Chapter 2: Dunestriders

load previous
Mar 11, 2020 4:49 pm
As the man with no name briefly fell, unbeknownst to him, his entire supply of rations fell out of the open top of his pack!

Once across he calls to little Jana over the grating rumble of the River of Burning Stones "Fly this end of rope back across for the next one to cross. I can help pull them along!"
Mar 11, 2020 5:21 pm
Jana grabs the rope and flies it back to the next person.
Mar 12, 2020 4:40 pm
While the swordsman was crossing Soro is busily tying Jei'nine to his chest similar to the harness he used for her in the tomb. I will go next so the Swordsman and I can pull Ahk across. With that he connects the harness to the first rope and makes a loop with the second so it can be pulled from either side of the burning rocks.
OOC:
I'll roll the same defy danger, modify as you see fit with the multi-rope setup but the burden of my companion.

Rolls

Defy Danger (Dex +1, situation -1) - (2d6)

(51) = 6

Mar 18, 2020 1:07 am
Not seeing what is happening around him, Akh waits patiently for his turn...
Mar 20, 2020 2:49 am
OOC:
Mark 1 XP, Soro.
With Jei’nine squirming in the makeshift harness strapped across his chest, Soro has to keep his arms wrapped around her and trust the Swordsman's strength to haul them across. With everyone blindfolded, it's a tricky endeavor, to put it mildly. With all the blind twisting and pulling, Soro's own harness unravels and he just manages to grab the main traverse rope! But now the Swordsman's powerful pulling threatens to yank him right off! Warning yells are drowned out by the noise of the clashing rocks! It's all up to you, Jana! What do you do?
Mar 20, 2020 8:07 pm
Seeing what is happening from her vantage point flying above the situation, Jana lands beside the swordsman and lays a hand on his arm while speaking to him in a loud but calm voice.

Your strength is more than enough for the task, but care is needed as well. If you use your full force, our comrade will be shaken loose and dashed to the rocks.
Smooth even strokes on my marks.

Mark...

Mark...

Mark...
Mar 20, 2020 8:28 pm
Jana shapeshifts back into her natural, halfling form to guide the Seordsman. In this way, the companions get Soro and Jei'nine across, but just like the Swordsman, the ranger later discovers he has lost some belongings to the river.

Now it's Akh's turn
Mar 22, 2020 12:03 pm
Securing himself to the rope as best as he can, Akh starts crossing, helped by his friends...
Last edited March 22, 2020 12:03 pm

Rolls

defy danger (dex) - (2d6)

(35) = 8

Mar 22, 2020 2:09 pm
A surge in the river - a wave of burning rock - barrels down the channel with a mighty roar. Working together, you pull Akh to safety with time to spare, but your rope bridge is lost. That may very well have been the last of your rope. Only a full inventory will tell.

After the crossing, you make your laborious way up the opposite canyon wall. You make it to the top just as the sun is setting.

Do you push on, or camp for the night?
OOC:
Soro, if you haven't yet, pick a piece of gear lost in the crossing. And make sure to track uses of Adventuring Gear.
Mar 22, 2020 3:33 pm
As they reach the top of the canyon to rest Soro readjusts his pack and realizes that his spears where not secured well enough for the crossing. Looking around he also realizes the small piece of rope that Jei'nine's harness was made out of is probably the only piece of rope he and his companions have left. I feel like we are ill equipped to spend another night out here, I believe it would be best to push on to the Oasis.
Mar 22, 2020 4:46 pm
OOC:
How long does Jana believe it will take?
Mar 22, 2020 5:07 pm
OOC:
If you spend the night here, it will take you all of tomorrow to navigate the final leg, for which even Soro will need to be blindfolded. There's precious little water left, only a few sips for those who need it. Travelling by day will be tough. Of course, travelling blindfolded is going to be dangerous, too.
Mar 22, 2020 8:19 pm
Water is getting low. I think that as dangerous as travelling by night may be, wasting time may be even worse.

If no one objects, I think we should press on.
Mar 22, 2020 9:25 pm
Well, travelling blindfolded by night or by day won't make a difference for us. Let's push on I say.
Mar 22, 2020 9:52 pm
Jana, you know that there are things that stalk these sands in the night. Things that only the dawn drives away. Or a roaring campfire. Ghosts that drive men mad. Only your tribe are immune to their whispering. On the other hand, Soro and the Swordsman have begun to grow feverish. You fear any delay getting them to the oasis could have dire consequences.
Mar 22, 2020 11:01 pm
"Whatever the little one decides." croaks the gruff voice of the Swordsman.
Mar 22, 2020 11:21 pm
Lets be on with it then. Soro pulls a scrap of cloth out of his pouch and ties it around his head as a makeshift blind fold.
Mar 24, 2020 3:19 am
OOC:
Point of order: I said that Soro needed to be blindfolded for this final leg of the journey, but Jana earlier established that Soro would only need to be blindfolded near the end of the journey, "Close enough to call for help, but not the final path through the traps."

My mistake. Soro is still able to see for now.
Darkness falls, and the world goes mad. Jana and Soro struggle to guide their friends through the swirling sandstorm that encircles and protects Golden Sky Oasis. And because the sun is hidden, the storm carries not just sand, but ghosts.

The calls of the ghosts of the desert explode in your heads: voices moaning, wailing, begging, tortured and screaming, babbling, cackling, insane chanting, whips cracking, cudgels slapping, screws turning, flesh rending, bones crunching, ravenous maws slavering, wind whipping, sand stinging, insects buzzing, worms crawling, bestial howling, talons scraping...

Only Jana is immune to the maddening cacophony. You want to plug your ears, but disoriented as most of you are, you'll no doubt end up wandering away if you let go of each others' pack straps.
OOC:
Everyone but Jana, roll+WIS. On a miss, you stop moving. On anything less than 10, describe the nightmare in your head. The worse you roll, the more horrible your nightmare.
Mar 24, 2020 11:45 am
The Swordsman... briefly feels the grip of terror as the voices of the ghosts swirl around him. Then he remembers: they are insubstantial, and cannot pierce his sturdy armor or cut his leathery flesh.

In the roaring of wind he laughs "Begone! You cannot hurt me!"
Last edited March 24, 2020 11:49 am

Rolls

Wisdom - (2D6)

(56) = 11

Mar 24, 2020 2:00 pm
Soro, even though he has been through this before in his other visits to the Golden Oasis, is overcome by visions of his clan hold being overrun by vicious invaders. Killing and looting everything in sight, his friends and family torn apart and their bodies thrown into wells that his clan had watched over for generations. His mind can't handle the sheer maliciousness of the scene playing out in his mind.

He drops to his knees trying to cradle the phantom body of one of the clan children that took a sword cut across her neck. He can see her lifeblood pouring out of her as he tries to stanch the bleeding but is unable to hold her life inside her tiny body. Tears roll down his checks at the futile attempt to affect the horrendous scene.

Screaming into the night, Someone Help her! Someone help us!
Last edited March 24, 2020 2:07 pm

Rolls

Wisdom save against the ghosts - (2d6+2)

(13) + 2 = 6

load next

You do not have permission to post in this thread.