A New Life (PbP Game)

by **Raigne** » Tue Jul 28, 2009 7:18 pm

Raigne had been a little floored by the revelation. D&D? I need to quit playing it so damn much...

After they had left the long house, an elderly man and a young woman had approached her. They gestured for her to follow them, and led her to a small building, close to the gate they had come through when they arrived at the town. The first floor had two rooms, a large living area and a small kitchen. The first thing Raigne saw was a cot in front of the fireplace in the main room, and she suddenly realized how tired she felt. The woman saw her looking longingly at the cot, and pointed to a ladder leading up through a trap door in the ceiling. She followed her up and found two cots similar to the one below. The woman indicated one to her and then went back down the ladder. That was the end of the first night.

Over the next few weeks she learned more about the man and the woman, the town she found herself in, and role she was to take in it. The man was named Habin, and the woman was Aewa. They were the father and sister of the woman who had sacrificed herself for the ritual, so that Raigne had a body in this place. The woman's name had been Vernae. She was a bard. Aewa was slightly younger than Vernae was, both were just barely old enough to be considered adults by elven standards. Their mother had died long ago. There had been seven daughters altogether, but five had died defending the tree, and when winter began to encroach on the town and resources became scarce, they had moved to a smaller home. There were similar stories elsewhere around the town. Most everyone had lost someone during the attack, it seemed.

When she began her apprenticeship as a wizard, she began to realize that she wasn't dreaming. Or at least, it was far less likely. The words on the pages did not shift or change. They looked the same every time she flipped the pages back and forth. The sentences formed were coherent, once she knew how to read them. She had rapidly learned enough common to function and even understood a few jokes some of the people she saw made, and was doing pretty well with elvish, though some frequently used words still gave her a bit of trouble, often with slightly embarrassing results.

Her tutor in the arcane arts was a woman named Naelis, who didn't look much older than Vernae and Aewa did. It was hard to pin down age by appearance with elves. She certainly wasn't the cliche wizened old mage. She had helped coach Raigne in the languages of the people here, and supplied her with books for the first and second weeks. She seemed pleased with how easily Raigne learned new things and how she all but devoured everything she was given to study, and soon she was given free access to Naelis's nonmagical library and began studying the magical ones with supervision.

At home, she had stepped into the role Vernae had served. Early in the morning she went into the forest to the south of the town with Aewa. At first she couldn't do much, since she didn't know where Aewa's traps were placed or how to set her own, or even where to put them, and Aewa had been distant and seemed burdened by the dead weight. Raigne's eagerness to learn, as well as the reduced language barrier, finally provided the encouragement for Aewa to teach her about the fauna in the area and how to track the animals they sought. Habin was a tanner, and he brought the skins Aewa and Vernae collected with him to a shop toward the center of the village every day, where he worked them until they were ready to be sold to the armorsmith. They couldn't produce as much with Vernae gone, and Raigne very much wanted to help offset the cost to the family. When she and Aewa returned with their kills, if there were any, Aewa would set to work skinning them, and Raigne would head off to study with Naelis.

She would return home in the afternoon, her pack loaded with books, and help Aewa with whatever chores needed to be done. If nothing was needed, she would read in front of the fire, often until long after dark, stopping only to eat supper. It was from these books that she learned about the people in the town, the tree and the crystal, and that the goddess who had brought her here was named Ehlonna. This seemed to confirm that this was indeed a world based on Dungeons and Dragons, but nothing in the books she read indicated what campaign setting it might be. Since nothing seemed to resemble Greyhawk, she assumed that meant that if the world was bound by editions, this was third edition. She followed more or less the same pattern each day for most of the month after her arrival. She became close to both Habin and Aewa. She tried to ignore the sad looks in their eyes when she shared a joke, or spoke animatedly about something they were interested in, and they remembered that she wasn't Vernae.

Toward the end of the third week, her schedule changed slightly. She had mastered her spells well enough to practice at home without setting the house on fire, and Aewa came out to watch. That night, over supper, Aewa mentioned that the way Raigne cast her spells was very much like the way Vernae did, down to her stance, the lilt in her voice, and the flourish of her hands. Aewa was comforted by the familiarity, and remembered hunting with Raigne. This made Raigne curious about the studded leather armor she wore into the woods each day. It had been Vernae's. Could she cast a spell in it without it failing? She brought it with her to the spire, where she could better test her theory. She still failed to cast 1 out of every 10 times, but this was more successful than should be possible in studded leather. Perhaps if she practiced, she would be able to figure out how to reduce the penalty further? She asked Aewa to introduce her to some of Vernae's friends, and anyone who might have taught her magic. Then she had them watch her cast and try and spot differences from how Vernae casted. With their help, and more trial and error, she was able to cast her spells successfully every time. She wasn't sure if she had eliminated the penalty for casting or if she had simply reduced it so much that the chance of spell failure only appeared to have been eliminated, but whichever it was, by the end of the fourth week, she could cast with the assurance that her spells would succeed.

by **chrono** » Wed Jul 29, 2009 6:21 am

Chrono barely flinched at the mention of DnD. He was still for a moment, then as the avatar turned around he jumped up and down waving his hands: "Um, excuse me...". It looked almost as if a lost tourist was trying to attract the attention of an absent-minded local. As the avatar didn't turn, Chrono didn't insist and sagged a bit theatrically.

FIRST WEEK

As chrono met his "host family" he was polite, though he forgot their names almost immediately (by the end of the month he had learned them again through hearing them in use over and over). During the day he tried to learn Common as fast as possible, though it was out of necessity and he didn't show much enthusiasm. The only exception was during meals - chrono ate quickly and didn't ask questions (though he answered politely whenever asked). During his entire stay, Chrono gave the impression of an extremely active person, barely stopping to rest. Each day he studied Common (and later Elven) until his brain shut down, then went out and did physical exercise and weapon practice.

He ran, did push-ups, pull-ups and other strenuous exercise as he tried to buff up the strength of his newfound body. He had little success there, however he quickly learned what his physical limits were.

His very first reaction when offered to learn to fight was with a bastard sword. "Back where I come from I had some practice with the katana. It seems a lot more reasonable than starting from scratch and this weapon shouldn't be too much different." He gave up the bastard sword the second day - it seems that most of his katana training was muscle memory and this new body had none of it. After a short reflection he tried the longsword - after all, the elves should be pretty good with it and this body must have had reasonable practice. It was a very logical thought and to his surprise it was true. He spent most of the week's weapon training learning (or more precisely "remembering") the longsword - it felt intuitive pretty quickly and he was getting better at it each day.

When he was too exhausted to swing the sword, he tried his hand at other weapons, mainly archery and throwing daggers. He kept this practice up throughout his stay as he wanted to get a feel of a wide array of weapons - after all it would be a bummer to acquire a great weapon he can't use.

SECOND WEEK

Chrono had a good grip on the basics of Common and kept practicing - he found it easy to apply the words he learned (though comprehension was still tough). He also knew a few basic words in Elven, which at least to him sounded like a much more reasonable language. Or maybe it was the body speaking again.

He was getting reasonably good with the longsword and his strikes were getting precise and reasonably fast. Despite that, he had another change of mind about his weapon choice: "The longsword is a great weapon, but it's just too heavy for this body and I don't think I can really work past that in a reasonable amount of time. I also feel faster than I ever was, so maybe a lighter weapon will give me further advantage." So working his way down, he chose the short sword. Daggers were also an option, however he didn't seem short or shoeless enough to resort to those.

With a little practice Chrono could apply most of what he learned about the longsword to his short sword combat. However, the elves who were helping him train saw him struggle with the balance of the new weapon and showed him some pretty amazing elven techniques. This tutorial which was less than a day long was absolutely enlightening and it was a turning point in Chrono's martial training. Within a few days he got a feel for using his speed instead of his strength to overcome the enemy's defenses and land wounding blows. His parry skill was still pretty poor at that point.

THIRD WEEK

Chrono decreased his efforts in learning Common in favor of Elven, much to the delight of the elves who were teaching him.

By that point Chrono was pretty happy with his speed with the short sword. He was trying out more advanced techniques when an elf that he seldom spoke about pulled him to the side and spoke secretively (in Elven). Though Chrono didn't get all of what was being said, the man was obviously offering to teach him something which was dangerous, forbidden or frowned upon (Chrono wasn't sure which). The next day the two went a little further into the forest than normal. The elf started off with a breakdown of vital points starting from the head and ending almost at the toes. Chrono had already had this kind of instruction once, except last time it was about striking at them with bare hands and this time it was an instruction of where to stab. He was shown a few special thrusts and swings which went with each spot and the elf left him to practice. The next day they met again, this time practicing on a makeshift dummy.

FOURTH WEEK

By that time Chrono had a good grip on both Common and Elven and spent most of his time improving and polishing what he had already learned in the previous weeks. Much the same could be said for his weapon practice - although he tried pretty much all the weapons he could get a hold of, most of his time was spent on the short sword, often with his newfound tutor. There was still so much to learn - he didn't feel very comfortable with a shield (though a buckler was easier) and his attempts at fighting with two weapons were laughable. His tutor tried to show him some techniques for evading deadly attacks, but soon realized it was too soon and returned to more practical instructions. Those soon became lessons in lock-picking and tinkering and by the time Chrono was done with his training he had practiced picking many kinds of locks and had disassembled pretty much all mechanical devices in the village.

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

During his stay Chrono didn't actively seek the company of anybody in particular (including the others from the crash). Out of curiosity sometimes went and watched them train, but didn't hang out for more than 15 minutes. When they met occasionally he would ask how their training is going and if they stumbled upon anything of interest.

Spoiler: show

by **Cmdr I. Heartly Noah** » Wed Jul 29, 2009 5:53 pm

The first thing Noah wanted to do was learn to speak to these people, to do anything else first would only make things more difficult. So from the moment the group broke apart in the long house, he began trying to find anyone he could to teach him. (It would have been much easier if the Avatar had taught them, but she seemed pretty spent). For hours he pressed anyone he could, what do you call this, what do you call that? He used gestures and body language to communicate more complicated ideas, sometimes drawing pictures in the snow or anything he could think of. It was somewhat difficult at first, but he found his memory was a little sharper, which helped. As night fell and everyone began turning in, Noah was still not tired and bugged those on watch that night. Eventually he tried to go to sleep, but he couldn't. He really couldn't, and it was a very disturbing experience. Noah generally was not good at sitting still, so he spent that first sleepless night walking around the village, inspecting the magic greenery and talking to the few waking souls.

The next few days went much the same, Noah spent most of the day sitting and watching the people live their lives, constantly trying to talk to them about what they were doing, their families, etc, trying to get a grasp on the language. Some of the words were similar, and that helped; unfortunately some sounded like words he knew but were nothing like them in meaning, which sometimes got frustrating. At night, when everyone went to sleep, Noah would become more active to combat the restlessness and boredom; he'd walk or jog in the areas nearby, play in the snow (which was fun since he'd had so few chances as a kid, and now he didn't get cold), and practice what martial arts he knew. It was weird because he didn't get as tired as he should, and his muscles didn't get tight and feel bigger and stronger like they would. But he could still work on precision and execution, trying to kick the head off a snowman or hitting a certain part of a tree. And he would eventually get fatigued, but after sitting and talking to some villagers in the morning would feel completely rested. It was a little weird, but useful.

At times, Noah would try to fireball something or cast magic missile and attack the darkness, but nothing ever happened. He didn't know what magic should feel like. He had no idea how to do it. However, his grasp of the language was improving steadily, and his midnight exercise was becoming smoother and more automatic; with the safety of the snow, he began attempting backflips and handsprings, which he'd never done in real life. He began gathering rocks and practiced throwing them at different targets, and beating the crap out of dead trees; it didn't hurt like it would if he had his old body, so he could do it with full force, and he got used to having his kicks and punches stopped by a hard object.

He began to pick up Elvish words and asked some elves about their language. Apparently the form of the two languages was quite different, which was frustrating, but Elvish sounded lovely and its structure was actually surprisingly simple. As he became more comfortable with the human language, he used that to communicate while spending his days studying Elvish. He observed some of the villagers using spells; he attempted to mimic them but could not replicate the effect; he would match the gesture and word exactly (or so he thought), but to no avail. He couldn't feel the magic. He tried talking to some people about how to do it, but they couldn't explain it to him. Maybe it was the translation.

One night as he was off alone practicing his tae kwon do and capoeira basics, an elf woman approached him. She said nothing, even when he called out to her. For two nights she observed him, saying and doing nothing. On the third, she came up to him and adjusted his stance. She then stood off and watched again. The next day, she approached him while he was amid a group of villagers, talking, and stood silently just off of the group. She then turned and left without a word. Noah followed her. For the rest of that month, she trained him wordlessly, showing him a move or a stance, forcing him to balance on one leg for what seemed like an hour, throwing things at him for him to dodge or deflect, or just having him sit motionlessly for hours. This was the hardest thing at first, but after days, he began to relax. He realized his robot body didn't need to move constantly like his human one, so only his mind still urged him to stir.

He didn't notice at first; when she had some village kids help her throw objects at him, when it was hardest, he dodged the best. When he had balanced the longest, it became easier. Once when a rock seemed sure to hit him, it appeared to simply curve away from him. When she found him a sparring partner, he armed himself with a sword while Noah took a staff. Noah left himself open and the man cut a groove into his arm. The man apologized profusely, but Noah just put his hand on the wound. It hurt, sort of - not like it would have in his old body - but he felt a sort of pain, and he squeezed the arm reflexively. As his mentor returned with help, Noah removed the hand to show his arm had healed back up.

That night he had a new trainer; an older man approached him and spoke to him about using magic. That's what his mentor was sure had happened; Noah had been using magic, and the man wanted to help him learn to do it on purpose, to recognize when he was using it. Through a little exploration, they found Noah could move small objects with telekinesis (total Jedi stuff!), heal himself (but not others), and improve his reflexes, endurance, and inner strength. After speaking to him, the man also taught Noah how to wear someone out with a touch.

In his next sparring match, they put Noah against one of the village's best; he was clearly Noah's superior. He disarmed Noah, and attacked; flinching, Noah took the blow, but was unfazed; it seemed he had put up an extra barrier to protect himself. Dodging attack after attack, Noah couldn't get inside his opponent's reach. Seeing only once chance, he stepped into an attack and grabbed for his opponent's sword hand; grabbing it, he wearied his opponent, making his weapon too heavy to swing and leaving him open to be subdued by Noah.

by **Lothmar** » Thu Jul 30, 2009 12:53 am

'Great, Just bloody great... SO MANY UNANSWERED QUESTIONS!' He tried to retain his composure as long as he could until he finally broke down and started rubbing his hands violently through his hair. Thankfully he had placed his 'gift' into his clothing pockets, he was still too uncertain of what to choose and it annoyed him. Sitting in contemplation for a couple of minutes he was soon roused from his musing with a staff clack on the cobblestone next to him. It was an elven gentleman wearing fine linens and a fur coat who stood before him with an expression that was uncertain as his face stared off into the distance but after a few hand gestures he stood up and followed the man who never looked back at him.

They had only walked a short distance before he opened the door to what he assumed was the mans 'shop'. 'Probably the general store.' He thought to himself and found out later he was correct. The man finally turning to him gave him a quick examining glance and began slowly pacing with a bit of paper as he rambled off quick phrases in short bursts; He assumed he was setting some sort of 'rules' or trying to instruct him of something seeing as he occasionally pointed to different things and made momentary accompanying gestures. Every few moments he would look at him and give the same one word statement and he eventually realized he was asking him something along the lines of 'understand?' to which he would nod, mostly making assumptions. With a roll of his eyes the man handed him a blanket and a pillow and directed him to an old antique wooden bench in the store window before vanishing into the backrooms.

". . .Charming." He added dusting off the bench with quick swipes of his hand until he found it acceptable to lay down his blanket. He couldn't sleep easily that night and shivered as the air leaked out of the fireplace and windows, to which he eventually replied by getting up and moving a sizable piece of canvas in front of it to which he draped a couple of furs from one of the shelves to better insulate the room. He examined the trading post like shop for a while mainly due to insomnia and a sizable hunger the made itself known. Peeking around the downstairs he soon found a kitchen and pantry and began searching for something to eat without having to start the stove, but without a candle the activity was almost for naught and he eventually settled on some dry dusty cram and a handful of snow to wash it down with from outside. Still unable to find comfort or sleep he sat up on the bench and draped the blanket over his eyes and shoulders and wrapped his lower body up as best he could as his hands sat idly on his knees and he, zoned.

He didn't think he was worthy of calling the activity 'meditation', maybe reflection at best... Regardless there he sat facing out to the street sitting in front of a display window, contemplating various things that all seemed to vanish into the nothingness. Until a glare on the horizon threatened; And as he removed the blanket from his eyes he peered at a magnificient sunrise that warmed his hear and his body with its pleasing rays. "Ah dammit, I didn't sleep at all." He thought flopping back on the bench for a moment before shambling to his feet and making his way into the kitchen. At which point he began work by the morning light and found what was needed. After contemplation it appeared this man had a 'system' the way he had his various groceries displayed in the pantry, almost as if meal after meal, day after day had been planned. Uncertain what was next in the cycle he shrugged his shoulders and pulled out a few various goods and then began searching through the drawers for the proper utensils and after finding some flint and tinder out and a woodpile he began to build a fire in the stove.

Pausing to warm his hands his attention was soon drawn by a small crow from the back door. With a grin he opened the door and saw a wired in chicken house to which he was overjoyed. "Eggs!" He added in an excited manner as he removed the peg from the door and went to visit the chickens inside. It had been years though since he had gotten his own eggs and sometimes certain skills just aren't as easy as others to remember. He came away from the affair with only a meager four eggs and twice as many scratches. He prepared the table and was at the stove preparing some eggs and potatoes when his benefactor wandered in with a momentary annoyed look on his face. For a few minutes it seemed like he was going to lecture him but thankfully he understood it would do little good and he had meant no harm in the display and so the two ate breakfast. The elven man in his linen robes served a wonderful tea that went well with the bread and the two began having casual chatter, mainly explaining this and that to one another.

The two eventually settled into a pattern of exchanging breakfast detail every other day, each preparing new and interesting native dishes for the others; His herb work was fantastic by the way. Thankfully with such a shop it was easy to get creative with the spices and ingredients available. For the first few days he mainly stayed around the shop trying to be a good border, mainly listening in on exchanges and observing motions to try and get a good feel for what was what and soon was able to help more properly with a simple word and a motion he set off to fetch things from their various locations. The shop usually died down by the afternoon which was when the two would begin work of replacing product and crafting various goods. He soon found out that the local economy mainly broke down to three merchants, the general merchant and his keeper, the blacksmith and the apothecary, between these three gentleman they were able to fulfill most of this towns various requests.

He was surprised when he received a few coins at the end of the first week, he tried refusing them but his benefactor wouldn't have it, so he decided to do the next best thing... Purchase things from the store. So, if the world worked the same he spent his sunday on a private project. He prepared a large pot of simmering water and a smaller pot layered over top in which he melted some wax, while the wax melted he carefully cut up some leather strips and with some tongs he soaked them and after some trial he finally thought he had the process down. Unfortunately, it took him a lot longer then he thought and he wasted a bit of the resources so he didn't have nearly enough to make anything substantial like armor or clothing. So after thinking for a bit he finally figured out a good use for his best work. He stitched some of the pieces to a comfortable pair of gloves, stuffed it with some wool and stitched it up. Thus making a low quality but effective set of padded boxing gloves. "Nice, now I just need someone to spar with." He added jokingly as he examined the remaining strips of leather trying to decide on something. It was then he remembered an old trick from Highschool his coach once told him about after showing up to practice with bruises, sure it may have been a dirty trick but if he was going to be involved in major group scuffles he was going to play up his strengths. He slowly worked the leather strips around his hand and made sure they were taught before giving a few quick playful jabs at the air. He spotted the old scarecrow in the back garden vegetable patch, having seen little use in this snow and with nothing to watch over he seemed almost lonely. "So, you feeling lonely to 'eh Herbert?" He added nudging the scarecrow before going into self entertainment and paranoid mode and giving the stuffed figure a nice gracing strike across the head. The sack head split open and a few pieces of straw fell to the ground as he scrambled to nervously repair the handiwork. 'Still leaves a gash like I remember...' He thought with a smirk thinking of the scar he'd left on the cheek of his old highschool rival, Thomas McHenry.

After some negotiation he finally managed to obtain permission for some personal time during the day, he would receive afternoons off for whatever activities he thought were beneficial, however he was still supposed to help out in the mornings with chores and study during the evening. The second week was also somewhat filled with doubt but he at lest tried to be more proactive. He turned a lot of his chores into a general exercise routine to leave more time for specialized training, most of it having to do with understanding the new body. It felt like he could exert the same if not more physical force, yet somehow he lacked the sheer brute power of his previous size; true he was opposed to the idea of working smarter rather then harder but it seemed to become its own taxing obligation in and of itself from time to time. Wood chopping was his favorite activity, mainly because it was an activity that he could see a clear benefit in at night when he warmed his hands by a fire and read from atop the bench they had moved in front of the fire place from which he read various prints to the best of his abilities with his benefactor sitting a few feet away in a plush stuffed chair. It was on the second day of the second week while observing the sparring of two elves that he truly came into his own. Warming his hands in his pockets he brought them out for a moment to cup and yell them only to flail wildly for a moment as the two semi liquid orbs flopped out of his pocket. Slipping down the hill out of control the orbs bounced until they flew a few feet forward, as he scrambled to his feet in a mad dash the orbs seemed to almost phase through the two figures who looked on at the display in panic as the goblin dove between them, barely catching the two in his outstretched hands; only to accidentally bring them crashing together. It was somehow different then what he had originally intended, he could tell just by staring the destiny had changed from the people it had passed through; somehow he had hoped to choose himself and yet somehow he thought this befitting; Fate had played its hand and given him the push he needed and with a small smile he drank the contents in his hands.

'Well I don't really have the size any more to use what wrestling tricks I know, I'd best practice my boxing and footwork.' He thought to himself the next day wrapping a bedroll around a tree. General practice was well and good but he knew all too well such things were often of little true benefit, at least in his opinion. No, true training happens in the things you do every day. In the lifestyle and the choices you make for yourself. Discipline in all things. He expanded on his chores deciding to get more done then necessary so he wouldn't be missed when he was gone. Early to bed, Up with the sun. Gathering up various parcels and jogging them to their various destinations and leaving them for their families. It was quite enjoyable, he meet many of the people and occasionally had a conversation or the occasional snack or thank you for his hard work. Occasionally even getting in an argument or a scuffle when the occasional jerk like Old man Petemoss picked a fight over his order always finding something wrong and blaming him for it. And then there were the more enjoyable scraps like when he found the militia meeting to practice weapon training and was allowed to join on a good day if they were short on partners for everyone.

However as the third week neared he decided to seek a little more information on heritage. It was time to understand the goblin side of himself that he would have to get further used to. And so after some discussion he left to the hills outside of the main town and to a burrow of a small clan that had joined the township in the last few years. It was here that he continued his training in common but only to a minor extent as he learned the goblin language and culture, this left his accent probably a bit hokey, rural or even comedic at times but he didn't notice it without comparing it. They were a simple people, they believed in spirits of the land and things he would have probably simply dismissed as superstitious as his old self. He retained little but he was just glad they were willing to share what they knew with him. It turned out they were a family with a shamanic heritage who aided in the tending of the grove with the elves with a few secret practices from their ancestral homes far away. However as the month neared its end they knew to keep him any longer would jeopardize his training and so they saw him off with a small meal and if he translated it right, a garland of healing? He eventually figured out that it was made from an elderberry bush, its scent was rich in herbs and oils which he assumed preserved the berries properties. He accepted the gift with great humility and left them each of the three a 'rabbits foot' on a piece of cord that he had caught earlier that week. After explaining the custom they accepted with smiles and waved him goodbye; he of course kept one for himself.

After returning to his elven benefactor he was welcomed back warmly and after explaining he would be very busy the next few days with his training his friend lifted his hand and shook his head as if to say 'I completely understand.' He trained hard for the next three days with little rest save for reflection breaks and then he slept. It's funny, for all his peoples innovations he had never slept so well as he had that night. "I thank you for your hospitality." He said with a bow at the front door and as he raised his head with a smile he added. "But, I intend to figure out that name of yours one of these days." He added with a wag of his fingers.

"Do not forget, you are three hundred guesses in the hole thus far my little friend." He added referencing a game they had come up with to study elven pronunciation and names where he was supposed to guess the shop owners name and every failure cost him a copper to be collected at a later time of his choosing; He was well over the reward so they decided to call it even if he ever figured it out. "But I can collect another day, perhaps when you return." He added handing him a small book. "Study well, you are still behind in your elvish script." And with that he set off to the large hut in hopes of perhaps meeting the avatar again and getting some questions answered. He had been unlucky so far but perhaps she was feeling better now that the moon had gone through an entire cycle.

by **LadyBhaal** » Thu Jul 30, 2009 9:38 am

Lady took the globes from the woman and remarked A D&D world? masacca! Lady watched the woman curl up back into the flower and turned to look at the others Well, that confirms things then: this is definitely a pocket dimension. The mage or mages who set this up must have been a serious D&D geek, probably with a god complex. I wonder who the outside attackers are: The Void Engineers; or, hopefully not, Marauders. I really hope it's not Marauders Lady thinks for a moment before speaking to the globes in her hands, one word to each Buff, Heal The globes shimmer and change colours and then shimmer and change some more as she pours them together. She looks into the liquid, which scintillates strangely before coalescing into something she seems happy with and she raises her hands and drinks the liquid. Strange: I didn't expect it to taste like that. I wonder if should have chosen Knowledge and Power instead. Ah well Lady shrugged and looked around as everybody left, the boy going with his Father. I guess I won't get to apologise to him now, I wonder when I will

Wondering what to do next Lady was the last to leave the hall. She stepped out into the cold and shivered slightly: they still hadn't had the time to swap coats yet. She milled around, kinda lost as people went back to their business, but as the crowd thinned she noticed a pair of Elves look at her, waiting for her. They looked to be a Mother/Daughter pair. Lady looked at them quizzically, but then smiled and approached them. Language was definitely a problem, but that could be rectified with time and effort. The Mother of the pair spoke something, and motioned for Lady to follow, and Lady did, pointing to things along the way and saying the English word for them Tree. House. Bird It wasn't long before the pair caught on to what she was doing and started saying their words in response. I wonder if I'm learning Elvish or, what was it? Common? It'll be a bit before I know enough to ask, though I could ask a human for the same objects and compare The Elves approached the edge of town and then a small and dilapidated house. It looked OK for now, but Lady wasn't sure how long that would last. I know enough carpentry to patch things, possibly fix them, but that was with power tools and dressed lumber. Though I did start off with hand tools. I wonder if there's a lumberjack in the village who could supply me with dressed lumbar, and some muscle. My poor meat shield. HANG ON! This is a pocket dimension. That woman said that her god-mage transported our souls over before the moment of death. And Kith was sent back. That implies some serious Time magic was used, so all this could be happening in null time. That would be best from a practicality view if the god-mage still has business on Earth, and as a defensive measure against the invaders. Bhaal I hope it's not the Marauders. I may as well kill myself here and now if it is. OK. So if it's a pocket dimension in a null time space construct, then back on Earth we haven't died yet. Given the situation we were in it's likely that it's the impact which kills us. Which means... Hang on, that bitch can read thoughts!!!!!!!!! Oh look bunnies! *sings*Bunnies! It must be Bunnies! Lady realises that the Elven pair have opened the door to their house and are looking at her unhappily

oops Lady bowed to apologise and also used her face to express that emotion. She hurried into the house and entered a kitchen. It was clean, though kinda bare. There was another door at the back, and one to her right which led to a sort of lounge room Do the people here really have all that much time to lounge? I'm guessing these 2 don't really The Elvish pair entered and closed the door behind them. It was warm enough in here for Lady to remove her coat, which the Mother hung up along with their coats. It wasn't that warm however, not nearly warm enough for the rags she was wearing. The younger elf took Lady's hand and led her into the lounge room, which she saw wasn't really a lounge room, more of an over decorated bedroom. There was a fireplace but no fire was set in it, nor was there wood ready to set one. All the heat must be coming from the stove in the kitchen then. The daughter took Lady to the end of the room, past lots and lots of photo's, well, not photographs, but, something that showed a regular cast of characters. One she recognised as the Mother. Those would be a number of years old. Things looked better then, happier. Lady spotted one elf she thought she recognised. How many elves could there be with that much cleavage and ears that long? Lady was intrigued but the girl was opening up a cupboard and pulling out clothing that appeared to be much warmer than what she was wearing. Lady hurried over and cast off the rags she was wearing. The girl appeared embarrassed, turning away and blushing, and Lady wondered We're all female here, what's the problem? Unless I didn't used to act like this *sigh* Lady tried on several dresses but nothing would close around her breasts. I'd suspected this. These are her Mother's dresses, but she's not built like me. I really doubt I can get any clothing from that boy or his Father, I'll have to make this work. I'm sick of freezing my tits off. Possibly literally in my case Lady fossicked around a bit more and found a rather spacious chemise. This will do she smiled. The chemise fitted over her quite easily and the draw string neck allowed her control over how much she displayed. Lady decided to be somewhat discrete for now. Showing too much skin would only make her colder. With the chemise covering her breasts the dress was much easier. She laced a nice dark green dress up over her breasts as much as it could, and it provided a surprising amount of support. Feeling warmer already Lady smiled at the girl and curtseyed for her, practicing a dip which would no doubt get use later. Lady helped the girl put the other clothing back into the cupboard and found a mirror there, attached to the inside of the cupboard door. It was faded and tarnished but was still good enough for Lady to have her first real look at herself. She admired herself Not bad

Really, not bad

But there goes chasing lizards under the house. I'm definitely the elf in those pictures though. I wonder what our relationship is, or was Lady smiled at the girl who led her back to the kitchen where a dinner was being made. Lady got everybody's attention and then said Lady She pointed to herself as she said this Lady she said again. The other 2 got the idea. The daughter pointed to herself and said "Miniel" and the Mother said "Alagoshel" Lady smiled, and repeated the names until she had the pronunciation correct. Lady tried to help with dinner and despite the language difficulties she found a couple of jobs to do fsck I'm so glad sign and body language seem to be universal. But, given that this is a pocket dimension created by a geek-mage-god from Earth, that's not so surprising Dinner was a fairly sparse affair. A stew made from potatoes with vegetables and a small amount of meat. Lady looked around and it became more and more clear as the evening went on just how poor these two were. Alagoshel apologised for this, in words Lady couldn't understand but her body language made things clear. daijoubu Alagoshel, daijoubu. I suppose speaking in Japanese won't hurt much at the moment, though I'll have to be careful not to confuse them as we go along. It's sad, though fortuitous that I ended up here. I hope I can help them make their lives better. It's a start anyway, the road to power is likely to be long, and here is a better start than most The evening went on, exchanging the words for things and trying to catch the structure of conversation. Alagoshel mostly avoided looking at the photo's and Lady got the idea that she was doing that for her benefit. Obviously something had happened recently and this whole situation was relatively new to them. I wonder where her husband is. There's a boy elf in a lot of the pictures with here, was he one of the warriors that died? When it came time to sneep Miniel pulled out a small cot from under the main bed, looking embarrassed as she did so. 3 people, 2 beds, and those blankets look far too thin to keep someone warm on their own. Right! Lady smiled at Miniel, saying daijoubu again, taking the blankets from the cot and laid them upon the main bed. It's wide enough for the 3 of us, and it'll be warmer she said, motioning Miniel to the main bed. Miniel's eyes went wide and she blushed terribly as she got Lady's concept, however Alagoshel obviously thought it was a good idea and had a conversation with Miniel. Lady helped Miniel put the cot back under the bed and undressed down to the chemise before getting into the bed. Miniel was next and Alagoshel followed after blowing out the candles. oyasumi mina. gochisosama deshita. ii yume ne Alagoshel kissed Miniel good night, and blushing, reached over and kissed Lady on her cheek. Lady smiled and returned the kiss, softly kissing Miniel as well It's dark, well, dim anyway, the moon's up just and there's starlight. But I can see, well enough to know that Alagoshel was blushing! Is this an elf thing? I wonder if the others know more about this D&D thing, it's been ages since I played properly

That was Lady's first night. In the morning she awoke feeling relaxed and refreshed. Miniel blushed as she awoke and remembered where she was. She blushed a lot. Lady got the feeling that Miniel was a teenager, and everything was embarrassing right now. She giggled at that thought. They got up and began their day, Lady following along and helping out where she could. Learning the language as she went. Sometime during the morning there was a knock upon the door. Alagoshel answered it and there was a female elf there, with a basket of goods. She handed these to Alagoshel, and the two had a conversation. Alagoshel looked embarrassed to be receiving the items, but glad as well. The elf left and the 3 of them went through the basket. It was mostly food, some meat and other things, but also firewood and candles. She's on a pension. The community is looking after her. That's a good thing

After that things mostly settled into routine. She picked up the language fairly rapidly and after about a week and a half she was finally able to ask about the photo's, and their previous relationship. Alagoshel was a childhood friend of the woman who had used to inhabit this body. When my family had ignored me she had felt duty bound to offer me a place to stay. I thanked her greatly for that, and Alagoshel smiled, saying that she was glad to finally be able to help me as much as the previous me had helped her. Alagoshel explained that yes, her Husband had been one of the defenders lost in the war. It was so hard living without him; but she had to: She had Miniel to raise, and now me to look after as well. Lady blushed at that.

Lady spent the first couple of weeks helping Miniel and Alagoshel around the house, and doing what she could around town. She tried approaching the boy a couple of times, but it was obvious that he wanted nothing to do with her, so she stopped trying. The boy would talk to her eventually, when he was ready. Lady wondered what skills she would need for the adventure ahead. She started on some fitness training. Running through snow was almost as good as running through knee deep surf. Less sharks too

Within 1/2 a week she started seeing results, which was good, she didn't used to be this unfit. It was very strange running with her new breasts though, she deliberately made sure she was well strapped in before setting out in the morning. Some mornings she even got Miniel coming with her and they chatted when that happened, her mastery of the Elvish language increasing. Miniel's English was crusty but workable, though that wouldn't last. When would she use it? Alagoshel introduced Lady to the town guard and got her training through them. Lady learnt common from them, and the others around town, trying to make sure she didn't learn gutter common. She was pleasantly surprised that she didn't have those suicidal reflexes with a sword anymore, and trained to become at least proficient in a dagger and a short sword. She'd never liked the long swords, she preferred speed and agility to strength.

Miniel took Lady to the local hospice and introduced her to a human woman there. The woman showed Lady around the hospice and despite knowing that this pocket dimension ran on a D&D ruleset she was still surprised to see magical healing in practice. Lady was intensely intrigued by this and puppied after the woman, watching her as she did her rounds. Lady practiced when she could, and on the third day something clicked: She felt power! It fizzed though. It was strange, definitely not how it used to feel. This power came from outside her, not from within her. It wasn't from the universe either, something smaller, more flavoured. She discussed it with the woman who, after a couple more attempts on Lady's part, explained that she was drawing from a concept. Akin to a god, but without a personality. Apparently Lady was drawing power from an alignment! WTF? Still, this knowledge made it easier, and after she was given a strange necklace she finally cast her first healing, closing a shallow wound on one of a guard's arms. The woman explained some more and Lady began to understand how this all worked, and remembered it from her Pen and Paper days. She played around, trying various spells focusing on heals and buffs and it wasn't long before she was cheating at practice with the guards, making herself harder to hit, stronger, faster

She liked that. Lady wondered about the necklace though. It made sense, it was a focus, this world might run on D&D rules but it's a mage ruleset underneath that. Lady had always disliked focii however, she viewed them as crutches, a support for the weak. Whatever. I'm weak at the moment, and if this is what it takes to cast spells like this then I'll have to live with it for now

Lady realised however that there was power inside her as well. It had always been there but it wasn't hidden so deep now. Discussing this with Alagoshel and Miniel one evening they agreed to take her to see someone in the morning. Morning came and Alagoshel took Lady to see an elven wizard, a proud and noble male, who took one look at Lady and snorted in derision. He said something Lady didn't quite catch and Alagoshel blushed. They argued briefly, and Lady lacked the context to understand that, but it became clear when Alagoshel took Lady instead to a young punk of an elf. The elf smiled at Lady and visibly looked her up and down. Alagoshel apologised, and left. Lady gritted her teeth at this, but she could sense power in this elf, it was definitely more to her liking than the wizard she'd just been to. Lady decided to do whatever she could to get this elf to teach her, though if he actually tried anything she'd force him to eat his own testicles. Boys were so funny when you did that to them

A bit of cleavage and a flash of leg and the elf couldn't teach her fast enough. It was strangely familiar this. The power inside her was her own, sort of. It had always been there, just now it could be used freely. Little spells came first, balls of light, mending small breaks (Lady wondered how big she could scale that: could she mend their house) and then they moved onto bigger things. The elf was a snotty punk who liked showing off his destructive nature. A typical boy really, trying to prove his worth to a woman by bashing things *sigh* Lady however was more the nurturing kind, and decided to help the snowmen survive his attacks. She was rather surprised one day when she succeeded. The boy was more surprised however. She giggled at this, and rather strangely decided to try something. She smiled at the boy and spread her fingers in a sort of a wave, and was very surprised when she found power flowing in from outside her, from her alignment. Massive spurts of flame leapt from her fingers and burnt the snowman, the trees, everything in front her, including the other elf. whoops! Lady rushed over and healed him, and her senses confirmed that that burst of fire had come from her alignment: she could feel less power waiting to be used. The elf was very surprised, mostly by the view of her cleavage he had from there as she bent over him. She kicked him and went home Well, the avatar did say that they faced ice/cold creatures. Fire could be useful. I wonder what else I can do

Lady did manage to get work around town. Her healing abilities and general nature got her a job at the hospice, and the guards did call upon her when they were teaching dangerous moves and didn't want to pay for someone real. It didn't pay much, but it was a welcome addition to the household budget and with this and Lady's other help, life got better for the three of them. Food was better quality and more plentiful, and they could afford more candles and firewood. It was good to see Alagoshel and Miniel happier

But happy times never last: they always end, and eventually the time for that came.

by **MuthSera** » Mon Aug 03, 2009 2:00 pm

Joshua left the long house, that night, and walked up the hill towards the sanctified grove, where he’d been tasked with retrieving those taking part in the ritual. The wind whipped at his coat, and he faced the bitter breeze head on. As he wandered into the woods, he remembered the 6 villagers, stripping off their coats before they had entered the woods, as instructed by the avatar. They would enter, and they would pray until they had succumbed to the cold. They would wake up new people. He opened up the front of his coat, and held his arms back, letting it fall behind him.
The wind bit into him and he marched forward into it. He felt sick rather quickly. It was impossible to keep his eyes open for long, so he crouched down and felt his way forward until his hand touched a tree, then he huddled down, holding his arms to his body. He wasn’t like the others. He knew the gift the goddess had given him would stop any similar possession of his body, from an outside spirit. A part of him just hoped that maybe it would happen anyways.
A hero would take up residence inside his body, and it would do great things. He shivered and ached, his mind numbing. He wouldn’t feel the pain he felt right now, if he was somebody else. He wouldn’t miss his mother. He wouldn’t hate the new spirit that’d taken up residence in her. The cold was overwhelming, and he could feel his consciousness fading. He clenched his eyes shut, curling into a ball.
People and gods weren’t so different, he thought. Both were selfish. He began to think about the avatar, and then to the dismissal of one of the six. He was evil. Not every spirit brought to this realm was fit to fight for our cause. Not only that, but the spirit of the man who previously owned the body returned.
Joshua reached up and grasped his holy symbol. “Endure elements.” He called to the divine for the spell through chattering teeth, and the breeze was warmed. He felt like he was kneeling in wet, crunchy sand, instead of icy snow. He opened his eyes and looked up, over the village, into the west, where the sun had set, and left behind only a bright purple glow in a corner of the indigo sky. His head cleared and he sat in quiet contemplation. He retrieved his coat and put it on, simply so it wouldn’t be soggy the next morning.
He tried to think of a time in which he had ever made a wrong choice. Not a mistake; that’s different. He’d made those, before. But specifically, he tried to think of a time in which he’d ever decided on something and been wrong. His mind was blank. He couldn’t think of one. Everyone pushed their own wisdom before his, with the expectation that experience would mean they knew better than he, and he had grown used to this concept. Suddenly it made no sense to him. There was in truth only one person he felt he could trust to be sane at the end of the day, and that was himself.
Sometime during the night he turned around to face the east. He stared at the stars and listened to the dead, silent woods.
That was the reason why he wouldn’t allow for another spirit to take him. He couldn’t trust them, like he could trust himself, to do what was right and proper, without confusing things with logic that in its complexity detracted from the point. To him, love was good, and hate was evil, and inside everyone often existed both. What could this new, hypothetical hero spirit do that he could not? It would have all the same physical resources, he had. Maybe it could be braver, or smarter, but it couldn’t possibly be cleverer.
He thought further. His mother wasn’t gone. She was put on hold. She would come back when the spirit of this new soul left the body. Perhaps when the mission was complete, she would return to him. All that had to be ensured was that she stayed alive, and completed her task.
This was the most hopeful conclusion he’d come to all night, and the sun was starting to rise. He’d guard her. He would make sure she fulfilled her purpose, and then he would have his mother again. Perhaps he could find a way for her to continue her mission without inhabiting his mother’s body.
When the morning light came, he got up and headed back to the village. One of the guards stopped him and looked into his eyes, “Is it still you, in there?” The boy nodded slowly, “I am myself.”
He went home and woke up his father. Bleary eyed, but feeling excited, he murmured to his father, “I’m going with them. Is there anything you can give me for such a trip?”

****

Visible equipment:
A quarterstaff.
Plain clothing.
A mantle of one who would worship a nature based deity.
Holy Symbol.
Skinning knife.

by **MuthSera** » Tue Aug 04, 2009 12:54 am

The city had been under siege by winter the entire month. The villagers had made it previously clear that this kind of weather was actually quite irregular for this time of year. Equivalently, it would have been early summer. It was still bitter and cold outside, and it seemed to suck one's life away if one lingered in it for too many hours of the day, no matter how many layers one wore.

However, this day that had come was a special day. The avatar had come out of her flower once again and was standing in the middle of town. The villagers gathered around to listen to what she had to say. She started off by casting endure elements, followed by a flashy display of her power. Everyone within 60 feet of her felt much more comfortable in the now rapidly melting snow. She had imprinted the spell on her own aura.

"Today, as we approach summer, winter is, although still at an advantage to us, greatly weakened!We are here to celebrate, because today is the beginning of a campaign against the terrible winter! Inside our hearts there has been a great recession! A deficit of hope and of happiness! Where can we find the strength to fight on while even our goddess is weakened? Know that today we celebrate, without shame and without holding back! From now, until the summer is over, this icy grip will, although still powerful, not grow any worse. This is a time for summer in all of us! A time for greatness!"

She had, for the most part, been addressing the crowd in this way for about half an hour. The energy amongst the crowd was buzzing and hopeful. She seemed to wait for the heroes to arrive before moving onto more relevant information. She held up her hands, and an illusion of the world appeared again.

She pointed to a rather mountainous peninsula, on the equator. What would've been about 30 degrees north of the equator, and about 15 west of their peninsula, marked the center of a giant, black hemisphere. In the illusion, the sphere boasted an influence that skirted the mainland mouth of the peninsula, that had a bright green blip that she had pointed out, represented their current location. The green blip that represented the town was so close to the edge of the sphere, that it very well could have been partially inside of it, if the illusion was to scale. As if being pushed back by another power, the black sphere seemed held at bay, at least in the direction of the town, causing it to deform very slightly. The black sphere seemed to bulge in a malignant way in every other direction. Along the eastern border of the black sphere, was a coastline and an expanse of ocean to the east. A thin strip of land was visible, untouched by the sphere. To the west was an expanse of plains and mountains, eventually leading in ocean. The southern edge of the sphere was in the ocean.

"This... is the influence of our enemies. As you can see, this place is very close to that influence. Inside of it, is a place dominated by extreme winter. Winter of heat, winter of magic, winter of life, and winter of hope. But least so, is this the case right now. It will not grow any further. 3 teams such as ours have been created."

She pointed to the illusion. Appearing on the western side of the sphere, several hundred miles apart, 2 more blips appeared.

"Here, and Here. They will go north, and the other south, around the edge of the influence. They will drive back evil forces in the surrounding towns, and they will bring with them a day of holiday for the people, there! Should we succeed in performing this ritualistic holiday in most of the surrounding towns, we will be able to fence in this darkness, and grant us further time to prepare for this war. But what is this holiday?"

The avatar smiled and held open her hand. A mug of mead appeared. She offered it to a nearby man.

"The people must drink! They must sing! They must have a day free of worry! They must love! They must have hope! They must be shown that they are not helpless, alone, or forgotten! Should you perform this holiday in the name of the goddess, as twilight falls on that day, that town will be protected with a powerful spell. It will act as a beacon. It will act as a fence post, through which we can thread surround and contain this threat! It will hold for as long as the majority of the people there have hope!"

The avatar held her arms apart and 4 beams of light shed down from the overcast sky, piercing holes in the clouds, for just a moment. Riding on the light, materialized 4 celestial musicians. Angelic in appearance, one was a human, one was an elf, one appeared gnomish, and one was a kobold. Only clearly angelic, mind you.

"So let this town's very own holiday, begin today! Let it begin now! Let there be music, and food, and drink, and love!"

The avatar, yet again, seemed drained by her display.

The musical angels began playing, and the snow melting aura began to spread. The villagers, for the most part, did precisely as instructed.

Spoiler: show

by **chrono** » Tue Aug 04, 2009 3:31 pm

The day before the feast Chrono was lead in what passed as the smithy and was given a choice among the gear which was there under the blacksmith's watchful eye. Chrono walked slowly back and forth, admiring the display of shiny metal and giving occasional glances at the two elves who led him there. He had to admit there were quite a few different weapons and suits of armor there - only a little bit suspicious for a peaceful village. I don't suppose any of this is magical? he asks in elven, half jokingly but with a hopeful look in his eye. As he meets the stare of the blacksmith, he murmurs to himself: No, I suppose not. Doesn't seem to be some sort of funny test, I guess I do have to pick my gear here. I wonder what's going to happen in a few days time...

He sighed and took a quick look at the displayed armors. Chrono was pretty good at weapons - he knew a fair bit back in the real world and he did have very intensive training for the last few weeks. But armors were relatively a mystery. Finally he shrugged and pointed at the lightest metal armor he could find. And a shield wouldn't hurt but he was damned if he was dragging a friggin steel wall across the snowy forest. On a second thought, it had to be large (for some things size does matter) so the shield issue was settled quickly as well.

Chrono passed back and forth once again, this time focusing on the blades. He picked up quite a few, twisted them around in the light and let them down. Ignoring the heavier, more expensive-looking and shiny blades, he picked up a short sword and tucked it in his belt. That will have to do, he said, admiring the shocked looks by the others. He smiled and walked toward a pile of daggers. Okay, alright. I see. You don't think a sword is enough., he said, scooping carefully and grabbing about a dozen daggers. I'll take a few of these as side arms then.... He put as many as he could in what passed for pockets in his clothes, and went for the door. As he's almost out of the room, he pauses and looks at a weapon near his feet - Alright, final pick, he says and grabs a large warhammer-y weapon near the door. It's not like he'd be very good with it, but they might just have to beat something into submission until it was nice and tender.

Chrono walks out of the door and suddenly bursts into laud laughter Ah hahahahah - a laugh that goes on for a good 45 seconds. Ahem, sorry he says looking embarrassed at the three elves I just thought about something... connected to home I guess... I just thought it was funny at a time like this. He doesn't say more, but instead gives them a goodbye wave and hurries to his room.

Slightly worried about suddenly being armed, Chrono spent almost the entire day buying an assortment of useful or just odd gear. At the end he tried all of his gear on... It wasn't so bad - he ended up like a dagger-covered hedgehog with a backpack full of useful gear and a heavy bag full of stuff he would really rather not have to use. Or for that matter, drop.

============

The next day he awoke early - he was still getting used to the whole trance thing. Shrugging the night away he geared up and went outside for his regular weapons practice. A bit later he saw a small crowd gather, but gave it no more than a mental shrug. A quarter of an hour later the crowd was getting bigger and he paused to watch. Realizing the avatar is there and probably talking about something important, he sheathed his sword and rushed toward them, hoping he hadn't missed anything important.

Chrono had a few things on his mind that he intended to put forth the next meeting with the oracle, but her speech took him totally by surprise. Eating and drinking? Feasting? Is this the kind the fight we were signed up for? This place is getting weirder by the minute.

by **Raigne** » Tue Aug 04, 2009 4:54 pm

As the last week had wound down, Vernae's friends had tried to show Raigne how to use a rapier. It had been Vernae's weapon of choice, and they felt that if Vernae's body had retained a little in terms of spellcasting memory, maybe it'd be a quick study with the rapier. This was not the case. While Raigne seemed able to handle the weapon easily enough, fencing was like chess, which she'd never been very good at back in her world. The result was that she was rather less effective with it than Vernae had been

On the morning before the avatar had been expected to appear again, Aewa and Habin were up early. They called Raigne down to the main room. Aewa sat at the small table and Habin was in his armchair. Between them on the floor was a trunk. As a bard, Vernae had often traveled, and this trunk was where she had stored her gear before the ritual. Habin had already given Raigne the use of Vernae's armor and clothing, and he said she may as well take them with her. The trunk contained a bedroll and blanket and a backpack with various items in it. Raigne removed these to inspect them. The bedroll and blanket would need to be aired out, but seemed to be in good condition. The pack contained an empty water skin and various other useful items. As she pulled it out of the trunk she noticed a folded sheet at the bottom of the trunk. As she set the pack down and began to reach for it, Habin stayed her hand and then carefully lifted it out himself. He folded the sheet back to reveal a sheathed rapier. Raigne had very little experience with weapons, but she knew enough about them, from both her time here and from research she had done back home, to know that this was not an ordinary rapier when he drew it part way out of the scabbard. It didn't seem to be magical, but it was of excellent quality, and Raigne suspected it had probably been balanced for Vernae's use. Habin looked it over and tested the blade... and then he resheathed it and shifted the hilt in Raigne's direction. He said it was no use leaving it in the bottom of a trunk, and indicated that Raigne should take it with a nod of his head.

After her morning with Aewa and Habin, Raigne had gone to the general store to collect a few items with a little of the gold Habin had given her. She then went to her last lesson with Naelis. When the lesson ended, Naelis had presented her with a spellbook and a component pouch. She gave Raigne a hug, and said goodbye, and now Raigne was here at the smithy, looking at bows. She knew how to use a compound bow, and while the bows in this world were different, the basics of how to operate one remained the same. Raigne's aim had even improved during her mornings with Aewa. Not that she'd been a spectacular shot to begin with, of course. She chose a longbow and bought some arrows and then returned home to practice some more, before turning in.

The next morning she woke to an empty house. Aewa and Habin had already left to attend the feast, and had probably not wanted to disturb her, since she would need to be rested for whatever was ahead, and there was no way to know when she would next be able to sleep unguarded. She got dressed and grabbed her stuff, and then headed out to the crowd. As she approached, she could hear the voice of the avatar, and she looked into the crowd to try and find Aewa and Habin. A villager recognized her and pressed a goblet of a light amber liquid into her hand. She looked at it for a moment and then took and experimental sip. This... this is mead. Oh god, I love mead. She looked up to thank the villager for the drink, but the villager had already wandered off somewhere else. She sipped at the mead and worked her way through the people, looking for the other "heroes" and for her host family as she went.

Spoiler: show

by **Lothmar** » Tue Aug 04, 2009 6:51 pm

‘left foot, right foot; left foot, right foot; left foot, right foot; left foot, right foot;’ The tune continued playing in his head as he walked the towns main road. In fact he had to keep focused; he had sustained more than his share of missteps this month getting used to these new short legs and the excessive strides they made. Surprisingly for his side he didn’t feel slower, he almost felt faster; probably mainly cause when he walked he was a far to casual ‘stroller’ and it was usually far from his primary choices of transportation, being A) Car, B) Bike, C) Skates, D) Papoose. And thankfully the new body didn’t seem to get winded nearly as easily in regards to physical exercise, it reminded him of himself at the end of high school when he had been training for months, trimming down and getting stronger, when he was dedicated and focused in his life both free time and work. However remembering such things made him a little sullen in comparison to how he was a few minutes ago. He paused and sat down Indian style for a moment and looked at his left foot. “Alright now you listen up and you listen good… This is bigger than both of us and you know it, so don’t you dare go twisting on me again you bastard.” He added angrily pointing at his ankle with a flick of his hand, it had been a year and a half with some odd ‘that might have been close’ scrapes, so he’d been relatively fortunate; but to twist your ankle to several varying degree’s over six times in the course of eight months, can leave you a little paranoid.
Giving himself a quick flick to the left ankle he stuck out his tongue and stood up again. Thanks to his relatively early departure he was around for a majority of the speech. And though he was listening he began paying much closer attention at the mention of three teams. ‘Ah, so we are not necessarily alone. Wonder if they’re like us or if they’re just strong natives.’ He thought ponderously.
‘Wait a moment… Patrols to protect the towns that celebrate, so power really does attract power. Wait a minute, does this mean…’ His thoughts interrupted at the beginning of festivities with a slap on his back. He gave a reluctant cheer and moved closer to the avatar. And as expected, he got the feeling that people were looking at him and expecting things well beyond his capabilities in all likelihood. He accepted the occasional drink and further along in the crowd he tried to pretend and be generous in giving it to someone else, not trying to be offensive but he just didn’t drink and he refused to ruin someone else’s liver with such a habit. Now food was a different matter, in fact he’d almost gotten distracted a few times as dishes were brought out from the houses and tables and chairs were being set up. It was a lot harder then he’d first hoped to reach the avatar but he eventually made it.
“So, did I misinterpret the invitation just now? Cause I get a sneaking suspicion we’re on bouncer detail like our other two groups of compatriots.” He added with a cheeky tone. (Edited, I dont actually have rope... ; ; )

Spoiler: show

by **Cmdr I. Heartly Noah** » Thu Aug 06, 2009 10:05 am

Everything was stirred up and people were getting ready... apparently it was time to do the thing. Noah walked silently and aimlessly through the village, looking at stuff. Noticing all the details he'd ignored for the past few weeks. In a sense, he'd been given a second lease on life - but it was a short lease and he'd had to take a second job to afford it. He hadn't stopped to enjoy his gift. Then again, he wasn't sure how to enjoy himself in this body.

The others were gathering up equipment. He didn't need anything. Not food or water, extra clothes, camping gear... some paper and ink might be good for copying down information or making maps, he supposed... and there were a few tools that might come in handy... he'd looked at some weapons, but his training had all been unarmed. Besides, he didn't know if he would be able to stick a two foot blade into someone or break their skulls open. Ugh. He didn't want to find out.

That's when he saw it. A shield. A really big, great, zonkin' shield. Now this could be useful. But it wasn't perfect. He needed to find a blacksmith, fast.

Spoiler: show

by **LadyBhaal** » Sun Aug 09, 2009 9:10 pm

Lady was out early, running through the snow as usual. Sneeping in next to Alagoshel would have been nice, but this body wasn't hers and she couldn't keep it once things were done, so it just felt like lying, and Lady didn't want to lead Algoshel on in a lie. Lady came back in time to see the Avatar casting the illusion and was intruiged and studied it. It was good to know that there 2 other groups, but it left more questions for her. Were they people like her, yanked from somewhere and shunted into previously inhabited bodies. If not why were we imported like that? Too many unknowns *sigh* Maybe she'd find out when they met up, if that happened.

The Avatar went on to mention a festival which could be fun, and angelic creatures popped up playing music. Lady wondered how that had been done. People started handing around alcohol, which was inevitable really. Why did people have such a propensity for something which destroyed them so much? Lady fluffed through the festival enjoying the atmosphere until she spotted Alagoshel and Miniel. Lady smiled and went over to greet them. Some people had started dancing and Alagoshel was surprised when Lady took her hand and led her over to there. Alagoshel blushed but accepted Lady's offer and the 2 happily danced for a while, though the local dances were different to what Lady was used to.

They continued to enjoy the festival and Lady kept an eye out for the others she knew, greeting them and chatting, introducing Alagoshel and Miniel when she met any of them.

Spoiler: show

by **MuthSera** » Mon Aug 10, 2009 3:14 pm

The party is going well.

Everyone is chillin' out. Maxin. Relaxin all cool. Some children are even shooting some b-ball outside of the school.

It's a rather sudden thing, when a fog bank becomes visible over top the northern hills and sweeps down towards the village. It's rapid movement and smokey nature display an unnatural origin. It quickly reaches the Palisade and the avatar's eyes glow in irritation. As if hitting the wall of an invisible dome, the fog washes upwards like an angry tide. As it goes over the top of the village, the shape of a giant hand is visible through the fog overhead, for just a moment, before the fog becomes too thick to see through, at all.

Night time instantly falls on the village and the party goes is silent. The Avatar groans, and points towards overhead. "Daylight. Epic Detect evil." Her eyes glow, and the angels follow suit. She looks around, then towards the gate, and sighs, "3 figures are approaching..". Then she does a double take. "They're is more under ground!" She shouts.. staring into the earth.. The angels look stunned for a moment when they look into the earth. She directs 3 of the celestials to her side, and then shouts, "Stay here and by the goddess try and keep this party on track! You all,"She directs her comment to her 'chosen ones', " take care of any problems up here! The rest of you have a show, cheer our heroes on, and don't let the enemy see fear! Greater Tele-*Pop!*" She finishes, and disappears, with 3 of the celestials. The crowd is still a bit shaken.

The Bardic angel looks at the crowd.. then at his harp. He looks to be calculating intensely.

3 hooded figures have appeared at the gate, 1 in the black, in the middle. 2 in white, on either side.

"HALT!" Yells the nearest red shirt of a guard.

They do indeed stop. They raise their hands into the air, and beside them charges what appear to be skeleton woodland creatures. Cats. Raccoons. Birds.

The other guard that is catching up the first stops in his tracks.. "Oh, wait, what?!"

Spoiler: show

The first guard backs up several steps till he's in the gateway of the palisade. The Archers take aim and fire on the mages. A shout is heard. "It's hard to see through this damn fog!" Then another, "They've got some protective shield around them!"
"Protection from arrows?"

The mages grasp each other's hands and cast a spell. Nothing immediately obvious is happening.

The angel sighs, and he drops his harp. "Screw the fourth wall, I always wanted to do this.. Summon band members!" He shouts. An electric guitar appears, along with several lesser looking angels.They begin playing immediately. (Inspire Courage 4.) The crowd, miraculously, goes back to partying at the sound of the bards playing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rB8HudfbaTE

Spoiler: show

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v240/ ... ght1-1.jpg

by **Lothmar** » Mon Aug 10, 2009 3:53 pm

(Movement - P13 to I13. If someone higher in initiative chooses that, then put me in an adjoining free square from both start and finish (Also, I am only speaking in English in this post.)

He felt the tension a few moments after his questions once again had been ignored and as he looked up at the sky his face twitched a little... "Wow, if I hadnt seen Harry potter in the last couple of weeks I wouldnt be saying this; but que the death eaters!" Clenching one hand nervously in the other he pops the fingerbones of his right hand.

'Wait, you're leaving us to handle this!? Crap. Crap. Crap.' He thought taking a deep breath and dropping his hands to his side shaking away the jitters by flicking his hands sparadically at his side as he makes his way through the crowd.

And then he stopped, face staring at the ground as the music began. His foot tapped with the drum beat for a moment and his shoulders shrugged once and his head stood erect staring his doom in the face as courage inspired him.
"Allright you guys, you heard the lady! Lets send these party crashers packing! Two of you stay by the edge of the crowd and provide what support you can! If we dont stop those mages they'll overrun us with continued conjurations and the people will need someone to defend them!" As he ran he realized it may be better to position himself for this attack then to charge straight into the charnel funnel, but it was too late.

Every instinct in his body said 'Dont clump up! They might have AOE readied!' and yet his mouth said. "Side by side, two of you with me, fill that gateway with the guards."

by **chrono** » Mon Aug 10, 2009 4:59 pm

Spoiler: show

Ohboyohboy, Chrono thought as he heard the avatar and then noticed the attackers. Come on now, it's our turn. Yeah. That's right. Come on. Yeah. Game on... He was bouncing up and down breathing rapidly, obviously trying to pump up his adrenaline and prepare mentally to beat somebody to smithereens. He was staring fixedly at the advancing shapes, bouncing up and down and adjusting his little helmet unconsciously every few seconds. He was armored. He was armed. Way too armed in fact. His shield was still strapped to his arm (which was good), but he was carrying all of his weapons and not all of them were very convenient position to be drawn. Still, armed and dangerous. The question was, dangerous to whom.

Seeing the little guy charge forward and shout commands (of all things) he barely suppressed a smile. It's day one and he's ready for a final last stand. But not me. Not today.
Chrono moves to I9, taking the time to draw his warhammer and trying to make his passage seem sure-footed, calculated and deliberate. He tries to speak as soft as possible, but loud enough for Lothmar to hear him: How about we stay here and beat nine kinds of hell out of them as they come in?
Unless you wish to be line dancing against a rank of friggin bone rodents while three friggin' necromancers empty their repertoire at you...
Please let me not have to outrun the dwarf today.

by **Raigne** » Mon Aug 10, 2009 5:07 pm

Raigne was looking around for a refill when the fog came. Is this where the narrator would say, "And all hell broke loose?" I suppose I shouldn't be drinking anyway... not my body. When the mages showed up she was happy for a little bit of liquid courage, even if she hadn't had enough to feel it yet. She was about to pull her bow out when she heard the guards shout about protection from arrows.

Which means either they cast it from a scroll or they're at least third level. She dropped her gaze to her hands, to make sure she was forming the spell correctly and spoke an incantation.

When she finished she raised her gaze again. Well, here goes nothin'... She moved through the crowd toward the gate and prepared to draw her sword for the first time. She was surprised to hear a familiar tune from the angels overhead. She was grateful for it and hummed along, if only to drown out the voice in the back of her head chanting, "Ohshit ohshit ohshit..."

Spoiler: show

by **Cmdr I. Heartly Noah** » Mon Aug 10, 2009 10:12 pm

Spoiler: show

Noah looked up at the angels singing 80s rock. Hmph. And this place was just starting to make sense. Maybe we all "survived" the wreck and are in comas and they have us linked together as some sort of experiment and Ratt, or whoever this is, is playing in the room? I think I saw this on The Outer Limits with that Karate Kid guy in it... Oh well.

Noah grinned inwardly and did his best Power Ranger impression, taking a deep horse stance, arms wide, then standing straight and crossing his arms in a + formation in front of him, and shouting "Mage Armor!" before stalking deliberately towards the mages.

Spoiler: show

by **LadyBhaal** » Mon Aug 10, 2009 10:50 pm

Lady is surprised, but not shocked by the intrusion. If this festival is so important it would be one of the times they would be attacked. I do hope this dress doesn't get damaged, maybe I should have taken mending instead of prestiditation The music that the angel now played, and the instruments only helped to confirm her suspicions about this world, and gave her some inkling of the ages of those behind it.

Noticing that the others have moved Lady moves up to behind Raigne and Noah, smiles at the both and pouts that she now can't cast Mage Armor on Noah. She does have another useful spell though

Lady reached over and touched Noah:

PFE!

Spoiler: show

by **MuthSera** » Tue Aug 11, 2009 3:01 am

Spoiler: show

Joshua looked up when the fog bank rolled in. Thing turned chaotic rather suddenly. He wanted to react but was unsure. (Delays until Lady acts.) When he saw Lady rush towards the gateway, he finally spotted the source of all the commotion, and then all of the skeleton creatures pouring through the gate. He slipped through the crowd and run up beside Lothmar, drawing his quarterstaff. He gripped his holy symbol tightly, and then his turn attempt began. It was a lot like watching somebody go nuclear, for just a second. He began to glow, and that glow erupted from him in all directions.

Spoiler: show

The wave washed over the undead creatures. The cats and Ravens just dropped, flat. The Racoon and fox stopped dead in their tracks and turned to flee.

Spoiler: show

The guards erupted in a cheer when the majority of the creatures died, and the others fled. But it was a short cheer, because another wave of larger creatures came quickly to replace it. The skeletal animals jumped over the bones of the first wave to claw at the guards. The bones of the first wave rolled backwards towards the mages and out of sight, in the fog, almost as if carried by an undercurrent, while the new creatures were crashing waves.

The frontmost Guard raised his shield and braced for impact, stopping a skeletal deer right in it's tracks. Then a large cat jumped atop his shield and swiped at his face, leaving several gashes on his cheek. He shoved forward and dumped it on the ground, taking a step back. A wolf rushed for his feet, biting at his boots. He swatted it on the top of the skull and it let go. He quickly backed up and positioned himself beside the gateway. The other Guard did the same on the other side.

"Focus on the one on the right side! The spell has a limit to how long it will protect!" An archer yelled. They both fired at the same target. Hit, and Hit. He has taken visible wounds.

The mages continued to cast what appeared to be the same spell. More and larger animals were coming out of the mist. The rightmost mage pointed up towards the archers and said something to the others. Several more cat skeletons were seen scaling the palisade towards the archers. "Aww... Shit. They're getting back up!" One of the archers exclaimed, obviously referring to something he saw in the mist.

"Think that'll be enough?" One of the mages speaks a bit louder than before. "No, they need more! Much more!" another taunts.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v240/ ... ght1-2.jpg

by **Lothmar** » Tue Aug 11, 2009 1:04 pm

((I forgot color coding, green is common right? I was using blue for elvish cause it was near. I figure black text for us is in 'english'. But that's just me. If needed i'll edit colors))

As the wave of light crested over him and either destroyed or sent the undead packing he cheered. Only to be disappointed as the figures brought around bigger and bigger skeletons.
“Oh come on! Do we really need a pissing contest over who can conjure and who can turn!” He yells in anger his pathway to his opponent of choice now cut off by skeletons.
“Can someone cut me a path with one of those turns again please? If we don’t take down those casters this wont end.” He adds prepping himself to charge.
~Spot check: Is there a convenient (preferably hands free) way for our clerics to get up there to where the archers are this round and still have thier standard action. If so, I attempt to direct clerics up there to have a better firing platform for spells/turns and to help cover our guard support better.~

~Holding action until Cleric attempts turn on mass in gate. If path is clear or undead cowed, walk up to mage menacingly via route – I13 to B13 if straight route is available, if not diagonal step to H14 walk to B14. Attack action – Flurry of blows +8/+8 (with +4 bard song)- Stunning fist, normal attack. Due to my size im attacking the thighs and thus slashing open arteries in leg to explain wound like effect of ‘leather straps’ from quint monk.
If no turning is performed I shall move up to nearest undead, or if an enemy comes at me, release held action to flurry of blows it.~

"Green Retribution!" Is what he tried to yell in elvish as he charged (not really charging) but it came out "By Kermits Mandable!" due to his accent from learning goblin before fully mastering Elvish.

A New Life (PbP Game)

Re: A New Life (PbP Game)

Re: A New Life (PbP Game)

Re: A New Life (PbP Game)

Re: A New Life (PbP Game)

Re: A New Life (PbP Game)

Re: A New Life (PbP Game)

Re: A New Life (PbP Game)

Re: A New Life (PbP Game)

Re: A New Life (PbP Game)

Re: A New Life (PbP Game)

Re: A New Life (PbP Game)

Re: A New Life (PbP Game)

Re: A New Life (PbP Game)

Re: A New Life (PbP Game)

Re: A New Life (PbP Game)

Re: A New Life (PbP Game)

Re: A New Life (PbP Game)

Re: A New Life (PbP Game)

Re: A New Life (PbP Game)

Re: A New Life (PbP Game)

Who is online