Girl Genius V: Madre de Diodes!

[Eldan]

Oh, and "egress" means "exit"!

Oh. I always thought it meant "female eagle".

[datalaughing]

I believe a female eagle is an eagless or hen-eagle. Though if egress is an alternate name, that's a good joke in the comic.

[Eldan]

That was a Terry Pratchett joke, for the unenlightened, hence the smiley. He mentioned a freakshow (or circus or something) having a sign saying "See the Egress!".

[Ellen]

True story about the egress. I think it was Barnum and Bailey in the 19th century. It got so crowded that they resorted to trickery to get people out (I'm not sure if the part I heard about the person outside the exit with the dictionary to prove egress meant exit was true, but it would make sense).

About Gil's death - What Tarvek said about it (or what Othar understood, which may not be the same thing [or what I thought Othar understood, which may really not be the same thing]) seemed to imply he had NO IDEA what happened to Gil once he was inside the kestle.

If this is correct (which, I know, is iffy), the timeline they are in has already diverged.

[Tirian]

True story about the egress. I think it was Barnum and Bailey in the 19th century. It got so crowded that they resorted to trickery to get people out (I'm not sure if the part I heard about the person outside the exit with the dictionary to prove egress meant exit was true, but it would make sense).

In case people are inclined to argue about this, this is mostly correct. It was actually crowd control for P.T. Barnum's museum in New York City, quite a while before Bailey entered the picture.

Of course, I wouldn't be surprised if Castle Heterodyne has a herd of rabid egresses.

[SirSigfried]

Edit: Oops

[multilis]

About Gil's death - What Tarvek said about it (or what Othar understood, which may not be the same thing [or what I thought Othar understood, which may really not be the same thing]) seemed to imply he had NO IDEA what happened to Gil once he was inside the kestle.

Not sure where that comes from, in Othar twitter I see Othar learning about Gil's death from newspaper, and nothing from Tarvek *yet* on Gil but clue that there is extra info to remember "Now I have to try and remember what that Tarvek fellow said. I think I have to head to the East. He said something about Mechanicsburg."

[Karoht]

In case people are inclined to argue about this, this is mostly correct. It was actually crowd control for P.T. Barnum's museum in New York City, quite a while before Bailey entered the picture.

Of course, I wouldn't be surprised if Castle Heterodyne has a herd of rabid egresses.

Someone needs to homebrew a d20 'Rabid Egress'

And then apply the swarm template to it.

[Eldan]

Well... Serpentine made a "female" template (Pseudonatural Paragon and something else). We stick that on a giant eagle and give it the feral template for the "rabid". There ya go. Epic level beast.

[Balance]

Someone needs to homebrew a d20 'Rabid Egress'

And then apply the swarm template to it.

Rabid Egress*

Small Animal (Swarm, up to 30 individuals)
Hit Dice: 10d8
Initiative: +1
Speed: 20 ft.(4 squares), fly 60 ft.
Armor Class: 12 (+1 size, +1 Dex), touch 12, flat-footed 11
Base Attack/Grapple: +0/-6 (+1/+6 vs. Tiny or smaller aquatic creatures)
Attack: Swarm (1d6 + disease)
Full Attack: Swarm (1d6 + disease) and 1d4 Swallow Whole attempts
Space/Reach: 10 ft/10 ft
Special Attacks: Disease (Rabies), Swallow Whole, Distraction
Special Qualities: Half damage from slashing and piercing, swarm traits
Saves: Fort +1, Ref +1, Will +4
Abilities: Str 8, Dex 13, Con 6, Int 2, Wis 2, Cha 2
Skills: Listen +4, Spot +8 (+12 if target is underwater)
Feats: -
Environment: Der Kestle
Organization: Swarm (flock)
Challenge Rating: 4
Advancement: -
Level Adjustment: -

A flurry of frenzied, flapping feathers flies forth.

A swarm of rabid egresses lurks in the winding channels of der Kestle's famous indoor moat, not so much waiting for prey as engaging in a demented squabble with itself that's apt to draw in hapless passers-by.

Combat:
The egresses will attack anything that stumbles into their midst (including each other) once frenzied. A frenzy may be triggered by a loud noise. Or a soft noise. Or one egress bumping into another. Or some elusive signal detectable only to crazed, diseased egresses. Actually, forget it: they're frenzied. Deal with it.

The flustered flock deals 1d6 damage to any creature whose space it occupies at the end of its move.

Disease (Ex): Rabies--swarm attack, Fortitude DC 16, incubation period 2 months, damage 1d4 Con, 1d4 Wisdom. Rabies may be cured by Remove Disease during its incubation period, but once symptoms develop, only a Heal (or more powerful curative magic) will produce a cure. If the victim's Constitution drops below 5, he will be unable to drink, and begin suffering 1d6 points of dehydration damage per day. If the victim's Wisdom drops below 5, he will become frenzied, and may attack allies.

This Spark-modified form of the disease will afflict birds as well as mammals, but is non-fatal to birds.

Distraction (Ex): Any living creature that begins its turn with the swarm in its square must succeed on a DC 12 Will save or spend 1 round wondering what the flock is going on.

Swallow Whole (Ex): Individual members of the flock may randomly decide they're hungry, and attempt to swallow a grabbed target of smaller size than itself by making a successful grapple check. Once inside, the swallowed creature takes 1 point of damage per round each from crushing, acid, and suffocation. The flock typically makes up to 1d4 such attacks per round, provided targets of suitable size are available.

If, by some bizarre chance, the swallowed creature is armed, it may slash its way out by dealing 4 points of damage to the egress's innards and burst from its snowy white breast in an ironic reversal of a certain movie scene. This also applies 4 points of damage to the flock as a whole, as it kills one member in a suitably dramatic fashion.

Skills: A rabid egress swarm has +4 racial bonus on Listen checks and a +8 bonus on spot (+12 vs underwater targets). It also possesses a profound natural mastery of cricket, but as it is too frenzied to actually display its skill in a match, and doesn't live in England, anyway, no one cares.

*I determined that "rabid egress" was most likely the feminine form of "rabid egret" and proceeded from there. Alternatively, it could be a phonetic representation of a description of a quick exit by a person with a nasty cold and a propensity for excess erudition, but I don't know how to apply a swarm template to that.

[Oracle_Hunter]

Zounds! Page 50 already? Time to start the new thread.

Hope you like the title

[Teln]

We already have a thread, with the title we agreed upon above. Girl Genius VI: Der Pestle in Der Kestle.

[Oracle_Hunter]

We already have a thread, with the title we agreed upon above. Girl Genius VI: Der Pestle in Der Kestle.

Ah, well you should have linked!