Sleight of hand: 10 (arcane focus, a short but well crafted wand, geometric designs expertly carved into it)
A thin, human male looks around this fetid prison, doing his best to look cool and calm. However, he is not quite able to hide the fear and resentment of the current situation from leaking through.
He glances at his fellow prisoners with a forced cheery smile. "Well this is quite a pickle we are in! How did you all manage to end up here? What are your names? I'm Darion! Do you really think you can get us out?" His nervousness is revealed as he churns out questions, his accent hard to place; his pronunciation is well-to-do but his accent speaks to a more common origin.
Darion will attempt to see if he can hear / see any guards at the top of the pit.
Ellis is pretty short for a young guy and to be honest, quite feminine as well with long, silky blonde hair down to his shoulder blades and doe-like blue eyes along with porcelain skin. He is wearing a white peasant blouse and tan khakis which have long since been wet and ruined by the stagnant water. He has a limp and is leaning against a wall in pain as he looks at the others, giving a small nod before hearing Tempest. "I'm Ellis. Yes, I think my ankle is broken." Ellis whispered back, wincing as he tries to lift his right ankle up a bit but it hurts too much. Everyone could see even through the water as his ankle is so badly bruised, black and blue and very much looking like it was done on purpose by someone else. He then heard Tempest, surprised to see the berry and nodding back. "Thank you." he whispered, taking the berry and quickly eating it. Ellis heard Tempest tell them to raise their manacles out of the water, nodding as he does so, meanwhile hearing Darion. "My name is Ellis. I was alone at night when one of them approached me, but before I could run, I suddenly had no control over myself and passed out. I wanna go back home..." he whispered, tearing up a little as he is clearly scared right now.
Darion looks impressed at Tempest's attempt to get them out and happily eats the Goodberry, shoveling it down fast with a grateful nod. He glances at Daner "I'm good. Well, cold, wet and fed up. I've not been sacrificed or tortured yet, so I guess I should count that as a win. Or at least not a loss. Damn, these snake people are ugly aren't they? Why anyone would choose to turn themselves into snakes is beyond me. I can think of a dozen animals i'd rather turn myself into! Now, where's that wand?"
I'll roll for Darion's portents as well: 8, 17
OOC: having noted timezone differences I find myself with insomnia tonight so able to join in for a bit! yay!
As Tempest's spell begins to manifest, it suddenly fades, and it feels as if the magic was snatched from the air; intercepted by something. (No loss of spell slots, but we'll say goodberry is subtle enough to avoid interception) At the very moment, Daner and Darion, who were looking up, see a pulse of bright green light that coincided with the spell being cast.
Darion successfully smuggles in his arcane focus, barely. A man was cut down before him in line for attempting the very same thing earlier that day.
The check for the guard is not a hard one; as the spell was mitigated and the pulse of light filled the chamber above Darion hears footsteps headed his direction. Perception was high enough that he is able to again hide his focus before the guard arrives. Above, you see a figure standing over you. Rippling muscles and well-oiled skin a perfect portrait of physique, but with an awkwardly (to your sensibilities) placed head of a snake. The figure chuckles,
"Hahhh, hahhh, hahhh.... a cute spell. Of course we great scaled ones thought of that, hairy ones..." he says this with as much derision as he can muster. He gestures towards your north with a wry smile. "Now tell me, who did that?" He looks at each one of you intently. You can barely stand to look into his eyes as they begin to sway you.
Anyone trained in History, Arcana, or Nature could make a knowledge roll here if they wanted.
Ellis receives an inspiration point for character decision of broken ankle. How juicy!
(Headed to bed now. Have to get enough sleep with this little baby waking me up all night. If you guys want to keep chatting, be my guess. We'll say that you wait for the guard to go away before you say anything you wouldn't want him to hear. I'll respond to other stuff hopefully tomorrow! Cheers!)
Ellis had thought he grabbed a berry from Tempest but it disappeared and realizing that something was wrong. It was then that a guard showed up, a Yuan-ti that had the head of a snake and the body of a human. He listened as the guard had thought of them using spells, saying something about hairy ones and thinking of what that could mean. Soon the guard asked them who did it, looking into his eyes and being swayed by them. Tempest was the one who cast it, but he could only imagine that something bad would happen to him if he was found out, knowing that he had just been trying to help them. "I-I had cast the spell.." Ellis had quickly said back in response, trying to make the guard believe that he did it while terrified of what the punishment for that is.
Tempest is dead silent as he looks up at the guard.
Nature: 6
Waiting until the guard leaves Tempest will look back at the group and say, “Sorry. I thought that would work. We’ll have to come up with something else unless we can figure out how to remove whatever is stopping spells.” Then turning to Ellis says, “Let me take a look at your ankle” and will sit in the murky water and motion for Ellis to raise his leg up.
“Ahhhhhhh, the little one tries to be tricksie. You may be useful, or you may be dangerous. I sssay that you would make a magically exccccelent blood sssacrifice to Dendar, but I’m not in charge. Most of you hairy ones don’t have the aptitude for magic in your craven waysssss. Our massster may wish to see this crop of sssslaves himself. You, magic boy, will receive a mark.”
Bemused, he steps off unless anyone else addresses him.
The history check is sufficient to know that it is somewhat odd to see a Yuan-ti attempting humor as they are typically known for their cold, calculating lack of emotion. You wonder what the deal with this one is.
Ellis listened to the guard, shivering at the thought of being a blood sacrifice to Dendar. He spoke of how most of them don't have the aptitude for magic with their ways, that their master may wish to see them all himself and that he will receive a mark. Is receiving a mark a good thing or a bad thing? But once the guard left, he was relieved that he had not been punished, even though now he questioned why that Yuan-ti acted so different from how they are normally supposed to be. Then Ellis had heard Tempest, nodding back as he lifted up his right leg, wincing in pain and managing to keep balance on one leg. Ellis's right ankle is twisted, black and blue bruising all over as it seemed like it had been beaten with a harsh amount of force multiple times. It was clear that they did not want him to be able to run away ever, a bad injury of this kind normally taking at least a month or more to heal but only with proper treatment from a medical professional and wearing of a cast while not putting any pressure on it at all.
(OCC: After this, figured I'll wait to post again until Daner and Darion post as well so we don't completely leave them behind.)
Darion lets out his breath as the guard leaves, grateful he was able to hide his wand in time. Not only is it vital for his magic, but it is a precious gift, symbol of a new life for him. He looks over at Ellis "That was really gutsy taking the blame like that, I hope it hasn't put you in more danger. I really don't like the sound of you being 'marked'" he glances at Ellis' nasty leg wound "ye gads, that's horrible. I wonder why they beat down on you more?"
He turns to Tempest "Is there anything I can do to help?" he gestures at Ellis' leg wound "though I'm afraid I don't really know much about healing"
He then mutters to himself under his breath, while waiting to see if there is any help he can give "I guess my magic won't work either, I wonder what could be suppressing it here?"
Darion then turns his mind to figuring out what that green light was, where it came from - and if there is any obvious way to beat it (I guess this is an Arcana check? Not sure how to do 'luck' rolls without spamming posts, so I'll roll an extra dice for luck - if the first one is less than 15 total i'll spend the luck point)
Arcana: 18 If less than 15: 9
EDIT: I'll take the 18, so luck point not spent!
OOC: @JustBrad987 I forgot to say congratulations on your little one :) If they are your first, welcome to the wonderful world of no sleep, exciting conversations about poo colour and an astonishing number of filled nappies!
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
OOC: I am guessing then that my previous perception roll of 19 gave no additional useful information about our present whereabouts?
Nature:4
Daner knew that when he was handed over to the Yuan-to it was to be a blood sacrifice, but he had no idea the conditions they kept their prisoners in. At least as a slave he knew that fulfilling his masters purpose would likely keep him alive. Here it was the very thing that would kill him.
“Do any of you feel like climbing up and checking that grate? I’ll go if I need to, but my short stature doesn’t exactly make me the best of climbers.”
As Darion contemplates what is suppressing magic in this hole, he glances over at Daner with a faint smile
"I'm afraid that climbing isn't my strong point either!"
As he goes back to his puzzle, Darion reflects on the need for caution. These fellow prisoners may seem friendly and on the level, but trust could get you beaten or killed if handed out too liberally. In particular he found himself exercising the most caution over Ellis - he had known some of the more viscous gangs where he lived would sometimes bait prisoners with a plant, who would gain their sympathy then subtly find out information from the others. Was Ellis' extra injuries bad luck, a vendetta or perhaps a way of gaining sympathy from them? Darion didn't spend time ruminating on these worries - too much thinking was as dangerous as too little. All would reveal itself with time - and if he could get his magic working, he would be able to investigate his companions a little more thoroughly.
((I was thinking of that 19 roll when I was going to sleep! Sorry about that)). Daner gets an excellent look at the cell they are being held in. He is certain that there is no way to go but up, and it is hard telling how old this water was. The chamber is slightly bell-shaped, with the broader end being the bottom, making it exceedingly difficult for prisoners to climb. However, he notes some significant flaws in the masonry of this particular cell which would make climbing not impossible, though it would be difficult.
The iron grate lid of this chamber must be, he figures, about 600lbs ((sorry metric system friend!)). He also sees a simple mechanism affixed to the grate. A chain hooked to the grate stretches over a pulley bolted to the ceiling and probably coils around an iron winch set into a nearby wall. Finally, Daner sees a large hook on a chain, the hook dangling just below the grates. This is probably used to lift prisoners out of the pit by their manacles.
((Second kid! Have a 3 year old too. Hence the lack of in-person games these days. Also, I will probably do small posts so as to not risk losing it all on my tiny phone text box, and because said 3 year old gets my attention. If I miss one of your rolls only questions do point it out!))
The nature roll doesn’t glean anything additional.
Darion’s arcana roll does present some information. Darion thinks for a moment and realizes that he might have seen something like this before. Likely the Yuan-ti must have imprisoned an abjurist and forced him to construct a magic dampening rune in the prison. It would need to be in close proximity. If it is what he thinks it is, he figures that, given the time, he could disable it. If that didn’t work, smashing it with something certainly would.
((Dang, I am overlooking things! I didn’t see the first nature roll was so high)).
Additionally, you would notice that the Yuan-ti is of a caste higher than the rank and file “pure blood” variety that get confused for humans. However, his transformation left him with an almost entirely human body, save for his head. This is probably embarrassing and probably why someone like him got prisoner duty. His sarcasm is likely evidence of his discontent.
"That grate looks pretty heavy. I doubt we are going to be able to shift it from down here even if we could climb up there. I think we will need to find some other way out." Daner looks around at the group. There was no way Ellis would have made it anyway with that busted ankle."Thoughts anyone? Somehow we need to get someone up there to let us out. Could we fake someone being dead maybe? or say that we are willing to be turned just to have a shot at doing something? Frankly at this point, I am open to any and all suggestions.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Darion nods to himself, but holds back the information on the rune for the moment - nothing he can do about it now, and he is still exercising caution.
He turns to Daner and says "I could try and help you climb, but I'm not sure how well that would end!" he glances around and addresses the whole group quietly "we still have our clothes, have they left us with anything we could fashion into a makeshift rope? We could always try and loop something round the grate? Though, if the guard is there he might see us!"
Darion doesn't sound very confident in his plan, but has a look around at (1) clothing items, (2) if there are any little rocks that could be used as a weight (for attaching to the 'rope') and (3) if he can hear any sound of the guard.
If you need perception roll(s) i'll do three if you want one for each, if not you could just take the first?
Darion acknowledges the wisdom in what Daner was saying "Good point. It might help if we could have a peer out even if we can't open the grate, give us an idea what to expect?"
OOC: I'll wait for Ellis and Tempest to post before suggesting anything else!
Darion completes some quick calculations and figures three or four shirts tied together could make a “rope” long enough to allow someone to climb up and have a look. Darion searches the bottom of the chamber and with luck does find a moderately sized stone; a chunk of the stone wall that had fallen out of place.
As for the guard, he can hear no sign of him, though the groans of prisoners in other pits muffle is perception a bit. The guard must have left to make arrangements for a prisoner viewing, or something. No telling how long he would be gone.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
Sleight of hand: 10 (arcane focus, a short but well crafted wand, geometric designs expertly carved into it)
A thin, human male looks around this fetid prison, doing his best to look cool and calm. However, he is not quite able to hide the fear and resentment of the current situation from leaking through.
He glances at his fellow prisoners with a forced cheery smile. "Well this is quite a pickle we are in! How did you all manage to end up here? What are your names? I'm Darion! Do you really think you can get us out?" His nervousness is revealed as he churns out questions, his accent hard to place; his pronunciation is well-to-do but his accent speaks to a more common origin.
Darion will attempt to see if he can hear / see any guards at the top of the pit.
Perception: 21
Do you like my Boots of Flying?
Sleight of Hand (his lyre): 19
Ellis is pretty short for a young guy and to be honest, quite feminine as well with long, silky blonde hair down to his shoulder blades and doe-like blue eyes along with porcelain skin. He is wearing a white peasant blouse and tan khakis which have long since been wet and ruined by the stagnant water. He has a limp and is leaning against a wall in pain as he looks at the others, giving a small nod before hearing Tempest. "I'm Ellis. Yes, I think my ankle is broken." Ellis whispered back, wincing as he tries to lift his right ankle up a bit but it hurts too much. Everyone could see even through the water as his ankle is so badly bruised, black and blue and very much looking like it was done on purpose by someone else. He then heard Tempest, surprised to see the berry and nodding back. "Thank you." he whispered, taking the berry and quickly eating it. Ellis heard Tempest tell them to raise their manacles out of the water, nodding as he does so, meanwhile hearing Darion. "My name is Ellis. I was alone at night when one of them approached me, but before I could run, I suddenly had no control over myself and passed out. I wanna go back home..." he whispered, tearing up a little as he is clearly scared right now.
Darion looks impressed at Tempest's attempt to get them out and happily eats the Goodberry, shoveling it down fast with a grateful nod. He glances at Daner "I'm good. Well, cold, wet and fed up. I've not been sacrificed or tortured yet, so I guess I should count that as a win. Or at least not a loss. Damn, these snake people are ugly aren't they? Why anyone would choose to turn themselves into snakes is beyond me. I can think of a dozen animals i'd rather turn myself into! Now, where's that wand?"
I'll roll for Darion's portents as well: 8, 17
OOC: having noted timezone differences I find myself with insomnia tonight so able to join in for a bit! yay!
Do you like my Boots of Flying?
As Tempest's spell begins to manifest, it suddenly fades, and it feels as if the magic was snatched from the air; intercepted by something. (No loss of spell slots, but we'll say goodberry is subtle enough to avoid interception) At the very moment, Daner and Darion, who were looking up, see a pulse of bright green light that coincided with the spell being cast.
Darion successfully smuggles in his arcane focus, barely. A man was cut down before him in line for attempting the very same thing earlier that day.
The check for the guard is not a hard one; as the spell was mitigated and the pulse of light filled the chamber above Darion hears footsteps headed his direction. Perception was high enough that he is able to again hide his focus before the guard arrives. Above, you see a figure standing over you. Rippling muscles and well-oiled skin a perfect portrait of physique, but with an awkwardly (to your sensibilities) placed head of a snake. The figure chuckles,
"Hahhh, hahhh, hahhh.... a cute spell. Of course we great scaled ones thought of that, hairy ones..." he says this with as much derision as he can muster. He gestures towards your north with a wry smile. "Now tell me, who did that?" He looks at each one of you intently. You can barely stand to look into his eyes as they begin to sway you.
Anyone trained in History, Arcana, or Nature could make a knowledge roll here if they wanted.
Ellis receives an inspiration point for character decision of broken ankle. How juicy!
(Headed to bed now. Have to get enough sleep with this little baby waking me up all night. If you guys want to keep chatting, be my guess. We'll say that you wait for the guard to go away before you say anything you wouldn't want him to hear. I'll respond to other stuff hopefully tomorrow! Cheers!)
Ellis had thought he grabbed a berry from Tempest but it disappeared and realizing that something was wrong. It was then that a guard showed up, a Yuan-ti that had the head of a snake and the body of a human. He listened as the guard had thought of them using spells, saying something about hairy ones and thinking of what that could mean. Soon the guard asked them who did it, looking into his eyes and being swayed by them. Tempest was the one who cast it, but he could only imagine that something bad would happen to him if he was found out, knowing that he had just been trying to help them. "I-I had cast the spell.." Ellis had quickly said back in response, trying to make the guard believe that he did it while terrified of what the punishment for that is.
History: 6
Tempest is dead silent as he looks up at the guard.
Nature: 6
Waiting until the guard leaves Tempest will look back at the group and say, “Sorry. I thought that would work. We’ll have to come up with something else unless we can figure out how to remove whatever is stopping spells.” Then turning to Ellis says, “Let me take a look at your ankle” and will sit in the murky water and motion for Ellis to raise his leg up.
Medicine: 6 (How bad does the ankle look?)
“Ahhhhhhh, the little one tries to be tricksie. You may be useful, or you may be dangerous. I sssay that you would make a magically exccccelent blood sssacrifice to Dendar, but I’m not in charge. Most of you hairy ones don’t have the aptitude for magic in your craven waysssss. Our massster may wish to see this crop of sssslaves himself. You, magic boy, will receive a mark.”
Bemused, he steps off unless anyone else addresses him.
The history check is sufficient to know that it is somewhat odd to see a Yuan-ti attempting humor as they are typically known for their cold, calculating lack of emotion. You wonder what the deal with this one is.
Ellis listened to the guard, shivering at the thought of being a blood sacrifice to Dendar. He spoke of how most of them don't have the aptitude for magic with their ways, that their master may wish to see them all himself and that he will receive a mark. Is receiving a mark a good thing or a bad thing? But once the guard left, he was relieved that he had not been punished, even though now he questioned why that Yuan-ti acted so different from how they are normally supposed to be. Then Ellis had heard Tempest, nodding back as he lifted up his right leg, wincing in pain and managing to keep balance on one leg. Ellis's right ankle is twisted, black and blue bruising all over as it seemed like it had been beaten with a harsh amount of force multiple times. It was clear that they did not want him to be able to run away ever, a bad injury of this kind normally taking at least a month or more to heal but only with proper treatment from a medical professional and wearing of a cast while not putting any pressure on it at all.
(OCC: After this, figured I'll wait to post again until Daner and Darion post as well so we don't completely leave them behind.)
Darion lets out his breath as the guard leaves, grateful he was able to hide his wand in time. Not only is it vital for his magic, but it is a precious gift, symbol of a new life for him. He looks over at Ellis "That was really gutsy taking the blame like that, I hope it hasn't put you in more danger. I really don't like the sound of you being 'marked'" he glances at Ellis' nasty leg wound "ye gads, that's horrible. I wonder why they beat down on you more?"
He turns to Tempest "Is there anything I can do to help?" he gestures at Ellis' leg wound "though I'm afraid I don't really know much about healing"
He then mutters to himself under his breath, while waiting to see if there is any help he can give "I guess my magic won't work either, I wonder what could be suppressing it here?"
Darion then turns his mind to figuring out what that green light was, where it came from - and if there is any obvious way to beat it (I guess this is an Arcana check? Not sure how to do 'luck' rolls without spamming posts, so I'll roll an extra dice for luck - if the first one is less than 15 total i'll spend the luck point)
Arcana: 18 If less than 15: 9
EDIT: I'll take the 18, so luck point not spent!
OOC: @JustBrad987 I forgot to say congratulations on your little one :) If they are your first, welcome to the wonderful world of no sleep, exciting conversations about poo colour and an astonishing number of filled nappies!
Do you like my Boots of Flying?
OOC: I am guessing then that my previous perception roll of 19 gave no additional useful information about our present whereabouts?
Nature: 4
Daner knew that when he was handed over to the Yuan-to it was to be a blood sacrifice, but he had no idea the conditions they kept their prisoners in. At least as a slave he knew that fulfilling his masters purpose would likely keep him alive. Here it was the very thing that would kill him.
“Do any of you feel like climbing up and checking that grate? I’ll go if I need to, but my short stature doesn’t exactly make me the best of climbers.”
As Darion contemplates what is suppressing magic in this hole, he glances over at Daner with a faint smile
"I'm afraid that climbing isn't my strong point either!"
As he goes back to his puzzle, Darion reflects on the need for caution. These fellow prisoners may seem friendly and on the level, but trust could get you beaten or killed if handed out too liberally. In particular he found himself exercising the most caution over Ellis - he had known some of the more viscous gangs where he lived would sometimes bait prisoners with a plant, who would gain their sympathy then subtly find out information from the others. Was Ellis' extra injuries bad luck, a vendetta or perhaps a way of gaining sympathy from them? Darion didn't spend time ruminating on these worries - too much thinking was as dangerous as too little. All would reveal itself with time - and if he could get his magic working, he would be able to investigate his companions a little more thoroughly.
Do you like my Boots of Flying?
((I was thinking of that 19 roll when I was going to sleep! Sorry about that)). Daner gets an excellent look at the cell they are being held in. He is certain that there is no way to go but up, and it is hard telling how old this water was. The chamber is slightly bell-shaped, with the broader end being the bottom, making it exceedingly difficult for prisoners to climb. However, he notes some significant flaws in the masonry of this particular cell which would make climbing not impossible, though it would be difficult.
The iron grate lid of this chamber must be, he figures, about 600lbs ((sorry metric system friend!)). He also sees a simple mechanism affixed to the grate. A chain hooked to the grate stretches over a pulley bolted to the ceiling and probably coils around an iron winch set into a nearby wall. Finally, Daner sees a large hook on a chain, the hook dangling just below the grates. This is probably used to lift prisoners out of the pit by their manacles.
((Second kid! Have a 3 year old too. Hence the lack of in-person games these days. Also, I will probably do small posts so as to not risk losing it all on my tiny phone text box, and because said 3 year old gets my attention. If I miss one of your rolls only questions do point it out!))
The nature roll doesn’t glean anything additional.
Darion’s arcana roll does present some information. Darion thinks for a moment and realizes that he might have seen something like this before. Likely the Yuan-ti must have imprisoned an abjurist and forced him to construct a magic dampening rune in the prison. It would need to be in close proximity. If it is what he thinks it is, he figures that, given the time, he could disable it. If that didn’t work, smashing it with something certainly would.
Also, the pit is about 10 feet deep.
DM: Can I just check if I am visualising this right; the hole we are in is inside some sort of building, whose ceiling we can see above us?
OOC: Re metric: to be honest, generally most people I know still use the pre-metric stuff most of the time, so am fine with pounds and ounces etc :)
Do you like my Boots of Flying?
((Dang, I am overlooking things! I didn’t see the first nature roll was so high)).
Additionally, you would notice that the Yuan-ti is of a caste higher than the rank and file “pure blood” variety that get confused for humans. However, his transformation left him with an almost entirely human body, save for his head. This is probably embarrassing and probably why someone like him got prisoner duty. His sarcasm is likely evidence of his discontent.
Correct, it is a hole in a larger building, and you can see the ceiling, which is about 20ft high from where you stand.
"That grate looks pretty heavy. I doubt we are going to be able to shift it from down here even if we could climb up there. I think we will need to find some other way out." Daner looks around at the group. There was no way Ellis would have made it anyway with that busted ankle. "Thoughts anyone? Somehow we need to get someone up there to let us out. Could we fake someone being dead maybe? or say that we are willing to be turned just to have a shot at doing something? Frankly at this point, I am open to any and all suggestions.
OOC: 1am here. I am off to bed ZZZ
Darion nods to himself, but holds back the information on the rune for the moment - nothing he can do about it now, and he is still exercising caution.
He turns to Daner and says "I could try and help you climb, but I'm not sure how well that would end!" he glances around and addresses the whole group quietly "we still have our clothes, have they left us with anything we could fashion into a makeshift rope? We could always try and loop something round the grate? Though, if the guard is there he might see us!"
Darion doesn't sound very confident in his plan, but has a look around at (1) clothing items, (2) if there are any little rocks that could be used as a weight (for attaching to the 'rope') and (3) if he can hear any sound of the guard.
If you need perception roll(s) i'll do three if you want one for each, if not you could just take the first?
1: 18 2: 7 3: 8
Do you like my Boots of Flying?
Darion acknowledges the wisdom in what Daner was saying "Good point. It might help if we could have a peer out even if we can't open the grate, give us an idea what to expect?"
OOC: I'll wait for Ellis and Tempest to post before suggesting anything else!
Do you like my Boots of Flying?
Darion completes some quick calculations and figures three or four shirts tied together could make a “rope” long enough to allow someone to climb up and have a look. Darion searches the bottom of the chamber and with luck does find a moderately sized stone; a chunk of the stone wall that had fallen out of place.
As for the guard, he can hear no sign of him, though the groans of prisoners in other pits muffle is perception a bit. The guard must have left to make arrangements for a prisoner viewing, or something. No telling how long he would be gone.