Stories of Lore 5

Behold for it is I, the cosmic force of all things. Its a week heavy with roster updates and we find ourselves in an odd position I didn’t quite think through. Namely in that the clans are so small it makes no sense to have your advisor actually introduce these people. So instead you get me introducing them instead. This also comes not only with the battle causing some turnover of heroes, but also because I have now used certain characters enough times in stories that fuck it they’re a character now, just gonna do one big batch.

Koamalu is known for being the quiet shaman of the beastkin. He is often found lurking around and maintains a rather dignified and serious atmosphere about himself. He is one of the most powerful shamans in the clan though does not reveal such too easily. Generally only the chiefs would know just how capable he really is.

With Hakenu’e away for a little while to bury Kinich, he has appointed Koamalu to take over for him while he is away. Indicating that quite likely, Koamalu is considered second in command over the beastkin clan. Though some members of the Nezatl are particularly suspicious of him, so little is really known about him that it makes them uncomfortable that he’s the second in command. They feel it is a bad omen for a dark shadowy figure with a sparsely known life story to be in such a position.

One of the Huanacan’s original five guardians. Uyitzan towers over others at roughly nine feet tall, one of the monsters that might have a party of adventurers sent to take him down. His anatomy makes him a powerful substitute for cavalry, though he does have some stamina issues. His weapons have to be specially made by Sawiri to match his size. He is generally a rather noble creature for what many call a monster. If left to his own devices he can be found roaming around the village occupying himself with heavy lifting as needed or sparring with Iiniwa.

A former Chanai, before all this fire business, who was ‘exiled’ for being ‘too aggressive’ for Chanai diplomatic policy. She murdered a lot of people and they completely failed to catch her after pronouncing her punishment basically. Eventually becoming recruited by The Dozen.

While she appears to be the only member to operate by herself, she is in fact two people. They are twins who pose as a single person, one always remaining out of sight, to give themselves a constant advantage over others. She can do seemingly impossible things or can be spectacularly lucky at odd times purely because no one knows the other sister is nearby. She is The Dozen’s “stealthy” choice. Both sisters can disappear if needed, and find their way into places they should not be. She primarily functions as a hunter when nothing is going on, her companion hawk helping her quite a bit in that regard. When needed, she is The Dozen’s chosen assassin. Though problematically, she lacks a certain amount of punch. So some targets can simply overpower her even if she sneaks up on them.

After fighting alongside the coalition, Silas wound up taking on the invitation from The Dozen to come hang out with them upon distinguishing himself as the greatest of the demon warriors. While he still needs more training, his demonic strengths speak to great potential. The isolated demons had little combat experience, so their ‘greatest warrior’ is just a well of untapped potential. At least he has a natural instinct for battle. After carrying out the final mission of Avonaco and Ragash, he came to Auwana to join formerly. He still doesn’t have a partner, but recruitment is rough these days.

Despite his horrific visage, he is surprisingly upbeat and easy to talk to. Lately his efforts are focused on training to get him up to par with the rest of The Dozen.

A veteran of The Dozen and one of its founding few members, back before they had enough people to even settle on that name. He is a former member of the Witch Doctors, after being sent as a sacrificial healer to try and tend to his clan mates during a plague he opted for other ideas and fucked off. He learned magic that allows him to keep his condition under control and has blessed him with incredible stamina and tools to help him on long travels.

He is one of the two members known as “The Travelers” and is regarded as one of the most revered members for his veterancy and effectiveness. Though he and his partner are both terribly boring in conversation. The pair are fully capable of dismantling entire villages that are not properly prepared to come under their attention. Though his greatest talent is, as his team’s name implies, traveling. He can cross long distances in a fraction of the time of any other, find his way into hard to reach places that might take an adventurer with more tools to access, and is always wandering about somewhere in search of nothing in particular. He just walks a lot.

Partner of The Leper is The Other, who is similarly very quiet and not fun to talk to. It is suspected they got their name when they proved too difficult to get much conversation out of and were partnered with The Leper purely for their mutual love of not talking. The Other is a former Chanai who travels with a wolf companion. Having come into Exile from the Chanai by way of walking off and never being heard from again for no discernible reason. They bear similar strange abilities to The Leper to walk very long distances surprisingly quickly. It isn’t entirely known if The Other can do this on their own or if The Leper is helping them accomplish this. Either way, The Other is always found wandering with The Leper. Despite how little the two talk to anyone else, even each other, they do seem to appreciate each other’s partnership and are very difficult to find separated from one another.

The other helps their travels with their handy wolf companion to track whatever they need with its keen nose. Since the wolf is dominated it acts with the intelligence of its master rather than that of a beast. Allowing The other to make full use of it’s keen senses. While both members of The Travelers are proficient warriors as all members must be, it is not their strong suit. They are more methodical and strategic, only fighting when necessary if they can help it. The Dozen turns to them to act as scouts or siege other villages. The warriors like Avonaco tend to be left to the grunt work of fighting.

One of Alihana’s apprentices and the most distinguished of the Hariwana at the battle (except the two pre-existing heroes who revealed they were masterminds preparing for a day such as this for the last several years). Rohaka is an umbramancy specialist and is known for being the reason the magic census said ‘turn shadows into eldritch horrors’. While she has definite limitations on how much she can do this and for how long, a limit that she pushed herself to the edge of in mere seconds at the battle, it is still an impressive ability with a lot of impact. She is nearly impossible to beat in one on up to six combat without serious knowledge of what she can do or a similarly impressive level of power. She also has the ability to disappear into shadows and has been able to get up and down Auwana by hopping out of the island’s shadow across the ground. Unfortunately, she can only take herself. Also unfortunately, I didn’t write this character fully until just now so that never came up before. So Shaddup mezzy and take the shadow mage while you got it.

Typically she is around Alihana’s workshop and lives right next door to her teacher, she is considered rather anti social since everyone thinks she is a legitimate ghost haunting the earth due to her pale skin that came about from spending too long in the shade and bleeding shadows when she over exerts herself. Other Hariwana aren’t so off-put by her appearance so she just stays in her comfort zone around her family. The exception to this being Kaya. She also likes to skip rocks on the lake. Once when Ka’oana jumped out of the lake to try and scare people, she managed to scare him when he thought he found some spirit of the river come to haunt him. They mutually screamed. Kaya could not stop laughing that day.

Alright that’s it, cosmic force out.

___________________________________________________________

The chief has undertaken a journey to give Kinich a proper burial in his homeland. Until he returns, I have been appointed to take his place.

Our people are still working their way up, unfortunately with Sawiri occupied at the battle he has been unable to work with the bones from storm collecting to create any other manner of travel. Though those necessary for day to day activities have been sent up first along with the wounded.

The losses while significant should not affect us too adversely. If anything, we now have a reliable surplus of food and can work towards stockpiling for winter. Mor informs me the jungles will likely also have more food we can scavenge easily, so that concern is considered addressed. I have arranged a mourning service for those lost in the battle to take place once we manage to bring everyone back up onto the island.

More of the orcs have come to join us, while their numbers are still small we now have all of the orcs that remain from the original clan with us. I have postponed organizing their position with our tribe until Hakenu’e returns to decide what to do with them in regards to their status among the council of chiefs. You may wish to bring up your thoughts on the matter before he makes a decision.

We will need to decide what to take from this battle as our prize from the coalition. I will leave what to do with any that remain with the demon clan to decide, since it is they who will still be living on the plains after we have left.

I have discerned that the elf Tehanau is an “Akoa” elf from the western jungles. Her interest in our war was mostly self serving out of caution. She had learned from the ashen elves that the Chanai were a growing threat, and that soon we would be arriving in their jungle. She took action from there to protect herself and her clan. Their interest in their own cousins seems to be one of mild distaste even if they accepted them as refugees.

That is all for now, you may return to your individual affairs. If necessary, I am available to answer any questions though do keep in mind Hakenu’e will return soon. The Nezatl were unaffected by the battle and are still available to act as judgement presiding over the various matters at hand as well.

We still don’t have honey Xoco, if you ask every day it won’t make our efforts come about even a day sooner. You know this…why do I even bother.

Anyways… we’re working on some of the ceremonial crafts for the whole mourning thing they have planned for everyone that died.

Legally speaking the tribe as a whole hasn’t really taken an official stance on slavery, and Mor’s telling us to go take slaves. I think Chants is also interested in such things, So…we may want to get an official overall ruling on this. I know we discussed it before, but no one really laid down a vote or decreed a law. Obviously the clan is against it given half of them are rescued slaves. I don’t really know how the Huanacan feel about it, they’re off in the woods and their chief was away at the war. We have discussed the pros and cons of this before with Hakenu’e but again no official vote or declaration really got made. We…seem to do that a lot.

Also! Treatment of prisoners was on the table as well alongside this debate, given Mor is just throwing people off the edge to test stuff on them. That line might already be a little bit crossed though. However, you never know what they and Alihana might come up with to do to people.

While the final decision rests with Hakenu’e, you’re in a unique position as leader of the ‘judgement’ clan to make some sort of point about the orc clan and their position with our tribe as a whole. Some would argue their numbers, and the fact that they were kind of kidnapped but not really, don’t really make a strong case for them joining the council of chiefs with the founders but on the other hand they could also just make more orcs at this point and save us some transition in the future. Oh crap you’re in a unique position to do anything, I better go find Nenetl.

We’re back, miss us? While the jig is up with the ‘catch’ on the bone weapons, we’re heading out of here anyways. At least it got some use before we left. Though I must say, I will miss the plains. We spent generations here…also I’m only well known here. I am going to have to hex so many people to get the point across from here on out I suspect. Oh well.

Anyways, Sawiri is back at home in a giant pit of bones we harvested and is swimming around in them like some sort of very greedy duck. Though it is a lot of bones and the orcs are perhaps a bit nervous regarding us upon realizing just what we’re up to. Also, we don’t even have them all up here. Each person we bring back up onto the island carries a few up here. We have those both from the battlefield and the storm hunt. So…we’re still sorting through those. Fortunately, many of them are very conveniently sized for us to work on that bone armor project you wanted. Once we make sure they’re not the important ones for other projects at least. I have our apprentices helping sort them out, at least once Sawiri is done swimming around in them.

As for normalizing tribal mobility, I’m not entirely sure how to just…do that. That might be more of a Nezatl job. I have an ongoing project with Koamalu though if that counts? We’re experimenting with a perhaps less messed up version of the ritual that caused me to curse myself.

In regards to the orcs, I’ve come to notice that we and the dozen are the main clans that make them nervous despite the fact that all the real efforts to bring them here have been our two clans. I feel like they might be prone to particular judgements, it’s not like we have a giant pile of corpses laying around and threatened to kill them if they didn’t comply….okay maybe first impressions aren’t our strong suit. We’ll keep working on that. At least the shaman seems to be mildly okay with you by comparison.

Everything…and I mean everything…is sore. I think Coszacatl is a puddle right now too. I hope the humans appreciate our efforts. Uyitzan is injured but he should bounce back soon enough, it takes a lot to bring him down for good.

We haven’t really been able to lay out much plan regarding the basilisk in all this commotion, I mean…you were with us and all. If we want to introduce scarcity to his territory, I suppose we could start a fire on his side of the mountain too and hope he doesn’t realize it was us?

Zeltzin is back with us, at least Silas came to keep her company and maybe teach her a thing or two about demons. She actually got back before the battle even started, war is no place for her.

In the meantime, Kennae is still off somewhere gathering whatever he can while hanging around the western outpost which we’ll be passing over soon. The lift will be busy for the forseaable future as we try to bring everything up in terms of both supplies and people. It looks like its becoming time to prepare for our next adventure, as we can’t launch much else while trying to get everyone back up while Sawiri is busy doing his research still.

We’ve picked up some recruits from what remained of Kinich’s forces now that the war is over and they don’t have anywhere else to really go. The plains are still starving after all, though hopefully the fall of the Chanai will alleviate that for some. So at least we can replace some of our members.

I’m not sure if we should just have them move into the homes of the gone to save time or build them new places so they don’t wind up living in a dead person’s house…what would we even do with the old huts at that point?

Alright I’m back from operating in your stead mister broken legs. We lost two groups overall, including Ragash. Avonaco might be alive but we have reason to believe he was taken by the crows.

As for your comment about Alihana’s state of dress…well as we have learned there was a specific advantage to that. Since anyone who stabbed her would apparently just kill themselves. We may want to double check how many of our own weapons were made by Sawiri though.

At least the home front never came under attack. The storm kept the Chanai grounded and their flying beasts were just locked away in their pens by the time we invaded their main village.

We brought back a great deal of trophies, though Sawiri is currently looking through them to see what might be of use to him. Those present decided to recruit Silas the demon to come back with us, if you wanted to do anything with him while he’s settling in. While Sawiri was mostly interested in bones, we brought back the hides and some meat as well. Though a lot of it still has to make its way up with the basket, that is going to be quite an affair to bring everything up here until Sawiri finds any more convenient ideas.

Meanwhile, I’ve received report from The Travelers and Sakazai about their journey into the jungle. The Travelers were rather to the point, though Sakazai’s report definitely has more complaints about itchy plants, giant bugs, and nearly being eaten on several occasions.

In regards to the orc shaman, I have made your stance on the matter clear. Perhaps with some level of persuasion. He has agreed to at least teach it to Hakenu’e. Though I’m not sure how much of an improvement that is, Hakenu’e is also quite old after all. Though the orc is wary of Koamalu so he isn’t so keen to teach it to just any of the beastkin. He is also extremely wary of Alihana, and makes deliberate effort to avoid her.

Maybe we could convince some of the Nezatl to try and learn from him, most of them aren’t doing anything important anyways.

Stories of Lore 4

The mobilization is almost complete, the alliance is mobilizing across the plains and soon we’ll be entering battle with the Chanai in their home territory. Make any final preparations you need to, and choose who you wish to send.

To be fair not much exciting went on last week…and yes Kaya wasn’t here. As for training, I suppose we could train with the dozen though they’re a little…crazy. Iiniwa is already training some of us, myself included. Well for me its more of sparring practice.

As for food production, we’re still working on the honey thing. Though so far growing anything up here is…tricky. Mostly because its so cold, air is kind of thin too. We live in a completely different environment now than just below us. We still haven’t managed to get any meaningful contact with the Halik who, if anyone, would be able to do so. Them or the elves, though they’re a little shady these days.

As for the lake, don’t think growing anything would really affect it. The island doesn’t have much trouble getting water.

So far no one’s really caused much ruckus that needs serious arbitration so we’ve mostly been keeping to working on regular tasks around the village.

Kaya is still roaming around down below, likely pestering the people mobilizing for a march on the Chanai. I assume you want me to go, not sure if you want her to though.

Provided we can collect enough bones of fitting sizes we could do a lot with them for armor. Obviously the best would be human bones, just slightly larger than whoever is intended to wear the armor. Orcs might do well for that given their natural size. In absence of those we can just strap whatever we can onto people.

The siblings have remained below to travel to Kinich’s camp. As it is probably important for them to know Alihana will be there. I will relay that Sawiri is to be kept safe, provided he doesn’t do anything…that Sawiri would do. If the war goes well we will likely have enough bones to make armor out of for many warriors. At least those remaining.

The rest of ours who can fight have been sent below to mobilize with our own forces. I drew the long stick, so I’ll be guarding you in the meantime. The foraging will have to wait a little as we’re trying to move a lot of people down to the ground with the basket so the scouts will need to wait their turn. It shouldn’t be too long though. Also we could always direct Kennae to keep an eye out too, as he’s still out there foraging every day.

As for transporting fish, the trip has proven too long to move them. It has been one of the larger problems Kennae complained about when he first started making his trips down to the plains.

The orcs are adapting…well enough. I suppose it is a shock to them to suddenly be on a village in the sky. In hindsight sometimes I think we forget how bizarre this is simply because we had to go through such effort to claim it and build it up ourselves.

The orc shaman is still wary of passing on his knowledge. I suppose the fact that Avonaco made it clear that he was coming here one way or another has left him distrustful of us. At least distrustful enough when it comes to sharing his people’s secrets like that. Perhaps in time he will open up.

Speaking of shamanism teamwork. There is a rumor I have heard that may be of interest to you, and specifically of interest to make sure Hakenu’e isn’t the one who finds out too easily. One of the beastkin may be working with Alihana and displaying an interest in understanding our magic. Perhaps just at arms length for now. Though the fact that it is a rumor implies it isn’t just a known matter, which illicits…interesting theories to come to mind.

As you order, Iiniwa has gone to the plains to assist in the war effort. So has the mother. Kennae is…”foraging” as they call it. If you want him to go…

Basilisk see no reason to go to war, too dangerous for it to leave cave. It is solitary apex predator, has little need to take risk or join tribe. Slithering lady says big snake like its cave. Since cave on other side of mountain, big snake not suffer as rest of the plains do. She advise introducing scarcity to other side to be more…persuasive.

Have built cages in case of flying pets as asked.

Village quiet, many of ours good at fighting so many go to war.

We have no magically inclined members. Alihana still won’t join either.

Speaking of magic, the shaman says the storm ritual is possible with help from the beastkin who are also spiritually attuned. However, he needs an artifact from the place it is to occur with any particular potency. Said artifact being a bunch of dirt, the closer to the desired location the better.

It should be noted the best for killing flyers would be anyone who can shoot a bow. Though if we intend to utilize a storm that will not be an effective method. On the upside, hopefully they won’t have much flying either.

As for the food shortages, they might not actually be as dire as we assume. Though perhaps we should assume that they will be dire just in case. But the ashen plains are still the primary cause for such food issues, once the island sails further west we could find some relief. We will await a report from the Travelers about what we might be able to expect.

As for your plan to head groundside to join the fighting, I would remind you that your bones are still healing from that fall off the island you recently took. Though if you still insist be sure to stay near Alihana and Sawiri as the war effort will likely make sure they are well protected.

The snails are still doing fine, at least the hardy ones. We may consider moving them to the lake eventually to see if it works.

With Sawiri and Alihana hunting in the storm, we had one of Sawiri’s apprentices enchant Coszacatl’s skeleton. It’s not like its a one time shot anyways, she can always get more.

As for using magic to control Auwana. We may be able to move it faster or slower with regards to the direction it is going, though we’ll need more people for that. Given that the island seems to be affected by the wind, it might work to use those shaman’s ritual to create a storm though that might be a bit erratic when it comes to moving in any specific direction.

As for the druids and the lake, they already left after delivering the message. I’ll put it on the list of things to ask one if we come across them again.

Curiously, those we left patrolling the perimeter did actually notice a couple of crows flying onto the island and into the woods. Though they were lost once inside the woods, eventually seen to be leaving later in the day. Hakenu’e doesn’t mention getting any peculiar visits nor does anyone else seem to know anything. They could just be birds though.

As for the elves and their offer, sort of hard to tell if they intend to make good on such a promise. You do raise a valid point though, if they were to go back on such a thing there is little we could do to retaliate since no one can find them. Though we can check such arrangements with Kinich I imagine.

You’ve already talked to the basilisk, and while it was at least humoring your presence without eating you its definitely a little bit wild. I actually have an idea on this. While you represent the clan and are the least likely to die dealing with a basilisk, you are not its closest relative. We have snake people that might do well with representing the clan to it. Still don’t know how to get it up here though.

The journey into the storm proved to be slightly anticlimatic. There was no giant monster or swarms to face. The party we sent spent most of their time running around in the rain killing anything that they could find. Generally we can assume if any creature is willing to brave the storms than they might have some affinity with it. If nothing else it is a good haul of food. That being said there are several catches that Sawiri managed to preserve but we’re unsure of which ones might be useful. They’ve brought the haul back to be sorted, well most of them. Some are still on the ground right now, basket and all.

We sent some sneaky folk into the Chanai territories. They managed to avoid any conflict for the time being but were unable to approach the witch doctors. It seems they, and the Halik, have been moved into the central village. It definitely appears the Chanai are trying to form a larger civilization just as we did with the Launi’Kauhale. This makes it hard to sneak into though as the Chanai are on high alert given the ongoing skirmishes with the crow folk. Unfortunately no one in the Dozen are quite adept at sneaking straight into an enemy village like that, questioning who knows how many people, and sneaking back out.

The demons, and Kinich, seem quite accepting of as many members as we can lend them for the coming conflict. They’ve also started to mobilize across the plains along the eastern side near the mountains. Apparently to keep a healthy distance from the crow folk’s main area of activity.

The orcs have been brought aboard as demanded to get them moving quicker.

Also yes, we know for sure the crows and Chanai are at war with each other. Kinich intends to strike in the midst of these conflicts. Apparently because he feels the Chanai might grow in strength as they acquire more clans, and the crow folk are not a singular clan. More of them could come from anywhere at any time. As for trying to turn them against each other just before the attack, it would be difficult purely to keep the Chanai from knowing we were coming. They patrol the skies with flying beasts, and are well aware of any large movements through the plains. There is a high likelihood they would be able to tell we are on approach. Not to mention their beasts are great at tracking too, and are always on the look out for sneaky crows. This is part of the difficulty our scouts are having getting to the witch doctors as well. So even a dispersed movement would be difficult to hide. If we can overcome that problem though, the other part likely wouldn’t be too hard.

So far I see your attempts to teach others your magic is…not going so well.

Wehilani managed to observe what we might call a great mobilization. Several war parties all gathered at the demon clan’s village, including Kinich and his band of gnolls. More than we had realized to be roped into his efforts. It seems he was not the only recruiter they had. They have the remains of the orcs, some clan of gnolls, the demon clan, and some figures I don’t even recognize. Thankfully, Coszacatl and Zeltzin were sent to their camp at quite a convenient time in order for us to gather more information. Apparently the demon clan joining in with Kinich would be Coszacatl’s doing, through her they seemed to find some inspiration to help Kinich with his plan. The confirmed that they are intending to attack the Chanai. While they did not divulge all of their strategies to Zeltzin, they told her that much at least. Though we have found more forces at work here than we initially thought, more on that in a moment.

A scout party of Chanai flyers arrived here on Auwana, only to discover where the missing clans went. It is…extremely convenient that the Huanacan built in the woods far off from the main village. Also that Kennae is away on mission and Iiniwa is level headed enough to stay out of sight during their visit.

They had a proposal. In exchange for some bushes from our forest, a hundred measures of food, and a non aggression pact they will agree to leave us alone on our island since it will soon be sailing west anyways and no longer be their problem.

However, not too long afterwards we had a rare visitor. An elf. Conveniently Avonaco is in the field. This is clearly no average elf, they are the one behind the mobilization of Kinich and the demons. I suppose the elves have always had a talent for charisma. They want us to join the attack on the Chanai to help bolster Kinich and his forces. Actually while they want troops and supplies overall, they very specifically wanted Alihana.

We are promised favorable relations with the elves in the western jungles that our island will soon be passing over for helping in this regard. Which could be useful in the future once we find ourselves in a strange and dangerous new land. Also that they will give us one of three things. We can take the Halik or the Witch Doctor clan with us. Their alliance and relocation to Chanai territory means they will have to be dismantled in the war effort. However, the alliance will let us take one of them to our island. Whether as captives or as allies is probably dependent on them as much as us. The third offer is all of Chanai’s flying mounts that can be recovered. Most notably, a druid is the one offering this so it is likely that once the Chanai domination is broken that such creatures will actually be rendered cooperative.

As a final element, I took a moment to take advantage of the druid and ask whats the deal with the spikier trees that ring the entire island that we were all trying to figure out awhile back. It was explained that trees with those needle leaves are particularly good at handling strong winds. They are absorbing a lot of the wind we receive up here in the sky and protecting the rest of the forest that relies on broader leaves by lessening the strength of the wind that might otherwise knock them over. So don’t cut them down.

I thought I should consult the rest of the chiefs before taking on either offer regarding this war down in the ashen plains. Though we are somewhat in the dark about both forces actual capability. As revealed, Kinich has more forces than we initially thought. Also no one has any real idea just how strong the Chanai actually are especially in their home territory.

Here I got you some honey now sit still already.

We set up some houses for the sake of the orcs once they arrive here on Auwana. We’ll see if they intend to remain their own clan or not once we can. I foresee they will want to for the sake of their own somewhat stubborn pride but it might incite some of the people if their chief held equal position to the current chiefs with how small their numbers are. So may want to prepare to deal with that argument.

So far building birdcages is easy, catching birds is a pain. We have a few though, they just squawk a lot so far.

As for Cosz, I suppose she can use any skeleton that walks on the ground. Due to her ooze she will be too heavy to be a bird or anything that flies. While she is in possession of a human skeleton right now, beyond hardening we’ve never actually done much with human bones before. To the surprise of many, we are not the cannibal tribe. Seriously people assume we are a lot.

Your face is painted with skeletal markings and I am wearing a skull for a helmet.

As for Coszacatl’s available bone options, it seems that it has to be a complete skeleton and somewhat fresh so that it still has the squishy bitz that holds the skeleton together. Since she is using it for structural support rather than just…to have bones. So WE CAN’T MIX AND MATCH.

I can always harden bone, so she doesn’t get slapped around by a crow so easily again. It seems that a wolf or any other four legged creature could make her faster but in shorter bursts. With such simple creatures I could try to find some way to let her SPRINT TO THE HORIZON!! She could deliver messages that way.

Though ACTUALLY ALIHANA, if I enchanted more birdy bones the way we made the basket maybe she could fly.

One simple idea is to maybe make something that keeps her warm and toasty. The forever fire faggots used the wyvern bones to produce a long lasting camp fire but I should be able to put a weaker version on her skeleton. This would help her stay active through the winter, as oozes freeze otherwise. So we won’t be seeing much of her during the cold times otherwise.

Monster bones would have the most extreme and varied effects though I’m not even sure what those will make given how rarely I get to work with such things. I do think that it is possible to give her something similar to what I’m wearing. I’m not sure how well shadow magic works for an ooze that light can shine through though, on the other hand it might be AWESOME.

To an extent we both know trying to catalog Sawiri is an exercise in madness. He rarely makes the exact same thing twice.  As for notable umbramancers…I mean you’re counting me right?

No you make fire, as I said before. Redundant.

This is why mom loved me more than you.

Dad didn’t even want a daughter though, much less you.

Shame he got sick and died though.

Yea…wait a minute…

Back to umbramancers. It is true that we can probably use Auwana’s shadow for something interesting. Using it for something like perception though has never really been before though I suppose I could take a look into the concept. We could make shadow puppets keep an eye out there but not sure how much that would help. Also moving between shadows is a concept that still eludes us.

Might be doable if we had more bones. Mine enhance the things umbramancy can do, which is why I’m all floaty floaty. Not sure where to find a skeleton attuned to shadows though.

Maybe in a cave or something. As for the green stones, I feel like the charm would just be a really heavy bone. At which point just a heavy rock, same way we make the basket work basically. I suppose we could try to make a bigger one, though the issue will always be that you need a way to get the basket down and up. So it would take a lot of weight just to send a green rock down, and given how much power those things have it would be difficult to control with just a really long rope.

I got nothing for this, me do bones no do rocks. You have bone, so sneeze ring wearable. Rock monster just have to go without sneezing.

If we ever did see a monster made of rock, I think sneezing is not really a priority for it.

Also we still have a few weeks before the orcs are ready to be picked up. If you head to the ground camp for that time you’ll probably need to appoint someone to keep things in order up here in case something comes up that needs a more immediate response. Please do not pick Sawiri.

Pick Sawiri.

Actually the lake would fill up fairly quickly if a dam was put at the end of the river that runs off the island. This is the secret to Ragash’s ponds as well and the constant existence of the swamp nearby. It might not fill all the way overnight or anything but its unlikely we would have much trouble with it unless we were to fly over a particularly dry region since the island’s water is coming from flying through clouds. The issue of draining and eating the lake is that there is solid rock underneath it that keeps the island afloat so water doesn’t naturally seep through and the river does not reach as deep as the lake’s lower areas where all the mucky stuff is. We began construction of said dam until Ragash pointed out that smaller ponds formed in the river itself that was cleaner for our use. Its just the central lake that has been allowed to stagnate that the issue exists within. In short the problem isn’t getting more water, its getting rid of the current water.

Our ambassadors managed to visit the demon village to catch them up on whats going on and whatever happened to Cosz. Zeltzin was a bit surprised to see so many of her own kind, and also to learn how much of her own abilities she never really knew about. Though given she has always been one of the tribe’s gatherers it makes sense she doesn’t know the full extent of what her race is known for.

Though when it comes to recruiting them it is notable their greatest practical reason to consider doing so is to skip the wars going on down below. Their reclusive nature seems to suit them to avoiding such conflict, but the war on the plains has become necessary for them to act upon before they find themselves in a bad position. As the Elder Chief pointed out, the elf wants us to help Kinich in the assault. Not to mention it would probably be nice to get back at those guys. But getting involved in such a situation could lead to the demons seeing less reason to join us as they would still have to fight that war instead of hiding on the island to get out of it, and after the fighting is over with unless they lose there won’t be much motive to vacate their now rather expansive territory for an uncertain feature flying among the clouds.

As for the basilisk den, tunneling into the mountain and a bit of the ground seems the most reasonable. Though the next challenge is getting the basilisk up here, as the basket is not going to particularly fit it I foresee.

Ragash and Avonaco wound up going to the same place as Coszacatl and Zeltzin down at the demon clan camp where Kinich seems to be gathering forces. For the most part the pair are hanging around the camp making people nervous.

In the meantime the travelers are hanging around the far side of the mountain waiting for any interesting storms to come by. Though it should be noted Sawiri might need to go there with them given his general preference for fresher bones.

As for winter, good question. That’s one for the chiefs.

Apparently in the winter Oozes tend to hang around fires and inside of caves.

In attempting to teach spells to anyone else, it might be worth an experiment to see if it can be taught. While there are some volunteers who would be interested, we don’t know if they can learn it. So that one will keep you busy for awhile, and it might be best to start with Alihana. If anyone can learn it, she would be the one.

Technically Wehilani and Kennae are already scouting from the air for anything to hunt, which keeps the ground camp supplied.

So in regards to the blood mage, first off there was only one. Not a group of them. The second complication is the witch doctors were pressured into allying with the Chanai and were moved into their territory a little while ago. That being said we at least know where the witch doctors are. This complicates things though because the Chanai territory is the hardest to do anything in thanks to their riders extending their control over the area so effectively. Given the recent diplomatic matters the chiefs have received, our plan to do so might be decided by what our plan of action is. Until we can interro- interview the witch doctors we won’t really know which team would be the best to figure out what became of the exile. Though who would be best for talking to the witch doctors would depend on the plan for reaching and then interacting with them.