Saelas's page

Finally, I have some breathing room. The population where I work just got cut in half for about 30 days so I should have a lot more time to get caught up etc.

I really appreciate your guys' understanding. I'll get things going here today or tomorrow.

So I wanted to apologize for my lack of activity. I've been working lots of 12 hour days and I haven't had a day off in two weeks. I think I'll be able to get things settled down soon.

I'm going to work on the level up tonight.

Saelas is really not sure of anything. He's just trying to get the dragon back home, but I don't think he's necessarily in a rush about it either.

He'll probably ask the pair about the gate he came through if he develops trust for them. He's been kind of afraid to ask before.

I'm working on my level up. I got called in on my only day off so I'll hopefully get it done tonight.

I guess we didn't really make any kind of decision. I think, barring any kind of outside interference, Saelas would stay and learn what he could as long as he feels relatively safe with the pair.

Dragons take awhile to grow up so this story could realistically span a large amount of time. I'm fine with any time skips you want to do in the story.

Saelas the character wants to stay. I as the player want to get moving. lol

"I think I have time. I can offer what help I can in return, though most of my experience is with books and not harsh environments and wilderness."

Saelas spends time and focus to really try to absorb anything the pair have to tell him about the land.

It'd be easy enough to use knowledge checks down the road to determine whether the subject is one they covered with Saelas or not.

The young triaxian sighs as he stares at the tiny dragon for a moment as she leaves the house.

I... am not ready for this. But... who else?

With a shake of his head, he stands up and steps over toward the others to watch their work.

"Thank you for the help. Any more you could tell me about this land might be important."

Saelas would probably dig for as much information as was forthcoming from the pair.

The young triaxian chuckles. "No.. I don't think I like that either." Saelas kneels down next to the dragon. "Fit in or not, it's important to be who you are. We'll be alright as long as we stick together." His gentle smile does a fair job at masking his worry.

Too important...

Looking up to the two natives, he asks, "Do you... often help people you meet from outside of Irrisen?"

Saelas wrinks his nose slightly at the question. "I'll admit, my home is somewhat isolated. Dragons are... known but not seen, if that makes sense."

The young triaxian sighs.

"I think people are afraid of them. And I think Snow will get a whole lot bigger eventually."

He shakes his head uncomfortably.

"I don't know enough, I think. What do you know about them?"

Saelas raises an eyebrow toward Snow. "It's pretty warm in there, but maybe you should give it a try? Just for a little bit? It's nice to have a place that is safe."

With that Saelas steps through the door and looks back at the dragon with a curiously questioning gaze.

Sorry for the lag in my posting. It's been a difficult week.

The young triaxian sighs and tucks his ears under his hood. "No... I'm not a threat. I'm barely... nevermind." Saelas shakes his head with another sigh.

"I'm just trying to do what's best for Snow."

Saelas' eyes take on an introspective, worried look as he trails off.

I will get a post up tomorrow. Sorry about the delay.

Saelas takes a deep breath with a frown. "Strange... is the right word, I think. I can agree with that."

Conspicuously, he makes no comment about the dragon whatsoever.

The young triaxian gives the man a thoughtful look. "Should... should I cover my ears? Yours are a lot different... more like elves, but round."

I'm happy with how it's going. I don't need it to rush along. Unlike your typical game, with just the three of us, there's little chance of losing anyone if things drag a little. I'll be here.

If you want me to try to push the plot along, I can. It's interesting because Saelas is pretty lost, in general. There are ways to have him decide to be more bold, but for the most part, he's just trying to keep it together.

The young triaxian gives Miksa a curious look for a moment before responding. "Um... I guess they are different than yours. They're,
well.. somewhat normal where I'm from... I think. Yeah, for the most part."

He does not divulge that they typically come with fur all over them... and on the rest of the body.

I'm sorry about the delay. I got real beat up at work the past two days. I'm off today so I'll post in a bit.

Saelas smiles gratefully at both the friendly-seeming interest in his companion and the apparent invitation. "We would welcome the opportunity to travel with someone who knows this place better. I'll admit, I feel lost even when I'm not." His smile turns sad briefly before turning to a more neutral expression.

"Uh.. well met?" The young triaxian seems surprised and unsure what to make of the situation. His whole demeanor is rather meek and uncertain. People are a little more straightforward where he's from.

"Well, I mean, Yensa is the only place I really know about. I'm... uh... not from around here. Is there somewhere better to go? I'm not so good with the cold..."

He looks more than a little ashamed at the last fact.

Saelas walks forward uncertainly, a nervous expression on his face.

"I... um... if you guys are friends, I'm not sure I'd survive being involved. I could... you know... go."

"Alyona... what's going on?" Saelas, fairly sensitive to the moods of others in general has trouble suppressing his own tenseness in response to hers.

Snow... stay hidden for now.

I tried and tried to get a post up on Saturday but the site was down all day. I will get time in a few hours.

Saelas is somewhat cheery and optimistic in the morning. Nothing to improve his mood like a warm night's rest, finally. Just before they set to open the door, he reaches out to Snow.

Snow... we're going hunting! Let's go see!

Saelas responds with a quiet smile. "My companion would probably like to join you. I will try not to be a hindrance." With that, the triaxian closes his eyes.

Saelas is assuming she was including him. He could definitely be wrong. I'm happy to do a time skip if that's the intention still.

"Thank you. I will. Can I ask you one question first?" The triaxian seems uncertain if he should ask, but knowing nothing of the social customs, he tests the waters as he begins to lay down. "If we find ourselves back this way in the future, can we... can we visit again?"

Saelas youth shines through clearly hear. Barely out of adolescence, he's acting strong because he knows he has to, for Snow. But he's still very young. There's no desperation in his voice at all. Only uncertainty.

I'm all for that. I like that the scene builds context but I'm not sure what else there is to do. I don't see Saelas trusting her enough to ask too many questions.

Echoing the dragon's thought-speech, Saelas sighs. "Cold is good, I think. I just need to get better at surviving in it. It's the best thing for my companion."

The young triaxian gets a far away look in his eyes as he sits back and ponders his situation.

What am I supposed to do? She's too important to trust anyone. I find myself holding back, even from those who show me generosity. They wouldn't understand. Or they would, and like the elf who stole her egg,
they would try to capitalize. I think we're on our own...

With a slight frown, Saelas looks back at the woman, Alyona. "Yensa then. Did I even come close to finding it?"

Tomorrow should be the last really hectic day I have for awhile so my posting should get more consistent.

Also, I mostly did the telepathy with Snow to give her something to respond to while we have her locked outside. lol

"Snow... are you OK out there? Let me know if you need anything. I don't trust her yet, but I think we might have found a friend here."

The triaxian sighs and nods, not entirely surprised. "I thought maybe that was the case. If not Yensa, then where? You mentioned earlier the Vault of Silver and Ice. What is that, other than death?"

With food in him and warmth spreading throughout finally, Saelas' skin begins to flush back with color, the pink managing to look almost orange in the firelight. The effect is especially pronounced in the tips of his feather-like ears that twitch occasionally, seemingly on their own.

Saelas looks hungrily at the bowl, but forces himself to answer the question before eating. "I could see the sky, yes. But it was... different. The sky here is unfamiliar."

With that, the triaxian carefully and politely begins eating the stew. His people are reclusive and insular, but they do know about etiquette. And apparently, stew is not unheard of either.

How far away am I?

Does Saelas know anything about what the sky would indicate?
Knowledge Nature: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (11) + 9 = 20 If it's geography instead, the modifier is 1 less.

I apologize for my delay. Had an 11 hour workday today :/

I'll try to get a post up but I might have to do it tomorrow.

The young triaxian gratefully takes a seat and warms his hands and feet at the fire. "Well, truthfully, I don't know how I got here. I don't really even know where I am other than a place I've never heard of called Bleakmarch. I came through a portal near my clan holdings and it brought me here." Saelus shrugs uncertainly. "I met a hermit named Arevik here who gave me these furs."

While Saelas will probably leave out a lot of details about the dragon, I don't think it's really a bluff. She asked about him specifically, afterall. But either way, he's willing to be open about himself, but not if it risks Snow.

The young triaxian looks almost surprised for a moment, before nearly rushing inside, barely shaking off all the snow first. After spending a good long moment blowing into his cupped hands and shivering, Saelas finally calms enough to respond. "Heh. Lucky? I'm not so sure I've ever been all that lucky." With a glance out toward the tiny dragon outside, he amends, "well, maybe."

He continues, pulling his hood down and revealing his unusual feather-like ears without concern. "Thank you for your hospitality, Alyona. It seems hard to find in this... place."

With a smile, Saelas regards the wolf. "Hello, Kiva."

His ears looks a lot like in this picture, though that's not at all what he looks like otherwise.

Would Arevik have told him to hide his ears from strangers?

I guess it's time to learn whether white dragons get shot on sight in this land? Maybe I should've taken bluff...

When the woman relaxes, Saelas exhales takes a cautious shivering second to brush and shake the snow off of him and though much of it falls down inside of his clothes, it's not so oppressively cold as it was. "S.. she's around here s.. somewhere." The young triaxian looks around at the nearby snow.

"S.. she's young and very protective of me, so please be careful." Saelas looks pointedly at the lowered crossbow. There is no threat or hostility in his voice. Just humble pleading.

"Snow... I don't think we can fight. Let's try to make friends. Like Arevik. But be careful."

With everyone being careful (Saelas hopes), he calls out gently, fighting hard against the shivering. "Snow... it's safe to come out. They're friendly." His voice is calmly optimistic, though he never looks away from the woman with the crossbow.

Speaking directly to her now, the shiver returns. "S... sorry we barged o.. onto your propert.. ty. I.. it's just cold... and I'm lost."

His shivering plea really is quite pitiful-seeming in this harsh environment.

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (20) + 9 = 29

Conversation in Pbp is still somewhat weird to me. Should we just monologue at each other or is it fine to do one line at a time back and forth, like a normal conversation might do?

My instinct is that it was right to do a brief response here but a lengthier discussion might be more appropriate if we manage to mollify her... somehow.

Open to suggestions for sure.

Saelas shivers violently for a moment before making a strong effort to gather himself and respond. "O..okay, I'm not a.. alone. M.. my friend and I.. I were looking for Y.. Yensa. I thi.. think we might be l.. lost."

Shivering from the long trek and after being suddenly buried in snow, the triaxian holds his hands up in a gesture of pacifism. "S.. sae.. las. I.. I'm just a c.. cold traveler. C.. can I w.. warm up inside?"

"Snow... stay hidden if you can."

Saelas isn't particularly good at hiding things, but hopefully the cold would cover up the omission.

Bluff?: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (5) + 3 = 8
Diplomacy: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (15) + 9 = 24

Saelas will keep concentrating on the spell if he can, but still no forcing of will saves by trying to read a target's thoughts.

The young triaxian takes a deep breath at the aggressive nature of the traps in the area and frowns. With an almost sad sigh, he focuses his mind. He shuts out the physical world.

For a moment, nothing exists. There is no snow, no house, no food, no dragon. There is just Saelas' mind hanging in emptiness. Then nearby, there is the tiny bundle of emotions that make up the overly keen dragon's mind. Comforted by her presence, the psychic reaches forward into the house.

Cast Detect Thoughts using a 1st level spell slot. I don't want to offer any will saves yet, so I'm just looking for the number and strength of each mind. No surface thoughts.

Saelas stops abruptly at the urgency in the dragon's demeanor and frowns at the building ahead. "Is... this the town we're looking for? I... guess probably not." The triaxian's voice is choppy in the cold and he resigns himself to mind-speech, despite the fact that it's important to him that Snow hears voiced speech regularly.

I don't think this is the town we're looking for, but perhaps he has a fire he can share. Can you lead me safely around the traps?

Let's see if we can make a friend.

Saelas follows Snow with a deliberately pleasant expression on his face, despite the temperature. The hermit had warned him that most people would not be so friendly.

Saelas does his best to keep a positive demeanor as the pair of them trudge through the endless snow toward their objective. Shivering somewhat, and definitely tired, he manages well enough. Before long, the triaxian is just walking aimlessly forward, adjusting slightly anytime he sees Snow. It's hard to focus in the cold.

Are you sure you see wood-smoke-fire?

Saelas uses Snow's exact words anytime he wants to be really clear about his meaning. Otherwise, sometimes things get lost in translation. At least, they had before.

Saelas breathes a sigh of relief as the creature slinks away, a grin forming on his face that develops slowly into a deep belly laugh. His mirth carries through in the light tone of his thought-speech. Snow... that was very brave but you probably shouldn't do that kind of thing... The triaxian's grin is a mismatch with his stern words. His laugh settles into a resonant chuckle as he crouches down to pat her on the head.

With a mirthful shake of his head, he speaks aloud. "I'm very proud of you for protecting me. Now let's hope we don't run into a pack of them next time."

Despite the cold weather and the long trek, Saelas is in good spirits as he prepares to continue their journey.

With a frown and a sigh, Saelas watches the dragon puff up and challenge the wolf. She's tougher than she looks, wolf. Just turn around, he thinks to himself. There probably is little chance of negotiating with a wolf. But the triaxian isn't about to give up that easily.

He stops and turns toward the wolf.

Reaching inside and calling on his psychic power, Saelas seeks out the creature's thoughts. It's a long-shot, but maybe there is something there he can use.

Use Detect Thoughts spell-like ability, DC 14. Not really sure if this can even do anything, but then Saelas wouldn't know either.

I'll make time to post in about 12 hours (after I sleep and work a short shift). Snow's welcome to handle the situation and I'll just post a reaction later. XD

Up to you.

I'll leave the choice to you, since you'll probably be taking most of the damage. lol

I am being hunted.

The realization that Saelas is potential food for some wintry creature isn't a surprise, but it comes with another realization. The triaxian is woefully unequipped for dealing with the situation. He could scare it off briefly, perhaps. But it's much faster in the snow than he is and would inevitably catch up. And a hungry wolf is likely going to be difficult to deter.

Feeling for the mind of his friend, Saelas tries to convey a sense of serious urgency without seeming aggressive or angry. Upset dragon is at least three times as difficult to manage as happy dragon and he'd rather stick with the latter for now, even if it means a chance he'll have to fend off a wolf alone for a moment. "Snow, do you see that creature? Let's stick close together for now, okay?"

Saelas, despite his concern and inability to actually see Snow, makes an effort to keep walking forward with the same pace he'd been taking the whole time.

Knowledge Nature: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (6) + 9 = 15 Any way to scare it off?

Map: I don't mind using my imagination. :)

I'm definitely a fan of that. Totally OK by me!

Saelas gives Arevik a wry smile. "I'll try not to anger anyone at all, if I can. Yensa it is then." The young follows the man's gaze to the sky and shrugs as he turns away. "Thank you again. Farewell." Saelas isn't sad about the goodbye. Arevik seemed to prefer being alone anyway, and Saelas is ready to move on.

"Come on, Snow. Time to go." He says it aloud mostly for the hermit's benefit. But before long, they are well beyond Arevik's hearing. With the rising sun ahead of him and to his right, Saelas takes on the slow gait of a man planning to walk all day.

Really crazy day today. I'll put up a short post to give us a direction.

Saelas really thought he knew what cold was. You'd think someone from a place with centuries-long winters would be more prepared. Preparation was never his strong suit. While he was delighted to find the dragon safe on the other side of the portal, the cold quickly squashed that emotion, reducing him to a shivering pile of uselessness.

His memory is a little fuzzy after that. Whether the stranger found him on his own or Snow brought him, he doesn't know, but the stranger certainly saved his life. The next several weeks were spent shivering despite the warm fire and it was hard to smile, though he did on occasion at the dragon's innocent happiness. He would endure. He had to. For her, and by extension for his people, though he wasn't sure they deserved it.

Despite Arevik's clear intention to help the pair of them, Saelas was always a bit standoffish. Maybe that was why the man started putting Saelas to work. He didn't mind so much, actually. His people had been so worried about hiding him that they barely expected him to do anything. He found that with his strength returned, he enjoyed contributing. Plus, it gave him an excuse to spend time with Snow, away from the hermit. For her part, she didn't help often but he enjoyed watching her play. He still found it hard to believe that this was happening. That she was going to be so important. She was so small right now.

Finally, confident in his health and his ability to make do on his own with Snow if he's careful, it's time to move on. It's not that he doesn't trust the hermit. He actually kind of does. There's just too much at stake. For now, it would be best to keep moving. If anyone in this strange place finds out how important she is... things would be a lot more complicated.

And it's not that things are simple now, really. Someday he would have to find the portal again and go back through it. And Saelas has no idea where to even begin with that. But for now, he just has to keep Snow safe. And to do that, he has to learn more about this land. They can't hide forever. And he's pretty sure Snow would eventually go off on her own if he doesn't go with her.

So, they head off into the rolling white expanse, Snow frolicking in excitement and Saelas has a gentle smile on his face.

Let's go.

I'm so glad you allowed this. I read a ton of the Dragonriders of Pern when I was younger, the Harper Hall Trilogy several times(And Snow is already seeming a lot like a smart fire lizard). The mind-speak was a really big part of that series. This is going to be fun :)

Making my initial post now.

Edit: Should we use bold+italics for telepathy?