[19] Water Play

[Merc]

Session Start: Sun May 30 12:39:24 2010

<Merc> It's the morning after their grand (imaginary?) adventure through the self-titled Tower of Terror. Even after a night relaxing with some drinks and the company of friends, they all still feel somewhat exhausted, but the mission from their king cannot wait, and so they set off again, continuing their journey through Farvona. If they're lucky, it should be but a week more to reach the border to Vyrdam's lands.
* Aleph is once again walking around in his more recent getup. A bit more revealing than what he wore back on the other continent, but sweating to death was something he was not interested in. He keeps somewhat to the back. Looking contemplative in general, albeit wiping sweat from his face every now and then. And swatting the occasional annoying bug
* Maya_Mahabala is still enjoying the jungle bikini fare as she chattered and gossiped on the way.
* Anassia is also garbed in her newer attire, using her spear as a convienient walking-stick when needed. And those annoying bugs are aggrivating her as well. Nothing makes one miss home like a plague of insects. And sweltering heat, which is less of an issue with her newer attire. She makes small talk, though, as it helps to pass the time between attacks by ferocious jungle predators.
<Elise> Insects? Bah. Elise is on the lookout for more giant reptiles! Like the others, she wears the local attire they purchased not too long ago.
<Jack_> "Y'know, if you'd told me last year I'd be mucking through some jungle fighting off giant lizards while on a mission for the king, I'dda thought you were off your nut."
<Aleph> "...beats sitting there day in day out in that town, at least."
<Maya_Mahabala> "Adventure," Maya waved a finger, "sometimes takes you to the strangest of places.  Though I think after this I'll head somewhere more civilized."
<Anassia> "If you told me I'd just meet any royalty I'd've though that."  Anassia says, grinning slightly.  "More civilized?  Than this jungle?" she asks, in mock-surprise.
<Merc> The sun is shining pretty mercilessly, and the group has been walking for a few hours, when they come upon a clearing. There's a number of small buildings around the area as well as a large lake with various animals near the edges closest to the jungle and away from the few humans outside. Most seem to be inside the buildings or near them, taking the shade in the little resting spot between larger cities.
<Aleph> "Talk about timing." Aleph asides to Maya
<Merc> There's actually some kids running around as well, laughing and screaming, and playing with a ball they're kicking all around the place, almost spooking some of the mounts on occassion, even. They all stop playing as they see your group approaching and wave vigorously in greeting.
<Anassia> "I say we take a break," Anassia says, shifting her pack uncomfortably as she returns the wave with a smile.  "They seem friendly, at least."
* Aleph waves back relaxedly
* Elise waves back! There's no reason not to be polite, after all.
* Maya_Mahabala waves back, a little more concerned at the sudden focus.
<Merc> There's probably nothing to worry about, the rugrats are just being friendly. Probably. A few of them run off towards some of the buildings as the rest go back playing with the ball.
<Elise> "Let's find somewhere to have lunch," Elise says, marching right into the settlement and looking for places to get food and water.
<Aleph> "...who wants to make sure she doesn't get in trouble this time?" Aleph whispers to the rest of the group as Elise starts to go off on her own again...
<Aleph> ...a terrifying prospect to most who know her, more than likely
* Anassia will follow behind Elise, figuring that anyone who lives here won't mind a little trespassing. "I could deal with some relaxing,"
* Maya_Mahabala follows Elise. "A lunch sounds good," She smiled.  "Something not on the road sounds good."
<Aleph> "...hrm."  Aleph looks.  "...rations have been getting boring, come to think of it."
* Aleph then follows the girls
<Jack_> "I told you we should have taken some of that lizard meat."
<Merc> As they walk nearer to the buildings, apparently all are either small inns or bars, they find themselves swarmed by kids who are playing around them, not moving away from the open space that the group has to travel through, although they're mostly ignoring the adults now, focusing more on the ball. From some of the shops, you see the kids that ran in running back out, followed by adults who wait near their businesses' doors.
<Merc> roll d5
* Hatbot --> "Merc rolls d5 and gets 5." [d5=5]
<Merc> ooc: Maya, roll a reflex check.
* Aleph stops and blinks at the people coming out to watch
* Anassia will offer a wave toward them as well, slipping her pack from her back to dangle in her hand, rolling her shoulders slightly.
<Maya_Mahabala> roll 1d20+9
* Hatbot --> "Maya_Mahabala rolls 1d20+9 and gets 19." [1d20=10]
<Merc> roll d4
* Hatbot --> "Merc rolls d4 and gets 4." [d4=4]
<Merc> Maya suddenly senses something in the air, and on instinct, twitches her body to the side, but she's just a little too slow, and...OW! Beaned in the head by the ball. She avoided some of it, but it was a surprisingly big ball. Some of the kids stop to look, most starting to giggle as one kid freezes, looking horrified. "S-s-sorry!!!" he screams before running off towards one of the buildings.
<Merc> The woman standing by the door shakes her head looking embarrassed as she slaps her forehead and sighs as her kid runs in even as the other kids resume playing. Although they seem to be trying to move a little away from the group rather than having another accident.
<Aleph> "...huh."  Aleph shrugs.  "...it hurt any?"
<Elise> "Maya! Are you alright?" Elise turns to the group of kids, wagging a finger. "You should be more careful!"
* Aleph sighs. "...Elise, don't start lecturing them."
* Anassia can't help but grin slightly at the kids, glancing to Maya. "You alright?" she asks, curiously. "And, really. They look embarassed enough, Elise."
* Jack_ snickers
<Maya_Mahabala> "Yeah, I'm fine," She rolled to her feet with an easy motion, a bit surprised.  "What were they playing, dodgeball or something?"
* Elise shrugs. "But that's how children learn. Through constant scolding!"
<Merc> It doesn't look like any recognizable game, really. Sometimes they were bouncing the ball, sometimes they were carrying it around, sometimes they tossed it to smack each other...It was really unrecognizable.
<Anassia> "..."  Anassia doesn't really reply to Elise.  "Eh, they're kids.  They're probably just doing whatever's fun," she says, shrugging slightly.
<Aleph> "Uh, no, Elise." Aleph replies, rolling his eyes in the process
<Maya_Mahabala> "Whatever...  Let's see about finding an inn first.  There's certainly a lot of kids here though.  Quite a lot of kids."
<Anassia> "Probably not much else to do," Anassia says offhandedly, glancing around for an inn.
<Elise> "Well that's how it worked for me," Elise insists, following Maya.
<Aleph> "and we all saw how that turned out" Aleph mumbles under his breath
<Aleph> also following Maya in his search for an inn.
<Merc> The woman whose kid beaned you is apparently in front of one such inn. "I'm sorry, are you alright, miss?" she asks as your group passes by. "My Timothy didn't cause any injuries, or anything, did he?"
<Maya_Mahabala> Maya rubbed her head, "It's just a ball really," She waved it off.
* Aleph shrugs. "We're looking for a place to eat, though. Is it okay if we come in?"
<Anassia> "Kids are kids," Anassia says, smiling to the woman slightly.
<Merc> "Oh, well, uhm if you're looking for a place to stay and rest, we have some rooms and also serve meals," the woman says, sighing in relief at Aleph's words, giving her something a bit more familiar to talk about. "Uhm, don't worry, I'll give him a stern talking about being more careful."
<Anassia> "That would be great, thank you," Anassia says, before smacking another bug idly.
<Maya_Mahabala> "Well, I suppose.  What's this town named anyway?" Maya wondered.
* Aleph wipes some more sweat off of his forehead, taking his headband off
* Aleph wrings the sweat-soaked article of clothing out with a minor look of disgust as a few drops of perspiration drip from the accessory
<Merc> The woman shrugged. "It doesn't really have a name, it's just a small place not even in the maps between ol' Salty Town and Redwood Post. Some of the locals like to call it Redlake cause we're near Redwood, and have our little lake here, though," she answers, smiling a bit more calmly now that it looks like your group won't give her trouble over her son's bean ball. "I just call it home."
<Maya_Mahabala> "Well, we can stay a night," Maya shrugged.  One place was as good as another as she followed the woman.
<Aleph> "That'd be nice, yeah."  Aleph agreed, following Maya
* Anassia glances back over to the lake slightly. "I imagine that is quite a comfort, given the heat," Anassia says, fanning herself off briefly as she moves to follow
<Elise> "It would definitely be better than sleeping in the jungle," Elise adds in.
<Jack_> "No more worrying about giant lizards or crazed cirus performers. I hope."
<Aleph> "...I really didn't mind that circus."
<Merc> She nods in agreement. "It's not a good idea to travel in the dark. There's always some poor fool that thinks otherwise and would rather save a little on money, and end up in some beast's stomach. Just because they don't often come out during the day, doesn't mean anything when night comes," she notes. Turning to Anassia, she again nods. "Yes, it's one of the reasons we moved here. [ooc - more]
<Maya_Mahabala> "If there weren't giant lizards, it would get boring," Maya smiled.
<Merc> It was a bit expensive, and my husband has to go out and get odd jobs here and there, usually as a guard, but it's our home. Hopefully we'll see it grow as time passes."
<Aleph> "..."
<Merc> She raises an eyebrow and looks at the group inquirily. "I can't help but ask, but what's this about circus performers? I understand the lizards, but...circus?" she looks confused.
<Aleph> "Traveling circus in the stopover we were at last.  Had a really over-the-top finale."
<Maya_Mahabala> "They might come here next.  A crazy show if you get a chance to go there," Maya smiled.
* Anassia smiles a little, nodding in agreement with Aleph. "It was enjoyable, otherwise," she says with a shrug.
<Merc> "Oh, well, perhaps they'll come here when my Tim is home from work, and we can all go as a family. Timothy would enjoy a circus, if it's as exciting as you make it sound."
<Maya_Mahabala> "I'm sure he will," Maya smiled.
<Aleph> "Indeed.  That would be enjoyable, no doubt."
<Elise> "I didn't enjoy it that much," Elise sniffs. "It would've been better if I'd known the finale wasn't real. Playing with people's lives like that! Honestly." If Elise has any notion of who this woman's husband was, it's not apparent.
<Merc> "Well, anyway, how many rooms would you folks want? Two rooms? One for the girls and one for the gentlemen, or are any of you folks married and wanting your own room?" the woman asks as she steps behind a desk with keys hanging off the wall and her book with information regarding guests.
<Elise> "None of us are involved with each other!" Elise is quick to point out.
* Anassia glances over towards Elise, quirking an eyebrow slightly before grinning to the woman. "None married that I know of," she says, shaking her head faintly.
<Aleph> "..." Aleph simply doesn't comment
<Merc> The woman is a bit startled by Elise's outburst, but nods as Anassia speaks. She smiles a bit at the 'that I know of' line, and starts to smile knowingly, as she looks towards both Jack and Aleph examiningly. "Well, is two rooms alright, then?"
<Elise> "That will be fine, thank you."
<Anassia> "I can't think of any reason it wouldn't be?" she says, questioningly glancing toward the others.  
<Maya_Mahabala> "That's fine," Maya nodded, swaying past the woman.
* Aleph shrugs
<Merc> "Alright, then..." she mutters as she jots down some information and grabs two keys. "The rooms are all upstairs. Kitchen and bar is in the back, feel free to stop by whenever you want to eat. There's really not much to do besides resting for the evening, unless you want to go play with the kids, or go for a swim in the lake. If you do go swimming in the lake, stay near our side of the lake, lest you make some beast angry...or worse, hungry."
<Aleph> "...keeping that in mind."
<Anassia> "Thank you," she says, nodding slightly.  "I'm just going to drop this stuff off," she says, starting for the stairs, shifting the bag to another hand as she ascends.  Once in the room, she drops the bag quickly; one does not realize how heavy golden chests are 'til one carries it for hours.
<Merc> She laughs. "Don't worry, far as I know, nobody's been eaten yet, but we have no desire to have one of our guests be the first, either."
<Elise> "Well, I'm not going to go swimming. If someone else wants to, I will stand guard and hit any monsters! Or voyeurs."
<Maya_Mahabala> "Mmm, anyone want to go swimming?" Maya wasn't scared of monsters.
<Jack_> "A swim would be nice."
<Aleph> "...You're getting a bit overzealous again, Elise--and sure.  Sounds like it'd be fun."
<Jack_> "I feel filthy."
<Elise> "I am not! I'm just being cautious."
* Anassia can't help but facepalm slightly at Elise's declaration. "I might be willing to," she says to Maya. "Yeah, I think we all are," she comments toward Jack. "This heat must be unnatural."
<Maya_Mahabala> "It's muggy, buggy and miserable in the jungle.  A good soak is always welcome," Maya replied reasonably. "Anyone who wants to come, let's go," Maya dropped off her bag and headed toward the lake.
<Aleph> "...yeah, anything to get all this sweat off."  Aleph dropped off his own gear and his sweat-soaked headband, before heading for the lake himself.
* Anassia follows behind, although she nips off to grab something to nibble on that can easily be eaten from-hand.
* Elise trails along behind the others. With her hammer, of course! Everything else of note has been dropped off in her room.
* Anassia will have dropped off everything, although the omnipresent sidepouch and her two daggers remain on hip hips if only because it's too much work to remove.
* Jack_ followsthe rest to the lake
<Maya_Mahabala> "Thanks for keeping watch Elise," Maya leaves her sword by Elise's feet, sliding out of the fur bikini into a soft cloth one as she gets to the lake, her tanned form gleaming a bit in the sun as she tested the water with a toe.
* Aleph leaves his bow and arrows there, taking his shoes and top off before...nosebleeding mildly
<Merc> The water's pretty cool, though still at a somewhat comfortable temperature. Just going to take a few steps to slowly get used to it, baring a plunge. It's still more comfortable than the hot humid sun.
* Anassia sits on the edge of the lake, dangling her legs into the cool water as she continues to nibble at the food.
* Elise patrols the lake's edge, close enough to spot any troublemaking monsters that might be lurking out in the water! And talk with her friends, if there's a conversation going on.
* Jack_ leaves his stuff with the others and takes a running leap into the water
<Maya_Mahabala> "Oh this is nice," She shook left and right a bit before striding into the water, swimming about in the cool lake.  "come in, come in...hey!" She swam a bit back from Jack's splash.
* Aleph dodges Jack and his running jump...before entering the pool himself.
<Aleph> Er, pond/lake
* Anassia lifts her arm to cover her face. "Hey now," she says, shaking her head slightly.
<Merc> It's a lake. Most of the animals are pretty far off due to the size of the body of water.
<Elise> "I wonder what kind of animals they have here, anyway?" Elise wonders aloud, straining her eyes for a glipmse of anything exotic. "More giant lizards?"
<Maya_Mahabala> "Why not?" Maya floated along the top of the water, casually backstroking.
<Anassia> "Who knows.  Maybe giant /everything/?" she asks, glancing to the treeline as well, curiously.
<Jack_> "As long as there aren't any more Fishmen."
<Merc> Elise can see some animals she recognizes somewhat. Some tigers and other large felines, as well as crocodiles, and some of the lizards they've seen before. Most of the animals look to be predators of some kind, so the nicer wildlife is either in their stomachs or hiding right now.
<Aleph> "...eh.  As long as it doesn't storm again, I won't mind"  Aleph allows himself to float along, zoning out mildly.
<Elise> "Well, if they know what's good for them, they'll stay on their side of the lake," Elise says in regard to the predators.
<Anassia> "Yeah, I bet they're absolutely /terrified/ of you, Elise," Anassia remarks with a smirk.
<Elise> "They should be," Elise says with a nod and a notable lack of irony.
* Aleph looks over, before deciding to submerge into the lake
* Anassia can't help but giggle slightly at her reply, finishing off her food and slipping into the water proper.
<Maya_Mahabala> "Mmm?  Where'd Aleph go?" Maya swam over a bit toward the deeper side, but staying well away from the hungry predators.
* Aleph swims underneath the surface, possibly unseen and definitely unheard to most...
<Merc> As they spot the group playing in the lake, some of the kids seem to have gotten bored of playing ball and decided to join the adults in swimming. There's a lot more splashing going on, and the kids seem to be wanting to play with you all.
* Anassia is a kindly guest, splashing the kids back with a grin.
<Merc> Quite a few even imitate Jack in his entry to the lake, for that matter.
<Aleph> ...right before popping up behind Maya and dunking her into the water
<Maya_Mahabala> "Gah," She's dunked underwater, blinking a bit before smirking and tickling Aleph suddenly, holding her breath.
<Aleph> "Gggghh!"  Aleph tries to back off and avoid laughing as he's suddenly tickled, thrashing in response
<Maya_Mahabala> She swam past, swatting his rear before coming up a good ways away from him, giggling a bit, water streaming off her long purple hair.
* Aleph looks around before looking over to Maya, blushing
* Elise frowns at the horseplay. But they seem to be enjoying themselves, and if no one's getting hurt...well.
<Maya_Mahabala> She laughed. "So that's where you're hiding, huh, Aleph?" She smirked.  "It doesn't look like any harm.  Why don't you join us, Elise?"
<Merc> ooc: Elise, spot check.
<Elise> roll 1d20-2+2 hahaha oh wait I can add +2 to a roll once a day. That will help save my teammates from being eaten!
* Hatbot --> "Elise rolls 1d20-2+2 hahaha oh wait I can add +2 to a roll once a day. That will help save my teammates from being eaten! and gets 11." [1d20=11]
<Elise> "I didn't bring anything to swim in," Elise insists. "Besides, someone has to keep watch."
<Maya_Mahabala> "Well, you can always come natural," Maya teased the poor girl.
<Aleph> "Naah, just underneath the water was all." Aleph snrks, swimming closer
<Anassia> "It's not like your clothes will stay wet in the heat," Anassia comments, glancing over to Elise as she splashes the others.
<Elise> "No I couldn't! There are men here. I guess...I could just go in as I am..."
<Merc> As Elise looks between the animals and the people of the lake, she misses the twitching ears (of the creatures with visible ones anyhow and she'd probably have missed it anyhow even if she was focusing on them) of the various animals. She does, however, notice when the animals start moving away from the water, in fact, pulling back into the jungle. Did they finish their drinking?
<Elise> "Did you guys scare the animals off or something?" Elise wonders with a frown.
<Aleph> "...why'd you do that, anyway?"  he asks toward Maya.
<Jack_> "Scare the animals off? Huh?"
<Anassia> "What do you mean?" she asks, glancing back to the trees curiously at Elise's question.
* Maya_Mahabala playfully splashes back at Anassia, soaking the younger girl.  "Hmm?  Not sure...shouldn't they be used to people?"
<Elise> "A bunch of them are leaving the lake, see?" She points to the critters making an exit to the jungle.
<Anassia> "Oh, that's cold!" Anassia says, splashing Maya back quickly.
<Merc> The kids all nod. "They're usually all around there, just enjoying the water," one of them points out. "But it's not like -we'd- scare them off!" a girl counters, her hands on her hip.
* Aleph grins, splashing towards both of the girls
<Merc> ooc: Spot checks for everybody.
<Elise> "Well...if they're going somewhere else, they won't be a problem for us. Maybe I will come in..."
<Anassia> roll 1d20+7
* Hatbot --> "Anassia rolls 1d20+7 and gets 22." [1d20=15]
<Elise> roll 1d20-2 no bonus this time :(
* Hatbot --> "Elise rolls 1d20-2 no bonus this time :( and gets 18." [1d20=20]
<Aleph> roll 1d20+10
* Hatbot --> "Aleph rolls 1d20+10 and gets 18." [1d20=8]
<Maya_Mahabala> roll 1d20+8 what wis mod?
* Hatbot --> "Maya_Mahabala rolls 1d20+8 what wis mod? and gets 27." [1d20=19]
<Jack_> roll 1d20+11
* Hatbot --> "Jack_ rolls 1d20+11 and gets 28." [1d20=17]
<Merc> Lurking off in the distance, you can all see something rather huge just under the water, off a bit in the distance, but rapidly speedingtowards you all as well as the kids. It's hard to really make out, whatever it is, it's swimming a fair distance under the water, and it has some green/brown coloration which blends into the water. It looks pretty huge though, whatever it is.
<Aleph> "Oh shit GET OUT OF THE WATER."
<Maya_Mahabala> "Come on kids, out of the water," Maya tugs one, swimming toward the shore as best she can.
* Aleph tries to swim towards the nearest shoreline as fast as he can. Getting his bow can happen afterwards.
<Merc> "Why? Just cause some animals left?" some kid asks, with a frown. "Yeah! The water's so nice!" a few kids giggle as they splash the water.
<Elise> "I thought the innkeeper said no one had ever been eaten here?" Elise says. "This monster must not be from around here! We should destroy it to keep the village safe!"
<Jack_> "OUT OF THE WATER. NOW!"
<Aleph> "HUGE THING IN THE WATER APPROACHING GET OUT NOW!"
<Merc> A few of the kids do just obey the adults, but a good number...scramble as well at Jack's outburst. "Eek!"
* Anassia also helps the kids toward the shore quickly, making sure they're out before she gets out.
* Jack_ starts swimming towards the shore for his weapons
* Maya_Mahabala gets out, running for her sword, water splashing around off her form.
<Merc> "...Really?" a few of the kids (boys. Go figure) stop to ask as they turn to look and squint to see what you adults all spotted.
<Merc> All the little girls are out of the water though!
<Merc> And some of the boys too. Pansies!
* Jack_ pushes the boys that stopped towards the shore
<Jack_> "OUT!"
* Aleph swims as fast as he can to get out, would then run for his bow and arrows
<Anassia> "Really," Anassia says.  "You'll see it better from the shore," she says, smiling to them.
* Elise has her weapon ready! She charges into the water to fend off the monster before it can gobble up any of the kids!
<Merc> The boys still in the water are slowly herded out by Jack...just as a burst of water nearby explodes, along with a long beastly shape..."THAT IS A HUUUUUGE SNAKE!!!" the boys scream in awe, even as the girls screech and flee.
<Merc> ooc: roll initiative
<Elise> roll 1d20+2
* Hatbot --> "Elise rolls 1d20+2 and gets 11." [1d20=9]
<Aleph> roll 1d20+4
* Hatbot --> "Aleph rolls 1d20+4 and gets 10." [1d20=6]
<Anassia> roll 1d20+2
* Hatbot --> "Anassia rolls 1d20+2 and gets 17." [1d20=15]
<Merc> roll d20+3
* Hatbot --> "Merc rolls d20+3 and gets 15." [d20=12]
<Jack_> roll 1d20+4
* Hatbot --> "Jack_ rolls 1d20+4 and gets 12." [1d20=8]
<Maya_Mahabala> roll 1d20+4
* Hatbot --> "Maya_Mahabala rolls 1d20+4 and gets 10." [1d20=6]
* Retrieving #truesteel modes...
* Merc changes topic to 'Anassia > Deathcoils > Elise > Jack > Aleph = Maya'
<Merc> ooc: Anassia
<Anassia> Assuming all the children are out of the lake, she is going to move to try and get out!  ((Double-move for difficult terrain?))
<Merc> ooc: swim check!
<Anassia> (( Oh... bollux. )
<Anassia> roll 1d20 Woo, no modifiers!
* Hatbot --> "Anassia rolls 1d20 Woo, no modifiers! and gets 18." [1d20=18]
<Merc> Anassia swims to shore, swimming like her life depends on it!
<Merc> roll d6
* Hatbot --> "Merc rolls d6 and gets 3." [d6=3]
<Merc> The snake hisses and starts darting towards one of the delectable little morsels still standing near the shore looking in awe and fear...only to twist as soon as it hit land, and its fangs flying towards Aleph!
<Aleph> "Oh shit."
<Merc> roll d20+16
* Hatbot --> "Merc rolls d20+16 and gets 27." [d20=11]
<Merc> roll d8+4
* Hatbot --> "Merc rolls d8+4 and gets 12." [d8=8]
<Merc> The fangs bite into Aleph, making him scream! The remaining children scream in unison with Aleph and all scramble back towards the buildings even as some adults step out and gape.
<Merc> ooc: Elise
<Aleph> "FUCK"
<Aleph> Fun fact!  When things hurt this much, Aleph resorts to obscenities!
<Elise> "Leave him alone, monster! I will smite you as Saint Newton smote the serpent of Anathema!" Elise wades through the water to aim a crushing blow at the snake!
<Elise> roll 1d20+13 alas, I assume I'm not close enough to 5-foot & FA
* Hatbot --> "Elise rolls 1d20+13 alas, I assume I'm not close enough to 5-foot & FA and gets 28." [1d20=15]
<Merc> ooc: hit.
<Elise> roll 2d6+9+4 using 1/day damage bonus
* Hatbot --> "Elise rolls 2d6+9+4 using 1/day damage bonus and gets 18." [2d6=2, 3]
<Merc> A mighty blow lands on the snake's scaly hide, as it lets go of Aleph with it's monstrous mouth to hiss it's pained cry!
<Merc> ooc: Jack
* Jack_ scrambles for his swords and straps them on
<Merc> ooc: Aleph
* Aleph attempts to open some distance from the huge snake of doom, preferably without opening himself to another bite
<Aleph> roll 1d20+14 tumble-escape
* Hatbot --> "Aleph rolls 1d20+14 tumble-escape and gets 20." [1d20=6]
* Aleph rolls back, AWAY from the giant snake, drawing back an arrow before letting it fly at the beast.
<Aleph> roll 1d20+12 SHOOT THE SNAKE
* Hatbot --> "Aleph rolls 1d20+12 SHOOT THE SNAKE and gets 18." [1d20=6]
<Merc> ooc: hit
<Aleph> roll 1d8+9 damage
* Hatbot --> "Aleph rolls 1d8+9 damage and gets 10." [1d8=1]
<Merc> An arrow pierces through it's scaly body!
<Merc> ooc: Maya
* Maya_Mahabala kicks her sword up, grabbing it cleanly as she sized up the snake.  "Well, I don't want to go near that..." She jaunted her hip out, pondering. "But it's probably better than letting it live around to eat some kids."  She ran forward, bounding off of Aleph's shoulders to get more height, twirling over its head to bring her blade downward in a devestating slash. OOC: Leaping Strike, Attack Challenge -6, and Attack.
<Maya_Mahabala> roll 1d20+17 autosucceed on Leap Strike
* Hatbot --> "Maya_Mahabala rolls 1d20+17 autosucceed on Leap Strike and gets 28." [1d20=11]
* Aleph tries to keep balance as he is used as a springboard by Maya
<Maya_Mahabala> roll 1d20+23 Tumble Charge
* Hatbot --> "Maya_Mahabala rolls 1d20+23 Tumble Charge and gets 31." [1d20=8]
<Maya_Mahabala> roll 1d20+11 strike from above
* Hatbot --> "Maya_Mahabala rolls 1d20+11 strike from above and gets 20." [1d20=9]
<Merc> ooc: hit
<Maya_Mahabala> roll 2d8+14
* Hatbot --> "Maya_Mahabala rolls 2d8+14 and gets 24." [2d8=4, 6]
<Merc> The snake recoils from Maya's strike, the most painful of all.
<Merc> ooc: Anassia
<Anassia> roll 1d20+9 Concentration chew
* Hatbot --> "Anassia rolls 1d20+9 Concentration chew and gets 16." [1d20=7]
* Anassia concentrates for a moment, some detrius around her feet swilriming momentarily, before she throws herself into the air, pulling a curved dagger free from her hip-sheathe. She ascends quickly, rising above the snake to drive the relatively harmless dagger into it!
<Anassia> roll 1d20+20 Jump check (opposed by BAC; +2 damage to roll)
* Hatbot --> "Anassia rolls 1d20+20 Jump check (opposed by BAC; +2 damage to roll) and gets 28." [1d20=8]
<Merc> roll d20+10
* Hatbot --> "Merc rolls d20+10 and gets 17." [d20=7]
<Anassia> roll 1d20+3+4 Attack roll
* Hatbot --> "Anassia rolls 1d20+3+4 Attack roll and gets 22." [1d20=15]
<Merc> ooc: hit
<Anassia> roll 1d4+2 Damage
* Hatbot --> "Anassia rolls 1d4+2 Damage and gets 6." [1d4=4]
<Merc> The snake hisses, but ignores it's latest attacker as it goes further inland, and turns until all of you are in it's view. Opening it's mouth open wide, a cloud of greenish gas spews outward.
<Merc> ooc: fort saves
<Merc> ooc: I'll roll fort for the absent Anassia
<Aleph> roll 1d20+6
* Hatbot --> "Aleph rolls 1d20+6 and gets 22." [1d20=16]
<Elise> roll 1d20+8 I can do fort
* Hatbot --> "Elise rolls 1d20+8 I can do fort and gets 9." [1d20=1]
<Merc> ooc: Hatbot disagrees
<Merc> roll d20+5
* Hatbot --> "Merc rolls d20+5 and gets 24." [d20=19]
<Merc> ooc: fine, take your AoOs =p
<Jack_> roll 1d20+5
* Hatbot --> "Jack_ rolls 1d20+5 and gets 15." [1d20=10]
<Maya_Mahabala> roll 1d20+11 Attack challenge still around.
* Hatbot --> "Maya_Mahabala rolls 1d20+11 Attack challenge still around. and gets 25." [1d20=14]
<Maya_Mahabala> roll 2d8+12
* Hatbot --> "Maya_Mahabala rolls 2d8+12 and gets 26." [2d8=8, 6]
<Maya_Mahabala> roll 1d20+7 fort
* Hatbot --> "Maya_Mahabala rolls 1d20+7 fort and gets 24." [1d20=17]
<Elise> roll 1d20+13 AoO, right
* Hatbot --> "Elise rolls 1d20+13 AoO, right and gets 27." [1d20=14]
<Elise> roll 2d6+9 damage
* Hatbot --> "Elise rolls 2d6+9 damage and gets 21." [2d6=6, 6]
<Merc> Maya and Elise both attack the snake as it repositions itself, but as it blows it's poisonous gas, Elise begins to cough heavily before dropping to the ground and beginning to snore...and shiver. She's shivering too.
<Merc> ooc: Jack
* Jack_ runs to elise to drag her ass out of before she drowns
<Merc> How heroic.
<Merc> ooc: Aleph
* Aleph watches as Jack rushes to save Elise, before moving slightly closer to the beast and letting loose another shot just within range
<Aleph> roll 1d20+12 fuck no I'm not just sitting at 40' and losing my damage
* Hatbot --> "Aleph rolls 1d20+12 fuck no I'm not just sitting at 40' and losing my damage and gets 25." [1d20=13]
<Aleph> roll 1d8+9 and gets 17
* Hatbot --> "Aleph rolls 1d8+9 and gets 17 and gets 13." [1d8=4]
<Merc> The arrow goes through it's still open maw, digging it's way inside the fleshy mouth. The snake gags briefly, before dropping like a giant tree, slamming into the ground (thankfully nobody was below where it fell!), a pool of blood coming from the cuts it's taken, as well as from it's mouth.
<Aleph> "I would say something about snakes in a lake, but it just feels...wrong."  Aleph comments, holding the puncture wounds where the serpent bit him
<Merc> "Is everyone alright?" an adult man asks, as various of the adults come stepping closer, as do some kids, those who aren't being held back by overprotective parents. There's even one kid poking at it with a stick. Thankfully it's pretty dead, so it won't react.
<Maya_Mahabala> "Elise, Are you okay?" Maya wondered, seeing the sturdy woman unconscious.
<Merc> Elise is snoring, and doesn't seem to react to Maya's questioning.
<Aleph> "...uh...Elise over there looks like she's out after that stuff it breathed out, and..."
* Aleph is covering the bleeding wounds
<Jack_> "Damn, she's heavy."
<Jack_> "That hammer sure as hell didn't help."
<Merc> The man grimaces and calls for someone. "Janice, bring all the bandages you've got. This fella looks like he needs it," he tells her. He turns to look at the group again. "We don't really have any trained doctors that could say what happened to your lady-friend...then again, I don't think anybody's ever seen something like this beast."
* Maya_Mahabala swims out of the water. "You should try and drag the corpse out of the lake, just in case its blood is poisonous," She leaned back against a wall, resting a bit as she watched over the others. "Are you okay, Aleph?  It didn't poison you did it?"
<Merc> roll 2d4
* Hatbot --> "Merc rolls 2d4 and gets 7." [2d4=4, 3]
<Aleph> "I sure hope it isn't..."
<Aleph> "It hurt like all hell, though..." Aleph winces as he moves a bit.
<Merc> Most of the corpse is out of the water, from when it positioned itself to spray you with that poison cloud that only took down Elise. There's traces of blood near the shore, but most seems to be Aleph's.
<Maya_Mahabala> Anassia kneeled down, looking over Aleph's wounds and helping to bandage them.
<Maya_Mahabala> roll 1d20+7 heal check
* Hatbot --> "Maya_Mahabala rolls 1d20+7 heal check and gets 23." [1d20=16]
<Aleph> "Sorry, that's probably my blood in there."
<Maya_Mahabala> "Next time, don't let it bite you," Maya smirked a bit down at Aleph, looking over him, her swimsuit dripping heavily still.
<Aleph> "...you saw how that thing moved.  I'm not as good as not getting hit as you are."  He pokes Maya with the arm on the side that doesn't have all the punctures.
<Aleph> *at not getting hit
<Maya_Mahabala> "Well, that's a good reason to practice," She smiled, helping keep him awake with jokes as she poked his forehead.
<Merc> Anassia doesn't recognize the poison as is, but as she checks over Elise, she uses what she knows of poison and healing in general to treat the poison somewhat. She's still unconscious, but she shouldn't suffer any secondary effects.
<Merc> ooc: scratch that! wrong patient!
<Aleph> "I stay at a distance.  I don't usually deal with things that fast"  He smirked.
<Merc> Aleph is bandaged up! Like a mummy! Nice and tight. He's not going to bleed to death any time soon!
<Maya_Mahabala> "Well, first, you have to get your distance," She stood up, swaying as she turned. "Good to see you're alright though," She went over to see how Elise was doing, poking the young sleeping woman.
* Jack_ prods at Elise
<Jack_> roll 1d20+11 hel check
* Hatbot --> "Jack_ rolls 1d20+11 hel check and gets 25." [1d20=14]
<Anassia> "My god, things with scales do not like you," she comments to Aleph, ignoring the little blood she no doubt got onto herself while bandaging before making her way over to Elise.
<Aleph> "...it always is the reptiles, isn't it."
<Merc> Elise shivers at Jack's touch, but continues snoring. You can see a bit of a cold sweat forming on her as you examine her, Jack. Working your way through her symptoms, and using what you have available, Elise is soon in better condition. She's still unconscious, but she's not sweating or shivering, and shouldn't suffer secondary conditions.
<Merc> The rest of the folk are all chattering, wondering where the beast came from. You can hear worried questions about where it came from, what if there's more, etc.
<Anassia> "How's she looking?" Anassia asks, cleaning the dagger off in the lake for a moment before resheathing it.
* Aleph walks over. "...hell. She breathed that stuff right in, didn't she."
* Jack_ wipes his forhead
<Jack_> "I did what I could, I think... She should be fine once she wakes up."
<Maya_Mahabala> "Well, let's get them to their beds at least.  Bedrest won't hurt, right?" Maya eyed the lighter Aleph, offering him a a shoulder if he needed it.  "Good to hear she'll be alright."
<Aleph> "Eh, I shouldn't be that bad off...am I?"  he looks over to Maya, but taking the shoulder nonetheless
<Anassia> "You'll feel it for a while," Anassia says, grinning to him.  "But you shouldn't be too badly off."  She glances back toward the body of the snake.  "We... should probably dispose of this," she  comments toward Jack.
<Maya_Mahabala> "Well, you did need help being bandaged up, you big baby," She teased him, "Jack, can you carry Elise?  Anassia, the townsfolk can handle THAT much at least.  I'm not chopping a snake up for hours."
<Aleph> "Hey, who are you calling a baby?  And I don't know how to do the whole bandaging deal anyway."
<Jack_> "I think so... Someone else might want to grab her hammer."
<Anassia> "... why would you chop it up?" Anassia asks, blinking a few times.  "You just have to drop it into the jungle."  Regardless, she moves to try and gather up the hammer.
<Aleph> "To eat it, of course."  Aleph replies to Anassia
<Anassia> "Oh, right.  How silly of me," Anassia says, waving dismissively.  She totally wasn't thinking about something else to do with it, nope.
<Maya_Mahabala> "To carry it off.  I can't lift such a heavy thing," Maya smirked as she lead back to the inn.
<Maya_Mahabala> "Why, it's not like there's anything else that can be done with it."
<Aleph> "...well, glad to see you don't hate me after last night." Aleph commented over to Maya
<Anassia> "O-of course not," Anassia says, smiling over to Maya slightly, the brief stutter a little uncharacteristic.
<Merc> As time passes, and they go do what they want with the snake as well as going back to rest in their rooms, some of the people from the small community knock on the door to their room. They're apparently interested in hiring you folk to check out the area, see if there's any more of these strange beasts, and put a stop to them if there are.
<Merc> They've apparently pooled their resources to make a small bag with a nice chunk of gold to pay for your services if you'd take it. "If we're lucky, that's the only such thing. If we're not...well, we'd be safer having you folks look into it. You're apparently capable."
<Merc> They look rather nervous, hoping you don't decline after having Aleph almost chewed and Elise dropping like a fly. Speaking of Elise, it looks like she might be waking up as she yawns and stretches.
<Maya_Mahabala> "Well, I'm up to a stride around.  Elise, what about you?" She eyed the waking woman, ambushing her with a question.
<Aleph> "...sure.  I don't see any problems with it."  Aleph comments, now wearing the rest of his clothes on top of the bandages
* Anassia blinks a few times to them and their reward. "I couldn't ask for a reward for anything like that," Anassia says, caught offguard by their suspect that the four are big game hunters.
<Elise> "Whaat?" Elise says sleepily, rubbing her forehead. "What are we doing? Why was I--Wait, what about the snake? Is it dead?!"
<Maya_Mahabala> "Anassia, we can always take a reward for risky behavior.  And yes.  We killed it after you went sleepy," She patted Elise's head, leaning over her. "Glad to see you back awake," She grinned.
<Aleph> "Yeah, it's dead."
<Jack_> "You got a lungfull of some nasty poison gas."
<Anassia> "Feeling better?" Anassia asks Elise, resting a hand on her forehead.
<Aleph> "Oi, feeling better, Elise?"
<Elise> "As long as everyone's safe. Don't worry about me. What are we doing now? Are there more monsters to fight?" She sounds almost excited suddenly. Quite the rapid recovery.
<Aleph> "Yeah, they want us to check to see if there's more like that thing that came up."
<Maya_Mahabala> "Seems like it.  Or at least, we can walk around and see," She smiled. "We'll look into it," She waved at the small crowd outside, hardly looking more dressed now that she wasn't in a swimsuit.
* Aleph tries to get up as well, though it does hurt a good bit still, as he visibly winces.
<Elise> "Well, we have to. We can't just leave while there's still evil to be crushed!"
<Anassia> "...snakes aren't evil, Elise," Anassia says, leaning against the wall.
<Aleph> "Aggressive predators to be crushed.  Not evil."  Aleph tried to correct as he leaned on the wall to steady himself
<Merc> "I don't know, that snake looked pretty darn evil to me!" one of the nervous townsfolk comments.
* Anassia decides to let it simply drop, rather than pursue it further. "Regardless, we should dispose of that body first."
<Aleph> "If they haven't already."
<Elise> "Why not? Plenty of them were in the Septinomicon. Or at least, one of them was. I admit it's kind of vague about snakes in general...But if they're trying to eat people, they have to be stopped! The holy book definitely doesn't approve of people being eaten.""
<Anassia> "...one of these days, Elise, I am going to read that book," Anassia comments flatly.
* Aleph looks over to Elise. "...your book is unusually specific."
<Maya_Mahabala> "Do you even have a copy of it, Elise?" Maya wondered.
<Elise> "Of course. Did you want to read it?"
<Aleph> "Not right now."
<Anassia> "Maybe later," Anassia says, smiling a little.  "It's been some time since I've read a.... 'holy' text."
* Elise nods. "Well, that's okay. I have mine memorized too. I don't actually *have* to read it every day."
<Maya_Mahabala> "I'm not much for reading holy texts," Maya stuck her tongue out. "Too dry.  But we've got a hunting to do," She smiled.
<Anassia> "Gee, why am I not surprised?" Anassia asks, smirking slightly to Maya.
<Maya_Mahabala> "Life is to be experienced," She hugged Anassia easily in one arm, gesturing to the window. "Lived vivaciously, not read about," She smirked.  "Come on," She let go, leading downstairs and outside.
<Jack_> "I dunno, I've thumbed through  a few... Usually there's a surprising amount of sex and violence."
* Aleph tries to follow, still instinctively holding his bandaged bitewounds
<Elise> "You should start, Maya. It's never too early to worry about your immortal soul! ...Although, you *have* been doing a lot of good deeds. I don't know. Maybe that's enough?"
* Anassia quirks an eyebrow to Maya slightly at her gesture. "Trust me, I'm living life," she replies wryly.
* Aleph tries to keep up, anyway
* Anassia will take care to not leave Aleph behind, checking the status of giant snake corpse.
* Anassia will also take care to grab her spear again, rather than be forced to knife more giant poisonous snakes.
* Aleph slowly works his way up next to Maya. Albeit walking with one arm over the bitewounds.
* Aleph looks over for a second...before lightly swatting her butt with his free hand.
<Maya_Mahabala> "So he can be taught...but it's more attractive when you're not limping," She smirked.
<Aleph> "...that's not fair, Maya." Aleph snrks back.  "You didn't get bitten by the huge murdersnake."
<Anassia> "Are you sure you want to come with?  You might get bitten a lot more, y'know," Anassia says, smirking over to Aleph.
<Maya_Mahabala> "Oh, I'm fair now?" She smiled, turning around and walking backward ahead of them.  "Elise, am I fair to people?" She wondered playfully.
<Aleph> "Eh.  How much worse can it get?"  Aleph shrugs.  "As long as I don't get chewed up by...whatever that thing was."
<Elise> "Well. I wouldn't say being unfair is one of your main problems, Maya."
<Aleph> "I never said you were fair to begin with.  Though if you're saying that..."
* Maya_Mahabala laughs playfully, smirking at the two.
<Aleph> "So if it's less attractive when I'm limping, does that mean I get a free pass to try again later?"
<Maya_Mahabala> "I dunno.  Elise, does he get a free pass?" She was definitely teasing them both now.
<Elise> "Try what?" Elise wonders, not having noticed whatever started this conversation.
* Anassia facepalms slightly at the conversation, shaking her hair out behind her.
<Maya_Mahabala> "You get a free pass, but next time, you have to get Elise first," She waved. "Wouldn't want to be unfair," She smiled foxily, turning and heading on ahead with a teasing sway.
* Elise looks from one person to another, confused. "What? What am I getting?"
<Aleph> "Oh, that's -really- not fair."  Aleph commented, sticking out his tongue at her afterwards
* Anassia smirks a little at Elise's question. "I don't think that you want to know," she says, shaking her head.
<Elise> "Well, they're talking about me, right? It's rude to talk about someone like they're not there!"
<Anassia> "Yeah, well," Anassia says, shrugging slightly.  She's still grinning faintly.
<Anassia> "Anyway, you four go on ahead, I'll catch up in a bit," Anassia says, smiling to the others.  "I'm going to look over the body."
<Aleph> "Body?"
<Anassia> "The snake that bit you."  Anassia says, blinking to Aleph.  "Happened not to long ago, y'know."
<Aleph> "Ah, that."  He snrks.  "...what're you going to do with it?"
<Anassia> "See if I can't figure out where it came from," she says, shrugging.  "A shot in the dark, but work something."
<Anassia> Assuming noone else interjects, she moves over to the villages, asking where they put the corpse before heading out toward it.
* Anassia apparently has noone concerned for her safety as she wanders off into the jungle alone. So sad. Either way, she makes over to it, keeping an eye out for any of the predators that seem to make up the entire biosphere of this jungle ^^

[Merc]

Anassia wanders off at end of this session to ressurect snake as undead minion:
<Anassia> roll 1d20+4+4 v. DC (5+16)
* Hatbot --> "Anassia rolls 1d20+4+4 v. DC (5+16) and gets 11." [1d20=3]
<Anassia> Yeah, I succeeded.  Now I have an army of them ^_^

<Merc> Not a full statblock, but I just jotted down the essentials for Coily:
<Merc> HP: 75
<Merc> Defense: 19, touch 12, flat-footed 15
<Merc> Initiative: +8
<Merc> Attack: +16 bite (d8+4)
<Merc> Saves: Fort +3, Ref +7, Will +7
<Merc> DR: 5/bludgeoning