"Unless anyone else has objections or an alternative, this seems like a reasonable plan. I'll be ready to defend you if necessary, but hopefully we can avoid harming these invaluable pollinators!"
Recalling back to school, Zithers' normally useless trivia comes into play. "Malichi was right about the smoke though, given enough they would become calm for at least 10 minutes, which should be long enough for us to do what we need. Just in case to minimize the, eh, damages, so to speak."
Cerlinde- even quieter than normal and still with a quiver in her voice says “I can make a smoke stick- if it helps. But your other plans sound good too. Maybe a smoke stick in case things go awry?”.
(with her proficiency in alchemist supplies and herbalism, she could try to make an effective smoke grenade with leaves and things)
Putting your tiny, tiny heads together, you have formulated a plan. Malichi and Amelia gather some twigs and dried grass. Dyumi tries to speak soothingly to the bees, communicating that you are no threat, and that your intentions are peaceful. Zensiro gathers up the bundles of fire-fuel and slowly, sneakily approaches the bees. They grow slightly more agitated, but the Firbolg manages to keep them from attacking. The ranger drops the bundles as close to the swarm as he dares, and then retreats cautiously, prepared to fey step if needed. As soon as he has cleared the blast radius, Zithers and Cerlinde use their fire magic to ignite the kindling. All of you blow really, really hard, trying to direct the smoke towards the Apis mellifera.
Success! The smoke drifts towards the agitated insects, and you see them begin to calm down, as they are no longer able to sense the alarm pheremones that had filled the air. They even look a little sleepy, or perhaps constipated. You never can tell with bees.
Zithers and Zensiro approach the supine queen, and smear a little of the restorative ointment on her. Almost immediately, she begins to regain strength, and slowly stands. The two Z's back away swiftly, watching for hostile intent, but they sense none. The queen regards them silently. Dyumi picks up indications of gratitude and friendship.
(Feel free to RP anything you want with the bee queen. When you're done...)
The bees withdraw back to their hive and you are free to continue your journey. You re-enter the AGGE and continue clockwise around the wall of the vegetable garden. You are able to stop and clamber over the rock wall at any point, but for now you are intent on reaching the distant towering trees. Soon, you find yourselves alongside what you imagine to be a gravel path, but from your perspective seems to be a sea of gray boulders stretching from northeast to southwest. The boulders are too rough for the AGGE to traverse gracefully, so you keep to the eastern side of the path.
Unexpectedly, you hear some thunderous booms and feel the earth below you tremble and tremor. Without warning, the entire AGGE is whisked upward into the sky at an angle.
(6 bludgeoning damage from being thrown about, DEX save DC 14 for half damage) . A giant eye peers through the front window, and a deep rumbling voice cries out:
"Mama! Mama! Look what I found! And there's little people inside it, Mama!"
(Feel free to RP anything you want with the bee queen. When you're done...)
The bees withdraw back to their hive and you are free to continue your journey. You re-enter the AGGE and continue clockwise around the wall of the vegetable garden. You are able to stop and clamber over the rock wall at any point, but for now you are intent on reaching the distant towering trees. Soon, you find yourselves alongside what you imagine to be a gravel path, but from your perspective seems to be a sea of gray boulders stretching from northeast to southwest. The boulders are too rough for the AGGE to traverse gracefully, so you keep to the eastern side of the path.
Unexpectedly, you hear some thunderous booms and feel the earth below you tremble and tremor. Without warning, the entire AGGE is whisked upward into the sky at an angle.
(6 bludgeoning damage from being thrown about, DEX save DC 14 for half damage) . A giant eye peers through the front window, and a deep rumbling voice cries out:
"Mama! Mama! Look what I found! And there's little people inside it, Mama!"
Dex save: 8 Dyumi braces for impact, and tries not to fall out.
(I don't want to interrupt the 'giant' encounter, so as far as bee queen RP goes, I'll just ask her for any leads on the honeytrap.)
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Life is very busy unfortunately, gone from most Pbp's indefinitely. If you'd like to contact me, I am on Discord at GreatAxeblade#7595, always happy to chat :)
Amelia mutters several things the child should probably not hear, then looks around at the others. "Anyone got any brilliant ideas to get us out of this one?"
Cerlinde- crouched down and secure in her seat for fear of the bees, takes some bruising from the child’s actions. She looks in horror. Still she says “perhaps the mother will let someone know about us…. I’ll prepare for some impressive displays of very small magic.”
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Addressing the queen bee following her revival, Zensiro says in Sylvan, "I assume you can't understand me, but it has been an honour to serve you, your highness. May it be the will of the Earthmother that you live long to watch over your hive! Now, I must beg your pardon, as we must be on our way!"
Zensiro tentatively re-enters the AGGE, congratulates the party on some excellent teamwork and fast thinkings, and then settles into a seat and attempts to meditate to take his mind off the unnatural enclosure. Unfortunately, he has barely managed to allow his mind to drift off when he lurches out of his seat due a sudden change in elevation.
Zensiro manages to avoid much damage in the tumble, but his mind instantly shifts toward his fey step as a means of escape. At this height, he's pretty sure that he can't make it to safety, so he just grabs whatever he can get his hands on to prevent himself from falling out of the AGGE. Of course, he'd rather be covering his ears, as that deafening voice just seems to echo throughout the metal trap they're in.
Perhaps taking his remarkable agility for granted, Malichi's attempt to grab on to something totally misses and he crashes hard into the console. He shakes off the cobwebs and looks around, desperately trying to assess if this calamity has hurt his friends.
An even deeper, more distorted voice booms back in response, "No, dear, put it down. It's just one of Mr. Erastus' strange inventions, not a toy. Put it down before you break it."
"But Mama.... the little people!"
"Don't be silly, sweetheart. It's just some junk from that crazy artificer. Set it down now, and come along."
"But... but... fine!"
At that last, you feel the AGGE rapidly descend and is set rather roughly upon its wheels. Being somewhat forewarned, you have all braced yourselves, and take no further damage. As you hunker down, you feel again the vibrations of the retreating child, stomping away in frustration. After a time, the mini-quakes cease.
Emerging bruised and sore, you dust yourselves off, and since you can't really think of anything else to do, you continue your journey toward the trees...
As you query the bee queen about the Venus Honeytrap, you sense some fear, and get a mental image. You receive the general impression that it might be found somewhere among the flowers you saw to the northwest.
... as the day turns into early evening, you have arrived at what you are sure are the bases of the trees. Gnarled lumpy roots the size of hills emerge from the earth like gigantic tentacles, traveling inward, merging with other roots until they form a colossal vertical trunk of wood perhaps 100 feet in diameter, and stretching skyward further than you can clearly see. There are three or four other trunks in the vicinity, some larger or smaller than the one you have encountered first.
As you have approached the trees, the grass has slowly grown more sparse, the green canopy above reducing the sunlight which filters down to the ground. There are occasional acorns on the ground, each of which Malichi insists on stopping and examining. All of them appear to contain soft spots from resting on the damp earth for days. There are occasional gaps in the earth under the flowing roots, which might serve as dens or shelters for wildlife or insects.
The sun is setting in the west, and the first stars have already appeared in the eastern sky. How would you like to proceed?
(I'm assuming we would have made some uninformed, but well-meaning inspections of the AGGE prior to resuming our journey. Are we able to continue forging ahead in the AGGE now that we've reached the trees, or do the roots make it necessary to disembark and proceed on foot?)
While Malichi is taking a pause to look over the acorns, Zensiro will also hop out of the AGGE, taking any opportunity to get some fresh air. Staring upward at the canopy above, Zensiro thinks to himself that encountering a forest with trees this size was only something he'd imagined in his dreams. Now that he's in the thick of it, so to speak, and expected to ascend and search for a chrysalis, it's more daunting than enchanting. Nevertheless, he will attempt to locate the glint of light off crystal somewhere in the leaves. He'll also say, "Cerlinde, Amelia, can you also take a look? With luck, we might be able to spot our target without having to venture up and down every tree. And Malichi, any luck with those acorns? I'll try to keep an eye out for those as well."
Your post-Kidquake inspection of the AGGE reveals no significant damage other than some scratches and minor dents. Steering the AGGE has become somewhat more complicated as you try to navigate a route among the roots that will get you closest to the trunk before you have to stop due to the uneven terrain. There are a few of the larger roots that you could actually attempt to drive the vehicle on top of, ramping up where they emerge from the Earth. (I forgot to ask, does anyone have proficiency in land vehicles?)
It's actually difficult to look any direction other than straight ahead while in the AGGE. The front window being the only opening other than the door, the aperture angle is very limited. However, the roots have made the going slow enough that Zensiro can actually keep up with the clockwork contraption on foot, which relieves his metalloclaustrophobia. As he scans about while walking, he does not note any high-quality acorns on the ground. He does note, however, some animal tracks among the rotten specimens that indicate something has been scavenging amongst the fallen nuts and collecting specimens. Adjusting for scale, the ranger believes the marks in the dust to have been made by squirrels. Squirrels that are quite possibly the same size as AGGE.
Meanwhile, as the ranger travels alongside on foot, Amelia the rogue gets a brilliant idea. In her own mind, at least. Irritated by the limited perspective within the vehicle, she gets out, and manages to scramble up on top of the AGGE. Seated here on the gently curved metal surface, she has a vast panorama to observe in every direction. The light is fading fast, however, and her sharp eyes do not see a hint of anything sparkling or glowing in the canopy of this tree. She does see shadowy movement aloft, but is unable to discern the habitus of whatever is darting through the branches.
Zithers mutters a few things in the same snakelike language he uses to cast spells, until the AGGE is set down. If possible, before it gets dark Zithers would like to have a look around for any suspicious rocks, or anything alluding towards the others' quests also. (investigation 11) As it gets dark, Zithers does suggest that a campfire might be helpful, although the light and smoke might attract something.
"Unless anyone else has objections or an alternative, this seems like a reasonable plan. I'll be ready to defend you if necessary, but hopefully we can avoid harming these invaluable pollinators!"
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Recalling back to school, Zithers' normally useless trivia comes into play. "Malichi was right about the smoke though, given enough they would become calm for at least 10 minutes, which should be long enough for us to do what we need. Just in case to minimize the, eh, damages, so to speak."
Cerlinde- even quieter than normal and still with a quiver in her voice says “I can make a smoke stick- if it helps. But your other plans sound good too. Maybe a smoke stick in case things go awry?”.
(with her proficiency in alchemist supplies and herbalism, she could try to make an effective smoke grenade with leaves and things)
"Even better. Excellent recall, Malichi and Zithers! Let's put that all into practice and see how we do."
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Putting your tiny, tiny heads together, you have formulated a plan. Malichi and Amelia gather some twigs and dried grass. Dyumi tries to speak soothingly to the bees, communicating that you are no threat, and that your intentions are peaceful. Zensiro gathers up the bundles of fire-fuel and slowly, sneakily approaches the bees. They grow slightly more agitated, but the Firbolg manages to keep them from attacking. The ranger drops the bundles as close to the swarm as he dares, and then retreats cautiously, prepared to fey step if needed. As soon as he has cleared the blast radius, Zithers and Cerlinde use their fire magic to ignite the kindling. All of you blow really, really hard, trying to direct the smoke towards the Apis mellifera.
Success! The smoke drifts towards the agitated insects, and you see them begin to calm down, as they are no longer able to sense the alarm pheremones that had filled the air. They even look a little sleepy, or perhaps constipated. You never can tell with bees.
Zithers and Zensiro approach the supine queen, and smear a little of the restorative ointment on her. Almost immediately, she begins to regain strength, and slowly stands. The two Z's back away swiftly, watching for hostile intent, but they sense none. The queen regards them silently. Dyumi picks up indications of gratitude and friendship.
Well done, adventurers. Amos would be proud.
(Feel free to RP anything you want with the bee queen. When you're done...)
The bees withdraw back to their hive and you are free to continue your journey. You re-enter the AGGE and continue clockwise around the wall of the vegetable garden. You are able to stop and clamber over the rock wall at any point, but for now you are intent on reaching the distant towering trees. Soon, you find yourselves alongside what you imagine to be a gravel path, but from your perspective seems to be a sea of gray boulders stretching from northeast to southwest. The boulders are too rough for the AGGE to traverse gracefully, so you keep to the eastern side of the path.
Unexpectedly, you hear some thunderous booms and feel the earth below you tremble and tremor. Without warning, the entire AGGE is whisked upward into the sky at an angle.
(6 bludgeoning damage from being thrown about, DEX save DC 14 for half damage) . A giant eye peers through the front window, and a deep rumbling voice cries out:
"Mama! Mama! Look what I found! And there's little people inside it, Mama!"
(Lol! Awesome. Will post later just saw rhis)
Dex save: 8 Dyumi braces for impact, and tries not to fall out.
(I don't want to interrupt the 'giant' encounter, so as far as bee queen RP goes, I'll just ask her for any leads on the honeytrap.)
Life is very busy unfortunately, gone from most Pbp's indefinitely.
If you'd like to contact me, I am on Discord at GreatAxeblade#7595, always happy to chat :)
Homebrew races: ~Otterfolk! Play as a otter!~ Playable Dryad! (Literally just the monster sheet ported to player race)
Sauce Archpriest!- Join the Supreme Court of Sauces! Join the Cult of Cults! EXTENDED SIGNATURE Tooltips
DEX save: 18
Amelia mutters several things the child should probably not hear, then looks around at the others. "Anyone got any brilliant ideas to get us out of this one?"
Cerlinde dex save 19
Cerlinde- crouched down and secure in her seat for fear of the bees, takes some bruising from the child’s actions. She looks in horror. Still she says “perhaps the mother will let someone know about us…. I’ll prepare for some impressive displays of very small magic.”
Addressing the queen bee following her revival, Zensiro says in Sylvan, "I assume you can't understand me, but it has been an honour to serve you, your highness. May it be the will of the Earthmother that you live long to watch over your hive! Now, I must beg your pardon, as we must be on our way!"
Zensiro tentatively re-enters the AGGE, congratulates the party on some excellent teamwork and fast thinkings, and then settles into a seat and attempts to meditate to take his mind off the unnatural enclosure. Unfortunately, he has barely managed to allow his mind to drift off when he lurches out of his seat due a sudden change in elevation.
Saving Throw DEX 23
Zensiro manages to avoid much damage in the tumble, but his mind instantly shifts toward his fey step as a means of escape. At this height, he's pretty sure that he can't make it to safety, so he just grabs whatever he can get his hands on to prevent himself from falling out of the AGGE. Of course, he'd rather be covering his ears, as that deafening voice just seems to echo throughout the metal trap they're in.
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(@TechnoPagan asked me to make a post here and there for Malichi if he's unable to, so here is one of those.)
Malichi, unused to being caught off guard, gives a little shriek as he is unseated, exclaiming, "Tymora protect me!"
Saving Throw DEX 7
(Wow, sorry about that, @TechnoPagan!)
Perhaps taking his remarkable agility for granted, Malichi's attempt to grab on to something totally misses and he crashes hard into the console. He shakes off the cobwebs and looks around, desperately trying to assess if this calamity has hurt his friends.
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An even deeper, more distorted voice booms back in response, "No, dear, put it down. It's just one of Mr. Erastus' strange inventions, not a toy. Put it down before you break it."
"But Mama.... the little people!"
"Don't be silly, sweetheart. It's just some junk from that crazy artificer. Set it down now, and come along."
"But... but... fine!"
At that last, you feel the AGGE rapidly descend and is set rather roughly upon its wheels. Being somewhat forewarned, you have all braced yourselves, and take no further damage. As you hunker down, you feel again the vibrations of the retreating child, stomping away in frustration. After a time, the mini-quakes cease.
Emerging bruised and sore, you dust yourselves off, and since you can't really think of anything else to do, you continue your journey toward the trees...
@Dyumi
As you query the bee queen about the Venus Honeytrap, you sense some fear, and get a mental image. You receive the general impression that it might be found somewhere among the flowers you saw to the northwest.
... as the day turns into early evening, you have arrived at what you are sure are the bases of the trees. Gnarled lumpy roots the size of hills emerge from the earth like gigantic tentacles, traveling inward, merging with other roots until they form a colossal vertical trunk of wood perhaps 100 feet in diameter, and stretching skyward further than you can clearly see. There are three or four other trunks in the vicinity, some larger or smaller than the one you have encountered first.
As you have approached the trees, the grass has slowly grown more sparse, the green canopy above reducing the sunlight which filters down to the ground. There are occasional acorns on the ground, each of which Malichi insists on stopping and examining. All of them appear to contain soft spots from resting on the damp earth for days. There are occasional gaps in the earth under the flowing roots, which might serve as dens or shelters for wildlife or insects.
The sun is setting in the west, and the first stars have already appeared in the eastern sky. How would you like to proceed?
(I'm assuming we would have made some uninformed, but well-meaning inspections of the AGGE prior to resuming our journey. Are we able to continue forging ahead in the AGGE now that we've reached the trees, or do the roots make it necessary to disembark and proceed on foot?)
While Malichi is taking a pause to look over the acorns, Zensiro will also hop out of the AGGE, taking any opportunity to get some fresh air. Staring upward at the canopy above, Zensiro thinks to himself that encountering a forest with trees this size was only something he'd imagined in his dreams. Now that he's in the thick of it, so to speak, and expected to ascend and search for a chrysalis, it's more daunting than enchanting. Nevertheless, he will attempt to locate the glint of light off crystal somewhere in the leaves. He'll also say, "Cerlinde, Amelia, can you also take a look? With luck, we might be able to spot our target without having to venture up and down every tree. And Malichi, any luck with those acorns? I'll try to keep an eye out for those as well."
Looking for chrysalis in the trees - Perception 8
Looking for good acorns for Malichi - Investigation 26
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Amelia nods and starts scanning the area, eyes darting around as she searches. "If there's somehow holy water here, let me know."
Perception for chrysalis: 26
(nice rolls!)
Your post-Kidquake inspection of the AGGE reveals no significant damage other than some scratches and minor dents. Steering the AGGE has become somewhat more complicated as you try to navigate a route among the roots that will get you closest to the trunk before you have to stop due to the uneven terrain. There are a few of the larger roots that you could actually attempt to drive the vehicle on top of, ramping up where they emerge from the Earth. (I forgot to ask, does anyone have proficiency in land vehicles?)
It's actually difficult to look any direction other than straight ahead while in the AGGE. The front window being the only opening other than the door, the aperture angle is very limited. However, the roots have made the going slow enough that Zensiro can actually keep up with the clockwork contraption on foot, which relieves his metalloclaustrophobia. As he scans about while walking, he does not note any high-quality acorns on the ground. He does note, however, some animal tracks among the rotten specimens that indicate something has been scavenging amongst the fallen nuts and collecting specimens. Adjusting for scale, the ranger believes the marks in the dust to have been made by squirrels. Squirrels that are quite possibly the same size as AGGE.
Meanwhile, as the ranger travels alongside on foot, Amelia the rogue gets a brilliant idea. In her own mind, at least. Irritated by the limited perspective within the vehicle, she gets out, and manages to scramble up on top of the AGGE. Seated here on the gently curved metal surface, she has a vast panorama to observe in every direction. The light is fading fast, however, and her sharp eyes do not see a hint of anything sparkling or glowing in the canopy of this tree. She does see shadowy movement aloft, but is unable to discern the habitus of whatever is darting through the branches.
DEX save 5
Zithers mutters a few things in the same snakelike language he uses to cast spells, until the AGGE is set down. If possible, before it gets dark Zithers would like to have a look around for any suspicious rocks, or anything alluding towards the others' quests also. (investigation 11) As it gets dark, Zithers does suggest that a campfire might be helpful, although the light and smoke might attract something.
(Sorry for the miss yesterday, I was travelling with my kid all day. I'll get back to it today!)
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