Fantasy World Creations

[info]Will do the same the next day as planned for this day: go over the plans of travel and make sure everyone remembers it correctly, then head out after eating breakfast and outfitting the horses. Will stop when we need to swap out horses and stop again for the night. If they will reach the town in the evening, they will stop 1 hour away from the settlement and camp out so they can arrive in the morning well rested in case of battle and/or needing to return home in a hurry.[/info]

After the morning's rituals was finished, your group continued its way towards the settlement that was mentioned. As you traveled, you noticed that the trees were starting to thin out, you also noticed more and more roads intersecting with the one you were travelling on. As you made your way eastwards, that was when one of the imps quickly teleported back to you.

"Someone's headed this way!" It said. As for the protocol you had created, Zavan immediately disappeared from sight, heading straight towards the treeline.

"How many are there? Do they look like villagers? Merchants? Soldiers?" She asked the imp.

"Both! They had wagons... and people with weapons... Both? I think both!"

"Tell all the other imps that we are moving off the road so they can pass. Make sure everyone hides so that they and their horses won't be seen from the road. I will have Abi go around and tell everyone when we are ready to get back into formation." She told the imp who had arrived. She, Efrit, and Abi would also move off the road to hide or move far enough away from the road that details could not be made out exactly other than that they might be travelers taking a rest. They were probably merchants with a caravan guard or soldiers being sent out for whatever reason.

The imp nodded in agreement and poofed in a cloud of smoke.

QuoteStealth checks requested. You'll get some hidden bonuses due to distance and preparation you did.

[spoiler=Stealth][blockquote]Rolled 1d20+9 : 4 + 9, total 13[/blockquote][/spoiler]

Soon enough, your group quickly moved out of the way, into the forests, where Zavan rushed into. The other people on the road soon came, and eventually you were able to get a good look at them from a distance. Indeed, like what your imp mentioned, they were a group of people both armed and not. You quickly realized that it looked to be some sort of merchant caravan. There were people on horseback who were armored and had weapons to their side. On the wagons themselves, were drivers. Altogether, there were 6 wagons altogether, and at least 18 armed riders.

QuotePerception requested.

[spoiler=Spellcraft Perception][blockquote]Rolled 1d20+21 : 11 + 21, total 32[/blockquote][/spoiler]

You felt someone's mana a distance away from the rest of the group of the caravan. They were at a good distance away, around 360 ft. And you noticed that they were travelling in parallel with the large caravan. They continued onwards for a few more feet in your direction, however, at that moment, they stopped their movements, and suddenly started to go around you in a more hurried pace as if to flank you.

"I think someone noticed us and is trying to flank us." Leela told the others, frowning as she sensed them coming closer. She prepared herself for casting ice prison should this person try to attack, worried that the person had noticed them from so far away and through all the trees. They were either the hero that Zavan had warned her about or some other powerful figure. With that in mind, she decided not to ask Zephyrus to go check it out. If it was the hero, then she did not want Zephyrus to meet the hero alone.

The figure continued to flank you, but instead of engaging, they seemed to be attempting to slip past you altogether. It was at that moment you heard a shrill call of a bird somewhere around you.

QuoteRoll Perception.

[spoiler=Spellcraft Perception][blockquote]Rolled 1d20+21 : 2 + 21, total 23[/blockquote][/spoiler]

When you used your sense of mana, though you heard the call of a bird, you didn't feel any of the traces of mana a small creature such as a bird might give out at all. The direction of the call came from the lone person who was attempting to flank you. A moment after that, another call was heard, though it was much farther away.

She had two options. She could tell everyone to stay where they were and wait to see what this person and their companion were going to do at the risk of those people seeing all the imps and getting a closer look at the costumed nightmares and deciding to attack. Or, she could tell everyone to prepare their defenses and then have Efrit and Abi go with her to confront this person. Leela highly doubted that the person would believe that she was a harmless traveling princess on a diplomatic mission if they saw all the imps. Even if the imps were costumed to look like children like Abi was, it would be weird for her to have a bunch of children with her. And if she waited too long, there might be more than just two who might attack them.

"Efrit, Abi. We are going to meet this person. Zephyrus, you are welcome to follow as long as you keep in your wind form. Everyone else, stay here and prepare to defend in case of attack or to attack if I send Abi for backups." She finally made her decision. "We are not going to attack first. I get the feeling this person is powerful, maybe even the Orthodoxy's hero, as they seemed to sense that we were here even though they were not close enough to have seen us. I want to try to explain to them what I was planning on telling the people of the settlement and see if they will help us. If they do, Zavan and all you imps should still follow and camp outside of the town the same as we originally planned."

With that said, she turned to leave.

[info]Leela, Efrit, and Abi will leave their nightmares behind and move towards the first person.
The others are to wait until Abi or Zephyrus return to tell them if they need to attack or not.[/info]

The others nodded solemnly, realizing that it was a potentially serious situation. You, along with Efrit, Abi, and Zephyrus started making your way towards where you felt the mana. Zephyrus was in his wind form, and from the slight gusts of winds that you felt, you knew that he was around. When you started your way towards the figure you had noticed, you realized that the person started to move away from you as well.

Feeling the presence of the other person move when they moved instead of staying put, Leela began to wonder if perhaps the person really did just want to avoid them. She frowned, wondering why someone would be near a caravan of merchants and avoid people they knew were hiding among the trees rather than attacking them. Were they just trying to maintain distance until more of them arrived to show up before attacking or were they perhaps bandits seeking to rob the caravan? She highly doubted that the bird cry was something to lure her party further away from the road.

"Efrit, it feels like they started moving away from us the moment they realized we were moving towards them. What is your opinion on this?" He was a general after all, surely he had enough experience to give her advice.

Efrit thought about it a moment.

"Hell if I know." He grinned. "Just kidding." He responded shortly after before you could have an outburst.

"As I see it Great Princess, this weird way of you being able to sense people is something kinda rare, yeah? So... If this other person you're noticing has something similar, the moment we started in his direction, he would know that you have it. You follow?"

"If I were in his shoes, if I wasn't confident in taking down a group that had at least one person with the same ability as I did, I would think twice before engaging. I might even call in some cute goblins to help me. It might be shadowing us... But my bet is that they're just trying avoid us."

Rolling her eyes at Efrit's original response, Leela had been about to reply before he continued.

"And? Do you think we can ignore them and just go back on the road after the caravan passes or do you think we should continue following after this person to make sure they don't plan on attacking us once their buddies get closer?" She pried.

"Personally, if they were to leave me alone, I'd leave them alone too. If it's just a human though, it's not like we can't take him on. Really, all that's to fear is the hero or the other demon generals."

"I just worry that it could be the Orthodoxy hero. I guess we will leave them alone for now. I will keep watch on them and if they move closer to our group again, we will go after them." She decided, turning to go back to where they had left Zavan, the imps, and the nightmares. "Thank you for your advice, General Efrit."

Oh, but of course Great Princess[/i.]"

QuoteState if you plan to move on again. Whether on the road or not.

[info]Leela will return with the party she had led out to the others and they will wait together for the merchant caravan to pass before getting back on the road in their travel formation.[/info]

Soon enough you had made your way out again. But no sooner than you decided to travel back, perhaps another hour of journeying, you were alerted that there were more humans heading up the road. A smaller group this time, and judging from the description, you assumed to be adventurers, or at the very least a group of armed individuals without any uniform.

Leela frowned at the news. "We aren't going to get very far if we keep pulling off the road at the rate people seem to be traveling." She muttered to herself. Still, they were armed and she did not want to risk getting into a fight on the road with armed adventurers. Sure, she had disguised the horses and Zavan, but she really did not want to have to test how well those costumes were going to work when it was armed people who would be seeing them.

"We will pull off the road and everyone but Efrit, Abi, and I will hide. Efrit, Abi, we are going to move off the road and make it look like we are travelers stopping for a rest, but far enough away that if they decide to talk to us, they will have to leave the road, too."

Following you instructions, the rest of your group went and hid while you, Efrit, and Abi, stayed out in the open at an area off the road and made it seem like you were resting.

Soon enough, the adventurers came. There were three of them, what wore a pointed hat carrying a staff, another had a bow, and the last one carried a sword. They had spotted you shortly after you had seen them, however, instead of going about their own way, the swordsman on front who lead the group waved towards you, and started to make his way to you along with the three others.

QuoteState any preparations you might have done before the adventurers saw you. And preparations you are attempting to do after you realized them coming towards you. If you want to hide specific actions after you've been noticed, you'll need to include Stealth rolls for them.

Leela and Efrit had picketed the horses, telling them to try to act as much like the horses of humans as possible. That done, Leela had found a place to sit herself facing the road and made sure that Efrit and Abi were to play their roles as her knight and servant until further notice. With that done, all there was to do was to wait for them appear and hope that they chose to just pass on by without stopping.

"Abi, I want you to stay back and say nothing. If they attack us, pretend you are scared and hide somewhere, then teleport to Zavan." She told the imp the moment the travelers waved and started to head over. "Otherwise, you are my servant as we discussed before."

Still not wanting to fully put the costumed horses to the test, Leela rose and moved a few yards away from the horses and towards the travelers as they got closer. She stopped and waited for them to arrive, her hands at her sides and standing in a way that would give off the impression of a princess - or lady - waiting on those of lesser status to approach. If they tried to step closer than three yards away, she was prepared to hold up a hand and tell them to halt before speaking.

"I am Princess Leela Steading of the Great Country of America. I am on a diplomatic expedition and see that you come from the direction I am traveling. How much farther is it to the next town from here?" None of her companions had been able to tell her what the human settlement was called, so she figured it was best to just inquire about the next town.

The man smiled brightly as he neared the gap. His companions behind him followed behind but they chose not to say anything.

"It's not too long... Maybe a couple of hours left. This is the road straight to the capital, Olodeen, City of Saints. But... The country of America? Where is that? I've never heard of it... I love to travel, and if it's near here, I'd love to see this place for myself."

Capital city? Did the demons really think a capital city was a mere human settlement? She had imagined it to be like a village or small town and that she would have to deal with a mayor or governor. This was a much worse situation that she had suddenly found herself in. She would have to have a word with her companions when they were alone again. Not allowing allowing her thoughts to linger long enough to affect her facial expressions, Leela smiled at the adventurer.

"That is great news. I had not realized that we were so close to the capital already." She replied, hoping to give off the impression that she was ready for civilization again. She found herself frowning at his eagerness to visit America.

"Unfortunately, the portion of my country that came to this strange world is surrounded by lands controlled by demons. This is why I am traveling like this, with just my maid servant and my personal knight instead of a full escort." Leela indicated Abi and Efrit behind her, allowing a worried expression to cross her features. "The situation is rather delicate at the moment, so - for the sake of my people - I request that you hold off traveling there for the time being."

"I am afraid that we may be arriving at the capital unannounced and would be grateful if you could tell me who I should speak to when we arrive about establishing a diplomatic meeting." She turned the conversation back to the capital. She realized that the only thing she knew about this country was that it was an Orthodoxy, it was made up of humans, and they had a hero. Having decided to stay away from other human settlements or people who may have been traveling on the main road, she had accidentally put herself in a situation in which she did not know who the ruler of this country was, among other important details that she could have found out had she spoken with some of the common folk.

"A knight? He has a very scary face." Flynn commented.

HUH?! Who has the scary face?"

"Ah. Hahaha..." Flynn said avoiding Efrit's gaze. "Well, I'm not sure who the best would be for that diplomatic thing you mentioned. I kinda travel a lot, and stay at a place maybe a few days tops, so..."

"If I have to guess, maybe the guild? They can point you in the right direction anyways."

Since the adventurer had continued on to answer her question, she ignored the comment about Efrit's face.

"I see. Thank you." She replied, wondering if the guild was an adventurer's guild and if it was adventurers who had taken Ashaki or the hero. If it was adventurers, perhaps there was a chance that the guild had her. Otherwise... she worried that the demon child was locked in the capital's prison. That was assuming she was even still alive, considering this country was supposed to be an Orthodoxy. Leela decided it might be safe to inquire if they adventurer knew anything about that.

"I heard a rumor that there were some troubles with demons coming into the boarders recently and then one of the demons was captured and taken to the capital. Is that true?" She inquired, wondering aslo if the adventurers were heading east for that reason.

"I heard about that... It was the rumour spreading through the capital, and I bet many of the surrounding villages. Anyways!" Flynn grinned as he bowed low.

"When you get to the city, try out the Sleepy Inn! I'd say is one of the better ones so far."

"I see." If it was just a rumor and not more well known, she hoped that meant that they were keeping it under wraps. She would have assumed that the capture of a demon would be made public if they intended to kill her, since it would most likely improve moral and hatred towards demons.

"We shall, thank you for your recommendation." She gave a nod of her head when he rose from his low bow. "I hope you and your companions have safe travels."

"Oh of course! We're actually about to do a dungeon found near here. The Guild said it might be difficult for just the three of us, but I couldn't really find any others to join. I was planning to ask you to join, but since you're someone important, hahaha... Probably not?"

---

Heading back on the road, the frequency to the next stranger was becoming more and more. The closer you got to the city, the more roads intersected, and also the more travellers were appearing.

"As interesting as it sounds, I am afraid not." She agreed to his question with a small smile. She was relieved to hear that they were not going to the boarders to fight off demons. She also wondered if by dungeon, he meant something like the sort of dungeons one would expect in a fantasy game or novel in her home world. Between being summoned by demons to be their hero, all her "blessings", and magic, Leela would not be surprised if dungeons of this world were exactly like what she was thinking of. Perhaps, once her mission was done, she could look for some dungeons and see if she could farm for levels.


As soon as the adventuring group was out of sight down the road and she could see no one else, Leela led Efrit, Abi, and the nightmares to where Zavan was hiding with the rest of the imps. They needed to sit down have a chat before they moved on any farther.

"Zavan," She started with a frown and crossed her arms in front of her. "Those adventurers said that we are heading to the capital city. This isn't just a mere human settlement, its the center of the whole country. That makes everything much harder than I had anticipated when I was making plans for this mission, especially since it is much more likely that their hero would come here when not defending boarders. We are going to have to change our plans around if we are going to make this work."

Zavan nodded as his eyes flashed.

"A human settlement... and a capital too. These humans are quite possibly more connected than we previously thought. I shall ensure lord Ghorat is updated with this information." Zavan announced. "Aside from Lord Ghorat's and Lady Ashaki's adventure to these lands, this would perhaps be the one of the few times any from our domain was gone so far into this territory."

"As I see it... The problem would be the opposing hero first and foremost. If we can solve that, we should be able to retrieve Ashaki safely."

"Capital cities are usually huge. If this was a true settlement, it would be small and the leader would have been a mayor or governor. But with a city, we will be lucky if we can figure out where she is being kept, even with Zephyrus' help, or given an audience with whoever is in charge of keeping her to try to settle things peacefully. Since this country is an Orthodoxy, I imagine the church has control of keeping her, but I do not know enough about Orthodoxies to know for sure. I don't know if they have a king or queen who also rules, but if there is, then there is a chance that they have her. Or the adventurer's guild could have her." Leela had not realized that the demons were so... uninformed. She guessed if they did not even know how "weak" most humans are or even what bread was, she should have known better. But still. She would have hoped that they would be able to tell the difference between a settlement, a village, a town, and a city.

"So. Here is what I learned from the adventurers. The city is called Olodeen, City of Saints, and is only about two hours down the road. They were not sure who we should talk to for diplomatic negotiations, so they recommended going to the guild - I'm assuming that means the adventurer's guild - where they can point us in the right direction. The capture of Ashaki is only a rumor about the city, which is a good indication that she is still alive. I believe that if they intended to execute her, it would be more public so that the general public could watch. This is a tactic that humans use to bolster the morale of their people to justify war with the 'enemy' or to set an example to instill fear in the people so that they do not try to oppose the government." She explained what she had learned.

"With this new knowledge, our plans might take longer than one or two days to take the diplomatic route. But we still need to figure out where Ashaki is being kept before we can actually rescue her, so we still need to attempt diplomacy. My idea is that you, Zavan, and the imps will still camp outside of the city in case I need to send Abi for your assistance, making sure that none of you are caught. Efrit, Abi, Zephyrus, and I will still enter the city. We will seek out the adventurer's guild and learn what information we can and hope that they can get us an audience with whoever we need to about freeing Ashaki peacefully. In the event that we cannot gather all the information we need in one day or must wait a day or two to get an audience, do we have money to use for payment to get a room or two at an inn?" This whole thing was turning into more work than she had thought.

The more she thought about it, the more work she realized had to be put into it. She was going to have to ask for something big in exchange all this. She already had to deal with the fact that she had been unwillingly brought to this place with no way back to her old life and family and friends. She was already upset with the living conditions and the capabilities of those she had to work with. And what she thought would be a relatively easy rescue mission with a possibility of establishing good enough relations with a small human town to establish trade was quickly turning into a monster of a mission with little hope for diplomatic success. It was truly more of a nightmare to her than the nightmare horses themselves.

Zavan nodded as he pulled out a small sack.

"I have prepared this earlier. These were the money I kept decades ago around when I was first... brought to Lord Ghorat." He handed you the sack then as it jingled in his hands. "The currency of the country that used to be the most prevalent... I'm not sure if they would still accept it, but you could try. There are 100 mithril pieces in there."

"The nightmares, imps, and I will be waiting outside the city, hiding among the forests or trees. Send forth Abi when you need us summoned. How far would you like us to camp from the city boundaries?"

"Mithril?" She questioned, opening the sack and pulling a coin out to look at. "Was it common where you are from? It was considered a made up material in my world... Actually, in my world, we didn't use coins for everything. Specially made paper bills and plastic cards are what is used to exchange currency there. Metal coins there aren't worth as much... Anyways. Thank you for preparing this for this mission. If it ends up not working, perhaps I can trade some of the mithril for their own currency. Or sell some of the fine clothing that we brought if I must."

"Preferably, stay close enough that the imps can teleport in as needed in one go, but far enough away that anyone patrolling the boundaries won't notice. Or if they do notice, that they won't be suspicious enough to investigate. I shall let you decide what that would end up being. If you end up needing us, send one of the imps for us and we'll come back out as soon as we can."

With all that settled, Leela remembered one more thing. "Also, I think with as busy as the road seems to be getting and our proximity to the capital, it might be best if we travel off the road until we get closer to the city. When we are closer, Efrit, Abi, Zephyrus, and I will go back to the road without the nightmares, since if we end up having to stay in the city, we would have to come up with a reason why our horses disappeared if we tried to stable them."

QuoteEnsure you updated your Items sheet with 100 mithril pieces

Zavan shook his head.

"Mithril is one of the rarer materials. These coins themselves aren't pure mithril, creation and circulation of them isn't very often either, however, they should be worth plenty." Zavan nodded at your suggestion.

"Then we have a plan."

QuoteAnymore preparations, and we'll move scenes.

Double checking the location of the sun in the sky, Leela realized there was still plenty of time left in the day. If it was only about two hours to the capital, then they would not have to camp out for the night and arrive in the morning like she had thought might be the case. With that in mind... she realized it might be best to change into the outfit she had intended to wear upon meeting with the humans now while she had trees to hide in.

"Before we head out, I need to do something real quick. Please stay here until I get back." She said as she dug around in her bags for the change of clothes. Of course, they were another set that she had taken from the room Zavan had shown her full of clothes. These ones were much more fine quality than the ones she had been traveling in and she had managed to find a crown to go with it. Her only problem with it was the brooch that looked like it was a bunch of skulls clumped together that held up the shawl. But she figured she could take that off when they were in town or if she got to warm, so it wouldn't be as much of a problem compared to some of the other outfits she had found in there.

Finding all the pieces to the outfit, she rose with the bundle and her backpack. She gave a warning look that seemed to encompass all of the males in her party, especially Zephyrus. "If I catch anyone trying to peep, I'll make you regret it."

"Abi, come with me." Leela told the imp, then moved off to a place where she could hide to change clothes. She made sure to keep her senses sharp in case someone decided to try to follow to peep. When she finally found a spot, she told Abi to keep watch as well.

You changed soon enough without incident, at the very least none of the imps, and especially your other companions decided to peek. Abi kept a close eye on everyone as she stood watch with her hands on her hips and berating any of the other imps who came near.

Relieved that no one decided to try to take a peek, Leela finished the last touches on her outfit and then walked back to the others with Abi. She wondered if she even needed to bother warning the guys, but then figured it was better safe than sorry.

When she got back to the others, she put the clothes she had been in before in the bags. "Alright, we're ready to go."

Soon enough the rest of your group was ready. And in no time at all, you began making your way towards the capital of the Xalaster Orthodoxy, Olodeen, the City of Saints. You decided not to take the main roads at all, as the traffic was getting thicker and thicker. Thankfully the imps didn't alert of you anything else. There was a clearing up ahead as well, and soon enough you realized that it was farms and farm buildings that surrounded a walled city.

"This is where I take my leave, my lady." Zavan said as he bowed. "I will ensure the rest of us are hidden here, but if there is any sign of danger at all, ensure that you send Abi or Zephyrus to us. If we detect any large explosions, I will be heading in however. Even with all the humans about, with my abilities, I should be able to sneak through if I were to assume the hero of Orthodoxy isn't around."

"Best to maintain your disguise, just in case." She frowned when Zavan said he would try to sneak in if he detected any issues without her sending the others in. "Also might be a good idea to have the nightmares continue to take shifts, just in case we need to make a quick getaway or in case we need the extra help in battle."

"One last thing, Zavan. Please show me all of your abilities again so I know that I'll be able to use them at least until this time tomorrow. I'm hoping I won't need them, but I would rather be safe than sorry." She watched intently as he went through each form and showed her each part.

Making sure she had her backpack, all the spare clothes she had brought along to show the humans for a chance of entering a trade alliance bundled up, and anything else she thought she would need, Leela bid her farewells to those she was leaving behind. She then turned towards the road and led Efrit, Abi, and Zephyrus away.