Fey and dinosaurs

And he yells at ME!!!

Though... she is gettin' on my last axe wielding nerve as well...

Luna wrote:

And he yells at ME!!!

Though... she is gettin' on my last axe wielding nerve as well...

So are you giving her a piece of your mind too? You do have a +11 in Diplomacy (if you want to use it).

Rowan decides the best thing to do is just answer her question. She's not so self-deluding that she thinks she has a right to be outraged by the Lady's enchantment magic.

OOC: I assume that a 13 Knowledge roll doesn't give Rowan any more knowledge than the others.

"I do not know the Green King. Like the others, I have heard only legends, and the blatherings of human scholars."

"Please... educate us about him."

OOC: Diplomacy 33.

Then Rowan glares at Leonis, trying to intimidate him into shutting up. Or at least to entertain the Lady with their "good PC, bad PC" routine.

OOC: Alas, it's only an 18 Intimidate.

The member 'Rowan' has done the following action : Dice roller

#1 'd20' : 8

--------------------------------

#2 'd20' : 17

--------------------------------

#3 'd20' : 5

Leonis wrote:

Leonis raises an eyebrow, and fights off his pubescent urge to rebel against an adult, "We killed Griana about a day ago, and the amulet remains with us for now. What is your interest in the amulet? Before we answer more about it, how about you share some information. Tell us about this gate, this amulet, the Green King, and why your interest in our people? I mean other then you hate us because we are not in tune with the natural lands. History shows that the machines of man will expand and take over the land - it is inevitable - even if you kill us, someone will come and replace us. You, I am sure, are aware of this."

OOC: Yea ok so maybe I want to piss this creature off a bit, but I hate getting pumped for info without seeing something in return.

Oh I have +0 diplomacy. On the bright side I do have +8 bluff

It looks like the speaker frowns, though it's difficult to be certain when all one can see are the two eyes, with nothing around them. If nothing else, the emotional resonances that the adventurers are feeling indicate a certain degree of irritation again. Luckily, before the Lady can respond to Leonis, Rowan chimes in...

Rowan wrote:

Rowan decides the best thing to do is just answer her question. She's not so self-deluding that she thinks she has a right to be outraged by the Lady's enchantment magic.

OOC: I assume that a 13 Knowledge roll doesn't give Rowan any more knowledge than the others.

"I do not know the Green King. Like the others, I have heard only legends, and the blatherings of human scholars."

"Please... educate us about him."

OOC: Diplomacy 33.

Then Rowan glares at Leonis, trying to intimidate him into shutting up. Or at least to entertain the Lady with their "good PC, bad PC" routine.

OOC: Alas, it's only an 18 Intimidate.

There is silence for a long moment, followed by a palpable shift in the emotions being felt, from curiosity to a certain degree of satisfaction to amusement.

The Lady then says, "I see at least one among you knows how to speak. And has more ... interesting parentage than the rest of you. I wonder who your parents are, child." She continues with barely a pause, the comment to Rowan evidently being a statement rather than an actual question. The emotion switches to wariness as the Lady says, "As for the Green King, there is only so much I can say of him ... due to a certain understanding we have." There's a thinly-veiled sneer in the words. "But this I can say - be wary of him and his machinations. He watches these lands and is a jealous power, hating those that will not bow to his throne. Sooner or later, he will attempt to suborn you into deeds you may not wish. If he comes to you, forswear his cause."

The words come faster and faster in the listeners' minds, with the speaker clearly growing in passion, but then she seems to calm herself. "I know not how and when he may come to you, but watch for his herald, the Grim White Stag. Ware the moonlight, for that is when he walks. And know him by ...," she pauses and then adds, seeming almost reluctant, "...his eyes, which are like ... mine."

There is a strong flash of bitterness, before the Lady quickly continues. "I have granted you a warning. And now I grant you two more things. First, a promise that I shall no longer move against your lands unless you harm aught that is mine - and then my vengeance shall be swift and deadly. And second, more immediately," and there's a sudden surge of amusement, "I grant your lives. Run! You have little time. The process began when you contacted me and I have been restraining it so far, but I can no longer prevent it from here. You have only seconds. Flee and live!" She actually chortles as she says this and then falls silent.

The silence allows the adventurers to realize that there is an additional sound near them. The sound of a soft groaning from below the 'window'. The sculpture in which the pendant was set is groaning gently and actually moving slightly as cracks spread across it from the slot where the pendant is set. The pendant itself is faintly glowing, the source of it evidently being tremendous heat, which is now palpable.

And the floor underneath their feet is trembling. Kesten, who had said he'd remain in the hall to watch for intruders and danger, looks in the doorway and says worriedly, "Umm - something's wrong. The ground's shaking and I just saw dust and a few pebbles fall off that ceiling. Should we leave?"

Rowan's eyes go wide. "Thank you, Lady."

Then she turns to Leonis, "Haste us all! And run!"

Rowan wrote:

Rowan's eyes go wide. "Thank you, Lady."

Then she turns to Leonis, "Haste us all! And run!"

Leonis casts haste, takes the pendant, and starts to run - glancing over his shoulder he flips the Lady the middle finger "smell ya later". As he is running, "Couldn't stand that smug bitch. From attacking and kidnapping, to threatening, and then acting like she is our friend. I'd be more inclined to trust the Green King. I mean really Rowan - what are you thanking her for. The devastation caused on our village was because of her"

Leonis wrote:

Leonis casts haste, takes the pendant...

Leonis reaches for the pendant and realizes that the extreme heat he was feeling from it is definitely not an illusion, as the skin sizzles off his finger. Making removal more complicated is the fact that it appears to now be fused to the sculpture, which is now cracking further. As if in sympathy, cracks begin to appear in the floor and walls near the sculpture and radiate outward, accompanied by a dull rumbling.

OOC: Take 10 points of damage.

Leonis wrote:

Leonis casts haste, takes the pendant, and starts to run - glancing over his shoulder he flips the Lady the middle finger "smell ya later". As he is running, "Couldn't stand that smug bitch. From attacking and kidnapping, to threatening, and then acting like she is our friend. I'd be more inclined to trust the Green King. I mean really Rowan - what are you thanking her for. The devastation caused on our village was because of her"

"It's called 'diplomacy.'" Rowan yells as she runs. "Maybe you'll learn some in a few decades, when you're finished puberty."

"And the enemy of our enemy is not necessarily our friend. Don't be stupid."

Another Stag issue to worry about! SHEEESH! Ah... I run!

The entire group rushes for the exit. Even with Leonis' haste significantly speeding them up, they are barely making the turn around the corridor outside the giant hall when there is the loud sound of an explosion and a blast of flame erupts through the doorway behind them, one that Leonis thinks is probably a spell that he has heard of but never seen earlier - a fire storm. Luckily, with their speed and the angle restricting where the blast can go, the adventurers and Kesten are safe from it.

A bigger issue is the loud rumbling and cracking behind them, followed by the growing sound of collapsing masonry and earth, especially since the sound spreads quickly around and past them. The entire hill that they are inside seems to be coming down, and a few seconds are spent in the dubious excitement of dodging falling rock and leaping over expanding cracks in the ground. Luckily, their head start means that nobody is more than lightly bruised at worst by the time the five of them rush out the entrance to the place and put a safe distance between them and it.

When the adventurers stop a good 500 feet away, they see that the entire hill has collapsed in on itself. From the looks of things, the central area--about a hundred and fifty feet across--caved in on itself, with the area beyond being then affected in an increasing radius and doing so in turn. Rowan and Leonis surmise from the size of the central area that it was an earthquake spell or some variant thereof, its eventual area of effect being drastically greater than would have been the case, due to occurring underground inside a structure that had already been significantly weakened by time.

On the positive side, Kesten has been rescued, the bralani attacker disposed of, and--at least according to her last promise--the kingdom of Khatovar is no longer being threatened by the mysterious Lady that they communicated with.

Dusting himself off, "Well, so much for not harming the natural world. Between the Earthquake and the Firestorm I am sure more then a couple of worms and aunts were killed. It seems for now we are going to be left alone, but someday in the future we may have to deal with this Green King. We should try and contact some druids and see what they can tell us about him, and this 'Lady'".

Looking around and then to Kesten, "Good that you are alive - you ready to go home?"

Leonis wrote:

Looking around and then to Kesten, "Good that you are alive - you ready to go home?"

The warrior smiles a little weakly and says, "Absolutely! When I started working for you, I didn't know it meant dealing with dinosaurs the size of a house and crazy fey who blow hills up!"

Looking back with a deadpan look, "As opposed to dinosaurs smaller then a house?" Then giving him a wry grin, and saying a little more quietly, "And if you're going to call Rowan crazy, make sure she doesn't hear you - she get's cranky about that -it's a woman thing"

Leonis wrote:

Looking back with a deadpan look, "As opposed to dinosaurs smaller then a house?" Then giving him a wry grin, and saying a little more quietly, "And if you're going to call Rowan crazy, make sure she doesn't hear you - she get's cranky about that -it's a woman thing"

Kesten chuckles and then looks over to Rowan, before pointing at Leonis. "He said it!"

The return journey to the town is quick and uneventful, and soon enough the rulers of Khatovar are back with their people. Luckily, the swift response from them means that the populace actually didn't have enough time to truly start rethinking being in this land or leaving their homes, and the news that the threat is dealt with (combined with the display of the slain attacker's gear) serves to mollify the people. Nevertheless, though the immediate danger is past, there is a lot of work and rebuilding to do after the attack.


OOC: And that about wraps up module two, though we'll be having a few months of kingdom management and a couple of random encounters as a bridge between this one and module three. I'll send out an "XP and Treasure" email shortly and put up something at the kingdom management thread in a couple of days.

Yay to us!

Leonis wrote:

Then giving him a wry grin, and saying a little more quietly, "And if you're going to call Rowan crazy, make sure she doesn't hear you - she get's cranky about that -it's a woman thing"

If Rowan hears this, she'll glare at Leonis, smile sharply at his joke, and then pats him on the back, using her laughing touch power.

Edit: Oh dear god! That's a 4 on the Perception check and a natural one on the touch attack (if it's needed to pat him on the back). Can we be merciful to Rowan and say that she didn't hear Leonis' comment?

Can Leonis tell that her back pat was a power, if he dodges away from her?

The member 'Rowan' has done the following action : Dice roller

#1 'd20' : 5

--------------------------------

#2 'd20' : 1

Rowan wrote:

If Rowan hears this, she'll glare at Leonis, smile sharply at his joke, and then pats him on the back, using her laughing touch power.

Edit: Oh dear god! That's a 4 on the Perception check and a natural one on the touch attack (if it's needed to pat him on the back). Can we be merciful to Rowan and say that she didn't hear Leonis' comment?

Hah! Yes, we can. There was a lot of distracting stuff going on at the time, after all.

Quote :

Can Leonis tell that her back pat was a power, if he dodges away from her?

I'd say "Yes," for most powers, but I'd also say one can try to make a Bluff check to hide it when it's something that has no components (like your Laughing Touch). You can remember that for next time you want revenge.

No way...when I tried to trip Kara I got laughed at. Rowan is gonna have to live with her failed attempt I think this is the D&D gods reminding us not to screw with each other (unless it's arc lightening)

Leonis wrote:

No way...when I tried to trip Kara I got laughed at. Rowan is gonna have to live with her failed attempt I think this is the D&D gods reminding us not to screw with each other (unless it's arc lightening)

Good point. So be it.

Or, to put it another way - eat it, Rowan