During the trip, Dok keeps mostly to himself, often looking over the side of the ship, studying the landscape. He tenses not at all when the group arrives at the city, and walks quite comfortably through the streets, Colu at his side. While in the city, he speaks very little, answering questions (if asked) with only one or two words, or perhaps just a grunt and a nod.
Dok is relieved that, unlike many other places he is been, his orcishness doesn't make anybody bat an eye in Celephais. They're able to walk by without any embarassing incidents.
He can't help, though, the feeling that he is being watched.
He has drawn interest.
It's a survival instinct no hunter cares to learn to ignore, lest in midgame he become the hunted.
Colu sniffs.
Huzzzzzzah!!!!!......./
Huzzzzah!!!1.!
He conducts her corpus into another room, and lieing her on an alter, speaks a poem in words eloquent and flourished over poor Emrael.
Tense minutes go by, and finally she exhales like Roseanne Arquette in Pulp Fiction when she got the adrenaline shot to the heart.......
and, with much adieu,......Emrael is restored to full life as if nothing had transpired.
No level loss, full hp's, all that good stuff.
HUZZZZAH!!!!!
"Hello, Emrael. I'm HP. Nice to meet you;" he says, nonchalantly, smiling.
Her eyes snap open as she gasps - reaction to the searing fire that stole her breath - and her hands fly to her waist to grab at a sword that is not there. It's a full five-count before she believes her eyes, that she's not on the ship, that she's not facing the monstrous creatures alongside Satari.
When she finally relaxes, she looks at HP, gracing him with an amazingly beautiful smile. "Hello, HP. I don't know how I came to be here, but I feel that I'm very glad to be making your acquaintance."
She tries twice before she is able to sit up and swing her feet off the side of the altar. "I feel better than I have in many years. I remember... fire, then light, then nothing. No, not nothing - waiting. Was I waiting for you? What happened? What has become of my traveling companions?" To this point, she has not taken her eyes off of the one that liberated her from death. If the rest of the party is present, she hasn't looked for them.
"Do you know what became of my swords? I feel somewhat naked without them." Looking down, "Oh, I AM somewhat naked - with or without swords." She does not try to cover herself, but she is obviously a bit confused by her situation.
"Does....does somebody have her swords?...." HP looks furtively....
"IF not,...we could get you new ones..."
Somebody has the swords,......they coughem up.
"An elven princess. With samurai swords.....amazing;" says HP.
"Bob, these guys seem to be right up your alley...."
he smiles, a purse-lipped grin, that doesn't show his teeth.
"Oh, I am not a princess. I merely serve the queen. If you will excuse me, there should be some clothes in my pack, if it survived the blast that killed me."
"Of course,......a sort of shield maiden then;"
he gets your pack from whoever, and
"I'm sorry; I would have thought that lords and ladies of the seelie courts wouldn't necessarily share in the human's neurosis, the insecure need for garments.....perhaps Shakespeare, or the Greeks were misleading."
"HP, you really are a dingbat sometimes..."
says another stranger; a human male, who goes by the moniker "Two Gun Bob."
"Shield maiden, if I understand the meaning, sounds very close, thank you. My culture can be somewhat more relaxed than humans with regards to clothing, but only in certain circumstances. For traveling, fighting, visiting unknown lands, it's more proper to shield your body from the environment. My early childhood was spent always traveling and my later childhood and early adulthood was spent with humans, so I'm more human in my practices than the typical elven princess." Her eyes twinkle as she shares this last.
"The Old Master told me that to share my skills was more valuable than any gold I might carry. I would thank you, HP, for this gift of my return, with a ... performance, if you will. I will need time to practice and warm up - my body feels good, but not as limber as normal - and I will show you the forms of the katana as a true student knows them. Would you be interested in such a display?"
"Two Gun Bob? Pleased to meet you. Have I seen you before?"
"Oh, that would be a simply marvelous show, milady." His smile turns pensive; "although,...are you sure you have your strength back? After all, you've been through quite a rigor."
Bob answers; "I don't rightly recollect if you saw me or not maam; I was bellowing like a bull in a rodeo pen down there in the hold of that moonbeast ship, trying to get someone to break me loose, but...well, you got fireballed pretty badly.......
sorry to bring up bad memories."
Seeing Emrael sit up, and talk, seems to make Elgan guite giddy. He grabs the neriad and kisses her soundly, then grins at her like a kid in a candy store.
"Daz whut ah luv aboot dis groop. Deys always fulla surpizeses!"
"Be careful; one could drown himself..."
"Be careful; one could drown himself..."
Elgan grins with childlike glee.
"Aw, ah dunno. Seems like it maight be wurth deh risk." The wild elf druid grins in response, in a rare display of outright flirtatiousness.
Two Gun Bob is all like:
"heh heh....heh heh heh....get ready, HP....you might have to deliver some elf babies in about a year or so,........."
HP sighs;
"If only,......" he looks around; "nothing in Celephais or the surrounding countryside heeds the cadence of time.
Babies aren't born here, and wine doesn't age......it is bittersweet, the price of immortality.
But, Kuranes made it so; whether it was inadvertent or not, I couldn't hazard a guess."
"Every job well done builds the highway to the Celestial Palace. And that was very well done Master HP. It seems like that was not your first resurrection?"
Pip strums Lucille
"Celephais, a city I saw
As if from a dream
Her alabaster towers
Aglow with sun-kissed gleam
But do we dream her
Or she dream we.
As she awaits us
Athwart the sea
The shining sea..."
Perform(diplomacy):
"Every job well done builds the highway to the Celestial Palace. And that was very well done Master HP. It seems like that was not your first resurrection?"
"No, good Satari; I've done a few. One of the rare.....decent things I've learned in studying books that sane men should be very careful with."
"He brought me back from oblivion," says Two Gun Bob.
"It's a nice knack to have, I reckon."
"I....can draw from the power of the dreamlands somehow; I don't know why; " adds HP. "Not sure if I'm supposed to know why, but....there it is."
Pip strums Lucille
"Celephais, a city I saw
As if from a dream
Her alabaster towers
Aglow with sun-kissed gleamBut do we dream her
Or she dream we.
As she awaits us
Athwart the seaThe shining sea..."
Perform(diplomacy): 1d20+32
"Where'd you learn that tune, Mr. Pip?" asks Two Gun Bob.
"It sounds familiar."
Pip strums Lucille
"Celephais, a city I saw
As if from a dream
Her alabaster towers
Aglow with sun-kissed gleamBut do we dream her
Or she dream we.
As she awaits us
Athwart the seaThe shining sea..."
Perform(diplomacy): 1d20+32
"Where'd you learn that tune, Mr. Pip?" asks Two Gun Bob.
"It sounds familiar."
Pip blushes
"'Tis but a musical doodle I just thought up. The beauty of this place inspires me."
"Yah, Pipster dere iz guud at dat surta t'ing." Elgan nods wisely.
"So... Do plants or livestock grow here, then? Or is it irrelevant, as the bodies of Celephais` citizens no longer require sustenance? And who might Kuranes be? He sounds amazingly gifted."
Satari smiles serenely, "Books and knowledge are dangerous, that is a truth well spoken. I am grateful that these studies proved so useful to both Emrael and to Master Bob."
"Tell me, are you a native of these dreams? You do not have the look of a zoat-herder."
"Oh, that would be a simply marvelous show, milady." His smile turns pensive; "although,...are you sure you have your strength back? After all, you've been through quite a rigor."
"You are such a dear. I truly feel as though you have removed years from me when you helped me slough off," she gestures to the charred and burnt material that fell from her body when the resurrection took hold, "this. I will be fine. But I must limber after laying quiescent for such a long time. I feel like I've slept for a week!"
Bob answers; "I don't rightly recollect if you saw me or not maam; I was bellowing like a bull in a rodeo pen down there in the hold of that moonbeast ship, trying to get someone to break me loose, but...well, you got fireballed pretty badly.......
sorry to bring up bad memories."
"In truth, I remember little. I needed to reach for and grab my dancing katana to restart it's magic and I did not even see the fireball's approach. I should have been more careful. However, I do remember you, now that you prod my memory. I don't know what a rodeo pen is, but I can hardly imagine a bull making as much noise as you were."
Pack in hand, she smiles, "If you gentlemen will excuse me..." and she moves off to find a modicum of privacy to determine what clothing she has available and change out of her charred rags.
"So... Do plants or livestock grow here, then? Or is it irrelevant, as the bodies of Celephais` citizens no longer require sustenance? And who might Kuranes be? He sounds amazingly gifted."
"They can subsist here, be planted, or created. But they won't age.
People do eat, though they don't have to.
One can die of misadventure here.
Kuranes....."
Bob interjects.
"KING Kuranes is earth's greatest dreamer. The powerful ones can warp reality here to their own design.
He's created this city, and the surrounding country, to suit his own fancy."
Pip strums Lucille
"Celephais, a city I saw
As if from a dream
Her alabaster towers
Aglow with sun-kissed gleamBut do we dream her
Or she dream we.
As she awaits us
Athwart the seaThe shining sea..."
Perform(diplomacy): 1d20+32
"Where'd you learn that tune, Mr. Pip?" asks Two Gun Bob.
"It sounds familiar."
Pip blushes
"'Tis but a musical doodle I just thought up. The beauty of this place inspires me."
"YOU and HP oughtta work out an opera together."
Satari smiles serenely, "Books and knowledge are dangerous, that is a truth well spoken. I am grateful that these studies proved so useful to both Emrael and to Master Bob."
"Tell me, are you a native of these dreams? You do not have the look of a zoat-herder."
"No, OR yes, as native as we all are.
This place is where we all go when we dream. We spend a third of our lives here; who's to say what is reality?......
this is my world earth's dreamland.
I....I was born there. Died there,....."
he looks somber for an instant.
"Those,......men, I uses the term loosely men of Leng; I hope to never find out if or what they are the dream manifestation of."
"In truth, I remember little. I needed to reach for and grab my dancing katana to restart it's magic and I did not even see the fireball's approach. I should have been more careful. However, I do remember you, now that you prod my memory. I don't know what a rodeo pen is, but I can hardly imagine a bull making as much noise as you were."
"Well, we gotta arrange a rodeo then;....you gotta see it to believe it.
Maybe I can talk to Kuranes and he can dream one up......
essentially, a rodeo is a bunch of real crazy roughnecks and cowboys and clowns even, doing a bunch of either brave or stupid things with big bulls. Usually consists of trying to rid them, then getting thrown off, and then trying to survive that as best they can."
"Dat soun's lahk fun." Elgan pipes in.
"Fer deh BULLS dat iz!"
hehheh
"Fascinating that the dreaming mind can stray so far and achieve such wonders. It reminds me of the teachings of the Seven Flower Sleeping Brotherhood. They actually fought while asleep - they said it improved their focus."
"There is a,....I have it somewhere.,,,
a Book from Hyperborea;
detailing a theory held by a philosophical brotherhood that the waking world may indeed be the metadream of something.
And that the art of wizardry, is just the discipline of the lucid dreamer in that dream.
They were at odds, spiritually and ethically, with another brotherhood that insisted all magic flowed distinctly from the dreamlands, into the waking world......
this drama played long ago, when other men were hunting cave bears with flint spears."
nitey nite. see you guys in a couple days maybe.
Huzzzah!
"So.... HP, would you happen to know anything about a place called the Friary of the Three-lobed Eye?"
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Emrael has found enough pieces to assemble a workable outfit and cleaned herself up with the assistance of a friendly young woman that seems to be an aide or fan of HP. Now she faces into the corner of the room outside of HP's chambers, eyes closed, going through the forms with one of her katana. She repeats the exercise several times, each faster than the last, until she appears to be standing almost still within a blur of arms and swords flashing all around her. Satisfied, she returns to where the rest visit with the scholar.
"So.... HP, would you happen to know anything about a place called the Friary of the Three-lobed Eye?"
Elgan snorts.
"Dat jes' souns weeured. An' ahm a shape-shifteh fer cryin out layoud!"
"It`s where the mothmen took Beldan, remember? And it doesn`t really matter how weird it is, because I intend to obliterate it so completely from the face of this and any other adjoining worlds that the gods themselves will scratch their heads in confusion if anyone mentions the place to them."
"So.... HP, would you happen to know anything about a place called the Friary of the Three-lobed Eye?"
Yeah; they all disembarked in Celephais, with a thankyou very much.
"Not much. It's a monestary in Lelag Leng, to one of the aspects of Nyarlathotep.
Not an hospitable demesne, for the civily minded.
Why do you ask?"