A long, long time ago, I can still remember
How that music used to make me smile
And I knew if I had my chance
That I could make those people dance
And maybe they'd be happy for a while
But February made me shiver
With every paper I'd deliver
Bad news on the doorstep
I couldn't take one more step
I can't remember if I cried
When I read about his widowed bride
But something touched me deep inside
The Day The Music Died
So bye, bye, Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
Them good ol' boys were drinking whiskey 'n rye, singin'
"This'll be the day that I die"
"This'll be the day that I die"
^ UP-TEMPO! ^
Did you write the book of love
And do you have faith in God above
If the Bible tells you so?
Now do you believe in Rock'n'Roll?
Can music save your mortal soul?
And can you teach me how to dance real slow?
Well, I know that you're in love with him
'Cause I saw you dancin' in the gym
You both kicked off your shoes
Man, I dig those rhythm and blues!
I was a lonely teenage bronckin' buck
With a pink carnation and a pickup truck
But I knew I was out of luck
The Day the Music Died
I started singing
Bye, bye, Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
Them good ol' boys were drinking whiskey 'n rye, singin'
"This'll be the day that I die"
"This'll be the day that I die"
Now for ten years we've been on our own
And moss grows fat on a (R)ollin' (S)tone
But that's not how it used to be
When the Jester sang for the King and Queen
In a coat he borrowed from James Dean
And a voice that came from you and me
Oh, and while the King was looking down
The Jester stole his thorny crown
The courtroom was adjourned
No verdict was returned!
And while Len(n)ion read a book on Marx
The Quartet practiced in the park
And we sang dirges in the dark
The Day The Music Died
We were singing
Bye, bye, Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
Them good ol' boys were drinking whiskey 'n rye, singin'
"This'll be the day that I die"
"This'll be the day that I die"
Helter-skelter in a summer swelter
The (By)rds flew off with a fallout shelter
Eight miles high and falling fast
It landed foul on the grass
The players tried for a forward pass
With the Jester on the sidelines in a cast
Now the halftime air was sweet perfume
While the sergeants played a marching tune
We all got up to dance
Oh, but we never got the chance
'Cause the players tried to take the field
The Marching Band refused to yield
Do you recall what was revealed
The Day The Music Died?
We started singing
Bye, bye, Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
Them good ol' boys were drinking whiskey 'n rye, singin'
"This'll be the day that I die"
"This'll be the day that I die"
Oh, and there we were all in one place
A generation (L)ost (I)n (S)pace
With no time left to start again
So come on, Jack be nimble, Jack be quick
Jack Flash sat on a candlestick
'Cause fire is the Devil's only friend
Oh, and as I watched him on the stage
My hands were clenched in fists of rage
No (A)ngel born in Hell
Could break that Satan's spell
And as the flames climbed high into the night
To light the sacrificial rite
I saw Satan laughing with delight
The Day The Music Died
He was singing
Bye, bye, Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
Them good ol' boys were drinking whiskey 'n rye, singin'
"This'll be the day that I die"
"This'll be the day that I die"
...and DOWN-tempo.
I met a girl who sang the Blues
And I asked her for some happy news
But she just smiled and turned away
I went down to the sacred store
Where I'd heard The Music years before
But the man there said The Music wouldn't play
And in the streets, the children screamed
The lovers cried and the poets dreamed
But not a word was spoken
The church bells all were broken
And the three men I admire most
The Father, Son and the Holy Ghost
They caught the last train for the coast
The Day The Music Died
And they were singing
Bye, bye, Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
Them good ol' boys were drinking whiskey 'n rye, singin'
"This'll be the day that I die"
"This'll be the day that I die"
They were singing
Bye, bye, Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
Them good ol' boys were drinking whiskey 'n rye, singin'
"This'll be the day that I die"
"This'll be the day that I die"
"To write is a relief from life's problems. It is a way in which you revenge yourself. In art, the writer achieves utopia. But any attempt to achieve social utopia is bound to catastrophe. If you want a society of saints, the result is hell, repression, totalitarianism, and persecution."
On the stormy shores of Azeroth
A silhouette did stand
A brave and stalwart sailor
Who gave a helpin' hand
Without fail, on every whim
Which we did demand
He simply smiled and waved his hand
And sent us 'cross the laaand!
Farewell to thee, Placeholder,
Your ship has sailed to sea!
We'll tip our hats and pray one day
To be as great as thee!
Captain P, you'll never know the emptiness inside
As we sit ashore on Menethil, waiting for a ride.
Time did pass, until one day
That silhouette did fade
Where once we found Placeholder
Only scattered winds remained
The stormy sea went silent
On that dark and dreary day
But come along, my friends
Let's raise a glass up for his naaame!
Farewell to thee, Placeholder,
Your ship has sailed to sea!
We'll tip our hats and pray one day
To be as great as thee!
Captain P, you'll never know the emptiness inside
As we sit ashore on Menethil, waiting for a ride.
*instrumental interlude*
So when you find yourself lamenting
On that lonely pier,
Watching as the ships come in
And dryin' off your tears,
Believe in what he stood for,
And I know that he’ll survive!
Inside our hearts dear Placeholder
Will always be aliiive!
Farewell to thee, Placeholder,
Your ship has sailed to sea!
We'll tip our hats and pray one day
To be as great as thee!
Captain P, you'll never know the emptiness inside
As we sit ashore on Menethil, waiting for a ride.
“If there is a new fascism, it won't come from skinheads and punks; it will come from people who eat granola and think they know how the world should be.”
― Brian "This Probably Includes Much of My Own Fanbase" Eno
Assuming the invisibility purge has done its work:
In a stroke of poetic inspiration, Xasay flourishes an especially strange-looking stencil, one he's never used before, and the ambient light and shadows coalesce into a singularly bizarre singularity of irregular illumination, almost a parody of the very thing they now face, from which erupts a sudden fusillade of barely-visible radiation!
The Dwarven Druid's rustic cabin is now lit by something like a blacklight disco ball. It'll hover 1 square above everyone else, so it should be out of the way; as always, a DC 20 Will save will reduce it to 20% reality:
|AC 20, T 13, FF 18|HP: 40/40|F +2, R +7, W +3 (+2 vs shadow, +4 vs fear/energy drain/death/Necromancy)|Init +2, Perc +4|CMB +5 CMD 17|20/21 Performance, 3/3 Shadow Speaker, 1/1 comic relief, #19
Very, VERY sorry for my prolonged absense; I just wasn't sure what to do, in addition to...other issues.
Sense Motive:1d20 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 2 = 3
It suddenly occurs to the others that they appear to have lost their new Wayang companion again - but then they hear a knock from the other side of the cabin's walls...or somewhere inside them?
"There's simply an astonishing number of moths roosting in here!" Declares Xasay's muffled voice cheerfully.
|AC 20, T 13, FF 18|HP: 40/40|F +2, R +7, W +3 (+2 vs shadow, +4 vs fear/energy drain/death/Necromancy)|Init +2, Perc +4|CMB +5 CMD 17|20/21 Performance, 3/3 Shadow Speaker, 1/1 comic relief, #19
GM RePete wrote:
Squinting at Xasay, he bellows "Ya is onnna dem shadow-wee 'ans, eh?!"
"Uhh...yessss?" Replies Xasay like a lily in a windstorm, a little wary of miscommunication given the sheer number of likely barriers in play (language, geography, degree of worldly sophistication, mental and physical health, personal timescale, category and kingdom of life...!), but otherwise seeing no good reason to lie about it, under the circumstances.
Knowledge (Nature) - to ID...:1d20 + 11 ⇒ (13) + 11 = 24 Knowledge (Nature) - ...or NOT to ID?:1d20 + 11 ⇒ (20) + 11 = 31
Berato Aquilinus wrote:
"He's drunk, Kim!"
"Yes, and on his own sap, no less!" Xasay mutters, audibly a bit revolted by the very idea.
"Good idea," He adds in affirmation of Berato's minor miracle, before looking to the others. "Can anyone else do that?"
|AC 20, T 13, FF 18|HP: 40/40|F +2, R +7, W +3 (+2 vs shadow, +4 vs fear/energy drain/death/Necromancy)|Init +2, Perc +4|CMB +5 CMD 17|20/21 Performance, 3/3 Shadow Speaker, 1/1 comic relief, #19
Pleasantly surprised to notice that the 'Lawful Stupid Brigade' may in fact have known just what they were doing, Xasay keeps up the ruse until he is satisfied the runner is well and truly gone (and truth be told, just for the fun of it):
"VIEW HALLOOOO, MY DARLING! BEHOLD, FOR I HAVE BROUGHT THE BRIGADIERS OF LIGHT A-CHARGIN' FORT!"
"A...charging fort, my darling???"
"VERILY, THE SAME! A FINE GIFT TO ALL GOOD-HEARTED FOLK FROM BABA YAGA'S THRICE-ESTRANGED JISTKAN COUSIN!!!"
I cast ghost sound to emulate a distant heavy thundering noise, like REALLY BIG footfalls.
I may have to give these characters names soon, Xasay muses inwardly. It ought be something Avistani: 'Isolde and Tristan?' 'Emilye and Arcite'? 'Olivia and Burst-Eye'...?
Rollz for the Lolz: Perform (Acting):1d20 + 16 ⇒ (3) + 16 = 19
|AC 20, T 13, FF 18|HP: 40/40|F +2, R +7, W +3 (+2 vs shadow, +4 vs fear/energy drain/death/Necromancy)|Init +2, Perc +4|CMB +5 CMD 17|20/21 Performance, 3/3 Shadow Speaker, 1/1 comic relief, #19
Yes, well, you could've WAITED a round to at least see if my ruse could've divided them more....
Xasay buries his face in his hands* as he hears the real Lawful Stupid Brigade making their entrance before the illusory one can finish fulfilling its purpose.
_____
* = That is to say, he does so to the extent that it is physically possible, the strange dimensions of Wayang faces and hands being what they are (Xasay's being especially so even by their standards!).
|AC 20, T 13, FF 18|HP: 40/40|F +2, R +7, W +3 (+2 vs shadow, +4 vs fear/energy drain/death/Necromancy)|Init +2, Perc +4|CMB +5 CMD 17|20/21 Performance, 3/3 Shadow Speaker, 1/1 comic relief, #19
Xasay instantly regrets making the bait sound like easy enough prey that the spriggans would think it sufficient to send only one of their number after it.
Straining his tiny, hunched chest and short, narrow larynx to do his best approximation of a deep, resonant Human-Knight-Barbarian-hero-type voice, Xasay throws his voice again, this time from a bit farther away (indicated once again):
"LITTLE KNELL, MY DARLING??? IS THAT YOU? AVAUNT AND GALLAVANT, FOR I WILL RESCUE THEE, AND ATTACK THE DARKNESS WITH MY MAGIC MUSCLES!!!"
Perform (Acting), if it helps any:1d20 + 16 ⇒ (8) + 16 = 24
|AC 20, T 13, FF 18|HP: 40/40|F +2, R +7, W +3 (+2 vs shadow, +4 vs fear/energy drain/death/Necromancy)|Init +2, Perc +4|CMB +5 CMD 17|20/21 Performance, 3/3 Shadow Speaker, 1/1 comic relief, #19
"Wait here; I will try to lead them astray!"
With that, Xasay vanishes.
Using the Stealth roll above, 'cuz if they can beat it, I deserve to be spotted, he creeps among the trees using my pass without trace racial SLA (DC 16), then suddenly, from nearly the dead-opposite side of the clearing...
"AAAAAAAAAAAGGGHHH, OOOHH NOOO, somebody help me, I am weak and wounded and alone and now I am stuck in a BEAR TRAP! OHHH NOOOOO!!!"
Ventriloquism racial SLA, DC 16 (origin point indicated on map)!
|AC 20, T 13, FF 18|HP: 40/40|F +2, R +7, W +3 (+2 vs shadow, +4 vs fear/energy drain/death/Necromancy)|Init +2, Perc +4|CMB +5 CMD 17|20/21 Performance, 3/3 Shadow Speaker, 1/1 comic relief, #19
Xasay does what Wayang do best...
Stealth:1d20 + 18 ⇒ (17) + 18 = 35
...before inquiring as to the others' thoughts about how to go about this.
I have at least a couple of ideas, but what about the rest of you?
@DM: Does there appear to be any imminent danger to the dryad and unicorn other than the spriggans? Also, any skill checks I could make (Spellcraft, Knowledge, whatever) to possibly figure out what they might be up to here?
"'Child', you say? That is a dryad! At a minimum, she is probably older than your grandparents - but if something is burning down her tree, then she and her sisters have little time left indeed!"
Xasay turns from Berato to the dryad. "Spirit, we shall be happy to help you; please, lead the way, and tell us all that you know about these mistborne assailants!"
Diplomacy:1d20 + 9 ⇒ (10) + 9 = 19
@DM: Did we already rest during our full day's travel, or will this be our first rest?
|AC 20, T 13, FF 18|HP: 40/40|F +2, R +7, W +3 (+2 vs shadow, +4 vs fear/energy drain/death/Necromancy)|Init +2, Perc +4|CMB +5 CMD 17|20/21 Performance, 3/3 Shadow Speaker, 1/1 comic relief, #19
Xasay swears mildly in Wayang, then makes a break for it...
Acrobatics:1d20 + 9 ⇒ (15) + 9 = 24
...but not before flourishing another one of his lesser-employed metal stencils, causing 1d3 ⇒ 3eerily extradimensional hyenas to materialize around his adversary and try to tear it down!
As always, a DC 20 Will save will reduce them to 20% reality (in this case, I'm not sure whether or not each demands its own save). Subtract 2 from all the following damage rolls if it's not actually Evil:
|AC 20, T 13, FF 18|HP: 40/40|F +2, R +7, W +3 (+2 vs shadow, +4 vs fear/energy drain/death/Necromancy)|Init +2, Perc +4|CMB +5 CMD 17|20/21 Performance, 3/3 Shadow Speaker, 1/1 comic relief, #19
Pity he didn't pledge Dark Archive; the Season 6 1st-Tier Faction Reward would've been perfect for a Scrollmaster.
I wouldn't call it "level-dipping" (normally a filthy habit, says I) when the levels are on par with your other class, and you need it for your prestige class. :)
Oh, hey - and he's an Aeromancer, too! First time I've seen one of those, as well! I notice you focused on Necromancy; a fine choice, but did you know that you CAN take Spell Focus in Elemental as well as 'conventional' Schools of Wizardry?
DO specialist Wizards get to apply their bonus-school-spell-per-level to Cantrips? I thought not, but if so, my Illusionist (and first Wayang character, from back when they needed a Boon!) has been shortchanging himself a bit all this time.
|AC 20, T 13, FF 18|HP: 40/40|F +2, R +7, W +3 (+2 vs shadow, +4 vs fear/energy drain/death/Necromancy)|Init +2, Perc +4|CMB +5 CMD 17|20/21 Performance, 3/3 Shadow Speaker, 1/1 comic relief, #19
@Anthys: Just curious, what's the ring do? Should've and probably would've moved at least a little in those last two rounds if only I'd known where to head, but oh, well.
Knowledge (Nature):1d20 + 11 ⇒ (7) + 11 = 18
"Oh, my..." Declares Xasay, backing away warily but not showing any particularly acute degree of fear. In fact, he starts a soft little song:
"Three strange beasts,
Three strange beasts,
See how they foam!
See how they foam!
The two ran after the people of Light,
the one who did not WAS BEREFT OF HIS SIGHT!
Did you ever see such a folly of fright
as three strange beasts?!"
|AC 20, T 13, FF 18|HP: 40/40|F +2, R +7, W +3 (+2 vs shadow, +4 vs fear/energy drain/death/Necromancy)|Init +2, Perc +4|CMB +5 CMD 17|20/21 Performance, 3/3 Shadow Speaker, 1/1 comic relief, #19
GM RePete wrote:
Xasay, the more your character does, the more I like the concept.
I appreciate hearing it! He's a very 'me-appropriate' Bard, and I adore the Wayang race. They're one of the best things Pathfinder ever did.
GM RePete wrote:
That lucky number thing is awesome!
Pretty hard to go wrong, isn't it (just don't roll too high :P)? It's from the same book as the infamous Sacred Geometry feat! Pity they didn't think of carving out an exception to its legality for PbP play; it could actually work on here.
|AC 20, T 13, FF 18|HP: 40/40|F +2, R +7, W +3 (+2 vs shadow, +4 vs fear/energy drain/death/Necromancy)|Init +2, Perc +4|CMB +5 CMD 17|20/21 Performance, 3/3 Shadow Speaker, 1/1 comic relief, #19
The clay rats vanish as suddenly and mysteriously as they'd appeared, and Xasay draws forth a straight, slender wand of charred poplar that condenses at the tip into a small diamond, which he waves across his stings.
wand of cure light wounds on self:1d8 + 1 ⇒ (8) + 1 = 9
Since there's clearly no telling what will happen next, he takes the breathing space to experiment with something new: A long wand consisting of three rods (one of coral, one of quartz, and one of tar pitch) bound by three rings (one of copper, one of silver, and one of gold), all etched in a strikingly colorful mercury-sulfur compound with what the suitably educated would recognize as long strings of Lirgeni mathematical equations. Holding it at both tips, he twiddles it in his hands, and suddenly he is struck by a strange premonition....
my lucky number for today is:1d20 ⇒ 19The only lucky thing about that is that I didn't roll any higher. :S
|AC 20, T 13, FF 18|HP: 40/40|F +2, R +7, W +3 (+2 vs shadow, +4 vs fear/energy drain/death/Necromancy)|Init +2, Perc +4|CMB +5 CMD 17|20/21 Performance, 3/3 Shadow Speaker, 1/1 comic relief, #19
GM Aerondor wrote:
Yet another reason I only GM core these days.
It's a pity there's no middle ground between "Standard" and "Core Only" - I could've been enticed to get involved with, say, a version that was restricted to Core PLUS Advanced Player's Guide (maybe minus Summoner, since so many people balk at it) and the expanded kits/feats/spells for the classes in that book from Ultimate Magic/Ultimate Combat (maybe Magi, but no Gunslingers/Samurai/Ninja).
|AC 20, T 13, FF 18|HP: 40/40|F +2, R +7, W +3 (+2 vs shadow, +4 vs fear/energy drain/death/Necromancy)|Init +2, Perc +4|CMB +5 CMD 17|20/21 Performance, 3/3 Shadow Speaker, 1/1 comic relief, #19
Siezing the opportunity, Xasay whips out one of his black metal stencils - it's a simple design, and one he's had forever, but now he tries a new trick with it, angling it against the sunlight as it scatters through the tree canopy...
...suddenly, 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3large rats, strangely reminiscent in appearance of stylized clay statues, burst from the ground in unison and begin furiously gnawing at three of the tent's corner ropes!
Damage, 1 point of which is acid, to: NE rope:1d4 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5 SE rope:1d4 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4 SW rope:1d4 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5
|AC 20, T 13, FF 18|HP: 40/40|F +2, R +7, W +3 (+2 vs shadow, +4 vs fear/energy drain/death/Necromancy)|Init +2, Perc +4|CMB +5 CMD 17|20/21 Performance, 3/3 Shadow Speaker, 1/1 comic relief, #19
I'd like to hear another ruling: How does Three Reasons to Live work with Wayang Shadow Puppets - could it grant me access to higher levels of monsters, or not (e.g. summon monster V at my current level, or conceivably even summon monster IX at 19th level)?
Fortitude save vs distraction:1d20 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 2 = 7Oops. I do still have my plain old folio reroll, but I'll save it for who-knows-what later.
It is not the nature of Wayang to scream and thrash about when in distress, as the races of light tend to do - but were it otherwise, Xasay presently would be. Somehow, the bees' venom fails to reach its full potential against his otherworldly physiology, and he keeps his wits about him well enough to flee in the direction of the chapel.
|AC 20, T 13, FF 18|HP: 40/40|F +2, R +7, W +3 (+2 vs shadow, +4 vs fear/energy drain/death/Necromancy)|Init +2, Perc +4|CMB +5 CMD 17|20/21 Performance, 3/3 Shadow Speaker, 1/1 comic relief, #19
I'm sorry, I forgot about this; sure, make it a readied action, if that's workable (i.e. there's some way to lure them away from/out of the crowd before my next turn).
|AC 20, T 13, FF 18|HP: 40/40|F +2, R +7, W +3 (+2 vs shadow, +4 vs fear/energy drain/death/Necromancy)|Init +2, Perc +4|CMB +5 CMD 17|20/21 Performance, 3/3 Shadow Speaker, 1/1 comic relief, #19
I would like a VO ruling, please:
Can a Wayang Shadow Puppeteer only ever conjure *1* Shadow Puppet? It says so initially, but initially it is only referring to what's possible at 1st-level, and then it says it goes on to function as increasing levels of summon monster, which normally includes the option of summoning multiple lower-level monsters. I would point out for your consideration that a more restrictive interpretation of this would present the problem of strongly disincentivizing the Shadow Puppeteer from ever conjuring anything of a lower-than-maximum level.
|AC 20, T 13, FF 18|HP: 40/40|F +2, R +7, W +3 (+2 vs shadow, +4 vs fear/energy drain/death/Necromancy)|Init +2, Perc +4|CMB +5 CMD 17|20/21 Performance, 3/3 Shadow Speaker, 1/1 comic relief, #19
Knowledge (Nature):1d20 + 11 ⇒ (3) + 11 = 14
"These are no ordinary bees...they have been uplifted by great magic! We face an intelligent foe (likely moreso than most any Mannish army, which loses intellect as it gains numbers). You know, this reminds me of a story...!"
As if suddenly oblivious to the clear and present calamity, Xasay launches into a farcical tale of an inept farmer named Gorroc, whose failure to control the weeds upon his land led him to bargain with a devil.
Xasay's rambling shaggy-badger story finishes with an unexpected climax, as he indeed blasts the swarms before him with a vast wave of salt and scorching air!
fire/piercing damage, 30-foot cone (both swarms in field), DC 18 Reflex save negates:7d6 ⇒ (2, 4, 1, 6, 2, 5, 6) = 26/2 = 13, +50% = 19
|AC 20, T 13, FF 18|HP: 40/40|F +2, R +7, W +3 (+2 vs shadow, +4 vs fear/energy drain/death/Necromancy)|Init +2, Perc +4|CMB +5 CMD 17|20/21 Performance, 3/3 Shadow Speaker, 1/1 comic relief, #19
"Fear not," Xasay declares to the crowd, his voice somehow no louder than a Human conversational tone, yet standing out distinctly amid the hubbub. "A great leader once said 'the only thing we have to fear is Fear itself!'"
Come to think of it, Xasay privately reflects, I cannot think of who said it; perhaps it was just I - but maybe now it will catch on...?
I cast remove fear on the crowd - how's that for a logical creative solution?
|AC 20, T 13, FF 18|HP: 40/40|F +2, R +7, W +3 (+2 vs shadow, +4 vs fear/energy drain/death/Necromancy)|Init +2, Perc +4|CMB +5 CMD 17|20/21 Performance, 3/3 Shadow Speaker, 1/1 comic relief, #19
GM RePete:
NO. The 80% failure chance ONLY happens if disbelieved to begin with. It's the equivalent of shadow Conjuration or Evocation being reduced to 20% reality on a successful save. Think about it; it would hopelessly suck if it only had a 20% chance of working no matter what (and STILL allowed a normal save), right??? You might have wanted to give me a window to clarify on that before saying what transpired. #PbPProblems
|AC 20, T 13, FF 18|HP: 40/40|F +2, R +7, W +3 (+2 vs shadow, +4 vs fear/energy drain/death/Necromancy)|Init +2, Perc +4|CMB +5 CMD 17|20/21 Performance, 3/3 Shadow Speaker, 1/1 comic relief, #19
Vindlér Far-seer wrote:
"This wedding seems to have an increasingly interesting guest list," Vindler says, peering into the shadows at this new arrival. He pauses before leaving the horseshoe pit to investigate the maze in order to greet this individual.
Was expecting you were going to go somewhere with this; anyway...
Knowledge (Local):1d20 + 11 ⇒ (10) + 11 = 21I'll say that's good enough...
"Gnomes," Mutters the impossibly dark and pointy little man whom Vindlér had noticed earlier - the nonWayang-friendly name he gives you is Xasay Xyu, and as fate would have it, was sent here by the Society to join you! - sadly.
"Prone to obsession, they are...and sometimes it can get quite out of hand if it settles upon the wrong thing. He appears to be suffering from this 'Bleaching' of theirs, too...what if he believes his life literally depends on winning her? What if it does?"
Xasay tries something he knows is a little risky: Perhaps if sunny Gnomish passion is consuming him, it can be tempered by Wayang darkness...
...there is a bustle in the hedgerows as four more horseshoes - visibly smaller and blacker than most of the others - fly out, two just barely missing, but the other two catching and swirling about the stob with impressively sustained centripetal force!
Perception DC 20:
Hiding (a bit casually perhaps, as if it's more out of desire for shade, or even just habit, than any other reason) among the hedgerow is a little man with very dark, pointy and generally inhuman features, framed by an elegant mane of indigo hair and set with large, mirror-white eyes (of course, anyone with vision better-than-Human vision will recognize them as infrared in color). He sports what appears to be a lacquered breastplate made of teak over dark, Tian-esque finery that you somehow cannot decide whether to interpret as morbid or jolly. He has an attractive little sword and bow at his side, a rather stunning buckler like a silvery full moon on his off-arm, and in that same hand the most curious thing of all: A 'bouquet' of stylized black metal...well, you're not sure what to call them, but they're all tipped with incredibly detailed and stylized wrought images of various beings, mostly exotic animals and monsters. He has a generous skewer of fried fish, as well.
This land is your land, this land is my land
From California to the New York island,
From the Redwood Forest to the Gulf Stream waters;
This land was made for you and me.
As I was walking that ribbon of highway
I saw above me that endless skyway;
I saw below me that golden valley;
This land was made for you and me.
I've roamed and rambled and I followed my footsteps
To the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts;
And all around me a voice was sounding;
This land was made for you and me.
When the sun came shining, and I was strolling,
And the wheat fields waving and the dust clouds rolling,
As the fog was lifting a voice was chanting:
This land was made for you and me.
As I went walking I saw a sign there,
And on the sign it said "No Trespassing."
But on the other side it didn't say nothing.
That side was made for you and me.
In the shadow of the steeple I saw my people,
By the relief office I seen my people;
As they stood there hungry, I stood there asking
Is this land made for you and me?
Nobody living can ever stop me,
As I go walking that freedom highway;
Nobody living can ever make me turn back
This land was made for you and me.
