[RPG] Sword and Sorcery Play-by-Post

[CJC]

@Tamamo
Rossaria, you and Lady Red consider waiting for dusk, but upon realizing that it is already midnight on the NIGHT OF THE FIRST SNOW, you resolve to leave for the mansion now, knowing that you can take refuge within if the sun becomes a menace. You take the form of a DIRE WOLF and Lady Red climbs on your back. With paws to the ground, you sprint from the dying forest and break across the field, coming to the dour mansion relatively swiftly.
"Gaudy little estate, isn't it?" Red comments. "Shall we knock loud? Or softly?"
There's a PUMPKIN PATCH to the northwest of the grounds, tucked behind some kind of GREENHOUSE. To the northeast, a hedge maze looms ominously. Then again, there's always the front door.
How do you knock?

=====

@mrz84
Zataka, you secure the perimeter and then ask if anybody knows what this machine is for. To your shock, that GNOMISH WIZARD appears, leans in, and comments. "It's a drill. Doesn't look like it's finished, though." You try to ask him where he's been, but as soon as you blink he's a CARDBOARD CUTOUT again.
It's clear the ogres were kidnapping gnomes to build or repair this machine. ...But what could they be drilling for?
Sancireph has found the blood trail again, going out of the chamber. The amount seems to be less than what was present before. Either the beast has almost bled to death or it is healing at an astronomical rate.
What do you do?

=====

@SUCCESSOR
Reven, a strange thought pops into your head. SVARKS are rather a lot like ogre boars, right? And Texia seems to be... well, she's almost like a cat, coming and going as she pleases and looking to you for sustenance. Perhaps she is to dragons as the SVARKS are to ogres; a related species that operates on a different instinctual level. You hesitate to use the term chattel as it doesn't feel appropriate, but you get the vibe that while she is a dragon, she is one of a different caliber. Perhaps the term is too general.
Jerias takes the crossbow and fires it into the beast. The two of you then proceed to play tug of war with the svark while it slowly bleeds to death. It's tiring work, but your quarry surrenders its life and you roast a fine meal from its carcass.
It's almost dawn, and the two of you have been going nonstop since yesterday. Is it safe to camp here? You haven't seen any signs of ogres, but you notice a growing cloud of smoke over the treetops. Could you be near the map's destination?
You ask Jerias to check the map. He says he left it with you, but you can't find it in your pockets.
What do you do?

=====

@TheDarkOne
Sancireph, close examination of the machine does indeed reveal that it has needlessly complex mechanisms to achieve a very simple goal: it appears to be a drill of some sort. You note that several pieces are missing, confirming your suspicion that the ogres kidnapped gnomes for the purpose of building this machine. For what purpose? Suddenly you catch the scent of blood in your nostrils. Following the smell you find a very narrow path leading out of this chamber. However, the amount of blood on the walls is minimal. With that ogre missing both of its arms, how could it pass through such a narrow passage without leaving a mess? Has it nearly bled to death? The passage looks like it can only accommodate one person at a time. You enter cautiously, assaulted by the darkness of the cavern and feeling a looming sense of dread. If you were to traverse this passage, the healthy ogre could very easily get the drop on you when you emerged. They know they're being followed. Worse, there might be more in these caverns that you're unaware of.
You need to decide how to proceed. What do you do?

=====

@bigjoe
Jerias, while travelling west through the forest with REVEN, the two of you come across some kind of boar beast, which Reven refers to as a SVARK. He hands you a crossbow with line and tells you to shoot the thing so the two of you can cook some dinner. After doing so and after a rigorous tug of war with the beast, you end its life and the two of you set to cooking the beast (Reven on a spit and you and Atticas with careful bursts of firebreath). The night is growing long and you are very tired. With a meal in your belly and a warm fire it is hard to resist drifting off to sleep. But is it safe to rest here? A cloud of smoke grows in the forest further west from here. You feel you might be close to the location the map was depicting. Reven asks to see the map again, but you don't have it. When he searches his pockets he cannot find it and begins to grow frustrated.
You feel subtle vibrations on the ground near you.
What do you do?

=====

@Xyvol
Malichor, you zone out in the cavernous chamber with your friends Sancireph and Zataka, trying to determine the purpose of this machine. You hear somebody mention that it's a DRILL, but you can't place your finger on who actually said it. What would somebody want to drill in the mountains? Unless... hey, that Dwarf guy said there was a mine directly below here.
Sancireph wanders off.
What do you do?

[mrz84]

I see what Sancireph has found thus far and discus strategy amongst the group. I would prefer that we don't venture apart unless we are in at least groups of 2. I try to recall if ogres have a regenerative ability, but I can't help but think of trolls in that regard (since my chances to study such monsters has waned since I left my homeworld). I advise that we remain vigilant and only strike once we are certain of the situation. If an ally becomes cornered, I will throw caution to the wind and focus on their attacker(s).

[TheDarkOne]

I head back to the room with the drill, not wanting to venture further along that way on my own. I do relate to my companions what I have found I also ask the question that if the gnomes were brought here to build this machine, where are they now? I discuss possible strategies with the other to decide the best course of action.

((I also wanted to point out that Sancireph is NOT a ravager, he is simply a straightforward fighter, primarily elven but with celestial ancestry which makes him an aasimar. Aasimar are not a specific society...Google the term if you need more information))

[CJC]

((Aasimar are not a specific society...Google the term if you need more information))

((I did, on the Pathfinder PRD when you gave me grief the first time. And it not being a society doesn't make it any less valid a pronoun. As for Ravager, you never gave me a profession and other players were starting to refer to each other as such, so I assigned the term (from FFXIII) since you claimed access to magical talent but were clearly a fighting character))


((Tamamo has expressed unavailability to take over the RPG, so we're going to finish the Ogre plot and then the story will go on hiatus. If we pick it up again I will probably instance the universe by player so that everyone can go at their own pace. I predict it'll take about three more updates to finish the Ogre plot))

@mrz84 @TheDarkOne
Zataka and Sancireph, as a group you and the KNIGHT make your way through the narrow passage into the next chamber. You can't tell where Malichor wandered off to, though. Maybe he made his way back to town.
Emerging, you find the corpse of the BLUE OGRE. Its two severed stumps have been CAUTERIZED, implying that the other ogre attempted first aid. Still, it appears to have died of shock.
You hear two people arguing nearby.
"I told you, more gnomes won't solve the problem! There's nowhere to put what we drill out."
Incomprehensible grunts follow.
"Fine, fine, just put them over there and everything will be fine."
You feel the ground quake as the RED OGRE stomps away. Sneaking closer for a look, you see a GNOMISH ENGINEER chained to the wall. She looks frustrated. The sack of kidnapped gnomes is on the ground next to her.
What do you do?

=====
@SUCCESSOR @bigjoe
Reven and Jerias, shrugging off the thoughts of danger you resolve to rest and recover your strength. The two of you share the boon of the SVARK and then pass out, deciding to let ATTICAS take watch.
You awaken in a hut, the putrid smell of alchemy burning in your nostrils. A withered woman is making a brew of some sort near you.
"Ah, you are awake. It's not a good idea to sleep in a forest like this. Too many wicked things drain the life from the trees; who knows what would have happened if I hadn't found you."
Jerias scolds Atticas for not warning about the approach of this witch.
"What? I saw her coming, I was watching the whole time, just like you asked."
**FACEPALM!**
The witch looks at the pair of you with discerning eyes.
"Now, what are folks like you doing in a place like this? And would you like some tea?"
What do you do?

=====
@Tamamo
Rossaria, Red gives you an uncomfortable glare.
"I know you like the moon and all, but can we go inside? I feel like my frail ivory skin will burn if we stay out in the glow like this."
You open the front doors. Beyond is a great LOBBY, though it looks as if it's had a rough night. You are standing on a balcony, with the stairs down right in front of you. However, at the bottom of those stairs is a great big hole, as if the floor crumbled into the basement below. To your right, a wall is visibly damaged and appears to have been recently repaired. Rats run back and forth conducting fixes around the room.
There are five doors exiting this room, two on the balcony with you and three on the level below. Two are on the left, two are on the right, and the level below has a door straight ahead of you.
What do you do?

=====
@Xyvol
Malichor, you doze off in the chamber with the drill, having been denied a full forty winks by the ogre interruption. You feel your mind drifting back to that to the dream you had earlier. Startled, you abruptly awaken again to find yourself in the cavern chamber once more. Everyone else seems to have departed. Your stash of paper is swirling in the air around you. Suddenly, the machine in the room begins to whir to life. As it drills, a spout of sand sprays in your direction.
What do you do?

[TheDarkOne]

After checking to make sure the ogre is gone, I suggest to my companions that we help the gnomes. I will free the chained engineer and they can free the gnomes from the sack. Once she is freed, I ask the engineer about the purpose of the machine and why the ogres find it so important.

[mrz84]

I keep watch for the remaining ogres and any possible allies they may have, leaving my companions to see to the gnomes' safety. I keep my greatsword at the ready, unsheathed, and ready to enchant it as needed (though I stay wary of the earth elemental enchantment I attempted earlier this night, instead deciding to substitute it with another element that could possibly counter electricity, perhaps wood or something)

[CJC]

@TheDarkOne
Sancireph, the engineer sees your approach and lets out a sigh of relief.
"THANK GOODNESS! They finally sent somebody to rescue me!"
You ask her about the machine.
"Huh, you mean you don't know? Wait, you only came here to rescue the guys they just kidnapped, didn't you. That's... depressing."
She turns to the corner to briefly nurse her ego, and then turns back to answer.
"It's a drill. The ogres are trying to drill their way into the dwarven settlement below us so that they can rescue their captured commander."
You ask why the ogres needed more gnomes.
"Because they're not that smart. I tried to explain the logistics to them, that there's just too much volume of rock between this cavern and the dwarven city below. So they had me modify the machine so that it would pulverize the debris. They don't seem to understand that smaller clasts still occupy the same amount of space."
You say that doesn't really answer your question.
"So I got desperate, okay? I told them I needed some assistants to get the machine working. I was hoping if there were a few more kidnappings somebody down in Audamar would notice and send a search party. But they've been bringing in dozens of prisoners and nobody's stepped in to intervene... until now. What's with that?"
You pick the lock on her shackles and she rubs her wrists. You then ask where the rest of the gnomes were placed.
"Well, there's that sack over there. Tonight's haul, I guess. The others they took into the back. I haven't heard from them since. I have to admit that I'm worried, but I don't know what to do."
It looks like Zataka has pressed on after the ogre.
What do you do?

=====
@mrz84
Zataka, you run a TREE enchantment along your blade, intending for the vines that follow to absorb any electrical attack the ogre might muster if you encounter it again. You delve deeper into the cavern expecting to come across the lone ogre resting from your earlier encounter. Instead, you find a barracks. Ducking back behind the wall you take a quick estimate and there appear to be at least three dozen ogres in the chamber, sleeping in piles with mining equipment nearby. As far as you can tell, roughly half of them are armed.
What do you do?

[mrz84]

I observe the ogres, planning how best to deal with them. I scan the area for anything I can use. Perhaps some explosives of some sort if available, I could attempt to either decrease their numbers while they still sleep or at least seal them in until I can rally reinforcements. I attempt to keep a low profile as I know even with my combat skills, 3 dozen ogres by myself would be suicidal to say the least. If I can find nothing in the means of explosives, I will retreat back to my comrades and warn them of the danger of overstaying our welcome.

[TheDarkOne]

I go over to the sack to free the kidnapped gnomes. Meanwhile, I ask the engineer what she plans to do now that she is rescued. I also relate to her our experience, from fighting the ogres in town up until now. The engineer looks confused when I mention the others besides Zataka, pointing out that no one else is here. I turn to see that rest of our companion seem to have vanished.

((I am only doing this because the others seem to have abandoned the story. Between us we can probably come up with a believable way to explain their disappearance))

[CJC]

(Sorry, I've been blocked)
@mrz84
Zataka, you are able to sneak around the ogres relatively easily despite your heavy armor. Thankfully they're heavy sleepers. As far as mining equipment goes, you expected to find picks and dynamite, but there don't seem to be any explosives. Clearly they were counting on that machine to do most of the digging. You creep past the barracks into the next chamber, only to find a second machine like the one you encountered before. This one is being operated by a single ogre, with a gnome chain gang passing buckets of sand down the line and tossing their contents in the corner. There's one other ogre in this room. It looks like the green one from before, and it's shouting orders in its gutteral tone. As you try to back away and inform your comrades, your boot kicks a rock and makes a painfully loud clang. The green ogre turns, sees you, and recognizes you.
What do you do?

===== @TheDarkOne
Sancireph, the engineer tells you she's going to book it out of here before the rest of the ogres catch wise. You ask how many there are, and she says somewhere in the vicinity of three dozen. She lost count after a while. When you talk about the fight with the three in the village, she warns that that's just the tip of the iceberg. These guys are organized and they're enraged, and that is not a bad combination.
...You expected Zataka to be back by now. And that DWARVEN KNIGHT seems to be gone too. When you go to look for Zataka, the gnomish engineer's statement is affirmed: you're in a barracks and there's got to be at least three dozen ogres in here. Thankfully they're asleep.
Zataka doesn't seem to be here, but you can see faint footprints in the sand on the ground, it seems as if he passed through this room.
What do you do?