Fantasy World Creations

Location: Xalaster Orthodoxy
Date: Day 2 - Time: 5 PM

The moment you crossed into Xalaster, there was an immediate change in the environment. For one, you could see a clear line from the Domain of Roshandan to the human settlements territory. It was dirt and grey on your side, and all of a sudden, as if someone had placed it down, a field of grass marked the beginnings of the human territories. Not only that, the trees were back to the same color of green that you were used to. The strange thing too was that the skies above went from grey, to the clear blue that you were familiar with.

"This starts the territory known as the Xalaster Orthodoxy. I suspect it's here that we part ways?" Zavan asked to confirm.

"Wow!" Leela exclaimed upon seeing the scene that she would have considered perfectly normal back at home. But to her, it was more than normal. She had not realized how much she appreciated blue skies and green grass and leaves until this moment. She could not hide her smile, nor the twinkling of happiness as she looked out at the scene before her. "Its so beautiful!"

It took her a few moments of soaking in the scenery before Leela turned to answer Zavan.

"How far is it from here to the human settlements where we believe Ashaki might be?"

Zavan was impassive. Abi, on the other hand was wide-eyed, along with the rest of the imps.

"I've never been here! It's so weird! Leela-sama! Why are the trees green, Leelasama? Are they broken?" The rest of the imps began chattering away too, all of them trying to crane their neck out the window to get a better look. Soon enough the rest of the imps popped out.

Within moments, the imps started to eat the grasses. The leaves. And some had even begun attempting to bite the trees themselves.

"This tastes yummy! Leelashama these are tasty!"

"That also tastes yummy!"

"I want to try some! I want to try some! I want to try some!"

"These are so good!"

"You should eat this green leaf! It's green!"

"How about this green short plant thing? Its yummy!"

"I don't like the tree bark..."

"Yummy!"

"It will take 4 days for you and Efrit to walk there." Zavan said. "On horseback, it will take 2 days at the very most... However, nightmares can only last 8 hours on our world before having to retreat back into their own plane."

"Zavan is correct... However, I can stay as long as I please in the physical realm. Shall I call for one of the Azure Shadows?"

"Abi, these are normal, healthy trees!" Leela exclaimed proudly. She had been about to plop herself down in the grass to take a moment to enjoy the blue sky when the other imps started popping out and trying to eat everything that had just made her so happy.

"No!" She cried. "Don't eat them!" She rushed over to one of the imps trying to bite one of the trees to pull them off.

"You don't even know if these are poisonous to you or not!" They probably weren't, but still. The fact that the imps had just up and tried to eat everything like that was not a good thing for their health.

With a sigh, Leela gave up. "If you really want to eat some of this stuff, eat the grass so that it is only this tall." She indicated the grass that several of them had been ripping up to eat and showed them that she wanted it to be only two or three inches tall. If they wanted to eat it so much, she might as well treat them like lawnmowers so that the grass was not so high. More than likely, they would be making camp for the night so that she could go over her plans with everyone and try to disguise one or two of the Azure Shadows.

"Oh..." Leela had not realized that the horses could only stay in this plane for only eight hours. "Since the imps can only teleport so far, if we are able to disguise your Azure Shadows to look like the horses humans keep, we would need enough of your subjects to take myself, Efrit, and the imps. And guess I didn't realize the human settlements were so far from the border compared to Roshandan Castle..." She looked at Zavan. She felt bad just leaving him at the border all alone. Not to mention, if Zavan was not with her, she could not get him to use his ability so that she could copy it and she wanted him to keep teaching her the Ethereal magic.

"Hey, Zavan, are the human settlements we are going to the closest place humans live to the border?"

The imps were giggling as they continued to taste the new flora around them. Eventually, with your commands, they had stopped. When you mentioned the grass, and having it be a certain height, the imps took it as a game, and then all of a sudden the imps had begun chowing down on the grass with abandon, ensuring that they didn't get to a certain height.

"With sixteen imps, then we'll need eight nightmares for them. Two on each. Then one for you, and one for Efrit."

"Yes, there are other settlements that are closer. There is one that can be reached within 8 hours walking. Faster with one of the nightmares."

Zavan then made his way a short distance away from everyone else.

"Since your ability is based on copying... Then before we part ways, I shall show you some of my abilities, in case you run into the hero." With that, Zavan started to glow red, and all of a sudden, the scales from before were on him. His nails had elongated as well.

"Form 1." Zavan said. "Fire resistance, and natural armor, along with the claws you had seen earlier." Next, Zavan concentrated again, and all of a sudden, he started to grow horns, along with a tail that appeared from behind his suit.

"Form 2. Further fire resistance, and elemental resistance. Increased speed." He concentrated one more time, and this time around, Zavan became almost shadow-like, though still had form. It was as if a miasma had hung around him thickly. When he spoke next, his voice seemed distorted, and much more deeper.

"Form 3. Reduced mental capabilities. Increased physical capabilities. Unlocks innate darkness abilities..." Zavan continued to explain, his eyes glowing red.

"Form 3: Ability 1. Shadow Cloak." With that, Zavan seemed to vanish, though there were wisps of smoke and miasma where he was. He moved quickly, and the smoke dissipated, only to appear a short distance away. "Useful for infiltration." A moment later he appeared again in his miasma form.

"Form 3: Ability 2. Darkness Blast." Zavan said, as a ball of darkness appeared from his hands, and he shot it towards the ground some distance away. It then exploded. "Quicker to invoke than a similar Darkness Magicka spell." As he explained, he began to quickly move around, firing three of them in quick succession.

"Form 3: Ability 3..." Zavan paused, as the miasma around him continued to gather together. "Twilight." All of a sudden, the darkness from him spread all around. All around you, everything seemed subdued. There was dark forms of miasma hanging on the trees, gathered in a thick smoke hovering up to a foot above the ground, even the skies seemed to become a shade of red. It was different from the atmosphere of the Domain of Roshandan, this one seemed to be more threatening. You felt fear begin to shudder down your back. The imps were likewise affected, along with Efrit.

"There is limited control on who is affected or not, however... if you so choose, any specific target will flee in terror." Zavan let go of the ability after that, and soon enough he was back to being normal.

She was amused that the imps had decided to turn her request into a game, but also relieved that they were sticking to only eating the grass.

"Ten nightmares, then. But we should probably start with two for now, so that we can see if it is even possible to disguise them well enough. I would hate to call for all ten of them only to waste their time if we cannot disguise them." She replied to Roadmarech.

Leela followed Zavan when he started talking about showing her his abilities. She watched with interest as he showed her three of his forms and abilities associated with them. When he showed her his Shadow Cloak ability, she wondered why he had not mentioned it sooner.

"How long can you maintain your Shadow Cloak?" She asked. Wondering if it might be possible for him to go with them in the end.

When he finished going through all of what he wanted to show her, she could not help but to shiver a bit from the last ability he had shown her. Such an ability would indeed be extremely useful if things fell down to it, but she would not be able to use any of the abilities he was showing her if they were parting at the border. Even if they could disguise the nightmares to look like normal horses, two days travel was longer than her mimicry would last. She made her thoughts known.

"I appreciate you showing me your abilities, but... with only being able to use a copied ability for a day after copying it, I might not be able to use them when I need them. Unless you can use your Shadow Cloak to come along and show them to me again to renew my copy."

"I cannot keep the Shadow Cloak on indefinitely. It consumes my mana... If I were to guess... Perhaps 5 hours, but after that, even I would need to take some rest."

"However... That is long enough for me to use the ability whenever a human is near. But there will be times when I am not able to use it."

"What about those cloaks you and Tai made for the mission? Could you use one of those for times when you might not be able to use it?"

"Yes, that very well may work. It would be difficult to cover the color of my skin, or hair, but at least from a distance, they should be none the wiser."

QuoteYou may attempt to Aid Another, for Zavan's Disguise checks, just roll Disguise if you plan to do this.

"I think we can work with that then." She looked at Roadmarech. "So, if we can disguise the nightmares, then we'll need eleven of them."

"Abi, will you please retrieve the cloaks and my backpack?" Leela asked her assistant.

When Abi returned, Leela gave Zavan the larger cloak and asked him to pull the hood up and cover as much of himself as he could with it without it looking obvious that he was trying to hid himself. From there, she determined the parts that might show his dark skin to passersby. Her make up was not intended for dark skin, but she would try her best to make Zavan's skin look more like a flesh tone that a human would have.

With that Zavan's skin took on a lighter hue. He was wearing your spare wig as well, but much of the cloak hid the imperfections in the disguise.

QuoteTreating your actions as a +2 Aid Another for Zavan's Disguise checks.

"Well..." Leela looked at the others. "What do you think?" She then dug around in her make-up pouch for the small mirror and held it out so Zavan could see himself. "Are there Elves in this world? He could pass as an Elf, right?"

Zavan examined himself in the mirror.

"Hmm... I've never seen black-haired elves, but with the amount of new countries and land that appear here... Perhaps I can indeed pass myself off one of them."

Abi stared wide-eyed at the new hair. She started to poof all around Zavan's head, pulling on the strands of it.

"You have fake hair master Zavan! Fake hair!"

"It might work... But too close of an inspection would give it away."

Soon enough, a couple of horses were spawned by Roadmarech.

"That's the only way we can really explain your ears, though. Besides! There are dark-haired elves in a book and movie series back in my world, so if people ask for details, we can just say you're from the Elven realm of Rivendell in the world of Middle Earth. I can give you more details on them as we travel to make the story more believable. And if anyone tries to look too close or wants you to remove your hood, we'll just say that you have a disease that is contagious by touch, so they shouldn't go near you."

"Abi, don't pull too hard. You'll pull it off." She warned the imp.

When the nightmares arrived, Leela turned her attention on them. She really was not sure how to disguise them... But she decided she should probably let them know what was happening first.

"Hello." She greeted them, unsure as to how she should actually address them. "We, uh... need to disguise you so that the humans don't freak out. It would be preferable if you looked as much like one of their horses as possible."

Once she had explained what she wanted, she got to work in attempting to disguise them.

"Lady Leela-sama... What is a movie?" Zavan asked curiously as he listened to your description. He seemed intrigued.

"An elf..." There seemed to be pain behind his eyes, but he continued. "From a place called Rivendell? Fascinating... And yes... Please do tell me more." Zavan was trying to be impassive, but there was eagerness in his tone.

Quote+2 to their Disguise checks.

Disguising the nightmare's plumes of flames were difficult. Luckily, it seemed like the nightmares can choose whether or not the flames would burn or harm. But at the same time, they acted like actual flames too. You can swipe your hand through it, and objects went through it just fine as well. Eventually you figured you'd just end up putting blankets on top, though you did attempt to fray one of the darker cloaks one of the imps brought, and use it as a fake tail or mane.

As Leela got to work on disguising the nightmares, she also gave Zavan a quick explanation of movies.

"So, a movie is like... moving pictures, but the pictures are not actually moving. Instead, there are just a lot of pictures with small changes, each leading into another so that when you view them all really fast, it looks like people and things are moving. Actually, I can show you later. I think I have a movie on my phone. A phone, by the way, is a device for talking to people far away, but newer models have a lot more extra features, such as taking pictures and videos or holding music. It requires electricity to keep powered, so I don't want to rely on it too much."

With that said, Leela continued her explanation of the Elves of Middle Earth, throwing in what she could remember from the Silmarillion as well as other tidbits of knowledge she hard learned from various other sources, including Dungeons and Dragons and the Drow from the Drizzt book series.

"Actually, you look a lot like a Drow in this form, Zavan." She commented when she finished sharing her knowledge of Elves as viewed by people of her world.

When she finished working out disguises for the demon horses, she eyed them warily. This would definitely not pass inspection if they got too close to other people. They were even more suspicious than Zavan was.

"Well, I was going to say that maybe we should make camp for the night, but now I'm wondering if it would be better if we travel in the dark so as to better hide that we are trying to hide something about our horses. What do you guys think? Is it safe to do that? I'm sure humans would be suspicious of travelers moving in the dark, but it would be easier to avoid being spotted, right? We can use the sneaky imps to scout around us and teleport back to inform us if they see anyone and we need to change paths or hide."

"That is... fascinating. Much like a theatre's performance, but with pictures? In that sense, perhaps it's closer to think of it as a book?"

When you mentioned 'Drow', Zavan nodded, but then corrected you.

"I was once a Dark Elf, 'Drow' is an unfamiliar term... but how you explain does seem similar. This... Drizzt? A strange name indeed. But his world did not seem as chaotic as mine."

"The world I was from was barren, though, we lived on the surface. The skies were ever dark, darker than the Domain of Roshandan. It was always night, and though we had a concept of 'day', where there was a bit of glow from the clouded-skies, our nights were of pitch darkness."

"The glow from the horses eyes, and light shining through the cloth would give it away though, would it not? But the idea of using imps as scouts is sound. They can move far and fast... Have you formed a contract with them? They are usually Zavan's thing, but I figured I'd ask." Efrit said.

"Uh... Yeah. A lot of movies are based off of stories people write in books. But just imagine that someone somehow made it so that a theatrical performance could be viewed over and over - as many times as the viewers wanted - but the actors only had to do the performance once because images of their performance and the set were recorded using a lot of pictures."

She listened intently to Zavan's confession of having been a Dark Elf, unsure as to what he meant by "was once" instead of saying "am" but not wanting to interrupt as he finally seemed to open up about it. So this was why Roadmarech had said that she had been like Zavan in that they both did not seem human! As much as she wanted to ask Zavan more about his world and people, "was once" continued to nag at her until he finished talking. Not only was he talking about not being what he had been born and raised as, he was also talking about having come from a different world from the Domain of Roshandan.

"What do you mean 'was once'? Why are you now a demon instead of a Dark Elf? Why do you make it sound like your home world is not the same as the world Roshandan came from?" Leela was not sure she liked where her thoughts were leading her with the conclusions her mind was coming to.

Spoiler

Everything above happens before Leela finished with the disguises for the horses.

[close]

"... I guess that's true." Leela agreed with Efrit's comment about the horses glowing in the darkness. That would be spotted much easier from a distance than their poor disguises would. "Well, I guess we can still do the scouting method in daylight and go ahead and make camp for tonight. I would prefer that we all be rested and have recovered more mana, including our Azure Nightmare companions, in case we end up needing to defend ourselves while traveling. I also want to fully discuss my plans to make sure everyone knows what to do before we set out, so we can talk about that before we sleep tonight. And to answer your question, I have only had time to make a contract with Abi. Which is one of the reasons why I would still like to risk bringing Zavan with us even though there is a higher chance he could be recognized."

QuoteChanged order for dramatic effect.

"That suits me just fine. Since you're the 'demon hero', you should think about forming a contract with at least the head of each army. I take it you nominated Abi as yours for the imps. I could come up with a few suggestions for the goblins." Efrit commented off-handedly.

---

"This is a secret that only one other has ever known." Zavan said as he lowered his voice. He ensured both Efrit and the imps were preoccupied before continuing.

And then he spoke words that you never expected.

"Status. Display."

In your view was a familiar translucent green window.

Leela's nose scrunched up at the thought of making a contract with one of the goblins. It made sense to make a contract with one of the goblins at least, but... ugh.

"I guess I should..." She agreed grudgingly. "I would prefer a female who is smart and capable so that I can use her as a personal assistant." She added, definitely not wanting to have to form a contract with either of the two who had introduced themselves to her that afternoon.

"Well, since we're camping out for tonight, why don't you and the imps set up camp while Zavan and I work on preparing disguises for the rest of the horses that will be joining us tomorrow?"


Satisfied enough with the disguises of both Zavan and the nightmares, Leela continued talking to Zavan as they got to work on removing the disguises from the nightmares who had let them test the disguises so that they could return back to the ethereal plane until they were needed in the morning.

When she moved closer and whispered about a secret before showing her a status screen much like her own, she stared in shock at it.

"What?!" Her shocked whisper came out a little louder than she had meant it to. Zavan having a status screen and having been summoned from another world as well meant so many things. Thoughts swirled around in her head as she tried to process them. Some made her feel relief, but others made her anxious, making it all the more overwhelming for her to process.

She was not alone in being unwillingly summoned to work for a demon lord. She now had someone to talk to about the stuff in her status screen. Since none of them had mentioned the status screen or anything before, she had thought that they either did not know of it or it was a common thing. But surely they would have mentioned it to her or wanted to see hers upon summoning if they knew. So why had Zavan not mentioned it to her before? Was it because he preferred to keep it a secret? She assumed Ghorat also knew, since Zavan was working for Ghorat. That was probably why Zavan had stayed when all the other's left. Because he was summoned by Ghorat. But if Zavan was summoned, and Leela was summoned, did that mean there was a chance they could summon more people? The way they had talked, she had assumed that there could only be one summoned hero per land. But Zavan wasn't a summoned hero, he was a summoned general... And if Zavan was still here, that must mean he either liked it better here or he could not return to his own world.

The thoughts and questions continued to swirl around in her head. The only way to make stop was to spill it out for confirmation and answers. And so she did, starting with the information on the status screen so that Zavan could hide it once again in case one of the others came over.

"What is KP? That doesn't show on my status screen. Or it hasn't every time I checked so far. Status. Display." She called up her own status screen to show to him. "What are all your titles and how did you get them? You probably have most of the ones I've gotten already, but maybe we can share! I noticed I get extra stats every time I get a new title, so the more the better, and preferable more for intelligence, wisdom, and charisma. Are you stuck here because you were summoned? Does that mean there is no way back home for me? Is it possible for us to summon more people from other worlds? And how are you a demon now if you used to be a Dark Elf? Am I going to turn into a demon? How long have you been here?"

Efrit and the imps agree to setup camp.

---

"I've noticed that the Status screen changes at times whenever you unlock or learn something new. KP is one example of that. I believe it stands for 'Ki Points'. It appeared many years ago when I first learned the technique."

Quote"What are all your titles and how did you get them? You probably have most of the ones I've gotten already, but maybe we can share! I noticed I get extra stats every time I get a new title, so the more the better, and preferable more for intelligence, wisdom, and charisma."

Zavan began to list his titles. He explains that he can't remember how he got some of the titles, especially the ones with a more not-as-obvious name.

Quote"Are you stuck here because you were summoned? Does that mean there is no way back home for me?"

"Yes, I haven't heard of ways to go back to my own world... But life as a demon general is... preferable than how my life was back in my own world."

Quote"Is it possible for us to summon more people from other worlds?"

"No. the ritual that Lord Ghorat initiated was one that would have taken a couple hundred years to do again."

Quote"And how are you a demon now if you used to be a Dark Elf? Am I going to turn into a demon? How long have you been here?"

Zavan nods.

"The claws, and the transformation? That isn't a power that I've gained through magic, or is natural for Dark Elves. It developed slowly, but that is my demonic form. I've been summoned... Perhaps over a hundred years ago. It was early on in this war with the humans of this world."

Once Zavan had the chance to look over her screen, Leela dismissed it.

"I am guessing the Ki related techniques are like martial arts?" She asked, remembering hearing a little about Ki in her own world.

Most of Zavan's titles seemed to be related to killing, which Leela guessed she should not be surprised at. But he did have many that she felt she could strive for and made mental notes on how she thought she could get them if he could not explain how he got them. She blushed a little when he listed "Has Seen It All", remembering how she had received that title herself and knowing she would not have been able to guess how to get that sort of title had she not already gotten it and Zavan forgotten how he got it. When he finished his list, Leela realized that he already had all of the ones she had obtained that were not related to her blessing, with the exception of "Princess". She told him so, a little sad that she could not offer any new titles to him.

"I see..." She said, disappointment in her tone and on her face when Zavan told her that he had not heard of any ways to go back home. She had let her hopes get the better of her in that she could ask Ghorat to return her back to her own world once she completed the mission. Of course, she had suspected that she might not be able to go back, but it still hit her harder than she had anticipated. Zavan might prefer his life as a demon general in Roshandan over life in his home world, but Leela was not sure she could ever say the same. At least, to make this place comfortable enough for her to consider it home, a lot of changes would have to be made. Changes that she was not sure she had the power to do. It left her feeling trapped, with her life out of her control, even though she had more power here than she could have ever hoped to have back on Earth.

And to make matters worse, it would be a hundred years before they could possibly attempt to summon again. Unless Leela somehow gained immortality or some way to live longer than humans normally did, she would most likely not even live that long.

"So... would you say you became a demon because you were summoned as a demon general? Or because you have been here for so long? How long had you been here before you started noticing the changes?"

"Do you still have the abilities of a Dark Elf, as well?" The idea randomly popped into her mind. If he did, then she could probably copy them, too. Like dark vision!

"Yes, Ki can be thought of as martial arts."

"I suspect that is the case. Within the first year, I've started to notice the changes. Things were easier for me, and it didn't take long for me to realize that I can grow claws, scales, and become like dark miasma." He nodded at your comments of a Dark Elf.

"Yes. I can see just fine in pitch darkness, though, still at a limited range."

From the sounds of it, Leela might be able to copy Zavan's ability to see in the dark, too. That, however, was not what she cared more about at that point in time. She simply could not let go of the fact that Zavan had noticed himself changing to be a demon within his first year of living in this place. That meant that not only was she most likely stuck in this strange world where portions of other worlds were being suddenly taken and plopped down here, but she also might end up becoming a demon the longer she stayed there. She wondered if she would turn the longer she stayed in Roshandan and other demon lands. Perhaps if she decided to live where humans lived, she might not change. Most likely not, since she had the suspicion that it was her "blessing" to be a demon hero that would cause it. Up until now, it had seemed like the only "blessing" that did not give her some sort of useful ability or skill. But now... now it might not just be that she had merely been summoned to be a hero for demons like she had originally translated it as. She could only imagine what her parents would say about her situation.


When Leela and Zavan finished preparing the rest of the disguises for the nightmares who would be joining them in the morning, Leela joined Efrit and the others where they had set up camp.

"Now that I know for sure what I have to work with, here is my plan." She told them once she had gained everyone's attention. "Roadmarech, tomorrow we will part. I do not know for sure how long we will be gone, it depends on how the humans react. As such, I do not expect you to wait for us here at the border unless you want to. If you do decide to leave, please return in four days and every day after that until we return. If we are not back after a week has passed, then something most likely went wrong and it is up to you and Ghorat to decide what to do from there."

"As for your nightmares, I am assuming they will send replacements as needed and each day so that we can get there as quickly as possible?" She asked him. After he answered, she turned to the rest of her party. As she did so, she took a stick and started to draw in the dirt.

"When we set out tomorrow, this circle represents the main group of us. These circles represent those of you in the sneaky group and some of you from the fighting group." She indicated the imps who were the most sneaky. "I need you imps to go in pairs at these points, do not go farther away from the main group than you can teleport. Your role is to scout around us. The moment you see another person or a human settlement, one of you is to teleport back to the main group and report what you saw. The one of you who stays behind is to hide until your partner returns with my orders. You must decide who will be the messenger and who will stay in position before we leave each day. It is extremely important that you remember to be quiet when you are scouting so that you are not caught."

"Zavan, I am sure you already know, but even with the imps acting as scouts, we must still be on the lookout so that you can do whatever is needed to make sure that no one notices that you are not human or Elven. If a human manages to get past our scouts without notice, let me handle any conversations. I do not want any of you to accidentally say something that might upset them or make them suspicious."

"I am sure that humans will get suspicious of a group like ours entering villages to stay at an inn each night, and I do not want to risk them sending a messenger to their hero that suspicious strangers are there, so we will be camping out away from human homes and roads."

"When we finally reach the settlement where we believe Ashaki is being kept, we will split up. Efrit, Abi, and I will enter the town. The rest of you imps will take orders from Zavan outside of the town. If they attack us or are willing to work with us, I will send Abi to you with instructions." She turned to Efrit and Abi as she continued to explain the rest of her plan. "I have a couple of options as for what I will tell them. With the first option, I would tell them the full truth and hope that they will listen to it all rather than attacking upon hearing that I am the demon hero. With the second option, I would provide a partial and say that my kingdom found itself in the middle of demon country, but one of my demon neighbors has not attacked and is even willing to become allies if I can retrieve their own, Ashaki. I will tell them that my kingdom and the demons of the Domain of Roshandan would also like to enter into trade with them, and perhaps even an alliance with them."

"Regardless of which option I end up going with, you," Leela pointed at Efrit, "will be my knight. And you," she pointed at Abi, "will be my maid servant while we are there."

"Aside from your roles, Efrit and Abi, I am open to suggestions and discussion of the rest of my plan." She finished, looking at Efrit and Zavan to see if they had anything to input.

Roadmarech confirmed that each of his nightmares are able to call for another one to take its place. Effectively, this would mean that you could have a nightmare around the clock for as long as you wish.

Each of the imps nodded and listened closely to your instructions. They all had begun chirping at once of course, each one telling you that that would do their best in being quiet.

Zavan nodded at your suggestion, and he even stated that he could use his abilities to attempt to hide away if it came to it.

When it came to your two suggestions, Zavan spoke up.

"Lady Leelasama, knowing how the humans are like, I would advise on the second course of action. Any mention of demons would call forth hostility. As for Abi... Her size makes her more akin to a young human child, not to mention that imps are rather... carefree without much grace when it comes to being sneaky."

Abi puffed her cheeks.

"Master Zavan! I'm graceful! Leelasama, I'm graceful right, Leelasama? Leelasama!"

"Me? A knight?" He grinned. "A knight for my beautiful princess then." Efrit declared. "It's a pity we didn't take a few of my goblins, they would have made cute squires."

"I will most likely only provide the full truth to the humans if the partial truth will not work, then."

"Princesses can have children for maid servants. We can do Abi's hair into pigtails or buns to hide her horns and if they ask about her, I will say that I wanted a young maid servant that I could dress up as a doll." Leela figured that would work, since Abi did have an adorable outfit.

Ignoring Abi's question, Leela grinned at Efrit. "I'm glad you like the idea of being my knight. You know that knights swear fealty to the one they serve, right?"

With their plans settled, Leela decided to learn more of ethereal magic from Zavan before going to sleep.

Spoiler

Spending the remaining 4 hours of training in Ethereal Knowledge using MAG modifier.

Rolled 1d20+13 : 12 + 13, total 25

[close]

Zavan nodded.

"Yes, that would work."

"I swear fealty to the Princess of The Great Country of America."

You couldn't tell if he was being serious.

---

For the rest of the evening, Zavan teaches you more of what he knows about the ethereal.

---

The evening consisted of the group around a campfire that Efrit had created. Efrit had hunted as well, and he brought back with him a couple of rabbits and deers. They were all scorched, but it didn't seem noticeable when the efreet prepared and barbecued the rest of them for everyone. During this time Efrit had begun telling some of his stories, eventually, storytelling was passed on to Zavan, and he began into his own tales which the imps listened to, enraptured by some of Zavan's past deeds.

Efrit's stories about his life before a demon general back in Lord Ghorat's world, along with stories of his cute goblins. Apparently, back in his own world, he was one of the more powerful ifrits of his village. And he told of stories of wars between the demonkind, and how Lord Ghorat eventually took him in. As for Zavan, he focused on telling stories about the war between the humans and demons. Apparently, before this human country, it was a different one. One that was called 'Kingdom of Felothia'.

Leela had thought that telling Efrit that knights swear fealty to the ones they serve might get a rise out of him. She had not expected him to just say it. Still, she could not tell if he was joking around or serious. He had not knelt down or bowed, so she could not even guess from his body language if he was being over dramatic or serious. She wondered briefly if he knew what fealty meant.


Leela had never had rabbit or venison before, but she was so thankful to have real food that actually had flavor that she was not bothered by the gamey flavor and texture at all. She listened with interest to Efrit's and Zavan's stories, getting a better idea of both of their characters from the things they shared about themselves and the way the described things. It was also important for her to listen to Zavan's stories about the war against the humans, as it gave her better insight on the issues that she would have to deal with. She made sure to ask questions for more details on the parts of their stories that were of more interest to her or that she deemed important knowledge.

When it was time to sleep, Leela found a private place that she could change and had Abi stand watch. She did not want to sleep in her lolita dress again and she also wanted something more comfortable for traveling. The dress she had picked out was longer than her original with less frills and no buttons to catch on things. She did not like the low neckline, but it was something she could live with. There was still one other outfit she had packed for herself for the trip, which she would change into before arriving in the town.

Once she was changed into her new outfit and she had repacked her gear, Leela decided to sleep in the carriage for the night. She let the others know before asking Abi to join her. She figured the other imps and the two demon generals would find places for themselves to sleep.

As she lay on the carriage seat and waited for sleep to come to her, the conversations she had had with Zavan earlier in the day popped back into her mind and she once again found herself feeling overwhelmed. She had not only been kidnapped, she had been stolen away from the world that contained everything she knew and loved with no hope of returning back. She would most likely never see her parents, her friends, her cat, or anything from her world for the rest of her life. Even if other summoned heroes came from her world or one similar to hers, if things did not work out with retrieving Ashaki peacefully, she had little hope of even finding companionship with someone she could relate to. Sure, Zavan had also been summoned from another world, but he was not human and Leela could not reminisce with him about movies and music and other things common to her world that would be out of place here.

Tears began to well up in her eyes as she could not help but to think these thoughts. She had kept herself so busy since she had been summoned that she had not even really had time to dwell on her situation before. Now, she knew even more than she did the day before and she knew it only made her feel worse than it would have if she had not known. Not only was she stuck in this strange world where parts of other worlds seem to be replacing various parts of the world that had originally been there, but there was also a chance that she would become a demon.

Leela let the tears that had been welling up fall before blinking her eyes a few times to try to hold back more tears. She did not want to start crying now and Abi notice and ask what was wrong. She still did not want to show weakness to the demons, and she certainly did not want to show weakness to the humans, either. Once she felt her tears were under control, she wiped the wetness from her face with one of her sleeves and forced herself to stop thinking about her situation. Taking some deep breaths, she tried to calm down and clear her mind as if meditating in the hopes that she would fall asleep.


Leela woke as the sun came up; yet another day where she woke up unnaturally early for her normal sleep schedule. She found herself cuddling Abi to her, much like how she did with her pet cat back in her own world. It was kind of nice... If only Abi were not drooling in her sleep. The young woman chose to focus on her disgust at the drool rather than allowing herself to wish she had actually been cuddling with her cat.

Carefully, she removed herself from the imp and rose to prepare herself for the day.

When you woke up, you found the imps sleeping at the bottom of the carriage as well, though you noticed that not all of them were there. When you went outside, that was when you noticed Zavan was sitting down. He seemed to have a sewing kit out and was working on something. You also saw a couple of the other imps sleeping around him at various intervals - some, on top of the others. They slept very messily.

Efrit on the other hand, was just starting to wake up.

Zavan didn't look up from his sewing project.

"Good morning, lady Leela-sama."

"Princess. Zavan, it's Princess." Efrit corrected as he looked over to you. "New clothing?"

"Burned the other set in your sleep? I do that sometimes too." He grinned.

With her hair brushed out, her clothes straightened up, water drank, and her things gathered, Leela left the carriage to find a private place to relieve herself and then to check on the two generals. As she passed through the lower portion of the carriage, she noticed that more of the imps were drooling. 'It must be an imp thing...'

"Good morning. You're up early." She commented, noticing that Zavan was sewing and wondering how long he had been awake. Being a dark elf, he probably did not need the light to see what he was sewing. That aside, unless he had been up earlier to keep watch, she wondered about his sleep schedule. Some fantasy settings from her own world theorized that elves did not need to sleep, or if they did, they only needed a few hours. Other settings seemed to show elves needing only slightly less sleep than humans.

Leela blinked when Efrit corrected Zavan. While she did appreciate his correction, she had not expected it to come from him at all. Even though she had told Zavan before that he did not need to add 'lady' before Leela-sama, he seemed to have either forgotten or found it difficult to refrain due to habit. The imps spouting it out all the time certainly did not help.

"I changed so that my other clothes would not get dirty from travel. In my world, nearly everyone changes into fresh, clean clothes every day for hygienic purposes, not because they accidentally burned them all away." She frowned at his comment about himself burning clothes off in his sleep sometimes. "Zavan, we really need to look into making fire-proof clothes for Efrit." She did not want to wake up on one of the mornings that they had to camp out and see a naked Efrit sleeping in eyesight.

"Is there anything leftover from last night's dinner that we can eat for breakfast? I'm sure the imps will want to eat before we head out... Though I'm sure they would be happy with eating the grass again..." She eyed one of the drooling creatures sleeping in the grass near Zavan. She did not usually eat breakfast herself, but knew that they would have a long day of travel ahead of them. If traveling on horseback for long hours was anything like long car rides or flights, she would most likely not eat much during the day and she needed all the strength she could get.

"Roadmarech, would please call for the nightmares who will be joining us?" Leela asked the Lord of Nightmares, intending to get to work setting up their disguises and getting them ready for transporting the group. While she waited for them to arrive, she woke one of the sleeping imps and sent him to wake up Abi and the others who were still in the carriage so that they could all start getting ready to depart.

"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!"

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.

"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.

QuoteRoll 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.

"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.

Quote from: Rolling Knowledge: Tactics(http://forums.fantasyworldcreations.com/Themes/envision2013_smf20_rev3/images/dice_warn.gif) This dice roll has been tampered with!
Rolled 1d20+8 : 19 + 8, total 27

QuoteTraining 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.

"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.

Rolled 1d20+13 : 4 + 13, total 17

Rolled 1d20+13 : 11 + 13, total 24

[close]

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..."

"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.

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.

QuotePerception requested

Making use of Spellcraft Perception:

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.

"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.

"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?"

"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."

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


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.

Although she was not entirely sure what she had been expecting when she decided to talk to the mana, it certainly was not for a person to basically manifest itself from the mana in the wind.

"Oh!" She blinked several times when he had finished materializing, as if to refresh the scene before her just in case she was seeing things.

"Hello!" Leela replied to his greeting, now wondering if he was a guardian of some sort for the forest. She decided to play it safe and introduce herself first.

"I am Princess Leela Steading of the great country of America. As I said before, we intend no harm. We are just passing through."

"I was right... You can see me." The man said. "I don't have what you people use as names."

However, Efrit and Abi continued to look around.

"Princess? You talking to someone here?" Efrit said as he narrowed his eyes and seemed to scan the surroundings. You noticed him look right through the green-haired man. Abi too did the same, but she continued to clutch on to you.





"Leelasama!" Abi whispered. "Leelasama, who are we talking to?"

"Fascinating. Our other two companions cannot see him it seems, my lady Leela-sama. I am Zavan."

"Can people not normally see you?" The princess looked at Abi, then at Efrit. "You guys really can't see him?" Since Zavan could see him but the other two couldn't, she suspected only those with blessings of a summoned person could see him.

"If you do not have a name... is there something we can call you?" She asked him, unsure if it was okay to ask him if he would like a name. Perhaps his kind did not like names. She also wanted to ask him what exactly he was, but did not want to come off as rude before they found out whether or not he was an enemy or an ally.

"No... People cannot usually see me. I am something like a spirit that roams these lands. I go into the village sometimes... or... at times I travel with those on the roads, trying to talk to them, or simply just spend time with them. But they never notice me... I felt you were different... The both of you. Not the others who can't see me. I never knew there would be anyone who could see me..." He looked somber for a second, but then smiled.

"And now there's two."



Efrit leaned back on his nightmare.

"Can't say that I see him..." Efrit dismounted then, then headed towards where you were looking at when you talked. "Around... here?" Efrit said as he moved his hand back and forth. His hand moved in and out of the figure, as if there was nothing there at all.

"All I can see is Efrit's hand!" Abi declared. "Waving! Waving!"

"Interesting. Incorporeal as well."

"Something that you can call me...?" The person thought for a moment. "Well, I'm not sure actually. I believe you are the first two I've spoken to."

What a lonely existence to have. Leela was amazed that he had not given up on trying to find people who could see him, though she guessed being around people even if they couldn't see you was better than total seclusion.

"I'm sorry that you had to experience that." As much as she might have wished it back in her early teens, Leela could not imagine how lonely being invisible all your life could be.

"Efrit! I'm pretty sure that is considered rude to do to a spirit. But yes, he is standing right there." She was not sure if the spirit man cared, but still. Leela would have considered it rude if it had been done to her.

"Are you like a guardian spirit of this place? Or..." She did not finish, unsure as to whether dead people could come back as spirits or not after what she had learned about ethereal bodies so far.

The green-haired man laughed. His voice was light and gentle.

"It's fine... A lot of people over the hundreds of years I've been around have done much the same, all without meaning to of course. In fact, having this man... Efrit? Give me attention, is actually rather satisfying..."

"Though, not as satisfying as it is when talking with you two."

He shook his head.

"No, I am no guardian, or anything like that... I wasn't originally from this particular village either... One day perhaps a few decades ago, the lands suddenly became different, along with that brought in all sorts of other creatures and peoples. I haven't yet met anyone like you two however."

Leela was not quite sure how to respond to his saying Efrit giving him attention even if Efrit couldn't see him was satisfying. She decided not to tell Efrit what the spirit had said, since it might not be the same with all spirits.

Spoiler

Rolling a sense motive before continuing the conversation with him.

Rolled 1d20+4 : 2 + 4, total 6

[close]

The spirit seemed genuinely happy to have people who could see and talk to him. With as happy as he was, and since he had mentioned following travelers before, she would not be surprised if he chose to follow their group whether he was invited or not. And if he was going to follow them, she might as well invite him to join their group. His... invisibility to everyone might come in handy on their mission. Perhaps she could send him off to search for where the humans were holding Ashaki while she talked with them.

"So... you can travel wherever you want, then? You're not bound to an area?" Leela asked him.

"My companions and I are on an important diplomatic mission. You are welcome to join us, but I should warn you that it could get dangerous if things do not go well." She wondered if it was safe to tell him the full truth or partial. Would he be upset if he knew she was working for demons? Would finally finding people who could see and talk to him cause him to not care about such things? If he had traveled with other people, he most likely knew by now that the horses they rode were not normal horses. Even if he had not noticed that yet, he would when it was time to swap out mounts. She would surely have to explain a few things at that point...

He shook his head.

"No... I've always been able to go around as I see fit. And it's alright if it's dangerous, I notice that swords and arrows phase right through me. Even most magic I've been in the crossfire of, do nothing."

"Also..." Leela hesitated, trying to think of the best way to ask without scaring him off. Finally, she decided to ask in a way that she could explain using her half truth that she would be telling the humans if he answered negatively. "What do you think of the demons to the east of here? In the Domain of... Rossandan?"

"The ones with horns? Sometimes I follow them too... There's fighting happening between the humans and the demons, but it's not something I involved myself with." The green-haired man explained.

"I see. Well, my mission involves trying to make peace between the humans and the demons of Roshandan, if it is possible. As I said before, you are welcome to join us on our travels, but I don't suppose you might be willing to help us a little with our mission?" She asked. "You would not have to fight or anything like that if you are opposed to it. It would just be finding someone so that if things go wrong, we can rescue her quickly and keep casualties to a minimum."

"A mission? Oh most certainly!" The green-haired man said. "I don't think I am willing to fight though... But I don't think I'd be willing to just leave now that I've met you two."

He paused and thought for a moment.

"Usually... I would simply follow travelers, and keep them company until it suited me to do something else, but... I've always been looking forward to saying this..."

"May I follow and keep you company?"

Although she had basically invited him to join them twice already, Leela decided to play along with his formal request to join them. He seemed very excited to be able to formally ask it.

"It would be our pleasure if you joined us-" She paused abruptly. He did not yet have a name for her to call him.

"Before we continue on our journey, I need to know two things. Do you have a name in mind that you would like us to call you? If not, would you be okay if I helped you pick one? The other thing I need to know is how you would be traveling. Do you need a horse or do you travel by wind?"

"I do not have a name in mind... I never needed such things before. What would you pick out?" The man said curiously. "I travel by the wind. Though, at times I would walk through wilderness in this form, to enjoy it as if I were one of you.

"Well... since you're a wind... spirit... how about..." She paused to think of names associated with wind other than "Windy". "How do you feel about being named after the mythological god of the Greeks called Zephyrus? The Greeks believed him to be the west wind and bringer of light spring and early summer breezes - and if I remember correctly, he was considered the nicest of their four wind gods."

"Zephyrus..." The man said repeating what you said. "Yes... That is quite fitting." He bowed once more.

"I would like to be called Zephyrus."

At that moment a notification appeared in the familiar translucent green window.

"I am glad you like it, Zephyrus." She smiled at him, glad that she had remembered the name.

"I hate to just add you to party and then run, but we do need to keep going. So... We shall see you when we make camp for the night?"

Spoiler

Leela intends to continue on until either another encounter or it starts getting dark in the same formation that the party was in before.

[close]

Zephyrus smiled and nodded.

"I will be the accompanying wind." With that Zephyrus started to fade away, though you felt a gentle breeze flowing around you. You couldn't see him, but you could certainly feel his presence now that you knew he existed.

"Interesting." Zavan noted. "I haven't met a being quite like him before."

QuoteState what kind of camp you are looking for, how far from humans, etc, etc.

Leela had been about to reply to Zavan that she had never met a being like Zephyrus, either, but realized it was an unnecessary remark to make. Obviously, she had never met beings like any of her party prior to being summoned to this world, though her world did have myths, legends, and other stories about creatures similar to them. The things similar to what Zephyrus was that were myth or legend and thus might have some truth behind them were also too different to be about whatever he was. If she tried hard enough, she might be able to remember a fantasy story that had something more similar to him, but there were more important things to think about. Such as how much she should tell him about their mission beyond what she already mentioned to him and if he would help them, then how to best use his abilities while also keeping him out of any possible combat.

Spoiler

More expedited learning using MAG.

Rolled 1d20+13 : 9 + 13, total 22

Rolled 1d20+13 : 1 + 13, total 14

[close]

Location: Xalaster Orthodoxy
Date: Day 3 - Time: 5 PM

QuoteTrainings
Knowledge (ethereal): 4/8

Near the end of the journey, you avoided other travellers.

QuotePerception requested.

Spoiler

Perception

Rolled 1d20+4 : 2 + 4, total 6

[close]

QuoteSide thread created. See Chapter 4.1: Moving Forest

QuoteState anymore actions. The journey to the human town will take a few more days yet. Calendar updated to reflect that. If no actions given, I'll
assume it's t he same as the previous night. Come Day 4, I'll do some other rolls to see your encounters that day.

Upon arriving at a location where they could set up camp away from the road, Leela freed the nightmares from their costumes and burdens while the others set up the camp. Zephyrus returned to a form in which the two could communicate and the young woman took that opportunity to explain things a little better to Zephyrus while she worked in the hopes that she could persuade him to actually help them rather than just following along. And also to discuss with him her thoughts on why she and Zavan could see him but others could not.

"I know I did not go into much detail about my mission earlier, so I think now might be a good time to explain it more to you. As I said before, I am Princess Leela Steading. My companions and I are on an important diplomatic mission that involves trying to make peace between the humans and the demons of Roshandan. Due to their appearance and... unusual personalities, there was a misunderstanding when the demon lord of Roshandan and some of his vassals went to visit the humans in hopes of entering into trade. The humans ended up attacking them and the demons defended themselves. They did not intend to hurt or kill anyone, but did not realize that the average human is extremely weak. They were forced to return home without being able to make amends or peace, so the demon lord's daughter took it upon herself to visit and try to make peace. Unfortunately, she has not returned and we are forced to assume that her life is in danger." She explained the situation as she understood it, hoping that how she had understood it was actually true and that Ghorat had failed to tell her everything.

"Luckily for the demons of Roshandan, I found myself brought into this strange new world and they found me. They have asked for my help in both rescuing the young lady and making peace between them and the humans. As helping them benefits me as well, I agreed. I do hope to settle everything peacefully, as the demons of Roshandan seem very friendly and nothing like the demons of other domains. I shall have to be very careful when talking with the humans and hope that they will hear me out. If they do not, I still must rescue the young lady."

"Your... abilities would be extremely helpful in this. If no one can see you, you could wander the town freely and be able to find where they are keeping her. And then, should they decide to attack us or chase us off, you could tell me where they are keeping her and I could retrieve her. You would not have to battle anyone at all, and I would not ask you to stay should battle break out." Leela looked at Zephyrus hopefully. If he was not willing to look around for Ashaki, then that would lead to more casualties if the humans attacked them as they tried to find her. With the other demon lords looking down on Ghorat, having the humans as allies would be much better than being a domain surrounded by enemies.

"A rescue mission?" Zephyrus thought about it for a moment, his eyes seemed to sparkle with fascination. "I've seen other travelers save villages, or fight off creatures in their way... But to be able to aid in something like a rescue?"

"That sounds... That sounds amazing." His gentle voice spoke, tinged with both admiration and awe. "Yes... I, Zephyrus, would be glad to help you Princess Leela Steading."

"Thank you, Zephyrus. Your help will be very much appreciated." Leela thanked him, feeling relieved that he was willing to help.

After a moment, she decided to bring up what she believed was the reason she and Zavan could see him. If it were true, it might affect their mission if the Orthodoxy's hero showed up. She tried to pull him aside by grabbing his arm, but found her hand going through him. She frowned, having expected that her being able to see and hear him would mean she could also touch him, but it appeared that was not the case. Giving up on that, she made sure that no one else - except maybe Zavan - could hear and spoke.

"There is another thing I wanted to talk to you about... There's one reason I could think of that might explain why Zavan and I can see you. Neither of us are just regular people. We were brought to those world through different means than our land just appearing. It could be that one of the special abilities we gained upon entering this world allows us to see and hear you. I am told that the Xalaster Orthodoxy also has someone that they brought here. He also has special abilities, which means he might also be able to see an hear you. Just in case he can, I would recommend staying in your other form while you look around. It will make it easier for you to get away if things go wrong."

"My wind form?" Zephyrus asked confirming. "Okay then... That I can do."

---

Location: Xalaster Orthodoxy
Date: Day 3 - Time: Late evening

The night soon came with the howls of wolves greeting each of the campers. Howls upon howls continued to echo into the night. The rustling of wind only added to the atmosphere, causing many of the imps to quake in fear. The lot of them decided to huddle towards you and Zavan, with their eyes darting every which way and that, their eyes trying to be alert. They could see just as well at night as Zavan, though, they a heavy feeling of unease weighed on the imps.

Efrit laughed as he continued to stoke the fires.

"Careful little imps. When the Great Princess, Zavan, and I finally fall asleep, those wolves will come and get you!" He said evilly raising his arms and hands into an attacking motion as if he had claws.

The imps yelled in fright of course, and only huddled towards you and Zavan more.

Leela stared at Efrit as the imps all squeezed in closer to either her or Zavan. She was thoroughly unamused. It was already hard enough getting them to understand the jobs they had been assigned as they traveled without throwing in fear and tiredness into the mix. And if they did manage to fall asleep without being woken by nightmares of wolves, she was sure that she would wake up in a pile of drooling imps.

"Most wolves that live near human settlements are smart enough to avoid large groups of people or places where there is fire." She pointed at the fire pit. "So as long as someone stays up to keep that from dying, WITHOUT turning it into a bonfire, we should all be safe. If the fire does go out, Efrit would probably be the best person to huddle around for sleep, since he can summon fire to scare the wolves off." She smirked. "Just try not to drool too much or he might not be able to."

Efrit's mischievous grin quickly turned into one of disgust.

"Oh please spare me from that Great Princess." Efrit said. "Goblins are one thing, but drool from imps?" He shivered.

"No thanks."

Zavan, sitting a short distance away from you stiffened.

"I forget you're a goblin lover." He stated simply and impassively.

"Eh? What's that?" Efrit said, glaring daggers at Zavan. The dark elf didn't seem bothered however.

"Oh my oh my." Zephyrus said as he appeared on the opposite side of Zavan next to you.

"I am unsure as to why drool from goblins would be any better or worse than drool from imps. No matter what is doing the drooling, it is equally disgusting to be drooled upon." She noticed the sudden tension between the two demon generals and did not want to have to deal with a fight between the two. She looked down at the imps huddled around her and then back at Efrit. "Currently, I find myself in danger of that thanks to a certain someone. You can't blame me for wanting to share with you."

"You're not going to catch me letting one of those imps drool on me." Efrit said. "Thank you for the offer, but I like my spot here next to the fire imp-free just fine."

Zephyrus clapped his hands.

"It would be quite a sight to see the imps drool all over him. Just to see how he reacts. But Princess Leela Steading, tell me... Is having drool on your person that much of a bad thing?"

Leela grinned at Efrit now, encouraged by Zehpyrus' enthusiasm about the topic. "In that case, I would suggest staying up tonight. You know, so you don't wake up in such a situation."

She turned to Zephyrus. "A small few might think that it is cute, depending on the situation. But I would rather not have another person's or creature's body fluids on me. Especially knowing - and even more so not knowing - what what they consume. Not to mention the texture and consistency feels horrible. It would be easier to show you if you had a more physical form to experience it first hand..."

Efrit rolled his eyes.

"Hey imps! If I catch you slobbering all over me, I'm going to make sure the wolves get you!" With that, he turned his back towards the group.

"Hmm... Interesting... I have once seen other travelers wrap their arms around them in nights such as these, sharing forth their saliva, though, they looked as if they enjoyed themselves rather than finding it disgusting."

"But yes..." He sighed. "If I put enough effort in, I can affect the physical world, but it is draining, so it's not something I do very often." He then turned towards you, and reached out his hand to your cheek. It would have been a caressing gesture, though, his hands had no physical form.

Wondering briefly what the imps ever did to Efrit to make him dislike them so, Leela turned her full attention to Zephyrus. Only to find herself regretting the conversation. Her face reddened in embarrassment at the wind spirit's description of what he had witnessed.

"That's... uhm... That's a special and extremely private activity that couples participate in when they really love each other." She tried to explain without going into detail.

She found herself blushing more at his actions, even though she couldn't feel his hand. Still, she was happy to avoid the previous subject and decided to try to keep the conversation away from it.

"Perhaps if you practice making yourself have a more physical form more often, you would get more used to it and be able to do it easier?"

"Practicing...? Hmm... well..." Zephyrus then started to focus his eyes on you really deeply. Then a moment later you felt the sensation of his hand on your cheek.

"There..." He said, his eyes brightening up. "It's... difficult to maintain... But..." A few seconds more he finally let go as he took a deep breath in and then out.

"Perhaps... I'll practice on things like sticks... and stones..."






"Talking to the new guy, Zephy-something?" Efrit commented, his back still turned away from everyone. "Do I really want to know what you're talking about? Practicing? Extremely private activity?"

"You may practice with the imps." Zavan said impassively.

"IMPS?"

Leela briefly wondered if Zephyrus could make himself visible to more people if he pushed hard enough, but decided to hold off on bringing that up. One step at a time.

"Good job!" She congratulated him. "There is a saying where I am from 'Practice makes perfect.' And fitness trainers like to say 'No pain, no gain.' ... Just don't overdo it. I don't know how we could help you if you drained yourself too much."

As embarrassing as his comments were, Leela could not help but giggle at his misunderstanding. She forgot that he could only hear her half of the conversation.

"His name is Zephyrus. And apparently, our curious new friend came across a couple exchanging saliva, among other things, at one point in time and wanted to know why we are disgusted by drool when those two seemed to be enjoying it... So now we're talking about him practicing maintaining a more physical form so that he can experience getting drooled upon." She could have left Efrit in the dark, guessing at their conversation, but she really did not want him to get the wrong idea. It was better to explain.

When Zavan mentioned that Zephyrus could practice with the imps, Leela got an idea and leaned over to whisper to Zephyrus.

"Since the imps can't see or hear you, I bet you could get some fun reactions from them while you practice on them. Might also be funny to see to how Efrit would react to you poking at him." She grinned at him as she move back to her previous position.

"Hmph... Well, as long as I get some shut-eye, I'm fine. Zephyrus caught a couple in the act? I wonder what else he's seen. Useful ability, if not a bit creepy."

"Practicing on other people..?" Zephyrus echoed your sentiments, his voice a mixture of wonder and awe as he ignored Efrit's words. "I've never tried that on others, I usually try it on objects."

He then looked towards at Efrit, his eyes sparkling in delight. The fiery man was already started to get comfortable beside the campfire.

"Oh yes." Zephyrus then stated. "I would very much like to get him to react." With that, Zephyrus dissipated, and then reappeared behind Efrit.


A second later, using his finger, he poked Efrit's butt.

Efrit immediately stood up, turning around, his eyes glared at the imps.

Spoiler

"Which one of you imps poked me?!"
(https://i.gyazo.com/a795629e820f000fb8aae598c87bf4c9.gif)

[close]

"Indeed. Goodnight, Efrit." Leela replied to the man as he started setting himself up for sleeping by the fire. She wondered if he got cold at night or felt more comfortable next to a heat source.

"Technically, you just practiced with me." She pointed at her cheek before he disappeared from her side.

The wind spirit looked too innocent for what he was intending to do as he smiled at her from behind Efrit. Almost like a child that greatly enjoyed pulling pranks on people but was able to put on an act of complete innocence and fool anyone who did not already know otherwise. She had not expected him to "practice" on Efrit this soon, especially since he had just shown her that he could indeed make his hands feel like they had physical form by touching her cheek. Perhaps it did not feel as much like practicing to Zephyrus when he was having fun.

The next thing she new, Zephyrus had poked Efrit's butt and the large man was raging at the imps.

Leela looked down at the now even more terrified imps as they all seemed to somehow huddle even closer to her and Zavan than they had been huddled before.

"I'm pretty sure the imps are all currently too terrified to leave my or Zavan's sides right now. Perhaps it was a bug? Are you imagining things?" She asked, looking back up at him with a worried expression.

QuoteSome social skill requested, probably Bluff.

Bluff

Rolled 1d20+11 : 13 + 11, total 24

[close]

Indeed each of the imps were huddled around you and Zavan, shivering. Abi was the most composed, though even she decided to hold on to your dress.

"A bug?" Efrit thought for a moment. "Yeah... that's probably right. We're out here anyways. Besides... anyone who pokes me will be eaten by a big bad wolf!" Efrit claimed as he shot a hard stare at the imps. A moment later he sat back down and this time, moved himself closer to the fire, perhaps a way to prevent even more 'bugs'.

"Did you see that Princess and Zavan? I got him to react... Fascinating." Zephyrus said commenting on his actions. He crouched down to stare at Efrit's face just as the man had begun to close his eyes.

"I bet I could prove him wrong." The wind spirit said.

You saw Zephyrus raise his finger again in a pointing motion, directed at his face. His eyes sparkled in delight.

As entertaining as it was, Leela wanted to tell Zephyrus to stop for the night. Efrit already seemed to have been put in a bad mood, even though he was technically the one to start it all. Not to mention, they did all need their rest for the night so they could continue on they way fully rested in the morning.

As much as she wanted to tell him to stop, however, she could not say anything without Efrit hearing her speaking to Zephyrus. Which would in turn give away who was pestering the large man and that she had basically lied to him about who poked him the first time.

"I think Efrit has the right idea. We should all get some sleep so that we can be well-rested for tomorrow's journey." She finally spoke up, yawning as she tried to detangle herself from some imps so she could find a comfortable spot to sleep.

The moment you began to untangle yourself from the imps, there was a roar from Efrit. An annoyed and primal yell coming from the Efrit. Before anyone could react, a blast of fire poured forth from Efrit's mouth at that same time, burning one section of the camp. Luckily, since he was turned away from the rest, no one was injured.

Even Zephyrus, who was simply a spirit in form, blinked his eyes a couple times as the ground he stood on was suddenly turned into charring embers. Efirt flashed a grin as eyes reflected the light of the fires.


Zephyrus disappeared from his spot, and reappeared next to you. His face one of deep thought. Finally he turned towards you and Zavan just as Zavan himself started to prepare his sleeping spot. "See?" He said, his smile innocent, but the look in his eyes were one of smugness.

Stopping to look up and see what was happening, Leela could only blink in amazement at Efrit's overreaction to the "bug". After a moment, she looked around at the part of the camp that was now charring embers. She was thankful that she had not been the one poking at Efrit.

"I hope you plan on making sure all those embers are put out before you go to sleep. I don't want to wake up and find the forest burning around us." She told Efrit. She was now considering sleeping far enough away from the camp that she would not have to worry about being 'accidentally' caught on fire by the large man's fiery breath.

"Indeed." She replied to Zephyrus' smug comment as she got back to work removing clinging imps so she could finally lay down for the night. "I'm pretty sure that would scare off any wolf thinking of attacking us."

"The fires will be fine. Besides, if they start spreading we can be out of here in no time. This place could do with a bit more fire anyways."

When you began to remove the imps, a couple of them complained as some of them tried their hardest to continue sticking to you.

"Leela-sama! Who will protect me?"

"I don't want to be eaten by a wolf!"

"Leela-sama I'm scared."

"I want to eat a wolf!"

"Efrit is scary! Wolf is scary!"

"I'm not very tasty!"

"Leela-sama you'll protect us right?"

"Yum!"

"Now everyone! We have to be able to sleep by ourselves and not bother Leelasama! Leelasama is our master! We will be okay! Okay?" Abi said, trying to reassure her fellow imps. You couldn't help but notice that even Abi continued to hold on to your dress.

It figured all the imps would complain about being moved away. She had expected Abi to be the same, only to hear her personal assistant taking leadership and telling them all that they can sleep by themselves. Abi had been chosen as leader of the imps, but Leela had not expected the imp to do so well with her leadership role. Still... Abi was clinging to her skirts as well. Actions certainly speak louder than words.

"Abi is right. At least half of you are supposed to be good at fighting and the rest of you are supposed to be good at sneaking, right? You all should be able to take care of yourselves. Find places to sleep where you wouldn't be as easily found by wolves and keep your weapons next to you so you can fight back if attacked."

Some of the imps started to grumble, but a couple of them started to agree with you. They began to chatter all at once.

"Master Leela-sama is right! We are special!"

"I can hide."

"I'm a really good hider."

"I bet we can eat the wolf!"

"I can fight too!"

"Yeah! Leela-sama chose me!"

"She chose me, too!"

"I really like you Leela-sama!"

QuoteState any plans for the rest of the night, otherwise state plans for the next morning. I'll do encounter rolls to see if you run into anything.