Pip strums Lucille idly and takes in the surroundings
Performance:
Perception:
Tanuki:
"Wow. That's strange music; strange, but good. Where did you learn that?"
Nothing much amiss; no stalking enemies to be seen.
Pip shrugs
"Oh, here and there. I have a rambling foot, and lately we have traveled far and with strange beings.."
Strums Lucille
"Roads go ever ever on,
Over rock and under tree,
By caves where never sun has shone,
By streams that never find the sea;
Over snow by winter sown,
And through the merry flowers of June,
Over grass and over stone,
And under mountains in the moon.
Roads go ever ever on
Under cloud and under star,
Yet feet that wandering have gone
Turn at last to home afar.
Eyes that fire and sword have seen
And horror in the halls of stone
Look at last on meadows green
And trees and hills they long have known."
He claps, and snorts in jubilation.
Then he starts howling along with the music; it's atrocious.
"They're masters of the sword,.......and thieves to boot. Often they are bizarre; they are as men with heads of crows, and wings......some have heads like men and long long noses.
I think they're usually a real pain in the ass."
“Oh, I’m nothing like a tengu then ... my head and nose are completely normal.”
He squints his eyes; considering your nose....
Elgan, after chatting amiably with their new 'friend' for a while, gives up trying to catch anything with the makeshift equipment. HE makes his way to the edge, leans over, and sticks his head in the water.
Startled by Beldan's sudden grab, Elgan pops back up, a fish in his mouth.
"Msurry." He says, holding it out to the others.
"Didja' wan' dis wun? Dere's plenny udders." He nods at the stream.
noodlin with yer hedd......
"I hope you're going to cook that before you eat it Elgan," says Beldan. "We don't want our new friend thinking we're all uncivilised by eating raw fish ..."
"hmm.....sometimes I cook food,...."
he says.
Anything you guys wanna do? Night falls.....the tanuki starts to build a campfire in a clearing, on the side of the bridge you approached from.
“Do any dangerous creatures or bandits or anything hang about near here?” Beldan asks. “We can share our camp if you like – safety in numbers and all.”
"Yes........oni, and other things.
There are kaboukisamurai about these parts.
Though the central human authority is somewhat thuggish, they nonetheless allow villainous robberknights some leeway and safe harborage hereabouts."
"They usually know better than to mess with a full grown bull tabuki though, who's gained his full bean bag. Nonetheless, I'll share your company."
"Cook?... Aw alrigh'. If'n yew insist." Elgan gives in with relative good grace. But eagle-eyed Pip sees the druid wink at Altai.
"I'm not too worried about things that go bump in the night - the mansion is extradimensional and its entrance is both invisible and locked. Claw stands guard on the inside, of course."
Altai wipes fish sauce from his face, and casts the requisite spells mid-yawn. "'Night, all. By the way, I'll have some newfangled divinations up and running tomorrow concerning Beldan's fancy sword. Should be interesting."
Pip chats with their new friend
I like collecting tales of the places I visit. Would you like to swap some stories before retiring?
Pip chats with their new friend
I like collecting tales of the places I visit. Would you like to swap some stories before retiring?
I need to think something up.....
Did Altai wanna.....walk outside in the pitch black and do some astronomy?....
Beldan will head out with him.
You head out into the darkness; the sky is clear and the stars are out. Highly visible; country skies. A cacophony of frogs all around......loud. So loud an army of frost giants in plate mail with frying pans hung from the plate mail could sneak up on you.....
Story time for Pip..
"Long ago, in this land of Wa,......the miem held lordship over the place. Though, as you know, all miem are gentle creatures, and totally not in a hurry to do anything, nor do they want for much; each miem lives an age of men, and so along with that comes much wisedom and proper comportment. And so, their lordship in the land was more like a harmonious partnership.
First came the men who were called the Anugo....these were a hairy folk, and primitive; they followed the ice herds and came down out of the north.
They, too, lived in harmony with the land, with the wisdom of dharma unphased by too much civilizing, and the miem were pleased to share these folk that followed the herds and took not much from the earth.
Then, later, came the shou.....other men who had the secret of steel as did the miem. The shou came to dominate the land. And, although some claim to revere the earth, even worship it, it is a sad sad truth that this is no more than lipservice.....no more than an appreciation of the beauty of a deer whose stuffed head the wall of your house wears.
And so, after clashing with these folk for many of the shou's generations but not so many of the miem's, most of them departed for elsewhere."
He looks at Elgan;
"I've never seen a miem; I wasn't around in the times of these legends, but.......is there any truth to this? It sounds.....naive somehow, designed to harden hearts perhaps.....but....
are the miem returning? Are you playing your cards close to your chest with me?
Is this a test of some sort, o wise one of the elder race?"
Beldan keeps a watch for armies of frost giants in plate mail with frying pans hung from the plate mail, or even any more subtle threats, with his darkvision goggles whilst Altai stargazes.
He doesn't see any such thing.
Way far off in the distance, amongst and betwixt the trees, he can see orbs of lights, hovering.....dancing....floating about.......
he sees,.....hard to say how many, but it's anywhere from 5 to 10.
Pip lightly strums Lucille as the tabuki spins his tale. Afterwards he speaks:
"Alas, we are just what we seem. Poor footsore travelers cast upon this land purely by chance. But in the wheel of Fate is there such a thing as chance? A god, or at least a powerful giant with pretentions to godhood, cast us hither. Who is to say why here, why now? We are known as the Regulators, and we regulate =). Perhaps the miem have seen the desecration of the land, and we were sent to help balance things."
Elgan nods in time to the music, enjoying Pip's musical interlude. He adds his own two copper pieces during a pause.
"Fer mahse'f, Ah've heerd similuh storees. An' dere's our own tales uv dose grown weary of seeing deh land despoiled an' takin' off fer parts unknown. But if'n dat's tru, den ah've wun uv few wun's what stayed."
Elgan grins like a happy kid. "An' ah'm glad ah did! Ah've seen t'ings dat no wun cuolda tol' me 'bout! An' ah've gots muh new frens, teh keep t'ings frum gettin' too borin'!"
"Leave those lights alone. Could be anything. Now, let's see...."
"Leave those lights alone. Could be anything. Now, let's see...."
I'm thinking Arcana would work; nature as well.
I'll just say you can take 20, and you seethe Bow and Bodice of the Huntress,
the Hydra,
the Sea Sprite,
the Ogre's skull........
Vecna's Ruby Ring......
You're back on Oerth. Or a place with an identical night sky. That's not entirely ruled out.
Occam's razor, though, says Oerth.
Elgan nods in time to the music, enjoying Pip's musical interlude. He adds his own two copper pieces during a pause.
"Fer mahse'f, Ah've heerd similuh storees. An' dere's our own tales uv dose grown weary of seeing deh land despoiled an' takin' off fer parts unknown. But if'n dat's tru, den ah've wun uv few wun's what stayed."
Elgan grins like a happy kid. "An' ah'm glad ah did! Ah've seen t'ings dat no wun cuolda tol' me 'bout! An' ah've gots muh new frens, teh keep t'ings frum gettin' too borin'!"
He considers your words well.
"Well,...what should we do? What should I do?" he asks......
Pip lightly strums Lucille as the tabuki spins his tale. Afterwards he speaks:
"Alas, we are just what we seem. Poor footsore travelers cast upon this land purely by chance. But in the wheel of Fate is there such a thing as chance? A god, or at least a powerful giant with pretentions to godhood, cast us hither. Who is to say why here, why now? We are known as the Regulators, and we regulate =). Perhaps the miem have seen the desecration of the land, and we were sent to help balance things."
"Some would say,...fate is a moot point, and that duty is all there is. I tend to not think that it's all written in a scroll somewhere, precisely what's going to happen. I doubt that anybody could figure out what I am going to do right this instant....."
He gets up; farts in the fire......makes a bit scorching ray for an instant over the flame.
"Tell me,.....was THAT fated to be?....." and he chugs some more sake; passes it on.
"Tell me,.....was THAT fated to be?....." and he chugs some more sake; passes it on.
Pip winces as the stinky flare passes by his nose. He grabs the bottle and takes a long pull. Somewhat hoarsely he replies,
"Indeed, I don't think even Loki could have seen that coming. What I mean, my megalorchidic friend, is that oft times coincidences have subtle causes not immediately perceivable."
"I could see that, I guess. I just think that there is no perfect Eye that can see this thing. No perfect Mind that could take all this.....my fart,......all the myriad beings in the world,.....and weave them into a perfect and inalterable pattern.
"Phwaw, who farted?" asks Beldan, walking back in and fanning the air in front of his face. "Take it outside."
"Anyway, Altai says we're back on Oerth. A long way from Saltmarsh though I guess. There are some lights flying around in the sky a way off, but Altai said I shouldn't mess with them."
"Yeah....you don't want to go chasing spirit lights into the swamps...."
says the racoon dog.
“Ah, Will’O’Wisps ... I thought so.” Beldan sits down, picks up the jug of sake and takes a swig.
"Some say....they are the spirits of the dead, who left some thing or another undone."
Pip chats with their new friend
I like collecting tales of the places I visit. Would you like to swap some stories before retiring?
He hits you up for a tale.
"I love tales!"More tales to come, as I read up more on the campaign book.
He considers your words well.
"Well,...what should we do? What should I do?" he asks......
Elgan shrugs.
"Ah dunno. If'n yer axin' fer advise un how teh live, I'd say jest be deh bestest yew kin be. Try tah he'p udders if'n dey needs he'p, no matteh who er whut dey iz. Try teh leave deh wurld a lil' bettah den you found it.""If'n yer axin whut deh country kin do? Same t'ing ah guesses."
After Pip regales the raccoon-dog with a tale, Elgan asks him to share one.
"Kin yew tell us a tale of dis Meim?"
He is interested in hearing how they are portrayed, as healers, guardians, or conquerors.
I'll get a Tanuki tale and a Vision for Altai up a little later this evening.
"Kin yew tell us a tale of dis Meim?"He is interested in hearing how they are portrayed, as healers, guardians, or conquerors.
"I've never seen one, until now....but....hmm...."
the dungeonmaster goes off to make something up or throw it together......
The tanuki scratches his head;
"Well,....hmm.....Miem......there is the Peachling Girl. I never met her, but I think she is Miem. She lives somewhere in the woods here. It is a vast wood though.
Legend says that a poor farmer was fishing in the Nanaichi River when he found a peach flowing along. He picked it up and a girlchild burst from it.
He took her home and raised her, for he and his wife could have no children.
Such is the way that the forces of heaven sometimes intervene,.....though I don't believe any of it is set in stone.....
They say she never spoke, though she danced, and performed gymnastics......flips, cartwheels; and she could fell two birds with two javelins one in each hand.
The daimyo, though.....decided she was a threat. On her 14th birthday he ordered her put to death. Her parents hid her in the wood and so were put to death......crucified, in her place.
She doesn't like people much. I doubt you'll see her."
I'll get a Tanuki tale and a Vision for Altai up a little later this evening.
I just reread the "vision" spell description.....says Altai needs to pose it in the form of a specific question.
"A girl?" Beldan's ears perk up.
"A gymnast girl?" There's definately more perks going on, but his good mood abates when Tanuki gets to the part about the parents being crucified.
"That's horrible," he says in dismay. "That's ... barbaric. Is that story true? Is this Damio guy still around?" The set of Beldan's jaw makes it look like he'd like to pay the daimyo a visit ... he never did like bullies or sadists.
"Yeah; it happened. He's still around. In Fouchu. It's down the road, then left a tidy sum of leagues.
He has a lot of samurai though."
Pip chats with their new friend
I like collecting tales of the places I visit. Would you like to swap some stories before retiring?
He hits you up for a tale.
"I love tales!"More tales to come, as I read up more on the campaign book.
Pip smiles
Fair is fair I suppose
He strums Lucille, taking up a light melody
"Once there was a farmer in my homeland named Rupert the Short. Now, for my countrymen to call someone 'short' you know they are short indeed! Now, the sad fact of things is Rupert took a lot of joshing for his height. You would think a small race such as mine would be more sensitive, but the opposite was true.
Now one fine autumn day, a giant came lumbering down from the mountains that bordered my country. He was an immense giant, even bigger than a normal one usually grows. Now, the local militia was called out, but this giant was armed wiith a giant mace of fell power. He scattered the militia like ninepins at a lawn bowl!
After a few days of maurading, no one dared to challenge the giant. He ate his way through several farms until he got to Rupert's farmstead. There he decided to take a short nap before resuming his pillaging
Rupert saw the giant leaning up against his barn, and being a clever chap, he had an idea. He waited until the giant was snoring, and he climbed up into his hayrick at the top of the barn. From there he went to the roof and made for the giant's ear
Now this large giant had some large hairy ears. Rupert crept down into one and began to tug fiercely at the wiry hair that covered the inside of the ear. The giant snapped up groggily, and reflexively brought his mace up, which he had gripped while sleeping. The mace thudded against his skull, cracking it open. Rupert hung on as the giant slid off his barn, stone dead
From that point in, his neighbors treated him with more respect and called him Rupert the Giant Slayer"