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Episode One Interlude: New Ones, Old Ones, and...

Posted by Mysterious Ancient WizardFor group 0
Levithian
player, 28 posts
Fri 14 Apr 2017
at 16:31
  • msg #28

Episode One Interlude: New Ones, Old Ones, and...

It was a creature separate from the grims, or related some how. He knew grims as all glowing eyed bat ear monsters... he was going to have to do more research some day on monsters outside of the common pests farmers ran into.

Ah, it was a humanoid with a mind rather than a random forest creature, so it appeared. He inclined his head to the creature and then thought about how a wolf or dog communicates. He tilted his head to one side to show it he meant no harm, and his tail moved side to side.

A cat would have turned a bit sideways...

"Kast-ni dak. Par rum kas taf." Draconic always sounded like he was trying to nip the tip of his tongue. It was to point out they didn't share a language if there was any further indication.

He reached out, slowly, with a talon and started drawing in the dirt. A house with bat eared figures, clearly grims. Next to it one of the grims sits on a stool with a stick figure man writing in a book.

Lastly an image of the grims all gong in their merry way. A crowd of stick figure people with weapons and torches all going another way.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:23, Fri 14 Apr 2017.
Mysterious Ancient Wizard
GM, 250 posts
Meddle not in wizards'
affairs - unless they ask
Mon 17 Apr 2017
at 07:22
  • msg #29

Episode One Interlude: New Ones, Old Ones, and...

Communication with the little monster proved a mixed bag: after the initial gift, it wasn't especially hostile, but the lack of a common language seemed to stump it.

On multiple occasions, it uttered what seemed like a string of insults to Levithian's genealogy, but at the same time it looked like an attempt at actual communication, so maybe it was just a really strange language.

After several minutes of very confusing exchanges, the little monster decided to approach Levithian more closely.
Levithian
player, 29 posts
Tue 18 Apr 2017
at 00:54
  • msg #30

Episode One Interlude: New Ones, Old Ones, and...

When you only have one parent and that is a massive sea dragon who was aiming to eat your soul and take your body, you can look over insults to genealogy. At least he would overlook such a insult.

Annnnddddd now Lev was cursed. He could only assume that it was the other Grims doing something.

He tapped to the image he scrawled out of the grim sitting on a stool and the man with a book. Then he gestured the way he came. He then drew a bowl just like the one he has out now, then another bow, and another; food, food, food.

19:29, Today: Levithian rolled 19 using 1d20.  Perception 2.
19:28, Today: Levithian rolled 9 using 1d20.  Perception 1.
Mysterious Ancient Wizard
GM, 252 posts
Meddle not in wizards'
affairs - unless they ask
Tue 18 Apr 2017
at 19:42
  • msg #31

Episode One Interlude: New Ones, Old Ones, and...

The creature approached even closer, warily, and scratched a triangle next to the first bowl, followed by more triangles, then connected them all with lines. If one assumed the first triangle was a head, the scrawling was probably a gremlin.

Slowly and laboriously, the creature drew four gremlins next to the bowls of food, then threw another string of barks at Levithian.
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:42, Tue 18 Apr 2017.
Levithian
player, 30 posts
Tue 18 Apr 2017
at 19:58
  • msg #32

Episode One Interlude: New Ones, Old Ones, and...

Lev nodded with some minor understanding. It was a chance to get a little more information. Lev drew a little poorly drawn dragon so they had a dragon, the man, and the image of a goblin.

He pointed to the dragon, then himself.
He pointed to the triangle and pointed at the creature.
He pointed at the man and then pointed down the road.

At which point the gremlin drew a number of... Things. Half objects, apparently. Bowls, blades, tools of various kinds, but only half of each item. Then it drew something that could possibly be a building, surrounded by tall triangles (though shorter than the building itself), with circles coming out of the top of the triangles.

Lev wiped away his own drawings, all but the man with the book. He then drew a triangle on a stool next to the man and circled the creatures drawing with a line to the new triangle. He then drew the same 'speech bubble' next to the man with the book, doing his best to copy the creatures image.

He then drew the other triangles all on their own stools. With their own speech bubbles.
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:27, Tue 18 Apr 2017.
Mysterious Ancient Wizard
GM, 254 posts
Meddle not in wizards'
affairs - unless they ask
Tue 18 Apr 2017
at 21:24
  • msg #33

Episode One Interlude: New Ones, Old Ones, and...

The creature scratched its ugly head and barked something. More barks came from the trees around Levithian, where the gremlin's companions had quietly surrounded him.

Three more monstrous chihuahuas approached Levithian and examined the drawing. They scratched their heads barking something, until the smallest one apparently had a stroke of genius and pantomimed smoking a pipe.

This lead to several seconds of animated discussion, ending with the largest of the gremlins looking at Levithian and pantomiming something that could possibly perhaps maybe be reading a book and smoking a pipe.
Levithian
player, 31 posts
Tue 18 Apr 2017
at 21:33
  • msg #34

Episode One Interlude: New Ones, Old Ones, and...

Lev laughed at the conclusion. This was more than amusing but the end result is that he was able to prove that the goblins did not prove an active threat. He may be in some danger but evil did not mean "DESTROY THE WORLD!". If the boss man wanted to have them killed it could be managed but working with them would prove so much better. A few of them on the payroll could ensure his enemies are forever unlucky.

He smiled, having expressive lips for a dragon, and tapped the circle with their drawings of gear. He then pointed to his mouth. <red>"Even though you don't understand what I am saying you may be able to understand that this means words and talking."</i>

He pointed to the man with a book, and pointed down the way he came. To prove the point he moved just enough to be next to one of them and took one step, looking at the Grim with amused expectation.
Mysterious Ancient Wizard
GM, 256 posts
Meddle not in wizards'
affairs - unless they ask
Thu 20 Apr 2017
at 08:22
  • msg #35

Episode One Interlude: New Ones, Old Ones, and...

The tiny creature jumped back, its finger-sized hands moving to its belt, from which it pulled what looked like a bone dagger.

The biggest one moved close to it and slapped it on the back of the head, barking something at it. The creatures were seemingly becoming louder and louder by the minute, which probably meant they were starting to... Trust...? Levithian.

After a few more antics, the cretaures finally settled down and looked expectantly at Levithian. Who, at this point, started to notice a faint smell of burning wood.

Burning wood in the middle of a forest? This couldn't possibly be a bad thing...
Levithian
player, 33 posts
Thu 20 Apr 2017
at 12:43
  • msg #36

Episode One Interlude: New Ones, Old Ones, and...

Lev was about to walk away with them but his sniffer caught a scent. He looked around until he had to look at the little guys and tap the side of his nose in a question.

The house wasn't in fire... The house wasn't in fire...

Lev wasn't sure he had the means to stop a forest fire.
Mysterious Ancient Wizard
GM, 259 posts
Meddle not in wizards'
affairs - unless they ask
Mon 24 Apr 2017
at 19:10
  • msg #37

Episode One Interlude: New Ones, Old Ones, and...

The little monsters began jumping around frantically, until the leader barked something, giving them a semblance of order, and lead them into the house. He made a brusque gesture at Levithian (presumably meaning "follow me", rather than... Something rather rude).

Inside the house, the leader revealed a hidden passage under the floor, leading Levithian and the whole group down a narrow tunnel in the ground (well, narrow for Levithian, anyway: for the gremlins if was actually rather spacious).

Soon the passage became a narrow tunnel dug into rock, whch then opened up in what looked like a cave system.

This is where Levithian will lose the rest of the week - assuming he survives :P The threats will be minor, and he will have the gremlins on your his side... But their aura of unluck doesn't distinguish betwen friend and foe: he's not a gremlin, and he's not a gnoll, therefore he still suffers the roll-twice-take-the-worst-result penalty. Assuming he survives, he will be able to tell Zhorr about this strange cave system, which (spoiler) will be the location of the party's 3rd level adventure :P
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:14, Mon 24 Apr 2017.
Levithian
player, 36 posts
Mon 24 Apr 2017
at 20:19
  • msg #38

Episode One Interlude: New Ones, Old Ones, and...

"I am going to regret this..." Lev followed along, it was the chance to the other side of what a gremlin did. When it came to the tunnels he squeezed through the best he could, using the flightless wings like extra hands to force himself along. The dark vision was a full on blessing considering that he was about the last one to be able to get out.

He was ready for a lot, but he was only so useful as long as he could keep himself as... himself. Humanoid Lev was squishy and bruised quickly.

An unlucky adventure it was!
Mysterious Ancient Wizard
GM, 264 posts
Meddle not in wizards'
affairs - unless they ask
Tue 25 Apr 2017
at 11:22
  • msg #39

Episode One Interlude: New Ones, Old Ones, and...

The passage eventually expanded into what looked like an underground cave. The gremlins, who had been rather loud on the surface, had become progressively quieter as the group descended.

Levithian was beginning to suspect hat the creatures were somewhat deaf, as they were presumably meant to be whispering to one-another, but they were effectively stage-whispering, and when your language is composed primarily of barks... Yeah, stealth was not an option on this particular table.

The leader, at least, seemed to know where they were going. He lead them confidently for several hours, before declaring something. The others promptly plopped down on the floor, and went to sleep with uncanny celerity, leaving only Levithian and the leader awake.

At which point the leader took Levithian to one side and snapped his fingers, prompting a number of small objects to appear out of thin air.

They looked sort of like toy animals or dolls, though no child would ever play with them: not only was their quality abysmal, looking like they would break if you sneezed at them, but they were all monsters of some kind.

Levithian easily identified the rats and bats in the group, and he knew there was a decent chance to find some inhabiting a cave. The little monster was probably telling him what they were going to encounter... Except some of those things were completely outside Levithian's ability to identify, partly because of the terrible quality, but possibly because they were simply not part of his competences.
This message was lightly edited by the GM at 11:23, Tue 25 Apr 2017.
Levithian
player, 38 posts
Tue 25 Apr 2017
at 15:03
  • msg #40

Episode One Interlude: New Ones, Old Ones, and...

Lev was rather amused at the creative use of a simple spell. It was going to be one hell of a time trying to keep them all alive but the reward would be worth it. You don't get to make a big pile of treasure without trying harder than anyone else.

To be sure that he was aware of the exact end result they wanted he reached down and slowly crushed on of the monsters. Proof enough to be sure that the important thing to do was to clean out the caves. His plan so far was to be the big scary dragon that he was and to fight as defensively as he could. He could then slowly move until the monsters presented their backs to the gremlins. That should prove a minor but effective tacit.

As far as taking watches went, Lev was happy to take two watches back to back, but screw anyone who wanted to force Lev to stay up all night. He may be smarter than your average construct made out of meat but he wasn't a fool. He was also going to be damn sure he got his rest.
Mysterious Ancient Wizard
GM, 266 posts
Meddle not in wizards'
affairs - unless they ask
Thu 27 Apr 2017
at 15:43
  • msg #41

Episode One Interlude: New Ones, Old Ones, and...

Conveying the concept of "you're taking next shift" to one of the little monsters took longer than it should reasonably have, but eventually Levithian was able to go to sleep.

Surprisingly, he awoke naturally, instead of being woken up... And soon found out why:  the little monster he'd woken up had gone back to sleep without bothering to call anybody else to stand guard, so the group had overslept by an unspecified amount of time.

Apparently, gremlins could sleep for days on end, since none of them was awake yet.

At least they weren't snoring too loudly...

By the time he managed to wake up all of the little creatures, Levithian had completely lost his sense of time. He knew it was at least breakfast time, but it might have been lunch time as well.

After eating some of his remaining rations - and watching the gremlins hunt down a couple of rats for breakfast - Levithian and his merry band of lapdog fairies set out to... Wherever it was that the gremlin leader had decided to take them.

The gremlins were surprisingly careful, sneaking around looking for possible surprises, and more than once the leader had the group double back after hearing one of the other gremlins' report... Which still sounded a lot like a string of particularly esoteric insults to Levithian's ears.

He did, however, manage to learn the gremlin leader's name: it sounded like just another bark at first, but it was actually something like "Arb" or "Arbr".

After a few hours of careful movement, one of the gremlins came back and excitedly reported something. The leader did not look happy with whatever that was, but apparently this time there was no way to avoid the danger. He did the conjuring trick again, and the little dolls he showed Levithian looked like two white, slender men.

Then he poofed a bunch of other dolls into existence, these ones presumably gremlins, had one of the slender men touch one, and let it drop to the floor. Then another, then another, then another. All of them dropping to the floor after a single touch.

So... Pretty bad news ahead.
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:45, Thu 27 Apr 2017.
Levithian
player, 39 posts
Thu 27 Apr 2017
at 18:16
  • msg #42

Episode One Interlude: New Ones, Old Ones, and...

At this point, given their antics, Lev had proven his desire to peaceful resolution with fellow monsters... what he assumed was undead was an entire new matter. Although his humanoid self was pale, he assumed the thin pale figures to be less than alive and the dead should stay dead.


He made a big one strike and drew lines in the ground by using small stones to represent the sides of the caves. He set the two figures in their area. He then patted his scaled chest and made a two clawed walking gesture until he just passed the figures. The slendermen follow, and the furry allies close the trap.

He made another little set up with a 2 strike.  This time he moved the figures to block the finger walk. Showing that Lev would slowly move to again present bad guy back side.

It was all very risky but if that was the way they wanted to go, there wasn't much choice.

He did have an idea though.

He drew the little picture of the man with a book. He made a talky talky gesture and grouped the gremlin figureines next to it.

12:32, Today: Levithian rolled 22 using 1d20+2.  Init bad luck roll.
12:32, Today: Levithian rolled 6 using 1d20+2.  Init primary roll.

The hell O.O

Mysterious Ancient Wizard
GM, 268 posts
Meddle not in wizards'
affairs - unless they ask
Thu 27 Apr 2017
at 20:09
  • msg #43

Episode One Interlude: New Ones, Old Ones, and...

Arbr conjured a Levithian-shaped doll, plus some pebbles to act as walls, and repeated Levithian's proposed plan to ensure he'd gotten the idea.

The concept of voluntarily acting as bait certainly seemed alien to him, but he apparently had nothing against the idea of having somebody else tank the dangerous undead while he and his companions stabbed them in the back.

He used the conjured items to build a more precise representation of the actual cave layout, refining the plan a little. The basic concept remain unchanged: Levithian would draw the creatures' attention, then the gremlins would attack from behind.

It worked pretty much flawlessly: the two undead followed Levithian down a tunnel, and the gremlins followed them. When the fight broke out, the gremlins were ready to charge in.

Order of Initiative:

Ghoul 2: 16 + 2 = 18
Gremlin 2: 13 + 5 = 18
Gremlin 1: 12 + 5 = 17
Arbr: 8 + 5 = 13
Ghoul 1: 7 + 2 = 9
Levithian: 6
Gremlin 3: 1 + 5 = 6

Ghoul 2 gets its first set of attacks without the disadvantage penalty because the gremlins are too far, then gremlin 2 attacks and both ghouls get the penalty.

Things I discovered today: Names in RPoL cannot start with "not ". I find this exceedingly silly.

This message was last edited by the GM at 20:13, Thu 27 Apr 2017.
Levithian
player, 40 posts
Thu 27 Apr 2017
at 20:25
  • msg #44

Episode One Interlude: New Ones, Old Ones, and...

Lev made sure to point to one of the slendermen, tip it over, and THEN the other. Focus fire, best to lessen their offence quickly.

Lev did indeed go through with the plan, as it was really the best option he had to bring home as many of the Gremlins as he could manage. It was going to be funny if he managed to bring them all, the look on the lords face will be worth every moment... or so Lev hoped.

The danger of undead was something rather extreme! "If I was a normal dragon this would be over in a snap, but noooooo, I gotta be an aquatic sea dragon." Distraction!

In reply to Mysterious Ancient Wizard (msg # 43):

That is rather odd O.O

 Ghouls act first but it is a planned situation. Lev will be in full defensive mode while trying to present the most undead tushy to the Gremlins. If they turn on the Gremlins Lev will regain their attention by gnawing on them. Though I think the action is yours unless it counts as a surprise round. Then Lev would be full defensive.

 I considered doing aid another considering the situation but then I remembered that I have to roll twice ontop of the -4 to fight defensively. Total defense still helps unless they change their targets.

Soooo Touch ac is 16 and normal ac is 18

Mysterious Ancient Wizard
GM, 270 posts
Meddle not in wizards'
affairs - unless they ask
Sun 30 Apr 2017
at 19:46
  • msg #45

Episode One Interlude: New Ones, Old Ones, and...

The first ghoul jumped on Levithian before he could react. He thought he was prepared for the attack, but the sheer inhuman hunger of the creature still surprised him. While he managed to avoid the creature's mouth, the razor-sharp talons - was it fingernails or bones? Not that it mattered - at the end of its hands still managed to cut through his greater self's tough flesh, leaving deep gashes in Levithian's living armor.

Then, on Arbr's command, the gremlins charged at the ghoul. Two of them managed to hit it with their puny daggers, presumably causing some minor irritation.

Arbr, perhaps distracted by having to kick the last one into action, didn't quite manage to hit.

The second ghoul tried the same lunging attack as its partner, but the aura of bad luck surrounding the gremlins caused it to trip on its own feet, making it miss the target completely.
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:47, Sun 30 Apr 2017.
Levithian
player, 42 posts
Sun 30 Apr 2017
at 20:13
  • msg #46

Episode One Interlude: New Ones, Old Ones, and...

Lev stood there still, wings forward ready to bat away attacks... Butttt now he wasn't moving beyond that.


Standard: paralysis
Move: paralysis
Speaking? : Paralysis
Condition: helpless

15:10, Today: Levithian rolled 5 using 1d20+1.  Frt.
15:10, Today: Levithian rolled 8 using 1d20+1.  Fort 1.

Me 11/11. DRAGON ME 2/11


This message was last edited by the player at 21:45, Sun 30 Apr 2017.
Mysterious Ancient Wizard
GM, 272 posts
Meddle not in wizards'
affairs - unless they ask
Mon 1 May 2017
at 20:24
  • msg #47

Episode One Interlude: New Ones, Old Ones, and...

The last gremlin finally charged at the ghoul... Somewhat too late to help Levithian. Even though the claws had not penetrated his living armor, the cold emanating from the wound still gripped him in an inescapable vise.

The gremlin's puny dagger connected - only Arbr, the gremlin leader, had missed his attack so far.

At that point, the ghoul who had been serving as the gremlins' pincushion appeared to have had enough, and turned to face them.

He snapped its jaws and swiped its claws at one of the tiny creatures, and one of the blows connected, opening a large gash in the tiny creature's frame.

The monster shivered and barked something at its leader. Arbr considered the situation for a moment, then made a small jump backwards, extended a finger at the ghoul, and barked a sharp word.

A thin line, barely a shimmer in the air, shot forth from its extended finger, and hit the ghoul in the chest.

The ghoul howled in pain, shock, and no small amount of anger.

Levithian had just the time to ponder the fact that it was the first time he saw somebody cast a ranged touch attack spell by flipping the bird at their target.

Then, taking the cue from their leader, the other gremlins started barking excitedly and renewed their attack.
Levithian
player, 43 posts
Mon 1 May 2017
at 21:18
  • msg #48

Episode One Interlude: New Ones, Old Ones, and...

Considering you have all the critters on hand this is effectively in round up as opposed to continued combat. Not a thing I could do to influence the fight. All in all anytime I can avoid rolling dice I am happy as a clam =) Synth summoners can be very strong but this situation was a user error. Lev in reality should have "Nope... lets go get help." But in my mind he thinks he is a dragon dragon and they have immunity to this kinda thing. which means he will be super depressed after this, if he lives.

And I do fully suspect they will run and I will have to make a new character. X.X Evil is as evil does.

Rounds spent as a lawn gnome 2/5


Considering that Lev now had time to think about life, and things, he started doing the mental work for his next study.

Fear - Fear is one of the most powerful of animal senses that can ever be within the mind of a mortal creature. So often do we mistake it for panic or terror. Although they can be very similar they differ greatly. Terror is that blind and thoughtless emotion that races through your body and either locks you up to counter harm that will soon be on its way, or to get away from that which can cause the damage.

Fear, is simple. It is the emotion that your body sends through you to cause a caution before an action or of a subject. When a child sees the darkness and feels fear it is their body attempting to get their mind to stay safe and stay within the light.

Fear is a subtle emotion that seeps into you like the cold of a winter night. When it leaves it goes in much the same way like a fire removing the chill, finally reaching the core of the cold.

This is often used by major political establishments that are afraid of losing their power. They either bring the people into fear of themselves and their power, or they create a secondary thing to fear that only the establishment can keep them safe from.

Fear is a long and cold thing that can rot the mind of a person, and generations to come. Fear is hard to cultivate, not nearly so hard as horror, but when it takes root it is even harder bring someone to freedom of fear.



Standard: paralysis
Move: paralysis
Speaking? : Paralysis
Condition: helpless

Me 11/11. DRAGON ME 2/11

Mysterious Ancient Wizard
GM, 275 posts
Meddle not in wizards'
affairs - unless they ask
Tue 2 May 2017
at 16:27
  • msg #49

Episode One Interlude: New Ones, Old Ones, and...

Galvanized by their leader's display of strength, the gremlins wailed on the first ghoul, their little daggers cutting off bits and pieces of the undead creature.

In a frenzy of claws and fangs, both ghouls kept trying to put down the monsterlings, but their best attempt were thwarted by the aura of bad luck surrounding the gremlins.

Once again, Arbr took a small jump backwards, and flipped the bird at the ghoul, this time barking something slightly different. A fully formed missile of magical force shot fort from Arbr's finger, blasting the ghoul and destroying it for good.

The other gremlins cheered loudly, and one of them took a piece out of the remaining ghoul with its little dagger.

At this point, the last undead, alone against with four-soon-to-be-five opponents, who had already swiftly destroyed its companion, considered its options... And decided that discretion was the better part of valor.

That was a close one.
This message was last edited by the GM at 08:46, Wed 03 May 2017.
Levithian
player, 46 posts
Wed 3 May 2017
at 13:30
  • msg #50

Episode One Interlude: New Ones, Old Ones, and...

Once Lev could move again he started herding the little guys out. They needed wounds looked at and if this was going to be a common thing they would all die. He had not a single wish for them to die or get hurt no matter how close to death their task brought him.

To be clear on his point he drew a road and pushed some of the figurines, once they got back to that point, down that road. At the end of the road was a group of grimlin. He really had no other way to say that they needed reinforcement beyond that. Hell, he wanted an army considering the undead.

He was hoping that the boss man had the ability to speak to them. This fight was going to reaaalllllllyyyyy mess with him when he took time to process.

It really boiled down to chance as he could have clearly died on this one. It would have been far more easy to just stun one and bring it in like the burrito of hate. Rather than what just went down.

Either way, the splunkin was done without goooddddd reasons.
Mysterious Ancient Wizard
GM, 277 posts
Meddle not in wizards'
affairs - unless they ask
Wed 3 May 2017
at 17:49
  • msg #51

Episode One Interlude: New Ones, Old Ones, and...

Arbr shook his head: "Not..." He grasped at some invisible thing, and continued with a bark. He shook his head, said a word in a strange language, noticed Levithian had no idea what it meant and sighed.

And then finally: "Not... Safe. More..." He made a vague gesture, then snapped his fingers and conjured a bunch of monstrous-looking statuettes.

"Go... Way." And he pointed in the opposite direction, farther into the cave system.

The other little monsters looked at their leader plainly confused, possibly awed, most likely hungry, and certainly dumbfounded.

Bark, bark, string of seeming expletives.

Expletive, expletive, bark, question mark - or rather, question bark,

Exclamation bark, expletive expletive, nod.

The argument apparently settled, the little monsters looked expectantly at Levithian.
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:52, Wed 03 May 2017.
Levithian
player, 48 posts
Wed 3 May 2017
at 18:52
  • msg #52

Episode One Interlude: New Ones, Old Ones, and...

Lev watched the explanation and tilted his head at Arbr as the little guy use a bit of the trade tongue. The explanation was enough to let Lev know what they wanted done, but it did not quell the fact it was a near thing and historically things got harder the deeper in you went.

Lev closed his eyes and took a deep breath, "All beings are people and all people need help from time to time." He reached up and ran his hand over the wound the Ghoul left on him and rubbed it away like sand.

He then gestured the way Arbr indicated and started that way. "I am a fool, I am a fool, I am a fool."

13:27, Today: Levithian rolled 8 using 1d10+1.  HEALLLLL.
Me 11/11. DRAGON ME 10/11
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