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Re: Planetary Pioneers: IC
"I'm a fair shot. And a trained medic, in case it comes up," 'Cai frowns. "How are all of you in the woods? Any hunters here?" Woodscraft could be more important than marksmanship for this, and none of the other recruits filled him with confidence based on their appearance alone.
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Re: Planetary Pioneers: IC
I will do ok in the woods, but I am no woodsman, just very quiet and sure-footed.
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With a look of distaste, Naga-Tee answers Laikir's question.
"I can handle a weapon, but I'm no soldier. I'll do my best."
This group isn't shaping up too well. At least we have the droid - I guess even weapons of war have their uses sometimes.
She gets a lot happier when Mordecai speaks: it reassures her to know that there's a doctor in the group and to be able to speak positively about her abilities.
"I'm a qualified natural scientist, and I've spent years exploring wild areas on many different planets. I should be of some use in surviving within the forest."
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Naga-Tee considers what she knows about Womp Rats, particularly trying to remember if they hunt by sight or by smell. Life Sciences (13+d20): [roll0]
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Re: Planetary Pioneers: IC
Head Case silently flips the heavy blaster that makes up his left arm into stun mode, and then makes a show of priming it at Terra's assertation of his skill with it, causing it to emit the high pitched whine indicative of the blaster powering up.
He turns his red photoreceptors upon 'Cai, replying in a commanding voice, -MY SENSORS HAVE BEEN OPTIMIZED FOR HUNTING-
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Re: Planetary Pioneers: IC
Throughout your conversation, Krushk has been gathering up materials at the platform, oblivious to the assumption he just made, although he does look slightly confused. "Huh. They way you guys are going on, it almost seems like this is your first time working together."
He grins, and shoulders a heavy looking pack.
"Well, I've got to pick up a few more things in town. The forest is to the south and southeast of town, but you'll run in to more rats on the south end, so I suggest you start there. Unless you all have any other questions, I'll be going now."
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Shall we? I don't have anything that I need to wait on, and I could use the credits. Laikir will collect his things and get ready to depart.
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"I'm here for the credits to make a living, not to wait." Terra says with a nod, agreeing with Laikir, "I'm all for moving out. Faster we start, more credits we make."
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Naga-Tee gestures with her arm towards the south.
"I am prepared to move now, so let us proceed. We can discuss our plans when we are in a better position to begin them."
She hefts her backpack and begins to set off towards the south of the town.
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Re: Planetary Pioneers: IC
Head Case turns in place and begins following Terra and the others to the south.
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Re: Planetary Pioneers: IC
You head south towards the forest. It's not a long walk, considering how small the city is, so it only takes a short while until you find yourselves standing at the edge of Thane Bordan's forest. It looks something like this.
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Image blatantly stolen from googling redwood forest. too lazy to rename file and pretend otherwise.
The forest is far bigger than you had envisioned. The trees tower over you, many over 100 feet tall, with trunks three meters wide. The understory isn’t terribly dense, although there are patches of shrubs, and a variety of ferns scattered throughout. The air feels cool and fresh, and the faint smell of pines creates a serene feel to the forest. As soon as you step into the woods, you feel dwarfed by the giant trees that completely surround you.
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you should probably come up with some kind of strategy or plan or something at this point...
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Re: Planetary Pioneers: IC
Terra looks up at the trees and nods, "Impressive." She says before looking back around, "So, anyone know anything about these womp rats to help find them or lure them out? Or shall we just start running around hoping to find one randomly?" She ask as she starts looking around.
Deciding to test something, she reaches into her utility belt and pops open one of the food capsules. With any luck they might be attracted and Head Case could start gunning them if they came running.
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Opening a food capsule to try and lure them :P
Also, less likely to work, but why not...Perception to look for traces of womp rats, womp rats themselves, or some lead.
[roll0]
Shame gather information is for city locations :P Much better at that.
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Re: Planetary Pioneers: IC
-SEARCHING-
As soon as they hit the forest, Head Case activates his sensor package and begins scanning for life signs, or tracks, or any other evidence of the womp rats.
Perception: [roll0]
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Re: Planetary Pioneers: IC
Laikir with his limited wilderness knowledge will try and find tracks.
[roll0]
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Terra:
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You pop open the capsule and throw it on the ground. It's pretty bland, and doesn't seem to be giving off much of a smell, but who knows? Maybe womp rats have a much better sense of smell than you do.
You don't see anything unusual in the forest.
Headcase:
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The forest is overall very quiet, and your sensors pick up no signs of movement. you are quite confident based on the sensitivity of your sensor package and the low level of white noise in this forest that there is no wildlife within 50 meters of your location, unless it is very very good at staying hidden.
You do however notice a small scattering of crushed pine cone shells near a large bush. As you refine your search image, you find a couple more clumps like this nearby. Something has been eating the nuts off of the shrubs in this area.
Laikir:
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You seach for tracks, but you don't really know where to look, and fail to find any.
Alas, Track is a trained only application of the survival skill. :smallfrown:
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-NO WILDLIFE DETECTED WITHIN FIFTY METERS- -PRESENCE OF LIFE INDICATED BY CRUSHED PINE CONE SHELLS-
He points to several spots nearby where something has been eating the nuts off of shrubs.
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Mordecai frowns. "I don't know much about the local wildlife here, but most things need water to live - and water runs downhill. Maybe we want to try heading downhill until we run across a stream or a pond the animals have been using as a watering hole, then set up an ambush there?" He cradles his rifle as he sizes up the surrounding forest.
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Perception: [roll0]
Survival: [roll1]
Pick whichever one seems most appropriate.
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Mordecai:
It's a little hard to tell since the forest is overall fairly flat, but you would judge the slope is running downhill towards the Southeast.
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Naga-Tee ponders the issue for a few moments, examining the local area whilst thinking. She nods to Mordecai.
"That is a sensible suggestion, though we will have to be careful - other species will also visit the watering hole for sustenance, so we shall have to aim carefully to avoid them."
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Naga-Tee also looks for any tracks, specifically Womp Rat tracks. Survival (d20+9): [roll0]
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"If these things are as aggressive as we've been told, I bet there won't be anything else there at the same time they are," 'Cai shrugs. Suddenly he nods sharply. "There's not much of a slope out here, but it looks like the low ground is that way," he points off to the southeast.
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Naga-Tee:
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Looking near the piles of crushed pinecones, it doesn't take you long to find a few animal footprints. They appear to be from Womp rats, and there appear to be at least three sets of tracks, all heading South.
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Naga-Tee studies the ground for a few minutes, then stands and shrugs off her backpack. Opening the pack she rummages around inside for another minute or so before removing a folded poncho, which she quickly dons. As she finishes putting it on the poncho shimmers and shifts its colour and pattern to blend in better with the surrounding scenery. Better than nothing: at least they won't be able to pick me out as easily.
"I've found a few tracks heading south which we should be able to follow. Be careful though, and stay alert."
Naga-Tee sets off again, following the sets of tracks heading south and loosely gripping her holstered blaster.
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Do I need another roll to follow the tracks? If so, Survival (d20+9): [roll0]
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"A trail in the hand is worth two watering holes in the bush," 'Cai says, stooping for a moment to familiarize himself with the tracks Naga-Tee uncovered. He quickly follows after the Ithorian, moving off to the side to look for additional spoor.
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Survival: [roll0]
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Re: Planetary Pioneers: IC
Laikir trusts his companions that they know what they are doing and follows, blaster in hand.
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Re: Planetary Pioneers: IC
OOC: I'm going to assume that the rest of you would be ok with following Naga-Tee, so rather than waiting for everyone to post some sort of reply I'm just going to move on with it so that we can get into some combat. :smalltongue:
'Cai: you don't find anything in particular that Naga-Tee missed.
Also, Naga-Tee, the first survival check is still good.
Naga-Tee:
Owing to your years of experience interacting with the wilderness, following the tracks is second nature. You deftly weave between the massive trees following the trail. It quickly becomes apparent that these Womp rats do not have any particular destination they are going towards; they are most likely simply wandering the forest scavenging for food.
Everyone:
You all follow the tracks in utter silence, weaving left, then right, around a log, down a sloping bank, up the other side... You surrender all of your senses to the forest, searching dilligently for any sign of womp rats. You slowly lose sense of how long you have been on the hunt. Maybe it's been two hours, and maybe only 20 minutes. Just as you are beginning to think this job may not have been worth the effort after all, suddenly:
[Everyone roll a perception check! in the OOC thread please, so as to not clutter the IC thread too much.]
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Re: Planetary Pioneers: IC
Head Case follows as quietly as he can, constantly scanning...scanning...scanning...
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Terra follows starting to feel discouraged. "You know, for a forest that is supposed to be overrun with these things we still haven't seen any..." She says annoyed as she looks over at Head Case hoping his scanning was working.
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Re: Planetary Pioneers: IC
Naga-Tee & 'Cai:
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you hear the grunts and gnawing sounds of a number of animals devouring something. About 30 meters ahead of you, you can barely make out the forms of a number of womp rats, mostly hidden by the large trees and shrubs between you and them. (you would not have a clear shot from here.)
Headcase:
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Your sensors pick up the sound of a number of creatures gnawing and grunting. Thanks to the quality of your sensor package, you can roughly triangulate their location, although you cannot see them... the large trees an understory growth block your view.
Mar & Laikir:
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You hear rustling in the bushes ahead, maybe 25-50 meters away.
Terra:
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You are completely engrossed in following the tracks, so you see and hear nothing extraordinary... you are simply following the trail.
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Head Case's left arm extends suddenly, aiming, -WILDLIFE DETECTED- -TARGETING- -TARGETING- His vocabulator is noticeably quieter than before, only loud enough to inform his mistress and "allies" of what he has detected...
He begins moving so as to have a clean shot at the detected creatures...
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Re: Planetary Pioneers: IC
Naga-Tee carefully draws her blaster from its holster, ducks down and begins to make her way quietly through the trees and towards the Womp Rats from the left. She glances over at her new companions and winces at the sound of Head Case's voice unit, trying to signal to the rest of the party to get down and stay quiet.
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Re: Planetary Pioneers: IC
Laikir will places his back to a large tree and draw his holster, aiming it at the bush.