Noncivilized World: Message in a Dream IC

[Etherion]

We should discover the reason for the dreams in another six days.

[Rathgar]

As the young centaur prophet Tuntematon grew into a young adult, it became obvious to him that it was time to pack up and start traveling from village to village spreading the divine understanding that Alnin brought. His village hated to see him go, but felt that it would be unwise to try to restrain a deity's messenger from their mission.

Unfortunately, in all the time that Tuntematon spent learning of both the divine and the peculiar, he'd neglected to learn a few of his wilderness survival lessons he'd been taught as a child. He also forgot the way to the next village. A couple of days into his wanderings, Tuntematon was completely lost, and he only had a limited supply of berries and jerky to carry him over. It's O.K., Alnin shall find a way to guide me in the way that I am needed. In her own strange way. He scrounged what he could from the land, but he was not as adept in the field of gathering as his fellow tribesmen. Little did he know just how strange his journey was about to become.

That night, and the next few nights thereafter, Tuntematon kept having dreams. These were not normal dreams of whimsy or exaggerated fears that one normally has. Rather, these dreams were more like visions. The kinds of visions sent by Alnin's elder sibling, Tieteir. Truly, these portents instruct me to take instant action, if only I knew which way to go.

On the evening of the third night, a bizarrely dense fog settled over the lost man. Even more unable to find his way, Tuntematon wandered around even more lost than ever. However, the day the fog lifted, there it was. The clearing that was shown in the dreams was right in front of him.

However, Tuntematon was very hungry. His provisions had nearly run dry. However, he saw off int he woods near the clearing a fairly large buck. He launched a sling bullet at the buck at the buck, but the buck bolted. He followed the rail of blood left by said buck until he found the place where it had died. Claiming his kill, Tuntematon made his way back to the clearing, the buck on his sledge, his intention being to clean and prepare the meat when he got back. However, just as he got back, he saw several people with only two legs and no hooves, one of them was very small. He knew that many such people existed, but he'd rarely seen them. Perhaps they were here for the same reason he was?

"Greetings to every one of you! Who goes there, and why have you gathered?"

[Etherion]

We are here because we all had a dream. And I'm guessing you had it too. Well, I suppose we'll be finding out what it means in a few hours.

[CWater]

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I hope this doesn't come too early for anyone, I felt this was a good moment to move things along a bit.

The following hours pass slowly, with the six dreamers eyeing each other and maybe engaging in some conversation to avoid awkward silence. The surrounding forest is calm, though noisy in its own way. Many different birds are singing and there's always the occasional rustling, though few beings without wings actually come into sight.

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It's mid-spring btw, still slightly chilly on some nights, but it will be possible to sleep outside without fear of freezing, though a good shelter will make it much more comfortable.

The sky is clear, when the sun starts to approach the horizon coloring the distant clouds orange and faint red. Suddenly the peace is disturbed by a growl and a big wildcat jumps down from the crooked tree. It sits down neatly under it, stares at you and lets out another roar, surprisingly loud for its small size.

Pic:

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When it has the everyone's attention, the wildcat rises up and tiptoes towards the forest. On the treeline it stops and looks over its shoulder.

[Etherion]

I think we are meant to follow it.

Aidan stands up, and walks over to the treeline.

[MrE]

Taesha did not understand the girl with the trial markings, but she did not push her. None of them had the Wyrd-Runes that charted past and future, but they were not Dhakan, so it was not surprising.

The small centaur's appearance however did surprise her, for Taesha was unaccustomed to such creatures or their larger cousins.

When the cat leapt into the clearing, Taesha immediately blinked herself into a standing position, spear leveled. But the bold creature apparently did not want to fight, and one of the humans suggested that it wanted them to follow it. Strange behavior for an animal, but perhaps it was more than it seemed...

"I think you're right. We should be careful though."

[Athedia]

Asha let the dove fly over the cat, watching their path to make sure it was not leading them into danger. "A cat as a messenger. I wonder why the sender did not come in person." But gathering up her items and strapping them back on she followed the cat, Fear once more at it's shortened length.

[Rathgar]

The small centaur looks puzzled. "Well, it looks like I missed a lot. In any case, you seem to have some insight that I currently lack, so I guess this will be a good time to trust in others." Tuntematon went ahead and dragged his sledge with him, following the unusually tame wildcat. Something seems oddly too easy about all this, though.

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Sense Motive to try and figure out if anyone has anything to hide: (1d20+2)[20]

[Seharvepernfan]

Kanok doesn't know what to make of the centaur; he knows that nature manifests itself into strange creatures, some of them being shapechangers, but he never expected to see a half-beast, half-man creature. Fang is perplexed as well, and won't stop eyeing and sniffing at the poor thing.

When the cat appears, Kanok seems at ease. He was not expecting a cat, but this creature clearly wants them to follow, and, "The dream-speaker spoke of sending a guide." At that, he gets up, arms his shield and spear, and follows it, taking the lead position in the group, just behind the wildcat. On the way over, he instructs Fang to defend Stiira, having the dog walk beside her.

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You know, maybe.

Handle Animal: (1d20+3)[12]

[CWater]

Stiira nods and follows the others into the woods. When Fang places himself next to her she eyes him warily at first, but when he clearly means her no harm she calms down a bit.

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More later.

EDIT:
The wildcat continues to lead the newly formed group through the forest, keeping itself several feet ahead of them and even occasionally disappearing from sight. Though it is never gone too long for you to follow.

Nature is in a good moment of growth, with the grass growing high and new leaves covering the trees, making the forest much greener than the evergreens alone can. However, the light in the forest soon starts to diminish, the day reaching that strange moment of dusk, when colours are still around, but slowly fading.

[Athedia]

Asha watched the forest carefully. Nothing larger could come out of these trees, but even smaller things were dangerous.

The dove fluttered from tree to tree above them, it's eyes sharper than an humans.

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Asha:
Spot (1d20+1)[5]
Listen (1d20+1)[12]

Dove:
Spot (1d20+5)[18]
Listen (1d20+7)[21]

[CWater]

A forest is never entirely quiet and most can only pick up the normal sounds, though most birds have started to retire for the day. However, Aidan and Asha, through her bird, notice a very faint clicking* noise. It's a strange sound, and it comes from the direction of a tree maybe 30 feet ahead of them.

Kanok who's walking first spots a shape in the same tree, though he cannot say for sure what it is through the leaves. It seems roughly the size of a human, but he can't tell if it is actually a humanoid or a big animal, or something else. Looking around, he spots another shape in another tree about 30 feet to the right. The group's current path would take them right between the two trees. He can also see the wildcat far ahead, it has stopped again to wait. Suddenly a stray ray of light from the setting sun reflects oddly from seemingly out thin air inbetween him and the cat, maybe a few feet further from the trees with the obscure shapes.

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*I'm really not sure if this is the correct word for this description, but it is the only I found. ^^'

A very ugly simple map.

.........C








...........R




Tr....................Tr






............K

C = cat
R = strange reflection
Tr = tree (there are obviously others, but these were relevant for this post)
K = Kanok (the rest are behind him in the previously established order)
(ignore the dots, they're just there because the forum doesn't like extra space)

Don't worry, I'll draw an actual better map, if it comes to that.

[Seharvepernfan]

Kanok twists his head in confusion and curiosity at the luminous oddity before him. Noticing the figures in the trees, he snaps to attention and raises his shield in front of himself, then turns his head to the side and yells, "Trap! Get ready!" He then quickly walks backwards while facing the figures in the trees, to stand in front of Asha.

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Taking a total defense action as a standard action, raising his AC to 23, then using a move action to provide Asha with soft cover. If this is a surprise round, he just uses the total defense action.

[Athedia]

Asha turned invisible at Kanok's warning. Her spear grew longer in her hand and she and the bird tried to find what Kanok had warned about.

[Etherion]

Aidan pulls out his bow, and listens carefully to pinpoint the location of their enemy.

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Move action: take out bow
Passive listen check: (1d20+8)[27]
Standard action/active listen check: (1d20+8)[26]

[CWater]

Stiira gasps and runs behind the closest tree.

(There are many around, it's a forest, after all.)

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I'm not entirely sure yet what's my stance on rerolling skill checks, but you may do so this time at least.

[Rathgar]

Tuntematon

"Hey, what strange manner of thing might this be?" Tuntematon wracked his mind as to whether he encountered anything like this before, and summons a minor miracle of Alnin in an attempt to aid his thoughts.

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Casting Detect Magic, looking between the trees.

Attempts to identify what is going on.
Knowledge (Arcana): (1d20+6)[12]
Knowledge (Religion): (1d20+6)[15]
Spellcraft: (1d20+2)[19]

[MrE]

Taesha grimaced at Kanok's shout and immediately filled her soulbindings with as much strength as she had. The claws on her hands and feet glowed and she glanced around, looking for potential assailants.

She also stepped up close to the miniature centaur, wanting to both protect the rear of the party and be able to easily reach the front should the battle begin there.

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Spot: (1d20+7)[26]
Listen: (1d20+7)[21]

[CWater]

Lumps of something white come hurling down from the two trees. One is aimed at Kanok, the other at Aidan.

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At Kanok: (1d20)[9]
At Aidan: (1d20-2)[9]
(ranged touch attacks, good for you that you noticed them from a distance)

Both warriors manage to dodge the projectiles and the sticky substances just land on the ground. On closer inspection, it looks like web.

Now alerted to the direction of the danger, everyone can notice the omnious figures up in the trees, though the leaves block the way of a better view.

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So basically, you can see that there is something and you can attack it too with a ranged weapon, but to actually see what it is, you'll have to get closer.

Tuntematon doesn't notice anything magical in the surroundings, the only thing he picks up is the faint aura's of some of the group's equipment.

Map:

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I'll probably use other ways to create maps in the future, but for now images will do.



Brown squares are trees,
please ignore the gray line that stands out, I don't know where it came from.

(Now, this was for this special round. I'll roll initiative in OOC in a moment.)

[Etherion]

Aidan takes aim at whatever is hiding in the tree on the left, and fires an arrow.

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Attack roll: (1d20+7)[9]
Crit confirm (if necessary): (1d20+7)[25]
Damage: (1d8+1)[8]
Crit damage 1(if necessary): (1d8+1)[2]
Crit damage 2 (if necessary): (1d8+1)[4]

[Athedia]

Asha moved forward, unseen. She attempted to move closer in postition to the invisible creatures to help bring them down.

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Move to U27, double movement, I don't think she can climb this round.

[Rathgar]

Tuntematon
AC 18, Touch 13, Flat-Footed 15
HP 19/19, Blurred (5 rounds remaining)
Starting Position: 36Q, Ending Position: 33S

"Hämärtää!" yelled the centaur, activating the magical properties of his armor to make him seem slightly indistinct. "I may not know what strangeness this is, but it certainly isn't friendly!"

With that, drew his sling while trotting over to a better vantage point, then let a stone fly.

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Actions:
Move Action: Move 20 feet while drawing sling
Standard Action: Attack ??? at 27T with sling
Swift Action: Activate Blurring effect of armor

Rolls:
Attack Roll With Sling: (1d20+6)[23]
Critical Confirmation (If Necessary): (1d20+6)[8]
Damage: (1d4+1)[3]

[Seharvepernfan]

("Webbing?") Kanok tries to remember if he knows what kind of creature can throw spider-webbing, yet is shaped like a man. He hears Asha run past him, but does not see her... Without pausing, he drops his spear and runs back through the group to a tree he remembered passing. Coming up around it's other side, he retrieves one of the hide scrolls tucked into his belt and unfurls it.

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Well, that certainly looks cowardly.

Knowledge (Nature): (1d20+10)[17]
Drops spear in Q34, runs to N40, retrieves Scroll of Produce Flame.

[CWater]

Aidan's arrow misses it's target and disappears to the forest. Asha runs forward invisible reaching the other tree. When she looks up, she sees the creature lurking in it. It is vaguely the shape of a humanoid, though is has strange proportions, a potruding belly, and a pair of claws in place of hands. It's head reminds her slightly of a spider's, and it's glancing widely around, trying to locate the source of the footsteps.

From the other tree another lump of web comes flying towards Aidan.
(1d20-2)[17]
It hits and the hunter finds himself stuck where he stands.

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Entangled and can't move. Escape Artist DC 13 or Str DC 17 will get him loose. I'm sorry, this really isn't his day.

While retrieving his scroll, Kanok remembers old tales of beings that stood like humanoids, but had the eyes and abilities of a spider, though few had ever been seen as far north as his tribe lived. The tales mentioned their ability to throw webs and to climb with great speed. The most scary ones also told of victims rendered helpless... by the creature's poison. Oh, and that they were carnivores.

Map:

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[CWater]

Stiira takes a deep breath, then runs forward from behind the tree holding her palms together and muttering arcane words, before releasing a shimmering blue orb from her hands.

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She moves to T33 and casts Orb of Cold at the creature in the tree on the right.
Ranged touch attack: (1d20+5)[10]
Damage: (1d8)[4]

The leaves block her view though, and the orb freezes a branch of the tree instead.

On the other hand, a pleasant thud and a small shriek from the same tree implies that Tuntematon's stone found it's mark.

While the attack from the trees gets most of the group's attention, anyone glancing back at where they came can notice the appearance of two spiders. Neither is bigger than Stiira, though they are still unnaturally large for such creatures. Oddly enough, after leaving a tree they seem to travel across empty air, the first maybe 8 feet and the other behind it at 5 feet over the ground. They are not approaching the group however, but head towards another tree.

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The spiders come from the tree at O46 and reach S45 and R45 on this turn.

To move things on a bit, I'm delaying Taesha's action to the first block. MrE, if you really want her to move before the spiders appeared, we can retcon that.

EDIT: Fixed a few errors.
Map:

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[Etherion]

Aidan struggles to fire another arrow at the spider that trapped him.

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Attack roll: (1d20+3)[6]
Damage: (1d8+1)[3]

[Seharvepernfan]

Kanok incants the words on the scroll, which burn bright red before incinerating the scroll from his hand. The fire lingers, however, completely covering Kanok's right hand and wrist, which do not seem to burn. The area around him is lit up as if he were carrying a torch.

As soon as the scroll burns away, Kanok is running towards the tree Stiira was just standing behind. He comes to a hard stop, body-checking the trunk to halt his momentum.

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Casts Produce Flame and moves to U37.
Fang should move to stay with Stiira, when possible.

[Athedia]

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Bird moves to 29 W.
Bird Spot: (1d20+5)[19]

Asha Climb check vs DC 15
(1d20+2)[21]

according to the srd

Action
Climbing is part of movement, so it’s generally part of a move action (and may be combined with other types of movement in a move action). Each move action that includes any climbing requires a separate Climb check. Catching yourself or another falling character doesn’t take an action.

She could attempt two climb checks in the same round since she is not attacking. If allowed (1d20+2)[11]

Asha carefully picked her way up the tree, using Malphas's birds eyes to guide her path.

[MrE]

Taesha glanced up as the attack began: an ambush? She didn't have much time to think about the ramifications though, and immediately moved into action, pounding forwards towards the trees where their enemies lurked.

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Double Move Action to O27.

Sorry for delaying everyone

[CWater]

The sticky web prevents Aidan from getting a proper aim and another arrow disappears to the forest.

Asha starts to climb the tree, getting about halfway to the spider-like creature. At one point she almost loses her hold, but manages to keep herself from falling. Her bird flies around, but fails to see anything new. The creature also looks around, but seems not to be able to figure out the source of the noises. Instead it spits another lump of web towards the one that threw a rock at it, Tuntematon.

Taesha runs to the other tree and sees a similiar creature lurking among its branches. It lets out a shriek and spits web at her.

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Ranged touch: (1d20+2)[14] at Tuntematon
Miss on 1-20 due to Blur (1d100)[89]

Ranged touch: (1d20+6)[15] at Taesha

Taesha can also do a Knowledge:Nature to see if she knows anything about these creatures.

Both Taesha and Tuntematon are caught in their respective webs.

Stiira frowns when her previous spell only hit the tree. She touches a small white pearl tied to a lock of her hair and whispers, "Help me remember." The spell she just cast reappers in her mind and she throws another blue orb.

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Pearl of Power used for the day,
Orb of Cold targeted at the thing in T27:
Ranged touch:(1d20+5)[18]
Damage: (1d8)[2]

This time Stiira's sphere hits the creature, but it takes only a minor frostbite.