Pius Fidelus: Convert the Niddog

[Oculus]

(sorry for slow posting, lots of work school etc.)

Arasylon 2.35

"Music is the sound of joy and sorrow," As he says this the first instance of Ghost Song fades and he casts it again, this time producing a mournful tone "It is emotion made into sound. With it you can tell great tales or just wordlessly show how you feel. I am Arasylon and Music and song are my gifts to you." At this the boy takes a bow in the back of his cart.

[Rogue_Dragon]

Arasylon 2.35
The Niddog around Arasylon still look surprised, and protective of the children, but the younglings are more than intrigued by the sounds this strange creature keeps making. One of the younglings, more bold than the rest runs out between the adults legs and moves right up next to Arasylon "You teach us? Make good sounds forever?" The children that stayed back keep trying to imitate the ghost sounds, though surprisingly they seem much better at imitating the sad sound. After seeing that Arasylon doesn't seem aggressive, and the younglings seem to love him, the lead female speaks up "What you want friend? Have food and home. You take food. You teach song?"

[Oculus]

Arasylon

The boy laughed and danced with the younglings as the cavorted about him "I require neither food nor shelter of you. I will teach you of music and song and all I require as that you spread the news of these wonders to your brethren and remember me in doing so." Arasylon's avatar paused for a moment, it was one thing to create music but something entirely different to teach it.

"Younglings, gather rocks and logs and bring them back here. I will teach you how to make your own music."

He waits for the creatures to do as he bid. When they returned he took a branch and started beating it on a log in a steady rhythm. "Do as I do." He waited for the Niddogg to start keeping a beat with their own sticks and stones, it was uneven, but it would do. Arasylon changed his beat to a changing rhythm to provide some interest. "Now just make happy sounds!" he demonstrated by singing wordlessly and waited to see how the Niddogg preformed.

[Rogue_Dragon]

Arasylon 2.35
The youngling rush out to the forest and start hauling back some logs, but they mostly just collect a few branches, two of the adults however manage to pull in some reasonably sized logs, at least large enough to make a hollow thump when hit, and rocks are easy enough to find as well. After a bit of practice they are able to keep a very basic beat, but they arn't very good at hitting things with their weak arms. Some of the younglings give up and merely start hitting the logs with their mantis claws, which are at least hard enough to not hurt when hit against a log. Their singing however improves much faster, especially the younglings. Though their language isn't quite advanced enough to create lyrics, their vocal chords are surprisingly addept at creating and holding tones, and with a bit of practice they learn to make a surprisngly large array of sounds from you. Though the adults arn't quite as impressed, the younglings seem very happy with what they are learning and the lead female adult says to Arasylon "You make younglings happy, You good friend. Will teach others song, will spread word of Arasylon."

[Oculus]

2.4

"If my greatest accomplishment is making children happy then I feel I have dome enough." Arasylon smiled "Please spread word of me and of music, if it is enjoyed I will return to teach you more."

He cast ghost song again this time mimicing the song that the younglings had been singing. "And one final gift to make your travels easier and your songs more joyous. He gestured to the cart. This will take you wherever you want to go, or carry your things so that you don't have to. Goodbye my friends. And may you always be blessed with music to lift your hearts."

The boy turned, bowed and dematerialized.

[Rogue_Dragon]

Arasylon 2.4
As Arasylon disaparates, he hears the younglings singing the mournfull sound that he taught them, and as he returns to Pantheon, the song continues to echo in his head, as well as the hopes and dreams of the younglings. Though he can also hear some of the deepest hopes of the lead female (mostly ones regarding children) most of the prayers echoing in his head are those of the children, seeking more fun in a world filled with unkown dangers and worries. Arasylon's gift of music has convinced some amongst the Niddog, especially the children, of his kindness, inspiring a kind of love few others have met. 9 Niddog now worship Arasylon in their own way, granting him a small amount of power, as well as the ability to hear their prayers, though only 2 of those are adults. The artifact he has gifted to the Niddog now has a young female practically living in it, traveling from family to family spreading the joy of music.

[lilomar]

Krixal 2.7

Krixal manifests his avatar, only a foot tall, near a group of Niddogs.

Greetings mortals! I am Krixal, God of Fire. And I have come to teach you the ways of fire!

The last time he says fire, a flame appears in Krixal's outstretched hand and seems to dance before disappearing.

Who among you would learn from me?

Spoiler

Show

3rd (final) use of miracle this turn: Manifest Flame

[Rogue_Dragon]

Krixal 2.7
Most of the group you approach are fairly small, barely into their adulthood though they still tower over you at 3 feet tall, and a little over 4 feet wide. At Kryxal's sudden appearance they jump back, startled by the strange little beast, however when he speaks they merely stair dumfounded, right up untill the flame appears within his hand, at that the majority of the Niddogs jump back even further, or flee into the forest, however, one does not. As the flame flickers out, and Kryxal claims to offer the 'ways of fire' a Niddog much larger than the others, standing nearly 5 feet tall, and 7 feet wide, he is amongst the largest of the Niddog, however you can easily see that much of the left side of his body is covered in scar tissue, leaving the boyd somewhat deformed, and left claw almost entirely useless. He speaks up, with neither fear or hope in his voice "You make fire? Can stop fire? I will learn. Others need know." After he speaks, a few of the others return, though they all still seem scared of Krixal, and they hide behind their larger friend.

[lilomar]

Krixal 2.7

I am sorry to see that you have already been witness to the destructive power of fire, friend. Yes, I can show you how to control fire, but first tell me, how did you come to encounter the blaze that gave you those wounds?

For almost any answer the Niddog gives, Krixal will teach him (and any others that come to learn) how to dig a trench, and clear fuel out of the way to stop one from spreading.If there is a stream nearby, He will show them to put water into the trench, and soak the break-line. He will also tell them that crossing a stream is the best way to escape from an out of control fire.

If the answer is that they were using the fire and it got out of control, he will also teach them how to make fire pits and rings.

[Rogue_Dragon]

Krixal 2.7
The Niddog speaks grimly, and only shortly on the fire that injured him "Great storm bring Great fire. Many die, few escape." He pays close attention to everything Krixal is willing to teach about fire. Though all of them pay attention to Krixal, it is almost always the Burnt one that asks questions. His questions are simple, but surprisngly advanced for a race that has of yet, never seen fire except in wildfires. "What use for fire? What cause fire? Can fire not hurt? Water always stop fire?"

[lilomar]

Krixal 2.7

Krixal explains, trying to make sure that there is no confusion about his teachings.

Fire is a very dangerous element, which is why you must always show great care when using it, but it will not hurt you as long as you are careful.

Krixal demonstrates using a fire-bow, tinder, and dry wood as fuel, to create a small camp-type fire. He makes sure to show the Niddogs what he meant by using a fire pit and ring.

Fire is what happens when something that can burn becomes very hot, so hot that it can't hold the heat anymore and it begins burning. See? When you rub the end of the stick quickly like this, it gets warm. (letting the burnt one feel the warmth on the end of the stick) If you do this for a while, you can make a fire.

Once he has made a small blaze, he continues his lecture.

Fire is very good for many things! When it is cold, you can stand next to a fire for warmth. At night, it will scare beasts away, beasts that might hurt you if they came upon you while you sleep. Fire can also be used to heat food and make it taste better; do you have any food I can use to show you?

If food is brought, Krixal will roast it on a stick over the small fire he has made, making sure that he has an appropriate spice on his hands when he handles the food.

While the Niddogs are eating, he continues:

As to your question about water stopping a fire, the answer is that water will usually stop a fire, but if there is only a little water, and the fire is large, it cannot stop it.

If there is water available, he demonstrates by separating a branch from the fire and putting a little bit of water on it, demonstrating that it takes a lot of water to put out a fire. Then he shows them how enough will quench it.

It is important to know how to put out fires when you are done, always be sure that there is no heat left when you finish.

[Rogue_Dragon]

Krixal 2.7
With the younger minds of most of the Niddog present, and the dogged determination of the Burnt-one, Krixal's teachings are learned fairly quickly, though by the end it still takes quite a bit of time for them to get a small fire started. The food Krixal is brought is an animal carcass, something similar to a deer, though it looks to have sat in the wilderness for awhile, and it is well along the path to putrification, though none of the Niddog seem to notice. After Krixal finishes cooking the meat, the Niddog seem a bit confused by it "The food different. Feel harder. What fire do to food?" The Niddog do not seem to dislike the taste of the food, but they also don't seem to like it either. You would have to guess that the culinary pallette of a scavenger is somewhat simplistic, especially when compared to the god of the culinary arts.

[lilomar]

Krixal 2.7

Krixal is surprised, it is hard to imagine indifference to a well-cooked meal. Dislike, maybe, creatures have different palates, but never indifference.

The food has been cooked. Many creatures like to eat food that has been cooked over a fire. Perhaps you do not prefer the taste, but when you are cold, eating food that is hot like this will help to warm you from the inside.

If the Niddog have no further questions, Krixal will ask some of his own. He is curious about this species who don't appreciate his cooking.

I am anxious to learn about your people. Do you ever hunt or eat other things besides dead beasts? Plants maybe?

If these questions are well-recieved, Krixal will continue to ask questions, branching out into things like how the Niddog are organized, who their leader is. He also tries to get a feel for how much the Niddog know of technology, do they use stone or wooden tools? What do they use them for?

[Rogue_Dragon]

Krixal 2.7
When Krixal starts asking questions, and it becomes apparent that his teachings are done for now, the Burnt-one merely lays down inside one of the structures, watching the conversation, but not interjecting much, the femal who was almost unseed before now steps up, and gladly answers all of Krixal's questions, almost as if she is trying to make up for her long silence. As far as the food question her answer is simply this "We eat food. Berries are food. Roots are food. Plants are food. Animals are food. Most are food." None of the Niddog seem to have a decent answer for the question of leader, they barely even seem capable of understanding the word, though by watching their interactions you could pretty easily come to the conclusion that this group of Niddog are Matriarchal by nature, with the single female of the group generally commanding the 5 other males, though what position the Burnt-one fills you are uncertain, as he seems to work with them, but not truly be a part of their group. They also have no real concept of tools or technology, the closest they have being their extremely crude structures. The do however have a number of protrusions from their upper legs, which they use as hooks and wood chisels when forming their nests, and occasionally when trying to get food. If you stay long enough you would learn that the youngest, those yet to form a family, travel from group to group, learning what they can as they travel.

[lilomar]

Krixal 2.7

Krixal will stay with the Niddog ((Niddogs? What's the plural?)) for several days (until the end of 2.7), if they will have him. Teaching for at least a little while every day. If the Niddog(s) he is teaching seem to have the basic concepts down, he will continue into things like banking a fire overnight and keeping a coal in a pack of dirt for transport so it is not necessary to start over from scratch when building a new fire. He will find out what materials in the area make the best tinder and show the Niddog where to find it, and where to find both fast-hot burning soft wood, and long-cooler burning hard woods.

He also attempts to demonstrate the use of fire as light at night, teaching the construction of crude torches if the idea is well-received.

When he leaves, he speaks to his best pupils, and anyone who will listen.

I am leaving now, but remember what I have taught you. Fire is a dangerous tool, but a very useful one. You have learned well, and I am proud of you. I will be back sometime, but until then, remember me when you use it, and teach others.

[Rogue_Dragon]

Krixal 2.7
The Niddogs are happy to have Krixal stay as long as he wants, especially since he seems to need to eat exceptionally little food, and he offers them much knowledge. The Niddogs have a difficult time with the more advanced concepts of fire, especially the idea of carrying fire around. Since they have no containers to protect them from the heat, or to carry water in case of an accident, torches, or hot coals are too much of a risk to carry around. However using fires at night are quickly addopted, as it provides them with light to see better, and protects them from certain predators. The whole family gathers when Krixal says that he will be leaving, however at the moment the Burnt-one seems to be the one commanding, rather than the female. After Krixal's fairwell, the Burnt-one says "Always remember. Always teach fire skill. You give much. Always remember." Krixal now has 6 followers amongst the Niddog. The Burnt-one and the five other males of the family will spread his teachings to any younglings that come to visit, and their belief in his teachings grant him a small amount of strength, allowing him to hear their inner-most hopes and dreams, most especially those related to fire.

[chrono]

Forneus

Turn 2.9
OOC: avatar is manifested Large

His approach tactics worked pretty well so far, so Forneus manifests just out of sight from a large Niddog group and approaches yelling out his agenda. Come out of hiding and meet your god. I am Forneus, master of the elements. I have come to show you the power of the elements.

Forneus keeps on approaching while still yelling out praises about the power of air and fire and offers his teaching.
(he approaches until some Niddog come out or if they don't, until he's more or less on top of them)

[Rogue_Dragon]

Forneus 2.9
As Forneus calls out, the family of Niddogs comes out and collects, waiting to see what all the yelling is about, however when they see a large ploom of smoke, they start running. Despite the fact that the smoke is talking, they see no reason to let themselves get burned, however Forneus's speed is greater than the slower moving scavengers, and he is able to overtake them. Once they realize that they can't outrun the smoke, and see that no great conflagration is following in its wake, they huddle around eachother, the female in the middle with the males standing around her, claws up in the air. It would appear that something about forneus has put this group on edge. After a moment of listening to the praises that Forneus is yelling, the female speaks up, her voice quivering slightly "What you teach us? What you? What you want?"

[chrono]

Forneus

Forneus pauses and considers his next move from a moment. These creatures are much different from the others that he encountered. Obviously not very combatant and they don't look like they have what it takes to be hunters. Obviously not that fast, so they're not really lowly prey whose only chance of survival is staying big groups and running like hell. They don't look like they can take on the world like a forest fire, but there's potential still, Forneus considers his next move.

What I want... is not important. But it's important that I can teach you about the elements. I can show you the power of air and fire. I can teach you how to control them to get stronger... or to escape better.

OOC: using item (boots)

With a "fwoosh" Forneus is launched up into the air and flies around aimlessly for a few seconds, not going very high or far. He then descends and waits for the Niddog's reaction. In a moment, he continues I am Forneus, master of the elements. I am stronger than any creature on this land, but if I wanted to I could escape from any trouble with the power of air that I have. I can teach you to use the power of air and fire to make your life better and defend against your foes.

Forneus tries to mix his words with impressive actions, so he takes the bow off his back and shoots an arrow into a tree not very far off. A loud cracking sound accompanies the impact and bark flies around. The arrow reappears back in the hand of Forneus, leaving a deep gash in the tree. You can not see air, but air is all around you. You can feel air, he waves his hand to indicate, and if you know how to use the power of air you could be powerful too.

[Emperor Demonking]

Plamal

Turn 2.9

"Watch me, capture." Said Plamal as he too a run at the large lizard, keeping quiet but not trying to hide the noise. As he runs at it trying to get a powerful slash at its legs.

[Rogue_Dragon]

Forneus 2.9
At his first speach the female says, with much confusion in her voice "Controll fire? You teach controll fire?" As forneus shoots into the air however, the fire is apparently completely forgotten and he can hear murmurs of "He fly!" "He fly?" "He teach fly?" As he lands he notices that the Niddogs are more spread out, and seemingly willing to come much closer, their curiosity overcoming their fear as more and more amazing things are promised to them. After he lands the Niddog listen intently to what he has to say, barely jumping at all when he shoots the arrow. As soon as he appears to be done he is flooded with questions "How fly? Teach how fly?" "Air make fly? You make Air?" "Fire.....make air?" Some obviously understood better than others, but they all look curious, and most of their fears seem to have been allayed with the perceived promise of flight.

Plamal 2.9
Plamal is easily able to catch the slow Lizard, and criples its legs with a single blow, however despite its injuries it continues trying to bite at plamal in self defense, leaving a nasty mark on his leg when it gets ahold once. However, boldened by Plamal's charge, the Niddog follow shortly afterwards, and their surprisingly strong claws finish off the poor creature. Afterwards the female says "Much food now. Much food, Long time. Beastslayer good friend! What else Beastslayer know?"
((ooc: I know you'd planned on catching it for later, but they have short attention spans when they are getting hungry.))

[Emperor Demonking]

Plamal

Turn 2.9

"I am glad you like food." Said Plamal. "See you are very strong. You can hunt. You can fight. Do not over hunt. I teach you that. Never waste, never waste."

Plamal then started to drag the lizard back. "I must tell you. Some creatures not normal, don't like you. I like you. They want you to serve them. I not want that."
"Do you want to hunt again?"

[Rogue_Dragon]

Plamal 2.9
The leader looks at the large lizzard, then around at her family, then back at the lizard, finally tilting her head slightly to the side she says "No need? Much food here. Much time eating. No need more food?" After a bit more contemplation the female asks "What is serve? Why others want us serve? What others? Beast slayers?" After the carcass is dragged back to their make-shift huts, the whole family sits down around it and starts peeling off bits of meat, occasionally cracking bones to get to the marrow inside, though they seem to leave most of the bones intact, and they offer a bit of meat to Plamal on occasion.

[Emperor Demonking]

Plamal

Turn 2.9

"To serve. to work for others. The others want Niddog's to serve to make food scarce, worse. They want Niddog to be in much pain. The others are beast slayers. Very powerful. Different not normal." Said Plamal.

Plamal takes a peice of meat when offered. "Do you need anything? When I leave do you want me to return?"

[chrono]

Forneus

Turn 2.9

Probably Forneus should have expected the creatures to react this way, but he didn't. The Niddog were proving much different than the other species he had met and that caught him a bit off guard. Keen on flying, eh? Forneus considers the appendages available to those curious creatures. This will not be easy. Still, they seemed to grasp the concept of air right away and they did seem to know fire, which seemed promising.

Flying is difficult. To fly you first need to become a master of air. To become a master of air you need to train. To train and be a master of air you need to start simple.

Forneus looks around for some tools to show them better. He gathers a small pile of wood and makes sure there is nothing flammable around it. He also gets a few rocks and a bunch of dry leaves.
Do you know that all things fly different? Before you can fly you have to know how other things fly. Forneus illustrates the point by tossing one or two of each things he collected at a nearby tree.
Don't be afraid now, I will make some fire., Forneus stands over the pile of wood for the first time wishing that he had an easy way to start a small fire.

OOC: using fire cone skill, trying to make the fire blast as small as possible (which can't be very successful).

As the blast ignites the wood, Forneus takes a step back and kicks any stray flammable material back into the fire.
Okay, it's fine, things are under control. I am a master of air and fire, so there's no need to be afraid.
Forneus waits for the Niddog to settle down and keeps going: Mastery of air is useful, and mastery of fire is useful. Fire can keep you warm, fire can make your food taste better, fire can scare your enemies. But if you are really a master of fire and air, fire and air can make you fly.

Not giving the Niddog time to get confused over the issue, Forneus grabs a few small leaves and drops them. See, with no fire, the leaves fly down. He then drops a few small dry leaves from directly over the fire. The current grabs them and takes them twirling up higher. There is more than one way to fly. And mastering air and fire can give you more. Before teaching you how to fly I can teach you how to hunt, how to defend yourself and how to use air and fire to make your life better.

[Rogue_Dragon]

Palmal 2.9
"Others want us hurt? Others want us hungry? How stop others? Can't slay Beast slayers, how stop?" As far as Plamal coming back the female is not particularly sentimental, but fairly practical "You good Beast Slayer, bring much food. Always welcome here."

Forneus 2.9
The Niddogs listen intently to chrono, though his more advanced speech and their lack of any knowledge on the subjects at all means that they spend an unfortunately large amount of their time confused. They can see the difference of how things fly when thrown, but any kind of aerodynamics is still beyond them. A few look ready to dart when the wood bursts into flame, but some inner curiosity keeps them all there. After Forneus's speech one of the males stands up and asks "First fire, then air, then fly? Need fire, need air, then fly. Teach fire and air? How I learn fire and air? Tell me, I do"

[chrono]

Forneus

Forneus is overjoyed by the creature's enthusiasm. The elements, air and fire, they are all around you. You can learn all your life and only know some of what air and fire can do. Air is life for all creatures, air is a way of life for some. To learn the way of air and fire you need to make air and fire part of your life. So show me how you live and I will start showing you how air and fire can help you live better. Agreed?

[Rogue_Dragon]

Forneus 2.9
At your promises of learning air and fire most of the Niddogs seem overjoyed, however when you ask to be shown how they live, it is the femal who steps forward, now filled with a kind of hope "You want see us live? You want live with us? Come, Show life." The Niddogs happily show Forneus how they live. From their wanderings about in the forest looking for food, to their almost constant minor repairs to their home, and the frequent visit of groups of younglings who they harbor for a day or two, teach what they can, and then send on their way. The Niddog do not have a particularly easy life, but it is peacefull, and for the most part, they seem to enjoy themselves more than one might expect. The only violent part of their nature seems to be in some of their games, in which they mock fight against one another, though as with most similar animal games they rarely ever end in anyone being truly injured. And their are not obviouse uses of either fire or air in their lives currently (other than breathing of course.)

[SithLackey]

Mandak, 3.1

Mandak manifests a couple of miles from one of the as-of yet uncontacted groups of Niddog , and plays with his new form. It is solid, and that is good. He has to try a few times to get his smaller arms to function properly, and develop some coordination with them. When he is satisfied with his progress he heads towards where he saw the group.

When he nears, he calls out in his low rumble of a voice, hoping to reach the ears of the nearby creatures without alarming them too much. "Greetings. I am called Mandak, lord of the Earth, and I wish to help you."

[Rogue_Dragon]

Beginning of turn 3
Much has happened recently in the lands of the Niddog. Great immortals have decended into this small corner of forest, and undoubtedly changed the future of this species. Through the various teachings they have given, the Niddogs have started to develop the arts of healing, they have come to understand some of the mysteries of the great danger fire, and they have discovered the beauty of music. More importantly though, some of the Niddog have started to develop belief in something beyond themselves. Though their faith is week, it is still there, and if fostered and cared for, their faith could become as great a force as anything they have yet seen. Many rumors of greater beings have spread alongside the teachings that the immortals have spread. Throughout the land many legends have started to spread, including Music-bringer, a female who travels on some kind of unbelievable beast, spreading the joys of music. The Burnt-one, who now lives by a river and teaches passing younglings how to controll the might of fire. The rumors of the Smoke-beast, who will someday teach his followers how to fly like the birds above. The Slayers, who trained with the greatest of Beast-Slayers, and learned to kill instead of scavenge. Redclaw, who claims that soon no younglings will be lost thanks to the god of travel. And last but not least the Kind-one, who teaches the wonderous art of healing. Each of these legends spreads throughout much of Niddog land, though some do not seem to mesh well. The Slayers seem to disregard all other teachings, the followers of the Kind-one tend to be cautious of everyone, though they always offer healing. The followers of the Smoke tend to care more about learning more of their own art than of teaching others. None of these disagreements have yet had unfortunate outcome, but who knows what will happen in the future.

((OOC: sorry for the late turn change here, had some family matter to take care of))