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36 Lackern
Cor and I got back to the cabin the others were staying in, and we traded stories. Cor got to hear about my vision for the first time, and I don't think he was happy about it. May knew that the lizard-like things I'd seen were likely kupar, who live underground in the featureless plain. They're mostly nocturnal, but make exceptions if prey comes their way during the day. They live near the trade routes, acting rather like brigands, except lizardy ones that jump and climb and wouldn't mind killing as well as stealing. Hopefully forewarned is forearmed. Oh, and we told them about going into the trees, and the loss of the horses, alas.
May told use about her adventures, things that had happened when she was practicing her blessing (Note to self: don't practice blessings at certain critical times. There are other skills to practice.). At one point she ended up in a pointy, icy pit, which sounded not unrelated to the horrible powdered-blood stalactite cavern I ended up in. The result of this encounter was that the giant invisible bug probably came out of her brain, somehow (I still don't quite understand that part), even though the Mother (in the form of her mother) helped her escape (and gave a message, that time is short). I checked May, and there seemed to be a bug inside, somehow. I wasn't sure what this was, or how it would come out if I used Purity Within to get it out of her, so put His Mighty Shield on all of us. Well, most of us. It went wrong when I tried it on May (I should've been thinking more clearly about that). In the end, I believe that the hex-thing that was on her is now off.
We set off for Bionlear's Skull, Ruza, May, and Jack on the one horse, Cor and I running behind, since we have more endurance than the others. We didn't expect to make it back to town, and we didn't. Even so, the trip took a toll on us. We did do double watches, too, to be on the safe side, with all the unpleasant attention we've gotten recently. May and I shared a watch, and talked about healing, mostly.
37 Lackern
We got back to town, arriving with more snow. Apparently, we weren't expected back; when the master foci we asked to see arrived, they seemed surprised to see us. We asked Master Focus Hunweln to check Cor, and he said that Cor has a flow of death energies sustaining him now. The flow will change over time, and then he'll be dead. We asked for an estimate, and his best guess (he emphasized it was a guess only; this is something he's never seen before) was that Cor has a month. Forty-two days... but if we get the spear and complete that mission, there's hope that we can get him healed properly. Hunweln doesn't know how to do it, but thought there might be some powerful healer who might. I very much want to get Cor healed properly; it's partly my fault that his return was flawed as it is.
We asked Nutareshan to scan May as well, unsure whether the hex was truly gone; it acted differently than spirits I'd cast out, and since it was from the Hidden Lord, I just wasn't sure if the blessing had worked, or I'd been fooled into thinking it worked, with his hex still lurking inside her. Happily, she was fine.
We talked about how to get around the storm, since we're worried about going through it, unnatural as it is, and tied to Cor as it is. We came up with a plan to go east around the storm awhich would take us into the featureless plains. Featureless, but where we think the spear is, so a useful destination, if we can avoid the kupar. Jack spoke to the master foci who were there, convincing them to sell us horses yet again, saying that we're on a mission from the gods, and so on. And it worked. I still feel badly about taking their horses, though, when there are so few, and knowing that mounts don't tend to have a good fate with us.
After meeting with the master foci, we settled in to the room we'd been using, and I went out to the shrine to pray. I mourned the loss of the horses, thanked the Healer for healing so many around town and for our ongoing survival, and asked for his help in the coming quest.
And he granted me a vision: There was a male Orem in a chamber that had crystals growing out of the stone walls that pulsed with a warm orange light. There were some wooden things in the background, presumably furniture or implements. The Orem was dressed with two fins of feathers, and leather battle gear. He looked sad, his shinal (head crystals) pulsing blue. I was a female Orem (his wife?) who knows him. At his feet are his three children, who keep playing, oblivious to his sadness, to the possible momentousness. He looks at me, comes over to hug me. When he does, I feel vibrations flowing between us, a deep rumbling. There is a terrible singing above, and I watched him walk up the corridor and leave.
I assume this is a vision of long ago; Orem these days are lucky to have one child, much less three. I assume he was going off to some battle, but I don't know why the Healer graced me with this vision; it doesn't seem to help figure out where the spear is (I assume this is spear-related, since we know the Orem are involved with the spear). Perhaps one of the others will have ideas.
I went to Nok's, wanting to stock up on any herbal healing he could spare, and spend the afternoon with him. We'd talked about teaching one another, and now it looked like there wasn't likely to be time enough for that to happen much, but I wanted to learn what I could, and teach what I could. Herbalism is fascinating; it's amazing what some plant products can do.
When I got to Nok's, May and Jack were there, looking a little surprised to see me. I talked with Nok, and we're very lucky: he had ten doses of bragant sap. Since each dose lasts three days, that's six days for each of us, or perhaps more if we husband it. Not only did he have that, but he had just gotten a big glass jar with fireberry preserves. It was large, holding forty spoonfuls. A day's dose is a spoonful, so if we're careful, it can last a long time, protecting us against the cold. I asked whether the Ovahon could take half a spoonful each and get the same protection, and Nok wasn't sure, though he thought it possible. I suppose we can try it one day; it would certainly help. With Jack's help, I figured out what the value of these were, and paid Nok. After Jack and May left, we spent the rest of the afternoon talking herbalism and healing. If I come back to Bionlear's Skull someday, I hope there will be time for more.
Cor and I got back to the cabin the others were staying in, and we traded stories. Cor got to hear about my vision for the first time, and I don't think he was happy about it. May knew that the lizard-like things I'd seen were likely kupar, who live underground in the featureless plain. They're mostly nocturnal, but make exceptions if prey comes their way during the day. They live near the trade routes, acting rather like brigands, except lizardy ones that jump and climb and wouldn't mind killing as well as stealing. Hopefully forewarned is forearmed. Oh, and we told them about going into the trees, and the loss of the horses, alas.
May told use about her adventures, things that had happened when she was practicing her blessing (Note to self: don't practice blessings at certain critical times. There are other skills to practice.). At one point she ended up in a pointy, icy pit, which sounded not unrelated to the horrible powdered-blood stalactite cavern I ended up in. The result of this encounter was that the giant invisible bug probably came out of her brain, somehow (I still don't quite understand that part), even though the Mother (in the form of her mother) helped her escape (and gave a message, that time is short). I checked May, and there seemed to be a bug inside, somehow. I wasn't sure what this was, or how it would come out if I used Purity Within to get it out of her, so put His Mighty Shield on all of us. Well, most of us. It went wrong when I tried it on May (I should've been thinking more clearly about that). In the end, I believe that the hex-thing that was on her is now off.
We set off for Bionlear's Skull, Ruza, May, and Jack on the one horse, Cor and I running behind, since we have more endurance than the others. We didn't expect to make it back to town, and we didn't. Even so, the trip took a toll on us. We did do double watches, too, to be on the safe side, with all the unpleasant attention we've gotten recently. May and I shared a watch, and talked about healing, mostly.
37 Lackern
We got back to town, arriving with more snow. Apparently, we weren't expected back; when the master foci we asked to see arrived, they seemed surprised to see us. We asked Master Focus Hunweln to check Cor, and he said that Cor has a flow of death energies sustaining him now. The flow will change over time, and then he'll be dead. We asked for an estimate, and his best guess (he emphasized it was a guess only; this is something he's never seen before) was that Cor has a month. Forty-two days... but if we get the spear and complete that mission, there's hope that we can get him healed properly. Hunweln doesn't know how to do it, but thought there might be some powerful healer who might. I very much want to get Cor healed properly; it's partly my fault that his return was flawed as it is.
We asked Nutareshan to scan May as well, unsure whether the hex was truly gone; it acted differently than spirits I'd cast out, and since it was from the Hidden Lord, I just wasn't sure if the blessing had worked, or I'd been fooled into thinking it worked, with his hex still lurking inside her. Happily, she was fine.
We talked about how to get around the storm, since we're worried about going through it, unnatural as it is, and tied to Cor as it is. We came up with a plan to go east around the storm awhich would take us into the featureless plains. Featureless, but where we think the spear is, so a useful destination, if we can avoid the kupar. Jack spoke to the master foci who were there, convincing them to sell us horses yet again, saying that we're on a mission from the gods, and so on. And it worked. I still feel badly about taking their horses, though, when there are so few, and knowing that mounts don't tend to have a good fate with us.
After meeting with the master foci, we settled in to the room we'd been using, and I went out to the shrine to pray. I mourned the loss of the horses, thanked the Healer for healing so many around town and for our ongoing survival, and asked for his help in the coming quest.
And he granted me a vision: There was a male Orem in a chamber that had crystals growing out of the stone walls that pulsed with a warm orange light. There were some wooden things in the background, presumably furniture or implements. The Orem was dressed with two fins of feathers, and leather battle gear. He looked sad, his shinal (head crystals) pulsing blue. I was a female Orem (his wife?) who knows him. At his feet are his three children, who keep playing, oblivious to his sadness, to the possible momentousness. He looks at me, comes over to hug me. When he does, I feel vibrations flowing between us, a deep rumbling. There is a terrible singing above, and I watched him walk up the corridor and leave.
I assume this is a vision of long ago; Orem these days are lucky to have one child, much less three. I assume he was going off to some battle, but I don't know why the Healer graced me with this vision; it doesn't seem to help figure out where the spear is (I assume this is spear-related, since we know the Orem are involved with the spear). Perhaps one of the others will have ideas.
I went to Nok's, wanting to stock up on any herbal healing he could spare, and spend the afternoon with him. We'd talked about teaching one another, and now it looked like there wasn't likely to be time enough for that to happen much, but I wanted to learn what I could, and teach what I could. Herbalism is fascinating; it's amazing what some plant products can do.
When I got to Nok's, May and Jack were there, looking a little surprised to see me. I talked with Nok, and we're very lucky: he had ten doses of bragant sap. Since each dose lasts three days, that's six days for each of us, or perhaps more if we husband it. Not only did he have that, but he had just gotten a big glass jar with fireberry preserves. It was large, holding forty spoonfuls. A day's dose is a spoonful, so if we're careful, it can last a long time, protecting us against the cold. I asked whether the Ovahon could take half a spoonful each and get the same protection, and Nok wasn't sure, though he thought it possible. I suppose we can try it one day; it would certainly help. With Jack's help, I figured out what the value of these were, and paid Nok. After Jack and May left, we spent the rest of the afternoon talking herbalism and healing. If I come back to Bionlear's Skull someday, I hope there will be time for more.
