Jackdaw

Star Wars: Arkanis Sailer

Jaren Jast is a Corellian human who stands a few inches shy of six feet, 5'10" or so, and sports a lean, rugged build. He keeps clean shaven, and maintains his dark hair in neat fashion, parted at the right. Nothing about his outfit--boots, pants, unremarkable shirt, brown synthleather jacket--would stand out in a crowd.

The only flashy accessory he typically carries is a blaster pistol of WESTAR manufacture and custom design, with black, ivory, and gold plating and completed with a pearl grip and elaborate, laser-etched engravings along the frame. It's an obnoxious weapon, but quite lethal.

Star Wars: Arkanis Sailer

The transport had been traveling through real space for some twenty minutes when the ship rocked violently. A deafening roar, like an explosion out of a war-holo but louder, rawer, echoed through the corridors and met the ears of the travelers within. Emergency lights lit up across the ship, klaxons blared over the freighter’s intercom, and Jaren Jast heard boots pounding in the hall outside his passenger’s bunk.

He pulled himself out of a coffin-like bed and up into a shoebox sized room. Jast was not exceptionally tall, but even at his height the limited dimensions of the room were confining. A few inches taller or wider and it would have felt claustrophobic. The room was sparse, lacking almost entirely for decoration. Its only fixtures were the bed and an odd furniture piece, some ill-conceived cross between a desk and a dresser. Jaren had not made much use of the drawers, preferring to live out of a bulky traveling bag, but he had left his blaster on the desk-drawer, in easy reach of his bed.

He lifted the black, gold, and ivory WESTAR piece and slid it into his waistband, leaving it to rest under his shirt and jacket at the small of his back. The gun secure, he stepped to the door and keyed the control pad to the right of the frame. The durasteel portal swept open with a metallic hiss, and he poked his head out into the corridor.

The Arkanis Sailer was a mid-sized transport, of a model with a passenger capacity for some twenty travelers and boasting a crew of ten or so. The Sailer’s captain, a profit-minded Nemoidian, made do with a crew of five to cut costs and had overbooked the vessel with some thirty vagabonds willing to pay for transport regardless of the cramped conditions. Jaren was quite fortunate he wasn’t sharing a room, all things considered.

One of the crew, a Twi’lek Jaren believed to be an engineer, was fast approaching down the hall, and he shouted for travelers to make way as he moved. Jaren backed into his room for a moment to let him pass, and then proceeded out into the passageway. Other passengers were doing the same, exchanging nervous glances and questions. There were no answers among them. Jaren figured that he ought to find some.

He turned the collar of his synthleather jacket up and moved into the hallway, following in the footsteps of the Twi’lek engineer and making his way toward the main deck.

Sticks: A Blorbish Game

Turn 3

I missed this sort of thing.

:::spawn farmer

And possibly,

:::hunt for seeds

@Mae

Congratulations! You are a Level 1 Farmer. You can Farm more effectively than other characters.

You have queued the command hunt for seeds

:::create [Lumberjack]

@Naw

Congratulations! You are a Level 1 Lumberjack. You can use the Forestry skill more effectively than other characters.

Sticks: A Blorbish Game

:::"Create [Miner]"

@Scarescrow

Congratulations! You are a Level 1 Miner. You can Dig and Mine more effectively than other characters.

Sticks: A Blorbish Game

1. Preface all commands with ":::"
2. Enter command "Create [Class]" to join the game
3. Have fun.

[D&D 5E] Lost Realms of Arann: Orzamar

The Old Priory

Harold watched the other goblin flee towards the door and stab the moon elf as it passed by. He also watched as the guardsmen fired at the goblin and failed to injure it.

“I thought you lot were trained to use those things!” he jeered, nocking another arrow and firing it. His aim was true, and as the goblin shielded his head he took the half-elf’s arrow to the gut, falling to the stone floor.

Outside, Luna moved along the side of the church to gain line of sight on the hall connecting the church to the secondary building. There she found a door, leading from the hall to the courtyard. With a quick whisper to the leylines, a wall formed in front of the door. A goblin, passing quickly and without thought, might be fooled into believing some solid impasse had been conjured before him, but in the truth the illusion had no such solid matter to constitute it. The only wall would be in the eye of the beholder.

Back inside, the goblin captain moved with incredible alacrity. He shouted an order in Or’cat and made for the door, bounding up the steps to the altar and hurtling over it, length wise, and touching down on the floor again. He side stepped his most recently fallen comrade, pulled the door on the right of the church open, and slipped through, leaving the battle behind.

Snarling in pain at the blow he had received, Naraug raised his hammer a second time and swung at the goblin with reckless brutality. Yet, though he struck with all the tremendous force of hi sarm and bulk, rage darkened his eyes, and the weapon’s arc was wide and predictable. Once again it was deflected by a swift motion of the goblin’s shield-arm and sent plunging downwards, its fearsome weight now more an encumbrance than else.

If the half-orc felt fear as the goblin swung the blade, a true strike that would take him in the throat, it was quickly put to rest. A bolt of flame caught the goblin in the head, and the greenskin stumbled back, reeling and shrieking, until he fell to the floor, expired.

Tayronus had paused when he felt the earth tremor beneath his feet, looking around to see if anyone felt it. He had been about to ask a question when he saw Naraug’s peril. He mumbled a hurried incantation, his hand weaving over the right, and within moments threw a bolt of fire at the goblin’s face. His aim was true, and his fire fierce.

“Captive down!” Vanguard shouted. The goblin responsible for stabbing the moon elf was taken by an arrow as soon as the words left his mouth. Vanguard caught sight of the fleeing goblin captain and moved with him. Holding his maul by the top of its haft, Vanguard gave chase, drawing his crossbow and firing a wild shot off at the bow goblin he’d wounded as he moved. His shot was not near enough to kill it, however, and the bolt whistled past the goblin’s ear without causing harm. Vanguard made it to the doors the goblin captain had entered, threw them open, and found the hall empty. At the opposite end, the door to the secondary building swung shut.

The corridor was lined with stain glass windows. Images depicted a story, though the meaning of it would have to wait. To the right and left, two doors to two courtyards, one to the north, the other south. The southern door was blocked by a massive slab of concrete. The other was guarded by two goblins, each armored in leather and bearing scimitars and shields, who were moving for the door to engage him.

The warforged readied himself for battle.

Inside the church, his exit cut off and his comrades dead, the last goblin, bleeding from the head, threw down his bow and fell to his knees, hands in the air in a sign of surrender.

Emmanuel Harrad and his guardsmen entered the room, crossbows up.

"Check for survivors," the captain ordered, keeping his own crossbow trained on the surrendered goblin.

[D&D 5E] Lost Realms of Arann: Orzamar

Hey I saw your post and wanted you to know I was interested in your campaign

@Bluufl4m3

Awesome, stop by the discord and join us!

[D&D 5E] Lost Realms of Arann: Orzamar

The Old Priory

Seeing the goblins fall, Tayronus takes out a piece of cured leather from his pack and begins chanting another incantation, causing it to levitate within a whirl of arcane energy. Grabbing the leather, he slammed it on his chest and a flow of arcane covered his body, strangely looking like armour before it disappeared.

Then, putting a hand on one of the guard's shoulder, he said, "I'll take another look inside the priory," then jumped back into Rake's mind as he made his towards the long hall to the other building.

Inside, the two goblins had led the woman to the altar, leaning her over it. An argument broke about between the two goblin underlings, and as their crossbow-armed leader attempted to reconcile them, the shouting escalated into what sounded like Or'cat threats and curses.

Rake and Tayronus watched the scene for a few more seconds. "I wonder if I can get the goblins to kill each other," Rake said with a small snigger.

"What do you mean?" Tayronus asked.

Suddenly, Rake changed forms from a spider to an imp and flew down to the one arguing with the leader. "He means to kill you," he said in common, "he summoned me, a demon, to bring ruin to you all once this mess is done!" Rake then appeared suddenly beside the goblin he was speaking to and flared his wings.

The goblins blinked, considering the imp. They looked to each other, and the leader spoke in stilted, but capable, Adean. "Did Valeerya send you to make bad jokes or check on our progress, imp? Tell her we are almost done, she will not have to wait long," he growled, and then switched back to Or'cat. He barked an order at the two goblins, who acquiesced and bent the woman over the altar, pressing her face to the white marble surface.

Suddenly, there was a bang on the door, and the goblins looked up.

Soon after Tayronus had left for his familiar's mind again, Vanguard picked up the tiefling's vacant body and slung it over his shoulder. "Advance," Vanguard said before leading the way into the vestibule.

Once he reached the barred door, Vanguard placed Tayronus down next to it and turned to those who had followed him in. "As this place has been abandoned for so long, the door will be weak from a lack of proper maintenance," Vanguard stated. "If we throw our combined strength against the door, it should break with relative ease." Vanguard put away his crossbow and pulled out his maul. "Lives are at stake," Vanguard said, "bring down this door!"

Striding up to join the warforged in his attempt at battering the portal open, Naraug took but a moment to retrieve his somewhat charred javelin from the goblin's corpse, grumbling something about spits and fires in Or'cat. The state of the haft was quickly forgotten, though, as the orc replaced it behind his back and hoisted his warhammer. He nodded at Vanguard - "With ya." - as he readied a concerted blow.

With that said, Vanguard and Naraug threw his shoulder against the barricaded double doors. The beam across the inside doors creaked mightily. And then, with a second bang, the wooden beam broke and doors swung inward, revealing the heroic adventurers, ready to rescue the captured citizens.

As soon as they were in, they felt tremors under them. Four chandeliers above swung with the rocking, and the wooden pews creaked. While not particularly dangerous to the combatants, the straggling tiefling had certainly set the mood. Unfortunately this did not distract the goblin captain for less than a moment, and as Vanguard and Naraug led the charge down the church's central aisle, he aimed his crossbow and took a shot.

"CHARGE!" Vanguard bellowed, charging the goblin archer at the end of the aisle and swinging at it with his maul. A crossbow bolt skkippd off his shoulder, and the goblin captain cursed aloud as the bolt failed to pierce the warforged's armor. The doors had scarcely come to rest when Naraug rushed through the portal, howling something unclear, but certainly loud and dire-sounding. Hammer and shield in hand, he bore down upon the nearest sword-wielding goblin and swung his weapon at it without breaking stride.

Seeing that his plan had failed and the combat had begun, Rake hissed in frustration. "You did what you could, now get back," Tayronus said telepathically. Rake flew back to him and landed on his shoulder. Something snapped, and Tayronus was in his own mind again, somehow on the floor in front of the priory. He stood and took a few steps back.

Vanguard and Naraug reached their targets, swinging their weapons. The swordgoblin was ready for them, and braced himself to engage, however, and with a mighty swing of his shield caught the warhammer on its sturdy wooden frame and turned it aside. As Naraug felt the warhammer driven into the ground, he knew he was open. He attempted to bring his shield to bear, but too late. The goblin swung the scimitar upward, the cruel iron raking against the interlinked chains of the half-orc's armor (-6). Lightning lept down the the blade as it connected, and the goblin took a shock. Even so, he stood fast, dangerous, and proved capable of killing.

Vanguard, meanwhile, was luckier. The bowgoblin was nimble, but even as the maul's head found the priory floor, cracking the stone with the strength of the swing, it lingered too close. Vanguard, with swift ferocity, found the side of the goblin's head with his maul as he returned to his readied stance.

The bowgoblin, bloodied but hardly dead, moved with swift agility, backed up a few feet from the warforged, bow in hand. As he moved, he lined up a shot and loosed an arrow, but again, the warforged's armor held. Behind the altar, the goblin on the left readied an arrow, aimed directly at the warforged's head. An arrow found his throat. The bow fell from his hand and he clutched his wound before collapsing to the floor, gurgling. Harold had slid to the right hand side of the party taking up position behind one of the pews, knocked an arrow, and found his kill.

The woman screamed, and the swordgoblin to her right bolted for the door at the end. The moon elf stood to his feet, attempting to get in the way, but the swordgoblin thrust his blade through the elf's stomach and went for the door.

"Tag him!" Harrad shouted to his men. Before taking the door, Harrad had stationed two of his men, spears and shields ready, outside the outer doors to the church, ready to repel enemies, while Harrad and his two crossbowmen supported the party. The goblin released his grip on the door handle and took cover behind his shield. Crossbow bolts rained on him, two embedding themselves in his shield, but he remained alive and unbloodied.

The fight raged on.

[D&D 5E] Lost Realms of Arann: Orzamar

The Old Priory

Tayronus watched the scene in shocked, and stilled silence.

After a few moments, he spoke aloud with his body, explaining the scene to those around him. “They’re slaughtering them,” he said, “there’s only two more left, and in a few more seconds there’s probably only going to be one.” Then, in Infernal he said, “Rake, while you’re there, go into the other building and see what you can find.”

Naraug's features twisted into a disgusted snarl. "Can't expect better from goblins. Bleed 'em still!"

"Then there it no time to be lost," Vanguard said as he pulled out his crossbow. "Captain, have your men take out the goblins." Vanguard then leveled his crossbow at the goblins, preparing to fire on either should the initial volley fail to kill one or both of them.

"Yes, sir," Harrad answered, and nodded to the guards. They leveled their crossbows, two aimed at each. Harrad readied his own crossbow, prepared to open fire if the first shots failed to fell them.

Harold turns to Vangaurd. "After they are down we still have the doors to deal with. Unless you can break then down."

Tayronus looked over at Vanguard, his eyes slightly wide, before returning his attention back to the goblins. The rage at seeing the innocents killed burned deep within him as his left hand weaved an arcane circle over his right. Within moments, fire bloomed in his palm and he hurled it at one of the goblins.

The party followed his lead.

The half elf drew his shortbow and took aim towards one of the two sentries waiting to hear the twang from the crossbows before loosing his own arrow. The goblin, leaned up against the wall, saw nothing but black as the projectile found his eye and punched through the back of his skull. In a motion, Naraugh readied the javelin he had unslung from his back in preparation, carefully moving out of the crossbowmen's line of fire as he did. The very next instant he was on his feet, mouth open in an inarticulate war cry, and the weapon whistled through the air towards the other goblin, alight with the flames from Tayronus's spell, standing guard.

The greenskin did not have the time to scream as the fire ate away from his flesh before the javelin took him in the chest, killing it instantly.

Both goblins dead, the guardsmen held their fire, conserving ammunition.

"Let's move forward, swiftly," Harrad ordered. "And put another bolt in each of them once we get closer."

The Path to Tinwarren

Eldred swiftly responded to the Half-Orc, but not before casting a somewhat loaded glance at her general direction: "No word of ransom yet, so they're either dead or lost. Or so I reckon. -Hold on." As he spoke, the man was regarding the immediate locale, and something had just caught his attention. "We have fresh tracks." He approached a spot in the mud and knelt over it. "Could be from the locals. But look here." He gently pinched a black, oversized feather and held it aloft for the rest to see. "What manner of Kobold flies?"

Looking at the feather and scratching his head, Pyrrhus shrugged. It surely looked strange to the man, but regardless, Eldred did raise a good point.

"If you would like to see a Kobold fly, then I should have brought a club, instead."

Despite his quip, Pyrrhus hefted his greataxe, stretching his neck as he prepared himself for an imminent confrontation.

Rultay took a look at the feather, placing a hand on her chin as she squinted to get a better look. Though she wasn't too familiar with most of the beasts that populated the local area, she was sure that she had seen a similar feather before. After a brief moment spent in thought, the answer struck her, and she gave an informed nod to Eldred.

"Close, but I'm afraid not," she explained, "I can say with absolute certainty that this feather belongs to a Kenku." Though she wasn't much of a reader, she had heard about the strange creatures that lived in the local area from her parents long ago. Easing her stance, she nodded forward. "They usually mill around the hills, I've heard. They won't cause us any trouble, so long as we don't cause them any, that is."

Rultay was about to suggest they continue, before she realized something. Perhaps they might be helpful in finding out the fate of the missing students? "I wonder if they would have any information about the missing people," Rultay added after a brief pause. Once more, she turned to the others, looking for their thoughts on the suggestion.

“Kenku, huh?” Pyrrhus scratched his head. “Hah, they’ve got a funny sounding name...”

"Crow-folk," Devie said. "They'll be hard to talk to. They speak through mimicry, using sounds they've heard before. If we run into them, it might be difficult to--oh." She cut herself off as they turned a bend in the road, around a dense thicket of pines, and lo, there they were. Three kenku, dressed in hooded rags, seemingly traveling south from Tinwarren. They stopped in their tracks as they caught sight of the party, and after a moment, one of them waved.

"Hello, and welcome to the Fox & Lute," it said in a familiar voice. No, not just in a familiar voice. It was a perfect replica of the voice of Rugen, the half-orc owner of the Fox & Lute outside Orzamar's eastern gate. "Hello, and welcome to the Fox & Lute," the other two kenku echoed.

[D&D 5E] Lost Realms of Arann: Orzamar

The Old Priory

"Should this place have a way in from behind, I might have a plan" Vanguard said in hushed tones. "If Tayronus's... raven locates such an entrance, I suggest we divide our number into two groups. One containing those who are strong and could last in extended combat or possess healing magic, and the other holding those who are stealthy or less able in open combat. While the first group engages the goblins here, the second group could slip in though the back and free the captives while the foe is distracted. This plan, however, assumes among other factors that there is a way in from behind. So this plan may not be viable should scouting efforts turn up no back entrance."

Tayronus looked over at Vanguard as he gave a slow nod as he thought about it. "I like the idea," he said as Rake turned from a raven to a spider and jumped to the ground, turning invisible as it crawled towards the building. "But I think one or two of our stealthiest would be sufficient to herd the civilians out while the rest of us cause a distraction. I fear a route if we're stretched too thin."

"A fair point," Vanguard agreed. "If our attacking force is routed too soon, the captives would be more likely to come under fire as they're led to safety."

Harold crept forward towards the conversing members. "I could probably sneak around if an alternate entrance is found. The problem I possibly see is if the savages know of that entrance and are guarding it as well."

"That shouldn't be a problem," Vanguard said. "So long as the distraction is loud enough, we'll most likely have the goblins' full attention, leaving you a clear path to the captives."

Tayronus turned towards Herald, his form shifting slightly to keep the ache from his knees, wincing when he heard small pops along the joint. “My familiar can look for an entrance for you,” he returned in a hush tone, “if it finds something I’ll let you know. But, for the moment, I’ll be seeing through my familiar’s senses so I’ll be effectively blind and deaf while with you.”

Then, turning towards the priory, he felt something tug on his conscious. A small pull that slowly got stronger, like a tidal wave increasingly threatening to overwhelm him. Then, he was gone, his mind tumbling through a vast empty space of darkness before opening his eyes.

“Glad you could join me for the party,” Rake said.

“I’m not. Let’s try to get inside the building with the broken window without drawing attention to ourselves, yeah?”

“I’m an invisible spider, what attention could I possibly draw from goblins?”

“Just go,” he said as they climbed over the wall, and stopped just inside of the broken window.

The imp found itself in a vestibule, empty. Another pair of double doors, sealed, marked the entrance to the church proper. Crawling under the door, Rake was able to make his way inside. A quick glance around revealed that the interior doors were barred with a heavy wooden beam. From there, it was a simple task for the imp to scale the wall, and at ten feet above the floor he was able to gain a clear view of the church.

There was nothing particularly unusual about the church. The central aisle, flanked by a dozen pews on either side, ran up to an altar, which sat before a great white marble statue of Gyaal-as-Man, weathered by the years of neglect. Behind the statue, great panes of stained glass presented the story of Saint Neymour and his knights, the first members of the White Brotherhood, receiving the Nine Blessed Blades from the smith Ainthwe and the Moon Elves of Luthin, the Citadel.

A closer inspection would have to wait, however. Gyaal-as-Man stood in silent watch over a gruesome scene below.

Four bodies of men and dwarves lay strewn down the central aisle, laid in seeping pools of their own blood. Before the altar, two goblins were at work on a fifth, an elderly man. His throat was slit, and the two greenskins were making a point to bleed him out before the altar. The crimson blood flowed, spilling out over the stone steps before the altar. A third goblin, armored in chain and armed with a fine crossbow leaned on his shoulder, seemed to oversee the work being done. He pointed a finger and barked a harsh Or'cat word, and the last two goblins, on the far right side of the church, went to work.

The last two captives, an auburn haired woman and a moon elf, knelt before them, hands bound and faces caked with blood. The goblins, each bearing a crude iron scimitar in hand, seized the woman. She gave no resistance. If she feared their blades, she did not show it. Whether she had steeled herself in the face of death or had merely consigned herself to her fate could not be said.

Back at the treeline, some ten minutes had passed. Captain Harrad waited expectantly. "Well?" he asked. "What's going on in there?"