dresdenphileWatch out for snakes!Registered Userregular
I was waiting for Dani to chime in before we took action, which from the sounds of it, will probably be talking down the Shaman rather than killing him. If the latter is the case, it'll have to be a non-me person chatting him up (if we want it to have a chance of success).
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FaranguI am a beardy manWith a beardy planRegistered Userregular
edited August 2011
+9 Intimidate, +9 Diplomacy, +6 Bluff. I'll do the talking.
Just tell me what I'm saying. Am I talking him off the edge, or just distracting him?
2010 PAX DM Challenge Grand Champion 2011 PAX Warmachine/Hordes Champion
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dresdenphileWatch out for snakes!Registered Userregular
Go with your gut, Farangu. We're in a tight spot right now; smooth it over with a silver or barbed tongue.
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FaranguI am a beardy manWith a beardy planRegistered Userregular
Messat had had enough. To be whisked away from a land of allies to this squalor...he could adjust. To discover his kind was as cattle here...He could adapt.
But he would not stand dragons, let alone...arrogant ones.
"Now hear this, you scaled cretin. You should take a look at your position. Your help's too far away to be of any use to you now. You make any movement towards us, you die. You BREATHE towards our friend on the ground, you die and I take your skull as a gods-damned trophy. If you'll put those ears of yours to use, you'll hear your "prisoners" discussing their distaste of that title with your guards. Using your weapons. If you're the intelligent race here, you should act like it. You run now, and we won't kill you this day. That's the best damned deal you're ever going to get in your life. And you know it. So choose."
Come on Orokos don't make me waste that little shpiel...
Yay! I just worked 80 hours in the last 7 days, so I haven't looked at the thread at all. Let's see what susan does. If he does make a move, I'll blast him at 10 paces.
He hesitates. The Shaman's eyes narrow, and he tilts his head to one side slightly to catch the sound in the air. He sneers and growls under his breath as he rights himself once more.
Slowly, oh so slowly, he raises the tip of his staff and moves it away from Aurora's jugular. The flame dancing over the instrument collects into his hands, which you have seen him do before as he collects his flaming orbs of death. Sure enough, two such orbs manifest themselves in his hands as he stares into you with every ounce of fury in his body. In a growling whisper, he commands, "Back. Off. Back off, let me leave, and she lives." He himself prepares to step backwards himself and disappear into the night, though his intent is clear: Should anyone make a move against him, Aurora will find two orbs of fire thrown in her direction...
He no longer has a readied Coup. If you're going to attack him, it's an Initiative Roll-Off to see who gets their actions off first, or you could step back and he'll do the same. As Messat mentioned, anyone who wants it gets a +3 Init bonus, plus another +2 bonus for the Diplomacy roll...
2010 PAX DM Challenge Grand Champion 2011 PAX Warmachine/Hordes Champion
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FaranguI am a beardy manWith a beardy planRegistered Userregular
Messat simply laughs at him. "Go ahead! We're not the group that shouldn't be trusted." And with that, he turns his back to the once-mighty, to focus on reviving Aurora.
Sir Vashtak will slowly move towards Aurora and Messat, in a non-threatening manner, intent on providing cover should the Shaman decide to throw one last spell and run like a petty little despotic bitch.
"Flee kinsman," Sir Vashtak says, "Pelor has graced you with mercy. Do no squander it or face his wrath. And ours."
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dresdenphileWatch out for snakes!Registered Userregular
Kardak keeps his sword leveled at the shaman, waiting for any sign of betrayal. He also tries to get a sense of how the battle is going within the pen.
Kardak, the Shaman is furious, but also realizes just how outgunned and in danger he is right now. You get the impression that he'll hold his end and not attack if you don't, but you are also getting a serious sense of "I'll get you next time" coming off of him.
The Revolution is in full swing as far as you can tell; there's the dancing light of massive fires inside the compound, and you can see some scattered prisoners running out of the opened front gates, but not many. Inside, you can see the silhouettes of prisoners running around with their rags in flames, of guards being surrounded by a dozened starved inmates and attacked by long spears, of Guards and Prisoners being pulled off of the walls and into the melee, and just massive chaos and confusion. The Guards are barely holding on, and need something to rally them to regain control of the situation. The Shaman could very well be that rally, of course, and his still considerable magical ability could be the thing that lets the Guards retake the compound.
2010 PAX DM Challenge Grand Champion 2011 PAX Warmachine/Hordes Champion
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dresdenphileWatch out for snakes!Registered Userregular
The kobold gestures with his longsword behind the shaman, implying the dragonborn should flee from the compound and the fighting. "Listen to your kinsman, and go now, shaman. Ioun has graced with you a different fate this day."
The Shaman, now a dozen steps away from you and continuing to move backwards, spits on the ground. "You whelps do not understand what you have done today. And that is nothing, but to earn slow and painful death. We will find you in these forests, you and all the escaped cattle, and bring you and they back here for punishment. Your little triumph will turn to ash and blood in a moment. You cannot defeat the Champion. You and the prisoners, we will burn you all."
The Shaman is almost out of sight now. In a moment, he'll be away...
2010 PAX DM Challenge Grand Champion 2011 PAX Warmachine/Hordes Champion
It would be wrong of the Paladin to throw a ranged daily at this bastard and try to kill him. If someone else wants to do it, Sir Vashtak will probably scold you. But then we could go for beers and be cool again.
"Leaving that one alive will cause us no end of problems in this new land. We've not seen the last of him." Sir Vashtak muses, dissapointed that everywhere he seems to go, people want to kill him instead of joining up and fighting off the evil that covers the world. "How fares Lady Aurora?
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El SkidThe frozen white northRegistered Userregular
edited August 2011
Aurora opened her eyes, to see the paladin looking down at her and the sky behind him.
Crap
Bounding to her feet and instantly regretting it (as her side spasmed in protest), she caught the retreating form of the shaman in the distance.
Crap.
Wincing, she turned to the compound and quickly assessed the battle there for a moment.
"Well, we managed to live through that, and maybe given the prisoners a better chance at survivak. Shall we go find a place to rest, now that we've done our duty? Or does our word demand that we go defeat the guards back there as well?"
She instantly regretted taking her bitterness out on her companions, but didn't retract her statements- they had been her true feelings, if a bit too hard and undiplomatic.
El Skid on
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dresdenphileWatch out for snakes!Registered Userregular
Kardak smiled as Aurora rose to her feet. "Welcome back, my friend."
Looking from the group back to the compound, his expression turns grim. "Freeing these prisoners is important. How is it any different than freeing the world from the oppression of the undead, our ultimate goal?" The kobold tried to keep his voice level, but Aurora's tone struck a nerve with him.
"From what I can see and hear of the fighting, the prisoners appear to be holding their own against the guards. If the shaman returns to help them, the guards could rally and crush the resistance, and what we've done here will have been for naught. If we go back and help, we can ensure the dragonborns' defeat."
"However," he continues, gesturing to Aurora and Messat, "you two are in no shape for any more fighting at the moment, and I am weak from resurrecting the prisoner and helping to feed the others. Resting may be in our best interests. Finding a place to do so is another matter entirely."
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El SkidThe frozen white northRegistered Userregular
Aurora smiled at Kardak, managing to stop the smile from becoming a smirk. "We can discuss philosophy later- for now we should find a secluded place to rest where we won't be interrupted... And probably fairly far from here in case the Shaman wants to come back with some friends to visit."
Yup. I'm worried too. I'm also totally worried about our tentative victory getting snatched away while we sleep and our rebellion being crushed without us. You know what would be a comfortable resting spot? The Shaman's own bed. I betcha its real comfy. With snacks and stuff.
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El SkidThe frozen white northRegistered Userregular
No reason we couldn't have sentries (the less hurt of us) placed out to watch on the battle...but if the prisoners get attacked, we're not exactly in any shape to help them out, regardless...
Alright, sorry for the delay, and let's see where this goes...
Your party sprints and stumbles towards the treeline, taking some care to not leave tracks behind you as you go but also realizing that the Guards for the immediate time being have much larger issues to deal with than to track down a few runaways, not to mention the fact that there are hundreds of runaways leaving crossing and confusing tracks all along the beach right now and the chances of them picking up on yours aren't that great. In the chaos and smoke you avoid any of the dwindling patrols and reach the nearby forest safely, whereupon Aurora promptly smells a nearby stream and is able to lead you all to a natural shelter that will keep you safe for the night. It's not the most comfortable of accommodations, but it'll do for now.
Throughout the long night you can hear the fighting in the Compound continue. About an hour after you leave, you start to hear the sounds of magical explosions and screams of dying and wounded prisoners; the Shaman had returned and lent his strength to the Dragonborn Guardians. The new fighting kept going for hours, with the occasional burst and the occasional rally cry, and by the time dawn rolled around there was already a bright orange glow from the compound that must have been the radiance of half of it burning. The fighting by that point was sporadic and quieter; it seems as though the Guards kept control after all, though at what cost you have no idea.
Through the long night of fighting no one even came close to your shelter. You actually didn't see a single patrol come after you. Every single Dragonborn was concentrated at the Compound, and it is there they must remain for the time being.
The night is over. Your wounds have been salved, your hungers quenched, and you are free to leave as you wish. What do you do?
2010 PAX DM Challenge Grand Champion 2011 PAX Warmachine/Hordes Champion
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dresdenphileWatch out for snakes!Registered Userregular
I say we move towards the next phylactery. Kardak would probably be a little sad that we can't shut down the prison camp. However, those prisoners don't have my phone number or my address, so...eff em.
I'm sure as hell not going back to fight a recharged shaman, dozens of guards, and whatever super soldier the shaman has brewing in the bacta tank.
Its true, Sir Vashtak would want to help the prisoners. It is directly our fault that they are being burned alive right now, as opposed to being packed off like sardines to get eaten by ghouls. If we could have taken down the shaman, different story.....but we didn't. This one wasn't a win, we didn't even stop for loot. We hid in the forest. If the rest of the party votes for leaving this place and going after the Phylactery, then Sir Vashtak shall leave with a heavy heart and pray for forgiveness.
In the end, it's more important to Una that her friends aren't going to die and we can continue or mission. We can't bring the sun back if we are all dead.
I'm good, not lawful stupid.
As soon as Una wakes, she sends a prayer to Pelor for the dead last night. "Their souls are bathed in the light of God," she murmurs
The etherial globe appears once more, and as it takes form you can make out your current location, as well as the other two Phylacteries located on this continent. The beacon near the center of the continent has not moved at all; it appears to be quite stationary in the rolling plains of the midlands, some few hundred kilometers away through unknown forests and mountains and deserts and rivers. The second Phylactery appears to have moved quite a bit, oddly enough; it's much closer to your location than you remember it being before, a hundred kilometers or so towards the north and near the coastline. Of course you don't know the territory up there either, and the thin etherial mist makes it look like an equally frustrating trek if a much shorter one, and the Gods know it may not even be there when you show up.
The detail in this artifacts global representation is sadly lacking; you have land and sea, and the occasional mountain range, but not much else. No way to tell what the terrain looks like over the next hill, much less a hundred kilometers away. Locating a guide, or even better, a city may be in order...
2010 PAX DM Challenge Grand Champion 2011 PAX Warmachine/Hordes Champion
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FaranguI am a beardy manWith a beardy planRegistered Userregular
Going to try a History to see if any of the letters that Grandfather wrote give any sense of direction towards a non-hostile civilization: 19
The journals made mention of a city about half a day's walk from the shore, a welcoming community of Goblinoids that were willing to sell or trade his adventuring party everything from food supplies to pack animals to spouses for the unwed/underwed men of his group. It was apparently quite expansive, and very well integrated into the surrounding environments so that the forest was an essential part of their architecture and city design.
2010 PAX DM Challenge Grand Champion 2011 PAX Warmachine/Hordes Champion
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dresdenphileWatch out for snakes!Registered Userregular
Kardak hefted his pack. "We should get moving. We're wasting daylight here, and the shaman is sure to send patrols out to find us and the other prisoners."
Speaking of, have we seen any other prisoners come this way?
Speaking of, have we seen any other prisoners come this way?
You saw a couple sprinting towards the trees while you were also fleeing, but you're pretty far removed from the compound now and deep in the woods so it's not terribly surprising that you haven't seen anyone since.
Everyone cool with heading towards the Goblinoid town the book mentions?
2010 PAX DM Challenge Grand Champion 2011 PAX Warmachine/Hordes Champion
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El SkidThe frozen white northRegistered Userregular
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Just tell me what I'm saying. Am I talking him off the edge, or just distracting him?
Chicago Megagame group
Watch me struggle to learn streaming! Point and laugh!
2011 PAX Warmachine/Hordes Champion
But he would not stand dragons, let alone...arrogant ones.
"Now hear this, you scaled cretin. You should take a look at your position. Your help's too far away to be of any use to you now. You make any movement towards us, you die. You BREATHE towards our friend on the ground, you die and I take your skull as a gods-damned trophy. If you'll put those ears of yours to use, you'll hear your "prisoners" discussing their distaste of that title with your guards. Using your weapons. If you're the intelligent race here, you should act like it. You run now, and we won't kill you this day. That's the best damned deal you're ever going to get in your life. And you know it. So choose."
Come on Orokos don't make me waste that little shpiel...
Chicago Megagame group
Watch me struggle to learn streaming! Point and laugh!
so much more now
Chicago Megagame group
Watch me struggle to learn streaming! Point and laugh!
Zithra Melitch in Star Wars: An Empire's End
Jellica in In the Shadow of Zeus
He hesitates. The Shaman's eyes narrow, and he tilts his head to one side slightly to catch the sound in the air. He sneers and growls under his breath as he rights himself once more.
Slowly, oh so slowly, he raises the tip of his staff and moves it away from Aurora's jugular. The flame dancing over the instrument collects into his hands, which you have seen him do before as he collects his flaming orbs of death. Sure enough, two such orbs manifest themselves in his hands as he stares into you with every ounce of fury in his body. In a growling whisper, he commands, "Back. Off. Back off, let me leave, and she lives." He himself prepares to step backwards himself and disappear into the night, though his intent is clear: Should anyone make a move against him, Aurora will find two orbs of fire thrown in her direction...
He no longer has a readied Coup. If you're going to attack him, it's an Initiative Roll-Off to see who gets their actions off first, or you could step back and he'll do the same. As Messat mentioned, anyone who wants it gets a +3 Init bonus, plus another +2 bonus for the Diplomacy roll...
2011 PAX Warmachine/Hordes Champion
Heal = 18
Chicago Megagame group
Watch me struggle to learn streaming! Point and laugh!
"Flee kinsman," Sir Vashtak says, "Pelor has graced you with mercy. Do no squander it or face his wrath. And ours."
Insight vs Shaman: 1d20+6 25
Perception to keep tabs on the revolution: 1d20+12 31
The Revolution is in full swing as far as you can tell; there's the dancing light of massive fires inside the compound, and you can see some scattered prisoners running out of the opened front gates, but not many. Inside, you can see the silhouettes of prisoners running around with their rags in flames, of guards being surrounded by a dozened starved inmates and attacked by long spears, of Guards and Prisoners being pulled off of the walls and into the melee, and just massive chaos and confusion. The Guards are barely holding on, and need something to rally them to regain control of the situation. The Shaman could very well be that rally, of course, and his still considerable magical ability could be the thing that lets the Guards retake the compound.
2011 PAX Warmachine/Hordes Champion
The Shaman is almost out of sight now. In a moment, he'll be away...
2011 PAX Warmachine/Hordes Champion
"Leaving that one alive will cause us no end of problems in this new land. We've not seen the last of him." Sir Vashtak muses, dissapointed that everywhere he seems to go, people want to kill him instead of joining up and fighting off the evil that covers the world. "How fares Lady Aurora?
Crap
Bounding to her feet and instantly regretting it (as her side spasmed in protest), she caught the retreating form of the shaman in the distance.
Crap.
Wincing, she turned to the compound and quickly assessed the battle there for a moment.
"Well, we managed to live through that, and maybe given the prisoners a better chance at survivak. Shall we go find a place to rest, now that we've done our duty? Or does our word demand that we go defeat the guards back there as well?"
She instantly regretted taking her bitterness out on her companions, but didn't retract her statements- they had been her true feelings, if a bit too hard and undiplomatic.
Looking from the group back to the compound, his expression turns grim. "Freeing these prisoners is important. How is it any different than freeing the world from the oppression of the undead, our ultimate goal?" The kobold tried to keep his voice level, but Aurora's tone struck a nerve with him.
"From what I can see and hear of the fighting, the prisoners appear to be holding their own against the guards. If the shaman returns to help them, the guards could rally and crush the resistance, and what we've done here will have been for naught. If we go back and help, we can ensure the dragonborns' defeat."
"However," he continues, gesturing to Aurora and Messat, "you two are in no shape for any more fighting at the moment, and I am weak from resurrecting the prisoner and helping to feed the others. Resting may be in our best interests. Finding a place to do so is another matter entirely."
Nature check to find good shelter (concealed, with water nearby if poss): 1d20+10 30. WOO CRIT.
2011 PAX Warmachine/Hordes Champion
Zithra Melitch in Star Wars: An Empire's End
Jellica in In the Shadow of Zeus
Zithra Melitch in Star Wars: An Empire's End
Jellica in In the Shadow of Zeus
2011 PAX Warmachine/Hordes Champion
Your party sprints and stumbles towards the treeline, taking some care to not leave tracks behind you as you go but also realizing that the Guards for the immediate time being have much larger issues to deal with than to track down a few runaways, not to mention the fact that there are hundreds of runaways leaving crossing and confusing tracks all along the beach right now and the chances of them picking up on yours aren't that great. In the chaos and smoke you avoid any of the dwindling patrols and reach the nearby forest safely, whereupon Aurora promptly smells a nearby stream and is able to lead you all to a natural shelter that will keep you safe for the night. It's not the most comfortable of accommodations, but it'll do for now.
Throughout the long night you can hear the fighting in the Compound continue. About an hour after you leave, you start to hear the sounds of magical explosions and screams of dying and wounded prisoners; the Shaman had returned and lent his strength to the Dragonborn Guardians. The new fighting kept going for hours, with the occasional burst and the occasional rally cry, and by the time dawn rolled around there was already a bright orange glow from the compound that must have been the radiance of half of it burning. The fighting by that point was sporadic and quieter; it seems as though the Guards kept control after all, though at what cost you have no idea.
Through the long night of fighting no one even came close to your shelter. You actually didn't see a single patrol come after you. Every single Dragonborn was concentrated at the Compound, and it is there they must remain for the time being.
The night is over. Your wounds have been salved, your hungers quenched, and you are free to leave as you wish. What do you do?
2011 PAX Warmachine/Hordes Champion
I'm sure as hell not going back to fight a recharged shaman, dozens of guards, and whatever super soldier the shaman has brewing in the bacta tank.
Zithra Melitch in Star Wars: An Empire's End
Jellica in In the Shadow of Zeus
But at the same time, screw that... Let's just go for the next phylactory and let em fend for themselves! :P
But whatevs....ONWARDS!!!
I'm good, not lawful stupid.
As soon as Una wakes, she sends a prayer to Pelor for the dead last night. "Their souls are bathed in the light of God," she murmurs
Zithra Melitch in Star Wars: An Empire's End
Jellica in In the Shadow of Zeus
2011 PAX Warmachine/Hordes Champion
Kardak pulls out the globe and dagger and activates the phylactery map, taking care to do so in the darkest corner of the makeshift shelter.
The detail in this artifacts global representation is sadly lacking; you have land and sea, and the occasional mountain range, but not much else. No way to tell what the terrain looks like over the next hill, much less a hundred kilometers away. Locating a guide, or even better, a city may be in order...
2011 PAX Warmachine/Hordes Champion
Chicago Megagame group
Watch me struggle to learn streaming! Point and laugh!
2011 PAX Warmachine/Hordes Champion
Speaking of, have we seen any other prisoners come this way?
You saw a couple sprinting towards the trees while you were also fleeing, but you're pretty far removed from the compound now and deep in the woods so it's not terribly surprising that you haven't seen anyone since.
Everyone cool with heading towards the Goblinoid town the book mentions?
2011 PAX Warmachine/Hordes Champion