Emrys d20+12=21 ; d100=30 ; d20+14=29 ; Wednesday January 23rd, 2013 10:51:40 PM
Emrys is somewhat taken aback by what he just heard and witnessed. It begins to dawn on him that their scars may run deeper than he thought. He is very unsettled by this and the urgency in Vaniime's tone, about their tattered clothes, only alarms him more. The style does looks familiar, but he can't remember their significance (Knowledge [history]: 21).
He is conflicted ... and the idea torments him, however he can't help but feel there is something dark and sinister about either some or all of these children. Some of their wounds are recent. A direct question was asked about those wounds and yet was completely ignored. Emrys can't help but feel they're hiding much more than what they're letting us know. (Sense Motive: 29)
(ignore the d100, pressed by accident)
DM Ezra: The wounds are only on Kaitrin's arms, and closer inspection shows that they are likely marking time, or more specifically, a mark per day counting one year, 11 months, and 14 days, though some of the scars have grown smudged, and she's running out of unmarked skin.
DM Carl as Eleanor Goode & others Wednesday January 23rd, 2013 10:59:21 PM I just realized I neglected to give XP for the first scene: 500xp for everyone, plus an extra 50 to Emrys for showing me how foolish it was to not take a well-crafted bard into account when designing NPCs.
***
Heath looks up at Tuck. "Shandresh? She was a high muckety-muck of Ga'al. Now she just floats up there in her bubble. Turns out gods don't take kindly to those who misinterpret their dogma. Crazy broad figured if we couldn't be trusted with free will, we couldn't be trusted with smarts or bodies either." He looks around a bit. "Ooze, ya see? No smarts, no bodies, no will. Stupid lady...what use are these things to anybody, especially a god?" His voice gets lower & he moves in closer to Tuck. "I'll tell you what, though...before she messed it up, that lady had power. As for the fortress, it's that way over the lake of ooze. There's a raft you can use. We decided to burn it last. We don't know what's inside. Naomi got nosy and lost her arm. We didn't feel too curious after that. Hey, you're heroes...you go check it out. Just don't decide to leave us behind if you find a way out."
DM Ezra Thursday January 24th, 2013 2:41:10 AM
Andrei gives Wilma a confused look, "that portal is the only way we know to get in or out of here. Shandresh's focus could swell the ground to the portal allowing her minions access to Wold. She's too crazy to focus on anything now." Responding to Vaniime, Andrei keeps a close eye on Eleanor's meal preperations, his, and the other children's growing hunger is evident. "The pants I wore when I arrived. I've had to make some repairs, the shirt came from one of the cultists, don't remember which one, same for the rest of us."
Emrys recalls one of the more boring classes he took on Woldian fashion. He recalls seeing something much like the styling of the pips on Andrei and Heath's pants that were high fashion centuries ago, definitely the Fourth age, maybe even the Third, if only he had studied a little more on that chapter. Of course who would have thought he'd actually need to know that stuff. He doesn't get any sense of deception from the children, they appear to be hungry, slightly off their rockers, and really, really wanting to go home.
[b]
Wilma; AC17 (+1 Mithril chain shirt); HP35/35 Thursday January 24th, 2013 3:34:04 AM
Wilma suddenly remembered something--that Ga'al hadn't had female clerics in literally ages..
"Wait...you've been here for almost two years now..?" she asked Andrei directly. "What year was it when you left the Wold? Do you remember..?"
'Gargul, please let me be wrong about this...' Wilma prayed silently.
Ariach AC 26/14/19 ; HP 59/59 Thursday January 24th, 2013 5:22:58 PM
Ariach absolutely wants to check out the fortress. But he understands that first they have to alley the childrens´hunger. While lady Goode is preparing the meal he keeps watch. From time to time he watches the others and listens carefully to their ideas.
Tuck HP 42/42 AC 18/18/14 Thursday January 24th, 2013 8:32:05 PM
"Shandresh. Does that name mean anything to anyone?" He looks at his fellow teammates, especially the smartypants, Emrys. "Some cleric of Ga'al. I wonder why they brought these children with them. Whatever the purpose, it looks like it's been abandoned."
Speaking again with Heath, "Was Shandresh the leader of the cultists? Was she the one that brought you and the adults to this place? Was she the one that changed the adults to these...things?" He gestured in disgust to the slimes milling about.
Emrys Thursday January 24th, 2013 8:41:09 PM
(Thanks Carl, but I think Kent deserves that extra xp. His check was a point higher a few turns back.)
Emrys' eyes go wide with the sudden realization as the facts slowly begin to present themselves. He takes Vaniime aside, and any other Vanguards within reach, for a quick sidebar. Emrys whispers, "You have a keen eye, Vaniime. If it not for your observation, I would not have noticed. Their clothes harken back to a time much more distant than two years! I'd say those clothes were in fashion more than a 150 years ago, possibly as far back as the third age!" He pauses for this to sink in. "Time in this realm is not relative to our own. There are several such examples of this with other known realms." Emrys checks his calculations and then continues, "I estimate that in the past 15 to 20 minutes since we arrived, we have been absent from the Living Wold for 27 hours ... give or take an hour or two!!"
Emrys d20+12=25 ; Thursday January 24th, 2013 8:44:27 PM
"That's a good question, Tuck."
Emrys tries his best to answer Tuck, because he really wants to know himself. Who is this Shandresh?
"I would agree Emrys, These are remnants of clothing that I have seen in drawings from my mother's mother's time. I would say at least 300 - 400 years ago.
I think we need to do something real soon about getting out of here. I also think we need to tell these kids just how far off their time is.
We know the portal here is closed, and I am assuming that we don't have a way to open it. So I guess we need to head out there to the fortress to find another way out. Question is do we need to take them with or do we leave them here and assume we need to come back in order to take them with us/"
Grell Thursday January 24th, 2013 9:34:31 PM
All of this talking and no killing is giving Grell a headache. He gingerly rubs his temples as the discussions continue. Then, it looks like a decision is being made. Forcing a smile, Grell shifts his sword in anticipation of heading to the fortress.
DM Ezra Friday January 25th, 2013 2:51:11 AM
(OOC: looks like part of my last post was eaten)
Andrei gives Wilma a confused look, "what year? 402..." (OOC:Interesting to note that the PTB have failed to have a calendar and date line in the Woldepedia,) Wilma quickly determines this is at least two hundred years in the past, there was some confusion on year counting at the beginning of the current age.
Rolling his eyes, Heath admits "yes, just like Andrei said, Shandresh was one of Ga'al's top people, but she strayed from the path and did something to change the cultists into oozes, her idea of fulfilling Ga'al's purpose."
The name Shandresh comes to mind for those that passed a DC 25 religion check. Highlight to display spoiler: {She was on the verge of becoming an avatar of Ga'al, and one of the most powerful people in the Wold when she abruptly disappeared from mainstream society. There were many rumors that she had started a cult with plans to bring an extreme view of Ga'al's domination to the Wold.}
DM Carl as Eleanor Goode & others Friday January 25th, 2013 8:23:35 AM
By this time, Eleanor has managed to gather enough ingredients to start putting something together. "What do you mean there's no water? You drink that gunk over there?" She's obviously exasperated as she works with Hastein. "Let's at least boil it and see if we can get some of the thicker gunk out."
She turns to the Vanguard. "You folks go on ahead without me. I'll make sure these kids get something to eat." She makes a little "shoo-shoo" motion with her hands as she speaks.
Katrin squats next to Eleanor as she works. The girl lightly holds on to Eleanor's dress as she works, seemingly mesmerized by the texture of the fabric.
Thessa Friday January 25th, 2013 10:15:32 AM
Thessa, who was extraordinarily grateful for the distraction, has been playing with the ooze as she talks to Gurtrude about Mister Farnsworth, about her life before this place, and her experiences here. Only partly keeping track of the conversation between Wilma, Emrys, Vaniime and the group, she does hear something about it being hundreds of years since they left the Wold.
Poor thing, she thinks to herself. Gurtrude's family, friends, everyone she knows is probably gone. This realization makes her sad, but even more resolute to free Gurtrude and the rest of the children from this depressing place. Unless Gurtrude insists on her keeping Mister Farnsworth, she'll gently hand it back to her after their conversation.
Thessa stands up, screws a grim and determined expression on her face and joins the rest of the group as they discuss the next course of action.
Wilma; AC17 (+1 Mithril chain shirt); HP35/35 d20+9=27 ; Friday January 25th, 2013 1:14:59 PM
Hearing Andrei confirm her suspicions and then getting Vaniime and Emrys' input was enough confirmation for Wilma.
(OOC: Wilma's Religion roll is 27.)
"Oh, hells..." she groaned, finally recalling why 'Shandresh' sounded so vaguely familiar, "...Shandresh, of course! She is the reason why Ga'al no longer has female clerics...she was trying to establish a cult of extremists in Ga'al's name, but she disappeared from the history of Aisildur two or three hundred years ago." She frowned.
"From what these kids have been telling us," Wilma reasoned out loud, "Shandresh obviously incurred the displeasure of Ga'al and has been punished by him. But Emrys is right--time is passing much, much slower here than in the Wold, and if we don't get out of here soon, years and years will have passed by the time we get back home!" The redhead shuddered at the thought.
"What do you think, then..? Shall we go and see if there is something in that 'Fortress of Slime-itude' that can help us leave..?"
Tuck HP 42/42 AC 18/18/14 d20+6=11 ; Friday January 25th, 2013 6:23:46 PM
Tuck shrugs at Wilma's suggestion to explore the Slimy Fort. "It doesn't seem that we're going to get anywhere standing here. Someone or something must have built it. Perhaps that something is still there and knows a bit more about this place than the children."
(Knowledge Religion 11)
Ariach AC 26/14/19 ; HP 59/59 Friday January 25th, 2013 6:29:26 PM
Ariach repeats his opinion to Wilma.
"Of course we have to go to the fortress. And we have to go fast. We must find someone or something what helps us to leave this realm. Perverted magic seems to be dangerous. Maybe there is a chance one of you is able to talk to the ghost of this female priest called Shandresh. If she got punished by Ga´al she maybe helps us to flee from this place and has no motivation to keep us here."
The longer the group is here, the more the group finds out about the place, the more Ariach wishes to leave the place. He silently prays to Domi to help his friends finding out more about a possibility to go back home.
DM Carl as Eleanor Goode & others Friday January 25th, 2013 8:27:47 PM "Ghost? Geez...do you people listen? I just said she was up there in a bubble." Heath glares at Ariach as he speaks.
Vaniime AC 18/14/14, HP:45/45 Friday January 25th, 2013 8:27:52 PM
Alrighty then. Let's head out. The sooner we leave the sooner we can get back and get out of here.
Wilma; AC17 (+1 Mithril chain shirt); HP35/35 Saturday January 26th, 2013 12:43:44 AM "Up there in a bubble',,," Wilma echoed Heath's words, then shook her head. "Sounds like Ga'al metamorphed her into a form that keeps her from accessing her power rather than just have killed her outright. I've read that Ga'al tends to be...testy that way." The cleric of Gargul gripped her staff.
"Let's go find that boat and get to that fortress..."
Grell d20+4=18 ; Saturday January 26th, 2013 10:33:05 PM
Being of the rather literal form of mind, Grell stares up where Heath points, expecting to see a floating cleric. (Perception=18)
Emrys Sunday January 27th, 2013 2:06:34 PM
"Yes, there's no time to dilly-dally. Let's not waste another moment," replies Emrys. "I'd hate to return to Plateau City and find someone else living in our new home!"
DM Ezra Monday January 28th, 2013 11:44:19 AM Emrys recalls a fleeting sense of an intelligence beyond the wall of the cavern they are in, but Heath called it a bubble... more than one bubble in the ooze?
While Eleanor continues to prepare some real food for the children, the party decides that finding a path to the fortress is their next course of action.
Continuing down slope through the crumbling ruins the group soon finds themselves on the shore of a lake of ooze that stretches off into the distance. Scattered here and there are gently bobbing islands of dried material, much like what they are standing on now. Most of these islands contain the remnants of structures that look like what was once residential quarters. Through the dim light a vague sense of straight lines can be seen off in the distance, but details can't be made out.
Along the shore are a couple of collections of boards loosely held together by rotting strands of what looks like twisted cloth. Two of them look to still be ooze worthy, with care.
Wilma; AC17 (+1 Mithril chain shirt); HP35/35 Monday January 28th, 2013 3:05:40 PM
Wilma frowned at the "boats".
"My kingdom for one of those magic boat tokens..." she mumbled.
"Anybody have some rope?" the priestess asked. "We could use it to make sure the rafts stay together, rather than relying on this stuff--" Here she picked at one of the rotted cloth bindings on the wood, "--to keep the rafts from disintegrating." She shook her red head.
"I have two lengths of silk rope," Wilma lamented, "But they were inside my backpack...the one that isn't working now..."
Ariach AC 26/14/19 ; HP 59/59 Monday January 28th, 2013 6:42:27 PM
Ariach listens to Wilma and it bothers him that he doesn´t have a rope with him. In his eyes he missed a big chance to get her attention. Hoping anyone of his group will have a rope he stands close to the shore waiting for the group´s decison what they do next.
Emrys d100=72 ; d20+10=24 ; Monday January 28th, 2013 7:29:29 PM
"Hopefully this should do the trick," mutters Emrys. After the young bard begins to manipulate a few loose boards on the lesser of the two oozeworthy rafts, he begins to weave his hands in the air over it. This is a unusual style of casting for Emrys. The method and mannerisms appear oddly primitive, yet exotic, as if he was fabricating the spell on the fly.
(Knowledge [Engineering]: 24, to repair more effectively. Casting Make Whole on the weakest oozeworthy raft. 30 cu. ft. is effected and repaired.)
"Assistance would be most appreciated with the other." Emrys continues making quick repairs by repeatedly using the Mending magik. As he works, Emrys reminds the group of the other intelligent mind he sensed when he first entered the place. "I only sensed it for just a moment. I wasn't able to read its thoughts."
Tuck HP 42/42 AC 18/18/14 d20+11=24 ; Monday January 28th, 2013 7:42:49 PM
"Alas, Wilma, my rope is also hidden in my magicked haversack. We're going to have to trust to old Emmie's magic, I suppose. We should keep the craft close to an island, in case it does begin to fall apart."
Tuck attempts to determine if the lake of ooze is potentially dangerous, without actually touching it. He takes one of his arrows and stirs the ooze to see if has any effect on the arrow.
"Well there is something to be said for not always relying on magic," Vaniime states as she pulls her 50ft silk rope off the bottom of her pack. "If at all possible, I would like to keep this whole as we may need it later, but..."
Grell Monday January 28th, 2013 10:59:08 PM
Pulling out 50 foot of hemp rope from his regular backpack, Grell grins at Vaniime and his sister. "Yup, old school is the best! I've got a tent in here too if we need some fabric."
Wilma; AC17 (+1 Mithril chain shirt); HP35/35 Tuesday January 29th, 2013 12:32:41 AM
"The unusual nature of this pocket plane is what's interfering with what would normally be perfectly good haversacks," Wilma pointed out, but grinned as both her best friend and her brother were able to help out with supplying extra rope.
"Um...what will we use for a paddle...?" the human teenager asked.
Ariach AC 26/14/19 ; HP 59/59 Tuesday January 29th, 2013 4:17:22 AM
Ariach supports Grell and Vannime to fix the loose boards with their ropes.. The warrior trusts in Emry´s abilities to cast spells but why should a magical spell work in the proper way when a magical item like the magic backpack doesn´t work. Therefore he decides to count more on the regular handcraft than on magic. He unsheathes his short sword and tries to carve two paddles out of one of the boards.
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