Solo Ancient

[Gorgondantess]

You sit in a small hut, in front of the elder. A wooden shrine to sain is in the back; about two feet tall, it shows him, tall and lean, with a goblet in his right hand in front of him, and an ornate dagger behing his back, a jolly look in his eyes. Not that you can see any of it; the herbs the elder burns in his bowls are making your eyes hurt so bad you can't even see him, and the fumes are making you very, very lightheaded.... and you're outside, around a fire, drinking a goblet of wine and dancing as you slit a young girl's throat, on a slab in front of the fire, while the tribe cheers... and you're sprawled across the slab yourself, and now she is holding the dagger and screaming... and then she is Sain. You've only seen the woodcuts until now, and in person it's all so clear... and familiar... he is tall, at least seven feet, very muscular and lean. His face is long, and handsome, and just looking at it you can tell he has a very, very deep voice. His hair is a dark red, long, down to his thighs, and he only wears a girdle with some straps of black cloth to cover himself. He holds the dagger, approaches you, and chuckles in a voice even deeper than you expected. "I supppose you think there's a point? Not really, old friend. I doubt there ver will be. He look down at the dagger, and his face lights up. "Then again, I suppose you'll get a point one way or another." With that, he hands you the dagger, and without thinking you plunge it into your heart...
.......
............
and you wake up, with a splitting headache to boot. In front of you is a bag filled with rations, enough for about 2 weeks of travel, and several waterskins.

[UserClone]

Merrick slowly sits up, trying to shake off the grogginess brought on by the...dream? Vision? He can't be quite sure what it was. Looking in front him, he takes a count of the waterskins, and then looks about him for his weapons and armor, and anything else of note.

[Gorgondantess]

All of your weapons and armor are in the sack, the waterskins filled. As you look around, you notice half the tribe glaring at you. One man walks forward, a fellow of about 19 with long black hair. "Well? Get on with it!"

[UserClone]

"And who will go with me?" wonders the priest allowed. After all, he thinks, Sain's first commandment is still, "gamble not without stacking the odds in your favor." He gets up and, gathering the items together and donning his armor, makes for the door.

[Gorgondantess]

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Technically you're already outside. And now they're all shouting at you to get going.

[UserClone]

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Ah, I'd thought that I was still in the hut for whatever reason...

Merrick, using his bone spear as a walking stick, makes his way to the Northeast edge of the village. Looking back once, he pauses to take a sip of water, and moves on.

[Gorgondantess]

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Which way are you coing, exactly?

[UserClone]

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...Northeast?

[Gorgondantess]

You travel for days. And days. After 3, the grasses stop. 2 more, and there is no sign of life whatsoever, and you're out of water; thankfully, when you bed down there is a heavy rain, and by propping up your waterskins you fill them after a very uncomfortable sleep. After another 2, you think you can see something off in the distance... but it could also be just a delusion, a mirage. You're not quite sure. Either way, you have enough food to make it back to the village, but the water is bad; you'll be parched by the time you get back there, if you leave now and there is no rain.

[UserClone]

Merrick decides it's time to turn back for now. Once he Merrick starts to get really thirsty, he puts his waterskins on the ground in front of him, still bulging with bad water, and begins to pray. "Great Sain, mighty and cunning, please remove the evil spirits from this water, that it may cleanse the foolishness from me, rather than cause my downfall."

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Using Pray(Sp) to get purify food and drink.

[Gorgondantess]

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The water is purified. So you're heading back to the village? Hm. Maybe I understated some things... yes I did. The week's supply of food you got there was a lot, and when you consider there being 580 people, they won't take kindly to your coming back empty handed. It's a last-ditch effeort sort of thing. Then again; if you press on, you could die of starvation (or blow a divine intervention, which sain will not take kindly to.)

[UserClone]

Merrick decides that, the fate of the village at stake, he must press on towards the hazy outline ahead.

[Gorgondantess]

You trudge onwards, and on, through the neverending bleak. Maybe you're going in circles; what with no landmarks, it wouldn't be that surprising. Finally, you see the 1st sign of life in days... clouds break out one evening, and it looks about to rain... thunder, lighning... then an immense, colossal bird bursts through, into sight, striking awe into your heart. It crackles with electricity, and screams so loud your ears ring... and then there is nothing. The clouds are gone, and you can't even be sure what you saw was real; maybe you're going insane? Either way, you are now no closer to your destination than you ever were; the shape in the distance can barely be made out now... some kind of white, and blue... but you're not sure you can reach it. Then again, you're not sure you can make it back. You take one more step... and your foot sinks into the ground. You can swear you hear a splash of water, and your foot feels wet, and cold... but you see unmarked dirt where it sunk into, no more, no less.

[UserClone]

Yanking back his foot in surprise, Merrick falls onto his bottom on the dusty ground behind him. He looks at his foot. Is it wet?

[Gorgondantess]

It feels wet, cold, and Merrick can feel the water drying on him... but it looks dusty, dirty, like he just sunk his leg into the dirt around him.

[UserClone]

Hm, thinks Merrick. I wonder... He sticks his spear down into the hole from his foot, as far deep as it will go, then pulls it back up, feeling for suction, as from quicksand.

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((Comma King!))

[Gorgondantess]

The spear goes in about a foot, with very little resistance; then it starts to feel as if going through muck. When you pull it out, however, the ground is still just hard caked dirt, looking dry as anything.

[UserClone]

Hiking up his breeches, Merrick presses on, leading with the butt of the spear as a walking stick.

[Gorgondantess]

You walk into the area where the waterishkindofstuff was, andthere is a splash, and your other foot feels soaked, and when you pull your foot up there is just hard packed earth whereit was. after this, there are no more splashes, or waterishkindofstuff for 10 more paces.

[UserClone]

Merrick will leave one of the containers from his food here, filled with rocks so that it won't blow away, in order to mark this unusual spot. He then continues towards the hazy image.

[Gorgondantess]

As he drops his container of food, it resounds with a plunk and disappears into the ground. Reaching in you feel the same waterish, and your hand feels very wet; you grab the container and set it beside the "hole", laving just flat, caked ground; your hand and the container are both very dirty now.

[UserClone]

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I suppose I was unclear. I meant to:

• Empty the container before filling it with rocks
• place the container beside the strange area,

but I suppose it really doesn't make a difference.

Wiping the dust off of his hand (and the container), Merrick makes a mental not of this place and moves on.

[Gorgondantess]

You trudge onwards, once more. A day passes, and in the distance it finally becomes clear; it is a mountain range, grey and blue and white, with a swath of... trees, or maybe grass at the bottom. Anothe day, and you are very, very close to it; about a mile away you can see a long patch of trees along the base of an immense mountain range, how many trees you cannot tell; the range curves endlessly to the west and south. It is evening, and there isn't much time left in the day.

[UserClone]

Merrick decides that it's time to make camp for the night, and that while he'll probably do a bit of exploring, it's best if he forage for enough food to get back, and then return to the village, as a wooded area means both food and water enough to sustain his people.

[Gorgondantess]

Could you post your character sheet, please? It'll be useful to have it just in the thread, so I don't have to go to my PMs every time I want to see it.

[UserClone]

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Edited first post.

[Gorgondantess]

You spend an entire day searching for some kind of food. Inside the forest are large, viny plnts whose roots entirely cover the ground. You find one fleeting glimpse of some kind of animal, but that's all. There are no berries or fruit to be found, and the only water is a stagnant pool wthat would barely fill one waterskin, and is putrid smelling. Though you get no light from the canopy, you know it is at least afternoon by now in the forest; you have spent hours in it, and worse yet, you are hopelessly lost. The trees are so thick you could b 50 feet from the entrance and not know it, and the mny stumbles and trips you have suffered have caused you to have no idea as to where you entered.

[UserClone]

All the same, while he's there, Merrick fills one of his waterskins with the nasty water. Lacking better options, he Prays to Sain, flipping a coin, asking "Great Sain, guide me. Should I go on this day?" ((Augury))

[Gorgondantess]

the coin lands on your hand, bounces much higher than it should, and lands to the southwest.

[Gorgondantess]

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Hint: if you're still stumped as to what to do-and I could perfectly understand that, these things can be tricky sometimes- I think you might want to head to the southwest.