HT Alias/Player Character Name Type Status/Notes Sex -- ----------------------------------------------------------------- R1.John Haight...........Arawn.............Druid .Normal/Alfar Ma ??.Chris Wells...........Ben'dar...........Warrior.Normal/Human Ma R4.Tom Corckett..........Caladan...........Wizard Normal/Human Ma W2.Marcel Liberty........Chion.............Sailor..Normal/Human Ma W3.Ryan Torres...........Farseeker.........Warrior.Normal/Human Ma --.Tobie Bonahoom........Fremea............Sidh....Normal/Faerry Fe R2.Mark Murtha...........Kell..............Trader..Normal/Human..Ma R1.David Sanders.........Kiet.Sunan........Acrobat Normal/Human Ma R4.J H Hooten............Raban.Usherwood...Bard....Normal/Human..Ma W2.Robert Maxwell........Strie'bog.........Bard....Normal/Human..Ma W4.Wout Broere...........Unali.............Ninja...Normal/Human Fe R1 John.Stowman..........Will..............Hunter..Normal/Human..Ma R4.Alex Koponen..........Z'leyra...........Healer..Normal/Human Fe R1 NPC...................Zhou Kiwat........Noble...Normal/Human..Ma Animals: Corona [Eagle] Z'leyra, Tef'wo (Horse) Ben'dar, Cover Story Info: [HD- House member, F-Foreigner, N-native non house] Arawn aka Arawn as Teacher to daughter [F] Ben'dar aka Bu Da as Horse expert [F] Caladan aka Ca Lu as Guard/Archer [N] Chion aka Capt. Chu Mai as Sailor Trustee [HD] Farseeker aka Fu Sa as Guard [F] Fremea aka Lin Mong as Noble child [HD] [Disguised] Kell aka Swan as Trader [F] Kiet aka Kiet Sunan as Zhou's servant [F] Raban aka Toban Nu as Entertainer/Guard [F] Strie'bog aka Sun Zhu as Entertainer [N] Unali aka Tun Au as Zhou's wife [HD] Will aka Sun Tzu as hunt master [F] Z'leyra aka Kakita Junami as Healer [F] Zhou aka Zhou Wa as Baron Noble [HD] Game Web Site - http://www.furvert.net/longshotgm/pbem/index.htm Public posts/actions to pnpgm@abroere.xs4all.nl (mailing list) Private emails (not public actions) to longshotgm@netzero.com Game Update #145 in sequence (file #1025) ---------------------------------------------------------------- Admin Notes: None. ----------------------------------------------------------------- [Recap] From Fremea: [Re: Actions] Fremea will follow for about another half mile or so and then do her best to plot what direction the flyer is going in, so she can take it back to the party. She will find Z and go back to the group. GM: Ack. From Z'leyra: [Re: Actions] Z'leyra will plot the direction that the flier is going in by memorizing landmarks. As she isn't as fast as the flier she will turn back after losing sight of the flier in the distance...unless the flier lands first, in which case she will memorize where it landed and hurry back to the party. [Since the flier is about pmr 3 faster it will take about as long to lose sight as it would a take normal human to run far enough to lose sight of an object the size of the flier down a long very straight road. Note that eagles should have good eyesight.] GM: Ack. Good day vision, yes. But night vision not so great. From Arawn: [Re: Actions] "Our scouts may have something to report or the box clues... (Marentian) "The house fire should prove fitting as a pyre.... He then took the man's hand and did what he could to ease his pain before his passing. GM: Ack. ----------------------------------------------------------------- [New Stuff] [Augado 6th, 1634TH] [Location: Middle Katai Plains] [ Pamau Province, Pamau City] [ Northeast of city margins, few miles, river edge] [Time: 5:48am] Arawn listens to Zhou speaking of the two flying after the Vong creature-flyer. He finally speaks up, "Our scouts may have something to report or the box clues to be discovered. If nothing else, I have a few options to narrow down our search." Some wonder what those options are and why they weren't used before now. Shu had the best magic to track the Vong so why suddenly would Arawn? Arawn turns his head to speak to Caladan in Marentian, "The house fire should prove fitting as a pyre. Let us hope that the insects aren't immune to flame. If so, then into the water," Arawn replied solemnly. Zhou watches the man writhe in pain and agony as the creatures seem to bore this way and that through his body. Zhou shakes his head in disgust at the lengths the Vong go for what they might consider pleasure. Finally, when it seems no one wishes to ask questions of the prisoner the noble in a calm voice speaks. "It is time to end this." Will removes the axe from his back and hands it to Kiet with some hesitation. It is odd to lend a weapon to another person but Kiet seems to be trained in a quick and fast kill. Caladan and Farseeker pick up pieces of burning timber from the house and wait. Kiet glances to Arawn and wonders why he is so silent for the last few moments. Kiet figures he is doing silent prays. But then Kiet realizes the man is not screaming badly as before. Kiet watches the man as he continues to thrash about but the pain on his face seems almost to lessen. Kiet doesn't understand it but maybe this is a sign of intense body shock and the man is near death. Kiet stands and levels the axe looking down at the man. The man sees this and pleads one last time. "Warn the others! I beg you they must know." Then the man turns his face so not to see the blow coming. Kiet raises the axe and leans such a way the blood shouldn't get on his clothing. With one quick strike he slams the blade down onto the neck of the man and decapitates him. It would've been better to do it from behind but the man looked like he could not tolerate moving around. Kiet figures the bugs won't be able to revive him now. Caladan and Farseeker place the planks of fire from the house onto the man's clothing. The tunic and pants erupt in flames rather quickly. Hopefully it should prevent the bugs from escaping to another body. Kiet cleans the axe and hands it back to Will in silence. As the man burns the bugs seem to also burn when they reach the outside skin. But Arawn and Farseeker stand watch to ensure none of the bugs sneak away. Up in the sky to the west Fremea follows the flyer for another half mile or so. It soon becomes clear the Flyer is going west but her eyes water as she tries to watch the Flyer in her spyglass. If only the magical item had night vision in it. It is like trying to track a rat a mile away in the pitch darkness. She can only find the Flyer every so often when the stars are blocked. In the day it would have been a simple task to even be miles away from it to follow it. But at night it is a very difficult to impossible task. A slight headache begins to stir in her mind as she decides the general direction the flyer is going is west. Course this was known from Shu's map. It does seem to go slightly south-west but that could be hundreds of miles of land in that direction. Fremea tries to spot Z'leyra but it takes about 2 minutes to finally track the eagle. For the last few minutes Z'leyra continues to fly after the Flyer as fast as she can. But it has a slight lead and the gap seems to increase. After only 3 minutes of flight the Flyer has gained a quarter mile away even further due to its slightly faster speed. Thus making it at least a mile away. Z'leyra figures in another 10 minutes the flyer could have gained a 3 mile gap distance. At that rate of constant flight she could eventually be so far behind it would be lost in the darkness. Sunrise would start in maybe 45 minutes but the in that time the Flyer could be miles ahead of Z'leyra. She decides to figure its bearing which is west and a bit south west. She begins to circle back and fly back to the burning cabin. As the party wait for the flames to die down around the cabin some search the area for Vau's bag. Arawn leads the search with his good night vision. Soon Arawn finds the bag and hauls it closer to the fire for inspection. Arawn inspects the leather pouch and finds it is rather small. He pulls out a half skin of water. He finds a wrapped cloth of a few hard biscuits and dried meat sticks. He finds a slightly damaged dagger. Then he pulls out the small diary sized book. Arawn begins to scan the journal sized book. It is a collection of rushed notes and columns of what look to be words. Indeed it seems to be a partial list of what the Brigade must've known of the Vong language based on their interaction with Nom or hearing them in the field like the warehouse and coffin situations. By now Fremea and Z'leyra return to the group and report what they find. They both are sad not to be able to follow it properly due to limits on their body but know that eventually the Flyer could detect them. Z'leyra begins to redress in her clothing. Both catch up on the events in the camp. [Time: 6:03am] Farseeker paces back and forth nervous that eventually the fire will be seen from the river traffic. He grumbles and complains about it that the party should've moved on before now. Yet the party has to wait for the fire to get to a point it can allow searches. The danger from the burning structure is too high and could hinder the search. Up to this point Chion had the only answer but even his magic ring couldn't prevent fire for long from affecting him. No one else had suggested alternatives so the party had no choice but to wait. Finally the last standing beam what once held the roof falls with a crack and pop. This exposes the inside of the cabin to the world completely. As the fire begins to run out of wood fuel the party gazes inside. Furniture has burn up as well as the wood structure. But soon the party realizes there are two other bodies inside. This must be the man's partners. One is likely Vau. But the bodies are burnt beyond any form of recognition. The party do know they are human and not Vong as even burnt Vong would look different with their large skulls. Some wonder why they were here at the cabin but likely searching Nom's place for clues and info themselves when the Vong surprised them. Finally the fire has become so low and mostly ashes it allows those with heavy boots to explore with care. Raban easily moves through the cabin and moves things aside. Will with his thick buckskins finds the remains of the bed. In fact it seems more a mat than a human bed. It would seem Nom or the Vong don't like human beds as they must give too much comfort. Sliding the mat aside Raban uses his skills to search the floor. Soon the trap door is indeed found. Likely without the man saying it was there the party might not have found it since a trap door under a mat isn't common. The small lift up door is scarred from the fire but lifts up to reveal a alcove about 4 feet by 4 feet and maybe 3 feet deep. Raban leans down and pulls out a small metal box that looks like a noble's tool or valuable chest. The box itself is not fancy and in fact is just metal plating with no seams or even locks. It is definitely a no frills box. Raban takes the box outside so everyone can see it. Some of the others like Will and Caladan continue to search the cabin as best they can. As the search comes to an end, Arawn learns some of the basic Vong words. But they are hard to say as from what he has heard the Vong yell a guttural language and it seems humans and Elves have a hard time speaking it. Some words are hello, move, friend,, shipment, weapon and some seem to be notes of more obscure words like magic and ritual. Arawn scans the book and there might be 300 words. But this can't be a full language guide by any means. It doesn't also show how to form sentences just basic words. The person who must've spent months gathering this information didn't know enough of languages to get to that point it seems. The party gathers around the box and it is opened slowly by Farseeker. Some hold torches of wooden planks on fire in case there are traps or bugs. Inside the box is a large coin bag. Slowly it is opened to reveal an assortment of gems and jewels. there is also a slew of Katai silver and gold coins. It seems Nom needed native resources for his activities. There is also a coufee, the Vong version of the bone like dagger. There is also a orb here. The same style found in Lake Oca. When one was given to the High Elder he mentioned they are likely communication devices of some sort to talk from vast distances. If this is the case this one might talk to Nom's superiors. The Orb seems a bit dry and based on past experience might die or decay soon. In the center of the box looks to be a small stack of parchments. The first seems to be a map of the area but the others are hidden from view at this time. On top of the map parchment though sits a small soup bowl like object. It is turned upside down as if the bowl was used and needs to be dried. Curious the bowl is inspected and tapped. But nothing seems to jump out. With weapons and fire ready, with a gloved hand Farseeker lifts the upside down bowl object. He turns it around and sees a leather like lip that covers the top of it. At one side it seems to be open slightly and looks to allow one to peel it back to see inside. Slowly the leather strip is peeled back. The party notices a half dozen beetle sized bugs. They are not moving and seem to be either dead or asleep. Unali reaches in and gets the map out and begins to inspect it. It appears to be the area of Middle Katai they are in. Shantou and Pamau are marked in this section of the map. The notes are in Katai and not Vongese it seems. Unali scans the map carefully and sighs as she notices no marks or Xs that denote a Vong base. The party wonder why a bowl of bugs would be kept safe and seem to be harmless for now. Yet there is something almost familiar about the bugs and this situation. Actions? Comments? Next Update...Friday... GM: Quick small update. I had waited enough to see if Will would protest using his axe or give others things to do. I left it open and there were plenty of other things to do but the posts didn't allow that. So we'll move on. Even if you don't think you should or can post in the scene doesn't mean participation couldn't affect it. Even the smallest stupid comment cold add to the scene.