I've just been working really hard (I'm a tax preparer, do the math :)) and haven't had the energy. I'm still interested in the concept but I just haven't had the energy
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Here, though I have a busy weekend that will curtail my posting
"Not sure how, but it's worth a shot. That said..." Zaphani starts looking around for the nearest cover and moves into it to hide, just in case.
I want to play, I just haven't had anything to add.
Zaphani seems deep in thought as Kayla delivers her report. This information did sound like something they could use. "Fascinating. If we could somehow make contact with those against him or whoever the 'rightful leader' is, we could use this to our advantage. If not, we could try and find a way to send a message anyone understands, get them to openly fight.
The site has been buggy since the Humble Bundle thing. I will give you a report on what your scouting mission produced later tonight/early tomorrow. Buggy? Are you saying the Red Mantis are behind it? Why would they...er...we do such a thing?!? (Sorry, that was riiiight there)
Rakus stated basically why I haven't posted. Nothing really to respond to since Zaphani's last comment seemed to just hang there. As far as the larger campaign, while I expected/hoped for more intrigue, RP, and playing of politics in between stabbing sessions, I'm still enjoying myself.
Zaphani glances over from her watch post when the frog lunges at her compatriots. As he was dead before she even stood up, she simply strolled over for the sole purpose of dipping the points of her swords into the freshly spilled blood. Achaekek had blessed this kill, the Grippli's blood was a blessing. "We'll need proof of death"
Zaphani was pleased with the decision to hold off on the attack as it didn't seem they would do well without further planning. Looking around as other started settling in, Zaphani agreed to take first watch, taking a position that allowed her a good vantage point. She was curious about why Kayla was eyeing the grippli so carefully, but she did not question it as the frog had been rather shifty the whole trip. She was still curious why He Who Walks in Blood wanted him killed, but that didn't really matter. Killing him wouldn't be a problem and, as it was beginning to appear, might be a blessing for his tribe, even if they didn't know it yet.
I've been having one of those weeks. I'm with Rakus on the not being able to get to the MG chief without a more clever plan than I can come up with.
As Rakus gets information from the frog, Zaphani has another concern. The assumption is that this monkey goblin wouldn't be as hard to lure away as the Grippli. At some point, either going in or going out and likely both, they'd have to fight and even they couldn't fight that many. Thus, she starts looking for cover, escape routes, and a way they could sneak in close enough to get a clean strike and get out without too much trouble.
Zaphani might be a level or two late, bit that is my plan for her
Glad to be rid of the Boggards, Zaphani does her best to keep up with the frog person while at the same time exchanging glances with her fellow Mantis.
A tracker that works for shiver that he's hooked his whole village on. I wonder if this what angered He Who Walks In Blood. Zaphani couldn't help but muse to herself while the others did the talking. It seemed the others had the same idea she had, use the Grippli to get to the monkey goblins and then kill him away from his guards. Still, she was wary.
Zaphani simply stands by, looking around nervously hands near her weapons at all times. These creatures were...odd. Why they weren't killing them she didn't understand, but perhaps there was some wisdom in the tactic. There was one thing that was going through her mind, if these...things were security for the Grippli, how would they react if they killed the one they were here for around them? They'd have to get the frog on his own, away from these beasts. Thoughts swirled in her mind...
I think we talked about letting the Sawtooths be Finessable without Two Weapon fighting. Its all good. We did :). I'm honestly not concerned about the power level. Heck, it's a bit of a fun change of pace to do something like this.
Zaphani tried to remain calm and determined, these were not the sort of people you showed fear in front of. But she couldn't help it, these things, whatever they were, were unnerving her. Her hands still instincitvely went to her sabers, but when the others stated they wished to try talking, she held her self back from drawing them. "Fine, but make it quick. These things are..." Zaphani didn't have the nerve to admit they were creeping her out.
Zaphani says nothing other than to quickly whip out her hand crossbow, load it, and fire at the nearest pesky insect.
Seeing that the Mantis is in good hands, Zaphani selects one of the magical sabres and the turns to the job at hand. "If it's as I suspect, this Grippli will have a head start and will be in terrain he knows well. We should probably quickly provision ourselves for such a trek and make haste. The deeper he gets into the jungle, the trickier this becomes."
Current shopping list: Buy:
Sell:
Sadly she only gets one of those a day for now, so she'll probably use it on her own weapons. I already have a few poisons to supplement it as well and might pick up more.
As a reminder, if you really need something poisoned, just ask Zaphani to spit on it :P. I'll figure out what I need, probably some upgrades to armor. Any problem getting Mithril armor?
Zaphani nods as the priest speaks. IF the idea of Achaekek calling for the death of people was new to him, then it was a great honor to be the ones asked to be his hands. It was still unclear what the omen meant, but a good hunt would be the perfect thing to take their mind off that. When the gnome asked about the targets, Zaphani filled in what she could recall. "Gorek is an orcish pirate and, the Vishkanya choked a bit on the next word,"slaver who supplied our order with...things. Ren is a missing member of the Blood Watch, interesting he's on the list. 'Sinful Red' is a known madam from the Shackles, interesting one if I've heard right. The afore mentioned Grippl is someone else who has offered our order services but has still managed to draw the ire of our lord. This Yoki I believe is a leader of the local monkey goblins. The last is a former client from Nidal who's making a stop in Sargava on the way home, or so the rumor is. I do think the Grippli makes a logical first target, thoughts?"
Zaphani searched her memory, trying to remember when the little one was last in sight. "I think she was with us when we came through the gate. We might question her loyalty, but if He Who Walks in Blood does not, who are we to?" That's not to say Zaphani didn't still have questions about the little one, but the next course of action was clear. The Mantis needed her and they would have to go find her. "One of you stay with the Mantis, I'm going to go look for the little one." Strolling out of the structure, Zaphani begins to retrace her steps looking for Kayla and...
...catches the Gnome on the edge of her vision. Zaphani doesn't immediately call attention to the turncoat, but begins making her way towards her. Once she's close enough she whispers to Kayla, "You're needed,please follow me." Zaphani then turns on a heel and starts heading back towards the Pagoda.
I'm "in range" of it too, though it shouldn't be that bad where I am.
Zaphani quickly moved to help the priest, helping him reach the nearest chair while looking to the others. "Someone write down those names. A number were familiar to me and I think either we our our brethren will soon have need of them.
Doh, indeed. I'll fix that. One of those weeks :)
Once out of the public eye, Zaphani drops her facade slightly and shows that the injuries she suffered on the way here are actually bothering her. She walks with a noticeable limp and grabs at her side a bit as it pulses in pain. Also not wanting to interrupt, she makes mental notes of the names and searched her memory for what she might know of them.
And level added
First off, I apologize if I offended with my, well, rant. I've just had too many games I've enjoyed ruined when competition got into them. Didn't want to see that happen again and I went a tad far with it. My con was only through Sunday and I'm just about recovered mentally and caught up on my sleep. However I'll probably be limited to a post a day as work just got nutty.
"Indeed, that was quite an omen" And perhaps an opportunity While the omen could be interpreted many ways, to Zaphani it meant something quite clear. There was about to be a shakeup in the order's power structure. She'd seen this thing dozens of times in Katheer. When someone dies, someone else rises. Often, they brought others with them. It was all a matter of knowing who to side with and when. The right people stood to gain much and others could lose it all, which in the Red mantis meant your neck. It would be a dangerous game, but Zaphani was going to play it. Blue she just had to figure out her first move...
I'm going to abstain because I think everyone did well and is deserving.
It's not really that big a deal, just should have been clear going in. I'll do a thorough look over when I get home.
Hmm, this is...unexpected and a bit disconcerting. I wasn't aware there was going to be a semi-competive aspect to the game.
Though her wounds were bandaged and no longer bleeding, the whole right side of Zaphani's body was still sore from the dinosaur's attack. She wasn't sure what she was going to do with the egg she was given, but at this time it didn't seem that it would be appropriate to attempt to raise the animal. She and the master's animals never got along well with the exception of his pet python, and even it tried to bite her. She stayed in the lead, doing her best to show no outward evidence of her injuries as they headed to the pagoda. Such weakness did not befit a Mantis and she would show none.
As a note, the con this weekend has even worse internet accessibility than I imagined. I'll do what I can, but time/internet/energy might be a hard trifecta to come by. Sky Key special tomorrow!
Zaphani mutters a Vishkanya curse as the lizard creature tears into her. Assuming her compatriots will fight like, well, assassins, Zaphani pulls a sabre and readies for when one moves into a flanking position.
"Long enough to know that it's a better life than what I had in Katheer. Anything would be better than that." Zaphani would continue on with polite small talk until...
...she avoids the same branch by a slightly larger margin, but is startled by the lizard beast thing.
Unlike her soon-to-be compatriots, Zaphani had no difficulty engaging in every pleasure the festival had to offer. She'd been a slave for so long, first in Katheer and to some extent even here, that it felt fitting to, for once, be catered to by someone. However, her pleasure didn't necessarily come in a physical form, but more in making other people do as she wished and make them impress her. It was nice for once to have people getting things for her with the threat of death to back it up. She wouldn't bed any of these men, but it was fun to make them think she would. Still, in the back of the Vishkanya's mind was the test that awaited them. It had never been explicitly said that's what the pilgrimage was, but then again, what wasn't a test when it came to the Mantis. Every training exercise, every sparring match, and every conversation was a test. With trained killers around every corner, every minute of every day was a test. Somehow Zaphani had curried some level of favor, but that just made her keep her guard up even more.
As a note, while I'm going to do my best to keep up this week, I am prepping for and then running a 40+ table PFS event this weekend. If I'm a bit sparse, that's why.
In my case the Female character just won out in a three way race. The Vishkanya just sounded fun.
No worries, just had to move some stat points from STR back to DEX :).
Here's Zaphani. She brings her own poison to every party! I'll have to make a tweek to her stats to reflect the ruling on saberes being finessable, though I think the rule is supposed to be that when two weaponining they're only -2/-2.
Backstory added to character profile, but I'll put it here too. Backstory: Zaphani's earliest memories were as a slave in the household of a wealthy Trade Prince in Katheer. While initially she was simply used for her beauty, when she grew older, her master realized that Zaphani had other talents as she was large and strong for her age. On occasion her master would bring her along to meetings where he expected trouble but couldn't bring an obvious bodyguard. She proved her worth on several occasions including one notable one where she fought off an angry gnoll slaver when she was only twelve.
Not long after this incident, Zaphani saw her master dealing with some red hooded individuals with odd looking swords. She didn't think much of it at the time and had no idea it would change her lot in life. A week or so later, the red hooded individuals returned with a bloody sack into a private meeting. Curious of the people in red, Zaphani got as close as she could to the room to try and hear what they were up to. What she heard sounded like a demand for payment. Her master didn't seem pleased at what the red hooded men were asking for, but they were insistent on their demand. Their superior had demanded very specific payment for whatever service they had performed. They wanted Zaphani. Eventually her master relented and the next thing she felt was a sharp crack on the back of her head and all went black. The next thing she remembered was waking up with her hands and feet tied and a hood on her head what must have been the hold of a ship. Sometime later the hood was removed and she saw the men in the red hoods. They explained that they had heard of her special talents and had been asked to acquire her for their organization. They told her they had use for her skills and she would never be a slave again if she proved herself. Knowing this was more than a chance then she ever would have gotten in Katheer, the red-hooded men didn't even need to get to the part about tossing her overboard if she didn't agree before she enthusatically agreed. It wasn't until a couple weeks later when they arrived in Ilizmagorti that she realized she'd been recruited into the Red Mantis. She proved to be every bit the recruit they'd hoped and quickly became a favorite of her superiors.
That was supposed to be the "Favored Disciple" Trait (I'll fix it in the stat block).
Michael's Submission here :). Still working up the fluffy bits though I think I have an idea where she's coming from. Really excited for this game.
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