Rogram follows Zelina closely, even hurrying her along if she seems to be hesitating on his behalf. "Sure, sure," he says, his mind shifting into smith mode. "We'll get her out," he assures the woman. He recalls all he knows about hunting traps — how they're made, how they're disassembled, and what injuries he should be prepared to find.
(( I'm assuming the Karib is snoring in another tent, unless we have people on watch etc? ))
OOC: Correct, for the time being Rogram is the only one aware of what is going on here.
Zelina moves swiftly, leading Rogram into the trees at a near-frantic pace. "I just hope she's still okay. I ran as quickly as I could!" she says, deftly stepping through foliage and swatting away branches as she moves past them, sometimes not even holding them for Rogram. The canopy overhead is light enough that moonlight still illuminates some of the ground, but it's apparent that Zelina is no stranger to nighttime exploration. Even with a human's eyes, she matches Rogram's pace easily despite the advantage of his darkvision.
"Arietta!"Zelina calls out for her sister after around ten minutes of walking. "Arietta we're coming, are you okay?" After a few calls, a cry of pain issues from further ahead.
Crashing through some brush, Rogram and Zelina reach the scene. In a small clearing sheltered by a few larger trees, Arietta is standing - standing? - in wait. "Rogram! Oh, gods, I'm so glad you're here," she says.
Arietta grins a wicked grin as Rogram closes in to see that there is no trap in sight. "Oh, Rogram...so brave, Rogram. You truly care so much about me," she coos, her face twisting into a strange gray, mottled, mouthless shape. Her eyes, now yellow with no pupils, show no emotion.
"We were hoping you would bring some of your friends with you, but...you'll have to do. He has plenty of gold in his pack, dear sister," Zelina says from behind Rogram. Spinning around, he sees her shifting into the same grey, featureless humanoid form.
Zelina suddenly lunges forward, her grey fist thumping into Rogram's chest with incredible force, taking his breath away. Arietta closes in from the opposite side; Rogram is suddenly dipping and twisting amidst a flurry of blows from the twins, their speed and strength nearly unbelievable.
Round 1 Order: Arietta and Zelina Rogram <=====
Placement: Rogram is engaged in melee combat with Arietta and Zelina
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Ah, Rogram. Poor, unsuspecting Rogram. OK, so they walked 10 minutes into the forest, which means no amount of yelling is going to bring anyone. Were there guards on patrol? Perhaps someone noticed Rogram being led away from the wagons?
Rogram is very confused! What, exactly, is going on? What happened to Arietta and Zelina? What are these creatures? Why are they moving so fast?! He yells, "Arietta?!" into the night, trying to determine her location. "Where are you?" He draws his axe and attempts to cut into the nearest gray thing.
Attack: 18 Damage: 10
If the attack hits, bonus: Bardic Inspiration/Blade Flourish: 5
Defensive Flourish. You can expend one use of your Bardic Inspiration and deal extra damage equal to the number you roll on the die. You also add the number to your AC until the start of your next turn.
Were there guards on patrol? Perhaps someone noticed Rogram being led away from the wagons?
OOC: At the moment, as far as Rogram knows, nobody else is aware.
He yells, "Arietta?!" into the night, trying to determine her location. "Where are you?"
"I'm right here, Rogram. What, am I not pretty enough for you anymore?" the doppelganger taunts as Rogram tears his sword down the arm of its companion. "Stop toying with him!" the other shouts, stepping back from Rogram's defensive move with his blade, but moving incredibly fast around the half-dwarf's side and rapping the side of his stomach with a punch. The first doppelganger heeds the words; Rogram's head rings suddenly as two fists slam into the back of his skull. Dazed and reeling, he maintains his footing among the roots and leaves on the forest floor.
Round 2 Order: Arietta and Zelina Rogram <=====
Placement: Rogram is engaged in melee combat with Arietta and Zelina.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Rogram blinks at the doppelganger identifying itself as Arietta. The distraction is enough to allow three hits to land, despite his defensive posture. "N-no," he says, grimacing. He swings his axe again.
Attack: 20 Damage: 13
If the attack hits, bonus: Bardic Inspiration/Blade Flourish: 1
Defensive Flourish. You can expend one use of your Bardic Inspiration and deal extra damage equal to the number you roll on the die. You also add the number to your AC until the start of your next turn.
OOC: Assumed it was meant for the already-wounded doppelganger to keep us movin'.
A low growl emanates from the doppelganger as Rogram's axe sprays its blood across the forest floor. Rogram ducks a blow from behind, but another thumping strike to his chest pushes him off balance. He doesn't even feel the next rap to his temple; only a searing white light fills his vision, then darkness.
Rogram awakens to a pair of Merrics looking down at him. The two elves slowly merge into one as they call something out to the rest of his companions, who soon follow. It is daylight again, and Rogram's head throbs fiercely. One leg is numb from its awkward placement where he fell, and blood has caked his face from cuts opened by the doppelgangers' fists.
Having been alerted to the missing guard and twins in the morning, at first the merchants wished to simply carry on, after chuckling sentiments that the half-dwarf's likely dalliance with the Innevar sisters meant that he had simply moved on to bigger and brighter things. Leda had taken the disappearance seriously, however, stating that the man who put his life on the line against hobgoblins the day before would take his duties more seriously than that, and enlisted the help of other guards in sending out a search party. The merchants agreed to a two hour search of the surrounding area, but it took only a half hour for Merric's sharp elven eyes to track Rogram and a pair of footsteps into the forest. Karib and Akira arrive soon after.
Awakening, Rogram finds the contents of his pack nearly emptied. His rations are gone, along with all of his coinage and precious stones.
“Rogram! Rogram!” Merric calls out his name as he regains consciousness. He jams a packet of herbs into his mouth, trying to ease his pain. “Here, eat this, it will take the edge off. What happened? Have you seen the girls? They are missing too.” He offers his hand to help Rogram up to his feet. "You look terrible."
“Rogram! Rogram!” Merric calls out his name as he regains consciousness. He jams a packet of herbs into his mouth, trying to ease his pain. “Here, eat this, it will take the edge off. What happened? Have you seen the girls? They are missing too.” He offers his hand to help Rogram up to his feet. "You look terrible."
Forgot to roll in the last post. Rogram healed for 4 hp from cure wounds.
Rogram groans, blinking, squinting and grumbling. "Where — ow," he says, raising a hand to the back of head. "Moradin's beard," he says slowly and quietly, clearly disappointed in the situation. "What an idiot."
After helping him up and discovering his gold and the Greenest gems gone from his pack, Rogram tells the tale of being woken by Zelina, led into the forest on the pretense of rescuing Arietta from a hunting trap, and then falling victim. "They ... they turned into some kind of other creatures," he says, screwing up his face in disgust. "Gray and ... naked ... and kind of like a human, but not a human." He takes a step, having to limp because of a pain in his hip. "They sure hit hard." He smiles at Merry, throwing one big hand up on the elf's shoulder. "Thanks for finding me."
Akira relieved to see her companion alive calls her familiar to go to the skies to seek signs of their passing. She will search for the signs of their paths in order to give her familiar a direction.
“I am glad you yet live but fear they may have more in store for us.”
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)
"We would not have left you." Merric listens to Rogram’s story and shakes his head sadly. “They changed into something? I am glad you are okay, but it appears they were taking advantage of you.” Merric holds up Rogram’s empty pack “They robbed you, you were lucky you didn’t get more than those lumps. But they couldn’t have gone far.” As Akira’s familiar flies overhead, Merric scouts the clearing for any signs of tracks leading away, and tries to determine what kind of creature could match the description Rogram shared.
Merric has heard tales of many creatures, mythical or otherwise, that are said to be able to change shape, but is not aware of a specific creature that could do what Rogram has described. Even with the help of Akira's familiar, Merric is unable to track the women beyond the clearing; he does note, however, that their initial tracks appear to be barefoot around the area Rogram was discovered. Shortly thereafter, they seem to become the sort of prints left by heavy boots before disappearing entirely.
Akira will jot down notes about the description of the creatures in hopes that she can jog some knowledge during her time in academia about the creatures then call back her familiar.
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)
OOC: Akira has the same level of knowledge as Merric regarding these creatures.
I want to make sure that Rogram has the chance to fully react to the situation, but if that's the case and everyone is ready to return to the caravan let me know and we'll keep a movin'.
Rogram's consciousness makes note of Merric and Akira's attempts at tracking the creatures, but he is too busy berating himself and unhappily replaying the memories of the times he spent with Arietta to pay too much attention. He is such an idiot. Of course she wasn't really interested in him. What would his father say if he knew? Maybe he wasn't good for anything more than a blacksmith. Not even that — just a blacksmith's apprentice. It seems like every battle he gets into, he ends up losing.
When it seems the others are ready to go, Rogram accompanies them back, not saying anything. He heads straight for Lai's wagon once they leave the trees. He looks like a dog returning to its owner with its tail between its legs. He approaches Leda and shakes his head. "Arietta and Zelina were not who they appeared to be," he says to her, not quite meeting her eye and sounding frustrated and repentant. "The creature that looked like Zelina tricked me into following it into the forest to save Arietta, but when we reached her, they both changed into gray, naked, human-looking creatures. They knocked me out, robbed me, and left me for dead." He shakes his head again. "I should have been more cautious. I'm sorry."
Leda places a hand on Rogram's shoulder until he meets her eyes. "I'm glad you survived it. You're probably exhausted in more ways than one. I'll let the merchants know we're moving forward without the sisters. And...I won't provide all of the details," she says.
"We are glad you are okay," The Pole says in almost as many words as Rogram has heard from the man to date.
The road eventually winds into the very forest that Rogram was discovered in. Progress throughout the morning is slower than the norm as thick trees and brush threaten to take back over the road from the travelers who created it, but the way is clear enough that progress is still made. Around midday, a break is called beneath the shade of the forest boughs, and a few travelers volunteer to scout ahead and clear away any other potential blockers like fallen logs and overgrown segments of the road.
Eldkin, the dwarven bodyguard for Edhelri's wagon, grunts and approaches Merric once the wagon and horses have been situated on the side of the road. "So elf...are ye fixin' to sprint off into the trees anytime soon? Ye sure the road's callin' ye more than the forest?" she chuckles.
Beyd Sechepol takes stock of his ale while the caravan is stopped. "We're not running low just yet," he informs Karib, "But we'll need to restock within the tenday. We'll just need a roadside inn that's a bit more...hospitable than the last."
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
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Rogram follows Zelina closely, even hurrying her along if she seems to be hesitating on his behalf. "Sure, sure," he says, his mind shifting into smith mode. "We'll get her out," he assures the woman. He recalls all he knows about hunting traps — how they're made, how they're disassembled, and what injuries he should be prepared to find.
OOC: Correct, for the time being Rogram is the only one aware of what is going on here.
Zelina moves swiftly, leading Rogram into the trees at a near-frantic pace. "I just hope she's still okay. I ran as quickly as I could!" she says, deftly stepping through foliage and swatting away branches as she moves past them, sometimes not even holding them for Rogram. The canopy overhead is light enough that moonlight still illuminates some of the ground, but it's apparent that Zelina is no stranger to nighttime exploration. Even with a human's eyes, she matches Rogram's pace easily despite the advantage of his darkvision.
"Arietta!" Zelina calls out for her sister after around ten minutes of walking. "Arietta we're coming, are you okay?" After a few calls, a cry of pain issues from further ahead.
Crashing through some brush, Rogram and Zelina reach the scene. In a small clearing sheltered by a few larger trees, Arietta is standing - standing? - in wait. "Rogram! Oh, gods, I'm so glad you're here," she says.
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Rogram rushes to her and attempts to free her from the trap.
Arietta grins a wicked grin as Rogram closes in to see that there is no trap in sight. "Oh, Rogram...so brave, Rogram. You truly care so much about me," she coos, her face twisting into a strange gray, mottled, mouthless shape. Her eyes, now yellow with no pupils, show no emotion.
"We were hoping you would bring some of your friends with you, but...you'll have to do. He has plenty of gold in his pack, dear sister," Zelina says from behind Rogram. Spinning around, he sees her shifting into the same grey, featureless humanoid form.
Zelina suddenly lunges forward, her grey fist thumping into Rogram's chest with incredible force, taking his breath away. Arietta closes in from the opposite side; Rogram is suddenly dipping and twisting amidst a flurry of blows from the twins, their speed and strength nearly unbelievable.
Round 1 Order:
Arietta and Zelina
Rogram <=====
Placement:
Rogram is engaged in melee combat with Arietta and Zelina
Health:
Rogram is lightly wounded.
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Ah, Rogram. Poor, unsuspecting Rogram. OK, so they walked 10 minutes into the forest, which means no amount of yelling is going to bring anyone. Were there guards on patrol? Perhaps someone noticed Rogram being led away from the wagons?
Rogram is very confused! What, exactly, is going on? What happened to Arietta and Zelina? What are these creatures? Why are they moving so fast?! He yells, "Arietta?!" into the night, trying to determine her location. "Where are you?" He draws his axe and attempts to cut into the nearest gray thing.
Attack: 18 Damage: 10
If the attack hits, bonus: Bardic Inspiration/Blade Flourish: 5
Defensive Flourish. You can expend one use of your Bardic Inspiration and deal extra damage equal to the number you roll on the die. You also add the number to your AC until the start of your next turn.
OOC: At the moment, as far as Rogram knows, nobody else is aware.
"I'm right here, Rogram. What, am I not pretty enough for you anymore?" the doppelganger taunts as Rogram tears his sword down the arm of its companion. "Stop toying with him!" the other shouts, stepping back from Rogram's defensive move with his blade, but moving incredibly fast around the half-dwarf's side and rapping the side of his stomach with a punch. The first doppelganger heeds the words; Rogram's head rings suddenly as two fists slam into the back of his skull. Dazed and reeling, he maintains his footing among the roots and leaves on the forest floor.
Round 2 Order:
Arietta and Zelina
Rogram <=====
Placement:
Rogram is engaged in melee combat with Arietta and Zelina.
Health:
Zelina is lightly wounded.
Rogram is severely wounded.
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Rogram blinks at the doppelganger identifying itself as Arietta. The distraction is enough to allow three hits to land, despite his defensive posture. "N-no," he says, grimacing. He swings his axe again.
Attack: 20 Damage: 13
If the attack hits, bonus: Bardic Inspiration/Blade Flourish: 1
Defensive Flourish. You can expend one use of your Bardic Inspiration and deal extra damage equal to the number you roll on the die. You also add the number to your AC until the start of your next turn.
OOC: Is Rogram targeting the wounded or unwounded doppelganger with that attack?
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OOC: Assumed it was meant for the already-wounded doppelganger to keep us movin'.
A low growl emanates from the doppelganger as Rogram's axe sprays its blood across the forest floor. Rogram ducks a blow from behind, but another thumping strike to his chest pushes him off balance. He doesn't even feel the next rap to his temple; only a searing white light fills his vision, then darkness.
Rogram awakens to a pair of Merrics looking down at him. The two elves slowly merge into one as they call something out to the rest of his companions, who soon follow. It is daylight again, and Rogram's head throbs fiercely. One leg is numb from its awkward placement where he fell, and blood has caked his face from cuts opened by the doppelgangers' fists.
Having been alerted to the missing guard and twins in the morning, at first the merchants wished to simply carry on, after chuckling sentiments that the half-dwarf's likely dalliance with the Innevar sisters meant that he had simply moved on to bigger and brighter things. Leda had taken the disappearance seriously, however, stating that the man who put his life on the line against hobgoblins the day before would take his duties more seriously than that, and enlisted the help of other guards in sending out a search party. The merchants agreed to a two hour search of the surrounding area, but it took only a half hour for Merric's sharp elven eyes to track Rogram and a pair of footsteps into the forest. Karib and Akira arrive soon after.
Awakening, Rogram finds the contents of his pack nearly emptied. His rations are gone, along with all of his coinage and precious stones.
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“Rogram! Rogram!” Merric calls out his name as he regains consciousness. He jams a packet of herbs into his mouth, trying to ease his pain. “Here, eat this, it will take the edge off. What happened? Have you seen the girls? They are missing too.” He offers his hand to help Rogram up to his feet. "You look terrible."
Forgot to roll in the last post. Rogram healed for 4 hp from cure wounds.
Rogram groans, blinking, squinting and grumbling. "Where — ow," he says, raising a hand to the back of head. "Moradin's beard," he says slowly and quietly, clearly disappointed in the situation. "What an idiot."
After helping him up and discovering his gold and the Greenest gems gone from his pack, Rogram tells the tale of being woken by Zelina, led into the forest on the pretense of rescuing Arietta from a hunting trap, and then falling victim. "They ... they turned into some kind of other creatures," he says, screwing up his face in disgust. "Gray and ... naked ... and kind of like a human, but not a human." He takes a step, having to limp because of a pain in his hip. "They sure hit hard." He smiles at Merry, throwing one big hand up on the elf's shoulder. "Thanks for finding me."
@DM: Do I get a long rest? I see I'm at 1 hp.
OOC: Rogram's long rest was interrupted, so he wasn't able to gain the benefits of a long rest. No level of exhaustion though.
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Akira relieved to see her companion alive calls her familiar to go to the skies to seek signs of their passing. She will search for the signs of their paths in order to give her familiar a direction.
“I am glad you yet live but fear they may have more in store for 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)
"We would not have left you." Merric listens to Rogram’s story and shakes his head sadly. “They changed into something? I am glad you are okay, but it appears they were taking advantage of you.” Merric holds up Rogram’s empty pack “They robbed you, you were lucky you didn’t get more than those lumps. But they couldn’t have gone far.” As Akira’s familiar flies overhead, Merric scouts the clearing for any signs of tracks leading away, and tries to determine what kind of creature could match the description Rogram shared.
Merric has heard tales of many creatures, mythical or otherwise, that are said to be able to change shape, but is not aware of a specific creature that could do what Rogram has described. Even with the help of Akira's familiar, Merric is unable to track the women beyond the clearing; he does note, however, that their initial tracks appear to be barefoot around the area Rogram was discovered. Shortly thereafter, they seem to become the sort of prints left by heavy boots before disappearing entirely.
See my profile for all my PbP threads!
Akira will jot down notes about the description of the creatures in hopes that she can jog some knowledge during her time in academia about the creatures then call back her familiar.
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: Akira has the same level of knowledge as Merric regarding these creatures.
I want to make sure that Rogram has the chance to fully react to the situation, but if that's the case and everyone is ready to return to the caravan let me know and we'll keep a movin'.
See my profile for all my PbP threads!
Rogram's consciousness makes note of Merric and Akira's attempts at tracking the creatures, but he is too busy berating himself and unhappily replaying the memories of the times he spent with Arietta to pay too much attention. He is such an idiot. Of course she wasn't really interested in him. What would his father say if he knew? Maybe he wasn't good for anything more than a blacksmith. Not even that — just a blacksmith's apprentice. It seems like every battle he gets into, he ends up losing.
When it seems the others are ready to go, Rogram accompanies them back, not saying anything. He heads straight for Lai's wagon once they leave the trees. He looks like a dog returning to its owner with its tail between its legs. He approaches Leda and shakes his head. "Arietta and Zelina were not who they appeared to be," he says to her, not quite meeting her eye and sounding frustrated and repentant. "The creature that looked like Zelina tricked me into following it into the forest to save Arietta, but when we reached her, they both changed into gray, naked, human-looking creatures. They knocked me out, robbed me, and left me for dead." He shakes his head again. "I should have been more cautious. I'm sorry."
Leda places a hand on Rogram's shoulder until he meets her eyes. "I'm glad you survived it. You're probably exhausted in more ways than one. I'll let the merchants know we're moving forward without the sisters. And...I won't provide all of the details," she says.
"We are glad you are okay," The Pole says in almost as many words as Rogram has heard from the man to date.
The road eventually winds into the very forest that Rogram was discovered in. Progress throughout the morning is slower than the norm as thick trees and brush threaten to take back over the road from the travelers who created it, but the way is clear enough that progress is still made. Around midday, a break is called beneath the shade of the forest boughs, and a few travelers volunteer to scout ahead and clear away any other potential blockers like fallen logs and overgrown segments of the road.
Eldkin, the dwarven bodyguard for Edhelri's wagon, grunts and approaches Merric once the wagon and horses have been situated on the side of the road. "So elf...are ye fixin' to sprint off into the trees anytime soon? Ye sure the road's callin' ye more than the forest?" she chuckles.
Beyd Sechepol takes stock of his ale while the caravan is stopped. "We're not running low just yet," he informs Karib, "But we'll need to restock within the tenday. We'll just need a roadside inn that's a bit more...hospitable than the last."
See my profile for all my PbP threads!