Scene 1: The train from Korranberg

load previous
Aug 18, 2018 11:28 pm
Garth nods in understanding and then glances back up at the inquisitive and shrugs. "Well, I'm certainly done with this conversation." He turns to Spinove and Mint, holding a hand out to Spinove. "Let me help, as well. We can get you seen to by someone on the train, I'm sure."

Garth will help Mintina and Spinove back to our rooms and make sure she gets treatment, then return to Corfan's room to start putting things in order and organizing the papers he finds. He also wants to review the book a bit more, the one that had the text to him on it.
Aug 20, 2018 5:58 pm
Benedict takes the changeling and escorts them to one of the private cars. He explains that they don't usually have to hold prisoners, so the assassin will simply be chained to a railing in the car until you arrive at your next stop in Zolanberg later today.

Spinove and Mint get settled back in her room. The train has a medic on board and Mint reluctantly agrees to let him consult on Spinove's injuries. He is no House Jorasco healer, but she thinks him competent.

Back in Corfan's car, the bodies have been removed, taken to the rear of the train where a magic cold storage container is located. The sleeping chamber still needs to be cleaned though. As it is a private car, that responsibility would fall to Garthinock or Mintina, or perhaps they can hire one of the train's staff to help. Meanwhile, in the sitting room, Garth collects the various papers that had been strewn about. It takes some time.

When Garth is satisfied that he has made progress, he looks out the window of the train and sees that the sun is almost fully above the horizon. He leaves and locks the door to the car, returning to his own chamber. Sitting down to look over the coded book, Garth begins to work. The long stressful night starts to weigh on him though. He can feel his eyes starting to droop as he fights the urge to sleep.
OOC:
So...Decipher Script. This is how it is going to work for the coded book. You have 30 pages to decode. The DC is 20 per page, and I will make a secret Wisdom check vs. DC 5 to make sure you don't bungle any details for each check you make, as per the original rules for this skill. You need to rack up 30 successes to get the whole book finished and get the full picture...though those failed Wisdom Saves might make things more murky...we shall see. Each roll is one hour of work. I will also ask for a Con save vs DC 15 for every 4 hours of consecutive work, with a cumulative -1 penalty for each attempted Con save regarding this process. If you fail the Con check, Garth hits a wall and just can't work any more that day due to mental fatigue. This might affect other checks as well depending on how his day is going.

Seem fair?

If so, you decide how Garth proceeds. You have most of a day's travel to Zolanberg...say 16 hours. You can decide how much effort he puts into this task. Perhaps he wants to sleep some before getting to the next stop...or he could try to push through.
Aug 23, 2018 3:48 am
OOC:
Garth will work for 4 hours, but once he feels sleep's call become more insistent, he'll pack up the book and get some rest.
Garth flips through all the pages fairly quickly, just to get an idea of what's on them. Since he can't read them, yet, he pays attention to the placement of the text, any diagrams or sketches present or anything else that jumps out at him. Once he reaches the end of the book, he returns to the beginning and, with a pen and some paper, begins the slow and laborious process of deciphering it.
OOC:
I've got a total of +8 to the roll. I'll roll 4 times, once for each hour he'll spend at it before conking out.

Rolls

Decipher 1 - (1d20+8)

(4) + 8 = 12

Decipher 2 - (1d20+8)

(14) + 8 = 22

Decipher 3 - (1d20+8)

(15) + 8 = 23

Decipher 4 - (1d20+8)

(5) + 8 = 13

Aug 24, 2018 2:14 am
Making his notes then setting to the actual work of deciphering the code. It is slow going, but Garth thinks he has about two pages worked out. He blinks through bleary eyes and contemplates doing some more work, but upon standing up he feels his muscles cry out from exhaustion. Rolling into his bunk he closes his eyes and quickly fades into dreaming.
Garth is awoken by a violent shake. Consciousness comes to late to identify exactly what caused it, but ten seconds later it happens again. The whole room drops violently and then jerks back up. A porter comes running down the corridor yelling, "Please move to the front of the train! We need to evacuate the back of the train. Please move forward! The train is under attack...please move forward!"

Rolls

Wisdom checks - (1d20-1, 1d20-1, 1d20-1, 1d20-1)

Aug 24, 2018 3:21 am
Garth falls to the floor with a thump as he's jostled out of bed. He quickly stands, stumbling to one side as his sleepy muscles protest the sudden activity. Regaining his balance, he grabs his things, shoving them into his pack. The book and notes go first, then the rest of his belongings.

He steps out into the hallway, leaving the cabin door open behind him and calls for his companion, "Mintina! Mint, where are you?"
Aug 24, 2018 4:24 am
Mintina and Spinove stumble out of Mint's room together. Spinove looks a little worse for wear, the wound on her side is seeping a little blood. "The bump opened it back up a little. She'll be fine, I can give her healing again once we..." Another jolt, a drop and a rise, nearly knock the women off their feet, but they support each other using the walls. "...that, we need that to stop. Let's move."

As you make your way forward the crowd thickens. More and more people are joining the gnomes. "I heard the porter say this was an attack? I've heard of this, bandits dig up the lightning stones, a few at a time. They get take more and more and the train has to stop. If they take to many, the front engine crashes and pulls the rest of the cars off the path. That would be bad. If we don't stop before that...this will not go well. If we do stop, the bandits come on board and...well, that is bad too. The goal is to stop in a stable area. They want everyone in as few cars as possible in case we stop with the rear of the train over a gap in the path"

Sure enough, Garth can feel a decrease in the speed of the train. They are appling the brakes a little at a time, causing small lurches forward in the crowd. The group of gnomes has reached the bottle neck at the door between cars. It is going to take a moment to get through here.
Aug 25, 2018 2:32 pm
Garth pushes forward as far as he can before climbing up on a nearby seat back, holding onto a hand-rail. He raises his voice and calls out to everyone, trying to guide traffic and give direction to stop the panicked crush of bodies and create a fast moving and orderly movement into the next car.
OOC:
Diplomacy is the skill that most fits this? Rolling with that. We can apply the bonus from a different skill if you think another one applies better.

Rolls

Diplomacy +4, Cha +3 - (1d20+7)

(13) + 7 = 20

Aug 26, 2018 3:49 am
The crowd immediately around Garth seems to quiet down in response to his words. It takes constant work to keep the crowd under control and moving forward orderly. The term 'herding cats' might apply to this entire scenario, but the people start moving.
Aug 27, 2018 1:21 am
As soon as the crush of people has passed, Garth motions to Mint and Spinove to follow him through and moves into the next car.

He looks back at Spinove, looking her up and down quickly, and asks, "How are you holding up?" He takes Mint's hand to help her step over a fallen suitcase so that Mint can help Spinove over.

"We need to find someplace to hide, or someplace we can make a stand against the bandits." He shakes his head in frustration, "I bet it's some veterans who couldn't find their way back to normal life!" he says, his voice tight with frustration.
Aug 28, 2018 1:33 am
"OK...hiding sounds good to me, but where? We need to get into the front of the train so we don't get dropped when it comes to a stop. Can't we just hide in the crowd?" Panic is starting to seep into Mint's tone. She is getting scared.
Aug 30, 2018 3:46 am
Garth shrugs, looking around at the crush of people around. "Hide in the crowd, sure," he thinks, "but is that putting others in danger?" Garth glances around again, urgency and concern warring inside him, Mint's eyes pushing him to make a decision.

"I don't know. I don't know what to do..." He hops down from where he was standing and reaches for Mint's hand as he merges in with everyone else. "Keep an eye out. If we spot a place that looks good for hiding, speak up. Hopefully it's close to the front of the train."

Garth moves with the crowd, looking for a place where the three of them could have a chance of hiding from any bandits.
Sep 3, 2018 5:20 am
The train slows more and more. The next drop from the missing stone is more jarring than the last. The crowd screams, mostly from fear, as they fall toward each other. The jolt causes the people to move a little faster. As they press forward, Garth recalls his time drinking with the dwarves. In first class there are seating areas that gnomes could easily hide under. In the press of the crowd there is no way any bandits would think to look under a seat.
Sep 5, 2018 3:26 am
Garth looks back and tells Mint and Spinove of his thought. "If we can make it to first class, we have plenty of hiding spots. Let's get there as quick as possible."

Garth leads the way, pushing through the crowd as best he can to get to first class. He punches several knees and thighs after being trod on, while making his way there.
Sep 6, 2018 2:28 am
It's hard work pushing through the crowd. They don't want to relent to the small folk pushing through, but the gnomes are able to squeeze through when the bigger folk can't. You find your way to the car in question and the dwarves wave you over. "What's going on laddie? You look like you're on the run."
OOC:
Give me a Fort save DC 10. If you fail you take the 1d4 non-lethal damage rolled below. If you succeed, no non-lethal damage will be taken.

Rolls

Non-lethal damage - (1d4)

(2) = 2

Sep 7, 2018 3:18 am
Garth moves towards them, liberally applying his elbows to grease the way.

He's breathing hard when he gets close to the dwarves and he pants as he tries to fill them in, "Bandits, most likely! They've feels like the path is missing some stones and the train is coming to a stop. We've got to find a place to hide."

Rolls

Fortitude - (1d20-1)

(7) - 1 = 6

You do not have permission to post in this thread.