Dawnfall Wk4

[07:45] <@Xale> Roll 1d100+16 Seek shelter
[07:45] <+qqbot> Xale rolled 1d100: 89 = [73] + 16
[07:46] <@Xale> Roll 1d100+16 Avoid predators
[07:46] <+qqbot> Xale rolled 1d100: 75 = [59] + 16
[07:46] <@Xale> Roll 1d100+16 Study the glyphs
[07:46] <+qqbot> Xale rolled 1d100: 105 = [89] + 16


It didn’t take long for you to get yourself settled into your new area, exploring your way around the stones as you sought out places of both suitable coverage, and resources to support yourself. And as the dawn light leaves your skin, you cannot help but stretch yourself against the makeshift blanket of leaves and vines which you’d wrapped yourself in over the course of the night.

The morning of a new day would see you hungry, yet excited.

Your first order of business would be to scout around the new area, you’d been lucky so far in your first few weeks of life, no significant brushes with anything which could be dangerous to you had occurred, though you suspected that it was in part because of your unpalatability which ensured most creatures would ignore the smell of you as something unsavory.

You found that you were fairly invested in ensuring you kept out of the way of those which might be less inclined to turn their noses up against the weak toxins of within your flesh. You could practically feel them within you, the glands of venom which circulated the toxins within your blood as a vital function, their spreading warmth reminding you of their function.

Vaguely you recollected from a fragment of memory that you could do something with those if you tried to... but you’d need to actually experiment.

Either way you set to work once more this week, looking for a suitable spot to bed down and establish a space for yourself. You needed something more than a simple makeshift position in the branches out here in the wilder side from what the Chameleon had said.

Your ribs however ached at the idea of trying to build yourself another new shelter in the trees...

No... You’d search for something instead.

It took quite a bit of looking before you came up with any good candidates for your necessary shelter. Looking, it would turn out, was harder than you’d have expected. Anything that could meet your exacting needs was rare in and of itself, if not already taken up by something bigger and more dangerous than you wished to try tangling with.

One particular close encounter was with a tier three creature which made little attempt at hiding what it truly was as it rattled and crawled through the heavy underbrush devouring what it could along the way as it passed.

http://i.imgur.com/6azQ2hg.jpg
A ‘Creeping Chaos’ it was called, one of the nastier evolutions to which you could aspire it seemed, you couldn’t quite tell what it’s requirements were, but the clear indication was that it had focused on it resilience almost to the exception of all else, creating a creature which was very much a mobile tank rummaging among the vegetation with consummate ease.

Between it and several other smaller creatures, Quick-thieves from what you could tell, you had a hell of a busy time dodging the denizens of the forest. Thankfully most everything predatory you’d seen for the day in search of a new place to stay were minions at best and outsmarting them was easy.

The only one which gave you difficulty in shaking would be the ‘Rage Stalker’ Another tier three creature (there seemed to be an overabundance of those) which seemed to simply trail its way through the terrain and chase after anything at all which entered its domain.

http://orig09.deviantart.net/6c30/f/2012/034/b/8/grim_stalker___creature_art_by_cloister-d4ohnuv.jpg

The dammed thing scared the hell out of you.

On the other hand, the Chameleon hadn’t been exaggerating when it said that your kind seemed to gravitate toward the clearings and other wide open spaces in mass to the point where several predators simply strolled in and sated themselves on those which didn’t move aside actively.

Not exactly the smartest of critters, but it seemed mainly they let the things browse on their petals then moved away afterwards without too much fuss.

You couldn’t imagine allowing yourself to be subjected to such depredations.

Either way, eventually you managed to find something useful, a small group shaped and sized just right to accommodate you at rest. In truth you were particularly glad to get this particular chore out of the way, pulling vegetation in towards it to help disguise the position permanently.

With that finally out of the way, you decided to spend the rest of the week learning more about the standing stones of the Tranquil Circle.

The most difficult part of studying the stones was simply staying away from anything which could do you harm in the process of actually studying the things, for despite the aura of tranquility which pervaded throughout the clearing, some of the more aggressive beasts could overcome it’s strange call with variable amounts of prodding.

As it stood, many creatures often found their way back to it after being injured, and some predators took ruthless advantage of this on its outskirts.

It would take a day or two’s worth of dodging to get back close and personal with the soothing magic of the stones. It was strange really the amount of mental effort which it took for you to just crawl close enough to touch the things, their power feeling like a gentle push away, and a mild confusion which took you as your mind wondered over their skittering runes.

No, no you weren’t about to allow yourself to simply give up and look away, no matter how tired this thing seemed to be trying to make you. Dark power flowed through your veins as you began to resist the intimacy of the shrine and instead began to grasp its true nature.

Swirling magic flowed through it, altered by the glyph marks as they danced though series of complex forms... you could almost make out what they said too, strange images of something old seemed to react within you the dark power which was yours by right swelling out and bringing you to equilibrium of action.

Still for all that you resisted it’s effects the air of calm which it’s power projected continued though you, now directed into your focus on the rune-script itself allowing you calm analysis of what appeared to be truly ancient powers.

“STOP!” You heard a command like silence shaped though a cacophony, a perfect contrast to the way you and others you’d met made sound. “THIS SHRINE IS NOT FOR YOUR ILK UNCLEAN THING!”

You could not help but tilt your head and look up at the ghostly maiden which looms above you, spectral sword in hand as stares intently with an eyeless gaze.



You lost the rest of the week deep in study as you slowly broke the ancient magical codes which lingered here within the tranquil site. You learned a lot more than you’d bargained for. This was a burial mound, its blessings laid for health and good will to all, peace and harmony hand in hand with power. This place of power was one made by the old gods, a commemoration to an ancient hero whom they’d adored, their magic itself a tribute and a record of their deeds.

You couldn’t understand everything which you gleaned from the site, that would take more study, and possibly more good luck, but what you’d learned already from it was nothing short of amazing. You’d unlocked strange magics which ticked you with their power.

This shrine was not a construct of a single magical kind, but instead