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Sometimes RL happens. Sometimes, it's terrible, and sometimes it's wonderful. But all things in this world seem to come to an end, and there is always grief. It was a pleasant dream to see if it could work again for us, thanks for bringing it together, Grimold.
"He's dominated." stated the half elf simply. "If we release him now, he'd not be on our side. Both the illusion and domination effect state that we're dealing with an extremely skilled arcane caster, one whose spells would not be easy to dispel. We have two choices with the Lord Watcher. One, we knock him out and take him back, or two, we deal with the caster threat, despite the possibility of being severely overmatched by a far stronger foe than we've ever seen." The half elf scratched his chin, finding the lone whisker and rubbing on it in a small circle. While he did so, he focused on the other prisoner as well. More information was always welcome. "Regardless of either property, we'll want the Lord Watcher alive." He pulled out a bit of rations and handed it to whomever would take it. "See if he'll eat this. We'll want him to keep up his strength." A plan started to formulate in his mind, but he wasn't quite ready to divulge it.
Seeing through the illusion finally, Daen stated it outright. "It's probably him, although I can't be a hundred percent sure since he looks a bit emaciated. If he's under influence of a spell, I don't have the ability to get rid of that, unless we go and defeat the caster. There won't really be any other way to do it without convincing him to just let him go. I'm willing to entertain that if it's possible, however unlikely."
The half elf stepped forward and glared into the glammer. "I remember what he looks like, but I'll have to make sure I can pierce the illusion. It's not always easy, even if you know it's there."
The swordsman stood by with his arms crossed. It wasn't important for him to get into this matter. He of all people was least qualified for this kind of work, possibly excepting Ellie. The best thing he could do was listen and analyze the information as it came in. He had learned Orcish from Zohruk early in their relationship, and found it pretty useful on the battlefield as well. Perhaps this particular stop will help, perhaps it won't, but to him it was worth the risk. Third Watch (Finally!): “Hmmph. You do realize that Taj was also born to unwed parents, yes?” Shivaji spreads his arms, feeling anger on behalf of this young man. “Will she also have to contend with this sort of nonsense??? How can the noble houses of Avistan be so cold? Isn’t their frigid climate enough? We Mwangi are a bit more flexible on the matter of children born out of wedlock. We care about bloodlines and heritages, but we don’t force couples to marry just because they had a child. Nor do we punish children for the sins of their parents!” The half elf shrugged. "A parent with a lack of self control will likely pass such traits on to their children. Offspring without either or both parents have several disadvantages in addition to that, including but not limited to:" He began to count on his fingers. "Higher likelihood of crime and a duplicitous or deceptive nature, unfavorable or unplanned family traits, lack of social training, unclear notions of familial bonds and ability to relate, constant family strife concerning inheritance, title, position and opportunities." He threw up his open hands in a careless nature, as if he just recited the former list from a book, which in fact he had. " A consistent home life is the ideal way to better society since a disproportionate number of societal ills can be directly linked to family problems. The lack of acceptance of a bastard child is the cruelest punishment for any parent if they actually care about such children. So if any care for children, the social contract of marriage is in fact the most important contract of society. The very human heart also testifies to this, as the vast majority of those who love, should love at least until death, preferably farther." At this point, he stopped his recitation partially relieved that it was over and glanced out of the tops of his eyes as he raised his eyebrows at the oracle. "It's a philosophy that has run circles around chaotic barbarians for generations, and though it has its flaws, it has created a strong, advanced, and numerous people who has thoroughly won wars against all other cultures founded the strongest and most numerous cities on Golarion, not to mention this little country that has been fighting a three front war for a hundred years without losing ground until this past month." He shrugged again. "Might as well throw out tradition that doesn't suit me personally, except that usually leads to the downfall of said society and ruination of the people I've come to care for despite their usually justified prejudices. We've a long history of struggle, and it's the thing that has kept us going. For us to abandon it now, we might actually lose the reason why we are even fighting for the things we fight for. Those back home. Those who cannot take care of themselves. We fight for our families, and the stronger they are, the greater the strength we derive from them. I would love someday to have a home, but until then, I'll fight for the idea of one, and for my brothers and sisters in arms that have them. Grimold and the Tillernos Sisters have overcome great obstacles, and even things that would have easily destroyed me because of their families. It's a force to be reckoned with." The half elf picked up his quill and ink again, but refrained from dipping the writing instrument again. "Can the prejudice be overcome? Yes. But such things take time. And I'm patient. One good thing of my elven blood is that I'll have the time to prove myself before I get too old. Taj actually won't have a problem because the issue is usually family driven. Zoh is from Belzken, and they have an entirely different philosophy. That you'll have to take up with him." “But I hope that won’t be how it happens. ‘Sour bastard’ or not, I enjoyed talking to you, Sir Daen. I’m glad that my Taj and her Knight have you to lead them. Would you like me to usher in the next spirit? Entertaining as this has been, I know that I’m not the only spirit you need to talk to tonight.” "It has been a pleasure talking with you, I am ready to meet the rest. I certainly have a fair amount of notes already, and the more advisers, the better the plans."
Good news for me, the wife is no longer on bedrest. I should have an hour or two each day to check the forums, and I can put in a good post sometime tomorrow afternoon. I'm still here, but I may not be able to do the long posts for another week as I get caught up on things.
"Come on Daen," she says, her eyes twinkling, "Even you must admit that this feels fantastic? - It's like being a bird, Like,.... pure freedom!" When Kassie swooped over with her trademark smile and twinkle, Daen stiffened a bit. Though some might consider her mood to be irreverent, it was important to keep morale high. Morose attitudes didn't exactly make for good soldiers. It's probably why the squad was more than half full of cheerful people. "I can admit that, actually." He did his own full turn to look at the sky and back down at the distant ground. "We're certainly making good ground as well. I'd like to travel this way all of the time." ------------------------------------------------------------------- Having heard the report traveling through the mind link Daen processed the information as best he could. Standing orcs? They might be under some kind of magical effect? Were there traps, or something more sinister afoot? He started puzzling it out loud, so people would know where he's coming from. "We're going to need more information. It's my guess that the Lord Watcher is below, although I've got no way to determine what we're dealing with. We can bypass the whole lot with our wind spell and go down the hole, or we can fight our way through them. I'm interested in those orc prisoners, we might be able to get more information out of them or some of the other orcs as well. But that hole is where the question truly lies, if we fight our way through, we might find out what we're up against, but if we bypass the lot, we'll also come upon the Lord Watcher with more resources and less wounds." He squinted his eyes for a minute, and noted how restless they all were. If they let these orcs go, when they had a chance to beat them, then they'd be able to live on to kill their countrymen at a another time. But if they alerted the enemy or arrived too late, they would have their Commander's life on their hands... "We'll sneak past in mist form and go down the hole together. Taj, if you can make a bridge out of moonlight once we pass through so we can't be followed, we'll have a better comfort about that. Our priority is locating and rescuing the Lord Watcher, I'm sure we'll have no end of opportunities to kill orcs at another time. While we're going down, I'd like to have a bit of a chat with the orc prisoners, see if they can tell us anything. I'll take volunteers to do the talking, although I don't mind doing it, I know where my strengths lie."
Daen nodded at Taj's suggestion and colored everyone white before they left. The trip was somewhat uneventful and the landscape was exactly as he'd expected from the reports. He didn't really understand the shock that Taj and others had expressed about the landscape of corpses, nor had he ever. It just was perhaps something missing in his heart. He knew that the loss of so many troops put Lastwall in a terrible position, and he knew that his friends he knew from training were likely strewn about that field. He also knew he could do nothing about it now, nor would he likely ever. The best he could do is protect what he had. As they traveled through the wind, Daen began his speech. "Though the prospect is grim, the rewards of protecting one's own at personal cost is laudable. The darker the fate, the brighter the victory, should it be possible. On that field are countless tales of bravery, those willing to be the wall for their friends, their families and their countrymen. We will all die some day. What better way to die if one has to, than to sell your life at a premium, protecting your family and loved ones from the same and letting them live in peace? I am actually glad to have a purpose, and a reason to live and to die. I wouldn't trade it for anything." Sense Motive:
Daen has most likely composed this particular speech ahead of time and memorized it. Though his delivery was a little wooden, it still came from the heart. Along the way, Daen noticed that his form and weapon were nearly useless in this state. In order to do anything but move, they'd have to become corporeal again. When they arrived at the fort, Daen nodded at his friend. "You should have your vision, but take Grimold with you for back up. If you meet resistance, just run. We'll have to find a quiet place to all switch back from cloud form, so that's your top priority for now."
"We'll take the scrolls and leave our horses here." He motioned with an air of finality. "If it's magic, the horses won't get us anywhere faster and if Taj can cast from them we'll have much more versatility than our horses can afford. Besides, we should be able to get a bit of scouting in the area before we release the spell. As we approach, do a circle around the fort to see what we're dealing with. As long as we have daylight, the main forces should have trouble seeing us, but they also have others on their side, so we'll have to be wary. Stay high and at the end of your vision and we'll decide the best approach from there."
Sorry it's been a really crazy week. I've been meaning to post and I have had to pull four double shifts. I'll get something up in a couple hours.
So, due to work slamming me this week, I have to work 107 hours in 8 days and my wife and kids would actually like to see me. I can post, but it's going to be short most likely, and not until later tonight. That being said, Wind Walk is a fantastic spell for espionage. Daen doesn't know how good it is. I was hoping to be able to use it throughout as it lasts for hours per level and can be turned on and off with just five rounds. When wished, we could all retain Gaseous Form and fly, fit through cracks, and if we wear white, we'll likely simply be only recognized as clouds or a mist. I was kinda hoping the cleric would fill him in on the particulars of the spell, but if Malleus just wants us to get there in an hour for story purposes, I can understand that. It may not fit his goal of what we have to do at the keep, and we can just try to do whatever he has planned. I'm just kinda at a loss, but I'm willing to go with whatever will make it easier on our GM, as I'm not particularly interested in just causing trouble or making his first major scenario go entirely off script.
As they left the tent and met the High Priest. Daen rubbed the lone whisker on his chin as he processed the information. He'd heard of wind walking, but that was about it. He needed more information. "Orren, can you give me more information as to exactly how this spell works? How long does it last, what exactly does it do? Can we take a scroll to the Lord Watcher and use it to bring him home? Can we take the scrolls with us and have a speedy return trip as well? The more fully informed we are, the better we can use the assets we have. I'd trade a few horses to finish our job within the sum of three hours." When Taj mentioned that it might be good to bring their horses, the swordsman frowned. He'd hoped that Taj might have been able to cast such scrolls, at which he would have taken as many of those scrolls as they were allowed to. "Our primary goal is to rescue the Lord Watcher, even at the cost of our own lives. Time is of the essence in any rescue, and it's going to be far more useful to get there fast than it will be to wait. I also can provide a few horses in a pinch, as you well know."
Daen processed the information as quickly as possible. Four days march, two days on horseback, they had a long journey ahead of them to get to the keep. Keeping the information from the troops was fairly necessary at the time, but it would cause problems if they weren't able to have a successful mission. As optimistic as his leaders were, Daen held a bit of a different view but for the moment he held his tongue. "Of course the Lord Watcher takes precedence. We will accomplish this mission with regard to it's importance." Daen said cooly and saluted before following the rest of the group out. Once out of the hut, Daen immediately sought out his Half-Orc friend and clapped him on the shoulder, looking him dead in the eye. "Our sworn duty is to uphold Vigil and Lastwall. That being said, we must follow our orders to the best of our abilities. However, if the Lord Watcher is alive as they claim. He outranks what orders we've received and can send us up to the Burning Suns directly should he understand the benefit. Don't abandon your hopes yet. There may be room for both."
Sorry, bit of a day. Will post later, feel free to move things forward. Daen will do a report and ask for any more details before heading out. Again, sorry.
Third Watch: Glancing up from his notes, Daen frowns. A little quid pro quo was natural in an interview, but personal questions were a bit annoying to him. He may as well bite the bolt and get the moment to pass by. "I was an illegitimate child, but my mother raised me to love just one person. I find it's a natural inclination as well. If I am to fall in love, it will be with my whole heart leaving nothing back. I know myself at least that well."
He leaned back in his seat, stretching a little from being hunched over taking notes. Knowing that it was a semi-private conversation, his thoughts seemed to flow relatively smoothly. "As for opportunity, I haven't spent much time with people except my fellow knights, and while there have been plenty of ladies among them, the families of ladies don't appreciate long term relationships with bastards. I've had a couple sweet on me, but it would have never worked out in the long run." Again his thoughts turned to Elyssa and how upset she was as well as her father. That wasn't something he wanted to get into again. "These Tillernos sisters are a bit different, as their mother respects me at least, but Allie has been with a certain gentleman since our training days and Kassie is a lot like you. I doubt she'll ever settle down. Even if she did, and it was me, I'd likely be quite jealous. At this rate, it would take some kind of divine appointment or near ridiculous turn of events to find me happily ever after. A rescue and instant chemistry would have done the trick. Just be happy it was Zoh who was sent on that mission and not someone else, or Taj might have been stuck with a sour bastard like me instead of a nice guy like the one she ended up with." "As for Gita, don't worry. I practice discretion. You really are used to being talked about behind your back, aren't you. That's one of the aspects of multiple partners that I don't miss."
The D Squad moved through the encampment with no less than a stir. While his teammates attempt to excite the morale of the battleweary. The sullen half elf did exactly what the other half elf mentioned. He stationed his horse outside the command tent and reported in. After all, what did they have to celebrate? What did they have to show? The army they were riding through had known nothing but defeat, and five knights along with one conscript weren't going to change the fact that ten times the expected amount of orcs lay just beyond their sight. But he wasn't going to change his own. Their exuberance was their strength as much as his cold reason was his. They had much to do, and this is where he would shine. "Sir Daen reporting, I need to speak to the precentor. Third Watch: Still doing his best to take notes and keep ripe fruit out of his head, Daen continued the interview. This one seemed to be quite willing to chat concerning the nature of Taj's power. Hopefully he'd not get too distracted too quickly. "So, you're aware of what you wish to be aware of. That seems consistent with the living. So were you a Yisik before you passed on? Is your relationship with the other spirits as close as Taj?"
Third Watch: Daen continued to avert his gaze as Shivaji drew attention to the low hanging fruit. "I am a man of my word, although I will admit I didn't expect to be as embarrassed as she will be or is?" The last statement turned into a bit of a question as he realized something. "ThWhat exactly are each of you aware of? Or what can you be aware of?"
It was a good thing that his curiosity for how the spirits organized themselves overwhelmed the recent curiosity of Taj's mangoes, whatever those were. He finally realized he'd also dropped his quill and ink, making a fair bit of a mess on his boots. He cast a quick cantrip to clean up the mess, but lamented the loss.
Daen awoke, did his exercises and studied his book for the day, trying to fit in whatever he might need. Since he didn't have any solid plans yet, he decided to leave a place open for additional spells on the fly. An extra fifteen minutes for the right spell might make all the difference. As they prepared to go, the swordsman took inventory and made sure everything was packed. Taj looked chipper, the Tilernos sisters were ready and Grimold was.... Well he was Grimold. "We'll have a short jaunt until we're there. I hope you are all decently rested. We'll want to assault any orcs during the day while they suffer from their light blindness, but for the rescue we may have to adjust our timetable according to what would be best. Mount up and let's go." Third Watch: Having mostly recovered from the shock, Daen summoned the willpower to look away. Something was off, something was not quite right, and perhaps the lack of understanding wasn't limited to Gita. There was definitely some things these spirits were unaware of, so he had to stop assuming they did. "I'm sure the elves didn't mind as much, but one thing you might want to remember is that women in the human culture in Avistan don't bare their chests but to lovers and nursing babes. I apologize for the rudeness I showed earlier, but my inexperience in such matters has put me into a bit of shock. I may wish to talk to you at another time, but for now if you would simply let me speak to the next spirit, I would be terribly appreciative." It seemed that it was rather hot for the night time, and he was sure his cheeks and the tips of his ears were quite flushed at the moment. He simply needed a minute to cool his head.
Once it was determined that the night was quiet again, Daen immediately rushed to his belongings and pulled out his quill and paper. "I'm going to write down what I remember." Thinking about the descriptions of the 'master', the half elf puzzled what it might be. After finishing his notes, he looked up at Kassie. "I'm not sure what he was talking about, but he was describing something that is definitely unique. It could be some kind of dragon, but I'm thinking that it's likely a demon of some kind. It opened it's diatribe with disdain toward loyalty. Then praising temptation and crying out to mother Abysmal, it seems quite clear."
That's why you need more math. Math saved Daen from a similar fate!
What? I'm just going with the mood. It's nature appreciation time! Nature is good!"
Third Watch: Ah. That made sense why she'd be so embarrassed. The half elf thought he had been prepared for anything. He could not recall a time in which he had been more wrong. Averting his gaze would be the best thing to do, but he didn't know if he quite had the will power. Still something had to be done.
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh hhhhhhhhhhhhhhh," he managed. Perhaps words weren't on the table of possibilities either. Logic! The cold logic of mathematics was his only savior at this moment. The many non-repeating digits of Tau were his hope. 6.2831853071... It was working. He could feel the blood returning to his mind from the other places it had rushed. "I hadn't thought of it in particular." 7958647692"I happen to be distracted as well. Perhaps it's catching."
Third Watch: Zemwaar- Terse, straight foward, man of action.
"We are a bit of a skirmishing force, that's true. We can hold ourselves in regular battle fairly well, but generally we're pulling clandestine and special operations. As far as the interview, it's important to know what goes on in the heads of those around you. It's just that Rataji has more going on in her head than usual." He regards the vessel and agrees with that statement. This one would definitely give him honest and exact information, no wasted words here. "Send out whoever is next, but I did appreciate our small chat. It's good when people are honest with one another."
I'm sure we can work you up an exit when we get to the forward camp. I'm sure it will take a while to do the rescue. We can always figure things out from there. Take care of what you need to take care of.
Third Watch: "Aiiie, Babushka. It seems I got under your skin a little. Don't worry about such a thing, it's just a tactic to get the person you are talking to to reveal more about themselves than they wanted to. I'm sure you're familiar? Questions have their place, but it has been interesting to get to know you this way, Gita the Fat." He rescued his quill and poised to write again.
Ignorant of magic, doting grandmother. Possible reference for parenting. "I don't need to see a Yisik in battle to know the principles of magic. There are ten levels, or circles of magic. Discounting the parlor tricks most any magical practitioner can do, there are nine circles left that can be grouped into threes. Both your Rataji and I can cast from the first three, and I only consider magic to be a passionate hobby. She'll surpass me, likely quite soon, but for now what she's capable is considered minor." "I will say this, you did raise her well, despite your fears. From what she says of her father, I imagine you were all fairly instrumental in the job to varying degrees. You're right to throw emphasis on the 'if' when it comes to my parenting. As you can tell, I don't exactly have the winning personality. It suits what I need for now though, and my particular interest is survival for the moment, should that opportunity arise later, I'll devote myself as fervently to that as I have to war." Seeing how the interview had come to an end naturally, he nodded as the exchange of body took place and he had someone new to talk to. "Likely we will be killing orcs tomorrow, perhaps the next day at the latest. Reports are telling us that they are vast in number, so there will be plenty to do. You must be even more of a warrior than Gita with that kind of thirst for a good fight. Have you had a good many worthy fights? *Orcish word of the day- Babushka=Grandma in Russian.
Third Watch: "You don't mind if I keep some notes do you?" the half elf questioned as he pulled out a quill and parchment without waiting for an affirmative. "I let you under my skin because that's what I expect you wanted. After all, you seemed satisfied enough with my answers."
Gita- Prideful, Obnoxious, "The only thing an elf has every done for me is raping my mother causing my family disown me. Please understand if I'm not flattered by the affiliation." He continues to make notes. "I also never called yourself disrespectful, you did that yourself. Unobservant, Assuming, out of touch. "Tradition of a bride price would normally cause us to give the cattle to her father, or nearest kin. I would only consent to giving anything to her father if he crawled back to her on his hands and knees, weeping and apologizing for trying to sell her to an orcish warlord. Especially one with such a reputation for such brutal acts as that one had. Currently she has no other kin, save yourselves, but you have no need for cattle nor do you have need for money yourselves, so the only one in her family who'd receive it is Taj herself, which is hardly traditional in itself." The half elf cracked his knuckles and continued, hardly complete in his destruction of her idea. As far as the thirteen cows, I wouldn't dream of doing something so frivolous. Status in our country has nothing to do with how many cattle one owns, it has to do with title and station. Currently, Zohruk has a title equal to or greater than all but about forty five people in all of Lastwall if reports are to be believed. If being in the uppermost tenth of a percent and being a household name isn't good enough for you, I'm sure dropping over six hundred gold on a wedding ring would do the trick, especially since he already bought her a fine horse. Not only would the ring be more sightly, but it's far more ostentatious in our society. Should we come out victorious, I still can't foresee when even the practical aspect of owning cattle will outweigh several hundred years of tradition. Of tradition I'm sure you'll understand, people cling to it for no practical reason, and it makes them predictable." Sighing, he pulled out his glasses and hung them low on his nose before continuing, dipping his quill in the ink more out of habit than of utility. "To be honest there are some who might say that besides her obvious attractiveness and minor magical talents, Taj is not really bringing any advantage to a popular young man like Zoh who would have done much better to marry into a local knight's family, or possibly a favored daughter of his own tribe. Her father is a known supplier of our enemy as well. So, as long as my new little sister can distinguish herself in battle, she'll be worthy to marry one of the knights of Lastwall. If she doesn't, she'll likely ruin his career if they both aren't dead. Then instead of castles, servants and large estates, they might just have enough to wander the hills with thirteen cows." "But not me." He said, finally leaving the quill in it's well. "That flag is some of my strongest proof she's worthy. The guts it takes to carry a flag into battle is immense, and especially true of a recent conscript. This girl is going to either turn the tide of battle along side D squad or inspire a generation of bards to sing of our valiant sacrifice. It may take some time for her to grow into her role, but she's a welcome member of our team. It was Zohruk who inspired her to take that step, so it's fine that they are together. They are both more capable than you're letting on, and you know it. Although if your still this interested in being grumpy about it, I won't expect you to tell me I'm right later."
Third Watch:
Daen waves off the idea of what they would say being embarrassing. "I have no family but the Knights of Ozem. Your oath made us siblings. You have become my little sister. I might be stern with you, but I will protect you in any way I am capable." He said it matter of fact, even slightly annoyed, as if it should have been obvious to her from the start.
As Gita began speaking, Daen saw her offensive nature from the start was intended to get him to backpedal and capitulate. She was a warrior, or so she said, so perhaps she wanted to spar. "I am Daen of no other name. I earned my place from the respect of my peers and valuation of my superiors. I have led my squad through seven successful missions against foes superior in physical strength, age, and number. I do not need someone unable or unwilling to see that I do not have any more elven blood than her own kin to appraise me according to my appearance." He tented his fingers and narrowed his blue eyes. "Cheerful greetings aside, if you treat me with a modicum of respect, I will listen to what wisdom you've earned from your lifetimes of war. If you refuse, you're more of a danger to Rataji than I am. As I'm sure that you are aware, discipline in the ranks saves more lives than it loses." "As for my friend, he infiltrated the enemy stronghold alone and saved the girl from a fate worse than death. His optimism helps morale and his skills are sharp. He earned his place in a hostile environment and earned several commendations for excellent service. " He spoke with absolute certainty, according to the stories spoken softly by the knights gone before him. "I'd say you have much less to worry about with him than you do with your own with her rash bonding and volunteering to help countries who are currently losing their wars."
The half elf hops to his feet and walks out toward the intruder as he speaks, noting the black hand manipulating the man's speech, he postulated that the man they were talking to was already dead. Letting him go on with sword in hand, listening and cataloging every word, he was too slow to stop the spell that suddenly erupted. "Look out!" He spoke, covering his mouth with his sleeve.
As the mist settled, his mind whirled on the various spells it may have been, but coming up short. "Look out for more enemies, just in case. It seems the leader of the orcs has gotten rather full of himself. We have a lot more information about what is going on. How's our status?"
Daen stopped his horse had gave the men a firm salute. Those willing to pay the price to keep orcs from ravaging their land and families deserved his respect. When Taj mentoned what she could do, he quietly gave his assent. "Do not use more than half. It's possible we'll have to defend ourselves in the night as we approach the front. Keep it quiet though, we don't want to start an uproar." Later, as the sun sets on the weary day, Daen calls the company to a halt. "Here's as good a spot as any. We're still fairly in the open. We will have to keep the fire small, We'll stop for ten hours. Everyone get eight hours of rest, everyone take your regular shift. Taj will double up with me so I can learn what she can do. We should reach our destination sometime before noon, and we'll have to make plans from there." Turning to his fellow half elf, he nearly smirked. "Better get what sleep you can, we're up in four hours."
Third Watch: After talking with Raj, it seemed his assumptions were fairly accurate. The particulars were quite interesting. Between the bridge and the spirits they might have a decent option for nearly anything if they knew what they were getting themselves into. The only thing left was to get the details from the spirits themselves. He wasn't terribly keen that the Kyonin elves wanted to do the same thing that he was doing, but he'd rather think that he was merely being practical and not taking after his father's side.
"So, how is it that they speak? Is it just to you, can they speak through your mouth, can they speak inaudibly to me, or must you do that mind link thing? I'd rather not the fourth, and I imagine it's the second only since that's how you and Zoh speak of them. I will ask that you tell me what they tell you verbatim. You don't have to worry about me saying anything sensitive to anyone else, I can be quite discreet. Which one will I be speaking with first?"
As Daen watched his people file out and prepare, the half elf himself excused himself with grace from the Precentor's office, found an indoor privy and unloaded the contents of his stomach. Elyssa and Jalen dead did not weigh well on his emotions. But the certainty of that was still quite uncertain, and so he was able to maintain composure in mixed company. Heading down toward the gate, he found a roadside stand selling grilled partridge and partook of it's savory pleasures to settle his roiling innards. Grabbing a loaf of bread with a few garlic cloves baked in as well, he made his way back to his line and waited at the gate continuing to take bites of the moist doughy and fragrant delicacy. He loved this town, and everything about it. He would do his damnedest to see it safe and continuing. On Allie's question, he spoke a bit concerning his ideas. "The plan is to make it a fair ways before nightfall. I'm not sure exactly how long it will take us to arrive at the forward camp, but I'm hoping to be able to attempt our assault during daylight hours. Most Orcs have as much trouble seeing us in the day as we do them at night, so it is the best time to make it. We'll need as much information to make our plans as possible, so any we can get from the forward camp should go into making those decisions. The hope is that we can have whatever forces distract the main orc defenses with an assault, or at least a show of force in the front, and we find a way in the back to rescue the general. It's simple, but it might work if we're able to move quickly." When Taj rode up along side of him, Daen nodded. "I was waiting for the evening to question you, but I already figured you to be a spellcaster with innate powers. Spirit council you say? I'd like to speak to you, and possibly to them at length at some point in the future, but we are pressed for time. Perhaps you could take watch with me this evening and we can go over the extent of your powers to date. That bridge sounds terribly useful, as we may be able to use it to move quickly across defensive barriers like walls and moats. I will be sure to add it to my list of assets."
Daen would always come when invited, although he would refrain from taking notes in their presence. He's immensely curious and would like to see a family that works, but he's got a good enough memory to write it down later that night. I think it might be funny if you caught him once or twice. If you kept inviting him, he'd eventually stop, but it would take at least half a dozen times. Concerning Allie, Daen would have been quite cold initially. He was helpful, but suspicious due to his prejudice against the gods. I figure he got over it eventually and grew to respect her at least. We never got to deal with the fact that he saved her life with devil's blood, I was kinda hoping to hash that one out. There have been a few times where I've lost a character in the middle of playing one. There are a lot of questions I tend to ask in order to get past that kind of thing: Off the top of my head:
What makes my character get up in the morning, and how quickly do they do it?
What is it about my character that I like? What is it about my character that I don't like? What about my character could they be persuaded to change, and by whom? What about my character should never change? How does my character deal with stress? When my character has nothing to do, what do they want to do? When my character has nothing to think about, what do they think about? What parts of my character's backstory determine who they are? What things are true about my character that they don't realize? What kind of goals does my character possess? What situation would they feel most comfortable in? Yeah, things like that.
My Daens are subtly different, and only stand to increase in that regard. It's tough for me to keep them perfectly straight. I'm generally second guessing what I should post and how, but it's getting better with practice. One thing you can do is see if you can put together a list of her motivations and refer to them if you don't know what to do. I've found that to be pretty useful when I'm playing characters that are fairly removed from myself. For instance, I had a gnome monk who was terribly picky about his food, wanted to wrestle most anything, and was willing to try anything once. Once I'd figured all that out, I could be quite quick in deciding what he would like to do, even though I'm none of those things.
Hey, I'm actually in this game!
I think we should probably wait for Kassie, and then we'll move on out.
Looks pretty good. Rope Trick is a good really good hiding spell, it might come in handy. Summon Swarm is pretty awesome too, but both of them are not on your list, so they'll require a UMD 20 roll to make them work. Let me know if you need a little money, Daen would be definitely for survival.
Daen frowned in thought. He had no idea that the knights would be so pressed. It's possible that the orcs had been planning to lure them in for years, hoping to get the Last Wall forces to spend themselves on a hopeless assault. In order to multiply their forces in such a way, it probably took at least two decades. It just didn't make sense that their intelligence was that far removed from reality. Perhaps there was some other work at play here, and they'd eventually have to discover what it was, but for now the best they could do was buy the time they needed to train as many as they could. "We haven't failed a mission yet, sir. I've no intention to do so now. I'm going to assume you'll want us to leave immediately, but we will need at least two hours to resupply for this mission. If you can tell us where the Precentor is encamped we'll get briefed with what they've discovered since your last messenger and proceed from there." He turned toward their new recruit who currently had her focus on Zoh. He shouldn't be surprised at that. He also addressed the rest of the crew as well. "You heard the situation. We leave in two hours. Any delay or hesitation could cost us the war. Get what gear you need, and meet me at the gate at that time. We'll get our rest in the field. " He almost added, "any questions?", but the last time he did that it was disastrous. He shouldn't give these guys an inch if he could help it.
Kassie having a person in whom to indulge in her particular use of "fashion" caused Daen to give a not so subtle sigh. He had to admit all of the girls, both rookie and veteran, were fairly attractive. But Kassie loved getting attention with her clothing styles, and Daen was not entirely cold-blooded. The half elf was not satisfied with merely being teased, and that's one of the reasons why he'd never gone there. The trouble with women in Vigil was that there was a fairly strong belief that bloodlines are important, and not every well to do family wants elven rapists in their family tree. It's not as if Daen himself couldn't turn a head but more often than not he'd cause much more trouble if he indulged. To an ambitious Knight who prided himself on being useful, getting involved negatively in personal politics was an incredible pitfall he tended to simply avoid. To keep himself busy, he had invested in local business, taken extra shifts, and generally attempted to turn any interested parties down gently and quietly. And he remained unsatisfied, he just learned to do his best to accept that. Daen led the procession up the stairs and toward the office of the Precenter. He'd been in this building a fair amount as a squad leader, but it was still impressive. Not ostentatious like the Brevic Nobility, but refined, tasteful, and historically meaningful. His hand glided on the rail lightly, enjoying the understated splendor, wondering if he'd be able to afford such a decor as a living space someday. He'd inhaled when Allie spoke up just before he did. It was good that she was taking initiative again, and it seemed her stutter was getting better. She still didn't hesitate on the battlefield, and that's the thing that Daen cared about. He inhaled again when Raj announced herself finding himself again beaten to the punch. For a quick moment, he wondered if this was going to be the new norm, warily eyeing the rest of the group to see if anyone even noticed he was trying to address the Precentor. "Time is obviously short and we're assembled for orders, sir. Please proceed."
Daen turns to the party as they enter town and sighs. After being in the saddle all day and they have to work as soon as they arrive. Fatigue will mean for less than middling morale. But the city was not in it's normal shape. The trouble with a place like Vigil was that this sort of thing was always a possibility. "Looks like that meal will have to wait a bit. We've got more work to do." He turned to Raj and explained, "It's not normally like this. I imagine we'd have to..." when he was interrupted by the standing orders for Knights to report in. "Well I give him full props for recognizing us even though we've been gone for a while. Let's get to that meeting so we know what's still required of us. We may need to ride out and meet the enemy that did this or to gather information. Raj, you better stick with us, there's no guarantee that we'll be here for long." They'd be briefed as soon as they arrived, no doubt. There was no need to keep people waiting when so much was yet to be done.
I'm up for just about anything though.
Yep, move on!
Daen eyed the black cat with a bit of arrogance. It didn't matter how big it was, it knew strength when it saw it. There was no weak ones in this herd it could take off. It would be far better finding other prey. When it finally left, he looked about the site and making sure of the positions of the stars, woke Allie to take watch before taking a bit of a nap himself. After everyone was awake in the morning, despite his fatigue and Zoh's antics, Daen was at work in his spellbook. They'd make nearly double the amount of time on horseback, and it would require him to make sure he had the proper spells. Spending time scribing a new spell, and then burning it into his memory, he finally finished after everyone had breakfast and cast it twice in quick succession. Two appaloosa horses appeared from thin air with a flash of purple eldritch power. Properly arrayed for riding, he walked them up to Zoh and Raj. "These will serve you until we get to Vigil. We've a long ride today, so take what preparation you'll need." When he'd finished that, he walked over and grabbed some hardtack from his saddlebags and hopped up on his own horse. "We're not far behind schedule, if we keep up our pace perhaps we'll get to dine at the Rose Chalice tonight. I, for one, am ready for something besides rations." He took a distasteful bite out of the biscuit to make his point and wheeled his steed toward the capitol.
Yeah, that's cool. You guys probably just had a nap because you've been running nights.
Okay, I'm thinking Daen had 2nd or 3rd shift at night. If we figure out who has the 4th watch, they can wake us up. Then we can head in to Vigil from there.
Some people juggle baby geese. I could get angry for not posting over a regular owl, but the fact that it was suberb, that excuse satisfies me.
Daen nodded his assent as Allie performed the field commission. She was the most qualified to give the oath, although she didn't get it quite right. He frowned a bit, but let it go without a word, relatively happy to be forgotten about for a moment. When Grimold welcomed them in, Daen opened his mouth to give assent when Zoh interrupted with his delusional griffon idea again. "We were assigned the name when we started, and we all know the Bonewatch's lack of imagination but when we get our own standard and we all get griffons to ride, we'll see about the name." Daen gave him a weary smirk, and finally addressed Grimold's question. "Yes, let's get some rest. We've a long day of riding in the morning." Meeting of the Minds: The half elf took a moment to ponder the symptoms. An obscure mention in Comell's library came to mind nearly instantly but he reviewed with his general arcane knowledge before speaking. "I don't know what you've been telling yourself lately, but I'm quite sure this link is something you desired, at least in some way. Your own chief has been trying to keep you and your tattoo artist apart for quite some time, and you've even said she had better ideas than you. Perhaps she saw something like this coming, and now you're just going to have to deal with the ramifications." The two half-breeds looked at each other for a moment and Daen put his hand up on Zohruk's shoulder with a bit of a sigh. "I'm just going to tell you what you're going to do anyway. Make the most of what you have with you, and buy a couple potions of fire resistance." He gave his friend a couple pats on the shoulder for good measure before returning to his seat and picking up his stick and whittling knife. "Get what rest you can. I've got your back."
Okay, finished a novel in my other active game. Now to see what I can do here before I pass out.
Giving Kassie an approving look for her quick reflexes, he turned back to the half orc's question. "It took far too long and very nearly our lives, but yes, we are back from Ustalav, mission accomplished. Our meeting today was completely unintended, but not unwelcome. We were summoned back to Vigil with all haste, as it seems the crusade is not going well, of which I'm sure you are aware. The orders were not specific, but I have my suspicions that they will soon become so." The half elf looked at Rataji appraisingly, recognizing a similar heritage. She had a weak build, but she was quite pretty, seeming to have a natural draw about her. There were definitely two possibilities. Either she was worthless, and Zoh would have to find a place to ditch her once they got to Vigil, or she had some sort of magical talent. Possibly a sorceress of some kind, or a Sarkorian Summoner, but her skin was far too dark for that. But there was a hint of mithral peeking out from underneath a tabard of some kind so it could be that she was some special kind of cleric. That made him frown a bit. He wasn't too fond of clerics. He'd made an exception for Allie some time ago, but he wasn't fond of exceptions either. When he heard that she'd bested the half orc, his eyes narrowed. Duty had a habit of trumping personal feelings considering the matter. "I highly doubt you were merely a damsel in distress. Where does your allegiance lay?"
Hearing a familiar voice didn't necessarily mean that the danger was over. "You'll have to be more specific. There are many who've claimed they've thrown a challenge, and not all of them I consider friends." Even though he said it, he couldn't help but have a smile tug at the corner of his lips. When the other person out there raised her hands and identified herself, he did become rather curious, moreso than he was alarmed. The smile on his lips did fade and his blade did not retreat though, he still wasn't completely convinced it wasn't a trick. At this point his instinct told him something was different, but he couldn't quite put a finger on it. "Someone bringing a stray home?" he managed to get out before Allie stirred. He was rather hoping the girl would get some sleep, especially if this turned out to be benign, but that looked like it was out of reach. "If our dear friend is a Knight, Lady Rataji, then he is perfectly capable of defending his own name." The half orc brings a woman home, who is zealous in defending his honor? He stowed his sword. It was obvious what the difference was. Zoh had someone with him who had fallen in love with him. It was too far fetched to be a lie, although it did make sense that he'd find one of them in the Hold. Maybe he killed a monster that was trying to eat her or something, it didn't really matter. Come up to the fire. You are both welcome here. If you don't have provisions, you can find them in my saddlebags. They are organized they way they always are Zoh. I'll have to summon the two of you some horses so we can make our way down to Vigil in the morning."
Phrasing. I know, there are too many commas. It's like a sickness.
The swordsman sat on a log, nearly standing but hunched over as he fussed over a particular tiny piece of wood with a whittling knife. As he sat with his legs nearly extended, his long hair hid his face, and not his ears which pointed out in fairly long fashion. He retained his shiny armor, and kept his sword in it's fairly ornate scabbard, but next to him on the ground in the dim light was a book with strange lettering accompanying it's pages. The watch was going as well as could be expected at this time of night, meaning that it was going quietly. Daen preferred uneventful evenings, as he prepared and polished a new wooden stick for wand use. It was odd to him how much of magic involved some form of artistry, and when Professor Comell and given him a whittling knife and some sandpaper along with some precise measurements, he'd initially balked. But he soon became enamored with the power of wands. Though they were mere sticks, thin wooden objects, they could be imbued with tremendous power. The trouble with bringing them into a sword fight is that they were mere wooden sticks. Comell also taught him the spell that allowed one to encase the powerful, yet fragile, sticks inside the hilt of a weapon, granting them far greater protection. Then it began to make sense to use them more and more for offensive purposes. He took a moment from his work to survey the camp. With all of these distractions it was hard to get real progress, but it would be better to make sure nothing was amiss. The crew had been together for a while now, and they had made a relatively decent team. Grimold, Kassie, Allie, were all sleeping there, and breathing faintly in the night air. They'd almost made a mess of all that, and for a while they didn't know if they'd ever see Allie again, but it was behind them now and they were coming back successful. He had already prepared his report in triplicate ready to be delivered when they arrived the next day, and then they would see why they had been so urgently summoned. The half elf was about to return to his arcane work when he heard another stick snap in the distance. He'd spread a few around in the dark to warn of incoming footfalls, and it seemed they'd fallen prey to his alert. Not all sticks had to be arcane to have their uses. "Identify Yourself, but do not come closer until I allow it." He said as he oriented himself to the noise, drawing his blade. One couldn't be too careful in the open, this close to the border. With a flick of his foot, he closed the book he'd been using as reference and spread his toe out behind him in a stance of readiness.
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