On the road again [Lunar Fury]

Eva


Still eyeing Kieroon she turns and flies off [1m] towards the waterfall, saying nothing to no one.


Lecturing me about stupidity of facing off a legion of Fair Folk with hordes of greater demons at their beck and call, who does she think she is? She's so great and mighty spell-slinger can go after Great Good Gabobble her lone self... 'Course then I'd follow to watch anyway.


After a quick wash-up and a Tai Chi exercise, honoring the river and its fluid power, Eva dresses and tracks down the other Lunars, her clothes clinging moistly. It takes concerted effort not to hedge Kieroon out of the conversation as she addresses the Pack. "So how's this happen? And is Shiny Son coming with? It's a feelin' that he'd be more use here, getting his balls... bearings back." Please don't tell me we're taking one of the child-king-know-nothings with us. We'd move faster, quieter and safer without him. Probably without Lady Flaps her Lips too.
 
Durning the hour as you prepare to travel, Kieroon sits quietly in one corner and meditates. As everyone once more gathers in the greatroom, she rises and looks much calmer, and her wounds are gone.


She approaches the group and motions for everyone to gather around. "I wish to appologize for my outburst earlier. The events of the past few hours, along with the weight of our duty, caused me to act in an unsemely manner. I hope to avoid any more . . . distractions."


Turning to Khavad, "I believe your skills would be best served if you stay here and continue your exploration of the Manse. Our need for haste has not changed, and you do not have the ability to match our speed."


"We must be off to Rathess."
 
"Yeah, I've just about had enough of this big city. I'm used to a more rural environment. Besides, dead dynasts attract attention."
 
Najya All Mice


"Even more attention than more-or-less naked savages," remarked Najya, straightening her mostly-dry robe, "although I suspect they smell about the same." As much as she rued the loss of the hot meal and comfortable bed, she knew Kieroon was right; now that Khavad and Laughter were healed, it was time to continue their journey. The safety of creation was more important than her own comfort, or even her own desire to stay in the pleasant little tree-village with her blood-sister and. Well. Whatever Khavad was to her.


"She's right, Little Giant," she said, turning to the young Solar and trying to keep the regret out of her voice. "You'd better stay here and go through all those shiny things. Oh, and learn to keep your skin whole!" She coughed a little, wishing again for the fur to hide her cheeks; warform was as handy against blushes as it was against enemies sometimes! "I know 'mina'd be upset if you got hurt again, ay? And we might need you to help with this demon-controlling thingie." Perhaps he didn't notice, she thought, strapping her pack into place. Perhaps the sky will rain boiled sweets!
 
Eva


She scrunches her lips to one side, eyes fixed on Talgus for a minute, then turns and tries again, "So how do we travel? Airborn's my vote. No taking the long way 'round." There is an internal sigh of relief that her charges can think practically. Well, some of them anyway (scrunched lips at the Liability).
 
"Our next stop will be Chaing-Dav, the last city on our way into the jungle that surround the old city of Rathess. It will give us a chance to check out what news they have, and make sure we have enough supplies that we may need. It may also be a good idea to perform a ritual hunt to obtain forms that will suit you better in the humid climate.


A cautionary note for you. Rathess lies at the edge of a Wyld zone. Expect trouble from the Fae and other twisted creatures. Take nothing you see at face value.


Finally, we will be passing near the domain of a powerful Lunar. He may stop us to see why we are traveling so close to his territory in such numbers. So long as we let him know what our quest is, and that we're just passing through, there should be no trouble with him."


--------------


Unless you have something specific to request, I'll say that you are on your way.
 
Amina Ten-Spears


Amina gave Khavad a tight hug - almost rib-cracking, in fact. "You should be staying safe here," she admonished, wagging a finger. "Explore your new Manse, maybe get these little green fellows to be helping you."


She paused briefly, then grinned. "I'll bet your, um, old you was leaving a bunch of crafting things to his new you, which is you." Her grin broadened. "You should be making me something! Maybe some moonsilver gloves to make my claws sharper?" Her grin grew very broad, and a bit sly. "Or, perhaps, you would rather make a gift for Najya rather than your dearest big sister?" She laughed when he flushed in embarrassment, then hefted her own rucksack. "Well, I'm after being ready to go, Kieroon. But...which Lunar's domain will we be after passing?"
 
"Mi-Ha-Shuci lays claim to the jungle around the ancient city. He dislikes intruders but should not be a problem for us."


She leads the party outside. "Let us be on our way." She then shifts forms into a stryx and takes flight. She rises up and slowly circles as she waits for everyone to join her.


------------


During your travel, I want everyone to post three Perception + Awareness rolls, and let me know if anyone is going to be using any enhanced perception Charms or Essence sight.
 
Najya All Mice


Honestly, what's with all this blushing, thought Najya, feeling herself redden again as she faced Khavad to take her leave. It's not like I'm some innocent, and I'll be letting down the notorious Thalsan reputation if I keep acting like a star-struck adolescent. Heaven above and earth below, Steward, get a grip on yourself.


Turning to Khavad, she grinned, clasping his shoulder in what she hoped counted as a friendly gesture. "Take care, Little Giant, and don't fret too much. We might need you to help with this demon-controlling artifact, ay? Stay here, keep your skin intact, and learn as much as you can; we'll be back this way soon to sort the rest of this out." Squeezing hard and wishing she had more time and less of an audience for leave-taking, she smiled, and as she shifted the smile turned into the hooked-beak laugh of her eagle form. Keeping her claws well clear of his skin, she launched herself from his shoulder, her powerful wings lifting her into the sky.


------------------------------------------


Perception + Awareness


7x(D10+0): 8 8 2 10 9 8 3 = 6 successes


7x(D10+0): 7 1 4 7 4 3 6 = 2 successes


7x(D10+0): 4 6 10 8 6 2 6 = 3 successes
 
Amina Ten-Spears


Amina shifted to her little-used forest hawk form and followed Najya and Kieroon into the sky.


----------------


weeeee i am a burdie


Perception + Awareness


6x(D10+0): 4 7 4 3 9 8 = 3 successes


6x(D10+0): 6 10 6 10 10 7 = 7 successes


6x(D10+0): 6 1 5 7 9 2 = 2 successes
 
Eva


At least they're travel in style.


Is a Crow and is off and... flying! [1m]


[Perception+Awareness = 6, Perception Excellency +4. Three rolls of 10 dice yield 2, 3 and 4 successes respectively.]
 
Taking flight, the party begins moving east over the mountains towards the jungle that hides the ancient city. Several days of uneventful travel go by. Mid-morning on the third day, Amina spots something that stands out of place. What at first glance appeared to be a small hill, looks more like a pyramid surrounded by several smaller buildings. The whole complex is overgrown with many years of buildup, and shows signs of not having visitors for a long time. Najya is next to spot the ruins as she wonders what has caught her blood-sister's eye. Eva is the last to see, spending most of her time glaring at Kieroon.


As you close in, you begin to feel the familiar flows of Essence associated with a Manse.
 
Najya All Mice


Wheeling gracefully, Najya swooped toward the city. It was about time! As much as she loved flying, this sustained travel quickly grew irritating, especially when their sparse rest breaks were punctuated with inter-group glaring contests. It was annoying, and what she wanted most was to find this artifact, save the world, and then possibly drop a couple of large boulders on some of her fellow Stewards.


Picking a branch massive enough to hold several human-formed Lunars, she landed, switching into her human form with a sigh for the several days between baths. She'd washed in caracal form, of course, but while it felt clean there, in human shape she just felt covered in cat spit. "So, is this it?" she asked as her companions joined her.
 
Amina Ten-Spears


Amina's forest hawk form was far less graceful than Najya's great eagle form. While her friend wheeled down to a great tree, Amina banked and dropped into the forest itself. Her form was a small hawk, with stubby wings - eminently suited for flying through forests, and not just above them.


She makes a brief circuit of the area around Najya's chosen tree before flying up and landing next to her. A few seconds later, Amina was back in her natural form, leaning against the trunk of the tree. "Blech," she said, spitting onto the forest floor below, "I'm after thinking my mouth will be tasting of feathers for a week!" She glanced around again. "Not much to be lookin' at..." she muttered. Clearly, there was more than meets the eye, though.
 
Eva


Landing with the others and taking her birth form, Eva picks something out of the corner of her eye. "Nictating membranes my and why are we stopping anyway? Someone find shinies?"


She studies the forest around them and spots the pyramid. "Funny. We must in a Wylding; from here that hill look likes a pyramid or ziggu... siggu... ziggumouse."


As much as Kieroon ruffled her feathers the wrong way when they met, the apology helped and the days of blissful flight have changed the owl-gazing from line-in-the-sand glares to friendly (for a crow) interest and curiosity, with a test of flying skill here and there.
 
Kieroon joins the group on the branch of the tree and returns to her human form. "No, this is much too small to be Rathess, and we still have many leagues to go. This must be a abandoned Manse! With the level of overgrowth, it must have gone undisturbed for hundreds of years! I suppose we can take some time to investigate the ruins. Who knows what we'll find? Just be VERY careful. Many traps and guardians that were put in place in ages past are still at full strength. Have any of you ever been to Nexus? There are six Solar tombs there that have resisted every attempt to gain access since they were sealed up, and have killed many that have tried."


Looking over the area from above, the ruins are roughly in the shape of a right-triangle, with the pyramid positioned at the right angle base. The pyramid is just about two hundred feet tall, and so covered over with vines and plant life that from a distance, it looked like a small mountain. The peak of the pyramid appears to be a large crystal that is large enough to weigh several tons with ease. From this position, you do not see a obvious entrance to the pyramid.


The next sized down buildings are located at the two other points of the triangle. The building to the north of the pyramid looks like it was a dome that has partially collapsed in, but some of the ceiling is still intact. It is roughly an oval, being about 150 feet long by 100 feet wide. It is also covered over with vines.


The third building at the point of the triangle is a large square building, measuring 100 feet per side. From here, it looks the least damaged, has the least amount of plant growth on it. From where you are, you can see a set of double doors on the side of the cube facing you, and the doors are at least 30 feet tall. It will take a bit of work to get them open enough for a person to enter from all the dirt and junk that have blown up against the doors.


The remains of smaller buildings dot the area, most have been worn down to a barely recognizable lump or a few pieces of stonework. None of the smaller structures appear to have been even close to the same scale as the three larger ones. At a guess, you think that there may have been as many as eight or ten of the smaller buildings of various sizes.


------------


When letting me know which building(s) you head to, refer to them as either the pyramid, the cube, or the oval. That way, I don't pull something on you that makes you say, "Hey, I thought I went thataway.
 
Eva


Oh boy. Fearless Leader likes shinies more than I do. This's gonna be a long trip.


"Hey how likely we're finding something useful? You know, as opposed to something killing us, 'cuz I got things to doing."


I'd by Excellently Manipulative at them, but I don't think it'd help. Over-grown jungle death-manses with fry-you beams the size of Kimberry's left teats. All of them. *shudder*


If it seems apparent that the Pack wants to go exploring, Eva pipes up, "We should anyway stay together. Safety in numbers or something." Regardless of how they go about it, Eva stays close to Najya. "Hey, will you be my buddy?"
 
Najya All Mice


"Maybe we should have a time limit? Everyone in the air by sundown, or something like it?" suggested Najya, glancing around at the buildings. "Don't want to be messing around in a manse while that demon makes little cracks in the crystal, ay?" As curious as she was, this seemed like an odd diversion, and she didn't entirely trust her fellow Lunars not to poke sticks into the wrong anthill.


At Eva's suggestion, Najya shrugged. "'Course, but I've got to warn you, I'm better at dodging trouble myself than keeping it away from other people. If we hit something nasty, best turn into something fast and get away."
 
Kieroon looks a bit embarrased. "You are right, of course. The mission we are on is far more important than looking through these ruins searching for shiney baubles. I feel shamed that I had to be reminded of that."


With a sigh, she turns her back to the ruins. "By my guess, we should arrive at Chaing-Dav in another two days. I do want to stop there and hear the latest news. From there, Rathess is only a day's travel." She takes one last wistful look behind her, then shifts back to her bird form.


------------


I must confess, I'm surprised that you don't want to get distracted. I'm impressed enough to give you guys three more XP.
 
Amina Ten-Spears


Amina glanced at the ruins once more. "This place may be after being useful to us still," she said. "If we're after getting separated on the way to Rathess, or on the way back, this could be serving as a rally point for us to be returning to. Privately, she was pleased that Najya and Eva were not running off into the Manse together, and she wasn't sure how much of that was concern for their hides.


Shifting back into her bird-form, she gave a brief avian sigh and took to the sky. Being a Lunar was more complex than she would have liked it to be.
 
Eva


"No feeling bad," Eva calls to Kieroon as they take to the air again. "I get distracted too. Especially by red-heads."


After taking to the wing again, Eva circles a time or two, getting a good look at the horizon, big geographical markers and the arrangement of the buildings, committing them to memory as much as possible in order to come back, alone or maybe with friends, before taking off towards Chaing Dav and what adventures lurk there to be snatched up like left-overs.


[Really, exploring sounds like fun and Eva would totally be into it, but there's a really scary sounding threat looming and the Pack still has lots of work to do.]
 
"You guys are no fun. We're making excellent time. Besides, something in there might be helpful. If we're going to take on a first circle demon and several million 3rd circles perhaps some safely stored artifacts hundreds of thousands of years old might be helpful?"


Talgus's history lesson is obviously wrong, but his points are conveyed properly.
 
Two days of hard travel bring the group to the exotic paradise of Chaing-Dav. Well, perhaps not a paradise, but it's what you got. Kieroon leads you down to ground level outside of the city. "The last time I came through here, there was an Imperial garrison keeping an eye on folks making trips out to Rathess. Keep your heads down and relax. I'll ask around about the latest news and we can then be on our way."
 
Talgus looks at his swirling moonsilver tatoos.


"Okay, I'll try to keep a low profile. As much as I can at any rate."
 
Eva


Eva smooths back her hair and feathers, and in a moment is just running her fingers through sable locks of humany hair [Hide of the Cunning Hunter, 2m Peripheral if the glow would fade before we his town otherwise Personal]. "This'll being pisces of cake. Real tender like."


She rolls her sleeves down over her Hearthstone Bracers (fat lot of good it'll do) and makes sure her daiklave is well wrapped and no Moonsilver is peeking out anywhere. Why I couldn't travel lighter being vaguely beyond me.


She smiles at the rest of her pack, poking Talgus in the ribs. "You're not like it, you can traveling as pack mule mine." Then just about bounces into town, an avian pitch to her step.


Quick in, quick out, real easy like...
 
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