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Before the beetle can attach its feet to the earth, you intercept it with the branch and lever it on its side, the sticky sap pulling the branch out of your grasp. It takes all of your might to do so: the insect indeed has the weight of an iron cauldron filled with meat. Without Gadflies around to devour it, the beetle has time to frantically attempt to right itself by swinging its heavy legs to and fro. This must be why the female Gadflies were quick to dismember their prey. Agerios's spear, stuck in its shell and flat against the earth, gives it a spring to aid in its efforts. If it does manage to roll back over, you can be sure its path will be a semicircle across your charge, Dominik--the Human. What do you do? Soul Bank: 100
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Feb 1, 2016 20:49
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Agerios Lapheusix HP: 30/30 Armor: 3 Souls: 7 Luck: 7/7 Bag of Obols: 5/5 Shears: 2/2 "Odessa!" I yell, as the beetle crushes her. When it turns its attention to me, I wonder where the corpse went. I can still "feel" her, as it were. But no time for that, I see. I need to retrieve my spear somehow, and Dominik is giving me the opportunity I need. I hold my hoplon in both hands and run up to the upturned beetle, then drop my entire weight on the shield and slam its edge into the exposed beetle. H&S: 7! Damage: 6 For good measure, I reach up and slam the sharp edge into the ugly thing a few more times.
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Feb 1, 2016 21:52
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Your hoplon cleaves the creature in half, but when you would raise it to strike again, you find that not only has it become lodged in the mouth of the cauldron and dipped in the sap, the force also tips the cauldron toward you. All you can do is stagger back into a seated position and be crushed under your own shield with all the weight of a boulder. cauldron cover crush: 1d8+1 5 -2 armor (shield does not count) = 3 damage Your helmet slides into the concave part of the shield and you are able to slouch enough to not take the full force of it, though it does put you headfirst into the insects innards. You have to remove the helmet to escape from underneath the shield. Afterwards, you are able to pull your spear from its carapace, but the shield is wedged tighter, and the adhesive nearly reaches its halfway point, and it pins the helmet that is similarly glued. However, now that it is immobile and dead, you notice the seam that splits the carapace--like that of a ladybug. What do you do? Soul Bank: 100 slydingdoor fucked around with this message at 15:44 on Feb 3, 2016 |
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Feb 3, 2016 15:40
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Mikaela HP: 20/20 Luck: 17/17 Armor: 0 (1 with equipment) Souls: 0 Verses: 5/5) slydingdoor posted:Mikaela, you sprint ahead and find what lies in store: birds with human faces and voices circle you in the skies like buzzards, and leafless trees with branches that slowly lean and reach for you when you near them flank replace the thin, soot and tumor covered trees from before. You near the Temple, can see it through the leafless trees, but they cross their branches right in your path like the polearms of palace guards. Discern Realities - roll on IRC was 2d6=11. The question Mikaela wants answered, since she hasn't read the DW rulebook, is 'How do we get past the trees?'. Not sure which if any of the questions on the standard list best translates, let me know if I need to ask a different question altogether.
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Feb 4, 2016 05:33
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Mikaela posted:What here is useful or valuable to me? The harpies seem not to be circling far beyond the trees, they probably mean to eat the scraps after the branches would tear you apart. They also are clucking to one another and laughing at you, as if they have a plan to expedite your end. You should be on the lookout for an attack from the skies even through the canopy. That means the trees must let the harpies pass through their branches, in fact, you see some fat ones even nesting in one tree. Their relationship is clearly symbiotic, but the harpy likely gets the better end of the deal: picking the trees clean of meat is hardly an imposition. The harpies are the ones really in control. Agerios likely has no such pact with either of them. The harpies above are circling lower, and some smaller ones are darting through the branches to watch you closer. As the circling turns into swooping, you see just how large those adult harpies are: greater than the largest condor. Their talons could easily fit around a person's torso. The leafless trees seem to realiez that you are staying out of reach, so their branches instead move aside, leaving you completely exposed to a dive from above. What do you do? Soul Bank: 100
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Feb 4, 2016 07:05
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Agerios Lapheusix HP: 19/30 Armor: 2/3 Souls: 7 Luck: 7/7 Bag of Obols: 5/5 Shears: 2/2 I slide the carcass off me and let go of my shield and helmet. "Revolting critter," I say, then run to where Odessa was crushed. I can't believe she would simply disappear like this. I'll retrieve my helm and hoplon later if I can, but for now, I need to figure out where she is. When I'm at the spot, I see some bloodstains on the dry grass and cracked earth. I kneel next to them, avoiding the blood at all costs (I have no desire to relive her final moments myself) and try to feel any residual energy. I'm the only one in a somewhat solid form, my companions resembling spectres more than corpses, and I'm certain that there is a sort of link between all of us. One that might still be there between Odessa and me. Perhaps one I can rekindle. 9. I concentrate on the air around me, and suddenly feel a familiar shape in the swirling souls of the Nexus. She's there. I can feel her! I gently search for her string of life in the chaotic whirlpool, and touch it ever so slightly, letting my fingers delicately wrap around it. Then, I give it a gentle tug, and I feel she drifts closer to me. Afraid of severing the thread, I imbue it, wrapping my own thread of life around it, and reach for my shears. This is going to hurt, I know. But I need her with us, right now. With my left hand, I drag her essence towards me, and when I feel she has found me, I snip the thread to separate us, leaving a generous chunk to her. Giving Odessa 8 HP of mine, and bringing her back!
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Feb 4, 2016 16:00
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Odessa HP: 0->8->19/22 Luck 11/11 Armor: 1 Souls: 0 Flask: 4->3/5 Spice: 2/2 | -1 INT/WIS/CHA | Rotes, Bless, Invisibility With a poof and a deep, horrified gasp for breath, I'm bolt upright and alive again. (Death count: 3) I remember being airy and adrift, somewhere, but those memories escape me like a dream upon waking. I know Agerios - an entity that felt like Agerios - pulled me back here. And, oh, poo poo, I was crushed by one of those horrible kettle beasts. I could feel my 'flesh,' such as it is, being ground to a pulp under its hard, jagged bug parts. I shudder, look around, and see that it's dead now. Good. I run a hand through my hair, and give myself a once-over to ensure my body is all back. Yup. Good. I say, "Thank you, ser. Truly," to Agerios. "It seems, again, that the wax-eye'd woman didn't lead us wrong. I would sincerely not recommend following my example, however. That hurt." I say, "Looks like I wasn't gone long," and take a swig of my soulstuff-filled canteen. (+11 HP) I feel alive again, again. "The things we received at the Temple... er, Nexus. If you haven't sampled yours yet, you should now. Mine, at least, revitalizes without any ill effect I can discern. Though I'm not sure how you would, um, take one of those coins." I say, "Can anyone think of a reason not to put that horrible grove to the torch?" "I don't want to learn what awful creatures will find us if we linger. Onward to the pillars, then? If I am to serve as bait for our next encounter, as with this one, I suppose I shall take point. And where's Mikaela?" StringOfLetters fucked around with this message at 17:58 on Feb 4, 2016 |
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Feb 4, 2016 17:27
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Dom HP: 32/32 Armor: 3 Souls: 0 LCK: 11/11 Beads: 5/5 Salts: 2/2 Ongoing: -1 INT/WIS/CHA I stand up, watching in wonder as Odessa's spirit is called back from the beyond. "That is... something," I say. "Mikaela's gone on ahead, scouting I think." I give her a warm smile. "Welcome back." To Agerios, I nod. "That was well done, ser. Should we try to salvage your gear or can you re-constitute it as you did before?" If he wants to get his things back I will try to help, but I'd rather catch up with Mikaela as soon as possible.
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Feb 4, 2016 20:19
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Dominik, you think two men could likely pull the insect apart. However, if the stickiness of the sap also speaks to its elasticity, one would have to be careful doing so. Odessa, you see Mikaela standing in a growing shaft of light up ahead, throwing knife in hand, path blocked by two leafless trees peculiarly crossing their branches in front of her. You hear and see small human-bird hybrids perching in other bare trees, laughing like children around a busker. What do you do? Soul Bank: 100
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Feb 4, 2016 22:52
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Odessa HP: 19/22 Luck 11/11 Armor: 1 Souls: 0 Flask: 3/5 Spice: 2/2 | -1 INT/WIS/CHA | Rotes, Bless, Invisibility I give Ser Dominik the faintest of curtsies, smile back and say, "Thank you. Good to be back, if not " Then I think for a moment about what has happened to 'my' shield. I explain, "I think we can recall equipment that we've been separated from, as when I threw the 'discus,' but not separate things bound to it, as with those arrows, and perhaps with that sticky... is that its blood? Do check and see if I'm wrong." I recognize those bird bitches. I say, "Ser Dominik. You saw the same vision I did. You know what those winged fiends are capable of. We can't let them separate or surround us." I manifest my mace as I sprint over to Mikaela's side. If she has a knife and knows how to throw it, great - I'll smack and harry any one of them that dares swoop at us. Stand in Defense: Bitches gonna dive us: 2d6 11 Holding three.
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Feb 5, 2016 05:00
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Mikaela HP: 20/20 Luck: 17/17 Armor: 1 Souls: 0 Verses: 5/5 Stirge: 2/2) slydingdoor posted:The trees are either mobile and leafless, or covered in soot and tumors, which are likely highly poisonous. A way to spread the disease to the trees that reach would be useful in getting past them, and valuable if you desired to do so quickly and without taking too many losses. aaaaand because Mikaela's been proactive enough, that's as far as I get before the arrival of the others, or outside events, start messing everything up.
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Feb 5, 2016 13:34
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Agerios Lapheusix HP: 19/30 Armor: 2/3 Souls: 7 Luck: 7/7 Bag of Obols: 5/5 Shears: 2/2 To Dom, I say: "I think I can conjure the equipment later on. Maybe only when we return to the nexus, but it won't be gone forever, I think. Let's not leave the gals alone out there." And with that, I jog towards Mikaela and Odessa's last known position.
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Feb 6, 2016 21:03
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Agerios and Dominik, you see Odessa and Mikaela back to back, the former looking to the skies with mace drawn, the latter tensed to spring at a strange lattice of leafless olive tree branches, matte bladed throwing knife in hand. You hear the unmistakable sound of a clamor of harpies: their soft, mocking laughter. They are close, nested in the leafless trees and swooping from above, judging by the silhouettes swiftly crossing your companions. Without the canopy of sooty olive tree leaves dimming your vision you notice that the ground they stand on is also merely dry earth, unbesmirched by rotting fruit or the viscous trails of Pig-Iron Cauldrons. Furthermore, the faint buzzing of the Dire Gadflies sounds only at your back, no longer surrounding you. What do you do?
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Feb 6, 2016 22:43
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Dom HP: 32/32 Armor: 3 Souls: 0 LCK: 11/11 Beads: 5/5 Salts: 2/2 Ongoing: -1 INT/WIS/CHA I chase after Agerios as we run into harpy territory and find the girls. I would rather deal with horrible bird beasts than horrible bug beasts, personally, though I have never encountered anything like them before coming to this world. I briefly wonder if they existed before the fall of the Polis, and if they did, if they were beautiful instead of hideous. There isn't time to ask though. "Odessa, stand behind my shield and you should have time to speak your prayers. You said they had power, did you not? It will be difficult for us to use our weapons unless they swoop at us." Swooping does seem likely though. Standing in Defense of Odessa, cuz she's had a really bad day! 2d6+2 = 9, so 1 Hold
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Feb 8, 2016 07:16
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Agerios Lapheusix HP: 19/30 Armor: 2/3 Souls: 7 Luck: 7/7 Bag of Obols: 5/5 Shears: 2/2 I stand behind Dom and scan the horizon, intent on helping him pick up danger before it surprises us. Aiding Dom: A 10! Without so much as a word, we move and shift together, two trained warriors in mutual understanding. I reach for one of my obols and place it in my mouth, ready to bite as soon as necessary. Bring it on, harpies.
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Feb 8, 2016 08:28
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The owl-eyed bird-people slow their descent when the rest of you circle up defensively, choosing to crow to one another before making another pass. Then they make their move: three of them dive each from a different direction. Two of them, seemingly content to distract or intimidate you, pull up out of reach before the clash, but one commits to its attack and extends it talons at you, unlucky Agerios, Human leader. Spectres, you find the Harpies intention was not just to isolate the hoplite, but also to turn your backs to the fruitless trees, whose roots you hear unearth themselves. They pull their trunks toward you and lean, stretching their sharp, leafless branches your way, crossing one another with the motion and sound of the blades of rusty shears. What do you do? Soul Bank: 100
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Feb 9, 2016 00:12
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Odessa HP: 19/22 Luck 11/11 Armor: 1 Souls: 0 Flask: 3/5 Spice: 2/2 | -1 INT/WIS/CHA | Rotes, Bless, Speak with Dead "NUH-uh!" I expected some trickery, and I'm keen to their feint. Even so, I can only react so fast. I interpose my iron rod between Agerios and the harpy, and I throw myself into my strike with a fearlessness I could not have mustered before experiencing death three times. -1 hold, redirecting an attack towards me -2 hold, deal my damage to the harp It Hurts This Much: 1d6 5 I wonder if their bones are more like humans' or birds'. Hopefully the latter. When I finally notice that the trees have started walking, I will say, "gently caress everything about this land." How, uh, dry does the wood appear to be?
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Feb 10, 2016 00:51
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The Harpy's soft laughter is replaced with the sickening crunch--the impact of your mace shattering its hollow bones. Its corpse flies over to the advancing trees and is crushed under their roots before its soul flies over to you. You remember hatching in a cliffside aerie, shoving your siblings onto the rocks below to increase your own share of the food your parents brought. That covetous urge defines your existence, and you have a particular taste for the spoils of humankind. Their shiny trinkets, their rich food. Their flesh, their cries, and now their Souls. You always felt a certain kinship with them, but it is much like that you had with the siblings you murdered. The method you knew from birth is your favorite--to drop from on high. The sound of a human's cry, fading in pitch and volume, then abruptly silenced by the earth, is music to your ears. You aren't above using the rest of the deadly flora and fauna to weaken or finish off your favorite prey though, in fact, you quite enjoy a free meal, and fostering your relationship with what you've come to regard as pets: the trees, bugs and sometimes the Satyrs reveling in the other side of the grove. The vision ends. The advance of the leafless trees does not. They appear as dry as the cracked earth, and creak when they move. The dried blood in their slicing branches is the only evidence of any liquid's coming into contact with them in recent time. What do you do? Soul Bank: 100
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Feb 10, 2016 04:00
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Odessa HP: 19/22 Luck 11/11 Armor: 1 Souls: 0 Flask: 3/5 Spice: 2/2 | -1 INT/WIS/CHA | Rotes, Bless, Speak with Dead It unsettles me to know that beings can be so intelligent, and still so completely devoid of empathy or morality. Even the worst men I met back home killed out of rage or perceived necessity - never fun. It would be right and proper to put those awful trees to the torch. But, I remember starting fires with nothing but sticks and string, rubbing for hours with numbed fingers. Even dry wood doesn't catch that easily - I don't believe I have the means to burn them down unless they stayed perfectly still for an hour or more. We'll need another plan. "Sirs; stand together and hold this formation, but draw back. Let us see if we can draw those trees out, and circle around them. You keep an eye on the birds, I'll mind our footing." And, if the mighty warriors beside me will consent to my guidance, I'll lead us backwards while maintaining a pace and distance from the approaching trees. Hopefully, being wooden, they'll be dumb, and let us lure them out to make an opening in the grove that we can run for in a few minutes.
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Feb 10, 2016 17:43
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Agerios Lapheusix HP: 30/30 Armor: 2/3 Souls: 7 Luck: 7/7 Bag of Obols: 4/5 Shears: 2/2 As the harpy attacks me, I bite hard into the obol. It snaps surprisingly easily, and immediately starts dissipating in my mouth, turning into a sort of foul-tasting, foamy substance. It feels soothing to the mouth, though, and I feel rejuvenated when I swallow it. Unfortunately, the vile beast got the drop on me, but Odessa quickly disposes of it. I hold my spear with both hands, like a short pike, and back up towards Odessa. "Not even the trees themselves are allowed to rest in this wretched place. Do you suppose the earth or sky itself will try to slay us next?" I'm trying to put everything in perspective, but the world in general attempting to kill us is no longer outside of the realm of possibility now. "The longer we waste our time here, the more we'll be under attack. I propose we fight our way to the temple, fair and square." I have never fled from a fight and I do not intend to start now.
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Feb 10, 2016 21:32
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Odessa HP: 19/22 Luck 11/11 Armor: 1 Souls: 0 Flask: 3/5 Spice: 2/2 | -1 INT/WIS/CHA | Rotes, Bless, Speak with Dead Fight our way to the temple? Through that unholy mesh? Keeping in mind that the harpies will swoop down again the moment we're entangled? Gods that's a bad idea. But, I hesitate, and bite my tongue. I can't appear a coward before Agerios. Yesterday - that is, my yesterday, when I was last alive, possibly hundreds of years by another reckoning - I'd have left him to die bravely and alone. But I'm bound to him, somehow, and anyways it seems I've more than one life to lose to foolish bravery. I say, "Fine. I've got your back." I pull the small nickel bar that is my holy symbol from my pocket, tilt it so that its polished surface shines toward Agerios, and say, "And if it be his will, so does Alarai." Cast Spell: Bless: 2d6+1 5 Maybe it be not.
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Feb 10, 2016 22:03
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While the other trees seem content to slowly crawl towards you all, one sinks in the ground instead. The reason why becomes readily apparent when cracks in the earth quickly travel from the foot of the tree to yours, Agerios and Odessa. Corkscrew-like roots spiral out of the ground and around your ankle, then begin to pull downward. Snared in the ground, even the slowly advancing leafless trees will soon be upon you. What do you do?
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Feb 10, 2016 23:17
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Odessa HP: 19/22 Luck 11/11 Armor: 1 Souls: 0 Flask: 3/5 Spice: 2/2 | -1 INT/WIS/CHA | Rotes, I have never before felt so strongly that I want to take a torch and trowel and destroy a whole landscape. I always thought that if I found myself in a forest, it would be enchanting and wonderful. Nope. This whole place is wrong. Wrong... it's so wrong. I know the Chosen Souls of old stories could ward off evil spirits, particularly the undead. I feel an unspoken confidence - much like with the mystic vessels - that I could do the same, in the right situation. These trees are uprooted, dry as sand, and leafless, yet still animated. Are these... undead plants? I have little hope of tearing myself free, without any blade to cut at these roots. It's about all I can do to keep my balance, forget about taking a step. How much could it hurt to try? I turn the bar of Alarai's constellation towards the approaching tree-phalanx, and their grasping roots. It reflects back at them, perhaps, more light than falls upon it directly. I try very hard to sound confident as I say, "Stay back, foul things! Be barred from this path!" Turn Undead: Undead Wood?: Odessa posted:How much could it hurt to try? DOUBLE OR NOTHING. (this is a luck roll): 2d6 7 StringOfLetters fucked around with this message at 01:43 on Feb 11, 2016 |
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Feb 10, 2016 23:57
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Dom HP: 32/32 Armor: 3 Souls: 0 LCK: 11/11 Beads: 5/5 Salts: 2/2 Ongoing: -1 INT/WIS/CHA 3-hold to Defending Odessa Note that due to Agerios' aid Dom hit 10 with his defense roll last turn so has 3 hold instead of 1. Thanks buddy! Birds on one side, trees on the other. Odessa and Agerios both being dragged underground by roots. At least one of the harpies was dead. I swipe at the roots with my sword, intent of severing them and freeing my friends, then stand off against the nearest of the trees. "Come on then, wood, test my steel!" --- Using 1 hold to halve the effect of the roots, in this case I'm hoping that frees one of the two trapped people? Odessa, if it will help, you can have +1 forward vs. enemies out of my remaining Hold, just say so in your post. Attempting a Hack n Slash on the closest tree: 2d6+ 1 = 5. Can we get some new dice? 10 for the pot.
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Feb 11, 2016 00:21
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Agerios Lapheusix HP: 30/30 Armor: 2/3 Souls: 7 Luck: 6/7 Bag of Obols: 4/5 Shears: 2/2 I laugh as the tree tries to sink me into the ground. "Haha!" I boast, "That's right! Get closer! I'll make firewood out of you!" I grab the roots on my left leg with my free hand, and pull with all of my might. DD+STR=6... It's... Not going quite as easily as I expected. Perhaps I did bite off more than we could chew? Did I condemn myself, and worse yet, Odessa, to a painful end? Well, too far in now to backtrack. If we're going to face certain death, we might as well go all in and make them work for it. Lady Luck, I beseech thee! Let me bravado these trees to death! (Rolled an 11, and marking off 1 luck.) I greedily dig with my bare hands into the earth around the roots by my feet, and try to uproot the whole ordeal while I yell: "aaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!" Deltasquid fucked around with this message at 00:58 on Feb 12, 2016 |
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Feb 12, 2016 00:50
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Dominik, you are able to sever the roots ensnaring Odessa, but not unlucky Agerios. In mid swing against the nearest tree's branches, Odessa, your miracle takes place--the wood, in a rapidly expanding radius around you, begins to smolder, then orange, glowing cracks in a the pattern of lightning erupt from beneath the bark. Your sword, Dominik, only brings a shower of embers upon you that sting your eyes. embers: 1d4 2 Odessa, your nickel bar glows red in sympathy with the trees: the miracle will require your unyielding faith to save you. It nearly slips from your hand at first so loose is your grip, and in that moment the trees' embers darken, but when you squeeze it harder in catching it, they become even brighter than before. hot metal: 1d4 1 Agerios, your grip too falters when the roots burn your hands, but when you redouble your efforts you are rewarded. You pull a great root out of the ground, that then begins to crackle and snap like a log in a campfire before completely breaking away from its source. A fine oar it would make, and its splintered head glows with embers that ignite as you row it through the air in the motion of uprooting it. You have freed yourself. embers: 1d4 2 as was done to Dominik. Ysolde and Venner, you step into the gravestone that the Pessimist indicated was the last one he had seen anyone enter, and immediately smell the rot of the half-foot layer of spoiled olives on the ground, and a hint of smoke, the latter of which you can see above the trees, and its likely source--an orange cinder-glow-- through them not many paces away. You hear shouts coming from there. On the way, you see what look like two iron cauldrons full of insect stew, and a classical bronze shield and helmet, respectively. Then you come upon the scene above. What do you do? Soul Bank: 140
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Feb 12, 2016 02:16
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Odessa HP: 18/22 Luck 11/11 Armor: 1 Souls: 0 Flask: 3/5 Spice: 2/2 | -1 INT/WIS/CHA | Rotes, Bless, Speak with Dead OW That's not what I expected to happen at all! Nice one, Alarai! Better than I prayed for! Ow, though! It seems the cost of inflicting pain is suffering it, too. All of my remaining instincts urge me to drop it like it's hot. I force myself to remember my body being restored earlier. I can't help but imagine my hands being blackened and blistered and ruined, then I force myself to recall the sensation of drinking the curative elixir which is not even half empty. My burning hand threatens to spasm, so I clamp it shut under my opposite armpit, grit my teeth, and hold that holy sucker as tightly as I can. This will pass. OW. This will pass. OW. This will pass. This will pass. This will hurt, and that's okay. Defy Danger: Will: Hold On To A Hot Thing: 2d6+1 9
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Feb 12, 2016 03:02
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Dom HP: 30/32 Armor: 3 Souls: 0 LCK: 11/11 Beads: 5/5 Salts: 2/2 Ongoing: -1 INT/WIS/CHA Yelling seems to be effective, let's try yelling. "Aaaaaah!" *slash, swing, thunk* Hack and Slash vs. Trees, 2d6+1 = 8! Damage, 1d10 = 4. mistaya fucked around with this message at 16:39 on Feb 13, 2016 |
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Feb 13, 2016 16:26
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Odessa, you smell roasted flesh and steam comes from between your fingers, but when you clasp your holy symbol hard enough the trees and their branches not engaged by Agerios and Dominik part before you as they attempt to avoid the source of their suffering. You could run past them yourself, or perhaps force them all away if you could stop your allies from cutting a path through them. Either way your hand would likely be rendered unusable due to the symbol's sealing itself inside it, curative or no, but the latter would take longer than the former, and the heat of it is steadily increasing and spreading up your arm. Your hand or more could burst into divine flame. Dominik, you blaze a trail through the branches of the trees as if you were clearing foliage, and reach the trunks, which bend away from you and Odessa. They have peculiar markings dividing their heights into thirds, like the creases on fingers. Fingers that close against each other in preparation for a slap, then fall upon you and flatten you against the ground before rising again for a second chance at crushing you in your shell. 4 trees fall in the woods: 1d10+1+3 9 -2 (shield does not apply)= 7 What do you do? Soul Bank: 140
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Feb 13, 2016 17:28
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slydingdoor posted:Ysolde and Venner, you step into the gravestone that the Pessimist indicated was the last one he had seen anyone enter, and immediately smell the rot of the half-foot layer of spoiled olives on the ground, and a hint of smoke, the latter of which you can see above the trees, and its likely source--an orange cinder-glow-- through them not many paces away. You hear shouts coming from there. On the way, you see what look like two iron cauldrons full of insect stew, and a classical bronze shield and helmet, respectively. Then you come upon the scene above. What do you do? Venner HP: 20/20 Armor: 1 Luck: 14/14 Flask: 5/5 Souls: 0 Venner covers his mouth and nose with his scarf against the smoke and stench. He kneels down near the shield and helmet and examines them before glancing at the wizard next to him and thinking better of it. He tenses when he hears the shouting and puts his hand on the hilt of his sword. When he sees the the trees marching against the party, his eyes widen slightly. He turns to Isolde and in a quiet voice says, "It looks like the others are in a bit of trouble. Do what you want, but I'm going ahead." Venner slouches into the shadows and pulls his sword and knife from their sheaths. He advances carefully towards the tree attempting to ensnare Agerios. He quickly sizes the tree up as it is distracted by the hoplite, looking for something like a vulnerable point. Finding one that looks promising, he tries to sink his sword into the tree as far as he can... Backstab a tree: 2d6+2 6 I'm hoping I've surprised the tree enough for a sneak attack. Let me know if not and I'll roll a normal attack deadking fucked around with this message at 21:37 on Feb 14, 2016 |
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Feb 14, 2016 19:14
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Odessa HP: 18/22 Luck 11/11 Armor: 1 Souls: 0 Flask: 3/5 Spice: 2/2 | -1 INT/WIS/CHA | Rotes, Bless, Speak with Dead I'm really hoping for any excuse to let go of this blessed thing. I want to say, We can handle this, but then I see what one of the trees does to Ser Dominik, ouch, and it's definitely worse. Besides, maybe this is a trial or something in which I can prove my devotion and worth, to Alarai and to my companions. I'm really just mentally spitballing, here, to distract myself from the pain. I hold tight to the holy flame, shout, "Gather around me!" and walk onwards to make us a path through the vile woods. I doubt I have the presence of mind to look behind us, or above us - it's on you guys to screen from harpies.
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Feb 14, 2016 19:31
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Venner, the trees seem oblivious to your lightfooted sneaking, until the alarum is raised by the harpies that make their nests in the apparently immotile ones farther away. At this heretofore unheard noise, the trees engaged with you and Agerios twist one way with a creak, wrapping their branches around themselves, then violently twist the other way with a louder snap. Their whirling sharp fingers, glowing like branding irons, send you spinning into the dirt. treefingers of 2 trees: 1d10+1+1 5 -1 armor= 4 Odessa, you make an opening in the line of trees as if one were gone, but because of their squeezing close together out of aversion to your fiery miracle. Agerios and Ysolde, you could fall in line behind her easily enough, but Dominik and Venner, you are beset upon by fledgling harpies descending from the immobile trees. The fatter harpies crinkle their eyes and cackle at the brave souls leaving a meal behind as the toll. It is likely not the first time such a price was paid. What do you do? Soul Bank: 150
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Feb 14, 2016 20:05
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Ysolde Stormcrow HP: 24/24 Luck 8/8 Armor: 0 Souls: 0 Jar: 5/5 Ring: 2/2 | Cantrips, Invisibility, Magic Missile Ysolde was somewhat distracted by the scenery around her; even with the decay, this had clearly once been a place of abundance, and that was an arresting sight for someone raised on an island that could never have supported an olive grove. The kettles of... insect stew?... were particularly interesting, and she took her time catching up with the others, unable to resist sampling a touch of the goo inside the kettles. It was in no way worth her time, but at least it was novel. She's caught up with the group at last, though, in time to see a half-safe path open and the harpies descend. She's quick to fall in behind Odessa, but that doesn't mean she's willing to let her more entangled comrades be left to the harpies. These people are her friends, after all -- in some real way, the only friends she's ever had a chance to have -- and she can't resist crying out as she looses bolts of magical energy from her hand at the harpies descending towards Dom and Venner. "Away from here, you feathered wretches!" In the rush of the fight, she may have just overexerted herself, but she has yet to realize that... Cast a Spell (Magic Missile, at the harpies): 2d6+2 7 Magic Missile damage: 2d4 4 All right, losin' my spell on the first roll of the campaign! At least the damage was... okay. Antivehicular fucked around with this message at 11:20 on Feb 15, 2016 |
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Feb 15, 2016 11:14
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Odessa HP: 18/22 Luck 11/11 Armor: 1 Souls: 0 Flask: 3/5 Spice: 2/2 | -1 INT/WIS/CHA | Rotes, Bless, Speak with Dead Wha? Who? When did she get here? OW. drat it, this was my chance to be impressive, I can't get shown up by an actual wizard now. Also, that's a stupid line of thought, and you have more immediate concerns. Through gritted teeth, I shout, "Agerios! Through, now! Can't hold this for long!" Ser Dominik is a tough man, and anyways, he can be reconstituted if he's torn apart or left behind, as I was. If anyone else makes it through, too, all the better. I expect things will be worse if our fully-corporeal host falls. Hopefully he'll see and agree with my reasoning.
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Feb 15, 2016 18:30
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Agerios Lapheusix HP: 30/30 Armor: 2/3 Souls: 7 Luck: 6/7 Bag of Obols: 4/5 Shears: 2/2 I grin as I see the opening Odessa left for me. "All right," I shout, "I'm going to show you a secret Attican combat manoeuvre!" I dash towards the tree that got... ineffectually backstabbed by Venner, sidestep it at the last moment, and skedaddly out of there, towards the temple. Let's work those legs! DD+DEX: 9!
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Feb 16, 2016 00:05
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Dom HP: 23/32 Armor: 3 Souls: 0 LCK: 11/11 Beads: 5/5 Salts: 2/2 Ongoing: -1 INT/WIS/CHA "Oof!!" I grunt as the trees collapse on top of me. One I could have handled but four was just too heavy, and I was driven to the ground with the wind knocked right out of me. From the ground my horizontal, and somewhat fuzzy, perspective helps me to realize something I hadn't noticed before. "Oh... These aren't trees..." Four fingers and a gnarled thumb, like a giant's hand that was only peeking through the earth... Yes, running away seemed like a VERY GOOD IDEA. If I could get up again. Things are looking dire, when... "Ahah! Reinforcements!" I yell. "Glad to see you could join us!" Well then, Dominik, time to stop laying down on the job. Heave----hoooooo! *crunch* "Gwaaaa..." Maybe... maybe I'll just take a nap... Yes, a nice nap. Everything is getting so dark... Defy Danger STR to get out from under the trees: 2d6+1 = 4! TREES WIN.
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Feb 16, 2016 16:17
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Agerios, you run through the trees, row after row shorter than the ones before and to the foot of the stone steps that lead to the temple in the midst of the whirling inverted vortex of thundering stormclouds. Any Harpies that were following you turn back after it becomes clear they cannot stop you from reaching the steps, but just as your foot begins to fall on the first of them, your hair stands on end--the telltale sign of a lightning bolt preparing to strike. You can either continue to sprint up the steps as fast as you can, rousing the wrath of the guard-storm behind you such that your Spectres will have to deal with its full vigilance, or twist away and land awkwardly, that you might all have the chance to pass through the gauntlet as one. With an injured ankle, though, you would be worse off to evade it yourself. Odessa, Ysolde, you are in the space where the trees have parted. Venner, one of the fledgling Harpies that descend on you is obliterated by four bolts of light, and the rest scatter. You are free to roll or crawl away from the enraged trees to the currently non-hostile cringing trees and then all of you could easily escape, leaving Dominik behind. Dominik, you are not dead yet, only pinned to the ground by trees that hate you enough to uproot themselves to fall on you. This time, they do not rise for another strike, electing to hold you there in their grasp that the clamor of fledgling harpies might crack your shell such that they could both share in the spoils. The fat Harpies cackle louder as you mention reinforcements at the same time as those fledglings that had been scared away from the Thief join the ones that were coming for you from the beginning. Their visage may not the only thing they have in common with humans, perhaps they also share language. Or stole it. Regardless, the grasp of the trees loosen so the fledglings' covetous claws can begin to dismantle your scale mail. Before they make much progress, one small and impatient Harpy leans in to try to bite you between the neck and shoulder. 4 trees fall again for the last time: 1d10+1+3-2 12 What do you do? Soul Bank: 160
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Feb 16, 2016 17:04
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Odessa HP: 18/22 Luck 10/11 Armor: 1 Souls: 0 Flask: 3/5 Spice: 2/2 | -1 INT/WIS/CHA | Rotes, Bless, Speak with Dead Yes! I press through the gap, and try to hold the fire until our new... two(!) companions have made it through. Once they're past, or else they decide to dawdle, I release the effect, whimper a lot, and cradle my jacked up hand. I want to help Ser Dominik. I really, truly do. But... eh. I profoundly mislike my odds of being more than bird food. He'll be fine, after he dies, right? Probably? I slow my pace when I reach Agerios and the steps. I'd scarcely had a chance to admire the skyline earlier, but this is... "Very unsettling." And that wizard! She straight-up vaporized a harpy mid-flight. Gods, I wish I could do that. (Er, not that I'm ungrateful for my current set of powers.) I say to her, "Nice one. I don't suppose you can do that again?"
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Feb 16, 2016 22:44
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Venner HP: 16/20 Armor: 1 Luck: 14/14 Flask: 5/5 Souls: 0 Spared the harpy's attack, Venner takes advantage of the brief moment of relative respite. He glances quickly at Dom, fighting for his life as the harpies tear at his armor and then to the path cleared by Odessa. Noting the look of pain on Odessa's face and the sheer number of harpies tearing at the knight, he makes the heartless calculation and opts for relative safety. Venner tries to roll out of the reach of the enraged trees and then make a run for the temple... Defy Danger (Dex): 2d6+2 8
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Feb 17, 2016 01:38
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| # ? Apr 16, 2024 17:16 |
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GM posted:You are free to roll or crawl away from the enraged trees to the currently non-hostile cringing trees and then all of you could easily escape, leaving Dominik behind.
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Feb 17, 2016 01:48
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