First Month of the Journey: MinionsCordion Interaction
"Then I leave Higo to your care, commander. Should he cause any trouble, mention something about Mistress being disappointed or considering returning him home. So if there's nothing else, I do think that will be enough for now. Thank you for generous hospitality."
Cordion thanks you in turn, bows, and bids you farewell.
Do you have any particular method of informing Higo of this arrangement?
Leader Summit
Responding first to Chorus, Orphella spoke plainly. "Chorus dear...people don't always have the best intentions. From a Wrackborn to another, trust me when I say people are usually...difficult to deal with. Sapphire knows, most of my problems are from other people."
Turning to Stemmas, she simply shrugged. "New world, new order. As our dear Princess says, best to get rid of such preconceived notions of the past and usher in something new. Would sharing power truly be the worst thing? Surely you want to live, yes? As powerful as you are, I am afraid that we are not completely sure what could possibly lurk in the unknown."
Chorus just sort of shuffles her feet, but Stemmas is far more animated.
"If stone-wielding animals can survive there, I have little doubt about my chances."Elythus snarls in anger at the Rogue's impudence and lack of respect, and delivers a mighty backhanded slap to his face, growling:
"Business? None with you. To reject my goodwill in such a manner is foolhardy, especially for a weak being like you- anger me again, and I swear on Kokorai, I will rip your tongue out and feed it to the dogs!"
He sputters indignantly on the floor for a bit before scurrying off. Literally; he's surprisingly lizardlike when he wants to be.
Fray: Princess Kur, I am beginning to think that you're not the kind of queen who enjoys a chat with an ally. Pity, I thought we could be friends without the facade and without the schemes. To the point then. I am the god of adventure, and surely no adventure like this has ever been undertaken. There is much to gain from this new land and we both know that. However, we have a unique opportunity not often given to mortals. A chance to explore the underworld. Many a hero have quested into this murk, and those that return do so with riches and power. I have come to you today to request a team of adventurers so that we may take full advantage of the time given to us.
The Princess takes several long moments to consider this before agreeing.
"Very well. I shall have some capable individuals prepared."She whispers to an assistant for a moment before reviewing what you assume to be documents of some sort; they're on thin clay tablets.
A few minutes later, your adventurers arrive.
"This is Rek, my daughter. Good with javelins, might as well beg for mercy in melee combat."The wiry individual before you does resemble her mother, though slightly lighter and more athletic. A diagonal scar runs across her face, which contorts with rage at her mother's jab. She indeed carries a brace of javelins, though judging by the squeezing grip on the one currently in her hand she's probably thinking about using it in melee right now. Her other hand carries a net.
"This is Siv. Good at staring at things and pretending to be useful."Siv's a little on the plump side, but you recognize her bandolier and satchels as alchemical; most likely she's a healer and herbalist.
"Finally, Dor. Meatshield."Dor is indeed a little taller and considerably wider than the other two, and covered in scars. She wields a massive greatsword between her four thick arms, however.
"I trust these will be sufficient?"Praise:There is and there isn't. I have come to negotiate friendship. If there is no friendship to be had, then I have come for nothing. Yet if you feel we may benefit from eachother's company, then perhaps we may discuss finding ways to advantage Praise's encampment before we even arrive in Paradise. A band of competent adventurers who accompany me on a quest, may return with spoils of wondrous proportion.
"Spoils, you say? Yes, I have some impudent fools better off fetching me riches or off in a pit somewhere. I shall acquire them at once."He vanishes into the caravan and returns a few minutes later with some presumable champions.
"Frontline, backline, backup," he rattles off quickly, pointing to the three from left to right. The way they look at him is an odd mixture of distaste and pride, as though they're going to do as he says in order to prove how wrong he is. Something really strange must have happened to put him in charge.
"Frontline," who introduces himself as Judeas, is a well-built man with dark hair and light green eyes. He carries a sword and round metal shield.
"Backline," who introduces herself as Minth, is a slim woman with a bow and several throwing daggers.
"Backup," who introduces himself as "Joss, just Joss," is a somewhat furtive-looking young man with a few daggers and a pouch you're pretty certain is up to no good.
"Well you heard him, glory or death," Stemmas finishes in an amused tone.
Find/create underworld materials
Tame underworld beast(s)
If either Praise or Fray agree to sending adventurers with me, have them assist.
Materials: 6: [7]
You extend your divine senses through the month, pulsing in a sonar-like pattern from time to time. Usually nothing of note shows up, or your brief investigations yield untenable retrieval conditions.
However, you eventually detect something interesting, and leading your crew of adventurers to it reveals no obvious traps or other hazards.
A beam of white light filters down from the ceiling, illuminating a tall jumble of bones. You can't tell where the light leads to, but you'd be surprised if it actually surfaced somewhere outside of the Underworld. The bones themselves are thin, long, and only gently curved, bringing to mind ribs or maybe limb bones. They're also pure white, and have an aura of loss about them. A skull is not visible, making figuring out what the being looked like while alive- assuming it's an actual skeleton- difficult at best.
The other point of note are the egg shells beneath the jumble, which gives the more adventurous of your adventurers hope for something interesting. Alas, nothing skitters out of the walls to assail them, and the eggs were fairly small anyway.
Instead, you dismantle and haul the bones back to the caravans. Each hero gets a rib for their "help," which together are about 1 Str each. You get the remaining 5 Str of ribs, with their ephemeral affinity.
It occurs to you that you have no beasts to tame. You could probably use a miracle to find some, but finding and taming them all at once is beyond your capabilities.
Bubbling Mirror:
Interaction: Investigate all the train leaders of the Mourn Caravan
Interaction: Map out the path we're taking through the underworld. It'll be useful once we want to sneak agents back into Mourn
Miracle: Bless the entire expedition with increased speed (6+2 = 8 Strength?)
The rainbow mists surrounding Bubbling Mirror winded into thousands of strands, covering the wheels, hooves, boots or other means of locomotion of the expedition in a layer of cloud, causing them to move faster.
Miracle: Protect the expedition from dangers. (6+2 = 8 Strength)
Like a guardian shadow, Bubbling Mirror flickered around the edges of the expedition, looking for predators trailing them from behind, ambushes waiting in front of them, or dangers springing from the sides. These were his worshippers, or at least they would be eventually.
Expedition: Vote to set Rations to Generous and Speed to Steady
Useful-Scribe:
Miracle: Help administrate the logistics of the Expedition
Getting the various train and caravan leaders to listen to her was hard at first. So she settled for giving advice, and with her skill steadily getting proven and a few helpful nudges, they started to come around.
Map: 6: [4] You get the rough outlines of a map, but you could swear passages keep moving around or not obeying the laws of time and space. It should be serviceable for the major routes, though.
Speed: 6+2: [4]
You strain a bit harder than you intend to, and the panic of ruining your efforts sort of seeps into them. The result is that the entire expedition is sped up at...
rather considerable cost to their health. What was supposed to be a vibrant journey becomes something of a haggard sprint.
Protection: 6+2: [8]
Your efforts at protection go considerably smoother, a slightly twitchy bubble settling over the expedition alongside Orphella's flowy thing. Yours is probably a bit better, to be honest, seeing as it will coalesce and focus itself to protect against dangers.
Returning to the little ones: I shall be needing champions. No point in worrying over things passed, let's go find one! I'd not put much thought into the qualities to seek in a champion, but I expect they'll need both courage and calm. I expect that power can grant courage, but I don't see much calm being found in this place. Seek out those who are alone, be they abandoned or wandering, we want someone who is at peace with themselves. Ask them about their troubles, we should avoid a champion who is set upon revenge or their own glories. Now I want you to go forth and seek such a person, but try to stay hidden, I would rather these peoples not notice our doings. I think that the best champions are mysterious... But I shall be following you, stay near to one another and be swift to sound the alarm if you are imperilled.
Interaction: Seek a prospective champion amongst the people of Mourn.
Maybe a homely maiden who was left to tend the animals while their wicked stepsisters mingle with the well-to-do merchants or the leaders of the trains.
Perhaps that weird kid who wandered off to poke at the things that look like dead trees...
Could be that old mercenary who would rather be on watch-duty than sharing stories.
Try to find someone alone but not vengeful...
6: [9]
You and your smaller kin, you guess, scurry through the caravans through the month. You find many potential champions, but you don't quite find the jackpot until late in the month.
It's a Praise girl, too young to be allowed to do anything dangerous but too old to be satisfied with that snub. Your minions find her sniping out stones with other stones with impressive accuracy, especially given that there's nothing bitter or even particularly motivated about her movements- she's just hitting stones because it's a way to practice and she has nothing better to do.
Your minions have little difficulty getting her to pet and vent to them, and she explains further that her older brother is an important guard, which furthers her relatively benign resentment and desire to be useful. The only thing stopping her is that she's too small and weak for the adults to have use of her.
Author
Topic: Guardians of Paradise [Journey Month 2: Kingdoms and Crowns] (Read 7348 times)