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I hope it was nothing I said ; P Seriously, sometimes APs work on the boards and sometimes they don't. I'm GMing one that probably works great around the table but isn't floting my boat via posting. Thanks for all the time and effort you've put in.
Corvus is genuinely at a loss as to what to do. Act as a wizard or be a gorilla? This lack of certainty manifests itself as inactivity - as he wrestles internally as to how to behave.
Corvus feels entirely odd out of human form and double that as a gorilla. He flexes his muscles and stares at the hairs on his arms. 'Did I choose the form or did the form chose me?' He ponders this for a few seconds before the snake catches his attention. Unconsciously is top lip curls to expose a dangerous set of teeth - and he fights off the urge to beat his chest - for now anyway.
Corvus takes the piece of root as instructed but waits to see if the others eat it before popping it into his mouth.
Corvus sighs. "Is that it? Is that it? Disappointed doesn't even come close." Despite his public admonishment, the tall elf takes a tidbit from his pocket and places it on his shoulder. The bird hops on and helps itself. "Never mind..." Corvus says in a voice barely more than a whisper. "I suspect you did your best. Better than I could muster I'm sure."
Corvus beckons for Macro to come to him. After a fashion the bird lands on his shoulder, clearly looking for food. "Right - about time you earned your keep. What I need is a feather from that nest. Just the one - but a decent one, nothing tarnished. Do you think you can do that?" By way of explanation, Corvus points to the nest, picks up a feather that the crow has just shed and then points to the nest again. "Off you go then... He tries to radiate a feeling of happiness and an image of holding one of the stormbird's feathers. "Don't get yourself killed of course." With that, Corvus waits patiently.
"A stormbird? We'll that's obvious. You're talking to a walking encyclopaedia of nature don't forget. A stormbird is a...well it's a..." Corvus racks his brains for what he can remember.
Corvus nods at Caithan. "Tell me about it! There's nothing worse than taking a good mouthful of ale or wine and finding a feather in it." He glowers at Macro - who squawks indignantly.
Corvus stared into the gloomy depths as his colleagues responded to his suggestion. 'So, I can do as I please. Well that makes sense - they may have the brawn but I do have the brains after all.' A smug grin plays across his face. He looks around for the crow that rarely travels far from his side and sees it fighting a few seagulls for some scraps of fish on some nearby rocks. Shaking his head, he mutters, "Idiot bird," under his breath before staring once more in the water.
As Atzi is gone a while, Corvus plucks up the courage to speak to Caithan and Stebo. He clears his throat a few times... "I was thinking, well more than thinking, planning you'd probably say. Planning on how I could be of use when it comes to..." Corvus raises his fists as if to emulate boxing. "You know...fighting. My strength is, as you know, magic and my spells don't naturally lend themselves to..." Again, he waves his fists. "But what I can do," his eyes sparkle at this point, "Is help you fight. I have a few spells that could make you larger - so you'd do more damage, or make you stronger or more dexterous. But I'd need your permission first. What do you think?" Corvus fidgets nervously until the others respond.
Corvus sees that none of the others have actually entered the water but reluctantly follows suit in removing his outer clothes and equipment - but keeping a dagger on him.
Corvus is starting to look agitated. "Are we, erm, I mean are well all sort of...going down there? That is to say, all of us?"
Corvus stands front and centre and nods knowingly as the villagers recount their knowledge of pearl fishing. As they get to the part where they mention the specifics i.e. 200 feet off shore and 50 feet down, he goes quiet and slowly starts to move to the back of the group.
Corvus nods as the old man speaks. "Yes, yes," he mutters. "Of course, black pearls are very rarely black: they are usually shades of green, purple, aubergine, blue, grey, silver or peacock. We'll need to be looking for a black lip oyster or Pinctada margaritifera-cumingi to be more precise." Pleased with himself, Corvus fails to add that he's never actually seen an oyster, let alone a black-lip one, as his entire knowledge is based upon his reading of the book - 'An ecophysiological model of growth and reproduction of the black pearl oyster, Pinctada margaritifera.' It was a book he picked up by mistake but as he had an afternoon to kill, he read it anyway.
"A test? A test? A test of what? A test that one of us is prepared to put our mouth to the empty shell of a marine gastropod mollusc in the hope of...in the hope of what actually? In the hope of passing a test? So blowing into a noticeable siphonal canal proves something? As I said before a sign would have been more helpful. And the shell in question looks more like a Pleuroploca gigantea - which is called the horse conch but is in fact not of the same family." There is no hostility in Corvus' voice. You get the impression he is merely saying out loud his logical approach to the matter in hand.
Corvus mutters under his breath, "As I said, a sign wouldn't go amiss. I mean, how were we supposed to know to blow the horn if you didn't tell us?" He shakes his head but leaves it to one of the others to respond to the old man directly.
Corvus watches Atzi shoo the crabs away and then wonders what she's up to when she picks up the shell. "Well I suppose it makes sense. It's hung there, not lying there so there must be a reason for it. A sign might have made it a little more transparent however."
Corvus looks at the cliff with a look of dismay on his face. "We have to walk up there? Walk? All the way? Are there stairs?"
Corvus has never been on a boat but once Helga suggested it, he felt bound to follow her lead. "An admirable suggestion. Much easier...yes, easier by far. Good call."
Corvus eyes Atzi strip the body of anything valuable. He certainly wasn't judging her, but the action took him a little by surprise. 'Well I suppose they have to earn a living somehow and he was the instigator. With any luck we'll take out a wizard soon and I can see if he's got a spell-book on him.' That thought cheered Corvus and a smile spread across his face - that to anyone watching would have seemed odd, given the lack of obvious reason to smile.
Corvus shakes his head at the fallen foe. The run-in with the dogs earlier had him thinking that adventuring was a relatively straightforward way to pass the time. Being in the thick of combat has shaken up his idea of what life is going to be like. 'I clearly need a better startegy if I'm to be an effective member of the team. Once we're back in the arms of safety, I think I'll share my throughts with my fellow protagonists.'
Not relying on his magic to deal with the current predicament, Corvus draws his bow and fires off a bolt.
Corvus' faith in his magic is shaken and so he grabs his crossbow and fires off a quick shot at Umargo.
Corvus panics slightly as the realisation that the potential death of this man is down to his actions and his alone. The options available run through his mind in micro-seconds, as he disregards those that would take too long to come into effect. It dawns on him that all of his useful remembered spells are therefore useless in this situation. He makes a quick mental note to reconsider his learnred spells for tomorrow. In the absence of anything more useful, he casts the best spell he has at his disposal and a dart of acid springs from his hand and speeds to its target – his hope is that the damage inflicted might affect the man’s planned execution.
Corvus falls into step, ascending the ladder - making sure he's neatly sandwiched somewhere in the middle of the group.
Corvus keeps with the group, clearly relying on their superior adventuring experience to save the day. He finally adds rather meekly. "Could we cause a diversion to draw people's attention away from us? We have enough animal friends to create quite a commotion."
Again. Corvus follows - playing his part but clearly not looking to take any initiative at this stage. He still feels a fish out of water surrounded by veteran adventurers.
Corvus wrinkles his nose at the expectation of the smell. 'Clearly adventuring is less glamorous than I had envisaged.' Putting on a brave voice, "Great, lead the way." His accompanying smile is weak however.
Corvus waits pateiently. 'Challenging work this adventuring. Lots of action and then lots of waiting for action it seems. Not sure what's going on now - but I'm sure the others have a cunning plan that's about to take shape...any second now.'
Gee maybe if someone had a connection to a creature who wouldn't be noticed while it scouted the area..like a crow or something similar....... At 4th level, Corvus has an empathic link with the bird. He cannot see through its eyes and can only receive general emotions e.g. hunger, pain, happiness. Not until 5th level can Corvus communicate with Macro as if they were using a common language. So at present the crow could scout the area - but has no way of sharing the information.
Corvus nods at Atzi's words, realising the depth of feeling. "Well then, he's a good friend of mine too. Let's find this Umagro." This adventuring lark wasn't proving as difficult as Corvus first imagined.
At a point where he thought he could ask Atzi without interfering with her rage, he asks, "Who is Jask exactly?"
Corvus belatedly helps pass buckets of water, still mumbling to himself, his face expressive but apart from the odd word, nothing comprehensible can be heard.
As the two men expire, a monstrous black spider appears beside the two bodies. Corvus looks somewhat apologetic and with a wave of his hand the arachnid is dispelled with a small puff of black smoke. Corvus mumbles "Yes, well - I didn't expect the situation to be handled so quickly did I? I mean, I'm a little new to this adventuring and I didn't expect all this..." With his arms he gestures charging at the men and the snapping of jaws and the thrust of a spear. Macro caws accusingly in his ear and Corvus jumps before swatting the bird off his shoulder. "And who asked you?"
Corvus begins a summoning..
Corvus acts without thought, his usual deliberation clearly overruled by the adrenaline of the past few minutes of activity. He casts a spell and a monstrous black spider appears beside the two men. It rears up onto its back four orange-banded legs and attacks the farthest arsonist with its fangs.
This is Corvus first proper adventure and by coincidence his first likely 'fight.' For a split second he pauses like a goblin in a dragon's gaze before casting Mage Armour on himself and stepping backwards. "Best let you more experienced adventuring types handle this one. You all look raring to go and the last thing you'll need is me in the way. I'll chip in and help out where I feel it adds most value."
Corvus initially freezes at the news but as the band of adventurers continue as if this were all in a day's work he continues to walk with them. "In for a copper piece...as that charming librarian was so fond of saying. Humans have such charming phrases, albeit most of them make no sense - but none the less charming." He beams - although you're not sure if it's from happiness or from his attempt to mask his fear.
Corvus is truy amazed by the events in the jungle but even after the event, isn't sure which affected him most: the dinosaur, Atzi's abilities, her nakedness, or the fact that Atzi took all of this in her stride. 'Not in any books indeed!' Corvus confided in Makro over the next few days, seeming to take meaning from the bird's squawks - and it appears from even its silences. "Have I made the right decision in joining this group? Yes, well that's easy for you to say. Adventure? I know I craved some real action - but you saw that dinosaur. If she hadn't been there it would have eaten me. You're right that I can't back out now - and who knows what spells I might find in a forgotten city? Ancient wisdom? Old languages? Oh yes, I guess you're right, it will be worth the risk." Corvus spends the remainder of the time in the library, buried in books - loooking to unlock any remote secret that might help him on his journey.
Perhaps Corvus wasn't so focused on his book, because the moment Atzi mentions looks at him, his eyes shoot up and the pages are closed before she finishes the sentence. With indecent haste he gathers the crow, his book and nodding his good-byes to the remaining guests, he is engrossed in Atzi's company. "Something interesting you say? Well, from someone as well-travelled as yourself, that must be something pretty special. Yes, pretty special indeed." And he allows himself to be carried away by the promise.
Corvus nods to Helga for inviting his opinion. "If I were to cast a vote, it would be for the Sargavan government. Their troops will provide an excellent defense for any encampment, as I suspect we won't be alone in this endeavour."
Corvus listens to the conversation, hoping to apply his intellect to the problem. However... "Pardon me for interjecting, but it seems to me that you have something of a stalemate. One vote for the Sargavan Government, one for the Pathfinders and one for the Free Captains. If that excludes the others, why don't the rest of your party cast a vote based on those three?"
Corvus had suspected there was more to this party than food and drink and the negotiations taking place in front of him confirmed his suspicions. He listens intently, hoping to have the opportunity to add something useful - feeling like an advisor rather than part of the group at this stage.
Just to say that after today (my time) my posting will be sporadic for the next three days. Saturday and Sunday are always my slowest days – I tend to post mostly in the evenings. Monday is my wife’s birthday, so expect zero posts and then I’m full steam ahead again from Tuesday morning. Thanks for your patience. I'm eager to post more but due to his role in the group at present and where you're at, I don't feel it's in his character to lead anything at this stage. Once he feels valued and has a role, you won't be able to shut him up!
Corvus nods around the room. "For a party, there's a lot of whispering going on. I suspect there's plenty of business to be had at these sort of gatherings." He taps his nose, knowingly. "Not that I have the faintest idea what's going on of course," he adds, almost dejectedly. "Other than you dear Atzi, nobody wants to speak to a rather sad and lonely book-worm like me."
Saventh-Yhi...Saventh-Yhi...Saventh-Yhi. Corvus rolls the words around his tongue a few times before declaring, I can honestly say I've never heard of it. The construction of the word leads me to believe it's a place but beyond that I can't help you...sorry. Corvus looks genuinely sorry - as if he's failed his new friend.
Corvus is so engrossed with his book that he fails to notice Macro has finished his morsels and has now hopped off his shoulder and has gone looking for scraps off discarded plates.
Abandoned by the people he has met, Corvus stands around for a few minutes before locating a goblet of red wine and some tidbits for Macro, finding a corner seat and pulling a book out of his pocket. He settles down to read 'Kobolds of Golarion' and soon becomes lost in the pages. He initially passes scraps to Macro when pecked before the bird, tired of waiting for the treats, takes to helping itself from the plate on the table. |