Ruin's Dawn: Lightning Gem

[Natalia Gregorios]

Saun 35, Arc 721

Natalia and the female Aukari were having a nice little chat when a lot of things happened, all at once. For all the shaky resolve the young woman felt, having a big dart-looking thing pointed in her direction wasn’t reassuring. Taking a few steps back, she thought to put more room between herself and it, reasoning that perhaps she could duck or some such thing.

Praetorum finally snapped out of his daze and placed himself between the Aukari and herself, affording Natalia the brief opportunity, with him covering her, to glance back and see what was making the animal noises. Had she been alone or at the Ithecal’s side, it wouldn’t have been prudent to turn away, but his placement gave her an opening for a brief look.

Sir Toad had charged in, and the plans on the Aukari side changed, attacking the Toad with the weapon as opposed to them. Natalia began to start forward, to help the creature if she could, but the imagining began being sucked away, little by little, until all that remained was them, the female Aukari, and the sewer. Truthfully, she really could have done without the last two on the list but there really wasn’t the chance for quibbling as she glanced quickly around to see if the dart thing remained or had been sucked up with the rest.

”Well, improvement. The devil you know, I suppose.” Muttering softly, for at least they were acquainted with the terrain, but then again, so were the Aukari.

Natalia didn’t have time to worry about what was or wasn’t. It was them and the Aukari woman, and the standoff remained. Praetorum remained in front of her, giving her another chance to see if there was anything in the vicinity worth noting or that she could use.

She saw the rocks and hand, but there was nothing she could do at the moment. Moving from where she was would have been an open invitation to attack her and she wasn’t giving lady flame that.

The voices came, and while Natalia couldn’t understand them, she could make some educated guessed. The voices meant backup for lady flame, confirmed by the look on her face. Then, something changed. Nudging Praetorum from behind, Natalia was sure he could see the same thing, but just in case. “Something’s wrong.”

Voices came from behind them, and the young woman turned just in time to glimpse a dragonling approaching them quickly from the rear. Whether Praetorum had time to see it or not, Natalia spoke sharply. “Praetorum, behind us….move to the side!”

Dagger still in hand, she moved quickly to the side of the cavern, hopefully out of the way. If she was going to eyes and ears for Praetorum, she'd be the best ones she could. Without knowing the dragonling's intentions, there was no way to tell if they were friend or foe in its mind.

[Praetorum]

The Aukari made to fight, and Prae summoned a Taithir shield to his left hand, tail coming around his waist to take its place around his glaive.

The woman with the dart raised her hand, and Prae muttered a curse, calling to the wind to stop it—just a hair too late. The imagining warped around them, shrinking down around the male Aukari, until they were back in the sewers, washed out colors and all.

Prae registered all of this, and set it aside in his mind for later. The Aukari had attacked, and Prae was done with warnings. Glaive and shield in hand, Prae surged forwards with a roar, striking out at the Aukari woman, his water caressed weapon gleaming in the light of her flame.

Behind him there were dragonlings, ahead of him there was a skeleton emerging from the rubble, but this was, at least for a moment, a one on one fight, the sort Prae had mastered here in Yaralon. And this was one duel Prae intended to win quickly.

With that done, Prae started cataloging all the Aukari’s escape routesTactics Capstone-Tactical Retreat. He watched the woman like a hawk as he attacked, cutting off any escape attempt with his weapon or with Defiance to drag her back towards him. Whatever attacks the woman would throw at him, he would parryShield Capstone-Parry & Riposte, throwing her off balance for a killing blow.

Natalia shouted behind him, warning him of something’s approach, and Prae sidestepped as he fought, giving space for something to run past him if need be. If whatever was behind him chose to join the fray at his side, Prae would fight alongside itTactics Capstone-Shoulder to Shoulder; if it attacked him, Prae would teleportMagic Item-Gate Ring to set the Aukari between himself and the creature.

All the while, Praetorum kept an eye on the skeleton with his defiance sense. If it managed to unbury itself halfway, Prae would simply rebury it with defiance, sending rock crashing down upon it once more.

All this was a lot to keep track of, but Prae thought he could manage it. He had a great deal of experience in multitaskingMaster Meditation, after all.

[Jackalope]

Something clever

With the Imagining collapsed, Praetorum and Natalia would find the sewer as they remembered it: a channel of waste water flanked by raised stone walkways. This affected how well people could maneuver. Everyone would find themselves more or less positioned as they had been before entering the strange toad’s realm: the heroes stood on one ledge, close to the intersection, with Prae standing slightly closer to it and to the aukari woman.

The shimmering was positioned on the opposite ledge.

The aukari woman stood on one of the crosswalks at the tunnel intersection, meaning she had more lateral room to move than Prae or Nat, but almost no way to move forwards or backwards without dropping into the water.

The dragonling raced down the middle of the tunnel, its reptilian legs splayed out and its claws gripping the edge of either ledge as it moved, holding its body above the sewage as it charged. It was surprisingly dexterous for a newborn being.

One of the newly-arrived aukari stood on the crosswalk on the far-side of the intersection. His fellows, farther behind, were scurrying to catch up along opposite ledges. There appeared to be one on each ledge.

Just down the right hand tunnel from the intersection as Prae and Nat faced it, a tall, skeletal form was rising from the waste water at the base of the rubble from the freshly-collapsed tunnel. It was clad in ragged remnants of ancient- and ceremonial-looking armor, and once it had risen fully it drew, with a rusty rasp, an immense sword from some scabbard that had been concealed by its bulk.

”Where is she?!”

the skeletal form demanded, in a voice familiar to both Prae and Natalia from earlier. Hollow eye sockets scanned the tunnels. It brandished the sword.

”Behold! I display my weapon! That should satisfy that litigious lizard.”

It searched for another trill, while the newly arrived aukari regarded the apparition with utter bafflement.

”Gone! Craven!”

the skeletal form shouted angrily. It turned to regard the aukari standing on the far cross-walk and brandished its sword at him.

”…but no matter. You will do for an opponent. I did not raise this form for nothing. I challenge you!”

Prae and Nat would have little time to watch this interloper situation unfold, however. The aukari woman saw that her war dart had landed precariously on the ledge just behind where Nat stood, only to then drop into the waste water, shaken loose by the vibrations of the oncoming dragonling. Thinking quickly she flared a bolt of fire at the ithecal’s head while she reached for her other weapon. She did not have a Curved. Sword. as her associate did, but rather a mace with flame-shaped flanges.

The aukari would not have time to use this weapon, however. The dragonling drew even with Natalia even as she pressed her body back against the wall, narrowly avoiding having her feet skewered by a large, sharp claw. One of the four heads regarded the young woman briefly as the creature passed, but then turned its attention forward as did its fellows.

One of the center two heads exhaled towards the aukari. A barely-visible cloud of gas enveloped the aukari woman, and the flames of her corona sputtered and nearly went out. Her eyes grew large as she teetered on the crosswalk suddenly gasping for breath. Praetorum would have little difficult striking a grievous blow to his indisposed adversary, and whatever was left of her after he struck, the dragonling finished off with a vicious lunge, biting the woman’s weapon arm clean off with its leftmost head as she fell dead backwards into the sewage.

The dragonling’s tail thrashed as it charged, sweeping Nat’s legs and sending her pitching forward into the sewage.

It was fortunate that the weather in Yaralon had been unseasonably rainy in the preceding trials. There was plenty of runoff in the channel to sweep the city’s waste along. As a consequence, the water in which Natalia found herself briefly submerged was mainly just water. Murky, stinky water with things in it, but water. It was not deep, coming up about navel high on her once she found her footing.

As she spluttered and cleared the gunk out of her eyes, she would notice two things: first, the war dart was floating, or rather sinking very slowly, right in front of her; second, she could now see quite clearly into the shimmering opposite her, much as she had been able to earlier when the toad had belched at their group. Within, she could see the prostrate, motionless, grievously-wounded form of the toad. Next to it huddled the aukari male who had been sucked into its imagining. He was on all fours, retching, still obviously quite indisposed.

The male aukari at the far side of the intersection gave a cry of dismay as he saw the dragonling and Praetorum take down his boss. He had the presence of mind to ignite his own corona, had drawn his Curved. Sword. and had furthermore shot a gust of flame at the skeletal figure approaching him. From the waist up it was now aflame, although this neither slowed its progress nor interrupted its belligerent bellowing.

The male aukari shouted something in Vauni at his fellows behind him, then turned and ran, still wreathed in his corona, back the way he and the others had come.

Info & Rules

• Due to the time-sensitive nature of this, I can not hold out for people to post. If you miss a round, there will (I'm afraid) be consequences. Please Communicate with me if something comes up for the week. There will still be consequence but different. Please post by Monday September 20 by 2359 Eastern Standard Time. The reason for this earlier deadline is that, at this stage, your actions in this thread directly affect events in the Ascension thread.
• Going forward, there is a zero-tolerance policy in place for missing rounds. Miss one, and you’re out. This only results in a change for Natalia, as Praetorum has now missed a round already, anyway
• This style of event moderation - with objectives etc - was created by a wonderful moderator named Crimson.

Next modpost, Tuesday, 21 September

Deadline for your next round's posts is 2359 EST on 20 September. If you haven't posted by that time, you will be written out of the event.

[Natalia Gregorios]

Saun 35, Arc 721

The situation was not improving. Not in the least. In fact, as reality came back to them, they were back on the skinny walkways, trying to figure out a rapidly deteriorating situation. Praetorum had snapped out of his stupor and begun to fight, so that was all well and good. Natalia was determined to help him best she could with the tools she had, but that didn’t amount to much.

At least some of the Aukari were, for the moment, occupied with the ghost from earlier, who apparently had taken on a form of some sort. Good for him. Better for them, as two potential issues were engaged with each other and currently not concerned with the pair.

As she flattened herself against the wall, watching as the dragonling flew past her, and then further watching as a pitched battle took place between the dragonling and the Aukari, resulting in some nasty gruesomeness. However, the young woman didn’t have time to really be concerned about it, for something on the dragonling hit her, and jettisoned her straight into the channel.

Ewwwwwww…..

Fortunately, it wasn’t awful. Would she tell anyone she had gone into the sewer? No. That wouldn’t be a detail she would be sharing nor would it be making it into the story she would onetrial tell, but it did allow Natalia a bit more room to move. As she found her feet and looked around, she noted the long war dart next to her, grabbing it quickly.

Taking in the situation, she knew she had trills to decide. Natalia didn’t want the Aukari to get the war dart back, which meant she needed to get it away from them. She didn’t have the skills for a fight, and the shimmering gave her another option, even though it still contained an Aukari. If she could get to it, perhaps she could help the toad in some manner. She wasn’t skilled in medicine at all, but maybe there was something she could do.

Dragging the war dart out of the water, Natalia attempted to hoist it up on the opposite walkway than she had previously been on. If she was able to do that, she would attempt to remove herself from the channel, pulling herself up. It would be difficult, considering the wet clothes and her lack of strength, but hopefully she could manage to do it.

If luck was with her – it had been appearing in fits and starts throughout the trial – then she would make a run for the shimmering, possibly with war dart in hand, hoping to help the toad, and trusting Praetorum to note where she was going so he would know her location, calling back over her shoulder at him “He’s hurt. We need to help him.”

If all that transpired and she was a very lucky girl, Natalia would end up at the toad’s side, looking for a way to help him, but keeping a wary eye on Aukari nearby for any signs of recovery.

[Praetorum]

What a mess this was turning out to be.

Praetorum raised his shield and ducked his head as the aukari shot a bolt of fire at his head. He wasn’t going to try and wrestle control of flame from one who followed the immortal of it.

Instead, he blocked it, and stepped forwards, just as the dragonling drew level with him. The creature, or at least one of its heads, breathed out a gas Prae could barely see. It’s effects, though, were immediate. The flame that surrounded the woman extinguished, and she stumbled, giving Prae an easy opening that he took with a vengeance. His glaive struck out, catching her under the ribs and scoring a deep gash into her belly—a moment later, the dragonling snapped its teeth, and finished her off.

The other Aukari were wise enough to begin beating a retreat at that, exiting to the left, pursued by a skeleton. Prae started to follow, then stopped as he recalled Natalia, tossed into the sewer. Turning, he saw that she was trying to hoist herself back onto the walkway—calling to the air, Praetorum lifted her up, and deposited her onto the spot she’d been climbing to.

“The toad?” Prae clarified as she spoke of someone being hurt. He couldn’t see inside the shimmer, but he assumed that she could, and considered his options. It didn’t take long for him to make up his mind. The skeleton would distract the Aukari for a while yet, and he didn’t intend to separate from yet another companion.

Crossing over to Natalia using the crosswalks, Prae would follow her into the shimmer, keeping his glaive and shield ready to defend her and himself if anyone should attack.

[Jackalope]

What have I got in my pocket?

Perhaps it was just as well that Praetorum finally elected to stay back with Natalia. The bodies in front of him, be they aukari, skeletal, or draconic, created a bit of a logjam, albeit one he could probably have teleported to the far side of; doing that, however, would have landed him in an unknown tactical situation. The one that the ithecal could see before him from where he stood unfolded as follows:

The aukari were in full retreat, and, judging from the tones of their voices, quite demoralized. The now-flaming Risen bellowed in frustration as it brandished its large, ancient sword and set off in hot (in more than one sense) pursuit. The dragonling, hampered slightly by being too large to use the sewer’s walkways properly, scuttled behind, driving the entire motley chase along.

Praetorum, unlike Natalia, could not see clearly into the shimmering that led to the toad’s Imagining, at least not at first. He would need to give Natalia a hand up from the sewer, as she was weighed down by wet clothes and trying to carry the war dart. As soon as he did, and caught a good, close-up whiff of her sewage-drenched clothes and hair, his ability to see into the Imagining abruptly improved. Together, they entered.

The afflicted aukari and the wounded toad both turned eyes to regard them, the latter with a veiled, unreadable expression, the former with a look full of terror, especially when they noted the war dart in Natalia’s hands. ”N-no! No!” he gagged out, horrified. For just a moment he hesitated, for just a moment he seemed as if he might try, against all reason or prudence, to take a stand in this situation, but then he changed his mind. Barely able to walk upright, he scuttled towards the shimmering and back into the sewer, mumbling “No, no, no,” the entire time.

As Natalia knelt next to the toad, she could see that its wound was grave, probably fatal, and that there was little she could do.

”Don’t grieve,”

the toad said, his tone almost pityingly.

”I shall return to my realm soon. As you shall to yours. When you do, mind Vielkrontier.”

Its tongue lolled tremulously out in the direction of the Shimmering.

”Behold…”

The shimmering provided a clear view somehow of the fleeing Aukari, pressed by the flaming Risen and the dragonling. For about forty paces away from the intersection they ran, before coming to an access ladder which they now frantically piled atop one another to climb. Somehow, they made it, winning to the surface before either the ghost or the creature could attack them.

Their relief did not last long. An enormous shadow fell across them, and the three aukari looked up and screamed in horror until three great, crocodile-looking heads bent down and cut those screams short with an audible, terrible crunch.

”That is Vielkrontier,”

explained the dying toad.

”He knows you are down here. He would speak to you, I think.”

It was not clear how the spirit knew this, and yet, it seemed to.

”Mind Vielkrontier,”

it repeated, coughing up a bile-green fluid as it did so.

”Show him strength and confidence, not fear, but do not be belligerent or provocative. He would know if you are the sort who is strong enough to adapt and thrive, to deserve survival.”

Through the Shimmering, they would see the dragonling looking up through the manhole at the dragon. Behind it, the skeleton turned to face something behind it. Natalia and Praetorum could not see who it was, but could probably guess based on the nauseous gagging and coughing they could here.

”You!”

the skeleton shouted, raising its humongous sword.

”Defend yourself!”

The Shimmering went blurry again.

”Those are no longer your concern,”

the toad coughed out.

”Only Vielkrontier matters. Go, talk to him. Tell him why you are fit to live.”

The toad, with a final spasm of strength, raised one of its forelimbs as if in salute, its digits splayed into a ‘v’ shape.

”Live long, and prosper,”

it said.

There was a sudden rush and blur, and when it stopped, Natalia and Praetorum found themselves above ground once more.

At the feet of an immense nine headed dragon.

Those heads swiveled to regard them, some head-on, some side-eyed. Its nostrils flared.

”You smell like dung beetles,”

it declared in a gravelly, reverberant voice. Somewhere nearby, four familiar heads poked out of a manhole. One of the dragonling’s heads regarded the pair, while the other three looked up at the dragon. It called out, it’s voice sounding much thinner, now that it was outside and to be compared to that of a dragon.

“The little one says you helped it, and its friend,”

the dragon said.

“But that is of little consequence. Your past deeds matter not, only your future potential. For I, Vielkrontier, am the future of Idalos. Now you dung beetles shall explain why you should be spared to share Vielkrontier’s future.”

Nine enormous pairs of crocodilian eyes watched Natalia and Praetorum, awaiting their answers. And nine enormous crocodilian maws waited to embrace them, should those answers not satisfy.

Info & Rules

• This is it! This is the last round upcoming. Please post your final post by Monday September 27 by 2359 Eastern Standard Time.
• This style of event moderation - with objectives etc - was created by a wonderful moderator named Crimson.

Deadline for your last round's posts is 2359 EST on 27 September.

[Natalia Gregorios]

Saun 35, Arc 721

She was lifted out of the sewer, and quickly got back to business, albeit tired from her struggling. “Thank you,” Natalia said, quickly followed up by, ”We aren’t going to discuss the smell. At all. We need to get to the toad.”

They moved into the shimmering and knelt by the stricken toad, handing the war dart to Praetorum, feeling he might be able to hold on to it better than she. The Aukari with them in the imagining wasn’t in condition to do anything, but she kept an eye on him, just in case. It seemed, however, that it was unnecessary because he had taken one look at the war dart and ran off. Glancing up at Praetorum, she arched an eyebrow gently. “That’s concerning. Perhaps there is a danger with the weapon beyond what we can see? Something the Aukari know?”

The toad spoke, and it was evident that there was little they could do for him. What they could do, was listen, so listen she did. Mind Vielkrontier? Did the toad sneeze? Who was Vielkrontier?

The shimmering….shimmered, and showed them a scene playing out with the fleeing Aukari. Natalia jumped slightly at the surprise of a large creature cutting down those that crossed its path, wondering what the purpose of showing them the images was. That was when the toad began speaking again.

He told them of Vielkrontier, and what they needed to do. Natalia looked down at her hands, watching them shake gently. Vielkrontier was a dragon. A dragon! A creature of legend and story, and now, she was being sent to speak to it, being told to be strong. Instead of becoming more reasonable, circumstances continued to plunge further into the nonsensical, but that was fine. She smelled. She was talking to a toad that was talking back. And a dragon was waiting for her. Everything was fine.

Rising, she had only managed to get back on her feet when things changed, and they found themselves back on the surface again.

Natalia looked up…and up….and up some more, and the shaking in her hands threatened to return. The dragon commented on the smell, to which she would have rolled her eyes had she not been awestruck at the very fact that she was standing in front of a dragon.

Summoning every ounce of discipline she had and drawing strength from the fact that she wasn’t alone, that Praetorum was with her, she watched as the dragonling and Vielkrontier looked at each other, and then the dragon spoke, asking them why they should be spared. Calling upon the toad’s words, Natalia had enough presence of mind to stand straight. This was just another dinner party with a very demanding guest, although usually that didn’t mean that if you answered a question wrong, you were dinner.

Looking up at the head that spoke, maybe – it was hard to tell – Natalia spoke firmly, drawing on her experience with her father and reminding herself that she had taken control of her life. She had strength and she needed it right then. The dragon didn’t need flowery words. Be short. Be concise. Answer the question as directly as possible.

“We protected the little ones and drove out those that threatened them. There were five of us. We are the only two left.” The toad had given them advice on how to approach the dragon, and perhaps mentioning that they were all that remained of the party would speak to their mettle and survival skills.

It wasn’t the best answer, but it was direct …and speaking for a moment longer would threaten to betray the rising fear inside her, and Natalia couldn’t take that chance. Hopefully it would be enough.

[Praetorum]

“Here,” Prae said, helping her up from the sewer. “Try not to fall back in, carrying that massive dart” he joked, hoping to lighten the mood a little.

Inside the shimmering, it was clear the toad was in bad shape. The last Aukari left was pitiful, skittering away like an insect, and Prae let him, finding him to be no threat at all. Instead, he closed the distance between himself and the toad, standing guard over Natalia as she knelt by its side and taking the dart when she passed it to him. “I’m not sure,” he said when Natalia spoke, “but I’m certain this thing is far from ordinary. Best we be careful with it.”

Then the toad gave them a warning, and showed them what was happening beyond the shimmering. Prae stilled at the sight of those massive heads dipping down to devour the Aukari whole. Just what sort of creature could have a head that large?

The answer, as it turned out, was far more shocking than Prae could ever have imagined. When they were… for lack of a better word, teleported back up to the surface, Praetorum found himself looking up… and up… and up.

Ethelynda preserve him.

Praetorum had found himself shocked when he’d seen the dragon in the vision; but that was nothing compared to having a being this size right in front of him, staring down at him with nine sets of eyes.

In the end, it was a combination of the exhaustion of the day and his own long experience of finding himself in the most unexpected of circumstances that let Praetorum stand tall as he faced a being that could devour him in a single gulp.

Show him strength and confidence, the toad had said, and Praetorum had plenty of both. So he locked away his shock and trepidation, and chose the nearest set of eyes to look firmly into. “We deserve to live because this world needs defenders, and we are capable of rising to the task. We are strong enough to protect those who require it, and we can grow stronger still.”

[Jackalope]

Your words are yummy. I wonder what's even yummier?

Vielkrontier hardly stirred while the two tiny mortals spoke, its cartwheel sized eyes trained on them as they pleaded their case for their potential, and for their survival. After both Natalia and Praetorum had had their say, the immense dragon stood silent for several trills, or rather, as silent as such a large being could be, for the breathing from its nine pair of nostrils sounded like an ominous wind blowing through nearby trees.

”You make a good case, my little dung beetle,”

it said to Natalia.

“You are indeed the last ones standing. Of course, it is not uncommon for entire populations to go extinct; sometimes even the best among them are not worthy. But…”

it paused ponderously,

“…perhaps you are.”

After listening to Prae the dragon’s nine heads simultaneously let out a chorus of snorts, which reverberated like a low-grade earthquake.

“Her argument was better,”

Vielkrontier judged.

“Simply saying that you have great promise does not mean that you do. Still…yes…still, I sense strength in you, and capability, and potential. Perhaps.”

Nine enormous heads reared up on long scaley necks, each reaching the height of a tall house. After looking about, all nine heads let out a deafening roar. Then, after a pause, it turned its huge body thunderously and began to stride away across the ruined lots of the Ghost Burho towards a gap in the city walls. One of the heads turned back towards the pair.

“Take a bath, dung beetles! Farewell.”

As Vielkrontier stalked off, several dragonlings appeared, emerging from alleys and manholes, to follow the dragon out of Yaralon. All about, city folk cowered and gaped in awed silence; even those whose already meager and ramshackle homes had just been devastated by the dragon’s emergence were too stunned to do more than watch.

”Open that gate, or I shall make you a new one!"

Vielkrontier shouted in Yari at the gaping watchmen on the wall. One enterprising ballista crew rallied and began to manhandle their weapon into position to possibly take a fire at the monstrous being, but said being froze them with a baleful glance of two of its heads; the men made no further move to load the siege weapon.

The portcullis rattled up as the dragonlings approached, strutting defiantly and shouting happily as they vanished one by one into the arch, to emerge into the open space beyond. Once they were all through, Vielkrontier himself reared up on his hind legs and landed his front claws atop a low-lying wall. With an astounding combination of grace and power, it vaulted over the wall, crushing brattices and dislodging crenellations as it did so. Its long tail snaked behind it, and Natalia and Prae could feel as much as hear the crash as it landed on the other side, clear of the moat.

Just as the last trace of the dragon and its brood passed from the city into the countryside, two shimmering portals appeared before the remaining adventurers. And the vistas they saw through them looked far more inviting and familiar than the toad’s Imagining. Assuming that they did not tarry overlong, to test the patience of whatever power offered this beneficence, the adventurers could go home.

Let's Review

Natalia

Overview

Natalia got thrown into a dangerous situation without much in the way of gizmos, combat skills, or magic that she could bring to bear, yet she didn't waver in her determination to get to the bottom of things. And despite her genteel upbringing, she remained poised and dignified even when I flung her into sewage. And her response to Vielkrontier was exactly what was needed in that situation. No shrinking violet, this one.

Points

XP: 50
Magic: No.
Renown: 60

Loot

• A story book entitled "The Tragedy of the Magic Toad". Natalia will find that reading her copy confers three knowledges each in Caregiving and Resistance. Once she reads it, the book will simply function as an ordinary storybook for anybody else.
• Works of Darles Charwin: This is an evolution themed book for those who met Vielkrontier: Natalia's book is entitled "The Expression of the Emotions in Mortals and Animals"; reading it confers to her three knowledges each in Psychology and Animal Training.
• War Dart. This item is of little use to Natalia at this point, but as a rare and interesting artifact, she can either sell it for +5 Wealth points or donate it to a University or museum for +5 Renown points.
• See Through the Fog. Natalia has acquired a new ability pertaining to her Clarity domain. If Natalia can see an object through an obscuring medium, such as fog or heat shimmer, she can, by concentrating on the object, resolve it as clearly as she would if it the intervening medium were clean, dry air. She must already able to see the object at least somewhat, even if only in outline, for this ability to work; it will not allow her to see things shrouded in darkness nor screened by something opaque. She may use this ability one time per trial per her proficiency level in Detection (i.e., once at Novice, twice at Competent, etc.), for up to ten bits at a time.
• A small toad figurine made of garishly-colored soapstone. It can be placed at a perimeter or point where it acts as an alarm. When there is movement within a 40ft radius of it, Natalia will hear an alarm. The alarm can only be heard by Natalia and up to four other people she designates. She can remove access to hearing the alarm at any time, but can only give access twice a cycle.
• A metallic bracelet with a lightning symbol on it, given to you by Ilaren for being such a good sport about being put in harm's way. While worn, it confers to Natalia the following two Adored level abilities from Ilaren's Palemon mark:
  -Tolerance. This is a passive that will always be in effect as long as the bracelet is worn.
  - Lightning Manipulation (Moderate). - Can be activated up to three times a trial.
• NPC bodyguard 450 XP - no disgruntled ex-fiance is getting near this fellow's dragon hero! Develop and submit to the PSF.
• Copperhead: A small copper figurine in the shape of a dragonling. Four times a cycle, the character can command the figurine to reshape itself into a weapon head. When activated thus, the figurine will transform into molten copper, which will flow and coat itself over any weapon head of the character's choice. The enchantment will last for one break before the item will revert to figurine form. It cannot be activated more than once on any given trial. The weapon thus coated will be quality tier 8 for the duration of the enchantment, regardless of how high or low is its quality normally.
  Useful for fighting ghosts.
• Zahkron]Dragonling
• KletierDragonet[/url]

Knowledge

Athletics: 3
Caregiving: 3
Cartography 1
Detection: 10
Discipline: 9
Endurance: 2
Etiquette: 4
Investigation: 9
Leadership: 6
Logistics: 3
Meditation: 1
Resistance: 3
Rhetoric: 4
Socialization: 5
Strength: 3
Swimming: 3
Tactics: 5

Praetorum

Overview

Some day, I'll figure out what the tapping the snout thing means. I'll solve ithecal body language yet! Prae lives up to his custom title; he was the most capable member of the party in many ways, and he used and shared those capabilities in ways that benefited everybody and enabled them contribute. Your posts are pretty much a model of how players writing more capable characters should interact with those who have less capable ones. I want my next noob PC to hang out with Prae!

Points

XP: 50
Magic: Yes for Hone and Defiance.
Renown: 60

Loot

• Your Taithir mark is upgraded to Exalted First six abilities.
• Your Celarion mark is upgraded to Adored. First six abilities
• A small toad figurine made of garishly-colored soapstone. It can be placed at a perimeter or point where it acts as an alarm. When there is movement within a 40ft radius of it, Praetorum will hear an alarm. The alarm can only be heard by Praetorum and up to four other people he designates. He can remove access to hearing the alarm at any time, but can only give access twice a cycle.
• A metallic bracelet with a lightning symbol on it, given to you by Ilaren for being such a good sport about being put in harm's way. While worn, it confers to Praetorum the following two Adored level abilities from Ilaren's Palemon mark:
  -Tolerance. This is a passive that will always be in effect as long as the bracelet is worn.
  - Lightning Manipulation (Moderate). - Can be activated up to three times a trial.
• A story book entitled "The Tragedy of the Magic Toad". Praetorum will find that reading his copy confers three knowledges each in Intimidation and Shield. Once he reads it, the book will simply function as an ordinary storybook for anybody else.
• Works of Darles Charwin: Evolution themed book for those who met Vielkrontier: Prae's copy (The Descent of Mortals) confers three knowledges each in Hunting and Smithing.
• Copperhead: A small copper figurine in the shape of a dragonling. Four times a cycle, the character can command the figurine to reshape itself into a weapon head. When activated thus, the figurine will transform into molten copper, which will flow and coat itself over any weapon head of the character's choice. The enchantment will last for one break before the item will revert to figurine form. It cannot be activated more than once on any given trial. The weapon thus coated will be quality tier 8 for the duration of the enchantment, regardless of how high or low is its quality normally.
  Useful for fighting ghosts.
• Zahkron]Dragonling
• KletierDragonet[/url].
• Vielkrontier scale. You find a single, large scale left behind by Vielkrontier. The moment Praetorum touches it, it vanishes and Prae feels his own scales harden and toughen. From that trial forward, Praetorum's armor tier is always one tier higher than it would otherwise be.

Knowledge

Athletics: 3
Attunement: 1
Caregiving: 1
Cartography: 2
Combat: Polearms &Staves: 3
Defiance: 5
Detection: 5
Discipline: 6
Engineering: 1
Etiquette: 4
Intelligence: 1
Intimidation: 2
Investigation: 3
Hone: 3
Leadership: 9
Logistics 2
Meditation: 2
Navigation: 2
Resistance: 2
Shield: 3
Smithing: 1
Socialization: 2
Swimming: 1
Strength: 2
Tactics: 7

Cail

Overview

Cail's most pronounced trait, I think, is her curiosity, her desire to learn about the world she is looking at, whether it's dead rats or dead Immortals. You handled Cail's response to that belligerent ghost, maintaining her dignity without pushing her into a needlessly dangerous fight.

Points

XP: 25
Magic: No.
Renown: 30

Loot

• Whatever Floats Your Boat: Cail now has a boat! An average+ quality schooner with all the appropriate rigging and furnishings.
• A 450 XP NPC captain with no less than 10 xp in any skill and up to 100 xp in any one skill.. Please dev and submit to the PSF.
• Faceless NPC crew. 750-renown level.
• Copperhead: A small copper figurine in the shape of a dragonling. Four times a cycle, the character can command the figurine to reshape itself into a weapon head. When activated thus, the figurine will transform into molten copper, which will flow and coat itself over any weapon head of the character's choice. The enchantment will last for one break before the item will revert to figurine form. It cannot be activated more than once on any given trial. The weapon thus coated will be quality tier 8 for the duration of the enchantment, regardless of how high or low is its quality normally.
  Useful for fighting ghosts.
• A metallic bracelet with a lightning symbol on it, given to you by Ilaren for being such a good sport about being put in harm's way. While worn, it confers to Praetorum the following two Adored level abilities from Ilaren's Palemon mark:
  -Tolerance. This is a passive that will always be in effect as long as the bracelet is worn.
  - Lightning Manipulation (Moderate). - Can be activated up to three times a trial.
• A small toad figurine made of garishly-colored soapstone. It can be placed at a perimeter or point where it acts as an alarm. When there is movement within a 40ft radius of it, Cail will hear an alarm. The alarm can only be heard by Cail and up to four other people she designates. She can remove access to hearing the alarm at any time, but can only give access twice a cycle.
• Curved. Sword. The aukari occult dropped some of their curved! swords! Tier 8 scimitar. It bears an enchantment that mimics the Heavy Burn ability from the Al'deurn mark (q.v.).
• Pirate Gold! Your schooner's hold contains booty from an earlier pirate adventure that your captain and crew know absolutely nothing about. Please at +5 WP to your wealth ledger.

Knowledge

Athletics: 2
Caregiving: 2
Cartography: 3
Detection: 10
Discipline: 5
Endurance: 4
Etiquette: 4
Intelligence: 2
Investigation: 2
Leadership: 2
Logistics: 2
Medicine: 2
Resistance: 2
Science: 2
Socialization: 3
Tactics: 2

Shl'drei

Overview

Wish you could have stayed until the end. Real life can be a bear sometimes. But Shl'drei was very much himself here, always feeling himself a bit awkward and miscast for the dramatic and perilous situations he often finds himself in. I hope he trains goats again some trial!

Points

XP: 40
Magic: No.
Renown: 40

Loot

• Copperhead: A small copper figurine in the shape of a dragonling. Four times a cycle, the character can command the figurine to reshape itself into a weapon head. When activated thus, the figurine will transform into molten copper, which will flow and coat itself over any weapon head of the character's choice. The enchantment will last for one break before the item will revert to figurine form. It cannot be activated more than once on any given trial. The weapon thus coated will be quality tier 8 for the duration of the enchantment, regardless of how high or low is its quality normally.
  Useful for fighting ghosts.
• A metallic bracelet with a lightning symbol on it, given to you by Ilaren for being such a good sport about being put in harm's way. While worn, it confers to Praetorum the following two Adored level abilities from Ilaren's Palemon mark:
  -Tolerance. This is a passive that will always be in effect as long as the bracelet is worn.
  -Lightning Manipulatin (Moderate) This ability can be activated up to three times a trial.
• Shield Toad. Saoire has granted Shl'drei a "Shield Toad" (i.e., Turtle) figurine. It confers an animal-themed version of the Telka Adored ability: Turtle's Classroom, producing training areas suitable for Shl'drei's Animal Training activities.
• Karem offers Shl'drei the Velduris mark plus the first six Favored abilities.

Knowledge

Athletics 1
Detection 9
Discipline 6
Endurance 2
Etiquette 3
Investigation 3
Leadership 4
Logistics 2
Tactics 4

Next modpost: There is none. This is IT!!! Well done, everybody!