Day 29B: Haunted Forests!

[Iron Dragoon]

Session Start: Mon Dec 08 12:14:34 2014
Session Ident: #dunes
* Now talking in #dunes
* Topic is 'Pepo(26)>Guards(13)>Old Wizard(10)>Veren(8 mikos) '
* Set by Kotono on Wed Dec 03 13:40:57
<TenGreatXornings> -------
<Kotono> roll 1d100
* Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d100 and gets 86." 12 [1d100=86]
<Kotono> Ah, a cat nap. It's just what Pepo needs after this outrageously exhausting day. No worries about a human form, rampaging pirates or any of that rubbish. Just him, a nap, some grooming and a full stomach from a rat. Of course, this doesn't last. He stirs to someone petting him, stroking his back with a strong but gentle hand.
<Pepo> Wellbeing petted is usually nice. He doesn't bother to open his eyes, not when he has a perfectly good nose to tell if it's someone he knows.
<Kotono> It's Bolethon. As Pepo takes a sniff, "Shining, drooling path," he murmurs, softly but loud enough for Pepo to hear. "The Pepo that is not Pepo, but that's not right.  Something wonderful is going to happen, then something terrible. Then...It all depends. We have a barnacle attached to the ship now. He's lonely, you understand, and you're the first creature to show him any regard. But will he
<Kotono> become the Martigan that is not Martigan, or another altogether?"
<Pepo> His ear twitches a little to suggest he hears what's being said but he doesn't bother to open his eyes. 'The pirate attack on Rossalund was terrible as well.' Hopefully the wonderful thing is killing Lost Hero. 'Is Martigan Little's name?'
<Kotono> "Yes," Bolethon answers with a smile in his voice, if not seen. "But he is a house divided on it, you understand. "Be careful, Pepo. Death is far away from that one, down the path that leads from him to the other."
<Pepo> Maybe he should just give up on it. His constructs aren't especially powerful, and without spell support can't hope to win against any serious threat. Veren didn't seem keen on fighting him either, and Lucy and Moore probably less so. 'Perhaps so,' he concedes begrudgingly.
<Kotono> More petting follows. "Soon, soon," he murmurs, resting near Pepo. His petting slow and breathing audibly relaxes - as if he's falling asleep as well.
<Kotono> *slows
<Pepo> Pepo purrs quietly as he too goes back to sleep.
<Kotono> OOC: Just going to rest awhile, Pepo?
<Pepo> OOC: yeah
<Kotono> When Pepo next awakens, it's to the scent of fish. Wonderful, fresh, tasty fish.
<Pepo> And he's feeling hungry too! Rising up, he follows his nose in search of the best of foods.
<Kotono> Nearby is Little. If it wasn't for the fact that he has a big armful of fish, you'd be assaulted by his sulphuric scent. As it is, the fish win out on first sniff. "Bring fish?" he offers.
<Pepo> 'Fish is good. Well done, Little,' Pepo commends his new friend, mewing audibly.
<Kotono> The fish are put down, "Pepo make sure Little stay?" he asks, hopefully. "Little stay in corner of top deck."
<Pepo> 'You don't take up much space. I will ensure you may stay,' Pepo agrees shamelessly with the bribe he's been given, dipping his head down into one of the fish and starting to devour it.
<Kotono> "Yay!" The spiny gargoyle like creature says, as Pepo tastes the fish. Oh, that's good and fresh fish. Mmmmm! "Tell grumpy captain," he agrees, flying on off. As Pepo eats, he soon hears a bellow of, "By what bleeding thong of a giant bitch?!" Kamhoff is heard. "Fuck!"
<Pepo> Pepo just enjoys his no doubt ill-gotten meal. Idly the thought strikes that he hasn't seen Veren or the other two for some time, and if Veren really did make a clean get-away or not.
<Kotono> Amid Kamhoff's shouts and a wonderful meal, time slips on from Pepo. OOC: Let me briefly pause you until the rooms merge. Shouldn't be long.
<Kotono> ---
<Kotono> OOC: Make another Will save, Veren. +5 bonus to this one.
<Veren > roll 1d20+8+5+5 Will/Inspiration
* Hatbot --> "Veren rolls 1d20+8+5+5 Will/Inspiration and gets 30." 12 [1d20=12]
<Kotono> Soon the party rises, fresh and recovered. The first meal of the day is shared on the deck - it's all local fare. The party can see the new shipmate, as Little munches on some sort of gray meat. Kamhoff's pacing, "So more pirates of course," he mutters. "So what all do we do about it?"
<Lucy> "Before that, Mister Kamhoff. What is this?" Lucy asks, indicating Little.
<Pepo> 'He was being oppressed by Lost Hero,' Pepo tells everyone. 'Also he found fish.' Apparently that's good enough for him, as he goes back to eating.
<Lucy> "Does he have any more talents?" Lucy inquires. "Or a name?"
<Kotono> "Apparently the cat's pet," Kamhoff mutters, gesturing wildly to the sky.
<Kotono> "Little!" The spiny gargoyle calls.
* Veren eyes the gargoyle and turns to Pepo.
<Veren > "It's your responsibility to clean up after him."
<Pepo> 'I'm sure he won't make any mess,' Pepo says without any concern.
<Pepo> And if he does it can't be worse than the rat farm.
<Kotono> "Now that we have THAT fucking fun resolved, what's going on with the pirates?" Kamhoff asks.
<Lucy> Useless but harmless, she decides for now. "Alright. I believe that we should make a stand if the green teardrop crew does arrive here-- and there is certainly no cause for such language, Mister Kamhoff!"
<Moore> Moore waves at Little. "Hello!" Moore looks over to Kamhoff. "I think the idea we've all come up with is we'd like to stop them here in some capacity. Rossalund may have... had its bad seeds, but I don't see anything wrong with this place, except maybe their take on crime..."
<Pepo> 'If the opportunity arises I would use it to kill Lost Hero. But he is no easy prey, so it would make more sense to leave this city to its fate,' Pepo suggests.
* Veren shrugs.
<Lucy> "I intend to focus on the protection of their knowledge," Lucy voices. "That would take priority, for without their library there is no need to keep the city. Naturally, it would make me quite happy if everyone who felt the same contributed towards that outcome."
<Kotono> "We can't let them sack a city like this. It would be an unthinkable tragedy," Jetina speaks up. "That's just wrong."
<Lucy> "Excellent!"
<Veren > "They are looking for me, but I think there is value in this city. If we can do something significant against the pirates, we may want to do so. If, even with our help, we don't think we can stop them, then we should move on."
<Pepo> 'Very well, I will attempt to determine our chances,' Pepo says, falling silent as he attempts a divination. Can we prevent the green teardrop from taking this city?
<Pepo> roll 1d100 5+ wild surge
* Hatbot --> "Pepo rolls 1d100 5+ wild surge and gets 49." 12 [1d100=49]
<Pepo> OOC: CL 10 divination
<Kotono> Pepo learns thus: Seek the Cerulean Gem and protection shall be had.
<Pepo> After ten minutes he announces. 'We must find the Cerulean Gem if we wish to protect this city.'
<Veren > "Any mention of that in your research yesterday, Lucy?"
<Kotono> OOC: Make a Will save, Veren? +5 bonus.
<Lucy> "I don't believe so. I will bring it up with Miss Aria indirectly when I head over to see her," Lucy responds, standing up. "Would anyone care to join me?"
<Veren > OOC: Has enough time gone by that I can apply Inspiration again?
<Pepo> 'The attack could come at any time. Staying together is wise,' Pepo says agreeably.
<Kotono> OOC: Yes, it costs one inspiration per save bonus and you have more than one inspiration a scene anyway.
<Veren > roll 1d20+8+5+5 Will/Inspiration
* Hatbot --> "Veren rolls 1d20+8+5+5 Will/Inspiration and gets 23." 12 [1d20=5]
<Lucy> "Lovely. Let us be on our way, then!"
<Kotono> OOC: Who's going with Lucy?
<Pepo> OOC: me
<Kotono> OOC: Nothing obvious happens so carry on, Veren.
<Moore> OOC: I will.
> OOC: I suppose I will.
<Kotono> OOC: We have a full score with this. So onward.
<Kotono> roll 1d100
* Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d100 and gets 24." 12 [1d100=24]
<Kotono> The four plus Jetina head to the library. But you find Rocky there instead of Aria. The earth spirit's face is jovial and relaxed as he greets you at the teleportation circle. "Aria's occupied with rocky, weighty matters," he says, "So I'll be helping you today."
<Kotono> Jetina lightly sighs, "Thank you."
<Lucy> That's probably a joke but she just doesn't find it funny. Smiling politely all the same, Lucy says, "Yes, certainly. Have there been any fresh leads overnight?"
<Pepo> 'Rocky is not a traitor,' Pepo tells Lucy, remembering the query she left him with yesterday.
<Kotono> "Yes. We have five days," Rocky says, humor fading from him, "We've broken through enough of the block to tell that much. They have someone with immense talent to make that sort of block, even one specific and thus limited enough to allow another to work around it."
<Veren > "I am glad we could provide warning, then."
<Lucy> "In that case, we might be in luck," Lucy says, abandoning her intended indirect approach. "Mister Pepo suggested that something called the Cerulean Gem might be the key of your successful defense. Does the name ring any bells?"
<Kotono> "Oh yes, that hunk of stone?" Rocky chuckles, "We know exactly where it is!" He perks up, "But there's a little matter of a cursed forest, so we've never bothered to get it back. It's a misty wood, thick and impenetrable to magic and divination. The Cerulean Gem's lost within there. See, the Cerulean Gem is an abjuration focus used by Wilch Paleyson, one of the founders of this very library. 
<Kotono> Unfortunately," he wavers a hand back and forth here, "He met his end in a torrid affair with some sort of sorrow creature. Long story short, he died badly and the forest he died in became his cursed tomb. There's mists, undead and all sorts of misery in there. It's all self-contained, so after the first batch of efforts to get his things failed, people gave up."
<Kotono> "Really
<Kotono> OOC: Gah.
<Kotono> "Really?" Jetina's frown turns to a look of determination, "The walking dead prowl in that forest?"
<Lucy> "Oh! I see now!" Lucy exclaims happily. "As it happens I am somewhat of an authority on the undead and putting them to rest!"
<Veren > "It seems we will blow this forest up like the ship, then."
<Kotono> "Got it rock on," Rocky smiles right back, "So since we're all busy dealing with this, you'd make the perfect sorts to go try and get it."
<Moore> "Well... how far away is it? If we have five days..." Moore asks.
<Lucy> "And more importantly, might it be possible to receive a few scrolls of Mage Armor? They would see good use!"
<Kotono> "Oh, it's a day or two inland," Rocky shrugs, "But we'll teleport you there. You could get there and back just under the wire, but we'd be racing to get that hunk of earth working before they got here. You can get close with magic, but not inside. Or to escape, by the way."
<Kotono> roll 1d100
* Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d100 and gets 83." 12 [1d100=83]
<Kotono> OOC: Will save, Veren.
<Veren > OOC: +5?
<Kotono> OOC: Not this time.
> roll 1d20+8+5 Will/Inspiration
* Hatbot --> "Veren rolls 1d20+8+5 Will/Inspiration and gets 27." 12 [1d20=14]
<Kotono> "Mmm, hmm. Some rock solid armor like that could be arraigned," Rocky says, "Two of them, you said?"
<Veren > "If speed is of such essence, should we look into a teleport scroll for the return?"
<Lucy> "Best to have spares, so four would be perfect. It is the best defense against ghosts, after all. Ah, and a way to locate the gem swiftly would be nice. Do you have some means for that, or should we try to accomplish that with some divination?"
<Kotono> "It won't work in the forest. As I said, the entire forest is a blank spot for divinations. He was a master abjurer and his masterpiece is in that forest. It's really no surprise it has rock-solid defenses against it," Rocky remarks with another chuckle. "But I can get you the rest of those scrolls. Can you be ready in an hour?"
<Lucy> "Oh yes! And now I see. I merely assumed it was impervious to divination from the outside, but this... yes, quite exciting!"
<Kotono> OOC: Okay then. Loot post. Any other prep for this?
<Lucy> OOC: It'd be cool to get any background info they have on this dude, so we could check it if it comes up
<Veren > OOC: I have everything with me, so I'm good.
<Moore> OOC: Does Veren need any scrolls of magic weapon or are we good? Oh, okay. Then I don't think I need anything.
<Veren > OOC: I have 2 magic weapon scrolls.
<Kotono> OOC: Okay, I'll post that info tonight. This is a pretty good pause point so let's pause here.