STAR WARS: RETROSPECTION- Teachings of the Shaman

Then Azarl should probably go there.

How quickly will they know I've crossed into their lands? The Nurks didn't know I was here til I walked up to their village.

You haven't been up to Vran-land, so you don't know.

I guess we'll play it by ear. Or whatever Azarl has for listening. Some membrane or something weird probably.

Azarl will ask Elgas if he has any words of wisdom for him, either about the Vrans or what he thinks the dream means.

"Do not do this thing," Elgas says. "The Vrans will not welcome you or your search for this fabled vessel. It is a relic of dark days. It is hidden with reason."

"So you think it exists?" Azarl asks.

"I don't know what I think," Elgas says. "I just know it is a folly to pursue it. Real or not, all this can bring is trouble."

"Then trouble is my aim," Azarl says. "This has been revealed to me by a vision. It would be the greater folly to ignore it!"

Azarl will set out, collecting his spear and shield again from the guards that took them. He is going to go on foot; he does not want to try calming the beast of burden he took in, and he wants to try being secretive about his entry into the territory of the Vran. A lumbering beast won't help.

Do the Nurks have any supplies they can lend him?

They can give you some extra food for your journey out to the Vran. Otherwise, no. They do return your shield and spear to you. Neither feel totally comfortable in your hands, lacking proper training. But if Elgas is correct, you might need them.

Elgas will see you off with one final warning.

"The Vran are skilled warriors," says Elgas. "I know the Kaals are as well, but they are not chained by faith in an old religion.

"They will not be merciful."

"I won't give them a reason to make that call," Azarl retorts before heading off. "They won't stop me."

Azarl will leave the Nurk village and set out for the Vranlands. What's the terrain like? He wants to stay mainly unseen on his way there.

The terrain is mainly open grasslands with high grass. The Vrans also have coastal access with rocky cliffs.

Rocky cliffs sound like they have more potential to be stealthy. Azarl will go that way, taking the coast up into Vranland.

As mentioned, the cliffs from the Nurk villages up into the Vran territory bulge up from ocean as rocky walls, speckled with miniature caverns and hand holds. The beach below is fairly minimal, and disappears with high tide.

Picking your way hand-over-hand would take eons, so the beach is your only option. You will have to scale the cliff once you are ready to ascend (as there are few other ways up). It will be based on Strength rolls.

However, you will be hard to spot unless the Vran decide to join you on the beach. The chances of that are low, and you feel good about your decision in that regard. However, the waves lapping on the beach cause unease... the tide is already climbing at this time of day, and you know from stories that terrible things live in the seas.

How long can Azarl go until the beach is gone? And can he swim?

Yes, it is Strength to swim. Your Superior Constitution actually makes it hard to drown you, though you aren't amphibious by any means.

So I'm probably not feeling bad about drowning...

Can Azarl touch the water and see how his senses respond?

You touch the water...

Ahhh!

It's cold!

But not dangerous in itself. The unease continues.

Azarl will stop wasting time splashing in the waves and start moving along the coastline. He is careful to make sure nobody sees him from the cliffs above.

You move along the coast, your clawed insect feet leaving their prints in the sand, shortly thereafter washed away by the creeping waves. The tide steadily rises.

You make an Observation check to cast a wary eye at the top of the cliffs. From what you can tell, no-one has spied you on the beach.

After a long trek, you come to a point where the cliff has collapsed into the ocean. Several enormous boulders block the way on.

Azarl regards the boulders distastefully as they hinder his advance.

Could Azarl climb over them or swim around them? Or move them?

All are possibilities.

If you were to climb over the boulders, it would be Strength rolls to see how quickly you scale them, and Intrusion to do so without making yourself obvious.

If you were to swim around them, it would be Strength rolls to see how quickly you can swim.

As for moving them... how do you propose to do that?