"We could send a note if you really want to tell them something." Schmitty suggests. "Though I think Priggle is right. "
He looks and Karg and asks, "Where would we get enough trees to build a wall large enough to block them? He gestures around, pointing out the lack of plant-life in general.
"Bah you stupid gnome! Me not say build wall! Me say knock a tree down beside the road if there a narrow part in road. Me can chop a big tree down in minutes, and it take them hours to move it. But if there no narrow spot in path, or if the sides of the road are sparsely wooded, then of course it not make sense to do it. Bah, if you gunna need everything explained like this, me gunna have you talk to Moneta lots."
Niko will be heard chuckling to himself while stretched out with his hat covering his face for shade.
"Amusingly enough the big fellow is completely serious too..." he murmurs to none in particular.
Evan looks at Karg, mouth almost agape. "I didn't know you ever spoke so much all at once."
"Understood, Priggle - didn't figure they were threats, but figured two riders could drift back, watch and catch up fairly easily. If you don't think it's necessary, it's not necessary."
Priggle sighs and says, "Karg, if you would like to go chop down a tree, feel free. Just don't get yourself killed. Mr. Dachs paid good money to get y'all on this little trip." He flicks the reins to get the wagon moving a little faster.
Karg seemingly ignores Priggle and continues to ride lead in front of the wagon.
Niko will sit up every so often to look behind the group and asses weather the other travelers are gaining or loosing ground relative to the party.
You continue on, riding for a good 10 hours total today before Priggle pulls the wagon to a stop. If you're on a regularly used road, you can't tell. Thankfully, the blighted nature of the lands of Nex make it surprisingly easy to travel off-road.
Priggle says, "Okay, horses need to rest for the night." He nimbly climbs on top of the wagon, after setting the break, and looks around the area. [b]"Those wagons from earlier don't appear to have followed us." He gets some food for the horses and himself, but doesn't get anything for the rest of the group.
Niko will sit up, having been laying in the back of the wagon all trip. Adjusting his hat, he says.
"Reckon i'll take the first watch, so the lot of you can get some rest."
With a creak of armor he'll get off the wagon and secure his greatsword over a shoulder.
"Me will take middle of night, when it be darkest."
"I suppose I'll take last watch. It will give me a chance to renew my spells, though I haven't really used any today. It is a good practice though." Schmitty says, then thinks to himself "I guess. I've never had to keep watches before."
"I need to start working on some ammo, but I'll be up during first watch in case anything happens. The night's never bothered me any, either."
"I'll take first watch, after supper."
And with that, she takes what care of her horse as she's heard of; she's also a little stiff from a day in the saddle, and it shows.
When supper is cooked, she sits closer to the fire than most do - the deserts get cold.
"I'll take first watch, after supper."
"Lovely. Alright then, ah'll be in your care."
That being said, Niko will have a fairly simple meal, picking at his rations almost absentmindedly before stowing his gear for the evening and going on watch without another word unless spoken to.
After a brief, bland, but filling meal, Karg, Schmitty, and Priggle bed down. Before falling asleep, Priggle says to wake him for last watch.
The wastes get cold at night, and even after the fires coals have been banked, Moneta is still huddling close enough to it that it shows she's chilled to the bone. Her cloak is shapeless and gray and a little large for her, and she routinely keeps her back to it, taking her turns scanning the horizon to the extent her eyes will go as dusk shades to night.
The man with the scuffed banded mail and the greatsword - who volunteered to share a watch with her, and hasn't actually given his name - paces a little farther from the fire, not as tethered by the need for warmth as as she.
Evan Markhale, whom she'd had a few polite words with while running outrider during the trip out, is sitting a fair distance from the fire, carefully measuring powders and alchemical components with a scale and a small paring knife. Moneta periodically casts light on the decoration at the front of his hat, so he can see what he's doing, tinting it red to minimize its effect on night vision. The light highlights his face oddly, and the blue of his shirt, and the nearly silvery gray of his vest; it's nicely tailored and is flattering to him.
The rest of the party is in their bedrolls, some snoring, some not.
Not wanting to disturb the man measuring things she's pretty sure are explosive or caustic, Moneta turns to her watchmate.
"Been in the Wastes before?"
"Been in the Wastes before?"
Niko will keep staring out into the distance for a bit, but when the pause gets long enough where one would wonder if he may not have heard, he replies.
"Not this close, no. Heard more then a few stories 'tho."
Another long pause and he shifts a bit to look back her way, staring as he has been want to do so far.
"You seemed pretty chummy with the employer. You his mole to keep us on the tracks?"
"Chummy? More like...I owe him. Sort of."
She looks over the northern horizon, taking a moment to stand up and adjust her cloak. "I got taken out here to...make someone do something they didn't right want to do. Escaped, and ran off into the Wastes, almost got skinned alive by a sandstorm."
She pauses for a moment, peering deeper into the dark. "Was one of his salvage teams that I stumbled across after...what happened...and got me back to Quantium. Since then, I've owed him, and he keeps reminding me of the debt to get me to do some work for him."
"You don't volunteer much. What should I call you?"
"You don't volunteer much. What should I call you?"
"Ah?"
He seems confused by the question, then realization a few seconds later.
"Oh. Right, a name. Niko i guess. It works as well as any other."
He'll lose himself in thought for a moment, unconciously rubbing at the left side of his face then nod slowly.
"Yeah. Niko will work just fine."
Looking over at the others for a moment, he will eventually ask...
"So, this Dachs fellow. How trustworthy is he?"
"I'm not really a source of a good answer - he's never betrayed me, but...I owe him a marker. I've never been stiffed by him for pay, but he's a sharp dealer. To the best of my knowledge, he's never double dealt. That could mean he's good enough he never got caught, or has enough self preservation not to try it." She shrugs.
"We've taken his coin, he'll stick by that, I think."
She stands, and steps farther away from the fire, taking off her cloak. Shakes out her hair. Appears to be unlacing the back of her gown, and shaking her shoulders out. She's shivering. "Wastes change a person. Some more than others." And with that, she stretches.
"Want to take a look around the perimeter. This might be a bit alarming."
And with that, a strange sigil on her forehead starts to glow with a ruddy light, and steam starts to rise from her skin.
"Want to take a look around the perimeter. This might be a bit alarming."
And with that, a strange sigil on her forehead starts to glow with a ruddy glow, and steam starts to rise from her skin.
"The hell?"
Niko says, taking a step back and putting one hand on his sword and extending the other palm open in front of him.
"You okay over there? What's happenin' to you?"
He'll glance towards the edge of camp quickly to see if he missed anyone, then fix his eyes back on moneta.
Evan seems to have just finished working on a couple of doses of black powder when Moneta begins to exhibit her unusual change. He dusts himself off before walking over towards Niko and putting a hand on his shoulder.
"Hang on a moment, I think this'll be fine... I think." He's trying to sound sure, but in reality Evan's racking his brain for something, his memory trying to get him to recollect a fact before he finally does -- the strange unreadable rune on Chavi's head.
He looks at Niko and says, "The Wastes can change a person, though, she's right. Not necessarily physically. There's a reason why everyone in Alkenstar stays within the cities."
With eyes a bit narrowed, Niko will mumble to himself and pull his hat down lower.
"I'm liking this place less already.."
Moneta's skeleton seems to be growing, her skin stretching in a peculiar distortion, her skull...elongating. A crown of spikes that glint like steel rises from her scalp, her hair flowing around them...and she stretches to her full height, more than seven feet tall.
She's taller than Karg is, but goes beyond lean to looking like a thin layer of skin over a skeleton that's far too large, her flesh sort of half-heartedly stretched over bones, and her clothes held on more like the fabric of a kite on a frame.
She...it...whatever it is...bends at the knees. The shoulders, free from the gown, widen - the wrists come down to its ankles. When the head turns to face Niko, its eyes glint like stars reflected at the bottom of the well.
Her voice is softly metallic, the chime of bells, the ring of steel on steel. "The Wastes took my life. Our Lord in Iron gave it back to me. But not without...an obligation."
And with that, blades slice outwards from her elongated bones, through her skin, turning her hands and arms into a forest of razors.
"Kinda makes sense, I suppose. I don't figger Gorum would find much use in giving you a pet or a horse." He looks Moneta up and down, more with as if academically filing information away than ogling her or viewing her as some sort of strange specimen. He has his theories about what is going on, but he doesn't say anything more than that.
Turning to Niko, he says, "I don't do anything like that. Tho I can hum a nice little ditty, works even out here in the Wastes."
Niko will whisper aside to Evan as he takes another step back to be behind him.
"So...this is fine then? All normalsy out here in whackyland?"
He will still be regarding once-moneta wearily.
"So..um...you still you in there?"
He'll look more then just a bit startled, tho he tries to play it off.
"Is..that anything as painful as it looks?"
"Nothing's outside the realm of the possible out here," Evan responds sagely.
When Niko asks if Moneta's transformation hurts, he says nothing, but gives Niko a raised eyebrow in response, as if to suggest that it is likely quite as painful as it looks.
It doesn't move like Moneta. It's somewhat more...fluid. More birdlike. It turns its head a little further than a human would. If you think about that too much, your neck hurts a little in sympathy...
"When the Lord in Iron is within me, I am still present; this is but a small amount of His essence. Pain borne in His service is a sacrament. But not one that is easily...accepted by others."
Again, her voice is nothing human - a cascade of tinkling bells, or the clamor and clangor of battle off in the distance. "I see with His eyes when His Aspect is upon me."
"Oh. You don't say? You must be hella fun at parties."
Still standing behind Evan.
"You um. May wanna perhaps warn the others about this before someone comes back from a piss break or something, and maybe slightly overreacts?"
He shrugs a bit, seemingly a bit more calm then earlier.
"Just a thought, of course."
"Not a bad idea, Moneta," Evan admits, "but in the interest of full disclosure, you might want to share your name with the others, as you haven't done so, Niko."
Evan tips his hat. "I'm gonna leave you two to the watch. Still got plenty of work to do for my ammunition." He slowly sidles to his right, leaving Niko facing Moneta directly, before turning around and heading back to his crafting site.
It gives an exaggerated nod. "I still have enough traces of...who I was before the Wastes...to worry about rejection when I manifest. I did not want to risk it with...too large of a group."
And with that, it, she...something...lopes off to do a perimeter run with a gliding, skating gait.
"Oh yeah. Completely understandable."
Niko says to the empty air in front of him.
"Hopefully things don't get any more weird then this."
Noting that Evan and Moneta are busy for the moment, Niko moves up by the fire and fishes a rolled up scroll from one of his pouches. Staring at it for a moment he crumples it in his hand and it bursts into flame, consuming itself quickly until only ash remains. Were anyone standing next to him, they would see his burns flickering like live embers for several seconds before they fade again.
"At least i know i'm normal."
Business concluded, he moves away from the fire and back to his watch.
Note: chavi turned to mist and vanishes when Schmitty falls asleep. The glowing runs on his forehead fades also and in similar fashion.
As the night wears on, eventually it's time for the trio of Evan, Moneta, and Niko to wake Karg and get some rest for themselves. Evan easily has time to complete is 22 new rounds of ammunition.
"You may wish to change back before i wake the Orc."
Niko says as he walks over to Karg and nudges him with the toe of his boot and stepping back.
"Your turn, big guy."
Without another word, Niko rolls out his own bedroll, and strips off his armor before crashing himself. Any of the others could notice that his burns cover his chest and left arm as well before he curls up in his blanket.
Moneta transforms back as Niko suggests, and curls up in her cloak, using her chain shirt, turned padding side out, as her pillow.
Momentary pauses of Karg's deep snoring signal his waking as he is being prodded.
Finally, with a big yawn followed by a stretch, the half-orc awakens.
Karg sits up and scans the area as he begins to put his armor on. He looks over towards the fire and seems disappointed, "bah, no one left me a snack."
Karg pats Niko on the back, "Poor guy, you must have had yer' ears talked off."
Karg will conjure forth some fresh water and will begin walking around the edge of the camp, patrolling diligently.
Evan gets out his bedroll and lays it down on the ground not too nearby the fire, then takes off his duster and lays it over him like a blanket. He pushes his stetson down over his head and clasps his hands together on his chest underneath his coat. Pretty soon, anyone awake hears the deep breathing of someone who is asleep.
Schmitty continues to make quiet sleeping sounds unless he is awaken.
Karg patrols around the camp for a few hours. The most interesting thing he noticed was a mangy hyena that got close enough to camp to be scared away.
On first attempt Schmitty is in deep slumber and simply rolls to his side and pulls the blanket over himself making a "Harump" sound as he turns. Presumably Karg kicks him a little harder and schmitty jumps up startled eyes momentarily both wild and sleepy.
"Oh, " he grumbles, "It must be my turn." Schmitty says as he yawns and stretces.
Schmitty spends the next minute drawing a circle in the dirt with various sigils. As he closes the circle there is a dim luminescence in the sigils and with a slight displacement of air Chavi appears. As the runes on the circle light so too do the matching glowing runes on both Chavi and Schmitty's head. Schmitty scratches her under the chin and shares whatever food is available with her.
"It's our turn at watch." Chavi nods and proceeds to circle the camp keeping an eye out. Schmitty pulls up a chair/box and proceeds to study his spellbook by a dim light floating over his head like a lamp.
Presumably Karg kicks him a little harder and schmitty jumps up startled eyes momentarily both wild and sleepy.
Presumably Karg kicks him a little harder and schmitty jumps up startled eyes momentarily both wild and sleepy.
Shmitty yelps "OW!" at his rough awakening and gives Karg a dirty look, but otherwise lets the incident go.
Chavi Perception
Upon waking, Priggle digs around in the back of the wagon for a few minutes. He emerges with a couple 10 ft. poles, a blanket, and some rope. He says to Schmitty[/]b and [b]Chavi, "Keep an eye on things. I'm going to see if I can find breakfast." He walks off into the darkness.
As Schmitty looks around, he barely notices the moon full and bright behind a sky blocking out all star and moonlight. Chavi, however can see just fine.
Upon waking, Priggle digs around in the back of the wagon for a few minutes. He emerges with a couple 10 ft. poles, a blanket, and some rope. He says to Schmitty[/]b and [b]Chavi, "Keep an eye on things. I'm going to see if I can find breakfast." He walks off into the darkness.
As Schmitty looks around, he barely notices the moon full and bright behind a sky blocking out all star and moonlight. Chavi, however can see just fine.
Chavi and Schmitty Nod their agreement in unison. It's a little odd, but not overly unnerving.
Niko will toss and turn through Schmitty's watch, sleeping fitfully.
A little over an hour after leaving, Priggle returns dragging some kind of two-legged lizard. He expertly begins to prepare it for breakfast, cutting the choicest pieces into strips and suspending them over the fire. They sizzle and the fire flares a little as the fat drips into the flames.
Schmitty can't help but notice the meat is giving off a strong pepper smell, with a hint of cinnamon, and oddly enough, honey.
After enough time, Priggle makes his way around to those sleeping, and nudges them and offers a plate of what he's fixed.
Niko will sit up, looking slowly around the camp and blinking a few times them mutter 'thanks' as he takes the offered fare and gives it a try.
"Strange taste."
He comments between mouthfuls, finishing it regardless and then packing his things up and donning his armor to be ready to go.