So I'm going to attempt a nice little campaign... I'll work on the details later... As opposed to Furries world campaign he's doing, I will be attempting miniature campaign and incidents set in his world. Of course, this will also help expand his world as not everything can happen in the four or five towns that currently exist. Because my campaign will be simple little excursions and events, this gives you the chance to have multiple characters. Naturally, you can't use the characters from other campaigns while they are currently in one. In order to participate in this campaign, you must make a
new character or use one who is not currently involved in a separate campaign.
The Setting Seawell is a port town on the south-eastern end of the northern continent (See the updated world map here (http://claytonia.net/forums/index.php?topic=2326.0)). It's a very prosperous town, trade flourishes and fish collectors show off their collections with pride. The city is lined with wooden buildings and the paths are slabs of stone, evenly set into the ground making beautiful walk ways. Walls surround the town, but they're not very big. the walls set about 10 feet high, just enough to keep various things from getting into the town easily. The walls are needed as various creatures attempt to attack the town because of it's population and various goods held within the walls. Naturally, the guild in this town helps protect it's people, accepting quests and doing various other helpful things.
Notable Buildings:
- Inn
- Fishery
- Guard Building at the Town Gate
- Guild Hall: "The Piscus"
- General Store
- Weapon and Armour Store
The Problem Seawell normally does just fine, in fact it does better than most towns since it trade quite regularly with the southern continent, which wasn't affected by the fall of The Capitol. Recently however, the town has been suffering as ships that have been scheduled to arrive haven't arrived. The guild, busy fending off increasing attacks from the various monster in the area, haven't had enough free members to investigate. In response to their dilemma, they've hired up to four adventurers to hopefully solve the problem.
Special Notes This is of course, my first forum campaign. I'll be working things differently. You'll of course need to make a new character for this campaign (Unless you happen to have a free one). The restrictions for the characters who take part in my campaign are as follows:
- Your character must be a race and class from the 3.5 players handbook, most of them can be found here. (http://claytonia.net/forums/index.php?topic=2196.0)
- Your characters equipment will consist of leather armour and a weapon of your choice. Keep in mind that you get one weapon, and it comes from the 3.5 simple equipment section. There will be a list up shortly. You will have no gold to start with.
- Description is wonderful, yes. But try to leave a lot of the surroundings to me and focus on your characters actions, feelings, and thoughts. Accidently adding a detail can make it not only harder for you guys to advance in the story, but can alter the story all together. Please keep your characters alignment in mind during your actions.
- Keep and eye out for sub text, I'll explain various things from my thought process on how I do some of my rolls to random compliments for playing good.
If you have any more questions, let me know. I'm normally found in the Dungeons and Dragons section of TeamSpeak. I will be a stricter DM, I'm just trying to force kinks out of the system. To enlist your character in this quest, simply post here. When I reach four or get tired of waiting for applicants, I'll start. In your post, paste a copy of your characters character sheet so I can find it easier. There should be a copy in both the Toki's Campaigns Created Character Sheets section as well as here. I'll have you modify it as I see needed to fit the requirements of a starting character. It sounds mean, making you change something, but hopefully it will make the campaign harder as well as more fun.
Adventurers Enlisted by The Piscus Guild: 4/4
I, Jayne of Cobb, would like to apply to this guild,
Name: Jayne of Cobb Gender: Male Age: 29
Race: Half-Orc Class: Fighter Alignment: Neutral Evil
Level: 1 Armour Class: 10 + 2 + 3 = 15 Health Points: 9 + 2 = 11
Stats (modifiers):
Strength: 17 (+3) Constitution: 13 (+1)
Dexterity: 17 (+3) Intelligence: 11 (+0)
Wisdom: 10 (+0) Charisma: 9 (+0)
Luck: 11
Class & Racial Bonuses:
half-orc: +2 str, -2 cha, -2 int
Dark Vision: Orcs can function just fine without light
Auto Languages: Common and Orc
Fighter: +1 to hit with melee weapons
Unique Skills:
Power Attack: On my action, before making attack rolls, I may choose to subtract a number from all melee attack rolls and add the same number to damage. This number cannot be more than my current hit modifier.
Equipment:
Leather Armor (+2 AC)
Morningstar (1d8, x2 crit @ 20; bludgeoning and piercing dmg)
Standard Adventurers Kit
Other Stuff:
Experience: 0
Height: 6' 5" Weight: 235 lbs
You're not applying to the guild, you're applying to be a part of the quest. Unless there are major discrepancies with your character, there shouldn't be a reason for the guild to not accept your help. This is just to make sure characters have been built right and letting me know that your character would like to take part in this quest.
The Piscus guild has acknowledged that you will help with their dilemma and will contact you with more information upon finding a few more adventurers to help. We thank you for your quick reply.
"Guild...quest...it makes no difference to me", Jayne says with either indifference or ignorance. It's difficult to translate his half-orc facial expressions. "You have my blade".
Jaybe of Cobb has a morningstar in his inventory, so obviously its a metaphorical suggestion. Try not to explain it too in depth to him.
Zen Komanu would like to aid the guild in this endeavor.
Name: Zen Komanu Gender: Male Age: 29
Race: Human Class: Sorcerer Alignment: Lawful Evil
Level: 1 Armour Class: 10 + 0 + 2 = 12 Health Points: 8 + 2 = 10
Stats:
Strength: 6 (-2) Constitution: 14 (+2)
Dexterity: 11 (+0) Intelligence: 18 (+4)
Wisdom: 16 (+3) Charisma: 11 (+0)
Luck: 16
Strain Points: 18
Racial and Class Bonuses:
Human: Starts with two unique skills instead of one
Sorcerer: Has the ability to learn and use spells, Familiar (Raven [Can learn one language])
Languages: Common
Unique Skills and Feats:
Evocation Level 2
Equipment:
Sickle (1d6)
Leather Armour (+2 to AC)
Standard Adventurer's Kit
Other Stuff:
Experience: 0
Height: 6' 2" Weight: 190 lbs
Zen's Header
[b]Name:[/b] Zen Komanu [b]Bonuses:[/b] [b]Str:[/b] -2 [b]Con:[/b] +2
[b]Health Points:[/b] 9/9 [b]Dex:[/b] +0 [b]Int:[/b] +4
[b]Strain Points:[/b] 18/18 [b]Wis:[/b] +3 [b]Cha:[/b] +0
[b]Armour Class:[/b] 12 [b]Luk:[/b] 16
[hr]
The Piscus guild of Seawell looks forward to working with you, Zen. Once we contact more adventurers to help with this endeavor, we shall call you to the guild to explain things in more depth.
Leila and Itzal have nothing better to do and figure they could be of some use here.
Name: Leila Gender: Human Age: 20
Race: Human Class: Sorcerer Alignment: True Neutral
Level: 1 Armour Class: 10 + 1 + 2 = 13 Health Points: 8 + 2 = 10
Stats:
Strength: 11 (+0) Constitution: 14 (+2)
Dexterity: 13 (+1) Intelligence: 16 (+3)
Wisdom: 12 (+1) Charisma: 13 (+1)
Luck: 9
Strain Points: 16
Racial and Class Bonuses:
Human: Starts with two unique skills instead of one
Sorcerer: Has the ability to learn and use spells, Familiar (Itzal the great black hawk [+3 Spot Checks])
Languages: Common
Unique Skills and Feats:
Evocation 1
Illusion 1
Equipment:
Short Spear (1d6)
Leather Armour (+2 to AC)
Standard Adventurer's Kit
Other Stuff:
Experience: 0
Height: 5' 3" Weight: 110 lb
-Lore-
Yeah I didn't write this yet. Basically she's Arya's ignored little sister who left Port Unity (their home city in the south-eastern part of the map) about 10 months ago. She's bitter about her sister always having the attention because she came back from the dead and her parents and everyone else always fawned over her because she died and could go between the spirit world and the overworld and they didn't care much for Leila who was smarter and prettier than Arya but mostly normal. She came by Itzal (his name means shadow opposed to Mayar meaning moon glow. Leila means secret as opposed to Arya meaning truth) as a show of her sorcery powers to her parents but her parents didn't think much of i (Arya had a glowing spirit wolf. You can't beat that). Uh yeah that's basically it. Maybe I don't have to write it all fancy like now that I have this.
Leila's Header
[b]Name:[/b] Leila [b]Bonuses:[/b] [b]Str:[/b] +0 [b]Con:[/b] +2
[b]Health Points:[/b] 10/10 [b]Dex:[/b] +1 [b]Int:[/b] +3
[b]Strain Points:[/b] 16/16 [b]Wis:[/b] +1 [b]Cha:[/b] +1
[b]Armour Class:[/b] Sorcerer [b]Luk:[/b] 9
[hr]
The Piscus guild accepts your help generously. We shall find one more to aid you and then we shall explain our dilemma.
Ray approaches the guild help recruiters and waves his arms sporadically. He then stands tall and points his thumb towards his chest, fist closed as if saying "I'm your man for the job". Smiling, he awaits an answer.
Name: Ray Milx Gender: Male Age: 48
Race: Half-Elf Class: Cleric Alignment: Good
Level: 1 Armour Class: 10 + 1 + 2 = 13 Health Points: 7 - 1 + 8 = 14
Stats:
Strength: 10 (+0) Constitution: 9 (-1)
Dexterity: 12 (+1) Intelligence: 16 (+3)
Wisdom: 13 (+1) Charisma: 8 (-1)
Luck: 10
Strain Points: 16/16
Racial and Class Bonuses:
Half-Elf: Low-Light Vision (Can see twice as far as normal in low light situations), +2 racial bonus on diplomacy and gather information checks
Cleric: Access to Domains. (2 points per level. Current Total: 2)
Languages - Common and Elven
Unique Skills and Feats:
Healing Domain 1
War Domain 1
Equipment:
Light Crossbow (1d8)
Leather Armour (+2 to AC)
Standard Adventurer's Kit
Other Stuff:
Experience: 0
Height: 5' 11" Weight: 173 lbs
Ray Milx is a mute. We're not even sure how we know his name. He wanders the world trying to right things he believes is wrong and loves to help others. Unfortunately, his inability to speak gets in the way of such things and is normally only useful in battle. With brown eyes and blonde hair, he stands with a normal build. He was never the prettiest person, constantly getting into fight because people didn't understand what he meant by an action, his face is slightly marred by battle.
(Just a character I made more as a filler for some campaigns. He'll typically just follow the party around and really only do something in battle. Should the party split up, he goes with the group that has the least amount of people.)
You can help as well, sir. All four of you, please come to the Piscus guild at noon to be informed.
The four adventurers walked into The Piscus guild hall. Only tables and chairs decorated the scene as a lone man sat at a table motioning for the four to have a seat. When the four seated themselves, the man began to talk. "Sorry you have to see our guild in such a sad state, but we've been busy repelling the Lizard Folk from our city. Lately they've become a lot more active and it's become troubling. To top it off, some ships that were supposed to bring supplies for the guild haven't come into port. Our supplies are running low and if our men can't get re-supplied, the battle will turn even more gruesome. It's already to the point that we haven't been able to keep our hall clean." The man runs his finger across the table, removing a thick layer of dust in it's wake.
"While we keep the Lizard Folk away from the town, we need you to figure out what's happening to our shipments. We can reward you as best we can. The sooner we get the problem done, the bigger the reward. I'm afraid that after three days, we won't have enough to supply a reward." The man looked down in embarrassment. "That's the basic layout of the problem. With that said, we have a few rooms arranged for you at the inn for when you need to sleep." The man stood up and walked to the door, leaving the heroes sitting at the table. Looking back he said "For the record, my name is Ashen, I run the Piscus Guild. I'm headed back to the Lizard Folk now, I suggest you start your search at the fishery. Most of our shipments come by sea, so they might know something." Ashen walked out of the building, and headed towards the Guard Building at the gate.
The heroes are left sitting at the table, what do you plan to do?
Jayne looks around the table, studying his surroundings...
spot check
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 1, total 1[/blockquote]
"I'm Jayne...of Cobb. I didn't volunteer for any mission. I'm here for the gold. What brings you here?" the half-orc asks the other adventurers.
Zen looks around at the rest of the group before answering. "I'm here for the gold as well. If it pays, I slay. That's what I always say. Hopefully we'll get to do some slaying at some point." After answering Jayne's question, Zen asks the flailing-arms man "So, why not just say you want to help? It seems easier than looking like an idiot flailing your arms around like that."
Jayne: Looking around the room, Ashen was true to his word. There is a thick layer of dust on all of the flat surfaces, even some of the vertical ones. No one is left in the room except for the four adventurers. Stairs lead off to the second floor at the back of the room, a sign saying "Guild Members Only" blockades the way. The exit of the building is opposite of the room from the stairs, a large marlin hangs above it. Jayne shifts his body to get a look at the rest of the room but he accidently kicks of a layer of dust which irritates his eyes, causing him to tear up and obstruct his view.
Ray: Ray points to his mouth and then waves a flat hand in front of his throat as if saying his voice was cut out. He then points to the other members of the group as if saying, "you guys lead".
"Great. So We've got a mute, a Half-Blind-Half-Orc, a woman who is silent so far, and myself. We're going to conquer the world with this lot!" Zen says sarcastically. "Well, what's the plan then? We need to do something quick, as it seems we only have three days."
"That man has given us a mission. Perhaps we should tend to that. . This one", referring to Ray. "seems to have something lodged in its pie gullet". Jayne attempts to stand up, but, due to his impeded vision, promptly stumbles out of his chair which breaks under the awkward new weight distribution.
Jayne, now on his back, suggests a plan. "We should head to the docks and ask around".
Leila bristles at the insinuation that she won't talk. The great black hawk on her shoulder ruffles his feathers at the movement. "I was not paying attention. That is all, gold-digger," she shoots. Instantly, Leila is not a fan of this "Zen" fellow. He's snotty, sarcastic, and arrogantly confident. Sort of like herself. At least the half-orc was to the point. "As for me, I have nothing better to do, so you two cupcakes better make this quest interesting. I want a nice little story to tell when I go back home," she says as she examines her nails. They're clean cut and filed to perfection. It seems the little man can't talk. Fine. Leila plans on ignoring him until he is needed. One less snot-mouth to deal with. "Yes, let's go to the docks," Leila agrees. The woman stands up and walks out the guild, not looking back to see if the others were coming. The sorceress is in it for the adventure, not playmates.
The four adventurers begin their quest, headed to the Fishery first. It was on the south-eastern end of town, towards to ocean. About five stalls greet them at the edge of the area towards town, each selling their own product from types of fish to fishing supplies. Behind the stalls there are large crates, barrels, and piles of fresh fish that lead straight to docks. There are only two ships in port, and it didn't look like they were leaving any time soon. It was easy to guess what the place smelled like.
Despite being an important area, the Fishery seemed rather deserted. Only 3 stalls had people manning them and you could only see about 4 others walking around the area working on their various tasks.
Jayne has done his best freeing his eyes from the debilitating dust along the journey, and surveys the fishery.
Spot Check
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 10, total 10[/blockquote]
Jayne surveys the area, he doesn't see much. All of the people walking around the area seemed to be male, aside from one of the stall people who happens to be a female. Three seagulls were arguing over a small fish on some tall crates near the ocean. A depressing atmosphere seemed to linger in the air. It seemed as though the people were disappointed about something, all the while continuing to work.
Leila also scans her surroundings to see if she see something Jayne has missed. She has Itzal look with her.
Spot Check
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 8, total 8[/blockquote]
Leila doesn't notice anything different about the area, but one of the personnel strolling about happens to notice the party. "Hey, Folks. You must be new to this area, all you seem to be doing is standing around and staring at the fish, haha. Can I help you with something?" The one who addressed them is an average height man with sun kissed skin. His hair is dark from the sun, and freckles adorn his face. He seems to be between the ages of 25 to 30.
Name: Zen Komanu Bonuses: Str: -2 Con: +2
Health Points: 9/9 Dex: +0 Int: +4
Strain Points: 18/18 Wis: +3 Cha: +0
Armour Class: 12 Luk: 16
"We're with the Piscus Guild. We know that some ships with supplies from the Southern Continent have gone missing somewhere between here and there. We want to know why. Do you have any ideas as to the cause of this?" Zen replies to the Tan Man.
"Naw, I ain't got a clue." said the man, who replied to Zen of course. "I do know it's been a real hassle though. If you didn't notice, this place isn't very packed. Couple weeks ago, there were crates and people galore here. Suddenly we started gettin' attacked by them lizard folk and ships started disappearin'. Now all we got left are these here crates. Can't go very far out from town without the supplies for the ships, y'know? Barely keeping ourselves afloat with the two ships over there." The man hinted towards the two docked ships in the port by motioning his head towards them. "We only been usin' them for fishing as of late. Even then we can't go to far out into sea to catch the real gold getters. Can't risk losing them in a storm. Maybe one of the captains can give you a better idea on the situation. But ah, if the harbor master sees me lolly gagging around talking to tourists, he'll ring my neck. Hope you folks solve the problem, it'd be a real help to this town." With that the man walks away, the adventurers quickly lose sight of him amidst the crates.
Name: Zen Komanu Bonuses: Str: -2 Con: +2
Health Points: 9/9 Dex: +0 Int: +4
Strain Points: 18/18 Wis: +3 Cha: +0
Armour Class: 12 Luk: 16
Turning back to the rest of the group, Zen sees them looking around the dock area. "Well, looks like we need to find ourselves a captain. One of those ships should have one." Without waiting for a response, Zen starts heading for the ship nearest them.
Jayne nods in agreement, although splits up from Zeeto to head towards the further of the docked ships. This way the group can cover more ground during the limited time of this mission. The half-orc does his best to survey the area as he walks towards his destination.
Spot Check to study surroundings along the way
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 3, total 3[/blockquote]
As Zen gets closer to the ship, he turns around and surveys the area. After seeing what he can see, Zen turns back around and looks at the rest of the area in front of him. He then continues on his way to the ship.
Spot Check:
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 10, total 10[/blockquote]
Nothing changes for the two heroes but the perspective that they see the Fishery from. The back of the boxes show the same sign of wearing as the front of the boxes, sea wind can be abrasive sometimes.
The ships look almost identical, aside from the flags they fly. One is a blue triangle with a fish on it while the other is a square red flag with a chest one it. The ship with the chest on it is the further away from the two.
Zen: You climb on the ship to find it deserted aside from a crew member scrubbing the deck. He looks up at the footsteps Zen makes while climbing aboard the ship. He wears a blue headband, keeping his sweaty hair tied out of his eyes. He stand about 6 foot 2 and has scars on his bare torso from who knows what. "Oi, you can't just hop aboard a ship wit-" He looks Zen up and down. "Ah, you must be new, I can tell from your stance and equipment. The mops are over there, grab one and help me finish this blasted thing."
Jayne: Climbing aboard the Red Flagged Ship, Jayne spots two men sitting at a table having a couple drinks. Around the deck there are about 20 people tending to various things, from swabbing the deck to coiling ropes. The men at the table seem engrossed in their drink and conversation. Jayne seemed to be unnoticed until one of the crew working on the ship spoke up. "You're not one of the usual loaders, what brings you to this ship?" The man faced towards the two men sitting at the table and barked: "Hey Captain! We gots a guest!" Both men at the table look up from their drinks, towards the half-orc who hopped aboard.
Jayne is surprised at the hospitality of these men. He didn't think they'd welcome a half-orc so quickly, but is grateful, nonetheless. He quickly glances all around him on the ship's surface, awaiting the captain.
Spot Check
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 14, total 14[/blockquote]
Leila follows Jayne, as he is the one Leila can stand out of the two of them. She stops by one of the stalls first though, leaving Jayne to board the ship first. Approaching the stall keeper, Leila says, "Hello. What are your prices for fish today?" She wants to see how badly this problem is affecting the market. And if this stall keeper is cooperative, maybe some key information could be slipped?
Leila: The person at the stall looked relieved at the sight of Leila approaching as opposed to her other companions. He waited patiently for her to talk first, to which he replied: "Ah yes! Fish prices!" The man proceeded to pull out a fish about a foot long. "Fresh! I promise! We just got a whole stock of them in! 5 SP each, enough to feed a small family, I promise!" It was obvious he was trying to pawn this fish off to Leila. Looking the fish over, one could see the gills turning yellow with a string pungent smell coming from it.
Jayne: The two men stood up pin almost unison. One had a blue captain hat on while the other had a red. The red captain spoke first. "Come now, don't look surprised! Half-Orcs and the sea belong with each other. Unwelcome on land by the lubbers, our ships welcome the strong bodies you have. Everyone here knows that, and they welcome the help. The sea is a dangerous place, everyone watches everyone's back. I take it you're here to join our crew?" After the, the man with the blue hat spoke up. "Yes, but if you're still attached to the land, join me! I run the fishing ship behind us. We make more frequent stops at land than these traders... although..." The captain's voice trailed off. Picking up where the blue captain left off, the red captain began again. Although now isn't the best time to join us... we've been using only my ship, this fine vessel here for the past two weeks. It's bigger so it's a bit safer to be out on the sea with, but we haven't gone to far. We need supplies and our outside sources keep going missing. We of the trade and exploration ship have been reduced to fishermen." The blue captain cut in. "What's wrong with being a fisherman? We get paid more often. Although sometimes our catches aren't as big as yours... Either way, You should head back to town and mull it over. The sea is a long, wary life. I'm sure we'll have our supplies in a few days, this lull can't go on forever!" With that, the captains returned to their seats and back to their drinks. "You're welcome to join us for a drink, we haven't much though..."
Name: Zen Komanu Bonuses: Str: -2 Con: +2
Health Points: 9/9 Dex: +0 Int: +4
Strain Points: 18/18 Wis: +3 Cha: +0
Armour Class: 12 Luk: 16
Gold: 0
Looking offended, Zen replied to the man "Actually, I'm not here to swab the deck or join your crew. I'm looking for your captain. Any idea where I might find him?"After asking his question, Zen looks around the ship to see if he might spot the captain.
Spot Check:
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 18, total 18[/blockquote]
Zen: You look around the deck to see just this man standing here. The man watches you look around before cluing in that you're looking for someone in particular. "Ah, the captain! Sorry bud, but this ship has been docked for a couple weeks. Lack of supplies means we had to cut down on what we do best. We use the bigger ship ahead of us because it's sturdier on the sea. Can't risk losing what supplies we have... You should be able to find the captain over there. Sure I can't change your mind to help?" The man gave a sheepish grin at his request.
Name: Zen Komanu Bonuses: Str: -2 Con: +2
Health Points: 9/9 Dex: +0 Int: +4
Strain Points: 18/18 Wis: +3 Cha: +0
Armour Class: 12 Luk: 16
"No, sorry. I have other matters to attend to." Zeeto turns and walks down the gangplank. He walks over to the other ship, admiring the craftsmanship of the vessel along the way. Once he gets up the gangplnk, Zeeto sees two men sitting and wearing funny hats. "Excuse me, I am looking for the captain of this vessel. Would either of you happen to know where I can find him?"
Leila scrunches her nose ever so slightly at the smell of the fish. "That would make good crab bait, at least," she says. The more rotten the bait, the larger the yield as far as crab fishing goes. If she didn't have to cooperate with this man, she'd have asked him if he took her for an idiot, calling the fish fresh. But alas, she needs answers. The sorceress starts interrogating."Do you have any idea why the shipments aren't coming in?" she asks.
Zen: As you walk away from the man, you could feel his dismay at not getting help for his cleaning. When you ask the men in 'funny' hats where to captain is, they grin at each other. "They're probably at the inn, drinking away the last of their dreams. Whatcha be needin' with our captain?" The man in the blue hat said, taking a large drink from his cup. "Yeeeeah, at the inn. That's where you'll probably find 'im" The red hatted one said.
Leila: The stall owner looked a bit dismayed at Leila's answer. If she knew it would make good crab bait, she probably knew it wouldn't make very appeasing food. His voice grew a little flatter when he realized he wasn't going to be making any money off of this woman. "Eh... Not much. We keep sending people out to sea to order supplies for our stalls, but they never seem to come back. It's been a few days since we sent our last order out, and we didn't even send it far. Should have had word on their return this mornin'... but nothing." With a last attempt at a sale "So if you're not gonna be buying it to eat, wanna buy it for crab bait? 3 SP, just for you."
Name: Zen Komanu Bonuses: Str: -2 Con: +2
Health Points: 9/9 Dex: +0 Int: +4
Strain Points: 18/18 Wis: +3 Cha: +0
Armour Class: 12 Luk: 16
"I'm with the Half-Orc. We're with the Piscus guild. Our job is to find out what's been happening with all the ships vanishing, and no supplies arriving. Would you have any ideas on that?"
"Thank you. I'll call you when I become a crab fisher," Leila replies curtly. She then walks towards where Jayne situated himself on one of the boats. So people are disappearing somewhere in the ocean perhaps? It seems the quartet is destined to take a boat out to sea.
(Why do I feel so guilty being mean to a made up merchant ._.)
The two people with the hats looked at each other and then back at Zen, then sighed almost at the same time. "Alright, we're the captains. Both of us captain these ships. Bet you can't guess which ones, eh?"
He pointed at his hat. "You're the ones the guild set to look for the missing ships?" Eyeing you up and down, the red captain looks a little disappointed. As far as we ca-" Leila climbed onto the deck. The blue captain was already on the case though. "Good evening Madam, welcome to my humble vessel! Would you like a tour of it? It's truly one of the greatest."
It seems the two captains have been distracted by the presence of a woman on their boat.
Now there was a fine gentleman who knew what he was doing! Leila smiles at the blue captain and bats her eyes ever so flirtatiously. "Such a kind gentleman. I'd be honored to take your tour," she says in a slightly airy tone. Leila adds a curtsy for good measure. The hawk on her shoulder is displeased by the sudden change in altitude and makes a small squawk.
Name: Zen Komanu Bonuses: Str: -2 Con: +2
Health Points: 9/9 Dex: +0 Int: +4
Strain Points: 18/18 Wis: +3 Cha: +0
Armour Class: 12 Luk: 16
"Ahem" Zen clears his throat and walks between the annoying woman and the captains. "I believe you were saying something?"
Leila turns to her unfortunate party member and says, "How rude! This kind gentleman was about to take me on a tour and you interrupted him." Turning to the captains, she says, "I apologize on behalf of my party member. Now, where were we?" She smiles at the captains again and cocks her head to the left.
Jayne is content to hear half-orcs aren't universally dismissed, although it seems both captains might be a little too interested in the fighter. "I'm not looking to become anyone's first mate...", Jayne starts. "But I can't refuse the honor of drinking with manly seamen". Jayne regrets his poorly worded sentence immediately. Before he corrects himself, Zen arrives on board; Leila soonafter.
Jayne, after standing awkwardly in silence, finally asks "Jayne still drink?"
Name: Zen Komanu Bonuses: Str: -2 Con: +2
Health Points: 9/9 Dex: +0 Int: +4
Strain Points: 18/18 Wis: +3 Cha: +0
Armour Class: 12 Luk: 16
"Woman, I don't know what your problem is, but I would appreciate you not interrupting my conversations. Now, what were you saying, captain?"
Leila gives Zen a toothless smile. It's the kind of smile that conveys not an inch of warmth with steel cold eyes that shoot daggers into his soul. "Woman," she states quietly, still smiling. Her features drop to a glare, yet the effect of her expression stays the same. "Woman?" The sorceress walks very close to Zen and hisses too low for the captains to hear, "Don't you dare call me 'woman' like that ever again or I'll have your tongue cut out, worm."
Name: Zen Komanu Bonuses: Str: -2 Con: +2
Health Points: 9/9 Dex: +0 Int: +4
Strain Points: 18/18 Wis: +3 Cha: +0
Armour Class: 12 Luk: 16
Speaking just as low as the arrogant Sorceress, Zen replies angrily "I suggest you back off, before you get hurt. I wouldn't want to hurt a female, but if it comes to it, I will."
"Oh but honey," Leila says, dropping all pretenses of her previous chill. Her eyes go sweet and pleading. "You wouldn't do that to me, now would you? I was actually starting to like you." Her eyes drop sadly. She sighs and looks up again at him. She puts her hand to his face gently. "You're such a handsome man." Her fingers run down his cheek. When her fingers get to his mouth, a ray of ice shoots from them to seal his mouth shut. All her warmth drops in an instant and she stands smiling callously at him. "So keep your mouth shut and don't ruin the image."
Ray of Frost
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 4, total 4[/blockquote]
Leila's hand on Zen's face suddenly became cold, so cold that frost began forming on Zen's face. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to seal Zen's mouth shut in a layer of ice. The spell however, was strong enough to let Zen know that something had just happened.
3 Strain to Leila
Name: Zen Komanu Bonuses: Str: -2 Con: +2
Health Points: 9/9 Dex: +0 Int: +4
Strain Points: 18/18 Wis: +3 Cha: +0
Armour Class: 12 Luk: 16
At the frost forming on his face, he gains a slight look of surprise. When he realizes it didn't work, however, the surprise turns into a smirk. "Is that the best you can do? It will take more than a bit of ice to phase me." At this, Zen's hands begin glowing with a red hot flame. He then attempts to focus the flame into a ray, and direct it at the sorceress.
Scorching Ray at the Arrogant One
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 14, total 14[/blockquote]
"two-half people have all the fun..."
Leila barely saw it coming, she torqued herself just enough that the beam singed her clothes, leaving a horizontal line of burnt edges across her clothes. She was safe, but her clothes were ruined.
1 Strain to Zen
The red captain motioned for the Orc to follow him to the table where he sat down. The blue captain, although he couldn't hear, it was quite evident what was going on. "Ah, I see now. You'd think the esteemed adventurers the guild picked out to help with the missing supplies would fight amongst themselves less." The captain lost any sign of being drunk at that comment he just made. Standing tall, about 6 foot 3, he motioned for everyone to sit at the small table. Although, while he motioned for everyone to sit, there were really only three chairs. They were already occupied by the two captains and Jayne. If you guys want to solve this problem, fighting with each other isn't gonna help." His eyes were directed at the male-female spat in front of him.
"Next time, I won't miss." Zen says. To the captain, Zen replies "You are right. Now, what do you know?"
Leila looked at the scorch mark and laughed. "Hah you missed me at point blank. How much of a 'man' are you really then, if you assume the 'woman' to be weaker. Let's see." Upon finishing speaking, she walked up to the manly man and punched him in the gut. Hard. Turning to the captains, she says, "My apologies for this. You don't understand how he's been."
Fist BAM!
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 3, total 3[/blockquote]
"Punch Zen time?"
Punch Zen Time?
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 13, total 13[/blockquote]
Leila walked up to Zen, her comment totally audible, she swung her fist. She missed entirely. Suddenly, Jayne stood up. It was a rather quick succession from the chair to Zen. His large fist flew out and caught Zen in the gut where Leila had intended but missed. It wasn't a full forced punch, the motion of going from chair to feet and feet to Zen had made sure of it. Zen collapsed to his knees, his gut hurting and with shortened breath for a bit.
Damage:
[blockquote]Rolled 1d2 : 2, total 2[/blockquote]
Both captains watched the little scene unfold. Once the scene was more or less finished, one of the captains began talking. They both figured that the fighting just wasn't going to stop. The red captain was silent, letting the blue captain talk while he drank a bit more. "Couple days back we sent out word to the nearest city asking for supplies for our ships and to defend against the lizard folk. Unfortunately, they haven't been returning at the times they should. Our most recent ship was supposed to return today, but no word. It's been the same with all the other ships." The captain paused to take a drink. "We're not sure what's causing it, but its a real hassle. We can't take very many risks, but this problem has to be solved. These two ships are all we've got in this epidemic. Losing one isn't an option. I don't know how much of that you guys heard past all your bickering, but we're running out of options. You guys got any ideas?"
Name: Zeeto Nailo Bonuses: Str: +1 Con: +1
Health Points: 10/10 Dex: +3 Int: +3
Strain Points: 11/20 Wis: +2 Cha: +1
Armour Class: 16 Com: +1 Luk: 9
Gold: 0
Still gasping for breath a bit between every couple of words, Zen replied "I believe... we should take one... of the ships... and find whatever... is causing this problem...There isn't really any... other option..."
Jayne intends to do what he does best: fight. He stays standing and simply states, "Lizard Sandwiches" The half-orc pauses a beat, then adds "with cheese".
Jayne believes he's somehow being clever....
...but he's also a bit hungry.
The captains look a little dismayed at the thought of using a ship to see what happens. Both of them didn't like the idea of losing one of the ships. The red captain put down his drink, all the drunkenness gone just like the blue. "You're telling one of us to let you have one of our ships, and our men, to sail out into the waters to see what happens? If our previous ships and their men couldn't make it through what ever it was, then what makes you think adding four untrained land farers to the ships will make it all better?" He paused when the Half-Orc said he first words of the day while on the ship. "And then you're suggesting you fight ALL of the lizard folk away? The guild ain't exactly full of chumps. We have some real fighters in there, and while we've been able to hold them back so far, the lizard folk just keep coming. They breed like rabbits despite being so reptilian. You're welcome to add your blades to the efforts though." The blue captain sighed. "Unfortunately though, the guild has put their trust in you. Give us plausible cause for one of us to loan you one of our ships and we'll have no reason to object. But what Red here was saying, adding four people to a ship isn't going to change much if the ships themselves have been sinking."
Jayne does his very best to put thoughts together, which is increasingly difficult after the mentioning of rabbit. Delicious breeding rabbits....
Jayne's half-orc brain offers a simple solution, "We hunt lizards. We succeed and you know first. Its open water for you and your crew. Everyone else still think lizards roam".
Name: Zen Komanu Bonuses: Str: -2 Con: +2
Health Points: 7/9 Dex: +0 Int: +4
Strain Points: 17/18 Wis: +3 Cha: +0
Armour Class: 12 Luk: 16
Zen, who has now regained his breath, sees that their only option is to get one of these ships. By any means possible. Better to try to be civil before doing the fun stuff though. "Look, think of it this way. You can lend us a ship and crew, and we go find the problem. We either solve it, or we die. That's the first option. Or, you can sit here and drink, and drink, and then drink some more. More people will send ships out, and they'll disappear. Then some more will go, and more, and more. Meanwhile, you sit here and drink, and do nothing for the rest of your life. If we take a ship out now, we can find the problem, If we solve it, you can get back to your normal routine, and sail the open seas freely again."
Leila inwardly smirks. She is starting to like this Jayne fellow very much. She listens to the captains and Zen's hostile reply and cuts in, "Sirs. There is feasibly no other way we can figure out this problem. All the action is on the sea, and if we do not get to the sea as well, we shall just sit here idly and nothing will be accomplished. No, we are not suggesting we fight ALL the lizard folks. We shall do what is necessary to fix this port's problem, but only if you'll allow us."
The captains didn't look pleased. "From the looks of things, odds are you'll die. In case you didn't notice, these two ships are all we have left. We're not about to just give one up without good cause. Not to mention, it takes a full crew to run a ship, I doubt any would want to sail knowing they're most likely being led to their deaths." The red captain spoke up next. "And as for the drinking comment, it's what a sailor does. But just because we drink doesn't mean we don't work. We select our days carefully and head out to the waters where we can still see land and fish. We arrive back before dusk, but because we keep fishing the same area, the fish are starting to move elsewhere. We appreciate you trying to solve our problem, but even if we're getting degraded results from fishing, it's the only thing keeping this town afloat." The blue captain looked towards the side of the ship, on the front half. "If you're that desperate to head out into the waters, we have a row boat rigged to the side of the ship. Not the safest, but it floats just fine." The red captain laughed. "I guess that's a solution to their problem, but it'd probably be safer to fight the lizard men than to go far out into sea with just that rowboat."
"If you keep fishing the sane places calls to shore, eventually there won't be any fish left unless you go out further. What will you do then?"
"Even we're not sure at that point. Hopefully this situation will be solved by then. After a while though, you're right, we'll have to send out one of these ships into the waters where they might not come back. But we're planning on doing something like that when the fish aren't enough to support the town. The rowboat will be the only ship you get from us until then. If I had to guess, it'd be about 5 days before we're desperate enough for that." The blue captain spoke up at that point. Of course, if the Piscus guild leader, Ashen, gave us the word, we'd be willing to help out with something like that. This whole town owes our lives to the guild."
Leila looks at the captains, narrows her eyes, and says, "Fine, we shall come back with approval from the guild leader." The sorceress turns around so fast it creates a small breeze in her wake as she walks off the boat and back to the guild. "And I'm getting new clothes," she mutters to herself sourly, touching her singed robe.
Jayne's memory isn't the greatest. Did anyone ask where the lizards came from?
"From where do the lizard people hail?", he questions the captains.
"The lizard folk? They've always been around, but not like this. It's only recently that they've been attacking in such numbers. Not sure why they're attacking though, it's not like we've got the supplies they're generally after. If anything, they should be backing off due to lack of supplies. Doesn't change the fact that they're a real bother now." The captain returns to his drink, waiting to see if the adventurers had any more questions.
Leila hears Jayne's question as she huffs off and wonders briefly if she could track the lizards to find their location. She soon realizes she has no means to do so. The sorceress drops the thought. She arrives back at the guild and goes to find the leader.
Leila arrives at the guild hall, only to find it's still entirely empty. She thought back to where Ashen could have gone. Where did Ashen say he was going earlier when they talked?
Leila had forgotten that Ashen had gone to the lizard folk. Now what were they supposed to do? The sorceress supposes the four party members could go out and find Ashen. She heads back to the ships with this in mind. Speaking of four party members, where did that little mute guy go? Arriving back at the ship, Leila announces, "Ashen went to the Lizard Folk. We have to go find him, unless you have any better ideas."
Name: Ray Milx Bonuses: Str: +0 Con: -1
Health Points: 14/14 Dex: +1 Int: +3
Strain Points: 16/16 Wis: +1 Cha: -1
Armour Class: 13 Luk: 10
Ray waved from the background, he was there the whole time. Due to the fact he's a mute though, it's not like he could speak up. Unfortunately, with his disability came the un-amazing power to be perceived as a background prop out of the corner of anyone's eye. Even though Leila was looking right at him, he seemed to blend into the scenery, matching the crew, despite not wearing a sailor uniform and doing any work. Perhaps he'll shine in battle?
Jayne, who hasn't left the ship yet, is excited for the opportunity Leila presents. "You mean...Lizard sandwiches?" The fighter jumps off the ship onto the docks with such force that it nearly buckles the boards underneath him. "Jayne hungry!"
"Sure, lizard sandwiches if that's the sort of thing you're in to," Leila says, threadbare tolerance for the half-orc's... simplicity evident in her voice. "Onward to the gate." She and Itzal lead the way out of the port follow the path to the lizard folk place.
The gate, despite being the main entrance to the town, wasn't very interesting. It was more like a blockaded check point. About 7 tough looking men from the Piscus guild were sitting at the gate, their weapons close, watching for Lizard Folk. Just to the right of the check point there was a small hut without a door, and with a service window. Probably to collect tolls or shelter the city guard during unpleasant weather. Through the service window you can see Ashen's black haired head. He seemed intent on something that was on a table in the room with him. A map, and some sort of parchment with markings on it.
Name: Zen Komanu Bonuses: Str: -2 Con: +2
Health Points: 7/9 Dex: +0 Int: +4
Strain Points: 17/18 Wis: +3 Cha: +0
Armour Class: 12 Luk: 16
Zen follows Leila back off the ship, and to the gate. When he spots Ashen in the little hut, he walks over and into the hut. Addressing the Guild Leader, he begins "Ashen, we need one of the ships docked at the port to get out to sea. We can not find out what is going on out there unless we actually are out there. The two drunk captains would only give us a small rowboat to use, and you know that won't help us any. They did mention that if you gave the word, they would lend their ships. Will you give the word?"
Ashen looks perplexed as he appears to be mulling over something. He doesn't even notice Zen's entrance until he speaks up. Looking away from his papers, he answers Zen. "You want to what?" his face could clearly show slight confusion. "Despite their appearances, those captains are high quality. I'm sure they gave you a reason as to why they couldn't let you do that. Besides, if the sea farers can't make it out on the sea, what's adding a couple of people who spend their time on land going to do? It's not like you can walk on water, if the ship goes down you're out of luck. Ashen gave a sigh, returning to look at his work. "I can see where you're coming from though... tell you what, prove yourselves and I'll give the word." Ashen motioned for Zen to come close, and anyone else who happened to follow into the room. "Recently, we've killed a couple of lizard folk who've dropped some interesting things. They look like messages to be frank. But from what we know, lizard folk don't write, they're a little dense for something like that. Help me figure out these messages and I'll give the word." Ashen looks back over the papers on the desk.
The sky is the limit. You're not gonna roll to figure out this one, you're gonna have to decrypt it yourself. Of course, while we may be playing dungeons and dragons, you're still entitled to the luxuries of the modern world. (Yes, that includes the internet)
The lines separating the various symbols and things are just to show what the pieces of paper are. Each section is a different piece of paper.
Leila smiles. She has seen this code before. While the others were puzzling about the puzzle, she says, "As a matter of fact, it says 'o'clock' and the bottom sheet says 'morse c.' Obviously it means morse code. The black lines are morse code and that particular one means 1. So the message is 'one o'clock'. I don't know what the top dashes are though. I can't tell if they're all in a line or separate. I've actually learned morse code before, you know." Pleased with herself, she stands up a little straighter and looks at Zen with a smug grin on her face.
Ashen looks over the papers. You're right, I never even thought of Morse Code. As for the rest... I haven't a clue. Is that all it says? Surely there has to be more... Why would lizard folk be carrying papers with such advanced codes? 1 O' Clock? If that's all there is, I'm afraid this will be a dead end. I'm positive, there has to be more." Ashen looks a little upset. He'd spent hours trying to figure this puzzle out, and when an answer is before him it just didn't seem complete. He seems unlikely to give his word on a ship in this state.
Well done Millarz, but unfortunately, there's more. zito says he gives up on it (He spent about 30 seconds looking at it) and furry seems to be in full belief his character couldn't have an insight for this puzzle. So it's up to Millarz to see if they can get the boat, or perhaps choose a different path. :P
Leila scrutinizes the papers again. She realizes there are two lines of morse code in front of the "o'clock." "Ah, it's 11 o' clock, not 1," she amends. "As for the other sheet, I shall look over these sheets some more." The sorceress looks over her shoulder at Zen. "Look who's the silent one now, hm?" she taunts. With that jab, she faces back towards the papers, focusing most of her attention on the still coded paper with black lines.
Leila looks hard at the papers. If each line is one letter, then the remaining paper says NNE. She realizes this before but says nothing in fear of being wrong. But what does NNE mean? She racks her brain for any organizations with that acronym. Her mental search comes up short. She briefly looks back up at Ashen, who for the moment, she is so dependent on for the boat. The map on the table catches her eye. The map has a windrose on it, as all decent ones do. The north pointer pops out from the rest of the page in noticeable red. North... NNE... North north-east! With a sudden jump, she exclaims, "11 o'clock isn't in reference to a time! It's referring to 30 degrees east of north. These lines right here mean NNE, or north north-east. This message tells a location." Having announced all her findings, Leila's smug grin towards Zen becomes even more pompous.
"Of course! ...although 11 o'clock is in the other direction of North North-East. It might just be a time." Ashen's eyes are wide with excitement. He moved all the papers off of his map. "This map shows to recent Lizard Folk strikes in the area, they're also the most frequent spots. Perhaps North North-East refers to a spot that something will happen at?" Ashen called twelve people into the building, giving brisk orders to them. "You are to group up into groups of four and separate to these three points. Stake them out until midnight, and if nothing happens, report back immediately." Ashen pointed at three points on the map, then nodded his head at the people. They promptly left, most likely headed out to those points. Ashen placed his finger on the top right mark. "Unfortunately we're a little short handed, would you mind watching this point here? I'll give word to the captains about the ships in the morn, it'd be risky to go out onto the waters when it's nearing dusk. Just till midnight, and then when you come back your rooms will be waiting, warm and comfortable. I'll even ask the lady in charge to have soup ready for your return." Ashen gave a charming smile, bidding the heroes to help. He was going to give word to the captains anyway, but not till the morning like he said.
Jayne, no stranger to being a blockade all on his own, thought he would never be able to help these two vastly intelligent beings. Finally, its Jayne's time to show what he can do!
Jayne is a wall
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 17, total 17[/blockquote]
Name: Zen Komanu Bonuses: Str: -2 Con: +2
Health Points: 7/9 Dex: +0 Int: +4
Strain Points: 17/18 Wis: +3 Cha: +0
Armour Class: 12 Luk: 16
"Good job, Leila." Zen answers to her arrogant bragging. "You know, I couldn't make hide nor hare of that code. I'm very impressed that you managed to solve it. I apologize for my earlier comments. You definitely can hold your own in a fight, and even if you can't, at least you can solve these codes, right? That's useful." Now turning his attention to Ashen, "I don't know about the other three here, but I'll go help out at the attack site." After this, Zen promptly walks out of the hut, and toward where he saw the mark on the map.
Jayne is confused. Guard the spot. The spot is on the map. The map is in this room. Therefore, guard the room.
This mission is exerting a lot on the half-orc's mind. After much deliberation, Jayne stops being a wall, and starts following his ally.
Leila realizes she had been thinking of a compass in a game where the wind directions are not in the correct order. Her bad. Still, she had cracked the code, so she stays silent on her error. She is surprised Zen complimented her so sincerely, or at least seemingly so. Another snarky comment almost escapes her lips, but she holds it in. If they are going to be party members for this mission, it's best they get along. Instead, a short "thank you" can be heard coming from her mouth as she begins to walk as well.
The heroes arrived on scene, taking up residence behind a bush and with a tree to their rear. It was true, that this was a frequent spot for lizard folk. Bodies lied sparsely across the ground out past their hide-away, a couple of used-to-be guild members included. All in all, the area smelled like death. It was only about 10 O' clock when they arrived, they had an hour to wait sitting behind the bush.
The party certainly had time to kill. Leila and Itzal check around themselves to see if there's anything peculiar around. She then sends Itzal up to the air to look for some lunch on his own. She knows he will stay close by within range of her sight. He'll call if he sees danger coming by. She hopes he'll see it. For now, she contents herself with drawing in the dirt with the tip of her spear and then swiping away the evidence over and over and over again. Leila hopes Zen or Jayne have better ideas for spending this hour.
Spot Check
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 2, total 2[/blockquote]
Name: Zen Komanu Bonuses: Str: -2 Con: +2
Health Points: 7/9 Dex: +0 Int: +4
Strain Points: 17/18 Wis: +3 Cha: +0
Armour Class: 12 Luk: 16
"Anyone know any good games?" Zen whispered in the hope of lightening up the mood.
The sky clouded over, it was a rather quick and sudden change, but normal when you're this close to the sea. Not only did it get darker, it was harder to see. Leila didn't see anything, aside from the drawings in the dirt and Itzal seemed to be pre-occupied with the clouds and a squirrel running away from his shadow.
Jayne bored!!!!
Maybe something interesting is lying around...
Spot Check
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 19, total 19[/blockquote]
...or smelling around
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 14, total 14[/blockquote]
Looking out over the field, Jayne didn't see much. It was just a small clearing with bodies laying about, nothing different than before... until he took a large whiff of the air. He could smell the faintest trace of smoke mixed in with the smell of death and decay. But there was no fire evident. What on earth could that be?
"Jayne smell smoke, but where's the fire?", the fighter asks. He looks to Leila for guidance.
Name: Zen Komanu Bonuses: Str: -2 Con: +2
Health Points: 7/9 Dex: +0 Int: +4
Strain Points: 17/18 Wis: +3 Cha: +0
Armour Class: 12 Luk: 16
"Smoke, what smoke are you talking about Jayne?" Zen asks.
"Out in the field. I can smell smoke coming from there. Why would I smell smoke without a fire?", Jayne questions.
*StReSs MiGrAiNe*
Name: Zen Komanu Bonuses: Str: -2 Con: +2
Health Points: 7/9 Dex: +0 Int: +4
Strain Points: 17/18 Wis: +3 Cha: +0
Armour Class: 12 Luk: 16
"Where there's smoke, there's fire. Maybe two of us should go investigate, while the others keep watch here?"
Suddenly, loud stomping could be heard as three large creatures charge by. The look like a cross between a powerfully built human and a lizard. While they charge right by the bush, they fail to notice the heroes. Upon entering the clearing and seeing the dead bodies, they enter a rage. Looking around, they eye Seawell standing tall in the distance. Looking at each other, you can hear them his "It mussst have been theeeem who attacked ussss. The proofffff isss evident here. Theeessssse humanssss are what issss attacking usss."
So what do the heroes do? Plenty of options to choose from. Some certainly are better than others though.
Name: Zen Komanu Bonuses: Str: -2 Con: +2
Health Points: 7/9 Dex: +0 Int: +4
Strain Points: 17/18 Wis: +3 Cha: +0
Armour Class: 12 Luk: 16
As quietly as possible, Zen whispers to his companions "Those must be the Lizard Folk. It sounds like they have been getting attacked. We obviously need to investigate further. What should be our next move? Do we want to follow them when they leave?"
Leila, who was just about to pull out her spear on the lizards, makes off like she was just straightening out her robe. Following the lizards seemed like a better idea than outright killing them, but she would rather be caught with shocking grasp than admit it to Zen for now. Although with the way he's been acting, that may change soon. For now, Leila is not hostile but cautious of Zen. With a swift nod, she conveys she agrees to Zen's plan.
Name: Zen Komanu Bonuses: Str: -2 Con: +2
Health Points: 7/9 Dex: +0 Int: +4
Strain Points: 17/18 Wis: +3 Cha: +0
Armour Class: 12 Luk: 16
"We should probably split up. I say Leila and I follow them, while Ray and Jayne stay here. Any objections?"
That seems like a reasonable plan. Ray wouldn't be able communicate to whoever he was with if he was following the lizards and the huge oaf Jayne probably doesn't know the meaning of stealth. With a shake of her head, Leila shows she has no objections.
Jayne guard.
There's, literally, no other thought in his brain.
Jayne is a wall
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 5, total 5[/blockquote]
The lizard men looked at each other. Their tongues flicked out and they all nodded. "We ssshalllll see how theee humansss react when weee returrrn with morrre. The firessss they've been setting have been to much. They sssshall all die." The lizard men walked off away from Seawell towards the ocean. In the direction they walk, between the moon and the heroes, smoke can faintly be seen whisking by. As per the groups, Leila and Zen take off after the Lizards. Jayne and Ray stay behind to watch the area.
Leila and Zen follow the lizard folk. They seem pretty mad and easily fail to notice the heroes following them. Eventually, they reach the ocean shore and walk along it's beach. Finally, the heroes lose them when they enter a cave. Standing outside the cave are two more lizard men, they look like guards standing on either side of the cave's mouth. Leila and Zen get behind a boulder buried in the sand for cover. They're far enough away to make simple movements without being caught. Any closer and they'll have to be sneaky.
Jayne and Ray sit back at the spot. Nothing seems to be happening, and from the looks of things it was nearing eleven o' clock.
Oh psh. Who needs to be stealthy when they have magic in their blood? Leila emits a chuckle, signifying a particularly prankish plan has just come to boil in the oh-so magical mind of hers. "Watch this," she whispers to Zen. She brings up a force of magical energy from her inner being and casts it through her voice box and out to the other side of the cave. To make sure her spell worked, she whispers, "Can you hear me?" to Zen. If all is well, he should not be able to. Though if she speaks any louder, the lizards SHOULD hear her from the opposite direction that the duo are actually situated in.
Cast ventriloquism
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 2, total 2[/blockquote]
Leila tried her hardest to hide the fact that they were there. She even whispered. Unfortunately, while trying to impress Zen with her sophisticated magic, she failed to concentrate hard enough on the task. In fact, it was such a lack concentration that it actually caused more strain on her mind when she attempted it. The spell has failed. Fortunately, the Lizards still haven't found their hide-away.
4 Strain to Leila
Well that didn't go as planned, she thinks, disgruntled. "Should I try again?" she asks Zen.
Name: Zen Komanu Bonuses: Str: -2 Con: +2
Health Points: 7/9 Dex: +0 Int: +4
Strain Points: 17/18 Wis: +3 Cha: +0
Armour Class: 12 Luk: 16
"It seems to be getting close to eleven. Maybe we should go back to the gate and warn Ashen about the attack."
"Good idea," Leila says. The port should be prepared for the assault. "Let's go," she says as she starts waking back.
Leila and Zen arrived back at the other two quarter after eleven. Jayne and Ray were resolute in their watch, but unfortunately nothing aside from the lizard folk showing up had happened. Leila and Zen explained to Jayne and Ray (Not that they truly understood) what they had seen when they had followed the lizard men. Ashen had asked that they return at midnight, but at quarter past eleven nothing had happened. Do the heroes wait or return to the gate?
Jayne, although hungry, isn't one to disregard orders. "I will stay a few minutes longer. The lizard sandwiches could return", speaks the fighter plainly. "Maybe we should split up, if one of you wants to warn the town".
"We should warn the town, but I want to go back there where the lizards were and see what's actually happening." Leila replies. "How about Ray comes with someone to the gate, Jayne stay here and guard, and the other one of us go warn the city?" she suggests.
Name: Zen Komanu Bonuses: Str: -2 Con: +2
Health Points: 7/9 Dex: +0 Int: +4
Strain Points: 17/18 Wis: +3 Cha: +0
Armour Class: 12 Luk: 16
"Sounds good to me. Leila, how about you go back to the cave, I'll take Ray and go back to the gate, and Jayne, you be a wall."
Ray nods his head in agreement, and looks to Jayne for an answer. Ray doesn't think Jayne will disagree, but Jayne is still entitled to his opinion.
Jayne wall
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 20, total 20[/blockquote]
Jayne took his position, standing firm with his arms at his sides. He really did look like a wall. With that notion the heroes took off in their separate directions.
Zen and Ray arrived back at the gate, Ashen was looking over papers giving a couple of orders to some people who then took off past the two heroes. Runners most likely. Ashen followed his runners with his eyes to make sure they took off, and they landed on Zen and Ray. "You two are back early, something happen that quick?" Ashen had a bit of worry in his face.
Jayne remained resolute throughout his watch, nothing has happened since the Lizard Men showed up.
Leila headed back to the cave, crouching behind the rock she was behind previously, should could see the two Lizard Folk who had been guarding the mouth of the cave had left. She didn't know where, but they weren't at the entrance.
Wait wait Leila meant Ray come with whoever was going to the lizard place, not the safe gate! Oh well. It was too late to call Ray back now. Leila and Itzal walk to the cave she was just in a few minutes before and scan the outside of the cave.
Spot check
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 10, total 10[/blockquote]
With Itzal's eyes and Leila's sharp vision, she deduces that there aren't any Lizard Folk on the outside of the cave. Unfortunately, the moon doesn't shine to far into the cave and it is covered in a veil of darkness. No movement can be seen through the shaded cavern though.
Although I talked to you in Steam to clarify what you meant, Zen's post completely screwed me over on the placement of people XD
Hopefully you won't get into tooooo much trouble, heheh
Name: Leila Bonuses: Str: +0 Con: +2
Health Points: 10/10 Dex: +1 Int: +3
Strain Points: 13/16 Wis: +1 Cha: +1
Armour Class: Sorcerer Luk: 9
Hm let's see if she can take a peek into the cave? Leila reaches up into the air in front of her and motions to grab something. A glowing orb appears (or should appear) to form in her hands. She holds her palm out and the little wisp of light hovers up and down. She casts it out into the cave as if she was throwing a ball and hides behind the bush as she observes what the wisp illuminates.
Dancing Lights
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 8, total 8[/blockquote]
Name: Zen Komanu Bonuses: Str: -2 Con: +2
Health Points: 7/9 Dex: +0 Int: +4
Strain Points: 17/18 Wis: +3 Cha: +0
Armour Class: 12 Luk: 16
As Ray obviously couldn't, Zen explained the situation to Ashen. "The Lizard men are going to attack. Soon. We were at our post, and a few of them showed up. They seem to think that it is us who are attacking them. I believe someone is setting us up to take the fall. Trying to instigate a war. After they spoke, they took off, and Leila and I followed them to a cave. The cave was guarded, so we couldn't go any further. Jayne is currently watching our post, and Leila went back to the cave. I think we need to prepare for the attack."
Leila successfully created her orb, which then promptly floated though the air into the cave. The orb shattered upon hitting the roof at the back end. At about 20 to 30 feet into the cave, it seems as though it descends into the earth. While it didn't look like a straight drop into it, it did look rather steep. Steep enough that if there was loose sand or gravel on the slope, it would be rather difficult to get out of the cave.
Zen's comments brought some thought to Ashen's face. "Are you sure they said the humans where attacking them? I don't recall giving any orders for an assault. We have been having enough problems with them just showing up near the city in groups of 5 or 6... You're right in saying we need to prepare for the attack. But why on earth did that girl go to the cave all by herself? Lizard Folk aren't something a single person can handle easily. As of right now, you need to go get Jayne and get back-up to that girl as soon as possible."[/I][/color] Ashen motioned for some more people to come over, he said some things that escaped to two heroes ears and just like before, the people took off into the night.
Jayne stood stiff as a wall. Nothing was happening and it was about quarter till midnight. Perhaps the lizard folk showing up was all that was bound to happen?
Nothing. There was nothing here. That's strange. The lizards were guarding this place before. Where did they go? Something big must be happening for them to abandon their cave. She has to go back to Ashen and tell them the lizard folk had already left. Leila starts off running to Jayne the Wall to drag him back to the city to face whatever may come.
Jayne see's Leila run up to him and insists that he's needed at the city. Jayne doesn't question Leila for a moment, and gathers any supplies he may have placed down whilst becoming a wall. He starts walking back to the city, hoping Leila won't be far behind.
Arriving back at the port, Leila runs to Ashen as fast as she can. She muffles her heavy breathing by inhaling through her nose so she doesn't appear weak to the guild leader and Zen. Through her heavy breathing, she says, "The lizards have left their cave. I believe- huff- that they're already on their way here."
Ashen looked Leila up and down, she looked hectic after running so much. Ashen nodded to Jayne and turned to Leila. "You're sure they left? I think I know what cave you're talking about. It's a pretty deep cave that has a slope that descends into the earth. They may have all been just in the cave. But from the looks on this map, the cave you guys are describing isn't their main cave... why are they bunched there? Their normal cave system is further up the shore..." Ashen pointed on a map that seemed to detail the coast. "We'll send men to the cave you guys talked about, can you guys investigate the cave that they normally inhabit?"
Leila nods. "Will do, sir," she says, determined to prove to the world of her worth. "What shall we look for specifically while we're there besides whether or not they are there? Anything particularly important we should know about?"
Name: Zen Komanu Bonuses: Str: -2 Con: +2
Health Points: 7/9 Dex: +0 Int: +4
Strain Points: 17/18 Wis: +3 Cha: +0
Armour Class: 12 Luk: 16
Not seeing the reasoning behind abandoning the place they know the Lizards will be for a place they knew they were not, Zen questioned Ashen's logic. "Why do you want us to go out there, when we know they will be attacking here? We should defend the town, not their cave."
"Its a cave", Jayne proclaims. "It doesn't mean its their cave. The Future Sandwiches could be using an entire maze of caves". Jayne may not know much about fancy words and scholarly books, but he understands battle strategy. The Lizards that Leila found sounded more like pawns, meant to distract and separate.
Time is limited as well. If Leila, Zen, and Jayne were to join everyone in defense, their mission, and the future of the city, would be at stake. "We aren't here to thwart an attack that may not even happen. There is a very real cave, with very real answers. That's where we should be".
Ashen watched as the four adventurers took off towards their destination. The adventurers wandered along the shore for a good distance until they reached the cave that was guarded by the lizard men, hiding behind the same huge boulder, a good view of the area showed to Folk were around like before. The heroes slinked past the cave undetected and further along the shore towards the cave Ashen had mentioned. The cave Ashen had mentioned was very far off, the cave the heroes had found was only a fifteen to twenty minute walk, it'd be about an hour and a half until they arrived at the cave. About twenty minutes out from the cave the heroes encounter a ship wreck. It looks fairly recent. The ship's hull suffered serious damage, it looked natural though, like rocks had smashed into it creating huge gashes into it's side. Aside from that obvious fact though, the ship itself looked almost whole.
A ship wreak? So maybe this is where the ships have been disappearing to. "Hey guys, let's check out this place! If there aren't any survivors, maybe we can still loot the ship," she says to them. Leila walks closer to the wreckage and scans with Itzal the exposed areas of the ship for any signs of life or loot.
Spot Check
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 13, total 13[/blockquote]
Name: Zen Komanu Bonuses: Str: -2 Con: +2
Health Points: 7/9 Dex: +0 Int: +4
Strain Points: 17/18 Wis: +3 Cha: +0
Armour Class: 12 Luk: 16
"I think we need to keep moving. We're not here for this ship, we're here for the cave further up the shore. We can come back to this later, after this attack."
Leila surveyed the ship from head to toe, and the places she couldn't see Itzal did. Viewing through the holes in the ship, nothing could be seen. It seemed as though anything of value or use on this ship had been picked clean. The whole ship couldn't be surveyed through the simples holes and deck though. A large gapping hole was in the side about ground level that would allow access to the innards of the ship. It was dark, and the breezes from the sea seemed to create a low howling throughout the ship.
Seeing nothing of interest, Leila nods at Zen's suggestion. "Yes, there doesn't seem to be anything here. We can come back later if necessary." She continues to walk towards their destination.
Jayne agrees, and surveys the area as he follows Leila.
Spot Check
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 16, total 16[/blockquote]
The four heroes walk towards their destination, with Jayne eyeing anything that moved or didn't move. Unfortunately, nothing was there to be seen except sand, rocks, and the occasional crab scouring the beach for some sparse morsel for it to devour. It was a pretty simple beach, the grass to their left cut off about 10 meters from the shoreline, which connected to the ocean. The ocean seemed to go out forever, even more so in the night. With it being half moon, there was enough light to reflect off of the water but not illuminate all of their surroundings. Of course, Ray and Jayne had no problems seeing.
It was a little while still, but eventually the heroes reached the cave. Before them stood a huge hole about six meters high, four meters wide. Nothing could be heard or seen from the cave. A quick check on the surroundings showed there was no sign of life near this cave, not even the custom trenches the Lizard Folk created with their tails while walking across sand. The heroes stand side by side about 6 meters from the entrance to the cave.
Jayne attempts to light a torch
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 5, total 5[/blockquote]
Jayne pulled one of the torches from his backpack, his flint and steel with it. Upon striking the flint and steel together, spark fly. It takes a while, but eventually Jayne gets the sparks to land on the tip of his torch. The stunted embers burn on the tip of his torch, Jayne blows on them and sends them flying off of it. He'll have to try again. After bout 4 more repeats, Jayne has himself a nicely burning torch, albeit the time and effort he put to it was probably a little over-kill.
"Eat torch, stupid cave!", yells Jayne precisely before he throws the light source into the cavern.
Roll For Good Measure/Distance thrown
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 20, total 20[/blockquote]
Jayne hurled the torch into the cave, it's arc just below the roof of the hole to maximize distance. The torch dropped straight down upon hitting a wall, it seemed as though the cave turned slightly into the earth as it progressed further. The trail the torch illuminated showed nothing, not even the sand was disturbed in the cave. It was obvious this cave hadn't been touched for a while. If the heroes had to take a guess, it would be able two and a half weeks since it was last entered.
Name: Zen Komanu Bonuses: Str: -2 Con: +2
Health Points: 7/9 Dex: +0 Int: +4
Strain Points: 17/18 Wis: +3 Cha: +0
Armour Class: 12 Luk: 16
"It's obvious this cave has been abandoned for awhile. We should head back to the city" Zen suggests.
"Wait," Leila says. "I'm going to explore this place. It might have some clues about why the lizards are attacking the port. If you're right and the cave is abandoned, there won't be any resistance. There might be something they left behind. And besides, if we do meet resistance, Jayne is a wall." Leila's stubborn mind is made up on the matter and it'll take persuading to deter her from exploring. Upon walking up to the entrance, she peers in to see what the thrown fire has illuminated. What if she finds some rare lizard treasure? Or prisoners secretly locked inside and Leila herself freed them? Oh, the things she could tell her parents! And they would see. Leila of Port Unity is a legend!
Spot Check
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 11, total 11[/blockquote]
Leila peered down the cave, her eyes adjusting slightly to the increased darkness. It seemed like a black hole with a light at the centre, emitted from the torch at the back wall. Nothing could be seen, past the light. Using her peripherals, she eyes the walls and the floors and see nothing out the ordinary in a cave. Moss, wet stone, dry stone, and a few bugs.
"My Orcy sense is tingling!", Jayne exclaims, pointing his right index finger in the air. "I will follow you Leila". Besides, Jayne needs his torch back.
I'm assuming this means that Leila and Jayne enter the cave?
Leila goes much deeper into the cave and looks around.
Spot Check
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 17, total 17[/blockquote]
The two heroes walk further into the cave, Jayne stooping to pick up his torch. Leila took a good look around, viewing the walls you could see wear and inspecting the dirt, dried old skin and black charred wood. Although nothing looked recent, it was easy to tell now that they were in the cave that this truly did belong to Lizard people. Judging from the age of the skin, Leila could tell that this cave abandoned about two and a half weeks ago. The wood specks in the dirt seemed to be used more for smoke than lighting the way. Perhaps to drive something out. The trails of skin and black char continue deep into the cave out of sight. The caves descend further into the earth, if the heroes were to continue, they'd probably get lost without help of some sort.
This cave has been abandoned for two weeks? Where have the lizards gone then? A whole species doesn't just disappear into thin air only to reappear and attack ports. Leila informs Jayne of her conclusions and says, "Let's go back and report this. There must be some other place they keep their base now. Perhaps it is out at sea." She walks back out the cave and blinks back into the sunlight.
Name: Zen Komanu Bonuses: Str: -2 Con: +2
Health Points: 7/9 Dex: +0 Int: +4
Strain Points: 17/18 Wis: +3 Cha: +0
Armour Class: 12 Luk: 16
Seeing Leila walk back out, Zen asks "Are you satisfied?" and walks back to the gate where they last saw Ashen.
By the time the heroes returned to the gates, the sun was peeking out over the horizon. The heroes were exhausted slightly, but nothing they couldn't handle. Ashen watched as they walked in and gave a simple report. "The cave was abandoned? Two weeks ago was about the time the ships started vanishing and the lizard folk started attacking. This can't be a coincidence... The little black specks you saw in the dirt must have been used to smoke out the Lizard Folk, why would someone purposely agitated large, scaly beasts?" Ashen's brow furrowed in thought. He then looked up at the heroes. "You did wonderful work. Word has already been sent to the ship masters, you can head there now or rest at the Inn for a while. You came through with your end of the bargain, so I'm sure there will be some delicious food for you there." Ashen waited for any last words from the heroes before busying himself with more papers and notes.
Name: Zen Komanu Bonuses: Str: -2 Con: +2
Health Points: 7/9 Dex: +0 Int: +4
Strain Points: 17/18 Wis: +3 Cha: +0
Armour Class: 12 Luk: 16
"What of the attack?" Zen inquired. "How will you defend against them with such a small amount of Guild Members left?"
Jayne isn't bothered by low numbers of guildies. He's surely as great a fighter as five of their warriors. He wishes Ashen luck, and heads to the inn. The half-orc's concern lies elsewhere. The rumbling of his stomach indicates the possibility of a severe meat deficiency. As soon as he reaches the inn, Jayne plans to scan the environment for possibilities of cooked animal flesh.
Meat Check
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 7, total 7[/blockquote]
Leila is happy to follow Jayne to the inn. Her sister's SBD looked awfully annoying to deal with, so Leila has never given herself the chance to find out if she has it as well. The fight could wait, and the sorceress isn't concerned with the impending battle anyways. It'll be a cake walk, she thought. The three of them- wait- four of them against a bunch of stupid enlarged reptiles? Psh. She's faced harder monsters in her sleep. For now, though, the cocky snot scanned the inn with Jayne for meat.
Bacon? Meat?
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 6, total 6[/blockquote]
Ashen looked at Zeeto. "Few amount? You act as though we've taken large losses. No, we're simply spread out is all. We may not have a large amount of people but I assure you in our strength. We've been spread out to root the Lizard Folk, preventing them from grouping up for a large attack on the gate. I'll divide up the men between the gate and three lookouts in the area, we'll spot the horde before it even arrives. Once we have the location, we'll act swiftly and ambush them. It won't be an easy fight, but it'll be our win. Besides, the Lizard Folk are smart enough to attack under the cover of night. They won't be brash enough to do a straight assault." Ashen smiled, his eyes full of confidence. "We hired you to find out about the ships, we can hold off the Lizard Folk, but if our supplies run out we'll eventually be overrun." Ashen dismissed Zen with a gentle wave of his hand and began pointing out locations on the map around the city, the stakeout points most likely.
The three heroes (Ray in tow) entered the Inn. The proprietress greeted them with a warm smile and motioned for a table with four chairs to be sat at, she then walked into a room behind the counter. When she opened the door a hearty smell exuded from the orifice. Although the heroes couldn't see the food, it was quite obvious what was on the way. Sitting at the table, the Inn seemed somewhat abandoned. Probably due to lack of travelers from the Lizard Folk attacks.
It was a simple designed inn, a large rectangular room with a bar-like counter separating the area for staff and consumers with two windows decorating the wall that had the main entrance. Behind the bar you could see stairs that lead upwards into the building that weary travelers would use for a reprieve. In the room there were about 5 tables, including the one our protagonists are sitting at. Two other tables are occupied. At the first table there was a man sitting at the corner most table trembling and muttering words the heroes couldn't make out from the distance. The second table which was closest to one of the windows, had two men and a woman chatting excitably in hushed tones. It seemed as though it would be a bit before the Proprietress came back with the food. She must have been cooking it at the last moment to ensure it's freshness for the heroes. What a thoughtful lady she was.
Jayne, eagerly awaiting some sort of cooked animal flesh, starts the conversation. "We need a plan", he starts. "Tomorrow, we should return to those ships. I can cause some sort distraction while you two investigate further. My gut says something off about those captains...but my gut is also very hungry".
As to the food, the sorceress is disappointed there aren't any boys around she can talk to. A little bit of her charm has gotten her many prime pickings of meat. Oh well. Leila turns her head to the half-orc. "Well said, Jayne," she says, surprised. Who knew the orc had some brains in him? "Personally, I think we should find where the lizards dock their ships, assuming its them who's disrupting the shipments. Perhaps then we can find out more about their goals and such."
The proprietress had returned with plates full of food for the heroes. Walking over to the table, she began to lay a bowl, a plate, and a cup in front of each hero along with matching silverware. Now that she was next to them as opposed to the other side of the room behind a counter, it was easy to view her fully. She was an average woman, not pretty, nor ugly. She had auburn hair done up into two buns on the back up her head. Wearing a simple dress that didn't show much skin, it was green in colour. Her figure was average for a female, a slightly smaller build than the average man.
She walked back into the kitchen and pulled out two large plates and a huge bowl. Setting them into the middle of the table it was plain to see some beef stew, chicken, and bread. It wasn't as big as a feast, but it was more than enough for the four heroes (Yep, forcing Zen to the table). In the time it took for the platters, the crazy person in the corner of the room had gotten up and worked his way to the door. Shivering and shaking, he looked back across the room eyeballing everyone before throwing open the door and running out.
Suspicious behavior in a time of war... Could that shivering man be a spy? Leila quickly rises, causing Itzal to be thrown off her shoulder, and runs to the door right after the man leaves. She has no intention of following him; she's not prepared for such an endeavor, but she does want to see the direction in which he's running. As Itzal alights back onto her shoulder, the sorceress's eyes graze the landscape for the peculiar man. A man so bent to get away would be easy to spot, no?
Spot Check
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 10, total 10[/blockquote]
Jayne is slightly confused. He thought Leila was saving that bird for him....
The half-orc peers at the crazy man's path across the room to see if there might be some perpetrator of the man's anxiety.
Spot Check for Evil Doers
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 7, total 7[/blockquote]
After taking a huge gulp of not-Itzal stew, Jayne walks to the man's table to investigate.
Spot Check Crazy's Table
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 9, total 9[/blockquote]
Jayne sees no sign of provocation, not from anywhere. approaching the table where the man was sitting was a different scene though. On the table there were carvings and scratch marks that seemed to depict a large wooden pole, and a wreckage of some sort. Upon closer inspection, he could see that carvings had blood in them. The man had most likely been using his fingernails to carve into the table.
Leila looked out the door, the man had hidden behind the Inn with his head peaking out from around the corner watching the door. Upon seeing Leila look out the door he shrieked and retreated down the alleyway. A trashcan echoed as he proceeded to crash into it out of Leila's sight.
"That man! He was screaming about us. Somehow we scared him away." Leila exclaims as she paces in front of her food. "Zen! You can direct your raven, correct? Let's send our birds after the man so we know where he goes. I don't believe Itzal would know what I was saying if I told him to do so, but I believe he would know to follow your Raven. What do you say?" The sorceress picks up her soup before Zen can reply and eats quick spoonfuls of the soup. Even though she is technically shoveling food into her mouth, somehow she still makes eating soup look proper while standing up no less.
Jayne is slightly confused on what the depiction might be. It looks like a waypoint of some sort, but wants a second opinion. "Leila, take a look at this table! The feeble man left some sort of message in this table with his own bloodied fingers."
With he sudden increase in noise and movement in a Inn, the other three people at the table seemed displeased. Taking to their feet, they stand up and proceed to walk to the door. All along the way muttering about something just out of ear reach of the heroes. The girl, giggling all the way. They exited the Inn.
Frustrated at Zen's inattentiveness, Leila places Itzal on his shoulder for when he directs his own bird. The sorceress ignores the party leaving. That girl seemed to Leila like a giddy little air head and she has no patience for those at the moment. It reminds her of her overly trusting, naive, stupid little sister and Leila wants none of that.
She crosses over to Jayne, who seems to have made a discovery. Jayne is a funny one. Leila narrows her eyes, looking him up and down. He's so simple-minded most of the time, but then he says something intelligent and throws that perception of him for a loop. Was he pretending his stupidity? It didn't seem so. Leila cannot read the half-orc. She resolves to just observing him throughout the journey.
The sorceress sees what Jayne is talking about as she nears the table. "What could this be?" she thinks out loud. "Is this some sort of message left here for someone else?" She brings here eyes closer to further inspect the markings.
Sherlock Time!
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 14, total 14[/blockquote]
"It reminds me of that broken ship we passed..." Jayne accidentally and speaks out-loud, whilst attempting a monologue.
Zen was out of it there for a few minutes, he wasn't sure why. Taking heed to Leila's idea, Zen sends Raban (His Raven) out the door and after the insane man. Hopefully, Raban would find out why the man was so crazy. Before Raban takes off, Zen instructs him to report back before they leave the Inn. Soon after Raban leaves, Itzal takes off after him. After sending out the birds, Zen walks over to the table the others are looking at, and takes a closer look.
Raban Check on the Insane Man?
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 6, total 6[/blockquote]
Table Check
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 19, total 19[/blockquote]
Unfortunately, no matter how hard the characters stare at the plain to see drawing, it remains the same drawing. They'll probably have to use their intuition to figure out what they could mean. With everyone at the table though, it becomes plain to see the drawing.
A piercing scream was cut short in the distance. The heroes can't seem to recognize anything from the scream other than when it cut short, the perpetrator probably passed onto the world of the dead. Raban and Itzal return shortly after, aware of where the scream came from, but unaware of the cause. It seems they were just short of seeing something useful about the crime, but unfortunately were late to the scene.
Sorry Zito, if your rolls had been reversed, maybe you would have found something. Unfortunately, when doing things in real life, most people tend to work to the best of their abilities the first time. So no re-rolls. ;(
Also, I'm not the best artist, but neither is a crazy guy cutting into wood with his bloodied finger-nail. Make of it what you will, I think it fits my description and brain picture of what it should be.
Name: Zen Komanu Bonuses: Str: -2 Con: +2
Health Points: 7/9 Dex: +0 Int: +4
Strain Points: 17/18 Wis: +3 Cha: +0
Armour Class: 12 Luk: 16
"Oh well, you tried friend" Zen says to Raban as he pats the bird's feathers gently to smooth them down. Now turning his attention back to the drawing, Zen says "It looks almost like that shipwreck we found. Why would a crazy man be drawing this on the table?"
Name: Zen Komanu Bonuses: Str: -2 Con: +2
Health Points: 7/9 Dex: +0 Int: +4
Strain Points: 17/18 Wis: +3 Cha: +0
Armour Class: 12 Luk: 16
"Well, we've seen these carvings long enough. That scream in the distance sounded interesting, we can come back here later if need be. I think we should go check it out. I know Raban and Itzal know where it is."
"Is there an echo in here...?", quips Jayne as he attempts to sneak some of Zens and Leila's food on his way outside. Now where did this coward hide and die...
Five Finger Food Discount
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 3, total 3[/blockquote]
Jayne managed to swipe and pocket some of the not-really-guarded-but-intended-to-take food the proprietress left for them and the heroes left the Inn. It wasn't very far from the Inn, the murder scene. Raban and Itzal, the two loyal feather balls, led the way. Ashen was already on the case, he must have ran fast to get here from the gate and arrive before the heroes.
The body in question was slumped against a wall in a rather dark alleyway. There were occasional trashcans along the walls, each typically belonging to the building they were set up against. The body was mostly unharmed save for the one dire fact, it was missing it's head. Blood splayed down from the revealed neck covering it's clothes. Looking at the clothes a bit better through the blood, it was easy to tell that this was the crazy man the heroes saw leave the Inn. Ashen seemed enveloped in thought, his brow furrowed. This seemed to be a state that the heroes saw the town's guardian in a lot.
Seeing Ashen is clearly upset with himself, Jayne believes he has the proper words for the situation. "You really screwed the pony here, didn't ya. Do you know this headless torso?"
Ashen's train of thought was snapped, as his eyes popped open wide as he realized he wasn't the only one in the area. "No, never seen him before in my life. My biggest concern is who would kill during such times of strife. If I remember right, he was a drifter coming to town through the gate mumbling stuff about rocks, the false god, sabers, and murder. We removed all the threats such as the weapons he had been carrying at the gate. Despite talking about murder, his weapons showed no wear, nor signs of blood." Ashen looked back at the head-less body. "What could possibly be the reason for beheading someone? Especially in a town as on edge as ours."
Jayne's gut, now slightly satisfied doesn't trust this Ashen fellow. Seems mighty off that'd he'd get he at just the wrong time. Jayne surveys the surroundings, while keeping a keen eye out for anything Ashen might be hiding.
Environment Check
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 12, total 12[/blockquote]
Ashen Check
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 1, total 1[/blockquote]
Jayne does his best to remain coy while asking, "Weren't you at the gate? How'd you get here so quickly?"
Leila doesn't pick up on Jayne's suspicion of Ashen initially, but his innocent question causes her to think. How did Ashen get all the way here so quickly? They didn't spend that long at the table. And why did they remove all the weapons from him? This was a city under attack for goodness sake. Anyone could go buy a weapon from the store in town. The guild leader doesn't even show any regret or feeling on the man dying. It is just the fact that the man was killed at this moment that troubles him. Who is Ashen anyways? The sorceress decides not to say anything until the guild leader has answered Jayne's question, but she, like the half-orc, looks around at the scenery and studies Ashen for any peculiar signs.
Spot Check Area
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 9, total 9[/blockquote]
Looking Ashen Up and Down
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 15, total 15[/blockquote]
Ashen looked at Jayne and replied. "I ran. I've been in this city since I was eight, I know all the back alleys. I started running as soon as I heard the scream." His answer appeared genuine to both suspicious characters. Ashen knelt down to get a closer look at the body. While he was doing so, the heroes looked around the area. Jayne and Leila at least. For the most part, this was a clean alleyway. The dirtiest part of it was the blood stain on the wall and ground that one would leave when their head goes missing. Didn't seem like there was much to the area to either of them.
Name: Zen Komanu Bonuses: Str: -2 Con: +2
Health Points: 7/9 Dex: +0 Int: +4
Strain Points: 17/18 Wis: +3 Cha: +0
Armour Class: 12 Luk: 16
"Hey, that's my- nevermind..." Zen says as he sees Jayne take his food. Once they get to the scene, Zen notices the crazy man has really lost his head this time. How ironic... He also notices Ashen investigating the body, and seemingly deep in thought. "Did you see anything? How did you get here so quickly?" Zen asks the Guild Leader. He seems to have gotten there really quickly from the gate.
Lie Check On Anything Ashen Says
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 2, total 2[/blockquote]
"No, I didn't see anything. I got here maybe a few seconds before you guys did." Ashen stood up and faced the companions, done with his looking over the body.
Leila turned to look at Zen with one eyebrow raised. "Are you blind or just having time travel issues? He just answered that, genius," she sneers. This whole mystery is putting Leila in a really bad mood and she really doesn't care how obnoxious she is at the moment. "Ashen, what else do you know?" she half demands. "You must know something about suspicious activity or bad organizations or shady characters if you know this city so well."
"Well if we knew stuff like that, they'd have been taken care of." Ashen said, a calm look in his eyes. "I may know about this city, but I haven't been on top of all the recent events in the streets. I only knew this man because he entered the city. Not many people have been coming and going with all the lizard folk attacks, I've been stuck at the gate for most of the past two weeks." Ashen put a hand up to his mouth and entered what the heroes would call his 'thinking state'. "You guys focus on the supplies, I'll have to take someone off of the line to work on this one..." Obviously meaning the murder case.
Frustrated that her questions are yielding no answers, she she huffs, "Fine. Where is there a totem pole around here?"
Name: Zen Komanu Bonuses: Str: -2 Con: +2
Health Points: 7/9 Dex: +0 Int: +4
Strain Points: 17/18 Wis: +3 Cha: +0
Armour Class: 12 Luk: 16
"A totem pole? What are you on about Leila?" Zen asks. "We need to get on with this assignment. I'm heading to the ships." With that, Zen walks of to the ships.
Jayne believes several possibilities. One: Someone stole this man's face. Was it to prevent identification? Possibly. Did a faceless cult finally discover the secret of smiling requires skin? Maybe. The half-orc needs to learn more about this victim. "His confiscated weapons. Describe them. Were they unique in any way?"
Another thought dawns on Jayne, breaking his former record for thinking. Maybe taking soldiers off the line is exactly what the perpetrator intends. "How many men would you pull for this act of heinousness?", he asks Ashen.
"Totem pole? What do you mean? Ii don't think there is anything like that in the area... and as for the mans weapons, he only had a cutlass." Ashen little slowly, trying his best to sort through his mind in search of any totem pole-like thing in the vicinity. "And as for the number of men, I could probably only spare a single man, maybe two."
Zen arrived at the boats, the captains were busy shouting orders at the crew, and they were all piled aboard the red ship. The blue captain went to disembark and bumped into Zen as he was arriving. Looking around for the other members of his party, especially those of the feminine kind, he addressed Zen. "Where's the rest of your crew? I believe you had three others accompanying you? We've decided to let the red ship take the plunge."
In an even more frustrated mood, Leila storms off without another word following Zen's wake. Upon arrival at the docks, the sight of the blue captain instantly sweeps her anger aside as she bats her eyes and giggles girlishly at the sight of him. "Oh, how I'm glad to see you again! Where's your red coat friend?" she asks in a much higher pitch than she used for Ashen.
"He's on the ship just behind me, unfortunately, my lady will be under his care during the journey out to sea. It would be my pleasure to take you out for a drink sometime though." The blue captain gave his best smile at the answer. He did seem slightly disappointed that she'd asked for the red captain right away.
Leila juts out her upper lip in a pout and breaths out airily, "Oh, pity. I was hoping we could spend some quality time together. A drink afterwards sounds quite lovely. She bats her eyes at the infatuated captain in blue. Men are so simple. Look weak and frail and they'll come crawling to you. It's the one thing both she and Arya had in common, though her sister went with the more innocent approach to it. "Now, you said something about a journey out to sea? Where might that be?"
Following Leila's direction, Jayne adds a question for the captain. "There's a shipwreck not far from here. Do you know anything about it?"
The blue captain could tell she was just being sweet, he knew how harsh most females could be. "You're all headed to the next town over to attempt to arrange supplies. Then you'll come back. It'll be a simple trip hopefully, but unfortunately every time we've tried it, ships have gone missing. The trip itself will take about a day and a half. Also, a shipwreck? It hasn't been reported, was there anything odd about it? If it's a couple hours out of town surely the crew would have arrived here..." The captain looked a little worried. "The blue ship's crew will take a look, where exactly was it located?" The captain seemed to have a very serious face as the sound of a ship wreck within the area.
Leila senses a change in attitude as he begins speaking again. He seems to be no longer interested. Pity. She did really want a drink with him. As his attitude becomes more serious, Leila's attitude follows suit. "Ah, that crash. It was located on the way to the Lizard men's old main cave. I'm sure the guild leader, Ashen, could show you where the cave is on a map," she replies.
The blue captain pondered for a second. "I won't bother Ashen with it, he's got his hands full. I'll bring it up to him if upon closer inspection something seems off. There hasn't been a wreckage here in years." The red captain stepped up to the gangplank on the ship's side. "Ah, there you folks are. It'll be a lovely trip, unless we're taken by the Kraken. Perhaps this trip will be the one that works. I'm staking my life on it." The captain chuckled at his morbid humour. Looking at the blue captain, the red captain asked: "What's got you so worried, Edward? I haven't seen you this serious since we were set upon by pirates."
Hasn't been a crash in years? What of the very real wreck on the way to the caves? Jayne's gut begins acting up again. The half-orc doesn't trust these two....
Lie check the captain
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 15, total 15[/blockquote]
Jayne's check on the captains show that they are both telling the truth.
These two seem to be truthful enough; orcish acid reflux haunts Jayne on a daily level. False pretense is only one of the symptoms.
He still remains uneasy, regardless of any gaseous situations. The half-orc can't help but think the crazy-feeble-man's second highest dying wish was to investigate the wreckage; a close second to the probable dying wish of 'don't die'.
"Captains", Jayne starts. "When and where was the last wreck? Do you happen to know the cause?"
The blue captain thought for a second. "It was quite a while ago. They used to turn up all over the shore. We don't exactly have the most friendly oceans around here, so we used to get quite a few until we built the lighthouse. It helps a lot considering that Seawell is the only easy outlet to the ocean in these parts. We're positioned to trade easiest with the southern continent." The blue captain seemed satisfied with his answer.
Name: Zen Komanu Bonuses: Str: -2 Con: +2
Health Points: 7/9 Dex: +0 Int: +4
Strain Points: 17/18 Wis: +3 Cha: +0
Armour Class: 12 Luk: 16
"If there hasn't been a wreck in years, then the one we saw is obviously quite old." Zen states. "What did you mean by Kraken? I thought you didn't know what was taking these ships?"
The red captain chuckled. Obviously the land lubber didn't understand what he meant. "I'd explain it to you, but you wouldn't understand. If we knew what was causing ships to vanish, we wouldn't need to take our ships out. We don't have recollections of any wrecked ship, so that's why we're wondering. You'd think that if a wrecked ship were to come was ashore, someone would've noticed. Or perhaps a survivor would've come to town."
"Maybe one did", Jayne again unknowingly thinks aloud of the scrawy-wimpy-no-headed-confusing artist. "Maybe one did..."
Name: Zen Komanu Bonuses: Str: -2 Con: +2
Health Points: 7/9 Dex: +0 Int: +4
Strain Points: 17/18 Wis: +3 Cha: +0
Armour Class: 12 Luk: 16
"Jayne has a point. It could have been the man who lost his head. He survived whatever was out there and came back. It was so horrible it drove him mad." Zen states, ignoring the Red Captain's obvious provocation.
"There was someone like that in town? Surely someone must've come into contact with him and heard his story before he lost his head." The captain was hesitant on the last part of his sentence. Talking about death was typically a bad omen, especially before heading out to sea. "Well, we're ready if you folks are. Hop on board and we'll shove off, unless you guys have something to take care of before we go."
Name: Zen Komanu Bonuses: Str: -2 Con: +2
Health Points: 7/9 Dex: +0 Int: +4
Strain Points: 17/18 Wis: +3 Cha: +0
Armour Class: 12 Luk: 16
"Nothing that I know of." with that, Zen walks on board and prepares for the journey.
Jayne does his best to avoid the seafaring conversation. "Maybe Ray and I should investigate this wreck that doesn't exist, while Leila and Zen join you out to sea. We only have so much time to solve this issue anyway". Jayne has already made up his mind and begins descending back to the dock.
No one had noticed Leila and Itzal had slipped away momentarily back to the guild. She went to pack some things for the trip at the start of the conversation on the man who lost his head. It was nothing much: just a change of clothes, a blanket, and a thin silvery chain necklace she had gotten from Arya. It was the only token she had taken from home when she left. Upon returning, she bumps into Jayne who is on his way off the boat. "Hey! Where are you going?" Leila asks.
Surprised by either the sudden questioning, or the anxiety causing ocean of death, Jayne loses his grip and tumbles quite gracelessly onto the dock, nearly missing Leila on the way! Now on his back, the half-orc looks up at his ally. "Thought we should split up. Ray and I can check out the wreck we passed, while you and Zen learn what you can of the nearby shipping lanes". Jayne rights himself and stands up. "Ashen said we only have a couple days to figure this all out". Jayne awaits Leila's response before venturing back to the wreck.
"Why go explore the wreck?" Leila asks with her eyes narrowed. He isn't getting cold feet, is he? "I'm sure the blue captain can get around to it and he'll be plenty capable. We need you as a wall on the ship in case we're attacked. Bozo-Zen and I can't tank an attack."
"Its that carved table the weak-feeble-frail-headless man left", Jayne starts. "I think he's somehow from that wreck. I want to know more, and I don't trust the blue captain enough to let him have at it".
Believing himself to be in inner-monologue the fighter continues without realizing it, "That should suffice for an answer....she can't know my two crippling fears are water too deep to swim, and then explaining that fear out-loud".
Leila rolls her eyes. "Come now on the boat. Once we've gone out to sea, you can ask Zen to make you some floaties so you don't sink." Despite lying about Zen being able to make floaties, if it really came down to it, she is willing to try making floaties for him. The sorceress actually has ideas on how to make something that could float for the orcish man and deep down, she wants to try her idea out.
Convincing
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 16, total 16[/blockquote]
Leila's voice is comforting. Unfortunately, her floatie-crafting skills are less appealing. "You go ahead. I'm sure that Captain, you're fond of will help out", speaks Jayne. He doesn't wait for a response and begins walking off the dock and towards land. Safe, no where to drown, land.
Ray wasn't sure what had just happened, but he knew that being alone was a dangerous thing. He quickly went after Jayne.
Leila and Zen were left alone on the ship, it was quite the pairing. The red captain looked at the two standing on his deck. "Well? I guess we'll shove off then." The captain took to the wheel of the ship and shouted at his men, who in turn took to their positions. The ship floated from the docks and the sails opened. They were off.
Jayne and Ray walked to the wrecked ship. It didn't take as long as before, but it was still quite the distance. It was a bright day out, about 2 in the afternoon. The sun shone bright, revealing most of everything. The ship still had the same dreary, wreckage feeling.
"Alright Blindey. Let's go check out this wreck", declares Jayne, who steps aboard and looks around.
Spot Check
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 19, total 19[/blockquote]
Jayne had managed the climb to the desk. The floor was slick from lack of care, and it seems as though the elements have had their way with it. The wind and water of the sea was harsh. It looked like a normal ship top, well as normal as Jayne could tell. His fear of deep water has probably kept him far enough away from deep sea-faring ships. Among the noticeable things on the deck, there were notch marks on various things as though swords and weapons had been used. The wheel was smashed, and the ropes seemed to be scattered all over the deck. There was an entrance to the hull of the ship and the captains cabin.
Meanwhile, Ray motioned to his throat to show that he couldn't speak as opposed to being blind. He seemed upset the half-orc had gotten his disability wrong.
Jayne walking off in the middle of their conversation ticks Leila off. No one says no to Leila! Who does Jayne think he is, leaving them without a tank? Well, screw him then! Leila storms onto the boat, shoving Zen out of the way of her hurricane, and makes for the lower deck where she could be alone. Itzal senses her raging mood and takes off for a more solid perch on a barrel nearby. Once upon a time, Leila's mother wanted to get her checked out for bi-polar disorder. Some illusory magic put an end to that. Maybe she really should have gotten that checked out...
Ocular disease. Speaking disease. It's all the same....well all the same in-that Jayne has neither issue. This ship was definitely attacked, either by a storm, or by other, more sinister means. It's time to check out the captain's quarters. Without hesitation, Jayne attempts to kick down the captain's door, and then looks inside.
Door Kick
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 5, total 5[/blockquote]
Spot Check
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 6, total 6[/blockquote]
Jayne kicked the door in with ease. He probably would have broken his foot the way he had hit the door if the latch hadn't of already been broken. Upon walking into the Cabin, it was plain to see there was no struggle. A large window at the back end of the room let in light enough to see everything clearly. From the charter desk to the captains bed, everything seemed in place. The itself was fairly plain, it was a boat though. There was a simple rug on the floor, tan and plain. As Jayne could see, the only odd thing about this room was that everything was untouched.
Surely, there should be some disruption from crashing a boat on the shoreline, therefore the lack of it is still worth noting. Everything seems to be in its place...too in its place.
Jayne looks around for a captain's log, or at least some journal of the events that took place here.
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 11, total 11[/blockquote]
Jayne found the log, the last entry detailed smooth waters and clear skies. He also found that the ship was from a town coming to give supplies to Seawell. It seemed as though whatever happened to this ship, happened quickly.
If the weather isn't to blame, then what is?? There has to be a reason this ship crashed ashore.
Its time to investigate the innards of this ship. Jayne makes his way back to the hull door. He readies himself and attempts to kick this door open as well.
Hull Door Smash
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 19, total 19[/blockquote]
Ray didn't know why, but for some odd reason, Jayne hit the hull door with his fist. The weathered door shattered into splinters splendidly. Upon busting open the door open, a pungent smell smashed into the two heroes noses. It smelled of rotting flesh and death. Despite all of the holes in the hull, the smell seemed to have gathered in the hull. Whatever was causing the smell seemed to either be strong or in plenty supply.
Name: Zen Komanu Bonuses: Str: -2 Con: +2
Health Points: 7/9 Dex: +0 Int: +4
Strain Points: 17/18 Wis: +3 Cha: +0
Armour Class: 12 Luk: 16
Not really sure why Leila had it out for him, Zen ignored her push. The woman was crazy anyways, no need to worry about it. He would much rather have the company of Ray or jayne on this voyage than her though. jayne was good company. Always making people laugh, whether it was intentional, or not. Ray was a good listener as well. At least, Zen though he was. Maybe it just seemed that way because he never spoke. Either way, Leila is the last one in the group he wanted to be stuck on a ship with. Figuring that there is nothing better to do, Zen walks around the main deck and looks around a bit. Maybe there's something interesting lying about. After his little stroll, he walks over and asks the Captain "So, where are we off to again?"
Spot Check
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 7, total 7[/blockquote]
The red captain smiled at Zen, he really did like being out on the sea. "We're off to a small town on the southern continent, we'll ask for supplies and head straight back. Hopefully nothing will happen. Hopefully we'll be back by tomorrow night." The red captain yelled some things to some of the members of the crew. The sails seemed to billow and take in a bit more wind.
Zen's look around the deck didn't seem to reveal anything interesting. Most of the crew were doing their jobs from scrubbing to managing the ropes and keeping a look out for any signs of danger. The ship had a couple doors, two leading to the innards of the ship while one lead to the captains room.
Leila found recluse down inside the ship, peace and quite accompanied with the rocking motion of the boat. The sea smell probably resurfacing memories of her hometown. One of the crew members approached. "So you're one of the ones that Ashen hired, eh? You don't look to tough. Care for an bout of arm wrestling? Perhaps cards?"
Name: Zen Komanu Bonuses: Str: -2 Con: +2
Health Points: 7/9 Dex: +0 Int: +4
Strain Points: 17/18 Wis: +3 Cha: +0
Armour Class: 12 Luk: 16
His stomach rumbling, Zen decides to look for the mess hall. He decides to go through the door closest to him, leading to the innards of the ship. Once inside, he looks around for any signs of where some food might be. He's hungrier than usual, as his last meal was slightly cut off by a scream and finished by a Jayne.
"Soak it in, Ray", declares Jayne. "I do believe that's the smell of death. Why don't you use a torch to shine some light on the situation?"
Ray was confused, surely the Half-Orc had his own torch in his adventuring gear. Never the less, Ray took out a torch and ignited it. He proceeded to hand the torch to the Orc, after all, Ray was a mute and if danger was in front of them, it wasn't as if he could yell "run" or "watch out".
Leila calms a little at the sound of sloshing ocean on the ship's sides. The sorceress takes a deep breath in, smelling the salty air akin to Port Unity's. It reminds her of the first time she had been on a boat, before Arya was attacked in the woods.
"Nice and easy," her father had said as he held a miniature fishing pole with her, hand in hand. The sky was filled with baby-eyed blue from horizon to horizon and the waves were as gentle as a mother rocking a crib. Father and daughter swung the rod in unison, back and forth and back and forth until one burst of exertion sent the hook in a flying arch until it plunked a few feet in front of them into the blanket of sea. "There you go, sweetie! Your first cast with a real hook!" her father cheered. His short beard tickled the top of Leila's head. The little toddler giggled in excitement.
"Can I fish nooooow?" a nine-year-old Arya whined from the background.
"Let Leila have her turn first, cupcake," her father replied. To Leila, he said, "Now all we have to do is wait for a-" A small tug cuts his speaking off. Her father's eyes widen. "You got one, Leila! Wow, that was fast. You must be a master fisherman. Reel it in quickly!"
With Arya pouting behind her, Leila reeled in as fast as her little arms could move as her father held the pole. A splash on the surface gives her a surge of energy and she turns even faster. Stay on the hook, little fishy. Daddy will be proud of me if I catch you. Stay on the-
An unfamiliar voice shakes the sorceress from her memory. The more he talks, the more she feels the thought slipping from her mind and though she tries to grasp for it, the voice is pulling her away. Memory nearly forgotten once again, she bristles at the insult from the crew member, but as she has nothing to do at the moment and wants to exert some physical energy to satisfy her lingering anger, arm wrestling doesn't sound like such a bad idea. "Fine. Let us arm wrestle," she mutters, having been mostly sedated by her reclusion.
Arm Wrestle
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 14, total 14[/blockquote]
His stomach rumbling, Zen decides to look for the mess hall. He decides to go through the door closest to him, leading to the innards of the ship. Once inside, he looks around for any signs of where some food might be. He's hungrier than usual, as his last meal was slightly cut off by a scream and finished by a Jayne.
Nom Check
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 13, total 13[/blockquote]
I forgot to roll the first time :/
Jayne hands the torch right back to Ray with the insistence that he leads. The fighter cannot see a mute behind him, therefore his lack of voice would be even more useless than normal. Jayne can at least observe anything that might surprise the mute.
Plus...Ray might make a good meat shield.
The forced Ray walked into the disturbingly smelling hull. The torch shone in the dark, revealing hole-y walls and dank smells. Jayne could see just fine in the very low lit area. Viewing the room, it consisted of most of the inside of the ship. The cannons had rusted, and the balls as well. Ropes was scattered everywhere like on the deck. There were 2 rooms at the back, one probably used to go to the bathroom, and the other most likely a storage room.
Zen's look around the inside of the hull pulled some sorrow from his stomach. It was clear that the ship didn't have much in the way of supplies, and rations were handed out at specific times. He did however see a Leila locked hand in hand with a sailor, their elbows locked against the table in an epic test of true might.
Arm Wrestle:
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20+2 : 12 + 2, total 14[/blockquote]
The sailor has a +2 to strength. The sea has hardened his body. I also wished to test out the adding and subtracting on the rolls.
The result of a tie means that the player wins. If not barely.
Leila struggled, it was a fierce battle against the sailor but gradually Leila slowly pushed the man's hand downwards till it met the table. Leila had won the long battle of might. The sailor was impressed, but slightly miffed at losing the duel. "Well, you've got your might. Slightly stronger than I am. I guess you'll pass, but if something happens to the ship, try not to get to involved. I'm sure you're not as wise about the ship, nor as experienced."
"Hm. Fair fight. We are almost evenly matched," Leila concedes. "However, I am a sorcerer. My intelligence and wisdom far surpass my strength." The woman flashes a small smirk full of hidden thought and calculation. "Care to put your money where your mouth is in a game of cards? How about if you win, I'll take your deck-swabbing duties. If I win..." She thinks for a moment and asks, "Do you happen to have a fishing pole?"
Name: Zeeto Nailo Bonuses: Str: +1 Con: +1
Health Points: 12/19 Dex: +3 Int: +3
Strain Points: 0/24 Wis: +2 Cha: +1
Armour Class: 16 Luk: 9
"I'd be careful around this one" Zen speaks up to the sailor. "You never know what she might try to pull."
Leila smiles at Zen's comment. "On the contrary, you are the one that tried to kill me with fire. You managed to singe my clothes," she pouts in front of the crew member. "I'd never try to kill you!"
Although the room likely to be for storage is quite tempting, Jayne has other matters to attend, and enters the bathroom.
Spot Check
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 10, total 10[/blockquote]
Name: Zen Komanu Bonuses: Str: -2 Con: +2
Health Points: 7/9 Dex: +0 Int: +4
Strain Points: 17/18 Wis: +3 Cha: +0
Armour Class: 12 Luk: 16
"So now you're trying to frame me for something I didn't do? You have problems woman."
Jayne opened the door to the bathroom, light from the toilet hole shone through and gently illuminated the room. It was a small room, and the toilet hole reached out over the side of the ship, directly over the sand. If the boat had been afloat, it would have been over the water making it easy to dispose of your waste. Although it was a toilet, it was clear the crew knew how to use it, it was quite clean as all the waste left the ship. It was clear the smell didn't come from this room. Ray never entered, he figured the Orc had other intentions, he did eat a large dinner.
"Hm. Tell that to my singed robes," Leila says in a calm, patronizing manner. It takes all her concentration to do so. Her insides are filled with burning, raging thoughts at the man's insult. Thoughts of burning Zen, to be specific. She turns back to the crew member. "Now, about that card game?"
Jayne Vs. Tiny Toilet
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 11, total 11[/blockquote]
Are you trying to poop in it?
Not trying to dance with it
Jayne is successful in his battle with the toilet. Jayne feels relieved at the feeling and regains 1 strain point.
Jayne doesn't use strain points.
Feeling particularly light, Jayne, literally, jumps back into the same room as Ray, stares brazenly at the storage room door, and runs at the barrier without regards to his own body.
I know doors open, but....charge
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 1, total 1[/blockquote]
You'd think the door to the storage room would be a stronger than normal. Normal people would think that. Jayne wasn't normal. Jayne charged the door, all of his might went into the charge. He didn't know what was on the other side, but that door wasn't going to stop him. Or so he thought. Jayne slammed into the door, his large weight creating a large amount of momentum. The door won, sending Jayne flying backwards after his face met with the door. Ray looked disappointed at the Orc's charge, slightly wincing upon Jayne smashing into the door.
Jayne takes 1 point Damage.
"What?", Jayne balks from on his back. "Anthro Panther got your tongue?" Jayne stands up and, wisely, attempts to open the door instead of running into it.
The door opens with ease, in fact the latch even looks brittle. It's a wonder how Jayne hadn't managed to break it when he slammed into the door. The smell of death and decay slammed into Jayne's nose, the putrid smell of rotting flesh couple with the sound of hundreds upon thousands of flies. Sitting in the centre of the room was a large pile of bodies, all of them missing their heads. It was plain to see that this was once the crew for the ship Jayne was now on. Aside from the bodies, the storage room was completely empty.
Jayne looks around, hopefully to find a body that might have belonged to an officer during life.
Spot Check
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 16, total 16[/blockquote]
The sailor grins. Pulling out a simple deck of cards, he dealt two cards in front of Leila and two cards in front of himself. "I assume you've played BlackJack? It'll just be a single game." He proceeded to flip one of the cards in front of each player. "Well, it's your move first."
Sailor:
[blockquote]Rolled 1d13 : 11, total 11[/blockquote]
Leila:
[blockquote]Rolled 1d13 : 12, total 12[/blockquote]
[blockquote]Rolled 1d13 : 4, total 4[/blockquote]
I shouldn't have to explain this one. The numbers represent the cards, suits don't matter unless you get 10-13 and an 11. I'll assume it's a blackjack in that case. 1 is an ace. If you're unfamiliar with blackjack, we have the internet.
Jayne sees the body, its corpse headless but with a uniform belonging to someone of higher rank.
Jayne isn't an experience sailor, but he believes these people should probably have heads. He walks to the highest ranking corpse and begins a more thorough investigation.
Corpse Check
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 13, total 13[/blockquote]
Jayne finds the corpse to have only it's clothes on, no other belongings a captain should have. The neck wound seemed to be a rather clean cut, almost as if someone had used a guillotine style of execution.
Could these men have been killed to keep secrets...or identities hidden? Maybe both! *whew* Jayne's usually dense mind has been stretched with so much thinking. Good thing for that attack on toilet earlier, otherwise he might not have the energy to continue.
"Hey mutey!", Jayne calls to Ray. "Have you ever seen anything like this before?" A simple nod or shake of Ray's head should suffice for now, but if the mute has paper and a writing utensil, it might be note sharing time.
Unfortunately, Ray doesn't keep a pen and paper on him. He believes that he is a master at charades. The cleric twirls on the spot, arms flapping like a bird in the process. He then stands on his head and shakes it "no".
If you haven't guessed, ray sucks at charades. He's also an NPC, Furry. unfortunately, he won't be much help. Except in battle.
"Do you know much of seafaring, specifically, where we could find this ship's identification and possible route?" Again, all Jayne hopes for is a yes, or no, signal; or a possible follow me to the proper area signal.
Ray gestures no.
"Blackjack, you say?" Leila raises an eyebrow at the crew member. "Why, that's a game of probability, not skill. But if you insist..." She sat down and daintily bent her cards to look at the one face down. She has 16? What an awful hand. It is just in the danger zone to go over with one more card but too low to win if she stays. Still, a card from Ace to 7 would put her in a decent spot and 7 cards safe compared to 6 cards failing is in her favor... barely. With that logic in mind, Leila announces, "Hit me, baby" with a hint of sarcastic allure.
Hit me baby one more tiiiime!
[blockquote]Rolled 1d13 : 1, total 1[/blockquote]
This is confusing, a confounded Jayne thinks to himself. Someone must know about this boat. It was almost definitely ransacked. This size of crew wouldn't depart without proper supplies, right? Perhaps a bird's eye view could help. Jayne wonders if the mast and sails could hold up his weight. ...
"Hey Ray", Jayne calls. "Is there a local lizard man expert? Or maybe somewhere I could learn more about them?".
Ray shook his head. Just like Jayne, Ray was new to the parts. Although, Ray did think that if Jayne was seeking information, a guild master might know something... but how could a mute possibly charade something like that? Like this. Ray spun in circle, his fingers pointing towards the sky. afterwards, he did 13 and a half push ups followed by two jumping jacks. One cart wheel later, Ray did a summer sault and kneeled towards the town.
The sailor looked at Leila's hand. She now had seventeen, was she to hit or stay?
Leila catches the sailor's eye. "Are you looking at my cards? That is cheating!" she exclaims. She looks at her sorry hand. Seventeen is the worst hand to get. It's the first number before the odds turn against the holder and therefore the lowest as well. "At any rate, I am staying," she adds. "Continue."
PS I'll be gone for a few days, Toki.
The sailor looked taken aback. They were playing blackjack. The dealer needed to know the persons hand to see whether or not they busted, but either way, Leila had decided to stay. The dealer flipped his second card.
[blockquote]Rolled 1d13 : 5, total 5[/blockquote]
The sailor looked at his hand, a 15. He decided to hit again.
[blockquote]Rolled 1d13 : 10, total 10[/blockquote]
The sailor sighed, he had lost. Twice. To some random girl who had almost forced herself onto his ship.
Leila looks at the sailor's confused face. "I suppose we play different variations of the game then," she thinks out loud. "I usually expose the cards after everyone has taken their turn so other players' cards do not affect another's decisions. At any rate, good game. Might I have my fishing pole now?"
Jayne responds with a charade, of sorts, to Ray. He lifts the mute up on his half-orc shoulders, and starts in the direction of town.
Carry Mute
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 9, total 9[/blockquote]
Ray was picked up with some ease, not only was the half-orc larger, Ray could not offer words of refusal. In a few hours, the mule "Jayne" and Ray end up at the city gates. Nothing seemed to have changed except there were a few more men at the gate than before. They must be preparing the lizard folk attack the Heroes had mentioned before. Ashen was surprised when he walked out of the gate building and saw Jayne. "I thought you were on the ship that left this morning?" was the simple question he asked.
Back on the ship, the sailor had a somewhat depressed face. "Unfortunately Ma'am, we've no supplies of that sort on the ship currently. All we have is enough supplies to make it to the next town and the coin to purchase supplies to make it back. The township still has an inkling that this ship will go down on this journey, so they didn't want to lose any extra supplies possible." The sailor seemed sorry that he couldn't solve Leila's request.
"Oh that ship", Jayne does his best to ad-lib an answer that doesn't involve hydrophobia. "They had....a limit....on". The half-orc's face contorts as his brain cooks up an answer. "Half-orcs. Turns out they already had one on deck, and there was no need for two". Jayne is satisfied with his response, even if no one believes him. "Mutey and I investigated a shipwreck instead. Good thing too, because it might give us some answers about that feeble-weak-coward-noodle armed man who, earlier, lost his head. There was an entire storage deck full of corpses, all of whom, it seems, shared a similar fate. What sort of supplies and cargo would it have been carrying? Whats so valuable that might cause the demise of every crew member?".
Jayne pauses a moment. "And any activity or anything out of the norm at the gate?"
Sensing the sailor's sincerity, Leila drops her pompous demeanor. The reminder that this ship is expected to disappear is a sobering prospect indeed. "Well, why don't we go to the deck and act as look outs so nothing takes us by surprise? Let's prove the township wrong!" she exclaims with steely determination. The sorceress walks back up the stairs, glancing back to see if the sailor is following her. The fresh wave of sea air rejuvenates the woman and a little smile slips onto her face. Itzal resumes his post on Leila's shoulders, facing backwards to cover Leila's blind spot as they both scan the horizon.
Spot Check on the horizon
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 11, total 11[/blockquote]
Jayne's question brought slight confusion to Ashen's face. "No, and it's quite puzzling. You'd think the lizard people who've been plotting this for a while would have showed up by now given the time span of our notice. Still... not a single one has shown up. You're positive your party over heard what they did?" Ashen wasn't doubting the orc, but with a notice like the one he'd received and the amount of troops he'd had to re-order, Ashen was hoping to see some sort of event. "Perhaps we ought to wait for the others to return from the ocean before we send out troops to scour the sea-side? We'll stand on guard here, so you're free to wander about."
Leila looked out over the sea from the deck. Not much was in sight, say a faint outline in the far distance... outline? shortly after the recognition, the man up in the nest started shouting, "Land ho!". The crew cheered in response, they had actually made it to the town. The captain smiled and looked at the two heroes Perhaps you do make the difference on the trips. Still, why haven't we heard anything from the others we've sent to this town... ah well, no need to dawdle on the past. Get ready to dock!" The last part of his statement was directed to the crew. Within an hour and a half, the crew was docked and the captain had taken off to order supplies. Leila and Zen were left on the ship to do as they please.
What a relief! They are alive and docked on a whole different town to boot. Not knowing the contents of this town, she scans the town buildings to see the possible places she could visit and if the town is in the same financial state as the town they departed from. She also keeps an eye out for a ship coming at them in the water or if there is any suspicious activity afoot. Those other "sunken" ships might not have sunken at all. They could have just been taken over when they docked. Itzal, being her trusty little bird, gazes on her shoulder along side her.
Spot Check
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 15, total 15[/blockquote]
Nothing seems astray in the market, in fact it seemed as though it was doing very well. Plenty of people were walking around, cargo was being unloaded, hearty laughs as deals were made. The smell of food and fish was over whelming in the air. It really did seem like a prosperous port, perhaps Seawell was just as successful once upon a time. The only person they recognized was the captain shaking hands with a gentleman and handing over coin. Afterwards he pointed at a large amount of cargo and pointed towards the ship. His men immediately started work, loading the ship they'd arrived on.
Leila, at a loss for what to do, scans the area for a place to buy a fishing pole.
Spot Check
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 4, total 4[/blockquote]
Psst what equipment/money do I have?
Jayne doesn't immediately leave. "What if...", the half-orc clearly began this sentence without thinking it through, but alas attempts to finish it. "...its not lizards?". Jayne surprised himself with the quandary and delves further into thought. Could the lizards be a decoy or distraction for the real danger? All these troops incoming troops wouldn't be arriving without the threat of attack. As far as he could tell, the only power strong enough to take out an entire crew would be the area's own military. They would also be able to move covertly throughout the city. The new question is...who would possibly be in charge of such an effort.
"One more question before I leave...", Jayne starts. "Who's in charge of the incoming military brigade?".
Leila looked, and looked. She had found one finally, who'd have though that it'd be so hard to find a stall to purchase a fishing rod at a harbor? Unfortunately, by the time she had found the stall, the ship was ready to leave. Much to her distaste, she'd have to forgo the fishing rod for now. Perhaps once they finished this quest, she'd be able to talk the town of Seawell into giving her a fishing rod as a reward. Boarding the ship reluctantly, it shoved off. It was dusk, and things were going smoothly but the heroes on the ship couldn't help but shake off the feeling that something was about to happen.
Ashen looked at Jayne with a confused look. "Incoming military brigade? The only military we've been relying on for the past couple of days are the members of the guild. I give orders directly to them. As to your lizards comment, they're the only things have been attack people outside the city. We haven't even had problems with bandits recently, although I think the lizard folk are the reason for that. Who would mess with thousands of lizard people? Normally they're not bad, so we leave them be. As I said, it's only been recent that we've been having problems with them attacking. We've no choice but to defend ourselves."
I apologize, I almost forgot I had responses here. I'll do my best to stay on my toes on this campaign while I'm stationary.
Seriously. How hard is it to find a fishing pole in a SEA PORT? Leila's mood steadily turns from luke warm to sizzling the harder she looks for the pole to steaming mad when the captain's call forced her back on the boat when she finally did find one. Out on the sea, she focuses her attention to the soothing rocking of the boat to keep herself from freezing the captain in revenge. Her inner rage is short lived, though. Out on the sea, thoughts of lizard men find ways to sliver into her mind and cool her temper to a cautious, restrained fright. The mage becomes more ridged as time passes. Itzal, sensing the tenseness of his companion, ruffles his feathers and squawks to himself. Leila roots herself in place and pans the horizon for any signs of movement with Itzal gazing in her rear view. These lizard men aren't sneaking up on them!
Spot Check
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 1, total 1[/blockquote]
Night had fallen, and Leila looked out over the waters. Off in the distance she could see the flickering light of the lighthouse, but that was about all she could see. Unluckily, it turned out that tonight the moon was but a simple sliver so her vision was rather dark. Even Itzal flew back to her unable to discern anything about their surroundings. Looking over her shoulder, she could see Zen sitting against the railing of the ship sleeping to the rocking waves of the ship.
She looked up at the captain, a smile on his face as his ship seemed to have made it through whatever was causing grief to the previous voyages. Confirming his bearings with the light of the lighthouse, he turned his wheel. A few minutes later the ship hurled, a loud grinding sound was heard as the people on the ship felt the boards of the hull being pulled back against a large rock. The ship then hurled a different direction, hitting a second rock just below the surface of the water. The captain screamed, his voice barely heard over the groaning of the ship. "Jump ship! Swim to the shore!" His orders came a second to late though, as the ship hit another rock it tilted the ship, throwing the 2 heroes into the water. Leila washed up on shore, her consciousness was fading after using all of her energy to get to the shore. "Oy! Another strange one's washed up!" "Just tie her up like the other one. I'm sure the captain'll want to take hers especially. As for the rest, take their heads. You know what to do, bodies on the ship. Just like the last ones." She could feel her hands being bound as she lost her last bit on consciousness.
Leila awoke first. Looking at her surroundings, she was in a hole about 10 feet deep with a diameter of about 8 feet. A lashed "fence" seemed to be blockading the top. Through the gaps in the fence she could see Itzal flying high on the sky, her loyal bird hadn't left her. With her hands bound, she pushed herself to her feet on the dirt wall. Zen seemed to still be unconscious laying in a rather unpleasant looking form on the other side of the hole. It was obvious that she and the Zen had been captured.
And no, this didn't happen because of your one. A 20 probably would have changed the ending of that crash though.
Trapped in a hole. Oh what luck. At least Itzal stayed with her. Leila looks around at what she has to work with, as she did not want to stay in said hole for any longer. I mean, who would? Seeing Zen lying there as dead weight gives Leila a plan involving a ray of frost and a frozen Zen ladder, but quickly dismisses the notion of a zencicle after five minutes of serious consideration. He could be useful later on. And it's probably in bad taste to freeze your own party member. Probably. At any rate, he could have something useful in his clothing, so Leila checks both his clothing (she doesn't undress him you dirty minded reader) and her own to see what their captors have neglected to remove. She also scratches the wall. If it's made of dirt or something of the like, perhaps she can convince part of the wall to collapse and open a way to walk up and out of this hole? As she attempts to figure out a way to escape, her mind also wanders to what possibilities she may encounter if- I mean when she does get out. The mage pushes these thoughts away though. One thing at a time: escape first.
Spot Check
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 8, total 8[/blockquote]
Name: Zen Komanu Bonuses: Str: -2 Con: +2
Health Points: 7/9 Dex: +0 Int: +4
Strain Points: 17/18 Wis: +3 Cha: +0
Armour Class: 12 Luk: 16
After being unconscious for so long, Zen awakes, to a very, very bright light. It turns out it was just the sun, but to him it was blinding. "Wha? Wassat? It's realleh bright, tur it offff." A bit delirious for lack of nutrition after being asleep for so long, Zen shakes the cobwebs out of his mind and starts to take in his surroundings. What he says is quite surprising, considering the last thing he remembers is being on the deck of a ship. He's in a hole. A deep one at that. Leila is still there at least, so maybe they can formulate a plan to get out of here. "Leila? How'd we end up here? And Where is 'here' anyways?"
It seems the would-be zencicle ladder is awake. Pity. She hadn't fully dismissed the ray of frost idea. "We're in a hole. I don't know where 'here' is. The ship was captured. I lost consciousness. I can't turn off the sun," she supplies rather curtly. "Now that you're up to date, why don't you help me figure out a way to get out of here?" she suggests, although her tone makes it appear more of a command than a suggestion. She continues to look around at what she has to work with and monitors Itzal to make sure nothing strange is going on outside.
Monitor Itzal
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 9, total 9[/blockquote]
(Still spot checking from last time)
Leila looked at her surroundings, there was a lot of dirt. Aside from the thin layer of sand on the bottom of the pit, the hole seemed to be made entirely out of dirt. The dirt on the walls seemed o have hardened from prolonged exposure to the air. This hole has been here a while. Around the edges of the mouth she could see grass. Looking past that, Itzal fly high in the sky out of the reach of a bow in the event there was anyone outside of the hole feeling a little peck-ish. She couldn't see through Itzal's eye unfortunately, it probably would have given a much bigger insight.
"Zen, give me a boost," Leila says, as she walks towards him and puts her foot up for him to grasp. She'll not wasting any time. "We need to see what we're dealing with here."
Name: Zen Komanu Bonuses: Str: -2 Con: +2
Health Points: 7/9 Dex: +0 Int: +4
Strain Points: 17/18 Wis: +3 Cha: +0
Armour Class: 12 Luk: 16
"Ok, but be careful, we don't know if they have guards up there or not." Zen replies, and proceeds to give Leila a boost.
Boost?
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 19, total 19[/blockquote]
It was the perfect boost, Leila's head stopped just short of hitting itself off of the fence blocking the top of the hole. The fence holes were to small for her to fit her head through, but she could make out a couple of things from her surroundings. The lid on the hole was held down by three large rocks placed on the edges of the fence. There were various people walking about, moving crates and the like. All of them seemed to be seafarers... and Leila knew the sort. They appeared to be pirates. What worried Leila more were the heads on stakes she could see surrounding the camp area.
Leila wonders if she could move said rocks with a floating disk spell. Or perhaps she could burn through the fence with burning hands. Both might attract unwanted attention though. The sorceress thought for a moment more. A diversion might distract enough for Leila to use burning hands on the fence. Yes, that could work. She scopes out a person carrying crates and proceeds to cast the illusion that his clothes are on fire.
Silent Image Cast
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 15, total 15[/blockquote]
Success!
The man's clothes catch on fire and his voice erupts in quite the screech. In his panic, the crate he was carrying fell and the top came off spilling it's contents. It was obvious that the stuff in the crate belonged to the ship Leila and Zen had just voyaged on. While the man on fire may have been panicking, a couple of the others shouted "too the sea!". Hearing this, he took off out of Leila's sight. A couple of the crew seemed to come over to where he caught on fire to try and find out what caused it, but the majority watched him run into the sea. It seemed as though there were more heads in her line of sight, but none seemed to be looking their way.
According to Furry's Magic User Guide, Silent Image cost you 7 Strain points.
As Furry can't be here just yet to edit the character sheets, we'll have to stay on top of the headers. I haven't got the power to stay on top of the sheets and stats. Here's your updated sheet:
Name: Leila Bonuses: Str: +0 Con: +2
Health Points: 10/10 Dex: +1 Int: +3
Strain Points: 5/16 Wis: +1 Cha: +1
Armour Class: Sorcerer Luk: 9
[b]Name:[/b] Leila [b]Bonuses:[/b] [b]Str:[/b] +0 [b]Con:[/b] +2
[b]Health Points:[/b] 10/10 [b]Dex:[/b] +1 [b]Int:[/b] +3
[b]Strain Points:[/b] 5/16 [b]Wis:[/b] +1 [b]Cha:[/b] +1
[b]Armour Class:[/b] Sorcerer [b]Luk:[/b] 9
[hr]
Name: Zen Komanu Bonuses: Str: -2 Con: +2
Health Points: 7/9 Dex: +0 Int: +4
Strain Points: 17/18 Wis: +3 Cha: +0
Armour Class: 12 Luk: 16
Zen, still giving Leila a boost, and not able to see what caused all of the commotion up above, is slightly confused. "What happened up there? Is there a way out?" he asks.
"Shh, they'll hear you," Leila hisses. She is on a delicate mission with no time to explain things to her stepping stool. The illusion spell took more energy out of her than she expected. This next spell will take more energy out of her than she has. This is going to be painful. The sorceress, mustering all her remaining magical energy and will power, attempts to create a floating disk under a rock in attempts to move it from it's place. She'll use this disk to move all of the rocks off the gate. Then she'll be able to escape. And pull up Zen. Maybe. At least that's her plan.
Floating Disk
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 2, total 2[/blockquote]
Failure
Leila winces from the effort, losing slight balance. Zeeto could feel the sorceress sway a bit, but she regained her composure fast enough to avoid falling out of Zeeto's hands. Unfortunately the disc never materialized, but she still paid the cost for the attempt.
-5 Strain points and -2 Health Points
Name: Leila Bonuses: Str: +0 Con: +2
Health Points: 8/10 Dex: +1 Int: +3
Strain Points: 0/16 Wis: +1 Cha: +1
Armour Class: 13 Luk: 9
Zen, you had an error with your health point total. You never added your class bonus (something furry and I added a while back to keep you guys from being one hit by some lucky fluke roll). Your health total is actually 14, but for some odd reason, it still says 9 in your header. I'll also give you back the health Leila took away earlier because of the relaxing voyage and the not so relaxing unconsciousness. Here is your new header, if you could update in on your character sheet, that would be lovely.
[b]Name:[/b] Zen Komanu [b]Bonuses:[/b] [b]Str:[/b] -2 [b]Con:[/b] +2
[b]Health Points:[/b] 14/14 [b]Dex:[/b] +0 [b]Int:[/b] +4
[b]Strain Points:[/b] 17/18 [b]Wis:[/b] +3 [b]Cha:[/b] +0
[b]Armour Class:[/b] 12 [b]Luk:[/b] 16
[hr]
Side note: While magic may be useful, it's not always the answer. Because of how low level you guys currently are, I would advise using it sparingly at this point (You're running low on strain points). I'm not saying that there will always be a way out of a situation without using magic, but if you can avoid using it, I would recommend not using it.
Wincing in pain, Leila climbs off of Zito and explains what she had intended to do. Her whole body aches from her spell and she has nothing to show for it. What an awful situation. "If you have any ideas, by all means, go for it so long as it won't get us all killed. Pay attention to what's happening for me. I'm going to rest from that," Leila says. She slumps in a corner and rests as best she can. Falling asleep doesn't seem like such a bad idea either...
Rest/Fall asleep
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 14, total 14[/blockquote]
Leila successfully falls asleep in the corner of the circular pit. Zen is now in charge of getting the two out of the hole.
Name: Zen Komanu Bonuses: Str: -2 Con: +2
Health Points: 14/14 Dex: +0 Int: +4
Strain Points: 17/18 Wis: +3 Cha: +0
Armour Class: 12 Luk: 16
"Well, someone's kind of lazy..." Zen says after Leila falls asleep. he himself was decently rested after being unconscious for so long, so he didn't need to sleep anymore. Now... How to get out of here... he thinks. Contemplating of all of the spells that he knows, Zen finally comes up with one that he hopes will work. So, without anymore thought, Zen targets the Lashings of the fence with a Scorching Ray.
Scorch!!!! (ing Ray)
(https://claytonia.net/forums/Themes/Teknomaxi/images/dice_warn.gif) This dice roll has been tampered with!
Rolled 1d20 : 3, total 3
Thankfully, Zen is tall. While his spell didn't amount to much of anything and cost him more than he intended. He managed to sear one of the lashings from the fence above him with a combination of jumping and the added length of his 'ray' (it was so short rays are insulted to be compared). The fence now had a weak spot with a broken lashing in the middle of it's structure. With a little effort, Zen was sure that they could squeeze through the hole there with the added pliability of the expanding hole.
Due to the spell you've selected being at the upper limits of your spell list and your pathetic role, this is gonna cost you a total of 12 strain points. Also, even if you forgot your header, try not to add it in on a post with a dice role. I may know that you didn't edit the role amount, it still looks fishy.
Leila's short, well needed rest grants her 4 strain points in return.
Bleary eyed, Leila wakes up to the sweet site of the grate still above her. She'd only been sleeping a few minutes but by the way her body ached, it felt like months. She blinked away the sleep from her eyes and was met with a welcoming sight. There was a little hole in the grate now! She didn't know why. Nor did she care. Adrenalin made short work of the pains in her body as she leaped up and exclaimed, "Zen! Give me a boost out of here!"
"If you insist" Zen replies. This had better not become a habit... I don't like being a stepping stool Zen thinks to himself. He then proceeds to attempt to give Leila another boost.
BOOST 2!
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 18, total 18[/blockquote]
Boost successful! Leila is hoisted to the perfect height to access the weakness in the fencing above.
"Thanks, Zen!" Leila turns to run, but at the last second, remembered she had forgotten something. She wrapped her leg around a solid part of the grate and peered into the hole. Reaching down, she said, "How about I pull you up now?"
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 5, total 5[/blockquote]
Leila reached down and attempted to hoist Zen out of the hole. The 6 foot elf was a little on the heavier side. After a few seconds of almost pulling Leila back into the hole, Zen let go and proceeded to look up at Leila.
As Leila let go, she heard that her distraction had worn off. The pirates began prowling the beach looking for the cause of the fire. As opposed to prowling the beach though, the guards who were standing near the hole were on their way back. It was no or never for the duo to decide what they were going to do. It was probably only the length of an action before the guards got back.
Leila turned to Zen and asked, "Fight or flight?"
"Go hide, I'll be fine. Just get out of here." Zen replies. The only options he could think of would be for her to run away or get back in the hole, and the guards would notice the opening in the gate, so that really wasn't an option.
"You are an idiot. Come with me or you're going to be captured again! She looks around for a possible escape to run to.
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 6, total 6[/blockquote]
Leila looks around and sees very little to hide behind. Seems as though the area around the hole was left barren for the fact that they're holding prisoners in a cell nearby. The closest thing nearby is a set of barrels the hide behind. Luck would have to be in the two's side to even find a moment of sanctity behind them.
"I can't get out... You're too weak to lift me. I can try one last thing though." Zen attempts to Jump up and reach the edge of the hole, then pull himself through the gap in the fence.
JUMP!
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 13, total 13[/blockquote] :)
Zen successfully jumps and reaches the fencing. Although he finds he's a little to weak to do the pull up required to get out of the hole, with a little help from Leila, he manages to scramble out of the hole. The two characters have only moments to decide on their course of action.
Zen look around for an escape route or a place to hide.
Survey the Area!
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 5, total 5[/blockquote]
Zen fails to see much more than Leila spotted. Probably a little less.
Zen runs to the barrels and attempts to cast a spell of Darkness around them
Daaaaaaaarknessssssssss (Yes that is a Nocturne reference)
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 19, total 19[/blockquote]
(I doubt this was his desired effect, but since it was such a nice roll and I'm feeling nice (I also rolled a nice luck roll)...) Zen and Leila make it to the barrels and hide just out of sight, their hands over their mouths to hide their ragged breathing. The guards arrive on scene and look into the hole only to see a void of black. "I can't see all the way down. There's no way they could escape anyways." one of the guards said, proceeding to turn away from the hole and go back to his chair in the area. "I can't wait for the captain to take the girls head... heheh..." he mumbled to himself and he began watching the hole.
Leila and Zen were safe. From their position behind the barrel the could see the a forest in front of them. behind them was the barrel and the Pirate den. Their knowledge on the den wasn't very great considering they didn't see much past the enclosure... but if one had to describe it...
Zen, due to the fact that was a 2nd level Evocation spell, it's gonna cost you the rest of your strain points. You're down to Zero now. Thankfully it was a good roll. It could have cost you more.
Take the girl's head? Why you ugly little sucker I'm gonna... Gonna... There was really nothing Leila could do about the guard without her weapons and strength. She grumbled to herself. He'd pay later. "Forest on my count," she whispered to Zen. She waited for the guards to look away. "Three, two, one, now!" She made a (hopefully) stealthy break for the forest.
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 2, total 2[/blockquote]
Name: Zen Komanu Bonuses: Str: -2 Con: +2
Health Points: 14/14 Dex: +0 Int: +4
Strain Points: 17/18 Wis: +3 Cha: +0
Armour Class: 12 Luk: 16
"Looks like it worked. Let's Get in to the forest and get some distance between us and them, then we'll figure out where to go from here. After a nice nap of course." Zen then begins to wander off in to the forest.
Thankfully the path to the forest was out of the pirate guards line of sight. While Zen made it easily into the forest, Leila seemed to have difficulties walking on sand. After about 7 or 8 tastes of sand from falling, Leila made it into the forest. The two of them were away from the camp, although thy really didn't have a clue as to where they were. A good distance away from the Pirates Den, Zito curls up under a log and proceeds to pass out.
Itzal rejoins Leila and indicates the direction towards town. It seems as though they were quite the good distance off from it.
"Ahem. You didn't see that," Leila muttered as she dusted the sand off her clothes. She looked up and saw she was talking to a snoozing mage. Fine by her. She peered around at her surroundings. Forrest were always more her sister's thing, but she could make this work. With the help of her trusted companion Itzal, she glanced around for food or even a makeshift weapon.
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 9, total 9[/blockquote]
Leila doesn't find much in the woods to make an improvised weapon out of. At best, she's found a stick that is of decent length and sturdiness to bludgeon some poor creature with.
As the sun set, the two characters slept away their worries. Zito taking the extended nap option gained a total of 6 strain point back. Leila managed to gather 4 more points in her sleep. By the time the two awoke, it was morning and a thick fog covered the forest. Thankfully, Itzal could manage through the fog and was still able to indicate directions.
Leila opted to keep the stick. It was better than nothing after all. She followed Itzal to the village, always keeping a look out for danger.
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 11, total 11[/blockquote]
Walking through the forest towards the town, the two eventually reach an impasse. A large swap seems to be in between them and their goal. Between the boggy smells and various insects flying in the air, the sight of a few lizard men wandering through the swamp almost escaped them. Ducking down just out of sight, the two spied the large reptilians as they trudged around. If one had to describe it, they were on patrol. They hadn't noticed the two heroes yet, and whether or not they did was up to the heroes themselves.
"Hm... Hey Itzal, do you think you could distract the guards enough to let us pass em?"
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 15, total 15[/blockquote]
Itzal flew around the lizard men, while they looked at the bird for a few seconds, they didn't really show interest. It seemed as though birds were common sight in a swamp. Short from attacking the folk, it didn't seem as though there was much our feathered friend could do to distract the patrol.
Sigh... Leila was too tired to do this, but she was sure going to try anyways... She attempted to cast disguise self on herself to make her appear as a lizard men. If it worked, perhaps she could trick the guards into attacking the pirates who captured them- and get some tasty information on why all the ships kept disappearing.
Disguise Self
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 20, total 20[/blockquote]
Perfect casting! (4 strain points consumed)
Zen almost let out a shriek as he turned to the side and saw Leila, or what used to be Leila. A large Lizard now stood where she did. She was now ready to approach the lizard folk and get information out of them.
Leila, exhausted, dragged herself over to the passing guards. "Thank goodness I found you guys!" she exclaimed, milking her fatigue. "The crew from one of the shipment arrivals is mutinying! They say your village doesn't need anymore loot and plan to take it for themselves. I even heard a rumor some of them are being bought out by some private owners in Seawell. I ran here as fast as I could," she panted. Hopefully the lizard men reveal something in their concern.
Lie her tail off.
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 2, total 2[/blockquote]
While Leila had the perfect disguise, she really couldn't pull off the lying Lizardman face. "Calm downsssss. You're forgetting to speak properly. I canssss barely undersssstandsss you" one of the Lizardfolk said. "Ssshe'ssssss probably from the country ssssside, I don't have a clue what ssshe meanssss by sssshipment arrivalsssss though" the secnd Lizardman said. "Clearly you're lossssst. Head to the centre of the swamp and talk to one of the higher upsssss. The humansssss are flanking usssss. They sssstarted thisssss war and usssss Lizardfolk won't be losing". Afterwards, the lizard pointed in a direction of the swamp for Leila to head. The other lizard was handing her a large beetle. "Eat thisssss. Clearly you're sssssstarved and losssst. I won't letssss a pretty lizard girl such assss yourself go without eating to ssssave her strength.
Leila you have 4 strain points left in the event you lost count somewhere along the line.
Name: Zen Komanu Bonuses: Str: -2 Con: +2
Health Points: 14/14 Dex: +0 Int: +4
Strain Points: 17/18 Wis: +3 Cha: +0
Armour Class: 12 Luk: 16
Meanwhile Zen seems to be left alone with no way past the Lizardmen.
Despite her epic failure in the lying department, she did manage to gather some information about the situation. The Lizardmen think the humans antagonized them first? Was this true? In that case, could this whole situation be solved diplomatically? These lizardmen didn't seem like such bad folk after all. He did present her with a gift after all. She was hungry enough to not protest to the nature of the gift. Before she thought about it too much, a bite of beetle was already in her mouth! She tried not to gag as the squishy innards of the bug filled her mouth. Hey, it wasn't as bad as she expected at least. "Thankssss for the meal. I'm ssssssorry I lossssst my head theressss for a ssssecond. You're sssso kind, ssssirssss," she hissed. She would take this moment to her grave... so long as Zen didn't see. Hopefully he didn't see. "I'm afraidsss I'm sssstill a little flusssstered. I've been wandering the sssswamp too long. Why are the humansssss flanking ussss?" Having heard their mannerisms of speaking, she hoped this time she would come across understandable. Maybe she could yet get information out of these two... lovely lizardmen.
Ssssso charming
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 2, total 2[/blockquote]
While Leila made a pretty Lizard, she wasn't exactly a charming Lizard. Despite the attempt to smile and flatter her way into the minds of the Lizards, it didn't seem as though they were about to freely give up any information... or they possibly couldn't understand her obviously forced Lizard accent. "Flanking meansss they're on either ssside of usss. The onesss to the north have calmed down..." He pointed back the way that the two heroes had come "...and the onesss to the sssouth have ssstarted their asssault" afterwards he point in the direction that Itzal said Seawell was in. "You ssseem really cluelesss, what Lounge are you from?" After asking his question, the Lizard began to bob his head up and down, seemingly eyeing Leila. "Sssurely any Lizardfolk is knowledgeable about our sssituation... we've even sssent word out to further coloniesss..."
Sso sssatisssfying to ssspeak Lizard ssslang.
Jayne lifts his head from the cobblestone pavement. He does his best to recover any thoughts before he found himself in this inopportune position. The events remain foggy, but at the gates he recalls speaking with Ashen, then headed deeper into town from there.
Then.....nothing...
DID THE MUTE CAST SOME MEMORY ALTERING SPELL??
WAS IT A HALF-ORC STRIPPER??
IS MUTEY A HALF-ORC STRIPPER TEMPTRESS??
Jayne's already clouded half-orc mind is exceptionally hazy given waking up after potentially hours...or even days. The fighter rights himself, dusts the gravel off his clothes, and gazes at his surroundings...
Where...and when am I?
(https://claytonia.net/forums/Themes/Teknomaxi/images/dice_warn.gif) This dice roll has been tampered with!
Rolled 1d20 : 1, total 1
After Jayne had finished speaking to Ashen, it seems as though his memory blanked out. It appeared as though Half-Orcs suffer greatly from SBD, and the side effects hit their memory much worse. When he'd come to, Jayne was sitting at a table in the inn where they'd seen the edgy man who'd been beheaded in the alley. Sitting accross from him was Ray. It appeared as though Ray was patiently waiting for the Half-Orc to regain consciousness... and had been sitting there for the whole 72 hours straight. What a patient guy!
Ray stood up with a smile. He was glad to see Jayne back in the realm of the awake. He gave Jayne a large plate of bacon and began to orchestrate the events of the town with his actions. To the normal eye, Ray's actions wouldn't make any sense... but Jayne and Ray seemed to have made a connection in the 72 hours of silence and the Orc understood all of the actions of the cleric.
After Jayne had left Ashen, the troops had grouped. After about 2 days of waiting for an assault by the Lizards that never came, the people of the town became impatient. A town meeting was held and a vote was passed to make an assault on the Lizards. The town mustered their supplies together and prepared their soldiers to trudge off to the swamp to eradicate the Lizards, or at the very least push them to the point they'll have to forget attacking people to focus on survival. Ray stressed how serious the matter was because if this attacked failed, the town gaurd would be wiped out and there'd be no supplies left for the townspeople. Jayne had luckly woken up only a couple hours after the troops had left. With quick feet, the two heroes had the option of catching up to the battalian and helping should they choose.
I was wondering when I'd see that ottery face here! It's good to see you back! I'm not positive on whether or not you actually tampered with your roll, but considering that you really didn't give a hard action and goal with your roll... I'll use it as a way to time warp you forward to about the same time Leila and Zen are currently in (I think it was about 2-3 days given the boat ride, capture time, and camping in the woods?). I hope it all makes sense... I'm a little blurry on the setting as well.
Dropping these fancy headers here as it'll take a while to get back into the usage of them.
[b]Name:[/b] Ray Milx [b]Bonuses:[/b] [b]Str:[/b] +0 [b]Con:[/b] -1
[b]Health Points:[/b] 12/12 [b]Dex:[/b] +1 [b]Int:[/b] +3
[b]Strain Points:[/b] 16/16 [b]Wis:[/b] +1 [b]Cha:[/b] -1
[b]Armour Class:[/b] 13 [b]Luk:[/b] 10
[hr]
[b]Name:[/b] Jayne of Cobb [b]Bonuses:[/b] [b]Str:[/b] +3 [b]Con:[/b] +1
[b]Health Points:[/b] 20/20 [b]Dex:[/b] +3 [b]Int:[/b] +0
[b]Strain Points:[/b] 11 [b]Wis:[/b] +0 [b]Cha:[/b] +0
[b]Armour Class:[/b] 15 [b]Luk:[/b] 11
[hr]
Crap. Apparently human charm didn't equate to lizard charm. Who knew. Maybe she could talk herself out of this yet. She wasn't keen on killing these two without any gear. "Appologiessss. My parentsss were sssea faring folk who didn't wissssh to join a colony. I never learned to talk properly out in the sssssea. We sssimply were given instructionsss to obtain food for the brave ssssoldiers sssuch asss yourssselves but our crew mutinied. I'll continue my way to find help, ssssirsssss. Thanksss." Hopefully that was enough to placate their suspicions. She turned to walk towards the village, hoping the lizardfolk didn't stop her for antagonistic reasons.
Sssstill lying
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 17, total 17[/blockquote]
The lie worked, but it was probably because they believed it they watched her closely. "That could be why we you have weird accent... but to not be apart of a lounge... there are none of usss like that from around here. Watch out for the humansss. The ruthless bastards ssstarted thisss war. They'll ssskin you alive and ssslice off your head. If you see one, yell for help. I'll sssurely come your aid." The Lizard proceeded to bob his head while looking at Leila.
The Lizards looked at each other and continued their patrol, but it seemed as though their course was altered. It seemed as though they were walking towards the area Leila had showed up from. Something seemed off.
Waiting until they were gone, Leila walked back to where Zen was. She hoped her illusion would last a while longer. She might need it on their journey to... wherever. "Off to the village now, or do you have any ideas?" she asked Zen.
Name: Zen Komanu Bonuses: Str: -2 Con: +2
Health Points: 14/14 Dex: +0 Int: +4
Strain Points: 17/18 Wis: +3 Cha: +0
Armour Class: 12 Luk: 16
"Hide from them" Zen says and points at the Lizardmen walking towards them. Zen attempts tocast a spell of Darkness around the Lizardmen, hoping to confuse them long enough to get away.
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 8, total 8[/blockquote]
Success!
Although the shadow didn't have a 20ft radius, it was enough to stop the lizards in their tracks. With darkness enveloping their vision they swiftly went back to back drawing their weapons to be ready for whatever was to come. The two only had a few seconds to act. It was fight or flight.
With 'Darkness' being a level 2 evocation spell, Zen loses 9 strain points leaving him with a total of 0 and losing 3 health points.
Weapons! Leila wondered if she could use the cover of darkness to swipe the lizardmen's weapons and flee. She felt hopelessly unprotected without something sharp in her hand. She turned her thoughts into actions and lunged at the weapons, hoping to roll out of her lunge and run once she had some weapons in her grasp.
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 4, total 4[/blockquote]
Unfortunately Leila in her lizard girl shape was unable to use her usual dexterity to steal the weapon. Tripping over her feet, she face plants in front of the lizards.
Hey at least these lizardmen didn't see her doing anything antagonistic. She could try lying again. I mean, it went so well last time...
Getting up, Leila hissed, "We're under attack. Run you foolssssss." She attempted to run in the direction of the forest. She hoped they'd lose her in the smoke and she could circle back to Zen. If they stuck around, she'd wait in the forest to make sure that lump of human in the forest wasn't doomed.
Run!
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 2, total 2[/blockquote]
Leila found her feet firmly glued the spot from either fear or about a foot of mud. Either way, she wasn't going anywhere just yet.
Curse this stupid lizard body. Weren't they supposed to be good for walking through swamps? Leila tried to wriggle free and continue with her plan of fake running away.
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 16, total 16[/blockquote]
Jayne gourged himself with all the bacon. The inn had a bacon bacon deficiency of its own by the time Jayne was finally finished. A monstrous belch roars from deep in his gullet, travels to his mouth, and disturbs even the neighbors next door. The half-orc's satisfied grin shows every patron his utmost pleasure with himself.
Speaking of plessure, Jayne was so very happy to hear about the attack on the lizard people. Enough investigating. Enough sneaking around. Most of all...enough boats on stupid water.
Jayne wants to fight.
haha...I think posting on my phone might cause rolling issues...but we'll see. It is good to be back into D&D
Zen decided to stay where he was until he figured out what LizardGirl was up to running back AT the enemy.
"Under attack?!" one of the lizards screamed out "Where are the ssscale-lesss bassstardsss! I'll rend their flesssh from their bonesss!" "Ssstay here, damsssel, we'll protect you!" the second one said in succession, both moving to stay close to Leila who was busy trying to escape. Leila had managed to wrench her feet from the mud and took off in a mad dash making it into the forest just out of the two Lizard's sight. Then it seemed as though her luck run out*. Looking down at her hands, she could see the pale flesh that she was all to familiar with. Coupled with the fact the two Lizard's were following her, Leila was certainly in a bad position. The only good thing was that the Lizards were moving away from the still well hidden Zen.
Jayne and Ray successfully caught up to the merry band of lizard slayers. The remaining militia from the hard times at Seawell seemed to have congregated at a small encampment just outside of what seemed to be a swamp. Militia and makeshift barriers lined the no-mans land lying between the encampment and the swamp. Looking into the trees of the swamp you couldn't see far past the trees. Upon closer inspection one could see the gleaming eyes of murderous intent through the darkness the trees created.
As Jayne approached the camp, a watchman seemed to call out to someone in the base. Ashen emerged from between the few tents they had set up. "Boy am I ever glad to see you! Having someone with your qualities will not only strengthen the men's resolve, but help us on the battlefield. The Lizards seem hesitant to make the first move, which only puts us at a disadvantage. For us to strike first would put us onto enemy territory. Many of people have gotten their feet stuck in the mud approaching lizard people only to be struck down in the moment. I'm afraid without a way to win this first battle, the lizard folk will only win the wait. I'm open to any suggestions you might think of."
*Sorry Millars. Made a special roll towards luck and you drew the short stick... twice. Also, try not to make re-rolls for similar stuff in succession. It kills the point in rolling to see the result if you're just going to re-roll till it becomes advantageous.
No worries Furry, I trust you on your rolls. Not to mention the post in question with the tampered roll doesn't even have a "last edited" stamp.
Curse whatever sick being gave her this rotten luck. Why were those fools running towards her anyways? She said there was an attack from the other side! She'd make them pay for that mistake... hopefully. Using the last bit of her strength, Leila attempted to cast ventriloquism to throw her voice in a way that would lead the lizards perpendicularly away from both her and Zen. Hopefully she could circle back to Zen after the other lizards had left. "Over there! I see the lizard scum with their backs to us! Archers, fire at will," she "commanded".
Ventriloquism
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 16, total 16[/blockquote]
The level one Illusion spell succeeds leaving Leila with a total of 0 strain points.
"Archers?! Get into the trees! You'll be harder to hit!" exclaimed one of the Lizards, jumping into the closest tree lines (which happened to be the ones Leila fled into because they we're following to protect her) to avoid the "incoming" onslaught of arrows. With their backs to some trees border lining the swampy area, their focus was on the direction the orders came from. It seems that in their haste of avoiding arrows, they lost interest in protecting the damsel who'd fled into the woods. On the darker side of things Leila was only a few more trees into the woods near the lizard folks, just barely out of their sight.
Ventriloquism isn't a singe use spell, it lasts a minute per level. Just thought I'd give you that reminder.
A look of orcish pride sails over Jaynes face. This is where he belongs; not solving a mystery, but rather, on the battlefield solving a different sort of mystery: how many lizards can he slay in a single battle. However, this predicament of muddy feet would indeed be a problem....
Then, a thought dawns on the green-hued fighter:
If we can't get to the lizards, maybe we can force them into moving first
Jayne inspects his militia, hoping to find a few archers amongst the troops.
"I've lost sight of the lizards. They climbed up into the trees. We'll wait them out," Leila "commands" again. Hoping the lizards were too preoccupied with climbing, Leila rolled around in the mud for camouflage and tried creeping around the lizards just out of view to get back to Zen.
Command
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 7, total 7[/blockquote]
Camo
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 8, total 8[/blockquote]
The command succeeded, it didn't take much to speak with an already cast spell. With the added commend, the lizards looked at each other and nodded. Slowly and quietly they moved through the tree stealthily headed towards the origin of the voice. It seemed as though the two Lizards intended to flank the voice by circling back. Perhaps it was because of their concentration that Leila was able to sneak back to Zen completely covered in mud from head to toe, it somehow got into her clothes as well. They had a few moments of reprieve before the Lizards reached the voice and found out they had been had.
Jayne spots a few archers, their quality was a little questionable though. It might take a better plan then just shooting at them to get the lizards to move with all the trees in the way.
Years ago, during the goblin wars, Jayne was first to volunteer himself for battle. The little beasts had a terrible habit of hiding themselves in caves to bottleneck any attackers. Jayne's captain had the brilliant idea to drive them out with fire. Like ants forced out of their hill because of fresh rain, the gnarly creatures fled their den right into fray.
Perhaps the archers could ignite their arrows, fire into the swamped canopy, and press the lizards out first.
"do you have any sort of liquid that would easy catch fire? I might have an idea", he asks the ranged units.
Ashen heard Jayne's suggestion. "That's a brilliant idea! I don't know why we didn't think of it before. Ever since we arrived here about 2 days ago, it's like time itself had frozen". Ashen motioned and a barrel of oil for the lamps that they used at night appeared in front of them."The only thing that worries me with this plan is the fact that it's a forest fire, it could potentially affect the area..."
Jayne thought long and hard of his response...
"Forest Schmorest", exclaims the fighter. "Let's cook us some lizards"
Ashen looked a little worried. Shaking his head a few times to clear the doubt in his mind he raised his hand. The few archers in the camp wrapped cloths around the tips of their arrows and dipped them into the oil barrel. Drawing their bows back one man lit a torch from a nearby camp fire and lit the weapons ablaze. Ashen pointed his hand at the swamp edge in front of him, dropping his hand a few seconds later he issued the order. "FIRE"
*A couple of archers missed completely and actually stuck their arrows in the makeshift wooden barricade in front of them. The other four were successful in lodging their arrows in the trees, two flying high into the crowns of the trees out of lizard man reach and the other 2 lodged themselves into the trees. **one of the Lizards was able to snatch an arrow from the tree, but when they tried to snag the second arrow a few more arrows followed suit killing them before they could remove it.
Waiting a bit, smoke began to rise out of the trees that'd had a few arrows shot into the crowns and the arrow lodged in the tree had begun to char the bark around itself. Surely that was about to ignite soon. The eyes between the trees seemed to lessen as time pressed on, eventually it was Ashen who spoke up. "We can't be sure they're all gone, but if we wait to long we might find ourselves at an impassable wall of flames. Any thoughts? I've got a few ideas myself, but they could be considered a little risky". It was obvious who he was talking to.
*6 D20 rolls later on my end. (14, 1, 18, 15, 1, 17)
**Two more rolls. (1, 16)
I must be using some unlucky dice... look at all those ones...