Ancient Campaign

[Gorgondantess]

You all congregate in a small, stuffy tent, shoulder to shoulder, with barely enough room to breathe. Normally it would be freezing here, in the dead of night, but inside this cramped place it is sweltering hot. The village priest sits before you with a good 3 or 4 inches of space- a lot more than anyone else. You are light headed. There is a fire in the center of the tent, with only a tiny hole for ventilation, and whatever the priest is burning on there to connect with the gods isn't helping you. You can almost see him take a something very long from the back of the tent- you're starting to black out at this point, so you can't be sure. He sticks it in the fire and the end glows a bit, and he sticks it in his mouth and sucks in, breathing out on all of your faces- it feels like you are sucking in molten sand. The priest then sticks his nose in a pouch and snorts in several times. Finally he is done communicating with the gods, adn he is about to address you. The last thing you remember before passing out is that his lower face is covered with blood. You all wake up in the tent at dusk, drenched in sweat, with the priest nowhere in sight. You can barely remember what he said, but apparently you need to strike out somewhere and do something to save the tribe- probably to find a new place to live, what with the river drying. To the east is the Poison Water, where no man can cross. The north and south are barren wastes, with nothing at all- no hope of survival in there. The west is rolling, endless and plains. There you can see for miles, with nothing at all showing on the bleak landscape. You leave the tent to find packs stacked up, one for each of you, filled with about 2 week's worth of food- probably all the surplus the tribe has. All the people around are watching, pushing you along, to go out and save the tribe.

[Ipphli]

Dorin

Dorin grumbles to himself as he walks over and grabs his pack. He glares at the others before motioning towards the plains. "Let's get this over with then..." He begins walking, not bothering or not caring whether the others followed.

[kopout]

wait! den calls out after the receding Barbarian i think the idea was that we should go as a grope. no one of us can single handedly do this .

[Ipphli]

Dorin

Dorin calls back over his shoulder without slowing down. "Then hurry up!"

Spoiler

Show

Don't forget, I have a charisma of 5. I'm not very social, or likeable.

[Kaiser Omnik]

Desert Fox

The one they called Desert Fox observed the people of his tribe, facing the possibility that he may never see them again. He looked into their eyes, into their soul, and saw no sadness. This was no surprise to the elf. They used to laugh at him and his strange ways. Every one of them. His divine powers earned him some sort of respect, but not love.

The priest turned its attention to his companions. What a odd bunch... He should get along with them just fine!

"I am coming."

Desert Fox followed the others while holding to his pack and his quarterstaff.

[Willfor]

Naine

He says nothing as he walks to his pack, and throws it over his shoulder. It wasn't quite real to him until the moment when he nodded to his tribe as a farewell. Then it was official; he wasn't coming back until he had done something to save them.

He turned to the others, and turned west. He saw quite a journey ahead of him and the others.

[kopout]

den

“i suggest we fallow the river so that we don't get lost and we may just find a guide in a settlement “
suggests den “we may even want yo think about making a raft”

ooc: sorry didn't know

[Gorgondantess]

OOC: 2 things to note: boats have not been invented yet, only rafts. 2nd, the tribe does not contact any other tribes, and there is extremely little trading.

[pup3k]

Ohk'Tahr

Leaving the tent and seeing Blood-fang waiting dutifully outside the tent, Ohk'Tahr picks up his things, with seemingly no effort, and waits for the others to make up their minds.

[Ipphli]

Dorin

Dorin keeps walking. "The river is drying up. We won't find any place near it. We need to head inland." He glances over his shoulder to see if anyone is following before looking back out over the plains. He scans the grasses carefully, obviously expecting trouble.

Spoiler

Show

Spot (1d20+3)[23]
Listen (1d20+5)[22]

No need to make it easy for those evil rabbits from heck!

[kopout]

ooc
are their any major land marks we can see any thing to heed for?

[Gorgondantess]

You travel west for over a week through the vast, endless plains, following the drying river. The grasses crunch underfoot, and the further you go out, the dryer and more desolate it gets. After the 3rd day of travel, you see that the river has no flowing water, and you go back to fill some waterskins; after the 5th, there is only a long, running gouge in the land to show that a river was ever there. The land looks like the waste to the north and south of the village. After about a day, however, you start seeing shrubs again; and after some more time, grasses appear, at first in patches, but then you come across an endless field, desolate as far as you can see- almost. In the distance there is a great, craggy, snow- topped mountain, and at the base you can see a swath of green, fertile land, but it looks about 2 days' march from here. As you stand there, it starts to rain, but just a light drizzle. You have traveled about 10 days, and you have just enough food and water to get back to the village if you go now, and find some game along the way.

[Ipphli]

Dorin

Dorin points at the mountain, and the greenery at its base. "That's good enough for me. Let's go tell the elders."
He turns around and starts heading back the way they came, keeping an eye out for any signs of game.

Spoiler

Show

Spot (1d20+3)[8]

Oh, and to make a spoiler like this one kopout, just type [ spoiler] at the beginning, without the space, and then [ /spoiler] at the end.

[Willfor]

Naine

For a moment he considers questioning Dorin's judgement, though after some thought he couldn't figure out the problem with his reasoning. He raises no objection to turning around.

[Kaiser Omnik]

Desert Fox

The priest walks to Dorin and stares at him. His eyes show no emotion. He then turns around to look in the direction of the mountain.

"Maybe we should go take a look ourselves. We don't want to lead the tribe in a monster infested land, do we? Who knows what's there."

[Ipphli]

Dorin

Dorin stops and looks at the priest. He sighs and then begins to speak slowly, as if to a child. "And how much food do you have left? I don't know about you, but I only just have enough to make it back. In case you couldn't tell, game isn't exactly plentiful around here." He raises an eyebrow, awaiting a response.

[Kaiser Omnik]

Desert Fox

"I understand. But surely we will find animals in those fields. I don't know for you, but I'm not eager to return to the village just yet."

[kopout]

Den

“Desert Fox makes a good point. we do not want to lead the tribe into danger.” den says "besides we should find a place to set up once we bring every one here. some place with reliable fresh water and easily farmed land . we need a town site possibly on hill, we cant just go back.”

Spoiler

Show

ooc we have animals right?pack animals and livestock and such.not withe us but the tribe dos right?

[Gorgondantess]

Spoiler

Show

Nope. The native wildlife is: tigers, apes (very rare), rodents, lizards, birds of prey, dholes (they're kind of like jackals), hyenas and wild stallions, which have not been domesticated, due to their fierceness and rarity. Oh, and as for Ohk'Tahr's wolf, I forgot wolves aren't in this setting. Instead, go ahead and choose from a dire dhole or a hyena, and for simplicity's sake we'll just say it's been that the whole time. No need to change stats.

[Ipphli]

Dorin

Dorin looks between Den and Desert Fox. He shrugs and turns back around towards the mountain. "Alright, fine. Let's go explore a bit more. But if we starve, don't come crying to me about it." He begins walking towards the mountain, once more scanning the grasses and bush around him.

Spoiler

Show

Just keep the last one or I can reroll it.

[kopout]

Den

den nudges Desert Fox and jokingly mumbles “if we starve we can eat him”

Spoiler

Show

i hope this was in good taste, because he certainly was

[Kaiser Omnik]

Desert Fox

"If we starve, I will call to the gods for guidance."

Desert Fox continues walking unless the rain becomes more a problem, in which case he suggests to set up camp.

[Gorgondantess]

You trudge on through the dead grasses towards the swath of green in the distance. As you go, the rain slowly starts to drive harder, though not to the point of hinderance. As you near it, you see the mountains the green was below towering above you, huge and intimidating. The green area runs the span of the mountain, north to south, with no seeming end in either direction. The green turns out to be a verdant jungle, full of vines and life. There is constant noise, ranging from the hoots of apes to the rustling by unnameable creatures. By the time you reach its border, it is night, and the rain has increased to a torrential downpour, with lighting forking across the

[Kaiser Omnik]

Desert Fox

Desert Fox seeks a place to take refuge near the limits of the jungle. A cave perhaps?

[Gorgondantess]

Spoiler

Show

The Mountain is seperated from the firlds by the jungle- a cave would be impossible without going through the jungle, several miles deep.

[Ipphli]

Dorin

Dorin casts about for a moment, then heads towards the trees. "I'm going to get out of this rain. Should be safe enough just inside the trees if I keep an eye out."

[kopout]

Den
"i am afraid i agree with dorin, we need shelter from the storm i sugest we keep our eyes and ears open we don't know
whats in there." he turns and surveys the others" we will be looking fore some place dry a place out of the where we can light a fire"

Spoiler

Show

omnik you may whant to youse you pray for the day becuse we will be beding down in a strange place just a thought

Spoiler

Show

here are my spot and listen rolls i hope others do them as well
listen(1d20+1)[15]
spot (1d20+1)[8]
edit i really hope others do them as well

[pup3k]

Ohk'Tahr

Ohk'Tahr heads begins to head for the jungle, I can find us some food in there.

Spoiler

Show

Hey, sorry I'm so late to the game, I thought I subscribed to the thread, and was sadly mistaken, but it has been fixed and all is now well.

And let's say that it's a hyena.

Spoiler

Show

Spot: (1d20+5)[21]
Listen: (1d20+5)[12]
Survival (to find some food, be it berries or game): (1d20+7)[27]

[Kaiser Omnik]

Desert Fox

The shaman closes his eyes and prays for a little luck.

(OOC: I use my Pray class feature to have a minor blessing. Something like a small bonus to survival/search checks to find food and/or shelter. Not enough for a divine intervention.)

[Gorgondantess]

Ohk'Tahr searches for some kind of food, and finally finds some strange berries. Biting into one, he spits it out and nearly gags for the horrible, sickly- sweet taste. Nothing else can be found this close to the open. Everyone has their turn fruitlessly trying to light a fire, but to no avail- even under the canopy the rain still penetrates. You all take quite some time to fall asleep with the horrible rain, and wake up in a pool of mud, the skies pouring down harder than ever. Ohk'Tahr's hyena, blood fang, wakes up with his fur laced with fungi. Nothing can be heard over the pouring rain, and what with the clouds in the sky, the forest is nigh on pitch black.On top of that, after checking the packs, some of the food is ruined, contaminated with mud, mold, or water, and has to be thrown out. It was miraculous that any of it survived the night- you have left about 3 days' food.