Someone tell me if I'm wrong, but I think it's up to GM Poly to add you to the Discord. And since they're not around, I think this might not happen. But fingers crossed.
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Silvio feels at a loss for what he could do that would impress anybody. Other than perhaps calling forth magic. And if Sledge's experience taught him anything, it's that he didn't want to draw attention to himself using magic. He decides that the most impressive thing he had to offer was actually Winter! Silvio lets out a whistle, and Winter comes. "Good boy! Let's show these folks what you can do!" . Winter sits, stands, twirls, rolls, and jumps on command! He even runs through an impromptu obstacle course. The display goes remarkably well--perhaps his trusty companion was starved for attention. At the end of the show, he gives Winter a warm, affectionate hug. * * * Silvio saves a portion of his dinner for Sledge--it wasn't much hardship when he received human-sized servings.
When he gets the chance, Silvio finds a private moment for himself and then conjures some healing.
The mask and robes hide a lot, but Jia may notice that Silvio has healed surprisingly quickly.
Are you kidding me? What Krant did was horrible! And he gets less punishment than Sledge? It was interesting to get a peek at Krant's face, though. It looked like a face that had endured many trials.
Silvio slowly moves toward Sledge as he calls out. He's still baffled at how Sledge can call forth healing! But he accepts it all the same. "Thank you, Brother Sledge," he states, getting in on the act. He does actually feel a fair bit better. "Truly remarkable!"
Silvio gasps as he receives a vicious kick in the gut that knocks the wind out of him. As his face hits the dirt, he's glad for once that he has the stupid mask on--it keeps the dirt from digging into his face. "No, no more!" he gasps. "I'm sorry, I'll pray harder!" Pray harder to Erastil, of course. He's glad a second time for the masks that hide his pathetic cowering in front of all the other acolytes. Oh, Krant was going to pay for this--Silvio now owed Krant two Krantings.
Silvio really, really wants to put up a fight. But there was a mission. Always the mission. He would endure what he had to. And perhaps heal a lot more quickly than one might expect, thanks to Erastil's favor.
The thought of getting his possessions back was very enticing. Had they completed their first level of initiation, then? At the very least, he felt prepared to just leave if he had to. Still, he needed to complete the day's labors. It turns out that being a shepherd had its uses--there were herd animals to tend to.
Then it was morning prayers, which he silently directed at Erastil for favor, and lunch to recover and to share information learned. Some cleaning had to be done, it felt quite excessive and unnecessary, like much of what he had already experienced. He was simultaneously grateful and annoyed that Sledge was with him. "Where in the nine hells were you, Sledge? Get any more visits from Razmir while the peons slaved away?" He was genuinely curious. "I'm doing fine," he adds. "One step down, just 30 to go." It turns out that talking with Sledge and cleaning at the same time is not the most efficient strategy. Silvio becomes exhausted from the effort.
The last, most arduous task was transcription. This was probably not going to end well.
Sledge! How are you? So glad to have you back!
Silvio is relieved to see not Krant give them their final task. At least, he's relieved until he realizes what the task is. He lets out a silent groan in his mind, and gets to work. But he positions himself next to his companions as he writes. "Psst. I need to tell you something. Winter found a bone today. But not just any bone. A humanoid leg bone. We need to be very careful here." It takes him 3 hours of work to complete his task, which honestly is less than he expected given that he was writing what felt to him like blasphemy.
Silvio freezes for a moment, chilled by the discovery. "Oh, this is something. Something really bad," decides Silvio. "Where did you find this?" Winter continues to yip, wanting to play fetch and not tell Silvio where he found it. "Hush!" Silvio tries to quiet Winter, then starts looking around for a place to hide the bone. "We can't let anyone find this!"
"Hey! Where'd you find that thing?" asks Silvio as Winter returns with a bone. Given the kind of slop they were eating, sure seemed weird that he'd snag any bone, let alone such a large one. Looking around to make sure he's truly alone, he utters a quiet prayer to Erastil and takes a careful look at it.
Silvio contents himself with some playtime with Winter! He truly hoped this initiation would end soon. He didn't feel like he could learn the deeper secrets of this place as a mere initiate.
When he has time to himself again, Silvio immediately goes to find Winter, offering him some of the unexciting slop that he had been given to eat. A small benefit of being a halfling given human-sized portions was that it was easy enough to share. "There's a good boy, Winter! We gotta keep a low profile so Krant doesn't come up with any ideas. I heard someone talk about putting you in a kennel, you know."
Silvio grins as he seems to make some new connections. It was tricky trying to tell everyone apart with the masks. Maybe his advantage was that everyone could pretty easily know who he was. "Thanks, friend. The name's Silvio." He offers a hand stretching upward to each of them and tries to catch some names. After a bit of mingling, he adds. "Any idea what Krant is going to do with Elvar? I'm still hurting a bit from the morning," he notes, rubbing his injured leg.
Silvio shoots back at the man who so weakly insulted his god. "Oh Abadar, god of wealth? Or should I say god of the wealthy? Those hoity toity nobles collectin' coin and keepin' it for themselves!" It felt kind of easy to criticize Abadar--he didn't much like the deity. Of course, Razmir was starting to feel a bit like Abadar in some ways--there was an excessive interest in money. He sidesteps the question about why he stopped following Erastil and instead tries answering the question about why he would follow Razmir. "Why worship a god when you can be one? Just gotta keep following the steps. One down, 30 to go!"
With walking instruction over, Silvio finds a rag and works to wrap his injured foot. . With some bandaging, he seems to be much better. Silvio decides he ought to try and make a friend. Or so he hoped. He tries to pick someone who seems like an ally against Krant. "I worshipped Erastil," he says. Still did, but he leaves that part out. "What about you?" He's not sure he could really bring himself to insult the gods, but he did know a thing or two to say.
At this point, Silvio wanted one thing and one thing only--to make Krant pay for all of the abuse he had endured. Sure, perhaps he had broken some stupid, inane rule of Razmir. But to be punished, called out for being a smallfolk, and then forced to endure "walking instruction" on top of that . . . oh, there would come a day, he promised himself. Nursing his thoughts of vengeance allowed him to keep going.
Hello! I am on the other side of my busy period a month sooner than I expected! I am going to catch up on life and get back into things. Thanks for keeping me botted during my time away.
Hi folks, my theory that things would be better in a week was too optimistic. I suspect work is going to keep me from posting for the next couple of months, with late September being the time where I can jump back in. I have a September 21 deadline I'm facing, and there may be spillover / I'll need to recover. I'm really sorry for the trouble. I will roll with whatever solution makes sense to you. Happy to have my character botted or have my character or just step away from the action temporarily. If you prefer to move on entirely, I'm okay with that too; I don't want to sap the momentum of any of my games.
Silvio had to admit that the inner sanctum was impressive. The way the emerald bathed the room in green, the murals depicting Razmir's story, the 31 steps. It was all much grander than the modest temple of Erastil in Kassen. He takes a single step and stops, as he has been instructed.
Welcome, Jia. Excited to have you aboard! Definitely curious how you'll get introduced--there's always the possibility of more jail cells, it seems.
Silvio is more annoyed with the headshake than he is the loss of water. Accepting his fate, he settles in with Winter for a long rest.
Silvio probably has a good view of the water being spilled. He's extremely annoyed and wants to say something snooty. But then he comes up with another idea. "Give him my portion of water," he offers. Maybe he'd be punished for that. But he wanted to show solidarity with Charles. And perhaps it was a test of what this new god or his followers valued. Community? Or obedience?
"Nice to meet you again, Evlar," he says, once the silence finally breaks. "Doing fine. Let's hope it's just a day in these cells," he later replies to Charles and Garen. At least he wasn't alone. Silvio reaches out and gives Winter a rub, and decides to have some of the water.
Silvio is annoyed that only one bowl of water has been pushed through. But so it goes. He sets it down and lets Winter sniff at it, not entirely trusting drinks from the robed priests. If Winter seems okay with it, Silvio decides to drink also, not wanting to be dehydrated. "I don't see why meditation needs a jail cell," he complains once the robed ones have left. "So, what's your name?" he asks of the unknown half-elf. "Do you think that Sledge got to skip initiation because of his special connection to Razmir?" After all, Sledge had yet to answer. In truth, Silvio was worried for his frenemy and how they might have viewed his wooden mask. He keeps the robe aside for the moment, not sure he should sully it in this prison. But he intends to put it on later, once his boredom pushes him toward sleep.
Sounds good, thanks!
Winter barks as he hears Garen, signaling his own presence. "Garen! It's Silvio. I'm in a cell with Winter. This must be the test, right?" He goes for the bars too. Maybe they would be too wide to contain a halfling? "Anyone else here?" he asks. He wonders if the half-elf that joined the initiation with them was present. He starts looking and feeling around for anything out of the ordinary that might be a way out.
Winter begins sniffing around too.
Finding himself in darkness, Silvio reflexively reaches out to his holy symbol as a divine focus for a light spell before realizing that he surrendered his holy symbol before coming here. Maybe it was just as well--Silvio did not have a good explanation for calling on holy power. And perhaps they were being watched. He's grateful to find himself not separated from Winter--at least they kept that promise. He walks to the iron bars and tries to gaze through the darkness. "Hello? Anyone there?"
Silvio stays with Winter by himself for a while, content to finish his food and also to let Winter eat as well. Eventually, though, he joins the half-elf and the robed ones he's with. "I'm glad to take the first step, but my faithful dog needs a place, too. Can I keep him by my side through these trials?"
Sorry for the absence, had a good but busy weekend followed by busy work week.
The halfling watches as the Razmirans come in. It was quite the spectacle, and a little faster than he realized. But he says what he figures he ought to say. "I will join him. All hail the Living God!"
Silvio watches expectantly as the conversation continues, wondering how convincing Sledge could be. This felt like an early test.
Cabbage and lamb spill out of his mouth as Silvio laughs as he hears Garen--Garen!--tell a joke. He quickly wipes his mouth with a napkin. "How do you know he didn't earn it?" asks the halfling.
”Sorry boss, not fighting, just talking.” Silvio is still suspicious of this new fellow, but keeps his cool as the others seem content to chat. ”Go ahead and order, he offers. Winter starts to sniff the stranger out, on alert because Silvio is.
"Cabbage and lamb, and something for Winter sounds great," agrees Silvio. He wondered how much it costs to rent out an entire tavern and decides that the Razmirans must be doing well for themselves. As the faraway-seated stranger enters and begins mocking them, Silvio calls out in return. "Do you have a problem with my friend, here? Because if you do, you have a problem with me!" Silvio was a little surprised to see himself close ranks with Sledge. Maybe that's just what happens after sharing multiple near-death experiences.
"Yup. Just didn't realize it was exclusive," responds Silvio. "Leg of mutton?" he inquires. "Or whatever other meat you have handy. And some ale," he adds, wanting to not order an excessively elaborate meal.
"Quiet night?" asks Silvio, as the short, powerful man invites them to take a seat. He was genuinely surprised to see the place so empty, especially compared to the crowd he'd seen during the preaching. Silvio looks for a table that'd be the right size for the group of them and--most importantly--had a shorter distance between the seat height and the table height. It was a reflexive move coming from a lifetime of adjusting to human establishments.
As Silvio meanders through the town, he yearns to enter the Weathered Sail but remembers his friends' warning to not seem too close. The businesses within provide an excuse to enter, though, and he and Winter step foot inside. In his mind, Silvio silently prays for a sign from Erastil of what Old Deadeye might want to do with these Razmirans who so openly scorned him and the other gods. Surely the fact that the priest channeled healing meant that Razmir was not evil, right? That's how he had always understood it. Eventually, he finds himself reunited with the others and shares his findings about the marketplace, the Forest Marshal's home, the Weathered Sail, and the places they'd already heard or seen.
"I'll spend a bit more time exploring before meeting at the Ranger's Lament. I think Winter and I could use a break from the town." He'll spend a bit of time exploring the town environs ahead of their next meeting.
"Infiltrating the Razmirans isn't easy for some of us, Speaker." The halfling climbs down the chair and approaches Aromina. "But I've spent some time reading about Kelinahat. And I see the wisdom of doing so, even while it poses a challenge to my faith." He takes out The Dark and the Light from his bag and takes off the holy symbol of Erastil that was tucked under his chain shirt. "Would you please keep these safe? If the worst happens, Father Prasst would appreciate his book back." He looks to Garen and nods, knowing their shared challenges. Although unlike Garen, Silvio never did take vows of the paladin.
Can Silvio cast spells without a holy symbol? Because it sure seems like he'll need to ditch that for a time. I don't mind if that's the case.
"Interesting," offers Silvio, sitting on the chair designated for him. He says little more, though, as he waits for the more eloquent to speak.
"I'll be honest, not sure how any of this connects to what happened back home," whispers Silvio to the others. The crazy rumors they were hearing didn't feel particularly real to him.
Silvio nods in agreement. "You missed the sermon. They're recruiting at the Ranger's Lament tonight." He tilts his head toward the smaller building in the shadow of the Razmiran temple. "We can come back here later." Concluding his study of the temple and guards, Silvio begins shuffling back toward their meeting. Though he keeps a worried glance around out of concern that they might be followed.
As the priests withdraw into the compound, Silvio looks up at the imposing, nearly windowless building, along with the patrolling masked followers of Razmir. What kind of temple is sealed from the outside world like this? A temple is supposed to invite worshippers, right? He was curious what weapons the guards might favor and whether they, too, had divine power. Did Razmir have paladins? That would certainly say something about their god. He looks for signs of the white, grey, or black robes that apparently signified some sort of rank.
Distant gods? The gods aren't distant--people are! At least that's how Silvio thinks of the problem when the preacher complains. And lesser? How does a new god think himself greater than the others? It all felt absurd to him. He was thankful that the white-robed priest had focused his attention on Sledge, and that Charles had fished out a few coins in response. He knew he ought to do the same, but couldn't bring himself to do it. He then watches as the head priest channels a wave of energy among the crowd, a wave that the crowd was clamoring for. "What was that?" he asks in surprise, loud enough that it's not clear if he was talking to his companions or those around him in the crowd. Perhaps it was just the type of channeling that Father Prasst also offered? Even so, it seemed to prove that the priest truly had a connection to the divine.
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