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[K160.28] somewhen, beyond the Veil
Jun. 3rd, 2009 10:02 pmWe'd traveled three hours, and there seemed to be tracks of stilt creatures and the hunter packs of large kafke-like beings, but no sign of the gatherers or the kathel. The most recent hunter pack were not long ago, and there were at least five in the pack, some of them possibly hiding in the trees.
I told Jack about the spirit infesting him, and how it seemed related to the rainbows. We debated how to get it out (going back home might drive it out, but also might just bring it along...), and whether it was, in fact, some form of rainbow, or rainbow child. I don't know how, if we managed to get it out of Jack somehow, whether we could fight it if it manifested. Even if I tried to force it out using my Blessing (not that I think it's likely to work, since it isn't a disease sort of spirit), that might be showing that power of the Healer to the rainbows. A conundrum indeed.
Since we don't yet have a resolution for that, we left it. We made our travel plans: those of us who could become birds flying or being carried as birds, while the three of us who couldn't (Cor, May, and me) would be running rather quickly, using May's Guidance of Nature. I'd use Touch of Purity as necessary to keep us from getting too drained from the exertion.
We kept traveling, and it was nice not to feel the thing above us anymore (though I'm not likely to risk looking up just yet), and finally feeling like we were making progress towards the star.
Jack was flying ahead, and spotted a blue stilt beast, which was rather like a blue cloud on stilts with hairs like a flower on top. Thymelixsen stayed watching it while Jack came back to tell the rest of us. When we got closer, Thymelixsen told us that he'd seen a beam of green-yellow light coming out of it, as if a sunbeam were coming out of a cloud, a hum happening at the same time, the air vibrating. The light went up and down a tree, and the tree moved itself some feet away, the ground shifting itself to fill in as necessary. How incredibly strange.
It kept on its drifting way, and we decided not to follow it, but to continue north (arbitrary north, really) towards the star.
Jack and Thymelixsen, ahead as birds again, found a footpath going east-west. Jack flew off east to scout, while Thymelixsen waited for the rest of us. When we caught up, Cor found that there were tracks of shoes, with some kind of people traveling in ones and twos, without mounts or wheeled vehicles. Most were heading east, a few west.
We debated which way to go, whether to use the trail or continue north, when Thymelixsen said that his bird spell on Jack was broken. That couldn't be good...
We started running east, Thymelixsen flying ahead of us. When we saw Thymelixsen next, he was waving us to a halt: he'd seen Jack, and he was acting oddly. Thymelixsen had sensed magic, and found that not only had the bird spell gone, there was new Visic magic on him, an incredibly strong implanted personality, lasting something like 75 days (however long that means, here). Whatever put this on Jack left a self-contained seed, not one that reports back. Which is something, I suppose, but I'm not sure quite what.
Cor tracked around, and found tracks of the hunting kafke; presumably they did something to Jack, though it's not like the effects of a hunting party I'd expect.
We talked about what to do, and decided that Thymelixsen should use Discordant Vibrations again to try to break the Visic spell, casting it on himself, then going over to Jack.
It was a reasonable plan. Too bad it didn't work out as we'd hoped.
Thymelixsen started casting once we'd moved beyond Jack (stealthily) on the trail. Cor, May, and I stayed alert, which is how Cor saw a silver one circling us, then a red one in a tree. May used Guidance of Nature to help us hide, and Cor hoisted us into the tree Thymelixsen was sitting near, then joined us. We couldn't move Thymelixsen up a tree while casting. Or so we assumed, anyway. I held onto my holy symbol and prayed.
May saw a huge green almost-kafke standing by a tree perhaps 80 yards away, then saw one coming out of the trees, as if coming out of the All-Wood. Except that these are flesh trees, so I don't know how that can be. May pointed that one out to us, and we watched as he stood by Thymelixsen, apparently looking at the frames he was building around him. Presumably the others are like this one, large, muscled, with a heavy coat. Then he reached out, touching space around Thymelixsen that was likely the frames, before going back into the tree. We just watched, assuming there was nothing useful we could to to stop it.
When Thymelixsen finished, we told him about the not-kafke. He sensed magic, and found that his spell had become a replicating spell, copying magic back from his recipient to him. So if he cast something on Jack, he'd get an implanted personality too. We started talking about what to do, and Thymelixsen decided to talk with Jack. He started walking, and Cor threw a bola to stop him. They argued, then Thyemlixsen headed off. Cor carried me down from the tree, caught May when she jumped, then we all followed Thymelixsen.
There seem to be some holes in Jack's account of what happened, and I wonder what the non-kafke did to him to get him this way. We talked about trying to neutralize the effect of the personality another way, and May shot down one of the underripe fruit. Jack tasted some of it, figuring it would last less long, but it tasted bad to him. Thymelixsen found that the fruit was unstable, cycling through different things, and apparently Jack ate it at a not-good time. He lay down, all floppy and uninterested in anything.
We debated whether to follow the path, or head north, and Cor climbed a tree to see what could be seen. The path continued straight west as far as he could see, but after a couple of miles, the path to the east turned north. Since the not-kafke seem not to go on the path (just around it on all sides), this seemed like the best choice.
I told Jack about the spirit infesting him, and how it seemed related to the rainbows. We debated how to get it out (going back home might drive it out, but also might just bring it along...), and whether it was, in fact, some form of rainbow, or rainbow child. I don't know how, if we managed to get it out of Jack somehow, whether we could fight it if it manifested. Even if I tried to force it out using my Blessing (not that I think it's likely to work, since it isn't a disease sort of spirit), that might be showing that power of the Healer to the rainbows. A conundrum indeed.
Since we don't yet have a resolution for that, we left it. We made our travel plans: those of us who could become birds flying or being carried as birds, while the three of us who couldn't (Cor, May, and me) would be running rather quickly, using May's Guidance of Nature. I'd use Touch of Purity as necessary to keep us from getting too drained from the exertion.
We kept traveling, and it was nice not to feel the thing above us anymore (though I'm not likely to risk looking up just yet), and finally feeling like we were making progress towards the star.
Jack was flying ahead, and spotted a blue stilt beast, which was rather like a blue cloud on stilts with hairs like a flower on top. Thymelixsen stayed watching it while Jack came back to tell the rest of us. When we got closer, Thymelixsen told us that he'd seen a beam of green-yellow light coming out of it, as if a sunbeam were coming out of a cloud, a hum happening at the same time, the air vibrating. The light went up and down a tree, and the tree moved itself some feet away, the ground shifting itself to fill in as necessary. How incredibly strange.
It kept on its drifting way, and we decided not to follow it, but to continue north (arbitrary north, really) towards the star.
Jack and Thymelixsen, ahead as birds again, found a footpath going east-west. Jack flew off east to scout, while Thymelixsen waited for the rest of us. When we caught up, Cor found that there were tracks of shoes, with some kind of people traveling in ones and twos, without mounts or wheeled vehicles. Most were heading east, a few west.
We debated which way to go, whether to use the trail or continue north, when Thymelixsen said that his bird spell on Jack was broken. That couldn't be good...
We started running east, Thymelixsen flying ahead of us. When we saw Thymelixsen next, he was waving us to a halt: he'd seen Jack, and he was acting oddly. Thymelixsen had sensed magic, and found that not only had the bird spell gone, there was new Visic magic on him, an incredibly strong implanted personality, lasting something like 75 days (however long that means, here). Whatever put this on Jack left a self-contained seed, not one that reports back. Which is something, I suppose, but I'm not sure quite what.
Cor tracked around, and found tracks of the hunting kafke; presumably they did something to Jack, though it's not like the effects of a hunting party I'd expect.
We talked about what to do, and decided that Thymelixsen should use Discordant Vibrations again to try to break the Visic spell, casting it on himself, then going over to Jack.
It was a reasonable plan. Too bad it didn't work out as we'd hoped.
Thymelixsen started casting once we'd moved beyond Jack (stealthily) on the trail. Cor, May, and I stayed alert, which is how Cor saw a silver one circling us, then a red one in a tree. May used Guidance of Nature to help us hide, and Cor hoisted us into the tree Thymelixsen was sitting near, then joined us. We couldn't move Thymelixsen up a tree while casting. Or so we assumed, anyway. I held onto my holy symbol and prayed.
May saw a huge green almost-kafke standing by a tree perhaps 80 yards away, then saw one coming out of the trees, as if coming out of the All-Wood. Except that these are flesh trees, so I don't know how that can be. May pointed that one out to us, and we watched as he stood by Thymelixsen, apparently looking at the frames he was building around him. Presumably the others are like this one, large, muscled, with a heavy coat. Then he reached out, touching space around Thymelixsen that was likely the frames, before going back into the tree. We just watched, assuming there was nothing useful we could to to stop it.
When Thymelixsen finished, we told him about the not-kafke. He sensed magic, and found that his spell had become a replicating spell, copying magic back from his recipient to him. So if he cast something on Jack, he'd get an implanted personality too. We started talking about what to do, and Thymelixsen decided to talk with Jack. He started walking, and Cor threw a bola to stop him. They argued, then Thyemlixsen headed off. Cor carried me down from the tree, caught May when she jumped, then we all followed Thymelixsen.
There seem to be some holes in Jack's account of what happened, and I wonder what the non-kafke did to him to get him this way. We talked about trying to neutralize the effect of the personality another way, and May shot down one of the underripe fruit. Jack tasted some of it, figuring it would last less long, but it tasted bad to him. Thymelixsen found that the fruit was unstable, cycling through different things, and apparently Jack ate it at a not-good time. He lay down, all floppy and uninterested in anything.
We debated whether to follow the path, or head north, and Cor climbed a tree to see what could be seen. The path continued straight west as far as he could see, but after a couple of miles, the path to the east turned north. Since the not-kafke seem not to go on the path (just around it on all sides), this seemed like the best choice.
