[Game Thread] Chapter 1: The Spider Farm

[MossStone]

"Of course I know how to make gruel I used to serve it to prisoners and criminals all the time. I don't have, millet, hemp or barely, however so it will have to be made with rice. " And water because she had no milk either, but both were acceptable forms of the recipe. She had seen people ask, even beg for gruel many a time, but usually only when they were being feed once a week or so. Well there was nothing wrong with gruel it was actually very healthy, extremely economical, and could be drunk if it was thin enough so you did not have to waste a trip to the well to wash extra spoons. She certainly eat it often enough, though she had had the luxury of herbs she added to it, she still had some come to think of it.
Your Mother? Tryanne is bewildered, "What did she do for a living?" These people, were their whole families criminals?

[Lexkat]

Originally Posted by ArionNaomi

When Sheryllin speaks up, Siren is glad, she's taking initiative, offering an opinion- oh no wait, she was groveling again. The very action itself, followed by her straightening up and holding her dagger out, saying she was free... It tore at her heartstrings, no matter the jealousy she felt earlier.

Still the elf defered to her and Fish. "I... No. Don't ask me! You have a unique opinion that we value! I'm no leader! I don't want to be leader, I just offer a suggestion, which is all we ask of you. It's not out of turn. It's never out of turn." She watched Korin try to hug her and get rebuffed.

Ha! She almost smiled smugly. Almost. The confliction came back and while she felt sorry for the girl, the jealousy was still there. Fish didn't look at her like that.

"Okay, I get no guys touching, but would you let me hug you? It's how friends console one another. How we make each other feel better. It's rather therapeutic if you want to give it a try..." Unless she's stopped, Siren will give her a very soft, light, hardly touching hug.

Sheryllin pulls back slightly as Squirrel comes near, but she does lower the dagger, almost relenting to the touch. "Y-y-yes.' she says, fear lingering in her eyes.

After the light, barely touching hug, she begins to stand and looks to Fish. "Th- I am s-sorry." she says, then finishes standing. "But, n-no touch." she then points and looks at each and every male member of the group. "No." she declares.

Originally Posted by MossStone

"Of course I know how to make gruel I used to serve it to prisoners and criminals all the time. I don't have, millet, hemp or barely, however so it will have to be made with rice. " And water because she had no milk either, but both were acceptable forms of the recipe. She had seen people ask, even beg for gruel many a time, but usually only when they were being feed once a week or so. Well there was nothing wrong with gruel it was actually very healthy, extremely economical, and could be drunk if it was thin enough so you did not have to waste a trip to the well to wash extra spoons. She certainly eat it often enough, though she had had the luxury of herbs she added to it, she still had some come to think of it.
Your Mother? Tryanne is bewildered, "What did she do for a living?" These people, were their whole families criminals?

Something Birdie just said grabs Sheryllin's attention. She looks at the woman, her head turning to one side and she closes her eyes as she tries to recall where she's heard that voice. But she says nothing, she recognizes nothing.

 

 

Half-Elven Thief- 1

[ironbeard]

The dwarf looks at Dal and smiles, "Some woman have other girl skills that most men find attractive...they are usually of a more physical nature."

"Finding traps is a very useful skill, your mother was thinking ahead as to your possible future career choices."Thorin says and nods, My dear mother was also very insightful." he continues.

[PinkFairyArmadilo]

Dalwinkle finds no sign of traps on the door to the (F, 3)next building, so the group proceeds cautiously inside.

The perimeter of the inside is lined with hooks, most of which support tools that consist of a wooden pole with a spiked end, resembling a very long-handled morning star. The air is thick with a strange chemical smell emanating from a pair of troughs. A handful of the tools, spiked end completely covered in a massive ball of spider silk, rest in the troughs and whatever strange resin they contain.

There are no signs of anything amiss in this building. No signs of struggle or looting.

 

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[Nade]

Siren looked sad. Korin looks to her, not knowing why, perhaps not understanding the truth. Yes, she smiles, but her smile did not touch her eyes. Looking to the dishevelled girl, Sheryllin, Korin thinks he understands. The girl’s trauma has affected him badly too. To think of anyone who must have suffered the way she has….to break her confidence so….it breaks the heart of the gentle prankster. He wonders what he can do to make things better, but anything that he can do seems to be painfully inadequate, as evidenced by the rebuff from the tormented ex-slave. Watching as Siren goes over to her and gives her a gentle hug, Korin smiles sadly. It is something at least. And if his best friend can give the girl some comfort, perhaps soothe her troubled heart, then it is more that they had a moment earlier. Feeling a suspicious lump in his throat, Korin turns away from them, letting them have their moment. After a moment, Sheryl’s voice drifts to him on the breeze, apologising for her actions earlier. Smiling sadly, Korin tries to ignore the sting of tears in his eyes as he responds, “No, its ok Sheryl. I understand, truly.” In truth, his heart has shattered in twain at her plight. Blinking the tears away, he smiles at her in an expression that he hopes is reassuring. Laughing softly, he tries to lift the mood, “Besides, you’re so thin that I’d probably snap you in two if I hugged you anyway. We need to feed you up.” Like his closest friend before him, the smile did not touch his eyes. When Sheryllin and Siren finally parted, Korin immediately walks over to his friend. Beckoning her aside from the others, he walks away with her so that he could talk with her privately. As he does so, he glances across at his surroundings and shivers slightly. Caught up in the excitement of going on a real quest, and doing some real good, Korin had forgotten about how much he disliked spiders. He hugs himself slightly, purportedly because it was cold. Turning back to Siren, Korin speaks to her. “That was a really good thing that you did back there. I just wanted you to know that you have got a heart of gold, and that I’m glad you’re here.” Reaching out, he pulls Siren into an embrace, even as he whispers, “I wouldn’t want anyone else at my side out here.” Before she can react, Korin smiles as he gently leans in to kiss her on the forehead. “Promise me you won’t change, bestie.” Letting her go, Korin follows the others to the building as they investigate it. He catches the end of the conversation between Dal and Thorin. Not knowing to what they refer to, he asks innocently, “Oh? And what skills would these be?” Following the others inside the building, Korin crinkles his nose at the smell, even as he looks around in curiosity. “Will you look at all this stuff?” He lets out a low whistle of appreciation.

[Lexkat]

Sheryllin recoils away from Fish when he suggests snapping her in two. She will have to watch him from here on.

As the group moves to the next building, Sheryllin will keep her eyes open for traps, and try to detect noise. She stays behind the others, she is not the leader.

 

Dice Find Traps- 25%:

1d100

70

Dice Detect Noise- 25%:

1d100

93

 

 

Half-Elven Thief- 1

[MossStone]

Tryanne, after tieing up Inkblot to whatever seems strong enough outside studies the spiked poles a moment, and deciding they are to big to be of use in putting someone to question, assumes they have some other more banal use. She walks over to the troughs and studies the liquid. "Is it Alchemic , Naturalistic or some sort of potion? Perhaps the danger was something they made rather then grew.". She thinks hard on the matter and even consults her spell book.

OC Spellcraft +3 Check Dice Roll: 1d20 12 Int 14 (-2) +3(For Spell craft)= target of 15 or less- did I do this right?

OC Can I do an Int. Check on this as well just in case? Shes trying hard to think of anything it might be.

[Huhart]

Dalwinkle looked around the building and saw nothing of merit. The poles were obviously used to collect webs without disturbing the spiders. The foul smelling substance in the troughs was for some part of the silk making process that he was unaware of. Since he had given up on his silk making get-rich-quick scheme, he took little interest in it. The odor bothered his sensitive nose, so he stood near the door and watched as the others investigated the room.

He took particular interest in Tryanne, who was somehow trying to figure out what the resin was for. She had asked him about his mother, though he wasn't sure why. He'd only made a passing remark about mom, but it was nothing that would spark a persons interest to know all about her. So why was the girl so curious about her...unless, maybe she was actually interesting in him! This thought caught Dal off guard. No girl had been really interesting in him for a long time. When he was well off, there were some gold-diggers who were after his money, but never anyone special. Could this girl really be trying to initiate a relationship with him? He suddenly felt shy and unsure of himself.

Though the moment had past, he spoke anyways, "Ummm...you asked what my mom did for a living? She works for the family business, making wine. Perhaps you've hear of it...Grapeshanks... We, errr, They make a very fine Merlot. Quite famous in some regions. Very hard to come by these days." Since the "incident", Grapeshanks Merlot has increased in value by 25% due to the low supply available. Unfortunately, production has decreased by over 50% until the vines grow back.

"But, that has nothing to do with why I know about trap finding. Mom is an expert trickster. Back when they were courting, Mom's jokes nearly killed my pop on three separate occasions. That's how he knew she was the one, he always said. When I was growing up, I always had to chech the bed, the door, my shoes...basically everything. You never knew what she was up to." Dal gets a little misty eyes at the end, missing his family.

[Nade]

Korin was an inquisitive sort. Never content in staying in one place for any amount of time, he had seen everything that there was to see in this building. After all, there was only a certain amount of interest that one could take in what was essentially nothing more than a gardening shed with....spider harvesting equipment. Korin shuddered slightly at the thought of anyone getting close enough to one of those....those, spindly things to harvest their webs from them. Walking over to Sheryllin, Korin smiled gently at her as he spoke in a soft voice, "I....just wanted to say sorry for earlier. I didn't mean to upset or make you feel nervous. That wasn't my intention." Taking a deep breath, Korin continues, "I was just worried about you. I like you Sheryl, and I hate seeing you like that. If there's anything that I can do to help, anything at all, I'm here for you ok."" Grinning slightly, he added, "And I promise that I won't even hug you this time." Moving away, he leaves the others and starts to head over to the next building. They would probably have to go through the farm building by building to uncover whatever secrets it held within its midst. Taking another deep breath, Korin looks at the building through narrowed eyes. "I wonder what's behind door number two...." Muttering to himself, he places his hand tentatively on the door. "Hopefully no spiders behind here....." And then he pushes it open, glancing to see what lies beyond.   Opening the door of the building situated at G2

[ArionNaomi]

Being able to hug Shelly was both gratifying and oppressively infuriating. Gratifying because she was able to both give the woman some comfort and also because Fish couldn't put his hands on her. It was infuriating that someone could be so cruel as to instill this kind of fear into anyone, let alone one of Elven blood. Shelly was beautiful and no doubt talented once one got past the uncertainty and terror that was exhibited frequently.

There was no doubt in her mind that once they built up Shelly's confidence, she would be amazing. And Fish would be torn further from her. But in the end, she would make herself content with whatever made Fish happy.

One thing Siren wasn't expecting was when Fish came over and hugged her. Sure they had hugged lots of times, they were best friends after all, but with the thoughts tangled around in her head as they were, it both caught her off guard and made her giddy with hope. A small hope that one day they could be more than friends. He didn't want anyone else at his side. She grinned at him.

"There isn't anywhere else I'd rather be," she whispered back as he hugged her. Then he leaned in and did something she never expected. He kissed her.

Well... He kissed her forehead. It chaste, like a kiss between friends or siblings. But it was still a kiss and the first she'd had from Fish. She could have floated away right there and then, such was her elation. It didn't even matter that he called her "bestie". As far as she was concerned the score in the battle for Korin's heart was 1-0, and Siren was leading.

She followed after him, hearing Red's bit about some women's other attractive skills being of a physical nature and had to laugh at Fish's question. He truly was naive.

"Well, Fish, you see, sometimes us ladies know a thing or two about how to treat a man right when taking him to bed..." She said. Let him take what innuendos he would from her statement. And if he still didn't get it, she'd have to smack him upside the head.

The next space smelt funny and Siren wanted no part of it. She followed Fish to the next space and had to smack his hand away from the door. "Bad Fish! We always check for traps first!"

 

Find traps goal 20%

Dice find traps:

1d100

96

 

Fish = Korin
Amazon = Raza
Shortie = Dalwinkle
Birdie = Tryanne
Red = Thorin
Shelly = Sheryllin

[PinkFairyArmadilo]

Before the group rushed off to the next building, Tryanne takes a moment to inspect the strange resin the spider-silk-tangled tools soak in. While it doesn't seem to have any particular magical properties, it is a quite clever concoction. It is a fairly strong solvent which has been dissolving the sticky spider glue on the webbing without damaging the silk, itself.

But patience is a commodity rarer and more valuable than silk, and the group rushes off to the next building, barely taking a moment to do a cursory check for traps before barging through the doorway.

Inside what appears to have been a work room you see chests along one wall, emptied of their bolts of cloth. Along the other walls, work tables where the silken cloth had been sewn into finished ropes, or garments, or sheets. You can almost picture what it must have looked like when it was in use... this imagery is helped by all of the pilfered goods still being on hand, being loaded into a cart by three small creatures. Physically they resemble whip-thin goblins with yellow eyes and jet black skin. Their hair is thin, lank, and white, resembling cobwebs. Their teeth are needle-sharp, like a shark’s teeth. Their faces and bodies, where you can see beneath their leather armor, are painted with red, asymmetrical patterns. Upon seeing your entry, two drop their loot on the floor and draw short swords, while the third, which had been directing the other two, draws a short sword in one hand and a dagger in the other. They shout a few sentences in a language none of you understand and move to attack.

(OOC: Initiative is going to be determined thusly: whoever posts first moves first, bad guys move last.)

 

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Battle Map

[Nade]

The door opens with a loud creak as Korin sighs at the noise. Turning to Siren, he shrugs with what was almost an apologetic look as he says, "Sorry dearest, well I was never the most graceful or nimble amongst us." That was true. Korin had always had the grace and subtlety of a herd of stampeding elephants. There was the time he had attempted to sneak into the mayor's mansion to pour laxative into his mulled wine. On the way out Korin had tripped and landed face first into a shelf adorned with expensive china. And the time that he went on a date with a pretty girl in the Old Kingdom. He had taken her fishing on his boat on the lake. As they sailed across the clear, crisp waters, he had stood to try and reel the fish in. As he did so, he accidentally overbalanced the boat, sending them both overboard to land in the water. He grins as he looks into the room. Good times. That smile was quickly wiped off his face at the scene within. Three strange.....somethings were loading what seemed to be items into a small cart. Along one side of the room were open chests, emptied of whatever possessions they once had within them. Looking at the room, it must have once been a place where the inhabitants of the farm wove the silk they harvested from the spiders into handmade garments and bolts of cloth for use. He shudders slightly at the thought of spider stuff being used for anything other than burning before bringing his mind back to the situation at hand. Whatever these things were, stealing someone else's personal belongings was not right no matter which way he looked at it (even if it was spider stuff). Plus they were ugly. Plus they smelled really, really bad. An explosive combination if ever he saw one. A multitude of emotions swirled around Korin as he approached the smelly, spindly things, trying very hard to hold his breath as he did so. Firstly, there was the adrenaline. This was *his* chance, finally, to play the hero. This was the opportunity for Korin, as the knight in shining armour, to save the day and rescue the damsel in distress (not that there was any damsel here to be rescued, but it was the thought that counted). Secondly, and perhaps a little more prominently was the resurfacing of his earlier nervousness. This was the moment that Korin had both looked forward to and dreaded. The time when he would finally be forced to draw steel and put his foster father's teachings to use. Was he ready? It was a question that he had no answer to. As Korin closed on the creatures, he drew his sword in readiness to face them. His focus was on the first of them as he approached. "Squirrel, go get the others. And stay back, whatever you do." His expression was grim as he brought his sword overhead, remembering Randall's teachings as the distance between them became nothing, aiming his sword in a vicious overhead slice at the creature's midsection.... Unfortunately, nerves got the better of poor Korin. His movements were too slow, his attack too sluggish as he brought his sword to bear, allowing the smelly thing ample time to dodge out of the way of his clumsy blow. Muttering an epithet under his breath, Korin quickly tried to bring his sword back, taking a step backwards in anticipation of the riposte. He found himself wishing that he had a shield with him to try to deflect the creature's assault.   Moving to E6 to attack creature in E5 9 to attack, guessing that's a miss

[Lexkat]

When she sees the ugly creatures trying to make off with the treasure, her treasure, anger floods Sheryllin, and she focuses on them. Her mind forgetting how weak her body is. She begins to move forward, ignoring any who try to stop her.

Just like the one in charge, Sheryllin draws her short sword and dagger. She moves forward, tossing the dagger up and catching the blade expertly, as she has done hundreds of times before, and flicks the blade at the one she supposes is the leader.

{She'll be just behind and to the left of Korin, so... C7?}

She gets +2 for missile attacks, so her effective THAC0 is.... 18? (It's been so long since I've needed to calculate THAC0. :

Dice Dagger:

1d20

18

Dice Damage, if she hit:

1d4-1

(3)-1

Total = 2

 

 

Half-Elven Thief- 1

[MossStone]

"Not magical, but quite useful." Tryanne mumbles, impressed with the farmers ingenuity. "Yes I have heard of your wines, my Master use to offer them to the goddess of-" She cuts off frowning. "It appears we are missing the others." Without giving much more thought to Dalwinkles story, other then to decided that his mother was a dangerous madwoman, she quickly follows after the others.
"I hate to be so rude as to ask this," she addresses the goblins in their own tongue. "But considering this farms owners have complained of an attack I am afraid you will need to offer proof or explanation of your rights to those objects. If not my companions will probably kill you. They might do so anyway,if spooked, so I suggest you make no sudden movements." Her voice is calm and even. If they are thieves then she'll slit their thoughts herself. She If they try to flee she has at least one good magic spell to stop them, and her quarter staff. So she makes sure she is blocking the door.

[MossStone]

Dice Roll:

1d20+1

(6)+1

Total = 7