Sapphire Ascent - IC

[KitsuneKinomi]

Maria; Location: Woods behind the farmhouse; Tag: none
Alone in the woods, following a trail of what she assumed to be blood, with the sun now set, and now running into thick silky strands. Maria started to wonder if she had made a mistake in ignoring sister Aurala. She pressed on, knowing that the truth might only be a few steps away, and her curiosity getting the better of her. Having seen the strands before she ran into them, she was on guard to avoid getting tripped up in them as she pressed on, hopefully finding the source of the red fluid and the thread.

[13 Dex check to avoid the threads]
[16 Nature check to try and figure out what might be making the threads]

 

[Stellarnova]

@ Maria

These were spider threads, no doubt, but you had never seen any this large. None of the spiders you had ever seen in the east or in the heartlands had been larger than a coin. There were tales of giant spiders living in mountain caves, but you had never seen anything like that. Come to think of it, the only spider you had ever seen large enough to make these webs wasn't a spider at all, but an arachnid girl that once visited your monastery to study your faith. You idly remember her blueish hair and bright green eyes, a comely human body seated on an 8-legged spider body... You found her quite attractive, but she didn't stay long... You had never seen her produce any threads though, and you knew nothing about her people save that they lived somewhere in the west and were once despised, but had become more accepted since then...

You made your way deeper into the forest, following the trail and trying to avoid the threads, but you had no idea how many you might already have tripped. You soon spotted something in the distance, a pair of humanoid silhouettes. As you came closer, the figures stopped and turned towards you. "That's far enough, girl!" One of them called out. She chanted in a smoky voice, then suddenly a dim glow illuminated the area between you two, some 20 feet distance. Everything around you was cast in shadows, only the two people ahead of you visible.

One of them, in front of the other, being held by the other, was a young blonde-haired girl. She had whitish-transparent bandages over her torn farmer's dress, drops of blood dripping from her.

The other woman holding her wore a tight blue and red outfit and wielded a scepter of some sort. A mage? Who would she belong to?

"Who are you, and why are you following us?" The mage woman asked.

 

[KitsuneKinomi]

Maria; Location: Woods behind the farmhouse; Tag: none
Idley Mari thought back to the spider girl she had so briefly met. It was back when she was still proud, arrogant, not very sisterly at all. Reflecting now, she might have had a bit in common with the spider girl, and they might have been friends, had Maria's haughtiness not gotten in the way.

Maria stopped when commanded. Was this the missing family? Could she have found them? Maybe that would justify her disobedience to the sisters! The sudden illumination blinded Maria for a moment, she recoiled away, shielding eyes, but as they adjusted back, there were two figures, in front of her. "My name is Sister Maria of the Chauntea faith, I've come seeking the family that was that lived in the hut back there..." Her eyes glanced at the farmer girl. "Where are you taking her? What injured her?" Maria tried to avoid jumping to conclusions and seeing as she had answered her two questions, it felt only fair she get two of her own.

 

[Pervy]

Ruxi, the Immaculate, Location: On the Move Tag: Introduction

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Ruxi was easily distracted by glowy shinies! She'd aquire it and add it to her collection, for which it would be the first item, but you have to start somewhere! The little goblin scuttled after the glow, no getting thorny!

 

[helvorn]

Name: Patricia the Half-orc Wonder Location: Orcish Camp Tag: Jackie

Patricia hugged Jackie quickly. Looking around quickly for food or clothing that could be quickly grabbed Patricia rushed her sister outside and away from further danger of collapsing roof beams. "What happened her Jackie? Where are mom and dad?"

OOC: 5 for perception!

 

[Stellarnova]

@ Patricia

In the chaos, you found nothing that stood out. You and Jackie escaped the tent with nothing more than the clothes on your back.

"I don't know. Father said I should go and hide once they blew the alarm horns... Oh no!"
The two of you arrived outside, Jackie leaning against you, only to find that the fire had spread and you were cut off!
The beautiful carven wood decorations between the tents, where your tribe's hunters and warriors would hang their trophies from, were burning, together with the bodies and destroyed furniture, creating a ring of fire all around you.
"What should we do?" Jackie asked, almost cried, as she hugged you closely, her lithe body shaking with fear. The roar of the burning tents seemed to drown out her words.
Then, barely audible above the sounds of the fire, you could hear a man's voice. "Hey! Is there anyone out there!" It was not a voice you recognize, in fact, it sounded more human than orcish...

 

[Stellarnova]

@ Ruxi

As you approached the glowing thing by crawling through some bushes, you notice that the glowing thing is in fact a small, weirdly glowing spider, sitting on a steppe-tree.

The strangest thing was, it seemed to look straight at you, its eyes glittering, its fangs moving as if it was talking to you. Your head throbbed, was this just a hallucination brought on by the bite? Without realizing, you had closed in and where staring at this small spider from up close. Suddenly, it raised one of its legs, as if waving at you.

Then, it started scurrying away, but not out of sight, no, you could still keep track of it. It did glow blue, after all. The thing bolted between two bushes, the coming to stop, wiggling its thorax as if it was asking you to follow...

 

[Stellarnova]

@ Maria

The young girl looked past you with dead eyes. She didn't react at all, if you couldn't see her breathing, you'd have thought she was dead.

The mage lady answered. "A traveling priestess, ehh? Then you know what it means to follow a higher calling. That is why we are here. She has been chosen." She turned to the girl. "Stay here." The girl nodded, and the blue-dressed mage started slowly walking towards you. "We will take care of her wounds, don't worry. It was just a little accident." She eyed you, her haughty face not giving away anything. (Optional Insight check opportunity) "What about you? Who are you, and you are you content with your calling?"

 

[Pervy]

Ruxi, the Immaculate, Location: On the Move Tag: Introduction

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"Ooh another one for my spider collectionings!" That, or she was hallucinating. But there were no unicorns, so this was propably not a hallucination.

"Oh hello there little spider. Say are you tasty.. wait! I don't want to do you the feastening, ... most definitly!" She hopped after the little thing curiously, her pursuers all but forgotten at this point. She wanted the glowy-spider!

 

[Stellarnova]

@ Ruxi

You followed the spider through the brush, towards the center of the treecluster. There, you saw it at the edge of a sinkhole, maybe a meter and a half wide, going straight down into the earth.

The glowing spider once again waved at you with one of its front legs, before hopping into the hole. You could hear the faint sounds of rushing water from below, but as you looked into the opening, there was no sign of the spider, or any other glow, just a hole so deep you couldn't see the bottom.

 

[Pervy]

Ruxi, the Immaculate, Location: On the Move Tag: Introduction

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"Here little spider spider! Don't do a leaving!" Ruxi encouraged, hopping up to the hole before peering inside quizzically. Well, she was a goblin, she was not afraid of holes! She'd pursue the spider with her goblin climbing skills! Bonus: This whole might make for a good hiding place from eventual pursuit! And a glowy spider was pretty much all it needed for the goblin to check out this hole. She might have done it without spider, if bored enough, you never knew when you'd find a useful toad or some neat fun time mushrooms down in the right holes until you tried!

(11 Acrobatics to climb down into the hole!)

 

[KitsuneKinomi]

Maria; Location: Woods behind the farmhouse; Tag: none
Maria was a bit taken back by the attitude of the blond woman. It seemed she was but a walking corpse, listless and obedient. She must have been in real trouble, in spite of that Maria still wasn't sure if the mage was the one who had caused the girl's wounds, and so tried to be diplomatic.

"A, a higher calling?" Maria shock at the question was evitend on her face, by now her tail had curled defensively around one leg. This wasn't helped by the way the mage spoke to the girl before walking toward Maria herself. "Maria, I said that." Her eyes narrowed a bit, as the question of whether to run or stay started to flutter about in her mind. "I'm a servant of lady Chauntea. My... my contentment... w-with my service isn't your concern," Her face had a shade of defeat on it, clearly, she wasn't content with her lot in life. Maria sifted her weight onto the balls of her feet, ready to bolt back the way she came should this girl get any more threatening.

[17 Insight]

 

[helvorn]

Name: Patricia the Half-orc Wonder Location: Orcish Camp Tag: Jackie

Oriala was looking around with a worried expression as the flames closed around them. "We'll have to make a run for it through the flames..." Oriala was ready to hug her sister close to her and run through the flames when the voice came to them. Oriala held Jackie's hand and stepped as close to the direction from which the voice came. "Help! Help!" She cried out.

 

[Stellarnova]

@ Ruxi

Much to your chagrin, the sinkhole was not just deeper than expected, but slippy with moss and mold. The inevitable happened promptly: You slipped and fell down... and down... and down... before finally hitting water, being submerged for several seconds before coming back to the surface. (You take 2 fall damage!) You then realized that you were still moving, for you didn't land in an underground lake, but rather an underground river! The current swept you along through the dark, and you found yourself in a torrent, being dragged over rocks cutting your clothes and skin. You felt your torn bags slipping through your grasp, your tools, your knives, your loot, and worst of all, the pocket with all the nice critters, being swept away from you! (You take 4 collision damage!) Soon afterwards, the ride was at its end: in the brief moments where your head is above the raging water, you could see a bright light approaching, and suddenly - you were falling again, this time through air and water mixed. You impacted the water again, but this time, as you resurfaced, you found yourself outside, in the light of the setting sun. (You take 1 fall damage!) You were naked as the day you were born, your skin bruised and scraped raw, but you were alive. The lake you were in was fed by a waterfall coming out of a cave, steep cliffs surrounding this vale, but ahead of you, you could see a grassy shore and gentle slopes promising a way out.

 

[Stellarnova]

@ Patricia

With a brief flash of light, two people appeared before you, inside the ring of fire.
One was a man, and the other a woman, both young and attractive, and both wearing dark-blue robes.

"You can't believe how glad we are there are still survivors." The man looked at his partner.
"We have to get out here. Take our hands." The woman said, reaching out to Jackie, while the man reached out to you.

"Wait! Who are you? What are you going to do with us?" Jackie clasped her hands behind her back, shying away from the woman.
"There's no time! We'll get you out of here, then we can answer your questions!" The man urged you and your sister on.
Around you, the fire was spreading, closing in, the smoke blotting out all vision around you.

 

[Stellarnova]

@ Maria


The woman read you like an open book. "Oh please, it's just us here. No need for false modesty. It's ok to dream of bigger things." She stopped moving about 5 feet from you. You could see a glimmer in her deep blue eyes, a hunger. She reminded you of yourself in your younger days, before the church of Chauntea took you in and taught you modesty. Something about the way she moved reminded you of a predator, while her tight blue dress accentuated her sensual attributes. You had no doubt, this woman was steeped in carnal lust. "Who are you really, Maria? Just an acolyte? A dutiful nun? Or is there more, hiding behind that demure exterior?"

 

[Pervy]

Ruxi, the Immaculate, Location: Rock bottom

This was, all in all, a suprisingly deep hole. Plus, Ruxi had bathed like.. two weeks ago. This was way too wet and early. She could also do without the sharp stones.

"My nicknacks!" She flailed at the loss of her collection of goodies. This was not worth a glow-spider!
Ruxi drifted off along the currents, coughing water (and some blood, she was pretty sure) finally, she thought, arriving at.. some underground Valley? that didn't make sense. Finally, she more stumbled, than stepped ashore, dropping onto her back, her big green ears flopped down in sadness.

"I'm dead." She declared, cupping her bruised shoulders.. this'd be a pain for a while.. well, she felt like crap. She sniffed a little. Her nicknacks! Well at least she'd hit rock bottom. Several of them, propably, on her way here.

"Pfuaah this sucks.. ow owie.. washed out my hair dyenings too.. needed a new color anyway but still.."
She stretched and complained to no one in particiular, as lying around hadn't exactly improved the situation either. She turned towards the wild river.. and flipped it off, demonstratively, looking about, and aquiering herself a plain rock. "You are my rock now." It was better than nothing, technically. She looked up to the slopes. Perhaps she could find some snails here to lighten her mood.. wait she had no bag to put them into.. well perhaps, she needed to find medicinal snails to apply to her wounds!

(Nature check 15 to find good snails!)

 

[KitsuneKinomi]

Maria; Location: Woods behind the farmhouse; Tag: none
The look in the woman's eyes was pleasantly familiar. A callback, not to the chaste maiden she was now, but the wanton lord's daughter she had been. Could this woman mean her harm if they shared such a connection? Nervously she looked back, the sisters hadn't followed her, she was alone... she was already in trouble and would be punished... "I urm, I am Maria, bastard daughter of lord Thornhallow..." She admitted finally, easing herself slightly after overcoming that hurdle. "My service to the lady is penance for my arrogance. Beliving myself worthy of the Thornhallow name... So who exactly are you?"

 

[helvorn]

Name: Patricia the Half-orc Wonder Location: Orcish Camp Tag: Jackie

Patricia recoiled back a bit as the two humans appeared in a flash of light. She was suspicious of course but they were going to die quickly if they didn't get out of there. Patricia looked around at the rapidly closing circle of flames. "We have no choice Jackie, follow me." Taking her sister's hand she stepped forward and pressed both Jackie's and her own hands into the hands of the man and woman. "Take us out of here!"

 

[Stellarnova]

@ Ruxi

You skipped through the fertile valley on the hunt for snails, though all you found were some slugs of questionable quality near the lake, and copious amounts of glowing spiders everywhere! And some other insects and frogs and lizards, but they didn't glow at all! Outside this vale, the steppe began again: dry grass with clusters of trees and bushes strewn throughout. The sun had almost set, the plains were cast in orange while the skies had turned purple. In your little valley, it was already pretty dark by now, and aside from the grass being wet, you could surely think of worse places to sleep in...
(You got a rock and 4 slugs! Max carrying capacity without clothes reached!)