SC's Kingdom Game: The Uncanny Valley

[Pbangel16]

Her tail swishing as Tetro approaches, a giant smile while she gives a curtsey best she can"Thank you kindly ma'am, and now we know where Eugene got his politeness from, he's been so kind and such a pleasure to have in our company. Can only imagine that rest of em are just as kindly. Need more folk like him." Tetro beams, giving her biggest smile paired with the biggest set of puppy dog eyes she could manage. (think puss in boots from shrek)

[SwordChucks]

Spoiler: Away Team

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Lorana idly strokes Bravery as she speaks. "I think you're right. Some of the others have been seeming distant or downright bored lately. A change of scenery will do them some good and I can handle your father."

"You three go talk to the others. I'm sure they've all heard about you getting here since we haven't had a kobold or a mech pilot around in years, especially not such well mannered ones. And I don't think any of us have seen an egg that big before. Dinner will be here at dark." She curtsies back to Tetro and gives Eugene a kiss on the cheek as she heads back out to the milking parlor.

Spoiler: Home Team

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After a bit of struggling at first you learn that the ram seems content to follow the ewes back toward the tower. It takes a hour to get back to the others as the sheep try breaking loose several times or pulling toward some tasty looking plants along the way.

Once you're near the tower, Diego trundles over to meet you. "Oh wow, that's a lucky find! If we can get some tools we can use the sheep for wool and soon milk by the looks of it." He starts detailing some plans for using them to weed the area.

[SwordChucks]

The away team is treated to the muffled yells of Mr. Farmer as he's told about the party's plan by Lorana. Several minutes later he stalks out of the farm house and yells "Dadgummit!" before gathering his children and farmhands for dinner. After a tense but scrumptious home cooked meal and a night in some warm beds, the party and five more of the Farmers head out to the tower. As the away team arrives so does Shelindai, the herbalist, with her tools and supplies.

So the home team sees their allies, five people that look suspiciously like Eugene, Shelindai, and a big honkin' egg being carried by Tetro. The Farmers have also brought along seeds and some livestock.

Spoiler: New arrivals

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Briath and Helena Farmer: Kinda spooky teenage twins, hold hands a lot.
Derrenis Farmer: Shy young man that's been tending to the animals. Wearing leather armor and carrying a shield on his back.
Viven Farmer: A pretty young woman loaded down with heavy gear. Wearing a suit of scale mail.
Cassius Vhahaskeri: A brooding young man with dark clothes and a pack filled with scroll tubes and books. A slow moving cat named Patches follows him everywhere.

Shelindai Solchel: A young adult elf woman with leather armor and a forest camo cloak. Has several pouches across her outfit. Smells like a spice rack.

Giant Egg: It appears to move occasionally. It may be close to hatching.

Live stock: 10 chickens (2 roosters, 8 hens), a cow, and a mule pulling a small cart.
Seeds: 2x Crop of wheat, 1x crop of potatoes, and 1x crop of tomatoes.

[digiman619]

Hapax smiles as he sees Tetro. "There you are! Next time, I'm coming with you. Having to deal with Luvon all the time made the wait feel like months." Afterward he will inquire about the egg. Once they've caught up, he will introduce himself to the Farmers, though Viven caught his eye the most, at least as far as first impressions go.

[GoblinPrince]

"H-..oof.. Hello friends!" Eugene greets Hapax with a smile, his face half hidden behind several suitcases, all embroidered with a flowy font on the front that reads 'Viven'.

He heads off to the tower to find a room for Viven's things.

[Kagari1605]

Greeting his friends Lelelouch relaxes a bit as he approaches the tower. Looking across all of the new faces he looks back towards the egg, curious what will hatch from it

[SwordChucks]

The new and old settlers exchange pleasantries and get acquainted (Tobye made a bunch of socially awkward siblings so they don't do much more than that).

Spoiler: Siblings Introductions

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Viven gives a quick look around, sizing up her new surroundings. She then follows Eugene, carrying the rest of her bags, into the tower. She leads him around for a while making sure to pick out a good sized room. Bravery happily follows behind.

The twin girls, Briath and Helena, stand next to each other, hands interlocked. They look around curiously with their wide violet eyes. They turn and look at each other gesturing with their hands as though in conversation though neither say a word.

Derrinis takes off his straw hat as he approaches Hapax and holds out his hand nervously to greet him. His cheeks redden beneath his freckles. "H-Hi... I'm Derrinis, Eugene's brother. W-well, I mean, I guess you knew that already. Um, I'm pretty good with animals, but I'll help out wherever you need me."

Cassius approaches with Derrinis, barely glancing around. There is a stern, uninterested look in his maroon eyes, framed by dark circles. He speaks in a low, straight forward voice. "I'm a butcher. Where do you want me?"

All eyes are on the party. How would you like to assign them? (Settlers marked with an * in the Who's Who.)

[MesiDoomstalker]

Luvon stared somewhat in disbelief at the gaggle of blond Farmers that had arrived, almost struck mute in attempting the arithmetic to determine how many came to be given that this was not even all of them. Eventually, he put aside the dizzying problem of excessive procreation and gathered the group of erstwhile settlers. Ok! I'm going to be blunt here. Its going to be hard work from here on forward and it won't get easier anytime soon. Our first order of business will be to construct a rudimentary lodging for us. It'll be only temporary till we can gather the resources for more personal dwellings. In the meantime, we will have to rely on hunted meat and scavenging greens for sustenance for about a year or so. Long enough for the Farmers to get the fields to yield for us.

After immediate lodging is taken care of, any materials and structures for the budding agricultural heart of our operation will be top priority. Below that is storage for materials, especially foodstuffs once our yield outstrips our need and a basic road system. He surveyed the group before him and decided discretion was the better part of valor. We have a lot of new faces here, so speak up. Any relevant skill sets need be applied to the right tasks.

[SwordChucks]

The twins, Briath and Helena, stare at each other for a bit before stepping forward still holding hands. A few feet in front of Luvon they stop, focus on a spot on the ground, and begin a chant. Moments later a thin, six foot tall tree sprouts from the ground. A few moments later and more chanting, and the tree quickly develops buds that become melograno (pomegranates). Afterward, it becomes more apparent how the Farmers stay so successful.

Spoiler: DC 15 Spellcraft

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They are using the nature sphere's plantlife ability Growth and the Grow Plants talent.

[digiman619]

Hapax shook the young man's hand. "Hapax Legomenon." He then smiles. "Relax, kid. I'm sure you've got some idea in your head that us dwarves are all stoic, but I can assure you that that's not the case for all of us." He then got distracted by the twins' display of power before turning back to him. "Well, unless you can top that, we'll have to do things the conventional way. We've managed to get a small little herd of sheep that could be looked after. Otherwise, if you have a question, don't hesitate to ask, and remember to relax. While there's a lot of hard work ahead of us, we'll be neighbors for quite some time, so there's no need to be anxious."

[GoblinPrince]

Eugene, after many flights of stairs and back and forth until Viven was satisfied with a room, finally dropped off her things and left her to unpacking. He comes back outside of the tower, fanning himself with his hat.
He finds Hapax. "Hello, friend. Looks like you all found some more future citizens," He says, referring to the few new faces.
"Anyhow... My sis Viven is good at smithing but she'll need a forge, and I expect she'll be somewhat picky about the quality. Do you think your abilities could help her out?"

[digiman619]

After sending Denny off to look at the sheep, he turns to Eugene. "Eh, I doubt it. I can make an anvil, but at best it'll last a couple of minutes, which unless she wants me to stand around all day maintaining it obviously won't be enough. I could shape a chunk of iron into an anvil, but it's not exactly precision work." He out his hand to his chin. "I suppose that we should ask her how long it'll take to make a proper anvil. If it's reasonable, I can make a construct for her to use while she crafts her own."

[SwordChucks]

Over the next week the community begins to settle in to their new roles. Hapax, Luvon, and Lelouch collect a prodigious amount of lumber throughout the week and bring it back to the settlement for building materials. When the lack of fresh water is brought to the party's attention, Luvon has Lelouch strap a rope around his waist and begins forging the dirt beneath himself into the bricks of a well. After 20 minutes, and with several spell points expended, Luvon is pulled out of the new well.

When not dragging lumber or helping with construction, Lelouch can be found tweaking his mech and patrolling the vicinity. Several times he spots unidentified creatures, but the sight of his gleaming machine sends them back toward the tree line.

Tetro leads the construction efforts using her mechanical knowledge and small size to make sure the structures are secured. The settlers seem to come to her first with any concerns or questions they have.

Diego and Derrenis keep the animals healthy and well groomed with some help from Bravery when the sheep want to roam. Derrenis makes a tar kiln from some of the lumber so the community will have tar to waterproof the buildings and buckets.

The twins, Shelindai, and Pia set up the beginnings of a sizable garden. Shelindai and Pia head into the woods to collect herbs and mushrooms for food and alchemy, while the twins maintain the crops via watering and weeding.

Viven takes several days to set up her forge with help from Hapax as he forms dirt and clay into heat resistant bricks. Viven spends the rest of the week going around the tower and drawing small blocks of metal from the soil before forging them and clay into every day objects like dishes and utensils. She also makes several farm tools but warns that with only the metals available to her, they won't last long.

When not helping the better wood workers of the group, Eugene goes out to hunt with Bravery, bringing back several deer over the week for Cassius to butcher. Cassius is insistent that he gets a shed to perform the grizzly but necessary procedure and in exchange he produces the finest cuts many of you have seen, with barely any wasted meat.

Each night every settler goes to bed well fed and exhausted from their labors. Luvon and Hapax spell points are expended from all of the Forging they do.

Matteo's Log:

Spoiler: What you've made:

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Butcher's Shed: 10x10x10
Chicken Coop: 10x15x10
Covered Well
Brick Smithy
Tool Shed: 5x10x10
Common House: 30x65x10
5 animal Stable with 30ft diameter half-circle pen: 35x15x10
2x gallons Tar
4x Rectangular Tables (In Common House)
14x Chairs (In Common House)
14x Beds (In common House)
3x Deer Skins
160gp of Alchemical Scrap
--------------------------------
Total cost: 471 boards of lumber and a lot of effort

Spoiler: Food Situation

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The twins produce enough food to feed 18 medium creatures each day, Eugene's survival check can feed 6, and Shelindai and Pia collect enough 'shrooms to feed 3. You currently have 24.3 medium creatures to feed each day but the animals (aside from Bravery) are able to get by on the abundant grasses.

Food Produced/Day: 27 medium creatures worth
Food Eaten: 15 medium creatures worth
Stored Food: 84 medium creatures worth

At the end of the week a sudden rain storm ends construction a bit early for the day. A noise catches Tetro's attention just after dinner and she sees the egg rocking back and forth. It's done this before, but never this quickly or this long.

[MesiDoomstalker]

Luvon was quite pleased with himself. In just under two weeks, their fledgling little settlement had all the basic necessities. Water retrieval is still primitive and subject to drought and the food is less than stellar and still reliant on foraging. But they are stable. Now he could focus on some efficiency boosting upgrades. And perhaps a defensive perimeter. It would allow further exploration while leaving the more vulnerable members of their conclave with some modicum of protection.

As he ruminated on the next project to take on, his pointed ears quirked as the egg started moving and shaking. Is the gryphon hatching? I hope we can keep it fed with raw proteins.

[digiman619]

Hapax nodded, taking in the work they've done. He then sees the hatching griffon. "Well, it's a good thing we've got the Farmers to help. I don't really have an affinity for animals, so I don't know what we'd do it it was just us. Still, with this base settlement, well, settled, we should start exploring the nearby areas."

[GoblinPrince]

Eugene, having been relaxing by a fireplace after a hunt, suddenly sits up when he hears the cracking noise. He leaps to his feet with purpose and finds Derrenis. While never having birthed a griffon, the two have helped many a farm animal come into being and prepare however they can for the new life. With wet and dry towels at the ready, Eugene squats next to the egg, eager to help the babe.
He puts his ear to the shell, listening for how strong the infant sounds. "Hey little friend," He speaks softly, " I hear you. You finally ready?" He frowns a bit, looking for where the first crack might appear. "Poor things been through a tussle. I hope he's strong enough to break though." He waits for the first crack to appear and sees the little beak. "Ha! There ya are!" He begins breaking away more pieces of the shell, little by little, while encouraging the griffon to do most of it himself. Once a big enough hole has been broken to pull the baby out, Eugene use the towels to clean it up and wraps it with a warmed towel. "Welcome to .... huh.. we don't have a name for this place yet... Well, welcome to the world!"

[SwordChucks]

The settlers all coo at the newly hatched griffon. It's light grey down blends into tan fur, all matted down by the remains of the yolk and albumin. It looks exhausted after its ordeal and it chirps as it lays in the warm towel, taking in the world around it.

The rain picks up outside and peals of far off thunder reverberate off of the hills surrounding the valley. Several flashes of purple light seep through the edges of the door jamb in quick succession. Moments later you hear the animals in the barn making a tremendous ruckus. Matteo is nearest to the door and he pokes his head out and squints into the rain.

"Somethings are in the round pen. It looks like they're harassing the animals."

[digiman619]

Hapax ignited his mindblade. "Quickly lad. Lead the way!" He then followed the young Farmer to find the cause of the commotion

[GoblinPrince]

"Aw shucks," Eugene gives a defeated look. "Wanted to give the little guy at least enough time to memerise my face first. Welp. I'll just have to be quick."
He leaves the babe in Derrinis' care before grabbing his axes to investigate the commotion in the pin.

[SwordChucks]

As the party dashes off to the barn and its attached round pen, they feel the mud suck at their boots. The rainfall is still fairly intense and surprisingly chilly for this time of year. The clouds have a strange purple tint to them that reminds you of the light surrounding the tower the first night you entered it.

As you approach the pen you hear the animals making an unholy din above the sounds of the falling rain. In the pen are six amorphous blobs of water, the size of Tetro, slipping and splashing in muddy puddles. When the ram confronts one of the blobs, a tendril of water whips out from the mass and splats across his nose and sends him running back to the safety of the barn.


The ground is difficult terrain, and the rain is affecting your ranged attacks a bit.

Spoiler: Knowledge (The Planes) DC 11

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These are small water elementals. They do not have Water Mastery.

[MesiDoomstalker]

Luvon sighed as he deftly loaded a bolt into his crossbow and immediately firing on the nearest embodiment of water. They are creatures of elemental water. Minor nuisances.

Spoiler

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[roll]1d20+[/roll] vs. blue border elemental
(1d8)[7]+(1d10)[9]

[digiman619]

Hapx rushes to the nearest Elemental, not bothering with any attempt at subtlety. He summons a two handed mind blade and smashes it into the living mass of water.

Spoiler: OOC

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charge at closest one.
(1d20+9)[13] (2d6+5)[8]

[GoblinPrince]

"It's a what now? Movin' water?" Eugene scratches his brow, but can think of no better plan than to hit it hard.
He teleports across the deep thick mud to avoid getting a boot stuck and brings his ax down on the nearest one, next to Hapax.

Bravery whimpers, wet and confused, before rushing forward to help defend his master. He takes a nip at the moving water.

Spoiler: Combat

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Use 1 SP for pouncing teleport
Attacking with greataxe, 2 handed
Atk 20 (rolled on discrod)+5 =25
Confirm critical (1d20+5)[21]
Dmg: (1d12+4)[16] x3 if crit


For Bravery
Atk: (1d20+5)[18]
dmg: (1d6+4)[8]

[SwordChucks]

The combined might of Hapax, Luvon, Eugene, and Bravery downed an elemental before it knew what was happening. Its form bursts and blends into the puddle beneath it. The other 5 elementals don't seem happy with this development and move to attack the bulk of the party. A watery fist splashes uselessly on Lelouch's mech as the others flail their soggy limbs too slowly to hurt anyone.

Spoiler

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After the long hiatus and my own laziness, a post is finally up.

[MesiDoomstalker]

Luvon lazily fired another bolt at the nearest elemental. The tussle had already bored him.

Spoiler

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(1d20+6)[19]
(1d8)[1]+(1d10)[3]

[GoblinPrince]

Seeing how easily the first animate puddle went down, Eugene confidently swings his great axe at the next one to his left. Bravery follows suit, attacking with his master two on one.

Spoiler: combat

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Eugene: (1d20+5)[23]
(1d12+4)[16]
Bravery: (1d20+4)[22]
(1d6+4)[5]

[digiman619]

Hapax slashes at the elemental next to him, hoping to drop it before heading to the ones to the north.

Spoiler: OOC

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Attack! (1d20+7)[17] (2d6+5)[13]
If I drop it, I move north 10 feet

[Kagari1605]

Turning his attention to the next elemental Lelouch raised and swung his greataxe at the creature

Spoiler: combat

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Attack:(1d20+5)[15]
Damage:(1d12+4)[9]

[SwordChucks]

More elementals fall to the parties blows until only two remain. Heavily damaged they try to run from the group, their playtime apparently spoiled.

Spoiler

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Eugene, Bravery, and Hapax get AOOs as the elementals flee. If you feel like finishing them then it's also your turn.

[SwordChucks]

As the elementals flee, the party cuts them down. They'll no longer blight the animal pen, but they've left an unusual viscous membrane as their forms collapsed.

The ram pokes his head out of the stable and gives a loud snort before returning to be with the ewes. He appears unwounded besides his pride.

Spoiler: Spellcraft DC 15

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The fact that the elementals left behind remains means that they weren't summoned, they were on the Material Plane via some other means.

Spoiler: Craft: Alchemy DC 15 or Knowledge: The Planes DC 10

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The elemental remains are known as Elemental Essence and can be used in alchemical concoctions or as a power component for water based spells. If held in a water-tight container, elemental essence can last almost indefinitely. You could harvest a vial from each of the 6 elementals if you so desire.

Spoiler: As a power component:

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+1 circumstance bonus to CL for water based effects, Price: 50gp