To New Horizons(2nd ed game, game thread)

[Armen]

Tamora

Tamora had flinched slightly at Gan’s question and her cheeks coloured as she realised her error. It was so easy to forget in the company of others that they were still in a very dangerous place. Not wishing to talk across Bas’ greetings she did not answer directly but nodded and shifted slightly allowing her attention to move between the stranger and the surrounding trees.

Following Bas’ words she stepped forward to stand beside him. “I am Tamora the Hunter”, she said, “traveller and now escort to the Learned One”. Formalities over she remained quiet allowing Bas to continue the conversation for now and maintaining a watch around the edge of the clearing.

[ 02-09-2007, 06:11 AM: Message edited by: Armen ]

[dplax]

Anne

Indecisiveness and inability to act. These were new among Anne's defaults. Could it be that life without the constant danger of being apprehended from one minute to another by the forces of order was having an adverse effect on her? She still felt the adrenaline surge when spotting the fight, still felt the blood pulsing in her veins at the prospect of a battle, but she had been unable to move.

Finally, once the battle was over and Tamora had introduced herself to the elf, Anne also stepped forward from her cover among the trees. To the left she could hear the bird, still following them, rustling among the leaves. She paid no heed to him, and introduced herself to the elf.

"My name is Anne. I am..." she paused for several, long seconds. "I honestly don't know what I'm doing in this world."

[Calaethis Dragonsbane]

Gan Vahnsen

“I would be 'Gan'.” The half elf introduced himself politely acknowledging the Sun Rider, “At present I am following the 'Commander', our Hunter.” he smiled at Tamora. He shrugged, “As to what I am doing here, well, one might ask the same of you.”

He shrugged again, as though dismissing the 'dressed as a lord, not an adventurer', “When one journeys to another world, it is best to be prepared.” Gan nodded towards the newly identified Thri-Kreen and asked, “What do you know of these ‘Thri-Kreen’? I have not encountered their like before now.”

[PurpleXVI]

Gan, Bas, Anne, Tamora

"I'm a stranger to much of this part of the world myself," Balth said to Bas, "So I'm afraid I can't tell you much about this area, however, since you rescued me, I believe I would like to return the favour. Unless you have any objections, of course. Are you wandering aimlessly, or do you have a destination?"

He listened politely to what the other three had to say, not seeming too interested until Gan spoke, "You four are from another world?" His eyes opened wide with surprise, and then he laughed, "Well, I suppose there are still some things that can amaze me. Tell you what, you tell me how you came to be here and a few things about your homeworld, and I'll tell you about the mantis-men. Sound like a deal?"


Lorath, Ulik, Evon

Ulik's blood seemed to burn the thing like acid, it emitted an ear-piercing shriek so high that only animals and Ulik could hear it, Evon and Lorath sensed it as a passing instant of migraine-like pain.

It swiftly released it's grip, revealing that it's limbs had almost cut to it's victim's bone. Righting itself in mid-air, it scuttled over to the stairs like a cockroach and dove into the dark water, disappearing from sight.

Despite the depth of the cuts, they were bleeding surprisingly little, and already seemed to be on the path to healing. As clean as they were, it was possible that they might not even scar.

[Man Who Fights Like Woman]

Lorath winced from the shriek and clutched his temple. "Well, if we're not going to find anything useful here, we may as well move on," he suggested. The temple seemed like it might be the best choice overall, so he'd head there next.

[Armen]

Tamora

In response to the tall elf’s question to Gan she cut in sharply in elven. “I should think saving your life would earn us friendship and trust in itself". She paused and smiled, "but what you ask is no great secret. We travelled here magically in a way that I don’t understand as I know nothing of magic. Our world is similar to this one although much colder.” She was nervous of revealing too much to this stranger – the thought of hordes of over-sized creatures from this world descending on the forest of Angor’s Haven was an unnerving one and the idea of her own forest being invaded by creatures from this world even worse. “What brings you to this jungle then if you are from a different land?”

[ 02-10-2007, 04:13 PM: Message edited by: Armen ]

[Calaethis Dragonsbane]

Gan Vahnsen

“Calm yourself, Commander.” Gan murmured to Tamora, laying a restraining hand on her shoulder at her sharp tone, “We're the aliens here after all; he has no reason to trust us any more than we do him.” He addressed the Sun rider, “Your offer sounds fair. I can add little beyond what our esteemed Commander has said without going into vast detail about the inner workings of our cultures. Tell us what you know.”

Gan's words for once were not sardonic or in any way mocking, and he seemed to have dropped the underlying wry tone when addressing Tamora as 'commander'; for now at least, he seemed to be content to let her take the lead.

[ 02-10-2007, 05:25 PM: Message edited by: Calaethis Dragonsbane ]

[PurpleXVI]

Evon, Ulik

Apparently stunned by the attack, Evon and Ulik decided to soak their feet in the swamp water for a while as they stood around, staring emptily into the air, possibly contemplating deep thoughts like the size of the multiverse or the meaning of existence.


Lorath

Meanwhile, Lorath was soldiering on. For some reason there seemed to be more activity in the swamp now, tons of squirming and scuttling things seemed to be moving around under the water and the few times where he was forced to wade on the way to the temple-looking building, they swarmed around him, probing and examining him for reasons unknown. Some of the things looked like serpents or giant leeches, while others seemed to be more akin to huge roaches and insects.

For the moment, however, they seemed satisfied to examine the elf and didn't pursue him unto land or attack him, and he reached the temple only slightly more soaked than before.

Beyond the doorway, the place seemed to consist of a single circular room with a domed ceiling. Once, long ago, it had obviously been painted in amazing colours, but when Lorath looked upon it, only remnants of the once-impressive splendor remained as smudges of paint here and there. In the middle of the room was a raised, flat dais, inscribed with runes, and near the walls was seating for many short people. Beyond the seating were niches which contained statues, or the remnants of same. Those that were still whole seemed not to be impressive warriors or mages wielding staves crackling with powers, but rather humble-looking robed figures the size of halflings. None carried mystical items or weapons, a few held books, but that was it.

Near the opposite side of the room from the entrance, a stairway lead down to somewhere under the floor, in a few places near it, the floor had collapsed, leaving gaping, dark holes to some subterranean realm. The splash and slosh of water was the only sound audible from those routes.


Anne, Tamora, Gan, Bas

For a moment, Tamora thought she saw the flash of anger in Balth's eyes, as though he was about to reply to her sharp interjection with a piece of venomous wit, but then Gan spoke and it was gone, replaced by his cheerful demeanor.

"I was but curious," he said, "I had no idea that there even were other worlds, and you are right to be suspicious of me, for all you know, I could be planning to lead a horde of unspeakable terrors to your homeworld. Mostly I just wanted to know how you got here, perhaps some sort of enchanted gateway? Or a mighty mage's spell?"

"I'm here because my tribe are nomads, our usual hunting grounds to the west were being infested with Thri-Kreen and we headed east instead, setting up camp near the mountains. The jungle is full of bounty, but equally full of danger, and with all these damn trees it can be hard to see it coming. I don't know much about the Thri-Kreen myself except that they are formidable warriors, often as agile as any elf despite their size, some even wield priestly powers or can employ their Will as a weapon. Supposedly their name means The Hunter People, but I've never sat down to talk to one, they are carnivores and not above eating other thinking things when times are tough, and some of them have a taste for elves that makes us a decent addition to their dinner table even in times of plenty. As you can imagine, this somewhat strains relations even between us and those of their number who are as civilized as their kind can be." He grinned.

"I'm not saying that they are unintelligent, most of them are, again, as smart as us despite their monstrous appearance, but they have no need for cities or camps. They never sleep and they make even the most wandering elven or human nomads look like they've settled down. If you ever have to fight one, bring spears and be ready to set against a charge, for they can leap immense distances, and don't let them get close, as their mandibles contain a terrible, paralyzing poison."

The Sun Runner rubbed his chin and seemed to think, "That's about all I can think of. Now, where were you headed? Perhaps I know something of your destination. No matter where it is, though, if you're comfortable having me along, I suggest we get moving. Standing still for too long may attract predators."

[Man Who Fights Like Woman]

Lorath stepped in to the temple, making sure to tread lightly and watch his step. There was no telling what was alive in here, and he wasn't eager to find out. He went for the apparent altar, to see if he could read any of the writing, or at least copy the words into blank pages in the back of his spellbook.

"This is a magnificent ruin," he said in amazement, out loud but to himself. The statues piqued his interested, but you could never tell the true essence of a society from what they put on the front. He went for the staircase, switching to infravision as it got darker.

[Kazilan]

Bas shivered at the thought of people crossing over to his world, whether giant insect men or elves. Maintaining balance in this foreign land was enough of a challenge, but countering a threat to his own world at the same time? Impossible.

Bas' mind raced as he tried to think of a proper response. It would be better to keep this elf close, rather than send him away where news of travelers from another world could spread and bring unwanted attention.

"We are headed to a range of cliffs to the southeast. Your assistance in reaching them would be appreciated. To your other question, it was a powerful mage who sent us here. More than that I cannot say."