[Game Thread] Chapter 1: Blood on the Sand

[orangehatter]

As they arrived at their destination, Cheveyo did as he was bid, hauling a pair of water jugs over each shoulder before heading down below into the cool storehouse. When the left, he poked his head out from behind the door, casting a look about, before leaving their facility. This town seems quaint, he thought, the establishment reminding him of his hometown Garhl. It certainly seemed a bit more productive.

Once they set up in their respective rooms, Cheveyo was slow to explore the town unlike some of the others. He looked around for some freelance work to keep him occupied as he tried his best to keep his ear low to the ground. And as well, unlike their traveling Asherati, Cheveyo was more fit to handling the labors of the mine when work wasn't to be found.

Every night, he reported back to where they stayed if anyone was in themselves. He went to the bar the firs tnight, but otherwise didn't seem to bother much with the local populace.

[Silk]

With a sigh of gratitude Emeria stopped her camel on a small rise overlooking the mining town of Rosemount. The Wagonmasters sharp tongue and the untrusting attitude of the workers and drovers had begun to grate on her nerves as the day's passed. The stray thought that it was her attitude that made them untrusting fluttered across her mind before she banished it with a shake of her head. Pulling the cloth of her turban away from her face Emeria pushes the sun lenses firmly back in place before she looks down at the Puma at her side. "We are here." Looking back over her shoulder she notices the caravan had caught up with them and was winding around the small rise and urged her camel towards them. "Go eat some rock rabbits if you can find any Purja. And let me know if you find anything out of the ordinary." Emeria new the feline could not understand what she was saying so conveyed her meaning through the tone of voice and the motions of her hands and head.

Ridding in with the caravan Emeria tied her camel separately from the caravans beast's of burden and simply grabbed the other end of a large grain sack that a young worker was having difficulty's with. Once inside the storage shed Emeria removes her sun lenses and finds most of her companions only to shake her head, "This ruse will only fool one of low wit, and it is always unwise to believe your foe one of such wit." Her worry over that statement causes her to pace restlessly in the little space available.

The following morning Emeria say's she will make some inquiry's around town and leaves before dawn. She first mingles among the miners before they leave for the mine and then the suppliers. After that she asks questions of the few children and guards of the town. Her questions lead others to believe she is looking for a caravan to continue on her way and is interested in the surrounding terrain. Some may be offended that she is posing as a miner for cheaper housing by sharing rent with the others then paying for an inn room. But Emeria has had practice at this sort of travel from when she first came to this land and has no fear of the few scowls pointed her way.

ooc: Emeria will do this for two day's(2 rolls) and then if nothing happens she will prowl around the outskirts of town looking for intruders.

[Eviltedzies]

The days of travel seem to blurr by for Kethyr. His days spent riding Ama and enjoying Ka-Men's vast beautiful lands. His nights spent telling stories around the campfire and trancing out under the starry sky, bundled up tight to weather the cold. The sight of Rosemount in the distance brings a smile to Kethyr's lips. Speaking out loud to the skies above. "Thanks once again lady Ka-Men for another safe journey."

Riding Ama towards the rocky outcropping, Kethyr gives her a playful pat on the head as he sees the miners and the other ashworms. "Looks like you've got some friends girl. Lets see if we can't give them a hand." If the miners are willing, Kethyr gladly helps out with loading of the oar. As the day draws near an end, Kethyr returns to town with his extra large load of ore. After dropping off the ore with the rest of the miners. Kethyr gives them all a hearty goodnight before heading into town.

Sitting in the empty house with whatever companions may be there, Kethyr finishes reading the note with his eyes. "Well I agree that keeping a low profile would be best in this case..... although I've never been one to lay low for too long." Looking around to anyone still around "Well our first official day of work begins tomorrow. Don't stay up too late. Wouldn't want my fellows in arms falling asleep in the heat of battle." Kethyr can't help but chuckle a little at his comment. "Granted I don't need much sleep, but I should probobly take my rest when the raids are least likely. Hmmm maybe sometimes before or after highsun?" Kethyr rises and gives a slight bow to his companions. "I bid you all a goodnight." " Lets see what the rising sun shall bring."

As the days go by, Kethyr spends his time helping out with the miners, working in combination with Ama to pull larger loads from the mine. During the day, Kethyr would leave his armor stored neatly in his room of the abandoned house, letting him work with the miners without the odd stares or questions.

Each day around highsun, Kethyr excuses himself for a few hours to let his mind relax and rest for the long night ahead. With Ama's body providing shade, Kethyr could nap in piece for a mere two hours before returning to work with a refreshed vigor to make up for lost time.

During the evening hours, Kethyr finds himself wandering into the towns inns and regaling any patrons or children who would listen with tales of his travels. Kethyr enjoys interacting with people and would always give off a friendly demeanor and a graceful smile. Spinning tales of the sights hes seen and the creatures hes encountered.

As the night begins to wound down, Kethyr would bid his farewell to those still around and leave a wink and a fair tip to the barmaid before departing. During his nightly patrols, Kethyr dons his armor and watches the sands from atop Ama to get him a better view.

[Avelestar]

Two days pass, and each group member spends it slightly differently. Nothing out of the ordinary happens until their third night in Rosemount.

It's late at night, so late infact that some might even call it almost morning. The sun however is still nowhere to be seen, and the town is pitchblack. Emeria, Kethyr, Taraharqua and Cheveyo are all asleep in their little house. Though both Emeria and Kethyr had spent part of the night patrolling around the town, they still required some rest despite getting two or so hours sleep during High Sun earlier in the day. A rough nightwatch had been drawn up, and at this time of night it was Wind who was stealthily flying over the sand dunes surrounding Rosemount. His keen senses whilst wildshaped into a dire bat pick up movement on the sands...and alot of it. This is no night creature moving about looking for food, but a host of small humanoids running along almost silently. Quietly flying down a bit lower, he manages to spot about twenty or so humanoids, and a pair of sandskimmers, barges used for sailing upon the sands. These are fairly large, and have many coils of rope on them...space for at least three dozen prisoners between the two ships.

It's clear the group is heading straight for Rosemount, and Wind flies on ahead as fast as he can, landing on the party's house. Forced to shift back to his bhuka form, Wind dashes inside the house and wakes everyone up within. At the speeds they are travelling, the bhuka raiders can be only ten minutes at the most behind, and from what Wind saw they are travelling directly towards the main entrance of Rosemount, directly towards the mayor's house and the storehouse. Not far from this area however, is a large amount of houses, which if the intelligence reports were right, is the bhuka's true objective.

What does the group do to prepare in those crucial ten minutes? How would they form a defense at the main entrance to town, and would they try to ambush the raiders? In the distance however, you can see a number of torchlights appearing, probably only just lit.

 

Each square is 5ft, tell me roughly where you would like to stand. The big building is the storehouse, and the smaller ones are family dwellings. At the moment it is pitch black, so you would need to light torches to be able to see very far at all. I'll let you move around town enough to get into position, assuming you're trying to cover your torches...though the raiders probably wouldn't stop if they saw one or two lights anyway. The map will expand and fill out if needbe, but at current this is how far you would be able to see given ample lighting. Kethyr, you could go and fetch Ama and be back just in time, or summon her with your paladin powers if you wish.

OOC: Chaos, we could make up a feat that would allow you to Wild Shape straight into another form, or perhaps there is something in the Druid class progression you would like to trade for this ability? Emeria didn't pick up anything useful talking to the locals, just gossip and pointless rumours about day to day town life. Please roll initiative and post any actions you would like to do when the raiders first appear. If you have no lights, and are hiding you should be able to ambush them easily.

[Eviltedzies]

As Wind returns, Kethyr is awoken to the danger he was hoping would never come. "It seems their reports were correct. I figured they would raid at night, but early morning makes sense now. The temperature is just right, not too cold and not too warm. Everyone in town will be groggy at best from waking up in a panic." Kethyr nods and begins to don his fullplate armor. "A little help would be appreciated. This things great for protection but its a dead weight for everything else."

Strapping on the underpadding, Kethyr speaks with an unbroken concentration in his smooth voice. "If they've brought sandskimmers we should make it our proirity to destroy them first. If they lose the means to return safetly with their catch they may abandon their attemp completely." Working the last of the padding on Kethyr begins working himself into his fullplate, hopefully with one of his companions help. "We need to warn the townspeople without causing a panic. I suggest that we try to draw the raiders attention away from the town, if only for a short while, while someone starts warning the townspeople. Waking up the mayor seems appropriate for the situation."

As Kethyr straps the last of his plated protection on, he looks to whoever may still be in the house. "I volunteer for the job of distracting them......" I sly grin creeps onto Kethyr's face. "Ama and I are quite good at catching peoples eyes."

Actions and Comments Kethyr dons his armor, but otherwise I'm waiting to see what everyone else will do. I believe we need to do at least 3 things before turning all our efforts into attacking the bandits. 1. Wake up the mayor so he and his two sons can start warning the townsfolk. 2. Distract the bandits long enough to give the townsfolk some time to wake up. 3. Destroy the sandskimmers. 4. Start kicking arse and taking names!

[chaosaccountant]

Wind's message is neither long nor complicated. "The wolves come, in shells that ride the sand." Then he was gone again, straight back out of the door and into the night. For a second a burst of wind whipped up dust, obsuring the humanoid shape, and then a heavy, black form rose into the night, it's shrill keening all but inaudable, but rythmic and powerful non-the-less.

Black against the stars, the wind raced back towards the wolf-pack, the chanting carrying on in it's shrill voice, its talons working the empty air into strange shapes. He could see the torches ahead, and honed in.

ooc Wildshaping back into a direbat (use 1/day). I've updated my stats. Then casting Bark-Skin. I assume that the lynx is somewhere in the desert between the village and the raiders. About how far away are they? I'm moving towards them at 40ft/round for the first two rounds, and 160ft/round after that. I've got some plans that might stymie them considerably before they even get to the village, if we're lucky. Do the sandskimmers have sails, by any chance? Also, can I clarify the lighting situation? I assume from what you said that either it's a new moon, or the moon already set, but that there won't be any clouds so we have starlight (which is fine as long as I have low-light vision from the wildshape).

[Silk]

Waking groggily but instantly at the Bhuka's warning, Emeria throws back her blanket and stumbles to her pack were she had left her somewhat cleaned cloths to air out. Hastily she dress's and arms herself and is ready to leave when she see's Kethyr struggling to get into his armor. Frowning at the Elf Emeria keeps the back of his brestplate from falling so he can buckle the front and back together. "I tell you this now as one of us may die today. You are a fool Elf. Not all enemy's come before the sun or give time to dress." Her angry scowl at a strap that she has no idea where it went lets Kethyr know that she is talking about his choice of armor not him personally.

After aiding the Elf in donning his armor Emeria draws both her weapons and glances around. "I will aid you getting their attention." With that she walks out of the house. She hoped her companion would stay out of the fighting as the puma was not good at handling multiple foes and she would dearly hate for the feline to be hurt. Once she knows where Kethyr is going to make his brazen stand, Emeria walks to the side and ahead of the Elf and his mount. With her blades still drawn, Emeria lays down near a mound of sand and seems to worm her way in until she is covered completely and then waits.

ooc: My hide check does not contain the bonuses for 'Sand Camouflage'(1-11" = +4 Hide, or 12"+ = +10 Hide) and if their is not at least 1" of sand, dust, loose soil, or ash then Emeria will be hiding in the shadow of one of the buildings nearby to the right of Kethyr. Action: Stealth and listening for movement with her 'Scorpion's Sense'. Will attack as soon as she is certain they are engaging Kethyr(Acrobatics to stand?). Included attack and damage for sneak attack, if no one is right on top of her she will moves up to them quietly and attack if she can. If Emeria can stand as a free action due to her Acrobatics skill I will roll her second attack as needed and -2 from main attack.

[orangehatter]

"The wolves come, in shells that ride the sand."

Had Cheveyo not already entered into the waking world, Wind's warning would have fallen on lead ears. The gift of the ring he possessed blessed him to work long, hot days with little need for sleep. Something else stirred him from his slumber; it was the sense of bloody Fate making its pass over his bead, drawing him from his place of rest while he swiftly donned his sun-lenses and filter mask.

"A little help would be appreciated. This things great for protection but its a dead weight for everything else."

Once he was outfitted himself, he helped the elf to don his armor. He took the hefty pieces of armor between his big hands, acting as a standing wardrobe and butler while the (paladin?) Ashworm jockey slipped into the pieces with practiced ease. Opened ears took on what Kethyr had to say, neglecting Emeria's remark as a passing interference. "I wil take my time to warn the towns people," he offered, shifting the Eagle Claw to his waist. "From there, I'll watch the entrance myself. I'm sure they won't be intimidated by my single presence, but I'll put up a fight when needed."

Cheveyo left the housing in haste. rabbing a torch from the front door of their establishment, he spent his time moving from home to home as he knocked on each door and warned the occupants of the soon coming engagement. Once he was through he would run to the entrance, taking up a spot behind a palm tree at the storehouse. His goggles seemed opaque in the light of the moon, offering only the lightest sheen in the reflection of the moon's light. His Eagle Claw, now unstrapped from his belt, felt weighty in his hand as his breath came slowly in the lucid air of the night. An unexpected calm took his soul, he as he whispered prayers to Ka-Men, he felt a peace that rested in his bones.

It seemed that the expected battle did little to steal the air from his lungs.

And this made him more scared than the approaching thunder.

OOC Cheveyo would make his rounds warning all the occupants of the town of the raiders, starting with the mayor. Once he's done, he'll take 10 or 20 (depending on time) to hide himself behind the upper palm tree in front of the storehouse. His torch is in his off-hand and he does his best to hide its illuminant fire while he waits.

[tilbert]

The hustle around him pulls Taharqua out of his deep slumber. Kethyr the elven Ashworm-Knight was almost finished with donning his armor, when Taharqua gets to his feet. He listens to the proposal how to face the attacking invaders.

"Let me briefly summarize, the two of you - Emeria and Kethyr - will draw their attention out in the dunes, while Wind has already left the house again to do what? So it just Cheveyo and me who stay in Rosemount. I'm not sure, wether that will work out. One person might slip their attention, but two and a Sandworm? And if it's only the two of you, you life is at high risk, which puts the life of everybody in this town at risk. But if you insist on leaving, I'd like to offer you a bolstering spell - but it will last only some minutes."

"Cheveyo, same for you, I can infuse you with the serval's agility, the ashworm's power or the dromedar's endurance, just let me know, what works best for you. When the invaders arrive I'll summon some desert creatures made all of sand - they are much like Sabteh, you'll see. By the way, close your eyes, when I shout the words Shaleh'Saha, otherwise you might get blinded for a while."

ooc Taharqua will cast a "serval's agility" (Dex+4) on himself as soon as he can discern the invaders. The others (Cheveyo, Emeria and Kethyr) may benefit from a alike spell (duration 6 min minus ??). As soon as the invader get within 100 ft, Taharqua will cast summon Desert Ally

[chaosaccountant]

Initiative check (+3 dex)

Dice Roll:

(as this is an older post, these rolls are interpreted by the older (more basic) dice roller code)
d20+3:	(18) + 3	Total = 21

[chaosaccountant]

ooc Curses. That was supposed to go in the other tab. I'll delete and re-roll if you want.

Swinging low over the torches for a moment, wind targeted the most dense group of bhuku. Again, weird scrieks filled the desert night, and his talons wove the air. Below the feet of the bhuku, the ground began to crawl and writh, before bursting with a thousad shining, black forms, their scuttling black legs sending them at everything that moved, and their poisonous fangs finding their mark in flesh.
Above, having never ducked into the full torchlight, the giant bat rose higher, it's mind full of the swarm, sustaining the call to arms.

ooc The wind: Init 21/AC 21 (touch 13)/Saves 8,5,11/HP 52. Casting Summon Swarm for a spider swarm. I'll probably just concentrate on that until they manage to outrun or kill the spiders, while hovering out of sight above. Even if they don't drop any raiders, that poison will ease the fight later on.

[Eviltedzies]

Kethyr can't help but smile at Emeria's comments about his choice of armor. With a slight amusement behind his voice "Your concern is touching. But I have no intention of dying today, nor should you. We live our lives day by day. I like to enjoy each as if it were my last and consider each fight a test of how much I wish to continue enjoying this beautiful world." Kethyr stands and double checks his armor to make sure it is secure before giving Emeria a nod, the same smile still painted across his face. " My thanks for the assistance, Emeria."

Sliding on his gauntlets, Kethyr gives Cheveyo a similiar nod. "Thanks. We will try to buy you as much time as we can." Sinching the last of his armor straps, Kethyr takes his leave with Emeria. Moving as quickly as his fullplate would allow, Kethyr makes his way towards the stables. Kethyr could sense Ama's excitement as she sensed Kethyr's tension. "Ama, wake up my friend. It is time for us to go to work. Come to me, we shall ride the morning sun into the heavens."" It did not take long for Ama to find Kethyr. Seeing Ama slither out from around the corner, Kethyr hurries ot her side, pulling himself up into the saddle as he had done countless times before. "It has been awhile since we've fought together... lets hope neither of us has gotten rusty." Ama gave a short jerk of her head as if in defiance. "Alright alright, I'll try to keep up."

Now mounted securely atop Ama, Kethyr makes his way with Emeria towards the main town entrance. "Ama and I will take cover behind one of the outermost buildings and wait until the raiders are within range. We'll charge their lines and hopefully the initial shock will scatter them temporarily. After the fighting has begun, I'll harry their ranks and try to scatter them further. If I get a clear shot at the sails on the sandskimmers I will attempt to skewer both of them." Finding an appropriate building near the edges of the main entrance, Kethyr rubs Ama's side and watches as the ashworm slowly coils herself up behind the building. Glancing over at Emeria as she begins to stalk off. "And by the way, your advice about our foes not waiting for me to dress was valid. But should they ever come before I am dressed, I suppose I will have to fight them wearing nothing at all." "Although the thought of such a spectacle just seems rather odd." "May Ka-Men guide your steps and watch over you this morning Emeria." The humor in Kethyr's voice now replaced by a calm and serious demeanor.

As the bandits drew nearer, Kethyr gripped his lance anxiously. "Come on, just a little more.. a little further..... Gotcha!" As the bandits approached within 30ft of the outskirts of the town entrance, Kethyr gave Ama a quick tap with both heels. "Lets ride girl." Uncoiling herself, Ama slithered out from behind the build and rose up to her full height. Kethyr shouts out in a proud and vigorous tone as he urged Ama forward. "By the justice of the sands!" With a sudden surge of movment, Ama dashed forward. A loud roar emerging from her throat as she charges the furthest bandit on the right side. As the cool air raced across Kethyr's brow he lowered his lance and angled it towards his first target.

Kethyr's Actions 1. Heading to the town entrance and hiding behind one of the buildings. 2. When the bandits come within 30ft of the outskirts of the town entrance, Kethyr will emerge from his hiding spot and charge the bandit that is spread out farthest to the right. (Or whichever bandit is within charge distance 60ft) 3. Using the Ride-By-Attack feat to continue moving straight even after the attack. (Moving a total of 60ft in all.) Initiative, Attack Roll, and Ride Check in case I need to use Mounted Combat to negate an AoOp on Ama. Amarah's Stats: HP:66/66, AC:23 (21 this turn due to charge.), Saves (Same as Kethyr's).

[tilbert]

An unfamiliar tension fills the air: a rising battle. For Taharqua, who was rarely involved into fights, let alone battle with two dozen or more participant, it had an almost tangible quality. His fellows seem to know well, how to face the invaders, but he didn't. He slowly feels nervousness creeping up in his mind. His mouth turns dry - even for an Asherati.

"Both elves have left the town, the Wind is blowing in the desert and I can't Cheveyo. He must be hiding somewhere" he murmurs as to himself, but his view is slightly turned to the right, as if talking to somebody. "A torch, you say, Theophanu?. Ah yes, there he is." He walks up to Cheveyo. "We've been searching you. You left so quick." Taharqua's head turns again to the right "Take care" and back to Cheveyo "If you stay close to me, you won't need the torch. My body sheds some light, if I want"

Shortly before the invaders arrive, Taharqua lay his left hand on Cheveyo's soulder "May Ka'Men bless you with the Power of the Ashworm"

ooc Cheveyo benefits from the spell "Bull's Strength" for up to 6 minutes. Taharqua has cast Cat's Grace & Mage Armor

[Avelestar]

There's a mad scrabble to prepare, but the group did it very well. Cheveyo wakes up the mayor and his sons, who immediately start waking up the rest of the townsfolk and urging them to lock their doors tightly and find any weapons they can. Taharqua magically enhanced himself, and Cheveyo when he returns, whilst Emeria, Kethyr and Ama lay in wait to ambush the raiders. Meanwhile, Wind takes to the skies once more, moving at full speed towards the oncoming bhuka, having no compassion for his kin, the druid summons a horde of small spiders on one of the sandskimmers, roughly two hundred feet or so from town. Chaos breaks out on the vessel, bhuka diving off the edge, madly stamping their feet to shake off the creatures. The spiders however don't care and move like a wave over the ship, nearly five thousand in all. As all the bhuka bail off the ship, it skews around and comes to a stop, knocking spiders in all directions. Undeterred the beasts continue to attack the raiders, swarming up and over the closest, biting him in hundreds of places. He screams in pain, but remains standing and bats at his body trying to shake them lose.

Though the druid hasn't killed any of the raiders, one of the sandskimmers has come to a complete stop, and the crew are in complete dissarray, about ten or so bhuka will be taking a little longer to reach Rosemount, whilst the second sandskimmer sails on. It doesn't take more than two minutes to reach the town, and screaming bhuka can be heard on the wind. The skimmer comes to a stop infront of the store house, and all the raiders start leaping off the boat. Most of them however are thrown off the boat, as a few thousand pounds of ashworm crashes into, and through it. One unlucky Bhuka finds himself impaled on Kethyr's lance as the pair speed by, starting to turn for another charge.

Taking advantage of the chaos created by ashworm and dragoon, Emeria leaps up from the sand, landing on her feet in a crouch, before running straight towards the closest raider, killing him before he can even stand up. Taharqua decides to summon a desert creature, a small patch of sand shimmers and changes, a serval made entirely of sand leaping forth from below. Wasting no time, the creature charges and pounces on another bhuka, scoring deep wounds with both claw and teeth, whilst also knocking him to the floor. Atop the raider, the serval slashes again into his unprotected belly, killing the screaming raider from the shock and bloodloss. The remaining raiders pull themselves from the sand and look around confused at the group attacking them, but pick up their torches, pull out weapons and start to charge.


The map is far too big, you didn't need to see all that stuff on the righthand side (because I haven't put it in yet!), my bad. Anyone with lowlight vision can see perfectly due to starlight, but the bhukas have enough torches and such for ample vision now anyway.

OOC: Kethyr is mounted at the top part of Ama's token, the end where the tip of the A is pointing. You'll need to use some movement to turn around, seeing as Ama is so long, making another charge impossible unless you turn, then wait to charge next turn. I don't actually know any rules for this, but it makes sense she would need room to turn, right? The brown thing is the ruined sandskimmer, the yellow token with a S is Taharqua's summoned serval. Purja is currently hiding, awaiting orders from Emeria, and Wind can decide where his pet is now. Wind is 200ft away from town, flying above the overturned sandskimmer, watching his spider swarm attempt to eat a raider. If you check the spell, you can't actually control the swarm past casting it, but I'll assume you're keeping it alive till it dies, or you say otherwise (+2 rounds). Int Order: Kethyr-Wind-Cheveyo Taharqua Emeria Raiders

[tilbert]

They hardly seem to be a match for us Taharqua thinks and decides not to summon further creatures for now. Care for his fellows drives him forward, closer to the fight. But instead of moving over the sand, Taharqua dives into the sand. A circle of glowing light on the surface roughly indicates his position.

ooc Just moving towards Emeria's position. Seems as if you have decided to that Taharqua has cast a Summon Desert Ally I but actually he would have chosen the II-Variant to summon 1d3 Servals, Since he is running low with level 1 spells... can we change the spell? Summons 1 Serval...