters to get their 8 hours (everyone if possible). To do that we'll probably need a few of us napping during the day on the boat.
Vasrik ensures that Black Fin follows Axeager's instructions. Afterwards, he directs his saurian companion to slip overboard into the river and bids him to follow the Water Wraith to the rear. Bobbing up and down underneath the surface, Black Fin will be cooler, and as an added bonus, less likely to spook the crew.
Alarien: I suspect I am the unnamed transgressor. I did not appreciate I was lessening your enjoyment. I will do my best to conform going forward. But help a newb out here, I'm confused, what exactly is the rule?
Nevermind that last question, I missed the upates in the discussion thread...
With the fight over and adrenaline still coursing through his body, Nub stands up from his crouched position and shakingly advances towards his adversary to collect his bolts and quickly check the body for anything useful. As he nears the central carnage his senses become overloaded with all that has happened in the last minute. He collapses to his knees and promptly loses his meager breakfast over the side of the dock. I think Nub is searching at least one thug. Time permitting, Vasrik is also searching the bodies, Regis included--at least until the Captain starts hollering or someone else such as the watch approaches. I believe Cordell is keeping an eye out. By the way, is did Regis die, or was Vasrik's Heal check to stabilize within time?
With the fight over and adrenaline still coursing through his body, Nub stands up from his crouched position and shakingly advances towards his adversary to collect his bolts and quickly check the body for anything useful. As he nears the central carnage his senses become overloaded with all that has happened in the last minute. He collapses to his knees and promptly loses his meager breakfast over the side of the dock. -
Seeing Black Fin suddenly up and looking alert, Vasrik decides the best thing to do is to try to put the dinosaur to work to distract him from the blood. "Tolo-Tolo!" he says pointing to the crates and guesturing towards the ship's plank.
Vasrik immediately moves to make sure Black Fin is OK. Once he sees he is unconscious but breathing and stable he then attempts to tend to Regis.
("fails") ("fails") ("also fails") ("success")
"I am sorry, at least you are free from these priests you fear so much."
"You have a chance for another life my friend, may you learn to govern yourself more wisely than I have." He then recovers his short-spear from the body of one of the thugs. He will also roll the thugs into the water. But if the Captain or his comrades are getting overly agitated, he'll skip that part. "Unless there's some spare healing available, I may need some help loading Black Fin on to the boat," Vasrik says looking around for assistance.
Then, silently stalking like a serpent he quietly slides in behind Regis, waiting for the exact right moment to announce his presence to creat a distraction. Vasrik wants nothing more than to race to Black Fin's aid, but first this battle must end.
The man with the wild helm races forward, adding his momentum to the force of his talon-spear as it flies from his hand.
Regis grunts in pain as Alarien takes advantage of his distraction and cuts him deep.
The injured thug yelps as he looks up from loading his crossbow to see the aegyptosauraus thundering towards him. He tries to raise his weapon to block the attack, but Black Fin bashes the crossbow aside and closes his jaws around the man's neck. He lifts him up and shakes him till he goes limp. He then drops the mangled remains and looks towards Vasrik with an expression that resembles that of an eager puppy expecting praise for retrieving a thrown stick.
points of damage healed. Vasrik steps forward and grasps Harroan firmly by the shoulder. "Easy," he says, "You're going to be fine." Vasrik unleashes a tiny amount of sauromancy into Harroan's body, temporarily flooding his arteries with dinosaur adrenaline and the kai-ju-like Constitution of a tyrannosaur. The entry hole created by the cross-bow bolt seals itself as the wizard's flesh knits itself back together, splicing new skin over the damaged region. For the briefest of instants it looks like the replacement skin is going to be leathery scales, but it quickly reverts to the baby-pink exterior of a human. A moment later the impossible flooding of chemicals passes and all is back to normal.
Vasrik curses himself. Acting on instinct, in the stress of the moment, he had tried to control Black Fin using his extinct powers of Sauromancy. Predictably, nothing happened. "You're a lion-tamer now, nothing more," he chides himself. Gathering himself, Vasrik points at one of the crossbowmen with his talon-like spear and shouts: "Roushtah!"
Oh boy! A fumble for my inaugural combat roll. Jace I'll need to impose upon you to let me know what happens with Black Fin now. Does he stay under a "heel" command?" Does he go nuts on someone else? An ally? Random foe? I need one more skill point to make that roll an auto success. I'm sensing it's important.
Vasrik can feel the tension in the air continue to rise. Soon it feels like it is buzzing in the back of his skull. "They fear these masked priests more than us. They must be terrible indeed." Then he hears Captain Drumbarrel attempt to bait the goons on to the Water Wraith. "Distance is a significant ally for the men with the mechanical side bows. If they board the ship to examine the papers or inspect the cargo our position improves." Still silent, Vasrik keeps his eyes peeled beneath his hooded helm, his muscles taut.
"Missing fingers?" thinks Vasrik to himself as he witness the tension ratchet up exponentially. "If that's all that happens here, I will be grateful." He can't help but keep his eyes trained on the crossbowmen taking up position.
Vasrik sloooowly rises, securing his helm on his head, careful not to communicate his true sense of urgency to his edgy youthful companion. "That didn't take long. They came before we cast off." -----
Although the saurian was still resting comfortably in his lap, Vasrik watched as Black Fin’s eyes began to track a nearby dock worker, an older man with a limp. Vasrik knew that look. Black Fin was a predator, he would always be on the hunt – an injured man was a tempting target. Vasrik calmed himself in preparation. This was another opportunity to exercise his, Raj'thania, his mystic control. Once upon a time the Sauromancer controlled an entire legion of dinosaurs in the Mwangi basin with but a thought. Surely even with his power waned as far as it had he could master the base instincts of a small baby in his lap. He closed his eyes and reached out. Nothing. Black Fin continued to track the old man greedily, completely unaware of Vasrik’s disaproval. Slowly the dinosaur began to rise, preparing to stalk after the dock worker. Vasrik promptly smacked him on the nose, the rebuke immediately shutting down Black Fin’s ambitions. “I am nothing more now than a lion tamer,” Vasrik thought to himself, “And not a terribly good one at that.” The dock worker strode off, unaware of any peril.
Cordell finishes buckling on his scale mail and makes a few experimental motions in it. Beastly stuff, but it gets the job done. It will be useful if we're going to repel pirates. I wonder if there's a better way. "There's always a better way," Vasrik thinks to himself, "but I never seem to find it." "Pirates it is then," he decides, once again resigning himself to his course. "At least they don't sound like innocents." Perhaps the sight of this eclectic band of wardsmen alone would be enough to dissuade anyone from trying to board the Water Wraith.
And who is this fine young spinosaurus? I've never seen one, just heard stories of them. Aren't they supposed to get much bigger? Vasrik takes note when Cordell identifies Black Fin by his species' proper name, in common, a word such as a learned sage might use. "I'm told they do, but apparently the local coffee will stunt your growth." He smiles. "Black Fin here is an infant." I was in Tymon a few years back for business. I bet the fighting arenas are as active as ever. "It's true then," he says, "these arenas are real..." It is then that Harroan arrived. . . .Deals are my specialty. It seems like you'll find agreeable attitudes among our new friends. This is Bellamin, Vasrik, and Alarien. "Welcome," says Vasrik with a wave, still seated in the shade. He briefly reflects on what his own specialty might be, but decides it is not a thing that he has.
Cordell. Nice to meet you folk. He puts in, with a polite nod and smile towards Vasrik and Alarien. "I am called Vasrik," the seated man answers, "A pleasure." He pats the sleeping dinosaur as its head rests in his lap. "Have any of you been to Tymon recently?"
No Poop
Vasrik remembered. There was no poop. Not on that voyage. While large in size, “The Favored Titan” had proven to be a slow vessel. Back then Vasrik had still travelled with Great Queen and her brood. They made for the safety of the Fourth Lands, ferrying three generations of finned saurian. Vasrik's magic had been failing him even then. He wasn’t sure he even remembered how it started. How many thousands of years ago had it been? The cook had tried to scramble one of Great Queen’s eggs for the Captain. Only one he said, the ignoramus. How he had managed to steal it, Vasrik never learned. But Vasrik had drawn his Kaylarik in anger—a mistake to be sure. It could not be taken back. The guards were upon him. He remembered only flashes now. Great Queen’s sons were everywhere, leaping about the deck. Then the boat was capsized, torn asunder by Great Queen herself. The brood began feasting upon the slave rowers by the dozens. Vasrik had reached for the arcane infandibulum to calm them, to take control as he once did. It failed (again). It had taken him a long time to learn his limitations. To accept. So many monkey-men were dead or left clinging to the sinking hull. Vasrik and Great Queen's brood were left paddling across the sea to face the coming storms on their own. But there was no poop.
. . . She turns to leave, then shoots a look at Black Fin. "I trust you know how to handle your pet there. And if it poops on my deck, I'll use you for a mop before I dump the pair of you over the railing." "No poop," confirms the sauromancer. -----
Waiting for the boat as well, Vasrik rests off to the side, already seated underneath the shaded tree. He sits cross-legged, staring straight ahead, as though lost in meditation or perhaps fighting to recall a lost fragment of memory. On his right, sits an outrageously large warhelm of carved bone, one complete with a gigantic cobra’s fin. On his left lies a sleeping dinosaur, one at least as tall as a man. The reptilian creature’s head rests in Vasrik’s lap while its muscled abdomen gently rises and falls. Scratch that. It’s not asleep at all. The beast suddenly cocks open a single eye which seems to follow everyone nearby. Somehow the creature looks as though it were pacing like a caged lion, even though it is lying prone and almost completely still. Then the eye closes once more.
And since our last party member has now appeared, I'd best get my alternate PC put forward. He still has a few things like traits and equipment to be polished off. My druid Varek is pretty tough (or rather his animal companion is) and could be quite handy, but I could see the dinosaur being pretty awkward in the urban adventure component. Jace - do you think it should be avoided? I'd be pretty content playing either one of these guys. |