Having buried their comrade at the edge of the Taboo Lands, the party forges deeper into the unknown, none of them having been this far before.  Even Piecemeal, their new companion, hadn't gone this far into the wild lands.  The plant life grows more and more twisted as they go.



Examinations of the shattered and frozen metal 'dog' that had butchered Frank had revealed little, other than it was entirely a machine and was smashed and battered beyond repair.

They'd lost Frank, and Freddy had run off.  But they'd picked up a new ally in Piecemeal.  Would they be enough to save the Isle?

OOC: Any actions as you continue on, before I advance us much further?
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:31, Fri 19 Feb 2021.

Mawr will remember those who left, whether in death or cowardice, but for now, he knew he must press on.

Once the turtle man had been placed on the ground, a small piece, about the size of a golf ball, rolled out the mass that was Piecemeal into the dirt and quickly melted into the dead body. A new colony had been released into the fertile ground. Would they be successful? Who knew?

The green man isn't as fast as the others, the way it moves by oozing across the ground and the continual movement of his plate can be blamed for this.

"Why you journey," he asks the group. "Where. . . home?" It's speech is as slow as his movement

I move 10 feet slower than normal

"Island not make enough food, we go fix. That what elders say."

Abbi regarded the undulating plant for a moment.  "Home," she said, "is back that way."  She pointed back towards the distant village they'd come from, beyond the low valley they'd followed the rusted train tracks into.  "And you?  Are you from this place?"

Yielding little useful information (Nic had been hoping for some kind of markings or other signs of possible allegiance), Nic stuffs a segment of the broken weapon into his invisible bag, and then continues his scouting and patrol around the party as they move forward. The plant person's slower gait actually left Nic more time to examine the surroundings and check the routes ahead, which pleased him.

At some point, while returning to report back on the road ahead and the dangers around them, he timidly asks, "Does, uh, does anybody need to talk about what happened with me back there?"

Kaden, who has been slowly getting annoyed by the pace and has continued to keep his distance from Tunic, glances over. "Uh, yeah. What's going on in your head, anyway? What was that talking to me, if it wasn't you, and why did it show me those horrible things?"

Nic sounds baffled. Show you? Talk to you? Dude, I was unconscious. I have no idea what you're talking about. I get premonitions of danger sometimes. They're never quite accurate, but they're generally a good indicator of the direction the danger will be coming from, and they're VERY vivid. Sometimes, I can feel myself dying in the future. Which would be a great warning!...if the pain from visions of death didn't knock me out. And they're not useful if I, like, were about to grab a branch that will break and send me falling to my death. I'll just pass out and fall anyway. What's this stuff about something talking to you?"
This message was last edited by the player at 11:50, Wed 17 Feb 2021.

Kaden looks confused and resigned. It's a painfully familiar expression. He stopped. "Look, I was checking to see how hurt you were. And you were breathing, so I tried talking to you. You know, with my head." He helpfully points to his head, and then to Nic's. "Like I do. And you talked back...I thought. But you were just repeating my words back to me. And these horrible images started appearing ... a giant beast, and flying mouths that were eating me!"

"And then Frank..."

He starts to look a bit ill, and turns away, moving on.

Nic's mostly invisible face mirrors Kaden's confusion, and his insecurities come flooding back. "Uh, are you not using your head to talk to me now? I, um, I dunno, Mr Dekar, my head's not really good at talking without using my mouth. Is that something that everybody but me can do? Is everybody, like, born with that ability, and just they all knew not to point out that I couldn't until you? I mean, I've always known that people don't tell me everything....

"Anyway, yeah, that all sounds like the vision I just had. I'm sorry I scared you by being such a freak. Those flying bitey things were scary! What did they look like in real life?

"But there's nothing going on in my head now, if you want to try again? Maybe I can talk just like everybody else does with their heads, only Mama never showed me how?"

The mostly invisible shimmer in the air that represents Nic has taken on a distinctly sullen and downcast posture, as his inadequacies have once again been thrust into his colorless face.

I can't even make skin right! he quivers inwardly in frustration and rage.
Of course I can't do this head talking thing, either. Mama was right about me.

Kaden's confusion intensifies, "Uh....no. No, not everyone can do it. Not that they've told me. It's just a special, ah, talent? That I have."

"So, you're not having these visions now, are you?"

<grey>"No, nothing's going to harm me, at least not for the next couple of minutes."</gray>

He seems slightly relieved that he hasn't discovered yet another thing that other people "do right" that he hasn't been doing.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:42, Wed 17 Feb 2021.

He grimaced and after a moment tried opening a link.

Nic twitched a little at first, but then calmed himself.

Somewhere nearby, Spot investigated a bush.


A heartbeat later, Nic says, "Oh, cool. Yeah, I can hear you just fine."

Kaden glanced over and squinted in thought, "So all those horrible things? That's what you see when danger is getting close? But that's not what attacked us."

"What do you mean? It was some huge alien thing that spewed stuff which chewed up poor Frank, wasn't it? I only saw it after you all killed it. How did it get all frozen, anyway?"




OOC: It's the Mental power Precognition, and how useful it could actually be for you to use telepathy on me when I'm passed out from a vision is up to the GM. Our Mutant Lord hasn't given me any of this content, I'm just making stuff up about how your power would interact with my mental powers.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:19, Wed 17 Feb 2021.

Stylus walked near the centre of the group ... afraid of what might attack them next.

The 'predatory' types in the group could likely smell his fear;  he smelt prey to them, and even more so now that he was uncomfortable, nervous, scared.

But he was even more freaked out by hearing the conversation between Nic and Kaden.   There was something in that talk that really bothered him.

Mawr was of a singular mindset at the moment, so he wasn't really paying attention to Nic.

Kaden shrugged, "Uh, I think maybe your dog did that. I'm not sure. It happened pretty fast, even for me. But that thing was all metal and stuff. Not a creature. And there were no flying mouths."

Piecemeal seems to think on the question proposed to them. High pitched muttering as they ponder their words. "We just are. We became aware in home," they move the thick bark out and around giving the vague outline of a log before reshuffling the pieces back into their body. "We are always home and yet not." The chorus of voices mutter, the creature's eyes are focused on the bear. "Why are your homes not with you?"

It hears some of the conversation and they all "ooo" in unison. "We also see you all ahead. That's how we found you." Another ball of tendrils falls off Piecemeal with a muted cry before laying on the dirt, not moving.
This message was last edited by the player at 11:12, Fri 19 Feb 2021.

Abbi looked as if she were about to answer, when she suddenly gasped and her eyes went wide.

There in the forest, evidence of the strange metal dog's earlier rampages remained.

Kaden stared at the remains for a moment, then raised his bow and glanced around the forest nervously, "I don't wanna become food for something else."

"I feel we should keep moving.  If this was the creature we encountered, we have nothing to fear, for now, but if it was something else, maybe we don't want to stay here?"

Stylus nodded in agreement with Mawr.
He was quickly realising that this 'adventure' wasn't the excitement he thought it was going to be.

And with that, the white mass of fur began moving down the trail.

And with that, the scared little man who was realising that he was in way over his head also began moving down the trail.

After a moment, Kaden hurried to follow the bear, eyes darting left and right, occasionally glancing back behind them.

With the party moving on at the pace of the shambling plant, Nic shouldn't have any trouble doubling back during his outriding to quickly loot the body (image has a small box on it), before going back to his outriding duties.

As the party moves past the shattered skeletons, they note that the injuries obvious on them are similar to the skeleton found under the tree... first by Sheldon, then later by the entire party, just before the robot 'dog' attacked.  They had holes punched in them, not unlike what happened to poor Frank...

Doubling back, Nic took the time to search the bodies.  They were long dead... not that he was an expert, but he'd guess they'd died before he was born.  Amongst the skeletons, he found a sealed metal box, and a strange mask with insectoid eyes and strange canisters on either side of the 'snout'. Both were easily portable, although the box was a bit heavy.

The plant man follows having little knowledge in the idea of looting bodies.

"Ooh! Box!"

The raccoon rubbed his paws eagerly.

"Whatsintheboxwhatsinthebox?"

"I dunno. It's sealed." Nic said, quickly making it disappear into his bag. "We'll take a look when we set up for the next meal. That's....dinner? Do you know what we're doing for dinner?"

Desi leans down to look at the mask without touching. Some of the weirdos who would fight in the ring would wear masks to make themselves look scary. It didn't really work. But this mask wasn't like those masks. "Look Abbi. What do you think it's for? Who would wear that?" 

Abbi frowned, her midnight-black features scrunching in thought.  "Maybe some kind of insect?" she guessed.  "It looks almost like a mosquito face."

She shrugged.  "There's no holes for breathing either.  Just tinted eye lenses."

"Hm. I could use tinted lenses. Daylight sucks." Desi squinted.  "Maybe the point of the mask is..not to breathe something bad? I've never seen an insect that big, but hey. Could happen, I guess."

Nic wordlessly offers the insectoid mask to Desi.

Desi glances up at Nic, but the light stings her eyes, so she squints and looks away.

"Sure. No problem.  We can look at it later."

"Desi, why don't you put the mask on and see what it's like. Those tinted lenses seem useful for you."

He gestures semi-invisibly with the mask again.

As Nic passes the mask off to Desi, and the group trudges through the gnarled trees, there's a sudden scent wafting through the air.  It smells like night-blooming jasmine, but stronger.

Spot sniffs around, excitedly trying to locate the source of the delightful new smell, hoping to mark it as His(tm).

Nic futilely tries to get his puppy to heel.

The plant man's plates clink together in defense at the odd smell, but then relax as no immediate threat presents itself. After a few moments, small yellow flowers start popping up between the cracks. "You all want to see where the angel is coming from, or leave it be?"

Spot ignores Nic's futile attempts to get him to heel, but does cant his nose skyward and sniff audibly at the scent wafting through the air.

Thanks to Dekar, the weather remained overcast but otherwise warm enough, with no active precipitation.

Stylus wasn’t sure what all the sudden excitement was about.
They could smell flowers.  So what?
He seemed confused.

"Uh, the angel? You mean that smell? Yeah, where's that coming from?"

The raccoon's whiskers twitch.

"Careful. Could be trap..."

Everyone, please make a Saving Throw vs. Poison. ;)

14:16, Today: Kaden Dekar rolled 13 using 1d20.  Saving throw vs. Poison (target: 14).
Oh.....so close.

Mawr rolled 11 using 1d20.  Poison save (12).

Oh, weird. I've got the level 0 chart on my character sheet. I guess Kaden saved then!
This message was last edited by the player at 21:25, Mon 15 Mar 2021.

It is based upon your stats.  Constitution, I think.

20:07, Today: Piecemeal rolled 12 using 1d20.  save vs poison.

What did I win?

18:14, Today: Abbi Enn rolled 19 using 1d20.  Save vs. Poison.

23:22, Today: Tunic deSanguine rolled 2 using 1d20.  Save vs. Poison.

No idea if that is very good or very bad. :)


23:48, Today: Tunic deSanguine rolled 17 using 1d20.  Spot the poison!

Well, one of is having a bit of a day.

This message was last edited by the player at 04:49, Tue 16 Mar 2021.

If you could make a separate save for Spot, please.

In reply to Mutant Lord (msg # 54):

Added to above post, for ease of reference.

Stylus sniffed the air.
Finally, something was going going their way ... at least this part of the forest smelled pretty.
-rolled 9 using 1d20.  Saving Throw vs Poisons (12).

12:12, Today: Sheldon rolled 15 using 1d20+1 ((14)). (Save vs. Poison with CON mod)

For some - Kaden, Abbi, Piecemeal, Spot, and Sheldon - the scent was alluring but merely pleasant.

For others, though - Mawr, Desi, Stylus, Juffi-Wup and Tunic - the scent was overpoweringly attractive.  The five of the affected simply start walking east, away from the path you'd been following, through the brambled plants and wildflowers... apparently in some kind of daze.
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:48, Fri 26 Mar 2021.

Dekar stopped short, and looked around at the other party members, confused. "Uh....where are they going? Hey! Where are you going? That's not the right way!"

Spot seems unconcerned as yet, and playfully nips, barks, and runs circles around his invisible master's legs, as Tunic moves, trance-like, towards the scent.

The plantman's head cocks to one side then the other as each eye pops up in turn to look at the wandering others. The smell causes small flowers to open in random patches from under it's bark like skin.

"Should we follow?" it's voices query as the mass watches them leave.

Smells good.

Stylus wandered alongside his friendly bear, looking forward to discovering what smelt so lovely.
Part of him wanted to taste it ... another to simply roll in it.

In reply to Mawr (msg # 62):

Sheldon climbs up on Mawr's fur like he was a large white tree.

"Hey! Wrong way! This way!"

He tugs at the ursine's ear like a perturbed schoolmarm to try and steer him in the right direction.

Desi feels more relaxed than she has in days. That sweet smell reminds her of flowers in the shade just before the sun sets...when was that? She doesn't even notice that she began to wander...

Seeing Sheldon addressing Mawr, Kaden decides to address the less threatening Stylus. He dashes in front of him and puts up one hand. "Hey. Where you going, Stylus? This isn't the path. We're supposed to stay on the path, remember?"

Sheldon gasps.

"Smells!"

He suddenly remembered why the townsfolk always avoided him and threw rocks at him when he was younger. They said he smelled like garbage. He never could figure what was wrong with that.

He reached for the bear's snout and smeared some of the filth from his matted fur on it.

"Not flowers!"

Stylus pushed on ... through the shrubbery and through Kaden's upheld hand.  But he wasn't zombified, entirely.
With a stupid kinda grin on his face, though, he muttered, "So lovely, don't you think.
It smells so pretty".

Kaden frowned - this didn't seem right. "Uh...sure. Smells real nice. But it's not safe off the path, and we have to save our home. This is no time to smell flowers."

OOC: He'll try to use his superior speed to prevent Stylus from dodging around him.

The subtle shifting hues created by Tunic's unfortunate skin condition continue to drift towards the smell, his faithful and untrained puppy still playfully nipping at his feet.

Abbi follows Desi, perplexed, touching her friend's shoulder and speaking - but her voice is like a distant buzzing, barely noticed.

Sheldon's tugging on the great bear have no discernable effect, and Spot's circlings likewise are ignored. The party wanders in the direction of a mass of tangled vines, some walking towards the smell, some following their comrades.



Sheldon, in desperation, smears filth across Mawr's nose, irritating... angering? ...the great bear. (OOC: Mawr, make another save vs. Poison.)

And Decher is blocking Stylus' path...
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:29, Sat 03 Apr 2021.

Mawr rolled 19 using 1d20.  Poison save.

- rolled 16 using 1d20.  Str roll.
Stylus attempts to push past Dekar, in his attempt to continue following the scent trail.

Spot gets distracted from following Tunic by the antics of Stylus and Dekar, who seem to be playing some tail-less variant of Chase The Tail, and the pupper quickly joins in, attempting to leap on either or both of the other players in this exciting new game.

Tunic merely ambles on, adrift in a pleasant smelling memory.

Dekar attempted to hold Stylus back, but did not anticipate just how determined he was.

21:22, Today: Kaden Dekar rolled 9 using 1d20+1.  Resisted Strength check (I guess?).

It was an interesting scene indeed.

Half the party was lured towards the dense vines, while the other half tried to stop them.

Sheldon was able to smear mud on Mawr's sensitive nose, causing a violent sneeze that nearly blew the racoon onto his backside.  But, Mawr found his mind clearing, although he was a bit woozy.

Meanwhile, Stylus tried to push past Dekar, but the scholar found himself outmuscled by the burly weathersmith.  He wasn't making much headway, although the footing was treacherous with mud and vines and the pair were floundering a bit.

Spot tried to deter Tunic, but was then distracted by Stylus and Dekar. Thinking it all a game, he joined in, barking excitedly... as Nic wandered deeper into the vines.

Rather than deter Desi, Abbi's gentle tugging merely saw her dragged along with her lifelong friend, just behind Nic, into the vines.  But Juffi-Wup outpaced them all, headed deep into the vines.

Then there was a tremendous rushing sounds of moving plants, and Juffi-Wup dropped out of sight!

Actions?  Or have I lost ya'll?

Sheldon climbs up on Mawr's head to get a bitter look as his tail writhes in agitation.

"FAWWWWK! What we do? What we DO?!?"

Seeing the situation going from bad to worse, Dekar growled in frustration. He drew back his fist and attempted to punch Stylus, hoping to knock some sense into him. "Stop it, Stylus! This is serious!"


08:58, Today: Kaden Dekar rolled 19 using 1d20+1.  Unarmed melee strike against Stylus.
He's only going to strike once, reserving his second 'attack' to continue to try and block Stylus if Stylus keeps trying to push past.

When Dekar throws a swing at Stylus, Spot playfully yelps in mock surprise. Oh, noes! A big scawwy foe is attacking my fren! Gonna heck him!

Joining the play-fighting, Spot continues to bark cheerfully and tries to send out a blast of his blinding optic emission. Maybe if he can do a bright flash at everybody, then all his new friends will join in the game!

OOC: So, Spot can blind a single opponent per action within 30' feet using an Optic Emission. However, he's also covered in eyes that can shoot these optic emissions, and the pupper is only just learning his abilities now, so he doesn't know whether or not he can fire off an AOE blinding attack.

So he's gonna try to fire off all his blinding rays at once.

Mutant Lord, I offer this opportunity for chaos & hilarity to ensue as my gift unto thee, oh divine master of the universe.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:22, Fri 30 Apr 2021.

There was the sound of tremendous thrashing of leaves and vines from the place Juffi-Wup had dropped into some kind of pit, and then a brief keen of vegetable agony!

At that same point, Spot became a rotating strobe light of blinding proportions, sending flashes in all directions in an excited puppy-like frenzy!

OOC: Everyone please make a save vs. Stun Attacks to avoid catching some blinding flares.  And, please state your actions otherwise!

Mawr is just walking along, trying to get to the objective.


Mawr rolled 3 using 1d20.  Save vs Stun (14).

17:35, Today: Piecemeal rolled 12 using 1d20.  Save vs stun (14).

Kaden continued to try and snap Stylus out of his spell and/or hold him back.


Edited for, you know, accuracy. ;)(I think the punch he threw landed?).

However...

15:46, Today: Kaden Dekar rolled 9 using 1d20.  Saving throw vs. Stun (target: 14).
He fails his save.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:53, Mon 10 May 2021.

13:30, Today: Tunic deSanguine rolled 9 using 1d20.  Saving throw vs. Stun (target: 14).

I thought Kaden was punching at Stylus?

Quite right. Thanks for the correction. :)
But consider Tunic on notice! ;)

Dazzled by the shiny rays, Sheldon gets knocked off Mawr's shoulders as he tumbles backwards!

11:30, Today: Sheldon rolled 17 using 1d20 ((17)).

Stylus desired nothing more than to get closer to the pretty smell ... and find out what 'flowers(?)' were giving of that scent.

But his feet were slipping in the mud, and someone was punching him in the face, and ...
      -  rolled 4 using 1d20.  Save vs Stun.        Low is fail, right?
a blinding light hit I'm in the eyes.

This was not what Stylus wanted, actually.
And if the light and the punches and the mud could just stop, that would be awesome please.

Chaos ensued.

The rustling of leaves and vegetative wail of Juffi-Wup carried from the direction some of the party was drawn towards.  But before much more could happen, Spot spun around and made like a giant disco ball, light flares lashing out in all directions.

Caught squarely in the eyes, Mawr was blinded, along with Piecemeal, Dekar, Tunic, Abbi and Stylus.  Only Sheldon and Desi managed to avoid the light (along with Spot, of course).

OOC: Normally, the blinding lasts 1d4 rounds, but due to the strobe/diffuse nature of this oddball attack, you're all only blinded for 1 round (except Sheldon and Desi). This
blindness causes the opponent a penalty of -4 to attack rolls and increases his armor class by 4.

Abbi had been trying to restrain Desi, but suddenly blinded, she cried out and covered her eyes... just long enough for Desi to slip past.  Walking in a trance towards the foliage where Juffi-Wup had fallen...

OOC: Actions?

Meanwhile, not too far away, a lone traveler heard a horrendous keening... surely something dying... and then a great rush of thrashing leaves.  Shouts and cries echoed over the next hill, and a strange strobe-like flashing briefly shone from behind the hill.

Cue Mallador!

An odd green lump of flesh steps cautiously to the edge of the grove. Some of you probably know Mallador from the village, though he is unliked and rarely seen even there. He holds his ever-present small ball of puppy in one hand, his hideous deformed face struggling to understand what is going on before him.

Not knowing that Stylus has been blinded, too, Kaden rushed forward to where he last saw him, and tried to grapple him to keep him from getting past. "Stop it, damnit! What's wrong with you?"

Mawr still smells the beautiful aroma.  He continues to head towards it.

Stylus, immediately and temporarily distracted from the sweet scents by the sudden blinding, screamed like a child, and fell to the ground holding his face ... trying to claw away whatever had deprived him of his sight.

Piecemeal, though confused at what just happened to the collective, continues to not understand fully what's actually going on. The collective creature blinks as it's odd eyes bob up and down in it's sea of green. Stopping to pull it's eyes back down to clear them, it does nothing else but stop in it's tracks.

Tunic, blind and disoriented, continues to make his way towards the glorious scent.

Spot, exhausted from his sudden burst of playful zeal, collapses alongside Stylus and playfully begins to lick his face.

Sheldon manages to hang by a tuft of shaggy fur and climbs back up on Mawr's shoulder.

Suddenly he has an idea.

"No Mawr, this way!

He tugs him to turn around and block the path of any other adventurers still headed for the planty doom.

Mawr makes a great living wall, but if needed, he could make him an even bigger wall...

Sheldon watches as his lumbering buddy runs to intercepts the hypnotized party members.

"Yes! Now da FUN PART!"

[Sheldon uses Density Alteration (Others) to grow Mawr to twice his current size.]
This message was last edited by the player at 15:49, Mon 17 May 2021.

Mawr grew in size, already massive, he now loomed immense thanks to Sheldon, and interceded between Desi and the pit, which was perhaps what saved her life.

The others, blinded, were slower in stumbling or crawling towards the intoxicating scent, and delayed by those that had resisted.  It was enough to slow their advance such that the tremendous explosion only knocked them back on their collective keisters.

BOOOM!

Everyone takes 3 HP from a cacophonous blast!
08:35, Today: Mutant Lord rolled 3 using 1d6.  Blast damage.

Bits of dirt and debris and plant matter rained down from where it had been blown sky high by all of Juffi-Wup's explosive fruit detonating at once.  The party was far enough back not to catch the full blast; but whatever had killed Juffi-Wup did not survive it.

OOC: All are now free of the attraction odor.  You guys may act normally.  Spot's blinding effect has faded.
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:40, Mon 17 May 2021.

"YIAIIIII!"

Of course he had to have been twice as high up as before when he was blasted. As he tumbles through the air, who knows where he'll land this time?

Cowering back from the explosion, Mallador throws his arm protectively over his puppy.

Falling backwards in the explosion, Tunic sits up a few seconds later, shakes his head, and slowly puts the pieces together, eventually realizing that Juffi-Wup must have destroyed whatever had entranced them. He stumbles to his feet, his various injuries now taking a significant toll on his movements (OOC: he's at less than half HP). Swaying and weaving badly, the concussed invisible man reaches the edge of the pit to help his friend, only to see.....

He crumples to the ground at the realization of his friend's death, pushing his hands into the loose soil in a futile quest for some stability in this madhouse of a world, screaming, "My God. I’m back. We're here. All the time… we finally, really did it. YOU MANIACS! YOU BLEW HIM UP! DAMN YOU! GOD DAMN YOU ALL TO HELL!”

"Nic, it was a choice he made.  He put the party before himself.  He will be remembered for it.  Maybe we should bury what we can and move on.  This area has proven to be very dangerous."

"He bury himself Seeds in da ground, da air, ebery where..."

The raccoon slid down a nearby tree where he had found himself caught by the limbs.

"And he will live on through those seeds.  Take a moment, Nic, then we need to be moving."

Stylus sat, bamboozled, on the ground; rubbing his eyes, and trying to take in everything that had happened.

Nic continues to lament the loss of his friend, at the edge of this strange pit, thereby providing an opportunity to anyone less grief stricken to actually peer into it for further clues.

Nic probably only sees grief, madness and loss in that black hole of loss and despair, but it's possible he  glimpses something else between the anguish and rivers of pulped fruit.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:53, Tue 18 May 2021.

To Sheldon, "You know, with your sizing talent, and my ability to be stronger, I could really be formidable in a fight."

In reply to Mawr (msg # 107):

"Yeah, we could..."

He climbs up Mawr's fur again and pulls out a cloth to wipe some filth off his neck.

Sheldon flew through the air only to land in the branches of a nearby tree. Mallador was too far away to be affected by the explosion other than wincing and drawing back.

Tunic was wrought with anguish at the death of the quiet plant trader, crying out at the injustice of it all. Mawr attempted to comfort him, the giant polar bear speaking gently. The others all gathered their wits and began to come around.

Peering down into the pit, Nic sees something... the shattered remains of a carnivorous plant, and small bits of Juffi-Wup's gear.  Near the broken shield, though he spies a small branch... still green... that belonged to Juffi-Wup...

Torn between the need to advance, and the probably beating these adventurers would give him, Mallador stood at the edge of the clearing and shuffled him feet.

Snuffling and catching his breath between sobs, Nic spies something down below. Raising an eyebrow, he opens his mouth and his tongue flashes out of his mouth, whiplike, wrapping around a small piece of something, and dragging it back towards him. His hands move at the last minute, catching the small green branch before it was pulled into his mouth.

He stares at it for a heartbeat, before shouting, "I need a pot! A box, anything that can hold soil!"

Piecemeal, at the explosion, drops into an armored ball as the shockwave hits them. A piece of bark goes flying off as the collection of plant matter screams in alarm. It then reforms and stand up looking around as a few extra green pieces sluff off his body.

In reply to Tunic deSanguine (msg # 111):

Tunic reaches in his sack and drops out a small dented pot.

Nick quickly plants the remaining viable branch of Juffi-Wup in the pot, adding some local soil.

OOC: ready to move on to the next thing

Tunic is able to recover a portion of... Juffi-Wup?... and save it in a dented pot provided by Sheldon.


Exhausted and battered, the group needed a place to rest...

In reply to Mutant Lord (msg # 115):

"There... there is a cave nearby," the newcomer offers. Mallador is an odd looking man, almost, but not quite plantlike himself. His face looks melted, and several features, lips, eye brows and the like, are clearly painted on.

He winces as making his presence known, people seemed to enjoy hitting him. He fully expected it to happen again, but these people needed help...

"it is better than staying out here, lead on."
This message was last edited by the player at 02:44, Mon 24 May 2021.

Looking at Mallador with one eye on it's shoulder and other on the top of its head. A hushed conversation happens as random flowers come out, much much less than when the scent was in the air. Otherwise it just observes the others as if unsure of what to do.

Kaden reached a hand down to Stylus, "Come on, we gotta get going. We all could use some rest and we'll feel better for it." He paused for a moment. "Uh....sorry I hit you. But I didn't know how else to stop you from going...wherever you were going." He nodded over his shoulder in the direction where Juffi-Wup had exploded.

As people drew near to Mallador, eager to find shelter, they felt a strange wave of revulsion...

(Everyone please roll d100, unless your character has an Int of 17+.)

Mawr rolled 89 using 1d100.  Intel roll.

19:44, Today: Abbi Enn rolled 79 using 1d100.  Revulsion.

00:35, Today: Kaden Dekar rolled 96 using 1d100.  Revulsion (Int WAY below 17).

Stylus took Kaden's hand, and used the help to pull himself up.

At Kaden's comment, Stylus put a gentle hand to his own bruised face, and asked uncertainly, "You hit me?"

But, as always, he moved with the protection of the group ... wherever they were destined for next.


- rolled 26 using 1d100.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:10, Mon 31 May 2021.

Sorry.

10:42, Today: Piecemeal rolled 72 using 1d100.  as requested.

22:01, Today: Desi P rolled 49 using 1d100.

14:16, Today: Sheldon rolled 65 using 1d100 ((65)).

Pleased to see that the bulk of those approaching him didn't seemed to be doing so with clenched fists, Mallador bows and tugs at a non-existent forelock.

"The cave is this way, this way..." he said, gesturing with one arm, while his other held a small raggedy looking long haired dog in one arm.

As Kaden and Stylus followed the group following Mallador, Kaden explained, "Well...yeah. A bit. You and some of the others kept walking towards the good smell. Which seemed bad. And...well, it was, wasn't it? I was just trying to snap you out of it. Sorry."

Stylus looked at Kaden a moment, then kinda smiled, "Thats ok".
Then returned his attention to watching the vicious, untrustworthy forest about them.

As everyone drew near the misshapen mutant, Mallador, and his adorable puppy, they felt a wave of revulsion wash over them, something primal and instinctual.  But it quickly passed.

Battered and weary, they were led by Mallador to a nearby cave for shelter...



OOC: any conversations you wanna have, feel free. Let me know what precautions or actions you’re taking for the rest.
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:11, Wed 09 June 2021.

"Careful, the floor is wet here," Mallador warned. The odd looking man knelt for a second and examined the sand for prints, or any other sign that the cave might have land-based life in it.

Mawr is holding his head rather low over all of the recent events.  He knows they need to gel better as a team so as to protect one another.

As the collective known as Piecemeal sees the cave, they stop and a high pitched, yet low volume, discussion seems to happen with their very being. One side of it will say something, while the other side will say something else in the beings' own unique language. Finally, in unison, they say, "Piecemeal does not like the dark. No sun means no food for us. How long will we be inside?"

In reply to Piecemeal (msg # 134):

Glancing over at the plant-man, Mallador can understand his concerns, his green skin showing, if not kinship, similar interests.

"Can you hide your shape here on the edge? When night falls, you and I both cannot suckle from the sun, but we still need a safe place to rest. The taboo lands are not safe, we must surrender some of our desires for the good of all."

Mallador's comment causes another round of hushed debate within the wooden form as their eyes pop up out of his green sea to focus on their fellow green. "This is acceptable to Piecemeal."
This message was last edited by the player at 17:44, Sat 12 June 2021.

Part of Mallord's mind ponders Piecemeal, and suspects he would be able to camouflage himself quite well. The bulk of him focuses on trying to find out if the cave is risk free, or at least free-ish.

With others, Stylus makes his way tentatively into the cave, looking around in a mix of interest and fear.

While the others investigate the cave, Kaden stops at the entrance and turns. He crouches down, bow at the ready, and keeps an eye out for anything following them.

The cave was damp, with water pooled in several places, and lush green growth bloomed near the entrance.  The floor was dirt with rocks, and was well-worn.  Mallador had used the cave to camp before; he knew of no permanent residents.

A quick glance-through revealed no inhabitants, but signs of camp fires that had been set in the past.

OOC: Are you all going to rest, or set a watch rotation?  If the latter, who takes the 1st, 2nd and 3rd watches?

"Best we have some watches, folk.  I will take the first. "

Volunteering for second watch, Mallador reveals a small cache of wood, and starts to set up a small fire.

"I'm used to getting up early to go out with the fishing boats. I'll take the last."

Stylus raised his hand, “I’ll help … watch.  Whatever it is we are watching.
Just tell me how I can help”.

"We have the cave, so we really only need to watch in one direction." Mallador points to the exit. "Sorry I don't have any food stored up."

The party settled in to three watches, and those not on watch bedded down for rest.

Watch schedule:

First Watch
Mawr
Sheldon
Tunic

Mid Watch
Mallador
Stylus
Desi

Last Watch
Dekar
Piecemeal
Abbi

OOC: You guys still have doses of Stimshot given to you by the village Elders.  If anyone is super low on HP, now might a good time to use one.  You only recover 1d3 HP per full day of rest, so unless you plan to hole up in the cave all day... well, let me know if that's the case!

While on his watch, Mallador quietly inquires of Desi and Stylus what had brought them out into the Taboo Lands. He tends to hide in the edges of it to avoid being berated and abused by the villagers, but he seldom saw anyone else wander in there.

"Something ... is, um ... poisoning, or corrupting the island.  And the Shaman believes that it comes from deep within the Taboo Lands.   Possible from an old, huge boat, um, that is there.

We are ... tasked, to find out what is wrong, and prevent it killing our entire society", the tall, lanky, but very skinny and shy man explained.

Keeping an eye on the darkness beyond the cave, Mallador lets that sink in.

"That is bad news indeed. If you want, I can tag along. I can be useful."

He is clearly eager to please.

"We volunteered. Or were chosen. Kind of both.  But if we don't save the island, that's it for all of us."

The evening passes uneventfully, if not quietly... there are the sounds of the insects and animals of the forest, the distant crashing of waves against the rocks, and strange, unexplained noises throughout the night.

OOC: Every one regain 1d3 HP - use the dice roller - if you are injured.

The morning rises with weather controlled by Dekar, an overcast fog that keeps the burning sun from Desi's skin but allows illumination.

Stylus had done his nightly duties:  hunkered right near the cave mouth watching for anyone or anything coming close.

In the morning, he emerged into the sunlight cloud-shaded day, stretching his horribly twisted muscles after a shit night sleep on a bunch of stones and rocks inside.

In reply to Stylus (msg # 152):

Hovered near the entrance of the cave, Mallador caught as much of the suns rays as he could without leaving the cave, proper, assuming such was possible.

Kaden smiled wanly at Stylus as he tried to massage the lumps out of his own back. "Not exactly all the comforts of home, is it? I'll settle for saving the village and not dying out here, but hopefully it won't take too long, either way."

"We need to find a way to our destination as quickly as possible", the reserved shaman-apprentice said.
      Were we given a map or something?
"Maybe get to high ground, so we can get a better look further afield.  Spot some landmarks, at least", he suggested to the group.

Turning to listen to the others, Stylus grabs his attention with his comment.

"What is our destination?"

By way of reminder for us all, cos I had to go look again after all this time too.

Stylus explained all this to Mallador, and anyone else who was listening.
"We need to, I understand, get to that old war ship on the northern shore".  And it occured to Stylus that, perhaps, a boat around the coastline might have been a better idea.

Listening intently, Mallador nodded at the tale.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:12, Sat 03 July 2021.

Piecemeal picked a spot that had a slight bowl like shape to it for the night. A hushed muttering could be heard as the collective settled in. They didn't lay down, but instead just spread out, the pieces of wood the being used as armor were all shifted up, his gear set to one side, until it just looked like a rotten log on top of a bed of moss.

The next day, they recollected themselves and strode/glided towards the mouth of the cave to join Mallador for a snack. The collective was awake and an odd mournful dirge was being sung(?). Once the dirge was over, a clump of brownish matter fell loose and landed on the ground with little noise.

Unless engaged, the plant man just prepared themselves for travel.

The morning light, diffused by heavy overcast, greets the intrepid explorers as they rise to leave their refuge.  Discerning the direction is easy; however, none of them had been this far north before, save Mallador.

The overcast sky doesn't dilute his morning meal, and Mallador is happy for the return of the sun in any fashion.

"I don't know of any ships, but I haven't been all over the Taboo Territories. I do know of a good path that heads north though, it might get us going in the right direction, if you want to try it."

"We cannot finish our task with haste if we do not move forward, and it would feel good to move right now."

"I could scout ahead," Abbi offered quietly, "if you want me to.  In my other form, I can fly," she reminded.

"I don't know if scouting is more valuable that the safety found in numbers Abbi," he says, assuming names were learned during the evening. He will try to explain where the path goes anyway, in case she is determined.

"Try to stay where we can see you, if something knocks you out of the sky."

Abbi can't pale - her skin is midnight black - but she visibly winced at Mallador's comment about getting shot out of the sky.

"I'd just as soon not," she said meekly.

"I agree with Mallador. While scouting ahead could be helpful, we already know that the land is dangerous. Better for us to all stick together. Better chance of not dying."

If everyone seemed ready to head out, Mallador would lead the way to the trail. Carefully.

Stylus put away the journal he was reading, and joined his fellows as they forged further into the unknown.

The party forged ahead, led ably by Mallador, the outcast.  Mallador's puppy occasionally sniffed towards Spot, which sent the Eye Dog into a paroxysm of excited barking... making stealth basically impossible.

But Mallador knew more of this land than the others, having lived on the outskirts of the village for most of his sad life.  He led them up the mountain peaks and along craggy hillsides, rocky and dangerous for landslides and loose shale, but safe from the turbulent greenery below.

Even from there, the party could see a migration happening.  Life - all of it - seemed to be moving south.  Those that could.  Those that couldn't...

Well, even the mutant plants were brown and dying as they went farther north.

And then, rounding a bend in the trail, they saw a wondrous sight...

Gasping in awe, Mallador's eye pass back and forth over the impressive shape before them, or more accurately, above them.

"Wow, that is a whole lot of something. That path over there looks like it might up go up the read of the ship." He points to the path in the distance that passes under the body of the ship then curves up to the right.

"I think we found the ship, no?"

Abbi gaped, open-mouthed, at the behemoth looming above them.  "It's... it's immense," she breathed.  "So much bigger than the wreck on the south shore... it doesn't seem possible."

The raccoon stared up at the ship, dumbfounded.

"How'd it get up there? Did it fly?"

Kaden scratched his head, looking extremely puzzled. "That's a boat? What was it for? Doesn't look like it'd be much good for fishing."

"From the before-times. Funny how the reality can be more impressive than the myths and legends."

Examining the shape of the ship really doesn't give Mallador much information, though he can't take his eyes off of the massive form above them.

"It might have flown. It might have flown between the stars. But maybe, I don't know, maybe a really big wave dumped it there?"

It was a mystery, but the world was full of mysteries.

He scratched his head, and flicked away a nasty lump of flesh that sloughed off in his chin.

"Or maybe the ground moved... up? Who knows. We need to get closer though, so unless Abbi feels like flying up and scouting this alone, I suggest we follow that path and see if we can find a way in."

"How it rose isn't the issue, but the effect of it on our island."

Stylus stood, among his company, in awe.

When it was suggested that they move on up to the massive edifice itself, he simply nodded dumbly.

The party was cresting one of the many ridges that wound underneath and up towards the behemoth old ship... when suddenly both Tunic and Piecemeal cried out in pain.

Mawr looks around to see if anything seems dangerous.

"Oh crap!" Mallador cried out, looking about in every direction. Had they been attacked, or was this part of the danger the ship threatened the village with?
This message was last edited by the player at 03:41, Mon 12 July 2021.

Kaden pulled an arrow, drew his bow, and looked for cover.

The pool of individuals scream out collectively as his form drops into a defensive ball, wooden plates pulled close together with only two holes open for viewing they're surroundings. A cry rallies the rest of the collective in it's odd singular language, but the tone is clear, a rallying cry, but for what reason isn't obvious at this moment.

The raccoon looks around as he readies his sling.

"Oh not brain attack. I hate brain attack!"

A quick glance around revealed no obvious threat, other than the height, the looming massive ship above, and the rocky and loose ground.  There was scattered cover from rocks, but from which direction?  It was unclear.  Certainly those who wished to could put their backs to a rock.

Kaden will put his back to a rock, looking upwards for threats above them, from the ship or the sky.

"We should hurry on, we are too exposed here..." Malladon said to his companions. "Sheldon seems to think it was a brain attack, if so, it is often even harder to determine which direction it came from."

Mawr looks out to 60 feet to see if there is someone using a mutation outside of his friends.  He will then look out to 300 feet to see if there is any UV source out there.

"There is danger ahead," the collective says in unison. "Be ready."

A loop of vine slowly extends passed their hand as a rock is moved into position for throwing.

Stylus had crouched, and looked wide and wild eyed about them for threats, when everyone else reacted.

Now, he slowly edged towards the hunka hunka hairy muscle that constantly provided protection, also looking around still for any threats.

Most of the party was looking up and around for a threat.  Few thought the threat would come from beneath them.  But, thanks to Tunic and Piecemeal's painful precognitive warning, they weren't caught flat-footed.

From the rocky soil, in the shadow of the giant ship, gigantic insects erupted, shoving shale and pebbles and dust everywhere.  They were ants, but like no ants anyone here - even Sheldon and Mallador - had seen.  8' long with a blood red carapace, they sported two heads and a whiplike tail with a vicious looking stinger.

(OOC: The first player to respond, please roll 1d6 for Initiative for the party! No Surprise thanks to your Precogs.)
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:30, Sun 18 July 2021.

10:44, Today: Kaden Dekar rolled 3 using 1d6.  Initiative vs Giant Ants!
This message was last edited by the player at 16:30, Mon 19 July 2021.

17:58, Today: Mutant Lord rolled 3 using 1d6.  Inish.

A tie!  According to the rules (which we're all learning), "If initiative is a tie, each side in the tie acts at the same time."

So, post your actions! :)

With a crackle and the smell of ozone, Mallador fires off a bolt of electricity at the largest of the ants!

OOC Uncertain of the rules, rolling a d20?
07:35, Today: Mallador rolled 10 using 1d20 ((10)).
07:35, Today: Mallador rolled 13 using 4d6.  damage if I hit.

Kaden takes aim at the nearest ant and fires two quick shots, then dashes back (if there is a safe path) to gain some distance.

I assume that it's within 70'/short range
10:01, Today: Kaden Dekar rolled 21 using 1d20+2.  First arrow +1 for range, +1 for Dex.
10:01, Today: Kaden Dekar rolled 8 using 1d8.  Damage for first arrow.
10:01, Today: Kaden Dekar rolled 15 using 1d20+2.  Second arrow +1 for range, +1 for Dex.
10:02, Today: Kaden Dekar rolled 5 using 1d8.  Damage for second arrow.

Mawr will move towards the ants.

Stylus looked around wildly for some place to run:  to hide or to escape.
If he saw such an opportunity, he took it.

Piecemeal's arm swings forward launching the rock into the duty beside an ant.


06:34, Today: Piecemeal rolled 10,4 using D20,d4+1 ((10,3))

"BUGGEMS! NO!"

He fired off a stone from his slingshot, that bounced off the carapace to no effect.

14:59, Today: Sheldon rolled 5,2 using d20,d4 ((5,2)).

Mallador sent an arc of lightning from his hand towards the looming 'Buggems' (as Sheldon called them)... but it went wide, missing the nearest.

Dekar, however, proved himself a master archer as he unleashed twin arrows that both struck home!  Both shafts pierced its carapace and it let cry with a keening shriek that sounded unearthly with insect fury!

Mawr lumbered forward, not attacking, but looming and presenting himself as a large target.

Stylus was able to dash behind a nearby boulder.  It was temporary shelter at best, but he had cover for the moment.

Abbi joined Stylus as she began to morph and change, trying to turn into her bat form quickly enough to make a difference.

Piecemeal's rock rebounded harmlessly off the nearest Ant's hide, as did Sheldon's sling stone.

Tunic, Desi and Spot were all struck with shock and didn't react this turn.

Even as the heroes attacked, the ants returned the favor...

One ant monster turned its twin heads towards the onrushing Mawr, and its eyes glowed iridescent green.  (OOC: Mawr, make a Save vs. Radiation on a d20 please.)

Two more of the monsters lunged at him, fierce mandibles biting. Between the 4 heads, two bits drew blood, spattering white fur.

OOC: 21:01, Today: Mutant Lord rolled 16,13 using 2d8,2d8 ((8,8,6,7)). 29 damage to Mawr.

3 having been drawn by the mammoth bear, the one Dekar had shot turned lunged after him, its whiplike tail stabbing forth!  It jabbed Dekar in the side... (OOC: Dekar takes 6 damage, please Save vs. Poison!)

Another went for Piecemeal, biting away!  But the canny plant was too quick and defended, warding off both attacks!

The other 3 were moving in to position to attack.  The combat was joined!

Changing tactics, Mallador scrunches up his brown and hurls a bolt of pure mental energy at the closest ant that he can attack without risking hurting a comrade. It seems like such an attack is more useful as it seems to strike home!


21:30, Today: Mallador rolled 16 using 1d20.  mental blast.

21:31, Today: Mallador rolled 11 using 3d6.  Mental blast damage.

Stylus peered out from his 'hiding spot' with anxiety and fear.
The giant ants were upon them, and about to eat them alive ...

but then, the rational part of his mind kicked in (it was strange, he'd never been in such a scary place before;  and suddenly, he felt his mind calm and logical):    eating them alive ... eating them alive, he thought.

What.  Eats.  Ants?
Whether they were sentient being able to assess threat to themselves, or were creatures that still ran on instinct for survival ... nothing wanted to be eaten alive.

Small birds.
Small birds, was the answer.  Small birds ate ants.

But these were huge ants, so ... maybe ... huge birds?

As the ants come in, the plates of wood move to intercept each bite deflecting them before they get into his pulpy interior. With them all around, the yellow flowers from before pop forth and a cloud of spores surround the plant colony.

Sheldon in his desperation hurls another sling stone, to abysmal effect.

15:21, Today: Sheldon rolled 7,2 using d20,d4 ((7,2)).

Dekar collapsed to the ground, convulsing, turning blue.

Mallador unleashed a mental blast at the nearest Ant Horror, which happened to be the one Dekar had put a couple arrows into.  The creature's two heads vibrated, shook, and then exploded, spraying ant juice over the area as it died.

That left 7.

Sheldon's well-meaning attack bounced harmlessly, annoying the Ant Horror at best.

Summoning up his power of Mental Phantasm, Stylus projected the strong image of giant birds diving from the sky at the Ant Horrors.  Even as the monstrous creatures glanced upwards and recoiled, Piecemeal unleashed poison spores.  The combination was enough to drive the monstrosities back underground, with them diving back into their holes!

Mallador recoils at the sight of the giant bird, letting out a tiny shriek of horror. This beast seemed worse than the the ants!

Mawr tries to get to an ant before it goes underground.

Mawr can roll 1d20 to grab an Ant Horror before it retreats!

Mawr reaches out to grab an ant, he didn't like being attacked.

Mawr rolled 2 using 1d20.  Grab an Ant.

Then ants are always slippery little buggers.


From where he cowered strategically observed from behind the rock, Stylus watched as the Ant Horrors retreated.
And once they had, the large flock of large birds flew away out of sight for the moment.

Visibly relaxing as the birds retreated, Mallador looked around to see if everyone was alright.

Clearly not everyone was.

"Dekar!" he cried, rushing over. Putting his puppy down, he examines his now quite blue, fallen comrade.
This message was lightly edited by the player at 23:35, Mon 02 Aug 2021.

Piecemeal just watches as the collective has no idea what to do. The ants were driven off, so he watches for their potential return.

The raccoon waddles over to peer at his fallen comrade, and sniffs at him.

"He is blue. Poison. Don't eat."

He waddles back to a safer spot, further from the anthill.

Mawr's claws closed on empty air as the slippery ant ducked beneath the surface, retreating at impressive speed into the tunnels below.

Mallador ran to Dekar, but couldn't find a pulse.  He wasn't breathing.

The weathermancer was dead.

Above, the flock of giant birds flew off, even as the clouds above began to part and a bright ray of sunlight stabbed down, illuminating the towering ship over them as they were cast in its shadow.

"They said this was a dangerous journey, and we accepted it.  We must accept the loss of our friend as part of it.  I am saddened, but we must go on.  We can bury the body, but the ants may still dig it up."

"I say we move on, it is too dangerous being exposed like this."

Mallador picked up his puppy and started back up the path, going a few steps before checking to make sure the others were following.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:08, Thu 05 Aug 2021.

Piecemeal looks at the body, tipping its "head" to one side as it reaches out a hand towards it. A glob of green falls off its hand onto the body, which promptly melds into it. Turning around the mass begins to follow the others.

Scurrying to catch up, Stylus slung his sack over his shoulder, and continued to eye the world around them with great suspicion.

Abbi buried her face in her hands, tears falling, but moved with the others after an all-too-brief farewell to the village weathermancer.

Desi winced as the sunlight broke through the protective cloud layer Dekar had kept over them, shielding her eyes and squinting.  "Ah," she hissed painfully.

"We all knew the dangers, and we will all miss him, but we all need to move.  Stay anywhere for too long invites more attacks."

Mawr leads them onward.

Stepping aside to let the massive ursoid take the lead, Mallador falls in step behind Mawr, giving a quick farewell glimpse to their fallen comrade.

Hopefully if things went well, they could pick him up on the way back and take him to town for a proper burial. If things went poorly, they would all rot here, a sad but all too common occurrence in this dangerous world in which they dwelt.

Climbing onwards, leaving the fallen behind, the tattered remnants of the original band of intrepid explorers wound their way up a long and stony spire towards the looming, impossibly-large ship that hung above them.

As they ascended, they noticed a strange tingling along their skin.  Their hair seemed to be standing up, and gooseflesh perked up as chills went up their spines...

OOC: Please to make a Saving Throw vs. Radiation.  And scrutinize your sheets for any resistances or immunities to Radiation while you're at it, and let me know!

Mawr starts to feel the effects of the radiation and opens his mind to the ultraviolet spectrum.

Mawr rolled 5 using 1d20.  Radiation (13).

As his skin began to tingle and itch, Stylus began scratching … and looking around nervously.
“I don’t like this.   It, it doesn’t feel right”, he muttered, to nobody in particular.

- rolled 20 using 1d20.  vs Radiation (13).

The sensation is familiar, and unpleasant, but Mallador continues forward.

A slight burning sensation sets the plant creature on edge.

10:21, Today: Piecemeal rolled 13 using 1d20.  vs Radiation.

meets beats?

Tunic's footfalls became uneven, "Does anyone else feel a bit sick?"

Spot started to whimper a bit, both at the sound of its Master's voice as well as the sensations on its own body.

14:21, Today: Tunic deSanguine rolled 13 using 2d20 with rolls of 2,11.  Tunic vs Rad and Spot vs Rad. - That's two fails.

"Ye-ahhh", replied Stylus, a little pathetically.

Sheldon trudges along with a happy tune in his head, then looks back to see his friends feeling sick.

"What wrong?"

Mawr glanced his mutant eyes upwards and saw, in a spectrum invisible to most, a sickly purple glow coming from deep within the massive suspended ship's hull.

Mawr, Mallador, Tunic, Spot, Abbi, Desi and Sheldon all felt mildly ill, but nothing significant as yet... however, Malldor's own unique mutation shielded him from it, so far.

Stylus and Piecemeal seemed to be weathering it better, for now.

Far below, down the winding path they'd come, motion could be seen.  The figures looked more like actual ants now than the giant horrors they were, but some of the creatures re-emerged from their burrows to drag the fallen Kaden's body below.

Above, the path they followed led to a massive landing before a giant door of some kind on the ship's side...

Is the door open? If not, does there appear to be a way to make it so?

"Guys, there is a lot of radiation up there."

As the crew walked upward, Stylus considered what he knew about 'old ships' from the 'old world', and things such as 'radiation' and what that all meant for them at this time.
He shared his thoughts aloud.

The raccoon huffs.

"Radi-ration? No 'fect me. Never 'fect me! I go scout ahead maybe?"

The door doesn't appear to be open.  It catches the daylight, above.  At this distance it appears to be one smooth slab of metal.  As the party ascends, more detail can be seen, but it remains closed.



Perhaps more troubling, two shapes on either side of the massive hatch grew more apparent... and horrifyingly familiar. And now there are TWO of them.



OOC: To my remembrance, the party still has five vials of the ancient healing injections.  I believe Mawr suffered some significant damage fighting the Ant Horrors...
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:43, Wed 15 Sept 2021.

"Anyone have a vial of healing?  I am less able than I would like to be.  Thanks."

"What are those things," Mallador said, obviously concerned with the menacing appearance of the two monstrosities.

Looking at the smooth slab of metal, he wonders why exactly he thought it was a door in the first place, had his eyes deceived him? Or was he just really fucking stupid?

"Not dese tings again!"
This message was last edited by the player at 18:12, Mon 20 Sept 2021.

I am confused, are they attacking us? Did Sheldon attack them? Please explain why you rolled the dice.

In reply to Mallador (msg # 239):

I gathered they were exiting the side of the ship and coming to attack us.

In reply to Sheldon (msg # 240):

I was under the impression that the door was closed, in fact all we saw was the smooth side of the hull.

The door is closed.  It's a big hatchway, large enough to ride an elephant through.

The two robots - very similar to the one the party encountered earlier that killed Frank the turtle - are on either side of the door, outside, as if standing sentry.

Sorry if that wasn't clear.

Stylus commented, "We cannot fight off two of those things.   Somebody else is going to die if we try.
And that huge door without a handle looks big enough to drive a fishing boat through.
Do you think it might be some kind of draw-bridge thingy?
Maybe we should try to sneak past the war beasts?

Or maybe, I wonder if the book says anything about those war things?  or the door, even".
They hadn't had the chance to consult the book when they'd last encountered a killing machine animal.  But maybe ...

He pulled out the book, and took a look at the first few pages to see if there was any kind of index.

"Perhaps there is another way in?" the collective that is Piecemeal says, his sling already pulled out and loaded just in case. "Maybe climb?"
This message was last edited by the player at 10:48, Sat 18 Sept 2021.

"Let's move to the side.  I still need one of those healing vials, though."

Not having the vials, Mallador opts instead to examine the surrounding terrain.

Is the ship deeply seated enough into the surrounding soil that they could climb up to the deck at any point?

Stylus fished around, half absorbed with looking at the book, for any healing vials that he would find in his satchel.

Any he found, he absent mindedly handed over to Mawr.

"Perhaps there is another way in?" the collective that is Piecemeal says, his sling already pulled out and loaded just in case. "Maybe climb?"

OOC: OK, doing my best to parse everyone's actions/posts here.

IC:

The rock from Sheldon's sling didn't even come close to hitting one of the sentries.  It spanged off the door nearby.  Neither sentry reacted in the slightest.

Stylus consulted the book handed down to him by the village elders.  He had the gift of literacy to a higher level than most, having worked with the shaman Udo. He was quickly able to find a table of contents near the beginning of the book.  What subject would he like to look up first?

Meanwhile, Stylus handed Mawr a vial of the healing fluid.  With a quick pop-hiss, the bear found the pain from his wounds fading.

There are other ways to get to the hull of the ship, but the only 'path' leads to the large door.  Climbing on the rocks might get you to the conning tower or top deck, but it's hard to tell for sure from down here.  There does appear to be at least a couple ways from here.

"I think we should try climbing the rocks, as least as far as seems reasonably safe. No point tangling with the sentries when they door they guard is closed anyway."

Spot began to growl softly as he caught sight of the sentries, recognizing them from before.

"Easy, Spot. We don't to fight them."

Then, to the group, "We don't want to fight them, do we? I mean, we barely survived just one of them." He paused, as Stylus handed over a vial to Mawr. "Uh, I don't suppose you have another one of those, do you?"

Mawr drinks the vial, and says, "much as I hate to think about it, you are right.  We need to try to get up the rocks.  I hope there are places to stop and rest, because this body ain't made for climbing."

Stylus wasn't listening too much to the chatter about climbing up rocks.
He was consulting 'the book' for ways to enter the ship.

"I... I could change into my other form*... and fly up there?" Abbi offered uncertainly.

*Abbi's other form is a human-sized bat creature.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:46, Sat 25 Sept 2021.

Mawr injected the hypo into himself, fully recovering his injuries.

That left four vials left, if Tunic wanted one.

Consulting the ancient tome, there were some things Stylus didn't understand - strange words or proper names, or acronyms.  But the gist he was able to gather was that there were big bay doors on either side of the ship, like the one the party was looking at now. They were a primary means of entry.  There should also be entry points from the 'flight deck', which seemed to be the big flat deck of the massive ship.

The murderbot sentries by the bay door continued to not move in the slightest.

Mallador continues to examine the rocks to see if any looked like they might give them access to the top of the ship.

Nic looked around guiltily to see if anyone was watching, judging...then reached out an invisible hand and grasped one of the remaining vials. He stepped away and quickly injected it into himself.

He then knelt down to pet and reassure Spot that he was okay, hoping to distract him from the murderbots.

Piecemeal turns to Abbi with it's dispassionate mask,  but both eye float up to look directly at the strange human. "We would much wish to see this."

OCC: Would we all have enough rope to have her attach one up  there?

Mallador sees that there is a precarious but traversable (for him) path up the rocks to reach the deck of the great ship.

Nic injects one of the precious vials into his invisible arm and feels better already.  Spot wagged his tail, and was sniffing at Mallador's puppy, which was squirming to get free to play.

09:20, Today: Mutant Lord rolled 14 using 2d8+10.  Stimshot A. 14 HP recovered.

A quick glance at everyone's gear suggests that only two of the party are carrying rope... probably not enough for Abby to draw a line to the top deck, assuming she flew up and landed unharmed.

Shoving the puppy into his armor, Mallador guesstimates if he can reach the start of the way up, without coming close to the bot-thingies.

"I think I see a way up, if we can just avoid rousing those bots. Let's hope they are only worried about the doors."

He tries to point out the path he sees to the others.

"Climbing, while possible, with time, is not my forte."

"I climbs easy peasy!"

He looks up to Mawr.

"I make you smaller, you climb better?"

"Or I increase my dexterity for a while so I can do it with ease?"

"Just let me know how I can help," Abbi said anxiously.

"Those ... those things in the side of the boat ... where the metal dogs are.  They are doors in, yes.
Ummm" he was quickly flicking through pages in the book, desperately trying to find further useful facts, "but, I can't yet ... can't find out how to open them ... or, umm, pacify the ... dog-things" he muttered, genuinely embarrassed at the lack of actual help he was being.

Page-flipping under pressure is never an easy thing, much less in a book you've never looked through before.  But, being a trained scholar, Stylus is at last able to stumble upon what he's looking for - a schematic of the doors and text describing entry protocol.

The white plastic card - used as a bookmark - appears to be the key.

Unaware of the key, or the other information, Mallador continues to scan the area for a possible way to climb to the top.

"Um ... yes", Stylus continued, flipping and reading and reading and flipping with alacrity, "Apparently, I think, though I could be wrong of course, because its not very clear, or it is very clear and maybe a bit to clear ...", he felt his tongue beginning to ramble, so took a breath,  "I think that this white card has something to do with getting in".

At which point, he looked at it with great suspicion ... and desire that it might suddenly talk and justify its existence to them.
He noticed some very small writing along the bottom of one side.   Mostly, a bunch of numbers:  though he couldn't guess why a bunch of numbers would be useful for opening a door, unless ...
"It could be that the doors are magical, and respond to this code being read out to it".

The collective known as Piecemeal looks a Stylus with one of their floating eyes. "Do doors talk? We thought they were dead."

"They can listen, in my experience, but what about the guards? Can we ambush them in some way?"

"If I could get above them, I could drop down on them and push them to the sides, but that would not be simple."

Glancing about, Mallador looks at what kind of drop surrounds them. "Maybe we could get them near the edge, and you could push them over, since you can fly away."

Abbi looked at Mawr fretfully.

"I don't think I can get you airborne," she said.  Even in her bat form, he was too heavy.

Stylus turned to look towards where the two robot door guardian's stood.
Then, he concentrated ....

Stylus stared at the two sentries and scrunched up his face...
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:59, Thu 21 Oct 2021.

With a 'curious' look on his face, Stylus did something that he likely would not have if he were thinking with his usual head ...
Stylus began to walk forward, towards the 'sentry dogs', and the door they guarded.

Mawr followed him, curious to his purpose.

Seeing the group abandon climbing, Piecemeal oozed to follow as well, though his sling tendril begins to slide out.

Nic started moving forward as well, doing his best to keep the bulk of the bear between himself and the guards. Although he hadn't felt any pain yet, he didn't trust that they wouldn't be able to detect him.

"Come on, Spot. Stay close!"

Every instinct cried not to advance, but he didn't want to be alone. Mallador followed along, taking the rear.

Spot followed closely on Nic's heels as the party wound its way up the path towards the sealed doorway... and the two menacing robodog deathbots that flanked it.  The same cannon that had blown through Frank the turtle's powerful shell pointed ahead on each one, capable of murder...

But it didn't aim at the party.  Neither did the machines move or react.

As they drew closer, the group could see a pile of brass casings all around the feet of the machines.  Casings similar to the ones that flew out of the cannon when it fired.

"Are they somehow inactive?  I think it might still be best to throw them off of the platform."

"But.....but, if they're sleeping, we don't want to wake them!"

"And they're awfully big."

"Understand.  Best if I approach them first and try to quickly remove them before they awaken."

Stylus nodded nervously at Mawr's suggestion.
He was pretty sure that they were inactive right now ... but/and was quite happy if, regardless, the metal beasts were tossed from the cliff ... as the bear suggested.

Mallador kneels down, and runs his fingers through the brass. Does he know what they are?

Either way, after a moment he will join in trying to get one of them off the cliff. Can enough of us lift one perhaps?

Mawr wills his strength to increase and rushes the nearest one in an effort to push it over the edge.  He can only hope there is no reaction by either.

Unsure, the collective stays back is it is neither strong nor hearty. It does drop a rock into it's sling, preparing to launch it on aid of the others.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:46, Tue 02 Nov 2021.

As the party advances up the path towards the ship and her two metallic defenders, other debris becomes noticeable.

Bone.

The path is littered with bone fragments, less reflective than the brass casings but obvious as they drew nearer.  The corpses of dozens of creatures... rather, the shattered skeletal remains... lie between them and the murderbots.

Mallador has never seen such things before, having missed the combat earlier, but he finds the casings jingle and clink when he lifts them together.

Mawr boosts his strength using his mutant powers, and with a rush, runs into one of the robot guardians.  It's surprisingly easy to shove over; it spins and topples with a clattering of metal and then a smashing as it careens down the cliffside to one side of the path.

The other does not react.

"Shall we do them all, just to be safe, or is there anything of them that might be useful?"

Mawr pushes the 2nd one off.

Spot begins to nose through some of the bone piles.

"Spot, no!"

"Oh, wow. Well done, Mawr!"

"Doesn't look like they were alive anymore. Still, we're safer now."

Mallador attempts to push on the 2nd one, but it's HEAVY.  He strains, but then Mawr lumbers over and easily pushes it off the cliff, smashing and clattering into shattered metal on its way down.

Spot, meanwhile, has found what appears to be a human femur and is chomping on it happily.

Stylus, somewhat in a daze, didn't watch these events play out ... his attention seemed drawn to, and held by, the door in the big boat's side.
Looking down again at the book in his hands, he drew out the white rectangle.

Somehow, he knew that it and this place were connected.
But, he hadn't yet figured out how.    But he was thinking hard.
If it helps with moving the story on, here is an Intelligence Check, by me:
- rolled 10 using 1d20.

There were numbers and letters printed on one edge of one side.  They were small, and old, but he attempted to read them out aloud ... as though that might be a password to be spoke*.



                      * 'Speak Friend, and Enter'  sort of thing

Dusting off his hands as if to suggest he had completed the task, or at least helped, Mallador watches Stylus, and hopes that with whatever he is doing, he has success.

Nic tried to wrestle the bone away from Spot with a look of distaste on his (invisible) face, but only half-heartedly as he was much more interested in what Stylus was doing.

"Okay, how do we get inside?"

My usual apologies for pacing and tardiness, gang.

IC:

Stylus spoke the words aloud to the steadfast metal door.  The empty sentinel spots where the murderbots had stood showed a clean spot, but otherwise everything was covered in dirt and debris, evident of the ages.

Then there was a slow thrumm sound from somewhere along the massive hull facing them.  Soft, not booming, but noticeable.

A portion of the wall, near the door, about chest height, slid open to reveal... strange controls.  There was a staticky voice then, and finally it became coherant.

"Stiles, Andrew J. ... Lieutenant... closest vocal match... files corrupted... please insert identicard." The voice was stiff and mechanical sounding.

Among the controls, a horizontal slit illuminated, standing out.  It seemed the right size to fit the card in Stylus' hand...
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:57, Sat 20 Nov 2021.

The collective just stands in awe of what is happening as nothing like this was natural. A section on his leg ooo's in surprise causing another section of his arm to chuckle before the rest shushed the other parts.

Nic braces for an anticipated wave of pain.

Stylus looked at the card in his hand.   The one that he'd just read the numbers from.
Then, he looked at the horizontal slit that had illuminated in the control panel before him.

With a shrug, he turned the card edgewise, and slipped it into the slit.

For a long moment, nothing happens.

Then there is a flash of blinking lights, and a hum.  And deep within the monolithic ship, a CLUNG of moving metal.

A puff of dirt and dust flies from the edges and the seam of the massive doorway... and it slides open as if by magic, grinding slowly with the weary sound of ages as the titanic metal doors part.

Darkness within... and a waft of long-stale air.

As the Abyss opened wide before him, so did Stylus' eyes.

When the magic metal movement clanged into its open position, Stylus turned to look wide-eyed at his companions.
Then, turning his attention back to the mechanical slit, he attempted to retrieve the 'very awesomely magical card'.

Impressed at the entire process, Mallador sniffed at the stale air. Staring into the darkness, he stands there a bit uncertain.

"Anyone have a light they can shine in there?"

Nic crouches down next to his dog, relieved that nothing had attacked them yet.

"Can you see anyone in there, Spot?"

"I have a light," Desi said.  She knelt, rummaged in her pack, and quickly produced and lit a torch.  The fluttering flame brightened the way.

Stylus fiddled with the panel and - either through his efforts, random chance or pure luck - it slid the card back out from the slot he'd inserted it to, allowing him to reclaim it.

Desi lit a torch, and that provided some light in the gloomy doorway, but it didn't penetrate far... just far enough to reveal a truly cavernous room of some kind beyond, with structures of metal on either side of the doorway.

At Nic's request, Spot leaned forward and blinked his many eyes into the darkness.  Nic knew Spot could see very well in the dark.  The young Eye Dog's tail wagged and he barked to announce his presence to the horrible threats he was sure lay within.

None responded.

Glad for the light, Mallador strained to find any detail he could comprehend in the shadowy cavern before him. Now that they had arrived, he was reticent to actually enter. He hoped someone else would break the tension and step inside first, he knew he didn't have the courage to be that person himself.

Stylus thanked the metal panel, "for giving the ... this thing back' in a stuttered, unconfident manner ... unsure if he should or not, but obviously unwilling to offend the great machina.

As others began filtering unsurely into the machine's belly, Stylus found the courage to join them ... uncertainly.

"Okay, friends, let us proceed into the darkened area.  Stay close, but  be wary.  We don't yet know what we face."

Mawr steps into the barely lit area.

Nic, feeling reassured by Spot's brave stance as much as the bulk of the giant bear, stepped in to follow, Spot by his side.

Nervously following behind, Mallador's eyes dart to every shadow.