The ul-mor depart on their lopers heading west and the group surveys what is before them. To the west and south is the icy desert. To the north and east is a plain of tall grasses that seem to thrive in the bitter cold and bend in the frigid wind that is currently blowing out of the northeast.
Ciara steps forward to examine the grass and is surprised to find that the blades are very sharp. The skeinsuits that most of the group are wearing will help but will certainly get sliced to ribbons eventually. She reports her findings to the rest of the group and they consider how best to navigate this terrain.
Let me know your thoughts on how you want to proceed. If you run out of ideas, feel free to send an INT roll for some GM assistance.
MYKEL: examines the grass and the blades. “What we need is some way to push the blades out of the way as we walk, or to walk on something that will shield us from the blades.” He pauses for a moment, struggling to remember lessons on military campaigns in difficult terrain. There was something …. “Ah! I remember now! Snowshoes! OK, maybe not “snow” shoes, but the idea of walking on boards or such that will keep the grass blades away from us just might work.”
ALYSON: Alyson says,"This is not good. Unless we cut a path though the grass?"
S'LCH: " If we can find a method to deal with the grass, we can have the robot use it to trail blaze." the vrusk offers.
ALYSON: Alyson asks,"Do we need to add anything to it just to turn it into a grass killing machine."
CARTER: Do we happen to have any materials where we could create a sled?
CARTER (GM): Do i need to roll on "Making Items & Structures?"
The technicians in the group go through the equipment they have available to them to see if they can fashion a set of wide "shoes" that can be worn by the carry-all bot to blaze a path for the rest of the group.
GM: I need Gadgetry rolls for those with Technician skill (Carter, Jim and Alzarix). The roll will be at -10 due to a sparse supply of raw materials.
ALZARIX: gadgetry roll at 63 -10 rolled [rolled (61) Partial Success] for outfitting the robot with grass defeating technology.
CARTER: Gadgetry [rolled (31) Success]
CIARA: "I like this idea of making shoes to allow us to walk over the grass." Ciara will offer to help the techs with collecting natural materials, if useful.
Carter and Alzarix get busy working on grass-flattening shoes that can be attached to the bottom of the feet of the Carry-Bot. It takes them a few hours to get everything right but they eventually fashion the devices and get them attached to the bot. S'lch gives it the order to begin walking. The large, flat devices, resembling solid snowshoes, do the job admirably, trampling down the sharp grasses and making it safe for the rest of the group to walk behind in single file without having the grasses cut at their skeinsuits.
The day is getting late and the group does not relish creating a campsite among the sharp grasses so they remain in the desert for the night and plan to get started early in the morning.
Late in the frigid night, Jim Jitsu and George (Dr. Blake) are on watch when Jim spots a moving light high in the sky to the northeast. It is heading generally southwest flying low and eventually disappears behind some low hills in the distance to the east.
In the morning, the group begins their trek through the shard plains, with the Carry-Bot leading the way following course directions from the group walking behind. Mykel is in the lead with weapons at the ready. The group heads to the east-northeast and, after traveling for about 3 hours, picking their way carefully through the grasses tramped down by the bot, they reach an already flattened section of the shard grasses. The flattened section is a good 15 meter wide and extends in an east-west direction.
Ciara examines the grasses and determines that they were likely trampled down by a herd of local grazers of not insignificant size and moving westerly. The fact that they were grazing on the sharp grasses says something about their makeup and metabolism but also indicates that they are likely herbivores and hopefully not dangerous if discovered.
GM: I will pause here to allow people to interject. Let me know if you want to continue to the east-northeast or if you prefer to follow the trampled path to either the west or east.
CARTER (GM): Did we get concrete directions from the Ul-Mor or more "they're thataway..."??
CARTER: If we need food I think the trampled path but more likely E-NE
ALYSON: Alyson OOC Did Jim or the Doc tell us about the light? If so she will say
ALYSON: Alyson says, "I say we look at where that light went to. Jusr the way it moved as it was explained its man made."
CIARA: "What if they're pirates? My concern would be if following it throws us off the way to the Kurabanda. Athru told us to find them by following an east-northeast direction. If we change directions, I'd be concerned that we might not be able to find our way there."
CIARA (GM): What more did we learn about the Kurabanda? What sort of technology they might use or anything about their culture.
S'LCH: Hearing Alyson's comment about what the light was the vrusk says, "Wouldn't that mean they are most likely to be pirates. I mean natives do not appear to have that level of technology. Pirate have been the only ones we have see so far that do."
The group discusses the mysterious light from the night before and eventually concludes that it was most likely a pirate aircraft of some sort descending dozens of kilometers to the east.
Then discussion turns to the trampled path through the sharp grasses. Mykel's suggestion of the flat shoes for the Carrry Bot, and then Alazarix and Carter's implementation of the idea, is working very well but travel will be even faster on an already trampled path. It leads to the east rather than northeast, which is the direction suggested by the ul-mor so the group compromises and decides to follow the trampled path for at least a day or two and if keeps heading east, they will strike off to the north.
They also discuss what little information the ul-mor were able to provide about the kurabanda. They are a tree-dwelling race whose general build is very similar to humans and even more similar to yazirians though they are much shorter. They are intelligent but foolish according to the ul-mor though their specific examples of such foolishness could be interpreted several ways. Their technology level is clearly similar to that of the ul-mor.
The group spends the night on the trampled path, carefully clearing a campsite out of the sharp grasses. They continue to follow the path the next day and shortly after mid day, the path takes an abrupt and serendipitous turn to the north east. The group continues to follow it for the rest of the day and spends a second night at a camp hewn out of the sword grasses. The frigid night passes uneventfully. The combination of survival suits, survival blankets, and tents combines to ensure that everyone is able to get a mostly comfortable night's sleep while those standing their two hour watches have to get up and move often to stay warm.
In the morning, a small fire warms the camp and the group's breakfast of what little remains of their rations, augmented by local herb, plants and small animals identified as safe by Ciara.
The group breaks camp and sets off to the northeast.
Sometime before mid day you are finally able to see the dense forest mentioned by the ul-mor as the home of the kurabanda in the distance. The trees range as high as 50 meters and are densely packed. As you get closer, you can see that the trees have broad, flat limbs from which sprout tendrils and smaller roots that anchor the trees to the ground far below. By the time you reach the edge of the sword grass plain, you can see that, at ground level, the roots and tendrils of the trees are so tangled together that it is impossible to pass between the trees without serious work from someone wielding a laser cutter or, failing that, some machetes.
Suddenly the group sees the searing blast of a laser pistol up in the trees ahead followed by a scream of agony! Immediately the air is full of the sounds of battle coming from the trees directly ahead of you. As you look around, high in the trees you see the body of what appears to be a monkey fall from one of the trees to the ground far below. Among the many shouts and screams, you hear a deep voice rasping, "Take that, you furry little creep." The voice comes from a human who is standing high in the trees near the spot where the monkey fell. The human is some 10 meters up in the tree and about 45 meters deep into the forest standing on one of the broad branches of the trees. He is partially obscured so is considered to have soft cover (-10 to hit). You also catch glimpses of a second pirate barely visible and can certainly hear the sounds of at least two to three more deeper in the trees. You do not see any kurabanda but the pirates are directing their fire to the north indicating that the monkey-like creatures are to the north of the pirates.
GM: Go ahead and send me your actions. To climb the trees, you can send a DEX roll. If you have a skill/task that could assist you, such as Acrobatics, send both a DEX roll and a task roll and I will use the better of the two. Use the VROLL command (e.g., vroll-45 enclosed in brackets for someone with a 45 DEX). Note also that it is really only Mykel and Jim who can see the pirate very clearly at this point. Anyone wanting to shoot from this distance should either move up or send an INT roll to see if you can see him from where you are.
GM: Map to follow shortly. Note that ground level is impassable due to the very thick growth. That means that if you want to climb you can take to the tree next to Mykel or move to the next tree north or south of him.
ALYSON: Alyson says, "Looks like we are going climbing."
ALYSON: Vroll DEX [rolled (54) Success]
ALZARIX: "Why do I always seem to be taking a knife to a gunfight?" With a deep breath he finds a good place to climb a tree, and starts to ascend.
ALZARIX: Acrobatics of 65 vroll of [rolled (77) Failure].and a DEX of 70 rolled a [rolled (35) Success].
ALZARIX: He will try to climb up and stay out of sight of the pirates. Especially the ones with the guns.
CARTER: and all I have is a big stick...
CARTER: tree climbing [rolled (91) Failure]. Or acrobatics [rolled (52) Near Success]
CIARA: Ciara whispers to the others, "Can you see what these pirates are walking on up there? I'm thinking of sneaking in closer. Maybe one of you military types not climbing the trees should follow behind." Ciara will use her stealth to move closer to try and spot all the pirates.
CIARA: Stealth [rolled (99) Absolute Failure!]
S'LCH; The vrusk has no skill in climbing so he keeps an eye out for surprises while having his auto pistol ready
It becomes quickly apparent that the blasts of gunfire that the group has heard and continues to hear are long range shots that rarely hit anywhere close to their targets. Over the next couple of minutes, the pirates maneuver around, clearly focused on an unseen foe to the northeast of the group. The group caught momentary glimpses of a couple of pirates moving on the thick, interconnected branches of the trees but there are so many branches and foliage that maintaining line of sight over more than a few seconds is difficult from ground level. Fortunately there is no shortage of thick vines and ascending roots that allow the group to reach some of the lower lateral branches. Shots continue to ring out during this time from laser weapons though there is also the occasional boom of a sonic disruptor. A couple grenades also explode but they are generally not very effective as they often explode after falling down into the lower branches or to the ground.
During this time the group also catches occasional glimpses of monkey-like creatures shooting arrows at the pirates.
Fortunately for the group, it has only been in the last few seconds that one of the pirates noticed that group and shouted out a warning.
GM: Turn one is officially starting now. Movement through the trees is as follows:
- Humans and Vrusk - 2 squares per turn or 3 if a DEX roll is made.
- Yazirian - 3 squares per turn or 5 if a DEX roll is made.
- Kurabanda - 5 squares per turn or 7 if a DEX roll is made.
GM: If you do not attempt a DEX roll, then you move safely. If you attempt a DEX roll and fail, then you move the normal amount. If you attempt a DEX roll and roll a 96 or higher, then you fall. It may just be that you slip and are prone on the branch or it could be that you fall further. A second DEX roll will determine how bad the fall is.
GM: The map will follow shortly. Go ahead and send me your actions for the first two turns. You can assume that you are aware of any pirate within 5 squares. Any further will require and INT roll to notice. At this time, everyone except the kurabanda are on roughly the same level - about 15 meters above the ground. The kurabanda are about 20 meters up and shooting with bows. |