To use wild empathy, the druid and the animal must be within 30 feet of one another under normal conditions. Generally, influencing an animal in this way takes 1 minute but, as with influencing people, it might take more or less time.
The splashing in the water suddenly becomes much less boisterous as the black whale appears to be moving through a thick syrup instead of the icy water Shiro and Narika are treading.
Round 1, 2! Bold may act!
Edgar
Noke (Flying)
Shiro (Swimming)
Hamish
Black Whale (Slowed 1/10)
White Whale
Narika (Swimming)
Kiku
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"Are you crazy Hamish?!" shrieks Edgar. "I'll drown if we go in the drink."
Seeing his companions start engaging the beasts, he sighs. "Oh ok. How's it go again? Explore, Report...and...Cooperate? I suppose this is part of that cooperate bit."
As he begins to turn the boat and assist with the rowing, he calls out "Keep those whales busy guys!"
As Shiro flies towards the danger, Allen quickly grabs hold of the man and calls out "May Pharasma's grace guide you through the boneyard!"
A blast of white light arcs down from the heavens and through the bird to engulf Shiro. "Now, that said, I do hope it's many years before you meet her for judgement."
The whale tries to resist Noke's powers...
...and does not appear to be particularly unlucky. As Shiro channels mystical power and prepares to give the whale a hug, the slowly-moving orca tries to toss him into the air...
...but it doesn't seem to understand its reduced speed and merely splashes the tengu. Its companion, seeing people in the water, rushes over to join the fun as Edgar and Hamish paddle furiously towards the capsized canoe.
As Narika struggles to keep her head above the water, she is suddenly grabbed by an Erutaki woman and pulled back to the surface. The other villager swims towards the overturned boat and tries to flip it back over, but has little luck handling the wet wood with nowhere to push from in the icy-cold water.
Round 2, 3! Bold may act!
Edgar
Noke (Flying)
Shiro (Swimming)
Hamish
Black Whale (Slowed 2/10)
White Whale
Narika (Swimming)
Kiku
As Shiro whirls his rope around, the villager carrying Narika cries out, "No! Don't hurt them!" Kiku's spell finishes, and the other whale tries to resist...
...but begins moving slowly as well.
Round 2, 3! Bold may act!
Edgar
Noke (Flying)
Shiro (Swimming)
Hamish
Black Whale (Slowed 2/10)
White Whale (Slowed 1/10)
Narika (Swimming)
Kiku
Shaking his head, the raven flies down and casts guidance on Hamish.
"Good luck, sir"
With oddly slow splashes, the whales try to toss both Narika and her rescuer into the air...
...and both fly into the frigid air before landing back in the water with a painful smack that knocks the wind from their lungs.
Round 3, 4! Bold may act!
Edgar
Noke (Flying)
Shiro (Swimming)
Hamish
Black Whale (Slowed 3/10)
White Whale (Slowed 2/10)
Narika (-6 NL, Swimming)
Kiku
The whale tries again to resist Noke's misfortune...
...and it does not seem to be very inconvenienced. As Noke laughs from the skies, Shiro help the villager right the canoe and Hamish pulls a very wet Narika into his boat. The injured villager pulls herself into the empty boat with practice, grinning at her companion.
Round 3, 4! Bold may act!
Edgar
Noke (Flying)
Shiro (Swimming)
Hamish
Black Whale (Slowed 3/10)
White Whale (Slowed 2/10)
Narika (-6 NL)
Kiku
Flying after the boat, Allen readies to peck Hamish again. "I know you'll use Pharasma's guidance momentarily. I'll remind her you need more help afterwards."
As the translucent figure of Yojimbo coagulates, Narika coughs and tries to help Shiro back into the boat. The whale attempts to resist Edgar's charms...
...and it seems like its luck has run out!
The whales, slowed and full of misfortune, dive deep into the dark waters. After several breathless seconds, a pair of familiar fins can be seen swimming away from the harbor, back towards the rest of the pod. The Pathfinders and Erutaki are able to return everyone to their boats and paddle quickly to the shore - though the fierce cold bites right through Narika and Shiro's wet clothes.
As the Pathfinders disembark the canoes, Tikasak approaches them with a wide smile. "Few have the honor of playing with the orcas," she says as she leads the visitors towards one of the raised longhouses. "In Aaminiut, orcas are revered as sacred guides and companions. You are certainly auspicious and honored guests - I will bring you to the smoke lodge. But first, we must warm and dry these two." She ushers Narika and Shiro into a smaller longhouse where villagers help them change out of their wet clothes into warm coats and pants (Narika's sized for a child and in more whimsical colors than Shiro's unadorned garments) and hang their wet things around a fire to dry.
While their companions are preoccupied, the rest of the Pathfinders have a few minutes to look around Aaminiut. Several villagers approach Kiku with friendly looks on their faces, but it quickly becomes evident they have come to speak with Kuokei and not the owl's "entourage". Amidst the raised longhouses, a semicircle of mounted trees in the middle of the village and a longhouse on the south side of town in a rather different style stand out.
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Kiku graciously does not infringe upon Kuokei's moments in the spotlight, quietly providing him a considerate and polite perch.
She tries to pay close attention to where Kuokei's attention lingers, between the longhouse and the semicircle of trees. If she notices no particular preference, she will go to the trees.
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Once two that took a dip are warming up and taken care of, Hamish looks around the village with his allies. He follows after Noke, still not quite sure what to make of her at this point in the mission. Better get to know how she's going to act before more danger arrives. Heck, I don't even know how half the others will act yet. At least the pirate seemed to follow my lead when we had to work together.
He gives a diplomatic smile, "that's an odd look for a longhouse, doesn't seem to match the rest, does it?"
The sound of drunken cheers lingers in the air as Noke and Hamish approach the lodge to the south. This building is made rather differently from the rest of the village, more similar to the Ulfen style seen further south. Before they can knock, the door bursts open and ejects an inebriated Ulfen man onto the porch. Once he finds his feet and notices the Pathfinders staring at him, the man grins cheekily and toasts them with his somehow-not-empty mug. "'Ho there friends!" he bellows, "what brings you folks to the balmy beaches of Aaminiut?" Before the Pathfinders have a chance to answer, he squints at the sky behind them. "They're firing up all the stoves at the ol' smokehouse from the looks of it. I'd be a poor gambler if I didn't bet that has something to do with you being here." He takes another swig, then ambles back inside. "Come back when you're done talking with the elders and get something that'll really warm your bones!"
Kiku notices that while Kuokei seems to enjoy the attention of the villagers, he keeps looking north, outside of town. The spiritualist realizes that it has most likely been over a month since he last saw his master Svala and he probably misses her and worries about her safety without him there to keep watch over her. As she wanders over to the half-circle of trees, Kiku notices that each tree is carved with a series of stylized carvings of creatures such as foxes, wolves, bears, seals, and orcas.
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The tengu stands with his back to the winds, causing his feathers to poof up to make him look like fluffy fuzzball as he dries off. He will also engage in some calisthenics and various acrobatic exercises to get his blood pumping/warmth flowing, perhaps entertaining any bored village youngsters idling around.
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'Don't split the party' rings out in the man's head as he watches Hamish and Noke wander away...followed shortly after by Kiku making her way on her own. With a shrug, he turns to follow the woman.
"Dear, if ya don't mind, I'll join ya. Hate to leave a gal all alone." he announces with a mischievous grin.
Allowing Allen to perch on his shoulder like a parrot, he peers into the trees. "Look normal to me."
"Well, if you'd look at the foliage more and less at the woman, you'd certainly notice those carvings." points out the raven. "Though, I'm not quite sure what to make of them."
Once Shiro and Narika are dry and dressed, they are escorted (along with the rest of the team) to the Lodge of Smoke by what seems to be the entire population of Aaminiut. Inside, the air is warm and, as the name would suggest, slightly smokey from many hearths and torches despite its four large chimneys. Tikasak brings the Pathfinders to one elder and introduces her. "This is Seshu," she says with awe and respect in her voice, "and she asks to see the notes of Svala you have brought."
As the elder reads through the notes, a look of horror crosses Svala's face. She quickly motions for the Pathfinders to sit at her feet, and the room descends into silence as she moves to the center of the room. She begins to chant in a low voice, punctuating certain words with hand gestures and facial expressions in a performance that is part lament, part interpretive dance. Tikasak translates the loresong, but it is clear she is abridging the story in order to keep up with the elder's tale.
“Once, long ago, the People were spread across the land. Each found its own way to live in harmony with the Animal World, the Plant World, and the Spirit World. Some of the people followed Caribou as she moved back and forth on the land. Others made a place near the sea, and hunted Seal and Blackfish. All were different, yet all were the same, and things were good.
“One day, some of the People went north to Malu Aninuk, what you call Whitefang Peninsula, to make a summer camp. The land there was poisoned with an evil that lay sleeping since before the world was made. The People who lived there became poisoned by this evil in turn, and they danced with the aurora and killed without gratitude, even eating human flesh. We call these people the Pilungak—the flesh eaters.”
“The Pilungak made a fortress of their village, with wooden walls covered in ice. From here, they brought terror to the worlds of animals, plants, and humans. When the aurora leaped high over the ice cliffs, we could hear the voices of the Pilungak howling in the night, and we were afraid.” The elder pauses her song, to allow Tikasak to catch up, and then begins again with a low- droning chant that fills the room.
“The Spirit World decided to help, and so they sent Winter’s Favored to the Human World to deal with the evil. Winter’s Favored went to the Pilungak and asked them to stop their dances and howlings, but the Pilungak would not stop. Winter’s Favored asked them to move far away, but they would not move. So Winter’s Favored transformed their own bodies into howling blizzards, and covered the village of the Pilungak with snow and ice. Not one of the Pilungak was spared by Winter’s Favored, and the Animal and Plant and Human Worlds were glad.
“But the evil was not destroyed, only buried and sealed away. To keep it from being uncovered again, Winter’s Favored made a special seal from the ice, with the power to restrain great evil. This seal they placed over the Pilungak village, and it keeps the evil trapped to this day.” The hall falls silent again as the chant dies away, and Seshu turns to address the Pathfinders.
“Many summers have come and gone since these days,” she says in Common. “The evil has been trapped by the sign of ice that Winter’s Favored made to protect us. Now, young Svala has dug up the Pilungak village and uncovered the seal, and spring is coming. If the seal melts, the evil will be released to roam the Land again, and no one in the Four Worlds will be safe.”
Another elder approaches with two boxes of carved whalebone and presents them to the Pathfinders. One contains an intricate carving of a polar bear made of narwhal tusk, a valuable artifact of Erutaki culture. "For those who would dance with the whales rather than slaughter them," Tikasak says with a bow. The other contains a short length of wood that seems chill to the touch. "This wand, as you call them, will let you shape ice and snow to your whim," she explains. "Please, go to the Pilungak village, use it to repair any damage to the protective rune, and rebury the village before the spring thaw."
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Hamish listens intently to the tale, making mental notes as to their tasks. He replies simply, "sometimes things should just be left as is. It seems like our ally may have found something like that. Simply put, we will help and I think we need to leave quickly. Can we rent or borrow sleds and dogs to make the trip quicker? What about a guide. Anything that can speed up our travels could prevent disaster."
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Kiku listens with grave sincerity, focusing all her attention on listening for the deeper truths of Seshu's words. She steps forward and bows. "Honored Elder Seshu, I would happily take up this task for you. Laying the dead to rest and healing the wounds they have left is my greatest joy. To show you my resolve, I will swear to you by the Gods I follow."
Kiku sets out nine of her ofuda in a semi-circle on the ground. She kneels before them, hands clasped and eyes closed. As she says the name of a deity, she points to its ofuda, drawing that god's holy symbol in the air with her other hand.
"I swear by Soralyon the Mystic Angel to repair this seal, by Zohls Verity that I shall uncover the mysteries of this uncovered calamity, by Arquerros the Golden Bulwark to protect your people, and by Dalenydra the Blessed Attendant to heal whatever damage this calamity has caused."
"Should I fail in this task and live, let Neshen the Steel Lash punish me as is fit, let Vildeis the Cardinal Martyr give me scars so I never forget my failure, and let Korada the Open Hand of Harmony grant me the ability to forgive myself. Should I die, let Ashava guide me to the Boneyard to face Pharasma the Lady of Graves and her judgment."
"Let Eritrice the Heart-Speaker show you the truth of my promise."
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Shiro the fluffy-feathered tengu sits rapt by the elder's tale, and spends his time preening his drying feathers back into place as his allies discuss/ask questions. "Mrmmfff-Sounds like a challenge," he says as he removes his head from his feathers. "When do we lea-" the tengu begins to say until the cracking of a log in a fire distracts him for the rest of the conversation.
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Looking from one to the other, ensuring all agree, Edgar smiles. "Seems we are in agreement. I don't know about that whole swearing by such and such ya got there, but Pharasma and I are certainly not fans of the undead."
Glancing towards the wand as the sorcerer explains it's use, he nods "Oh, that'll certainly be handy. I was concerned we was gonna have to hold hands and chant or something. Well done."
"I'm with Hamish on this one, faster travel and we shouldn't dally."
Seshu closes her eyes as Hamish and Edgar mention undead, and several villagers cry out in terror. "If the Pilungak have begun to escape," she intones sadly, "it may already be too late." But she breathes a sigh of relief at the Pathfinders promises of assistance, and she nods reverently as Kiku swears her aid. She calls out a few words to her companions, and after a few minutes they return with several items.
"This will help drive the cold and dark away," she says as she hands Hamish a small glass bead. "This to help you not mind the night air's chill," - she passes a carved whale tusk to Noke - "And this to guard you from the loneliness of the night and the horrors it hides," - accompanying an ivory carving of a husky that she places in Edgar's hands.
"When you are ready to depart," Seshu concludes, "find Bjorn the Blade at the southern longhouse. He will arrange for sleds and other supplies you will need on the long trek. Spirits guide you, Pathfinders."
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Hamish accepts the gift, "thank you. We will hurry."
Well, at least I've got my new wand as a backup option.
As they head out he asks the lady witch, "Noke, could you use that wand on all of us? I think we are heading into the wilds now. Likely to get quite cold quite quick." After that he leads the group over towards the southern hut to look for Bjorn the Blade.