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Nox is awoken in the morning by the playful jumping and soft whining of the noble corgi that's in their room. While hesitant that the creature might have lingering feelings about the boot to the head while It was a gorgas he must eat and work today. But he is confused when it decides to come with him.
"Look I'm glad that you are grateful for us helping you but it's not safe for yo-" The corgi interrupts him with a lashing of licks which pins the now panicked sprite. "Fine fine y-you can come!" Satisfied with the response the Corgi bounds over and scratches at the door, ready to be off on adventure, or perhaps simply needing to poop.
The pair travel alongside Sir Batman, "So, how did your talks with Pabel go seems to me we're making progress considering the attack the other night. I somehow doubt it's a coincidence."
Nox makes his rounds with the people, the corgi standing, sitting, and rolling over in the dusty ground by his side drawing even more attention.
Just as dutifully, Ravenna hammers out the dings on Batman's shield until it's good as new.
As they head out to investigate the murder scene, she picks Sylva up and places the sprite onto her shoulder. "Not to worry, no dogs will be getting your shadow today."
Sylva gladly accepts the shoulder ride.
“That’s right. I will happily skewer any shadow-eating dogs, but not so deeply that I Pierce the fluffy center.” She admits, “I don’t think my control over the blade is quite there yet. In any case, the corgi survived and now we know Nox is a dog-person.
“How about yourself, Ravenna? Are you an animal lover?”
"I suppose so," Ravenna says, taking a moment to consider the question. "I've never had a pet, but back home I would feed bread crumbs to the crows that lived near my family's farm. Sometimes they would leave me trinkets they'd collected."
As Ravenna and Sylva examine the site of the attack, they notice that both the flesh wounds and wounds to the mule’s shadow indicate a gorga attack. Yet in addition to the expected gorga tracks, there’s a pair of large, shoeless humanoid footprints farther back among the trees.
Much like the gorga tracks, the humanoid footprints frequently disappear and reappear farther away, suggesting flight, teleportation, or some other non-terrestrial movement.
The footprints both appear from and disappear back into a strangely verdant forest clearing. Within the clearing, flowers bloom out of season and the grass stands tall, but the plants’ colors are all weirdly drab and washed out. The magical residue and unusual plant growth is consistent with a breach—a portal from the First World. This one was clearly temporary, with probably no more than an hour between when it opened and closed.
***
As Batman and Nox ask around the Thinlands, the shadows of the invisible forest quiver and boil like the shadows of the gorgas you fought at the Seven Arches. According to the farmers, it’s not just gorga attacks folks worry about around here—the region also has a long history of mysterious disappearances, many of which are attributed to a Kaneepo the Slim, which they believe to be a mythical being
Several children report nearby sightings of a tall, willowy figure matching Kaneepo the Slim’s description. Neither the children nor their parents have reported the figure because “everybody knows that even just saying the Slim’s name draws its attention.”
The evidence suggests that both the shadowy forest effect of the Thinlands and the abnormally fertile farms here are a “bloom”—the result of planar seepage from the First World. Locals affirm this theory with their talk of “holes in the world” that show through into the shadow forest. A few brave locals have even stepped through these holes, never to return.
***
As you reconvene once more, you put all the pieces together. The real Thinlands are a shadowy extraplanar forest in the First World, bound somehow to the farmlands of the same name on the Material Plane. Kaneepo clearly has some means of opening portals between the two.
There’s a pattern to the timing and locations of the Kaneepo sightings. According to this pattern, one of the fey’s portals will open tomorrow night in the middle of a particular farm’s potato patch...
Sir Batman shivers in his bronze underpants, as the shadows of the invisible forest quiver and boil like the shadows of the gorgas they fought at the Seven Arches.
After speaking with the farmers, the children of farmers, and the friends of children of farmers, the bronze-colored sprite determines that farmers are counted as courageous for still hanging about the s~@& storm of weirdness.
So, we say his name 3 times under a full moon, once the stars are aligned with...
The Champion of Mazludeh stops.
If only we knew when and where his next appearance will be?
Once the dynamic quadruple are back together, discussing, digesting, disturbingly dancing by the pale moonlight, Sir Batman just says
No s*@@.
To the group's revelations concerning Slim's next appearance.
I do love potatoes!
“Trinkets? That sounds magical. Too magical. Are you just a really big fey?”
“If only we had time to build a jail in the spot Kaneepo will appear. On the upside, with just ourselves, I think we can set up an ambush...”
Sir Bat sits still amongst the tulips, eagerly waiting for The Real Slim Shady to please stand up.....
The Bronze bat winks at any passing curious caterpillars.
Sylva knows this night will be hard, so dinner should be easy then. Being a light eater, Sylva excuses herself from the table while the others are still eating.
She tunes the maestro’s banjo and begins to play softly for both her friends and the staff at the inn.
The tune is gentle like rain, empowered by chords high and low, echoing her personal feelings about the mission so far.
The dwarf. The dead woman… and friends that make this more than simply bearable.
Eventually the words in her roll off the tongue…
The look in his eyes
As I plunged blade-first
Into his beard was kinda weird
Had I stopped and thought through
What I could and wouldn’t do
I’d be the one who’d have been speared
Don’t wanna throw a pity party
For the blood on my hands
When there’s shadowless corpses
Strewn all over the land
I got three powerful friends
We make a hell of a band
And tonight we’re gonna play
That’s Ravenna on guns
Sir Bat on shield
Nox playin’ the magic
And me on dual-wield
It’s a hell of a tune we’ll play
We’ll make that skinny f$#~er pay
The tune softens as the song comes to an end.
From the heart like you said, Nox, she thinks to herself, not really sure her tune was any good the her audience. But I’ve been booed off my share of stages.
To-night we’re… gonna…… play
The next night, you head to the potato farm and settle in to wait. Sure enough, at the appointed hour, the air itself begins to shimmer before ripping open like a curtain, torn wide and crumpled at the edges. Through the tear stands a forest at twilight, its black trees as thin as the cardstock cutouts in a pop-up book. Everything about the gloomy scene looks drained of color, painted solely in shades of shadow. From the point where the portal touches the ground, a footpath winds off into the forest—a clear invitation.
You lie in wait near the portal, but nothing comes out. It seems that if you want to confront Kaneepo the Slim, you're going to have to go through the portal...
Sylva whispers to the others, “Entering a portal is hardly subtle, but… we’ve been discover, likely. Shall we walk into the trap, then?”
She’s serious. She’s ready.
Excitedly watching for the appearance of The Real Slim Shady
Crap! I forgot my minted first edition for his autograph!
The Bronze bat simmers and steams at the prolonged prolog.
Looks like the show is canceled! Let's pretend we were given backstage passes!
The smiling sprite Raises his shield and readies to proceed the group through the portal......
Ravenna nods silently, counting the tiny bundles of paper that hold her bullets, each tucked into a loop on her bandolier.
You step through the portal and finds yourselves in the Thinlands—the real Thinlands. The air seems to drain everything within the plane of color, even your own bodies. The wind howls constantly, and the ground periodically heaves and rumbles, with slopes crumbling away or new trees thrusting out of the earth fully grown. Rot and decay stud the plant life and ruins of old structures, and the few animals and other creatures you spot seem twisted and wrong.
Ravenna recalls the information she uncovered in the Quaking Stacks. This area of the First World is known as Nighthold. Always a shadowy corner of the First World, Nighthold fell to pieces when its Eldest master—Count Ranalc, lord of betrayal, exiles, and shadows—was himself exiled to the Shadow Plane by the other Eldest millennia ago. The place is deeply dangerous and unstable, even for the First World, and prone to regular breaches through which creatures can enter from the Material Plane and the Shadow Plane.
Light effects are weaker. Spells and abilities with the light trait deal half as much damage as usual.
The Thinlands are dimly lit. The Thinlands are perpetually shrouded in dim light. Artificial light, such as that from lanterns and spells like light, function as usual.
You travel through this eerie realm for about an hour before the dark forest opens up into a wide clearing of ash-gray grass and twisted, thorned trees. In the clearing’s center squats an enormous tree stump, its top broken off at an angle and huge roots rippling through the dirt like leviathans in surf. An ornate wooden door stands at ground level between two giant roots, faintly illuminated by a delicate paper lantern full of tiny moving lights.
You spot something perched atop the same branch as the paper lantern. The creature's gray body resembles that of a featherless owl with a serrated beak, the legs of a monkey, and oversized eye sockets full of shadow. It cocks its head, and a field of unnatural darkness spreads out from it, blanketing the area...
Success: The creature moves normally.
Failure: The creature moves the intended distance, but not in the right direction. The ocluai chooses the creature's destination and route, which could be a straight line or could include multiple changes in direction. If the path is blocked or would go through obviously dangerous terrain (such as off a cliff or through a fire), the movement ends before the blockage or danger.
Critical Failure: As failure, but if the creature's path would lead them into obviously dangerous terrain, they must succeed at a second Will save to end their movement just before they would enter the danger.
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In the dark of the thinlands Nox seems to glow, uncharacteristically to his appearance when in the material world shedding just a bit of light like a tiny lantern or glow bug in the gloomy place.
Upon seeing the strange bug-eyed bird creature Nox almost shrieks and casts out a finger sending a bolt or clawing tendrils to pluck at it's mind.
The strange creature remains unfazed by Nox's spell. The darkness in its eyes seem to swirl, and your peripheral vision churns with terrifying visions of worm-eaten corpses and monsters ready to pounce!
Sylva is mostly okay.
She won’t be able to strike first unless Ravenna throws her, so Sylva decides to move at Sir Batman’s pace.
Sir Batman rushes into the portal with abandon.
Stopping on the otherside, the Bronze sprite peers around at all the shadowy, willowy, not-looking-like-fun atmosphere.
Somebody needs to build a Party USA around here!
Walking towards the ugly tree stump, the bronze-colored sprite sees the shadow creature staring at them.
My what big eyes you have, grandma!
As the darkness descends in front of them, the Champion of Mazludeh looks over to Nox.
Will your light penetrate the darkness? I kinda want to snuff it out!
Entering his Stance, the sprite begins marching forward!
A bit of blood drips down his nose.
Ravenna staggers backwards from the creature's mental assault, or at least she tries to. When that doesn't work, she resorts to something that's tried and true: shooting it to death.
The unnatural darkness around the creature proves difficult to navigate, as most of you end up wandering around the edges of the clearing, moving no closer to the beast. Nox strides confidently towards it though, and this time his magic leaves the gorga reeling! Ravenna clips it with a bullet as well.
Shaking off the stun, the gorga assails Nox with more terrifying illusions!
Sylva sees Nox is getting clobbered while she’s—
Where the hell am I?
She turns toward the enemy and…
▶️▶️ She charges!
”HYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA—“
—then, realizing she ain’t gonna makes it, Sylva ▶️ Takes Cover!
“—AAH SHlT?!”
Sir Batman wonders about for 40' but not any where close to the direction of the freaky fowl.
Did someone spike my orange juice this morning?
The Bronze Knight watches Nox walking casual-like in the correct direction.
He follows.
He smiles, nodding his bronze bat-like head in excitement.
He Strides.
Shaking with excitement, Sir Batman glares at the freaky fowl.
Coming to choke you bird!
The bronze-colored sprite grits his Pearly whites (flosses 3x day) and Strides!
And.....
Standing next to the freaky fowl, Sir Batman begins doing stretches!
Planting her feet, Ravenna shakes her head to clear the visions of darkness, takes aim, and lets loose with what might just be her finest display of marksmanship to date.
The paper lantern flies up to strike the gorga, destroying it and freeing the hundreds of fireflies that were trapped inside. As the fey reels, Ravenna lodges a bullet directly into its heart! The shadowy fey topples off the branch and hits the ground, lying still. The field of supernatural darkness vanishes, and you can see clearly once again.
“Nice shootin’!”
Sylva quick-draws her med kit and rushes to Nox’s aid!
”Sir Batman, can you help me with Nox?”
She continues to treat wounds if time permits!
Ravenna's grin is infectious. "That was pretty good, wasn't it?" Her grin vanishes as she turns to see Nox's dire condition.
Sylva glances at Ravenna, and notices her grin melting away. Though her eyes go back to Nox’s wound, she assures her big friend, “He’ll be okay. The Shadow Chicken was aiming for our brains—small target. That’s a short joke, not a comment on my people’s intelligence.”
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Nox isn't sure exactly what hoodoo that Sylva pulls off to fix his brain from leaking, but the attempt and moment to breath alone does alot to soothe him. The dog comes bounding forward once the evil chicken lay dead further ahead.
"I hope we don't have to deal with more of those things going forward.. speaking of. Is this the right way you think?"
You proceed through the ornate door in the enormous tree stump. A pillar of living wood near the southern wall of the chamber beyond the door has been carved into a terrifying yet majestic statue of a lanky, stripe-skinned humanoid monster, its wooden flesh pocked with pearl inlay. To the east, a door delves deeper into the stump.
After searching this room and finding little of interest, you proceed though the next door. A long wooden dining table sits under twenty-foot-high ceilings in the center of this huge chamber. To the south, large slabs of meat stock a crude pantry. Humanoid skulls line the walls in small, randomly spaced niches, each filled with glowing larvae that create the effect of macabre lanterns. A passage north connects to two more doors.
Standing before the passage is a heavily armed centaur woman. She wears a scarred black breastplate, a horse skull as a helm, and a cloak of carnivorous leaves that snap and writhe. Floating in her shadow is a tiny, spherical monster made of sinewy muscle, serrated blades, and bloody metal, with one bulging eye that glares at you form the center of its body.
"You are intruding within the domain of Kaneepo the Slim," the centaur declares menacingly as she levels her sword at you. "You will go no further!"
Sylva wastes no time!
Sylva asks Ravenna, “Can you get a clear shot on that eyeball thing?”
Ravenna answers Sylva's question with a smile, raising her rifle and firing a blazing bullet straight at the horrible little ball of knives. As she reloads, she steps behind the relative cover of a nearby table.
Frowning as he watches the weird owl bird get splattered in every direction from mid squat, Sir Batman wipes some bird turd off his bronze breastplate.
Nice shot, man.
Entering the cool tree stump, the Champion of Mazludeh looks warily about for more not owl birds and creepier things.
Examining the decor with a disgusted bronze sprite face, he continues onward until he sees the centaur blocking further egress.
You work for The Real Slim Shady? How's the dental?
Sir Batman winks, before entering his Stance, Raising his shield, and Striding 20' closer toward the centaur-blocker!
The centaur's armor turns aside Sylva's blade. As Batman strides to battle, Ravenna hits the eyeball thing with a bullet. She thinks about what it might be as she reloads, but she can't quite recall.
The centaur raises her shield before attacking Batman, but the bat sprite defends himself with his own shield.
The eyeball thing's wound begins to regenerate! It swoops through the centaur's legs and slashes at Batman, who once more stands firm!
Sylva charges the ball of blades!
[ooc]Frightened 1[/dice]
“Aaah—that eye doesn’t bat its lashes—it slices! Kill it kill it kill it!”
Standing firm, blue eyes watching each slice of her longsword flashing before them, Sir Batman grins at her.
Apologies, ma'am, but that was your most opportune moment.
The Champion of Mazludeh Raises his trusty shield!
The bronze-colored sprite then screams in her....errr...he flutters upwards to be able to sputter and spit in her sweet-looking face!
He then follows the splatter with a shield boss to her heavily armed face!
The sprite then braces for impact!
Ravenna finds her confidence shaken by the damned thing's refusal to die, to say nothing of the feeling of its blades crawling across her skin. Nevertheless, she fires another magically infused bullet at the damned thing, then takes cover to reload.
Nox is unable to recall what the eye-monster is, either. It resist his attempt to daze it. Sylva moves in and attacks, Ravenna's fake out distracting the monster as the rogue sinks her blade into its side. Ravenna then fires a bullet right into the thing's central eye! Blood and gore fly out the other side of its body as it falls to the floor and lies still.
Batman demoralizes the much larger centaur woman, but she sidesteps his attack. She keeps her own shield up as she attacks Batman again, but once more the champion stands resolute.
Sylva hopes her feint will get her around that shield—especially when her rapier bounces off armor.
She ▶️Takes Cover behind a Batshield!
Ducking and dodging, twisting and turning, fluttering and flailing, Sir Batman's grin never wavers.
I belive that we both have recently experienced a bit of good luck in our endeavors.
The bronze-colored bat-shaped sprite continues to dance around her longsword strikes.
So, this particular debate between us seems to have gone the way of the Law of Averages.
Raising his shield, the Champion of Mazludeh Strikes out at her face, fluttering upwards!
He actually Strikes again!
Ravenna pops out from behind the table to fire off another shot, this time at the centaur warrior.
The centaur wards off all of your attacks, her breastplate and shield keeping her safe from harm. "Why? Because I love killing, as well!" the centaur retorts. "Nothing pleases me as much as gruesome slaughter. Now, stand still and die!" She attacks again, this time managing to slice Batman with her blade.
Reacting quickly, Sir Batman Shield Blocks the majority of her longsword.
The Champion of Mazludeh glances at his dented Shield, Raising it.
Hey, that not cool!
Frowning up at the mean centaur, the bronze-colored sprite flaps his bat wings and slams his shield in her face!
And just for good measure, he bashes her again!
Sylva replies, “How can you love that? Slaughter isn’t love—“
Seeing Sir Bat getting bloodied adds context to the kentauride’s strange words.
“—protecting a friend is!”
Batman flaps his wings to leap up and smash the centaur woman in the face! She blocks some of the strike with her shield, but the force of Batman's blow causes her shield to shatter. The centaur staggers, and Sylva seizes the advantage by jumping up and driving both of her blades deep into the centaur's horse belly! The weapons tear open her bowels, spilling blood and vital organs onto the floor. The centaur groans, falls to her knees, and then collapses in a heap as she bleeds out.
Sylva is covered in gore from her attack.
“Ohhh… I hope I don’t learn to love this too.”
She sheathes her blades and works on Sir Bat’s wounds.