Chapter 10: The Wheel Turns

Having been jabbed twice, Shadow sees red. With a horrible growl, the furry juggernaut of claws and teeth hurls itself onto the hapless spear wielder.

B5 aka Light Wound.

Shadow shakes the spear wielder in its mouth and prepares for more violence.

Crunch.

Shadow licks its paw and shakes it around a little.

With the fight over and the shock of bruising shaken off, Shadow and Summer approach the scared dogs of the fallen scouts. They loom over them, chuffing softly, sniffing them and imposing air of gentle authority. These pups are lost in the dark. They should follow us.

A few hours after midday on the day when the scouts would have arrived at the ford, Vasil, Shadow, Summer and two hunting dogs stroll back into the little settlement. Victory! (For now.)

Vasil seeks out Vlodny in order to ask for help with the Leshy...

Circles B3 + 1D Rep + 1D Help from Shadow

After a short conversation where Shadow explained to Vasil that, no, hunting dogs don't grow into Great Wolves and, yes, it and Summer may have puppies soon, the human and the wolf set off into the forest.

They intended to talk to Vlodny, their strangely magical acquaintance, about the feasibility of allying with the Leshy. Unfortunately, this suggestion saw Vasil and Shadow showered with nettle tea as the shock of being asked such a stupid question caused the ancient forest-dweller to spit his drink all over them. Vlodny berated the two for their folly, then graced them with the story of the first channelers. Having learned how humans came to contract with the spirits in the first place and had their hopes of reasoning with the Leshy dashed, the two of them seem to have run out of potential allies.

However, seeing Vlodny's star-lit eyes reminds Shadow... Humans aren't the only beings who walk the forest on two legs, are they?

Vasil attempts to convince Vlodny to give him information on how to summon the Leshy for a quiet chat.

Persuasion 3 + Ridiculous Request-wise

Vs Ob 6

Vasil has been very strongly informed not to summon the Leshy.

Rather than summon, he's trying to send a message to ask a question.

Ridiculous Request-wise B2 + 2D of help from ?Taft? (Thanks Jay) + 2D Nature of All Things (Summer) + 1D Materials-wise + 1D Craftsman-wise + 1D help from Shadow

Psuedo-graduated test against Ob 4.

ELF QUEST ELF QUEST AWOOOOOOOO

Shadow inches towards the elf playing the harp, trying to listen to the beautiful being's words.

Unfortunately for Shadow, elf songs are magical.

Shadow uses Grandfather's Song to speak directly into the elf's mind.

The elves (the harpist, the translator who is Vlodny's parent, the leader and two guards with spirit-marked spears) lead me into a place inside the tree. There's something strange about this place, between the awful spirit-wrongness smell in the crumbled rocks outside and the... something... in here.

The air is thick with a pleasant smell of starlight and sap... Marred by the stink rolling off a strange whispering stick, covered in cloth. A banner! They already have a banner! No, no, NO!!!

As Athioniel sings the song of merriment, Shadow attempts to steel itself against the shock of discovering that "Grandfather" is also the Grandfather of the elven Etharch.

...

Shadow stands and drools, overwhelmed by the beauty of the song. Its soul is lifted by it and somehow cleansed.