GREYFORGE: ARCHIVE

[Grendelthebrave]

I'm back! The convention was a fun time. Gotta love fully sanctioned and concentrated nerdery. Anyway, here we go:

Thann, feeling a bit panicked at the sounds, slowly creeps over to where Chevo is sleeping, and gently nudges him. "My Lord..." he whispers. As Chevo comes awake, Thann holds a single finger to his mouth, signaling quiet to the drowsy dwarf. "My lord, something is approaching, flying really. I think it might be Morulchabhan."

Chevo will start awake, and barely resist berating Thann for disturbing his dreams of clan Stonemettle kneeling before him sitting on a mountain of gold. "Huh?" He shakes the sleep from his head and points to Cholum "Wake his ass up, gently, and the girl we might have to flee."

Thann will wake Cholum and Milly in similar fashion, urging everyone to stay quiet.

The Three dwarfs will ready their weapons and hide behind some trees, cursing the rain for making their bows useless.

OOC:
Just realized that everyone might not be sleeping yet. Oh well, the stealth idea still stands. And will the rain prevent using bows? I guess it depends how simulationist you want to play it.

From Thann, or the others memories, how 'giant' are these Morulchabhan? Are we talking 20' foot long hulking terrors? Or something Wolf/Lion sized (still giant and terrifying.) Just wondering how scared I should be, level ones can be pretty squishy.

[Grendelthebrave]

Background skills I selected for the party members:

Milly:
Navigator/Cartographer(Land), Sage(history). If the Navigator/Cartographer was meant to be a choice between the two, I'll choose Cartogapher. I think those skills would make sense for a seer to help interpret her visions.

Chevo: Diplomat, from this time in the courts of clan Onyxbreaker.

Cholum: Armourer Blacksmith, because Dwarf.

Thann: Diplomat, Appraiser(Dwarf Artifacts) - As I'm imagining that he was sent in order to help return the Dwarven treasure to Greyforge, having some mercantile skill would be useful.

[Longman]

And we're back in action.

Thann didn't really need to wake the others - this is an afternoon encounter - and that's a bit of a relief seeing as these birds are nocturnal hunters. Instead, Thann can alert the other 3 to the presence of the creature. In a round, they have all readied their bows and are hiding either behind trees, or in the shelter you made.

The giant owl - for such it is - glides to within 30 yards of you. It is 9 feet tall and has a 20' wingspan. It isn't going at top speed right now. Several of you can see something interesting - it looks to have an old leather saddle strap around its chest. The saddle may still be on top, but you can't really make that out for sure.

Generations back, some dwarves used to find the eggs of such creatures and raise them as mounts. The practice was disallowed when the human church came to prominence 800 years ago. The Aleut (human) people still continue the practice. Judging by what you have just witnessed, this bird was trained, and has escaped quite recently.

Despite your attempts at stealth, it sees you. It doesn't seem to be attacking you. It looks like it's going to pass overhead.

PS your skill choices look fine. Funny, Cartography and History is the exact skill choice of all three mages in this campaign so far - two online and one tabletop. Milly does indeed get both of them.

[Grendelthebrave]

Milly looked up in awe as the great Owl flew overhead. "I wonder where it's coming from? Maybe we should try to find its owners, how fascinating..."

"What if the owners were killed by Goblins?" Chevo retorted... Thann nodded at Chevo's comment, but moved his hand to grip the hilt of one of his daggers, "I hate goblins, we should find them and punish them" Thann said, though his voice cracked slightly as if he didn't quite mean what he said.

Cholum looked uncertain about Thann's desires for battle, but grinned at Chevo... "Aye, if Gobbo's did this we be obligated to help em out. At the very least we can tell em' where deir bird got off to"

Chevo sighed, and made his decision. "Very well... Onyxbreaker will need allies when we push the greenskin menace out of the forest, these smelly Aleut will have to do..."

OOC:
Is the rain still beating down pretty hard? If it is the party will wait for it to clear up before making any attempt at following or backtracking to find the owners of the Owl.

[Longman]

Yes, it's still raining / sleeting, quite heavily. Which does make it pretty curious that a nocturnal bird is flying in such weather.

The owl does not fly straight overhead. It sees you, gains in height, takes a turn and wheels back around to take a look at you. It is now about 30 yards away to the north, and has also gained about 20 yards in height (total 60 yards away). You an still make it out through the trees, though. It is really quiet - in fact it's remarkable that Thann hear it at all.

According to Milly, the birds are quite smart, especially when trained from a young age. She also recalls a story that when the dwarves used to fly them in the giant wars, they had to launch from a high place to get going. A giant owl struggled to get into the air from the ground, with a dwarf plus military equipment in its back. But she's not sure how the Aleut manage that problem.

In answer to your previous question - yes, the weather will affect your bows (a -4 penalty to hit).

[Grendelthebrave]

If the Owl remains in close proximity, Milly will, against the better wishes of Chevo and the other Dwarves, try to signal the wondrous beast. By making what she thinks might be appropriate 'Owl-ish' sounds. (Read: hoo... hooo.) perhaps offering up some rations in case the Owls were bred to like Dwarven iron-bread.

[Longman]

Milly moves a bit outside the confines of the shelter, wrapping her cloak about her against the sleet, and signals the giant bird, waving a handful of tasty dried reindeer jerky about.

And this is where the DM makes the reaction roll. (She gets a 9). The bird hovers a bit closer, to within 30 yards. It is still pretty wary. She can now see that it does indeed have a saddle on it, almost certainly of Aleut make. The saddle has pouches that would most likely contain food and other travel gear, but you might get lucky and find some treasure in there. (The Aleut do still trade with the dwarves, but it all normally happens on the other side of the mountains, and they would normally use reindeer, or dogsleds.)

Your move - tempt the beast further, or back off? (It could rip you to bits if you get this wrong. Just saying.)

[Grendelthebrave]

Milly is suddenly feeling far less generous with her jerky as the beast draws nearer. Gods but it's big, she thinks to herself. She backs away feeling far less brave, but the party keeps an eye on the beast, watching for any sudden hungry looking moves from it.

[Longman]

It draws slightly closer as Milly backs away. It has its eye on the jerky - did Milly drop that on the ground before she moved?

Suddenly, she has an experience she has almost never had before. Her perception shifts dramatically and she can see herself, a frightened looking figure in a blue dress and a green cloak, through the eyes of the owl itself.

It is very, very hungry. It is also wondering what manner of human being has red hair. It has seen dwarves with red hair, but never a human.

The owl does not come any closer. It perches somewhat awkwardly in a pine tree and keeps an eye on you.

Does Milly want to try and keep this vision going? She has had some experiences like this before, but normally with people, never a wild animal. She is not sure what will happen if she tries to focus her seer power on seeing through the owl's eyes.

[Grendelthebrave]

Surprise and shock overcome Milly as she feels the hunger of the beast, and sees herself through its eyes.

Milly tosses the piece of jerky ahead toward the Owl, though the experience is disorienting as she 'sees' herself doing it from the wrong direction.


Milly will try to maintain the link, if only to give her an early warning if the beast turns angry.