IC 004 - Water Never Sleeps

[The_Wanderer]

Sleepy

"Thanks for providing some direction, Gars. I think that sounds like a fine plan."

[hedonismbot]

Daravek

"Happy to help out with my bow! Just want to know how risky it is to leave the animals during our time digging. Do we need them to get all of this..." he gestures at the collected items the group has hauled out of the structure, "...back to town? If so, maybe we postpone digging to the 2nd floor until we return and have found a ford for the animals?"

[sulldawga]

Ciarra takes two of the 50 foot lengths of rope and secures them together tightly. She then secures one end to the statue that both looks sturdy and is close to the river's edge. She ties the other end around her waist and makes her way back across the river. She almost slips once but catches herself, and is sure-footed the rest of the way. Having safely made it across, she secures the rope around a solid tree trunk near the east bank to aid any further travelers.

Ciarra gets a -1 for having no points in Exert but +1 for Dex. One failure but two successes! Exert/Dex vs DC 8: 4, 10, 9.

The rope makes it easy enough for Gars to slowly and carefully make his way across as well. The others see how easy it is for Gars to cross and decide that there's no further need for splitting the party.

I will retcon this if anyone wants to stay on the west bank but there's no longer any danger while crossing, as long as the rope is there.

Sleepy and Daravek make themselves useful by collecting firewood while Gars and Lavin pitch their tents and Ciarra builds herself a simple lean-to for shelter. Gars, Lavin, and Ciarra are able to combine forces and build another lean-to for Sleepy before the sun goes down.

With a fire built, the party is able to enjoy a meal of rations as the rain begins to trickle down from the sky.

[sulldawga]

Blackwater Swamp
Date: Fourthmonth, Seventhday (April 1)
Weather: Clear, winds from the NE at 17 MPH, 52 degrees
Moon: Waxing crescent

It rains all night, albeit lightly, and while the watch hears much in the way of animals skulking around, none decide to water at the river's edge next to your campsite.

The morning reveals a much rawer weather situation. The wind has picked up considerably, although it's blown the clouds away and the party espies a rainbow across the morning sky! Hopefully a harbinger of good things to come. The temperature, however, has dropped a good 10 degrees and the party awakens with cold in their bones, with sore backs and tight muscles. Daravek, of course, shows no signs of such suffering. He's fresh as a peach!

Once the tents are packed up and the mules are fed and watered, the party is clear to cross the river again.

Any items the party would like to either bring into the Ruin or take out and hide with the mules?

[Enoch]

Lavin nods. "Sounds like a sensible enough plan."

[Marullus]

Any items the party would like to either bring into the Ruin or take out and hide with the mules?

For simplicity, I'm fine leaving it as it was yesterday, with all the digging tools already at the ruins.

While I did bring the digging gear over,

...we might as well try the floor to see if it is viable first. If it isn't, the mules are on the correct side to go back to town. We only need to find a ford and bring them over if this is going to continue beyond an initial foray.

[sulldawga]

The party crosses the river without incident, recovers the digging tools, and makes their way to the pit room.

it is hard work, and every man & woman takes their turn. The pit is 50' in diameter so the party decides to start in the middle, by one of the small drains. It's slow going but you are able to smash through the stone floor. Underneath is a layer of crushed rock atop solid dirt. There are no pipes or drains below the floor.

It might make sense to dig a wider hole so that more of the party can participate in the digging but that would require breaking up more of the stone floor, which is the most backbreaking part of the job.

After the first day, you have dug a hole about 10 feet down but it shows no signs of any second floor.

Adding insult to injury, as you emerge from the Ruin to clean up and rest after a long day of manual labor, you are greeted outside the entrance by the sight of a large herd of axe beaks! The axe beaks are startled... and their bewilderment quickly turns to anger!

You have seconds to make an attempt to calm the axe beaks down, or else prepare for combat.

Lucky you, it was a 50/50 chance which side of the river the axe beaks appeared on. If the dice had ruled differently, you probably would have emerged to a pack of axe beaks snacking on your mules!

[Marullus]

You have seconds to make an attempt to calm the axe beaks down, or else prepare for combat.

How are envisioning this mechanically?

• Is this a reaction roll, or did you already roll the reaction roll? (Sleepy gives a +1 to reaction rolls no matter who does the talking) Unclear how or where we apply it.
• Is "Calming them down" a form of diplomacy? (If Gars thinks his diplomatic grace applies here with non-verbal communication, he would step forward [and do the roll as 2d6+2, rerolling 1s])
• If you consider this to NOT be diplomacy, then it is a good situation for me to pass the action and let Sleepy shine. (Sleepy rolls 2d6+1, with whatever effect you're ruling from his Well Met focus and just being damn likeable.)

[hedonismbot]

Daravek can cast the Sleep spell, should be effective I think?

The Wind of the Final Repose Level 1
The mage designates a visible point within two hundred
feet. A silent, invisible burst of soporific influence erupts
from that point, targeting all living creatures within a
twenty-foot radius. All such targets with 4 or fewer hit
dice within that area fall unconscious instantly, and can
be roused only by damage or by a Main Action used to
kick them awake. If not roused, they revive at the end
of the scene. Entities that do not sleep are immune to
this spell.

[sulldawga]

I rolled a Reaction roll already and the result is evidently poor.

Diplomacy doesn't work on Animal-level intelligences. Well Met doesn't work on Animal-level intelligences. I interpret those as requiring the ability to talk to the target(s) and them being able to understand the words.

The Wind of the Final Repose will work here.

[Rex]

Ciarra

Ciarra holds her ground for now with her spear set to receive a charge.

[hedonismbot]

Daravek

Daravek looks at the creatures working themselves into an aggressive frenzy. This is the kind of danger he has to get used to, if he's going to make a name for himself out here!

Holding his hat firmly on his head with his left hand, he reaches out with his right and feels the subtle fields of the Legacy all around him. He performs the autohypnotic actions to unlock the prepared formulae that had been sealed within his mind, and his body begins to respond to the concentration of High Magic.

The gentle breeze intensifies, and then carries itself over to the pack of axebeaks, gently suggesting to them that they are exhausted and currently standing in a place safe to rest...

A very flowery way to say "Daravek casts Sleep"

[sulldawga]

The ground thunders as eight mighty axe beaks fall insensate along the bank of the river.

[The_Wanderer]

Sleepy keeps his voice low and says, "Wow. I thought we were going to have to fight them for sure! Now what? Does it make sense to slit their throats?"

[Marullus]

"Little bloodthirsty, isn't it?" replies Gars. "I think we can carry all the tools and treasure back across to the mules and head back to town... We don't need to really come back until we desire to pour blood into the teleportation rune, hire laborers to dig the stairs, or to stop someone else from doing so."

"Unless you fancy roasting them. They taste like chicken. Big chicken."

[sulldawga]

I need at least three of five players to agree to a plan before I can move on.

[hedonismbot]

Daravek

Daravek nods to Gars. "I would very much like to head back to town. I don't know anything about butchering animals, but if someone is interested, I think taking advantage of the spell is actually quite a humane way of going about it."

[The_Wanderer]

Sleepy

"No reason to kill them then - of course I will remind you next time that we are in the wild and confronted with a handful of axebeaks. Let's head back to town."

[Rex]

Ciarra

"I am for killing at least a few and harvesting what we can, just about everything on them is worth something. If not to is the group decision that is fine but we should head back to town either way."

[sulldawga]

Looks like there is consensus on heading back to town. All that needs to be decided is what to do with the axe beaks. I will remind you all that they are considered valuable because they can be trained as mounts.