Seeing nothing different about the marks on Galstak's arms, she throws down his hands in a huff. Everyone else check, see if there's anything different about the pictures on your arms from when we dropped in here.
"The man said Find the Conspirators. No... actually, he screamed it. The spirits rarely speak so plainly. Perhaps we should listen?"
He looks around for the closest of the dream, to see if he can block him and simply ask "Spirit, which way to the closest of the Conspirators?"
"Varisians." the Shoanti snorts; he heads towards the music.
After the half orc does not reappear around the corner, Kaelin squares up the wheel hanging over her shoulder and follows him around the bend.
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Upon entering the big-top, the shabby circus tent seems larger inside than out. The colored canvas curves upward in nauseatingly bright patterns and disappearing into darkness far overhead beyond a tightrope and trapeze. Two precarious bleachers flank a large performing space littered with half-eaten food and cheap novelties. On the far end of the performing arena is a cage that has paper walls between the bars.
Several dozen bored storykin, long bereft of purpose, gather on the bleachers here to watch sad imitations of circus performances. There are four bears in pointy hats and clown make-up on unicycles. They bike around a gigantic man juggling and singing sad showtunes. He is juggling a mini-pachyderm, a boat, a melted clock, red snapper and even a kitchen sink.
A loud gurgling can be heard from the dinosaurs. They continue to quietly whine and become irritable. Kio then begins to hack, followed by Teima, with both jaws still stuck shut. Suddenly, streams of vomit spew out of the death maws of the dinosaurs. The bile is projected through clenched teeth, spraying all those near by.
The grotesque event draws the attention of the crowd. Everybody is silent for a moment as they stare at the Pathfinders. Then the crowd erupts in a cheers and applause. But it looks like more then barfing dinosaurs will be required to tame the masses.
This really is a nightmare Sheyan thinks as they see the large circus tent. Then as his dinosaurs suddenly lose their lunch Sheyan moves over to them, ignoring the bile, to check on their well being.
Kaelin walks into the tent and stares at the strange, slightly sad scene.
As she looks around, a brief flash from her arm catches her attention. Looking for the source, she sees the tattoo of the Joke on her arm glow with an intense green light, then begin to fade. Wait! My tattoo's changing!
She glances frantically at everyone else's arms, and spins her gaze toward Sheyan just in time to see the Juggler on his arm wink out. The Joke on my arm...the Juggler on Sheyan's... she mutters mostly to herself.
Then her concentration is broken by the stinking bile that covers her as Kio and Teima retch. Eurgh! she exclaims, looking as if she may very well be sick herself. Sheyan, what the hell is wrong? she shouts over her shoulder as she tries to shake off as much of the goo and chunks as possible.
As the crowd begins to laugh and cheer, Kaelin can't help one more dismayed thought, which she relays under her breath to her companions. I wonder if the tattoos are an attempt to inform us of what we face. The Joke on my arm just changed, and it certainly looks as if we may be the butt of it...
"The crowd seeks entertainment... Maybe blood.." the Shoanti muses aloud. "They want us to flounder about like lunatics and fools. I do not relish the thought."
"And that one..." waving his hand at the giant man "Probably has the token. I wonder if the jester hides somewhere."
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Sheyan starts to scrape off the wax binding his dinos' teeth. After a few moments they appear much happier, even though a allosaur smiling is creepy.
Once the man has finished his song, he notices he has lost the audience. The man calls the bears to him and then gather into a huddle. As they are discussing something, one of the bears sticks its head up, looks to the left, then to the right. It then stares at the Pathfinders, then rejoins the huddle.
[ooc] Awwww right. [/dice]
well yes, Perhaps, but um, do you see those bears? They quite obviously aren't like the ones back home. oh boy. Its staring at us... I don't think this will end well.
Tariel is too distracted to pay attention to the tattoos.
Shayn can't make much of what's happening. The Harrower had a 1000 interpretations for what was happening, but his own eyes seemed to be betraying him by the second.
He started to whistle a calming song to his friends, a pale tune of friendship and peace. Calming thoughts, he assumed, would give them guidance. He tapped his body, searching for his deck.
Galstak sighs. He turns to Kaelin. "Elf blooded, please call me Ghost-Breath. I am afraid I have not had the honor of your name. I think, perhaps, you are as nimble as the Varisian dancers. If I call upon the spirits to move you through the crowd, do you think you can amuse them with your movements?"
Ah...I can try? I mean, plenty of others have been "amused by my movements" before. She gives a cheeky wink. But whaddaya mean "call upon the spirits to move me through the crowd"? And it's Kaelin, by the way.
The geisha smiles. Dancing is part of his heart and soul, maybe losing only to his acting. The wayang approaches the half-elf, silently, as if doing a set step; he then lets the movement naturally flow, and delicately pulls the others to dance.
- Entertain...? Sure, why not... That's the strangest dream I ever had, so let the cards and stars guide our moves!
He swiftly whistles, but focus on dancing.
Kaelin lets herself be pulled along with Shayn's sinuous movements, doing her best to avoid tripping over his feet or her own. For all her bravado at Ghost-Breath's query, she's never danced before, and her natural dexterity tends to be more effectively expressed in a battle than on a ballroom floor.
A fact that makes itself painfully apparent, as she misjudges one of Shayn's graceful steps and her feet tangle with each other, bringing her to the floor in a heap. Well, at least he didn't trip with me...
"I see... Kaelin. I misjudged your talents. Perhaps the shadow blooded would be a better choice."
The Shoanti concentrates for a moment, when he opens his eyes, the pupils have gone white - Shayn begins to float through the air in an increasingly complicated pattern, moving as if by an unseen hand.
Sheyan frowns and stares at the crowd. Im not an entertainer.
Tariel attempts to begin juggling as well, but is still a little off-put by the staring bears.
Ahem.. that was a warm up. But now, the show!
he then starts to do acrobatics while continuing to juggle.
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Tariel pulls out his daggers and shortsword and begins to juggle them. As he makes his way into the performing circle, he slips on some bear poo. He falls into the ground, loosing control of his blades.
Prone on his belly, the errant shortsword falls and slices into Tariel's leg (3 points of dmg)
Tariel's folly along with the flying spectacle of Shayn appears to have turned the crowd. The bears break their huddle and are about to mount their unicycles of doom when they suddenly stop.
All the boos and hisses, clapping and cheers abruptly turn silent. Everybody in the audience turns to face the back of the big top. The entertainers in the center stage lose the fight in them and part. Between the column of bears, a silhouette of a man can be seen framed by the entrance to a large cage. Tendrils of purple smoke spiral out of the cage.
"Come join me for some ... tea."
The silhouette then disappears back into the cage awaiting for you to accept the invitation.
Sheyan just looks around in disbelief. Yup, dreaming. Might as well have some tea than. Holding his head, he moves to follow the man's instructions.
Kaelin leans over to Tariel and whispers. Why do I get the feeling he ain't exactly telling the truth about a tea party? But at least I'm dressed for the occasion... She looks down in disgust at the remains of the frilly pinafore, then moves toward the man and the mysterious cage.
Ghost-Breath straightens his tie - or at lest the shirt upon which the faux-tie is printed, and follows, curious.
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Coming into view at the far end of the tent stands a sophisticated network of wiry bars and iron embellishments—an elaborate animal cage. The interior is furnished with lavish tapestries and curios. Teacups and fine porcelain crowd every visible surface. Multiple tea pots appear to be simmering over stones with no visible form of heat.
Surrounding the perimeter of the room are six well-muscular men adorned in only full body tribal tattoos and a tight fitting loincloth. Encasing their heads however is an animal mask, each one different then the other: an eagle, a jackal, a crane, an ox, an aardvark and finally a tiger.
Your host finishes steeping his tea and turns around to greet you. He is well dressed in Andoran style with a burnt orange overcoat, blue tunic and leather breeches. Upon his head however is not a mask but it truly is one of a crocodile with glowing red eyes.
"Greetings, friends. My name is Bernaditi and I am the ring leader for the Midnight Circus. Would you like to take a seat and have some tea? You look to be well-worn from your journey from ... well, where are you from?"
"Our journeys are all unique, but we all met in Magnimar, capital of Varisia before we came to this place. Although... the memories of the journey from there to here have been stolen from each of this group."
Whoa, what the hell happened to his hands?
Kaelin's reply begins to escalate into a shout. What he means is, we ain't got any idea how we got here, or what the hell's going on - Then Kaelin remembers that they have no idea who their host is, or what he's capable of if he's angry. She checks her quickly-escalating response and sits at the table, grabbing a cup of tea.
As the cup lowers from her lips, she tries to discreetly empty a small amount onto the ground next to her.
As the cup rises to her lips, she does not actually drink - her lips stay tightly closed.
Thank you kindly for the drinks, Though I would rather have water if that is ok? No insult intended, I just never liked flavored drinks.
As he says, we aren't sure how we got here, but I will be straight up with you. We met some rather crazy folk shouting about us finding.... The conspirators? And something about Sonneoas tokens (purposefully mis-pronounced)
he shrugs
Not sure what he was talking about, you know anything about it?
Sheyan raises the cup and sniffs his drink. "You could call us out of towners."
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"Ah yes, Magnimar. The capitol is lovely this time of year."
Bernaditi raises his cup for sip of tea. Pinky out, of course. He then serves Tariel a spot of hot water. He then serves everybody the tea of their choice: jasmine, mint, green, chai or Bernaditi's favorite scorpion tail and woodears. He snickers at Kaelin's folly while taking another sip (pinky out!).
As Kaelin goes to sit, the jackal headed man darts forward at her. He dives into two summersaults before landing in child's posed position under Kaelin's derriere. Bernaditi goes to sit and the man in the tiger mask performs the same action, acting as his chair. Anybody else who goes to sit, another man comes off the wall to act as a chair.
"Oh the Conspirators. I have not heard of that name in a long time. A silly moniker if you ask me. Everybody was in on it, so how could it be an conspiracy. Everybody but Sonnorae of course. With every meal, I can re-live that moment. Nom-nom-nom.
"But believe me boy, the Conspirators aren't after you. At least I'm not. I doubt the others would even leave their domains to come looking for you though. Then again, I'm a notorious liar. Or is it lair. I always get those two confused.
"So who was he? And what importance are the tokens to you? I would really like to assist you."
When smelling or tasting the tea you selected, it is the best tasting version of that tea you've ever had.
As the jackal-headed man appears beneath her, Kaelin checks her motion suddenly. On second thought...I'll stand.
Kaelin avoids drinking the tea, but as she pantomimes raising the cup to her lips, she inhales a sniff of the fragrant steam. Oh, that smells fantastic...
The host's comment snaps her from her reverie. Wait, you're one of them, one of the Conspirators? What was the conspiracy? Not sure who the guy was - some bloke we saw getting his ass kicked when we arrived, and started spoutin' off nonsense about tokens and a kapenia and Conspirators... Wow, this tea really does smell wonderful...some bergamot, a hint of lavender...one sip couldn't hurt, could it?
Shayn follows the others, still thinking everything to be strange. Strange because, in a sense, it was all very familiar to him - dancing to entertain, tea ceremonies, it's all the geisha has ever done as a slave in Jalmery, before he escaped.
Once the others spoke, Shayn approached. He was still deliberately just playing with the tea - he was way too used to those dances and ceremonies.
Like we said, we're not from here. Not from this town, not from this place definitely... If you offer help, my particular interest would be simply to get back where I actually belong.
He held his deck. Looking around everything and the familiarity, the small Wayang started to wonder if this is where he actually belonged, and not where he came from. He smiled, trying to look more friendly and absolutely harmless.
"Yes, if the conspiracy is an ancient and dead thing, and you wish to help us, perhaps you could simply give us the tokens. Surely there would be no harm?"
Sheyan doesn't mind a good bit of tea, but the man-chairs make him jump. Standing is good for me. He thinks as he tries the tea. "We are outsiders lost in this land and we're not sure how we got here." He folds his arms. "Frankly, I'd like to know what's going on before I start answering other people's questions."
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Bernaditi nods in acknowledgement of a compliment at Kaelin's revelation.
"Well, being storykin, I suppose there is a story to it wouldn't you say.
In the Age of Darkness, the Varisian scribes and storytellers of the Imlios family hoarded knowledge while civilization struggled for its very survival. Over the harsh centuries, their line dwindled to a single childless bard: Sonnorae. Fearing her family’s knowledge would be lost with her inevitable death, she sheared off a corner of the malleable Dimension of Dreams and crafted her own demiplane in which she could store the greatest tales of her people, anchoring this extraplanar archive to her ancestral harrow deck; she named the demiplane the Harrowed Realm.
Sonnorae, in her old age, retreated into the Harrowed Realm, where she hoped to live forever with her treasured tales. Over time, the stories she collected took on physical form, but these creatures were trapped within the constraints of their individual stories, ever repeating the same actions, and struggling to reach the same goals.
Sonnorae’s tales ached to be as real as their creator. The most powerful among them conspired to overthrow the bard, murdering her and devouring her body. The End.
Sadly, while we have gained free will, we are now truly miserable and now realize why. But by eating Sonnorae's tongue, I do believe I have gained the gift of gab. There were eight of us: myself, Brambleson, Radiant Sunrise, Marzalee, Balimar, The Ticktock Man, The Nightpeddler, and Z.
With regards to tokens, I believe I know what you are talking about. Besides carving ourselves some of the delicious bard, we also each took a token from her kapenia. So I do have one.
If you want mine, first you must answer me why you want them. That is unconditional. Second part you can discuss. Answer my riddles three, I shall give the token to thee.
Of course, if you get answer one of the riddle wrong, I get to keep one of your terrible lizards for my menagerie."
Hmm, immortality always has a price I suppose... as for why? Its simple. The only reason I am seeking them is that from what we were told by the other storykin we met that they would help us get back to our dimension. As for your riddles... what happens if we get them wrong?
"So speak your riddles, dream-born, so that we may be on our way."
Shayn just kept waiting at this point. He crossed his legs and observed with attention. He wasn't particularly smart, but he was more than intrigued with this entire new "world" they got themselves into.
Riddles? Kaelin leans forward, intrigued, and takes a sip of her tea as she listens to the creature. She prides herself more on her strength and resourcefulness than her ability with puzzles, but the stranger seems interesting, and she's curious as to how the game will play out.
well, you heard'em. Let's hear these riddles of yours.
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How doth the little crocodile
Improve his shining tail,
Bernaditi stirs his tea with unnatural grace for a creature with such abnormal extremities. After another sip, Bernaditi smiles wider as the red pin points in his eyes glow greater.
"Excellent, then we are in agreement in terms. Let us start off with an easy one; a classic some could say:
Round she is, yet flat as a board
Altar of the Lupine Lords.
Jewel on black velvet, pearl in the sea
Unchanged but e'er changing, eternally.
"What am I?"
They better get better than this, Kaelin smirks internally. Any nursery school kid could figure out that one.
The moon, obviously, she calls out, rolling her eyes slightly.
Sheyan smiles. Child's play. I doubt all will be so easy though.
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And pour the waters of the Nile
On every golden scale!
Bernaditi glares and grins at Kaelin with unblinking eyes.
"Well done, kid. I knew you could figure out that one."
He sizes Kaelin up and down, paying particular attention to her dress.
"This one I fabricated just for you. Of course, anybody can answer:
"The Caterpillar asks, 'Fits in my mouth but fills a room. What is it?'"
After deliberating for several moments, Kaelin suddenly smirks. A word, a song, a verse, a screech, a moment of silence - seems they all fit in your mouth, before you let them fly to all corners, she answers with a confident smile. And it seems to me you're filling the room with more than your share, she adds, muttering under her breath.
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How cheerfully he seems to grin!
How neatly spread his claws,
"Yet none actually 'fit' anywhere. No sense of being material. Can you touch, taste, see or smell any of those? Afraid not."
Bernaditi walks over to the door way and peers out into the big top. He is startled for a moment as he sees both Kio and Teima. Bernaditi straightens out his vest then yells out to the giant.
"ROGG! GET THE CAGES! LARGE ONES!"
Bernaditi then looks Sheyan up and down with a knowing grin and offers his thoughts.
"How about double or nothing, for what you want as before. Same riddle plus one more. Get them both right, I'll open up my store. Get one wrong, they are both mine."
'"The Caterpillar asks, 'Fits in my mouth but fills a room. What is it?''
Shayn sits back, looking around. He was somehow having fun with what was being seen, but there was also something on the back of his head just screaming for him to get out of there. He wasn't too wise - in fact, his shadowy brain were confused at that time - but he was intelligent, with the most perfect elegance, and was feeling like a fish out of water over there.
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Bernaditi nods his head in silent agreement.
"Very well then, I'll take the green one."
Bernaditi begins to cast a spell. "Into the cage you go. You will be safe in the cage."
Kio opens his mouth and yawns as if nothing happened.
Bernaditi picks at his teeth with a single claw, working his way from the inside out. He takes a moment to think, then carries on his casual self.
"Very well, we will do this the old fashion way. Rogg, get him in there."
The giant, Rogg, pulls a large whip from out of his bag and begins to approach Kio. Thunderous cracks fill the air as he snaps the whip in front of him.
Bernaditi turns to the party like a gracious host, "Will there be anything else?"