Aldith waves farewell to Galsariad and can't help but smile at the minotaur's enthusiasm as the others rejoin their group. "Congratulations, Kalhala!" she exclaims.
After greeting her new companions (friends? she's never really had any of those before), she stares with wonder at the tortoises. They're huge! She's never seen anything like them in her life. Truth be told there isn't much wildlife to be found in the Shadowshire. As a result, she knows absolutely nothing about how to herd these creatures, but the sight of these giant, gentle tortoises stirs something inside her. She hopes the gold Nexus lent her is enough for her to participate.
"I don't know if I'm ready, but I'd like to try my hand at herding these tortoises."
"Thanks Aldith! I see you all have won medals as well, grand!!" Thrilled to have their group back together again, they turn towards the tortoise pens. As they all watch and take in the sight of them, Kalhala rubs his mighty hands together in anticipation. "So, where do we sign up? Ah, right."he heads up to the attractive orc and gives her a winning smile, "my friends and I would love to! Three homes last year, ha! We'll be sure to beat that number!"it's hard to tell if he thinks that is an actual contest or just having fun in the joke.
The handsome orc claps his calloused hands together. "Great! So, I've got the hairy fellow (Mornin), the minotaur (Kalhala), the pale elf (Kenar), the hobgoblin (Shayone), and the young drow (Aldith), yes? Let's get ready to ride! And possibly demolish more homes!" He laughs, opening up the pen to let everyone in. The orc looks at Nexus. "You look a little on the fence! You coming in, or are you just gonna spectate?"
Nexus suppressed the urge to give Kalhala a big'ol hug on the spot upon seeing his medal, brandishing her own with glee! But once everyone started to gather around with the intention of joining in on the herding, she went a little quiet. The announcer wasn't making it any easier, either! She'd feel absolutely dreadful if she led to somebodies home being demolished.
"I think I'll just cheer on my teammates from the sidelines, but thank you for double checking."
Turning toward the rest of the group, she'll flash a dorky thumbs-up. "I'mma sit out on this one, but I'll go get us some snacks and drinks to recharge after, alright?"
Kalhala looks to Nexus with concern on his face, "Yeah, you sure? I'll be sure to be on one that is far from yours! But if you want to get us some snacks, that'd be spendid!" He waits to make sure if she wants to join or not, then excitedly enters the pen, looking for the biggest one.
"Yea, I'm sure! Go on, have some fun, okay? And Kalhala---be careful, alright?" A touch of concern shown for the big fella, even if she was pretty sure his jovial nature wouldn't cause much issue with the big torts. Moreso, now she was glancing around to check and see if their were any stalls selling food or drink. Some turtle puffs sounded sublime right now...Perhaps a strawberry cream, or custard. Mmn.
Sure enough, there is a small stand selling turtle puffs nearby with various fillings for three copper a puff.
Meanwhile, the orc waves everyone in and guides them to the tortoises. "Alright, let's get started, y'all. So, name's Adan, I'll be supervising y'all today, making sure no one gets seriously hurt and all. The rules are simple: all y'all have to do is hop on a tortoise and use the bridle and reins to guide it to the other side of the pen. These tortoises can get a little ornery, so if you get bucked off, no worries, just try and hop back on. If at any point you wanna tap out, just lemme know and my crew and I will take care of the rest."
The hired hands aid you all in climbing into the seats on the backs of the tortoises and getting you settled. With reins in hand and determination in your hearts, you get ready to begin.
"Now just so y'all know, this ain't a race. It ain't about who can get there fastest, it's just about getting there. Ready? Set! Go!"
Aldith climbed onto the back of her tortoise with the aid of one of the hired hands. It wasn't exactly graceful, but at least she didn't fall off either. Now, sitting atop such a high vantage point, she had a pretty good view of the town and the carnival. She still wasn't used to such sights or the sight of the wide open sky. It was beautiful. Aldith gripped the reins tightly in her hands and concentrated on her tortoise as the orc gave the signal.
"Hmm, what do I do?" the drow woman thought to herself. "How do I make you go?"
She gave the reins a flick and nudged the tortoise's shell with her knees. Could it even feel her?
While everyone else was living out their wild-west attempts, riding off into the sunset astride the back of creatures far-larger than even her Minotaur friend, Nexus strolled on over to the stand selling her favorite yearly dessert with one hand dug into the confines of her bag on her hip. Mentally, she had to do some calculations to get the amount she wanted - One gold, ten silver. One silver, ten copper. Ten silver equaled a hundred copper. These were three copper a piece---
Thus her line of thought when, standing there for a moment to calculate, fishing out five silver pieces, and asking if they've a small basket she could afford with the change. Goal being to get sixteen turtle puffs encompassing all the possible combinations of jams and custard. Making extra, extra sure either way the three custard ones she bought sat atop the pile of puff-pastries.
Aldith held on for dear life as the giant tortoise began to lumber along. It sensed her presence on its shell and was clearly annoyed for it kept trying to shake her off by turning first one way and then the other quickly.
"Woah!" Aldith cried as she slid off the creature's shell. She landed right on her butt and felt pink creep into her cheeks at the embarrassment, but she was determined not to let the giant turtle defeat her.
With a grace and agility that came from a life on the streets, she made a running jump back onto the tortoise's massive shell, grasping hold of the reins. She and the tortoise were locked in an epic battle, and the tortoise managed to buck her off two more times. She had almost herded her turtle to the end of the course, and there was no way she was giving up now!
"All right, one more time, I'm not letting you beat me!" Aldith cried as she leapt onto the turtle one final time. Its head swiveled around as it tried to snap at her, but she pulled her body out of the way in time. "Ha!" she cried victoriously.
As she crossed the finish line with her tortoise, she looked back to see if any of her new friends had made it yet too.
Kenar approaches his turtle with a beautiful dark forest green shell with trepidation as the handlers pass off the reins to him he skittishly climbs aboard and immediately gets bucked off to the ground. Composing him self he brushes off the dirt pats the turtles side gently “Come on gorgeous. Easy dose it” He leaps back up on the turtle only to be thrown to the ground again. Mumbling a few choice curse to his self the approaches again letting out a small prayer for the Luxons guidance. Finally getting astride the massive creature Kenar slowly try’s guiding it and works closer to the end of the pin at-least until he's dump again on his rear. As the large turtles scuttles back to the opposite side of where he’s supposed to guide it he approaches again in a huff jumping up and startling the turtle bad enough to drop him to the ground again. Frustrated he glare at the turtle “Come on you great cow stop that!” unfortunately to Kenar’s great surprise the creature understands goblin and he receives a sharp bite to his hind end as he spins to get up. Beyond annoyed he frustratedly huff out and mumbles through gritted teeth “Look here gorgeous I’m not going to stop or leave you be till we’re over their on the other side of the pin so you might as well play along” The turtle looks at him blinking slowly so with high hopes He tries one last time hopping up. After a moment of steadying he guide the turtle who is surprisingly way more calm and make to the other end. With of woop of joy he say to the turtle “See boy now was that so bad!” Kenar jumps down only to be pushed To the ground again as the turtle knocks him over as the handler approaches saying “Actually this one’s a female” Kenar get back up from the dirt supporting new bruises but still smiling as the other finish.
Mornin hops on his tortoise confidently. In his mind he beseeches Eve to make the tortoise believe that Mornin is a strong and capable herder. This seems to do the trick, as mornin nearly makes it to the end quicker then some of the others, until he is suddenly bucked off by the tortoise, being launched headfirst into the mud. Mornin gets back up, and tries to remount the tortoise but it whips its head at Mornin bites down on him. Hard. Mornin howls in pain, bleeding profusely from his side.
At first he wanted to do the tortoise wrangling because of his experiences herding mammoths on occasion when he was young, back in Eiselcross. Then he wanted to make it up to himself for losing the arm wrestling. But now? Now it's personal. Now it is a vendetta against this specific tortoise.
Fueled by resentment, Mornin angrily climbs back up the tortoise, still bleeding. He pulls the reins harshly, trying to get the tortoise to the other side and prove himself the winner their newfound skirmish. He gets nearly as far as he did the first time, then is thrown off the turtle yet again. Mornin looks back at the turtle, and he swears he can see it smirking at him. Angrier now than before, Mornin runs at it, and leaps into the air toward the tortoise, landing on the side of it's shell, and hoisting himself back up on top. He tries to yank at the reins but is thrown off as quickly as he ad gotten back on.
Mornin again approaches the tortoise. He will not lose. He tries to climb the shell yet again, but the tortoise thrusts its head at mornin, snapping its powerful jaws in what could be a nearly fatal blow, but Mornin just barely moves out of the way, but the tortoise gets its mouth on the front of Mornin's cloak, yanking the entire thing off of him. Nexus and every other spactator sees Mornin, albeit from a distance. He's wearing very little beyond the essentials under the cloak, and has a purplish skin tone with thick white body hair. At best most people might assume he's just a very hairy man, and at worst maybe some kind of... albino bugbear? Mornin wrenches the fabric from the tortoise's mouth, covers himself whatever remains of it, and mounts the tortoise.
"Eve," he thinks, "I am going to think of the scariest thing I have ever seen. If this turtle makes even dreams of going somewhere without my say so, I want you to flood its mind with this..." Mornin, being from the frozen wastes of Eiselcross, sees mostly the same old same old every day. But there was one occasion where he saw, from a safe distance, the terrible, devastating power of a white dragon. Every time the tortoise tries to deviate, tries to buck, Mornin sends images of a white dragon's fury. Each image more devastating than the last. This onslaught of fear managed to keep the beast in line long enough for Mornin to finally, FINALLY make it to the other side. He steps off, his cloak is soaked in his own blood, and nearly half of it has been torn off. He raises a fist in the air, "I know big animals."
You can't drown someone with Create Water. If your lungs are containers than your bones are objects. Any Siege monster that attacks you deals double damage because it’s attacking your bones.
Shayone mounts the turtle unsteadily — she’d seen them from a distance, or in busy camps, but had never handled one herself, and they’re strainer up close than she was expecting. Recalling the activity of the camps and a military on the move, she tries to entice the animal with what she can recall of the smell of the food they would have been fed.
It seems to work at first, as the tortoise allows itself to be guided, and Shayone grows more confident, leaning into it. She manages to make some progress, but her confidence must have grown too much, as the tortoise balks at a turn in the course, and when she tries to encourage it again, it moves more sharply than she was expecting, and she slips from its back. Scrambling back on, she’s distracted by a sudden noise of pain and loses her grip. The noise must have startled her own tortoise as well, as it snaps at her. She’s unable to avoid it and suffers a severe gash on her arm.
Shayone growls. “We’ll not have that.” She casts Sanctuary on herself and scrambles back on, but the tortoise refuses to move and sits heavily, dumping her off again. Angry now, she climbs back on, but she realizes she’s growling just as the tortoise dumps her again, its bite just missing her temple, but still causing her to bleed. A rage almost overcoming her, she makes one more attempt to not be bested by this beast, but no bribe will work on it any more, and it shakes her off once more, and as she scrambled to climb up again, it lashes out and this time her sight goes dark.
When she blinks again, she’s on the ground, with someone with a holy symbol of the Luxon standing over her with a familiar concerned look on their face. She sits up, ready to go again, and catches sight of her companions, and their own concerned looks. She sighs. “Right. Maybe that’s enough for now.”
After an arduous ordeal, Aldith, Kalhala, Kenar, and Mornin make it across the finish line! Adan the tortoise handler joins them at the other end and gives each of them a clap on the back. "Congratulations! You've herded the mighty horizonbacks! As the judge for this event, I present to each of ya a medal for your efforts!" He says, giving the four herders medals. Each one appears to be slightly different; Mornin's appears to shaped from a tortoise tooth, Kalhala's a piece of tortoise shell, and Aldith and Kenar's each appear to be a tortoise claw. "These're made from tortoises that have passed on. Wear 'em with pride!"
Adan heads over to Shayone and gives her a nod. "Sorry, ma'am, guess Lil' Snappy was real snappy today! But there's strength in knowing when to back down. I wish ya luck for the rest of the festival!"
Shayone shakes her head and puts on a brave face. "I knew I was pressing my luck. Gives me a whole new appreciation for the folks who work with these creatures, though, I tell you what."
Nexus, having been watching the whole debacle from the sidelines, walked up after the winners secured their medals with a simple weaved wooden basket in the crook of her arm. "Great job, guys! That really was some commendable work! Don't think would have made it to the finish line, aha..."
She paused, taking out one of the pastries within her basket. It looked, very vaguely, like a turtle. Little clumps of fluffy, buttery bread around the big 'bun' in the middle, with a slightly larger one making up the head. The whole treat was able to fill one of her hands, one able to surmise pretty easily they were designed to be pretty easy to port around the festival and enjoy.
Holding out the turtle she plucked from her basket for Kalhala to take, announcing to the others. "The top two are custard and this one are custard---the rest have assortments of jellies within them. Feel free to have one or two."
Each one had a nice, flakey and buttery taste to the bite till one bit into the shell, at which point they'd find whatever sweet substance was piped inside--always something sweet. She knew custard was Kalhala's favorite of the flavors, so she made extra sure to secure one just for him.
Mornin clutches his symbol of victory tightly, still recovering from the wounds (more emotional than physical now, thanks to the healers) he received from the tortoise. The moment he sees the turtle shaped treats he snatches one out of the basket and stuffs it in his mouth with a vengeance, as if eager to conquer another tortoise that dares challenge him. Once the sweet filling hits his tongue, however, his eyes widen, coming out of his animalistic fervor. He looks around at the people around him and realizes he may be causing a scene if he keeps getting carried away. He calms down, clears his throat and looks apologetically at at the group, nexus especially. “… never had sweets before.”
You can't drown someone with Create Water. If your lungs are containers than your bones are objects. Any Siege monster that attacks you deals double damage because it’s attacking your bones.
Kalhala bounds into the pen with the tortoises, trying to find the largest one, the biggest challenge. After scrambling his way up, he realizes he may have bit off more than he can chew. What does he know about big animals and directing them? Well, go big or go home was his motto, "Let's do this!!"he pumps his fist in the air and tries to nudge the beast forward. As it lunges forward, completely catches Kalhala off guard and he falls off, luckily missing the snapping jaws. As they continue, he falls off again and does get bitten. This was not turning out as he had planned. Figures he'll give it one last try, and low and behold he makes it!
He sees Nexus watching them from the sidelines and and he gets his medal he holds it high for her to see, beaming with pride. When he and others make their way over to her, "I did it! I.. don't think I'll ever do that again, but hey, I did it!" when she holds out his favorite treat to him, he scoops her up in an awkward hug as she is still holding onto her basket trying to divvy out the rest of the treats. "Thanks!! You're the best!" and he tries to gently set her down, well, he does his best.
With his eyes all aglow with two challenges and two medals, "What's next, friends?"
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Aldith waves farewell to Galsariad and can't help but smile at the minotaur's enthusiasm as the others rejoin their group. "Congratulations, Kalhala!" she exclaims.
After greeting her new companions (friends? she's never really had any of those before), she stares with wonder at the tortoises. They're huge! She's never seen anything like them in her life. Truth be told there isn't much wildlife to be found in the Shadowshire. As a result, she knows absolutely nothing about how to herd these creatures, but the sight of these giant, gentle tortoises stirs something inside her. She hopes the gold Nexus lent her is enough for her to participate.
"I don't know if I'm ready, but I'd like to try my hand at herding these tortoises."
Extended Signature
Characters: Bryony Alderleaf (Phandelver and Below) ♦ Vesta Trevelyan (Vecna: Eve of Ruin) ♦ Ada Kendrick (Curse of Strahd) ♦ Gareth Blackwood (Dragon of Icespire Peak) ♦ Karys Velthune (Out of the Abyss) ♦ Surina Xarith (Simple, Heroic Adventure)
DM: Baldur's Gate: Descent Into Avernus
"I've never seen them being handled up close," Shayone says as she approaches. "I'd be interested to see how it works."
Birgit | Shifter | Sorcerer | Dragonlords
Shayone | Hobgoblin | Sorcerer | Netherdeep
"Thanks Aldith! I see you all have won medals as well, grand!!" Thrilled to have their group back together again, they turn towards the tortoise pens. As they all watch and take in the sight of them, Kalhala rubs his mighty hands together in anticipation. "So, where do we sign up? Ah, right." he heads up to the attractive orc and gives her a winning smile, "my friends and I would love to! Three homes last year, ha! We'll be sure to beat that number!" it's hard to tell if he thinks that is an actual contest or just having fun in the joke.
The handsome orc claps his calloused hands together. "Great! So, I've got the hairy fellow (Mornin), the minotaur (Kalhala), the pale elf (Kenar), the hobgoblin (Shayone), and the young drow (Aldith), yes? Let's get ready to ride! And possibly demolish more homes!" He laughs, opening up the pen to let everyone in. The orc looks at Nexus. "You look a little on the fence! You coming in, or are you just gonna spectate?"
Nexus suppressed the urge to give Kalhala a big'ol hug on the spot upon seeing his medal, brandishing her own with glee! But once everyone started to gather around with the intention of joining in on the herding, she went a little quiet. The announcer wasn't making it any easier, either! She'd feel absolutely dreadful if she led to somebodies home being demolished.
"I think I'll just cheer on my teammates from the sidelines, but thank you for double checking."
Turning toward the rest of the group, she'll flash a dorky thumbs-up. "I'mma sit out on this one, but I'll go get us some snacks and drinks to recharge after, alright?"
Aldith entered the pen but looked back at Nexus. "Are you sure? We won't really knock over any houses...I hope," she says.
Then turning back to the orc, she asks, "So, how does this work exactly?"
Extended Signature
Characters: Bryony Alderleaf (Phandelver and Below) ♦ Vesta Trevelyan (Vecna: Eve of Ruin) ♦ Ada Kendrick (Curse of Strahd) ♦ Gareth Blackwood (Dragon of Icespire Peak) ♦ Karys Velthune (Out of the Abyss) ♦ Surina Xarith (Simple, Heroic Adventure)
DM: Baldur's Gate: Descent Into Avernus
Kalhala looks to Nexus with concern on his face, "Yeah, you sure? I'll be sure to be on one that is far from yours! But if you want to get us some snacks, that'd be spendid!" He waits to make sure if she wants to join or not, then excitedly enters the pen, looking for the biggest one.
"Yea, I'm sure! Go on, have some fun, okay? And Kalhala---be careful, alright?" A touch of concern shown for the big fella, even if she was pretty sure his jovial nature wouldn't cause much issue with the big torts. Moreso, now she was glancing around to check and see if their were any stalls selling food or drink. Some turtle puffs sounded sublime right now...Perhaps a strawberry cream, or custard. Mmn.
She always had room for sweets.
Sure enough, there is a small stand selling turtle puffs nearby with various fillings for three copper a puff.
Meanwhile, the orc waves everyone in and guides them to the tortoises. "Alright, let's get started, y'all. So, name's Adan, I'll be supervising y'all today, making sure no one gets seriously hurt and all. The rules are simple: all y'all have to do is hop on a tortoise and use the bridle and reins to guide it to the other side of the pen. These tortoises can get a little ornery, so if you get bucked off, no worries, just try and hop back on. If at any point you wanna tap out, just lemme know and my crew and I will take care of the rest."
The hired hands aid you all in climbing into the seats on the backs of the tortoises and getting you settled. With reins in hand and determination in your hearts, you get ready to begin.
"Now just so y'all know, this ain't a race. It ain't about who can get there fastest, it's just about getting there. Ready? Set! Go!"
Aldith climbed onto the back of her tortoise with the aid of one of the hired hands. It wasn't exactly graceful, but at least she didn't fall off either. Now, sitting atop such a high vantage point, she had a pretty good view of the town and the carnival. She still wasn't used to such sights or the sight of the wide open sky. It was beautiful. Aldith gripped the reins tightly in her hands and concentrated on her tortoise as the orc gave the signal.
"Hmm, what do I do?" the drow woman thought to herself. "How do I make you go?"
She gave the reins a flick and nudged the tortoise's shell with her knees. Could it even feel her?
Extended Signature
Characters: Bryony Alderleaf (Phandelver and Below) ♦ Vesta Trevelyan (Vecna: Eve of Ruin) ♦ Ada Kendrick (Curse of Strahd) ♦ Gareth Blackwood (Dragon of Icespire Peak) ♦ Karys Velthune (Out of the Abyss) ♦ Surina Xarith (Simple, Heroic Adventure)
DM: Baldur's Gate: Descent Into Avernus
While everyone else was living out their wild-west attempts, riding off into the sunset astride the back of creatures far-larger than even her Minotaur friend, Nexus strolled on over to the stand selling her favorite yearly dessert with one hand dug into the confines of her bag on her hip. Mentally, she had to do some calculations to get the amount she wanted - One gold, ten silver. One silver, ten copper. Ten silver equaled a hundred copper. These were three copper a piece---
Thus her line of thought when, standing there for a moment to calculate, fishing out five silver pieces, and asking if they've a small basket she could afford with the change. Goal being to get sixteen turtle puffs encompassing all the possible combinations of jams and custard. Making extra, extra sure either way the three custard ones she bought sat atop the pile of puff-pastries.
Aldith held on for dear life as the giant tortoise began to lumber along. It sensed her presence on its shell and was clearly annoyed for it kept trying to shake her off by turning first one way and then the other quickly.
"Woah!" Aldith cried as she slid off the creature's shell. She landed right on her butt and felt pink creep into her cheeks at the embarrassment, but she was determined not to let the giant turtle defeat her.
With a grace and agility that came from a life on the streets, she made a running jump back onto the tortoise's massive shell, grasping hold of the reins. She and the tortoise were locked in an epic battle, and the tortoise managed to buck her off two more times. She had almost herded her turtle to the end of the course, and there was no way she was giving up now!
"All right, one more time, I'm not letting you beat me!" Aldith cried as she leapt onto the turtle one final time. Its head swiveled around as it tried to snap at her, but she pulled her body out of the way in time. "Ha!" she cried victoriously.
As she crossed the finish line with her tortoise, she looked back to see if any of her new friends had made it yet too.
Extended Signature
Characters: Bryony Alderleaf (Phandelver and Below) ♦ Vesta Trevelyan (Vecna: Eve of Ruin) ♦ Ada Kendrick (Curse of Strahd) ♦ Gareth Blackwood (Dragon of Icespire Peak) ♦ Karys Velthune (Out of the Abyss) ♦ Surina Xarith (Simple, Heroic Adventure)
DM: Baldur's Gate: Descent Into Avernus
Kenar approaches his turtle with a beautiful dark forest green shell with trepidation as the handlers pass off the reins to him he skittishly climbs aboard and immediately gets bucked off to the ground. Composing him self he brushes off the dirt pats the turtles side gently “Come on gorgeous. Easy dose it” He leaps back up on the turtle only to be thrown to the ground again. Mumbling a few choice curse to his self the approaches again letting out a small prayer for the Luxons guidance. Finally getting astride the massive creature Kenar slowly try’s guiding it and works closer to the end of the pin at-least until he's dump again on his rear. As the large turtles scuttles back to the opposite side of where he’s supposed to guide it he approaches again in a huff jumping up and startling the turtle bad enough to drop him to the ground again. Frustrated he glare at the turtle “Come on you great cow stop that!” unfortunately to Kenar’s great surprise the creature understands goblin and he receives a sharp bite to his hind end as he spins to get up. Beyond annoyed he frustratedly huff out and mumbles through gritted teeth “Look here gorgeous I’m not going to stop or leave you be till we’re over their on the other side of the pin so you might as well play along” The turtle looks at him blinking slowly so with high hopes He tries one last time hopping up. After a moment of steadying he guide the turtle who is surprisingly way more calm and make to the other end. With of woop of joy he say to the turtle “See boy now was that so bad!” Kenar jumps down only to be pushed To the ground again as the turtle knocks him over as the handler approaches saying “Actually this one’s a female” Kenar get back up from the dirt supporting new bruises but still smiling as the other finish.
Mornin hops on his tortoise confidently. In his mind he beseeches Eve to make the tortoise believe that Mornin is a strong and capable herder. This seems to do the trick, as mornin nearly makes it to the end quicker then some of the others, until he is suddenly bucked off by the tortoise, being launched headfirst into the mud. Mornin gets back up, and tries to remount the tortoise but it whips its head at Mornin bites down on him. Hard. Mornin howls in pain, bleeding profusely from his side.
At first he wanted to do the tortoise wrangling because of his experiences herding mammoths on occasion when he was young, back in Eiselcross. Then he wanted to make it up to himself for losing the arm wrestling. But now? Now it's personal. Now it is a vendetta against this specific tortoise.
Fueled by resentment, Mornin angrily climbs back up the tortoise, still bleeding. He pulls the reins harshly, trying to get the tortoise to the other side and prove himself the winner their newfound skirmish. He gets nearly as far as he did the first time, then is thrown off the turtle yet again. Mornin looks back at the turtle, and he swears he can see it smirking at him. Angrier now than before, Mornin runs at it, and leaps into the air toward the tortoise, landing on the side of it's shell, and hoisting himself back up on top. He tries to yank at the reins but is thrown off as quickly as he ad gotten back on.
Mornin again approaches the tortoise. He will not lose. He tries to climb the shell yet again, but the tortoise thrusts its head at mornin, snapping its powerful jaws in what could be a nearly fatal blow, but Mornin just barely moves out of the way, but the tortoise gets its mouth on the front of Mornin's cloak, yanking the entire thing off of him. Nexus and every other spactator sees Mornin, albeit from a distance. He's wearing very little beyond the essentials under the cloak, and has a purplish skin tone with thick white body hair. At best most people might assume he's just a very hairy man, and at worst maybe some kind of... albino bugbear? Mornin wrenches the fabric from the tortoise's mouth, covers himself whatever remains of it, and mounts the tortoise.
"Eve," he thinks, "I am going to think of the scariest thing I have ever seen. If this turtle makes even dreams of going somewhere without my say so, I want you to flood its mind with this..." Mornin, being from the frozen wastes of Eiselcross, sees mostly the same old same old every day. But there was one occasion where he saw, from a safe distance, the terrible, devastating power of a white dragon. Every time the tortoise tries to deviate, tries to buck, Mornin sends images of a white dragon's fury. Each image more devastating than the last. This onslaught of fear managed to keep the beast in line long enough for Mornin to finally, FINALLY make it to the other side. He steps off, his cloak is soaked in his own blood, and nearly half of it has been torn off. He raises a fist in the air, "I know big animals."
You can't drown someone with Create Water. If your lungs are containers than your bones are objects. Any Siege monster that attacks you deals double damage because it’s attacking your bones.
Shayone mounts the turtle unsteadily — she’d seen them from a distance, or in busy camps, but had never handled one herself, and they’re strainer up close than she was expecting. Recalling the activity of the camps and a military on the move, she tries to entice the animal with what she can recall of the smell of the food they would have been fed.
It seems to work at first, as the tortoise allows itself to be guided, and Shayone grows more confident, leaning into it. She manages to make some progress, but her confidence must have grown too much, as the tortoise balks at a turn in the course, and when she tries to encourage it again, it moves more sharply than she was expecting, and she slips from its back. Scrambling back on, she’s distracted by a sudden noise of pain and loses her grip. The noise must have startled her own tortoise as well, as it snaps at her. She’s unable to avoid it and suffers a severe gash on her arm.
Shayone growls. “We’ll not have that.” She casts Sanctuary on herself and scrambles back on, but the tortoise refuses to move and sits heavily, dumping her off again. Angry now, she climbs back on, but she realizes she’s growling just as the tortoise dumps her again, its bite just missing her temple, but still causing her to bleed. A rage almost overcoming her, she makes one more attempt to not be bested by this beast, but no bribe will work on it any more, and it shakes her off once more, and as she scrambled to climb up again, it lashes out and this time her sight goes dark.
When she blinks again, she’s on the ground, with someone with a holy symbol of the Luxon standing over her with a familiar concerned look on their face. She sits up, ready to go again, and catches sight of her companions, and their own concerned looks. She sighs. “Right. Maybe that’s enough for now.”
Birgit | Shifter | Sorcerer | Dragonlords
Shayone | Hobgoblin | Sorcerer | Netherdeep
After an arduous ordeal, Aldith, Kalhala, Kenar, and Mornin make it across the finish line! Adan the tortoise handler joins them at the other end and gives each of them a clap on the back. "Congratulations! You've herded the mighty horizonbacks! As the judge for this event, I present to each of ya a medal for your efforts!" He says, giving the four herders medals. Each one appears to be slightly different; Mornin's appears to shaped from a tortoise tooth, Kalhala's a piece of tortoise shell, and Aldith and Kenar's each appear to be a tortoise claw. "These're made from tortoises that have passed on. Wear 'em with pride!"
Adan heads over to Shayone and gives her a nod. "Sorry, ma'am, guess Lil' Snappy was real snappy today! But there's strength in knowing when to back down. I wish ya luck for the rest of the festival!"
Shayone shakes her head and puts on a brave face. "I knew I was pressing my luck. Gives me a whole new appreciation for the folks who work with these creatures, though, I tell you what."
Birgit | Shifter | Sorcerer | Dragonlords
Shayone | Hobgoblin | Sorcerer | Netherdeep
Nexus, having been watching the whole debacle from the sidelines, walked up after the winners secured their medals with a simple weaved wooden basket in the crook of her arm. "Great job, guys! That really was some commendable work! Don't think would have made it to the finish line, aha..."
She paused, taking out one of the pastries within her basket. It looked, very vaguely, like a turtle. Little clumps of fluffy, buttery bread around the big 'bun' in the middle, with a slightly larger one making up the head. The whole treat was able to fill one of her hands, one able to surmise pretty easily they were designed to be pretty easy to port around the festival and enjoy.
Holding out the turtle she plucked from her basket for Kalhala to take, announcing to the others. "The top two are custard and this one are custard---the rest have assortments of jellies within them. Feel free to have one or two."
Each one had a nice, flakey and buttery taste to the bite till one bit into the shell, at which point they'd find whatever sweet substance was piped inside--always something sweet. She knew custard was Kalhala's favorite of the flavors, so she made extra sure to secure one just for him.
Mornin clutches his symbol of victory tightly, still recovering from the wounds (more emotional than physical now, thanks to the healers) he received from the tortoise. The moment he sees the turtle shaped treats he snatches one out of the basket and stuffs it in his mouth with a vengeance, as if eager to conquer another tortoise that dares challenge him. Once the sweet filling hits his tongue, however, his eyes widen, coming out of his animalistic fervor. He looks around at the people around him and realizes he may be causing a scene if he keeps getting carried away. He calms down, clears his throat and looks apologetically at at the group, nexus especially. “… never had sweets before.”
You can't drown someone with Create Water. If your lungs are containers than your bones are objects. Any Siege monster that attacks you deals double damage because it’s attacking your bones.
Kalhala bounds into the pen with the tortoises, trying to find the largest one, the biggest challenge. After scrambling his way up, he realizes he may have bit off more than he can chew. What does he know about big animals and directing them? Well, go big or go home was his motto, "Let's do this!!" he pumps his fist in the air and tries to nudge the beast forward. As it lunges forward, completely catches Kalhala off guard and he falls off, luckily missing the snapping jaws. As they continue, he falls off again and does get bitten. This was not turning out as he had planned. Figures he'll give it one last try, and low and behold he makes it!
He sees Nexus watching them from the sidelines and and he gets his medal he holds it high for her to see, beaming with pride. When he and others make their way over to her, "I did it! I.. don't think I'll ever do that again, but hey, I did it!" when she holds out his favorite treat to him, he scoops her up in an awkward hug as she is still holding onto her basket trying to divvy out the rest of the treats. "Thanks!! You're the best!" and he tries to gently set her down, well, he does his best.
With his eyes all aglow with two challenges and two medals, "What's next, friends?"