[pnpgm] Game update #75 - File #302 - Examinations & Investigations
Scott Adams
longshot at darktech.org
Tue Sep 11 08:56:11 CEST 2007
#
HT Alias/Player Character Name Type Status/Notes Sex
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R1 John Haight...........Arawn.............Druid .Normal/Alfar Ma
?? Chris Wells...........Ben'dar...........Warrior.Normal/Human Ma
W2 Marcel Liberty........Chion.............Sailor..Normal/Human Ma
W3 Ryan Torres...........Farseeker.........Warrior.Normal/Human Ma
R3 Wayne Richardson/Uji..Thig..............Sidh MU.Normal/Faerry Ma
W2 Robert Maxwell........Strie'bog.........Bard ..Normal/Human Ma
R3 Orion (Paul Broman)...Trembyl...........Wizard..Normal/Human Ma
W4 Wout Broere...........Unali.............Ninja...Normal/Human Fe
R3 Scott Adams...........Xian..............Wizard..Normal/Human Ma
R4 Alex Koponen..........Z'leyra...........Healer..Normal/Human Fe
Animals: Corona [Eagle] Z'leyra, Boyzdar [Wolf] (Strie'bog),
Game Web Site - http://www.funport.com/longshot/pbem
Public posts/actions to pnpgm at abroere.xs4all.nl (mailing list)
Private emails (not public actions) to longshot at darktech.org
Game Update #75 in sequence (file #302)
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Admin notes: None.
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[Recap]
From Ben'dar: [Re: Actions]
Ben'Dar ignores the fallen female and has Tef'wo trot up to
the new warrior. He points his pike at the warrior menacingly.
"Who are you?" he demands. Then, tentatively he asks, "Thig,
is that you?" He thinks it is probably the faerry, hidden in
an illusion, but he is still full of adrenaline and suspicious
by nature...
Later, he slaps Farseeker on the back and grins. "No need
to apologize for a job well done, friend! Creatures such as
these would have given us nothing through questioning. Let's
search them."
Ben'Dar will help to search the bodies for anything of interest.
Using a heavy branch, he kills the snakes in the woman's
headdress one by one.
As they search the bodies, Ben'Dar comments to the others,
"I wonder where they were going. Let's continue on in the
direction they were headed for a few miles to see if there
are any more of them."
GM: Ack.
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From Chion: [Re: Actions]
Chion thinks to himself for a minute and watches the orb
slowly sinking. "Hmmm. I will toss the next one up on shore
and see what it does after I cut the cord." And he will move
to the next one and do just that. He will work the rest of the
orbs first before checking on/cutting the staffs.
GM: Ack.
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[New Stuff]
[Decalis 16th, 107th day since left Marentia, 42nd day of
Adventure #3 of the 1633rd year [TH].]
[Location: Pavassa Forest - Lake Oca/Deep Forest]
[Time - 4:05pm]
[Weather - Overcast, 59 Degrees]
[Meanwhile at the Clearing...]
[Minutes pass as the Vassa pile the last of the bodies
in one place. Xian has gathered the horses around
the wagon and secured its supplies. He ensures the
horses are all tied up around the wagon. He wraps
his hands in each and rubs them together for heat as
the temperature drops another degree in the last
couple minutes. Dark gray clouds continue to roll
in from the east. To the west the sun is still
low in the sky about 20 degrees over the horizon.
It is hard to see at this point due to the forest
trees but what light there is shines through the
forest to the clearing with many shadows cast into
the clearing. He walks to Unali to see what she
is doing.]
[Unali determines her armor will take more time and
effort to repair. Likely a good week maybe week
and a half to repair in the wilderness but maybe
less in a place like Marentia. She begins to
roll it up in a heap as she also notices the chill
air breeze blow against her. She notices Xian.
and looks up.]
Xian: "Getting colder. I suspect we'll be here for
the night. Night will come in likely an hour
maybe hour and a half. If I got my dates right
its less than a week to the official day of Winter
according to Kaylle, but its not as cold as it
could be. I wonder if Miklav or Bohusara have
something to do with it. Control a more timid
winter in this neck of the woods or the entire
forest. I've not seen it snow yet here. The
trip back to Marentia if we decide to ride rather
than teleport could be a cold one."
[Xian turns and studies the whispering crowd of Vassa
hunters. He studies there but has no clue what they
are saying even if they had Z'leyra's backfire effect
and could hear them. Being skilled in the art of
disguises Xian must study faces and body language.
He recalls how Arawn acted around Bohusara. Its
clear he doesn't trust her. Now Xian wonders the
same thing. Even after she saved Unali could it
all be just bad timing or truly an ambush she isn't
involved in? Then these four Vassa happen to show
up at the end. For reinforcements or truly to
investigate the lake disaster? Then she flies off
to the forest somewhere. But that was after
Z'leyra's spell failed badly. Xian studies the
Vassa for several long moments then shrugs. He
decides they clearly are concerned about the strange
creatures and the party than wanting to harm the
party. He looks to the lake but sees no one of the
party. He finally decides to get some work done.]
Xian: "Hey. We should collect fire wood."
[He walks toward the Vassa but clearly they don't
understand him. Xian picks up a stick and then
another one in his hands. He then drops them
to the ground in a pile and makes some hand gestures.
He then slaps his hands together to show they are
cold. One of the Vassa nods and speaks to the
others. They all nod seemingly to understand.
With that the four Vassa and Xian separate into
pairs of 2 or 3 to collect good fire wood. As
they do Xian wonders if Bohusara wouldn't mind
making a fire or should he ask her first?]
[As Unali puts her ruined chainmail into her pack she
pulls out her weapons and checks them. One spare
dagger is damaged but could be fixed. The others
are in good shape. She removes her metal helmet and
dons her fur hat, fur trim and pulls down her cowl
all to make her head warmer to the coming night chill.
She sits back against her lump of a pack and pulls
the blanket around her. She eyes the lake and wonders
about the mystery. As her strength builds minute by
minute she wonders why her horse didn't help her
in that last fight. She didn't have time to issue
commands but maybe it didn't want to fight. Maybe
she'll have to look into that or get Ben'dar to
train it as a better independent mount. As fire wood
is gathered she wonders to the Katai scroll. What
could this Product be and what is it all about? Clearly
that necromancer stuff Arawn pulled earlier didn't
help. She doesn't know much about that other than
stories as a youth. But ghosts can be clever in their
answers to the living. While they may tell the truth
the truth can be bent or twisted to their perception.
She wonders back to the cabin fight. Why would what
seem like civilized or partially civilized Witches be
doing with barbarians? While L'p'nth witches seem to
do that often with tribes up her she has not heard or
dreamed of such. Maybe sent from Katai or some other
place? She tries to recall her contacts in Katai but
it has been a long time, years since she has been there.
She may have no more contacts at this point. She
wonders if Chion does?]
[Meanwhile at small storage hutt...]
[Trembyl and Strie'bog continue to circle the area around
the small makeshift hutt. Both eye the forest around
the hutt for clues. Within a few minutes patches of
grass are found missing. Further investigation finds
piles of grass, leaves and branches. After another minute
of checking the area Trembyl comes to a conclusion.]
Trembyl: "This must be some kind of camp for them. No
blankets or tents. But these piles of grass and
branches seem to have been used as cover? Strange
creatures. From what we know they don't seem to
believe in objects like we do. Such as tents or
tools we normally use. I've heard hunters sleep
in leaves to hide their scent or if they lose their
gear. But there is no campfire. No rocks. No
ashes. Nothing."
[Both search the area further. Both are about 50 feet
north-east of the hutt now where the camp is. After
another minute bones are found in a small pile with
feathers and some skin.]
Trembyl: "Cleaned good. Animals would leave something
on the bones. Looks like small animals or birds
they must've ate. That tells us they are meat
eaters at least. Carnivores tend to be aggressive
which they clearly are."
[The area is search in a diameter of about 30 feet and
nothing of any material is found at all.]
Trembyl: "No bags. No frills. These folks must like
roughing it for sure or love pain and discomfort."
[Meanwhile at lake water edge in the east...]
[As Chion watches the head sized gray orb sink and
bob in the water he considers his next move.]
Chion: "Hmmm. I will toss the next one up on shore and
see what it does after I cut the cord."
[Chion uses a boot to move the sinking orb away just
in case a dragon or some creature pops from it and
attacks him. Satisfied its a good distance away
he turns to the next orb and begins to cut it. This
time he cuts lower on the stem and finds less resistance
to the blade. The orb falls to the water. Chion notices
the water get a bit darker brown. With a gloved hand
he picks the orb up by the small 2 inch stem and tosses
it onto the shore a few feet away. The orb lands on
the dry ground with a wet plop. Both Chion and Z'leyra
study it for a few seconds. Both notice brown water
seem to seep out of the orb like tears in small thin
slow drops. That makes sense as it was probably
coated with the brown water. Nothing else seems to
happen so Chion moves to a 3rd orb and cuts it. He
throws it onto the shore as well. Finally within
three minutes he has cut all of the robs and thrown
them into the water. Leaving only a stem from the
water down into the ground below it seems. One
orb lands near Z'leyra. To ensure a safe distance
she pokes it with her staff and finds it squishy
to the touch and not as solid as it looks.]
[Both watch the orbs as Chion cleans his dagger in
the brown murky water. By now Chion assumes the
water to be safe to regular skin as it has splashed
on him. At least its not toxic. That proves the
theory about no dead fish as well. Chion looks at
the lake and wonders if there is stuff under the
water like these things? Both watch the orbs and
finally see some change in the first two or three
thrown on shore. by now minutes later they seem to
have turned into a pale white gray and shows signs of
a shriveled up surface like a wrinkled face all over
the orb. The stem on the first one seems to have
shrunk in size and shriveled up to pencil size.]
[Chion turns to the staffs and knows this part could
be tricky. The orbs may not have been dangerous
but he knows from the previous combat minutes ago
these things can change from a simple hard staff to
a wriggling dangerous snake. Unali got taken down
by one such snake bite. But that was only paralysis.
Maybe that's a good thing they don't kill outright.
At least THOSE didn't. These he has no idea.
He knows he forgot his shield back at his house in
Marentia. He grabs his cloak up and wraps it around
his free arm. With the other hand he raises his sai
and wades deeper into the lake. His boots sink below
the water line now and entirely submerge. Water gets
as high as halfway up his knees. Moving slowly he
gets to the first of 4 staffs in one clump. The other
dozen or so staffs wade slightly in the water currents.
The brownish/red staffs stand as tall as trees going
up about 7 feet above the water. A few go over 7 foot
and as tall as 9 feet towering 2 foot taller than Chion.
He eyes the staffs for some time to gauge their danger
to him. The staffs are a bit thinner than the ones he
saw after the combat. Maybe the thickness of a modern
garden hose. The ones at the clearing are about twice
the thickness. The tips of the staff head are still
points jutting from the thin staff piece. This has to
be the part that separates into a snake head and strikes.
The entire staff point/head part seems to be a snake
head with mouth, fangs and tongue. No eyes seem to
be seen though. Maybe it senses targets. He waves his
dagger in front of the staff and over it as best he can
to detect movement. But nothing seems to happen aside
from the casual swaying in the water. He reaches for
the staff base with a gloved hand and nothing happens
to the contact. He then pulls the dagger close and
begins to saw the staff. He finds the resistance far
more harder than the orb stems. Cutting those was
like thick hide leather. This is like cutting through
the thicker dragon hide back on Clima of that dragon
monster from the painting magic. After three seconds
of cutting suddenly the staff softens and wiggles.
Chion looks up to see the head divide and lower. The
snake head forms into a large mouth head and lunges
at Chion. But Chion prepared brings up his cloak
wrapped arm to block. The snake tries to strike and
bite but misses Chion entirely. Z'leyra brings up
her staff to help but Chion backs away. He takes
about 5 steps back and out of the 4 foot striking
range of the snake. Both watch it wiggle and hiss
for a minute or two. Chion then wonders if the full
staff could move he could be in trouble as the shore
is a good 5 feet away. Prepared to run he watches
as the snake wiggles back and forth. But the bottom
the last 2 feet of the staff seems to remain solid
and straight up. So it can't move. That's good.
For another minute both continue to watch and finally
the snake "head" stops and stiffens. Its fang's
seem to retract and the soft head seems to harden
and compress its two parts of a diamond into a single
staff head piece sharp point. Chion looks back at
Z'leyra and shrugs wondering what to do next.]
GM: Reminder you still have one orb in the water. It
has completely sunk to the bottom though. But
your aware its still there. The first one that
was cut. Based on your implied actions I assumed
you cut the rest of the orbs and started on the
staffs as above.
[Meanwhile in the deep forest in the West...]
[Ben'dar trots Tef'wo up to the new warrior on the
scene who just attacked the female. He lowers
his pike down.]
Ben'dar: "Who are you?" [After a pause] "Thig, is that
you?"
[The Warrior raises his staff and points it at Ben'dar
and snarls. The warrior swings the staff toward the
head of Tef'wo and as the weapon arcs both the weapon
and the warrior disappear. From the left Ben'dar
hears snickering in the bushes. Thig then walks
through the bushes and laughs a Faerry laugh. Ben'dar
nods to Thig and dismounts. Patting Tef'wo he walks
over to Farseeker. He pats Farseeker on the back.]
Ben'dar: "No need to apologize for a job well done, friend!
Creatures such as these would have given us nothing
through questioning. Let's search them."
[Ben'dar leans down and checks the female out. He rips
the leather clothing off and searches for any items
of merit. As her "tunic" leather skin shirt is ripped
her body is exposed. She is wearing no armor unlike
the other warrior Ben'dar just killed. He is wearing
the crab like armor described in another update.
From her chest exposed to the air she seems to be
definitely female. Ben'dar feels no shame in this
as its in regards to finding the truth. But if the
other females were around he might not be so "aggressive"
in stripping the clothing off. No pockets are found
at all on her. Just the thick leather skin like clothing
all over her body for weather protection. Unlike the
warrior though her clothing appears to be a thin robe
like gown of tan color not dark brown and blacks like
the warriors. The warriors tend to have stood 6 foot
3 to 6 foot 6 and 200-250 pounds. This female stood
only 6' 1 and about 160 pounds. This demonstrates the
female side must not be as combat worthy. Aside from
the dagger and headdress nothing else is found on the
female. A empty leather bag is found with shells of
round objects that could be peanut shells. The bag
was discarded and likely dropped when she jumped down
from the tree. Farseeker guesses it to be what held
the goo that has caught Arawn's boot. The warrior is
searched but only his staff is found. He wears the
crab like armor but has nothing else on him but his
leather clothing.]
Farseeker: "Light travelers. They must live off the
land and good survivalist. Not even food or water.
But if we chased them off they may not have had
time to find their supplies?"
Ben'dar: "I wonder where they were going. Let's continue
on in the direction they were headed for a few miles to
see if there are any more of them."
Farseeker: "We should take the bodies back on the horses.
Means we'll have to walk some or double up on riding.
They should be buried all together. Just in case
Bohusara has a problem with them out here in her forest."
[Arawn warns the others about the tree and it is looked
over by Thig and he finds nothing else of note. He
lands and speaks to Arawn.]
Thig: "I hope my illusion didn't hurt you. I'm surprised
you fell for it. Guess I was lucky. I know Trembyl
wouldn't. He can't be fooled as he is an expert
Illusionist. It was my only choice as I couldn't figure
out what else to do."
[Ben'dar finds a large tree branch and walks toward the
still wriggling headdress. He raises it but Arawn
stops him with a hand.]
[Arawn kneels down and gets within a few feet of the
headdress out of striking range. Arawn concentrates
and tries to use his innate senses to study the snakes.
Immediately he senses no magical ability or innate
power to these snakes.]
[Thig leans to Farseeker.]
Thig: "I senses no magic from them but maybe he can."
[Farseeker picks up the warrior with the help of Ben'dar
and puts it on a horse with some effort.]
Thig: "Maybe we could drag them? But that might attract
predators by their blood unless we cover them up?"
GM: Drag/Carry them or leave them? Arawn I know you posted
a bit more in email. Due to the late action I
ran out of time tonight. I'll have to get to it
tomorrow and email you more results. Stay tuned.
GM: How long do you guys follow the trail? Time
wise. 10 minutes? 1 hour? or in mile wise.
If no answer will assume the suggestion above
as couple miles.
Actions? Comments?
Next update Friday...
GM: Chion/Z'leyra - East, Ball/Staff Patch
, Trembyl/Strie'bog - West, Storage structure
Arawn, Thig, Ben'dar, Farseeker - West, Deep forest
Corona - Sky, over lake
Xian, 4 Vassa, Unali - Clearing
Bohusara - East, Unknown
GM: Was going to do a bit more but ran out of time tonight.
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