Joli zips past Purpose, getting in a protective line in front of Toby. He sizes up the fish folk, seemingly a perfect blend of himself and Silt, and readies an attack should they charge.
* I presume that a 5' push with 10' reach would interrupt a charge.
Purpose Creche's steady wooden limbs keep the bowstring taught and immobile. I did not know Cedar spoke their language. I should apologize for not consulting him in addition to Sil'tchaak.
Silt points at the speaker with his spear, translating aloud:
They say they steal us and we look good. They steal others too. He pauses a heartbeat. They say leader won't be pleased.
He mutters, Must want us for lunch.
Still pointing, Silt yells in Aquan:
Silt begins casting a full-round spell.
Forgot my knowledge check! I didn't think that post actually went through. He also 5' steps towards the water.
Skum.
The blue one, spotting Silt going for the water, leaps in and swims toward the locathah. It looks poised to attack.
They yell out in Aquan, "Come with us and find out!"
Cedar
Silt
Purpose
Joli
Blue fish person
Toby
Yellow fish person
Red fish person
"I don't want to be stolen."
Toby steps to get a clear shot around the pier and takes aim. Water begins to visibly leak from his pores as he fires, his blast traveling farther than you've seen it go before.
The yellow one steps forward and Purpose unleashes an arrow, easily striking the creature. Yellow in return hurls a trident at Toby.
The red one moves to the water to cover the distance more quickly.
Joli's action did not trigger.
Silt
Joli
Cedar Your summoned creature has two turns counting the first turn!
Blue fish person
Toby
Purpose
Yellow fish person
Red fish person
Purpose Creche skids to a halt in the sand, nocks an arrow, tracks the skum's movement, and looses the projectile towards the creature's exposed flank.
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Silt's spell is complete, and he grows large. He swims deeper into the surf, circling around the Skum and gurgling in Aquan.
No. I will put your broken teeth on a warm rock in a rass-berry field — He strikes out at red from the deeper water —
— to grin forever at the sun!
Joli's mouth gapes a little as Silt becomes SILT. That mouth could fit two of me... I'm sure glad he prefers to chew on plants. His reverie doesn't last long, though. "Cedar, might Mitzi and friends want to join me here?" He moves up to the last land-lubbing skum, rapier in hand and tongue ready to lash out.
Silt demolishes one with a single blow! Sal the squid wraps another up in his tentacles.
Joli moves in and lashes out, forcing the skum backward with the force of his attack.
The blue one bites at Sal from the grapple.
Purpose lets loose his arrow at Yellow, and the skum grins ominously as blood starts to drip.
Silt
Joli
Cedar
Blue fish person
Toby
Purpose
Yellow fish person
Red fish person
Toby moves up the beach a bit, keeping Joli out of his line of fire. Water continues to leak from his pores as he fires again at yellow.
Toby misses again with the blast of water. Yellow moves back in and tries to tear Joli apart.
Silt
Joli
Cedar
Blue fish person
Toby
Purpose
Yellow fish person
Red fish person
Silt swishes forward and attempts to stab the grappled Skum.
Silt finishes off the blue one!
Silt
Joli
Cedar
Blue fish person
Toby
Purpose
Yellow fish person
Red fish person
Toby, frustrated at his repeated misses, yells as the water leaking from him swells to rivulets. He seems to gather in the air around him in a deafening display of light and sound, then unleash the power into a blast at the yellow skum.
Toby's blast finally strikes true and the last skum collapses.
They don't carry much gear (a trident each), but one of them has a pouch with a map.
The map clearly shows the outline of Ancorato, the island that you're on. In addition to a few terrain landmarks, there is a symbol of a tower, the one that you spotted from the hill. There's a glyph written next to it.
Joli waves his whistle stick in the air and touches his wound. He jumps over to Toby and offers aid.
[b]"Well, it seems we were right. What does that say, I wonder?"
"Thanks, Joli."
Toby seems to relax as the magic knits most of his wounds together . He closes his eyes for a moment, taking deep, calming breaths, and the water leaking from his pores subsides.
Once he's calmed himself, Toby glances at the map.
"Huh. It's a map."
Silt looms above, peering at the map.
A piece of hide, like a land-whale's. But evil words instead of symbols branded.
He rotates a bloody molar between two fingers. To throw it back waves: useless. It would be found again in strange times or deep places, to point the way here. Instead, let us roast it slowly over hot coals, and bury the ash in Karl's bone-pile.
Having seen to Toby, Joli examines those skum who are merely unconscious. "Shall we interrogate them? I’d like to know how many friends they have. Whom they’ve captured."
"It could be Jalaijatali can share that sigil's meaning with me after we sing to each other this evening." He shrugs and frowns at the skum. "The charau-ka would take my people into slavery. Or eat them. Or both. I'm inclined to be harsh with these skum if they're the same sort of people. But let us give them the chance to set things right, by telling us what they know."
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Silt picks up the nearest Skum and tries to think back to what they said at the beginning of the encounter.
… won't the leader be pleased when we bring them back!
He gives them a shake.
You said "the leader won't be pleased" if we are brought back. Who is leader? Why does leader not want us?
He squints closely at the Skum. Yes… I should go to this leader. I will personally tell them you sent us. Leader will be very angry with you for bringing us… yes. Or perhaps, if you tell me all you know, then I will tell your Leader someone else sent us.
He tilts his head. And also, if you help, I may not put your ghost to forever rest in the warm sunshine, wandering mazes of sweet berries and green grasses. He skakes the Skum one more time. Then again… I may do this anyway.
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The creature smiles, ”You will meet the leader soon,” and lunges forward to bite Silt.
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To forever rass-berries with you!
Purpose Creche carefully watches the unexpected flow of water from Toby's body; its waxing when he releases a burst of light and sound, and now its waning as the young rougarou calms himself.
A question for another time.
He shuffs across the sand to the fallen skum, stoops, and grabs the map. He drapes the odd material over the curve of his bow, holding the other end between splayed fingers.
"I don't know what it says. But that," he says, tapping the tower symbol, "is what we saw from the plant creature's hill." He tilts his head, bird-like, towards Joli. "I hope that Iggi and crickets and water will help you read this."
—
His head snaps around at the skum's sudden attack. For a second, the smell of hot iron fills the air around him, and then black coat billows and gouts of sand spray across the beach—he dashes with uncanny speed under Silt's now enormous legs and skids to a stop beside the skum, the glowing Azlanti blade already driving towards their body.
The group easily dispatches the last skum, and is left to wonder what awaits at the tower. The night may be an anxious one.
The next morning, the group sets off in the direction of the tower. The day is warm, and the sun is bright, but the journey is relatively uneventful for most of the day. As the sun just begins to set, the group reaches a clearing.
In a grassy field pockmarked with piles of fallen stone and sparse trees stands a monument that is relatively free from damage. A path of broken white marble leads to it, and the grass is curiously cut and edged away from it. The monument itself is a smooth marble disk, about thirty feet in diameter, and marked with representations of the moon. A semicircular row of thirteen columns surrounds northern side on a curved marble base, the ends of which have broken off and subsided into the ground. Two adjacent columns near the center are broken and the lintel between them is sundered. Two curved stone benches sit before th semicircle on either side of the path, and two stone buildings lie to the north.
Two statues sit on the benches, and they turn to look at you.
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"Huh. Astronomical stuff. Look, see, that middle moon, the big one, is a new moon, just like we have right now!" Turning to point at the columns, Toby adds "And those 13 columns. Just like the 13 planets! And broken columns for the missing planets, Damiar and Iovo!"
Huh, who knew Grandma's stories would come in handy?
Joli prays that night by the shore, asking Jalaijatali for comprehending ears. Later, he repeats his prayer in a hum that makes the map's writing clear.
"Ah, nothing we did not understand. 'Bring the prisoners here.' So there we'll go."
He frets a bit as he considers the war that the party will face. This will not be a gentle battle for peace. These are enemies. He prays further to Jalaijatali, asking her for magic to more powerfully harm his foes.
* * *
"They worshipped Acavna here. I believe the Azlanti worshipped her. She stood for battle and the moon."
The statues rise up, clearly responding to Joli's comment, or at least, one word.
What everyone who doesn't speak Azlanti hears: "Acavna! Blah blah blah Acavna! Blah blah blah blah. Blah blah blah?"
Purpose Creche stops a safe distance from the clearing with its columns limned purple and crimson by sunset. "More ruins. More to learn." His mind spirals inwards, focusing on the memory of an ember floating skyward, until the blades of grass stand out crisp against the skyline.
Steady steps bring him into the space. He nods curtly at Tobi's statements. "Damiar and Iovo are present in one sense. Now rocks floating in the void between worlds."
An aura of transmutation. Like the illusion in the goblins' clearing.
"Also correct, Joli."
He winds his way around the columns, his senses alert and absorbing every possible detail, then turns to the statues. "And these. Ah. Astounding." He unfurls a finger towards the figures. "Celedons. Made by gods. Eternal guardians of sacred sites. Faultless servants of their deities. Which means—"
The celedons animate, and Purpose Creche goes stock still. Every fiber of his beings bends to analyze the ancient constructs: he parses their movements, their garments, their words and cadence. He waits a beat, then begins simultaneous translation. His voice is louder than usual, a gust of wind rather than its usual whisper.
"Oh, look, Ariel! More mortals have come! We can spread the word of Acavna!"
"Yes, Acavna! You have come to learn about Acavna! I am Ariel, and this is my sister Urlana. We have so much to teach you! The last one, she left before we could finish her lessons and never came back. Did she send you here?"
He resumes motion and takes a step towards them, speaking as soon as the celedons cease, not waiting for any response from his companions.
"I will learn everything you can teach. Anything about Acavna. About when you were made. About Azlant before its ruin." His mind reviews innumerable questions, neural digits fanning a blizzard of mental pages, considering each, and saving for later all but one.
"Ariel. Urlana. You say 'the last one.' I do not think she sent us. Who is she? Please describe her."
In the gap between speech, a portion of the wyrwood's mind treads a spiraled iron path, open to messages beyond surf and soil.
While speaking, he reaches into the inner pocket of his coat and removes the ancient Azlanti wayfinder; another question to return to.
Joli whispers a prayer to Jalaijatani. "Won't you teach me the meaning of these words on the breeze? That I might be your embodied prayer at all times?" He waits for further translation by his smarter friend.
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Silt rubs his bleeding nose, and drags the Skum off into the Southern Woods. He passes a crooked sign, that reads
----
Enemie Bones Welcome
RassBuries KEEP OUT
----
The click-claw echoes eerily from the woods for several hours.
He returns to the village empty-handed, and pleased with the results. He considers saddle designs, producing several sketches.
****
Later that evening, he takes a pouch of small, sharp objects off to the raspberry field where the illusory image blathers on. He returns, again, empty-handed.
****
Silt wakes before sunrise and meditates for another hour after prepping his spells.
Karl accompanies the group on their journey, following the click-claw politely, patiently waiting wherever Silt stomps the earth three times.
****
As Purpose translates and asks his questions, Silt grumbles:
Learning is long… there are slaver skulls to crush. Like evil rass-berry pods bursting underfoot.
Farther, these may have let skum, whipping weeping friends, come and go. We trust?
|
Cedar eyes the Celedons with curiosity.
”I don’t know about trusting them yet,” he says. ”But they have survived a long time. Whether they’re in league with these skum or not, they may know some things about this island and about the tower we’re heading to. Not to mention I’m curious about who their recent pupil was. I think Purpose should try to get what info he can from them.”
Cedar smiles at Silt. ”That being said, I don’t want to hang around for a lengthy history lesson either.”
|
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Previously, on a day when nothing else much happened, Cedar is sketching in his hammock, enjoying the breeze though the kelp curtains, when Silt comes home.
”Silt, glad you’re back. I couldn’t help but notice your sign up in Karl’s field. It got me thinking. I mean, what do I know about raspberries, but have you considered that maybe raspberries can’t read?”
Cedar gives Silt a wry smile and climbs out of the hammock
”Maybe we need something more than just a sign. I’ve been drawing up some plans for traps of various kinds. We could put some around the field. Maybe even around the house. They might help keep us safe from raspberries or chokers or who knows what else.”
Silt considers.Yes… vile berries no doubt delight in tresspasss. Rass-berries may not stop until the whole island is covered — tuber to treetop! He slams a fist into a palm. It must be prevented.
Fidgeting with his hat for a moment, he continues: Dripping from Karl's pretty incisors is a lovely spice. A smoke of burning hair and melting tendon. While pleasant, this acid also scorches marauding seedlings. A natural antidote.
Looking out the window, Silt considers. But how can we make Karl mendable to sharing?
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Cedar scratches his bearded chin in thought.
”I could certainly try to arm a trap with some of Karl’s acid. Then anyone, or any raspberries, who step in the trap would get burned. We’d of course have to get it from him first.”
Cedar looks around the room for any useful objects that might be on hand.
”We could take a bottle or a jar, then make a kind of lid out of a thin slice of meat, and when Karl’s fangs bite into it the acid would drip down into the jar. What do you think? I don’t know how agreeable Karl would be. One of us might have to sit on him while the other presses a bottle to his fangs. Unless you’ve got another idea?”
Silt considers. Karl may cooperate… I'll procure what is needed.
After spending the rest of the morning getting old meat and some large jars, Silt brings along rope.
They pass the sign to Karl's glade; Silt straightenes it. He kneels down and ties the rope to the meatjar, then points up into a nearby tree.
Climb this tree, and lean out on that branch. I will lure Karl here. If he gets angry, leap down onto his back!
Without waiting for an answer Silt strides several paces forward, and tosses the a hunk of meat into the sunshiny glade. The grasses vibrate; hunks of dirt fly into the air.
Silt waves anoher hunk of meat in the air — Karl comes running up to him and snatches away his prize.
Silt clicks the click-claw. Karl follows him away from the glade, under the tree. Silt casts guidance, and proffers the jar.
At first, Karl seems enticed by the meat-jars, but then he chitters angrily, and rears up, picers pointed angrily down.
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Cedar, taking a look at the branch, has a moment of uncertainty but then decides he’d rather be in a tree than on the ground if something goes wrong.
He climbs up and watches Silt, with seeming confidence, attempts to extract the acid from Karl.
”Looking good,” Cedar says from his perch. ”I think you did it.”
But then Karl rears up angrily and Cedar curses.
”Silt, get out of there! I’ve got him!” Cedar drops down onto Karl.
And lands squarely on Karl’s back while Karl hisses and spits in anger.
”Settle down buddy! Silt, do something!”