Sorta hard to RP the current situation further without knowing Traknesh's reaction so I left it as is and just compiled it all into one post. Wow, we have written quite a bit. When we eventually get around to it, if you get a fluff bonus for your egg laying roll equal to the amount we've written... I'll have impregnated the hell out of you. (I keep saying these things which make sense in my head but sound so wrong when taken out of context.)
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In the first few, critical hours KnickKnack hardly ever leaves Nockit's side, and when he finally regains consciousness she smiles at him gently, offers him some water to drink and says - eying the gaping wound the vice-captain's axe left: "That is going to become one hell of a scar someday, but you'll be okay. You're safely back at the mine now, we all are. So be sure to rest up and take it easy for a while, okay?
Nockit stirs, at KnickKnack's words but winces in pain when he tries to move. "You don't have to worry about that. I don't feel like I'll be moving around too much anytime soon. But thank you for your concern."
By the way, that was an incredibly brave thing you did there, drawing his attention to you like that, when the vice captain already had downed Krat and was zeroing in on Ludo. Brave AND dumb, but brave nonetheless. I'm glad you were with us in this fight. And I'm glad you're still with us now."
When she calls him dumb, Nockit chuckles a little before the movement sends pain shooting through his body. "At the moment I am more inclined to agree with your assessment of dumb than anything else. Still, none of you had any armor on. I survived but he might have outright killed one of you. I could never cower behind an unarmored comrade. If you had died because I had acted in cowardice I would have never forgiven myself. Speaking of which, did everyone else survive as well? And please in the name of Vixareticz the great, tell me we looted their armor. I'd rather not have to act as the dumb one again any time soon.
KnickKnack chuckles in kind. "Well, there's still a difference between just not cowering behind an unarmored peer and jumping in front of them, yelling at the attacker like crazy."
She can't help but smile when Nockit says that he couldn't forgive himself, if she had died, and gives him a long, thoughtful and somewhat inquisitive look, then finally clears her throat to say: "Yes, as I mentioned previously, we all made it back to the mine safe and sound. And we took all the gnomes' belongings with us, and also tried to obscure any traces of us, the fight and any tracks leading back to the mine. We spread the bodies out a little, so hopefully scavengers will find them quickly, leaving any gnomes that might try and investigate the fates of their comrades none the wiser.
During the fight you, Ludo and Krat got hurt, but Ludo and Krat - who did something ..." KnickKnack hesitates and bites her lips in her search for the right words, her eyes darting uncomfortably around the room and her tail swishing from side to side repeatedly at the recollection of Krat's deed "...unusual to patch himself up - are up and about already. Still, I think it would be safer to see to their - and anyone else's - wounds or other ailments, apply herbs and switch bandages as needed. If you are feeling up for that, you are more than welcome to help Zim and me with that." KnickKnack grins at Nockit and adds in a small voice. "That way I would be able to keep an eye on you and make sure you don't overexert yourself..."
Nockit feels his heart lighten. There is something wonderful about knowing someone else cares about you. When they had come to the mine they had all been strangers, but he had now forged a strong bond with one of his fellow Kobolds. "I think I can manage that. Though I still feel weak. Help me up and give me a shoulder to lean on and I should be fine. If not, well, like you said I'll be under your caring gaze, so I have nothing to worry about. I trust you to keep me well."
"Certainly." KnickKnack nods and offers whatever aid she can with her muscular body to assist Nockit in getting around the mine as needed, always remaining mindful not to hurt him or cause his wounds to break open again.
Nockit is glad to have the assistance. Despite her strength, he finds KnickKnack's touch to be quite gentle. While he hates being in a weakened dependent state, he doesn't seem to mind her help. Her assistance is actually quite pleasant. He catches himself leaning his head on her shoulder at times. And he's not entirely sure its because he's tired.
KnickKnack gives Nockit a puzzled side-glance and raises her eyebrows (or whatever equivalent kobolds have), when she feels him rest his head on her shoulder like that. "Are you sure this it not too strenuous for you in your current condition?" genuine concern discernible in the tone of her voice.
A greatly embarrassed Nockit jerks his head off her shoulder, only to feel a sharp pain from the sudden movement. "Sorry, I'm fine. I'll admit I'm tired, but I'm still up to the task. It was just so comfortable leaning against you, my mind got lost against your skin. After sleeping in the dirt so much recently, I think I could sleep for months curled up against your shoulder."
KnickKnack looks pensively for a while, attempting to make sense of what Nockit said, the meaning behind his words. Is he trying to insult her or compliment her? Is she this boring to him, that he would lose his mind and sleep in her presence for months, or did she just about have as much use to him as a piece of furniture? If I ever want to have a career as a sofa, I'll be sure to give him a call... KnickKnack rolls her eyes and smirks savagely at herself. Or... is he simply trying to tell her that he found her company comforting? KnickKnack sways her tail from side to side slowly, contemplating this, and finally settles on saying: "Well, now that we have ransacked the camping equipment from the gnomes, you won't have to sleep on the bare ground much longer."
After a little while she makes up her mind, smiles at him kindly and points out: "Also, I didn't tell you to move..."
Nockit notices Knickknack contemplating his words in her head. He knows he said something wrong. Again. He never was good with words. When she mentions that he can rest on the camping equipment instead of her, it's definitely confirmed. He somehow insulted her. Now he needs to figure out how to get himself out of this mess. But before he can come up the words, she speaks again telling him he didn't have to move. Now he is just confused. Unsure of how to proceed, he stammers out a weak "Thank you" before tentatively putting his head back on her shoulder. Her grasp was still gentle and comforting so perhaps she isn't offended. "You've been very generous with your care." He almost says more but thinks it wiser to stop there before he ends up with his tail in his mouth again.
KnickKnack feels a hint of worry at the sheer feebleness of Nockit's "Thank you," but nods approvingly when he lays his head back onto her shoulder.
She's used to carrying around lots of stuff, due to her tendency to inspect, collect and keep pretty much anything, her habit causing her load to grow quite heavy at times, even more so ever since she has arrived at this mine with loads of interesting and useful items to be discovered, brought home and examined or used. She quietly enjoys lending her strength to others, who need it. One might say: She's buff, so others don't have to be.
"Rest, if you're tired, I don't mind helping out at all. In fact, I enjoy putting my abilities to good use and what better use is there, than aiding a fellow kobold? If you prefer, I could probably offer you a piggy back ride - I'm accustomed to hauling my backpack around, after all - or maybe even carry you in my arms; both of these options are bound to be less taxing than walking, even with support." KnickKnack looks at Nockit, awaiting his reaction to her proposition.Nockit is surprised by The offer. He considers it in his head. A piggy back ride would press his wound up against her skin, and that would be more harmful than anything. Being carried wouldn't hurt his wound, but it would hurt his pride. It wouldn't be that bad except he wanted to ask Traknesh for help with a healing spell if they ran into him. It was bad enough dealing with the greedy bastard standing, but asking him for a favor in an embarrassing position would be too much. The problem was how to refuse KnickKnack without offending her. He already felt like he was on shaky ground and didn't want to make things worse, particularly since she was probably the fellow gifted he got along best with. He sees her waiting for an answer, and has to say something. Stall! "Actually do you mind first stopping for a moment? I'd like to check my wound." He prolongs a wince to make his stop believable. As he begins to sit down, it comes to him. "Perhaps we should keep all the wounded in one place, from now on. Despite your help it is taxing getting around in this condition."
KnickKnack does her best to help Nockit sit, lowering him down to the ground gently, keeping a firm, but mindful hold of him until she made sure he can't fall, then retracting her hands carefully.
Reflecting upon his idea, she shakes her head slightly. "That wouldn't be very feasible in our current situation, I think, because most of them are not that badly off, that they aren't performing important duties for the colony. But it would probably come in handy in the future, especially if the gnomes from the village the three we encountered were talking about, find this mine and it's occupants - that might end rather bloody." KnickKnack frowns a little at the prospect a fully fledged war isn't something she is looking forward to. Yet, it's better to prepare for the worst and hope it doesn't come to pass, than just hope for the best and ignore the signs of potential trouble brewing.
"I have asked Traknesh - who has offered to take some kobold commoners into the forest to gather more wood, kind of as recompense for him using up most of our meager supply which I was hoping to trade for food that keeps with Lossa - to get them to dig out a room that could be henceforth used as dormitory, instead. He said he would do so, after finishing the bed he and another kobold are working on." KnickKnack rolls her eyes a little at this point, unable to completely withhold her... annoyance with Traknesh looking out mostly and only for himself, rather than having the common good for everyone in mind, even though she is trying.
"But back to the new room: With the bedrolls and sleeping bags, that should provide a suitable place where injured and sick members of our group can recuperate. Perhaps we could even follow Traknesh's example and put in floor tiles."
KnickKnack smiles in spite of herself and gets a dreamy, faraway look in her eyes at the thought of a nice room to sleep in, even if it would be 'just' a common room for everyone for now. Still, better than huddling together for warmth on the raw floor in the entrance room, the room with the lake, the room with the ongoing mining or the room with the spider infestation. Much better...
Nockit inspects his wound with feigned interest. It seems to be holding up for the moment, but he does notice the gash was longer and deeper than he initially realized.
Though he had intended to use the time to come up with excuses, Nockit can't help but to contemplate KnickKnack's idea of a dormitory. It would be nice to have a safe room away from the entrance for sleeping where they were not all at risk. But with Traknesh having built his own room, the thought of a common area just didn't excite him. Nockit had only been thinking they should meet in the front room to inspect wounds and dress them with bandages. But KnickKnack's mention of a suitable place to recuperate, gets him thinking about digging out a room specifically dedicated to that. They could stock it with bandages, salves, and potions. But his list of tasks he would like to do has already grown too large and he likely won't get to it soon. The mere thought of the list makes his head spin. It further aggravates him that in this state he can do so little of it. "Speaking of Traknesh, you wouldn't happen to know where he is? He does have experience with the healing spell. I hate to ask him for a favor, but this wound may be worse than I thought." He pauses a moment unsure if he should turn down her offer but decides to add, "And if you don't mind, I'd like to be standing when I deal with him."
KnickKnack jerks slightly when she is stirred from her wistful thoughts of a cozy sleeping hall by Nockit's questions.
"I would assume he's in his room, supervising work on his bed," she replies helpfully, yet again unable to keep that slight annoyance out of her voice. "And with the gaping depth of your wound, it might be a good idea to use healing magic. I think there's a spell for this very purpose lying around here somewhere, anyways. We might as well put it to good use." she volunteers.
When Nockit mentions that he would like to stand up while dealing with Traknesh, she furrows her brows - partially in worry, partially in puzzlement - shrugs and says: "Why would I mind that?", genuinely perplexed.
"Well, surely you have more to do that act as my crutch all day. Its not that I don't enjoy the pleasure of your company, but we do have quite a bit left to do to make this colony stable. How about we get my healing out of the way and then I can settle back down in the main room. Speaking of crutches its a shame we don't have more wood."
Ludo sidles up to KnickKnack who he sees is taking care of Nockit. Hearing them speak of a room to keep the wounded in, he suggests: "Maybe you could use Traknesh's room as a sickbay for now? Surely those hurt and wounded has greater need of it than him, I am sure he would have no problem with moving out of it for a while."
Nockit is startled by Ludo's... intrusion. Somehow he had allowed himself to be sucked in by KnickKnack's charm. Were they talking too loud? Or had he simply tuned out what was going on around them. He tries to hide his surprise by considering the suggestion. "Well, I'm reluctant to ask him for any more help than I have to. And I doubt he'll be that compliant." Nockit instantly felt bad about being so dismissive of Ludo's idea. He seemed to work hard and eagerly. He was quite likable. But the surprise had left Nockit scrambling for the first thought to come to mind. "But if you want to give it a try you can."
KnickKnack gives another shrug when Nockit says that she has better things to do than aiding him get around all day. "I was going to see to all the injured or sick kobolds anyways, it makes not much difference to me in terms of effort to take you along, especially if you are helping with taking care of them. But sure, we can head to Traknesh first." Her face turns into a very distinct frown, slightly baring her teeth subconsciously and her tails swishes around irritably as he mentions how it's a shame that there's not more wood to go around. It's like he's rubbing salt into the wound.
When Ludo chimes in, KnickKnack's features smoothen a bit and her tail comes to rest, but once more she shakes her head. "I very much appreciate your input on this... Ludo, was it? But so far we only got one person wounded badly enough that they can't perform their normal duties, and we are about to try and amend that with magic, so we don't exactly need a room for the hurt ones to rest in, at least not during waking hours. Besides, judging from how annoyed Traknesh seemed when I spoke to him about using up the wood and other stuff, I don't assume he would be very willing to co-operate with your idea. But it can't hurt to ask him, I guess."
Nockit had been noticing signs of KnickKnack's annoyance at much of what he said since he'd woken. So when he notices much of that go away when she talks to Ludo, he can't help but feel a pang of jealousy. Nockit realizes he must have been a horrible patient. It feels like he just couldn't do anything right today. Not wishing to drag things out any longer he speaks up, "Well, should we get this over with," giving indication to help him up. "I don't think Traknesh will be any more amiable if we delay." Nockit, is sure to stand tall, or at least as tall as he can while needing KnickKnack's support. He didn't want to look any feebler than he had to when dealing with Traknesh. "And I'm sorry you've had to deal with my foul mood. Between my wound and having to ask him for a favor I imagine I'm not pleasant company at the moment."
"Please excuse us." KnickKnack politely says to Ludo and simply scoops a very surprised Nockit up into her arms, when she realizes him wanting to go and the impatience expressed by his words, stating flatly: "It will be much faster this way."
She remains extremely cautious not to accidentally scrape the walls with her precious, living, breathing load, stops by the 1st room to pick up the healing spell on the way and makes sure to gently let Nockit back down on the floor to stand on his own feet well before coming into Traknesh's sight.
"There. And I don't think your company is unpleasant. I'm just annoyed at the current situation, is all. But we can all work on making things better." she smiles at him to put some emphasis to her words and, again offers whatever support she can to Nockit to walk the last distance.
Nockit, is stunned by his sudden circumstances. He wasn't quite happy about being carried around. But he didn't want to fight about it either, so he lets KnickKnack carry him. "Well, as you yourself said, I shouldn't go... how did you put it?... 'yelling at the attacker like crazy.' No one to blame but myself." Before KnickKnack can respond he hobbles into Traknesh's room. He didn't quite understand KnickKnack, but he didn't feel like stopping to ask how she put up with everything so well. Later, maybe. For the time being, he just wanted to get dealing with Traknesh over and done with. "Traknesh, you here?" When he spots him he continues, "Traknesh, I'm aware that you have some knowledge of the heal spell, would you mind assisting in a group casting of the spell?" He tries being polite with his words, but it is hard when dealing with Traknesh. Still he hoped any annoyance with the Kobold was masked by his pain.
KnickKnack feels slightly bewildered at Nockit's comment about having to stop to yell at attackers like crazy - talk about rapid topic change - but probably even more so when he strides into Traknesh's room without her.
Maybe he is embarrassed about being carried around, she thinks, I probably shouldn't have done that.
Desperately wanting for something to do, maybe let off a little steam, she flicks a random pebble on the ground out of her way with one of her toes. It ricochets off the tunnel wall, causing it to fly directly at her, but she has been paying attention to its course and swats it back onto the floor with her tail at the last possible moment, grinning sheepishly for a moment. It might have been a silly thing to do, but she feels better now.
Eventually, she shrugs and slowly ambles after Nockit, because a) he forgot to take the healing spell with him and b) if she understood him correctly earlier, he wanted her to aid in the spell casting, too. She's content to quietly stand in the background until she's needed, though, and let Nockit deal with Traknesh.
Also yet another question for our GM. I want to pick up sleight of hand. I want to be able to control the out come of the dice to prevent losses at my dice game. However, how would it work. Would the roll determine whether I deceive the hapless fool (perhaps rolled against perception or sense motive) into thinking there is no manipulation or whether I succeed in actually manipulating the dice/cards/etc? Depending on which it is would also affect which stat I think the skill would use.
And since I'm making a few minor modifications to my actions I'm reposting below:
Order: Tell Isarl to continue his training [+1 spell revive, +1 spell heal, +1 wis]
Active: Persuade Lossa to Gamble with him (see below) and use any proceeds (or my own money) to buy the breastplate.
Passive: heal (spell) targeting myself (hopefully with the help of someone who is also trained otherwise order 2 NPCs to help)
My persuade skill isn't great but hopefully I'll get bonuses from my fluff, natural kobold greed, buttering him up with my offer of food, and possibly FLS?
Presuming Nockit is up in his winnings he will encourage Lossa to continue betting (persuade).
