IC [DW] From the Outside

[GlassEye]

Khirynnax meets Slice's eyes and his own eyes flash and gleam in the light like a wild animal's. His face is devoid of any other expression when he turns away and completely ignores that Slice has spoken to him. Khirynnax adjusts his gear so that it is more comfortable to carry. "I'm ready to lead off whenever you are ready to travel."

[sblock=OOC]Just involved in too many games and trying to keep up. Plus, I knew BF was going to want to have words with my character some more so I was waiting for that. BF, as I alluded to before, I'm not interested in roleplaying constant conflict. I'm pretty close to just having Khirynnax fly off permanently.

Now, about rations... Trickle never had any to begin with and certainly doesn't have five to spend. So what does that mean for him?[/sblock][sblock=Sheets][sblock=Trickle][section]

Trickle
Human Thief (level 1; 0 xp)
Shifty Eyes, Cropped Hair, Fancy Clothes, Lithe Body

STR 9 DEX 16 (+2) CON 12 INT 15 (+1) WIS 13 (+1) CHA 8 (-1)
Max. hp: 18 Current hp: 18

Alignment: Neutral: Avoid detection or infiltrate a location.

Gear: (Load 6/9) – Base Dmg: d8
Dagger (hand, 1 wt.) and Short sword (close, 1 wt.)
Ragged bow (near, 2 wt.) and bundle of arrows (3 ammo, 1 wt.)
Adventuring gear (1 wt.)
Bloodweed poison (touch, 3 uses): target deals -1d4 damage ongoing until cured

[sblock=Thief Moves]Human: When you spout lore or discern realities about criminal activities take +1

Trap Expert: When you spend a moment to survey a dangerous area, roll+Dex (2d6+2)
10+: hold 3
7-9: hold 1
Spend hold as you walk through area to ask questions:

• Is there a trap here and if so, what activates it?
• What does the trap do when activated?
• What else is hidden here?

Tricks of the Trade: When you pick locks or disable traps, roll+Dex
10+: you do it, no problem
7-9: you do it, but GM offers two options between suspicion, danger, or cost.

Backstab: When you attack a surprised or defenseless enemy with a melee weapon, you can choose to roll your damage or roll+Dex
10+: choose two
7-9: choose one

• You don’t get into melee with them
• You deal your damage +1d6
• You create an advantage, +1 forward to you or an ally acting on it
• Reduce their armor by 1 until they repair it

Flexible Morals: When someone tries to detect your alignment you can tell them any alignment you like

Poisoner: Bloodweed (touch) is no longer dangerous for you to use. When you have time to gather materials and a safe place to brew you can make three uses of Bloodweed for free.
[/sblock][sblock=Bonds and Backgrounds]
I stole something from Needles.
Slice has my back when something goes wrong.
*** knows incriminating details about me.

After a year and a day of service the Witching Troll will teach Trickle the secret of Witch's Tears.

In the course of his work Trickle came across a poisoner’s tome (no longer in his possession) that described a potent poison called Witch’s Tears. The poisoner learned the formula for the poison (frustratingly not written down in the book) from a powerful unseelie sorcerer, a troll…
[/sblock]​

[/section][/sblock][sblock=Khirynnax][section]

Khirynnax Skinchanger, AKA Khir
Elven Druid (level 1; 0 xp)
Wild Eyes, Messy Hair, Practical Leathers

STR 15 (+1) DEX 12 CON 13 (+1) INT 9 WIS 16 (+2) CHA 8 (-1)
Max. hp: 19 Current hp: 19

Alignment: Neutral: Eliminate an unnatural menace.

Gear: (Load 3/7) – Base Dmg: d6
Token of the Mire: the Copper Coil, age-blackened armband in shape of snake
Hide armor (1 armor, 1 wt.)
Staff (close, two-handed, 1 wt.)
Poultices and herbs (2 uses, 1 wt.)

[sblock=Druid Moves]
Elf: In addition to any other attunements, the Great Forest is always considered your land.

Born of the Soil: Attuned to the Stinking Mire—when shapeshifting you may take the shape of any animal who might live in your land. Your tell (a crown of ivy) remains no matter what shape you take.

By Nature Sustained: You don’t need to eat or drink. If a move tells you to mark off a ration just ignore it.

Spirit Tongue: The grunts, barks, chirps, and calls of the creatures of the wild are as language to you. You can understand any animal native to your land or akin to one whose essence you have studied.

Shapeshifter: When you call upon the spirits to change your shape, roll+WIS.
10+ hold 3
7-9 hold 2
On a miss hold 1 in addition to whatever the GM says.
You may take on the physical form of any species whose essence you have studied or who lives in your land: you and your possessions meld into a perfect copy of the species’ form. You have any innate abilities and weaknesses of the form: claws, wings, gills, breathing water instead of air. You still use your normal stats but some moves may be harder to trigger. The GM will also tell you one or more moves associated with your new form. Spend 1 hold to make that move. Once you are out of hold you return to your natural form. At any time, you may spend all your hold and revert to your natural form.

Studied Essence: When you spend time in contemplation of an animal spirit, you may add its species to those you can assume using shapeshifting.
[/sblock]
[sblock=Bonds and Background]
*** smells more like prey than a hunter.
The spirits spoke to me of a great danger that follows Slice.
I have showed Needles a secret rite of the land.
*** has tasted my blood and I theirs. We are bound by it.

After a year and a day of service the Witching Troll will reveal a secret of the fae's primordial essence.

Khirynnax was an outsider, too fey for the humans, too unseelie for the elves. He didn’t care because he sensed a deeper essence, pure and powerful, that he needed to understand. When a halfling told him there was one who could put him on the path that might lead to his understanding Khirynnax didn’t hesitate. He made his way to the Witching Troll and readily accepted the bargain of service that the troll required as payment.
[/sblock]​

[/section][/sblock][/sblock]

 

[Binder Fred]

A muscle twitched - hard - in the big man's jaw and then, like before, he started to smile, if in a most unpleasant way: "No way I'm trusting my back to this joker," he told the others with a snarl. "You spill NOW, 'Khirynnax', or you take a hike. There IS no third choice."

Actually, his half-closed fists sort of implied that there was...

"Bend before the storm," whispered Notch matter-of-factly, if even softer than usual.


[sblock=OOC]

BF, as I alluded to before, I'm not interested in roleplaying constant conflict.

In that case I suggest you have Khyrinnax answer his questions as completely as possible?

It should be clear to him by now that being ignored sets Slice off in a big way, and that the 'mystery man' routine is simply not going to cut it with the big man? So... is he the type that bends before the storm or does he break? (I think we both know which type Slice is.)

I'm pretty close to just having Khirynnax fly off permanently.

If that's the way he would play it, then that's up to you, of course.[/sblock]

 

[GlassEye]

Khirynnax wheels to face Slice. His anger churns behind his eyes like a storm on the verge of breaking. "Listen closely because this is the last time I'll say this. There is ONE choice here: we work together to do the Witching Troll's bidding. Believing anything else is just willful blindness that will cost each of us. And my story is none of your business. If that is understood, then maybe we can get down to the job at hand."

[sblock=Sheets][sblock=Trickle][section]

Trickle
Human Thief (level 1; 0 xp)
Shifty Eyes, Cropped Hair, Fancy Clothes, Lithe Body

STR 9 DEX 16 (+2) CON 12 INT 15 (+1) WIS 13 (+1) CHA 8 (-1)
Max. hp: 18 Current hp: 18

Alignment: Neutral: Avoid detection or infiltrate a location.

Gear: (Load 6/9) – Base Dmg: d8
Dagger (hand, 1 wt.) and Short sword (close, 1 wt.)
Ragged bow (near, 2 wt.) and bundle of arrows (3 ammo, 1 wt.)
Adventuring gear (1 wt.)
Bloodweed poison (touch, 3 uses): target deals -1d4 damage ongoing until cured

[sblock=Thief Moves]Human: When you spout lore or discern realities about criminal activities take +1

Trap Expert: When you spend a moment to survey a dangerous area, roll+Dex (2d6+2)
10+: hold 3
7-9: hold 1
Spend hold as you walk through area to ask questions:

• Is there a trap here and if so, what activates it?
• What does the trap do when activated?
• What else is hidden here?

Tricks of the Trade: When you pick locks or disable traps, roll+Dex
10+: you do it, no problem
7-9: you do it, but GM offers two options between suspicion, danger, or cost.

Backstab: When you attack a surprised or defenseless enemy with a melee weapon, you can choose to roll your damage or roll+Dex
10+: choose two
7-9: choose one

• You don’t get into melee with them
• You deal your damage +1d6
• You create an advantage, +1 forward to you or an ally acting on it
• Reduce their armor by 1 until they repair it

Flexible Morals: When someone tries to detect your alignment you can tell them any alignment you like

Poisoner: Bloodweed (touch) is no longer dangerous for you to use. When you have time to gather materials and a safe place to brew you can make three uses of Bloodweed for free.
[/sblock][sblock=Bonds and Backgrounds]
I stole something from Needles.
Slice has my back when something goes wrong.
*** knows incriminating details about me.

After a year and a day of service the Witching Troll will teach Trickle the secret of Witch's Tears.

In the course of his work Trickle came across a poisoner’s tome (no longer in his possession) that described a potent poison called Witch’s Tears. The poisoner learned the formula for the poison (frustratingly not written down in the book) from a powerful unseelie sorcerer, a troll…
[/sblock]​

[/section][/sblock][sblock=Khirynnax][section]

Khirynnax Skinchanger, AKA Khir
Elven Druid (level 1; 0 xp)
Wild Eyes, Messy Hair, Practical Leathers

STR 15 (+1) DEX 12 CON 13 (+1) INT 9 WIS 16 (+2) CHA 8 (-1)
Max. hp: 19 Current hp: 19

Alignment: Neutral: Eliminate an unnatural menace.

Gear: (Load 3/7) – Base Dmg: d6
Token of the Mire: the Copper Coil, age-blackened armband in shape of snake
Hide armor (1 armor, 1 wt.)
Staff (close, two-handed, 1 wt.)
Poultices and herbs (2 uses, 1 wt.)

[sblock=Druid Moves]
Elf: In addition to any other attunements, the Great Forest is always considered your land.

Born of the Soil: Attuned to the Stinking Mire—when shapeshifting you may take the shape of any animal who might live in your land. Your tell (a crown of ivy) remains no matter what shape you take.

By Nature Sustained: You don’t need to eat or drink. If a move tells you to mark off a ration just ignore it.

Spirit Tongue: The grunts, barks, chirps, and calls of the creatures of the wild are as language to you. You can understand any animal native to your land or akin to one whose essence you have studied.

Shapeshifter: When you call upon the spirits to change your shape, roll+WIS.
10+ hold 3
7-9 hold 2
On a miss hold 1 in addition to whatever the GM says.
You may take on the physical form of any species whose essence you have studied or who lives in your land: you and your possessions meld into a perfect copy of the species’ form. You have any innate abilities and weaknesses of the form: claws, wings, gills, breathing water instead of air. You still use your normal stats but some moves may be harder to trigger. The GM will also tell you one or more moves associated with your new form. Spend 1 hold to make that move. Once you are out of hold you return to your natural form. At any time, you may spend all your hold and revert to your natural form.

Studied Essence: When you spend time in contemplation of an animal spirit, you may add its species to those you can assume using shapeshifting.
[/sblock]
[sblock=Bonds and Background]
*** smells more like prey than a hunter.
The spirits spoke to me of a great danger that follows Slice.
I have showed Needles a secret rite of the land.
*** has tasted my blood and I theirs. We are bound by it.

After a year and a day of service the Witching Troll will reveal a secret of the fae's primordial essence.

Khirynnax was an outsider, too fey for the humans, too unseelie for the elves. He didn’t care because he sensed a deeper essence, pure and powerful, that he needed to understand. When a halfling told him there was one who could put him on the path that might lead to his understanding Khirynnax didn’t hesitate. He made his way to the Witching Troll and readily accepted the bargain of service that the troll required as payment.
[/sblock]​

[/section][/sblock][/sblock]

 

[Binder Fred]

Bringing it to a head

[sblock=OOC]Read the OOC thread first, please. Probably better to let Doghead post before reacting as Khyrinnax as well.[/sblock]
"Yes, lets," agreed Slice, his smile getting wider if anything. "What's 'our business' has already been decided, you blind, secretive little son of a bitch," he 'calmly' informed the druid. "Nobody here trusts you. Nobody here likes you. And it's all your fault; you and your little secrets. So unless the Witching Troll Himself shows up right now..... Didn't think so." He finished with a growl: "Last chance, idiot boy. Or are you really that stupid? How did you meet the Witching Troll? Why are you in His debt?"

Upping the tension, Slice strode towards the druid at the last, a giant fist rising as he got near...

 

[doghead]

Day One - In the Wilderness

Upping the tension, Slice strode towards the druid at the last, a giant fist rising as he got near...

The armoured warrior is engulfed in a swirling mist that appears from no-where before disappearing, leaving no trace of its presence, nor of Slice.

A quiet mocking laughter from half a dozen unseen watchers fills the forest before the laughter too disappears.

 

[Isida Kep'Tukari]

Hawthorne had looked back and forth between Khirynnax and Slice with a rising sense of despair. Slice was one of those hard men who had rejected every hint of softness about him because he perceived it as a weakness, someplace for an enemy to exploit, and dared not back down even in the face of reason lest he be branded a coward within his own mind. The slow action of water and tide of Ushane's love could have helped change him eventually, but at that moment Slice had been like a crashing wave, ready to obliterate all else in his path.

And Hawthorne had been uncertain what else she could have done. Slice had dismissed her as a girl, rather than a woman, dismissed her god and her church as powerless and pathetic, and rejected utterly every word she had spoken, no matter what explanations she had given. A "wrong" word, and she had begun to fear he would pull his sword and use it on all of them, rather than just his words.

When the rising fog and laughing voice took Slice away as he raised his fist, Hawthorne stared at the spot he had been with wide eyes. "Does anyone else recall the stories of mischievous forest spirits, the dire sprites, who would take away naughty children? I think we were just visited by their elder siblings."

 

[doghead]

Time - Somewhere in the Monster Kingdom

Slice stands in a clearing. The sun wheels across the sky. It is warm on his skin. He draws strength from it, the nourishing energy flowing through his mighty limbs. The wind rustles as it moves through and around him. It pushes gently against him, but the ground is firm and reassuring in its hold. It keeps him secure, allowing him to reach up to the light and the sun. He draws deeply on the cool water and essential minerals deep below ground through his roots. The stars and moon wheel across the sky. The Witching Troll sits in the clearing before a pot atop a small fire.

"If you cannot work with your companions, then you are of no use to me in the group," she says.

The sun wheels across the sky, chased by dashing clouds. Slice drinks it in through his canopy of leaves. Slice is aware of the sounds of the other trees around him, the soft rustling of leaves, the creaking of limb and bough. The Witching Troll sits in the clearing, sorting various roots and herbs and plants into separate baskets.

"However, there is still the matter of the year's service you owe me. I could compel you to cooperate. But a geas is a tricky thing. And if I had wanted a thrall, I could have saved myself the effort of saving you."

The stars and moon wheel across the sky. Around him the other tress of the forest whispers among themselves. Slice knows that they are talking, but it is too slow for him to follow. Occasionally he grasps a part of the conversation, but by the time it finishes he has forgotten the beginning. The Witching Troll in the clearing running a whetstone along the blade of a large sword.

"As it happens, I could do with a tree. A big elm for example. There are not enough elms around here I think. Perhaps about there. Where you are standing now as a matter of fact."

The sun wheels across the sky. Slice cannot see it behind the dark grey storm clouds. But he feels its trajectory in his limbs and leaves. Around him the trees discuss the changing of the season and preparations for the coming of winter with its ice and snow. The other trees do not respond to any attempt by Slice to talk with them. But Slice gets the feeling that their discussions are for his benefit, preparing him for what is coming. The Witching Troll sits with a small group of fauns and a bear. They are talking but their words are too fleeting and ephemeral for Slice to understand. But some of the Witching Troll's words are understandable.

"Do not fret about the passing of time. Time here works a little differently from the mundane world. I have sped it up a little, to give you time to understand the dimensions of your choice.

"Speaking of time. While the shade is nice, your service as a tree is somewhat less valuable to me than as a member of the group. It may take you a little longer to repay what you owe."

The Witching Troll looks at Slice directly. She is alone in the clearing again.

"So, do you have any thoughts on the matter?"

 

[Binder Fred]

Somewhere in the Monster Kingdom

The Witching Troll in the clearing running a whetstone along the blade of a large sword.

"As it happens, I could do with a tree. A big elm for example. There are not enough elms around here I think. Perhaps about there. Where you are standing now as a matter of fact."

Slice was no stranger to mortal threats (although he did eye that sword wearily... thinking: Wouldn't it have been clearer if it was an axe?), and doggedly set about breaking this damned tree-illusion while he was at it...

[...] The Witching Troll looks at Slice directly. She is alone in the clearing again.

"So, do you have any thoughts on the matter?"

"Yeah. Why'd you put an ashole like Khirynnax in the group if you wanted us to work together?"

Sitting down might be a good start? He put all his effort into it.

 

[Binder Fred]

Back in the mortal realms

"We part," came a voice from above. Needles sounded a bit nonplussed, but he twirled his hand through the air in a silent salute to Trickle nonetheless, before lightly dropping out of his tree and disappearing into the woods, seemingly sniffing this way and that after... something only he could perceive.

The noise of him faded away, leaving the three alone.

OOC: This seemed simpler until/if Slice returns.

 

[doghead]

Time - Somewhere in the Monster Kingdom

"Yeah. Why'd you put an ashole like Khirynnax in the group if you wanted us to work together?"

Sitting down might be a good start? He put all his effort into it.

The Witching Troll does not respond to Slice's question at first. Rather, she (he? it?) watches as he struggles to sit.

"If being so tall is bothering you, I could make you a shrub instead," she says eventually. "But there are advantages to being a tree if you are willing to slow down and listen. You can hear them I presume, if not perhaps yet understand them. But give it time."

The Witching Troll sits in the clearing. In her hand she holds is a small white stone which she turns over a few times as if inspecting it.

"Khirynnax brings a useful set of skills and abilities to the party."