Citrine
Approved
6 Wild Blooded Sorcerer+ 1 Celestial Warlock
Posts: 328
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Post by Citrine on Mar 15, 2019 15:00:43 GMT
Names had power. Names were power. Names were the essence of whatever you were speaking to. Finally Lady Maeve spoke. "Have you learned your lesson then Precious?" She asked, her voice devoid of emotion. Not knowing how to respond Citrine just shook her head in a nod, hoping that the 'lesson' of respect was actually what Maeve was speaking of. "Good. Now, what do you have for me?" At that Citrine couldn't help the look of confusion on her face. Have for her? Memories stirred at the last question she had asked her - about the final spell component of her and Holly's spell. No. She wouldn't give that up… But what else did she have that would be of value to the Lady of Winter? She started hyperventilating, thinking fast, as to something, anything, that she could give Her that would not disappoint.
It must have taken too long for Maeve since she stood up and crossed her arms. "It seems the lesson has -not- set in. Citrine. Rain. Redbriar." Hearing Lady Maeve speak her Name with such crisp pronunciation felt like nails on a chalkboard. Maeve began to walk across the cave and towards the path where an idea thunder bolted through Citrine. She hated it. Hated herself. But she had to. She needed Lady Maeve to stay.
"Names! Aye can give ye Names!" Her voice, cracked and raspy from not being used, echoed through the cave as she fell to her knees and hung her head. Lady Winter paused and turned her head so Citrine could see Her face's profile against the light coming from the path. She didn't say anything, but didn't walk further. Mind racing Citirine couldn't believe she was willing to trade her friend's names for Lady Maeve to stay in the cave longer. But she was desperate. "Dore 'Munon. He's teh most recent tae join. He's ah tieflin' tha' can summon negative energy…" And with that Citrine began to give Lad Maeve each and every name from her allied adventuring party and a fairly detailed description of who and what they could do. She dragged it out. She kept talking, voice turning her throat hoarse, but she still kept going. She was desperate for Her presence here. Keeping Lady Maeve here meant she wasn't near Holly longer. Meant she could keep the spell to herself loner. Meant that she'd have someone else in the room with her longer.
All that time Citrine stayed on her knees, head bowed, waiting for the feeling of Her arms to wrap around her from being and hug her to Her icy chest.
Lady Maeve didn't move the entire time, seemingly content to listen from a few feet away. Dore. Anselma. Darious of Terran. Nadia. Karak. Corrine. Svenhilda. Greta. Darious of Golarion… Orin… Each and every one of their full names to Citrine's best ability was given. Finally she had nothing left to say even though her mouth worked at trying to speak more. Her eyes were closed, as they had been nearly the entire time she rambled.
Then a cool refreshing voice whispered in her hear. "Oh Precious. What a beautiful gift you have given me." Freezing cold arms began to pull Citrine up and into Her lap as a chair of ice condensed underneath the two of them. Frigged fingers began to tug through her hair and down her jawline, her body being supported in a cradled position by the other arm. Citrine couldn't help but feel relieved to be in physical contact with someone, even if that contact sent aching polar cold through her skin. "And such a freely given gift deserves a reward, now, doesn't it?" She opened her eyes to look into silver, a pleading expression in her own amber eyes. "Aye. Names." She said rather dryly, but listened respectfully to the story of Koi the Goblin. The bit about the flames had her interested though. "Ye say et's unnatural? The fire 'es got? Es et.. Unnatural as en, magical? O' es et something else that ye've felt?"
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Post by Nakan on Mar 19, 2019 19:30:52 GMT
Now there was something Nakan could understand. Names had a significant role in his tribe, in goliath culture as a whole.
Almost every goliath had three distinct names. At birth, an infant had two; their given name and the name of their tribe. These names identified one as an individual, but also firmly cemented them as part of the greater collective that was the tribe.
The third name, however, wouldn’t come until much later in life, usually around adolescence. The tribe’s chieftain would bestow an honorific title, usually based on some particular trait that the young goliath possessed. This honorific name was not permanent, however. It could change fairly often, generally when a goliath performed some feat or deed worthy of note.
Nakan himself had been the bearer of several names before ‘Bearheart’ finally stuck, a name given to him after his struggle against the mighty cave bear that had killed his father. The same bear whose paw he now wore strapped to his hip. The name had come with its share of benefits, to be sure. He was first in line to serve as a Captain for the morning work, he was respected among the younger members of the tribe, and he would often receive numerous challenges from worthy opponents to spar with blunted weapons or merely engage in a contest of strength.
But what the old druid said about names being something used to acknowledge power was true. The Ugunavi all knew that Nakan had ventured out to fight the bear. The scouts who found him lying beside the great beast’s mutilated corpse could confirm this, as could the healers and shamans who tended to his wounds as he clung to life for those two long weeks. But when the chieftain summoned Nakan and granted him his honorific name before all of the assembled tribe, it was no longer something people only knew. It was something that they could not deny, something irrefutable. Nakan Bearheart was powerful enough to face a rabid beast in single combat and live to tell the tale.
Now Nakan’s current adversary had a name, a sign of power. The fact that this druid was willing to acknowledge the goblin’s strength was impressive, and Nakan now found that he longed to engage in combat with this Kol Firebelly that the old man spoke of. The job was beginning to feel less like an extermination mission, and more like something worthy of a fireside tale.
After the goliath had allowed Citrine to ask her questions and receive her answers, Nakan would finally speak up, asking a few questions of his own.
“By any chance, would you druids happen to have any information on Gol’s followers?” The question was a simple, mundane one. But often it was the simplest bits of missing information that got folk killed. “Their numbers? Anything other than goblins? Like orcs or hobs, perhaps?”
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Post by Kai Wren on Apr 24, 2019 18:31:26 GMT
The old man was silent for a long time, perhaps pondering the questions put to him by the pair of adventurers. There were simple matters, and matters which were anything but. When he spoke, his words had the weight of ages behind them; it was a careful, deliberate choice, every word given the space it needed for the import to sink in fully.
“The fire that burns in him is not of this world.”
That, at least, explained why the druids had wanted it dealt with. The symbols carved into these stones were not all of goodly or even neutral powers; the Gorgon was most decidedly an evil creature… but they were all powers of nature, powers born from expressions of this world and its endless cycle of life and rebirth.
The power that this goblin had somehow gained access to was opposed to that. They might not even understand exactly what it was or how it worked, but they knew a poison to the natural order when they felt it, and they knew it had to be dealt with. Thus, the adventurers.
Then there was the far more material question.
“No others.” He continued, his head turning fractionally towards Nakan. “The prideful nature of the goblinoid races has won out thus far. For the moment, the few orc bands in the mountains have not rallied to his cause. They haven’t crushed him, but they refuse to bow to a goblin, even one with access to strange magic.”
His head completed its turn, then, towards the horizon – towards the goblin and the growing threat they were discussing.
“It is hard to say how many there are. More than a dozen. Fewer than a hundred. I suspect that the power within Kol demands sacrifice, but as their numbers in flesh diminish, his power grows in darker ways.”
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Post by Nakan on Apr 26, 2019 7:29:51 GMT
Nakan listened intently as the wizened old man answered the questions asked of him.
As the druid spoke of Kol’s power, the goliath found it difficult to wrap his head around why this seemed to have the druids so worked. He had grown up around a fair number of goliath shamans, all capable of impressive displays of arcane might. But as far as he knew, magic was simply an amplification and redirection of the natural energies of the world. From Wizard to Druid and Sorcerer to Sage, all spellweavers relied on the world’s spirits and energy to cast their spells.
Of course, Nakan had heard tales of individuals who made pacts with strange and foul spirits in exchange for power without training or study. These individuals were looked down upon by most goliath tribes, including Nakan’s. They were seen as weak of will and determination, seeking the easy route to power and often finding themselves ensnared within costly contracts with wicked and malicious spirits. Perhaps the druids meant that Kol was one of these individuals. However, that did little to explain why they found him worthy of note.
Deciding not to dwell on the problematic concept any longer, Nakan turned his thoughts to the more straightforward matters at hand. Between twelve and one hundred goblins was quite the wide margin, and Nakan felt a bit uneasy at going into battle that blind. He was reasonably confident in his ability to engage in combat with creatures a third his height and a fraction of his weight, but goblins were anything but predictable. His tribe had fought them often enough for him to know some of their more underhanded and subtle tactics. The creatures often would lure a lone combatant away from his allies before attacking him en masse, overwhelming him in a tide of flesh and steel.
But for all their cunning, goblins were little more than cowards at heart. Nakan had learned from the more experienced warriors of his tribe that the creatures would much rather flee or surrender rather than die if they should find themselves outmatched. The common goliath tactic for dealing with the little brutes was to advance in close-knit formations of two or more and separate the goblins from their compatriots, then proceeding to fell the strongest or most veteran of their ranks. With their ‘best’ combatants slain or incapacitated, the morale of the remaining goblins would often collapse.
While Nakan did not have the luxury of being accompanied by a half-dozen other goliath warriors, he did have an adept spellcaster as an ally and the name of the goblin’s supposed leader. The snake was lying in wait among the nearby hills, and all that was left was to remove it’s head before it had the chance to strike.
Nodding a few times as he went through his mental plan again, Nakan would speak up. “Well, not the most comforting estimates of their strength, but at least they haven’t managed to rally any of their larger kin to the cause.” The goliath would follow the druid's gaze towards the direction of Kol’s lair before continuing. “A final question from me, if it doesn’t trouble you, but might you know a shortcut or more secluded route to the creatures home? We can find our own way there, surely enough, but I’ll take any advantage we might be able to get.”
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Post by Kai Wren on May 6, 2019 19:24:36 GMT
The druid allowed himself a small smile at the question, and what followed was a sequence of directions. They were calm, composed, and repeated when needed – they also gave Citrine a few moments longer to admire the ancient stonework and the intricate carvings within. Those stalwart, silent guardians of the Grove which had been there long before any of the people now standing in it, and would be there long after they had all moved on to the next mysteries in their existence.
It took time, of course, to follow even the druid’s hidden and secret ways. Time which saw the sun continue its eternal journey across the sky. The forest seemed tranquil; happy enough to let them pass without any further interference from monstrous forces. The protection of the Grove was what consumed the live of the druids who lived here, but it seemed to be a successful effort. There were ancient forces bound into this forest; entities from other planes or beings of destruction which had simply been deemed too potent to be allowed to rampage across the face of Faerun in this age, and which needed to be kept slumbering until the time was right for them to resume their place in the great cycle.
After the assault by the bizarre plant creatures, the serenity of the paths firmly under the control of the druids was a wonderful contrast.
Twilight was starting to encroach when they came to the edge of the forest, as promised – and there, it became obvious which of the mountains was the one they needed to venture into, most likely the next morning.
Because one of the mountains, black and jagged stretching into the sky, was lit about midway up with a series of flickering flames, burning like a signal into the night.
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Citrine
Approved
6 Wild Blooded Sorcerer+ 1 Celestial Warlock
Posts: 328
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Post by Citrine on May 8, 2019 23:03:21 GMT
She took another pause to admire the statues in the glade she and Nakan were in before bowing and speaking her thanks, following the goliath out and into the woods once more. For once, just like as they traveled the forest to the Druid's circle, Citrine kept mostly quiet. For reverence more than not having anything to say. The forest here? There was a presence still that demanded respect.
The sun went down, the firebird sensing its fall even though it was impossible to see the glowing star itself. The woods grew darker, the bug sounds increased, and the walk was rather uneventful. She collected Nakan's possessions they'd tied up into the trees and ultimately walked. Citrine was, of course, riding on Nakan's shoulders again - her walking speed was atrocious through such dense areas - and lit their path with a shimmer of low-level phoenix fire on her wings in place of a torch. Neither of them could see much of anything else interesting until they came to the shadow of a mountain.
The flames drew her eyes like a moth to flame, hawk eyes staring as she tried to get a feel for the fire from here. Was it natural? Elemental? Celestial? What would they find there?
Finding her voice Citrine kept a low voice so as to not draw attention to their location. "Reckon we get ah tad closer tae teh target, then camp with ah steady watchful eye? Ef we can't pinpoint them nae, et might be 'ard tae find them come teh Firebird's Light." She shifted, still spellbound by the only source of light seen on the mountainous horizon. "Aye dan't think Aye should risk flyin' ahead, nae't en these woods." She had considered offering to fly ahead. But the risk of losing sight of Nakan when she herself had no hope of seeing in the dark without the aid of light?
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Post by Nakan on May 15, 2019 6:10:34 GMT
Nakan listened, quiet and attentive, as the druid explained his directions. The goliath paid close attention, having zero intention of getting lost in a forest as vast and as old as Kryptgarden. The path committed to memory, Nakan thanked the man for his aid and wished him well.
The last leg of the trip passed in relative silence, neither Citrine or Nakan seeming eager to disturb the peace that fell over the forest as they moved through the ancient trees and dense underbrush. It wasn’t until the sun was sinking low over the horizon that the pair finally broke through the treeline and were able to behold what could only be the home of their adversary, Kol Firebelly. Looking back to the old woods behind him, Nakan muttered a small thank you to whatever force had decided to let them make it the rest of the way to their destination unhindered.
Crouching down on one knee, so as to make himself and the phoenix piggy-backing atop his shoulders less of an obvious target, Nakan began to scan the mountainside ahead. It was dotted with the telltale glow of flame, possibly from torches, but he couldn’t tell from this distance. They indeed appeared to have been deliberately arranged by someone or something.
When Citrine spoke it almost surprised Nakan, the last few hours had been so quiet that he’d almost forgot that he wasn’t alone. He nodded in agreement with her plan of action, as well as her decision against going airborne for the time being.
“Trying to get a bit closer would be the wisest course. They’ll have a harder time spotting us if we’re just outside their torchlight, the flames should dull with their vision enough to give us something of an advantage.”
This wasn’t the first time Nakan had done something like this. Observing an encampment to identify its weaknesses in preparation for a raid was an occasional part of life in the Icerims. He and Citrine would need to get as close as possible without giving themselves away, something easier said than done. They couldn’t merely waltz right up the mountain with Citrine’s magical light still active, and that meant they might stumble right into a group of goblins perfectly adept at seeing in the dim twilight that was beginning to shroud the hill.
“We’ll need to take it slow and quiet, I won’t be able to see much in these shadows. I don’t want us to surprise a patrol halfway up and wake every goblin in these mountains, aye? Hopefully we’ll be the ones to start the fighting when the time’s right.”
((OOC for DM))
Nakan will look around to see if any goblins are visible from where he and Citrine are now. In addition, he'll try to look for a spot that might give them a better view closer to the lights.
Not sure if you want me to roll something for that or not.
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Post by Kai Wren on May 15, 2019 20:04:00 GMT
((Give me a perception check))
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Post by Nakan on May 15, 2019 20:55:56 GMT
Perception: SDbiFQ9o1d20+21d20+2
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Post by Kai Wren on May 16, 2019 21:20:50 GMT
The mountain was still quite some distance off; perhaps two or three hours by foot (though markedly less by wing, of course). Thankfully, it didn’t seem as though there were any goblins this far down, nor any that were visibly moving around up there.
It was heartening to note that, as far as both of them could see here and had seen throughout the journey, this part of the forest remained untouched. There was no evidence of any hostile creatures; there was instead a pervasive sense of tranquillity. In fact, it felt as though they could – if they so desired – bed down safely amongst the moss and the eaves of the trees without fear of their sleep being disturbed by hostile creatures.
But that flame would continue to burn in the distance; a scar of fire mesmerising, inviting, and undoubtedly dangerous in equal measure.
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Citrine
Approved
6 Wild Blooded Sorcerer+ 1 Celestial Warlock
Posts: 328
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Post by Citrine on May 16, 2019 21:46:15 GMT
"Et's nae gonna get better, waitin' around 'ere. Unless ye sense somethin', Aye say we press ahead an' get ah feel about what's around." She agreed to his stance of moving closer being a wise choice. Citrine watched as Nakan looked around, keeping an immediate eye out for anything that would spring against them in a defensive stance moreso than the environment itself.
"Aye wanna see whut tha' fire's all about. With teh moon 'an stars out like they are, an' us out o' teh thick of teh woods? We should be fine." Her wings extinguished themselves, a few steady rhythmic flaps to flick the last of the embers off of them, leaving them with just the night's natural light to guide them.
As she waited for her eyes to adjust she considered how lucky they'd be at sneaking in. "Aye'm ah right piece o' work on teh ground. These feet aren't ment fer walking long term, or carefully steppin'." She picked up a foot and curled the talons in a sort of toe wriggle equivalent. "But et's always worth teh attempt. An, as we get closer, Aye can head up enta teh air an take ah peak frum there towards any sort o' clearin' there might be. Can drop ah fire blast from up above tae set somethin' on fire." There was a deep grin in her voice at the thought of setting her enemies on fire.
((I'm up for trying our hand at stealth, trying to sneak some knowledge, then heading into the literal and symbolic fire.))
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Post by Nakan on May 17, 2019 22:37:22 GMT
Nakan nodded in agreement with Citrine. “Aye, both Dantallion and those druids seemed awful concerned about these goblins. And as far as I can tell, they haven’t pushed down into these foothills yet. I don’t see a reason to stand about any longer.”
The goliath rose back to a standing position, still focused on the flames in the distance. It was a fair bit of ground they still had to cover, but it seemed to be an empty one, devoid of any patrols or lookouts. As a matter of fact, the only thing seemingly of any interest was the small inferno along the distant mountainside.
At the mention of stealth, and Citrine’s inherent awkwardness on foot, Nakan would turn to face his companion, grasping the hem of his scale hauberk and giving it a sympathetic shake. The interlocking plates of hardened steel gave out an almost musical - but decidedly unnatural and manufactured - cacophony of dings and clanks as they shifted and impacted each other. “Between the two of us we’ll be spotted rather quick if we draw too close to them.”
As he turned back to the glow in the distance, he recalled the old man’s estimate of the goblin forces. “But if there’s a chance we can get close enough to lend ourselves the element of surprise, we’d be wise to take it. Numbers aren’t with us tonight.”
Barring any objection from his fellow adventurer, Nakan would begin moving towards the distant mountain.
((I think stealth will be a good idea once we’re closer, and Citrine should definitely make use of her ability to go airborne and get a better view once we’re near the mountain.))
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Citrine
Approved
6 Wild Blooded Sorcerer+ 1 Celestial Warlock
Posts: 328
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Post by Citrine on May 18, 2019 0:45:21 GMT
((Sounds good. So Kai - Getting closer to the fires we can see, however long it takes. Let us know rolls as we approach/DM be positioned to where we need to be. Stealth is the hope, with Citrine going up high when it's clear stealth is out. If we get through stealth *fingers crossed* I'd like Citrine to be able to perception check the layout of what's going on to get a feel for the area.))
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Post by Kai Wren on May 28, 2019 17:45:32 GMT
Okay, sorry about the delay on this - give me a couple stealth checks.
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Post by Nakan on May 28, 2019 19:09:24 GMT
Stealth, Disadvantage from Armor: oHBmLqH81d20+2 or 1d20+21d20+2·1d20+2
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