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Leaning down so that she could speak quietly in her suddenly-calm captive's ear, Leilanna tried to keep her voice even. "Now, I'm going to release you, but think on this. If the a'dam isn't supposed to work on you, one of two things is correct. Either you are every bit the monster that you make out the other girl to be, or that poor girl is every bit as human as you are. Think on that."
Leilanna will then release her, before attaching the leash to the girl in grey and again trying to override her sense of fear and self-loathing with one of calmness. "You are not a monster to be controlled by others. Women like us can do terrible things, but we can also do great things. It is up to us to guide ourselves, not others to control us"
She will then be released as well and Leilanna will step away from them both and back towards her companions.
"I must confess I have little knowledge of the tactical concerns with remaining with this campsite, so I will happily follow your lead. Though I still say taking at least one with us to find out about their people, culture and plans would be the smart move."
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Last edited by Neo_Leviathan : 07-25-2012 at 12:23 AM.
The sul'dam's frightened expression returns after your warning and you can sense her fear reasserting itself.
The damane seems to relax as soon as the leash is placed on her, and this, coupled with Leilanna's efforts quickly restore her, though your words do not seem to change her mind at all. However once you release her, she breaks down once again. reciting that she is damane, and must be leashed, though this is quite quiet, and mainly to herself.
Luran frowned as Leilanna released the women. Leaning in, he whispered to his companions, "Wait, you're letting them go BEFORE we set up camp? At this point, you might at well wait for dawn, least we wake up to slit throats from revenged-minded foreigners."
__________________ Back to normal, I hope! Weekends/holidays remain catch-as-catch can ...
DM: "Why do you have so many characters?"
Me: "Because I never embraced the strategic value of running away."
"Let's just tie up the soldier and the angry woman, and perhaps you can speak with the one in gray and convince her to come with us if you deem it necessary."
Berin heads to his pack to grab some rope as he awaits the thoughts of the others.
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Spoiler
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Characters:
Spoiler
Berin - A Two Rivers Archer Uriell - A Druid Robb - The Scruffy Scout
Leilanna shakes her head sadly and keeps her voice pitched low "I don't think she'd do us any good even if we did take her with us. She's.. broken. Like a horse that's been beaten bloody every time it stepped out of line, or a prisoner kept locked in a cell for decades. I think all we'd get out of her is that she 'must be leashed'.
We'd need someone who both specialised in healing the mind, and could handle a channeler, in order to help her."
She sighs deeply. "Much as I hate to admit it, I think she needs to be sent to the Tower. Anyanna, do you have any idea if there are any Aes Sedai in this area? Or any way to pick them out?"
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"I was dispatched to deliver something to Renaille Sedai, the Tower's embassador to Tarabon, but I was informed in Katar that I was to find her in Falme." She paused for a moment, then continued. "If these people really have taken Flame y force then I'm not sure if she'll still be there, but she is the only Aes Sedai I know the location of in this area. I suppose we could journey to Bandar Eban and find an Aes Sedai then, but I don't know how well we'd be received..."
You quickly manage to set up your campsite and bind the sul'dam. You place them beneath the bows of the largest tree, which provides them shelter and little else: your own tents are enough to shelter only your group and one other.
Leilanna evidently wished for better news, but there wasn't much that could be done. "I wish there was some way to communicate with them over a distance."
She pauses for a few minutes, and then sighs, as if in resignation. Once again speaking low enough for only her companions to hear. "Or.. I guess we could take the red dress off the other woman, and pretend to be one of these sul'dam. It would mean keeping the poor girl leashed for now, but perhaps we could learn more about how it works, and try to help her as best we can. It.. would also stop us loosing a potentially uncontrolled, highly emotional channeler into the area."
It was plain from her face that Leilanna didn't like the idea even as she voiced it.
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Luran listened as the women spoke about things he did not truly understand. One thought did come to mind as they talked. "If you have questions on how it works and you trust each other, why not test it on yourselves? You could both pretend to be ... whatever they called themselves."
__________________ Back to normal, I hope! Weekends/holidays remain catch-as-catch can ...
DM: "Why do you have so many characters?"
Me: "Because I never embraced the strategic value of running away."
Not sure who is waiting on who here: unless you'd like Ato contribute at all. Otherwise, you might need to make it clear for me hat your intentions are
Anyanna nods at the idea of impersonating the two women, but seems reticent to agree to using the a'dam, citing it's effects on the two women so far.
You finish making camp with a number of questions as yet unanswered. The sul'dam and the soldier are left within the copse, easily visible to those on watch, the a'dam proving it's abilities as the sul'dam doesn't move beyond her spot, and even her natural fidgeting to find a better place to sleep is curtailed.
You manage to find suitable sleeping space for the young damane and each seek your beds early, heads full of the problems you already face.
Luran:
Spoiler
Perhaps it is because of the days events, but as soon as your eyes closed you are assailed by an incredibly vivid dream. You find yourself standing a few metres from your tent, though you cannot see a tent, nor any of your friends. The prisoners are not there either, and instead of darkness, a weird twilight seems to pervade the area.
Everyone:
Spoiler
Whilst Berin is on guard, he hears a quiet whinnying, and discovers 7 horses, hobbled over the otherside of the rise. They do not lack for food where they are and have all found some way to rest, so Berin leaves them till morning. Other than that, the night is uneventful.
OOC
Spoiler
Morning now, so come up with a plan for the day whilst Luran catches up on his dreamwalking.
As the sun cracks over the hills, Berin awakes. While not the most comfortable place he has ever slept, it surely did the job of refreshing him. Standing up and doing a brief stretch, he walks a bit further into the trees to complete his morning duties and then proceeds to head to the horse he found the night prior.
Staying close to the tree line, he doesn't want to take any chances of being ambushed a second time, and scans the horizon for any movement.
Leilanna gets up early, stretches, and starts rummaging around for breakfast.
As the others begin to rise, she seeks out Anyanna and whoever else is still in camp for a brief conference, away from the prisoners.
"So.. what should we do from here? We have several choices that we need to make. One, we need to find out more about how this a'dam works. That means either Anyanna and myself test it on each other, or we take one of the other two women with us as a prisoner.
Also, what do we do about that poor girl that they've broken? I think she needs to go to the tower so that her mind can be healed, though getting her there, or even to an Aes Sedai, could be tricky.
Finally, the rest of them. Do we trust their word that they'll run, do we take them with us to the nearest town and give them to the constabulary? Maybe hope to find a member of this nation's army that we can hand them over to?
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Anyanna's face darkens at your words, but she doesn't show a hint of surprise: evidently these thoughts have plagued her all night. "I agree, and it is now more important than ever that we get to Falme to find out what has happened to Renaille Sedai. I would trust that young man, but this sul'dam not at all."
"So we take the young soldier with us then, question him. What do we do with this 'Sul'Dam'? And.. how do we research this a'dam, on each other or on the 'Damane'?
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Luran wasn't happy with the situation, but his Da had always said that a good sleep did more good than harm when the world seemed full of problems. Making sure the 'prisoners' were secured, he helped set up the camp and moved off to bed early. What normally might be thought of as rudeness was probably chalked up to introspection, since most of the others were wrapped up in their thoughts as well.
It seemed he had just closed his eyes when something disturbed him. Startled, he jumped to his feet, looking around. Frowning, he didn't see anyone in the tent, so he headed outside to find the others. But there wasn't anyone there either.
Blast it all, I knew those people would be trouble! Let them go, indeed! Convinced that his new companions had been betrayed by the Seanchan soldier and women, Luran reached for his weapons, then turned to track the scoundrels.
Spoiler
Not sure how you want to play the dream sequence, but looking for his weapons and here's a Tracking roll: (1d20+7)[14]
__________________ Back to normal, I hope! Weekends/holidays remain catch-as-catch can ...
DM: "Why do you have so many characters?"
Me: "Because I never embraced the strategic value of running away."
OOC: Just roleplay mainly, and concentration rolls (but those will come when you start trying to do cool dreamy things )
You can't see any footprints around which seems weird, but it also quickly dawns on you that even your sleeping sack has disappeared. There is no sign of force being used, but what seems more pressing is the Lack. No life, no movement, no sound. Further, when you look up, no stars are visible, just a blackness, and light around you seems flat, as though cast from everywhere and nowhere at once.
After a few moments of searching around, Luran realized he couldn't find ANY tracks - not the group, not from last night, not even from where he went to sleep! Turning to search the tent, he found everything was gone ... including the tent!
Shocked by this turn of events, he started casting about, calling for the others. "Berin! Lukas! Leilanna? Annyanna? Anyone?"
Spoiler
If no one answers ...
Luran continued to search for a few moments, then stopped, gritting his teeth in frustration. Damn it if the world didn't seem bound and determined to keep him from his sister! Everytime he thought he was one step closer, everytime it looked like things were going his way, something out of the ordinary popped up. Where was she now? What was she doing? He could picture her now, small face with the defiant look in her eye, chin jutting out as she prepared to take on the world ... was she fighting even now? Or chained up like that poor woman they had found?
"I'm coming, Lizbet, I'm coming for you. To Falme or whever you are, I'll find you ..."
Standing up, Luran started walking in the direction the group had been going in, before breaking into a jog. Soon, he picked up speed and was at a full loping run, eyes bright, thinking of only one thing ... getting to his sister.
__________________ Back to normal, I hope! Weekends/holidays remain catch-as-catch can ...
DM: "Why do you have so many characters?"
Me: "Because I never embraced the strategic value of running away."
Your yelling seems to reverberate oddly, vaguely distorted and cacophonous. The weird acoustics of the open plain are the only disturbing signs: you have an odd sense that someone or thing is watching you.
Even as you start running and focussing on running you begin to move, to shift, but after running for what could have been days, or only minutes, you find it difficult to recall the actual paces.
The ground seems to fall away behind you as you run, and soon you approach a village, the first sign of human habitation you have seen since the camp. It is not large, but still substantial for Almoth Plain, consisting of 8 or so separate buildings.
When his voice echoed back strangely, and he felt unseen eyes upon him, Luran trailed off from calling to his companions. If anything, it pushed his speed, forcing him to run faster.
He ran for what seemed like hours (minutes? days?) but strangely he couldn't rememeber any of the land he passed by. Suddenly, he was in a village ... again, eerily silent. Slowing to a stalk, he entered the village cautiously, heading towards the nearest building.
__________________ Back to normal, I hope! Weekends/holidays remain catch-as-catch can ...
DM: "Why do you have so many characters?"
Me: "Because I never embraced the strategic value of running away."
The first house seems as deserted as the rest of this place, and looks as though it has been abandoned hurriedly: a chopping board and knife are on the table, and some plates are still piled in a corner.
You push through into the next room, where you think you see some small wooden blocks scattered across the floor, yet a closer inspection reveals that there is nothing there. The rooms to the back seem to be a pair of bedrooms, but the only objects inside are a number of wooden beds, and a small dresser in one of the rooms.
You are about to leave, when you astutely notice the disappearance of the knife and wooden board: instead the plates have relocated to the table, as though laid for supper.
As Luran roamed the house, it felt surreal. The rooms appeared to be abandoned during preparation for a meal ... just no food on the table. It was when he went to leave and noticed the plates now set that the hackles on his neck rose.
Without thinking, he reached for his axe as he focused on the room, searching it for any signs of movement or hidden assailants. If he found nothing, he would do a methodical search of the building, then move on to the next one.
__________________ Back to normal, I hope! Weekends/holidays remain catch-as-catch can ...
DM: "Why do you have so many characters?"
Me: "Because I never embraced the strategic value of running away."
Even as Luran reaches for his axe it is in his hand, and his clothes are suddenly boiled leather and steel plates.
There is no sign of an intruder within the house, and even as you watch you see the plates flicker and vanish, a cupboard previously closed now stands a jar, and slowly the evidence gathers before your eyes.
A flash of colour in the window draws your attention, but it passes too swiftly for you to make much of it.
Startled by the sudden transformation of his clothes, and even more so by the changing events within the room, Luran is at a loss for a moment. It is becoming clearer and clearer that this is not, can not be the world he knew. But it isn't like any dream he had ever had either. Perhaps the women had something to do with it? What did they call them? Suldamn and damain?
Growling to himself, he reached into the cupboard and tried to grab one of the plates, intent on putting it back on the table. If those witches had done something to him, he would not sit idly by while the world moved about him. He could, he would change it himself!
Spoiler
Concentration check? (1d20+2)[11]
__________________ Back to normal, I hope! Weekends/holidays remain catch-as-catch can ...
DM: "Why do you have so many characters?"
Me: "Because I never embraced the strategic value of running away."
The contents of cupboard seem to be ever shifting: first jars, then crockery, and always moving to different places, never still. Luran steps back confused, and after concentrating on finding a way to defeat whatever sorcery he thought this was, managed to stabilize his form: changing back into his traditional hunting gear. (Or whatever he was originally wearing)
Luran blinked. Glancing at the shifting items within the cabinets and down to his clothes. Perhaps the rules of this madness were not what he had thought. Focusing, he pictured one of the swords he had seen the invaders using in his hand.
Spoiler
Concentration: (1d20+2)[3] ... bah! Feeling's mutual forum roller!
Seeing nothing happen, he shook his head and moved outside, intent on checking out the remaning buildings here in the village ... and wondering where he was and why he was here ...
__________________ Back to normal, I hope! Weekends/holidays remain catch-as-catch can ...
DM: "Why do you have so many characters?"
Me: "Because I never embraced the strategic value of running away."
As you step outside the house you see a flash of movement out of the corner of your eye, and turning you see a young man standing in the street, glancing around in a surprised fashion: he is wearing golden armour that would fit an ogier, and carries a giant blade that falters and shifts, sometimes a sword, sometimes an axe.
When he sees you exit the building his look of surprise deepens, and his weapon vanishes from his hand, but he makes no move to approach you, nor to run.
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