Under a Dark Sun(2nd Ed. AD&D)

[Man Who Fights Like Woman]

Lorath's first act in claiming the fortress as his and the party's was to gather up all of the chalk figurines in a bag and throw them over the battlements. He wasn't going to have cursed objects in a place that he would be living, especially ones which could possibly be connected to the mass deaths that occurred here, at least according to his theory. Next he went down and took the dagger out of the king's ribcage. Before grabbing it he cast Identify on it though, just to make sure it wasn't cursed and caused its previous owner to go berserk. Then he took the king's clothes and dressed himself in them, declaring that this was now the party's official hideout. He made a mental note to stop by anything that might resemble a library in this place to see exactly how far and wide they could go from this keep and still be protected.

Once the initial house cleaning was done, it was time to get the place back to looking like it was a keep suitable for royalty. He went back up to the throne room and removed the king from the throne. He would not be necessary for the new look of the keep. Then he began going to each of the corpses in the throne room and propping the skeletons up in poses as if they were still attendants in court, complete with anything they might be holding. At last he headed back up to Ulik and Evon, who were still enjoying the view and not starting a proto-drum circle. "Nobody appears to be home," he announced, stepping out onto the roof. "I think we can safely move in, since this portal looks to be the only way in without an army. All the exits are jammed pretty well."

[ 03-14-2007, 08:10 AM: Message edited by: Man Who Fights Like Woman ]

[PurpleXVI]

Lorath, Ulik, Evon

None of the figurines seemed to protest as Lorath heaved them, one by one, over the battlements and into the moat where they sank. They were surprisingly heavy, but thanks to their size even Lorath could manage to move them, though he did manage to get chalk dust all over himself as he did so.

When he finished that task, picked up his new duds and headed to the roof, he found that Ulik and Evon were both asleep, on their feet, right next to the battlements. That explained why his work with the figurines had attracted no attention.

The dagger turned out to be about as magical as a rock, and the books in the castle library, once he found it, all turned out to be written, unsurprisingly, in another language. When he examined them, however, the structure reminded him of non-fiction, rather than fiction. Of course, it was always possible that things were opposite on this world.


Anne, Bas, Tamora, Balth

Tamora's infravision slowly became active and the world was reduced to a mess of blues and blacks, for the most part. Her companions were bright green, red and yellow, as were a few small mammals hiding in the undergrowth. Sadly she was not able to see to the other side of the river, which remained an impenetrable wall of blue shapes, but she could easily look into the trees surrounding the clearing.

At first, she saw nothing, but then she suddenly spotted an animal. On the same side of the river as them, in a downriver direction and near the edge of the water.

It was about the size of a small demihuman, but seemed to be closer to the stocky build of a dwarf than the lanky build of the halflings they'd seen so far on this world. It seemed to be laying flat on a large branch that was nonetheless bending under it's weight, all four limbs wrapped around it.

[ 03-15-2007, 06:33 AM: Message edited by: PurpleXVI ]

[Man Who Fights Like Woman]

Lorath resolved to find out what the books said. However he couldn't dedicate sufficient time to it now, since he had things to do on the other side of the portal. He poked his two companions until they woke up, telling them that they shouldn't sleep in the middle of the day. "Come on, we've still got unfinished business." He pointed back towards the pyramid-shaped portal, hoping they were caught groggy enough to go through without protest.

[ 03-15-2007, 06:39 AM: Message edited by: Man Who Fights Like Woman ]

[Armen]

Tamora

Tamora indicated the location of the creature she had seen with the tip of her bow. “Good ears Anne. There’s an animal in the trees over there that looks a little like a small bear. It could well be the same as we disturbed in the tree where the halfling had been eaten so could well be dangerous. It seems to be alone though and was before so I would guess that Bas’ pack hunter over the river is something different.” She altered her vision to the normal spectrum and turned back to her companions. Unless it was unusually hungry or ferocious she judged that the creature in the trees was unlikely to risk attacking a group but the idea of a hunting pack assessing them as prey disturbed her. “I think we should risk a fire. We are already being watched so if we make it small enough it shouldn’t attract additional attention and it might discourage simple animals. Also, if we are attacked during the night we can assume that the creatures have good night vision. Some of us won’t be disadvantaged by that but Anne will – we should prepare a torch for you as well.”

[ 03-15-2007, 05:39 AM: Message edited by: Armen ]

[Caleb808]

While Lorath is occupied and Evon is in a daze as usual, Ulik returns to the side of the portal they were originally on to see if he could collapse the portable portal by himself. He also tried to say portable portal ten times fast.

[Kazilan]

Bas rose to his feet and squinted in the direction that Tamora indicated. "Your suggestions are sound, Tamora. I'll gather some wood if you'll prepare a firepit."

Bas began searching the immediate area for dry wood, expanding his search to the forested area opposite the animal if necessary. While curious what it was, he did not want to provoke it or cause it alarm. Once their camp was established, then they could attempt to contact the animal.

[PurpleXVI]

Lorath

Ulik suddenly woke up form his stupor and dashed out through the portal while Evon shook his head at Lorath and wandered downstairs.

On the other side of the hole in the worlds, Ulik seemed to suddenly be attempting to close the portal! Thankfully, it didn't look like he was having much luck. Either it required more strength than he had, or it required multiple people, just like opening it.


Ulik

Ulik failed at both tasks, whenever he was just about to manage to fold up a portion, and could see the portal wavering, continuing seemed to require also folding up another portion which was just out of reach.

Attempting to say portable portal ten times fast didn't help his concentration on the task at hand, either, and he ended up miserably tongue-tied.


Tamora, Bas, Anne, Balth

(OOC: Tamora's agreement to Bas' suggestion found by talking to Armen, not just a DM's assumption.)

Tamora agreed to Bas' suggestion and got to work digging a firepit, while she did so, Anne kept an eye on the treeline and Balth combed the bank of the river for some sizeable rocks to ring the firepit with so they wouldn't accidentially start a forest fire. Thankfully for the ranger who was digging the actual hole, the ground was soft and free of any large rocks, so her job was soon done.

Meanwhile, the druid managed to gather an armload of firewood which, even though it might not last them through the night, would at least leave them with embers for the hours where it wasn't a blazing pyre.

As they worked, the creature that Tamora had spotted seemed content to remain where it was, slouching lazily on the branch and only occasionally changing it's position, possibly to avoid it's limbs falling asleep.

Across the river, something large could be heard moving through the foliage, rattling trees and blustering through bushes. After it finished making a god-awful racket, which sent a flock of birds screeching into the sky, it seemed to climb a tree which partially overhung the river. While it was out of range of the infravision of any member of the group, they could occasionally see a large, brownish shape when it moved past a hole in the leaves. While it was hard to determine what it was, it seemed to have four limbs, and was possibly some sort of massive ape.

"You do not strike me as a seasoned warrior," Balth commented to Anne, who had accepted first watch, too low for any other member of the group to hear, as the group prepared their campsite, "So I shall give you a piece of advice, but only because I don't want an incompetent watchman to be my death: Sit with your back to the fire, that way your eyes will be accustomed to the darkness if something comes in the night. You do not have our elven sight, so it may come in handy for keeping us all alive."

In the end, they spent half an hour getting ready for the night, all without incident, and were done just as the last sliver of the sun sank below the trees to the west. Aside from their campfire, which was slowly flickering to life as Bas fanned it, the only illumination was the stars above. But they seemed like they might be a temporary solace, for the massive moon they had seen in the sky before was rising in the east as the sun was leaving them, looking likely to blot out much of the night sky when it was it's zenith.

[dplax]

Anne

"Even though I look unlike a fighter, this isn't the first time I'm taking a night watch, but thank you for the advice."

The fire was giving off enough light by now to illuminate their immediate surroundings. A few insects were crawling through the grass close by.

Anne settled down, her back to the fire, in a position from where she could survey the creature at the edge of the clearing, while still keeping an eye on the other side of the river.

[Man Who Fights Like Woman]

Lorath stepped through the portal too, and glared at Ulik. He considered very carefully what to do, and finally decided on just saying, "Leave it up, it'll be a safe place to sleep at least and we can't get it open with Evon still over there. Now come on. I've fulfilled my part of the agreement, it's time for you to do yours." He pointed him in the direction of the root door. "Lead on, you look like you could handle anything we come across better than me," he said. "I'll watch our backs, just in case."

[Armen]

Tamora

Tamora smiled to herself at Anne’s reply to Balth. Noting the position Anne had taken the young hunter sat cross-legged, opposite the fire facing out towards the other parts of the forest - her bow lay across her knees and her spear to her side. Her eyes unfocussed but did not close as she entered the state of wakeful meditation that was the nearest equivalent she had to human sleep. Once Anne had finished her watch Tamora would then only need to rest for the rest of the night. As her mind drifted trough the experiences of the day it occurred to her that there was no special reason to fear attack from the animals of this place. She understood that this was a harsh environment but they had encountered hunting animals in the form of the Kirre that had not attacked. Even Ernie had appeared ferocious at first sight but had befriended them. They would just have to wait and see what the jungle brought.

[ 03-18-2007, 01:13 PM: Message edited by: Armen ]