Randa tries very hard to keep her serious face on when Ylis intervenes.......she's fairly sure Riven doesn't intend to kill anyone.....but she has been wrong before....
Noticing the new tension in the air, Joy follows the genasi and Omo's gazes to the rather unfriendly-looking conversation between the Fellowship and the lone Drow. Worry dulls her bright features somewhat.
"Riven...?"She's never known him to pick fights unnecessarily, but can't help feeling sympathetic for the Drow who looks like he might burst into tears at any moment.
Riven watches the drow’s face carefully, the trembling breath, the flash of anger sharpened by fear. And as the words settle, “If there are any dangers in those waters, you seem to know more about it than I do”, it’s clear that if danger were present, it existed else ware .
“Maybe I came at you harder than I should have,” Riven says, voice low but steady. “Concern for a friend makes fools of all of us.”
His gaze flickers to the restless surface of the Ifolon before returning to the drow. “Apologies, my mistake.”
He steps back slightly, enough to give the drow space, letting the tension between them cool if the other man’s willing.
Then, with the matter addressed as much as it can be, Riven shifts his focus where it belongs, toward the water, and to Joy.
DM: For clarity, this is not a failed check or incorrect action. This is a successful check against an NPC who has been given specific triggers to player actions in the story. Please don’t interpret it as a mistake, for it is not, and drives the story forward as it is meant to be. Portrait characters tend to have more meat on the bones in terms of personality for any adventure module, but Netherdeep has dialed that up a notch for this module. This is a potentially reoccurring character (unless you killed him :P) and each one of the potentially reoccurring characters will respond to certain stimulus in different ways. It's actually pretty neat reading the literal full page of personality and history on each character (less cool that it is broken up over three different sections of the book lol).
IC: Ylis tugs on the drow’s robes and he looks down at the cute expression. It vents a lot of the tension, and the drow takes a deep breath in through his nose and shifts his weight from the front of his feet toward the heel as that tension abates. He holds firm, rooted to his place on the docks. He seems unable to speak at the moment, however, as his emotions have pinched his throat closed.
As Riven apologizes and backs away, the drow looks at Ylis again, then to Randa and Riven, then to the genasi before dropping the armor and retreating to the opposite side of the platform where a support post sticks up to form a kind of stool. He sits down on it and stares angrily at the ground.
Seeing the tension broken, the genasi leaves her position and holds a finger up at Omo, who responds by holding his hands up and bows his head as if to communicate ‘no problem’. She kneels down and places a comforting hand on the drows back and quietly speaks to him. He doesn’t respond verbally, but he does nod his head in acknowledgment. She pats him on the back again and gives it a final rub before standing and returning to her post.
As she passes Randa and Riven, her body language communicates that she will attempt to shoulder check the two of them, but reconsiders her impulsive actions and instead glares at them as she passes.
Riven meets the genasi’s glare with a steady, level look. There’s a flicker of acknowledgment in his expression as he knows he overstepped. As the genasi stalks past, he gives her a faint nod, not an apology, not quite, but an acceptance of the part he’s played in this mess.
As she moves on, Riven lets out a slow breath through his nose, scrubbing a hand through his hair before turning back toward the others.
When he reaches the Fellowship, his posture is looser, the edge worn down to something quieter. He glances at Joy first, then to the others, one hand resting lightly on his belt.
“That could have gone better,” he admits, “It was a misunderstanding. Right motive…wrong execution.”
He shrugs one shoulder, exhaling through his nose again. “Didn’t come here to make trouble. Just didn’t like the thought of you going into that water if something was waiting for you.”
With all five of the contestants having returned to their spots on the pier, Omo clears his throat and calls out. “Alright everyone. On my mark, you will dive into the water and swim up the river. Get the spear, or swipe it from the one who does, hehe, and bring it back to me. Ready? MARK!”
DM: Roll initiative to determine who is first off the docks. This serves story purposes only. Again this challenge requires a slight change to the book to work well for PBPs in that you will make three Athletics Checks, DC 13. If you fail a check, you gain 1 level of Exhaustion, which is a -2 on your subsequent checks. Additionally, if you fail the check, the choppy waters push you back and you must make the attempt again. This will get you to the post with the spear in it. First one to make three successful checks grabs the spear. The return trip will be a different kind of challenge and we will address it once we get there. Roll initiative and however many checks it takes to get to three.
Athletics check 4 with 1 exhaustion: 20-2+4 bless= 22
Joy surges forward with a burst of divine-fueled strength, chain mail and all, slicing through the choppy waters with astonishing speed. For a heartbeat, she feels weightless, gliding on the edge of miracle and muscle.
The second leg tests her harder. A crosscurrent lashes out like a striking whip, but Joy powers through it, arms burning and breath steady. Her focus doesn't falter—she leans into her stroke, catching a glimpse of the middle post growing closer.
Then the river remembers who it is.
A violent swell collides with her side just as she stretches to pull ahead. She misses a stroke. Her body twists awkwardly, the armor tugging at her limbs. Salt and riverwater flood her mouth as her head breaches at the wrong time—just like Riven warned. Coughing, sputtering, she's slammed back a few feet, fighting just to stay afloat. Her muscles tremble from the sudden jolt, her breath labored. Exhaustion sinks its claws in.
But Joy grits her teeth. Not now. Not here.
A flash of radiant conviction lights in her chest. She calls on that inner fire, her devotion, her stubborn refusal to give in. And with a furious cry muffled by a splash, she digs deep, kicks hard, and drives forward once more.
Omo shouts the signal and the group of contestants dive! The first off the docks by a significant margin is the genasi. Her diving form is perfect, literally perfect, and if this were an Olympic race, she would have dazzled a judging panel. She makes no splash upon hitting the water, which seems virtually impossible, and it almost seems like the water invited her in with open arms.
The lanky orc and powerful human are next. The orc’s form is also excellent, though a pale shadow of the water genasi’s dive. The lanky orc initially seems well-suited for water sports, while the powerful human just makes up for what she lacks with grace with sheer power. The orc strikes the water with respectable grace and the human cannonballs in, sending a plume of water up into the air that rains down on the hesitant goblin and Joy, who was slow off the dock not for worry, but because of the heavy weight she still carries with her equipment.
The genasi glides through the water effortlessly, with Joy following closely behind. The lanky orc however, overtaxes his body and after an initial burst of speed, is quickly overtaken by the rushing river. He is pushed back and very quickly gives up and heads to the surface, where he treads water as it carries him back toward the docks.
The powerful human female struggles against the current but she is built for extended hard work and pushes through, much slower than Joy, staying about 30 ft behind her.
The hairy male goblin gets in the water and is immediately carried out to sea. He splashes ineffectually and yelps in terror as even staying above water is difficult. His hair flaps in front of his face, obstructing his ability to breathe and were it not for the safety boats near the docks for exactly this reason, he would have surely drowned in minutes.
The genasi reaches the spear first and rips it free from the post with great satisfaction. She looks behind her and see Joy about 50ft behind her and the bulky woman huffing and puffing farther back.
Joy slows her approach, treading water with effort as she spots the genasi triumphantly pulling the spear free. Her brows furrow, not with frustration, but calculation. She doesn't close the distance, but shifts into a ready stance, arms steady, legs kicking in slow rhythm to keep her afloat despite the ache. The spear now has to be taken, without actually harming the woman if possible. Her hazel eyes flick briefly across the water—the threat of sharks is not to be forgotten—before settling back on the genasi with calm determination, trying to discern from her body language and the direction of her gaze which way the woman plans to evade so she can cut her off.
Joy and the genasi’s eyes meet as the genasi hangs deftly from the single wooden post. She has a crooked grin on her face as she seems to be sizing Joy up. She seems intent to do a beeline directly at Joy and releases her hold on the wooden post, prepared to kick off it, but she stops and looks in Joy’s direction again, but not at Joy. Instead, the genasi looks beyond her. The genasi’s face becomes hard and she reaches to pull herself against the post again, this time fully kicking off it for the boost in speed, spear in hand. She takes a slightly wider route to Joy’s right.
Ylis can see in the distance, a fin rise above the water, then another. The first is going for the unaware mountainous woman punching her way through the water toward the genasi, laughing all the way. The other is going for Joy, approaching from behind.
DM: Joy, please roll a Perception Check, DC 13, as you said you were sparing some time to watch out for the Selachii.
Following Ylis line of sight, Randa looked to the others, nocked an arrow and drew Rainfall to her shoulder.....she flicked her eyes towards Omo and raised an eyebrow.
Omo cocks an eyebrow at Randa and shrugs his shoulders. "I won't stop you from preventing someone from being injured, but all the swimmers got in the water knowing what they were getting into. You're with the girl who has the gorgeous emerald skin. Help her when she doesn't actually need it to save her life and she'll be disqualified; if help was allowed, this wouldn't be a single-person race, now would it?"
After hearing those words, Ylis holds back her immediate reaction. She doesn't want to see anybody get hurt at all even though they supposedly knew the risks. They would probably be upset to get disqualified if she interfered too.
She has to control her desire to push Omo into the water. Knowingly putting people in death danger for a game is so rude!
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
-Ilyara Thundertale
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Ylis walks up to the Drow and tries to tug on his pants leg or tap him on the knee, "Hey mister, you got a carrot?"
OOC: a picture of my bunny begging for a carrot:
"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
-Ilyara Thundertale
Randa tries very hard to keep her serious face on when Ylis intervenes.......she's fairly sure Riven doesn't intend to kill anyone.....but she has been wrong before....
Being new to the group, Giles watches curiously, trying to gain insight into the Fellowship.
Noticing the new tension in the air, Joy follows the genasi and Omo's gazes to the rather unfriendly-looking conversation between the Fellowship and the lone Drow. Worry dulls her bright features somewhat.
"Riven...?" She's never known him to pick fights unnecessarily, but can't help feeling sympathetic for the Drow who looks like he might burst into tears at any moment.
Riven watches the drow’s face carefully, the trembling breath, the flash of anger sharpened by fear. And as the words settle, “If there are any dangers in those waters, you seem to know more about it than I do”, it’s clear that if danger were present, it existed else ware .
“Maybe I came at you harder than I should have,” Riven says, voice low but steady. “Concern for a friend makes fools of all of us.”
His gaze flickers to the restless surface of the Ifolon before returning to the drow. “Apologies, my mistake.”
He steps back slightly, enough to give the drow space, letting the tension between them cool if the other man’s willing.
Then, with the matter addressed as much as it can be, Riven shifts his focus where it belongs, toward the water, and to Joy.
DM: For clarity, this is not a failed check or incorrect action. This is a successful check against an NPC who has been given specific triggers to player actions in the story. Please don’t interpret it as a mistake, for it is not, and drives the story forward as it is meant to be. Portrait characters tend to have more meat on the bones in terms of personality for any adventure module, but Netherdeep has dialed that up a notch for this module. This is a potentially reoccurring character (unless you killed him :P) and each one of the potentially reoccurring characters will respond to certain stimulus in different ways. It's actually pretty neat reading the literal full page of personality and history on each character (less cool that it is broken up over three different sections of the book lol).
IC: Ylis tugs on the drow’s robes and he looks down at the cute expression. It vents a lot of the tension, and the drow takes a deep breath in through his nose and shifts his weight from the front of his feet toward the heel as that tension abates. He holds firm, rooted to his place on the docks. He seems unable to speak at the moment, however, as his emotions have pinched his throat closed.
As Riven apologizes and backs away, the drow looks at Ylis again, then to Randa and Riven, then to the genasi before dropping the armor and retreating to the opposite side of the platform where a support post sticks up to form a kind of stool. He sits down on it and stares angrily at the ground.
Seeing the tension broken, the genasi leaves her position and holds a finger up at Omo, who responds by holding his hands up and bows his head as if to communicate ‘no problem’. She kneels down and places a comforting hand on the drows back and quietly speaks to him. He doesn’t respond verbally, but he does nod his head in acknowledgment. She pats him on the back again and gives it a final rub before standing and returning to her post.
As she passes Randa and Riven, her body language communicates that she will attempt to shoulder check the two of them, but reconsiders her impulsive actions and instead glares at them as she passes.
DM mostly, Player occasionally | Session 0 form | He/Him/They/Them
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Riven meets the genasi’s glare with a steady, level look. There’s a flicker of acknowledgment in his expression as he knows he overstepped. As the genasi stalks past, he gives her a faint nod, not an apology, not quite, but an acceptance of the part he’s played in this mess.
As she moves on, Riven lets out a slow breath through his nose, scrubbing a hand through his hair before turning back toward the others.
When he reaches the Fellowship, his posture is looser, the edge worn down to something quieter. He glances at Joy first, then to the others, one hand resting lightly on his belt.
“That could have gone better,” he admits, “It was a misunderstanding. Right motive…wrong execution.”
He shrugs one shoulder, exhaling through his nose again. “Didn’t come here to make trouble. Just didn’t like the thought of you going into that water if something was waiting for you.”
With that said, he lets the matter lie.
Randa chuckled and blew a kiss in the genasi's direction.
" And yet trouble always seems to find us.......maybe its you? Its almost certainly me."
" We can buy the drow a celebratory drink after Joy smashes this challenge if you want."
Joy visibly calms as the situation defuses, giving the others a smile and wave as she turns her focus back to the water.
With all five of the contestants having returned to their spots on the pier, Omo clears his throat and calls out. “Alright everyone. On my mark, you will dive into the water and swim up the river. Get the spear, or swipe it from the one who does, hehe, and bring it back to me. Ready? MARK!”
DM: Roll initiative to determine who is first off the docks. This serves story purposes only. Again this challenge requires a slight change to the book to work well for PBPs in that you will make three Athletics Checks, DC 13. If you fail a check, you gain 1 level of Exhaustion, which is a -2 on your subsequent checks. Additionally, if you fail the check, the choppy waters push you back and you must make the attempt again. This will get you to the post with the spear in it. First one to make three successful checks grabs the spear. The return trip will be a different kind of challenge and we will address it once we get there. Roll initiative and however many checks it takes to get to three.
Initiative:
Genasi female 22
Lanky orc male 17
Burly human female 17
Hairy goblin 10
DM mostly, Player occasionally | Session 0 form | He/Him/They/Them
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Check out my life-changing
Joy initiative: 10
Athletics check 1: 21+4 bless= 25
Athletics check 2: 18+1 bless= 19
Athletics check 3: 7+2 bless+3 bardic Inspiration= 12, fail
Athletics check 4 with 1 exhaustion: 20-2+4 bless= 22
Joy surges forward with a burst of divine-fueled strength, chain mail and all, slicing through the choppy waters with astonishing speed. For a heartbeat, she feels weightless, gliding on the edge of miracle and muscle.
The second leg tests her harder. A crosscurrent lashes out like a striking whip, but Joy powers through it, arms burning and breath steady. Her focus doesn't falter—she leans into her stroke, catching a glimpse of the middle post growing closer.
Then the river remembers who it is.
A violent swell collides with her side just as she stretches to pull ahead. She misses a stroke. Her body twists awkwardly, the armor tugging at her limbs. Salt and riverwater flood her mouth as her head breaches at the wrong time—just like Riven warned. Coughing, sputtering, she's slammed back a few feet, fighting just to stay afloat. Her muscles tremble from the sudden jolt, her breath labored. Exhaustion sinks its claws in.
But Joy grits her teeth. Not now. Not here.
A flash of radiant conviction lights in her chest. She calls on that inner fire, her devotion, her stubborn refusal to give in. And with a furious cry muffled by a splash, she digs deep, kicks hard, and drives forward once more.
Omo shouts the signal and the group of contestants dive! The first off the docks by a significant margin is the genasi. Her diving form is perfect, literally perfect, and if this were an Olympic race, she would have dazzled a judging panel. She makes no splash upon hitting the water, which seems virtually impossible, and it almost seems like the water invited her in with open arms.
The lanky orc and powerful human are next. The orc’s form is also excellent, though a pale shadow of the water genasi’s dive. The lanky orc initially seems well-suited for water sports, while the powerful human just makes up for what she lacks with grace with sheer power. The orc strikes the water with respectable grace and the human cannonballs in, sending a plume of water up into the air that rains down on the hesitant goblin and Joy, who was slow off the dock not for worry, but because of the heavy weight she still carries with her equipment.
The genasi glides through the water effortlessly, with Joy following closely behind. The lanky orc however, overtaxes his body and after an initial burst of speed, is quickly overtaken by the rushing river. He is pushed back and very quickly gives up and heads to the surface, where he treads water as it carries him back toward the docks.
The powerful human female struggles against the current but she is built for extended hard work and pushes through, much slower than Joy, staying about 30 ft behind her.
The hairy male goblin gets in the water and is immediately carried out to sea. He splashes ineffectually and yelps in terror as even staying above water is difficult. His hair flaps in front of his face, obstructing his ability to breathe and were it not for the safety boats near the docks for exactly this reason, he would have surely drowned in minutes.
The genasi reaches the spear first and rips it free from the post with great satisfaction. She looks behind her and see Joy about 50ft behind her and the bulky woman huffing and puffing farther back.
DM mostly, Player occasionally | Session 0 form | He/Him/They/Them
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Joy slows her approach, treading water with effort as she spots the genasi triumphantly pulling the spear free. Her brows furrow, not with frustration, but calculation. She doesn't close the distance, but shifts into a ready stance, arms steady, legs kicking in slow rhythm to keep her afloat despite the ache. The spear now has to be taken, without actually harming the woman if possible. Her hazel eyes flick briefly across the water—the threat of sharks is not to be forgotten—before settling back on the genasi with calm determination, trying to discern from her body language and the direction of her gaze which way the woman plans to evade so she can cut her off.
Insight: 21
Ylis cheers for Joy, "Whoop whoop! go go!"
"Why you stopping?! It's not like there are actually sharks in the water! How silly would that be?!"
...
...
Ylis looks for sharks
Perception check 25
"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
-Ilyara Thundertale
Joy and the genasi’s eyes meet as the genasi hangs deftly from the single wooden post. She has a crooked grin on her face as she seems to be sizing Joy up. She seems intent to do a beeline directly at Joy and releases her hold on the wooden post, prepared to kick off it, but she stops and looks in Joy’s direction again, but not at Joy. Instead, the genasi looks beyond her. The genasi’s face becomes hard and she reaches to pull herself against the post again, this time fully kicking off it for the boost in speed, spear in hand. She takes a slightly wider route to Joy’s right.
Ylis can see in the distance, a fin rise above the water, then another. The first is going for the unaware mountainous woman punching her way through the water toward the genasi, laughing all the way. The other is going for Joy, approaching from behind.
DM: Joy, please roll a Perception Check, DC 13, as you said you were sparing some time to watch out for the Selachii.
DM mostly, Player occasionally | Session 0 form | He/Him/They/Them
EXTENDED SIGNATURE!
Doctor/Published Scholar/Science and Healthcare Advocate/Critter/Trekkie/Gandalf with a Glock
Try DDB free: Free Rules (2024), premade PCs, adventures, one shots, encounters, SC, homebrew, more
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Check out my life-changing
Following Ylis line of sight, Randa looked to the others, nocked an arrow and drew Rainfall to her shoulder.....she flicked her eyes towards Omo and raised an eyebrow.
Joy perception: 5
Omo cocks an eyebrow at Randa and shrugs his shoulders. "I won't stop you from preventing someone from being injured, but all the swimmers got in the water knowing what they were getting into. You're with the girl who has the gorgeous emerald skin. Help her when she doesn't actually need it to save her life and she'll be disqualified; if help was allowed, this wouldn't be a single-person race, now would it?"
DM mostly, Player occasionally | Session 0 form | He/Him/They/Them
EXTENDED SIGNATURE!
Doctor/Published Scholar/Science and Healthcare Advocate/Critter/Trekkie/Gandalf with a Glock
Try DDB free: Free Rules (2024), premade PCs, adventures, one shots, encounters, SC, homebrew, more
Answers: physical books, purchases, and subbing.
Check out my life-changing
Randa nodded slowly and shifted her aim to the fin following the woman in third place........she was fairly confident Joy could handle herself.
After hearing those words, Ylis holds back her immediate reaction. She doesn't want to see anybody get hurt at all even though they supposedly knew the risks. They would probably be upset to get disqualified if she interfered too.
She has to control her desire to push Omo into the water. Knowingly putting people in death danger for a game is so rude!
"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
-Ilyara Thundertale