XxFellsingxX

Epyllion: Beyond Moonlight's Reach

When Fellwing glanced at Garrock's wing, she'd notice immediately that it was no longer covered in those black veins she had seen earlier. Someone must have healed it while he and Skobeloff were separated from the rest of the group, likely through use of moon magic as Stargaze had used on Kyte earlier. Still, it probably better to safe than sorry. Any dragon could use moon magic to heal a wound or stave off an infection if they had access to the correct moon, but it still couldn't replace a reliable and dedicated healer.

"Alright then!" Rudrick said, clapping his front claws together. "The two of them are just in the Stronghold. I don't think they have any patients right now." Without skipping a beat, he turned around and started making his way back towards Snouthold.

Garrock gave a heavy sigh. "Just remember," he mutters as he eyes the drakes. "Whatever nonsense we're about to get into is on you lot." Without another word, he and the other dragons started following after Rudrick.

As they passed the group of mentors and their drakes that Rudrick has previously been hanging out with, the Semscale warrior called over to them. "These guys have just returned from a mission," he said. "I'm taking them to see Heliotrope. I'll be back shortly." The Semscale dragons merely nodded or shouted "Okay, see you in a bit" or something similar in response. However, as Rudrick lead them over to the entrance, the group would just about to be able to hear one of the Semscale dragons give an derisive snort and mutter, "Better you than me, buddy." Attempts to look round and see which dragon said that, however, would give no answers as the Semscale dragons had now turned their backs on the Snouthold and were returning to their training. If Rudrick had heard that little comment, he wasn't showing signs of it as he beckoned them into the building.

The Snouthold is a standard Semscale building, built more to last than to be visually appealing, but there is a certain charm, a feeling of sturdiness and reliability that the House as a whole seems to try and embody. Rudrick leads them down a hallway past several varied rooms, all large and seeming to have different purposes, likely for training drakes in different expertise. Some lessons seem to be going on within, with one room having several drakes looking through different books, and another having some sort of lecture. Rudrick leads the group to the room at the end of the hallway, that from a cursory glance, seems like some sort of labratory, if the potions bottles, herbs and ingredients lining the shelves are anything to go by.

"No, that's far too much, put some of it back," a stern voice called.

A second voice responded, but it was muffled, as if the speaker were holding something in their mouth. After a moment, there was a sound like someone spitting something out in disgust. "Oh moons, I think I swallowed some of the leaves."

"Lucky for you, none of those were toxic," the first voice said. "Try to be more careful next time."

"Is this a bad time?" Rudrick said.

Further inside the room, the group sees two dragons, one a longtooth dragon and the other a winged drake. The longtooth dragon has quite a striking appearance, as while her scales are mostly dark green, they're also speckled with a deep crimson, bringing to mind the gem bloodstone. In fact, almost half of this dragon's face is covered in these red scales. Her eyes are a reddish-orange, and she's wearing a short green shawl with a some purple flowers stitched into the fabric. Upon hearing Rudrick's voice she glances over her shoulder, first at him, then at the dragons accompanying him. She doesn't say anything right away, but there is a weariness in her eyes.

The winged drake is on the chubbier side, with quite stubby wings and legs. He's a reddish-pink in colour, accented with gold. One of his eyes is yellow, the other blue, and he's wearing a necklace made of colourful flowers. There is a small pile of herbs on the floor by his feet, which everyone can assume he has spat out. His tongue is lolling out of his mouth, clearly still affected by the bitter taste of the plants. "Urgh, I think my tongue is going numb," he says after a moment.

The green and red dragon, who everyone can assume is Heliotrope, gives a sigh. "How about we take a break for now, Coryn?" she said. "I'll deal with things here."

Coryn looked over at the dragons behind Rudrick. "You sure...? Looks likes there's a lot of people here..." he said.

"I can manage."

Coryn looks at her, then looks back at the group. He looks a little deflated but doesn't protest, walking past everyone as he leaves the room. Because of his build, it's not particularly graceful and he bumps into several of the other drakes. "Sorry, 'scuse me, pardon me," he says before he finally passes the group and leaves.

Once he's gone, Heliotrope lets out a larger sigh and begins running a claw across the crimson side of her face.

"You alright?" Rudrick said.

"I'm exhausted," Heliotrope responded. "Didn't sleep great last night, and it's probably not helping my teaching any."

"I see," Rudrick said, his voice immediately full of sympathy. "If you don't feel up to this-"

"No, it's fine," Heliotrope said, taking her claw away from her face. "A change is as good a rest. What do you have for me?"

Rudrick glanced over his shoulder towards Garrock, who stepped forward. "We recently came back from a mission," Garrock said. "And some of us have come into contact with the Darkness, including, well..." He motions with his head towards Maug.

Frowning, Heliotrope approaches the collapsed dragon. "Hmmm...." is all she says for a moment as she looks him up and down. After a while, she suddenly prods the sleeping dragon's shoulder with a claw. Nothing happens, not even a small reaction like a flinch. "We have a nest over in the back. Put him over there. I'll look him over again in a moment under some brighter lighting." She motions over towards the back of the room, and Garrock quickly follows her directions, taking the sleeping dragon over. Heliotrope then turns back to the rest of the group. "I'll check everyone else first. Darkness-related maladies aren't my area of expertise, but I have treated a few of them," she said. "Does anyone have any symptoms right now? Anything that feels out of the ordinary at all. Doesn't matter if it seems inconsequential, if your emotions or thoughts have seem a little off, do speak up. It could be nothing, could just be exhaustion or stress, but it's still better to be honest about it now. The Darkness can be subtle some times."

The Wild Beyond Witchlight

Jub the Peculiar

"Well, if you're sure there's nothing we can do for you," Jub said. He waited awkwardly for a moment before saying, "Err, good luck to you." He gave a little nod before hurrying after Brutrumukk.

He remained quiet as he followed after the barbarian, his mind going over the interaction with Morgot, as well as the encounter with the shopkeepers earlier. He felt emotionally exhausted by it all, and he was gearing up the courage to suggest that they take a rest when they happened upon the bullywugs and their strange king. When King Gullop addressed them, Brutrumukk responded in his usual blunt fashion. Jub gave a sigh before stepping forward, "Err, apologies your majesty, my compatriot's manners are... wanting. We've had a very long day and he's very tired."

The Wild Beyond Witchlight

I'll get a post up tomorrow. Has been a busy last few days, apologies ^^;

Epyllion: Beyond Moonlight's Reach

@XxFellsingxX Yes, everything is okay.
Sorry for my silence, but I am having a little trouble coming up with a reaction for Stargaze. ^^"
Go ahead and skip me for now.

@Guardian Angel Haruki

Alright, thank you.

@Digizel Do you want Shieldwing to say or do anything?

Epyllion: Beyond Moonlight's Reach

@Guardian Angel Haruki You've been quiet. Everything alright? Do you want to add anything as Stargaze?

The Wild Beyond Witchlight

@Fading Memory She also gave gnome!Brutrumukk a slight telling off when he was like "I'm gonna go make a deal with the hag to turn into a bugbear", which was pretty neat

The Wild Beyond Witchlight

<Snipped quote by Guardian Angel Haruki>

Out of curiosity, what encounter table were you using for these rolls?

@rush99999

I'm assuming the section of the book which takes place in that area has like a table of "Thinks you can encounter in the water" or something like that.

The Wild Beyond Witchlight

None of the pictures in the character sheet section for anyone save my CS are showing up. Probably just me.

@Lurking Krog

Besides Aurora's picture, the pictures on mine and Fading Memory's CSs are still showing as well. All the other pictures are broken though.

The Whispering Grove

MFW I realize the 2.5 ft. tall lizard boy is the physically strongest character besides the fighter...and yet still not THAT much weaker. xD

@Digizel

You can't see it, because Pathbuilder annoyingly won't let you access the Pets section unless you have the full version, but Esnes technically has the highest Strength. As a warrior construct, they have an 18 strength... however, reading how the rules of eidolons work, I'm a little spotty on how this affects rolls.

Here's Esnes' stats for anyone who is curious.

Esnes' stats

Str 18, Dex 14, Con 16, Int 12, Wis 10, Cha 8; +2 AC

(God, trying to figure out how Summoners work in my second ever pathfinder 2e game was not a good move, why did I do this to myself)

The Whispering Grove

Fran & Esnes

Being seven-foot-tall and resembling a hulking metal construct, Esnes was more than used to stares. Even in a bustling city like Tarn they had been out of place, so on board a boat headed to an isolated village in the middle of a small island? They were practically a sore thumb. However, they'd never been aboard a boat before, so they were enjoying the experience being out on the deck. They kept to the side of the deck, in a place where they would have a decent view of the ocean but wouldn't have to contend with quite as many people. The less awkward looks and attempts to engage them in conversation they had to deal with, the better. They stared out at the sea, watching as their destination came closer into view. They had tried to imagine what it was like to be experiencing this as a living creature of flesh and bone. Salt air in your lungs. Wind on your face. Had they felt these sensations before at some point, a long time ago? Had they felt these sensations on a boat ride to this exact island in the past? The name Ranshelm seemed vaguely familiar to them, but attempts to conjure forth images of what the village was like or what might have brought them there was lost in a silvery mental haze.

Before Esnes could give this more thought, however, there was a sharp exclamation of "Ack no!" in a familiar voice to their left, and the eidolon slowly turned to see their summoner, Fran, walking past them. While Esnes has remained stationary this whole time so as not to get in anyone's way, Fran had been pacing back and forth behind, her whiskery nose buried in her notes as she was attempting to recreate whatever her mind had just conjured up onto the page. It did not appear to be going well.

"Having trouble?" Esnes said as the ratfolk passed by them once more. Their voice was low, gravelly and to anyone else, would have sounded lacking in compassion or sympathy. However, Fran didn't seem to read it as such.

"Oh, no, it's fine," Fran said with a slight shake of her head, still not looking up from her notes. "Just having a bit of a block, that's all."

"Unsurprising," Esnes responded. "You've been at this nearly the whole trip. Perhaps you should take a rest, or at least switch your focus to something else."

"I'll rest once we reach the inn," Fran said as she quickly scribbled something out she had just written.

"No you won't."

"No, I probably won't," Fran said with a sigh as she finally raised her head from her notes. Given her height, it wasn't as easy for her to look out onto the ocean, and she had to crane her neck just to see above the railing. "Looks like we're nearly there anyway." She closed her notebook and tucked it into her bag. "I suppose I'll get our things."

"Need any help?"

Fran shook her head. "I can manage," she said. "You enjoy the rest of the view. You seemed pretty captivated just now."

Esnes turned their gaze back towards the water. "Captivated? I suppose that's a word for it," they said. "I've noticed people have a tendency to compare the movement of spirits through the Astral Plane to a body of water. I never understood the comparison."

"No?"

Esnes couldn't really shake their head that easily, so they had to sway their body slightly from side to side to communicate their disagreement. "Whatever makes up a mortal soul, it is very different from water. It is light, silvery, more like fog in its consistency, but even this comparison isn't entirely accurate."

Fran waited for a moment, as if expecting the eidolon to continue. After a brief silence, Fran assumed that either their mind had wandered or they simply didn't wish to discuss the subject any further - neither were particularly unusual for Esnes. Even with Fran and her family, they still hadn't quite grasped the fine nuances of conversation... like how to indicate when they were done talking.

"I'll be back in a moment," Fran said. She waited again for any response, verbal or otherwise, but still didn't get one. She then shuffled away to go retrieve the few possessions she had brought with them. She and Esnes regrouped at the dock, where Fran carefully wrapped her tail around the eidolon's forearm so the two wouldn't be separated as got off the boat and made their way into the village of Ranshelm. While the pair had originally been planning to head for the inn, the sound of festivities quickly caught Fran's attention, and the ysoki diverted their path from the inn and towards the celebration. Esnes hesitantly followed. While they were fully capable of pulling Fran back towards their original destination, they had no desire to. After all, they themself did not require sleep or food, and if Fran wasn't in a hurry to obtain either of those things, they had no reason to stop her.