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Another hot day of riding the planes comes and goes without incident; tomorrow you will be approaching the swamp in which you battled the witch last year. The swamp from which that odd frog man Dartaniel Lemonte claimed to originate.

You'd be into the mountains by mid-day on the 1st of Julium.

Julium 1 dawns warm and muggy, with humid air flowing up from the Southwest. After another quick breakfast of Rocko's creation, you continue on. Soon, the solid ground gives way to soggy mud, followed by marshland. Soon, you'd surrounded by trees, small ponds, and lots of wet ground. Travel, as you remember, is slow going through this land.

You pass the destroyed remains of the witch's cabin. Somewhere under there lay the bones of the once-animated skeleton Raymundo.

Morning
The light comes before the heat, seeping through the tall grasses into your tents, turning the fabric to violet to a soft, dusty gold. You wake slowly to the steady hush of wind moving through dew-dampened grass. It is not the rustle of trees—there are hardly any trees out here—but a long, living whisper, miles of prairie bending and straightening in patient rhythm.

A meadowlark is already at work somewhere nearby, its bright, liquid song carrying effortlessly across the open land. Another answers from farther off. There is no trace of foot traffic. The sun crests the horizon fully now, and the change is immediate. The cool edge in the air disappears, and it becomes warmer very rapidly.

0 seconds?! I must be psychic.

That's crazy. I literally just logged off my work computer to finish that post on my personal computer. "Like anyone's gonna be able to post before I can update it." Lol.

The party stops to rest in the grasslands, leaving the Gnoll village to their own peace. The night passes without incident.

Fifthday, Juna 30

The Betty docks on The Starlume a few minutes later. The crew is supposed to pick up Clarissa and transport her to a few other locations in the fleet to provide medical assistance.

Well done, nice addition to the campaign.

By mid-day, you've passed the ranches entirely, heading into open buttes and mesas. The early summer heat is getting oppressive by high noon, though there is a southerly breeze which at least serves to cool you as you sweat (except for Rocko, who pants to cool himself).

By evening, you've entered the grasslands which lead to the shortest path over the mountains, still more than a day's journey away. As the sun sets, you can attempt to push on to the Gnoll village you visited previously, or you can rest here in the grasslands.

Moving on...

Fourthday, Juna 29 (two days later).

Having made your preparations for the journey, placing subordinates in charge of any organizational duties you may have individually, you ride now out the Southeastern Gate, fording the eastern spur of the river until you get to the rancher's path leading south. Rocko has taken this path many times, as have the others, but he thinks now of that first adventure not so very long ago, with different companions, to solve the mystery of the missing cattle. He makes a face which the flat-faces might not recognize as a grin, as they pass the Boulder Mark, remembering Pious reaching out to touch the monument that seemed so massive when Rocko's world was much smaller.

Got an idea for a narrative writeup of my downtime. Rando, I know in the past you've done that, was wondering if you were still planning on doing it or if I should go ahead.

Please, feel free to write up your idea. If I have to make minor tweaks to it I will, but only if necessary.

No turret on the fighter flying off without guidance (or any of them, for that matter). Both of Burlap's shots hammer into the fighter; the particle beam brings down her rear shields, leaving the craft vulnerable to the coil runs. The bullets rip into the vehicle's rear, and finally, out the other side. The Cyleerin fighter explodes only briefly, burning off gases used in secondary systems, before the two halves of the vessel (minus the engine and cockpit portions, completely destroyed) float off in different directions.

With that, the battle is won. Juce and Wyvern Squadron have finished off the rest of the fighters, losing two of their own in the process.

"Thanks for the assist, Black Betty, would have been much worse if you hadn't been here."

Ricardo looks from one to the other as Rocko and Amideo discuss the utility of providing such aid.

"But I can count on you, right? I mean, never let it be said that Ricardo Gama backs down from a fight, but the amount of good I could do on my own is limited."

The number of incoming Cyleerin fighters is finally dropping off as the Raptors pick off more and more of them. The occasional Raptor is destroyed, as well, but the Cyleerin tactics are clear. They will eventually win a war of attrition. But not this engagement, they won't.

Top of Round 5

”On it, Joy. Keep her steady…” The gunner lines up his shot and sends two beams lancing through the dark. He isn’t having much luck with the particle beam but it draws the Cyleerin’s attention... then the Coilgun hammers the tiny fighter.

Once again, the beam weapon (narrowly) misses, but the Cyleerin fighter you'd hit previously (the one that doubled back) is hit solidly by the coilgun. The vessel is not destroyed, but Burlap scored a direct hit on the engines; this particular fighter is adrift in space.

That said, it is still able to fire at you as it drifts past.

1d20 + 8 ⇒ (17) + 8 = 25 HIT
2d8 ⇒ (3, 8) = 11

Back in Engineering, Cherry grumbles as she watches the shield energy indicator recharge to full, then almost immediately drop to 25% on the front arc as the Betty takes another hit. Still, no hull damage.

Combat Map updated

Cyleerin: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (11) + 8 = 19
Raptors: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (10) + 9 = 19

"Absolutely, Betty! I welcome the assist; switch to military channel 327."

Initiative from Joyride, please.

The particle beam misses its mark, but the coilgun's sights are dead on. The Cyleerin fighter explodes in a fireball.

The first one you hit loops back around and fires as it approaches you.

1d20 + 8 ⇒ (18) + 8 = 26 HIT
2d8 ⇒ (4, 1) = 5 off forward shields

As the vessels continue through the fleet, the Raptors finally start to arrive. In the comm, you hear Juce Digly's familiar voice as his Raptor flies through the wreckage of another Cyleerin vessel.

"Black Betty, thanks for handling the opening volley for us. Wyvern Squadron can take it from here."

Does Alzura want to stay in the fight, or head for home?

After passing them out, he takes one tankard of his own and gives it a sniff.

"And have a swig. Piper be wanting to know what y'all think. He be saying this batch 'good strong stuff'. You be getting first taste."

Rico takes a solid swig of the proffered drink. He winces slightly as his eyes pop ever so minimally wider.

"Thats...ehem, that's solid stuff," Rico nods, setting the drink down.

...and why would they attack them, I'd think that the Makava maintain the roads allows bandits to do their banditting... business?

He seems to be lost in thought.

"They’re not just raiding caravans, either. They’re testing the Makava settlements. Probing defenses. Burning crops. Stealing water. Killing scouts. I think someone out there is trying to break the desert tribes on purpose."

Combat map updated. The two fighters with explosion icons on them are the ones you've damaged so far.

Here's the alias for my cohort! Didn't add any gear, wasn't sure how we wanted to do it. Otherwise he should be good to go.

Just buy him gear as if he were one level lower than his actual level, that should be fine. I believe you said he was 5th level, so the 4th level amount of gear would be 6000 gp worth. you can use any portion of that amount and then just assume mundane gear without tracking it.

"Well, now that you mention it, I didn’t come to Albarra just to drink with my old friend Djack. Although I confess I did hope to find him here."

He looks up, eyes darting between Djack and Amideo. "I came because the Makava tribes put out a call for aid."

"You remember the Makava, don’t you? The stone-well people. They keep the old routes through the desert open," Rico says nodding nodding toward the southwest. "Raiders—real ones, not just starving bandits—have started hitting them from all sides."

He ticks them off on his fingers. "Dust Reavers from the south. Red Knives out of the badlands. Even river pirates pushing in from the west."

Djack doesn't remember much about the lands to the southwest, it had been quite some time since he and Rico had ventured that way. But he does remember that the Dust Reavers, a mixed group of refugees-turned-bandit from all parts of the Marches, and the Red Knives, a very hostile native tribe, hated each other.

Do I need ot divert power?

If you'd like, and if no other player has a request for this round, you can roll your diver (Engineering check) to increase your AC next round; it's not RAW, but Joyride doesn't need a lot of speed at the moment, and it makes sense power diverted to thrusters might give momentarily better maneuverability to perform evasive actions.

If you do this, you will still get your normal engineering action next round as well.

Burlap's shots appear to go wide, but the particle beam manages to graze the oncoming fighter's hull, dropping it's forward shields and etching a line into its hull.

At that instant, Joyride flies just under the oncoming fighter and does a tight loop about, angling the thrusters with a precision the best AI would be envious of.

1d20 + 8 ⇒ (8) + 8 = 16

"Friends from way back. Born in the same town, smaller than Albarra even. You might say we grew up together. And occasionally we got into some trouble together. Well, when I say that, I mostly mean I got into trouble and old Djack here got me OUT of it. If you know what I mean, your honor," Ricardo says, his laughter toning down as he looked at the serious judge's face.

The food Rocko prepared surprises everyone, a bit. It's not as amazing as the regular cooks at the Mesa put out on a good day, but it's actually quite tasty.

"Hungry? You know it, my friend. Are you heading to dinner? I'll join you!"

Ricardo walks with Djack to the Friendly Mesa, talking about his recent journeys. He's been in town about a couple days, and evidently had a run-in with Djack's band of civic-minded youth, The Lantern Bearers, which turned out to be a misunderstanding on both parts, each suspecting the other of nefarious intent. Djack and Ricardo laugh at the story as they enter the Mesa.

Anyone else who wants to be in-scene can drop in whenever they want.

FYI, the first post of adventure 9 is up, but only Djack is currently in scene. No rush anyone else posting in-game as I know we're still deciding stuff about characters.

Juna 27

The late afternoon sun hangs low over Albarra, turning its adobe walls and red-tiled roofs the color of old copper. Wind carries the smell of roasting maize, dust, and horse sweat through the narrow streets. Bright woven banners snap between wooden balconies, and bells toll lazily from the Temple of the High Seven.

As Djack makes his way toward The Friendly Mesa, a familiar voice cuts through the noise. "By salt and wind and The Seven, if that isn’t Djack Nymball himself."

A man steps out from the shade of a building awning. He’s tall and lean, wearing a weather-stained cloak over light armor. A curved saber hangs at his hip, and a scarf is wrapped loosely around his neck. His hair is dark and flowing, his smile is unmistakable. Ricardo Gama. Old friend, and sometime rival. His grin widens as he approaches.

"Look at you. Still walking humbly like an urchin on the street. I half-expected you’d be dead or rich by now."

Uptdated her stats on here, still deciding on a feat. My initial thoughts are between Improved Initiative (+4 bonus!) and Versatile Summon Monster for the ability to change up her summons, probably with the fiery or primordial templates. Given that she now has the rod though for the giant template, I worry that I'd be putting too much focus on them.

Up to you. There's no problem with being focused if that's what you prefer to take.

Was also considering the possibility of retraining her Extra Chanel feat for another now that we've got boatloads more healing options.

I'll allow it if you decide to do so.

If rando approves of my downtime stuff, I was going to pick up the Warrior of Old racial[elf] trait, for a +2 init bonus.

Approved.

Rocko has an idea of how to have nicer meals while out in the field, and he'd like to go about putting a plan together. He knows there are 'bags of holding' that could contain better cooking gear and ingredients, possibly even with a way to keep food fresh.

A Handy Haversack is probably sufficient in volume for what you're looking for, and much cheaper than a full-on Bag of Holding.

He'd also like to spend time with people around time trying to pick up their cooking techniques so he can do meals more like everyone else likes (which Rocko likes eating too). After all, why not enjoy the trip more?

Yes this is bald-faced cribbed from the anime Campfire Cooking in Another World, but hey, it fits Rocko's ideals too.

If you'd like, I'll allow you to take a couple free ranks of Profession(Cook) instead of a trait. Certainly won't unbalance the game any.

A few questions that are kinda bunched together.

Question the first, could I take the Social Ties trait?

Absolutely.

Questions the second and third, would you be okay with me taking the Leadership feat? And if so, could I swap out Power Attack for it?

Certainly, it fits well thematically with the level we're at. Amideo hasn't exactly gotten in a ton of power attacks, so I'll allow the swap.

Everyone remember to add your new magic item/effect to your character sheet when adjusting your level. Also, you will have about 4 weeks of downtime in-game.

Please write me your downtime activities (Mayum 30-Juna 25, late spring, Albarra climate similar to Oklahoma City) in a 2 paragraph or more post in Discussion. For completing this, you may add one Trait (a regular trait or an alternate racial trait for your race, either one is fine with me). You need not complete the downtime post before the next adventure begins; any time in the next month or so real-time is fine.

The fighter you damaged is looping back for you, but won't be able to fire this turn. The other, an incoming (just forward and starboard), fires its lasers as it approaches. The updated Map is after their actions.

1d20 + 8 ⇒ (3) + 8 = 11 MISS
2d8 ⇒ (1, 8) = 9

Betty's action.

Round 2
Betty Initiative:1d20 + 15 ⇒ (8) + 15 = 23
Cyleerin Fighters:1d20 + 6 ⇒ (19) + 6 = 25

Despite his clear piloting superiority, The oncoming Cyleerin vessels get "the drop" on The Betty. Fortunately only two seem interested in her, as the rest move on through the fleet.

At this point, Vaelorin is hearing comm chatter on the Fleet's military channel. Diasporum Raptors are on their way.

The Cyleerin fighter manages to fire a torpedo at The Betty as she swoops past.

1d20 + 5 ⇒ (9) + 5 = 14
2d8 ⇒ (5, 8) = 13

The torpedo explodes harmlessly off your rear starboard, though close enough the shock wave causes some shaking.

My goal is to have the intro to the next adventure up by the end of the week.

Within minutes, the entire party finds themselves back in Albarra, several days travel over mountains and plains avoided.

The next morning, Mayum 29, the heroes of Albarra are once again on the move. Having squared things away in Luln, you head out toward the forest exit. That's when Zia snaps her fingers, and begins rooting through her bag for something.

let me know when you're ready to move on. The adventure is essentially over, save one last little scene that will happen when you leave Luln.

Itzakun nods. "<Yes, we have learned somewhat of what transpired; the forest has ears, and a voice, of course.>"

Once the pleasantries subside, and Amideo is deep in negotiations with Itzakun regarding what parts of the retrieved treasure Luln might find most interesting, Rocko speaks with one of the Elven Rangers here in Luln. Together, they spend some time discussing techniques.

I've been away from Paizo as I'm sure you guys have noticed. I've never succumb to the winter blues before... trying to get back in the saddle as it were.

I am planning a Djack-focused story as the next adventure. Maybe that will help get you back into the swing. Stay tuned. Meantime, take care of yourself.

Both of Burlap's shots strike home, causing obvious damage to the hull of the approaching fighter.

1d100 + 10 ⇒ (60) + 10 = 70
1d100 + 10 ⇒ (16) + 10 = 26

Combat map updated

The Cyleerin fighters continue their strafing run on the agricultural vessel next to The Betty. Explosions plume as vented atmosphere ignites.

Two more appear in the near distance as the others move past. Vaelorin detects the one closest to straight ahead is changing its targeting computers to aim at The Betty, though the other is still targeting the agri-ship.

1d20 + 12 ⇒ (9) + 12 = 21

I'll allow you to fire first, if you'd like, or wait for them to fire.

Upon your return to Luln, you are guided to the big tent where you stayed previously. Soon, the Elder, Itzakun, joins you with his retinue.

"<Welcome back, travelers! I see you have returned, and with the fabled treasure, no less!>"

On the topic of resolving things with Rosentos, could Amideo have offered the newly freed residents to accompany the group back to Albarra to settle there? Seems like a nicer place to live than the creepy vampire village.

Most of them would have chosen to remain, reaping the harvest of the land they've long worked now as freed men. I'll work the relocating of a few families that were interested into a later downtime post.

The temperature warms steadily as you travel on toward Luln, your minds still contemplating what you've just witnessed. What evils this world could wreak on its residents, and yet often with a chance of redemption, or at least, justice.

By evening you approach the familiar features of the forest-village of Luln, it's large pyramid-temple taking prominent form in the closing distance.

From half a mile distant, the hilltop rise is only a dark crown of trees against the gray-blue of the sky, its details softened to the eye. Then the scream arrives. Even at this range, it cuts through the air: a long, rising wail that makes the leaves shudder and the birds explode upward from the canopy in a black, frantic cloud. The cry does not echo so much as press, like a weight laid upon the land. The treetops bow as if in a sudden gale, though no wind moves the grass in the valley below.

A flash of motion breaks the tree line. Something pale and swift darts between trunks near the crest of the hill, too fast and erratic to be human. It stumbles—actually stumbles—and vanishes behind a stand of junipers. A moment later, a dark figure is flung clear of the forest, tumbling end over end before striking the ground hard enough to send a faint puff of dirt into the air. From this distance, it looks almost like a discarded cloak.

The wail swells again, higher, sharper. The sound becomes visible in its effects: a ring of leaves tearing free and spiraling outward from the hilltop as though pushed by an invisible wave. The fallen figure tries to rise. It does not get far. It jerks, stiffens, then collapses flat, limbs splayed unnaturally.

Above the trees, something lifts into view—an indistinct, hovering shape, long and trailing, its edges unraveling like smoke. The air around it seems to ripple. When it throws back its head, the scream that follows is shorter, focused, devastating. A shock ripples through the forest canopy, and several trees simply split, their trunks bursting apart from within. When the sound ends, the hilltop goes still.

No more movement stirs among the trees. The pale figure does not rise again. The hovering shape lingers for a heartbeat longer, disburses into the air, finally free of the torment of a trapped spirt. All that remains is a quiet hill, scattered with broken branches and drifting leaves, as though the land itself has chosen to forget what happened there.

Yes, the purplish fighters. There are more of them, those are just the only ones currently in your area of the fleet.

None of the fleet's fighters have entered this area of the combat, but of course you can send out comm transmissions of your plan. Sending encrypted tactics to the fleet will be a Computers check (probably from Vaelorin).

Side note, the fleet itself will mostly serve as terrain for this battle, kind of like the opening battle in Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith; tactically you're closer up than normal combats, so tight piloting checks will be harder but you can move further, and you don't really need to worry about weapon range.

Combat Map at top of page updated.

Betty has initiative (I rolled off-line). Act first, or force them to act first?

Noted. I'll hop on and do a post tonight to try and get us back up and running.

Seeing as how the story is currently on the banshee/Rosentos completeion, did we already resolve the bodies of the minion vampires and what was to be done about the two werewolf servants?

The servants were dead when you left them; being lesser vampires, they did not survive the combat in the same way as Rosentos.

The werewolves, what you choose to do can happen off screen. I'd imagine the former slaves would want to execute them for being Rosentos' enforcers for several years. Alternately, Zia or Yoltzin can dispel the curse and cure them, suggesting to the newly freed residents that they instead imprison them for a period or exile them.