Vasu's beak hung open as she watched the massive humanoids emerge from the forest and utterly decimate every living thing in their path. As soon as Sealith flitted her wings, however, Vasu pulled herself from her stunned state and took off flying toward 42, the sounds of a bipedal stampede slowly fading off into the distance as she grew closer and closer to the settlement. As soon as the thrumming of footsteps faded entirely from earshot, she cocked her head toward Sealith questioningly.
Vasu's eyes shifted nervously between Sealith and a point off in space, her body physically shaking with confusion. Before she could reply, however, she saw several massive orcs running through the snow and toward her scaled companion and her. The half of Vasu's mind that was purely a soldier kicked in, and she grabbed Sealith's hand. Vasu's wings opened without her consciously making the decision to fly. She beat them against the chilly air.
A sharp pop met her ears as she jerked Sealith's hand upwards, practically pulling Sealith into the sky behind her.
You can decide the severity of what that noise indicated, Sealith.
Vasu stared indignantly at Sealith, at a complete loss for words. She opened her beak, closed it, and then opened it once more. The tufted feathers serving for all intents and purposes as her eyebrows were pulled into a deep, muddled frown. After much deliberation, a few short words flew from Vasu's vocal cords.
"Vasu not... Choice? But Vasu... Master. Friend?"
Her disjointed musings made as little sense to her as to any onlooker. Her brain seemed to be whirring at a pace infinitely faster than the speed at which her mouth could form sounds.
"Friend. Friend, friend, friend." Vasu tested the word. "Seal does not follow Master. Why? Master give orders. Why the dragon give orders? Sealith tell Vasu to tell her things. But Sealith not be master." Her Auran grammar and sentence structure broke down more and more as she grew continually confused. "Sealith say friend. Vasu be friend? But Master not be friend? Of dragon? Choice? Vasu follow Master. Master give choice. Tell Seal dragon not be choice. Yes, yes?"
While many may have thought that Vasu was simply startled by their sudden appearance, Sealith is acutely aware that Vasu's ruffled feathers were definitely triggered by stress and not surprise. Sealith can also tell that Vasu is hiding something. She doesn't know what, exactly, but Vasu's uneasiness is an easy indicator that she won't be telling Sealith the whole truth as she speaks.
Sealith landed next to Vasu just as she gagged the note down her throat. The texture of the paper sliding past her gullet was almost bad enough to make her retch then and there. Instead of retching, however, Vasu simply quailed and fell with a disgraceful thunk onto her rump. The destruction of the note was far too close a call for her comfort.
It was then that she realized that Sealith was studying her intently, obviously waiting for an answer. Vasu let her words tumble out of her mouth without a second thought.
"Vasu just swallow whole raccoon. Not good fo-f-for..." She gagged, feeling the paper pass further into her body. "Not good for Syrinx digestion."
Communication from the council had been cut off ever since Vasu had so loyally defended Master Speaker in the town square; it had been weeks since she'd seen the caster and she'd begun to fear his demise. A thought occurred to Vasu- she had nearly forgotten about the master during his extended stay away. Was she not as loyal as she thought herself to be?
No. Vasu shook her head emphatically. That had to be wrong. She pushed the thought out of her mind and continued to tear bits of flesh from the carcass of her most recently slaughtered prey. Raccoon, despite its bad reputation as a thief of an animal, was surprisingly tasty. It unfortunately was not a large enough animal to allow each member of her party to each have a portion. With that single thought freeing her from all guilt, Vasu picked what was left of the animal up in her talons and swallowed the thing whole. It would certainly make a most spectacular pellet later.
Now. Her belly was full and her gizzard was calm. Vasu unfolded the blood-stained parchment and proceeded to read through its contents for what was probably the twentieth time. This single piece of paper meant so much. Vasu was wanted. Vasu was needed. Vasu's master had specifically contacted her, of all creatures on the earth, to send a message to. Soon, she would even get to meet with her Master's Master, (an archmaster...? she wondered) face to face.
It was then that a shadow appeared on the ground before Vasu, and a familiar voice called out in her direction. Though she couldn't make out the words, the voice was unmistakable. Sealith was soaring towards her at an unprecedented rate.
Her feathers standing on end in panic, Vasu stared at the note in her talons. She had to get rid of this. Seeing no other way out, Vasu stuffed the parchment into her mouth and began to grind it up in her beak.
Sealith, your character has by far the best interactions with Vasu. I love your writing style, but I don't want that character dynamic to go away, as it would definitely change if you were not only Sealith but the GM. I vote A.
I was first hospitalized for a suicide attempt during my freshman year of high school, and I can say without a doubt that I am in a much better place due to my time in the psych ward. I don't know of her situation, I don't know of the plans for her, and I don't know if your family has prior experience with the mental health system, but I can highly recommend getting her to some sort of hospitalization program.
With all of that said, I wish your sister and your family all the luck in the world. Depression, BPD, etc, and mental illness in general is tough to deal with. I'd give you all hugs right this instant if I could.
If you need someone to talk to, I'm here for you. I may be some silly nerd on a message board, but I get how impactful mental illness can be to a person and their family. Stay strong, friend. I appreciate all of the work you put into this story, and hope you and your little sister the best.
Vasu cocked her head. Auran"Dangerous game, hmm...?" The bird trailed off in her speech, mentally recounting the signs of life she'd observed. There had to be some sign of a magical beast in the surrounding lands that she'd noticed, or some strange happenings that she'd heard of.
Knowledge Local:1d20 + 7 ⇒ (17) + 7 = 24
A sudden hunch crossed her mind, and a wicked gleam shot through her eyes.
I apologize. I shouldn't dissapear without notice like that. My creative juices are having a fart right now.
...Please feel free to metaphorically stab me.
Edit: I'm not kidding, imagine the silhouette of a female and think of it dying horribly. Little shadowy bits of blood everywhere.
Edit two: I need to get my mind out of the gutter. I'm playing a homicide victim in a performance right now. Don't worry too much for my mental stability.
Edit three: I only have three diagnosed psychiatric disorders. Don't worry guys, I haven't been permanently locked away in a madhouse. Yet.
Vasu let out a chuckle and extended a talon for her companion to land upon.
Avian:
"Special food for Nasi today. Fresh kill for him."
With that, the owl-like humanoid fished through her backpack in attempt to find some scraps. Before she pulled the venison from her bag, however, the raven leapt from its perch and onto Vasu's shoulder, thrusting its beak into the bag and helping itself to a piece of meat. Vasu's eyes widened.
Avian:
"Nasi! How predatory he is!"
She stroked Nasi as as he ate, intrigued by his technique of holding bits of meat under his feet and ripping small pieces off with his beak. The small chunks of elk required a surprising amount of strength for the small bird to tear apart, but Nasi handled the burden well. Vasu then realized that Sealith was still watching her, and whoood awkwardly.
Auran:
"Ah, hunting. Yes. Vasu and Sealith should practice this sport together. What is a dragon creature's preferred quarry?"
Vasu turns toward Sealith and lets out a proud chrrr. She takes a large hunk of meat, still fresh and quite bloody, from her bag and holds it out toward Sealith.
Auran:
"Sealith take this, yes? Cook it up, have nice meal?"
She then proceeds to hold out the rest of the bag of meat toward the trainees, only flinching slightly as the humans take the bag and put its contents over a fire.
Oh, oh, I meant as in having an intelligent beast as a follower. Vasu would pay someone money to cast awaken and then have the intelligent animal be her follower.
BTW, where is Speaker? Vasu is growing anxious, having heard nothing from him.
Edit: SEALITH! Vasu wants to learn draconic. Just warning you for when she talks to you in character.
With a shrill victory caw, Vasu gleefully set to work. The sun continued to sail through the sky as Vasu chopped up the carcass of the massive elk with much slishing and slashing, and the occasional snacking on bits of her prey that most of the silly earthlings had refused to eat with the last deer that she had killed. Hearts and brains and lots of other mush was Vasu's midday meal, though so much food had passed down her gullet during her feast that she might as well have eaten dinner, too.
Chippity Chop via Hunting Skill:1d20 + 10 ⇒ (11) + 10 = 21
Once she'd successfully gorged herself, cut up the meat, skinned the pelt, and preened her dirty feathers, Vasu was ready for her return flight to 42. She filled her bag chock full of elk meat and slung the fur around her shoulders. With the muleback cords keeping the load off of Vasu's shoulders, she spread her wings and set off back into the sky.
Be happy on this pathetic human holiday, earthlings, for it shall be the last before the syrinx descend from the heavens AND DESTROY YOU ALL!
I told Vasu to wish you all a Merry Christmas, but I suppose that's all I'm going to get out of her.
Vasu let out a hiss of annoyance as she saw several wolves watch her hunting from afar. This elk was her's, and no earth creature would be taking it from her. With a pluck of her bowstring, she shot what would hopefully be the killing blow.
It's so much more fun to actually roleplay your character performing their profession once in a while rather than just rolling to see how much gold you've earned in a week.
Quick as the bird of prey that she resembled, Vasu was in the air, bow in hand. omg I've had point blank shot this whole time As soon as she was close enough to hone in on the back of the elk's neck, she fired. Her arrow flew through the air...
Attack:1d20 + 4 ⇒ (10) + 4 = 14
...and hit the elk in the shoulder. She heard a grunt of pain from the animal, but it wasn't going to give up and fall to the ground without a fight.
With her bow in her talons, Vasu made her way across the sky to a herd of elk as she had before. Knowing that she had previously been attacked by a stag, Vasu decided to cut to the chase. With a powerful thrust of her wings, she catapulted herself into range of the massive leader of the herd of elk and fired an arrow straight for its chest.
I think I've been getting into character a bit too much. That or I've been drawing Vasu too much.
So I take a medication that is quite helpful in most respects but gives me horrible nightmares. Last night, my nightmare involved having my flesh ripped off by a massive Syrinx. *shivers* I was walking up a set of stairs, and with every step I took, the Syrinx ate more of my body.
Hoo! Sorry about posting so late! I was going to post when I was online earlier, but ended up getting wrapped up in family Christmas matters. <3
After the great success of her hunting the previous day, Vasu was eager to get out of the busy, crowded city of 42. A quick breakfast of jerky and a quick feeding of her new friend later, Vasu was tearing through the sky, ready to begin her hunt. First, however, she would have to locate her prey. Thank goodness for her sensitive ears- her quite superior syrinx ears.
Perception roll was 27: Check the discussion thread.
Hoo! Sorry about posting so late! I was going to post when I was online earlier, but ended up getting wrapped up in family Christmas matters. <3
After the great success of her hunting the previous day, Vasu was eager to get out of the busy, crowded city of 42. A quick breakfast of jerky and a quick feeding of her new friend later, Vasu was tearing through the sky, ready to begin her hunt. First, however, she would have to locate her prey. Thank goodness for her sensitive ears- her quite superior syrinx ears.
Vasu tilted her head as she began walking forward, an unconcious thief slung over each shoulder.
Auran:
"Vutha Nasi? Long name, too long. Long words get mixed up in the bird tongue. Vasu shall see if raven can understand Nasi, however."
She raised her right arm slightly, elevating the raven to her eye level, and let out a short coo, followed by the word Nasi. As she spoke, she undid the knot on a bag of bird food and allowed the raven to eat.
Avian:
"Call you Nasi. When word is said, Vasu talks about you.
The sentiment was short and it was unclear if the message was completely understood by the bird. There would be time to experiment with the concept of a name later. For now, Vasu's mind was mostly drawn to her hunting schedule.
Auran:
"Vasu shall hunt in the morning and meet Sealith for lunch. Then Vasu hunts again, with or without Sealith. Might be nice to have Sealith along, though."
Vasu let out a soft chhhhr in the direction of her raven, indicating that the situation was now safe and the bird could return to her shoulder. Almost instantaneously, the ebony feathered avian dove towards Vasu's outstretched arm in a ruffle of feathers, cuddling up against Vasu's chest.
Auran:
"Ah, Sealith, Vasu has not introduced her bird friend yet. Quite calm he is. Vasu needs to explain to you that even though this raven is quite smart for common foul, he is a simple being. He has been trained well, but only for specific commands. Raven would not know how to find the aid of a human, for example... Speaking of which, who is the 'Alexis' you speak of?"
As Vasu spoke, she began to sling the bodies of the attackers over her shoulders, a process aided by her shiny new muleback cords but that would look utterly barbaric to any confused onlooker.
I'm counting shi*ting as a free action here. Seriously, bowel movements just happen.
Considering that seagulls enjoy taking a fecal passage on my head all the time, I thought that a race of bird creatures would consider the passing of bowels upon one's head to be the ultimate insult. They are implying that the target of their action is worth nothing more than crap. Pellets, on the other hand, are considered to be almost sacred by Syrinx. The production of pellets is something that separates Syrinx from common foul, and the bones in the pellets are proof of their predatory ability.
I just evaluated a race's views upon crap. I feel like something is wrong with me.
Fast as a bullet, Vasu sprang from her position on the ground and up into the air, beating her wings furiously to avoid the swords being drawn towards her. She let the raven fly from her grip to avoid being caught in the coming fight. Maybe 20 feet up? She's talking as a standard action now, so she'll say more than six words. She chided herself for being so worried about the situation, and instead filed the experience away as just another reason to hate earth creatures. They were thieves with no sense of respect for their community.
Thinking quickly, she blurted out a single word in three different languages, one after another.
Auran:
"Thieves!"
Celestial:
"Thieves!"
Sylvan:
"Thieves!"
Her tongue quickly changed to that of the harsh, hissing language of devils. Her face contorted into a narrow-eyed, spitting mask of fury and she belted out an ear splitting screech.
"DESPICABLE EARTH CREATURES! HOW DARE YOU THREATEN VASU! YOU ARE WORTH NO MORE THAN THE DUNG THAT STAINS THE GROUND. BE MARKED BY THE FILTH THAT DEPICTS WHO YOU TRULY ARE!"
With one glorious dip of her tail feathers, Vasu proceeded to let a single white drip fall from her hindquarters, splattering into the hair of the man who had dared to taunt her in the first place.
She looked up at the sky to check for clouds, only to see a dragon barreling towards her. Perception:1d20 + 7 ⇒ (19) + 7 = 26 Despite the roar of the crowd, Vasu could make out Sealith's shrill shriek. ...Armored...? Vasu looked back down at the crowd. Through the quickly moving figures around her, Vasu could, sure enough, see an armored man staring straight at her.
Vasu froze. The memory of the guards back in the town that she attacked so long ago rippled through her mind. Had she done a bad job serving Master Speaker? Was she finally being executed? Well, if that was to be her fate...
Vasu wrapped her wings protectively around her companion once again and knelt down to the ground. If she was to die, she couldn't let this small innocent bird go with her. Vasu mentally accepted whatever her destiny was to be.
Initiative just in case. Vasu doesn't look aggressive at all, if that matters. She's hunkering down.
Lol I love how chill everyone is with a random owl woman running around the streets of 42.
Vasu shook her head at the bowl of soup, but the scent of boiled meat assailed her nostrils. She took a deep breath in and exhaled. Vasu extended a talon toward the rack of muleback cords, but was careful not to disturb the raven huddling calmly under her wings in the process. While Vasu wasn't entirely sure what the harness was or what it was supposed to do, it assuredly looked as though she could strap a heavy load to it and carry it with less difficulty than having to drag it along the ground. Her kills would look less mangled by the time she chopped them up, at least.
When the man at the counter understood what Vasu was pointing at, the two began a tense bargaining process. While neither could talk to the other, looks could nearly kill. Vasu grabbed a fistful of gold coins out of her backpack and placed them on the counter. The burly man at the counter shot a dirty glance at her. Vasu placed several more on the counter. The man sighed. He motioned for Vasu's coin pouch. Vasu looked at him with disbelief and mistrust, and simply kept adding coins to the table a fistful at a time. The process took far too long, and the pile of coins grew comically large, but finally the smooth skin gave in and handed Vasu several cords, helping fit them to her back.
Suddenly, Vasu understood why the harnesses cost so much. These weren't just ropes and pulleys, these cords had been enchanted with some sort of magic. The feathered beast of a creature felt a jolt of power surge through her body, and her backpack suddenly felt as light as air. She nearly dropped the raven sitting in her arms as the shock overtook her senses. With an irritated caw roughly translating to "Hey, watch it!," the sleek black bird crawled back into Vasu's embrace.
Vasu blushed under her feathers as the heavy man behind the counter let out a hearty chuckle at Vasu's disorientation, leading Vasu to hurry away from the stand. Once again, she was squashed in between members of the market crowd.
Vasu can carry an average fully grown stag as a light load now. WTF wrote:
The white-tailed deer is highly variable in size, generally following Bergmann's rule that the average size is larger farther away from the Equator. North American male deer (also known as a buck) usually weigh 45 kilograms (100 lb), but in rare cases, bucks in excess of 125 kilograms (275 lb) have been recorded.
Vasu bent down slightly and folded her wings tightly over her back, but it was of no use. The prying eyes and strange cooing of the earth creatures could not be escaped, no matter how carefully she tread through the throngs of smooth skinned humanoids. In the end, Vasu let her panicking raven take shelter in her arms and folded her wings protectively around the poor creature. At least one of the duo would be safe from view.
As Vasu picked her way around a man carrying several massive chicken corpses, she found what she was looking for: a market. Stalls chock full of all sorts of wares lined the street. Merchants called out, some magically amplifying their voices to be heard over the roar of the crowd. Ack, the roar of the crowd. All around her, humans, elves, and a multitude of other smooth skins chattered in their harsh, grating tongues; nothing like the melodic voices of the Syrinx. Vasu tried to swivel several of her feathers over her sensitive ears, but it was of no use. Nothing could protect Vasu's strigine auditory senses from the chaos surrounding her. It was go time.
Vasu had come to the market with one goal in mind: she had to find something that would allow her to haul massive deer carcasses from a forest to the interior of 42's great walls. It was not to be an easy task.
Muleback cords. Poor Vasu has a pathetically low carrying capacity for someone who has to drag deer carcasses around.
Later on, I hope for Vasu to pick up an ioun stone or two. They're just so cool. Plus, implanting magical stones in one's body gives them quite the dramatic flair and imposing appearance, doesn't it?
