Into the New World, Chapter 1: Amongst the Verdant Towers

[Lorthanoth]

Alisitia has looked uneasy throughout the whole encounter, and has remained silent (mainly out of terror at the strange spirit thing). At a suitably private moment, she finds Enko and says "Enko... I... think you have the biggest heart of us all... perhaps in the whole village. I'm sorry if I've been snotty with you before. I guess... well, you show us how we should be, how people should be. And you should be true to yourself."

She takes a deep breath, "We need you, just as much as we need Artemisia, and Ryon and Thane I guess,"[COLOR] she adds with a slight smile, "You 're a good person. But not everything we'll meet is as kind as you. But don't ever change." With that she hugs him quickly in an embarrassed manner

 

[Masquerade]

Cleyra awakes with renewed enthusiasm and confidence. Following her watch with Alistia, once the others are awake, she decides to make an address to share her optimism.

"None of us really know what lies ahead of us. However, as a result of last night's skirmish and Artemisia's honesty, we now know more than we did when we departed. We know that we are not alone in these woods, and we know that what is out there will want to hurt us. But, together, we defended ourselves once, and, as long as we stay together and continue to learn from our mistakes, we can do it again.

"So let us go forward now with greater speed and greater confidence. Not because we no longer have anything to fear, but because we know what it is we fear!"

"That's...all I wanted to say. Thanks."[sblock=OOC]I think it's an unwritten requirement that every new marshal level is accompanied by a rousing speech. ^_^[/sblock]

 

[Nac Mac Feegle]

When Thane wakes up, there is an extremely small owl perched on his head. The hunter doesn't comment on this, but simply goes about his business, rising, checking his bowstrings to make sure the night's dampness hasn't gotten to them, counting arrows, and eating a small piece of the previous day's catch. Throughout all of this the owl remains perched in his hair, occasionally shifting its feet or extending its wings to stay upright. When he is finally ready, Thane walks over to the rest of the group and listens quietly to Cleyra's speech.

 

[WarShrike]

Ryon catches a glimpse of Thane and says: "Thane, you've got feathers in your hair." with a smile.

 

[Nac Mac Feegle]

Thane doesn't reply, but the owl fixes Ryan with its wide eyes and gives a yelp that sounds like an eerily good replica of an annoyed Thane. The hunter for his part heads over to where Enko meditates, waiting for him to finish before speaking softly. "I told you before, Enko, you cannot save everything. To try to do that, it is to go against the natural order of the forest. Death is as necessary as life in these woods, if you treat it as an enemy it will not forgive you."

 

[Shayuri]

Erin shifts in her sleep at the sounds of people talking and moving around, but doesn't awaken.

Quoth, however, does, and stands next to her head protectively with his wings half spread and arced over her like shields. Sort of like how a hawk stands over a fresh kill.

 

[Dire Lemming]

Enko smiles at Alistia somewhat embarrassedly, but can't think of anything of anything else to say to her.

When he finishes his spell meditation he looks up at Thane passively. "Thane. You should not think so much of death. It will only happen to each of us once, and that will be at the end of our lives. Life on the other hand, is far more important, and far less permanent. Death is inevitable, that is why we must cherish life while it lasts." He stands and glances at the still sleeping Erin. "That's a nice owl by the way." He walks over and looks down at Quoth. "Quoth, it's time for her to get up, we can't leave without her." leaning over her, he shakes gently shakes her shoulder. "Erin, it's time to get up. Come on."

 

[Nac Mac Feegle]

Thane shrugs and walks away, back to where Cleyra and the rest are preparing to leave. Well, I tried. I should have known a shaman wouldn't be willing to listen. Checking his bow again, Thane absent-mindedly reaches up to run his fingers through the owl's feathers, before setting his back against a tree to wait for the others.

 

[Shayuri]

Quoth cawps and flaps his wings at Enko and hops away a step as Erin opens her eyes and pulls her blanket up a bit, then stares at Enko with bleary confusion.

"Enko...what are you..." Then she seems to realize where she is. "Oh. Oh right."

She sits up and stretches her arms...a good trick since she has to use one hand to hold up the blanket...then nods at Enko.

"Alright...just let me get dressed."

With that she vanishes under the blanket. Much bumping about underneath ensues.

A moment later, her red hair all wild and mussed from rubbing around under there...but wearing her blouse and skirt from the day before, Erin emerges.

"What's for breakfast?" she asks with a yawn.

 

[Nac Mac Feegle]

Thane slices off a piece of the venison Ryan has roasted with one of his copper knives and passes it over towards Erin. "We should conserve the packed food, it will last longer, and we do not know how long we'll be able to hunt." He goes back to cut himself a slice as well and makes his way over to Artemisia and Ryan to work out who will be where in the marching order.

[sblock=OOC]With the new level and the new familiar I've updated Thane's senses block. Assuming he stays next to it, Thane will have Spot and Listen at +12 each, +15 spot in low-light conditions. Assuming it's adjacent, the owl will have Spot +8, Listen +16, and the spot will rise to +16 in low-light conditions.[/sblock]