(Sorry for the delay...night meetings two days in a row!)
The party, minus Pim, make their way through the crowd towards the line of thugs holding everyone back away from the ships. In rapid succession, almost everyone in a 20' cube starts glowing a pale green (3 thugs are hit with it - poor roll to see how many were affected!!) - Anoushka and Wreji try to sound tough and menacing but the hardened thugs merely scoff at their false bravado - and a grey apparition appears behind the line and a well-placed arrow from the back of the crowd nearly impales one of the thugs, getting their complete attention now. The red-haired leader draws his longsword and yells at his goons to solve the situation before it becomes a problem. The leader and six of his thugs form up to fight, leaving the others to hold off the rest of the crowd. (Roll initiative and post your first combat action!)
Anoushka steps back from the thugs, as Rusalka, who did not close with the leader, circles around him warily, then darts in to strike at him.
Bonus Action: if Rusalka is not with us when initiative 17 rolls around (AC 17, 1 hp, after all), BA to Manifest Echo to bring her back (within 15' of Anoushka) and proceed as below Move: If Rusalka needs to move, she has 30' to close with the leader, Anoushka will not actually move (despite flavor text above) because she does not want to incur an AOO Action: Attack, stabbing at the leader twice via Rusalka, also expending one use of Unleash Incarnation to give Rusalka a third attack, all in the game log:
Rusalka Stab 1: 17 to hit for 10 magical piercing damage Rusalka Stab 2: 23 to hit for 10 magical piercing damage Rusalka Stab 3: 21 to hit for 8 magical piercing damage (from limited use Unleash Incarnation feature)
Reaction: reserved for an opportunity attack from Rusalka if he tries to move away from her (igl: 15 to hit, for 11 magical piercing dmg)
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
ey/em/eirs, or they/them works, too (just not he). Role-playing since that keep on those borderlands. I love it so.
two sword attacks on the nearest thug followed by a shield master shove as my bonus action (ideally pushing the thug into one of his friends or on the ground.)
Pim(Obstructed at the start of the fight - +2AC to opponents for partial cover)
Nip hits the leader with both of his arrows, firing from 20' above the melee!
Glim adds insult to injury, mocking the leader viciously! (DC16 Wis: 4 - failed!)
Leader(-36)(disadv) swings a heavy crossbow around from his back and sends a long bolt at his flying assailant (To Hit: 12 (miss!)) but the shaft goes wide of the nimble aarakocra.
Anoushka directs her echo, Rusalka, to attack the leader while he is distracted by Nip, and she watches in satisfaction as the shadow incarnation cuts the man down with three quick strikes!
Wreji attacks the glowing thug right in front of him, hitting with both strikes. But the man is strong, and the paladin is unable to move him. (rolled 17 Athletics)
Seeing the leader fall, Captain Sartell yells above the noise of crowd, "Traevus is dead - you have this one chance to drop your weapons and live..." The thugs stare at Elaina for a moment, then quickly look over their shoulders to verify her claim. Seeing the red-haired crime lord bleeding out on the docks, the thugs lose their will to fight. Some are overrun by the mob, and the rest leap into the water and swim toward the two longships as they set sail.
Captain Sartell escorts you aboard while the crew of the Moondancer takes aboard the rest of the citizens gathered at the docks—sixty souls in all—before shoving off. The crystalline vine coils upward, scraping the sky. From the harbor, you can see similar vines miles from the settlement, having burst out of the world and reaching skyward. As the Moondancer clears the harbor, Captain Sartell stamps her boot hard on the deck. “Flapjack!” she yells. “Take us up!”
Suddenly, the galleon lists and creaks as it rises out of the water and into the air! The world falls away beneath you as the Moondancer flies through the clouds and into the starry abyss of night. Looking out from the deck of the Moondancer, you see scores of crystalline vines erupting from the surface of your world, some of the vines reaching high enough to break through the clouds. Soon, you find yourself sailing upwards through the clouds into a void filled with colorful gases and blinking stars.
“Welcome to Wildspace,” says Captain Sartell, sweeping her arms wide. “That was a close thing, down there. Blast if I know what those vines are or how to get rid of them, but somebody on the Rock of Bral might. You might as well get comfortable and take a rest. It will be a few days before we get where we're going, and I need to speak with Flapjack. I'll come find you in an hour or so...”
Rusalka shimmers out of existence as the party gets crowded onto the spelljammer. Anoushka manages to jostle her way to Pim, and exchanges a few words with the giff as the passengers sort themselves. “Too many breathers in air envelope makes me nervous, best we make sure ship arrives at Rock quickly and without incident.”
As the captain gives her welcome, Anoushka pipes up, “Captain, myself and Pim are spacers, yes? If you have need.”
After she leaves, Anoushka turns to the motley crew that so effectively cut down the bandit and his crew, but keeps an eye on the captain, watching where she goes and who she talks to. “It is well met, now for real. I am Anoushka,” she says for any that might not have been there for her initial introduction. “You are a strange crew, but we have sailed with stranger,” she glances in Pim’s direction, but then puts her full attention on the captain’s activities, leaving the giff to pick up the conversation. Mostly, she is trying to suss out who or what Flapjack is, and where the ship’s spelljamming helm might be.
Pim carefully pulls the red-tipped arrow from his quiver, watching as Anoushka dances with the captain, waiting for the cluster of thugs to do something stupid. As the leader falls and the Captain speaks up, the Giff carefully lowers the arrow back into it's heavily padded slot in the quiver and then begins helping as the angry crowd turns into a sea of scared families desperate to escape the horror and violence erupting behind them.
He uses his mass and bulk to create space in the swirling throngs for the smallest - not just the children, but the gnomes, and the halflings, and all the other diminutive ones scurrying about. His deep voice can be heard as he makes his way towards the ship 'That's the way... step lively... ahoy! look were you're going man....'
Once onboard Pim sets himself in a comfortable flanking position with Shoka' watching the crew and the crowd as they settle in even as she watches the Captain. It's a familiar rhythm even if the circumstances are wholly unique - but 'that's why we train, and we drill, boy, so you don't think you just do when the moment comes' the familiar voice chimes up in his head, a memory from another ship and another crisis on an entirely different plane.
At Anoshoka's prompting, Pim picks up the thread 'Aye, a strange crew, and each of you is certainly capable - in your own way - but I wonder if any of you have ever been to the Rock? Or to Wildspace at all?'
The Giff, without waiting for an answer, launches into what is clearly a memorized briefing for 'Those New to Wildspace' describing gravity planes and air pockets in simple terms but with graphic warnings. His ten minute lecture ends with a loud and hearty 'Aye, and now each of you is about to experience the wonders of Wildspace for yourselves. Welcome aboard... ' he stops himself midsentence 'Well, the Captain has already extended a formal welcome to both her ship and Wildspace, so... ummm... well, I suppose that's it.' . He stands looking awkward and unsure of what to do at this point, not having a role on the ship and not having been assigned any duties, he looks like a lost child waiting for someone to point him at something.
Those familiar with spelljamming ships look around at the gaggle of people and realize they cannot see any actual crewmembers aboard! You saw Captain Sartell heading aft on the main deck - presumably to where the spelljamming helm is located. You also notice the Moondancer is armed with two ballistae on the fo'c'sle but the mangonel on the sterncastle is destroyed...
Any areas you want to explore? Want to do or say anything to the bewildered, and fearful, townsfolk? Any other actions you want to do (nothing that lasts longer than 30-45 minutes...)
Anoushka will urge the group up to the forecastle, both to get out of the crowd, and to get a better view of the deck. Also, if something should go spinward, that's where the ballistae are, and she and Pim know how to use those, if needed.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
ey/em/eirs, or they/them works, too (just not he). Role-playing since that keep on those borderlands. I love it so.
Nip was new to Wildspace. The feeling of the gravity plane was strange. The wind was different. The smell was different. He would fly under and over the ship feeling the gravity plane pull him in different directions. It would take him several minutes to get the hang of it as he orbited the ship. Once he got his bearings, he would roost at the top of one of the masts and keep watch. He would say little to people and really only speak if spoken to. Once he was settled, he would spend time trying to swat and bite at the mites and gnats crawling across his body. They drove him crazy and put him in a fowl mood.
Wreji, used to being out on the Astral Sea is comfortable enough on the spelljammer. He nods along with Anoushka and Pim's assessment. "We're an odd bunch, but effective from what I've seen... though maybe we should leave our negotiations to Glim, they seemed to inspire a certain type of attention."he chuckles before continuing, "But nonetheless, it looks like this ship is in need of a crew... lets get a proper assessment before we make any decisions on how we go about this venture. Maybe find some time to put the scared villagers at ease?"
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Pim makes his way back towards the broken Mangonel, looking to see if he can figure out what happened and if there is any possible way to repair it, waving Anoushka over to Help him.
Anoushka, even amidst the crowd of townsfolk, notices Pim (who is hard to miss) and shrugs, working her way to the back of the ship, leaving Nip to huddle at the top of the mast, and Wreji to help the grounders.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
ey/em/eirs, or they/them works, too (just not he). Role-playing since that keep on those borderlands. I love it so.
Wreji mirrors Anoushka's shrug with one of his own and a smirk as proceeds to mingle with the crowd trying to put them at ease where possible, gathering concerns to be brought to the captain if appropriate. (Not sure what type of roll this would be if anything, happy to provide further more specific dialogue to flesh this out)
Pim and Anoushka determine that many wooden parts and iron or steel connecters are needed to repair the mangonel - and you don't see anything that might substitute.
Nip sits in the crow's nest, giving it an authentic representation of its namesake. Well, Glim would be a better match as a kenku, but still...
Wreji works the crowd, calming those who are most worried about being in space or losing everything back planetside.
You all feel the ship suddenly slowing, and Captain Sartell comes quickly back on the main deck. Pim and Anoushka spy another vessel coming into view, approaching the Moondancer from astern. The pursuing vessel looks like a giant moth with wings made of iridescent crystal, similar in color and luster to the crystalline vines that ravaged your world. You can just make out figures on the other vessel’s deck scrambling to arm the ship’s mangonel.
“Astral elves,” curses Captain Sartell, “and they don’t look friendly. Best ready yourselves for a fight - thatstar mothis the faster ship and Moondancer has no hope of outrunning it. You have about a minute to prepare before the star moth gets close enough to use its mangonel on us. As soon as they sling a stone, I'll order Moondancer to come about and close with these pirates at best speed to minimize their opportunity to fire on us. Man the ballistae or do whatever you can to defend us - these people are depending on you.”
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Love God. Love Others. Any Questions?
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As Nips arrow shatters at the leaders feet, Pim continues to ask the crowd to make space for him and to line up orderly for processing...
(Sorry for the delay...night meetings two days in a row!)
The party, minus Pim, make their way through the crowd towards the line of thugs holding everyone back away from the ships. In rapid succession, almost everyone in a 20' cube starts glowing a pale green (3 thugs are hit with it - poor roll to see how many were affected!!) - Anoushka and Wreji try to sound tough and menacing but the hardened thugs merely scoff at their false bravado - and a grey apparition appears behind the line and a well-placed arrow from the back of the crowd nearly impales one of the thugs, getting their complete attention now. The red-haired leader draws his longsword and yells at his goons to solve the situation before it becomes a problem. The leader and six of his thugs form up to fight, leaving the others to hold off the rest of the crowd. (Roll initiative and post your first combat action!)
Leader init: 18
Thug init: 6
Love God. Love Others. Any Questions?
Nip initiative 18
On his turn, Nip will let out a screech and fire two arrows at the leader.
Attack: 27 Damage: 10
Attack: 24 Damage: 15
On a hit, the swarm will burrow into the wound and begin to feast for 4 damage
Anoushka's initiative (in game log): 17
Anoushka steps back from the thugs, as Rusalka, who did not close with the leader, circles around him warily, then darts in to strike at him.
Bonus Action: if Rusalka is not with us when initiative 17 rolls around (AC 17, 1 hp, after all), BA to Manifest Echo to bring her back (within 15' of Anoushka) and proceed as below
Move: If Rusalka needs to move, she has 30' to close with the leader, Anoushka will not actually move (despite flavor text above) because she does not want to incur an AOO
Action: Attack, stabbing at the leader twice via Rusalka, also expending one use of Unleash Incarnation to give Rusalka a third attack, all in the game log:
Rusalka Stab 1: 17 to hit for 10 magical piercing damage
Rusalka Stab 2: 23 to hit for 10 magical piercing damage
Rusalka Stab 3: 21 to hit for 8 magical piercing damage (from limited use Unleash Incarnation feature)
Reaction: reserved for an opportunity attack from Rusalka if he tries to move away from her (igl: 15 to hit, for 11 magical piercing dmg)
ey/em/eirs, or they/them works, too (just not he).
Role-playing since that keep on those borderlands. I love it so.
Pim Initiative: 13
(Pausing here - does Pim have a line of sight to the fight? Do i need to roll to move through the crowd again)
Wreji initiative: 15
two sword attacks on the nearest thug followed by a shield master shove as my bonus action (ideally pushing the thug into one of his friends or on the ground.)
Attack: 12 Damage: 6
Attack: 14 Damage: 5
Seeing most of the bandits unmoved by his words, Glim aims the sharpness of his tongue at their leader.
Initiative: 18
Action: Vicious Mockery vs leader. DC 16 Wis or 7 psychic damage and disadvantage on his next attack roll.
If an enemy has a close hit on an ally, he'll spend his reaction for Cutting Words to take 1d8 off that attack roll.
I realized I didn’t roll athletics for the shove: 24
Init Order: Pimfire(23) -- Nip(22) -- Glim(18) -- Leader(18) -- Anoushka/Rusalka(17) -- Wreji(15) -- Thugs(6)
Seeing the leader fall, Captain Sartell yells above the noise of crowd, "Traevus is dead - you have this one chance to drop your weapons and live..." The thugs stare at Elaina for a moment, then quickly look over their shoulders to verify her claim. Seeing the red-haired crime lord bleeding out on the docks, the thugs lose their will to fight. Some are overrun by the mob, and the rest leap into the water and swim toward the two longships as they set sail.
Captain Sartell escorts you aboard while the crew of the Moondancer takes aboard the rest of the citizens gathered at the docks—sixty souls in all—before shoving off. The crystalline vine coils upward, scraping the sky. From the harbor, you can see similar vines miles from the settlement, having burst out of the world and reaching skyward. As the Moondancer clears the harbor, Captain Sartell stamps her boot hard on the deck. “Flapjack!” she yells. “Take us up!”
Suddenly, the galleon lists and creaks as it rises out of the water and into the air! The world falls away beneath you as the Moondancer flies through the clouds and into the starry abyss of night. Looking out from the deck of the Moondancer, you see scores of crystalline vines erupting from the surface of your world, some of the vines reaching high enough to break through the clouds. Soon, you find yourself sailing upwards through the clouds into a void filled with colorful gases and blinking stars.
“Welcome to Wildspace,” says Captain Sartell, sweeping her arms wide. “That was a close thing, down there. Blast if I know what those vines are or how to get rid of them, but somebody on the Rock of Bral might. You might as well get comfortable and take a rest. It will be a few days before we get where we're going, and I need to speak with Flapjack. I'll come find you in an hour or so...”
Moondancer map/layout:
Love God. Love Others. Any Questions?
Rusalka shimmers out of existence as the party gets crowded onto the spelljammer. Anoushka manages to jostle her way to Pim, and exchanges a few words with the giff as the passengers sort themselves. “Too many breathers in air envelope makes me nervous, best we make sure ship arrives at Rock quickly and without incident.”
As the captain gives her welcome, Anoushka pipes up, “Captain, myself and Pim are spacers, yes? If you have need.”
After she leaves, Anoushka turns to the motley crew that so effectively cut down the bandit and his crew, but keeps an eye on the captain, watching where she goes and who she talks to. “It is well met, now for real. I am Anoushka,” she says for any that might not have been there for her initial introduction. “You are a strange crew, but we have sailed with stranger,” she glances in Pim’s direction, but then puts her full attention on the captain’s activities, leaving the giff to pick up the conversation. Mostly, she is trying to suss out who or what Flapjack is, and where the ship’s spelljamming helm might be.
She also tries to count other crew members.
ey/em/eirs, or they/them works, too (just not he).
Role-playing since that keep on those borderlands. I love it so.
Pim carefully pulls the red-tipped arrow from his quiver, watching as Anoushka dances with the captain, waiting for the cluster of thugs to do something stupid. As the leader falls and the Captain speaks up, the Giff carefully lowers the arrow back into it's heavily padded slot in the quiver and then begins helping as the angry crowd turns into a sea of scared families desperate to escape the horror and violence erupting behind them.
He uses his mass and bulk to create space in the swirling throngs for the smallest - not just the children, but the gnomes, and the halflings, and all the other diminutive ones scurrying about. His deep voice can be heard as he makes his way towards the ship 'That's the way... step lively... ahoy! look were you're going man....'
Once onboard Pim sets himself in a comfortable flanking position with Shoka' watching the crew and the crowd as they settle in even as she watches the Captain. It's a familiar rhythm even if the circumstances are wholly unique - but 'that's why we train, and we drill, boy, so you don't think you just do when the moment comes' the familiar voice chimes up in his head, a memory from another ship and another crisis on an entirely different plane.
At Anoshoka's prompting, Pim picks up the thread 'Aye, a strange crew, and each of you is certainly capable - in your own way - but I wonder if any of you have ever been to the Rock? Or to Wildspace at all?'
The Giff, without waiting for an answer, launches into what is clearly a memorized briefing for 'Those New to Wildspace' describing gravity planes and air pockets in simple terms but with graphic warnings. His ten minute lecture ends with a loud and hearty 'Aye, and now each of you is about to experience the wonders of Wildspace for yourselves. Welcome aboard... ' he stops himself midsentence 'Well, the Captain has already extended a formal welcome to both her ship and Wildspace, so... ummm... well, I suppose that's it.' . He stands looking awkward and unsure of what to do at this point, not having a role on the ship and not having been assigned any duties, he looks like a lost child waiting for someone to point him at something.
Those familiar with spelljamming ships look around at the gaggle of people and realize they cannot see any actual crewmembers aboard! You saw Captain Sartell heading aft on the main deck - presumably to where the spelljamming helm is located. You also notice the Moondancer is armed with two ballistae on the fo'c'sle but the mangonel on the sterncastle is destroyed...
Any areas you want to explore? Want to do or say anything to the bewildered, and fearful, townsfolk? Any other actions you want to do (nothing that lasts longer than 30-45 minutes...)
Love God. Love Others. Any Questions?
Anoushka will urge the group up to the forecastle, both to get out of the crowd, and to get a better view of the deck. Also, if something should go spinward, that's where the ballistae are, and she and Pim know how to use those, if needed.
ey/em/eirs, or they/them works, too (just not he).
Role-playing since that keep on those borderlands. I love it so.
Nip was new to Wildspace. The feeling of the gravity plane was strange. The wind was different. The smell was different. He would fly under and over the ship feeling the gravity plane pull him in different directions. It would take him several minutes to get the hang of it as he orbited the ship. Once he got his bearings, he would roost at the top of one of the masts and keep watch. He would say little to people and really only speak if spoken to. Once he was settled, he would spend time trying to swat and bite at the mites and gnats crawling across his body. They drove him crazy and put him in a fowl mood.
Wreji, used to being out on the Astral Sea is comfortable enough on the spelljammer. He nods along with Anoushka and Pim's assessment. "We're an odd bunch, but effective from what I've seen... though maybe we should leave our negotiations to Glim, they seemed to inspire a certain type of attention." he chuckles before continuing, "But nonetheless, it looks like this ship is in need of a crew... lets get a proper assessment before we make any decisions on how we go about this venture. Maybe find some time to put the scared villagers at ease?"
Anoushka shrugs at the suggestion that the party, or at least she, succor the townsfolk.
ey/em/eirs, or they/them works, too (just not he).
Role-playing since that keep on those borderlands. I love it so.
Pim makes his way back towards the broken Mangonel, looking to see if he can figure out what happened and if there is any possible way to repair it, waving Anoushka over to Help him.
(Investigation? 10)
Anoushka, even amidst the crowd of townsfolk, notices Pim (who is hard to miss) and shrugs, working her way to the back of the ship, leaving Nip to huddle at the top of the mast, and Wreji to help the grounders.
ey/em/eirs, or they/them works, too (just not he).
Role-playing since that keep on those borderlands. I love it so.
Wreji mirrors Anoushka's shrug with one of his own and a smirk as proceeds to mingle with the crowd trying to put them at ease where possible, gathering concerns to be brought to the captain if appropriate. (Not sure what type of roll this would be if anything, happy to provide further more specific dialogue to flesh this out)
You all feel the ship suddenly slowing, and Captain Sartell comes quickly back on the main deck. Pim and Anoushka spy another vessel coming into view, approaching the Moondancer from astern. The pursuing vessel looks like a giant moth with wings made of iridescent crystal, similar in color and luster to the crystalline vines that ravaged your world. You can just make out figures on the other vessel’s deck scrambling to arm the ship’s mangonel.
“Astral elves,” curses Captain Sartell, “and they don’t look friendly. Best ready yourselves for a fight - that star moth is the faster ship and Moondancer has no hope of outrunning it. You have about a minute to prepare before the star moth gets close enough to use its mangonel on us. As soon as they sling a stone, I'll order Moondancer to come about and close with these pirates at best speed to minimize their opportunity to fire on us. Man the ballistae or do whatever you can to defend us - these people are depending on you.”
Love God. Love Others. Any Questions?