laid back apocalypse

(Thank you for your patience, after Birthday celebrations yesterday, I'm moving into vacation mode and heading out of town for the weekend. Can't promise I'll be able to update until my return.)
(Can use the opportunity to RP if you want. Otherwise enjoy the break.)

Ebele dips her head with an appreciative smile. "Thank you Kerric." She reaches out with her hand. Finding Hawke, the monk gives him a few scritches knowing that his nose will be near too. After a few moments, the monk pushes on the doors. Her muscles flex under the weight of the stone doors and they move. The doors open to a dark arid tunnel that leads to the north.

(Anyone who continues...)

T'chal'fronack'zcinicker looks down the dark tunnel, then glances to the rest of the group. Then he says, "This looks unused. I can't imagine the cultists having friendly terms with these monsters we just killed, or having a long dark empty hallway off to who knows where. I suggest we look down the other door, and if there is nothing immediately there, we return to the previous hallway and continue there. Thoughts?" 

Kerric:

”Sound tactics, T’chal’fronack’zcinicker, let us clear this immediate area before moving to another one,” replies Kerric, preparing to move on to the next door.

"There's another door?" Ebele's head moves as if she were looking around for one.

Map Update

T'chal'fronack'zcinicker, "Ahh, I thought there was a second door, my mistake. Maybe I should try wrapping my eyes with some cloth, I might see better. Very well, I think the bridge is our natural path forward. Shall our scouts lead the way as per usual?"

Kerric:

"Indeed," says Kerric, nodding to Lathna.  She moves forward with the other scouts, moving stealthily and alertly.  Kerric follows along at a distance, blade at the ready.

Stealth:  7

Perception:  6

Berd follows behind the scouts, doing his best to listen for any potential danger and Xalkas keeps a good 10 feet behind his new protector. 

Ebele would pause a moment. She’d take a moment to check in on Reghys. Placing a hand on their shoulder she’d check in with them to make sure they’ve taken some time to rest and drink some of the refreshing water before continuing. The monk would sit with them until they were ready.

Lathna and Kerric lead the way back down the halls. Figuring they had good cover from the sound of the river, they don’t plan for scouting change off until after crossing the bridge. As the group is shepherded over the bridge to the other side, Lathna stops suddenly, causing Kerric to pause abruptly, and Anya to bump into him with a loud clang against his armour. It echoes through the area. 

Grunt. Snort.

Those who look over into the next room, it’s filthy. The walls are crumbling and crooked, and the heaps of uncured pelts and hides strewn across the floor form a crude, foul-smelling carpet. Gnawed bones and broken crockery are scattered about, along with a few odd pieces of armor, most bent, twisted, or badly scored by claw marks.

”FEE. FI. FO. FUM!”

STOMP. STOMP.

“I SMELL A DIRTY-“

Bong!

“MARROWSUCKER.”

Two large looming shadows come to a stop just before their figures come into view. There’s some bickering like whispering and perhaps a bonk or two before one of the booming voices return.

”WHO DISTURBS OUR SLUMBER!?”

T'chal'fronack'zcinicker looks about, then raises his voice, "Oh, just your local barrister and associates. We're canvasing our service area to determine if anyone needs any sort of assistance with legal work, wills, licensing, that sort of thing. I don't suppose you have a will drawn up do you?  We could handle one for you for a reasonable rate. You don't want to leave this world with regrets, am I right?"

He smiles and shrugs apologetically to the group.

Earlier:

Reghys nods at Ebele's inquiry. It wasn't just the strain of the ongoing fighting that had them pensive. Seeing how Orric took to their lessons and seeing how effective the group had started to get, Reghys started to question their own role. "I tell stories, sing songs and entertain. I can cause all sorts of havoc if let loose, but at the end of the day, I rely on others or my own imagination to help you all out. I mean, Xalkas and i got through the fight with the ghouls because I managed to convince the castle staff to help us. Sure, they made it through the fight and some even joined our efforts since then, but I have to live with the fact that I was perfectly happy to put civilians in harm's way to help us out. I could try and dress it up as though it was the best chance all of us had at the time, but I can't help but feel that had Kerric, T or Hawke been there, they'd be able to stand up to the ghouls one on one, without endangering innocents. A big gods-damned hero that makes me!"

Looking at Ebele's dipped head in response to their more sombre words, Reghys switches tone, and far more cheerfully, they add: "But hey, if I'm the one telling the story, nobody needs to know that, right?"

----------------------------------------
As the stomps reverberate through the halls, Reghys looks to the others. They are about to adress the two giant beings, when T attempts his subterfuge. It takes all of Reghys' willpower to keep their eyes from rolling. Under their breath, they add: "Had we rested, I'd have more than a single charge in this wand of magic missiles- guess it'll just have to be my own magic then." With that, they step into the chamber, trying to make out as much as possible about the two giant beings. "Apologies. Don't misunderstand my friends ill-chosen words as a threat- nobody here needs to leave this world anytime soon. But yes, we do represent a legal firm, and we were wondering whether you were happy with your current conditions of employment. Looking about here, I can tell immediately that the workplace is not fitting your size, something any decent employer would look to remedy. Secondly, with your propensity to eat flesh and suck marrow, how is your dental plan?"

Reghys is trying to help T in his deception, while taking in as much information about the giant creatures and the room they are in as possible.

Perception: 23

Hawke keeps himself back from the frontlines, letting Reghys and T'chal take the leads on this one. He goes give a questioning glance over to anyone nearby him, wondering if this trick will actually work or not.

Earlier to Reghys

Ebele would look thoughtful before adding, “Or, you simply offered civilians a choice they didn’t know they had. And they stepped up.” Technically, they were all civilians at one point in their lives too. She’d offer a small smile. 

Now

Down the east hall, Reghys could easily make out an ancient fountain shaped like three dancing merfolk stands in the middle of this court. The fountain is dry, and the sculpture has been badly damaged — two of the merfolk are missing their arms, and the third is missing her head. Hallways lead north, south, and east from this chamber. A glimmer of torchlight comes from the north, and another glimmer to the east.

Behind them to the North was a long exposed corridor to the north that appear to lead to damaged and scattered rubble spaces.

However, before them facing south is the filthy room in which the voices came. T'chal'fronack'zcinicker‘s voice echoed while the area fell eerily silent. All one could only hear the flow of water amongst the tiefling’s voice. Then there was shuffling. Slowly the paused shadows creeped forward until the figures would come into view. Two fearsome green and teal skinned giants stand before you. Their brows full and heavy, knitted in confusion. One looks angry, the other confused. They blink a few times, staring down at the snacks before them. 

“SO…” One scratches their head. “NOT BOSS?”

“TEETH BAD!?” The other looks at him, then pulls back their lips to reveal large jagged flesh eating teeth with black rotting spots and bits stuck in them. Reghys could count 9 teeth.

He squints, leaning forward. After looking at his buddy’s toothy smile he gazes back at the group, rubbing his chin in thought. He scans the Satyr, eyeing the top of their head, then points to the dapper tiefling’s horns. “TASTY TOOTHPICKERS!” He nods very pleased as his assessment of their greeters.

The grinning green giant grins wider in glee. “NINETOOTH TASTY PICKER!” He nods in excitement and goes to grab at the tiefling.

On T'chal'fronack'zcinicker
Grapple: 24 vs T 
(Dice not parsing. Force roll go!)

T'chal'fronack'zcinicker grapple contest:  21

"Grabbing me without my consent is a fearsome breech of personal safety ...ooof.....laaawwwssss!!!"   He manages to squirm out of their big hands...thank goodness he had greasy hands...though...greasy with what?  *shiver*. Eeeuck. 

T'chal'fronack'zcinicker initiative :  9

Kerric Initiative:  10

Woof! 14

Reghys, hearing the rasp of steel in sheaths from the room to their back, immediately rushes forward, waving their hands: "No no no, my friend troll! Can't you see he's all red? Like a hot chili, you'll burn your tongue on him. Plus, we're not here as your appetisers, but to make sure that your boss will provide you with plenty more food in the future. What do you say? A little food now, or a lot of food every day from now if you let us do our work?"

Reghys wasn't used to working their silvery tongue on intellectually challenged creatures, but they hope that the appeal to their basic drive would still translate well enough for them to grasp what the satyr was saying and with a flash of inspiration, they hope to craft an appealing  offer to give the trolls some pause.

Persuasion/Deception: 20

(Dice rolls didn't show, so I'm going to try again:  26 please disregard)

Just to be on the save side: Reghys' initiative: 21

T'chal'fronack'zcinicker lays down a very important fundamental rule any being should respect. However, the trolls weren’t bright to begin with and weren’t the kind to listen to rules, let along follow them. Unless… well, unless food was involved. It was fair of the tiefling’s companions to react in his defence of personal space, but there wasn’t much to worry about when T'chal'fronack'zcinicker‘s just as slippery. The handsy troll came up empty, looking at his palm in confusion. With a shrug, he’d reach to go looking for some gooey goods in his nose.

In this pause Reghys seizes their opportunity to grab the trolls attention and engage them in conversation. It didn’t take much for the horned satyr to gain their gaze. And as Reghys spoke, both trolls would slowly begin to tilt their heads. There were a lot of words, ‘big words’, all weaved and laced together. Both giants blink at Reghys, then side glance each other before looking back at the Satyr. 

Removing their phalange from their nose, they point to T'chal'fronack'zcinicker, flinging fluid found. “HOT TOOTHPICKER!” They huff and cross their arms.

The other gestures to Reghys. “COOL TOOTHPICKER?”

The first troll nods. He then looks to Reghys. “YOU DO YOU.” He pauses, then moves to scratch their head. “BUT, WHAT US DO?” 

T'chal'fronack'zcinicker seems almost entirely pre-occupied with his suit at this point. Whatever greasy grossness were on the trollish things hands, which now has revealed to include at least some disgusting snot like material, is now all over his suit. He begins rapidly casting prestidigitation over and over cleaning greasy spots off his jacket, while simultaneously backing away from the big creatures. 

He looks to Reghys to complete his instructions to the monsters.

Reghys suppresses a sigh of relief and, with a bright smile adds to the troll: "Well, in order to make sure you get more food, we need to find your boss so we can tell him what we told you. Where is your boss?"

T'chal'fronack'zcinicker backs up placing more space between him and the grabby troll. Hearing him move closer to her, Ebele leans to whisper. "Psst. Hey." She'd hold out a piece of cloth to offer the tiefling. "How do you make a tissue dance?" Pause. You put a boogie in it! She jiggles the hankerchief. Snorts slip. "S'not funny?".

Meanwhile the trolls are staring down at Reghys, each picking various regions of themselves. Eventually Ninetooth plucks something from themselves. He flicks it forward and looks over to Marrowsucker. "THAT WAY, INNIT?" 

"NEVER WATERMELONS." Marrowsucker nods, pointing North West.