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Sakitu blushes at Fin's comments. She realizes that this conversation could easily get uncomfortable way too fast. She moves on to more neutral territory. "Well, if they are cute like you say, then I hope we see some but I won't be putting my toes anywhere near them." At the mention of the hut, she nods. "Yeah, I'm getting kinda hungry. And if Fin is going to take a soak, I might join him. But not the crocodile." She catches Fin's eye and gives him a look. "It's going to be me or the crocodile. Your choice."
"Queen of faries? I guess I can kind of see that." Sakitu reaches up and adjusts her own headband, a slender silver ring decorated with red and orange gemstones. She glances over to Fin and and tries to make eye contact but he doesn't seem to notice her. ”Should we go back to that tree and see Vigliv now?” Sakitu skips over to him and grabs onto his arm, giving it a squeeze. "Sure. That sounds like a great idea."
Sakitu helps looks through all the items in the tent. It all seems so luxurious, especially the silk cloth. For a moment she drapes one of the larger silks over her shoulders and around her body. It feels so smooth. It looks so vibrant. While everyone else is busy she stuffs the silk into her bag. She looks up as Quasit comments.
"What? Too much? Of course not. A fine lady like you can never have too much jewelry?" She looks over the Kalchine to see his response. "It is lovely but you do not need it" Sakitu smacks Kalchine on the arm and laughs. "Pshaw. That's not the point." "Of course not. It's for you." Sakitu laughs even more then she turns to Fin. "Are you going to pick an earring too?"
The battle rages in the tent and Sakitu feels so helpless. She quickly goes through the list of spells she knows and most of them, the ones that could help right now, affect areas. Her friends are just too close together. But maybe she can confuse some of the enemy. She focuses on the div closest to her. With a gesture and a few words she casts a spell hoping to overwhelm the creatures mind.
"Well, I don't know. I guess it depends on how lucky you get." All ten of Sakitu's images skip towards Fin and step up on their tiptoes to give him a kiss. The real one makes contact with his lips then all ten swirl away. Then the div steps out of the tent. Sakitu scampers behind Fin and grabs a hold of his arm. She follows as everyone enters into the tent.
I had a long "essay" I was going to post here about rich vs poor and all that but decided against it. This isn't the forum. Bottom line to me is that it's not about how much money someone has, it's about what they do to help people who are in need. Most of the "rich" people I know are very generous and do much to help people.
Hope you had a great cruise. Heading out from FL makes me think you did the Caribbean. Which cruise line? I'm doing a cruise from Miami towards the end of April. We'll be on Symphony of the Seas. That's one of those monster ships from Royal Caribbean. I've never been on one of those behemoths. If you've been on one of those, maybe you have some tips for me.
I've still got my mage armor on. I can also cast Mirror Image but that has a target of Personal so it only helps me. I can also cast Haste on the party once we're ready. I can cast fly a couple more times today too. I don't think there is any other prep for me to do so I'm ready to go.
"Wow. I can't believe all this gold. And the magic stuff too." Sakitu takes a moment to look into one of the crates. Once, a few years ago, she overheard a merchant talking to her dad and he mentioned that he could smell gold. Every time since then when she'd tried to smell coins, they just smelled like dirt and sweat. Seeing the shiny bars stacked in the crate, she leans over get her nose close to one of them and takes a big whiff. Nothing. She draws in a big breath through her nose one more and still nothing. "Hmm," she says, standing up. "I don't smell anything. Are you sure this is real gold?"
Sakitu watches intently as Fin prepares to pry open the loose stone. Her imagination starts to go crazy. What if the stone is keeping a great evil at bay. Maybe opening the prison will release a monster too great for them to deal with. In her mind's eye she sees Bulvi and Maka push on the crowbar and slide the flagstone cover away. The black opening grows to immense proportions. A sinuous, slime covered worm, at least ten feet thick raises out of the pit. Suddenly a multitude of human arms burst from it's side. A giant, tooth-lined maw opens up at one end of the worm and a heart stopping howl fills the room. One of the arms grows longer and longer and reaches slowly across the space towards Sakitu. She stands frozen in fear. The arm approaches closer and closer. The hand at the end of the arm grows to inhuman proportions. It raises above Sakitu and starts to descend on her. Quasit puts it sneakily onto Sakitu's head Sakitu screams and waves her arms frantically in the air to ward off the monster's hand. The image from her imagination fades away instantly. She spins to see Quasit smiling mischievously at her. She feels her head and finds the crown. She knocks it off and lets it fall to the ground. "Quasit! Was that you? Why did you do that? I thought... I mean, I thought that a monster was getting me. You know. A giant worm thing. With arms and..."
Sakitu sighed and took a deep breath. She paused and let her racing heart slow down. "You really scared me there, you know." Breaking into a smile she stepped up to Quasit and gave her a hug. "You are such a great friend!" Shaking off the fright, she turns to see everyone focusing on Bulvi. He looks awful. "What is happening?" "The flame is not damaging him as fire normally would," he says, shifting back to his humanoid form and kneeling next to Bulvi. "Rather, it is directly draining his vigor and life force. I fear my magic cannot aid him as there is nothing natural about this. But we have a wand that can assist. We needed it back at the military compound for a similar affliction." Sakitu races to Bulvi's side. "What is it? Is he going to die? Bulvi. Don't die! You can't." She looks desperately to Quasit then Fin then anyone else who looks like they can help. Knowing that there is nothing she can do, she tries to keep Bulvi comfortable while the others figure out a solution. Soon Quasit asks her to step back and then waves a wand over Bulvi. "It worked! I think. Look. He's looking so much better." Sakitu squeezes Quasit. "Thank you so much!" Then she rushes to Fin and wraps him in an embrace. With her head against his chest, she feels the vibration as he talks with Quasit. ”Aye, Q, elves do indeed pee, as do I. We have the same…equipment…that you humans do. I’m stealthy about it though, so perhaps you never noticed…humans seem to be not so stealthy in that regard…” "Yes. I can confirm that he has the same equipment. You know?" She gives Fin another squeeze then lets go and stands back. She looks at the rest of the group. "What next?"
"Ah. I love the smell of roasting zombies in the morning. Smells like... victory." Sakitu wrinkles up her nose and looks puzzled at Quasit. ”Smells like burnt, poo, death, and swamp mixed together and made worse than the sum of it’s parts to me.” "Right. For once I agree with Selena on this." Sakitu turns her attention back to the remaining enemies only to find them all destroyed. She follows Quasit up to the throne. "Wait? A fake crown? Why would she do this?" She looks over the room again. So much decay and corruption. That doesn't seem too out of place, given that Bremagyr was an evil witch and all. But something seems off. "Quasit? Do you think that maybe this wasn't really her? Maybe it was a decoy?"
"A cry for help? You mean, the queen is sad and wishes she had friends?" Sakitu shakes her head. "You can't be serious Quasit. You think all these bad things she's doing is just because she's lonely?" Sakitu scoffs then peeks at the creature up on the throne just as Fin and Maka attack it. "Well. I guess we'll never find out now."
Sakitu helps Fin recover some of his arrows. Most of the ones she finds are broken but she hands them over anyway. Maybe there is something he can do to fix them. "Fin, do you think we're actually close to finding this evil lady and ending all this?" She speaks softly. "I just want it to be done. I want to go back home." She turns her gaze up to Fin to make eye contact. "I want to take you home and you can meet my parents." She steps closer to Fin and wraps him in a big hug then lets him go. "Look. It looks like Quasit is eager to finish too. She's already heading to the next area." She makes her way carefully across the floor to stand right behind Quasit.
"Quasit! No!" Sakitu starts to follow Quasit as she escapes from the line of fire but seeing Selena go with her, she pauses. It will be better to get rid of all these archers. Selena can fix Quasit. And, truth be told, Sakitu can't do much to help with healing anyway. She turns again to the enemies and unleashes another cone of cold energy at them.
Within a few seconds, the surge of magical energy emanating from Sakitu's hands fades and the blasting cone of cold fades. Sparkling ice crystals float and swirl in the air along the path where her energy was directed. A few of the archers have fallen but there are still three of them firing at her friends. She takes a breath and releases another surge of cold energy.
As the group moves into the fortress, Sakitu grows nervous. The queen certainly isn't going to let them just come straight in and confront her. She follows behind the others and waits when they stop at the second set of doors. Kalchine, Bulvi, and Maka make an effective wall preventing her from seeing clearly into the room. No doubt Fin and Quasit are checking it out. After a few seconds of intense silence, everything bursts into action. Kalchine and Maka move away from the entrance and into the room quickly leaving a gap. Sakitu steps up to where they were.
Sakitu watches the rope slither its way up the wall before Quasit grabs it and starts climbing. She cranes her neck back to look at the top of the wall it is so far away. Just the idea of climbing that whole length makes her arms ache. Shaking her head, she casts a quick spell on herself. A moment later she lifts off the ground, flying past Quasit who is already several feet off the ground. "I'll meet you at the top." She waves and smiles and continues ascending.
"Once we're over there, by the fortress, how will we get in?" Sakitu gazes across the dry plain at the dark fortress. "Maybe there's a tower with a window that we can fly up to and enter that way. I can't tell from here." She watches Kalchine sink into the rock then turns to the rest of the group. "I'm sure we'll figure something out when we're closer. How long will this teleport thing take?"
There's a brief moment of elation as Sakitu feels her magic take hold of the drake. But only a second later her excitement fades. The monster should be an immobile lump hurling through the air but it was still moving. Still flapping its leathery wings and turning in the air. Sakitu shakes her head. That doesn't make any sense. But no time to figure it out now. She focuses on that same drake one more time and throws another barrage of magical energy at it.
If they weren't so deadly, Sakitu would find beauty in the formation of the drakes as they fly swiftly across the bright blue sky. They spin and weave then one dives straight towards her. As it nears it shoots a ball of acid from its open mouth. Sakitu tries to dodge out of the way. She avoids a direct hit but is still burned by the caustic substance. She turns to follow it's flight through the sky. She raises her hands, moving in a complex gesture, and shouts an arcane command directed at the drake.
”I say, Lady Sakitu, how many kingdoms would you care to run? Three is m’absolute limit. M’social calendar gets eveh so full, dewn’t you knew.” Sakitu grows wide-eyed. "Me? Run a kingdom. Oh. I don't think I could run any at all." She looks from Quasit to Fin then to the others before she notices a grin on a few of their faces. "Oh. That was a joke." She blushes but the fur on her faces hides the color. She straightens her shoulders and lifts her chin. "I do say, I believe I could run nine kingdoms with the swish of my tail."
Almost before it's started, the fight with the monster is over. Sakitu looks over to Fin. "That didn't take long. That monsterous thing looked a lot scarier than it was. I guess." She is about to give him a hug when the norm steps out from the tree. "This thread represents Baba Yaga's fate. Twine the thread around the doll and soak them both in the poison blood of the beast. Then bathe the doll in the pool and the bars of her prison will weaken." Sakitu cocks her head to the side, suspicious of a trick. But before she can say anything Selena steps up to take the thread and get the doll from Quasit. A few moments later the deed is done. ”That’s my cue,” Fin says as he draws his bow and warily leads the way down the northwest passage… Sakitu touches him on the arm just before he starts. "Be careful. I know I always say that and it's probably not necessary. But still..."
Sakitu glances up at the ceiling as if she's able to see through it to the attic. It seems too much to hope that whatever there is up there will be simple and safe. But that doesn't bother her. Even just a couple months ago, the thought of facing the unknown sparked bursts of anxiety in her chest but now it was different. Sure, she acknowledged the risk and potential danger, but she had confidence in her friends and even in her self. They had faced so much already and come out ok, mostly. Maybe it was naive but she believed they could do it again. She gave a quick nod of her head. "Right. We should go up there and see what she wants."
Tez marched out of the kitchen with his normal imperious air and walked down the hall leaving the living room. Sakitu guessed he was going to a private room to do the ritual to bring Selena back. It seemed fitting to Sakitu that he would be the one bringing Selena back from where ever it was that her spirit floated. Those two really were cut of the same cloth. She bet that neither of them would be pleased to hear that though. While waiting she watched Fin fiddling with his new gear. He had another stone floating around his head. Those things seemed strange to her but they never got in her way when she kissed him so it was fine. And, whenever he laid down he always put the stones away. He had told her that they gave him some extra magical properties. Maybe she should think of getting a couple of them floating around her head. She tried to imagine what that would be like. Maybe then, when she leaned in for a kiss, her orbiting stones would bump into his. Or, since he was so taller than her, maybe one of her stones would circle around and hit him in the eye. He would half to bat them off like shooing away flies. She raised a hand to her mouth to hide a giggle. At that moment Selena, the new Selena, came walking into the living room. Tez followed behind her. Yep. They both walked with their noses in the air. The same cloth. In fact, Selena was wearing Tez's cloak. Everyone's reaction was predictable. When Selena finally made eye contact with Sakitu she gave a brief smile and waved. "Welcome back." She didn't add 'we missed you' because she wasn't sure if she did miss Selena. But she didn't want to be mean. She expanded her smile and added "I hope your time in limbo wasn't unpleasant."
I like the song selections (the ones I recognize) but I'm completely uninspired when it comes to making up suggestions. And I think my musical tastes overlap very little with what you guys have listed. I don't know all the songs mentioned but I recognize most of the artists. Couldn't necessarily identify those artists by hearing them... My all time favorite band is Dream Theater. You know, I might be able to match you guys to Dream Theater songs. Let me think a bit. Fin:
Repentance Maka:
Awaken The Master Kalchine:
Space-dye Vest Quasit:
Untethered Angel or Barstool Warrior Bulvi:
In The Presence Of Enemies (parts 1 and 2) Selena:
The Spirit Carries On Sakitu:
A View From The Top Of The World As for PF2e, I like it a lot. I like that they've shifted the focus away from simulation and more towards story telling. No where near as many fidgety rules.
Sakitu wakes to find Fin has left. She's starting to get used to that. He told her once that he doesn't need much sleep, if any, and so often, after she falls asleep, he rises. He says it's because he doesn't want to 'disturb her slumber' but she thinks it's also because it's boring to just lay there in the dark next to a sleeping body. Bright sun streams in through one of the hut's windows and the smell of breakfast food floats in the air. She hears someone open the front door. It's Fin. She recognizes the sounds he makes just in the way he moves. A moment later he comes around the corner and spots her. She smiles and lifts her arms to him as he approaches. After he kisses her lightly, he murmurs, ”Hlao-roo, I’m beat…and I smell like four Hells…I’m gonna take a bath with Izzy. I’ve neglected him for far too long and need to maintain my bond with him. When I return, can we take a nap?” Her nose squishes up in a tight wrinkle and blinks tightly a couple times. "Yeah, you, uh, really do smell bad. I'm not sure that Izzy will want to get in the water with you." She giggles and rubs his forearms. He has such nice muscles in his arms. "A nap? But I just woke up and I'm starving. You go take a long bath then when you're done, come find me. Maybe we can go for a walk outside or something. I don't even know when we're making this hut move to the next place though." Once Fin is off to find his hot water, she cleans herself up and follows the smell of food. Approaching the kitchen she hears Maka and Quasit talking but strangely, she sees Kalchine standing just outside the kitchen door, his ears twitching. Is he listening in on their conversation? That is not like him. Maybe there's something else going on. She doesn't want to embarrass him so she backs away without him noticing. She goes back to her backpack to scrounge a snack from her stash. After quite a while, Fin returns. He's smelling much nicer now. "Good bath? Want to go for a walk or did you have something else in mind?"
"I’m already 115 years of age…" "Wait! What? You're 115. That's older than my dad. I mean, I knew that elves aged differently but I didn't know it was that different." Sakitu looks more closely at Fin. He doesn't look like an old man but then he's not. He's a young elf. Didn't he say that he could live to be 700? So then at 115 he is only a fifth of the way through his life. So in elf terms, he's barely an adult. Just like her. "As for magic, you’d know much better than I. While I know of none that can extend life directly, other than reincarnation I suppose, there is magic that can let you avoid the affects of age, in both appearance and physicality…" Sakitu scoffs and shakes her head. "Nope. That's not good enough for me. From what I have seen, magic doesn't follow any rules. So I'm going to find the magic that let's me live as long as you." She shifts from her vulpine to human form and scoots towards Fin, leaning into him. This close, she feels the radiating warmth from his skin. She never wants to lose that feeling. "If I can change like this, then I think anything is possible."
"Wait? You are going to live to be 700 years old? What about me? I won't live that long." Sakitu pulls back and folds her hands in her lap. "I thought we would be together forever. I guess that's stupid, right? So I'll grow old and ugly and you'll just keep being young." She looks out over the snow covered forest floor before her. It's mostly white but there are black patches around the bases of trees where the snow was unable to fall due to the evergreens' branches. Other dark areas appear where she and her friends have walked and stomped around the house. Thick and heavy clouds hover above the trees, hanging low enough that it looks like the tops of the tallest of the pine trees might rip open the sagging belly and dump more snow on them. "You know, it doesn't feel cold to me." She turns her head to look at Fin. "The snow. I think it's my magic. I mean, the magic in my blood or something. But all this," she waves her hand in a wide arc, "It's just the same as if we were having a nice spring day and the forest floor was covered with grass and flowers. I wonder if it is cold for you? If my magic changes that little bit of reality, maybe it can change other things. Other more important things."
As Fin shares more of his past, Sakitu's eyes grow sadder and sadder. "Oh. That is so terrible. Why would people do that? I mean, shunning you like that." She doesn't really expect an answer. She's seen it happening before, even in her own village, but it has never made sense to her. It wasn't that long ago that Selena really bothered her and made her so mad. But even then, she didn't want to push her out and ignore her. Well, maybe she did ignore her sometimes. But that was just temporary. He looks down at his feet, staring at nothing, still stroking her hair. "Let’s just treasure the moments we have for now...and cross that bridge when we get to it..." Sakitu's eyes grow wide. "What do you mean?" There's an edge of concern in her voice. "I mean 'for now'? What's that mean? Don't you want to stay with me forever." She pulls out of his arms and twists her body to face him straight on. "And what bridge are you talking about? Are you already planning something?"
"As for going back to Golarion, there or here, makes no real difference to me. Unlike most of you, I have no family to go back to…I have no home…right now, the Hut has been as much a home to me as anywhere else I’ve lived…although I do find myself remembering rafting across the River Kingdoms, watching the sunrise, watching the sunset…nothing so soothing as watching the sunlight reflect off the river at those times…" Sakitu pulls back so the she can get a good look at his face. "You don't have a home? I didn't know that. I mean I know that you've talked about losing people in your past but I didn't know that meant everyone." She paused for a moment to think then she started slowly. "If you don't have a home, maybe you can come to live with us. At my home. I mean, I still live with my parents. Or I did, before I left on this trip. But when we get back I'm sure you could stay with us." |
