>>6367853

...and that currently means you're following your verdant guide, the spirit Lady Ghesha, who remains tactfully quiet as you scowl at the path before you both. She doesn't look back, doesn't make conversation, just smoothly makes her way down the cleared path. Maybe it's frustration that's built up but you want to break the silence.

You clear your throat, catching her attention and speed up a little so that you end up walking nearly beside her. "That was an enlightening," you say dryly, "not much better than what I could've already guessed from with the context you gave me though."

"Oh?" Her tone is polite but you can tell that's it. Only polite. She doesn't sound interested, but you continue anyways.

"Well, of course! Somehow this Change spirits is tampering with the lives of the mountain goers and it's freaking out everyone who lives remotely near the barrier. Your leader, charming as they are, has decided to warn me, a Totemist who lives on that very mountain, that my neighbors are deciding how they should...how did they put it? Raze the land? Yes, that was it. Raze the land. The only thing I've really learned is that spirits around the mountains seem fine with the idea of destroying my homeland." Your voice doesn't raise but you've begun to hiss a little as you resist grinding your teeth. The dragons you were sure already had eyes on burning your village to the ground but it just couldn't end there could it.

Is this what Oranya spent all those years you studied in boredom handling? No, otherwise she'd have known about Change and the rest. Either way, you hunch a little as you follow Ghesha.

"It's quite the predicament." She notes, politely as she has always been. "Though simply stopping this malignant spirit from contaminating more life around your mountains should end the entire issue outright, would it not? Forgive me for overstepping my bounds to offer you advice, Sir Totemist, but your goal is simple in concept...though not as much in method."

While contemplating, the walk continues until you reach a massive wall of ivy and thick bushy hedge. Ghesha waves an arm and an opening appears in front of the two of you and seems only big enough for one person. Ghesha wordlessly ushers you towards it and politely bows, but before you step through it you stop and give Ghesha herself a look over.

"Were we Woodwalking the entire way? You definitely aren't just some regular dryad maid, are you."

The ghost of a smile comes and Ghesha resumes her bowing. "I'm afraid you are, as they say, barking up the wrong tree, Sir Totemist. I am but a guide in service of my Lady and Lord, to watch over the Young Lady Ekasta. If you wish to meet the more fantastical of the spirits of the forest, the I'm afraid we've left them far behind in the deepest parts of the Wood."

>Cont

>>6367870

Your eyes check her over again and your mind picks over the details of everything you've seen and heard her do and say. No low ranked forest nymph can just bend the wood to her wishes and a tree-locked
dryad even less so. To be trusted enough to guard and teach another spirit means she's important, but you don't know how much.

You keep your expression still and nod before you take a step through the opening. It's sudden and slightly shakes you but you stand facing away from an old tree just outside of a wide open field that spreads out towards a village you don't recognize. You fish out the map, glancing this way and that on the paper before your eyes spot just one village near the edges of the large green territory of the forest and breath a sigh of relief that it's your destination.

You roll the map back up and place it side of your travel bag and listen up for any signs of trouble while you monitor the distance like a Lord Hawk.

>Roll 1d100 no DC. Best of 3

Rolled 68 (1d100)

>>6367873

Rolled 18 (1d100)

>>6367853
Don't forget to archive the last thread
>>6367873

Rolled 56 (1d100)

>>6367873

>>6368024
Working on it now. Also expect quest tomorrow, I've been watching the olympics with family and setting up sprite work commissions so that I can have some financial cushion

>>6367873
>>6368449

You're not too familiar with the usual condition of the village but it doesn't seem to be terribly worse for wear if you had to be honest. A few walls seemed a little banged up around the perimeter fortifications, some bits of the field torn up from what looks to be something like a beast having clawed it, but not much that would suggest the dragons themselves had been the issue or things would have been much worse. You don't smell any blood, see any smoke or even hear any commotion so the best thing you can do at the moment is to carefully approach and let yourself be known.

What you do notice is that the claw markings and damage doesn't seem to be deep into the surface from where you are. A closer look would make things apparent.

And you notice a guard sliding out from behind a raised section, facing your way if you aren't mistaken.

>68

And you see the arrow fly out into the air, silent as can be, just before you bolt right and wave frantically at him.

"HEY!" You yell as you run away from the trajectory of the arrow. You think you get maybe twenty paces away from your previous spot and hear the arrow slam into the ground. You raise a hand to indicate for them to stop and take a quick glance to find that it had landed just in front of where you stood before. Maybe not a warning shot. If you'd continued to walk forward it would have gone through your chest. "BY THE SPIRITS, I'M FRIENDLY! DON'T SHOOT!"

You curse yourself for not having a shield binding at the ready and you can only hope your boots can keep you moving fast enough if they decide you don't need another chance.

"I'M NOT HERE TO ATTACK! WHAT ARE YOU SHOOTING FOR?!"

The archer lower their bow and raises a fist up, then lowering it slowly. Standard gesture to indicate others not to fire, at least how you were taught it, and sure enough there are more archers that step out from behind barriers and don't aim their bows at you.

"Not a step closer, you hear?" Calls out a man's voice, roughly in his twenties if you had to make a guess, and signals for the others to stay ready with a quick wave of his arm.

"Ok," you call back, not willing to risk a rain of arrows after coming all this way. "I just wanted to ask a few questions, I've heard there was some trouble this way and I've been asked to check in!"

The man is silent and then waves for someone to come up to him and they talk for a minute, about what you really have no idea, before letting them rejoin the other archers.

>Etc

(Finger is numb at the tip but seems fine for now)

>>6369228

He stared at you for some time, you bet he's measuring his distance for another shot if you decide to make yourself look like a deserving target, and calls back again. "On who's business?"

"My teacher, Oranya Skystrike, Totemist of the near mountains."

Some groups of archers get to talking when you announce yourself, but they have good discipline not to take their focus off you completely. You can tell from here that they haven't turned away from you. The first archer thankfully doesn't raise his bow and fire at you so there's a chance they know about the mountain but have a calm head about them.

"You're a bit late if you came to deal with that walking bone bonfire. Hard to believe you'd come now after it had plenty of time to destroy the whole village."

"Yes," you admit. "I heard it was approaching before it was...dealt with."

The lead archer is silent again.

"So why are you here then?" He asks.

>State your business
>Keep the matter of the dragons a secret?
>Lie
>Try to keep to the forest's edge and circle around the perimeter

>>6369234
>Dragons. Plural.

>>6369234
>State your business

>>6369525
+1

>>6369316
The archer is referring to the behemoth that was roaming around before it was killed by the dragons.

Also, feeling has fully returned to the finger and I have been job searching with some success so things should stabilize enough for a regular updating pattern soon. I apologize for the scattered timeframes so far.

Writing

>>6370385
Disregard this clarification. I was confused as to the intent of the wording.

>>6369234

Tensions remain as you look out over the field and weigh your options, but ultimately there's only one real choice her to make if you don't want to learn if any of your bindings would be good to block a rain of twenty or so arrows. You raise both hands to gesture that you mean no harm and answer.

"My teacher, Oranya Skystrike, tasked me with checking in on your village. I don't know all the details, but she has gave the impression that something might have happened involving the dragons. I trust you know some of them have been flying around, on a patrol if the spirits haven't lied to me."

The archers talk a little amongst themselves again, not at any volume you can hope to hear but you can tell they're a little antsy about whatever it is they're saying. The leader however is calm and steady but his posture stiffens and his grip on the bow hasn't really relaxed. You need more information on the relationship between this village and the dragons.

"Let's say you're not lying. Let's say you're able to talk to the spirits, they've told you dragons are around, and they're on patrols no less. What does that mean for you and your teacher?"

"...I wouldn't say we and the dragons have been on the best terms. It's not common, but there's been raids before from their side of the mountains. I'd like to know what they're doing with a patrol route curling around the mountain towards our side, but my teacher works to keep the barrier strong."

There's a minute or so of tense silence and you're happy to find that the archers don't decide that a visitor is not really welcome at this time.

>Cont

>>6370389

"So you really are from over on the western range then? If you can talk to the spirits that would make you and your teacher the Totemists of the mountains."

"Aye," you call back and lower your hands slowly. "I'm really just here to see why we haven't been able to communicate with your village and see what this business with the dragon patrol is about. I haven't really gotten the best impression about them so far, you see."

"...I do see. Fine then, come up to the gate and keep your hands away from anything magic and don't do anything silly with those boots. You can unbind whatever you've got mixed into your gear there. I'll meet you shortly."

Nevermind the fact this archer knows how Totemists wield the power of spirits, you're a bit intrigued by how this archer knew you had a binding with your boots. Maybe you can get it out of him.

________________

Soon enough, you've walked up to the gate and it creaks open his wife enough for you to slip through to find that a small squad of archers and spearmen are there to greet you. With no sudden moves, you begin to unbind your spirits after warning the guards of the resulting flashes and collect all your foci into your travel bag. One of the spearmen comes up and reaches for your bag but a familiar voice calls him back.

The lead archer is there behind the group, a small stick burning in his mouth and looking you over, especially around the area of your chest. You've got everything unbound and it's where Xandin's gemstone rests on a necklace, so it's getting easier to figure out that he must be spiritually aware. Not initiated like you are in the Totemist ways perhaps, but something about him gives you the impression he must be closer to the spiritual than normal humans.

You out your hand forward and look him in the eyes. "Capran. Totemist of the western range."

With a huff, the man strolls forward and easily through the row of his fellow guards. "Gull Treat. Lead ranger and the closest this village has to any shaman."

You both shake hands and take note of each other's grip. He meets your strength easily and nobody looks away or backs down first until the five second mark where you both release at the same time.

He knows the regular guard shake, and if he knows it then he'd know your tells for if you're looking for some kind of giveaway. But that also means you might know if any of the guards were to get angling for a position if you later had trouble.

"Well Capran. What would a western range Totemist like to check around first?"

Business first, eh?

>Do you have any unusual problems with monsters?
>Do the spirits come here often? Do they ask anything of your village?
>What's this about dragon patrols? Do they come around your village?

Please choose one

>>6370402
>What's this about dragon patrols? Do they come around your village?
We didn't see random patches of ash on the way here, so I doubt there's an urgent issue. Still, it's important to stay consistent with our purpose.

>>6370402
>What's this about dragon patrols? Do they come around your village?

>>6370402
>What's this about dragon patrols? Do they come around your village?
________________

"I'll get right to it then. I'm here on business to check around and figure out the reason for the weird amount of dragon activity in the area. I know about the situation on the mountain and why it has the spiritual side of things all riled up, but I've got no real clue what else. Has anything happened to more mundane creatures? Any mutations you've noticed around the land?"

He remains quite for some time while looking you over again and it doesn't take any genius to figure out that the question has some of the guards on edge, clearly nobody here is really enjoying the presence of the flying terrors, but nobody saves for the leader cares to be part of the questioning.

Eventually the leader speaks again and it's not good news.

"We've only heard the stories, the occasional spirit that comes towards the village warning us to never cross into the mountains. It's several days away so we've been fine to leave things over there well enough alone, but at night...you start to worry. Only enough eyes to watch so many places, and to be honest, we've been having a bit of trouble with beasts and monsters of our own."

"None mutated though?" You press, and the shake of the archers head has you let out a breath you didn't know you were holding.

"Whatever kind of cage you have around your mountain, it works miracles. We're not close enough to see anything like the monsters we hear about from over there, but we're not too keen on venturing around. What with the dragons circling around it and all, we're just close enough to be cautious."

"No peculiar patterns to the monsters? I'm happy to help sort that out with you if you'd like some assistance."

You think you see a little spark of hope go around the crowd, some villagers that are wandering towards you all overhearing and quickly walking up to stand behind the guards. They look tired, hungry as well...

>Roll 1d100+10 for perception

DC55

Rolled 48 + 10 (1d100 + 10)

>>6371298
hungry? That's concerning.

>>6371298

>58

You don't know how you could have possibly missed this but you recall that you hadn't seen any sort of fruits or vegetables growing in the fields you passed. You hadn't even considered the fields other than where it seemed that some beasts had clawed around and left a mess. The archer picks up on your realization but remains silent, choosing to just wait for you.

"...how long has it been since you've had trouble with the beasts?"

"It's been a while, Totemist. Some months now "

Nothing good you can figure out just from that alone and a sinking suspicion crawls up your back as you consider...

"The dragons are eating all your game, aren't they."

Gull isn't in the mood to give that a fast answer but he relents and nods. "Some months now."

You grit your teeth and fight not to growl. No wonder they all looked hungry. No doubt a single dragon could clear their livestock in mere days. The area must be nearly picked clean then, so no wonder you found a few around the forest where the spirit courts reside. They'd probably been changing their hunting grounds along the patrol route in rotations. The math is simple enough. A whole elk or two per day at least, per dragon, and then go by the months and how MANY dragons there might be.

The village has probably been exhausting itself just trying to survive on crops, but you've got a feeling that can't go on any longer.

"Gull...how long has it been since you had enough meat to keep the women and children healthy? How many dragons have you seen patrolling the routes?"

He tilts his head up and to the side just ever so slightly and seems to gaze into the distance, and his answer chills you.

"At least a dozen. It's gotten easy enough to tell them all apart I can say that for certain."

He looks at you directly now, a hollow look in his eyes that you didn't catch until now.

"Capran. You've come at the worst and best time for the Totemists of the mountain. If there is any way at all you can help us, we need it. Despera--"

Gull's words are cut off by the roar of a great, ferocious beast that you couldn't possibly mistake. You whirl, already knowing what it was and you see it off into the distance where the clouds were thick over the spirit forest.

A dragon, flanked by others. The same three that were in the forest you came upon.

"SHIT!"

>Run. Maybe they're after you and will leave the village alone.
>Stand your ground. You're a Totemist, not a fugitive.
>Hide yourself, the dragons might leave if they don't see you but are chasing you.
>Bind a spirit into something and prepare for conflict

>>6371346
>Bind the grass shoes
Not obviously for combat because only xandin will be even slightly viable against multiple dragons on a solo binding fight, but enough to draw the dragons away from the village. Pretty dangerous for Capran's health though.

The commander mask is also an option, but rallying the villagers might just get them killed.

>>6371346
>>6371356 +1

>>6371356
+1

>>6371346

No time to waste!

You focus on a binding to keep you mobile more than anything and so far you've come to rely on the Grasscarpet Crawler binding for just that so far, so you immediately fish the foci from your sack and press it against your boots and yell out the binding rite. The flash comes and you hear the roar from the dragons, much closer now, come. No doubt they saw it and probably felt the spiritual energy from in the sky so there's no point trying for some element of surprise now.

As for the guards, Gull has them rally further away from the gate and orders everyone into a bunker of some kind. The villagers are fleeing further away from the gate so no doubt it would thankfully be away from any conflict, but there's no telling what kind of damage the dragons could do if it came to that. From what you've learned about their kind, some could breath out storms, most fire, and a rare few could call forth metal dust to overtake the area. No real way for you to know which kind these three are, but you'd be happy if it didn't have to come to you personally finding out.

>You have equipped the Field Sprinter binding!

Honestly, your choice of binding is probably the safest.

Xandin Arre has a truly infamous reputation with the dragons after all, and maybe even with the entire dragon race as a whole! It's hard to imagine they wouldn't have some way to sniff her out if she ever happened to be nearby, and you can only hope that being in a dormant foci meant there was a better chance at keeping her concealed. You guess you'd find out one way or another.

York, Behr and Fawl would be good too but the latter hasn't had a boot binding tested and going with a known binding could be the saving factor you need.

The dragons are coming much closer now anyways and have begun to dive towards the village gate. Not enough time to bind another spirit and only enough to prepare to bolt, maybe lure them away, if need be.

You've begun to realize how much you relied on your full load out, and your teacher when you had just a single binding, and it irks you that you feel so naked and weak without that power. The fears are banished when you recall that you're a guard yourself.

You trained hard; in the rain, the snow, the hot summer too! What guardsman would you be if you trembled now?

As the first of the three dragons break their dive with a flap of their wings, you stare them dead in the eye as they land, claws digging deep into the wood of the village barrier, and keep your mind sharp when the trio all gather themselves and climb down to the ground to meet you all.

>Cont

>>6371893

Three sets of bright reptilian eyes scan the area and converge on you and those around. They're undeniably large predators, wings folding in to allow a gripping claw to dig into the dirt like some kind of monstrous bats crawling on the earth. Fangs as sharp as you remember them being when you first saw one of their kind and scales reflecting light like polished armor. One or two marks on their hides like a long gash that's mended itself, but you couldn't guess as to what it came from. If you're lucky, you wouldn't have to find out if you would be able to cut deep enough to give them all marks that wouldn't heal up so nicely.

The apparent leader of the bunch takes a low stance and prowls closer to you, sniffing a bit and letting a deep growl ripple out from the throat. As it gets closer, the others move towards you and the others and spread out enough that you recognize it as a partial flanking formation. These things are definitely not here for some routine patrol stop. No doubt they know you aren't from around these parts too.

________________
Pretentious snake spawn, undeserving of their reputation as any rightful power should have proper claim. How dare they behave as some protector when they see fit to surround you and coerce us the moment they see fit? I should have had their miserable king's corpse slaughter as many of his misbegotten kind as possible.
________________

'Easy now,' you think to Xandin as her bloodlust stews in her connection. You have no doubt if you bound her to an actual sword it would literally sing for the dragons' blood right now. 'There's an entire village around us. Nothing would survive if these three decided to launch an attack from the air. Maybe not even use and I don't like the chances.'

Xandin seems to growl through the link between you two and settles back down enough for you to ease up your own clenched hand. You thankfully didn't draw blood but relaxing your hand is more difficult than it should be.

She is ferociously hungry to kill these dragons, who seem to be communicating to each other through growls and grunts.

You should say something, make sure they know you aren't here to cause trouble, but you could choose to draw them away in case they aren't up for talking. No way to know what the right move is.

>Announce yourself as Totemist of the Western Mountain range. Peaceful.
>Demand to know what they think they're doing, trying to intimidate you like this. Aggressive.
>Bolt, try to lure these three away. (Bring forth Xandin to make sure they follow?)
>Stand your ground and say nothing. Firm.

>>6371898
>Announce yourself as Totemist of the Western Mountain range. Peaceful.
we can't just say nothing when the people are starving. But I don't think we should make this about us.

>>6371898
>Announce yourself as Totemist of the Western Mountain range. Peaceful.

Peaceful it is, writing

>>6371898

You raise a hand, unarmed and open, up to the trio of dragons and keep your other away from your weapons. You don't know just how intelligent these three are exactly but you figure they must know enough about humans to understand what a weapon would look like. While yours would be exotic, the concept should still apply.

The guards around you are still, but wary.

"I greet you, dragons. My coming here is not to cause chaos or discord."

The trio continue to spread out around you and their tails swipe and scrape at the earth behind them. You don't figure that's their way of communication, so you continue introducing yourself.

"I have come to make sure this village remain standing and it's people safe. They may be on edge and....hungry, but their walls are high and I'm sure it will be possible for them to hunt."

The leader sniffs at you and growls, lips snarling and briefly revealing the knife-like teeth to you. The others let out lower toned growls of their own and their own tails twist about in the air like serpents, long and packed in muscle that could whip out and take out half of the guards behind you should they turn around.

"I am Capran, without a second name of my own and I am Totemist-"

The dragon leader stalls for a moment, perhaps understanding your role, but refuses to stop outright. It is perhaps a short the paces away and you meet its eyes without hostilities.

"-of the western mountains."

The dragons go low and snarl out, mixing hisses in with it and openly bare their teeth at you.

They are not eager to be friends.

"And I did not come here to have trouble with you. So there will not be trouble from me. Is that agreeable, dragons?"

>Roll 1d100+5 DC 75

Rolled 65 + 5 (1d100 + 5)

>>6372347

Rolled 40 + 5 (1d100 + 5)

>>6372347

Rolled 24 + 5 (1d100 + 5)

>>6372347
uhoh

Rolled 34 (1d100)

Well then.

Roll 2d100 no DC. HIGHEST of three

Rolled 53, 55 = 108 (2d100)

>>6372793

Rolled 83, 82 = 165 (2d100)

>>6372793
well, we tried.

Rolled 22, 4 = 26 (2d100)