Prologue: Survey"Well, a ward! I could try to make this better." Malacent commented as he followed the group, having to take more steps to fall in line with the taller, long-legged majority.
Try to use Sculpting to keep the wind contained so it stops blowing on the people the ward should be protecting from the rain.
[10, Poor] You bend the wind around the subjects, creating a shell rather than a field. It whistles obnoxiously as a result.
It does, however, keep her majesty both dry and in still air. She looks at you with wonder.
"You! You're promoted!"Join the group.
You leave the cave behind and slog back to the group.
((The bonus will not apply unless under certain circumstances then for example only agasint say another human or something would that be fine?))
((Start from the beginning. Don't trim it back to make it less powerful, explain to me what you want it to do and why.))
((Okay basically i want to make a small safety net i suppose or something she will have an advantage in and i actually intend for this to go away when she discovers she can do charm magic basically early game safety net is the best explanation.))
((I see. Lemme think on that a bit.))
"Ah yes I understand I also would not trust in the application of help ether magical or mundane to fix issues in my flesh without being fully secure in the knowledge that that person has an overwhelming and obvious need for my own continued existence as the forefront of their current needs without wounds of great severity! Very cunning indeed to pretend to be injured in order to draw out the fake offers for assistance and even more cunning to divine that my offer was genuine and spare my life for your future use! I bow to your stratagems and certainly shall take the gift of life you have so preciously returned from your clutches and put it forward into helping both your and my own situation via the increase in total chopping powers." Sjig said before he mentally prodded Naks muscles and lurched clumsy up and away, jumping down onto the ground and swaying towards the lumberjacks.
As Sjig-Nak approached the chopping workers he considered them. Bad starting materials, no laboratory to grow new ones and presumably a limited amount of time. He considers this problem until it solves itself he cunningly solves it by waiting until they give up on their efforts to chop though the forest and instead force their way though it. He considers the issues of people getting lost, which might eventually end up with him lost! Oh no! This must be solved! The only raw materials around for him to work with being the bugs does present a challenge, but it is luckily not an insurmountable one!
The first step of his master plan is to capture bugs! And so, he tries to do so! Weaving a hex spell of pain from dark magic, hopefully enough pain to make the bugs unable to move but not enough to kill them, Sjig-Nak starts to try to subdue a fair enough sized swarm, working as he moves. After that it's simply a matter of chopping off their appendages, making sure they don't die of shock or fluids loss of course, then tinkering with their brains. Force the bug to seek out the nearest source of the pheromones put out by one particularly modified bug, but leave them with only agonized crawling, and suddenly you have a handy dandy bug compass that always tries to reach whomever is holding the main bug. Genius! They said that bug based navigation was impossible, but now Sjig will prove them all wrong! AH HAH HAH HAH
Try to create bug compasses as a method of keeping the craftsmen from getting lost like idiots.
[3, Malus] You run screaming through the jungle, hacking the limbs off of things smaller than you in order to convince them to crawl towards a live maggot in your hand. They take poorly to this and you are stung with what is probably kind of a lot of venom.
Oddly it still doesn't
feel like a Tuesday.
"Sorry, your highness."
Decompose and eat Air until it and Weather become my secondary affinities, which should mix to give me Wind as my primary affinity. Create a column of Wind below me, so that I will be lifted up high enough to see where the other ships are.
We're bringing all of our stuff, right?
[7, Poor] You ear air. It also tastes funny. You give it time to settle with the Weather, producing Wind.
[16, Good] You propel yourself into the air, but it doesn't really help. You see somewhat more rain and somewhat less jungle, but neither of those is saying much.
((The wizards are hauling their things. The colonists are hauling what they can, but they've left a lot of stuff behind.))
Try and help where needed.
[11, Good] You attempt to cheer up the colonists currently leading the column. It seems to work, though a handful of them being in a better mood is a fairly slight improvement.
Also, shouldn't I have received 2 XP for the Rain Ward?
Where do we keep track of XP?
((This is just site faffing, you'll have stat blocks and gain XP when we move into proper weekly routines.))
[2, Malus] You continue circling around and splitting up in the jungle. You do make
some progress, but this is rapidly seeming inefficient.
[10, Poor] You're also starting to encounter slightly larger critters. Nobody's been eaten yet, but a few of them have seemed aggressive.
Fortunately, you soon get a relatively welcome sight: Another of the ships passing low over you, coming from the direction of your own crashed vessel. As it turns, a familiar shape hurls itself off of the edge and slams into the ground below, splashing the princess with water and mud.
"WHAT HO! Missed you in the skies, ol' chap! Having fun on the ground?""BLITHERING IDIOT SIMPLETON WHERE WERE YOU?!""Come now, no need to speak to a valued comrade like that! Me and Ol' Gruelfist were merely having a rousing go at the skies!""WORTHLESS IMBECILE OF A COW!""I say, found quite a few good spots we did! Find any yourself?""BRAINLESS SACK OF SIMPERING LARD!""Can't say I recommend this place, too low. Rivers shift, you know, liable to swallow the whole place up. Not much class, either, if I'm to be blunt about it. No, what we need...""WORTHLESS MINDLESS GOAT!""Oh I say, did you need a ride? Gruelfist-""BLITHERING GLUE-FED OCTOPUS OF COURSE I NEED A RIDE!""-and I were just admiring possible locations! Come on then, you'll love it!"As the ship dips low, the minotaur grabs hold of a trailing rope and clambers aboard. This is followed shortly by the princess and her skeletons being hauled up. The colonists are assured that this ship will be back for them at a later time, but has to actually dispense its own cargo before doing so. Apparently its passengers have spent this entire time still in their barrels...
It's starting to get cramped on deck, but the wizards are able to clamber aboard also.
[10, Poor] Bollwheel, the minotaur, explains that Gruelfist the fat ogre is off scouting some more.
The ship then takes off, leaving the waterlogged colonists on their own, and eventually meets up with Gruelfist's vessel. An entire ship of banjo ratmen playing full tilt while an impressively fat ogre enthusiastically dances is not something you're liable to be able to unsee or hear.
You emphatically manage to lure Gruelfist onto your ship rather than vice versa, though the cacophony follows behind closely enough to be faintly audible when the wind it right. Gruelfist and Bollwheel appear to be having a jolly good time, while Blacktongue has to be pried from the cabin and hunches miserably over the rail.
The ships take a circular path to visit the possible sites the two discovered, with much discussion of their possible merits. Nobody asks the mages for their opinions directly, but they don't seem averse to hearing them.
The first site is the one favored by Gruelfist. It's relatively close to the gateway, which would make getting things in and out a bit easier. It's otherwise little more than a raised bump of land surrounded by even swampier than usual terrain.
The second is further from the portal but contains some interesting plant life: large, artlike trees bearing large red fruit. Gruelfist is confident that a settlement among the trees would be semiviable, a settlement around and below the trees would be no harder than usual, and the fruit would provide a relatively unique source of liquor.
The third is further still, and consists of a series of parallel rents in the earth through which rivers flow. Gruelfist complains that fishing is passe, but notes that the channels would make a settlement there less likely to be flooded by shifting rivers.
The fourth is, according to the captains, not much further from the portal than the third, as they're turning around now. It consists of a single giant tree with an oddly bulbous shape. It's not large enough to house a proper settlement in, but Gruelfist explains that the mostly hollow tree is located over a cavern. He's nonetheless not fond of it, calling it "gimmicky."
The fifth is supposedly about the same distance as the fourth, and consists of some... bones, or something. They look a little like giant ribs poking up, but Bollwheel admits he's not sure what they're actually made of. He likes the idea of building a settlement inside them, with walls between, though.
The sixth is supposedly closer to the portal again, as they're starting to loop around further. It's the most favored by Bollwheel, as it's a hill overlooking a pit where vile things supposedly lurk. Supposedly that gives it the ultimate combination of defensibility and challenge this expedition needs. You don't see any of the vile things on your pass, and not even Bollwheel is entirely certain what they look like.
The seventh and final site is almost as close to the portal as the first one, and consists of a hole and corresponding cavern. Bollwheel dejectedly states that the pit doesn't
go anywhere or
contain anything, making it safe but boring and prone to blockages or flooding. Further prodding confirms that the cavern does have smaller exits, so it's neither entirely secure nor a lake waiting to happen.
Blacktongue is predictably sour over this whole process, and seems reluctant to throw her vote in for any of them. The ships are apparently running out of power, though, which has the two captains convinced that it should probably be one of these.
Author
Topic: The Expedition Arcane [ded] (Read 44491 times)