"Just a little something I got from my grandmother on my mother's side.  It's what allowed me to see the power you held from a great distance, as well as the colonel's equipment and the pile of magic that they have been guarding.  I know a few other tiricks, as well- some that I haven't had to rely on, but they are there, all the same.  Though this one is the one I rely on the most- instead of fumbling around to find sources of magic, I can just see where it is.  Of course... that's not the only one I know.  There are many others I couls show you, if I was in better shape to demonstrate their effectiveness.  Things like charging your body with electricity to damage your enemies should they attack you... making your weapon burn like acid, or belching forth a cloud of flame that can engulf your enemies... I know quite a bit.  The magic's not the thing, it's how you use it, you know?  And if it happens to be effective, well, why not use it?  I was born with it, and others weren't.  Of course, they tossed my grandmother in the Daziarn for openly practicing it, but as long as you're not obvious with it, well... there are places in the country where the Brotherhood fears to tread or doesn't see.  What they don't know won't hurt them."

She would reach back and draw Nightstinger, with an easy grin, and make sure to point the tip away from anyone, and away from the pile of items.  With a few quick words, she would cause a shower of sparks to burst from the tip of Nightstinger, scattering harmlessly over the ground.

"Tricks like that are best made with Darkland steel.  Things like the Acidic Touch spell eat up eastern-style weapons that don't have a whit of magic like candy."

There was something like recognition in the woman's eyes - something that Rain found strangely familiar - and then she turned to the bunch of items, asking:

"So, you can tell what kind of magic is here, can't you?"

She paused, then added, her voice so lower a whisper that only Rain could catch it:

This message was last edited by the GM at 00:18, Sun 29 July 2012.

She settled down to work, seperating the items into a couple different piles, keeping her eyes focused on the treasures.

"Moggador Adez or the Hammer of Blood" Fox spoke as the soldiers made thier formation

As the Colonel spoke about typical Sommerlending, Fox decided to speak up.

"A typical Drakkar would have attacked us on sight, not been prone to parely and would slaughter everyone including women and children. Clearly neither of us seem to be 'typical' really do we?" Fox replied

Looking around, he continued.

"However I know your skills proceed you. Perhaps you know of Master Starfire? He led the assault to reconquer Torgar, possibly while you yourself was there and he speaks of nothing but respect for your unit's capabilities"

Deciding to sheathe Vigiliance, Fox continued

"And by your accounts, we should have attacked you regardless if we thought we were ridding the world of evil doers?" Fox questioned. "But no, I am under no illusion Colonel, when I fight it is against enemies that would seek to harm innocents, and right now I see none of them before me"

It was at that point Fox remembered something

"Incidentally, we encountered a dying woman and children escaping from your attack. We let them go, and she said she would go warm the main camp of your attack. Perhaps some of your men would want to go guard the other tunnels now incase the Acolytes return in force? It would prevent us from being taken by suprise"

Sun Snake returned the neutral look at the Colonel's comment the Kai's skills, and again shrugged.

To the weapon comment, Sun Snake looked to the Colonel questioning. "An axe is indeed a tool. I may have spend some time in the wilds, I suppose that has rubbed off." He looked genuinely confused by the colonel's conclusion, however, something had obviosuly piqued his interest. "So how do you build the world you want? And what reason do you have to fight if not that?"

If Sun Snake had any reaction to the branding of the acolytes, or Sabre Fox's own comments on innocence, he didn't show it.
This message was last edited by the player at 08:02, Sun 29 July 2012.

The colonel nodded at Sabre Fox's words.

"Thank you for the news; it's good to know. But we won't need to set up defences, for we're moving shortly - we have to explore those tunnels to find the source of power these people are using to create their monsters."

He paused, then added, with a smirk:

"And if you really are a disciple of Starfire, then when you meet again, tell him that I'd gladly cross my blade with his, one day; his head is worth a marquis title in the Hammerlands, and beside, there's no Drakkar who wouldn't like to measure themselves against such a warrior."

Then, he turned to Sun Snake, as if looking surprised by his question; after a moment, he answered, and his voice was very serious.

"You don't. You can't build the world you want, Kai Lord, but you can rebuild yourself, and destroy those parts of the world you don't like. As for fighting, it is the way to find yourself, to prove yourself and to understand who you really are. Every victory you gain is a proof of your strenght, just as every defeat testify a fault you have to squash out of you. And in the same way, all that you kill give you the value of yourself; for every life you take is one more you valued less than your own, so each new one makes yours worth that much more."

He paused, as if wanting to let the point sink, and then concluded, with a smirk:

"And in so doing, you found what and who you really are, through your victories, defeats, and kills; and then, you know what you're capable of, and what not, and you can change yourself, to be better suited for destroying everything that makes the world a worse place to live in, to you. That's a truer vision of things than you have, Kai Lord; think it over."
A moment later, the female Drakkar turned to her commander and spoke.

"The Kai Lady Rain Feather, here, has divided the item for us - the left pile will make the soldiers wearing them stronger, the center one will make them faster, and the last one is filled with item that should give them some minor magic."

Then, she threw a red ring to the man, and continued:

"That's something that would try to control who wears it - it should be best if you were to keep it, Colonel; as for me, I'm keeping this."

She showed a sickle with a blade made of black onyx, before affixing it to her belt. Vyctar nodded, then turned to his men and said, in a commanding tone:

"Be quick with those people, we have real work to do!"
This message was last edited by the player at 16:31, Sun 29 July 2012.

"Of course" Fox replied. "Im sure that he himself will be glad of the offer for you to TRY and take his head, for he will not give it up without the most rigourous of fights" Fox smirked.

As the soldiers began to move, Fox spoke again.

"I can say that I would envy him Colonel, for in a way I am dissapointed I did not cross swords with you myself, however that is something for another time should Starfire decide to take you up on your offer and have a unit join him"

Ill leave Snake to direct us now ;)

Vyctar smirked at Sabre Fox's comment.

"Oh, if this cooperation goes on long enough, we might spar with each other eventually, Kai Lord; I'm sure you'd give me quite the workout. I'd be curious to see how good you actually are, in fact; you surely have the build, attitude and walk of an experienced fighter, but in these things, a true test is better than just trusting one's perceptions."

He then turned slightly, so as to include Sun Snake in his next sentence, and added:

"I'm planning on separating my platoon into five units; some of the tunnels are clearly older than the others, so I'm thinkning to start by separating and checking the newest ones first. If we do this, I and Zahira, plus four more of my men, will be coming along with you, Kai Lord... unless, of course, any of you has any idea about which tunnel we are to check first?"

"Sabre Fox, Colonel" Fox said quickly so that his name was known. "And in the spirit of a good collaboration ill have to hold you to that" Fox smirked, turning towards Sun Snake.

"But for now, ill have to defer to our resident tracker here to answer that question"
This message was last edited by the player at 09:01, Sun 29 July 2012.

Sun Snake did not do more than raise an eyebrow at the Colonel's opinion on Sommlending beliefs, nor his own personal philosophies.

He walked along keeping to himself until the junction of the ways. He looked around for a moment, the raised an eyebrow at Sabre's words. "Hardly a resident tracker, Sabre, I can detect no life in any of these tunnels, so your guess may well be as good as mine. Still, give me a moment...there might be something lingering..."


Awaiitng the results of a roll :)

Even as Sun Snake looking around, the female drakkar moved to see what he was doing, and asked, in a nagging tone:

"So, Kai Lord? Found anything? Where do we go?"

Sun Snake looked around, not regarding the woman to begin with. "Kai's gifts are not like magic," he said though, addressing the mage. "They don't provide external answers, they augment our own perceptions and thought processes." Sun Snake looked to the woman. "Or to put it another way...shhhh." He brought a finger up to his lips in a deliberate motion,  though as he turned to regard the tunnels, it turned in to a thoughtful tap.

He then pointed the finger down one of them. "The road less travelled. None show any special signs of activity, but this tunnel has been less used, whatever that may mean."

Sun Snake looked to Rain Feather and then Sabre Fox, looking for their gifts of detection and enhanced senses to add anything further.

"Adopt your plan, Colonel, however I think our proposed grouping would be best served taking this one rather than your men."

The Drakkar looked at the tunnel, then nodded.

"Alright, Kai Lord, we'll follow your "enhanced perceptions", as you like to call them."

Vyctar looked to his men - all the Acolytes had by now been maked and sealed inside a tent, so they couldn't tell their fellow which roads the soldiers would take - and then raised his hand; immediately, three Drakkarim moved to him, and the Kai could see that all three had a slightly more ornated helm than the other soldiers; one was, in fact, the very same who had marked the Acolytes.

"Each of you, break your unit in two groups of four, sending each in one of these tunnels; I will be taking your sergeants with me, and we'll search the tunnel the Kai Lord picked."

The three nodded, and then returned to their groups, before three completely different Drakkarim reached the group, standing to attention in front of Vyctar, who nodded to them and then turned to Sun Snake, saying with a smirk:

"Well, Kai Lord, lead the way."

Stopping here so that each of you can make a reaction post to what's happened thus far, before we start among the tunnel.

Also, if you have any plans you want to put in motion, now might be a good time to PM it to me. :)

This message was last edited by the player at 21:19, Sun 29 July 2012.

"Why would I want to do that? Your 'mundane' perceptions have gotten you far enough, why wouldn't I trust them as much as my own?" Sun Snake looked to Vyctar. "You know what a person who can do everything is called? Mediocre. A strength invites a weakness. You can either smash weakness, or you can work out what strength it hides, and hope that it can compensate your own." Sun Snake shrugged and looked to the tunnel. "That is my philosophy. I could trip over something obvious looking for the extraordinary. It is not better if we both go as one?" Sun Snake looked back to Vyctar and raised an eyebrow.

Sun Snake's words were met with a smirk from Vyctar.

"It seems, Kai Lord, that much like an axe wielder would, you favor a stronger offense, at the price of a weaker defense. But I use a sword, and as such, I prefer my attack and defense to be appropriatedly balanced. It's a difference in style; both have their own advantages and disadvantages, and of course, each fit a differend kind of warrior, so neither one is a wrong outlook to have... assuming it's the one your own mindset can identify with."

The colonel tapped his sword, and concluded:

"As I said, it's through fighting that a man realizes who he truly is - this is but a bacis application of that concept, a concept we like to call the Drakkar Way."

He paused, then added, in a more serious tone:

"Also, among Drakkar, the custom is that, if something is worth arguing about, then it's worth fighting about; for there's no more pressing argument then the one you make with steel. On the other hand, if you feel your argument isn't worth fighting for, then it's likely not even worth bringin up, and you should just accept that you're wrong."

Thus saying, the Drakkar moved forward and added, smirking back to Sun Snake:

"I still feel that, if you're a tracker as your friend says, you'd likely be better for leading the way; however, since you trust my own skills and will let the honor to me, I take it. Let's move, Kai Lord."

And with that, he started to walk toward the tunnel, not even checking to see if anybody was following - but his men were standing still, waiting for the Kai to move before they would.

She'd mutter a few things under her breath and touch her finger to her eyes, causing them to glow.  She'd then peer down each tunnel, looking for signs of magic or magically-hidden traps.

"Let's see here..."

It seemed that Rain Feather's actions drawed Zahira's attention, as she turned toward the Kai Lady and asked, her tone curious:

"Have you seen anything interesting?"

"Nothing yet, but I'll keep an eye out. This only really extends for so long, so it's usually best to keep moving. I will keep the spell active as we move, but I will require more mundane eyes to pick out physical traps. That will be Sabre's job- he's better at the whole physical thing than I am."

She nodded at the comment, eyeing Sabre Fox for a moment before saying, with a chuckle:

"Yeah, I can see that."

"Ill just keep my eyes open" Fox said simply

"What if the thing you are fighting for is to nbot have to fight?" asked Sun Snake with a half-smile. He seemed to listen to the rest of the Colonel's words without further comment.

The moment the Colonel started walking forwards, Sun Snake moved aswell, without thought moving to the side and disappearing in to the shadows.


Men, rolled a 0 for hiding in the shadows, so I presume he will either the Colonel's movements are throwing him off, or he keeps indi9cating where he is t othe man.

Several soldiers hissed in surprise when Sun Snake disappeared - but before they could do anything, he was in sight again, and then once again impossible to see, and then visible back... it was clear that he wasn't really caring to hide, and was mostly doing it unconsciously, but even so, it was clearly unsettling the Drakkarim to see that he could disappear with but a thought.

Vyctar, who being closer was the one who could experience it better, glanced at him with an amused smirk, and said:

"Kai Lord, while I can see you're not doing it in purpose, I'd prefer it if you would avoid doing that. It keeps my men tense, and if you wear them thin, they'll be less capable of reacting should a treat present itself."

He paused, then shrugged, and turned to his men, adding, in a commanding tone:

"Ignore the Kai Lord, and just keep steady; you're Drakkarim, you're stronger than this."

That seemed to calm his men some, then Vyctar shook his head, even as he continued to walk forward, and spoke again.

"So, Lord Sabre Fox, your scar is interesting; surviving such a wound is evidence of your strenght. Tell me, how did you got it?"

Just making a bit of conversation; it beats saying "they walked through the tunnel for three hours" in my mind. If none of you want to talk, though, just say so! ^_^

"I hope he's got a few hours to listen.  I've heard Sabre's tale before, and it always seems to involve more enemies and more acrobatics every time I hear it." she says, playfully rolling her eyes.

Sun Snake looks across to the Colonel as if the butt of some form of joke, but realises the man is serious and that the men were distracted, Sun Snake gives an uncertain but sinsere nod, and moves more cautiously and tries to pay more attention, coming closer to the commander in the process and staying away from the tunnel shadows.

He too raises his eyebrows and rolls his eyes at Rain Feather's comment, shooting Sabre Fox an amused look.


Aww, poor Sun Snake. Can't the Drakkar leave him alone, he's just making sure Sabre Fox and the Colonel get hit by sneak attacks.

Rolled a 4 if a general perception roll is needed.

This message was last edited by the GM at 13:34, Mon 30 July 2012.

"Because of my own arrogance yet, at the same time, due to my own intiuition. Long story short, i disobeyed orders to retake an outpost during the wars before it could be reinforced. A Gourgaz reinforced the Giak there and blindsided me, quite literally. The only saving grace was that if I hadnt done it, it would have cost far more lives than a simple scar, so as far as I see it, it was worth it"