Thinking to himself, 'Are we really going to have a dance off. These orc customs are sure odd, what's next an eating compation. To bad, we might beat them in that one. O well, it's either dance or get slaughtered by these skeletons.' Taking his place, Bartram gets ready to dance like his life depends on it, because it does.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
“Spirit. In every language in all the Realms, surface and Underdark, in every time and every place, the word has a ring of strength and determination. It is the hero's strength, the mother's resilience and the poor man's armor. It cannot be broken and it cannot be taken away.”
Travus blurts out as the others assemble in a dance formation. "Uhh, what? A dance?! This is insane." Travus sighs and gets into formation in the dance. "This better work..."
The orc skeletons move first as you assemble for your turn, beating their swords on their shields, and rattling their rib cages in a eery rhythm. It quickly becomes evident that this is causing them to quickly deteriorate.
Meepo completes his backflip as the rest of the group forms an intimidating haka, improvising a deadly fear-inducing dance. Karst in particular draws the attention of the skeletons in their line, and causes them to pick up their movements, slamming their shields harder, rattling their rib cages more forcefully. Dust and bone fly and chip away as their dance becomes more aggressive. They stand still again, waiting for Meepo and the haka's next attempt.
Bartram rolls his eyes but prepares himself to go again. He didn't like his last performance and was ready this time to try again.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
“Spirit. In every language in all the Realms, surface and Underdark, in every time and every place, the word has a ring of strength and determination. It is the hero's strength, the mother's resilience and the poor man's armor. It cannot be broken and it cannot be taken away.”
Meepo's steps seem more certain, and the haka more comfortable on this attempt. As you end with a fearsome "Rah!", the skeletons' moves become more and more forceful, aggressive, angry. Suddenly, a skeleton on the end of the line falls as its legbones collapse within themselves. More lose arms, ribs, and even skulls as they slowly but surely fall apart. Almost as soon as it started, the skeleton line becomes a silent pile of bones.
There is a sickening crackling sound all around you as you hear the skeletons in the mist around you crumble into pieces. The intense silence that follows conveys the gravity of the fight that has been avoided.
OOC: Each character has received 100 XP for investigation of the town, 600 XP for detecting the skeletons' intent and attempting the battle-dance, and an additional 400 XP for winning the battle-dance.
Meepo drops his butt to the ground after the intense dance off.
"Next time, please remind me not to pull swords out of the ground. Those skeletons almost gave me a heart attack. Good thing we managed to appease them."
He begins to dust off his scales as he asks the rest while resting on the ground.
"So, do we go through the mist or do we check out the kobold's cave?
My vote's on the cave because that seems more safer for me... I mean for all of us, how about the rest?"
I was thinking of choosing an appropriate monastic tradition after a few combat encounters to balance on what the party lacks.
Apparently, a dance off with a legion of skeletons was too intense and made Meepo gain huge amount of experience after living to tell the tale.
Feeling relieved about not having to fight and a little better about his second attempt, he takes a moment to compose himself. After taking a drink from his water skin he addresses Meepo's question, "I'm up to go anywhere to get out of this mist. And by the way, we never bring this up every again and if anyone asks we say we fought them in a desperate hand to hand struggle."
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
“Spirit. In every language in all the Realms, surface and Underdark, in every time and every place, the word has a ring of strength and determination. It is the hero's strength, the mother's resilience and the poor man's armor. It cannot be broken and it cannot be taken away.”
"Well done mates. Great job at keeping your heads under the circumstances. I felt a part of my heritage emerge from that experience."
I stretch my back and legs out in response to recent use and take in some water from my waterskin.
"Bartram - bear in mind that you just won in a haka battle against undead orcs. That speaks highly of your ferocious dance moves. Might even earn you some play with the nearest female contingency - if we ever find some, that is. I would say looking for the cave is a good idea for understanding what happened to the former possessor of the magical arrow.
OOC: The rusted sword has been added to Meepo's inventory. As for daylight, it won't matter much as there's new information incoming!
That night while you set up camp, a bat suddenly flies and lands on Bartram's shoulders. Clutched in its claws is a piece of parchment. Unfurling it, Bartram finds that the contacts he had gotten in touch with after meeting with Ser Mary Glendale have come through for him. It simply says:
"Weapons being sold by goblin. Selling to Longhunt Clan. Deadsnows region."
After receiving the message Bartram will inform the rest of the group of what it says. "It would seem that we have some more information to go on. What do you guys make of it?"
“Spirit. In every language in all the Realms, surface and Underdark, in every time and every place, the word has a ring of strength and determination. It is the hero's strength, the mother's resilience and the poor man's armor. It cannot be broken and it cannot be taken away.”
"Deadsnows region?" Travus attempts to recall any information he can about the Deadsnows region and the Longhunt Clan. "How would a goblin have come across such weaponry? This doesn't seem right. How well do you trust this 'contact' of yours?"
"Very little of this whole affair seems right but at least we have a lead of some description. These weapons would be in high demand, amongst all races and goblins can be devious enough. It could be that they are merely brokers, they could have gotten hold of part of a larger shipment but if we have a chance to get more information we would be rash to ignore it, I say."
He pauses, as recent memories come back to him.
"The crazy old man mentioned both the Deadsnows and the Longhunt Orcs, I doubt there is a coincidence here, another piece of information draws us back to them, we must surely try and find these Deadsnows and see if the Longhunt Orcs remain there, the human girl may also still be their prisoner!"
"Deadsnows is a formidable hike from our current position if this source is accurate. I have concerns however."
Aradurk looks around at each his comrade then off into the horizon.
"We still know nothing more about what happened to the inhabitants of Rauvincross. Nor do we know what manner of magic caused this sword to force a haka against the undead. We still have the mystery of the disappearing traveller. And the crazy old man who eluded us. This all leaves me uneasy."
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Halsen - Human Monk - Winter Splendor Aradurk - Half-Orc Fighter - Barty's Blade Bizarre Aradurk - Half-Orc Fighter - Betrayal at Devilsfall Aradurk - Half-Orc Fighter - Barty's "The Hidden War" (Doom Portals Part 4A) Aradurk - Half-Orc Fighter -Barty's "The Whispered Word (Doom Portals Part 5) Garu - Tabaxi Paladin - Barty's "Beyond Twilight" (Rikirta Part 3)
Karst takes his place in the line ready to attempt the dance.
Vhon - Level 2 Warlock - What shall become of the Drunken Sailor?
Lyreis - Level 6 Elf Fighter - Eberron: Omega
DM - Dzenda: The Cracks - DM - Dzenda: Whispered Tales
Bartram Shadecrest
Lvl 1 | Human | Rogue
Thinking to himself, 'Are we really going to have a dance off. These orc customs are sure odd, what's next an eating compation. To bad, we might beat them in that one. O well, it's either dance or get slaughtered by these skeletons.' Taking his place, Bartram gets ready to dance like his life depends on it, because it does.
“Spirit. In every language in all the Realms, surface and Underdark, in every time and every place, the word has a ring of strength and determination. It is the hero's strength, the mother's resilience and the poor man's armor. It cannot be broken and it cannot be taken away.”
Travus blurts out as the others assemble in a dance formation. "Uhh, what? A dance?! This is insane." Travus sighs and gets into formation in the dance. "This better work..."
A surprise, to be sure, but a welcome one.
The orc skeletons move first as you assemble for your turn, beating their swords on their shields, and rattling their rib cages in a eery rhythm. It quickly becomes evident that this is causing them to quickly deteriorate.
Meepo Performance: 12
Aradurk Performance: 18
Bartram Performance: 6
Karst Performance: 24
Travus Performance: 15
Meepo completes his backflip as the rest of the group forms an intimidating haka, improvising a deadly fear-inducing dance. Karst in particular draws the attention of the skeletons in their line, and causes them to pick up their movements, slamming their shields harder, rattling their rib cages more forcefully. Dust and bone fly and chip away as their dance becomes more aggressive. They stand still again, waiting for Meepo and the haka's next attempt.
See my profile for all my PbP threads!
“Once more!”
Halsen - Human Monk - Winter Splendor
Aradurk - Half-Orc Fighter - Barty's Blade Bizarre
Aradurk - Half-Orc Fighter - Betrayal at Devilsfall
Aradurk - Half-Orc Fighter - Barty's "The Hidden War" (Doom Portals Part 4A)
Aradurk - Half-Orc Fighter - Barty's "The Whispered Word (Doom Portals Part 5)
Garu - Tabaxi Paladin - Barty's "Beyond Twilight" (Rikirta Part 3)
Bartram Shadecrest
Lvl 1 | Human | Rogue
Bartram rolls his eyes but prepares himself to go again. He didn't like his last performance and was ready this time to try again.
“Spirit. In every language in all the Realms, surface and Underdark, in every time and every place, the word has a ring of strength and determination. It is the hero's strength, the mother's resilience and the poor man's armor. It cannot be broken and it cannot be taken away.”
Reveling in the aggressive nature of the performance Karst readies himself for another attempt.
OOC just pointing out that Karst has rolled a crit for both singing and dancing now, multiclassing into a bard seems tempting now ;)
Vhon - Level 2 Warlock - What shall become of the Drunken Sailor?
Lyreis - Level 6 Elf Fighter - Eberron: Omega
DM - Dzenda: The Cracks - DM - Dzenda: Whispered Tales
After their improptu performance, Meepo takes a breather before speaking.
"I guess that wasn't enough to satisfy them. Very well, Meepo shall attempt once more the battle-dance challenge."
"Again? What more could they want?!" Travus takes his part in the dance again.
A surprise, to be sure, but a welcome one.
Meepo Performance: 9
Aradurk Performance: 17
Bartram Performance: 19
Karst Performance: 10
Travus Performance: 4
Meepo's steps seem more certain, and the haka more comfortable on this attempt. As you end with a fearsome "Rah!", the skeletons' moves become more and more forceful, aggressive, angry. Suddenly, a skeleton on the end of the line falls as its legbones collapse within themselves. More lose arms, ribs, and even skulls as they slowly but surely fall apart. Almost as soon as it started, the skeleton line becomes a silent pile of bones.
There is a sickening crackling sound all around you as you hear the skeletons in the mist around you crumble into pieces. The intense silence that follows conveys the gravity of the fight that has been avoided.
OOC: Each character has received 100 XP for investigation of the town, 600 XP for detecting the skeletons' intent and attempting the battle-dance, and an additional 400 XP for winning the battle-dance.
See my profile for all my PbP threads!
Meepo drops his butt to the ground after the intense dance off.
"Next time, please remind me not to pull swords out of the ground. Those skeletons almost gave me a heart attack. Good thing we managed to appease them."
He begins to dust off his scales as he asks the rest while resting on the ground.
"So, do we go through the mist or do we check out the kobold's cave?
My vote's on the cave because that seems more safer for me... I mean for all of us, how about the rest?"
I was thinking of choosing an appropriate monastic tradition after a few combat encounters to balance on what the party lacks.
Apparently, a dance off with a legion of skeletons was too intense and made Meepo gain huge amount of experience after living to tell the tale.
Bartram Shadecrest
Lvl 1 | Human | Rogue
Feeling relieved about not having to fight and a little better about his second attempt, he takes a moment to compose himself. After taking a drink from his water skin he addresses Meepo's question, "I'm up to go anywhere to get out of this mist. And by the way, we never bring this up every again and if anyone asks we say we fought them in a desperate hand to hand struggle."
“Spirit. In every language in all the Realms, surface and Underdark, in every time and every place, the word has a ring of strength and determination. It is the hero's strength, the mother's resilience and the poor man's armor. It cannot be broken and it cannot be taken away.”
"After all the trouble we've been through, might as well take this rusted sword. A trophy to remember our dance off."
Meepo pockets the rusted sword unto his backpack.
"Well done mates. Great job at keeping your heads under the circumstances. I felt a part of my heritage emerge from that experience."
I stretch my back and legs out in response to recent use and take in some water from my waterskin.
"Bartram - bear in mind that you just won in a haka battle against undead orcs. That speaks highly of your ferocious dance moves. Might even earn you some play with the nearest female contingency - if we ever find some, that is. I would say looking for the cave is a good idea for understanding what happened to the former possessor of the magical arrow.
Karst - are you sure you didn't grow up orc?"
OOC: How much daylight is left to us?
Halsen - Human Monk - Winter Splendor
Aradurk - Half-Orc Fighter - Barty's Blade Bizarre
Aradurk - Half-Orc Fighter - Betrayal at Devilsfall
Aradurk - Half-Orc Fighter - Barty's "The Hidden War" (Doom Portals Part 4A)
Aradurk - Half-Orc Fighter - Barty's "The Whispered Word (Doom Portals Part 5)
Garu - Tabaxi Paladin - Barty's "Beyond Twilight" (Rikirta Part 3)
OOC: The rusted sword has been added to Meepo's inventory. As for daylight, it won't matter much as there's new information incoming!
That night while you set up camp, a bat suddenly flies and lands on Bartram's shoulders. Clutched in its claws is a piece of parchment. Unfurling it, Bartram finds that the contacts he had gotten in touch with after meeting with Ser Mary Glendale have come through for him. It simply says:
See my profile for all my PbP threads!
Bartram Shadecrest
Lvl 3 | Human | Rogue
After receiving the message Bartram will inform the rest of the group of what it says. "It would seem that we have some more information to go on. What do you guys make of it?"
“Spirit. In every language in all the Realms, surface and Underdark, in every time and every place, the word has a ring of strength and determination. It is the hero's strength, the mother's resilience and the poor man's armor. It cannot be broken and it cannot be taken away.”
"Deadsnows region?" Travus attempts to recall any information he can about the Deadsnows region and the Longhunt Clan. "How would a goblin have come across such weaponry? This doesn't seem right. How well do you trust this 'contact' of yours?"
A surprise, to be sure, but a welcome one.
"Very little of this whole affair seems right but at least we have a lead of some description. These weapons would be in high demand, amongst all races and goblins can be devious enough. It could be that they are merely brokers, they could have gotten hold of part of a larger shipment but if we have a chance to get more information we would be rash to ignore it, I say."
He pauses, as recent memories come back to him.
"The crazy old man mentioned both the Deadsnows and the Longhunt Orcs, I doubt there is a coincidence here, another piece of information draws us back to them, we must surely try and find these Deadsnows and see if the Longhunt Orcs remain there, the human girl may also still be their prisoner!"
Vhon - Level 2 Warlock - What shall become of the Drunken Sailor?
Lyreis - Level 6 Elf Fighter - Eberron: Omega
DM - Dzenda: The Cracks - DM - Dzenda: Whispered Tales
"Deadsnows is a formidable hike from our current position if this source is accurate. I have concerns however."
Aradurk looks around at each his comrade then off into the horizon.
"We still know nothing more about what happened to the inhabitants of Rauvincross. Nor do we know what manner of magic caused this sword to force a haka against the undead. We still have the mystery of the disappearing traveller. And the crazy old man who eluded us. This all leaves me uneasy."
Halsen - Human Monk - Winter Splendor
Aradurk - Half-Orc Fighter - Barty's Blade Bizarre
Aradurk - Half-Orc Fighter - Betrayal at Devilsfall
Aradurk - Half-Orc Fighter - Barty's "The Hidden War" (Doom Portals Part 4A)
Aradurk - Half-Orc Fighter - Barty's "The Whispered Word (Doom Portals Part 5)
Garu - Tabaxi Paladin - Barty's "Beyond Twilight" (Rikirta Part 3)
"Leader, don't worry about things we can't comprehend right now. Let's finish our job first then we can speculate without worries later."
Meepo stands up and prepares himself for their upcoming hike.
"We still don't know the exact place they would meet and both of them won't wait for us all day you know.
For now, lead us to the Deadsnows region and I'll assist you on determining the safest path we could take."