Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

I look Tarbreth over. "So when you're not playing commando, you live like he does. Figures."

I'll try to stand up. "I'm ready to go now, if that's what you want."

I'll sit back down if someone makes to shove me down. Don't want to fall down the wrong way.

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

Tarbreth: "A little less softly than he does, I'd think"


Tarbreth: "Sit down! we're not ready yet. Get some sleep. don't want you slowing down whoever I pick to take you away."


The rest of his men trickle in through the night. There are 10 of them, including Tarbreth.



At one point, they search his pockets. Is his money on him, or is it in his little sleeping area.



Tarbreth selects a shorter man with black hair and a chest like a barrel, to take Julian out. The man is named Relsin.

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

I flinch and tumble over. I rest uneasily, worried I might be attacked in my sleep. Thankfully the light is on my cheek and pointed away from my eyes.

Well, let's roll for that:
Well I can't very well stuff it in my shoe or sock. So probably under something I slept on top of.

I won't be speaking unless I'm spoken to. I also won't be asking what the plan is when Relsin is sleeping.

I suppose the light on my cheek has worn off by the time I'm heading out.

I wonder if they'll be the Lawin, the tailed Hawkin, or the small Hawkin. Probably one of the first two.

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

The money is safely where neither Julian nor the "commandos" can get it. He either left his knife or they took it.



The light is gone by the time Julian gets up again. He's not sure if it takes more time or less time than an ordinary light stone.

Reslin eventually gets another man to go with them: Togar, a surprizingly ugly man with long but thinning hair.



They stick a heavy pack on Julian, going so far as to tie it on in a way that defies taking it off equally. Both of them have spears. They say the pack is full of food, and warn him not to eat any, and not to move from between them. They also tie a rope around each hiker's waist and connect them all, though this feels more like a safety harness that a serious restraint. Reslin is obviously in charge between his two captors.



They begin traveling through the vegetation. They quickly leave signs of civilization. The tunnels are somewhat bewildering: Julian isn't sure how they can go anywhere precise at all. They have no compass.


Make a hiking roll (against default, I believe)


Two hours into the march, they stop to "get their bearings". This involves finding a thin spot of vegetation, chopping a hole in it, tying all three of them to some vegetation, and lowering Reslin through the hole.

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

Hopefully whoever finds it doesn't just pocket it. Then again, when they learn that I vanished, who's going to do anything? The guards are probably too distracted by the deaths of their own and probably don't care about a missing poor kid all the same.

"Equally"? That should be easily, right?
How heavy? Suppose that's one way of stopping me from running off in the night.

"OK, I won't eat anything and then when I starve in a couple days, this whole journey will be entirely pointless."

There must be holes or soft spots in the vegetation tunnels. I hope I don't fall through. I don't want to owe these people my life.

What use would a compass be anyway? This world's a tube. Where would the magnetic field be going through? The sun? That'd just point towards the middle.

Maybe Vasic's involved somehow.

No, Julian had to walk everywhere before he stole a bicycle.
I suppose I could ask about navigation now.

"What does that even mean? Are you going to be wandering around at random, sticking your head out until we get where we're going?"

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

Its a 40lb pack (18kg. your sheet is in metric; I'm not sure if that's because of your software or because that is you are familiar with)


Reslin: "Keep working on that mouthing off. Learn enough of the language for those quips to be funny. By then you'll be someone else's problem."

No one falls through a hole the first segment of the hike, but he does occasionally see light peaking through the roots and vines.



The vasic stones giving them light have to be redrawn every so often, providing natural breaks in the grueling hike. The going is slow, though it fortunately seems to be largely in the downward direction.


Which is all that Reslin can really see in his lowering manuever anyway.



Togar: "We're headed on a line away from the waterfall and Bumundo. As long as we can go downhill, and away from the waterfall, we're good. All we need to do is get far enough away."

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

Yeah, I work in metric. Though I kind of wish the sheet was in game metric (1 m = 1 yd, 1 kg = ½ lb.)
Hopefully my own problem and not this Paldrian's. I wonder if Paldrian would be nice to me. Even if I do get away, they'll just haul me off again... No, I need to think positive.

Well, it'd be more fortunate if it wasn't hell on my knees, especially with this huge pack.
Hm... A compass would give them a more accurate reading of the direction to center. With some math, you could probably work out distance to center too.

"And then you'll give Paldrian your location, or find some Hawkin, and that'll take care of the last leg of the transport.

--

I look down at the hole as Reslin dangles through. If I had my knife, I could... I feel nauseous at the thought of dropping a man to his death. It reminds me too much of my old knife, and how I stuck Myla with it before I ran away.

I shake off those thoughts. None of this changes the fact I have no knife. I could draw a pattern on my hand, and burn the rope. Well, maybe if they let me write some pages in my diary I could pull it off, but given how they reacted when there was nothing worth writing, I doubt they'd let me write things down now. I could jump through the hole.

OK, that's just stupid. If the rope breaks, then Reslin dies, I die and maybe Togar dies. And if the rope doesn't break then... I don't think Togar would be able to pull us back in through the hole. And even if he was willing to kill me over that stunt, he wouldn't be willing to kill his buddy, right? And if he gets taken through the hole, then we'd all be stuck until someone came by. And they aren't expected back for days. So anyone who came by wouldn't be one of their friends, but some bystander. Maybe a Hawkin on patrol. They couldn't talk their way out of that.

How much slack is on the rope and how much distance is between me and the hole?

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

makes sense. I'll try to remember that. the .9 and 2.2 conversions are just close enough to be handy and just far away enough to be obnoxious.

assuming the compass points towards the sun...

"Hawkin. Paldrian can't send a teleportation stone to our location"

Hmmm.

So Reslin is being lowered on a different rope than the one attatching everyone at the waste, and Togar is feeding that rope down carefully, and he is attatched to that rope before it attatches to the vegetation as an anchor. Julian has quite a bit of slack, and can get right up to the hole.

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

Well I altered Julian and Halycone's to meters equal yards. GCA controls the BL metric conversion, which uses the more precise 0.4536 kg/lb. and rounds.

I suppose it could just spin round and round... Maybe I could find a lodestone and sort that out.

"Oh, so you're going to handle the hiring."

OK, I'll creep up towards the hole and jump when I get to the end of my rope. I suppose Togar's distracted.
Well I guess Julian's caught. Not sure what the jump roll would be; some kind of ST contest? Trying to judge whether to spend luck.

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

"No! Someone else back in civilization will do it. Maybe Paldrian, but probably not. "



Togar: "Hey! stay away from the hole! get out of my way!"

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

Hm. I guess there will be a lot of waiting once we reach a "low enough" point.

I suppose I can't quite reach the hole yet and I haven't reached the end of my rope yet either.

Does it look like Togar needs to use both hands to keep the rope steady? Like he can't easily yank on the rope I'm tied to, to pull me away from the hole.

How much rope has Togar loosed yet? Can I tell how far Reslin's been dropped down the hole? Can I guess?

What would I need to roll to make him lose grip?

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

He's about 1.3 meters from the edge of the hole.



Yeah, he's very much using both hands. He could conceivably free up one after a second of securing it.


Reslin is about a meter and a half down the hole. There is probably another meter and a half left in the rope.


That depends entirely on the method... would you be pushing him, pulling the rope, smashing his hands, or some other method?

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

OK, even assuming I can get to the edge of the hole with the remaining rope, if I continue it would probably go like this:
-> He secures the rope
-> I get to the hole
-> He yanks me and I fall over

So attempting to jump in the hole (and letting gravity do the hard work of making him lose grip) is out.

And the rope's going, what, 10 cm/s? Probably too long to pull him back out.

Well, I could probably get over close to him, but hitting him in the arm is probably too risky. He's huge; it'd be like a mosquito bite. And even if it did work I'd probably get stuck in the hole.

Yeah, pull on the rope, even when he's straining on that he's too heavy for me to move... I know! I could convince him to let me help him with the rope, and when he begins to relax, I could pull hard in the other direction and trip him up!

I'll step away from hole like he asked, and then say, "Holding that rope looks really hard. I with this pack I'm heavy enough to keep the rope anchored. Could I help?

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

Meter and a half is well within a 1 second move. Its not within a careful lowering of yourself through the hole. He also would need to grab the rope you are attatched to.



10 cm/s would be on the fast side, but yeah, that's about right.



The attempt fails:


"I'm using the root as the anchor. Stay out of the way!"

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

Wouldn't that be rather easy given that we're attached to the same rope? The ropes are Reslin-Self-Togar and Reslin-Togar-Root, right?

Well I guess I've wasted all the goodwill I had, so what could I expect?

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

There is a lot of slack in the rope at the moment. Grabbing a limp rope at your waist is about as difficult as grabbing a sword. which is to say it takes a ready maneuver, and yanking it is another maneuver.

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

Well let's go for that then. I run for the hole as fast as I can (which is not very fast on account for this massive sack on my back) and try to fit my self through the hole.

Hopefully there's no penalty to that...

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

Julian jumps into the hole, hoping for the best. He gets a nasty scrape on his ribs as he goes down, and another bruise on his ribs as he collides with Reslin's knee. With a Yank, the rope around his waist catches him and he hears Togar shouting something. His breath is knocked away.



A few seconds later, everything has sorted out. He's dangling over the bank of cloulds by his waist, upside down. Reslin's legs are about a meter above him, with a lot of slack rope between the two.



Reslin: "We've still got him! He's upside down! Throw me some more rope!"


Togar: "Let me let the slack out!"


Reslin: "No! we don't want him to come loose!"

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

OK Julian, let's see if there's anything down here we can--

I start yelling and screaming, trying to attract the attention of anyone in the area. I try to get the rope swinging like a swing set. Lean one way, lean the other. Should make it harder to do anything with the rope, and might make this whole mess easier to spot. Maybe I could get enough speed to grab something, and make it harder to be pulled back through the hole.

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

Reslin: "Boy! do you want to fall!? If we get spotted we're just going to drop you and run for it!"

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

"I don't believe you!"

OK, I believe them enough to hedge bets. They can't really see me right now, can they? I'll try drawing the heat pattern onto my (left) hand.

Some kind of DX roll I imagine.
Well that didn't work.

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

He can't draw strait at all.

Reslin: "He's got a death wish! get me that rope!"

Reslin is swinging a second loop of rope down, trying to hook Julian...

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

I try to bat it out of the way!
Well I guess I'm looped up now. Does it look like he has a good eye on where I was looped? If not, I'll wait until he starts pulling and make like I'm being choked.

If he stops pulling, I'll try and get the loop off of me:

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

Remember Julian is upside down...


His kicks seem to help his foes rather than slow them down. The rope is around his foot.


There are two of them. Julian can't tell how how well they can see, but given how how his head is, they know they don't have his neck.


Togar heaves, and Julian feels himself raised by one foot, slowly up to about where Reslin is.



Julian doesn't think he sees any Hawkin in the sky... at least he thinks the other creatures out there are birds rather than people...

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

Oops; forgot that. Probably makes a lot of last post moot

Well no point pretending then.

Well, not all Hawkin are Lawin, right? Maybe some are even smaller. Might as well continue hollering.

Does Reslin have anything useful on him? Like a knife maybe? Or did he leave any of his possessions up with Togar? Could I bump into him and lift it from him? If so:

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

Pickpocketing works: Pick up to two:

His main knife
A secondary knife
his coin pouch
A light stone
A handkerchief thing
His watch

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

Let's see:
How durable does the rope look? Thick as an arm? I imagine he uses the main knife often enough for its absence to be noticed immediately, but what about the secondary knife?
Well he uses that for light in the tunnels, right?
That'd be helpful but not immediately.
Well I guess I could use that to flag a fork in the path we take.
He's going to check that in, what, two days? To give Paldrian another call, at least to say, "Not there yet, let's call back in two days".

How bulky are all these items? What are their holdout penalties?

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

[QUOTE=TGLS;2454360]Let's see:

You haven't seen him use the secondary knife yet.



the rope is about as thick as a man's thumb. maybe a little less. Not something you can slice through in a single second, but nothing that will take you more than a minute.


He's got a few of them. You're not sure how often he uses that one.


You missed when they specifically will be checking in. Tarbreth will be checking in with Padrian in two days.



They're all pretty small, and with your back back and rope, you have more to hide them in that you used to.



-1 for the big knife
+0 for the small knife or coin pouch
+1 for the light stone or handkerchief.

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

Hm. Wonder if my pen would work or if I'd need chalk.

And I'll be pulled out in, I dunno, 30 seconds? If only it were a little slower I could cut the Togar-Reslin rope. Probably wouldn't drop me then.

I'll take the watch and... The money. Once I'm out of sight of Togar, I'll try to change the time on the watch; an hour in the past should be enough. Then I'll hide the cash and the watch amongst the bag and the ropes.

+1 for the watch? Two rolls or just roll the lowest modifier? I'll assume two rolls.

OK, after they take out their frustrations on me for leaping out the hole, I guess my next move will be to drop the watch, maybe the next time Reslin rappels down a hole.

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

The watch is +0 to holdout, and then a +1 for an additional item. So it worked.

Togar hauls Julian out of the pit by the ropes around his waist and foot. After Julian is up, he throws the kid on the ground and puts his foot on him while he hauls up Reslin. If the kid struggles, the man increases the pressure on his ribs with his boot.

After Reslin gets up, he looks at the kid. "That was <>, you know?" He hits the kid in the face. "You deserved that. And you blew your chance. You won't be able to do that again." Something in his voice seems to indicate respect.

down another 1 HP.

They continue on their journey. They stop to rest fairly often, and Julian is faced with the choice of when to drop the watch: how much time after he messes with it?

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

Surely -1.

I gasp out in pain. "Please! Stop! They're broken!"

I puff up slightly. Yeah, I'm not just some kid, I--. No; now they knows I'm not docile; now they know to keep a close eye on me. What do I care what they think about me? They're killers and they beat me up!

One more hit and I'll be at half move! ... OK, that's an even dumber plan.

I must have a concussion or something. I could have swore I heard Reslin notice his watch was missing.

They're watching Julian more closely, not tying up his hands or anything, right?

I probably can't check the watch without getting them suspicious. I'll hum along to the music in my head for an hour or so before getting ready to drop it. I'd sing but that might be conspicuous. And I'm an awful singer. And I'm surrounded by a bunch of killjoys who are more concerned about the noise.

... throw away my shot! ... OK, that's approximately an hour. Now let's drop that watch. Hopefully dropping is as easy as picking them up.

Uh oh. Luck recharges at, what, every thirty posts? Well I'm blowing too much success to not use it now anyway.

OK, best success is by three.

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

I mean, its a pretty small watch.


"Shut up! should have thought about that before you tried to kill us!"


correct. You pretty much need your hands. And its not like there is any place to go.... most of the time.



This doesn't quite happen...


You did... then I figured I'd give you the chance to drop it before he checked...


About a half hour into the singing, Reslin says "My Watch! where is my watch?!"

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

I was more thinking, more items should be more difficult, not easier, thus -1 not +1. Anyway,
I'm not sure if saying that I was hoping for rescue not death would help any here, so I keep quiet. And by quiet, I mean incoherent cries.

Not sure for what. Steep slopes in the vine tunnels maybe? Climbing down vertical drops?

Well it's more like loud humming.

--

I'll let this play out. They might be a bit suspicious if they find the watch just as Reslin notices it's missing. And if they decide to search me and find it, they might not think that it was tampered with, just stolen. And about they only way they would probably be sure was if they had another one to compare to.

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

Steep slopes, extremely uneven ground, roots sticking out in front of your face.


They flash their light stones around, looking for the watch. Togar suggests it may have fallen out when they were pulling Julian up. Reslin says he's not sure how far back he can follow the trails correctly. They start working their way back up the tunnels they came from... which is quite tiring.

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

Well no wonder Tarbreth protested marching over the top.

As much as I'm enjoying them wasting time on this trip back, I don't imagine that they're going to head all the way back into town if they can't find the watch. Or at least, both of them head back to town. And well, if they don't find the watch at the hole (if we get there; Reslin doesn't seem confident), I dunno what they're going to do.

I'll wait until we meet some particularly treacherous spot of terrain (ideally more than a minute away). Then I'll say, "Hey, stop!" Then I'll make like I'm picking something off the ground but in reality just taking the watch out of my pocket. Then I'll hold up the watch, and say, "Is this what you're looking for?"

Not sure what this works out to: Filch [for dropping something]? Sleight of Hand [It is effectively a party trick]? Acting with complementary Filch/Sleight of Hand [The trick of picking up the watch is basically to help sell the con]? I'll go with Acting with Filch as complementary.

Well it looks like I managed to recover from a worse than expected drop.

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

I'd have argued the other way around... acting supports filch... and either filch or slight of hand should work here.



So that's a failure by one... would you like to use luck?


OCC: Historically, Lost in dreams has in-game luck regeneration... but moving it to a number of posts is probably a good idea. What are we using for the other two games?

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

OK. I only brought up SoH specifically because I don't have it and it's default sucks. Not sure if the dimness modifier applies; I imagine the Vasic flashlights are on me once I start making a fuss.

Sure let's go for it!
I watch helplessly as the watch slips from my grasp and bounces off a root I overlooked, only to end up exactly where I wanted it. I nearly forget to pick up the watch before I stand back up. "Well, this is it, right?"

I'll address this in OOC.

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

Reslin utters some exclamation Julian doesn't understand. Perhaps its of relief? A weird prayer?



He scrambles down and snatches the watch from Julian's hands.



"We are saved!"

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

Maybe he's upset I spotted it and he didn't. I take it that he didn't say "<>" again. Let's call this exclamation "[]"

I'll pretend not to know what a watch is.

"What's so important about that shiny thing anyway? You're acting like it's life and death."
A little while later I'll ask what "[]" and "<>" mean. I sound the words out carefully; I try to get the pronunciation just so...

I'll also try to drop a few coins as we saunter along:

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

"It is life and death. Without this, we can't talk to Paldrian, which means he send someone to come get us. Which means we'll starve, be eaten by beasts, or captured by Hawkin if we can't find out way back to an outpost."


Togar: "'[]'* is a prayer. You say it when you find something. Its a little... old."
*its a short phrase, not a word. Something like 10 syllables long.



Reslin: "<> is what you call someone who is cared for by servants and has never been out of a city. Soft. Too much money. Too much comfort. Too little courage."
(this word is likely to be translated 'posh' going forward.)


That's successful... how many of them out of the total?

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

Uh oh. Wait... Reslin wasn't sure he knew the way back to the hole. They don't know how to get back to Bumundo. This is really, really bad.

...

Maybe I'll get to see them in captivity too.

"So people are more religious where you're from?"

I guess he thought the fact I thought that someone was around was really soft then.

Ideally all of them, but I figure that would be too easily noticed, so probably less than that.

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

Reslin: "No, we just remember to give thanks when aided. You're not one of those [atheist, heathen, something like that] who don't pay attention to the divine?"



I'm not sure what you're saying.


I mean, he could just drop the whole pouch...

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

I pause. "No, I don't. Maybe I should have. Maybe then 'it gets worse' wouldn't be the running theme of my life."

I thought that might be noisier, but considering the individual jangling of coins as opposed to the jangling of a pouch hitting the ground, that's probably the better move...

I decide to drop the whole pouch.

Well '<>' is from here:
With 'That' meaning: 'jumping out the hole and calling for help', I don't quite see how 'posh' would fit. So I guess the meaning there would be closer to 'soft'? Or perhaps, 'overly urban'? Can't quite parse it.

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

Togar: "You going to teach weird kid religion?"
Reslin: "Just enough to not bring us any bad luck. [To Julian] Just say that prayer if anything good happens to you."


Done. Hopefully you can find it again at some point.



I was looking at this one:


"Stupid. Dangerous. It means somethings wrong with you."

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

[To Togar] "What, you think it's dumb?"
"I guess I can say that when I see..." I stop. I was going to finish, "the back of you.", but that's not smart.

Crap, it's been too long, um, "outside this tangle. Stupid plants."

At this point I'd be happy to get out of here alive and untied.

And here I thought he was swearing.

I wonder how he'd feel at the other end of the rope. Well, not literally, the back's probably about the same as being in front.

...

I wonder if I'm being odd in how I'm reacting. Would another homeless orphan here just see how hopeless it would be and take it? I mean, working in a dangerous mine for three squares and a bit a day...

Against better judgement, I'll ask, "What, do you expect me to just let you haul me off?"

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

Togar: "No, I think Reslin doesn't know the first thing about religion. He just repeats a couple of prayers over and over. I suppose he could teach you those prayers... but he'd teach you a word or two wrong."



And the word might have a little bit of that context as well.


There is this weird human self-preservation instinct that keeps people doing things to stay alive until the last possible moment. Even when its dumb and you're going to die anyways. Julian doesn't have that, because he's a PC. So its par for the course.


Togar: "I expect you to run someplace that won't get you killed."

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

"What does that matter; if he believes he believes it, isn't it the same?"

Well that and a vague noun. Anyway,

"I didn't expect you to stay on your feet. Or be willing to kill me if I got someone's attention. Usually murder is worse than kidnapping."

I guess we're going to carry on down this tunnel. I wish I bought something more substantial than sandals. Wonder when the watch is going to come up.

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

Togar: "No, because if he teaches it to you wrong, you'll accidentally commit some sacrilege and then who knows what will happen to us."


Reslin: "Well you're wrong. We're not kidnappers, we're soldiers. Paid killers in enemy territory. You wouldn't be the first boy I've killed, especially if I think you'd be the last. So that was your plan. Get attention. Be glad it didn't work. The long fall to death is said to be terrible."



When they get to the next hole, Julian's rope is tied far away from the hole, and they keep an eye on him.



"Don't try anything else. We're watching you!"

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

I shrug and start practicing. Probably too much to hope that I get an opportunity to flub the line before the watch error is noticed.

That shocks me enough to pull me back to English. "What? Why the hell you'd do that?"

I probably repeat myself in Riask, and continue, "No such thing as war crimes?"

Might be a hard words there. Perhaps, battle or soldier instead of war? Crime might be harder; thief wouldn't work.

You know, I think foiling that attack might be the best thing I've ever done. I guess I peaked.

I think for a moment. "Probably suffocate under the clouds. Or the air goes," I make a sucking sound, "out like that. Blood inside, blood outside."

Another thin part in the vegetation you mean.

Well there's only so much I can do. Kind of wish I had that knife now. Maybe there something pointy around here.
And I suppose I'll have to lift it discreetly.

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

He stumbles over the words.



Reslin elaborates: "Usually the idiot is trying something foolish, like stopping us from collecting booty. One or two of them we just had to remove to keep the secret"


as julian expresses some sort of idea that such actions are bad and not good for soldiers he gets a confused look:



"The rules of war are for armies. If we get caught, we're dead. Quickly if we're lucky. I'm not following some fool idea that's going to get me caught."



Togar: "Naw, you'd just boil."



OCC: you're actually correct about the mode death for this spot (suffocation as the humidity and heat rise too high to allow for gas exchange in the lungs) and Togar is wrong, but he doesn't know that. No one has really lived to tell commando soldiers.


correct.

Is this for one of their knives, or for a random sharp branch? (you can choose)

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

I listen to his piece. "Right. Cause you do so much looting before you capture the teleport Vasic and bring in your army."

I briefly recall news reports last year. "Oh right, and looting's bad too."

I'll at least try to explain, "No, as you go u-- down, there's less air. Eventually, so little air, can't breath."

To be fair, Julian's right for the wrong reason. He figured, "In about a minute, you'd fall as far as Mt. Everest, and people on Mount Everest need O2 tanks to breathe."

I was assuming Julian was tied up such that he could barely move from where he was tied, so I'll stick with random sharp branch or whatever (I was actually thinking rock, but now that I think of it, that's pretty unlikely). Should be enough to start weakening the ropes, and easy enough to get rid of in a pinch.

Once I pick up the stick (assuming it worked OK), I'll start weakening the ropes, starting with the ones on the pack.

No idea what to roll for that, assuming holdout fits (cutting ropes on yourself). Maybe stealth?

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

Reslin: "Looting is a soldier's right. Stay out of the way, and you'll be fine."


Reslin: "So you're being killed two different ways at once? must be why its so awful"



This really is a tricky world to explain, I suppose. I'm so glad the point of view here is from an earth-native talking to ignorant people who don't really sweat the details.



Julian manages to find a sharp stick. They don't seem to notice his new posession. He starts slowly and cautiously working away at the ropes.



He hasn't gotten through a single rope when they stop to set up a "check in". Reslin pulls a vasic stone the size of a dinner plate out of his pack, and starts inscribing it with chalk, constantly looking at his watch.



Togar watches Julian while this goes on.

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

I shrug. "I'm not stupid. Where I come from, it's wrong, but it still happens."

"Probably not. Probably pass out from lack of oxygen before the heat makes you, um, boil. All parts, solid to steam. No fire."

I suppose that puts you on Julian's side, given that he'll ask Paldrian a bunch of difficult questions. :P

Then again I did read the blog post and I still can't really figure out how The Top fits into the funnel shape described of The Bottom.

Well, don't want to get all the way through, and lose the tension in the ropes. Would prefer to get them just weak enough for a well placed tug or cut finishes the whole thing off.

Well let's put that stick away.
Well hopefully that isn't a bad problem

I'll try to make small talk, "Calling Paldrian? It hasn't been a day, has it?"

I guess Reslin's not going to be able to make a connection. I wonder what they'll blame.

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

even with the diagram? huh.

That roll is not needed, it was included in the initial roll.



Reslin: "Its been a long day. It's not over yet, but its time to call Paldrian. We've spent a lot of time. We're not going to push ourselves quite to exhaustion today: we've got a few more of these days ahead of us."



at a specific moment, he draws a last line on the vasic stone. The lines fuzz, and the surface seems to disappear. And then it appears again.



Togar stands up: "What? you missed the timing?"


Reslin: "I didn't miss the timing. It must be Paldrian. We'll try again in an hour. Lets stay here. I'm exhausted from going up hill looking for the watch."


Togar: "Are we sure that's your watch?"


Reslin: "yes, this is my watch. I'd know if it was different. And who else would drop a watch there?"


Togar: "Are you sure the time didn't get jostled when you dropped it?"


Reslin: "Its a better watch than that."


Togar:"A good watch would be properly secured."


Reslin starts shouting at Togar... the command chain seems to favor Reslin.

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

Well even if there's a wall at the edge of the ice fields, the thing needs to narrow back inwards (climate, can see the waterfall), like a bicone? That doesn't make sense given that apparently the gravity's the same at the top and bottom (though I suppose it could be like a supported by the rest of the Vasic), and that the endless waterfall is a result of the shape of the place.
Erring on the side of 'too many rolls' seems better than a delay.

I sit down with a heavy thud. I think I like it better when psychopaths have cars. Or maybe not. Wouldn't have a chance of getting back if they drove this long.

Looks like it worked. If Paldrian would attempt to reconnect an hour later, I made enough of an error for that plan not to work out. Reconnecting in another hour probably isn't going to work either.

Well I'm not going to interrupt them if they're going to argue. But I will try to wear away at these ropes with the stick while they're distracted.

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

Yeah, gravity in Riask doesn't work like it does on earth.

Togar is eventually cowed, and the group sits mostly in silence, with Reslin watching he clock. Togar eventually inscribes a heat stone and starts warming up food.

Give me a holdout roll for the ropes.

The second call attempt fails. There is a great deal of what Julian thinks is cursing, and Reslin declares they will be stopping here for the day, and tomorrow will be trying to climb back. He thinks it will take two days to get back.

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

Still can't work out the shape... Maybe a cone on a loop? No matter.

Can't let the ropes seem too worn...
"Lovely. How's that fix anything? Your friends will be in hiding for three days. Where are you going to get an accurate time? March right up to the clock? Yeah, that'll go over well with a tied up kid behind you."

Two days to get back? Not good; something tells me Tar Breath will be heading in after us when Paldrian complains that he hasn't heard back from Reslin...

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

Try a can with a funnel on each end.


Togar: "There are two of us, dummy. One stays with the prisoner, the other gets the time. Or finds the others."


They haven't noticed the ropes yet, and he's making some real progress. They camp for the night. They're very clear they intend to stay up and have one of them watch Julian all night. They give him some vegetable wraps, and pull out bed rolls from their packs. Julian's pack and ropes stay on. Togar settles down to sleep first.

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

So it is a portal at the ends? I thought the waterfall was from the shape of the world.

Well, I suppose if they don't notice the rope I might only have one person to run from.
"What day is it? Last I remember it was the twelfth."

If they do bother telling me, "Can I write that down? I never remember the dates."

I'll try to get comfortable. "You've got two rolls and only one of you is going to be sleeping. Won't even consider sharing?"
If they refuse both letting me write the date or lending the roll, I'll say in English, "What, like watching kids sleep? Pervert."

Then I'll try to sleep. Shouldn't be too hard.

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

Reslin:"The fourteenth"


Reslin: "Yeah, go ahead and write."


Reslin: "How do I know I won't get it back soiled or ripped or some other stupidity?"


Its like a pac-man world, where the bottom wraps around the be the top and the top wraps around to be the bottom. So it acts like there is a portal at the ends.

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

"Thank you."

I write down the date, my reckoned home date, and scribble down something to the effect of: "Kidnapped since 13th. Guard dead. Tar Breath, Paldrian, Reslin, Togar. More later."

"I haven't wet the bed since I was 7." When I finally got used to those pins-and-needles ocean dreams. "And I'll just sleep on top; the pack won't get caught on a fold or anything. "

So the sages are wrong and it is a portal, or they mean to say it's not a Vasic portal, but rather some other kind of portal that's a consequence of the geometry of the local world?

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

Julian sleeps well, at least for the first part of the night. No dreams. He wakes up with Reslin shouting something loud... Togar is getting out of bed. Reslin is shouting at something down a tunnel, and has his spear extended in that direction..

They like to insist that space just wraps around on itself here, and there is no single point where that happens. They'll settle for a "Non-Vasic Undetectable Portal".

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

I'll look down the tunnel. Are there any lights? Can I pick out any detail?

I'll try to make out what's being said by Reslin. Is it coherent or just loud?

Ok, so it's a portal but the sages disagree on some arcane point .

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

You can't view that angle no look down, but you don't see any sign of light beyond Reslin's stone.


A single short syllable, repeated. Sometimes he changes which one he uses.

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

Is it a tunnel the way we came (i.e. Towards Bumundo) or a tunnel the way we were going before the watch problem was detected.
I guess that means this is an animal problem or somebody who doesn't speak Riask... Well, someone who speaks it worse than me.

Maybe I could wear down the ropes while they're concerned with the intruder.

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

To the right of the direction you were headed before the watch "mysteriously" failed.


If you're going to hold the ropes together, you've gone as far as you can. which means you can break free if you wish.



Togar moves for his spear. Reslin is slowly backing up. A pair of large manibles on a giant armored insectoid head with no neck appears from the tunnel.



"Move!" Togar shouts at Julian. "Move!"

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

Here's hoping that'll be one of those unsolved mysteries.
So what would I need to roll to break and tie one of the Reslin/Togar ropes to the heavy pack? Knot Tying?
Well he doesn't need to tell me twice. Are they running yet or playing for better position?

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

To break is a successful ST roll, or 5 seconds of rubbing with the stick.


They're playing for position. It looks like they may be trying to flank it.

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

Well, better get behind them then. Easier to fiddle with the ropes while they're distracted by the bug, better to not be in the middle of a fight.

Yeah, and an 8 isn't good odds of tying the rope either.

This is probably not the best time to fool around with knots. Maybe if I drew heat Vasic on my hand, I could split these ropes quick and trap them between fire and a giant angry bug.

OK, assuming an IQ-5 default that's failure by one.

Edit: I'll add luck rolls if that was a failure:

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

Julian draws the heat symbol, and an intense heat starts coming off of his hand.



Luck was required.

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

I'm a bit surprised that my pen slipped in just the right way to complete a heat symbol. I briefly go to wipe my nervous sweat, but then think better of it. Let's burn these three weakened ropes, and try to drop the pack quietly. If they don't notice sound of the falling pack, the slackening ropes and the fire, I'll try to light the pack on fire too before making a stealthy getaway. If they do notice, I'll just run for it, lighting fires on everything I steady myself on.

Hopefully the heat off the things I burn doesn't hurt my hot hand.

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

Julian notices he doesn't have light to flee by, just the heat.

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

Right, and these tunnels are rough.

Well let's light that stick on fire too. Hopefully it doesn't just burn to ash in seconds and it works as a torch for a little while. If that doesn't work, I'll just burn more vegetation I guess.

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

Torches don't give nearly the light that Julian hoped for... but they give some light. Julian tucks his diary into his belt. Togar sees that he is free and burning things. "Hey!"


Julian runs into the tunnels. Is he going higher, lower, or trying to keep the same elevation?

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

Well we've been going generally downwards, so going upwards would be ideal. But it might be very slow going upwards, so it might be better to try and make space before coming back.

So I'll head up if that doesn't mean slowing to a crawl, otherwise I'll head whichever way is easiest (i.e. Away from the bug, Togar/Reslin, and quick to run down.)

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

Julian hurries up the slope, hopefully back the way they came. He hears Togar yelling after him. He thinks he hears Togar chasing him.

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

I guess the fire doesn't really catch on stuff up here. Must be too damp.

Well I don't have enough time or material to do anything clever, so I guess I'll just make sure to steady myself with the hot hand when there's an obstacle. Hopefully I'm faster than Togar, (Move 6 ought to do something).

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

Yeah, its pretty damp up here. Some plants singe. There are spots that are dryish, so if you spend the time to find them you can start a fire, but the stuff in the middle of the tunnel tends to be fairly wet.


Its very dark, even with the fire. Julian struggles up the tunnels, trusting in his speed. He has to relight the stick a few times. A few minutes later, he looks back, and there is no light behind him. He's alone in the tunnels, with a small burning stick, some clothes, and his diary.


give me a navigation roll (at default if necessary) to see if he is still on the path they came down or has a good idea how to get there.

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

Well, now that I have a spot to catch my breath at, I might as well keep the fire going in case my hot hand runs out of juice. Animals are afraid of fire, right?

Well let's see... When we came down here, we went left left right, so I went right right left, and uh...

Crap, I'm in a dark hole and I have no idea which way town is. It would be two days if I knew which way I was going, and I don't. I have no tools apart from fire and light, and no supplies. I'm probably going to starve in a few days. Unless Reslin and Togar catch up. Then they'll beat me senseless or kill me.

I look for a stick to use as another light when the first becomes charcoal. Then I'll carry on.
Oh man, I lost my shoe.

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

Julian scrounges up a much better stick for burning. The hot hand is lasting for quite some time... is it as long as the light stone, or a different amount of time? He thinks its the same amount of time.



He quickly wears himself out going up the tunnel. He was sleeping before, and going up is exhausting. He swears he's picking the most difficult routes up, and sometimes he has to back track.



After a long and grueling climb, the heat in his hand goes out. He's on his fourth branch lit on fire.