Samen wonders how edible the meat would be for creatures whose stomachs are not literal furnaces.
Samen winces as he keeps pressure on his bleeding wounds. "Indeed it shall! Let us share the spoils of victory around the fire, as is a fitting reward for ridding the land of this menace. Keep your eyes peeled for more affected critters; I'm sure this isn't an isolated incident."
"What Samen said," Abnaki repeats, brushing blood and dirt off of his new clothing. "Keep an eye out."
The salamanders watch intently as Learningto starts a fire with ease as her shifting limbs rub multiple dry sticks together. Hroof Hroofa and the others gather firewood, after Learningto instructs how and why to do this.
It takes four stout saplings to hold the the beast in place on the spit, but soon enough the smell of roasting meat fills the air, melting fat crackling now and again in the flames.
Samen, Learningto leaves the slow turning to some of the mycos, while also reminding Hroof Hroofa to guard against the snakes stealing the food early.
She finds you still a bloody mess, and inquires whether she might bandage your wounds for you. Learningto makes a very competent medic, reciting little remembering poems under her breath as she works.
You enjoy a feast (that has a taste somewhere between rangy chicken and good venison) and a short rest. Half the day yet remains.
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Learningto Ellen casually guides you through woods thick and thin, over trails wide and narrow. Despite the battle and your wounds, it is a productive day of travel. The test of Great Forest is not speed, but endurance. Every step through untamed terrain is a small chore, and a few of the party are panting with exhaustion by the end of the march.
*****
*****
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After the roast owlbear, Gabriel spends the rest of the day's travel discussing with Samen and his shadow ways to make the transformation permanent and how best to customize the new form. He even goes so far as to consult with the teapot... Being exhausted from so much thinking, he quickly falls asleep after camp is made.
He awakes just before bright, preparing himself for the ordeal to come, he consults with his shadow one more time. "We're sure about this right? Your hiding place is going to work?" The transformation was had carried with it a powerful feeling but the knowledge that it was temporary tempered the uncertainty that accompanied it. Now though, the feeling eats at his confidence. You've endured worse at the hands of those damned Moon touched fools. And these are your companions... Well, one is an unfathomable 'sun' entity hiding in a teapot but Samen can be trusted... Now isn't the time for hesitation though.
Gathering his resolve, Gabe goes to Samen to retrieve the necessary pieces for the transformation.
Your shadow nods, ready to take his place.
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As bright commences, the teakettle becomes hot, and the Sunlord bellows,
Abnaki pokes his head up through the ground, "Quiet up there! Some of us are trying to get some rest!" He seems like he's about to duck back underground, but the prospect of seeing Gabriel's transformation seems to outweigh the prospect of getting an extra few minutes of sleep.
The salamanders watch avidly, with lantern-eyes of yellow and green.
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Light shines from the ifrit as the magic is cast once more. Gabe floats a handspan off the ground as the spell takes hold. Instead of the grotesque transformation of skin sloughing off, the radiance burns through causing the flesh to float away as ash revealing the odd pinkish skin that was seen before. Somehow, the light is tainted for a moment as a spot of darkness winds it way up Gabriel's body, finally disappearing around his head. The bright blue eyes that once peered out become clouded and dark as a grin spreads across the face. You have chosen your hiding place well! You were right that looking through you is like having my old vision back.
Gabe's feet touch the ground as the light seems to be pulled into the teapot. As it recedes, odd shadows are cast though none from Gabe himself. Blinking, he turns to Samen to had the kettle back. "Well... that was intense." Trying not to think to hard about what exactly it is that he is removing, Gabe starts shaking out his clothes to get the ash out that had gotten caught inside. "He could have warned me to be in my skivvies and avoided this problem though."
Samen takes the kettle back, beaming at the rebirth Gabriel just put himself through. "It could've been worse. At least you didn't ignite."
A windchime of ooos and ahhs flood the air with appreciation, along with a smattering of applause for Gabriel's transformation. The sounds seem to be coming vaguely from Abnaki's direction.
Learningto guides you through higher ground, avoiding the valleys where the wispy distortions seem to gather and clot. Great Forest is alive with insect sounds and earthy spring smells, but you still cannot shake the feeling of solitude. Something waits at Uluru, and the forest holds its breath.
**
Learningto finds a large mushroom, nearly house-sized with a cap that spreads above you like the branches of an oak. "This (is) a good place. (Eat) here, (rest) here."
To the Samen, Abnaki, and Gabriel, she continues, "We (arrive) at the Uluru plateau soon, tonight or tomorrow morning. What (is) your plan? (Do you want) to (arrive) by day or night? Do we (burrow) under somehow, or (try to fly) in?" The myco has no real idea on the limitations (or lack thereof) of your powers, and is curious to see what you will do.
"No matter which way we achieve ingress, it would be advantageous to have an idea of what we're expecting beforehand. Does anyone have a method of scouting safely at hand?"
"I can burrow," Abnaki offers helpfully. "And I can place a scrying sensor about three-quarters of a mile away from myself." He shrugs. "Other than that, I guess I could try and dreamquest some information. This seems more like it would be your specialty Samen. Wouldn't a wind spirit like Abby be perfect for scouting?"
abbygailiwy screaming silently, even dead and abandoned
"Besides my natural stealthy abilities, momentary invisibility, and ability to run up walls..." Gabe chuckles at the understatement. Getting serious, "All that doesn't help infiltrate magically sealed areas though."
"If there's a mind that has the information, I can extract it Abnaki. But we have no prisoners, and I dare not reach out into the open void so close to enemy territory. Gabriel's skills on the other hand are just what we need. You don't need to get into any magically sealed areas, just scout out the gem forces around and on the mountain. Once we have a foothold up there, we can deal with the more magical problems."
The landscape, like the owlbear you fought, has an increasingly unnatural feel to it. There are patches are hyper-focused trees that seem to be almost crystalline in their clarity, followed by long runs of blurry trees that blend into one another. It is becoming more difficult to avoid individual trees and roots as the scenery devolves into vagueness.
Samen dons and doffs his glasses repeatedly to get a two-point perspective to see into this new magical dimension. He makes a mental map of the hills and valleys and attempts to discern a pattern out of the seeming randomness. A device did this. It will have some form of order to it. Order that may reveal a weakness.
In the meantime, he suggests meandering courses that avoid the extremes.
"There is a path here," Abnaki states definitively, "All we need to do is see it for what it is? Can you not feel the stone under your feet, worn smooth from countless travelers? Can you not see the cobbles, expertly lain by skilled crafters? Listen to steady clop clop of marching feet on cobble. Let us take this road to our destination, and stop all this foolishness with mucking about in a forest, or else I shall be quite cross."
Gabrial explores ahead of the group, attempting to find things on the path that might be extra noisy if tread upon. A group this big is difficult to move quietly. At least I can minimize the risk. His exploration has the added benefit of finding any threats that lie ahead and either adjusting the way the group travels or, using his new powers, eliminating smaller threats himself.
Qizzlvutz stares intently at the blurry shapes themselves, occasionally babbling in the strange myco language.
"Sometimes they (speak). They (whisper) about music that (makes) no sense. Nonsense?"
"A (wending) path, like life itself. Never straight or easy, but our pods (know) the way."
As Abnaki speaks, there is a ghost of a road that appears beneath your feet, seemingly built as you walk, and disappearing into unreality behind you. Learningto helps guide the phantom cobblestones to where they need to go; though the myco seems to go in twists and circles, you trust her to lead you.
Samen lends his wisdom and craft to the task, keeping the party away from the pitfalls of utter vagueness and blinding clarity. You catch glimpses of other travelers frozen in these crystalline patches, and you know there is nothing you can do for them. Haunting voices call out from the fog, but you know better than to pursue.
Gabriel's stealth embraces all of you, making your footsteps softer. His dark eyes are friendly despite their absolute blackness, and you feel comfort from the cover his former shadow provides.
After many candles spent wondering if this distorted landscape will ever end, you see a tall shape rise out of the mists, a mighty plateau:
Uluru.
It is difficult to see any details from this distance - you could easily still be several candle's journey away from the base. Fog and blurry vagueness surround the plateau, and only the top portion is visible. It almost seems to be alowly eaten away by the mists.
As you carefully move forward, certain foggy tendrils turn an ugly purple-brown, looking like bouquets of earthworms hanging in the air. The human transmogrifist recognizes these as an exotic species of mephit, close to Star but not quite. Could these be Moon mephits?
Halting the theoretical musings for a moment, Samen reaches out with mage hand and tiny mind darts to scatter these rudimentary foes before they can fully form.
Even beyond his many transformations, such a subtle touch would make the current Samen a complete stranger to the Samen of old. He smiles to himself.
Young mycos are always more flexible shifters than elders, and Qizzlvutz is no exception. The young, burbling myco sprouts eyes of various shapes, suzes, and curvature to accomodate the mist-ridden landscape. The monotonous gray terrain shines bright and clear in their eyes, and Learningto feels that first tug of bittersweet sorrow in watching a beloved child start to become truly independent. How much longer until Qizz becomes a better tracker than Learningto?
Gabe's shadow sheathed eyes drink in the available details of the blurry landscape. Barely making out the outlines of cover, he moves with silent feet barely making a whisper. Looking back at the larger groups he sees wisps of Samen's mental efforts as he disperses little clouded tendrils. Is he just having fun back there? I know this place is strange but hardly seems like the right time. Figuring there is a good reason, Gabe keeps a particular eye out for anything like that forming around himself.
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"I claim this land on behalf of the fey kingdom that I represent. My banner that I hold in my hand flies highest, higher than any other standard in this region. And as the leader of my own kingdom, and thusforth the ruler of this land, I give right of passage, unobstructed and unseen to any enemies that may tresspass on my domain." Abnaki lifts his banner high, then plants it into the ground. "There. That's done." He picks it back up again, and continues along the path.
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Do we have to go, Sissy? This place could make us disappear.
Krz' voice briefly echoes in Kallik's etheral thoughts, then he retreats back to Qizzlvutz' scythe.
Abnaki, you feel a cold, distinctly glass presence reflect your words and your claims right back at you, trying to dominate your mind. You easily push back the magicks, but the sudden...assault...or whatever that was, unsettles you.
Thanks to Learningto's direction sense and Gabriel's near-perfect vision, you are able to locate the beginning of Uluru's ascent. The ramp is carved into the very rock, at a shallow grade that wraps around and around the plateau.
Kallik experiments with her incorporeality on the rock of Uluru. To her surprise, she finds it hard and unyielding to even her slightest ghostly touch-- clearly the ancient keepers of Branch imbued all of the plateau with warding magicks many centuries ago.
Damn. She looks guiltily over at Qizzlvutz, hoping they have not heard her angry curse.
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Qizzlvutz is too busy humming and bubbling and thinking about the stony-stone problem to hear any bad words (probably).
Qizzl-qizz fizzes, and wetly snaps their tendril-fingers together, a leafy-branchy-muddy sound.
"(Dig!)" they shift out loud.
They spend lots and lots of magicks to get a really good idea. A big friend made of slate! Qizzlvutz dances around the frowning, ogre-like statue-beast.
The myco looks at Samen for approval, one spellcaster ot another. "(Dig?)" they ask.
Gabriel notices the salamanders are missing with a mixture of loss and relief. They are powerful allies but I'm not sure how they would do with infiltration.
"The snakes are missing, I'm sure that's another problem we'll have to solve later. I mean, we did bring them to this world..." Gabe announces to no one in particular.
Hmmm, large digging creature... They may be safer underground anyway.
"Interesting. A digger. I can burrow as well." Abnaki looks approvingly at the elemental. "I can lead the way, and then you can follow."
"Yay! (Dig!)"
Qzz lets the big friend dig. His huge huge slate fists cannot shift, but his big blocky fingers are very good at digging.
"(Dig) please!" Blue-brown grinning, happy to be helping everyone, yay Qzz!
And friend does dig! Slow but steady, leaving nice tunnel wide enough for two.
Samen nods at Qizz and Abnaki, using the tunneling method. Instead, he activates his boots and joins Gabriel atop the smaller rock. "With your climbing ability and my boots, I expect we could do a relatively safe paired ascent if we attach ourselves together with a length of rope. This would have the advantage of giving me the necessary leverage for lateral movement, and if one of us ascends higher than the other, it provides a safety net in the event of either of our magics being negated by traps. Surely they would've expected flight, and given the way that owlbear ate our magic, it seems likely to encounter similar negating effects."
As Samen discusses the logistics of climbing the face of the rock, you hear a distant clanging, thudding sound...like an inn's worth of metal pots and pans falling upon the floor, over and over...
louder now...clangthud thud thud...
Around the near corner of the mesa, some hundred feet away, a huge glass eye peers curiously toward the noise of a tunnel being dug.