ooc: You still have plenty of water and supplies. Loki broght barrels of the stuff.
Rolling for Loki now since he's AWOL.

You ride for a while after the course correction towards the detour town. It's a laborious, boring trip. The heat makes the air seem stale, and the dust quenches any other scents. The glistening sand, reflecting the sun waves in and out just like waves at sea. And it grows old quickly.

"Whew. It's hot out here" Hana absentmindedly comments. Loki turns to look at her and she quickly adds "Oh no, I'm ok Loki, don't worry!" putting on a forced smile then visibly relaxes as he returns back to driving the skimmer. She eventually figures out the kitsune had the right idea from the start and slumps next to him. At first when you had begun this journey she had chatted about nothing and everything because she was, well, still a child and needed to amuse herself. Now she reduced her movement and speech to the absolute minimum, though nowhere near the master the kitsiune was. If you didn't know any better you'd think he was a dead, unmoving corpse.

Looking at the kitsune and thinking that exact same thing he turns to his guade, Irfan, and "Maybe it would be better if we didn't move around the day so much..." implying he wanted his opinion on the matter. "Perhaps we should find some shade and wait-"
-"Really, I'm all right big brother. Besides, I want to find sister Elena as soon as possible."
-"Calm down, we've come this far. We'll be making a stop soon anyway, we can take that time to-" he breaks off and starts staring off into the distance, squinting his eyes, off in the starboard side of the ship somewhere just above Hana's head. "Hey, Irfan, what do you make of that?" he asks you and points to something.

Irfan looks there, sees nothing, then strains a bit toom squinting his eyes to focus. It was a blimp. Moving up and down. Disappearing from view than reappearing. Out in the far distance.

It grows larger. Quickly. It's almost like a parlor trick. One eyeblink it's there and then....much closer. Irfan realizes far too late that the heat had been playing tricks on him, creating the infamous Arcanian mirages, in this case messing with your ability to accurately gauge distance.

His eyes grow wide in terror, "^{An exalted}"

and it was heading straight for you.

He knew Arcania had at least 1 exalted, the Lonely One at the bottom of the mud sea, and you were nowhere near that! But some rumors claimed there to be more than 1 exalted in Arcania.

The Kitsune sprang to his feet to look, taking his hat off to get a better look. "We just had to be lucky enough to find it, didn't we?" he growled with sarcasm.

-"IT'S COMING!!!" Hana screamed, then turned to the grown ups "Do something!" she screeched hysterically.

ooc: This thing is gynormous. You know Elder Centepede from One Punch Man or the Kraken from pirates of the Caribbean? That. Except not as long. Large but not long. Think fish rather than snake.
This message was last edited by the GM at 13:07, Mon 24 June 2019.

We need a skilled pilot now, best we can do Is aim for the Stomach and hope for the best, try to dodge and hope it doesn't turn at us lowly mortals. or run and hope it veers off.

Or try to distract it and lighten the boat I Guess, Chicken, we bought that special chicken right?

Words fail him as he faces the reality, When the adrenaline hits he pulls out rope and starts trying to loop it around (any?) central mast or other anchors, trying to get himself and Hina lashed though the order isn't clear to the boat. "Push it or we no ones getting away.".


"Wouldn't this thing look like a angry sandstorm at first with all that kinetic sand displacement, a one creature stampede?

Would trapsmithing cover this aspect of use ropes, or just profession sailor and escape artist.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:01, Mon 24 June 2019.

ooc: He would, but you failed the save throw and he's above ground only half the time, swimming through the earth effortlessly.
Doesn't transmit as trap (and even if it did you don't have the ability to quickly make one). Sailor yes. And I'd also say knowledge engineer and Finesse. Roll any one (just one) of those to see how successful you are in the heat of the moment, with the pressure wracking your nerves.

Irfan rolled 16 using 1d20+2.  Untrained Profession Sailor Check.

Loki  swings, the Skimmer in a U-turn, "Yelling will not help us, Calm yourselves." driving the sandskimmer down the Exalted's path of travel. " I suggest you brace yourselves tightly." Counting intervals to himself as the exalted approaches.


Irfan continues to struggle with the ropes, As the calamity gains on them, "Sear it, sear it all!" he contemplates rushing the wheel himself but is tangled up.


Loki intends to abuse it's bobing and Weaving movement and the manueverability of the skimmer to go up and over it. https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pm.../Main/DodgeByBraking  But he is too prideful to waste time saying it to jis passengers.

Inside Loki's Mind
 https://i.pinimg.com/originals...bb15e517c43d7ab8.jpg
This message was last edited by the player at 06:48, Wed 26 June 2019.

Make a finnesse or spellcraft roll to see what his piloting skills are like

Today: Irfan rolled 3 using 1d20.  Loki Raw SpellCraft check. There a roll worth less then 10! It's so low it just might work. Unfortuantly I think he might have flooded out the magic and killed the sandskimmer for a while.
This message was last edited by the player at 06:51, Wed 26 June 2019.

The kitsune jumps the ramp and dives for the mast where Irfan and Hana were, hugging it for dear life. 14:40, Today: GM rolled 16 using 1d20+1.  Kitsune athletics check.
"I've never heard of an exalted going out of its way to attack people before!"
-"Doesn't matter if it means to or not, we can't let it hit us," Loki responds as he nods rhythmically, counting the intervals. Then, suddenly grabs both levers and pushes them forward all the way! The skimmer roars straight at the behemoth! as there were no safety measurements installed in the creation of the cobbled together vehicle. And magic does not care about silly physics stuff like momentum, and acceleration of mass


All of you were nearly thrown off the ship right there and then. Thankfully the haphazardly thrown ropes around at least kept Irfan and Hana onboard, if somewhat worse for ware from being thrown around like rocks in a sack. Loki, being in the back of the ship, was thankfully least affected.
-"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" the kitsune screams as he realizes they were heading straight for the monster rather than way from it.
-"Trust me, I know what I'm doing!" Loki remains on course, waiting for just the right moment.
-"Left, left, turn LEFT!-" Ship veers off to the left, "-MY LEFT!!!"
-"WE HAVE THE SAME-" *CRASH* "-LEEEEEEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeee_eeeeeft!!!!!"

The sand skimmer and all its cargo and passengers are flung into the air like leaves in the wind, scattered in the wake of one of the gods that walk the earth.

---

ooc: I need a reflex saving throw.
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:55, Wed 26 June 2019.

Reflex saves
 Loki: ? = 7
 Irfan: 17 = 13 +4
 Hina: ?? = 11
 Ultra-bombtastic Myrmidon: ?? = 16 lucky drunk +
 Skimmy the sand Skimmer: 11+ = 9 + (2+)



If the boat is non-magical as a whole, it shares the saving throw of anyone able to hold on(logic dictates to the helm only) or Skimmy gets none at all by raw.


This message was last edited by the player at 02:39, Thu 27 June 2019.

.

.
^pain
.
^*Groan*

.

^confusion

.

^-san

.

^{*dull throb*}
_*intrusion*

.

^{*disorientation*}
_*lost*

.

^Nii-san!
*intrusion*
_*danger*

.

You crack open your eyes, blinking quickly as something trickles into it.
*Groan* Your voice comes out hoarsely.
You feel dull throbbing pain all over.

Nii-san, please, wake up! you hear it again. You don't know what it is but it sounds familiar and important.

You try again. You open your eyes, just a crack at first so that no sand gets in this time, then wider. You see clear blue down and golden yellow up. The world was upside down...and shaking side to side.

After the strangest, most confused 5 seconds of your life, you realize it's not the world that's upside down. It's you. You were still tied to the mast of the now crashed sandflyer ship.

Memories start flooding back, from your childhood, your life, the past few months. The last thing you remember was spinning in the air with Hana, Loki and the kitsune whose name kept getting longer by the day. You remember the tengu girl saying a coherent word in between the cacophony of screaming and suddenly getting yanked upwards out of the group free-throw. You remember the kitsune making a flip in midair, stabilizing himself, then make a 3-point landing like cat. This was just before you yourself, or rather then sandflyer, hit the ground and then there was just dark. You blacked out.

The suddenly jolts. The others! you realize. Then you remember the voice. You look around and, it takes you a moment to make sense of the world since you were upside down, but you see the unmistakable figure of a small, white feathered tengu in bright blue clothing kneeling and crying over the unmistakable, unmovable body of the Grassland's kingpriest.

The kitsune in his green and brown robes was quickly limping over to where they were.

Irfan, take 14 dmg (7 vigor and 7 wounds in your case). To get free you need to beat your previous tie ropes roll (since you're untrained in sailor it caps out at 10 so make a DC 10 acrobatics check to get free).

10:08, Today: GM rolled 29 using 6d6.  Impact damage.
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:51, Thu 27 June 2019.

Irfan Rolled a 11 using 1d20-6 Acrobatics.
Irfan tries to groan, just to check if he was alive, and that was a mistake as his body informs him he is very much not dead, yet, with disgruntled and angry cacophony of pain. Gasping at the onslaught, he wiggles in the rope trying to get arm loose. A few of the ropes just slide off almost immediately and he began to tilt, sliding out of the ropes feet first and  dropping to the sand. Thank Bond Forger the mast was near the ground. Hitting the ground knocks the wind out of him, and he reflexively reaches up to cover his mouth as his body burns in the heaves. Pulling back his sleeve, he saw blood, If he was coughing blood why couldn't he taste it? No that wasn't right he could taste something, he just was too shocked to process it.

Pulling himself up with the hanging ropes, Irfan blinked at the tengu,.. Hina, the weird guy.... Grass P-King?, and the orange fuzz ball.. Chickensplitter? Life sucked right now, but thats what happens when the ground literally runs you down and tries to eat you. Irfan Reaches for his canteen to take a drink?

Sighing, he stands up, both his legs were working fine-ish, even if his head wasn't. Man if he hurt now what would it feel like tomorrow. Irfan steadily make his way over to the others, makeing sure each step was going to hold before taking the next one. Once over there, he tries to sit down, but falls forward to his knees instead. Close enough.

Irfan opens his side bag and down a vial of translucent blue liquid,(lets call it asprin),  and drops it. he reaches around Hina to check on Loki's pulse, and then coughs with his mouth closed. Wheezing a bit, he tear open Loki's Shirt reveal massive bruising"Ya,.. That will hurt. atleast the boat broke my fall. *cough* He reaches into his bag a and fumbles around for a dried thin reed, some moss in a jar, and a small glass knife. It wasn't leeches but it would have to do.

Hina -> Unconcious Loki -> Irfan Kneeling over him with a knife(1d2).
" Chika Whiskers, hold her." He reaches down part the skin, and use the reed as stint to drain some of the bruising and take the pressure off his vitals.

Irfan rolled 23 using 1d20+3.  Heal Check appraisal  vs Group, or just loki.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:11, Fri 28 June 2019.

It's actually Hana, but meh Hina's not that far off. We'll just say you're missing the pronunciation because of your accent or because Tengu names sound weird. Cudos on remembering the -5 penalty due to no vigor and -1/4 wounds. +50 xp to Griffindor.

When you arrived you took 1 look at Hina and knew she was fine. Dirty from beak to talon in whitish-yellow dust, with dark brown streams of damp sand down her cheeks where tears had passed, but otherwise not a scratch on her. Loki on the other hand...

You cut open his clothes and Hana nearly passed out (close enough, she went mute and frozen in place with her mouth in open terror). He had a broken leg, with the bone sticking out of the skin, a rib sticking out of his chest, numerous bruises that were unmistakably internal bleeding, and speaking of bleeding he was gushing from every orifice in his body and then some. He had a weak pulse but he wasn't breathing. If he wasn't dead already he soon would be. (2 wound points away from 0)

Your own vision was going double, probably hit your head against the mast as you were being thrown around like a rag doll, but you needed to stay focus if you were ganna save this man so you took a stimulant. As you worked with your tool you speak to Hana, "Listen, you know healing magic, right?" you said dead serious.
-"U-Uh huh," she nodded weakly.
-"I need you to do that, but only where I tell you to. I'm guessing if you had enough raw power to heal him completely you would have done so already so instead I need you to- STAY WITH ME! *slap*" you give her 5 across the face to keep her from breaking down in hysteria as you started releasing some of the internal bleeding "-Are you with me? *nod nod* Good. I need you to focus the healing on the worst wounds to prevent him from bleeding out. For now our priority isn't to make him better but to prevent him from getting worse. Go that? Ok. First here..." You realigned the leg. 'Shit, there's sand everywhere. That's ganna make things more complicated.'

Just then then kitsune arrived. Aside from a small limp, 'probably just a sprained ankle' he too didn't look worse for ware, very composed in fact. But, when he reached for his gourd, you noticed his hands were shaking like an old man's and he was having trouble opening the cork. 'The gourd. ALCOHOL!' You grabbed it out of his hand ^hey! and cleaned the wound before nodding at Hana to proceed. 'Oooooh boy. If he was conscious that would have hurt like a mother f-'

You proceeded to do the same with the rib in the chess and the last healing she had you told her to focus on the head. (Loki +3 wounds. Stable.)

In reply to GM (msg # 19):

73%,  -6 (-2 50-74% wounds)Still think -2 For being worn out(vigor 75 and 25 would be enough.) If Irfan didn't have tools, he probably couldn't remember what to do. even on a 20.

Correct me when I butcher names, if i get into the habit, i'll be insulting them forever, like i did with worren/warren.


A anime drunk is surprisingly useful, Atleast your never in danger of dying sober...


Irfan seals up whatever is still bleeding, or open. Turning Loki on his side with WeedMilker's help so he didn't choke on his own fluids and relieve pressure on his heart.

His could try apply ointment to his wounds, but he was super dizzy. " get..Blankets, Fire ..  don't let sand.. bury..boat. " Irfan hits the ground, the surprisingly warm nice ground. Adrenaline gone, Irfan passes out.

Time to regain some vigor points... -4 is harsh 'crippling despair' levels of exhausted. Wounds add salt to the.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:46, Sat 29 June 2019.

When you wake up again, your head was still throbbing, it was still light outside, although much dimmer, the sun was probably setting as you thought this. Aside from the whistling wind, and even that sounded hollow, it was deathly quiet. You look around, see Hana cradling Loki's head, her eyes empty, the kitsune was wrapped around in blankets, like you and Loki, sitting across the clearing of the two. Nobody was saying anything. You notice there was no fire in the clearing.
"We don't have anything to burn" the kitsune answers your unasked question, not making eye contact. It was still warm so that wasn't a problem yet but once night falls...they probably didn't realize just how cold it could get.

Rising from your bedroll, you go over to Loki to check his wounds. It wasn't good. Despite your best efforts (which isn't really saying much since you had passed out right after fixing the worst of the damage) some of the wounds had gotten infected. (-1 Wounds)

Your throat was feeling parched. Just as you reached for your canteen, the kitsune shares some more bad news "The barrels of food and water were lost in the crash. The only thing we have left is what was on us," again, not looking up.

Loki was sweating, delirious, muttering Elena's name over and over. Ignoring the warning, you bring the canteen to Loki's mouth and make him drink.

To everyone's surprise he stirs, cracking his eyes open. He was awake and looking very weak. (Loki check vs unconscious, success).

Summary:
Irfan, Loki, Kitsune 8 hours rest. Hana 8 hours sentry duty.
Irfan full Vigor, +0 wounds.
Loki full vigor, -1 wounds.
Kitsune full vigor, +1 wounds.

His headache had receeded to a dull throb, he barely even noticed it when he wasn't moving, His good hand was still shakey though. They needed food, water and shelter and he had only a rough idea where they where before everything happened.

Knowledge Nature covers geography, the Kitsune has no reason thus far to actually know things about where towns are in the desert.

Looking around for the boat, and taking in the scenery in hopes of finding where the landmark was in the fading light, hoping it hadn't wandered off.

It didn't seem like the exalted had warped the land in any unusual way.

Closing his eyes he takes a deep breath, No fire mean they couldn't sit around all night. Loki needed to stay put, drugged if need be. If they had no boat, then they needed a sled.

He might be able to ectract some compounds to help with their situation, but he needed fresh materials.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Givening Loki some medicine from his bag for the pain, any applying a salve to the infect. He perfer to clean it, but he didn't have the water and Loki was already in bad shape to go reopening wounds.


He gets up, and searches the area for a hour, looking for anything he can find to help (Catti(water, food, alchemy), boat pieces(sled, fire), boat(transport), minerals(alchemy), ruins(never know what the sands were hiding), bones(splint)).

: Irfan rolled 15,21 using 1d20+4,1d20+4.  Perception, survival

Returning he set about mixing up a a magically charged salve for Loki, and others if he could manage.


Take 10 Alchemy +7 -2 wounds= 15. over 1 hour = 2 doses, 1d8+3. I can spend another hour making 4 doses total for Loki, but then he is dose capped for 24 hours.

Irfan contemplates using his flashbangs as a emergency signal, but they werenx't on a respectable route. Any town close enough to see them would have seen the exalted too and the giards would prefer to keep suuden anhilation secret from the people inside the walls.

ooc: A salve can only heal 1 character only once per day. The extra doses would have to go to someone else. A 4th dose is useless unless you're saving it for Hana. The kitsune hasn't volunteered any such information thus far so he probably doesn't know. You're the native here.

"I can't create food, but I can create water and purify food so...there's that Oh, NII-CHAN you're all right!!" Hana hugs Loki and starts crying. Loki tries to move his right hand, winces, then moves his other hand to hug and comfort Hana.

That was good news, you could harvest some things that were normally uneatable because they were poisonous or such (like cacti and roots and bugs) but could be made eatable if purified, and prepared properly. Taste might leave much to be desired, but it would sustain. (4 rations from Survival)

The boat was back where you left it, when hanging from its mast. It was broken, but it still looked mostly in 1 piece from what you could tell. There was no sign of the Exalted and no sign of any living creature (no surprise there. Creatures usually go into hiding, sometimes for days, after an Exalted passes through). Bones, sure. Wood, only what splintered off from the boat.

Something interesting you do find is a trail. A long caravan trail. And caravan trails led to of from...towns! And you knew for a fact there was a town around here. Looks like you just found your way to it. But you'd have to move quickly. Before long it will be swallowed by the winds and sands of the Arcanian desert.

---

Back at the camp you find Loki trying to go to the boat to examine it to see if it's still usable with the kitsune and Hana trying to convince him to stay down.

Irfan throws the sack of food and the sack of primative tools he had collected towards the group, his temper flairing.

"Leave him or Help him, but by the Lonely Ones Whiskers quit pestering him. Can you you get the skimmer working? He might be able to. I Sure can't sail it without magic or a mast.

I've got some fuel for a fire, If Loki would be kind enough to light it, and some plants, it's not pretty, last long, or smell good, but should be enough to make some soup if you cleanse it.

Pulling out 4 relatively straight bones  from the sac as he stomps over, Pulling some of his rope off the mast and cutting it.

 And you, get off that leg, till i can get and split on it."

Irfan proceeds to split Loki's leg, probably under protest. The works on setting up a pulley using the broken mast and Chicken slicer's help.

If Hana wants to sulk, help, cry herself to sleep that up to her, we are stuck with whatever trail rations i have if she does I guess.


Fun time, does careful packer apply to lifting capacities wjen using rope and pulley (s).

Intelligence score in place of her Strength score when determining her carrying capacity(when lifting said containers?).

ooc: Sure, why the hell not, we can say you Archimedes this. As long as you have the tools for it. Did you make the potions yet?

The kitsune throws his hands up in resignation and just walks away.

Hana walks over and lights the splinters.

There's a heavy atmosphere of depression and anger and whatnot in the entire camp. Everyone is on edge, sulking, but nobody's talking.

If breaking for camp for the night tell me who does what.

Hina Cooks, Loki keeps trying to spellcraft the skimmer. Kitsune applies muscles if willing to zirfan's rope system or does whatever he feels best in the meantime(no clue about him, maybe getting drunk or stress sword practicing.

Really hoping for a short rest/2 hour lay over. We have a caravan or town to catch but Irfan doesn't want to get their hopes up if they can't get the ship up in a short time.

Once the ship is righted, Loki should have a easier time tinkering with it. So once the ropes are in place Irfan and Kitsune can pull it when Loki says to. The camp fire probably won't last, even the best bones are light branches, and smell bad when burnt.

If Loki is lucky we might be able to make a mad dash for community and a chance at restocking n recovering. If Loki can't get the ship working, I'll roll percentage for camping longer or leaving on foot.

2 potions for Loki. +2 to Wounds.

Irfan rolled 5 using 1d20.  Raw spellcraft for loki, using boosts if able, follows up with take 10.
Irfan rolled 62 using 1d100.  55 camp/take 20, 56 travel.
Guess we are traveling to stay warm and find shelter (in numbers) if loki can't fix the ship or insists on taking 20 rather then abandoning it.

Irfan rolled 22 using 1d20+4.  Survival follow tracks. (should work until our kitsune can get within alcohol smelling distance.)

Irfan does what he can in relative silence while Hana manages the food, asking for help as needed. Then mixing his compounds, distilling a azure fizzing compound, which he gave to loki and told to apply where it hurt the most when he was done.

Warming himself by the fire when he was done, he (was give/asked for/ took) a bowl of the watery soup. Blowing on it, then coughing as he exerted hims lungs, spilling half his bowl. Look at his mess, he put down the bowl and spoke.
"I'm sorry, we all in pain, tired, hungry and stressed out. I didn't mean to snap at you, but Loki is doing what he can to give us our best chance of surviving. I know your worried about him but it's necessary. I don't like him moving any more then he has to, but I can't do what he is doing. And if he can't do it, we have to start moving tonight which is even worse."
Irfan rolled 5(1) using 1d20+4.  Influence vs Hana, Apology. I'm Going to get slapped underlines are suggested things to take fault with, not sneering.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:38, Sun 30 June 2019.

The kitsune had to help Loki over to the skimmer, practically carry him there, had a brief discussion with him then came back alone to the campfire, leaving him them there for his long, slow examination of the ship.

Hana, who had been silent, meek and generally just kept to just looking at the ground most of the time since this whole thing happened suddenly looks up, locking eyes with you. For the first time you see anger in them "This is all YOUR fault! You're suppose to know the desert! Know what the dangers are and how to avoid them! You scammed us just for the money! We would have been better off without you to begin with!" she lashed out and tries to attack you with her tiny clenched fists. The kitsune quickly steps in and embraces her going ^{shhhh shhhh, it's going to be ok} in order to calm her. At first she started thumping against him as well with her fists but them stopped fighting against the embrace and dissolved into sobbing.

The camp fell back into the oppressive silence.

The longest hour of all time later, Hana broke the silence. "...Do you think that exalted attacked us on purpose?"

The kitsune shrugged his shoulders, "Hard to say...all I know is we haven't seen it since so ether it didn't and we just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. Or it figured it had already done the job the 1st time around."
-"But why would-"

Further theorizing was cut short by Loki emerging from under the hood of the boat and called over for the kitsune to come and fetch him, which he did. When he brought him back you could tell the strenuous activity had reopened some wounds (-1 Wound). And if you had thought it would've been worth it, you'd have been disappointed for the expression on the kingpriest's face said it all.
"The skimmer's shell is mostly in one piece, it can be fixed to be serviceable. The problem is this" he pulls out a cracked orb, "This is the magical component that moves the ship. Without it it's just a pile of wood. It can't be fixed. We'll need a replacement."
-"Well, he said he found caravan tracks earlier so we can't be too far from a town. We can just go there and get a replacement" the little tengu offered helpfully, but you saw a glaring flaw with that problem before she was even done.

By your calculations the nearest town would be days of travel on foot, if not more. You figured you could track the trail for a few more days before it faded too much to notice. Loki, however, was in absolutely no condition to travel. At absolute best case scenario (and you wouldn't put your money on it) he'd be slowing you down significantly (speed 1/4 because he's disabled). And even if he was fit to travel and the tracks remained, leaving the skimmer out here unguarded was just begging for scavengers to just come over and, well, scavenge it. There wouldn't be a whole lot of point in getting a replacement orb if you don't have a sandskimmer to use it on.

Irfan couldn't defend himself against that, but he choose to encounter that thing. He got them food and fire that they failed to get while he was out cold. He had kept them on the direct path in the uncivilized backyard of the desert. He had a lot to take fault with but none of it changed the out come.

So long as it wasn't some completely new part, he should be able to find a replacement in a shady shop, but no gurantee he'd find one in the first or second town depending on it's rarity.

What they needed now was a third miracle, or just mounts, same thing really. Either something to carry Loki, or something dumb enough to pull the whole skimmer.

Irfan chugs what is left of his soup. Loki wasn't going anywhere tonight. Hana was exhausted, and he needed supplies, to restock the bones, and find a solution. He takes a scarf out of his bag for a bandage.

Takes 10 heal check.

"Both of you need your rest, and he is going to need your warmth. I'll wake you when morning comes, and Milkweed will take first watch while I gather more fuel."

Irfan leaves it at that, and sets out to think in the desert while collecting more plants to distill positive energy from. They were all going to need their strength tomorrow if nothing else. He wanders for roughly a hour, maybe it was two going over old tales, fairy tales, lost shipments, war stories, even his mom's bedtime stories, back before...  he wouldn't die out here, but they would if he let them, just like he failed his dad.

Irfan rolled 23 using 1d20+1d6+8-2 Wounds.  Knowledge History, Local(society), Brainwrack the desert has many stories and a long history.
Irfan rolled 18 using 1d20+1d6+6.  2nd Brainwrack if possible.

Frustrated, he drops to his knees and hits the ground, and Voices his frustration in the simple fashion possible, a long, Tortured yell, followed by coughing then silence. He needed to head back, now, he staggered to his feet, and wiped his face. They could all use some healing, and morning would be here before he knew it.

He heads back to camp to prepare more mixtures for milkweed and himself, and have 4 ready for loki by the time he wakes up.

(Irfan has a max capacity of 4 at a time i think, so 2 (1 hour)for the Kitsune before he goes to bed, and 4 (2 Hours) that I make for myself and 4 for Loki (2 hours). So i'll be finishing the 2nd batch for loki when he wakes up, and those are the ones that will need to be given in the afternoon.

Irfan rolled 19 using 1d20-1.  Sleep Deprivation.

(So knowledge check(s) may or may not influence my options, but it sounds like it's a long walk tomorrow.)

+2 wounds to Loki (again), +2 to Irfan and +2 to Milkweed(isn't he sober enough to correct us on his name yet?
This message was last edited by the player at 03:04, Mon 01 July 2019.

You weren't too worried about finding the needed parts. As a rule of thumb, if an Arcanian merchant didn't have what you needed, he knew somebody who would. As for money...one could always offer services in exchange, and they were rarely not taken up on that offer, especially if that service turns out more valuable than the money they would otherwise had to fork over.


No response from the kitsune.
"Milkweed?" still nothing.
"YO, Milweed! I'm talking to you!"
-"Hm?" he finally turns to face you and has this bewildered expression on his face. "^Me? Oh, OOOOOOOOH!" he does a doubleback. "Riiiight, right ^right _right, sure, no problem."

ooc: 2nd brainwrack not possible. Knowledge is one of those 1/week per topic kind of skill check. And the recheck needs a research in a library or consultations with wise people.

Your depository on stories and myths was extensive...unfortunately, the vast majority of them were cautionary tales. Arcania was a very hostile, dangerous place. You yourself had thought the speed of the skimmer would be enough to cruise through the dangers so you didn't advice Loki on a path that you might have avoided otherwise. And now paying the price for it. You couldn't think of a single creature that was readily available to find (especially after a march by an exalted like that) that was both naturally benevolent enough and capable enough to carry/pull an entire ship on dry land. And taming a wild beast(s) capable of doing so would be extremely time consuming to not only find but also train in doing so, if any of you could do it at all.

...Well there was this one legend about praying in the blistering sun at noon for hours, and making a deal for a part of your soul, and not react when the pack of wolves show up. But you didn't think you were THAT desperate just yet.

---

At one point during the long night of you just working on poultice after poultice, the kitsune takes a break from his guard duty to come over and talk to you.
"Hey, I think it's time for you and I need to have a little heart to heart" he said in a serious tone. "Those 2-" he nods at Hana and Loki, having fallen asleep in each other's embrace in front of the now charred fire, "-they're too emotionally invested in this to make objective decisions, but you and I, we're on the outside of this, we're just the hired help."
-"What are you trying to say?" you said cautiously, unsure where he was leading with this.
-"The kingpriest is in no condition to travel, and even if he was it would be too risky to leave the skimmer unguarded. What we need to do is split up. Loki should stay here, with the skimmer, heal up and guard it while doing so. You know the desert, you're from around here, so you should be the one to go to town to fetch the parts. If there's anyone who could do it and find his way back, it would be you. That leaves me-" he turns back at the sleeping pair "-and the little one" nodding at Hana's direction. "Do both of us stay, do both of us go, or does 1 stay 1 go so that we're 2 by 2 in both groups?"

Irfan sighes. He had wanted to avoid this.

The Skimmer was just junk at the moment, but if they left them, there would be no telling if Loki would be alive when they got back without shade. The smartest thing to do clearly would be to leave it, and them.

Looking back at the Birdfolk,"She won't leave him, probably even if we dragged her... I looked, theres nothing remotely resembling shelter anywhere, Just the boat, sails, and what we can set up. I Don't want to tell someone that can blast my face off to leave his expensive toy to the sands, Or that he is probably going to die. Atleadt with them both here, he can defend, and she can provide water. With the disturbance they should last a week before anything comes around looking for food.


I can probably get what we need, and a beast to get back here on, but in the unlikely chance I can't get the gadget, they including you, might not make it to town even with supplies and camels at that point. If I don't make it there or back, everyone dies."

Turning back to the kitsune,"
It's in your best interest to go with me, but it's in their interests for you to stay. Have a sword and a hand will help me, but you would also be a second pair of feet slowing me and drawing attention. So the question is, do you want to take the easy way or put your faith in a stranger to come back."
... "
These are decisions each of us has to choose, Like you said, I'm the only one that do This and it's what I promised to do. If you care for them stay, if you don't trust me, care more for yourself come with me or some mixture of all of the above, stab or watch my back as you see fit.

If something goes wrong, I don't want the burden of making the wrong choice.
"

Loki would abandon the Skimmer to live even more so for Hana, but I can't justify that call as another player it's a investiment and  our best bet of reaching Cruilla in any reasonable timeframe, since we'd have to risk smuggler route or connect up with major convoys and backtrack towards the heart of the trade network.

In the morning, Irfan has Loki describe the part, and it's function, then combines the two descriptions with a sketch on paper, and has the Kitsune rig up a makeshift tent and shade, dugging a little into the side of the boat before restocking his water supplies with Hana, and leaving 4 days of trail rations from his supplies.

He leaves his traveler's cloths, including a wide brim hat with explicit instructions to avoid going outside in when if they felt the need to squint because of the brightness unless they had to.

Lastly he leaves the vermin repellant and tells them not to use it for one or two of the things,  but 4 or more, the amount beating off with a stick wouldn't do for, since it would only last a few hours at most.

If they felt they had to leave, to bury the rope on the mast in whichever direction they went if they had time.

He doesn't address the kitsune at all, leaving him to his choice. Irfan takes his walking stick and heads out to intersect with where the caravan trail was heading.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:19, Mon 01 July 2019.

The kitsune crossed his arms as he listened to you, mulling over what you said, then shaking his head "We can use the boat as shelter but what's really bugging me is how wise would it be to leave a scared little girl as the only protection to the 3rd most important man in the world. They might both be powerful, but they're also both eggheads. Magic might not be as useful when things get up close and personal. Furthermore, I don't think they'd agree to have one or both complete strangers just walk away with only a promise that they'd return.

I think I should stay behind with the kingpriest and you take the little chick with you. She'll do it if Loki orders her to do it so when we bring this suggestion up with them we should focus of trying to convince him, not her. There will be 1 mage and 1 swordsman on each party that way so we'd both be more likely to handle any trouble that might come our way. You can find food in the desert and she can create water, so our group should be the one to keep all the food rations and water, just in case. We'll ration it as best we can and I'm sure we can find a barrel or make a makeshift container to store some more water in before you guys leave. If we're lucky we might even manage to hunt down a giant scorpion or something and eat it. Plus, by having one of them go on the retrieval mission the other one can rest easier knowing they'll return, that each of them are keeping an eye on us to make sure we stay honest. Morale/peace of mind in a situation like this could prove more important than food." just as he says this, the 1st lights of the morning sunrise begin to shine through.

A decision would have to be made soon.

ooc: I'm ganna redcon this just a little bit because you kinda ran ahead with the story. You haven't left yet, you're still in the process of breaking the news to your employers.

Always feel free to retcon, esp if there is plot involved.

Irfan left the decision up to his companion and he talked good sense. He doesn't like the idea of dragging Hana across the sands, but it makes good sense on several levels. First and foremost women and children first, but it has it's flaws too. Irfan and the kitsune are the only two with survival(istic) skills, so the leaving one in the behind group is less likely to allow panic without cause.

It's also one big trust exercise. Hana isn't trusting Irfan right now, misguidedly, with some reason, a lot of stress, and some negative reinforcement.

 Finding/Scavenging a barrel would make this seem considerably less risky since it could be topped off with water before they leave.

If you wish to act this part out, we can but Irfan really doesn't feel like pushing the issue very hard almost to the point of Hana being a risk while traveling and in town.

The one argument either-way which is metagame, would be whoever has handle animal/ride skill should go, and even if anyone did, Giant scorpions and Camels would probably be out of their 5E background portfolios.

Counting the 8 flasks, 2 canteens, and 1 wine-skin, and not the bottle of wine which probably broke during the crash. Irfan probably has 4-5 days worth of water if rationed for 2 people in this heat. He can always find more on the move(survival skill, Explorer story feat), but putting both him and Hana in the leaving party removes all water from the staying party I believe. The flasks may not even be your first choice to drink from given their use as alchemy component mixers and holders. That is the basis for why Irfan and Hana I choose to split the way I did. Loki is the least useful member to either group, and is largely defined by his wounds at the moment. The Kitsune is presumably over his sprained leg or hiding it, and presumably sensible skills and information. At least he wouldn't recklessly announce his title in the black-market and demand someone help his brother at the worst time.


Loki will probably fear Hana being ransomed, but more importantly feel like this is her best chance at surviving even with risks.

If Loki accepts the proposal, then we do it Milkweed's way, and if all goes well, we have a big happy trust exercise reward.
This message was last edited by the player at 06:04, Wed 03 July 2019.