Heroica: Glory Amongst The Stars - Mission #5: Slay Ride

[Peppermint_M]

""Oh hey, yeah, armour would be great from that hide, it was near impossible to shoot through!"

[Duvors]

1 hour ago, samurai-turtle said:

Hmmm, I wonder the hide was thick it might make some good armor (or armors). I wonder if cutting the Gator's remains would be a good idea? We might be able to make some other items from the big creature, like more Field Rations and maybe a weapon or two. 

"I doubt we'd get much immediately useful, raw meat and untreated hide.  But Just leaving it here to rot is poor form.  Ronin, your sword please."

[Waterbrick Down]

MM Note: So this will be a survival check. Who's making it and is anyone assisted with a relevant skill?

[Peppermint_M]

"I will take a look. There should be something salvageable."

[samurai-turtle]

15 hours ago, Duvors said:

"I doubt we'd get much immediately useful, raw meat and untreated hide.  But Just leaving it here to rot is poor form.  Ronin, your sword please."

I could and try to cast a Elemental Evocation spell to help with the processing of the items. 

1 hour ago, Peppermint_M said:

"I will take a look. There should be something salvageable."

I think my knowledge of medicine and nature might be of some help. 

OoC:

Duvors I believe your character do have some helpful skills that Decker and Ronin ('s) characters lack in this department.

 

[Waterbrick Down]

17 hours ago, Duvors said:

"I doubt we'd get much immediately useful, raw meat and untreated hide.  But Just leaving it here to rot is poor form.  Ronin, your sword please."

"If you're needing a blade, we've got a plasma saw in the kit. Not really a wieldable weapon, but it's useful for cutting up wood, ice, and anything else as long as its standing still."

[Duvors]

5 hours ago, samurai-turtle said:

 

  Reveal hidden contents

Duvors I believe your character do have some helpful skills that Decker and Ronin ('s) characters lack in this department.

 

OoC: I do, but the way things currently work only two people can combine skills for a single check. If Aysu make a survival check and you assist her, I can't add to that. I can assist Aysu, but you'll have to do something else.

6 hours ago, samurai-turtle said:

I could and try to cast a Elemental Evocation spell to help with the processing of the items. 

"Good, that solves that problem."

3 hours ago, Waterbrick Down said:

"If you're needing a blade, we've got a plasma saw in the kit. Not really a wieldable weapon, but it's useful for cutting up wood, ice, and anything else as long as its standing still."

"Perfect.  If you'll just hand it here then we can get started."

Enson will assist Aysu with medicine.

[Waterbrick Down]

22 hours ago, Duvors said:

"I doubt we'd get much immediately useful, raw meat and untreated hide.  But Just leaving it here to rot is poor form.  Ronin, your sword please."

Enson Assists Aysu with Medicine = +2 to Aysu's Survival Check

Aysu Survival Proficiency Check (DC 1,3,5,7) - (1,2,3,1,6,2,+1) = 2 Successes

Aysu gets to work trying to salvage the parts of gator into something manageable. Even with Enson's knowledge of anatomy, it's tough going and the gator's corpse is unwieldly, yielding little spoils.

 Field Rations - (Consumable, Restores 1 Vitality)
 Gator Hide - (Can be converted into either Kinetic or Elemental Standard Armor by a craftsman)
 Gator Tooth - (Can be converted into either a Kinetic or Elemental Standard Melee Weapon by a craftsman)

Slicing into the creature's stomach, they also find a rather large partially digested talon almost as long as the gator itself.

[Duvors]

"Well." Enson said, looking over the disinterred talon, "I can't say I didn't expect that, but I'd like to confirm my suspicions."

Enson will make a survival check to determine the origins of the talon.

Edited November 2, 2021 by Duvors

[Waterbrick Down]

8 minutes ago, Duvors said:

"Well." Enson said, looking ofter the disinterred talon, "I can't say I didn't expect that, but I'd like to confirm my suspicions."

Enson will make a survival check to determine the origins of the talon.

MM Note: So identifying the species/creature the talon is from would be a nature check. Thankfully a lower one than was made earlier to determine based on the digested scales.

Enson Nature Proficiency Check (DC 1,3) - (2,4,5) 2 Successes

As Enson inspects the talon, he notes the curvature of the bone, sturdy enough for slicing, but pointed to allow for dexterous manipulation. The contours remind the Quo'ri of a reptile's claw, not unlike the gator's, but the light weight honeycomb interior structure exposed by the digestive enzymes suggest a creature more suited to an aerial lifestyle. 

[Duvors]

Enson's jaw clenched a little.  "Of course," he muttered, "why else would we be here but to clean up after someone else's mess?  I swear it feels like I am the only responsible person in the Arm sometimes."

Standing up from his examination, Enson turned to face the rest of the party.  "Well," he said, "I do not think there is much else to do here.  I believe we can make our way over to the Guffa Flats?  It is the last place we have to visit.  Oh, er, Sigrún? I know we ca not take back the whole gator, but can we at least take its head?  That should be somewhat edible if I am not mistaken."

[Waterbrick Down]

7 minutes ago, Duvors said:

Standing up from his examination, Enson turned to face the rest of the party.  "Well," he said, "I do not think there is much else to do here.  I believe we can make our way over to the Guffa Flats?  It is the last place we have to visit.  Oh, er, Sigrún? I know we ca not take back the whole gator, but can we at least take its head?  That should be somewhat edible if I am not mistaken."

"I mean sure carrion eaters will devour almost any anything, you wouldn't catch me picking at the thing though."

Polar Gator Head - A trophy from the heroes' kill

[samurai-turtle]

4 hours ago, Waterbrick Down said:

 

Aysu gets to work trying to salvage the parts of gator into something manageable. Even with Enson's knowledge of anatomy, it's tough going and the gator's corpse is unwieldly, yielding little spoils.

 Field Rations - (Consumable, Restores 1 Vitality)
 Gator Hide - (Can be converted into either Kinetic or Elemental Standard Armor by a craftsman)
 Gator Tooth - (Can be converted into either a Kinetic or Elemental Standard Melee Weapon by a craftsman)

Slicing into the creature's stomach, they also find a rather large partially digested talon almost as long as the gator itself.

Well at least we were able to get something... 

3 hours ago, Waterbrick Down said:

 

As Enson inspects the talon, he notes the curvature of the bone, sturdy enough for slicing, but pointed to allow for dexterous manipulation. The contours remind the Quo'ri of a reptile's claw, not unlike the gator's, but the light weight honeycomb interior structure exposed by the digestive enzymes suggest a creature more suited to an aerial lifestyle. 

 

3 hours ago, Duvors said:

Enson's jaw clenched a little.  "Of course," he muttered, "why else would we be here but to clean up after someone else's mess?  I swear it feels like I am the only responsible person in the Arm sometimes."

Standing up from his examination, Enson turned to face the rest of the party.  "Well," he said, "I do not think there is much else to do here.  I believe we can make our way over to the Guffa Flats?  It is the last place we have to visit.  Oh, er, Sigrún? I know we ca not take back the whole gator, but can we at least take its head?  That should be somewhat edible if I am not mistaken."

Is that a bird's claw or something else. Could it be from the same creature that the Hawks had in their stomach? 

3 hours ago, Waterbrick Down said:

"I mean sure carrion eaters will devour almost any anything, you wouldn't catch me picking at the thing though."

Polar Gator Head - A trophy from the heroes' kill

Don't make me carry that. 

I better be ready for the next stop after using that Element Evocation spell. Starts to Meditate. 

[Endgame]

4 hours ago, Duvors said:

Enson's jaw clenched a little.  "Of course," he muttered, "why else would we be here but to clean up after someone else's mess?  I swear it feels like I am the only responsible person in the Arm sometimes."

Standing up from his examination, Enson turned to face the rest of the party.  "Well," he said, "I do not think there is much else to do here.  I believe we can make our way over to the Guffa Flats?  It is the last place we have to visit.  Oh, er, Sigrún? I know we ca not take back the whole gator, but can we at least take its head?  That should be somewhat edible if I am not mistaken."

Decker eyed the gator tooth as it popped free from the beast's maw, and winced as he saw the head get lopped off wholesale. Sometimes wearing a full-face-covering helmet had its benefits.

"What d'you mean by that, precisely?" Decker says. "See some disturbin' in that thing's gut? It's... Awfully weird, seeing it dissected like a frog, after it nearly bit off Ronin and I's arms. Fierce bastard..."

53 minutes ago, samurai-turtle said:

Don't make me carry that.

"It's what the sled is for!" Decker grins.

"All that's left is Guffa Flats, yeah? I'm good to go."

[Peppermint_M]

"I think I prefer breaking down spacecraft." Aysu muttered. "Yes, the flats sound like a good place to go next."

[Waterbrick Down]

"Alright, before we head into the Flats a word of warning. You've already seen how on edge Kristal Ice can be. Technically they're leasing the land we'll be traveling on as they've set up whole fields of their geothermal generators. Trespassing is a bit of a gray area, so it'd be best if we didn't attract any attention to ourselves if possible. In fact the more you lot do to keep our movements concealed, probably the better in the long run."

The heroes load up onto the sleigh and push off, quickly traversing the icy tundra once more. Snowy hills and icy outcrops jut into the sky as the snow clouds clear once more. Thermal generator units begin popping up here and there across the landscape, slowly turning into huge forests of the equipment.

"Alright, we're in the thick of it now. Enson, you seemed concerned about something earlier, what are we looking for, aside from the roving packs of predatory scavengers?"

[Duvors]

3 hours ago, Waterbrick Down said:

"Alright, we're in the thick of it now. Enson, you seemed concerned about something earlier, what are we looking for, aside from the roving packs of predatory scavengers?"

Enson shifted in his seat a little.  "Well," he said, "back in town we were attacked by a group of frost hawks.  They were not really any threat to us, but afterwards we had a look around the innards of one and found a number of crushed scales."  Enson took out the fragment he had pocketed and showed it to Sigrún.  "Now, we could not conclusively identify them, they seem to belong to some form of reptile.  And while I could not precisely identify that talon inside the gator it had a number of characteristics indicative of belonging to a flying predator.  A very large flying predator."
Enson cast his gaze over the rest of the party, a very serious expression on his face.  "If you all remember, when we were talking to Melvin he mentioned that a rime drake had been in the area a few months back and that Krystal Ice had hired a team of mercenaries to kill it.  He said that the creature was attempting to nest near the vents, presumably the ones marked on the map, southeast of the Flats."  He was silent for a moment before continuing.  "I believe that the mercenaries Krystal Ice hired were successful in killing the creature, but rather than disposing of the body safely and responsibly they instead left it to rot, allowing the local predators gorge themselves on its remains until they multiplied out of control.  Our ultimate goal, as I see it, is to find this corpse and dispose of it by whatever means are available to us."

[Waterbrick Down]

7 hours ago, Duvors said:

Enson shifted in his seat a little.  "Well," he said, "back in town we were attacked by a group of frost hawks.  They were not really any threat to us, but afterwards we had a look around the innards of one and found a number of crushed scales."  Enson took out the fragment he had pocketed and showed it to Sigrún.  "Now, we could not conclusively identify them, they seem to belong to some form of reptile.  And while I could not precisely identify that talon inside the gator it had a number of characteristics indicative of belonging to a flying predator.  A very large flying predator."
Enson cast his gaze over the rest of the party, a very serious expression on his face.  "If you all remember, when we were talking to Melvin he mentioned that a rime drake had been in the area a few months back and that Krystal Ice had hired a team of mercenaries to kill it.  He said that the creature was attempting to nest near the vents, presumably the ones marked on the map, southeast of the Flats."  He was silent for a moment before continuing.  "I believe that the mercenaries Krystal Ice hired were successful in killing the creature, but rather than disposing of the body safely and responsibly they instead left it to rot, allowing the local predators gorge themselves on its remains until they multiplied out of control.  Our ultimate goal, as I see it, is to find this corpse and dispose of it by whatever means are available to us."

Sigrún wrinkles her nose.

"Figures, Kristal Ice would leave a job like that unfinished. The only personnel they've got out here are a couple maintenance engineers like the ones we ran into and a few security drones, probably could care less about what happened to the beastie as long as it wasn't destroyin' their tech anymore. There's a lot of ice out here to cover on the Flats and if we want to find this thing without running into Kristal Ice, we're going to need a strategy. Anyone got any bright ideas?"

[Duvors]

"Well, it is rather difficult to come up with a plan with no information to base it on.  What can you tell us about the lay of the land?"

[Waterbrick Down]

"We don't get a lot of access to the Flats these days because of Kristal's patrols, but here's what I can tell you."

"The geothermal units are separated into three main fields, the Western Field, the North East Field, and the South East Field. The Western Field has the highest concentration of thermal vents, it's topography is extremely flat, as the name for the region implies. The North East Field has easier access to Lake Hriensa via a smaller chain of lakes and streams that are fed by a spring that originates in the eastern mountain range, topography over there is pretty hilly and mountainous understandably. The South East Field is the newer of the fields and is still be expanded upon, it used to be the traditional sled wyrm breeding grounds so lots of small cavern systems. At the center hub of all of the fields are the melting substations where the snow/ice is converted into the liquid for transfer. There are three melters and one engineering outpost where most of the technicians and security personnel live."

MM Note: Basically each location you pick will have a chance of running into a Kristal Ice Patrol. The more locations you explore the greater the probability you'll run into a patrol. You can certainly use skills to derive more information about which way to go, or use skills to help you move undetected between the regions. Options are the Western Field, North East Field, South East Field, Center hub.

[Endgame]

On 11/3/2021 at 4:44 PM, Duvors said:

Enson shifted in his seat a little.  "Well," he said, "back in town we were attacked by a group of frost hawks.  They were not really any threat to us, but afterwards we had a look around the innards of one and found a number of crushed scales."  Enson took out the fragment he had pocketed and showed it to Sigrún.  "Now, we could not conclusively identify them, they seem to belong to some form of reptile.  And while I could not precisely identify that talon inside the gator it had a number of characteristics indicative of belonging to a flying predator.  A very large flying predator."
Enson cast his gaze over the rest of the party, a very serious expression on his face.  "If you all remember, when we were talking to Melvin he mentioned that a rime drake had been in the area a few months back and that Krystal Ice had hired a team of mercenaries to kill it.  He said that the creature was attempting to nest near the vents, presumably the ones marked on the map, southeast of the Flats."  He was silent for a moment before continuing.  "I believe that the mercenaries Krystal Ice hired were successful in killing the creature, but rather than disposing of the body safely and responsibly they instead left it to rot, allowing the local predators gorge themselves on its remains until they multiplied out of control.  Our ultimate goal, as I see it, is to find this corpse and dispose of it by whatever means are available to us."

"Well, that's somethin' of a pickle, now ain't it," Decker observes. "I don't know if I'd rather deal with a living Frost Drake, or all of the animals who have gotten bold gorging on it."

Decker listens intently to Sigrun and thinks about how they want to approach this.

"So the question I am asking myself is, where would've Kristal Ice killed this thing? As soon as it dropped dead I bet they just left the carcass, from what you said. Which of the four fields would you say Kristal would most intently want to defend, 'cause they had the most Credits poured into it? If you were going to post a bunch of guys to kill a Drake, you'd put 'em in front of your most valuable assets, no...?"

[Waterbrick Down]

33 minutes ago, Endgame said:

"Well, that's somethin' of a pickle, now ain't it," Decker observes. "I don't know if I'd rather deal with a living Frost Drake, or all of the animals who have gotten bold gorging on it."

Decker listens intently to Sigrun and thinks about how they want to approach this.

"So the question I am asking myself is, where would've Kristal Ice killed this thing? As soon as it dropped dead I bet they just left the carcass, from what you said. Which of the four fields would you say Kristal would most intently want to defend, 'cause they had the most Credits poured into it? If you were going to post a bunch of guys to kill a Drake, you'd put 'em in front of your most valuable assets, no...?"

"Depends on where the drake was looking to setup its nest. The Western Field has a lot of heat, the North East has access to fresh water, the South East lots of caverns. The hub would probably have Kristal Ice's most valuable equipment as those melting substations cost a pretty penny."

[Duvors]

"From what I understand the drake was trying to nest in the area, not actively attacking Krystal Ice.  The hunters would've gone out to kill it in its nest rather than wait for it somewhere."  He closed his eyes momentarily.  "Considering that the gator had access to the body, I feel the north-east field is the most likely candidate, otherwise it would have to roam very far from its natural habitat."

[samurai-turtle]

18 hours ago, Waterbrick Down said:

Sigrún wrinkles her nose.

"Figures, Kristal Ice would leave a job like that unfinished. The only personnel they've got out here are a couple maintenance engineers like the ones we ran into and a few security drones, probably could care less about what happened to the beastie as long as it wasn't destroyin' their tech anymore. There's a lot of ice out here to cover on the Flats and if we want to find this thing without running into Kristal Ice, we're going to need a strategy. Anyone got any bright ideas?"

Drones? I hope they are not like the batch I fought, they nearly killed me... Pray for a snowstorm. 

12 minutes ago, Duvors said:

"From what I understand the drake was trying to nest in the area, not actively attacking Krystal Ice.  The hunters would've gone out to kill it in its nest rather than wait for it somewhere."  He closed his eyes momentarily.  "Considering that the gator had access to the body, I feel the north-east field is the most likely candidate, otherwise it would have to roam very far from its natural habitat."

Well if that is the closest why not? Their is a chance we would have to hit all the areas. 

[Peppermint_M]

"Want me to take a look at for anything interesting out here?" Aysu tapped her far-sight goggles.