Civilization Building Campaign, IC

[Westhart]

Plateau
Some of you came through tornadoes, tumbling across the dusty wind swept plateau and nearly tumbling off the edge, others may have just been walking home, and some may have even been in a battle, but you all have one thing in common. You are stranded on a plateau, no idea where, and the sound of metal clashing on metal can be heard coming from the southern end of the plateau, and several grunts. However it is too dark (late dusk) to see what exactly is happening... Without heading over there that is. Suddenly there's a bright flash, and the sound of metal stops... for a moment then quickly picks back up, soon followed by a soul searing scream.

Shockfish Pond, ~750 yards south of the Plateau.
((For Mikemical))
You seem to be in a small pond, a river leading through it, one coming in from the North, and one from the south. The bush is thick here, and if someone had been planning an ambush this would be an excellent place. In the water you can see a few fish lazily swimming, although the water is not too clear, so you can't see to the bottom. Suddenly you see a burst of light to the North, followed by a scream. The north is relatively clear and offers higher ground, which would allow you to survey the surrounding area. While you glance around the sound of a twig cracking is briefly heard, but it is there, under the animal life and the gentle whispers of the wind, and it is quite clear, although it doesn't seem that anything is in sight at the moment.

[In4Dimensions]

What? Where... where am I? This is not where I’m from... Is that fighting? But where are my manners?(turns to address the others)Kahde Avain, Elvish High Priest of what was once Asylelion. Diplomacy check: (1d20+8)[24]

[Goaty14]

Sigma gets up, looks around and curses

I do all of this work in exchange for a Plane Shift!? How am I supposed to get back to my shop like this?!

Seemingly unapparent of his surroundings (or even his tree-like self), Sigma stares at the ground.

[JNAProductions]

"Uh... Freya, where are we?" the tall man with a body of stone asks.

Not 100% sure, Gunther. Firebrand, you got any idea? the surprisingly tall dwarvish woman replies.

"Noperinos, boss!" the small, stony goblin says.

Right... You guys stick behind me. Fire, don't live up to your name-

"AW!" Firebrand lets out.

-and Gunther, don't look too scary. We'll be friendly, assuming they are too. Hello! she calls out to the rest of the people on the plateau. My name is Freya, and these are my assistants,
Firebrand and Gunther! We're not entirely sure how we just got here, but we'll figure it out.

[Draken]

Cornelius is mostly sprawled on the ground and immobile, hardly possible to tell him apart from a corpse given the color and the smell. Until his fingers flex and he pulls himself up on a pair of arms, the other two pairs picking up his spear and rifle from nearby as he gets to his feet and looks around, taking in the noises of battle and vapid complaints of mammals and vegetation, he considers muttering out loud to get his bearings on the situation, but this plan is quickly dismissed as three minions groan to wakefulness around him.

"Names and reports, minions."

The beetle-like Gustav answers, being the first to his feet.

"Gustav, master. Shieldguard and mechanic. You died, we were aiding in your reanimation. Something happened after... Uh... We succeeded... Can't see the professor among all these soft-fleshs, so wherever this is, it is just the four of us."

The two other creatures groan on the ground.

"... Eleanore, magewright and technician, and Marthe, huntress. Master."

"So we are stranded in an unknown place, surrounded by mammals, with the addition of a vegetable and some constructs. The sounds of battle ring from just ahead, I am one of the unliving, and that thing over there - One of his now free hands points to Kahde. - has introduced itself as a cleric."

"It is an elf sir."

"And a male one, if you need the added information!"

"Useful to know, I suppose. We should probably be friendly."

"Begrudgingly enough, yes. Help the sleeping beauties up. I will handle the rest."

They are really not being specially quiet about this exchange.

"Kahde Avain and Freya, was it? I am Cornelius, like you, I have no idea how we got here or where this is, rather, the how is relatively known, the principles behind it are the actual mystery. Rambling. I hope we can all avoid shooting and stabbing one another for an extended and fruitful period of time."

[Kashmir]

"Huuuuuuh, what?" Noticing the change in location from the dungeon he was in with his companions, to the now strange looking group in front of him, but the ovetures made by them, causes him to first look closely at them, then possibly put away his weapon. "Greetings I am Barachiel, the Saint, paladin of Sealtiel, what has brought us here?"

Spoiler: OoC

Show

Detect Evil
Diplomacy:(1d20+10)[13]
Sense Motive:(1d20+9)[11]

Urr, wondering if these are his training targets, though different from what the others had brought him to, will bide his time, keeping silent, watching and studying the others seeing what happens from this initial meeting.

[JbeJ275]

Shooting hostile looks at the other creatures present, Miithi turns suddenly to face south, dashing to see down over the lip of the Plateau. He stays quiet as he does so concerned that these people around him could well be foes.

[In4Dimensions]

Shall we investigate the fighting?

[Draken]

Cornelius clacks his side jaws in something analogous to a click of the tongue.

Spoiler: Detect Evil

Show

As a 1 HD undead, Cornelius has an aura of faint evil. Well, he is also just sort of Evil.

"Should we? Most of those in this area are still groaning themselves out of stupor. And a battle this sonorous should be relatively extensive, we can probably afford to wait. Ideally until someone with purported expertise as a scout reveals themselves."

One of Cornelius' blank eyes follows Miithi as it inches away from the group. A healthy dose of paranoia, that one, whatever it is.

[Boggartbae]

FREEDOM! Tabitha twirls in the air, glad to finally be free of that abyssal tyrant's throne room.

After chilling out, she resumes her ever-present guitar strumming, already trying to write a sick riff to celebrate the situation.

"Hey guys" she says, floating over to the group, but still not looking up from her guitar "anyone know where this is?"

[Breitheamh]

As they are spat out of the plane shifting energy, Khaldun and Shrakk are sent spinning away from each other.

The huge Githzerai manages to sit up, and promptly begins sobbing, as Khaldun runs to him and wraps him in a comforting embrace.

"Are you alright?" Khaldun asks, holding onto his friend as the painful emotion continues to boil out of Shrakk's stoic facade.

"I'm sorry, Khaldun!" Shrakk manages to say between his sobs. "I don't know what happened, I don't where we are, I don't how to fix this!"

"It's alright, hey, hey....look at me," Khaldun holds Shrakk's head up to look in his eyes. "It's not your fault. As long as we're together we can make it through."

As Shrakk tries to calm himself down, Khaldun looks around at the others who seemed to have landed with them, listening to them try to come to terms with their surroundings and introduce themselves to the others.

"I am Khaldun Sayyaf, and this is my friend, Shrakk Rrathmal. Does anyone know where we are?" Before anyone can answer, Khaldun and Shrakk are both startled by the scream to the south, and their heads turn in that direction almost involuntarily.

They look at each other, and immediately run toward the universal sound of someone in danger.

[~Corvus~]

Among the rocks and stone, an old and worn-looking rose-colored marble column of a woman cracks at its torso. With both hands it grasps a brutal looking pike; it clatters to the floor. The back of the column, near what would the the woman's back, spurts chunks and bits of stone, and what seems to be...yes, a small wing, extends outward. Slowly, and both with difficulty and determination, the figure seems to free herself from the rocks.

Ostensibly freed from its confines, the column actually has loose-fitting and ceremonial-looking cloth garments of blacks and greys with pictures of various humanoids all around them. There is a decent-sized pack strapped to her left side by leather bands, nearly covered under folds of the ceremonial robes. The creature holds up her hands. One hand is empty; the other holds a white cloth with an intricate ink scrawl. "What...?" She stares at the note and brings it closer to her head. She reads:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
` Remember! Plink of st- `
` ring in echoing tine `

` Reminds you why you`
` soul's declined. `

`Find a cause in mock- `
` -ed life & find `

`Means to save kin, fellow`
` creators and kind. `

`With tribe that wors- `
` hips 5 you'll find`

`Hidden in stone, com-`
` petition aligned `

` By thrice-named, ex- `
` iled mastermind `
|||-|||--|||---||-||-|||||-||-
| || ||-|||||
| |
|
She reaches the bottom of the cloth and trails off, following the sundered threads. With a scowl and a huff she looks around. "Has...has anyone else been left with a..cryptic note?" In the ensuing silence she goes to pick up her pike and gasps. "MM-my GODS!! I...I'm STONE?!? Wha...what in abroean expanse am I going to do?"

[LairdMaon]

Weg des Faustficken

The metallic humanoid rights itself and looks around at his new surroundings and the people present.

"Well, that was... something."

The sounds of combat very obviously drag his attention from the group before he has the chance to identify himself, "Battle first, introduction later."

And with that he tromps off at full speed to investigate.

[Mikemical]

Shockfish Pond, ~750 yards south of the Plateau.
((For Mikemical))
You seem to be in a small pond, a river leading through it, one coming in from the North, and one from the south. The bush is thick here, and if someone had been planning an ambush this would be an excellent place. In the water you can see a few fish lazily swimming, although the water is not too clear, so you can't see to the bottom. Suddenly you see a burst of light to the North, followed by a scream. The north is relatively clear and offers higher ground, which would allow you to survey the surrounding area. While you glance around the sound of a twig cracking is briefly heard, but it is there, under the animal life and the gentle whispers of the wind, and it is quite clear, although it doesn't seem that anything is in sight at the moment.

Jonathan readies his weapons, holding them close to his body as he surveys the area while carefully approaching the underbrush to hide among the greenery.

Spoiler: OoC

Show

With +1 BAB you can draw your weapon as part of your movement action without the Quick Draw feat. Holding them close is to keep others from disarming him easily or exposing his hands carelessly.

Rolling Spot
(1d20+7)[25]

Rolling Hide
(1d20+16)[21]

[dextercorvia]

Karatzas awakes at the clatter and slowly pulls himself to his feet. A seven foot tall draconic knight would look odd in most places, but he considers his appearance mundane compared with many assembled here.

"This is not the inn where I was sleeping, and I can see by the surprise on your faces that I am not the only one unaware of the particulars of our predicament. I might be able to figure out where we are, but first -- that scream sounded dire. I intend to see if anyone needs assistance. A true warrior cannot let befuddlement get in the way of a worthy cause."

Kar trots off in the direction of the battle.

[~Corvus~]

Rose, her grey-and white clothing making contrast with her rose-and-marble form, nods to the dragon-human. We are all from odd places. Perhaps...we can lend assistance? I don't suppose anyone knows WHERE we are?

She gives a look around, but isnt surprised at the general lack of knowledge.

[JNAProductions]

Freya sighs. We'd best figure something out. We seem to be safe for the moment, but when night falls, I wouldn't be so sure... Assuming night does fall. For now, though, let's sound off-introduce ourselves, what we can do,
and how we can work together to see us all through this.

I'll start-Freya, Midgard Dwarf of... Mixed origin. I can fight, I can craft, and I know how to handle myself under pressure, she says, loud enough for all to hear.

"Gunther-um, human, I guess? I think? I can fight too-and I'm good at picking my way around things," Gunther provides.

"FIREBRAND! I burn things!" Firebrand adds.

Firebrand has a little magic, mostly offensive in nature.

[Goaty14]

Spoiler: OoC

Show

Why are you guys rolling diplomacy against each other? Not to be a party pooper, but it isn't much metagaming to know who's a PC/NPC

Sigma gets up and looks at himself, then his newly-found cohort

By orcus' beard! Them hagglin druids DID get me a Staff of Druidic Revenge. My name is Sigma Aegis, and it'll be a pleasure to work with you all.

Sigma then moves off towards the fighting

Spoiler: OoC

Show

Run as a full round action: 210 160 ft.

[~Corvus~]

With the others at a full-tilt run, Rose wastes no time on introductions and follows the others.

[LairdMaon]

Weg des Faustficken

Weg hears the footsteps of others running alongside him. He slows himself ever so slightly, just enough so that he might get a good look at these supposed allies.

"You may call me Weg." He announces, "I would be most pleased to work with you all. I will lend a hand at any available opportunity."

[Draken]

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Only TheArcaneCaster rolled diplomacy and everybody else promptly ignored it.

"The idea of jumping to a battle you know nothing about, when you are in a situation you know nothing about, surrounded by people you know barely anything about, is patently absurd. But it does teach us about the priorities of some of the others."

Cornelius eyes Freya as she speaks sanity, a rare trait in this assembly, by the looks of it.

"And a fellow artisan, is it? Nice to know there are sensible individuals in the area and that I am not surrounded by blood knights and plucky, heroic do-gooders. I reckon my wakeful minion has already introduced his skills and those of his unconscious fellows, they should be decently skilled mechanics as well, if that means anything to any of you all."

Behind him, Marthe and Eleanore wake up and are debriefed by Gustav.

Cornelius does not appear likely to follow those rushing to battle just yet.

[Mikemical]

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Only TheArcaneCaster rolled diplomacy and everybody else promptly ignored it.

Spoiler: OoC

Show

Because you don't usually roll Diplomacy against other players, it doesn't usually work like that. You usually have to convince them(the player) with words before they agree with going along with what you're saying. Bluff and Sense Motive you can use usually against other players.

I say usually because it varies from DM to DM. Some don't allow for a roll on social skills between players, while some demand them, depending on context.

Also, he was introducing himself, not like there's much to be diplomatic about someone telling you their name.

[Boggartbae]

Hey. my name's tabitha she says, not looking up from her guitar.

So uhhh, are we gonna check out that fighting?

[In4Dimensions]

Spoiler: OoC

Show

Because you don't usually roll Diplomacy against other players, it doesn't usually work like that. You usually have to convince them(the player) with words before they agree with going along with what you're saying. Bluff and Sense Motive you can use usually against other players.

I say usually because it varies from DM to DM. Some don't allow for a roll on social skills between players, while some demand them, depending on context.

Also, he was introducing himself, not like there's much to be diplomatic about someone telling you their name.

(OOC) It was a minor joke. I am well aware that people don’t usually roll Diplomacy checks against other PCs, but my character didn’t know they were PCs, because he had only seen them for about 5 seconds. It’s not a big deal.

[~Corvus~]

When she reaches a change in the rocky expanse that reveals the state of the battle, Rose stops to look around and take an assesment of what's generally going on.

[Boggartbae]

Tabitha looks up from her guitar and realises that everyone has already left.

Hey, wait up! she shouts as she floats after them

[Westhart]

Jonathan readies his weapons, holding them close to his body as he surveys the area while carefully approaching the underbrush to hide among the greenery.

You see a young man in what appears to be an authentic trench coat and an old army "pot" helmet cautiously approaching the raft. He has what appears to be a Winchester Model 1897 (trench gun) and the way he handles it shows he's not a novice. ((Listen Check))

Plateau
As the scattered foot race gets to the southern end of the plateau they see the remnants of what must have been a grand battle, with at least twelve score men lying amidst the fallen. The ring of steel on steel has stopped, and sitting there are two men and one woman,, who is quickly trying to stitch up the wounds, wounds that are bleeding unnaturally quick. The smaller man's face is pale, although the other looks like he'll make it. The woman doesn't bother looking up as the others approach and the smaller man nods warily at them. They've obviously been here a while.

[In4Dimensions]

Who are you? What happened here? Would you like some magical healing?
Diplomacy Check: (1d20+8)[19].

Spoiler

Show

If yes to healing, then Cure Light Wounds on the most injured for (1d8+4)[5].

[LairdMaon]

Weg des Faustficken

Weg des Faustficken slows to a stop just past the injured trio. He scans the battlefield keeping an eye out for any movement.

[Goaty14]

Sigma stares at the battlefield before him, attempting to figure out what had happened

Spoiler: OoC

Show

Spot for insignas
(1d20+5)[17]
Roll for comprehension
(1d20+5)[25]