The sun beats down on your bare shoulders, baking the ochre dust into your skin. Before you, the grasslands stretch to a hazy horizon, a sea of chest-high blades of grass swaying in the hot, dry wind. The air smells of sun-scorched earth, sweet flowers, and the faint, distant scent of salt.You stand alone in a vast, quiet clearing, the silence broken only by the wind and the buzzing of insects. Your waterskin is half-empty, and your stomach aches with a familiar, dull hunger. You scan the landscape, considering your path.>West: A sliver of silver glints under the sun. A line of dark green trees marks its banks.>Northwest: A series of jagged, windswept hills bare of trees rising above the plains.>South: More grassland. A black pillar juts out of the earth, impossibly smooth and unnatural.
>>6303120>West: A sliver of silver glints under the sun. A line of dark green trees marks its banks.
>>6303120>South: More grassland. A black pillar juts out of the earth, impossibly smooth and unnatural.
Me name this place Haze Plain. Silver Lake to West. Should be able to find streams feeding it. Rain fall on Haze Plain, have to go somewhere.
>>6303120>>6303141You commit to the southern path. The sun crawls up to its peak as you walk, the immense black pillar of stone your unmoving guide. The air grows still and heavy. The blades of grass stand unnaturally rigid, undisturbed by any breeze.As you draw within a few hundred paces of the monolith, three figures resolve from the shimmering heat haze. They are not walking from the pillar, but standing beside it, as if on guard. They watch your approach.You slow your pace, hand resting on the stone knife at your hip. The figures are tall and lean, their skin dark and painted with stark white and yellow symbols. They carry long, flint-tipped spears and rectangular shields of stretched hide. As you get closer, they do not raise their weapons. The one in the center, a man with a fearsome scar across one eye, raises an open palm. A sign of peace.You stop a respectful distance away and return the gesture.The lead warrior explains, through a mixture of gestures and the common trade-tongue of the plains, that they are warriors of the Darkstone. He names the black pillar the "Sky-Fang" and informs you it is a sacred place. They have just finished leaving offerings to the sky-spirits who are said to sleep within the stone.They are surprised to see a lone traveler so far from the Ancestor Mountains, their home. He states that your journey must be a vital one to bring you to such a potent and dangerous place. In recognition of your courage--or perhaps your desperation--he offers you a gift to aid your quest, a sign of goodwill and a good omen before the spirits.>A Warrior's Tool: The second warrior, a powerfully built man, holds out a knife. The blade is not the dull grey flint of your tribe's tools, but is chipped from the same black, glassy material as the obelisk itself. The warrior explains that it is sharper than any normal flint and holds its edge for a lifetime. He says it can skin a great elk in half the time and is a worthy weapon if needed.>A Spirit's Secret: The lead warrior touches the palm of his hand to his forehead. He offers to share his tribe's knowledge of the Sky-Fang. He explains that the monolith is dangerous to the uninitiated; it can steal memories and cause waking dreams. He can tell you the proper way to approach it, a small ritual to perform that will appease the spirits within and allow one to receive a "true vision" instead of a maddening one.>A Hunter's Plea: The third warrior, the youngest of the three, speaks of a great beast. He describes a monstrous, four-tusked boar that can walk as easily on two legs as on four, that has been terrorizing their hunting grounds. He says their shaman believes it is a malevolent earth-spirit. He makes a mark in the dirt, a simple map, showing you the location of the beast's lair in a canyon system to the southeast. He explains that if you were to help them slay it, their whole tribe would be in your debt.
>>6303350>A Hunter's Plea: The third warrior, the youngest of the three, speaks of a great beast. He describes a monstrous, four-tusked boar that can walk as easily on two legs as on four, that has been terrorizing their hunting grounds. He says their shaman believes it is a malevolent earth-spirit. He makes a mark in the dirt, a simple map, showing you the location of the beast's lair in a canyon system to the southeast. He explains that if you were to help them slay it, their whole tribe would be in your debt.Going to be honest a Boss Fight this early makes me nervous but no guts no glory anons
>>6303350>A Hunter's Plea: The third warrior, the youngest of the three, speaks of a great beast. He describes a monstrous, four-tusked boar that can walk as easily on two legs as on four, that has been terrorizing their hunting grounds. He says their shaman believes it is a malevolent earth-spirit. He makes a mark in the dirt, a simple map, showing you the location of the beast's lair in a canyon system to the southeast. He explains that if you were to help them slay it, their whole tribe would be in your debt.
>A Hunter's Plea
>A Spirit's Secret: The lead warrior touches the palm of his hand to his forehead. He offers to share his tribe's knowledge of the Sky-Fang. He explains that the monolith is dangerous to the uninitiated; it can steal memories and cause waking dreams. He can tell you the proper way to approach it, a small ritual to perform that will appease the spirits within and allow one to receive a "true vision" instead of a maddening one.Grug came here to learn about Sky-Fang. Grug want to learn. Grug help you slay wereboar after.
>>6303350>A Hunter's PleaThe black monolith reminds me of Robin Hobb books.
>>6303350>>6303358>A Hunter's PleaThe youngest warrior nods. He points far to the southeast, beyond the plains. He explains that their home, the village of the Darkstone Tribe, lies within the Sunken Forest, a great wood that grows in a vast basin in the earth. He tells you to look for the smoke of their hearthfires if you succeed.He then kneels and draws a new map in the dust next to the first one, showing you the way to the beast's lair. It is a system of dry canyons, a scar in the flat earth, also to the southeast but closer than his home. He warns you that the ground is treacherous and the beast is unnaturally cunning.The hunter's voice lowers. He speaks of how his own spear pierced the creature's side, a blow that should have been fatal, but the boar escaped and returned only a moon later with merely a scar as evidence of the injury. He says their shaman believes the creature is not made of true flesh, but is merely host to a vengeful earth spirit and therefore invulnerable to weapons made from the earth.With their gift given and their plea made, the lead warrior gives you a final, respectful nod. Your business is concluded. He turns, and his companions turn with him. But instead of heading southeast towards their promised home, the three warriors begin walking due east, to where you do not know, their forms quickly swallowed by the haze of the plains.The silence returns, heavier than before. The black obelisk glints beside you. The sun is high and hot. >Hunt the Gore-Tusker: The path is clear. Head directly to the canyon system to confront the beast and earn the gratitude of the Darkstone Tribe.>Examine the Sky-Fang: The warriors are gone, leaving the mysterious monolith unguarded. Perhaps there is something to be learned here before you move on.>Follow the Warriors: Their path was unexpected. Following them might reveal their true business, but you will risk losing their trail and getting lost, or worse, drawing their suspicion and ire.>Write-in
>>6304633>Examine the Sky-Fang
>Hunt I don't really want to be given bad juju
>>6304633>Examine the Sky-Fang: The warriors are gone, leaving the mysterious monolith unguarded. Perhaps there is something to be learned here before you move on.
>>6304633>Hunt the Gore-Tusker: The path is clear. Head directly to the canyon system to confront the beast and earn the gratitude of the Darkstone Tribe
>>6304633>>6304639>Examine the Sky-FangYou approach the Sky-Fang, circling its base. The surface of the stone is impossibly smooth and warm to the touch, almost scalding. As your fingers trace a faint, swirling line etched into its face, you feel a section of it give way. A hand-sized panel of stone recedes into the pillar, revealing a square, dark hollow.Tucked inside is a small, hide pouch tied with a leather cord. There is no dust on it. It looks as if it were placed there only a moment ago. Inside the pouch are three seeds, no larger than your thumbnail. They are the color of river pearls, perfectly round, and feel warm, pulsing with a gentle, tidelike energy against your palm.Before you can think to put it back, the hollow seals shut as smoothly as it opened, and the heat of the obelisk fades to a faint warmth. >Plant a seed here: The ground at the foot of the obelisk feels strangely fertile. To plant one of the seeds here is a risk, but it might reveal their purpose immediately.>Divine the seeds' nature: Hold the seeds and focus your will. Attempt to connect with their spirit, to understand what they are and what they are for. This may drain your energy, but knowledge is its own reward.>Move on: The seeds are a mystery for another time. Your waterskin is still half-empty and the day is not over. Secure the pouch and decide your next direction.>Write-in
>>6304753>Divine the seeds' nature: Hold the seeds and focus your will. Attempt to connect with their spirit, to understand what they are and what they are for. This may drain your energy, but knowledge is its own reward.
>>6304753>>Divine the seeds' nature: Hold the seeds and focus your will. Attempt to connect with their spirit, to understand what they are and what they are for. This may drain your energy, but knowledge is its own reward.
>>6304759>>6304753>Divine the seedsYou find a spot in the shade of the Sky-Fang and sit cross-legged on the dusty earth. You pour one of the pearl-like seeds into your palm. The shaman of your Tribe taught you that all things have a taste, a spiritual flavor that tells of its origins. To know a thing, you must taste it.You raise the seed to your lips and place it on your tongue.It is not a taste of the plains. There is no earth, no grass, no sun-baked stone. The sensation that floods your mind is overwhelming, alien. It is the taste of crushing cold and absolute darkness. The taste of brine, of wet sand, and of things that have been rotting for a thousand years at the bottom of a lightless ocean.You spit the seed out, gasping. The world swims back into view, but it is wrong. The familiar scent of the grasslands is gone, replaced by a phantom smell of salt and decay. You look up at the sun, and for a terrifying moment, it seems to be in the wrong part of the sky. Your internal compass, the instinct that every Far-Walker is born with, is spinning wildly. You have no idea which way is north.The divination has failed, and in doing so, has left you lost.What do you do?>Reorient by training: Your senses are lying to you, but the world is not. Read the sun, the wind, and the subtle signs of the land to force your bearings. A contest of will against the seed's influence.>Trust the new sense: The taste was a clue. It points somewhere. Instead of fighting it, embrace this alien direction. Follow the phantom scent of the sea and see where it leads.>Wait and rest: To move when you are lost is to invite disaster. Find a safe place to rest, conserve your water, and wait for this corrupting influence to fade from your mind.>Write-in
>>6305013>Reorient by training: Your senses are lying to you, but the world is not. Read the sun, the wind, and the subtle signs of the land to force your bearings. A contest of will against the seed's influence.
>>6305013>>Trust the new sense: The taste was a clue. It points somewhere. Instead of fighting it, embrace this alien direction. Follow the phantom scent of the sea and see where it leads.
>>6305013>Trust the new sense
>standing before an erect "black monolith" >>6303350>>6304510>"You raise the seed to your lips and place it on your tongue...">>6305013>"wait for this corrupting influence to fade..."I hope the caveman is not a gay
>>6305013>>6305669alternatively, if the caveman Far-Walker senses are merely dazed and not permanently corrupted/impaired by the ominous dark monolith seed-magic, can try to >gaze at the horizon and look for the flight path of migrating birds; ornithomancy and the seasons will augur the path and direction
>>6305090>>6305013>Reorient by trainingYou sit, shutting out the phantom senses that plague you. You do not trust your eyes or your nose, but you trust the sun. You close your eyes and feel its warmth on your face. You know its path across the sky better than you know your own name. You track its slow crawl in your mind, feeling its heat shift from one side of your face to the other.You listen to the wind, not for its direction, but for its sound. The whispers it makes through these specific blades of grass are familiar, the song of the high plains. The alien taste in your mouth fights back, a cold wave against the warmth of the sun, but you hold onto the familiar.Slowly, painstakingly, you rebuild the world you know inside your own mind. The sun is where it should be. The wind sings its proper song. When you open your eyes, the world snaps back into focus. North is north again. The phantom scent of salt and decay is gone, replaced by the clean smell of dust and grass.Your senses are your own once more. But the struggle has left a mark. As the alien influence receded, it left behind an echo, a piece of knowledge that was not yours before. You now know, with the certainty of a bird knowing the way to its wintering grounds, that far to the northeast, beyond the rolling plains, lies a vast and terrible place: a white desert of sun-baked salt that stretches for days.>Go Southeast: Hunt the Gore-Tusker.>Go East: Follow the Darkstone warriors.>Go Northeast: Investigate the Salt Pans.>Write-in
>>6305719>Go Southeast: Hunt the Gore-Tusker.
