Jorune: Strange Allies Sequence 1.2

Nov 20, 2015 4:09 pm
The party wings its way west, mounted on the backs of eyeless dog-snake bipeds with wings called talmaron. Domesticated talmaron are usually quartered in aeries, so that the take-off can involve less flapping of wings for take-off...that frantic flapping to gain altitude has a tendency of throwing riders. Each talmaron bears a harness consisting of a saddle with belt, reins, and long sleeves for the legs with a series of buckles you can use the strap yourself in, anywhere from the ankles all the way up to the thighs.

Buckling yourself in provides security from falling when flying, but prevents a lot of movement, so long flights require people to unbuckle in order to flex and stretch the legs. Experienced talmaron riders do a variety of things, from strapping in just the ankles to allow for the legs to move a bit more freely, to buckling only one leg at a time.

In terms of behavior, talmaron are more like eagles than falcons or bats; they prey on creatures on land or in the water, rather than catching and eating other flying creatures. So while they can engage in fast aerial maneuvers, it is rare for them to switch direction abruptly or go into really steep dives.

The spires of Ardoth and the glittering Ardoth Bay recede behind you as you ride the air toward the dark band of Glounda Forest on the horizon.

With you are:
* Barragar, the boccord shadow warrior from Glounda (Starhelm's character, currently an NPC)
* Miniri, the crugar querrid (Qralloq)
* Marik, the muadra caji (Naatkinson)
* Gythaar, the crugar condrij (Jabes.plays.RPG)
* Vordenir, the bronth soldier (CouchLord0510)
* Yongap, the muadra sailor (CancerMan)
Nov 20, 2015 4:39 pm
Yongap chances a look down as he works to guide the talmaron. He keeps telling himself that this is just like sailing a boat, and yes, some boats actually do have minds of their own. He scans the topography of the countryside to identify landmarks and ensure that they're all headed in the right direction.

For the time being, Yongap conveniently ignores the question of how to land this thing.

OOC: Using Geography here, but if I need to use Geology, substitute that instead.

Rolls

Geography - (1d20)

(3) = 3

Nov 20, 2015 4:50 pm
Marik, as it turns out, thoroughly enjoys his flight, watching the world fly by before him. He spends his flight trying to see if he recognizes any of the features of the land from his previous travels or any reading he's done.

Rolls

Geography (vs 12/E) - (1d20)

(19) = 19

Nov 21, 2015 2:11 am
Vordenir sits comfortably in the seat of his beast, guiding it expertly across the country. He had experience using the beasts from his experience with the Burdothian Infantry. He scans the country below him as well as takes the time to observe his fellows.

OOC: I'm not sure which to use when it comes to observation of people... would it be social, learn, education, spot...
Last edited November 21, 2015 2:12 am

Rolls

Geography - (1d20)

(2) = 2

Nov 21, 2015 3:18 pm
Miniri squeals with glee and terror as the talmaron leaps into the air, but the glee quickly fades leaving her out of control and terrified. As the creature climbs higher into the sky, she leans forward as much as being fully buckled in allows her, grips the beast with as much of her claws. With sudden movements caused by airflow changes (her inquisitive mind tells her), she grips the beast harder, digging in with her claws, which in turn causes it some alarm and it jiggers her around. They come to an understanding of sorts. Eventually.
Nov 24, 2015 3:51 am
As you go winging above the trees of the southern Glounda forests, Barragar points out various locations of interest.

Or at least, that's what you think he's doing. You can't really hear what he's saying over the periodic flapping of wings, the creak of leather, and the whistling of the wind, so mostly it just looks like he's excitedly waving his arms and pointing at trees that look exactly like other trees to your eyes.

http://il7.picdn.net/shutterstock/videos/5506208/thumb/1.jpg

As evening approaches, you are all saddle-worn and weary, wind-chapped and sun-burnt, and it's time to look for a good place to land for a rest. There are platforms that have been erected at various points on the common talmaron routes, so you're looking for those, or for tall trees, or, failing that, wide open clearings.
Nov 24, 2015 3:56 am
Yongap scans the ground and horizon for convenient landing places. He's getting his air legs under him now.

Rolls

Geology 12(E) for Topology(?) - (1d20)

(3) = 3

Nov 24, 2015 3:56 am
Gythaar scans the terrain below...

Rolls

Geography 12/E - (1d20)

(7) = 7

Spot 14 - (1d20)

(14) = 14

Nov 24, 2015 3:19 pm
Vordenir leans over the edge of the talmaron's side so as to be able to scan the area better.

OOC: I'm not sure which rolls to use. :/ I've got an 8 in geography, and a 12 in spot.
Last edited November 24, 2015 3:22 pm

Rolls

Geography - (1d20)

(14) = 14

Spot - (1d20)

(4) = 4

Nov 24, 2015 4:00 pm
Marik watches out for a good place to rest

Rolls

Spot vs 17 - (1d20)

(9) = 9

Geography vs 12/E - (1d20)

(10) = 10

Nov 24, 2015 5:42 pm
Miniri hopes that her beast simply follows the others down.
Nov 25, 2015 9:17 am
Yongap, Gythaar, and Marik are all able to correct their flight direction to steer toward the next landing platform, though many of them see a wide clearing that has room enough to land and do a running take-off again. Vordenir identifies a giant tree that he's sure the talmaron could land in, too.

It will take a bit longer to arrive at the platform, but you can land in the clearing or on the tree now.
Nov 25, 2015 5:00 pm
Yongap sees nothing wrong with taking the landing platform. After all, that's what they're there for. He points to the platform and looks to the group to see if they'll take his suggestion.
Nov 25, 2015 5:12 pm
Marik is about to signal the platform as well, but sees the Yongap has already noticed so he simply nods and keeps heading in that direction.
Nov 25, 2015 10:33 pm
Barragar points down to the clearing, and you see that there are people leading thombos down there. Then the clearing is behind you, and you wing on toward the known location of the platform, another hour's flight distant. The last rays of the sun illuminate the horizon and the various moons in the sky as you each direct your mounts to the platform.

There is a bit of jockeying for position as each talmaron eagerly heads in to land. Each of you who are not Experienced in talmaron, roll an agility check to see how well you wrangle your mount.

Rolls

Barragar agility check - (1d20)

(7) = 7

Nov 25, 2015 10:44 pm
Marik tries to guide his tamaron down as smoothly as possible.

Rolls

Agility vs 8 - (1d20)

(5) = 5

Nov 26, 2015 2:14 am
Yongap wishes he paid more attention to the wranglers when they explained how to land these things. Was it pull reins and press heels, or the other way around?

Rolls

Agility (10) - (1d20)

(15) = 15

Nov 26, 2015 5:12 pm
The riders are able to pull their mounts' heads away to circle and land in turn, except for Yongap's talmaron, who tries to land before Barragar's mount despite the muadra's best efforts. The talmaron lock necks and snap at each other, and you each are uncomfortably reminded by the snapping jaws that talmaron prey are usually creatures about your size. Yongap's mount ends up with some gashes for its efforts, and it lies down, exhausted and licks its wounds.

http://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id=0B071DukoNZd1VU5QQ2JiU3FoOWs

The platform is really a house on stilts above the forest canopy, with the upper level being the landing platform, the floor below that pens for the creatures, and the floor below that simple lodgings for travelers: small cubicles with mats to use as bedrolls surrounding a central common room with a fire pit and more mats for seating around low trestle tables. The talmaron beasters are not happy with Yongap for his handling of his mount and cast resentful looks in his direction as they tend to the animal, which is now irritable and snappish.

The smell of pibber being roasted over the fire draws the hungry travelers down vertiginous stairs on the outside of the building, far above the forest floor. On the "people" level, there are a few other travelers already there, but plenty of room for the party.
Nov 26, 2015 5:28 pm
Yongap offers to help his wounded talmaron, attuning the alignment of the moons (if the handlers allow).

He also tries to smooth things over with an offer to cook them something. In his experience, a home-cooked meal often works just as well as a monetary bribe.

Rolls

Healer 11 (E) - (1d20)

(16) = 16

Cooking 12 (E) - (1d20)

(8) = 8

Nov 28, 2015 1:31 am
Vordenir dismounts from his talmaron and strides towards the landing platform. Climbing into the section for travelers, he scans the room.

Rolls

Spot v 12 - (1d20)

(18) = 18

Listen v 15 - (1d20)

(12) = 12

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