In the Dungeons of the Slave Lords [IC]

[Velvet Elvis]

Sechrin

With the others having come to something of the same conclusion as himself, Sechrin makes his way back some distance, with Trez in tow.

Once in place, Sechrin says, "I'll keep an eye out to see where they head when the reach the intersection." With those words, he skulks to the angled corner and, low to the floor, pokes his head out enough to see back to the intersection.

OOC

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Hide - (1d20+11)[6](17). Cover should aid this.

Based on the description, I gather we still have line of sight to the intersection, despite undulations in the corridor. I also have low-light vision, so that'll help with details, if any.

[Psionic Dog]

Rashnik

"We're still awfully close to the intersection, does anyone remember any good spots even farther back?"

[Xian]

No sooner does the party make it around the bend than the patrol enters the intersection from the hallway to the right. A mixed group of 8 humans, mostly male, fill the room. At the tail end is a large beast that looks very much like a bull that learned to walk on its hind legs. It would be a far cuter sight if it weren't a hulking mass of fur and muscle wielding an axe while wearing an expression that hungers for the flesh of face meat. The patrol pauses for a moment.
"Which way?"
"Well, Kreen's patrol is that way, provided they haven't stopped for another break" she says pointing to her right, "And Ouivan's should come through there before overlong," she continues, pointing to her left, "So we should continue forward and see if Geyn's patrol missed anything on their sweep. Move on!"
With the direction, the patrol starts to move forward. The minotaur lumbers forward a few steps and then stops.

And sniffs.

And sniffs.

And then stares intently down the corridor to his left.

[Velvet Elvis]

Sechrin

Relief turns to frustration as the patrol resolves to continue away from them only to see the beast appear to notice their stink.

Sechrin yanks his head back around the corner and performs a rather strange-looking hunched crabstep some feet back to the group. In a quiet whisper, he says, "The main body of the patrol plans to continue forward, but the animal they travel with is, indeed, a minotaur and it seems to have picked up our odor. It hasn't reacted yet," he licks his lips slightly, then adds partly for the sake of Trez, "Unfortunately, even from here, I saw the gleam in their eyes, though they seemed to speak rationally. It is the same telltale sign I noticed before from the group that assaulted us after seeming benign. Be on your guards--should the beast convince them to come this way, we will be tested. In fact, perhaps, we should move back beyond this twisted section so that we may bear everything directly at them if it comes to that."

[Krelon]

Aerhalyss

Slowly, the elf starts moving further away from the intersection

[Xian]

Tense seconds pass, feeling like eternities stacked on end. Then, the footfalls and low chatter of the patrol can be heard fading off as they continue on their route. Within a few moments, they can no longer be heard, and would seem to have moved down the western* hallway. A minute of silence does not give any indication of stragglers that would have stayed behind. It would seem that all is clear.

((*According to the ASCII map in the OOC thread))

[Krelon]

Aerhalyss

The elf whispers to her comrades, "We need a scout, very cautious, first listen before peeking around the corner. I have a single scroll of invisibility for emergencies. If you really think this is one, I'll use it"

[Velvet Elvis]

Sechrin

Relaxing slowly as the footfalls and noise of armor on armor fades off, Sechrin says in a less concerned, but still low voice, "That shouldn't be necessary. I'll go have a look. We still have to wonder about the group I saw--but it appears they've gone elsewhere. While I check, I suggest you all consider which way we're going. I say, to the right, only because we know the patrol has already left that section."

With that, he slinks back around the corner, heading to the intersection.

OOC

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Will go to the intersection room and peek around the corners. The left/west, first, then the right. Will be looking ahead down the northern corridor on the way up to the intersection, of course, and staying in the darker patches as I go.

Rolls: Hide - (1d20+11)[13](24) | MSil - (1d20+11)[7](18) | Listen - (1d20+11)[17](28) | Spot - (1d20+3)[15](18)

[Krelon]

Aerhalyss

"Definitely right. I have a very good feeling about it"

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Aerhalyss

When the others take off to scout she siliently tosses a die to see which corridor is lucky for her, mumbling silently "1,2 left. 3,4 forward, 5,6 right"

And the dice shows: [roll0]

[Xian]

Stubbing his toe and tripping into the middle of the hallway, Sechrin investigates the corridors. The intersection is completely empty and sounds of the patrol can only be heard very faintly to the west until they fade to silence.

[Velvet Elvis]

Sechrin

Sechrin returns to the bend at a normal walk, to inform the rest that the area appears entirely clear.

"Quiet in all directions, as far as I can tell. Right seems the most practical, so unless there is dissent, let's get moving again." He looks to Trez, then to Alan expectantly. "Trez, you're with me, of course. Alan, if you would care to scout ahead while we go?"

OOC

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Xian - You do realize I netted an 18 on that move silently roll, don'tcha? That's cat stalkin' territory from 10'. I'll have you know I was a champion stalker in my day, why....<fades off into the distance...quietly>

[JEntropy]

Alan Gibbs

Surely, Sechrin, I can reconnoiter for the group. Don't follow too close, and watch for my signals.

With a glance behind them, he nods at the party and creeps off into the shadows ahead.

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Spot - (1d20+6)[18]
Listen - (1d20+6)[26]
Hide - (1d20+8)[22]
MS - (1d20+8)[27]

[Velvet Elvis]

Sechrin

With a nod to Alan, Sechrin pats Trez on the shoulder, and says, "Let's go. We should all remain far enough back that Alan's just at the edge of our sight."

OOC

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Xian - I recognize that I can see further than certain other members of the party, so assume the "our" is literal: the distance we should stay back is just at the edge of normal human sight under these lighting conditions. Which begs the question: What distance would that be?

[Krelon]

Aerhalyss

is also following

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walking along the opposite wall as Sechrin, if there are minotaurs maybe there are also secret passages? ((detection roll +10))

[Psionic Dog]

Rashnik

The lizardman nods slowly and follows as well.

[Xian]

((Hmmm, for some reason is was making the d20 roll bold instead of your final result VE, so I misread. Fortunately, it had no effect either way, but I'll be looking at the numbers more closely from here on.

As for vision, it's torch lighting, and torches are spaced out so that their dim light radii touch, making it about 80ft from torch to torch. Since you have low light vision, you can see very clearly. Everyone else can see from torch to torch, but some of the spaces in between, about halfway between each one, are dark and difficult to detect anything within.

Krelon, Aerhalyss detects no secret passages. At least not yet.))

[13_CBS]

(( You know, as fun as this game was, I think I'm going to have to call it quits. SChoolwork plus the fact that Jeando has been forever lost in the depths of rpgwebprofiler forces my hand.

Sorry. ))

[Velvet Elvis]

Pardon the OOC, but it seems to be needed here: I have Jeando's character sheet backed up. But if other things are in the way, I guess it doesn't matter.

If CBS is leaving, and Stick_Ninja's Healer is out of it (haven't seen him in a long time), we should recruit at least one more PC for healing duty, else we're going to be smarting after every fight.

As long as we might have a brief lull, and I'm in OOC mode:

We've sorta turned into a stealth group, which is fine. However, I was wondering if we, as a group, actually know where we're going? Are we just wandering hoping to find something, or do we have some intelligence that's provided clues on which ways to go, or signs to watch out for that will lead us to certain key locations, etc. Pardon me if I've forgotten something obvious.

[Krelon]

((OOC:
about the in-game stuff:
we didn't ask Trez who the bosses are, their names, where the high command bunker is, e.t.c
I was thinking now we try to lurk, maybe later catch the boss of Trez and he (knowing more) in return leads us to his boss. But 1st things 1st, we need to find some place to hide safely. Of course a sneaky group, avoiding fights might be a little boring if you're optimized for combat and nothing else.

since we turned into stealth mode the next day my wizard will readjust spells to include charm person and invisibility instead of damage spells, I believe interesting things can be done as soon as we have some more air to breathe.

btw, as you might have noticed, I tried to add some roleplaying instead of simply walking down the corridors and it worked well. Xian did one nice NPC there and always reacts thoughtfully to our actions so I think everyone can make this game as interesting for her/him-self as needed.

out-of-game:
it's a pity that 2 are out, cause things are getting interesting. We started as a 1 post per day group now we are a 1 per week, maybe they got the feeling that this thread is about too run dry? What about our 6th man? Tristan still around? ))

[JEntropy]

OOC

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Alan has been in survival mode since the beginning, what with the fleeing and being chased and near-constant threat of more violence. If we've reached a stalling point, he can calm down a bit and we can redirect towards the broad story arc.

@Xian: terrific game so far, my favorite PBP I've played in. Agree that we should try and recruit a healer, and possibly another if necessary? Also, any IC knowledge that we don't yet have OOC relating to our story's villains, our mission, etc, would be great :)

[Velvet Elvis]

OOC: You're entirely right about not having asked our man on the inside any relevant questions. I was busy trying to groom him to not ask too many questions. I think I can use the same language to coax some info out of him.

The last remark gets my usual response: A player's only going to get out what they put in. Almost every game starts with enthusiasm, followed by the short-attention span types fading away. 33%-50% of the starting players zone out when they don't have toys thrown at them constantly. They're just not suited to the pbp format because they lack long-term focus and patience. Simple and brutal as that.

The only way a game can reach maturity is to rerecruit as soon as and as often as necessary. I gain that knowledge from experience in several games that have lasted far longer than the 1-3 month average. They've all suffered attrition, but they also had GMs that thought enough of their games to keep them alive by reacting quickly to fill the ranks.

Rerecruiting is a fact of pbp life for a GM. The sooner that's understood and accepted, the better off a game will be. And I'm talking about before the game even starts. If it's expected, it isn't a debilitating surprise, and it's dealt with before it can bleed the game of its momentum.

Morale is boosted for every remaining player when they see that the GM isn't willing to let a fraction of weak players destroy the game they're trying to enjoy.

Rah! Rah! Re-recruit! Rah! Rah!

You get my point. :)

[Godhand]

(ooc)

I'm still here, don't worry about me. I dislike posting just to say I follow the group but I'll start if that will help. Stealth isn't exactly Tristan's style, but the ends justify the means in his book, so no worries.

[Psionic Dog]

OOC

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We do have a perfectly good OOC thread y' know.
Anyway,
Rashnik can function as a secondary healer until we get a new cleric, or at least he can until his Wand of Cure Light is used up.

Part of our aimless wandering problem comes from starting play with misunderstandings about what had happened in the 24 hours prior to the start. We started out "Stay alive and escape," but I think our objectives have changed as we learned more. "Sneak back and try again" sounds like what we ought to be doing.

So, if the game is paused, we really should sit down ask the DM obvious questions about what our characters know, and make a plan for defeating the slave lords.

We can't spend all our time slinking through the shadows, so we need some plan on how to ambush/slaughter the slavers in small, bite-sized groups. Any ideas? The best I can think of is: Rashnik lets himself be seen, then runs away shooting arrows. Badies follow. Sneakers then jump out and stabity stab the squishy enemy spell casters. Rest of group comes around the corner and mops up the guards.

[Velvet Elvis]

Sechrin

While Alan scouts ahead, Sechrin engages in a quiet conversation with his current thrall.

"Trez, I'm going to need some help remembering certain details of this place. I took a good knock to the head in that last run-in. Because of the issue with the afflictions I've witnessed, I'd like to get an idea how many might be affected based on where they're stationed. Perhaps, it might help us divine the source and remove it. Those currently afflicted could even come to their senses, saving everyone a lot of grief." With a foundation set, Sechrin asks a couple general questions.

"First off, about how many guards and patrols would you say are in the employ of the Lords? That will help me guess at the numbers already afflicted. Secondly, I recall there being certain areas where they congregate to arm and rest and such, but it's rather fuzzy to me now. Can you recall? I know this isn't your normal patrol area, but let's assume the distribution of these rallying points is probably similar from section to section, so, where would you figure the the nearest of them to be?"

[Xian]

Trez screws up his face and knits his eyebrows, clearly thinking very hard on Sechrin's questions and counting some figures on his fingers.

"Well, there's a few hundred people workin' here altogether that are constantly here. Mostly humans, but some elves, orcs and other human-likes as well. Sheee, you just saw one of the minotaurs, if that gives you any idea. Most are some form of guard 'n such, and our duties rotate off. Sometimes we're gaolers, sometimes we've got watch duty. Some of our really good ones go get more slaves, usually with a little help from some of the cult weirdos. Those guys creep me out, but they're good at what they do.

As for barracks, the doors usually have a banner next to 'em that say as such. Most public rooms have a banner to say what's inside. I don't think we're near the big ones, but yeah, there's some smaller ones scattered everywhere, so we'll probably find one before too long."

Alan:

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Keeping ahead of the party, you see the hallway wind around in front of you, but no other people have yet to be seen. Shortly, you come across two doors. The one on the left side of the hallway is cracked open a bit and has a banner of green and red hanging next to it, flush with the wall. A little further down on the right, the door is closed shut and has a black and white banner.

[JEntropy]

Alan Gibbs

(FBO Xian)

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Alan peeks back to where the group is behind him, feeling a little less apprehensive being out in the open with backup close behind. He stalks over in front of the green and red banner, and every so gently cracks the door so he can peek inside - ideally without alerting anyone within.

MS - (1d20+8)[13] to open the door
Spot - (1d20+6)[23] to see what's inside.

[Xian]

Alan:

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The door creaks a little as it's opened, with the quietness of the hallways making it sound as if it could be heard on the surface. In reality, it's doubtful that the party even heard.

Inside, the room is lit by some torches; everburning, by the look of them. More importantly is what they illuminate. This room seems to be an armory, and deposits of weapons, armor and items can be seen. It's difficult to tell if any are particularly useful or not, but if nothing else they'd make for some nasty ammunition in a crisis.

[JEntropy]

Alan Gibbs

(FBO Xian)

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Intrigued, Alan makes a mental note to tell the others, and stalks over to the black/white banner. He puts his ear to the door, trying to guess at what may lurk inside.

Listen - (1d20+6)[20]

[Velvet Elvis]

Sechrin

Sechrin nods to Trez as he answers the questions, however, his eyes were watching ahead, trying to keep them on Alan's movements whenever possible.

"Let's hope we only run into unafflicted patrols, then. Just be prepared for the worst, Trez. They'll attack you, too, as I've seen them do to other patrols. I can tell from certain little ticks they seem to have as the only visible side effect; but they're very minor. I have especially good eyes, fortunately. If they're fine, I'll know it, and we can join up with them. If not, I'll know that, too."

But don't count on that first part, my friend.

[Xian]

Alan:

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Through the door, it sounds as if there's nothing on the other side. But then a small noise catches your attention. Breathing. Low, deep and steady, like someone sleeping. Maybe two someones. No other sounds can be heard.