Reopening vote, because I don't know how to press buttons.
It's about time, frankly, War Is made problems for you, instead of just letting you fight better. Geln has an objectively fatal temper, but there's surprisingly few chances to portray that. You're lucky Aurora is an altruist by heart, profession and blessings, and Lucian is even luckier.
Regarding the first choice.. sometimes, honour isn't a manner of just going y/n, and nor is it always the wise choice.
When the skirmish kicked off, I legitmately stared at the combat rules for five minutes in bewilderment until I remembered I literally introduced a rule specially to stop mooks completely swarming powerful fighters (cleave). I am very smart, yes.
Edit: You ever wonder if a Solar divine caster ever assassinated someone by setting them on fire, and then just… not actually healing them?
Damn that was hard to read, Geln was massively provoked but that doesn't really make what he did okay. The way the people in power just dismissed it showed how messed up the system is but it makes sense given that it's medieval era.
[X] Tellhimto give it to… [The people we hurt and their familes]
Hopefully paying weirguild would make Geln feel better.
[X] Go with the emigrants. Protect your kin-in-spirit, and stay with hosts who truly care about you.
Geln could use a good place to calm down.
[X] Yes
I don't think Geln wants to stain his honor anymore than he already has.
[X] South East, towards Ixcal— travelling with the Solars.
Geln would do this out of respect to Aurora.
[X] Tellhimto give it to… [The people we hurt and their familes]
[X] Hitch Aurora on your sponsored donkey-wagon then travel South East, towards Ixcal— with the Solars.
[X] Yes
These seem right. I'm less certain about where to go.
[X] Tellhimto give it to… [The people we hurt and their familes]
[X] Stay here, try to save a life. Do what you believe in.
[X] Yes
I don't mind going with the Solars, but I sorta worry it's not for the right reasons. Geln likes the Solars, he even refers to them as kin-in-spirit. Protecting them would be natural for him- it would be the closest he's been in purpose to his original duties since he was exiled… but does that mean it would be better for him than trying to do the right thing even if it seems incredibly hard? Of trying to save a life without the violence that comes too easily for him?
But despite everything, you do currently favour the Solars more. Aurora's a convincing example of their morals, and bewildering blasphemy is still less offensive than slavery, cowardice and injustice.
Protecting them would be natural for him- it would be the closest he's been in purpose to his original duties since he was exiled… but does that mean it would be better for him than trying to do the right thing even if it seems incredibly hard?
[X] Tellhimto give it to… [The people we hurt and their familes]
Temperance in peace…
[] Come with me, I'm going to Tulane and fight evil! What does Pendor say eh? And
[X] Yes
Honor
[] Straight East, towards Pentarch and distant Tulane.
('Wretches.. one day.. tear that city down, stone by stone.. hang every master', she whispers with sudden, lethal vehemence.) your VENGEANCE!
Suggesting a Servant abandon her responsibilities is not a valid write in.
Edit: Pendor has no opinion, but that doesn't mean she wants to. She feels she has things she has to do not involved with going to Pentarch, godless city as it is.
Cant we go buy the donkey and cart from the market and just put her on the wagon while she recovers? Doesnt get left behind plus we get a ride while we escort the pilgrims.
Cant we go buy the donkey and cart from the market and just put her on the wagon while she recovers? Doesnt get left behind plus we get a ride while we escort the pilgrims.
It'll take significantly longer for her to catch up than if she was on her own warhorse, and probably one of the non-tiefling emigrants or Solar staff would have to stay behind and drive the cart for her
But she's still catch up in a not unreasonable amount of time, since the convoy would only have a third of a day headstart, and would stikl be moving slower than just one vehicle alone.
Cant we go buy the donkey and cart from the market and just put her on the wagon while she recovers? Doesnt get left behind plus we get a ride while we escort the pilgrims.
Wasn't the problem that Aurora can't leave at the same time as the Solars because she needs to stick around to testify at the trial.
I think the vote would be "Leave the donkey wagon at the temple thing for her after you've left"?
[X] Don't take the money,
[X] Yes
[X] South East, towards Ixcal— travelling with the Solars.
[X] Hitch Aurora on your sponsored donkey-wagon then travel South East, towards Ixcal— with the Solars.
I have only just read through the thread and yet I am already deeply invested in the safety of this dog. I really hope that "once you find Korra" note in the voting section indicates that by Official Word of QM she's alright.
'Before you go', he continues, an edge of something sharper in his tone, 'do you quite understand how.. rude, you're being as a guest to Nociva's worthies?'
This would indeed be pretty rude behaviour to one of Nociva's worthies, if we were the guest of one. Right now, however, we are the guest of a slave-owning asshole, and he can get fucked.
[X] Tellhimto give it to… [The people we hurt and their familes] [X] Yes
Geln currently seems to be feeling both fairly disgusted with this dishonourable city full of slavers and nobles (and slaving nobles), and also ashamed of himself for starting that fight. Sticking to the honourable choices should help with that.
[X] South East, towards Ixcal— travelling with the Solars.
[X] Hitch Aurora on your sponsored donkey-wagon then travel South East, towards Ixcal— with the Solars.
Aurora is our only real lead both on the general weirdness and on all this demon stuff.
X] Tellhimto give it to… [The people we hurt and their familes] [X] Yes
[X] South East, towards Ixcal— travelling with the Solars.
[X] Hitch Aurora on your sponsored donkey-wagon then travel South East, towards Ixcal— with the Solars.
To the donkey cart! We need a cool name for it now.
In a couple days, I'll be travelling again on Monday, so the update will probably look like
This weekend -> Next weekend
Such is life.
If you hadn't explained you were involved with the Olms, there would have been more consequences to your rudeness. However, the Olms are a solemn and spiteful group, so instead you get to leave with haste while the Nocivans stew.
In the original draft, tieflings did have horns; Aurora's mutilation was especially visible, as her left horn would have been outright snapped off. Male tieflings would have horns that poke out a bit more, while female horns would curl closer around their skull. However, I decided that it didn't make any sense, considering their origins, and made justifying how they wore a helmet unreasonably hard.
For similar reasons, they don't have a tail either.
The Old World was a friend's DND world, but not only am I making up the New World almost completely whole cloth, but the entire world at large, after a great many drafts, no longer remotely resembles a DnD setting.
Scheduled vote count started by Shine on Jun 19, 2023 at 10:28 AM, finished with 18 posts and 8 votes.
[X] Tellhimto give it to… [The people we hurt and their families].
[X] We'll buy a cart.
[X] Yes
[X] Head towards Ixcala
'What if we brought a cart?'
'…..hm?'
Aurora glances back up again, curious. It's strange, but not unpleasant, to be able to see the expressions on her face, damaged as it is. For some reason, you had imagined than even behind her mask, she was as impassive as her voice.
'If we share our coin to buy a cart and beast, then you could stay behind, and use it to meet with us later.'
'…us?'
'I'll go with the other Solars. I have nowhere else to be.'
She nods gently, gratefully, looking back down and to your side, and so you open your pack to withdraw a string of coins- and realise that the inside is a mess.
The impact against the wall (and your back) had crushed a tithe of your belongings! Thankfully, you hadn't packed anything too fragile, but you still had to pick through crushed seeds and broken shafts to find your scattered coinage.
Aurora silently points out a bin in the corner of the room, mostly filled with bloody cloth and nameless medical viscera. After pressing a neat twenty marks into her hands, you awkwardly stuff the debris into the overfilled container.
(So far from home, you realise every arrow is irreplaceable.)
You turn around to find her already laid down, stiffly curled inwards and facing away. Something intangible flees the room, and although there is no physical cue, you know the conversation is over. Stepping softly, you try to leave without disturbing her. Even though you don't know if she must wake at dawn…. you wouldn't be surprised.
'….tell.. tell her not to come back.. unless with.. the priest.', she whispers when you reach the door.
'I will. Dream well.'
'….don't… dream.'
—————————
'Korra!? Korra, where did you go?'
The sun had well and truly set by the time you had jogged back to the site of that brutal skirmish, that blinding orb yielding to a beautiful panoply of starlight. Without needing to carry a sleeping tiefling, you made much better time, but you still hadn't outrun the entire street being placed under quarantine.
DC 5
+1 (Charismatic)
DC 6
2, 9, 8, 1
You had taken off your axe's peace bond when you joined Livia's convoy, and although you had put it back afterwards, without anyone to issue you a new one the broken peace bond looked incredibly suspect. Thankfully, none of the night watch check closely- they recognise you, largely by rumour, and conspicuously avoid coming close.
It's not your proudest moment, but it works to your advantage. Thankfully, you don't have to break quarantine to search inside; Korra is clearly not there.
Before the sentries ask awkward questions, you move on, sweeping the streets for your missing dog. Good as it is that she didn't participate in that savage skirmish, after a quarter hour passes, you start worrying you've lost her entirely to Nociva's urban maze…
Korra may be physically able, but she's not a wary creature. A friendly smile, placating words, a knife hidden behind the back… you don't think they eat dogs in Nociva, for reasons never well explained, but opportunism could drive a dishonourable foreigner to strange and cruel activities. You wonder what's to be done if all you find is a sliced up corpse…
'Korra!? By her grace, if you're someone's dinner…'
You double all the way around to the other end of the street, to where Korra roughly was before it all began, but there's no snow or mud- only stone tiles, worn too smooth by the city traffic to carry real tracks. Practiced as you are in shadowing hooligans and riotous youths, frightened hounds are a different, far faster beast.
(As you lament out loud that you never learned to track, the passing night watch give you strange looks. They don't own pets, however, so you immediately discard their opinions.)
'Are you in-'
You turn into yet another alley, almost claustrophobic for your bulky frame, then pause as something rancid stops you dead. As slightly used as you've become to Nociva's ever-present stench, an alley reeking of burst sewage pipes is… something else.
Then you hear a familiar bark, and only dodge just in time.
A familiar sledge hound leaps out of the dark, and Korra is filthy. You don't know which trash midden she must have slept in, but whatever it was has left strands of unnamed filth and shards of broken ceramic rattling off her fur; dark streaks staining a pale-grey coat. Her momentum takes her right past your legs, stumbling in her abortive attempt to land on your feet, and you dredge up your courage to stop her before she passes.. the something smeared on her hide onto you.
You hold your breath… and pet her.
Undimmed blue eyes cheerfully appraise her master as you filthy your glove, wet dog-breath far from improved by.. whatever it is she got up to in your absence. Dogs have a far sharper sense of smell than humans, a friend of a friend once explained, so you must conclude she knew what she was crawling into, and, seemingly, enjoyed it.
'I'm going to throw you underwater.', you complain, Korra completely unaware of your threat- instead only perking at her name, as dogs are wont to do.
'…no, I'll have to lure you in. You're not fit to be picked up right now.'
At least she's alright, you console yourself, and far more energetic without Aurora's looming presence.
….Unless she caught something in the filth….
…you'll just have to handle it when it happens, you suppose. Such is your life, nowadays.
'Come on!', you whistle, turning on your heel, petting quota ephemerally satisfied. 'You have made us very late.'
————————————
By the time you make it to the Olm 'embassy', it's been almost.. two hours since the sun set, perhaps slightly less. The pair of you must make a bizarre sight as you wander through the beautiful Old City, but you go largely unbothered. Whatever people suspect you and your disgusting dog are up to, it's clearly not worth their time to find out as long as you keep to the public avenue.
It's only when you get to your destination when you start having problems.
The Olm embassy is someways off the beaten track, but close enough to the main road that you only had to turn left and squeeze through some densely packed, night-silent structures to reach it. It has two guards at this late hour; a Nocivan human, decently armoured and half asleep, and a stalwart Olm regularly shooting their counterpart unimpressed looks.
When they see Korra and yourself squeeze through a precariously thin, shadowed alleyway, the Olm remains distinctly displeased, although they at least wake their counterpart with an elbow to his side.
'Ah! What the fu-'
'Geln, son of Kory!', you introduce yourself over the man's fumbled curses. 'I have a work appointment with the Witness Kiromana. It's good to meet you.'
'……'
'….look, sorry sir, but- Anira?'
Beside him, the Olm had set down their axe and produced a list of names, carefully reading down the list one by one. What kind of significance that action has you do not know, but it's enough to silence the human guard. He awkwardly stands to attention, holding his breath as Korra sits between you.
'………'
'She's normally better than this.'
'…………..'
Very visibly, he raises his sleeve to his face, and breaths through his mouth. It's.. not a bad idea, honestly.
'Can you say your name again?', Anira asks, breaking the tension.
'Geln Koryson.'
Silently, they pass the list to their counterpart, tapping the relevant written name with the back of her finger. Setting down his halberd, he squints at the line in the nearly dark, not blessed with the night vision of the creatures underground, before finally giving up.
'..looks close enough. What?', he protests when the Olm shoots him a dark look. 'It'll be their problem, not ours. I know you have a sense of smell too-'
You clear your throat.
'..right. Look… Cori-son', he mispronounces, '.. you know that visitors come during daylight?
'I was held up, and had to find my dog when she ran off.'
Thankfully, Korra is entirely incognisant that you're passing the blame onto her lupine shoulders.
'….right. Well, it's not our issue. You want to leave the dog.. somewhere?'
'No, she's coming with me. Needs supervision.'
'Well.. good luck.'
In synchronisation, they step aside, opening the door for you- revealing an even darker interior, bereft of even the starlight. Instead, there's only the faintest blue glow from crystals buried into the ceiling above.
Keeping your doubts to yourself, you accept a lit torch from Anira and resolutely march inside.
—————————————-
You stand upon some kind of carved stone, but when you walk the sounds are… inconsistent. The echoes are not that of solid ground, but instead remind you of a storied building- like there's more rooms beneath your feet.
When you raise your torch higher, the gentle flame reveals only a single room, mostly bare but for some chairs and waiting tables to the side. It's a large room, far more long than wide, but despite the shadowy murals on the walls and the crystal patterns on the ceiling, it's clear that no-one seems to 'work' here. If they did.. what would they even do?
There's cloth- no, curtains- on the sides, a deep blue shade that camouflages with the darkness and crystal gleam. You walk over to open the window, drawing back the curtain to reveal stained glass- even more art that blends into the murals around it, which together seem to depict some alien landscape. As strange as this extravagance is, however, at least there's more starlight in the room…
The mural is looking at you.
You leap back in shock when you realise that next to you, a flattened Olm, as tall as your hand and made of colourful shards, is looking in your direction and shaking their head in disapproval. Their eyes glow in the dark, two more far more eerie lights somehow failing to actually illuminate anything, before- with a stave similar to Kiromana's- they gesture to one of the seats.
Chastened, you sit, and when you look back, the figure is gone- the stones shifting, transforming, and then going still as if they'd never changed at all.
When nothing happens, you decide it best to wait.
And wait.
And wait.
(Korra pads in a broad circle, dirtying the gleaming tiles where she treads)
And-
The floor opens.
Not silently nor immediately- you're not sure even most dwarves could do as such. An ominous, splintering rumble makes the ground tremble underfoot, before the centre of the room forms a gash, three metres long and perfectly straight. You stand and shuffle backwards as a chunk of floor… folds inwards like a trapdoor, the stone melding and distorting to better fit.
Three Olms slither upwards from the manifested ramp, rising from an underneath that you suddenly realise must extend far deeper. They move in practiced formation- to the left, the champion from earlier, to the right, the magicker who warped the stones. Front and centre is Kiromana, now dressed in a shirt of chainmail, and unlike their bland-faced retinue they seem visibly perplexed.
'Geln?'
'I'm sorry I'm late. I was arrested.'
You really shouldn't purposefully say things just to confuse. Their slight but visible bafflement makes it hard to stop, however- they almost squint at you, hilariously confused without the context of your statement.
'….There's an Olm searching for you right now, in Nociva; and it's the middle of the night. Don't you humans sleep?'
'I need to leave the city by sunrise, or I'll upset the local Peerage', you elaborate. 'I also promised to visit later today; it's not midnight yet. They don't seem to like monster slayers.'
'We sensed Daemons earlier, and feared the worst. You..?'
'Helped fight it, yes.'
'Was it a daemon of decay?'
(At their question, the warrior's eye shifts to Korra, who remains unaware of any danger. Their hand was already on the hilt, but you see their fingers shift.)
'Aurora called it Famine.'
Kiromana visibly recognises the name, sighing softly in resignation.
'…pull up a seat, and explain from the beginning.'
——————-
DC 6
-2 (Extremely Late)
-1 (Ruining the Floor)
+1 (Too Absurd; Must be True)
+2 (Charismatic)
DC 6
6, 10, 5, 1
'…and once your warriors let me through, I came into here.', you finished succinctly.
At first, you had mentally prepared a brief report, workman like, as do not to further waste time better spent asleep. However.. part way through, the two retinue Olms had asked questions- some straightforward, some minor, some simply bizarre. Their leader has not spoken for not against these additions, so you saw fit to answer.
How many were there? Who were you guarding? What did it look like, how did she die, what spells did he cast? Soon, what was a report had become a dramatic recount of the skirmish, the lesser Olms oddly fascinated with your retelling. You started to preempt their questions, adding imagery, emotion, trying to convey the desperation, the heroism- the incompetence and anarchy.
However.. there's only so clear a picture you can paint with words. You don't linger overlong on the skirmish with the guards, and as fascinated as the Olms are with your conversation with Silas, it's difficult to describe a person and place you feel you don't understand well yourself. Soon, the story ends, twice as long as you expected, and the Olms seem gratifyingly disappointed it is done.
All the while, Kiromana observes- not impassively, but enigmatically. Every so often, they ask you to elaborate on some descriptor or other, but you cannot place what they prefer. Unlike the curious sword-Olm or the dramatically enthusiastic mage, there is neither rhyme nor reason to what they seem to want… and yet, you cannot help but feel you're being judged.
'…despite it all, it could be worse.', Kiromana begins. 'Not that it's good, but we have a presence in Ixcala as well. Would you be willing……'
————————-
The Olms are surprisingly willing to barter, despite the inconvenience you've caused them. They have three propositions to make you.
Firstly, they offer to take your axe to study it, and return it to you in Ixcala. In return, they will provide you a 'quality' spear, axe or sword of their own as insurance, and will also pay you the equivalent of five silvery rings, to be doubled that if something goes wrong.
[][Axe]Yes
[][Axe] No
Secondly, en-route to Ixcala there is some kind of great spirit-beast called a Banshee. If you swear to hunt it for them, they will provide you some kind of… floating orb? They explain it is like a familiar, and will help you find, combat and capture this spirit.
When you explained that you have no skill with spirits, Kiromana assures you that you will be uniquely suited to the task. The orb-familiar will help you locate it.
If you do not at least come close, the Olms will be displeased; if the orb is destroyed, they will expect recompense. If you succeed, however, they will be very pleased, and promise to reward you and your allies with something undefined 'but as least as precious as your surface-horses'.
[][Banshee] Yes
[][Banshee] No
Thirdly, they wish to take from you samples of blood, skin, spit and hair, and in return will pay you a silver ring. You have no idea what they'll do with it, especially as an entire silver ring seems… expensive.
[][Blood] Yes
[][Blood] No
The Olms will be quite grateful if you accept all three, hope for two, but will be actively displeased if you accept none of them.
Additionally, before you leave you have the time and opportunity to ask…
[] about Olm diabolism.
[] about Olm witnesses.
[] about Olm's interactions with the surface world.
[] about Olm society.
[] about Banshees and spirit magic.
[] what is an embassy?
[] something else?
After that… you leave Nociva, and begin the journey to Ixcala.
Before that, however, would you like to spend two updates from Aurora's perspective as she speaks in court, or instead immediately initiate a new adventure?
[] Aurora Interlude
[] Stay with Geln
—————-
Today was a good day; my pen pal finally got back to me. She was interrupted by an accident, but she stood be fine.
Shorter update, but a lot of choices! I want a lot of discussion!
Clever people, the Olms, but perhaps not kind…..
I'm very pleased that you're putting in real effort to be honourable, despite there being little tangible benefit. The Islefolk believe their ideals and morals are what separate them from the savage beasts, hold their communities together and win favour from their goddess; they are generally idealistic to the core.
You'll have a very long time to vote. I'll be travelling next week, no update.
Not terribly proud of this, but I think it's the same problem come around twice
Given I won't have internet for the back end of this vote, I'd like for the questions to be asked sooner rather than later.
As such…..
(For the record, Geln does not know what a banshee is. Unquiet spirits aren't the sort of thing Islefolk typically contend with.
Nor does he know if organic samples could be somehow weaponised against him. He does know that some rituals require extremely specific components, but the Islefolk have no conception of sympathetic magic, and couldn't say if it existed.)
The Olms are surprisingly willing to barter, despite the inconvenience you've caused them. They have three propositions to make you.
Firstly, they offer to take your axe to study it, and return it to you in Ixcala. In return, they will provide you a 'quality' spear, axe or sword of their own as insurance, and will also pay you the equivalent of five silvery rings, to be doubled that if something goes wrong.
[] Yes
[] No
Secondly, en-route to Ixcala there is some kind of great spirit-beast called a Banshee. If you swear to hunt it for them, they will provide you some kind of… floating orb? They explain it is like a familiar, and will help you find, combat and capture this spirit.
When you explained that you have no skill with spirits, Kiromana assures you that you will be uniquely suited to the task. The orb-familiar will help you locate it.
If you do not at least come close, the Olms will be displeased; if the orb is destroyed, they will expect recompense. If you succeed, however, they will be very pleased, and promise to reward you and your allies with something undefined 'but as least as precious as your surface-horses'.
[] Yes
[] No
Thirdly, they wish to take from you samples of blood, skin, spit and hair, and in return will pay you a silver ring. You have no idea what they'll do with it, especially as an entire silver ring seems… expensive.
[] Yes
[] No
The Olms will be quite grateful if you accept all three, hope for two, but will be actively displeased if you accept none of them.
To be honest, I normally hand count the votes.. after the first four or five pages, I've never gotten more than ten votes. The Vote Tally is.. weird, and I don't really trust it.
But I will edit it as you say, because I suddenly realise how that can be confusing.
Do you have an opinion on all of this (As in, the vote)?
