Arastil giggles. "My you bounce back quicker than I anticipated given your groans for most of the last day. Lets go train." She puts her arms around you gently and looks seductively in your eyes. "So, what kind of training are you looking for hmm?'"
At your recommendation for a guard for Reggy, Gene perks up. Leorn nods. "Your right. Arastil may be the stealthiest member of our party but I don't think she..." Gene suddenly intervenes. "I could do it!" Her father Ashal looks like he's thinking for a moment. "It is possible. Sure why not. She has had training in the city and she is the least imposing of us but a deceptively great warrior." Gene glares at her father. "What do you mean "deceptively"? You see these muscles?" Gene shows off her tight and defined body and then flexes to show some muscle definition. "I am not deceptive about my strength!" Ashal chuckles. "Indeed you are not my dear now go and be careful." Gene runs off to find Reggy.
You return to the other two girls waiting in the wings. As the sun is disappearing you will notice their iris's are glowing green and blue. Xia's eyes are blue and Reyha's eyes are green. Both are like neon signs right now. Xia watches Gene go. "Boss must have given mission. Hope it nothing too dangerous. She only just barely a Jak-Sha."
Leorn nods and you run off to Train
You train hard. If you can come up with a spell to make from Gust and Manipulation, you may be able to add it to your arsenal. You can do this one of two ways. An INT check or your own creativity. If you chose INT you roll and I mention a spell your level can handle so long as you meet the DC. If you use creativity, the choice becomes yours and I judge weather or not it is a spell you can learn. If not then you've wasted your time on a spell you are not yet capable of casting or a spell that is simply not possible. Choose wisely. Either way, you need to make a Fort and a INT check to master the spell you've learned. Both must be successful to obtain the new spell. As you oogle Ash and the youngest Relf, you see the young one get up and run off in Reggy's last known location and Ashley returns to the other two Relven women.
You are sitting by yourself and watching the sky change colors as night begins to set. Suddenly you notice a pair of glowing green eyes just about 10 feet from you staring right at you. It is hard to make out who they belong too but eventually you notice it is one of the Relven women, the black haired one. She is on her haunches about ten feet from you staring at you with her large glowing green irises. She is sitting very still almost as if she thinks she is stealthy and you haven't noticed her regardless of your actions.
Ashley was captivated speaking with the Relvish women. When Reyha told her how old she and Xia were her eyes widened and her eyebrows shot up in surprise. But she keeps quiet for the moment, fascinated by the rest of their story. The way they spoke about battle, with such passion, made her feel that perhaps she had been too quick to give up the way of the sword. After all, her magic was new to her and could she always count on it? She had just experienced in the Dwarven town what it was like to be cut off from her element. Something to think about anyway.
Then out of the corner of her eye she notices Reggy moving off by himself and she runs over to have a quick conversation with Leorn. Watching the eager youngest Relve dash off after Reggy Ashley nods in satisfaction and makes her way back to the other two Relvish women.
Coming back, she nods at Xia's question answering "Yes, I told Leorn and none of us should be wandering off by ourselves and Gene quickly volunteered to go keep an eye on Reggy. I'm sure nothing will happen but better to be safe, right?"
Then, bringing them all back to their interupted conversation Ashely puts her hands on her hips, striking a confident smile and pose as she says saucily "Now ladies, I'll grant that you have many more years of life behind you than I do. And I understand what you are saying about making your first, um, kill, and your life of battle, BUT. I don't care how many muscles you have Xia or how good with that sword you are Reyha but you are not men. And I don't care how old are you are, ALL of us women are, and always will be, forever girls in our hearts. That doesn't mean we can't be women too, but sometimes it's Fun to be a girl! And with all these men and their damn testosterone around, I mean to make sure that the few of us girls that there are remember how great being a girl can be!"
Grinning hugely she smiles at the two she hopes will become her new friends and continues "Now, speaking of testosterone, are the rest of your Revish men really that good with, um, all types of swords?" she asks with a significant glace towards the ladies nether regions
Later, Ashley makes her way early to bed and spends another long night studying the Book of the Dead
The thing that amuses me most about the stuff your saying Ash is that she is talking to a bunch of barbaric primitives from a world where not everyone understands slang or several scientific terms such as "Testosterone." This will be an amuzing game for sure.
The thing that amuses me most about the stuff your saying Ash is that she is talking to a bunch of barbaric primitives from a world where not everyone understands slang or several scientific terms such as "Testosterone." This will be an amuzing game for sure.
It will be amusing to be sure.
To anyone that observes Trenton is blushing furiously such an odd color contrasting with his blue hair.
"Well I did mean with swords and help with magic...but I umm....uhh.." Trenton ends up stuttering getting flustered looking into her eyes and then looks down, and then blushes even harder as he realizes where he is looking then.
"Ummm we are in public...and among everyone....I am just going to shut up now" he blushes even more so looking up meeting Arastil's amused eyes.
Okay PC ate my post so I'm going to summerize
Ash - The "girls" Laugh at you. Reyha explains that there are no "girls" who have fun in their world. Being an adult is when the fun begins. But Reyha does understand your need for companionship with so many males around and is willing to be your friend. Xia just doesn't understand. As for your question about males sword training, right over their heads. Reyha does recognize what you meant from the look in your eyes and explains to Xia. Xia recommends on of the Relven men named Hallad and offers to hook you up for the night. Reyha merely rolls her eyes and walks off.
Trent - Arastil decides to train you in combat as opposed to bedroom skills. She talks you to a clearing and will teach you either a magic feat or combat feat. Your choice.
Reginald - Gene Introduces herself and explains that Leorn asked her to watch out for you. So that is what she is doing. And she aims to keep an eye on you for as long as is needed as dictated by Leorn.
Terry - You chill.
Somewhat frustrated in her lack of proper communication and that the Relvish women won't completely let their hair down Ashley nevertheless takes what she can get and accepts Reyha's friendship. Although she gives a long look to the perfectly muscled Hallad, in the end she declines a night of passion feeling more drawn to her book.
Reginald introduces himself as well, and makes slightly nervous small talk with the relvish woman. He asks her about where she's from, about what she does, about the other relves, and other such topics. Reginald is nervous, as she is both rather strange and rather attractive, but he doesn't leave.
Fist of Wind
1st level
Range: Short (25' + 5'/2 levels)
Duration: 1 round/level or until expended
Casting Time: 1 standard action
This spell unleashes a blast of wind against a single opponent. The target is affected as if by a bull rush from the caster, using twice the caster's sorcerer level for CMB.
Hopefully you guys don't mind my butting it, if so, then please just ignore the below:
I like the idea Terry but IMHO giving double caster level for CMB is a bit too strong for a 1st level spell, at least just based on similar spells (and there's a few of them like: Hydraulic Punch, Gust of Wind, Hydraulic Torrent. These usually use CL + relevant attribute bonus mod. But then again this Is Shanosuke's unique world and we're Sorcerers! after all ; )
From the title you gave the spell, it struck me that it could be a cool powered down for 1st level version of the Force Punch
Again, if this is an area I'm not supposed to be meddling in, please just let me know and accept my apologies.
Ash is right. The only problem with the spell is the CMB. I'm going to say Caster level Plus your dominate mental ability score (Your highest mental ability score) Otherwise a fine level 1 spell. Now that we got that out of the way, I need you to make a Fort save and INT check please :)
Maybe not so cool :-(.
Okay, I'm not sure what happened to Trent, he hasn't posted under any of his Aliases for a while now and I'm getting worried. We are going to move on to the next day inspite of this. Now onward.
Unfortunately you are unable to maintain the stamina to master the spell. You know how to do it, you just need to get your body used to the drain of it so you can cast it without trouble. To remedy this you must try again after 8 hours of rest.
You have made some headway. but I would not recommend 8 hours. You will have a hard enough time sleeping in the great outdoors. We'll say you spent 4 hours last night and 4 hours tonight. Your results: After studying the book some more, you have begun to understand the language of the dead to the point where it is now a fluent language for you. You can add Undead to your list of langauges :)
Gene smiles at you. "I am Eella Gene but you can just call me Gene. My father and Leorn decided that my first duty as Jak-Sha is to protect you and I will do so with my life. You are far from camp and it is possible for Drethrum to attack you. So I am here for your protection." She smiles. "I was supposed to be stealthy but that wasn't part of my training so I guess I will just stand by and keep an eye out for trouble." With that she stations herself dutifully near you. You ask your questions and she answers them studiously. She tells you that she is from her tribe just a few hours north of here Umagan. She mentions that she just recently recieved her tattoo deeming her as a Jak-Sha which is Relvish for warrior. It literally means she has made her first kill and is now allowed to fight in more frequent combat. According to her, Relves are warriors and love battle. Though they are savages by most civilizations standards, she explains that her people have the most refined combat techniques out of any race in ALL of Kellmanor. Gene also explains she spent 20 years of her life studying in a human city to become more intelligent and aid her tribe with delicate matters that brute forces and hocus pocus can't solve. Her tribe has grown much since the practice of sending select children away to study had been adopted. The problem was that it took longer for these individuals to become Jak-Sha as they had to divide their time accordingly. She spends a good amount of time talking about this until bedtime. She stations herself outside your tent for the night regardless as to weather you want her too or not.
----Day 3 of the journey to Myyrian----
----Segment 1----
The day is fairly quiet as you travel along the road. Trail rations aren't bad at all, especially compared to dwarven cuisine. You enjoy some nice scenery along the way but to what appears to be the north is beginning to get thick with gnarly and droopy looking dense trees.
During the trip Eella Gene spent most of her time talking to Reginald. "So tell me all about where you are from and your tribe of people. I told you all about mine last night and I am curious to get to know you better."
After a couple of hours travel you veer of the trail following the lizards.
Kershak turns to address you. "There are no easssy roadsss through the marsshh. Horsse are no good in here, essspessially horned horsssess. They need to be left behind. We help carry gear through the marssh. Now come."
You all begin to dismount your unicorns. Leorn then nods at the noble beast and say. "It is better this way. You have done more than your share. We will not fail you."
After distributing your gear you bid the easy trail fairwell and proceed into the marsh.
Kershak turns to you. "This wont be eassy. We still have another two days before we reach my home." Kershak leads on.
----Segment 2----
You all push on through the marsh. Bugs and nats of all forms are thick and buzzin into your eyes and ears. Some even crawl into your clothes causing a creepy tickling sensation. They also bite too. Before the night comes you are covered in bug bites. Kershak administers a salve that will help control the problem. Sleeping is miserable, the grounds is soggy and the noises of frogs and other marshland critters is loud and persistent and tarps and the like don't seem to keep the ever persistent bugs away. Few of the party are in the mood too talk. Leorn and Arastil seem the most miserable out of the group unless any of you think you could top them.
----Segment 3 Day 4 journey to Myyrian----
The Marsh on day two isn't anymore pleasant as it starts to rain. You trudge on occasionally having to wade waist deep in muck and every time you pass through the lizards go thoroughly over your bodies looking for leeches. The leeches are bad and you seem to collect a few everytime you move through muck without fail.
Cold, wet, ichy, tired, and miserable you all push on and at last you see before you the lizardfolk swamp village. The trees are as tall as skyscrappers and the walkways and houses in the trees would remind you of the Ewok village from Star Wars (For those of you who have seen it) Huts both in the trees and on the ground. "Finally" Leorn says. "We are here at last."
This is a roleplay point. Please play out your reactions to the recent events. Thank you.
-----1-----
Reginald gladly talks with Gene along the way. He tries to explain that he comes from another world, and all the technology they have there, like cars and guns and airplanes. He tells her that he didn't really have a tribe, but he lived in a city of many thousands of people. That city was in a large nation, called the United States, which had millions of people living in it. He tells her about how he was sent from home to learn as well, in a place called high school. He enjoys the company of this relvish woman, and realizes he's opening up more to her than he really has to any woman.
When the party reaches the edge of the swamp, Reginald looks warily into it, preparing himself for the hike ahead. The terrain doesn't seem very inviting, and he wonders why anyone would make such a place their home. Nevertheless, he trudges on, continuing to tell Gene about Earth as he goes.
-----2-----
Reginald tries his best to suffer through the march stoically, but by the end of the day he's worn out, dirty, extremely itchy, and miserable. He puts up his tent and tries to sleep as best he can given the conditions, though it is a long time before he actually gets rest. Before he falls asleep, however, he looks outside his tent, wondering if Gene is keeping watch over him. He wonders if she gets sleep at all.
-----3-----
If Reggy thought the march couldn't get much worse, he is proven wrong the next day. The rain causes the air to get much muggier, and now they have to wade through foetid, leech-infested swamp water. Reginald wistfully thinks, What next, wading through massive piles of dung? He doesn't chat much with Gene, instead just trudging miserably along and wondering how much farther the group has to go. When the village is finally in view, Reginald falls to his knees in front of it, thankful that they can get at least a break from all the marching.
He gets up after a few moments, looking about the place at its inhabitants. He tries to find a fire to warm up near, and dusts himself off as best he can. However, he still looks a wreck. He jokingly says to Leorn, loud enough so the others can hear it, "Man, when do we get some more horses?" He wonders at how all their soldiers can march like that and not be as exhausted at the end of the day as he is.
Act 1
--------
Aniko enjoyed the travel today. She asked sweetly and Leorn agreed to walk so she could ride Gezebelle by herself and keep pace with swift Reyha and Xia. Despite the ladies laughter the night before Ashley was still determined to bring out the girl in them and she spent much of the day telling them stories of her world and how much fun she had had living her life, being a cheerleader, and generally just being young and pretty and popular, the sometimes strange tincture of memory colouring her recollection somewhat fonder than it had really been for her.
At one point though she recalls something she had wanted to ask before "Xia, can you tell me more about the tattoos you Relves wear? What exactly do they do? Can someone who's not a Relve get one? I've always wanted a tattoo, or three. I almost got one last year but I wasn't 18 yet and I knew my parents would've killed me if I did, so in the end I chickened out and didn't get one. But I've always thought they are so cool!"
When they get to the swamp Ashley's face wrinkles up into a big YUCK! face. "We have to go through that! No way!" but her protests don't last long as she understands that there's really no other way. "Well, fine, but I'm for sure not wearing my nice silks through that!" and taking the time to get Arastil's help again and go change she comes back in her almost clean now robe, her nice silks packed away.
After a fairly exhaustive search online these were the closest images I could find to what I imagine Ashley's outfit to look like. She here #1 choice, or #2. Then there's This one, and This One are also pretty great, maybe Ashley will get them one made some day ; )
The most difficult point for her though is when she has to say good-bye to Gezbelle. Wrapping her arms around the unicorn's strong, graceful neck she buries her head in the glorious mane and weeps unashamedly. After some time she raises her head, dries her eyes and says bravely "I'll never forget you Gezebelle! And we shall meet again, I promise! You stay safe until then, ok! Promise me!" After the unicorn's reaction she gives one last hug and finally lets go, following the others into the swamp.
Act 2
---------
Pulling up the hood of her robe to help protect her from the damnable insects Ashley suffers in silence for the most part although the occasional expletive is heard from beneath her hood and a few times. At one point though, frustrated almost to the point of insanity, she screams out "Get off me you f@&!ing bugs!" and the air in her immediate vicinity erupts into blazing fire blasting into cinders all the insects with 5' feet of her. She and everyone else in the party stop in shock and no one speaks until she says weakly "I...I'm sorry, I...I don't know how I did that." after which she collapses in a dead feint.
Act 3
--------
Much quieter and more withdrawn than is her norm, Ashley spends most of the next day completely in silence, not even complaining about the bug bites anymore. When they do finally reach the lizards camp though she sighs in relief. Then s strange thing happens. Something seems to yank her hood back and everything shoots out of her bag, tumbling to the ground several feet away, her nice silks ending up in the mud. "What the hell!! Why do weird things like this keep happening all of a sudden?" she asks out loud, to no one in particular as she moves to pick up her things.
Bringing the now soiled silk over to the Delvish woman she asks "Arastil, can you help me with this? I wouldn't want to ruin it while cleaning it. I wish there was some way to get the dirt out without having to use any of this probably stinky swamp water."
EDIT lol Ashley don't worry I have perfect solution for everyone and their water needs lol handy having a water mage around lol one Silk cleaning and drinkable water coming up ;)
You didn't catch my flu did you. That sucker also took a toll on my ability to post. I hope your feeling better soon.
----The Lizards----
The lizards are calm and quiet. This is simply a walk in the park for them.
----Dwarves----
They are a tough bunch none of the dwarves complain and push on as though nothing is wrong. Dunnely has a bit to say about the "waist deep" puddles of marsh water as it comes practically up to his nose. Other than that, there is little complaint from them.
----Delves----
Arastil is in an extremely crabby mood. Even Trent wont be able to console her. She compains about the bugs, heat, muggy, filthy, and even the men with her as the delven males seem to be oblivious to the happenings around them. She shows no signs of relief as you arrive in the village. Just adds more complaints.
----Relves----
Most of the Relves are a tough bunch. They don't complain much about the trek. The only exception are Reyha and Gene. The two learned Relves have had a bit too much of a social life to tough out this sort of thing and also joining the complaining.
----Leorn----
Leorn is struggling quite a bit. He doesn't complain much but he says nothing at all. Leorn is pushing with every erge of his being just to keep moving forward.
Now onto some things to add to your adventure through the marsh
You learn from Reyha and Arastil if you ask her, provided you asked before you enter the swamp, about the relation between Delves and Relves. It is not a pleasent story. Furthermore Arastil denies nothing. You learn that the Relves were a breed of elf created by the delves as surface dwelling warriors. The Relves were breed and enslaved to act as muscle to throw at their foes as fodder. They were tortured and tormented by their masters. One day the Relves rebelled against the Delves and managed to earn freedom for a time. Then the Delves attempted to wipe them out by mindwiping all the Delven males. The Relves were instrumental in the defeat of the Delves in the final battles. There has been a long standing unease between the two groups but from the sound of things, the two groups mostly don't care anymore.
When you ask Xia about the Tattoos she looks puzzled. "Why would anyone simply be given a tattoo? No meaning or accomplishment? No wonder they hold no power. You see. Our tattoos are not decorations. They are a symbol of our achievements. That also grant us power relating to our feats of strength. They are not given out so lightly. If you so choose, we can have Ashal induct you into our ways but first you must adopt a combat style and a personal weapon. Then you must go through a ritual of acceptance. Lastly you must slay your first foe in combat. Then you can get a tattoo. The mark of the Jak-Sha. Then you will be a girl no more. From there. Tattoos come with achievements." Reyha looks at you and laughs. "I will attempt to explain. You see. There is a lot of physical tempering you have to do. You have the proper build, you just need a fighting style to refine. Then once you have demonstrated an appropriate level of mastery, you must then undergo a test of endurance with one of the warchiefs. Then you must kill an opponent in combat. You have to use your style to beat him and it has to be a smart opponent, not a dumb animal. The tattoos we have grant us with many benefits. Most simply protect us in various way but the tattoo of the Jak-Sha enables us to focus our attacks better and improves our ability to strike our foe. Then you get others by completing a variety of accomplishments. Usually combat related but some are based simply on skills will apply also. That make sense?"
-----
As you trek on and pass out the one day, silently and stoically carries you the rest of the day.
At the Swamp Arastil is too cranky to talk.
As you trege with Gene through the swamp, she has a difficult time with all the bugs and the muck. She mentions a bit about why. Apparently she has only returned to her tribe from city life recently to finish her Jak-Sha training. She only just earned her first tattoo a few days back before they joined you. She does mention that the talking helps ease the suffering of this discomfort and she stands, well sits I should say, vigil outside your tent keeping watch. No one bothers to tell her not too. She toughs it out but you can almost feel the misery on her. She hates the swamp but she tries to remain positive all the same.
-----
At the village Leorn doesn't respond to your sarcasm.
Since Gene mentioned that the talking is helping her, Reginald will continue to talk to her the next day, despite feeling so worn out and miserable. He admits to himself, talking with her is improving his mood as well, though that by no means should indicate that Reggy is in a good mood.
@Ashley Oops. Was in such a to go to bed I didn't reread the post. It was Leorn
@Reggy yes I will allow you to switch your domain
----Before----
Trenton spends quiete some time training with Arastil going through the forms she showed him as well as practixcing the magic she drilled into his mind. Water became easier and easier to manipulate and he wondered when Ice would be as easy as this before long.
When he walks back into camp he is stripped to the waist in exhaustion not even paying attention to the others. His torso riddled with the bruises he'd collected from Arastil's "instructions". Though anyone really looking would notice odd marks upon his skin, tjhey appear to be...teeth marks?
Quickly he goes to sleep alsmot curious if Arastil would join him but quickly passes out oblivious to what goes on about him.
----1----
Trenton frowns slightly at having to leave their mounts but shurgs knowing their guides would know best as they live in this region. He quickly adjusts the sword secured at his waist, the thing almost becoming a part of him especially after the serious bouts of training with Arastil. He quickly takes a position near Arastil if not immediately at her side a respectable distance near her.
---2---
Trenton...hated swamps, he hated the smell, the bugs, the muggyness, the heat that never seemed to go away he just plain hated it. Though after the outburst of power from Ashley maybe he decided someone hated it more than him. He smiles to himself slightly looking over to Arastil and wisely doesn't comment noticing her equal annoyance with their surroundings.
When they camp Trenton noticing the mucky water beig their only source for water politely offers to create some pure water to drink. With that said He spends quiete some time concentrating willing the energy to flow out of him pooling up between his hand and steers it to funnel down into a flask, splinting the water evenly for each party so none went without.
Huh I guess these powers can be used for aid as well as fighting. Makes you almost wonder if I will ever fit in? he thinks to himself as he smiles tiredly hoping his efforts helped.
-----3------
When they finally reach the camp Trenton feels the unease of the swamp leech away, somewhat. Though he had to admit the land did prove a natural defense to these people, he for one would hate to have to try and conquer them. Though if one had the magic Xivasar had, Guess you wouldn't have to siege them as the magic takes control of them for you, that is plain evil no honor
Having stayed close to Arastil unless she sent himn away for various momments when she grew irritated with his person he couldn't help but over hear Ashley's concern over her clothes.
"Umm Ash..if you want I can produce some water for you to clean them with and you Arastil, I mean it would just be like last night. Would you want me to try?"
Segment 1:
Terry awakens slowly from exhausted slumber. Oh, man...that stuff takes it out of you. It feels like I tried to free-climb the Sears Tower with my brain. He's not very talkative as the party prepares to set out, occasionally rubbing his head as he eats a hurried breakfast. "Leorn? Did the old-time sorcerers leave any notes or anything behind?"
Throughout the day he gets a bit more animated, his head not hurting quite so much. He'll find Kershak and ask, "Do your people get out of the swamps much? The wizard who brought us here didn't tell us about your people, but then he didn't really have time to tell us much before...well, before we were split up."
On leaving the unicorns behind, Terry looks awkwardly at the one he's been riding, waves his hand, and says, "Thanks, hor-unicorn, I mean. Good luck and stay safe."
Segment 2:
Terry is back to being quiet and withdrawn throughout the night and the day's march. He isn't going to try to get his new spell again; conditions are too unpleasant. Instead, he'll practice the manipulation spell for a little while, then see if he can find a swamp tree like a cypress or tamarack to sleep in. This ground is ridiculous...for some of us, at least. "Hey, Trent...how you doing at pushing water out of things?
"And we're going to be out in this for another day! Kershak, how do your people survive this? Is the village at least on dry ground?"
Segment 3:
Fscking wonderful...leeches. Wonder how the dwarves are holding up here? If it's waist-deep on me, it must be up to their noses! Terry stifles an inappropriate chuckle at the thought. It's about the only cheerful thought he's had since the party entered the swamp; he's been overreacting to the slightest issue and getting angry for little or no reason as the party heads deeper into the swamp.
Trenton turns looking ovwer to Terry curious about his question. "Ummm well I haven't really practiced that portion of magic. Though..." He looks quickly over to Arastil but knowing her mood of late decides not to bother her. "I suppose I could try it sometime I mean most things contain water so maybe I could access it I dunno. I will have to try it sometime. Maybe when we arn't covered in swamp matter. " He grins and then looks down to the water skin he was filing and stops the flow of magic letting the water trickle out before offering it to Terry.
[b]"Want actually clean water? I mean it's made from magic but I have tasted seems good actually course you can always try collecting some of the swamp water and boiling it. I hear that works. "[b] he says jokingly not even trying to imagine all the things swimming around them.
Terry takes the water gratefully. "That hits the spot, thanks. You're right--I don't want to think too hard about what's crawling around in this muck. The prophecy about us probably doesn't say anything about us getting hurt in a swamp and dying of sepsis, though." He chuckles ruefully. "Sorry, I'm still not sure about--" He waves his hand in a gesture that takes in the swamp, the delves, the relves, Leorn, the lizard men, and the dwarves. "--all this. Except for those couple of days after we got our powers, we haven't really stopped moving since we got here. I know, it hasn't been all bad. At least you got lucky, right?"
Her voice sounding grateful but unsure, Ashley answers Terry "Well, yes, I guessthat could work. People must have washed silk by hand before there were delicate cycles on the wash machine I suppose , but, well Arasti, isn't there just some way...magic...all the dirt out of my outfit?" she finishes to the Delve while waving her hands in a swooshy gesture.
Terry asks Leorn about the notes. Leorn nods. "Yes I have some of them. Yalm told me to give them to the high sorcerer in the Melven city. He would be able to train you from there. Unfortunately the notes are a bit advanced for now and I do not know how to interpret them the way Yalm did. I may ask Arastil to look at them, perhaps she knows."
Terry asks Kershak about the lizardfolk ans Kershak answers. "We do not leave the swampss often. Few of my kind sspeak in your tongue. We prefer to sstay away from developed ssitiess."
At Ash Arastil says in a frustrated tone "We use a special alchemical soap and wash it by hand." She reaches into her pack and pulls out a vial and tosses it to Ash. "Good luck finding clean water in this dump. " She says bitterly and she trudges on.
Kershak leads you all to a longhouse on ground level. Inside you find a hardwood floor and places to sit and finally relax. The room you are in is very large. Wooden stools and some wood surfaces like tables are all over the place. There are also a good deal of hanging baskets of herbs around the room. Lastly and most importantly it is dry and not so stuffy in here. You feel like you can breath for the first time since entering this miserable swamp.
Kershak's men disperse and leave the building. Other than your comrades, this building has no other attendants in it. "Thiss iss the guesst housse." Kershak states. "You resst here. I will find our head Sshaman and inform him of your arrival. You will likely receive dinner soon as well." With that Kershak leaves.
The rest of the party begin to relax and clean of their gear using buckets of what appears to be "drinking" water, if you can call green murky water fit for drinking. The dwarves really go to town rinsing all the mud off them as they are the most filthy......not that they were clean before going into the swamp that is. At least the mud seems to mask their original body odor.
The four Delven bodyguards stand at attention as Arastil uses her waterskin water to clean off.
The Relves uses the swamp water to clean themselves too. Of all of them Reyha seems the most upset. "I cannot believe we had to go through that! One of those miserable lizards could have at least carried me!" Gene rolls her eyes. "Hey listen up. We all suffered equally and there is no use in crying about what we can't fix."
Dunnely chuckles. "Pathetic. Even the wild elves can stand to get dirty hehe." Suddenly one of the Relven males gets up and draws his sword and approaches Dunnely with hostile intent. "How dare you talk to our woman like that you filthy little man!" Dunnely reacts quickly pulling his pistol out of it's waterproof tarp he kept it in and aims it right at the warrior. The Relf stops in his tract staring straight at the weapon. "Don't try it sunny." Dunnely says. Suddenly other relves get and aggressively approach. The dwarves quickly arm themselves also and rise to meet the Relves. The two groups are on the verge of a violent engagement right now.
Just as this trouble is beginning to unhold, Leorn slumps over and passes out. The two groups do not seem to notice and seem as though they would attack each other in a moment.
Trenton grimaces looking around at everyone, sighs and then after looking to Arastil, Leorn and the others for help calmly walks in between the two groups and looks to the dwarf leader then to the Relvish man.
"Stop this please! This isn't going to help your people! Look I know the last few days have been bad with trudging through the swamp and all but we just need a little more time then we will be out of here. I am sorry we are dragging you all along on this but this is important. We have already lost a dear friend of ours and I will not stand lose anymore." He says calmly looking back and forth between the two groups.
Diplomacy
Turning to the dwarf he turns his whole body towards the gun, one of the scariest things he had done in his young life and stares him in the eye.
"Are you going to shoot me Dunnely? Are you going to shoot Reginald,Terry, and Ashley as well?" He turns then and looks to the relvish man holding the sword.
"And you brave elf, will you strike us down in this first step towards saving your land?"
He shakes his head suddenly sad, "This is stupid, if we can't even walk through a swamp and get dirty what right have any of you to be here with us? Tell me that Dunnely master of dwarfs. Tell me Wild elf. That evil lord trying right now to conquer the world enslaving everyone is laughing at us. Your making it easy for him, do you want that? Do you want to just keep having petty squabbles because of some jest, some mud and water? Dunnely you might as well shoot me now if we come to that cause there is no reason to go on trying to save a world that can't even save itself." Trenton finishes then by crossing his arms his lips pressed together tightly clearly having said what he wanted. Quite alot actually more than anyone but Arastil would have heard him say all together.
Reginald thought of interceding, but since Trent seems to have done a good job of it, he'll stay out of it, instead going to Leorn and seeing what's wrong with him. Did he faint away from exhaustion, or something else?
In any case, he'll prop Leorn up into a more comfortable sitting position against a hut or tree nearby. He'll then go back to the rest of the group.
Ashley frowns at the spectacle of the battling egos. A part of her flares in anticipation of the conflict and violence but she harshly stamps it down. About to intervene, she stops as surprisingly TRENT is the first one to speak up for peace. She is surprised even more when he words of peace flow so eloquently.
Shaking her head softly in wonder at how many sides to themselves each person has, she instead moves over to Leorn, kneeling down beside him and putting his head on her shoulder. Looking to Reggy with concern as the young man seems to do an excellent job of checking Leorn over she asks "What's wrong with him?". In the meantime she dips a cloth in a little bit of Trent's clean water and tries to wipe and cool Leorn's brow with it.
Terry stands up next to Trent, facing down the dwarves and relves. What am I doing? This is fscking nuts! Any one of these guys could kill me without breaking a sweat! But I can't back down now--Trent's right. Trying to sound calm, he says quietly "What he said. We've got few enough allies without you turning on each other when things are only inconvenient. What'll you do when Drethrum opens the gates and looses Hell's fury on us? When Xivasar sends his armies against us? Long time ago, a smart guy at a bad time said, 'We have to hang together, or we'll be hanged separately.' True then, truer now."
Dunnely stares deep into your eyes Trent. If you didn't know any better, you'd think he was toying with the idea of actually shooting you. The Relf you are stopping looks to be on the brink of uncontrollable rage. Dunnely speaks. "Ya gots guts kid. I good enough ta where I can put a bullet through ye an into the guy behind ye wiout killin ye. Seems ya could stand ta have a near death experience er two. But yer point is made. I put away ma weapon when he does."
Ashal looks at the angry Relf. "Galad calm. The boy is right. We have no business getting worked up over the words of a dwarf. I know how you feel but now is not the time. Relax and sit down.
The relf identified as Galad takes a deep breath and glares hard at Dunnely. [b]"You better watch what you say from now on dwarf. I wont tolorate any insult to the Jak-sha. Got that?" With that he puts away his sword and storms off. Ashal breathes a heavy sigh and also glares at the dwarf for a moment before returning to his seat. The dwarves also relax and Dunnely stows his weapon. "That much anger I know he'll try again. Thing is, it WONT be all his choice. They should've left that one behind. Dunnely looks at Trent and Terry. "You need some work. Yer alright bet ya could be better. I'm gonna have ta start beatin some mental prowess into to ya lot at some point." Dunnely takes his seat.
Ash you can easily sense Leorn's exact body temperature. It is 106 degrees. That is deadly. Both of you can discern that somehow Leorn has caught a fatal disease, probably from the swamps.
Trenton slowly takes a small sigh of relief looking to Terry gratefully before looking over to where Arastil had gone too, he wondered what she thought of all this. Well least I didn't die or least get shot from what the dwarf said, how could you even do that? he wonders dreamily as if coming out of a fog his mind rushing to catch up to the events that have just swirled over him.
Reginald stays by Leorn's side, a concerned look clearly visible on his face. He calls to the lizardfolk leader, "Kershak, is there a healer in the village? Leorn needs some attention." He knows there isn't a whole lot they can do for Leorn without medications, and so hopes the lizardfolk have a more qualified doctor.
Instanty worried to the point of panic Ashley's mind is in a whirl for a moment. Her mother was a doctor and so the young girl knew very well how deadly such a temperature was, and how even if it wasn't fatal, that it could cause brain damage. Nothing could happen to Leorn! He was their last link back to their own world and he was their guide, without him they would soon surely be lost in this world, literally and figuratively.
That amazing fact that she could even sense his temperature was not lost on her either and an idea suddenly occurred to her, not having any idea if this would work or not, the young Fire sorceress begins to try and absorb some of Leorn's excess heat back into her own body. Not wanting to take her chances, she also calls out for help "Trent! Come quick! Leorn is burning up and we need to get his temperature down as quickly as possible. I'm going to try and absorb some heat from him, but, I dunno, could you like maybe, cool him somehow at the same time?"
After that, all her focus and concentration is on helping the deadly ill elf.