Stone Man Pass

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Graybeard
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Re: Stone Man Pass

Post by Graybeard »

"That -- sounds reasonable," Sister Rose said uncertainly. Truthfully, she didn't know much of the history of southern Veracia, other than that it wasn't where the Church of Luminosita had its roots; that was up north somewhere, lost in the shrouds of time. That, by itself, meant that there were probably all manner of weird cults down here before the One True Church (to the extent that the Orthodox people could claim that title) made it this far south. Miguel would probably know more about them, but he wasn't here to be consulted.

But Drusia was. It dawned on Rose that if the elves were as old as they were generally believed to be, they'd know everything about the pre-history of a place like this. Would their companion be forthcoming? Surely it couldn't hurt to try; at the very least, Rose had to agree with Lillith, this place was lacking some of the menace that they'd felt at Centoriel, or on Dead Man's Hill, or even at Leonish. In its own odd way, this place, and even this rather feral-looking statue, had a ... peaceful ... feel to it. If there was ever a time to ask about elven memories of a human place, this was probably it.

"Drusia, do you know any of the history of the religions that were here before us?" she asked, but almost before the question was framed, her attention was diverted to something up toward the pass, still a few miles away (amazing, how far you could see on a moonless light, far from civilization, after the storm cleared the air). Far above and beyond them, a light was moving, dancing, flickering. Someone was up there ... and whether it was the odd poet, the Stone Men, or Luminosita alone knew what, it was considerably more alive than this ancient statue was.
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Drusia
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Re: Stone Man Pass

Post by Drusia »

"Drusia, do you know any of the history of the religions that were here before us?" she asked, but almost before the question was framed, her attention was diverted to something up toward the pass, still a few miles away (amazing, how far you could see on a moonless light, far from civilization, after the storm cleared the air). Far above and beyond them, a light was moving, dancing, flickering. Someone was up there ... and whether it was the odd poet, the Stone Men, or Luminosita alone knew what, it was considerably more alive than this ancient statue was.

Rose's question takes me by surprise. "Huh?" I ask. "No, sorry, I have no idea. I've never been very interested in religion, human, elven, or otherwise." I shrug.

I keep my eyes on the strange lights. I hate not knowing what the hell is going on. Makes me nervous. I can deal with what I know, but the unknown... well.

"The statues might be dwarven make... I can't be sure." Never was good at art history. "Sorry. I wish I knew more. But, to be honest, this is sort of freaking me out too." I look up at the lights again. That crazy man made me nervous, and this isn't helping.

-- Drusia
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Drannin
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Re: Stone Man Pass

Post by Drannin »

Argus walked over to the statue and put his hand on it. He shivered. "Excellent craftmanship to have survived so well for so long... and you can almost feel something here. Maybe it's just because of my magical specialty, but there's a lot of history stored up in this thing... I can almost feel it." Argus shook his head. He was repeating himself. But he had found that certain objects built up a... presence over time. Something unidentifiable, but no less there.

This statue had roughly as much presence as the sun. Kind of sad to see it abandoned...
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Re: Stone Man Pass

Post by Graybeard »

[OOC: The following DID NOT occur at this point, but I couldn't resist at least mentioning it...]

In response to Argus' touch, without moving its lips, or anything else, the statue emitted a curiously high-pitched squeak ...

"Ooh! That tickles!"

All of the watchers gasped ... except one. Sister Rose, at the back of the group, was doing everything in her power to disguise an impish grin. First time I've used a Ventriloquism spell since I was a little girl, and I'm going to catch hell for it ... but it was worth it.

[OOC: I repeat, that did NOT happen; Rose would never actually do such a thing... but still ...]
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Sareth
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Re: Stone Man Pass

Post by Sareth »

[OOC]Laughing my ass off. That would be hilarious![/OOC]

Lillith smiled up at Argus. "Of course you can. The spirits are strong in this one." She gave a respectful nod to the statue as she rose. "They've seen a lot, and they have had company for a long..." She paused and cocked her head. "Is that a fire?"
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Drannin
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Re: Stone Man Pass

Post by Drannin »

(OOC: Argus would be shitting himself if something like that happened... and then have harsh words with Sister Rose XD )

Argus looked up at the flickering shape on the mountain. "Maybe a torch. Seems fairly mobile."
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Re: Stone Man Pass

Post by Graybeard »

The stone visage caused Sister Rose just a brief moment of playful mental scheming, but she quickly fought it down; she'd worked hard to maintain the trust of father and daughter, and she wasn't going to jeopardize it now. It would have been so much fun, though... Truthfully, the expression on this statue looked like it could probably benefit from a little tickling. The style certainly wasn't anything she recognized from either the Veracian art she'd seen, or for that matter, that book on elven art she'd surreptitiously read in the Heretic Knowledge Vault. It looked strange and brooding, in an oddly stylized way. Might this kind of thing have had some connections to the primitive art of the Southern Continent? She briefly wondered, and wished once again that Miguel was still with them; he'd surely know. On the other hand, if it was similar to something from his far-off youth, he might find it painful to look at the thing ... so perhaps it was just as well that he wasn't here.

She started to say something to Argus, but as she looked past his head and up the hill to the pass, she noticed that the light up there winked out suddenly. That left no doubt: someone was up there, doing something, Luminosita knew what. Under the circumstances, it would probably be best to conclude that they had company ... and that the company couldn't be relied on to be as benign as the eccentric poet.

"I think it would be a good idea for us to stand watch tonight, in rotating shifts," she said. "I don't know why, but that activity up the gulch from us makes me uneasy. Darkness falls fast in the mountains, so we'd better arrange our shifts and get settled in for the night. I think we should stand watch in pairs; who wants the first one?"
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Sareth
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Re: Stone Man Pass

Post by Sareth »

"I can." Lillith smiled. "It will give me time to commune a little longer. It's peaceful here."
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Re: Stone Man Pass

Post by Graybeard »

Brad's eyes got big. "Then I will --" He paused, noticing gentle but firm pressure on his arm.

"Take the second shift," Sister Rose finished the sentence as she released him. "It'll be for the best, since it's important when you're on watch to have your attention on what's beyond the camp. We wouldn't want you to be, ah, distracted, would we?" She smiled, but her look brooked no argument.

Abashed, Brad subsided, but now Rose fielded an inquiry from an unexpected quarter as Kim spoke up, still in a tentative voice. "Should I take a -- shift?"

Rose was glad to hear that. First complete sentence she's spoken since she's been with us. Maybe she's getting more comfortable -- one can hope, anyway. "That's very kind of you," she smiled, "but why don't you just turn in early and get some rest? You look like you could use a good night's sleep, and we can always get you if we need you." The girl nodded, produced a shy smile, headed for the tent, chose a sleeping bag, and was asleep within seconds.

Rose turned to Drusia. "I'll take the last one; I want to be up early for some religious things anyway. Would you stand that watch with me? I think we have some things to talk about."
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Drusia
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Re: Stone Man Pass

Post by Drusia »

Rose turned to Drusia. "I'll take the last one; I want to be up early for some religious things anyway. Would you stand that watch with me? I think we have some things to talk about."

"Sure, I'll keep you company," I tell her.

Hm. But I'll keep myself company first. Heh heh, I finally get to try the spell out myself. All I need now is a little privacy....

"Just wake me when its time," I add, heading off to find myself a nice, quiet spot to sleep.

-- Drusia

OOC: Heh, I was a little vague there about camp, since I thought Maudin already set it up, but in recent posts it sounded like there was more to do. Unless that was refering to dinner... anyway, just assume whatever is easiest.
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