IC [DW] From the Outside

[GlassEye]

Trickle returns Needles' salute trying for nonchalance even though the hair on the back of his neck was standing on end. He looks over at Hawthorne. "Yeah, I think you're right. You have any idea what that was about?"

The question seemed aimed mostly at Khirynnax who responds with a shake of his head in the negative. With his wide, wild eyes and head darting at every sound the elf more than a little resembles a hunting bird who has sensed something dangerous but isn't sure which direction the threat comes from.

[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]

Somewhere in the Monster Kingdom

"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."

"Chains don't bother me, Troll," replied Slice, giving up on movement for now. And even he knew that was an odd thing to say right now. Or at least an odd way to say it? And yet the words went on: "Mine are stronger, better made and glow red hot as they burn into my flesh. Isn't that why you settled Your hand on our little band?"

If meditative 'tree men' were what He needed to do this Work of his, then he'd chosen incredibly poorly... That seemed pretty bloody unlikely, somehow.

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."

"That joker couldn't get laid in an all-women prison," was the big man (Tree?)'s own impression, conversationally given.

 

[doghead]

Time - Somewhere in the Monster Kingdom

The Witching Troll considers Slice's response for a while.

"I need someone who can cooperate with others, and who is capable of more than just breaking things until he gets what he wants. Perhaps if I had a cave full of aberrations that needed killing you would be of some use. But the task I have at hand will require a range of skills and a degree of subtlety. You are brave, perhaps, but too blunt an instrument for this. I do not think you are going to be of any use to me.

She stands and moves slowly around Slice, sprinkling something from a small vial around the trunk of the tree. Eventually she returns to her original position.

"I have already spent as much time as I can afford on this. More, probably.

"I have left you something to think upon. Do with it as you will. Should you decide that you can work with the others and restrain your overweening sense of entitlement, then you just have to ask for me.

The clearing is empty once again. The stars wheel across an empty sky. The trees are quiet, as if waiting.

The wind moves through the leaves.

Limbs creak.

Roots and vines.

At first Slice couldn’t tell what he was seeing except a profusion of writhing plant-life until the vines irised away, beyond his sight, to expose a blur of images, a hundred changing turns of a kaleidoscopic life with one face.

“Yes,” said the familiar, maddening voice. It spoke with no hesitation.

The shadow moved and Slice could tell that it was well pleased and yet, it was exactly what it knew would be spoken. It circled the edge of the grove and snagged a delicate strand of spider silk that gleamed like silver in the moonlight. As the shadow moved closer to the elf the web unraveled. Shadow wrapped the strand of silver around the elf’s finger.

“There are three in the forest beyond. Bring them here. Wind the strand and beware that you don’t break it for it will bring you here.”

---

The baby was lying in a nest of silk and waving its tiny elfin hands and feet at nothing. A crone, one of the bent and broken fey and ugly as nothing Slice had ever seen before, uncurled a gnarled finger, spit upon the fingertip, and touched the spittle to the baby’s eyes. The image fractured as if he were seeing it from two vantage points: the finger reached towards his eye, dripping with some viscous fluid, and touched the ball of his eye. His vision blazed and faded as he blinked his eye clear though he knew something was there, deeper than skin, deeper than bone, some essential element that he could see if he only focused, that he needed to grasp, to drink in and understand.

From the outside, the crone. He could see past the veil of her skin. She was rotten stump-wood carved into the semblance of a creature and made to dance like the wooden poppets at a market day faire animated by twitching strings controlled by…

---

“Who are you? What do you seek from me?” demanded a low, husky voice at odds with the rumbling crash Slice expected. The voice emanated from a figure concealed by a shifting mass of shadow as the stars wheeled overhead painting circles in the night sky. Only his own vision of the figure was shadowed, through his borrowed eyes he saw a feminine figure of carved and polished wood yet able to move with serpentine grace. Slice thought to answer her questions but another voice spoke before he could.

“Khirynnax, born of the Great Forest and a son of the Stinking Mire. I seek the secrets of the aether, the animating force of the fey.”

“And will you serve me a year and a day for what you desire?”

The moon, the same moon that gazed down on Slice and his companions as they fled through the wood, stopped in its track awaiting the answer.

---

Scene after scene flashed by, most too quickly to catch more than a fleeting glimpse. Each glimpse, however, revealed a root or vine, plucking, prodding, pushing some unknown agent to alter the course of Khirynnax’s life until it flowed in the channel dictated by each root and vine that led back to that grove of shifting shadow where the stars wheeled in the sky.

 

[Isida Kep'Tukari]

Trickle returns Needles' salute trying for nonchalance even though the hair on the back of his neck was standing on end. He looks over at Hawthorne. "Yeah, I think you're right. You have any idea what that was about?"

The question seemed aimed mostly at Khirynnax who responds with a shake of his head in the negative. With his wide, wild eyes and head darting at every sound the elf more than a little resembles a hunting bird who has sensed something dangerous but isn't sure which direction the threat comes from.

[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]

"No, I'm afraid not," Hawthorne says, a small shudder running through her. "But I rather think that was a hint from the greater cosmos to not waste time in arguments and hatred when we have responsibilities to our gods and oaths to others to keep. If such beings can snatch Slice away, then they can deposit him back just as easily, for I certainly do not have the means to follow. Nor, quite frankly, the desire to do so. We have a lot to do, so shall we get to it?"

 

[GlassEye]

"Neither do I. I'm just a common man caught up in things beyond his ken," says Trickle. The tone is joking but as he finishes speaking his expression changes and he glances around a bit unnerved by their recent experiences. "You're right, we should get walking but if you thought Slice was in a bad mood before that's nothing to compare to if he thinks we abandoned him. This is what you'd call a rock and a hard place, I'd suppose. Comes down to it I'm a bit more, ah, cautious about the Witching Troll than Slice and I'd rather not make it mad." He hefts his meager possessions again readying for the hike.

Khirynnax's lips twitch and he looks at Trickle oddly as if something the man said caught his attention. He only nods, however, and moves forward to find the easiest trail in their direction of travel.

-----

It is some time later when Khirynnax hears the wolves and motions his companions to move forward silently so they can watch the drama that plays out. Khirynnax's eyes gleam with interest but once the solo wolf has driven off the others he looks back to the people he is with and raises an eyebrow in question.

Trickle eases out his bow but he looks to Hawthorne to make the decision.

[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]

 

[Isida Kep'Tukari]

"Unless the wolves decide to find us nibble-worthy, let us leave them alone. I'd rather go around than force a confrontation with such noble creatures," Hawthorne says quietly.

 

[Binder Fred]

Somewhere in the Monster Kingdom

The Witching Troll considers Slice's response for a while.

"I need someone who can cooperate with others, and who is capable of more than just breaking things until he gets what he wants."

Slice couldn't help letting a single syllable of disbelieving laughter escape there, quickly smothered in its sleep: 'incredibly poorly' it was! Didn't the Troll realize what He Himself had promised him? What he would do with it?

"Perhaps if I had a cave full of aberrations that needed killing you would be of some use. But the task I have at hand will require a range of skills and a degree of subtlety. You are brave, perhaps, but too blunt an instrument for this. I do not think you are going to be of any use to me."

"Hu... Fire burns, Troll. Why do you find that surprising...? Or didn't you know I was fire before you trapped me?" Spider blaming the fly was a bit pointless at this point, wasn't it?

But then, it came to him, maybe... just maybe, his assumption of competence on the Troll's part, machiavelic cunning even, was dead wrong? WAS he really dealing with a bumbling fool of an opportunistic Fey with no real idea what His nets would net Him? No real master plan? No real understanding of mortal nature at all?

"Do we all look the same to you, Witching Troll?"

[...] Scene after scene flashed by, most too quickly to catch more than a fleeting glimpse. Each glimpse, however, revealed a root or vine, plucking, prodding, pushing some unknown agent to alter the course of Khirynnax’s life until it flowed in the channel dictated by each root and vine that led back to that grove of shifting shadow where the stars wheeled in the sky.

In the clearing Slice smiled, thinly, triumphantly.

The Troll bragged - and Khirynnax WAS hiding what he knew of Him from them...

Knew it!

... Although it had more to do with him being a complete prat than some deeper plot, apparently. Deeply disappointing.

Still: "Troll! Witching Troll!"


[sblock=OOC]This is going to be a fairly crazy week at work, by all indications, so please expect slower posting from me until saturday-sunday, most likely.[/sblock]

 

[doghead]

Day Three - around midday, Deep in the Forest

The rest of the night proves uneventful, as does the following morning.

But as the sun approaches the its zenith you notice the temperature dropping slowly as you move over a ridge and into a shallow valley, heavily wooded. Despite the sun overhead mist seems to cling to the ground, mere wisps at first, but steadily getting denser as you push on. There’s something not quite right about the way the sun filters through the leaves, or how the birdsong sounds somehow muted and distant. In the distance you can hear the faint sound of music; it sounds like pipes, and is curiously melancholy.

A little further down the the valley you come across the source of the music, a faun sitting atop a small tree. He plays on, either unaware, or indifferent to your presence.

[sblock=Behind the Veil]The Monster Kingdom is normally invisible to the mundane folk, hidden behind the veil as it is. The Fey can see through the veil with ease. Residents of the Monster Kingdom, but not themselves Fey, usually, with time and effort, can master the ability to see truly as well.

Mundane folk, at best, get glimpses of the Monster Kingdom at certain times or in certain places when or where the veil is thin. But generally their minds shy away from the truth of what they see, cloaking it in more familiar, reassuring forms. There are exceptions, those that are attuned to the land or to magic and have trained themselves to see true, or those whose mind is broken and offers no protection can have the sight, as can those who have been granted the ability by a powerful patron from the Kingdom.

OOC: The Witching Troll it seems, has chosen to lift the veil for you.

I am thinking up until now: Khirynnax has the ability to see true in the lands to which he is attuned (so in this case probably won't notice anything different). Hawthorne has, on occasion, been granted the ability by her deity in 'lands' strong in water (the River Delta, the Open Seas). Trickle has no experience of it beyond the accidental glimpses, the feeling of things that don't seem right or places that feel wrong somehow. What do you think?[/sblock]

 

[GlassEye]

"Bloody knuckles!" swears Trickle in a low voice full of awe at the strange music and otherworldly air. He wipes surreptitiously at one eye and takes a couple of steps closer to the faun. "I'm not sure I'll ever get used to all these strange things that have been happening over the past couple of days."

Khirynnax pauses, not acting or speaking but watching the faun for some sort of reaction to their presence.

[sblock=OOC]That sounds great to me, doghead, but then it seems to favor my character more than the others so take that with a grain of salt.[/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]

 

[Isida Kep'Tukari]

Hawthorne looks around with widened eyes full of wonder, taking in the sights of lush nature so different from the seashores she more frequently haunts. The strange unreality of the place comes to her slowly. Rarely has she seen this sort of sight for long; a few times Ushane has granted her the ability to see the worlds beyond, when it suited Her needs for Her priest to see and upon occasion speak with creatures whose very world is often overlooked. Hawthorne looks up at the faun, and makes a wave of greeting. "Hello. That's a lovely tune," she says, wondering if she, Trickle, Briar, and Khirynnax seem as exotic to the faun and the faun seems to her.