[IC] Trespassers DC: Tribal Times (Forgotten Realms Hunt)

[DragonRage]

You pass though the glowing disc, now revealed to be a portal, and it closes behind you with a faint 'vworp'.  You find yourself in a starkly beautiful, alpine forest.  The sun is rising, painting the tree-dotted landscape in orange and gold.  It's pretty chilly out, but the sun is enough to keep you warm.  It must be summer.  To the east, assuming the sun rises there in this place, you can see a small village.  Smoke rises from open-air, clay ovens and log houses, and the entire settlement is surrounded by a stockade made of sharpened logs.  A river runs through the town, and they have created a log barricade to keep undesirables from sailing in or out easily.  People dressed in furs and occasionally mail armor go about their business, with a far wider range of body types and far less gender discrimination than one might expect from what appears to be a medieval Scandinavian town.  Women actually seem a bit more likely than men to be going armed and armored.  Dane axes and spears appear to be the weapon of choice, though swords, crossbows, and warhammers are also popular.  The only other thing worth noting from this distance is that the sentries shields seem to have been re-painted recently, a crude, hot pink flower symbol covering whatever was on them before.

 

"Santa Maria it's cold!" Vitor exclaims, despite the fact that the rest of you are feeling fine.  His tropical heritage is not serving him well here.  "Unless anyone has a serious objection, I vote we get out of the cold, or at least go barter for something warmer."

[Hal Henderics]

Law is in wonder at the nature, and nods enthusiastically at Vitor's suggestion.

 

"What an intriguing place!"

[Endlessblaze]

Lilly somehow having ended up joining the others through the portal looked around, and breathed in the air. Now THIS felt familiar.

"Waiting here wont do us any good. Come on!"

Lilly promptly heads off to the town, ador sitting perched on her shoulder, sniffing the air.

She could feel how pleased he was to smell the forest again. She was pretty happy about it to. she took the scent in, piggybacking on his own sense of smell.

[StormLord]

Tim stepped through the portal and after drawing his cloak a little closer to himself spoke up.

"Well this is an improvement.  Certainly feels more like home."

He glanced back at Vitor shivering in the cold.  He reached into his pocket to pull out his Philosopher's stone and summoned up several rough black stones about the size of a fist.  He handed one to Vitor and anyone else who asked.

"They're pieces of hot obsidian, obviously not hot enough to burn you, but it should help to keep you a little warmer."

[GodofGamingRWBY]

Freya

 

For the most part, Freya was looking around the place she had walked in now, taking in the sights as Tim offered everyone bits of obsidian. In all honesty it looked very familiar to her own place… Not as exciting or exotic as the last two places she came to. But hey, it at least felt like home. At least, the good parts of home. Maybe.

 

After a few seconds of that though, Freya finally nodded at Vitor’s proposal. She wasn’t too cold, her outfit was able to at least take in heat from the sun… But it wasn’t good enough to not let her feel some of the cold, “I’d rather not stay out here in the cold myself” she said. Before she went after Lily however, she took a second to grab a bit of obsidian from Tim, giving him a quick thanks before walking after Lily.
 

[Strider]

She'd had to leave the spaceship thing behind. That was almost sad, Ena noted. It had felt rewording to work on, so hopefully they would return to that place in the future. It was cold? Sensors indicated a chilly, but certainly not exclamation worthy temperature, if these humans were anything like the humans she was familiar with. A silly assumption.

 

"Yes, let's get out of the cold. To that town there, or did you have something else in mind? I'm sure we're perfectly capable of making a shelter of our own if we want. If we're worried about hostilities."

[Sutoratosu]

Stellio climbed through the portal, his blade once more drawn and prepared to meet any threat they might encounter on the other side. Hesitantly however, he took one sweeping look around the place, sheathed his blade, and relocated his helm to the crook of his arm.

     "Well this is most certainly... unexpected," he muttered, "Far closer to my homeland than that forsaken wasteland at least. I've little reason to complain."

 

With that said, he immediately began marching towards the town, having little difficulty fording through the snow. One might almost think he had some intimate experience with the stuff, with how decisively he moved. Bloodied snow was once not all that uncommon, in the galgastani-occupied northwestern regions of Valeria...

 

"Follow in my steps if you have difficulty," he announced, "Hopefully unlike the last natives we encountered, these ones won't feel the need to immediately kill us..."

[DragonRage]

"Hold, travellers," One of the guards, who with a closer look is pretty obviously a dwarf going off his beard and finely-crafted armor, calls out to you as you approach the town, "By the order of the Jarl, none can enter the village of Iris without submitting to a security ritual.  We've had some trouble with a cult of Hextor, the God of Slaughter, recently, and when we drove 'em off with the blessings of the Flower God they started getting sneaky.  Damn maniacs."  His companion, a lanky human woman carrying a pair of warhammers on her belt, waits to see if you'll attack for that statement.

 

When you don't, she turns to the guardhouse next to the gate, and is passed a huge, fluffy kitten by the scruff of its neck.  "No slaughter-freak can resist a kitten," She states brusquely, "They got a religious prohibition or something.  If you want in the village, you gotta prove you can pet the adorable, innocent kitten without trying to kill it.  No exceptions."

[Strider]

Primitive god worship, with rituals? These people should be simple to deal with. They simply had to pet a kitten to enter, right?

 

"Innocent, you say? This shouldn't be a problem." Ena stepped forward, reaching out to pet the cat. Controlled movements, keep everything at about half the pressure which she was programmed to shake someone's hand with. Two pets straight down the back, if nothing goes wrong. Nothing fancy. If the cat seems to enjoy it, Ena will scratch it behind the ears before retreating.

[DragonRage]

The kitten seems very confused by Ena’s scent, ignoring the petting to follow her hand with his nose until it is withdrawn out of his reach. 

[Sutoratosu]

"Petting a kitten. That's it? That is the whole of your security screening?" Stellio asked with an obvious hint of skepticism. Upon seeing the Golem-woman do it and that these people were apparently quite serious, he simply shrugged, sighed, and removed one of his gauntlets. A moment later he was gently patting the kitten's head, giving him a little scratch behind the ears before drawing away.

 

"Now that it's done... who are these cultist you spoke of? Is this god Hextor and his disciples truly so bloodthirsty that they cannot even keep up the appearances of civil men and women? Even for such a simple act as this?"

 

He almost cringed at the thought. Not even the followers of Diablo himself, scattered and secretive as all seven hells though they were, were so possessed by carnage that they couldn't control themselves. Whoever the dark god of this realm was, he seemed to represent death and destruction for death and destruction's sake alone. Ironic, that he may have just found a fell power who'd make the old Mage Wyrm seem actually decent by comparison.

[StormLord]

A strange, but non-harmful test, with a shot "hmph" Tim reached down to pet the cat.

[GodofGamingRWBY]

Freya

 

Right after Tim gave the cat a little pet, Freya came stepped in, "My turn!" she stated excitedly as she did so. It was a weird test… Then again, religious people were always weird, but hey, it was not harmful so it didn’t really matter much now did it?

 

So, with that, Freya carefully and gently giving it a few pets, including a quick scratch behind the ears before, like the others before her, retreating. Not much else to it besides that.
 

[Hal Henderics]

Oh Fuck, Don't cats have like, a 100% kill rate for prey?  don't freakoutdon'tfreakout

 

Law's hand extends at an annoyingly slow rate, as he trembles, hoping desperately this thing doesn't bite the shit out of him.

 

He pats it once, then twice, then a small stroke.

[Endlessblaze]

Lilly of course has no problems with this, she pets and rubs the kitten. Looking like shes moments away from snatching it out of the woman's hand and cuddling it.

"Arent you just an adorableeeee little thing? Aw, i wish i had something to give you. Do you like fish? I bet you do!"

Ador crawls down Lilly's arm and kinda just sniffs the kitten. nuzzling it for a moment before returning to his perch.

 

[DragonRage]

The kitten is very confused by Ena, ignoring her attempts to pet in in favor of sniffing at her hand with an adorably confused expression on his tiny face.  He is indifferent towards Tim and Vitor.  He doesn't seem to know what to think of Lilly either, seeming suspicious of Ador.  He likes Freya and Law a lot though, leaning into their scratches with a rusty-sounding purr.

 

This spoiler is for Blaze only - Everyone Else Keep Out:

Spoiler

Lilly can sense sapient thoughts from the kitten!  It's not a cat at all, but a shapeshifted Druid serving as a third gate guard.  His plan seems to be to turn into a polar bear if the newcomers prove hostile, and then cast Enlarge Person on himself.  Scary, but at least he doesn't seem to think badly of the group, even if he can smell the black magic on Stellio.  He can also smell the fear on Law, and is attempting to reassure him.

 

But he does not like Stellio, and takes a swipe at the knight's uncovered hand when it gets close.  Stellio not responding by trying to kill the kitten seems to satisfy the guards enough that they relax a bit.  "Yeah, Hextor's cultists are pretty crazy.  You'd have to be desperate to worship a god like that.  But there are a lotta desperate people," The dwarf tugs at his beard, and spits to the side.  "They'd get a better result praying to a god that cares about the little people, like Moradin, or Selene, or the Flower God.  Bah.  A little bout of hardship and they think the gods have abandoned them.  But in a way, we're lucky it was Hextor's followers that came after us.  Hextor's followers are worse than animals, but not all the dark gods are like that.  If cultists of a god like Vecna or Nerull came after us, we might not have caught them in time for the Flower God's blessings to make a difference.

 

"That said, Hextor's people aren't that crazy.  But they do find the idea that we think they are funny enough to play along while our priests dispel any divination spoilers they've got and we cast Detect Evil on 'em," The dwarf's irises glow a faint blue under his craggy brows as he stares you down.  "You lot look damned bizarre under that, but murder for fun, ritual sacrifice, and black magic have a way of staining the soul.  It's blindingly obvious that you're a former Blackguard, knight, and I don't know what the hells is up with the ladies, but Moradin seems to think y'all aren't in need of a good killing.  If the good gods don't have a quarrel with ya, I don't either."

 

"On your head be it then if they're having you on," The woman grumbles, "They're clean!  Flash doesn't see anyone else nearby, so open the gate!"  She holds up her left hand, encased in a thick glove, and a bald eagle dives down to land on it.  She passes him a few bits of meat, strokes his crest with rough affection, and throws the bird of prey back into the air, where he soars quickly skyward again.  Meanwhile, a few noises sound behind the gate, something heavy hits the ground, and then they creak open, allowing you passage into the village.

 

The village is roughly constructed, but clearly done so with care.  Foundations are made of stone, with cut timbers stacked above them and well-caulked with plaster.  The gate is barred behind you with a heavy, iron-shod log, but that's almost certainly to keep people out rather than to keep you in.  There's a lively trade going on along the streets, with vendors bartering all manner of goods, from food to metalwork to cloth, for other items.  Elves seem to be most common, recognizable by their lean frames and pointed ears, but there are also quite a few humans and dwarves, and a few halflings scattered about.  There's even a man who looks like he could be part ogre hawking well-cut, flat stones alongside a dwarf carrying a pickaxe.  The village seems to have three blacksmiths, an unusually large amount for a settlement of this size.  A dwarf is selling nails, horseshoes, and other sundries, along with a few farming tools.  An elf is offering swords and spears, rough but serviceable.  And a halfling is sitting next to a stack of shining mail shirts in front of his smithy, sprinkling something sparkly on one while he chants under his breath over the armor.  Bread, cheese, and dried fish seem to be the staple foods, with fresh vegetables taking a distant second place, and two bakers are loudly squabbling over the relative merits of flatbread and leavened bread in the center of town, waving samples of their respective products in rage. 

 

At the central square, a small herd of goats are grazing contentedly on a grassy square that is probably common land, watched by a few children.  On the square itself lie a tavern, four temples, the halfling blacksmith's shop, and what looks like a meeting-house.  Presumably-religious symbols are everywhere in the village, each matching the one hung on the door of one of the places of worship:  a stylized, stone hammer, a shiny, silver shield with a darkened strip resembling a crescent moon, a bag of coins and wheat carved of dark wood, and a hot pink flower insignia matching the ones on the gate guards' shields.  The pink flower temple seems to have been erected relatively recently, and workers are still securing thatches on the roof.  As you watch, two guards carrying those same flower shields pass by the temple, chatting about how glad they are to be off-duty, and each turn in what looks alarmingly like a pair of hand grenades to a priest wearing a flower badge, who gingerly places the explosives in a case padded with straw before taking them inside the temple.

[StormLord]

Tim wandered over towards the market area.  Quietly looking at the various goods and trying to figure a few things out.  First what kind of currency did they use?  Copper, silver, or gold coins?  Paper money?  Gem stones?  Something else entirely?  Once he had the currency more or less figured out he kept an eye out for high value and/or high demand items, was there anything that was flying off the shelves?  Any kind of item these people seem to prize more than others?

Over all he stayed pretty quiet, maybe asking or answering a question or two.

[Endlessblaze]

Lilly tilted her head, before giving the "kitten" a knowing smile.
She had activated voice on reflex and heard his thoughts. As she walked back through the gates she sent back a little silent message.

Spoiler

'Im not sure if you get people who can speak to animals around here a lot, but you might want to know your thoughts are a little open to them. Try not to broadcast so much. You'll ruin your little trick.'

Looking around the village Lilly tries to spot anyplace that looks like they might tan leather.  Spotting a shop selling leatherwork, she goes over to ask the shopkeep, where she could get the wyvern hide tanned.

[Hal Henderics]

The smile on Law's face could light up a mineshaft as he scurries off.

 

Claiming to be a type of Wizard, Law offers to improve the Elf's stock, Kindness doesn't cost a thing, after all.

[GodofGamingRWBY]

Freya

 

For the most part, Freya was a bit impressed at what they were doing, and a bit thankful that they didn’t try and kill off any of them right at this moment. Which was thankful, at least.

 

… However, once the group was past the gate, Freya decided to take a bit and ask Solara something… Directly. So, stepping off to the side, Freya’s sight of the world switched to the dull, foggy world of the spiritual plane, where she could see Solara fully, “Hey, Solara, mind if I ask you something?” she asked, only to continue before Solara could respond, “I’ve been thinking about how to get you a physical body. I’ve been thinking about getting a suit of armor for you to inhabit, so you can actually do something, but there might be something else we can do. Specifically, um… Using my own body as the anchor. Kind of like sharing it. I know we couldn’t really do it as I am now, because-” Freya paused, looking down at herself… Specifically, the shadowy outline of herself that seemed to suck in the light coming from Solara’s soul, “... Me, in general, but do you think it could be possible?” she finished. She knew it was possible, it was just very hard and things tended to go really badly when two souls were incompatible.
 

[Sutoratosu]

Stellio says nothing at the mention of 'blackguards' and the cat's violent reaction. At this point nothing really surprised him when it came to how common folk reacted, it was just more of the same old same old. Didn't mean it wasn't tiring at times though. Sighing, he clipped his helm to the back of his belt and put his gauntlets back on, before heading through the gate with the others.

     There is little in any of the smithies to draw his attention, the swords on display far too rough, and the one at his side more than honed enough to do it's job perfectly fine. Nor did any of the other wares being waved about fetch his interest. No, instead Stellio headed for one of the least likely buildings in the city- the newly errected temple with the same flower emblems as the gate emblazoned on it

 

He knew little of these cultist, but they couldn't be any more isidous than what he'd dealt with in the past. If this god of flowers has been responsible for repelling them thus far, then his priest should know precisely whats going on.

 

Stellio visits the Temple of the Hot Pink Flower and asks about the recent Cultist attacks

[DragonRage]

Tim quickly figures out that there isn't any currency in use in this town.  Favors, services, and goods seem to be the only medium of exchange, and haggling is fierce and intense.  A few times, someone's asked a wizard to verify an item for them, once for a necklace and once for a spearhead.  It seems like the only particularly valuable items are magic ones; aside from that, value is only what the two parties haggling agree it is.

 

The tanner has no idea how he'd tan something with scales like that, but he does suggest he could do create an armored cloak from the rawhide.

 

The elf smith introduces himself as Shamus Ironwood, and explains that he's the former apprentice of the dwarven smith who used to be the main weaponsmith, but has now moved toward retirement.  He's confident that he'll get just as good with practice, but while he's got hundreds of years to polish his skills, the village might not.  He gives Law a chance to prove his skills, and once they are he lets the ottsel work his figurative magic.  Law is not only able to fix up the elf's wares, but also seems to teach him a thing or two about metalworking.  However, as Law starts finishing up, the elf starts looking uncomfortable, and asked admits he feels bad about having nothing to pay Law with that the ottsel couldn't forge a better one of himself.

 

"I think it could be possible, though I have no idea what the effects would be," Solara muses to Freya, "Light and darkness are not so opposed as many might think, and good and evil are not always so conveniently labelled.  I would be willing to make the attempt, and if you were evil enough that doing so would destroy us both you would not wish to try.  However, I do not believe you are a suitable vessel as you are.  Though I like you, we are very different.  To safely attempt a sharing of your body, you would first need to greatly improve your physical conditioning.  You would also need to learn to wield white magic.  Mastery shouldn't be necessary, but if you had no idea how it could react badly to the black magic you currently have.  I admit to being no expert myself, but I could start you on the basics.  Until you can do these things, any attempt would likely destroy us both."

 

The inside of the flower god's temple has some banners with the god's symbol hanging from the ceiling, but otherwise doesn't have much to denote it as a temple.  There is no altar, pews, or idols.  There are however cases of grenades and what looks like a few chunky, angular guns emblazoned with the flower symbol under both lock and key behind a barred gate of shining metal, and armed guard.  The priest from earlier is in the process of locking the gate, presumably after locking away the grenades that the guards turned in earlier.  Both the grenades and especially the guns look far too modern to exist in this place, but the priest and guards act like they're nothing out of the ordinary.  (intelligence 23 v 16) Stellio can tell they're putting up a front about that for whatever reason, and aren't nearly as comfortable around the weapons as they seem.

 

His approach puts a contemplative look on the priest's face, and the cleric pulls a set of knucklebones out of his pockets and drops them onto the floor.  He studies the bones for a few seconds, though Stellio can't tell what he's seeing in them as the bones are unmarked.  Then he turns to Stellio with a nervous smile, motioning for an acolyte to sweep the bones up, as he listens to the knight's questions.  "Hextor is the god of war and slaughter, the brother of the god of strength Kord.  We don't actually know why they attacked us; they usually attack Kord's congregations and we don't have a temple to him.  We didn't have anything particularly valuable to them at the time, and we aren't an easy target or they'd have overrun us already.  But they've certainly been tenacious.  Nasty, but not very bright.  If I had to guess, it's because their leaders are big on leading from the front and showing off how they aren't afraid of their enemies.  But Hextor doesn't care who dies in battle, as long as somebody does.  Still, warmongers and murderers can gain power from his blessings.

 

"They made a big attack six months ago, and when we threw them back from our walls laid siege to us.  They had more warriors, and enough clerics and sorcerers to match our own.  We were desperate, but then we found the Flower God, Typhan-Knee.  The relics the god provided turned the tide, but…  I am worried.  I think the Flower God is a demigod, in the transition between mortal and divine, rather than a true god, and I fear that to empower us to overcome the servants of a major god has taken pieces of itself that could not be spared.  When we first met, the Flower God spoke in a voice like a chorus of a thousand throats, shaking the air itself.  Now, the god scarcely speaks at all, but fills the air with strange noises that do not sound healthy.  We honor the Flower God as best we can, but our faith has not restored its strength as the Goddess Selene assured me it should to a weakened deity when I asked her for guidance.  I… know not what to do.”  Stellio has the sneaking suspicion that the priest might have an ulterior motive in sharing what has to be valuable, sensitive information, and as far as he can tell the priest is telling the truth.

[Hal Henderics]

Law asks if the Elf knows any designs that he is unable to produce himself that might be of value, perhaps some secrets from an old master, or an idea that he himself once had, but lacked the experience to bring to life?

 

 

[Strider]

Ena meanwhile, remained at the entrance, genuinely unsure what to do. After a moment, she approached the one who'd helped administer their entry test, and inquired. "You spoke of a detect evil. . . thing? Is this some form of magic? Mind telling me a bit more about it? It sounds exceptionally useful. Detect plots, conspiracies, any type of deceptive troublemakers. . ." There was probably some sort of limit on it, and ways of protecting against it, or else this world would presumably be better off, and not need their assistance. Though, perhaps a world where all evil was detected and stopped would have too little conflict to grow strong.

[Endlessblaze]

Lilly pouts a little, and ask about what in particular makes the hide so hard to tan.