lol @ huge pillow.

Don't feel bad re: ghouls.  None of you had faced them before.  They are not acting like they normally would (not found near a graveyard, etc).  And ya'll made some awful rolls on the knowledge checks.

Something something snow and ice.  Hockey.  Skiiing.

There, that's what I know about Finnish culture.

Two things.

1) Man, it is ever good to have Raven back and posting!

2) Holy cow, it is ever good to see Cedric as an actual character!


Great stuff.

You guys have had incredible dice rolls, by and large.  Except on those pesky knowledge checks.

Sent Raven his answers... @ quoting me again on my evil threats.

Speaking of answers... ladies and gentlemen, we will finally have one in game answer for a question you've all known for some time, now.  Raven asked for a knowledge check on an area his character has special training in, and I ruled that the experiences of the adventure allowed for a new check to be made... which he actually passed.

Woo!

Crowe made me backpedal a bit, need to revise what I was doing, but I'll have a post of my own up shortly.

Mock us not, or ANKYLO REN will release his dinowrath upon you!

Super, super glad to have you back, man!

Keeo your silly "facts" out of this discussion!

ANKYLO REN!!!

You're typically looking at 3-8 rounds for paralysis to wear off.  

A dozen, two dozen, whatevs.  Y'all managed this in the inn before!  Of course, you were able to set up chokepoints there, not just get surrounded... 

That was all dice, freinds.  I may have adjusted travel time a little bit to account for me not fully understanding the player's intentions, but the combat was legit.  You guys are combat monsters, and when things go well, you are scary to face.

It's dark and wooded.  Hard to say how many.  At least a dozen, could be more.  They will be in melee next round.

Incidentally - you just saved Kith from being raped.  Note that it was about to happen, had not yet happened.  She is, however, seriously wounded; she took serious damage from a sneak attack double claw to the back, plus the other swipe. 

Happy to help!

Yep, there are Jeffries tubes. 

The point is that travel between decks is not impossible, but just got tremendously slower.  If your character was asleep when this all started, they aren't getting to the bridge/engineering/etc anytime soon.

I love it.  The utter nonsense is fantatsic... trying to focus out of self contradictions and such, and the insanity that is life under Friend Computer... the mental gymnastics required to do so are fascinating. 

The turnolifts worked for a time; Melody was using them, as was Asovil.  But attempts after that will fail, be creative as to why (or I'll cover in my post).

The situation is dire, there are no two ways about it.  Kithran is alone in the dark woods, with a likely pack of shamblers in front of her, a giggler between her and the party.  Experience has been a stern teacher; none among the group save Aranwen have been able to resist the paralysis that these abominations inflict with their wounds.  The little rogue knows full well that any lone individual would be taunting the Devourer in this situation.

Still, Kith did not reach where she is today by meekness, by giving up at the first sign of adversity.  The rogue fires an arrow at the monstrosity, screaming a challenge, a warning as she does.  The arrow does not fly particularly close - darkness and mist are not the best allies of ranged fighting - but it does seem to give the creature a moment's pause, giving the young woman an opportunity to rush at it. 

At full sprint, she reaches out with a blade, opens up a gash along the creature's flank as she rushes past.  The plan was to inflict damage, to knock the monster off balance, then to turn and fight from a position of balance, of readiness. 

War, as they say, is a beautiful thing; plans and schemes are grand and wonderful... right until they meet the enemy. 

Fast though she may be, the creature is prepared, and is deftly quick, himself.  Heedless of the wound it received, the giggling monster rakes his filthy claws across the rogue's arm as she passes.  Even as she pivots, turns to face her foe, Kithran can feel the icy clutch of the grave squeezing her heart, can feel her limbs begin to grow heavy. 

Somehow, some way, the rogue finds a strength within that she did not know she possessed.  Screaming in challenge, she readies herself, feels the suffocating grip on her heart begin to slowly release.  A grin of fierce joy spreads across the rogue's face...

The impact from behind is an utter shock.  The pain from the second monster's fithy claws being driven into her back is real.  The despair as the ice returns in much stronger intensity is undeniable.  As Kithran's body betrays her, her limbs refusing too respond, the little rogue feels anger at the unfairness of it all. 

The ground rises rapidly up to meet her as Kithran falls, hard, face first onto the forest floor.  With her head turned to the side, the scent of mud and decaying leaves in her nostrils, the giggling of the two monsters is maddening, inescapable.  All of her efforts are for naught, for her body is no longer her own; not even a finger will twitch, try as she might to move it. 

All sensation is fully intact; Kith can hear the giggling, can see the creatures and the forest floor, can feel the pain of her wounds and the racing of her heart, the drawing of her breath.  She can feel her impending doom through the weight of the creature upon her back.

And then,the horror truly sets in as she feels the cold tongue slither across the back of her neck, feels her trousers being yanked down, hears the giggles change in pitch, in meaning.  Suddenly, an honorable death in battle is hardly the worst fate she could have met.  The abject terror she feels from the press of the cold flesh is indescribable, threatens to drive her sanity away.

A roar interrupts the giggles and the weight is suddenly gone from her back. 

***********************************************************

At Aranwen's query, Cedric nods and stammers.  "Ye... yes, of course!"  The young man prays earnestly, and light springs forth from the priest's staff.

The party moves quickly, in concert, towards the sound of their companion's scream.  The wood is dark, treacherous, but the need is great.  Another feminine scream follows, but is cut off in mid utterance. 

"We are close!" Midge hisses in a stage whisper. 

The party makes their way into a small opening, walks into the scene of a nightmare. 

Kithran lies face down in the dirt with one of the gigglers squirming upon her back, and another standing over the two of them in a leering posture. 

Ch'dau roars in hate brough to life, grabs the creature off of the rogue, launches himself forward.  The monstrosity never fully understands what has happened, as it is driven into a tree trunk with a wet thump, then pinned in place by one of the Kazari's blades driven through its body and deep into the wood.  The scene morphs into a fountain of blood, ichor, and rotted flesh as the beserked warrior rends with claw and tooth until the undead thing hangs in motionless tatters. 

The second creature thinks to retreat, but Gib's bolt passes neatly through it's back and out of its chest.  The momentum spins the monster around, where it is able to bear witness to Aranwen's blade whipping up and through its body, fountaining black blood as it slumps motionless to the ground.

Cedric ignores any threats, rushes to the side of the prone rogue.  "She lives!" he exclaims, "she has the grip of the grave upon her, but she will recover when that loosens."

Any elation that may have been felt from that is quickly tempered by the fact that the the fight has not been quiet, and has attracted the attention of the zombies milling near the body that Kith had discovered.  It would appear that the party may have found the horde reponsible for all of the footprints.... or rather, that the horde has found them, as numberous undead shuffle through the treeline, haded directly for the companions in a groaning wave.

I don't think we have the personnel to have someone watching the shuttlebays 24/7.  If there are no scheduled operations, the department is just closed at that time - appropriate secuirty measures in place.

Items to note:

If your character is somehow awake and able to get moving, note that Asovil is the last character able to get to the bridge.  The turbolift is unresponsive, feel free to handle that as you will.

Excellent stuff!

It has all of the necesary pieces to make a good post: the actions that your character is taking, the feelings he is experienceing, the thoughts he is having.  Well done.

Totally agree. That is amazing.

Why again is the Toronto Raptor a t-rex?

Somebody drag Vanadia and Yanamari back...

It's a Trek game.  There are ALWAYS a lot of subplots.

The spiky tailed dinosaur is an ankylosaurus.  Pronounced like the star wars character - "an-KYLO-sawres".

So it's just sillywordplay/pun stuff.

Upsetting?  Because you didn't think of freaking ANKYLO REN already???

ANKYLO.

REN.