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"Look, I really did get along with most of the people here...except the Arcanist. Just because he gave me the literal cold shoulder, I'm not going to vote for his. But ultimately, because there can only be one winner, it goes to the Lieutenant's design. Her warning and her help was much appreciated and I'd like to return the favour."
Ari moves up to the Blue Guard, bolstered by Nhorri's winds and her own movement.
Noticing that Dendri's looking more like a pincushion than a sorcerer, she signals the Lieutenant. "Lieutenant! I need you to give Dendri there some urgent medical attention!" As the hobgoblin hands her a Oprak medical kit, she activates it and throws it to Dendri, healing her for a bit.
Smoothly dodging her way past the birds, Ari trudges her way out of the swarm of Pink birds and Strides into flanking with Jack on the other side of the Yellow swarm. With her Wreath empowering her and everyone else within 15 feet, she slashes at the Yellow Swarm twice.
Her first strike comically misses as the sword gets stuck in the dirt as she winds up for the swing. Fuming with rage and embarrassment, Ari pulls the sword out of the ground so hard that the resulting upward slash cleaves through the swarm. "Raahh! Out of my sight, you stupid birds!" She screams as the disturbed snow settles around her.
Upon being attacked and seeing that the foes are so close by, Ari's divine spark shifts from her wreath to her blade. It hums with power at a menacing frequency.
"Thank you Nhorri, but we had better close rank. It's not as if these creatures could attack multiple of us at once - ack!" Unfortunately, the birds are not dissuaded by this display of power and peck at Ari relentlessly.
"Tch...Foolish birds! Return to the grave from which you came!" Raising her sword into the sky, she tries to blast them back to the Boneyard with spiritual slashes of light.
She moves forward to make some space and to cover any fighters closing the gap with her newly sparked Victor's Wreath.
Ari gasps in horror as her comrade falls into the snow. She tries to cut the snake down where it stands.
Realising that she needs to heal his wounds quickly, she Shifts her Immanence into her Horn of Plenty. With her preparation complete, in one swift motion she Releases one hand from her Katana and withit, lifts the temporary elixir of life her Horn always spawns to her lips. Like Tantalus before her, the liquid evades her lips. Instead it Feeds the Masses and enters into Landon's prone form, rejuvenating him...if only just by a little bit.
Thanks to Lt Surzskin's warning, Ari knows that there's a fight to be had here and prepares accordingly. Her Gleaming blade glows with divine power! Nhorri's strange winds propel Ari forward. She nearly slips and falls on the slippery ground, unused to being propelled along by this unknown force. Her momentum is stopped by the Icy snake in front of her. With her blade raised high in the air with both hands, the spiritual energy flowing out of it forms into ethereal slices. These fly forward and crash into the red snake in front of her.
The divine spark powering Ari flows into her medallion (Wreath). With her job of damaging the snakes done, she tries to Recall Knowledge as to what these creatures could be - and what their lowest defense is.
"Thanks, Lieutenant. Good eye. But it's ma'am, not sir. I miss the days when that wasn't in question..." Ari thanks the hobgoblin with a sharp, short salute. "At ease, Lieutenant. It's an honest mistake." Ari reassures the blushing red hobgoblin.
"Ah, you've f-f-finally rejoined the land of the warm and toasty and are willing to talk. Let's h-h-have at it..." Ari stands around the expert, still cold and still shivering.
Ari nearly falls asleep listening to the lecture due to how cold it is and how flabbergasted she is at the audacious suggestions the Arcanist is proposing. Elementals powering a train? That will never catch on, she thinks to herself.
She strains the limits of her attention span trying to decipher what the Arcanist is saying, but she thinks she gets there in the end. She mumbles out something vaguely intelligent which causes the expert to nod with approval.
"Thanks, Lieutenant. Good eye. But it's ma'am, not sir. I miss the days when that wasn't in question..." Ari thanks the hobgoblin with a sharp, short salute.
Ari wrinkles her face with visible disgust. Transmutative magic this powerful was how she ended up like this in the first place. Sure, her situation allowed her to become a Outsea Herald and travel the world, but still...
Pushing past her personal bias, she seriously considers the notion and finds it to be a good idea. With sufficient magic and long enough legs, you end up with an all terrain vehicle that doesn't need fuel. In some ways, it seems to work almost like her own Shore Gift, granting legs where there was originally none. "Coven Matriarch Szvetneera of the Wintercrux Sisterhood, I do see the logic in such a proposal. However, how long does the transmutative magic last for? And, is the original caster required to stay with the train throughout the journey?"
Ari tries to do her best to get to know the experts.
Ari sympathises with the man shivering in the corner. She, too, was similarly ill-prepared for the biting cold of Irrisen. She stands near him awkwardly, shivering in the cold and feeling sorry for herself. It seems like they are both giving each other...the cold shoulder.
Ari approaches the large intelligent creatures. She thinks that no matter how smart an animal is, they will always respect strength...and she decides to demonstrate hers. "I reckon I can take you all. Who wants to throw down with me?" She challenges the wolves and beckons to a nice open space outdoors, conveniently away from prying eyes. She manages to pin down quite a few of the pack but ends up in a stalemate against the most experienced witchwarg. Momentarily transforming back into a mermaid and wrapping her tail around the surprised witchwarg in a chokehold breaks said stalemate. With the respect of the witchwargs gained, she slips off her tail like a pair of trousers and exchanges it for a pair of legs, hoping that no one else saw her transform.
As a native of the River Kingdoms, Ari is aware of the capricious nature of fey creatures. She has heard tales of how cruel and powerful fey caused the downfall of many a kingdom. Secretly, she fears the fey for she knows the destruction they can wreak. Ari manages to lean on her knowledge of those cautionary fables to communicate with the Fey Lady. Choosing her words carefully, she greets the Fey Lady. "May the Sun shine on you, Lady of the Feyfrost. I am Ari. I greet you as a representative of the Pathfinder Society and as a fellow guest of Queen Anastasia of Irrisen. I seek your permission to hear and comment on your proposal for the train."
Ari sizes up the Hobgoblin leader and is struck by how tense she is. The Lieutenant acted a lot like her old squad leader in the Fire Wardens back in Outsea, all tense and regimented. She reckons that the best way to get their attention and respect is to act like them. Ari stands at attention, returns the salute with a crisp motion before lowering her hands to her sides. "Lieutenant, at ease. I am Ari Atilise of Outsea. I am one of the ICs of this exercise. Form up and show me your proposals in an orderly fashion." She commands the Hobgoblins in a firm tone.
Ari finds Ivinder Greaseblood to be a man after her own heart. She finds herself instantly pulled into the riveting debate about optimal lubricants, taking the side of Ivinder Greaseblood. "Exactly! Slurk Grease is the way to go. Not only is it a renewable source of lubricant, but it's also non-flammable and easy to store and deploy in a variety of environments. Have you all ever had to do underwater construction before? Oil does not mix well with water." She enthusiastically argues, drawing on her prior crafting experience. The debate winds down as she finds herself exchanging engineering stories with the rest of the dwarves. She seems to have made a really good impression! "You guys are great. We could talk all day - and in fact we must talk more after this - but for now let's get down to business. Tell me about this 'gunpowder' engine..."
"And yet...Coven Matriarch Szvetneera of the Wintercrux Sisterhood, you are here, surrounded by your men, discussing this 'child's whimsy' with us. So either you have fallen for the childish talk, or you are wise enough to know that there's something to be gained from the deployment of such a device." Ari does her best to pierce through the insults. She attempts to placate the Matriarch by logically deducing why she's here even though outwardly she seems completely against the trains. "Coven Matriarch Szvetneera of the Wintercrux Sisterhood, you said it yourself - the Jadwiga are perfectly capable of creating such a device. Let us Pathfinders see those plans. The Pathfinders have the ear of Winter Queen Anastasia on this particular occasion. We are best positioned to help the Wintercrux Sisterhood's proposal gain her Majesty's approval. Think of the prestige that could come the way of your coven, should you succeed."
Ari returns the curtsy in front of the queen, trying to hold back her shivering in order to make a good impression on the queen. Drawing on her prior experience with Crafting and Alchemy, she tries to coach her concerns through a erudite bent. "Your Majesty, I am Ari Atilise of Outsea. It would be a pleasure to see this 'train' - however I am concerned with the safety of such a thing. Alchemical devices and innovations are notoriously prone to explosions. Do we know that this contraption is safe or is that why we have been summoned here - to test the safety of the technology?"
"Oh, another far flung traveler sent by the Society? How great it is to travel and s-s-see the world." A feminine voice comments from the back of the room, shivering as she walks in. The voice comes from a handsome looking yet eerily slender female human with long, twisting limbs. She sashays into the room, all wrapped up in furs under her chain mail. At her right side is a long bladed weapon nestled snuggly in its sheath. At her left, a bag that's half open but doesn't seem to have any bottom to it. The most striking possession this silver-haired lady has is a medallion with a fish on it. It shines with a sheer white brilliance that instantly outs it as magical in nature. As she draws closer, everyone around her feels a surge of hope and energy, as if they have been inspired to strike harder and with more vigor. "I am Ari Atilise, from Outsea in the River Kingdoms. I must s-s-say -" She says, shivering and trying her best to speak without biting on her long, forked tongue, "- this place is mighty cold. When the V-v-venture Captains said they were going to send me somewhere far away, I d-d-didn't think I'd be going all the way here. How are you all not freezing cold right now?"
Thanks for running, GM! I shouldn't have any friendly fire to declare. I do have +1 bonuses to attack rolls at all times due to Victor's Wreath (which is magical if anyone is superstitious like that). I will take a free minor healing potion, which I put into my Horn of Plenty so I can drink it and heal myself and others for 1 action. Also there does seem to be something wrong with my init in the macros. |
