Thiy and Artaxes' Excellent Adventure!

Forum to run play-by-post RPG games based on Dungeon Master! Warning: These games may have mature themes or language.
CURRENT GAME: Raixel's 3.5ed D&D game

Moderators: Ameena, raixel

Forum rules
Please read the Forum rules and policies before posting.
User avatar
ian_scho
High Lord
Posts: 2806
Joined: Fri Apr 07, 2006 8:30 am
Location: Zaragoza, Spain

Re: Thiy and Artaxes' Excellent Adventure!

Post by ian_scho »

Thiy dropped the crystal in surprise at what she saw. "Why didn't you tell us this information FIRST?" Thiy demanded of the female lizar. "You aren't telling us all of the information are you?" Even though it was not a difficult discovery she made sure the others saw her disgust at being 'deceived' by her new found discovery. She happily handed them over to the lizar in charge of the caravan.

When she suggested that the followers were not trusting in one another it was both true inter- and intra- the various cult groups. You couldn't really trust those around you in your own small community, let alone other groups who are supposed to be with the same goals as you yet would happily tread all over you to obtain a small profit. The cohesion, however, was all psychological. Thiy knew this but she kept going back for more in the hope that the group was moving towards something bigger and better than what was happening now.

She appreciates Ktch'klik's gift once more. Again she is surprised with the one who can see directly into her soul.

OOC - magical cursed items and their removal (1d20+2=6)
User avatar
oh_brother
Son of Heaven
Posts: 1897
Joined: Wed Aug 12, 2009 11:13 am
Location: The Screamer Room

Re: Thiy and Artaxes' Excellent Adventure!

Post by oh_brother »

Artaxes accepted the pin from the arachnid, studying the design. At the instructions for use he raised an eyebrow, impressed. "Could come in useful. Thank you." He tried to look the spider in the eyes, but could not pick one pair to focus on, and ended up looking away. It was one more surprise, how these alien creatures were being friendly to the humans. Some of them, at least. Others were still trying to kill him and Thiy, he reminded himself.

As talk of the amulet on the drover began Artaxes moved over. "I never dealt with anything like this" he said, scratching his beard. "Cutting it off seems the most reasonable option. If we could remove the metallic lump from the other one's chest, we probably could manage this."

He examine the creature's neck, holding it's chin with his hand and moving it from side to side to better observe from each angle. "I know where the main arteries are in humans, and I could probably avoid them. But in lizar, I would be going in blind."

INT roll was 12 + 0 = 12.
User avatar
raixel
The Dungeon Master Cylinder
Posts: 1200
Joined: Mon Jun 21, 2010 10:10 am
Location: I see Mount Rainier in the distance...

Re: Thiy and Artaxes' Excellent Adventure!

Post by raixel »

The female looks frightened at Thiy's anger about the lack of disclosure of the scroll and related objects. At the monk's obvious displeasure, the female drops to the ground, shaking and holding her hands over her face as if she is expecting a beating. When none is forthcoming, she peeks out from behind a hand.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I really didn't mean to. I was opening my mouth to tell ou about it, but then Kassah read my kakiss'a's gift and I got distracted by thinking of them and how much that piece of paper means to me. By then you were already looking through the crystal!" she babbles as she cowers on the ground hiding her face behind her hands.

"Please, please! I'm not hiding anything. You have given me and my kakkiss'a the first real chance to be free in 3 cycles, something I had completely given up on. I am not going to mess that up! The only loyalty I had to the New Way was instilled in me by fear of torture or the torture of my kakkiss'a. But as I went with the caravan, being out of the immediate reach of the followers of the Lord of Freedom in 3 cycles, their indoctrination slowly began to fall away. When I realized Sssaar had been captured, I tried to flee. But it wasn't because I wanted to go back. I was more afraid of being punished, or that their spies were watching and my kakkiss'a would be harmed if I surrendered. But once you captured me and I realized taht you would be willing to listen and maybe even help, I felt something I have not felt in 3 long cycles. I felt hope. Please. Although we were beaten for swearing to Makanasshht or any other High Lord besides the one they call The Lord of Freedom, I still never gave up worshipping Lord Makanasshht and his Divine Mate. And I swear on His scales that I am not deceiving you or intentionally hiding anything from you." she tells the monk, looking up at her with pleading eyes.

Kassah takes the female's hand and helps her feet. "Calm yourself. Unless you prove yourself duplicious, no one will harm you here." she tells the shaking lizar. Thoy offers Kassah the scroll and associated items and she takes them, peering briefly through the crystal at the paper. "I'll translate this when I copy the maps for you, make sure it is what she says it is. After that, you are welcome to them. Perhaps they can prove useful, and it seems like the least I can do for all the help youve given us." the pathfinder tells the humans with a meaningful glance.

Back at the wagons, Ktch'klik nods at the thanks of the humans. If Artaxes' discomfort at his alien face bothers or offends him, he makes no sign of it. "We are all woven into the Tapestry, whether human, lizar, or arachne." is all the spider says.

Artaxes examines the drover's neck and face, and the scared lizar looks hopeful as Artaxes examines him, but then looks crestfallen at the mercenary's comment. Ktch'klik steps forward and pulls one of his four odd hook-blade knives out of his bandoleers, offering it to the mercenary.

"Perhaps this will be useful? At least easier to deal with than that straight blade you carry." he tells Artaxes.

Artaxes examines the blade. It is shaped kind of like a dagger crossed with one of the implements he uses at harvest time called a si-kel. It is a small "c" shaped blade used to harvest herbs too precious to risk having them damaged with a scythe. Although the curve is nowhere as steep and both the outside and inside are sharpened. But if he could somehow cover the utside with a piece of leather or other protection, he cold catch the thong in the curve and slice it with the sharpened interior.

As far as cursed things go, he has very little experience with them, although he remembers once hearing of a cursed sword that had found its way into the Guild armory on a campaign and caused a soldier to become filled with bloodlust and attack friend and foe alike. Apparently the afflicted merc became very possessive of the sword, and it took 4 burly men to hold him down while he kicked and fought to regain it. It was then melted down and the resulting slag given to the temple of High Lord Tempus, the Lord who watches over battle, to be purified. Looking closely at the drover's neck and the thong holding the bone talisman on, the mercenary notes taht it apperas to be just a decently thick piece of leather cord, the only odd thing being that it is much to small to be pulled over the drover's head but has no knot or clasp to keep it on.

For her part, Thiy has had a lot of experience being around cursed items, things to be iven as gifts to those in power that owuld allow them to fall under her cult's sway or used to further her cult's aims. But for all the knowledge she has of them, she has very little experience with removing the effects from someone.

"I will run the risk of being cut just to get the thing off me!' the drover tells him, before again glancing at the female standing nearby. The humans notices that it seems the drover cant keep his eyes off of the ex-cult member.

"What is her name?" the drover asks those nearby, his eyes looking slightly dreamy.

Kassah shakes her head. "I am going to go copy these maps, so that I can give you two a copy." she tells the humans. Turning to the female next to her she says "And I think you should come with me to my teant." while giving the drover a meaningful look.
User avatar
oh_brother
Son of Heaven
Posts: 1897
Joined: Wed Aug 12, 2009 11:13 am
Location: The Screamer Room

Re: Thiy and Artaxes' Excellent Adventure!

Post by oh_brother »

At the pitiful sight of the female cringing in fear, Artaxes felt the need to look away. He still felt bad for the creature, and from her pain it was clear that lizar felt just as strongly about their off-spring as humans did. Perhaps it was that shared emotion that allowed Artaxes to feel empathy for someone so different.

"Geez sister, she is down already. No need to twist the knife" he muttered. "I thought you religious types were all about forgiveness, with everyone holding hands and singing happy songs."

Later, by the wagons, the spider's comment surprised him somewhat. "I guess you are right" he responded, nodding his head. He examined the second item offered by Ktch'klik, admiring the craftsmanship. "This might make it easier. Avoid cutting too deeply into the flesh. Thanks."

A smirk crossed his lips at the drover's obvious interest in the female. "I don't know her name, lover-boy. But try to keep it in your pants for now. We have enough problems without having to deal with your lady-feelings."

He was still focused on the creature's neck as he spoke, eyeing up the contours. "I am going to remove this chord, so stay still. Your chances of scoring won't be so great if you are missing a head." He cut a thin strip off the flexible leather in the joint of his armour. "Any chance you could attach this to the back of the blade with some webbing?" he asked the spider.

With that he began. He stuck the point slightly into the creature's neck, drawing a bead of blood, in order to try to get the curve beneath the leather. With that down he began to slowly rock the blade forward and back, trying to fray the cord.

If Ktch'klik cannot produce anything, he will try a different approach, maybe getting some strands from Thiy's silk cloth. I guess it is a DEX roll needed? If so it was 13 + 2 = 15.
User avatar
ian_scho
High Lord
Posts: 2806
Joined: Fri Apr 07, 2006 8:30 am
Location: Zaragoza, Spain

Re: Thiy and Artaxes' Excellent Adventure!

Post by ian_scho »

A raised eyebrow was returned to the human soldier upon hearing the 'forgiveness' phrase. No comment was returned however as he immediately fell into what she called the 'alpha male' routine whereby one male sets upon the other, curiously this time to a non-human, by imparting their vast experience with females. It bordered on the comical and Artaxes obviously had little knowledge in the cultural differences between species where it was obvious to Thiy that males did not treat their female counterparts in the same denigrating manner. She childishly pulled a face in his direction while he talked to the drover.

Thiy then watched in fascination at Artaxes' ceremony of the removal of the cursed pendant. She immediately offered her services by holding down the arms of the soon to be amputee... Or should that be decapitee? It would surely not go well this time. Strength check. (1d20+1=18) However, despite Thiy's light frame she was quite used to sitting upon fellow initiates so that they not only took their medicine via ingestion but aided them in inhaling the hallucinogens or even when it was the fun ROA time.[+]

"Just remember Artaxes. If you do remove the thing it may be sentient and parasitic..." She corrects herself as she realises that she's talking to a farmer with a shiny sword. "...It could start searching for it's next victim so prepare yourself."

[+] ROA was one of those embarrassing runes you were supposed to inscribe on suppositories that fell into disuse at about the same time as stoning thiy neighbour for looking at you funny. Her sect had dug up some manuscript somewhere and had applied it's magicks gratuitously to those failing to make the grade.
User avatar
raixel
The Dungeon Master Cylinder
Posts: 1200
Joined: Mon Jun 21, 2010 10:10 am
Location: I see Mount Rainier in the distance...

Re: Thiy and Artaxes' Excellent Adventure!

Post by raixel »

Ak! Remind me not to click on your links, Ian :D LOL. And WB!

Ktch'klik looks over the knife and the strip of leather. "I can do it, because it wont take much. After that I really should eat something. I have used more silk today than I have in nearly a moon-turn." He takes the blade nad the strip and holds them together with two of his arms. His mandibles clack in concentration as he issues a small stream of web from his spinnerettes, which he catches of the tips of his two finger-claws.

The humans notice this webbing is much thinner than the other strands they have seen him use, and unlike Thiy's shirt, it is greyish and of the same gooey consistency of the web used to catch Sssaar. Ktch'klik sticks one end of the filament to the leather, and then quickly spins the knife so that the entire blade is coated in a mass of sticky grey web. He brings the knife up to his mouth, and uses his mandibles and whatever is in his saliva to break down and shape the webbing to expose the inner blade, strangely reminding Artaxes of a child eating a fluff-sugar cotton candy festival treat.

After a few seconds, he transfers the blade back to his hand and examines his handiwork. "I think that will work." he says as he hands Artaxes the webbed blade.

Artaxes sees that Ktch'klik has molded the web to be just a thin coating barely wider than the leather itself. Oddly, the mercenary realizes that the web is no longer sticky, instead reminding him of the springy but tough resin that he saw the Uxmali natives draining out of trees to make footwear out of. Its like rubber.

The drover follows Kassah and the female with his eyes until they are out of sight behind the wagons, then sighs as if he is coming out of a dream. He blinks in confusion at Artaxes' comment, but says nothing. Perhaps "keep it in your pants" doesn't translate well to a creature without external genitals. "She is so beautiful..." he whispers.

Neither one of the humans is a good judge of reptillian beauty, but it seems from the few lizar that they have seen, that at least to their eyes, it is nearly impossible to tell the two sexes apart. Hsssilla, the male guard, shakes his head and flares his nostrils in amusement at the lovelorn drover.

"I wonder what he's going to think of her when that charm comes off. You probably can't tell, but she really looks as if life has been hard. Her scales are all dull, and her ohhsis is so thin that her face looks like a skeleton. Besides, she is big like a male!" the guard whispers to the humans, obviously amused by the whole situation.

Thiy steps forward and holds the drover's head still. She can feel him shaking under her hands and he seems grateful for the extra support.

Artaxes examines the back of the drover's neck. The cord is tight against the flat scales there, and the mercenary realized the best way to get it off would be to work the point slightly into the skin so that he can slide the leather up to the sharpest part of the blade. The drover hisses in pain and jerks slightly as the knife's sharp point draws blood, but Thiy's strong hands keeps him from moving enough to give himself a severe cut. The ruby liquid wells out as the blade slides behind the leather and colors the silvery metal slightly, causing the leather to become slippery and making it easier for Artaxes to work the cord along the blade. Years of training pays off, and Artaxes is able to keep his hands steady. A bead of sweat appears on his lip as he ever so carefully slides the sharp blade down the leather. Ktch'klik and the two guards look on as well, and the humans can sense their silent hope.

The cord appears magically treated and stonger than normal leather, but it is no match for Ktch'klik's fine blade. After a few minutes of slowly drawing the knife up and down the leather, each stroke bringing a hiss of pain from the drover, the cord parts with a strangely loud *pop* and an flash of light.

The talisman slides down the drover's chesto to lie in the mud at his side. Reflexively he picks the thing up and hurls it a few feet away. Ktch'klik clicks his mandibles in happiness and both guards let out a quiet hissing cheer.

The drover reaches up behind his head and rubs where the cord was and Artaxes had to cut him to get it off. Although it is bleeding a bit, the wound is barely deeper than a scratch and wont require stitching. "In Makanasshht's name, it's good to have that off!" the drover says emphatically. "I am sure His Divine Lord looks down upon you both with grace for helping one of His people!"

He then frowns. "Where is that female? I want to give her a taste of my tongue-fork! To think I found her attractive! Ugh! She looks like a lasstiir in heat!" he says angrily as he peers around, causing both guards to hiss in laughter.

Ktch'klik steps forward and puts a hand on the angry lizar's shoulder. "In time. But there is much to be done, and we should rest. I believe Kassah wants to move out as soon as we who were up all night has had a bit of rest. I know she is planning to speak to the passengers and explain to them that we wil be stopped for a bit, although I dont think she is going to tell them the truth, as hat would cause panic."

The drover nods, although he still looks angry. "I must see to my charges. I will be in my tent."

"Thank you again. I can never repay you for what you did." he tells the humans before leaving to go back to his grahhssk and tent.

"I will be staying here by the wagons, just in case Sssaar wakes. Will you be staying as well? I could have your bedrolls brought over. But in any case, before we rest I could give you a brief lesson in our language, as although Thraxxiss is a very powerful runescholar, I doubt his spell will last much longer." Ktch'klik says to the humans.
User avatar
oh_brother
Son of Heaven
Posts: 1897
Joined: Wed Aug 12, 2009 11:13 am
Location: The Screamer Room

Re: Thiy and Artaxes' Excellent Adventure!

Post by oh_brother »

Artaxes appreciates the nun's efforts to simplify her language, and agreed with her. "Yeah, we don't want anymore surprises from the necklace. And I certainly don't want to be its next victim. That female isn't my type." His eyes flicked to the love-lorn drover, clearly amused by his plight.

All humour drains from his face as he focused intently on removing the cord, only when it fell to the ground - and did not start moving of its own accord - did he allow himself a sigh of relief and wipe the sweat from his brow. "I seem to be getting used to this surgery game. Maybe I should join one of your holy orders, sister. Help the afflicted and all that" he said, with a touch of sarcasm.

He grunted in amusement at the guards' comments regarding the female. In some ways soldiers were soldiers, and the similarities between how these creatures were acting and how his own troop would have behaved in camp struck home. When the drover vowed that he would give her a taste of his fork-tongue, he could not help replying. "Oh I bet you will, stud" he said, suppressing a smirk and giving him a wink, with the drover's agitated state making it even funnier. "But focus on the caravan for now." While it was a mocking comment, it was delivered in a good humoured fashion, as he would have done with anyone under his command. As the drover left to look after the grahhssk, Artaxes could not resist one last parting comment. "Sure, go look after the creatures. Just try to resist their feminine charms."

Letting the poor tormented creature alone for now, he handed the sickle back to Ktch'klik. ""Yes, I will stay here. And okay, lets see how good my language skills are."

Yeah, welcome back Ian. I will be gone for the long weekend though...it seems our schedules are out of sync! Raixel - Artaxes dropped a bow during the fight with the rats and I forgot to pick it up...will it still be around?
User avatar
raixel
The Dungeon Master Cylinder
Posts: 1200
Joined: Mon Jun 21, 2010 10:10 am
Location: I see Mount Rainier in the distance...

Re: Thiy and Artaxes' Excellent Adventure!

Post by raixel »

Yeah. I totally forgot that :P. I'm assuming one of the guards picked it up when they were gathering the rat carcasses and put it against the wagon. So Artaxes can grab it if he wants.
User avatar
ian_scho
High Lord
Posts: 2806
Joined: Fri Apr 07, 2006 8:30 am
Location: Zaragoza, Spain

Re: Thiy and Artaxes' Excellent Adventure!

Post by ian_scho »

Thiy pushes the broken charm into the dirt, covering it. There it will stay and rot, it's magic broken and it's components returning to whatever the god of entropy desires. She really should examine it further, but perhaps the distance between her and her sect has grown yet wider and she considers it too dangerous to meddle with and investigate.

"We will take care of Sssaar, yes." She wonders if she would share a few moments with him to gain a bit more information about his experiences of this New Order. She muses on the prospect as the soldiers all talk their usual banter and bluster.

"Good job Artaxes." she murmurs to no one in particular. "And to think I respected these cursed artefacts perhaps a bit too much." It wasn't that the magic of her teachings was wearing off on Thiy, it was just the broadening of her horizons and learning the weaknesses of these once highly regarded tools and artefacts was opening her eyes as to their limitations. A mind washed initiate was truly more dangerous than a cursed necklace or magic spell.
User avatar
raixel
The Dungeon Master Cylinder
Posts: 1200
Joined: Mon Jun 21, 2010 10:10 am
Location: I see Mount Rainier in the distance...

Re: Thiy and Artaxes' Excellent Adventure!

Post by raixel »

The drover seems to appreciate Artaxes' teasing to lighten the situation, shaking his head and hissing with laughter as he walks away. "Remind me to find the ugliest human female in all Isorropia to plop in front of you if you ever encounter a cursed item like that one! Or maybe even one of my grahhssk!" he calls teasingly over his shoulder to the mercenary.

"Stay here and keep an eye on Ssaar. I will go get your bedrolls." Ktch'klik says as he walks off. After a few minutes he comes back, easily carrying both bedrolls and gear under two of his arms. In his other hands he has an inkwell, three reed-styluses, and a small stack of the coarse reed paper the lizar use.

"Unfortunately, I dont have enough silk to make us a cover, but if it rains, we can just use one of the tarps in the wagon. Now, lets get set up and I'll start to teach you Trade Makani." he tells the humans as he hands over their bedrolls and gear.Thiy feels a nudge on the back of her knee and sees her pig looking up at her with guileless blue eyes. It snorts, and then heads over to the bound, gagged and unconcious Sssaar and begins to snuffle his face. Up to the north, a crashing noise is heard on the edges of the clearing and Hisssila looks up in alarm until a brief whistle is heard. Two guards enter the clearing carrying something that looks like a grey-and-rust colored deer with horns shaped like a trident, freshly killed and gutted and strung on a pole between them.

"Ahh, the hunt was successful! At least we will have fresh meat this morning! Excuse me please" Hsssilla says happily as he walks over to help the two guards prepare their kill.

Once the bedrolls are set up, Ktch'klick hands Artaxes and Thiy each a stylus and some paper and sets up the inkwell where everyone can reach it. "Now, if you see here, thiese little marks are the most basic parts of a glyph. These denote how the noun is attached to the verb and so on. So, if you want to describe something, you just add them to the right side of the glyph. " he says as he makes a few simple lines on his paper. "Now, you try...." The RA orb rises higher in the sky as Ktch'klik explains the language. Surprisingly, the spider is a very good teacher. Trade Makani, being a trade language, is very basic and surprisingly simple to learn. It is similar enough to Common that with a few sevensuns of practice, the humans are pretty confident that they will be speaking it fluently. For now, though, at least they can ask simple questions and write a few glyphs.

Roll an int please. If you roll poorly, you still understand the basic stuff described above(although it might give you a headache!). But if you do good, you might get lucky and turn out to be a language prodigy or something. ;)

After an hour or so the camp begins to stir as the passengers and sleeping guards wake up. Ktch'klik interrupts the lesson briefly to make sure Sssaar is bundled out of sight in the wagon, and none too soon for shortly afterwards a few guards walk up to begin making a fire in the firepit. The scent and sizzle of cooking meat wakes of those remaining in bed as the camp springs fully to life. A lizar guard carrying a spear approaches the three sitting in the shade of the wagon where Sssar is bundled up inside and under a tarp. Ktch'klik quickly stands and steps forward to block the guard from getting too close to the wagon, although he does it smoothly enough that unless you knoew what was going on, it would seem he was just greeting the guard.

"Yes?" the spider asks.

The guard salutes both Ktch'klik and the humans before he speaks. "Pathfinder Kassah said you two get to eat first, so I was just coming over to tell you the red-tail's been cooked. So go help yourselves." he tells the humans.

Ktch'klik nods after the guard leaves and begins to pack up his writing toolsm although he leaves the paper, styluses, and inkwell he gave the humans. "I'll leave this here if you want to practice what I showed you and I'll give you another lesson later today after we sleep. But for now, I am starving and exhausted. Hsssilla should be back any minute to guard Sssaar, so go ahead and get your food and turn in."

The meat has been spitted over the fire, and a young-looking lizar with dull blotchy brown and black swamp-lizar patterns stands slowly turning it. "If you don't be having plates, ya can be borrowin them from over there." she says as she gestures towards a stack of small dented metal camp-plates, Thraxxiss' spell giving her a very distinct backwoods drawl. "But you gotta be using your own knife to cut it. Go ahead and take what you be wanting. Then after you eat, Pathfinder Kassah be wishing to speak at you. She be in her tent."

Whatever Kassah wants, it must be important as she knows the humans as well as herself have only gotten a few hours of sleep.

K, so I'm gonna stop there to keep it from going over long.
User avatar
oh_brother
Son of Heaven
Posts: 1897
Joined: Wed Aug 12, 2009 11:13 am
Location: The Screamer Room

Re: Thiy and Artaxes' Excellent Adventure!

Post by oh_brother »

Artaxes sat down with Ktch'klik, trying to pay attention. Frowning in concentration, he glanced over at Thiy, wondering if she was finding this as difficult as he was. In truth when the spider began to mention nouns he started to lose Artaxes' attention. Perhaps he assumed too high a level of background knowledge - a background that Artaxes did not posses. Still, he did not admit this out loud, and struggled to understand as much as possible.

He was not sorry when the guard interrupted proceedings. "Let's get some food. I am starving." He wandered over to the fire, enjoying its warmth briefly before he grabbed a plate. He pulled out his knife and, after wiping it on his jerkin, he eagerly cut into the beast. The first few chunks he shoved directly into his mouth, and then placed the remainder on his plate. Realising that there was a full caravan to feed he limited himself to a relatively modest portion.

"You want me to cut you a few slices, sister?" he asked, waving his less-than-sanitary knife in the air.

Intelligence roll was 8.
User avatar
ian_scho
High Lord
Posts: 2806
Joined: Fri Apr 07, 2006 8:30 am
Location: Zaragoza, Spain

Re: Thiy and Artaxes' Excellent Adventure!

Post by ian_scho »

Thiy ignores the pig at first... And then face palms herself. She has to follow it's suggestions, she can't deny it. She isn't able to treat it as the standard porcine anymore. She has finally personified it, and she wasn't comfortable with the idea. While the others set up themselves for their lesson Thiy quickly excuses herself to check on their prisoner, Sssaar. She hadn't much time, and wasn't completely sure of her objectives, but she presses a container of water to his lips to test if he is conscious. Thiy wouldn't tell the others if he was, but certainly didn't want him to come to any harm while in her charge either.

OOC - INT check (1d20-1=12) Yeah, she was plugged in today!

Thiy appreciated the lesson, and attempted to pick up the basics as the course continued. She would always lose some of the more refined points, but at least the language was meant for a broad range of learners, and you weren't required to sneeze fluid out of your nose in order to pronounce some of the sounds.

When it was food time Artaxes was his usual brusque self. She stepped back in feigned surprise as he waves his knife around at both her and the beast in front of them. "Oh. Yes please. But please avoid the gonads. I find that despite being a delicacy they give me gas."

"Lets find out what Kassah wants."
User avatar
raixel
The Dungeon Master Cylinder
Posts: 1200
Joined: Mon Jun 21, 2010 10:10 am
Location: I see Mount Rainier in the distance...

Re: Thiy and Artaxes' Excellent Adventure!

Post by raixel »

Oooh Rocky Mountain Oysters Or, Ian, you might know them as huevos de toro(thats what the Mexicans in my hometown called 'em). :D

The pig looks up at Thiy as the monk walks over to check on Sssaar. The rough cloth wrapping the traitor is slowly being stained a deep red from the blood trickling down his cheek and leaking out of the hole in his scarred chest. As the monk watches, he whimpers quietly and twitches his bound arms and legs. His one remaining eye is sunken deeply in his face and Thiy can see it flicking back and forth under its closed lid as if Sssar is dreaming. The empty socket where his other eye used to be gapes redly through the half closed lid and gives Thoy the uncanny fee;ong that Sssar is staring at her. He appears to have lost a lot of blood from the unbandaged hole in his chest, and Thiy can hear him wheezing through his obviously broken snout. She puts some water to his mouth and he reflexively swallows although he still appears deeply unconcious.

Ktch'klik seems to see that Artaxes is having a small bit of trouble with the lessons and slows down a bit, taking the time to explain everything in as many ways and as many times as the mercenary needs to understand the basics. He is kind enough to spare the fighter's pride as he just smoothly switches gears to pay more attention to Artaxes without making it obvious that he is doing so. Eventually the merc grasps the concepts and is able to string together a few simple sentences with the learned words to the spider's satisfaction. Thiy, however, grasps the lesson with just a bit of practice.

The spitted creature looks exactly like a roasted deer, now that its oddly colored hide and strange horns have been removed. Artaxes happliy shoves some meat slices into his mouth and is pleased to find that it tastes just like the venison from the deer he would hunt in the public-forests the duke of Viborg set aside for his people's use.

A fond memory comes to mind, of the first time his older son son was old enough to hunt with his father. The boy was eager to help bring the harvests in, as he knew that if the fields didnt get harvested before the moon-long deer season, he would miss out on his first hunting trip. Artaxes remembers his son sighting a small buck after a half-sun of tracking it and drawing his bow back, his young arms straining to pull the arrow back far enough to ensure a quick kill. The shot was clean and the deer dropped after only a few steps. Even though the buck was young and not a trophy, Artaxes made sure that its antlers were hung in a place of pride over the fireplace where his son could see them when the family sat in the living room to entertain guests or tell stories.

After a pleasant meal of fresh venison the two walk over to where Kassah's tent is staked. Unlike the other simple ball-shaped mesh tents, this tent is made of canvas and is much more like one of the command tents Artaxes remembers on campaign, but a bit smaller. Naath and Lisss, the half-swamp lizar siblings that the humans remember from earlier are standing in front of the tent-flap. As the two approach, Naath motions for them to stop. The other guard, Lisss, steps inside the tent an returns a few seconds later.

"Go ahead. Kassah is waiting for you." the femal says as she holds open the flap.

The humans duck under the flap and enter. As their eyes adjust from the bright swamp morning to the cool dimness inside the tent, they make out the shape of Kassah sitting at a low table with parchment spread out in front of her. There is a large hairless hide of some grey-green beast covering the dirt floor, and a few pillows scattered around the other side of the table to sit on. In the corner is a folding cot covered in silks and furs and a large chest at its feet. Another smaller chest sits open behind Kassah, and the humans can see sheaves of parchment and scrolls poking up out of it. A tiny brazier hanging from the ceiling sheds some kind of magical yellow light. The ex-cult member sits off to the side of the table on a pillow, with Hssilla's guard-partner Kassil next to her. The tent is big enough that it could seat 6 people around the table comfortably, more if everyone crowded in.

Kassah looks up when the humans enter and motions for them to take a seat at the table.

"Ahh, yes. Thank you for coming, as I am sure you are both tired. Please take a seat." she says as she motions toward the scattered cushions.

Turning to the guard next to her, she says "Kassil, please take the prisoner to the wagon, and make sure she is bound. We can't be too careful until Thraxxiss awakes and is able to verify her story with his magic."

Kassil nods and hauls the female to her feet, although not ungently. The humans can see that her wrists are bound in front of her with a leather thong and her broad feet have a length of rope running between them long enough that she can walk, but not run.

Kassah waits until the two leave before speaking again. "If her story is true, I feel bad doing that to her. But the point of the matter is she did try and run before she was caught. i have thought long about this and decided that until Thraxxiss wakes and can verify her story with his magic, it is better to be safe. She seemed to understand and willingly let herself be tied."

The pathfinder stares at the parchments in front of her and rubs her eyes tiredly. "The problem is taht due to the rat attack, we are drastically short on food. I sent a pair of guards out earlier to hunt, and fortunately they were able to get a swamp deer which will feed us all for a couple meals, but we just cant waste anymore time. But due to the damage to the two wagons, if we repair them we may be stopped for an extra day. And I know you two, Hssilaa, Ktch'klik aand Kassil havent slept but a few bells, and either have I. Thraxxiss won't awake for a few more bells, as well. That leaves Naath and Lisss as the only trustworthy members of the caravan who are rested. "

She sighs and fiddles with the reed stylus laying on the table. "Its a bad situation, and makes us easy pickings for an ambush. On top of that, already Hssilaa told me he has begun to hear mutterings about the noises last night and the late start. He has been doing what he can to quell them, saying a member of the caravan took sick and that I will be explaining all shortly. But I wanted to ask your opinions of what should be done. We can't tell the whole truth, obviously. I was thinking thta perhaps we should split the caravan, leaving part behind and sending the passengers on to Makan. But, I dont like that idea either. The problem is the food, and that our two supply wagons need repairs, one much worse than the other." She shakes her head after she speaks. "There just doesn't seem to be any easy answers. You two have helped us so much, I wanted to hera your thought son the matter."

"Oh, here. I copied these maps for you." she tells them as she pushes two pieces of parchment across the table. "One is what the prisoner described as the camp layout, the other is the directions to the safehouse in Makan."

Maps will be up soon, hopefully with tomorrows post
User avatar
oh_brother
Son of Heaven
Posts: 1897
Joined: Wed Aug 12, 2009 11:13 am
Location: The Screamer Room

Re: Thiy and Artaxes' Excellent Adventure!

Post by oh_brother »

Artaxes sat down as Kassah outlined the situation. He sat forward and listened intently, but shook his head in disagreement towards the end.

"I disagree. We cannot let the rest of the caravan go ahead. If one of them is involved with the cult, then they can warn their superiors about our arrival. And all of our maps and information will be useless." He thought for a minute before continuing. "And for the same reason we should make sure that no one leaves the caravan. We all arrive together."

"How bad are the supply wagons? Can we move off with them damaged? We don't have much food to fill them with anyway, with low supplies they are not really needed." He looked at Kassah, wondering if his reasoning was correct. "If one is very badly damaged maybe we should just abandon it here?"

"Food could be a problem. If we allow some trusted people to sleep as the caravan moves, then when we camp next they can hunt overnight. That way we keep moving, and arrive as soon as possible." He sat back and folded his arms, looking around at the other faces in the tent to try to judge whether they agreed with him or not. "Well those are just my suggestions. I am happy to listen to any others."
User avatar
ian_scho
High Lord
Posts: 2806
Joined: Fri Apr 07, 2006 8:30 am
Location: Zaragoza, Spain

Re: Thiy and Artaxes' Excellent Adventure!

Post by ian_scho »

"Artaxes is right, I think. Splitting the caravan makes us weaker, while sending on the passengers would make your life easier and you complete most of your personal objectives." Thiy mused some more over Artaxes suggestions. "Perhaps some of the passengers have skills that you require? It is not uncommon for pilgrims to visit monasteries to... Errr..." She pauses for a moment looking for the right way to avoid 'press-gang' "...Contribute to the household chores. The quality of work is highly variable but we've obtained some very useful advances that way. The hunting could be aided by passengers as well, for example." Better yet if they themselves get eaten as they have already paid up and then there will be more food for the rest of them.

"The situation is serious, Kassah. You must protect yourself of course but do not avoid your responsibility to the people of Makan. They need your strength as well as these passengers."

Persuasion. (1d20=5)
User avatar
raixel
The Dungeon Master Cylinder
Posts: 1200
Joined: Mon Jun 21, 2010 10:10 am
Location: I see Mount Rainier in the distance...

Re: Thiy and Artaxes' Excellent Adventure!

Post by raixel »

Kassah taps her reed stylus on the end of her snoout as she listens to both humans speak. "If you are both in agreement that splitting the caravan would be dangerous, then I trust your judgment on the matter. That was my thought and Kassil's as well, actually. I just wanted to get a different perspective. But I agree that it is much too risky." she tells them.

"As far as the wagons, yes, we could leave one behind. Some food was undamaged, though, as well as a few crates of goods belonging to a few self-merchants. If we have to ump them, we will though. I am not worried about taking pay losses. I am sure once the Council hears of this, any lost goods will be compensated. The one that the large rat was in is in really bad shape. The whole bottom is nearly rotted and most of the wood making up the floor nad wooden parts of the steering mechanism under the front wheels crumbles with just a touch. The second wagon, the one you managed to pull the disk out of, is in much better shape. It has a few rotten spots in the floor board that could easily be patched and it just needs a new front axle."

She turns to Artaxes whwn he speaks of hunting and taps her snout pensively before nodding in satisfaction. "Supplementing the food with hunting is a great idea. I'll pick two of the best bow shots and relieve them from guard duty to hunt. That will at least help ration what we have, and then we might be able to condense everything down to one wagon."

"The main issue with leaving one wagon is Sssaar, and now that strange female. If we are to say either he or both of them are being isolated due to blackscale wasting, we need to keep them away from prying eyes. Blackscale wasting has severe physical symptoms. In the beginning the scales become shrivelled and flake off in patches, leaving painful greyish rotten looking areas. As the disease progresses, the ohhsis, that thick flesh "padding" -for lack of a better word- we lizar have between our skin and our muscles wastes away and turns into a blackish jelly, the cause of the progessively darkening black skin tone and the source of the name." She shivers and looks repulsed for a minute before continuing.

"Believe me, in its final stages it is repulsive and completely obvious as most scales rot off leaving raw patches oozing black jelly and parts of the body look skeletal and the extremities freakishly black and swollen where the liquified ohhsis tissue collects. Fortunately the effects are so terrifying that although it isnt extremely contagious, it is contagious enough andany sane liza will stay away on the even slightest chance they could be exposed. So you see, we need to have at least one wagon for that idea to work. But since I havent actually told anyone, we still can come up with other plans to keep this quiet." she explains.

Her eyes light up at Thiy's mention of asking the passengers for assistance. "Thats a great idea! I didnt think of that! Since we are a small caravan, we dont have a dedicated wainwright, although one of our guards has wainwright traning. If we could get a passenger or two with carpentry or wainwright skills to help out that could greatly lower the time needed for repairs." she says excitedly. She jumps up and starts to walk towards the tent door, presumably to call the guard, but then her face falls as if something occurs to her.

"But, how to tell the passenger or passengers about what caused the damage? We can't tell the truth obvuiously. But you saw what that wood looked like. Anyone who looks at it is goin to have questions far more than just the normal "the wagon broke an axle". Hmmm." She paces back and forth tapping a claw against her snout as she thinks.

"Theres got to be away to tie this all together without tipping off any "watchers" or causing the passegers to panic...Hmmm..." she muses aloud, glancing occasionally at the humans hopefully.

So great ideas and writing, guys! So this has been kind of a less-dice rolly more talky and problem solvingy part! Hope you guys dont mind. Sorry about the delays, ive been stupid busy as I explained in OOC

You are welcome to help Kassah with an idea (as always extra points for creativity or RP regardless of how viable the idea actually would be IRL. I rate stuff based on thouht, RP, and creativity way way more than RL viability) OR you could excuse yourself, wander around, see what others are up to, examne the wagons, play tic tac toe with the pig, put Sssaar's hand in a glass of water and see if he pees ect. :D
User avatar
oh_brother
Son of Heaven
Posts: 1897
Joined: Wed Aug 12, 2009 11:13 am
Location: The Screamer Room

Re: Thiy and Artaxes' Excellent Adventure!

Post by oh_brother »

Artaxes sat back and considered what he had just heard. "We could burn the most badly affected wagon. Tell the passengers it was a just a precaution, to prevent the spread of disease." He rubbed his chin as he continued. "As for our two guests...we could make sure they were covered in blankets, so no one could see them."

"Anyway how many of the passengers would have seen blackscale wasting first-hand? Maybe we put some mud or dye on their faces and no one would realise" he shrugged.

"That would leave two wagons, right? Would that be enough for supplies and the prisoners? If they are not quite as badly damaged it would arouse less suspicion. We could let some trusted guards begin the work and deal with the very obviously deliberate damage, and bring others in slightly later. Say we broke an axle and found rats. That is partly true at least. Maybe leave a few normal-looking rat bodies lying around to convince them."

No worries about the delays! We have all been there. And it is good to have a mix between talky-talky and rolly-rolly parts. :)
User avatar
ian_scho
High Lord
Posts: 2806
Joined: Fri Apr 07, 2006 8:30 am
Location: Zaragoza, Spain

Re: Thiy and Artaxes' Excellent Adventure!

Post by ian_scho »

We could always lash them underneath the wagon, Thiy thought. "A difficult conundrum. So we have one less wagon. Burn it or whatever, but we are still left with two beasts of burden that we can utilise. What about them? Can we make some kind of makeshift structure to at least be dragged behind them?" They were in the swamp and all they required was a yoke and some sturdy logs to plough through their journey, with the two passengers sitting in a tarpaulin between them. It'd be lighter than a wagon, but certainly less comfortable. This form of travel was less common with the 'civilised' human society but she had seen it often enough used by goblins and some nomadic peoples. It was just so darn easy to manufacture compared to a wagon.

Thiy excused herself later on when it was polite to do so and left the rest to their conversation. Soon the rest of the camp would awaken and so she was determined to start the day with some morning exercises, and some restful meditation. To be perfectly honest though, she just wanted to doze in a hot tub to wash the rat gore and mud off her.
User avatar
raixel
The Dungeon Master Cylinder
Posts: 1200
Joined: Mon Jun 21, 2010 10:10 am
Location: I see Mount Rainier in the distance...

Re: Thiy and Artaxes' Excellent Adventure!

Post by raixel »

Kassah nods at Artaxes' suggestions. "Yes, burn the wagon. And perhaps some dye could work, just in case someone gets a distant glimpse." She glances over one of the glyph-covered papers on her table. "Hmm.. There are no priests or healers on this trip. At least none that are openly declaring that as their profession. That might be a good thing. After all if this ruse is to work, we wouldnt want a well-meaning healer to ruin it with wanting to aid the sick passenger. Also, they would know the signs, and I dont think a few spots of dye or mud would work."

"Actually, it would be three, if we only burn the most damaged one. There are two passenger wagon, and two food and store wagons. Unfortunately, we would need a bare minimum of 3, as each wagon seats 15 passengers, 18-20 if they are really packed in tight. And there are 20 passengers on board, not counting Olisshan the drover and any guards not on duty. So to be able to carry whatever goods and supplies we have left, all the passengers as well as Olisshan and the guards and keep Sssaar and that trator..." Kassah stops and looks at the same sheet she looked at earlier. "Her name is Loahsse. I got sick of calling her 'that female' all the time. Anyway, we would need to have Sssar and Loahsse in a seperate wagon. Im pretty sure the remaining supplies and passengers could fit in two wagons. But we really need to repair the less damaged one."

"Yes, thats a great idea to use the rats. I had Kassil spread rumors that rats were found in the food and was the cause of the disturbance last night. So, we could say they gnawed through an axle..."

Thiy's suggestion of using the extra grahhssk that would have pulled the wagon causes her eyes to light up. "Great idea! I'll get Olisshan on it right away! Well, I think we have had enough discussion, and you two have been a great help. I am sure when we make it to Makan, the Council of Ten will want to award you honors. At bare minimum I know that House Othass, the House that contracted out this caravan, will definately reward you.

Great RP and ideas! Everyone gets one reroll of the dice. This is one time only and usable only outside of combat. Oh and OB, i havent forgot about Artaxes not learning the glyphs. Don't worry, something minor but positive will come of that for good RP.

Kassah shows them to the door of her tent. "If there is nothing else, go get some decent rest. I know you need it." she tells them as she shows them out. They leave the pathfinder calling for different guards, presumably putting their plan into motion.

You can retcon anything in here, but I'm gonna move us forward.

Thiy does her excersises and meditations, then both humans walk over to the area where their bedrolls are set up near the less-damaged wagon. Ktch'klik is nearby, and the spider promises to work out a guard shift of the trusted people so that the humans can get some much needed rest without having to worry about the two prisoners. Ssaar is still unconcious, and the female Loahsse is tied up in the wagon, the high sides preventing her from being seen by the awakened camp.

As the two fall asleep, the last thing they hear is Kassah calling for a meeting to explain the delays.

Hours later, the two awake to the RA orb lower in the sky. Judging from its position, it is early evening. Ktch'klik chirrs when he sees them awake and says "Did you chh¿ss'kha neh]? The hk¡sala ¿haa-ntck khhk¡ well! There ckik a liskka¿-kth, you takk'so¡k." The teaching of Trade-Makani and spoken Zaangaardian has payed off, and the two are able to grasp a few of the words. Unfortunately, Ktch'klik dooes not seem to realize the spell has worn off, as he just stands waiting for a response. Hssilaa is leaning against the wagon nearby holding his spear, presumably guarding the two inside. He alos sees that the two are awake and flares his nostrils in happiness. "Hey!" he calls. "Did Ktch'klik hsssn you kaessgh lssso the dassnethos? You sssiaa'iith. I am!"
User avatar
ian_scho
High Lord
Posts: 2806
Joined: Fri Apr 07, 2006 8:30 am
Location: Zaragoza, Spain

Re: Thiy and Artaxes' Excellent Adventure!

Post by ian_scho »

Thiy raised an eyebrow at the prospect of a 'reward'. She was trying to maintain a low profile but receiving some foreign cash in the backwaters of nowhere sounded appealing. "The reward would be most appreciated, but I'd like to concentrate on getting us all to the city safely first."


Upon waking up Thiy occasionally felt groggy and generally unresponsive. Despite her training and willpower she is still one of those people who just take a little longer to get going in the morning. Then she hears Ktch'klik babbling and crackling at her. "Slow down please." she replies in common. Then corrects herself, and has a go in Trade-Makani. "What did you say, again?" She moves over to Ktch'klik in an attempt to get good eye to eye contact. The effects of that spell will be sorely missed!
User avatar
raixel
The Dungeon Master Cylinder
Posts: 1200
Joined: Mon Jun 21, 2010 10:10 am
Location: I see Mount Rainier in the distance...

Re: Thiy and Artaxes' Excellent Adventure!

Post by raixel »

Dur.I realized Kassah said two posts ago "we could condense everything down to one wagon" then explained that the supplies and passengers would take two at minimum in the next post.

Sorry, what she meant to say was "condense all the supplies down to one wagon. I originally wrote it as "condense everything" (meaning the crates and goods ect in the two supply wagons) but I just re-read it and realized it wasn't clear at all, and sounded like she was saying everything (as in supplies and passengers) could be condensed to one wagon total. If that caused any confusion I apologize. Chalk it up ICly to a mistranslation of Thraxxiss' spell! :D


When Thiy speaks in common, Ktch'klik twists his upper thorax sideways as if mimicking the head-cocked pose humans have seen lizar do when they are confused or asking a question. She makes eye contact and sees the arachne's four garnet-like eyes glittering in understanding, and he makes a few clicking sounds, and points to his own mandibles, and then Thiy's mouth.

The nun concentrates on forming her lips and tongue into the alien contortions needed to produce a trade language spoken by a mix of insectoid and reptile beings. Fortunately the language as spoken by the serpentus and lizar replaces the impossible clicking, chittering and popping sounds the insectoid beings use with easier to produce siblants, hisses, and hard consanants, although none of the sounds are like any of the human languages Thiy has ever encountered.

It takes a few tries, but Ktch'klik eventually chitters and seems happy, obviously understanding her question. To aid in speaking, he takes a stick and begins to draw a few glyphs on the ground as he talks. He says "you" and then draws the glyph that means "night, darkness, bed, sleep or stillness." and then the glyph for "happy, joy, celebration". The modifiers he is also drawing along with the base glyph would aid her in explaining exactly which of those meanings they were and the grammar and tense associated with them, but she doesnt know what any of the modifiers mean yet. That is followed by the interrogative glyph Basically asking something of someone. In english it is a ?

He chitters briefly, and clicks his mandibles then starts writing and speaking again "The (glyph for)[idea, meeting, action, discussion-resolution] (glyph for)[has become, becoming, has changed, is in the process of] (glyph for)['more than, much' ] well." (statement glyph) Its the Trade-Makani equivelant of a ".".

He looks at the monk in the eyes to see any recognition of what he is trying to tell her, then slowly starts his last sentence. Artaxes, who has been watching this whole drawing episode blankly grunts and says "I can barely undertand a few words of what he says, and none of those scribbles he's making. I'm going to get some more sleep. Wake me up when something's going on or you figure out what he's saying to us." before going back to his bedroll.

Ktch'klik does a good imitation of a human or lizar shrug with his upper two arms as he watches the surly fighter go back to his bedroll and climb inside. The spider looks back at Thiy and slowly starts to draw as he talks and pantomimes, trying to aid the monk as much as he can. There is a [party, group, pack, team] [to go, moving towards, entering] the [many-trees, wild-place, outside-city] for [aquiring, getting, taking] [tree, plant, bush, grass](plural) for [conveyance, transportation, riding-thing], you [must, should, have to, want to] [join, become one with, unite] [party, group, pack, team](interrogative mark)

Hsssilaa just shakes his head and says "Thiy can not shassl our hssall'isthh, nethss?" to Ktch'klik. Ktch'klik replies "no, ckt'¿n to chk'lsks when they chh¿ss.

K, so have fun with that one. Sorry, OB. I dont like taking control of characters but I know youre gone today and I promise if it gets to an important part I wont leave you out.

And Ian can you roll an Int and a Wis and OB a Wis? The int is to understand the already-written glyphs better so you understand what the actual meaning is. The wis is to be able to grasp more of the spoken language without having to take a few hours of game time to grasp it. This represents how (speaking from experience) it is much easier to pick up a language if everyone around you is speaking it and cant speak your language than it is if you are tying to learn a new language out of a book in a place where everyone speaks your language. If you beat DC 16 you can aid the other PC for +2 on their roll, although the DC to just pick up more language is lower. And please let me know if you NAT 20/1 it, cuz that has its own results.

Fun fact: I used the Japanese writing system as the very loose basis for designing the Trade Makani writing system. Japanese uses both kanji and the kana systems. The kanji characters are based off chinese characters and represent a person/place/thing/concept ect and also a sound. The kana are simplified syllable characters with no inherent meaning. So there will be a kanji character with a string of kana after it. So the kanji is the subject/object/verb and the kana behind it explains tense, grammar, which of the kanji the sentance is about (the difference between saying "Tom(what the sentence is about), he ate a cake" and "A cake(what the sentance is about) that Tom ate.") This is clumsy in English but in Japanese it is important to have markers for the different parts of the sentance.

Of course its not the same, though. Japanese is a complex rich language and not an easy language to learn, and Trade Makani was designed to be a simple trade language that cant explain concepts without a whole string of simple glyphs/modifiers behind it. But Japanese was the germ of the idea that made up the Trade Makani writing system so I can describe the way it works more vividly.

And Makani-Zaangaardian is more like Chinese in the way it works. But I havent developed as much, nor am I as familiar with Chinese as I am with Japanese.

Just thought I'd share! I spend way way too much time thinking of how a language (including RL languages) works. Sorry if I'm rambling.
User avatar
ian_scho
High Lord
Posts: 2806
Joined: Fri Apr 07, 2006 8:30 am
Location: Zaragoza, Spain

Re: Thiy and Artaxes' Excellent Adventure!

Post by ian_scho »

OOC - I admit that I had some confusion with the number of the wagons.
I enjoy the ramblings, btw. It's fascinating to see you you concentrate on aspects within the roleplaying system that I've not really put much thought into.
First roll for WIS, second for INT (1d20+3=15, 1d20-1=16)


Thiy thought at first that they were asking her to help foraging for food but then realises it was to aid in constructing the mode of transport for the two spare grahhssks. She was hesitant to offer help, not to avoid the work but because she didn't pay much attention as to how they were made. Smiling, she returned with writing the 'yes/positive/sure thing dude' glyph that she first learnt.

Looking back to Artaxes she was more than disappointed with his conduct. A mental note was made to give him a ticking off. Either that or he goes in first the next time there is a wagon heaving with a rat swarm.

Before joining the work party she quickly draws the basic construction of what they were to build, on the ground in front of her. She would attempt to gain an idea of the materials and even how best to attach the wagon tarpaulin to the centre of the frame. She would probably draw it out again when she meets up with the others.
User avatar
oh_brother
Son of Heaven
Posts: 1897
Joined: Wed Aug 12, 2009 11:13 am
Location: The Screamer Room

Re: Thiy and Artaxes' Excellent Adventure!

Post by oh_brother »

Artaxes was surprised that some of the weird sounds he was hearing made sense. Still, he was tired and the concentration required to focus on a new language was enough to make him irritable. When the spider started to scribble in the dirt it was too much for him, and he stormed off to his bedroll. The nun seemed more the reading type, she could worry about that herself.

Wisdom roll was 17 - 1 = 16. Maybe Artaxes is a bit of a natural! I find that having to spend a long period of time conversing in a foreign language really tires me out (probably because I am not very good at it). Since Artaxes was already tired, and I would guess he is less patient than me, I imagine the effort would put him in a bad mood.

I like the effort put into the language systems, very Tolkienesque! And yay, free re-roll! Must remember to use that.
User avatar
raixel
The Dungeon Master Cylinder
Posts: 1200
Joined: Mon Jun 21, 2010 10:10 am
Location: I see Mount Rainier in the distance...

Re: Thiy and Artaxes' Excellent Adventure!

Post by raixel »

Artaxes in a bad mood? What is this world coming to!? :D

Thiy understands the last sentence immediately. She realizes
Spoiler
Ktch'klik is asking the humans if they want to join the group going out to the swamp to get material to fix the wagons or rig some sort of carrying device for the extra grahhssk. With that knowledge, it makes looking at the other glyphs slightly easier. The first sentence is simple "You sleep well?" and the second is a bit more confusing but eventually she realizes it means "The plan is going very well", presumably Ktch'klik is talking of the plan that the two humans discussed with Kassah.
Artaxes awakes barelya after he manges to drift off as he hears voices talking that spitting hissing language above his head. Oddly as he wakes, in that state of half sleep, he realizes he can understand it nearly perfectly. Hsssilaa is asking Ktch'klik why Thiy can't speak their language anymore, and Ktch'klik replies that the spell has worn off. Then, the mercenary feels a pain in his temples from the effort. Small consolation that he now can understand at least most of what everyone is saying around him. For some reason he doesn't know, his brain has finally seemed to be able to put the sounds of the language into the words they mean. Of course, judging by the headache, his brain doesnt like doing it.

Thoiy, for her part, realizes the same thing, that after slowly sounding out the glyphs and writing and speaking her own, she can understand what everyone is syaing around her. Of course, for the monk who has spent hours meditating, the second that her mind grasps the language isn't quite as jarring, nor does she get a headache from it.

K, so I kinda just gave you both the ability to speak Zaangaardian (Swamp-Common) due to your high rolls even though its not realistic *at all*, because otherwise this was going to be a real pain in the ass. And I didnt want to have THraxxiss have to constantly cast spells every 12 hours on you two.

That is odd, neither human has ever picked up a language that fast. Ktch'klik looks over at them, his four red eyes glittering in a line with the strange black eye-spot shining above the four like a button of obsidian.

"So, *clk*. You seem to have *chrk* picked up our language*¿* Praise Arach¿sa! This makes things*¡* so much *trill* easier!" he exclaims, spreading his mandibles in happiness. "Now," he says, turning to Thiy "You said you *clk* wanted to go with the group *¿* thats getting ready to get the supplies *chrk* needed for the *wirr* wagons and harnesses in the swamp*klk*?"

He then turns to Artaxes "What about you? *¿* Do you *krr* want to go as well *chk*?. The spider's speech, now that it hasn't been over-rode by Thraxxiss' spell, is full of strange clicking and popping sounds that really don't seem to mean anything, but are just part of the function of his mouthparts. His speech is dry and mechanical, reminding the humans of one of those giant wind-keyers pipe organ that blow air through a series of hollow tubes and bellows to make sounds.

Hsssilaa steps forward, the big lizar guard seeming happy that he can now talk to the humans without magical aid. "You should go! I'm going! And then I can fill you in on whats been going on while you've been asleep!" he says. His voice, unlike the voice that the spell gave him is very deep and crisp. Although it has the same breathy and scratchy quiality all lizar have due to their large throats, three vocal chords, and extra lung, he probably could learn to speak Common without too much of a slithering accent.

Thiy's pig runs up from where it had been laying in the shade under the wagon and oinks happily when it sees her up and moving around. It seems restless.
K, so this post was basically a "woooo! You can talk!" post. Keep in mind though that anyone speaking a racial language will not be understood.
User avatar
ian_scho
High Lord
Posts: 2806
Joined: Fri Apr 07, 2006 8:30 am
Location: Zaragoza, Spain

Re: Thiy and Artaxes' Excellent Adventure!

Post by ian_scho »

"Yes that's right, I'm more than happy to help." replied Thiy to the arachnid, already rubbing her temples with the effort of translating a language and then a having to understand how different species pronounce the same vocals in a different way. "We must concentrate on moving before any more bad luck falls upon us." Sometimes Thiy falls into the trap of her somewhat sheltered existence during her stay in the monastery. Bad luck often happened to her when she failed those little tests, when there was something stolen from the store it would be bad luck they were told for everyone. Or it was infortunium time when a student attempted to escape, and ended up skewered on a pole.

Next up was the now enthusiastic Hsssilaa. He was always one of those overly enthusiastic types but she didn't 'get' either the language or the culture until recently. Irritatingly it always seemed to be the male ones as well, she thought out of habit. "Please. Keep up informed. But use simple phrases as I am but a simple student of your language." was how she replied, as polite as possible, while telling him to refrain from his exuberant behaviour.

Finally the pig nuzzled up to her. The lizzar appeared not to think it strange, thankfully. Again, the pig had his belly obviously full and seemed quite happy in this moist and fly filled environment. Perhaps the swine are the most adaptable of species after all, and all of this heretical nonsense that all of the different humanoid species will end up pitted against each other in a final war of strength and very existence was completely missing the point. There will be a pig sniffing around the mist-filled battlefield when it is all finished looking for the maggots that emerge from the corpses.

She slaps herself on the forehead. She has to STOP thinking like that about the pig! It is tethered to her belt and ignominiously pulled along.
User avatar
oh_brother
Son of Heaven
Posts: 1897
Joined: Wed Aug 12, 2009 11:13 am
Location: The Screamer Room

Re: Thiy and Artaxes' Excellent Adventure!

Post by oh_brother »

"Yeah, I understand...some" Artaxes replied to Ktch'klik's comment. "Right. Praise Arachsa" he repeated, with a hint of sarcasm. Not wanting to feel ridiculous he made no effort to mimic either the alien clicking sounds nor the lizar-like hissing, rather just making the sounds in his own accent.

"I can go and help with the supplies" he nodded to the arachnid and the lizar in turn. "Why, what has been happening?" he asked curiously as Hsssilaa went into more details. "Never mind, tell us on the way."

So I don't know if every race has a very different pronunciation or not, but I see Artaxes pronouncing it like an English speaker would speak French if they made no attempt to change pronunciation styles. As for the sudden ability of Thiy and Artaxes to speak - if it bothers you I suppose you could say that the fact that they had been conversing in that language using the translation spell made it easier on some level to pick it up!
User avatar
raixel
The Dungeon Master Cylinder
Posts: 1200
Joined: Mon Jun 21, 2010 10:10 am
Location: I see Mount Rainier in the distance...

Re: Thiy and Artaxes' Excellent Adventure!

Post by raixel »

Interrupted during updating. I'll be back round 3 or so my time.
User avatar
raixel
The Dungeon Master Cylinder
Posts: 1200
Joined: Mon Jun 21, 2010 10:10 am
Location: I see Mount Rainier in the distance...

Re: Thiy and Artaxes' Excellent Adventure!

Post by raixel »

Yeah. Every single race has a completely different accent. Its kinda like someone with a really heavy regional British or Scottish accent speaking to someone with a heavy regional American accent. You are welcome to misspell words or change/add letters to represent your accent if you want, but dont have to. And yeah, I came up with an IC reason why you guys learned it os fast. Theres actually a very subtle hint in last post.

"Great!" Hssilaa says. "Come with me, we will be meeting over by Kassah's tent" he continues, slowing his speech down a bit. He seems to have misunderstood Thiy and is exuberant as ever, although he slows his words down and enunciates each syllable carefully.

"*chrk Go with Arach¿sa *krr*." says Ktch'klik as he waves his upper arms in what appears to be a kind of blessing. "I *trill* will stay here and *¿* watch our...guests *crk*. Good luck. *¡*" The spider "sits" back down, resting his abdomen against the ground and folding hs lower legs outward.

The two walk alongside Hssilaa towards Kassah's tent, Thiy's pig tethered to the monk and trailing along behind her. Te creature walks surprisingly well on a leash when it wants to, and doesnt pull or try and go in a direction it isnt supposed to. Hsssillaa stops briefly and picks up his feather-decorated spear and a small hand axe at the tent he shares with Kassil.

"I'll explain everything once we leave the campsite. Everyone that's coming is trustworthy. Kassah didnt want to run the risk of having a potential traitor out in the swamps, where theyy could harm others." the big guard says in a hissing whisper as the walk through the tent area. The humans see lizar sitting outside their ball-shaped tents on cushions, and some small groups. A few of the groups have tiny smokeless fires going and are passing around what appears to be huge clay jugs or waterskins and roasting what appear to be some strange vegetables on skewers while singing loudly. When the party passes one group of about 5, they wave and offer a swig out of a leather skin of some kind to Hssilaa and the humans. Hsssilaa sniffs it then waves it off politely. "Its ahssshallk." the big lizar tells the humans. "Its alcoholic and a common drink in Makan. Ahssshallk is made of fermented plant nectar, and its usually mixed into different drinks." The lizar are swigging it down like its water, and motion for the humans to take d drink when Hssilaa passes it up. Whatever is in the skin smells like fruit. Fruit mixed with alcohol If anyone drinks it, read the spoiler text.
Spoiler
You can describe it however you want when your char drinks it, but its very powerful and tastes kind of like blackberry juice with a very high alcohol content. If your char doesnt have experience with powerful liquor, its strong enough to make you cough and sputter and your eyes water. If you have experience with powerful booze, it has a nice pleasant warm feeling as it goes down to your stomach, leaving you in a slightly better moodh.


Other solitary lizar look angry as the group passes, giving everyone unfriendly glares. One group of 3 is muttering something quietly as they sit outside a tent They look up and nudge each other into silence as the group approaches, only to start up whispering again once the party is out of earshot. Hsssilaa ignores the unfriendly looks and muttering and doesnt even bother to glance at those who look angry, although he takes the time to wave or nod at anyone else.

Finally the small group makes it to Kassah's tent. They see the pathfinder standing at the flap with Olisshan the drover, Thraxxiss, and the two half swamp lizars Liss and Naath. Olisshan is holding the head-harness leash of a grahhssk. The creature stands contentedly, occasionally tossing its head and hissing. The humans notice the bipedal reptile has some strange harness like contraption on its chest fitted with many rings and buckles.

Kassah nods at them when they walk up. "Good. You're all here. Thraxxiss has offered some of his magic to make it easier to chop the wood, and Olisshan will have one of the grahhssk haul as well.. So, we need enough for an axle and to fix some of the floorboard spots. Olisshan will explain what would be good for some kind of sled or thing the two grahhssk can pull. Good luck. Don't wander too far. Liss has some tracker skills and will be able to guide you." the pathfinder tells everyone. Liss and Hssillaa salute, and Kassah and Naath enter the tent and close the flap behind them.

"Do you need to collect any weapons before we leave? We all hve axes, and Thraxxiss is willing to use his magic to help cut down the tree." Hssilaa asks the humans as he and Liss check their weaponry. Liss strings his longbow and tests the pull before nodding to himself. In addition to the bow he has a hand axe slung at his belt. Even Olisshan has aquired a short sword and hand axe from somewhere, and tests the edges of the axe nervously.

Thraxxiss seems happy that the humans are coming along, but then stops and looks confused. "My ssspell sshould not have lassted thiss long. How iss it you are ssspeaking Zaangaardian?" he asks them.

Liss looks around "I think we should go south to the entrance of the camping area, then follow the West Road back a bit, looking for a game trail. That way if we fell a large tree, we wont have to haul it through uncut swamplands." he states.

Hsssilaa shrugs "I trust your judgement. The closest I ever get to the wilds is in a caravan. You know more about this stuff than me."

Thraxxiss and Olisshan both shrug. "I generally avoid ssspending time in the wildssss, asss well." the serpentus says.

The party sets off towards the entry road of the camping area, Liss in the lead. As they walk away from the area the caravan is in, a caravan guard on patrol that the humans dont recognize challenges them, but salutes when he sees Hssilaa and turns away to go back to the patrol. There is no one else camping in the large clearing, although this does make sense as it is midday and any travelers or caravans wouldn't be bedding down for the night until much later.

The ground grows mudder and muddier as the party leaves the camping area behind. The path towards the campsite is narrow, only wide enough for two wagons side by side. But eventually, the party is standing on the huge West Road. Hssslaa shakes himself and lets out a hissing sigh, then looks around to make sure no one is in earshot. "In Makanasshht's name it is good to be out of there! I though the stares of some of those self-merchants were going to flay my scales off when Kassah announced that we were going to have to stop for the whole day and that a couple passengers were taken sick and we had a lasstiir attack last night! At east not everyone's taking it bad. We waked by quite a few parties on the way to Kassah's tent." he remarks to Liss.
Liss sighs and nods "Yes! I thought we were going to have to quell a riot! Well, its not like we could tell them the truth. That would cause even more panic. Well, lets go. You can fill Thraxxiss and the humans in on the way." he replies as he sets off.

Alright, so I need a marching order (you can also place NPCs if you want although LIss is taking point. And can both of you roll a spot and a listen?
User avatar
ian_scho
High Lord
Posts: 2806
Joined: Fri Apr 07, 2006 8:30 am
Location: Zaragoza, Spain

Re: Thiy and Artaxes' Excellent Adventure!

Post by ian_scho »

Thiy passes up on the 'exotic fruit juice' (briefly knew an Arab who drank cider with this mentality), as she hated losing self-control. She had taken her 'medicine' and training along with the other acolytes but she was noted as one of the more 'serious' students among her superiors... And somewhat dim.

The unfriendly group of lizar the nun can relate to. Being an outsider she was the first to be blamed for all of the troubles that have occurred. She suddenly feels most fortunate to be a part of the inner circle of the workings of this haphazard wagon train. Passing by the group she makes an effort to memorize the faces and features of the three lizar as perhaps some form of unnecessary retribution may come their way. Damn, they all look the same though. She sighs to herself as she realises that she is actually safer with the human fighter than anyone else, apart from maybe the arachnid - she must ask him about his diet some time.

"Weapons? I am afraid that I am a mere acolyte and do not possess such skill." she replies. Thoughtfully adding "I am more than happy to do the hauling and other simple, menial tasks for the guards however. Also I can explain my experiences with the Travois and we can take it from there."

OOC - I found what the name of the thing I was thinking of! Travois. "Although considered more primitive than wheel-based forms of transport, on the type of territory where the travois was used (forest floors, soft soil, snow, etc.), rather than roadways, wheels would encounter difficulties which make them less efficient"

As to the magic effects from the spell Thiy replies "you are more a powerful magician that you think, Thraxxiss." It bothered her a little, but at least her pig hadn't started communicating with her yet. She gives it a yank on it's leash as if she was angry at having it invade her thoughts once more.

OOC - Suggest the guards go front and back. Thiy would indicate that she is no tracker and that the terrain will slow her down compared to the companions. She's basically trying to be 'almost feeble' (thereby underestimated and discreet) which is going to be easy as she's not a lizar!
User avatar
oh_brother
Son of Heaven
Posts: 1897
Joined: Wed Aug 12, 2009 11:13 am
Location: The Screamer Room

Re: Thiy and Artaxes' Excellent Adventure!

Post by oh_brother »

Artaxes grabbed the liquor flask, and took a suspicious sniff. He eyed the revellers warily as he took a small sip, rinsing it around inside his mouth for a minute before swallowing. "Hmm...not bad" he had to admit, before taking a deeper drink and handing it back to the owners. "Bit of a kick. Kinda like Viborg whiskey. Thanks."

It took all of Aratxes efforts not to get dragged into a fight with the angry groups of lizar dotted around the camp. He did scowl right back, and spat on the ground. "Ungrateful scum" he muttered, just loud enough for his own group to hear. "Sitting on their asses while we do the donkey work. Protect them. Bring supplies. Rebuild their shitty wagons. Remind me to punch one next chance I get."

When they reached Kassah's tent he went through his equipment, making sure everything was there and in good shape. "I have enough weapons in case we get attacked, but I don't have an axe. Depends if Thraxxiss is doing all the work, or if you still need people to do the chopping."

Thraxxiss did seem confused at their ability to converse. Artaxes shrugged his shoulders. "Seems like your spider friend is a good teacher. We got the basics."

It felt good to be heading away from the camp, and Artaxes stayed close behind Liss with his sword drawn.

Spot was 5 - 1 = 4, listen was 6 - 1 = 5. Not so good! As for party order, yeah I think fighters rear and back. I would say Liss up front, Artaxes next. Hsssilaa at the rear, to have a fighter in case we are attacked from behind. Thraxxiss in the middle, being guarded by Olisshan. As for Thiy, unless Ian objects maybe somewhere near the middle, but ahead of Thraxxiss? She can act feeble near the (probably really feeble) wizard!
Post Reply