[Leela] Chapter 4: Borders of Xalaster Orthodoxy

[Throndir]

"I only need a few hours. As for fire-proof clothing... There are probably ways to do it through magic."

Efrit then interjected.

"Fire proof? Where's the fun in that?

Zavan chose not to reply to him, and continued.

"Unfortunately, the imps have all but eaten the remains of dinner last night. Bone included. However, I took the liberty of hunting a few rabbits during the night, and have them prepared."

"Very well Princess Leela Steading." With that portals appeared, and the nightmares you requested came into being.

The imp lazily opened its eyes, then the moment he saw you, it exclaimed happily.

"Leelasama! Good morning! I will get Abi!"

[Ella]

Leela Steading

Leela wondered about making magical clothes. Perhaps like some sort of enchantment... But Leela did not know how to enchant things, and from the sounds of it, neither did Zavan.

"Well, its not very proper for a knight of a princess to be going around burning off his clothes in front of her, is it?" She had been about to ask what people would think about that, but remembered that they did not really understand how humans thought and Efrit probably would not understand what her question meant.

"Thank you, Zavan." She said when he explained about the food. She was starting to see the imps as goats. Even though it wasn't really true, goats were said to eat anything given to them. It was true that they would eat a lot of what was given to them, even some things that were not good for them, but they did not eat literally everything. Imps on the other hand... Well, they were worse than goats. "I think I will eat while we are traveling so I can get everything ready to go while everyone eats breakfast."

Once all of the nightmares arrived, Leela got to work putting them in their disguises. When the imps finished eating their breakfast, she quickly did Abi's hair up to hide her horns. She then moved on to touching up Zavan's make-up and other last minute preparations before getting everyone into their places.

"Alright. Before we head out, I want to make sure everyone knows their parts." She said to the gathered group. This was mostly for the imps, to make sure they remembered what exactly she wanted them to do. "When I point to you, tell me what your job is while we are traveling through the human lands." She pointed at each of the imps in turn, making corrections as needed and then making them repeat the corrected instructions before moving on. She finished with Roadmarech, Abi, Zavan, and Efrit.

[Throndir]

"That's debatable Princess. Did you know back in our own world, Ifrit generally don't wear clothes? Though, we usually keep to your fire forms as well."

When you began pointing to each of the imps, it took them quite a while to remember their roles exactly. In fact, it was Abi who was the only imp who managed to get it correct the first time. Which, she made sure to tell everyone, and make a big deal out of it as well. The other imps on the other hand would either end up staring blankly, or even ramble something random, such as 'Eating things!'. Eventually however, they managed to get their roles down.

Those who were not imps, Efrit, Zavan, and Roadmarech, knew their roles as well.

Roll a social skill or applicable profession skill of some sort to get them orderly. Also to make life easier, go ahead and post an exact plan in quotes for easy reference for me.

[Ella]

Leela Steading

"When in Rome, do as the Romans do. We're not in your world, we're trying to pass off as humans in human lands." Leela said, making a mental note to not visit Efrit's home village, just in case they still do not wear clothes there.

By the time she got to the third imp, Leela worried that she would have to send Abi to check up on each group every ten minutes of travel to keep them on track. She was thankful that she had saved confirmation of her plan from Zavan, Efrit, and Roadmarech for last as by the time she had finished with the imps, she was ready to give up hope in her plan.

This dice roll has been tampered with!
Rolled 1d20+8 : 19 + 8, total 27

Travel Postions:

[info]Leela will ride next to Zavan so that he can teach Leela more about ethereal magic as they travel. Efrit will be behind them. Abi can ride with either Leela or Abi, but if humans are spotted within the circle of imp scouts, Zavan will go into his invisible form and Abi (if Abi is riding with Leela) will teleport onto his horse to make it look like she is riding it.

Abi must roleplay as Leela's maid servant, who Leela chose so that she could dress her up like a living doll any time humans are around. Efrit must roleplay as Leela's personal knight any time humans are around. If they come across humans on the road while Zavan is with them and Zavan does not manage to go invisible in time, they are all to pretend that Zavan is an Elf who caught a skin disease that makes him susceptible to the sun and so must keep covered as much as he can in daylight. It is not contagious to humans; he travels with them in search of a cure.

The circle of imps are the scouting groups and must travel in pairs so that one imp can teleport back to the core group to report their sightings. If a settlement is spotted that is not the location they are intending to go, they are to stop and alert the other sentry imps to stop and wait for orders on which way they are going to go to go around the human settlement. If a human is spotted, they are to report to Leela where, how many, and what they are doing. If they are traveling on the road, then they are to report how many there are to Leela and then continue on as usual unless ordered otherwise, but be ready to come back on their horses in case of trouble. Leela and the rest of the core group will prepare to come across humans after being warned.

An hour or two before the first set of horses need to return (however much time is actually needed to do the following), the entire party will move off the side of the road to take a break, remove the disguises from the nightmares, and wait for the new horses to arrive to reapply the disguises before continuing.

An hour or two before the second set of horses need to return OR when it starts to get dark, the group will do the same as above, except they will stop to make camp for the night instead of continuing on.

Upon nearing their destination, the party will group up and then split up again. Zavan will take all of the nightmares and all of the imps (except for Abi) and hide on the outskirts of town so that if they are needed, Abi can teleport to them and alert them of trouble. Leela, Efrit, and Abi will enter the town and ask to speak to the person in charge of the town to negotiate.[/info]

[Throndir]

[info]Knowledge (tactics): 27
You manage to get the imps ordered up well, and they were all able to memorize the instructions given to them.[/info]

Training check requested for your 2nd set of 4 hours to train Knowledge (ethereal).

It was around after 4 hours of travel, that one of the imps reported that they've sighted a human settlement. They also found a road that lead west-ward that suddenly seemed to end abruptly as it west eastwards, towards the Domains of Roshandan.

[Ella]

Leela Steading

"Do you know anything about that road, Zavan?" Leela asked him, a bit confused as to what the imps were saying about the road.

[spoiler]Trying for expedited learning using MAG.
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20+13 : 4 + 13, total 17[/blockquote]
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20+13 : 11 + 13, total 24[/blockquote][/spoiler]

[Throndir]

Zavan nods.

"I've seen something like this plenty of times before... You recall how I mentioned that this nation, Xalaster Orthodoxy, to our west used to be one called Felothia? When this new country appeared... It was as if a chunk of their land was lifted from wherever they came from, and simply dropped right here."

"There are plenty of those roads that you'll find not only in these lands, but among the territories ruled by the demon lords. It's a strange phenomenon..."

[Ella]

Leela Steading

"I see. So we don't know where that one leads? Its best to stick to the road we've been following, then." And with that, Leela gave the imps who had come to tell of the settlement that had been spotted their instructions. She intended for the group to move around the settlement, leaving the road temporarily to skirt around the settlement if the road went through or too close to it. She would give them imps ten minutes to relay the information to the other imp sentries and then they would begin to travel again.

[info]The group is going to skirt around the settlement at a safe distance, leaving the road if needed.[/info]

[Throndir]

As you travelled, skirting around the village, the wind started to pick up around you. Leaves and trees were swaying as if there was a storm, yet the skies remained clear.

Perception requested

[Ella]

Making use of Spellcraft Perception:
[blockquote]Rolled 1d20+21 : 20 + 21, total 41[/blockquote]

[Throndir]

[okay]You have gained a new title『Perceiver』
You have gained +1 WIS[/okay]As you were avoiding the settlement, you felt someone's mana from behind you. When you had turned around however, you saw nothing, and the mana seemed to disperse. The mana itself seemed to flow with the wind, as if it was part of it.

[Ella]

Leela Steading

"Zavan, can the hero here go invisible? Or are there ways to spy on people?" Leela asked, then explained what had just happened, in case she was the only one who had felt it.

[Throndir]

"There are magical ways, countless ways actually... But as for the hero of Xalaster, I am unaware of any way he can turn invisible... There are scrying magic, however, most of the inhabitants of this world are not able to cast such magic. Some of their seers perhaps... The Xalaster Orthodoxy claim to have insight from their goddesses themselves. However, much of that I have not yet verified."

"As for the wind..." Zavan closed his eyes. "Yes, I feel a presence too." The demon butler looked towards you. "What do you recommend us do?"

[Ella]

Leela Steading

"So... we are unsure of what is causing this...?" Leela wondered if there was some sort of magical defensive barrier around the settlement and perhaps they had entered it, even with skirting around it, allowing the owner of the barrier to alert the person who put it up to spy on them. She still could not put off the feeling that someone had actually been there. But if someone had, how had they just dispersed their mana like that? She decided to check, just in case.

"Show yourself!" She called out, then warned, "We mean no harm, but will defend ourselves if attacked."

[Throndir]

The wind started to gather then, and in front of you a being appeared.

"Hello Strange Ones..."

It seemed like a man, but even his voice and figure was leaning on the more feminine side. He wore a white robe, and had vibrant green hair. He looked unarmed, and his eyes were full of curiosity.