A Darkness at the End of the Tunnel

The party hunkers down to rest and recuperate for 3 hours.  During the 2nd hour they can hear the sound of a small rocket engine flying over the top of the canyon.  It sounds like it is circling the general area of the fight with the Tuskbeast corpses and then flies off to the northeast.



Thana recalls that the Tuskbeast den, which she found several months ago, is roughly to the northwest.

What is the marching order and status of the Duros going forward?

Didnt realize it was my turn! Tson's intent was to "coup de'grace" the beast, I was just waiting for the go-ahead for my turn to get that moving, role-playing opportunity lost  

3 hours of rest recharges all of Tson's lost vitality.

"We need to get to that ship, capture that SOB with the jetpack, and get some answers!"

MAS wrote:
Didnt realize it was my turn! Tson's intent was to "coup de'grace" the beast, I was just waiting for the go-ahead for my turn to get that moving, role-playing opportunity lost  

Methinks Tson has already turned to the dark side.
So come and try to kill Sharn's new friend.


During downtime, it's a tuskbeast training session...

Handle Animal check:
0+14=14
Spend a Force pt: +10
Total: 24

Sharn is down to his last Force Point.
When do we hit a milestone? 3 Encounters? 

I'm down with keeping marching order as it was earlier. Except maybe put the prisoner in the back, since we don't need him as bait anymore.
When we enter the den, let the trained beast go first, with us sneaking up behind.

Robyo wrote:
During downtime, it's a tuskbeast training session...

Handle Animal check:
0+14=14
Spend a Force pt: +10
Total: 24

Sharn is down to his last Force Point.
When do we hit a milestone? 3 Encounters? 

The minimum time to teach an animal anything is 2 months, so save your Force point, there is nothing you can do in 3 hrs. The Tuskbeast was only "friendly" not "helpful" anyways.

Force points are only earned when you reach a new level or if you do something Heroic (usually saving others) or use 1 at a moment of high drama, like a story climax scene.

How are you keeping the Tuskbeast during your rest period? Friendship only lasts for 1 hour and then it wears off....

LOL ! Tson isnt the one using people for wild animal bait and raging with the power of the dark side !


"The prisoner stays with you Sharn. You took responsibility for him, you keep him. I suggest we clear the beasts den, and move directly to secure the Sith ship."

[quote="MAS" I suggest we clear the beasts den, and move directly to secure the Sith ship." [/quote]
Sith ship? you mean the Mandalorian crew that your bait-goats came from?

Yup. Thats the one. Smells pretty "Sithy" to me!

"You hear the jetpack up there? He's hunting us. (Gesturing to huddle out of the duro's earshot). Lets use that to our advantage. Its time he finds us... our tracks... a blood trail of wounded... in a clearing, leading into a low enclosure." 

Tson grins, and nods in approval of Rahku's idea. "Yes, indeed."

"He's not a hunter, not a smart one... he's arrogant: 'training' greenies by killing innocent nikto and wild animals with grenades and blasters. His plan is instant gratification. Lets find our fallback point and then piss him off."

Chris wrote:
The minimum time to teach an animal anything is 2 months, so save your Force point, there is nothing you can do in 3 hrs.  The Tuskbeast was only "friendly"  not "helpful" anyways.

I realize that's what the book says, but certainly not what you led me to believe earlier.

Chris wrote:
How about a Handle Animal or even Diplomacy (?) to get your new friendly Tuskbeast to lead you to its home?

During downtime, will keep the tuskbeast tethered to a boulder.

Am willing to make more Friendship rolls, if that's what it takes.

MAS wrote:LOL ! Tson isnt the one using people for wild animal bait and raging with the power of the dark side !


"The prisoner stays with you Sharn. You took responsibility for him, you keep him. I suggest we clear the beasts den, and move directly to secure the Sith ship."

Uh, rage is a racial ability, not dark side.

Tson wanted to kill the prisoners in cold blood. I really don't see any moral ground he has to stand on. Certainly not enough for Sharn to pay attention to him barking orders or making ultimatums.

Robyo wrote:

Chris wrote:
The minimum time to teach an animal anything is 2 months, so save your Force point, there is nothing you can do in 3 hrs.  The Tuskbeast was only "friendly"  not "helpful" anyways.

I realize that's what the book says, but certainly not what you led me to believe earlier.

Chris wrote:
How about a Handle Animal or even Diplomacy (?) to get your new friendly Tuskbeast to lead you to its home?

During downtime, will keep the tuskbeast tethered to a boulder.

Am willing to make more Friendship rolls, if that's what it takes.

ah, sorry, I misunderstood when you called it a "training session". my bad  I was picturing Sharn doing that 'on the trail' but I gotcha now.

Ok, your roll stands. While Sharn is working with the tethered Tuskbeast, he notices that it is distracted by the smell of the carrion you left in the canyon. (dead normal tuskbeasts, dead crystallized tuskbeasts)

navyik wrote:"You hear the jetpack up there? He's hunting us. (Gesturing to huddle out of the duro's earshot). Lets use that to our advantage. Its time he finds us... our tracks... a blood trail of wounded... in a clearing, leading into a low enclosure."

navyik wrote:"He's not a hunter, not a smart one... he's arrogant: 'training' greenies by killing innocent nikto and wild animals with grenades and blasters.  His plan is instant gratification.  Lets find our fallback point and then piss him off."

Excellent observations and memory  

Your current trail ends in the clearing with the corpses of 4 tuskbeasts and his 1 human mando that got chomped and has been cooking in the sun for the last 3 hours. You guys rested in the surrounding little caves, that tuskbeasts had been hiding in before they jumped you - essentially on the same combat map you already used.

Do you want to find another clearing with surrounding enclosures or did you mean to use the one you are already at?

I like the plan and it fits the backstory of the NPCs, I just want to prepare a combat map correctly for you.

"so are we going to try to bait him in, or go looking for him?"

"We will set a trap, then hit and run, feigning incopetence, and draw him into the trap." 

navyik wrote:"We will set a trap, then hit and run, feigning incopetence, and draw him into the trap." 

Ok, but I need a little more detail, no.... a LOT more detail, please.  

I understand that I also control the NPCs, but I need to make the maps  

1) are you using the current map area, where you fought the tuskbeasts, which is where your 'bloody trail' as you called it, currently ends and Tarro already did a flyby?

2) do you want a new map?  


if you recall, the canyon is roughly as wide as you saw on the combat map at its widest and as narrow as 2m in some places.  the party was following the flow of water, as it went downhill into the canyon, from the geyser.  the water disappears as it goes underground at some points, like it did on the combat map.

Irwin reports that a little ways into the canyon, about 20-30min on foot, there is a clear fork with 1 path going downhill and the other uphill.



Talib, the Duros, tells you that you are within 30-60min of walking through the canyon to the Wrenvenge's location, to the NE and up in elevation, to sort of a plateau area



Thana tells you that she recalls the tuskbeast den to be roughly 60-90min, to the NW and downhill, continuing to follow the natural canyon as it was carved by a long evaporated river.


 

I know you didn't ask all those questions, but I am just trying to give you as much info as I can to help you make a decision, so I can make a map and plan the next encounter.

ok, who's hitting and running and who's waiting to spring the ambush?

"Irwin, where is the closest enclosure near that fork?" To daxx,"lets decude that when we know more about distances. It should be a ranged attack that misses badly to inflate his ego."

"Before we proceed any further, may I suggest we prioritize? The beast den will remain in place regardless of our next actions, but the "wrenvenge" could possibly be flown away and out of our grasp if we do not seize it quickly. I recommend we work our ambush/capture plan into an approach and seizure of the ship, and then investigate the beast den. Taking the ship would also offer us a place to secure Sharn's prisoner that will keep him out of our bushiness as we proceed. We could then turn him over to the, um, uh......authorities after we complete our mission."

"Are we agreed that the wrenvenge is the priority? Daxx? Sharn? I believe we may find a connection to the tuskbeasts... or at least eliminate one."

"fine with me... just wanted to make sure we're on the same page, that's all"

navyik wrote:"Irwin, where is the closest enclosure near that fork?" To daxx,"lets decude that when we know more about distances. It should be a ranged attack that misses badly to inflate his ego."

do you still want to find a hiding place close to the fork or closer to the Wrenvenge?

take a look at the pictures I posted, they give you some idea of the nooks and crannies you can find. nothing I would call an "enclosure" but definitely places for 1-2 people to hide along the path.

navyik wrote:"Are we agreed that the wrenvenge is the priority? Daxx? Sharn? I believe we may find a connection to the tuskbeasts... or at least eliminate one."

waiting on Sharn

I would go with the last pic you posted, chris. It looks like the hardest to fly out of... "sharn is good with a net. If we get the jump on him he'll have a hard time flying away. Then we try to stun him." 

navyik wrote:I would go with the last pic you posted, chris.  It looks like the hardest to fly out of... "sharn is good with a net.  If we get the jump on him he'll have a hard time flying away.  Then we try to stun him." 

Chris wrote:
Thana tells you that she recalls the tuskbeast den to be roughly 60-90min, to the NW and downhill, continuing to follow the natural canyon as it was carved by a long evaporated river.

I am not sure that I am following you here....  the last picture, if you read the text, is on the way downhill and towards the Tuskbeast den, not the fork (pic 1) that leads up to the Wrenvenge (pic 2).  And Tarro was flying over the canyon on his jetpack, you never saw him fly or walk through the canyon itself, you just heard it overhead.

I am still trying to figure out what kind of map to make and where you thinking of setting your ambush.

Are you going to leave some sort of trail for him to see from the air and wait to see if he flies over again?

Are you planning on walking towards the ship and then hiding IF you see him?  (remember you are about an hour, by foot, from the ship)

I get a general idea that you want to somehow ambush Tarro, but I need a lot more details, so I can create a combat map.  I feel like you still haven't answered these earlier questions, so I am reposting with the relevant information

Chris wrote:
Ok, but I need a little more detail, no.... a LOT more detail, please.  

I understand that I also control the NPCs, but I need to make the maps

1) are you using the current map area, where you fought the tuskbeasts, which is where your 'bloody trail' as you called it, currently ends and Tarro already did a flyby?

2) do you want a new map?  

if you recall, the canyon is roughly as wide as you saw on the combat map at its widest and as narrow as 2m in some places.  the party was following the flow of water, as it went downhill into the canyon, from the geyser.  the water disappears as it goes underground at some points, like it did on the combat map.

Irwin reports that a little ways into the canyon, about 20-30min on foot, there is a clear fork with 1 path going downhill and the other uphill.

Talib, the Duros, tells you that you are within 30-60min of walking through the canyon to the Wrenvenge's location, to the NE and up in elevation, to sort of a plateau area

Thana tells you that she recalls the tuskbeast den to be roughly 60-90min, to the NW and downhill, continuing to follow the natural canyon as it was carved by a long evaporated river.

Sharn's $.02 (translated):

Sharn will climb the canyon wall and lay in waiting with his net, hiding in a hollow or cave. Others, acting as snipers, can hide up there too.

When we hear the rocketeer again, suggest several blasts of gunfire and yells of violence.

Someone else can play dead (Daxx? Thana?) so as to make it look like a firefight has occurred recently. We can gag the prisoner and leave him bound there as well. Possibly also leave some possessions scattered about that may make Tarros more interested in coming down to investigate.

Hopefully that will draw him into the canyon. When he is in position, we spring the trap! Sharn casts the net, or you guys just blast/stun him. I don't care which.

The captive tuskbeast can be leashed to a boulder further down the canyon path, out of the way, so as to not add to the confusion.

Couldnt have said it better myself... other than to add that we can start in the fork by firing off a few blaster shots... maybe even a grenade to be loud.

(impressed, surprised,)

"A solid plan."

I had thought about having Daxx play dead (and be buffing the whole time) but the idea of laying there with my ass in the wind is not encouraging.

We'll be covering you with readied actions, you be fine!

Ok, but if I die, I'm going to make it a goal of killing you all in another campaign.

Once you guys have settled on a spot, Daxx will 'play dead' near it. His blaster will be dropped right near his outstretched hand and he'll be laying on his stomach... with his left hand underneath him holding his lightsaber.

whit10 wrote:
Once you guys have settled on a spot..... he'll be laying on his stomach... with his left hand underneath him  

whit10 wrote: (and be buffing  the whole time)

Is that what Daxx calls it?

MAS wrote:We'll be covering you with readied actions, you be fine!

Tribal Bob lives!

navyik wrote:Couldnt have said it better myself... other than to add that we can start in the fork by firing off a few blaster shots... maybe even a grenade to be loud.

ok, so using a "fork in the canyon" map.

There are numbers in the hexes, hopefully you can read them.  The Blue arrow points to the downhill side of the fork and the Tuskbeast den and the Green arrow points uphill towards where Talib says the Wrenvenge is anchored.



Tell me where you want to position yourselves, the Duros, the Tuskbeast and any other "bait".

The raised rock are the canyon walls or big boulders, let's say they are 15m in height on average.

Please position Tson where the he can support he party's plan. Ill be off line all day between work and some other chores, but likely will be able to post later tonight.

Chris wrote:

Tell me where you want to position yourselves, the Duros, the Tuskbeast and any other "bait".

The raised rock are the canyon walls or big boulders, let's say they are 15m in height on average.

anybody?.... anybody?.... Bueller?.... Bueller?

Sorry bro... long day.

I think 1207 (if I'm reading it right) is where Daxx will 'play dead'? Is that about where we were thinking guys?

Staged battle with dead josh around 1404 area. Down from there have someone in each nook so we can surround him. Sharn in the closest nook with net. Have the tuskbeast stomp around the area to make tracks. "I have a couple cheap blasters we can leave around with random crap. Set up a tent just down from the killbox to draw his focus from the battleground." Say at 1314 with the killbox at 1209. Readied actions to attack when he reaches that spot, (or if daxx gets into trouble).

I'll determine Tson's position after I can see where the others are on the map, if that is ok.

1404 it is. Got that Chris?

Move kill box to 1213 with sharn @1112.

Move josh and battlefield to 1206 with rakhu at 1213.
We can cover you better there.

dammit Alan, make up your mind.  

whit10 wrote:dammit Alan, make up your mind.  

Hee hee... sorry. I think we're good now.

Talib should play dead in the tent, bound and gagged. "Sorry pal, gotta earn your keep." Food, water, and a potty break first.

Ok, I think this is what we have so far.  Let me know if this is what you want.




Missing pieces:

1) elevation of Rakhu and Sharn?  are you ground level hiding in a nook or climbing to the top of the canyon?  I think I have heard both at different times

2) Thana?

3) Tuskbeast?

4) Irwin?

5) T'son

Recommend ground level for all. Hiding in a nook. Position of tent is not as i posted. tusker in nook behind sharn. Thana behind t'son? Or she could run into tent to draw focus?

navyik wrote:  Position of tent is not as i posted.  

then use a coordinate

navyik wrote:Set up a tent just down from the killbox to draw his focus from the battleground." Say at 1314 with the killbox at 1209.  

navyik wrote:Move kill box to 1213 with sharn @1112.  

navyik wrote:Move josh and battlefield to 1206 with rakhu at 1213.

I put Josh where you last posted and the tent just down from Josh.
 
be more specific, you have posted 3 different locations and not specified where you want the tent

"Say at 1314" i wrote...

ok, still waiting on T'son, Thana and confirmation from Sharn