"Noooo!"
Ametist quickly realises he's not under a giant's boot. He opens his eyes and looks around, only to find this boy and himself in this strange place...
"Uh... Where are we? And who are you?"
He stands up, rubbing the back of his head, and pats himself all over the body to check if he's still dressed.
"Wait! What do you mean? What is a clock?" Ametist follows the boy out, putting his hand before his eyes to avoid being blinded by the sudden brightness.
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"I miss his horse more than that headless monster." He mumbles to himself as he gets off the ship and starts walking. It was nice to be on the mainland. It would be easy to find a body eventually. Would not even need to worry about making it himself. At least until he felt the familiar tug of something. "Who needs directions when the universe is looking to help me out." Once at the tavern he will kick back and begin to smoke. odds were if he was called here the rest of the people who awoke with him would as well. Maybe one of them would have a corpse with them. He felt naked with out a guardian.
The new guys: You exit your stable to find two others emerging beside you. The stable boy is lounging on a large pumpkin near you. The yard is well kept and leads into the back of some kind of inn. A seagull squawks from the roof at your noise.
Drystan glances over at his new companion, then does a double-take. "Godwyn, isn't it? Of House Blaecwulf? Did you perish at Kenabres as well?"* He looks around as they proceed from the stable. "I had been thinking this was the afterlife as well. If not, well, I suppose there are probably demons running rampant that need slaying. Unless our erstwhile compatriots managed to contain them."
Godwyn froze, and then a smile formed on his face. ”Drystan?! You have no idea how pleased I am to see you.” He wanted to clap his companion on the back, but it was difficult with a halberd and shield. Instead he clanged them together in greeting. ”I do not believe that this is the afterlife. But wherever we are, we will face the trials ahead of us together.”
Ametist finds himself in the open. Some more people are there, and he can smell the salt of the nearby sea. He pulls back his black hood to reveal the features of a thin hobgoblin with very dark skin.
With one hand he produces a small green rock from one of the pockets of his tunic, rubs it for a small while and puts it back again into his pocket.
Ametist finds himself in the open. Some more people are there, and he can smell the salt of the nearby sea. He pulls back his black hood to reveal the features of a thin hobgoblin with very dark skin.
With one hand he produces a small green rock from one of the pockets of his tunic, rubs it for a small while and puts it back again into his pocket.
He goes to the closest sentient being he finds and talks with a neutral Common.
"Do you know where the Hell are we?"
The stable boy picks his fingernails with a small knife you didn't see him produce and generally looks bored in that way that usually means mischief. He snickers at the crusaders and says, You two gonna show each other your stones?
He then turns to Amheist who had wandered over and answers, You're in the backside of the Everflowing Cup in Augustana. Home of the Goodest Boy Penchi.
"What do you mean?" Ametist is worried about his stone. "What is a crus..." He interrupts himself when he hears the name of the place. "Augustana? Where is that?"
Seeing the...goblinoid, Godwyn said ”You ask a valid question. Were you at Kenarbres as well?”
Drystan looks around for any clues as to where they might be.
"I miss his horse more than that headless monster." He mumbles to himself as he gets off the ship and starts walking. It was nice to be on the mainland. It would be easy to find a body eventually. Would not even need to worry about making it himself. At least until he felt the familiar tug of something. "Who needs directions when the universe is looking to help me out." Once at the tavern he will kick back and begin to smoke. odds were if he was called here the rest of the people who awoke with him would as well. Maybe one of them would have a corpse with them. He felt naked with out a guardian.
"I do hope destiny doesn't call us too often," Lian says to her necromatic companion. "I wonder if it's a side effect of our resurrection... well, if the location is any indication, fate is a drunkard."
"Kenabres? I... I think I don't know that place. I come from a place called Storval Plateau. Where do you come from, and why aren't you attacking me? Last time I tried to talk to humans, they attacked me."
Karen entered the tavern and, upon seeing Lian, said "Well, that was a short trip. How were your travels gentlemen?"
She will move to the bar and get a beer then joins the others at their table.
"Kenabres? I... I think I don't know that place. I come from a place called Storval Plateau. Where do you come from, and why aren't you attacking me? Last time I tried to talk to humans, they attacked me."
”You do not radiate evil, and have done nothing violent. It would be unjust to attack yo, regardless of past wars between our peoples. I am Sir Godwyn and this is Sir Drystan, we are paladins of the Crusade. Who might you be?”
"I am Ametist, of clan Tass." He smells the air full of salt. "As I said, my clan lives... or lived... in the mountains of a land you call Varisia. We were attacked by stone giants and..."
He doesn't cry, but his voice sounds a bit interrupted. He decides to move the matter on to more immediate things.
"Last thing I recall is a giant boulder crushing me, and now I wake up here. Where are we, and why?"
”Ametist of Clan Tass, I feel your loss.” Godwyn said with sympathy ”The last thing I remember is an explosion and the ground of our city collapsing beneath me. I fear that we are all dead. Though I know not where we are or why.”
Penchi is your best bet on questions like that. The stable boy interrupts. He's just inside.
Penshi shakes his head at Lian's comment "Fate is not a drunkard. You were guided here because it's a safe haven, in an otherwise incredibly unsafe world."
"Presuming that we aren't dead, "Why?" is certainly a question that needs asking. Let's go find this Penshi." the aasimar says, and heads inside.
Ametist follows the two "crusaders" inside, full of questions without a single answer.
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"We may as well enjoy it while we can then. I can't wait to finally get my hands on some raw materials. Now how did your travels go? Mine was a bit eventful. Good to have my feet back on solid earth. Now that we are on land is it the same plan? We should seek out the leaders of any resistance and introduce ourselves. Try and get some backing when we begin our campaign to take back the lands."
"We may as well enjoy it while we can then. I can't wait to finally get my hands on some raw materials. Now how did your travels go? Mine was a bit eventful. Good to have my feet back on solid earth. Now that we are on land is it the same plan? We should seek out the leaders of any resistance and introduce ourselves. Try and get some backing when we begin our campaign to take back the lands."
Yes, a brief rest here, and we will refocus our efforts. Whatever it takes to get the job done. Lian says with conviction.
"I bartered my healing abilities for uneventful ship passage and wound up here."
"A carriage isn't a bad idea, but I still have no money unfortunately."
Godwyn was starting to get impatient. He still knew not where he was. He thought back to that time when a false crusader had led his patrol into an ambush. A Sangudaemon had been waiting for them. He still shuddered at the thought of it. The vaguely arachnid creature had been waiting within a ruined building. It was the size of a human, but was composed entirely of blood, globs of the viscous stuff dripped down its spindly legs and from its serpentine maw. A jagged set of obsidian fangs protruded from its drooling mouth, and huge dragonfly wings of crimson blood splayed from the thing’s back producing a terrifying buzz.
Round 1 Demon
Round 1 Godwyn
Round 2 Demon
Round 2 Godwyn
The demon had come out of the building. It must have teleported behind them, as nobody had seen them coming. The first sign that he had of trouble was the arachnid like creature's maw closing in on him. He cried out in surprise and pain as the creature's fangs broke through his plate armor. He could feel it sucking the blood from him. It's claws knocked his halberd away.
All around him the scene devolved into chaos, as cultists came out of hiding and fell upon the crusader patrol. Roaring in pain, surprise, and anger, Godwyn let his halberd fall away. He raised his hands up, and the blade appeared in them. The demon had only the briefest moment to look up in surprise as a golden glow covered the paladin. He brought the halberd down upon it's head, the spear point first. It broke through the chitinous hide, causing the beast to let go and stumble back, ripping itself free. Spinning the blade around, he lashed out with the axe-head, hitting the demon square in the head. The weapon, glowing with holy light, cut through flesh and bone as if though it were cutting into hot butter. The creature roared. It had become used to jumping on it's prey, dragging them back to it's lair, and slowly feasting upon them. Usually, when disarmed, an armored foe was just a feast in a can waiting to be opened. This was new.
It lashed out again. Godwyn bashed it's head with his shield, as it tried to bite him once more. This left him open to it's claws though. One found purchase, ripping through his armor, causing more blood to pour through.
A lesser man might have fallen there, for the demon caused wounds to bleed freely. Godwyn though, was no normal man. Already his heaven-infused body fought to repair the damage from the demon's touch.
His eyes blazing golden, Godwyn raised his halberd once more. He brought it around just as he did before, hitting the demon in the same place. It's head was cut in half. It fell to the ground, twitching. Leaving nothing to chance he raised the halberd up and pierced it's black heart.
The cultists, seeing their object of worship die, cried out in despair. Godwyn touched his wound and willed it to close. The threat was over, but there was work yet to be done.
Thinking over the event, Godwyn unconsciously changed his stance as he looked around warily. Glancing over at Sir Drystan, he thought to himself that he was glad not to be alone. Was this like the ambush with the demon? Smiling faces leading them into an ambush? He truly hoped that they would be getting answers soon.
Penshi greets the newcomers with a warm, welcoming smile. "Ah, our new guests have arrived! I was wondering when you would show up! Please come sit, come sit. Almina bring drinks for our friends."
A few moments later, a lovely elven woman walks over with a tray of mugs, offering each of you a drink.
Despite being midday, there's only three patrons, all sitting at one table.
Lian sizes up the new entries into the room. She flicks her tails- all nine of them- to look visible and draw attention, but waits to let them make the first move.
A goblin- her last experiences with a goblin were a positive, so she gave him no ill gaze as many might. An armored... not human, with those golden eyes. Tiefling? Aasimar? Well, certainly imposing. And another fairly impressive human. She gives a small move of her head to indicate it is welcome to approach.
Ametist's first reaction at the new people is to put his hood back. His experience with humanoids is small, but bad. Then he realises the people already in there are probably as weird as themselves. Still, he looks everywhere, trying to be ready for anything.
He sits down and, using his characteristic neutral accent, talks to the audience.
"I am Ametist. I don't know what I'm doing here, and hope you can tell me."
"I'm guessing you just came back from the dead?" asks Karen with a chagrinned look on her face.
With all of the newcomers filing into the room, Godwyn, already thinking of memories from the crusade, he openly stared, intently at the newcomers, as they came in.
His gaze stopped when it reached Loc. He motioned to Sir Drystan. To his brother paladin, he said (as discreetly as he could)
In his experience, it was fairly common to come across one or two people in a crowd who were evil. Selfishness, after all, was a very human trait. And while his senses could pick up on the nature of a man's soul, what they did not do was tell him anything about their actions. In the Crusade, there were many mercenaries and warriors who had come out of lust for gold and glory. While their souls read as evil, they never *did* anything blatantly against the rule of law and morals. In fact, many were heroes in their own right, battling bravely against the dark. They just did it for all the wrong reasons. Until the mage proved himself to be any different, Godwyn decided to see him in that light. Someone to keep an eye on, but to not judge preemptively.
Furthermore, the fact that only one of them came across as being evil was a good sign in his eyes. This meant that they were likely not in one of the lower planes.
Walking in, Drystan moves to doff his helmet to appear, he hopes, less intimidating. As he does so, he hears Godwyn speak. When he looks back up bareheaded, his golden eyes are glowing. He sweeps the room with his gaze unhurriedly, not wishing to tip the man at the focus of Godwyn's concern. Once he notices the man, he gives the slightest of nods and replies.
"Hmm. Indeed. I suppose we all knew some Low Templars. Let's judge him by his action. Given the rest of our...situation, I suspect there are greater evils afoot."
Careful to pick a seat separate from the evil man, but with a clear view of him, Drystan pulls out a chair, places his helmet on the table in front of him, and sits down. "Indeed. We all did. This place is...not the afterlife, I take it?"
"No, this is Golarion, as far as I can tell. By all means, join us!" offers Karen who gets up and drags over some more chairs.
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Loc will look up at the group of people walking in and wave. He will also expend effort for the scene to channel just enough power into the checked on his plate to cause it to animate slightly. The cooked meat will lift a wing and flap heartily at them as everyone begins to take a seat. "Pleased to meet you all. Name's Loc. Brought back from the dead just like the rest. Usually it's the opposite around me. Nice change of pace to be honest. I hope you are all ready for a bit of righteous vengeance against those who took our lives. I don't know about you but being torn to shreds by your own minions is terribly humiliating. Currently my main goal is the head of the no-life king. Every thing that dies simply adds to his army. I feel that he is the greatest threat currently but I also have a bit of bias. Who are you after my fellow resurrected?"
Lian gives a small smile, as she takes a sip of her drink. She appreciates their use of private language- even if it was a tongue she didn't speak, she could still guess which it was.
I am Lian Brook, diplomat and sorceress, these are my companions Karen and Loc. Please, tell us your stories. Was that Celestial I heard?