Caduceus was already attempting to conjure a forest spirit when White Duck made his challenge to the creatures. He decided Duck would make a great focal point for some spiritual fear. But unlike Kate, Caduceus didn't bother asking for White Duck's permission.

Still, after his attempt at conjuring, he replied to Duck's request for levitation. "I can definitely try to float you, as long as I can see you. I'll be mostly useless while I do though."

---

Conjure Force 3 forest spirit:
13:25, Today: Caduceus rolled 2 successes using 5d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 4 with rolls of 2,3,5,4,1.  Conjure Force 3 Forest Spirit.
Two services. One used to add Fear to White Duck, to help boost his intimidation and make the creatures flee. Second service saved for later.

Drain:
13:25, Today: Caduceus rolled 2 successes using 5d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 4 with rolls of 2,3,5,4,1.  Conjure Force 3 Forest Spirit.
Caduceus takes another tick of Drain, bringing him up to three.

Levitate White Duck:
Feel free to roll this for him if it looks necessary. Caduceus himself will stay in the air high enough that the beasts can't reach him.

Drain:
This message was last edited by the player at 18:32, Tue 04 Feb 2020.

Hairy pours the water out of his gun. Normally he'd prep it before going for a swim. Hopefully it'll fire, but he won't have time to be sure. Just in case, he preps a grenade too, but hangs tight. If they were complaining about gunfire being too loud, they won't much like this.

He does address the scientists, "alright ya slugs. Get some boxes and start walking. Come on, yeh love your gear so much, start carrying!"

White Duck's decision to challenge the enormous creatures seemed to come as a surprise to pretty much everyone.  Dr. Fukuhara jaw dropped as he stared first at Duck and then at the collection of beasts up the hill.  Dr. Al-mansour backed slowly away along the river.  Bichu did the same, his shotgun aimed midway between the creatures and adept, as though he was unsure which was the greater threat, muttering in Portuguese.  Caduceus wasn't to catch all of it, but rough translations included "balls for brains", "Trogs" and that he should have listened to his Aunt Olivia.  Dr. Saunders stood stock still as his fresh pair of pants rapidly took on the aspect of his previous pair.  Hairy absently wondered if the scientist had grabbed a spare set along with with the crate he was carrying from the Golphinhao

White Duck's initial challenge seemed to be lost in the foliage and was ignored by the beast as it continued to bellow.  However, as Caducius's spell wove itself around the runner, he hollered again.  This time he rose up from the ground, lifted by vines that held him and swayed slowly from side to side in a serpentine manner.  His second challenge echoed through the forest and this time the creatures noticed.  The largest of them reared up on his back legs and crashed down, sending a shudder through the ground that rattled the trees and left the runners and scientists who *weren't* being held in place by a set of vines struggling to stay upright.  On the plus side, at least the creatures hadn't yet charged them.

Bichu's voice was quiet but urgent.  "Back slowly along the river.  Don't run.  Keep your eyes facing the Macareu.  If you run, I'll shoot you myself."

None of you have animal handling.  Your read of the creatures wouldn't exactly say "intimidated", but perhaps uncertain.  Whether they're going to attack seems unclear.

Kate keeps her eyes on the monsters and starts prepping a fire blast, just in case they decide that we're too yummy looking to leave be.  Slowly she backs along the waterline, hoping that she can cast faster than they can charge.

With only light sarcasm in her voice, she yells, "Duck, this is your chance, wrestle them into submission!"

Duck rises up into the air, held aloft by the vines. After checking his height, he turns to Cadeuces.

"Eh, a little higher please? I'd rather not be at pinata height." he then looks over his shoulder to the rest of the group.

"Move it folks! Not sure how long I'll be able to keep this thing's attention!"
This message was last edited by the player at 21:15, Fri 14 Feb 2020.

Duck doesn't really have a whole lot of control over the vines or his height.  He could get out of the vines if he wished, but it's the spirit that's controlling them.  He's up probably about 8 feet.  If a creature were right in front of him, he'd be a couple of feet above eye level.  As it is, the creatures are up a bit of an incline.  With the vines, you currently look a bit taller than they are, however, if they decided to come down the hill and eat you, they could certainly reach you.

Caduceus nervously hovered a little higher as he saw the creature, the Macareu as Bichu called it, reared up. When White duck asked for more height, Caduceus felt the request was more than reasonable. "I'll try to imbue you with levitation, but I'm going to try not to mess with the spirit's mojo unless it becomes necessary. I'll lift you higher and out of reach if it looks like the Macareu is going to rush you." Caduceus reached out with his magic and prodded at White Duck spiritually, looking for a proper handhold for his levitation spell. He was being extra careful with his casting, as Caduceus didn't want to pop any more blood vessels than he already had today.

---

Caduceus is casting Levitation on White Duck, but holding off on actually lifting him until it becomes necessary.

Casting Force 3 Levitation (TN 6) Using 6 dice (or subtract the last one if this counts as combat).
13:38, Today: Caduceus failed (no successes) using 6d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 6 with rolls of 1,2,5,1,4,2.  Cast Levitation on White Duck.
Zero Successes. I will have to try again.

Medium Drain vs TN 5, using 12 die.
13:40, Today: Caduceus rolled 5 successes using 12d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 5 with rolls of (6+5)11,5,2,3,2,2,5,1,2,(6+1)7,4,5.  Medium Drain.
No drain.

Attempt two, if there is time. Using same dice allocations.
13:41, Today: Caduceus rolled 1 success using 6d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 6 with rolls of 2,2,4,(6+5)11,5,4.  Cast Levitation on White Duck, attempt 2.
I think that should be enough to lift him.

Drain test.
13:43, Today: Caduceus rolled 4 successes using 12d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 5 with rolls of 4,5,5,4,5,3,1,3,3,(6+6+2)14,1,2.  Drain test.
No drain again, thank goodness.

Bichu, two of the runners and the scientists (one with a bit of prompting), slowly back along the water's edge into the cover of the untrampled trees.  It's not clear that they're any sturdier than the ones the Macareu had knocked down effortlessly only a minute or two earlier, but at least they blocked line-of-sight.  Hopefully "out of sight, out of mind" would carry the day.

Caduceus stayed, trying to use his magic to increase the odds of survival for the sole runner who had been brave (insane?) enough to try to stand up to the behemoths.  He felt like he was recovering from a massive hangover that he hadn't even had the chance to enjoy - and even better, the heat of the jungle had only started to kick in.  And no river boat breezes to cool off at night.  Fraggin awesome...

The alpha reared up again, shouting another challenge, it's feet again causing the ground to shake as its massive form crashed down.  It started to paw the ground, then appeared to be distracted by one of the other Macareu nuzzling its hind-quarters.  It turned and was, for at least a moment or to, distracted.

Caduceus used the opportunity to quickly float both himself and White Duck after the others into the thick jungle canopy.

Once out of sight, the group burst into a run, doing their best to put a good chunk of ground between themselves and the gator/hippo/dinosaur/whatever things.  The ground trembled a couple more times, then started to shudder in a rythmic manner.  Dr. Saunders paused and looked like he might turn around to go look, but one look at the face of the runners had him hurrying to catch up with his companions.

When they had gotten far enough that the tremors were no longer noticeable, Bichu called the group to a halt.  He pointed his machete first at Dr. Saunders, then Dr. Fukuhara.  "YOU cost me my ship, and YOU are fraggin well going to make sure it gets paid for."  He then waived his weapon at the whole group.  "The nearest village is two and a half days walk from here.  STAY on the fragging trail.  If you run off into the jungle, I ain't coming after you."

He turned and continued to stalk up the trail, slashing angrily at overhanging vines.

"Hey, some of this gear is fragging heavy. We wanna pull through and toss some things before we hike another ten miles? Or at least stash it and you can pick it up later?"

"And I could use a few minutes to recuperate. Re-center myself," Caduceus added as he floated along above. He found a good place to set down White Duck, then ended his levitation spell. "Of course only once we are far enough away from those... what did you call them? Macareu? I've already over exerted myself, and it would do me wonders if I could rest for a moment before conjuring forest spirits to protect us along the trail..."

"Yeah, I could use a break while you guys freshen up.  I'll keep an eye out for anything that looks hungry."

Kate looks around at somewhere she can get a view of the area and sets up a watch both across the area and up into the trees.

Bichu looked at his watch and shrugs.  He was obviously not thrilled with the notion of waiting, but Caduceus's magic was probably the only thing that had kept the group of them from being eaten, so it appears he wasn't in the mood to argue.  The group took a break and the snake shaman sat down against a tree, resting.

Kate kept watch while Hairy dug through their gear everyone was carrying and tried to figure out what they have that's actually worth carrying.  He thinned the equipment out somewhat, given that devices without power supplies, power supplies without devices, and various other unhelpful "grab it and run" choices meant that about 20% of what the group had brought along weren't actually functional.  In his estimate, the group probably had enough food for 4 days, more if they didn't mind being grumpy.  Water was a little more problematic, but they had decent odds of hitting a stream or two for refills.

The group continued along as the sun rose and turned the jungle back into a steam bath.  As the afternoon wore on, Dr. Al-Mansour seemed to be holding up okay, but Fukuhara and Sanders-especially Sanders were sweating like pigs.

Dr. Fukuhara stopped again, hands on his knees, breathing heavily.  You thought he was about to ask For another rest break when he suddenly raised one hand and pointed off to your left. "Is that <huFf> what I think <wheeze> it is?"

The team turned to look where he's pointing, guns and spells at the ready.  You hoped
you weren't too tired to take on whatever he'd spotted. Then you realize that the good doctor was pointing to a group of trees about twenty meters away. Wrapped around their trunks are several dark brown vines bearing the big, fuzzy fruits you saw in the in Flight
presentation.

"Gentlemen," Dr. Fukuhara says, "I give you actinidia amazo nensis."


Sorry for letting things go so long without posting.  Crazy month...

"So what do we know lives in those vines? Probably some giant... snake with human feet or like... a flower that makes your girlfriend break up with you?"

Hairy waves his gun at the tree, certain there's something about it that will be dangerous and hungry, but not yet sure which part of it is the issue.

Stun Recovery Test:
13:21, Today: Caduceus rolled 4 successes using 6d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 4 with rolls of 5,1,(6+5)11,4,(6+5)11,1.  Recover from Stun.
Four successes means it takes 15 minutes per box of stun. Caduceus should be back to full health in only 45 minutes during their hour long break!

---

Caduceus had been grateful for the break and was feeling back in full spirits after their rest. When they moved out again, the snake shaman continued to hover along just above the group, since he wasn't nearly strong enough to carry all his gear with his muscles alone.

When Dr. Fukuhara stopped and pointed, Caduceus was as tense as the rest. But he visibly relaxed once he realized they had actually caught a lucky break. Still, Hairy's paranoia was contagious and Caduceus soon found himself caught up in it.

"I'll conjure a spirit to watch over us as we scout out danger in the area. Just give me a few moments." Caduceus reached out into the surrounding forest with his magic essence and asked for the forest's assistance once again. "Spirits of the forest, heed my call. Guard my companions from danger, Conceal them from prying eyes, and strike fear into those that intend them harm." He then did the same a second time, conjuring another spirit to help out the first, since it probably would have a hard time protecting everyone at once.

---

Conjuring a Force 3 Forest Spirit.
13:32, Today: Caduceus rolled 3 successes using 5d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 3 with rolls of 5,5,3,2,2.  Conjure Force 3 Forest Spirit.
Three services, used. Guard, Concealment, and Fear.

Drain.
13:39, Today: Caduceus rolled 5 successes using 7d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 3 with rolls of 5,3,2,3,5,2,(6+1)7.  Drain test.
No drain.

And Again:
13:39, Today: Caduceus rolled 4 successes using 5d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 3 with rolls of 1,3,3,5,4.  Conjure Force 3 Forest Spirit.
Four services, three used. Guard, Concealment, and Fear. One saved in reserve.

Drain.
13:40, Today: Caduceus rolled 5 successes using 7d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 3 with rolls of 5,2,1,4,5,(6+4)10,(6+2)8.  Drain test.
No Drain.

Duck wipes a fresh coat of sweat from his brow with the back of his machete-holding forearm, thankful that they found the fruits, but skeptical as all hell about the ease of bringing them back. His hands shook visibly from nicotine withdrawals, and despite rather grumpy and relatively silent in his brooding since the boat crashed, he was both relieved and skeptical as he approached the fruit tree, playing his usual role of forward scout and taking precautions to be quiet just in case these fruits had attracted any herbivores who might turn hostile over a team of scientists taking their pick of these amply forbidden fruits.

As before, Caduceus's spirits were more potent than he would have expected, but they were compliant and moved off to do his bidding.

Kate had to grab the back of the packs of Dr. Saunders and Dr. Al-Mansour to keep them from charging right up to the trees.  White Duck approached cautiously while Hairy and Caduceus provided over-watch.

There were no obvious threats.  A couple of snakes who where much more normal-sized, wingless and seemed to have no particular interest in Duck or Caduceus.  Birds of a variety of forms and a small troop of howler monkeys.  Some yelling and hand-waving managed to scare most of them away, though one obstinate howler merely climbed higher in the foliage, from which he emerged occasionally to throw feces or attempt to urinate on the party members.  After his third attempt, the vines of the tree coiled around him and the shape of a giant python manifested right in front of him and hissed in his face.  When the coils let him go, he shrieked and he went charging off to find the rest of his troop.

With the area secured, the scientists went to work - measuring, collecting and bagging samples of the fruits, the fines, the soil and everything else they could lay their hands on.  Meanwhile, the runners watched with wary amusement and kept a sharp eye out for anything that might stir up trouble.

It was reaching late afternoon when Bichu ambled over to runners.  "I'm gonna see if I can find somewhere nearby to make camp, seeing as it doesn't look like we're going to get too much further tonight"  It was evident that he was offering to allow one of you to accompany him, though he didn't seem super concerned with whether or not you said 'yes'.

As Duck watches over the eager group of scientists, he doesn’t allow himself a moment of relief. Instead, betting on at least one of them making a stupid mistake at some point, he approaches the tree and grabs a fruit for himself, then places it on a nearby stump of log and whacks it in half with his machete, collecting the seeds of the fruit just in case things go topsy turvy and the collected specimens end up rotting due to the heat and humidity of the jungle. To him, it didn’t make much sense for these scientists to want to try and cultivate this fruit by taking entire samples- the seeds, despite the largeness of the kiwi, would be smaller, easier to carry, and be much easier to sneak through customs. Besides, if any of these scientists got geeked, their samples may also be lost, and it was his job to ensure that at least some samplings made it back safely.

The outside of the fruit was a bit prickly, but the inside appeared blue and juicy with a slightly sweet smell.  The seeds were small and black and more than a bit slippery, but Duck was able to collect 30 or so from the single specimen.

Dr. Fukuhara looked over when he heard the 'thunk' of the machete.  He appeared about to criticize the wasting of samples, but thought better of it.  Instead he settled for a short warning "Don't eat any of it!".  Dr. Saunders looked up from studying the instrument he had plunged into the trunk of one of the trees and grinned.  "Indeed."

Apparently all it took to make a group of scientists happy was to let them play with their toys.  Looking over at Hairy who was busy stripping and reassembling his rifle, it dawned on Duck that perhaps scientists and runners weren't all that different after all...

White Duck thought one thing at that moment: he didn’t play with toys. Then he remembered he was carrying a pack of bladed throwing cards around.

“Hoooo-leee fuuuuck, I need a fucking cigarette.” He thought to himself, the preoccupation of his thoughts of getting his fix, at least externally, led to his normally somewhat erratic mindset to be focused on important details. He turned and nodded at the doctor, motioned him over when he had a moment, then turned around to face away from the group of busy scientists.

“Course not, doc. When you live with a talismonger, it’s very easy to get a hold of hallucinogens. There’s a time and a place, but uh, we’ve crashed out boat and have to walk through extremely dangerous territory. I want to congratulate you and your team on the find, but also tell you this is not over yet.” He fidgeted a bit, almost unnoticaeably, as his reflex to take a drag kicked in.

“Listen Doc, whenever you get a sec, there’s something we should discuss.”
This message was last edited by the player at 03:17, Wed 11 Mar 2020.

Kate doesn't like coincidence, those things never work out the way you think.  She sits back and lets the scientists and such harvest the plant and waits for something to go wrong.   She hears Duck cut one in half and watches him scoop out the seeds.  Gotta be poison, I mean, why else would they yell not to eat it?  Some kind of magic effect? It's worth that much cash? Nah, can't be cash or they'd be mad he's getting seeds.

She calls out, "Hey, Hairy, I"ll give you 5 to try a bite..." she says, grinning.  "Seriously, though, you think there's anything we can eat out here? Gonna be a long walk back"

For the most part, Caduceus hovered silently over the area as the scientists worked. He kept an eye on the astral to make sure nothing was creeping on them from the other plane, and he took advantage of his elevated position to get a different perspective than the others.

When Bichu headed off, Caduceus wasn't about to abandon the scientists to go help keep him safe. They weren't being paid to keep Bichu safe, plus the man seemed like he could take case of himself. Still, the snake shaman didn't want to send him off totally alone either. He called upon the spirits again in order to supply Bichu with a bit of extra protection.

First he called upon the spirit that still owed him one favor. "I am going to conjure another spirit to watch over Bichu, but I want you to keep loose tabs on them and inform me if they get into any trouble."  He then conjured another forest spirit and sent it Bichu's way. "Guard over Bichu and strike Fear into anything that intends him harm. Animals or hostile people. Even go so far as to fight it off if it comes to that. Thanks for your help. I appreciate it."

Lastly, Caduceus conjured one last Spirit in case any emergencies arose. "Thank you for your help. You are my secret backup in case anything unexpected comes up," he said with a wink.

---

Caduceus is basically just acting as a security guard while the scientists work. He isn't doing anything too noteworthy otherwise.

Conjure Force 3 Forest Spirit
14:40, Tue 03 Mar: Caduceus rolled 3 5 successes using 5d6 7d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 3 with rolls of 5,2,1,4,5,(6+4)10,(6+2)8.  Drain test.
Dice roller glitched on me. I told it to roll 5, but it rolled 7. Three successes. Caduceus will have the spirit use Guard and Fear to protect Bichu, and to Attack anything that attacks or intends to attack the man.

Drain
13:56, Today: Caduceus rolled 7 successes using 7d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 3 with rolls of 3,5,5,(6+5)11,(6+2)8,5,4.  Drain.
Can't have less drain than that!

Conjure Force 3 Forest Spirit, again.
13:58, Today: Caduceus rolled 4 successes using 5d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 3 with rolls of 3,1,4,(6+6+6+4)22,5.  Conjure Force 3 Forest Spirit.
Four services, none used.

Drain
13:59, Today: Caduceus rolled 4 successes using 7d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 3 with rolls of 1,2,5,4,1,5,4.  Drain test.
No drain.

Hairy doesn't mind catching a piece of White Duck's exploration, to examine it for himself, sniffing it, feeling it in his hand. He'll keep a little piece of fruit and a seed for later experimentation.

Quick roll to see if I can tell anything about it. I'll avoid licking it yet--that's for when I'm off the clock.


14:21, Today: Hairy rolled 4 successes using 5d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 4 ((3,4,5,4,5)).

Dr. Fukuhara nodded absently at Duck's request to speak before going back to what he was doing and ignoring the runner completely.  Scientific inquiry apparently trumped any possibility of conversation.

In response to Kate's query, Bichu snorted disdainfully.  "All you think about is food, isn't it?

We have rations enough to last to the village, but you'll have to wait."

The summoned spirits studied Caduceus closely, again larger and more powerful than he'd expected for the effort expended.  One of them swayed in front of the runner's face for a few seconds before hissing "You make many demands..."  Its lidless eyes stared for a second longer, then it slithered off, apparently to do as commanded.

Seeing no interest in accompanying him, Bichu headed off down the trail.  The density of the tree-cover meant that, despite his elevated position, Caduceus wasn't able to follow the guide's movement more than a minute or so along the path before the man was swallowed by the jungle.  The shaman had to content himself with providing over-watch for the rest of the party.

Hairy inspected the seeds and fruit.  Aside from the sweet smell and slipperiness of the seeds, there was nothing obviously that interesting.  Certainly nothing that corresponded to any of the other 'interesting' plant life the ork was familiar with.  However, he pocketed a few bits for later investigation...

About 45 minutes later, Bichu returned.  "I found a decent site about 20 minutes from here.  Reasonably defensible.  No jaguar scat.  Even has water not too far.  We should move pretty soon - don't want to wander the jungle after dark."

The runners turned around to find Dr. Fukuhara standing there, an actual *smile* on his face.  "We are finished.  Let us pack and then lead us to where we are to sleep."

Caduceus continued to hover over the group as Bichu relayed his information. "That's good that we can leave now. The spirits I have conjured will disappear at sundown. It would be good if we were all hunkered down before then." The 'runner scanned the auras of the scientists to make sure nothing was "off" after handling potentially psychedelic kiwis. Then, after he remembered who was on his team, he scanned his fellow 'runners too. If any flags were raised, perhaps he could aid in overcoming any effects before they became a problem.

Regardless, a part of Caduceus's mind remained fixated on one of the last spirits he had conjured. "You make many demands..." The spirit was right, of course. Caduceus had asked a lot of the forest today, and had offered little in return. Perhaps he could change that. The last thing they needed was for the spirits to turn against them when their group needed the spirits most.

He called his last spirit forth and said to it, "You and your kin have kept us safe and secure all day, and now the day is coming to a close. Is there anything I can do within my power to help repay your aid?" All the stress from the day's excitement had caused Caduceus to lose sight of how truly wonderful this place was on a spiritual level. He would hate to become an unwelcome blight in this shaman's paradise.

"Bout how long a walk back to town?"

Hairy is fine bivouacking down. He'd prefer a site with some clear space around, to watch for any curious critters, and a nice, warm fire.