Arc 1 - Beast of a Thousand Knives (Completed)

[Kowsauni]

Tapana Woods

image made by: Wildweasel339
original image {x}

As Hakka listens to the voice of the young woman singing; her words sound like this:

"...Nensham kynykozi wéna
Sekan vyfiri'm yrethrézi'm
Dyashiki vyzrolem
zulchahasyerisi'm

Zahenazi, okuri
Syash vyzya vona heb
Echigla vyrony
Shron syerisya virony

Af varshmo vyvari
Krotefkriku okuri..."

Though she is not sure what is being said, Hakka feels like she has heard this language spoken before in the past. She thinks it might be Giant.  

[Rain Yupa]

Quote:

History check of 14. Probably not.

Revenge hesitated.

There's plenty of stories of sirens and harpies and mermaids where songs are but lures, to lead people to their deaths. Every warning sign in his mind was flashing 'NO!' and he should turn back.

But what if? What if it wasn't a danger? What if it was someone innocent, with no knowledge of these woods (since it likely wouldn't be a townsfolk, since they wouldn't have entered in the first place), with no knowledge of the clear and present danger to herself that she might be unaware?

With a resigned sigh, he would move forward through the bush.  

[Kowsauni]

Unknown Girl

As Revenge pushes his way through the thick underbrush, he finds that his vision is restricted to only a few feet by the foliage. Then, out of nowhere, the forest suddenly gives way to a clearing containing a large pond.

There, at the water's edge, a girl is bathing. She has a thin, yet athletic build and is waist deep in the water. She has wild, long blond hair that clings to her wet, tan skin. Her large round eyes are crystal blue and arise immediately to meet the paladin's gaze as he comes trudging out from the treeline. Her singing immediately stops.

For a moment she simply stares at Revenge, as if it is taking some time for the situation to register in her mind. Then a loud, high-pitched shriek escapes her mouth as she covers up her chest. Her voice echoes through the forest, causing several nearby birds to take flight.

She quickly dives back into the pond so that only her head is above the water. Her face flushes red with embarrassment as she quickly stammers out, “D-doz oky? Doz oki? Do dashrozi'm? Henasharr, zjy? Zothysham jalréa.”

Revenge does not recognize the language she is speaking but it is obvious she finds his presence here distressful.  

[Rain Yupa]

Or it could be Door # 3. Why did it always have to be Door # 3?

Revenge's forearm would go up to cover his eyes, holding the cold steel directly to his face. Slowly, he would kneel, placing the halberd on the ground, holding his right hand up, palm open, fingers skyward, to show he had nothing in his hand.

Then he would reach for his holy symbol of Sehanine slowly, lifting it far enough from his neck to make it apparent what it was, holding it out for a few seconds by the chain, never clutching the symbol directly.

Then he would turn around, still kneeling down, and sit on his knees. He never took his left arm away from his face, however, despite looking away.

Quote:

Diplomacy of 19 to demonstrate he wasn't there to cause her harm or threaten her, nor had any ill intentions towards her.

"I don't suppose you speak common? " he would ask.

"There is a terrible beast in these woods, it is not safe for you to be here right now," he would explain aloud, repeating himself once more in Elven.  

[Kowsauni]

Unknown Girl

The girl silently stays in the water. The occasional splashing lets Revenge know she is still behind him. After a few moments or so, she responds to him in Common. Her speech has a slight accent to it, but is otherwise perfectly understandable. Her voice sounds less anxious then before. "What? What are you talking about? Why are you here? Could you please go away? You're... you're standing in front of my clothes."

Indeed, if Revenge were to look through his gauntleted fingers, he would see next to where he had entered the clearing, there was a roughly made leather skirt and top hung up on a branch to dry.  

[I Drink Blue Moon]

((OHAI! DON'T MIND ME, JUST ROLLING NAT 1's ON DIPLOMACY OVER HERE.))

Gloom slunk out of the woods and saw the girl. Then he drank in what was before him and unlike his Paladin ally here, Gloom started thinking with the little head. He lifted up her clothes, intent on giving them to her until he saw panties. Then he looked back to the pond, "Ya know, I'm feeling like a dirty dirty boy right now, a bath in the pond may be just the cure. And we could keep her safe while we keep her company. Our swords won't be too far away right buddy?" He elbowed Revenge and stepped to the edge of the pond. "Though, cute as she is, I don't know why a young woman is hanging out here in the middle of the woods bathing. Maybe we should tie her up. Serves both purposes." What he meant by both purposes he left to the interpreters.  

[Rain Yupa]

Quote:

Intimidate of 23

"... really, Gloom? When the paladin's right here? Really?"

He would say this without moving from his sitting position, nor removing his forearm from his eyes. Then he would speak up, directing his voice towards the girl.

"It's just my duty to inform you that a beast has been raiding the nearby village, doing property damage and stealing livestock to satiate its hungers. Just last night, it dragged off an adult bull and reduced it to skeletal remains over the course of half a day, not 100 feet or so away from here. It would be wise for you to return from whence you came, it is not safe here." He would pause. "Perhaps for a multitude of reasons."

He would then stand, removing his arm from his face and carefully walking backwards, following Gloom's voice until he was standing beside him. Putting his right arm across the man's chest, he would simply say, "Time to go, 'buddy'." He would try to coax him back towards the bush he entered from.  

[PupSage]

24 athletics
Nat 20 acrobatics
29 stealth

Still up in the treetops, Kuori moved closer to the clearing and watched, despite her allies turning to leave, something here was off.  

[Kowsauni]

Unknown Girl

((There are no panties. The only articles of clothing are the ones I mentioned, a top and long skirt, both roughly made out of animal hides.))

The girl sank a little deeper into the murky pond water as Gloom entered the clearing. At first she seemed both baffled and made uncomfortable by his words. "Huh? You can bathe in the pond too, if you want, but you have to wait until I'm done." Though at the mention of being tied up, the girl seemed to get upset. "W-what? Why would you do that? Could you just leave, please?? You're saying weird things."

The girl listens to Revenge explain about the monster and Gloom would see a flicker of apprehension in her face. "R-really? Well, I can't go anywhere until I get dressed, so please leave so I can change."

Kuori swings through the trees like a champ, knowing exactly where to put her weight to create the least amount of disturbance. The goliath is able to get right next to the clearing without anyone taking notice. Kuori remains about 30 feet off the ground hidden in the foliage. She sees her two teammates talking with a young blond woman, obviously naked in the pond, pleading with them them to leave so she can get dressed.

Thava decides to wait outside the clearing but remains in earshot.  

[I Drink Blue Moon]

Gloom willing backs out of the clearing. "Hey Revenge ... where is Kuori?" He said as he noted her absence.  

[Rain Yupa]

"Honestly? She's probably after that fox again. She seems determined to hunt it, against all common sense." He would begin to guide Gloom away, walking right behind him. He would turn his head slightly, not enough to look behind but to indicate to the girl he was speaking to her as he raised his voice. "We won't be far, miss; when you're proper, we can take you to safety. Please don't tarry long."

Eyes forward now, he'd march Gloom forward and out of sight of the body of water. "It's a perfectly normal fox, I don't know why she is so obsessed with it."

But once clear, he would add lowly, "Say, Gloom, speaking of things that may or may not be perfectly normal, do you have any tricks up your sleeves to determine if that girl is a polymorphed beastie? I can't come to any conclusion why she'd be here at all unless that was the case. I have no idea if there are things in these woods that can shapeshift but it's something we can't rule out."  

[Kowsauni]

Unknown Girls

From her lofty hidden position in the trees, Kuori sees her two teammates leave the clearing with the pond. The young blonde girl watches them leave then waits a bit before getting out of the pond and donning her roughly made clothes. Just as the girl finishes adjusting her skirt, another individual, brandishing a spear, runs out of the forest into the clearing on the opposite side of where Revenge and Gloom left. This newcomer looks very similar to the bathing girl, but she seems to be a few years older, and her eyes are crimson instead of blue. The red-eyed girl moves over the the-blue eyed girl and talks to her in the same strange language the blue-eyed girl had sung in before. The blue-eyed girl responds back in kind and they begin to talk.

From outside the clearing, Gloom and Revenge can hear the sound of someone getting out of water followed by some rustling branches which they can assume is the girl gathering her clothes. However, after a few minutes they hear the sound of someone rapidly pushing their way through foliage into the clearing followed by a worried new voice, which also sounds like that of a young woman: "Ozinloza--doz aima? Briglam kydazuzi! Do dokshiki vychar?"

They then hear the first girl respond. "Aima, aimana. Thkro--thkronglari vyoshrila'm krochazothyki. Henaglari okchahéjaki, ava sévanri sékadyfem yokna wamiswé."

The two girls then continue to talk to each other as the second girl responds: "Nazthunek kysiréa! Hrosi: zjimraki. Jasolthunarr. Zonsram kybren."

"Tyzrinunarr!"

"Chazowokri."

Gloom and Revenge can't tell what the girls are saying to each other but their conversation does sound a bit tense.  

[Rain Yupa]

And, being morally obliged to wait, Revenge just kind of stands there. It certainly didn't sound like the girl was being attacked. Heck, she and the newcomer were speaking the same language... probably... so it stood to reason that they knew one another.

He would wait, both for that situation to resolve (the first girl could still be undressed!), and for Gloom's input. But not Thava's, because no respectable Tiefling cared one iota for a Dragonborn's input.

I guess, as a loose third, he'd wait for Kuori to get back from chasing that darned fox. She hasn't brought the wrath of the forest down on them yet, so Revenge chalks it up to the fox giving her the slip and being long gone from here.  

[PupSage]

Kuori studies the two, trying to pick up on body language and tone as best as she can.

Insight check:  

[I Drink Blue Moon]

Activating spectral fade, leaving Thava and Revenge alone as I turn invisible and creep back to the clearing. Then using my shad utility while behind a tree to stealth and gain concealment for when spectral fade wears off next round.
27 stealth