Search Posts
Pious snatches up the note and hungrily reads. ...Is this true?! Elias nods. Pious nearly knocks his stool over in his rush "I... I have to go. This is... this changes everything. I have to go. Without another word he ups and leaves, the key to his room lying on the table the only sign that he was ever there.
"I'm sure we do, sir. I'll have Abelia come to your table with some keys. How many rooms will you be needing?" "Two for now I think, we may need them for a few days." Pious hands over enough gold pieces to have two rooms for a week. and hands one of the keys to Spizz. "A roof over our head for now at least. The lord said Rest while ye may, for tomorrow may come all too soon Today has given me much to contemplate, I'll retire for the night now." With that he heads off to his room.
Pious calls the server over again "Do you have rooms available girl? Even those with the one God's vigor must lay their heads sometime."
A note on Pious:
"Up for another adventure?" Pious plate scrapes as he pushes it away across the table and wipes the back of his hand across his mouth. "We've got some 'hostile types' to clear out. Do you think Rocko will join us?"
By some quirk of fate the very table they sat at the last time they were in town is free once more. Pious sits in the same seat. "What's good today? Meat for the dragon I think." As they wait, Pious takes out the finger trophy he took from the first slain creature and fiddles with it absently. You have told tales of your barbaric kin who retain flight, Dragon. Do any tales talk about these creatures of that orb they felt off in?" His mind drifts back to those few moments within the Orb, it was nearly mine... I fine transport for God's chosen.
Pious heads straight for the cantina, "Food and drink first. Coming little dragon?" It seemed a long time since Pious last arrived in town, in reality just a few days.
"****" Pious stands and watches as the orb departs, "thought I had something there... The lord giveth and He takes away. They won't be back in a hurry though, not without backup anyway. Anyone know what is over there?"
Pious suddenly lurches forward and tries seize the creature and manoeuvre it towards the portal.
Pious stomps forwards, not a little out of breath at this point, and levels his sword at the creature. "I don't know if you understand civilised tongue creature, but you've seen enough of your craven kind cut by my steel to understand my blade I'm sure. Land. Now." Placing his left hand on his holy tome at his hip he draws upon his deities power to strengthen his effect on the creature.
"Oh no you don't!" Pious attempts to jump in as the door starts to close
Pious looms in the mist and drives the point of his sword, two handed at the creature in front of him.
He grunts with satisfaction as he feeels the tip bit home
"Knock then, and enter" Pious draws his sword and, placing his hand upon his Holy text, begins to pray as he moves toward the orb.
Watching Rocko and Spizz move towards thee structure, sharing stage whispers and seeming to tread on every dry stick they can find, Pious bends to collect a loose stone. "Walk not in the shadow friends. We are the inheritors of this world, stand tall." With that he hurls the stone at the glowing sphere.
"I guess we know where we're headed" Pious gets to his feet "Let us go and find ourselves a shooting star"
Pious is sat, alternately taking bites of jerky from his pack and sharpening the blade of his sword
Pious helps drag the corpse back, walking in sullen silence, clearly tired.
So sorry for Pious' silence. The Christmas break hit like a truck and the entire fam was ill, all mended now but struggling to catch up with everything.
Pious spends a few more moments with the carcass, muttering a prayer the others may mistake for last rights. Before lopping off and pocketing a finger. "does anyone have anything to draw on? We should keep a record of these markings. Then I suppose we burn the carcasses."
Having thoroughly cleaned, and released, his sword. Pious trudges over to one of the corpses and kneels over it "they must be weak willed indeed to leave this plane so swiftly"
Pious steps forward once more, looking to split the creature's attention between himself and Rocko.
As he does so he finally breaks his silence, "As Galicien is or Lord and saviour, I declare thee enemies of Justice!"
Unfortunately this brings him into the effect of Lexan's spell...
Grasping his blade in both hands now he drives the tip forward.
If they hd been more deft it might have looked like a dance. As Rocko steps towards Pious, Pious steps forward and telegraphs a swing at the creature, almost perfectly in time with Rocko's axe hit.
Just one attack from Pious. The second roll was to confirm the crit threat.
With barely grunt, Pious steps forward and keeps hacking away at the scorched creature.
Strangely non-verbal for once, Pious lays into the creature scorched by Spizz' magic. Swinging the exquisite longsword that is chained to him two-handed with brutal determination but little effect.
Pious continues to trundle towards and around the mass of cattle
Pious ponderously gets to his feet "Forth into it comrades!" Pious draws his sword and, with a muttered word, ignites it with a pure white glow, the colour of graveyards. Beginning at little more than a jog but quickly gaining speed, he lumbers towards the cattle
While they are waiting Pious spends some time inspecting the Cacti. He breaks some of the longer spines from the stem. picking up a number of nasty scratches for his troubles.
When he has gathered his fill he sits and begins to work a tattoo with the cacti needles. His arm is so covered in lettering already, these latest words can only be seen by their fresh wounds.
"We will all sleep in the field. He giveth us dominion over the beast that we may tend to its health, drink of its teat, and feast of its flesh. If some wild thing seeks to steal what is yours, god given, then it shall be cleansed so that you can live in fear only of the almighty. Pious' table manners have not improved over their long walk.
On the way to the Farmhouse:
"Dragons are powerful beyond the realms of mortal man, but do not mistake power for divinity. I may crush a beetle" pious crushes some passing minibeast under his foot as if to demonstrate his point "but even to the savage mind of the beetle I am not divine. God watches and judges. He has no need for wings of fire or giant stature, for he is might within. He will walk this ground soon Spizz, I need no proof like I need no proof that a dropped rock falls and a bird flies. It is the way of things, kismet." He is quiet for a moment before continuing "I believe you are part of that returning, providence brought us together and the coincidences are too prevalent for chance's cruel dice. The prophesies talk of The Ignorant Herald, clad in yellow I have come to suspect that you are the herald. You are certainly ignorant."
Pious does not visibly lower his sword
"Look, who speaks for us?" "I will speak. His words run through me." Pious adjusts his harness, draws his sword, and moves to approach the farmstead.
Gods of madness and chaos it seems. "Galacien is my Lord. His Way is the true way and I walk His path. He is the balming palm and the wrathful fist. He has come before and he will come again. The time is coming..." He trails off as Lexxan speeds away. "Your spurn and scorn does not become you, Lexxan. I hope you find your way before you are lost. For the lost shall be cast aside as chaff on the winds, His indifference shall flense their bones" Remembering Spizz' words from the cantina he idly fetches some dried meat from his pouch and drops it to the Kobold. "Did you speak truth about needing meat?"
"Do you follow a holy path Spizz? Your wild kind must have gods, do you remain locked in their ignorance or do you seek spiritual enlightenment s well as more earthly growth?" He gestures at Spizz' phrase book
Pious, ever ready to see fate's hand in all things but wary of trusting to this fickle force, approaches the bar and restocks his personal supplies
At the Boulder Mark Pious pauses and, placing an inked palm on one of the huge rocks spends a moment in silent contemplation. When Lexxan offers him the berry he sniffs it warily before stuffing it into his mouth and chewing loudly with his mouth open. The berry is tart but satisfying. "Thank you. Where does this power come from Lexxan, what god blesses your steps?"
It seems, by His will, we four have been drawn together. To what end it is not for us to say." With ink blacked hands he takes up the two job offers "Our immediate path seems to part before us. I must let His indefinable, irrefutable will guide me. I cannot yet speak His word but I have learned to trust that He speaks through those on my path, for my path is His way." Pious abruptly walks over to Adler, clatters to sit at his table and bangs the notes face down on the wooden surface. "What says you, stranger. Will you be His hand for me this day. Pick one." He stares intently, unerringly.
Pious' eye is caught by the halfling's reaction when Spizz mentions his heritage. There is a tale there. But he leaves this be for now as he listens to the exchange between Spizz and Rocko. He nods at Spizz' words. Protect not rule. For He is the shepherd and we the flock. Not for the first time Pious thinks of the name his father gave him, Shepherd. Signs and portents everywhere. "I am Pious. These are extraordinary, wonderful times to live in, Rocko. He is returning to us. I am here as a pilgrim, following the portents and living by His Way. I speak no language save His word, it is divine perfection. You both do service to your people by civilising and seeking to improve yourselves. Respect he who steps forward and onto the path, he will reach the town before his brother." There is no sign that Pious means any slur by his words.
"Have you lost something?" Pious calls to the Gnoll across the room. "or maybe not lost, but looking for. Judge not the seeker for what is found, but rather what is sought. What do you seek?"
...and steak for them. And two mugs of whatever you have on tap." Pious does not initiate conversation while they wait, he studies the other people in the bar in turn. Staring intently and unashamedly at each patron.
He gave us fire, that we may lift ourselves above the beast. Why would I want cold food. Trout for me... Pious lifts an inquisitive eyebrow at Spizz, as if this desision was a test. The subtleties of the look are lost as his eyebrows are nearly visible amongst the background tattoos that lattice his face.
Pious trudges over to an empty table to one side and slumps into a chair, moving his sword and the huge book on his hip to one side. He helps Spizz into a seat by picking him up by the scruff of the neck. it is not quite a shout, but his voice certainly carries.
There is a metallic click as Pious lets his sword fall back into it's scabbard. "I nearly exterminated you little one, mistaking you for a wild creature trespassing in the town. Your little book puts the lie to that I suppose. And even the infidel can know His word, and live by His way." Pious bends down to look at the creature before him. Using a grimy and rust stained chain gauntlet to lift his long, grease and sweat slicked hair from his eyeline. "There is something of the wilderness to you though. I am Pious, I am content to meet you too. The stories tell that He walked in scales of gold as he was succored by The Stranger. Come." A sign? Pious saunters towards The Friendly Mesa Inn, fully expecting Spizz to follow.
It has been a long walk from the city for the man known only by a few, and then only as 'Pious.' Lesser men would falter Those who walk the road of hardship, they are in His company. But I walk in His company If anyone had been travelling with Pious on the road from Santa Merceda they would know that these outbursts of 'scripture' were a regular part of being in his company. Wiping the dust of a couple of day's travel from his grimy mouth with a grimier sleeve, Pious enters Albarra, pausing to touch a timeworn gatepost. "By the artifice of civilisation shall the world be subdued. Civilisation is bastion." Increasingly aware of his light packs, having eaten most of his provisions on the journey, Pious begins to wander the town in search of a place to restock.
Pious should be all up to date now. Leveled up to 2. Bought equipment. Rewrote the backstory. I've made a couple of minor adjustments to other character bits and bobs too, and swapped traits.
Hmmm. It's prehistory, so any legends would be quite removed from modern times. In fact it's probable many different peoples have their own legends regarding this time. It could be that some common threads in those legends have lead Pious here, investigating their veracity. Ok I like that Also, regarding your deity, I would like to at least rename Aroden. How does Galicien sound? He's very similar other than not using Paizo's name. Done. Is Galicien an established deity for you or is that up for co-development? I'm going to assume the latter, feel free to shut me down. I guess Pious has probably taken tales he has heard of Galicien and the legends of old and rolled them all into one narrative. There is an established 'church' of Galicien (followers adhering to a set of commonish teachings and traditions) Pious takes these to the extreme. He sees regular followers of Galicien as decadent and showy, easy-lifers who pick and chose from the tenets and teachings. Pious' Galicien is fire and brimstone. Pious has spent his adulthood collecting teachings and trace stories, anything that has remotely chimed with his image of his god has been added to his book/tattoos and become part of The Way. Anything that doesn't fit is discarded as apocryfal. The portents and half-stories have begun to form a pattern: Galicien or one of their chief heralds will return to/visit the mortal realm, and Caldova is the place. Edit:
Evening GM, thanks for the opportunity. Reading your setting background there is mention of scholars debating the way that humans originally arrived in Vespia. Is this something that is fleshed out? I'm wondering if maybe a legendary hero of this time could be prophesied to return, hints and clues that Pious has found have lead him to believe that Caldova is the locations for this return?
I would like to submit Pious for consideration. Equipment and spells are preliminary choices that I am happy to adjust when the party are formed (if selected) His backstory is quite heavy on the idea of a lost/dead God. I have gone for Aroden in the short term but again I would be happy (probably happier!) to go homebrew here and create our own deity (again, if selected) I really like the idea of playing him alongside a more traditional 'light' cleric, or someone less "glory to the Right People! Down with nature!"
I'd like to tip my hat to you all and politely step out of contention here. It is clear that you have a really strong focus on all the right things and a fantastic group. I don't want to try and crowbar a character I don't believe to be a good fit into that. Until next time.
|
