I will give you guys today to continue the IC scene, then I will push the action forward tomorrow.

Whoop. Sorry, Ilura, I had been contemplating what they could have worked together on and hadn't come up with anything. But it just occurred to me that maybe they could have gone looking for a lost or kidnapped for ransom exotic pet?

In reply to Ilura (msg # 831):

That sounds good too me.

@Mouse: I'm okay with us not having any past.  I'd rather build up our bonds in play.

Yeah, it would seem a bit convenient if we all knew eachother somehow this early

Ok.  I was just trying to come up with a reason for Mouse not to go off on their merry way, never to be seen again.  But I'm happy to go with "You've heard too much..."

Same here. If either of you newcomers wish to assist in the fight: Eryn trusts fellow fighters more easily than those who lurk in the back alleys. :)

I'm dropping off a pack of meat (5 rations), by the way, so you guys can either grab it now or it's gone.

I was going to have Mouse get to the edge of the alleyway and drop the line "But I am for hire if you need to get into secure places" all cool and stuff, but alas we must save the chowder from birds.

I do wish there was a way to convey cadence and tone properly in text without chopping up dialogue into choppy stilted bits

I should have time to make a post to move us forward again within the next 24 hours or so.  Skarlet, are you still with us?

Seems like may have lost her, but then again all of us have had week-long breaks before. I'd say continue the scene without Skarlet for now, though. We'll just have to wait and see if her player returns to the game.

Sorry, I haven't been able to keep up.  My dad's come down with a terminal illness, and between helping my parents get ready to sell the house and trying to find a new place to live, I haven't been pacing with this game as much as I wanted to.

I'm working on a post, but you don't need to wait for my sake if you're ready to move on

I'm sorry to hear that Skarlet.  I can't begin to imagine how stressful that situation must be.  Family definitely takes priority.  We'll be happy to have you back when you're able, but until then, I'll keep you and your family in my prayers.

Ilura worded this better than I could have, so I will just say that I hope everything works out as well as it can for you, given the circumstances.

Sorry to hear about your dad.  Take all the time you need. Family comes first. This game is much less important, and we will still be here when you are ready to join back in, so don't worry about going on a hiatus if you need to. It will be easy to bring Skarlet back in at any point.  In the meantime, take care.

This is actually a perfect opportunity for her to disappear while we're distracted.  She can then pop her nose back in at any future point in time - opportune or not :)

Well - if it swallows mouse whole, at least they're avoiding the teeth... :)

Maybe you can find the thing that's making it huge...

With the way I've been rolling, it'll mean that Mouse absolutely can't miss if they're inside the pelican's pouch. That's assuming it doesn't get out of the way and let Mouse land on their face. I'm also hoping that it doesn't have teeth the way geese have teeth. Teeth don't belong on tongues. That's full of nope.

I didn't know geese had teeth...  I just love how educational RPOL can be :)

Don't worry, I'll get you out of that thing one way or another!

Though if every one of those birds gets a +1 to damage when attacking as a group, it may be better to stay in the pelican carcass...

You are free to climb in too, Eryn!

On that note, would you like me to treat your Defy Danger as a Bend Bars, Lift Gates roll?  That way I don't have to choose a "worse outcome, hard bargain, or ugly choice" for you.

Given the "regurgitate stomach acid" move, probably best to hold off rooting around in the beast's belly.

I wonder how Mouse tastes now? :)

I'm fine with having it be Bend Bars if you think it counts as an obstacle to be destroyed. In that case I will choose "It doesn’t take a very long time" and "Nothing of value is damaged" for my 7-9 result. I don't care about noise or fixing it afterwards. :)

Mouse, in theory, Eryn might still be able to Aid you...

Quite possibly. Mouse isn't that big so she could probably pick them up and throw them to safety or half drag half pick them up and bring them with her

Since you said Defend with capital D, does that mean I can spend my Hold to defend from the rushing acid, or did you just mean I will lose Defend if I step away? Will carrying Mouse be a Defy Danger test for me, or will it be Aid to their own? If the latter, should I make a Defy Danger myself or just bake my result into the outcome of aiding Mouse's test?

I'm planning to drag Mouse away or get them back on their feet, I just need to clarify what to roll. :)

Basically, if you spend any time worrying about Mouse, you will also be in danger. You could feasibly use your Defend Hold to "Redirect an attack from the thing you defend to yourself" or "Halve the attack’s effect or damage." But I don't think it would work in this instance to "Open up the attacker to an ally giving that ally +1 forward against the attacker" or "Deal damage to the attacker equal to your level." You will lose your Hold if you stop devoting your attention to defense, or move too far away from the thing you are defending. I will let you use your own judgement for if that happens.

You can certainly make a new roll to help get Mouse out of harm's way too. How you do it matters though. If you help Mouse do something they are already doing, it's Aid. If you do something new (like pick them up and carry them away) it would be a Defy Danger.