Wild Ride on Turtle Mountain Wednesday August 13th, 2003 9:43:55 AM
Everybody climbs on the turtle or in the boat, and waits.
The creature sits there for several long minutes, but then, without warning, starts shuffling into the water.
The people on the turtle experience a not unpleasant up and down motion as it draws itself forward on its flippers. Those in the boat hear a loud grating sound as the vessel grinds along the metal floor.
Very quicky, both beast and boat are on the water's surface, moving steadily toward a very solid looking metal wall.
The wall looms closer and closer.
Then, in an instant, the turtle, the boat, and all the occupants thereof go...down.
(Roll reflex check DC 10, add INT modifier)
Xenia d20+9=17 Wednesday August 13th, 2003 10:50:17 AM
Xenia stands atop the giant turtle, huge white grin on her face as it pulls itself out into the water and begins bobbing along. She enjoys the spectacle of the immense walls of the flood lock as they seem to glide by as though they were the one's moving. She stands hands on hips thinking that his is just a fine way to travel, when the floor drops out from underneath her.
"Waaaaah!!! Furble-frelling-lation!!!," she screams as she hits the deck spread eagle and grabbing for whatever handhold she can.
Today's lesson for half elven girl: Do NOT stand up in the boat.
[[Roll 17 Reflex+7 Int+2 (basic common sense - oh well, shrug)]]
Florin d20+6=23 Wednesday August 13th, 2003 1:06:52 PM
Florin enjoys the continueing on the turtle and watches alittle bit before going ahead and leaning down, grabbing a hand hold on the turtles shell.
[Rolled a 23. Ref+5 Int+1]
Gordo d20+7=9 Wednesday August 13th, 2003 3:10:43 PM
"Whooaa Nellie!" yells the big man in exhilaration as the wild ride begins. But he is totally unprepared for the sudden descent, his mouth wide open and his fingers scrambling for a handhold as the creature suddenly submerges. (save 9)
Angus d20+3=16 Wednesday August 13th, 2003 4:14:29 PM
Angus seems none too happy climing into the boat, especially the way his day has gone so far. Angus comments to Bralin. "OH for granite under my feet" Angus then holds on for dear life.
Roll: Ref +1 + Int +2 = 16
Bog d20+5=24 Wednesday August 13th, 2003 5:29:57 PM
Bog opts for the turtle and is quite excited about that fact opting to sit near the head.
"Sooo, wot's't lak bein a tortel?" he says as he traces the shapes on the turtle's shell with his finger.
THe turtle starts to submerge and Bog is ready for it. "Hey dere! Wot ya doin! Yer gonna get our clothes a'wet!"
Bog hangs onto the lip of the shell as the turtle dives.
Tionel d20+5=6 Wednesday August 13th, 2003 10:37:41 PM
Tionel is too wrapped up in the moving turtle. He actually strokes the side of it with a hand. "This is neat! We should have turtle rides back in the forest...we could charge a silver a person..." he is saying and suddenly --- Sploosh!
Bralin d20+2=13 Thursday August 14th, 2003 7:54:49 AM
The dwarf sits in the boat as its dragged along, grimly cluthing the sides in a white-knuckled grip.
He can only silently agree to Angus' comment, giving the man a curt nod and then staring ahead at the upcoming walls, willing this...mode of travel to be over as soon as possible.
The onrushing wall can only mean one thing, and Bralin holds his breath in resignation as he is submerged. (Save = 13)
Runaway Turtle! (DM MikeK) Thursday August 14th, 2003 8:05:50 AM
Instinctively, everyone holds their breath as the turtle submerges. Ten seconds pass under the water. Twenty seconds. Thirty.
The beast breaks the surface and leaps into the sky before coming back down with a resounding crash. Water flies everywhere as the turtle resumes its breathtaking sprint across the surface of the lake.
Gordo and Tionel hit the surface sputtering and coughing as both caught a good lungful of water. But neither has taken any permanent damage.
The turtle continues to bounce at great speed, causing huge waves of warm water to crash into the riders of both turtle and boat. Its wet, its slippery, its hard to see. Doing anything beside just plain hanging on will require a Concentration check (DC10).
Ahead, a small group of fishing boats gets larger and larger as the turtle heedlessly bounds for them. Fishermen on the boats point to the oncoming projectile and scramble back from the sides of their boats, leaving nets and poles in the water.
The turtle recklessly closes on the boats. Will it crash? Will it snare a net? Will it submerge again?
Angus d20+2=13 Thursday August 14th, 2003 8:24:33 AM
Angus is none too pleased with the situation and is hanging on for dear life, but can not help but look around and enjoy some of the view. Angus also attempts to see how everyone else is doing. Angus comments to Bralin "Bralin are we getting a little close to those boats?"
Concentration check: 11+2=13
Xenia d20=18 Thursday August 14th, 2003 9:57:46 AM
"Pah. Pah. Ptah." Xenia clings to the back of the giant turtle and sputters as they make air and land hard. But she's got a good firm grip. And, though wet ain't necessarily good, the water is warm and, as she looks up, the spray in her face is kind of nice too. And this flying through the water is really kind of exciting!
Of course, she's gonna have to get out of these wet things and dry off on the other side, she thinks with one of those "uh-oh" kind of thoughts. But, she trusts all the guys here to be gentlemen. Either that or she'll punch 'em one.
"Hey, look at the boats!" she laughs. Aren't they just so kind of small and cute out there.
"Hey! We're gonna go by them!" She wonders if she should risk letting go a hand and waving. Then a tiny crease of worry appears between her brows.
[[Concentration 18 (uncharacteristic, but not unwelcome.)]]
Florin Thursday August 14th, 2003 3:28:08 PM
Florin holds on to the turtle now for dear life, not liking the way the shell has suddenly got slippery and hard to grip. He says little and doesn't move from where he is while the turtle continues on, he only prays in his mind that Domi doesn't let him fall off and probably drown in his heavy breastplate.
Bralin Thursday August 14th, 2003 3:41:22 PM
Bralin sits riveted to the seat of the boat. His jaw is firmly set and his hands dig deeply into the wood of the vessel.
A low, bass, toneless humming starts to emanate from the dwarf's grim visage.
Tionel d20+1=3 Thursday August 14th, 2003 6:04:08 PM
Tionel comes up coughing and spluttering...he somehow manages to retain his quarterstaff in hand but he's unable to do anything but sputter out some rather filthy language (for an elf) and hold onto the turtle.
Gordo Thursday August 14th, 2003 6:10:03 PM
"Phtui! thrrwpp! Egad, what do they put in the water around these parts? On seconds thoughts don't answer that..." splutters the big man as he hangs on for dear life.
Land Ho! (DM MikeK) Friday August 15th, 2003 10:33:16 AM
The boats take up more and more and more of everyone's vision.
Just as everyone becomes firmly convinced they're about to be the catch of the day, the crazy reptile veers very sharply left and follows it with an equally sharp turn to the right.
Just like that, the boats are dwindling behind you.
Of course, all that veering makes for even more waves of water and spray, and now the enticing aroma of dead fish accompanies each sloshing wall of water.
Minutes pass, and the shoreline mercifully approaches. The turtle careens into the shore, spinning itself to face outward, and flinging the boat around in the process. Occupants of the boat must make a Balance or Strength check vs DC15 or get launched out of the boat and onto the sandy shore.
The turtle, now sitting quietly on the beach, waits.
You've made it to land, a small strip (45') or sand before the jungle starts.
Xenia Friday August 15th, 2003 11:34:40 AM
"Woooooo-hooooooo!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" Alexandria Next shouts and laughs as she jumps down off of the great turtle's back. "That was fun!"
Sand kicks up off the beach as she lands. It covers her boots and sticks to her pants. Gritty sand. She looks up the slope of the beach to see if there might be a good place to change.
"Do we have time to dry off?" she asks. "Tionel? You wouldn't have a towel, would you?"
Xenia d20+8=21 Friday August 15th, 2003 11:36:52 AM
OOC: Sorry, [[Spot d20 13+8=21]] for good place to change. (Where the guys can't peek.)
Tionel d20+8=19 Friday August 15th, 2003 11:48:08 AM
The elf coughs and splutters as he literally crawls off the turtles back onto the beach and rolls over. "Alive," he croaks, "I'm alive..." It takes him a few moments to recover. He opens his backpack, proud that its contents are completely dry. He nods to Xenia and hands her a towel as he takes a few liberal gulps from his canteen. Then he sits up and splooshes into the water, trying to clean his current clothes as much as he can, then he comes back out and gets changed into another set of clothes he had stored in his bag. Feeling much better, he says, "Well, then...where's that forest everyone fears so much?" (Wilderness Lore DC 19 to see if I can identify the surrounding trees and such...)
Bralin d20+4=9 Friday August 15th, 2003 3:42:22 PM
The increasingly sullen dwarf careens along in the boat without expression, his tuneless hum barely audible to everyone but Florin, who sits next to him.
As the boat is flung onshore, Bralin's powerful hands prove to be too much for the wooden sides. They are crushed in his grip, and suddenly the dwarf is airborne.
He bounces several times along the sandy beach before coming to a halt.
Slowly, he picks himself up. His drenched beard, hair and whiskers are breaded with sand. His eyes grimly peer out from white-packed sand.
The dwarf tromps across the sand until he stands face to face with the creature responsible for all this.
Looking the turtle in the eye, he announces to no one in particular, "We will not employ this beast for our return."
Angus Friday August 15th, 2003 3:58:58 PM
During the wild ride Angus alternates from holding on to the boat to holding his leather hat (the only truly water proof item he owns)
Angus quickly leaves the boat and distances himself down the beach from the turtle. Angus inspects his cloths and belongings, very carefully going through the 5 pouches he has on his belt.
Once Xenia goes to change, Angus changes out of his soaking wet blue and red pants and shirt and into his slightly less wet yet stylish green and brown pants and shirt attire. Angus returns the wet cloths in a small sack in his backpack.
Angus pulls out his hip flask and takes a drink and offers wine to any who will have it. "Wine for anyone, it will not dry you off, but it may improve your day."
Florin d20+2=12 d20+1=6 Friday August 15th, 2003 8:51:00 PM
Florin moves down from the back of the turtle and moves to check on Bralin, "You okay?"
Once he checks on Bralin he looks to the others and then down at his breastplate armor, "I regret to say we should find wood and make a small fire, our armors need cleaned and weapons also since we won't want rusted or poor equipment in battle." Florin glances to each person in turn before speaking once again, "I don't think we should travel to far until we are dry and armor and weapons are cleaned so I offer to help anyone who has knowledge of forests so we can make this process faster. I also don't mean to sound like I'm taking charge but having squeeky armor and weapons aren't exactly something I like if we need to go into a forest which seems to have a bad reputation."
[Search:12 Spot:6. Rolls are for both noticing any danger plus searching for wood to make a small fire for.]
Gordo Saturday August 16th, 2003 3:43:15 PM
Gordo stands on the beach dripping and grinning. "That was some ride, big guy!" he says to the turtle fondly. "Don't mind old Bralin, he loves you really!"
Gordo looks about. Then he answers Florin; "Well son, we could light a fire, but we'd let everyone in a ten mile radius know we were here if we did. I wouldn't worry about the wet: if the humidity in there is anything like the last time we'll be just as drenched from sweat within 10 minutes as we are now from the lake."
The big man eyes the tree line, eager to be off.
Tionel Sunday August 17th, 2003 5:08:59 AM
Eagerly, the clean elf accepts the wine offering from Angus. "Tasty! Here, try some of this, it's a bit of Happy's special stock..." He offers a wineskin back, and around if anyone else wants some. He even offers the dwarf a towel and a brush to clean out his beard (and a flask of whiskey subtly along with that, if he desires).
"Well, that would normally be a good idea, but I don't really have any armor, or any weapons." And it's true. The elf is wearing just regular clothes, and besides his dagger (which is still in his pack, sheathed, and he left his scimitar back at their house) and his walking stick/quarterstaff, he carries nothing. "Never have really bothered with those things... I mean, somebody could get hurt, and probably me, with the way I handle those things..."
Tionel pulls on his pack and gets ready to go. "But don't worry. I can handle myself well in a fight, usually, and I know many of nature's secrets," he says cryptically. "Even though I profess to be an entertainer, my uncle taught me much about the ways and secrets of the Wold, and though I'm not exactly the most devout disciple, I have had some druidic training, though I much prefer singing as a career path..."
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