Turn 9 - Walk AwayIn the foreboding dark of the early morning, five travelers enter the village of Kilnipom. They proceed aimlessly along the streets until their leader,
Gronok, decides to try and ask a nearby villager what that large temple-like structure in the middle of town is.
[Search roll: 1-->4]
He chooses to ask a knowledgeable, enlightened-looking fellow dressed in gray clothes what the place may be.
"Hello there! Would you care to tell me what that temple in the middle of town is for?""Why, yes. It's the Temple of Amaliz Teze, the Great Prophet! That you would not know this is quite shocking. Why are you in Kilnipom if not to see the Temple? It is the only thing of interest here among these poor, ignorant peasants."The man looks over at a nearby hovel dismissively.
"But I suppose they have their uses. After all, everyone has their place in life. It would be folly, not to mention a betrayal of Teze's core tenets to attempt to leave it."Ah. Kezilamites. That makes sense.
* * * * *
Phiali is in quite a bad spot right now. He does, after all, have quite a few wounds on him. He is, however, determined not to die just yet. He stands tall and pulls the blade of one of the guards from his belly, then runs his hands over his wounds in a smooth motion. There is a glow of warmth and the sound of flowing water, and when the prophet removes his hand, his wounds are gone! He then turns around and begins to walk away.
[Guard morale roll: 5]
The guards, obviously not deterred by obvious supernatural activity, charge at Phiali and try to stab him once more.
[Guard 1 vs. Phiali: 1 vs. 1+1]
[Guard 2 vs. Phiali: 4 vs. 6+1]
[Guard 3 vs. Phiali: 5 vs. 2+1]
[Guard 4 vs. Phiali: 5-
1 vs. 5+1]
[Guard 5 vs. Phiali: 3 vs. 6+1]
As he hears the footsteps of the approaching guards, he turns around. He watches as one guard runs right past him, then takes a far-too-impatient one's blade as the latter tries to perform a reckless overhead swing at him. Even though one of the guards manages a lucky swipe at his arm, he still manages to push away a previously disarmed though still madly charging one and disarm a last one. He shows the three blades he already has to the guards with a questioning look on his face.
[Guard morale roll: 1-->5]
The guards look at him cautiously, then take a few steps back. Phiali nods solemnly and leaves without a word, disappearing into the woods in a scant few minutes.
1 MP expended!* * * * *
Upon hearing about the execution,
Elizas decides to take charge of the situation.
"Be calm, my friend, for I have a plan to stop your comrade from being killed, and to do so we will attend his execution tomorrow. For now, we must plan and find a place to stay the night."[Merchant reaction roll: 5]
"What? What will attending his execution solve? I... well, I suppose I'll trust your judgment. After all, you are closer to God than myself.""Yes. Now, old man, what crime is Patalim charged with committing?""Debauchery and corruption of the public, same as any other owner of an... entertainment establishment that didn't close its doors when the Kezilamites politely suggested they should.""I see. Do you know of a place where weary travelers may spend the night?"[Sad Old Man knowledge roll: ?]
"Why, yes, yes, I do. There is quite a fine place for people like you, in fact. Go to the home of Gezerim, right down the street over there. I am sure he can help you in some way."He points to a house of not-inconsiderable size at the end of the street. It is somewhat unadorned, but there is nonetheless an air of refinement about it. Like there is more than meets the casual eye to that place.
* * * * *
Having successfully made the siren-man submit to her wishes,
Shashari inquires about his home next. The Siren seems a bit less shy of her now, as he has now poked his head out of the corner.
"Excellent! Now, I'm tired and hungry, do you have anything to eat and drink?"[Siren resource roll: 4]
"I do have a bit of jerky left over from one of my better hunts lately. I also have a lot of spring water and some herbs. Help yourself, girl."She does so and does her best to enjoy the meal.
[Meal enjoyment roll: 4]
It's good, she supposes. Definitely not the tastiest meal she's had, but filling nonetheless. The herbs add quite a bit to the meat in terms of flavor, she finds. After eating her share, she makes some after-supper smalltalk.
[Smalltalk roll: 4+1]
They chat for quite a while, and soon the communication between them has taken on a much friendlier tone, as the Siren regales Shashari with various exploits of his youth. They mostly involve him getting in trouble with his less womanly brothers and, believe it or not, less womanly sisters, plus a certain amount of more unique stories, such as an instance where he managed to accidentally make a shepherd of a nearby homestead fall in love with the sound of his voice. Though some of the stories are more strange and disturbing in a way, such as the time when his sister, then a girl of seven years, tried to take away his voice with a knife due to an insanely jealous phase she was going through. He points at a noticeable scar on his throat when he tells the story, adding a level of realism Shashari does not really appreciate. She nervously laughs to keep the conversation going, which seems to work just fine.
After quite a while of hearing varied stories of the Siren's youth, Shashari decides that perhaps it might be time to rest. She gets into the most comfortable position she can on the bed of straw, then tries to fall asleep while her ram, who has been passively watching the evening's proceedings, takes up residence just a few steps away.
[Resting roll: 6-->4]
Surprisingly, she sleeps just as soundly on the rather humble bed of straw as she would have in her soft, soft feather bed back at home. Soon enough, she has left the conscious world and plunged into the realm of dreams.
[Dream roll: 6-->1]
She dreams of a keep of nine doors, each of them guarded by a crone. As she passes each door, its respective crone takes something from her. The first one takes her clothes. The second cuts off her hair. The third, however, slices off one of her ears with a large, extremely sharp knife.
[Endurance roll: 5]
She screams and clutches the empty space where her ear used to be, but resolves to keep going, feeling a vague promise of
something dragging her forward despite all sense and reason. The crones do not let up, either: the fourth removes her hands, the fifth cuts off her feet. The sixth tears her tongue out of her mouth with a single pull of her hand.
[Endurance roll: 4]
Now mute and reduced to a crawl, Shashari is still determined to continue her progress. The sixth crone nods in approval as she makes her way forward to the seventh door. The seventh crone seems to be far more lenient, as she merely takes away her ram companion. Still, with its loss, she feels that something else has left her as well. The eighth one does something far worse, however, as she takes away her name and the face of her father and family, shattering both against a stone wall like mere glass playthings, then tearing out her heart with a seemingly taloned hand. But still, she is not prepared for the final crone's punishment. For you see, it is but a single question.
"Who are you, girl?"[Will roll: 2]
For the life of her, Shashari isn't sure. What is she without a name or a face, without her hands and feet, without a tongue and without family, without anything? What is left when all else is taken away? As she thinks, she feels an icy darkness close in. The ninth crone begins to laugh, then speaks in a vaguely teasing tone.
"I suppose I can give you a small glimpse to what is behind this door. After all, you did perform admirably up until this point."As the door opens by the very tiniest of margins, Shashari indeed gets her glimpse. And what she glimpses is beyond any imagination and beyond any mortal concept of value.
She wakes up soon after, the visions of the crones slowly leaving her mind and memory. It still seems to be dark and she can hear the Siren sleeping in the corner, breathing softly. Her ram is similarly unperturbed.
* * * * *
Sejena thinks about the words of Medlan's wife for a moment and decides that she is probably just being unusually nice rather than uncommonly oblivious. She replies with kind words of her own.
"Ah... you are a saint amongst men. And much more important than you think. If you allow me, I would give you Aulanna's blessing."She seems to be progressing from smiling to positive beaming as the conversation takes its course.
"I... thank you for your words. And it would be foolish to resolve a blessing, whoever it may come from, no?"After Sejena mutters a quick, but heartfelt prayer in her favor, the lady bows gracefully and they say goodbye to one another. Then Sejena heads out to find the apparently useful Naphezim of Vipuka, all the while hoping nobody sees through her disguise.
[Search roll: 1-->2]
Two things stop her from doing this, however. For one, she forgot to find out where this Naphezim of Vipuka might be, and her knowledge of the city is quite insufficient to make anything even close to an educated guess. Secondly, she keeps getting a slightly odd feeling in her gut. Something's
off.
[Perception roll: ?]
She doesn't really see anything suspicious around, but the feeling does not leave her for some reason.
Gronok: 5 MP
Phiali: 0 MP
Elizas: 5 MP
Shashari: 5 MP
Sejena: 2 MP
Author
Topic: Prophets of the New God: most unfortunately dropped. (Read 72203 times)