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AtroposReborn
"Guess it's up to me then," Ellesar muses. "Get some rest Stogie." The elf walks over to his pack and grabs his rifle to prepare for the next few hours of watching and waiting. After checking to make sure the weapon is properly loaded and prepared to use he finds a new tree to lean on.
pbangarth
Stogie sets up the one man tent he acquired to optimally hold the heat from the fire, and turns in. Jake curls up in the crook of his knees. In just a few minutes, it's hard to tell their quiet snoring apart.
Tecumseh
It's been a long day indeed, one that started back in Greenwater and involved hiking all the way back to the Sisters' camp. Stogie and Smohalla have no problems dropping off, leaving Ellesar to scan the forest by himself. Ellesar is also tired. Stogie needs three hours of sleep, and Ellesar debates the merits of doing it all himself or waking Smohalla halfway through to split the burden. He leans against a tree and feels the cold night keeping him awake.

Ellesar:
[ Spoiler ]
Tecumseh
In his fatigue, Smohalla dreams.

Smohalla:
[ Spoiler ]
AtroposReborn
Ellesar eyes the drone warily as it flitters across the backdrop of the mountain. He holds fast and restrains his body from reacting hastily. There may be no need for alarm. Even if the drone does spot us it will see that we're not its targets, unless those idiots from before decided to tell the other parties or even just Gunny about our actions. Still, they will likely view us as just another team attempting the same as them. Either way, it'd be best if we aren't all noticed. The elf attempts to hide himself as best as possible behind the tree, hoping the drone will pass quickly.
phlapjack77
Smohalla dreams.
[ Spoiler ]
Consciousness comes with a slight twitch of the body.

The dream fades slowly into the corners of the mind.

Smohalla rolls over silently, his eyes open and staring at the heavens above.

He will not sleep again this night.
pbangarth
Stogie rolls over and jostles Jake. The dog grunts and rises. He walks in a circle, once, twice, three times and drops with a sigh in the newly created crux of Stogies knees.
Tecumseh
Ellesar ducks behind a tree. He feels confident in his hiding spot and in his interpretation of the situation, but there's a nagging doubt in his mind. Any drone that's out at this time of night is almost certainly not relying on low-light vision. More likely it's employing thermographic vision, if not something even more sophisticated. If that's true then the campfire will show up like a spotlight, with Stogie and Smohalla and Jake visible too.

Smohalla stirs after only twenty minutes of sleep. Stogie and Jake sleep by the fire in a new position, but Ellesar - the watchman - is gone.
phlapjack77
Staring up at the endless heavens, Smohalla feels his soul pulled upward and far away.

He slips his mortal sheath and rises up on the astral, a ghostly eagle hovering near the reflected shadow of the campfire.

The surrounding campsite is then searched for signs of the elusive elf and any other possible dangers.
Tecumseh
Smohalla has no trouble quickly locating the elf. Why he's hiding behind a tree and why his aura looks that way is another issue.

Rapidly circling the camp, Smohalla soon determines that there's no major lifeforms within a hundred meters.
phlapjack77
Eyes wide open, Smohalla's meat body continues to stare at the stars that are so distant in the night sky.

In the astral an incandescent form wings it's way towards these stars, hoping to replay the moments just prior.

Yet the closer to the heavens the eagle gets, the weaker he feels. This is no dream now.

Saddened, Smohalla returns to Mother Earth and the campsite the group inhabits upon her.

Taking up residence on a branch near Ellesar, the astral avian waits to see what happens next.

pbangarth
Stogie rolls again, restless and noisy in his sleep. Jake grumbles. A low moan escapes Stogies throat.

For all the world he looks like old Tommy, the first of my herders. But way bigger. And he glows! That can't be right. What's he doing here on the mountainside, what do the Sisters call it, Tlalol? Hmm. What am I doing here?

No sunlight. No starlight. How can I see? The ground glows. No. Parts of the ground. Strips of land. One big one going up the mountainside. What is this?

"You asked to know. I can tell."

Shit! Tommy, you can talk.

"Here I can. Here I am more than Tommy. More than you know."

o_O

"You asked to know. I can tell."

Ooookay. What is this?

"This is the sight of Earthpower. You walk among the veins and arteries of the Mother, yet you don't know of them or see them. Some do. They have learned. You once asked one such man. A wise one."

Old Megwetch, from out East. Yeah, he told of ... ley lines. Yeah. Said he could tell manastorms and twists in the astral plane without even assensing. I told him then I didn't see much use for that. He let it go and didn't say any more.

"He was wise. You were not."

So, this line up the mountain, is that one?

"Yes. It feeds the power of the women. Yours too, for now. It likes you. Were you to choose, you could have this sense. You are ready. I can feel the energy in you. Waiting to be trained. Do you want to see?"

It could be useful here, yeah. What do I have to do?

"You have done it before. Long for the knowledge. Open your mind and heart. Pay the price."

What price?

"Your energy. Or another price if your energy is dear to you."

I don't like the sound of that.

"Everything costs. What is it worth to you?"

I'm not paying any price I don't know the measure of.

"Do you want this power or don't you? I grow bored. There are squirrels that need chasing."


Stogie tosses and turns. Jake jumps up, back to the wall of the tent, hackles raised, looking around for ... whatever made Stogie feel angryscared. And where did those glowing squirrels he was chasing go?

I wanna be whatever I need to be to fight the bastards who killed you. And I don't even know what the hell you are doing here. This can't be real. None of this.

"Try this for 'real'!"

Wait! What? What's happening?

the ground reaches for stogie's legs with ropes of light. He is pulled down... down...down into a river of light. he can't breathe. no. he doesn't breathe. or see. just know. like a tide he is carried through the ground, faster and faster up the mountain. down into the heart of it. channels open in every which way. pushing and sucking him he is tossed far across the mountain to others like it. the feel changes and he is whipped through a city.. what city? does it matter? it feels ... twisted. down .. down deeper he goes, ever faster. up into a round mountain... there is water all around... how does he know? he knows. another city, with buildings that feel like batteries plugged into his eyes as he passes them. down again... through such heat as burns his bones, but he doesn't die... he lives! what a rush! who would have thought pain could be so full of life? swirl through and around and around and around a circle of stones whose earth-age and strength bend and flow with triangles and squares and quincunxes... and whothefuckknows what a quincunx is? but it is! and stogie is one too! Hotdamn what a rush to know this... he has gotta have this ... gotta have this...

"You have chosen."

W..w..wubb... Yeah. I choose.

"Wrrrowww!"


Stogie arches his back and howls in agony, and streaks of light shine from his eyes and light up the tent. Jake howls with him, utterly, utterly scared out of his canine wits by what he feels from Stogie.

Stogie whips up to a sitting position, and looks around. "Jake... buddy! Come here little guy. Lemme tell ya about the ride I just took!" In an instant Jake is licking Stogie's face as fast as he can.

AtroposReborn
Ellesar sits quietly, his head rested against the solid trunk of the tree. He continues to wait for the drone to pass over, hoping that the stirring of the others doesn't attract any greater attention.
Tecumseh
Ellesar watches as the drone banks slowly, curving to the south toward the campsite. It seems to be headed for the fire. Unless it turns again, it will pass overhead in about thirty seconds.

Smohalla, against all odds, manages to spot the movement of the drone. It was only by following Ellesar's line of sight that he knew where to look. Lacking any appreciable night vision, he can't make out what it is. From his astral vision, he knows it's not alive.

Stogie is too busy trying to keep Jake's tongue out of his mouth to notice what's going on.
phlapjack77
Smohalla resolves to follow the not-alive thing.

The shadow cast by the drone is indistinct, a dull gray that is hard to pick out from the surroundings.

But being on the astral does reduce the chance that he'll be spotted.
Tecumseh
The drone passes over the camp. As it does, it finally draws Stogie's attention away from Jake and the crazy dream he just had. Ellesar gets a good look as it flies overhead.

Ellesar:
[ Spoiler ]

The drone banks around the campsite, taking a pass over the trees and the lake. It begins to fly back north in the direction from which it came.
phlapjack77
Smohalla takes up a position high above the drone, framing it's dull shadow against the vibrancy of the forest life below.

Here on the astral the flight of the drone is almost a crawl in terms of speed.

It is no trouble for the shaman to keep pace with it - now to see where it leads him.
Tecumseh
The drone disappears to the north, leaving Ellesar, Stogie, and Jake alone with Smohalla's unconscious form. Stogie sees that Smohalla's spirit is separated from his body; he glances up to watch it follow the drone away.

Smohalla:
[ Spoiler ]

phlapjack77
Smohalla circles long enough to memorize their auras.

After he is done, he quickly wings his way back to the campsite and rejoins with his physical form.

The shaman's body gives a small twitch and sits upright.

He looks around the camp and sees his friends are awake.

We will have visitors.

One dwarf, as our lost friend Jeff was.

Two humans, full of metal and machinery.

One of Ellesar's kind, a medicine man with some power.

Their arrival will be from the north.
AtroposReborn
Ellesar peers around the base of the tree over to where the others reside. He stands, dusts himself off from the residue of his hiding spot, and joins them at the campsite. He appears worried and thoughtful. Listening to Smohalla's words bring him further grief. "Visitors? That's concerning, given our situation. None of us have had any sleep either." The elf sighs and sinks to his knees. "I guess it can't be helped. How far north were they when you saw them?"
pbangarth
Stogie's mind clears with this news. "Four of them, three of us. But we have the advantage of foreknowledge and preparation.

"If we could deal with these people on our own, protecting the Sisters while they may be at their most vulnerable, we would demonstrate our trustworthiness to them."

He feels a new sensation, almost like an AR overlay on his senses, that reminds him of the dream. He lets it intrude into his consciousness. Did that dream really happen?
Tecumseh
Stogie concentrates for a moment, making sure that he is not assensing. This is relatively easy to do: he looks as Jake. If Jake looks like a fireball about to explode, Stogie is assensing. If Jake is just running around in circles, digging, or eating, odds are Stogie is not assensing. If Jake is confused and transmitting bewildering thoughts, then Stogie passed his astral perception to Jake and Jake is assensing.

Stogie:
[ Spoiler ]
phlapjack77
The question from Ellesar gives Smohalla a moment's pause.

Sixty kilometers north, near the city of North Bend.

These men seemed experienced...dangerous.


In answer to Stogie's statement:

We must prepare ourselves then.
pbangarth
Stogie files away the sensations he acquired. Sitting on a ton of dynamite. Hmm.

"How are they traveling? Sixty kilometers is a long way to walk, especially through this forest. They wouldn't be here till at least tomorrow, even if they knew we were here and came right at us."
AtroposReborn
"By then they're sure to have met some sort of resistance. If nothing else the wolves in this area are none too kind to strangers. They must be here for the sisters. I can't think of any other reason for a group of well-armed men to go wandering in the woods."
phlapjack77
Smohalla pokes the campfire with a stick, bringing the flames to life again.

I did not see any immediate sign of how they travelled.

My guess is they have some means available beyond just their feet, either magical or mechanical.

Ellesar, you seem to have made friends with brother Wolf.

Do you think we should enlist his aid in this?
pbangarth
"Yeah," pipes in Stogie. "We won't have any better scouts than them."
phlapjack77
Let us decide how to deal with these newcomers, when they draw near.

For I fear the question is when, not if.

Do we strike them from ambush, without warning?

This is the way Eagle deals with intruders.

Yet if we had been treated thusly by Wolf and the Sisters, our story currently would be much different.

Do these others deserve the same consideration we were given?

We lose the element of surprise, yet possibly gain allies in our cause.
pbangarth
"You make a good point, Smohalla. We certainly were given the benefit of a doubt by the Sisters. But we also know of at least one other group that was not. It's possible the Sisters checked us out, I dunno, astrally? To find out our intentions. I don't know if you can do that sort of thing, Smohalla, as an astral scout. I would have to get close to them to have even a chance to do that myself.

"Ambush is certainly a useful tool. And maybe whittling them down a bit before they get here. Any thoughts on how we might do that?" Stogie gets a big grin on his face. "Maybe we could direct that friendly troll in the woods their way. From what you say about them, Smohalla, I don't think any of them can regrow a chest the way you did!""
AtroposReborn
"It could work, but there are a few problems. First of all we don't have any knowledgeable connection to the monstrosity that came after us and even if we did how would we communicate with it? It wasn't very open to chatting. Secondly, if we setup some sort of trap for these people we won't be seeing any sleep tonight. Do you plan on waking up the sisters or hunting down K'wa'iti? If not we have no backup in case something goes wrong and they may even think we've turned on them with this new group. Will they stop and make camp for the night or do they have the energy to persist?" Ellesar continues listing off the numerous problems the group now faces, his eyes towards the sky as if expecting the drone to make another appearance. "This situation is far from idea."
pbangarth
"Uh, I was actually trying to make a joke about the troll thing. Didn't work, huh?" Stogie shrugs.

"Well, if they are far away, you're right, we should get our sleep. Either they will rest tonight anyway, or we will be rested and they won't be when they get here. I'm OK for now. You guys turn in and I'll keep watch. If I get tired near morning I'll wake one of you and catch another hour's sleep myself."
phlapjack77
I agree - we should rest now.

I will summon some spirits to help keep us safe while we sleep.

In the morning we can work more on our plan to deal with these men.
Tecumseh
Smohalla turns his attention to summoning some watchers. Humming lowly to center himself, he reaches up to pull three small spirits out of the thick mana. The first two go well but he completely whiffs on the third, his mind still distracted by the dream he had not long ago. His centering allows him to soak the drain like a champ, although part of him wonders if it might have been better to let the drain put him back to sleep. His mind is racing so much that it might be the only way to get some rest. Could a shaman stunbolt himself? A philosophical question for now as that is not a spell Smohalla knows.

Smohalla opens his hands to see what he's managed to conjure. Somewhat to his surprise, the two watchers appear as colorful butterflies. They sit in the palms of his hands, their wings beating lightly as their antennae vibrate, waiting for instructions. He whispers his will to them, and they lift off when he blows a puff of air underneath them. They flutter off to the north, leaving a trail of sparkling dust behind them on the astral. Their spirit-summoner connection established, they relay what they see back to him. Smohalla reclines, closing his eyes as his mind darts back and forth between his dream and the updates he receives. All quiet on the northern front.
pbangarth
Stogie pokes at the fire, puts on another log, and pulls his jacket tighter around himself as he sits with his back to the fire. Jake looks longingly at the tent, and then curls up beside Stogie, his back to the fire too.
Tecumseh
Smohalla sets the watchers to watch. And so they do, reporting back on the comings and goings of the forest's nocturnal creatures. Smohalla feels the natural rhythms, nothing seemingly out of place for the moment. The men, unless they fly, will take hours to arrive. That is, if they even come. Perhaps a man sleeping with a dog next to a campfire is not what they were looking for. Or perhaps, given the limited number of campers in the mountains in November, it was precisely what they were looking for. It remains to be seen. In either case, the Sisters' camp has now been noted by someone, somewhere, as a campsite.

Stogie cannot sleep but that won't stop Jake. He opportunistically finds a warm patch and burrows into Stogie, still wondering what that brain-melting dream was all about. And what's with this new sense that Stogie seems to have developed in the last fifteen minutes? That wasn't always there, was it? It's like hearing, but not for sound, or smell but not for scents. It's some sixth sense that warps Jake's poor doggie mind. The academics and philosophers and religious men can hardly explain it, so it's little wonder that the border collie finds it all baffling.

Ellesar is the only one who can get some rest. He might be sleeping with one eye open, wary of man-eating trolls and drones and troll drones (trones, or drolls), but there's been a hell of a lot of walking recently and he's only too happy to get some shuteye. At least one member of the team will need to be alert tomorrow, although Jake should help balance the scales.

The night slowly passes. Stogie, needing little sleep, is accustomed to watching the stars roll slowly by. Smohalla is less experienced with extended periods of wakefulness in the middle of the night but at least he has something to occupy his thoughts. The magic is so strong in this place, Smohalla can feel himself progressing by leaps and bounds. What he's learned in the last few days almost equals all the years prior. It's a heady experience. Can it continue this way? Is it like this for everyone? If so, what must the Sisters be capable of by now? Not just magically, but morally? Smohalla would go to great lengths to protect a place like this. But how far is that, exactly?

Hours pass. Thoughts circle. Finally, as their brains start to ache from the constant buzz of thoughts and the pressing chill of the nighttime air, a sliver of dawn breaks over the mountains to the east.
phlapjack77
Smohalla rises from the ground and stretches.

Seeing his teammate(s) awake, he looks to the glow on the horizon with a smile.

A beautiful sight.

I wonder what today brings.

My little ones have not reported any sight of the others travelling towards us.

pbangarth
Stogie stands up, reaches for the sky with both arms, and then leans forward into the yoga 'downward dog' pose. Jake leaps up and does the original pose for which it was named right beside him, tail wagging. It's kinda cute. Stogie looks at the fire. "I'll get this moving again, and see what I can scare up for breakfast."
phlapjack77
Some breakfast would be much appreciated my friend.

Perhaps while we eat we can discuss our next move.

I would like to scout again before the sun is too high in the sky.
AtroposReborn
The sunlight creeping across Ellesar's eyes awakens the slumbering elf. He comes to his haunches and looks at the others with heavy eyes. "Morning already? And here I was hoping for a few more..." A loud yawn blurs his last thoughts. Collecting his pack and rifle he makes his way to his usual log that he might inspect his gear.
phlapjack77
After breakfast Smohalla turns to his companions.

Now I will go and scout for our intruders to see if they yet travel towards us.

He considers scouting astrally for a moment, but rejects that and shifts into eagle form.

The longing for the feeling of wind rippling over feathers is too great an urge to resist.

As Smohalla takes to the air headed north, he mentally calls out to Father Thunderbird to ask that the totem join him.
pbangarth
Stogie wipes away a few crumbs as he watche Smohalla fly away, and is brought alert by the spirit Smohalla summons. Oh yeah. I meant to do a little science in the home and test out the ley line's effect on my mojo. Let's see.... yeah, how gymkata can I get?

he draws mana to enhance his flexibility and motor control.
Tecumseh
Smohalla takes the sky to perform his summoning. He feels the mana of the area charging his power; when he makes the call, the spirit that arrives looks rather like Father Thunderbird himself. The spirit is enormous, far larger than Smohalla - or is Smohalla larger here than he knows? The spirit, despite its overbearing power, is subservient to Smohalla's command. Through his link with the spirit, Smohalla knows that he may ask for three services. And, to top it all off, there's no drain. Smohalla is again filled with the rush of power this place provides.

He sets off to the north, the spirit in tow, to patrol the skies and scout the land below. The early morning air is clear and frozen, maybe -4 degrees Celsius. Visibility is good for the moment, and Smohalla's sharp vision can survey the mountains and valleys within 15 kilometers. It should be an easy patrol.

Smohalla has only flown a kilometer when the spirit jerks back, like a dog on a leash. Smohalla can feel it wince, its discomfort pouring through the spirit-summoner link. It fights on, dutifully intending to follow its master. Smohalla turns back and sees the spirit visibly shrinking as it continues north. It fades rapidly, its size diminishing with every beat of its wings. Within moments it's a fraction of its former self, a mere canary or songbird compared to the potent thunderbird it resembled shortly before, and then all of a sudden it fizzles in a whimper of exhausted magic. It vanishes, the link falling silent.

Smohalla curves back sharply to assess the situation. If he were not dual-natured, the answer would not be so obvious, but to Smohalla the explanation is plain as day: the spirit and Smohalla have left the Sisters' aspected site. To Smohalla, the change between the two environments is the difference between supercharged powers and his normal magical self. But to the spirit, summoned within a highly aspected terrain, the rest of the world must resemble an impure, unholy place, even in the mountains. From the spirit's perspective, the rest of the world is a giant mana void, with a background count like a black hole. Once past the event horizon, it can never return.
phlapjack77
What an interesting development.

This was an occurrence that Smohalla had never heard of before.

So much was there to learn there at that mountain of power.

So much.

The eagle shaman's resolve strengthens to stay and study with the Sisters.

But to do that he must help protect them from those who might do them harm.

He returned to his task and continued flying along the route that would lead him to where he saw the intruders the previous night.
pbangarth
Stogie feels the mana flow into his musculature, stretching and loosening his body. For a moment, just a moment, it feels as if his whole body starts vibrating and humming, like a taut rubber band, drawing Jake's curious attention, "Wuf?"

But a hasty dose of concentration on Stogie's part settles his muscles. In the end, for the half a minute or so that the power lasts, he cavorts and flips with Jake in total abandon. He files the magnitude of the transformation and the near side effect away for future reference.
AtroposReborn
The exodus of Smohalla does little to catch the elf's attention. The rampant frolicking of Stogie and Jake, on the other hand, catches him quite off guard. Hoping this isn't some sort of crazed blood magic spell Ellesar acts as if he isn't watching the two, his gun never leaving his grasp. As the couple begins to calm down he comes to his feet. "Everything all right with you two?"
pbangarth
Stogie catches his breath a moment before answering. "Yeah, I was just testing the effects of the mana concentration here on some of my magic. The abilities that actually require pulling the mana in. I wanted to see how much I could boost some of my physical traits. I thought playing with Jake would be a fun way to do it!

I figure this place makes my adept magic have almost twice the effect. Pretty cool, huh?"
Tecumseh
Stogie's heart skips a beat after the boost fades. There's a hard stop, then it restarts as strong as ever, accompanied by a strange tingling in his extremities. The feeling passes and he returns to reveling in the feeling of power here.

Ellesar considers Stogie carefully. On the one hand, the magic here seems to be making Stogie a bit nuts. Are the Sisters crazy too? Probably. But on the other hand, the magic is so close at hand that it seems like Ellesar could reach out and touch it. He feels an odd stirring deep within his chest, the memory of suppressed talent that he buried long ago. It had never been more of a wisp of potential but the Ghosts had ripped it away all the same. Every time Ellesar tried to tap it after leaving the Ghosts he would find himself with a bloody nose, or an inexplicable black eye, or worse. He soon learned to let the forbidden fruit wither on the vine. But here it feels like it once did long ago, before the Ghosts, like the beginning of a great journey. Does he want to revisit it and risk heartbreak, maybe literally? Or should that sleeping dog lie?

Up above, Smohalla ventures north, swinging east and west to survey the terrain. The conditions are good and he's extremely confident that he would have spotted anything that there was to find, but there's nothing. He pushes far enough to see Greenwater, but the town is empty at this early hour. The men, if they have decided to pay a visit, have either not begun their journey or have chosen a different route. This morning all is calm and quiet.
AtroposReborn
The elf's hand grips his rifle harder as he feels the temptation wash over him, almost to the point of drawing blood. He forces the thoughts from his head as the rifle finds its way onto his back. Perhaps he would revisit the forbidden feeling, but for now he needed to focus. The news of the travelers headed towards them flashes anew in his memory.

Ellesar looks to the sky, half expecting to see the eagle soaring overhead. He addresses Stogie after gathering his thoughts. "Cool, right. I'm sure the Sisters would agree with you on that one." He lets out a slight chuckle at his hidden jest. "Well, there isn't terribly much we can do until Smohalla gets back from his recon. If you don't have any better ideas I'm going to head out a few yards and post up behind some foliage. If someone else shows up just send me a whistle." Ellesar begins making his way into the forest, keeping an ear open for Stogie.
Tecumseh
Smohalla ventures further, moving north through the cold autumn air. He won't be back until lunch.

Meanwhile, back at camp, Jake cleans the dishes from breakfast while Stogie mans the fire and Ellesar climbs a tree. Stogie has very little work to do with the fire, given that it seems magically sustained. Throwing an extra log on helps it burn a bit brighter and adds some woodsmoke to the air, but otherwise the fire seems to persist without any outside intervention.

The Sisters wander into camp to say hello. Ellie tut tuts, looking at their dwindling supplies, and announces her intention to restock the camp that day, following their morning rituals. Does that mean the Sisters will go into town? Or do they have some other method to resupply themselves?
pbangarth
Stogie smiles at the Sisters. "Good morning, ladies." Deciding to toss a surprise out at them, he repeats the greeting in Or'Zet.

"It seems we may have some visitors sometime soon. Smohalla found a group of people north of here, some sixty kilometers. Up near North Bend. Four of them. Two who are probably good with guns. One who has magic and one who controls machines. Flying drones. That's how we noticed them last night. These ones look a little more competent than those we've met so far. More dangerous. Smohalla is up scouting out where they are now.

"It may not be a good idea to go shopping this morning."
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