STAR WARS: RETROSPECTION- Teachings of the Shaman

I will have to run the risk, Azarl took a bunch of damage just now that he did not need right now.

Risk will be run no matter how you cut it.

In any case, I will need your plan. You may want to encounter patrols and I want to know how you will deal with them.

Well Azarl is going to be walking along the cliffs. Can he scuttle down over the edge if a patrol comes? I can try to use Presence and Intrusion so they don't see me. Or well just Presence since I don't have Intrusion.

It would be Strength rolls to ensure you do it without harming yourself, and, indeed, Intrusion to try hiding from the patrols as they come by.

Does Superior Constitution help me with the strength rolls? Maybe for duration of time I have to spend on the side of the cliff?

Otherwise yeah I guess that is my best tactic aside from jumping into the water with the sea monster that wants to eat me.

It does not. It just makes you harder to kill.

I will make three rolls to see if you encounter any Vran. As it so happens, all three rolls show that you run into the Vran patrolling the cliffs all three times.

The first and second instances, you dive for the cliffs before they see you. They come over to investigate, thinking they saw something, but you manage to scurry down the cliff side and out of sight. You cling on successfully until they depart.

The third time, however, it is your Intrusion efforts that prove your undoing. You manage to get down the cliff just fine and find a solid handhold to hang from... but you cannot seem to find a spot that gets you out of view.

(You rolled four 5s, but lacking the skill, they do not count.)

Another patrol of three Vran warriors shout down the cliff at you once you are spotted. They are not curious in who you are; they call you a killer and demand that you climb up to them.

"No!" Azarl shouts at them in defiance. He wonders how deep the water is now that the tide is higher.

Are there rocks around for another Bombard?

You can go up or you can go down. The coast and cliffs are just as rocky as before.

If Azarl can perform a jump up to them that won't get him skewered immediately, he will do it. And then Bombard them all to death with rocks.

A Leaping roll to get up to them and a Force Attack roll to see if you can Bombard. They will have initiative.

Can Azarl throw a Dodge & Weave tap in there? Otherwise, go for it.

First, the jump up. Lacking sturdy footing to spring off of, this will be a Hard roll. You score two successes on that, just enough to prevent some free attacks from the Vrans. You find some ledge or rock to kick off of and head up the cliff.

When you land, they attack! With the Dodge & Weave tap, you are untouchable- you bob and weave around the reach of their swords.

Then you hurl rocks at deadly speed into two of them, sending them over the edge of the cliff.

Leaving you just one Vran...

Azarl will draw the spear and shield and try to stab the Vran to death, unless he is willing to surrender.

I am going to make this quick... is Azarl going to use his Will to tip things in his favor?

No, I don't want to use any powers.

It takes three rounds of combat for Azarl to finish him off, taking 6 damage in return but finally driving your spear into his belly. This puts you at 50 points of damage.

But you sense that you are out of immediate danger of discovery, once that last warrior dies at your feet. The way on is clear.

Azarl will heave a sigh of relief but he knows he is already heavily worn out by this experience. He will press on and hope he encounters no more troubles until he has had a moment to rest.

You have not had to fight like this in some time. Salcazar has taught you how to exert your Will to defend yourself, but has forbidden you from training with the Protectors, and you yourself are not fond of the gritty ways of spearmanship. Worn out is an understatement.

The cliffs start to rise as you move along. You sense that the beast from the sea is not far from you, so you are thankful that you do not have to enter the water again.

You start to feel something as you come to a sharp rise in the cliffs, that obscures your view onward.

Azarl will ascend the rise, opening himself to whatever he is sensing to understand it better, and preparing himself for anything unpleasant that might be on the other side of the rise. He pulls his spear into his hand from behind his back with his Will.

Scaling the rocks up the rise brings you to a fantastic view, unlike anything you have seen in your lifetime.

The unremarkable part of all this is the harbor. Like any coastal area on this part of Vudan, it is a wide sweeping area with blue water, scattered with jagged rock formations. The beaches here are long and sandy, stretching out from the land and into the ocean. The beachhead is lined with tall thick trees, though the ones here seem to have died, and the beach sands have been stained a darker shade of gray. The water looks oily and murky, unlike the clear sparkling waters you saw around the Nurk village.

Sticking up from the center of the harbor at a 45 degree angle, haphazardly rammed into the sand beneath the waves, is a spiny black object. It is overgrown with vines and rusted over by the constant corrosion of the ocean's tide, but you can still make out the massive starship from your vision. Its thick black armor plating is sagging under its own weight, and it is bristling with a series of tube-like structures. It probably glinted in the Vudan sunlight at some point, but now the gloss has worn off and the exterior is dulled.

You have found it, and you sense an incredible coldness wash over you. You like the sensation, and it draws you toward the ship.