[Leela] Chapter 4: Borders of Xalaster Orthodoxy

[Throndir]

"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.

[Ella]

Leela Steading

"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."

[Throndir]

"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.

You have gained a new title『The Namer』
You have gained +1 INT

[Ella]

Leela Steading

"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]

[Throndir]

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."

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

[Ella]

Leela Steading

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.

Travel Postions:

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. (They would stay away from where humans might be, far away enough from the road that a campfire would not attract attention and preferably in a wooded area for extra protection.)

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.

Spoiler

More expedited learning using MAG.

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

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

[close]

[Throndir]

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

Trainings
Knowledge (ethereal): 4/8

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

Perception requested.

[Ella]

Spoiler

Perception

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

[close]

[Throndir]

Side thread created. See Chapter 4.1: Moving Forest

[Throndir]

State 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.

[Ella]

Leela Steading

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.

[Throndir]

"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."

[Ella]

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."

After speaking privately with Zephyrus, Leela will spend the rest of the evening with the whole group, eating food, and fine tuning details about the mission with everyone before finding a spot to sleep.

[Throndir]

"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.

[Ella]

Leela Steading

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."