[Game Thread] Chapter 1: You Don't Mess With the Marshals

[Gavinfoxx]

Esther laughs at the antics with everyone else, but when Doc gets serious, groans, "Yeah, I am totally too drunk to be having a conversation this serious. But I'll try anyway." She pauses, collecting herself for a moment. "Okay. I know I should be ready for anything. And I take the training seriously, I do. I wouldn't be here if I didn't. But... I'm a magical kind of girl, you see? Use my magic to solve problems. Do stuff. Magic and spells and scrolls and stuff to be ready for anything. F'r the glory of Ehlonna. A place where I couldn't use magic is... kinda a big deal. It means I have to pack more non-magical stuff than usual, yaknow? Find non-magical healing and stuff, which is kinda hard. Say, when do we get our pay anyway?"

[JaketheSuperior]

Pay...? What pay are you referring to...? But again, Doc's eyes twinkle with playfulness. Fear not, young one, they'll get you set up with some shopping money soon enough, you'll see. What, is the free living space, food and camaraderie not good enough for you...?

His statement is left unfinished, and he stares up into the dusk sky, towards the north. It's not just him...all the current Marshals have stopped what they are doing.

Above, you can hear the extremely high-pitched chittering of a giant bat, which otherwise glides quietly towards the gathering and touches down directly next to Nightbreeze. Whoever it is is short and dark-robed; the outfit covers everything but the person's eyes. While he whispers frantically to the commander, Doc leans over to a possibly-confused Esther. Our lead scout for the northern skies...this can only mean trouble...

After a few more moments, the figure immediately hops aboard the bat and wings away again. Visibly shaken, the old elf sets his goblet down. This party is over...Marshals, gather quickly!

The non-military personnel quickly leave with hushed whispers and frightful glances at Nightbreeze. After the unit has closed in on him, he states matter-of-factly: Everyone in Elk Ridge has gone missing. Our faithful eyes in the sky spotted a child wandering the wilderness close by, who simply has no idea what has happened. The girl was out foraging for some time, but there was no sign of anyone when she returned home. We must move quickly to track down the perpetrators! Everyone mount up!!

Sharp whistles pierce the air, and dozens of beasts zoom onto the scene from the direction of the housing pens.

[Gavinfoxx]

Esther curses, and casts Delay Poison and Lesser Restoration on herself, sobering herself up somewhat, as she rallies with the rest of the group. Then she realizes that she has been cursing more than usual and acting a bit foolish and blushes, as she moves to mount Ochrewing...

 

Is it okay if I have those two spells prepared for the celebration? Cause, you know... Partaking in the bounty of Nature and all.

[Krazy]

Toby stands, still feeling warm from the wine, and glances at Thalia. They share a look across the room, and then he walks toward her for just a moment. "I have to go," he says simply.

She nods, and then steps forward herself. There is only a few moments--but Toby savors them, embracing her and taking a single, sweet kiss. With that he is gone, like a shadow stepping outside.

"Nightfire, to me!"

[Lukarnis]

Rennix is unspeakably grateful when his legs cease their wild, bizarre movements at the approach of the bat. Still, his body is rather upset with the large quantity of food and drink he has ingested, and his mind is a bit fuzzy as he makes his way to an open space where he can whistle for his mount.

Never. Never again.

 

So what are his penalties for being gluttonous and a bit tipsy?

[JaketheSuperior]

Oh, right, like I'm gonna tell you what your drunkenness penalty is
And yes, you can feel free to assume you had whatever magic you want prepared.

[Gulielmos]

Gregory looks around the room as his younger comrades enjoy their party. He was away from the party when the scout arrived but Fay starts to get agitated when the bat arrives. Having been using his time to train Fay, he flies over to the scout and begins to use his natural knowledge to get more of the story.

[Gulielmos]

Dice Roll:

1d20+11

(14)+11

Total = 25

Dice Roll:

1d20+11

(17)+11

Total = 28

These represent his knowledge of nature to find out the area's geography and terrain along with any thing odd the scouts may have seen or heard while talking to the girl.

[JaketheSuperior]

In the fading light of deep dusk, dozens of the finest warriors this realm has ever seen, along with the ten newest Marshals, arrive at the largest settlement on the northeast corner of Lunar Island. Elk Ridge is famous for its resilience in the face of near-constant attacks by pirates and enemy Solar battalions. Several times, the entire village has been razed and then rebuilt within a period of a week. This is not the location to be if you are faint of heart.

Unfortunately, such a quality lends itself to military preparation...several of your new squadron-mates had family here. It shows, too, as those are the ones who fly ahead the fastest.

Now, however, the settlement is eerily quiet, and several thin smoke trails rise into the atmosphere, giving the aerial view a hazy aura. Normally, there are several people milling about, but the only movement comes from a few woodland creatures poking around the edges of the clearing.

Several of the cottages are visibly damaged and a few roofs are fully caved in. Nightbreeze shouts out to the squads, SPREAD OUT!! Find survivors, then figure out where the hell everyone is!

[Lukarnis]

Rennix obeys, as much as his inebriated mind will allow, and swoops down towards the cottages below. He can sense some tension from his lammasu, but whether it's related to the situation or to the rider's mental state, Rennix doesn't allow himself to guess.

[Gavinfoxx]

Esther has one very, very good thing she can do -- she has better vision in the dark than anyone here, even the other varieties of elves. Of course, some of the other people here presumably have Darkvision, but that is limited in range, and her visual acuity isn't. She carefully looks around for evidence of movement or life, as she does a careful flyover of the area.

 

She has Superior Low Light Vision -- ie, she can see 4x as far as a human, or 2x as far as a normal elf. What she is doing, for every area she is flying over, she is taking the time to Take 10 on Spot (for 16, the 'rote' looking) as well as push herself, ie, roll for spot. She is making sure to look twice in any given area; once to cover the bases, once when she seeks inspiration.

This usually takes a Free action for the first check, and a Move action for the retry. I don't know how many of these she is taking, but I'll do three rolls to show examples. She is at the distance where she is Spotting rather than Searching; her vision is best at range.

She is using her light producing item -- a marble of Liquid Sunlight -- to help her search, and where it is safe and she has extra torches, dropping torches on the ground like flares to illuminate areas as needed.

Dice Spot +6:

1d20+6

(12)+6

Total = 18

Dice Spot +6:

1d20+6

(7)+6

Total = 13

Dice Spot +6:

1d20+6

(7)+6

Total = 13

[JaketheSuperior]

On the attached map file, I have circled the buildings which are collapsed or have other moderate to severe structural damage. Everything else looks visibly fine. North is to the top, and you approach from the southwest. To the south, west, and north is forest, and to the east is the ocean.

[JaketheSuperior]

Esther spots an arm poking out of the rubble of a collapsed home in the north part of town (the house with the red markers around the circle). A few other dead bodies are discovered by other Marshals, and these are brought to the center of the village for study. There's one small boy, a middle-aged woman, and three older men, all in their late 50's. They all died from damage done by the collapsing buildings.

Several Marshals determine that a ship was docked on the beach quite recently because of a large imprint from a boat's hull which dug into the ground. That would normally indicate a Solar attack, because their standard method of operation is to quickly beach troop ships and rapidly unload hundreds of troops instead of unloading slowly from the small pier.

[Gulielmos]

Gregory knows from talking to the scout and his own understanding that some third party was involved. After seeing the bodies the question that won't leave is where is everyone?

"This wasn't the work of Solars, exclaims Gregory, " because where are signs of battle, pillage or other signs beside the boat scrape in the sand. For all we know this is slavers work or someone with a ship took the townsfolk. You can do a search of town and forest edge but I must travel deeper into the woods to try and find tracks."

Dice Roll:

1d20+15

(12)+15

Total = 27

to find tracks then

Dice Roll:

1d20+15

(5)+15

Total = 20

to use survival skills to discern what happened and to double check for prints. The first was to find tracks ranging from fresh to old and second was a means of cross reference. Having done this he will employ both natural knowledge and aerial surveillance to help follow the tracks.

Dice Roll:

1d20+11

(8)+11

Total = 19

for knowledge nature.

[Gavinfoxx]

Esther directs some people to the arm, and then moves in to help dig the person out, solemn in her work. She isn't really speaking that much for this -- just short, to the point messages, like a "I've got something here!" or a "Help me clear the rubble!" ... but other than that, she isn't speaking much... Her face looks grim, having gone from such joviality to such solemnity in such short time.