Lost [IC]

[Artemciy]

Jedi

Suddenly the murk of the future comes clear. The veil of the Dark Side lifts momentarily, revealing the future in cracks of shattering probabilities, drowning you with visions of death and suffering. The shatterpoint.

Palpatin has to die.

And yet your Jedi training, your lawfulness, makes you hesitate. "He's too dangerous to kept alive" you argue, more with yourself than with the padawan. You stumble.

...

Your hand's cut off, lightsaber dangles down. You cry. Palpatin cries. Everyone cries and dances for a while and then... boom!

Palpatin's push sends you away in a silent explosion.

You fall, down and down, between the flying cars and the huge fingers of steel that raise from the planet surface, twisting...

...

This is no Coruscant, you realize some hours later, laying broken and bloodied, between the branches that your fall must have had burked off a tree.

Surrounding you is the forest. Large, twisting trees are part dead, part immortal, with leafs green and gold. In pain, your fingers clasp the greyed mat of the discarded foliage.

Bard

Some weaved their stories with voice alone, some with music plucking the nerves, or vine rolling down a tavern partner's tongue, or a clasp of lightning, though few were so obsessed as to make the deadly magic of the skies the trumpet of their arts. Some were hidden in old laws or scattered in a pebble of children tales. The stories took many forms.

But the story that fascinated Kun right this moment was laid in different terms.

It was a puppet theater of sorts. Small figure snoozed in a tiny alcove of a bed, it's chest heaving a tiny fraction - a feat that Kun has only discovered with but a largest of his collection of looking glass. The fire has burned down in the hearth.

"Impossible! Where did you get it?"

The seller, a travelling merchant, though by the looks it was but a retirement plan for this rough ticket, has smiled toothly.
"Like it? It's one of a sorts. A dozen blue eyes and I'll spill it's history as a bonus."

The magic box was telling a story. But the story behind the story? Kun had a feeling about such things. There was more, a lot more where this box came from...

Recruitment thread (www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?492987-Lost-(5e-Jedi-playtest)&p=20940152).

In this scene the Jedi Master Mace Windu has lost his hand and found himself in a strange forest.

Some time before that, Kum Moro, a Bard whom a quest for fame and glory has brought as far as Daggerford, has on a road met a merchant with the most curious contraption. It was a box with a room, a hand wide, where tiny figures moved as if alive.

Feeling there was a story to it he had to know more, but the merchant has asked an excuberant price for the piece and seemed to have an idea of putting the Bard's curiosity against him on the merciless scales of commerce.

[zingbobco000]

Claiming blue as my speaking color, italics for inside thoughts and whatnot

Kun Moro eyes the treasure, looking over it tiny piece by piece. That merchant drives a hard bargain, but the such an item could well be worth it. Of course, I would need to have a bit more cash on hand than I do at the moment, nevertheless I shall make do. Kun then looks up at the merchant and flashes him a trademarked Kun Moro smile. "My good sir, this exquisite artifact is quite something. That I have no doubt of; however, we both know that one of a kind things, even one such as this, can be a bit... how do you say... overpriced. So, I'm willing to offer... 4 golden lions, and I'll throw in a nice lulluby for the night. They're one of a sort as well." Smiling and winking at using the own merchant's words against him.

If you wish for a persuasion check: [roll0]
For a performance check (if the merchant accepts my very generous offer), using my harp [roll1]

Man, no luck for the bard eh.

[Artemciy]

Jedi

The urgency seized Mace Windu. Sweat glistered on his head, breathing ran shallow. He needed to tell someone, to warn the Jedi Council, to save as much as he could from the impending doom.

A wobbling few steps and he fell into the grey sheet of eroded leafs. The body, trained and hardened to perfection, was failing him.

Where would I go, anyway? he thought. The dark power that clouded the Jedi vision lately was there as strong as ever. Somehow it severed his sense of connection with everything, with the universe.

Bard

"I'll fetch twice more in Waterdeep!" the sleaze slurred with conviction. His eye gleamed with dream of future profit.
"But look at this pan (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steelpan), see how it tunes. Top condition, straight from Greypeak! See, I want to make reparations given how you can't afford the chamber, so it's only one lion!".

The man clearly had no clue about music or style. He tried to sell you more of his junk but it was a lost cause. This didn't rattle him much. The thought of fetching a good price in the port city tugged the corners of his mouth up as he turned back to his cart. But the long road from here to there still lied ahead.

"Know what" he glanced at you, "I'm in a good mood so I'll give you a freeby. Do your thing and I'll tell you where this came from" the gesture to one of his packs indicated where the magic puppetry went.

While the box was exquisite, it didn't hold much practical value to you. The story, though… the story it tells and the story behind it, that's what could make you different, what you could turn to an epic to rival the famous bards such as Anstruth.

You harped the lullaby expertly and even the tone-deaf human was appreciative. He clapped in all the wrong moments and stomped and had a good time. In the end he dug a flute out from his cart and started blowing notes. Not surprisingly, the piece ended soon afterwards.

"That's good" he leered. "But can you play Dirty Holly?"

…

You pressed him for details but it was no use, he rambled the same tale and soon all you've got were the hasty goodbyes.

But at least you had a good lead. The box, you've learned, he's got from a gypsy brat in Daggerford. And the boy was real eager to part with it too. You wonder if he got more than just a few nibs for it.

...

Next day finds you trudging lightly down the Trade Way. On your right overlooking a hill sits the tannery building, a column of pink smoke grows from it like a giant beanstalk. The bridge over the Delimbiyr river lies straight ahead to the south. And on your left is the gray stone of the Daggerford's drawbridge gate.

The city looks tiny compared to the sprawling mass of Waterdeep.

That's bad and good. Your stay will likely be short but with fireworks, the population being not large enough for sustenance but keen for the first few displays. And somewhere in there you hope to find the rest of the story and learn the origins of the magic box.

In this scene Kun Moro reaches Daggerford. On his way he learned from the travelling merchant that a strange magical contraption, the puppetry that seems too good to be true and the puppets of which are too lifelike, came from the hands of a gypsy boy. The bard now has the boy's rough description.

[zingbobco000]

The young minstrel makes his way into the city, taking note of the different taverns and inns in Daggerford. Eventually, he makes his way to what appears to be the finest inn in town (insert fine tavern name here). Kun strides through the door and makes a loud greeting "Greetings! My good patrons, and have no fear, Kun Moro is delighted to be entertaining you this evening." Quickly absorbing the room (taking note of any current entertainers inside). He strides over to the bar and flips the bartender a gold piece: "Do not worry my good sir, the evening shall be covered by yours truly. (If there are any entertainers already in the inn then he adds:) Of course, I do see that you are a bit busy today, and that is fine don't worry about that... I'm sure that your patrons would enjoy a... battle of the bands per se?" He chuckles to himself. "Aside from my gracious offer of your patrons being witness to my music, have you heard anything about... Gypsies? I've heard there was a group of them around this area and I've been meaning to learn some of their musical talents." He then flashes the Kun Moro trademarked smile and whirls around strumming a quick tune while he searches around the rest of the city (although if the barkeep as other things to say Kun will remain).

[Artemciy]

The day is bright and it becomes the city. People smile as they see you and the tile roofs play with shade. The town is small enough to almost staly clean and altogether pleasant.

The inns are plenty, from the Happy Cow, where a bunch of farmers dawdle over the family cheese and ale, to Dragonback, where a stuffed black dragon watches you from the wall.

The top of the food chain is of course the River Shining Tavern, proud to be frequented by his lordship the duke.

The place is quiet now, with only a few chance patrons on the second floor and a scrawny musician plucking the strings at the corner of the hall.

Hearing your challenge he glances at you lazily and starts playing a tune. It is a complex piece, full of lurching modulations, and you hear him miss a note here and there, likely not breaking a sweat.

In this scene a local musician seems to answer Kun Moro's challenge. Will the Bard up the ante and turn the place into a field of ditty duel?

We'll hold the breath, leaving the part where he asks about the gypsies for later.

zingbobco000, please roll Performance if you want to weave your music over your rival or peform after him. Or send me a note if you want to skip to asking about the gypsies.

[zingbobco000]

Hearing your challenge he glances at you lazily and starts playing a tune. It is a complex piece, full of lurching modulations, and you hear him miss a note here and there, likely not breaking a sweat.

zingbobco000, please roll Performance if you want to weave your music over your rival or peform after him. Or send me a note if you want to skip to asking about the gypsies.[/SPOILER]

Kun chuckles as he continues talking: "My good sir, is that all you have? " Speaking to the barkeep now: "I deeply apologize, this man puts the name of bards to shame everywhere." He then turns back to his rival, and plays a flowing tune and then begins singing, the song reminds most people of spring, something that is far away from this point.

For performance against this lout: [roll0]

[Artemciy]

With a flurry of strokes Bard brought in the light and fleeting step of a brook, the creak of waking trees, the hail of birds coming home. His voice rivaled that of frolicking elves and the murmur of lovers under a tree.

When he finished, the tak of wine drops from a barrel and the creak of a loose floor plank punctuated the momentary silence.

Glancing around he noticed the tavern was up a few visitors lured in by the sound. Now they stepped in curiously, finding some seats to see what comes next.

The local musician, an older half-elf by the looks of it, eyed Moro with a mix of respect and apprehension. "Flowerful" he allowed, "but naive". His fingers went back to his lute, drawing forth a complex piece that drowned the listeners in mourning cries and craftily placed dissonance. It was strangely moving, the gloomy music comforted you but was broken when a squaw who came recently began to weep.

The awkward moment was saved by a gentlemen who came down from above, from the second floor of the tavern. His was a colourful garb, green and gold and carrying the duke's insignia on his chest. "That was a marvellous performance" he approached you now. "Say, would you like to spend this evening in the palace? Such talent should be seen by the duke".

The barkeep, a sturdy fellow in a leather apron, wasn't far behind. "Yeah, and if you want to stay at my tavern and play tonight then we can come to arrangement" his eyes gleamed knowingly with the sight of good profit.

Kum stayed a while, chatting with everybody. The gypsies were a convenient subject.
"Aye, the Vistani", the duke man explained, "they are the wanderers, never staying in the same place for long, except to die. They visit this place frequently. Why, you may even meet some tonight."

"All of them are sorcerers" a man murmured darkly. "With no fear of the monsters, not even a werewolf."

"I say they are werewolves themselves!" another one proclaimed.

"Wives tales! I serve his lordship more than a dozen years and the gypsies have never troubled us" the liveried man cut out.

[zingbobco000]

Kun Moro begins chuckling from all the commotion as he says in a soothing voice: "Come now, come now. Gypsies you say? I have actually travelled from outside of town and would very much like to meet with them. They have something that I'd like to talk to them about. I would be very much willing to preform for the crowd and while you make a compelling offer my good sir." He looks towards the nobleman, "Nobody can resist the view of the crowd, well, at least I cannot." He then flashes him a trademark Kun Moro smile. He then continues talking to the nobleman as well as the general audience that has gathered around the tavern. "However, that does not mean I am not interested in these gypsies. Please could each of you tell me what you know about them? I would hope they are not monsters, for monsters hiding out in the city would be a terrible thought indeed. Also, did you say werewolf? Is there some kind of werewolf problem around here?" He asks the latter part to the crowd but then remembers their tendency to join in all at once. "Oh, and one at a time if you please."

[Artemciy]

"The forest to the south-east is no longer safe" the duke's man answered. You notice that his presence made the common folk hush, reluctant to talk least they interrupt him. Only when he's firmly silent the murmur builds.

"Aye, my cousin was killed by the werewolves" a commoner says, his tone more i'm-telling-the-truth than actually sad. "He travelled with them caravans, see. A soldier, like that. Went through the Misty Forest, not heard of him since".

"Bones" a midwife drops. "You travel the road, all you find is bones".

"Them gypsies, they travel all right".

"It's theirs foul magic, I say".

The talk landslides into mistrust and suspicion. You hear no evidence that Vistani are responsible for forest attacks but people had to blame someone.

Have you tried to dispel the suspicions or supported the crowd in their panic?

[TurboGhast]

Windu searches the area around him for signs of civilization. I have to be somewhere.

[Artemciy]

A starship crossing the sky? A haze of urban lights reflected by the dome of air for miles around? A chatter of machines vying each for its own radio band. A steady peal of satellites to be picked by the comlick?

Mace Windu couldn't find any of these things.

Despite the planet's perfect habitability it gave a first impression of being bare.

Strange. Most planets like this, natural or terraformed, would show at least some sign of life.

Of course, he wasn't in a ship and couldn't do a full planet scan… Maybe his comlink was damaged or something was interfering with the signal. This mist...

[TurboGhast]

He belts out a confused "Whuh?", then scans the sky for anything that he could recognize. Even I somehow ended up on a completely uninhabited planet after being knocked out a window on the most inhabited planet in the galaxy, I should be able to see the light of other stars, and use them as landmarks.


then scans the sky for anything that he could recognize. Even I somehow ended up on a completely uninhabited planet after being knocked out a window on the most inhabited planet in the galaxy, I should be able to see the light of other stars, and use them as landmarks.



then tries to find a location where he can look at the sky unimpeded. Perhaps a clearing, or the top of a hill? Even I somehow ended up on a completely uninhabited planet after being knocked out a window on the most inhabited planet in the galaxy, I should be able to see the light of other stars, and use them as landmarks once there's nothing in the way of the sky.



Mace Windu looks for a vantage point that would allow him to see the general area he's ended up in around him. If this planet has any life, I could probably survive on it. Rescue might be a faint possibility, but it still could happen.


Making alternate setups because it isn't too much additional effort, and accidentally doing something silly because the time of day wasn't specified is way off tone. This post will be edited after it has been responded to in order to despoiler the things that actually happened, and strikethrough what didn't happen.


Even though day was specified, the DM's next post appears to have interpreted my desired action as the first option, so that's the one I'm assuming occurred.

[Artemciy]

He didn't even know if there was a night. True, the star of this system was shedding its light, the globule's location hinted by the brighter part of the haze. But whether it moved and what the rotation period was? That was a question for later.

In his condition even the Jedi Master was reduced to a single thought: whether it was safe to stay here and succumb to a healing Jedi trance or whether he should leave the place of dark power as soon as he could.


Making alternate setups

They look good to me regardless.

[TurboGhast]

Since Windu doesn't see any way to leave, he risks entering the healing trance.

[Artemciy]

Mace Windu centered himself, tuning off the pain, forcing his body to follow the calming breath patterns that under any other circumstance would've been like second breath to him. Not today. He hadn't that hard time entering the Jedi meditation since he was five. Lots of it had to do with keeping the breath of the Dark Side out.

Not that he wasn't used to it. A master of Vaapad he knew intimately the turbulent surface of it, has learned to brush the swell of dark passions and come off clean. But in this place, the weight of it was oppressive. Had he had a lightsaber, he'd thought thrice before risking the dangerous fighting technique.

Time passed as the cells of his body gathered under the raw and burned flesh of his stump to form the outcrops of skin. He curbed the inflammation and thoughts were starting to show the edges of crystal clarity distinct to him. But he was far from finished when flap of wings disturbed the air.

[TurboGhast]

Windu looks around for the source of the flapping, staying in place as he does so to minimally disturb the trance. The significant chance that the winged being might cause problems warrants delaying the trance in order to make sure he completes it safely.

You can roll perception for me, if it's required. +4 to check

[Artemciy]

Mace Windu didn't jump up. He didn't waste time peering into the mist or running for the hills. Once again he expanded the circle of awareness, this time slowly, "holding his nose" and showing the fine control the likes of which only a master of Vaapad could reach.

The Force has shown him much more than the eyes would have been able to see. He knew exactly the location of the swarm, felt the intricate dynamics of it, synchronicity under the surface of brown movement.

And yet there was something else. Some unanimal-like conscience in one of the creatures, disturbance in the Force that ripped from it. In fact, he felt a kind of awareness from it reacting to his Force Sense, as when a person watched would would suddenly begin to turn his head.

Will the Jedi snap out of it or will he keep his senses open?

[TurboGhast]

Windu tries to peer further with his senses, to get more information about the strange creatures that they've uncovered.

Keeping senses open.