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Sooooo far behind.
Anyway. We and the orcs had taken the fortress. We celebrated a bit, but everyone was very tired. And the shamans wanted to talk with us.
They asked us to go through their shamanic initiation. We asked what that would mean, and they said it would mean that we were shamans. But sort of adopted shamans, not shaman shamans who are part of the tribe. They thought it would make it easier for us to talk with other orcs, which is always a good idea.
So we said we'd go through the initiation. We asked Conscience if he wanted to come along and he said he didn't think that it was his to do. (Session Quote: The world is not ready for a puppy shaman. --Thiara) So we decided we'd go down in the morning.
It was a dark twisty sort of way down, and Karas lit himself up so we could see better. A spirit greeted us and sent us into a room and the door closed behind us.
There was painting everywhere, including a bunch of figures of people. An alar, a dwarf, an elf, a halfling, an orc, and a human, all pointing around in a circle. And there was a pedestal at the other end of the room. We spent ages looking at things and investigating, and even exhausted Karas's glow. (Session Quote: "Someone blew out our loremaster!" / "Ah. Karas has gone out." --Adosar)
I found a little niche with a statue in it. And so we started looking for niches and we found five statues, one for everyone but the Alar. And we sort of peered at them for a while, and thought about putting them on the pedestal, and bickered about how to put them down, and finally put them all down at once and the wall opened up.
So we went through. What else was there to do?
The next room was big and round and open. There were torches in wall sconces all around the edges, and a little stream running right through the center of it. And the door closed behind us, which we should have guessed.
Wren said the elements were perfectly balanced there.
I spent a long time poking at things.
Adosar sat down and a little while later an earth elemental showed up. He asked if it knew the way out. It sort of shrugged. Then he sort of frowned and sat with purpose and got all four different elementals there and asked them if they knew the way out, all of them together. They didn't. So they went away.
Then Wren sat down and meditated for a while, and she saw the way out. She went and looked at it, and it was stone. I couldn't put my hand through it or anything. But she said it was because she'd been focused on her element for a while, and so she knew who she was and where she was, and so she saw the way.
So Adosar focused on earth, and he saw the way out. And Karas and I spent a while thinking about what our elements were. And we decided he was fire, and Wren kindled a fire in his hands, and he called up the rage in him, and he saw the way out.
And I wasn't sure at all, because I can see arguments for all of them. But I picked up a torch from the wall and stood in the stream, because fire and water are best for me, I guess, and I focused on seeing who I was and where I was in the world. And I got kinda wet.
But we all saw the door. Karas went through, then I went through, and then Wren went through, and then Adosar went through. And it closed up behind us.
The next room had a big pit in the middle. All the way across the middle. And a crystal hanging over the pit. And a bunch of crystals set next to pits in a sort of arc around the room. We all poked at that a lot, and then we put a light behind one of the little crystals. It sparkled up and through and hit the big crystal, and there was a beam of light across the pit.
And Karas looked at Adosar and Adosar looked at Karas and they waved their hands.
And there were little lights behind all the crystals, and a bridge made of all these different colours of light spanned the pit.
So we went across.
Then there was a big cavern with lots of tunnels off its sides, and an arch far away at the far side. And we started across it carefully, and we heard the skittering of something in the tunnels, and we thought maybe we could outrun them, and these huge -- I mean huge when I say huge -- scorpions came out at us and we tried to run. It didn't work. So we fought them.
One of them tried to pull me in half. I didn't like that much. I don't like bugs either. But spiders are worse.
One of them tried to rip Karas in half, and then tried to run away with him. So I followed it and got him back.
When we came out of the mountain on the other side, the shamans were there waiting for us, and they brought us into the circle and there was another party. And the spirits came up out of the fire and studied us and one of them sank magic into the knife that Adosar made for me to hit things that aren't there (but it doesn't hit things that aren't there yet, we're only practicing).
- Session 16: Man Bites Dog
- Session 17: She's closing her eyes, she's starting to dream, she's pulling the strings. . .
- Session 18: When Dwarves Hurry. (Hoom hum.)
- Session 19: 'Scuse me, looking for a cliff to hang from.
- Session 20: Wallops and Castor
- Session 21: Let's Split Up. We can do more damage that way.
Anyway. We and the orcs had taken the fortress. We celebrated a bit, but everyone was very tired. And the shamans wanted to talk with us.
They asked us to go through their shamanic initiation. We asked what that would mean, and they said it would mean that we were shamans. But sort of adopted shamans, not shaman shamans who are part of the tribe. They thought it would make it easier for us to talk with other orcs, which is always a good idea.
So we said we'd go through the initiation. We asked Conscience if he wanted to come along and he said he didn't think that it was his to do. (Session Quote: The world is not ready for a puppy shaman. --Thiara) So we decided we'd go down in the morning.
- Does this path take hours to walk, or days?
That would depend on you.
I think . . . that once one begins to walk it, one doesn't stop.
Yes, but she knew what I meant.
Why Thiara! That was quite poetic!
- Adosar, Isovortu, Thiara, Adosar, Karas
It was a dark twisty sort of way down, and Karas lit himself up so we could see better. A spirit greeted us and sent us into a room and the door closed behind us.
There was painting everywhere, including a bunch of figures of people. An alar, a dwarf, an elf, a halfling, an orc, and a human, all pointing around in a circle. And there was a pedestal at the other end of the room. We spent ages looking at things and investigating, and even exhausted Karas's glow. (Session Quote: "Someone blew out our loremaster!" / "Ah. Karas has gone out." --Adosar)
I found a little niche with a statue in it. And so we started looking for niches and we found five statues, one for everyone but the Alar. And we sort of peered at them for a while, and thought about putting them on the pedestal, and bickered about how to put them down, and finally put them all down at once and the wall opened up.
So we went through. What else was there to do?
The next room was big and round and open. There were torches in wall sconces all around the edges, and a little stream running right through the center of it. And the door closed behind us, which we should have guessed.
Wren said the elements were perfectly balanced there.
I spent a long time poking at things.
Adosar sat down and a little while later an earth elemental showed up. He asked if it knew the way out. It sort of shrugged. Then he sort of frowned and sat with purpose and got all four different elementals there and asked them if they knew the way out, all of them together. They didn't. So they went away.
- "Can the four of you together show us the way from here?"
"Or combine, to form Voltron?"
- Adosar, Shane
Then Wren sat down and meditated for a while, and she saw the way out. She went and looked at it, and it was stone. I couldn't put my hand through it or anything. But she said it was because she'd been focused on her element for a while, and so she knew who she was and where she was, and so she saw the way.
So Adosar focused on earth, and he saw the way out. And Karas and I spent a while thinking about what our elements were. And we decided he was fire, and Wren kindled a fire in his hands, and he called up the rage in him, and he saw the way out.
And I wasn't sure at all, because I can see arguments for all of them. But I picked up a torch from the wall and stood in the stream, because fire and water are best for me, I guess, and I focused on seeing who I was and where I was in the world. And I got kinda wet.
But we all saw the door. Karas went through, then I went through, and then Wren went through, and then Adosar went through. And it closed up behind us.
- "Charge! Drip-drip-drip-drip. ~Waft~. Tromp, tromp, tromp, tromp."
-
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keshwynThe next room had a big pit in the middle. All the way across the middle. And a crystal hanging over the pit. And a bunch of crystals set next to pits in a sort of arc around the room. We all poked at that a lot, and then we put a light behind one of the little crystals. It sparkled up and through and hit the big crystal, and there was a beam of light across the pit.
And Karas looked at Adosar and Adosar looked at Karas and they waved their hands.
- "Dancing lights!"
- Adosar, Karas (in unison)
And there were little lights behind all the crystals, and a bridge made of all these different colours of light spanned the pit.
So we went across.
Then there was a big cavern with lots of tunnels off its sides, and an arch far away at the far side. And we started across it carefully, and we heard the skittering of something in the tunnels, and we thought maybe we could outrun them, and these huge -- I mean huge when I say huge -- scorpions came out at us and we tried to run. It didn't work. So we fought them.
One of them tried to pull me in half. I didn't like that much. I don't like bugs either. But spiders are worse.
One of them tried to rip Karas in half, and then tried to run away with him. So I followed it and got him back.
When we came out of the mountain on the other side, the shamans were there waiting for us, and they brought us into the circle and there was another party. And the spirits came up out of the fire and studied us and one of them sank magic into the knife that Adosar made for me to hit things that aren't there (but it doesn't hit things that aren't there yet, we're only practicing).