[4e] [ePoL] Heroic Souls IC (R6 Heian > Monsters > Eldan&Champy > Quinn > Silvi > )

[Atanatotatos]

Heian looks at Neeloo in his arms in dismay, then he snaps out of hit and lies her down on the grass, calling her name. Seeing she doesn't wake up, he hesitates for a moment, then he takes her in his arms and lifts her, and heads home. As he walks countless memories start to come to his mind, memories of similar moments, in which he's holding Neeloo's pleasant weight in his arms. He shakes his head as a sudden numbness seems to overcome thhis overflow, then a last image appears in his thoughts: himself, coated in arms and pointing a sword at an army of foul beasts and crying a voiceless pain out, Neeloo's bleeding body lying on the ground behind him.
This picture strikes an arrow in Heian's heart, he rushes home and hastily puts Neeloo in his bed, covers her with a sheet and puts a wet towel on her forehead. Then he sits on a chair aside the bed and waits, fighting the sleep and numbness in his eyes.

 

[Graf]

Heian looks at Neeloo in his arms in dismay, then he snaps out of hit and lies her down on the grass, calling her name. Seeing she doesn't wake up, he hesitates for a moment, then he takes her in his arms and lifts her, and heads home. As he walks countless memories start to come to his mind, memories of similar moments, in which he's holding Neeloo's pleasant weight in his arms. He shakes his head as a sudden numbness seems to overcome thhis overflow, then a last image appears in his thoughts: himself, coated in arms and pointing a sword at an army of foul beasts and crying a voiceless pain out, Neeloo's bleeding body lying on the ground behind him.
This picture strikes an arrow in Heian's heart, he rushes home and hastily puts Neeloo in his bed, covers her with a sheet and puts a wet towel on her forehead. Then he sits on a chair aside the bed and waits, fighting the sleep and numbness in his eyes.

OOC if it's OK, I'm going to "pause" the game for a second. (except for Verulo, who is chronologically far enough back that he's still got space).

 

[Graf]

[sblock=DM] Slowly a plan begins to take shape.[/sblock]

[sblock=Eldan (with a bit of Verulo)]It's simple really. The creatures follow certain patterns Eldan, can see them easily. By dinner time Eldan's figured out their patrol route (such as it is, it mostly consists of lurking in the forest and staring hatefully at any townsfolk that come into sight).

Dinner brings another shock. The helm, tucked casually under his arm, seems to grow warm when Jeillia enters the room. With concentration Eldan is able to call for a slight reddish glow, and the glow reveals several black eye-worms lurking in the thatch of the roof of the house.
None of his family members seems to notice the glow, not even Jeillia.

Eye-worms is all that Eldan can think to call them, inky black and formed of the shadows of darkest night each is a foot or so long and has a large red eye with a black diamond for a head.
Initially they are still, staring intently at Jeillia, but after a moment they begin to wriggle animatedly and look about the room.

They can tell they're being observed.

Eldan dims the helmet's glow immediately, he hopes he has not tipped his hand yet.

As he picks up the house after dinner he feels a tugging on his heart, slight, but present.

In the shadows outside he finds a roguish looking fellow he remembers vaguely from his youth. Verulo, who climbs things and seems to have been a member of half of the families in town at one point or another. And Verulo is holding a statue in his hand, that of a strange man with silver wings on his shoulders, mist for legs and fire for hair.

For an instant Eldan sees something in his mind. Like a memory, Karothen, who was friends with Jeillia. Standing in a column of silver flame.

Don't make the same mistake I did.

Jeillia's face, radiant and smiling in the silver light. Tears of joy streaming from her face.

Don't fight the puppets until you can deal with the puppeteer.

You see Karothen *smote* by darkness. Jeillia's face dulled and weeping as though she doesn't understand why.

The Geeche has grown us in his garden.

A little man in a black robe is in front of you. Or something man like for it's legs are not those of a man; it is as small as a child, almost comically small with the huge staff that it holds.

I hid the truth of your wakefulness from him.

You can't see it's features clearly clearly just pair of red eyes, black diamond pupils. You feel a cold claw on your chin. Still asleep this one. Good. Good. Nothing drastic. Not to waste. Just a bit of Lethe to make it all go away. In your minds eye the shiver-inducing claw strokes your cheek and forgetfulness washes over you.

He watches Jeillia, but not you. You can not alert her. He thinks the cycle broken, but he is still trapped by his own mind.

I was outside.

She called me back.

He struck me down. But I am the maker, even in the darkness I recreate. I am the opener, no barrier can block my path.

Soon I will call you. But not quite yet.

The statue grows quiet.

Verulo withdraws with the statue into the darkness.

The daze swirls about you. You feel it now, like a living thing; a suffocating cloak you long to throw off.

Follow the plan. Wait for the signal. You hear the voice of an old warrior in your mind.[/sblock]

 

[Graf]

[sblock=Heian & Neeloo]

Heian looks at Neeloo in his arms in dismay, then he snaps out of hit and lies her down on the grass, calling her name. Seeing she doesn't wake up, he hesitates for a moment, then he takes her in his arms and lifts her, and heads home. As he walks countless memories start to come to his mind, memories of similar moments, in which he's holding Neeloo's pleasant weight in his arms. He shakes his head as a sudden numbness seems to overcome thhis overflow, then a last image appears in his thoughts: himself, coated in arms and pointing a sword at an army of foul beasts and crying a voiceless pain out, Neeloo's bleeding body lying on the ground behind him.
This picture strikes an arrow in Heian's heart, he rushes home and hastily puts Neeloo in his bed, covers her with a sheet and puts a wet towel on her forehead. Then he sits on a chair aside the bed and waits, fighting the sleep and numbness in his eyes.

Two peas in a pod. Heian turns to see an immense creature, almost like a great green fog bank. Within the fog there is a hint of a great furred creature, built like a gorrilla with claws and fangs and feet like a goats. And eyes that flicker like emerald flame.
You haven't seen it, but you know that this is the creature called Big Green Eyes that you heard of in the whispers of other children in the town when you were younger.

Heian feels some sort of intense instinctive recognition. The Shifting Bulwark. The defender reflexively cradles Neeloo's unconscious body in one arm in the other he hefts a javelin.

Poke me will you? The creature in front of you sounds vaguely amused. In response Heian reflexively feels himself focus calling on another. A soft radiant light glows from the point of his weapon.

[sblock=ooc]I'd like to ask that Heian and Neeloo don't move from where you are in your next post. You can interact with the fey creature, Neeloo can wake up, Neeloo and/or Heian can experience past lives (together, with the Shifting Bulwark, by themselves) but I'd appreciate if you don't physically move your characters too far (i.e. the feywild of the bramble).
You can even attack the Kheelan/BGE if you like (you won't really be able to harm him at this stage, but it's a valid choice). [/sblock][/sblock]

 

[Redclaw]

[sblock=DM] Eldan shakes his head, trying momentarily to rid himself of the fog that covers his mind. Finally, he listens to the voice, but holds it off long enough to look at his cousin once again. I can keep her safe, at least, he thinks. [/sblock]

 

[Atanatotatos]

What are you?What do you want from Neeloo?yells Heian. The pont of his javelin is shining a golden light that Heian has seen before...where?Then he sees an image of himself kneeling in a dark room, a golden light from above shining upon him brighter than the sun, but his eyes were looking straight at its faraway source, he knew... His hand grasps the javelin firmly, then, with a mighty cry he throws it.
The weapon travels like a shooting star, but its light is lost in the mist surrounding the beast; He hears a growl, but the monster does not fall.
Heian sees himself again in the dark room, but this time no light shines upon him; he's sobbing. This is not how it used to be...

[sblock=OOC]Heian used channel divinity:divine strenght here in my mind, but i didn't bother rolling 'cause as you said we can't really hurt this creature; the meaning i give to the images surfacing is that Heian is awakening, but then instinctively feels he's lost and alone(the gods are gone)[/sblock]

 

[Graf]

[sblock=Verulo brings an old friend to visit his old master]Then, in the evening on what could properly be called the first day of Quinn's life a thin man (Verulo another PC) came to your house with a little statue. The statue was of a man with mist for legs, fire for hair and silver wings.
To your eye it seemed as though the face was that of Karothen.

Old master, this statue seemed to say, you must come. We have little time, and the others require your aid.

And you sensed that he was right and traveled with them to find Silvi, who you knew and did not know, for only she could find where you were going.
[/sblock]

 

[Graf]

[sblock=Verulo & Quinn find Silvi]One night a slim man came to the house, bearing an odd statue. Silvi had known him for years, and played with him as a child but she could not remember his name.
The other man, was older, and worked as a grower, she thought.

She would have greeted them, but it was evening, and the daze was particularly heavy on her in the evenings. So she could merely smile wanly. But they were insistent, and it seemed as though the little statue they were carrying was speaking. Going on and on in a powerful voice about "finding trails" and "guiding".

And Silvi found herself out on the street, humoring these men and their little talking statue and guiding them. They needed to get to the bramble they said. Someplace specific they said. Silvi rather thought that they ought to find it themselves and finally managed to shake off the daze and tell them so.

The little statue asserted that what they needed to find was "unfindable" and for that only Silvi would do.

That seemed quite reasonable to Silvi, actually. Like it made rather more sense that it ought to. So Silvi sighed, in her night gown took them by the hands and into the bramble.

And she led them through winding paths that switched back and forth, and mazes that only looked like mazes but which were straight as an arrow if you knew how to walk. And when Silvi tore her night gown they gave her the little statue to hold, and the statue made quiet a big fuss and Silvi wasn't wearing her night gown any more but rather clothing that was loose and leather and a rather a bit better for traveling around the forest. But Silvi thought the little statue queer nonetheless and gave it back as soon as it was done with her boots.

And finally, she lead them over a brook, which was rather a lot of fun, because only some of the stepping stones were stones and others were boggins, and underneath the roots of a great tree.[/sblock] And so they came, at last, to stand before Big Green Eyes.


***********************
[sblock=Eldan]The signal comes in the evening. Your helm seems to come alive, floating several inches off the ground where you've set it next to your bed.

It swivels slowly sending out a thin red beam in the direction of the center of town. Then it settles down to the ground.

As you pass through the common room of the house you consider speaking to Jeillia, who still sits at the dinner table, staring at her plate. But a shudder from the helm and subtle flash of red reveals several of the Geeche's spies, the shadow-worms (complete with that familiar red eye with a black diamond pupil).
And you pass her by.

Do you think about the family you're leaving behind when you leave? Your grandfather is squatting outside of his hut, smoking as you pass. You feel his eyes upon you as you follow the red beam toward town..

As you round the hill you see the castle looming over you. A hole has been blown clear through one of the roofs. Only now are you noticing it. But you know Karothen caused it whenever he... did whatever he did (called forth the Opener?).

Your helm guides you to the bramble, and you find yourself passing through a circle of mushrooms.[/sblock]

Eldan exits the mushrooms, unerringly following the trail through the feywild until he comes face to face with a motley assortment of people.

 

[Graf]

What are you?What do you want from Neeloo?yells Heian. The pont of his javelin is shining a golden light that Heian has seen before...where?Then he sees an image of himself kneeling in a dark room, a golden light from above shining upon him brighter than the sun, but his eyes were looking straight at its faraway source, he knew... His hand grasps the javelin firmly, then, with a mighty cry he throws it.
The weapon travels like a shooting star, but its light is lost in the mist surrounding the beast; He hears a growl, but the monster does not fall.[/COLOR]

Heian's spear is flies into the mist, and he's rewarded with an irritated snort and a growl.

I want nothing to do with this girl! It is she who has dogged me every night these last years.

But the young man already feels his soul collapsing in upon itself.

Heian sees himself again in the dark room, but this time no light shines upon him; he's sobbing. This is not how it used to be...

Heian returns to himself, he's lying on the ground next to Neeloo. His javelin is next to him, a thin crust of blood on the tip.

Back? The creature seems surprised. But not touched by the gods, hm? So something remains. Perhaps there is hope.

 

[Atanatotatos]

Heian regains conscience and lifts himself on an elbow. The creature is still in front of him, but he feels no ill intentions coming from it. Instead, he wants to know more about what is happening -badly. Who...what are you? What are you talking about? Gods? what... What something are you talking about?
Heian asks, suspended between anger and despair, while he stands up facing the monster.