Blood Tithe [IC]

[JNAProductions]

You are all currently at home in your forest, preparing to meet with a diplomat from Riveria, the largest city on your continent. You have heard of Their arrival, and have a suspicion that that is what this diplomat is coming here for.

While you might not care overly much for the cities and civilization, you know that They will not spare you any more than They would spare a city.

What will you do to prepare for the diplomat's arrival, approximately one hour hence?

[BelGareth]

Rain.

It dropped in sheets over him as he danced on the giant flower that sat on the small outlet by the river.

He outstretched his arms and rebelled in the wonder of the giant droplets splashing beside, around, and all over him, as he moved through the motions of a graceful dance long forgotten by most mortals.

He loved the rain, it was his namesake after all, but he felt…alive in it, as if it rejuvenated him on a spiritual level. Smiling, he sat in a splash and a ‘humph’, grinning from ear to tiny ear.

In reality, he had diverted the huge leaves above to sprinkle water over only his lily pad. It wasn’t raining at all.

He shook himself of the water clinging to him, and rubbed himself dry on some nearby green moss. Green was the best, because it was probably wet already, allowing it to be soft, but still take most of the water. Plus he liked green. Brown was boring, not bad really, but not for Rain. He liked yellow sometimes, if he was in a funny mood. Which happened pretty often.

He looked around as he was rubbing his back on the moss, one foot in the air, the other stuck in a root for leverage.

“So, what are we going do about these diplomats?” he says to the others without looking at them.


He is doing nothing, with the exception of being Psionically focused, which he does after waking up every morning.

[Malimar]

Salix stands, all but indistinguishable from a mighty tree -- a weeping willow, leaves hanging in long strands over the river. He is still as he peers carefully at the antics of the tiny Rain. Such frivolous movements are fascinating to Salix, and virtually beyond his comprehension -- as far as the treant is concerned, each and every deliberate movement made must be purposeful, carefully considered in advance.

Words, too, are doled out only carefully after long thought. So he allows Rain's question to hang in the air for a long time before he offers a well-considered suggestion in a voice like creaking wood: "We listen to what they have to say." No harm in listening to words. Words blow like fallen leaves in the wind.

[Derjuin]

Deanannha sat in the shade of the great talking willow, listening to the sounds of the forest. She remembered them well - almost every day, the same quiet symphony of chirps, flaps and rustling accompanied her day, broken only by the occasional conversation or magical incantation.

Still, she preferred the conversation, and when Rain and Salix spoke of the Diplomat, her ears perked up and she pawed at the grassy ground under her hoof.

"That seems to be the plan. We'll listen to what they have to say, and deliberate from there. Given what I've heard about 'Them', though, I don't see how they could be coming to us with any request except for help, something I'd be glad to give." Standing up, Dia whips her tail to and fro, and trots over to the river, near Rain. "Maybe get out of this forest, see more of the world while we're at it... I wonder what kind of magic they have in Riveria? Do you think it's like the courts'?" She asks, to no one in particular.

[JNAProductions]

You all hear some unusually loud footfalls come towards the group-probably dwarven, and definitely not a forest native, owing to the overly loud crunching that no forest dweller would let themselves make.

[rypt]

Rhyth sat cross-legged against the wide trunk of a nearby oak tree. He had said little since they had convened their gathering, his thoughts wholly occupied by the potential ramifications of this new and alien threat. Of course, such thoughts were far from pleasant, and he welcomed the momentary distraction provided by Dia's ruminations on the nature of Riverian magic.

"No, I should think not," he replied musingly. "No one with such command of the magic of the land would have hungered for the bounties of our forest as they once did."

It was then that the sound of clamorous footfalls carried from beyond the glade. "Speaking of the bounties of our forest," the corners of Rhyth's mouth stretched into a grin, "I believe that's the sound of them snapping beneath a heavy boot." He tilted his head slightly, listening closely to the cadence of the footsteps. "Ah, it sounds as though they've sent a dwarf." He nodded approvingly. "Wise." Rising to his feet, he clasped his hands behind his back and turned to face the approaching visitors. It was a confident but unthreatening posture...until one considered where the elf sheathed his daggers.

[JNAProductions]

A sturdy, portly man arrives, breathing heavily. "Gods above, what I wouldn't give for a path!" he lets out, before seeing (some) of the assembled group. "Be you the guardians of the forest?"

[rypt]

Rhyth does a poor job of hiding his amusement at the man's struggle. "Among others, yes, we are the few chosen to represent the many." He bows his head politely, as a host should. "My name is Rhyth Hal'havalar, and this," he points to each of his companions in turn, "is the sylvan sorceress Deanannha Rioghda, Salix of the Weeping Wood, and Rain Tulipfeet, the sharpest sword east of the Harrowhame." He allows a moment for the petal to make his diminutive presence known before continuing.

"Please," Rhyth takes a step back and gestures for the man to join them. Clearing his throat, the wiry elf turns to the river and adds, "There is water if you need it."

Epithets are hard. If there's a particular way you'd like for Rhyth to refer to your character, let me know and I'll edit it in.

[JNAProductions]

"Thank you," the dwarf says, kneeling by the riverside and drinking heavily. "Thank you," he says again as he stands back up.

He clears his throat, and says "I am Thorin Bato, emissary from under the mountain, and representative of Riveria. One of Riveria's allies, Waterfell, has been destroyed in its entirety, and a legion of creatures-creatures that we think were once the citizens-have been unleashed and are spreading like wildfire. We have sent our armies to contain them, but wherever we amass, a creature of massive size and shifting form shows up and wreaks a heavy toll. None of us alone have the power to stop it."

[Malimar]

Salix allows Rhyth to introduce them, and watches, unmoving, as the dwarf drinks.

When the emissary introduces himself and explains his purpose, Salix takes a moment to process the dwarf's information, then his woody features shift deliberately into a frown. "This... is bad news for you. Perhaps for everyone." He sees why the emissary came, probably -- to recruit the aid of the forest.

Salix soon decides to himself that he will most likely volunteer to help, in time -- better to head this disaster off while it is still in foreign lands, before it touches the trees -- but he waits to see if the others leap to volunteer their aid before he does, or if they can squeeze more information out of the dwarf.

[BelGareth]

Rain paused as the others spoke up, one by one.

Smiling he dropped down into a siting position, crossing his legs, and then popped each foot up over the knee above it, one at a time, entertaining himself, even as the dwarf lumbered through the forest.

At the sound of the crack, he paused and frowned. Coming to visit was fun and nice, but breaking things? Well now, that was rude!

He buzzed up into the air immediately, folding his arms as he did, the furrow on his forehead not leaving.

Nodding enthusiastically he chimes in "Yes, yes, very bad news for you." he says, as if wanting the dwarf to spell it out. He was mad, he had broken a twig! Several of them!

[JNAProductions]

"Do you think they'll spare your forest?" Thorin says. "They'll destroy everything if not stopped. This is as much in your interest as ours."

[BelGareth]

Rains frown deepened.

His wings kept up a buzzed annoyance as he floated before the dwarf.

"Describe this creature, what can you tell us about it?"

[JNAProductions]

"Sometimes, it's a dragon. It's appeared as elementals too. It was once a yeti of enormous size. And it shifts forms as needed-it began raining while it was a fire elemental, and it switched in moments to the form of a naga."

[Derjuin]

"Pleasure to meet you, Thorin," Dia dips into a bow as Rhyth names her, before listening with widening eyes to his story. "So... it's a shapeshifter, with possibly some kind of control over its victims' bodies? Have your magi found anything out about it? Like, for example, if its powers are necromancitive or transmutatic in nature... et cetera?" She ***** her head to the side, inquiring further.

"Er, well, regardless, mister Bato, I'm willing to help. I can't fathom leaving it to its own devices if all it's going to do is wreak havoc and hurt people. There's always the chance to learn from it, as well." She paws at a patch of dirt with a hoof and huffs through her nose. "Anyone else?" Dia glances from Rhyth, to Salix, and finally to Rain, where her brow turns up as if she is silently adding a "please?"

[BelGareth]

As Dia looks at Rain, his steely visage melts like the forrest frost to the rain. "Fine!" he says, throwing his hands down, "I was going to help anyway!" he whined, as if making the Dwarf continue to ask was perfectly fine.

Shrugging he fluttered up a foot or two, bouncing on the air as he settled on a height he liked.

[JNAProductions]

"We had some mages try to examine it. Most of them died before they could report anything, but those that lived... They say it felt like a broken heart. Not the metaphorical, my wife died broken heart-a literal broken heart, one that'd been sliced into pieces but was still beating, pouring blood everywhere."

[rypt]

Rhyth turns to Dia with a nod. "Agreed. Too long have we sheltered ourselves in this woodland realm, acting only when threatened directly. If your suspicions are correct, sir--" he looks for a moment to the Riverian emissary, "--and this evil is indeed turning its victims into thralls, then our delay would only seal our doom."

[JNAProductions]

"So you'll help?" the dwarf asks.

[rypt]

Rhyth, hoping for a unanimous decision, turns to Salix. "What say you, old friend?"

[Malimar]

Salix, listening to the conversation and pondering, continues to ponder for a moment even when prompted. The proper course of action seems obvious, but when something seems obvious is the most important time to question it. Still, it would be very foolish to leave the small folk to their doom and then have nobody standing in the way when doom comes to the forest. So after a few moments, Salix agrees, "Of course we will help."

[JNAProductions]

"By the gods, we might have a chance now! Do you need time to prepare, or can you leave now? The sooner, the better."

Do any needed prep, then we'll skip to the field of battle. Unless, of course, you want to go over the travels.

[Malimar]

Before setting out, Salix prepares with some powers.

Then he reaches down to lift the dwarf and possibly the elf into his branches. The unicorn and the petal can move rather faster than the treant (though Salix would probably not even notice if Rain alighted in his branches anyway), but the elf and to a much greater extent the dwarf cannot, so they can get to their destination much more quickly if they ride.

Then he awaits the dwarf's instructions for navigating to the battlefield.

Psionic focus (which, like Rain, should probably just be assumed every morning).

Manifest inertial armor (1pp), augmented with 10pp, for a total of 11pp and +9AC for 12 hours.

Manifest danger sense (5pp), augmented with 6pp, for a total of 11pp and +4 reflex saves vs traps, +4 AC vs traps, and Uncanny Dodge and Improved Uncanny Dodge (retains dex to AC when flat-footed and cannot be flanked) for 12 hours.

50' land speed (+10 from Boots of Striding and Springing (I'm admittedly having a hard time picturing a treant wearing magic clothing, but they're basically bipedal, so should be fine even if hard to envision), +10 while psionically focused from Speed of Thought). If Rhyth objects to riding, Salix will let him walk, but if Thorin objects, Salix will gently insist.

[JNAProductions]

Thorin, after a few token protests, allows himself to be seated in the branches. He's clearly somewhat tired, and quickly falls asleep as the gentle rocking of the treant's footfalls nod him off, but not before telling the group to head northwest.

[Derjuin]

"It's settled, then," Dia chirps, and begins trotting to the northwest. "Off we go!" Though she starts to lead the pack, she quickly falls back next to Salix, watching the dwarf in the branches. "Amazing how he can sleep like that... it must have been a pretty harrowing trip."

As they walk, Dia's silk-like cloth vestment begins to change, adhering to her body as the cloth fades away to reveal faintly purple, translucent chain barding, though it stops at her neck. Better to look protected than make myself a target... maybe? Do these things work like that? "I wonder how these 'They' things think. Do they think like us, or like the humans or dwarves? Or are they more like animals?" She muses out loud, aiming the question at anyone listening to her ramble.

[BelGareth]

Rain buzzes with excitement as they move off, but that seemed to only last a few hours, and eventually, he landed and curled up in a crook of a few branches on Salix, letting the ent travel for him, he was slower than he was, but sleeping seemed like a good idea to him, they would wake him up when it got interesting.

[JNAProductions]

Spot and Listen checks from everybody.

[Malimar]

Salix walks with long strides due northwest, through their familiar forest. He slows, hesitating briefly, when they reach the edge of the forest -- he rarely ventures outside the woods. But he doesn't take much prompting to continue on, towards adventure.

He ponders Dia's question, and then ponders it some more, and gets so lost in speculative pondering in his head that he forgets to speculate out loud. Or perhaps he knows he doesn't have enough information to usefully speculate, so he doesn't waste the wind.

Weren't we using Pathfinder skills?

[roll0]

[JNAProductions]

Yes, we are. I'm a confused old man, so good job rolling Perception!

Except you rolled a 2. So... Maybe not so good job. :P

[BelGareth]

Rain wakes up and peers out the branches of the ent.


[roll0]

[rypt]

Throughout their journey, Rhyth rests only as often as is absolutely necessary. Otherwise, he remains high in Salix's branches, eyes towards the horizon, observing this new and foreign landscape, watching and waiting for signs of danger.

Perception: [roll0]

I see Mal's 2, and raise him...a 3!