You Just Got Schooled IC Group 2

[GuyFawkes]

Chapter 1: First Day Funk

Under the hot blistering sun, you walk for miles and miles. As far as your eyes can see, the land is dead. Dust flies at every light breeze that blows, but there are signs of rebirth here or there. A shrub, a patch of grass, nothing more. You would have been lost ages ago, where it not for the two distinct features that gave you your bearing: the mountains looming on the horizon before you and the stream of people trickling down towards it.

You are but one of a few tens, maybe even well over a hundred, who took this road for whatever reasons, yet all for the same purpose: to try your hand at becoming one of the elite mercenary forces in these parts of the world, the Jokers of the Blood Carnival. Wherever you may be when it all happened three years ago, the news got to you, and it lit up something within you that ultimately led you right in this very spot right now. It raised questions, and you knew the answers lied on those peaks in front of you. And so you trudge on, however weary you are, however tired you may be. You are too close to back away now.

When the thought that those peaks aren’t getting any closer slowly and steadily intensified in your starved and fatigued mind, you find yourself stand in front of your destination. At long last, you are here. But this is just the beginning of your journey. And this might just be the toughest hurdle you have to face.

*

“Up up up! Everyone up and about in five! Today is your first day. First order of business is trainee orientation. Be at the grounds in ten minutes. You don’t want to be late on your first day. You. Do. Not. Want. To. Be. Late. Now move it!”

A loud gravely bark cuts your dreams, pleasant or unpleasant as it was. It is your first day in training camp. Everything was a whirlwind yesterday, from signing up, to being assigned rooms and roommates-slash-teammates. Like you, everyone seems so different, and yet you have to work with them for the rest of your stay here. And all of that starts now.

First hurdle: training orientation.

[Qwertystop]

Gol wakes abruptly to the shouting, hollow and empty as every morning. His shell and belt, though - those had not faded. A useless half-bind, the urge to scratch and bite with neither claws nor fangs apparent. Most days he would fix this quickly, but no time

no time

no time

NO. Focus. Shape himself clean, pick a body. Have to make a good impression. Careful. Shielded.

An amiable-looking dwarf (though a bit on the tall side) gets out of Gol's bed and quickly dresses. He has dark brown hair and dark (slightly purple) skin. Most of his clothes are fairly nondescript, but he wears an indigo belt and a pale brown, barbed shell.

<yaaaawn> "Morning, all."

[bcool999]

Eugene jumps slightly at the awakening bark. Some quality of it, maybe the expectation of complete obedience, reminded him of his half-brother. But that is ridiculous... even he wouldn't mess with the Carnival.

Shaking himself fully awake, Eugene gets up and begins to dress. He decides to wear the traveling clothes from yesterday, afraid that they would start with physical exercise and not wanting to get his good clothes dirty.

When the dwarf (Gol was his name yes?) awakens and greets the team, Eugene responds with his usual smirk. "Yes morning to you as well. We best get on our way quickly. Punctuality would appear to be important since our wake up call stressed not being late twice." Eugene looks at the others and asks, "Should we eat on the way? I can get us some food, just simple trail rations mind you, but it may be a while before they feed us here so if you're hungry speak up."

Taking his own advice, Eugene reaches into his Survival Pouch and pulls out a simple trail ration, dried oat cake and some dried salted meat, to break his fast before what he feared would prove a long hard day. But if I can be free of my brother it is worth it right? Plus I heard that some jokers had skills similar to mine, so maybe I can get some real training here.

[CoreBrute23]

When he heard the call for training, Jack shot out of bed, his hand reaching for his dagger. He then opened his eyes in the sunlight and cried out, "Gaah!" And covered his retinas from further assault.

I forgot, the Blood Carnival train in daytime, not night. He groaned at the thought. "This will take some getting used to." He blinked the pain away, and leapt out the top bunk.

He reached for the closet which held his backpack filled with essentials, and his dark blue traveler clothes with hood. At least it's not black. He thought. That would burn in this light. And look ridiculous. He quickly began putting it on.

As he began putting on his slightly heavier shoe, he nodded at Eugene.

"Human's right. We shouldn't be late. Bad impression for the squad." He stood up and began putting on his weapons and gear. "Thank you for the offer of food, but I am not hungry. Despite popular belief, Halflings do not require 7 meals a day." Once properly equipped he turned to the Dwarf and nodded greeting.

"Name's Jack, but call me Dagger." He then turned to Eugene and pulled up his hood. "Shall we continue introductions on the road?" If no one objects to the idea, he opens the door and begins lightly jogging.

Spoiler: OOC/GM

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Gm, you mentioned some of our equipment would be only assigned to us on missions. Is there anything on our characters sheets we wouldn't have/they put in holding? Weapons or magical items etc?

[Feathersnow]

Come, Mathers, we have to make a good first impression. Drilib and Mathers head out to the training grounds, reamaining aloof of the other trainees. If they make it, he can meet them later.

[Qwertystop]

"Not morning people, are you? 's fine, me neither."

Gol sighs and rubs his temples, bares his completely ordinary teeth in a grimace and fails to disguise it as a yawn.

"They'll give some time for prep 'fore training starts, right? For casters and such? I'll need the hour to get my head together..."

"Eugh. I'm Gol, Dagger, 'n you're... Gene, right? John?Somethin' like tha'."

Safe. Tired. No threat at all.

"Yeah. We should get goin'."

(and he does)

[GuyFawkes]

The sun is still below the horizon when everyone gathers at the training grounds. You haven't had the chance to see it yesterday, but now that you do, you notice how grand it is - almost the size of coliseums, only with fewer seats around it - with the shadows from the torches making it look larger than life. It is here that you will be spending a considerable amount of your time, if ever you do last that long.

Around you there are more than a hundred other recruits, some still visibly sleepy, the rest more than fired up. Down to one side of the shorter axis of the oval that is the training grounds, a small sort-of stage stands, with a few people standing on top of it. One of them, sporting long, black hair and clad in armor, steps in front and raises his clenched fist.

"Attention all recruits!" a loud, commanding voice fills the whole grounds like it is somehow magically-amplified.

"My name is Alistaire Henderson. I am the overseer of this facility. As such, it is my duty to see to it that all the activities here go smoothly, and are done in a manner upholding the standards of the Carnival. It is also my duty to assure that all that come out of here are fit to bear the name of a Joker."

"Now, what does it take to bear the name of a Joker?" he pauses as he looks around among you.

"Courage? Yes, definitely. Courage to press on despite the odds, and more importantly, courage to fight for what you believe in. Strength. You must have the strength to back up that courage, else you will be no more than barking dogs who do not bite."

"And last, but the most important of all, is integrity. We may be mercenaries, but we are no ordinary fighting force for hire. We are the descendants who bear the name of heroes, and when you bear the name similar to them, you carry with it their values and beliefs. We may take money to swing our blade, but it does not mean we swing it without thought."

"We are not righteous men, no. We take lives, we pillage, we plunder if needed. But we have rules. We have principles, yet however few they are, we stick to them, and dishonoring them is the worst crime we can commit."

"These rules will be given to you after this orientation and be drilled into you for the course of your stay here, along with the rules you will have to observe while you stay here. Each group will be assigned an instructor, and he or she will be your instructor and guide through your whole stay here. You will receive training from other instructors, such as ones that specialize in specific subjects of training, but your main instructor will not change throughout. You can direct all your queries and concerns to them, and only them alone. You are not to elevate any issue to anyone else before them. They are the ones lined up behind me, and you will proceed to them when I finish here and begin your training."

You notice a long line of men and women standing at attention and in constant spacing from each other behind the stage.

"What else? Have I forgotten anything?" Henderson looks behind him as if asking the others' opinions, and when most of them shake their head, he looks back to you.

"Well then. That concludes this orientation. At least my part of it. You may now proceed to your group's assigned instructor for the rest of the orientation. Oh! One more thing. See that building with the smoke-belching chimney?" he points to such a building to your right. "Yeah, do not, I repeat, DO NOT, ever, go inside that building. In under no circumstance must you enter it. That is all. Good luck, and welcome to the Carnival Gates!"

On the stage, Henderson turns and walks down and off into the rear part of the stage, but does not appear to walk off to any side, just disappearing out into thin air. One of the persons behind him walks forward and speaks.

"Recruits, you may now proceed to your assigned instructors. Move by group, and in an orderly fashion. Your instructors will have an arcane mark on top of them bearing your group's name. They will give you the rest of the instructions regarding the rules and regulations of the Carnival, as well as this training facility. Move!"

The crowd begins to move, most of them orderly, but there are those who do so with blatant disregard of the instructions, talking loudly and moving haphazardly across the field. Beside those groups, however, loud blasts erupt, and you can see the man at the stage pointing at those exact locations.

"I said, in an orderly fashion. Do not make me repeat myself," is all he says, and the crowd moves as instructed.

In your searching, you manage to find your instructor at the far left of the line. Under the arcane mark bearing your group's name, you find a rather short, feline-looking humanoid. Looks to be male, clad in loose cloth and a chain shirt, with two swords on each side of his hip and a huge, impressive-looking bow across his body. He is looking at your direction, probably has seen you before you did him.

"You Group 2?" he asks as you draw near enough, his voice rather lower and thicker than you expected. "Name's Harrow. I will be your group's instructor starting today. My first task is to orient you with the rules and guidelines of the Carnival in general, as well as your stay here. But," he looks around, "not here. Too crowded. Come, follow me."

Harrow turns and walks over to the benches, hopping up each higher bench, and effortlessly leaps on top of the wall at the end. "Try to keep up," he turns and says. "Oh, let's make this interesting. Let's play a game of tag. If any of you catches me, then we proceed to the next part of your orientation. Ready? Game start!" he adds before hopping down the other side of the wall.

Spoiler

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Roll initiative

[Feathersnow]

Drilib looks annoyed. There is not way he's going to catch anyone, least of all in this armor. Luckily, Mathers is here.

initiative (1d20)[15]

[Qwertystop]

Gol sighs.
"If only I'd known ahead of time, I'd have shaped up something more suitable for a chase."

Spoiler: Initiative

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(1d20+4)[23]

[CoreBrute23]

Before Dagger left for the orientation, he remembered that his 'special' items were being held elsewhere. Disapointed, he took this in his stride.

When he heard the competition his instructor had laid out, Dagger raised an eyebrow. I bet his race has some sort of advantage in speed. He thought. Still, natural ability can only take you so far. Time to show what skill and will can acomplish.

Spoiler: OOC

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Initiative: (d20+5)[10]

[bcool999]

Left partially stunned by the apparently flippant nature of their instructor, Eugene looks to the others before starting after him. Funny that my first time playing tag would be when trying to become a mercenary!

Spoiler

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Initiative: (1d20+6)[12]
Also DM, is the Burst of Speed ability from Magic Marksman a swift action to use? Because at my level it is a move action and 2 mana points for the equivalent of a move action.

[GuyFawkes]

As soon as his feet touches the ground, instructor Harrow wastes no time to put distance between him and his group. He moves lithely and swiftly, his legs moving like they were made for running. Then, at an intersection, he stops and turns around to wait for his pursuers.

Spoiler

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Double move with a speed of 70 ft puts him 140 ft from the wall.

You are directly behind the wall on the other side (inside the training grounds). The wall is roughly 10 ft high, requiring a DC 10 Jump check (a move action) to grab hold of the ledge (DC 24 for a Small creature) and another move action to pull yourself up. Or there is an exit to your left, about 50 ft from you, which you can use to run around the wall. Or if you have other ways to bypass a measly wall (which I'm sure you do), then by all means go ahead.

Also, for the game, you only need to make a successful touch attack to win.

Initiative:

Harrow: 25
Gol: 23
Drilib: 15
Eugene: 12
Dagger: 10

I'm also gonna be doing group initiative, so any of you can go ahead.

[Qwertystop]

Gol dashes to the exit and around the wall, grumbling about how he wasn't prepared. He checks around the door quickly before going through, in case it wasn't just a running-race.

Spoiler: Crunch

Show

Double-move 60', so 10' past the door. As I get to the door, Spot (1d20+12)[23].

[CoreBrute23]

Jack was stunned at the speed of his instructor. I've never seen anything move that quickly on two legs. Perhaps magically enhanced? Thus he was a bit slower than his team mates in reacting to the challenge.

Seeing Gol take the long route, Jack glanced up and smiled. "Kisar Kemmar, Yuptun Mar Kisaros."* He whispered softly.

Then, without a running start, he bent his knees and jumped straight up. His body twisted, his back was against the wall. He quickly bent and...

Spoiler: Jump Roll vs DC 24

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Jump 9(Str+Ranks)+2 for being Halfling+ 4 Great Leap Ninja ability+ 2 Tumble Synergy bonus= (1d20+17)[34]

His hand gracefully grabbed the ledge, and he pulled himself up, briefly holding himself upside down over the wall.

Now the fun part. he thought privately.

Spoiler: Hafling translation*

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Short cuts were made for short people.

[bcool999]

Seeing the halfling leap almost effortlessly up the 10ft. wall made Eugene reconsider attempting the feat himself. If I tried now and failed how much more of a failure would I look when compared to Dagger?

Instead he focuses his mana into his legs and runs around the wall, ending up next to Gol. "You're pretty fast for a dwarf, no offense meant of course. I will see if I can circle around and chase him to you..." Eugene says as he sees how far their instructor had gotten in so short a time, "Or maybe not... One thing is for sure. Jokers apparently don't joke around even with tag. When they start running, they start Running!"

Eugene then jogs ahead of Gol about 30ft., actually ending up only about 10ft. from where he had started, but at least on the other side of the wall.

Spoiler

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spending 2 mana to use Burst of Speed so 60' to catch up with Gol, then moving 30ft. more for a grand total of 90ft. moved to avoid a wall...

[Feathersnow]

I mount Mathers. We proceed to try to run the Cat-person down.

[GuyFawkes]

Harrow scratches his head with his one hand and puts the other on his hip.

"Oooh, boy. I may have overdone it a bit," he mutters to himself. Then, louder for the rest of you to hear. "Hey, hey, come along now. No need to be shy, you guys. Let's have some fun!"

Spoiler

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Readied action to run if anyone gets close to touch him.

Spoiler: For those at the gate

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You cannot see Harrow from where you are. You can, however, see that there is a road that goes along the outer wall curving to the right. Following that should lead you to the point where Harrow leapt out of.

Spoiler: For those at the top of the wall

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You can see Harrow just dead straight ahead of you, standing with his hand on his hip at the third intersection down the street.

Initiative:

Harrow: 25
Gol: 23
Drilib: 15
Eugene: 12
Dagger: 10

[Qwertystop]

"I suppose I did better than I thought at this shape, then. Barely managed to get this short."

"You're quite a bit quicker, though. Surrounding him does seem like the best option, but he probably knows the area better than us."

So saying, Gol runs along to the other side of where he started.

[CoreBrute23]

Jack focussed on the target infront of him. He bent his knees pulled his arms back like a diver, and jumped as far forward as he could.

As he hit the ground, he fell into a handstand, rolled and came up running.

Spoiler: Jump plan

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I'm planning to do a long jump. Great Leap means I get to do it without a running start, so the DC is not doubled.
The SRD Jump table says the distance I can go in ft is however hi my DC is. So whatever I roll will be how many feet I travel. Then I spend my second move action to run my normal 20 ft.

Jump 9+2 for being a Halfling+4 Great Leap Ninja ability+ 2 Tumble Synergy bonus-6 for only having 20 ft speed=
(1d20+11)[12]

Spoiler: Post roll

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Ok, so assuming I don't suffer anything for fumbling, I jump a total of 12 feet forward, and then run 20 more feet.
Thus: 32 ft forward. 108ft before I reach Harrow, since he's 140 from the wall.

[bcool999]

Eugene continues along the path, finally arriving at where their instructor jumped down and continuing to jog until he was about 10ft. behind Dagger.

"Not really what I was expecting on our first day. Where did you learn to jump like that anyway?" Asks Eugene as he once more channels his mana to speed past Dagger.

Spoiler

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Move action so I am about 10ft. behind Dagger (since I was 10ft. last turn from being directly on the other side of the wall from the start plus 20 more feet.) Then a move action for another Burst of Speed which should bring me within 60ft. of the instructor (since he is about 140ft. from the wall right?)

[Feathersnow]

Mathers, follow the cat-person! Cries Drilib, hoping the cat-like hunter has a better grasp of this game than the short-legged, heavily armored gnome. Drilib has never chased anything in his life!

[GuyFawkes]

"Nifty skill you got there," Harrow shouts at Eugene. "Didn't expect you'd be the first to reach me first." The instructor then looks at the others behind the human.

"Hmm. On second thought, not really?" he giggles. "Come!"

Flexing his powerful leg muscles, he bolts towards his left.

"This way guys!"

Spoiler

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Double Move for 140 feet. From your point of view, he's going to the right direction, disappearing around the corner.

[Qwertystop]

Gol sighs and continues following.

Spoiler: Crunch

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So that's double-move for 60' if it's not a straight line, or Run action for up to 120' if there is a straight-line path that goes for more than 60'.

[bcool999]

Eugene sighs So close yet miles away. he thinks to himself as he moves to the spot their instructor was, looking ahead to where he disappeared to and hoping for a shortcut.

Spoiler

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Just a double move 60ft. to where he was this round. Also Spot Check for some details as to where the instructor is going/ways to head him off.
Spot: (1d20+12)[15]

This chase feels kinda hopeless... I imagine he is leading us somewhere specific, but if that is the case I vote we fast-forward to it since we probably won't catch him unless we start sneaking up on him/he lets us catch him.

[CoreBrute23]

Goddamn it! Over eager son of a drow ruined my plan. Jack started pacing it as fast as he can, trying to catch up with Gol.

"Dwarf I have a plan. Carry me." When he gets close enough, he jumps into the Midnight Occultist's arms. He then starts whispering.

Spoiler: OOC Jump

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I have no idea how far away Gol is from me. If 40 feet is not enough to reach him, I run 20 ft towards him, and then jump the remaining distance. Hopefully I make it.
Incase I need it jump: (1d20+11)[15]

Spoiler: Whisper to Gol

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"When you get within throwing distance, wait for my signal. I will turn invisible, then you throw me at the instructor. He can't dodge what he can't see. And even if he can, I can tag him before he moves. Otherwise we will never catch him."

[GuyFawkes]

As Eugene reaches the corner, he sees Harrow just straight ahead. There are two intersections in between, and he is in between the second and another intersection further ahead. As for heading him off, he could possibly go anywhere from there, so it's a tough plan to pull off.

Meanwhile, Harrow stops at where he is and, in a puzzling move, sits down.

"Let's make this interesting. I'll wait here a bit."

[Qwertystop]

Gol says "Um... Okay?" and slows down a bit, ready to grab Jack.

Spoiler: Crunch

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Moving up to the first intersection - just around the corner, so Harrow can't see. That's a move action, so I'm readying an action to pick Jack up when he catches up.

[CoreBrute23]

Jack runs towards Gol, trying to get within the Dwarf's grasp as quickly as possible.

Spoiler: EDITED OOC

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I run 80 ft towards Gol.

Leaping into Gol's arms, Jack says quickly, "Wait for my signal, then throw me as far as you can towards the instructor. When I give the signal, you won't see me but trust me I'm there."

[GuyFawkes]

Harrow still sits there, waiting.

"Come on, now. You're almost here," he calls out.

Spoiler

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Tactical:

Harrow is still at 140 feet from the corner. Eugene is at the corner, and Gol and Jack not far behind. Brilib and Mathers should be at the corner as well, but didn't post yet for the last turn.

[Qwertystop]

Gol staggers a little under the weight, and whispers back: "Are you crazy? I can run with you, but I wouldn't be able to throw you farther than I could trip. Just run when I drop you."

He then proceeds to run ahead, dropping Jack as soon as he pauses for breath.

Spoiler: Crunch:

Show

Like before, the better of double-move 60' (if there's bends before 60') or Run-action up to 120' (up to the nearest bend). Then, free action to drop Jack, so he can run from that point.