TURTLEDOME!: Battle Bone (DM: KenHood, Judge: Lord S.)

[KenHood]

It is late evening by the time the party exits Swillwort's residence. (Odd how the time managed to slip away.) You walk to the library, via TURTLEDOME!

As you near the docks, you hear a swell of sound, like a nearby carnival. Bright lights blot out the stars.

As you round the corner, you see the pavilion outside TURTLEDOME!...along with a ferris wheel (spun by a giant hamster that walks inside it) and a row of smaller tents with various monster-related games and events.

Even more curious...

A crowd is WAITING for you as you round the bend. Many of them bear signs encouraging the party to victory, while there seems to be a significant (but small) group with signs describing all sorts of anatomically impossible things that Hadarai should do to himself. The crowd cheers. You hear...

• "Hurry! Hurry! You have to save Drivan!"
• "Say something awkward, Finnian!"
• "***** you, Hadarai!"
• "We love you, Vaunea!"
• "They took Marco and the kids!"
• "I'm glad you're stuck in a catatonic state, Hadarai!"
• "Why did you pick armor, Emral?"
• "Do you think Drivan would father my child?"
• "Don't you know you're being followed? And not by that ****-hole, Hadarai!"
• "Drivan's in trouble!"

A halfling runs away, vanishing into the crowd...or rather, attempting to do so. He's hindered by the fans screaming curse words at him and pointing. "He's the guy that's been following you! He's the guy!"

As you look in his direction, a female reporter darts up into your line-of-sight. "Hello! I'm Lanessa Longtooth, from the Daunton Screamer, I was wondering if you might be available to answer some questions."

 

[mohalloran]

"Vaunea answer! Crush bones of legion." And with that, Vaunea gives Lanessa a long-toothy grin.

[sblock="OOC"]See what I did there? I crack myself up! [/sblock]

 

[KenHood]

A roar of approval builds in the crowd, like a shockwave. It's especially strong coming from the pavilion. But other people scream, "He's getting away!"

Lanessa hurriedly scribbles Vaunea's words. "Thank you, Vaunea. Now, about your mass appeal: What is it about you that makes people love you so much?"

 

[weldon]

Finnian wonders silently about Vaunea's strange grin, which might be a grimace now that he thinks about it again. Hmm, can't quite be sure with her. And if crushing is the answer, what was the question again? And then the ranger is brought back to the present by the cries from the crowd...

Getting away? No, no... Erlai, where are you, friend? I need your help again. C'mon, he calls to the others. Let's get 'em!

Finnian catches sight of the halfing darting away, and the crowd pointing after him. He takes off at a run and whistles for the hawk to follow more closely.

With any luck, that beautiful bird will think we're chasing this halfing like we chased rabbits in the woods.

Athletics, Perception, Streetwise (1d20+3=14, 1d20+2=12, 1d20+1=10)

[sblock=skill checks]I rolled for athletics to get on the run after the halfing, perception to follow where he went through the crowd, and streetwise to try and navigate the crowd and anticipate how he might try to evade us among the crowd.[/sblock]

 

[mohalloran]

Vaunea sees the halfling run through the crowd just as Lanessa asks her question about the crowd loving Vaunea. As if on queue, Vaunea unsheeths her axe and screams at the top of her lungs, "Get small guy. Vaunea catch." And charges through the crowd chasing the halfling.

 

[KenHood]

As the crowd parts and begins to chant, "Get him! Get him!" the halfling turns back and looks at you in a mixture of shock and horror. He tugs a vial out of his belt, darts towards the waters of the harbor, quaffs the contents, and dives in.

 

[Reklaw]

[sblock=Kenhood]Love the turtledome action!

"Yes Marco, I'm in here. This is some sort of plan to get them into the arena instead of us. They won't get away with this! Everything will be okay kids!"

Can Drivan use that dagger to cut any of his ropes by rubbing them against it?[/sblock]

 

[mohalloran]

Vaunea comes to a screeching halt at the water's edge. She frantically looks around for a boat she can use to go out into the lake.

"Emral, what do? Where go now?"

 

[KenHood]

[sblock=Drivan]

Can Drivan use that dagger to cut any of his ropes by rubbing them against it?

I am glad you asked. Yes. You can attempt to do so, but it's going to be hard work and take a while. Barely an inch of the dagger protrudes from the side of the chest, and the point is at your head, so you'll have to contort a bit to get in position so you can cut the cords around your hands.

Don't groan, but an Acrobatics check is in order. The result will give me a general idea of how long it will take you to squirm into position.

"Yes Marco, I'm in here. This is some sort of plan to get them into the arena instead of us. They won't get away with this! Everything will be okay kids!"

"Drivan! Drivan, there's a padlock on the outside of that chest, and we're all tied up together. The kidnappers have locked us in this room with you. They're in the front of the building."[/sblock]

 

[Reklaw]

[sblock=Kenhood]Acrobatics Check=8

"Thanks Marco! I'm going to try and get out of here and I'll get you untied."

Drivan grunts and groans as he attempts to contort his rather unflexible body into an even more uncomfortable position.[/sblock]