The Harbinger of Ferocity

D&D 5e - Hoard of the Dragon Queen

Merry Christmas to all and I should have a post come this evening, assuming @Hekazu has nothing interfere or interrupt Orchid or Brannor before then. Even then, I will figure something out to further this turn of events.

D&D 5e - The Lost Lands

The Vale

The Crypt,
Currently

The knightly figure draped in leonine guise paid the templar not even an ounce of attention during his rant, a motion that was perhaps as indignant as it came, to allow someone so passionate to fall on deaf ears. It was no question if he had heard him, but the display made no effect, rather it roused the opposite one.

"What your beloved 'Light' wishes of you I cannot say, but balance must be restored to the places that have lost it. Be it the High Heavens or the Deepest Abyss. Without it, the Great Wheel can turn no more." The Green Man spoke, bearing a watchful eye upon Wick as she too came to invest herself in the understandings of what would need be done.

Here and to this he paid mind, for his attention ever so subtly shifted, but to no obvious willingness to comply. Instead, the preserver maintained his place as a neutral arbiter, someone not invested in their matters, but he did offer them something in return, perhaps only out of his own role and need to do so. It were as practical as it were essential; words would have done nothing to preserve the flames - one could not talk to them, after all, let alone the darkness, but now? Their sparing use, still woefully weak in the realm of battle and conflict, might be of much needed insight.

"Your friend has made as much an error as you have." The lion-man in green answered to the reasonable pleas of the mindful mage, his words addressing them all rather than one among them, "However, he has either knowingly or unknowingly shown you the very tool you need to put this much needed balance in place."

A silver gauntlet motioned to the gem that Shujaat, Seeker of Knowledge had imparted upon the woman for her upcoming journey just prior to his utter disappearance.

"But you need find a pool to the next realm, of where that will lead you only you will know when you are there. Your stone allows you to return to a place such as this, assuming of course it is bound to it. To attune it, you must find a font of power." His words trailed off, implying the obvious, but the moment a pause in conversation arose, the royally armored man began his departure.

"Perhaps another time, when you and your fellows better understand, might we meet again."

Effects

The Green Man reveals two important notes in his conversation, that in order to proceed on their quest to find the sorcerer Ruron they first need find a "pool to the next realm" and must also somehow attune the gem granted to Wick to the realm of Ysgard. The suggestion for the latter is perhaps right before them.

Score
Celestial Temple

Map
???

@Cu Chulainn, @Gordian Nought, @Hekazu, @JBRam2002

Frokane's Mildly Politcal Hangout Thread

The President and the First Lady of the United States of America take the time to answer phone calls destined for NORAD related to the location of Santa Claus on this Christmas Eve.

Merry Christmas

As an added note for those who might not understand, this highly American tradition is rumored to have started after an accidental misdial of a phone number many years ago had an eager child calling the United States Air Force about Santa Claus rather than the intended recipients. The enlisted and officers on station, who were getting the calls, kept in spirit and played along. As the story goes since then, tracking Santa Claus has been a tradition.

I'll Show You Why I'm at The Top of the Food Chain

Pending the changes, you have one generic cave lion I have drafted up from a few different sources. I will post the environmental information when you update your own submission

I'll Show You Why I'm at The Top of the Food Chain

Information

North American Cave Lion - "Naegele's Giant Jaguar"
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Felidae
Genus: Panthera
Species: Panthera leo atrox

Overview

Overview
The American lion, at times called the North American cave lion or Naegele's giant jaguar, was an extinct species of lion that had a sister lineage in the slightly smaller European cave lion. It was a member of the Pleistocene megafauna and hunted large game as with giant camel, ground sloth, bison, elk, moose, mammoth and other ungulates. As a predator that stayed largely to the cold grassland savanna, its description as a "cave lion" is derived from its habit of taking to dwelling in caves to beat the elements, as well as rest and shelter in, suggesting the animal was at least in part boreal, though no further north than the now United States of America.

Compared to the modern lion, Panthera leo, it is approximately twenty-five percent larger, with males weighing approximately seven-hundred and fifty pounds (averaged), four feet tall at the shoulder, eleven and a half feet from nose to tail, with large bones and musculature, and pronounced legs suggesting the cat was capable of sprinting further and faster than its extant relative. Compared to its distant cousin in Smilodon fatalis, it was a larger animal and focused more upon an ambush and chase technique than explicitly attacking from ambush by leap. Its unusual coloration, found to be an odd beige and red, suggests it was highly camouflaged for the diverse environment it survived in that included open grassland and forest, with the added benefit of having a substantially thicker and looser hide than modern lions, which made it more difficult for extremely dangerous prey to penetrate during acts of resistance to predation.

It has been theorized by analysis of skeletal structure and density that the cave lion had a significantly stronger forequarter than modern lions in the forelimbs and with the added strength of greater bite force retention against struggling prey, according to a Zx/Zy ratio study conducted for the Journal of Zoology. From another study, Phylogeny of the Great Cats (Felidae: Panterinae), and the Influence of Fossil Taxa and Missing Characters, it was concluded the American lion is more similar to jaguars than the lion morphologically. However, these understandings do not seem to dissuade the general pride or coalition style behavior associated with the species, or that it is thought to be a nocturnal, or at least crepuscular, predator.

The estimated bite force, not at end point, is one-thousand-eight-hundred pounds per square inch, over twice that of the African lion, with the greatest point of force being leveraged at four inch canine teeth, which was not calculated in Therrien's 2005 study. Each claw, roughly that the size of a Siberian tiger's, was better anchored by ligament to the cat's paws, suggesting they could collapse and hold better on prey.

Name:
Naegele's Giant Jaguar

Age:
Approximately six years.

Height: 48 inches (4 feet)
Length: 138 inches (11 feet, 6 inches)
Weight: 750 lbs

Description:
Adult, sexually mature male member of Panthera leo atrox, adjusted for averaged ranges in attributes. Standard, no color morph, light winterized tan-beige coat, darker rust rosette camouflage, no defining markings, marring or scarification. Rogue, unaccompanied by coalition or pride. No special outstanding qualities or conditions such as malnutrition or illness.

D&D 5e - The Lost Lands

The Vale

The Crypt,
Currently

"Were it only so simple, outsider." The watchful eyes moved from one to another, almost as if anticipating an attack from his prior enemies, "This is a world of action, not words. Do you think it would have responded the same? Can you not feel the air and breath of excitement and clamoring for battle from the moment you came? To come from a world where talk matters tell me your ears might still be largely dead to this truth, but it matters not."

The figure sworn to the world continued with a few steps yet came to an abrupt halt, looking back again to the inquisitive monk, adding perhaps what was an unexpected bonus for her efforts.

"When you return to the world outside you will see what I mean. The people here drink, eat, love, revel and war without need or purpose. Talk with them will get you none too far. Become alike them and live their ways as you are here and you might understand why this place must not surrender to the Wars of Day and Night."

Effects

Score
Celestial Temple

Map
???

@Cu Chulainn, @Gordian Nought, @Hekazu, @JBRam2002

Frokane's Mildly Politcal Hangout Thread

For those wondering, yes, indeed you will receive your tax reform and likely reduction in taxes this next coming year and its tax season. The last I had checked on it, eight out of ten Americans will see a reduction in their taxes, with the other two seeing either a negligible increase or an actual increase. The increases appear to correlate to citizens who live in high state and local tax states, California and New York being the well known examples, but I cannot say if that is universally true or if the rough ratio will be eight to ten or whatnot.

Regardless, the bill was authorized and signed into effect by the President of the United States today. The President then spoke on it some after he signed a few other documents, which included those that focused on improved missile defenses.

Frokane's Mildly Politcal Hangout Thread

@Dynamo Frokane

No, I said "at every turn", and further emphasized the difference in the latter. One no one is going to take seriously, the other no one should take seriously. Both need a tremendous reform in their community and actual concerns if they wish to be taken at all as movements with valid, real concerns. But instead of them answering the challenge to either side, we chose the meme-y route. Granted this thread is "Mildly Political", but I was hoping to see someone attempt a concern from either camp.

Frokane's Mildly Politcal Hangout Thread

We have plenty of people in this thread shitting on feminists and stuff so, I like to take pot shots against the 'redpill' MRA crowd.

@Dynamo Frokane

So are you implying that the modern incarnation of "feminism" has something legitimate or valid to offer? Quite frankly I would love to hear what a real concern from them would be as much as the "men's rights" movement's grievances too. Both I can only keep so much of a straight face for, but one of these two groups tries to portray itself at every turn as legitimate, all while marching en masse on the capitol with ridiculous costumes and hats. The other might as well be an animate meme.

D&D 5e -- The Lost Children

It is fair to say they have ranged weapons and could easily, as bowmen and crossbowmen often did, retreat to fire another volley, leading their opponents along until they felled them by attrition, could maneuver no more, or ran out of bolts, or broke into full retreat. That said, I would say it is safe to ask, "Have you ever seen bandits and or soldiers with ranged weapons before?" Regardless, I do not think their would-be escape will come that easily, no matter what they choose. Either they dedicate to it and do not provoke, or they suffer a great number of potentially lethal counter-attacks.