Torrent (Gillian) (-)
"Oh okay."You ignore the guy and go get a grab at the Glyph right after Johni is done with it. With two things in mind, your already existing Healing Touch and a new ability, controlling light, you activate its powers.
A wave of soft, comforting energy and you feel much more at ease. Suddenly the thought of daunting wounds is not so frightening anymore.
Then comes a bright flash, and when it stops blinding you, you see the light bending like liquid through the air, before it breaks into thousands of little droplets that sink into your body.
Well, you feel incredibly good now.
(Your new ability, Photokinesis, allows you to bend light in many creative ways, and even concentrate it so that it could be harmful. However, the power, being Minor, is not yet strong enough to be very effective offensively.)Ociamarru (Nikolai) (9)
"Be gleyd Oy deed naht joyn zee frey, or yew vewd naut be yeyt steynding.""Moyndless blahdsheyd..." you mumble as you walk a small distance from the group to test out your new power.
You begin testing your Morphing Arms, finding quickly that they respond readily to any thought that passes through your mind. You quickly learn to control any thoughts related to your arms so that they don't go shifting like crazy. Within a few seconds your left arm, now a tentacle seemingly the same color as the plant was, a metallic purple, is wriggling limply at your side. It takes a bit longer to figure out exactly how to move it, since your joints are no longer there and the new arm responds differently, but you manage to figure out how to hold it above your head and swing it like a whip and such.
Your other arm you split at the elbow, where two smaller arms sprout, looking exactly as your hand did before, excepting the color change, and being half the size. You find it difficult to control several limbs at the same time though, since you're so used to how your arms work normally.
Both of your arms feel incredibly light and easy to move when you figure out just HOW to move them, but from the way that you put a large score into a tree that you smacked a bit earlier, you're guessing they actually have a lot of weight to them. Maybe it's just that your arms are a lot stronger now....
caekdaemon (Anderson) (-)
You have a pleasant conversation with your sword.
"Well, okay then. I've officially gone insane. But seriously now, nice to meet you. I figure'd you'd be more sad and depressing, considering your only purpose in life is to take away other peoples sentience. And life. Also, how's that edge, I'm thinking you might need a good old fashioned sharpening.""Oh, I don't need sharpening. My edge is about as sharp as my wit's now become. And there's no reason to let my only job get me down. After all, I've just been given sentience, have I not? There's plenty to be happy about!" As it says this, your sword gives a little bound, leaving your hand and bouncing jovially on the ground by its hilt.
"Wait, you can move on your own?""Of course! What's the use of being alive in the first place if you're only capable of sitting and rusting?""Well, you ARE a sword.""And you are a medium-sized mammal with too little hair and a body that is approximately 60% water."You tilt your head, unable to understand if this is a comeback or just some kind of attempt to look smart.
"The point is," your sword goes on, now floating steadily in front of you.
"I am here, I am alive, and I have you to thank for bringing me into such a pleasantly engaging existence. As such, I shall allow you to carry me into battle, and I will assist you in any way that I can, whatever your aim. All I ask is that you take good care of me, and not treat me like I have the intelligence of an insect."This seems a rather decent proposal.
You feel your anger fading slowly.
Rage -1.(As a bonus for, eh... "Widdy" being capable of floating and moving on its own, it now weighs absolutely nil in your inventory, whether you are wielding it or not.)CaveCricket (Raphael) (-)
You take the Glyph once it's your turn, and, touching it to your sword, think of the edge becoming
absurdly sharp. The Glyph quickly complies, and the blade of your sword glows white-hot for a second before it fades, leaving only a faint shimmering effect on the edges. The sword itself is now spotless, seeming polished to perfection. You swing it experimentally, twirling the sword through the air, which hisses as it passes through, as if the wind itself were in pain from the act. You end this dangerous dance by swinging your sword so it embeds itself in the ground, but rather than stopping, the blade continues through the earth as if it were slicing through custard, and comes back out of the ground behind you, almost causing you to twist your arm, and leaving a gash in the ground 3 feet long.
Tokochiro (Johni) (-)
You grab the Glyph and finish using it, enhancing your Regeneration ability. You feel something like a static shock pass through your entire body, and you feel very whole. And warm. For some reason your body temperature has increased. You feel like you're burning alive for a few seconds, and sweat pours out of your pores, but then the sensation fades, and you slowly feel yourself adjusting. Woah.
After this is over, you gather with everyone else around the guy who fell out of the toppled wagon.
Phd (John Adams) (-)
You walk over to the wagon and pick up the weird gun. It's as heavy as your crossbow is, and cold on the outside. You don't dare pull the trigger yet. You also retrieve your undamaged bolt from the man's neck, clean it in the grass, and stow it away.
After that, you take your turn with the Glyph, touching your crossbow to it and hoping for homing bolts.
Your wish seems to be its command, and your crossbow glows a strange shade of orange before the color fades away. The string on the weapon seems to vibrate softly now.
NPCsGabriel (-)
"I have a few questions. Answer them, and we'll let you live.""Anything!" the man says, clearly frightened.
"One: Who are you? Name and occupation.""My name is Farl Liverson. I patrol this place, on orders to capture anyone in the area," he whimpers.
"Where are we? Why are you patrolling?""This is the valley southeast from Exos. If you follow this route, it leads past the city. That's why I'm patrollin'. Ordered not to let anyone get past without inspection at the city gates.""Orders, orders. Who's ordering you?""Captain Oland, third legio-""I don't care about your military setup." Gabriel snaps.
"Who's ordering him? Who's at the top of the chain of command?""The King, of course. If he knew I was telling you this, he'd-""Shut it. You're lying. King Hendrake has never ordered patrols, never started a war, never done anything of this magnitude."The soldier goes a bit pale and looks at the floor.
"Rumors are... the King's gone loony. He's givin' all these orders, I swear. We even heard the officers, the higher ups, talkin' in hushed voices about him when they think nobody's listenin'. They say somethin's wrong with the man. Some of 'em tell tales of the end of the world..."At this, Gabriel is silent for a moment, looking sullen. Then he takes charge of himself again.
"Wives' tales. Doesn't matter what they say. There's a reasonable explanation for it." Gabriel holds up a single finger, and says,
"One more question, and you're free to go.""Has there been any news from the capital besides orders? Any news at all from Lathos?""Not a word. We ain't seen the king since 2 weeks back. Only one who contacts us, claiming to be the King's messenger is a man, calls himself Jester."Gabriel's grip on his sword tightens until his knuckles are white.
"Have a nice nap," he says, swinging the flat of the blade to the side of the man's head. He's immediately unconscious.
Terry (-)
Terry sits silently as Gabriel interrogates the man.
Locations
-Everyone is gathered around the man near the wagon.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Events:(Read Gabriel's action if you have not yet.)Gabriel turns to Terry, still looking a bit paler than normal.
"Terry, you mind un-toppling this cart?""Not a problem," says the voice from the golem. Terry lifts the wagon back up from the other side, so it can roll again. It seems undamaged, besides a few bent parts. The wheels work, anyway.
Gabriel begins donning the dead soldier's armor, and picks up a second gun he finds in the wagon.
" Everyone in. We'll use this wagon to get past Exos. If anyone stops us, we just bust through." Everyone piles into the back, including Terry, somehow, and Gabriel spurs the horses (which have remained incredibly calm during all of this) forward down the path.
The group continues down the way for only a quarter of an hour before the reach an opening. To the left lies Exos, looking more like a fortress than a city. It is completely walled off, besides a few doorways in the side, undoubtedly locked. A few patrols are present on the battlements, but they don't seem to take notice of the horse-drawn wagon. Gabriel calmly drives onward, to the right, which opens to hilly fields of grass.
And nobody stops the wagon. After a while, Exos is a small dot on the horizon. Terry crawls out, much to the relief of the others. It was getting a bit cramped.
"I'll walk alongside you. Or run, if necessary. It's not like I get tired in ol' Hunchback.""You sure? We'll be traveling much faster in this. We should be near Lathos within 2 days.""I can move as fast as any pair of horses can pull a wagon," Terry replies confidently.
So the journey to Lathos begins.
(Grind while you can.)