Ashy's Oathbound Campaign, IC [ARCHIVED]

[hafrogman]

Tristan snaps his neck back to look at Xerxes, spinning to face the same direction even as he goes into a crouch. As he places his helm back on his head, he scans the horizon and hisses at Xerxes.

"What are we taking cover from?"

 

[Ashy]

OOC: There is not a great deal of cover, per se, here. You are on a large sand dune (but not the largest by far) which affords you a good view of the landscape, but all you see are dunes as far as the eye can see. There is lots of sand around, which can be used as cover, if one wanted to "dig in", so to speak... FYI.

 

[Ashy]

Kiera gaze passes between the two men, Tristan to her right and Xerxes to her left, then after lingering for a moment slips on towards Julian and Baja then out to the rolling dunes. A stray ringlet of golden hair mingles with her vision scattering rays of light from the setting suns across her vision. May His Radiance scatter like the stars and show us the way.

Not taking her eyes from the orbs of fire sparkling across the landscape she speaks, the words almost a whisper, "These desert sands have forgotten much, let us not become a part of that history."

OOC: Knowledge (the Forge) +14 to ascertain their whereabouts, important information about that whereabouts, related landmarks, in relation to other places; Survival +4 to get some solid directional bearing and observances of the natural reactions of the planet to the setting sun (animals, plants, etc.); this would all be good before she gives her advice to the group

Kiera:

Spoiler

You recall from one of your intensive studies with Father (the voice heard in the intro) a story that was relayed by a poor soul who had managed to return from the land of the Enemy. He spoke of a massive desert with blood red sands - a war-torn land where the blood of a billion souls had stained the sand red. It was a harsh, unforgiving realm where war was an everyday way of life and those that did not fight were either enslaved or died. Ruled over by countless Warlords, who were little more than cruel men and women who had managed to wrest power from the hands of their predecessors, this land (or domain, as the proper term was recalled) was called Arena.

Survival does not grant any sort of directional information, but you can tell by the rapidly dropping temperature that it will soon be freezing. Also, you fear that among you, water will soon become an issue once the sun rises. As you scan the landscape, looking for any sign of life, you begin to pick up slight traces of movement here and there. Small spiky lizards, nearly the color of the sand, poke their heads out of what can only be very tiny burrows. They test the air with their jagged, forked tongues and then, every single one of them, hurries off down the dune towards the slowly rising blue moon...

 

[ferretguy]

Quickly opening his eyes, seeing the look on the psychics face, Julian spins to look to what may be seen. "Cover? Best we can do is get low and hope..." He get to the opposite side of the dune and gets into as low of profile as he can.

OOC: opposite end from where threat may be coming that is....

 

[deadestdai]

Baja didn't like the heat all that much. And now he was in this "Frog" place where it was hot.

He turned to make sure his companions were all safe and that there were no immediate threats in the vicinity, then after noting to the best his eyesight had to offer, he unclipped his cloak and rolled it as thinly as possible to be able to wrap it about his torso diagonally (Much like a military blanket was during the US civil war/Napoleonic wars.).

Then he started heading off toward the highest point nearby in order to see if he could see what else was out around the party, if anything, making sure to stay low as per Xerses' curious instructions.

 

[Vendetta]

Xerxes crouches to the ground, for a moment, eyes fixed in the opposite direction of the rising moon. He bites his lip and looks back toward the moon, doubting himself. "I... I..." he stammers.

 

[Ferrix]

Slightly more reserved than the jumpy psion at the potential for danger, she scans the landscape slowly. What could it be? The moon, perhaps its rising has significance to their survival. "Xerxes, what is it?" Unslinging her mace from her belt she looks at the psion.

 

[hafrogman]

Tristan, failing to note anything to react to, shoots an exasperated look in Xerxes' direction. Luckily his helm covers enough of his face that nobody can see him rolling his eyes. He tries to keep his tone light, but a bit of irritation shows through at having been taken in by the psion's paranoia.

"Seeing things, perhaps?"

He reaches behind himself to test his blade's freedom in it's sheath and resumes scanning the surroundings, just in case Xerxes isn't loosing it.

 

[Ferrix]

Looking to Tristan she notes the slight irritation in his voice, but disregards it for now, knowing full well his discomfort. "Baja has gone for a better vantage point, perhaps he can tell us if he sees anything that we cannot from here. Other than that, be alert as it seems either the setting sun or something else has scared off our tiny reptilian friends that dot these foreign dunes." She hefts her shield defensively for now, beckoning Xerxes to her side she gives him a slightly comforting smile and then returns her gaze to setting sun.

 

[Ashy]

A slight wind, blowing from the direction of the setting suns, caresses the dune upon which you stand. Even though it is barely enough to ruffle your hair, the intense, withering heat is enough to nearly take your breath. The sweltering heat boils away your sweat, while simultaneously causing you to sweat even more. Kyron's, Tristan's and Kiera's forms literally begin to steam as the superheated sweat escapes from the cracks of their plate mail.

It is supremely miserable; the fact that your senses seem newly awakened - every sensation being intensely acute and jarringly new - helps little.

Baja, less affected (but still affected nonetheless) by the heat due to his lighter armor, jogs down the dune in a direction that could be north (if the setting suns are doing so in the west). The albino half-orc’s skin is coated with a shiny sheen of sweat and his booted feet sink deeply into the blood red dunes. Getting up the next dune (which is the largest in the general vicinity) appears to be somewhat of a struggle, but once he arrives and scans the horizon, his eyes meet with a wholly unexpected sight.

Baja:

Spoiler

As your eyes scan around to the right (what you believe to be east, towards the rising, watery moon) they perceive a massive field of charnel. A battle the likes of which you have never seen took place here, in a large valley (approximately half a mile across) ringed with high sand dunes. As you take in the horrific scene, you notice hundreds of tiny rust-colored lizards descending on the corpses, feeding voraciously. You detect no other signs of movement, though the shadows at your side of the valley are deep, and growing deeper with the setting of the suns behind you.