"As good as real horse" Mags says with a tone that suggests she does not like real horses much. As the group prepares, she makes sure the others are protected from the heat. Whispers suggest wind might be good as well, so she asks the land the provide.
Yaziyah makes sure that everyone has enough water to drink, refilling their waterskins and canteens as the day progresses.
She is not at all at home in this inhospitable land, despite her heritage, so she is grateful for Magda's magic. At Jolistina's proposal, she nods hesitantly. "I am not much good on a horse, real or otherwise, but whatever gets us there faster is welcome in my books."
"The fewer days we need to spend in this weather, the better. Our people has learned a lot how to survive it, but this is not something to be taught easily. While I believe I could guide you, complications do tend to appear here and there." Their new companion and the bullet being very good examples.
The party travels east on their phantom mounts, relatively comfortably, and now - quickly. During their trip they spy a herd of aurochs in the distance, and the large cows seem to avoid the party - and the party does likewise.
The first night after traveling is uneventful, and the party gets the sence they are about halfway to the Kallow mounds.
On the second day, the party is traveling on their phantom mounts in a rockier part of the cinderlands. A large fissure appears in the ground, with the next part of their journey requiring a bit of creative exploration to find a decent path past. The party heads north and south until they find a place where their phantom steeds can travel, until they find a narrow canyon which leads into the fissure, switching back and forth, and out the other side.
In the shade of the the canyon, the horses seem almost more real. "Out of the sun, at least. I know I'm not technically hot, thank you Magda, but the glare is giving me a splitting headache."
Mags asks the land around her to provide as the city would, protecting herself and her friends.
The shallow gorge comes into view - a perfect place for a predator to ambush prey, but no enemies are immediately visible.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Magda tilts her head, letting her ears catch any stray sounds, then leans in and sniffs the air hoping a downdraft will give her something. "too neat, like a quiet alley in twilight."
The half orc young woman then kneels looking from tracks.
Magda hears shuffling, like animals, in the near distance, which makes sense, because emerging from behind the large column in front of them are a pair of odd looking creatures. Flying, with three heads - one goat, one lion, and one blue dragon, with winged, bat-like wings, the creatures seem to be hungry for a meal.
The creatures move forward and each unleashes a line of electricity.
Pain hits the shaman hard. But not enough to put her down. She quickly gets off the horse () and tries to have the spirits of the gore hamper the nearest beast like her beloved city would.
Yaziyah is so dumb-founded by the strangeness of the creatures that she reacts a little too late, and receives the full blast of their electric breath. Without stopping to dust herself off and trying to ignore the searing pain all over her body, she charges forward - it was imperative to try and kill these beasts before they could fly too high, where they would be out of reach for both herself and Marcus.
"Jolistina! You still know how to shoot? Feather this one, now!"
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Jolistina slips out of the way of the lightning blast, though her magic mount disappears beneath her.
She slips her crossbow into her hands as she eases herself behind a rock, then follows Yaziyah's advice, letting fly a bolt and ducking for cover.
for and
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Trinia, behind everyone, casts a spell on the party, and fumbles a bit and says, "oh, um, shoot..." and settles her nerves, before saying, "what do you call a chimera with one head?" she pauses, "I don't know but we're going to try and find out!" She glances at the others, and follows, "chimera means she-goat so, I couldn't make an uno-mera joke." Shaking her head, she hopes her joke inspires the others.
Marcus spurs his mount with old instincts, dodging the worst of the blast. For the barest second he hesitates, then remembering the mounts are magic conjurations, spurs his forward to charge the creature!
It is just by dumb luck that Aru's horse doesn't disappear since he was fully affected by the lightning.
Taking an old compass from his pocket, Aru tries to remember the chilling cold of the Land of the Linnorm Kings, the wind against his cheeks, the snow falling in the morning and finally the sun reflecting from the snowflakes. A single snow flake materializes between the chimeras and explode, coating them in a shimmering layer of bright white colored glitter.
Kali falls off her horse but keeps her bearings and summons the teamwork tactics to boost her allies while moving up next to Yazi and Marcus.
The two chimeras seem to be tougher than the standard types. They unleash attacks on foes in front of them, both targeting Yazi.
17+13+10+13+8 = 61
The attacks seem to miss a lot, but Yazi is badly hurt by the multi-headed beasts.[/ooc]I think that leaves her at 8, after taking 23+61 = 84.[/ooc]
Trinia retrieves her shortbow and takes a shot at the wounded one, continuing her performance.
But her shot goes wide.
While Marcus would like a flank, he is positioned well to keep them away from the backline. He stands his ground and unleashes a series of chops, trying to remove some of the multiple heads chomping at Yazi!
Jolistina shifts to obscure her position, hoping the beasts lose track of her. She unleashes some of her trademark sniping attacks.
for and
for and
for and
Magda shifts her fortune toward her allies, giving Yazi a boost.
She was at death's door - but so was the creature in front of her. She could not let it hurt the others, as much as her body screamed to RUN! HIDE! Besides, she was tough, she would survive this; and if not... she trusted in Magda.
Both partially draconic beasties drop within the same few seconds.
"Viciously crazed creatures..." Aru says, as he approaches the dead beasts. "Always a cautionary tale on the abuses of magic."
"At least their motivations are straightforward," Jolistine says to Aru. "Refreshing change of pace when something just wants to eat you, not plot against you."
The party collects themselves and looks around. It appears these creatures, though partially draconic, had no horde to speak of, or if there was one it's far enough afield to be impossible to find. A gentle path leads east out of the canyon.
"Time to get some rocks in our boots. I cannot summon more steads until tomorrow," Jolistina laments.
Yaziyah focuses on healing everyone's injuries.
"The best way to know a street is to walk it." the city shaman says, but with enough grumble to leave in doubt whether she is agreeing or complaining.
Marcus has made a new habit of executing downed enemies and makes two heart chops into the necks of the creatures. "I'll walk." He grunts, handing over his miraculously alive if nearly shredded phantom horse.
Aru also dismounts and offers his mount to Yaziyah and Kali. Both were strong independent women, but it was still the right thing to do. No matter what, Aru still had a glimmer of chivalry buried deep inside.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
The party saddles up, or doesn't, and heads east, now at a slower pace towards the Kallow Mounds.
The remainder of the day's trip is uneventful, other than the hot sun that is not even noticably uncomfortable, beating down on the entirety of the party.
Aru once went here with his parents when he was a child, but his memory and the shifting landscape are imperfect, and having changed to an adventurer - he has little memory of specifics.
The party finds a small cave in a canyon and rests, without a fire, for the night, wary of drawing attention to themselves in this dangerous place.
The party finds themselves at midday trekking across more of the expanse. Cinderstorms are in the far distance to the north, near some mountains, but clearly are not going to cross the party's path. After a few hours of travel, it becomes clear that the party has entered the formal terriotry of the Skoan-Quah, as they encounter large rock cairns topped with animal skulls—markers that serve as both signposts and warnings to deter strangers, as Aru knows innately
After about an hour of travel past these markers, the party crests a ridge and finds themselves surrounded by a half-dozen men and women with bows trained on the party. One steps out from behind a rock and holds up a hand, speaking in halting Taldan.
"Tshamek, why do you come to these cairns?" They do not appear hostile, but they are not particularly friendly.
Jolistina raises an eyebrow, but stays silent.
I've never meant any of the Shoanti in their own element.
A sharp intake of breath is Yaziyah's reaction at beaing called 'tshamek', as she visibly tries to reign in the rest of it. She replies in Shoanti.
"Greetings to you. We came here humbly seeking answers from your clan's elders, regarding an ancient enemy." She tries to maintain a tone of respect and not to appear demanding; she speaks slowly, in case her city accent is confusing or difficult to understand.
Marcus reigns his horse to a slow halt and keeps his posture relaxed. He did not sense danger here, only justified wariness. He absentmindedly scans the horizon, trying to appear at ease and patient, while actually keeping an eye for any further surprises.
Frowning, Aru replies in Shoanti. "The Blazing Sun might be playing tricks on your eyes, for the noble Skoan-Quah not to recognize one of your own." Aru was always good with languages, to the point of having almost no accent. In case of his native tongue, there was no accent at all, primarily because just weeks ago he had travelled the Plateau.
"I am Aru Wandering-Hand of the Shundar-Quah and this is Yaziyah Speaks for the Dead of the Skoan-Quah. We come in peace, the same peace we bring to the spirits of the fallen."
Magda leans against her spear watching the newcomers.
The Skoan-Quah glance at Aru skeptically, and gesture at the others, responding in Shoanti, "you surround yourself with Tshamek, you are Tshamek." They glance at Yaziyah, "she is not of the Skoan-Quah - she is not known, and you are not known."
The leader steps aside and speaks with the others, quietly, then turns back to the party, "we can protect ourselves, Tshamek, but we are not stupid - you have magic and weapons. Please - disarm yourselves if you wish to speak to the elders." They point at the ground in front of the party, indicating that weapons should be tossed there.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Marcus nods, not looking particularly surprised at the request. He looks at Yazi and raises a brow, the question clear without needing to be asked aloud. Do you trust them? It was clear he was relying on her judgement in this manner.
Marcus inhales, then dismounts his magic horse and starts disarming. The large falchion and longbow on his upper back, the jangling collection of chakram's on his lower back, two morningstars on his hips, three daggers on his belt. Then the rest of the daggers. One in each boot, one on each thigh, two strapped to his chest, another two in the small of his back, one hidden up a sleeve...he was like a bad magician at a kid's party, continuing to pull them out after it seemed obvious he should have been long done. After a few minutes he pauses, taking inventory, then nods in a mixture of satisfaction and unease. As he moved he was...well quiet isn't the right word, but much less loud than typical.
Jolistina shrugs and adds her crossbow and dagger to the pile.
"That's quite the collection, Marcus," she comments.
Mags laid her spear to the ground, with a small sigh. The spear whimpering a Long Noooo during the journey. How will you stand without me? She understood, since to her it was barely a weapon, instead it was her support, more than not leaning into it.
The few others joined the pile, getting a gentle pat, and an assurance to them much like a child when a parent must leave them.
Aru flicks his single dagger into the pile, unashamedly wishing the skoan-headed shoanti to cut themselves while trying to carry Marcus's arsenal. "Their logic is flawless. I remember now the tale of a great shoanti warrior who was remarkably strong until he slipped and fell in the crapping hole. Even if he climbed his way back, he was s@$* afterwards." He sighs. "Threesomes are also very tricky."
As much as she was uneasy about surrendering her weapons, there really was no other choice. The Skoan-Quah cannot begin to trust her and her companions before they show they are willing to trust the Skoan-Quah. Trying to keep the apprehension from showing on her face, she places her own weapons on the growing pile - the long-shafted lucerne hammer, the battleaxe, the warhammer, the crossbow and bolts, even her sling. She raises an eyebrow at the impressive collection of daggers relinquished by Marcus, making a mental note to get one for herself at some point.
"That's quite the collection, Marcus," she comments.
"Can never have too many knives." He mumbles absentmindedly with a shrug. It sounded less like an excuse and more like a piece of wisdom somebody else had given him, which he had clearly taken to heart.