Nesak: HP = 47, PP = 47, EP = 101/102, Status = Fine, Transformation X = 6, Upkeep = 0, 32/32 Temp HP
NPCs Groumet, Chieftain of the Goldbloods Reyna, Wife of the Chieftain Breket, Warleader and First Son of Groumet going to be mad at Nesak Phaeron, Shamanborn and Second Son of Groumet Roruk the Coward, Third Son of Groumet prefers Roruk the Reasonable Engren, Warrior and Fourth Son of Groumet Ingta, Only Daughter of Groumet, twin with Engren Verein, Great Hunter and Fifth Son of Groumet Borss the Slovenly, Sixth Son of Groumet
Derng, Chieftain's Guard
(Will get text colors when they fucking earn them)
Gors
Fink
Negglen
Shrund
Krog
Nelsa
Reyng
Delsim
Aandloo
Wolf Priestess
Mysterious Frog Girl Bihl Wolfir Huntress Linde of the Blue Woods tribe
Wolfir Villagers Ezma the herbalist Shaiir the other taller herbalist The Shaman so mysterious
Ezma actually looked fairly relieved when Nesak refused the opportunity to take advantage of the other herbalist's time of the month. "Ahhh, that would be perfect!" she said, beaming at him. "I'll just get you those right away, and uhm... Could you possibly show me now? I know some healing draughts, but it's always good to see how someone else does it!" At that point Nesak would have to figure out what he wanted to do, how much time he wanted to spend here, and what he wanted to do about Bihl and Linde waiting for him.
(I was trying to figure out how to make this longer, but bleh. The higher your herbalism roll, the more rewards you get, and if Nesak proves he's a good teacher I might give you a bonus on the roll.)
Alright well, Nesak was going to get to work. Before that, though... He walked over to Linde and Bihl and spoke to them privately. "The plan is that I'm going to help Ezma here with gaps in her knowledge. I learned some techniques from some of the more learned members of the tribe, enough so that I could handle them myself. Linde, if you wouldn't mind collecting some supplies. We'll leave tomorrow morning, might as well spend the night somewhere safe and comfortable. We are going to go northwest, past the great plains. In my visions I was shown both a mountain and a cave so please, Linde if you could find us rope and other supplies that would be helpful. We're going to have to pass by a huge Wolfir encampment bearing a black banner... do you know anything about that?" Bihl should probably stick with him and... well... she probably has something she does to pass the time. After teaching the herbalist, maybe while eating, he could ask her what caused her to choose her current lifestyle.
After talking with Linde, Nesak would begin his tutelage of Ezma, such as it was. I mean, Nesak hadn't been trained all that much, just enough to be able to make a potion without any need for supervision. But he would do as he promised. The first thing, of course, was to teach her how to brew a potion (the Infertility potion, I suppose) to calm her sister and any other Wolfir that might enter the same state. He makes sure to get that one right before moving on to any others, since that's the important one. Since they are going to be staying the night (hopefully), he'll take his time to make sure they both get things right. Then he would move on to healing potions (having more healing potions would never hurt), universal antidotes, and, if he manages all that, a morning after potion.
Nesak: HP = 47, PP = 47, EP = 101/102, Status = Fine, Transformation X = 6, Upkeep = 0, 32/32 Temp HP
NPCs Groumet, Chieftain of the Goldbloods Reyna, Wife of the Chieftain Breket, Warleader and First Son of Groumet going to be mad at Nesak Phaeron, Shamanborn and Second Son of Groumet Roruk the Coward, Third Son of Groumet prefers Roruk the Reasonable Engren, Warrior and Fourth Son of Groumet Ingta, Only Daughter of Groumet, twin with Engren Verein, Great Hunter and Fifth Son of Groumet Borss the Slovenly, Sixth Son of Groumet
Derng, Chieftain's Guard
(Will get text colors when they fucking earn them)
Gors
Fink
Negglen
Shrund
Krog
Nelsa
Reyng
Delsim
Aandloo
Wolf Priestess
Mysterious Frog Girl Bihl Wolfir Huntress Linde of the Blue Woods tribe
Wolfir Villagers Ezma the herbalist Shaiir the other taller herbalist The Shaman so mysterious
(I lost nearly finished versions of this post twice. Salt.)
Bihl and Linde perked up as Nesak approached, the former standing and the latter straightening her back. Bihl's reaction was largely neutral, having not much to do just then, while Linde momentarily looked troubled. "A black.... Banner? It's strange, I know what that word means as you say it, but.... Ugh. I can't even wrap my head around it! Our tribes are usually small, and... My people don't use drawings on bits of cloth to denote our allegiance, we use warpaint, drawn onto our flesh and fur by our kindred," she replied, seemingly intensely proud of the latter fact.
Linde stood up, again towering over Nesak and Bihl, and in a less heated tone continued; "I have a few things that I don't believe I will need that I can trade, and will get together what I can. We can stay in my tent for the night, and take it with us in the morning. When you're finished here, perhaps you can help Bihl and I work on our... Communication problems."
And with that she swept away, heading back towards the main camp and leaving Nesak to deal with Bihl and the alchemist twins. "Oooh, ooh, can I watch? I never got to watch the makings back when I was in my old tribe! Pleeeeeease!" The formori hopped from foot to foot, looking at Nesak with wide, expectant eyes, but he would ultimately have the final say on how much she was allowed to observe while he was training Ezma.
Rolls
Herbalism: 2 successes
Ezma proved to be an eager student, if perhaps an overly enthusiastic one. More often than not she wanted to experiment with an idea before she fully understood, asking a lot of questions and going off on a lot of tangents, but she seemed to grasp the basic points quickly enough so long as Nesak kept her on track. The mixing of a potion to inhibit fertility, which would naturally prevent them from going into heat as well, took an hour or so, and then he went on on to teach her about healing drafts and antidotes, and finally something to deal with an unwanted pregnancy. Her notes had some information on such mixtures already, but ultimately he added more than she already knew; it seemed that the village's previous healers hadn't been good about writing things down.
"Wow! Thanks! This is amazing!" Ezma declared once Nesak had gone over all of the basic things that he knew, by which point night had very nearly fallen. Linde returned suddenly, looking surly and sporting a bruise on her left cheek, as well as a bit of blood on her knuckles. "Did things go well here?" she asked in a slightly hoarse voice, a bit of impatience detectable in her tone. "Uhhh... Y-y-yeah!" Ezma replied quickly and in a tone not quite as enthusiastic as it had been before her arrival, not quite looking at Linde after noticing her new decorations. "Good," Linde declared with a huff, "come, I will set up our tent nearby. We must be on our guard tonight... I am not sure if we will be entirely safe."
Nesak processed Linde's information and frowned inwardly. Could the vision have been of some completely separate tribe of Wolfir, one that had long ago changed and split off from the tribes around here? Or perhaps the tribes here were the splinters. It was doubtful Linde would know and it probably wouldn't change much so Nesak decided not to pursue the matter. Besides, he had a feeling he might offend someone if he kept at it and didn't want any more trouble. He had a feeling thing he would have as much as he could handle in the days ahead, even with the help of Linde and Bihil.
Speaking of Bihil, he didn't expect her to be so taken with the idea of watching them mix the potions. He agreed, though he would ask her to stay out of the way for now. If she wanted to learn, he would help her later as they traveled. "Why didn't you get to watch when you were in your old tribe?" Of course, he also had to teach them a language. Ugh... he hadn't ever thought he'd be a teacher for anything, really. Let's see... they probably wouldn't meet any more of Bihil's people but they could possibly run into some more Wolfir or other tribes that had at least had contact with the Wolfir tribes and needed to communicate with them. With that in mind, he would attempt to teach Bihil how to speak, or at least understand, Wolfgrowl.
When Linde arrived, he immediately went on guard, though it appeared that it wasn't as bad as he thought, or maybe it was. "Ezma, it appears out lessons are complete. Good luck." Ugh, he wished he had a better idea how the Wolfir culture worked. He made sure that Linde didn't have any wounds that weren't immediately visible before retreating to the tent as soon as possible. "Linde, what happened? Why do you think that we might be in danger?"
Nesak: HP = 47, PP = 47, EP = 101/102, Status = Fine, Transformation X = 6, Upkeep = 0, 32/32 Temp HP
NPCs Groumet, Chieftain of the Goldbloods Reyna, Wife of the Chieftain Breket, Warleader and First Son of Groumet going to be mad at Nesak Phaeron, Shamanborn and Second Son of Groumet Roruk the Coward, Third Son of Groumet prefers Roruk the Reasonable Engren, Warrior and Fourth Son of Groumet Ingta, Only Daughter of Groumet, twin with Engren Verein, Great Hunter and Fifth Son of Groumet Borss the Slovenly, Sixth Son of Groumet
Derng, Chieftain's Guard
(Will get text colors when they fucking earn them)
Gors
Fink
Negglen
Shrund
Krog
Nelsa
Reyng
Delsim
Aandloo
Wolf Priestess
Mysterious Frog Girl Bihl Wolfir Huntress Linde of the Blue Woods tribe
Wolfir Villagers Ezma the herbalist Shaiir the other taller herbalist The Shaman so mysterious
"The elders always said I was annoying," Bihl replied sourly, giving a momentary pout; "They thought I'd get in the way or use anything they taught me to cause mischief!" The formori would do some to prove her elders right given Nesak's permission to watch, as she regularly interrupted with questions that forced Nesak to take a little bit more time. His student actually seemed to appreciate the extra mind to bounce off of at least, as she seemed to internalize things a little bit more quickly. Perhaps she was used to learning alongside her sister? Regardless, Bihl at least managed to pick up a bit of the wolfir language along the way, mostly from picking up things that Ezma was saying and interpreting the context based on what they were doing and how Nesak responded to it. It wasn't much, but it was a start.
Later, when the slightly bruised Linde arrived, she set up the tent that they were to stay in in silence and with a perpetual scowl. Once they were secluded into it and Nesak offered his question, her scowl deepened and for a moment she said nothing while glaring without actually looking at anything. "Now that I am to depart, there are certain fools that think I have somehow become less capable of breaking their bones," she finally replied with a bridled tone. "I do not believe that they will do anything... Violent, but some sort of mischief is likely if they have not gone to the chieftain and been rebuked for their antics."
Well, as long as both of them were getting something out of it, Nesak guessed that it wasn't too bad. He would need to double check that Bihl knew what he was saying each time, though. If she mixed something wrong, things could go very badly. Anyway, once Linde arrived and had told them the state of things, Nesak restrained himself from sighing. Well, at least things wouldn't be violent, just annoying. He considered summoning up a Pawn but decided against it. If they got spooked by it, it might cause things to escalate. He wasn't sure he could set up the Pawn to take it easy either. He hadn't needed to so far. Something to find out in the future. For now... "Okay, let's set up a watch system just in case they decide to make things difficult." He would volunteer to go first if that was how they were going to do things... it'd be best if they had more than just them three but for now they'd have to make due.
Nesak: HP = 47, PP = 47, EP = 101/102, Status = Fine, Transformation X = 6, Upkeep = 0, 32/32 Temp HP
NPCs Groumet, Chieftain of the Goldbloods Reyna, Wife of the Chieftain Breket, Warleader and First Son of Groumet going to be mad at Nesak Phaeron, Shamanborn and Second Son of Groumet Roruk the Coward, Third Son of Groumet prefers Roruk the Reasonable Engren, Warrior and Fourth Son of Groumet Ingta, Only Daughter of Groumet, twin with Engren Verein, Great Hunter and Fifth Son of Groumet Borss the Slovenly, Sixth Son of Groumet
Derng, Chieftain's Guard
(Will get text colors when they fucking earn them)
Gors
Fink
Negglen
Shrund
Krog
Nelsa
Reyng
Delsim
Aandloo
Mysterious Frog Girl Bihl Wolfir Huntress Linde of the Blue Woods tribe
Wolfir Villagers Ezma the herbalist Shaiir the other taller herbalist The Shaman so mysterious
Linde merely nodded, and Bihl simply agreed to take watch in the middle despite her apparent nervousness about the idea. The wolfir would wordlessly enter the tent and set about cleaning herself up with some water before she turned in, pulling her top off while facing away from Nesak and then settling in under a blanket to apparently go to sleep immediately. Bihl quickly ate something and curled up in the corner, though she kept fidgetting nervously and opening her eyes to glance at the tent entrance. That left Nesak to take his watch, to settle in where he wished. Their makeshift camp was between a group of tall trees a short ways from Ezma and Shaiir's tent, and he could still hear the two speaking quietly and working for some time. The sounds of the main camp were more distant, and only the loudest truly carried through the trees to reach them, but he could hear the all too familiar sounds of a tribe reaching the end of a day's work and beginning to enjoy what portion of the night they remained awake for.
Rolls
Perception: 6 successes on first portion
Perception: 5 successes on second portion
Perception: 3 successes on final portion
For the first part of his watch, Nesak had the sounds of the wolfir tribe's nightly activities to keep him from getting too distracted. Laughter, bouts of loud activity, singing and music all served to entertain, though he was too far to really interpret much of it. As those sounds faded, however, the more common sounds of the night filtered in to replace them, unfamiliar as they might be to the swamp-born kobold. The regular cries of insects and birds didn't entirely lull him into a false sense of security, however, and shortly after the sun had fully set and the sounds of the wolfir village had largely gone quiet Nesak sensed the presence of someone or something moving through the trees. A soft footfall here, a flicker of movement out of the corner of his eye there, the occasional rustle or snap of a twig in the distance... They were random and always far off, but they were there, and in his occasional glimpses Nesak caught sight of canine features on a humanoid body moving through the woods before they darted away into the trees. Still, none of them approached within less than a hundred feet... For the first part of his watch anyway.
As the night dragged on the sneaking wolfir took longer breaks only to reappear, every time coming closer. They were in places he hadn't seen before, places their earlier patterns had caused him to not expect them, and he couldn't be sure but there seemed to be more of them. Fatigue was making it harder to keep track of the intruders creeping through the woods, but every time he managed to catch one of them by sight or by sound they were closer, and as the first third of the night and his watch had ended the closest had gotten within fifty feet of their camp. Whether or not he wanted to try to do anything about it, however, was ultimately up solely to Nesak.
Nesak was getting annoyed by the whole situation. He was tired and just wanted to get the group on the road but for some reason these dogs just couldn't leave well enough alone. He considered the situation. If he didn't do something, some of the clansmen would probably take the opportunity to do... something. Nesak didn't know what and, really, didn't care. They were interfering with his quest and he hadn't done anything to provoke them. Maybe it wasn't the best idea but by now Nesak wasn't in the best mood. He stood up and said into the darkness, in the language of the wolfir "If you come any closer, there will be consequences."
He made a grand gesture and debris and dirt from the surrounding area gathered to form a being that was much different than the Pawn. It was much larger and it's body was somewhat cylindrical. Several whip-like arms sprouted from the center. He gives it commands, telepathically, to capture anyone other than himself, Bihl, or Linde who attempts to enter the tent without their permission. He tells it to keep things nonlethal and, given a choice between it being destroyed or killing an attacker, to take the former option. Then he wakes Bihl and tells her what the being, Nesak calls it a "Rook", has been told to do and warns her about the wolfir getting closer before going to bed.
Nesak: HP = 47, PP = 47, EP = 83/102, Status = Fine, Transformation X = 6, Upkeep = 0, 32/32 Temp HP
Rook: Stats n stuff
NPCs Groumet, Chieftain of the Goldbloods Reyna, Wife of the Chieftain Breket, Warleader and First Son of Groumet going to be mad at Nesak Phaeron, Shamanborn and Second Son of Groumet Roruk the Coward, Third Son of Groumet prefers Roruk the Reasonable Engren, Warrior and Fourth Son of Groumet Ingta, Only Daughter of Groumet, twin with Engren Verein, Great Hunter and Fifth Son of Groumet Borss the Slovenly, Sixth Son of Groumet
Derng, Chieftain's Guard
(Will get text colors when they fucking earn them)
Gors
Fink
Negglen
Shrund
Krog
Nelsa
Reyng
Delsim
Aandloo
Mysterious Frog Girl Bihl Wolfir Huntress Linde of the Blue Woods tribe
Wolfir Villagers Ezma the herbalist Shaiir the other taller herbalist The Shaman so mysterious
With his defiant shout and conjuration of his towering guardian, the motion in the underbrush ceased for a while, leaving Nesak to head into the tent at his discretion. Bihl was awake when he entered, her eyes wide and slightly red from lack of sleep. She sat up and listened to him, and then slipped out of the tent to take her turn at watch, leaving Nesak to take his rest....
Rolls
Some things....
He would wake up come the morning under his own will, with Bihl finally asleep in the corner and Linde keeping watch outside of the tent. The wolfir looked tired, but otherwise fine. "Looks like they didn't want to bother us... Maybe because of this thing?" she said as he came forward, and after a moment she stood up and stretched. "I suppose we should break camp and go... Do you want me to wake Bihl, or are you going to do it?"
Nesak looked happy "I got tired of them shuffling around in the bushes and was worried about them overpowering either of you while I was asleep. So I made it just to keep them away. I call it a 'Rook'. And I'll wake Bihl. Anything we need to do before we go?" He goes over to wake her. Hopefully she wouldn't react badly or anything. He'd ask her about what happened last night, making sure she was okay. After that, he'd leave the village with his two... followers(?) to the northwest! Probably end up running into hostile wolfir building an army to take great swathes of territory or something like that. But trials were to be expected.
Nesak: HP = 47, PP = 47, EP = 83/102, Status = Fine, Transformation X = 6, Upkeep = 0, 32/32 Temp HP
Rook: Stats n stuff
NPCs Groumet, Chieftain of the Goldbloods Reyna, Wife of the Chieftain Breket, Warleader and First Son of Groumet going to be mad at Nesak Phaeron, Shamanborn and Second Son of Groumet Roruk the Coward, Third Son of Groumet prefers Roruk the Reasonable Engren, Warrior and Fourth Son of Groumet Ingta, Only Daughter of Groumet, twin with Engren Verein, Great Hunter and Fifth Son of Groumet Borss the Slovenly, Sixth Son of Groumet
Derng, Chieftain's Guard
(Will get text colors when they fucking earn them)
Gors
Fink
Negglen
Shrund
Krog
Nelsa
Reyng
Delsim
Aandloo
Mysterious Frog Girl Bihl Wolfir Huntress Linde of the Blue Woods tribe
Wolfir Villagers Ezma the herbalist Shaiir the other taller herbalist The Shaman so mysterious
Linde glanced at the construct with a frown for a moment, saying nothing, and then simply shrugged and said; "Alright... We just need to break camp and we can get underway." With that said she started gathering the few things they'd left around their camp, leaving Nesak to get their other companion up.
Bihl proved somewhat difficult to awaken, having finally passed out after staying up most of the night. Nesak's faerie constitution allowed him to withstand sleep deprivation a bit better than the natural comrades he had picked up, and the wayward formori seemed drowsy for some time after she was up and about. Linde was quick to pick things up, but as she hoisted the pack containing her tent she paused and looked back towards the village she was leaving behind. She hesitated for a few seconds, staring through the trees, but then silently turned and made to follow after Nesak.
The first few hours were relatively uneventful, and they made fairly good time. Linde's long legs gave her a bit of an advantage in the pace she could set, and she seemed nearly tireless to boot, but she kept her pace at a level comfortable for Nesak and Bihl without any complaining. The forest grew more dense as they traveled, and around the sun's zenith Linde - who had insisted on being their scout - appeared before them and raised a hand to stop them.
"There's something up ahead.... These roots," she began, crouching down and prodding at some thin white tubors winding their way through the earth under their feet. "They are part of a dangerous plant... It is known to eat men, or worse, but the fruit that it produces is a powerful healing tool. These let it know that prey draws near. I would sooner avoid it, but... I suppose the choice is ultimately yours."
Someone who knows how to scout wanting to be the scout? Works for Nesak. He continues to try and teach Bihl at least the basics of the Wolfir language as they go, especially when they take breaks if Linde believes she needs to scout ahead. He also tries to learn a little bit more about Bihl. To be honest, he had just kind of been relying on fate and his Lord that Bihl was trustworthy. It's not that he didn't believe her, it's that he'd realized that he really didn't know much about his companions. At all. Since Linde was scouting, though, he was going to have to learn about her when they rested. Maybe he could convince her that the quest was worthy of her time. "Yes... I ran into something like that earlier. I injured myself escaping from its clutch's. Hmm... let's see how it reacts to a Pawn. If it doesn't see that as prey, we could ride them to get at the fruit. Otherwise, let's avoid it. There's no use injuring ourselves getting at a healing item we'd have to use immediately." He does as he says, first making a Pawn out of the nearby shrubbery and then having it try to get the attention of the plant creature. (Spending 8 EP)
Nesak: HP = 47, PP = 47, EP = 83/102, Status = Fine, Transformation X = 6, Upkeep = 0, 32/32 Temp HP
Rook: Stats n stuff
NPCs Groumet, Chieftain of the Goldbloods Reyna, Wife of the Chieftain Breket, Warleader and First Son of Groumet going to be mad at Nesak Phaeron, Shamanborn and Second Son of Groumet Roruk the Coward, Third Son of Groumet prefers Roruk the Reasonable Engren, Warrior and Fourth Son of Groumet Ingta, Only Daughter of Groumet, twin with Engren Verein, Great Hunter and Fifth Son of Groumet Borss the Slovenly, Sixth Son of Groumet
Derng, Chieftain's Guard
(Will get text colors when they fucking earn them)
Gors
Fink
Negglen
Shrund
Krog
Nelsa
Reyng
Delsim
Aandloo
Mysterious Frog Girl Bihl Wolfir Huntress Linde of the Blue Woods tribe
Wolfir Villagers Ezma the herbalist Shaiir the other taller herbalist The Shaman so mysterious
Linde nodded in agreement to Nesak's plan, and with an effort of will and expenditure of energy he caused a nearby bit of shrubbery to uproot itself and spring into motion. At his command it waddled in the direction that Linde had indicated, and it didn't even get out of line of sight before Nesak spotted some of the other vegetation moving. Vines twisted along the ground and branches, moving silently and would likely have gone unnoticed from the Pawn's point of view... Or theirs, if they had walked in themselves.
It proceeded deeper into the forest a short ways, towards a squat plant that could be described as somewhere between a tree and a bush sporting several purple goard-like fruit on its upper branches, before the mobile foliage lunged upon the hapless construct, making to impale the Pawn from several directions at once. Whether or not Nesak prompted it to try and defend itself or simply allowed it to be mauled and torn apart, it was quite evident that merely riding a construct to the plant's main body wouldn't be sufficient to get in towards the main body.
"Ssssoooooo..... Going around then? Far around?" Bihl suggest dryly, while Linde nodded. "We usually try to destroy the saplings whenever we find them," she murmured, "else they can become hazards on our hunting trails. Sometimes, the adult plants allowed small creatures - monkeys usually - to climb onto them from above to take the fruit. I suppose it allows their seeds to spread. Still... I wouldn't want to risk it myself. Death would be preferable than what I've seen one of those do to a woman before."
