During the whole discussion Grieth lets the others do all the talking. From his point of view, who was he to question the Captain anyway? "Greith is just a trapper who occasionally joins the tribe's warband on some skirmishes and hunts. He is no soldier, nor has he ever been put in a position to make important decisions. What happened was probably for the best. Besides, better Hardbrow die than the Captain, Greith works for the Captain, if he had died, Greith would be just another grunt. This is best for all."
He just stands and waits for more orders.
Kurat looks at his newly assigned equipment with admiration in his eyes: "These are mighty gifts. Thank you. I shall strive to use them against the enemies of the Horde in the best possible way!"
"As I said, they belong to the convocation. They'll probably want them back, but if they got lost during battle...." his implied meaning hangs heavily in the air.
Chak-Chak accepts the bag with thanks, and begins poking through it, nodding at each one the captain names...he immediately takes out the hat of diguise, and replaces his straw hat with it, making it look like a straw hat, with almost giddy chuckles. When he runs accross the other 2 items, he gives the captian a quizzical look...
"This is nice (the bone knuckle) and this robe. Do they have special properties like the other things in the bag? If so what are they?"
Drax follows Chak-chak's example and dons the hat and sleeves having them look like a leather headband and his current outfit. He also pulls a golden holy symbol from the bag and replaces the far less ornate version currently sound his neck. He then sets about trying to tie the haversack to a near identical one he pulled from his back. While he works he speaks to the Captain.
It seems clear that this symbol also has power beyond the norm for symbols of Auronis. I lack the skills to identify them myself.
to Chak-Chak, Greel says "The knuckle bone is from a necromancer who was quite famous in certain circles. As it has been explained to me, his spirit still lingers and offers advice to the wearer. As for the robe, that's an arcane defenders robe. It is somewhat armored, and will accept any and all magic spells that increase armor concurrently."
........................................................................
To Drax he says "That is appearantly a relic of your church, which grants the ability to cast any of the following spells three times a day: Cure moderate Wounds, Commune, Good Berries, Searing Light, and Daylight. I'm told that you can use your own spells to recharge it's ability to cast spells."
"The Captain obviously thinks Greith is more capable than all of you," Greith says while grinning. "He included nothing extra in Greith's pack. Greith will try to live up to your expectations, Captain." Greith throws the haversack over his shoulder and waits while the others ask about their new equipment.
A silver ring, with the heraldry of crossed raven feathers, which has been chased in obsidian. Feel free to ask or try and figure out on your own what it does.
Gidgey reached into his bag and pulled out the hat placing it on his head. Seeing how Chak-Chak changed his, he turned his into a bandana. It was the same colour as his skin almost blending in. Gidgey then tried testing its other feature, making him look a few inches taller. Now he seems as tall as a regular goblin. Pleased with his new appearance, he turned and posed towards the others for a second.
Gidgey reaches into his bag and tries to examine what the stone staff does
As he swings the pack, he hears an extra jingling from inside. Curious, he pulls it open and examines the sack. Inside, in a smaller pocket he missed checking, is a beautiful intricately carved ring. Thinking that the others' gear is special, he assumes this must be too.
'Well, Greith feels silly. Normally he doesn't miss things like that." Holding the ring up, he looks to the Captain. "May he ask the Captain Greel what is special with this pretty ring?"
Urgosh will look into the pack. He will cast a detect magic
I have absolutly no idea what these boots do. But then again my magical identifying skills aren't that great. he says with a smile
to Greith, he says "That ring belonged to a friend of mine, Carver deadmaker. Carver was a sneaky bastard, but he said that ring made him amazing. Anyway, I don't know everything it does, but I know it helps make the wearer sneaky."
to Urgosh he says "Those I got from one of the bishops of Kathandrax. appearantly they let inquiisitors use their special abilities more often, but he warned me that drawing on them too often could be detrimental or even fatal."
Um... what's this? Gidgey ask as he pulls a stone staff out of his bag.
A truly sacred symbol! I will be sure it is well cared for. After a while fiddling with the two backpacks Drax gives up and transfers the items from the new bag to his old one before rolling the new haversack up and slipping it away as well.
to Chak-Chak, Greel says "The knuckle bone is from a necromancer who was quite famous in certain circles. As it has been explained to me, his spirit still lingers and offers advice to the wearer. As for the robe, that's an arcane defenders robe. It is somewhat armored, and will accept any and all magic spells that increase armor concurrently."
"Oh! A necromancer...I shall listen to any words of advice his spirit may have. This robe is better than heavy armor! These will be put to good use, thank you, Captain." He also listens with interest in what his new companions received as well, sharing in their enjoyment.
Greel will indicate the proper buttons as he explains "Gidgey, the staff is Tenser's staff; It was made by some guy named Tenser. It can create the following effects with it's charges: for 1 charge, you can cast floating disk. For 2 charges, you can cast either knock or magic missile. For 3 charges, you can cast force punch. The last button will make a battering ram like effect."
"Any more questions before we head out? If not, I need everyone to leave the tent."
After a quick glance at his companions Drax tightens the straps on his backpack and heads for the door.
When are we leaving for this new mission?
"And should we procure something special for the mission? Additional food or whatever...?"
"Now. And don't worry about food."
Simply nods, then leaves the tent, waiting for the others outside.
"Yes Captain. Let's go, everyone. We're moving out!" Greith heads out of the tent.
"Hey guys like my new bandana?" Gidgey asked as he followed everyone out of the tent.
"Hey guys like my new bandana?" Gidgey asked as he followed everyone out of the tent.
After fitting his new Torc on his biceps, Kurat was barely able to notice anything around him, how fascinated and enthralled he was with his new sword. Finally, when Greith chases them all out of the tent, he gets out of his reverie and notices Gidgey.
"Why yes little one, this looks real fine on you now. How did ya do that?"
Looks good Gidgey. When I put the hat on I just concentrated on what I wanted it to look like and it did! The sleeves work the same way.
Greel is the last person to leave the tent, after ensuring that there were no living creatures inside. Grabbing one corner of the tent, he begins to shake it while mumbling something, and then the tent collapses flat. Not "flatly over the things inside": just flat. With that, He grabs one corner, mumbles again, and begins folding it. With each fold, the tent shrinks in area, but retains the same thickness, until it is finally the same area as a pocket handkerchief. With a shrug, He balls it up and puts it carefully in his pack. "Okay, let's head out."
......................................
The area around which Kathandrax decided to build the Grand Cathedral of Auronis in started out as rolling grasslands, but in the past three years has managed to be stomped into a giant mudfield. Trekking through it is tricky, but easy to travel the further away from Caravan one gets. Greel walks like someone who is really used to walking long distances, his easy stride allows him to keep pace with those who are larger then him, meaning that several members of your party have to run at times to keep up with him.
Finally pausing to set up camp a mere 10 hours later, Greel rolls out a sleeping bag and drops down, with a mumbled "Set a watch, sergeant."
Turning to your group, Meera says "figure it out corporals. there should be two people on at all times." and then she leans back against her pack and promptly begins snoring. Loudly.
"Greith and Drax will watch first. Then Urgosh and Gidgey, since Ugosh is most keen of all Dirty Squad and Gidgey is most oblivious. Finally, Chak-Chak and Kurat on third watch. Greith thinks that would be best watch assignments."
"OK, sounds good."
Works for me.
Drax sniffs the air a few times to get a sense of wind direction then faces down wind lifting his nose every few moments as he keeps his head moving looking into the darkness around camp.
"Ugh, so sleepy." Gidgey mumbles as he starts taking out his bedroll.
Chak-chak watches the others set up camp, then sets up in an out of the way place. He sets out his bedroll, and beings quietly chatting to his raven, and...others that aren't visible. He seems to be introducing a new guy to the others...
As each of you eventually drift off to sleep, the last thing you hear is the sounds of what appears to be whispering, but you can't make out the source.
You're in the tunnels again near your clan home, once again being chased by your brothers. Each time you think you have found a place to hide, one of your brothers comes out of the hiding place. Where as in the real world, when you were chased by your brothers they would call out insults and jeer you for hiding, in your dream they are silent predators, unable to speak as their mouths have been crudely sewn shut, and as they run after you you see the glint of madness in their eyes. The faster you try to run, the slower your actual distance covered is. Feeling despair start to creep over you, you reach into your pocket where you keep your shiny stone...only to find nothing there. Shocked for a moment into immobility, your brothers surround you, moving rhythmically in a circle while silently taunting you with their actions: darting in, and then pulling their blows at the last moment. The more you watch, the more crazed yet interesting it becomes: almost like a dance.
Then the knives come out, and at first it's the same, but then one of the flicks his blade lightly across your forehead. The first blade is gone in an instant, only to be replaced by another, and then another, each cutting a bit deeper until you feel the blades scrape against your bones. All the while, your hand grasps futilely at the pocket where you keep your stone, looking for comfort where none can be had. As you watch your oldest brother's blade descend towards your throat, you hear a voice from the darkness bellow out "ENOUGH!" and then you awake.
Approaching and standing to either side of your head, the one on your left leans in and with a *squip* sound pulls your eye from it's socket. Leaving it connected, they just simply turn your eye around, so that you can for the first time see your own face without the aid of a mirror. Setting your eye down in the center of your chest, the creature discards the spoon then leans in, the tentacles on the mask parting to reveal a ringed set of teeth. Tentatively at first, the one who removed your eye leans in and with a solid *CRUNCH* sound takes a large bite of your skull. As you feel it break, you feel something begin to pry it's way into your brain. Your left eye confirms the sensations you are experiencing: the tentacles on the mask begin to move and one of them goes into the hole that it's bite has made in your skull. You feel the tentacle slide beneath your brain and wrap around, obviously seeking to pull it from your skull. With increasing pressure, you watch your brain start to come through a hole that is far to small to accomedate it. Just as you feel your skull begin to give, you hear a voice that says "NO!!!" and then you awaken.
Glad you liked it =D find the effects you suffered below
The nightmare prevents restful sleep and causes 1d10 points of damage. The nightmare leaves you fatigued and unable to regain power points and arcane spells for the next 24 hours. Looks like you take a whole 1 point of damage.
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You are in the field where you know one day the Grand Cathedral of Auronis will stand. For now, however, it's just a field that has mid-shin high grass and sporadic patches of daisies. The sun is blazing away at full heat, and you find yourself enjoying a quiet moment alone. As you are contemplating the peace of the moment, you see a shadow pass over the sun. looking up and expecting to see a cloud, what you see is much worse: A dark amorphous blob that coalesces into the shape of a serpentine humanoid, with the upper body of a human and the lower body of a snake. It coils itself around the sun, and then, smiling an insane grin while looking you directly in the eyes, will lean in and take a bite from the star. Slowly, bite by bite, the sun disappears down the gullet of this smiling monstrosity. Even as it eats the sun, it never seems to take it's eyes off of you.
As it does, you see that parts of yourself begin to fade as well, becoming insubstantial before fading completely. As the creature leans in to take the final bite of the sun, you hear a voice boom the word "NO!" and then you awake.
Your rest is uneventful. You are woken by the screaming/noisemaking of your companions, who appearantly had a bad dream. What a buncha pussies =D
You find yourself in a grove that you know is sacred to the spirits. You can see them: spirits that represent the animals, those that represent plants, and so on. As you are speaking with them, you are instantly aware that something is wrong, as they all immediately cease making noise, similar to how a jungle will go quiet when a large predator is close at hand. Whirling around, you see darkness, like a greasy fog, begin to roll up from the ground. As quickly as it has appeared, it has surrounded you. Yet even in the darkness, you can still make out the shapes of the spirits, who are not moving so as to not attract attention. As you watch, you see one of them get silently snatched away, it's eyes pleading for help, or perhaps mercy. It begins slowly at first, but the pace of the abductions quickly escalate. You find that you can not move from your space, yet you can move in a circle. At last, there is but a single spirit left: you know that this spirit is the spirit of life itself; the one that you made a sacred pledge to. As you see the arms begin to move around it's body, and know that you are powerless to stop it from happening, you hear a powerful voice bellow "ENOUGH!" and then you awaken.
Even within such a terrifying dream, Kurat would fight. Understanding that he can not release his arms or his feet, he would wait for the last moment before trying to move his head aside and to bite the repulsive creature. If he could not bite it, he would at least try to spit at it, or curse it with all his might.
Kurat wakes up from his sleep ready to fight, a vicious grin apppearing on his face almost immediately as he grasped his weapon. Come you bastards, I'm ready for you. I will tear your infidel heats from your chest and feed it to the vultures!
Will save
A dark ball of fur shakes awake with a snort. Drax's eyes pop open and he unrolls into a crouch shifting from bear form to hybrid form with teeth beared and claws extended all but silent except for the initial start. Lifting his head he smells the air a few times before glancing to see the watch standers are unperturbed. Shaking his head a few times he lets out a deep breath before shifting back to bear form and settling back on the smooth patch of ground he found earlier. It is some time before his breathing fully slows however and he is able to get back to sleep.
"Get away from me!" Gidgey screamed while flaling violently. He started shooting off beams of ice and opened his to realize it was over. He looked up at the ceiling of the tent, a few icicles at the top. He looked around and quickly curled back into his bed. He reached into his pocket and sighed with relief.
The nightmare prevents restful sleep and causes 1d10 points of damage. The nightmare leaves you fatigued and unable to regain power points and arcane spells for the next 24 hours. Looks like you take 6 points of damage. Good times.
Sans the nightmares, the next few days basically repeat themselves as you make a beeline for the city of Aeon. During the time when you're not marching, the captain has been teaching those of you who do not speak it enough common to have a simple conversation with another person. He enlists the help of those of you who speak common to assist those of you who don't, so that you can have a passing conversation and sound like someone who actually speaks common as a native language for the few phrases you have mastered (keep in mind that common is not actually the standard language of the Convocation; that language is Sylvan). He also works on teaching each of you the normal way that a human walks and moves, allowing you to pass as one with increasing familiarity as the days go on.
Approaching an a waystation near a road that leads to Aeon shortly after noon, Greel halts your group and says "Well, time to see if all your practice has paid off. Each of you should make yourself look like a human, go into the inn on your own, and have a meal. Interact with each other as little as possible, but try to support each other if you can, without drawing attention to yourself in the process. Remember, we want to be unnoticed. Try to draw as little attention as possible to yourselves, and don't be seen as a group. We want to leave as little evidence of our passing as possible."
He then goes on to tell you to decide on the order you are going, and then leave.