Holes/Session 41

Apheori (GM): Is everyone here? I can't even tell.
Gaurav: I see everybody except Frezak and Ellemerr.
Bear Soup Guy: Same but I don't see Gan
Err
Apheori (GM): I only see Gan and Rob.
Bear Soup Guy: Gan's there, I don't see Gaur
But Gaur is clearly there
Apheori (GM): And Frezak?
Ganelon: i
I am here.
Gaurav: Did anybody have a proper chat with Squirrel last week?
Ganelon: Is such a thing even possible?
I didn't /attempt/ to have one.
Apheori (GM): I don't think anyone tried.
Did she do anything?
Gaurav: She climbed up a tree sideways.
And repeated what Greibel said once.
Apheori (GM): I guess y'all just left her there.
And... what, headed back to town?
Gaurav: I think we were still trying to solve the puzzle at the end of the last game. The stone-machine thing.
Ganelon: We resolved to tinker with the puzzle in the middle of a large population center.
Where the explosion would surely cause the most damage.
Apheori (GM): For maximum damage.
Bah.
Ganelon: Hee hee.
Apheori (GM): ELLEMERR!
Ganelon: By all means, though you're welcome to mess with it while we're on the road.
Ellemerr: I'm.. semi-present.
Apheori (GM): Excellent.
You're... unconscious.
I think.
Ellemerr: I'm wrapping gifts and whatnot with a computer on the side.
Apheori (GM): Ghah, I need to do that.
Wrap all my pranks...
Sherandris would be proud.
Ellemerr: Heh...
Apheori (GM): Okay, y'all head back to town, Gravy's probably carrying Amadi, Dave is actually walking, though you may need to point her in the right direction, and George buggers off to somewhere else at some point.
Where do y'all go?
Ganelon: In town? I don't know where there even is to go, other than the barracks we illegally occupied and the inn.
Which we legally but annoyingly occupied.
Gaurav: Rhu needs to sleep and recharge his dailies. Although given his unblindness, he might also just want to go to the pub and sing terrible songs loudly for hours.
Frezak (GM): I thought that double-posessed Amadi wanted to walk by himself.
What do we need to continue Hole research?
Apheori (GM): The double possession was somehow resolved.
I think.
You may want to make sure of that somehow.
The guy said 'bye' and Amadi fell over.
Ganelon: Did someone say "arcana"?
Frezak (GM): Nope, we're good Radek.
No need for your heathen learnings here.
Apheori (GM): Oh, Radek: Around when you all actually move out, a large cephalopod drops on your head.
Because I forgot to give you any loot.
Gaurav: How late is it? Is that massive aurora still around?
Apheori (GM): HERE'S YOUR REPLACEMENT LOOT.
A MAGIC SQUID.
Ganelon: Is it GIBBERING?
Apheori (GM): YES.
Frezak (GM): oh wow.
That's a great item.
Apheori (GM): GIBBERING AND FONDLING SQUID.
Now tell me what it is?
Frezak (GM): There's the... Gibbering Lump.
Ganelon: Well, I was sort-of making a joke
But the Gibbering Lump is- yeah.
It's an actual magical head-slot item. Level 20.
Frezak (GM): "This tiny hunk of mottled flesh warps constantly, growing and losing eyes and mouths as it sits atop your head."
Apheori (GM): Adorable.
What does it do?
Functionally?
Ganelon: +1 to will and it retaliates violently when things make will attacks against you.
Frezak (GM): +1 to will, the first time your will is hit you deal... 2D12 psychic or something.
Ganelon: The first thing to do that takes 2d12 psychic, no roll to avoid it.
Apheori (GM): Eh, sure, why not. Unless it's a bad thing for a pile of level 6s to have a level 20 item?
Frezak (GM): Eh, not when it's a head slot item.
Bear Soup Guy: OP
Apheori (GM): Because that is totally the sort of thing squirrel would drop on your head.
Ganelon: Well, if it were one of the three that gave a +N bonus?
Yes. It would be.
But that's weapons, armor, and neck slots.
Other high level stuff isn't so bad.
Apheori (GM): Okay, so you've got a head thing. GIBBERING HEAD SQUID.
Ganelon: Adding those exact words to my inventory
Apheori (GM): Okay. So you all go back and... what?
Radek looks up and sighs.
Apheori (GM): Rhu: Lights in the sky are still on.
And you see them.
Radek: Someone tell me I'm not expected to feed this thing.
Gaurav: What do will-defending squid even eat? Maybe it just soaks up residual will from the environment.
Rhu has calmed down a bit and looks up at the aurora as we head back into town, occasionally tripping over as he goes.
The Gravedigger: Don't look at me.
I'm not cephalopod expert.
Dawn: Brains.
Rhu: Pretty.
The Gravedigger: I'm just a negative space engineer.
Ganelon: If it's eating my brains, I'd really appreciate knowing.
For future reference.
Apheori (GM): I think you'd probably feel it if it were doing harm. Doesn't seem to be.
Yet.
Gaurav: It'd be fine, Radek has brains to spare. Only one of us who has.
Apheori (GM): He does use those, you know.
Ganelon: They are /not/ to spare.
The Gravedigger marks the Gibbering Squid.
The Gravedigger: I'm watching you.
Ganelon: They're the only thing he has left!
Frezak (GM): Oh, come on.
You have a gun, too.
You're more than brains.
You're also facial hair.
Gaurav: And a safari hat!
Ganelon: It's a gun powered by intelligence!
He doesn't even have the dexterity to make ranged basic attacks!
The porridge jumps onto Greibel's head and mimics the shape and motion of the gibbering squid.
Greibel chuckles jovially
Apheori (GM): He even gibbers a bit.
Radek: How good to know that I've finally attracted imitators.
(From Amadi): Can I do crazy random stuff? Like having Amadi talk through the squid?
(To Amadi): YES.
Amadi 's voice drifts out of the head-squid:
Amadi: Who watches the watchers of the watchers....
Apheori (GM): Wait, what?
Oh, yeah.
The Gravedigger: Sandwich kid!
How're the demon hordes?
The Gravedigger squints into Amadi's eyes.
The Gravedigger: HELLO DEMONS
Ganelon: Is she... conscious?
The Gravedigger: YOU STILL IN HERE?
Apheori (GM): She doesn't seem to be.
Gravedigger: Roll constitution.
Frezak (GM): Huh.
rolling 1D20+4
(
13
)
+4
=
17
If it's Endurance I get another 5.
Apheori (GM): You get a sense of something leaving, but Amadi doesn't actually wake up as yet.
Would endurance be applied to yelling?
Well, being loud.
Frezak (GM): eh... Probably not.
The Gravedigger shrugs and shoulders Amadi.
The Gravedigger: Where are we going now?
Amadi: Save... the mystery...
Frezak (GM): Like a sack of potates.
Or a sack of midgets.
(To Amadi): You may of course wake up whenever in practice.
Ellemerr: ((still thrugh mr. octo))
Oh no, this is all good. :P
Apheori (GM) grins like a maniac.
Dawn: Solve the princess.
Radek: Well...
Gaurav: Did Squirrel follow us, or did we leave her up the tree?
Apheori (GM): Left her up a tree, unless you actually want to try to retrieve her.
George buggers off to go home or whatever regardless of what you lot are doing.
Radek: Having discovered a means of repairing the fabric of the universe, perhaps a few more field trials are in order.
Of course, the damage may also be our only means of... travel, as it were.
The Gravedigger: Anyone have any idea how to look for Holes?
Short of.. asking around, I suppose.
Gaurav: We could travel to the town we were in earlier, which had two Holes open up while we were there. Maybe that part of the planet is particularly volatile, even if the town itself isn't around at this point in time.
I wonder if we could use the Holes to communicate with ... whatever is on the other side.
Oh, we could also go back to Midnight and have another go at the Darkness Beast thing.
Radek: I could spend my time attempting to repair and understand this device in the hopes that it contains a greater solution to the problem, as well, but...
If it happens to be missing pieces, I make no guarantees.
Gaurav: We could investigate the thing Rhu fell into in the pub, if it's still there.
Although that's not very Hole-like.
The Gravedigger: The device seems more magical than technological.
Maybe an arcanist would be able to tel us more about it.
Frezak (GM): What place had Holes opening up as we were there? O.o
Apheori (GM): Rhu fell through a counter.
Not necessarily a hole per-say, but possibly related as another form of manifestation.
Frezak (GM): I thought that was just him phasing out of our reality.
Apheori (GM): You should investigate if his head is particularly big, and if so, what might be wrong with it.
It was.
Frezak (GM): We could just head to next biggest place and ask about both any Holes and the device.
ehhh
Gaurav: Reality should be solider than that.
Frezak (GM): Not in these parts, Rave.
Gaurav: We could be itinerant Hole repairers!
Frezak (GM): HOLEBREAKERS
THE SERIES
Bear Soup Guy: Is this the same town with the library that has the huge book?
Frezak (GM): No, BSG
Radek: Hrmph. I wouldn't get my hopes up. Optimistically, a competent wizard would be a /rare/ find.
Bear Soup Guy: Maybe the book knows about the device
Frezak (GM): That was a huge portaltown.
Bear Soup Guy: Awwww
Frezak (GM): We're in some backwater shithole.
I think >.>
Ganelon: With zombies. Formerly.
The Gravedigger: Couldn't hurt.
Gaurav: Didn't someone have a Book of Answers or something? Maybe Amadi?
Frezak (GM): I'm sure Amadi is full of answers.
however she's also batshit loco.
Ellemerr: So full of it :3
Gaurav: It was "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Planes"
We could try to make our way back to Arah and have another look at the Book.
Apheori (GM): There was a book that I completely forgot about.
And if Amadi had it, there's no telling where it might have wound up. O_o
Ellemerr: Pocketses.
Dawn: (mumbling) We've lost our muchness. Locked it away.
Frezak (GM): Eaten by hobbits.
Gaurav: Does Rhu still have the skull of Elia on him?
Apheori (GM): Unless he dropped it or something.
Gaurav: I'm kinda surprised that he hasn't, but he didn't drop the stones either, so maybe he's better at not leaving things behind than I am?
Ellemerr: He's probably like me; stuffing things in his pockets and forgetting all about them and finding them again half a year later.
Ganelon: Oh, great.
Looks like I'm being dragged away, folks.
This is... something I can't ignore. Might be quite a while.
Don't stop on my account unless it's totally unavoidable, please.
Hell, let the squid take the wheel while I'm gone or something.
Apheori (GM): Aiight, I'm just going to say you all go back to Dorgin and rest.
Radek does artificer things as usual, who knows what they are.
You all wind up... either at the inn or the guardhouse.
Bear Soup Guy: Adios Gan, good luck with your thing!
Apheori (GM): And yeah, have... fun.
Gaurav: Take care, Gan!
I vote for the guardhouse. Fewer flaws in reality there (that we know about)
Frezak (GM): Yeah, we've been there safely in the past.
Gaurav: So: we sleep? Do we need a guard?
Apheori (GM): Seems safe.
Frezak (GM): SHouldn't need a guard.
We can just bolt the door from the inside.
brb
Gaurav: Let's do that, then. Plus, Radek will be awake anyway.
Frezak (GM): Doing science.
Rhu falls immediately asleep and dreams of auroras.
Apheori (GM): Yay.
Or something.
So what do you all want to do?
Nevermind if it's practical or has any reason to it; I can come up with a reason.
Just what do you want to do?
Gaurav: I like these travel plans people came up with: look around for more Holes, try to get back to Arah.
Bear Soup Guy: Is Arah where the big book was?
Apheori (GM): Aye
.
Bear Soup Guy: Another vote for Arah then
I have a good feeling about that big book
Frezak (GM): Though since we don't know how to get to Arah, might as well be travelling scholars for a bit.
Gaurav: Maybe that portal we went through to get to Arah is still on this planet somewhere. Or we could take the long way around and go via Amadi's realm, as Gravy did when he fixed the Hole in Coffle
Frezak (GM): I dunno, the godlings impressed upon me that doing that sort of thing wasn't an ideally repeatable experience.
Gaurav: Let's go to the pub and start asking questions once we're done resting.
Oh hey! The first Hole we found on this planet might still be around somewhere. Near that commune village and under the big tree.
Apheori (GM): That was in Deslan. Did I ever even mention the region you're in now?
Gaurav: I don't think so, but I might have missed it.
Frezak (GM): TREES
Apheori (GM): Okay, I need to go get really drunk.
Gaurav: Is it morning yet? I'd like to go ask questions.
Apheori (GM): Yeah, sure.
Radek's busy doing something really important right now so just feel free to leave him behind.
Gaurav: Frezak? BSG? You guys still around?
Frezak (GM): Yup.
Bear Soup Guy: Sure am
Gaurav: Okay, let's go ask questions then.
Frezak (GM): Because we're all so good at that.
Rhu wanders down to the pub and looks around for anyone with time to spare.
Gaurav: (He is careful to avoid going anywhere near the side of the bar he fell into earlier)
Apheori (GM): There's two guys arguing over what appears to be a baby dragon sitting on the table.
There's a barkeep.
There's a creepy old lady.
Bear Soup Guy:
rolling 1d20+14 nature on the baby dragon
(
17
)
+14
=
31
Gaurav: Not the same creepy old lady from earlier? But similar?
Rhu wanders over to the barkeep and buys a drink. He asks the barkeep about the zombies.
Apheori (GM): The barkeep says they've been coming about for awhile, and just getting worse.
Rhu: Is it just this region -- what is this region called, by the way -- or is the whole planet that's seen zombie outbreaks?
Apheori (GM): He says they've been all over. Just don't get bit or do anything stupid with them if you see them.
This is South Haven.
If that contradicts anything I said earlier, I forgot. >.>
Gaurav: Does anybody remember how we worked out that this planet was the same one Coffle was one? Or have we worked that out yet?
Apheori (GM): Haerevan said so, I think.
Unless he didn't.
Radek could do a spectral analysis of the atmosphere.
Gaurav: Oh right, yes. Haerevan told us that this was Cerris.
Frezak (GM): Does it smell like the same plane?
Rhu: (to barkeep) Do you know of a city called Coffle? My friends and I visited there many years ago, and we were told that this planet is Cerris, so it might be here somewhere. In Deslan, I think.
Gaurav: Dunno, all I can smell is Greibel's mixtures.
Greibel exudes fumes
Gaurav: DM: Did Greibel's nature check have any effect on the baby dragon?
Bear Soup Guy: ^
Apheori (GM): The barkeep says Deslan's way out there. Other side of the planet.
Holy crap, I completely missed that.
Greibel: Sorry, it's a healthy baby dragon, very happy, quite content, and it doesn't really give a damn about anything.
And this is a completely different creepy old lady.
Bear Soup Guy: Baby badass dragon
Rhu: (to barkeep) I suppose traveling to Deslan is out of the question then?
Apheori (GM): He says there's boats that go that way.
Rhu: What about ... spaceboats? That travel through the sky?
Bear Soup Guy: No RPG scenario is complete without a long boat ride/boat combat
I won't stand for anything less
Apheori (GM): He says, no, shipping ships. On the ocean.
Frezak (GM): Were-goose pirates.
Gaurav: Boat combat is the best combat. If I ever run a D&D game, I'm going to have tons of that.
Rhu: Are they safe? Where would we find a ship heading to Deslan?
Apheori (GM): Can take an airship to Ros. There's a port there.
Rhu: *Airship*! Now we're talking. Where can we catch an airship from?
Bear Soup Guy: Even better!
Gaurav: BSG: How far do you reckon Greibel can fly as a flock of birds?
Amadi 's voice muses, longingly, through the form of the octopus:
Amadi: Feel the sea breeze... Smell the salty air... Ain't nobody home.
Bear Soup Guy: Gaurav: I don't reckon a thing about D&D mechanics! =P
Apheori (GM): Rhu: The guy tells you they have a dock in town, if it ever comes by. Should have been through almost a week ago.
Gaurav: Quest added: investigate missing/late airship.
Frezak (GM): That's a tough order, though.
Trudging through the wilderness in a straight line looking for a maybe-crashed ship.
Bear Soup Guy: Birds Greibel could fly really high up to at least see if it's crashed anywhere nearby
Gaurav: ^
Bear Soup Guy: Birds Greibel absolutely does so
And probably rolls perception
Apheori (GM): Ho far can birds go/spread?
Gaurav: I mean, I'm 50% sure we're going to go to the aerodrome place and find that such delays are perfectly normal, but you never know.
Apheori (GM): Screw it just roll.
Bear Soup Guy:
rolling 1d20+12
(
16
)
+12
=
28
The birds form a circle in the air with their eyes pointed outward from the circle
Rhu: (to barkeep, softly) Who's the old lady?
Apheori (GM): You take a couple of hours to look and find lots of interesting things.
I'll tell you all about it when everyone else catches up. Don't let me forget.
Bear Soup Guy: Sexy
Apheori (GM): She's Talia Sauris and she's very cranky.
Rhu: Why?
Apheori (GM): He doesn't seem to know.
...or care.
Rhu: Hmm.
Gaurav: Okay, before we do anything else, we should take squid!Amadi to the seashore.
Ellemerr: Remember that you're unlikely to get it off Rarek's head.
Gaurav: Oh. I was expecting it to happily run into the sea and swim away or something.
Ellemerr: It's a pretty good head slot item, so while Radek would probably be happy, it's not advisable to get rid of it.
Gaurav: Hmm.
Frezak (GM): (thought we're unlikely to ever need the mechanics of the thing.)
Apheori (GM): Throwing it away would be silly. If nothing else it'd be worth a fair bit of gold or magic dust.
And in the meantime it's hilarious.
Does Rhu do anything else?
Does Gravy do anything?
Radek's still at the guardhouse working on his... large thing.
Rhu makes conversation with the barkeep about life in Dorgin and in the South Havens, trying to learn what he can.
Apheori (GM): Roll streetwise or whatever.
Or just give me a straight up charisma check, but I expect your streetwise will be higher. >.>
Gaurav: I think it's the same? +2 for both, but that's only because of half levels.
Rhu:
rolling d20+2 streetwise to glean knowledge from barkeep whose name I don't know yet
(
16
)
+2
=
18
Ellemerr: Skill checks are always higher than (or the same as) attribute checks. Since skill checks includes the attribute.
Frezak (GM): Gravy does nothing worth mentioning.
Apheori (GM): Oh, I see how it is.
Rhu: Life is life, it's a lot of logging in the area, further out there's a lot of farming, folks are miserable enough, business is good, there are some weird tree creatures that keep beating up one of the farms, but only ever that specific farm, and something about the mayor and his wife having a massive fall-out.
Rhu: Which farm?
Apheori (GM): You don't care which. You can just go to 'that farm' if you want to. >.>
Or rather he probably says and *I* don't even care about the details.
Gaurav: Okay, I have to ask what the falling-out was about, but that's just because I'm a huge gossip.
Bear Soup Guy: The druids are probably not enthusiastic about fighting an ent
Apheori (GM): Greibel: You see a bunch of stuff. There's a fascinating canyon with some very nice geology over one way, a giant tree that completely dwarfs all the others, a mountain range with the sea apparently on the other side off the in distance, and nearer by you find a wizard's tower that appears to be completely abandoned, there's a mine that looks to be infested with trolls somewhere else, there's a bunch of tree creatures bashing down a barn over here with cows running every which way, and oh, yeah, you do find a crashed dirigible in some woods.
Gaurav: You don't have to fight it! You can talk to it. Gravy could turn into a tree again and talk to it mano a mano.
Frezak (GM): You mean branch to branch.
Leaf to leaf.
Root TO FACE
Gaurav: Trunk to trunk
Apheori (GM): Rhu: He gives you like five different theories about what the falling out was about, none of which make any sense. One involves a set of frying pans, another a fire that never happened, another a policy involving cats.
Gaurav: ROOT TO FACE
Rhu nods sadly.
Greibel touches down to the ground to report on his findings
Apheori (GM): So y'all have options here, some of which are completely irrelevant but might be interesting to check out, and others which will take you in a more relevant direction.
Frezak (GM): The trees might be an occurence similar to the zombles?
Apheori (GM): Greibel didn't go up and nature them, so it's hard to say at this point.
Gaurav: I vote for the giant tree. It might be nothing and might be eliminated quickly, but the last time we dealt with a giant tree there was a Hole that threw out will attacks underneath it.
Was the giant tree anywhere near the farm with the tree things?
Frezak (GM): We might as well check out the treants on the way to the big tree.
Apheori (GM): On the way.
I NEED FOOD.
I'LL BE BACK IN A BIT.
Gaurav: We should report the dirigible to someone so they know what happened to it and where.
Frezak (GM): I don't think these people really care.
Or at least can do anything about it.
We'd need to find the dirigble company.
The dirigibalists
Gaurav: Also known as Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines
Eh, Rhu will swing by the airship port on our way to the farm and let them know if it comes to that. Although maybe Greibel should do that, in case they have questions about what the site looks like and exactly where it is.
brb
Apheori (GM): Fooood.
Ellemerr: Food is good.
Apheori (GM): YES.
Gaurav: We might want to loot -- I mean, investigate -- the wizard's tower at some point.
Frezak (GM): Yeah, if nothing else, Radek could find shit to break down into drugs.
Dust.
I mean dust.
non-drug dust.
Apheori (GM): Eh, you want to come back next time to find out what the hell Radek's been building all this time? Then you can also head out then and do... exciting things.
Apheori (GM) handwaves.
Gaurav: Up to you! We could continue on for a while, given that Frezak and Ellemerr are up late tonight, and maybe Gan will be able to join us. On the other hand, it would be nice to get out of the house before the sun sets, so there's also that.
Ellemerr: Sun? O_o
(I'm currently above the arctic circle. We're in the Dark.)
Gaurav: Woah! Is it 24 hours of darkness, then? When will the sun re-emerge?
Ellemerr: Er... sometime?
Maybe... february...?
Gaurav: 0.0
wow
Ellemerr: I'm always more interested in when it COMES. Since I really love it.
(And we do have twilight for a couple hours.)
Gaurav: Around noon?
When does it come?
Apheori (GM): We're really south, you're really north. Whoo!
Gaurav: We're not _that_ south. I've been souther.
Apheori (GM): Ghuh, is it still cold out?
Ellemerr: I DON'T KNOW. O_o Because I wasn't here this year, and I've not a good enough memory to remember it from year to year.
Apheori (GM): Pfft, this is pretty south as far as daylight is concerned.
Ellemerr: -12 today.
Anyway, are we playing more? 'Cos if we're not we should stop polluting the log.
Apheori (GM): Agh.
That's cold.
Oh, right.
NEXT TIME.
WHEN IS NEXT TIME?
We'll figure that out on skype.
Bear Soup Guy: ON SKYPE
Apheori (GM): Record logs blah blah blah this was 22 december.