A very slight shrug implying "I suggested him to go elsewhere." Also slightly loosening grip of my spear indicating I can part with it. Mouthing word "inevitable". Whatever she makes of that.
They don't seem like they'd want your spear, at least judging by the weaponry by the warriors' sides, their spearheads, swords and daggers having the banded look of fine Wootz steel. Almost strangely advanced in its own way.
[We're All Friends Here: 1]
You give a noncommittal shrug, and it's at roughly this point your backpack gets the feeling that this is unlikely to end well for him. He looks at the Stork, then at the gathering warriors, then at Lee, who seems to be evaluating his market price before making a pitch to the clansman, and decides to make a run for it.
[A Most Wondrous Flight: 6]
It's quite an orthogonal run for it, too. The Stork looks on as your backpack sprints off into the distance, seemingly not overly concerned about his progress in escaping. Going to be a fun one to catch, no doubt, he offers with a smile as your former associate tries to duck along through the brush to avoid arrows that fail to come his way, then dives into the canyon for cover. The clansman lets out an 'ooh' at this turn of events. Probably gonna need to go fishing in not too long. Better notify the net men while he's at it.
In any case, he gestures to the encampment, this ought to be good. He'll let the headman know you're here and what you brought. In the meantime, make yourselves at home. Not even in the usual way, he then adds and laughs. Lee smirks a little out of politeness, the second readable expression you've seen her make all day. She looks over at you, as does the clansman. The latter stares a bit. What
is that, anyway? Lee looks at him. Associate, she says. Looks unnerving, the Stork replies. Does it get wet in the rain? Might want to leave it out.
"Why would I suddenly pretend not to have a Word, since I've already told you I have one and how I got it?
Anyway, would a blood sample work? It'll contain any DNA or equivalent if we even have any, and it's certainly less drastic than chopping you up. As pleasant as the thought may be. "
Nately doesn't seem to know, but if Mr. Daniels is more willing to give blood than give actual chunks, that's certainly his prerogative. AND there's... DNA, yes, and probably EQUIVALENTS, in fact, Nately continues on, agreeing with the smart-sounding thing you just told him.
"Don't go all mad doctor on me, man. Though it might not look like it, I actually enjoy not having to hurt people.
Still, blood sample sounds good. I'd rather not lose another appendage."
Blood sample it is. Into the measure, I assume?
[Let's Spill Some Blood: 5]
You place a finger on your wrist and dig your nails into the vein, parting flesh with only the slightest pressure, a slight amount of pain following as you drag your functional hand over the vein, opening it like a seam. Blood starts to readily come out as the blacksmith steps up, removing a slightly used vial from somewhere within his clothes and, upon devoting the issue some thought, an accompanying funnel as well. You hold your wrist above the funnel, letting a respectable amount of blood drip into it until it nearly begins to spill over, at which point he pulls the vial away, hands it to Mr. Wilde and goes to find some water to wash his funnel.
[The Cost of Doing Business: 6]
The transaction complete, you squeeze the vein shut by closing your hand over it and half-crushing your forearm as you experiment with pressure, your murder-thought flitting wildly in the sky in an instant of pain. You hold it like that for a few minutes and twist, and you think that addresses the blood loss quite adequately. And with only a minimal loss of function in that hand, though not for lack of trying.
"Er, uh, yes. My name is Thomas Minstep, and I'm not quite sure how I've gotten to this castle. It involved a sack, I believe. That said, I am trying to return home, and your son thought you might know the way. I am trying to go to Albany, you see. Uh. In New York?"
Ask.
[Insights From The Far Corners: 1]
Sounds like a transoceanic place, she says after some thought. You kind of suspected you were in Australia. Does she know where you could find an airport, then? And a phone. You've lost yours, unfortunately.
Airports, hm, she considers further, and you hear her wander along the edge of the cell, circling you a few times. Do you mean one of those places where metallic dragons land every now and then and carry people off? You roll your eyes and sigh. They just have to make this difficult, don't they?
Yes. North along the road, she says. And then when the road ends (never did have a head for roadworks, the lords of Anglefork), you just keep on going. You'll find yourself in an airport eventually. Some clansmen might help point the way. This raises your eyebrow immediately. Clansmen? Out in the open? You've heard things about Australia, certainly, but nothing quite like this. You didn't even know the Clan had international chapters. Seems like that would defeat the point somewhat, but you suppose you're no expert.
In any case, you suppose that was... shockingly helpful, in its own roundabout way. You thank the lady for her helpful advice, and consider leaving when she responds with the obvious counterquestion - what's been happening outside? She doesn't leave terribly often, you understand. Has a bit of a countenance issue.
I escaped a stoat army to be eaten by bogeymen. Good going there.
If we're not very far from the inn, I start slowly moving in that direction. If we're pretty far away, instead I move in the direction we were going. Maybe if we get closer to other people, the gaunts will back off.
Rather unfortunately you think you're at about the midway point. So on you'll have to go. And by 'go', you mean 'run for dear life'.
[The Pursuit of Sorcery: 1 vs. 6]
You make the first move. This seems to dispel any lingering indecision on the part of the gaunt, which stops playing coy immediately and comes barrelling out of the underbrush, the air pressure dropping suddenly as your ears pop and you see a speeding figure, an enormous, long-fingered, sharp-toothed skeletal
thing constructed from head to toe of silvered, gleaming bone, its mouth open as it splays its claws in a pounce, each large, ice-cold hand wrapping around your waist fully once as you are carried off your feet, the creature rolling with you as it secures its grip and you are taken off your feet. It coils its hunched body as a spring and almost clownishly springs away as its many joints unfold and it extends to its full nearly 20 foot length from the end of its disproportionately huge arms to the toes of its digitigrade legs.
The last thing you see before you are pulled up slightly above the tree line by the supernatural leap of the creature is the stoatman looking on in shock as he starts to run forward, almost immediately giving up on the idea of seeing you alive ever again. And then you feel a lot of branches swatting across your face as the gaunt pulls you down into the bramble, hefting you in one hand now as it pulls and bounds its way along the wilderness, cackling at an amazing volume as its conch-like head vibrates, parts of it smacking against one another as the nightly air is violently sucked through it. Moving at about the speed of a horse going full tilt, you feel yourself getting almost hopelessly far from the woods immediately, the steely nine-fingered grip of the gaunt locked around your entire body as its grip is adjusted, leaving you helplessly dragging along the underbrush as it makes off with its nightly prize. You hear what you presume are other gaunts - you think they're following you. Maybe they won't eat the other guy, then. Maybe.
Leif Erikson, Miner
- A Word: INEVITABLE
- A Word: APOCALYPSE
- Mead of Poetry (6 shining revelations remaining)
- Enders' Friend: The Grave of Red Clouds Parting
- Small brass box
- Body Count: 1
- Reappropriated, Clean Skirt
- Inscribed Wooden Stylus
- Iron spear
- 1.03 gp
- The Box: ?
- Induced Lucidity: the Aftermath, or the New Beginning
- Compatibility: Minding
- Tricks of the Mind: Perception, Memory
- Tricks of the Mind: Engagement, Negation, Abstraction, Prestige
- Tricks of the Mind: the Self, the Other
- Gods of the Underground: Did You Just What
- A Visit From The Stork: Is What You Yes
- The Voracious Dark: Two Deals Made
- The Voracious Dark: The Promised Sixth
- Moth's Flight: Quest for the North
Eileen Minett, Vinyl Collector
- In Living Memory: Yeah She's Probably Dead Isn't She I Think She's Dead Yeah
- Restraint: 5
- The Doom Guard: Consorting With The Enemy
- Exotic serrated zweihander
- Reclaimed Hooded Robe (worn, torn)
- Inauspicious Day: Off Into The Horizon
- Giant White Mushroom
- A Word: SEA
- A Word: HUNGER
- A Word: CHAOS
- A Weapon: Explosive Cysts
- The Voracious Dark: Three Connections Given
- Tower of the Mind: There's Something To Remember
- The New Queen: And Something To Forget
- Body Count: 1
- The Impromptu Prophecy: ?
- Sweet Little Children: Fond Farewell
Jack Daniels, Karate Man
- Red and gold vest and breeches combo (worn)
- Wounds: 1
- Leather boots (worn)
- 14033 gp (in sack)
- The Queen's Guard: Unusual Troublemaker
- Powers of the Beyond: Gardener of Thoughts
- Dusty Wooden Speaking-Trumpet
- Crossbow Bolt (in throat)
- A Word: REND
- A Word: SILENCE
- A Weapon: Murder-Thought
- Traces of Mischief: A Bisected Left Kidney
- Traces of Mischief: Ruined Left Hand
- Uncoupled: Strength
- Wooden Door (held)
- The Winding Path of Inspiration: A New Direction
- Tower of the Mind: Endless Well of Mystery
- Induced Lucidity: A Garden Well-Tended
- Elongated Affairs: Enemy of the New State
- A Place In History: Vastly Unreliable
- Anglefork Castle: the Great Serpent
- The Obsolete Class: Suggested Victims
- 2 rats, crushed
- 1 rat, strangled
- 1 rat, live
- Travels In The Fourth Dimension: Sunday ± 2 Days
- The Impromptu Prophecy: There's A Mountain Higher Than We Knew
- Doomstones: So High Up But Such A Bitter View
- The Majordomo: A Great Divide Between Us Now
- The Voracious Dark: Decreasing Demand
- The Voracious Dark: More Specific Requests
- The Good Doctor: A Recommendation
- Body Count: 3
Thomas Minstep, Insurance Agent
- Troubles In Anglefork Town: Bearer of the Sword
- Wounds: 2
- A Word: ABSENCE
- A Weapon: The Sword They Fear
- Traces of Mischief: Nausea's Depths
- A Bowl, Black and Knobby
- Anglefork Castle: From Another Time, Another Land
- Gross Incandescence: Partly Illuminated
- Tight Leather Pants (worn)
- Incredibly Tight Blue Dress (worn, mutilated, mildly provocative)
- Travels In The Fourth Dimension: Sunday, July 25th, 409 S.D.
- The Majordomo: Busy Morning
- The Good Doctor: House Call
- The Queen's Guard: A Reward Well Earned
- Make A Man Out Of You: A Crowning Achievement
- The New Queen: Lasting Gratitude
- Tower of the Mind: Advice Given
- The Obsolete Class: Let Them Be
- The One They Fear: A Satisfactory Contract
- A Place In History: A Worthwhile Associate
- Body Count: 2
Oscar Wilde, Chemistry Teacher
- A Word: REVELATION
- Mr. Daniels' blood sample (in vial)
- Time-ender's measure (wrapped, yawning)
- 10 m of rope
- Half a candle
- This Is The End: A Grim Prophecy
- 1 rat, skinless and smoked
- 6 gp
- Poor Misshapen Dice
- Lock of Hair (unidentified)
- Iron nail, unused
- An Inauspicious Key
- Burlap Foot Wrappings (worn)
- Burlap Hand Wrappings (worn)
- Moth-Eaten Hat (worn)
- Respectable Brown Skirt (worn)
- Old Brown Waistcoat (worn)
- Bright Yellow Tunic (worn)
- A Wealth of Burlap Ribbons
- An Obsolete Class: Trustworthy Individual
- The Flip Side: the Denouement
- The Doom Guard: The Inquisition Moves On
- Tower of the Mind: An Interruption
- The Voracious Dark: Backed Away
- The Winding Path of Inspiration: Future Hopes