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Visitor :  Dice Roller| Game Info| The Cast |
| Scene 1: Journeys and Finding. Posted by Silver Bhoddisatva. | Group: 0 |
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| Author | Message | Page: 2 1 [all][bottom] |
"The sky is but one more barrier to Heaven. Once brave men and women could reach it and look upon the faces of their gods... but that was an old age and we've fallen rather short of the mark, haven't we?" Willow offered with both amusement and a hint of bitter recollection as she glanced towards Seeks as his question found breath and flight. Her mind turning the option this way and that as she cleaned her fingers with the bread served along side their breakfast. "I've a single visit I'd like to pay but either way, we'll take wing out of sight of the village." the handsome woman offered finally with both an impression of finality in her assessment and the cut short lilt of a question as if seeking the other's opinion on the matter. She had her suspicions that her companion would have preferred the direct route... A bird in the hand, after all... but then there was a romance to the winding path that spoke to something in one of the three parts of her soul. With little desire to wait upon the responses of her companion, Slender Willow Swaying made her way out into the crisp morning air once more. The rolling, graceful stride shifting once more to that print destroying shuffle that hid the truth of her wicked hooves. There was still an alluring grace in even that as her skirts swayed with each motion and further destroyed the evidence of her passing. Her companion knew well enough though that there was a lethal and angry thing lurking beneath that facade of near heavenly perfection. A fact that showed as she let her thoughts drift into memories not quite her own and ruminated on the past that seemed so much greater, so much brighter than the present... and that she hoped she might forge a fragment off in the future. The remembered pain of it's fall turning her thoughts to the path she walked and the careful directions that her true parent had whispered to her. She led the way flawlessly, ignoring what glances she gathered as she approached the hut that served as home and hovel to those who had given birth to her. She had made certain they knew her and recognized her in her past visits and, in truth, needed to do little to inflict the pain of memory upon them. Merely a gift here, a wicked smiled there. She looked to the ground for an instant then before drawing out a small pouch of coins. The material worn and stained but clearly the pelt of something that made a home in the swamp... and part of the blanket they had cast her into the waters with. They knew it well enough for it what it was. She didn't much care what they did with the coin as she knew what they thought of her but that she had made something of herself and stood to make something even greater upon that foundation is what made the gesture so pleasing to her vindictive mind. It wasn't bloody or visceral... Merely blunt and quiet in equal measure. Something personal and grounding. With a quick and deft flick of the wrist she pitched it at the door of the hut. The thud unmistakable and impossible to ignore. She wanted to laugh and it bubbled in her through like a knife but she held it in as she cast a wicked grin towards her companion. "Secrets await." This message was last edited by the player at 02:41, Thu 27 Aug 2020. | |||
Willow breaks off from Seeks to stand in front of one of the rude homes. She examines something in her hand before tossing it to land with a metallic thunk at the door, a grin upon her face. A moment later the 'door', fashioned of oiled hide upon a round wooden frame, opens and a child peers out. It spies the bag and bends down to pick it up between chubby fingers. The door opens wider as the child's grandmother, Willow's mother investigates. She smiles at her grandchild before deftly plucking it out of his hands and peers inside. Her eyes widen as she shakes the bag, its contents giving a healthy clink. A frown sparks upon her face as she examines the hide of the bag more carefully, a gasp resounds as she drops it too the frozen mud. She looks out and spies the two Lunars, Willow's toothy grin evident. Paling she draws her grandchild protectively behind her. Uncertainty and old guilt in equal measures cross the old woman's lined face as she carefully lays the bag upon the ground. She withdraws into the hut, closing the hide door. The little bag lies there in the frozen mud like a promise. [Where too now?] | |||
Slender Willow Swaying was the only other Luna he had ever encountered, despite his long years of travel. He had met Dragon-Blooded, and even a Sidreal, though the latter had gone poorly. So poorly, in fact, that he had been forced to roam the jungles and forests of the East for close to two decades to avoid Outstanding Contribution to the Historical Process' retribution. It was only meeting another of his kind that had encouraged him to cease his hiding, and he was unsure of her in many ways. For one, she only seemed to have been embraced by Luna, Mara's gifts had not touched her. He didn't know if that said more about her, or about him, but he suspected his own past was the reason for his demonic influence. Had he not sought Mara out, after all? He was careful to not rouse her wrath, even if he still did not yet know what might trigger it in full. Instead, he strove to make himself useful to her, so that she might have more cause to keep him around. "Aye, aye they always do." He said in response, ducking his head low in an almost servile gesture as he shuffled away. He always moved thus, not revealing the full extent of his capabilities. In truth his step was smoother even then his companion's grace. Yet such was one of the many things he kept hidden, preferring instead to reveal his capabilities only when strictly necessary. "The sooner we take wing, the better. I notice your friend the shaman didn't specify which mountain range we are to search. Let us hope our prize is somewhere in the Creeper Peaks, and not farther afield, or we could be at this for a great while." | |||
Men of civilization were enamored of letters and language upon a page... She had never won such knowledge for herself but it would happen with time... with peace, perhaps. "We can take wing a few hours from the village in a clearing. It's comfortable and familiar enough. From there we can steer our way towards Azergo. Maybe tease some wisdom out of the Twilighters or see if the Guild may have a map-maker at hand or just somewhere to study the region. Men like to rove far and throw their weight around so... I've little doubt there isn't something to learn in a city of them. Plus a chance to needle at the dynasts is rarely something I'll pass up." Slender added with an almost gleeful hate in her voice at the mention of the Dragon Blooded. Her voice little more than a teasing whisper at the ear, so lovely, yet so strangely afflicted by such powerful convictions. It seemed as if she might be many women in a single body. Some calm but hurt, others bitter and angry, yet more enraged and incensed by their ordeals and sufferings past. For now, though, it seemed that so much of this was her and not these strange memories that welled up from the depth of her well traveled soul. "All else fails... I've an idea or two more that we can lean upon but they take a bit more time." she concluded with a pause in her graceful yet shuffling step to turn back towards Seeks What is Forgotten with a smile less wicked and perhaps more thrilled for the notion of adventure... or perhaps merely that so much of what was described there spoke to those old memories and selves... and that there might be a thread that could be pulled at to guide her in turn to something far more personal. | |||
"Azergo, eh?" He said, and let out a little chuff of a breath. "Who huh... who holds Azergo these days? I haven't even been to much more than a village this far West in longer than I care to count." He spoke little enough of his past, but what he had shared had led Slender Willow Swaying to believe he had spent a considerable time deep in the woods and the jungle of the East. For him to refer to their current location as "far West," certainly lent credence to that guess. "Wouldn't you rather just, oh I don't know, spend a few years mapping out each and every peak of the Creepers? I devoured the Heart's Blood of a Harpy Eagle two decades ago, I bet we could accurately map the whole range in less than two!" He did not say why he was so hesitant to visit the township, he certainly had not possessed any such reservations around coming here. Still, despite his protestations to the contrary, he had turned his matching shuffle step in the direction she had indicated. "We've certainly got the time!" He whined, though it seemed he intended to heed her words as he led the way in the direction she had indicated, out of the village and into the forest. This message was last edited by the player at 00:17, Thu 17 Sept 2020. | |||
Nearly 17 years ago a coalition of five Guild merchant princes decided to break new ground by establishing a trade route up the usually unnavigable Meander River. The Five, despite many costly failures, managed to do so after two years. On the banks of the Greyscale River they built a trading post that grew into the Azrego of today. A thriving city-state and hub of trade. While still rough and ready by the standards of the River Province it has come a long way with a population in the tens of thousands, with more settlers and fortune-seekers pouring in from the west. Physically the town stretches from the lake shores and down a gradual cliffside decline (Azrego's famous Falls) and out onto the river plain. The steep Falls is handled with a variety of elevators and switchback roads. Its composed of three neighborhoods: Lake-Town is right on the lake shore and center of lake trade, fishing, and slaver raids. House Stormbreak, once a junior of the Five, has risen to prominence through its domination of lake trade and fishing fleets. Up-Falls is the center of government and the neighborhoods of the wealthy. It drapes up and down the Falls in spectacular fashion. House Startreader maintains a small school of magic here. House Rivenstone handles much of the bureuacracy of the city. And finally there is River-Town where the most recent immigrants arrive and river trade is handled. Its a polyglot of tenttowns, log cabins, and field stone houses. The alliance of Houses Quagmire and Cliffside has built up a string of plantations out into the River Plains. NOTE: Azrego is a Guild project. While Dynasts from the Realm do come through occasionally the Five Merchant Houses frown on them attempting to build power bases in the city. Religion: The Immaculate Faith and the Hundred Gods Heresy are popular in the city. The Five Houses will step hard on any religious feuding or power plays. This message was last edited by the GM at 14:32, Fri 09 Oct 2020. | |||
Eventually they come to a clearing upon dry bank rising a few feet above the waters. A large tree had fallen into the surrounding waters and its gnarled exposed roots clawed at the open sky. There were signs of an old fire ring in the lee of the tree roots from Willow's earlier visits. There was little discussion as the two Lunars reshape themselves in an instant. Wings spread wide and beat once, twice, and then they are airborne. Clearing the trees reveals the silver band of the North Meander below and the Creeper Peaks rising ominously to the North West. Turning East they wing toward the distant band of silver on the horizon where Azrego lies. The hours pass as the Sun rises higher, warming the chill winter day. It was almost pleasant, daydreaming to while away the time as the Lunars effortlessly cover the many miles to Azrego. The gust of cold air and icy wind against the Lunar's faces is a wake-up call as they snap back to the present. Above them glides a massive pterosaur like creature composed of clear ice. Each beat of its wings sends sleet raining against them in gusts of unpredictable wind. Its blazing blue eyes peer at the two birds below inquisitively. "I sense power, little birds. Little lying birds!" It crows in mockery as it flies above the Lunars, in Old Realm. [You are flying several hundred yards above a forested region with the Meander River below. The thing above you is large, a wingspand of 10 yards or more, and flying at Short Range above you.] | |||
Seeks What Is Forgotten had never considered himself much of a fighter, both before and after his ascension. Oh, Luna had granted him plenty of tricks, but such things generally required even the smallest shadow for him to step into. Hundreds of meters above a lake, in broad daylight? Well, his nature would always be to remain hidden in plain sight. To not appear to be a threat, to not appear to be wrapped in either Luna or Mara's power. It should have worked, wrapped in woven Harpy Eagle flesh as he was. Yet suddenly this foe was upon them, piercing through his deception as easily as if it had not existed. Frustrating, that. He couldn't even respond, for the vocal cords within his throat would no answer to any instructions he gave them but a screech. He was possessed of forms that could fight, but none that could fight and fly at the same time. He silently chastised himself for not summoning and binding one of the Agatae to him to free up his hands. Yet if he had, what would he have called to him to defend himself? He would have relied on Slender Willow Swaying, hoping she had a battleform that also had wings, and he would have called Mara's power to himself. Did he need his hands and his raspy throat to do such a thing? He had never tried, not in all his centuries. Could he? Or would it falter and resist his call? This message was last edited by the player at 00:02, Mon 19 Oct 2020. | |||
There were no words as, of course, the throat of a raptor could give rise to no such thing but the mockery in kind was clear as she cut to the heart of the matter. And what lie do you live, little bird? It was with that same, mad grace that seemed to suffuse almost everything that she did that she rode the twisting winds and pounding sleet before stretching her wings to their fullest. Her ascent wound tight like the spring of some arcane machine as it launched her upwards and above the spirit that seemed so intent to taste their blood. Her piercing shriek almost like laughter as she felt the sun upon her again and memories of happier lives, of greater times, stirred at the edges of her mind even as her predatory heart focused in on what mattered most in the moment; the kill. Blood thundered through her then as she waited for just the moment she needed, knowing that her sudden ascent would have the spirit on it's guard and it's attentions split between her companion and she. 8 motes from personal towards excellencies + stunt ceiling: 11:37, Today: Slender Willow Swaying rolled 7 successes using 8d10 with the White Wolf Exalted system with a target of 7. Wits Excellency + Dex Stunting to Join Battle. 11:22, Today: Slender Willow Swaying rolled 3 successes using 7d10 with the White Wolf Exalted system with a target of 7. Wits + Awareness (Join Battle). Join battle final value: 13 3 Motes from Peripheral for Glance Oratory Technique Getting altitude on it in preparation for what comes next. This message was last edited by the player at 15:05, Sat 17 Oct 2020. | |||
Willow 13 Seeks 9 Sleet 7 The monster, or more likely a air spirit of some kind, hisses laughter like a blizzard wind. Its translucent wings begin to sprout a jagged edge of ice on the leading edge as the joy of a fight overtakes it. "There is no lie in the ice that will coat your wing feathers and sends you crashing to the earth below! I am what you see! I am Sleet!", it roars proudly to Willow's taunt. It slaps its wings together with a 'thoom' as it springs with unexpected agility toward the 'birds'. Willow can act first. Seeks first action is Shape Sorcery. Sleet goes last. | |||
That she could be heard at all was a miracle in itself and further testament to the madness that roiled within her as memories swirled and danced along side thundering window and adrenaline. "Sleet? Miserable bastard of Snow and Rain? Bringer of nothing but bitter cold and wretched mud? What use are you to a world like this? Mired and wretched as it is already. Dance with the Children of Silver and see what you hunt, little bird!" She shouted above the roar of the wind as she twisted herself with the speed of a snapping eel with prey in sight. Each motion driven by a raw yet paradoxically refined instinct as she descended towards the Spirit. Essence glimmering all the while in her wake as she drew deeply upon the world around her; the rush of air, the light of the sun upon her, the cold that she felt as she fell towards Sleet with no regard for the safety of her course. Her faith in her survival all but assured by the power she had been given and her knowledge of it. It was as she drew near that more became apparent to her fellow lunar; a panoply of phantom limbs unfurling as the Changing Moon twisted and turned in her descent. Each hand twisting through a thousand gestures and evocations as she fell ever closer towards the spirit she seemed almost obsessed with offending. All while radiance began to bleed into her lunar markings; the glowing form of an infinite centipede seeming to encircle her as they worked along her form, up her neck, along her cheeks, and over her brow to raise high the ever shifting form of Mother Moon. Her wicked smile seeming all the brighter as she revealed herself in all her shadowed and ever changing splendor. The airs of madness and many faces seeming to lend an allure and impact to her words and actions that defied what good reason and sound logic would otherwise advise. INSANITY TIME! Move action to get above him (Reflexive from prior discussion) Shapeshifting into human form (Reflexive from prior discussion) 10 Essence from Peripheral to activate Laughing Monster Form. (Simple Action) 16:03, Today: Slender Willow Swaying rolled 8 successes using 11d10 with the White Wolf Exalted system with a target of 7. Presence 4 + Man 4 + 3 die Stunt. To infuriate and distract Sleet into focusing on me and getting him into a better position for Seeks. Pretty sure that Laughing Monster Form won't let me add my occult dice to that influence roll but let me know if it does. :D | |||
Yet even with all of Luna's wisdom and Mara's secretes, he never would have dreamed in a thousand years that he would witness the display she put forth. He stared in mind numbing incomprehension as she regained her human form, and plunged herself bodily at the foe. What strange arcanum burst to life about her he could only guess at, but it was terrifying in its eldritch symmetry. He suppressed a shudder as he watched the utterly inhuman nature of it, still unused to the presence of immortals and still terrified of what it meant. He had thought he had understood magic, but watching his companion made him realize how little he knew. He tried what magic he had now, pulling the shadows to him, and felt the rush of relief as the magic obeyed his will. His shadow was so far below him as to be invisible, and yet as he pulled the power from the raw motes of existence his silhouette seemed to darken and twist beneath him. A black streak from the tiny form of the Harpy Eagle, a solid line that descended from the heavens to the earth below. From that darkness? Power. The temperature around him dropped, a chill sinking deep into the bones, as the wind began to whip and crack. The dark purple lines of Mara's power inscribed upon his flesh burst to glowing life, humming a mockery of his still hidden Lunar tattoos. Geometric lines of eldritch energy, surging as he pulled from the shadows below. Whispers filled the air, the distant echo of ecstatic screams and cruel laughter. He called, and power came. Investing 1 WP and casting Death of Obsidean Butterflies, collecting 9 of 15 motes. 15:51, Yesterday: Seeks What Is Forgotten rolled 7 successes using 9d10 with the White Wolf Exalted system with a target of 7. Intelligence 5 + Occult 3 (Sorcery). 10:09, Today: Seeks What Is Forgotten rolled 1 success using 2d10 with the White Wolf Exalted system with a target of 7. 2 Point Stunt. Spending 3 Peripheral Motes to use Unwavering Predator’s Eye - P. 238 Join Battle with Perception + Awareness, double 9s. 07:28, Today: Seeks What Is Forgotten rolled 6 successes using 8d10 with the White Wolf Exalted system with a target of 7 ((4,9,1,9,6,6,6,10)). Initiative is 9. This message was last edited by the player at 00:33, Mon 19 Oct 2020. | |||
[Activating Icy Beak Strike against Willow for a Withering attack. 15m + 3i. Activating Brawl Excellency for +4 dice. 4m. Vs. Willow's DV 6 (including applicable Charms, Cost 3m) 09:11, Today: Silver Bhoddisatva, for the NPC Sleet, rolled 10 successes using 16d10 with the White Wolf Exalted system with a target of 7. Beak Attack. Willow's Soak 5 (with Impenetrable Beast-Armor, 3m.) 09:17, Today: Silver Bhoddisatva, for the NPC Sleet, rolled 3 successes using 8d10 with the White Wolf Exalted system with a target of 7. Withering Damage. 09:20, Today: Silver Bhoddisatva, for the NPC Sleet, rolled 1 success using 4d10 with the White Wolf Exalted system with a target of 7. Freezing ice DECISIVE damage. Willow loses 3 Initiative and takes 1 level of Lethal damage. Spent 7m. Sleet gains 4 Initiative.] This message was last edited by the GM at 14:25, Thu 22 Oct 2020. | |||
Sleet 11 Willow 9 Seeks 7 Sleet continues to torment the falling Willow with cruel snips and cuts. A mocking eye watches with delight even as she twists and turns in her fall, narrowly avoiding the thing's icy fangs. Sleet misses bringing him down to 10 init. New Turn 2 Initiative. Willow 10 Sleet 10 Seeks 7 Willow and Seeks can take their Turn 2 actions. Sleet: DV 6 (spending 4 motes on Excellency for a +2 DV) This message was last edited by the GM at 15:49, Thu 22 Oct 2020. | |||
"Such pride for nothing more than a hen peck! Is this the might of Sleet? Little nibbles and numb cuts? What a sad child you are of Rain and Snow! Not even worth the fire I've set around us!" It was impossible to not see it now as she fell and fought and struggled, existing purely and utterly in the moment with a raw and wicked glee even as life times played out within her mind. Her tattoos twisted and writhed as the held aloft the glowing form of the ever changing moon and all around her the air seemed alive with the silver radiance of Luna herself, reaching into the heavens and far below as it twisted and writhed like a living flame... Twisting, reshaping, reforming into the rearing form of some great and terrible centipede, it's eyes alive with moon silver as it's mandibles the size of elephants dripped twilight flames in anticipation of the feast before it. It was in that moment, that terrible, hideous moment that she twisted and turned in the air once more. She bided her time in the instant, her heart beating in her ears even as her laughter drowned it out. Her endless arms swaying, dancing and churning around her in an endless sea of madness and infinite mudras as she slowed her descent and waited for the spirit to charge her once. Endless arms and hands seemed to launch outwards then, slapping, elbowing, and spinning her around with such ferocity as to strike once more with a sweeping leg before she fell too far to reach it once more. Her body spinning for an instance as she tucked in her limbs with another taunting trill of laughter before spreading out once more to slow her fall. She was insane. It could be the only conclusion that one might draw as an observer... and yet she was alive in that moment. All was her oyster and she was the great and terrible trickster of legend, the laughing Demon. WHAMMY TIME! As Furiously Stalling Destiny was used to dodge, I gain an automatic success on my first attack. So first order of business, the counter attack I get from Laughing Monster Form. It only deals one dice of damage on the hit because that's all Sleet lost but that's better than nothing. Activating Deeper Into Trouble Technique for 3 Motes (Periphery). 4 Motes (Personal) for Dexterity Excellency to counterattack roll. 19:30, Today: Slender Willow Swaying rolled 7 successes using 14d10 with the White Wolf Exalted system with a target of 7. MA + DEX + OCCULT + 4 Excellency. 19:32, Today: Slender Willow Swaying rolled 1 success using 4d10 with the White Wolf Exalted system with a target of 7. 1 Initiative Dice + 3 Bonus DMG from DITT. So that's one lethal straight to the HPs. Time for more HP! 4 Motes (Periphery) towards Dexterity Excellency. 3 Motes (Periphery Towards Deeper Into Trouble Technique (again) adding +3 damage die and double tens for decisive attacks. 19:51, Today: Slender Willow Swaying rolled 9 successes using 14d10 with the White Wolf Exalted system with a target of 7. DEX + MA + OCC + Excellency (4). 19:55, Today: Slender Willow Swaying rolled 9 successes using 13d10 with the White Wolf Exalted system with a target of 7. Init + 3 from major negative intimacy. That resets me to 3 initiative. This message was last edited by the player at 11:41, Fri 23 Oct 2020. | |||
Within him, Mara's whispers filled his mind, congratulating him on finding such an excellent companion. Was she not the brilliant thunderstorm to his cold fury, the beacon of Luna's divinity to create the shadow he needed? He pushed such thoughts aside, suppressing a shudder as he refocused and sought to shape the sorcery he had already partially unleashed within his mind. The very air about him dripped with Mara's power as he drew it into himself, his beating wings feeling like they were powering through molasses. The light was seemingly drained from him, his feathers going black and reflective against the clear sky. There was a great silence, the pause after a great inhalation of breath, and then the world exploded. The obsidian that had encased his feathers exploded outwards in muffled howl of magic, a boom almost beneath hearing, and yet still a roar. Each shard shattered into a thousand more, coalescing into a dense cloud of butterflies each gleaming black as midnight. With preternatural speed and accuracy, the swarm of deadly obsidian streaked away from him and towards Sleet in a deadly, a thousand brutal cuts in an instant. Action: Shape Sorcery 09:57, Today: Seeks What Is Forgotten rolled 7 successes using 9d10 with the White Wolf Exalted system with a target of 7. Intelligence 5 + Occult 3 (Sorcery). 10:10, Today: Seeks What Is Forgotten rolled 10 successes using 11d10 with the White Wolf Exalted system with a target of 7. Perception 5 + Occult 3 (Sorcery) + 2 Point Stunt. That's 11 hits with an undodgeable decisive attack. Not sure what that does to my initiative. | |||
It isn't unusual for spirits of storms to be insufferably arrogant about their power and standing. Today this attitude costs the elemental beast once known as Sleet dearly as his challenge to two Celestial Exalted goes terribly wrong. Willow's taunting and tricky contortions in the air leave Sleet bleeding reddish ice water from its veins and ice scales cracking from its hide. Sleet's wings beat feebly in anger but its voice cries out in distress as it is engulfed in Seeks cloud of black glass butterflies with razor wings. "Mercy!" is the last word heard in the fluttering mass before only a tumbling morass of broken ice and black glass remains to fall to the earth below. Willow has time to study the broken ice tooth in her hand as she falls heedlessly toward the river rocks below. Its an interesting thing. It seems to whisper of biting winds and winter cold. Some remnant of the spirit's power inhabits the tooth. Suddenly Willow remembers where she is and a quick transformation into a raiton arrests her fall. She rejoins her companion in the sky. | |||
Sleet's fang still clutched in her talon as a macabre trophy of the fury she had unleashed. The echo of power in it's depths a curiosity that she would have to explore when she could find a moment of peace for such thinking. The Changing Mask let out a piercing cry then as she soared towards Azrego. This message was last edited by the player at 00:45, Sun 22 Nov 2020. | |||
Moments like this then were the closest he would come to true insight. This message was last edited by the player at 23:58, Sat 21 Nov 2020. | |||
To the East can be seen the upthrust line of cliffs passing north to south. Beyond is the gleam of the vast Greyscale Lake. As the last miles are eaten away by the Lunar's wings the first signs of Azrego become visible. The shores are strewn with the tents of new arrivals, immigrants and nomads interspersed with sturdier log constructions of long term residents, inns and warehouses. Beyond the city rises crawls up the cliffsides with a great waterfall pouring between its arms from the heights above. [Some possible destinations: House Cliffside employs numerous mapmakers. They tend to live and work in Rivertown or Lake-Town. The Broken Straw Academy in Up-Falls is a small school of sorcery patronized by House Startreader. They are known to be eager for information about the 1st Age ruins located in the region but tend to be mercenary and arrogant. Of course numerous tribesmen of all sort, guides, and whatnot can be found in Rivertown.] https://www.deviantart.com/ace...rfall-city-336441011 | |||
Essence burned within her once more as she shook, silvery motes of soul stuff falling away as her form twisted, grew, and feathers fell away to reveal first pale flesh followed quickly by the falling curls of her dark hair only to flow into the festive hues of her skirts, shawls, and tunic. She shook for a moment then as her hand tightened about the tooth before placing it in a pouch and letting her mind churn. Old memories of different lives scratching at the corners of her mind and drawing her gaze ever further into contemplation. Eventually, she entwined her hands and gently stretched as she waited for her companion to join her. She knew of a man or two that might help them in their search. One was a scholar, Stained Fingers, from House Startreader. She knew him well enough and how he could be convinced to help them without the tedium of money and trade... It was only a question of if she had the patience for the scent of ink and vellum... and the feeling that all that was hoarded in their halls was not better served in the hands of the many, given freely and without condition. Her lips pursed into a frown at the thought as flickers of memory burned to the fore... The feeling of quill in hand, of texts laid out before her. The letters meant nothing to her mind, a skill that had long eluded her in her ruminations and passion pursuits. She shook her head then and considered the other that she might know. If she were in town, they might find better purchase with them. A fellow tribal though not of the same mother or gods. Raven's Eye was an outcast and a strange one but Slender Willow Swaying felt a certain kinship as they both sought something that eluded them in the world. She wished to find her city of pillars and to reclaim some grain of a far greater past... Raven's Eye... sought purpose or so was her impression but what she might find it in was a teasing mystery. Still, there were few more knowledgeable in the strange places and lost secrets that might lie here and there as she had roamed far and wide, only really returning here every cycle or so for supplies. Lost in her thoughts, the Lunar almost began her trek towards the city proper but stopped and glanced skyward for her companion. She had to wonder what they had thought of her display against the spirit. Few were comfortable around a woman like her, was he afraid now? Or were they still intrigued? Or was it both? She remembered that feeling when Luna had spoken to her... Fear, Intrigue, a desire to survive and grow stronger... to destroy an ugly, twisted shadow of past greatness so something could blossom again. She sighed softly, sadly as she waited for Seeks What is Forgotten to rejoin her so they might plan. | |||
They doubted it. They came down next to Slender Willow Swaying in a shower of brown robes and cracked flesh, looking with iridescently shimmering black eyes at the strangest choice they had made. The Changing Moon Caste was so utterly strange, and yet so much truer to Luna's purpose than they had ever been. They were a creature of shadows and secrets, torn between two Goddesses. Or close enough, in Mara's case. Luna's rage burned within them, but it was a terrifying thing, and the source of much of the current woe within them. If not for that bane, they would still be a traveler among the cities of the East, lost in tombs and tomes as they searched for a cure for the Contagion which even now devoured them from the inside. Instead they were here, standing beside this manifestation of the Goddesses fury made flesh. What would happen if that fury was ever directed at him? It felt like it would achilleate him in an instant, sear him from his bones and render him down to fat and tallow. He didn't even understand what drove her, what caused it. He needed to. For he knew deeply what guided Outstanding Contribution to the Historical Process, and he knew that he would need Slender Willow Swaying's aid if he was to ever be free of that huntress. "That was... rather terrifying truth be told." He said at last, pulling up his hood to hide his alien features. "Not Sleet, you. I've never seen any other touched by Luna's gifts before. My spell weaving is a slow thing, not really suited for battle. I've trained some in arms over the decades, but I'd never considered myself a warrior. What are the other Lunars like, are they also prone to dive headfirst at the enemy like that? Am I the freak yet again here? You were..." He shrugged, not sure what to say. "... intimidating." He said at last, shrugging. "You've seen me Bind Demons to my service before, if we have time to spare I would do so again. I have a binding in mind that will cause us no grief within Azrego. A subtle thing, a hidden thing, my sort of thing. Yet something that... well... if another fight such as that occurs..." He seemed either frightened or embarrassed. "Well, so I can be a little more like you." This message was last edited by the player at 02:18, Wed 09 Dec 2020. | |||
"Some, maybe. We wear many faces by our nature. I don't think they see the world like I do... Not any of the younger ones anyway. Old... old memories come and go in my mind. I see things from better times... better places... through the eyes of better people... I like what I see from then than what I see now." the Changing Moon offered with soft rise and fall of her shoulders once more as she curled her arms about herself and turned her eyes towards the city beyond once more. That crooked smile turning into little more than a frown before falling into what could be thought of as little more than melancholic rumination, that air of mania seeming to circle around her like a storm as if it were more than just glimpses of memory but fragments of something other floating to the surface, influencing this young woman's thoughts and actions... and guiding the terrible power at her finger tips. It was insanity if nothing else to a more grounded observer. "We're not in a hurry so long as Fulgar and the Gods can remain patient so... Summon your demon but I don't think you'd like to be a little more like me. You've pain enough on your own with what's eating you away from within." Slender Willow Swaying offered with a glance back towards Seeks What Is Forgotten with a wicked but warm smile now brightening her features which only really served to inspire a gut deep suspicion that there was far more trouble to be had in the company of a seeming lunatic. "Once your done, I know a few people who might be able to point us in something like the right direction though they'll naturally want something in exchange. They always do." | |||
"I brought this upon myself." He extended his hands from his robes, the skin withered and dry. "And in truth? If I were given the chance to do it all over again, I don't know if I would choose to do much different. Perhaps I would, and there were certainly points where it was hell on earth. Yet the whole picture? The places I've been, the things I've seen? The indulgences I've taken?" He shrugged, withdrawing back into his cowl. "I can't even say. I just don't really understand what I am. I'm not just Luna's, Mara has her hooks in me almost as deep. Am I even truly a Lunar? Did you ever hear in all your travels of another like me, or meet one? I don't even truly understand myself. The moment I try and give myself to one, the other sweeps in to steal me away. I can't... lose myself like that, like you did with Sleet. Or at least, every time I've tried it's gone spectacularly wrong." He chuckled, beginning to head towards the town. "I will need to wait until sundown to begin anyways. So let us start with your people, and then we can switch to mine." | |||
"I'd think Mara would have more to fear of Luna than the opposite but she's not a jealous goddess unless it plays to the face she's wearing. Survive and live, do so without regret... That's always the lesson I've taken away." the Changing Moon offered before glancing back to the city and turning her mind to the matter at hand. Memories roiled and churned beneath the surface, relics of bygone loves and eras... That sense of bitterness, disappointment, rising like unwanted bile for a moment before she drew a breath and placed both hands at her hips as her gaze drifted downward to the earth at her feet. "Two names, two people. There's Stained Fingers. He's a scholar that's pledged himself to House Startreader... So for a price we can use him to get to the knowledge they've hoarded and kept from all. Which might give something up of what we seek; reports... locations... Something. He'll ask questions though to satisfy his own curiosity." There was something in her tone that implied such stores of knowledge might be inaccessible in another way to her and that... It annoyed her in some fashion to acknowledge it but she gave away no more than that as she moved to the next person she might know to lead them on the right path. "The other is Raven's Eye. Another tribal. I like her better. She wanders and seeks purpose in the act. The problem with that is she is rarely still for more than a few days. I know a few of her favorite places and people though. If she's in town, I'm certain we can cross paths quickly and she might have a tale or legend to share that can guide us just as well; old knowledge from one tribe or another." the Laughing Demon offered with a grin that spoke of nostalgia and fondness to match her words as she turned and glanced back towards Seeks What Is Forgotten. The unspoken question of which path they preferred implied with just a little arch of brow and twist of the ever present smile. This message was last edited by the player at 15:42, Tue 22 Dec 2020. |
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