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Thread: In the Woods, in the Woods [IC]
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2014-11-19, 06:51 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Sep 2010
- Location
- Nottingham, UK
Re: In the Woods, in the Woods [IC]
Making conversation with Dorangel was probably not, in the grand scheme of things, very high in the list of hardships Josh had endured. In fact, it was probably only the second most difficult thing he'd done today; after all, he'd successfully avoided regurgitating the morning's grass soup in front of Kalaryn. Nevertheless, he found charming the dragon to be an incredibly arduous and stressful endeavour.
He tried to keep the Lady Defrain in his peripheral vision at all times. He watched her body language, and tried to copy it. He listened to her responses, and tried to copy their tenor and timing when supplying his own. He made appreciative noises in what he hoped were the right places.
And under the table, he kept his fingers crossed.
Spoiler: OoC(1d20+6)[8] to Aid Another on Kalaryn's Diplomacy check."Your swift progress with illusions is overshadowed only by your long-overdue grasp of the basics of sarcasm." --Vaarsuvius, to Elan
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2014-11-19, 07:45 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- May 2013
Re: In the Woods, in the Woods [IC]
Knowing all too well that there was a chance trying to help could cause more damage, Dylan provides Dorangel with as much wine and ale as she can, politely smiling and taking very small sips of her own beverages.
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2014-11-20, 08:23 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Sep 2011
Re: In the Woods, in the Woods [IC]
The wine was good, the stories grandiose, and the food fabulous. Laura could get used to this. The cleric was used to letting Will do the talking, so allowing Kalaryn to take the lead was not hard.
Spoiler: OoC(1d20+4)[24]
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2014-11-21, 03:19 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Feb 2012
Re: In the Woods, in the Woods [IC]
Dorangel is of course, happy to yarn and ham at length. But with some subtle prodding from Kalaryn, and the odd bit of input from Will, he reveals something of the characters around the marshes. And finally, after goodness knows how many hours, he slips in a detail that catches everyone's ears.
"And yes, that sent those wyverns packing, for sure! They wouldn't mess with me, no-no. It was some of your rangers actually, who irked them from the nests in the first place. I wonder what they were doing up there, they never venture so high up the cliff faces. It's a shame they didn't come to me first for help, I could have advised them on all sorts of things. Not that I've been up to the nests for a while. But oh-ho, if I wanted to, I most certainly could! And chase those brutes away from whatever it is that made the rangers so curious. Maybe I should investigate... actually that reminds me, of the time when I was caught in a thrilling aerial battle with the great red dragon Flamagrach the Tempestuous. Oh, that wasn't an easy fight, no-no, but I sure taught him a thing or two! Let me show you what I did..."
And off he launches into another tale. But in that brief moment, a small amount of information has presented itself. Little details scattered throughout the rest of his stories help to paint more and more of a picture. The wyverns live on the cliffsides above the marsh, and hunt for prey below. Their nests are not easily accessible, but the rangers went up to investigate something, though Dorangel is fairly dismissive of the idea that anything more than old bones and rags could be found in the lairs of those 'great, flapping toad-brains'. Still: it's a lead.
Time comes, and he decides to go out hunting again, bounding out of the cavern with barely a second's notice. But this time, he has left some useful information. There is still time in the day- what will you do?
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2014-11-22, 08:29 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jan 2008
Re: In the Woods, in the Woods [IC]
An exhausted, broken figure trudged slowly away from Dorangel's castle: It was Drask. Behind him walked his considerably more cheerful master. Just like yesterday, Kalaryn had rather enjoyed this visit; Especially the refreshments. And from the looks of things, she wasn't the only one.
"Congratulations, everyone. Thanks to patience and good diplomacy, we've discovered our next destination. Is everyone *ahem* ready to proceed?"
By which she meant 'is everyone sober enough to walk in a straight line?'. Under the circumstances, a little...overindulgence...was expected. Who knew when they'd get to dine so well again?
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2014-12-01, 10:12 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Feb 2012
Re: In the Woods, in the Woods [IC]
The sun is high overhead, and even breaking through the clouds a bit. Not far from the castle, the cliffs stretch high. You could be back at them by tomorrow morning, if you moved fast. Then, with nothing but a perilous climb and a few hungry wyverns above, you could find iut about the rangers.
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2014-12-03, 09:33 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Sep 2010
- Location
- Nottingham, UK
Re: In the Woods, in the Woods [IC]
Having been worried about giving the game away, when the revelation finally came Josh found himself busily concentrating on staying upright. As Dorangel's words filtered through the winey haze, Josh broke into a broad grin, which he tried to pass off with appreciative applause.
Once outside the castle, having been largely sobered up by the swim, Josh gazed up at the cliffs. He looked over at Kalaryn and nodded. "Let's go."
As before, he slipped the ring onto his finger, ready to relay the information back to HQ."Your swift progress with illusions is overshadowed only by your long-overdue grasp of the basics of sarcasm." --Vaarsuvius, to Elan
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2014-12-03, 12:00 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Dec 2010
- Location
- UK
- Gender
Re: In the Woods, in the Woods [IC]
Will's enormous frame, combined with his life as a tavern entertainer/sell sword had given him a tremendous tolerance for alcohol. As such, the wine consumed, whilst pleasant, wasn't giving him too much trouble.
When they eventually emerged from the castle he turned and squinted at the distant cliffs. "My vote's on wyverns." He wasn't especially convinced they'd find anything, but he was itching for a good fight and figured it'd at least provide him that. Plus, it'd make a great story. He hummed to himself and began mentally composing the epic.
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2014-12-04, 03:52 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- May 2013
Re: In the Woods, in the Woods [IC]
Even despite her attempt to pace the drinking, Dylan is somewhat worse for wear. For the walk she's ended up in file with Will.
But... how can he be different shapes?! How does magic... even *hic*work?! And why did Dory the Gory not just fly us up to the places?! Can't he change into a skywhale?!
The thoroughly confused mumblings continue, not really stopping to allow an answer, and she shuffles along with the group.
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2014-12-04, 07:09 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Sep 2011
Re: In the Woods, in the Woods [IC]
"It's...simple." Laura said to Dylan, plopping an arm over her shoulder. "Magic, right, magic's like this big *hic* keg of energy." she waved vaguely upwards before continuing. "Up there. Or was it all around us? I forget. Wizards, sorce-sorcerors, gods, whatever, they're like, like...glasses, see." she paused, tapping a finger to her lip. "No, like taps! And the spells are glasses!" the cleric clenched her fist in triumph at this reasoning. "'Cause, 'cause the tap lets magic flow through it, see, into the glass. Only the glass can be many different shapes, geddit? Simple." She grinned mischievously.
"And with luck i'll get to throw some glasses at wyverns before the night's done. Or hit them with a chair."
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2014-12-05, 12:28 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Feb 2012
Re: In the Woods, in the Woods [IC]
It takes a bit of trudging back through knee-deep stenchwater, carefully evading midges, bog-worms and lacer-toothed swampferns (a great worry for inexperienced travellers), but gradually the party approaches the cliffs once more. By now, night is falling; the rock face is still wet with rainwater, and with a few of the party members swaying gently, it might be best to wait until the morning.
OOC
SpoilerOf course, the party doesn't have to wait until morning... either way, when the time comes to climb, could everyone post a Climb skill check please (if you don't include it here or OOC, the results will be... (struggles to think of a gravity-based pun) (fails) unpleasant. Perception checks to spot threats, and knowledge (nature or arcana) for information about wyverns may also be useful. If you want to take particular efforts to not be seen, Stealth will also be necessary.
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2014-12-05, 02:40 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Dec 2010
- Location
- UK
- Gender
Re: In the Woods, in the Woods [IC]
Well, that had been an interesting day.
Soaked through and knee deep in bog water, Will was keen, as he was sure the others were, to get onto drier land.
"I'll go up first and drop down a rope. We'll make camp at the top of the cliff, at least that way we won't be flooded out during the night."
He approached the rock face and began to scrabble up the rough cliff, singing under his breath as he went
♫It's time to try:
Defying gravity,
I think I'll try:
Defying gravity.
And you can't pull me down!♫
Spoiler: rolls
Climb (take 10): 18
Perception: (d20+7)[15]
Knowledge Arcana (lore master- taking 20): 26
Knowledge Nature (lore master- taking 10): 16
Will isn't really a 'Stealth' kind of guy...
Assuming he gets to the top, he'll drop down a rope for the others to climb up.
Last edited by Jack DeCoeur; 2014-12-05 at 02:41 AM.
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2014-12-05, 09:53 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jan 2008
Re: In the Woods, in the Woods [IC]
During the journey, Kalaryn walked closer to the others than usual. She wanted to keep an eye on her more inebriated companions. Cries of 'mum' be damned, it was her job to look out for them. And besides that, there was also Will to consider. Kalaryn had been duly impressed by his performance back in Dorangel's castle. She was beginning to wonder if this seemingly simple soldier had hidden depths.
"Thanks for your support back there. Would I be right in thinking that you have some experience in courtly matters?"
Eventually, they reached the cliff face. When Will proposed letting down a rope, Kalaryn looked ever so slightly worried. As previously established, her climbing skills were (to be blunt) abysmal. She glanced over at the party Cleric.
"Perhaps it would be easier to have Miss Kinney carry us up with a flight spell. Not all of us have Mr Krieger's talent for climbing."
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2014-12-07, 07:27 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Sep 2011
Re: In the Woods, in the Woods [IC]
Laura closed her eyes and shook her head at Kalaryn's suggestion. She waggled a finger sagely. "I never drink and fly, my dear. Hard enough figuring out which way is down when you're sober." The cleric muttered something as she stepped forward, tracing a 翔 with her finger. "Which is why," she finished, reaching out to tap Drask on the forehead, winking, "I think it's time our friend here was rewarded for putting up with the dragon for two whole days."
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2014-12-08, 02:40 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Dec 2010
- Location
- UK
- Gender
Re: In the Woods, in the Woods [IC]
Will gladly walked with Kalaryn after leaving the dragon's castle. "You are very astute my lady. Unfortunately, I do not believe our current environment is conducive to the proper telling of my tale. Ask me again when we have a warm fire and a mug or three of ale." He winked at her, but offered little else in way of an answer.
By the time Laura had cast her spell, the large bard was already halfway up the cliff. He heard the commotion behind him but paid it little heed. He simple shouted "I'll pull you up. You just need to hold on."
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2014-12-08, 02:47 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Sep 2010
- Location
- Nottingham, UK
Re: In the Woods, in the Woods [IC]
Josh stood slightly apart from the party, blinking blearily in the evening sunlight. As Will made his way up the cliff face, he ran through a few practice swipes with his claw blades. He jogged on the spot and stretched a few times. If they were heading into a fight he wanted to be warmed up. It also gave him something to focus on to help stop the swamp from spinning unpleasantly.
Spoiler: Skill ChecksClimb (1d20+3)[20]
Perception (1d20+5)[18]
Stealth (1d20+5)[6]"Your swift progress with illusions is overshadowed only by your long-overdue grasp of the basics of sarcasm." --Vaarsuvius, to Elan
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2014-12-08, 04:48 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jan 2008
Re: In the Woods, in the Woods [IC]
Drask's drooping head perked up as the finger came towards it. He could feel a familiar, wonderful spell setting over him. His mouth slowly split into a massive grin, until all of his many, many teeth were showing. It was quite a sight.
"Is it? It is! Oh how I've missed this!"
With a great leap, he gleefully left the ground behind. Soon he was circling high above his master, and getting higher all the time. Kalaryn chuckled gently at the spectacle: While secretly suppressing a much less genteel laugh that threatened to erupt.
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2014-12-12, 12:04 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Feb 2012
Re: In the Woods, in the Woods [IC]
Will and Josh succesfully scale the wall fairly quickly, fast making it to steady ground at the top. From there, it is easy work for the two of them to lower the rope and haul Dylan and the genteel Lady Defrain up onto the cliffs, while Drask swoops up after Laura.
Back up on the cliff, you have a chance to camp in relative safety and wait for the morning. In the meanwhile, Will has plenty of time to terrify and thrill those around with tales of the beasts you are all wary of circling above. Wyverns are great black reptiles, similar to dragons but without any of the wit or noble demeanour. They are cunning predators, and wickedly armed with an array of fierce spikes and horns along their wings, backs and tails- and the tail spike carries a potent venom. One would provide enough of a threat on the ground, but on these high cliffs they have a terrible advantage. It might be best to post a sentry and come up with a plan.
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2014-12-14, 05:18 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- May 2013
Re: In the Woods, in the Woods [IC]
As one of the most perceptive, and armed with the loudest weapons to wake people with, Dylan offers to take the first watch.
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2014-12-15, 02:55 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Dec 2010
- Location
- UK
- Gender
Re: In the Woods, in the Woods [IC]
"Ha! Sound logic my friend. I'll take second watch. If you need me, just set off a couple of tiny explosions."
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2014-12-15, 04:12 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jan 2008
Re: In the Woods, in the Woods [IC]
"Drask and I can take the third watch. My magic is already at full capacity."
Kalaryn liked having the opportunity to take a shift for once. As an arcane caster, she usually had to leave that duty to others. It'd be nice to give someone else a full night's sleep instead. Meanwhile, Drask reluctantly landed back on the ground, just as the flight spell wore off. He'd put every second of that thing to use.
"There's still a lot to discuss, you know. We need to find a way of scouting that death cave without being ripped to shreds."Last edited by Anyr; 2014-12-15 at 04:12 PM.
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2014-12-15, 06:11 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Dec 2010
- Location
- UK
- Gender
Re: In the Woods, in the Woods [IC]
Will paused in unpacking his gear and grinned. He looked at Laura. "Hey L, I think she's talking about a plan." He looked thoughtful before gesturing to his companion's drinking jug in a meaningful way.
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2014-12-16, 01:41 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Sep 2011
Re: In the Woods, in the Woods [IC]
Laura dramatically threw her hands in the air. "Oh gods, not one of those things." She unhooked her jug and took a swig before tossing it to the bard. "Just so long as it's not a cunning one. You remember Alexis' 'cunning plan'," she finger-quoted that last part, "down in those ruins? I still get jumpy around jam..."
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2014-12-17, 02:49 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Dec 2010
- Location
- UK
- Gender
Re: In the Woods, in the Woods [IC]
The large bard took a long swig of the jug and shivered in a exaggerated way "There's no way it can be that bad."
He turned to Kalaryn "so, Lady Defrain, please do enlighten us."
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2014-12-17, 05:11 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Feb 2012
Re: In the Woods, in the Woods [IC]
The wyverns will be high up at the top of the mountains above where you are currently camping. It's a very steep climb. Wyverns sleep at night, and are not bright creatures, but still dangerous. Although able to fly, they are clumsy in the air. They do speak Draconic, but are not given to diplomacy.
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2014-12-17, 06:00 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jan 2008
Re: In the Woods, in the Woods [IC]
Kalaryn paused to consider her response; But Drask didn't. He'd been getting more and more brazen lately.
"We should send our best sneak to scout the place out. They could get past the Wyverns, gather the clues we need, and be gone before anyone's the wiser."
This blatant upstaging prompted his master to speak up as well.
"I don't like the idea of making one person shoulder so much risk. We'd be unable to support them."
"And I suppose you have a better idea?"
"Well, these Wyverns must surely venture out to hunt. Perhaps we could wait for them to vacate their cave?"
"It's naive to think that they'd all leave at once. They've probably got young to guard."
"But there'd at least be less of them around. With all of us together-"
"No no no! We need to wait until they're asleep, not hunting. That way, the scout can easily-"
"But if they're caught, then the entire brood would be present. They'd be ripped to shreds! If we wait for some of them to depart, there'll be less opponents-"
"But more chance of being caught! We should-"
Unless someone intervened, this debate would go on for some time. The pair argued with an ease which could only come from constant practice. Come to think of it, Summoners and their Eidolons were telepathically linked. Were Kalaryn and Drask always doing this? It was rare indeed to find a Summoner and Eidolon so...out of synch.
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2014-12-17, 02:08 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- May 2013
Re: In the Woods, in the Woods [IC]
Dylan looks down at her special acrobatic furry-boots.
I can make the climb at night! I can see in the dark and I've got these swish boots and I can set off a loud 'ohh bugger it's all going wrong' signal! I'm... erm... I'm not very quiet though...
To accentuate her point, she steps up and down loudly on the spot.
SpoilerWhilst Dylan has an acrobatics score of +16, her stealth is... +4 (by virtue of a dex mod).
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2014-12-19, 03:41 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Sep 2010
- Location
- Nottingham, UK
Re: In the Woods, in the Woods [IC]
Watching the back-and-forth between Drask and Kalaryn had Josh's head moving like a spectator at a tug-of-yarn game. At some point, with the discourse moving like a player in a tug-of-yarn game, Josh spoke up.
"We should be prepared, when something doesn't go to plan. If someone goes in, and all the wyverns are home, it will be more difficult. Someone should go look but not make themselves in danger.“Last edited by Draethon; 2014-12-19 at 03:44 AM.
"Your swift progress with illusions is overshadowed only by your long-overdue grasp of the basics of sarcasm." --Vaarsuvius, to Elan
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2014-12-24, 06:28 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Dec 2010
- Location
- UK
- Gender
Re: In the Woods, in the Woods [IC]
Whilst following the conversation, Will was running scenarios through his head.
Kalaryn and Drask didn't appear particularly stealthy and he knew from experience that it wasn't exactly Laura's strength. He had some training himself, and he was pretty sure Josh did, but experts they were not.
"I'm not comfortable sending in just one person unless it's me or Josh" he finally interjected. "but even then I think that should be our Plan B. I can cast Silence and a limited Invisibility, but neither of them will last more than a minute, at the very most. My gut tells me we wait for them to leave the cave to hunt and then go in all guns" he glanced at Dylan "blazing."
"Shock and Awe tactics."
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2015-01-05, 04:53 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Feb 2012
Re: In the Woods, in the Woods [IC]
Night falls, and the party keeps their eyes on the clifftops above, on the cave where the wyverns are sleeping. In the morning, as the sun starts to rise above the mist and a pale pink light flows softly over the marsh, a harsh cry cuts the air. One, two, three, four slender, black-skinned, spiky creatures worm their way from the mouth of the tunnel, and drop and swoop out over the marshes to hunt. Now, if ever, is the opening. The party climbs or flies as swiftly as possible up to the entrance of the cave, hauling themselves over the lip and into the mouth. This is far wider than the little tunnel the rangers made their home in- the mouth of the cave is a full fifteen feet wide, and just as high. The stone floor is jagged and rough, scrapped and scragged down the years by hard wyvern claws and rough wyvern bellies dragging across it. A little sunlight moves in, but as the cave falls back downwards into the mountain, it becomes inky dark.
SpoilerIt will take darkvision, spells or torches to see in the cave. Let me know what you're using. The floor is difficult terrain, so charging and running aren't possible. If you want to check if there's anything still in the cave, Perception checks will be needed. Or you can just move forwards, guns-a-blazing!