Tracks In The Desert

[OGRE MAGE]

Rock And Roll

Looking around a bit more, there was obviously a large group of people here in this well trampled area at one time, though the tracks found leading deeper into the desert are not nearly as heavily traveled. It seems obvious that most of the travel is done between here and Xambaala, with only a few tracks leading away from the horror, towards areas currently unknown.

Akhilleus doesn't find any markings in the sand, but he does locate a strip of faded parchment trampled into the loose ground.

Valkrina insists that this was some kind of cannibalistic ritual, agreeing with the others that the newly found set of tracks should be followed.

The feint tracks are not as obvious, causing slower movement and a bit of backtracking from the groups scout. After another mile or so into the desert, a second strange anomaly is discovered.

weird rock.jpg (242.53 KiB) Viewed 497 times

The tracks lead up and over the next sandy dune, but right where they crest the peak, something strange is found. Drest has never seen anything like this before, so he awaits input from the others before investigating closer. This oddity is about the size of a small wagon, roughly about 8 feet wide on each side.

Actions?

Xenos
Akhilleus
Drest
Cyril
Snorri
Valkrina

[Karaunios]

Akhilleus

"Let's be grateful to the gods, that things are still easy for us..." He says in reference to the footprints marked on the ground. And then nods at the poles.

Edit: posted the previous text before realizing there was a new update starting a new page.

When he sees the piece of parchment, the warrior squats and carefully puts the sand aside, before taking the parchment with the points of his fingers and looking at it.

[Tamerlaine]

Snorri grunts at the sight of the rock, pulling on his plaited beard while in thought. ”If I can eat it, drink it, fuck it or kill it, I can make sense of it. I have no idea what a rough cube of large rock is doing in the middle of the desert.”

“I don’t like it.”

[Bluetongue]

Valkrina

"C'mon, give me a leg up. Get a better view from the top."

My initial feeling is the indentations are not erosion but hacking away the sides deliberately, maybe to deface a rune, a face, a message. Unless it has been dragged here and that is as far as it was taken. Or it is the last topmost stone on a pyramid under the sand. "I knew a saga about a long forgotten pyramid in a place named Tamoachan. Maybe it is like that?"

She carries on with wild theories from cannibal slaves to hidden treasures beneath the dunes. Trekking is hard, especially in fur despites stripping layers down. At least one side of the rock will be in the shade.

[Rex]

Drest

Drest will examine it on all 4 sides touching the ground and see if he can find any concealed doors or hidden cabinets etc.

[shaidar]

Xenos listens the conjecture and watches those looking and prodding with no comments.

He goes over and looks at the odd indentations for signs of tool marks.

[The_Wanderer]

Cyril listens to the others discuss the "rock". He approaches it silently and gets quite close to it. As the others talk he examines it. First he gets close enough to examine it visually, observing any small pores in the stone or other minute markings. Then he rests both hands on it, feeling for vibrations or heat or cold, running his hands along it looking for patterns in the striations. Next he sniffs it, thinking of his time in the desert and if this matches his experience. He rests his ear on it, listening to its stillness (or lack thereof?). Lastly he touches his tongue to the strange rock.

[OGRE MAGE]

Rock And Roll And Run

Akhilleus looks over the scrap of parchment he found at the horrible camp with the burnt stakes in the ground. It reads simply: Ixillian or Jeoffrey will soon save us The note looks to have been written in haste or distress of some kind.

Once at the dune with the strange rock on top of it, Drest, Valkrina, Xenos, and Cyril all make their way up the shifting sand to get a closer look at the oddity. Snorri watches in horror when the rock starts to morph into a different shape right before his eyes while the others climb the sand pile.

round rock.png (427.16 KiB) Viewed 447 times

The front portion of the rock quickly rounds itself, teetering slightly before rolling down the dune towards the vulnerable group. With Akhilleus and Snorri watching on with concern, the boulder commences rolling directly towards the others.

Actions?

I will need a Test of Dex [d6] to see if this threat can be avoided by the four of you currently up to your knees in sliding sand.

Xenos
Akhilleus
Drest
Cyril
Snorri
Valkrina

[Rex]

Drest

"Watch out!"

Test of Dex (3:6) [1d6]=2

Sorry about that, I had actually rolled and then didn't copy it in for some reason.

[OGRE MAGE]

Drest, Valkrina, Xenos, and Cyril

These are the 4 characters I need a ToD from.

[Rex]

Post edited for roll.

[shaidar]

Xenos

Test of DEX (1-2): [1d6]=6

What rock?

[The_Wanderer]

Cyril



"That rock...rolling toward...oh."

[Karaunios]

Akhilleus is looking at the parchment with a puzzled expression when he hears the commotion. His eyes widen in surprise as he sees the rock changing shapes. He instinctively gets further from the rock, although he's not in immediate danger like most of his companions.

[Bluetongue]

Valkrina

Valkrina Dex check vs 1-3 [1d6]=5 vs 8% [1d100]=61

Makes heavy weather of walking in sand.

[Tamerlaine]

The heavy axe is gone from Snorri’s shoulder, now held ready before him as he sees the cube of rock change to that of a boulder… a boulder now moving on its own.

Snorri growls. “Ymir’s hoary balls! What manner of sorcery is this?”

[OGRE MAGE]

Roll And Ruin

Snorri and Akhilleus watch as the others are bowled over by the massive boulder that suddenly springs to life somehow, the Viking convinced this is some kind of evil sorcery.

Cyril and Drest are able to dive to the side just before they notice the strange anomaly rolling down the sand towards them. Valkrina and Xenos are not so lucky, their feet and ankles stuck too deeply in the dune to dive away before the boulder hits them violently. They are crushed under the massive weight of the rolling stone, pressed down into the sand and nearly killed by this strange encounter. 9 dam

As they pull their broken bodies out from the shifting sand, something even more bizarre happens. Once the rock reaches the level sand at the bottom of the dune, it stops there for a moment before slowly starting to roll back up the dune in the direction of the duo it just smashed into the dirt. The speed of this thing moving back up the slope is so slow you barely notice, but it is clearly starting to roll back towards the pair it just crushed.

Actions?

Xenos AC:6 3/12 1st:2/2
Akhilleus AC:4 32/32
Drest AC:7 16/16
Cyril AC:8 5/5 1st:3/3
Snorri AC:4 11/11
Valkrina AC:7 7/16 1st: 2/2

[Rex]

Drest

Drest will rush to the closest one in the boulders path and try and help them out of the way.

"What the hell is that thing?"

[The_Wanderer]

Cyril

"The speed and fury of that thing...shocking." Cyril is chanting as he move to Xenos' body. He grabs Xenos' hand and sends a wave of energy through the poor man's body.

Casting Cure Wounds on Xenos...

Xenos, you feel something wiggle inside your chest cavity as the healing washes over you

"To your feet Xenos. That boulder approaches defying the laws of gravity!
Valkrina - I will come for you next!"

[Bluetongue]

Valkrina wonders at the strange thing.

If it is turning and coming back, I have two thoughts. One is that it is rolling back to the dune top. It must be some kind of guard thing.

I have an image of steel balls on a table and someone with a magnet underneath, using that attraction to move the bearings around. Is some magic or mechanics at play?

My other second thought is some strange stone like creature seeking to grind us into sandy granules and absorb us into it, like some rocky type of gelatinous cube.

So figuring if it is some sentient creature and not a Rel inspired trick, I will station myself with my spiked spear planted in the sand, braced in front of me to receive its charge. Hopefully it impales itself for double damage.

"You know what they say. A rolling stone gathers no mush."

Valkrina: Spiked Spear receives rolling stone. [1d10]=7