<strong>A Village in the Canopy - Before Visha's Arrival</strong><br/><br/><strong>A Mage's Intuition (Is Not Always a Flawless Tool)</strong><br/><br/>Kelcis did, in fact, pause to allow Reliyian her final ritual, though he shifted his feet from side to side as she inspected him, rather unsettled by the contact. Perhaps it was the chill that bothered him, or maybe the fact that she was touching his unprotected flesh with the hands that had summoned frost to kill several of his subordinates with ease. Still, his head did not move from her hands, despite the body below it dancing in place ever so slightly. He almost seemed … guilty? Though, of what?<br/><br/>When she finally released him, Kelcis shivered. But, after a moment, he nodded encouragingly (or so he intended it, anyway) towards her before being on his way.<br/><br/>Her arcane investigations fared better, but only barely. The source of the enchantment or whatever-it-was was maddeningly vague. Now that she was outside of the house again, she could rather clearly tell that at least one of its (admittedly weaker) focal points was inside. But perhaps focus was the wrong way to describe it. It was more a collection, a gathering in the same way that water would fill a dip in the ground. The entire village was filled in a miasma, if a very light one, of mystic energy. It had gone undetected on the way in for only lack of trying. Kelcis's dwelling, however, was only one point where it "pooled," for lack of a better descriptor. One of the three-layered housing structures that formed the outside of the little courtyard had a significantly greater concentration of the supernatural residue.<br/><br/>Of their former captive, there was no trace. Or, more accurately, there were several individuals in the crowd who looked similar to it from a distance, but they would require a closer inspection to actually confirm (or deny) their identity. Given the group's skittishness, this would be difficult, indeed.<br/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Some good and some not so much</div><div class="spoiler_body">The tie gives Reliyian the impression, that Kelcis was eavesdropping on them. However, as it was an individual effort, it's difficult to tell whether or not his guilt is associated to that, or stems from another source. Cue the ominous music, and all of that.<br/><br/>She also gets the Fate Point, of course, for going up against Kelcis's invoke.<br/><br/>Getting ahold of the captive will be difficult (or perhaps even impossible). But I'll say that a Great/+4 roll successfully inspects all of the potentates and finds the former captive, by whatever method is used. Lower scores don't fail entirely, but don't give conclusive answers, either. (Note that the narrativism plays in a little here: a successful roll means that he or she <em>is</em> present, while an unsuccessful one means that it's still uncertain.)</div></div><br/><strong>Eyes of the Sage</strong><br/><br/>One of the most obvious, but also most nuanced, occurrences in the village center was the combat. While it was very distinctly not play-fighting, as both victors and victims came away with a variety of vicious, bright red wounds, there was certainly a level of organization, both in how the duels were conducted and in managing the initial challenges.<br/><br/>At the very least, while the outsiders were present, none of the combatants died in the short, furious skirmishes. Indeed, while flashy, the injuries suffered were, for the most part, fairly superficial. Plenty of blood splattered on the leafy floor (which, oddly, didn't bear any noticeable stains from the continuous bloodshed), but even temporarily disabling injuries looked to be off of the table.<br/><br/>Likewise, some manner of equality existed between each pair of fighters. The uninjured did not fight those already nursing several open wounds, and the very large did not fight the smaller saurian youths. However, the handful of individuals who bore physical disabilities or imperfections, regardless of whether they looked held the scarred look of an old wound or the smoothness of incomplete development, didn't receive any special consideration. They fought, won, and lost like the rest. However, of the two crippled individuals challenged, one, whose leg quite clearly didn't bend properly, battered down its supposedly advantaged opponent in a display of truly startling savagery and aggression.<br/><br/>Aside from the fighting, the creatures behaved quite similarly to the adolescents of most mainland sapients. They gathered in groups and spoke, in turns furtively and loudly to each other. Occasionally, one would return from the surrounding forest, carrying some good or another: wood, fruits, fish, herbs, and even a few wooden cages obviously filled with some sort of captive animals. With the exception of the cage-bearers, they were almost always set upon the moment their feet touched down upon the courtyard. Generally, however, it was not violent attackers that caught up the new arrivals, but apparent acquaintances or friends, eager to wheedle and beg their share of the bounty.<br/><br/>Aeryn, in particular, would make note of a pair huddled in a mostly empty corner of the open space. Despite the easy manner in which their skin blended with the shadowy corner, their head-wraps had slightly come off, revealing the stunningly bright and colorful plumage beneath. The two saurians nuzzled at each other, making soft, obviously affectionate noises, either truly lost or politely ignored in the bustle and sound of the small village. She would have a bit of time to sketch them, but as soon as it became clear that she was observing them, the two hurriedly parted and lost themselves in the crowd, tugging their wraps back into place.<br/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Delicious nuggets of knowledge</div><div class="spoiler_body">I'll count that as a Fantastic/+6, if Aeryn and Reliyian share observations a bit. Which they look to have done so far. They should continue to do so, because their shared knowledge will also come to the following conclusion: the magic that Reliyian detected is at least partially generated by the continuous violence in the little village. Which should, of course, raise other questions about the building off to the side which has a particularly strong aura. Feel free to add a little of your own spin to that, of course.<br/><br/>The relative absence of disabled individuals should, of course, have its own fairly grim implications. But none that would be particularly unusual for the era. In human communities, at least, they rarely fare much better (though the strange, quasi-renaissance-with-magic feel that I've been noticing/developing means that their lot in life is a <em>bit</em> improved from during the archetypical dark ages).<br/><br/>Lastly, if I wasn't clear enough about it: the neck wraps are both a practical concern and a social one. The saurians have tropical bird-type (or possibly even a bit brighter) plumage on their neck and shoulders, making their innate camouflage useless if it's left uncovered. It's normally uncovered in private scenarios, such as during mating, or when carelessly fooling around, as the pair was.</div></div><br/><strong>The Guide Arrives</strong><br/><br/>The group had a fairly long time to wait before Visha's slightly larger form became visible, bobbing and darting towards them through the crowd. The delay could most likely be measured in minutes, but the sun<em>had</em>moved noticeably in the time that they waited.<br/><br/>"Soft skins!" it called to them, as before. Either it didn't realize that the term could be taken insultingly, or didn't care. It offered no real clues either way, its thin face somewhat less readable than Kelcis's expressive features. "Great mother sees …" It waved a hand vaguely, as though brushing away the word to make place for another. "Meets now." Whatever the lizardfolk's knowledge of Nulnish languages, the subtleties, such as the overlaps between "meet" and "see" were lost on it. Still, the message was clear enough. It gestured hastily for them to follow it. Regardless of whether or not Kelcis had fed them any lies, his statement that one didn't keep a matriarch waiting was very obviously not false.<br/><br/>Reliyian's question got a flicker of confusion, followed by a few moments of thought, even as Visha began moving across the roughly circular plaza, still gesturing for them to come along. "It … is place where … decisions? Choices?" It fell silent again, thinking for a short time before saying, "Wrong is punished."<br/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">A quick clarification</div><div class="spoiler_body">Kelcis basically didn't lie much at all, in case that's not clear. Just a sort of ... rhetorical storytelling turn of phrase thingy.</div></div>