Sorry that there keeps on being delays, personal life is heavy. We’ll get out of those gates asap!
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Real life comes first, don’t sweat it
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With the sun dipping below the horizon the group arrives at the southern gate. Passing through the city, center to outer edge, is somewhat of a history lesson. Five great manor estates surround the palace with gardens and plazas, the former summer homes and dwelling places for Etellu long gone. They are used now as academies, guildhalls and some are occupied by the dwarven wealthy. Below them are the temples of men and dwarves, much newer, when freedom of religion was granted to all across the empire. A dense belt of housing, primarily blocky and flat-roofed, houses the bulk of the population, designed to mimic the general building preferences of the Etellu. High ceilings and doorways, enough to accommodate a very tall person with a horn characterize most of these (not that an Etellu would ever visit an ordinary person - these are aspirational design decisions). As the houses get newer, they are designed less and less in honour of the Etellu and more to the preferences of the builders. The skyline becomes lumpy and pointier, tall houses with short, squat windows as the dwarves prefer, long low houses for halflings, something in between for humans, and the roofs better reflect the snowy winters. Around the edge of the city, the modern wooden frame houses stand tall with whitewashed exteriors. The wide space and much cheaper construction makes for attainable grandeur, and most houses have several levels peering over the ancient wall that surrounds the city - though the old upper class points out the close proximities of stables and workshops and warehouses.
The southern gate is old, as old as the palace foundation, and extremely weathered. Through it runs the southward highway, quite smooth and straight as an arrow. All Etellu highways are marvels of engineering, and their composition and the magic that keeps them pristine is a secret.
The land to the southward is a rolling plain, vibrant green and dotted with little patches of trees, bubbling streams, and shallow lakes. Beyond that is the supposedly uninhabited wildlands, mostly flat, with sparse features cloaked under a golden sea of field grass.
The caravan is pretty large, 20 large wagons stand almost completely loaded. A cloud of rough looking workers are harnessing the many oxen, and more are tying up the last of the goods. In the center of the jumble of activity, grumbling men, and bellowing animals is the eye of this storm, a gap where two figures sit mounted on their respective beasts. The workers attempt to give a wide berth to the two, even as the small figure screams rapid-fire commands, and reluctant individuals seem to be required to report to the other.
The loud one is a short-nosed goblin wearing a steel pot-helm, a short arming sword, a thick gambeson, and a somewhat creepy moustache. Along with his rather modern equipment, he does not speak in the stilted common typically associated with the barbaric goblins. The popular opinion of goblins is that they are wretched, bloodthirsty raiders, though you have been educated by Shikka to believe that there is the possibility for good and evil in all species.
He rides a gigantic saddled dog with a droopy, utterly disinterested face, but with a powerful, brutal build. He seems to know everyone by name, and seems to be quite capable of micromanaging a great horde of work at once with his piercing, unrelenting shouting. He occasionally draws his sword for emphasis and gestures wildly with it, which may be why nobody wants to come within ten feet.
The other reason is a short female elf on a coal black warhorse. Her traditional hat and distinctive features imply she is a member of the horseback-riding elf tribes to the northwest, though she doesn’t have the rich tan of the Astabarru that have visited Shikka’s court. They spend hundreds of years riding under the open sky, whereas uncharitable assessment might describe her pallor as ‘deathly’. When you arrive close enough, you can see that there are an alarming amount of mushrooms growing out of the back of her exposed shoulders, and painful-looking vein-like roots reach across her skin. When someone approaches for instructions, the mushrooms illuminate ominously with internal phosphorescence, and the workers seem keen to keep these encounters as short as possible.
You stand on the edge of the crowd - nobody pays much attention to your group, nor is it particularly clear which wagon is assigned for you.
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Some character sketches
Shikka:
Not entirely pleased with this one, I tried to colour it (which I rarely do, because I am bad at colours), and it took forever for it to look okay. Not sure if the skin colour is quite the right shade, might be too grey. Accidentally flattened the layers so I can’t change it easily.
Hansel:
I forgot to draw his dog and ended up drawing a lame cart background instead. I found getting the face balance difficult. It’s easy to draw a face that looks too ghoulish.
Yisun:
Most happy with this one, took the least time to draw, surprisingly.
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Salazar feels Nyx shudder slightly, she doesn’t like the look of that dog. She is at home in the gathering gloom though and runs off to chase some poor creatures that don’t see as well as her.
Salazar looks at the others, picks which of the two he’s going to have the best chance with, gulps and shouts…
‘Hansel, Shikka sent us. Can we help load up? And where should we put our things, are we all in the same wagon?’
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Hansel grins wickedly when he hears Salazar’s voice, and stirrups the dog forward, calling out for one of his crew to continue guiding the final prep. He points out the group to Yisun (with his sword), who waves him off without a look. It’s suddenly much quieter, and people seem more relaxed now that Hansel’s attention is elsewhere.
“Ohh wonderful, wonderful, our little lordlings have arrived!” Hansel looks like a starving man finding an unsupervised banquet. “Of course, a carriage for each of you, and ten manservants at your beck and call!” He rides up close enough for his dog to begin investigating the group, but a long sniff in Salazar’s direction (doubtless detecting Nyx’s scent) and a deep but mostly muffled bark seems to satisfy its curiosity. Hansel is disappointed in the dog’s lazy indifference, but scruffs the dog’s wrinkled head affectionately. Some of the maliciousness in his eyes dissipates. “Well, you’ve passed the Bob test. Regardless, I’m certainly not pleased to have a bunch of greenhorn tagalongs. You’ll be earning your keep, but I won’t have you messing up our system ‘helping’ operate the caravans. Some of you will be watching in the back with me, the others with Yisun in the vanguard. This isn’t a camping trip, though. This is the largest caravan we’ve sent south in a long time, and we’ve got to be ready for anything. Me an’ Yisun can handle when things go south, but we need eyes and ears. That’s your job as long as you’re with us.”
He thinks for a second.
“I’ll let you decide who goes where. Yisun likes people who can keep up. I like those who can follow orders. Half of you for me, half for her. If you think it’s gonna be easy either way, don’t kid yourself. Leave your bags - over there for those with me, there for Yisun’s.”
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De immediately wanders over to Yisun.
“A fine horse. It’s lineage?”
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Moran will also go toward Yisun, pulling Sassy with him.
“Hey, I can keep up no problem, I’m sure we’ll go along fine. That’s Sassy by the way, and this is De.”
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Poot cannot stop staring at the mushrooms growing out of the elf’s shoulders. It makes his skin crawl, but he’s absolutely fascinated with them.
“Excuse me, miss elf, can I ask about those mushrooms? How did you get them, and what do they do? The glowing is… unusual… but magnificent”
Poot isn’t great at social niceties.
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Shoo moves up with his gear. “Guess I’ll take the back then. I go by Shoo. Pleased to meet you.”
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@Captbnut
@Gungeon
Hansel looks overjoyed to see people heedlessly approach Yisun, though only those who remained behind would notice this, as he holds his tongue. He turns to Shoo and Salazar, and he seems well desposed.
“That was surprisingly painless. Some of Shikka’s pets can be quite spoiled. Usually aren’t so eager to hobnob with monsters and I end up forcing the decision. Nevermind about dropping your gear - follow me. Shoo, eh? And you are?” He gestures at Salazar.
Hansel leads both of you past the throng and out the gates. Waiting beside the road is a huge wagon reinforced with steel and drawn by a full six oxen. It’s practically a rolling watchtower, and some kind of pointy contraption is poking out of the top.
“This is my control tower. You’ll stow your bags in here, but you’ll spend most of your time investigating anything that makes me angry. Speaking of which, don’t bother the crone in the gearbox. Other than that we’ll learn the ropes on the move. Any questions?”
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@RossM
@Cokho
@IssiNoho77
As the three of you push through the bustling crowd, they seem to be quite stunned that you would simply approach the elf on the horse - perhaps there is something they know that you don’t, but in your experience Shikka-Rubutu employs and appreciates all kinds of people.
Yisun doesn’t react much to any of you, though the phosphorescent points become more and more active as you get closer. She examines you closely, and appears to be waiting for something to happen before she intends to speak.
As for you all, you experience an extremely strange sensation once you get within normal conversational distance. Though the air seemed clear - now it seems hazy. Your life feels like it’s being drawn out through your eyes, nose and mouth towards her.
Make a constitution saving throw!
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(a saving throw is a roll to resist some kind of effect. It’s a d20 roll, and you add the relevant modifier from the associated stat, and you would also add your proficiency bonus if your class is proficient in the particular saving throw)
Hey-o! First roll is best roll!
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For a moment, De and Poot can feel every organ in their body. Each one willingly giving up their energy and vitality to Yisun, their new master. They would not be killed, but every waking moment would be occupied in producing nutrients for their new host.
Yisun’s will becomes apparent to them.
“You are unlucky.” You experience her feelings, and they form words in your mind. “I am surprised Shikka did not warn you about me. I will reduce my drain to its lowest point, but I have no power to remove its effect. Perhaps Shikka -”
As quickly as your body gave over control, you feel the effect wear off. A cleansing power from within washes away Yisun’s corruption from every part of you, and Poot and De feel perfectly sane and whole. The experience is so totally wiped from your bodies, that it becomes difficult to even remember the dread you experienced a few seconds earlier.
Yisun speaks audibly, your minds no longer linked. “Shikka has already blessed you, I see.” She has a quiet, cold voice. “I am sure you have many questions. I will answer them as best I can as we ride.”
Moran experiences none of this - he merely coughs loudly and feels great. Yisun nods at him. “Keep up indeed.”
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I’ll post a map later tonight, the journey will be mostly open for you to explore when you are not on shifts protecting the front and rear of the caravan respectively.
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“Word to the wise folks, avoid the breakfast buffet meat. I ate that roll I made and I just had a really weird feeling, I’m not sure it was good”.
“Miss Yisun, how do you know Shikka?”
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