[Leif]
No matter what they did, this man was going to die. Leif was sure of that. It was a pity. Whatever that flower was doing to the man, it was killing him. Leif didn’t want him to die but even if they got the flower off… the damage might be irrepairable. As the others discussed the options among themselves, Leif had one more idea, “You know, if we could get the flower to release him voluntarily… perhaps apply a little heat close by? It may just wake the man up trying to escape… but if we held him down…” Leif frowned, “No, if we destroy the flower it could kill him. I stick with my original suggestion, wake him up first. Any other course of action and we risk losing him without learning anything.”
[Ember-new]
The warforged knelt down next to the man, careful to keep clear of the thorny vine that had attached itself to the prone man's body. Examining the man, Ember could not see how hecould pose any threat. He appeared anemic, his body nearly drained of all its essence. Perhaps Leif had been making a joke? Or mayhaps the shifter knew something more about the flora of this region.[ooc – anyone that posts before Angie is an overachiever.]
[Belkar / old]
"What do you think, can it be removed," Belkar asked.
[Leif / new]
Leif examined the man carefully. He wasn’t gettting a psionic feeling from the flower [right Fabian?]. This seemed to be something… biological. “I’m not exactly sure what is going on here but I don’t think we can remove it without risking the man’s death.” Leif considered carefully before continuing, “If he was healthier… maybe. But even then… we could be talking about irreperable damage. Unfortunately, this man’s fate is already sealed. If we do nothing, this thing will kill him. If we pull it off it could kill him. My suggestion is to do whatever it takes to revive the man with the flower attached. It would be safer to remove it when he is a little more fit. But if this flower is making him aggressive…” Leif laughed bitterly. “It’s a damed if you do, damned if you don’t situation. We could just yank the thing off, have Lan or Bryn heal him either during or directly after, and hope for the best. Our only chance to learn something from the man is to revive him, with or without the flower. We have enough muscle here to keep this one man in check. Wake him up and try to question him. If we don’t get the answers we want, we remove the flower. Unless anyone else has a better suggestion?”
No matter what they did, this man was going to die. Leif was sure of that. It was a pity. Whatever that flower was doing to the man, it was killing him. Leif didn’t want him to die but even if they got the flower off… the damage might be irrepairable. As the others discussed the options among themselves, Leif had one more idea, “You know, if we could get the flower to release him voluntarily… perhaps apply a little heat close by? It may just wake the man up trying to escape… but if we held him down…” Leif frowned, “No, if we destroy the flower it could kill him. I stick with my original suggestion, wake him up first. Any other course of action and we risk losing him without learning anything.”
[tag all]
Tom Andry
Associate Editor
Over 1 million readers a month and growing!
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[Bryn / old]
Unfortunately, Bryn's panic caused her Common to desert her, and she gave her warning in Halfling.
[Leif / new]
It took Leif a moment to process the Halflings statement and at least that much more time to realize it needed to be translated for Ember. Finally, as awareness dawned on him, he roared, “Ember, stop!” The construct, literal as always, froze in mid motion. Leif exhaled audibly then continued, “Do not move the man any more.”
Ember nodded, an action that would have caused a ripple effect in Leif perhaps jostling the man further. But the construct, able to isolate parts of his body, was able to keep the man completely motionless. “Leif?” Ember inquired.
Turning to Bryn, Leif queried, “Bryn?”
[tag]
Helping hold the human, Belkar was thrown off balance by the halfling's shout. Dropping the human, which Ember thankfully still had hold of, Belkar stumbled backwards. By the time he regained his footing the bastard sword was in his hands. Looking around, Belkar asked, "What's wrong?"
[Lan]
The kalashtar had moved forward to help resuscitate the human but the
crush of bodies and rush to act around the man's prone form soon made
it impossible for him to do anything. So he simply stood back and
observed as Belkar gave his orders and Ember decided to remove the
flower.
"He'll live." The healer- Lan wryly thought to himself that he was
glad they valued his opinion on that front enough to ask what he
thought of the man's condition- spoke into the silence that greeted
the halfling's pronouncement.
"I can't speak to the nature of the orchid, but all he needs is water
and perhaps some food once he wakes up. It's simple exhaustion, as far
as I can tell." 'From back here,' some might have added, since he
couldn't get close enough to make a detailed examination.
"But stop moving him around, first of all. If you want to speak to
him, leave the flower alone, give him some water and wait to see if he
wakes. If not, wake him." He nodded in Leif's direction as he reached
around to a pocket and withdrew what looked like his shirt. The healer
deftly folded it into a triangle and tied it around the lower half of
his face.
"Figure out the orchid later. If it attacks or if he's mad when he
wakes, that will be an answer in itself."
> "Figure out the orchid later. If it attacks or if he's mad when he
> wakes, that will be an answer in itself."
[Bryn new]
Bryn frowned; she was afraid of the flower, and didn't like leaving it
be. However, she supposed that the healer knew what was best for the
ill human, and his health was a priority. Not only for his sake, but
for their own; the ir'Valerian party would probably need any
information he could provide.
Still, if her hunch was correct, even waiting could be dangerous. Bryn
decided to compromise. Digging around in her pockets, she eventually
found an old handkerchief. She wet it down, then draped it gently over
the flower. This way, should it be disturbed, the pollen would at
least be contained. That done, the druid backed away from the human,
leaving him to the other Big Folk.
I'll try to provide a turn so far later tonight. If not, I'll at least provide a 'PbP'
summary of what happened to the man with the flower.
Game on!
Fabian
Troubled Past - An Eberron PBEM
http://www.geocities.com/cfbenave/Eberron/Eberron-Page2.htm
[Leif]
Leif nodded,
understanding. "It's called pollen."
"Pollen. Flower has much much pollen. Ready to come out. Think maybe pollen bad to breathe."
[Ember-new]
The warforged nodded its understanding. "Again, best suited to pull off plant. Warforged not breath. Can disable aerosol receptors temporarily to ensure no contamination." Looking across the body at Belkar, the living construct spoke more softly. "Many thanks, Commander, for aid with body, but should take it alone from here. Suggest all stand back. Will do best to minimize aerial transportation of pollen."
[tag any or cue Lan]
[Bryn]
Bryn frowned; she was afraid of the flower, and didn't like leaving it be. However, she supposed that the healer knew what was best for the ill human, and his health was a priority. Not only for his sake, but for their own; the ir'Valerian party would probably need any information he could provide.
Still, if her hunch was correct, even waiting could be dangerous. Bryn decided to compromise. Digging around in her pockets, she eventually found an old handkerchief. She wet it down, then draped it gently over the flower. This way, should it be disturbed, the pollen would at least be contained. That done, the druid backed away from the human, leaving him to the other Big Folk.
[Ember-new]
While waiting for the others to stand back, Ember prepared to deprive itself of its least sensitive of senses. Just as a fleshy creature could hold its breath, the warforged froze the bladders that continually pumped air across its aerosol receptor plates, just beneath its upper jaw. Eventually the aromatic signature of the jungle slowly faded from the living construct’s awareness.
Then, with one hand set firmly on the man’s chest, the warforged reached up and cupped the prone figure’s head with its massive hand. Ember then slowly applied pressure to both places to press the man into the ground where he would not be able to shift under the construct’s weight. Once reasonably assured that the man would not be able to move anything other than its limbs, the warforged proceeded to tap the man’s forehead to wake him up.
[tag Fabian]
[Ember, for when we decide to remove it]
Keeping its one hand square in the center of the man's chest, Ember held the man's body motionless as the warforged maneuvered its grip around the flower. Then, quickly, it crushed the flower underneath the handkerchief in its thick fingers, folding the pollen-laced petals in on themselves and removed it from the human’s [face/neck/something]. The warforged then balled up the moistened cloth into a tight knot of cloth, careful to keep the contents contained.
“Done.” The warforged looked around at the others, all of them holding their breath. “Should dispose. Would suggest flame, but…” Ember looked plaintively down at its flame manipulator. “No longer configured for precision burn.”
[tag any]
RPG: "Creepy bugger," Flask muttered as he stared away from the
body, alert for trouble. And since that came with the added benefit of
not having to look at the flower it was for the good; the plant was
creeping him out for some reason.
To pass the time the scout took out the sheets of paper he had
liberated from the Morgrave camp and began reading them, frowning at
the crude Goblin script and the many and often less than helpful notes
scribbled in the margin of the pages. With only a passing interest in
history the legend wasn't of any particular interested to Flask, but
since it seemed to be telling of the kind of a place they had come here
searching for, it would be best to have it translated. And despite (or
perhaps because) of the University team's bookish ways he wouldn't
trust any translation he didn't do himself.
The text proved sufficiently interesting to allow Flask to mostly
ignore the moans from the stricken man and the sounds of thorns being
torn from flesh, though he couldn't help casting a glance over a
shoulder to see Ember holding the vicious plant in one huge, mailed
fist.
REF: "Done." The warforged looked around at the others, all of them
holding their breath. "Should dispose. Would suggest flame, but..."
Ember looked plaintively down at its flame manipulator. "No longer
configured for precision burn."
RPG: "Don't bring it any closer!" Flask yelped, taking a hurried
step back to maintain distance to the petaled menace. "Just grind it
tae paste between yer fists an' bury it 'neath a rock. If it grows
an' comes after us tae complain, we be long gone already."
TAG: Everyone interested...
-Jussi / Mel
That was enough. Lan moved forward to kneel at the student's head. He
took the waterskin from Ember and gently provided the exhausted human
more to drink. Noticing the warforged was still holding the boy down,
the healer shook his head.
"He doesn't need to be restrained." Lan nodded in Flask's direction.
"And he's right. Dispose of the flower. Preferably somewhere away from
this young man." Somewhere away from the rest of the group, as well.
The kalashtar examined his condition more closely now, determined to
do what he could to ease the human's suffering. He reached back into
his pack with his free hand and came back with a healer's kit; the
exotic looking healer hadn't even had to rummage around in his bag for
it.
It briefly occurred to him that this could be a trap, but he wouldn't
have been able to live with himself if he hadn't done something to
help.
OOC: Heal check again, this time with the masterwork healer's kit,
attempting to stablize the young man and get him to regain
consciousness/lucidity.
I may write this up later (see below) but just so people can continue to roleplay...
- the student is very weak and disoriented;
- he's in shock as something very traumatic has happened to him (or he has witnessed
something very traumatic happen);
- he'll faze in and out and go into some delirium of something or other (he's very sorry
he partied all last semester and now got stuck in this 'field assignment' (thanks John));
- all in all, he'll provide very little useful information at this time.
Oh and he'll be very scared and jittery at anything that looks like a snake. If questioned
about it, he'll just faze out and talk about another college party.
If someone wants to have fun, go for it! I'd love to read about our 'very sorry' student.
:)
The young man's eyes fluttered open and he jerked against the
warforged's massive hand. Lan glanced at Ember again briefly before
returning his attention to the human just in time to catch that name
again.
"Karla..."
His head lolled to the side and a trickle of water ran off the boy's
cheek and down his neck. The student rolled his head back and finally
focused on the healer as Lan reached down to gently wipe the water off
the weak young man's cheek.
"Who... who are you?" He didn't seem bothered in the least by the
cloth mask that shrouded the lower half of Lan's face. Either that or
he was too tired or too weak to register surprise on his face.
"I'm here to help you." Lan's voice was soft but firm, the tone of a
caretaker who would brook no nonsense from his ward. "What is your
name?"
"I'm..." The young man took a deep breath and his eyes closed again.
They stayed closed as he went on. "I'm Daram. A student. I..." His
eyes snapped open and he whipped his head to look around at the rest
of the party. "Where is everyone?"
The kalashtar glanced at Belkar, unsure how much to disclose to Daram,
unsure whether it might hurt the young man's recovery, frankly unsure
how much the student would understand. And Lan didn't have any
answers; there was that.
"You can worry about them later. Do you remember what happened?" His
voice trailed off as Lan saw that the young man's eyes had lost focus
again. Daram wasn't hearing him.
But he wasn't quite gone again, either. "I'm sorry, mom. I know how
much you pay for my classes. I won't fail another class, I swear."
More tears joined the single one that had slid down his cheek as his
memory of conversation opened raw emotional wounds.
Lan glanced at Belkar again. "He's not going to die. For the moment.
But I don't know how much information you'll be able to get out of
him. He's..." Daram cut him off as his head snapped up again; he
strained weakly against Ember's hand.
"You have to save them!"
The kalashtar was loathe to touch the boy's mind, sure that the last
few days and hours had left a hellish imprint in Daram's memory. But
that might be the only way to get any lucid information out of the
young student.
"Daram, can you hear me?"
The boy's eyes rolled sluggishly back to Lan's shrouded face. "Yes,
yes, I can. I already said that. Please, please... I'm so thirsty."
His voice was peevish and weak. The healer brought the waterskin back
to Daram's lips. The young man slurped greedily at the skin, drinking
eagerly until he choked and turned away again. More of their water
splashed on the already damp ground.
OOC: That's all I've got time for at the moment. Someone else feel
free to have Daram rant or whatever.
--
Les
The boy's eyes rolled sluggishly back to Lan's shrouded face. "Yes,
yes, I can. I already said that. Please, please... I'm so thirsty."
His voice was peevish and weak. The healer brought the waterskin back
to Daram's lips. The young man slurped greedily at the skin, drinking
eagerly until he choked and turned away again. More of their water
splashed on the already damp ground.
"What now?" she asked. "If want help others, must continue follow tracks. But him weak, can't leave here alone. Can he walk, come with us?"
Can't but love such a happy ending.
-Jussi
Bitter much?
From: Troubl...@googlegroups.com [mailto:Troubl...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Angie Gignac
Sent: Saturday, June 10, 2006
10:33 AM
To: Troubl...@googlegroups.com
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[Bryn / old]
"What now?" she asked. "If want help others, must continue follow tracks. But him weak, can't leave here alone. Can he walk, come with us?"
[Leif / new]
Leif took his cues from Lan. The healer seemed to think that all the man needed was time. Fine, time he would have. Nodding to Ember, Leif said, “Pick him up.” Bryn looked as if she might object but Leif cut her off, “These are our options. Stay here and wait for him to recover and possibility doom the rest to his fate, leave him alone here where he’d most likely be eaten, one or more of us stay with him while the others scout ahead, or take him with us. Frankly, it seems that this jungle isn’t the most hospitable of places. The last thing we should do is spilt up. We take him with us and he has the possibility of dying. Or we can leave him and that possibility becomes a certainty. We’ve got to move and I don’t see any other options.”
[tag… or]
No one was crazy about the idea but they didn’t really have any other viable choices. They needed to keep moving if they were going to catch up with the other captives. At least they knew that the flowers could be removed. Once again, Flask and Bryn took point with Ember and now Belkar in the rear. Ember carried the man easily over on shoulder with his maul swinging freely in the other. The image was not one Leif wanted to dwell on – that lifeless body could have easily been his.
As the group pressed on in relative silence, they knew that the young student was still alive mostly from the occasional outbursts. Sometimes it seemed as if he were reliving memories of good times past, other times he screamed in abject terror. The most dramatic and disconcerting of these fits was when they stopped for a break. Everyone was doing their best to conserve their water but it was being used up far too fast. Belkar even tried to ask Daram if he knew where there was a clean source of water – but to no avail. The boy seemed as much a prisoner of his memories as hurt. But, when a long, thin, multi-legged insect crawled by, Daram suddenly found his voice and his strength. Clawing at the construct’s armor as if he would burrow right through, Daram cursed in a handful of languages, only half of which any of them understood. Two things were clear – the boy was afraid, and the object of his fear was a snake. Apparently, in his delusional state, he mistook the bug for the reptile of his nightmares. Exhausted after the outburst, he collapsed into a fitful sleep, punctuated with grunts, groans, and whimpers. At least he was mostly quiet. The group continued on, more and more aware that the limbs over them and the brush at their feet could hide the very creature that had so traumatized the young man.
[tag]
It is also worth mentioning that the World Cup started (it's soccer for all you American heathens) :) so I'm in no mood to rush anything.
Bitter much?
________________________________
From: Troubl...@googlegroups.com on behalf of Angie Gignac
Sent: Sat 6/10/2006 1:31 PM
To: Troubl...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: Troubled Past PBEM 75 - The Student (turn so far)
Tom Andry
Associate Editor
HYPERLINK "http://www.audioholics.com/"www.Audioholics.com
Over 1 million readers a month and growing!
_____
From: Troubl...@googlegroups.com [mailto:Troubl...@googlegroups.com]
On Behalf Of King, John
Sent: Saturday, June 10, 2006 7:38 PM
To: Troubl...@googlegroups.com
Subject: RE: Troubled Past PBEM 75 - The Student (turn so far)
Wow, I really thought you were quitting there for a second. Wait, are you?
The reason I ask is that in the very first pbem I was in, one guy, who was
kind of a dick anyways, decided that he didnt want in any more and created
some post that he ran off in the middle of the night, a scream could be
heard that was presumably his death, and then all was silent. No "I'm not
happy" or "this game needs more boobies" or anything.
So, anyways, if you arent planning on quitting, it was a good scare (dont do
that to me!)
John
PS Fabian, the game needs more boobies. k, thnx
_____
From: Troubl...@googlegroups.com on behalf of Angie Gignac
Sent: Sat 6/10/2006 1:31 PM
To: Troubl...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: Troubled Past PBEM 75 - The Student (turn so far)
It is also worth mentioning that the World Cup started (it's soccer for all
you American heathens) :) so I'm in no mood to rush anything.
Ohhh....that explains it. I thought that maybe there had been some sort of
disaster, and that American had fallen into the sea, and it just hadn't made
our news yet. But it's actually just soccer. Too bad Canada didn't qualify.
We'd be better at soccer if the ball were smaller, we could hit it with a
stick, and the field was covered in ice. :) I'll be rooting for Australia,
being our sister Commonwealth anglo colony.
Bitter much?
Nope, just bored. Don't worry, Bryn doesn't really think of Leif as a
dog-boy. Dog-man, maybe. ;)
--
No virus found in this incoming message.
Holy crap! I’m moving to Canada!
Tom Andry
Associate Editor
Over 1 million readers a month and growing!
From: Troubl...@googlegroups.com [mailto:Troubl...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Angie Gignac
Sent: Saturday, June 10, 2006 9:38
PM
To: Troubl...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: Troubled Past PBEM 75
- The Student (turn so far)
Sorry to scare you, John,
the idea of quitting never even occurred to me. I was just killing time, and
comrades. BTW, I decided that in the alternate universe where Johan kills
everybody, he also gets the girl.
I don't know about the whole boobies thing, I'm fairly satisfied with the
number of boobies that have made an appearance in the game. I OD'd on boobies
today....unbeknownst to me, it's National Naked Bike Ride day today. I stumbled
across a posse of about 50 nudies today, all biking downtown. It was boobie
overload.
On 6/10/06, King, John <john...@golder.com> wrote:
Wow, I really thought you
were quitting there for a second. Wait, are you?
The reason I ask is that in the very first pbem I was in, one guy, who was kind
of a dick anyways, decided that he didnt want in any more and created some post
that he ran off in the middle of the night, a scream could be heard that was
presumably his death, and then all was silent. No "I'm not
happy" or "this game needs more boobies" or anything.
So, anyways, if you arent planning on quitting, it was a good scare (dont do
that to me!)
John
PS Fabian, the game needs more boobies. k, thnx
________________________________
From: Troubl...@googlegroups.com
on behalf of Angie Gignac
Sent: Sat 6/10/2006 1:31 PM
To: Troubl...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: Troubled Past PBEM 75 - The Student (turn so far)
It is also worth mentioning
that the World Cup started (it's soccer for all you American heathens) :) so
I'm in no mood to rush anything.
Ohhh....that explains it. I thought that maybe there had been some sort of
disaster, and that American had fallen into the sea, and it just hadn't made
our news yet. But it's actually just soccer. Too bad Canada didn't qualify. We'd be
better at soccer if the ball were smaller, we could hit it with a stick, and
the field was covered in ice. :) I'll be rooting for Australia,
being our sister Commonwealth anglo colony.
Bitter much?
Nope, just bored. Don't worry, Bryn doesn't really think of Leif as a dog-boy.
Dog-man, maybe. ;)
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[Leif / old]
Leif took his cues from Lan. The healer seemed to think that all the man needed was time. Fine, time he would have. Nodding to Ember, Leif said, "Pick him up." Bryn looked as if she might object but Leif cut her off, "These are our options. Stay here and wait for him to recover and possibility doom the rest to his fate, leave him alone here where he'd most likely be eaten, one or more of us stay with him while the others scout ahead, or take him with us. Frankly, it seems that this jungle isn't the most hospitable of places. The last thing we should do is spilt up. We take him with us and he has the possibility of dying. Or we can leave him and that possibility becomes a certainty. We've got to move and I don't see any other options."
Once again, Flask and Bryn took point with Ember and now Belkar in the rear. Lan stayed near the injured student, offering him water whenever he was lucid enough to take it. Ember carried the man easily over on shoulder with his maul swinging freely in the other. The image was not one Leif wanted to dwell on – that lifeless body could have easily been his.[cue rest of Tom's post...]
I'm working on the recap as we speak...
L8r,
Fabian
Troubled Past - An Eberron PBEM
http://www.geocities.com/cfbenave/Eberron/Eberron-Page2.htm