Red Dead Annihilation: Campaign Thread

Mica glances over at Nalomanterys as the wizard pulls his dry shoes back on, then looks down ruefully at his own damp boots.   “Wise choice to keep your shoes dry, it will make the miles go easier.”  He looks back at Hew as he helps the last of the party across the stream “Which way from here? Directly South?”

[We still need Danica's rolls but I will advance us for now.]

Hew nods to Mica.  "Yes.  South now, for five days, maybe six."

Just past the creek, you skirt the edge of the ruins you've been going around.  There is a stone planted in the ground here, large blocks of it.  Perhaps the remains of an ancient road or plaza.  The heavy blocks have prevented any large trees from taking root and the sun reaches the ground here.  There are a plethora of smaller plants growing here and Meili begins to look once again for her herbs.  As thunder rolls in the distance and the western sky darkens, Hew suggests it might be a good time to stop and setup the raincatchers.

Wandering through this artificial jungle meadow, Meili is in luck.  Not only does she find enough herbs to replenish what she needs in her Healer's Kits, she also finds a cluster of Vilerge.  This thin weed has tiny purple flowers.  When chewed, the leaves of this plant produce a mellow, calming effect.  [If chewing this plant, the user has advantage on saves against being frightened for 1 hour.]  She gathers up what she needs and packs it away.

As he looks for a good spot to setup a raincatcher, Hew freezes and holds up a hand.  Then he waves the rest of you over to him, looking around at the jungle.  He points out what he has found... in the tall grasses of the clearing there is a dead body.  He is a continental, though his deeply tanned skin suggests he has been in Chult for some time.  He is wearing studded leather greaves and boots, but nothing on his upper body.    There are two wounds in his chest, their edges dark and black.  There is no sign of putrefaction, suggesting he died very recently.

As Meili's bag filled up, the fanatic gleam in her eyes began to fade. "That would be enough," finally declared the girl closing the second box with healing supplies. She sighed, though: twenty applications could sound like a lot but it felt like the group was getting injuries much faster than the kits could be refilled.

"Oh, what a nice find!" Meili bent over the patch of very mundane-looking grass. "I believe they call it Vilerge here. Calms the heart, and eases worries. We take it." She clipped quite a few tiny plans [say, a couple of doses for each of us]  packed them with other medical supplies and was happy to continue the journey.

But Cult would not be Chult without ruining one's good mood. Meili squinted at the body, trying to determine the way those wounds were caused (Medicine: 13) and then carefully looked around and listened in search of the murderer (Perception: 13)

Ran steps back to the edge of the clearing, drawing his swords as he does and join Meili in looking around. He looks up into the trees in case someone is above waiting to jump down when they're all in the clearing.

Nalomanterys squats a safe distance away from the corpse and squints at the wounds, trying to determine if they were magical in nature. He trusts his new companions to protect the perimeter while he racks his brain for knowledge.

Arcana: 15 (rolled in game log)

“Be careful” Mica calls out to Meili as she moves to investigate the body, even though he knows they will be.  He remembers too well the stories of rot grubs and disease.  “The dead in Chult can be more dangerous than the living.  It is a wonder it hasn’t risen as undead yet.”  He circles in the opposite direction from Ran, looking for any threats and searching the ground for any tracks or signs that would show what happened here.

Perception: 7.

Survival (for tracks or sign of struggle): 24.

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Acrobatics: 23  // Con save if needed: 6

Ran and Mica circle the clearing and look into the jungle and up into the surrounding trees.  Neither can spot any danger.  Mica does locate the dead man's boot prints [he appeared to have been trying to skirt these ruins, as you did], as well as a single set of clawed humanoid footprints that approach the body from the western jungle [further away from the ruins] and then return in that direction.  They were made either late last night or very early this morning.

Meili takes a long look at the body.  The wounds are almost certainly from arrows, and they were the killing blows.  The body hasn't been dead for more than a few hours.

Nalomanterys, its no question in your mind... the wounds show clear signs of necrotic energy.  Whatever wounded this man augmented a physical attack with death magic.

Meili, turning from the body to look into the jungle, cannot shake the uncomfortable feeling of being watched.  As she looks west and scans the forest... there!  Deep in the jungle shade, 150' away, she catches movement as a figure ducks behind a tree as her eyes pass over it.  She catches only a brief glimpse, something both dark and pale.  There is something hiding out there.

"Over there!" Whispered Meili pointing west. "Behind that tree. Very strange figure. It was stalking us." She crouched lower. "If it is the one who killed the man, it has a bow and shoots very effectively."

Ran looks in the direction Meili points out and moves to do his best to blend in with the trees and start making his way towards where the figure was.

Stealth: 5  

As branches crack and snap as Ran moves through the brush, he decides against the silent approach and breaks into a run instead.

Ran breaks into a run, charging into the jungle with all the subtlety of a charging rhinoceros.

Anyone running with Ran, make Athletic checks.  Anyone not running with Ran, what are you doing?

Can someone run a bit aside? To comb the jungles better? Meili Athletics: 7  (she would flap the folds of the cloak first, to test if it's dark enough under the trees to fly)

(It's a stampede apparently)

As Meili and Ran begin to give chase, Nalomanterys lunges just in time to catch them both on the shoulder with each of his hands. He rubs a bit of dirt from the jungle floor on their backs and yells, "Urgeo!" Longstrider upcast to 2. The jungle floor knows them now, treats them like native creatures. The ground subtly shifts under their feet as they run, flattening uneven terrain and nudging stones out of their path.

"Stay away from that corpse!" he yells to those behind him and he begins to chase after Ran and Meili. He yells ahead "Its arrows had necrotic magic. Do try not to get struck!" As though that's useful advice.

Nalomanterys will try to somewhat keep up with Ran and Meili, but he by no means wants to be in the front. He'll try to stay about 30 feet back if possible.

Athletics: 19 (nat 20 lol) rolled in the game log

Mica kneels down, examining the tracks. “Clawed footprints, but upright, like a human.  Came out of the jungle to the west and returned that way. Ever see anything like it Hew?” He looks up suddenly as Ran and Meili rush into the jungle with Nalomanterys close behind “Bloody hell, don’t go racing into trouble” He springs to his feet and runs to catch up.

Athletics: 25.

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Mica closes the distance with Nalomanterys but the others seem to move as if the jungle is making a path for them. “Wait, what are you chasing? What did you see?”  He calls after them, then looks over his shoulder to see if Hew and the others are still safe and if they are following. 

"It's this way! Best not split the group! Onward!" Nalomanterys trots along as fast as his legs can carry him so he doesn't get split up from the frontliners.

Danica Athletics  13

Hew Athletics  7

The figure doesn't attempt to fight, fleeing instead deeper into the western jungle.

Aided by Nalomanterys' spell, Ran and Meili close the 100' head start the creature had on them.  They see a pale, gaunt creature in black studded leather, wearing a heavy dark cloak despite the heat.  Its gear is a mashup of different style's, likely scavenged.  

Mica charts the quickest path through the jungle, avoided obstacles that would have slowed others down.  Though he cannot quite catch up to Ran, Meili and the creature.  Nalomanterys, perhaps unwilling to be left alone again, is right on Mica's tail.

Danica and Hew are a little further back, Hew hollering warnings to watch your footing and to not allow the party to separate.

Are you chase, you see low hills rising in front of you that mark where the lowland of the basin begins to rise toward the western mountains.

[Meili and Ran, you can each take 2 AoO reactions against this creature if you like, as you close on it and it continues to run from you.]