Selberath I: Calling

[DarkLadyOfTheSith]

Circe

"Circe," the woman replies by way of introduction, "and Whisper," she adds, indicating the bird still resting on her arm. "And if you wish to come, it's your own skin, I suppose."

[SandDemon]

Torak

Chuckling at the attempted joke, Torak returns the introduction. "Names Torak, follower of Trithereon and a champion of the black wind...." Looking for a reaction, he continues as if he did not care. "I'm more plain than sour, more mixed than shaken, and definitely overdone." He chuckles at his attempt at humor, while he continues looking over the horizon.

[Tyriq]

Granny Godwin

Granny gasps in surprise as the young woman turns into Zeke. She seems momentarily afraid, but quickly composes herself. "Now see here, young man.... I've heard about people like you." A small, outstretched finger stabs the air in front of the telepath. "Boys who dress up like girls! Hrmph. I'll tell you one thing, nosy Mrs. Nobb down the lane saw a young woman enter this house as my guest tonight, and if she doesn't see a young woman come out again, there will be whispering for weeks!" She stops, clearly eager to say more, but not sure what else to say.

In that moment, the tea kettle begins to whistle. Granny instinctively pours the water into the a teapot and then sets it next to the soup to steep.

"Okay, dear, Mr. Fancybrains..." she begins, clearly recovered from her earlier shock, "Have you thought of a plan to find these poor, lost people?"

[Kai-Palin]

Zeke

"Pleased to meet you, and you as well, Whisper." says Zeke, making another slight bow. Torak and Byron hear in their heads "Master says, 'Get in here, it's time to eat!'"
Hearing Granny, he grins and says "Oh don't fuss yourself. I'm not the only one who's more than I seem, thank you very much! Plans after food. We can always plan, we can't always eat."

[SandDemon]

Torak

Turning aside to walk within, Torak humbly apologizes as he looks at the food being presented, "I do not eat that which I do not gather myself - no need anyways." He twiddles a magical ring for the view of others, hinting at the source of his nourishment.

[mdsoze]

Byron

Byron walks in, smiling at all, and surveying the food.

Well, I certainly do eat. It's a pleasure to be invited for dinner. But before I eat, let me offer thanks.

Kord, who gives us all strength for our struggles, thank you for blessing us with the ability to provide for ourselves, and with the wisdom to choose our battles. And may I ask for Your Blessing as this group sets out to locate the missing from this village.

Byron will help Granny serve the meal as best he's able, and will wait until the ladies have seated themselves before taking a place at the table.

[DarkLadyOfTheSith]

Circe

The sorceress seats herself after a careful inspection of the chair's cleanliness (and a casting of Prestidigitation if necessary to clean it). She hardly touches the food beyond feeding some of the better-looking bits to her owl, eating only a token amount herself. "It would be logical to conclude that, if the missing are traveling south, a journey in the same direction is the best course. Perhaps camping several miles out of town and wait for someone to pass then follow them, if no obvious signs of their passage can be found."

[Alicorn]

((You all have 24 hours in real time to choose and enact a plan going forward or I will presume a course of action on your behalf and put you someplace in which you may continue with said course.))

[Kai-Palin]

Zeke

"That sounds like a good plan. If and when we find the next townsperson, I can also attempt to get a lock on their thoughts, and we can see if we can break whatever compulsion they are under." Zeke, finishing his soup, says to Byron and Torak, "You may call me Zeke, by the way, I am sorry for the necessary deception of earlier this evening. I will be accompanying you."

[mdsoze]

Byron

Sounds good. Let's move south, and we'll find this mess and deal with it.

[SandDemon]

Torak

"South it is"

[Tyriq]

Granny Godwin

Granny turns from the mixing bowl she was stirring as she picks up this latest bit of conversation. "But.... I haven't had time to bake your cake..." she trails off, as she notices the others already starting to file away from the table. If any of them had turned around, they would have seen a Granny covered in flour from her wrists up to her forehead, still absent-mindedly stirring the gray mush in the bowl.

Someone's got to make sure these young folk get a proper meal from time to time! With that thought, she gathers up her traveling bag and follows after them, just barely remembering to extinguish the oven fire before heading out.

[Alicorn]

As you travel steadily southward, the village gives way to cultivated land and, eventually, to scrub and then forest proper. By the time the sun indicates that it's about two in the afternoon, you've gotten several miles in among the woods, finding no paths but not finding it difficult going among the older trees that prevent any sunlight from encouraging dense undergrowth.

Spot and Listen checks all around.

[DarkLadyOfTheSith]

Circe's spot, listen: 1d20=2, 1d20=17 (+3 to spot if it's a shadowy location)

Whisper's spot, listen: 1d20+2=9, 1d20+16=23 (+8 to spot if it's a shadowy location)

[Tyriq]

Spoiler

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Spot: (1d20+1)[7]
Listen: (1d20+1)[10]

[Kai-Palin]

Zeke

"Any of you particularly uncomfortable with the idea of mental commonication? I kept a pair of speaker-rings, and one of you can have my reciever."
((Ring of Communication, pg. 122 of the Magic Item Compendium))

As Zeke wanders, he keeps his eyes and ears open, after making sure his crossbow has both bolts loaded. At one point after he knows it is (roughly) two-o'clock, he pauses for a few seconds and a barely noticeable deep blue shimmer comes into being around him. (Inertial Armor, 3 PP, +6 AC armor)
He carries his spellbook in one hand and his psicrystal hangs around his neck on what appears to be a crystalline chain, but is actually the psicrystal's ectoplasmic legs. He seems to be having an argument with the book, as he is holding it open in one hand and occasionally gesticulating with the other, but he does not speak much aloud.

Spoiler

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Listen: (1d20+2)[6]
Spot: (1d20+2)[4]

[mdsoze]

Byron

Spot (1d20+5)[20]
Listen (1d20+5)[6]

[Alicorn]

((We shall assume that Torak is humming loudly to himself and looking at the clouds, thus forfeiting his check.))

Circe and Whisper hear, and Byron sees:

Spoiler

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one of the missing townsfolk -Byron will recognize her as

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the village midwife, Atora Pellis

a fair distance off to the left, apparently filling in a sizeable hole.

[mdsoze]

Byron

Byron gets excited, and motions towards her, but speaks relatively softly.

That's Atora Pellis. She went missing three weeks ago! This is exciting. What's she doing? Should we approach her?

[Alicorn]

((Now that she has been pointed out, everyone can see her.))

[Kai-Palin]

Zeke

"Perhaps it would be wiser if we approach as quietly as possible. I want to get a lock on Mrs. Pellis' thoughts."

Spoiler

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Hide: (1d20+1)[20]
Move Silently: (1d20+1)[20]
hooray for totally worthless modifiers rendering useful results!

[DarkLadyOfTheSith]

Circe

The sorceress murmurs a soft spell and says, "We should see if she's under any enchantments before we approach too closely."

(Casting Detect Magic, and using it to examine the woman.)

[Alicorn]

Detect Magic results:

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Atora does not register magically.

[mdsoze]

Byron

Byron stays back, not approaching Atora at first, waiting for some indication from Zeke.

[Kai-Palin]

Zeke

(Sorry, I didn't make it particularly clear)

Moving quietly through the forest, Zeke shakes his head and gestures. As he does so, his tattoos throw off a dim radiance and the pattern of varicolored, intersecting lines flashes down him. He has become once again a she, the same young woman as before. Zeke moves until he is about 100 feet from Atora, and squeezes his eyes closed, before opening them wide and staring into a middle distance. Zeke (heh, can't really use he or she, would confuse people) continues to walk quietly toward the townswoman, taking shelter behind the trees, until he is about fifty feet away. He peers around the tree at her, and begins to image her mind. (Manifesting Read Thoughts. 3 PP spent, Will DC 17. Now, I need to know whether Atora makes her Will save or not. And once again I'm thwarted by the fact that you can't read my mind. Sorry!!! Although, my character sheet is right there in the signature, so the DCs are easily accessible.)

[Alicorn]

((When you want to do something like that, saying what you are using to do it and what the DC for the will save is would be more helpful than rabbit-wolf imagery.))

[SandDemon]

Torak

Peering around, Torak comes to his senses and watches the others act as he cautiously moves closer to the group.

(ooc: sorry, had some family emergency stuff that occupied me)

[DarkLadyOfTheSith]

Circe

After watching the woman for a few moments, the sorceress says, "She doesn't appear enchanted. It's probably safe to approach her."

[Alicorn]

((Results of Read Thoughts (I'm going to assume that you chose to have the mental chime display affect people around you, not your subject, so as not to alert Atora):

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The woman fails her save. "...will please Mother Hapatha," she is thinking. "I do hope she isn't upset with how long this took me. I'm not accustomed to this kind of job but I suppose there are no babies to deliver, at least not yet, and I certainly don't want to fail her even if I'm not getting the missions I'd most prefer, that would be most unfortunate indeed." You can continue concentrating or not at your option.

[Kai-Palin]

Zeke

(Actually, he opted not to make any sound beyond the initial chime, which Atora would not hear. If he does anything with a manifesting display that would be noticeable to anyone but him, I'll make sure to write it in. As no one was in range to hear the mental chime anyway, I did not include it.)

Zeke continues his perusal of her thoughts; while he tracks them, he requests that Animus mentally ask the others to approach and attempt to keep their presence secret.