Cambist of Corat: Chapter the First: Paradigm Shift

[nijineko]

Everything is bright. The slight headache doesn't help. You try to close your eyes, but realize that they are already shut. A sudden dimness prompts you to open your eyes. Everything is a blurry blue, grey and white, edged in green. After a few moments, you are surrounded in brightness again, but your eyes seem to be adjusting.

Abruptly, you come to the realization that you are lying on your back, looking up at the clouds scudding across a brilliant blue sky. Around you are tall grasses, mixed green and sere. Looking up, you see a plinth of rock thrusting down into the sky. This causes a bit of vertigo, which passes quickly. There appears to be a faint scorch mark on the rock.

A butterfly wanders by your field of vision. There is no sound other than that of the wind.



You are completely alone.

[Necrite]

Corat pulls himself to his feet, briefly checking himself for injuries. Provided he finds none, he then checks his equipment to see what, if anything, is missing. If any is, he will search the immediate area to see if he can find it.

Once he's finished checking himself over, he examines the immediate surroundings, in particular making note of any places that could potentially contain an ambush, or areas that could be defensible should he be attacked. Provided nothing else catches his attention, he moves towards the stone plinth.

* Any applicable Spot or Listen checks. *

- Use the rolls in order as needed, addind appropriate bonuses from character sheet.

Once at the plinth, Corat once again surveys his surroundings, making note of any roads, buildings, or towns visible, also making note of any other signs of civilization, such as plumes of smoke on the horizon.

If nearby features block the view, and the plinth seems climbable, he climbs it to get a better view.

* Climb check. *

*EDIT* Apparently, I'm still mildly dazed... Those Spot/Listen rolls are abominable.

[nijineko]

{100 bonus xp, simply for happening to be the first of everyone to reply. ^^}

The headache makes climbing to your feet a slight challenge. By the time you finish checking yourself over, it has begun to fade. Everything appears intact, and nothing appears to be missing. You are slightly sore.

Gazing around you, you see low rolling hills, the occasional clump of trees, and lots and lots of grass. You rather get the impression of an ocean of green and sere frozen in place, at least until the wind visibly ripples past. This land would make excellent farmland. The deep grass could hide anything. The noise of insects is deafening.

You wade through the grass, mid-chest high at the top of the hill upon which you were laying. A short walk brings you to the base of the plinth. It exceeds your height by half again. It surface is rough, wind-scored. There may have been carvings upon it's surface, but it is too eroded to tell. There is an oddly-shaped scorch mark on the side facing you.

You decide to climb the thick stone plinth to get a better view, all you could see is grass, and hills, and some trees. Its rough and creviced surface affords easy purchase. Assuming the sun rises in the east, then to the east and a little south, you see a darker green haze on the horizon. To the northwest, the same. To the south... when you gaze settles upon the south, a warmth awakens in your heart, glowing, pulsing. You are strongly drawn to the south.

The sensation surprises you, and your grip slips slightly. One of your hands goes a bit deeper in the crack you are using for a grip, and you touch something cold and hard.

[Necrite]

{3,100XP, since I don't have anywhere else to total it}

Corat curses under his breath.

Damnable humans. The only thing he'd been unable to recover the one time he'd been captured was his spyglass. It wasn't cheap, either.

While peering off to the south, trying to figure out what it was that drew his attention, he absently taps his fingers on the object in the crack. A look of confusion crosses his face, and he looks down into the crack, trying to make out what the object is.

[nijineko]

The object wiggles a bit, loose, at your tappings. When attempting to peer into the crack your head mostly blocks the light, such is the unfortunate angle of the sun. You do manage to see a corner of something; it's definitely not insect, animal, or rock. It has the look of something crafted.

[Necrite]

Corat attempts to remove the object with his fingers. Failing that, he gently, so as not to damage either item, uses the tip of an arrow to try to pull it out.

[nijineko]

With the gentle grip of your fingertips, the only part of your hand able to touch the object, you manage to slide it. Bit by bit it comes out, until it catches upon some internal projection. Some careful manipulation frees it, and with some more work, it finally is brought out into the light.

You're not sure what it is. A series of tubes, of passing similarity to a pan pipe, but joined to a loop and several interlocking flat strips of some hard substance. Some parts of it glitter like crystal, other parts are matte like metal. There seem to be many tiny and cunningly wrought joints linking the pieces together somehow-perhaps it is a puzzle of some type. It is in the shape of a rough disk in three layers, just a touch too big to fit comfortably in your hand.

[Necrite]

Suspecting the object might be important - or at least valuable - Corat removes a bundle of rations from his backpack and unwraps the oilcloth. He carefully removes the dried meat and now-crumbled flatbread, and wraps the strange device as carefully as he can in the cloth.

He then turns and heads south, thoughtfully munching on his rations, and keeping to the trees or low in the grass as much as possible.

* Hide check *

* Search check, watching for any creatures - humanoid, predator, or game - in the area *

[nijineko]

Keeping to cover as much as you can, you travel in a southerly direction. Hills, vales, some rocks, trees, and the occasional stream seem to be all this land has to offer. For several hours you make your way. The sun rises high overhead. Between the rising heat melting the morning cool away, and the incessant sound of insects, your attention to your surroundings is in danger of being lulled.

Mounting yet another hill, something in the near distance catches your eyes. Rising out of the sea of grass is what appears to be some sort of banner, or standard. It is planted on the top of a hill, several hills away. It has some long parts, ribbons perhaps, which trail from the top. The wind-blown movement caught your eye. It is colorful, and bears a design which is not distinguishable from this distance.

[Necrite]

** Bah. This is a strange format for me. I keep wanting to switch between first and third person. **

I'll move forward towards the banner,

* taking extreme care to remain unseen *

, while

* searching for any sign of the owners of the banner *

.

I'll also try to identify the banner once I get close enough to make out its heraldry.

*EDIT* Stupid RNG. Can I use my good dice? I promise I'll report the real rolls. (I kid... unless you agree.)

Also, I'll not be embedding rolls into sentences any more. That broke my paragraph but good, didn't it? I thought the rolls would stay in-line.

[nijineko]

{btw, editing your posts should not reroll the rolls, so feel free to move it around. }

You cautiously weave your way through the grasses and approach to where you can make out the standard. It is formed of a tall pole planted in the ground, with a crosspiece tied at the top holding banner visible. The banner itself is looped around the pole both top and sides, and flaps occasionally in the breeze. The symbol is a rich green upon the tan of the leather. The symbol is cresent moon crossed with three slash marks.

[Necrite]

** That's true, but there's nothing I can do to force the roll text in-line with the regular text. It's OK **

Are there any signs of anything else - people, tents, a township?

[nijineko]

{no, of course not. i meant for you to put all of your text up top, and then the rolls at the bottom. but no biggie to me. just trying to help. ^^)

There is nothing visible at your current low angle, well-hidden near the base of the hill. You do not recall spotting anything nearby as you crept up, keeping to whatever cover you could find. A cautious crawl up the neighboring hill, however, reveals that there is a second standard in the distance, roughly ten degrees off your previous course of march. It seems to be a different color and shape. You return to the better hidden position.

Your neck starts prickling... but you do not see anything that might account for it.

[Necrite]

In all this oddity, that is something a soldier recognizes, and there's only two types of soldier: the ones that pay attention to their gut feelings, and the dead ones.

My left hand drops to my scabbard, pulling loose the leather thong that holds the sword in place, while I pull my bow from its sheath on my back. Once the sword is loose, I string the bow and notch an arrow.

I quickly get my back to whatever tree, rock or other protrusion I most recently used for cover, and scan the area, circling the object with my back to it.

* Search *

I am no longer concerned about remaining hidden, instead staying low enough to gain some concealment from the surroundings, but high enough to see clearly over them.

[nijineko]

There is a sudden yowl. You jump and spin. After a few moments, you realize that the yowling sound is laughter. A voice booms from the grasses, "Hah! You lose. I get your dinner tonight!" The voice slurrs the hard sounds and seems to mouth the soft ones. Another voice complains, "There is no way that we could have been seen. I should have won that bet! I had that bet in the claws!" There is some general laughter from many voices all around you.

Out of the grasses rise about 7 felinoid creatures. They are lightly striped, in sere shades, blending perfectly in with the tall grasses all about. They each have a leather harness, treated to match the light, short fur cloaking the entire body of each one. On the harnesses is picked out a small symbol, matching that of the standard up above. From the harnesses depend various small tools and a few weapons. The most prominent of these are large metal claws fitted with straps, attached at the waist.

One of them slaps another on the shoulder with rough joviality; the slapped one sports the most downcast look. At first they all look alike, but then you start to notice slight differences in striping, as well as ear shape and size, and especially eye colors. You also notice that they all have several scars which have somehow been treated to be in the shapes of simple runes along the line of the scar.

They seem somewhat of a cheerful demeanor, overall.