Chapter Two: The Hippocampus on the Cracked Lintel

Leth, having woken up, packed his things, and had a small bite to eat, was now standing nearby while they released Fox Face, bow in hand. He watches the events unfold but does not seem particularly interested. He is lost in his own thoughts, contemplating the plan for the day and trying to decide if it really was the best way to go about things.

My concern is that if Leth, Felor, or Vad go to the rendezvous, they might be recognized and throw the whole plan. In general, I think Leth would prefer to simply just keep looking for Zora, or at least look for signs of her camp and try to track her from there, but if he's out-voted, he won't fight it.

Zangua returns the gaze, steeled in his resolve. He lets the others break camp while he wards against the gnoll, bringing to mind some of the dark tasks committed while in its company. Zangua's grip tightens on his weapon.

OOC: I realized that we never really determined a facing. Can I assume that I've interposed myself between Fox Face and the exit?

Zangua allows Fox Face to recover his items. He waits until the party has left the barn before following them out, maintaining his vigil and keeping Fox Face inside. His primary purpose is ensuring that Fox Face does not try to harm the rest of the party as the gnoll leaves.

Zangua scouts the areas surrounding the trail, acting as both guide and tracker. He assesses the weather and keeps a look-out for game and fresh water.

Chewing on a tasty earthworm, Mordred passes the time hiking down the trail by practicing his sleight of hand - passing a coin over his knuckles and back again.

As the group walks the trail Vad decides to entertain them with harrowing tails from his past; some of which may actually be true. During some of the more exciting bits he'll move to the front of the party and act out exactly what happened so that everyone understands just how truly amazing he was in those dire situations.

Haha this is an awesome idea!

As Felor trudges through the drizzle listening to Vad's tall tales, his eyes wander over the flora by the path. He tries to identify any plants with useful properties - medicinal or culinary.

Slightly intimidated by all the nature around him, Mordred decides climbing a tree doesn't look all that different from shimmying up a drain pipe, and when he sees a nice tall straight one, he clambers up, to see if the party is being followed and to check for ambushes ahead.

Leth is only half paying attention to the antics of his travelling companions - he is more focused on the nature around them. He inhales deeply and gives a faint smile as he is reminded why he left his home. He could never get enough of this.

He turns his attention to the ground around them and decides to stretch his hunting muscles a bit. He begins looking for any signs of wildlife around them, perhaps there was some game to hunt. Had any animals been through here recently? If so, what kind of animals? And how many of them? These were all things he had been trained to look for from a young age, and he began surveying the surrounding area with a keen eye...

Shamush enjoys the open air as the group moves along. At times he's quiet and watchful, glancing over his shoulder occasionally, perhaps keeping an eye out for the odd vengeful pack of dog men on their trail. Occasionally he'll start talking, to anyone, really. Felor's herb-hunting gets his attention and he pesters the man about any hallucinogenic plants and fungus that may be around. Clearly he's eager to learn more about such things. He shows Felor the remains of his personal stock and relays to anyone who will listen on the strange visions he's experienced over the years. Which then leads him to the Church of Selves, whose complicated philosophy he talks about at length, though digressions are frequent and often devolve into stories about his mean and violent existence as what seems to amount to muscle for one schismatic school of the Church in Darcra.

Shamush will try and sound fairly coherent in discussion the tenets of his school of the cult of Selves. This is both to look good and in a sense quiz himself, making sure he remembers what was beat into him as a youth.

Having told all of his best stories Vad starts to burn off some of his excess sorcerous energy by drawing his dagger and flipping it around. The dagger twirls and flips in his hand at unnatural speeds at times giving off a green or orange glow. "Hmmm, I wonder what tricks I could manage without using my powers!"

Extending his arm in front of him he holds his dagger by the tip and starts to flip it in his hand attempting the same tricks as he would normally perform (albeit at much slower speed and without the glow) without using any of his natural sorcerous power.



Wizard = Wizardly
Sorcerer = Sorcererly? (Sounds way wrong)

EDIT: Sorcerous - Thanks, CM.

As the group continues its march, it is inevitable that someone would ask Zangua about himself. He deflects very personal questions and provides generic answers which, while certainly truthful to an extent, don't implicate him in anything specific.

"I was a soldier, standard infantry. I think I spent more time staring at the back of a wall on guard duty, more than the eyes of any enemy. Training was good, and in fact I met some of my best friends during basic. But I lost contact with them after we were disbanded.

"Yeah, our unit was no longer needed; some cost-cutting measure some high-nosed noble thought up. No sense in paying people to guard walls, I guess."
Sorcerous.