Giustenal's ruins: A proper taste of the Hells on Athas

[Niachi]

Coden said:

"Fifteen foot three-toed biped? That's... about the size of a b'rohg. I don't know if they have three toes per foot, though."

"Hmm. Only seen them from a distance.  But heading into the smaller buildings? What's our compass doing?"

He gets out his dragon's paw.

[Attilius]

Seeing the Balican with weapon out, Attilius stows the long pole on his pack and wields his gouge & shield while looking all about for trouble.

[Quila Oris (John M.)]

Quila looks at any depicted dragon figures and checks if they contain feet and if those feet contain three claws. A far-out thought that she can’t shake and needs to check. She will not touch anything and be on her guard. She will use her quarterstaff to touch the silt-covered ground right before her before she steps forward, having seen and now mimicking Attillus’ sound tactics.

“What if the attacker was something resembling these depictions we see all around us? More lizard-like than humanoid?”

[Attilius]

Feb 12, 2024 22:48:05 GMT -12 Quila Oris (John M.) said:

“What if the attacker was something resembling these depictions we see all around us? More lizard-like than humanoid?”

While looking at the roof tops and in windows the Murmillo emotionlessly says "If it bleeds, we can kill it..."

[Coden Rokos (Jesse H.)]

"I suppose we'll find out. This trail is fresh enough that if there are more of these things, they'll be around."

[DM Bob]

The trail wanders off into the same ruins of smaller abodes and long shuttered businesses to the north and west of the gate. The silt is continually shifting, there is little to no evidence of any large creature passing outside of the spell's effective revelation.

Your feet crunch bone as you walk. Coden almost trips over a covered corpse, grey and shriveled, a mummy of silt... perhaps about 30 paces away to the west of the statue guarded building that Attilius had first looked upon. The condition of the body, dried & desiccated, makes it hard to place how long it has been laying here.

[Skrye [AC3; 48/48HP]]

- Skrye looks at the area where both doors meet, checking for any track/mark of heavy built against the soil, as these should scratch badly anywhere these move through

[DM Bob]

The building's doors are open enough to walk through and show no recent activity.

The rest of the party I assume is following the three-toed tracks as the tari, um tarries, behind?

[AthasianLaborer]

'Muiko will stay close to the party and try to keep the map as accurate and up to date as possible.

@bob
I am leaving the rolls for drawing the map to you, IC 'Muiko is aware that it isn't perfect but doing what he can with it.

[Attilius]

Feb 14, 2024 4:05:02 GMT -12 DM Bob said:

The rest of the party I assume is following the three-toed tracks as the tari, um tarries, behind?

Attilius leads the procession

[Niachi]

Niachi will scurry to the rear of the group and whispers to Scrye:

"Keep together, we need your earth powers now more than ever. Hej-Kin and worse..."

Louder to everyone (but still lower than normal volume)

"Check floors, walls, roof, no blind spots."

He focuses his superior Elven eyes to the dark and sweeps 360 degrees every few steps. His orb of Continual Light is in quick reach, concealed under his armor. Dragon's paw held vertical  and across his front, with blades forward, up, and down.

[Quila Oris (John M.)]

Quila walks in the middle near 'Muiko (meaning that through their developed understanding and whispering she sort of knows he's around her or nearby).
She still has her regular quarterstaff that she uses to prod the silt around her with to make sure she doesn't step into pits or even just simply misstep on the uneven walkways around this ruin of a city.

Feeling the uneasiness from her friends around her, and the portentous dread all around her inside this place, Quila feels flashes of memories from her time in Celik bubbling to the surface.

To quell the possible unset of trembles and worse, she whispers the protective prayer Hand of Fate that comforts and reassures her of their mission.

Seeing her Celikan friend lag behind and be warned by Niachi to stay close makes Quila backtrack a bit and come to Skrye. "What do your whiskers tell you, friend? Is this building worth a moment's attention? It would seem such a large separate building right after you enter a city would indicate an important official function, no?"

Quila thinks a bit about all the stories from the ancient times she knows. What sort of buildings would be set up in a city locale like this one? Are there any markings indicating it's historical function before disaster struck Giustenal?

(OOC: Level 4 spell Hand of Fate lasts for 9 hours -- duration 1hr + 1hr/lvl, and saves from one killing blow, i.e. an attack that would have as it's end result death.)

[Skrye [AC3; 48/48HP]]

- Skrye nods at Niachi - "Your feet are very swift dear elf, but you couldn't run if not because the earth you step into. Would you like me to enlighten you with some stories of the lords of earth?" - speaking with convincing tone before she starts looking around for any possible trap near the doors, although seems like many ratkin generations since last time that happened..

[OOC: Rolled 14% out of 50%,successful Find traps]

[Niachi]

Niachi loves a good story!

“Yes! Tell us a tale as we trod the earth of ancient secrets!”

[Attilius]

"NO! We move in silence. I thought I heard screams a few seconds ago... eyes peeled, mouths shut. Call out anything incoming." the giant adjusts his tower shield and moves to follow the tracks