She does have to think for a moment, "Sometime in Erastus." She sounds relatively certain.
Once both dinosaurs have been given appropriate care and attention, the pair is able to look for a safe place to learn and teach firearms. It takes a bit of time and means you have to go to the outskirts of the city but you find a place with appropriate targets and, not hay bales, but large clumps of pineapple debris.
Excited Sasha looks at Zaine almost dancing in place.
She does have to think for a moment, "Sometime in Erastus." She sounds relatively certain.
"You had a birthday on the island! We should do something here, then."
"The trigger operates the hammer," Zaine says, pointing to it. "Makes it fall. Then the flint, here, hits the frizzen here, which is where the spark comes from. Unless the hammer is cocked, the gun can't be fired." Zaine demonstrates, pulling the hammer back into its locked position. "If you want to uncock the gun without firing, you pull the trigger, but keep your hand on the hammer, to stop the spark from being made." Another demonstration.
"Now, this is how you shoot. I'm shooting here, because I don't want you handling a loaded gun right at the moment, so you're getting the whole demonstration. Anyway, I stand sidelong at the target, giving it a thin silhouette to shoot back at, I pull the hammer back, and level the gun. The pistol itself is an extension of my arm. It's just like pointing. I level it, and I squeeze the trigger."
There is a flurry of discussion following this, finally the biggest of the warriors hands his spear and shield to his comrade and steps forward. "We understand that you are on task from holy man, but we can not let you steal from the sacred spirits if you are not worthy. I challenge the strongest of you to unarmed combat, the first to be unable to continue loses."
"That is probably me," Faith says in Polyglot. "What sort of unarmed combat? Should we strip down? Do I have a few minutes to pray first? What are the consequences if I lose? Or if you lose?"
Faith smiles and shrugs. "I have many questions."
"Didn't look like you're quite ready with that last section. Was there anything else?"
... "I challenge the strongest of you to unarmed combat, the first to be unable to continue loses."
"Men." Áine mutters in an aside to Arcadia and those around her, "Always looking for a chance to show off their brawn." she doesn't exactly look put off by the coming spectacle, however.
"Well, I mean, Tulip's probably the one of us with the best chance of winning, but I'm not confident in my ability to convince her this sort of thing isn't for keeps."
"You had a birthday on the island! We should do something here, then."
Sasha smiles at Zaine, "I can't think of anything that would make the stay in Eleder better than it has already been."
"That is probably me," Faith says in Polyglot. "What sort of unarmed combat? Should we strip down? Do I have a few minutes to pray first? What are the consequences if I lose? Or if you lose?"
Faith smiles and shrugs. "I have many questions."
The big man who is going to be the challenger starts to stretch, the other man picks back up the conversational handle. "You may pray to your gods. Friendly combat, no injury, stop other person from being able to fight." He thinks for a moment, "Make other tap out?" He nods at Zaine's comment (if it was in Polygot), "Too many sharp teeth on the thunder lizard."
"You win, you are worthy of spirit's feather, you lose you are not. You lose, you return feather."
Faith starts removing his armor. In Taldane: "This may be very embarrassing for me. My apologies, Arcadia, if I mess this up."
In Polyglot: "No injury. Friendly combat. I remove my armor then pray."
Faith is still incredibly white from upper chest to mid-thigh (apart from the tattoo-in-progress).
Faith prays.
Faith's opponent stretches, then waits for Faith's long prayer to finish. As soon as it seems that Faith is ready, the big man raises his open hand to his forehead in a form of salute.
After the demonstration she nods, breaks focus for a moment to give him a big smile, then back to her detail orientated mode. "Do you want to show me how to clean and reload?" A little smile, "Weaponmaster Kayleen always said that if you don't know how to take care of your weapons then they will fail you when you need them."
A shrug, " I've watched you clean your gun so I know it is not an easy thing. But starting with the work instead of the fun is how I've learned most of my weapons."
Faith mirrors the gesture, then moves into a pugilistic stance.
Faith casts Bull's Strength upon himself , then moves in to grapple.
Zaine takes Faith's armor like a trainer. "I've been watching that guy and... he's really big. I don't know, hit him in the groin or something," Zaine murmurs.
Zaine holds up the pistol for Sasha's inspection. "Step one, you open the pan." He pushes the frizzen away, exposing a small metal pan. "Gunpowder goes here." He produces his powderhorn and fills the pan. "This is called priming the pan."
He closes the pan, flipping the frizzen back into firing position. "Make sure you close the pan. Otherwise, the powder will spill out and no force on heaven or earth will get this gun to fire. Now, you flip the pistol so the barrel is facing the sky. You dump more powder down the pipe." Zaine demonstrates. "About this much."
"Now, you need to keep the charge in place. For that, you need musket wadding. Paper or cloth, whichever you have. Doesn't really matter." Zaine puts a bit of canvas down the barrel. "Take the ramrod off the gun," he pulls it from the sheath on the underside, "and now you tamp the charge down. Not too violently. Chances are it won't go off, but better not tempt fate."
"So now your powder is in place. Next is the shot." He holds up a small lead ball for Sasha's inspection, then puts it in the barrel. "And then a little more wadding, which you then tamp down." He demonstrates.
"This gun is now loaded. Pull back the hammer and it's ready to fire."
Faith's quick rush manages to throw his bigger opponent off balance, a quick exchange of manly taps and bruises, but after the scuffle, it is Faith who seems to have the controlling hand in the grappling.
Unfortunately, the warrior pulls Faith forward, the does a complicated twist, throwing the warpriest off balance, and gains control of the grapple.
A smile, "We should plan on bringing a few people, I made a few batches."
Faith is again filled with religious fervor and attempts to regain control of the grapple with a squirm,-twist,-shift-of-weight-type maneuver.
Also, I think Bull's Strength plus Shield of Faith will boost Faith's CMD all the way to 19. Unless I am wrong.
Zaine doesn't have any obvious or inobvious ways to aid Faith other than some supportive cheering.
Áine does cheer on her friend, strangely enough her advice is good for a small advantage or a +1 bonus for the next 3 rounds.
Faith is again filled with religious fervor and attempts to regain control of the grapple with a squirm,-twist,-shift-of-weight-type maneuver.
Seeing how the bigger man moves, Faith quickly switches his grip, a yank and a grab and Faith regains the momentum of the wrestling match.
The warrior's eyes narrow with martial respect. He steps forward to crowd Faith, his leg getting behind the warpriest's, tangling Faith's footing - and just barely gains the controlling hand.
Sasha tries to shout advice, but most of it ends in half comments in Taldane, since it would involve stabby bits.
She takes the weapon carefully by the grip, keeping her hands free of hammer and trigger - and quickly pointing the gun down. She starts to settle into the narrow silloutte, pauses, leans to Zaine and brushes a soft kiss, "For luck." Then she is all business, her stance not quite an imitation of his, but an almagation of his stance and one that probably learned for archery.
She puts the pistol up, cocking the hammer, her finger in the guard but with no pressure on the trigger, a breath, two while she focuses, then she pulls the trigger.
And her first shot with the pistol is not perfect, but dead near the center of the target, hitting a little mark. Her finger goes out of the trigger guard and the barrel drops to point to the ground as she turns to Zaine with a smile, "You really are lucky for me."
She looks at him to see if she forgot any of the steps.
She double checks the hammer is down before she turns the barrel to the sky, then pouring in a dose of gunpowder, then delicately tamping a wad of cloth down with the ramrod, rolling in the shot and securing it with cloth and ramrod. She bites get bottom lip as she looks at Zaine to get his assessment before firing.
With the sudden bout of exertion, Faith is sweating. He keeps his leg tangled with the warrior's, shifts his weight, leans in, moves his hands. All in attempt to wrest control of the grapple.
He breaks into a grin. "Remind me never to cross you."
Faith easily shifts the hold to be in control of the bigger man's actions. The sun beats down and despite the savage storm high above, no wind stirs. Unlike Faith, his Ijo opponent was raised in the hot climes, his sweat is solely from effort, nothing added from the heat of the day or the humidity of the air around.
His comfort in the heat of the day gains him advantage, Faith's sweat makes his grip slippery and the man is able to wrench his arm back, quickly moving to grab Faith again.
She takes a careful aim again, a breath, and a steady pull on the trigger.
And there is a sad puff of smoke as the hammer lands with a spark that doesn't produce a boom. Barrel points down, as Sasha turns to Zaine wide-eyed, worried, "Did I break it?"
His comfort in the heat of the day gains him advantage, Faith's sweat makes his grip slippery and the man is able to wrench his arm back, quickly moving to grab Faith again.
"Žinote, jis tikriausiai nesitiki bučinio."
He holds his hand out for the pistol. Assuming she hands it over, he shows her how to clear out the barrel using Quick Clear.
She looks at the pistol, "I'm going to have to see that so much slower to have a prayer of doing the steps." She leans forward and kisses Zaine, "However, the lesson of don't shoot the gun that has just misfired is one I will not forget." She considers him, "It's why you have the whip, so that you have a weapon you could use if your musket was inoperable. And so you'd have something to use all stealth."
She looks up at sun, just a bit past mid-day and the rising humidity in the pineapple fields. "Can I try again?" Assuming, he gives her the pistol, she goes through the process that would take Zaine 3 second over the course of a few minutes, gauging the powder much better this time - but mostly because she spent time really thinking about it.
Aim, fire.
Which doesn't have the precision of her first lucky shot, as the recoil hits muscles not used to the pressure. The bullet is stopped by the large mound of pineapple debris, but its a near thing. "I think I might have to kiss you every time I shot." Sasha comment, "To get your mojo." She doesn't sound upset, clearly remembering many hours put to learning new weapons and skills.
Faith shakes his head and narrows his eyes to keep sweat out of them. He attempts to use his sweat-slickness to his advantage, stepping into the warrior, trying to slip free of his grasp, intending to regain control of the grapple.
"I'm heading down to the beach. See you in a few minutes -- and also in five years."
Zaine brings his musket up to his shoulder and fires at the target.
"Now this is how to use a paper cartridge. It's basically the same thing, just a little simpler." He pulls the cartridge off his bandolier. "Step one, same as the last." He kneels and opens the pan. "Step two, bite the end off." He demonstrates, biting one end of the paper cartridge off and then spitting the paper into the air. "Fill the pan from this, close the pan." He demonstrates, then stands, putting the butt of the musket against the ground. "The rest of the cartridge holds the charge of gunpowder, the bullet, and enough paper to serve as the wadding." He puts the rest of the cartridge in the barrel, tamping it down with the ramrod. "So you only tamp once as opposed to twice."
He brings the musket up and fires.
Then he tosses her a paper cartridge. "Give it a try."
She does lean over and kiss Zaine before aiming the pistol at the well abused target pile and firing, her arm a bit overbraced for the inevitable recoil.
Not a great shot, her wrist not used to absorbing the power of the gun.
For the first time in the long wrestling match, Faith does not manage to reverse the bigger warrior's hold. Pushing his advantage, the big man tries to pin Faith.
And he loses grip of Faith's sweaty body - leaving the two combatants to circle each other for a moment, a break in the action.
Faith takes a moment to wipe sweat off his forehead. Droplets spatter on the ground. "Challenge of wind and there's not a breath of air," he mutters in Taldane.
"You fight well," he says to the warrior in Polyglot. "Do you fight here often?"
Faith slowly advances as they circle, focused on the warrior's eyes, spiraling in to another grapple.
The bigger warrior grunts at the hold Faith manages, "You fight well." A grin, "Not much training, but much heart."
This doesn't stop the trained warrior from attempting to gain control of the grapple, for both his own pride and that of his people.
But he fails to do so.
If you can succeed at the pin, you've won.
She stretches, "I know I should do more, but hopefully it will be safe enough to do an hour of practice when we are on the trail. On the days it is safe to make loud noises." A grin. A pause, "Gunpowder tastes awful, I'm now thinking back to all the fights were you used paper cartridge after paper cartridge. Even more impressive now." She goes over to Tulip who had been roaring challenges to go along with the gunfire, to happily scratch the dinosaur behind feathers.
"Should I keep going today?" A pause, an innocent expression, "Or do you want to see what is under my clothes?"
Zaine joins her in petting Tulip. As soon as Sasha gives him the come on, his eyes light up. "Well, now I'm not going to be thinking of anything else." His hand closes around her and he pulls her close. His eyes make a hundred promises, and his lips seal them for her. Then he's leading the way back to the room. "Tulip, move your ass. Sasha decided to be perfect again, and I need to get her alone or we're just going to end up f#~~ing in the open and upsetting some livestock."
Faith wastes no time in going for the pin. His movements are not flashy, but they are focused.
Again, his arms and legs have difficulty gripping where they need to grip.
It takes quite a bit longer as Faith and the bigger man keep slowly gaining advantage over the other then losing it. Faith never gets cornered to the point where he has to use magic to escape a last minute pin.
At the end of the day, Faith manages to slam the other warrior to the ground, both of the big man's arms behind his back. The Ijo warrior taps the ground with his foot, signalling he cedes to Faith's superiority.
As both combantants recover, the man who had been doing most of the speaking smiles, "I am glad that only the worthy have trod on our sacred ground." With smiles, the warriors go around to each of you, giving you gifts of friendship - jewelry made of carved abalone, baleen, bone and pearls.
She slips in next to his side as they walk back into town, leaving his gunhand free and scanning for ambush, but also enjoying him next to her. Quietly, "Thank you for taking the time to teach me, Zaine." She shakes her head, "It's more complicated than archery, but there is a satisfaction that comes with the boom."
If Zaine goes for the plan, he comes into the inn to see Yvette and two more of Briga's employees carrying hot water up, the bath almost filled. Sasha perches on the small window table watching them, giving Zaine a smile when he comes in.
"Thanks," Zaine says to the guy giving him jewelry. "I'm not really a... but this is really nice. Really."
"I've never really done any archery. We always had the musket at home. This musket. Granted, it's in better shape now than it was then, but it always fired. Well, fired for us anyway. No one else could reliably make it work." He gives her hand a squeeze. "It's my pleasure teaching you. I'm sure you have plenty of stuff to show me too. I mean, I wasn't trained my assassins. I mostly just learned by not dying."
Zaine comes back in to the room later, and begins setting his things down. He gives Sasha a little wink and waits patiently for the ladies to be done with the bath. In the meantime, he washes his hands and mouth, getting rid of any lingering gunpowder.
Faith helps up the man he pinned, and claps him on the back. Faith is coated alternately in dust and sweat, and breathing hard. "That was masterful," he gasps, in Polyglot. "Without the favor of my Goddess, you would have beaten me in short order."
The big man shakes his head, smiling as he regains his feet - sweaty and now caked with the dirt that sticks to his body. "As I said, you fight with much heart." He claps Faith's shoulder, "That dedication can rarely be defeated without as deep a purpose."
A smile and he points up to Gozreh's Crest where the storm is blowing away in the wind - revealing the giant bird on its nest. "If you had harmed the sacred spirit, then I would have had to win."
It only takes the group one more trip up the stairs, Sasha bouncing to the door to thank them with a tip. Closing and firmly locking the door. Only then does she shimmy out of the chain shirt. Sliding into Zaine's arms, the scent of gunpowder still clings, barely, to her hands. A long kiss, then a quiet whisper in his ear, "Do you want a show or do you want to do the unwrapping?"
Zaine returns Faith's armor piece by piece.
Arcadia's applause is mighty.
"If that doesn't encourage Gozreh we mean business, I don't know what will."
You arrive back at the bluff that houses the old wily guide. Shortly after you row into the rough water that slams intot the rocks, the woven mat high up the cliff face moves. The brown face looks down, his tangled hair blowing in the heavy win. He shouts down, "All of you still alive." He nods, "Come up and we have Gozreh tell if you succeed at challenges."
He pauses, "There are traps, there, there and there, don't set them off."
"Now to see what he looks like from up close," Faith says, and starts to climb -- fully-armored, of course.
He takes care near where the traps are supposed to be .
Áine climbs up, making sure she can avoid the traps with a knotted rope (pitoned if necessary) lowered to help any others that might like assistance, unless Arcadia is using her Spider Climb formulae.
Zaine returns Faith's armor piece by piece.
Sasha grins a congratulations to Faith while she asks Zaine, "You mumbled something during the fight, but I couldn't tell if it was commentary or advise."
Tulip looks at the climb and then starts circling the boat, giving side-eye to the mostly underwater cave where the giant crabs lurk, as though watching the small boat were the most interesting thing to do as all the humans climb the rocky face of the cliff.
The hermit, a man of a highly indeterminate age, waves you into his cave when you get to the top, to where he has a large fire in a clay brazier, heating the air in the rock. Next to the fire is a pot filled with a red paste and the pouch sits on the floor next to that. The hermit looks at the group, holding out his hand expectantly.
One Zaine has chosen his seat, Sasha walks over to in front of him with a intentionally swing in her hips. Her movements are quite rhythmic, but they have intention, like she has a certain song in her mind that she is moving in time to. As she approaches, her hands steal under his shirt, slowly playing with the buttons that close her pants. She pauses at a point where Zaine would have to reach to touch her, her hands letting go of the pants, letting them slowly slide down her legs with each twitch of her hips.
She pushes them away as they finally settle on the floor, the underwear she chose earlier in the day hidden by the long fall of her blue shirt. Sasha gives Zaine a smile, her green eyes filled with promise as she puts her hands on her thighs and lets them run against her curves, bringing up the hem of the shirt as she does so.
The black starts higher than the boy shorts she wore for him before, just the tiniest bit of black lace in a V at the top of her thighs, the slight bit of material held up by the strips of black that crisscross to above her hips, leaving far more skin bare than covered. Her hands move slowly over her stomach, right hand moving across to her left side and left doing the opposite. She doesn't quite pause, but her attention is fully on Zaine.
She makes what appears to be a real effort to scale the wall to the Hermit's place. There's only the briefest moment where she looks frustrated. "I've climbed enough ruins and trees in my day, you think I'd be better at this."
I think it's fair to say Arcadia wouldn't have expected the group might need to make another big climb, so she's not coming to the 6th day with all Spider Climb. She'll have one as a backup like normal.
1x Spider Climb
1x Cure Moderate Wounds
1x Lesser Restoration
1x Adhesive Spittle
1x Disguise Self
2x Firebelly
1x Shield
Sometime on the 4th evening, after the trial, Arcadia finds Faith with a little grin on her face.
"I did a little bit of digging and found a bookstore you might be interested in."
At mention of his collection, her smile brightens. "Information is fascinating, but to see it in physical form is also a favorite of mine. If I find anything on my travels that I think you might enjoy, I'll bring it back." Another sip of wine. "Do you have a special room for such a collection? Or do you keep it separate from your home?" She pauses for a moment. "And can you tell me more about these Animal Warriors?"
"Then we are agreed." She says, running the fingers of her free hand over his. "Our meeting was serendipity."
Arcadia smiles very slightly once she gets into the room and sees no evidence of Pakshee. If she can't see any Pakshee at all in the room, she will go up (or down) any stairs available in the room. If this floor is all that's available to her, she'll go out the front door very casually instead.
Arcadia laughs. "Those are my thoughts as well."
She tucks her vials away and readjusts her hat. "Whenever she sheds a feather, let me know. And I'll let you know if I find any new formulae you or Tulip might find useful."
Zaine gives Tulip a snuggle. "Don't worry, girl. We'll be right back."
Zaine climbs up the slope.
Zaine shakes the hermit's hand. "Zaine Kildare, pleased to meet you. Nice place you have here. Looks really conducive for hermiting."
Zaine shakes the hermit's hand. "Zaine Kildare, pleased to meet you. Nice place you have here. Looks really conducive for hermiting."
Áine sniggers, rolls her eyes at Zaine, then removes the feather and black pearls from their protection in the bag of holding. She offers them to Faith to give to the hermit as he started this whole thing.
She makes what appears to be a real effort to scale the wall to the Hermit's place. There's only the briefest moment where she looks frustrated. "I've climbed enough ruins and trees in my day, you think I'd be better at this."While she definitely has to make use of the rope system to make it to the top, Arcadia is able to make the climb unassisted by magic. With magic she can go the fast direct route beating most of the other climbers.
Zaine shakes the hermit's hand. "Zaine Kildare, pleased to meet you. Nice place you have here. Looks really conducive for hermiting."
The old man nods, still waiting for the fruits of the tasks he... Gozreh... sent you on. "Is a good spot. But if Gozreh says it is time to leave," a small shrug, "then time to leave." Seriously, "Always better to listen to the small voice of Gozreh, the big voice might kill you."
He watches the feather and pearl be handed to the big northerner, his hand still out, but with the patience of stone.