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 Uthaori "I have never seen anything like it." Uthaori looks around in amazement. "Are these the garden ruins you were talking about? They're breathtaking." Her eyes stop on the levitating rock in the center and the tree on it. "Think those fruits are edible?" Without any warning except for a brief almost mischievous smile she leaps into the lake and swims across to the small island under the floating rock. She looks up at the rock and rubs her hands together to get rid of some of the water. Looks a bit slippery, but a piece of cake compared to the ice-covered cliffs of the Icehorn mountains. She jumps up towards the rock face and finds purchase with her hands, then pulls herself up and begins climbing. Climb the floating rock: 2d20k1+15 25 Well up on the floating island she takes a closer look at the tree and its unusual teal colored fruits. Tree nature check: 1d20+14 28
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Feb 12, 2016 20:14
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 Gideon "Seems like someone's in the habit of coming here, maybe? They've furnished the place." Gideon peers at the table and tapestries, careful not to disturb anything just in case. Such an unusual layout must have some occult significance, but what? Arcana: 1d20+16 24
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Feb 12, 2016 20:26
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I would say analyzing the ritual table and tapestries would be a Religion check
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Feb 12, 2016 21:07
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 Mote Mote approaches the table. "Careful there Gideon, the objects may be enchanted. And an altar this close to drow territory this may be used for sacrifices." Religion: 1d20+14 28
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Feb 13, 2016 01:38
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Uthaori Kevkas shrugs at the question. "Color's flashy enough for birds...don't see any of them around the tree though." It's an easy task to climb the tree as the goliath gets close to exam the fruit itself. You get a strange feeling in the head as you touch one of them, like something resonates in your head. It's clear to you this fruit is not natural, or at least was heavily modified in some way. The fruit has a really sweet smell to it, almost sickly so. Based on your past experiences and knowledge, you reckon this can be pretty useful for psionics, although it might make them a bit lethargic. pre:Teal Lake Fruit - Minor Action Take a good bite of the fruit to gain +2 to hit and +2 damage when using Psionic abilities. Reduce Reflex by 3 and Movement Speed by 2. Duration 2 rounds. The arcana check will not go to waste!  Gideon can feel that the enchantment or arcane technique used on the floating rock is ancient, very likely in the Age of Giants. The fact that it still stands strong to this days shows just how skilled they were. It's very likely that there's a dragonshard in the center of the rock that keeps it floating. You notice no enchantment on the table. When Mote looks at the craftsmanship of the tools and tapestry, and the rustic drawings on them, you no longer think of drows, but jungle giants instead. It's likely they revere that floating tree as representing both the power of nature and a symbol of what once was their age, by presenting offerings in the ritual table one by one and them burning them, by the scorch marks you see. Afterwards they would knell before it in the tapestries. You're certain they would be very angry if they saw someone mess with the tree.
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Feb 13, 2016 02:02
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Mote "Uthaori, don't do whatever it is you're thinking of doing." He looks up towards the flying island. "This is a giant's holy site and they'd probably gut you alive for what you're doing now, not to mention what you might do."
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Feb 13, 2016 02:14
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Uthaori Uthaori peers down from the tree with a grin on her face. "I won't tell them if you don't. Besides, fruits are meant to be eaten, not revered. I'm sure they won't mind me grabbing oh half a dozen of them or so."
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Feb 13, 2016 02:47
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Mote "For someone who reveres nature in all it's forms you do seem to be doing this just to spite me." He scoffs. "Go ahead, prove me wrong, when the giants come I will serve them to you on a silver platter. I will even hold the knife to your gut as they cut out the fruit."
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Feb 13, 2016 18:13
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Uthaori "Oh please. You think that protecting nature is about leaving it untouched? I love nature and think it needs to be defended from those who destroy it with their shortsighted greed, but it's also meant to be experienced. Relax and try to live a little, metal man!" She plucks a couple of fruits off the tree and tosses them down to Airdwyn and Gideon. "There, out of respect for the giants and our grumpy Warforged I only took two that had practically fallen off the tree already. From what I can tell they should be pretty useful for you psionics." Sockerbagarn fucked around with this message at 22:55 on Feb 13, 2016 |
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Feb 13, 2016 22:50
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Gideon "We each pay reverence in our own way, and neither the giants nor we have the right to claim ours is the only way", Gideon muses, carefully stowing away the fruit in his satchel. "I'll not waste this. That being said, we shouldn't stay around longer than we must." <and we may not want to tell our superiors about this if we don't want to draw the giants' ire. i'm sure they'd love to get their hands at the dragonshard in that rock. they'd ruin this place>
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Feb 14, 2016 00:12
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 Adder Hawke "I'll pay reverence by getting something in my belly," Adder huffs as he catches one of the fruits aimed at the others and takes a big bite. "But yeah, we should keep moving. Half the time places like this got some weird beasty hiding around."
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Feb 14, 2016 07:40
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Mote More throws up his gauntleted hands in surrender as he turns to walk out of the clearing. "Yes, let's not listen to the anthropology expert brought along on this mission for this exact purpose. You guys had better start devoting some of your obviously deficient brain capacity to coming up with compelling reasons for me to help when this inevitably comes back around to bite your collective fleshy asses."
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Feb 14, 2016 08:24
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As Adder takes the bite he feels the immediate effects, tasting actually good, but feeling off-balance and...weird. The color of everything he sees changes and wanes. The sounds of the nature around him are much louder and more beautiful. To the others around him, he seems to be drooling a little, and almost falling down. Before Mote starts walking back the half-hidden path the group just came, he notices five tall shapes in the distance, coming from all sides of the jungle.  With brown skin that resembles bark and more lean than muscular, it's clear they're jungle giants. They're converging and coming down the same path the group took, but are taking their time and going slowly, observing their surroundings and picking at plants here and there. One of them stands out for carrying a huge war bow the size of a goliath and having two dire tigers by side.  They don't seem to have noticed you...yet. What do????
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Feb 14, 2016 08:54
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Uthaori Well, if the tin man was going to be pissy about it and walk away in a huff anyway she might as well pick a few more of the teal fruits, the tree was loaded of them. Uthaori opens up her bag of holding and pulls down some fruit into it, only partially to spite Mote a little bit. After Adder's reaction she was a bit interested in giving them a try herself too. Maybe later.
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Feb 14, 2016 17:33
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Mote Mote seriously wishes his face was capable of smirking, or grimacing, as he turns on the telepathy inherent in his circlet. "Yeah so those compelling reasons? Do you have any now because the previous owners of that fruit are here, and they brought very sharp pets."
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Feb 14, 2016 18:16
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Uthaori < Uh, really? poo poo, that's some poor timing. How about we get out of here, right now? I'd rather not have to come to blows in such a peaceful place. > Uthaori gets down from the tree and scans the area for an escape route, but it seems like they're surrounded by waterfalls. She could probably climb the slick rock faces, but what about the others? "Psst, Kevkas. We've got jungle giants incoming from where we came, is there another path out of here?"
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Feb 14, 2016 23:25
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Adder Hawke I gots five fingers, Adder thinks, helpfully, as he looks down at his hands, a small bit of drool matting the fur around his cheek. Total.
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Feb 15, 2016 00:54
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Gideon This is just like that time we had to put that ritual circle in the sewers and told the guards that surprised us we were but humble clerics of water, Gideon thinks, and then thinks more loudly as he steps towards the giants, guiding Nagaw with him. <Uthaori - look as wild as you can manage! Nagaw, come with me, in case this goes badly. Aerdwyn, try and back me up. The rest of you, play along, and keep Kevkas calm. Adder, uh - keep it up, you're doing great.> He makes his eyes go wide and sports a fanatic's grin, but most importantly, he recalls a technique of psychic warfare that projects truth and nothing but truth, no matter how many lies are behind the facade, and when the first giant comes into range, he surprises them with a telepathic message and points towards Uthaori with a maniacal flourish. <BEHOLD, BELIEVERS! YOUR PRAYERS, ANSWERED! THE SPIRIT OF THE TREE, MADE FLESH!> Bluff: 1d20+15 34 My Lovely Horse fucked around with this message at 19:32 on Feb 15, 2016 |
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Feb 15, 2016 19:25
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Uthaori < I hope you're a fan of bees because I'll stuff the next hive we find down your shirt for this. > Uthaori clenches her teeth and steps forward. It was too late to do anything about it now anyway, might as well run with it. She closes her eyes and breathes slowly, taking in the primal nature around her and connecting with it on a spiritual level. Suddenly her form shifts, her skin turns into thick bark and her her wild hair changes into a mane of leaves like those on the tree behind her. She raises her arms into the air in a welcoming gesture and speaks loudly in giant. "Come forth so that I can see you my children! Your offerings have pleased me greatly." There's no way that this is going to end well. Assuming the guardian form of the oak sentinel to basically change myself into a walking tree, there's a bunch of combat benefits that I won't bore you with (right now.)
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Feb 16, 2016 23:09
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Kevkas looks panicked for a moment when he frantically looks around the clearing looking for an alternate way out. He remains still and silent when Gideon walks up to the incoming giants. When the jungle giants enter the clearing they raise their weapons at seeing the outsiders but the telepathic message and Uthaori's appearance gives them heavy pause, and then glance at each other, at members of the vanguard and at Uthaori's oak form again. The apparent leader of the giants strides past with the tigers at his side, he furrows his brows as he stares into Gideon and then at Uthaori, walking towards her and then knelling. Even then he stands taller than the goliath. In Giant "Blessed Tree Spirit? You...you finally come? But...why you only appear now, before these outsiders? And not us? We have never defiled your sacred fruits! Will you aid us against the Umbragen?" Most of the jungle giants are still looking at the remainders of the group with suspicion, the one looking at the doped Adder is yet to understand what's happening with him. The situation is still delicate to be sure!
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Feb 18, 2016 06:42
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Adder Hawke Adder can't understand the conversation, but between the big tree lady and the giant kneeling, he can sort of grasp it. The concept. Maybe. He tries to kneel too, to sell the act, but he mostly winds up falling over on his back, his tail flopping forward into his face. "Biiiiig tree. Very impressive. I'm bowing. Impressive!"
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Feb 18, 2016 19:08
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Uthaori "I was awakened by the insignificant one." Uthaori points at Adder. "It seems like his curiosity got the better of him, he ate one of the sacred fruits." She holds up a calming hand. "Please let him be, I do not wish any violence in this sacred grove and without him I would still be trapped in my eternal slumber. I know you did what you thought was necessary, but your ancestors did not create the tree for no one to enjoy its fruits." She holds out the bounty of fruits she just picked from the tree to the giants and smiles. "Here, eat! Tell me about your struggles against the Umbragen." Bluff: 1d20+4 23 That I did not expect.
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Feb 20, 2016 03:06
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Gideon Still trying to pass as a fellow worshipper, Gideon kneels beside Uthaori as well. <Don't know what you're talking about, but try and get us out of here before they catch on. And don't forget the caravan still has to go through, too.>
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Feb 20, 2016 08:55
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The jungle giant leader is stunned by the response. "All this time...we were wrong? Forgive us!" He turns to the rest of the giants. "Emerald Spears! Partake in this!" He grabs one of the fruits and shows to the others. All the remaining giants move forward to kneel before her, alongside Gideon and Adder. They all stare at the sacred fruit for a few seconds before swallowing it whole, glancing at each other. The leader resumes speaking. "Oh great spirit tree! The Umbragen stalks us at night, poison our game! They forced us out of the ancient ruins of Gathor'an! The tribe is almoooosttttt hnnnng??" At once the fruit's effect starts on the giants, however it seems much more powerful for them. All of them try to get up but fail completely, landing with their gigantic asses hard on the floor. Their gaze wanders all around, and a few drool just like Adder did. Most of them mutter things unintelligible even to Uthaori. Only the leader seems to muster a single word in Giant before returning to a trance. "BeaaaaaAAAAAAuuutiiiiiiiifuuuuuulllllllll" The completely frozen in fear Kevkas perks up when he understands what's happening, and whispers to the group. "No idea how you managed to do that, but now it's the chance to get the hell out!" He looks ready to bolt towards the exit of the clearing. The jungle giants are now extremely vulnerable and also really easy to outrun. What do?
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Feb 24, 2016 03:34
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Uthaori Uthaori places her branch-like hand on the leader's shoulder and whispers a few final words in Giant. "I'm sorry." She walks past him, picks Adder off the ground and hoists him up on her shoulder then heads toward the exit of the clearing. "Come on, we're done loving with these people and their beliefs, let's go before the actual tree spirit awakes and places a curse on us. Oh and Kevkas, if Gathor'an means something to you it's full of drow now."
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Feb 24, 2016 20:46
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Mote Mote watches the whole exchange with increasing levels of anger, but holds his lack of a tongue until they are out of earshot of the Giants. "Exploiting their beliefs and masquerading as their god? Congratulations, you've actually found a way to lower my opinion of you." The warforged pulls his cloak around himself and walks on ahead.
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Feb 25, 2016 20:07
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Gideon The awkward silence that follows is broken by Gideon. "He's not wrong, you know. The flow of the situation hasn't led us to a good karmic place. I'm sure there will be opportunities to even things out, but still..." "But at least it should be safe for the caravan to pass. And who knows," he adds, lightly patting the satchel with the fruit in it, "these may end up saving our hide."
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Feb 26, 2016 09:56
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Uthaori Uthaori turns her head and snarls at Gideon. "He's not wrong? No poo poo! You think I enjoyed that? I wanted to hide, run, just get the hell out of their way, whatever. Standing there and lying and cheating was one of the last things I wanted to do, but what choice did I have after you pointed straight at me?" She turns her head forward and keeps treading on with determined steps. "Don't ever put me on the spot like that again, or I'll snap you like an old twig."
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Feb 26, 2016 22:08
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Mote Uthatori's response causes Mote to spin around mid step, his eyes burning like hot coals in his sockets. "And where was this concern when I warned you about that damned tree!? Suddenly this is our fault? No. This is all on you, Gideon merely ensured that you were front and center when the repercussions of your actions came back around. Maybe the weight of your sins will force you to move slow enough to actually listen next time."
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Feb 26, 2016 22:30
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Gideon Gideon's brow furrows, and he stops walking past Mote and Uthaori, meeting her angry stare with a level gaze. "The lie is on me. Actually turning into a tree, giving them their own holy fruit to eat, I don't recall forcing your hand. There's no way we could have run or hid with Adder in the state he's in. We got out peacefully. Would you rather we'd had to fill that lake with blood?"
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Feb 26, 2016 22:42
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Uthaori "Just shut up Mote, I can't find myself to give a drat about what you have to say right now you sanctimonious hunk of junk. You've proven that you think it's more important for you to be right than to help your allies, something I'd never do, no matter what kind of mess they get themselves into or how much I'm annoyed at them right now." Uthaori stops walking as Gideon turns around, she sighs heavily and the scowl fades from her face, replaced by tiredness. "I know that Gideon, don't think I'm putting this all on you, I'm furious at myself more than anyone else. But I couldn't think of anything else to do to get us out of there. You really shouldn't turn to me when it comes to smooth-talking our way out of a sticky spot."
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Feb 26, 2016 23:54
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Mote "Sanctimonious!? SANCTIMONIOUS!? Who was it that said that any silly old superstitions were meaningless and fruit existed to be eaten!? I'm not trying to be right, I was right, because that's why I'm loving here. I. Am. A. Archaeologist. And. Anthropologist. Were we in an area of your expertise I would have gladly fallen in line." He growls as she walks away. "But obviously it's more important to you to be righteously angry than it is to trust people."
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Feb 27, 2016 00:06
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Uthaori Uthaori shrugs, flips him the finger and keeps walking.
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Feb 27, 2016 00:32
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 Nagaw Hagaw Mere moments after the jungle giants collapse.. Nagaw grunts as he steps out from the brush, rebuckling his pants and muttering to himself in dwarvish, a small spade tucked under his arm. Life in the jungle so far had been more hellish than he'd imagined, but the rations were the worst part; he didn't exactly have a gentle constitution but this certainly wasn't working with him. He stops, holding his belt and surveying the scene before him, his face expressionless. The giant girl was a tree and giving out fruits, Grumplestiltskin was still being a cranky automaton (though that was hardly strange,) Adder was face first in the dirt and giggling, and it looked like a bunch of big tree guys were trying to see through their hands and ululating just to hear the noise and seemingly enjoying it. The dwarf watches as Uthaori apparently goes into panic mode, picking up the adorable little murderfluff of a kobold and sprinting off with him, and Nagaw curses as he tries to catch up and do his belt at the same time. Once some distance had been gained and he had a chance to gather what had happened, it's all Nagaw can do to not laugh. "Look, if you wanna talk about defilin' the grove, have -I- got a tale for you." He snorts laughter at this, shaking his head and looking incredibly proud at the poop joke.
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Feb 27, 2016 02:40
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Most of the jungle giants can only watch helplessly as the group escapes the place, most of them not understanding. Their leader manages to grasp the situation and tries to give chase, but the fruit's effect is too much and he falls down. By the time he manages to ready his warbow, the intruders are gone from the place. After making your way back where you came from, Kevkas recognizes a mark he made in a tree and motions for the group to stop. "Alright we can take a breath for now. That was a close one back there!" He turns to make warning marks near the route the caravan will come from. At this point Adder has sobered up from the fruit's effects. The half elf turns to everyone. "While what happened with the giants could have gone better..." he says nervously, trying to avoid eye contact with Mote. "....It was still good that we gained information about possible dangers to the Expedition!" He opens his map on the ground and shows it to everyone.  Red Star is your current position. "Including how's the situation with Gathor'an." He looks at Uthaori. "You said it's full of drow? That's a problem... the ruins of Gathor'an have been plundered long ago, but it's still an excellent position in the jungle. We were initially planning to use the place for the expedition to settle for the night, since it's the most clear route the caravan to take. The other route would be through some sort of ancient fort, I've never heard anything about the name or what's inside it. But that's Xen'drik for you, full of places like that." He glances at everyone. "So that's the options, caravans needs to go through one way or the other. I'm gonna leave the decision to you. We clear out the drow warband from Gathor'an or try our luck in a mysterious ancient fort?"
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Mar 4, 2016 04:39
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Gideon "I don't like the thought of tangling with drow any more than going into the unknown. Do you think we could find out what's in the fort and then decide? If that's not feasible I vote for the fort anyway - if we go to Gathor'an we'd have to kill every single drow inside or the survivors would report to their superiors. And exploring the fort would put a new spot on your map. Who knows, maybe it's an even better position."
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Mar 4, 2016 08:30
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Uthaori "I'm not sure if it's full of drow or not, but the leader of the Emerald Spears, uh, the jungle giants called themselves that, said they were driven out from the ruins by the Umbragen and asked the tree spirit to come to their aid. Said the drow had been hunting them in the night and poisoning their game, clearly not up for a fair fight. While exploring the unknown sounds like fun I'll put my vote for going to Gathor'an and kicking the cowards out, I've got some experience of making mincemeat out of invaders and I feel like I owe it to the giants."
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Mar 6, 2016 02:31
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Gideon Gideon turns to Uthaori, with some surprise. "That's what you were talking about with them? If that's the case, I'm with you. This is exactly the kind of opportunity to polish up our karma at least a little bit that I was talking about." Patiently waiting for the others to have their say, he nonetheless makes mental notes about preparation - it would be good to have antidotes, maybe Kevkas knows the layout of the ruins, and what else is there to know about Drow...?
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Mar 6, 2016 09:07
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Nagaw Hagaw Nagaw sniffs, running a finger against the bottom of his nose to scratch it. "What that sounds like to ME is that we've got an inevitable scrap on our hands with the dark elves, either where we can dig in and not know when they'll come, or where they've dug in and might not know we're comin' until it's too late." Nagaw glances around at the others and then out into the jungle, his arms folded across his chest. "But if I were a bettin' man, and I am, compulsively, I'd wager the drow know we're here. Probably had them elfin eyes on us since we waddled into this place and have been tryin' to plan a raid or get a good feel on us. What they might not know is that we know the layout of their little camp and how to turn their defenses against 'em." He looks pointedly to the Kev guy, his eyebrows raised and his eyepatch flipped up. "So what do you know about this place? What've we got to work with in regards to a brief ambush? Cause I drat well suspect they'll see us before we see them in their too tight leather pants." "We'll wanna use everything we can against 'em, so if you know of any precariously balanced boulders right above the place, I'm dyin' to hear." He waits a moment for the other dwarf to talk, before realization and disappointment crosses his face. He looks at his feet for a moment and mutters something sadly under his breath. "drat. Shoulda called 'em dork elves. Next time, Nagaw. Next time..."
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Mar 6, 2016 22:00
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Kevkas starts drawing a very rough map on the ground.  "As far as I can remember the place itself is very straightforward. A wide courtyard in the middle and some stone buildings surrounding it. However, there's a shallow river passing through the ruins and an elevated building that you can only access through a bridge from the courtyard. Probably where the warband leader will reside." He pauses to glance at the group. "If any ambushes happen, it will probably on our way there, where they'll use the dense jungle for cover."
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Mar 6, 2016 23:16
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