Fremea just shakes her head at how she missed these vile creatures. If she just had her magics, it would have been a much different story. Once they see that it takes magic weapons to destroy the last one, it makes more sense to her. Nothing for her to do, so she takes a few minutes to relax again before taking off. Listening to the group starting to not be ok with direct commands, which really none of them should ever be, hopefully this short bearded one will start to understand that. She takes off again to scout. Reaching the edge of the woods, she stops and puts on her best protective gear from the sun - that doesn't seem to be there, yet still makes her feel uncomfortable. She pulls out her spyglass to look around, using the full magics to see where she is supposed to be going to. Sent from Outlook From: pnpgm on behalf of pnpgm Sent: Monday, December 7, 2020 11:36 PM To: pnpgm@list.powersandperils.org Subject: [pnpgm] Game Update #158 - File #1162 - Party moves through forest Character Name Type Player Sex Notes ..Arawn...........Druid...John.Haight........Ma..Alfar/Backup Navigator ..Dorhak..........Warrior.Kevin.Newark.......Ma..Captain/Leader/Dwarf ..Fremea..........Sidh....Tobie.Bonahoom.....Fe..Faerry/Archer/Magician ..Kiet............Acrobat.David.Sanders......Ma..Human/Magician ..Pyandalgor......Hunter..Panthera...........Ma..Human/Hunter ..Raddok..........Miner...Bess.Hadley........Ma..Human/Miner ..Tsia.Phan.......Thief...Don.Ker............Fe..Human/Thief ..Unali...........Ninja...Wout.Broere........Fe..Human/Dagger Maiden ..Upus............Warrior.Gerald.Ford........Ma..Normal/Barbarian Warrior ..Kimis...........Warrior.NPC................Fe..Normal/Diumgi Companion ..Z'leyra.........Healer..Alex Koponen.......Fe..Human/Shaman/1st Mate ..Barbosa.........Warrior.Npc................Ma..Dwarf/Outcast ..Bes (2).........Warrior.npc................Mo..Bes.............. Game Web Site - http:/nrgcomputers.com/pbem/ Public posts/actions to pnpgm@list.powersandperils.org (mailing list) Private emails (not public actions) to pnpgm@comcast.net Game Update #158 sequence (file #1162) ---------------------------------------------------------------- Admin Notes: None. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Recap] From Z'leyra: [Re: Actions] Z'leyra immediately wipes her blade clean of the acidic blood by … GM: Ack. Considers but does not take gotcha. From Dorhak: [Re: Actions] Captain Dorhak moves over toward the group around their adversary … "We will not suffer such creatures to live. Unali! Dispatch … GM: Ack. From Kiet: [Re: Actions[ Kiet deactivates his boot of speed and heads over to the dead … "Does anybody see anything valuable the might carry on them?" … GM: Ack. From Unali: [Re: Actions] Unali is visibly shocked by the demands of the dwarf. Even as … "[Captain (in Katai)], while I am capable fighter in the light … GM: Ack. From Opus: [Re: Actions] Opus tries to get to Kimis Ignoring his own wounds but he falls … GM: Ack. Good post. From Raddok: [Re: Actions] Raddok has stood firm to protect the King as ordered, but finds … He turns to the king & asks “What is the magic of these – … GM: Ack. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- [New Stuff] [Ma 9th, 1636TH] [Time: 4:04:13 pm] Z'leyra immediately wipes her blade clean of the acidic blood by wiping it on the grass. A quick wipe with an oiled cloth and she sheathes it so she can help patch folk's wounds. But she remembers she has no oil in her bags. So uses a simple cloth. She considers taking spell components from the corpses so that in the future she can dedicate some weapons to the killing of these creatures, Weapons that will be immune to the ravages of the acid these creatures have. She also wonders how long till she starts regaining her mana. But in this place time is diluted and hard to ascertain. May take hours, weeks or years to regain mana. But she doesn't want to remain here long to find out how long. Captain Dorhak moves over toward the group around their adversary and immediately regrets it. Gods! The reeking stench! Do they always smell this way or is it only in death they do so. He moves over to the first one, the dead one, breathing through his mouth to reduce the smell. At the same time he struggles with great difficulty not to purge his stomach. The first Grundwergen is obviously already dead. He wanders over to the second one. It’s still breathing, which is not a good thing. Dorhak would rather cuddle an unhappy skunk than be within 100’ of such as these things. Basically man sized, but strong, hairy, smelly, and ugly. "We will not suffer such creatures to live. Unali! Dispatch it quickly." "Gods! The smell. we should move our camp away. A long way away!" Kiet deactivates his boot of speed and heads over to the dead creature. Grundwergen, they said? Kiet has never heard of such. Nor has he smelled anything so foul. He looks around to find a branch or small sapling he might us to poke and prod it, and then to roll it over for inspection. Touching it seems unwise if the information is true about ruining metals, not to mention wondering if one could ever be rid of the reek. He then grabs some largish leaves to use when he pulls back the lips of the things. Sure enough, the teeth are made for rending...carnivores. Faintly man-like, but definitely not human. Kiet wonders about why they attacked a group this large. Maybe they were simply starving. Either way, he is satisfied with the result. They are dead, and we and the King are still alive, though it looks like the large red man may have gotten the worst of it. The Captain said to protect the King. Kiet is satisfied about the result. "Does anybody see anything valuable the might carry on them?" Kiet knows that the group doesn’t really have time to search for their lair. Who knows how far and what direction it might be? As fast as they moved, about twice as fast as an Elf, they could be from anywhere. The group looks carefully, though at a distance, but sees no bags or pouches or the like. They must've been truly feral creatures. Unali is visibly shocked by the demands of the dwarf. Even as she is aware of the hatred his race must feel towards any Kotothi, this demand to her is beyond what she can stomach. She starts out in Katai, corrects herself and continues in Marentian: "[Captain (in Katai)], while I am capable fighter in the light and equally capable to strike from the shadows, or in this dusk we are surrounded by, I certainly have not sought out to kill if it can be avoided and fully succumb to the dark. This beast is incapacitated enough, and not mine to kill." Silence fills the forest as if holding it's breath hearing Unali's words. To some they wonder why not Kiet? He is a trained executioner. But some realize its only practical. With her and Z'leyra's weapons affected would be bad for a person to kill and ruin their weapons while hers is already damaged? But some do not speak up right away. Dorhak stares at Unali. The gall of these females! First Mae, Tsia and now her? But his anger drains knowing that soon he'll not be leader once they get back home. Opus tries to get to Kimis Ignoring his own wounds but he falls over in pain. He can't move well and he is not sure he can help her. He quietly as he slumps to the ground says, “Burn these creatures to the ground.” But then he realizes the fire may attract more to the group's location. By the smoke that would rise to the sky. He says to the group, “Never mind !”. In his mind he thinks, “I have endured pain at the hands of a bad man. I can handle this. Stand up and help yourself.” Opus rises up and get the courage and tries to find a way with his own belongings to bind his wounds. He can barely moves as each movement is painful. As he does so he simply says in a quiet manner, 'Help!” Raddok has stood firm to protect the King as ordered, but finds himself getting more concerned, not less, as the fighting seems to have stopped. One of the creatures appears to still be alive, since he hears Dorhak's order to Unali to slay it. The stench from the creatures was becoming more overwhelming, even from where he stood about 10 or so feet away. Raddok's concern is not about imminent attack right now, since both of the slimy horrors are down, but about the strange behavior of the king & the Bes guard - & the strange way the battle seems to have gone. Why did the king & guard not try to fight once the king recognized these strange creatures? He even seemed to stop trying to get past Raddok, & let the others do the fighting. And even more confusing was the battle itself. He could see much of what happened most of the time, but why were there so many apparent misses when his friends were so competent & skilled? It seemed that most hits aimed at the creature's heads simply passed through – nothing? He turns to the king & asks “What is the magic of these – Grundwergen? Why do they ignore hits to their heads & half the hits to their bodies? Are they part ghost or spirit? Are they just slime with no body in some places? How can we tell if they're dead or not? How do we kill them, except by repeated hitting & slashing?” Raddok still feels a sense of danger, but does not know what to do or say, other than to just keep watch around them all carefully. He stays ready for battle and looks around in all directions, looking closely for any movement at all - he even remembers to look skyward, as Fremea's sudden presence reminds him of that oft-neglected direction for danger. Dorhak hears Unali refusing the order, and his knuckles go white on his sword hilt. "So be it" he says as he glares at her, for a bit, but turns away. Moving toward the living creature, he calls out " Kiet! Finish off this creature." Kiet is taken aback by Unali's refusal. He's been under the authority of a ships captain several times. You don't refuse a direct order. Ever. Kiet certainly has no compunctions against following this order either as it makes sense not to leave live enemies behind. Kiet walks over to the body of the Grundwergen examining it for the best place to strike. Kiet decides to simply take off its head. He moves around a bit more and carefully lines up his strike to cross the neck. He takes the sword into both hands, gripping the hilt and pommel, then swings down with all the strength he can wield. All of a sudden, the sword simply bounces off?! Nothing. No damage. No cut fur. No blood. Just nothing. Kiet looks incredulously at Dorhak and backs away slightly. He tries again, this time on a leg. He takes a measured swing, but gets the same result. He tries several more times with no wounds appearing. Kiet pulls back and says "Captain! This...thing...seems to be enchanted. I can't harm it with my weapon." He thinks for a bit deciding if it's wise to ask a question, angry as the dwarf is now. "Captain. I know your sword is enchanted. Might I borrow it to strike the final blow, hoping it's enchantment might trump that of the creature?" Dorhak is wary of doing so. While he dislikes giving over his weapon, at least he knows the dark little human isn't acting in disobedience but trying his best to follow the order. The Captain hands it over, knowing that Kiet could use magic if need be, but also knows that all the magic in this group is limited. Best to save it for emergencies. Kiet takes the short sword and swings it a couple of times to get the weight and balance of it. His curved tulwar is best suited for taking a limb or head, especially from a creature prone on the ground. With the short sword, a straight thrust into the body of the Grundwergen should suffice. He studies the creature, then thrusts the sword into its chest, blade horizontal to slide between ribs, approximately where it's heart might be. This time, the blade bites. Because of the warning about the creature's blood, Kiet looks around for something to clean the blade. He finds some leaves that look to do the trick, removes the blood as best he can, then hands the sword back to Dorhak. Dorhak sheathes the blade, but still obviously more than a little angry. The King listens with a bemused smirk. “I was just going to suggest crushing it's throat with my sandals since it has no metal. But that was a fine demonstration!” He looks to Raddok, “this is why I was not eager to attack to save my spear tips. Plus we are not hostile folks so I support Unali's view. They say these beasts are immune to weapons that isn't of great strength. More than chainmail strong. This is the reason for bounces by your slices.” He glances at Kimis and Kiet. “They also say they are bugged by music. So I suspect when Kimis played music they got hot blood hatred for us. Or maybe they are just mean beasts?” Barbosa nods, “burning them would be dangerous. If forest burns down that Vily will be our end. Speaking of which...shes bound to hear about this from the trees. I suggest we move on fast.” [Time: 4:10 pm] Arawn watches all of this in subtle silence. He nods hearing Unali protests so feels good about that. A rift is forming in the party but its good to have open discourse not blind obedience. Z'leyra patches up Opus and Kimis. Cleaning wounds and clothing form slime and blood. Both will survive. But takes a good amount of bandages. Dorhak orders group back to position and moves out. With two wounded in back that will help to ensure no frontal ambushes. AS Fremea flies ahead above the trees she notices the day light getting brighter as the “day” shows. But oddly there is no “sun” it just seems to be brighter now. To not be seen and to avoid the light Fremea moves below the canopy and flies in the darker shade of the trees weaving back and forth. [Time: 6:21 pm] The group takes a quick break and eats what they have. Water is running low so Fremea is asked to look for rivers or streams. Since its daylight and time is critical the party moves on. Unali walks slowly besides Arawn, she asks if she could see the cube item again. "Let me see the cube that was hidden in the tree. It seems somehow familiar." Arawn shows the bag of loot. Unali ponders the cube bit shakes her head. She stares at the ink well. The object that is same as a ink well but instead of a open area or lid to dip quill in ink its closed. No way to open it, it seems. Maybe its just a neat paper weight? [Time: 9:12 pm] Back in the Middle World it'd surely be past 9pm back in Bes fortress. Only 30 minutes earlier Fremea found a watering hole about 50 feet wide probably from sunken ground. Water is replenished for the party. Fremea joins the party saying the edge of the forest is near. They approach and see a wide open plain. It stretches west to east (left to right) as far as eye can see. Folks try to spot any town or village but do not at this point. To the far north forward is a medium sized mountain chain. Probably 75-100 miles wide? The mountains are clouded in gray-blue mist. Spots of green show a forest on the sides of the mountains. The mountains are 8-10 miles away it seems. There is light vegetation – shrubs, bushes and small clumps of trees on the plain but not much cover. The temperature is a warm 70s maybe? But in open “sun” it may get hotter. With the wounded it may take another 3-5 more hours to get to forest/mountains. Barbosa looks at Dorhak, “shall we rest, camp or move on?” GM: Actions? Comments? Next update....Fri/Sat? GM: So its been about 8 hours since entered LW. So do you move on or camp? Local time it seems afternoon time. Let me know. Just a note on the Grund blood. Some argue the BL8 thing. But when I worked on the v2 monster file from Richard's edits I asked him about it. The BL8 is for Great Serpent but since there is NO metal exception thus no BL8. Now I checked/rolled for blood splashes. No one else affected. The stuff from Dorhak/Kiet and some of Wout's were in old/new emails. GM: Groups- [here to remind me of walking groups] 1st Triad – Dorhak, Barbosa, Raddok 2nd Triad – Z'leyra, Tsia, Unali, King, Arawn. 3rd Triad – Pyan, Opus, Kimis, Kiet. GM: Experience - Player MEP CEP Expertise Notes Unali - 175 (40) Dagger x3 Unali - - 8 Two Handed Weapon Z'leyra - 60 10 Sword x1 GM: Notes - Unali - Dagger #1-FV-2 Dagger #2 - FV-2 Z'leyra Sword - FV-2 Arrows (5) not lost can be reacquired. Kimis - -12 HPV Opus - -13 HPV