Zuni 'Motherbear' Apertaux's page

Thank you kindly, Tareth, and likewise it was good to game with you as well. :)

Also, to GM BrOp, hope you are doing well over on your end of things and thank you for the opportunity to try out Freebooters as well. :)

Heh, we did leave at bit of a conundrum for GM BrOp to work thru; bet the author of the scenario never saw Stitch's solution coming. ;p

I suppose that Thibault's suggestion might help to prevent Agatha from getting choked upon while Zuni's off to get more firewood. Hagar probably might have to roll something to get anything useful out from the other gathered villagers?

Besides herself at her wit's end after unsuccessfully attempting to pull that cursed undead arm off of Agatha, Zuni fumes out, "That damned blasted arm's more slipperier than a greased pig; couldn't get a good grip on it at all! But that may make it much more easier for it to burn up good if your idea goes through, Stitch. I'll help get some more kindling wood out in any case.", before heading off to do just that.

Hagar pipes in, "I can try to help with the blessings of the wine; in any event, despite being unnaturally active, that arm's just like any other human arm- if the bones or elbows were to break, that might give that poor girl some kind of reprieve. A blacksmith's tong or even a bonesaw should do the trick, I believe.". The elder Undertaker turns to some of the other gathered folks and asks, "Surely somebody has something that can be of help..."

Thibault adds, "If there's any sort of lard or grease in the kitchen larder, that might just make it difficult 'nuff for that arm to get a good grip on. Won't smell too pleasant but that's far more preferable than not being able to breathe any, St. Ignys preserve us all.", while scratching at his chin.

As soon as Syrina has pulled aside the bed curtains hiding Agatha only to reveal both her and the clearly unnatural arm tormenting her, Hagar instinctively falls back as she hisses out, "In St. Ignys' name, preserve us from this blasphemy!"

Since Hagar is an Undertaker by trade, is there anything, religious, professional, or otherwise that can free Agatha from that dastardly arm? She'll make an Int roll to try.

Int roll: 2d6 + 1 ⇒ (2, 6) + 1 = 9.

Zuni/'Motherbear', on the other hand- having earlier been torn between going after Candace and Talon or staying in the room to keep an eye on the proceedings- lets out a startled verbal exclamation of, "Hells and Damnations! I knew those standing stones were nothing good!" as she attempts to rush forward to pull that cursed arm off from Agatha's person.

If Zuni can reach the arm before it chokes out Agatha, 'Motherbear' will try a Str roll to pull it loose. Or assist in doing so at the very least- unless stopped by someone.

Str roll, if applicable: 2d6 + 1 ⇒ (4, 1) + 1 = 6

Thibault, recovering from the shock of seeing such a ghastly sight, will possibly try to jam his club in between the arm and Agatha's neck so that it's wedged blocked from choking her out completely... Will a Dex roll apply? Also, since he's unlikely to budge Zuni away, he may have to try the old 'sneak around to the other side of the bed' maneuver first.

And if it might be the case that my habit of 'favoriting' all the gameplay posts [besides that of my own] happens to be off-putting to anyone else participating in this pbp game, please feel free to let me know, via public post or private messaging, so I can change things. :)

Upon entering the incensed-filled bedchamber, 'Motherbear' Zuni quickly exchanges a worried glance towards Candace before addressing the hidden figure of Agatha inside the covered bed. "Pardon our intrusion here, Ma'am, we heard from Old Jerrod that you've been cleaning up after the standing stones outside town..."

Glancing over towards Remy's direction - if he happens to be among those entering the bedchamber- Zuni continues, "We got it on good authority, Remy's honeycomb divination as a matter of fact, that there's something going on with those standing stones and how they're all mixed up with St. Ignys Hand being stolen away recently."

Pointedly ignoring any looks of scoffing from both Hagar and Thibault- maybe even from others not so believing in the Beekeeper's divining- Zuni then asks, "You...uh, feeling okay there?" in a much lowered voice.

Hagar would've entered inside; Thibault would choose to peek from the doorway unless everybody else also entered- thereby making him the odd one out, which he'll try to avoid so he'll end up following everyone in. ;p

Sounds like reaction time to me. ;)

reactives activated: 2d6 ⇒ (5, 2) = 7.

Giving a sympathetic nod to an increasingly uncomfortable-looking Candace, Zuni gives a short cough into her hand before addressing Agatha through the closed doorway. "Lady Agatha? If'n you don't mind answering a few questions, seems that there's some town council business that you might just be able to help us out with..."

Heh, all this talk about covid boosters does reminded me that I'll have to take this latest booster shot since they've recently got something added to them to account for the omicron variants out there in the wilds. ;p

I've found that taking some Zinc vitamin with a single meal could be helpful. They usually come in 50mg tablets although it might be better to split the pill and take them in half a dose since there's supposed to be a limit to how much Zinc you can take in a day- or so I've heard. ;)

Upon hearing Jerrod's mention of somebody named Agatha, Zuni racks her brain in trying to recall if there is anyone local to the village that would fit the description given.

int/recall: 2d6 + 1 ⇒ (4, 3) + 1 = 8.

"Jerrod ain't the type to be making tall tales, so if he says those tracks are made by this Agatha person, then it probably is."

"Ahem....Ummm....I think he might be referring to my sister Agatha." Candace says sheepishly from the back of the crowd.

When Candace makes mention about about this Agatha being her sister, the taller watchguard turns to where the noble falconer and her bird is situated at and asks her, "Since she's your sister, "Bones", could you and Talon lead the way to where she's staying at?"

Pausing to give some further thought to it, 'Motherbear' hastily adds, "If you want, maybe me and some of the other authority figures here can be right along beside you both- making it 'official town business and all'..."

So Zuni was able to score some armor for the rest of the group.

Two leather Armor and a Shield, all considered as fragile.

Who among the party wants to use them? Don't be shy, they may help to keep your villager alive for the journey. ;)

Zuni 'Motherbear' Apertaux wrote:

Candace "Bones" Macdougal wrote:

"Big prints. Not like cattle or uhhh sheep. They were heading away from the village." She adds shyly and with a shiver as she too thinks of all the children's tales of evil and dangers lurking in the Moors.

Furrowing her brows in thought, Zuni tries to recall who or what could be lurking out there to make such big enough prints that Candace described.

Motherbear thinks for a moment and decides that judging from the shape and arrangement of the tracks, it was most likely a beast of burden of some sort, but not one that he immediately recognizes. He does remember that there is an old trapper named Jerrod living outside the village who would probably know the answer.

At the Pig and Pickle during the beginnings of it all: Widening her eyes in realization from the description of the prints given by Candace, Zuni replies, 'Those there prints that you've mentioned sound more like some kind of four-legged critter of some sort- most likely somebody's beast of burden. As to what type of beast, it's hard to say. I'd reckon that maybe someone like Old Jerrod might know though..."

Giving a shrug, the taller scarred Watchman adds in, "Least it wasn't a whole bunch of footprints, side by side, in a big marching area; those don't bode too well if they're practically unannounced...", as an aside.

The Watch's Quartermaster, a middle-aged woman named Leslie Cheron, had taken Zuni under her wing when she first joined and seems happy to help.

"Here, you can have these," she says as she rummages through an old chest covered in dust, pulling out several items. "They're not the newest, but I guess that's okay for just a short trip into the country."

The Quartermistress gives Zuni two sets of leather armor and a shield, but none are in good condition and have the fragile tag. They otherwise work as stated on p. 16 of the "Funnel" doc.

Preparations the night before: Beaming gratefully at Quartermistress Cheron, Zuni says, "Much obliged for your consideration, Quartermistress Cheron, Ma'am. These'll definitely help to keep some of our folks from getting too scratched up out there in the wilds.", in a relieved tone as she offers a heartfelt salute to the officer that had taken Motherbear under her wings all those years ago. "I'll do what I can to help bring them back home safely."

I'll probably go and take it to the discussion thread about who wants to have some free armor, complements of the watch. ;)

At present outside Jerrod's abode: Giving a slight cough before making an announced reply to Jerrod's query, "Old Jerrod? It's just us- well, a whole lotta us from the Village... or thereabouts. We wanted to talk about what's happened with the Hand of St. Ignys, if you're feeling up to that..."

reactions: 2d6 ⇒ (6, 3) = 9.

Almost forgot, Zuni will try to negotiate for some supplies from either the Town Watch Commander or the Watch Quartermaster for her and some of the villagers; this'll take place the day after the quest announcement, maybe.

Negotiate for some extra supplies/Int: 2d6 + 1 ⇒ (6, 4) + 1 = 11.

"...Like I said, the villagers that are going ain't likely to have much in the way of anything. Any supplies that could be reasonably spared for this undertaking would really be of help and all."

Zuni volunteers in the search and will accept monetary compensation for it.

"Big prints. Not like cattle or uhhh sheep. They were heading away from the village." She adds shyly and with a shiver as she too thinks of all the children's tales of evil and dangers lurking in the Moors.

recalling something about big prints near the moors and who or what the footprints belong to: 2d6 + 1 ⇒ (2, 6) + 1 = 9.

Furrowing her brows in thought, Zuni tries to recall who or what could be lurking out there to make such big enough prints that Candace described.

The members of the village counsel who are present grimly take a count and make a list of everyone who proclaims their willingness to take part in the expedition to recover the Hand of St. Ignys.

"Since there's a bunch of our fellow village-folk that are taking part in this, it wouldn't be right with me to sit this out- so you all can count me in. I'd imagine that the watch wouldn't want to keep paying me much if I was out of town though- so I'll be taking the monetary compensation."

"So it seems we've a reasonable notion to investigate these standing stones. Shall everyone take a bit of time to gather a bit of gear and we'll set out from the village square two bells from now?" She inquires looking around the room to see if there were other suggestions.

Looking over to where Benoit is at, Zuni says, "I'm sure that Benoit here will keep everybody reminded of when we have to leave off."

Having said his piece, Remy is more than happy to assist Hagar and Charlotte in cleaning up his honeyed prophecy. "Er... careful please, with they... oh, sure, but maybe not the... oh, very right. Nevermind." Whatever he is attempting to salvage is quickly scraped up and discarded. Forlorn, he stares for a moment down at the sticky print that remains on the floorboards--the silhouette of a hand, if you squint hard enough.

"Oh, you must mean Jerrod!" he calls to Syrina. "The oldest man in the village, right? I mean, he doesn't quite live in the village, but just on the outskirts in his hovel. Certainly he would be the oldest, no?"

"Sometimes I trade honey for a bit of his stock. It preserves well, you know. I haven't been to see him in a while, but perhaps we could pay him a visit?"

Mathilde discards her pickle along with the honeycomb detritus. "You mean Rootman Jerrod? He's real?! How's that song go? 'Something, something, down with the roots.' Then something else about blood on his boots? That Jerrod?"

Munching on some of the leftover honeycomb that hadn't touched the floor or had been trod upon [due to Hagar], Zuni adds in with a nod to both Mathilde and Remy, "Same one- but all that's a bunch of nonsense that the local kids made up about him; he ain't so bad though really... after all Remy here trades with him."

Oddly enough, Zuni and others of the watch had to make sure the local youths didn't bother Rootman Jerrold so upon quite a few occasions.

Upon hearing a familiar voice greeting the tall watchwoman, Zuni 'Motherbear' Apertaux breaks her focused gaze away her from the delectable remains of the shaped mass of honey mat on the floor and upon seeing the friendly face of Lady Candace/"Bones", the heavily scarred watchwoman replies back with, "Motherbear's perfectly fine by me, Bones- or would you prefer it if I called you Lady Candace?", grinning widely as she does so- followed by a respectful nod towards Talon plus "You as well, Talon" in reply to the Falcon- although Zuni's grin does falter a wee bit at the mention of Lady Astier stepping into the sculpted mass of honey and wax.

Upon hearing mention of the old standing stones, Zuni frowns a bit as she remarks, "Sounds like bad portents to me; the Snobbig Moors was just lousy with standing stones and other ancient ruins- and they were all full of bad news, one and all."

The doors to the Pig and Pickle open once more, admitting two very different pair of women into the tavern's premises.

The taller of the two ladies appears armed with a spear and is wearing the uniform of the local Town Watch although she is holding a spare rain-soaked Watch cloak over a slightly shorter middle-aged member of St. Ignys' clergy.

The scarred Town Watch guard is a locally known person by the name of Zuni Apertaux although she is much better known by her affectionately named call-sign of 'Motherbear' among the locals.

Zuni herself seems much more preoccupied with searching for something or someone inside the bar proper and once she lays her eyes upon the direction of where Remy is standing at, she lights up with a smile but upon seeing the remains of the honey and hexes mat, the watch-guard lets out a groan of frustration as she exclaims, "Damnit all- we missed out on old Remy's Honey-Divination!"

Grumbling a bit under her breath, Zuni addresses her clergy-member companion, an Undertaker of St. Ignys known to the townsfolk as Hagar Renault, "I told you that we were going to be late in getting here. We should've left earlier."

For her part, the elder of the two shakes her head in light admonishment as the horse-faced Hagar replies, "To rely upon such heretical readings- admit it, you just wanted to attend to them for a chance to get some of the left-over divinatory honey."

Zuni, not bothering to answer back, merely looks longingly over at the discarded honey mats.