Edgewalkers Campaign Thread

"What do you mean he has an illusion up?"

"I mean it feels like his hand is a paw," Lirika says, crouching and poking the Voice's arm. "And I qokking swear I'm feeling fur right now."

"Well I don't have any method of discerning where the illusion is coming from, but we can still tie him up."

Talaak pulls out a handaxe, chopping off the Voice's arm at the wrist, "I cast Dispel Magic Let's see if the illusion persists after this. Once we get the necessary information, we can return him to the Path."

"Well that's one way to do it." Meiara says.

The detached hand loses its illusion as soon as Talaak cuts it off. Talaak is now holding what looks to be a tiger paw with slightly longer toes that allow it to grasp things.

The Voice still looks human.

Demetrios gives a side long glance over to the tiger paw in Talaak’s hands now, pushing back an impending thought as he gives the voice one point of lay on hands to cease the bleeding.

”Willing to talk?”

Vusgaar went over to inspects the hand, noting its position in relation to the body. As he drew closer to a conclusion, a stimulating charge of electricity and magic is sent from glove to head. After which, a faint, but troubled look briefly crosses his face. Before he can give a warning however, Demetrios has already revived the creature, or attempted to at least.

"I suggest guarding your minds as well as ears. This one is of a lesser evil, but of an evil all the same as the altavar -- It's duplicity running deeper than the mask we see... This one is Rakshasha." He had pressed during the brief window in which the creature is stirring to life. "The Kalaak too have been duped to the fiend's end no doubt."

The Voice wakes immediately upon Deme's healing, and laughs softly, seemingly unfazed by his missing hand. "Well if you've figured me out, no point in keeping up this little facade..." His form shimmers, and suddenly a tiger-like creature is in front of you, wearing scale mail. He yawns toothily. "And I don't know why you lot need me to talk, Fluffy here seems to have this all figured out."

Lirika makes a quick motion, and the other three shifters with her back up, arranging themselves into a loose perimeter. Lirika herself glares down at the rakshasa, contempt and anger on her face. "We should just kill him."

 "Agreed. We should kill this creature."

 "A tempting prospect for the insult." Vusgaar admits; a rumbling in the back of his throat precluding his words. "But, there is yet two question need answering. You alone could not have arrayed them so well. To what end, and how many more of your kind is involved in this... madness? This chaos you sought to sow?" He asked politely, trusting talaak or Ani to follow up with more presence.

The rakshasa yawns lazily. "Oh, a few others. I don't really count us, we come and go so easily, and when you count in the resurrection...well, let's just say that after a few dozen millennia of death and rebirth, you don't bother to keep track of who's involved in which path. As for the end...well, you've already figured that bit out, Fluffy. Chaos." His eyes flash dangerously, his levity vanishing for a moment to reveal the starkly cold and dangerous predator beneath. "The one we serve desires nothing more." He smirks at Lirika. "I do so love the Tundra. You're all so...savage. Fierce and willing to listen to anybody who gives you permission to be a little more bloodthirsty."

Lirika gives him a disgusted look. "All we do, we do for pack and freedom. There is nothing more different than the Kalaak and the Qiku. We may revel in the wild, but we still acknowledge that the wild has an order that must be protected and upheld."

"Whatever you say, Fuzzy." The rakshasa winks at her and raises an eyebrow at the rest of you. "Come now, surely you can't tell me that you don't think it wouldn't be too bad if the Tundra self-destructed."

Talaak twitches, as though he was tempted by the Rakshasa's offer. However, he takes his handaxe, bringing it to the creature's neck, "I have a duty. I will see that duty done before all else."

He then decapitates the Raksaskashaskakasahsahshahsa.

Vusgaar showed no such signs of temptations, heeding his own advice, if nothing else. A stray thought(or perhaps a whispered word from others) did however warranted a more pensive look and further stimulating jolts for answer. But yet again, he found himself too slow in providing insight. Unbothered, nevertheless, Vusgaar turns to the others and says, "That is one Voice silence for at least the years to come. But, there are the others lending credence to the Corruption we seek. And they... may be stronger than this one." He admits openly enough.

"So, where do we go from here? Continue the hunt, or report back the nature of our true foes here for the more experienced Edgewalkers?" This he asks the Edgewalkers.  

When Talaak decapitates the rakshasa, its body dissolves into dark red-black smoke that flows into the ground and vanishes. His scale mail, shield, and longsword clatter to the ground.

Lirika snorts and glares down at the rakshasa. "This is more of a lead than we've gotten in months. We Qiku will keep hunting them. You can do what you want."

"We should report this big to Lady Shiharan. If the Kalaak were being led by a Rakshasa, they should definitely know this, if only so that they can prepare for its eventual return." Meiara also casts Cure Wounds on herself. 18

Without dissent from the other Edgewalkers, Vusgaar nods in agreement with Meiara. "Then we return. Swiftly. Before things here worsen-..." He glances back to Lirika. "Odds being slim though they may with the... Qiku informed as they are now." A barely perceivable frown touches the corner of his lips. Prior to the group's departure, a wary and reluctant appearing Vusgaar does approach Lirika at least one last time, and just kind of stares at her as if searching for something in her.

But after which, he just wordlessly shakes his head, looks to the rakshasha's remaining arms and armament, then gives Lirika quick questioning glance prior to retrieving and either strap them to himself in various ways or passing them off to one of the edgewalkers to at least hold on to until the next day. 

Khern nods. "The three of us'll stay here and keep an eye on things, in case they do worsen," he says, glancing at Lirika. His tone makes it clear that he's less optimistic about the Qiku's ability to handle things than Vusgaar. "But if these fiends are involved, reinforcements are a good idea."

Lirika picks up the rakshasa's longsword, looking at the jagged blade for a long moment before snorting softly and tossing it onto the ground. "I doubt we'll be seeing you lot again, then," she tells the five of you with a smirk before moving to talk to her shifters.

When Vusgaar approaches Lirika, she lets him stare for about five seconds before saying deliberately, "Tear at the throat, and be done."

Vusgaar continued to more flatly stare at Lirika in silence for a second or two more, and then shook his head. "Not interested in Betrayal. Aligned we are still, and for a time more, at least." He stated frankly. "I had..." He hesitates, furrowing his brow for a moment, and even spare the party a glance prior to seeming settle on something. "I only wish to suggest you look into coerce the other tribes into dealing with the threat. Fiends are not to be underestimated; especially those without the Path to guide them... I... do not wish to learn of your fall." He confesses, meeting her gaze, as was the way, but seeming to struggle to at the same time. 

Lirika gives Vusgaar a lazy, sharp-toothed smile. "It's a phrase - tear at the throat, and be done. We say it before doing something particularly unpleasant, to encourage maximum violence when confronted by danger, or when encouraging another to stop delaying and just do something. As for your suggestions...while you go to alert your superiors, I go to my elders as well," she says. "I will be traveling to the Speaking Stones to tell the Summit Council of our findings. If I can convince them, all the forces of the Tashanan shifters will be arrayed against the Kalaak within days. We would not object to Riedran assistance, in this case, although none of us would trust it either." The smile falls away, and her eyes grow serious as she meets Vusgaar's gaze frankly. "I, too, would not wish to hear of your fall. We have now fought together, and I see you have honor, even if your people perhaps do not always exercise it towards mine." She lets out a low chuckle.