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This sounds like fun. At first I was thinking of using this awakened crow bard character (see profile), but if we'll be underwater then maybe a dolphin druid could be fun if you'd allow that. Not familiar with gestalt, but I'm up for learning. I don't see the rules for it on d20pfsrd.com. Are they available somewhere else?
Rook wings his way to Abram's house and lands on the window sill. He waits for the old druid, to show him the flower samples and relate the story of what happened with Jerem in the woods.
Rook follows the others into town, grasping the flowers tightly in his talons. He wishes Amara a good night and heads to Abram's house with any that follow.
Rook nods. "I will take a sample to Abram and see if he has any further insight. Perhaps we should journey back to town as a group." Rook grasps a few of the flowers in his claw by the stems and yanks them free. He quickly studies the area to memorize it and does his best to mark it. As he follows the others he'll periodically stop to try and mark the trail so he can find it again.
Rook follows the conversation intently, nodding. "Yes I do not trust this man Jerem. There must more to this. I suggest we discuss our findings with Abram and have him look over the scene...or the flowers. Do you both think it's safe to take sample with us?"
Rook's mind relaxes a bit as the winds subside. Wheels spinning in his head, he realizes he has been staring at Jerem. He turns away, slipping back into animal mode. "He did that all too easy. Someone with power like that...could easily have brought those creatures here in the first place." He sifts through the catalog of stories and folk tales about what Jerem just did . Rook slinks back into the shadow of tree cover, keeping an eye on Jerem. He will follow him closely back to his home.
Rook rushes ahead of the others as they reach the clearing. One eye locks on Jerem studying him intently. He floats in the air, his wings beating furiously. Magic words well up in his throat. Then he hears the townsfolk. And the birds flutter. He feels it, too. Something in the air. He grasps his frustration in his clenched claws. The wind begins to build, buffeting him backward. He forces himself to the nearest branch and grips tightly, wings close to his side. Still paranoia builds inside him, staring pointedly at Jerem. He must do something. Anything. Yet he does nothing. A sensation flows over him, but his mind is too rigid to register. It's only when he sees the others awash with awe that he feels it, a bathing warmth, a soothing buffeting air. He sees Jerem glowing, comforting. The serpents disappear. He almost gives in completely, relaxing in the glow, but a small part of his mind remains solid and unforgiving. He watches and waits.
Rook flaps over to the forest, keeping pace with the odd pair. His piercing eyes dialate in the forest shade. Not seeing Amara , he lands softly on the leafy forest floor. His talons dig into the ground nervously. "Havak, can you see which way they went?"
Rook turns an eye toward Erec, trying to measure his reluctance. "Friend Erec, will you join us? Your insight has often been useful."
Yeah, I was playing off your curse. Spooked by the spirits floating around. Thought it might be fun.
Seeing Erec and Havak Rook divebombs down to the cemetary. The wind whistles past his face. As he nears the ground his wings fan out into a slowing stall. Words spit from his beak in fervor. "Amara begins to track down the nest of winged serpents. She travels alone with Jerem into the dark of the woods. If we hurry, we may still catch them."
Rook pops up into the air, his eyes flashing green as he stares pointedly at Amara . "Friend Amara, if you keep a slow pace, I will see if there are others who may be able to help." Soaring over the town he scans for anyone he recognizes .
Amara Friend. Feels a kindred spirit as they both are discovering a new world. His, the messy world of humanity. Hers, the unpredictable natural world. And yet through her, he sees his old world through fresh eyes. Elarya He sees a soul torn from its home. Her pain reminds him of what he has lost. Her eyes mirror a dark loneliness he prefers to keep locked away. Garrett Out of deference to his brother Erec, Rook keeps up the act around him. He enjoys sharing a secret with someone. So he observes and tries to understand tight bond the brothers have. When he sees them together he feels something he has not found a way to categorize. Havak He and the goblin have kept a quiet distance, though they've shared a laugh or two at Johnas' expense. Rook feels the goblin perhaps understands him more than the others ever could. Both outcast from their societies for being different, special, they seem to share a silent respect. Sansa He watches her from afar. Though she reminds him of Corvina, there is a disturbing chaos that surrounds her. It is a magic he does not understand and warily keeps clear. Whenever he sees the watchtower on the horizon it sends chills down his body.
Rook tries to look busy and distracted while staying within earshot. He perks up at the mention of returning to the forest in search of the nest, then ruffles when Jerem invites himself along. Rook cocks his head to the side staring into the sky with one amber eye judging the time of day.
Rook floats down toward the front of Abram's home and greets Amara with a throaty croak. When he spots Jerem he lands on a nearby roof and switches to his "dumb bird" persona .
He's still unsure if Jerem has caught on to him in his time here. Nervously he looks around for signs of the winged serpent.
Rook floated over town scanning for Abram who even in his old age still managed to be everywhere and nowhere at once. His mind still focused on the the looming threat of flying serpents he lost track of the others. Still the creature was captured while others might be wandering free near town. Corvina! His eyes shot wide with the thought, just as an arrow shot past him. In a burst of feathers he spun around to find the source as a couple more shot into the air.
Hey all. Sorry I was out of town for a few days. Wasn't sure if I would have time to post. I'm working through a head cold right now, but I'll try to catch up and get back into the game. Welcome Sansa!
I hope everyone's still on board. I think we've got some great stories going here.
"Yes, friend Amara. Let us make haste." Rook hops off the fence and catches a cool ocean breeze updraft in his outstretched wings rising high above the town. He scans the town for Abram starting at the windmill.
Rook peers down from old man Johnas' roof at the goblin holing the bagged prey. "Perhaps the imporant thing is and how dangerous they are. Abram may have a safe place to keep it for further study." He says turning to the racket inside the Johnas house. Fluttering down to a fence post he stares concertedly at the bag. "A serpent with wings can only mean danger. It may be prudent to find its home in case there are others."
"Yes, friend Amara. I am curious about the creature also. I will follow." Rook eyes the bag warily and hops up into the air. He flaps from tree to tree to keep pace with the slower walking humans as they head down the path back to town.
Rook ruffles his feathers in pride, but instictively pulls back when Amara reaches for the bag. Prey. Mine. His eye locks onto Amara's. After a tense moment he relaxes, reminding himself he is among humans, and relinquishes the bag. "Yes, friend Amara. They may be able to help."
Rook dodges through the trees, awkwardly adjusting for the extra weight in his beak. He circles back to the clearing and lands softly at their feet, one amber eye constricting in the daylight with a sideways stare. The thrill of the hunt races in his heart. With his beak clamped tight on the end of the bag, he feels for movement.
Rook watches with mixed amusement and concern as Amara loses purchase of the tree. In a frozen moment he sees the bag float loose in the air and his wings flare open. His yellow eyes narrow on the falling bag as he dives out of the shadows.
Rook tenses in anticipation as Amara nears the creature. Watching the hapless creature he wonders what it would have been like to be caught himself. He's seen captured animals and the crazed look in their eyes. The terror... He shakes off the dark thoughts refocusing on the moment. This creature is dangerous, unpredictable, but he doubted magic like this could ever truly be contained. He readies the powerful magic incantation the old woman taught him so long ago, in case things go widly out of hand. He had yet to use it with humans around. He was unsure how it would affect them, or how they would react knowing he wielded such power.
California
Added an appearance description and a drawing for extra. XD Have you checked out Outcast Studios (http://outcaststudios.com/)? Steve (the DM) hooked me onto it recently. Pretty cool community of comic book artists and writers with mutual feedback. If you go on hit me up, I'm aeryk on there, too.
It's up to you. It's been 8 years, I think, so even though he's tried to keep it a secret, the observant in town have probably caught on (Bluff +7 vs. your Sense Motive +5), at least those with some knowledge of the world of magic or natural order. Mostly he's trying not to freak people out, but if you approach him he would most likely engage in conversation, as long as there's not a crowd around. Maybe Erec caught on and talks to Rook, but Garrett treats it as his brother's imaginary friend. Could be fun.
Good Lord! You guys were busy, haha! It's been a good read and I'm really enjoying the energy here so far. Sorry I couldn't have started sooner. Nice visual intro. I could see the sword skittering across the ground. Can't wait to meet the Brothers Snow. That's if Dante doesn't start flinging those stones at me :)
Rook listens attentively to Samel and Amara's hushed words and watches the lazy serpent enjoy its meal. He waits for Amara's signal then with a gentle cooing fills the area around the serpent with a soft white noise.
Rook looks the strange serpent over, trying to place it in folk tale or rumor overheard from travelers passing through Solace. He silently curses, wishing he would have heeded Abram's advice more closely to study not just humanity but all of the Green.
Spotting Amara and her hand signal, Rook floats quietly into the shadows of the trees. He bobbed his head and as his eyes flashed green whispered words floated to Amara's ears. "Hello, friend Amara. Are you on the hunt or being hunted?" Rook took in the forest sights, sounds and smells, filtering out the familiar. Either way Rook was on the hunt.
Rook felt a happy sense of nostalgia floating over the familiar trees. Most of the crows he knew had passed away years ago, but he tried to keep tabs on their younglings. The senior members of the murder still shunned him from their inner politics which was fine with him. He enjoyed his status as an outcast. It was simpler. He let out a few caws to announce his presence and scanned the tree tops.
Rook splashed in the shallow edge of the river and ruffled his feathers. He arched his beak under his outstretched wing and began preening as he thought over the recent events. He always felt more confused after interactions with these two. What was it Abram always said? "A lake contains a whole world of color and action. Be careful, though the ripples on its surface may hint at the motion below, they are the after effects of something deeper." "And here I am skipping stones on the surface." It was times like this, Rook took refuge in simpler times. He shook himself off and hopped in the air with a couple wing drying beats, then headed for his old forest home.
Rook flutters out over the river watching Dante for any signs of magical effect. Satisfied, Rook lands on the shore between the two. "My apologies, friend Dante. I mistook the stones for something accidentally sinister. I see now they appear to be harmless." His attention momentarily distracted by a stray worm, he hops toward the Black Tree attacking the ground vigorously with his beak. Tilting his head back to swallow, he continues to watch the strange pair of humans.
"The girl is getting worse," he thought. He watches Dante's approach with quiet curiosity. Human interaction still fascinated him after all these years and Corvina and Dante's relationship was a most curious one. Rook's body stiffens in alarm as Corvina suddenly grabs the boy's wrist and handed him the rocks. "This can't be good." With a sudden burst of speed Rook swoops down and tries to snatch the stones from Dante's hands with beak and claws.
Rook settles on a thick branch of the Black Tree overlooking the river. He lets out three short caws announcing his territorial claim to the area to any birds within earshot. His yellow eyes blink and narrow at the strange stones on the shore. "Hello, Corvina. How is the day treating you?"
EDIT: I look forward to Elarya and Rook meeting. Should be fun. Look forward to it. Hopefully your clan customs don't include eating crows :)
Rook stretched his wings after a morning of pondering and listening to Abram talk of the ways of the Green. "Ah, Johnas is finally up and around," he thought. With a slow deep whistle he spun in the air over the old man's head in a figure eight pattern.
"That ought to wake him up." With delight in his eyes he headed out toward the black tree near Corvina's hut.
Reminds me of a Tengu rogue I had once. I based it off of real crows. He was a kleptomaniac, enjoyed rotten meat, and liked repeating what people say. Nice. I didn't know about Tengu. Were they from Oriental Adventures? I see Pathfinder has an updated Bestiary entry. Cool pic of Dante! A party group shot would be cool, too.
BTW - Rook is a pretty awesome concept. Hats off to you, sir. Thanks. I had an idea for a wolf druid awhile back for a game that never happened. So we kind of adapted it to fit the party. I actually like this idea better. Should be fun trying to figure out the vocal and somatic components to spells :)
Rook floats easily through the cool mist, stretches his wings into an easy glide over the town. He scans the roads for the Sontan family, giving a throaty caw to Amara and a quick fly by. His yellow eyes focus on Abram as he flutters to roof of a nearby building. Bobbing his head, Rook's eyes flash a brilliant green. Whispered words [message spell] echo in the old druid's ears. "Do you feel something in the air today?" Rook ruffles his feathers and stares out at the sea longingly as seagulls dive bomb the calm waters.
Sounds cool. Nothing like having an eye in the sky. Would Rook and Amara know each other at all. She is a ranger and likes the birdies and beasties, she might notice he is a bit different than a normal crow. Also speaks Sylvan. Sure. He's happy when you bring him the odd fish or two. It's become a favorite of his, but can hardly catch any himself with all the mobbing seagulls pushing him out.
Hi, all. I'll be playing the part of the crow :) Thanks for letting me join. Should be a lot of fun. Rook the crow: Born in the forest near Solace, Rook was always a curious bird and constantly strayed from the flock and its politics. Of course he didn't know it at the time, but in he's had a lot of time to ponder his existence since becoming sentient.
If he kept a journal, (crows generally keep an oral tradition, such as it is) it would begin with the day he came upon the strange woman wandering in the forest alone, singing to herself and picking an odd assortment of toad's legs, moth's wings, and the odd mushroom or two. He kept to the trees and followed her until she came to a wooden cave and trapped herself inside, where she apparently liked to burn things. This went on for weeks, (months maybe, the passage of time was a bit fuzzy then) until the day she took notice. She was going about her usually routine of gathering when he spotted a large cougar lying in wait in the bushes near her. She was oblivious and he saw the wiggling cat ready to pounce, so he dived in to get her attention. During the cat's distraction he heard the most beautiful song come from the woman's mouth as her hands danced in the air. When he spun around, the cat lay sleeping in the grass and she stared up at Rook with a twinkle in her eye. With her inviting gaze, he followed her into her wooden cave and learned a great many things there. He also met a most curious girl, Corvina who named him: Rook. When the old woman died, Rook stayed with Corvina and followed her into town on occasion. In Solace he was mostly ignored and learned by watching, but one man, Abram Verdance noticed there was something different about him and in secret they would talk about things: the ways of nature and the ways of man, including what not to steal. Rook always avoids talking politics when he can, but the Abram tends to go on sometimes about problems in the town and Rook listens patiently. |
