Sands of the South - Game Thread

"We should go now, if Tolr'ax is as tough as he boasts he will be fine. We will find their friend who may be a huge asset to this mission. Let's not waste anymore time!" I urge everyone along and continue down the path.

I agree, I don't care mucg for this kobold. I continue walking down the tunnel past everyone else not paying anymind as to what the kobold is doing. I'm tired of waiting around. I press forward.

I begrudgingly follow staying close to A'myrl

Hacking and slashing at the air I mumble to myself "I wish the world was more interesting."

THE ADVENTURES OF TOLR'AX

Tolr'ax wrote:I want to give it a punch as I go by and say "Stupid crumble wall" and then I want to go where the TK came from. I tell Eiznof "Maybe this will lead to the surface. The others are probably dead, we should move on and try to find a city if there is one on this gods-forsaken place."

You punch the wall. A few bricks fall away revealing a small niche in the wall. A secret compartment! Inside you find a tiny corpse, mummified. What the Hell?! Embedded in its chest is a plaque of some sort in the shape of a beetle. More bugs... (Take it or Leave it?) Also a handful of various gemstones, some black, some green. They're worth 10-25 gold each, 300 gp total.

You continue on to the room with the fallen antfolk. You wish to head north the way from which the antfolk emerged?

Tolr'ax wrote:As I am 'splorin I practice my sword swingin'
I hum a little tune as I am swing swongin" my sword.
It goes a little like "just swingin' my sword around waitin' to find something neat to look at or kill" but no words, just hums.
As I walk I kick up the dusty ground and ask Eiznof, "I wonder why the ones who used to live here abandoned it. This place has not been touched in a very long time, look around, the only signs of life are where we have walked around and fought. It is eerie that NOTHING has been in here. Either there is something dark going on here, or all the creatures that inhabit this damned place fly....I don't trust flying things."......I look at Eiznof who is just following with a blank stare, occasionally coming his hair and doing a weird gesture with his hands (finger guns...but Tolr'ax doesnt know about guns).

"You are a strange one....your magic makes you strong....I don't believe that magic is a fair tool in a battle of strength." I flex my bicep. "True strength is what should determine leadership. But, I have been traveling trying to change my people's views on this....to reach the far corners of the world and find a way for my people to thrive, not just survive." I glance back at Eiznof, who looks as though he has not been listening at all. "You are a good ear to bend...you don't talk to much. You might be the best companion I have ever had." I smile at Eiznof and start swingin' my sword in the air again, practicing loping off heads.

Eiznof begins scanning the upper reaches of the chambers you go through, apparently now looking for flying critters.

Tolr'ax wrote:Hacking and slashing at the air I mumble to myself "I wish the world was more interesting."

Me too.


EVERYONE ELSE

Jamros Mageblood wrote:As I wait ahead for the others I too think of the goliath..he sure does love pickles I think to myself. This reminds me of an old friend I once had, name was Rick, ate so many of those sour treats we joked he would turn into one.  "Pickle Rick!" we would call him. I sure do miss the crazy bastard. My focus goes back to the path and I continue forth.

You suddenly feel a sickness in your belly and barely avoid shitting yourself. F*** Pickle Rick

A'mryl wrote:*to my companions* "Perhaps we should press on, maybe we will find the goliath on our way..." (I'm struggling with the decision to press on or asking Kip to guide us to the goliath and elf, my inner struggle is visible on my face)

Dook wrote:" Yes, lets move on. I'm sure the Goliath is ok. That arse is too stubborn to die on us and I'm sure he will show up foolishly some how. Plus, the elf is protecting him if he does something idiotic." I follow into the darkness after Kip.

Jamros Mageblood wrote:"We should go now, if Tolr'ax is as tough as he boasts he will be fine. We will find their friend who may be a huge asset to this mission. Let's not waste anymore time!" I urge everyone along and continue down the path.

Dook wrote:I agree, I don't care mucg for this kobold. I continue walking down the tunnel past everyone else not paying anymind as to what the kobold is doing. I'm tired of waiting around. I press forward.

Olo wrote:I begrudgingly follow staying close to A'myrl

You walk on for what feels an age in the dark tunnel. Life is boring at times. Ahead a small light flowers in the dark. Kip has pulled one of the glowing beetle thorax from a pouch. He sets it down next to him, and waves you forward to his location. He puts a finger to his mouth, as if to hush you. He then pulls at a couple of stones, rolling them gently out of the way with a soft clatter. Hidden behind is a small tunnel. "We go." He looks at Dook's height and build, and shrugs. "Maybe you don't breathe too deeply, eh?"

He drops to his haunches, lantern bug in hand, and crawls in. It will be a tighter squeeze for Dook, but the rocks looks solid and shouldn't collapse on you. So there is that small comfort.

Can I tell what race the corpse is? Any distinguishing features about it? Humanoid? Bug?
Take the gems and the plaque, its neat, maybe worth sumthin. I want it.
Does the plaque say anything? Any writing on it?
I move North where the TKs came, yes.

I notice Eiznof looking up. I tune into my awesome Goliath hearing ability and listen for anything strange.

Tolr'ax wrote:Can I tell what race the corpse is? Any distinguishing features about it? Humanoid? Bug?
Take the gems and the plaque, its neat, maybe worth sumthin. I want it.
Does the plaque say anything? Any writing on it?
I move North where the TKs came, yes.

I notice Eiznof looking up. I tune into my awesome Goliath hearing ability and listen for anything strange.

A small creature of some kind. The size of a child. You don't have a clue what race or species.
The plaque has some strange symbols on it you cannot decipher.

As you walk along in the dark, going up a relatively steep ramp, Eiznof looks over at the plaque. "May I?" he asks, with outreached hand.

Troyer wrote:Eiznof looks over at the plaque. "May I?" he asks, with outreached hand.

I hand him the plaque. "Can you make any sense out of it?"

I hear Kips words and feel a slight uneasyness... but I shrug my shoulders. I think to myself "I would be humorous seeing the Goliath try and fit in here, so I feel a bit more fortunate." I follow Kip in the small tunnel.

Tolr'ax wrote:

Troyer wrote:Eiznof looks over at the plaque. "May I?" he asks, with outreached hand.

I hand him the plaque. "Can you make any sense out of it?"

Tolr'ax & Eiznof
Eiznof turns the plaque over in his hands, studying it. "It's a sign, eyyy? Like putting your mark on it - nobody gonna mess with my stuff. Like that." He seems confident in his answer. "This notch here in the back, see? I guess that's how it's mounted on... whatever." He shrugs. He slides it into his pocket and walks on ahead. "This hallway is long or what." It wasn't a question.

Dook wrote:I hear Kips words and feel a slight uneasyness... but I shrug my shoulders. I think to myself "I would be humorous seeing the Goliath try and fit in here, so I feel a bit more fortunate." I follow Kip in the small tunnel.

A'mryl, Olo, Jamros, Dook & Kip
One by one you crawl through the opening. About 20 feet away the darkness gives way to a twilight vista to inspire the Gods. From your vantage on this Skyway balcony, you can see for miles over a scrub desert land of vast emptiness. Well, not empty. There are dozens of mesas in the distance, an undulating land of cactus, stony outcrops, deep shadows, and no doubt... somewhere down in the darkness plenty of critters running around. As if on cue, there comes a sound on the wind of a big-cat-of-prey screeching at something unseen. The sun is setting to your left - the western sky a brilliant purple-and-amber dance, somehow intimate. For a moment, you all forget that you're in a hostile and strange land.

"Short one, you will not take it from me......it is mine."
"Unless you want it marking your grave, you will hand it over."
I glare at him with a scowl.

Tolr'ax wrote:"Short one, you will not take it from me......it is mine."
"Unless you want it marking your grave, you will hand it over."
I glare at him with a scowl.

Eiznof is unimpressed.
"Then you won't mind handing back the items I brought from the beach. Those three bottles, for example. Or any of the gear from the Antfolk I killed?"
He keeps walking while saying this.
"Or we call it payment for services rendered? Eeeyy! You wouldn't be alive without me, so--" He spins and raises his voice"-- Cool it!"
In your gut you have to admit, he has a point.

I glare at him more intensely. "If it is worth anything I want half...."
Changing the subject "What do you make of this place? Seems like a city of some sort underground. Who would live like this? Darkness everywhere. Bugs.....ugh the bugs.....elves must have lived her a long long time ago, that statue that we saw when we first came in, it was an elf. I wonder where they went. This place has been untouched for a very long time as far as I can tell."

I want to check the corridor or whatever we are in at the moment for anything unusual.

Tolr'ax wrote:I glare at him more intensely. "If it is worth anything I want half...."
Changing the subject "What do you make of this place? Seems like a city of some sort underground. Who would live like this? Darkness everywhere. Bugs.....ugh the bugs.....elves must have lived her a long long time ago, that statue that we saw when we first came in, it was an elf. I wonder where they went. This place has been untouched for a very long time as far as I can tell."

I want to check the corridor or whatever we are in at the moment for anything unusual.

Eiznof combs his hair. You get the feeling it is a victory salute to himself and his God. What a dick.

The corridor here is dryer, and warmer than the tunnels below. There's even some sand crunching under your feet on the paving stones. There is current to the air, fresh air.

*Diaval flies from the comfort nest he has made in A'mryl's makeshift cloak and hair and happily takes to the sky*
*To Kip* "This is quite the impressive sight. Where do we go from here?"
Can I make out anything of use in the distance since it is sunset?

A'mryl wrote:*Diaval flies from the comfort nest he has made in A'mryl's makeshift cloak and hair and happily takes to the sky*
*To Kip* "This is quite the impressive sight. Where do we go from here?"
Can I make out anything of use in the distance since it is sunset?

Your Dark Elf eyes can see everything and it's beautiful.

For serious, though, your superior Darkvision gives you a better impression of your immediate surroundings. The balcony you're on seems to be several hundred feet from the desert floor, jutting out of the side of your own mesa. To your north, the mesa - apparently more than a mere mesa - stretches for a couple of miles. The full length of this cliffside is linked with a series of ramps, balconies, plazas and what is clearly a cityscape framing a large gash into the mountainside - that appears to be the main entrance into the city below. Your location is on the very western edge where the series of balconies stop. You're literally at the end of the line.

Between where you now stand and the cityscape itself, there are creatures moving on many of the levels. Humanoid from here, but you can't make out incredible detail. They might be elves or humans, or some other similar denizen of the desert.

Camped across from the city entrance, down two huge causeways, there is an encampment of thousands of souls. Hundreds of cookfires burn, thousands of tents dot the sands, and even from so far away you can both hear and smell the camp.

Diaval returns with the body of a desert mouse. He is pleased with himself.

Kip is hunkered low at the edge of the balcony, peaking over. "We go that way," he points north along the ramparts you are on," and then down," once again pointing to where one of those ramps drop out of sight. It is half a mile away, more or less. You can see time and the elements have taken their toll. Some rubble fills those ramps and balconies in some areas, as chunks of the mountain have given way - or the stonework itself. He grumbles a bit, looking nervously over the edge at the camp below. "Orcs. No like orcs. But those-" he points to the humanoids along the cliffs and in the city "-those... Snakes. You hide, or we die, hmm? Orcs outside, Snakes inside. We go, they do no see good in twilights." And with that, he scurries off ahead.

I continue through the corridor noticeably excited at the possibility to see the sky again.

"So those are the Snakes..agreed it's too risky to be noticed by either group." I follow ahead staying low and light on my feet. "Kip why is there an army of Orcs down there? Do they want this place?"

Tolr'ax wrote:I continue through the corridor noticeably excited at the possibility to see the sky again.

Before you know it, you're on a balcony overlooking a big ugly Orc Warcamp. To your left is what's left of a somewhat wrecked ramp leading down - or perhaps it was part of the balcony which just fell and is simply now a happenstance ramp - which leads down to another couple of terraces, one which dips out of sight. To your right is another ramp upwards, or you could follow the balcony around that ramp and head north. From your vantage, there are some sort of critters that way, on every level of terrace you see.

Jamros Mageblood wrote:"So those are the Snakes..agreed it's too risky to be noticed by either group." I follow ahead staying low and light on my feet. "Kip why is there an army of Orcs down there? Do they want this place?"

You're pretty sneaky. Kip nods in approval.
Together, you advance perhaps a hundred meters, closing quickly on the ramp Kip has indicated.

Your fellow travelers are busy scratching and picking... things.

Can I tell what kind of critters they are? Humanoid? Quadrupedal? Delicious?
"This should be fun....but we may die if we do not go about this right. The orcs...they are a menace. But I think we can take a few of them if needed. They will be tougher than the ants." I stare into the camp, trying to take a rough estimate on how many skulls might need to be crushed. Lightly rubbing my finger on my greatsword. My face stern and chiseled as a mountain side.

Tolr'ax wrote:Can I tell what kind of critters they are? Humanoid? Quadrupedal? Delicious?
"This should be fun....but we may die if we do not go about this right. The orcs...they are a menace. But I think we can take a few of them if needed. They will be tougher than the ants." I stare into the camp, trying to take a rough estimate on how many skulls might need to be crushed. Lightly rubbing my finger on my greatsword. My face stern and chiseled as a mountain side.

Eiznof, hands in pockets and slouching on the low balcony wall, looks at you. His face impassive, he asks simply, "We? Have fun. Listen Mr. T, I ain't doing any of that dumb stuff, so you can sit on it. They're down there, so I'm going up." And with that, he begins walking towards the nearest ramp upwards.

Meanwhile, yeah, those critters are humanoid.

"HAHA, good choice, my little companion!" I follow him up the ramp. My blood-lust noticeably plastered on my face. "I hope we can fight something soon. I grow bored of trekking around these tunnels."

I take in the scenery one last time then follow the sneaky bastard and the grizzled kobold towards the ramp. I throw my hood over my head covering it. I can't wait to find a pub and some decent food, I think to myself. Can't die in a place like this, got to have the taste of some mead before I let that happen.

"Tell me Kip, how easy is it to drop a Snake without others knowing? The less there are, the more chance we have of traversing this city without notice." I say as my hands itch to wield my new blade.

"Would it be unwise to pick a fight with these "Snakes"? Asking Kip.