Cold Northwest 3.X

[afroakuma]

Bronson stops Tommy as he readies to leave, handing him a slim wooden case.

"This may be necessary. Rigley's brought us a new one, so you folk should take this. 'Tis a magical stick of healing. The little white stones will show you how much life it has remaining."

Tommy:

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Item: wand of cure light wounds, 12 charges, caster level 3rd.

[kirbsys]

Thank ye. I'll put that to good use. Tommy takes the wand and puts it in his belt, making sure it won't fall out.

[kamikasei]

Derham returns from the tavern and stands aside, watching nonplussed as Felicia completes her reading. When she's done and the group setting out, he catches up to her and wordlessly hands her her things. Though without his cloak, the cold air doesn't seem to bother him. His crystal sits in a loop at his belt, quiescent.

[Fax Celestis]

Felicia smiles in appreciation, saying, "Thank you Derham. Did you hear my reading? What're your thoughts?"

[kamikasei]

The northerner frowns and strokes his beard. "Well, I don't know the system you were using. I'm sure there are plenty of meanings and interpretations built up around each card. I do know that I'm very wary of this cleric DuMaene, if he's leading the village's fighting men off to face some unseen monster, though."

He looks ahead, eyes unfocused, thinking. "You were saying that you were the questioner looking for knowledge, but that we as your allies were unprepared. But just because you look, do you get answers? Or could the answers you find lead us to prepare for the wrong thing? Bah, prophecy gives me a headache.

"I do hope that that Dragon Queen card can be read as more symbolic than you were letting on. We could do without facing an evil dragon or a worshipper of one."

[afroakuma]

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Waiting to hear from Lucius or Celinda. I'll drop them each a PM and proceed in a couple of hours.

[afroakuma]

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I've decided to put this on a five-day hiatus. Hopefully that will give those of us who celebrate Christmas one less thing to worry about. Hope everyone has a good holiday, we'll see you after the break!

[Fax Celestis]

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Good call. D'you mind, if'n Kamikasei's up to it, a discussion between Felicia and Derham in re: previous topic?

[kamikasei]

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I'd be fine with that. Merry Christmas and various other solstice festivities to all in the meantime.

[SilentNight]

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Happy holidays all.

[Fax Celestis]

"Do you really think it's as bad as all that? I mean, 'service of an evil dragon' can mean a lot of things.

"Frankly, what concerns me more is the Phoenix card. Someone is going to die, and I just pray it isn't me."

[afroakuma]

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By all means. Proceed IC as much as you like.

[kamikasei]

"Well, you're the expert. You didn't make it sound very good.

"The phoenix is a symbol of rebirth, yes? So just how bad is it if it's - reversed, did you say?

"It sounds like we could have a righteous man breaking faith and doing evil, or a demon god of dragonkind being woken from sleep by a heretic to end the world, or anything in between. So I think I'm beginning to see why we came up as Foresight Reversed."

[Fax Celestis]

"Well, the Phoenix is a symbol of rebirth, but it's also a symbol of the circle of life, of fire, and of triumph.

"Reversing it, however, means the opposites: the Phoenix Reversed is a symbol of failure, death, cold, and of breaking the life cycle--even undeath. None of those things bode well."

[kamikasei]

"Are you sure who the card refers to? Could it be saying that our hypothetical enemy's plans are the ones that will fail?

"If there's something 'sealed away', maybe we're looking at the end of the cycle that sustains it... maybe we're being given good news!"

Derham doesn't look like he believes this, but rather like he's trying to cheer Felicia up a little.

[Fax Celestis]

"Considering it's placement in the pyramid, that could well be possible. The Future card is always placed on a foundation of the Questioner's Enemies and the Question Itself cards, just like the Past, Present, and Future cards make a foundation for the Duelists."

[afroakuma]

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I'm planning to resume as of Jan. 2; hopefully that will give everyone time to enjoy their New Years'. I'd appreciate a show of hands from everyone who's still in at that time.

[insecure]

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I'm planning to resume as of Jan. 2; hopefully that will give everyone time to enjoy their New Years'. I'd appreciate a show of hands from everyone who's still in at that time.

I might be able to get back in, but I just have one question: can you please wait a little? I find it hard to keep up when I post once a day and some of you post three times.

[afroakuma]

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I won't restrict other players' post frequencies, but I can guarantee that plot events and combats will wait for input from all parties, whenever possible. This last time, it was unnecessary. The next few encounters, I'll need to have everyone involved.

[kamikasei]

Derham shifts the weight of his pack on his shoulder. "Can you ask follow-up questions? Try to narrow down the interpretation? We could second-guess ourselves into paralysis just going off that initial reading. Probably safest to trust your instincts, once we remember the ways in which important points might be read differently. A dragon, or a priest... a binding, or a promise... defeat or death, but whether for us or our enemies..."

[afroakuma]

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Lucius, Tommy, a wave of the hand to let me know you'll be back by Jan. 2 would be most appreciated.

[Fax Celestis]

"Fate is a fickle, impatient mistress: she does not like being asked the same question twice. Otherwise...well, you get results like what happened back against the krenshar. Did you see how the lightning struck back at me?"

[kamikasei]

Derham nods. "Seems like a dangerous craft. So that all was the cards, too? They don't just show you fates, but let you shape them a little more directly?"

[kirbsys]

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I'll still be here.

[Fax Celestis]

Felicia nods. "Yes. I learned the cards from my grandmother: she taught me how to see what Lady Fate had in store for us...and then she taught me how to nudge Lady Fate in one direction or another.

"Daddy didn't like that much." She shakes her head. "But that's irrelevant right now."

[afroakuma]

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We're officially back on. Still waiting to hear from Jalil.

[SilentNight]

"Ah, to be mistress of fate," Telen laughs, "must be a heaven-sent gift."

[afroakuma]

A broad path at the edge of Selvern goes deep into the forest, curving north; a few tracks are still visible in the snow. A thin trail meanders eastwards into the darkness.

[SilentNight]

Telen continues down the path and asks back over his shoulder, "Anybody know anything about tracks?"

[kirbsys]

Tommy checks his rapier one last time and follows Telen down the path. He stops for a second to look at the prints with Telen.

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Are the tracks human or animal?