|
|
Post by DM Bob on Sept 18, 2023 5:31:47 GMT -12
And this leaves you to your own devices as the portal closes quickly soon-there-after.
The immediate quiet is unsettling. As is the unspoken word that part of your mission has been canceled or at the very least postponed.
Current time: 8-9 PM CST (Crimson Standard Time)
|
|
|
|
Post by Attilius on Sept 18, 2023 5:36:12 GMT -12
"Best to get J'lact and Lik-Vyr in here so we can talk spore solutions..." HurK says standing and looking out in the street
|
|
|
|
Post by DM Bob on Sept 18, 2023 5:42:19 GMT -12
Easily done after a few minutes. Ball is in your court.
|
|
|
|
Post by AthasianLaborer on Sept 18, 2023 6:16:10 GMT -12
On being summoned back with J'lact and Chat'cho and hearing the news, Ande would cast Detect Disease and go for a quick zip around at a low enough altitude to scan the community from above.
She would be looking for the areas of heaviest infections and would bring that information back to the assembled party.
|
|
|
|
Post by Quila Oris (John M.) on Sept 18, 2023 6:29:48 GMT -12
Akos simply replies. <"Take a deep breathe and relax. Never have I faltered in pursuing our Master's mission. Do not destroy this Strange yet. My guess is that Oronis will wish to examine it himself, but away from Kurn. Give me a few minutes and I will give you some fresh orders. First envision your location for me."> You do so with the alien body before you, the animals, the rounded room. He then cuts contact. The next ten minutes or so are tense & terse as you wait. Finally you hear a mental knock, familiar as Akos' own voice. <"A wormhole will open briefly. Shove the carcass and the Tree through, but don't follow. It is somewhere remote... and to be honest I do not know where it exactly leads. Our leader has told me to tell you that if he feared this disease, mold or growth were *immediately* harmful that he'd have burnt the area from above already. He wishes you to purify everything you can reach after the carcass is removed in town and make sure the tohr-kreen you are harbored with are cleansed (cure disease use implied) as well. If you can convince their shamans to help, perhaps they will join this hunt. After that, he wishes you to guard the Messenger and update on any other changes, new arrivals or additional growth. Report back daily or if there's anything significant to report."> Quila starts a breathing cycle to calm herself. That helps. <"Thank you Akos. I will make sure the Strange will not be destroyed."> After the first contact is cut, Quila notifies the group about them having to wait for instructions from Oronis. <"Yes yes. We will put the carcass and the Tree through. And then get to work here on a cleansing. Please do signal us back too once Oronis has news."> She sighs and gets up after the final contact. "Ok there will be a wormhole opened through which the carcass and pear tree need to be shoved. Oronis will investigate them himself too in a very remote location away from Kurn. We are to purify and cleanse the spores as much as we can here in Nirik-tohr and get the help from the shamans via J'Lact. After that we are to call in daily and report any updates, and to guard the Messenger. So get ready for that portal to open." |
|
|
|
Post by Quila Oris (John M.) on Sept 18, 2023 6:31:32 GMT -12
"Chat'cho, can you translate for J'lact and Lik-Vyr? Otherwise I can mindlink." Quila asks the druid.
|
|
|
|
Post by Quila Oris (John M.) on Sept 18, 2023 10:49:55 GMT -12
Assuming the druid will do so and both J'lact and Lik-Vyr are present, Quila will start. She will deliberately try to find kreen words she has only loosely remembered. She's not sure how that will be perceived, both by the tohr and her druid compatriot, but she will pull the stops to make the best impression she can given the dire news and request.
"I would like to reiterate on behalf of all of us, our clutch, that we are thankful of your reception and welcome. In a short period we feel we have started on a good path towards better mutual understanding and cooperation. In this burgeoning spirit of comradery and trust, a possible shared future clutch, or at least the very real prospect of shared hunts, we would like to inform you of some discovery we made."
Quila stops for a moment, finding the right words and putting them in the right order, and looks at the rest before focusing on the present tohr-kreen again.
"When you took back the mounts and the Strange body we made discoveries in the Messenger. It is alive and there were halflings inside. Half of them were dead and had their brains removed by this creature. One was even attacked and killed by some bacterial fungal or mold growth which had eaten away part of his face. This halfling was helped by us and is alive again. There was another such manifestation or growth in the Messenger which we burned away. I used my powers of our leader to detect for disease during all this and found out it was registering as such. After our treatments it did not register anymore."
Again Quila stops for a second, catching her breath, and looks to see if she can glean any emotion or non-verbal response in the tohr-kreen.
"When we came back here and wanted to investigate the Strange's body, I cast detect disease again. I saw spores of this fungal moldy disease everywhere around me. Not just on the corpse, but on the mounts, everything that got into contact with this Strange. But it had also moved around into the wider environment, into sa." Quila makes a sweeping motion with her arms to indicate the settlement and surrounding area.
"It does register as 'not a danger' when using the Way chaka, and it seems not active. But it is there. We have been in touch with our leader and he told us to cleanse this spore from Nirik-tohr. Hopefully we can do this hunt on an alien invisible to the normal eye together. Any shaman, ik, that can help Chat'cho, Ande, and me on the hunt, tik, would be a boon. I feel we need to act decisively, what say you hoz J'lect?"
Quila waits tensely for a response from the j'ez leader of Nirik-tohr.
|
|
|
|
Post by DM Bob on Sept 18, 2023 14:10:16 GMT -12
The disease trail extends towards the Messenger's path and through the town. A few things seem to have branched off and carried it... it appears to have latched onto some passing insects or animals into other directions, perhaps from the large jalath’gak that range from the south to the north and back again through the day. Seven minutes of flight do not encompass the entire contaminated area.
Towards the end of her flight, Ande senses danger and Quila's sacred guardian gives her a vision of something flying in the night. Details aren't easy to tell... the orientation makes her believe the threat is close to Ande, but the lighting is an issue.
This is while conversation is being had between the tohr and the rest of the party.
"We thank you for being truthful in the current, unique set of events. Rare is it one finds one not of the tohr speaking so keen on the hunt."
The shaman nods in agreement with J'lact's initial comment and adds,
"I have three others here that can cure rot and blight, but it is not a task we can perform often or much, sadly. The sooner we can divine the effects of this disease - the sooner we can decide proper tactics."
Both nod antennae in the affirmative.
J'lact also adds,
"The Emperor's Warriors may come and go, or change numbers as well. While I was not originally keen on explaining this to the grand clutch, I feel we may have to sooner than later. There are greater numbers of shaman that could be called to mitigate damage - if the need was explained properly."
OOC: You have a few rounds of conversation before you need to react to Ande's predicament - assuming this does not last long, we can have it sum up at the end.
|
|
|
|
Post by AthasianLaborer on Sept 18, 2023 16:27:19 GMT -12
Ande shows no signs of concern even as her Danger Sense pings (PSP -4; 51/112) and as if by instinct activates a precision timed Blink (Power Manipulation rolled 6 needing under 13; Blink rolled a 3 needing under 21; PSPs -7; 44/112)
Blinking out of the way in just the right timing to avoid being snatched and once her eyes are on the creature that nearly grasped her, she opens a Wormhole as an intercept on their trajectory (rolled a 6 needing under 18; PSPs -24; 20/112) with the exit being the ground, scant feet below (Detect Disease, if you're allowing it to function like Detect Magic it is what, 60 feet max?)
If it catches them and has the intended result (stunned/unconscious mobat if not dead from the dive/faceplant and stunned/unconscious elf):
Shit on the mobat as she is swooping in on the elf, snatch him by the skull* and whichever shoulder 'feels right', cloaca-stomp the mobat for good measure and start for nirik-tohr, pinging Quila the whole way.
*right by the top of his neck, he can die if need be, Chat'cho can bring him back or question his corpse.
The mobat dies for the audacity of landing on Ande's Love. At least, if anything is paying attention to her as she opens that Wormhole, that's her thought.
|
|
|
|
Post by Attilius on Sept 18, 2023 20:04:29 GMT -12
"We thank you for being truthful in the current, unique set of events. Rare is it one finds one not of the tohr speaking so keen on the hunt." The shaman nods in agreement with J'lact's initial comment and adds, "I have three others here that can cure rot and blight, but it is not a task we can perform often or much, sadly. The sooner we can divine the effects of this disease - the sooner we can decide proper tactics." Both nod antennae in the affirmative. J'lact also adds, "The Emperor's Warriors may come and go, or change numbers as well. While I was not originally keen on explaining this to the grand clutch, I feel we may have to sooner than later. There are greater numbers of shaman that could be called to mitigate damage - if the need was explained properly." HurK trails off for the dire seriousness of the situation to sink in to the Tohr's understanding "We need EVERY shaman available for this blight HUNT to save this land J'lact!" |
|
|
|
Post by DM Bob on Sept 19, 2023 2:29:08 GMT -12
Lik-Vyr tilts it's head a bit to the side.
"Some questions might need to be made of the earth spirits before you react so severely. While I will have my clutch-mates do what they can to cure this disease from the immediate area, it would be wiser to determine the effects, if any, that this taint brings. I will have a better answer for you in the morning."
J'lact replies to Lik-Vyr.
"You have not guided us falsely in the past, Lik. But do hurry."
The shaman nods and leaves.
J'lact returns his attentions to you.
"What can we do in the meantime? Lik-Vyr also understands that bringing the might and attentions of the Emperor on our small city could spell punishment or death if an alarm is not warranted, drylanders."
|
|
|
|
Post by Attilius on Sept 19, 2023 2:42:50 GMT -12
Lik-Vyr tilts it's head a bit to the side. "Some questions might need to be made of the earth spirits before you react so severely. While I will have my clutch-mates do what they can to cure this disease from the immediate area, it would be wiser to determine the effects, if any, that this taint brings. I will have a better answer for you in the morning." the half giant bows his head in recognition of the spoken wisdom. "I only speak of what I've seen it grow INTO on a large living organism. Our thanks, Lik-Vyr, for the haste in your research."J'lact returns his attentions to you. "What can we do in the meantime? Lik-Vyr also understands that bringing the might and attentions of the Emperor on our small city could spell punishment or death if an alarm is not warranted, drylanders." |
|
|
|
Post by Coden Rokos (Jesse H.) on Sept 19, 2023 5:31:07 GMT -12
When they have a moment to talk outside the company of the thri-kreen, Coden says to HurK, "Not to instill more panic... but considering how rapidly this contagion spreads and how challenging it is to clean up, I currently don't see a scenario in which it doesn't take over the whole of the savannah. Perhaps even the entire world. Even with the kreen mobilized there may not be enough resources to combat it and clean it up fully."
"We need to gather more information while we're trying to contain it. What biomes can it survive in?* What surfaces can it survive dormant on? What substances can kill it? Mundane containment to slow its spread will be necessary in conjunction with just blasting it out of existence with whatever assets we can mobilize."
"Also... that ship, the halflings in it, they all used things that were alive. Creatures shaped into tools. That kind of... precise control over living organisms might lend itself to finding ways to study, reshape, or neutralize the contagion. It might've caught them off-guard before, but now that they know what they're looking for, our halfling friend and whichever of his compatriots that we can revive might be able to come up with some way to help."
* Coden doesn't know it, but I know that the mi-go survive flying through space, so looking for a biome border that it can't cross is probably a fruitless endeavor. Also, fighting this might not be confined purely to rational, scientific approaches, given the source material.
|
|
|
|
Post by Niachi on Sept 19, 2023 8:50:09 GMT -12
Niachi nods to Coden's comment.
To Lyk Vir and J'act, he forms his words in his best Kreen, pausing for translation and to relay the gravity of his team's recent experiences:
"The Spore Age begins as we speak. We need our combined cultures' best minds on this. I spent my formative years underground. The study of fungus, we call My-K'l'h'ji in the Thri-Threen dialect. I am no expert, but I have witnessed spore-based predation, defenses, and a linked cellular structure that speaks of highly adaptable, lethal opponents. This new threat is advanced much much further.
We came to you as envoys seeking cooperation. That has not changed.
...If I can get a message to my pack, we can join a third ancient culture of lore, that of the Elves, to this challenge."
|
|
|
|
Post by Attilius on Sept 19, 2023 10:31:16 GMT -12
HurK rubs the bridge of his nose in discomfort as he replys to Coden "You're not wrong buddy. I just didn't want to scare and start at world ending apocalypse with our new kreen acquaintances. We've only known them for, what, a day now? Hopefully Bossman can come up with something or a spell that can aid in clearing away these spores? " he shrugs
|
|
