Leave in Secret as per Nail's advice: 4
Gather a hunting party to go after a Brush Daemon: 0
Clarence: 3
Guthrey: 1
---
You quietly tell Blueblaize that while you consider yourself his rightful ruler, there are many obvious reasons as to why this arrangement cannot be acknowledged publicly. He seems a bit disappointed in this response, but is neither angry nor surprised. "Eh. Didn't think so, but I figured my odds of securing protection from you were the best they would ever be. I've seen enough humans grow up to know that this age is about the peak of your boldness."
---
Anne is thrilled when you permit her to experience possession. Moreso when you say you will be participating as well.
The actual possession is largely a blur to you; Your background in magic gives you some experience in using one's soul to commune with powers beyond one's self, but direct possession is general considered the most overwhelming and difficult form of magical communication to control. The last think you remember clearly is Blueblaize laying hands on you and uttering a prayer. From there, your recolection of events breaks down into several distinct events and interesting thoughts that may not be your own.
You recall being impressed with yourself, or more likely you recall Azeelrath the Silver positive impressions of you. Either way, someone considers you well qualified for the office of monarch.
A brief scene sticks in your recollection. Anne is hoisted on your shoulders. You are both chanting in a language you don't understand.
You feel a wave of... affection for and attraction toward your friend Kane. Innocent. Childlike. A crush. Is Azeelrath providing a link to allow you to share thoughts with your sister Anne? Probably. The alien thoughts drift toward jealousy when you remind yourself that the whole purpose of the trip is to arrange Kane's marriage to Simone.
Skill = 4
Result = 6
Malus for Interacting with a Deity: +1
Final Result: 7
As the possession ends, there is a brief moment in which the connection between yourself and Azeelrath remains unbroken, but her power is not overwhelming your being. Spiritually you reach out, trying to gain something before your interaction with the divine concludes. The best physical analogue to this spiritual action would be trying to grab an eagle by the tailfeathers as it flies past you full speed at eye level; Your reaction is sharp enough, but there is nothing of substance for you to grab onto before the Dragon Goddess pulls away.
Skill = 2
Result = 1
Malus for Interacting with a Deity: +1
Final Result: 2
...Anne, on the other hand, appears to grab a few metaphorical feathers when she reaches out despite her young age and lack of magical training. You briefly feel her presence, pushing into you through the link created by the divine. She greedily feels around your mind for several moments, that feel closer to an hour, before the link fades.
From that point on, you notice a change in your sister. She becomes less outgoing, begins to have trouble sleeping, and seems content to spend every waking moment quietly at your side, as if trying to view the world through your eyes. You are pretty sure she is just overwhelmed; Rooting around in your head could have easily exposed her to adult fears, experience, and knowledge that her young mind is ill-equipped to process. You would have warned her, and you are sure Blueblaize would as well, not to go rooting through heads if the idea of a little untrained girl gaining any sort of control over the possession wasn't entirely and inherently ridiculous. You are at least glad she choose to focus her efforts on yourself rather than Azeelrath: If it was a god's mind she was carelessly digging around in, she could have gone insane.
The following day, Anne offers you a brief and wordless demonstration of what she has purchased with her innocence. When nobody else is looking, she briefly assumes the form of a raggedy Imperial Cleric before returning to her normal appearance: The mask of Old Ginger. Intentionally or not, your sister seems to have acquired some amount of your skill in magic.
---
Accept: 1
Decline: 1
Request a Demonstration of Skill: 3
Skill = 5
Roll = 2
Final Result = 2
You pause, and consider the old man's offer. "I think I'd like a demonstration of your might before taking that wager," you reply, "I know most of the people who live out here are powerful and skilled."
He laughs. "Smart one are ya! Ta gamble without knowing the odds is folly. I like it. That answer tells me I needed ta know, kid. Respect."
The old man drags his finger through the air, as if writing in a language you do not read with an invisible implement. "As for my might, offering you a demonstration is part of the whole reason I came down here Arawn. I'm not actually particularly talented with the sling, but there is something I can show you."
A wicked grin spreads across the man's face, as a knot forms in your stomach. How did he know your name? Before your mind can dwell on the question for long, the stranger turns away from you and extends his hand through the gap in the wall he was leaning upon. An orb of black and purple energy forms in the palm of his hand, and the old man drops to one knee to roll it across the ground. As it the orb travels, the grass underneath it withers and dies. The cursed sphere seems to quickly cover hundreds of yards before it fizzles out of existence in the distance.
You guess whatever magic he just showed was powerful necromancy, capable of easily killing far more than blades of grass. As the old man rises, he flesh contorts and falls away, as it dawns upon you that his appearance was just a mask! Before you now stands a humanoid with deep green skin, black eyes, and fangs on his bottom jaw so long that they have clearly been filed down to keep them from impeding his village. A pure-blooded orc. As far as you know there is only one such person in your lands: Korrag.
"I make a habit of studying humans, you see. I know that, for a monarch, fat dealt you a bad hand. But looking upon you, I can say that you carry ta gifts you need to overcome any obstacle before your reign." The Orc smirks, "If fate did not decide that I was one of those obstacles, I'd even be rooting for ya, kid. I guess I am regardless, in a way. As a human, I don't respect you to understand me, but as an educated person I'll at least give you the opportunity. Where I come from, one's story is their most important and most valuable quality. And the most important chapter to any story is the ending. I could easily render you dead right here today, but in doing so your story would have an unsatisfactory conclusion, wouldn't it?"
Korrag offers a laugh, that while warm and inviting in tone nonetheless sends chills up your spine. "Orcs don't have words for 'friend' or 'enemy'. The only word we have for a personal relationship with somebody who isn't kin or a mate doesn't translate well to any human language. Rival would be a very rough approximation. But it is so much more than rivalry. It is to love and respect someone so much that you would give your life to contribute to their story or take theirs to ensure said story has a worthy conclusion. That sort o' relationship is the one thing I have missed since I crossed the desert north to lead a wayward and desperate people in need of leadership and identity. You might well be the only person around enlightened enough to experiment with Orcish extrapersonal relationships and worthy enough to succeed. I think yo-"
The Orc suddenly vanishes in a puff of purple smoke, as a bolt of lightning arcs from Kane's finger toward the spot where Korrag was just standing. "You will not harm one hair on my King's head, you oversized green snotbubble!" Your friend roars.
Then there is silence. Korrag doesn't return.
---
Skill = 5
Roll = 1
Final Result = 1
The rest of the trip passes without incident. Seven days after you leave Wrotiron, you begin to see the massive herds of massive Dire Zebra that inform you the party has entered the Outer Savanna. Yet you still venture east for two more days to find a greater diversity of giant prey; Dire Zebra are particualarly ill tempered, violent, prone to traveling in large herds, and don't yield interesting trophies aside from the black and white pelts you could also get from a smaller mundane Zebra.
Once you reach the actual hunting grounds, the hunt begins. You spend several days dashing around the Savannah bringing down Terrorbirds, Dire Cheatah, Dire Leopards, and other dangerous but solitary prey; Your party is just not big enough to contend with a pack. Quantity over quality is the focus of the hunt; Knowing what you know about Korrag's spy ring, you discouraged Kane from bringing a Druid along to magically preserve meat and hides, so it is mainly skulls and bones that you will be bringing back home.
Skulls, bones, and ivory that is. The big catch of the trip is a singular male Dire Rhinoceros, which is easily the biggest animal you have ever seen. Usually a party as small as yours has no business dealing with a beast larger than a house that dragons would wrestle back in the day to hone and test their physical strength. But you have the benefit of both knowledge and magic; Rhinoceros, dire or otherwise, have poor vision and poor brainpower. It is a simple matter for you to distract the beast with illusions while Kane cripples it with his destructive spells. It takes four blasts of draconic lightning from your friend to knock the monster off its feet, at which point the rest of the party swarms it with their weapons, effectively subjecting the titan to a death by a thousand cuts. The horn has to be cut into three pieces to fit in the wagon.
As the wagons approach maximum capacity, Keanu approaches you and Kane with an idea. "Why don't we try to grab some living giant beast cubs? You are great with animals, sire, and we could always send some off to Penette in the nameless city..."
You consider the proposition. As tempting as it is, the circumstances of this hunt are poor for hunting live baby beasts. The easiest babies to find would be at the center of a Dire Lion or Worgyena pack, but they would be heavily guarded by perhaps dozens of lion sized hyenas or cattle sized lions. Although the magic wielded by yourself and Kane might give you a fighting chance against such a pack, a larger hunting party is typically recommended for such endeavors. Going after the litters of solitary animals would be a bit safer, but such critters often hide their young in a den or with camouflage; You could easily waste weeks searching for such a prize if you don't get lucky.
How do you respond to Keanu's idea?---
Once the wagons are filled, talk of the journey home begins.
Do you take the northern route, southern route, or retrace your steps through The Land of Ruin?Kane and Simone have, so far, been getting along. Your friend tells you the plan is for you to 'catch them in the act' near the end of the journey home. Depending on your route, you can then have either Luanda or some other druid pulled from a local settlement ensure the matter is officially closed by performing a quick Mahallo wedding before Simone's family has an opportunity to object.
The fact that Anne appears, at least according to jumbled possession thoughts, to have a crush on Kane gives you reason for pause. It will be about a decade before your kid sister is ready to wed, but your friend would surely benefit more from marrying into the royal family than he would eloping himself to the daughter of a foreign Imperial Cleric. Not to mention the fact that you want your sister to be happy someday.
Is the plan still on? If so, do you agree with how Kane envisions things playing out?
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Topic: (SG) Petty Kingdom of New Mahallo: Reign of King Arawn (Read 20132 times)