View source for Stopping Shadow War II - RPLOG

=Participants=
* [[Allista]]
* [[Amelia]]
* [[Hartford]]
* [[Kalt]]
* [[Mirana]]
* [[Rokarion]]
* [[Ryusho]]
* [[Siyu]]
* [[Skade]]
* [[Thelergramor]]
=Date=
3/9/477
=Log=
<div></div><br> <br>A raining evening, perhaps not the best time to do this, but Jessica was less than happy about the information she had. Looking over to Jeremy, she shakes her head, &quot;Can you believe what they sent back!? Really. Non-interferance agreements my skunk ass!&quot; She is practically steaming! Jeremy shakes her head back, &quot;I&#39;m not sure what you expected really, but it was a good try.&quot; She says back. A bolt of lightning, a clap of thunder as they wait just outside the Blackback Manor, just out of the rain.<br> <br>Thelergramor walks up to the Blackback manor, yawning. The rain means nothing to Thel, nor does the lightning. Calming, compared to the clear nights with their dreadful silence. The wolf has no idea what the Blackback is talking about; remains silent. Glances around for others, trying to remember why he is here...<br> <br>Up and along the way, Kalt slowly plods along. Her leather jacket cinched shut and a wide brimmed farmer&#39;s hat perched atop her head to keep the rain out of her eyes. &quot;I ain&#39;t one against knockin&#39; shadows round, an&#39; keepin&#39; things right an&#39; orderly now, but m&#39;figurin&#39; this weather ain&#39;t gonna be offerin&#39; much of a help on it all an&#39; such.&quot; The Vixen&#39;s tail flicking as she looks over the blackbacks, before glancing for a moment at Thelergramor as she awaits the others.<br> <br>Amelia calmly and quietly makes her way to the manor, the hood of her white robe pulled up to keep the rain off of her face, and her hands linked at the sleeves. &quot;So. What is this all about, then?&quot; Comes her murmured question, spoken just loud enough to be heard over the rain. &quot;Not the best night for a stroll outside, I would say.&quot;<br> <br>Siyu is dressed in slightly heavier armor. He is still wearing leather, though the rodent has added a breastplate and a winged helmet to his armor. It&#39;s all dull though, like it&#39;s been caked in mud or laquered. Not glint or clink comes from him. Even in the rain he stands stock still, watching as people assemble and talk amoung themselves. Oilskin pouches adorn all along his legs and at his backside. Medicines, herbs, bandages, sutchers. The medic holding onto some fine weapons too, but primarly focused on keeping people alive. The armed and armored rodent just sizes up those that showed up. <br> <br>Allista Anderson makes her way along the path towards the Blackback Manor, wearing a grin and a swagger. She has traded her normal business clothes for heavier, padded leather versions of the same, her goggles are resting on her forehead, and both arms are encased in her battle Graspers. Rain hisses as it patters off of Khara&#39;thul, Allista&#39;s hulking defense golem - the construct is following close behind the coyote, carrying an umbrella over her. She gives the assembling group a short nod as she reaches them.<br> <br>Rokarion joins up the others outside the Blackback manor. He is wearing his usual heavy cloak to protect his body from the rain, but keeping the hood back to allow the rain droplets to shower his blossom of a hair. He stops when he gets near the group, wafting his jasmine fragrance around him, before looking at the Blackpack, and speaking in his usual calm and polite tone, &quot;Unfortunate that the Creator&#39;s did not hear our plea. I apologize if the message I sent was not convincing or polite enough for them to properly answer our problem with due diligence. However, I still hope that we will not be forced to take extreme measures to avert this group of shadows&#39; threat.&quot;<br> <br>Hartford stands at attention, his oversized Halberd dripping a steady plink plink plink onto his heavy armor and the rain dripping along his fine antlers. The big, skunk striped deer might easily be mistaken for a statue if it weren&#39;t for the occasional puff of steaming breath from his broad nostrils. The big deer&#39;s overly long, striped tail does not even flick as he awaits his orders. Big guy is in his element today! Getting bossed around is his forte!<br> <br>Ryusho makes his way up, though he had just heard that things were going on, not completely the reason why, as he was currious considering the fact that he had helped in composing the request message. All the while though he hears the conversation while he arrives as he blinks slowly &quot;Refusing for..interference reasons? ISn&#39;t them just -letting us know- that they exist, and doing things related to us interference? That sounds a bit hypocritical..I think is the right word..&quot; he mumbles to himself.<br> <br>With a sigh, Jessica shakes her head, &quot;I disagree as well with &#39;It isn&#39;t our place to interfear with the natural occuring balance.&#39;&quot; She says, swinging a pike over her shoulder as well, &quot;We are hoping that we can just talk it all out, get these shadows to join with Jeremy&#39;s clan. The trip isn&#39;t going to be as easy this time, Razor Grass grows very wild this time of season.&quot; She says, Jeremy simply nodding along, &quot;So, do we have any questions before we get going? I won&#39;t fault anyone wishing to stay behind.&quot; She says.<br> <br>&quot;Screw the creators. We don&#39;t need their help. Never will.&quot; Thelergramor snorts, shrugging before he checks his wet musket. Dry enough to fire, probably. Re-slings it over his back; pulls his scarf over the plague mask he&#39;s wearing. Thel glances at the others; readies himself for assault from someone nearby. &quot;No questions from me, no.&quot; The wolf yawns, keeps watching the others.<br> <br>&quot;No, Lady Blackback,&quot; Hartford says, saluting sharply and remaining at attention, &quot;Ready on your command.&quot; The big deer does wonder a little what all this is about, but it wasn&#39;t his place to ask. He was on duty and Lady Jessica was the boss. The chain of command made things so much simpler!<br> <br>Siyu looks around at the group, &quot;A relavent question...would be if anyone is a shadow souled...or can speak their language...also if anyone has managed to find Robert&#39;s Champion of Light amoung us? That would be rather apt for our purpose...&quot; <br> <br>&quot;Thel, you keep remindin&#39; me &#39;bout why you ain&#39;t never gonna go an&#39; be allowed to converse with&#39;em.&quot; Kalt sighing at the vocal wolf as she shakes her head and shrugs. &quot;Ah well, just go tellin&#39; where to hit, an&#39; I&#39;ll go clearin&#39; it up. Thel, you ain&#39;t gonna go gettin&#39; yourself killed or possessed, so be thinkin&#39; before you go actin&#39;.&quot;<br> <br>Ryusho hums softly, &quot;No questions, though I don&#39;t know if I would be one of the ones who whould head along thinking about it, as I was involved when we were actually directly fighting the shadows..so I may have experience, but I may also in some ways be recognised.&quot; he says after a bit, even though he adjusts the large pack he keeps over his shoulders so he can easily preform field repairs and the like for others if he does get the okay to come along<br> <br>Rokarion look around, &quot;I kind of agree with that point, but have the Creator ever directly interfered with open conflict between the people on Promise?&quot; Rokarion then thinks for a moment before answering, &quot;Yes, I am capable of speaking the tongue of the shadows. If it is needed I can translate for us. But I am asusming Miss Jeremy too can speak with the shadows.&quot;<br> <br>Alista&#39;s tail wags a moment and she gives Rokarion a small nod. &quot;You sent a message to the Creators? It&#39;s good to have a Priest with us. Does the Church have anything to help us out with these ones?&quot; Allista glances between Thel and Kalt, then gives the marbled fox a small wave, waggling her grasper&#39;s fingers.<br> <br>Thelergramor shrugs, apparently is not going to be attacked. &quot;I&#39;ll be fine, Kalt. And I don&#39;t want to talk to those... Creators.&quot; The wolf scratches his neck; waits to be lead off towards where they need to be.<br> <br>Amelia nods politely and glances up at the sky from under her hood. &quot;Yes, I will be on standby to help however is needed. Try not to get injured. As I have mentioned to some of you before, I am no medic or healer. Of the practical sort, at least.&quot;<br> <br>Jessica frowns a bit, &quot;We did send a message up, but didn&#39;t get a good responce.&quot; She says, nodding to Siyu and Allista. &quot;Yes Amelia helped us to send a message, along with Rokarion, they have both been very helpful, but unfortuately, I&#39;m not Champion of Light. I wished that I was.&quot; She says, Jeremy nods again, &quot;As a shadow myself it is easy to understand my kin.&quot; She says, walking forward, &quot;If you have any carts are such, we should use those, else, it is going to be a walk.&quot; Jessica frowns a bit, &quot;I could fly myself and a couple others.&quot;<br> <br>Siyu nods his head, as water drips from his helmet, over his face, over his glasses. He just draws a deep breath, &quot;Very well then. Very good. We should at least be capable of living through this.&quot; he nods, &quot;I will try to make sure you all stay alive. I promise my  best.&quot; He looks over at Jessica and nods, &quot;I have several wagons. I can provide transportation for our group. It&#39;s a reasonable thing to do&quot;<br> <br>Ryusho thinks for a moment, &quot;Actually....with how I had my trials recently in the wilds...Thinking about it, I am a bit worried I might be too at risk around full shadows like that...So ...I maybe should stay home, just to be safe, Since I am still struggling a bit with having moments of un-awareness still.&quot; he says sighing, referencing the issues that kept him &#39;missing&#39; for over a year.<br> <br>Hartford frowns. Why would Lady Jessica forget to order carts? The deer shakes the collection of rainwater from his antlers and prepares himself for either a long run to where ever it is they are going, or to follow to the carts.<br> <br>Rokarion looks back at Alista, &quot;My apologies it was more of a group effort, since the active clergy were too busy to lend a hand for this certai message. Personally, I am not one of the active clergy of Sweetwater, so I do not know about their stance right now. However, I have been properly trained as a priest.&quot; Rokarion then thinks for a bit saying, &quot;Well I guess I should say now that I am a mathemagician of the sort, if that is any help for the group.&quot;<br> <br>Kalt taps her chest. &quot;Yeah, m&#39;havin&#39; that soul round with me to be helpin&#39; if needed an&#39; all.&quot; The Vixen&#39;s tail flicking as she looks over the groups and shrugs. &quot;Well, lets go gettin&#39; to the carts or get on walkin&#39; then eh?&quot; The Vixen sticking her hands in her pockets as she waits for the group to move.<br> <br>Ryusho mrphs quietly, &quot;I suppose I better let someone else take the space I would, considering I realise with my mind still struggling sometimes from my Rehabilitation, I could potentially be a major risk, especially if a shadow could use my mental trials against me.&quot; He says simply, &quot;So..I will be waiting, but please feel free to come see me if you need any of your equipment fixed up afterwords....I appoligise again for not coming along to help.&quot; he says as he bows, and would begin to head on his way soon.<br> <br>Allista raises her eyebrows, then nods at the nobleskunks and crosses her arms (to the accompaniement of metallic clanking). Allista bides her time, waiting for the others to get everything sorted out and for transportation to arrive.<br> <br>Jesica nods a bit, &quot;It is alright Ryusho, very understandable, I could go get some transit before we leave, but they would only be taking us so far understand.&quot; She says, looking down to Siyu, &quot;Or we can have a volunteer! And good, thank you, we do have a Champion of Light around incase things get... ugly&quot; She says, smiling a bit, &quot;This will be trying, and I hope you all are ready.&quot; She says, glad to have so many with her that will be able to help.&quot; Jeremy says nothing, simply watching the rain.<br> <br>Siyu spends 100 Crown for RP reasons.<br> <br>Siyu nods his head as soon 3 or 4 wagons with drivers as assembled. Covered even! Hooray! He manages to cram some more medical supplies into it, and stretchers, and bandages and...well. He expects disaster. So he plans for it, every bit of it. He nods a bit, &quot;Very good...everyone in then&quot;<br> <br>Thelergramor chuckles softly to himself, then speaks. &quot;Why so concerned? If things get ugly, we un-ugly them. With violence. Put them down, and walk away. Simple.&quot; Never seen a shadow in his life. Doesn&#39;t know what he&#39;s in for, here. Is not concerned. The wolf gets into one of the wagons; wipes rain from his masks lenses.<br> <br>Skade hurries up the road to the people gathered outside the mansion. An umbrella is held over her head but she still manages to look quite miserable in the downpour. Trudging alongside her is her trusty old crusher, squeaking a bit as it lumbers along, a small rolling ball weaving it&#39;s way between it&#39;s feet. The honey bee stops as she reaches the crowd. &quot;Oh! Hello! I&#39;m zzzorry I&#39;m late. I had to.. get some things.&quot; she says in her sing-song tone of voice as she tries to catch up with the conversation.<br> <br>Hartford nods once, then trots off to help with the wagons, finding himself an unobtrusive spot beside a driver. It does not tak long for the stag to be ready to go.<br> <br>Kalt moves to the wagons as they arrive, raising an eyebrow at all the medical gear being thrown into it. &quot;Siyu darlin&#39;, M&#39;figurin&#39; if&#39;n we go needin&#39; even half those, than we&#39;re havin&#39; bigger problems than we&#39;ll be carin&#39; to admit.&quot; Totally not sounding fatalistic at all, she throws herself then into the back of the wagon, with her legs dangling over the edge. &quot;Let&#39;s get right on&#39; then eh?&quot;<br> <br>Rokarion moves in front of Siyu and bows his head a little then says, &quot;Thank you for this generous gesture Mister Gang Xi Siyu.&quot; Rokarion then moves towards one of the covered wagons, secretly a bit disappointed  that he will not be feeling the rain droplets, and waits until everyone is seated before going into the emptiest one and taking a seat.<br> <br>Siyu glances over at Kalt, and he simply shrugs, &quot;Since we have wagons we might as well bring it along. The wagons will stay back of course. I assume everyone has their own weapons...&quot; he will take his helmet off and dump the water that&#39;s gathered on it and tuck it back on. &quot;Plan for the worst...and then you can be pleasently surprised.&quot; he says quite flatly and cynically. He looks to the others and nods. &quot;We&#39;re going against feral shadows purposfully designed to kill us. I will take all of the supplies I can ge...&quot; he stops when Rok moves in front of him, and he akwardly  bows back to him &quot;Of course. It is for a good cause. For the good of all of us. It is reasonable to assist and help...&quot; He looks over at Skade, &quot;you are not late. Get onto one of the wagons, and mount up&quot;<br> <br>Amelia turns on her paws and slinks off towards one of the wagons, climbing in and adjusting the position of her staff, so that it&#39;s not jutting out at some awkward angle. &quot;Let us hope for a smooth journey,&quot; she says, nodding. &quot;We don&#39;t want trouble before we even reach the destination.&quot; Her words said, she falls back into silence, leaning back and being thankful for the cover it provides. All the same, she keeps her hood up.<br> <br>Transit worked out, and beings already getting up and into the carts, this will be a long trip, and they wait until everyone is loaded in. Jessica taking a spot near the front, along with Jeremy, &quot;So, are we all ready?&quot; She asks, the cart drivers getting ready to move everyone out.

The move out toward the grassy valley is smooth and uninterupted, giving everone time to stratigize and think over, as well as talk among themselves.<br> <br>Hartford has little to say on the journey, and his choice of seat certainly limits his options for conversation. The big stag spends most of the trip chatting affably with the driver about his family and the weather and other small and simple things. Hartford is good at simple things.<br> <br>Kalt shrugs at Siyu&#39;s words, merely spending her time resting for the most part as they travel, before unslinging her sword as she pulls out a wet stone and works it along the crystal blade&#39;s edge. &quot;Thel, they ain&#39;t nuttin&#39; too easy to go killin&#39;, an&#39; can take over folks. So like I were sayin&#39;, don&#39;t go gettin&#39; yourself thinkin&#39; they ain&#39;t nuttin&#39;... Don&#39;t even know if&#39;n dark magic can hurt&#39;em.&quot;<br> <br>Skade huddles in under her umbrella, looking a bit miserable as she gives her wings the occational flutter to dislodge the raindrops from them. She stays silent during most of the trip, content in letting the others formulate plans. The honey bee does however try to take stock of the people around her, paying some closer attentions to their soul pendants, if they are at all visible. [I assume there are more like me here. If we are to speak with the shadows, who will do the talking?]<br> <br>Allista settles herself into one of the cats, claiming her umbrella from her golem, which keeps pace with them. She nods at Kalt, listening as the veteran talks. &quot;What should we expect?&quot; she asks. &quot;I&#39;ve scuffled with a few shadow-things but, well, never been close to a nest of them.&quot;<br> <br>Thelergramor pulls the musket from his back again; holds it out, stock against the floor of the wagon. &quot;Right, Kalt. I&#39;ll be careful. Nothing&#39;s killed me yet; doubt shadows will even get close to doing so.&quot; The wolf takes a bayonet from his belt; affixes it to his musket. &quot;Still, no reason to screw around and get my other leg ripped off.&quot; He chuckles, leans the musket against him.<br> <br>Rokarion remained silent during most of the trip, mainly thinking to himself and answering any who directly said something to him. However, he did answer Skade with, [Miss Jeremy will be the one talking since she is one of the Shadows, and she will probably know how to deal with them best.]<br> <br>Siyu gives a slight nod as he hops into a wagon, he&#39;s not sure which group he&#39;s with. &quot;We&#39;re good. We should be able toe handle most emergencies...here&#39;s hoping we don&#39;t need it&quot;<br> <br>Arriving at the Grassy valley, the carts let beings out, &quot;Alright, thank you.&quot; Jessica says, looking inward. It is possible to see the razor grass moving around after the light rains. Jessica shakes her head, &quot;Those things are bad enough, but it seems that the shadow influance has come over them as well...&quot; She says, Jeremy nodding, &quot;Well, she continues, do you think we should try to fight our way through?&quot; She asks, looking about, &quot;The nest is..  near where the valley meets the two mountain ranges, far to the north.&quot; She says.<br> <br>&quot;If&#39;n we&#39;re wantin&#39; to m&#39;supposin&#39; we could, I ain&#39;t got no objection to that, but if&#39;n folks are havin&#39; better plans round to not go gettin&#39; into a big ol&#39; battle, they sure as all hell can&#39; go with that.&quot; Kalt tapping her sword on her shoulder while looking at the grass.<br> <br>Hartford hops down from his perch, waving farewell to his new friend. The stag unslings his giant halberd and checks over his armor before trotting up to stand at attention near Jessica. &quot;Ready when you are, Lady Blackback,&quot; he says in his slow deep tones, though he nods at Kalt&#39;s comment.<br> <br>Thelergramor drops out of the wagon, steps up next to Kalt. Musket in hand, Thel looks at the Razor grass. &quot;...What do the rest of you want to do?&quot; The wolf glances around at the others, then stares at the razor grass. &quot;I&#39;m all for removing it. But, if noone wants to fight...&quot; A shrug. &quot;Then give me a better option.&quot;<br> <br>Siyu will settle down from the wagon. He will make sure to instruct the various wagon drivers. They are to stay here and wait. If need be they could try and take the wagons in. But so far they&#39;re to wait for them to come out. Secure themselves. Make camp. Prepare for trouble, various things like that. The rodent managing them and they soon form a square and set up camp. <br> <br>Allista hops out of the wagon and brushes her hands together with a soft clanging noise, and eyes the grass. &quot;Seems to me that wandering into a field of potentially shadow-possessed razor grass would be a poor idea,&quot; she says. &quot;Unless you guys can clear it out easily enough, it might be better to set up here and call them out to meet us.&quot; She looks around, then nods at Miss Jeremy. &quot;How far can you shout? Would they notice a signal fire? Maybe one of you magical sorts could flash some lightning from the sky?&quot;<br> <br>Rokarion gets out of the wagon, and stands a bit of a distance away from the wagon, before taking a deep breath and scanning his surrondings. He then looks back at Jeremy and asks, &quot;What do you mean by the shadow influencing them? May I ask how does that work and how is it affecting the grass?&quot;<br> <br>Amelia collects her staff and hops out of the wagon, stretching out. &quot;Well. This is when things are going to get interesting, I suppose,&quot; she says, looking amongst the others. &quot;I&#39;d prefer to avoid fighting it,&quot; she nods to Allista, &quot;But I will do so if the group decides that it will be our best course of action.&quot;<br> <br>Skade seems reluctant to let go of her portable shelter from the rain, even though it had stopped by the time they arrived. &quot;Some are.. mindless. Like wild beasts. Clever in their own way but not quite sentient. If there&#39;s anyone out there, contact should be possible, I should think. Yezz..&quot; the honey bee says, one slender hand fiddling with the pendant around her neck.<br> <br>Looking around her crew, Jessica nods a bit, &quot;A few ready to fight, a few who want to try and bring them out to us. It is deep back, it would have to be a big signal.&quot; She says, &quot;But fighting through here might not be the best of ideas...&quot; Jermey looks over to Rokarion, &quot;The miasma of a shadow&#39;s pure form can taint both beings and natives. These grasses are tainted, and will be stronger because of it.&quot; She says, looking to Skade specificly a moment. [Cautious with what you say. These shadows will not trust us easily.]<br> <br>Siyu nods his head, &quot;We have...wagons. I could probably help making some sort of signal. What should we use? Fire? Wind? Water?&quot;<br> <br>Thelergramor adjusts his plague mask. &quot;So, remind me why we are talking to them, instead of just butchering the whole lot of them?&quot; Tactful as ever, the wolf again checks his musket. &quot;The shadows, I mean. Not the grass. Obviously. Still, call them out, or fight through. Either works. Probably.&quot; He looks to Siyu: &quot;Fire. Water, well, it was already raining.&quot;<br> <br>&quot;Everythin&#39; is wet. Ain&#39;t gonna help a whole lot to go startin&#39; up tryin&#39; to burn stuff. Thel, go shootin&#39; a round up into the sky. S&#39;quiet &#39;nuff to go carryin&#39; the sound for&#39;em to hear for miles out an&#39; such.&quot; Kalt looking to Thel as she stands a bit forward of the group, though clear of the carnivorous grass.<br> <br>Hartford reaches out and gives Thelergramor a gentle thump with his gauntleted fist. &quot;It is no joking matter, Mister Wolf,&quot; he says, looking a little grim, &quot;Even a small group of shadows can overwhelm a well stocked garrison. And this is not a small group, nor are we a well stocked garrison.&quot;<br> <br>Siyu gives a little hm, and he ponders the answer to Thel. &quot;If they&#39;re a seperate branch from the original shadows. We can find out about the creator&#39;s that sent them. Or prehaps, how to make weapons like shadows in case we have to...&quot; he shrugs. &quot;They&#39;re an unkown. Feral. They could chose to deal with us. If they do we&#39;d have some additonal knowledge the Creator&#39;s dont expect us to have.&quot; <br> <br>Rokarion looked around at the grass, [So may I ask why exactly are those shadows so hellbent on fighting us? Is it some form of shadow politics that beings are not aware of?] Rokarion the answers Thelergramor, &quot;Diplomacy is always better than violence and convincing this group might deter other shadows from fighting us.&quot;<br> <br>Thelergramor scratches his neck, shrugging. &quot;Small garrison, eh? They really that dangerous? Good thing we&#39;re not a bunch of grunts from a garrison, then...&quot; Thel is barely trained; high opinion of himself. At Kalts direction, the wolf raises his musket, fires a round off into the sky. &quot;Diplomacy is overrated, friend.&quot; He nods to Rokarion after speaking.<br> <br>Skade eyes her crusher for a moment and then looks back towards the grass. &quot;Perhapzz.. If you wish to fight your way through, I will aid you as best as I can. This damp doesn&#39;t help, though. Fire would be our best weapon. Or maybe ice.&quot; she suggests. [So there are three of us atleast. They do what they have always done, I should think. I&#39;m not sure how we could persuade them to leave. Where would they go?]<br> <br>Allista touches a rune on the forearm of one of her graspers, and her golem stalks its way over to her side. Then the coyote rests her big gauntleted hands against her hips, listening as the group chatters. &quot;A few words will cost us nothing, sir,&quot; she responds to Thel. &quot;Why waste effort you don&#39;t need to waste?&quot;<br> <br>Listening to Thele, and looking around, mostly to the so far quiet Allista and Amelia, &quot;Well, what do you two think?&quot; Jessica asks, then... a round is fired off, the sound reverberating thorugh... but grabbing the attention of the razor grasses! They quickly move over, as quick as they can! They seem to be moving a bit faster than normal...<br> <br>Amelia lofts a brow as the grass starts to rustle and approach. &quot;Well. Here we go, then,&quot; she says, lowering her hood and preparing her staff. She clicks her tongue and adjusts her glasses. As soon as they draw in close enough, she leaps into action in a flurry of movement.<br> <br>Thelergramor is less than concerned. Being attacked by plants? Pfft. He punched a rampaging dragon in the throat! Quickly reloading his musket, the wolf readies himself to fight.<br> <br>Hartford immediately swings into action, placing himself between Jessica and the oncoming razor grass out of sheer reflex. He sets to swinging his heavy halberd around with surprising grace from the usually clumsy stag!<br> <br>Rokarion takes a battle stance, and moves closer to the group, &quot;Careful now everyone protect your flanks and let us end this quickly.&quot;<br> <br>Allista ducks back from the reaching grass, falling behind her battle golem. &quot;So these things are rooted, yea? They can only reach so far?&quot; She pauses, then graps a handful of reaching grass and rips it from its base with her graspers. &quot;You know, we could just drop out of range.&quot;<br> <br>Kalt growls lowly and swings herself into the onslaught, letting her sword swing wide to cleave at the nearest grass to her! &quot;Oh bring it y&#39;lil&#39; sons of bitches!&quot; The Vixen&#39;s tail flicking as she works to dodge out it&#39;s own attacks.<br> <br>Skade clearly prefers to stay in the back of the group. It takes quite a bit of effort to conjure a fire wisp but the honey bee somehow manages it. And just in time too. Ducking and weaving as best as she can, she directs her minions to attack with steel and fire, her small protective sphere staying close by, keeping her out of harms way.<br> <br>Siyu grunts as he begins to use some earth magics, bashing at the grass as it comes up to attack the party. Once again it&#39;s firearms...and thel. He takes a deep breath. &quot;Is anyone injured?&quot;<br> <br>The grasses, fairly small for what is normal, are quickly dispatched, however, just a bit in, there are much more, all looking as if they are itching for a chance to taste the flesh of the adventures! Jessica shakes her head again, &quot;Fighting through there will take all night!&quot; She says, Jeremy nodding in agreement, &quot;Maybe the signal was heard though?&quot; She asks.<br> <br>Fighting finished, Amelia sets one end of her staff against the ground and tugs her hood back up. &quot;Well. I needed the little workout. It was a nice warm up. But yes, let&#39;s hope they heard the signal so that we won&#39;t have to be fighting any more of those things.&quot;<br> <br>Thelergramor reloads his musket, satisfied with the outcome of the fight. &quot;Yeah. Signal. Better come out and check.&quot; The wolf pushes his chin, cracking his neck before he sets about reloading his musket. &quot;And, I&#39;m not hurt. If anyone wanted to know.&quot;<br> <br>Kalt sets the tip of her sword against the ground, and leans on it. The Vixen watching the distance as she begins to hum lowly to herself, tail flicking as she just waits to see if the shadows did take to the bait after all.<br> <br>Rokarion shakes his head, before looking back at Siyu, &quot;Thankfully not. I am perfectly fine, thank you for asking.&quot; Rokarion then returns to a more neutral stance, &quot;Well I do hope that they heard the signal. I do not approve of meaningless butchering of the local flora.&quot; <br> <br>Hartford gives his halberd one last twirl and thumps the butt end to the ground. &quot;Well, Mister wolf,&quot; he says in his slow, deep voice, &quot;If that did not get their attention, ain&#39;t likely that anything will.&quot; He does not seem to be expressing any sort of opinion, only observing facts.<br> <br>&quot;Nope. Perfectly fine here,&quot; Allista replies. She recalls her golem and opens a small compartment in its side, pulling out a towel; the coyote begins wiping off grass stains as she waits to see the results of their signal, tail wagging, whistling a cheerful tune.<br> <br>After waiting for a while, there seems to be still no responce. Jessca looks around for a bit, &quot;Any other good ideas? These are shadows we are trying to work with.&quot; She asks. The grasses look more and more aggitated by the moment! And the clouds overhead look as if they promise more rain.<br> <br>Rokarion thinks for a moment, [How about attempting to contact them using the shadow tongue? As I understand it can reach a large distance if we are at rest. However, since I am not a shadow I will leave it to you two to properly speak with your kind.] Rokarion then looks up on the sky, &quot;Well I think we might be having some more fresh water soon.&quot;<br> <br>Hartford carefully hooks his halberd back across his broad back, out of his hands, but still in easy reach. &quot;Should we press forward then?&quot; he asks, &quot;It seems that no one has come to meet us.&quot; The big stag stands at attention once more. This is the first time he has been assigned to Lady Jessica. He has really only heard stories up to now.<br> <br>Thelergramor scratches his neck, rubs his mask lenses. Can&#39;t reach his eyes... &quot;Any shadow touched here? Just do that... thing that you do. The communicating.&quot; The wolf leans on his musket, pressing the srock to the ground.<br> <br>Skade redeploys her umbrella, just in case. The honey bee&#39;s antenae twitch for a few moments. &quot;Mm, this grass did not prove much of a challenge after all. But I&#39;d rather not fight anymore, if it can be avoided.&quot; and with that, she decides to send out a thought. [We come in peace. We wish to speak with you. You will come to no harm, but we will defend ourselves!]<br> <br>With someone reaching out, one of the shadows reaches back! More than one... more than... a few... all the voices come as if one mass of noise, assulting the mind, but there are those who are used to it.. Jessica waits, &quot;That is a very good idea Thele! Jeremy?&quot; She asks, the shadow shaking his head, &quot;They have already made clear that they would rather not talk to me, maybe someone else could.&quot; Eyes going to Skade as he already does.<br> <br>Allista wrinkles her nose, folds up her towel, and tucks it back away. Then she crosses her arms, finger tapping at her upper arm. &quot;They don&#39;t? Why not?&quot; she asks, curious.<br> <br>Skade&#39;s wings flutter for a moment and she almost staggers backwards suddenly. &quot;There are very, very many of them out there. They.. they wish to know if one of us is a creator. And what news we bring. Newzz.. of what?&quot; she buzzes as she rolls her shoulders, her fingers clasping around her necklace.<br> <br>Thelergramor smirks behind his mask. &quot;Tell them yes, just to see there reaction.&quot; The wolf laughs, looks over the group; satisfied that between him and the others; a bunch of shadows don&#39;t stand a chance. Naivete...<br> <br>Amelia leans on her staff, humming softly as she looks up into the sky. &quot;What an interesting evening this is turning out to be. Out in the corners of the land, talking to shadows,&quot; she murmurs to herself before pulling the staff up and holding it out horizontally before her. In one smooth motion, she drops into a sitting position on the ground and crosses her legs, resting the staff across her lap to wait patiently.<br> <br>Siyu grunts a little bit, and he looks at Thel, &quot;you&#39;ve done quite enough havn&#39;t you?&quot; he says flatly and looks back to Skade, and then to the others. &quot;What is it we say?&quot;<br> <br>Rokarion sighs, &quot;Mister Thelergramor we are here on a diplomatic mission. I do not tihnk that lying to them will be wise.&quot; He then looks back at Skade, &quot;Tell them that the Creator&#39;s refused to interfere because of a certain agreement, and ask them if they would be willing for a being to talk with them.&quot;<br> <br>Hartford stands in stoic silence. Probably for the best, since talking would just reveal that he has no idea what is going on. He would much rather be sharing a drink with the guys in the guardhouse. Or at the cantina. Was it chowder night? Creators! He was missing chowder night! Of course, none of this shows on his skunk-striped face.<br> <br>Kalt moves to stand next to Hartford, in calm silence as she too, shares in that blissfull ignorance of what people were doing. Yep. Best to just stand next to the big guy and look important, stuff is going on!<br> <br>Jeremy looks over to Allista while waiting for Skade to continue, &quot;They took offence when I defended beings from being attacked. They said they would not discuss anymore with such a trator.&quot; She says, before looking about to everyone else, &quot;With hope, those razor grasses are the only thing we will be fighting this night.&quot;

Jessica looks over to Hartford and Kalt, &quot;Well, Rokarion is pretty much right, but, perhaps we are looking at this the wrong way? Who are the creators? Are we even talking about the same ones?&quot; She asks.<br> <br>Allista grins, her tail wagging. &quot;Oh, I like that idea, wolf.&quot; She pauses, then offers a fist for Thel to bump. &quot;I like it. But I don&#39;t think I could pull it off. Hmmm...&quot; her ear perks then, and she looks at Jessica. Then she hooks the thumb of her other hand towards her golem. &quot;I create things all the time.&quot;<br> <br>Thelergramor bumps the fist, smiling behind his mask. He looks to Siyu next. &quot;Try to have fun, Siyu. And watch your tone.&quot; Thel stretches slightly, letting the ones who can communicate do so.<br> <br>Skade gives a soft sigh. How some of these people have even managed to survive childhood was a mystery to her. &quot;I&#39;ll just.. ask.&quot; she says as she once more sends out a silent shout across the distance. [The creators did not wish to interfere because of an arrangement of sorts. Would you be willing to speak with a being instead? And news of what exactly?] she asks.<br> <br>Hartford straightens even more when he sees Jessica looking at him. He has no idea what the noblewoman means by her question, but he hopes that she is about to have an idea and send him into action. He is not very good at hard questions. &quot;Lady?&quot; he asks, &quot;Were you askin&#39; me?&quot;<br> <br>Kalt shrugs gently at Jessica, the vixen honestly having no clue what was being talked about, but she figured a shrug would be the best solution after all! Leaning gently onto her sword as she tried to put on a thoughtful look, while at the same time deflecting her ignorance. &quot;... Dunno.&quot;<br> <br>Rokarion thinks, &quot;I think lady Jessica is probably on to something. Who do they mean by the Creators? Do they know them properly? We could attempt to decieve them into thinking that one of us is a Creator if they can&#39;t tell, but that would be disastarous if they found out we are just lying.&quot;<br> <br>Siyu gives Thel a hard stare, and he shrugs, &quot;So be it...&quot; is his choice, and waits to see what&#39;s going to happen wit hthe shdow speech.<br> <br>Skade eyes Rokarion with some scepticism. &quot;They might be called shadows, but they are not dim. I&#39;m quite sure they would be able to spot the differanzze. And I&#39;m fairly zzzure they mean the same creators as you do.&quot;<br> <br>&quot;Ehn. From the sounds of it, they want to kill us all anyway,&quot; Allista comments. &quot;So it couldn&#39;t get much worse!&quot; Her ears twitch, and she giggles. &quot;Oh nice one,&quot; she adds, giving the bee a nod. &quot;I get it.&quot;<br> <br>Thelergramor yawns. Shakes off some fatigue. The wolf leans heavily on his musket; careful to avoid the bayonet. &quot;So... Anything yet?&quot; The wolf takes a flask from his belt; begins to drink, unwrapping the scarf from his mask and lifting it to insert the flask.<br> <br>Jessica shakes her head a bit, &quot;Do they mean the creators that watch of us now? The creators who made us, and are likely no longer around? The Creator Saints? Just &#39;A creator&#39; could mean just about anyone! And these shadows have been sleeping for years. There is a lot they could simply not know that we take knowledge of for granted.&quot; She says, though she laughs a bit at Allista, &quot;THE creators, those that made us who we are.<br> <br>Siyu considers, &quot;Could we just CALL Harkenson down here. He is in orbit above us...he is a merchant. If we offer him coin he might just come to talk to them. Even Parson might just chat...not interfear. But talk with them&quot;<br> <br>Skade taps her chin as she considers Jessica&#39;s words. &quot;Wait.. they have been dormant for this long? And wh--&quot; she suddenly trails off, tilting her head to the side as if listening for something. &quot;I zzzee. I think you may be right. They do not know what has happened to the others. They still carry on their original mission. Why have they been isolated here?&quot;<br> <br>Hartford is relieved that Jessica&#39;s questions were not pointed at him and he relaxes a little. &quot;You just call me when you need me,&quot; he says, proud to do his duty by a Blackback. The stag turns his head a little and whispers to Kalt. &quot;Mister Siyu has at least one keg of mead back in his wagons,&quot; he says, &quot;You think he&#39;ll share?&quot;<br> <br>&quot;If&#39;n the Creators went an&#39; said they ain&#39;t messin&#39; round, m&#39;bettin&#39; he ain&#39;t gonna either. If&#39;n he makes&#39;em upset, they&#39;ll up an&#39; stop him from tradin&#39;.&quot; Kalt calls out to Siyu before stretching her arms slightly. &quot;Either way, they aint answerin&#39;... An&#39; if&#39;n they&#39;re carryin&#39; their &#39;original&#39; mission, then they&#39;re needin&#39; to be put down.&quot; The Vixen looking over to Hartford as she shrugs. &quot;Dunno! But m&#39;figurin&#39; we&#39;d best be savin&#39; that for when we&#39;re clear of here an&#39; all. Don&#39;t wanna have us off an&#39; get picked off an&#39; such.&quot;<br> <br>Thelergramor continues to drink, glancing around. Growing a bit impatient. &quot;Right... Any progress? Or, are we just standing around like a bunch of morons? Any shadow speak going on? Relay that to the rest of us.&quot; The wolf spoke to noone in particular; then goes back to his whiskey.<br> <br>Jessica shurgs, but Jermey has an answer, &quot;They have been sleeping all this time until some fools calling themselves the Technolegists got close to them with the gems and crystals that we need to carry out our original missions. This woke them.&quot; He says, &quot;Though I have no clue why some of you random beings would walk around with Lunar, strange gems, and odd crystals just sitting in your pocket, nor why you&#39;d think holding them out to things and asking &#39;What would this do?&#39; is a good idea.&quot; she says.<br> <br>Rokarion looks at Skade, &quot;Did they answer back yet? I would very much prefer, if as many of us were listening to them.&quot; Rokarion then thinks for a minute, &quot;So they were asleep thise whole time and thus do not that the other Shadows stopped the war with us and decided to live and let live. We could inform them about this new turn of events.&quot;<br> <br>Siyu looks over to the others. &quot;Sure you can help yourself to whatever booze you want that&#39;s in the wagon.&quot; he looks at Thel, &quot;help yourself. Go take a nap in the back of the wagon with my booze.&quot; he offers in a half friendly way.<br> <br>Skade sniggers at Jeremy before turning to the rest of the group. &quot;What do you think I have been doing? My questions arn&#39;t idle musings as we wait to be devoured by hungry grass. They are confused and want to speak with a creator. They do not know that there now is.. peace. Somewhat, atleast.&quot; she explains.<br> <br>Hartford flaps his ears in embarrassment. &quot;Sorry, Mister Siyu,&quot; he says, &quot;Didn&#39;t mean no disrespect. I&#39;m just sort of bored with all this talk about shadows that ain&#39;t even here!&quot;<br> <br>Looking over to Skade, Jessica offers a bit more, &quot;Have you asked them who they mean by a creator yet?&quot; She asks, looking out into the dark night as they lose more and more of the sun!<br> <br>Siyu looks over to the others. &quot;These are the Shadows from the intial assualt right? The Creators themselves announce the organization they belonged to was dissolved. There is nor creator organization these shadows are now bound to...&quot; he motions. &quot;The inital announcment was that those resonsable had been disolved and would face trial.&quot;<br> <br>Allista sighs, raising a palm and then bringing her forehead down to rest against it. After a few moments she looks up and shakes her head. &quot;You probably don&#39;t want to drink right before we are going to get jumped, guys,&quot; she points out.<br> <br>Kalt shrugs gently to Hartford as she smiles slightly. &quot;Aw now, ain&#39;t no need to go feelin&#39; bad. S&#39;natural to go feelin&#39; bored. An&#39; m&#39;tryin&#39; to remember, but we only went an&#39; met once eh? Back when you were guardin&#39; Brutus an&#39; all? Were only for a minute or two, but M&#39;Kalt. Shamed to say your name ran right outta my head like a rabid virmin.&quot; The Vixen extending her hand to Hartforward with a grin.<br> <br>Thelergramor groans audibly, capping his flask and resetting his mask. Flask attatches to his belt again as he checks his musket. &quot;Listen, I&#39;m getting mad now. Tell them to get out here before I drag them out. And tell me what they are saying, specific details, please.&quot;<br> <br>Rokarion shakes his head with the neutral expression on his face straining a bit, &quot;This is getting a bit tiresome, and it is getting late.&quot; Rokarion then looks at the distance, [Hail fellow creations of the Creators. I am Rokarion a being here on promise. We wish to talk with you properly and to end our misunderstanding peacefully. May I ask who is the Creator you wish to speak with?]<br> <br>Skade pinches the base of her nose. &quot;This is surely not going to go over well..&quot; she mutters as she concentrates. [If by creator you mean our creators are no longer with us. The contract is dissolved. The mission is over. There are still creators around, but they are not the same as the ones that created you. Which creator do you mean?]<br> <br>Jessica and Jeremy both look out over the darkness as ideas are thrown around, Jeremy of course listening in, though not speaking. Jeremy&#39;s eyes go a bit wide though after a few moments! Looking around he says only a few words, &quot;He&#39;s coming.&quot;<br> <br>Oh! Up an&#39; at&#39;em then. Seems we got one comin&#39;. Come on big fella, let&#39;s go gettin&#39; up infront of the softer folk an&#39; all.&quot; The Vixen grinning as she puts her sword back on her back, before ensuring her gauntlet&#39;s were ready to deliver a firm fist pounding to anyone she fought! &quot;An&#39; Thel, go watchin&#39; that temper boy before you go gettin&#39; into trouble. Better ways to be ventin&#39; that frustration.&quot;<br> <br>&quot;Hartford,&quot; the big deer says by way of introduction, then snaps to attention when Jeremy claims that someone is coming. The stag unhooks his halberd and takes a step or two to the fore of the group beside Kalt.<br> <br>Siyu grunts, &quot;Remember we&#39;re still talking. They are now Free. They can make choices on their own...wait for them to TALK...&quot; he intones.<br> <br>Skade screws her eyes shut for a few moments before they suddenly snap open. &quot;Yes. One is coming. Don&#39;t attack it, please.&quot; she says, looking directly at Thelgramor as she says the last part. [It is year 477 after arrival. I have instructed the beings not to attack you but they are fearful and will defend themselves if provoked. We will try to explain as much as we can.]<br> <br>Rokarion closes his eyes, and remains standing but in a trance, listening to the shadows speak. After a while he says to Skade, [Continue speaking I will listen and chime in when needed.] He then spoke to the group still with his eyes closed, &quot;They are confused, and are not sure how long have they been out of the loop. I think the leader might be joining us soon.&quot;<br> <br>Thelergramor chuckles, keeping his rifle down. &quot;Of course. But, they start threatening or making demands... Well, you know me...&quot; The wolf shrugs, stares out into the night through the red glass lenses of his mask.<br> <br>Amelia snaps her eyes open and starts to rise to her paws once again, patting off the seat of her robes as she takes a firm hold on her staff. &quot;Yes, it&#39;ll be nice to meet them, then. It has kept us waiting for a long time, certainly.&quot;<br> <br>After a short time, a rather large bull comes out, his eyes weeping what looks like a black ooze, the miasma coming off of him like claws in the skin and eyes. Each time he takes a step, the grass bends away from him, as if either in fear or awe. He carries no weapons, though looks as if any weapon he might have would be less then what he could do with his bare hands. &quot;No Vio l ance.&quot; He says, sounding almost like a broken Machine Spirit. Jessica and Jeremy look up at him. &quot;Hello..&quot; Jessica eventually says, just like Jeremy, he seemed to have no interest in Jessica, the shadow bull saying, &#39;Et haz been tyme.&quot;<br> <br>Hartford stands calmly, his halberd in his hands, ready for either a peaceful talk or a fight. &quot;You alright there?&quot; he asks the approaching bull, though it is obvious that the poor being has not been alright for a long time now.<br> <br>Siyu takes a deep breath as the shadow comes out. He looks over to the others and he swallows some,obviously nervous. &quot;Would you wish to come and talk with us. I can offer tea. or drink. We can sit and talk. Discuss our situation...&quot;<br> <br>Thelergramor yawns; singularly unimpressed by the bull. &quot;Right. No Violence.&quot; He chuckles. &quot;That, depends on you. What do you want?&quot; Thel shrugs, keeps his musket against the ground. Glances at the others, then at the bull.<br> <br>Kalt looks to Hartford and smirks for a moment, before looking to Thelergramor as she sighs. &quot;You ain&#39;t got a diplomatic bone in your body don&#39;tcha Thel?&quot; Shaking her head gently before once more looking at the Bull as she stayed ready, juuust in case.<br> <br>Rokarion shakes from his stance before moving closer towards the bull, &quot;Thank you for taking this chance to allow us to set matters peacefully. We are ready to answer any questions you have about what happened since your slumber.&quot;<br> <br>Allista moves over next to Kalt, sticking close to the fox; her tail still. She takes a breath, steeling herself against the miasma. &quot;Yes,&quot; she adds. &quot;We want to talk. Parley.&quot; The coyote hesitates a moment, calculating, then repeats herself in the old tongue.<br> <br>Amelia slinks her way over towards Kalt and Allista. Those two looked like they knew what they were doing. &quot;Yes, as she said. And you said. No violence. We have no reason to fight. No -good- reason, anyway.&quot;<br> <br>The bull looks over everyone, eyes falling on Thele mostly, but mostly looks off at nothing. The old tongue is much much easier for him, as is shadow talk. Using those from now on. Jessica looks on, not understanding a word, Jeremy nodding here and there. He does try once in a while in more common being. &quot;Tyme, long tyme, what hap on creators?&quot;<br> <br>Kalt understands nothing of either tongue, and as such just stands there providing vigil to ensure everything went as smoothly as possible. The Vixen&#39;s tail flicking too and fro as she crosses her arms infront of her chest.<br> <br>Thelergramor glares at the bull, speaks to the group; eyes never leaving his &#39;enemy&#39;. &quot;Tell me if he says anything in the shadow speak. I&#39;m no use to you deaf...&quot; Thel stands stoic, ,leaning on his musket.<br> <br>Siyu clears his throat. He is a merchant at his core...and he will at least bring out the trappings of a meeting. Two stools. Though prehaps a bit small for the bull. A table. A table cloth. Setting out cups, and a liquor bottle. A sort of armistace table. At least the trappings of a meeting. Unsure of it means anything,  but it does to him. Politeness, etiquette and formality. A bedrock for the rodent.<br> <br>Amelia leans against the staff and hums. &quot;The Creators are gone. Well. The ones that brought you here, most likely. There are new Creators here now. They are our friends. We do not wish to fight you. That&#39;s what we mean by peace,&quot; she says, doing her best to communicate back in the old tongue.<br> <br>Rokarion nods, deciding to speak in shadow speech for easier understanding he says, [The original Creators have left this place a long while ago. The peace was brokered by the shadows and the beings, when the shadows realized that the Creators left this planet for us beings, and they decided to live peacefully and leave us alone.]<br> <br>Allista nods her head at Amelia, then looks back at the shadow. &quot;It has been a very long time. Things have changed. This is our world.&quot;<br> <br>&quot;I begin to wonder how much good you are to us when you KNOW what you are doing, Mister Wolf,&quot; Hartford murmurs, &quot;I think it would be best for us all if you stayed by me.&quot; The big stag drops a hand on the beligerent wolf&#39;s shoulder. &quot;I&#39;m here for back up, if you need me,&quot; he says affably.<br> <br>Skade clears her throat and takes a step forwards. &quot;I wazz the one you spoke with earlier. I understand your might find this difficult to believe..&quot; the bee says, turning to translate some of what the bull is saying to the others. &quot;He is more or less wondering what happened.&quot; she says before switching over to shadow speak [It is a strange story to tell. A ship crashed into the moon..] the bee suddenly motions upwards to the sky. [A great calamity. The ones who created us shadows left. They are no more. And we were left here, on this planet. To avoid both beings and shadows from getting killed, we brokered peace. Of sorts.]<br> <br>Thelergramor glances at Hartford. &quot;I&#39;m quite useful; can understand the old tongue. Which... The bull asked about the peace. Any responses seem to have been made in shadow shit.&quot; The wolf looks back at the bull; no trust given to it.<br> <br>The bull continues to look shocked. And thoughtful at the same time. After a while he nods, sitting down at the place Siyu set. He looks at the drink, sipping it a moment. Then, looking at it some more. &quot;Poizan...&quot; he says, looking over to Siyu! Though.. he doesn&#39;t seem annoyed at all. He sits there for some time, just looking at the booze. &quot;Is gud.&quot; He says. He continues, &quot;Thyme... need thyme, mulch two think.&quot; He says.<br> <br>Hartford is definitely confused. Did the weird shadow just accuse them of poisoning him? Then say that it was good? And why did it want thyme and mulch? &quot;Let&#39;s just listen,&quot; the stag says to Thelergramor, &quot;I&#39;m sure that somebody here&#39;s got a plan all figgured out.&quot;<br> <br>Siyu clears his throat, and he will settle down in the chair opposite the bull and pours from himself, &quot;A poison...prehaps. But one that brings more joy then suffering.&quot; he raises his glass and drinks.  &quot;It is very good.&quot; he pours another. Good! Social interaction. That&#39;s good right? The rodent still clueless mostly just...playing a diplomat. Or trying to. Drinking and sitting with a weapon that likely could kill him.<br> <br>Allista gives Siyu and Skade both thumbs up, then crosses her arms again. &quot;That is fine,&quot; she replies. &quot;It is a lot to consider. A lot to think about. Nobosy wants to make a hasty decision. Do you have a name?&quot; she asks, tone pleasant.<br> <br>Thelergramor doesn&#39;t like that. &quot;He wants Jeremy. Yeah... Not going to happen...&quot; Thel, out of spite, refuses to speak the old tongue to the shadow, so, in the common language: &quot;You&#39;re not getting anyone you see out here tonight. And your answer better be peace. Or I swear I will shoot you right now.&quot; Thel raises his musket, though he doesn&#39;t point it at the bull. &quot;Anyone who didn&#39;t get that... They want to debate peace. That isn&#39;t a choice we should give them.&quot;<br> <br>Amelia folds her arms and furrows her brow. &quot;They want us to give them Jeremy,&quot; she says in the plain tongue. &quot;In exchange, they will give us an answer in... Three days or three years, depending on what he meant.&quot; Then, back to the first tongue. &quot;Why?&quot; she asks simply. A sour look is turned in THel&#39;s direction.<br> <br>Skade turns to eye Jeremy as the bull speaks. &quot;He believes us. Kind of.. We explained the history of the zzzhadow wars.. briefly.&quot; she says, glossing over the question the shadow asked, for now. [Jeremy? Why? And will he come to any harm, if we agree?] The honey bee can&#39;t help but smile at the rodent and his hastily put-together table.<br> <br>Kalt turns on her heel and walks to Thelergramor, reaching out to try and grab the barrel of the musket and push it up while shoving at his chest should she be able to! The Vixen more than happy to get close into his face with a low growl. &quot;PUT. THAT. THE. FUCK. AWAY. You ain&#39;t judge &#39;bout this all, an&#39; m&#39;swearin&#39; to all that&#39;s good, if&#39;n you fuck this up I&#39;ll skin your scrawny ass clean, an&#39; hang you&#39;re body from the fuckin&#39; church you hear me?! If&#39;n this Jeremy wants to go with&#39;em, they go with&#39;em, you ain&#39;t the dictator of this shit.&quot; The Vixen surprisingly foul tempered from it all as she&#39;s glaring at the wolf!<br> <br>Rokarion nods, looking at the bull, his neutral expression and polite tone never failing him. Rokarion then says, [I believe that the option to go with you rests on Jeremy. But if I make ask respected shadow. What is the property in the ...stones, that make you so interested in them? That could help us a lot in negotiating peace.]<br> <br>Siyu sets his jaw tight as Thel grabs his musket. He just holds his drink in hand, twitching his big ears. The pretty rodent tries to put on a smile. Though it&#39;s fake to anyone with empathy. Too much stress here, too much danger, but he&#39;s trying, raising his glass again and taking a sip, &quot;Taking...Jeremy. Why would you want to take him. You could...sit right here. I have a table. I have wagons...I have plenty of drink. Could you not sit here, with him. Talk, and share, like we are...right now?&quot; he inquires.<br> <br>Hartford&#39;s gentle smile does not fade as Kalt lays into Thelergramor. &quot;See, Mister Wolf!&quot; he says, &quot;Miss Kalt here is awful smart with all this diplomacy stuff. We should probably listen to her. The stag&#39;s arm stays heavily on Thel&#39;s shoulder. Just as a reminder.<br> <br>Jessica looks to Jeremy, who nods, &quot;I will go with you. I&#39;m sure no harm will come to me.&quot; She says, looking to her shadow pendant, &quot;Besides with this on, it is hard to cause the real me harm.&quot; She says. Looking around she smiles, &quot;He means three days, I&#39;ll be back in at most three days.&quot; She says, &quot;And, this is a good chance.&quot;

The shadow bull continues, &quot;Is gud, lot be bad.&quot; He says, &quot;Much to talk, talk with shadow a loan.&quot; He says, evidently very careful about who he does chat with.<br> <br>Thelergramor laughs heavily at Kalt grabbing his musket and shoving him. &quot;Well, I&#39;m so glad you&#39;re willing to just hand over a shadow to the shadows. Fuck that guy. I&#39;m not in charge, but debating peace? Fuck no. Why would you even give them that choice?&quot; Thel continues to laugh, his amused tone likely inappropriate for the situation. &quot;Stupid. Diplomacy is overrated.&quot; But, then Jeremy volunteers.  &quot;And, there it goes. Good luck, Jeremy.&quot;<br> <br>Allista taps her fingers against her arm in a quiet rhythm, listening. She gives Thel a sharp look, then turns her attention to Jeremy, raising her eyebrows. When he makes his decision she smiles, and nods her head. &quot;Thank you for being willing to talk,&quot; she tells the large bull, in the old tongue again.<br> <br>Skade glares at Thelgramor. &quot;Of courzzze we need to dizzzcuzzz peazzze! How elzze are you going to get it!? He azzked, didn&#39;t demand anything. Now zzzhut up before you get us all killed.&quot; she buzzes testily, slurring her words quite a bit more then usual when she&#39;s angry.<br> <br>Kalt stays close to Thelergramor as she glances up at Hartford and speaks lowly to him. &quot;M&#39;thinkin&#39; the fella here has had enough jollies eh?&quot; Turning her gaze back to Thelergramor as she lowers her voice for the three. &quot;M&#39;gonna be real with you right now, you&#39;re pushin&#39; it hard you understand? You don&#39;t know jack -shit- &#39;bout what&#39;s out there, an&#39; pull a gun on a fella tryin&#39; to talk? So what? You get a glory fix, when friends an&#39; innocent folks die? You&#39;re either gonna start fuckin&#39; shippin&#39; up Thel, or so help me I&#39;ll go takin&#39; care of you m&#39;self.&quot;<br> <br>Rokarion listened intently to the bull, the hand under his cloak touching his soul pendant without anyone noticing. Rokarion then said to Jeremy, &quot;Thank you for making this easier on us.&quot; Rokarion then looked back at the bull, [My apologies respected shadow. I am afraid I can&#39;t do that right now for fear of possession by one of your kin. However, I shall heed your advice and try to listen to the other voices. Maybe in a more safe environment for me to take off my pendant.]<br> <br>Thelergramor blinks, shrugs. &quot;He wants Jeremy to remove its pendant; in case anyone missed that. Bad fucking idea.&quot; The wolf tries to pull his musket back from Kalt; doesn&#39;t try too hard though. &quot;Seriously. That would be a shitty idea.&quot; He looks back to Kalt: &quot;Calm down. I wasn&#39;t going to shoot him; it&#39;s called &#39;agressive negotiations&#39;. Intimidate the leader so they don&#39;t want to fight. But, really, you should trust me more often. Not that I&#39;ve done anything deserving of trust...&quot;<br> <br>&quot;(Voices?)&quot; Allista asks. &quot;(From... stones?)&quot; her head tilts to the side and she stares at the bull for a moment, then around at the rest of the people out there with her. &quot;(What other voices are there?)&quot; she asks. After a moment, she taps Kalt on the shoulder. &quot;What voices?&quot;<br> <br>Siyu raises a hand, &quot;What is the shadow requiring involving Soul Pendants. If it is a risk to life and limb...here and now. Everyone should know. And be given an oppertunity to volunteer&quot;<br> <br>&quot;-Exactly-! You ain&#39;t done shit to deserve trust, runnin&#39; your damn mouth like you ain&#39;t gotta filter boy, an&#39; thinkin&#39; half out your arse! Shadows ain&#39;t fearin&#39; you, they ain&#39;t gonna die if you kill the fuckin&#39; body. All you&#39;re doin&#39; wavin&#39; that gun &#39;round, is puttin&#39; everyone here in danger that ain&#39;t needed.&quot; Kalt shoving his musket into his chest as she takes a step back and raises her voice to normal. &quot;Jeremy removin&#39; their pendant ain&#39;t gonna kill us either. Shit, I ain&#39;t the most intelligent but even I go knowin&#39; it ain&#39;t doin&#39; nuttin&#39; but preventin&#39; them from possessin&#39; folks without pendants.&quot;<br> <br>&quot;I got him, Miss Kalt,&quot; Hartford says calmly before gently putting both hands on the wolf&#39;s shoulders. &quot;I don&#39;t know who taught you all this fancy agressive negotiatin&#39; Mister Wolf,&quot; he says in his slow, deep tones, &quot;But I will tear off that leg of yours and beat you sensless with it if you put Lady Blackback in any danger. Do you understand?&quot;<br> <br>Thelergramor answers Kalt, still amused. &quot;I didn&#39;t know that, no.&quot; He then glares at Hartford. &quot;Let. Go. Of. Me. Now.&quot; The wolfs tone, threatening as a knife to the throat. Doesn&#39;t like to be threatened...<br> <br>Amelia folds her arms over her chest. &quot;I am not removing it. I hear no voices. As far as I recall, it&#39;s always been quiet. So pardon me if I don&#39;t take your word for it and leave it right where it is.&quot; She furrows her brow and leans against the staff, watching the group argue and get all hot under the collar off to the side.<br> <br>With Jeremy volentering, she looks over to Thele, gripping her pendant and ripping it as hard as she can. Though it looks like it should come right off, it stick to her like it is glued on. Try and try as she might, it doesn&#39;t come off... but... she is just laughing, &quot;Once the Shadow Pendent is on, there is no known way to remove it. It is thought that even if my form dies, the pendent would follow me even in my pure form.&quot; She says, looking over to Jessica, &quot;I&#39;ll be back soon, look for me.&quot; She says. The big shadow takes the poison from Siyu&#39;s table, &quot;No thyme, mulch to talk.&quot; He says, walking away with Jeremy as Thele and crew argue, Jessica watching on, &quot;This isn&#39;t the first time she&#39;s gone, she&#39;ll be back, and if we have to rescue her again, we can.&quot; She says, looking over and wondering if she needs to step in with Thele, Kalt, and Hartford. Looking over to Siyu, &quot;Voices? Yes, when I... first was being... pulled toward gifted, I remember the Fighter Soul talking to me. While it was talking to me, I couldn&#39;t hear Jeremy&#39;s voice, but it made me feel weak to be without it.&quot; She says.<br> <br>Hartford shakes his big, antlered head. &quot;No, Mister Wolf,&quot; he says, &quot;No threats. Ain&#39;t that sort of guy.&quot; He looks over to watch as the actual negotiations finish up. &quot;But I protect my own,&quot; he says, &quot;And sometimes that means knowin&#39; when not to fight. But you don&#39;t strike me as bein&#39; too bright on that front.&quot; Immediate danger past, the big stag takes his hands from Thelergramor&#39;s shoulders and moves to stand by Jessica. Between the wolf and the shadows.<br> <br>Kalt turns her back to Thelergramor as she shakes her head and moves to resume watching the party. &quot;... M&#39;seein&#39; we got this all good then. Guessin&#39; we&#39;ll be headin&#39; on back, an&#39; listenin&#39; to see if&#39;n things go good an&#39; such eh?&quot; The Vixen&#39;s tail flicking as she looks over the group.<br> <br>Skade own hand once more fiddles with her soul pendant. [They talk to us shadows? Or everyone? Mine is merely a tool to make beings less afraid. And this is perhaps somewhat upsetting some of the beings so you so please respond in our tongue, if you wouldn&#39;t mind. The wolf is a little.. unstable. And understands the old tongue.]<br> <br>Siyu watches his bottle get taken and he raises an eyebrow. Well if it&#39;s a gift it&#39;s a gift...sooo. He lets it go. Watching the shadow go, he will clean up his table, and his chair since they&#39;re no longer useful.<br> <br>Thelergramor laughs again, though he doesn&#39;t do much more than that. Just sits, lets the other people figure things out. &quot;Good luck averting war.&quot; Though he looks to Hatford, glad he didn&#39;t have to fight the deer.<br> <br>Rokarion nods, &quot;I think it is due to most of us being born beings, and not spending enough time without our pendants on that we don&#39;t listen to our soulgems properly. Personally, I do listen sometimes, their voices loud and clear. But why is that Miss Jessica?&quot;<br> <br>Allista shakes her head, relaxing as the shadow-bull departs. After a few moments, she turns to Jessica, and nods her head. &quot;That is something I&#39;ve been curious about, if you don&#39;t mind my asking, miss. I always wondered what, well, goes on when one of you S-... when one of the Gifted uses a gem. And your family invented them, right?&quot;<br> <br>Jessica shakes her head, &quot;I don&#39;t completely understand it, just that my father&#39;s father helped make the first ones from some rocks we found after the moon was destoryed.&quot; She says, &quot;After moving through the strongest of the miasma, I felt... disjoined... I guess that is the best way to say it... my husband gave me one of his spare soul gems, and I could hear it! The gem talking to me. But while I was using it, I couldn&#39;t also hear Jeremy, I don&#39;t know why I could here Jeremy, or why traveling with pure shadows caused me to be Gifted, all I really know is that it happened.&quot; She explains.<br> <br>Siyu takes a deep breath, &quot;So can anyone else sum up...what exactly happened...the converastion that we could not hear?&quot;<br> <br>Seeing the shadow-possessed bull depart, Hartford is not worried about defending the Lady Blackback from the shadows for now. He hardly understands what everyone is talking about, not being gifted himself. Instead, he opts to keep an eye on the unruly wolf. No need to have a repeat of the razor grass attack.<br> <br>Amelia glances over at Allista and shrugs. &quot;I do not know, myself. I put one in, I remember things, that&#39;s it. But it&#39;s not just the knowledge that makes up what we do. I can tell someone how to do something, and it won&#39;t help if they don&#39;t practice. The body must be trained in it, and that&#39;s not something that goes away even if you remove the soul. That muscle memory. Someone could have the same soulgem I have, but if they&#39;ve not practice it like I have, they will fall short, even with equal knowledge.&quot;<br> <br>Rokarion looks at Siyu and answers, &quot;Well basically those shadows woke up recently and they didn&#39;t know that the whole eradicate the beings on Promise mission was cancelled. They got a bit confused as to why some shadows were seen near Sweetwater, and decided to speak with us. I am assuming that Jeremy now, is going to tell them what happened since their slumber and hopefully broker peace.&quot; Rokarion then looks at Jessica before saying, &quot;So, you are implying that being around pure shadows might cause a being to become a soulless or a soul gifted?&quot;<br> <br>Allista almost, -almost- tries to scratch behind her ear. Then she remembers that she is wearing both graspers, and that that would be a bad idea. So she nods instead, glancing towards the path the Shadows took. &quot;Your Jeremy,&quot; Allista asks. &quot;That is the Shadow, Jeremy?&quot; She considers that, then brings her armored hands together, fingers tapping against eachother. &quot;Interesting. Innnnteresting... I may need to find a volunteer. For Science.&quot;<br> <br>Skade scratches her nose with a slender finger. &quot;That is curious. I was made to wear mine. Though it certanly has it&#39;s advantages, I&#39;ve not noticed it ever speaking with me. Then again, I have not really been listening either.&quot; the honey bee says.<br> <br>Hartford looks around. Seeing that the danger and the need for his services has passed, he makes his heavy, ungainly way back to the carts and his new driver friend. Maybe he would be lucky and one of the cooks would think to save him some chowder. Unlikely, but a guy could hope.<br> <br>Jessica again shurgs, &quot;I can&#39;t really say. Most beings around pure shadows go insane... or die..&quot; She says, shaking her head, &quot;And yes, Jeremy the Shadow, a good good friend. He&#39;s helped me against Old Ones, helped end the first Shadow War. He&#39;ll be fine, and if not, I&#39;ll come for him.&quot; She says, but slinks away from Allista a bit, &quot;What... are you doing?&quot; She asks.<br> <br>Kalt turns to follow with Hartford, pulling her gloves free with a sigh. &quot;We&#39;ll go gettin&#39; a drink later buddy... M&#39;needin&#39; to go relaxin&#39; after all of this an&#39; such.&quot; The Vixen looking tired, and she barely had a long fight!<br> <br>Siyu finishes cleaning up the wagons and he looks to the group, letting out a sigh, &quot;Anything we need to gather...or...&quot; he flattens his ears. &quot;IS there anything we need to do before we depart, and hope&quot;<br> <br>Thelergramor stands, not thinking they need to do anything more here. &quot;Nope, don&#39;t think so.&quot; He says to Siyu, then heads off to one of the wagons; mounts up, sits.<br> <br>Siyu nods his head then. &quot;Well then, there&#39;s plenty of booze left. If you want a bottle, drink up. You splash it on wounds or dull the pain. We have a bit of a journey back, so no need ot let it goto waste&quot;<br> <br>Rokarion nods, &quot;I see, this needs further research and thought. Thank you for sharing this info Lady Jessica. I think it will be quite helpful in the future, but let us depart now.&quot; With that Rokarion went towards the wagons and entered after eveyrone got ready.<br> <br>It seems the group was preparing to leave and so, the bee follows suit. &quot;Very interesting indeed. I would enjoy zzzpeaking to you at length about it, if you would not mind, Lady Jessica. I&#39;m certain Jeremy will be fine. He did not seem hostile. Merely.. pensive. It is difficult to know who to truzzt, after all.&quot; the honey bee mentions as she packs herself into one of the wagons, making sure that it&#39;s atleast a nice and dry spot, and that her umbrella is at hand if it started to rain again.<br> <br>Allista balls up one of her fists, resting it on her hip, then holds up a finger in front of her with her other grasper. &quot;It is important to understand the how and the why of things, miss,&quot; she replies. &quot;The why and the why not and the when and the where. That, and I have always enjoyed a good mystery! I&#39;m going to have to think about exactly which what I want, though...&quot; she crosses an arm over her stomach, rests an elbow in the palm of her hand, and then taps at her chin. Gently. &quot;And once that is settled on, tests. Which, sadly, I can&#39;t do myself. Thank you, miss.&quot; She snaps her fingers then and motions for her golem to follow as she returns to the carts.<br> <br>Amelia climbs her own way into the cart, keeping her hood tugged up as she crooks her arm around the staff to settle in for the trip. She had a few things to reflect on, on the way back. But then, she always did, really.<br> <br>With everyone getting ready to go Jessica sighs a moment, &quot;That... be careful with that. Don&#39;t be using live beings for your tests.&quot; She says, heading back over to the cart. Once inside, she congratulates Hartford first, before very one else, thankful for such a good retainer. Everyone rounded up, she tells the cart drivers to take them back home...[[Category:RPLogs]]