Ameena's BIG (and last?) adventure!

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Re: Ameena's BIG (and last?) adventure!

Post by beowuuf »

The creature was not really responding, which meant Ameena could not get an ear for how to respond back to it. And it was hard to give reassuring body language, when Ameena was still blind, and had to work out from the diffuse scent exactly where the creature was.

She found it, and tried to calm it with stroking. However, it was an alien gesture, and probably not something these sort of creatures experienced. The creature was shaking, and tried to roll out of the way of Ameena's touch, but was apparently too weak to succeed.

Ameena coulnd't really tell too much abotu the injuries - it was hard to know if an area should feel ragged or not, and if it should be sticky or not. Plus, of course, at a few points the creature sreeched weakly. Once was probably as Ameena touched an injury, because her hands came back sticky and the scent was the same as when she'd bitten one earlier. The other times one Ameena thought she might have poked the thing in some form of eye, and another she'd touched sdome form of mouth and almost been bitten for it. Ameena could tell there seemed to be two large areas that were....drippy. One along one of the leg-like things, that the creature seemed to not move at all, and one patch on its body.

"Neither of us are a cleric, there's no way to get them back now," said Helm quietly after Ameena talked. "How are we going to move it? I'm...I'm not too strong. It might hurt it more, and showing the one at the door wouldn't probably anger it."

The was a pregnant pause. "I....I mean...you are right. We...we shouldn't leave it here for the soldiers to do anything to. We..well I...I mean...if you think it's important...I mean it is important...I...I can try to put it ..umm...to sleep. You...understand?" Helm pauses again, his voice having got raspy. He has a quick cough first that soon settles. "Umm, I can show you how to open the door afterwards. If you want to open the door, maybe we can time it while the bigger one comes in, we can open this other door. Even if there are soldiers there, the sight of the bigger one might distract them enough we can run for the exit?"

Aww, see, Helm's trying to be helpful, you did have an affect. Just he rolled a 20 for the last check (in total) so he's more inclined to suggest something in line with his needs than with Ameena's. I won't say whether he just doesn't equate the critter to a person so hasn't even thought of the VI flask, whether he is deliberately omitting possessing it, or as preveiously mentioned, he's gone through so much and is still literally in the dark, that he has forgotten about the flask.

Anyway, it seems that Ameena is temporarily out of options for healing the creature. Either leave the poor critter, let Helm do what he suggests, or perhaps 'trick' Helm into telling Ameena how to open the door ahead of time, so she can go open it now and see if the bigger creature will be able to do anything for the smaller one.
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Re: Ameena's BIG (and last?) adventure!

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OOC - Aaww, Helm's being an arse then, lol.

BIC - There is a pause of several seconds as Ameena tries to take in what Helm has just said, since to her his words really make very little sense.
"You mean...kill it?" she replies. "I hope you're just joking about that. Killing a young one...or any creature would be just...and you keep saying yourself how these creatures are so different. How would you know how to strike quickly in the right place without just causing more pain? And as you keep pointing out, you can't even see."
She pauses again, trying and failing to work through Helm's logic for the rest of what he said.
"As for letting in the soldiers...if there are any out there, that is. Which there probably are, somewhere - that light must be coming from somewhere so it makes sense to suggest they're nearby. If we let them in they might attack this young one anyway. The might attack us, and we have nowhere to run. If we just try to leave, the older one will know that's what we're doing and also already knows about the young one here. This place seems to be home to these creatures and if one of them thinks we've injured or just abandoned one of their Young, they might find a way to get to us even if we pass through that door. If we help, maybe these creatures will help us in return. Maybe they know of another way out, one that avoids the soldiers."
She gives a little sniff at the injured creature again.
"But I'm not really sure...I mean, I'm not sure what to do now. Some murafu can use magic to make things better, like Westian did when he made that magic healing water, but I can't. I've never had magic, or known how to use it. Well, there are many murafu like that, but I don't suppose too many of them have ever found themselves in a place like this, in a situation like this."
There is another brief pause.
"I still think opening that other door is a good idea." she says. "If I saw a young murafu who had been hurt, I'd at least know how to make them feel better...I mean, not heal them, but talk to them, offer comfort, that kind of thing, being of their own species and therefore knowing what makes us feel better. So maybe the larger one of this species can come and help in that way. Maybe they can heal each other. If we don't try, we'll never know, and this creature might die anyway."
She looks around, back toward where she knows the door and the waiting creature to be.
"I think this creature is going to die if we just continue sitting around trying to talk about it." she says firmly. "If you won't tell me how to open that door again, I'll try and do it myself. I won't just leave this one to die."
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Re: Ameena's BIG (and last?) adventure!

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Lol, he's being a cautious human! Ameena and her trusting murafu nature and goodness. It'll end in tears! Or escape. One of those :D

"Look, I just meant rather than the soldiers torturing it!" said Helm, his words stumbling over themselves to respond before Ameena carried on speaking. "The creatures won't let us out or they would have escaped! They were formed here or trapped here by Chaos!" he argued, but he sounded tired and he coughed again at the strain.

Of course, in the meantime the murafu has started go back to the pads.

"Wait! No!" said Helm, coughing but stumbling forwards. "A flask! Westian...gave me...a flask! You...just...reminded me!" Whether this was true, or whether Helm had simply neglected to mention it until Ameena pushed the matter was up for debate.

"Wait!" Helm said again, spluttering. "We..we can set up the door. If you press the pads in random order, there seems to be a ...trap. You need to press them in the order or a square, and the two lines of a cross - it's YA, the rune of the Earth."

Helm took another half coughing fit, but carried on speaking hurridly, perhaps worried about Ameena killing herself. "If...if we do all but the last line - pointing to the door - then if the small creature goes to the bigger one, it should go directly across the floor and trigger the door opening. We...we could have time to escape. And...and if it doesn't, then you could go back to the door, and run away from it. You...you'd trigger the door open that way, but have a head start in escaping."

Helm seemed to be breathing heavily in the dark, and was scarmbling around - apparently he'd half tripped in his hurry to stop Ameena. "What...what do you think?" There was a glass tinkling sound and light slosh to show Helm did indeed have a flask in hand, apparently offering it to Ameena. "Jsut...jst give me time to find the door switch here so we can escape...if we need to..."


And there we go. Either Ameena's pressured Helm to admittng stuff, or that was jsut good timing. Do you trust him? Do you trust his plan? What's Ameena to do!
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Re: Ameena's BIG (and last?) adventure!

Post by Ameena »

OOC - I never actually said that Ameena had started going toward the pads, just that she'd looked (or rather, turned her head) in their direction) - she hadn't got as far as moving yet since she was waiting to hear what Helm's response would be first.

BIC - Ameena considers this. A flask! She vaguely remembers, now, that Westian did pass something to Helm, but she'd been rather too agitated at the time to really keep a good grip on what was going on around her - only once she'd got away from the others did she find she'd been able to calm down somewhat. Despite the fact that she would normally readily trust anyone she considered to be a friend, she can't help but get a vague sensation of unease at Helm's apparent sudden discovery of the flask. Did he really only just remember he had it, or had he just been pretending he'd forgotten about it because he didn't want this creature to be healed? Well, that is, if the flask does contain a healing mixture - Helm hasn't actually said as much yet.
She sniffs about in Helm's direction (OOC - sort of assuming here that he is offering the flask to her and that it's close by) until she locates him and the smooth-surfaced object that is the flask. She takes it and, after giving it a quick brush with her whiskers to work out which is the top, pulls out the stopper. She sniffs at it to determine that it definitely is a healing substance, then, keeping the flask held close in both paws, looks up in Helm's direction.
"Alright." she says. "How's this? I think I understand what you said about the pattern you need to trigger the step-stone things in order to open the door. You say you can step on them in such a way that the ones in line from this room to the door will be the last ones stepped on in order to make the door open? Maybe if you go and do that, I'll heal this one while you do. Then you can, if you want, go and wait by the other door. I'm going to stay with this one and walk over the step-stones. We'll open the door as we do, so I can be sure the young one is reunited with the larger one. Then I can just come back by going around the room like we did before, and maybe then we can try and work out this other door. But for now, we'd better just move quickly. Now I can stop this pain, I will..."
She turns back toward the young creature and makes a quiet squeaking noise, reaching out to gently touch it and see if it's still reponsive.

OOC - Helm had better get his arse in gear because the first thing Ameena does in my next post (as long as poor bubby hasn't managed to die by then :() is try using the potion. So I suppose that post will be quite short since then it'll be down to you to provide a reaction and stuff. Hopefully these creatures aren't allergic to it or something ;). And hopefully this one won't just go charging off as soon as it's healed and trigger all the wrong things, lol.
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Re: Ameena's BIG (and last?) adventure!

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Well, in a similar vein if Ameena threatens to go, Helm has no way to know she hadn't started!So that's how that one can resolve I guess :)

Also, you do understand unlike DM you don't have to triggerthe pads, you can skirt around them? It was vital when you couldn't see the pads, in order that Helm didn't accidentally step on them, to go around the edge of the room. Ameena can feel for the edges of the pads as she is stepping on them if she likes (since she'll be stepping on them anyway) so can just run back down the centre of the room without fear of re-triggering. Ok, perhaps less fear - I might throw in a dex check if Ameena is moving fast at the time :D


The creature still seemed to be moving, and gave a quite noise in return.

"Are you mad?" said Helm out loud in the meantime, bringing on another coughing fit. "I'm not trapping myself in the other room while you cure this thing! I want my hand on the button out of here! I know where it is, I would be able to find it quickly if I could blasted well see! We'd be dead if I hadn't found the last one and blocked the door in the first place!" There is another coughing fit, and the sound of scrambling. It sounds as if Helm is scrambling for the door. "Solve it all yourself then, I'm going the moment this goes sour," says Helm nastily, his cough worsened by his outbursts.


Poor Ameena can't seem to understand Helm really doesn't want to die, and is really freaked out by being attacked and almost suffocated by these things. Humans are just so selfish!

Anyway, Ameena has the potion and knows the combination for the door, but unless she's going to talk Helm down again (and there'll be no more dip checks, it's either fantastic RP or he's not moving) then she's doing it all on her own. So you'll have to figure out in which order she's going to do it all - heal the critter now to ensure it is ok, but risk it bouncing around, or solve the door now.
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Re: Ameena's BIG (and last?) adventure!

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OOC - Hrmm, either Helm's misunderstood Ameena's suggestion, or he's just decided to be even more of a git, or he's changed his mind or something. Ameena had suggested that he trigger enough pads that it would leave the ones in line with the door to be triggered, so Ameena coudl then (hopefully) lead the cured creature over them without worrying about said creature accidentally triggering something because they'd be going that way anyway - then when they got to the door with the big critter behind it, it would open in front of them as they stepped on teh last pad. Meanwhile Helm could be waiting over by the other for Ameena to come back having reunited the two spider-widgets. Or something. Maybe Helm hasn't considered that even healthy, this baby one's probably not gonna pose a huge threay by itself and the big one can't get to them. Meh, he's just being a git, lol.

BIC - "I...but...what?" stammers Ameena, not expecting this kind of response at all from the one she considers a friend. She still can't understand his attitude toward the strange screeching creatures, and even less so his attitude toward her now. She's also becoming increasingly worried about the way he keeps coughing and wonders whether he's actually got some kind of illness or whether the coughing is just something he does when he's under stress. She herself isn't really feeling too good at the moment, with all the confusion and faint glimmers of fear she's starting to feel from the way Helm's been talking to her. There's also the slight stinging pain remaining in the back of her head from the bite she received before. Still, it's hardly unbearable pain - she can deal with it.
At the thought of pain, Ameena suddenly becomes aware that a rather lengthy and uncomfortable silence has been filling the room while she's been thinking these things through and trying (and failing) to understand Helm's reactions. She's travelled a fair bit, she's met plenty of creatures in her time, but one seem so strange as the species like the one she's with now - humans and several similar ones. They do so many things she just can't understand, and she wonders if she ever will. No wonder she prefers to seek out and explore the lands of other species, ones unlike this one...
Snapping herself out of that train of thought, at least for now, Ameena applies her attention instead on the wounded creature lying in front of her. She squeaks faintly in what she hopes is a reassuring way and, with the help of her whiskers to find the right locations, pours a little of the healing liquid onto each of the wounds she can find. She moves back a little, but not so far that her whiskers are no longer in contact with the creature. She realises the creature may suddenly try to move away very quickly, which could result in somewhat unpleasant cosequences if it runs into the room with the stone-steps and triggers the trap that Helm mentioned. She remains ready, planning to reach out with a forepaw and gently grasp the creature by one of its legs if it tries to move away too fast. But she'll keep her movements slow, since she has no desire to startle the poor thing which has probably been through quite enough pain and fear for one day, and only intends to gently demonstrate that she would prefer the creature not to go running off immediately. She hopes such a gesture, if it even proves necessary, won't be misinterpreted. She also hopes that Helm won't say or do anything to potentially mess up the trust she hopes she's gradually gaining from these creatures.

OOC - So, there we go - if the healing potion works okay and the critter decides that it wants to just boing up and dash off straight away, Ameena's just gonna gently sort of hold one of its legs in a kind of "Please don't leg it just yet" kind of way, not grabbing it suddenly or gripping it hard or anything like that. Then she can try to work out wtf Helm meant when he described the shape she'll need to make on the pads to reopen the door. If Ameena was a bit more self-centred she'd probably have considered keeping at least a few drops of the potion for herself (to cure her own bite wound), but that thought won't have occurred to her, having been butted out by the whole "There's a baby thingy in trouble, species is irrelevant" kind of logic ;).
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Re: Ameena's BIG (and last?) adventure!

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Comments moved to OOC... since I realised I was saying alot of things and filling up the IC! :D

Helm moves over to the door, apparently happy in the silence, although perhaps Ameen would have seen him look across in the very dim light if she had been looking at him.

The creature allows Ameena to dribble liquid onto its various cuts, but barely has the second wound been tended when there is a hissing sound, and the creature screeches in a manner more like the previous noises. The creature thrashes so that Ameena can't get a hold, but luckily scrambles backwards towards the corner.

As it happens, Helm hears the sound then notices the motion and almost falls over himself to get away, interrupting the strip of light at the door as he scramles backwards. However, the creature is a vague shape in the corner, not moving in any aggressive way.

The larger creature also makes a reciprocal loud screeching noise, and bangs the iron grate in the other room for a few moments.

"What...waht's haoppened?" says Helm after a moment. "I...is it ok? Is it going to attack?" Helm scrambles back a little bit more, but obviously has to acknowledge that - for the moment - the critter is not attacking him nor Ameena. "Is it cured?" he asks quietly with a shaking voice.


So there we go, potion administered. And of course, the answer is "yes, critter cured" Or at least better than it was. Now, can you lead it to the door? And heh, poor Helm... the ickle one has just gone and plonked itself right beside his switch. Well, a little bit too close for his liking anyway. Serves him right!
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Re: Ameena's BIG (and last?) adventure!

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OOC - Lol yeah, smeggy human ;). Where did the hissing sound come from (and what kind of hissing noises was it)? Did the baby critter make it or did it come from somewhere else? You didn't specify. Oh, and is there any potion left? It sounds like the critter jumped backwards before Ameena had quite finished pouring...

BIC - "I think so." answers Ameena, somewhat distractedly. "But ssh. They don't like our language. You seem to think this will go wrong - that's probably more likely to happen if you keep speaking in a way they don't like..."
She puts the spotter back on the flask, shoevs it into a pouch, then starts to slowly and cautiously move toward the creature, making quiet little squeaking noises as she does so. She hopes the creature won't panic or attack. She tries to work out what made it run - maybe it was scared by her being so close, regardless of the fact that she helped. Or maybe the healing liquid caused the creature some harm, yet clearly it's healed the wounds as well or the creature surely wouldn't be so active all of a sudden. She wonders what caused the wounds in the first place.
Thinking over such things she continues to focus the majority of her attention on the dark shape in the slightly-less-dark corner of the very dark room. She moves forward along the wall, so that the way is open for the creature to dart out sideways if it wants - she knows how it feels to be cornered by something, and doesn't want to instil such a feeling in this young creature. Well, if it is a young one, she suddenly thinks - maybe these are in fact two different species of similar creatures who merely differ in size. Oh well, whatever the case, she decides that they could have dealt much worse damage to herself and Hel, by now if they'd wanted to. And they haven't, so maybe they don't. She hopes.

OOC - So ner, Helm got the murafu equivalent of a bit of a telling off ;). He's all "Oh it's going to go wrong, it's going to go wrong, they're gonna attack, we're gonna die, omg omg, hey is it okay. Is the creature gonna attack you? What's going on?" etc, when Ameena, I'm sure, already told him that speaking Common to these creatures is a Bad Idea. Goit ;). Ameena, meanwhile, is approaching the critter in the same way she did before - very slowly, a step or two at a time, on all-fours, squeaking quietly. Much as she'd like to go and try to open the door now the critter is healed, she doesn't want to leave it just sitting in the corner like that. And Helm's being no use so she'd pretty much discounting him at this point and just hopes he'll just sit there and keep quiet ;). I think he may want to redeem himself in her eyes at some point pretty soon after this, or she'll just end up worrying about why he doesn't trust her when they're supposed to be friends ;).
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Re: Ameena's BIG (and last?) adventure!

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Hissing like liquid bubbling, just a reaction to the liquid with the critter's blood - if Ameena had to guess, of course :D And no, I made it delayed reaction hissing just to speed thigns up - so the potion is used up.

Helm says nothing further, though whether in anger of fear is unknown. Ameena finds that the scent of the creature's wounds and the odd smell of the potion mixing with the blood temporarily overpowers detecting other fainter smells.

The creature does curl up slightly more into the corner by the shadowy looks of it, rising up as if backing up against the corner. However, although it shuffles a little at her movement forward, it doesn't dart away. Helm is certainly, by the looks of it, not close enough to be considered trapping it. Is he?

You can make me a general perception roll for the next lot of stuff you do, I'm maybe giving you a little too much leeway here - after all, it is still pretty dark and now smelly around :D Is Ameena going to actually reach out and touch the critter again?

And lol, it's not that speaking common is necessarily a bad idea - just like if Ameena squeaked at someone. It's just much less helpful since they clearly have no idea what it means!

And lol, I wonder why Helm doens't trust the murafu... who knows! In a parallel world, where Helm is the PC and Ameena the NPC, I reckon she'd have ben eaten by now, and Helm would have had to have bravely carried on alone!
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Re: Ameena's BIG (and last?) adventure!

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OOC - Hehe, clearly Helm doesn't know enough about the Murafu as Ameena would like to think - otherwise he definitely would be trusting her and probably wouldn't be so moody about it because he'd know she's telling the truth in everything she says and really does just want to help and all that ;).

BIC - Ameena considers what to do. She isn't entirely sure she fully understands Helm's description of the shape needed to make the door open from walking over the step-stone things, and also doesn't want the creature to wander around potentially triggering them while she tries to work out the pattern. Being able to see would probably help, but she knows she can get a pretty good mental image of the room by running around it and planning it out with whisker-touch. She decides to see whether she can get the creature to follow her - maybe if she can lead it to the door, it will wait there while she tries to get the thing open. Helm, she hopes, will stay where he is, though she's gathered by now, to her dismay, that he doesn't seem to trust her as much as she'd thought.
She decides, meanwhile, to see whether she can communicate with the creature enough that she can get across what she wants it to do. On impulse, she decides that maybe first telling Helm what she plans to do will help - if the creature gets her message and ends up following her, Helm will surely realise that these creatures are as intelligent as Ameena thinks they might be.
"I'm going to see if I can get this creature to follow me to the door." she says, for Helm's benefit. "Maybe then it will wait there while I try to get the door open."
She then squeaks once at the creature, turns away, takes a few steps, looks back and squeaks again, hoping that this will be enough of a message for the creature to understand.

OOC - And you asked for a Perception roll...wheee, 26 (18+8) :D. You know, I'm not sure I've had a crap Perception roll at all yet through this whole game...
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Re: Ameena's BIG (and last?) adventure!

Post by beowuuf »

Yeha, the +8 bonus temnds to help :) But yeah, that's fine, means I was justified in letting you half see the creature and know roughly what was happening. as we were!

"O..o...ok," says Helm thickly, "be...I...be careful..." he says with a strain in his voice.

The creature shuffles against the wall a littl,e then lets out a making squeak. As Ameena moves the squeaks, the creature squeaks again, and starts to shuffle forward, nervously skittering by the sounds of it. The shadowy shape moves off towards Ameena, then perhaps as if understansing keeps moving. Ameena feels the thing brush right passed her, and carry on into the other room.

Ameena thinks she hears three clicks from the next room before an excited squeaking. There is a rattle on the iron grate, then a deeper bang on the iron grate and also the lower squeak of the larger creature on the other side. The general rattling seems to indicate the little creature is trying excitedly to get through.

So there you go...perhaaaaaps the creature has already started the process for you, and is beside the iron grate.
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Re: Ameena's BIG (and last?) adventure!

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OOC - Ooh, critter went ahead and ran straight past instead of just staying behind and following. Well, hopefully it'll stay there.

BIC - Ameena feels the creature run past and hopes that the step-stones it's triggered won't cause any harmful effects. She has no way of telling and isn't sure whether she should risk now trying to trigger the things herself.
"Helm..." she says, somewhat warily at feeling the need to speak to him about the door yet again. "What will happen if I step on the wrong stones when I try to open the door? I'm not too sure of the pattern, and now the creature has triggered some of them...is it already too late?"
She decides there's no point in actually asking him to go ahead and trigger the door himself, since he seems so set against the idea. Plus he'll probably comment about still not being able to see, as though she will have somehow forgotten.
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Re: Ameena's BIG (and last?) adventure!

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"I..what? The stones? They...if you press too many of the wrong ones the walls and ceiling move in and the way back here blocks off. The...if the creature ran straight forward, it's ok. If...if it's distracted, if...if you trust it to not attack you, then you need to carefully step into the room, and go from the centre of the left wall to the centre of the right wall. Then...umm...then you carefully move back to the entrance to this room and pick a side. Run around in a square so you end up back at the entrance again, and the door should open, and you can run back in here. I'll...I'll get the switch here."

There is a scrambling motion and a shift in the light at the door, showing Helm has moved back to where he was before. There is a further scrambling noise as he obviously looks for the switch.

Got the pattern? Will Ameena stay and try to work out what will happen? Will she start the square at the other side so she can make sure she 'sees' the two creatures reunited? Anything else?
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Re: Ameena's BIG (and last?) adventure!

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Ameena nods to herself as Helm describes the pattern she needs to run.
"Alright." she says. "I'll get that door open. But could you wait before you open the other door? I mean, if there is something bad on the other side, more soldiers or something, I don't think it would be a good idea to let them in while these creatures are still here. If they for some reason decide to attack, maybe then would be a good idea, but for now I think it's best to leave the door shut. I can come back when these creatures are dealt with and listen at the door, and smell underneath it, to see if I can tell whether there's anyone waiting on the other side."
That said, she moves around the room, sniffing at the step-stones till she finds the right place to start before trotting around and triggering them in the order Helm instructed her to do so. The one thing she does do differently, however, is to start the square from the other side to what Helm suggested, so that she finishes the pattern on the same side of the room as the door she's about to open. She is eager to see, or rather, to hear and smell, what will happen when these creatures can finally reach each other.

OOC - I'm guessing Ameena's gonna now get attacked, ignored, or "thanked" (in giant-spider language, obviously ;)) once the door opens ;). Hopefully Helm will listen to her advice and keep still until she can come back to him. Unless the big ne decides to reach down and carry her off or something, I suppose ;). Still, the critters are hopefully not stupid enough that they won't remember she has a friend with her who might bother to help her if she gets into trouble ;). Still, she probably won't yell for help unless she thinks she is definitely being attacked...
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Re: Ameena's BIG (and last?) adventure!

Post by beowuuf »

Yeah, the critters cared about there being two of you so much last time... :D

"If they attack, it will be too late! How am I supposed to see them coming?" said Helm, then he coughed again. "Fine," he muttered.

Ameena carefully walked in the prescribed pattern, while the two creatures banged into the iron grate. Luckily, the smaller creature didn't appear to walk back into the pad beside it. As Ameena completed the last of the steps, there was a sound of the grate lifting up. There was a scrambling sound, and a few squeaks.

There was final loud 'squeak' apparently from the larger creature, that Ameena could take as a 'thank you', before more scrambling noises - the creatures were moving away.
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Re: Ameena's BIG (and last?) adventure!

Post by Ameena »

OOC - Aaawww...yaaay, happy reunion :D. Now hopefully after all that we can avoid getting instantly ganked by soldiers or something ;).

BIC - Ameena gives a final squeak in return and smiles. She listens to the creatures moving off, then turns and follows the wall back around toward the other door, beside which (OOC - Correct me if I'm wrong) Helm still waits. She ambles over on all-fours, finding the human by whisker-touch, then stands upright and touches his leg with a forepaw to let him know where she is.
"It's done." she says, pleased. "They're gone. And now we have another escape route if there's someone nasty waiting for us on the other side of this door. I'd much prefer those strange squeaking creatures to more bad-tempered soldiers."
She pauses, and her good mood fades away.
"How come...how come you didn't trust me?" she asks, somewhat unhappily. "I thought you were my friend..."
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Re: Ameena's BIG (and last?) adventure!

Post by beowuuf »

Yeah, that will avoid the pads, no problem.

Helm stiffens as Ameena comes over, but then breathes out in obvious relief as he realises it is the quietly moving murafu. He seems to give an even greater audible sigh as Ameena reassures him that the creatures are gone. "Both have almost killed me, I just want to leave them all behind," says Helm sadly.

There is a pause as Ameena unhappily asks her big question. Helm answers equally unhappily. "You ...you said yourself last night - or the ngiht before, I lose track of time - but you said you've lived out here only a few years. You...I don't thinkyou understand the real world. Not really. And...and you can hide from it. Or...or you can defend yourself. I'm not small. I don't have sharp teeth and claws. I'm not fast. I can't 'see' in the dark with my nose. The soldier almost killed me because I couldn't escape. The creature before...I...he almost killed me, because I oculdn't see it, coulnd't do anything to it. I can still taste the thing in my mouth!" Ameena can hear the change in Helm's voice, he is almost sobbing the comments.

"Just...look, just don't throw it in my face I stayed behind. You don't know what it's like in the world. We should be dead. I'm glad everyhting woked out. But you...your friends... you keep trying to see the good in people, and they aren't. They're going to disappointe you Ameena. If your friends keep letting soldiers go, I mean, the one that attacked me could have cut my throat and they were barginning with him! They let him go! They let that other murderer go! With all his weapons and armour! I mean...Ameena, I'm sorry, I trust you that you won't lie, and are a good person. I just...I can't trust you with my life. You and your friends seem to eager to throw your lives away for others. We should be dead right now. I...I'm glad you were right this time, and the creatures here were just angry because the soldiers attacked first. But...but it's never normally like that. Maybe you believe in the High Lords, maybe that's it so you aren't afraid to throw your life away but...but...I ... look, I don't. I don't want to die."

Helm's voice has been thick with emotion the whole time and he doesn't say anything for a moment. "Can we just, not talk for a minute....can we just figure out how to leave here?"


Roll me a sense motive check in additiona to anything else you'd like to do. Outlying a plan for what you wanna do next after dealing with Helm (if you will) would be a good idea. Obviously Ameena can interrupt his conversation with comments, and can also decide if she wants to be quiet once he asks her to, or if he wants.

Once again, we see why NPCs aren't PCs - they don't have the same selflessness. Then again, I might start running a body count to see how many NPCs die from their own actions as opposed to the PCs quest and selfless actions :D Funny to see how many things would be self fulfilling prophesies with Helm. After all, if he could have seen he would have attacked the creatures right away too.
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Re: Ameena's BIG (and last?) adventure!

Post by Ameena »

OOC - Sense Motive = 17 (9+8). Plan for after this conversation will be to thoroughly explore (ie listen and sniff at and generally investigate with regard to detecting anything that might be on the other side) the door before Helm opens it. But that's for after this conversation - Helm's given Ameena quite a few points she'll want to respond to, so respond she shall ;).

BIC - Ameena listens to what Helm says, and though she knows he can't see her, she slowly, and a little sadly, shakes her head. She hasn't moved her forepaw from where it rests against his leg.
"I can see the real world." she replies. "I've just seen a different part of it to what you've seen. If you'd grown up among the murafu, you'd have no real reason not to trust anyone. It's growing up among your kind, where people are so unpleasant toward each other, that has given you your viewpoint. You see so many negative things about people probably because you've seen so much of it before. I see less, because I know that every creature has a chance to be kind and gentle even if other members of their species aren't. The Murafu live in groups, but we still see individuals for what they are - individual. Different from anyone else. There's no-one out there who's exactly like me, because I'm the only one who's exactly like me. Because I'm me."
She pauses for a moment, wondering whether she's starting to diverge from whatever it was she was going to say, then realises that she didn't really have any specific point she was trying to make since she's just responding to what Helm said, and goes on, though her tone changes to one containing a certain amount of sadness.
"When you refer to my...friends...do you mean those people I was with before? Like...Falkor? Those ones? I would have hoped they'd be friends, but...I don't think I can call them that. You seem to want to think of the soldiers as being different to them, aggressive and hostile, attacking without any reason, but it wasn't they who started that fight."
She gives a faint shudder as she remembers, and again "sees" the mental image of Arbrut...burning.
"I...I suppose I don't understand how creatures like you think." she says, trying to lose the fearful tone which has crept into her voice since mentioning the fight again. "Your species, I mean, and others like it. An individual might seem friendly at one moment, and then turn and attack you the next, just because they want to take something that belongs to you. Some people seem to have no concept of sharing...of trust. That's one thing that's so important among the Murafu - trust. And so we all trust each other. None of us would consider another murafu acting against us, because we never do. It's only other species who seem to. I think it's why I prefer to explore species you would call less...civilised. Like those screeching creatures. I can understand them better - they probably attacked because we were on their territory. They could probably have killed us. At least, the big one probably could have. But as I mentioned before, it picked me up and didn't hurt me. I think it just dropped me when you got the door open. One of the smaller ones did bite me but it's not a bad injury. Misunderstandings can happen. If you never give people a second chance, you'll just end up running from, or even attacking, a potential friend. I know that sometimes, trusting people can be bad. But I just don't think the same way you do - I can't not trust someone, even just a little bit, when i first meet them. Because amybe they won't try to attack me. That's why I usually hide somewhere first, to watch and listen, and decide for myself whether approaching and introducing myself is a good idea."
She stops talking again, realising she's probably talked a bit too much - if she was talking to a fellow murafu, this many words would probably have been spoken by both sides, and at a somewhat faster rate. But she decides to finish up.
"I just...hope that you'll trust me." she says, quietly. "If we don't have trust, I don't see what else we do have. I hope you're my friend. I have trust in you. Just because I've disagreed with you, and you with me, over what's been happening, doesn't mean I wouldn't trust you with my life if we came to a situation where I knew you had a better idea than me about what was going on. I'm sure you understand your own kind better than me. But there are things I understand better than you. I think...I think this...incident...with those creatures proves that much, if nothing else. I just want you to trust me, even just a little bit..."

OOC - That last section of speech is in the kind of tone that erm...well, if murafu could cry (and they can't), it would be almost in the kind of tone that someone would use if they were trying not to. Cry, I mean. Sort of a quiet, uncertain tone. After Helm gives a response to this, maybe then we can start on the door ;).
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Re: Ameena's BIG (and last?) adventure!

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Lol, nothing wants me to write this entry - we had a power cut at lunch! However, I have my boss's old keyboard, it's nice and clacky, so tlet's do this thing! :D

Ameena notices a slight catch in Helm's voice when he was describing how people will let Ameena down. However, she cannot quite tell the souce of his scepticism. However, what she can tell is that he is certainly hiding some pain or secret underneath his words.

Heh, your sense motive tied Helm's 'innate' bluff as he spoke, so I split the difference and let you know there was something odd in how he said it, but not what it could be.

"Perhaps that's how the world works," says Helm as Ameena carries on, "if you expect good things then good things happen, and if you expet bad things bad things happen. But I don't know how to do that. Bad things always seem to have happened. I can't be as courageous as you, I can't trust that good things will happen just because I do good things."

Helm seems to shuffle, perhaps even gasp, when Ameena says she does not think her friends as friends. There even seems to be some odd nervousness as he replies - even though there seems no reason for there to be. "You...you didn't hear the soldiers speaking before they came for you. They expected your ...well, they expected the rest to be in that hall. And...and it did not sound as if they were too happy. They questioned me and captured me and I thought they might kill me ...well, to learn about you people. I didn't know you were all there! And...and I thought the rest must be evil, because you came out unharmed and unbound, when those men had spoken such bad things before. I believe if we had not escaped, they may well have harmed you....and me...and maybe the cleric. Infact that man that Falkor...well, Falkor attacked, that man was obviously looking to harm the half-orc. I don't know why! And...I mean...I mean the half-orc tried to help me, gave me a dagger in the confusion to help me escape. And he fought the Captain too!"

Helm lapses into silence. "I...I think you might have too high a standard. I do think people will let you down, if you don't consider the people we left friends. I...I thought you just wanted out more than you wanted to look after them. I ...I don't think I realised them attackign the soldiers had affected you so much."

There was a pause. "What if I have to attack a soldier? What if there is the chance, to attack one and get free before he harms us? And they will harm us? Will you stop being my friend?" Another pause. "You asked why I don't trust you, but you might leave me too if I try to do something to help us. You might leave me just because things go right for you and you can live your life not doing bad things, but things always go wrong for me, so I sometimes might have to do bad things - like your friends did - to survive."

There was a final pause. "You mention missing out on potential friends from misunderstandings, but what about people who are actually friends? Don't you miss out on keeping them if you can't understand and respect them? What..what if people have to have done bad things. Look at the half-orc.... he...he helped me when he had no reason to, but he attacked the soldiers. And he has probably done bad things in the past. Why is it harder to understand him, when you can talk to him? Why did you abandon him, why do you question me, yet are so happy to trust and put your life on the line for creatures you can barely communicate with, who did not stop to ask us anything before we attacked! Why are monsters allowed to defend their territory, yet to you we are not allowed to protect our lives!"

Helms quick responses came to an end as he started coughing very badly. He obviously tried to stiffle it as much as possible, which kept it carrying on for longer. Finally he breathes deep breaths.

Interesting, I had the beats of Helm's response all planned, and then that last train of thought sudden;y occurred to me as something Helm would have picked up on, given Ameena's previous question and the mention of the rest of the group not being her friends. I think that hits the main thrusts of Ameena's comments... probably one last set of responses. Can you also post some rolls for the sniffing at the door, and for the listening. Alos, a time frame if you think Ameena would need time to compose herself.

Oh, and did you mean Ameena would let Helm open the door if she heard/sniffed nothing out of the ordinary, or is there anything else you'd want to do first?
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Re: Ameena's BIG (and last?) adventure!

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OOC - Well, I don't expect there'd be much Ameena would be able to do about it if Helm decided to just go ahead and trigger the door of his own accord. Since they don't really have anywhere else to go right now (apart from back the way they just came, which might piss off the spider-widgets again, plus they don't know for sure about an exit in that direction), opening the door would make sense, once Ameena has checked as best she can for whatever's on the other side.

BIC - Ameena listens to Helm as he explains. She understands his point, but makes one of her own in response.
"Attacking someone to disable them in order to escape isn't quite the same as throwing magical fire at their back." she points out. "I've fought things before. Predators, mainly, and only ever when I was cornered and unable to escape. Well, it's only happened a few times. Once it happened when I was alone and I managed to escape by throwing dirt in its face and then hitting one of its legs with a stick so it stumbled and I had time to run. Once it was a human who'd cornered me, in a building. I ran straight at his legs, hoping to surprise him and trip him up, but be tried to grab me so I bit his hand when it came near. He nearly stamped on my tail but I dodged and then managed to get under his feet and he fell over. He tried to grab me again so I kicked out and scratched him, on the face I think. Then I managed to get away from him and climb up to get out through a hole in the roof. Other times I've seen friends cornered and have helped cause a distraction so they could escape. But I don't kill. Protecting your own life is one thing. Ending someone else's life is quite another."
She gives her head a little shake, brushing off the subject in light of what to her is a greater concern.
"But for now, I think this can wait. Are you ill? You keep coughing. It's not really something we do, but I've learned about it from other species, like yours. What's wrong? And please don't tell me it's nothing. You've been coughing more and more often so whatever it is that's wrong, it seems to be getting worse."

OOC - I was gonna have Ameena do her door-sniffing thing this post, but ended up diverging from it yet again when I re-read your last post and remembered Helm's cough.
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Re: Ameena's BIG (and last?) adventure!

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Helm listens to Ameena's answer without comment. As to the coughing, Helm just complains about the taste of the creatures still, and begs for a little more water. "It was wrapped around my throat, I think it might have damaged my neck a little. I'll be ok, we just need to get out of here, and get away from this oppressive air."

Feel free to throw those sniffing/listening rolls, then I guess it's door opening fun!
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Re: Ameena's BIG (and last?) adventure!

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Ameena isn't entirely sure that Helmis fully telling the truth, and there are obviously other things bothering him than just hte cough. Nevertheless, she takes out her bottle and gives it a little shake.
"I don't have much left." she says. "Hopefully we'll get out of here before it runs out."
Despite feeling rather thirsty herself, she reaches up to find one of Helm's hands and passes the bottle to him. Then she starts to sniff around the door, especially at the crack along the bottom and also listens intently, pressing an ear to the door and to the crack to try and discern whether there's anything making any sound on the other side.

OOC - Presumably listening for stuff comes under Perception since we don't have a Listen skill - I'm guessing you merged that into Perception along with Spot. So, Perception roll for door investigation = (woot) 27 (19+8). See? Again a good Perception roll :D.
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Re: Ameena's BIG (and last?) adventure!

Post by beowuuf »

Indeed, perception is listen + spot, and you get the specific bonus to the roll depending on what there is to see/here :D

"Oh," says Helm in a small voice, "there's not much left at all... I... I'd better not then." By the sounds of it, Helm would happily have finished it all, but stopped after the murafu mentioning hoping it will last. "I'm feeling ok now. Can...can you hear anything? Or smell anything?" Helm then possibly realises he is being foolish talking over her attempts to do those things, and becomes quiet.

Ameena cannot really hear anything through the door, and the scents are to be expected - the metal of the soldiers, the faint scents of the party, Helm's scent (too fresh because he is close, to spot the scent from earlier), the dead smell of the mummies, and the newer scents of the creature they had just released.

However, Ameena sniffed closer, and also stretched her hearing to pick up on the smallest of sounds. One thing she realised was that there was the scent of something familiar. Not anything she could instantly place, but luckily her thoughts went in the right direction and she realised the scent of the Brohur soldier as he had passed her was tangible in the air. Somehow she knew it was definitely him as he had left, not just his scent amongst the others coming out of the room. Perhaps it was the scent of sweat after battle, his hair, something. Also, she could smell the strong scent of fire - not just a single torch - either the soldiers had lit multiple torches, or there was a larger fire inside. Just liek the rags Hyanuus had lit earlier.

If so, there would be no real way to creep inside unseen. Though perhaps unheard...

Ameena could not smell anything moving close to the door. Similarly, nothing moved nor spoke close. However, just on the edge of hearing, she thought she could hear two distinct voices - there were at least two soldiers somewhere where their voices woukld carry

There we go, good perception roll! Basically, you could open the door without being jumped, but certainly someone would hear, and they could see well.
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Re: Ameena's BIG (and last?) adventure!

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Ameena moves back a little from the door. She's suddenly tempted to start speaking in a much quieter voice, but figures that with all the noise that's been made in the room already, a little more conversation probably won't make much difference.
"That soldier came this way." she says, looking up in the direction of Helm's head. "The one who passed me before, during the...the fight. I can hear voices - one of them might be him, but I can't tell. I think they've got a fire in there. Maybe they're sitting by it, talking. I don't think we'll be able to open this door without them noticing, and I'm not sure getting noticed would be a good idea. At least, I'd rather it didn't happen."
She pauses, then asks Helm a somewhat nervous-sounding question.
"What do you think we should do?"
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Re: Ameena's BIG (and last?) adventure!

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In the barely illuminated section beside the door, Ameena can almost see Helm and see his expression. He looks very worried, and tired.

"I...I guess I hadn't really thought this through. I suppose if we open the door, we either need to draw them through then trap them on this side, or we need to make them think the door is malfunctioning so they don't think anything of it springing open all the time."

Helm sounded as if he wasn't truly convinced about this second idea.

"Ameena, can...can you see me well enough to see where I am pointing? Could you jump up and reach the switch to open the door if you needed to? You are faster than I am...perhaps I can hide in the next room, and you can hit the switch then join me. We might be able to get the soldiers to come investigate, and then run passed them/ Especially if they see the other door open and are distracted by it."

Helm then thinks some more. "Otherwise, all I can suggests is you hide and...well, and perhaps I should just open the door. I...I could claim I have information about the others, or something. They...they were not nice, but if they have that other solider, then they will know what happened to the others. They will know I had nothing to do with it. They ...I...well they should keep me alive to find out where everyone is. If they capture me, you can hopefulyl sneak in, and then when they are distracted, you can free me and we can escape."

Even in the half light, Ameena can see Helm is almost cursing himself for suggesting suhc a plan. And yet, is it the best oen they have?


There you go, Helm has come up with all the dumb plans he can think of. Come on, let's see what cool and creative way a player character can come up with!
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Re: Ameena's BIG (and last?) adventure!

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OOC - Lol yes, I'm not sure that the plan of "get yourself captured by hostile and aggressive soldiers who you know don't like you and then hope your very small and mostly vulnerable friend is able to get you out past these guys with plate armour and swords" is a particularly good idea myself ;).

BIC - "Let yourself get caught?" asks Ameena, somewhat startled, and confused, that Helm might suggest such a thing. "If the one who knows us is still in there, and whomever he's with knows that he saw some of the fight, then I'm not sure they'd take your word over his if he suggested that you did do something to harm the other soldiers. They have a fire in there, from the looks of things - there may not be any shadows for me to hide in and even if there are, if the soldiers tied you up they'd probably keep you beside the fire where they could see you. I may not get a chance to reach you, and they may not keep you there anyway - they might take you to where there are more soldiers. Like Drommal."
She pauses while she thinks things over.
"Your first idea seemed a little better." she says. "Maybe...hmm...I wonder...we could try something like that, but with a few changes. Wait here a moment - I want to try something out. I'm going to go over to the corner so I'm not standing right next to you, and I'm going to make a sound. I want you to tell me what you think I sound like..."
So saying, Ameena runs around the room until she reaches a corner (OOC - the southwest corner of this room, not that it's really relevant, but just so you can picture where she is ;)), then turns back to face in Helm's direction. Crouching on all fours, she squeaks in the best imitation she can manage of the creatures they've just encountered. She tries a few "normal" squeaks, like the smaller ones made, then changes her squeak to sound more like that of the wounded one.
"What do you think?" she then asks, speaking to Helm from her position across the room from him.

OOC - Just thought - a Bluff roll might be needed for that last "manoeuvre", I'm guessing...bleh, Ameena has shit Bluff, lol. Well, murafu don't lie, do they? Okay so let's see what we get...it's all down to my d20 giving me a good one...bah, 8 (7+1) :P.
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Re: Ameena's BIG (and last?) adventure!

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Indeed, a bluff roll will be needed. Sadly you average perception of how they sound means I won'#t give you a bonus on imitating them. Luckily, you blew this roll on Helm. Still, I can't give you any bonuses for doing it well this time either, and Helm won't be too convinced. Actually, given you left the door open, you might be glad that you blew sounding too convincing!

Helm makes a non-commital noise. "Umm...that's a good plan perhaps. Except...well, except you sounded very small like the one they injured. I mean, it might be useful to lure them over - except then how would you escape?"

Helm then apparently thinks of something. "Maybe...maybe you better not do that again. Incase you bring back the real ones back." Perhaps getting nervous at being reminded there is only one way out, as the creatures are in the other direction and could come back, Helm whispers. "Do you want to do that then? Do you want me to show you how to open the door, and then you can make the soldiers think the creatures are around?"

Even though Ameena tried to sound like them all, the poor bluff means she just sounded like the wimpiest one. Still might be useful :D
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Re: Ameena's BIG (and last?) adventure!

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OOC - Well, that was sort of the idea - sound like an injured one so they think they've got an easy target. It doesn't matter if she doesnt' do a perfect immitatin of them, just one that sounds enough like one to fool the soldiers with their (compared to a murafu) not-very-good hearing. They surely know about the squeaky critters so if they hear something squeaking in the next room I figure they're more likely to assume it's one of those and not a sentient rat trying to fool them ;).
Btw, you didn't mention what Helm did with the water bottle after he decided not to drink from it...

BIC - Ameena trots back around the wall to speak to Helm again. She stands upright and rests her forepaws on his leg, looking up in the direction of his head again.
"I was just thinking," she says, "that as long as I sound just a bit like those creatures, it might fool the soldiers. If you're hiding around the corner of this room, not far from the door, and I'm in the next room, with the step-stones, hopefully they'll hear me and walk straight past you. Then you can sneak into their room after they've passed you, and I can run past them too once they reach me and hopefully you'll have a headstart on them. Would there be any way of closing this door from the other side? Maybe we can stop them for a while. If not, I think maybe you should find a place to hide while they're looking for me. As long as they don't find you, I'll have no trouble once I get a chance - I can follow your scent easily."

OOC - So that's the plan. In case the description wasn't clear, this is what she's suggesting - Helm hides by (and presumably opens) the door. Meanwhile, Ameena hides in the next area, the one with the pads where she cured the baby critter. Her theory is that if she starts making wounded squeaky noises, the soldiers will go to investigate, following the sounds and hopefully not looking around for Helm as they pass through the door. Then hopefully he can get a halfway decent Sneak roll in order to move into the Mummy room and either get through it or find a place to hide or something. Ameena will then take action depending on what the soldiers do. That's if both (if there are only two of them) of them come to look. I imagine if Brohur is there, he'll jump at the chance to inflict pain on another random creature (something I actually only just thought of as I typed it - Ameena knows what he's like from watching him poke that Rock Monster with a torch...). Maybe she'll get lucky and both guards will go through the other door (where the critters went) and she can step on a pad to close it (if that's what does the job). If not, she'll wait as long as she can, sticking to the shadows, and try to sneak past them or, if she's seen, use the element of surprise she's likely to have and just leg it past them and hide somewhere in the Mummy room herself or something before they catch her. If she gets caught I imagine she won't do very well ;).
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beowuuf
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Re: Ameena's BIG (and last?) adventure!

Post by beowuuf »

Helm gave the bottle back to Ameena - or at least offer it back in her direction.

Helm shrugs. "Sounds like it might be a plan, except I'm not sure about hiding in this corner here. Surely they know about the switch by now... if they have torches, then this corner would be the first place they'd looi, and they could easily spot me."

Helm taps his fingers on his lips for a moment, then realises he has a cut. "Wait a moment... perhaps I can pretend to be wounded. I....I trigger the door, and then fall down infront of the door as if it's been my last act before unconsciousness. When they come to investigate, you mame the sounds like the creatures. That will focus them on that. They might just leave me alone. At worst, one might stay by me while the others investigate, or one might carry me through. But I doubt they would tie me up or harm me further if they thought I was dying anyway. I...I've still got cuts, I can easily look attacked. What do you think?"

That wacky Helm. Still, the room really won't be that easy to hide in in torchlight. If he was in the other corner, he might have a chance (as long as they don't look around, which might be slim), but I don't think by the secret switch will work. Certainly Helm isn't confident!
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Re: Ameena's BIG (and last?) adventure!

Post by Ameena »

OOC - Oh I didn't necessarily mean hide right by the switch, more kind of right back in the corner. If the guards were focused on the noise ahead of them, they hopefully wouldn't think to turn their heads to one side as they passed through the door.
Oh and about the water bottle, I suppose we can just retcon that Helm handed it back to Ameena - you didn't specify what he did with it before, just that he decided he wouldn't drink from it even though he wanted to, because Ameena said there was hardly any left.

BIC - Ameena considers this, but isn't sure about it.
"I don't know..." she says. "Do you think you look as though you're that badly hurt? I can't smell too much blood on you, but I suppose you could be hurt without bleeding too much. Maybe...maybe you could hide in the corner, but in such a way that it looks as though you collapsed there - as though you pushed the switch, saw the guards, then went to hide in the corner in the hope they wouldn't notice you. That way if they do look round and see you, at least it still might look as though you were hurt."
Ameena thinks some more.
"I suppose they might think there's only one creature, one small wounded one like the one we helped, and step on one of the step-stones to close the door in order to keep the larger one out. Then I'd be stuck there, and I suppose it would make sense for only one of them to investigate my sounds while the other stayed here, by this door, and would probably spot you. Alright, so maybe that plan isn't very good. But...I can't really think of another one. Maybe we should consider what to do about the guards if they find us. Well, I suppose they may be more likely to find you. I mean, you're much bigger than me, and can't hide in the dark so well because you don't have whiskertouch."

OOC - Heh, hey there's only about fifty million things wrong with this plan, lol. I imagine whatever they decide on, it's gonna result in them (or at least Helm) being attacked or captured. As long as Helm doesn't decide to suddenly stab one of them or something - I'm sure you know why that would be a bad idea unless you want to see what a murafu is like when they metally lose it ;).
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