Turn 1 - Ups and DownsIn the city of Telokiim, the infamous
Sejena decides to get a less-conspicuous outfit for herself. This means that her task is twofold - first, she must find a merchant willing to deal with her. Second, she has to make sure she is not stoned to death by the populace in the process. Third, she has to hope that the populace does not see through her disguise. She sets out to find a merchant who might help her.
[Search roll: 6-->5]
After taking a cautious stroll along the less-populated areas of the marketplace, she finds a certain stall. The stall itself sells fabrics and various other odds and ends, but its owner is of much greater interest to her. The owner, a man named Medlan of Adokiim, happens to be someone she knows. More precisely, she knows one of his sons. Even more precisely, she knows of that particular son's nightly escapades with one of the younger concubines in the palace achieved through the combination of careful bribery and brazen insolence. The value of this information is great indeed, she realizes - if word of his son's activities were to get out, not only would the son be investigated and probably executed by the king's men, the name of his family would be shamed for the next twenty years at least, probably for far longer in the eyes of the reigning cult. They aren't known to be forgiving of extramarital relations.
Sejena believes she may have found her man.
* * * * *
On the southeast border of Tezelom,
Phiali thanks the marvelous providence by the grace of God and heads for the smoke trail. After a bit of trudging through the forest, he finally comes upon the source of the smoke.
[Perception roll: ?]
He doesn't really notice anything about the area until he comes right to the clearing. It looks to be a large bonfire. A whole lot of people seem to be dancing around it, their hands joined to form a circle. They seem to be well-armed.
[People perception roll: ?]
One of the people turns his head toward Phiali almost immediately and lets out a short, very controlled and deliberate shout. The people immediately break the circle and pull out their spears, swords and hatchets, forming what seems to be a battle formation.
[People reaction roll: 5]
One of the people, a man of about 50 years, begins to laugh and lowers his weapon. The others begin to chuckle and also put away their assorted armaments. The older man speaks in a gentle tone.
"We are sorry for our less-than-friendly reception, stranger. Can you forgive us? We are merely cautious of the temple guards of Kezilam. They hound us at every turn, and even in this place we are not safe. Let me introduce our group - we are the worshippers of Rekinozom, god of nature and revelry. And who might you be?"Phiali clears his throat, then begins to speak.
"I am Phiali Heavenchanter, and I have much to tell you of."[Charisma roll: 6+1-->6]
He then launches into an epic tale of his pilgrimage to the land of Tezelom, describing in detail the horrors of war back in the lands of the south, then beginning to describe his miraculous survival in the battle with the fiendish tribe of the Singing Spear, demons in human form that reputedly drink the blood of women and children to achieve the strength and brutality they are known for. He describes how he was forced to watch the demon-people kill his fellow warriors, and how they were going to kill him as well, his survival through means unknown to even him. He then spins the tale of how he followed the call of his new god, the True God, to the land of Tezelom, braving untold dangers and seeing things he never thought possible.
The day becomes night and slowly turns to morning as Phiali gets through all of his tale, leaving nothing unexplained. Through all this, the cultists listen with the utmost attention, seemingly hanging on to his every word. As he gets to the end of his tale so far, most of the worshippers stare at him wide-eyed. The leader begins to speak.
"You have suffered much and seen much, Phiali Heavenchanter. You are free to stay with us however long you wish and rest in the finest tent in our commune, but only on one condition.""And what would that be?""When you awaken, you will tell us more of the god you follow. It seems that he is a strong god, indeed. Perhaps he can match the zealotry of Kezilam that our own god seems to be unable to counter."Some of the people present gasp and are about to protest.
"Silence! We shall hear more in the morning. Then, we shall see. Until then, speak no more."The man points Phiali to the largest tent in the area.
"There are your quarters for the night. Go now and rest."* * * * *
On a road and completely lost,
Shashari decides to investigate the flock of sheep, as unbecoming of a young girl as such an activity may be. After all, where there are sheep, there are also shepherds. She walks over the field, stumbling on certain patches of unsteady ground, but reaching the flock eventually.
[Flock reaction roll: 1-->2]
The sheep of the flock retreat in reaction to her approach, leaving behind a rather aggressive-looking ram. It looks at her menacingly, as if daring her to make a move. She glances around to see if there is anyone who might help.
[Perception roll: ?]
She doesn't see anyone around, no shepherds, no other people, nobody. It looks like somebody's being negligent in their duties at exactly the worst time. Looks like Shashari's alone in this standoff with an animal both stronger and better armed. Probably faster as well.
* * * * *
On the merchants' road to Berikalam,
Elizas finds himself sufficiently tempted by the caravan's potential goods that he decides to try and ride with them. But first, he has to reach them. He breaks into a run, intent on getting to the caravan as soon as possible.
[Pursuit roll: 3]
His run might be called leisurely by most observers, though Elizas himself might counter with an observation that slower, but regular performances can win the attention of the public much more effectively. After all, if this fails, he'll still need to get to Berikalam somehow. With his run not really working so well, he decides to enact his second plan, which is like his first plan, but with good guitar music added. He pulls out his buffalo-bone guitar and begins to play.
[Performance roll: 4]
He manages to strum the guitar quite pleasantly, unleashing a rather catchy tune. The caravan seems to turn their heads in his direction and look curiously.
[Caravan reaction roll: 3]
They slow their pace a little bit, turning around to look at Elizas, but don't stop entirely. It takes quite a while until Elizas finally reaches the caravan, and he is quite tired when he does.
[Endurance roll: 5]
However, the mental promise of alcohol he made to himself keeps him on his feet. He gives the caravan people his most winning smile. A merchant among the travelers looks at him curiously.
"What is it you want, musician? Why are you after us?"* * * * *
After not finding a village where he remembered one to be,
Gronok just keeps walking. There has to be a village somewhere around here, right? It wouldn't be like him to just invent a village, at least not in one of the "factual" stories he likes to tell. It's probably just further down the road or something.
[Exploration roll: 1-->5]
However, his optimism turns out to be entirely unfounded as he wanders along the road for what feels like forever. No matter how hard he looks and hopes, he cannot see a village anywhere. It is really beginning to disturb his state of mind. What doesn't help is that it seems to be getting dark, but there is still no sign of shelter of any kind. Only hilly plains as far as the eye can see, with the occasional tree breaking up the monotony.
Sejena: 5 MP
Phiali: 5 MP
Shashari: 5 MP
Elizas: 5 MP
Gronok: 5 MP
So, any thoughts on the formatting or the turn itself? Does it need more differentiation? Anything you didn't like?
Oh, and by the by, limit yourself to two actions, please.
Author
Topic: Prophets of the New God: most unfortunately dropped. (Read 72969 times)