The Southern Continent (part 2)

As we play, occasionally we'll close a thread and open a new one to keep the size of threads (and relative complexity) down to a dull roar. Here's where we store the closed posts from the history of Errant Road.
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Jack Rothwell
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The Southern Continent (part 2)

Post by Jack Rothwell »

On the morning of the next day, Tamina, Udo, Drusia and Khoo stood a few hundred yards from the Village of Grendell. Beyond them was the thick canopy of the Jungle, and the path that led to the Native's village. The sound of a million insects and creaking branches, the smells of greenery and the damp heat built a knot of anticipation in the kobold's stomach.

She turned to face the group.

"K!" She announced. "Just an hour up the path, should be safe now. Just... umm... watch for the snakes, virri, they hide in the vines... and the spiders, tiliihir, make nests in the roots... and umm.... the vilahar, bat-things, usually sleep during the day but sometimes swoop and bite people... and the dropla, big, might trample you..."

An ear-splitting shriek sounded from the south-west. Tamina's drits pricked up, and then she smiled.

"Just a heeka, little monkey thing, scared of people... 'sept, erm, ones with their gah, they go a bit crazy if you get close. So, umm, ready?"
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Graybeard
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Re: The Southern Continent (part 2)

Post by Graybeard »

What am I getting into here? thought Khoo. The jungle was ... loud. His fishing village had been a quiet little place, and while the hubbub of untold thousands of people had been an undercurrent in his flat at the Tower of Artifex, the noises certainly weren't anything like that. On the other hand, he wasn't easily intimidated. New experiences were fun. (If they didn't get you killed, anyway.)

"Let's do it," he said, his usual perky demeanor now starting to come back after a good night's sleep.
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Re: The Southern Continent (part 2)

Post by Alberich »

"Yeah!" said Udo eagerly. He figured his boots would protect him from your average snake strike, and anyway, animal poison took so long to kill, there'd be plenty of time to heal him before he was in any real danger. Besides, this was adventure and that was what he lived for!

[OOC: Personally, I like it best when you move old threads to rear view mirror as soon as possible; that way, if I link to them in current posts, the links don't break when they get moved later.]
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Jack Rothwell
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Re: The Southern Continent (part 2)

Post by Jack Rothwell »

Fortunately, with Tamina taking the lead and keeping her eyes and ears peeled for any trouble, the trek through the jungle had been relatively easy so far. Although there had been a couple of occasions in the fourty minutes that had passed where the native had pointed out a couple of hazards which the group had steered around, and one slightly more urgent warning to Khoo to duck as a patch innocuous looking vines had detached themselves from a branch overhead and took a swoop at him. The kobold's reassurance afterwards that the vilahar was just being territorial did little to diffuse the tension.

Some half a mile from the kobold village Tamina suddenly stopped and crouched. She pressed the palms of her hands against the earth and closed her eyes. She made a little gasping noise and waved at her friends.

"Take cover." She hissed. "Dropla's coming."

As she spoke her companions became aware of the slight vibration in the ground, and the faint rhythm of hooves on the edge of their hearing. It was getting louder.
Last edited by Jack Rothwell on October 18th, 2012, 1:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: The Southern Continent (part 2)

Post by Drusia »

"Just a heeka, little monkey thing, scared of people... 'sept, erm, ones with their gah, they go a bit crazy if you get close. So, umm, ready?"

I figure we might need to do a bit of trail clearing or wildlife repelling, so I go ahead and draw my long dagger. It's steel, human made, but it will do fine on most anything we might encounter. Well, other than the Ralkin.

"Ready," I agree.

Not much happens for some time. Then:

"Take cover." She hissed. "Dropla's coming."
As she spoke her companions became aware of the slight vibration in the ground, and the faint rhythm of hooves on the edge of their hearing. It was getting louder.

"This Dropla," I whisper to Tamina, "What's the best tactic? Avoid, repel, or slay?" Some large animals are easily avoided, while others can be scared off with the right kind of noise. Some, though, the best way to handle is a Durus blade to the back of the skull.

-- Drusia
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Re: The Southern Continent (part 2)

Post by Jack Rothwell »

"Hide!" There wasn't time to say anything else. Tamina saw the big, shaggy body of the creature coming into view through the thick foliage over Drusia's shoulder and moved quickly. She grabbed the elf's hand, as the men found cover behind her, and pulled them into the shadow of the nearest tree trunk. The kobold stumbled slightly as they dropped of sight, pulling the other woman in a little closer than she'd intended. She found herself looking into a pair of pretty eyes a few inches from her own.

"Umm..." She said.

Further wit from the humanoid was cut short by the beast breaking into the clearing of the path with a deep grunt that contained a note of irritation. Tamina's attention immediately switched to the huge herbivore (it was a rhino-looking creature, with brown shaggy fur across most of its body and a wide-flat head with a shovel-like horn used for clearing the undergrowth), then switched to what was causing it's bad mood.

"Riiki!"

The tall, male kobold, who was standing on the creature's back, turned back in surprise at the unexpected call.

The timing was unfortunate.

"Tam-" He began. The rest of his fellow tribe member's name was cut short as a long hanging branch caught the kobold under the ribs and released him from his perch with a 'whuff!' then disposited him on the ground. The dropla exited the clearing with a snorting noise (which sounded suspicously like laughter in Tamina's mind), leaving the returning kobold to duck under Drusia's arm and run over to the stunned man.

"Riiki!" She dropped to his side, and began checking him for injuries. Nothing serious, thank the spirits.

"<Your timing is awful, Tammy.>" Riiki groaned.

"<Never mind that!>" She replied, taking a tone of annoyance that was clear to the other travellers despite the foreign language. "<What in blazes are you doing dropla riding again? Don't you remember dragging yourself home with a broken leg the last time you did something so stupid?>"

"<Nice to see you too.>" The other kobold muttered.
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Re: The Southern Continent (part 2)

Post by Alberich »

Udo stumbled out from the cover he'd taken, sheathing the knife he'd drawn. "Wow!" he said - "That was incredible! Is that what you do for sports...?"

Any further wit from him was cut short by the realization that some of the jungle's plentiful ant population had gotten inside his robe while he was under cover. He dropped his staff to start fighting them off and save his coojahs. This, too, was adventure.
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Re: The Southern Continent (part 2)

Post by Jack Rothwell »

Riiki, the male kobold, was hauled unceremoniously to his feet by Tamina and clutched his ribs with a wince. The returning native rolled her eyes and put her hands on the bruised spot, not too gently either.

"<Ow! Go easy!>"

"<Maybe the pain'll help you remember not to do it again.>" She said, channeling healing magic into the injury. "<Your mother would have a heart attack if she knew the last son she's got left is risking his bones half a mile from home.>"

Tamina's companions saw Riiki's face crumple into a wince, clearly some emotional hurt being displayed.

"<I'm sorry Tammy. I just... needed some fun.>"

Tamina put a hand on the younger kobold's shoulder, for a moment neither spoke. The male glanced at the people standing behind her and cleared his throat.

"<Who are they?>"

"<Oh, right.> Everyone, this is Riiki, lives in the village, we grew up together. <Riiki, this is Udo, Khoo and Drusia, they're helping me put a stop to the Ralkin.>"

At the mention of his people's enemies the younger kobold bared his teeth and hissed involuntarily. On the larger, more heavily-muscled humanoid the effect was pretty intimidating. He spoke to the group in broken human speech and a gravelly, deep voice.

"Thank-you, is... good... thing you do."

"<You've been practising!>"

"<A little>. Come." He started up the last stretch to the village, gesturing for the group to follow.
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Re: The Southern Continent (part 2)

Post by Graybeard »

Khoo took in this spectacle with interest. He'd have to ask Tamina later for the names of some of the odd beasts that she seemed to know a great deal about; color for the ... er ... semi-autobiographical fiction he was going to write. Just the cat-man riding the tankosaurus ought to be worth a large number of web hits, hopefully including some female ones.

He wished he could follow more of what was going on, but that was what Translation spells were for, and just about every graduate-level mage at Sashi Mu knew the spell. He summoned magical energy, put the thing on, and smiled at the newcomer. "Hi, my name is Khoo," he said, extending a hand to shake; presumably the gesture would be familiar to these people, and might as well get off on the right foot.
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Re: The Southern Continent (part 2)

Post by Alberich »

Udo had been vigorously scratching and rubbing at the ants that were way too close to his groin.

"Thank-you, is... good... thing you do."

"It is?" queried Udo. "Well, different countries, different customs, I guess..." He reached down for his staff - and pulled back with a start at the green snake that was crawling over it, and that reared back and showed its fangs. "Yeeeaagggh!!!" he cried, jumping back and almost falling, groping for a weapon. Damn it all, he'd lost his swords in the sea. You didn't want to try a knife fight with a snake or bonk it with a billy club. No, he ought to blast it with his...oh, right. Damn!

"Hey, could someone...?" - he gestured.
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