Following on from (RP14) Searching for the Hand
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[DM]
It is unclear what occurred in the communion between Pine and Ularun. However such concerns become secondary as the taciturn cleric suddenly started shining with a heavy grey light, akin to slate stone.
Hiding your eyes to avoid being blinded you are only able to react before whatever had happened knocked you unconscious.
[Everyone but Pine you are able to use your reaction before this goes down. This includes reaction spells but also skill rolls such as arcana to try and figure out what's going on. You have one reaction.]
[Idris]
[Other than being blinded would we feel actual threat from the light? In that short moment before falling unconscious do we realise we're about to fall?]
[DM]
[From the light no, it's just more power than you've ever seen Pine manifest before. Without using your reaction it's hard to tell more]
[Idris]
Other than idling around and admiring the bright light, which reminds Idris of the time he had used the illuminator in the tower he does nothing until he falls unconscious
[Effie]
Effie would probably out of pure survival instincts try to understand what's happening. Could Perception be used? Not so much to identify the magic but try to see what's actually happening "behind" the light and around them?
[DM]
Effie you try and look past the light but this is unlike anything you've seen before. You see the sky as your eyes roll up and you fall down. And then you see nothing
[DM]
[Suitable music for this: https://youtu.be/Z2DoMOOTZpc?si=UgXGjUOXiV9XpAdu]
[DM]
You are all made aware at the same moment. Gone are the rolling hills you camped at, the seemingly endless swamp before you or even the faraway ocean.
Instead you find yourself standing on a strange rocky ground, jagged and sharp as if it had been shattered recently. Instead of a sky you see an infinity of changing grey and purple hues.
There's a moment where your senses lurch and if you still had stomachs you'd likely have felt ill. You are seeing through your eyes but also you are looking at yourself and your companions from above.
Five strange grey silhouettes, a shining silver cord attached to them, leading away into the infinite expanse. These entities have no discernible features, looking even more featureless than the doppelgangers you recently fought but there's no mistaking it, you know who they are.
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One, has two additional cords on either side of the main one. One that shines with a bright white light, the other with the deepest of reds. The two cords flow as if they were caught in a current and when they brush past each other sparks fly. @Idris Doryu (Kiziro)
Another has a faint green cord, almost translucent. It's wrapped around the main silver cord akin to ivy around a tree. This figure has glowing band around their finger, shining an iridescent band of colours. @Arya (Sandra)
A third has but the one main cord. However above it can be seen translucent shades looking down at it. The number of the shades keeps changing, from a couple to dozens and back in a blink of an eye. @Siax (Darren )
A fourth appeared plain at first glance, just the silhouette and the cord. But being in this place has enhanced your senses, almost like you can, no, you must see everything. As such you see a small black bird resting on the figures shoulder, it's eyes open and observing all. @Effie (Annika)
The fifth figure differed in three ways. The shade of this silhouette was lighter than the rest, the details even further washed out. On its shoulder however lay a black patch, tendrils from it spreading across the figure, even growing on its cord. On the other side, where the heart should be was a brilliant red glow that pulsated in and out. @Pine (Darren M)
You are all yourself still. But you are all of these figures. But you are also yourself. In this place boundaries fade and you are able to sense each others feelings and surface thoughts as if you clear as if you could see them.
Farther away, if that concept meant anything here, was a sixth figure. This one was prone, lying on the jagged ground, breathing hard, as if it had been knocked down.
Unlike the others this figure was dark, almost black and almost twice as large. However, more notable was that this figure has no cord at all. In its stead there are two large chains attached on its arms, a manacle over each wrist, the chains stretching into infinity.
The figure slowly stood, the slight jingling of the moving chains, making the first noise you heard since you arrived at this place.
As it stood, towering over the five of you, you all see pulsating red patches like the one the fifth figure has. Instead of a singular one however, this figure has... 27. It spoke yet no mouth materialised, the words forming in your minds.
"I see now the truth of your words acolyte of the three. I see now your companions standing beside you, each with their own goals and motivations.
I bid you all my greetings. Many know me as Ularan Mortus. I believe it is time we all talked."
[Pine]
Despite the change in location, the strange alternate view of the world, and the unreality of it all, those there would likely get the sense that Pine was not terribly shaken or discomfited by it. The most prevalent thoughts and feelings coming from him were ones of trust, even relief, because the Three had chosen this as the route to take them, and they never did anything without foreplanning. He trusted in the Three to know what was best in the same manner a subordinate might trust in a military tactician to tell them where best to go, and how to go about doing that, not needing or even understanding the ins and outs of it.
In this he was perhaps a very good choice for the Three, for the other thing that might be quite different from at least some of the others, was his almost complete lack of drive for power, despite holding an important fragment of it. He did not look at those 27 shards that were like his own and crave or envy them, he merely looked upon them as a sign that this person, Ularan, was in a better position to help direct him to best effect for the Three, having survived many more trials in order to gain them than he had.
While such a clearly powerful person as Ularan might bring fear to many, or even awe, awe was not something Pine ever typically felt, even with the Three Gods he followed the commands of. Overall, the group would get the sense that Pine was primarily driven by his feelings of duty to the Three and the general order of the passing of life into death, and he currently saw Ularan as someone who could help him better accomplish the Three's goals.
One word would, however, keep circling around his thoughts despite the conversation in the offing. "Priest." His mind kept cycling back to it, slightly confused but pleased; an echo of the Three that had named him that in their words in his mind. He didn't seem to know what to do with it, or what it meant in specifics, but like other thoughts surrounding the Three, he trusted that it would become clearer in time. It wasn't a priority. Getting a better accord with Ularan, a solid plan for dealing with whatever was going on in the Mere, and the Talos cult, and anything else related, was. Pine was, after all, a person focused on practicalities.
-==I==-
In terms of his thoughts on the rest of the companions, especially seeing them in this way:
Idris he would view with caution; a general feeling that while he trusted the man generally, he was more distrustful of the shimmering bond that might pull the paladin in a direction that might be inconvenient for the Three's plans at some point.
Siax he would view in a friendly manner, with respect for his skill in combat, but perhaps tinged with frustration and caution around the more recent things to do with Merdelain, especially with what they had found out lately. In general Pine preferred stability of character and situations, and he was therefore somewhat cautious around how the knowledge would impact Siax.
Effie he would generally be viewing with suspicion, especially with the little black bird perched on her. She was the only one that had a companion, or something, come along with her, watching. Along with his current hearty dislike of her employer, Lord Neverember, he would view her with the caution reserved for those who might stab you in the back when you were no longer convenient to them. Despite this, he had been impressed by her skills and priorities while in combat.
Arya he didn't really seem to know how to feel about yet. He noted the spiraling bond he knew nothing about, unlike Idris, and the shining ring that had to mean something, but he didn't know what. Her skills were outside his knowledge, although impressive, but her burning curiosity was more anathema to him.
[to be continued]