After a good night's rest, you leave the village of Tano. Akira sends you off with a care package of prepared food as thanks. Your wagon is soon on the path again. The path is covered in snow, overgrown roots and pits, slowing your wagon ride to a crawl as you dig and push it.
You move the wagon slightly off road and secure it. It's good to walk at full speed again. As you move through the forest, you see a humanoid shape moving towards you, outlined only by the falling snow. Hovers above the ground in a nonthreatening fashion.
The vision melds into Quickblade and he falls to his knees, rubbing his eyes. He stands up and recalls the strange vision:
Humanoids descend from the trees, charging at the caravan with weapons thirsting for blood. Two humans leap from the caravan, weapons drawn. Fatigue and desperation make terrible allies as they fight the bandits.
Another person watches them fight and sneaks onto the back of the caravan, taking several jewels and a very peculiar amulet. Quickblade notices the person has a fox's head and tail right before the vision focuses on the amulet.
The spirit is unfortunately distracted, and it distracts you, imposing a -2 penalty to Perception checks.
You get a +2 bonus to the spoiler check below since you saw it first hand.
As you continue traveling, you see a second spirit float towards you.
The spirit wafts into Apoc's core and intermingles with him, granting him access to new memories:
The kitsune makes off with the amulet and puts in a satchel. He stalks through the woods with a bloodthirsty grin on his face, clutching the sack.
A white, cat-like creature with a mischievous sneer emerges from inside a nearby tree trunk—seemingly having melded into the wood— only to snatch the sack and disappear in a flash.
The kitsune's look of suprise gives way to rage as he calls upon several foxes to spread out as he bites and claws at the tree.
However it is also wary of the forests. You'll need to make a DC 5 Flat Check at the start of an encounter or you'll be >frightened< 1 for the first round.
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Apoc, too, grants a vision to the Spirit - their forms merging for what feels like an indescribably long period of time (but actually an indescribably short period of time) - sharing memory essence to essence.
When it is done, our cosmic hero, the Awakened Prime of Celestia, ponders in silence...
Dust.
One particle.
Then two.
In the infinite blackness of space, at the incalculable probability of fate, two particles collide. The nearby protostar, __________, scattering a hundred trillion specks in an infinite number of different spherical directions, a single trajectory anomaly caused the collision of the two cells that would, spans of unimaginable time later, coalesce into Golarion.
I remember when we met. A cool blue solar light setting the backdrop. I felt my consciousness for the first time split into a single unit, able to distinguish itself as a unique entity, and too, able to recognize a similar change in you. We danced in the void, our embrace setting into motion a great choreography of other celestial starstuffs, joining us together with others, creating new forms of matter. My memory is long and strained - for the further back I reach for my own origin, the murkier the nebulae of other memories render the sifting, entire sequences of events rounded off to the nearest significant figure, my estimation approaching a relative simultaneity.
Except that experience of meeting you that first time. A single shining star dotting an endless sea of darkness. Yes. That I can remember.
You became lost for a long time. I became lost for a long time. For the next clear memory I have is water - salt water - waking up and feeling the wetness across my skin. I have skin. Not skin really, more like bark. Hard, rough, supple. Teeming with an energy that flows from my center: The single particle at the center of my heart. Ancient nearly as time itself, irreducibly small, yet immeasurably large. What you might call my soul.
And so, from the sea I emerge, walking with my legs - not legs really, more like roots - walking with my roots, stepping forth from the tides, and onto the crumbled rock - sand, I think it is called - onto the sand past where the ocean has fully receded, and into another fluid. Air! Cool like ocean but dry. I observe - no, Feel! - I feel the rivulets of my curves running droplets of water sticking together down my roots and arms - not arms, branches - down my branches depositing their salty mineral into my bark, and dropping back into the sand to return to earth. I step forth from the ocean, at once old and new; witness to before the beginning of recorded time, yet birthed upon the beach to walk upon the planet as it’s denizen, ignorant of it's truths and it's ways…
With the spirits' help, you move instinctively towards the source of the vision. The undergrowth seems to recede. Trees bend to the side. Gusts of wind blow leaves and debris off the road. It seems like the land itself wants you to make haste.
It isn't long until you find another caravan, stuck at an intersection of three roads. One of the wagons has a wheel stuck in a sinkhole full of twisted vines. Two humans squat next to it, lifting the vehicle.
"Take a right, you said. It's a shortcut." The man grunts. "The left is a tourist trap. Or maybe it's the easier road to use?"
"Oh thank you, great oracle. But maybe you should learn how to ride a horse first." The woman readjusts her grip and snaps an annoyed glance at the man. "Instead of resting, I had to chase our runaway horses down. We would have been out of this forest already."
The two pant and try to lift the wagon, bickering at themselves and not even aware of you.
"What? Who?" The woman stops short as Apoc arrives to lift the wagon.
The man catches Geralt and Sunbeam's words. "Oh, hello there! I am Lin Po. This is my teammate Ti Lan. She likes to find shortcuts that are quite long."
The woman snorts. "I am Ti Lan, and I actually know how to ride a horse and prepare a caravan. Unlike some people. Venture-Captain Li sent you to help us?"
An errant arrow interrupts her. Hoots come out of the forest. Seven people wearing bird masks emerge from the clearing. "Thought you could run away, eh? Told ya we'd catch up! Your money is ours! Try to resist and you'll be sorry!"
Lin Po grunts. "Damn it all. They attacked us before and stole some of our goods. Now they came back to pick us clean. Ti Lan and I are exhausted. Please help us defend ourselves."
Sunbeam
Masked Thieves
Apoc
Geralt
Quickblade
Sunbeam senses danger is afoot before her teammates do.
"Ahh!" The Pink-masked fellow screams as the acid burns him. He fires back and then retreats.
The other bandits draw their clubs and advance around the corner or through the forest.
Li Tan fires a crossbow bolt at the pink-masked tengu.
Masked Thieves (Pink 5 damage)
Apoc
Geralt
Quickblade
Sunbeam
|
|
One bandit quite upon him, the Awakened Prime of Celestia peers into his material form and consults the galaxy at his core. Have I seen you before?
◆) Recall Knowledge
◆◆) ??
Arcana (**) +8
Crafting (*) +6
Lore: Conrasu (*) +6
Lore: Engineering (*) +6
Lore: Ocean (*) +6
Medicine (*) +7
Nature (*) +7
Occultism (*) +6
Religion (*) +7
Society (*) +6
Survival (*) +7
Quickblade's shortsword cuts through the bandit facing him, who goes down with a quick yelp.
|
|
"You have returned and shall be rebuked!" the roots that gird our cosmic hero's arboreal form tremble with a low quiver, the shock of being suddenly surrounded - even if by surrogate fear - taking it's physical toll.
◆) Recall Knowledge
◆◆) Spellstrike w/ Spout
Apoc leans into the strange sensation by gripping the earth beneath him with his galvan strength, digging his roots into the dirt, which in so doing, grounds the primal, arcane, halcyon energy that permeates his being, whereupon a connexion is established, and so, as he brings his club down to bear from on high, with simultaneity, from on low, a spout of fresh ground water jets up to meet the implement with an equal and opposite force, battering the masked bandit from two sides!
Apoc and Geralt fell their targets, cracking their masks with a splash of water and a critically aimed strike.
Dancing Sunbeam's acid critically burns the Green mask, revealing a human face underneath. "Come on, surround 'em!" She steps forward to swing at Quickblade.
Green's bravery and accuracy earns her two blows against Quickblade and a sweet release as the acid burn proves too much for her to handle.
The person wearing the Black mask calls out to the White-masked fellow. "This foxface is melting us, let's take her out first." He struggles through the forest canopy but emerges just in time to swing at her once.
The White-masked fellow sees the maneuver and tries to get in position, unaware of Geralt's quick reactions. he tries to flank Dancing Sunbeam.
Despite getting the drop on her, his aim is completely off.
Lin Po fires a crossbow bolt at the thief in Black. "Not so tough when you're outnumbered, eh?"
The Pink-masked thief does not return, running back the way he came.
Masked Thieves (Pink 5 damage, fleeing; Black 6 damage)
Apoc
Geralt (AoO vs White)
Quickblade
Sunbeam
Masked Thieves (Pink 5 damage, fleeing; Black 6 damage)
Apoc
Geralt (AoO vs White)
Quickblade
Sunbeam
|
|
The soil-erupted water jet extinguishes his first foe, and as what goes up must come down, our cosmic hero is now covered in a shower, which salinates as it pours over his arboreal form. The starfish clung to his joints, refreshed in the natural bath, and perked back from dormancy at the salt, begin to spin and whirl in place, lubricating Apoc's limbs. Stepping into range, he brings his club back up to swing at the closest bandit...
◆) Arcane Cascade
◆) Step
◆) Strike
...knocking him or her skyward high into the air!
Geralt cuts down the White-masked bandit in the blink of an eye. The remaining black-masked thief is not for this world. Apoc gets the honors, shattering the mask against a tree.
Lin Po and Ti Lan finally take a rest. "Finally, those bandits met their match!" Lin Po laughs and Ti Lan cracks a smile. "Yes, all we had to do was wait for a group of strong allies to arrive." She grabs her waterskin and takes a swig.
"We were setting up camp when we noticed the bandits."
"Thank you for all of your timely assistance." Lin Po speaks up. "If we had to fight any longer, I'd have to unleash my patented Belly Bounce Technique. Its might is too much for this forest, I fear!" He slaps his gut and chuckles.
Ti Lan moves ahead of her teammate and fights off her smile for just a moment. "Something was trapped inside the Omamori Amulet. When we reached Tano, we heard a voice call to us. A kami was trapped inside, and it was certain someone would try to capture it. I knew its ward was closeby, so..." She exhales carefully. "I took a shortcut."
Lin Po coughs and climbs into the wagon. "The spirit road has left us winding to and fro, like leaves upon the wind." Lin Po pulls a tent out of the back of the caravan. "We were ambushed, robbed of some of our goods. Then we caught a glimpse of a Fox Spirit stealing the kami's prison." He finds a spot where his teammate can set up the tent. "We've been chasing them ever since." He grabs a shovel to dig up a firepit.
Ti Lan begins unfurling the tent. "The Fox carries a bag. We see glimpses of the Fox in the trees - sometimes we find some fur. Sometimes we see paw marks. Maybe the wind is guiding us, but we're exhausted from the search."
Lin Po takes some more supplies from the wagon. "Ti Lan and I can set up camp and repair this hunk of junk. Please, find the fox and return the kami to its rightful home. Maybe this can help you."
- Composite Shortbow (with 10 arrows)
- Greataxe
- Greatclub
|
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Nodding to Dancing Sunbeam, the Awakened Prime of Celestia twists it's oaken body, shifting the exact "knots" the gnarls of branches and roots that make up the physical construction around his cosmic core, and wrapping themselves into a new pattern - while little attached starfish pinwheel about changing into new positions over the salty wooden propagation! - and settling with a knitting clasp, torquing into another geometric arrangement that protects the stars inside of his heart.
With an exhale like a seabreeze on a cold foggy morning, he speaks in a low voice "I am ready now"
It's time to find a fox.