Rise of Tiamat - Intro

[Skarsgard]

OOC: No not something in the backstory, but I had an idea and went with it. So now it's cannon.

 

[Envisioner]

OOC: Okay, my GM skills and the very minimal rules guidance in the DMG is leaving me a bit lost here. Ashur has the default run speed of 30 feet, and Longstrider boosts that to 40; assuming he takes the Dash action every turn, he can make 80 feet per turn, but even a slow horse has a speed of 50 and can Dash as well, so there's no way he can outdistance the horses. Plus, while we could fiat a little based on ranger status - although Ashur's selected terrains are Mountains and Forest, not Plains and Hills, but forget that for a moment - in any event, it stretches credulity that a human traveling across a long stretch of land can outdo a horse, given that they have hooves and we just have shoes. I'm having a hard time seeing any way this scenario can work out, other than the horse-riders passing Ashur and making him look silly. I think probably the best thing to do is to just sweep this whole episode under the rug and move on.

The group makes their way back to the site of the chimera battle, but before they arrive they come within sight of a large brown balloon parked in midair over the area, with a line descending from the basket to the ground.

 

[Envisioner]

OOC: I'm guessing that you guys are perhaps not getting your email notifications for this thread?

 

[jmucchiello]

Ana tries to look at the balloon with her supervision but there's apparently a glare from the sun preventing it. "Can anyone see if there's anything special about that balloon? I can't make it out."

Perception check on balloon: 1D20+5 = [1]+5 = 6

 

[billd91]

OOC: Okay, my GM skills and the very minimal rules guidance in the DMG is leaving me a bit lost here. Ashur has the default run speed of 30 feet, and Longstrider boosts that to 40; assuming he takes the Dash action every turn, he can make 80 feet per turn, but even a slow horse has a speed of 50 and can Dash as well, so there's no way he can outdistance the horses. Plus, while we could fiat a little based on ranger status - although Ashur's selected terrains are Mountains and Forest, not Plains and Hills, but forget that for a moment - in any event, it stretches credulity that a human traveling across a long stretch of land can outdo a horse, given that they have hooves and we just have shoes. I'm having a hard time seeing any way this scenario can work out, other than the horse-riders passing Ashur and making him look silly. I think probably the best thing to do is to just sweep this whole episode under the rug and move on.

OOC: It's just heading back to a particular location and setting tone/character quirkiness. Time isn't that important. So don't sweat it.

 

[Skarsgard]

Ashur looks around. "we're we expecting company?"

 

[Envisioner]

"Hm; rather primitive-looking," Hartleigh the smith says of the balloon.

 

[billd91]

"Let's get closer and find out," Robyn suggests. "They may be just curious, but even so, I will be prepared." As he says this, he makes sure his shield is strapped firmly.

 

[Envisioner]

OOC: Waiting on Mips.

 

[mips42]

OOC: sorry, didn't realise you were waiting on me.

Dumos stops his horse as soon as he sees the balloon, turns to the smith "What is this, Smith?" He moves his horse to one side, trying to gain at least a little cover and readies Darkness.

 

[Envisioner]

"Good question. Not a lot of people have the resources or knowledge to create such a vehicle; even fewer would do such a shoddy job of it. The thing looks like it was woven out of burlap or somethng; anybody who can't manage to build a decent-quality airship really ought to reconsider trying to conquer the sky. Still, they were competent enough to get off the ground, so they have to have some sort of organizational backing. Well, if they're even vaguely aware of their surroundings they've probably managed to spot our approach even from this distance. I'm no warrior, so I'll defer to you fellows; how do you think we should proceed?"

 

[jmucchiello]

OOC: We didn't see them in the sky before we approached the valley? How high up are they? Basically I want to know if they would have seen us approaching or if we had cover before coming into the clearing and thus neither side could have seen the other until this point. If something was hanging in the sky we probably would have stopped as soon as we spotted it.

"If you think they are aware of us, we should just shout a 'hello' and see if they respond," Ana says.

 

[Envisioner]

OOC: They're not very high up; Hartleigh's statements that they have probably spotted the party are his own opinion, not necessarily accurate. There isn't much terrain that you can use for cover, beyond the mildly hilly ground and a few low scrub-brushes that even a halfling would have trouble hiding under. As to the rest, well, you did stop as soon as you spotted it, which is right now.

 

[jmucchiello]

OOC: Not important but I'm not seeing the lay of the land. If they are in the air, and we are in plains, we would have seen the balloon at least a mile away, especially with Ana's extended vision. If there are hills that prevent that I suppose that works against us spotting them early but it would still be us coming over the hill and seeing them potentially before they are aware of us. In any case, Ana will just call out to them.

"Hello?" Ana shouts. "Anyone in the balloon? Hello?"

 

[mips42]

"If they weren't aware of us before, they are now."

 

[Envisioner]

OOC: Anything from Ashur and Robyn before we continue?

 

[billd91]

OOC: Anything from Ashur and Robyn before we continue?

OOC: Not from me. Nothing's really changed since my last post...

 

[Skarsgard]

OOC: same here

 

[Envisioner]

There's no immediate response from the balloon after you halloo, so you eventually make a cautious approach somewhat closer. Getting close enough to look down into the little cup of land where the chimera had been chained, you see that its body has been removed, and a half-dozen or so individuals are fanning out across the area, engaged in various tasks, two of which are working their way in your direction. Ashur recognizes a lot of the general trappings of his trade in several of these individuals, and in particular one of the two coming toward him looks familiar.

OOC: I'll just go ahead and tell you right now that these guys are with the Emerald Enclave; I don't see this faction as being likely to fly their flag anywhere outside of a council chamber, so their balloon isn't marked with a stag's head or anything, but they aren't keeping secrets and this fact will come out in dialog within five minutes, so I might as well just spit it out. I'm not feeling super inspired, so I don't particularly want to invent all six of these individuals or detail exactly what they're doing; all of you are invited to make suggestions. The only specification I will place is that somewhere between three and five of them are Rangers, no less than two of them single-classed and the rest possibly multiclassing. The group has no high-level druids, so they don't rely on magic to solve their problems; instead they're investigating things the hard way. I'll get into what they're doing here later, but the descriptive details are something I'm more than happy to crowdsource, particularly given that I am neither super-familiar with the Forgotten Realms nor particularly fond of it. These guys are just a vehicle to move you toward the main plot, which is why I'm not getting hung up on making sure they come out right, but neither do I want to handwave them entirely. I'm also purposely dragging my heels a bit on advancing the plot for this group, because I want to give the other group a chance to catch up, which is a bit awkward given that they're doing a far more detail-intensive scenario.

 

[jmucchiello]

"Anyone recognize these guys?" Ana says to the party as the two men approach. "Most of them look like woodsmen. And they cleaned up the beast already. I think that one, in leathers is in charge."

(I assume there's a minute or two for us to chat before the guards arrive.)