Temple of Ishassara

Nia's eyes widened and she made a choking noise as she read the note. "Nonononononononononono!"

In a panic she darted to Liam to show him the note. "It's like she knows she's going into a trap! We gotta get a move on, like right now 'cause I don't wanna find her entrails hanging from different trees! I wanna know what she means about her life, why the Nine Hells someone names their child 'Crispy' and how we're gonna rescue her and Gregor both!"

Nia investigated successfully, and Chubby survives successfully. Just ignore those other crappy rolls. ;-)

Liam's afternoon was spent quietly, in the shade of one of the work tents with a clear view of the beach.  He was reading, for once not his spellbook or notes but an honest to goodness novel about a young boy finding a treasure map and setting sail with a bunch of pirates to go and find it.  He'd found the book about the airship, and it certainly seemed an appropriate read.  He did find himself frequently glancing up at the activity in the water, just to reassure himself that everything was okay with Crispy and Nia being surrounded by several dwarfs.  It actually surprised him that he was almost as concerned about Crispy as he was about Nia.

The fact that Gregor had wandered off with Judas had completely slipped his mind over the course of the afternoon.

When Crispy heads off sometime later to locate the big half-orc, Liam still isn't too worried.  As much as he butts heads with Crispy, he knows that she's quite capable on her own, and should be able to track down Gregor in relatively short order.

When enough time has passed for even Chubby to grow worried, Liam starts getting a bad feeling.  He snaps his book shut and proceeds to begin preparing his gear when Nia comes running over to him with Crispy's note.  As he reads it, his face grows more dour.  Something definitely isn't right here.  He gives Nia a firm nod and a quick pat on the head.

"Don't worry, we'll find her, and Gregor."  He quickly finishes checking his gear before throwing it all onto his back.  "Let's go."

Investigation: 26

Survival: 18

 Nia squared her shoulders with determination. "Right!"

You guys manage to also find the heavy footfalls of Gregor- this time added to by Crispy. You follow what looks like a trail to the best of it's ability- mainly sandy leaves and trodden down grass. It's been around 8 hours since you last saw Gregor and around 4 hours since you've seen Crispy.

You follow a trail which seems like it's been changing and weaving, almost in circles for around two hours until it leads to a clearing, where across from you on the other side, sitting slumped over you see both Crispy and Gregor. Unbound, but both seem unconcious.

The light spray of the rain grows slightly heavier, and the sound of falling water on the big jungle leaves, like static on a tv, fills the jungle.

Nia's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Everyone be careful, watch for sleep darts or something like that."

Roll for perception checks if you like

Perception: 9

Crispy dreamed.

It wasn't a good dream, they never were. For some twisted reason, she imagined, the Nine Hells seemed to love to torment her, as if her actual life wasn't enough punishment. She dreamt of the day she was dying in the alley, bones broken, blood everywhere - the boys calling her names. I fury overtook her and, swinging wildly with her fists with pure rage, managed to fend off a few. The anger fueled her fighting skills, and as she took hit after hit, she struck back and soon, she was the last one standing. 

It came at a price, and she forever bore new scars, inside and out. Only fifteen years old and this was it, i'm going to die here in this alley. An abusive father, a whore for a mother. No friends. Everyone hates me. I don't even want to live anymore. So much mental and physical anguish. So tired of fighting back. So tired of being bullied. She grit her teeth in anger, even so tired she couldn't move, the anger and frustration seared her body and mind, an untamed animal without focus.

It was that moment she gave up, exhausted from the fight, and with life. It was only until, slumped over in the alley, dying, a man found her. 

"WAKE UP you piece of SHIT." She told herself. "WAKE up! GET UP!"

"I can't.. I'm.. too tired. I can't do this anymore. So..sleepy..." The voice answered back, her own.

"NOW you're giving up?? NOW?? You've NEVER been a quitter!" She told herself again, angrier. "Why is this any different?! The odds have ALWAYS been against you! You're going to let Chubby down? You're going to let Gregor and Nia down? Even that lizardman you're getting used to? GET! UP! Come on!" 

Out of the corners of her perception, she thought she heard people approach..

Chubby will <attempt> to Stealth: 12

OOC: HOLY mother....the big fat dude just disappeared!

And now for his Perception check: 11

OOC2: HOLY mother....NINJA Chubby!

Ninja Chubby will start making his way stealthily around the outside perimeter of the clearing, looking for traps or any baddies lying in wait to spring an attack on us.

Liam shares Nia's suspicious glance, not liking this scene one bit, and definitely taking notice of the apparent absence of a particular figure.

Stealth to aid Chubby in scouting the perimeter of the clearing: 11

Perception: 11

Unfortunately Liam suddenly seems unable to FIND Chubby to assist him, and ends up making his position fairly obvious as he almost instinctively calls out for him.

"Chubbs?  Chubby?!"

Chubby notices that the leaves on the jungle floor are arranged in a sort of circle. You throw a stick in the middle of it, triggering a net to snap up, a rope tightening around a branch of a tree. You both also notice a number of different snakes begin to slither into the clearing. They've been there the whole time, but you pick up that there are actually a lot of them.

After triggering the net trap, Chubby high tails it back to Nia, points out the snake gathering, "They must be havin' some sort of convention?  Maybe you could help 'illuminate' their way so they don't get lost?" he says with a wink, while mimicking a fireball explosion with his hands.  "Before they reach our friends...of course."

Does that trap appear to be the only trap?  If so, Chubby readies his axe and shield for a full on frontal assault of the snakes.  If he noticed more traps, he'll instead prep to trigger them with sticks again.

"Light 'em up, Nia!"

Nia eyes the snakes. "Not a bad idea."

Gregor dreams of money. Piles and piles of gold raining all across his body, and sliding to the wentches hugging either side of his body. An Elf of divine beauty on one side, a Half-Orc with an atheletic build on the other, and what he imagines a female member of the extinct race of cat people at his feet. On his fingers, toes, ear’s, and other bits are rings of supreme magical power, and an axe floats just above the bed, which gives Gregor a fist to blade bump for his current position in life. 

“Gregor be knowing this just be dream, but Gregor never be wanting to wake up!”

He then precedes to be fed grapes by his magical sentient floating axe, with the females assisting him in calculating his net worth of liquid and physical assists that his line of Luxary Resorts is bringing in. 

Crispy secretly envies your dreams while completely knocked out.

Map incoming

Upon seeing the snakes converging, Liam is now getting VERY suspicious.  He remains standing where he is, near Nia and Chubby, watching the snakes warily.  If any of them start to get to close, he will immediately cast Animal Friendship to charm them.

O

Out of interest, why is Liam suspicious of snakes in a jungle? lol