[Carrie] Chapter 7: Melrose

[Throndir]

《Chapter 6: Confrontation

《Chapter 7: Melrose》

North of Melrose
Shortly after...

You were laying on something soft and comfortable. When you stirred awake, the first thing you saw was Synithise above you. You were laying your head on her lap. Given the fact she was a lamia, it was surprisingly fleshy and much more comfortable than a human's lap. The priestess had a cup in her hands, the standard-issue cup that came with a soldier's mess kit. You felt liquid on your lips as well, telling you that she indeed had poured some down your lips.

"Carrie!" Synithise said. "It worked?"

[Erynn]

As Carrie opens her eyes, she instantly realizes that while she is conscious, she is also still very exhausted. As comfortable as she might be at the moment, Carrie rises to a sitting position so that she can take hold of the cup and finish whatever was left in it or to confirm that its contents were already gone. Whichever the case may be, Carrie reports the result simply.

"It's a partial success.", She informs her friends, "It obviously had some effect, but it clearly hasn't fully restored my MP as I had hoped. Still, if I can refine the program we could have a stable supply of restorative items. That'll have to wait until later though. Experimenting any further will be impossible without the MP to burn. SP on the other hand I seem to have an abundance of."

Carrie will then rise to her feet and resume marching back toward Thura Forest after stowing the cup, but while she walks, she decides to test an assumption about SP that crossed her mind now that she knew a little bit more about it. Much like Synithise had shown her with MP, Carrie attempts to visualize the pool of SP within her and to draw it out to her hands. Regardless of success or failure, Carrie addresses what Synithise had told her earlier about SP.

"If SP is a measure of the divinity within someone, then it wouldn't surprise me to discover that particularly faithful worshippers or clergy have it too.", She answered Synithise's earlier unspoken question, "On the other hand, if SP truly is unique to heroes, it could be something to do with the hero summoning process behind the glow coming from you...."

As Carrie speaks, she suddenly stops short, having had an unexpected epiphany.

"Wait. SP measures divinity within a person. Attempted Divinity.... an ability that needs to be unlocked...", she rambles, thinking aloud, "I think I may have figured something out."

If Carrie is successful at manipulating SP much like MP, she will take her experimentation one step further and attempt to make use of her SP to 'power' a program she had previously attempted, specifically the editing of her status window to fully replenish her MP.

"If divinity is involved, then maybe this is the answer."

If Carrie is still unsuccessful at restoring her MP, she will resign herself to recovering it normally and simply lead the group back to the tunnels. She will, however, spend the rest of the day trying to learn to speak the languages of anyone who's willing to teach while they march, turning off her translate all blessing where necessary to differentiate the different languages' sounds.

Linguistics Rolls Synithise: [blockquote]Rolled 1d20+16 : 16 + 16, total 32[/blockquote] Donovan: [blockquote]Rolled 1d20+16 : 14 + 16, total 30[/blockquote] Grus: [blockquote]Rolled 1d20+16 : 19 + 16, total 35[/blockquote] Apulia: [blockquote]Rolled 1d20+16 : 4 + 16, total 20[/blockquote] Viviana: 1d20+16 'Aliana': [blockquote]Rolled 1d20+16 : 18 + 16, total 34[/blockquote]

[Erynn]

[blockquote]Rolled 1d20+16 : 16 + 16, total 32[/blockquote] Linguistics for 'Aliana' because I derped the BB code last post.

[Erynn]

Training rolls for learning languages: Darmonian- [blockquote]Rolled 1d20+9 : 18 + 9, total 27[/blockquote] Darmonian Draconian- [blockquote]Rolled 1d20+9 : 9 + 9, total 18[/blockquote] Darmonian Nocturne- [blockquote]Rolled 1d20+9 : 2 + 9, total 11[/blockquote] New Felothian- [blockquote]Rolled 1d20+9 : 3 + 9, total 12[/blockquote]

[Throndir]

North of Melrose
1:45 PM

When attempting to pull the pool of what you imagine to be 'SP', you found this much more difficult than working with mana. However, soon enough, you were able to draw it out into your hands. Without any specific use for it however, you notice it slip back into your pool.

[info]You will need to learn specifics techniques in order to use Spirit, in the same way as learning new things with Mana, eg learning new spells that make use of mana, or new techniques that make use of mana. I have a list of spirit techniques thought up of already, but you may feel free to describe something and I'll check if I have something similar for that use-case already.

Any attempt to use techniques without proper learning it, wilil be an untrained usage check.[/info]

You tried applying the programming again. Targetting yourself, trying to apply the programming, and willing the 'SP' in you towards its use.

"Status, Program, Conditon: Now Statement:Set MP 75, Statement:Set HP 95, Save."

At that moment, a notification appeared.

[okay]You have gained a new title 『Basic Divine User』[/okay]
The strangest thing happened.  First, you suddenly became extremely awake, as if the fatigue was lifted from you completely. At the same time, you felt yourself seem more distant and disconnected from the world. Next, the wounds you had suffered since the day had suddenly healed themselves up. But you started to feel more and more disconnected and though physically fine, you felt almost lifeless inside. Lastly, a new notification appeared.

[error]ERROR: Not enough SP.[/error]
Then, as if undoing themselves, your wounds reappeared, your sleepyiness came back in full, but you felt more like yourself without that strange lifeless feeling.

You had your status screen up during the entire event, and you saw your SP points start from 100 all the way down to empty, until it suddenly reset itself. That entire episode lasted for just under a second.

[okay]Carrie Cook
Attempted Divinity
Level 39

Condition: Injured, Sleepy

HP: 62/95
MP: 3/75
SP: 94/100
STR: 21 +
DEX: 28 +
CON: 25+
INT: 29 +
WIS: 11 +
CHA: 13 +
MAG: 21 +

Blessings: Quick Learner, Mana Sensitivity, Translate All, Personal Status, Magic Reflect, Program

You have 2 unspent ability points.[/okay]

Melrose - Heading back to Thura Forest
2 PM - 10 PM

[info]You were able to easily pick out the differences between each individual by their mouth movements. Turning off the translation ability as well let you hear some of their words. They all spoke the same language to each other, however, they all had accents that differed. When pressed, they would speak some of their own language, and in doing this you were able to figure some things out.

Linguistics (Synithise): 32
Her language had a specific hiss to them. She described the language as Draconic, though she admitted that her own people emphasized specific hisses in the speech more so than other speakers.

She speaks Darmonian and Darmona Draconic.

Linguistics (Donovan): 30
Donovan practiced the same main language as the rest, however, did mention he knew Nocturne, which was the language of the Batfolk. Turning off your translation ability to hear it, it sounded like a series of clicks, though had the rare clucks and chirps in it. It was surprising how he was able to speak it, considering the language seemed almost animalistic.

He speaks Darmonian and Darmona Nocturne.

Linguistics (Grus): 35
You realized why the rest were having a hard time understanding Grus. He spoke a broken Darmonian, and incorporated many words from his own language. His race apparently shared the same language as many giant-folk in the country. It consisted of plenty of filler words that had no true meaning, and slow and deliberate sentences.

He speaks Darmonian (broken) and Darmona Giant.

Linguistics (Apulia): 20
The mershark spoke in a peculiar language. It is a guttural language with many long syllables made up of dense, throaty sounds, with affixes and inflections providing subtle shifts in meaning.

She speaks Darmonian and Darmona Aquan.

Linguistics (Viviana): 34
Much like Apulia, the mermaid speaks in the same language, though to your surprise, she was fluent in New Felothian as well, the language of the oppressive neighbors.

She speaks Darmonian, Darmona Aquan, and New Felothian.

Linguistics (Aliana): 32
It turned out that Aliana was the most multilingual of them all. She showcased her own language which was a very breathy and soft-spoken language. Apart from that, she also reverted to another language that made use of caws, chirps, and clicks. It was similar to Donovan's showcasing of Nocturne, but you could tell this one didn't use as many clicks. Lastly, she showed cased the Feline and Canine languages as well, apparently two other languages that were used in abundance in Darmona.

She speaks Darmonian, Darmona Auran, Darmona Haliaeetus, Darmona Aquan, Darmona Draconic, Darmona Feline, Darmona Canine, and New Felothian.[/info]

"How about you, Carrie?" Aliana asked. "What language do you speak? I would be... quite interested to try to learn it."

Melrose - Heading back to Thura Forest
10 PM

It was already getting fairly late. With the pace of the minotaur hauling the wagon, you eventually make it to around Melrose's area. Luckily with the vicinity of the road, you didn't run into any hungry wildlife. There had been plenty of merchants and travellers, even Felencorp soldiers who use the roads, but you didn't run into any of them.

[info]If you're stopping in Melrose for any buying or selling, or any other activities, we can spawn a side thread to handle it if you want the main thread to continue to progress, otherwise if you don't mind piling a lot of line breaks between posts, here is fine too.

Likewise, you can technically stop at any area near the roads in Melroses' hex space, so it doesn't need to be in the town.[/info]
[info]As you began to learn the languages from your companions, you realized that Aliana had a keen interest in languages, and took the lead for teaching. She seemed to be a better tutor than the rest. For the languages she did not know, one of the others would teach it.

Training:
Darmonian, mentor Aliana: 1/8
Darmona Draconian, mentor Aliana: 0/8
Darmona Nocturne, mentor Donovan: 1/8
New Felothian, mentor Aliana: 1/8
[/info]

[Erynn]

At first, Carrie is quite pleased to have confirmed her hypothesis to be accurate. The more SP she uses though, the more hollow, empty, and lifeless she feels inside. Once more, Carrie experiences the consequences of a broken, spent spirit. She is reminded of that first evening after arriving in this strange new world, recalls having scrubbed her hands nonstop trying to wash off blood that wasn't there, a rising feeling of panic coming over her. Just as the panic begins to reach a crescendo, the traumatic sensation vanishes as quickly as it had appeared and an error notification appears once more in Carrie's field of view, leaving the young hero breathing heavily with a slowly fading expression of abject terror and trembling hands.

"I was right.", Carrie thinks aloud, her voice wavering, "But I'm not trying that again unless I have no other choice. Using SP that way will have to be reserved for the nucle....ar......o p t i o n...."

As Carrie speaks the word nuclear, her mind trips over a sudden, stark realization. She had in that moment considered how she could leverage her blessing to create a nuclear blast and had found the solution to the problem disturbingly simple. If the assembled group had thought Carrie's face had gone pale before, they were in for a surprise as their hero blanched to an even greater degree and went suddenly and eerily quiet. A few moments later though, she remembers out of nowhere despite all the implications of what she had realized racing through her mind that she had unspent ability points.

"Oh, right.", She says to nobody in particular as she reaches for her status menu and misses the mark a time or two before just resigning herself to operate the thing with just the intent. She selects the MAG statistic, having found the maximum amount of MP available to her to be sorely lacking, and hoping that an increase in that statistic would boost her pool of MP.
_______________________________________________________________________

As Carrie listened to each of her companions speak the languages that they knew and did her best to pick up the general syntax of each, it becomes fairly clear than one of her companions knew quite a few more languages than the rest, and was just as interested in learning from Carrie as Carrie was from her. Having already realized that she had concealed her identity, and hypothesized that she was likely somebody of importance, the fact that 'Aliana' knew so many languages simply lent further evidence to support Carrie's hunch. Given the number of languages that the harpy knew, Carrie knew it was likely she was one of two things; An interpreter, or a diplomat of some variety.

"I speak several of them, much like you, so there are a few to choose from.", Carrie replies, subtly pointing out that the fact the number of languages her conversational partner knew stood out to her like a sore thumb, then elaborating for her conversational partner's benefit, "I speak English, Irish, French, Arabic, and Spanish. Irish and English are my native languages. The rest I learned later on. One of my most frequent roles before coming here was as an interpreter, so I'm quite practiced with all of them. I'm guessing you can relate. Well,..either that or you're a politician of some sort. It's not like I'd have that kind of luck though."

While giving 'Aliana' a good idea of what languages there were to learn from her, Carrie uses the wisecrack to surreptitiously probe her conversational partner for information with a sly grin. Her response would no doubt be interesting regardless of what it turned out to be. Even if Carrie was way off the mark, just bringing up the subject of politicians tended to lead conversations in interesting directions.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

As night began to fall, it had become clear to Carrie that the probability of another encounter with Felencorp personnel was high. As she directs the group to a depression in the terrain that would help to conceal their camp from long-range observation and seeks volunteers to stand each watch, she approaches Donovan.

"You know as well as I do that the carts we didn't take have likely been found by now, and given the size of our group we're not hard to track.", Carrie explains to the dullahan, "I think you and I ought to take a ride and circle back around on our own tracks to make sure we're not being followed. An hour each way should cover enough ground to give us an answer."

As Carrie explains the situation to Donovan, she retrieves her night-vision goggles from her pack and attaches them to the mount on her helmet. As much as she didn't want to be awake, Carrie knew that if she and Donovan didn't check the group's six o'clock it could result in disaster.

"If our enemy is any sort of competent, they'll be looking for us."

We're stopping a ways off outside of Melrose, still maintaining distance from roads and civilization. Carrie and Donovan are going to circle back on their trail on horseback to check for pursuit. Carrie will be making perception checks as required, and once the pair rejoin the group's trail, Carrie will check to see if their tracks have been added to by anyone trying to track them.

[blockquote]Rolled 1d20+10 : 9 + 10, total 19[/blockquote] Survival

[Throndir]

North of Melrose
1:45 PM

As expected your MAG went two points up, with that done, the '+' icon disappeared, along with the notification of having unspent ability points.

[okay]Carrie Cook
Attempted Divinity
Level 39

Condition: Injured, Sleepy

HP: 62/95
MP: 10/82
SP: 94/105
STR: 21
DEX: 28
CON: 25
INT: 29
WIS: 11
CHA: 13
MAG: 21

Blessings: Quick Learner, Mana Sensitivity, Translate All, Personal Status, Magic Reflect, Program[/okay]

Melrose - Heading back to Thura Forest
2 PM - 10 PM

"An interpreter? That is quite a skilled thing to do." Aliana said, she paused for a moment, considering her words, before continuing. "Yes... Before the occupation, I happened to have the opportunity to converse with many of the peoples that live here in Darmona."

Melrose - Heading back to Thura Forest
10 PM

[info]Survival: 19
You and Donovan parted with the group to back track and search for any signs of pursuit. From the initial checking of your tracks, you weren't able to see any signs of pursuit. However, the journey all the way back was at least 16 miles. By the horse's speed, it would take 3-4 hours to reach the point of origin of where you had picked up the Synithise and the others. Likewise, the horses you have with you, had traveled for most of the day already, and indeed would be forcefully marching them.

Need a confirmation on how far back you want to travel, to figure out when you would be back, and other details. It's currently 10 PM.[/info]

[spoiler=Forced March reference]Forced March
In a day of normal walking, a character walks for 8 hours. The rest of the daylight time is spent making and breaking camp, resting, and eating.

A character can walk for more than 8 hours in a day by making a forced march. For each hour of marching beyond 8 hours, a Constitution check (DC 10, +2 per extra hour) is required. If the check fails, the character takes 1d6 points of nonlethal damage. A character who takes any nonlethal damage from a forced march becomes fatigued. Eliminating the nonlethal damage also eliminates the fatigue. It's possible for a character to march into unconsciousness by pushing himself too hard.[/spoiler]

[Erynn]

We'll be traveling for one hour in each direction.

______________________________________________________

Having heard, essentially, a non-answer to her question from 'Aliana', Carrie pointedly considers the possibility that the individual with whom she was conversing was perhaps such a high-value target for Felencorp that confirming either profession would be dangerous for her. She also considered the possibility that she might fill a very similar role to her own while she was serving in the middle east, though she considered this possibility less likely given the circumstances under which she was found. With a change in expression that became much more serious, Carrie leans in and places a hand on the harpy's shoulder as she asks the obvious question of her pseudonymous conversational partner in a low, quiet tone so that only 'Aliana' would understand her.

"Play this one straight with me, would you?", she asks point-blank, "What sort of heat can we expect when they realize you're missing?"

Carrie will be paying close attention to 'Aliana''s response, looking for any trace of deception. Sense motive: [blockquote]Rolled 1d20+7 : 19 + 7, total 26[/blockquote]

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

Just before Carrie mounts the horse behind Donovan, she picks up a rock and speaks.

"Program, Condition: Now Statement: Become SOCOM556RC-2 Suppressor Save."

If the program successfully creates the desired item, Carrie will immediately screw the suppressor onto the barrel of her M4 carbine.

Constitution rolls for the forced march: [blockquote]Rolled 1d20+7 : 12 + 7, total 19[/blockquote][blockquote]Rolled 1d20+7 : 13 + 7, total 20[/blockquote]

[Throndir]

Melrose - Heading back to Thura Forest
2 PM - 10 PM

Aliana's demeanor changed slightly when you lowered your voice. At this time, Donovan was telling the rest old stories from generations ago, so much of the attention was on the dullahan rather than the two of you.

"Hmm... So you realized..?" Aliana whispered quietly back more to herself than to you. She focused her eyes on you however as she continued in a low voice as to not alert the others. "The assassin sent to escort us was skilled; it's precisely that kind of guard needed to ensure the safe transport of any high profile prisoner. I will say that it's not just the matriarch of Thura forest that deserves such an escort... Though I very much doubt that the slavers would have thought to prepare for a hero."

Aliana smiled.

"I am grateful, but if you don't mind though... It's better if we talk about such things in the safety of lamia tunnels."

[info]Roll a stealth check as well for the conversation if you're trying to be quiet in your conversation.[/info]

Melrose - Base Camp
10 PM

Your programming triggered, you felt the slight pull of mana, and the rock you held turned into a suppressor.

Melrose - Backtracking
10 PM - 11 PM

You travel back, and did not run into any signs of pursuit. The horses managed to keep up well even with pushing them further that night. One hour in, the both of you headed back towards camp.

Melrose - Back to camp
11 PM - Midnight

The two of you make it back to camp with the horses still in relatively good shape.

[Erynn]

Stealth to keep the conversation private: [blockquote]Rolled 1d20+19 : 10 + 19, total 29[/blockquote]

As 'Aliana' confirms Carrie's suspicion as to her identity, the young hero's expression remains serious while taking in the totality of the circumstances she finds herself in. Knowing that Felencorp had just suffered a significantly greater setback than losing custody of Synithise, Carrie's mind began running through various means of concealing the group's trail as well as ways to expedite the group's return to the forest. When her conversational partner finishes speaking, she acknowledges her desire for a more secure environment for further discussion.

"Understood.", Carrie answers simply and directly, briefly returning the smile, "That's all I needed to know for the moment. I'll look forward to continuing this conversation when we arrive at the forest."

Carrie makes a point of screwing the suppressor onto her weapon's barrel as soon as it's ready, then mounts up to head out on patrol with Donovan.
___________________________________________________________________

Upon returning to camp, Carrie decides that since nobody appeared to have picked up the group's trail it would be best if it wasn't possible for anyone to do so. She targets the ground once more and speaks.

"Program: Condition: Now Statement: Erase our tracks Save."

She then makes a point of checking in with those standing watch to see if anything unusual has transpired while she was away. Assuming there's nothing unusual being reported, Carrie will lay out her bedroll and rack out for the night with her M-4 within arm's reach and her night vision goggles still attached to her helmet, though inactive for the moment.

[Throndir]

Melrose - Camp
Midnight

You applied the programming to the ground, and you watch as the tracks your group made disappear. There was some talk of making a watch order, though Donovan, having no need of sleep, volunteered.

"I work best in the dead of night." He had said to make his point.

Melrose - Camp
Midnight - 8 AM

You felt a slight tap as Donovan woke you from your slumber.

"Hyaeonodons, at least 4 of them." He said quietly.

[Erynn]

"Just make sure you don't wind up in a grave state.", Carrie replied with a smirk before nodding off. The young hero had clearly latched onto Donovan's comedy as a sort of coping mechanism for her current condition.
_________________________________________________________________

When next Carrie awoke it was still dark and she'd had far less rest than she desired. When she heard that a group of animals had appeared, she found herself more than a little irritable and quickly activated her NVGs while moving them into position so that she could observe the creatures herself. She also drew her sidearm while slinging her rifle over her shoulder. With four known threats and the possibility of more, Carrie quickly assessed that she was unlikely to be able to deal with them all rapidly enough to keep everyone safe without significant assistance.

Carrie quickly identifies the two nearest threats and takes aim with her M9, knowing that its discharge will be more than sufficient to wake the entire enmcampment, and seeks to employ the loud noise as well as any pain inflicted by rounds landing on target to scare the beasts off.

[blockquote]Rolled 1d20+16 : 18 + 16, total 34[/blockquote][blockquote]Rolled 2d6 : 3, 2, total 5[/blockquote]
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20+11 : 5 + 11, total 16[/blockquote][blockquote]Rolled 2d6 : 1, 6, total 7[/blockquote]

Carrie then repeats Donovan's identification of the creatures as she loudly informs those now no doubt awakened by the gunfire of the threat.

"Hyeanadons sighted! Stick together and don't leave the group!"

Carrie then curses loudly as she realizes what the creatures are most likely after out of such a large group and turns to race toward the wagon full of seriously injured Felencorp prisoners. She mentally kicked herself as she did so. Even as exhausted as she was, she should have known that predators like these would be after the weakest members of such a large group. The wagon should have been her first instinct, not her second. She only hoped that she would be able to beat the creatures to it, assuming the gunfire hadn't already caused them to turn tail and flee. If they turned out to be as reluctant to flee as the cheetah had previously, this situation could turn very dangerous indeed.

Carrie then sighs audibly, coming to another overly delayed realization. She herself was injured, and was likely just as tempting a target for the creatures.

'Great', she thinks to herself, 'Here I am doing precisely what I just told everyone else not to do, and while I'm a likely target to boot.'

Carrie's mood continues to worsen as her mind continues to switch back on fully from slumber. She was tired. She was physically exhausted. She was in pain. Most of all though, she was just plain pissed. She really didn't want to be dealing with this shit right now, even if it was less unpleasant than the nightmare she had awoken from.

'I am so fucking done with this savannah.', Carrie thinks to herself as she recalls that the climate was rather off for the type of area she and the rest of the group were now in, realizing quickly that the climate and ecosystem mismatch was likely to continue causing problems moving forward. She suspected that the wildlife was targeting sapient beings as prey due to a lack of their normal fare.

[Erynn]

[blockquote]Rolled 1d20+9 : 11 + 9, total 20[/blockquote] Initiative

[Throndir]

[INFO]Side thread spawned: Chapter 7: Hyaenodon[/INFO]

[Throndir]

[INFO]Side thread updated: Chapter 7: Hyaenodon

(Posting in this thread so I have a reminder when I cycle through posts, I'll clean it up at a later date)[/INFO]