Seeing her foe down, Marella turns visible, lands and heads over to where the injured are gathered.
Going among those hurt, she brings out her wand tipped with crystal and utters a word over and over.
Roloo grins as he watches Arlo rocket up into the air 20'! The dwarf then just floats there.
Will yourself up; or down. You will move at 20' per 6 seconds.
Rollo will also offer use of his Wand of Cure Light Wounds.
Frowning, Arlo slowly lowers himself down to the ground. The dwarf paladin lays hands upon himself.
Arlo looks to Lady Lyra no longer in the waterand grins with relief. "Anybody else hurt?"
Terex had pulled out his own wand of cure light wounds, but as it becomes clear that Marella is handling the situation he puts it away. I guess a lot of us have these, he comments, a note of humor to his mental voice. Now, if we're going to bring more people through here we should figure out if this was a one-time thing or if there are going to be more giant glowing predators around.
He turns back to the dead snakes and gives them a more thorough examination.
You might want to look at it with detect magic, Terex suggests to Rollo.
Minna was also knocked in the river as the fight began, managed to wade back and is a bit chagrined that she was fairly useless in the fight.
But everyone gets healed and cleaned-off in fairly short order and the investigation begins. As Terex examines them, the snakes' bodies seem to shrink and shrivel fairly quickly - a sign they are magically generated aberrations. The Oomsatta describe much smaller snakes of this sort being common.
The challenge is discovering the source of the magic. The group begins a careful search up and down the river bank and discover, about 1000 feet back along the way you came, a deposit of a greenish metal - Orichalcum! Unusually, the metal was corroding into the river. You'll have to carefully gather the corrode parts, separate them from the rest of the metal and take both pieces with.
What the metal was doing here and what the implications of that are matters for research. You don't know whether more animals were affected And as you discover the metal, Armaund who has been out scouting invisibly, returns and looks with amazement. "To think I lost several lives for that green stuff when you find it just laying in the ground. In any case, you are rich."
Since time is of the essence, you don't spend more than another half hour looking for enchanted menaces and don't find any further enchanted beasts. So the party, scouts and NPCs continue on, encountering nothing else and arriving late that evening in Oomsatta land. You can describe what you found in dream time but the next day, the Hetman, the Chief and all the five and elders will have rare in person meeting to discuss plans for the final exodus - which the tribe has now decided on. Also, Math the dragon wishes to bring together a number of the worms just outside Oomsatta territory to hear the story of the gnomes and related shenanigans as well as discussing exodus.
Lyra came up from her roll and leap to see the snake's guts spill out and it fall dead. She checks to see where Arlo is, spotting him some 40' up and alive she grins. Sliding her combat knives back into her boots she goes to find her Pistols. As she does she heals herself.
Who circuitry glows a moment and her wounds start to close.
Coming back to others she sees everyone is alive and healing.
When they find the Orichalcum she unpacks her investigator kit and her heavy gloves. Placing the rocks in fold-out waterproof heavy bags.
"We shall see, when we have more time we can investigate them more"
"I would suspect they fell from landfall, Here or upriver, That may mean an exposed seam of the stuff higher up the work face."
As they get to the village, Lyra asks Rollo and the others to do the whole dream time thing. She does not feel right when in the dreamscape so spends her time awake researching the Orichalcum with help from them.
She also spends a lot of time with Armaund.
When she meets next with the other she has removed her local look and looks more like her true self. Her hair white and circuitry tattoos showing.
Minna was also knocked in the river as the fight began, managed to wade back and is a bit chagrined that she was fairly useless in the fight.
Arlo tries not to smiles as the dwarf offers his hand to the sodden techno-gnome. "There, there. You'll get 'em next time. C'mon."
Lady Lyra also spends a lot of time with Armaund.
Arlo is feeling defensive for no reason, but tries to interpret Armaund's intentions all the same.
They seem to be very close when they think others are not around.
You note she had flown off with him and they have spent time alone
in the hills. They seem to have become lovers
After Arlo put two-and-two together, the dwarf became rather somber and would stand alone with his thoughts.
Terex tries to think about what he knows of Orichalcum... and particularly how it could be used to make useful magic trinkets he could use.
He spends dream time that night mostly watching and listening, trying to learn more about the Oomsata before their ways are changed by this move--for his experience was, once you've left your home world, you're never the same again.
Orichalcum!
Rollo studies the cache.
Source Adventurer's Armory 2 pg. 3
Requirement(s) Katapesh
Your experience with magic items clues you in to their properties more quickly than others. You can identify the properties of a magic item using detect magic in 1 round.
So, what is our time frame looking like?
He asked her this while working late of the three nights they have before the move.
With Rollo's help she experimenting by taking some of the Orichalcum and grinds it down into a fine paste, then she injects it into her skin of her cybertattoos. to see the effect on her gadgets circuitry, as they collect it into their lie forms and permanently change them.
Arlo's Dream Time hounded him with his unresolved feelings, which honestly, was a nice change of pace from his other planet-exploding dreams he has usually. The Dream Time shifted to images of Minna, as if the universe was pushing these two opposites together.
Breaking up long post:
As the party excavates the green metal and carefully stores it, Rollo and Terex piece together the clues... Orichalcum is an inherently magical metal, a powerful and universal magical ingredient. Orichalcum was what Quizzel and the gear gnomes came to this plane to find. It is also used to power some of the planar machinery used by your organization. It was no doubt used in the construction of this plane and left-over orichalcum was what Armaund and his men sought digging into the Forge Of Fire in the North.
This metal also tends to appear when a plane is in the process of dissolution - the Dark Traders, indeed, like to harvest the orichalcum of those planes that they bring to the point of dissolution. Still, the values of the intact part of the ore is between 12,000 and 24,000 gp.
But it can appear entirely by chance or as a byproduct of cataclysmic event. That the metal was dissolving and effecting things around it would be an indication that some process planar dissolution is occurring. But a longer process of experimentation would be required for any certainty and the discussion continues as the party continues the long walk, through the oak and elder sided river bed to Oomsatta land. The one conclusion you come to is that quite likely this way is safe and no further orichalcum or enchanted beasts will appear here since only so much of the metal ever appears in one place.
So, the report of the expedition happens in dream time and then the party and Armaund are invited to meet with "The Five" in the Morning (The Hetman, the Chief, The Beast Speaker, The Earth Speaker and The Plant Speaker). Walking into the office of the Hetman, you realize you have never seen The Five together in real time, though you have seen them several times in dream time.
Moreover, the Hetman's assistant is nowhere to be seen, no other aids or assistants are present but Paritosh is already seated with the group. The Five are together in carved oak chairs in a semi-circles in the larger back room. The Hetman gestures for you to join them. After quick small talk, he (uncharacteristically) comes straight to the point. "Officially, we are canceling the exodus. Officially the Oomsatta plan to stay in this land and to defend it if necessary...Officially. He stops and motions to Paritosh. The tough gnome ranger hands Arlo a sheet of parchment which he indicates to pass around the group. On it is the carefully written notes of a spy. The implication is clear. Spies are about, reporting the plans of the tribe. Paritosh has intercepted more than one messenger birds with notes like this. The Beast Speaker has discovered and destroyed more shadow beasts. The new plan is this. Officially the exodus is canceled but each Oomsatta will make careful and secret plans to be able to leave at a moments notice. Runners will be made ready. In the mean time, The Five and the party will work carefully to discover the spies - some should be apprehended but if they can discovered and fed false information, the situation is ideal. They hope no Oomsatta have been corrupted but it is a possibility - why they are meeting in person rather than dream time. Other possible spies are foreigners living in the area, shadow beasts or ordinary beasts. "Or who knows?" (the Chief throws up her arms in frustration). Still, after all this, the ordinary task of preparing for the exodus, now secretly, remain. The date will be kept uncertain but probably between five and ten days.
Now, in the time that you've returned to Oomsatta land, Lyra and Armaund have monitored the Free Land Radio and some general disaster seems to be engulfing the area with implications unclear. A general draft all men of fighting age has been announced. Riots and disorder are reported in places with announcers often saying "Rebels are being with harshly" and more omninously "Do not speak to the walking ones, do not resist the gatherers...
Finally, (as mentioned before), the dragon Math is hoping for meeting between some dragons and those knowing about Quizzel's activities, two days from now.
Lyra spends a lot of her time talking to Armaund, explaining to him why this plain is under attack. For the very Orichalcum, he was hunting. The very Orichalcum she now had flowing in her veins. His options were to do nothing, go back to working with the ones seeking to strip mine this plain, stay and die with the others if it fell, go with the tribe to a new plain or join the fight to stop the other side.
The conversations are heated and seems to place a stain on their new relationship. He sees himself a philanderer, a free spirit not to be tied down one way or another.
The day after the Dreamtime sleep, Arlo, finds Lyra sitting alone on a small hilltop.
She looks at her friend comes to her side and asked her.
"No, I'm not Arlo"
She turns back and looks once more at the landscape. As Arlo sits down next to her, she adds.
"This place gave me back a part of myself I thought I would never have. Memories of the feeling, of having a heart. It sideswiped me. I left myself open. And well, A hansom Charming Dragon, I let my guard down."
She seems to struggle for words.
"I don't know if it's a Dragon thing or a male thing, but my stars he's shallow. He's like a child, all, take all you can from life and to hell with the consequences. It's not that freedom is bad, but you can't build a life around it."
She shakes her head.
"He just does not get that others just can't drop it all and runoff for some fun. They have respectability and a duty of care for others."
She leans back on her arms looking up at the sky.
"So I ended it, and well... Feelings you know, something I was not good at even when human."
Androids are notoriously hard to read, but you have known her long enough to know she is in pain, but trying not to show it.
She turns to Arlo a pained look in her eye like she was struggling with something.
"And there is another reason Arlo, at the river, when that snake had you. I... I was worried about you Arlo.. Really worried."
There is a pleading look in her eyes like she is trying to come to terms with something.
"It's alright, Lyra. I'm here", Arlo said in a soft voice. "I was worried about you too. First in the snake's coils and then when you were in the water."
The dwarf paladin gently directed Lyra's head to his shoulder.
"It is a dangerous life we lead. Directed across the planes to foil the plans of others. But we can take solace in the fact that we are not in it alone."
Arlo's eyes widen from the words spewing from his mouth. This is me. Is it?
The dwarf caresses the android's hair as he continues.
"This job, this profession we are in would be a thousand times harder without you. You are more than a friend, Lyra."
Arlo's breathing cuts short, horrified he may have said too much.
At his words, she melted into his chest, listening and feeling his hand playing with her hair.
It was not until this moment, that she realized the ceremony the tribe had done, had changed her irreversibly. It had freed her from the blocks to her feelings. Reconciled who two selves into one whole. And at this very moment, she realized that which had drawn her to Arlo years ago, kept her by his side and why they had become close. Why she felt such fear when he was in danger when nothing else made her feel that way. It was that knowledge that he would always protect her, that he was a being who would stand by her and never hurt her. Why even the most charming of Dragons and loves of old faded in comparison.
He understood her, he was her rock.
In a soft low voice, she simply said.
"I love you Arlo"
She lay still now the words had been spoken.
Worried what he would do and say next.
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In a soft low voice, she simply said.
"I love you Arlo"
A lightning bolt shot through Arlo's heart. Of pure joy and fear. The dwarf's body moved faster than his voice as Arlo's tried to respond in kind, but was beaten by Arlo ducking his head to meet with Lyra's lips as he kissed her. A long but soft kiss. A kiss of meaning. After a blissful eternity, Arlo pulls back a few inches to say in a matching tone.
"And I love you Lyra. So very much."
She kissed him back longer harder and then her head sank to his chest. As he hold her. She said back.
"What now?"
"Well, we did pick the worst time to tell each other how we feel: smack dab in the middle of a mission. The Oomsatta come first, obviously. But now, if I never leave this hill, I'd be satisfied.
Arlo squeezed Lyra against his chest because he finally could.
"We will have time, and I will godsdamn make sure we do, after the Oomsatta are safe in their new home, for us to spend time together, as two people, and the future. I mean, it would be completely irresponsible if we tried to find a more quieter, more private place to be alone."
Unable to help himself, Arlo kissed Lyra again.
She kissed him back and as if on queue two of the Oomsatta came up the hill. She broke the embrace and stood, looking down at Arlo she held his hand.
"Yes Arlo, in the future everything and more, but for now, work"
She bent and kissed him once more, then with a wide happy grin on her face. She turned and walked down the hill to meet the villgers coming up. Greeting them and heading off with them to the radio hut.
A while later she calls the team together and addresses them, explaining the news from the radio and asking about their views on finding spies. She also asks Rollo to outline his findings regarding Orichalcum.
Arlo wanted to shout, to jump up and down on that little beautiful hill, but work. Always the work.
The armored dwarf clanks back down the hill, with a little more spring in his step. Arlo stands with the others, listening to the briefing and findings.
Rollo explains the usefulness, the rarity, and the effects pertaining to their goals.
The dhampir also wants to mislead these spies by dropping the secreted location of the actual Forge, the time we plan to go there and the route.
I say we call them out into the open. Our team deals with them while Arnaud escorts the Oomsatta through the Portal. I am hoping the Dragons wilo agree to the Exodus also. They could also protect the People, while we handle any enemy threats.
Hey, I helped look at the Orichalcum, too! Terex protests when it seems to him that Rollo is getting all the credit. I do worry a bit about what this might mean for the plane... When we're done dealing with these spies we'd better do some experiments to see if there's something going on with the plane itself. If the tinker gnomes were here for Orichalcum... the Dark Traders might have other agents around dedicated to creating more. Anger colors this finishing thought.
As for the spies... right now is the best time to catch them. Right when they hear the news about the Oomsata not leaving. They'll want to get that news out right away, so they'll probably be sending messages immediately.
I don't think we should try to call them out. There's no reason for them to go to the location of the Forge themselves, after all--they'd probably send a message and we'd have an army heading for it instead. What we need to do is spread out and watch for messages being sent tonight. That will help us narrow down where to search. Then we can start carefully searching and speaking with the people in the areas the messages are coming from to figure it out.
"Sorry Terex, my minds on other things at the moment, but yes you too did a great job"
As the group discusses plans with The Five, the chief says: "Keep in mind, these are my people. I cannot gamble with their many lives. Or if I must gamble, it most be as cautiously as possible. Perhaps, at the very end when we are moving a bit of misdirection would be necessary. Until then we will be as cautious and secretive as possible. And yes, I expect these spies report to the forces of the Free Lands. That is our problem. An army may be coming."
The Earth Speaker comments: "You brought us this hope and an understanding of the myths we told for generations. We are counting on you to overcome this one remaining obstacle - do not underestimate it. I feel we are still in great danger."
The Hetman interjects: "We seem to be a bit at a loss as to how we will catch these spies. I have an idea. One of us, perhaps the Earth Speaker, shall go from village, conveying to plan to the most trusted village elder. The elder will announce the cancellation of the exodus to the village. This will no doubt be a subject which these spies will interested in. Our friends will go through the crowd, invisibly or openly, using their magic and remarkable skills. With this, they can hopefully discover the spies and we can start piping the information of our choosing to them. Of course, we will need each village elder to eventually convey the real plan so we must be subtle. Most Oomsatta will feel something is strange with the information not being spread by dream time. This will help us - we are a subtle people and read each other intentions well. May the Builders help us if the trader is one of us."
As Lady Lyra explains the radio broadcasts, Arlo remembers something with a sudden sinking feeling. "Could this be the gathering of an undead army?" But this can't be helped for now. You have two days 'till the dragon the colloquium, I assume agree. It will be directly North of Merva.
So plans are made. . The first village is Merva, which has several hundred Oomsatta and the most foreigners. Then other outlying villages and finally the central village where you are.
It's fine, I just get tired of being forgotten sometimes, Terex replies to Lyra.
He nods at the Oomsatta leaders' plans. It was similar enough to what he'd been thinking. I'll stay unseen and see if I can pick up on anything interesting, he volunteers. He makes certain to study detect magic before they leave so he can help look out for communication magics.
Terex splits off from the group shortly before they arrive at Merva, flitting about in the shadows and looking for any suspicious magic, skulking individuals, or suddenly taking off messenger birds.
Rollo decides to wonder a bit amongst the people. The dhampir engages in small talk; mostly about how disappointing it was that the plans have been canceled. He begins planting rumors about a possible alternative site.
Marella decides to keep an eye on the edge of the crowd, skulking along. Every so often, she casts a spell to aid her senses. She sends Charis to the other side of the gathering and instructs her to also keep an eye out.
At some point along the journey, after their first, frustrating blow-up, Armaund approaches Lyra....
"I should apologize, I have grown used to the human women of the Free Lands, who are like leaves. As a human I desired, as a monster, a great beast, I kept them at arms length. I could but only follow my habit. You must understand I am old, hundreds of years old, destined to live thousands if we survive this (gestures). And I have become so skilled at seeming things that I fool myself often. You are far more than you appear to be also, though you have the luxury of dropping appearances. But you are still young as I understand it. Once you reach my age, you may understand. Still, I hope there is no bone between us, that we each remember the love we shared with fondness. Perhaps meet again in another hundred years, a period you may find, passes in the blink of an eye for those such as us..."
Walking through the crowd, Rollo meets a number of Oomsatta who have only chatted with him in dream time and who are fascinated to meet the Dhampir in person. Others also express disappointment with the change in plans but Rollo can the more discerning individuals at least have guessed the ruse.
Only one strange thing stands out - feeling that while everyone he notices is friendly and responsive, he feels a silent, judgemental expression somewhere, right beyond his perception. Terex flitting about the crowd and scanning the auras has similar impression, a hint of magic, something there and then it fades before it can stabilize.
Marella, chatting with the other members through the rings, has a similar sensation, of a thing just out of awareness. But summoning her near-supernatural observational skills and ability to see beyond appearance, in foveal vision she sees a strange (humanoid) figure in a gray, with a gray mask, moving through the crowd, somehow shifting from guise to guise, even freely chatting here and there with people responding to the person's questions as if a friend asked. A robe of blending! Now, as the meeting breaks up and the various groups go their ways, the party maintains communication with their rings. Marella and Charis follow the hooded figure, the other stealthier members behind and the noisiest at a safe distance. The figure leaves Merva and walks through a haphazard path up one of the hills of The Spine, occasionally finding strange tunnels through brush and such, then finally coming to a clearing where stands a sturdy, 15'x15' square tent of brown canvas with geometric embroidered patterns.
She thinks a while,
"I have another idea, I can make myself look like the dead, One of the Tech Gnomes. If I sneak around the Village the spies may contact me, That is If you let me pass and I look shady, sneaking about"
Her tattoos shine and she shrinks into the shape of one of the dead tech Gones. Then her clothing changes and she placese goggles on her face she looks the part.
"No it's I who should be apologizing, I led you on. and Sorry, Armaund but when it comes to old, to me, you're the young one. Where I'm from, time is not seen the same way. My old body once spent 8,000 years in cryo-sleep traveling the space between two stars. And we can place our minds in a virtual world, where time runs much faster. Learning and experiencing lifetimes in just days. In the V, I once grow a garden that took 1500s years to flourish, tending it every day. So yes, you're right I'm far more than I appear to be. For one my perspective is not the same as others. You are clever, your inherent racial intelligence lifts you over others here. That's why so many of you become hidden leaders of other races. So you can work out things with what you know. But I have the vast sum of knowledge from Plane-spanning cultures millions of years old at my disposal. This kind of slants my views on things."
She holds his hand and looks in the eyes.
"Understand this Armaund, I am thankful to you, this new body of mine locked a lot of my feelings away, but now I am starting to recover them. And I thank you for helping me with that. For letting me feel again, even if it was just lust. It was a feeling. So, there will be no bones, no regrets or bad feelings. And I wish you nothing but the very best."
She let go of his hand, smiled, and walked away.
Terex is shocked by Lyra's actions. No, that could give us away! They may have reported back by now, so they'd know that one's dead! he protests
When Marella identifies the person with the robe of blending, Terex carefully follows them, making certain to stay out of their sight.
He stays close, but not too close, all the way to their tent. Once they go inside he cautiously casts detect magic and watches for any signs of teleportation or the like while the others catch up.
As the others get in telepathy range of him, he suggests to them, Let's surround the tent and rush it all at once--leave this person without avenues of escape or warning.
Arlo receives Terex's telepathic summons and follows the pseudodragon's lead, positioning himself outside the tent.
She shifts back into her more human form.
"Why don't we go back to the inn for some lunch and wait for the others?" Sheska asks.
She tells the half-elf, "We will swing by on our way out of the city, to get the wagon."
Rollo arrives to the mysterious Tent with a smile on his dhampiric face.
This should be informative.
Marella casts a couple of spells on herself, then creeps to the far side of the tent and waits for Terex's signal.
Lyra rocks up next to Arlo, her pistols out, and smiles at him,
"You ready?"
Then to the team.
"Hold that, no rushing in, We need eyes inside first, So Terex, Marella you're up"
Marella takes Charis off her shoulder and quietly chants. Then she points for Charis to go in, invisible. Marella closes her eyes and then can see and hear what Charis does.
The group prepares outside, ready to pounce, carefully considering the weak points of the tent - a battle could bring the heavy canvas contraption down on all concerned but
Meanwhile, Terex place his ear to canvas while carefully placing a small periscope to a tiny gap between the ground the cloth. Inside the tent has only faint glow from luminous plants on the walls but Terex perceives ... two strange humanoid butterflies, one in the process of removing the gray materially that previously completely covered them. As they do that, they speak to the other, "Not only do they say the exodus is canceled but I think I saw a gear gnome skulking around." the other replies, "Oh, dear, we will be here forever. That necromancer will want us searching for that one too. These cursed binding spells rankle on me.". The other replies, "Another week and I make another go at breaking them but for now let us prepare the reports. The pain last time was unbearable. The figure not removing the robe has a piece of paper out and Terex can see some bird cages..
Incidentally, Armaund has gone to check on his men in Merva during this time.
Marella, assessing that they are about to send out the disinformation provided to them, stays in place.
Terex reports to the others. Our mysterious spy looks to actually be... two fey? There's a note of surprise in his mental voice. He tries to identify their species as he continues.
They're talking about a binding spell. Marella, Rollo, could either of you break something like that? They might be willing to talk with us if we could free them.
Rollo shakes his head.
The Sage then whispers,
We should allow them to write their reports; prior to apprehending them.
Rollo does cast a series of spells, before sneaking to the tent to have a look himself for further information.
He then returns to the others with his report.