Arikarka
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Linked Characters: Citrine, Gigi, and Rhia
Posts: 316
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Post by Arikarka on May 16, 2019 3:39:25 GMT
(And so the failed survival checks begin) Thea turned around as the memories of the general layout of the forest, and one or two main focal points, were starting to reoccur to her. There was one river that lead into the forest, but it split into two. At the end of each river were ruins - in fact there were several ruins scattered about the forest. Elora, if she was lucky enough, could have made it to one of them for shelter. But how far could a group of children have walked to begin with? Unless the whole caravan had found one of the roads that lead to an old estate and the kids took off from there. So for what way to go? It was hard to tell. Right now they were following a game trail into the forest, the old elven and drudic forest not having much in the way of a proper road into it - at least not where they presently were. The rustling and animal huffing grew louder, and by the time Thea had heard the noise and turned around a familiar face greeted her. It was Darious the dog. The goofy canine that had been playing around the children back at Waterdeep that Thea had seen before leaving the city. Nothing otherwise of note was seen or perceived. At the moment of making eye contact with Thea he started wagging his tail heartily back and forth. Clumps of ice were between his toes, he had small icicles where his slobber had collected and now started to melt, and his long chest hair and furry 'mane' around his neck had some dread buildup of debris. "Wuoof!"Nakan on the other hand, took the quieter moment now in the woods to return to the quest at hand. To prepare for the worst. What chance did the child have after all out here? Even though the snow had barely penetrated the deep thick elven forest - it was still a wild and untamed thing. The forests and undergrowth here were much different from the frozen tundra of Nakan's home. As such, he had, quite simply, no idea what he was looking at, for, or even had a good guess to where to start. There was a growing mushroom though, right near his foot. A pretty yellow color.
A DM hint hint nudge nudge to you all I love creativity and the application of a character's backstory, history, abilities (both racial and class) to help PCs overcome obstacles. The worst you can do is ask. Be creative. If you present an idea of how you are applying a knowledge, ability, etc in a way that fits thematically, helps character growth, or is a risk your character is willing to take I will take that into consideration when you roll via undisclosed +/- to DCs. Of course I'd like to see that idea be presented IC vs OOC, but do with that as you will. I will be someone to bounce ideas off of, but I will not say if it is a bad idea or good idea. I will hopefully do my best in not railroading or designing a specific 'you must go this way' way to accomplish looking for Elora. The forest is only so big, you'll find her eventually, either from luck or just good ol' fashioned grid searching. As Moral knows, if there are too many failed checks something bad can come out of the woods. You won't fail, but you might get delayed. And the clock is ticking.Time passing is not something super set in stone. If a lot of time passes IC I'll reference the changing of day to night, etc, but otherwise it will be up to you to decide when and where to take a short or long rest. Have fun
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Post by moralhazard on May 16, 2019 17:58:25 GMT
“Oh, Darius!” Thea giggled. “Silly boy,” she knelt, cheerfully beckoning the friendly dog over. If he came and seemed willing, she would pet him and scratch him behind the ears, freely and cheerfully. After some cheerful reuniting, Thea would do her best to work out some of the icicles in his fur, and even a bit of the debris, using a bit of summoned silvery wind to help her work at some of the thornier knots, as best as she could without something like a comb.
“Did you follow us all the way here, silly?” Thea asked, smiling at the dog, her tone light and cheerful, sounding more like she was praising the dog than insulting him. “Larian will be worried about you,” she scratched behind his ears again.
Petting the dog was much more pleasant than contemplating Nakan’s words. It was a thing none of them had wanted to say outright. Thea understood why Nakan had wanted it in the open, but… it wasn’t nice to think about.
“There are ruins in the woods,” Thea said, looking up from the dog. “It’s… not as cold here as it was outside. I – heard a bit about it, from the caravan I traveled here with. The river that leads into the woods splits off, and there are ruins at the end of each branch. Maybe…” Thea took a long, deep breath. “Maybe there’s a chance that she found her way to one of them.”
Thea did her best to bring her attention away from Darius, although she kept absently petting him. Looking hadn’t helped, but she was a creature of winds, not only by birth and blood but by magic as well. She focused her attention on the wind swirling around them; she could feel it mingling with the wind in her hair. Silently, although she felt it was a bit crazy, she tried to join her attention to it, wondering if she could – somehow – hear or smell anything on the wind that might give her a clue to where Elora was.
((Note: Thea is using mage hand to help her groom Darius!
If you even allow this, I could see it being an arcana check, a nature check, or another perception check. Since those rolls differ quite a bit, let me know which – if any – you’d like Thea to try for her crazy idea.))
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Post by moralhazard on May 16, 2019 18:05:05 GMT
Rolling arcana plus wis mod: gaudFmDK1d20+21d20+2
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Arikarka
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Linked Characters: Citrine, Gigi, and Rhia
Posts: 316
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Post by Arikarka on May 16, 2019 18:11:23 GMT
Thea would close her eyes and try to listen to the wind that blew through the forest. But her hesitation at thinking how silly or unusual the application of trying to be one with the wind had her just interrupting her own thoughts. Nothing of note was shared or gleaned from the attempt.
((I'll give this a similar sort of 'short rest' ability. So it allows for a re-roll, but not constantly.))
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Kestrel
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Post by Kestrel on May 17, 2019 9:35:40 GMT
Echo stared across the length of her weapon’s tiller, eyes narrowed, and exhaled. Something splintered and cracked deeper in the forest. More of the weird storm? Or something else? She held her breath. One second. Another. Then a third…and nothing. Nothing at all. The crossbow slipped from Echo’s grip as her shoulders sagged, landing upright in the snow with a soft thud. The tabaxi followed close behind as she slumped against their makeshift hut. She sighed. They were alone again – only the howling blizzard, the flicker of their tiny fire, and the crumpled and bloody corpse of the first wolf were left. The other wolf was long gone. With the adrenaline seeping from her body Echo’s limbs felt heavy, the pain in her leg becoming even sharper, and she winced as she dragged the wound closer to the light. She stuck her tongue out and retched.
It, like, looked even grosser there.
Still…it was not so bad. Painful as heck! But, uh, not bad. Steadying herself against their shelter with one hand and gently placing her other over the torn flesh, the treasure hunter began to heal away the damage with the soft, orange glow of her magic. Her ears perked and her tail twitched as the pain ebbed away. Better! Like, a lot better. Soon enough the worst of the gashes and cuts had mended themselves back together, leaving behind only torn gouges in her fur. Echo set about cleaning the blood and spittle away with a handful of snow.
They were alive!
Both of her companions were alive, unhurt even, though Thea seemed consumed in her own thoughts and Nakan kept himself busy with dragging the wolf corpse away from their camp. She did grin and nod at the giant when he came to check up on her, though. Echo began to wrap her wound tight with a strip of cloth from her pack. She was alive! They had survived their first night in the storm, out in the wilds, and had only managed to almost die. In her book – that was pretty dang good! Stretching out her bound leg, crossing her arms, and pulling her scarf tighter around her neck, Echo looked from one companion to the other. She inhaled deeply and muttered.
“Sooooo…that’s one way to end a day, huh?”
Whether there was a response or not – Echo had no idea. She fell asleep almost immediately.
------------------------------------------- The rest of their trip to the forest was…pretty uneventful, honestly! The weather seemed to improve almost immediately – the blizzard had faded away by morning as quick as it had come, and the blue skies and warm sun and sparkling snow had done a lot to improve the mood. Even if it was still cold as hecks! Thank the Cat Lord for giving her fur. Echo, though, had still been unusually quiet that first morning after. Even with magical healing, the tabaxi’s injured leg had been awfully sore and stiff. She had struggled to keep up with her two companions as Nakan plowed a path through the snowdrifts for them. But, even more than that? She had thought about little Elora. Even Echo had to wonder – did the storm get her? Another hungry wolf? Or some other nasty thing? What…what would they find in that forest?
It was a sour thought. A bad thought.
By the afternoon, though, her usual cheer had returned, and Echo had spent most of the evening and the entire following day humming and skipping and chatting to Thea and Nakan and herself and every single bird they passed by. Grassland became farmland. Farmland became forested fields. Forested fields became the edges of Ardeep forest itself. Everything was covered and hidden by a pretty, beautiful blanket of white, but as they got deeper and deeper into the thick forest it had melted away to reveal a still summerlike place of leaves, colorful mushrooms, and weird animal noises. The last one was maybe a little concerning! But just a little.
Echo grinned. Weird animal noises or no – this place was amazing!
Eyes closed, the tabaxi stretched her arms, spun in a circle, and inhaled deeply. The earthy but sweet scent of the old forest filled her nose. She sneezed. As did the cold air! It was warmer here, that was for sure, and Echo tugged her scarf a bit looser, but it was still very much a wintery day. The night would be even colder, and that meant they had to find Elora as fast as they could. How, though? She opened her eyes as Thea spoke up and shrugged. Tracking?
“Nope!”
Not this city tabaxi! Echo could sniff out a lot of things: a heavy coin purse, buried treasure, a new instrument…apples. But out here, in the wilds? She was out of her element. The treasure hunter flicked her tail and huffed. Not that she was about to give up. Far from it! Her eyes narrowed. And neither should her two companions. Ears flattening and fur bristling just a little, Echo moved past Nakan as he spoke, throwing him a sidelong frown, and stopped by the edge of the river.
“No.”
She bent down. Her own blurry reflection stared back as it danced in the ripples.
“I made a promise, big guy. Elora is getting home – I’ll, uh, carry her the whole way back if I have to!”
That was another promise! Echo scattered her reflection with the prod of a claw, looked at her forearm, and then clicked her tongue. Hmm. So long as she was, like, not toooooooooo heavy at least. But, uh, the thought still counted! They would find the girl. They would get her to safety. They would go back to that caravan and kic-
The treasure hunter’s ears sprang up. Something…barked. Barked! She reached over her shoulder, grabbed hold of her crossbow, and spun around, already half standing as she caught sight of Thea. Thea and…a dog? Not another wolf. Weird, but good! Echo set the weapon back down and stood fully, crossing her arms. Thea seemed to know the dog, already trying to clean bits of ice and snow from its matted fur, and even to her it seemed a little familiar. Had they seen it earlier? Back at the caravan? Maybe. Echo shrugged. Whatever. The dog was not Elora and that made it slightly less important. Cute! But less important. Echo tapped her chin as she listened to Thea, though, and hummed to herself. Ruins? River split? Interesting! She had heard some things about Ardeep Forest before, but it was clear that her two companions were far more familiar with the area than she was. She had never been there before, after all. She had grown up in cities. She was also a former thief turned treasure hunter turned treasure hunter with no jobs. But, something Nakan had said earlier put an idea in her head.
Echo had one thing going for her.
She had once been part of a troupe! A travelling troupe! That was kind of like a caravan, right? They had travelled together, gathered stuff on the road, and set camp each night. Maybe…maybe she could remember something about that! Something her dad or Fish in the River or Night of Dreams did each time they set up somewhere. Say…how far they would go to get firewood or water? How far they let her wander off? Something that might let her tell Thea or Nakan how far Elora could have wandered off and, from that, give them an idea of their own as to where they might look first!
It was worth a shot, at least. Echo closed her eyes and began to think really, really, really hard.
------------------------------------------- So I'm hoping to use Echo's memories/little bit of experience travelling with her dad's musical troupe back when she was a kid to see if she could figure out, like, how reasonably far away Elora could have gotten from the main path. Based on how a typical caravan and its members might operate. If that's fine - what check should I make?
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Kestrel
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Posts: 319
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Post by Kestrel on May 17, 2019 17:09:20 GMT
Intelligence check: fi9jE9JA1d20 1d20
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Kestrel
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Post by Kestrel on May 17, 2019 17:13:23 GMT
Survival check (with disadvantage): llqX8wwA1d20+2 / 1d20+2 1d20+2·1d20+2
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Post by Nakan on May 22, 2019 6:11:22 GMT
Nakan was at a loss. The forest floor might as well have been from a different plane, the goliath couldn’t make out a single track that even remotely appeared to belong to a young child. The only thing of any interest he’d managed to find was a toadstool, and a poisonous one if its yellow coloration was anything to judge by. He stared at the mushroom, swearing under his breath.
His concentration was eventually broken, first by Echo’s dogged determination and refusal to believe that Elora might have succumbed to the elements, and then by the sound of a dog’s bark. For a moment, Nakan thought another group of wolves had snuck up behind them but was instead surprised to see a large, albeit dirty, dog. In fact, it seemed to be the same dog that he’d caught a glimpse of back in Waterdeep, just before Thea had joined the search party.
The aforementioned genasi was busying herself with the dog - Darius, he heard her say - when Nakan had a spark of an idea.
The goliath turned his attention to Echo, recalling that one of the young children in the caravan had given her something of Elora’s.
“Echo...when we were in the city, one of the children gave you a small toy of some kind. Did it belong to Elora by chance?” He turned his attention towards Thea and Darius. “If so, this dog here may be the answer to our questions about the child's location.”
The goliath would spend the next few moments explaining how he had seen and heard tell of hunters in Narfell and Rashemen using packs of trained dogs to track game and fugitives across the vast wilderness of eastern Faerun. He had a feeling that Darius might be able to help them track Elora down, even in the vast Ardeep Forest.
He’d also take a moment to mention that, given a bit of time to meditate and focus on the dog, he could likely communicate precisely what they wanted to Darius. It wasn’t a skill he used often, but it was one he had picked up from his tribe’s shamans nonetheless.
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Kestrel
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Post by Kestrel on May 28, 2019 17:26:37 GMT
Echo scrunched her nose. It was, uh, all a bit…fuzzy. Her memories, that was. She remembered an okay amount: the rumble of their pretty painted wagon, the carved wooden robin hanging and bobbing over her bed, and the smell of smoke and Nimble Light’s cooking. Good things! But, like, everything else? The actual camping bits? It was fuzzy. Very fuzzy. Echo tapped a claw against her chin, then a foot, and then hummed and scrunched her nose more. Three Trees was the one who had always gotten the firewood (there had been a lot of jokes about that one, she remembered that too!), and Fish in the River had gotten the fish or game or berries. Her dad and Night of Dreams had unpacked everything. What…what in the hells did she do? What did they let her do? Did she, like…wait! The tabaxi’s eyes snapped open, a grin widening, and snapped her fingers at the same time. That was it! Echo remembered digging a hole! Not a big one, but! A hole! At the center of their camp each night. It was hard and dirty and sucked, but she remembered doing it. Why? Who knew! But she bet they had Elora do the same thing! Echo reached behind her, unhooked the shovel from the side of her pack, and then pointed it at her two companions.
That was it! Little Elora had buried herself!
“I got it! So, like…”
Echo chewed the side of her cheek, but her eyes and ears were wide and perked. Little Elora – here they come!
“We gotta dig! A lot, maybe. Like the, uh, whole forest road kinda lot. Maybe. Probably? Probably. Which kinda really sucks! But if we’re gonna dig up Elora we gott- “
The treasure hunter blinked. Wait, what? Nakan had said something about a small toy. And a dog. But mostly about a small toy. Elora’s small toy? What to – wait. Wait! Waaaaait! Echo looked down at her belt, at the yellow stuffed bear tucked there, and clicked her tongue. Oh! Yeah. That was a thing, too, huh? Echo, as she stowed her shovel back away, listened to their giant continue and explain a bunch of things about hunters and trained dogs and game and tracking and a whooooole lot, lot more. Really? Echo blinked again. She, uh, blanked out for half of it. Maybe most of it. The tabaxi huffed as she pulled the stuffed bear out, its woven fur still a little damp from the snow and ice that had melted off it. She still liked her digging idea, too. But? Nakan also sounded like he knew what he was talking about, at least the, uh, bits she had caught, and Echo supposed they could give it a try.
“Uh…okay! I guess? Here.”
Echo extended her hand and held out the bear for Nakan. Her other hand was on her hip, though, and she gave Thea’s dog a look. She muttered under her breath.
“Don’t know how a dumb dog is gonna find a buried kid, though.”
By the Cat Lord’s sniffing little nose, they would have to dig eventually!
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Post by moralhazard on May 28, 2019 17:40:32 GMT
Thea listened; she listened, hard, with most of her mind focused on the wind and the rest thinking about how this would never work, the intrusive thoughts creeping in just as she started to think – maybe –
And it didn’t.
There was nothing; she thought maybe she could feel the wind, she thought maybe there was something in it that was… reaching to her, like the lightning that had first sparked her sorcery powers so long ago. And then she felt foolish, and the feeling of connection faded, leaving behind only an uncertain curiosity about whether it had even been real at all.
Thea sighed, fingers tangling in Darius’s coat, her forehead resting softly against him. Stupid, she thought. Stupid. It didn’t work that way. It never had. The dog smelled – very unpleasant, actually, like wet fur, and so Thea didn’t linger too long, pulling back and grimacing, rubbing her face on her sleeve. “Good boy,” she told Darius, giving him a gentle scratch behind the ears.
“Oh!” Nakan’s suggestion was a good one, much better than hers, and Thea perked up, swiveling to grin up at the goliath. “Oh, that is a good idea!” Echo didn’t seem convinced – she was saying something about digging Elora up, which to Thea felt very much at odds with her previous certainty that they’d bring the girl home alive – but the tabaxi pulled out the doll.
“I hope she isn’t buried,” Thea said, uneasily, looking at Echo. She sighed, still scratching Darius gently behind the ears, waiting for Nakan to finish his meditations. She certainly couldn’t hope to explain anything like this to the dog, as much as she liked him.
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Post by Nakan on Jun 1, 2019 6:06:33 GMT
To be perfectly honest, Nakan had been grasping at straws with the suggestion that Darius could be a suitable stand-in for a trained hunting dog. But at this point, it didn’t seem like there were many alternatives.
He took the stuffed animal from Echo’s outstretched hand, giving the bear a quick once over as he listened to the tabaxi voice her doubts.
“Just … humor me for a moment,” he said, before adding under his breath in an almost silent whisper “And maybe pray a little, too.”
Without any wasted time, Nakan immediately set to preparing for the ritual. It was a time-consuming process and required many separate but equally intricate steps. Over the next ten minutes, the goliath carved a wide circle into the dark earth of the forest floor and then proceeded to slowly and carefully inscribe Dethek runes around its perimeter. The runic symbols proved to be the longest part of the process, likely because Nakan often had to pause and rack his brain to remember precisely what runes went where.
Eventually, however, the preparations were complete. Standing in the center of the completed sigil, Nakan took one last look around him before taking a seat, cross-legged, on the ground. Closing his eyes, he began to allow his own energy to reach out towards that of the forest.
A slow, lazy gust of wind writhed through the canopy above as the goliath began his incantations. In a low, monotone voice, he recited the verse that his tribe’s shamans had drilled into him years ago.
“Kykvendi, na at formaelandi orr felagi.”
Nakan would repeat this chant continuously, turning the phrase into a mantra as he focused on the primal forces and energies that ebbed and flowed through the forest around him, attempting to tap into them as a source of power for his ritual.
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