EMPIRE! The Watcher Approaches!

[WaylanderX]

On the Cuan Sea.....


As the Watcher approaches, the Huroshans gathered below and above the waves of Cuan. The Marius' Pride hovered in place high above the sea, acting as a command centre. The army of Cuan was on standby in the dephs, although they were quite far away, as not to anger the strangry beast. On board, the Empress and her commanders controlled the armies and stations. However, the amount of things they could do was limited indeed.

Below the waves though, Nyllana, Avatar of Balance, waited for the Watcher. Patiently floating in the water, she looked at the approaching beast and smiled, like she met an old friend....

Diplomacy Roll total: 21 (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=18561101&postcount=21)


OOC notices: If you want to join in on the RP, specify your character and starting position. Character wise, the following is possible:

If you want to RP a Huroshan, you start on the Marius' Pride. You can either pick a character of your own making or an Ambassador/major character if your interested.

Play somebody of your own nation. Allowed if you have a good reason why Hurosha should let you be there. The area is under heavy lockdown, so any foreign forces would have trouble reaching the spot where the meeting takes place. Small party's allied with Hurosha can opt to start the RP on the Marius' Pride. Just specify it in your post.

Play a soldier witnessing the events. All races of Hurosha except the Menhîrin are available for play as soldier-characters.

[lt_murgen]

A pair of Pono al a Ono swam alongside the Marius' Pride. The huge beings were hired scouts for the Huroshans, capable of diving to great depths. Wiliam "Bully" Hayes stood near the railing. Raised on ships in the Sea of Glass, he translated for the pair of scouts.

For now, they simply waited, and watched.

[QuintonBeck]

http://bogleech.com/dnd/aboleth6.jpg

She came forward lazily, a warm wave of water preceding her massive form as she came to rest about fifty meters out from Nyllana. For about half an hour she sat in silence, staring unblinking at the strange creature before it. Then like a flash of lightning an image flashed out across all those watching her.

Humans, dark of skin, dressed in the vestments of a Radurjic adherent sitting before the slowly rising red smoke of osuro. Another image, this one moving, a dark skinned human manipulating some silvery metal with no apparent physical aid. Another image, one of a great tower beneath the waves filled with what appeared to be eggs pulsating slowly up and down its reach. An image, the silver metal from before skewering copies of the previously shown dark skinned humans through their skulls being posted around the tower. A final image, the One Who Watches floating behind Nyllana, the tower ringed with corpses and swarmed with smaller versions of the One in the background.

After the slideshow of images the One who Watches returned to waiting, unmoving from its position in the depths of the sea.

[Rain Dragon]

A little shaken, Samu Eljak Jak-son blinked a few times and shook his head to rid it of any lingering visions (if indeed a vision could linger; he wasn't sure). In his light Zargrim accent he joked quietly, "So does it... she? want us to feed the Triumvirate to the babies? Heh." His voice seemed strained, however, as though he wasn't even sure himself whether he was joking or not.

--OOC-- I seem to have missed the very, very start of this one. Meh. :smalltongue:

[WaylanderX]

http://bogleech.com/dnd/aboleth6.jpg

She came forward lazily, a warm wave of water preceding her massive form as she came to rest about fifty meters out from Nyllana. For about half an hour she sat in silence, staring unblinking at the strange creature before it. Then like a flash of lightning an image flashed out across all those watching her.

Humans, dark of skin, dressed in the vestments of a Radurjic adherent sitting before the slowly rising red smoke of osuro. Another image, this one moving, a dark skinned human manipulating some silvery metal with no apparent physical aid. Another image, one of a great tower beneath the waves filled with what appeared to be eggs pulsating slowly up and down its reach. An image, the silver metal from before skewering copies of the previously shown dark skinned humans through their skulls being posted around the tower. A final image, the One Who Watches floating behind Nyllana, the tower ringed with corpses and swarmed with smaller versions of the One in the background.

After the slideshow of images the One who Watches returned to waiting, unmoving from its position in the depths of the sea.

For a while, Nyllana thought in silence, her face stern. She then spoke up, her voice thundering through the briny dephs, amplified by her power.

"Thou who callest thyself the One who Watches, thou hast come to the Lands of Hurosha. Thou ask of us to persuade the humans who are of the Radurjic faith to sacrifice themselves? Thou price is steep indeed. I, Nyllana Earthguard, She who Guards the Balance, propose a midway between thy goals and my own. We of Hurosha feel that we can learn many things from eachanother. Thou can only observe the secrets that reside under the waves. We can focus our gaze above the waves and beyond. If thou agree to my terms, and join forces with us, we will be thy eyes above the waves."

Her voice got more silent, only loud enough to only be heard by the One who Watches.

"Think about this carefully, One who Watches, for appearently there is much at stake for the both of us. I ask of thou that we find a solution that adress both our problems as efficiently as possible. Why doest thou require such sacrifices? Why do thou need those of Radurja? Why need thou the liquid metal? Before I can do anything to help, I need to know more. Both about you and your goals."


A little shaken, Samu Eljak Jak-son blinked a few times and shook his head to rid it of any lingering visions (if indeed a vision could linger; he wasn't sure). In his light Zargrim accent he joked quietly, "So does it... she? want us to feed the Triumvirate to the babies? Heh." His voice seemed strained, however, as though he wasn't even sure himself whether he was joking or not.

--OOC-- I seem to have missed the very, very start of this one. Meh. :smalltongue:

On board the Marius' Pride, in the piloting room, Ryena silently stood there for a couple of moments before responding to her Bucka friend.

"It would appear so. I hope the Avatar can hammer out a better deal for us though. I hate to admit it, but we do not possess the militairy power to halt a creature of that power at present. We must make a deal with it, or the entirety of Cuan might be in danger. I hoped it did not have any violent intent, but alas.....it appears I was wrong."

There is another option. A small voice in her head said. The Maighdeann are prepared to lay down their lives for their homes. Let them do it. Let the Radurjics kill some of the Maighdeann with their weapons and protect the rest of your people.

It was an option. A final one. Yet, one that she did not want to think about. It was not clear if the Watcher would accept that proposal even if she did set that plan into motion.

"Eljak, do we have any emisairies of the Radurjic faith on board?" The Empress asked.

[SamBurke]

Columbo shook his head. "There are alternate interpretations... what if it simply wants to warn us of the dangers of Vyuma? It has broken out several times in the past, perhaps the creature is aware of some sort of evil inherent to the metal or its control? Perhaps it is a warning that the Rajurdic peoples WILL die, not that they should die?" He paces in the cabin of the Pride, 10 steps to one window, 10 steps back to the other one. Of course only Nyllana could be down there, but there was still quite some nerves inside him. What did the creature mean?

[QuintonBeck]

The Watcher floated beneath the waves silently as Nyllana's voice washed over it. Minutes passes that felt like hours and then another series of images arrived to the assembled.

First, of the One Who Watches though its tentacles were many multiplied and each ended in what appeared to be a Triumviral citizen, an Islander, a Quill, a lizardman, a Cree, and a Celerese hanging from the end of a tentacle by their head. The next image was an eye, appearing to be the One's eye but superimposed the eyes of the creatures from the previous image. Then the next image, again of one dressed as a Triumviral, the one who had hung from the One's tendril, but now the tendril lay cut upon the ground. The next was not an image but a wave of anger washing out from the creature over those assembled. Then again came the final image it had broadcast before, the One behind Nyllana duplicate Radurjic Triumvirals staked through their skulls by Hai Vyuma in a ring around a tower swarmed with smaller Ones.

[zabbarot]

A young man came forward in response to the Empress' query to Eljak. He had the dark skin tone common in the Triumvirate, but there were subtle Guilderene features in his face. "Curious... This is," He paused taking another look at the sea beast, "distressing to say the least." He turned to the Empress and bowed low. "Mtambuzi Madhav Roberts, at your service, your grace. I am not affiliated with the Church, but I am Genivanan by way of Guilder and I was raised in the Enclave."

He stopped as another set of images washed over them. "It is either a threat or a warning. While the Triumvirate would surely be willing to investigate and heed a warning, I doubt they will be willing to die on request. Even if the requester is as... intimidating as this one." He spoke quietly to those in his immediate vicinity, though he did not doubt that the beast 'heard' by another method entirely. Are you listening in here, Watcher?

[QuintonBeck]

A wave of frustrated anger. An image again of assembled humans and lizardfolk standing connected to the One then another of a dark skinned human appearing suddenly from nowhere with a sword held high to skewer down through the One's connection to the others.

[Rain Dragon]

On board the Marius' Pride, in the piloting room, Ryena silently stood there for a couple of moments before responding to her Bucka friend.

"It would appear so. I hope the Avatar can hammer out a better deal for us though. I hate to admit it, but we do not possess the militairy power to halt a creature of that power at present. We must make a deal with it, or the entirety of Cuan might be in danger. I hoped it did not have any violent intent, but alas.....it appears I was wrong."

There is another option. A small voice in her head said. The Maighdeann are prepared to lay down their lives for their homes. Let them do it. Let the Radurjics kill some of the Maighdeann with their weapons and protect the rest of your people.

It was an option. A final one. Yet, one that she did not want to think about. It was not clear if the Watcher would accept that proposal even if she did set that plan into motion.

"Eljak, do we have any emisairies of the Radurjic faith on board?" The Empress asked.

"Err, you know I was not serious, right? Besides, as much as one could say a picture's worth a thousand words, I'm not sure I can hear the message for all of the words. If what I said was accurate, why would she come to us? Remember 'em messengers that came back? One that powerful would probably not need our help for something so simple." Samu Eljak Jak-son spoke quietly, still a little unsettled by the One Who Watches' form of communication.


Columbo shook his head. "There are alternate interpretations... what if it simply wants to warn us of the dangers of Vyuma? It has broken out several times in the past, perhaps the creature is aware of some sort of evil inherent to the metal or its control? Perhaps it is a warning that the Rajurdic peoples WILL die, not that they should die?" He paces in the cabin of the Pride, 10 steps to one window, 10 steps back to the other one. Of course only Nyllana could be down there, but there was still quite some nerves inside him. What did the creature mean?

"Hmm..." Eljak rubbed his chin and thought for a moment after Columbo had finished speaking. "She could be sayin' almost anything. Maybe it's closer to home for her than that. Maybe the Hai Vyuma is corrupting her children and she's worried for them. But then, how does the Radurjic faith have anything to do with it?"


The Watcher floated beneath the waves silently as Nyllana's voice washed over it. Minutes passes that felt like hours and then another series of images arrived to the assembled.

First, of the One Who Watches though its tentacles were many multiplied and each ended in what appeared to be a Triumviral citizen, an Islander, a Quill, a lizardman, a Cree, and a Celerese hanging from the end of a tentacle by their head. The next image was an eye, appearing to be the One's eye but superimposed the eyes of the creatures from the previous image. Then the next image, again of one dressed as a Triumviral, the one who had hung from the One's tendril, but now the tendril lay cut upon the ground. The next was not an image but a wave of anger washing out from the creature over those assembled. Then again came the final image it had broadcast before, the One behind Nyllana duplicate Radurjic Triumvirals staked through their skulls by Hai Vyuma in a ring around a tower swarmed with smaller Ones.

Eljak threw his hands up and shook his head, "Well, I don't know. Though maybe more direct messages threatens our mental wellbeing. Which would explain the state of those messangers..."


A young man came forward in response to the Empress' query to Eljak. He had the dark skin tone common in the Triumvirate, but there were subtle Guilderene features in his face. "Curious... This is," He paused taking another look at the sea beast, "distressing to say the least." He turned to the Empress and bowed low. "Mtambuzi Madhav Roberts, at your service, your grace. I am not affiliated with the Church, but I am Genivanan by way of Guilder and I was raised in the Enclave."

He stopped as another set of images washed over them. "It is either a threat or a warning. While the Triumvirate would surely be willing to investigate and heed a warning, I doubt they will be willing to die on request. Even if the requester is as... intimidating as this one." He spoke quietly to those in his immediate vicinity, though he did not doubt that the beast 'heard' by another method entirely. Are you listening in here, Watcher?

Eljak had opened his mouth in response when he was interrupted by one of those of the Radurjic Faith. How did they do that anyway?


A wave of frustrated anger. An image again of assembled humans and lizardfolk standing connected to the One then another of a dark skinned human appearing suddenly from nowhere with a sword held high to skewer down through the One's connection to the others.

"I wonder, how exactly are all of these peoples connected to this One Who Watches? They're all beings from coastal lands for one..." Eljak furrowed his brow slightly as he pondered aloud. This was beginning to feel more and more like a puzzle and less like a conversation.

[SamBurke]

A wave of frustrated anger. An image again of assembled humans and lizardfolk standing connected to the One then another of a dark skinned human appearing suddenly from nowhere with a sword held high to skewer down through the One's connection to the others.

"It would seem more of a warning this time. Some dark-skinned race is a danger to us, and our connection with him! We really need to solve this fast, because I think the Watcher is getting impatient."

[WaylanderX]

"Err, you know I was not serious, right? Besides, as much as one could say a picture's worth a thousand words, I'm not sure I can hear the message for all of the words. If what I said was accurate, why would she come to us? Remember 'em messengers that came back? One that powerful would probably not need our help for something so simple." Samu Eljak Jak-son spoke quietly, still a little unsettled by the One Who Watches' form of communication.

"Hmm..." Eljak rubbed his chin and thought for a moment after Columbo had finished speaking. "She could be sayin' almost anything. Maybe it's closer to home for her than that. Maybe the Hai Vyuma is corrupting her children and she's worried for them. But then, how does the Radurjic faith have anything to do with it?"

"I wonder, how exactly are all of these peoples connected to this One Who Watches? They're all beings from coastal lands for one..." Eljak furrowed his brow slightly as he pondered aloud. This was beginning to feel more and more like a puzzle and less like a conversation.

"And therein lies the answer, I believe." Ryena said, looking to the ground, pondering the dillemas the Watcher presented. "The coastal races once had a connection with the Watcher, allowing him to watch above the waves. The Radurjic faith severed that connection, possibly with the help of the Hai Vyuma. Maybe the metal responds to the ones who have a connection. That would offer us an explanation for the cases in which Hai Vyuma went out of control."


"It would seem more of a warning this time. Some dark-skinned race is a danger to us, and our connection with him! We really need to solve this fast, because I think the Watcher is getting impatient."

"The dark skinned people are the humans of the Triumvirate, if I'm not mistaken. It is angry at them, probably because they took away its sight. That's my theory at least."


A young man came forward in response to the Empress' query to Eljak. He had the dark skin tone common in the Triumvirate, but there were subtle Guilderene features in his face. "Curious... This is," He paused taking another look at the sea beast, "distressing to say the least." He turned to the Empress and bowed low. "Mtambuzi Madhav Roberts, at your service, your grace. I am not affiliated with the Church, but I am Genivanan by way of Guilder and I was raised in the Enclave."

He stopped as another set of images washed over them. "It is either a threat or a warning. While the Triumvirate would surely be willing to investigate and heed a warning, I doubt they will be willing to die on request. Even if the requester is as... intimidating as this one." He spoke quietly to those in his immediate vicinity, though he did not doubt that the beast 'heard' by another method entirely. Are you listening in here, Watcher?

"Well met, Mtambuzi Roberts, it good to have you here. I am sure the Triumvirate will not be intimitated by this. I have no doubt in their Prowess. Let us hope that the Avatar can persuade the One who Watches to make a deal with us. We can only wait I am afraid."


A wave of frustrated anger. An image again of assembled humans and lizardfolk standing connected to the One then another of a dark skinned human appearing suddenly from nowhere with a sword held high to skewer down through the One's connection to the others.

Nyllana swam closer.

"The Radurjic people took away thine eyes? It thou are in need of eyes above the ocean, we of Hurosha can provide thou with sight. If thou are willing to cooperate with us, we'll be thine eyes. Our lands are full of people that would jump at such an opportunity, to cooperate with an ancient being. All that we require is that thou cooperate with us, live in peace with us and help us to unravel the secrets of both the dephs of the ocean and the uncharted wilds of the land. We will help thou with thine children as well, if thou accept our helping hand. And finally, at thine behest, we will talk with the people responsible for the severing of thine sight. Also, I would ask thou: Could thou be carefull with thine images? Those who are responsible for thine loss might be listening."

[zabbarot]

"And therein lies the answer, I believe." Ryena said, looking to the ground, pondering the dillemas the Watcher presented. "The coastal races once had a connection with the Watcher, allowing him to watch above the waves. The Radurjic faith severed that connection, possibly with the help of the Hai Vyuma. Maybe the metal responds to the ones who have a connection. That would offer us an explanation for the cases in which Hai Vyuma went out of control."


"The dark skinned people are the humans of the Triumvirate, if I'm not mistaken. It is angry at them, probably because they took away its sight. That's my theory at least."

"Well met, Mtambuzi Roberts, it good to have you here. I am sure the Triumvirate will not be intimidated by this. I have no doubt in their Prowess. Let us hope that the Avatar can persuade the One who Watches to make a deal with us. We can only wait I am afraid."
"If it means that the Church severed its connection it is meant metaphorically because there is no record of this creature in the Codex. The Church documents incessantly, and keeps no secrets. I would sooner think that this is a possible future, not unlike the predictions of the Radurjic oracles." He wracked his memory, mentally flipping through the Codex entries on the nations that surrounded this ocean. Nothing their hinted directly at the Watcher, or a connection to it. "Are we so certain that this is a connection that already existed? Perhaps it is a plan for the future that it believes the Radurjic Church would thwart."

[WaylanderX]

"If it means that the Church severed its connection it is meant metaphorically because there is no record of this creature in the Codex. The Church documents incessantly, and keeps no secrets. I would sooner think that this is a possible future, not unlike the predictions of the Radurjic oracles." He wracked his memory, mentally flipping through the Codex entries on the nations that surrounded this ocean. Nothing their hinted directly at the Watcher, or a connection to it. "Are we so certain that this is a connection that already existed? Perhaps it is a plan for the future that it believes the Radurjic Church would thwart."

"Hhhmm, but why would it be so angry when this is the case? It's certainly a possibility, that's for sure. But it should require a very accurate prediction for that to be true. And maybe it only borrows a creature's eyes, without interfering with their state of mind. Furthmore, why the Radurjic Church specifically? Radurja did not strike me as a very hostile religion. Quite the opposite actually.
The fact is though, we know very little about this creature. It may not think as we do and percieved something as a threat. The question is then....what?"

Ryena's eyes shone with excitement.

"Whatever the answer, we could learn so much from such a creature. If only we were able to understand it better."

[lt_murgen]

"Whatever the answer, we could learn so much from such a creature. If only we were able to understand it better."

Bully Hayes leaned over the railing and asked his companions what they were seeing. The Pono al a Ono had a different way of viewing the world, perhaps they were receiving different images.


valid point. The Pono are essentially limbed whales, spending the bulk of their lives below the waves. Any differences in images

[QuintonBeck]

Nyllana swam closer.

"The Radurjic people took away thine eyes? It thou are in need of eyes above the ocean, we of Hurosha can provide thou with sight. If thou are willing to cooperate with us, we'll be thine eyes. Our lands are full of people that would jump at such an opportunity, to cooperate with an ancient being. All that we require is that thou cooperate with us, live in peace with us and help us to unravel the secrets of both the dephs of the ocean and the uncharted wilds of the land. We will help thou with thine children as well, if thou accept our helping hand. And finally, at thine behest, we will talk with the people responsible for the severing of thine sight. Also, I would ask thou: Could thou be carefull with thine images? Those who are responsible for thine loss might be listening."

The Watcher flashed an image, all seemed to receive it, hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of faces all identically dark skinned and hanging from the back of their neck all, the tentacles of the Watcher. Then one by one but quickly extrapolating into hundreds the tendrils were severed by a blade of Hai Vyuma and the image grew darker and darker as if the light that lit it was disappearing. Another image came of Nyllana, but not Nyllana as one but as tens of thousands replications of the Avatar of Balance each connected to the Watcher. A wave of pleasure rolled off the creature.

[Morph Bark]

Li Meishan Magnes Fireguard had practically lived at sea since the tragedy of years past, on the ship captained by her husband Percy. They had caught word of a great creature stirring in the deep that had apparently been foretold to be coming towards Cuan, a region of the Hurosha Empire. Meishan Magnes had immediately told her husband to make sail and meet with the Huroshans who would undoubtedly be going to face this creature, and they'd joined with them. She looked down with the others through the windows, one hand put to the side of her face as she still reeled from the great flow of mental images that the beast poured out. "What is it doing?"

[Rain Dragon]

"And therein lies the answer, I believe." Ryena said, looking to the ground, pondering the dillemas the Watcher presented. "The coastal races once had a connection with the Watcher, allowing him to watch above the waves. The Radurjic faith severed that connection, possibly with the help of the Hai Vyuma. Maybe the metal responds to the ones who have a connection. That would offer us an explanation for the cases in which Hai Vyuma went out of control."


"Is that so, or are you theorising? I haven't heard much about Hai Vyuma, but I have heard it's locked down pretty tightly. Maybe we need to have a chat with some of the Triumvirate folk who are in the know?" Eljak paused only a moment before expanding on Ryena's theory, "But if it was an accident and now it's Hai Vyuma Versus Watcher, then it wouldn't make sense not to try to help out."


"If it means that the Church severed its connection it is meant metaphorically because there is no record of this creature in the Codex. The Church documents incessantly, and keeps no secrets. I would sooner think that this is a possible future, not unlike the predictions of the Radurjic oracles." He wracked his memory, mentally flipping through the Codex entries on the nations that surrounded this ocean. Nothing their hinted directly at the Watcher, or a connection to it. "Are we so certain that this is a connection that already existed? Perhaps it is a plan for the future that it believes the Radurjic Church would thwart."

"Hhhmm, but why would it be so angry when this is the case? It's certainly a possibility, that's for sure. But it should require a very accurate prediction for that to be true. And maybe it only borrows a creature's eyes, without interfering with their state of mind. Furthmore, why the Radurjic Church specifically? Radurja did not strike me as a very hostile religion. Quite the opposite actually.
The fact is though, we know very little about this creature. It may not think as we do and percieved something as a threat. The question is then....what?"

Ryena's eyes shone with excitement.

"Whatever the answer, we could learn so much from such a creature. If only we were able to understand it better."

"It is possible nobody could have known about it yet. Maybe this connection is undiscovered but able to be tested somehow if it exists now and not in the future." Eljak reached for a nearby mug of water.

"Empress, with all due respect, I recommend we keep this in mind in learning from this being. We don't know much about h... her? We don't know how to safely conduct... anything. We don't even know if this meeting is a good idea... yet. But still, the possibilities are there!" Eljak seemed almost excited as Ryena, though he tried in vain to hide it behind a decent measure of cautiousness. An experiment is significantly less useful if it blows up in your face after all.


The Watcher flashed an image, all seemed to receive it, hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of faces all identically dark skinned and hanging from the back of their neck all, the tentacles of the Watcher. Then one by one but quickly extrapolating into hundreds the tendrils were severed by a blade of Hai Vyuma and the image grew darker and darker as if the light that lit it was disappearing. Another image came of Nyllana, but not Nyllana as one but as tens of thousands replications of the Avatar of Balance each connected to the Watcher. A wave of pleasure rolled off the creature.

Eljak held a hand to his head, hoping the dull ache forming behind his eyes were imagination and not the beginnings of a migraine. The mental communications had also started to make him feel rather dizzy. Swaying slightly, the last message in particular stuck in his mind. "Wait... The Watcher wants what with Nyllana? I'm not sure whatever it is is a good idea until we know more about the 'One who Watches'..."