|
Post by moralhazard on Mar 12, 2019 16:22:17 GMT
Con save 1: KRIJh3|M1d20+3 Con save 2: 1d20+3
Thea, like many air genasi, was already blue, so one might have been forgiven for expecting that she would not turn blue(r) with cold. That was not true. Thea had grown up on the warm inner sea, mostly on land and a little at sea. She loved spring rains, the heat of the sea air and the rush of the breeze. She had, of course, been cold before – even Sembia had winter – but already in Waterdeep she had experienced, really, a new extent of cold. She had been lucky enough to travel mostly during fall, and to arrive in Waterdeep at the beginning of winter, before any major storms had passed through.
The cold seemed to bite straight through her warmest cloak, and Thea found herself rubbing her arms with her hands as she walked. Her teeth chattered occasionally, particularly when a blast of wind swept through and the skin visible on her face was a much darker blue than usual, lips chapped with cold. Even her hair seemed subdued, staying tucked beneath the hood of her cloak rather than flying wildly about like it usually did.
There was plenty to talk about at first; Echo and Nakan caught Thea up on what she had missed, including their encounter with Bente, and the surprising news from Nakan that other members of the caravan hadn’t known Bente. “If Bente was so worried, why not come with us?” Thea asked. “And – she hesitated, “Maybe she had other charges? But...” Thea rubbed her face with one gloved hand, her brain feeling a little more sluggish than usual, along with her hands, “how is it that she didn’t realize Elora was missing for three days? The nearest woods are Ardeep – it was a three day journey from there to the gates when I came to Waterdeep.” Thea was quiet. “… Something weird is going on.”
Eventually, they would largely run out of things to say. That was fine with Thea; she was focused on taking one step after another, doing her best to keep up the pace that her two sturdier companions had set.
“It’s only going to get worse,” Thea spoke through chattering teeth, looking at her two companions. “… The storm, I mean,” she buried her chin in her cloak, blinking through the ice on her eyelashes. Anyone could tell that from the blustering of the wind, Thea hoped. Certainly she didn’t have any kind of special connection to the storm through her powers; she wasn’t very fond of thinking about that.
“Maybe we should – try to find shelter?” Thea glanced around, squinting at sides of the road, looking about hopefully for some kind of nice… where did one shelter from snowstorms anyway? A cave had worked well last time. A cave seemed like it would be a good choice.
Survival check with disadvantage: 1d20+2 OR 1d20+2 1d20+3·1d20+3·1d20+2·1d20+2
|
|
Kestrel
Approved
Icon by @ArtByRue on Twitter!
Posts: 319
|
Post by Kestrel on Mar 12, 2019 16:31:28 GMT
Con save (for my eventual post)!
nRSoIgTM1d20 1d20
|
|
|
Post by Kralle on Mar 12, 2019 21:27:41 GMT
Nakan was unusually quiet for much of the walk to and out of the River Gate. Not in a rude way, certainly; He introduced himself to their new companion Thea, and thanked her for offering to help in the search for Elora, and shared the ominous information given to him by the adults of the traveling group. But something refused to settle in his gut, something continued to quietly whisper in the back of his mind. Why did the caravaners not know about the woman, Bente? And by extension, how did Bente know about Elora?
As the trio began the journey to Ardeep, Nakan remained in his quiet, meditative thoughts. It wasn’t until the wind started to howl in earnest that his attention was firmly redirected to the present.
Nakan was used to the cold. You had to be if you wanted to survive in the near-eternal winter of the Icerims. But that didn’t mean he was comfortable in it. As the sharp gusts of frozen air came inland from the Sea of Swords, Nakan had to tuck his head low and pull the simple traveling hood tight over his head. Bits of ice and snow, like tiny stinging needles, whipped into his exposed arms and occasionally found their way to his eyes. The wind itself blew through the interlocking steel scales of his sleeveless gambeson, creating a soft, almost musical metallic jingling sound.
As the weather worsened, he could only barely hear Thea over the storms own raging howl. He quietly muttered thanks to the sputtering torch he held before him. The wind had been trying to douse the burning pitch but had so far been unsuccessful, and the small aura of light was the only thing helping him see through the blowing snow.
“Aye!” He hoped his own low, booming voice would carry over the wind as he expressed his agreement with the genasi’s meteorological assessment. “We need to try and find a place to lie low...a copse of trees or even a small depression in the ground. Something to serve as a windbreak.”
Nakan looked around. Nothing but flat plains greeted him as far as his eyes could see...which wasn’t very far at all, considering the blizzard they were stuck in the middle of. This was bad. Sure, if he needed to, he could just stop right here on the side of the road and sit out the storm. It would be extremely unpleasant, but he’d survive without any issue. But he had companions with him. Companions who were at risk of freezing to death if the group didn’t do something.
He began looking around, searching for any kind of cover or shelter they could use to try and get a fire going and wait out the storm behind.
Survival Check 0vjfzCmv1d20+21d20+2
|
|
Kestrel
Approved
Icon by @ArtByRue on Twitter!
Posts: 319
|
Post by Kestrel on Mar 13, 2019 19:55:02 GMT
It was cold! Like…really, really cold!
At the start of the night Echo had been completely fine. Dusk had been brisk, sure, and the advancing snowfall and wind a little concerning maybe, but the treasure hunter had two things going for her. For one, she was a tabaxi. Her mottled orange and black fur, aside from just a natural fashion statement, was functional to boot and, even with her disregard for winter clothing, kept her safe from the worst of the biting chill. The second though?
Near endless chatter.
Soon after leaving the River Gate behind and plunging into the Faerun night, both Nakan and her had filled their new companion in on nervous Bente, little lost Elora, the caravan of meanies, and the few other sparse details they had. Then the giant man himself informed them that the caravan had no idea who Bente even was. Which was…weird when she thought about it! The dirty lady had implied she was with them the whole way. Still, Echo would shrug at Thea’s slow, numbed rambling as she tried to catch a snowflake at the end of her tongue. “I thunno, bhut you can say that again! Maybe she was thoo scared tho say something unthil she got tho the city?” After that? Echo had talked about the young squabble of kids she had met, her performance that day at the Jade Dancer, how much it freakin hurt to kick over a glass lamp while running, a really pretty hat she had seen at the market the other day, a really, really pretty bird she thought she saw on a tree as they walked but which turned out to just be a ragged strip of cloth fluttering in the wind, again how much she liked Thea’s funny hair, a really, really, really pretty-
However, as the night wore on even Echo eventually fell silent. By now the storm had picked up into a howling vortex of snow and ice, and the cold? The cold got real, even for her. The tabaxi had put on near everything she had in her pack, even a patchwork blanket she had the slightest semblance of foresight to nick from the Maelstrom’s Notch on her way out, and yet still her teeth chattered, the pads on her feet were numb, and patches of frozen moisture hung off her fur from around her mouth and nose. The treasure hunter had even resorted to tucking her tail into the back of her belt to keep it from hanging outside. Still, even Echo knew she was in a bad spot (and pale girl, now a whole lot paler, did not seem much better), and hoarsely agreed with her two companions.
“S-s-somewhere we could start a f-f-fire would be kinda n-n-nice too.”
Echo peered around. Her vision was blurred so that even just making out the light of Nakan’s torch was a little difficult, but she could still tell how flat the everything around them was. Finding a cave, a copse of trees, or even just a dip in the ground would be…difficult, to say the least. A little fear pricked at her heart. She had always lived farther south, first with the trope and then in Baldur’s Gate, so the cold was something the tabaxi was not familiar with, but she had heard stories from Night of Dreams and her dad. Travelers disappearing in the north, caravans forced to eat their own pack animals, whole families found frozen in place around a dead campfire…back then they were just stories. Now?
They were a little bit of a scary warning. Echo chuckled and then coughed.
“W-w-what are the odds there’s a h-h-house just over th-th-there?”
-----------------------------------------------
Survival check (with disadvantage):
6sRKjd5K1d20+2 1d20+2
1d20+2·1d20+2
|
|
Arikarka
Approved
Linked Characters: Citrine, Gigi, and Rhia
Posts: 316
|
Post by Arikarka on Mar 16, 2019 17:53:40 GMT
The wind and cold was howling around, and the three adventurers tried their best to spot something through the snow, but to no avail.
Another hour passes, another con save, another round of survivals. You did not meet a high enough collective survival check to find something to help shelter you from the storm.
|
|
|
Post by moralhazard on Mar 16, 2019 18:06:23 GMT
Con save: 1LrqJCeV1d20+3Survival check (with disadvantage): 1d20+2 or 1d20+2There were no caves. Thea could admit to herself that it had been rather a forlorn hope; they were in the middle of what looked very much like grasslands. What caves there were around Waterdeep were all to the north, along the cliff, not down here in the south. All the same, one could hope, right? Time seemed to run at its own pace here in the worsening storm, crawling by yet suddenly past.
The cold was miserable, digging its claws deep into her and gripping tight. Thea shivered a little harder, doing her best not to succumb, tucking her chin into her chest and wrapping her arms close to her body, hands tucking naturally into her armpits, where at least it was a little warm still. She squinted, peering out into the miserable landscape, too cold to talk; she wasn't sure she could stop her teeth chattering long enough, at least not for casual conversation. It seemed like Echo's suggestion of a house was as farfetched of her hope of a cave. At least Nakan seemed to know what he was talking about? Somewhere nearby there surely had to be copse of trees or a windbreak - what was a windbreak exactly? - where they could shelter.
1d20+3·1d20+2·1d20+2
|
|
|
Post by Nakan on Mar 18, 2019 7:10:35 GMT
Nakan scoured his surroundings for any sign of shelter he could find, but the sting of ice and snow blurred his vision and dulled his senses. Things were going from bad to worse, and doing so very quickly. Snow was beginning to cling to his frame now, forming small snow drifts along his shoulders and leaving a crystalline coating on his armor and clothing. The small joints of the interlocking scales on his gambeson were beginning to freeze, making movement even more difficult.
His companions were suffering the brunt of nature’s fury, however. While he’d had two decades to acclimate to the cold, aided by his race’s innate hardiness, the genasi and tabaxi were not so lucky. Both seemed to be bogged down by some unseen weight, their movements sluggish and speech inflected with the telltale sound of chattering teeth. Moving on his own was proving difficult enough, he didn’t think that would improve if he ended up needing to carry either of them if they fell unconscious.
Nakan silently began weighing his options. If he couldn’t find something nearby to use as shelter, he’d need to make some. He could use one of his axes as a spade and dig a small trench in the ground (or snow, if it was deep enough) to make a windbreak right where he was standing. But that would take time. Something in short supply for many people of late, it seemed.
Before resorting to this last-ditch effort, however, Nakan would take one last look around the plains surrounding him. He focused as hard as he could, looking for any silhouette or shadowy form that could signify a cluster of trees or rocky outcrop.
Survival Check pEsURrbN1d20+21d20+2
|
|
Kestrel
Approved
Icon by @ArtByRue on Twitter!
Posts: 319
|
Post by Kestrel on Mar 19, 2019 17:37:51 GMT
Con save: XMlw5NTi1d20
--------------------------------------
Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Noth-oh! Echo’s ears perked up underneath her hood and the tempo of her trudge picked up just a little. Most of the land around them was really upsettingly flat but, just off in the distance a bit, the tabaxi had spotted a dark smudge. A very house shaped dark smudge! It looked only big enough to be a quaint cottage, or maybe a farmhouse? A barn? Honestly, at this point who cared, anything to get them out of the cold and the wind and the snow and the ice, and Echo swore she already saw the warm glow of a hearth in the gloom. She was about to tell her companions when the treasure hunter closed her eyes and sneezed. Shaking her head, sniffling, and then opening her eyes again, Echo’s ears drooped almost as fast as her spirits.
The smudge was gone. Everything really was flat.
Echo pulled her blanket tighter and squinted. Both her and Thea were able to keep up with their seemingly invincible companion so far but, with their shared silence, it was clear that none of them had spotted anywhere to hide. How long could they keep this up? It was a question that was starting to really terrify the tabaxi. Every frigid second, every snow-laden step, was like its own challenge. So far, she was winning! She was kicking some winter butt. But, like, it was a very fragile butt kicking that threatened to blow her over at any moment. They had to get out of the storm. Worst case maybe they could just dig a hole, or build a tent out of blankets, or hide behind Nakan or…
They really just had to find somewhere to hide.
--------------------------------------
Survival check (with disadvantage): 1d20+2 / 1d20+2 1d20·1d20+2·1d20+2
|
|
Arikarka
Approved
Linked Characters: Citrine, Gigi, and Rhia
Posts: 316
|
Post by Arikarka on Mar 20, 2019 16:51:48 GMT
It was a near miss. Nakan almost missed it, the chattering of his companions making the pressing urge to find something anything! such a high priority it was adding a layer of stress to the situation that wasn't helping the search. But there, through the whipping vast winter winds, he spotted it. A dark line not too far away from the road they still managed to keep on, despite the poor survival skills of most of the party.
It was a windbreaker line of trees farmers kept around like a border around their fields to help shelter the soil. A 30ish foot wide strip of trees and shrubs and ground cover that acted like a natural fence to help block winds and storms.
Roll Calls! Congratulations, you survived part one of the winter storm, finding a place to bunker down in Part Two: Survival checks to manage a sheltered something (I'll leave details of what and how to you beautiful RPing people) The windbreaking line of trees gives you advantage against the wind for your survival checks to build a shelter
Final? Con save again as you spend time building/figuring a shelter, Thea and Echo. Don't fail your collective survival check guys
#Spoiler-- there are 3 parts >: D
|
|
|
Post by Nakan on Mar 20, 2019 18:32:32 GMT
The line of trees almost completely evaded Nakan’s notice. His first glance saw them as nothing but a snow drift or some kind of icy mirage. But his focus returned to them, and as the group took a few more difficult steps in that direction, the trunks and branches began to materialize from the sheet of frozen snow that came down from the sky.
A sudden burst of extra energy filled Nakan, and he increased his pace towards the trees as he shouted back towards his companions.
“Over there, off to the side of the road! Get to those trees!”
The goliath would do his best not to leave Echo or Thea too far behind in his excitement of finding something to use as shelter, stopping every few paces to make sure he could still see them in the ring of light cast by the protesting torch. When the group finally reached the trees, the wind lost much of its bite. It still cut through clothing, and occasionally tossed a small cloud of snow into the Nakan’s face, but it no longer felt as if it was trying to shove him to the ground.
As soon as he could see that his companions were behind the windbreak, Nakan would drive the handle of the torch into the snow and wrench one of his handaxes free of his belt. He quickly scanned the trees nearby, making mental notes of the more substantial and thicker branches that he could reach. He planned to begin cleaving branches from the trees for three purposes.
First, he would build something of a makeshift wall, stacking branches on top of one another between two trees. The limbs needed to be long enough to overlap the trunks on either side, that way the wind could be used as a way to secure the branches rather than just blow them away. Once the structure was complete, it should be about four or five feet high, large enough to shield his companions if they sat on the ground. It would also be useful to shield a fire from being snuffed out by the wind.
In addition to the wall, the group could use the remaining branches as firewood and form makeshift beds to keep Thea and Echo from sleeping directly on the ground.
Nakan would relay his plans to his companions, then immediately set about cutting branches and building the small wall. The wind, despite being lessened in intensity, still made the task somewhat difficult. On numerous occasions, Nakan swore to himself in Giant as a rogue gust would wrench a branch from his grip.
Survival Check w/ Advantage R1Ep3Mwv1d20+2 or 1d20+21d20+2·1d20+2
|
|
|
Post by moralhazard on Mar 20, 2019 18:37:18 GMT
Con save: FHBND2or1d20+3Survival check: 1d20+2Nakan’s words re-invigorated Thea a little; she stumbled forward down the road after the goliath, feeling utterly chilled, like if she got even the slightest bit colder she would barely be able to move.
The trees seemed to break the wind, and Thea shuddered in relief, hunching down in her cloak and squeezing her eyes shut for a few moments. She remembered her lessons from her last snowstorm, though, and didn’t stay still for long, slowly pacing back and forth, clenching and unclenching her fingers to keep them from stiffening. A few minutes behind the trees seemed to help; at the very least, she didn’t feel worse.
Nakan was explaining the shelter he was building, cutting branches and making the small wall. Thea stared at it for a moment, thinking back to her childhood, to warm autumn days in the orchard, eating fruit with her cousins until they were very nearly sick, lying on the grass and discussing which cloud looked most like Uncle Thaddeus, and – building forts from fallen branches.
“Here, I can help,” Thea’s hands were shaking a little from the cold. She took a deep breath, imagining in her mind that the branches were glass; her hands never shook while she was crafting. She would take the sticks from Nakan, not quite bold enough to help trim them, but doing her best to help him put the wall together.
1d20+3·1d20+2
|
|
Kestrel
Approved
Icon by @ArtByRue on Twitter!
Posts: 319
|
Post by Kestrel on Mar 20, 2019 18:57:30 GMT
Con save: 6nkzxdfK1d20
Echo dared a grin. The big guy had found something! In an instant the man charged ahead into the dark and the tabaxi, the news bringing a little bit of dance back into her step, stuck to the trail he had ploughed through the snow and followed the torchlight as best she could. It did not take long for her keen night eyes to see what had gotten the giant so excited. A small line of trees and shrubs. It was not a house or a cottage or even a ramshackle old barn but, well, it was something! And honestly? Something sounded pretty dang good right about now.
The relief was near instant as Echo stumbled behind the fluttering wall of leaves and branches. It was still, like, really damn cold, but at least she could feel the wind bite through her clothes and the ice stick to her fur a little less now. The treasure hunter shook her body, sneezed once, twice, and then a third time from the puff of snow, and then sniffled as she listened to Nakan explain his shelter idea. It sounded like…a lot of stuff! A lot of stuff that Echo had never done before. With the trope there had always been the wagon to bundle up in when the nights grew cold, and in Baldur’s Gate an abandoned building, a narrow alleyway, or even just a sorta clean (like, no dead corpses at least) gutter was never too far away. Here? Out in the wilds? The thought of just making shelter was a foreign concept to her.
And…it kinda showed.
At first Echo had been excited. She had unslung her pack, removed the shovel, hammer, and crowbar that made up part of her treasure hunting kit, and jumped around their makeshift camp, trying to lend a hand wherever she could. But, well…it did more harm than good, really. Branches had been broken, a partial wall had been collapsed, and, in the end, all that Echo had managed to do was dig out some of the snow from the base of their rustic hut. Oops? Yeah, oops. At some point, though, she had gotten the hint. Her two companions were far better at this. Now, the tabaxi simply sat bundled up in her blanket off to the side, shivering, occasionally sneezing, and absentmindedly bapping a pile of branches with the side of her foot.
Hey! At least she could still feel it!
“H-how long d-d-do you think this’ll last?”
Echo swallowed and looked out into the night. This was a question she really did not want to ask.
“And if w-w-we’re having s-s-so much trouble, what about Elora?”
--------------------------------------
Survival check: 1d20+2 1d20·1d20+2
|
|
Arikarka
Approved
Linked Characters: Citrine, Gigi, and Rhia
Posts: 316
|
Post by Arikarka on Mar 22, 2019 4:05:46 GMT
Over the course of an hour, with their combined efforts, Nakan, Echo, and Thea managed to create a structurally sound lean-too for shelter. The wind was still howling around them, the sounds getting louder and louder - but the shelter made it so they could at least converse without raising their voices.
((Congratulations! No Con save while you are safe in/near the shelter))
The three of you are sitting there, bundled, trying to get warm now that you are out of the wind. A fire might be possible, but it would take a lot of upkeep and effort - though possible with enough tools and stubborn determination. At the very least? Their combined body heat would have enough to slowly start seeping into one another so they wouldn't get worse. But they had a torch Nakan had been nurturing the entire trip, surely that would make it easier?
The howling around them from the wind and storm never relented.
Roll Calls! Survival to make a fire, or support to help make a fire. This DC is determined by a single roll. You can assist with a roll of 10 or higher, adding +2 to the original roller. You must determine who will be the primary roller first and who will be the support rollers if you choose this. There is no penalty to rolling under a 10, you just don't help. Perception - always good in a new area. Disadvantage if rolling to make or assist a fire. Anything else? Ask me in Discord and I'll let you know
Mystery Rolls: cjyND4lw1d20+4 1d20+4 1d20+4·1d20+4
|
|
|
Post by Nakan on Mar 23, 2019 3:20:22 GMT
Between the three of them, the improvised shelter went up with little trouble, beyond one minor incident involving an overly helpful tabaxi and a collapsed wall. All things taken into consideration, the trio seemed to make a decent team in constructing the shelter.
As the weather continued its frenzied assault on the are, Nakan sat cross-legged on the frozen ground. It was cold, but at least the wind was being deflected away from the group now. No one was in mortal danger, for the moment. The goliath simply stared off into the darkness for a moment, watching the swirling snow dance at the edge of the torchlight. It was almost beautiful in a malevolent, dangerous sort of way. Weather like this used to be a regular occurrence in the Icerim Mountains, but he hadn’t seen a proper blizzard like this in more than two years. It reminded him of home and began to call old memories to the forefront of his thoughts.
His reminiscing was cut short by Echo’s shivering voice binging up Elora, the girl they were out here looking for. The tabaxi sounded hesitant to bring up what the young girl must be going through, but she had a valid reason to bring it up. Here were three adventurers, grown adults who were used to travel and rough living in some way or another, now huddled behind a simple lean-to and trying not to die of exposure. How well could a child be expected to do in a storm like this?
In all honesty, Nakan was beginning to think that this rescue mission would end up being a recovery effort instead. A human child wasn’t going to last very long in the wilderness, even without a blizzard raging around them. Barring the girl finding a cave or some other kind of natural shelter, Nakan put her chances on the very low end of the scale. Of course, he didn’t immediately voice this to his companions. They weren’t entirely out of the figurative woods yet.
“For the time being, we should focus on taking care of ourselves.” As he spoke, the goliath would gather a bundle of branches together and begin clearing a depression into the ground nearby the shelter. “I’m going to try and get a fire going here. We’ll be of no use to anyone if we’re all frozen solid, ja?”
Slinging his pack off his shoulders, Nakan would retrieve a small (for a goliath, anyhow) tinderbox and grab the still-burning torch from its place in the snow. Most of the branches were going to have moisture in them still, but the smaller twigs would hopefully be dry enough to start a fire just large enough to burn them anyway. Forming a small pyramid of twigs around a few oil-soaked scraps of cloth, Nakan would mutter a short prayer before bringing the torch into contact with the pile of tinder and kindling.
Survival Check, Primary Roller to get a fire started: pQunFYbx1d20+2 1d20+2
|
|
|
Post by moralhazard on Mar 23, 2019 3:28:28 GMT
It wasn’t anything like the forts she’d built as a child, back when Thea could never have imagined that she’d find herself hunkered down for the night with a goliath and a tabaxi on a quest to rescue a small child who may or may not be injured, but who was definitely magical in some way – and who they were likely already too late to save.
“Six days of this,” Thea added, softly, lifting her gaze to Echo, her own teeth chattering as well.
Nakan suggested that such thoughts weren’t helpful – they needed to focus on surviving right now. They could worry about Elora later.
“The storm isn’t going anywhere,” Thea said softly. “We’d – yes. A fire would be good.” Her shivers were slowly stopping, between the warmth of her two companions and the break from the wind. Didn’t fires also scare wild animals? Thea thought that was probably true, although she still couldn’t help glancing back over her shoulder into the darkness, searchingly.
Thea would lean forward, puffing gentle breaths of air onto the little fire Nakan was trying to coax into life, using all her glassblowing skill to make the breaths small and even, not so much that they would extinguish the flame.
Survival check, secondary fire roller: 1AL7ULlt1d20+2 Perception check with disadvantage: 1d20+2 OR 1d20+21d20+2·1d20+2·1d20+2
|
|