Words of Creation Prelude: Hungry Mouse
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		<h2 id="linktree">Play-By-Post: Light =&gt; Light: Exotic Small Groups =&gt; Topic started by: Azuresun on 08-09-2019, 17:53:55</h2>
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			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Words of Creation Prelude: Hungry Mouse</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Azuresun</strong> on <strong>08-09-2019, 17:53:55</strong>
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				<div align="center">(https://i.imgur.com/7pULoG3l.png)</div><br>For the people without a place, it's not been an easy journey through the hillside. The terrain is rugged and dry, the vegetation thinning out until there are few places to hide, find food or to take shelter from the sun overhead. But the people filing across the dry land do not die easily, nor do they give up. They are a motley lot--there are few young men and women among them, most of their number being the aged or young--the ones who would not be the first choice for war. Once one of the People of the Stag, they do not know what to call themselves now. These new lands are strange, and there have been close calls with ghosts or with beastfolk. But they have faith that their new leader will find--or earn--a name for them.<br><br><em>For how can you fail, when a warrior of the Sun leads you?</em><br><br>What bought their leader here anyway? Was it a desire to get as far away as possible from their old home and the old god, the one that would call them a heretic for not dying as they were supposed to? Or was it a faint feeling of familiarity, a sense that the nonexistent road through these hills has been crossed once before, when the world was not broken? And that it will lead her to....something? A memory too faint to even be identified as good or bad?<br><br>Water is scarce on the trail, so when the scouts reported a natural spring bubbling up from the rock in a secluded valley where there is enough soil and water to live, it was an obvious place to stop. But the only problem is that someone already lives there--and the village announced their presence with a motley but hardened militia of archers greeting you at the entrance to the valley, the suspicion palpable in the air at these sudden new arrivals.<br><br>Hands reach for weapons, but don't draw yet. Hanging heavy and unspoken in the air are what the once-warriors of the Stag think. <em>We can kill these soft farmers and take what we need. Only give the order and--</em><br><br>But for a moment, nobody speaks.
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			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Words of Creation Prelude: Hungry Mouse</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Guancyto</strong> on <strong>10-09-2019, 00:45:34</strong>
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				It would be <em>so easy</em>. Hungry Mouse could draw her spear and go through that militia like rotten food through a goat. They could take whatever they wanted from the villagers and be on their way, and she wouldn't have to get up and talk to anyone. All it would take would be a hand gesture.<br><br>She will lose people, though - though all the archers will die, at least a few of their arrows will find their mark. And... is she truly ready to see <em>another</em> village die for the rightness of her cause?<br><br>No, she will use her words. She holds up a hand to her people, not the gesture for attack, but to wait.<br><br>"I am Mouse," she announces, thumping her walking stick against the ground, "my people have traveled long and far, and we will yet travel long and far. We have no quarrel with you and yours, but we require water and food for our journey. We can pay with silver or pelts or toil."
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				Title: <strong>Re: Words of Creation Prelude: Hungry Mouse</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Azuresun</strong> on <strong>10-09-2019, 01:24:10</strong>
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				<em>"Trade? Outsiders are trouble, just more words to--"<br><br>"I don't trust em! They're with the last lot, hoping we'll fall for the same trick twice--"</em><br><br>The muttering from the townsfolk is hard to make out, a curious pidgin of Low Realm and Forest-Tongue--but the intent was clear enough. Though civilised by comparison to the motley group that Mouse leads, they have a hard, wiry look about them, the look of survivors used to guarding something in great demand. And mutterings can be heard from behind her, tension aggravated by fatigue and desperation and giving rise to near-open defiance.<br><br><em>"She talks with them? That is not the way of--"<br><br>"Silence! She will hear--"</em><br><br>The defenders look around, and stand back suddenly. A man approaches down the centre of the gorge, limping. His appearance is halfway between a respectable village headman and a barbarian shaman. What skin could be seen under his simple but well-made clothes was so weathered and wrinkled that his true age was hard to guess, his hair bleached white and his face hidden behind a mask made from a human skull, with the pieces of bone mounted upon a cloth covering. The repulsed reaction of Mouse's followers can be heard as a low hissing--the dead are not something that should be tampered with, and ghosts are things to be placated and then not meddled with. Whoever he is, the townsfolk regard him with both respect and caution.<br><br>"My name is Malequs, speaker for the past. Others offered to trade, very recently." he says, addressing Mouse. "But they lied about the payment they wanted....and stole my people."
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				Title: <strong>Re: Words of Creation Prelude: Hungry Mouse</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Guancyto</strong> on <strong>10-09-2019, 03:07:48</strong>
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			<dd class="postbody">
				Mouse has set herself apart from her people. With the Sun's blessing, she tries to forge a new path. But she is still one of them. When a deathspeaker introduces himself, her skin crawls and she grips tighter the shaft of her walking stick and her instincts say <em>strike, strike quickly</em>.<br><br>She does not. <br><br>She looks back at her people, a sidelong look but a hard one, the sort her mother gave her when she was too battered and bruised to continue training but tried anyway. She hopes they'll understand.<br><br>"How many, and how recently?" Mouse turns back to the corpse-speaker, "we might look a little ragged, but we are exceptional warriors. If you can give us what we need, we can get your people back for you."
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			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Words of Creation Prelude: Hungry Mouse</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Azuresun</strong> on <strong>10-09-2019, 16:23:13</strong>
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			<dd class="postbody">
				Malequs hesitates, seeming to have been braced for a confrontation rather than an offer like that.<br><br>"Such a thing is not possible. We would not still be here if we could not fight off petty bandits and beastmen." he says. "But the leader was....strong. Those who attacked him fell down dead on the spot, and....we were not strong enough to fight him off, even with the admonitions of the honoured ancestors."<br><br>The admission, especially to outsiders, seems to be a bitter one, and he slumps a little.<br><br>"You will surely die in turn if--"<br><br>"Let me show them, Father." interrupts a younger man, dressed in similar robes to Malequis, but without the striking headgear. "What have we to lose? If these slavers yet have need for food and water, they will likely have made camp by the waterfall. They may still be there!"<br><br>"Absurd! Even if you find them, what chance do you think these strangers will have against them? Well? Where our warriors could not prevail?"
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			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Words of Creation Prelude: Hungry Mouse</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Guancyto</strong> on <strong>10-09-2019, 19:45:31</strong>
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				The discomfort, the hesitancy, it washes away from Mouse as though in a flood. She laughs, and it is not a kindly laugh but a weary one.<br><br>"We might look a little ragged," she repeats, "but once upon a time, we were trained to fell dragons. I have no doubt you feel your warriors are the greatest that can be, but you are wrong. You would not last seconds against what we have endured."<br><br>She shakes her head, closes her eyes, "your concern for our welfare is... unexpected. You would rather we not perish on your doorstep?"
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				Title: <strong>Re: Words of Creation Prelude: Hungry Mouse</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Azuresun</strong> on <strong>10-09-2019, 23:17:13</strong>
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			<dd class="postbody">
				"I would rather you perish far from here." said Malequs. "There are many shadowlands in these hills. They are holy places....but if outsiders leave their bodies near there, we are the ones who will suffer for it. And claim what you like about what you have endured, but it has clearly taken a toll on you already. Will it follow you to our home too?"<br><br>"Father, let them prove themselves!" said the younger man, urgency in his voice. He glanced over to Mouse, and she could see a desperate hope in his gaze. Unlike his more fatalistic-seeming father, her arrival had given him hope. "I will show them the route that the slavers took, we may yet catch them!"
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				Title: <strong>Re: Words of Creation Prelude: Hungry Mouse</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Guancyto</strong> on <strong>11-09-2019, 04:01:10</strong>
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			<dd class="postbody">
				Mouse shook her head again. "We have traveled far, and will travel further. Our troubles will not dog your door."<br><br>But she fixed her gaze upon the son. "You lost someone dear to you, did you not? Someone who will soon be forever beyond your reach, even with your people's command of dark arts." Truth be told she knew little of necromancy, but she knew that kidnapping was worse than death to corpse-eaters like these, for one spirited away would <em>never</em> return.<br><br>"There is not a man, woman or child behind me who has not left in the ground someone they cared for," she gestured to the gathered refugees behind her, "we do not cry, for they fell for a cause they believed in. But their absence is felt; we reach for them in the morning and embrace only air. We bid them good-night and hear no answer. We are a people filled with holes. I would not see it happen to another. Not so easily as this."<br><br>Her eyes blazed with a sudden light and she struck her staff against the ground. The ground rumbled and the stone beneath her cracked and split, throwing a cloud of dust around her. As it settled, she spoke.<br><br>"I have the strength for it. For those I have lost, for those I may yet save, let me fight."
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			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Words of Creation Prelude: Hungry Mouse</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Azuresun</strong> on <strong>11-09-2019, 11:28:13</strong>
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			<dd class="postbody">
				The townsfolk cringed back, and even the headman took a step back at the display of power.<br><br>"What are you? Some kind of spirit-blood?" asked Malequs.<br><br>"Father, does it matter what she is? She is willing to help! I beg you, let me go with them! I can show them the way the slavers went, though they may have covered their tracks--"<br><br>Malequs nodded reluctantly. It was hard to tell behind the mask, but he seemed to be regarding Mouse with apprehension, as if wondering if he had traded one terror--or threat to his authority--for another.<br><br>"Then go!" he said, as if the whole thing had been his idea. "Do you mean to take all these people with you? If not, they may wait outside the walls, and we will provide what water we can spare in return for your efforts....."<br><br><br><em>OOC: That display can fall under the "just showing off" type of miracles, and has no Effort cost.&nbsp; :-)</em>
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				Title: <strong>Re: Words of Creation Prelude: Hungry Mouse</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Guancyto</strong> on <strong>12-09-2019, 05:40:31</strong>
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				Mouse couldn't help but smile very faintly as the villagers stepped back. "He's right. What I am is what you need right now."<br><br>Of course, Malequs' assent was all she needed. "I will take a squad of my finest. The rest will remain here. If they come to harm in my absence, I will be <em>displeased</em>." She twisted her grip and ground the end of her staff into the ground ever-so-slightly, punctuating the word with another tremor; a subtle one this time.<br><br>She nodded to the son, gesturing to five of her best scouts... or at least five of the best she still had left. "Show me."
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			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Words of Creation Prelude: Hungry Mouse</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Azuresun</strong> on <strong>12-09-2019, 13:04:41</strong>
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			<dd class="postbody">
				A short while later, the small group was making its way down the hillside, following the river. There was an abandoned campsite below a waterfall, one that showed signs of a large number of people having passed through recently. It looked like they'd taken some effort to cover their tracks, though to the veteran survivalists of the Stag tribe, they might as well have written their destinations.<br><br>As the young man from the town-who had introduced himself as Henes--fidgeted with barely concealed impatience, the scouts reported back. From what they said, there were a group of about a dozen armed warriors led by a large armoured figure with an oversized mace, with about twenty bound prisoners in tow.<br><br>"Fewer than attacked us." said Henes, the tension clear in his voice. "Maybe they split up to raid other villages?"<br><br>"We can ambush them at a rope bridge, among a grove of trees, or as they pass through a gorge." said the lead scout Sascara, unable to keep a smile off her face at having a threat that could be stabbed, and a chance to see their leader fight. "What is your wish?"<br><br><br><em>OOC: With a relevant Fact giving +4, the INT check to identify the tracks is a success.<br><br>At 2019-09-12 05:52:05, Azuresun (uid: 64360) rolls: 1d20 tn1: 4 Result: 1 (https://elliquiy.com/forums/dicebot.php?r=139334)</em>
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			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Words of Creation Prelude: Hungry Mouse</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Guancyto</strong> on <strong>13-09-2019, 09:56:00</strong>
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			<dd class="postbody">
				Mouse herself couldn't keep the energy inside her harnessed; to have a reprehensible target, a noble goal of sorts. It felt <em>right</em>, she mused as she and her huntresses tracked them. She shuddered at the thought - had she merely traded one self-righteous crusade for another?<br><br>This one, at least, had the benefit of being her own. "The rope bridge is a risk to their captives," Mouse said, "I don't care to be involved in a hostage situation. We'll ambush them at the gorge, and fall upon them like rain."
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			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Words of Creation Prelude: Hungry Mouse</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Azuresun</strong> on <strong>13-09-2019, 16:03:08</strong>
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			<dd class="postbody">
				The gorge was the best way down to the lowlands, and an inlet of the Azure Sea. Though easier to navigate than the crags around the gorge, the slope was steep and the ground was covered in loose pebbles and scree. The sparse vegetation around the crack wasn't much to hide in, but it was more than enough. Compared to the scouts, Henes was about as stealthy as a rockslide, but he hung back, tense with obvious worry.<br><br>A few minutes later, the sound of an approaching party drew nearer. There were the small group of swordsmen, a mismatched group of brigands with a pale, unhealthily lean look to them. There were a large group of people of all ages from children to elders with their hands bound and formed into a human chain by a rope that coiled around each of their necks, many of them dressed like the people in the town Mouse had visited. Some of them let out soft sobs and winces of pain, the louder of which were rewarded with a cuff around the head from the warriors. A couple of them were staggering, on the verge of collapse and only held up by their neighbours.<br><br>But the leader of the group was the most eyecatching of all. Though the heat up here was prickly and clinging, uncomfortable even for Mouse's lightly armoured group, he was wearing a suit of heavy black-tinted armour. The weight and heat must have been severe, but he showed no signs of discomfort as he strode ahead of the group--indeed, he seemed to find the walk easier than anyone following him.<br><br>There was a tension in the air. Mouse's scouts didn't say they were waiting for a signal, because they didn't need to.<br><br><br><div class="spoiler_container"><div onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button" class="spoiler_header">Man of Mystery</div><div class="spoiler_body">(https://i.imgur.com/9jAVfIB.jpg)</div></div>
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			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Words of Creation Prelude: Hungry Mouse</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Guancyto</strong> on <strong>14-09-2019, 13:15:39</strong>
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			<dd class="postbody">
				Mouse's hand signals were precise and brief: <em>stay up here. I go down. When I signal, rain arrows from above. Do not shoot leader.</em> If skilled warriors fell dead at the mere presence of the armored man, she wasn't going to risk her people against him.<br><br>When she was satisfied, she descended the gorge like one descending stairs two at a time. When she ran out of path she ran down sheer surface with no more effort than running through a field. She cut a zig-zagging pattern that would see her approaching them from behind - they might be on the lookout for an ambush coming from paths, but a single woman coming from cliffs? Not unless they were expecting gods.<br><br><div class="spoiler_container"><div onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button" class="spoiler_header">Mechanics!</div><div class="spoiler_body">Using All Directions as One to descend the gorge. Committing Effort to Shattering Blow, and trying to sneak up to give them what-for!</div></div>
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			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Words of Creation Prelude: Hungry Mouse</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Azuresun</strong> on <strong>14-09-2019, 18:55:33</strong>
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			<dd class="postbody">
				"Why did we have to wait behind? I bet the others have already loaded their slaves on the ship and gotten out of this damned heat!"<br><br>"Boss said we needed some more, so we needed some more. Hey, you reckon we need to stop? That one's about to fall over?"<br><br>"Ah, it's not like he cares! It's be luckier for them if they did die here, at least--"<br><br>The muttered conversation between two of the slavers was cut off as he heard a stone falling behind him, and he turned round to see what it was making that noise. And then--<br><br><br><em>Small Mob (trained soldiers): AC 6, Hit Dice 12, Saves 15+, Morale 9, Mob (takes full rolled damage from AOE attacks), Overwhelm (melee, free action, Hardiness save or take 1d6 damage).<br><br>Leader: AC 5, Hit Dice 5, Saves 12+, Morale 12, Effort 1/1<br><br>And on your side:<br>Small Mob (trained soldiers): AC 6, Hit Dice 12, Saves 15+, Morale 9, Attack +2, Damage 1d8 ranged or melee, Mob (takes full rolled damage from AOE attacks), Overwhelm (ranged, free action vs a single foe, Evasion save or take 1d6 damage)<br><br>You and your allies are acting first.</em>
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			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Words of Creation Prelude: Hungry Mouse</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Guancyto</strong> on <strong>15-09-2019, 17:30:49</strong>
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			<dd class="postbody">
				The two talkative slavers were dead before they could finish turning around. Mouse was a silver flash through the air as her hair trailed behind her; her spear-thrusts were like lightning and the unaware two were no more able to withstand her than to catch the lightning in their hands. The cuts that pierced their hearts were utterly precise and just as effortless. They barely bled as they fell, just as Mouse's footsteps kicked up almost no dust as she drew in on her true target. The armored leader was the subject of her full wrath, and the bolt of her passage ended with her spear planted firmly in his guts. Or at least his equivalent.<br><br>When she pulled back she stood an iron guardian on the path before them. "You will go no further," she said, spear at the ready, "if you wish to lay down your arms and surrender, now is the time."<br><br><div class="spoiler_container"><div onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button" class="spoiler_header">Attack! 24 to hit.</div><div class="spoiler_body">At 2019-09-15 10:03:42, Mouse (uid: 56325) rolls: 1d20a+7 Result: 24 (https://elliquiy.com/forums/dicebot.php?r=139428)<br><br>Since Shattering Hand maximizes my damage and fray dice, I get results of 14 and 8, respectively, dealing 4 damage to the leader and 2 damage to the followers.<br><br>Not yet signaling my followers to engage.</div></div>
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			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Words of Creation Prelude: Hungry Mouse</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Azuresun</strong> on <strong>15-09-2019, 21:31:56</strong>
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			<dd class="postbody">
				The armoured man froze in place with the spear running him through, having punched through the heavy armour like it was made of wet paper. And then he very slowly looked back up. <br><br>"More corpses for the Drowned Queen?" he said.&nbsp; And this close up, it was possible to see the smile on a lipless mouth and smell the nauseating stench of embalming fluid. The blood that spilled from the wound was black ooze that hissed and bubbled as it touched the stony ground. The slavers finally reacted to the attack, lunging at her with improvised clubs and daggers, taking her attention away from the leader for a moment.<br><br><strong>"How good of you to volunteer!"</strong> he bellowed. As Mouse pulled back, the massive axe came round, smashing into the cliffside and sending out a tremendous cloud of dust that obscured her entirely, and took out at least one of his own followers. Cries of "Chosen!" came from above, and some of her followers readied arrows to fire--but they hesitated, remembering her instructions, as a grey aura surrounded the creature, phantasmal hands seeming to reach out from it. The slaves cowered at the sight, dropping to their knees and trying to scrabble away as best they could.<br><br>"Is that it?" he sneered.<br><br><br><em>The leader attacks, missing with a total of 18. Close!&nbsp; As an instant action, he commits one Effort to invoke the gift Mantle of Quietus as an indefinite Gift. All attacks from lesser foes cause them to take 1 damage before the attack is resolved (1d20 for Mobs). Mouse is not a lesser foe, but he doesn't know that. ;)<br><br>The mob pass their morale check, and miss their attack. Mouse passes the Hardiness save, and takes no damage from Overwhelm.<br><br><br>Small Mob (trained soldiers): AC 6, Hit Dice 12, Saves 15+, Morale 9, Mob (takes full rolled damage from AOE attacks), Overwhelm (melee, free action, Hardiness save or take 1d6 damage).<br><br>Leader: AC 5, Hit Dice 5, Saves 12+, Morale 12, Effort 0/1, Damage 4, Mantle of Quietus<br><br>And on your side:<br>Small Mob (trained soldiers): AC 6, Hit Dice 12, Saves 15+, Morale 9, Attack +2, Damage 1d8 ranged or melee, Mob (takes full rolled damage from AOE attacks), Overwhelm (ranged, free action vs a single foe, Evasion save or take 1d6 damage)</em>
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			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Words of Creation Prelude: Hungry Mouse</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Guancyto</strong> on <strong>16-09-2019, 09:09:55</strong>
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			<dd class="postbody">
				Mouse leaped back from the hammer blow and steeled herself for the next rush. She had expected the leader to be something not quite human, but this preserved <em>thing</em> was not something that could exist in her wildest imaginings. Its black blood hissed on the head of her spear; with a wide sweep she flicked it off and against more of the slavers before they could surround her. As she fought the bile in her throat from the smell of it, she wondered, what else he might be capable of?<br><br>She detected the note of urgency from above, and called up, "the abomination in black is mine alone! For the rest - fire!"<br><br>Mouse drew into a guarding stance as she prepared another attack, "they said everyone who strikes you dies. So far so good, I think."<br><br>Even so, as she blazed forward she bypassed him entirely, batting away his axe as slavers fell dead all around them. She was glad to have had the foresight to keep her warriors well away from the fray - they would have been slaughtered in an instant in this environment. <br><br><div class="spoiler_container"><div onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button" class="spoiler_header">Rolls!</div><div class="spoiler_body">Wasn't sure if I should roll the dice for my own mob. If so, they rolled an 8 to attack the enemy mob, which does not hit. They do not attempt to Overwhelm. Mouse does hit, though; she deals 4+2=6 damage to the mob.<br>At 2019-09-15 16:50:16, Mouse (uid: 56325) rolls: 1d20a+7 Result: 25 (https://elliquiy.com/forums/dicebot.php?r=139443)<br>At 2019-09-15 17:16:22, Mouse (uid: 56325) rolls: 1d20a+2 Result: 8 (https://elliquiy.com/forums/dicebot.php?r=139444)</div></div>
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			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Words of Creation Prelude: Hungry Mouse</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Azuresun</strong> on <strong>16-09-2019, 23:53:18</strong>
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			<dd class="postbody">
				Screams rang out, the slaves dropping to the ground to try and avoid the flurry of blows or the falling arrows--or the careless swings of their overseers. Some of them were too exhausted or insensate to react, but with all the attention focused on Mouse, it didn't matter too much. Stones exploded outwards as the undead warrior leaped at her, swinging the axe overhead to smash into the ground an inch short of her. The slavers were thrown into panic at this sudden onslaught, seeing their allies drop like flies and get struck down by arrows from unseen enemies, but panic--or fear of their master--made them strike back with the strength of desperation.<br><br><br><em>Yes, you can roll dice for your own followers, unless they're acting out of character for some reason.<br><br>The undead misses, and the soldiers miss--but their Overwhelm deals 2 hit points of damage. They pass their Morale check.<br><br>Small Mob (trained soldiers): AC 6, Hit Dice 12, Saves 15+, Morale 9, Damage 8, Mob (takes full rolled damage from AOE attacks), Overwhelm (melee, free action, Hardiness save or take 1d6 damage).<br><br>Leader: AC 5, Hit Dice 5, Saves 12+, Morale 12, Effort 0/1, Damage 4, Mantle of Quietus<br><br>Small Mob (trained soldiers): AC 6, Hit Dice 12, Saves 15+, Morale 9, Attack +2, Damage 1d8 ranged or melee, Mob (takes full rolled damage from AOE attacks), Overwhelm (ranged, free action vs a single foe, Evasion save or take 1d6 damage)</em>
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			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Words of Creation Prelude: Hungry Mouse</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Guancyto</strong> on <strong>18-09-2019, 03:56:55</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				"What are you, idiots?" Mouse shouted in the direction of the slaves, "run!"<br><br>While arrows thudded into the earth around her Mouse danced like the wind between hammer and sword and axe, never staying still long enough to be struck - until the wall of enemy weapons became truly overwhelming and she came off scratched and bruised for it. The black blood finished eating through her spear and she cast it aside, striking terrible blows with her walking stick and turning aside blades with it as surely as he had a real weapon of war. No slaver would escape her grasp until she could stand alone with her foe.<br><br><div class="spoiler_container"><div onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button" class="spoiler_header">Rolls!</div><div class="spoiler_body">Mob misses again (it's really not their day). Mouse hits again and deals another 6 damage to the enemy Mob.<br>At 2019-09-17 20:52:14, Mouse (uid: 56325) rolls: 1d20a+2 Result: 10 (https://elliquiy.com/forums/dicebot.php?r=139502)<br><br>At 2019-09-17 20:51:59, Mouse (uid: 56325) rolls: 1d20a+7 Result: 20 (https://elliquiy.com/forums/dicebot.php?r=139501)</div></div>
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Words of Creation Prelude: Hungry Mouse</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Azuresun</strong> on <strong>18-09-2019, 19:27:35</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				The question of who they were more scared off quickly became redundant, as the slavers were falling too fast to mount any sort of effective counter-attack. Within a few seconds, they had all been struck down, bodies flying away with necks snaped or skulls caved in. The last two tried to run, but were tripped and quickly overwhelmed by the people they had been dragging away.<br><br>The armoured undead glared at Mouse from behind it's helm, the eyes seeming to radiate a sickly yellow light. <br><br>"What are you? No matter! You will live to regret this....briefly. Only pray that I kill you before you face the Queen's wrath!"<br><br>The axe was coming down in a powerful overhead swing. But before it could reach--<br><br><br><em>OOC; The leader's attack misses on a 19. The Mob is destroyed quite handily.<br><br>Leader: AC 5, Hit Dice 5, Saves 12+, Morale 12, Effort 0/1, Damage 4, Mantle of Quietus<br><br>Small Mob (trained soldiers): AC 6, Hit Dice 12, Saves 15+, Morale 9, Attack +2, Damage 1d8 ranged or melee, Mob (takes full rolled damage from AOE attacks), Overwhelm (ranged, free action vs a single foe, Evasion save or take 1d6 damage)</em>
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Words of Creation Prelude: Hungry Mouse</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Guancyto</strong> on <strong>20-09-2019, 15:53:18</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				The axe swing could have felled a mountain, but it was nothing against the air. As he struck, she simply wasn't there any more. The ground quaked and cracked and clouds of dust spewed up from a terrible, powerful... miss.<br><br>As the dust cleared, Mouse was balanced on the end of the axehead. "I'm not much for praying any more," she signaled her people to fall back and leaped off the axe, "everyone who strikes you falls down dead, right? Trouble is, it doesn't do anything to protect anyone else. Like the people you need to fulfill your mission."<br><br>She twirled her stick before pointing it at him, "now I don't know a single thing about this Drowned Queen, but I bet she isn't going to be happy if you come back empty-handed. And it's not like you can carry all the slaves yourself."<br><br>She gave him a quiet little smile before retreating ten steps and turning and running. "I think I've humiliated you enough for one day."<br><br>Of course, she wasn't certain he'd fall for the ruse - she had no wish to test his aegis, but the terrain provided her a unique advantage if he chose to follow her...<br><br><div class="spoiler_container"><div onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button" class="spoiler_header">Mechanics</div><div class="spoiler_body">Mouse uses her action to disengage and move away, and her mob retreats as well. Since Shattering Hand lets her bust up scenery and we're in a gorge, she's looking for a steep rock wall she can draw the big guy to to smash loose a bunch of rocks to drop on his head.</div></div>
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Words of Creation Prelude: Hungry Mouse</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Azuresun</strong> on <strong>20-09-2019, 21:53:55</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				"I will at least bring one body back!" snarled the revenant, lurching forward with a speed that should not have been possible for someone wearing that much armour. Mouse might be more agile right now, but he was simply unstoppable, smashing through branches and undergrowth in his way. The slaves had scattered, ducking into the bush as well as they could with their bindings. He paid them no heed, drawing back the axe to strike, even as he passed under part of the gorge wall that was overhanging.....<br><br><em>OOC: The Intelligence check for the strategy passes, so you find a good spot to lure him into.</em>
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Words of Creation Prelude: Hungry Mouse</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Guancyto</strong> on <strong>21-09-2019, 15:57:32</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Once again as he struck Mouse simply wasn't there - in a flash of golden light she disappeared. The light spilled out from her as she stood tall on the overhanging wall, towering over him, an avatar of judgment sent from above. The rays of light flooded through the underbrush and backed by the sun she made the whole gorge and all its brush shine gold.<br><br>She lifted her walking stick. It too shone, transfigured into the rod of a god.<br><br>"You lose," she said, and brought it down. The earth heaved and quaked and with a thunderous clap it fell, a clean break exactly where she had struck.<br><br><div class="spoiler_container"><div onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button" class="spoiler_header">Mechanics!</div><div class="spoiler_body">Mouse uses Flickering Advance to get up top in the blink of an eye, and strikes with Shattering Hand to drop a rock wall on the foe. Committing 2 effort makes my caste mark glow; I am voluntarily choosing to create a greater display.</div></div>
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Words of Creation Prelude: Hungry Mouse</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Azuresun</strong> on <strong>21-09-2019, 23:24:16</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<em>"I cannot die! I will--"</em> began the undead, and then it was cut off rather decisively by by a couple of tons of rock, after which nothing stirred. Not the followers, watching in awe. Not the slavers, lying dead. And not the former slaves, sitting and standing in slack-jawed awe at the radiant woman who had appeared from nowhere, leaving her nemesis as crushed wreckage.<br><br>For several seconds, the only sound was tinkling rocks rolling down the gorge from the crash. The captives stared in disbelief, looking like the only thing keeping them quiet was that they couldn't decide if they collectively wanted to flee from Mouse or drop to their knees and worship her.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Words of Creation Prelude: Hungry Mouse</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Guancyto</strong> on <strong>21-09-2019, 23:40:07</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Mouse climbed down the gorge wall like a mountain goat, picking her way down an almost sheer cliff with contemptuous ease. After examining the fallen rubble and satisfying herself that nothing was going to punch its way out, she turned to the freed slaves.<br><br>"Rejoice," she said to them, the glow fading until she was just a girl again, albeit one with a shining sun on her forehead. The stick returned to just being a stick, even if seeing it shatter a cliff was liable to make anyone think otherwise. "You may thank Henes for your liberation. He and my people will be on hand shortly to lead you home."<br><br>Her gaze swept through them, looking to see who was injured or ill and who was hale enough to continue, "the slavers were talking about a ship. I don't suppose anyone heard where it was?" She prodded one of the slavers' corpses with her stick and smiled sheepishly, "I suppose I should have left at least a few alive." 
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Words of Creation Prelude: Hungry Mouse</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Azuresun</strong> on <strong>22-09-2019, 00:36:33</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				"You underestimate yourself!" said Henes, sounding just as stunned as anyone else. "What you did was--"<br><br>He paused, scanning the ranks of the captives with obvious hope that went unmet. One of the slaves, an elderly man with a wispy beard, who still bore the bruises from what looked like a beating, spoke up.<br><br>"He's not here, Henes. They took him, and the others." He looked over to Mouse, giving a pained-looking bow of respect.<br><br>"They....they said it was in the estuary. That they were going to take some of us, and come back for the rest later. And they said--" He stopped and coughed heavily for a few minutes, two of the other captives supporting him. "Ah! They said they were going to the Unsunken Island....that little scrap of rock in the shadowland out to sea."<br><br>Henes glanced over in turn. "They say when the old city sank into the sea, one piece of it remained above water....but it is a cursed place. The ghosts that come from there have no wisdom to share and no thoughts, only the hunger of beasts for blood. Yet....that thing talked to you!"
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Words of Creation Prelude: Hungry Mouse</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Guancyto</strong> on <strong>22-09-2019, 17:57:39</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				"He was a talker, yes," Mouse said, taking her medical kit out of her satchel. She didn't precisely need it any more, but if she took the maimed and cured them with golden light they'd probably want to start worshiping her all over again. "He mentioned a Drowned Queen, whatever that is."<br><br>"Still," she continued as she began to treat the slaves injuries', calling them up one at a time or going to them if they weren't able to walk. She was inhumanly quick for a mortal doctor, but not nearly as quick as she was capable of, "if there are more of your people in captivity, it means our bargain is not yet complete. A couple of my people can escort these back to your home, if you can guide me to this Island."<br><br><div class="spoiler_container"><div onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button" class="spoiler_header">Mechanics!</div><div class="spoiler_body">Mouse will use Flesh Made Whole to fix up the slaves as best she can.</div></div>
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Words of Creation Prelude: Hungry Mouse</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Azuresun</strong> on <strong>22-09-2019, 19:37:49</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				A girl of about thirteen who had been limping on a broken ankle with support from her neighbours, and a middle-aged man with an infected wound on his arm both watch in wonder as their injuries heal. Whispering thanks, they hurried back to their friends and family, clearly grateful but also keeping a respectful distance.<br><br>"We....don't travel to the lowlands that often." said Henes hesitantly. "We are not exactly friends of the rulers there--we pay what they ask and otherwise, we let them forget we are here and manage our own affairs. But we've heard stories of the dark times, when the great plague destroyed so many people that the city in the bay was destroyed. The Drowned Queen....she is a warning I was told, of what happens when people do not properly placate the dead. She is a monster who hungers to drag people down into the sea over her city. I....it will be dangerous to go there, but if there is any hope, it would surely be with one as powerful as you...."
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Words of Creation Prelude: Hungry Mouse</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Guancyto</strong> on <strong>24-09-2019, 21:39:05</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				"I won't blame you if you want to walk away," Mouse said to Henes, finishing with the man's arm and tying it off with a bandage, "things will only escalate from here, and what comes after will be considerably more dangerous. It may even be impossible. Knowing that, will you still walk with me?"
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Words of Creation Prelude: Hungry Mouse</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Azuresun</strong> on <strong>25-09-2019, 03:00:24</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				He swallowed, looking out down the hill at the distant sea with a distinct lack of enthusiasm.<br><br>"You were sent here for a reason." he said finally. dropping to one knee before Mouse. "I can see why your followers travelled so far with you. And maybe there is a reason you came here as well? Someting fate has yet to show you? If I can do anything to help, then I must. We have always depended on ourselves and upon the ancesotrs, for nobody else of any power has ever been on our side. Until you...."
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Words of Creation Prelude: Hungry Mouse</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Guancyto</strong> on <strong>25-09-2019, 04:08:20</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				"Agh, fuck, no," Mouse shook her head furiously, backing away from the kneeling Henes and flailing her arms, "no, no. No no no. Don't do that. Don't ever do that. I don't care how powerful I am, stand up and look me in the eye when you talk. Don't kneel. Don't do the kneeling thing. Just don't. And there's nothing about fate in it! I'm doing this so you'll help my people. You're doing this so you can help your people. That's all the reason we need."<br><br>She leaned down and pulled him to his feet if he hadn't already complied. "I know what it's like when your people are all you have. Hold on to that."
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Words of Creation Prelude: Hungry Mouse</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Azuresun</strong> on <strong>26-09-2019, 00:22:26</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Henes got to his feet, looking abashed.<br><br>"Sorry....I am....ghosts and gods demand more respect than you do." he said awkwardly. "Let us go."<br><br><br>....<br><br><br>Some hours later, the sun was going down. Henes had pointed out the shadowland on the horizon, a small discoloured blot of grey like the horizon had suffered a bruise. But even if their destination was clear, there was no sign of the slave ship returning--perhaps they had somehow gotten word of what had happened. But on the long beach that looked south across the Azure Sea, there was no sign of a boat, unless you counted a small ship that had run aground on the rocks, and had been stripped and left to decay.<br><br>That wasn't going to get them anywhere, unless the other man wandering across the beach was somehow able to fix it.<br><br><div class="spoiler_container"><div onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button" class="spoiler_header">Zavros' last post</div><div class="spoiler_body"><em><br>Zavros noticed, still with shocked surprise, that he had not needed to stop along the road to take a breath. He had not needed to kneel, to wipe sweat off of his brow, or even take a sip from his waterskin - a small gift that his parents insisted that he take anyhow. Along with the small (for his size) satchel of food his mother prepared, he still held the trappings of a normal traveler. A normal traveler of unusual stature and size, but a normal traveler.<br><br>He was cautious nonetheless. Beneath his smith's frock, a simple white shirt, tanned leather pants, and a pair of reliable worn boots completed the image of a traveling journeyman smith who was looking to ply his trade. And in his defense, it wasn't even an exaggeration - under other circumstances, he would be. But it was the symbol on his forehead, thankfully dim and hardly noticeable at the moment, that changed things.<br><br>Zavros was oblivious to the aligning of the stars. He only paused on occasion to suck in a breath out of habit, and just admire the twinkling diamonds in the sky. What care, what effort the Ancients must have gone through to forge such things! And so many unique ones all at once! I wonder if I can craft one someday, he thought. A moment later, he had to check himself - he could create plenty of strange things now. He hadn't even started to try!<br><br>But as he approached the beach, he saw the beached vessel. His heart immediately sang at the possibility - he could probably fix it! Make it better, even! But...that was a fairly big gash. He could fix it, sure. Might take him a...he chuckled. It likely wouldn't take him as long as he feared it might. He didn't play by them old rules no more. Yet the pair of folks poking around the beached vessel - hardly looking any larger than a sloop - seemed...well. He didn't rightly know. Strange visions of a past him - her - someone, anyhow - seemed downright familiar to him. Why not a stranger?<br><br>He made his way through the sand, his feet effortlessly carrying him through despite the softer ground. Might as well find out what was what...it was all a whole new adventure for him, after all.</em></div></div>
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Words of Creation Prelude: Hungry Mouse</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Guancyto</strong> on <strong>26-09-2019, 04:07:09</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				"I'm fine with respect," Mouse snorted, "just don't worship me."<br><br>----<br><br>She had left her huntresses to escort the slaves home - even if she had brushed it off at the time, she hadn't been deaf to the village elder's warnings about shadowlands. She had no desire to take her people into such a blighted and blasphemous place, especially when there might be some sort of Drowned Queen waiting for them. <br><br>What she got, by contrast, was a dreary spit of sand entirely devoid of enemies to fight or slaves to rescue. She inspected the small boat, but it didn't have nearly the capacity for her foe's needs.<br><br>Her only other lead was the other man milling about. Had he seen something? He looked alive, at least.<br><br>"Ho there!" she called, scraping her walking stick along the sand, "you want to do this the easy way or the hard way?"
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Words of Creation Prelude: Hungry Mouse</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Zaval</strong> on <strong>26-09-2019, 10:05:04</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Zavros blinked as the woman in the distance called out to him. It was a...greeting, of a sort. Combined with a guarded threat of some kind, as if she expected something to jump out at her at the earliest opportunity. <em>Where in Creation did I walk up to?</em> he thought. He'd made this trek all the time - and only now did fate decide to throw interesting things his way on this normally unassuming road!<br><br>Regardless, he gave a large wave over his head, and began to make his way through the sand. If the woman noticed anything about him, it was that as he came closer, he was incredibly tall, almost a small giant. That, and he clearly wasn't tiring despite the effort normal mortals had to exert in order to walk through sand consistently. The trail of large footprints behind him indicated he had no problem whatsoever. <br><br>"Hey there," Zavros greeted back as he approached. Knapsack of food and water slung to his back, and his smith's hammer resting on his shoulders, he walked up to get a good look at whoever had hailed him. "Don't know about any easy or hard way. I've just had myself a day with way too much interestin' in it, and I'm still clearly gettin' more." He spoke with the accent of a young man who spent all his life along the coast, and particularly that of a farm boy. He looked up at the vessel, before looking back at her. Why did she have this strange sense of familiarity to her...?<br><br>"Name's Zavros. You new around here?"
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Words of Creation Prelude: Hungry Mouse</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Guancyto</strong> on <strong>26-09-2019, 13:18:14</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Mouse was of average height, with a firm musculature that spoke to a lifetime of training. She had ice-blue eyes and silver hair, but no armor of any kind, and at present her only weapon was a walking stick too light to be a practical weapon. She walked gracefully, her footprints light and her stride effortless, while her companion had to trudge along in the usual way. There was a satchel at her hip, but it too was too light to be of use on a long journey.<br><div class="spoiler_container"><div onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button" class="spoiler_header">Portrait</div><div class="spoiler_body">(https://i.imgur.com/wokpHaE.jpg)</div></div><br>"Well, that's a promising start, at least," she said. She didn't recognize the accent, but then, when was the last time she had been to a coast? Still, he didn't seem like a trap or lure, his size notwithstanding - and he certainly looked more alive than the last thing she had fought. "I'm Mouse, and this is Henes. We're looking for a ship that's been by here. Looking to have some harsh words with the owners. Have you seen it?"
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Words of Creation Prelude: Hungry Mouse</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Zaval</strong> on <strong>26-09-2019, 18:57:02</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				"Mouse, Henes. Pleased as punch to meet ya," Zavros replied, tapping his forehead in an informal greet. His fingers drew some slight attention, unintentionally, to the symbol on his forehead that remained dormant. "Can't rightly say I've seen any ship 'sides this one." He gestured vaguely towards the beached boat besides them. "I just got here. I'm...not exactly popular with the nobles after they tried to evict my Ma and Pa from the farm."<br><br>If he ever ran into Suura again, Zavros planned to give her an <em>earful</em> of choice words at the bare minimum for that one...<br><br>"What's your business with that ship, if you don't mind me proddin'?" Zavros asked. "And how're you planning to chase 'er down? Not on foot, I hope." A part of him kept glancing up at the boat. The gaping hole, the slowly rotting wood...it <em>bothered</em> him to see such a thing in such disrepair. Surely he could fix it up to be better than it was...!
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Words of Creation Prelude: Hungry Mouse</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Azuresun</strong> on <strong>27-09-2019, 01:46:01</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Henes nodded tensely at the introduction.<br><br>"We do not....do we really have time to talk?" he asked, clearly making an effort not to sound demanding despite his agitation. "If they are gone, we have to find a way to follow as soon as possible....."
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Words of Creation Prelude: Hungry Mouse</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Guancyto</strong> on <strong>27-09-2019, 05:04:48</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				"Need to find out where they've gone first, don't we?" Mouse shook her head, looking over the island to see if there was a peak she could climb to get a better view.<br><br>Zavros was distracting, though. What the hell <em>was</em> that on his head? It looked a lot like... but no. That would be crazy. Anybody could have a weird abstract glowing symbol of a smiley-face on their forehead, right?<br><br>"Took Henes' people captive to sacrifice to their blood-soaked ghost-queen, I think," she explained, "I'm going to politely ask them to give them back." She shifted her weight to her front foot, a subtle slide into a more aggressive stance. Her hair swept itself into a tight ponytail of its own accord as she draped her staff across her shoulders, "if that doesn't work, I'm going to kill them all."<br><br>The focus of her gaze was like a blade itself as she turned her full attention back to Zavros, "so, not to insist or anything, but I'd be pleased as punch if you could tell me why you're here."
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Words of Creation Prelude: Hungry Mouse</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Zaval</strong> on <strong>27-09-2019, 08:43:31</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Zavros grinned. It was a guileless, earnest grin - he was amused that the stranger, Mouse, had thrown his turn of phrase back at him. "On the run," he admitted. "Toldja the gist of it already, but some city noble tried to take my family's farm, sicced some magic, guards and a big ol' rock beastie that tried to smash my face in." He hefted his hammer. "We had a bit of a disagreement. Not a very civil one. Patched up the damage, but I decided I needed to beat feet." <br><br>He tilted his head at Mouse again, his eyes narrowing in a slight frown. "Now that sounds heinous-like," he said. "Blood sacrifice? Sounds like someone needs their head corrected. I don't really have anywhere to be right now. Don't have a destination in mind at the minute. Need a hand?" <br><br>To any other person, Mouse's gaze might have been intimidating. Zavros simply met her gaze, and stared back at her curiously. "Now, if you don't mind me proddin' some more...have we met somewhere? Feels like it, but I reckon this is the first time we've bumped into each other."
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Words of Creation Prelude: Hungry Mouse</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Guancyto</strong> on <strong>28-09-2019, 00:56:17</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Dammit. Either Zavros was an exceptional actor, or he was exactly what he seemed, and Mouse didn't know which. She also wasn't entirely sure <em>what</em> exactly he seemed like - talking so casually about besting magicians was... hmm.<br><br>"Looking and talking like that?" she allowed herself a very faint smile, "no, I'd remember." <em>I haven't met a lot of people,</em> she was tempted to say, but she didn't owe him an explanation, even if she couldn't help the nagging feeling that it was untrue.<br><br>Well, she could drive herself crazy turning in circles about it, or she could act.<br><br>"Henes, look for signs that boats have been here." She stopped herself, looked to the two for confirmation, "that's how it works, right? The big ship is too big for the beach, so they use the smaller ones? They would've needed to load your people on." Her education on naval procedures had mostly been focused on how to drive the dogs of the Realm into the sea, but she realized she had never actually seen that particular principle in action.<br><br>She pointed to a nearby hill and set out, "I'm going to go up and have a look for ships before it gets dark." Her climb was as effortless as a mountain goat's, vaulting from ledge to ledge like she had done it her entire life - and maybe she had. Of course, she kept one eye on Zavros the whole time, ready to intervene if he proved hostile.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Words of Creation Prelude: Hungry Mouse</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Zaval</strong> on <strong>28-09-2019, 10:30:21</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				"'s usually how that works," Zavros agreed. "Larger boats can't get too far in the smaller waters here. They'd tear 'emselves apart if they tried." His own maritime experience was rather shallow, but enough boats passed by - and enough got into accidents - that Zavros was fairly confident about what he was talking about. Hells, even the smaller vessels could get themselves in trouble, even for something they were designed to do.<br><br>Discounting the nagging feeling that he somehow knew Mouse - a feeling that utterly refused to go away - he lumbered alongside Mouse to get a better look of their surroundings. He admittedly made a hash of climbing - he was never any good at it. But his height and strength were enough for him to eventually lumber up to the height with the young woman. <br><br>"Well, can't say I've ever had reason to be this way over," he muttered. It still felt very odd to not sweat, or be gasping for air. He glanced towards the distance, hoping to get a better idea of where they there. Plenty of villages he'd never visited, but he knew the lay of the land decently enough...
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Words of Creation Prelude: Hungry Mouse</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Guancyto</strong> on <strong>29-09-2019, 15:42:24</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				He wasn't even sweating, not even as he wasted nine-tenths of his effort while climbing, not even as he made it to the top mostly on sheer strength and determination.<br><br>Well <em>that</em> wasn't alarming at all.<br><br>"I see ships, but any one of those could be them," Mouse said, shading her eyes and looking out to the horizon, "you're right that we can't go on foot. Unless you have a better idea, I'm going to... conquer one?" She knew there was a word for taking over ships, but it had never been relevant before. "Best case I get the right one and I can sort out their heads immediately. Worst case I get the wrong one and we have a ship. Any objections?"
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Words of Creation Prelude: Hungry Mouse</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Zaval</strong> on <strong>29-09-2019, 17:31:39</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				"Got an objection and an idea here." Unconcerned with how alarmed Mouse might be about his physical prowess, Zavros raised a hand. "That there boat down there-" he pointed to the small boat with the gaping hole on its side, "-can be right as rain. If you've got a little bit of time, I can patch it right up. Make it good as new." Even better, really, if his Experience with the farm was any indication. "Strongly recommend against hijackin' a boat," he warned. "You do that, local fellas can charge you wit' piracy, and they <em>don't</em> play around with that sorta deal." <br><br>Deciding right then and there that his mind was made up - and to prevent his newfound companion from getting charged with something she really didn't need to be - he simply leapt down the hill side towards the boat. Small plumes of dirt and dust erupted from where he impacted, seemingly no worse for the wear as he bound towards the broken vessel, its sad state of disrepair finally too much for him to ignore. <br><br>He could already see how to make it better!<br><br><em>OOC: I figure I can use Ten Thousand Tools to get it up and running again, but if I were to roll for it, which attribute would I be working with? Just wasn't sure, otherwise I would have tried for it instead of the auto-check. :P</em>
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Words of Creation Prelude: Hungry Mouse</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Azuresun</strong> on <strong>29-09-2019, 20:42:50</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				"Did he say he was going to repair it? Did he not see--" began Henes in confusion.<br><br>On the face of it, the task was indeed laughable. The boat, a small clipper, was not entirely decrepit but the hole in the hull was no laughing matter, the sails were in tatters, and a couple of months worth of weathering had done it no favours. Maybe with a well-stocked shipyard and ample supplies of lumber, not with improvised tools and the salvage of the beach.<br><br>And yet, as Mouse watched, he was making progress. Pieces of twisted driftwood were turned into patching for the hull, in ways that shouldn't work but did. The sails were tied back together with the strands of a discarded fishing net--ragged as they still were, they were now things that could catch the wind. There was no wasted effort, and the materials almost seemed to be anxious to help him, the right piece or tool always close to hand. The pace was obviously superhuman, but there was a lot of work to do.<br><br><br><em>OOC: The check to do it quickly would be Intelligence (11+ for you), though your Caste counts as a relevant Fact for +4 on the roll. Failure would mean the work is done, but the boat will be a bit less seaworthy.</em>
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Words of Creation Prelude: Hungry Mouse</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Zaval</strong> on <strong>30-09-2019, 18:13:50</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				The vision had told Zavros that whatever he built, so long as he put his passion, his soul into it, it would last forever. That it would become something unique, something grand. Something worthy. <br><br>But that in itself wasn't enough. No. The sad wreckage that was this clipper...its sad state offended Zavros somewhere in his very soul. It was as if he could peer a little bit into its past; if a construct had a soul, surely he could see it! The care, the passion that went into its construction. Plank by plank, nail by nail. The hemp that was twisted to rope. The patchwork cloth that was raised to be makeshift sails. <br><br>It was a slapdash appearing piece of flotsam of a boat. But people, at sometime, someplace, had poured their hearts into it. Only for it to be abandoned, to be left to the ages to claim after a few hundred years. <br><br>"More wood." The small pieces of flotsam seemed to solidify beneath his touch. "More rope." Old, sea-eaten pieces of rope began to form, almost good as new. "More cloth." Ripped pieces of clothing soon began to shift and expand beneath his touch. "Could use a hand," he called out absentmindedly, "but I reckon this ol' girl will be better 'n new soon enough!"<br><br><em>OOC: Zaval rolls: 1d20a4 Result: 18 (https://elliquiy.com/forums/dicebot.php?r=139941)<br><br>He rose to that one. :P</em>
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Words of Creation Prelude: Hungry Mouse</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Guancyto</strong> on <strong>01-10-2019, 01:05:06</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				That was very definitely the last straw in Mouse's increasingly-desperate attempts to be merely <em>worried</em> that Zavros was something powerful and exceptional.<br><br>Perhaps it was still the Chosen One in her, that made her think that she had been the only one worthy of such grace. Or perhaps the breaking of that faith, fervently maintaining there was no such thing as destiny.<br><br>As she looked on with her arms crossed, watching him work, she finally shook her head. <em>You're like me, aren't you,</em> is what she wanted to say.<br><br>"I don't know why somebody's smith god got dropped in my lap, but I'll take it," is what she said, pacing a circle around the miraculously-restored boat to inspect his handiwork, even though she didn't know enough except to know that it no longer had holes in it and looked more like she imagined a boat ought to.<br><br>"Well, if you have nowhere else to be, and you don't mind getting into a fight with some very powerful and unpleasant people," she knocked on the side of the boat, "welcome aboard? Or should you be saying that to me?"<br><br>Of course, she didn't know how to <em>sail</em>, either. She hoped he did...
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Words of Creation Prelude: Hungry Mouse</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Azuresun</strong> on <strong>03-10-2019, 14:15:21</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Moving to the Group Prelude thread. (https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=311428.0)
			</dd>
		</dl>
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