Where Dragons Fear To Tread - Prologue

[Synch]

Stormcrow follows Kast at a distance, cutting a swathe by swatting shrubs and bushes on either side with his club hoping to startle anyone or anything that may be hiding in ambush.

[BadgeAddict]

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I'm getting a new job soon that will be balls to the wall busy 10hours/day....thus, Zaks: The Unicorn of mayhem, will be taking a leave from this party. I apologize for this, but I figure it would be nicer than me just not showing up, this game is a bit too word intensive to keep going.

[willpell]

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So in the ballpark of 12-14?

14 would be more than "noticeably"; I'm thinking that would be "significantly". (Not sure what I'd say for 13 though; he's 12.)

He does intend to share this with the others, though the spell is lost as soon as he stops concentrating on it, hence why I was wondering what thoughts he picked up on by continuing to focus on them, unless the implication is that they have made their save, since by now I imagine Cass has been focusing them long enough to pick up something otherwise.

I wasn't assuming more than two rounds had passed. But I think you can concentrate and still talk (within reason; I figure it's analogous to alternating between a phone conversation and some fiddly task in your surroundings, except that in this case the conversation is the part that's really happening and the task is what's just in your head), unless the rules say otherwise.

I'm getting a new job soon that will be balls to the wall busy 10hours/day....thus, Zaks: The Unicorn of mayhem, will be taking a leave from this party. I apologize for this, but I figure it would be nicer than me just not showing up, this game is a bit too word intensive to keep going.

Oh, okay, well jobs are a good thing, so best of luck to you. If/when you become available in future, feel free to look me up and we'll see about reactivating Zaks; he was a great character.

Of course now we need Stormcrow to go evil so the party is still one of every neutral alignment.

[Amara]

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Aw, pity to see you heading off Badge, but yeah, if you find yourself with time, we're still here!


I did make another post after the initial information given in hopes it'd make it easier for others to respond / everyone to act (since I'd be able to get his thoughts within 18 seconds.)
The spell has a vocal component, but if you're happy to rule I don't have to be chanting constantly to keep the spell going, I am more than happy to have it handled that way.

[BadgeAddict]

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Perhaps this is a break until further notice then. I haven't started yet, so i don't know how much internet time I might have. So, depending on what turns up, I may return after the new year starts.

It's been a pleasure to play and I hope it works out to continue, I just want to respectfully withdraw until I figure things out.

[spiderwrangler]

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Kast would never admit it, but he'll miss the little guy... slightly.

Do you have anything in mind storyline wise to give him an out to return? Collective has a task they want him to do? Bumps his crystal horn and spends a few weeks thinking he's a chicken? Eats some bad meat and is down with a stomach virus?

[BadgeAddict]

(Forcing their will upon him quite suddenly and unexpectedly, the Collective use their power of Planar Shift, Psionic (9 PP) to remove Zaks from the material plane. Trapped alone, lost and unsure of where he is, Zaks struggles to find a way back home. When he does finally planar shift back to the material plane, he finds himself standing in a field that is completely unfamiliar to him. Satisfied that he is once more in the material plane, but having no idea where he is, Zaks sets off to find Kast once more.)

Shifting between planes can cause you to shift between 5 and 500 miles from your point of origin, this happened

[Synch]

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Argh how am I going to get by without Little Sparrow now? Stormcrow barely tolerates these other people!

[Amara]

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And then there's Cass who probably gets along better with elves than other humans haha
Our entire party is a mess. 8D

[willpell]

(Before this announcement, I was actually debating splitting the party rather than continuing to tether everyone together with the very loose "old associates" theme. However, now you'll have exactly 5, which is basically the perfect number in terms of Experience Point math; now that we don't have an Evil member, we can probably muddle through, even if it's not a perfect fit.

If Stormcrow needs a little manifestation, I can always arrange for the Seasoned One - who I might as well go ahead and admit is just Obad-Hai from the Player's Handbook - to show up and smack some sense into him.)

[Quarg]

deleted

[willpell]

Okay, for the sake of not making the players even more suspicious of the guy you're soon going to meet, assume that Zaks has vanished not only from your presence but from your short-term memories, so that you have no particular expectation that he should have been with you, at least since the meeting with Varshyl and possibly even before then. He can still be an old friend of yours, and possibly even someone that you saw recently, but not a member of your current party whose welfare should be an immediate concern.

(Also you can't invoke Voidsense "on" anyone; it affects only you, and all it gives you is Blindsense, with an extremely short range at that.)

[Arch Lich Burns]

Quinton follows silently (by his ghostly nature), floatig above to look for any signs of a humanoid or other intelligent life.

[Amara]

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Alright. After getting the benefit of the third round of detect surface thoughts, I'll have Cassien share everything and chance talking and moving closer, just behind them. If possible I would like to ready an action to cast mirror image if it looks like the individual will take hostile action against the party. Regardless, he will use Stay the Hand as an immediate action if they become immediately hostile toward him. Otherwise he will simply follow his companions toward them. I'll wait and post a proper IC post as soon as it's applicable~

[willpell]

The first thought you get is Hm...sounds like someone else is in here. Doesn't feel like Xolenon is in any distress...well, guess I might as well go say hello.

[Amara]

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Eep! Right, better make that post so we can get moving! My bad. Still a bit slow right now. x-x

Cassien seemed to relax instantly. He kept a hand raised, though he was less concerned with maintaining the spell now than he had been prior. Who "Xolenon" was wasn't guaranteed but the choice of wording in the thoughts, 'feel' hinted that it might be the second spider. That was interesting. Someone like Kast, perhaps? They didn't seem immediately dangerous, at least, and certainly not beyond reason.

"I think it is alright," the wiry young man told his companions, raising his voice only enough for them to hear. "They are this way, but they don't seem aggressive." He gestured with his free hand hand again, and sped up just a bit to catch up where he had begun to lag behind, "though, they do already know that we're here."

Which meant the individual was perceptive, if nothing else. Or had they actually made that much noise? This unknown fellow seemed quite like Kast already. Race had yet to be determined, however, or overall mindset... Cassien would stay wary, but a friendly approach (for now) seemed best.

[spiderwrangler]

Between the blundering movements of his companions and Cassien's assurance that they weren't under immediate danger, Kast gives up on sneaking about... something he never really enjoyed, and stands up slightly behind a tree.

"What business brings you here?"

[willpell]

After a moment, a dun-skinned figure emerges from the underbrush - which is to say, the underbrush parts itself, then a figure steps out of it, not entirely managing to clear the hedge without damaging it a little (this explains the trail previously seen; he shares Kast's ability to slip through Nature without touching it, but exercises this power sloppily and with little skill). His barrel-like stature proves him to be a dwarf, but the rest of him hardly fits the typical image of that race; dressed in a grubby surcoat made of the hide of some sort of unfamiliar animal, his copper hair and beard are long, but rather than being immaculately groomed as most dwarves keep theirs, his mane is entirely unkempt, to the point of having several small sticks in it. The gauntlets of his armor hide his hands; a scimitar hangs from his belt, and several iron darts are thrust through a bandolier about his torso.

"Ah...and hello to all of you," the dwaor says, his tone cautious but open. "And nice to meet you too, Mr. Elf," he adds to Kast, politely refraining to mention the widely-held stereotype that (non-Wild) elves are generally far more pleasant company than (presumably non-Wild) dwarves. "I assume either you or your kinsman over there...come to think of it, pretty definitely you..." he adds, having apparently just noticed your cloak and kukri, "...is the companion of the female arach whom my Xolenon is trying to impress. Be advised that while I have not been bonded to him for long, I value him highly, and shall be quite cross if she eats him."

[spiderwrangler]

"If she finds him unworthy to be anything but a meal, that is his failing. If you do not want to risk him, feel free to try to call him off."

[Synch]

Stormcrow makes his way up to Cassien and Kast, and sizes the dwarf up and down. However it seems the dwarf meets Stormcrow's approval, as he gives him a grin and a nod. The overall appearance (grubby, matted hair and hide armor) of both the dwarf and barbarian are not dissimilar, and this seems to resonate with Stormcrow.

[Quarg]

Eileen decides to address the dwarf in his native tounge. <And what son of what clan addresses us so? >

[willpell]

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Two adventurers divided by a common Alternate Class Feature....

The dwarf scowls a bit at Kast's comment, but lights up when he notices Eileen, even before she begins to speak his tongue. "Dosch kre'gre nal dumyatunn," he replies - "you honor me, most esteemed lady" - before switching back to Common. "My name is Ryritan; I was born to clan Purzel, but I chose to walk a different path, and foreswore my birth name to avoid any dishonor. I go by the surname Stonekenner now; few among humans and elves question the idea that a dwarf would want to have such a generic moniker." Whether because of her own studies or her Draconic Knowledge, Eileen recognizes Clan Purzel; their marble halls are famous for their beauty and stillness, but their government is infamously bureaucratic, and the common people are stereotyped as prone to apathy and over-sensitiveness, compared to the industrious and thick-skinned nature of the typical Muir, Iriqotsq, or Axelrod clansman. You might idly wonder whether he's ever met the heavily druidic Clan Bartholomew; he's definitely nothing like the fiery Lysoigor clan which (among one of its several divergent branches) inhabits the Bald Mountain near your home.

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Incidentally Quarg, that snippet of your backstory was instrumental to my coming up with the last several clan names for my list, so kudos on helping me flesh out the gameworld. Alas, I was proud of myself for making my dwarves quasi-Russian rather than the cliched Viking or Scottish semblance, only to find out that this has been done before often enough to constitute a third such stereotype according to TVTropes; I have therefore been dialing back on it, but for lack of better ideas, I still have two or three Slavic-sounding names for clans, none of which I figured were fitting to mention here.

[spiderwrangler]

Kast's scowl softens a bit at the dwarf''s similar tale of non-acceptance.

"If you and Xolenon have only been traveling together a short time, surely it was not your connection to him that caused you to leave your clan?"

Dwarven dishonor... bah. Fusa'l their dishonor. Fusa'l dishonoring family names. Fusa'l family too. It was his family that turned their backs on him, not the other way around.

"Kastrail S'lvarn...", he says grudgingly. "And that's Kzri.", gesturing above them.

[Amara]

Kast's words echoed Cassien's curiosity. "Cassien Alderman." The human nodded and gestured toward himself, giving the others a chance to introduce themselves, as they saw fit.

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Haha, Russian dwarves are fun, though!

[Arch Lich Burns]

"Quinton Averdale, a pleasure to meet you."