Filimena frowns ever so slightly. She doesn't like the idea of Marik trading away his treasure for the sake of finding her brother. She thinks about the book in her bag. It's a message from her brother, sure, but as far as she can tell, the message has been delivered. It is that he is here, in the city. The contents of the book itself may well be valuable, but that's less important to her now. Then again, the book is technically a gift from Renaer and Floon. It seems a tad ungracious to turn around and sell it the very next day...

"Er... We could get more treasure too," she offers. "Maybe you have a place in mind, somewhere you know there's loot to be had, but you haven't been able to explore yourself?"

She looks around her some more, before throwing in for good measure, "Or maybe, I don't suppose would would have need for any landscaping?" She shrugs sheepishly, thinking of a cantrip she learned not too long ago and hasn't yet had opportunity to use.

Gundo gives Marik a side eye, "I'm a shop keeper and tinkerer. Gold I need and favors I can use. Don't lean on my feelings when the reality of this city is they'd kick me out as soon as take my gold."

She then looks back to Filimena, "I don't need any landscaping nor to go exploring. You two have no gold? Somehow you're both well known adventurers but have managed to spend or never find any significant gold?"

Filimena stuffs her hands into her pockets and winces. "Heh. Well. We - uh - also took payment in kind." Was that a bad idea? Should they have insisted on gold? Maybe they need to consider renting out some room in Snake Skull Manor, generate some - what would her parents have called it? - passive income. Didn’t she leave home precisely so she didn’t have to think about things like this?

Filimena sighs again, this time resignedly. “Okay, fair enough. You’re a business, you deal in currency. If there really isn’t anything we can barter, then it seems we’re stuck. Perhaps it’s best we made our move, try and figure things out. Maybe we’ll find a way to get our hands on some gold, and we’ll come back. Hopefully the offer still stands then.” She looks over to the goblin, then Marik.

The goblin frowns at the happenings then picks up something from behind the counter, saying, "Well I think this might help, puts me out very little compared to the spell work." she extends her hand to reveal a peacock feather perhaps 4 inches (10cm) long crafted out of metal which has an opal where the eye should be. "If you get close to your bother say about 50 feet (15 meters), and he has the peacock he got from me with him, this'll start to vibrate."

"Now please take that walking tincan with you."
This message was last edited by the player at 16:24, Thu 20 May 2021.

Marik nods

"That's...unexpected" start the elf before correcting himself "...and appreciated. I can leave you these bracers in exchange. They also point....toward place where people gather and drink...maybe could be helpful...to other adventurers..."

Filimena blinks in surprise, and just about manages to swallow back a "really?"

"Er, thanks," she says instead. "That's extremely generous." Stepping forward, she receives the feather and weighs it carefully in her hand.

"Are you sure you don't need any landscaping work? Heh." She smiles politely and begins gesturing towards Ironclad, not wanting to push her luck.

Gundo shakes her head at Filmena's inquiring and waves the newly formed trio out the door.

The city has been moving as one would expect, people going from here to there and back again as they are required or feel the need. There are far less people than Filimena expects based on the time of day. Marik notes that temperature has dropped signiicantly from earlier. A blast of wind threatens drive all three back against the door of Windsalt's Trinket Emporium. (DC 18 Strength Save to resist) In the distance over the Titan's Bay you can see massive thunderheads forming a rather nasty storm which will be on Titan's Gate within the hour.

[Private to GM:
Description: Severe Thunderstorm, Hail
Temperature: Moderate
High: 50°F (10°C)
Low: 36°F (2°C)
Relative: Colder than normal
Wind Force: Windstorm
Wind Speed: 55 mph (88 kph)
Severe Thunderstorm: The combined effects of torrential precipitation and high wind reduce visibility to zero, making Spot, Search, and Listen checks and all ranged weapon attacks impossible.

Unprotected flames are automatically extinguished, and protected flames have a 75% chance of being doused.

Creatures must succeed on a DC 18 Fort save or be blown away (Small or smaller creatures; knocked prone and rolled 1d4 x 10 feet, taking 1d4 points of nonlethal damage per 10 feet), knocked down (Medium; prone), or checked (Large or Huge; unable to move forward against the force of the wind).

Airborne creatures are instead blown back 2d6 x 10 feet and dealt 2d6 points of nonlethal damage due to battering and buffeting (Medium or smaller creatures), blown back 1d6 x 10 feet (Large), or blown back 1d6 x 5 feet (Huge or Gargantuan).

In addition, thunderstorms are accompanied by lightning that can pose a hazard to characters without proper shelter (especially those in metal armor). As a rule of thumb, assume one bolt per minute for a 1 hour period at the center of the storm. Each bolt causes electricity damage equal to 1d10 eight-sided dice.

Hail: The sound of falling hail imposes a -4 penalty on Listen checks. Sometimes hail can become large enough to deal 1 point of lethal damage (per storm) to anything in the open.

A day of hail leaves 1d6 inches of loose ice on the ground. It costs 2 squares of movement to enter a hail-covered square.
]

Marik stays firmly griped to his saddle as the gust hits. The big cat, maybe because of her size, feels the full force of it and slams against the door, bringing her rider with her.
[Language unknown: "Lowiun....Ni pe ca HOU ulol"] says Marik, almost shouting against the wind howling. [Language unknown: "Maonom ad ionnc t ble terortthu essessand out he!"]

06:15, Yesterday: Marik rolled 23 using 1d20+5 with rolls of 18. Strengh.

This message was last edited by the GM at 22:00, Thu 10 June 2021.

The large metal suit slides back against the door of with a heavy thud.

"Phalangical spikes failed to deploy."

07:57, Today: Ironclad rolled 10 using 1d20+3 with rolls of 7.  Strength Save.

This message was lightly edited by the player at 15:00, Thu 10 June 2021.

The wind catches Filimena's cloak like a sail. For a brief moment, she is airborne. She slams against the door and lands hard on her knees, grazing them slightly. To shocked to be embarrassed, she picks herself up.

[Language unknown: "Ons, k nebema!"] she yells. Carefully, she takes a step forward, holding her cloak close to her body, partly to prevent a repeat of what just happened, but partly also because of the chill that is making itself felt in her bones. Did this happen while they were in the store? What a change. She looks up towards towards the sky, not quite believe it.

OOC: Almost!

21:10, Today: Filimena the Gentle rolled 17 using 1d20, rerolling ones with rolls of 17.  Strength Save.

Filimena was going to try and see if she could get any clue whether this might be natural or magical. Wasn't sure whether a perception of investigation check was appropriate, but anyway rolled a 5.

21:20, Today: Filimena the Gentle rolled 5 using d20+d4, rerolling ones with rolls of 2,3.  Perception/Investigation, with Guidance.


This message was last edited by the player at 13:22, Fri 11 June 2021.

The big cat take back her footing, crouching slightly to make her center of gravity lower and griping the pavement with her claws. Marik guides Rani to walk next to Filimena, shielding the halfling from the wind with her large body. The elf turns to Ironclad
[Language unknown:
"Oreiveill nce adna are la terionhas? Miil madimo olnte theheroun larureove iondaystr wanot?"]
This message was last edited by the player at 02:36, Sat 12 June 2021.

Filimena hears a series of gear clicking in Ironclad's feet and a soft thud noise like a series of tent pikes being driven into the ground. A similar series of clicks happens as Ironclad's left for arm becomes are large shield which they use to shield the others as much as possible.

The Warforged replies to Marik, "I'm Marik per The Archives, storms are common in Titan's Gate during the current quarter period in the orbit around our star, often called Draconis Azon. This type of storm is not common here but is common in Southern Ocean near The Isle of Storm a place where a massive giant and dragon are said to battle. Ironclad's educated guess is this storm is not natural."
This message was last edited by the player at 16:24, Wed 16 June 2021.

Filimena frowns. That doesn't sound good. [Language unknown: "Prota... onspe tinthikor anhoic,"] she says, noticing what Ironclad has done and positioning herself to be shielded from the wind. No point pretending she isn't a small creature liable to be blown away.

OOC: Filimena is going to nudge the group towards the manor. She's going to stay alert to any flying debris.
This message was last edited by the player at 13:52, Wed 16 June 2021.

Our group of heroes aren't the only ones to notice the weather has turned for the worse, people are dashing about trying to get out of the heavy winds and driving rains as the storm moves ever closer.

Welcome to the Get Home Safe Skill Challenge!

it has been a while since we made any rolls after all

You'll need 6 Successes before you reach 3 Failures to reach the Snake Skull Manor before the storm hits and bad things start to occur

Use any skill you like but remember that you can only use a given skill one. I have no issue if you wish to mix/match attribute and skill -- so a Intelligence + Athletics to help see a path thru busy street or what have you.

Sticking her head out from behind the Warforged's shielding arm, Filimena tries her best to guide the party through the streets, avoiding the townsfolk dashing about. People in panic don't always behave rationally, she knows, nor do they tend to be particularly observant. It would slow them down if they were constantly bumping into folks. Focused on the people around her, however, Filimena doesn't notice a piece of loose cobble under her feet, which she promptly trips and falls over.

OOC: Okay let's get this going. Question, though: can Filimena use Guidance on these rolls?

Starting with something obvious, which is an immediate fail. Awful. Perception check 5 without Guidance, 8 with.
07:56, Today: Filimena the Gentle rolled 8 using d20+3+d4, rerolling ones with rolls of 2,3.  Perception (with guidance?).

Then an insight check. The idea is Filimena is reading the body language and tracking the gazes of people running by, judging how panicked they are and which directions they're going, to forge an optimal path through them. 17 without Guidance, 18 with.
07:56, Today: Filimena the Gentle rolled 24 using d20+3+d4, rerolling ones with rolls of 17,{1}4.  Insight (with guidance?).

Actually, I realise we don't know the DC, but I'm guessing 17 at least is a pass, and 8 certainly not.

[Language unknown: "...UGH ntinri, whe st..." ]reply Marik, now looking much more intently at the blackened sky. [Language unknown: "M nteforati hasno le... M ceha is iou teerlo...tr]. A shiver....below him...The big cat. Her eyes are fixed on the storm too. He senses her discomfort...no, not discomfort...fear. The streets... people moving in rush...the winds...the electricity in the air...It's getting too much for her...she senses this is not natural.


Marik put his hand on her neck, focus his thoughts on her, asking her to relax. "I love you, girl. Stay with me. We'll get to shelter". The big cat exhales and seemingly composes herself.

Filimena trips and falls. Thinking she fell because of the wind again, Marik makes a move to catch her, but not fast enough. Rani catches his thoughts and grabs the halfling from the ground in her giant mouth, lifting her and putting her on her back behind Marik.

Marik pats the big cat and turns to Filimena behind him.

[Language unknown: "Shesancom. Tio m peilou thetnous. O butus a u"]. "[Language unknown: Leho li peom m]" He shouts to Ironclad.

And Marik guide Rani to start trotting, then running in a straight line toward a bunch of large crates besides a house wall, as if she was getting ready to jump (in preparation for an Acrobatics checks?)

OOC: Marik did an Animal Handling check of 19.
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:17, Fri 18 June 2021.

DC 14 this unless noted otherwise

I'll let you use Guidance once -- if that's now then make that choice. Also let's not do multiple rolls as that goes against the spirit of a skill challenge.

Now on to the score keeping !!!


Skill Challenge
Successes   2/6
Failures    1/3


Skills Used
Filimina
    Perception (Fail)
    Insight (Success)

Marik
    Animal Handling (Success)

Ironclad
  TBD!

"Ironclad will attempt to maintain speed with large forest feline."

Not as fast as Rani the metal being does move as quickly as it can, making a fair amount of noise in the process. As a bolt of lighting comes down near the group, Ironclad attempts to ground themselves and divert the harm unfortunately the phalangical spikes fail to deploy fast enough and rather than dissipating harmlessly the warforged takes the lightning strike in full.

08:54, Today: Ironclad rolled 11 using 1d20+5 with rolls of 6.  Con for Protection action.
09:28, Today: DM5 rolled 11 using 3d10 with rolls of 1,4,6.  Lightning Damage.

Update
Success   2/6
Failure   2/3

A bolt of blinding light. A crackling sound like the sky was just torn apart. Marik barely has time to process before he sees Ironclad taking a full bolt of lightning. The cat jumps sideways, in an attempt to protect her riders.

"Already?!" think Marik, looking at the skies. They are now blackened, with electricity coursing through them. How could that happen so fast? This must be incredibly powerful magic. He tries to think. He should try to find Fala. If someone can have a sense of what is going on, it will be them.

The winds howls and bolts of lightning drop at an alarming rate. It's a question of minutes...or seconds before they get caught. It's fight or flight now.
Sensing the big cat terror, Marik slams his palm on her neck and shout...but the words that come out don't sound anything like Elvish or Common. Rather, the words come out as a mix of low, rumbling sounds, and airy syllables not unlike the sound of the gale.

Oja..HALLING....efter per lööf!  (Sylvan for "Run. RISE. On the wind we ride")

As if she was shaken out of a stupor, Rani let out a deafening roar, as if to warn others. She jumps on a crate, then another, picking up speed until she full-on parkour in the streets. The large panther moves between people and objects like a rushing stream, carrying her riders at breakneck speed, her eyes filled with intent and focus. Could it be the power of the Old Tongue? Marik doesn’t know, but it definitely had the desired effect.

OOC: Rani rolled a 19 in Athletics.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:25, Mon 21 June 2021.

"Hmm!" Filimena murmurs to herself, thoroughly impressed by Rani's display of athleticism. Then she turns to face the road in front of her. A row of townhouses stretches out a short distance ahead of her, potentially providing at least a partial shelter against the wind. All she needs to do is to get to it. Her eyes widen as an idea pops into her head. Of course! This is the moment she has been waiting for her.

Sticking out her left hand, she begins to mutter some incantations, only to be slapped bang in the face by a large piece of paper, a poster maybe, ripped off a wall by the wind. Angrily shoving it aside, she curses and sputters a bit, then continues. A few seconds later, the ground before her begins to quiver. A large cloud of stone dust issues from a patch of cobble in front of her, which is immediately blown away in the gale. What remains are diamond-shaped grooves on the ground, perfect for providing some traction against the wind. There we go! she thinks, pleased with herself, then bounds forward, the ground feeling almost like its reaching out to grip her feet. With that bit of extra leverage, she manages to push herself firmly forward, the momentum carrying her the distance she needs to go to the townhouses.

Once behind their heavy walls, the wind subsides substantially. She can actually hear herself breathe. They're not done yet, though. She glances ahead in the direction of the manner, than back at Ironclad, motioning at the Warforged to follow, and pointing at the cobblestone she has Moulded, if it helps.

OOC: Thank goodness for Halfling Luck! Rolled a one, then re-rolled a 19!

07:38, Today: Filimena the Gentle rolled 27 using 1d20+8, rerolling ones with rolls of {1}19.  Spell Attack.

Moving thru the currently chaotic streets of Titan's Gate with an amazing efficiency, the group sees the houses marking the entry to Snake Skull alley and the turret peak of their manor. The rain is now mixed with hail the size of grapes, creating a sound coming off the cobble stone streets and slate tiled roofs like the cacophony of a thousands out of time hammers.

[Private to GM: Closer to the alley, you see a trio of kids huddled on the porch avoiding the horrible weather.]

---

The massive metal form of Ironclad follows are you, its head moving back and forth as though scanning the sky, "The large flora here should shield us from the lightning, but the hail is another issue."

After turning a corner onto Ironclad calls out "Ironclad detects an opening in the storm, a large area without clouds. The opening will make our continued travel easier, but the opening isn't the end of the storm. "

08:29, Today: Ironclad rolled 20 using 1d20+4 with rolls of 16.  Survival .

Update
Success   5/6
Failure   2/3

Rani winces, just as her rider lets out a cry out of pain as the bombardment starts. Marik immediately guides the large cat to take shelter under the front porch of a nearby house.

The hail keeps getting stronger, battering roofs and shredding awnings. Marik hears a cry and sees what looks like a dwarf falling down further in the street, blood pouring out of a crimson hole on his face. Marik passes a hand on his back and shoulder where he got hit...oh yeah, this will leave nasty bruise marks. He looks at Rani after, her fur reddening in parts. Marik looks at the sky. He sees an eye in the storm, as Ironclad described, which could leave them some reprieve. But it won't last long and the storm appears to keep growing in strength. If this is any indication of what is to follow, the already deadly mix of strong winds, lightning and hail will only get worse. They need to get to the manor and contact Fala.

But Marik doesn't even know if they can get that far, despite the manor being near. They could outrun the lightning, but the hail is something else. There is no hiding from such a bombardment. Marik gets out his shield to protect his head and Rani’s, but he doesn’t think it will be sufficient. Rani will need to run in this hail, but the elf isn’t sure she might endure it. Despite her hardy constitution, the pain will be excruciating and might slow her down enough to not make it in time before the storm hit with full strength.  He needs to help her make it. But how?

Marik rummage through one of his bags, mumbling some things that sound “No..not…shit” before his face lightens up as he gets out a satchel with some brown leaves with hints of yellow.  He immediately feeds some to Rani, takes some which he furiously chews out and hands a few to Filimena.

[Language unknown: “Toevwi. U any prcon”]

Thankfully, the medicinal leaves are quick acting. Marik feels his body senses get dull, as he feels increasingly numb. Signalling Filimena to keep close, he raises his shield to protect them and Rani’s face from the hail, as the big cat starts to run again in direction of the manor. Marik feels the shreds of ice pound and hammer against his shield, to the point he almost had trouble keeping it up sometimes. The big cat runs, sometimes wavering as her body is assailed by grape-sized blocks of ice which would probably shred smaller constitutions. But she keeps going….and going… and doesn’t stop until finally, they reach the manor after minutes that seem like hours.


OOC: Marik use his inspiration and rolls a 18 to use his knowledge of Medicine to help them through this challenge. Ooff! That was close!
This message was last edited by the player at 03:19, Sun 27 June 2021.

The hammering of rain and hail stop as the sky overhead clears with the clouds moving away letting the sun shine down upon the streets of Titan's Gate. This moment of reprieve will be short lived as people moving thru the streets, several are pointing towards the harbor where another wall of clouds approaches. People are all around you are attempting to board up windows and are move anything of value inside.

Reaching Snake Skull Alley and the manor, you see it as good a shape as you left it.. that being poor shape. The roof has gained a few new holes in it from the hail, and the dripping of water tells you more than enough. On the pouch is a trio of children huddled together. They are shivering as they stand, obviously believing that the storm has passed. One is a young half-elf girl who is carrying a wooden sword, another is a tiefling child carrying a piece of wood with a leather strap keeping it in their hand and a stuffed owlbear toy that's seen better days tucked under the other arm, and the last is a half-orc boy, who's easily a head taller than the other two yet rather lanky, with an eye patch, a small bow, and a quiver of toy arrows.

The half-elf makes a few quick motions with her hands at the other two who nod at her.

Marik turns to Filimena. [Language unknown: "Plli pr sarota Ant ing...lina ut ti?"] He point to his head. [Language unknown: "Ofprce us ullami saie a nael venundkor areughres man. Ounai maaifi at inos thsiec ndethevor t eteiei prewerpro eeli dinss oulhou-undthueen. Napene u ti ce ard ameproore. Hint stiek n inal th N nte es in armili ion ilecro."].

He then turn toward the children.

"Hey you.all....should hide. Storm coming. Where are...parents?"


As he talk to them, Marik try to size up where these children might be coming from. Do they appear like orphans?

OOC: Marik would like to roll insight check to get more information on the childrens. He rolled a 11.

Filimena eyes the children suspiciously. She's met her fair share of troublemakers.

Briefly glancing up at Marik, she replies, [Language unknown: "Ssiefiilmilo, N itio poev urweer p has n N io ad omal, riar no remiil losta. Ol ulunni hi k moatll nce witncestr, artiouset."] She hesitates, before adding, I would be mindful of those children, by the way. She considers a while whether to say more, then slips away up the stairs to try to get a better view from higher up.

OOC: Not sure if I'm allowed to make a second Insight check right after Marik's. I'm seeking more specific information. Please ignore otherwise. Basically, I want to try to understand what the hand motion the half-elf made means.

07:16, Today: Filimena the Gentle rolled 13 using 1d20+3, rerolling ones with rolls of 10.  Insight.