GF's Dark Sun Redux IC

[Woggle]

Sensing an opportunity, and spurred on by the halfling's words, Sieglinde rises to take careful aim with her bow, loosing an arrow at the nearest of the winged folk.

Spoiler: OOC

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Attack - (1d20+4)[19] CritConfirm - (1d20+4)[8] (crit confirm if applicable; if the target is beyond 60 ft: -2)
Damage - (1d6)[2] CritBonus - (2d6)[6]

Initiative - (1d20+3)[4] When this is needed.

Hopefully I'm not jumping the gun here

[Battlemage]

Edit: Didn't read the surprise round in time, let this be Bloodwind's action when the regular combat starts.

"Bloodwind" Kilian

Without hesiation, the tall albino mul raises his own bow and fires an arrow at the same target. It is clear that the muscular man prefers to fight in melee, but he isn't one to throw away an advantage. Besides, chasing birds with a club seemed a futile endeavor indeed.

Spoiler: OOC

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ranged attack - (1d20+2)[5]
piercing damage - (1d6)[6]

[razorback]

Pezuka gleefully runs forward, cut down spear in hand, until he's close enough and then blasts one of the creatures with a burst of energy.

Spoiler

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Cold Energy ray at the one Sieglinde didn't shoot at
Ranged Touch attack
(1d20+3)[7]

Damage
(1d6+1)[2]

Critical 20/x2 (I think)
(1d20+3)[20]
(1d6+1)[7]

[Phasm]

Salome charges after Pezuka, voice raised in song and spear in hand. The lyrics are, again, in Nibenese. The intent is clear, though; this is a hymn of battle, designed to fire the blood.

Spoiler: OOC

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Standard action: begin inspire courage. Move action: run toward the aarakocra, but do not enter melee range yet. (If one of them goes after me, I want an AoO first.

[Ghostfoot]

Sieglinde looses an arrow at the surprised vulture-men, the shaft clipping one of them for 2 damage. Pezuka hurtles forward, followed by closely Sieglinde. A ray of unearthly cold shoots forward from the little cannibal, narrowly missing the startled avians.

The two aarakocra caw loudly in anger and surprise and flap their wings. Frantically they take to the air, leaving the wezer corpse but still clutching the water globe as they try to get distance. Kilian lets fly with another arrow but it goes wide of the evasive creatures.

Spoiler: actions

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Double move action: withdraw 120ft diagonally up & away. They're still in bowshot but I think at -4 at this range.

[Cavir]

Earthshake shakes his head. They travelled together as a pack but didn't act as one, yet. "We can be sure they will be back with more. I suggest we bring the wezer with us to eat later and get out of this area. We'll have to lose the cloud too." The pterran looks to the group for any other ideas.

[Phasm]

Salome scowls up at the fleeing aarakocra. She isn't nearly good enough with a bow to hit them at this range. "Unfortunately I can't turn the cloud off once the spell is cast. The only thing I can think of is finding shelter so that the cloud cannot be seen from above." Easier said than done.

[razorback]

Pezuka looks like petulant for a moment, face red with fury, as the creatures take to wing and fly off.
"They are too far for me... damn it!" he says in frustration. "Yes, we need to get moving and at worst find somewhere we can defend ourselves when more of these bird men descend upon us. Unless we can figure out a way of moving and covering our tracks." he says as his voice looses some of its anger.

[Woggle]

Sieglinde keeps an arrow knocked in case the bird-people decide to turn. Her shoulders drop a little in disappointment. She agrees with the others. "Yes, we'd best move out, and hopefully we can find some sort of cover. Best keep an eye on the sky as well."

[Ghostfoot]

The aarakocra fly off into the distance. Earthshake takes the wezer carcass and you continue through the scalding desert, grateful for your shading cloud but anxious for cover. From time to time you spot two specks far away in the sky, the aarakocra shadowing you from afar.

Soon the ground becomes slightly rockier and you find yourselves in sandy, stony waste. A faint buzzing sound drifts across the land and you see another wezer flying parallel to you several hundred feet away. After a few moments you spy a couple more travelling in opposite directions. Cresting a small rise reveals a shallow basin. Man-sized hard sand mounds dot the basin and in the center is a slightly larger mound with an entrance-way, evidently some sort of central hive as every few minutes you see an insectoid wezer buzz across the region and enter the tunnel with a water globe before leaving a few moments later devoid of globule and ready to forage anew.

[razorback]

"Well, that's a hornets nest, to be sure." the halfing says to himself with a chuckle before becoming more serious.
"Can't imagine this would end well with us just slipping in, eh? With that two buzzards following us, as soon as we leave this area, they will be on us with more of their Aarakocra kin." he scratches his head for a few moments before continuing. "' I 'pose we could sneak off with a couple of us under the cover, moving around the hive but not to close, the double back on those Aarakocra and try to take them out? Can't imagine, with them following us, that they have let more of their kin know where we are. We stay to long, we might not be so lucky, even if they might not want to attack us so close to this hive."

[Ghostfoot]

Even as you watch from cover and discuss, another wezer buzzes past quite close. This one carries, not a water globe, but the dangling form of a caravan guard. While his limbs hang limp from his paralyzed form his eyes latch on to you imploring you in desparate panic for help. The wasp-like insect swiftly lands at the entrance to the hive and disappears inside dragging the armoured figure with it. Moments later it emerges alone and flies off to search for more food and water.

[razorback]

"Well, at least someone... or something, is eating good today. My guess is there is equipment to be found in there but I don't know if the reward is worth the risk. Those bugs looks like they would leave a big whole in a man, let alone me." Pezuka says with a faked innocent smile.

[Cavir]

Earthshake watches the hive activity with fascination. Pezuka's comments bring the pterran back to the situation. He watches the activity some more but now with a different perspective.

"The aarakocra got away with attacking a single wezer without angering the hive. If we keep our distance from the hive we could probably do the same, taking out one at a time. Do it enough and we could have enough food for both us and the aarakocra, who have not forgotten us for stealing their kill and attacking them. Perhaps food and water will placate them. Assuming we can take out a wezer quickly and without one escaping to raise the alarm."

"Notice the paths the wezers take. There must be a water source out in that direction."

"Taking stuff from within the hive? Without knowing how many are in there that would be like walking into the oasis trap from yesterday. I could have Guldun travel through the earth and take a look inside to see if there are dozens or hundreds of them in there. I do not intend to be prey walking into the predator's nest."

Spoiler: Survival

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Survival roll for handling the wezer corpse.
Which parts are edible
if they need to be cooked
how to preserve
how much there is (could 1 feed us all for a day)
how long it would last preserved or not
(1d20+10)[11]

EDIT: Or should some of that be from a Know Nature roll

[Woggle]

Sieglinde watches with appalled fascination as the caravan guard is carried, paralyzed but conscious, into the wezer hive. She takes a moment to shake the imagery from her mind, and listens carefully to Earthshake's and Pezuka's discussion.

"Right... but remember, the wezer attacked by the aarakocra was much further from the hive. Perhaps they will be more diligent in their defence if we attack them nearby? They may be able to alert others close-by. We'd be best to strike quickly and as silently as possible."

Sieglinde rubs her cheek for a moment, thinking. "We definitely need to find some source of water," She adds, nodding to Earthshake.

[razorback]

Pezuka nods, impressed by by Earthquakes logic. "Well, putting it together, if we follow the critters to the water source, we can pick them off one by one. We then have food and water. Nice. Good thinking, guys."

[Battlemage]

"Bloodwind" Kilian

Bloodwind nods at the suggestions and agrees in his usual curt fashion. "I like it."

After a moment of thinking, he continues. "Maybe only the stealthy among us should do the actual following, and come back to lead us to the water source once the coast is clear. I'm not particularly gifted at sneaking around."

He doesn't much like the suggestion, since it means relying on the others not to leave them behind, but it seems more sensible than being detected by a whole hive of wezers. He just had to hope they needed him around for the violence that surely waited for them in the future.

[Phasm]

Salome nods. "A sound plan, but I agree with Killian. I am hardly stealthy, especially with my cloud." She points up at the cooling canopy. With her water and healing magic, it would be just plain stupid for the scouts to leave her behind.

[Woggle]

Sieglinde nods in agreement. "That leaves just Pezuka and me, then. I'm not particularly skilled, but if I hang back a little we can probably make it work. I'm fast on my feet, at least, so if Pezuka runs into trouble I'd be able to help. Oh, and your earthen friend could stay out of sight easily enough, too, Earthshake."

Sieglinde turns to the halfling. "Shall we see if we can find a suitable bug to follow?"

[razorback]

Pezuka's face shows nervous energy and apprehension in varying degrees as he nods to Sieglinde.
"Alright, let's do it. I'm not very fast on my feet but we will do what we can. So, follow a lone bug, find the water source, come back and report. Easy enough on the surface, I suppose. When you're ready, Sieglinde." the halfling replies as he spies the entrance to the hive, waiting for the first solo wezer to come out so they can track down.

[Woggle]

Sieglinde moves to the halfling's side, watching carefully for a likely weezer to follow.

Spoiler: OoC

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Spot check to pick out a lone weezer to follow. I'll throw in stealth checks too, just in case. Sieglinde will follow a little way behind Pezuka, so as to lessen the chance of being seen or heard.

Spot - (1d20+1)[7]
M.Silently - (1d20+4)[18]
Hide - (1d20+4)[6]

[razorback]

Once one of them goes buzzing past, Pezuka nods to Sieglinde and he points and moves in the same direction as quickly as he can while doing his best to keep out of sight.

Spoiler

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Listen
(1d20+10)[16]
Spot
(1d20+8)[18]
MS
(1d20+12)[18]
Hide
(1d20+11)[25]

[Ghostfoot]

Sieglinde and Pezuka move out, moving as stealthily as they can while keeping pace with the fast-moving insect. The rest of the party stays put trying to avoid the attention of the hive-dwelling insects.

Clambering and running through the small rocky canyons the wezer leads you away for some distance, at least a mile and a half. It doesn't seem to notice you, or at least doesn't pay any attention if it has. Eventually, puffed you see it disappear over a short drop. Peering over you see it alight in a small box canyon filled with large spiky cacti. It starts going to work on one of the plants, sucking sap and filtering it into the biological globes that it seems able to manufacture and enlarge with it's mandibles. Very quickly it has a rapidly expanding globe of liquid held at it's mouth.

From your vantage atop the low cliffs you are afforded a reasonable view of the surrounding desert-scape. As you watch the wezer a hint of distant movement catches your eye, and you make out the sight of several creatures moving slowly in your direction. Three large lizards, inix, move through the sandy badlands. Each bears a small howdah and you can faintly make out a couple of men sitting in the shade within each. From here you can make out the distinctive white flags and black crossed scimitars marking them as House Stel slavers. They are moving at a cautious pace toward another small canyon that opens up several hundred feet away from you.

Spoiler: distances

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The inix riders are moving quite slowly and are about a mile away still. If you were to retrieve the rest of the party at top speed you would probably return just as they entered the other canyon.

[Woggle]

Sieglinde squints into the distance and her brow furrows at the sight of the approaching inix riders with their House Stel banners. She turns to address Pezuka and quietly says: We'd best head back and inform the others, quickly. There's no telling what exactly the slavers will do when they find the canyon."

[razorback]

Pezuka, as they follow the wezer, tries to move as quickly as he can while maintaining an constant, even pace as best he can, to try to keep any jerking movement from attracting unwanted eyes and to conserve water and energy.
As the move into the rougher area, he struggles, but manages, to keep up with the insect as they spy it gathering water. "Very efficient." he mutters to himself but loud enough for Sieglinde to hear.
As Sieglinde points out the movement in the distance, he turns his hand-shaded eyes towards the movement. With a sigh he nods. "Aye, Sieg, let's get moving. We can retrace our steps here to try this again but we don't want be caught by slavers... again." he he drifts behind what cover he can find and move as hidden as possible back the direction they came from.

[Ghostfoot]

Sieglinde and Pezuka have no trouble retracing their path hastily back to the rest of the group.

[Woggle]

When Pezuka and Sieglinde return to the others, Sieglinde gives a quick explanation of what they have learned: "We managed to follow one of the weezers about a mile and a half to a small box canyon. It seems they extract soon sort of water or juice from cacti there. However, when we left, we could see a number of House Stel men approaching. Looked like three inix lizards and maybe half-a-dozen riders. If we move quickly, we may be able to get back there before them." Sieglinde takes a few deep breaths and wipes her brow.

[razorback]

"What he said." Pezuka says as he pants, nearly out of breath. "I think we need to find cover. Not sure if we want our presence known to any slavers... if one gets away, we could be done for, chained again. That is not something I want to experience again. I'd rather chew my own wrists open."

[Ghostfoot]

The sun beats down relentlessly despite the respite of the magical shade, urging you to action lest you perish from heat or thirst...

[Phasm]

Even with Salome's cooling canopy the desert heat is brutal. Salome just nods to the two scouts. "A box canyon sounds better than anything we've found so far, and I agree that we should stay away from slavers. Lead on."