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Of Sound Mind the Halfling Way
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<blockquote data-quote="the Jester" data-source="post: 2084866" data-attributes="member: 1210"><p>First of all, thanks to hippiejedi2 for that post- it's cool when the pcs add their perspective to things.</p><p></p><p>Now, an update:</p><p></p><p><em><strong>4/7/369 O.L.G., 2 p.m.</strong></em></p><p></p><p>“Islands ho!” cries the man in the crow’s nest.</p><p></p><p>Sailors who were idle only seconds before suddenly begin bustling about, doing sailor things. To most of our halfling heroes, this is incredibly baffling. Most of them are, if the truth be told, a little afraid of the water; it would never occur to your average halfling to join the crew of a ship. The very thought would make your average halfling shudder.</p><p></p><p>Except for stouts.</p><p></p><p>Sandy is in his element, although truth be told again, he’s never sailed the sea before, just rivers. Ahh, but it’s so big and heavy! The waves in the storm that rose up were immense, and the turgid flatness of the sea when they’d been becalmed were eerie reminders that the sea was mighty, far mightier than any ship or vessel. It could smash them at whim, or leave them stranded and unable to move. Though it moves him, the sea also frightens Sandy.</p><p></p><p>At one point during the trip, while they were becalmed, Beau had suggested they take a swim. Sandy had stopped him. “Trust me on this,” he had told Beau, “<em>never</em> swim in the ocean.”</p><p></p><p>“Them’s the islands,” growls the captain, poking Sandy out of his reverie. “That’s where the <em>Deep Lobster</em> went down.”</p><p></p><p>The ship sails in to the midst of the islands, six small tropical islands forming a small ring. In the middle of them all, a ship carrying precious spices went down. The wreck has been searched already, and the spices- which were sealed and might well have survived- have been removed, presumably to one of the islands. Furthermore, the captain claims that there is a black diamond the size of a fist on the islands somewhere. It is for the spices that our heroes have come here; but a fist-sized diamond... well! That wouldn’t be anything to sneeze at, that’s for sure!</p><p></p><p>Given a rowboat the next morning, our heroes pick an isle and start rowing. </p><p></p><p>***</p><p></p><p><em><strong>4/9/369 O.L.G., 8:30 a.m., the first isle</strong></em></p><p></p><p>With a yawn, Beau comes awake. He scratches his head, then drags himself out of his bedroll. “Good morning, Timmy,” he says, inwardly snickering.</p><p></p><p>“Good morning,” Timothy replies nonchalantly.</p><p></p><p>Beau scratches his head again. Timothy doesn’t seem bothered at all....</p><p></p><p>“Hey, Timmy, how did you sleep?” he tries.</p><p></p><p>“Hey, don’t!” calls a muffled Sandy, sitting up and stretching. “You don’t want to set him off! You should be nice to Timothy- Timothy, it’s okay,” he soothes. </p><p></p><p>“Uh, okay,” says Timothy, confused but not upset.</p><p></p><p>“Whoa,” breathes Beau. <em>He </em>is<em> healed,</em> he thinks.</p><p></p><p>***</p><p></p><p><em><strong>Noon</strong></em></p><p></p><p>Our heroes hack their way into the jungles of the isle. The air is hot and humid, and of them all only Jawbreaker and Federico seem to really enjoy it. Soon they find an empty sod hut. Jawbreaker pokes it with a stick, then grunts and drops to one knee, scanning the ground for tracks.*</p><p></p><p>”Come,” he says after a moment. “Jawbreaker find them.”</p><p></p><p>The others follow behind him. He intently scans for signs of passage as the group moves along, and soon he leads them to a small village of similar sod huts. But again, there appears to be nobody there. </p><p></p><p>“What do you think lives here?” Beau asks. </p><p></p><p>“Goblins, gnomes maybe.” Jawbreaker shrugs. “Small like us. Not halflings, feet too small.” His eyes catch something in the village. “Let’s look.”</p><p></p><p>The party finds the village as empty on closer inspection as it was on first impression. However, one hut appears partially burned, and around it Jawbreaker finds a muddle of tracks: humanoid, livestock, some sort of big cat. And he finds a few shed red scales.</p><p></p><p>“Scales!” exclaims Beau. “Like, a dragon?” He glances fearfully at the burn marks and gulps.</p><p></p><p>Jawbreaker shrugs. “Not sure. Could be.” He frowns and looks around. “We go high ground, look around.”</p><p></p><p>The island rises to a central peak- it looks volcanic to Martini. The party begins tromping upslope towards it, rising out of the thick vegetation of the jungle. Insects buzz around them and sweat drips down the halflings’ faces. Federico loves the warmth, but all the climbing and walking is draining his meager strength. Our heroes stop to rest and snack frequently.</p><p></p><p>Eventually our heroes near the top of the isle and approach a series of slabs of stone leaning together. “Hey, is there something moving in there?” asks Beau- and suddenly something flies up to the top of the boulders, emerging in a flash of fur and scales. It is a weird cross between dragon, lion and goat, with three heads, formidable-looking claws and hissing breath. A terrible smell of sulfur and burning metal follows it. Its great draconian wings beat mightily, thrusting it through the air, and its dragon head belches out a blast of flame that catches Sandy, Beau and Timothy in its area. They all scream as it burns their flesh, but all are stalwart; none fall. </p><p></p><p>Timothy stands fast in front of it. “Don’t worry, I’ll protect you!” he cries, casting <em>shield.</em> Meanwhile most of the others start pelting it with missiles. Jawbreaker, unfortunately, is on the wrong side of the stones to reach the beast; he can only rush along the perimeter hoping to reach it. As he jogs along he pulls out his bow and strings it in a single motion. </p><p></p><p>Beau, standing back, fires his own bow. Over and over, he sinks small arrows into the monster’s body until it is bristling like a porcupine. </p><p></p><p>Sandy steps in to flank the monster with Timothy, thrusting with his spear, but the monster turns its full attention on him, and to his dismay Sandy realizes that Timothy isn’t even holding a weapon. With a groan, he tumbles away as the monster snaps and claws at him, tearing a chunk from his shoulder with its goat bite. He tries to get some distance, but it pursues even as Timothy tries to roast it with a <em>flaming sphere.</em> Jawbreaker, shouting angrily, continues to try to find the chimera as it circles away from him. Finally, he stops in frustration and climbs up the rocks. From the top he can see, and he starts shooting his bow at the monster. Unfortunately, his arrows go wide again and again, or bounce harmlessly off the terrible monster’s scaly hide.</p><p></p><p>Not so Beau’s. His natural dexterity makes him extraordinarily accurate, and though he isn’t especially strong, he has an eye for the weak spots in the creature’s defense. Finally, disgusted, Jawbreaker climbs back down off the rock and gets out his spear. But before he can use it, there’s a terrific <strong>CRACK!</strong> and a <em>lightning bolt</em> snares the creature, arcing out from the wand in Timothy’s hand. The monster’s three heads give out a trio of cries of pain, and the chimera struggles down from the air, barely avoiding a completely disastrous crash, and collapses. </p><p></p><p>“Wow,” says Sandy, wincing as he probes his wounds.</p><p></p><p>“Bah!” snorts Jawbreaker. “Jawbreaker not even get to hurt it!” He snorts angrily. “Stupid monster!”</p><p></p><p>***</p><p></p><p><em><strong>2 p.m.</strong></em></p><p></p><p>Interestingly, a search finds that the chimera was wearing a collar with a monogrammed ‘S’. Moreover, there’s a secret trap door in the ground in the center of the leaning stone slabs, and it’s big enough that the chimera could have fit through it easily.</p><p></p><p>“What do you think is down there?” Beau murmurs, almost to himself.</p><p></p><p>“’S.’” Sandy grins.</p><p></p><p>What they find is a group of goblins living in a small warren of caves. After a fairly large engagement in which when they slay the goblin chief another goblin immediately announces that he’s chief now, and slowly the violence winds down with the goblins dead or fled. Our heroes, too, are bloodied and battered; and they certainly realize that going forward might prove more difficult than going back and resting for a while. </p><p></p><p>Unfortunately, as it turns out, they are incredibly wrong.</p><p></p><p><em><strong>Next Time:</strong></em> How incredibly wrong are they? Come and see!</p><p></p><p></p><p>*No, he didn’t take a level of ranger- he took Track as a feat. He was torn up about whether he should take it or Cleave, but he ended up very happy with his choice (I believe- maybe he’ll poke in and comment, you never know).</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="the Jester, post: 2084866, member: 1210"] First of all, thanks to hippiejedi2 for that post- it's cool when the pcs add their perspective to things. Now, an update: [i][b]4/7/369 O.L.G., 2 p.m.[/b][/i][b][/b] “Islands ho!” cries the man in the crow’s nest. Sailors who were idle only seconds before suddenly begin bustling about, doing sailor things. To most of our halfling heroes, this is incredibly baffling. Most of them are, if the truth be told, a little afraid of the water; it would never occur to your average halfling to join the crew of a ship. The very thought would make your average halfling shudder. Except for stouts. Sandy is in his element, although truth be told again, he’s never sailed the sea before, just rivers. Ahh, but it’s so big and heavy! The waves in the storm that rose up were immense, and the turgid flatness of the sea when they’d been becalmed were eerie reminders that the sea was mighty, far mightier than any ship or vessel. It could smash them at whim, or leave them stranded and unable to move. Though it moves him, the sea also frightens Sandy. At one point during the trip, while they were becalmed, Beau had suggested they take a swim. Sandy had stopped him. “Trust me on this,” he had told Beau, “[i]never[/i] swim in the ocean.” “Them’s the islands,” growls the captain, poking Sandy out of his reverie. “That’s where the [i]Deep Lobster[/i] went down.” The ship sails in to the midst of the islands, six small tropical islands forming a small ring. In the middle of them all, a ship carrying precious spices went down. The wreck has been searched already, and the spices- which were sealed and might well have survived- have been removed, presumably to one of the islands. Furthermore, the captain claims that there is a black diamond the size of a fist on the islands somewhere. It is for the spices that our heroes have come here; but a fist-sized diamond... well! That wouldn’t be anything to sneeze at, that’s for sure! Given a rowboat the next morning, our heroes pick an isle and start rowing. *** [i][b]4/9/369 O.L.G., 8:30 a.m., the first isle[/b][/i][b][/b] With a yawn, Beau comes awake. He scratches his head, then drags himself out of his bedroll. “Good morning, Timmy,” he says, inwardly snickering. “Good morning,” Timothy replies nonchalantly. Beau scratches his head again. Timothy doesn’t seem bothered at all.... “Hey, Timmy, how did you sleep?” he tries. “Hey, don’t!” calls a muffled Sandy, sitting up and stretching. “You don’t want to set him off! You should be nice to Timothy- Timothy, it’s okay,” he soothes. “Uh, okay,” says Timothy, confused but not upset. “Whoa,” breathes Beau. [i]He [/i]is[i] healed,[/i] he thinks. *** [i][b]Noon[/b][/i][b][/b] Our heroes hack their way into the jungles of the isle. The air is hot and humid, and of them all only Jawbreaker and Federico seem to really enjoy it. Soon they find an empty sod hut. Jawbreaker pokes it with a stick, then grunts and drops to one knee, scanning the ground for tracks.* ”Come,” he says after a moment. “Jawbreaker find them.” The others follow behind him. He intently scans for signs of passage as the group moves along, and soon he leads them to a small village of similar sod huts. But again, there appears to be nobody there. “What do you think lives here?” Beau asks. “Goblins, gnomes maybe.” Jawbreaker shrugs. “Small like us. Not halflings, feet too small.” His eyes catch something in the village. “Let’s look.” The party finds the village as empty on closer inspection as it was on first impression. However, one hut appears partially burned, and around it Jawbreaker finds a muddle of tracks: humanoid, livestock, some sort of big cat. And he finds a few shed red scales. “Scales!” exclaims Beau. “Like, a dragon?” He glances fearfully at the burn marks and gulps. Jawbreaker shrugs. “Not sure. Could be.” He frowns and looks around. “We go high ground, look around.” The island rises to a central peak- it looks volcanic to Martini. The party begins tromping upslope towards it, rising out of the thick vegetation of the jungle. Insects buzz around them and sweat drips down the halflings’ faces. Federico loves the warmth, but all the climbing and walking is draining his meager strength. Our heroes stop to rest and snack frequently. Eventually our heroes near the top of the isle and approach a series of slabs of stone leaning together. “Hey, is there something moving in there?” asks Beau- and suddenly something flies up to the top of the boulders, emerging in a flash of fur and scales. It is a weird cross between dragon, lion and goat, with three heads, formidable-looking claws and hissing breath. A terrible smell of sulfur and burning metal follows it. Its great draconian wings beat mightily, thrusting it through the air, and its dragon head belches out a blast of flame that catches Sandy, Beau and Timothy in its area. They all scream as it burns their flesh, but all are stalwart; none fall. Timothy stands fast in front of it. “Don’t worry, I’ll protect you!” he cries, casting [i]shield.[/i] Meanwhile most of the others start pelting it with missiles. Jawbreaker, unfortunately, is on the wrong side of the stones to reach the beast; he can only rush along the perimeter hoping to reach it. As he jogs along he pulls out his bow and strings it in a single motion. Beau, standing back, fires his own bow. Over and over, he sinks small arrows into the monster’s body until it is bristling like a porcupine. Sandy steps in to flank the monster with Timothy, thrusting with his spear, but the monster turns its full attention on him, and to his dismay Sandy realizes that Timothy isn’t even holding a weapon. With a groan, he tumbles away as the monster snaps and claws at him, tearing a chunk from his shoulder with its goat bite. He tries to get some distance, but it pursues even as Timothy tries to roast it with a [i]flaming sphere.[/i] Jawbreaker, shouting angrily, continues to try to find the chimera as it circles away from him. Finally, he stops in frustration and climbs up the rocks. From the top he can see, and he starts shooting his bow at the monster. Unfortunately, his arrows go wide again and again, or bounce harmlessly off the terrible monster’s scaly hide. Not so Beau’s. His natural dexterity makes him extraordinarily accurate, and though he isn’t especially strong, he has an eye for the weak spots in the creature’s defense. Finally, disgusted, Jawbreaker climbs back down off the rock and gets out his spear. But before he can use it, there’s a terrific [b]CRACK![/B] and a [i]lightning bolt[/i] snares the creature, arcing out from the wand in Timothy’s hand. The monster’s three heads give out a trio of cries of pain, and the chimera struggles down from the air, barely avoiding a completely disastrous crash, and collapses. “Wow,” says Sandy, wincing as he probes his wounds. “Bah!” snorts Jawbreaker. “Jawbreaker not even get to hurt it!” He snorts angrily. “Stupid monster!” *** [i][b]2 p.m.[/b][/i][b][/b] Interestingly, a search finds that the chimera was wearing a collar with a monogrammed ‘S’. Moreover, there’s a secret trap door in the ground in the center of the leaning stone slabs, and it’s big enough that the chimera could have fit through it easily. “What do you think is down there?” Beau murmurs, almost to himself. “’S.’” Sandy grins. What they find is a group of goblins living in a small warren of caves. After a fairly large engagement in which when they slay the goblin chief another goblin immediately announces that he’s chief now, and slowly the violence winds down with the goblins dead or fled. Our heroes, too, are bloodied and battered; and they certainly realize that going forward might prove more difficult than going back and resting for a while. Unfortunately, as it turns out, they are incredibly wrong. [i][b]Next Time:[/b][/i][b][/b] How incredibly wrong are they? Come and see! *No, he didn’t take a level of ranger- he took Track as a feat. He was torn up about whether he should take it or Cleave, but he ended up very happy with his choice (I believe- maybe he’ll poke in and comment, you never know). [/QUOTE]
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