OOC VI

[Alethan]

Stay warm.

[Finglas]

Lanny the Elf

Lanny enjoys the morning tracking the great cat alongside his fellow elf Bregalad.

"Though I have tracked many a creature and ranged all over the Callarrii lands for many years, your Vyalia gift of knowledge of the natural world is superior to mine. Together, though, we make a great team!"

Lanny favors continuing to track the beast in whichever direction it is currently travelling. He will constantly check the skies and natural landmarks to ensure that the party is aware of the general direction they are moving.

Bregalad the elf

I have to agree. That was fun! Thanks for letting us role play that out, TK!

And it sounds like the group won't be foraging for now, so that we can keep our movement rate at full.

[Finglas]

Innana the a Fighter:

Aquar, cleric

"Ah another week of rations, delightful," mutters Aquar as he leads the horses behind the scouting elves. "The gods test us in mysterious ways. Perhaps we'll come across a pond or river and I can fish."

The cleric makes small talk with Innana along the way, discussing what it was like to be invisible, what the afterlife was like when she was dead, what her belief system is, does she feel renewed with her return to life, does she believe those rumors that elves have no soul, and other light and airy topics of conversation.

Aquar has CLW for today and his usual orisons per his character sheet.

Innana looks up into the trees, and smiles,"I do know one thing after that experience, is that when I slip into a deep sleep, the dream world seems to have more feeling, and color. Strangely enough, dying seems more like waking up from one dream, and slipping into another. Death feels more like passing through a threshold. I did not see any of my brothers, but I think it is only because I was taken to a world that lies between life and death. I think I experienced the world of Fae, Perhaps because I was given the Fae stone." Innana looks ducks under a low branch, "I have always looked forward to rejoining my brothers in the afterlife, but not before I bring some good stories to share." Innana lifts the locks of curly red hair away from her left eye, and looks at Aquar, "these nine wode spirals represent my nine brothers that I lost from this world."

The day passes quickly as Aquar, and Innana talk back and forth. "I think the elves have souls, just like a star has a soul. I think humans burn bright like a bonfire, and their souls move quicker from one threshold to the next, but an elf is like a star that never seems to change or die, but eventually, even an elf dies. I think maybe when an elf passes through deaths threshold they can choose to be a piece of nature itself. I sometimes feel my elf friends that have died in the eyes of a sparrow, or a in a crash of a wave."

Bregalad the elf

And Aquar and Innana, I love your posts. The little things you put in there show such immersion into this world. And Innana, that was a cool explanation of death and the fate of elves!

[frobozz]

TK, just to make sure we are all on the same page on the "Sleeping in Armor" rule:

Does the -1 fatigue penalty to hit/damage/AC from sleeping in armor remain at -1 with each passing day that one continues to sleep in one's armor, or does the penalty increase by -1 with each passing day? I am assuming it is the former (I don't think it would be worth doing at all if it is the latter, as it might take us a week before we find the beast again, and then the penalty would be up to -7).

Here is a link to the rule:

viewtopic.php?p=55352#p55352

So, who all is sleeping in armor? So far we have:

Thordin: ?
Innana: ?
Bregalad: NO
Lanny: NO
Rhys: n/a
Drudsa: n/a
Semele: ?
Aquar: YES

Note that while pursuing the great cat, Lanny WILL be sleeping in his armor so long as he does not have to memorize new spells the next morning. (Methinks the -1 penalty is a small price to pay for immediate protection if attacked during the night.)

[thirdkingdom]

That is correct. Also, remember that if you don't cast your spells you don't need to memorize them until they are cast.

[Innana]

Innana the Fighter:

Sleeping in my armor, and wearing the magical armor during my watch.

[Finglas]

Bregalad the elf

TK and Lanny, thank you for the clarification on the effects of wearing armor while sleeping.

Just as Lanny stated, Bregalad will not be wearing his armor while sleeping for this first night. However, like Lanny, Bregalad will wear his armor on the subsequent nights, once he has Magic Missile x 2 and Mirror Image memorized.

And Innana, Bregalad and the party really need you to wear that magical plate mail. If things go as I hope, you and Thordin will be the first to fight the cat, while I hide behind you! With his sword skill, Thordin has a good chance of lasting 3 or 4 rounds of combat. And since you have not quite become as proficient with the sword, you will need every edge you can get. If you and Thordin can keep the cat occupied for 6 or 7 rounds, then we may be able to defeat it!

[Innana]

Innana the Fighter:

Thordin is trying his best to teach me his sword skills:)

[frobozz]

Well stated, Finglas. Ok Innana, it looks like the magical plate mail is yours (for the duration of the mission). Don't worry about Bregalad - he's got Mirror Image in addition to his normal plate mail, and he can attack at range with his Magic Missiles - he'll be ok.

Haven't heard anything from riftstone in a while... If we need to make a group decision about sleeping in armor to move things along, Lanny would suggest that everyone do it (including Semele) for the duration of the mission (except when a person needs to prepare new spells the following morning). It'll make us groggier and grumpier and a little less effective with our weapons, but it just might save our lives if we are attacked during the night.

[Innana]

Innana the Fighter:

Sounds good Lanny. I forgot about Semele. We can both sleep in our armor.

[riftstone]

My apologies for the absenteeism, I had a bout with the flu bad enough to require medical attention. On the mend now, and feeling miles better.

[Innana]

Innana the Fighter:

My apologies for the absenteeism, I had a bout with the flu bad enough to require medical attention. On the mend now, and feeling miles better.

Good to see you back.

[thirdkingdom]

Okay, Innana has finally become Skilled in the longsword. Whew. Please record this on her player sheet, and if you can remember to post the updated modifiers during combat that would be great.

Finglas, is Bregalad studying a spell?

[Finglas]

Okay, Innana has finally become Skilled in the longsword. Whew. Please record this on her player sheet, and if you can remember to post the updated modifiers during combat that would be great.

Finglas, is Bregalad studying a spell?

Bregalad was not planning on learning another spell at this moment. Thanks.

Also, he has Magic Missile x 2 and Mirror Image currently memorized, in anticipation of the next encounter with the cat.

[thirdkingdom]

Hey guys, sorry for the delay. I'll this evening.

[frobozz]

Could they be soldiers from Threshold? The shapeshifter might have tricked soldiers from the city and if we attack them this could make our situation much more complicated, I'd rather identify them before we initiate any hostile action.

Just to clarify, Lanny was implicitly implying that a Sleep spell would help them to confirm the presence of a doppleganger (if the Sleep spell is centered on the Rhys look-a-like) AND to take down some of the others without actually harming any of them. The Magic Missiles he was intending to save specifically for the (probable) doppleganger to prevent its escape. The charge was designed to prevent those who remain standing from waking up the others that are put to sleep. Lanny was not planning on attacking any of the other humans without knowing who they are (unless they attack first).

If the Rhys look-a-like is actually dressed the same way as our Rhys (complete with the same clothing, the same small backpack, etc.) that is proof enough for Lanny to initiate the attack. He will nonetheless remain in unison with the mages on any casting of spells in the surprise round.

[zebediah]

I don't think we should waste the single sleep we have right now. We will need to keep looking or engage them to identify who these guys are, if we do nothing but casting a sleep spell while we try to do that they will most likely take this as an offensive action (plus they will probably be able to wake up their companions before we can do much).

As for the second Rhys either he is the shapeshifter or another monk who looks similar to him. Either way I think we'd do better saving the spell for a more critical moment where it can shift things in our favor (if we need to retreat, for example).

[frobozz]

Hmmm. If we are not using Sleep in the surprise round, then perhaps we should ask them to stand and identify themselves at the end of this round (once everyone has made their preparations this round). Otherwise, next round they will immediately see us with all these weapons pointed at them and might try to flee for cover back into the woods (no matter whether they are good guys or bad guys).

Depending on their reaction to our words (friendly or hostile), we might still be able to use Sleep in the next round if it is needed (assuming Drudsa wins initiative over them).

[Alethan]

Hmmm. If we are not using Sleep in the surprise round, then perhaps we should ask them to stand and identify themselves at the end of this round (once everyone has made their preparations this round). Otherwise, next round they will immediately see us with all these weapons pointed at them and might try to flee for cover back into the woods (no matter whether they are good guys or bad guys).

Depending on their reaction to our words (friendly or hostile), we might still be able to use Sleep in the next round if it is needed (assuming Drudsa wins initiative over them).

If they are 60 or 70 feet away, isn't that more than can be moved in one round? Rhys has a movement rate of 45', so even he couldn't make it... unless I'm mixing up some yard/feet conversion somewhere.

[zebediah]

We can approach them if we run in their direction:

Run: A combatant using the run action can move up to three times their normal per-round movement speed (usually 120’ for an unencumbered character).

They would have more trouble approaching us since we're on higher ground (if I understand correctly).