Getsemiel

As we play, occasionally we'll close a thread and open a new one to keep the size of threads (and relative complexity) down to a dull roar. Here's where we store the closed posts from the history of Errant Road.
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Alberich
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Re: Getsemiel

Post by Alberich »

While he slept off the prior day's exertions, Tim dreamt a fearful dream, of a slow, strong lizard that lumbered along on two legs, armed with an obsidian knife, and pursuing a bold but unarmed human officer, who must devise his weapons through his wits. Still he did not wake.
Porcelain Fish
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Re: Getsemiel

Post by Porcelain Fish »

The air was just slightly on the cool side, though he was starting to warm up. Bryce moved with the steady pace ingrained by long habit in the army, breathing easy and regular, muscles moving mostly on autopilot. His mind was still with a pair of hazel eyes and light brown curly hair in a tent, keeping company with a pair of soft lips and a warm smile.

He kept finding new layers to Maduin, one mask replacing another, a mystery that in truth, excited him, even as it made him just a little bit cautious. What looked like a still, shallow pool held depths that might well go for miles. He wondered how long it would take to find the bottom, or if there even was one. That thought didn't bother him. He planned to take his time exploring those depths. Maybe this time . . .

A low hum caught his attention, almost a drone, and Bryce lifted his head, brow furrowing as he caught sight of the airship in the distance.

It had a lean look about it, long, with trailing fins at bow and aft, the sterncastle a low, long mound at the rear, no old gas bag or balloon like the old Veracian dirigibles, sleek and aerodynamic, something predatory about it. It looked like it could go fast if it wanted to, but for the moment it was inclined to take its time. He watched it move. If he guessed its direction correctly, it seemed to be headed for Getsemiel.

Bryce smiled faintly. Maybe if it made berth, Maduin might take an interest in seeing it. Bryce's lips quirked after a moment. Hell, he might know the model and who built it if another facet was just waiting to be discovered.
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Drannin
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Re: Getsemiel

Post by Drannin »

Argus staggered out of the tent, yawning. "G'fmorming," he slurred, wiping the sleep from his eyes. "D'nt spose there's eny coffee?" He wiped the sleep from his eyes and gazed up at the sky, noticed a large shadow just dipping over the horizon. What in the nine hells was that? he wondered, and turned around to see if anyone else had noticed it.

Then he saw Rose.

Oh, Lord, did he see Rose.

It was, he reflected, once his brain had kick-started again, a very nice look for her. At the moment, he simply closed his slack jaw and coughed. "Uh, new look? It looks very nice. Very nice."
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Graybeard
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Re: Getsemiel

Post by Graybeard »

"Thank you," Sister Rose smiled, trying (not altogether successfully) to resist the temptation to bat her eyes. "It's just a temporary thing, to help when we meet up with the Calfornicans. To them, image is everything." Her smile widened, and she got that impish look on her face. "Speaking of which, I'd have to say that you look quite handsome this morning, I'd even say dashing." She patted Argus gently on the cheek. "Coffee will be ready in a minute."

As much as she was enjoying the flirting (and hoped that, before too long, there'd be a little more to it than that...), the "mission" corner of Rose's mind was trying to get a word in edgewise. She'd seen the shadow in the sky too, clearly enough to identify it as an airship, although not to be able to tell whether it was one of the Veracian military's or not. She very much hoped it was; maybe Bernie had managed to pull some strings. Emerylon didn't like sending airships out into the rural, less -- modern districts of Veracia. There were too many people who'd think it was a dragon or a demon or worse, and create a ruckus that required priestly action to calm down. At times like this, though, an airship would come in handy. With luck they'd have someone aboard who could lock down Father Blaise once they found him and take him back north. That would be good; Rose didn't really want to deal with such a man for ten seconds longer than duty absolutely required.

But if it's not one of ours ... then whose is it? Well, we'll cross that bridge when we get to it, she thought as she handed Argus a steaming mug of coffee and sat down beside him.

------------

There, in the distance, there was movement on the road, the woman thought. It seemed to be going the wrong direction, though, and it was just one person. That was odd. Single travelers just didn't camp up in these mountains, and then get up at oh-dark-thirty to start running down the road toward the plains. She rummaged in her pack for field glasses, lamenting the fact that Tommy seemed to have had all of the magical aptitude in the family, so that she couldn't enhance her vision magically, the way the Tsuirakuan devils were reputed to do. (It never occurred to her to consider that the ability to tame and train a Gornch lizard might take a bit of magical aptitude too.) Finding what she was looking for, she squinted at the figure a half mile away or more ...

Ah. The people she'd talked to in Umbertiel had told her that the murderer was traveling in the company of a large, red-headed Veracian soldier, just like the man jogging on the road. They'd called him all sorts of disagreeable names, of course, and in a different time, she'd have signed up for those views. At the moment, however, she didn't view the man as a member of a couple contrary to Luminosita's laws and normal decency; she simply saw him as an indication that the man she sought was in the vicinity.

And also as potential bait.

Using the magical power to speak to animals that she would never have admitted to having, she gave the huge lizard a single, one-word command.

"Fetch."
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Alberich
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Re: Getsemiel

Post by Alberich »

With a predatory grimace, she watched her lizard as it scampered towards her quarry. Unthinking, she waved a hand before her nose. The wind had shifted and the air smelled awful - but she didn't ask herself why.

And then a huge, ungainly form stepped out of the trees, right where the Gornch lizard was passing. Desiree called it an Athach and Timothy called it "ugly" but this woman would have to call it "unwelcome."

Who could say what had called it into this world? The thrice-forbidden lust of a young priest with magical aptitude? The unsatisfied yearnings and jealousies of an entire expedition? A hostile force they could not identify? Or some strangeness of the world no one understood? Whatever - it had appeared with the absolute need to sate its lust, but it had been frozen by Desiree's sorcerous sexual fascination, a desire stronger and more subtle than the kind it knew, and it had been robbed of its prey. All through the night it had wandered, following its usual compass, led astray by its usual accuracy...

The deer had been too swift to catch, the squirrels too small to be of use. But here, now, was a living animal, quite large enough. (Large enough too to survive the encounter, a matter of indifference to the Athach.) Two mighty arms seized the lizard's rear legs. A third pulled its tail aside. And with a grunt and a heave, the monster began a singularly rude Act, such as the scaly beast had never experienced. The Gornch's eyes and mouth opened wider than ever they had, and its head thrashed back and forth as it scream-hissed in moderate pain and extreme surprise. Both Bryce and the Mystery Woman saw a sight they would never forget, though they lived as long as elves.

They did not know it, but this monster would not last long, whatever they did. Satisfaction would banish it from this world. But completion had not been reached, and after a moment of stunned fascination, the two watchers were free to act.

[OOC: I had to. I just had to. You know how it is, when you have to do things. Say, is a Gornch a subspecies of the Goanna?]
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Graybeard
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Re: Getsemiel

Post by Graybeard »

[OOC: Sister Rose will wait patiently at camp while everyone else wakes up, but the ... unexpected ... twist out in the foothills needs to be dealt with, so:]

The heavily armed woman watched, open-mouthed, as the improbable monster ... engaged ... the lizard.

At the very least, the element of surprise was lost; she could see the still-distant jogger stop to stare at the spectacle as well. That really only left one option: call off the abduction and start over, using some other plan to lure the Tsuirakuan devil out. She rallied her strength (not realizing that she was gathering magic in the process) and bellowed a one-word command to the Gornch lizard (which, she failed to consider, the Athach could hear too): "COME!!"

Hmmm. On reflection, that probably wasn't the best thing to have said, either.
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Alberich
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Re: Getsemiel

Post by Alberich »

...then again, maybe it was. The lizard thrashed as it struggled to obey its orders. The Athach ignored all that as it obeyed its one overpowering imperative.

Then with a bestial howl it achieved satisfaction. It let go with all three hands and arched its back in ecstasy. And sublimated all at once into sickening, pungent vapor. Now the lizard was free to get its head turned around, and to trot back its mistress' way. Its rear legs were further apart than before, and its gait was a little more ginger, but in time it made it back.
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Sareth
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Re: Getsemiel

Post by Sareth »

[OOC]GROAN[/OOC]

"I'll get father's coffee. I was hoping to talk with him a bit anyway." Lillith walked over to the fire to finish adding the grounds to some hot water. Stirring it to get a thorough mixing she soon could smell the eye popping aroma of coffee. She poured a cup and then walked over to Argus. "Here you go."

Argus took the cup and eagerly began to sip, life returning to his eyes at the speed of java. He smiled his appreciation to Lillith as he wrapped his hands around the cup and breathed in the smell.

"Father," Lillith asked quietly, out of earshot. "So when are you going to get serious about Rose?"
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Drusia
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Re: Getsemiel

Post by Drusia »

OOC: Yeah... I think Desiree is going to sleep a bit longer.

Oh, and if anyone is curious what an Athach looks like (with it's pants on - image worksafe, assuming three-armed monsters are worksafe).

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QcRgY9LXYrU/T ... Athach.png

Oh, and if we have any other tabletop gamers in the house, it's stats:

http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/addi ... ml#_athach
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Drannin
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Re: Getsemiel

Post by Drannin »

Argus took a deep sip of his coffee and sighed. With a quick glance at Rose, he opened a mental connection to Lillith, so that no one could overhear them. <"I don't know. All right? I just don't know. I'm not a fool. I see the signs she's giving me, and damned if I don't feel something really damned strong in return. It's just..."> Argus winced.

<"For one, I've never been good at this stuff. For another... as much as I...care about Rose..."> and there, it was finally out in the open, <"It's just so hard to really let go, to really say goodbye to Cirella. I just keep thinking about her at odd moment... then find myself thinking about Rose and everything gets all screwed up inside!"> Argus realized that his mind-speech was getting frustrated and took a deep breath to calm himself, distantly wondering if he said a little too much.
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