This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
THE THIRD BAND(The Order of Phoenix.)p
Atoh the Dragon Speaker
Location: The Fantasia River
" I will have a look. Everyone,wait here." Beforeshe goes to scout, Atoh speaks to her dragon. " Tola,come. I need your blessing. " "Sure thing,buddy!" The pair close eyes and press their forehead together. Something unseen, something mysterious flows between them. After a few seconds, Atoh opens her eyes then alone, she sneaks to the campfire.
Stealth:21
Perception: 19
(OOC: A small trivia. Atoh's Lucky feat is actually coming from her Luck Dragon's power. )
Chuba bristles at Atoh going alone, looking to Brevon for confirmation. She starts creeping forward to try to stay close without giving Atoh away, trying to stay within 60' of her and out of sight.
If anyone stops her moving forward, she will stop.
Jek initially moves to follow Atoh, but seeing that Chuba move for, will let her go. He motions for the others to get close to the wagon. He'll whisper to the others "Keep following the road, but I'll make us a bit harder to see from a distance."
Jek will cast Silent Image 60ft in front of them. He will make a 15ft patch of trees, similar to others he's seen in the area. He will keep moving it to keep it 60ft in front, between them and the campfire ahead.
Atoh's investigation was very productive. She moved expertly through the trees, missing sticks and branches, brush and green briars that were just waiting to latch on to her clothes. She was like a silent breeze passing amongst the forest until she got into range of the other campfire.
Ahead there are three figures sitting around the flame. They're all drinking. One, a human woman with fiery hair, is laughing and holding a hand over her mouth as she tries to giggle without spraying her drink everywhere. She's obviously a warrior; a longsword is slung over her back.
Next to her is an Aarakocra in the stoll and vestments of a cleric. He's popping his beak, clearly happy at whatever funny thing has happened, and then takes another drink before picking up a leather bag and picking nuts from it.
Last is the little Goblin woman who is stretched out on the ground, her head propped against a log. She's a bard, or so Atoh thinks; she's done up like she's really trying to catch folks eyes, and has all sorts of cashmere scarves and lacy linens draped over her and bangles upon bangles on her wrists. Both ears must be pierced at least a dozen times.
They are clearly not threatening. Their fire may be the only thing warmer than the climate of their friendship.
When Atoh stops to get a good look, Chuba approaches to within 40'. She tries to catch Atoh's eye to get an indication of whether they need to steer clear or approach.
Atoh is surprised to find Chuba and Tola following her. She leaves the shadow and approaches them. " What happened? " She asks her dragon." The big girl was worried about you. I told her you would be fine. But you know… I can't speak a common language. " " I see… "
Atoh walks towardChuba. The Goliath woman is almost three times taller and five times heavier than Atoh. And she looks even taller and bigger when the little halfling girl stands next to her. " Thank you for worrying me. But I am fine. My cape was weaved from thieves' grass, and I wore cotton boots. And … and we dragon speakers has a power called Luck Bender. We can bend destiny and make Luck always on our side. But… but I should have told you first and shouldn't be forward alone. Sorry" Atoh looks down at the ground and says in an apologetic tone.
@Others
When she comes back to her group, Atoh reports what she has seen. " … They look like good people. And I couldn't find anyone hiding in the woods. I assume they are harmless to us. "
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Jek will raise his hand and jump excitedly. "Oh, oh. I talk good!"
As they approach, Jek will urge Iron-Hoove to the front. Once they get close enough, Jek will dismount and approach on foot, arms up and hands open, showing that he is not carrying anything.
He will say to them "Hello new friends. We are the Order of the Phoenix! We on our way to the Shem Desert. We have traveled long and were wondering if we could share your fire for the night? We have food and stories we could share!"
Chuba responds to Atoh. "Of course. You are skilled. I merely take precaution. I must remind self I travel with heroes, even if very small." She smiles awkwardly and follows Atoh back to the group.
The fiery haired woman spits some sort of liquor all over herself as Jek appears in front of her group and announces them as the Order of the Phoenix; it's unclear if it's because she's never seen a Lightless before, or if it's because of the way he announced himself, or if it's because of the name of their band as proclaimed. Still, she sits up, wiping the liquid from her face with one hand as she looks at him. The Goblin sits up next, clapping her hands.
"Ooh! I could always use a good story!" She says in her high pitched voice.
Only the Aarakocra looks skeptical of this little interloper. He stands up with his feathers bristling and sways gently on his legs.
"Can we trust!?" His voice is high and shrill. He's clearly surprised and clearly skeptical of the little cloaked figure. His feathers puff up and down, like a rooster that is about to attack. "Where you come from!? Why you here!?"
"Sit down Malco you're being embarrassing!" The human woman said. She was unsuccessfully trying to stand, then gave up on it and patted the log next to her. "Come over here little funny guy. Tell me a funny story!"
The Goblin is already sidling up next to the human, and she has two ales, one in either hand. She gesticulates at Jek with one of them.
"He said 'we'!" Malco shouts, puffing up even bigger as he looks around. "He said 'we'! Where is 'we'!?"
" We are here. " Says Atoh who enters the light of the campfire. The little Halfling already took off her grass cape and changed to a fine red cotton jacket. She waves to the group shyly. " I am Atoh. The dragon speaker of the Khun clan. This is my dragon, Tola. " After her, enters the hound size black dragon. " My mount, Nana." And the mastiff with a saddle on her back.
Jek is very confused, then looks back to his friends, whom he can still see perfectly (although they are more gray in the darkness).
"Sorry, I didn't introduce everyone. Can you not see them? Well I suppose they are in the dark a bit, but that never seemed to bother me... Sorry, I'm rambling. I'll let them introduce themselves. I'm Jek, of the Utinni Clan from the Shem Desert. I am now of the Order of the Phoenix, although we are a fairly new order, I suppose. I am not much of a story teller, truth be told. Brevon has some good stories of the Bright Lady, but I think he calls her something else. Everyone seems to call her something else outside of the desert. Oh, I do have a flute I like to play!" Jek will pull out his pan flute to show them.
Chuba will enter the scene last, knowing she may be the most alarming or threatening at first glance. She walks up holding Thators's reins, petting him to show care for animals and hopefully showing that she's not a threat.
"Well met! My name is Brevon, devotee of the Lady of Light, bless her fair and noble name. This is who Jek refers to as 'the bright lady'. These," he says, gesturing to the others of the order, "are my companions and friends. We are here in search of Light, my brothers and sisters. Come, let us enjoy the fire together. We have food to share. Will you grace us with the story of how you come to be here, in this place? We, in turn, will share our tale."
Brevon begins with light-hearted greetings, knowing that soon they must ask questions whose answers linger in the shadowy pockets beyond the fire's light.
Orin also approaches with Dirk and the wagon. "Hello. I'm Orin Willowthorn and this is Dirk." Point at his Steel Defender. He gets down from the wagon and walks over to fiery haired lady and offers to help clean up the spill. He produces a device which he demonstrates on himself and then offers it to her. (its a hand-vac). He also offers her a marble that emits a sweet floral fragrance (magical tinkering). "Sorry if we startled you all." He then walks over and stand next to his band.
"A dragon!" The Aarakocra, Malco, says with a strut. His feathers finally ruffle and do not smooth out. "A dragon! A giant! Ooh! Ooooh!"
He is clearly not happy about being walked up on by strangers, and bristles up as much as possible when Chuba appears, trying to make himself look as large as possible.
Which isn't very large at all.
"In search of light?" The redhead says, flicking liquid from her hand where she'd spit earlier. "It'll be up in a few hours!"
The Goblin thought this was a heck of a joke, and cackled with laughter.
"A metal dragon!" Malco said, beside himself now.
"I'm Tori." The redhead said, putting a hand to her chest like she needed to be very clear about who she was. "That's Ulxi."
The Goblin waved and uttered "Hello!"
"Don't mind Malco." Tori said, trying to get to her feet but wobbling too hard and sitting back down. "We got ambushed by a wyvern last year..."
If the Aarakocra could bristle any harder his feathers would have fallen out.
"...and he's been weird about everyone ever since."
"It was a dragon!" Malco said.
"It was definitely a dragon." Ulxi said. "It said something about wanting fried chicken..."
Malco's eyes bulged.
"...and with Goblin on the side, smothered in human blood."
"Yeah, that was it." Tori said. "Anyway, we got away somehow. Malco has been weird since then."
"Malco was weird before that." Ulxi said and shrugged.
Tori watches as Orin begins cleaning her wet hand and her eyes shoot open, like she's surprised by the little miracle Orin just worked.
"Anyone that has food is free to sit and hear our story." Ulxi said to Brevon. "We don't have much of a story though. We're just...traveling. Seeing the world. But we can always use more food."
Malco side eyed Atoh and her dog and her dragon, and then reached out with a feathered hand to poke at Tola.
Malco the aarakocra. Tori the redhead. Ulxi the goblin.
"Oh? Where have you traveled of late?" Brevon asks, taking a seat down on the ground beside Ulxi. His armor and shield he has left on the wagon, though the AURYN strung around his neck flashes in the firelight. He produces a package of dried fruit taken from the back of the wagon, offering it to the goblin. "You sound like you are adventurers! No doubt you have seen some interesting things in your day. I am from Riverwood and, as you might guess, I have seen a lot of rivers. I have an interesting story about a river, in fact!"
He adjusts his legs, making himself more comfortable. "There was a woman, a beautiful maiden, who lived in an island castle, in a tower high above a river. At the far end of that river existed a beautiful city. This maiden suffered from a horrible curse, and was doomed to only view the world through a mirror, which she would hold so as to peer out of her window. In her mirror she could see the many people of the city, the type of life that she could not have. That was the nature of the curse, you see. But the mirror was only a picture of the world, and she longed to experience the real thing, that which she could only access through a pale reflection."
"And so one day she dared to turn and look, and there she saw the bright city at the end of the river, and it was greater than she had hoped. Her mirror cracked, and she knew that the curse was upon her, but she did not care, for now she knew the world was real! And so she left her tower, and made her way down to the river where she found a boat. Into this boat she climbed, and lay down in it. She stared up at the sky and smiled as the clouds floated overhead. The little boat bore her toward the city. There were those who stood by the river, ready to greet her as she arrived, but they were dismayed to find her lifeless within. Yet still a smile lingered on her face. Cursed she was, and death had come to claim her, but in this way she had decided for herself. The curse did not control her, in the end, and she had made the choice to live as she chose. She was free, even if that freedom had cost her her life."
Brevon smiles sadly and wipes his eyes. "Freedom is a powerful and wonderful thing."
After some silent reflection, Chuba says, "That very good story, Brevon. You are talented speaker. A shame, though. If beautiful maiden knew Orin, he make her mirror lenses and she live in real world no problem, yes?" She smiles and turns to the unknown campers. "Orin talented craftsman. Made iron leg for horse." She points at Iron Hoove. "We all very talented in own ways. On a mission, and interested in Triforce pieces and Crystal shard. You know of these things?"
"Please don't be worried. Tola is a Luck Dragon. A very rare and kind draconic species. He is nothing like the nasty mean worms which burn cities and loot their treasures" Atoh tries to smooth the Aarakocra. Her small dragon stands on its hind legs and throws out it's chest proudly. "Yap. Yap. Mistaking us to chromatic Aholes is really rude. We prefer good mutton sausages over those useless stones and metals. Now if you don't mind, I'll do my cooking" The Luck Dragon sits beside the campfire,using his eagle-like forefoot and roasting a skewered sausage.
Tori huffs a bit, like she's debating answering the question that Brevon has asked. She even looks over her should, back toward the north.
"We tried to go to the Tower of the Elephant." She said, the good time now sucked out of her words. "We tried but...everything is kind of a mess north of the mountains. We made it into the Shem Desert, but we just kept getting harassed by Hobgoblins and Orcs. There's something going on up there. Something really weird. They're all coming down from the Black Crags and they had actually built a cordon around the Tower. It was miles from the little village at the base but...well it's like they don't want anyone to see what's going on up there. I asked if we could go through..."
"But turned back! We were turned back!" Malco said. He was getting riled up again after having calmed down at least a little bit. "Orcs mean! Hobgoblins mean! Made fun of Ulxi for traveling with us but mean!"
"There's a reason I don't live with people like me." Ulxi said.
"Anyway, I dunno. We're just wanderers. We're out to see the world. We started off in Eternia and went through the Mushroom Forest, then hopped a ride to Pyke."
"We were there for a little bit. Cool place. Very good food. Sooo much fresh fish!" Ulxi said, now looking rather hungry as she thought about the food.
"A nice stop." Tori agreed. "Anyway, we sailed from Pyke to Thra for a little bit because none of us had ever been there. Tried to see the Crystal Palace too! But...the whole place is one big wasteland and there are Arathim and Garthim everywhere when we started getting close and we got scared and turned around."
"Malco not scared!" The Aarakocra replied. He thumped a fist on his bird chest with a hollow wumph.
"We left Thra and landed near the Night's Watch but...that was a mistake. We made our way south after that toward the Tower of the Elephant...and now we're here. We've heard it's much safer south of the Dragontails."
Ulxi listened intently to Brevon as he told his story, and the sadder he seemed, and the sadder the story got, the sadder she felt, until she was slumped against the log where she'd been resting and looks on the verge of tears.
"Yeah, I know how it is to have the freedom to see beautiful things and fail too." She remarked, but didn't go any further.
They listened to Chuba.
"You made this?" Tori said as she stood up and approached Iron Hooves. She reached out gently with one hand and rapped her knuckles on the horse's leg and was wide eyed when it made a metallic clang. "Wow, you made that. This is amazing."
She stood, one hand propped on her chin.
"Do you know what this could do for people hurt in wars? Or just hurt in general? Incredible."
But all three of them looked surprised at Chuba's next words.
"The Triforce?" Ulxi said.
"The Shard?" Tori said.
It was obvious that these questions weren't out of ignorance, but moreso...disbelief.
"Everyone has heard of these things." Tori said, taking on the roll of the party's speaker now. "They've heard of them in stories and tales and legends and in monastaries and temples ever since they were little. But..why? What would you do with them if you had them?"
Malco is perplexed by Tola. So much so, in fact, that he doesn't seem to hear the conversation going on behind him as the little dragon puffs his chest out. Malco does the same, puffing himself up, chest out, like he wants to be bigger than the Luck Dragon that he is obviously bigger than.
THE THIRD BAND(The Order of Phoenix.)p
Atoh the Dragon Speaker
Location: The Fantasia River
" I will have a look. Everyone,wait here." Before she goes to scout, Atoh speaks to her dragon. " Tola,come. I need your blessing. " "Sure thing,buddy!" The pair close eyes and press their forehead together. Something unseen, something mysterious flows between them. After a few seconds, Atoh opens her eyes then alone, she sneaks to the campfire.
Stealth:21
Perception: 19
(OOC: A small trivia. Atoh's Lucky feat is actually coming from her Luck Dragon's power. )
Chuba bristles at Atoh going alone, looking to Brevon for confirmation. She starts creeping forward to try to stay close without giving Atoh away, trying to stay within 60' of her and out of sight.
If anyone stops her moving forward, she will stop.
Jek initially moves to follow Atoh, but seeing that Chuba move for, will let her go. He motions for the others to get close to the wagon. He'll whisper to the others "Keep following the road, but I'll make us a bit harder to see from a distance."
Jek will cast Silent Image 60ft in front of them. He will make a 15ft patch of trees, similar to others he's seen in the area. He will keep moving it to keep it 60ft in front, between them and the campfire ahead.
Atoh's investigation was very productive. She moved expertly through the trees, missing sticks and branches, brush and green briars that were just waiting to latch on to her clothes. She was like a silent breeze passing amongst the forest until she got into range of the other campfire.
Ahead there are three figures sitting around the flame. They're all drinking. One, a human woman with fiery hair, is laughing and holding a hand over her mouth as she tries to giggle without spraying her drink everywhere. She's obviously a warrior; a longsword is slung over her back.
Next to her is an Aarakocra in the stoll and vestments of a cleric. He's popping his beak, clearly happy at whatever funny thing has happened, and then takes another drink before picking up a leather bag and picking nuts from it.
Last is the little Goblin woman who is stretched out on the ground, her head propped against a log. She's a bard, or so Atoh thinks; she's done up like she's really trying to catch folks eyes, and has all sorts of cashmere scarves and lacy linens draped over her and bangles upon bangles on her wrists. Both ears must be pierced at least a dozen times.
They are clearly not threatening. Their fire may be the only thing warmer than the climate of their friendship.
DM of AURYN: The Measure of Devotion - Escape from New York
When Atoh stops to get a good look, Chuba approaches to within 40'. She tries to catch Atoh's eye to get an indication of whether they need to steer clear or approach.
@Chuba
Atoh is surprised to find Chuba and Tola following her. She leaves the shadow and approaches them. " What happened? " She asks her dragon." The big girl was worried about you. I told her you would be fine. But you know… I can't speak a common language. " " I see… "
Atoh walks toward Chuba. The Goliath woman is almost three times taller and five times heavier than Atoh. And she looks even taller and bigger when the little halfling girl stands next to her. " Thank you for worrying me. But I am fine. My cape was weaved from thieves' grass, and I wore cotton boots. And … and we dragon speakers has a power called Luck Bender. We can bend destiny and make Luck always on our side. But… but I should have told you first and shouldn't be forward alone. Sorry" Atoh looks down at the ground and says in an apologetic tone.
@Others
When she comes back to her group, Atoh reports what she has seen. " … They look like good people. And I couldn't find anyone hiding in the woods. I assume they are harmless to us. "
Orin says "Who would like to introduce our band to our new friends?"
D&D since 1984
Jek will raise his hand and jump excitedly. "Oh, oh. I talk good!"
As they approach, Jek will urge Iron-Hoove to the front. Once they get close enough, Jek will dismount and approach on foot, arms up and hands open, showing that he is not carrying anything.
He will say to them "Hello new friends. We are the Order of the Phoenix! We on our way to the Shem Desert. We have traveled long and were wondering if we could share your fire for the night? We have food and stories we could share!"
persuasion 16
Chuba responds to Atoh. "Of course. You are skilled. I merely take precaution. I must remind self I travel with heroes, even if very small." She smiles awkwardly and follows Atoh back to the group.
The fiery haired woman spits some sort of liquor all over herself as Jek appears in front of her group and announces them as the Order of the Phoenix; it's unclear if it's because she's never seen a Lightless before, or if it's because of the way he announced himself, or if it's because of the name of their band as proclaimed. Still, she sits up, wiping the liquid from her face with one hand as she looks at him. The Goblin sits up next, clapping her hands.
"Ooh! I could always use a good story!" She says in her high pitched voice.
Only the Aarakocra looks skeptical of this little interloper. He stands up with his feathers bristling and sways gently on his legs.
"Can we trust!?" His voice is high and shrill. He's clearly surprised and clearly skeptical of the little cloaked figure. His feathers puff up and down, like a rooster that is about to attack. "Where you come from!? Why you here!?"
"Sit down Malco you're being embarrassing!" The human woman said. She was unsuccessfully trying to stand, then gave up on it and patted the log next to her. "Come over here little funny guy. Tell me a funny story!"
The Goblin is already sidling up next to the human, and she has two ales, one in either hand. She gesticulates at Jek with one of them.
"He said 'we'!" Malco shouts, puffing up even bigger as he looks around. "He said 'we'! Where is 'we'!?"
DM of AURYN: The Measure of Devotion - Escape from New York
" We are here. " Says Atoh who enters the light of the campfire. The little Halfling already took off her grass cape and changed to a fine red cotton jacket. She waves to the group shyly. " I am Atoh. The dragon speaker of the Khun clan. This is my dragon, Tola. " After her, enters the hound size black dragon. " My mount, Nana." And the mastiff with a saddle on her back.
Jek is very confused, then looks back to his friends, whom he can still see perfectly (although they are more gray in the darkness).
"Sorry, I didn't introduce everyone. Can you not see them? Well I suppose they are in the dark a bit, but that never seemed to bother me... Sorry, I'm rambling. I'll let them introduce themselves. I'm Jek, of the Utinni Clan from the Shem Desert. I am now of the Order of the Phoenix, although we are a fairly new order, I suppose. I am not much of a story teller, truth be told. Brevon has some good stories of the Bright Lady, but I think he calls her something else. Everyone seems to call her something else outside of the desert. Oh, I do have a flute I like to play!" Jek will pull out his pan flute to show them.
Chuba will enter the scene last, knowing she may be the most alarming or threatening at first glance. She walks up holding Thators's reins, petting him to show care for animals and hopefully showing that she's not a threat.
"Well met! My name is Brevon, devotee of the Lady of Light, bless her fair and noble name. This is who Jek refers to as 'the bright lady'. These," he says, gesturing to the others of the order, "are my companions and friends. We are here in search of Light, my brothers and sisters. Come, let us enjoy the fire together. We have food to share. Will you grace us with the story of how you come to be here, in this place? We, in turn, will share our tale."
Brevon begins with light-hearted greetings, knowing that soon they must ask questions whose answers linger in the shadowy pockets beyond the fire's light.
Orin also approaches with Dirk and the wagon. "Hello. I'm Orin Willowthorn and this is Dirk." Point at his Steel Defender. He gets down from the wagon and walks over to fiery haired lady and offers to help clean up the spill. He produces a device which he demonstrates on himself and then offers it to her. (its a hand-vac). He also offers her a marble that emits a sweet floral fragrance (magical tinkering). "Sorry if we startled you all." He then walks over and stand next to his band.
D&D since 1984
"A dragon!" The Aarakocra, Malco, says with a strut. His feathers finally ruffle and do not smooth out. "A dragon! A giant! Ooh! Ooooh!"
He is clearly not happy about being walked up on by strangers, and bristles up as much as possible when Chuba appears, trying to make himself look as large as possible.
Which isn't very large at all.
"In search of light?" The redhead says, flicking liquid from her hand where she'd spit earlier. "It'll be up in a few hours!"
The Goblin thought this was a heck of a joke, and cackled with laughter.
"A metal dragon!" Malco said, beside himself now.
"I'm Tori." The redhead said, putting a hand to her chest like she needed to be very clear about who she was. "That's Ulxi."
The Goblin waved and uttered "Hello!"
"Don't mind Malco." Tori said, trying to get to her feet but wobbling too hard and sitting back down. "We got ambushed by a wyvern last year..."
If the Aarakocra could bristle any harder his feathers would have fallen out.
"...and he's been weird about everyone ever since."
"It was a dragon!" Malco said.
"It was definitely a dragon." Ulxi said. "It said something about wanting fried chicken..."
Malco's eyes bulged.
"...and with Goblin on the side, smothered in human blood."
"Yeah, that was it." Tori said. "Anyway, we got away somehow. Malco has been weird since then."
"Malco was weird before that." Ulxi said and shrugged.
Tori watches as Orin begins cleaning her wet hand and her eyes shoot open, like she's surprised by the little miracle Orin just worked.
"Anyone that has food is free to sit and hear our story." Ulxi said to Brevon. "We don't have much of a story though. We're just...traveling. Seeing the world. But we can always use more food."
Malco side eyed Atoh and her dog and her dragon, and then reached out with a feathered hand to poke at Tola.
DM of AURYN: The Measure of Devotion - Escape from New York
Malco the aarakocra. Tori the redhead. Ulxi the goblin.
"Oh? Where have you traveled of late?" Brevon asks, taking a seat down on the ground beside Ulxi. His armor and shield he has left on the wagon, though the AURYN strung around his neck flashes in the firelight. He produces a package of dried fruit taken from the back of the wagon, offering it to the goblin. "You sound like you are adventurers! No doubt you have seen some interesting things in your day. I am from Riverwood and, as you might guess, I have seen a lot of rivers. I have an interesting story about a river, in fact!"
He adjusts his legs, making himself more comfortable. "There was a woman, a beautiful maiden, who lived in an island castle, in a tower high above a river. At the far end of that river existed a beautiful city. This maiden suffered from a horrible curse, and was doomed to only view the world through a mirror, which she would hold so as to peer out of her window. In her mirror she could see the many people of the city, the type of life that she could not have. That was the nature of the curse, you see. But the mirror was only a picture of the world, and she longed to experience the real thing, that which she could only access through a pale reflection."
"And so one day she dared to turn and look, and there she saw the bright city at the end of the river, and it was greater than she had hoped. Her mirror cracked, and she knew that the curse was upon her, but she did not care, for now she knew the world was real! And so she left her tower, and made her way down to the river where she found a boat. Into this boat she climbed, and lay down in it. She stared up at the sky and smiled as the clouds floated overhead. The little boat bore her toward the city. There were those who stood by the river, ready to greet her as she arrived, but they were dismayed to find her lifeless within. Yet still a smile lingered on her face. Cursed she was, and death had come to claim her, but in this way she had decided for herself. The curse did not control her, in the end, and she had made the choice to live as she chose. She was free, even if that freedom had cost her her life."
Brevon smiles sadly and wipes his eyes. "Freedom is a powerful and wonderful thing."
After some silent reflection, Chuba says, "That very good story, Brevon. You are talented speaker. A shame, though. If beautiful maiden knew Orin, he make her mirror lenses and she live in real world no problem, yes?" She smiles and turns to the unknown campers. "Orin talented craftsman. Made iron leg for horse." She points at Iron Hoove. "We all very talented in own ways. On a mission, and interested in Triforce pieces and Crystal shard. You know of these things?"
@Malco
"Please don't be worried. Tola is a Luck Dragon. A very rare and kind draconic species. He is nothing like the nasty mean worms which burn cities and loot their treasures" Atoh tries to smooth the Aarakocra. Her small dragon stands on its hind legs and throws out it's chest proudly. "Yap. Yap. Mistaking us to chromatic Aholes is really rude. We prefer good mutton sausages over those useless stones and metals. Now if you don't mind, I'll do my cooking" The Luck Dragon sits beside the campfire,using his eagle-like forefoot and roasting a skewered sausage.
Tori huffs a bit, like she's debating answering the question that Brevon has asked. She even looks over her should, back toward the north.
"We tried to go to the Tower of the Elephant." She said, the good time now sucked out of her words. "We tried but...everything is kind of a mess north of the mountains. We made it into the Shem Desert, but we just kept getting harassed by Hobgoblins and Orcs. There's something going on up there. Something really weird. They're all coming down from the Black Crags and they had actually built a cordon around the Tower. It was miles from the little village at the base but...well it's like they don't want anyone to see what's going on up there. I asked if we could go through..."
"But turned back! We were turned back!" Malco said. He was getting riled up again after having calmed down at least a little bit. "Orcs mean! Hobgoblins mean! Made fun of Ulxi for traveling with us but mean!"
"There's a reason I don't live with people like me." Ulxi said.
"Anyway, I dunno. We're just wanderers. We're out to see the world. We started off in Eternia and went through the Mushroom Forest, then hopped a ride to Pyke."
"We were there for a little bit. Cool place. Very good food. Sooo much fresh fish!" Ulxi said, now looking rather hungry as she thought about the food.
"A nice stop." Tori agreed. "Anyway, we sailed from Pyke to Thra for a little bit because none of us had ever been there. Tried to see the Crystal Palace too! But...the whole place is one big wasteland and there are Arathim and Garthim everywhere when we started getting close and we got scared and turned around."
"Malco not scared!" The Aarakocra replied. He thumped a fist on his bird chest with a hollow wumph.
"We left Thra and landed near the Night's Watch but...that was a mistake. We made our way south after that toward the Tower of the Elephant...and now we're here. We've heard it's much safer south of the Dragontails."
Ulxi listened intently to Brevon as he told his story, and the sadder he seemed, and the sadder the story got, the sadder she felt, until she was slumped against the log where she'd been resting and looks on the verge of tears.
"Yeah, I know how it is to have the freedom to see beautiful things and fail too." She remarked, but didn't go any further.
They listened to Chuba.
"You made this?" Tori said as she stood up and approached Iron Hooves. She reached out gently with one hand and rapped her knuckles on the horse's leg and was wide eyed when it made a metallic clang. "Wow, you made that. This is amazing."
She stood, one hand propped on her chin.
"Do you know what this could do for people hurt in wars? Or just hurt in general? Incredible."
But all three of them looked surprised at Chuba's next words.
"The Triforce?" Ulxi said.
"The Shard?" Tori said.
It was obvious that these questions weren't out of ignorance, but moreso...disbelief.
"Everyone has heard of these things." Tori said, taking on the roll of the party's speaker now. "They've heard of them in stories and tales and legends and in monastaries and temples ever since they were little. But..why? What would you do with them if you had them?"
Malco is perplexed by Tola. So much so, in fact, that he doesn't seem to hear the conversation going on behind him as the little dragon puffs his chest out. Malco does the same, puffing himself up, chest out, like he wants to be bigger than the Luck Dragon that he is obviously bigger than.
DM of AURYN: The Measure of Devotion - Escape from New York