[12] Traversing the Jungle

[Merc]

Session Start: Sun Mar 21, 2010

<Merc> When we last left our heroes, a recent enemy makes his reappearance with a t-rex in tow and a grudge against a certain archer. Thanks to a bit of luck and skill, the giant beast was dispatched, although their foe made a stunning magical disappearance. At least they all made it alive though, even if Elise was somewhat out of it from the impact of the beast's corpse crashing atop her.
<Jack> "Well... At least we won't be worrying about rations for a while."
<Aleph> "Ow...that hurt.  Like pain.  Lots and lots of pain."
<Maya> "Well, if you want to eat dino meat for a while," Maya leaped down from up above, somehow unblooded despite the whole crazy affair.
* Anassia was also stuck in the beast's mouth following a bad run of the luck.
* Maya bends over and glances at Anassia, "Need some help?"
* Kheldar prods the flesh of the giant lizard with his sword. "The hide could come in handy. We could skin it and sell it for profit or craft something out of it, perhaps?"
* Aleph notices Elise..."...she's had a tendency for getting hurt as of late, I've noticed..." before moving to try and un-pin her from the dead dino, still huge
<Anassia> "Please..." she says softly.  "And get me some bandages..."
* Kheldar shrugs and attempts to aid Aleph.
* Maya wedges her blade in the creatures jaw, prying it open using her weight to let Anassia pull herself out.
<Merc> Elise groans as she's pulled out by Aleph, her eyes seem a bit unfocused.
<Kheldar> "Having a Rex fall on you would certainly do a number on your senses, I imagine."
* Jack flicks the blood off his blades then sheathes them
<Aleph> "Oi, Anassia.  How long do I end up staying huge, anyway?"
<Merc> Probably should dump Elise atop the donkey they bought seeing as Maya seemed to be recovered from her earlier state. Nothing cures hangovers like fighting something five times your size.
<Jack> "I wonder how it tastes"
<Kheldar> "I'm glad we bought that donkey. It seems to keep coming in handy." Kheldar gestures to Elise then points at the donkey.
* Anassia pulls herself from the mouth, covering her wound with her hand to try and stem the bleeding.. "I'm not sure," she responds to Aleph. "Probably not too much longer,"
* Aleph checks Elise's legs a bit first to make sure they're not broken.
<Merc> Elise seems mostly uninjured, just a bit battered, and the impact with the ground probably rattled her a bit. She should be fine in a couple of minutes... hopefully.
* Jack walks over to Anassia and checks out her wounds
<Jack> "Hmm..."
<Jack> roll 1d20+9 heal check
<Penuche> Jack invokes Penuche's magic: < 10 > [d20=1]
* Aleph would definitely put her on the donkey, then, before turning toward Anassia
* Maya slips her blade away now that Anassia is free.  "Who was that idiot anyway?  I didn't recognize him except for him running amok."
<Anassia> "Just get me some bandages," she says to Jack, shaking her head slightly.
<Aleph> "...That idiot was the survivor who managed to get away from our raid on the slavers' camp."
<Jack> roll 1d20+9 heal check
<Penuche> Jack invokes Penuche's magic: < 11 > [d20=2]
<Jack> (woops)
<Jack> (hit the wrong thing)
<Jack> (ignore that)
<Jack> "Yes... these breasts seem to be in fine condition."
<Aleph> "Jack, WRONG DAMN TIME FOR COPPING A FEEL!"
* Kheldar pinches the bridge of his nose and sighs.
* Kheldar mutters, "At least be subtle about it."
* Maya casually whaps Jack in the bgack of the head.
* Anassia looks like she'd much prefer to give Jack a feeling of her hand across his face but for the bleeding. Instead she turns to Aleph. "Bandage."
<Jack> "To be honest, I just slipped and decided to roll with it."
* Jack hands Anassia some bandages.
<Jack> "My apologies."
<Maya> "Pick on someone who isn't wounded, addled jack," She kept a watch out as they were patching folks up.
<Anassia> roll 1d20+6 Not-groping heal check
<Penuche> Anassia invokes Penuche's magic: < 12 > [d20=6]
* Anassia has a hard time of bandaging her own wounds, what with her hands shaking uncontrollably. "Dammit," she mutters darkly under her breath.
* Aleph looks over to Anassia, before kneeling down and trying to steady her hands
<Aleph> (Aid Another, if possible!)
<Aleph> (Oh, wait)
<Aleph> (Nevermind.  Untrained.  Damnit)
<Jack> (I can aid her :D)
<Anassia> ( Still would fail; DC 15, aid gives +2 ) ^^
<Aleph> (Flavor, then.)
<Merc> The group slowly takes a few minutes to catch their breath and mend their wounds as they decide what to do next.
* Anassia will continue to try and bind the wound, not really wanting to have an open wound in a jungle.
<Anassia> roll 1d20+6 Healing Factor 4!
<Penuche> Anassia invokes Penuche's magic: < 24 > [d20=18]
<Maya> "Feeling better Anassia?" Maya was striding along a bit above them, staying above the bug nest that was the forest floor.
* Aleph walks along, keeping his bow out just in case
<Anassia> "I suppose," she says, sitting against whatever happens to be convieniently nearby.  "Nothing quite like being made into a snack."
<Aleph> "Then there was the fun bit of falling into a tree right after."
* Aleph winces at the thought. Damn lizards.
<Anassia> "So glad I left home for this," Anassia says, shaking her head slightly.
<Aleph> "Of course, not sure which is worse.  The big lizard doing that to me...or the overblown way that moron was yelling the whole time."
<Maya> "The idiot.  If it wasn't for him, we might've gotten a better view of the wildlife."
<Anassia> "Between the bugs and big lizards, I've had enough of the wildlife," Anassia says, shifting slightly, slapping at another bug.
* Kheldar grunts sourly as he hacks through the undergrowth, indicating agreement.
<Kheldar> "I prefer temperate woodlands, not this damn /jungle/."
<Aleph> "I prefer what isn't the mouth of a big lizard."
<Anassia> "I prefer wildlife when it's not actively trying to eat me."
<Maya> "If you came up here, it's less...miserable," Maya gave a weak smile.
<Aleph> "I imagine."
<Merc> Traveling seems to go at a nice steady pace, Kheldar opening up a path ahead of them so even the donkey could pass through easily, although they are certainly moving a lot more slowly than if they had been going through the main road.
<Merc> It's been a few hours since their encounter with the tyrannosaurus, and their stomachs begin to signal a desire for lunch. Kheldar's arms could probably use a break from all that hacking vines and branches too.
* Kheldar sighs and let's his sword arm drop to his side. "I suggest that we recuperate and eat some food while we can. Now is as good a time as any, I suppose."
<Aleph> "Barring giant lizard attacks, I'm in no place to disagree."
* Maya hops up a bit and takes a look around for clearings or beasts.
<Anassia> "I am forced to agree," she says, nodding slightly, leaning heavily against her spear.
* Kheldar fair collapses against the trunk of the nearest tree, sinking down to sit on the damp forest floor.
* Aleph stands, leaning back against a tree himself
<Merc> There's a bit of a small clearing nearby, probably why Kheldar chose that moment to request a break.
* Maya nods and hops down there ahead.  "Good a time as any.  I don't see anything nasty with a thousand teeth nearby."
* Kheldar nods through the trees in the direction of the clearing. "Let's set up a makeshift camp here. A small fire should be fine, but I mean /small/. I'm going to eat a cold lunch, myself."
* Kheldar rises to his feet with a grunt and heads toward the clearing.
<Aleph> "...ech."  Aleph digs through his pack for some rations, unless someone was willing to disobey Kheldar and was able to make a large fire quickly.
* Anassia moves towards the clearing as well, mostly glad to get off her feet once she gets to it.
<Aleph> Which might be fun--though an irate Kheldar isn't quite as funny as an irate Elise
<Aleph> albeit lacking in veiled hammer threats
<Maya> "You're no fun as usual Kheldar.  It's not like there's a horde of angry slavers chasing us," She playfully teased even as she sat with everyone to eat.
<Aleph> "Eh, screw it.  We might as well enjoy what we can."
<Kheldar> "I'm simply cautious. Smoke attracks both people and wild animals. Do you want another curious t-rex poking about while we eat?"
* Kheldar raises an eyebrow at Maya.
<Aleph> "Do you really think there's another huge lizard running around in foliage this thick?"
<Kheldar> "I wouldn't be surprised. Better safe than sorry, don't you think?"
* Anassia glances towards Aleph. "Such as these fine accomodations?" she asks, a hint of her dry humor returning as she rests. "And I'm all for a fire."
<Aleph> "Just saying, we might as well go all out with the fire, then.  And something as big and easily noticeable as that wouldn't survive in here for so long."
* Kheldar shrugs. "Suit yourself. But if something does happen, I'll take great, childish pleasure in saying 'I told you so!'"
<Jack> "I gotta agree with Kheldar."
<Jack> "I think a big fire is a bad idea."
* Aleph shrugs.
<Anassia> "I think we can't make a fire big enough." Anassia remarks, shifting her weight again.
<Aleph> "Coherent majority rules.  Let's break out the fire."
* Aleph goes about to gather wood for a fire, then
<Aleph> roll 1d20+5 Survival yay
<Penuche> Aleph invokes Penuche's magic: < 21 > [d20=16]
<Merc> Aleph quickly picks out various branches that look somewhat dry, gathering them in a spot for a campfire.
* Aleph then breaks out the flint and steel, getting to work to setting them alight
<Kheldar> (ROLL A 1, DOOD!)
<Maya> "Well, worst comes to worst, khel gets to say I told you so.  Really a rare occurance anyway," Maya teased meanly.
<Aleph> roll 1d20+5 survival again
<Penuche> Aleph invokes Penuche's magic: < 6 > [d20=1]
<Merc> Somehow, against all odds, a gust of wind, the wood is made out of some explosive substance, who knows, but as soon as Aleph attempts to light a campfire up, the whole thing bursts into flames that jump around them, catching various parts of nearby trees and vines aflame.
<Aleph> "...you have got to be fucking kidding me."
* Anassia can't help but jump at the sight. "What... the... hell?"
* Kheldar blinks stupidly for a moment. "...I wasn't serious. I take it back!"
* Kheldar jumps to his feet. "Stamp the flames out!"
<Maya> "What in the world are you doing Aleph?"  Maya dropped the remains of her food, leaping away from the gathering fire.
<Jack> "Holy shit."
* Kheldar races to the nearest flame and starts to stomp on it, trying to keep it from growing larger!
* Jack jumps back
* Jack tries throwing some dirt on the fire
<Kheldar> "Kick dirt onto them! Smother them any way you can!"
<Aleph> "What the hell am -I- doing?!  WHERE THE HELL DID THAT WIND COME FROM IS WHAT YOU SHOULD BE ASKING!"
* Aleph pulls out his waterskin and tries to drown the flames with its contents
* Elise wakes up a little at last. Just in time for--"What is--what in--what did you all do?!"
* Anassia gets up at the sight of the dancing flames. "... I meant when we weren't /in the jungle/, Aleph!" she exclaims.
<Maya> "Aleph is a failure at putting wood together," Maya explained to elise.  "A dangerous failure."
<Elise> "Shouldn't we call the fire brigade?" Elise wonders, getting up hastily and getting some distance from the blaze.
<Aleph> "Oh, SURE, blame it on me."  Aleph rolls his eyes while still trying to put out the flames
<Jack> "You were the one building the fire. The blame lies with you."
<Anassia> "...fire brigade?" Anassia asks, glancing towards Elise as she gets something to try and help smother the flames with.  "We're in the middle of nowhere!"
<Aleph> "Oh, like I had any idea that there was going to be a sudden gust of wind in a place that has COMPLETELY LACKED IT UP TO NOW!"
<Kheldar> "TALK LESS, FIGHT FIRE MORE!"
<Aleph> "WHAT DO YOU THINK I'M DOING?!"
* Aleph is indeed throwing water on the flames that have popped up
<Merc> There's a lot of screaming going around as they do their best to put out all the fire. It doesn't take very long though, it mostly looked worse than it was, the moisture in the jungle much more prevalent than back home where a fire could get out of control fast. A lot of smoke is still left floating in the air, so any hopes of remaining hidden with a small fire are certainly dashed. If anybody was around, they were certain to notice.
<Maya> "Well, that ruined lunch," Maya tsked, disappointed that her relaxing break was destroyed so quickly.
<Maya> "Shall we keep going until we're at least away from that?" She pointed up at the smoke.
* Kheldar nods in immediate agreement.
<Kheldar> "Definitely. Better to be tired than noticed, wouldn't you agree? We can find another clearing easily enough."
<Jack> "Let's get a move on."
<Jack> "Also, I'd like to vote that Aleph is no longer allowed anywhere near any sort of open flame or fire making impliment."
<Kheldar> "I second the motion." Kheldar starts gathering his supplies together to move out.
* Anassia can't help but sigh as she gets ready to move on as well, although she keeps some food out to eat as they walk.
* Maya strides along, staying with the group this time.
* Aleph sourly follows along
<Anassia> "How much farther, do you think?" Anassia asks abruptly as she continues to eat.
* Aleph has decided to not eat.
<Merc> They only travel for maybe twenty minutes or so before Kheldar starts feeling exhaustion again from lack of rest. Thankfully, it looks like there might be another clearing up ahead, although it doesn't look to be very big. Worse, it might be occupied as you can hear some rustling up ahead from something moving around.
* Maya hops up. "I'm going to look ahead."  She heads along the tree branches to take a look from above.
<Kheldar> (Spot/listen checks? Or should one of us sneak closer to do so?)
<Kheldar> (....or never mind)
* Aleph just stays in the back, taking his bow out already
* Anassia stows away what remains of her food as Maya moves off, glancing in the direction of the clearing despite being unable to see anything.
<Merc> ooc: climb check from maya, then tumble
* Kheldar loosens his sword in his scabbard and ghosts into the underbrush, trying to sneak closer to the clearing without being seen.
<Kheldar> roll 1d20+9 Move Silently
<Penuche> Kheldar invokes Penuche's magic: < 25 > [d20=16]
<Kheldar> roll 1d20+9 Hide
<Penuche> Kheldar invokes Penuche's magic: < 17 > [d20=8]
* Aleph just stays back, knowing that the rest of the group would just harass him for trying to sneak along anyway
<Maya> roll 1d20+10 climb check
<Penuche> Maya invokes Penuche's magic: < 14 > [d20=4]
<Anassia> "Want to bet if it's going to try and eat us?" Anassia asks Aleph softly, glancing over to him as she leans heavily on the spear again.
<Maya> roll 1d20+22 why do you even have me roll tumble?
<Penuche> Maya invokes Penuche's magic: < 32 > [d20=10]
<Aleph> "Not really." Aleph replies shortly.
<Jack> roll 1d20+10 hide
<Penuche> Jack invokes Penuche's magic: < 26 > [d20=16]
<Jack> roll 1d20+10 move silently
<Penuche> Jack invokes Penuche's magic: < 25 > [d20=15]
* Jack advances with the others
<Merc> As Maya slowly climbs a tree to sneak along the high path, Kheldar proceeds ahead of her, Jack joining him, simply sneaking along the ground, using the foliage to hide themselves until they can stare into the clearing and see what awaits. It looks like a trio of reptile beasts, somewhat larger than himself, though not as gigantic as the t-rex. Perhaps a little smaller than Aleph when he was blown up in size. (ooc -more)
<Merc> They're dragging somethign along the ground, their bodies covering sight of it. Whatever it is, it's probably not living though it certainly was at one point, there's a trail of blood coming from it as it's dragged along the ground, making the noise you heard earlier.
<Kheldar> roll 1d20+9 Spot
<Penuche> Kheldar invokes Penuche's magic: < 24 > [d20=15]
<Merc> Kheldar's eyes focus on the thing being dragged, trying to make out a sign of what is being dragged. Between the little movements here nd there, Kheldar feels certain it's a human body. It looked like there was some clothing from what he could see...
* Kheldar curses under his breath.
<Kheldar> "Just great. They seem to have taken a liking to human flesh..."
* Maya makes her way back down to the group.  "I think we should pick another clearing." Maya smiled, not feeling obligated to play ranger.
<Kheldar> roll 1d20+1 Please let me know *something*
<Penuche> Kheldar invokes Penuche's magic: < 6 > [d20=5]
<Maya> "If we try to head back to the main path, we might have easier going with it now anyway.  We're far enough away."
<Merc> Kheldar wishes he knew more about reptiles, as it is, he's got no idea if a nest would be nearby or if the creature is the type that could drag a body for hours to its nest.
<Kheldar> "I have no idea if they move in packs or where a nest could be located. I suggest we make a wide a berth as possible." Kheldar signals to Jack and makes his way back to the group.
* Kheldar says quietly as he arrives, "We have two choices: Go around them even deeper in to the jungle or moving onto the main trail. There are some very unpleasant lizards up ahead."
<Merc> ooc: If you plan to keep cleaving trees and branches, I'm going to ask for a constitution check from Khel to not become fatigued.
<Anassia> "More lizards?" Anassia asks, blinking.  "Why can't they be deer or something?"
<Aleph> "I'd say we should just move around them and keep going."
<Jack> "Like we would be that lucky."
<Kheldar> "Exactly. I'm for going around them myself."
<Anassia> "I say we go to the trail.  I don't think sleeping out here would be a very pleasant experience."
<Kheldar> "So we have two for the trail and two for going 'round them. Jack? You're the tie breaker."
<Maya> "Let's head back to the main trail."
* Maya speaks again, insisting her way is what is taken.
<Jack> "Let's not bother them.:
* Maya hops up again, trying to lead back toward the main trail using a high view to see where to go.
<Merc> ooc: Spot check, maya
<Kheldar> "That's not what I mean, Jack. Should we go around them, deeper into the jungle, or get back to the main trail?"
<Jack> I vote jungle"
<Anassia> "Looks like it's a moot discussion," Anassia comments, glancing towards Maya as she bounds off.
<Maya> roll 1d20+7
<Penuche> Maya invokes Penuche's magic: < 21 > [d20=14]
<Kheldar> "If she wants to dash off before listening to group majority, that's all well and good. She'll realize eventually that we're not following, if she decides to continue on."
* Kheldar shrugs nonchalantly.
<Merc> As Maya climbs trees to look from a high enough point around her, she sees that the road is somewhat to the left of where they've been traversing, Kheldar keeping them almost parallel with it. It looks like it's a bit mountaneous towards their right, spotting some cliffs and other high terrain in that direction, though it looks like you'd still be able to keep moving ahead without mountain issues if you keep to a jungle path.
<Maya> "Easy path walking, five minutes that way," Maya calls down, tired of the forging their own path in the woods into beasties.
* Aleph has already followed the rest, still quiet, still glum.
<Kheldar> "Doing what is easy instead of what is safe is a surefire way to get killed, Miss Maya. The dangers of being caught on the road outweigh what dangers we could face in the jungle."
<Merc> ooc: Khel, if you're still chopping a path, roll that constituion check.
* Kheldar shoulders his pack. "If no one else has any objections, we'll simply circle around the beasts."
<Maya> "Yes, because dinosaurs are tremendously safe, Kheldar-chan and making a lot of noise cutting down trees keeps you in prime shape."
<Maya> "But have fun," Maya watches from above, shrugging.
<Kheldar> roll 1d20+2 Let's hope I'm hardy and manly.
<Penuche> Kheldar invokes Penuche's magic: < 18 > [d20=16]
<Merc> Kheldar somehow manages to keep going with the wood chopping and so forth. His arms are going to be screaming at him come next morning. Thankfully, by the time his arms are pretty much gone though, it looks like there's a sign of civilization up ahead. Now it's a matter of whether they want to go into town or keep roughing it out due to their concerns.