[OOC - there are several ways to address this issue since the game is at a multiverse. Not a meld of many like Company of Stalwart Adventurers where one may come from Krynn another may come from the Oriental lands of Faerun, but simply-- many. All the options below may have advantages at this point or at a later point in the adventure.
Option A) ANOTHER. Toot is from another plane that is connected to this same campaign world but since "that" plane does not feature "this" sky this is the first time he meets this light
Option B) BRIGHTENED. Toot is from this plane of existence and knows pretty much everything a doodad worth his salt should know about celestial bodies, this one included.
Option C) CRADLED. Toot is from here but old Landgrave was a bit paranoid about the red light so he never let the jermlaine outside in these times, claiming that some horrifying would happen if he did. Maybe he mentioned this red sun, maybe he kept it completely secret, carefully avoiding all topics related to astrology when training Toot.
Option D) DIFFERENT. Toot is from a completely independent plane of existence of your choice, e.g. FR or Greyhawk. There was a storm that brought him to some unknown land, thus making him as clueless as he is about where to find virtually anything. Now, he's pretty much certain that the storm was some kind of elemental conflux that sucked him to some completely different plane of existence; the elemental plane of swamp, to name one.
Option E) ELSE.
You choose and I answer your questions-- unless you answer them yourself to your liking.]
[OoC: I just figured Toot was from this world. I did not know these other options were allowed as you said we come from a place that's kind of like the Forgotten Realms. And Langrave was Blind and Jermaline are notoriously sneaky, so unless he planned to actually gag my mouth and put me in a safe every night, it's unlikely he could stop Toot's curiosity.]
[OOC - well my assumption was that "kind of" calls out for a background that has roots in Faerun... this way may be a bit more challenging, hook-wise...]
Toot realised the celestial body that rose is known as the Red Sun. Its light is as beneficial to plants, animals and all living beings as that of the White Sun. The Cosmology as Toot knows describes them as twin stars orbiting around each other, with Kyralion caught right in the focal point. There are six seasons in Kyralion:
White Summer. The power of the white sun is stronger but there are no true nights because the Red Sun rises before the White would set and the other way around too.
White Autumn. The power of White diminishes and Red rises sooner and sooner. There are short nights, up to four hours of darkness, between Red sunset and White sunrise.
Red Spring. The power of Red increases and nights get shorter until once again, Red sets no sooner than White rises.
Red Summer. The power of Red is at its highest but there are no true nights as the White, weakest as it is, rises before Red sets.
Red Autumn. Red loses power and nights get longer as White sets before Red rises.
White Spring. White regains power and nights get shorter.
The seasons are thirty days each with a year being 180 days total.
It is now the second tenday of White Autumn.
The Red Sun is shunned by many as the superstitious think that it enhances the powers of necromancy and the magics of the redhead high elves. Speaking of elves, they are rumoured to be the social kind, yet Toot had to meet the first of the species. According to Landgrave there are six subraces of elves in Kyralion (as this land is named after its original natives):
The fairest and most social light elves.
The fiercest grey elves.
The haughty and essentially evil high elves of flowing red hair
The nature-loving black elves that are often mistaken to drow who shun the light of both Suns.
And the cursed Thessalonian elves that are actually half-humans though they claim to be fully elven.
The Thessalonian claim is incredibly ridiculous considering that elves of Kyralion are known to be no higher than gnomes and Thessalonian are actually much closer to humans in height.
The former natives; or Kyralls, are even less frequent sight on this part of the world. Now withdrawn to their island kingdom that lies southeast of Kyralion it's much harder to find the magic-wielding; the religious; or the guardian types. The few are said to live in the Tower of Shembar the Multi-faced; aspiring to become the most talented magi of the continent in the hardest school of the surface; or so they say about Shembar's tower.
The Grand Master of Wizards, Hierophant Beyond Ages, Master of All Weapons and who knows how many titles are stuck upon Shembar the Multi-faced, is told to be over five centuries old. Some say he has angelic or other immortal origins. Others say he was once a man like anyone else but rose through the ranks of druids until he reached, and eventually surpassed, the rank of the Grand Druid; the sole leader of the entire druidic older throughout the known world and possibly beyond. However, once he resigned from this position, he turned to wizardry and is now known to be the most powerful wizard of all mortal realms. Of course, Landgrave told his own version of this legend to Toot as part of his usual lessons and it was hard to make out what the elderly druid really believed from the tall stories.
As Toot got this far in his contemplations he realised that the thorn protruding from the back of Mother Earth could be no other than Shembar's Tower, said to be thousands of feet high. Was it possible to approach the school of such a powerful high wizard without proper invitation? Was it a lethal hazard? Toot had no memory of this aspect.
[OoC: Sorry for the Low-brow humor but Toot is a Jermlaine. They aren't known for their cleanliness or manners.
]
Once he's certain it's safe [Take 20 spot check] Toot lands and then scratches at the ground a bit with his talons. Once he finds a suitable spot with soft ground the eagle shutters and curls up into a feathery ball. Seconds later Toot's head bursts out of the side of the sphere and as he steps out the feathery cocoon disintegrates into nothing.
Toot stretches his little joints and then while letting out a yawn that nearly swallows his face, he scratches his belly. He needed a way down to get to a cave or at least a hiding place for the night. Suddenly squeeking, he clenches his little fist and concentrates hard.
'Pfffffftttt'
Toot snorts while giggling to himself and then squeeks,
"Ooopies, made a Poopsies." He drags his butt on the ground and when he's satisfied that he's clean enough, he begins to concentrate again, hoping for a different result. Suddenly his body bloats to small size and black and brown fur sprouts from his skin. Moments later large claws and big teeth grow from his hands and mouth until he's taken the form of a Badger. Toot then begins to use those sharp claws to begin Burrowing as fast as he can.
[OoC: Badgers can Burrow at 10' per round. So that would be about 100' per minute. Or 6000' per hour!! That's a fast digging Badger!
]
And the goal of the burrowing would be?
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(03-02-2016, 08:05 PM)DM Surranó Wrote: [ -> ]The fourth option would be to dig here, deep down until he hits a cave or something. There are certainly animals that can burrow but to find the cave he needs some wild shape that could chew through solid rock...
I'm taking your suggestion.
Actually I will go with my original idea of a badger. I will update later tonight.
I know badgers can't dig through rock but Toot has a plan...
Tadger (or Boot?) digs a nice cozy hole to curl up for a nap.
Well Tadger isn't stopping. He has 7 hours in this form so he's digging until he gets tired or hits rock. An adventurer can't do more than 8 hours of travel or activity without getting fatigued so when it's time for bed the badger will dig out a side tunnel that's parallel with the surface for him to sleep in and then blocks the hole with some dirt, leaving a hole big enough for air to come inside. When he's finished, Toot curls up in a ball and sleeps the night.
In the morning Toot slowly wakes up and then yawns wide while scratching his ribs with both hands. He pulls out a dead beetle from his pack and begins contently munching on the insects head. Toot hums to himself then notices a bit of dirt between his toes. Picking it out, he looks at it carefully. When satisfied with the color and texture he sticks the luscious toe-jam in his mouth to add flavor to the beetle. Enjoying the taste very much, he widely smiles then leans back on a root with his hands behind his head and his feet put up on a rock.
Eventually Toot completes his breakfast and then gets to digging again through the dirt, searching for any caves that might lead to that thorn.
OOC - 10' burrowing speed is crazy and irrealistic but let's pretend it's just "natural"
Tadger does not leave a passable tunnel behind. Eventually the deeper he gets the harder he breathes as even air won't pass the debris he left behind with his claws. And then, there's moisture and eventually water.
He passes layers of sand, gravel and clay when he hits water about twenty to forty feet deep. The deepest safe place to dig a resting hole proves to be no more than this. His wits tell him that without passing the water he won't find any rocky formations and then finding a hole on a rocky formation that eventually enters a cavity may prove tedious at best.
"Alridey," Toot snickers to himself.
"Gotta do diss da less easier way..." He digs himself out of the hole. Shakes the soil and clay off his fur then rises up onto his hind legs. Tadger squeaks and as his body twists and shrinks to tiny size until he transforms back into his less cute self. Toot then
begins to chant [THREE! WOOT!] and after a full round he clenches his fists like he's pulling on something and suddenly
three small earth elementals grow up out of the ground.
[OoC: Casting Extended Summon Nature's ally III (Spontaneous casting 4th level spell); Duration 10rnds; Elemental Movement: 20' earthglide The three of them will Move as fast as they can to search to find the quickest way around the water table to get to the caves underground. They should be able to take run actions with their Earthglide ability.]
Earth Glide (Ex)
"Go find the quickest route through the earth, around the water to the caves underground and then return and show me where to dig!" [Spoken in Terran]