Southern Continent: Picking Up The Pieces

For in-universe game play. Journey through both familiar and foreign settings, explore lost ruins and forgotten cities, and try to bring light to the darkness of the world... or, you know, blow stuff up. Either way.
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Jack Rothwell
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Re: Southern Continent: Picking Up The Pieces

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Alleece giggled at Thurston's sudden rainbow plumage so hard that it jolted Tamina upright with an indignant noise. The mage opened a sleepy eye and join in her friend's merriment.

"It's ok Thurston." Alleece managed. "You're just looking a little tropical is all. No sudden ideas about conquering the world I hope?"

They were joined at that moment by the rest of the kobold clan who'd manged to pry themselves away from the enthusiastic ghob celebration. Riiki let out a sigh.

"Taking almost all credit for himself that one." He muttered, nodding at Bashiir. "They told us we're welcome back any time though."

"Well they're a lot friendlier than the Uran tribe that's for sure." Oolan added. "I suppose we should be getting back?"

Tamina nodded, obviously not happy about the idea but there was no avoiding the inevitable. She, regretfully, got off her Alleece-pillow and pushed herself to her feet.

"We could probably ask for some hot food and cold water to go if anyone wants it." She said. "Otherwise, let's get back to the lion's den."

How apt those words would be would soon become clear.

OOC I'll do a follow up post in a day or two if you've nothing to add in the meantime. How would a megalomaniac parrot familiar go about conquering the world anyway? :D /OOC
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Re: Southern Continent: Picking Up The Pieces

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[OOC: Just a little thing, then over to you to plot our next encounter...]

Getting the hint, Thurston flew over to where Rip was standing in amazement, and lit on his boss' shoulder. Rip made a face, and without a word, pulled the cigar out of the parrot's beak and snuffed it out, earning a reproachful look from the selfsame parrot. He'd find a way to "lose" the malodorous thing somewhere before they got back to town.

For now, he simply looked around the jungle beyond the entrance to the Ghob town, and shook his head. A technicolor parrot was going to stand out in a green jungle like a sore thumb. For mating, that might not be a bad thing. Thurston, of course, had already succeeded in that, and now the high-priority task switched to "don't get eaten." For that, being flamboyantly conspicuous was a bad thing. Even worse, it might draw a predator's attention to the shoulder that said conspicuous parrot was riding on. That was a very bad thing. Thurston, being a familiar, would regenerate if there was anything left of him after a predator's attack. Rip was not so invulnerable.

"Hey, featherbag, time for you to earn your keep," Rip said, shaking his shoulders to dislodge their burden. "How about you gain some altitude, fly ahead, conduct some reconnaissance?"

Thurston glared at him. "RRAAAWK. How about you ..." But he didn't finish the sentence, merely becoming airborne and doing as he was told.
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Re: Southern Continent: Picking Up The Pieces

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The jungle seemed relatively quiet from the familiar's aerial viewpoint once the ghob village had dropped out of sight. The parrot spotted a few hulking forms of dropla hunched over a stream but they were the only sizeable wildlife worth commenting on. On the ground the party was making good time on their march back to the kobold city. Despite her recent exertions Tamina had positioned herself at the front of the party near Rip and Alleece; her spirits lifted at the prospect of being rid of Braccus Uran's tributes and wandering eyes for a calendar year. Her reverie was broken by her best friend pressing something into her hand.

"Eat this."

Tamina looked down at the brown coloured oblong.

"What is it?"

"Some kind of ghob cake." Alleece explained. "I figured you'd need the sugar so I grabbed a few before we left."

Tamina, reluctantly, began munching as the younger kobold offered some insight to her human companion.

"Kobold magic utilizes physical as well as magical energy." She said. "The way our old Elder told it is Killikah tend to have less mana than other races so the spells Tammy learned were created to compensate for that. Hence her habit of occasionally collapsing after exerting herself."

"That *nom* hardly ever happens."

"Like Hells it doesn't. But I also know enough about my girl to know she's dying to learn more about human magic too. Do your people carry around spellbooks like those wizards in fantasy novels? You got any specialities? What about your magic parrot?"

Near the back of the group Oolan was trying her best again to put the charms on the enormous Shorty.

"Noticed you blushing at what Alleece said about food back at the village. Sorry about her: she's always had a very direct way of speaking. Do you... umm... have a favourite dish? I haven't cooked for anyone in a while. Maybe I could... err... make it for you?""


OOC Will the poor Oolan ever earn Shorty's love? :D /OOC
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Re: Southern Continent: Picking Up The Pieces

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[OOC: OK, time to throw Oolan a bone. ;) If you don't recall the specifics of a Gornch lizard -- btw, extra credit if you know where this name comes from, I didn't invent it -- it's in the Cavalcade of Creepy-Crawlies, which contains a link to where it first appeared in Errant Road, a very long time ago.]

Rip, who was too busy lecturing on magic [OOC: I'll write this later today] to overhear the exchange between Shorty and Oolan, had long suspected the huge man might be part crocodile, or part anaconda, or some such: he could go for a long time eating only inexplicably tiny meals, but every so often, he would devour an enormous quantity of food at one sitting. He hadn't had such a sitting for a while now, and even though he'd just completed a typically minuscule meal, his eyes lit up at the prospect of a serious pig-out.

"HHHmmm, that would be great!" he said to Oolan, his usual soft voice having a little more oomph in it at the thought. "I remember, when we were raiding in the Northern Confederacy --" (he would normally have used a euphemism, but his mind was elsewhere at the moment) "-- we got hold of this one stash of meat that our cook made a stew out of. Best thing I ever had in my life, which was weird because he was a lousy cook. Veggies were nothing special, but the meat ... MMMmmmm ..." His eyes defocused at the memory. "He said it came from down here on the Southern Continent. Something called a Gornch lizard, fifteen or twenty feet long, six legs so there were lots of things to roast on the bone before it went into the stew. Damn, that was good ..."

It was also more than slightly illegal [OOC: see the Cavalcade entry and the link there for more about that], but that didn't matter to a band of airship pirates, of course.
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Re: Southern Continent: Picking Up The Pieces

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[OOC: Part 2, in response to Alleece's questions:]

For a while, Rip the Airship Pirate turned back into Professor Rupert Ricordiel, Lecturer in Thaumatic Sociology at the community college [OOC: or Tsuirakuan equivalent -- we don't really know much about their educational system] in Tsuirakushiti that he'd left behind.

"Can't tell you much about Thurston, except that he's a familiar," he said. "I know that familiars are grown in special facilities that combine natural templates with thaumatic engineering, but I don't know how that all works. I just picked him up from a supplier about ten years ago. Parrot familiars are fairly common, standard designs. So are cat familiars, but they tend to have personality problems." He snickered at that; more abrasive personalities than Thurston? That was a thought.

"As for your other questions," he went on, "we study magic for a long time, starting as soon as we show any aptitude for it at all, usually as young kids of ten or even younger." Another snicker. "Me, I got caught trying to put a -- magically enhanced frog down my sister's back when I was about that age, and once I recovered from the spanking I got, the magic teaching started. Ah, warm memories." He hadn't seen that sister in more than ten years, but it was probably just as well. "So there's really no need for us to have spellbooks. We just know the standard stuff from an early age if we have any aptitude, and learn how to use magical gadgets if we don't. By the time we finish school, those are all pretty automatic.

"When it comes to specialization, most people get out of school at eighteen or so with a broad, unspecialized, general acquaintance with magic, and that's it. Some go straight into the military from there, become Touroku, Seishou, Mekani, Kouken, Kado, or Heliomancers." (Alleece's eyes were glazing over at this jargon, but Rip was in full-blown lecturer mode and didn't seem to notice.) "All but Heliomancers get specialized magical training as soon as they sign up, and that's it. Heliomancers are the elite, and they don't start their specialties until they've come up through the ranks or been to grad school. They're ... different." He rolled his eyes at that one before continuing.

"There are academic specialties too. "Obfuscation ... Conjuration ... Divination ... Inorganic Manipulation ..." Alleece was getting downright glassy-eyed by now, but Rip kept going. "... Mind Magic ... Healing, of course, there's a whole six-year curriculum on that ... Thaumatic Engineering ..."

He was still going in this vein when there was a squawk from overhead; Thurston had noticed something.

[OOC: What? I have no idea, but I assume you do ... and this is getting tedious to write.]
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Re: Southern Continent: Picking Up The Pieces

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What Thurston noticed was a patrol of Uran's warriors marching with a discipline that wouldn't have looked out of place in a military training ground. Rip, Shorty and Oolan recognised one of the kobolds from earlier in the day during that uncomfortable harassment episode during their visit to Urannia.

"Chief sends his regards." Their leader said. "He says you are to have an escort back to the village."

His eyes lingered on Tamina for a moment longer than was strictly necessary.

"He looks forward to your report with great interest."

The mage and Alleece exchanged looks, but made no reply.

OOC Just a short one to get the ball rolling again. Sorry man. Just wanted to have a few idle moments for the group to recover from their recent exertions. Didn't mean to bore you. :( /OOC
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Re: Southern Continent: Picking Up The Pieces

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[OOC: Oops. I didn't mean the stuff with the Ghob was getting tedious; that's all fine. I meant I was finding Rip himself tedious, with the thaumatic mumbo-jumbo he was bombarding the unsuspecting Alleece with. :roll: Sorry if I gave offense; that wasn't the intention. So forward, march ... reluctantly on some parts, as will be seen.]

<"Can we take them?"> Shorty's voice sounded in Rip's mind, to his immense surprise; he didn't know his friend was capable of mind-speech. The few times they'd "spoken" telepathically, Rip had done all the "talking." He wondered what other capabilities the big man had that he didn't know about.

Combat magic wasn't one of Rip's strengths, but of course, anyone from Sashi Mu, where he'd done his D.Thm., would be exposed to it, and also to basic military theory through the obligatory pre-battlemage class. He took a quick look around, trying to look inoffensive. The decision was quick. <"No, or at least not without casualties of our own, which we don't want. They're too disciplined. If it was a mob, maybe."> That was about all he could get out without showing fatigue; mind magic wasn't a specialty of his either.

<"Didn't think so,"> Shorty mind-replied, and that was that. The group marched on ... but Rip could see that his large friend was not liking the way the leader was looking at Tamina.
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Re: Southern Continent: Picking Up The Pieces

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The trip back to the village was concluded swiftly at the militaristic pace being set by the group's 'escort'. Tamina had been guided, although gently, to the front of the group of the procession and now stood flanked by a pair of the bigger Draalshin.

"<Right!>" Said the familiar thug of the group. "<We'll take you up the stairs to Braccus' hut, Killikah gah. He told us he'd need to see you as soon as you returned.>"

"<I should go with you too.>" Alleece said, unable to keep an edge out of her voice. "<I may have information Tamina missed.>"

"<Me too.>" That was Riiki. "<We split up to deal with the Chittoricks. Tamina didn't see everything. All of us might have something interesting to say.>"

"<Don't people just talk to each other any more?" The Draalshin sighed, and then in human speak. "I tell you what. You." He pointed at Alleece. "And you." At Riiki. "And one other can come and make your report to Braccus. No more."

"Any funny business and you'll find out what it's like to fly from the treetops with a spear through your back." One of the guards added.

OOC I was originally going to just have Tamina for this meeting. But I think giving one of the non-kobolds a chance to meet the Tribal Chief might prove interesting.../OOC
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Re: Southern Continent: Picking Up The Pieces

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[OOC: Not sure whether what Thurston is going to do here is consistent with your view of the kobold city. If not, a simple retcon will be proposed at the end of this. One or the other will surely work. So:]

"Relax, I'm on it," Shorty said, shrugging his massive shoulders and surprising Rip -- surprising, and pleasing. It made sense, Rip thought; the kobolds seemed to place inordinate value on size and being physically imposing. Shorty dodged through the group to join the two chosen ones [OOC: sic...} -- which, among other things, gave time and cover for Thurston to edge closer to Rip's ear.

"I'm feeling a little too conspicuous here," the parrot sort-of-whispered in one of the languages of the Northern Confederacy that Rip also spoke, not well, but well enough. "Cast a Sticky on me, okay?" Puzzled, Rip complied; that was one of the spells he used often enough in his airship-pirate role as a fix-it guy. "Be back shortly," Thurston said, and he became airborne.

At first, Rip didn't have a clue what his familiar was intending. (That was just as well; he couldn't be sweated out of knowledge that he didn't have.) Thurston, however, knew exactly what he was doing, Once he'd gained some altitude, he arrowed toward the sooty smoke plume that was rising from one of the village's buildings.

When he came back, he would look not like the kaleidoscopic color display that he'd been ever since that drink at the Ghob village; but rather, like a jet-black, utterly unremarkable -- and therefore anonymous -- crow.

[OOC: Or a gray pigeon covered with fireplace ash, if the kobolds don't have technology yet for producing black smoke. Either way works, but the crow has more style ...]
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Re: Southern Continent: Picking Up The Pieces

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OOC Just a quick one to show I'm back to regular posting./OOC

The trip up the trunk to the chief's hut was short and silent. Alleece could feeling the nervousness radiating off her fellow clanswoman like a heatwave. Understandable, given she was the only member of the Nallaki tribe who'd met the man. She whispered sidemouth to her companion.

"<Relax. We did everything he asked for. I'm sure he'll be pleased.>"

"<That assumes he's a reasonable kobold.>" Tamina replied. "<I have a bad feeling about this.>"

They were ushered into the same waiting area the mage had been in the last time she'd visited. A different receptionist (for want of a better term) was planted behind the oversized desk as the group was directed to the chairs that lined the entrance hall's walls.

"Please wait here." The new kobold said, and in perfect human speak. "Braccus is presently occupied."

As the group sat down they could hear a pair of muffled gasps which left no mystery as to exactly what 'business' the tribal leader was currently wrapped up in. Riiki looked wistful, Tamina and Alleece repressed shudders.

"Try not to look too threatening." Tamina murmered to Shorty. "A big man like you might invite a challenge from someone like Chief Uran."

"Would you care for some refreshments?" The receptionist queried. "We have water, graff, fruit punch?"
Last edited by Jack Rothwell on April 10th, 2021, 4:39 am, edited 1 time in total.
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