[pnpgm] Game Update #145 - File #1025 - Vau's Bag & Nom's box
Scott Adams
longshotgm at netzero.com
Mon Jan 17 21:01:12 CET 2011
HT Alias/Player Character Name Type Status/Notes Sex
-- -----------------------------------------------------------------
R1.John Haight...........Arawn.............Druid .Normal/Alfar Ma
??.Chris Wells...........Ben'dar...........Warrior.Normal/Human Ma
R4.Tom Corckett..........Caladan...........Wizard Normal/Human Ma
W2.Marcel Liberty........Chion.............Sailor..Normal/Human Ma
W3.Ryan Torres...........Farseeker.........Warrior.Normal/Human Ma
--.Tobie Bonahoom........Fremea............Sidh....Normal/Faerry Fe
R2.Mark Murtha...........Kell..............Trader..Normal/Human..Ma
R1.David Sanders.........Kiet.Sunan........Acrobat Normal/Human Ma
R4.J H Hooten............Raban.Usherwood...Bard....Normal/Human..Ma
W2.Robert Maxwell........Strie'bog.........Bard....Normal/Human..Ma
W4.Wout Broere...........Unali.............Ninja...Normal/Human Fe
R1 John.Stowman..........Will..............Hunter..Normal/Human..Ma
R4.Alex Koponen..........Z'leyra...........Healer..Normal/Human Fe
R1 NPC...................Zhou Kiwat........Noble...Normal/Human..Ma
Animals: Corona [Eagle] Z'leyra, Tef'wo (Horse) Ben'dar,
Cover Story Info: [HD- House member, F-Foreigner, N-native non house]
Arawn aka Arawn as Teacher to daughter [F]
Ben'dar aka Bu Da as Horse expert [F]
Caladan aka Ca Lu as Guard/Archer [N]
Chion aka Capt. Chu Mai as Sailor Trustee [HD]
Farseeker aka Fu Sa as Guard [F]
Fremea aka Lin Mong as Noble child [HD] [Disguised]
Kell aka Swan as Trader [F]
Kiet aka Kiet Sunan as Zhou's servant [F]
Raban aka Toban Nu as Entertainer/Guard [F]
Strie'bog aka Sun Zhu as Entertainer [N]
Unali aka Tun Au as Zhou's wife [HD]
Will aka Sun Tzu as hunt master [F]
Z'leyra aka Kakita Junami as Healer [F]
Zhou aka Zhou Wa as Baron Noble [HD]
Game Web Site - http://www.furvert.net/longshotgm/pbem/index.htm
Public posts/actions to pnpgm at abroere.xs4all.nl (mailing list)
Private emails (not public actions) to longshotgm at netzero.com
Game Update #145 in sequence (file #1025)
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Admin Notes: None.
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[Recap]
From Fremea: [Re: Actions]
Fremea will follow for about another half mile or so and then do
her best to plot what direction the flyer is going in, so she can
take it back to the party. She will find Z and go back to the
group.
GM: Ack.
From Z'leyra: [Re: Actions]
Z'leyra will plot the direction that the flier is going in by
memorizing landmarks. As she isn't as fast as the flier she will
turn back after losing sight of the flier in the distance...unless
the flier lands first, in which case she will memorize where it
landed and hurry back to the party.
[Since the flier is about pmr 3 faster it will take about as long
to lose sight as it would a take normal human to run far enough
to lose sight of an object the size of the flier down a long very
straight road. Note that eagles should have good eyesight.]
GM: Ack. Good day vision, yes. But night vision not so great.
From Arawn: [Re: Actions]
"Our scouts may have something to report or the box clues...
(Marentian) "The house fire should prove fitting as a pyre....
He then took the man's hand and did what he could to ease his
pain before his passing.
GM: Ack.
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[New Stuff]
[Augado 6th, 1634TH]
[Location: Middle Katai Plains]
[ Pamau Province, Pamau City]
[ Northeast of city margins, few miles, river edge]
[Time: 5:48am]
Arawn listens to Zhou speaking of the two flying after the
Vong creature-flyer. He finally speaks up, "Our scouts may have
something to report or the box clues to be discovered. If nothing
else, I have a few options to narrow down our search."
Some wonder what those options are and why they weren't used
before now. Shu had the best magic to track the Vong so why
suddenly would Arawn?
Arawn turns his head to speak to Caladan in Marentian, "The
house fire should prove fitting as a pyre. Let us hope that the
insects aren't immune to flame. If so, then into the water,"
Arawn replied solemnly.
Zhou watches the man writhe in pain and agony as the creatures
seem to bore this way and that through his body. Zhou shakes
his head in disgust at the lengths the Vong go for what they
might consider pleasure. Finally, when it seems no one wishes
to ask questions of the prisoner the noble in a calm voice speaks.
"It is time to end this."
Will removes the axe from his back and hands it to Kiet with
some hesitation. It is odd to lend a weapon to another person
but Kiet seems to be trained in a quick and fast kill.
Caladan and Farseeker pick up pieces of burning timber from
the house and wait.
Kiet glances to Arawn and wonders why he is so silent for
the last few moments. Kiet figures he is doing silent prays.
But then Kiet realizes the man is not screaming badly as before.
Kiet watches the man as he continues to thrash about but the
pain on his face seems almost to lessen. Kiet doesn't understand
it but maybe this is a sign of intense body shock and the man
is near death.
Kiet stands and levels the axe looking down at the man. The
man sees this and pleads one last time. "Warn the others! I
beg you they must know." Then the man turns his face so not
to see the blow coming.
Kiet raises the axe and leans such a way the blood shouldn't
get on his clothing. With one quick strike he slams the blade
down onto the neck of the man and decapitates him. It would've
been better to do it from behind but the man looked like he could
not tolerate moving around. Kiet figures the bugs won't be able
to revive him now.
Caladan and Farseeker place the planks of fire from the house
onto the man's clothing. The tunic and pants erupt in flames
rather quickly. Hopefully it should prevent the bugs from
escaping to another body.
Kiet cleans the axe and hands it back to Will in silence.
As the man burns the bugs seem to also burn when they reach
the outside skin. But Arawn and Farseeker stand watch to
ensure none of the bugs sneak away.
Up in the sky to the west Fremea follows the flyer for another
half mile or so. It soon becomes clear the Flyer is going west
but her eyes water as she tries to watch the Flyer in her spyglass.
If only the magical item had night vision in it. It is like trying
to track a rat a mile away in the pitch darkness. She can only
find the Flyer every so often when the stars are blocked. In the
day it would have been a simple task to even be miles away from
it to follow it. But at night it is a very difficult to impossible
task. A slight headache begins to stir in her mind as she decides
the general direction the flyer is going is west. Course this
was known from Shu's map. It does seem to go slightly
south-west but that could be hundreds of miles of land in
that direction.
Fremea tries to spot Z'leyra but it takes about 2 minutes
to finally track the eagle.
For the last few minutes Z'leyra continues to fly after the
Flyer as fast as she can. But it has a slight lead and the
gap seems to increase. After only 3 minutes of flight the
Flyer has gained a quarter mile away even further due to its
slightly faster speed. Thus making it at least a mile away.
Z'leyra figures in another 10 minutes the flyer could have gained
a 3 mile gap distance. At that rate of constant flight she
could eventually be so far behind it would be lost in the
darkness. Sunrise would start in maybe 45 minutes but the
in that time the Flyer could be miles ahead of Z'leyra. She
decides to figure its bearing which is west and a bit south
west. She begins to circle back and fly back to the burning
cabin.
As the party wait for the flames to die down around the
cabin some search the area for Vau's bag. Arawn leads the
search with his good night vision. Soon Arawn finds the bag
and hauls it closer to the fire for inspection.
Arawn inspects the leather pouch and finds it is rather small.
He pulls out a half skin of water. He finds a wrapped cloth of a
few hard biscuits and dried meat sticks. He finds a slightly
damaged dagger. Then he pulls out the small diary sized book.
Arawn begins to scan the journal sized book. It is a
collection of rushed notes and columns of what look to be
words. Indeed it seems to be a partial list of what the
Brigade must've known of the Vong language based on their
interaction with Nom or hearing them in the field like the
warehouse and coffin situations.
By now Fremea and Z'leyra return to the group and report
what they find. They both are sad not to be able to follow
it properly due to limits on their body but know that
eventually the Flyer could detect them. Z'leyra begins to
redress in her clothing. Both catch up on the events in
the camp.
[Time: 6:03am]
Farseeker paces back and forth nervous that eventually the
fire will be seen from the river traffic. He grumbles and
complains about it that the party should've moved on before now.
Yet the party has to wait for the fire to get to a point it
can allow searches. The danger from the burning structure
is too high and could hinder the search. Up to this point
Chion had the only answer but even his magic ring couldn't
prevent fire for long from affecting him. No one else had
suggested alternatives so the party had no choice but to wait.
Finally the last standing beam what once held the roof falls
with a crack and pop. This exposes the inside of the cabin to
the world completely. As the fire begins to run out of wood
fuel the party gazes inside. Furniture has burn up as well
as the wood structure. But soon the party realizes there are
two other bodies inside. This must be the man's partners.
One is likely Vau. But the bodies are burnt beyond any
form of recognition. The party do know they are human and not
Vong as even burnt Vong would look different with their large
skulls.
Some wonder why they were here at the cabin but likely searching
Nom's place for clues and info themselves when the Vong
surprised them.
Finally the fire has become so low and mostly ashes it allows
those with heavy boots to explore with care. Raban easily
moves through the cabin and moves things aside. Will with his
thick buckskins finds the remains of the bed. In fact it seems
more a mat than a human bed. It would seem Nom or the Vong
don't like human beds as they must give too much comfort.
Sliding the mat aside Raban uses his skills to search the
floor. Soon the trap door is indeed found. Likely without
the man saying it was there the party might not have found it
since a trap door under a mat isn't common.
The small lift up door is scarred from the fire but lifts
up to reveal a alcove about 4 feet by 4 feet and maybe 3
feet deep. Raban leans down and pulls out a small metal
box that looks like a noble's tool or valuable chest. The
box itself is not fancy and in fact is just metal plating
with no seams or even locks. It is definitely a no frills
box. Raban takes the box outside so everyone can see it.
Some of the others like Will and Caladan continue to search
the cabin as best they can.
As the search comes to an end, Arawn learns some of the
basic Vong words. But they are hard to say as from what he
has heard the Vong yell a guttural language and it seems
humans and Elves have a hard time speaking it. Some words
are hello, move, friend,, shipment, weapon and some seem to
be notes of more obscure words like magic and ritual. Arawn
scans the book and there might be 300 words. But this can't
be a full language guide by any means. It doesn't also show
how to form sentences just basic words. The person who must've
spent months gathering this information didn't know enough
of languages to get to that point it seems.
The party gathers around the box and it is opened slowly
by Farseeker. Some hold torches of wooden planks on fire in
case there are traps or bugs. Inside the box is a large
coin bag. Slowly it is opened to reveal an assortment of
gems and jewels. there is also a slew of Katai silver and
gold coins. It seems Nom needed native resources for his
activities. There is also a coufee, the Vong version of the
bone like dagger. There is also a orb here. The same style
found in Lake Oca. When one was given to the High Elder he
mentioned they are likely communication devices of some sort
to talk from vast distances. If this is the case this one
might talk to Nom's superiors. The Orb seems a bit dry and
based on past experience might die or decay soon.
In the center of the box looks to be a small stack of parchments.
The first seems to be a map of the area but the others are hidden
from view at this time. On top of the map parchment though
sits a small soup bowl like object. It is turned upside down
as if the bowl was used and needs to be dried. Curious the
bowl is inspected and tapped. But nothing seems to jump out.
With weapons and fire ready, with a gloved hand Farseeker lifts
the upside down bowl object. He turns it around and sees a
leather like lip that covers the top of it. At one side it
seems to be open slightly and looks to allow one to peel it
back to see inside.
Slowly the leather strip is peeled back. The party notices
a half dozen beetle sized bugs. They are not moving and seem
to be either dead or asleep.
Unali reaches in and gets the map out and begins to inspect
it. It appears to be the area of Middle Katai they are in.
Shantou and Pamau are marked in this section of the map.
The notes are in Katai and not Vongese it seems. Unali scans
the map carefully and sighs as she notices no marks or Xs that
denote a Vong base.
The party wonder why a bowl of bugs would be kept safe and
seem to be harmless for now. Yet there is something almost
familiar about the bugs and this situation.
Actions? Comments?
Next Update...Friday...
GM: Quick small update. I had waited enough to see if Will
would protest using his axe or give others things to do.
I left it open and there were plenty of other things to
do but the posts didn't allow that. So we'll move on.
Even if you don't think you should or can post in the
scene doesn't mean participation couldn't affect it. Even
the smallest stupid comment cold add to the scene.
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