Chapter One: Landed, Stranded, Same Thing.

[InnaBinder]

The Gate Zeppelin comes out of the Astral Plane, to the world its passengers were calling 'Osa,' a mite lower and a good stretch faster than the Gnome pilot anticipated.  Faced with a sudden increase in resistance and a fast-approaching copse of some evergreens, he yanks back at the controls to try to force elevation.  This causes a momentary dip of the Zeppelin's tail end, which clips the treetops, tears loudly, and erupts in an otherworldly green flame.

The pilot forces the Zeppelin down in a clearing as the flames spread, and the passengers are quickly ushered out; folks are quick to get all their important supplies out safely and efficiently.  Only the pilot and his Hobgoblin co-pilot, along with a single minotaur passenger, die in the crash.

* * *

The clearing you're in is roughly two hundred meters square, with a slight rise to the port side of your wrecked Zeppelin.  Aside from the smoke and the flames, the air seems clear and cool, at what your research would have you believe is 'summer' weather.  The sky is cloudless and periwinkle blue, with a single daytime star visible overhead, and two small yellow moons at opposite points on the horizon.  The ground itself feels springy, not too dry, and oddly warm under your feet, given the temperature of the air.

[Risada]

"I guess there's no turning back now..."

Makala stares at the burning ship, thinking  for a few seconds, before starting to check her surroundings, while still lost in thought. She takes a deep breath.


"How much time has passed since the last time I breathed the air of summer? Too much, I'd say."

The shifter checks the land around the crash site, then the sky. Two yellow moons. Somehow, feels like the Reaches. Except it's not.


After a few minutes checking around, she turns to those she's been talking to in the travel - a member of the kalashtar, race of mind mages from Eberron, a goblin warrior, a warrior from a race she never saw before this travel, that uses the same strange powers as the kalashtar, a human and a halfling.

"Let's find somewhere to camp for now. I believe we could stay here today, but this fire is bound to attract curious eyes..."

[phaedrusxy]

Saul, still feeling a bit shell-shocked after the crash-landing says "Camp..."

Then after a few seconds of uncomfortable silence continues in an increasing rate of speech, as his mind begins to climb its way back to the top of all of their worries "That seems more of a term appropriate for a small group. We have a multitude to tend to. It will not be easy to find a suitable place for so many. We will need to find a place with enough water, and available food, and we will need to organize the people to build temporary shelters immediately. I'm sure the nights here are quite chill, even in summer.

Wherever we go, we're going to attract attention. So if there is water here, I think this is as good of a place as any to set up a temporary camp while we scout the surrounding areas for a better one. Let the curious eyes come. We will have to treat with them at some point, anyway. And it's not like we are helpless... "

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So who was providing enough goodberries and create water spells for everyone on the ship? Was it individual spellcasters, or the ship itself?

[InnaBinder]

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So who was providing enough goodberries and create water spells for everyone on the ship? Was it individual spellcasters, or the ship itself?

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Water was provided by the Healer on board, a crotchety old Wild Elf named Toosa'inya.  The ship was equipped with a "goodberry trap" and the ability to trigger said trap once per day per passenger.

[phaedrusxy]

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So did anyone get the Goodberry trap? Or was it destroyed with the ship? Or is this something we should RP out?

[Risada]

"Except I would like to avoid blood from being spilled as soon as we arrive here... Unless we want the locals after us." Makala pauses for a moment, then continues. "But I get what you mean."

After that she checks around for a place to set up shelter and where to find provisions...

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Knowledge (Nature) to check what's around us: 1d20+8=19
Survival check to look for a place to set our temporary community and possible nourishment: 1d20+12=23 (including +2 synergy bonus due to natural aboveground environment)

[phaedrusxy]

"As would I. I merely meant that they should be unlikely to blindly attack us, given our numbers, unless they come with an army of their own... So assuming they are not mindless, and do not attack, then we should be given an opportunity to speak with them... if we can find a common language."

[InnaBinder]

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Assume the Goodberry trap was destroyed in the fire.  Given the number of folks you have with you - roughly a thousand, remember - and the disparate skills represented therein, gathering food and creating sufficient shelter in the short-term should be minor inconveniences at best.  Assume you win at camping.

[xaotiq1]

Milo shakes debris from his hair as he surveys the crash site. After seeing that most everybody survived, gathers his things, stretches and says to no one in particular, "Any landing you can walk away from, I guess."

[phaedrusxy]

The tall, thin man who'd earlier given his name as Saul says "Yes. I'd say we were quite lucky. This could all have ended before it had begun."

Then he sits down into a lotus position on the ground, closes his eyes, and says "Now... to have a look around."

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Saul manifests Clairvoyant Sense, directly above him, and a height approximately three times the height of the top of the valley the ship crashed into. He wants to survey the local countryside from a high vantage point, looking for rivers or other bodies of water, and also any obvious signs of local inhabitants or their settlements that are nearby. He'll take a few minutes to look around in all directions, and memorize the layout by taking 10 on several Autohypnosis checks. Then he plans to draw a map.

He'll describe what he is seeing as he is looking around to anyone who happens to be listening nearby.

[InnaBinder]

Best initial guess is that it's within an hour of Highsun, one way or the other.  Ten minutes later, Makala is certain that it's early afternoon. Curiously, both moons appear to orbit parallel to the horizon, in counter-clockwise motion.

Saul's vision:

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Approximately 500 meters to the starboard side of the Zeppelin, there's another clearing in the trees, in which Saul can see a creek - perhaps a meter wide - running parallel to the Zeppelin's facing and in the same direction as the Zeppelin faces.  It appears to be steaming slightly.  There are a couple of deer near the creek, licking at the leaves as condensation forms on them.  On the far side of the creek, Saul can see worked stone, with a cutaway staircase going underground.

To the starboard side, Saul can make out an end to the treeline, roughly four kilometers away, where the land dips and becomes rolling hills.  Vegetation on the hills appears sparse.

Looking forward about a kilometer past the end of the clearing, Saul can see trees that were obviously worked and shaped at some point, but they don't seem to have been attended in some time.  Just past the worked trees is a small pond or lake, overgrown with some sort of red algae.

Looking backward shows nothing but trees for a long while, though every once in a while a nest, large enough to accommodate a medium-sized humanoid, is visible near the top of the evergreens.

[Nanshork]

The human named Lazaro shakes his head and makes a sneer of distaste.  "Well now, that was unpleasant.  Here's the real question, with the Captain dead who is in charge?"

[McPoyo]

"While squabbling over command would be pointless, having direction to help coordinate as many as we have here would be good." The Xeph takes a moment to look around at the beginnings of a refugees' camp, before turning to Saul and asking, "See anything useful?"

[xaotiq1]

"Here's hoping there's water 'round here." Milo pipes up. He takes a seat on the ground and begins taking stock of his pack, hoping that nothing dangerous broke or was spilled. After a bit he begins to fidget, "Maybe it's the new planet and all, but this ground is...odd." He begins digging at it a bit with a dagger.

[phaedrusxy]

Finally the thin man with the oddly angled face says "Yes, I do see some interesting things. I guess the one of highest relevance is the river just over half a kilometer to the starboard side of the ship. It is within another clearing, as well. It looks like it might make a good place to set up a temporary encampment. However, the water seems to be steamy, and there is a stone stairway leading down into the ground on the other side of the river from here.

I also see several nests likely to be used by the local raptorans, and evidence of someone doing some logging.

But it just struck me that there is one thing that I don't see, and have never heard of on this planet, which seems to me to be the oddest thing... Why are there no surface dwelling sentients? We know of the raptoran bird-men, and the cave-dwelling gnomes or dwarves, but no one lives on the surface? Why is that, do you think? And why does the ground seem hotter than it should be? And why is the river steaming? I fear these things are not unrelated... Perhaps there is some odd global geological activity to explain this?"

He pauses, then before getting an answer says "Oh, and I think that a leader should be someone with vision, wouldn't you say? Someone charming, who has keen insights into how different people think, and can say just the right thing to smooth over differences and get people to work together? Would you folks happen to know anyone like that around here?" He smirks a bit when he says the word vision, and after the last sentence he opens his eyes and looks at those surrounding him coyly.

[geniussavant]

"Daughter of a three toed baboon!" cursed Dakekk as he climbed down from the tree he had been flung into during the crash. Maybe he shouldn't have taken that bet over who could get higher up on the ship. When he finally reached the ground, the soil felt warm, even under the shade of his landing spot. Wriggling his toes deeper into the earth, he enjoyed the warmth before climbing into the lower branches of the tree canopy. He climbed from one tree to the next before jumping down and walking over to the ramshackle group.

[xaotiq1]

Milo rolls his eyes as the two humans (?) dicker over titles. He did manage to pick out the words "water" and "cave"; two of his favorites.
"Sooo, who's goin' with me to get at that water?"

[McPoyo]

"I'll go with you, Milo. Until we know what's going on, it's probably best if we don't go anywhere alone, no telling what new surprises we'll find." Darius looks to Saul before continuing, "Wait, steaming water? That means it may not be useful to us after all. Let's hope it's from contact with this oddly warm ground, and not because it runs hot."

[Risada]

"I will go too. I want to check that creek... and the underground path Saul found." As Makala finished speaking, a wolf appeared behind her. Not a normal wolf though, but the spirit of one, with its incorporeal grey body and bright yellow eyes.

"Both of us are ready."

[phaedrusxy]

Saul says, with a hint of sarcasm, "Thank you for joining us, Dakekk."

Then to everyone he says "I too am interested in seeing this river firsthand, but I feel we should say something to the masses here to calm their nerves and let them know that we are working on ensuring their safety and survival. Give me a moment, will you?"

Then he goes and stands on the largest rock or mound that he can find near the middle of the gathering of people and begins to try and get their attention. Once he succeeds he says "Greetings fellow settlers. For those of you whom I have not yet met personally, my name is Saul. Back on my homeworld of Eberron, I was a diplomat for the Kingdom of Breland. Those days are long behind us now, but I feel that a bright future may lay ahead. We will all need to work together to insure it, however. So I ask for your cooperation in these first few days, which will no doubt be trying both mentally and physically for all of us.

Our first task is to secure water and shelter for ourselves. I have located a river not too far from here, and some scouts are going there shortly to determine if it is potable, and to appraise the surrounding clearing as a possible place to set up temporary shelters for everyone. I will give you all updates on what they find as I get them. Until then, please try to remain calm, and tend to the wounds of those who are injured from the crash, and prepare yourselves to move as soon as it has been determined where we will be relocating to. I thank you for your patience, and look forward to many long years of shared prosperity with you."

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Saul manifests Empathy just before beginning his speech, to judge the reactions from the crowd and tailor what he is saying to try to bring them around to agreeableness. He then releases concentration on the power at the end to boost his diplomacy modifier to +20.

1d20+20=31