Ask The Padawans, the Witch and the Warband

[Maura Starwalk]

Ideally, Maura would've called Felis over to not-so-subtly point out Grem's odd, shimmering shadow, but someone had other plans. Someones, actually, because there were at least five of the creatures that Maura could see approach the camp and surround them. They moved quickly and with intention, which made Maura nervous. The swamp creatures? 'Dumb crotch-monsters.' Whatever these things were? 'Oh no! Are they smart?'

The girl's ears pressed against her head as she watched the fighting begin. It seemed that immediately everyone else was going to attack, minus Clove, but fair enough. She stayed in her crouched position frozen and completely still. Should she help?

'I should help!' After a few moments of internalizing the situation, Maura stood up out of her crouched position and scurried across her branch over to her backpack. The kid reached in to grab her lightsaber, and when she did her hand brushed against the Dragon's Breath potion Grem had given her. Her worried expression morphed into a grin. With one hand, she grabbed the potion, and with the other, she grabbed her saber.

Maura scrambled back across her branch. It extended just slightly above camp and allowed her to step off and fall into the soft mud below. The kid set her target on one of the snake-creatures as she dropped. When she hit the ground she took a swig of the potion like she'd seen Grem do. Immediately her mouth began to burn as if she'd just eaten a really spicy pepper.

"Haw--!" as Maura went to exclaim on the spiciness of the potion, flame spewed out of her mouth, vaguely in the direction of one of the snake-creatures.

13/100 for fire breath attack
tag: @Logan

 

[Kalam Mekhar]

The discovery of the hot-choco powder had momentarily put Kal in a very good mood, almost making him forget all about the events of the day. He was happily waiting for the car to be done so that he could take over and make some of the hot chocolate and maybe offer to the Twi'lek girl alongside a thanks for helping him out earlier when things started going wrong again. This time, it was snake monsters.

Glad that at least it wasn't another group of the crotch monsters, and he didn't have to worry about undergoing a birth simulation yet again, he jumped to his feet and went to grab his staff once more. Only he realized that in the excitement of nearly getting melted inside a crotch monster's crotch mouth, he had forgotten all about his weapon, and left it somewhere far behind in the forest.

Unarmed, he was forced to rely on his wits and the Force. Watching Zana yank a monster towards the fire, and Thelian toss the caf on it, he got the feeling they had that one handled, so looked around till he spotted one of the other padawans engaging another monster (@Phoenix). He reached out with the Force, and picking up a small boulder that lay nearby, sent it flying at the beast from the side, hoping to hit it with enough force to either injure it or distract it enough for Varyn to have an opening to attack it.

Attack Roll: 66/100
@Logan

 

[The Storyteller]

Spoiler: Required Rolls

¹. Roll to dodge acid spit.
². Roll to dodge sword hack.
³. Roll to dodge heavy fisting.
⁴. Roll to dodge getting clapped by snake booty. 10 or below results in something getting broken.

Things were already starting off far better in this fight than the last one, it would seem. Quick thinking and an even quicker trigger finger meant @Zana Ari caught her first target a little off guard – which was very, very unfortunate for him.

As another being who was once again unfamiliar with the magic of the force, the snake-man could do little to prevent Zana’s yank into the fire. The moment the smoldering embers touched his scaley skin, the snake-man (who’s name was Zygidda, though no one had asked) hissed – Shrieked? Squalled? Caterwauled? - in absolute agony.

The searing flames ate hungrily at Zygidda’s skin, almost as if they themselves were alive, almost sentient. Despite it being her intention to light Zygidda on fire, Zana would find the way the fire was acting quite strange.. almost malevolent, somehow purposefully aggressive even - though there would be little time to contemplate that now. She would watch as the snake-man was essentially eaten alive by the flames even as he frantically slithered away from the fire pit, collapsing in a heap of charred meat.

@Toki Ketra would also find purchase as his attack deftly landed, slicing a deep cut into the snake-man he had chosen’s belly. A hiss of anger would hit the Lepi’s ears as blood started gushing from the wound, though the snake-man seemed somehow mostly undeterred. As Toki circled the monster and did his best to keep distance, he would already notice the wound on the beast starting to close.

Opening its mouth wide, the snake-man would spit a large glob of sticky acid at Toki¹ as it moved towards him.

@Thelian Lsai's attack would prove successful as well, despite his gimp hand and terrible attitude. The near-boiling hot caf sprayed across the snake-man, scalding its skin and causing it to bubble and burst in places. As the beast was distracted with the intense pain it was now feeling, Thelian’s follow up attack would land easily as well. The pot still quite hot, it left a large brand on the snake-man’s face where it hit.

Not enough to kill the monster, the snake-man would somewhat recover and narrowing its vertically pupiled eyes, would swing its massive sword wildly at Thelian, trying to chop off any limb it could reach ².

@Elidan's attack would land, but not with the force he’d intended to cut the beast’s arm off. Instead, he would simply get a nice slice in, deep enough to draw blood but not much else, causing the snake-man to turn its attention fully onto the half-Sephi. Coiling its mighty fist, the snake-man would take a haymaker swing at Elidan, looking to punch the kid’s head right off of his body ³.

The snake-man that @Varyn Atrix engaged had known the kid was there before the kid had even activated his sword. Tongues were better than noses and eyes most of the time, it would seem. Varyn’s sword attack would land but it wouldn’t go nearly deep enough to chop the snake-man through the neck, instead leaving behind a heavy gash.

With agile swiftness, the snake-man would whip its tail around in an attempt to knock Varyn prone, though it would also be with enough force to potentially break a bone should it land just right ⁴.

Before the snake-man could follow up with anything else, a small boulder came flying at it courtesy of @Kalam Mekhar. The boulder careened into the snake-man’s side with a heavy fwump, causing it to hiss loudly as it recoiled in pain. Its head whipping around to find the source, it darted off towards Kalam, ready to slice his weird, newly bald head off.

@Maura Starwalk should have listened to Grem when he said that using the Dragon’s Breath potion was dangerous, especially for the uninitiated. The flames that the rainbow-haired girl attempted to spit didn’t go very far at all. In fact, they simply tumbled from her mouth like post taco truck drunken vomit.

The flames that fell onto the girl herself would dance and flicker as they burned holes in her clothes, though it was the flames that hit the ground that were going to prove to be more dangerous. Even the damp, mushy soil of the swamp seemed to provide kindling for the Dragon’s Breath flames, and before she knew it, Maura had started a rather large and soon to be uncontrollable fire.

The snake-man that Maura had tried to light on fire was able to get through the camp while the others were distracted, making a b-line straight for @Severus Creed and Grem. Severus’ defense was decent, but not great.

The strength of the snake-man’s sword swing was almost enough to overpower the boy completely, but luckily enough for him, Grem was able to push Sev out of the way in time enough so that that Severus only got a thin slice across upper arm.

Since Grem had decided to save Severus from an even nastier wound instead of attacking himself, the snake-man was able to backhand the fat merchant hard, sending him flying into the caravan and slamming his head into the wooden walls.

D.. don’t let them take it! Was all Grem could manage to say before passing out, blood trickling down the corner of his mouth.

@Altaria @Altaris @Charles @Clayton @Connor Tavarin @LilyNion @lizziie @LouJoVi @Phoenix @Wit @Sreeya

 

[Toki Ketra]

Toki shuddered as the wound on the snake man started to close swiftly. What was the option then? Go for the head? Heat? Though as he pondered battle strategies, he almost failed to notice the snake begin to spit acid at him. At the last second he dove to the left to avoid the splash, but he had to take an extra moment to get back on his feet.

There were absolutely things about this that didn't sit right with Toki. Grem was being pursued by multiple things in this swamp...and while the first enemies were aggressive, these ones were approaching the caravan weapons drawn but seemed to pay no one any mind until they were attacked. Was it too late to ask questions? He grit his teeth, frustrated that he didn't know the right course of action here. He sighed and kept a reasonable distance from the snake "Can you understand us?" He spoke up.

These enemies were resilient and many people here were still exhausted from their last battle. If he could find some way, any way, to negotiate, he would. They were after something...and according to Grem before he passed out, something he didn't want them to have. Ominous, but did Grem steal something from them? Some kind of artifact, or technology, or even just an object of worship? "What did he take from you...? Why do you want it back? We can discuss matters...my apologies for my rash decision to attack you, we don't have to fight further."

He looked around at everything going on. Maura had gotten herself into a little bit of trouble, and maybe he would try to use that as leverage "If we ignore that blaze we could have a wildfire on our hands. At the very least let's douse the flames." He gestures towards the flames and points his blade towards the water to make his point a little more clear. ( @lizziie )

His heart pounded. Was he making the right decision here? What if Grem took something for a reason? A good reason? He shook his head...he would figure something out when they came to that.

---

@Logan

 

[Elidan]

Elidan moved his sword, hitting the snake-man's arm. However, he didn’t expect that he would still be tired from trying to heal Clove. Due to that, rather than cutting off the creature's arm, the half-Sephi ended up only being able to slice it, drawing some blood.

His silly attempt to attack made the creature turn to him. The thing was expressionless, like a snake, but Elidan thought that it was probably mad. The Padawan stared wide eyed while the ophidian coiled his fist and prepared to punch the Padawan's face.

Without much time to think, Elidan would move his body out of the punch's trajectory. It was really close, he felt the snake’s skin grazing at his cheek. However, this movement had a price. The half-Sephi would trip on a rock that was on the floor and lose his balance. To not fall, the Padawan would take some steps away from the creature.

Even after having recovered his balance, Elidan wasn't in a position to attack the creature anymore, having been forced to back away from the creature. He felt a bit of pain on the cheek where the snake’s punch grazed, but ignored it. Now that he could watch the snake man, the half-Sephi thought that perhaps they should have tried to talk with these things first, before using the violence.

However, now was already too late to try a diplomatic approach. The only thing that he could do now was wait for another opening.

Elidan’s Datapad: 70%

Evasion roll: 30/100

@Logan

 

[Severus Creed]

The snake man was far quicker than Severus anticipated, and though he was able to block the first swing directed for his throat, the second one was going to slash across his stomach. Severus flinched, waiting for the pain to ensue, but he was abruptly pushed out of the way by Grem!

Severus still earned a cut up his arm form the monstrosity, but he was still able to fight. Then, Grem cried out to Sev to protect the Caravan after getting bashed in the head by the same monster that had nearly killed Severus. His eyes glanced at the Caravan- what else was inside it? Surely more than just potions- these creatures all seemed to be drawn to it.

And so was Severus, now that his interest was peaked.

Severus ran to defend the Caravan, taking another defensive position- now that Severus knew how fast these beings were, he could prepare a quicker counter attack. He stared down the snake-man with malicious intent, reaching into it's mind through the Force to relay a simple message;

"Whatever you're trying to do, you aren't very good at it. I'd suggest a change in career options." He smirked devilishly. If he could get the weird looking warrior to give into it's emotions and screw up, it would be even easier to take it out.

@Logan

(OOC: 12/100 for Defense)

 

[Varyn Atrix]

Varyn's blade found a strike against his opponent, but it was nearly as bad as swiping into armor with the thick scales that seemed to cover the snake-man's body. He wrenched the blade free of the scales but missed the whipping blow from the other part of his body.

He caught sight of it just a split second too late, trying to jump the blow it struck his legs. With his legs not planted, they gave way to the impact, knocking him over on his side rather than breaking the bones.

He rolled across the ground, doing a less-than-graceful roll along the ground and trying to get out of range of a follow-up strike. Assuming he wasn't disemboweled already, he leapt to his feet and fell back several steps, watching for any follow up strike and trying to figure out if his original blow had really done any damage. With luck he could draw a couple of the snake people away from the others.

OOC: Roll 45/100 @Logan

 

[Clove Vanhoop]

---

It was quite difficult to determine who was doing what and where everything was located. But there was one thing that stood out in the hazy brown and green jumble: a fire was crackling near the blob of rainbow hair. Clove squinted her eyes and rubbed them with both hands, perplexed.

There was fire?

Fire.

"Everyone! There's a fire near Maura!" Clove screamed as loudly as she could while opening her gigantic backpack. Over-stuffing your bag has the advantage of ensuring that you always have too much of everything, including water bottles and scarves. She placed whatever bottles and fabric she could find underneath her elbows and arms, making it six tiny and two large bottles of water, and began to climb off the caravan as best she could.

Everything went as perfectly as possible until her heels sank into the soil. Clove's ankles swung left to right as she collapsed into the muck. With a grumble, the half-Sephi dragged her heels out of the soil and rose back to her feet, covered in black muddy mud, and began to run as fast as her body would allow to the ever-growing fire. She opened a bottle of water with her teeth and threw the entire bottle over Maura's(@lizziie) smoldering garments. Or snake. Was it a snake? Wait, no no. The hair was rainbow-colored.

"Here." Clove said this as he handed Maura two smaller bottles, her clothing still smoldering. "Throw it over the flames." She also gave out more drinks and scarves to anyone who wanted to help. She then returned her attention to the flames, splashing whatever water she had left on top of the blaze.

The half-Sephi began throwing fabric on top of the smoldering flames as soon as her bottles were empty, in an attempt to remove the oxygen. She began stomping on the scarf the moment it landed on the flames, removing any leftover oxygen that might have reached the flames. All while trying to balance on her heels and seeing the world spin oddly sickening.

---

Dice Roll for Heels: 10/20

Tag @Logan ​

 

[Thelian Lsai]

The moment that his caf-attack made contact with the snake-man’s scaly skin, Thelian couldn’t help but feel a profound sense of satisfaction. Despite his injured hand and less-than-ideal situation, his quick thinking with the boiling liquid proved to be exceptionally effective. Additionally, it gave the Echani the split moment he needed to knock the everliving shit out of that same snake-man with his coffee-pot.

For operating without a lightsaber – or even the physical swords most of his companions were using – It wasn’t half bad.

Unfortunately for Thelian, it wasn’t enough to put the snake-man out of commission. Silver eyes went wide as the reptile suddenly lunged forward, wildly swinging its sword in an attempt to remove one of the Echani’s limbs.

With only a split second of delay, Thelian bent his torso backwards – just narrowly dodging the first swing of the snake-man’s sword that came in horizontally towards his chest. The Echani then proceeded to spring backwards, successfully – barely – dodging each of the follow up swings from the reptile. While he avoided losing limbs, anyone watching would almost immediately be able to tell that Thelian was moving significantly sloppier than usual.

The narcotic potions that he downed for his pain hit like a freighter, and it was clear that Thelian was feeling the full effects even now. Countless hours spent boxing had impacted near-impeccable footwork upon the Echani, and yet here he was – wildly stumbling around mere inches from the edge of the snake-man’s blade.

After a few more moments of frantic dodging, Thelian finally moved to counterattack. After putting a bit of distance between himself and the reptile, the Echani suddenly whirled around and drew his good hand – still carrying around that copper coffee pot. With all the strength in his arm, Thelian stepped forward and threw the coffee pot – aiming to knock the snake-man unconscious with the projectile.

Unfortunately for Thelian and everyone nearby, the Echani really didn’t consider how poor his aim was in his current state of mind.

As a result, that coffee pot sailed through the air and clear past the snake-man. Instead of hitting its intended target, Thelian could do nothing but watch in abject horror as the cooking utensil-turned-weapon flew right in Zana’s direction.

@Logan
66/100 for dodge
10/100 for attack

 

[Kalam Mekhar]

As the monster turned its attention from Varyn to him, Kal took an instinctive step back as it charged towards him. Without a weapon in hand he had no means to defend himself if the thing got in close and tried to hit him. So all he could think off was hitting it before it got too close.

He frantically scanned his surroundings, spotting a stick nearby, barely more than a twig, and picked it up just as the beast was almost on top of him. He swung wildly, hoping for little more than making contact and keeping the thing at a distance so that he could have a moment to rethink his strategy going forward.

Attack Roll: 28/100
@Logan

 

[Zana Ari]

Zana was surprised that her efforts paid off. To a gruesome degree. She was horrified as she watched the snake man get devoured by the flames. The fires were strangely aggressive, and there was something unnatural about the disturbing way the snake man was all but swallowed up by the flames. The sight made the twi’lek incredibly uneasy, and she suddenly felt horrible for doing it. She winced as she heard the dying shriek of the snake. The two half Sephi on the field would be especially impacted by the very loud noise with their sensitive ears.

The twi’lek didn’t dwell on it, rushing over as the fires began to erupt all around them. She wasn’t sure what happened, but suddenly there were huge columns of flames rapidly threatening to consume them. Zana saw Elidan on the field under attack near her and she made a beeline towards him right after he barely dodged a punch to the face.

She coiled the Force around that snake monster and attempted to launch it back against a tree in an effort to stun it. (Attack attempt 39/100)

Unfortunately, being caught up defending Elidan meant Zana didn’t see the caf pot launched by Thelian. It slammed to the side of her head right at her braintail juncture in a sensitive area that instantly made her vision go blank. She didn’t even have the chance to yelp out in pain before she collapsed on the ground, knocked out from the direct hit.

The twi’lek fell amidst the active fight, close by all the flames and any snake men that were looking for an easy target to kill.


OOC: Thelian fail 10/100

@Logan

 

[The Storyteller]

To an outside observer it would seem like the area around the caravan was rapidly morphing from murky swamp to flame covered hellscape. The fire Maura had attempted to unleash on the attackers was spreading at an alarming rate, almost ravenous in its gluttony. Everything it touched was reduced to nothing but smoldering embers and yet the fire was never satisfied.

The first to try diplomacy rather than violence, @Toki Ketra would notice the snake-man pause for just the slightest of moments as it regarded the Lepi’s words. Toki would be able to tell that his language was at least somewhat understood, the snake-man’s eyes darting towards the water and then to the flame, and back to the water again.

An egg. Was all Toki would hear. Not in his ears though, but his mind. It slithered across his thoughts like the words themselves were snakes, but he would know it came from the being standing before him.

As the fire continued to spread, it was becoming evident to everyone that the snake-men were themselves starting to worry about staying in this place for much longer. They had not come here to tango in swordplay with children. They had come to retrieve something that had been stolen from them, something priceless and irreplaceable. Despite that, the heat was rising in the swamp. Soon, it was likely that even if they did recover what they sought, it might be too late to successfully retreat.

Fortunately, another opportunity presented itself and above all else, the snake men were quite resourceful. The group of padawans would hear loud, rhythmic hissing over the roar and crackle of the spreading fire. A message sent from one snake-man to another, to another. It was time to go - but first, they would be acquiring just a little bit of collateral.

Each of the snake-men that was still standing would peel off from the padawans they were engaged with, their massive, muscular tails giving them speed only rivaled by someone using the force. As they retreated, one of them would grip the unconscious @Zana Ari by her tiny head and lift her up, tucking her underneath his arm like a newspaper.

Into the swamp they would go, disappearing into the thick haze created by swamp gasses and the smoke from the fire. @Thelian Lsai would watch as his friend was dragged off into the unknown darkness, a direct result of his own catastrophic failure.

@Clove Vanhoop's attempts at stamping out the fire were not really working. The fabric she used in a vain attempt to smother the fire only caused the flames to grow more wildly, now nearly so hot that the water she was tossing on it evaporated in the air before being able to do much of anything.

There were many paths the padawans could take at this oh-so-critical juncture, but they needed to act fast and with decisiveness.

The life of their friend Zana did hang in the balance, after all.

@Altaria @Altaris @Charles @Clayton @Connor Tavarin @LilyNion @lizziie @LouJoVi @Phoenix @Wit @Sreeya

 

[Toki Ketra]

"An...an egg?" Toki said as he deactivated his saber as he tried to come to terms with all of this. He looked at Grem, expression one of disgust as he looked back at the snake man "He stole one of your children..." For what purpose? For what purpose would someone steal someone's child? These snake men were sentient, capable of thought and emotion! He knew what he had to do.

He looked around at the chaos around him, and spotted a snake grab Zana and retreat into the marshes "Wait!" He called out, but it was too late. He clenched his fist, but calmed himself. "Everyone, we need to move fast." He said. He didn't care if he would get mocked for attempting to take charge at this juncture, but he knew something the others didn't for the moment. "Grem stole one of their eggs. That's why they came after the caravan. What we are going to do is we're going to track them down and return the egg in exchange for Zana's freedom." He looked at the spreading blaze and worried that there wasn't much they could do..."Can anyone control water...? Ice..?" He asked, though he took notes on to what force abilities to study next for utility. "If there's nothing to be done, don't push yourself or get into unnecessary danger...we can make it through this yet." He said in an attempt to be encouraging.

He wished he had more advice to offer about the fire other than get away from it, but at this point he did not "We need to find the egg and get moving. We can't stare here for much longer. If someone can wake Grem up and ask him what he planned to do with it, do so. Despite my current disgust with him, we shouldn't just leave him to die in the blaze." Toki stepped back into the caravan and began his search for the egg. He was stressed and in a rush, but he tried his best to remain composed. He wanted to be of help to everyone, and he hoped this was his opportunity to prove himself. Right now, rescuing their friend was at the forefront of his mind, as well as try to make everyone else's spirits up.

 

[Elidan]

Elidan was preparing to defend himself from the attack of the snake-man. The cheek where the creature’s fist had touched him was stinging, but he didn’t have time to see what happened. He planned that he was going to do another attempt of dismembering it when the thing decides to approach him to attack.

Then he felt someone use the Force on the creature, the half-Sephi turned to look and saw that it was Zana who did it. He smiled, she was always trying to help him. However, his smile disappeared from his lips when he saw something hit the Twi’lek on the head, making her faint.

Before he could go help her, the Padawan saw the snake-man that was fight against him move. Thinking that the creature was going to attack, Elidan prepared himself. He was surprised when he saw it run away. Only now he noticed that there was fire everywhere and the creature was trying to escape from it. And Zana had fainted in the middle of the fire!

He turned to where she was, going to run there and take her back to the caravan. What he saw made him horrified, one of the snakes had taken the Twi’lek and ran away with her. It took Zana, his best friend. Seeing it made something snap on him. For the first time after five years, Elidan used his voice. “Zana!” he screamed with all his strength. Due to years without using his vocal cords, his voice sounded broken and hoarse. Nothing like what a 16 years old would sound normally. It was full of horror and rage. A trauma had made him stop talking and now another had made him speak. At least, for now. After all, his condition was a selective mutism, he could still stop talking.

Elidan wanted to run after them, enter in the swamp alone if it was necessary. Kill all these animals if they even dared to hurt her. He was so desperate and furious that he barely heard Toki say that Grem had stolen the snake’s egg, Elidan only could think that he needed to save her.

He became tired of Toki talk , they needed to go save her now! He was so transtorned that he ignored the fact that there was a fire happening around them “Shut up! We need to save her!” he would shout at the other boy, his voice sounded nearly inhuman. It was more like the scream of a desperate animal. If no other Padawan decided to come with him, he would go after these creatures alone.

@Logan

 

[Thelian Lsai]

Time itself seemed to move a bit slower in that moment, and Thelian could do nothing but stare in complete horror. Horror, as that copper coffee pot - loosed by his own hand - sailed through the air and collided with the side of Zana’s skull - knocking the twi’lek unconscious the moment that it made impact. The Echani couldn’t help but stare - completely oblivious to his surroundings and even the enemy he’d just been battling.

If it was not for the snake-men’s timely retreat at that very moment, it would’ve left Thelian entirely open as an easy kill for the reptile.

Thelian stared at the fallen twi’lek, and there was nothing even resembling the grumpy expressions that the Echani was known for. Instead, Thelian’s face twisted and contorted with a mixture of fear and guilt - twisting knots in his stomach and sending searing pain to lance through his chest, all while the little color in his complexion drained away.

The Echani put every ounce of strength he had into that throw, only for his efforts to backfire in the worst way possible - injuring one of the few people, certainly amongst their group, that Thelian genuinely cared about. He felt the crippling guilt that his own undisciplined and haphazard actions had knocked the twi’lek unconscious, and he felt the fear that came with not knowing just how badly she’d been hurt.

The longer Thelian gawked at the consequences of his own actions, the Echani once again found himself haunted by the same words that had nagged at him for weeks.

You should never have come back.

They were words that had stuck with the Echani ever since that day on Chandrila, and they reared their ugly head in his mind at that very moment. As much as he tried to put that thought out of his mind, he never could. And his own failures in that moment were a painful reminder of how the Echani gave some credit to the notion.

At least then, this wouldn’t be happening.

“Zana..” He muttered to no one in particularly, silver eyes remaining locked onto the girl. “I’m sorry..” The guilt was heavy in his words, even if no one was likely to hear them amongst the chaos all around.

His gaze finally flicked away from the twi’lek - turning to watch as the snake-men began to retreat from the burning campsite. Of course, Thelian found his gaze once more returning to Zana as soon as one of the reptiles picked her up like a newpaper and disappeared into the marshes with her tucked under its scaly arm.

“ZANA!” He cried out aloud, his voice cracking as the words escaped from his lips. There was more genuine fear in his voice that anyone gathered would ever heard from the Echani. Even Clove, who had seen the Echani on Dantooine, would’ve only now heard such emotions verbalized by the moody teenager. More than a fear for his own life or safety, Thelian was gripped by of how his own failures spelled catastrophe for those he cared about.

In that moment, Thelian was completely oblivious to everything around him - even as the fires began to burn out of control and embers licked at his skin. He heard the sound of Toki speaking, though the words wouldn’t register in his mind for several minutes more. He heard the sound of Elidan cry out for the first time, and even that seemed to go in one ear and out the other.

Instead, Thelian’s attention remained entirely fixated on the direction where the snake-men had retreated and fled with Zana in their arms. He completely blanked on whatever plan about an egg was taking place behind him, and without another word to his comrades, Thelian pushed off the ground and began to sprint after the snake-men that had carried Zana off, deep into the swamp - following right alongside Elidan as they cut through the vegetation.

“Zana!”

 

[Severus Creed]

So much had happened in such little time that it began to become hard for Severus to keep up.

The cut to his arm had torn through his sleeve, which he tore off incase it snagged on a tree branch or something like that, but his brands were exposed for the whole world to see on just his arm.

But that didn't matter. Not now.

Severus' suspicion about Grem was right. Or at least he thought it was write- these snake people were after something Grem had in his Caravan, and that alone made Severus wonder whether or not the group should continue business with the strange man after this fiasco.

But then, Muara was set on fire, but Clove was there for the rescue- but didn't know how to quench the rest of the growing flames. Zana had been there, too, attempting to put it out as well, but fell swiftly to the ground after something hit her in the back of the head.

Thanks to Thelian, the kid Severus silently began to trust, Zana was in danger of being kidnapped- like how he explained would happen if they went to the city. JUST as he had told everyone before they made their venture. His glare was bitter and cold, as usual. But he spared Thelian of his cynicism, who was crying out to her like a lost child looking for his mother, and turned to face the retreating snake who held the girl that had once 'saved' him from drowning.

As he had summoned the plants before, he had to feel them first, know them, and use them as an extension of himself. Then, he motioned his right hand up, sending a spiral of roots up as well, and lashed around the snake man's neck until Severus had a solid grip on it. Severus wanted to crush the snake's windpipe, punish it for it's putrid antics, but the snake was too far for that and all Severus could do was choke it and stop it from moving as he gripped his hand in a way someone would to physically choke someone. The Snake would probably have to drop Zana to deal with the vegetation around his throat that refused to let up, which was what Severus hoped for.

"Stop blathering, you fool!!" Severus roared at Thelian. And then, to Severus's great surprise that almost ruined his focus on holding down the Snake man, Elidan began to speak! The red-head's voice was strange, but that was probably due to it never being used before. Severus felt proud of Elidan, which was shot down by deep sorrow for the circumstances he was in- for the situation they all were in.

Hopefully, Severus' use of Plant Surge could by them a little extra time. "If you want to do something, do it now!" He cried out to no one in particular.

@Logan

(OOC: 41/100 to stop the Snake-man holding Zana)

 

[Clove Vanhoop]

---

Clove was forced to return to the Caravan as the flames licked at her boots and thighs, forcing her to return to the Caravan while her hand quickly patted out any embers stuck on her clothing. Her attempts to smother the flames and splash water on them had no effect, and truth being told, she was losing control of the situation.

Her mother had always told her she was a doctor, not a firefighter. Gues she just wasn't very good with fire.

She turned to the caravan's ladder, frustrated, but the weakness in her legs and the unsteady ground beneath her heels sent her toppling forward in the middle of the turn. And with a loud DUD, she collided with the ladder. The world was whirling ever so slightly again, and whatever vision she had managed to regain was now covered with small stars. To make matters worse, during the disastrous turn, her left heel made a horrible SNAP, pulling the block of wood free from her boot.

Really? Now, when there was a raging forest fire, her heel decided to break?

The half-Sephi wished she had more time to mourn the loss of her heel and find a way to fix it, but she knew she didn't. So, instead of lingering on the new waves of headache and an incredibly uncomfortable broken shoe, she started climbing the ladder as steadily as she could, her unharmed hand clutching the side for dear life and her feet poised on the tips of her toes. Clove made it to the caravan's roof, where she was safe from the flames and near her backpack. She kicked out her boots as quickly as she could, planning to get a new pair of emergency flats. But a strange voice(@LouJoVi) yelled through the night before she could dive into the bag.

She couldn't place the sound of the voice at all, but it was howling Zana's name. Thelian's(@Altaris) voice followed suit, repeating the same screams but in a less broken form. Confused Clove moved her gaze from the broken shoe in her hand and noticed two figures, illuminated by the fires, race into the swamp, one fully entering, the other lingering. And then it clicked.

Zana was in danger and they were chasing her.

"Kriff!" She slid down the ladder after swinging a single backpack strap over her shoulder and securing it as tightly as she could. Her broken fingers banging into the wood no longer mattered, nor did the touch of wet soil against the thin layer of fabric around her feet as she stumbled forward. Even the hefty bag felt lighter now that she was running past the raging flames. She made it to Elidan with her ears flattened on her head and her huge brown eyes doubled in size. He was howling at another Padawan to shut up.

Elidan's voice would have made her do a double take. But now wasn't the time, their friends were in danger. So, instead, her uninjured hand gripped Elidan's wrist. "We have to go right now! We can't just leave Zara and Thelian in there!" In her panic, her voice soared two octaves higher, and without waiting for an answer she began chasing after the kid with white hair sprinting into the swamp. All while dragging Elidan along with her.

---

Dice Roll for Heels: 6/20

Tag @Logan ​

 

[Kalam Mekhar]

Kal watched things go from bad to worse, fire everywhere, Zana getting knocked out, the creatures stopping their assault but then taking off with Zana, and then Thelian charging off after them seeming oblivious to everything else. Clove and Elidan, both of whom had been knocked out not too long ago, were next to follow after him. He made to follow, but his body didn't move.

Kal understood their sentiment, they seemed to be close and he would have done the same if it had been someone that meant that much to him, and the simple fact that he owed his life to Zana compelled him to do the same. But maybe it was the fact that he was still a relative outsider among this group, or that for he was gripped for a moment by fear of what would happen to them if they rushed blindly into the swamps with those monsters all around, but he didn't move to go after them. Toki's words were the hammer that nailed things back into perspective. Or rather the escape route he needed to deal with the guilt that had swelled up at the realization of his own cowardice.

"Everyone stop!" He shouted over the others, "we go in there blindly like fools and every one of us will be picked off by those things." Close to a dozen padawans charging through the swamps was definitely not the plan here, yet they could not leave Zana's life in the hands of the snake-people. He looked after Clove dragging away Elidan, both intent to run off after Thelian, and his eyes latched onto Varyn, who still had his sword-saber ins his hands. "Go with them," he said, (@Phoenix @LouJoVi @LilyNion) "follow after Thelian, use your sword to put marks on the trees as you go. We'll deal with the fire and find another way to you, or use the marks to follow. Everyone else, put out the fire, deal with who-ever is injured."

Splitting up was never the right answer, but here, in this moment it was the only thing he could think off. There was fire everywhere, and leaving the caravan owner to die in it, even if he seemed to be the cause of all this, was not the Jedi way. Yes, that's what it was, he was acting like a Jedi must. A great, big, coward of a Jedi.

He didn't bother to see if anyone heard him, or followed his instruction, he feared they would see through his lies, so he turned and moved for the caravan owner. "What do you know about these things? And what is this egg they speak off?" He demanded as he stepped up to him, in that moment understanding Thelian's previously voiced desire to plant his foot in places the light did not see. "They came searching for something, and our friend's life is in danger because of that. So you better start speaking, what did you steal, how did you steal it, and how the fuck do we clean this mess up."

@Logan

 

[Varyn Atrix]

The snake people began to retreat, and Varyn thought that was a good thing. A win that they could simply give up the fight. After all, he didn't actually want to kill these people. But as his eyes unlocked from the snake-man, the full weight of the situation set in on him. The place was burning, Thelian was screaming about Zana, and Zana was nowhere to be seen. He could guess what had happened, and his first instinct also was to race after the snake people in pursuit of his friend.

Maybe this was etched on his face or maybe it was the will of the Force that he was grabbed by one of the others, but before he could charge in one of the other padawans presented something close to an actual plan. At least better plan than charging blindly.

Don't take long. We're going to need all the help we can get, he shouted back over his shoulder at Kalam (@Wit) before heading after the others. Now he just needed to make as good of a trail to follow as he could.

His sword hacked into tree branches and cleaved bark off of several trees, trying to make as obvious a trail to follow as he could while her pursued both his fellow padawans and the snake people. Oh, he had a bad feeling about this.

 

[The Storyteller]

Spoiler: Required Rolls

¹. Since the snake-men are moving with speed and making no attempt to cover their tracks, the group can roll for perception/investigation to follow their trail.
². Anyone around can roll to remember the specific knock to open the trap door.

The snake-men moved through the swamp with a level of grace and speed that rivaled a figure skater about to achieve a gold medal. They knew the paths through the foggy gloaming, knew the twists and the turns and where the ground was stable in the fens and bogs and where it would give way to even the lightest of steps, sinking and sucking someone to drown in the mires¹.

After some time, the group would slow, the snake-man holding Zana leading the way. The crashing sound of a massive, cascading waterfall would cause Zana’s eyes to flutter open, the feeling of the watery mist in the air collecting on her face rousing her to semi-alert wakefulness.

Through the haze of a possible concussion, Zana would see the snake-man wave his hand, the waterfall parting in the middle and the group passing through it before it would go back to normal. In front of her was the entrance to some sort of temple previously completely concealed by the water.

Even if she struggled to free herself, Zana would find it almost impossible to break free of the snake-man’s grip. They would follow the stairs that lead into the temple down, down, down until the air was cool and the sound of the waterfall was but a distant hum.

The flickering, low flames of torch sconces provided the only light as they moved deeper into the temple. Eventually, the snake-man would bring Zana into a room that contained several large prison cells. Instead of normal bars, the cells were comprised of long, golden snakes made of metal.

Bringing her to the lone empty cell, the snake-man hissed something Zana couldn’t understand, but she would know it was a language, not just random noise. The snake-bars at the front of the cell unhinged their jaws and slithered into themselves.

The snake-man would toss Zana inside unceremoniously before his-talking again, causing the snake-bars to extend and intertwine, their jaws closing once again and locking the young Twi’lek inside. Looking around, Zana would see the other cells inhabitants, though it would offer her no solace about her current situation.

Hideous monstrosities, deformed creatures that looked half snake and half man occupied the other cells. They groaned and hissed as if their lives were nothing but agony, their existence the result of twisted magic.

The darkside pulsed steadily down here in the dungeon, a rhythmic heartbeat Zana would feel thumping at the base of her skull.

--

Back at the caravan, Severus, Toki and Kalam were the only ones who remained behind while the others all raced into the swamp. The fire raged around them and if they didn’t do something soon, it would consume the caravan itself and likely a large chunk of the swamp they currently resided in.

Kalam’s shouting roused Grem from his dazed confusion, the portly merchant wiping the blood from his mouth as the stars left his vision and he realized what the hell was going on. Before anything else, his eyes grew wide and he scrambled to his feet, turning to Kalam with a look of pure terrified worry.

You didn’t let them take it, did you? He asked frantically, rushing into the caravan and to find Toki going through his things. Out of the way bunny-boy, He said, pushing Toki out of the way and moving a large rug that had been on the floor.

Beneath it was a trap door. Grem knocked on it with a specific pattern² that caused it to pop open. Inside, nestled carefully on a pedestal, was spherical object – an egg. It pulsed steadily, a deep glow from its very center, and Toki would be able to feel life inside of it, though it was strange, foreign and dark.

As if the discovery that the egg was safe suddenly snapped Grem back into reality, he looked out the caravan window and actually noticed the rising tide of flames engulfing everything outside.

By the gods! He shouted, rushing over to his shelves and grabbing a potion that was the color of frozen sea water.

Crashing back through the caravan door, Grem imbibed the potion and out of his mouth blew an icy, frozen gale. The fire slowly receded from the harsh, frigid cold until after a minute or so, the only thing left was just smoking swamp-land.

Turning to the group that still remained with him, Grem threw up his arms and exclaimed.

Where the hell is everyone else? What happened?

--

Despite rushing into the swamp only mere minutes behind the snake-men, the group of padawans were vastly out-matched in terms of speed and ease of travel. Their nearly-useless human legs would hamper their chase by a decent margin, falling easily a half-day or so’s trek behind – and that was assuming they didn’t end up getting lose.

Or murdered.. or eaten.. or drown.

Varyn’s tree markings would make it easy for the others to follow the trail, but it also made it obvious to the nightmares of the swamp too. As the group moved deeper into the mires, they would start to be followed, unbeknownst to them by what or how many.

If they hoped to continue following the tail of the snake-men, they would need at least one person able to make out the slither tracks through the mud. If no one was able, it was so, so easy to get lost in the swamp..

@Altaria @Altaris @Charles @Clayton @Connor Tavarin @LilyNion @lizziie @LouJoVi @Phoenix @Wit @Sreeya