[Game Thread] Chapter 2: Vildenai

[Fillyjonk]

Riverside Nukky and A'ru, here the river flattens and widens into a lake. In the real place, with Canterbear, you could see your exit, the river's mouth. Here, no. There is only mist. The sun doesn't move. The fishing boats out on the water neither come closer nor go farther. This is not a loop. There is no reset. Nothing repeats; it only endures. This is a moment that goes on and on, and staring out at the water that disappears into fog, you feel it, both of you feel it. This moment is like the Wilds around you on three sides, is like the mist and water in front of you; If you are in it, you are in it. You could walk or swim or sail off into them if you like, deeper and deeper, farther and farther, and they will go on and on forever, endless in space and simultaneously so completely finite in time that there is no true movement. Laisren, you re-gather the group and put forth a theory that this whole plane is a story. An alive story. Here's another story you could tell, if you were in the mood: Once, decades ago, a girl from Rie threw her sister's dearest poppet into a Rift, for spite. Eighty years later, when you were just a boy, the oldest woman in the village was found strangled in the town square on market day. The day before, the whole town had gathered to bury her sister. It was dawn, and she was sprawled and blue-faced, eyes staring wide straight up. She was clutching a little poppet up high to her bosom. Almost by her neck. You were there, come to sell your extra eggs with Aisling, and you saw it was a doll made in the old style, jointed and wooden with laced cuffs and bonnet. A man named Palder Kneal reached out as if to pull the doll away, and it leapt up and bit him. It fled back into the swamps, wooden joints clicking, painted shoes tick-tocking fast across the cobblestones. Palder's hand swelled up four times its size, but he recovered. The doll has not been seen since, but Aisling says that she still dreams the sound it made, running. Oh, yes, the Feiach love a story alright. And they are patient. Hlin, champions change stories. If nothing you do matters, why not sit down here, beside the ghost-vine, half inside this sticky horse ghost, and wait for this strange two-legged form to age or not, to starve or not, to endure or not, to becomes a ghost or not? You have advice for this maybe champion, but you decide that you will take no action. Three young women with baskets pass by. Hullo, says the one with beaded braids of dark hair. We’re going mushroom picking, says the leaf-hair. Want to come along? asks the pony-tailed redhead. There is no story to witness here, Diplomat, unless you make it. Baly, thieves profit from the story, the centaur says...Well, you could profit, if you wanted. You saw the eleghant, valuable daggers Laisren emerged with, heard from Tomas that he is a silversmith. But if you went inside, took the unmelted inventory---likely worth hundreds if not thousands back on the Prime -- what good would it do you, stuck as you are? You could sit on it all like it was a clutch of eggs and wait. Nothing will hatch, because Vildenai is not the story. It is static. It is a moment. Still, you hear Laisren out. Save the banshee, save the world? Screw that. But if you change the banshee's story, for good or ill, can you salvage yours?

[Drachenspirit]

Baly-Ho! Baly wished in this moment that he didn't know what it was like to daily brush up against the realm of the Dead. The Raven Queen... Oh, how he loved her awful and hated her with such joy. He knew of things that few could comprehend, save that of priests and clerics who served the Raven Queen or other undead deities. Even then, he had been "touched" in a different way, being able to channel things from souls he'd had a hand in shuffling off this mortal coil. But... he wasn't "IN" the mortal coil, or on it, how however it worked. No. He was here. He closed his eyes, not having listened to the Whispers of the Dead since he'd taken that short moment of meditation, the rest if you will. He heard the Whisper he was looking for after many passed much like a breeze when it picked up when cresting a ridge, or turning into a gust on a body of water as a ship's sails filled. He had a feeling, and he hoped he was right, that knowledge and skill of 'the weave', or Arcana, would help him soon and that's what he learned from the grave. As they stood in their regrouped, "group", and opened his eyes after committing the whisper to memory and looked to Laisren. "How do we do that? Change the story? It's... well, it seems to be stuck in a moment. How can we change something before it happens if it doesn't happen? I... take things, and remember well how to do that again, getting better each time at it. Likewise, I remember how not do so certain things and to "NOT" do other things, blending in or riding along in shadow or in plain sight as a crowd moves. I tell you all this so you'll know that if something, well, sly or deceptive needs to be done. I may be the best to do it. But, as I said, the question is quite simply, what... needs to be done to change this story?"   BALY ACTIONS & STATS Balyarus Farfate<------ Character Sheet ROLLS : Move: Action: Bonus Action: Reaction: Conditions: Concentrating: OOC info: AC: 16 || HP: 21/21 || Saves: St +0, Dx+6, Cn+2, In+5, Ws+2, Ch+3 Left Hand: Bow || Right Hand: Bow || Back: Pack, Quiver || Belt: Rapier +5, Short sword +5, Dagger +5, Pouch Longbow: +5 to hit, 1d8+3 dmg || Rapier: +5 to hit, 1d8+3 dmg || Shortsword: +5, 1d6+3dmg || Dagger: +5, 1d4+3 dmg Skills: Stealth +7 || Investigation +6 || Acrobatics, Sleight of Hand, Thieves' Tools +5 || Deception, Intimidation +4 || Perception +3 || Arcana, History, Nature, Performance, Persuasion +2 || Animal Handling, Insight, Medicine, Survival +1 || Athletics -1 Special Abilities: Bonus action of Dash, Disengage, or HideCunning Action 60’Darkvision One skill or tool prof extra a day after short or long restWhispers of the Dead: Arcana Skill After successful sneak attack, apply to any other target within 30' of one hit, Roll half # of sneak attack dice and target takes necrotic dmg as wails surround them Wails from the Grave have advantage on saving throws against being charmed, and magic can’t put to sleep.Fey Ancestry Elves don’t need to sleep. Instead, they meditate deeply, remaining semiconscious, for 4 hours a day. (The Common word for such meditation is “trance.”) While meditating, you can dream after a fashion; such dreams are actually mental exercises that have become reflexive through years o f practice. After resting in this way, you gain the same benefit that a human does from 8 hours of sleep.Trance +1d6 to attack if ADV. If another enemy of target is 5' of it, no ADV neededSneak Attack Spells: Cantrip: Toll the dead Spell Save DC: 12 | Spell Attack Bonus: +3

[Wynamoinen]

Laisren Hlin implies that Laisren is champion-ish. He blushes and kicks the dirt, with an oh-gorsh wobble of his head, and perhaps with a slight smile. He mutters, "I'm not champion. The prophecy says so. Well. Not of my home, at least..." he blushes more deeply, but has to stop and think about what it might mean, to champion causes beyond Family and Home. Fainweyn always spoke of travels beyond.... Baly interrupts this reverie with some suspicious talk of taking things that don't belong to him. Laisren can't help but give the adventurer a glimpse of his stink-eye (which can be very stinky, indeed!) but he also brings up some good points. "Well. I mean, the real problem, the thing that made Malve'en Malve'en... it's that she had a true love, here in Vildenai. Tomas. But she could never go to him. She lost him forever. So I figure, there's two things we might be able to do. One would be to stop the raiders who come, and raze the town. If we could do that, the Tomas here might be able to live to find the Liri here." Laisren looks over to Tomas' store and smithy and grimaces. "I don't like that he's already got his slit throat. But maybe, maybe.... maybe that's just Malve'en's memory of him? She can't get rid of that vision, even in this world before his throat went, y'know... "The other option I can see is that we somehow make it to the manor, find this place's Liri, and bring her back here. She was supposed to sneak away. I guess something stopped her? If we could get her back here, she could meet Thomas. See him alive. See him in love, the big dummy. Maybe the raiders would stop the raid, with her here? Or she could help us, to stop them when they come? If they ever come, in this place. Which I guess they might never do, the way things are? Here. "Either way, if we can get to the manor, that's the place where we stop killers, or we whisk away lovers. It's the place we've got to go, yeah?

OOC   Action block Laisren's stat block (full sheet link) HP: 32/32 | Armor Class: With a very high probability in combat of also having an additional 1d8 added on.14 | Saves: Str +5 ; Dex +2; Con +4; Int -1; Wis +0; Chr +1 Senses: Passive Perception 12 (+2); Passive investigation 9 (-1) | Move: 30' | Conditions: (None) Default melee: +6 to hit, 1d10+4 piercing (1d10+6 while Raging)The Family pichfork | Default ranged attack: +5 to hit, 1d6+3 slashing, 20/60 rangeHandaxe Expendables: . . . As a bonus action, activate Rage. +2 damage to STR-based melee attacks. Resistance to nonmagical BPS damage. Advantage on STR checks and saves. Ends if I don't either attack or take damage. Cannot cast spells.Rage 3/3 LR | Make a ranged spell attack against the target (+3, with CHA as casting stat). On a hit, the target takes 2d8 poison damage and must make a Constitution saving throw (DC 11). On a failed save, it is also poisoned until the end of your next turn. Acquired via Magic Initiate (Sorceror)Ray of Sickness 1/1 LR | Hit dice 3/3 LR | Inspiration: Yes Passive: . . . When I enter a Rage, I can use my tail both offensively and defensively. As a reaction when hit by a creature I can see within 10', I can add 1d8 to my AC. I can also use the attack action to attack with my tail with 10' reach, +5 to hit, and 1d8+3 damage.Form of the Beast: Tail Ie, my cantrips acquired through Magic Initiate (Sorceror)Tail Utility: A creature within 10' must succeed on a Constitution saving throw (DC 11) or take 1d12 poison damage.Poison Spray | Until the end of your next turn, you have resistance against bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage dealt by weapon attacks.Blade Ward ----- Turn Summary Move: Action: Reaction: Additional (bonus action, object interact, etc):

[bananabadger]

"I don’t think the orc will ever arrive," Hlin continues the conversation. "They might be eternally imminent and never present in the village." "It seems like time is coiled around central actors, in this case Malveen. So, I agree, let’s go there. And if it isn’t obvious what to do when we arrive then we just do what champions and renegade lovers have always done, we stick our pitchforks where they might not belong, but are certainly welcomed." If no one objects, he takes to the manor road, calling back, "Nukky and A’ru, are you coming? I hope so because it has long been a matter of debate whether kobolds or mardas have the more bawdy travelling songs, and this gives us the opportunity to find out!"

 

Name: Hlin
Class: (Lore) Bard
Level: 3 Race: Centaur (Willow Herd)
HP: 18/18 AC: 13
Passive Perception: 16 Passive Investigation: 11 Passive Insight: 14
Spells Known:

• Cantrips: Mage Hand, Vicious Mockery
• Level 1: Cure Wounds, Silvery Barbs
• Level 2: Messenger, Cloud of Daggers, Cure Wounds (upcast), Hold Person, Nathair's Mischief
  Vine Spells: Entangle 3/3

Inspiration: No
Spell Slots:

• Four Level 1: {} {} {} {}
• Two Level 2: {} {}

Spell Save DC: Wis 12 Spell Attack Bonus: 4
Saves: STR: +2 DEX: +4 CON: 0 INT: -1 WIS: +2 CHA: +4
Bardic Inspiration: {} {}
Attack modifier: +4 melee / +4 ranged
Weapons: Longsword, daggers and short bow
Special Abilities: Bardic Inspiration, Jack of All Trades, Song of Rest, Cutting Words, Charge, Hooves, Equine Build

 

Rolls:
ETA--these are old rolls; didn't want to erase them after posting and get red on post
Requested perception:

Dice * Roll:

1d20+6

(9)+6

Total = 15

Persuasion readied action:

Dice * Roll:

1d20+6

(9)+6

Total = 15

Saving throws:
Move: remains in Tomas' shop
Action: begins forging arrowheads; shouts out to group outside of shop
Reaction:
Condition:
Concentrating:
OOC info:

[Yoshimi]

A-ru A'ru trots up on Sneech. "Nothin' doin at the riverside." He gazes piercingly at Laisren, then Hlin. "I think yez're on to something. Can't get unstuck unless we unstick the story. I don't care to live my days here. Whole place sets my teeth on edge." He points down the road. "Let's go to Malveen's house, if this place'll let us." He pats Sneech, and turns his snout toward Baly. [b]"Goin' to take the lead again, Eldest?. He shrugs. "I'll follow yez if yeh do."

 

Name: A-Ru
Class: Beastmaster Ranger Level: 3 HP: 28/28 AC: 17
Inspiration:
Attack bonus: Melee: +1, Ranged: +4
Passive Perception: 15 Passive Investigation: 9 Passive Insight: 15
Spells Known: Cantrips: Shillelagh, Produce Flame; Level 1: Speak With Animals (Primal Awareness bonus), Absorb Elements, Entangle, Longstrider
Spell Slots: Level 1: 3
Spell Save DC: 13 Spell Attack Bonus: 5
Saves: STR: 1 DEX: 4 CON: 2 INT: -1 WIS: 3 CHA: 1
Special Abilities: Favored Foe, Primal Companion (Beast of the Land)

 

ROLLS:
Out of Combat: Following Baly
Saving throws:
Move:
Action:
Bonus Action:
Reaction:
Conditions: Exhausted 1
Concentrating:
OOC info:

[BestTeaMaker]

Nukky Nukky takes one last look at the still waters before turning. "Nukky coming!" The world felt so unnatural to Nukky that it was starting to bother the normally carefree Kobold. However, there was naught they could do at the moment. The only way forward, Nukky felt, was to go to the Malveen household themselves. "To the missus manor friends go!" Character Nukky   Character Class HP AC Wildfire Druid 3 27/27 15 Senses P.Per P.Inv P.Ins Other 16 11 14 Darkvision (60ft.) Spell Slots 1st Level O O O O 2nd Level O O Spell Mod Save DC +4 14 Saving Throws STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA +0 +2 +3 +3 +6 +1   Rolls Full Rolls Perception - 21 Saving Throws Full Rolls Move - Action - Bonus Action - Reaction - Free Action - Conditions - Concentrating - Initiative - OOC - Inspiration - Wildfire Spirit Rolls - Saving Throws - Move - Action - Bonus Action - Reaction - Free Action - Conditions - Concentrating - Initiative 7 OOC -

[Drachenspirit]

Baly-Ho! They had a plan, and he felt better overall. A bit of the excitement of the unknown that he loved so much came back to him. When Aru asked him if he was to take the lead, he Dice Stealth: 1d20+7 (13)+7 Total = 20 Dice Perception: 1d20+3 (7)+3 Total = 10 immediately replied and took off. "I am. Give me a bit of a lead and If I put a hand up to halt - well... you know the way of it."   BALY ACTIONS & STATS Balyarus Farfate<------ Character Sheet ROLLS : Move: Action: Bonus Action: Reaction: Conditions: Concentrating: OOC info: AC: 16 || HP: 21/21 || Saves: St +0, Dx+6, Cn+2, In+5, Ws+2, Ch+3 Left Hand: Bow || Right Hand: Bow || Back: Pack, Quiver || Belt: Rapier +5, Short sword +5, Dagger +5, Pouch Longbow: +5 to hit, 1d8+3 dmg || Rapier: +5 to hit, 1d8+3 dmg || Shortsword: +5, 1d6+3dmg || Dagger: +5, 1d4+3 dmg Skills: Stealth +7 || Investigation +6 || Acrobatics, Sleight of Hand, Thieves' Tools +5 || Deception, Intimidation +4 || Perception +3 || Arcana, History, Nature, Performance, Persuasion +2 || Animal Handling, Insight, Medicine, Survival +1 || Athletics -1 Special Abilities: Bonus action of Dash, Disengage, or HideCunning Action 60’Darkvision One skill or tool prof extra a day after short or long restWhispers of the Dead: Arcana Skill After successful sneak attack, apply to any other target within 30' of one hit, Roll half # of sneak attack dice and target takes necrotic dmg as wails surround them Wails from the Grave have advantage on saving throws against being charmed, and magic can’t put to sleep.Fey Ancestry Elves don’t need to sleep. Instead, they meditate deeply, remaining semiconscious, for 4 hours a day. (The Common word for such meditation is “trance.”) While meditating, you can dream after a fashion; such dreams are actually mental exercises that have become reflexive through years o f practice. After resting in this way, you gain the same benefit that a human does from 8 hours of sleep.Trance +1d6 to attack if ADV. If another enemy of target is 5' of it, no ADV neededSneak Attack Spells: Cantrip: Toll the dead Spell Save DC: 12 | Spell Attack Bonus: +3