Cotton hops into the basket along with whoever else goes first. She's small enough to not add any significant weight - and extremely curious!
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Cotton examines the instruments with a discerning eye (once she gets past the strangeness of the bagpipes) and picks out the banjo as a work of much greater quality. After a pair of softly cast cantrips she points to the instrument. "That one's magical. But I don't know what it does."
"We should carry on, don't you think?" She asks, pointing north. "We still need to find the actual druids, not the fey who live here."
Cotton looks rather confusedly at the watering can in her hand and then puts it down carefully by the plants before following the rest of the group. In the next room (vast from her perspective) she looks around in wonder and then approaches the instruments carefully. "What does this one do?" She asks, pointing to a large bag with three wooden sticks poking out of it.
"We're heroes!" Cotton declares, pushing past the taller people to talk to the leshys on their own level. "We're here because some of the people here were trying to kill a unicorn! Can you believe that? Someone tries to kill a unicorn? Who would do something like that?"
"Please be careful." Cotton requests when Oriana starts throwing fire around, but her pleas seem to fall on temporarily deaf ears. With a small shrug the poppet does her best to offer useful advice (and stay out of harms way). "It's a small room, they can't retreat easily!" She calls. "Remember what we're fighting for!"
Cotton wants to step in and help with the unicorn, but she has very little experience with horses - which are often inclined to chew fabric - and even less so with magical horses, so she stays back and whispers encouragement as Anabel works instead. The prospect of more blood and violence is not overly exciting for the poppet, but her answers and those of her fellow Gatewalker's depends on it so she squares her tiny shoulders and follows along behind Cage with silent determination.
Cotton hardens her soft, cloth heart and uses her own powers to intercept the rock Lyra hurled. It whistles past the druids head!
"Quickly everyone!" Cotton calls. "We have to save the unicorn!" The poppet's enthusiasm and sense of righteouness empowers those around her as she 'charges' forwards through the long grass.
Cotton focuses on her spell, pushing it out further and then follows along carefully behind the others.
Cotton shrinks into herself as the cats, and their big claws, appear out of nowhere. But Baba had told her to be brave so the popper sets her small, rain-sodden shoulders and summons her magic. "We can do this!"
"I don't want to alarm anybody, but something feels un-natural." Cotton whispers, following along closely behind Orania.
Cotton is delighted at Orania's offer to ride alongside with her as she wasn't quite sure how she was about to ride a horse with success. "Next time Orania, maybe we can ask for a pony for me, rather than a horse. I'd like to try riding myself and maybe Thread could ride with me just like I am with you!" Lyra is always a curious human and Cotton has learned a lot from her through engaging with every conversation over time. She tries again this time but barely gets a word in edgeways before Lyra asks yet another interesting question. "Anabel - Lyra is right, I don't think we are quite there yet but did you know that the journey is more important than the destination?" Cotton says, raising her voice over the rain the the horses hooves. "What the journey means is that we can all formulate more of a plan about how to get Bolan back on the right path - and enjoy each others company! I very much hope that we don't have to use deadly force against him Lyra because a person always deserves a second chance. And a third but if we have no choice then it will be the right thing to do. We are doing it for good reasons after all, I think we shouldn't decide what to do with his belongings right now, as I think we should all hope that it doesn't come to that."
Cotton kneels up on her stall, ensuring she can take part in the conversation easily. "I think that Fianara just needs a bit of confidence to come back near the arches again herself. Ana -" Cotton stops herself as she realises she should probably not trust every halfling she comes by, even if she wanted to. "An-Oaksteward maybe the best person to change the laws of elves in this land to allow her back in!" She says, trying to save her conversation.
Cotton remains fairly quiet in the whole debacle, watching as the bigger people get on with the task and standing back ready to help just in case anything goes wrong. That evening, Cotton finds herself sat away from the fire as per normal, with Thread lying lifelessly on her lap, a wary eye cast towards the dangerous flames as she holds her own stomach which unexpectedly growls. "Thread and I are feeling awfully hungry, it was certainly a hard day's work this evening!" Cotton has occasionally noticed Orania's own wary looks towards the dangerous flames. She's not sure why the woman is so wary, as she is probably not as flammable as Cotton or Thread, but there must be a reason and no reason to make her uncomfortable. "Anabel, do you think you could cook those meat skewers you did the other night? I don't know what they were, but they were surely scrumptious!"
"I could take off my scarf and show my ears. Make them chase me," Anabel suggests with a shrug. Cotton giggles momentarily at the suggestion. "We would have to rename them the ear snatchers! Maybe it would give them a bit of excitement too - I think they look like they need it." "I think Miss Lyra is very wise and less dangerous is always the best option if it exists. Cage's idea might work but I don't think I would be un-noticable, as for some reason, I always draw attention to myself." Cotton adds, cocking her head in confusion. "That and the Oakstewards got a good look at Orania in the conversation."
Cotton places her hands over her eyes for a second and holds her breath as she concentrates on Lyra with all her hope and optimism.
Cotton, cottons onto Orania's idea and nods her head enthusaistically. "Oh yes please, I have heard of the stories of fantastical other pathways to other worlds! Is it true? I cannot wait to have a peek!"
"Oh yes of course, I would not dream of otherwise Orania! I will always help from afar like Baba always showed me." Cotton replies, not really understanding the exchange between Anabel and Cage. Reaching to her backpack, she pulls out her own tiny poppet. "Twig, have you heard anything about Gorgas before? Maybe you've read something?" She pauses momentarilly, as if listening to the lifeless doll's reply before shaking her head.
"Well if you give me a little time, I could make something for Anabel? Baba always told me I had a talent for knitting but I haven't had a chance for a while, and I do enjoy it so! Perhaps a brightly colored woolen headband to cover her ears? I have a sunshine yellow ball of wool in my bag for emergencies which we could use if we can't find anything else!" Cotton asks innocently. She pats her little backpack, and Twig, a much smaller lifeless doll with some similarities to Cotton, jiggles in its pocket that she has carefully dedicated to it. "Although maybe Ms Caralestri has a different idea of course!"
Cotton stops her momentary bouncing and stands on her tip toes as she peers up at Lyra, trying to catch a glimpse of her ears and facial features. "Oh, oops, I'm sorry Lyra, I meant Anabel of course! You still have beautiful ears though Lyra, I promise. You are all just so tall, that I forget who is who sometimes." She glances back around in her modicum of shelter provided by her Protector trying to remember which one of the other two women is the elf, before exclaiming "oh! "It's Anabel I meant. Doctor, are we sure that Anabel is going to be safe? She deserves to be safe too you see, as she has such a big heart but we just need to be sure that she isn't going to disintegrate or anything."
A small little construct, standing at a little under 2ft tall raises her hand in high up in the air and bounces on her toes waiting to be selected to share her question. As the Doctor's eyes fall upon the linen clad poppet, she lowers her hand but continues her slight bouncing. "Oh, good - its my turn!" She says, with an animated voice. "Dr Ritalson, where are you headed to? Are there other teams investigating other arches that you are going to visit with? I'd like to know all about them! Oh, and do we know anyone who went through these particular gates? Did we hear about their stories or where they are now? Have many elves tried to come close since then? What about Lyra? I know that she will be okay, as she deserves to be okay, but are we sure that she is safe?" The little poppet blurts out all the questions at once, as if in a stream of consciousness. Fortunately, being a Poppet, she doesn't need to catch her breath after the verbal assault of questions.
Just a quick update, I think the fourth player who we did not know the class of previously is playing a psychic.
Is she someone you have used before in AoA by any chance? Or are you setting her after?
Here is Cotton, one of the four characters already in the game.
Please excuse the avatar picture for her, unfortunately there wasn't much choice! She looks nothing like this... With free archetype, the long term plan is to take the familiar master archetype at L2 so her "familiar" provided in the story below can come to life! At L8/L10 she will go into something else, but not sure what yet. Likely something to improve her spellcasting such as psychic or sorcerer. Backstory, prepare to have your heart broken:
Cotton was originally the familiar of Baba, who after her long life was suffering from a long-term illness. Determined to save her Baba, Cotton went searching for a cure. Through the gate, she saw a vessel of Sun Orchid Elixir and stepped through. Unfortunately she came out 3 months later with no sun orchid elxir and no memories of what had happened. She rushed home to check on Baba, but Baba had since passed. --------- “Oh Cotton, your’re back! It’s so good to see you! We thought you were lost for good, that you’d been broken or something. Baba passed – two months ago. I know you were looking for a cure and right up until the end she was hopeful, and so very proud of you. She left you this, said I had to give it to you when I next saw you. She was always certain that I would see you again – it was fate she said. Why don’t you go to your room, we’ve kept it just as it was.” In the large cupboard that had once held a proud tinkers pots and pans and had, for the past decade, been Cotton’s home the poppet broke the seal on Baba Elena’s letter, comforted by the familiar trinkets and smells of home. "My dear Cotton, I want to tell you that I am very proud of you. In all my long life you are one of my most magical creations and my final child, you are and always will be dear to me. If you are reading this then your quest has failed and I have passed the veil into the next Great Adventure. Don’t be disheartened my dearest, the journeys of all our lives are woven in the tapestries of the Gods long before we are born. It is my time to move on and it is yours to grow, thrive and become someone new and extraordinary.
The only gift I have for you Cotton is a companion, a friend of your own. Look in my jewellery box. There you will find another one like you and a vial of my blood. Poor my blood onto the new one and speak the Secret Name. I have secured that final boon for you, because none of us should be alone. I’ve rambled long enough and Alice is hovering like a mother hen so I shall finish simply by saying that I love you Cotton. It is often the smallest of us that have the greatest destinies. Go forth and meet yours with pride. Your baba,
Poppets can’t cry, but the emotion welling up in Cotton’s tiny frame would have done credit to a giant as the small creature hugged the letter close and then began to fold it carefully away in the small carrying bag – a treasure among treasures. Appearance and personality:
Cotton is a small little construct, stuffed to the brim, full of fabric, standing at a little under 2 ft tall. Cotton's body is mostly made from a rough, cream-coloured cloth, but parts of her body have been patched up over time with mismatched thread and fabric. Her most favourite patch is a small circle of blue-dotted silk that Baba had found to cover up a fray that just wouldn't go away after Alice's new Puppy had become much too interested in the Poppet. Cotton's hair is a collection of different coloured woolen strands all woven together held up in a rough bun with two pins for safekeeping. Her eyes are made of two shiny navy buttons at the moment, however, she has been known to change these on a whim. On Cotton's shoulder, you will find the symbol that all Gatewalkers had as soon as they exited the auidara. On Cotton, the symbol is sewn on with thread. Once, out of curiosity she tried to unpick it, but try as she might the thread would not budge. Strangely, you will find Cotton regularly enjoying sweet treats, although it is unclear exactly where the food all goes as she never seems to gain or lose any height or weight! You will never see Cotton without her little bag slung over her shoulder, which contains a surprising number of little trinkets. Her other "trinket" is the tiny little construct made of cotton, thread and stuffing that looks vaguely similar to herself. She converses with it regularly, calling it "thread" but nobody who has observed the duo has ever has seen it move or reply. Cotton is an incredibly upbeat little construct with a can-do attitude. She likes to spout little truisms for those around her; even in the face of utmost adversity, she will always find a silver lining.
Her favorite of all is one she tries to live her life by; Happiness is the only thing that multiplies when you share it. Internally, Cotton was secretly very anxious when Dr Ritalson contacted her, however The Brave Little Poppet put on her sunshine exterior and set off to see how she could help, hoping that she could find a new purpose to her life, now that Baba had passed. I cannot tell you how excited I am about this game. This is probably the most excited I've been for a Paizo AP yet! |