Ch.1: "By the Fire" / Village of Ogygia

[tbgg]

Kelleia

Kell tells Wu Chen apologetically, "It seems that my staff, which is what creates my armor, was blessed by Demeter herself. I don't why the gods have favored me in this way. I haven't done anything special to deserve it."

When they get to the water leading to the plateau and presumably the breel's cave, Kell says, "I'm a good swimmer, though I have never swum with armor on before. I'm not certain how that will work. Also, you might want to be aware, water will make my chiton cling to my body, though the armor may disguise that somewhat. I can't speak as to how I might influence those around me." And she looks at the ground in embarrassment, digging a sandaled foot into the dirt. Why does being beautiful have to be so blasted inconvenient?!

 

[Ireth]

Leto

Leto shrugs at the mention of swimming. She's not wonderful at it, but not awful, either. She looks at Kell and says, "If you're worried about how you'll affect people, not that I blame you, maybe you should take up the rear when we swim."

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

The women swim across the water. As Kell swims, her chiton clings immodestly to her body and she leaves periwinkles in her wake. Even the nun finds this strikingly beautiful, though she is not attracted in the way Leto would be if she dared look back.

Once at the cliffside, our heroines confirm what they suspected from afar: the rock wall is too smooth and slippery to climb. Wu Chen takes a swig of her sake to increase her strength. She doesn't offer it to Leto and Kell because the potent drink would compromise their ability to focus…

((Note: drunkenness is -1 to all rolls, so for Kell and Leto that would work out as 2d6+1 to STR, 2d6 unarmed—that's the +2 benefit and -1 penalty combined—and every other roll is less by 1.))

…not to mention all three women need to cling to each other as Wu Chen zips them up the cliffside with her wires, which Leto may enjoy a little too much under the combined influence of alcohol, a drunken nymph, and clothes clinging to wet bodies. None of our heroines know how far their impaired judgment would take them. Best not to find out this close to the breel's lair.

Before taking everyone up, the nun makes sure that Leto and Kell have their arms locked tightly around her, and she plots the course for her climb, looking for the underside of a ledge and a place to land. She finds one about thirty feet above sea level—about a third of the up the plateau.

Wu Chen's whips her wires into the cliffsides with brute force. ((I'm doing AG's invisible GM rolls, but rolled a 14/double six for STR.)) She doesn't zip up suddenly like in town, but instead slowly reels her wire to move at a pace that won't shake off her passengers. If not for the sake, it's likely her muscles would give from supporting over three hundred pounds with one arm, and she'd dislocate her shoulder or worse.

Thanks to her increased strength, Wu Chen's arm is merely a little sore. It seems the trio is spared of having to climb any further. They are now thirty feet above sea level. There's an incline that leads around the cliff about fifty feet up at a steep but walkable grade. Assuming it continues up on the obscured side, our heroines should reach the hundred-foot-high plateau without the need for another wire-fu stunt.

Wu Chen remains still massaging her arm. She says, "I am okay to fight. I only stop so you do not hear my loud bell. If you have anything to say, please say it now. If this hill goes up to the cave and the breel is home, that battle begins. I expect my bells will call attention to our presence, so any last minute planning you wish to do should happen down here."

 

[tbgg]

Kelleia

Kell says, "Umm, I'm going to need a bit to dry my chiton. I'll still be covered with my armor on, but I don't want to risk my chiton killing both the breel and ME while wet."

It's a bit awkward, but she finally does manage to get her chiton off while leaving her armor on. Then she lays the chiton out on a rock to dry.

"Sorry about this, guys. Sometimes I think my life would be a lot easier if I could just drink an ugliness potion."

 

[Ireth]

Leto

"I could go first to investigate the cave and report back. I'm good at being stealthy. But what do we do if the breel isn't there? Stay and wait until it comes, or go looking again?"

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Wu Chen says, "You keep your shock trap in hand, huntress. If anything goes wrong, it is your only chance to strike before the road. That, or run to us quickly if you alert the breel!"

((@Ireth, go ahead and make a stealth check.))

Kell manages to stretch the plant armor so she can keep the leaves on her bare skin while her chiton dries.

((@tbgg, yeah, I'll allow this. Kell can dry all her clothing or just the chiton. Consider the above to mean "mostly bare" if she's in her undies with leaves, though she only needs undies or leaves to conceal her overwhelming effect. With Leto gone, Kell could actually lie naked in sexy poses with nothing to worry about—not that she has reason to think so. Regardless of sexual preference, nuns are practically immune to temptation.

I haven't gone into the details of the rules—since the point of rules-light is not to overwhelm you with all the ifs, ands, and buts—but sometimes you don't need to roll at all because of the bonus. Take acrobatics as an example. A fairy has +2 and a nun has +1, but the nun doesn't need to roll at all if she has her wires to zip her up a cliff. She'd roll to land from a fall safely. The fairy only needs to roll to navigate and obstacle if her wings are wet. Otherwise, she just flies.

Likewise, you may have a bonus/penalty so low the feat is impossible. For STR, the amazon and iron maiden can lift heavy things with ease. The fairy can't lift heavy things at all, even if it's possible for her to roll whatever the huntress/nymph/nun need to roll.))

 

[Ireth]

Leto

Leto nods. "Wish me luck."

She takes a deep breath to steady her nerves, and ascends the incline as quietly as she can.

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Leto pauses as she hears a tromping sound from inside the cave. When she instinctively stops, so does the breel. The creature makes a strange guttural sound. What goes through the beast's mind is an unknown. What is known: the breel has awakened.

Leto has two ways to create some distance. Retreat quietly, or run like hell.
((Stealth roll needed either way.))

Another option is to roll her shocker and call the others, but the effect of the trap will likely wear off before Kell has time to dress herself—and her outfit still needs time to dry, so the nymph will have stripped down for nothing in this case.

 

[Ireth]

Leto

Leto shudders at the growl from inside the cave, and decides she'd better not go any further. She retreats down the hill as quietly as she can manage.

 

[tbgg]

Kelleia

Kell tells Wu Chen, "I can't put my finger on what's going on, but I am starting to have a very BAD feeling about this."

And she picks up her chiton and begins shaking it in the air, trying to help dry it out more quickly.

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Top
It must be the wet clothes. Leto just isn't her sneaky self today. Fortunately, the breel hasn't left its cave. The huntress' slow, quiet retreat doesn't draw any additional attention.

At the rate she's moving, it's likely Kell will be dressed again before Leto returns... hopefully alone!



Bottom
Kell's clothing is dry, but getting the clothes on with all those leaves in the way will not be an easy task.

Wu Chen realizes this and says to her, "I am not so easily tempted, and I do not think I would break my vow over another woman. If you need assistance with your outfit, it will neither embarrass me nor cause me to lose control.

Kell can accept the nun's help or she can cancel the current spell, dress up, and cast it again. Either way will take about the same amount of time.

 

[tbgg]

Kelleia

Mentally calculating the time her two options would take and deciding that they'd wind up about the same, Kell tells Wu Chen, "I would greatly appreciate the help then, if it won't be a problem for you."

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Wu Chen helps the nymph dress. Her hands make contact with bare skin and her eyes get a few glimpses that might be too much for Sapphire, but the nun's deft fingers only go where they must to complete the task. Her breathing is normal.

"You are very cute," she tells Kell. "I mean this as observation and compliment. You can see this as blessing or curse. I once had long, fine flowing hair. Many women in Ogygia were jealous of my hair and complexion. If you come to east, some women are jealous of westerners for red and blonde hair. White woman want tans, tan women stay out of sun to be whiter. How many women are jealous of what you have?

"I understand you have challenge, but I think you are responsible with... with your body, if I may be so bold. I took vow of chastity, but it does not mean I find men easily resistible. I still have my own challenges, and I accept."

Wu Chen stands back as the periwinkles once again bloom on Kell's outfit.

"You look perfect."

Leto rounds the bend in time to see Kell fully dressed, in conversation with Wu Chen. There are no signs that the breel has left its cave.

 

[tbgg]

Kelleia

Kell greets Leto and says, "I was just getting a bad feeling about your little jaunt? How did it go?"

"The good news is, I'm ready for battle." And she taps her chiton.

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

It seems Leto needs time to catch her breath, or perhaps she is listening for signs of pursuit. (There are none.) Wu Chen isn't sure. In the silent moment, she says to Kell, "Sorry if what I said oversteps my bounds."



((I'll give Leto a chance to respond to Kell. The breel is alert, but isn't leaving the cave for reasons unknown. Leto also found a path that won't require climbing, so you can all run up the hill if you want to approach ASAP. Wu Chen's outfit will mean you're heard no matter what--auto-fail to stealth for her, even tiptoeing.

Once both players confirm readiness to go up the hill, I'll post combat.))

 

[tbgg]

Kelleia

Kell tells Wu Chen, "It is I who needs to apologize to you Wu Chen. I allowed my concern for Leto to make me rude to you by ignoring you. You have overstepped no bounds. I guess that's a good way to look at it. My looks are my challenge." And she smiles at the nun. "I am grateful for your assistance. Your advice as well."

"Assuming Leto indicates that she saw nothing that would advise us ceasing our hunt, I believe I am ready to continue."

"May the gods guide us all."

 

[Ireth]

((Sorry for my silence, I was out of the house for supper. ^^))

Leto

Leto is glad to find Kell fully dressed when she rounds the bend in the path. She points up the incline and says, "The breel is there and awake, but it didn't follow me. There's a path that'll let us all get up there without climbing. Are we ready to go?"

 

[tbgg]

Kelleia

Kell nods at Leto and inhales. "Let's do this."

((No worries about dinner, Ireth. You're allowed!))

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

"No apologies necessary," Wu Chen assures Kell. "Leto endangered herself, and you needed to respond to that. As nun, I get preachy at times and give unsolicited advice. This is area I wish to work on as self-improvement plan. We discuss later, after we enjoy great victory!"

The nun stays close to Kell and Leto as they move upward…

((No apologies in real life needed either. Definitely don't give up eating over this! There's no rush.))


Vs. Breel!
Outside the breel's cave, the plateau is about 100 feet in diameter. The area inside the cave is likely larger, but our heroines may find themselves cornered in a dead end if they go in there. Emphasis on 'dead.' And 'end.'

The breel is making some strange sounds, which it wasn't making before on the Hearthvision™, though Wu Chen can hear the sounds until she remains perfectly still for a moment.

"Strange sound. Thought you should hear it, but I keep moving now."

((Leto - roll WILLPOWER for beast-speaking attempt. You won't control the breel, but if you beat the breel's willpower, you'll know what the sound is.))

Wu Chen moves again, making conversation impossible. One thing is certain: the breel hasn't roared yet because Wu Chen is still moving in her fighter's dance. All you hear are loud gongs, and all you see in the cave is darkness…

Until three glowing purple eyes—each bigger than a man's head—gradually fade into view. The ground tremors to the beat of the breel's slow approach.



((You have 2 moves, but you don't want to suicidally move outside of the nun's soundproof barrier.

1 turn: shoot arrow / roll Pit Trap* / roll Shock Trap*

2 turns: cast spell

*NOTE: Trap effects may last multiple turns, and it's a GM roll so you don't conveniently know when the trap will stop holding—part of my reason for invisible GM rolls! Just a tip—DON'T roll both traps. It's a wasted move. Also, the lightning weakness means that arrows inflict additional damage while the shock trap effect is active.))

 

[tbgg]

Kelleia

Kell holds up her staff and begins the chant for the Entangle spell, focusing on having the plants wrap about the breel. They may not be as effective as they were with the judge and his men, but she hopes the plants will at least slow the breel a bit.

Kelleia:2D6 → 6(1 +5)#Kell casts Entangle