"Maybe the creatures collect things for them and they need to recover that?"

"Yeah. That's both exciting and frightening to think that they could somehow interact with these creatures." answers Hemon, still looking at the men.

In the large tree where the group had spied the glint of metal, there is some slight movement.  A figure in a jumpsuit, with dark brown skin and long dark hair tied back tightly, emerges moving very slowly.  In her hands is some kind of metal rectangle that she taps at with her fingers - likely some sort of tech.  Her gestures are short and jerky, her lips pressed together, her brows furrowed over her darkened goggles.  Her boots are oddly large at the bottom, the soles widely expanded to over three times a normal one.  She takes a few slow steps outward, tapping at the rectangle in her hand.

One of the tree-folk above tosses another round object behind the woman's back, and the metallic creature surfaces again to snap at it, making the newcomer jump and muffle a shriek.  She turns and taps frantically at the rectangle as the metallic creature pauses, its pointed end facing her unwaveringly.

The tree-folk begin to swarm down from above, climbing into the tree the woman had emerged from, disappearing one after the other but leaving no sign of their presence within the tree.  It's as if the tree has swallowed them up!

Hemon looks at the scene in awe before turning toward Coralian. "I guess this gives us the answer we were looking for. It looks like the Sylvanian Family has found a way to control the creatures to some extent. That is disturbing."

"They seem to be using it to keep her at bay while they invade ... wherever the tunnels in the trees lead to.  Likely an underground base, but that doesn't tell much besides the fact that they want it well-hidden and have taken great pains to accomplish that.  Think of the structural integrity necessary to keep those brachs from crashing through the ceiling.  Think of the botanical engineering necessary to have trees that large grow right over top of it. Not all of that vegetation is synthetic."  Coralian pauses a moment.  "We have found a very expensive place we were never meant to find."

Hemon nods at Coralian. "You are probably right. They are trying hard to hide this place so it must be really important. Now, there are still these worm like creatures to deal with if we want to get a closer look."

"Um... what about the worm-thing?  Won't it hurt the woman with the tablet?" Dr. Lewis says, bringing her bow around nervously, knocking an arrow in anticipation.  "Those creatures didn't seem like the sort to back down last night!"

"I think it's being used to keep her occupied right now.  If it was meant to attack, it would have done so already.  But we should certainly be ready to intercede if that happens.  Should we move closer to the fake trees, then, just in case?"

The woman taps at the tech with swift motions, her breath starting to come more raggedly.  The pointed end of the creature is starting to glow with heat, and she looks up at the brachiosaurs, as if trying to assess if she can get to their dangling harness before the insectoid creature attacks.  She curls her hand around the tech, crouches, and suddenly springs up with inhuman swiftness, launching herself nearly twenty feet in the air.  Her shoes splay and reform during her leap, and she manages to land on the back of one of the brachiosaurs, her boots softening her landing.

The insectoid fires off a bolt of burning light out of its pointed end as she jumps, and while it misses the woman, it wings the brachiosaur's side, making it bellow in pain, and then starting an earth-shaking stampeded right towards your hiding place!

OOC: 1 XP for a group intrusion to you all, and everyone please make a Speed defense of DT 4 (12 on a d20) to leap behind a tree/out of the way.  Roll for your companions as well, please.

Coralian, perhaps taking a cue from Ajax's watchful eye, is ready to duck out of the way and does so.  She finds Ajax ... already taking cover behind an even larger tree?!  "How do you move so fast in that shell, buddy?" she says aloud, not expecting to be heard over the cacophony of the stampede.

Swift on his legs, Hemon is able to take cover behind a tree with his small Nerezza. However, Tap is not as successful, his body not fit for this kind of environment.

20:39, Today: Hemon Kah rolled 14,6 using 1d20,1d20.  Speed for Hemon, Speed for Tap.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:46, Thu 08 July 2021.

Coralian and Hemon and even the large and heavily-armored Ajax dodge behind trees with a little room to spare.  Foozle trips herself behind a tree with amazing grace, while Dr. Lewis, Rebekah, and Roam lunge for their trees at the last second.  Tarla snarls at the oncoming stampede for a breath too long, and Blue was gazing at the oncoming brachiosaurs with a kind of wonder.  Tap screeches and claws for height, and is knocked sideways by one of the huge necks, just managing to cling to a tree instead of falling.  Tarla is brushed aside by an enormous foot with bruising force.  But Blue's curiosity gets the better of her.  One of the sweeping tails knocks Blue top-over-tail right through the air, and Blue ends up clinging to the back of another hustling brachiosaur as it hurtles by, one very confused small t-rex clinging to it!

OOC: Tap and Tarla each take 3 damage from the stampede. Blue takes 3 damage and a GM intrusion.  :D

Coralian's eyes grow wide, having never seen a tyrannosaur ride any creature before.  She leaps onto Ajax and urges him to follow the herd so she can convince it to slow down enough to safely dislodge the predator, who is likely as stunned as she is.

Roam quickly recovers his feet and brushes some of the dirt off one handed. He sees Tarla and rushes to her, helping her get steady.

"You are usually so much faster than that.  I didn't expect to be faster getting out of the way than you."

He quickly assess her gashes and makes sure she isn't limping or hiding deeper pains.

Roam looks back at Dr. Lewis and Rebekah. "Rebekah, watch the Doc.  Move up behind us.  We are going to try and help corral the stampede."

With a gentle hand on Tarla's neck before they both take off running after the Ankylosaur.

Immediately after escaping, Hemon stands on his feet and scans his surrounding to find all their dinos companions. Relieved to find Tap in a safe position, he is quite astonished to find Blue on top of a brachiosaurus. "Tap, fly here buddy. Quick!" he says to his Tapejara. He then turns toward Rebekah. "Jump on Tap if you want Reb. He will fly you close to Blue if that helps."

"Blue!"

Rebekah's normally calm and perceptive demeanor quickly vanishes when she sees her friend in trouble. She quickly turns and sprints after her dinosaur friend, giving a whistle. She turns to Hemon and Tap as she runs and shouts her assent. "Okay! Let's go! I need to get to her, she's probably so scared!"

Somewhere within her, or within the spacetime she occupies, the Beast stirs. It wants to give chase, to catch the prey which has endangered its kin—the thrill of hunting the greatest prizes in the Cretaceous.

OOC
I am trained in tasks requiring balance, careful movement, etc., if it helps!

Ajax does indeed follow the herd, but at a respectful distance, so he can clearly keep an eye on all of these exceptionally-large foes!  But he keeps up the pace so as not to lose them, as clearly these need careful watching.

Roam, Tarla seems a little bruised, but still is clearly game for a fight (as always).  Dr. Lewis mounts Foozle, her 'mimus one of the faster dinos in the group, and has her bow out, just in case.  But she listens to Roam, not wanting to get in the way of her own protectors, and stays behind Roam.

Hemon's directive gives Rebekah a faster way of getting to Blue, and Tap, bruised or not, barely notices Rebekah's weight as he soars high and then gets close to the brachiosaurs for a much closer look.  Soaring so close, in fact, that Rebekah could, and can, leap from Tap's back to the brachiosaur, hopefully landing next to Blue!


The other four keep pace with the back of the herd, and Dr. Lewis comes up next to Roam and leans down from her perch on Foozle's back.  "Want a ride?" she asks, looking excited and slightly terrified at the same time.

Hemon is not as fast, lingering back more towards Ajax's more ponderous gate as Tap soars ahead.  But he can see the brachiosaurs are thundering towards a shimmer in the air... it's a time anomaly!

Roam climbs onto Foozle and starts directing her.  Roam calls out to Tarla and Coralian, directing the dinosaurs until their momentum dies down.

Roam taps on Dr. Lewis's shoulder and has her drop him along at an elevated spot he can watch.


OOC:  Success.  spent a level of effort and the two assets from skill and Coralian.
20:22, Today: Roam Linden rolled 13 using 1d20.  difficulty 5 -3 steps (6).

With Dr. Lewis urging Foozle onward, Coralian moving Ajax over, and Roam directing both of them and Hemon where to go to get the most advantage, the brachiosaurs begin to turn.  Blue grips onto the large tail with very wide eyes, not quite certain what to do, watching Rebekah.  The herd is slowing, but not stopped yet, and trounces right through the time anomaly without a pause, curving through the distortion and making them bellow in annoyance.

OOC: I need a second successful check, same DT of 5, to get the herd stopped.
If anyone would like to top up on cyphers from the time anomaly, they may do so.

Coralian gently guides Ajax through the time anomaly as they trail the herd of brachs.  Little chance of remaining unseen, now, she thought, wryly, as she allowed the flux of eons to course through her body and into her DNA.

Rebekah rarely gets too flustered, even in a world of the most powerful predators in history. Seeing Blue in danger, however, is enough to have the girl's brown eyes wide and full of fear—not for herself, but for her friend. Her dear friend, whom she has raised from a hatchling, and would give her life to protect, just as Blue would give hers for Bek in turn.

Using all her training, Bek leaps for the frightened tyrannosaur, gracefully arcing through the air and landing lightly on her target!

OOC
Going to spend a level of Effort, too. 3 Speed points!

• Speed check 11 vs DT 2

Going to land on Blue if I can, try to calm her down.

Roam keeps shouting out to the others where to move and help, but the erratic behavior of the frightened dinos keep moving in unexpected ways.  His frustration mounts as the creatures keep their excited state.
Roam looks apologetically at the others, focusing on keeping them from getting hurt at least.

Rebekah's graceful landing on Blue's back brightens her friend immediately.  While she doesn't stop clutching at the brachiosaur's tail, she certainly isn't so desperate anymore, and waits to see what Rebekah wants her to do.

It Roam takes another few minutes, using Foozle and Ajax together to help herd the braciosaurs, with Tap and Hemon pointing out the limits of the time anomaly and any relevant obstacles (with Tarla helping... or "helping"), but he can finally get the brachiosaurs tired out enough to stop running and slow to a sedate walk.  Between you all, they've run in a large circle, so you are no more than a mile or so away from where they had been spooked.

There is some noise in the tree canopy of insects and other high-dwelling creatures who are scolding everyone below for their excessive noise.  And at about a mile distant, an electronic whine...

"Everyone get to cover, now!" says Coralian, as loud as she dares.  She urges Ajax to follow her to some denser foliage outside of the brachiosaurs path of destruction.

Roam runs toward some trees with low branches calling for Dr. Lewis:  "MOVE! Come on!"

Ducking down he waits for her and her dino, making sure he is not in its direct path.