Ariadne frowned in annoyance that the ranger had apparently cheated, by ignoring his "wound", but then she remembered the rule about the blue paint.
She sighed in exasperation at her own stupidity and went to cover again, this time vowing to play this game by the rules, no matter how barbaric

OOC:
11:22, Today: Ariadne rolled 11 using 2d6+2 with rolls of 5,4.  Hide

This message was last edited by the player at 20:23, Thu 05 Jan 2023.

Ariadne moves into some tall bushes and stuff a bit like bamboo, but softer.

She is well-hidden from view, from all directions.

After several seconds of careful listening, she-- yes. Sound. Over-- that way. Maybe 20 feet away. Someone moving carefully... someone who's not a blood relation of hers...

(I think I'll give you (just you, Ariadne) a +1 to follow up on these small noises you're hearing...)

Ariadne took a breath to force herself to calm down and concentrate
She remembered trips to the woods with her father, when they stalked deer and rabbits.
Not to kill them, but the surprisingly nimble and stealthy historian (well, perhaps not so surprising since arriving in Amber), would play games with his daughter to try to sneak up on wild animals, with the winner being able to touch a deer's flank 9r grab a rabbit by the ears.  Was he trying to prepare her for this kind of thing?

The tall woman shrugged the revelation away, and focused on the present, working to search with all.her senses where her "prey" might be


OOC:  13:55, Today: Ariadne rolled 12 using 2d6+2 with rolls of 4,6.  Perception

There-- there's the archer, hoping he's completely hidden (well he is to the rest of the cousins, but not Ariadne), rubbing his right hand with his left... His bow's attached to his back right now and his sword isn't even drawn... you've got the drop on him.

(Extra +2 to follow up on THIS, Ariadne...)

In reply to The GM (msg # 76):

Her heart beating like a jackhammer, Ariadne saw one of the soldiers who worked for Uncle Julian.  She took out her blue painted throwing axe and....despite every instinct telling her this was a BAD idea...Threw it at him.   At his leg, hopefully,  so maybe it wouldn't hurt him too badly?
She remembered her father's lessons in axe throwing, among all the other weird th9ngs he taught her about his collection of ancient weapons.   And, once again, Ari had presumed that her time playing with throwing axes was just time spent goofing off with her eccentric father.
Once again, it seemed,  Daddy had a plan.

She threw the axe

OOC:  08:49, Today: Ariadne rolled 10 using 2d6+4 with rolls of 2,4.  Axe throw

The throw goes perfectly-- the axe slices open the guy's pants leg-- and the skin underneath, but while it's enough to bleed, the tibia under THAT means it's a fairly shallow cut. Slap a bandage on it, he'll be fine in no time.

Both leg and clothing, however, have a purple mark. The archer backs up, very startled, and throws both (unarmed) hands up. "OUT! I mean, ah, I'm out! Got me!"

Ariadne tried VERY hard not to give a "Whoo Hoo!!!!!" of victory,  while trying to stealthily peek from her cover to see of the man was okay (she's known men who would try to minimize a sucking chest wound)

OOC:
 17:34, Today: Ariadne rolled 8 using 2d6-1 with rolls of 6,3.  Willpower to keep from cheering
17:34, Today: Ariadne rolled 8 using 2d6+2 with rolls of 2,4.  Stealth to peek at the soldier, just for the sake of paranoia

Ariadne lets out a Whoo Hoo, but it isn't a shout-- just a little bit louder than the average indoor voice.

The soldier guy is fine, seriously. "Since your graces have got me and Carlyle, we'll both head back now. Unless you want to go on ahead first, and then we'll wait here. Prince Julian doesn't expect you to wait out here all day and all night until our side runs out of rangers-- enough time has passed now that he'll expect you to start heading back, and to see how many of you can make it back inside the fort without getting tagged first. Er, no one'll fire at you from the walls of the fort, nor inside it..."

"I will help you back, you have a bad leg after that and maybe even a crushed finger or two. I have already gotten tagged by the paint so I might as well head back. You did good Ariadne, I am proud of all my cousins."

Jade will move to offer to help the man with the injured leg.

"Sure, we'll escort you back, Princess Jade," says Carlyle. "With us, everyone'll know you're out of the ga-- er, training exercise, too, and they'll know not to snipe at you with arrows..."

In reply to The GM (msg # 80):

Though she still feeling just a bit guilty for hitting a fellow human being with an axe, Ariadne smiled broadly and nodded to the soldier.
"Sounds like a plan.    Okay, gang, shall we proceed to mosey on back to homebase?"
She grinned at her two remaining cousins, feeling weirdly giddy, like after the first time she did bungee jumping or hang gliding.  She'd been in fights before, and would punch someone in the nose without hesitation, but combat, REAL combat, was a bit of a rush.

Seeing Jade go with the soldiers, Ari nodded to her.
"Good job yourself, Jade.  Your magic was impressive when I first saw it, but I'm definitely seeing how valuable it is now.  See you back home."

"Yes, heading back sounds good.  But we need to be careful and stealthy.  It sounds like there are other rangers preparing an ambush for us." He moves towards Ari "Come join us Janessa."

"Carlyle and Princess Jade and I will wait here for just a few minutes... we'll give your graces a chance to go on ahead-- then the three of us will make our own way back... Er, in a straight line, I think, unless you'd like us to bear more to the left, or the right?"

Ariadne blinked in momentary confusion, not realizing for a second that the soldier was talking to them.  Was he asking their permission as to where to go?  Ari had been raised to be a fairly assertive, even bossy, person, by her father, but this was a level of authority that was weird and even a bit surreal.
She smiled sheepishly
"A straight line is fine with me.  Go ahead and enjoy a nice,  leisurely walk in the woods.  You've all earned it."

"Understood, Princess. You three go on ahead."

Jon moves up to Janessa and Ari whispering "Once we are out of site of those three, we should try and approach the fort from an unexpected angle."

Ariadne nodded, making a thoughtful face
"Works for me.  How about we head...um, left?"
She tries to be stealthy
OOC:  18:45, Today: Ariadne rolled 11 using 2d6+2 with rolls of 4,5.  Stealth

This message was last edited by the player at 00:46, Mon 09 Jan 2023.

(Ariadne's roll is completely successful to the point that I'm not gonna make Jon nor Janessa also roll for stealth.)

As you head left, Ariadne leading all of you as stealthily as possible, you see a new ranger off to your right, headed deeper into the forest... He's about 40 feet away (you all stop as soon as you see him).

What now? Let him go by? Try to take him out? Wait and see if there's anyone working with him...? Other...?

Ariadne looked to the others, to see if Jon or Janessa had a shot.

Jon whispers "Let's let him pass by.  See if there are others following."

The ranger moves forward (for him-- to your right), looks around (doesn't see you so far), studies the ground for a second--

--then looks to his left (farther from you than he is) and makes a hand sign. Dang, you don't even see anyone over there, but it seems like he does...

If you had to guess, the hand sign might've meant No sign here, let's keep going.

Keep waiting/observing?

---

Meanwhile, Carlyle turns to Jade. "So, the red-headed Princess-- Janessa, was it? Is she from, the, ah, magical side of the family too?"

"I would imagine this is so. I have to get to know her better to be sure though. We are new to one another. I know she is from Earth like a lot of my cousins seem to be."

Jade smiles, "Do you like her ? She is pretty."

Ariadne hesitated, wanting to get a look at who else was there

"I'm not asking 'cause I'm interested in her--" was there a tiny emphasis on the word her, there? "--in that way; I just wondered if we should expect, I don't know, fireballs to start exploding soon or something." Did his eyes flick upwards to the treetops where lightning had recently touched? Mmmmmaybe.

---

The cousins do nothing, and the ranger moves on.

Watching closely-- yeah, just for a second, another ranger, like maybe another 35 yards farther out that way. Both of them seem to be moving vaguely in the direction the cousins have just come from.

Ari bit her lip in indecision, then looked over at Jon and Janessa, nodding towards the soldiers, giving a sheepish but somewhat predatory smile.
It seemed she wanted to go after them