You have all been called to the counsel room with an urgent message. As you arrive a hulk of a man stands in your way. You have never seen him before, which strikes you as strange in a small camp like this. He stands in front of the door holding a massive great sword over his shoulder. HULD IT, RIGHT DER! DERS A MEEIN' EN SESHUN the man seems rather pleased with himself as he hinders your path. WAIT HERE NOW!
The sandman stops short of the bearish guard and adjusts his desert bisht . He glances at his teammates, and says curiously, "We've been summoned. Are you sure we aren't supposed to be in the meeting?"
"I remember something about our presence being required here urgently. Would seem strange that we'd have to sit around and wait." a voice came from the back of the group. The scruffy looking Tengu peered at the guard from under his hood, not certain if he could trust the man standing in front of them.
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"My companions are correct, we've been called here, and it was supposed to be an urgent matter. Please step aside."
Indeed, and I would rather hate to miss this urgent message so may we please enter? The Dhampir girl will say as she eyes the man in front of her.
@Agurah - it's mid-day but you are inside.
@Hikage - no matter how hard you look you've never seen him.
A tall man well dressed man opens the door from inside. BEAR! He slaps the giant upside the head. That's the meeting you oaf.
He turns to the group. I apologize for him, he isn't all there. Now we must talk.
He walks back into the room obviously expecting you to follow.
Inside there is a large round conference table with a map of Golarion masterfully painted on it.
The three highest ranking officers at the camp stand at the end with the man who just invited you in. Dr. Welton, a short, fat man, with small round spectacles speaks first. Thank you for coming, we have a new assignment for . An army is gathering in the tusk mountains. We don't know who and we don't know why, but they're there. An army this large could kill millions. We need to see what's going on and if possible stop or delay them.
Major General Arlor chimes in. You need to get going as soon as possible, as soon as your ready go see Simon. Any questions?
"Anyone else up there we should know about? Local monsters? Villages? Towns?"
"As Berry said. Do we have any intel on this area at all? Terrain, likely suspects, possible allies in the area?"
We have very little info on what you might find. Unfortunately we lost contact with our scouts, that's why we are sending you. The Tusk Mountains are home to the Mammoth Lords. It may be that they are the ones responsible or they may be able to help you. Our lack of intel makes this a high risk mission. be prepared for anything
Non-plussed by the lack of information, Kidhir says to himself, so, business as usual.
He nods politely to the General, "Yes, sir. We'll gear up." He leaves without another word to grab his rucksack and find Simon.
"We always strive to be, sir."
Shao claps his fist inside his hand and bows to the general.
"We will make haste at once to the Tusk Mountains then, unless there is something else you require of us?"
Simon awaits you all in a small room. We all here? Good. I assume you have already been briefed. We don't know what to expect an you will be our only eyes and ears in there. I have designed this device to help you communicate with each other and with us back here. Simon hands you each a small black metal disk with a small chain attached. He shows you how to put it on. with the disk over your eye and the chain snaked into your ear. These will allow you to see and hear through the eyes and ears of anyone else wearing one. They will also allow you to communicate telepathically with each other and me back here. Now if you have no further questions lets get you on your way.
After making sure everything was in order and putting her communication device on Agurah will look up. All ready to go Sir
Kidhir secures the communication device in one of the sealed pouches on his bandolier with a pat. He gives the ordinance man a little grief, "And I didn't get you anything. Would you like a souvenir from the Mammoth Lords?"
Hey, why not. Grab me one of those wooly mammoth things while your there.
"Could they have made this less stylish and fitting." BErry mutters to herself as she attempts to figure out the puzzle of fitting it on her head.
"Well then without further delay let's get you on your way."
Simon gather you all into a circle and hands Kidhir a metal staff.
"Everyone grab on. When you're ready to return just press this button here. And make sure you don't leave everyone behind. Now, farewell and good luck."
Simon presses the button and steps back. You feel the staff begin to hum and then grow warm, a beam of light hits each of you in the chest and then everything goes white. The last thing you see of Simon is a spear point protruding from his neck.
You open your eyes. You are standing on the peak of a mountain, below you is a wide valley. Smoke rises from over a million cook fires and the valley is packed with hide pavilions and savage men.
A shaggy man in old skins stands in front of you. A massive blade adorns his back and behind stands what appears to be a young bear cub playing in the snow.
Well it's about time you got here.
I believe we've been betrayed. I hate it when that happens. Need to figure out what exactly happened to Simon when we get back.
Shao looks at the man and begins to rise, slowly.
If not challenged, he gets to his feet and stands face to face with the man.
He doesn't challenge you. Also you don't have to stand, you are standing already.
Shao speaks to the man.
"Greetings. I must admit, I'm surprised there was someone here waiting for us."
Test 1 2 3, test 1 2 3 Hikage sent telepathically to the rest, not certain if the device worked as intended. He looked at the man in front of him slightly confused with the situation.
Agurah will be taken aback from the sudden change in area shading her eyes before looking up at the man that greeted the group. I did not recall being expected.
This is a most auspicious day. For generations your coming has been foretold and now you are here. Our saviors in this dark time. Please come with me, the elders will want to see.
<I hear you Hikage.>
"These are dark times indeed. I am Walks-in-Shadow, what is your name good man?" Hikage said with a friendly tone.
My name is Vargo Bearskin, this is my son Kell. He indicates the bear cub behind him.
Now, it is cold and i have a warm place discuss why the you are here.
Vargo speaks with a heavy Ulfen accent.
Who is this shaman you speak of? There is no-one in front of us, so I think your intel was wrong.>
[dice=Bluff for the "there is no-one here"]1d20+10[/dice]
"Thank you for your kindness sir Bearskin. But if you don't mind I think it is imperative that we check our equipment before proceeding. Something might have gone wrong with our transportation here. Some of our equipment might be missing and would in that case likely be nearby." After having said this, Hikage checked his backpack for any missing items.
Vargo nods his head and walks a few paces away. I'll give you all a moment.
Hikage replied in a serious voice <My apologies, was merely trying to figure out how well you could perceive what we were seeing. I hope you don't mind my current trust issues too much. And as you can see and hear what is going on, you will have undoubtedly noticed I bought us some time. So any intel you got on Vargo would be quite forthcoming of you.> At the same time he tried to get visual/audible input from the other headpiece.
<Got comms from unknown female. Is using Simon's headpiece I assume. Needs favor. Says the man in front of us is powerful warrior and shaman. If not killed will tear Golarion apart ... Starting with us. Talking with her, trying to figure out what is going on. As you may have noticed, I stalled for time with the search of possible missing equipment. Use this information as you see fit. Will give more intel if more received. Be on high alert. Feedback appreciated. Hikage out.>
<If that person thinks I'm going to kill a man in cold blood on the word of an unknown, untrusted source she is sorely mistaken. Her intelligence might be worth looking into, but I don't think we should proceed without knowing much more.>
Kidhir, who is not wearing his monocle, packs away the Teleport rod and slowly checks through his rucksack as Vargo leaves... playing off the Tengu's statement but puzzled by it. Trying to read the reactions of his teammates, he says very quietly, "I don't imagine Simon's last act would be to drop us in a hot zone. So - aside from the obvious problems - what's the issue? Let's speak with these folks, get the lay of the land, and then figure out our next move.... even if that is an immediate trip home."
"Sandman, you seem to have lost that fancy ear trinket" Hikage said to Kidhir quietly.
Frowning, Kidhir pulls the device and puts in only the ear-piece - hanging like an earring - and casts his thoughts to the team.
<Recon seems like a good idea. What's the delay?>
Agurah will nod her head as she receives the message, before checking her bag slowly before asking the Large man a question. [b] "Where exactly are we?"[b] She will watch the man carefully.
The sandman wracks his memory for any knowledge of how the divining capabilities of the devices would work. He projects his thoughts to each of his allies in turn.
<Understood, Hikage. I agree with your caution/questions to her. If the network is compromised ALL our speech may be known. Best to not use the devices at all until we can determine their limits. I have further thoughts on her 'mission' but will not trust them to this network. I STRONGLY suggest we stow the devices and recon. If her mission seems right, we can do it later. 'Must do it now'?> He passes a look of utter skepticism.
"Shall we go speak with the elders now?"
Berry curses and mutters.
<'Well everything just went incredibly bad very fast didn't it? Trusting no one seems to be the best idea. Let's ghost this guy and then figure out who and what else needs making dead.'>
<Killing him may be exactly what the enemy wants. I'm not wasting a man because some stranger - likely the same people who finished Simon - say 'please'. Our mission still stands - scout, assess, and then act.>
Agurah will cast information onto each of her allies <before we kill anyone we need to gather intel for all we know these are just some locals with a wacko prophocy that just happens to involve people appearing in front of them.>
Berry doesn't respond but makes no move to kill or otherwise while she assesses her gear and person.
@Kidhir - You have never used these devices before but as far as you can tell it's some sort of constant scrying.
Yes, we must hurry. Vargo turns and starts to leave obviously expecting you to follow.[/b]
<Be cautious> The woman's voice speaks to all of you now.
First good suggestion she's made. Shao thinks to himself.
Shao follows after Vargo with a look and a shrug to the rest of his group.
Kidhir pulls the device from his ear and pops it into the sealed pouch, not liking the idea of this particular hitch-hiker in his head. He follows along, asking questions, trying to suss out Vargo's motivations. "We weren't expecting such a greeting on our arrival. It's a bit much to understand that we are part of your tribe's prophecy. How do you know we are the ones foretold?"
When the skies go dark with the smoke from a thousand fires and the mountains weep blood. Five champions will descend from the heavens and fight back at the growing darkness.
Kidhir considers and scans the mountains, wondering if the thousand fires refers to the army that was allegedly gathering. "Have your people seen the thousand fires? Are they nearby?"
How long has this been going on now? Agurah will ask to try and get some more information.
How long has what been going on?
Down the path you are following you see a small grouping of wooden cabins in front of the mouth of a cave, which has been partially covered with wood and skins.
The smoke, the fires, the mountains weeping blood and what not.
They've been here for a few months, but it was only a hundred or so. A few days ago, they all just walked into the valley and set up camp.