As the band beings to head east, Johnathan decides to follow behind. He was still unsure of his companions and wanted to keep an eye on them all. How could I be in a party again? Guess I’ll never learn. He begins to have flashes of memories of travelling with the army when they were defending the unicorn. Even though it wasn’t that long ago so much has changed. It was strange thinking back to how he used to be. He used to be so much more cheerful and happy, almost like Aoe. Johnathan shakes his head at that final thought as the bard begins to sing, again. Watching the bard casts spells on his band while trying to sneak it in song was almost amusing, almost. It was good to see that he has actual magic with him.
Johnathan turns his gaze to Ralik. He was beginning to question what this ritual will entail. Messing with the gods never ends well. Only time will tell. Out of everyone that Johnathan has spoken to, he knew very little about Kerwyn. A proven warrior was always good to talk with, but he spent a lot of time talking to Cairon about the mission, which will help in the long run.
When the party have made some distance Johnathan decides to scout the area ahead. He looks at his little bat and decided it’s better to keep him out of the sun as he didn’t like travelling in it. Johnathan walks up to a large tree and looks at the party. I’m gonna get a better view. Just when the band are about to question whether he could make such a climb, Johnathan pulls out a dead spider and a drop of bitumen and eats it. He then taps his feet together and mutters something under his breath. All of a sudden Johnathan starts walking up the side of the tree as if it were ground(OOC he cast spider climb). After getting a birds eye view he returns and lets the party know that it seems clear ahead.
For the rest of the day Johnathan remains quite as the band make their way east.
As the night sets and the band decide to set up camp, Johnathan sets up his tent a little away from everyone else but still within eye sight. He didn’t want to be woken by all the chatter the band would most likely do throughout the night. He was relieved that the bard has stopped singing for a minute. This thing about being happy ALL the time was quite frustrating that it has given Johnathan a headache. And it made travelling stealthily impossible as well. He might as well be singing our location to the lord of darkness himself. He looks at Ralik, noticing how the sun has set Well it looks like the night has come, time we see what this ritual will do. I hope you know what you are doing with this.
Running Bird perks up in piloerection as Aoe approaches "Enemy?" it says before Aoe gets close "Food?" It says with an amused tilt of its head as he gets closer. "Friend" Ralik says while unloading and helping to prep the site. "Friend?" it echoes curiously as it looks Aoe up and down, sizing him up physically. If a giant two legged bird could shrug, it did. "Friend" it says matter-of-factly. "New heard strange, but strong. Alpha likes you, so I like you, but you do look tasty. Alpha said don't eat any of you though." Ralik throws a rather large rat to Running Bird who swiftly claps it out of the air with it's powerful beak. Bones snap upon the chomp, then it is swallowed whole. It then lowers its head to the ground, picks a few hand sized rocks and swallows them too, along with some of the surrounding greenery. Displaying trust around Aoe and the others.
Ralik walks with Aoe and speaks to the other animals as well. Introducing himself with a slap to the chest, an "OAH OAH OAH" and assuring that he is very deadly and will protect them all, addressing each as brother and sister. Ralik is careful around the snail due to its temperament, but he does offer it some various greenery and the last large rat he had. "We will need to make sure to hunt soon. I like to leave rations for when we cannot find anything. I'm sure this area is bountiful."
Later, while Aoe starts singing and carrying on, Ralik takes out his Lutekele and listened to the cords a few times before he joins in, supplementing and supporting Aoe through the piece, but not to take away any of the attention. After so long of hearing of Aoe's orations and song through the tales in taverns he had frequented, he had finally met the person. Ralik hoots in excitement as the flail snail becomes lifted and floats around. Such a sight to see and one they would probably have never seen unless they had ben brought together like this. "Brother Snail really set sail, did he not?" He says with a laugh.
After the excitement dies down, Ralik gathers the standing torches and addresses the group. "I will be back brothers and sister. It is time for me to preform the ritual of my ancestors and My Goddess. You may observe if you like, but it is long. Do not worry, I do not have to do this every night, but this is a special occasion. My soul and heart must be seen and judged." With that, he turns and goes a comfortable distance from the camp as no not keep anyone up, but close enough to be able to come back if there is danger.
Ralik sets the standing torches in a circle. Out side of the circle he removes his upper garb and hikes his pant legs up, tying them to his legs just below the knees. He then takes bells out of his pack, ties them about a piece of silk rope, and then ties the rope to his ankles. He does the same with his wrists. After that is done, he takes some white paint from a box and draws swirling flowing lines about his body and face. His medium brown hair hangs about naturally and sways with a gentle breeze that wafts over the area.
Ralik retrieves the longsword he had gotten before they departed and enters the circle. He lights the torches one by one then stand in the middle. Reaching out with his free hand, Ralik breaths deeply and motions his hand up high, lowering it leaving a trail of twilight like iridescent glow in its path. Suddenly he gabs the base of the magical line and in that instant, another longsword materializes into his hand. It shimmers a pale purple iridescences in the firelight. Ralik holds both weapons crossed up to the moon and begins to chant in a strange dialect of elvish. He brings the swords down and begins doing what looks like shadow boxing but with the swords in hand while chanting. The movements with the normal longsword are obviously slower and less crisp than that of the manifested sword, but Ralik does not relent. Slowly, but surely, his movements become more fluid. His chant more melodic and entrancing. The bells jingle and chime more in conjunction with his voice and movements. As his song and dance apex the torches blow out but Ralik still dances. Bathing in the moonlight and covered with sweat, Ralik continues slashing, swiping, and spinning around in the circle while sing chanting. His movements become swift, fluid, and deadly, but graceful and beautiful. At some point, without anyone really realizing it, the material longsword begins to glow similar to the materializes one, leaving faint moonlit arcs in the air as he flurries and his song climaxes. Even though it looks like both swords would be too heavy and impractical to use duel wielding, Ralik makes them look as effortless as holding two sticks. Each one moving as if living independently of each other, but working in concert at the same time. Ralik himself seems to become lighter as he begins to leap in the air, spinning the blades with intent to sever the head of some unseen enemy. He becomes a whirlwind of blades as he flies from one side of the circle to the other, spinning, changing course, and launches into another flying spinn. As Ralik crescendos, he still keeps the spectacle up for hours until he finally collapses and passes out. His last words before sleep took him were "Eilistree, my love. The ancestors have heard me." His arm falls after reaching up to the moon and he stays in that spot until morning or until someone moves him. The Summoned sword disappears, but the other still has a faint glimmer to it.
Wherever Ralik lay, Running Bird will watch over him, only resting once he is too tired to stay up comfortably and fine with someone taking up watch for the group.
Trained:
Ralik will have worked on Animal Handling with Aoe but saved most of his energy for the ritual so would not have trained anything else.
Shavaris is happy that they are making camp by the woods. Being so far from home it gives her something to cling to as she processes all these changes and the enormous task ahead of them. She watches as some of the others talk with the different mounts that they have in their party and realizes how smart it is to work on our animal handling with the fact we're going after a probably very skittish mare. She follows suit and works on befriending each one as well.
She looks up at the ostrich, not sure how to start with such a large and strange beast. She makes sure Ralik is with her and slowly pets the beast and whispers soft words to it. Handing it some food and giving Running Bird the time he needs to feel comfortable, she then moves on to the snail. Old Ironsides has already had some time with Shavaris before, but she spends some time with the snail, musing how interesting it is that he is Kerwyn's mount. What a team we make, I'm enjoying it, but everyone will know who we are - there will be no hiding or misdirecting when they are looking for the dawn guard.
While Aoe is putting on his performance, she goes to set up her area, "I hope you all don't mind, but if possible, I like to sleep in the trees. And since I have that option, that is my plan. Also, I only need 4 hours of actual rest - I can take the first watch once we're ready to sleep." once she is finished talking, she realizes everyone is looking around for her, like they don't see her. "What is wrong with you guys? I'm right here!" she waves her hands at them to see if that will help, and realizes she can't see her hands either. She freezes for a second and when she realizes what happened, she chastises Aoe, "I appreciate your talent, and I think it will greatly come in handy. But do NOT do it without my knowledge or consent. How long is this going to last?"
When Ralik heads over to do his ritual, Shavaris climbs the closest tree and watches in awe at the change that happens. She was worried watching his brandish the longsword when he got it this morning, but this was enchanting and washed away her worries. Once he collapsed, Shavaris hops down and drags him back to the campfire, giving Running Bird a pat for watching over his master. She then heads back up into the tree. She starts looking forward to getting to know her party as time goes by, which is a good thing as she is realizing how much time they are going to be spending with each other.
“The spell ends when either I lose my concentration, or if you cast a spell or make an attack… so with a little blade work on a nearby tree, or squishing a if or two with conviction, you can for the most part end it when you want. Otherwise, an hour dear, merely an hour.”
Aoe preps for bed then adding, “next time I’ll just cast it on Elkie and get two of you in one shot!” He jests, as he knows they will all have to be quite thick skinned to survive the coming months.
Kerwyn sits down by the fire after a long day of travel, puts his back and his bedroll up against Old Ironsides, finds a comfy spot in the curve of his shell and props up like a bed pillow. He's staring at the fire in the center, his mind starts to wander. "You know, I feel like my whole life has been building up to this moment. And now it's here. It is hard to know what to say. I hope that when my moment comes, when our lives are on the line, that I don't fail you. I will try with every ounce of my strength not to. I feel like everything is happening so fast..."
He drifts off, staring into the fire. Through the course of the day when travelling, he was learning every curve and inch of Old Ironside's shell, how to rest his feet on either side, how a nudge in one direction or the other affected their destination, direction. He learned the pattern of its undulation, its smooth undulating slithering gait, surprisingly comfortable. As they were travelling and he was looking back checking on everyone else's progress (sometimes he was toward the front, sometimes toward the rear), he noted something strange. There was an iridescent trail coming out of Old Ironsides, a trail of twinkly material coming out of its pseudopod that seemed to be deposited in a straight line behind them. "Uh oh. I hope no one is on our tail. They have a nice shiny path... to me and Old Ironsides here. Good thing we are the hunters!" He gives everyone an uneasy grin.
"We are headed back the way that I came to the Ivory Tower. I grew up in a little village called Falcon Crest on the border of the Faron Woods. I was raised by Father Lamas, left in the care of the church when I was a babe. I was left in his care with only this." He holds up a circular, fairly large medallion with central spokes and a central cross. He presses it in a certain manner and the central portion pops out of the medallion. "I didn't know its power or what it was meant for initially, but as I was messing with it one day, it popped out. And when I press here.." He presses a central button like protuberance, and then the star shaped item flicks open and becomes twice its size, with curved blades on each spoke. "This changes entirely. I didn't know what this meant until I travelled one day to Castle Eternia. I saw this symbol and motif repeated in several areas of the Castle. I don't know what it means. But I have the feeling that I'm bound for something great, something bigger than me, even bigger than what I can dream." He flicks the thrown glaive and a dead branch on a tree on the opposite site of the campfire, slicing it off cleanly, then it returns to his hand. He presses the button and turns the device back into the circular medallion form around his neck. "Neat huh? And powerful."
As the evening winds down, he doesn't look in your eyes, just keeps staring at the fire. "Then I met all of you at the Ivory Tower, and was given this." He pulls out the Auryn Medallion, considering it, turning it over in his hands. "I feel like we are being pulled forward in an unrelenting current toward our destiny. Or something." Just then, Ralik begins his ceremony and Kerwyn looses his train of thought. He sits up and watches the ceremony, transfixed. Toward the end, speaking to no one but himself, he says "Well, there's something you don't see every day...." When Shavaris brings the unconscious Ralik back to the campfire, Kerwyn jumps up and goes over to help, positioning him and making him comfortable, but with no idea otherwise how to help. When he jumps up, one of Old Ironside's flails drops down in a look of possible alarm, before the situation is assessed and it is retracted back into the shell. "Let's get some sleep everyone. We have a long journey ahead of us."
Training - animal handling as well. Working on his flail snail handling techniques.
Johnathan watches as Ralik does the ritual he was going on about. It was immediately apparent that this was no simple pray he was performing, this contained a powerful magical source. He never heard of this Eillstree, was it perhaps an ancestor or a god I never heard of before. Johnathan takes a careful notice of the blade that was summoned. It radiated foreign magic. Whatever source was giving this power to Ralik was not typical. Gods don’t usually answer mortals pleas unless they have some important destiny. Something isn’t right here. I better go and ask him what exactly is going on. As Johnathan leaves his tent to approach Ralik he sees him faint from exhaustion. Damn, looks like I’ll have to talk with him tomorrow then. He considers bringing him to the rest of the band but sees the ostrich and Shavaris approach him. As Shavaris drags him back to the group he says Am I the only one that thinks this is crazy? What just happened? He can tell she knew as much as he did and decides to drop it, for now.
As the night sets and people are sleeping, Johnathan feels the cold night on his skin. It was that time again. He looks around the camp and sees Shavaris taking watch. Just one person to avoid, no problem. He tries his best to leave his tent without anyone looking. He sneaks out his tent and starts walking into the night. As he is leaving, it was apparent to Shavaris that Johnathan was leaving and was trying to do so quietly. What was even more strange to her was the fact that he didn’t use any light source to see where he was going, but was walking unaffected. Before Shavaris could react in any way a loud bird noise is heard. This wasn’t a usual call that the birds would do during the night, this was a desperate cry of pain as if it was being attacked. The noise wakes everyone in the camp. Whatever was going on was happening nearby, in the direction Johnathan was heading.
Aoe awakens to an avian sound of death. Startled, he looks about and sees Johnathan and shavaris are missing.
“Kerwyn do you know where the others are? Ralik would you investigate? Where are John and shavaris?”
Aoe stands up and grabs his bandore and staff, embracing the instrument with a hug while holding the staff, “May the forest guide us tonight”, casting Shillelagh on the staff and walking into the woods 20 meters in the first few seconds… looking forward 60ft with his darkvision he still sees nothing, checking that any of the others are with him.
Aoe holds the staff over his head like someone expecting to bash a pest or thief over the head, not hunt a dangerous and deadly creature. inching forward, he gets within view of the sound about 15 seconds after he began walking toward it (still physically 50ft away). “Johnathan? Shavaris? That you?”
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
That’s odd..muses Sharavis as she sees Jonathan leave his tent. She didn’t think she would have to watch her own party while taking her turn. When he leaves his tent, she thinks he is just going to releave himself, but wait, no he is trying to be sneaky about this. She leaps down gracefully from her perch in the tree and stealthily follows him. She figures she doesn’t want to interrupt what is going on, but her curiousity is far too great to ignore.
When the bird cry was heard, she ran for him. This was out of the ordinary and she wanted to know what was going on. She didn’t think to stop and get anyone else, but knew the cry was loud enough to wake the rest. They’ll figure it out she thinks and continues on, when she thinks she is close, she looks around and tries to get a grasp on what exactly is going on
Perception 19
She then calls out to Johnathan and Aoe to let them know where she is and hopefully everything will come to light as to what is going on.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Kerwyn awakens with a start, with the sound. He jumps up to his feet, picks up his armor and starts to put it on. He picks up his great sword and casts light on the tip of it, unhooks his thrown glaive and attaches it to his belt, easily accessible. "What the hell was that!" Kerwyn looks around for his companions, looks for Aoe and Shavaris on watch. He tries to localize the direction of the sound that he heard and heads off in that direction, nerves jumpy. "First night on our grand adventure and we are attacked at night? What the hell! Wait a minute, where is Johnathan?" He moves forward, into the darkness.
Kerwyn hears Aoe and says "I don't know where they are, I can't see a damned thing! Which way are they?" as he fumbles for the straps with his armor, hopping around on one foot putting his shoe on and waving a great sword wildly.
"Ralik, are you awake? Get up! Someone may be attacking us! Some bird getting impaled out there, it sounded horrible, woke me up! Is your ostrich ok? Something is going on, and Johnathan is missing! Get up and look alive!" Kerwyn goes over and shakes Ralik, nearly fastened into his armor and spinning around, looking for danger from all sides. "Shavaris, where are you?"
“Over here! Not so loud or you’ll wake the dead!!” Shavaris answers impatiently. Still working her way slowly to Johnathan trying to understand what is going on.
Aoe hears the group arousing, and relaxes his stance…. It not like he’s much use in melee against anything but kobolds and swamp rats…
“sounded like a bird of some sort, I hope it didn’t get Johnathan…” Aoe wonders why he didn’t bring the short sword from his plays, it might have been a better weapon than sstage staff… oh well, sometimes you make due.
suddenly thinking back to the fact that Johnathan was such a showman about his disguise self antics at the tower, he wonders what kind of a show or act he was putting on this time… and to what audience at that!
With squinted eyes, Ralik wakes to a string of questions he has no idea about. "Slow down brother."he says to Kerwyn, rubbing his eyes and stretching a bit.He rises slowly and helps guide Kerwyn through the dark, who tells him the general direction of the ruckus. Ralik Guides Kerwyn by tying a silk rope to himself for Kerwyn to hold. Running Bird follows, alerted by the commotion and wanting to be with Ralik. Seeing the panic in the man's eyes and hearing it in his voice, Ralik draws his swords just in case.
Shavaris makes her way towards the direction that Johnathan went. It was clear he was heading in one direction in a hurry, making it easier to see his tracks in the woods. Johnathan was up to something, that much was certain. As Shavaris stealthily follows Johnathan she is shocked by what she discovers. She sees a giant eagle on the group as it is struggling to get free of a dark cloaked figure. The figure seems to be grappling the creature, with its face buried in the eagles flesh. She can’t see the figures face as his back is towards Shavaris. That is when Shavaris notices the blood all on the ground. The eagle made a loud noise as it was being attacked, but the figure quickly snaps it’s neck, silencing it for good. This looked professional, as if this figure has done this before. As Shavaris makes a call to the rest of the band the figure turns around.
His mouth was covered in this thick blood with little droplets dripping from the corner of his mouth. His eyes had a hint of red and his teeth, although mostly covered in blood, had two long fangs sticking out.It takes Shavaris a second to realise that this figure was in fact Johnathan, although the changes were drastically different to how she saw him before. Johnathan locks eyes with Shavaris. She can see that there was a craze look in his eyes, like a wild animal hunting it’s prey. Johnathan shakes his head and drops the eagle, desperately trying to stop himself from draining more. For the first time since Shavaris met Johnathan she sees him look utterly ashamed and broken. He didn’t want them to see him like this, this was a curse he would’ve weathered himself. That is when he notices the others approaching. It was all over. Knowing that the others would see him like this, he turns to Shavaris. I am sorry. I had hope to keep you all from this.
He looks over to the direction that the others are coming from and decides to spin and cloak himself in shadows, making himself look like his old self with no blood or fangs sticking out. The last thing he says as he gives a quick look to Shavaris is I think I better explain what is going on. The others will be here shortly. That is when the others arrive.
As the figure in front of her turns around, Shavaris sees Johnathan, not as she knows him but as something else. As she tries to wrap her head around what she is seeing, as she watches him struggle to stop himself, she steps a bit closer so that he doesn’t think she plans on running. She hates seeing him broken, feeling this way with them, as he apologizes, she tells him, “It’s ok, we are all different people, we all have a past. I would very much like to hear yours.”
As he tries desperately to clean himself up, she looks at all the blood, “What does that taste like? What draws you to it?” You can see in her face she is definitely more curious than appalled. As the rest start to arrive, she turns to address them. “There is no fight here, no threat.” She looks over her shoulder at Johnathan and when she turns back to the group, she has a sly smile, “We are about to hear a good story though”
While the rest come and we start to get Johnathan settled, she thinks back to Eloise, she can’t help it.. is this, is this somehow related?
Up over the hill you see a light swinging wildly, searching and looking, like a snipe hunt gone wrong. Kerwyn has one hand one his great sword with a light on the tip of it, his hand is on his glaive on his side. You hear a muttering under his breath, words getting louder as he gets closer, and as he _finally_ finds where you are. “What the hell, has to be three in the morning. Who’s out here, getting all up in our business. Johnathan! Shavaris! Where the hell are you! What was that screech! Have you conjured up some zombie vulture? What is going on out her … oh. Uh… what is that eagle there.. and that blood on your shirt and mouth…”. Kerwyn gets really quiet and looks at you like this.
Johnathan gives a very confused look at Shavaris. Why is she calm about this? Didn’t she see what I am? There was no way that she could just accept this, is she really that naive? As she tries to calm Johnathan down he becomes very uncomfortable as she asks about his blood lust. It seemed to be a very sensitive topic for him, one that he had no interest in describing in detail. As the others approach, Johnathan gives them a second to absorb their surrounding. He didn’t want to overwhelm the party at once. For the most part they seemed quite calm. That didn’t help in what he had to say next. Well, here it goes.
I guess you are wondering what is going on here? As Shavaris said, it’s a bit of a story. He gives a pause as he gathers his thoughts. In short I am not what I seem to be. I am cursed. Cursed by Kelemvor, god of the dead. He tricked me into agreeing into a pact that would give me power to help save the unicorn. He warned that there would be consequences, but worded it so that I wouldn’t understand what I would become. I was naive and desperate, I wanted to help but was powerless to do anything. So I agreed. He begins to get very nervous at this point. He looks in his companions eyes. Some looked very confused as he was telling this story, except for Shavaris. She seemed curious, even intrigued by this. She already knew what he was but was willing to hear him out. Why does she trust me? Maybe she doesn’t know what a vampire looks like. That must be it.
I haven’t had the curse for long. It started when the unicorn was slain. The sun irritates my skin, it hurts my eyes but doesn’t burn me. My blood is warm but yet I am as pale as a ghost. I can see in the dark, move with the shadows and hunt like a beast. But perhaps the biggest issue I have is a craving for blood. He looks at there expressions, knowing that some already knew where this was going. I am part vampire.
He looks around at everyone. Johnathan has a look of fear as he tries to discern if they are gonna kill him. A month ago he would’ve killed him if he heard this crazy story. He keeps a very close eye on Shavaris to see her reaction to that word. He wanted to know why she was so calm. I have looked into this ever since I became this, this thing. I believe that some refer to my kind as Dhampir, part vampire, part mortal. They are in fairy tales and legends but I never knew my kind existed before, I thought they were just stories to scare children. From my understanding we’re not quite vampires but had some of their features, including their hunger for blood. He looksat the eagle, noticing how Kerwyn was shocked in horror. This was more how people saw him. I’ve been feeding off animals to sustain myself. It never satisfies my hunger but keeps me going. I take no joy in this, but it must be done. No more illusions, I’ve got to show them. They haven’t killed me yet. He clings to the shadows surrounding him and disperses the illusion surrounding him. His 2 fangs are long with blood still around his face and his hands have slightly long fingernails and are covered in dirt, probably from when he wrestled the eagle earlier. His eyes however are still the same. It seems whatever made them red before has finished. This is what I am. I am a monster. I wanted to help save the world from darkness but instead I have become a creature of one. He looks to his companions and awaits there judgment. He holds up his hands in a none threatening way and accepts what is to come. Maybe this time Kelemvor will let me rest.
Aoe watcha from a ways off, listening and walking slowly towards the group… he hears the words of self judgement, but what he sees is something different: a child who made a mistake they will have to live with, not yet old enough to even know what are mistakes and what are the very things that bring you to your destiny.
“You speak of monsters, yet you act the opposite, you want to save the realm, yet you know not even what you fight for. Countless lives across the lands regret their actions, it is these men and women you fight for. The right to make mistakes and be forgiven, the right to live.”
“But I must speak to you honestly child… If you thought you would save anyone without losing yourself in the process, then you know not yet what the true nature of this sacrifice is…” at the mention of sacrifice Aoe sees him wince away, ashamed of his curse, “or perhaps you do… perhaps this seeming curse is the seed from which your glory grows.”
Aoe thinks to the task at hand, to the evils they must face ahead. “we stand no chance without an understanding of our enemy, our enemy are corrupted people who have turned from even trying to be good. You may see yourself a monster but I see an opportunity.”
Aoe comes over to the boy and takes his shoulders firmly. For the moment Aoe seems not to care about if his pristine gloves get dirty, or if he puts himself in harms way. He knows he may die on this mission anyway.
Holding Johnathan’s body up with the implied request to stand at attention, he waits for Johnathan posture to improved and his head raised. When he sees his eyes finally look back at him, he smacks him across the face. Just once, but quite hard, a test of his ease to anger. He is happy to see him not lunge forward but stand in contemplation and process the discourse.
“The past is the past; The mistake is seeing this as a burden. I need to know if you will use both what you believe to be the good AND the bad of this bargain you’re struck to change the world, to save the mare; to BE somebody, and to be part of the Dawn’s Guard. Because I don’t want to kill a child and just leave him here, but I will if I must… there can be no doubt where your loyalties lie: no doubt you may bite me or the others, no doubt you would bite the mare, no doubt that instead of tricking the dark lord, you might trick any of us instead in malice during the trials ahead.”
Aoe lowers his arms, readjusts his gloves and collar, pauses for a moment as if unsure what to do next,, and then awkwardly gives the boy a hug, accepting him as just another being, doing their best in this life. the others in the group can tell by his technique that hugs and physical contact must be quite irregular for him. “Now, tell us your preferred dietary and lifestyle needs, so that we may make this trip as plessurable as possibly for your unique condition.”
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As the band beings to head east, Johnathan decides to follow behind. He was still unsure of his companions and wanted to keep an eye on them all. How could I be in a party again? Guess I’ll never learn. He begins to have flashes of memories of travelling with the army when they were defending the unicorn. Even though it wasn’t that long ago so much has changed. It was strange thinking back to how he used to be. He used to be so much more cheerful and happy, almost like Aoe. Johnathan shakes his head at that final thought as the bard begins to sing, again. Watching the bard casts spells on his band while trying to sneak it in song was almost amusing, almost. It was good to see that he has actual magic with him.
Johnathan turns his gaze to Ralik. He was beginning to question what this ritual will entail. Messing with the gods never ends well. Only time will tell. Out of everyone that Johnathan has spoken to, he knew very little about Kerwyn. A proven warrior was always good to talk with, but he spent a lot of time talking to Cairon about the mission, which will help in the long run.
When the party have made some distance Johnathan decides to scout the area ahead. He looks at his little bat and decided it’s better to keep him out of the sun as he didn’t like travelling in it. Johnathan walks up to a large tree and looks at the party. I’m gonna get a better view. Just when the band are about to question whether he could make such a climb, Johnathan pulls out a dead spider and a drop of bitumen and eats it. He then taps his feet together and mutters something under his breath. All of a sudden Johnathan starts walking up the side of the tree as if it were ground(OOC he cast spider climb). After getting a birds eye view he returns and lets the party know that it seems clear ahead.
For the rest of the day Johnathan remains quite as the band make their way east.
As the night sets and the band decide to set up camp, Johnathan sets up his tent a little away from everyone else but still within eye sight. He didn’t want to be woken by all the chatter the band would most likely do throughout the night. He was relieved that the bard has stopped singing for a minute. This thing about being happy ALL the time was quite frustrating that it has given Johnathan a headache. And it made travelling stealthily impossible as well. He might as well be singing our location to the lord of darkness himself. He looks at Ralik, noticing how the sun has set Well it looks like the night has come, time we see what this ritual will do. I hope you know what you are doing with this.
Running Bird perks up in piloerection as Aoe approaches "Enemy?" it says before Aoe gets close "Food?" It says with an amused tilt of its head as he gets closer.
"Friend" Ralik says while unloading and helping to prep the site. "Friend?" it echoes curiously as it looks Aoe up and down, sizing him up physically. If a giant two legged bird could shrug, it did. "Friend" it says matter-of-factly. "New heard strange, but strong. Alpha likes you, so I like you, but you do look tasty. Alpha said don't eat any of you though." Ralik throws a rather large rat to Running Bird who swiftly claps it out of the air with it's powerful beak. Bones snap upon the chomp, then it is swallowed whole. It then lowers its head to the ground, picks a few hand sized rocks and swallows them too, along with some of the surrounding greenery. Displaying trust around Aoe and the others.
Ralik walks with Aoe and speaks to the other animals as well. Introducing himself with a slap to the chest, an "OAH OAH OAH" and assuring that he is very deadly and will protect them all, addressing each as brother and sister. Ralik is careful around the snail due to its temperament, but he does offer it some various greenery and the last large rat he had. "We will need to make sure to hunt soon. I like to leave rations for when we cannot find anything. I'm sure this area is bountiful."
Later, while Aoe starts singing and carrying on, Ralik takes out his Lutekele and listened to the cords a few times before he joins in, supplementing and supporting Aoe through the piece, but not to take away any of the attention. After so long of hearing of Aoe's orations and song through the tales in taverns he had frequented, he had finally met the person. Ralik hoots in excitement as the flail snail becomes lifted and floats around. Such a sight to see and one they would probably have never seen unless they had ben brought together like this. "Brother Snail really set sail, did he not?" He says with a laugh.
After the excitement dies down, Ralik gathers the standing torches and addresses the group. "I will be back brothers and sister. It is time for me to preform the ritual of my ancestors and My Goddess. You may observe if you like, but it is long. Do not worry, I do not have to do this every night, but this is a special occasion. My soul and heart must be seen and judged." With that, he turns and goes a comfortable distance from the camp as no not keep anyone up, but close enough to be able to come back if there is danger.
Ralik sets the standing torches in a circle. Out side of the circle he removes his upper garb and hikes his pant legs up, tying them to his legs just below the knees. He then takes bells out of his pack, ties them about a piece of silk rope, and then ties the rope to his ankles. He does the same with his wrists. After that is done, he takes some white paint from a box and draws swirling flowing lines about his body and face. His medium brown hair hangs about naturally and sways with a gentle breeze that wafts over the area.
Ralik retrieves the longsword he had gotten before they departed and enters the circle. He lights the torches one by one then stand in the middle. Reaching out with his free hand, Ralik breaths deeply and motions his hand up high, lowering it leaving a trail of twilight like iridescent glow in its path. Suddenly he gabs the base of the magical line and in that instant, another longsword materializes into his hand. It shimmers a pale purple iridescences in the firelight. Ralik holds both weapons crossed up to the moon and begins to chant in a strange dialect of elvish. He brings the swords down and begins doing what looks like shadow boxing but with the swords in hand while chanting. The movements with the normal longsword are obviously slower and less crisp than that of the manifested sword, but Ralik does not relent. Slowly, but surely, his movements become more fluid. His chant more melodic and entrancing. The bells jingle and chime more in conjunction with his voice and movements. As his song and dance apex the torches blow out but Ralik still dances. Bathing in the moonlight and covered with sweat, Ralik continues slashing, swiping, and spinning around in the circle while sing chanting. His movements become swift, fluid, and deadly, but graceful and beautiful. At some point, without anyone really realizing it, the material longsword begins to glow similar to the materializes one, leaving faint moonlit arcs in the air as he flurries and his song climaxes. Even though it looks like both swords would be too heavy and impractical to use duel wielding, Ralik makes them look as effortless as holding two sticks. Each one moving as if living independently of each other, but working in concert at the same time. Ralik himself seems to become lighter as he begins to leap in the air, spinning the blades with intent to sever the head of some unseen enemy. He becomes a whirlwind of blades as he flies from one side of the circle to the other, spinning, changing course, and launches into another flying spinn. As Ralik crescendos, he still keeps the spectacle up for hours until he finally collapses and passes out. His last words before sleep took him were "Eilistree, my love. The ancestors have heard me." His arm falls after reaching up to the moon and he stays in that spot until morning or until someone moves him. The Summoned sword disappears, but the other still has a faint glimmer to it.
Wherever Ralik lay, Running Bird will watch over him, only resting once he is too tired to stay up comfortably and fine with someone taking up watch for the group.
Trained:
Ralik will have worked on Animal Handling with Aoe but saved most of his energy for the ritual so would not have trained anything else.
Drow enthusiast
Lover of lore and magic.
-The White Crow-
Shavaris is happy that they are making camp by the woods. Being so far from home it gives her something to cling to as she processes all these changes and the enormous task ahead of them. She watches as some of the others talk with the different mounts that they have in their party and realizes how smart it is to work on our animal handling with the fact we're going after a probably very skittish mare. She follows suit and works on befriending each one as well.
She looks up at the ostrich, not sure how to start with such a large and strange beast. She makes sure Ralik is with her and slowly pets the beast and whispers soft words to it. Handing it some food and giving Running Bird the time he needs to feel comfortable, she then moves on to the snail. Old Ironsides has already had some time with Shavaris before, but she spends some time with the snail, musing how interesting it is that he is Kerwyn's mount. What a team we make, I'm enjoying it, but everyone will know who we are - there will be no hiding or misdirecting when they are looking for the dawn guard.
While Aoe is putting on his performance, she goes to set up her area, "I hope you all don't mind, but if possible, I like to sleep in the trees. And since I have that option, that is my plan. Also, I only need 4 hours of actual rest - I can take the first watch once we're ready to sleep." once she is finished talking, she realizes everyone is looking around for her, like they don't see her. "What is wrong with you guys? I'm right here!" she waves her hands at them to see if that will help, and realizes she can't see her hands either. She freezes for a second and when she realizes what happened, she chastises Aoe, "I appreciate your talent, and I think it will greatly come in handy. But do NOT do it without my knowledge or consent. How long is this going to last?"
When Ralik heads over to do his ritual, Shavaris climbs the closest tree and watches in awe at the change that happens. She was worried watching his brandish the longsword when he got it this morning, but this was enchanting and washed away her worries. Once he collapsed, Shavaris hops down and drags him back to the campfire, giving Running Bird a pat for watching over his master. She then heads back up into the tree. She starts looking forward to getting to know her party as time goes by, which is a good thing as she is realizing how much time they are going to be spending with each other.
Training: Animal Handling
“The spell ends when either I lose my concentration, or if you cast a spell or make an attack… so with a little blade work on a nearby tree, or squishing a if or two with conviction, you can for the most part end it when you want. Otherwise, an hour dear, merely an hour.”
Aoe preps for bed then adding, “next time I’ll just cast it on Elkie and get two of you in one shot!” He jests, as he knows they will all have to be quite thick skinned to survive the coming months.
Kerwyn sits down by the fire after a long day of travel, puts his back and his bedroll up against Old Ironsides, finds a comfy spot in the curve of his shell and props up like a bed pillow. He's staring at the fire in the center, his mind starts to wander. "You know, I feel like my whole life has been building up to this moment. And now it's here. It is hard to know what to say. I hope that when my moment comes, when our lives are on the line, that I don't fail you. I will try with every ounce of my strength not to. I feel like everything is happening so fast..."
He drifts off, staring into the fire. Through the course of the day when travelling, he was learning every curve and inch of Old Ironside's shell, how to rest his feet on either side, how a nudge in one direction or the other affected their destination, direction. He learned the pattern of its undulation, its smooth undulating slithering gait, surprisingly comfortable. As they were travelling and he was looking back checking on everyone else's progress (sometimes he was toward the front, sometimes toward the rear), he noted something strange. There was an iridescent trail coming out of Old Ironsides, a trail of twinkly material coming out of its pseudopod that seemed to be deposited in a straight line behind them. "Uh oh. I hope no one is on our tail. They have a nice shiny path... to me and Old Ironsides here. Good thing we are the hunters!" He gives everyone an uneasy grin.
"We are headed back the way that I came to the Ivory Tower. I grew up in a little village called Falcon Crest on the border of the Faron Woods. I was raised by Father Lamas, left in the care of the church when I was a babe. I was left in his care with only this." He holds up a circular, fairly large medallion with central spokes and a central cross. He presses it in a certain manner and the central portion pops out of the medallion. "I didn't know its power or what it was meant for initially, but as I was messing with it one day, it popped out. And when I press here.." He presses a central button like protuberance, and then the star shaped item flicks open and becomes twice its size, with curved blades on each spoke. "This changes entirely. I didn't know what this meant until I travelled one day to Castle Eternia. I saw this symbol and motif repeated in several areas of the Castle. I don't know what it means. But I have the feeling that I'm bound for something great, something bigger than me, even bigger than what I can dream." He flicks the thrown glaive and a dead branch on a tree on the opposite site of the campfire, slicing it off cleanly, then it returns to his hand. He presses the button and turns the device back into the circular medallion form around his neck. "Neat huh? And powerful."
As the evening winds down, he doesn't look in your eyes, just keeps staring at the fire. "Then I met all of you at the Ivory Tower, and was given this." He pulls out the Auryn Medallion, considering it, turning it over in his hands. "I feel like we are being pulled forward in an unrelenting current toward our destiny. Or something." Just then, Ralik begins his ceremony and Kerwyn looses his train of thought. He sits up and watches the ceremony, transfixed. Toward the end, speaking to no one but himself, he says "Well, there's something you don't see every day...." When Shavaris brings the unconscious Ralik back to the campfire, Kerwyn jumps up and goes over to help, positioning him and making him comfortable, but with no idea otherwise how to help. When he jumps up, one of Old Ironside's flails drops down in a look of possible alarm, before the situation is assessed and it is retracted back into the shell. "Let's get some sleep everyone. We have a long journey ahead of us."
Training - animal handling as well. Working on his flail snail handling techniques.
Johnathan watches as Ralik does the ritual he was going on about. It was immediately apparent that this was no simple pray he was performing, this contained a powerful magical source. He never heard of this Eillstree, was it perhaps an ancestor or a god I never heard of before. Johnathan takes a careful notice of the blade that was summoned. It radiated foreign magic. Whatever source was giving this power to Ralik was not typical. Gods don’t usually answer mortals pleas unless they have some important destiny. Something isn’t right here. I better go and ask him what exactly is going on. As Johnathan leaves his tent to approach Ralik he sees him faint from exhaustion. Damn, looks like I’ll have to talk with him tomorrow then. He considers bringing him to the rest of the band but sees the ostrich and Shavaris approach him. As Shavaris drags him back to the group he says Am I the only one that thinks this is crazy? What just happened? He can tell she knew as much as he did and decides to drop it, for now.
As the night sets and people are sleeping, Johnathan feels the cold night on his skin. It was that time again. He looks around the camp and sees Shavaris taking watch. Just one person to avoid, no problem. He tries his best to leave his tent without anyone looking. He sneaks out his tent and starts walking into the night. As he is leaving, it was apparent to Shavaris that Johnathan was leaving and was trying to do so quietly. What was even more strange to her was the fact that he didn’t use any light source to see where he was going, but was walking unaffected. Before Shavaris could react in any way a loud bird noise is heard. This wasn’t a usual call that the birds would do during the night, this was a desperate cry of pain as if it was being attacked. The noise wakes everyone in the camp. Whatever was going on was happening nearby, in the direction Johnathan was heading.
Aoe awakens to an avian sound of death. Startled, he looks about and sees Johnathan and shavaris are missing.
“Kerwyn do you know where the others are? Ralik would you investigate? Where are John and shavaris?”
Aoe stands up and grabs his bandore and staff, embracing the instrument with a hug while holding the staff, “May the forest guide us tonight”, casting Shillelagh on the staff and walking into the woods 20 meters in the first few seconds… looking forward 60ft with his darkvision he still sees nothing, checking that any of the others are with him.
Aoe holds the staff over his head like someone expecting to bash a pest or thief over the head, not hunt a dangerous and deadly creature. inching forward, he gets within view of the sound about 15 seconds after he began walking toward it (still physically 50ft away). “Johnathan? Shavaris? That you?”
That’s odd..muses Sharavis as she sees Jonathan leave his tent. She didn’t think she would have to watch her own party while taking her turn. When he leaves his tent, she thinks he is just going to releave himself, but wait, no he is trying to be sneaky about this. She leaps down gracefully from her perch in the tree and stealthily follows him. She figures she doesn’t want to interrupt what is going on, but her curiousity is far too great to ignore.
When the bird cry was heard, she ran for him. This was out of the ordinary and she wanted to know what was going on. She didn’t think to stop and get anyone else, but knew the cry was loud enough to wake the rest. They’ll figure it out she thinks and continues on, when she thinks she is close, she looks around and tries to get a grasp on what exactly is going on
Perception 19
She then calls out to Johnathan and Aoe to let them know where she is and hopefully everything will come to light as to what is going on.
Passed out and sleeping like a baby, Ralik is out until sun rise.
Drow enthusiast
Lover of lore and magic.
-The White Crow-
Kerwyn awakens with a start, with the sound. He jumps up to his feet, picks up his armor and starts to put it on. He picks up his great sword and casts light on the tip of it, unhooks his thrown glaive and attaches it to his belt, easily accessible. "What the hell was that!" Kerwyn looks around for his companions, looks for Aoe and Shavaris on watch. He tries to localize the direction of the sound that he heard and heads off in that direction, nerves jumpy. "First night on our grand adventure and we are attacked at night? What the hell! Wait a minute, where is Johnathan?" He moves forward, into the darkness.
Perception : 22
Kerwyn hears Aoe and says "I don't know where they are, I can't see a damned thing! Which way are they?" as he fumbles for the straps with his armor, hopping around on one foot putting his shoe on and waving a great sword wildly.
"Ralik, are you awake? Get up! Someone may be attacking us! Some bird getting impaled out there, it sounded horrible, woke me up! Is your ostrich ok? Something is going on, and Johnathan is missing! Get up and look alive!" Kerwyn goes over and shakes Ralik, nearly fastened into his armor and spinning around, looking for danger from all sides. "Shavaris, where are you?"
“Over here! Not so loud or you’ll wake the dead!!” Shavaris answers impatiently. Still working her way slowly to Johnathan trying to understand what is going on.
Aoe hears the group arousing, and relaxes his stance…. It not like he’s much use in melee against anything but kobolds and swamp rats…
“sounded like a bird of some sort, I hope it didn’t get Johnathan…” Aoe wonders why he didn’t bring the short sword from his plays, it might have been a better weapon than sstage staff… oh well, sometimes you make due.
suddenly thinking back to the fact that Johnathan was such a showman about his disguise self antics at the tower, he wonders what kind of a show or act he was putting on this time… and to what audience at that!
With squinted eyes, Ralik wakes to a string of questions he has no idea about. "Slow down brother." he says to Kerwyn, rubbing his eyes and stretching a bit.He rises slowly and helps guide Kerwyn through the dark, who tells him the general direction of the ruckus. Ralik Guides Kerwyn by tying a silk rope to himself for Kerwyn to hold. Running Bird follows, alerted by the commotion and wanting to be with Ralik. Seeing the panic in the man's eyes and hearing it in his voice, Ralik draws his swords just in case.Drow enthusiast
Lover of lore and magic.
-The White Crow-
Shavaris makes her way towards the direction that Johnathan went. It was clear he was heading in one direction in a hurry, making it easier to see his tracks in the woods. Johnathan was up to something, that much was certain. As Shavaris stealthily follows Johnathan she is shocked by what she discovers. She sees a giant eagle on the group as it is struggling to get free of a dark cloaked figure. The figure seems to be grappling the creature, with its face buried in the eagles flesh. She can’t see the figures face as his back is towards Shavaris. That is when Shavaris notices the blood all on the ground. The eagle made a loud noise as it was being attacked, but the figure quickly snaps it’s neck, silencing it for good. This looked professional, as if this figure has done this before. As Shavaris makes a call to the rest of the band the figure turns around.
His mouth was covered in this thick blood with little droplets dripping from the corner of his mouth. His eyes had a hint of red and his teeth, although mostly covered in blood, had two long fangs sticking out.It takes Shavaris a second to realise that this figure was in fact Johnathan, although the changes were drastically different to how she saw him before. Johnathan locks eyes with Shavaris. She can see that there was a craze look in his eyes, like a wild animal hunting it’s prey. Johnathan shakes his head and drops the eagle, desperately trying to stop himself from draining more. For the first time since Shavaris met Johnathan she sees him look utterly ashamed and broken. He didn’t want them to see him like this, this was a curse he would’ve weathered himself. That is when he notices the others approaching. It was all over. Knowing that the others would see him like this, he turns to Shavaris. I am sorry. I had hope to keep you all from this.
He looks over to the direction that the others are coming from and decides to spin and cloak himself in shadows, making himself look like his old self with no blood or fangs sticking out. The last thing he says as he gives a quick look to Shavaris is I think I better explain what is going on. The others will be here shortly. That is when the others arrive.
As the figure in front of her turns around, Shavaris sees Johnathan, not as she knows him but as something else. As she tries to wrap her head around what she is seeing, as she watches him struggle to stop himself, she steps a bit closer so that he doesn’t think she plans on running. She hates seeing him broken, feeling this way with them, as he apologizes, she tells him, “It’s ok, we are all different people, we all have a past. I would very much like to hear yours.”
As he tries desperately to clean himself up, she looks at all the blood, “What does that taste like? What draws you to it?” You can see in her face she is definitely more curious than appalled. As the rest start to arrive, she turns to address them. “There is no fight here, no threat.” She looks over her shoulder at Johnathan and when she turns back to the group, she has a sly smile, “We are about to hear a good story though”
While the rest come and we start to get Johnathan settled, she thinks back to Eloise, she can’t help it.. is this, is this somehow related?
Up over the hill you see a light swinging wildly, searching and looking, like a snipe hunt gone wrong. Kerwyn has one hand one his great sword with a light on the tip of it, his hand is on his glaive on his side. You hear a muttering under his breath, words getting louder as he gets closer, and as he _finally_ finds where you are. “What the hell, has to be three in the morning. Who’s out here, getting all up in our business. Johnathan! Shavaris! Where the hell are you! What was that screech! Have you conjured up some zombie vulture? What is going on out her … oh. Uh… what is that eagle there.. and that blood on your shirt and mouth…”. Kerwyn gets really quiet and looks at you like this.
Johnathan gives a very confused look at Shavaris. Why is she calm about this? Didn’t she see what I am? There was no way that she could just accept this, is she really that naive? As she tries to calm Johnathan down he becomes very uncomfortable as she asks about his blood lust. It seemed to be a very sensitive topic for him, one that he had no interest in describing in detail. As the others approach, Johnathan gives them a second to absorb their surrounding. He didn’t want to overwhelm the party at once. For the most part they seemed quite calm. That didn’t help in what he had to say next. Well, here it goes.
I guess you are wondering what is going on here? As Shavaris said, it’s a bit of a story. He gives a pause as he gathers his thoughts. In short I am not what I seem to be. I am cursed. Cursed by Kelemvor, god of the dead. He tricked me into agreeing into a pact that would give me power to help save the unicorn. He warned that there would be consequences, but worded it so that I wouldn’t understand what I would become. I was naive and desperate, I wanted to help but was powerless to do anything. So I agreed. He begins to get very nervous at this point. He looks in his companions eyes. Some looked very confused as he was telling this story, except for Shavaris. She seemed curious, even intrigued by this. She already knew what he was but was willing to hear him out. Why does she trust me? Maybe she doesn’t know what a vampire looks like. That must be it.
I haven’t had the curse for long. It started when the unicorn was slain. The sun irritates my skin, it hurts my eyes but doesn’t burn me. My blood is warm but yet I am as pale as a ghost. I can see in the dark, move with the shadows and hunt like a beast. But perhaps the biggest issue I have is a craving for blood. He looks at there expressions, knowing that some already knew where this was going. I am part vampire.
He looks around at everyone. Johnathan has a look of fear as he tries to discern if they are gonna kill him. A month ago he would’ve killed him if he heard this crazy story. He keeps a very close eye on Shavaris to see her reaction to that word. He wanted to know why she was so calm. I have looked into this ever since I became this, this thing. I believe that some refer to my kind as Dhampir, part vampire, part mortal. They are in fairy tales and legends but I never knew my kind existed before, I thought they were just stories to scare children. From my understanding we’re not quite vampires but had some of their features, including their hunger for blood. He looks at the eagle, noticing how Kerwyn was shocked in horror. This was more how people saw him. I’ve been feeding off animals to sustain myself. It never satisfies my hunger but keeps me going. I take no joy in this, but it must be done. No more illusions, I’ve got to show them. They haven’t killed me yet. He clings to the shadows surrounding him and disperses the illusion surrounding him. His 2 fangs are long with blood still around his face and his hands have slightly long fingernails and are covered in dirt, probably from when he wrestled the eagle earlier. His eyes however are still the same. It seems whatever made them red before has finished. This is what I am. I am a monster. I wanted to help save the world from darkness but instead I have become a creature of one. He looks to his companions and awaits there judgment. He holds up his hands in a none threatening way and accepts what is to come. Maybe this time Kelemvor will let me rest.
Aoe watcha from a ways off, listening and walking slowly towards the group… he hears the words of self judgement, but what he sees is something different: a child who made a mistake they will have to live with, not yet old enough to even know what are mistakes and what are the very things that bring you to your destiny.
“You speak of monsters, yet you act the opposite, you want to save the realm, yet you know not even what you fight for. Countless lives across the lands regret their actions, it is these men and women you fight for. The right to make mistakes and be forgiven, the right to live.”
“But I must speak to you honestly child… If you thought you would save anyone without losing yourself in the process, then you know not yet what the true nature of this sacrifice is…” at the mention of sacrifice Aoe sees him wince away, ashamed of his curse, “or perhaps you do… perhaps this seeming curse is the seed from which your glory grows.”
Aoe thinks to the task at hand, to the evils they must face ahead. “we stand no chance without an understanding of our enemy, our enemy are corrupted people who have turned from even trying to be good. You may see yourself a monster but I see an opportunity.”
Aoe comes over to the boy and takes his shoulders firmly. For the moment Aoe seems not to care about if his pristine gloves get dirty, or if he puts himself in harms way. He knows he may die on this mission anyway.
Holding Johnathan’s body up with the implied request to stand at attention, he waits for Johnathan posture to improved and his head raised. When he sees his eyes finally look back at him, he smacks him across the face. Just once, but quite hard, a test of his ease to anger. He is happy to see him not lunge forward but stand in contemplation and process the discourse.
“The past is the past; The mistake is seeing this as a burden. I need to know if you will use both what you believe to be the good AND the bad of this bargain you’re struck to change the world, to save the mare; to BE somebody, and to be part of the Dawn’s Guard. Because I don’t want to kill a child and just leave him here, but I will if I must… there can be no doubt where your loyalties lie: no doubt you may bite me or the others, no doubt you would bite the mare, no doubt that instead of tricking the dark lord, you might trick any of us instead in malice during the trials ahead.”
Aoe lowers his arms, readjusts his gloves and collar, pauses for a moment as if unsure what to do next,, and then awkwardly gives the boy a hug, accepting him as just another being, doing their best in this life. the others in the group can tell by his technique that hugs and physical contact must be quite irregular for him. “Now, tell us your preferred dietary and lifestyle needs, so that we may make this trip as plessurable as possibly for your unique condition.”