In a strange manner Nicatha does not find the shadowed landscape oppressive. Rather she felt energized. Shadows can be dangerous, but they are not so far from me.
In the gloom, two small bright violet orbs appear. "Hmm hmm hmm, wanderers...I have longed for the flesh of something not shadow-tainted."
You see the vile form of a winged woman, her skin like dark ash and her feathers a deep ebony. She flaps her wings, hovering above Nicatha and Skaar. "So which of you will sate my hunger first?"
Her hideous face seems to bear a hungry smile.
Initiative:
Roll-off:
Round 1: Nicatha, Skaar, Shadow Harpy
Skaar retrieves the mace from his hip and calls on its holy power for defense. "I'll sate yer hunger alright. Come and get it!"
Before anything can happen, a wave seems to wash horizontally across the path and a female undine lies on the ground.
Round 1: Nicatha, Skaar (actions declared), Shadow Harpy, Zia
"Ah!"
A shallow flow spawls a woman of middling height - or length as it were on the ground. To the unknowing, she was simply a human with blue cerulan skin, navy hair, and sapphires of eyes.
To the knowledgeable, she was an undine - and a refined one at that. Unlike much of their people, the outsider wore more than the rags that were common. A black slip adorned her body, embroidery showing her as a woman of means. The legless and sleeveless garment left her mobile to swim.
Or in this case, stand.
Her waist-length hair was not simply damp, but absolutely soaked; she had been submerged when shifted here. Jewelry of the sea surrounded her neck, but a set of golden bracers wove their way up her lithe arms. This was no woman of physical might. One pack lay wrapped about her waist, and a longer, shallower, flatter backpack than one might normally carry hugged her dorsal.
*******
Zia stood and glanced about. What in the depths? A hulking orc and a dark-skinned human stood together, and some manner of creature stood across from them.
It's clear they're hostile towards each other though.
The linguist summoned her common.
"What manner of trickery is this? I am not to be diverted from my course lightly." Zia was angry; her next performance was to be tonight. Fans had been obsessive before, giving her false directions and leading her to their residences, but this was another matter entirely.
Skaar grunts in surprise as the beautiful blue-tinted woman appears in a gust of shadow. Deciding that the harpy was the more immediate concern, the big Orc keeps his attention trained on her.
Nicatha and Skaar protect themselves as the harpy makes a dive at the oracle and swinging its morningstar.
;
After striking the oracle, it rises 30 feet in the air again.
Round 1: Nicatha, Skaar, Shadow Harpy, Zia
The watersinger stands and moves ten feet South. There is clearly some bad blood here. "Stop! What is this quarrel? I have no business with either of you."
Skaar growls in frustration as the winged b*#~# cracks Nicatha with her mace. The big Orc tries to move into a position to better defend her from the next attack. "I thought you were hungry? If you're lookin' for a nice slab of beef, it's right here", Skaar calls.
Hearing the newcomer's plea, the hulking greenskin raises a brow but keeps his vision trained on the harpy. "We're lost too but I don't think that thing much cares where you came from", he grunts.
Nicatha fires three shimmering bolts of energy at the shadowy foe.
;
"It doesn't matter why you're here," the harpy screeches. "I am famished."
It gauges the orc's stance and flies toward the undine, again swooping and attacking.
;
Round 2: Nicatha, Skaar, Shadow Harpy, Zia
Skaar's growl of frustration rises in volume. He couldn't be in two places at once. The big Orc gestures for the mysterious Undine to come closer for protection while maintaining his pouncing stance.
"Ugh!" The bludgeoning took what haughtiness remained out of Zia's voice.
She took a step back. "Then have a drink."
The singer moves her hands in a circular fashion, one clockwise and one anticlockwise. A sphere of water coalesces around the harpy and the remaining space between it and Zia, engulfing her in its currents.
The harpy is hit by the orb, but manages to avoid being engulfed within it.
Nicatha again flings magic missiles at the harpy.
Round 3: Nicatha, Skaar, Harpy, Zia
The harpy flies off into the bleak distance, the risk not worth the reward. She screeches angrily in the darkness before silence settles over the area again.
That's right. Run. Zia allowed herself a moment of a feral grin in victory before she turned her sights on the orc. Moving the orb between them, she spoke.
"Now. Explain what's going on here, roughblood. I've been kidnapped before, but you'll not find me easy prey."
Skaar growls at the woman's foolishness. It was fear - a reasonable response - but they didn't have time to argue in this dark place.
"Listen girl, we don't know much more than you. We were taken from our home, just like I figure you were. This is some kinda between-place. Some kinda shadow-world."
The big Orc pauses long enough to enjoy the woman's fluid curves.
"If we were here to hurt you, we would've attacked when that wing'd thing did."
"Hmmm. I can hear the truth in your words." The orb dissapates, joining what came with her wave on the floor. The woman's hair is now not revealing her face, eyes sparkling, even in the dimness of the chamber. A robin's egg headband keeps her bangs less disorganized than they might be otherwise. One hand clutches her side where she was injured.
"I am known as Zia the Siren. It seems though I am now the one to be lured. Why this "in-between place though? And who's she?" As she gestures towards Nicatha, Zia wracks her brain for memory of the structure of the planes to apply them to her situation.
The big Orc shifts his weight and adjusts the patchwork armor that was straining to contain his hulking frame. One hand settles on the thick fighting-girdle wrapped around his muscular torso, near the ornate mace dangling from his hip, glowing softly and pulsing with untold power. Besides his massive build, the litany of scars decorating his bare arms and his battle-ready posture mark the Orc as a warrior.
"Good to meet ya Zia. I'm Skaar and this is Nicatha. She's some kinda moon-priestess", the massive greenskin grunts.
"We not not why, Zia. This place be a threshold between shadow and the living world. We seek to find a way from the place."
A puzzling answer. "This was not one of the venues I'd hoped to patronize. Let us be on our way."
The blue lights continue to flicker in the distance, almost beckoning you.
With introductions handled, Skaar gestures for the ladies to follow him and resumes leading the way toward the flickering lights in the distance.
Again the path twists and turns and you end up at the edge of a small cliff. Below, a small town sits, barely illuminated in the darkness. You think you catch a glimpse of movement down there. The only way down to the town is to descend from the cliff to the rocky outcropping below.
"It looks like we're gunna have to climb down", Skaar explains after surveying the terrain.
Skaar looks the two beautiful women over with an appraising eye.
Zia elicits the ascending notes of a major third in quick succession, and a set of dancing lights appear, their teal coloring orbiting an unlit central point. Glancing over the side, she lowers them about halfway.
"Nothing amiss I can see." She sizes up the orc's bulk. "I hadn't packed for this sort of situation. Safely can I allow us to descend, but it will be taxing on my energy. If you can do it the old-fashioned way though..." It was clear she was not used to asking for help; this was probably as close as the bard would get.
Skaar grunts and gestures to Zia. "Climb on my back. I'll carry ya down and then come back up for Nicatha."
"Get a good hold. It's gunna be a rough ride."
Zia does as bidden, no stranger to utilizing some of the larger underwater creatures for fast transport. He's half an animal anyway, she thought to herself, equating the activity.
Walking behind him, she places her hands on his shoulders to lift herself up. Clammy to the touch, the hands were cool and very smooth; it was clear she had not been working in an iron mine during her days. Zia crossed her legs across the front of the orc's stomach, but she left his arms free to move as needed.
She leaned towards his ear from behind. "I'll move the lights along with you. If the climb proves too difficult, let me know."
Skaar makes sure his pack and weapon are secure as Zia moves into position and climbs aboard his broad back. The slabs of muscle along his shoulders involuntary shiver at the woman's cool touch and he growls softly in surprise when she fearlessly wraps her supple legs around his brawny torso.
The big Orc rumbles with laughter as he seeks out the most stable portion of the cliff to start his descent. "A little climb won't be a problem. I wrestled a bull minotaur into submission once", he brags as lowers himself down. "Just keep an eye out for me back there."
The outcropping at the bottom is stable and Zia has no trouble finding a comfortable place to wait.
After verifying that the Undine woman is safe, Skaar heads back up the cliff for Nicatha.
Zia takes a quick glance around while Skaar readies to head back up.
While he climbs, she prepares herself to catch him - if he falls.
Zia sees nothing in the immediate area.
Nicatha debates levitating down the cliff, but decides that it would be better to conserve her magic.
Hearing no complaints, Skaar waits for Nicatha to climb aboard his back and then climbs down again to join Zia.
Nicatha clings tightly to his muscled back.
Returning to Zia, the orc sets Nicatha down on the outcropping. The town is about a good 15 minute walk from where they stand.
Skaar readjusts his armor and gestures for the ladies to follow him once again.
"Come on. It's not much further."
Zia walks in silence for a while, then casts Nicatha a glance. "You're quiet. Often, that is the sound I hear in the sea, but not around others. I am Zia." A very diverse pair, they are.
The dark woman smiles at Zia. "Silence and circumspection be often undervalued, but they are precious gifts of the night. I speak little so that I may better hear. But, do not think me unfriendly. I am Nicatha, a godswife, some have called me Moon's Daughter."
Skaar chuckles, interrupting the ladies' conversation. "Nicatha's smart - really smart. She knows just 'bout everything."
As you near the town, the blue lights grow somewhat brighter and you see humanoid figures moving about in the dim light.