Garbage.
New Member
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All skills, abilities, and titles are free to use outside of combat, so long as it makes sense narratively. Any combat/obstacles will trigger cooldowns and mechanical limitations. I will be able to post every Monday; Outside of combat there isn't going to be a posting order as long as there isn't excessive double posting. If your posts requires more information on the setting/landscape than you have, by all means, contact me and I will gladly be of help!
It is a hot scathing landscape of endless desert and danger. The Greygarden Elves and Tieflings of Paimon were exiled here long ago, and forced to make do in harsh unforgiving dunes. They were forced to come together and pull a miracle out of the sands, combining all of their talents to create an incredible city that grew to become a vast jewel against the otherwise scorched earth. Shalzahaad (Shal-zuh-hodd) was the culmination of their hard work and revenge made manifest. A city that boasted it's title as The Gambling Gomorrah; Beyond the city walls is known as The Blind Desert. Home to only bandits and a searing death under the unforgiving sun, a place devoid of good or evil, making survival the only tenent that matters. It is the risk that makes these lands worth the venture; untold riches and glory lie hidden beneath dunes, dervishes, and sandstone walls.
At the edge of The Blind Desert, overlooking a horizon swept in glassy storms. Madeline watched with a growing pit of nerves in her stomach, though that could also be foolish amount of rice she had eaten before they started their journey out here. The caravan they had been traveling with were very helpful in providing information on the desert since this wasn't their first trip; continuing to move down the sloped hill, trading grass for sand as a few of the caravan members started to rub the wagon wheels with some strange lacquer before they trekked through the sands. The caravan was made up of four wagons with about twenty people making up the troupe. Roost Rock, The caravan leader, stood next to Mad Maw, and Koralia, starting a familiar process they'd often see him do on breaks along their trip; Roll a cigarette.
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"Now this is where our trip really begins" He started, with a chuckle. This was the caravan driver; Roost Rock. A tall elf of the wooden territory, though it seemed he had traded the treeline for aridity. He flicked his thumb, giving him a light. Saoirse was made the head of the this particular adventure; Mad Maw had only scouted it out and set up their trip's transportation. She wanted no hand at actually leading, at least yet. She wanted to shadow Regula for that particular niche. Mad Maw came up with this idea watching Ninelle, and Deliverance, though she never actually got to pick their brain about it. Koralia seemed like the type to enjoy going on periless adventures, and her goal was getting to know Koralia better. She couldn't think of a better scenario than a classic dungeon crawl through treacherous deserts! She wanted to feel surprised about how cavalier she was with taking on slavers and slaves, but the best way she could internalize was that she had become chaotic neutral. Madeline was fine with being selfish for the time being, she had been given a second chance. She wasn't going to worry too much about the needs of others. Perhaps a bit of Koralia's own abrasiveness rubbing off.
"I know it's been alotta information in your ear, but your the boss of keeping us alive so maybe I can run over everything a little easier. How about the rest of ya? The Blind Desert isn't some dust bowl where you only gotta worry about sand in your pits..or uh...utters? Talons" He said with a joking scoff, his one good eye beaming curiously at the minotaur, and dino, for a moment.
"I'm doing everyone here a curtesy and going over the region we will be heading into; The Blind Desert" He quirked his only eyebrow, pulling from his cigarette and looking toward the caravan wagons. "First and foremost, deserts are livings things, and will swallow fools whole. You have to watch your footing and stick to paths we use. We keep our trails as updated as we can, but I can't guarantee your safety if you go off wandering cause you saw something shiny" He said waving his hands. "Mirages here are a little more than hallucination. Something about this place...it's cursed and makes everything that lives in it, unstable. I've done my fair share of fighting, but I'm no up and comer like you lot, and not many merchants know the secrets of this desert like I do, mostly cause they don't survive long enough" The sound of commotion heard from one of the caravans as someone had been caught in a small pool of quicksand. Roost only sighed, gesturing toward the general direction they were heading, a distant sandstorm rumbling with thunder as lightning flashed within it like a primal cocoon.
"I'll have to inform you as we go, we should get a move on if we want to avoid the worst of that. The storms themselves aren't the problem, but what's in them is" he flicked his cigarette off the ridge they were standing on, shouting toward the last wagon that started to cross into the desert, twirling a finger as a signal that they were back on the road. The wagons were now ready for desert travel. "What positions you take up on the wagons is up to you, but make sure someone is watching out blind spots. You can never have enough eyes out here on watch. There are many dangers that are going to be best avoided, but if it can't be helped then at the very least I want to know about it ahead of time. Last thing we need is a Refractadon on our asses"
Roost Rock moved up to the front cart, alongside Saoirse , taking the reigns and beginning the caravan's arduous journey. The storm they saw in the distance continue to rage and roil far off the horizon, leaving them in clear skies that left them vulnerable to Sol and all the light it shined down onto this aqua parched crevasse. It was impossible not to sweat with temperatures nearly in the 120's (48 C); sand sticking like glue to sweaty palms, faces, and arms. Roost Rock held onto the reigns tightly as he lead his people into hardship, and opportunity, preparing for all that lied ahead of them.
"You are bold to take up my contract, especially as a green horn? Sure are looking to jump into the deep end huh? what's driving you? if you don't mind me asking of course"
Melia felt a pang of worry at his overt question, another misbegetton elder assuming far too much based on one's appearance. It was Jastira, however, that spoke up "It seems you may presume too much Mr. Roost? She has a reputation among her circles, how far reaching...is a matter of privacy don't you think?" A fan bloomed from behind her hand as she already started to feel the head bead sweat on her skin. She could not wait for the days when such barbaric ways of travel were behind her. Roost Rock couldn't help but laugh "Perhaps, but knowing what keeps you alive and going, that what will see us through this desert. I'm not hurting feelings, I don't know you from Durhaust, and that's because I keep my head in my work. I only need to know the people that ride this here caravan ya see" He was all about his business, and took great care making sure lives weren't lost.
Scylla was also in this cart, behind both Saoirse and Roost Rock. Melia giving her a curious glance while Jastira seemed content cooling herself with her fan, the heat blistering as winds roiled through the caravan. "What do you make of the desert? I haven't been around it enough to have an opinion....it's almost beautiful" Melia commented, attempting her hand at some small talk, to pass the time if nothing else.
Lei-Cao, Desmond, and Ryuuji were in the cart behind Roost Rock, and Saoirse. The carts were robust and capable of pulling them and two others among Roost's company with ease; their particular cargo being six hogsheads of water; heard sloshing behind them as the caravan moved. "You three are way more interesting than the goobers we picked up last time, man they were a buncha wimps." The pale elven woman among the pair spoke up, brash and brazen. A fiery pair of red eyes nearly hidden by a mane of alabaster hair.
"They died Dodger..."
"Well...they shouldn't have gotten so spooked and ran off!"
The beast-kin next to her bickering with her, a hedgehog variant with an engineering apron and smudged goggled on. His voice lighter and more frenetic, prudent of his friend's arrogant proclivities. He clicked his tongue and looked back toward Lei and Ryuuji "We didn't have time for introductions since Mr. Roost likes to keep to a tight schedule, but I am Throckmorton! It is so very nice to meet you, the mean one next to me is Dodger. We are apart of a group known as The Dervishes, we help people get around in this harsh place...ehh regardless of their moralities. The desert forces us to work together, regardless of our crimes" A pointed stare at Dodger seen through his goggles
"Yeah it must be easy when you got the boss watching your useless hide" Dodger huffed back, equally aware of her friend's hypocrisy.
The pair of Saoirse Slaves, and Desmond would then see them break out in a momentary bout of laughter; Dodger punching his shoulder, causing him to nearly fly out of his seat.
"We get along just fine around here, I think you'll do great. I like the lone ronin vibe you have there chief, and I didn't know Dino's could talk let alone cast magic. We gotta work on that fashion sense though. How are you going attract any Linhenykus otherwise?" She spouted to Ryuuji, and Desmond. She was also a smart ass it seemed.
"Im always eager to learn new data, there is always something fascinating and new out there. Mr. Roost has a way of attracting that to us" Throckmorton said with a chuckle
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Mad Maw had chosen the last wagon for her and Koralia; She had set it up so that it was just them. it actually made her a bit nervous, feeling her heart thrum into her throat. A desert rose of love blooming in this absurd gnoll. She had scooched an iota closer to Koralia in the front of the wagon, watching her as she drove the Equastradons. Roost's pack of raptor bred horses that he had spent a lot of coin on. They were damn good at pulling a wagon through the sand. The sand resistant lacquer didn't hurt either. A smile wobbling across her face as she leaned into Koralia
"I can't believe I managed to pull it all together, last minute no less! Thanks for saying yes! I know I kinda summoned you out of the fight you were having, but i'm glad you...stayed" She said, not the best at saying how she felt. It was why she was so drawn to Koralia, it felt like she always knew what she wanted. "Oh!" She poked through the canvas of the back, coming out with a canteen. "I made sure we stocked a bunch of water. I don't know if you get like...really thirsty because you're a shark lady.... a really big o-one" She fumbled over her words, offering the water as a distant sand tornado, a dervish, roared by with a brutal beauty the beast-kin could understand. This was a jungle, a ferocious land of predators like any other. If only much hotter.
"I don't want to spoil too much, but we are going to be exploring some ruins I may have eavesdropped some info on~ Ogg'Machus. A mountainous home to dwarves, deep beneath the sands. It is said their King, Chelgra, was gifted something that led to his people's doom. The Siren Stone" Mad Maw found herself more excited about this adventure when she gave her telling to Koralia "I couldn't find much more than that i'm afraid, but Roost knew the way and said I was an idiot so it's gotta be good! He knows his stuff so if it's dangerous for him, It's the perfect adventure for us huh? huh?" Mad Maw scooching closer until she was sitting on Koralia's lap "So you don't like seasoned food really, have you always lived off the land? I always had a...I guess performer desire? I like people and I like the cities, but what I really like is freaking them out with this-" Mad Maw lolling her tongue out of her mouth and sticking it in her nose, picking it with nose issue as she cackled with glee.
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