[Game Thread] [Hive] Episode I: Strike the Earth!

[Aosaw]

"It was only a day ago that I was a worker myself; I can tell you that we do not tire, and if directed properly, do not need rest."

You should show empathy for your former brethren.

Empathy is misplaced on those who have no minds with which to accept it. I should sooner show empathy to a stone, or a tree.

There are those who do.

Agricola's jaw snapped open, then closed. "Very well; one hour's rest. After that, Apollodorus, I defer to your greater experience in directing the strike."

[Waugh]

I will go with you, Ossu, if you wish. Vedinero began to reach out, like a timid hand, towards this new grand world he's found himself in. Between the conversation he'd kept tabs on the circling workers, watching their perimeter through their eyes. Already the minds of Formian workers was beginning to tire him; when there were mountains! There were beasts! There were goblins! Their minds would taste different, he supposed. Not better, maybe, but who knows? I would very much like to experience some of this world. For the good of the Hive, of course.

Vedinero reached out to touch the Queen's little curious mind, small and warm. Quietly he spoke to her. You know what that's like, yes?

[Allu]

Apollo smiled and rubbed his antennae together in obvious enjoyment before spreading "This is all as a glory for the queen of course my cousins, the honour of making a great home is great."

With that he begins to walk around the area they stopped at the direction of others, his keen eyes trying to find the best place possible to site his wonderful new project, where a fold of the earth would protect the entrance from all but the nearest prying eyes and near a valley between hills facing the mountain so he could match the queen's thoughts of the mountain.
Siting the Entrance

Dice Roll:

(as this is an older post, these rolls are interpreted by the older (more basic) dice roller code)
d20+17:	(7) + 17	Total = 24

(+7 if it's search instead of Knowledge)

As he works the others can feel a slight hum, he's thinking so hard and so distractedly that those nearest him can sense it if they concentrate, then there's a clear ping through the link. Apollo's voice come's back after that fairly humbled. "My queen told me of you and what you have done in your own kingdoms, that you're all brilliant in your own way so I would like some advice, you can go look at the source of the fire if you wish but remember two things, we've already marched 8 hours today and I'll need to ask you things across the link as I make my design. Invictus, Ossu and Agricola especially have knowledge about parts of the hive I never really saw."

[HarpyBane]

"I will go alone. I will not be seen, heard, or noticed, and I will report back what I find." Ssch'thar walks over to Ossuvatoteno "Don't worry, if there are any issues, I will summon you immediately. But for now, we shouldn't risk anything knowing of our presence here."

[Firesong]

"This one will remain with the Queen, for now," the bulky formian notes. "The more we spread out before the hive is established, the more likely any trouble which comes will get through to Her, and the more who work on the colony, the sooner she will be away from danger, and the sooner that is so, the sooner we can pursue other paths, with less risk.

[Aosaw]

Agricola said nothing, but joined the workers in forming a close perimeter. He waited for Apollodorus's instructions.

[Klomag]

"Fine," Ossuvatoteno replies to the offer of stealth. "If it is far, I will be your link, that I may be close if there is danger."

[HarpyBane]

"I'm not against having backup, so any who wish, feel free. I will approach first, then if it is necessary, call for backup." Ssch'thar wastes no time, and immidiately heads towards the smoke, only pausing long enough to drop his sack of items next to the queen and take out the rest of his arrows and a spyglass.

[Allu]

Sensing the go ahead from at least two of those he needed information from Apollodorus sat down upon the point he had founded and beamed out what he needed to know. "Within the design did any of the rooms do the; Entrance way, worker's room, storage rooms, male dormitaries, study, guard room, queen's room or the treasure hoard (in descending depth) needed any special features beyond just being an enlarged tunnel and did their hives contain anything else?"

[Virulent Allegory]

The Queen in her palanquin proffers a rest to the workers; bending to the ground, their carapace brushes the earth, but yet the poles of her palanquin rest across their shoulders, ready to leap into action when she gives her quiet command.

As Ssch'thar, Invicta, Ossuvatoteno, and Verdinero march off to the north, Ssch'thar leads the way, skittering down the rocky slope of a hill into the narrow valleys between them. Following the circuitous route around the high points in the foothills, the scouts take about two hours to travel the four miles to the smoke.

Looking up as they walk to keep the pillar of smoke in view as they move, an intermittent noise, like a gust of wind grows louder. Finally Ssch'thar holds up his claw in a gesture to stop - you are all close enough for a peek. Crawling up the side of the hill, you lay your antennae down and crane your heads to get a look.

About 300 feet away, the scouts can make out an encampment of mostly temporary looking shelters. Sprawled across a hundred feet or so are a dozen dome-shaped tents of stitched leather, surrounding a lone stone building the pillar of black smoke rises from a makeshift chimney. At the side of the building, a pair of bipedal creatures with reddish-orange skin stand on an enormous bellows, pulling themselves up by a chain that hangs above them, allowing the pleated leather bag to draw air, then releasing it to let their weight crush the air out, making a tremendous amount of noise in the process. Against the front of the building, two more of the creatures stand against the building, apparently warming themselves on its outer walls. They wear metal armor, polished to a high sheen.

Meanwhile, back with the queen...

Appolodorus is too excited to wait for the workers break to begin digging, and begins to dig through the rocky soil at the base of the hill. Losing track of time, he barely even notices when the workers join in alongside him; together they rapidly dig out a low tunnel through the ground, 5 ft tall and 5 ft wide, leaning down in a steep grade. Barely fifteen feet deep, and the workers run into a wall of stone; as they clear the looser soil and rocks away from it, Apollo realizes immediately that this must be a construction of some sort. As the workers bring their steel-hard digging claws to bore through this obstruction, Apollo calls them to halt, redirecting them to lump the tremendous amount of dross pulled out to form the tunnel into the nearby valley. The workers salivate prodigiously on the clumps of rocks and dirt, forming them into balls as large as they are, which they roll up the incline, pushing them aside, to fill up the low land between hills.

Examining the crude stonework revealed before him, Apollo calls out to Agricola and Ageliemache to come down into the tunnel.

OOC Scouts may make a Knowledge (Local) check to know what the bipeds are; this is trained only, as normal. Foremen - find a new place to dig, dig out the structure to get a better look at it, or knock your way in?

[Fink]

I have read about these creatures. They are militant in nature, and very organized. Their society resembles that of primitive formians, but with more nefarious ambitions. Invicta fiddles with his antennae in though. We must be on the inner most Material plain.

Knowledge Local 21
Knowledge Planes 29

OOC They are Hobgoblins. I win the roll. To summarize, they're strong, civilized, well-organized, prideful, usually lawful-evil, usually speak Common and Goblin, they have darkvision as good as yours, and they prefer warm, hilly environments. Thx VA

[Waugh]

Nefarious ambitions! That's not promising. So our choices are to stay out of their sight, force some kind of agreement between us, or eliminate them. Vedinero looked at his fellow scouts. The last option being somewhat precarious at this juncture, of course. Contact with them could entail resources - their skills look like metal and building, though, and we have architects of our own for that. Privately he was thinking further, at their small forms and little features, wondering at the capabilities of their minds and bodies. Could they be useful to the Hive? Could they be useful to him? Hiding, though, would mean extra precautions we have to take.

[HarpyBane]

I speak common...but I am not very good at negotiations. Ssch'thar peers intently at the hobgoblins They appear to be organized creatures though, perhaps we CAN use them. The question is, why would they offer a peace with us. We are on their land, and will put more strain on the resources in the area, and unless we benefit them in some way, they will probably seek to push us out. Ssch'thar peers through the spyglass towards the grouping of buildings, and tries to count how many there are.

[Allu]

Apollodorus' first instinct is to shatter the thwarting object and leave it at that but well he needs time to plan before much more digging can be done anyway so he might as well find out what this is. He'll call the others down and start examining it, brushing dirt away from the edges he'll have the workers excavate around it but leaving the dirt near the hole so they can replace some of it if required. As they work he racks his brain for what it might be. "What do you think cousins?"

Knowledge Architecture:

Dice Roll:

(as this is an older post, these rolls are interpreted by the older (more basic) dice roller code)
d20+17:	(13) + 17	Total = 30

Knowledge Dungeoneering:

Dice Roll:

(as this is an older post, these rolls are interpreted by the older (more basic) dice roller code)
d20+8:	(7) + 8	Total = 15

Knowledge History:

Dice Roll:

(as this is an older post, these rolls are interpreted by the older (more basic) dice roller code)
d20+6:	(17) + 6	Total = 23

OOC: If it's quite small (less than 400 pounds) he'll levitate it out. If it's large and not that useful he'll have the workers smash through it.

[Aosaw]

Agricola joined in the digging, mostly out of habit, but when the obstruction was discovered, he sent his mind out to ask it questions. Tapping it with his antennae, he probed the psychic memories of the stone.