Slaves to desires.

[Maryring]

3rd group.

Scouting ahead, Zhahn finds nothing of particular interest along the forest path. It is just a plain-jane path, twisting through the forest towards another settlement which again leads to a third, and so on. He returns to the rest of the group, who have already begun climbing the mountain path. Halfway up on the mountain, they find a group of several caves, as well as signs and planks blocking entrance to most caves, as well as the path further up on the mountain. Reading the signs reveal warnings about the area being a dangerous mine, though it does not specify why. Still, the caves seem like sturdy shelters against wind and weather. A swift search of the area shows signs that it has been abandoned for a long time. Picks lie scattered across the ground, most of them rusted with rotten handles. Some old buildings stand here, still resisting the passage of time. Others yet have broken down to rubble. Crates of earth, stone and quartz crystals lie scattered around, maybe with something valuable hidden in any of them, but probably not.

[Duke of URL]

Zhahn

The eagle hovers near the ground in front of the caves, relaying to the others the lack of anything interesting on the forest path. "Unless, of course, you want to try to explain yourselves to the humanoids. As for me," he says, with an exaggerated stretch of his wings, "I've had enough of their kind for two lifetimes."


He ponders the caves. "These were abandoned for not being safe... the good news is that none of the bipeds in the villages below will bother us here. The bad news is we don't know why they are considered unsafe. Still, they will offer shelter and a bit of privacy until we can make better plans."

[Aergoth]

"Do you have any idea where we are Friend Atta-Liberator?"Siv stops for a second. "That might be a problem, Friend Atta-Liberator. Names for us are more along the lines of... descriptions. Places of birth, parentage, appearances and things done are all a part of a name. They are usually much easier to... say?" Siv continues speaking motioning with his hands while walking along the path.

[Maryring]

"Yes, but right now, we do not want you to be recognized... or for someone to try and recognize you since it would be impossible for them. If someone asks who you are... you should merely respond... Fleetfoot. Yeah, that should be a good name for this disguise." Atta takes note of the way Siv moves his hands and frowns slightly. "And you should try to keep your gestures to a minimum. While we do use gestures, our gestures are a bit different than those of your kind, so your intentions may be misunderstood." She stares up into the sky. "And no, I cannot say where we are. But maybe... once I know the name of the village I might be able to figure that out."

[ColdSepp]

"Sentry" - Forest

Sentry lays out in the sunniest spot he can find, lightly dozing. The only movement is the floating Ioun Stone, and the occasional twitch of his tail.

[SoD]

Krrk

Staring at the two huge dragons duking it out, Krrk stares in silence for a few seconds. "Whoa. Now that's a sight an' a half!"

[Dreamshifter]

Entara, lord of the Trees

Ohh, pretty fire. I should check that out. He flies down for better cover, and since he's already near the others, yells out "Looks like you are too late on the fire warning, Big Puppy. Someone has started to burn stuff without me! Oh, and they are coming this way, too. I'm gonna check out that fire, though. Such prettiness..."

[RandomLunatic]

Come back here and call me 'Pup' again, bird! Katrina yells after the departing Entara. Rolling up onto her stomach, she says I don't know how you do it, to Sentry, But I don't think the old ways of hunting work anymore. We're probably better off waiting for them to come to us, then pouncing.

[ColdSepp]

"Sentry", 1st Group

Sentry opens one slitted eye, and clicks his jaws. "I am remarkably full... and warm." He rolls about into a sunnier spot. "Are you sure we have to hunt them? Atta didn't seem scared to go into the village."

[Kuma Da]

Margaret, 3rd group

Caverns? Caves? Shelteringdark. Safe safe warm like nest safe. Cleverbright girl will scout. Will find somewhere to curl up for when the sun slips away. Will...will tell the notmes of this?

Mostly unused muscles in the back of Margaret's throat grumble to life and she croaks out sound.

"Is talk. Is talkfast. Thisgirl goes seecaves. Comes back. Shares seecaves."

Margaret darts off into the depths.

OOC: Moving into the caves at 160 feet per round to do some speed-scouting. At the first sign of something dangerous, she'll come flying back out at a run (800 feet per round.) For navigational purposes, she'll stick to the left wall.

[GrassyGnoll]

Marquis, 2nd group

"Indeed, but I imagine there's little difference would would make," the floating fuzzball meditates.

"We'll be making our way to the glacier, the best way to locate the nearest human community," he states matter-of-factly. Marquis levitates his way along the path, taking an occasional over the shoulder glance to watch the dragons' tussle.

[J-H]

Sivore, 3rd group, near mines
Sivore uses Detect Magic, walking around the area and focusing on anything of particular interest. He also watches for food.

Spoiler

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Detect Magic for 6 minutes = 60 rounds, time to move and sweep quite a bit of area

[Renthur]

With a yawn and an idle stretch Freki sits himself up. "I do think they said we shouldn't kill things, I suppose if they bother us we..... make them hold still?"

[Khosan]

Animus, Group 3

Animus eyed the entrance of the cave. He remembered stories about caves, something about little, stabby people who lived in them or collapsing. The thought of living in one that was flat-out labeled as 'dangerous' didn't seem entirely appealing to him. Everyone else's responses to the cave worried him, "Are we sure this is a good idea? Any of this, I mean. We don't know where we are, we barely know who each one of us is and what we're individually capable of."

[RandomLunatic]

Katrina

If they find us, we will have to kill them. We cannot let news of us get out-we are too distinctive. Warren will hound us if he ever finds out. You heard how he was going after this 'M', I trust?

After a moment's consideration, she adds, However, they may be able to tell us something useful, so it may be worht the effort to not kill immediately.

[The_Shaman]

Karook, 2nd group

Karook watches the dragons fight, squinting. He sighs wistfully, and looks around for the other members of the group. Suit yourself, Marquis, but I've had enough of humans for a while. I also doubt that all of us will be accepted warmly there, either. We can't stay here either, though - the caves probably belong to the dragon-beasts, and they may not like company.

[Mephit]

Smaug, Group 2 - The Cave

Smaug was a bit staggered by the sudden transportation and a little desoriented until he hears the dragons roar. He flies out of the cave and with eyes the size of plates, he watches the great scaled creatures in the air. He ignores most of his companions' remarks or replies with a mumbled 'Yeah, sure...' until Karook speaks.

Suit yourself, Marquis, but I've had enough of humans for a while. I also doubt that all of us will be accepted warmly there, either. We can't stay here either, though - the caves probably belong to the dragon-beasts, and they may not like company.

The lizard turns to the Baboon, his head slightly turned to the side.
"Oh no, there's nothing to fear from my brothers" he claims self-assuredly. "I'm sure once they see you're with me, they won't mind if we stay around here. We are noble beings, after all, and children of the Concordant One.
He pauses for a bit, sighing of the sheer marvel of the dragons' combat.
"Maybe I should see if they could tell me where we are... he says to no one in particular.

Spoiler

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[roll=Knowledge(Arcana)]1d20+9[/roll]
To know as much as possible about the two dragon races, or to recognize something special or unusual for dragons.

---

* post roll count doesn't match database

[Aergoth]

Trying very hard not to gape at the village, and keep his hands from twitching, Siv attempts something resembling a calm, easy saunter. Achieved is an awkward and slow, if barely calm sort of half-step gait. "People. Lotsof people." Siv twitches nervously, almost barking out the words.

[ColdSepp]

"Sentry"

"We could just keep them captive till Atta returns, then decide... she is a mage, and mages can do /anything/. After all, a mage made us." Sentry says, rolling to his feet and standing. "No need to kill if we don't need to eat, after all."

[RandomLunatic]

Katrina, Group 1

And a wizard's gonna un-make us if word gets out, Katrina says. Sniffing the air, she peers into the trees from the direction Entara came from. Where are they, anyway?

((Spotting hunters (1d20+10=13)))

[Duke of URL]

Zhahn (Group 3)

"Are we sure this is a good idea? Any of this, I mean. We don't know where we are, we barely know who each one of us is and what we're individually capable of."

"Sure? No, of course not. But it stands to reason that danger lies deeper inside -- there are several caves, and look to have been worked for some time. As for who I am and what I am capable of" he says as rises and begins to circle, "I am Zhahn, from an eyrie unknown, as the foul wizard stole me when I was but an egg. I remember little of the diabolical experiments performed on me, but I can call down pure energy from the sky to harm and bewilder my foes. I can see that which may otherwise be hidden."

With almost a smirk, he adds, "I can also tell that we did not reach our promised destination -- far from it. We are stuck more or less where we were, cosmically speaking. We're still on the same plane of existence, though I have no idea how far we are from our torturers."

[ColdSepp]

"Sentry" Group 1

"No doubt the heard the little bird screaming." He says, sniffing the air. "I am heading to try and flank them.... you do know what flanking is, right?" He eyes the wolf, then stalks of into the trees, his claws throwing up furrows of earth.

Spoiler

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Spot (1d20+2)[15]
Listen (1d20+2)[22]

[Dreamshifter]

Entara, Group 1

Having issues a warning to the others, Entara continues to the fire, observing it's fuel (and thereby who might be around it), and the chances of it raging out of control. He also tries to estimate if it is large enough for him to stand in, given his adaptation to the flame.

Spoiler

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Basically, he is trying to estimate if the average damage of a fire that size would exceed his Fire Resistance 10. I'm away from my books at the moment, so I can't even look it up. And, there is no Knowledge: Fire skill. But just in case...
(1d20)[17] +3 for Int, +2 for Pyro levels?

[Maryring]

Group 1:

Atta notices Siv's reaction to the settlement and quickly grabs hold of his hands. "Siv. Siv! Calm down. They're not gonna hurt you. And even if they wanted, they can't. The two of us together are far too strong for them." She stares him right into the eye, hoping to make him regain some measure of control, before she smiles and turns back to the village. "Besides, if you want to remain leader of our group, you need to be able to handle large groups." She nods and leads him into the village.

The village greets Siv and Atta with a lot of noise. A dog chased by a group of curious children races past them only moments after they step into the village. A few steps later, they overhear a couple arguing with each other, and even further they see three women gossiping together. Atta smiles confidently and turns to Siv. "So... great leader. What will you do first?"

...

Meanwhile, in the forest. Sentry moves around to look for the hunters. As do Katrina. They sniff around, trying to find the hunters, but the scent eludes them because of the wind. There is a deathly silence, and then... four arrows fly out of the forest and strike into Katrina. The poison on each arrow seeping deep into Katrina's hide. A quick glance towards where the arrows came from finally reveals four male humans, all aiming their bows towards Katrina, awaiting to see if the poisons take effect.

Spoiler

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Roll initiative. Katrina takes a total of 20 damage from the arrows, and must make four saves against poison. DC 16, DC 17, DC 15 and DC 16 or take 3 con, 4 dex, 2 str, 3 dex damage.

[RandomLunatic]

((How far away are they?

Initiative (1d20-1=3)
Fortitude saves (1d20+21=23, 1d20+21=37, 1d20+21=28, 1d20+21=39)

Pass, Pass, Pass, and Passed.))

[Renthur]

Freki sinks down into a hunting stance, readily searching out the humans.

Spoiler

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(1d20+17)[27] Spot for Freki. (1d20+2)[17] Initiative for Freki.

[ColdSepp]

"Sentry"

Sentry heads toward the sound of a wolf howling like it just had an arrow stuck into it's nose...

Spoiler

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Initiative (1d20+6)[11]
Stance is still Crushing Weight of the Mountain

[Maryring]

2nd group.

The group seems to dissolve as Marquis moves up towards the glacier to get a better view, while Margaret dashes away into the caves, running at incredible speed. The rest seem enthralled by the deadly dance between the dragons.

As the top of the glacier comes into view, Marquis can see that the icy fields stretch quite far, but at the far end he can see them finally going down into more pleasant territory. He also thinks he can spot a village in the distance but... he's not certain.

[Aergoth]

Siv has to resist growling and twitching as he stares at the village.
"I'vegot it. Ithink." Siv twitches his head a little, and then stops, grabbing the handle of the dagger at his belt.
"We go. I'll dealwith it." Siv tightens his grip on the handle of the dagger.

[Gorgondantess]

Fawkes ruffles his wings, irked at his lack of knowledge.
Ah, well, I never learned much about this world... just the things around it.

He flies down from his perch to find Animus and Zahn talking.

"Well, obviously we are not in our intended destination," he says, in a quiet, lightly condescending voice. "As for the mines, why in the world would we want to go in there? What promises could that hold? Only danger and dead ends. I am going to the human settlement to see what more I can learn. This wilderness holds no interest for me." He floats up in to the air, ethereally, and bolts off over the city at top speed.

Spoiler

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So, he moves at 360 per round, and flies over the city and back, examining the ground and the things on it as he goes, keeping special interest in any insignias or distinguishing marks.