Spirits in the Material World

[Bjorn]

His other-self seems to know what signs Din should be looking for, and so Bjorn plays a game as he follows after Din, trying to spot the signs before Din does.  And, at the same time, trying to make sense of exactly what the signs say -- if it isn't a horse they're chasing after, he'd like not to be taken by complete surprise.

At the same time, he fishes through his newly acquired memories, trying to find out what he can about the way the world is arranged.

OOC: Tracking at 12- to make sense of the trail; KNO: Cosmology at 15- for whatever the hell it will tell me!

[Brian]

The signs appear to be hoofprints.  Din is much better at spotting them, but Bjorn manages to find a few first.  It's not too hard -- they pretty much go in a straight line.

Cosmology reveals interesting things, mostly the locations of spirits and where to draw them from.  The world is a bubble, a tiny one, and one of many that are strung together like beads of dew on a spiderweb.  The vast majority of spirits lurk in the area outside of the bubbles, occasionally being pulled in by a witch-doctor/summoner, and occasionally of their own volition.

The line that the spiderweb represents would be the connection between the bubbles, which Bjorn's otherself doesn't seem to be as aware of.  Most likely it's those 'gates' that were being mentioned.

[Bjorn]

Talking comes suprisingly easy while running.  The benefits of another body, apparently.  "This emissary from the Church -- what sort of man was he?  Arrogant?"

If I have to fight, this could be rough.

[Brian]

"Supremely," Din agrees.  "And not just because of his demands; he struck Bjorn.  He was trying to goad us into a fight, perhaps so he could die, and the Church could call us savages and be done with it.  Perhaps so he could strike us down and show us his true strength."  He shrugs.  "We have no way to know how long they have been preparing for this, but we have never prepared for it."

[Bjorn]

"Well," Bjorn replies, "we'll have to see what we can do about that, will we not?"

And then he shuts up and concentrates on running.

[Brian]

More time passes in this odd, sunless land.  It begins to get dark before Din begins to slow, shaking his head.  "These tracks are fresh, but I do not think we want to come upon this knight by dark.  We should rest here, and meet him tomorrow," he says, turning to look at Bjorn.

[Bjorn]

This is the first time that the sunless nature of the land has really hit Bjorn.  Where was the light coming from?  Are there stars now that dark has fallen?  What's in the sky, if anything.  If I'm in a Dyson Sphere, I wouldn't know whether to laugh or cry.

"Why not come upon him in the dark?" Bjorn asks.

[Brian]

"He might take that as excuse to attack us," Din says slowly, uncertain of Bjorn's plan.

No stars are visible yet, but the light hasn't fully faded.  There are some clouds to the ... whichever direction the village is in, but they seem to be moving to the....  Well, if Bjorn and Din have been headed North, then the clouds are moving East.

[Bjorn]

A thought strikes Bjorn, and he scans the horizon, checking to see if the world curves away, or if instead it curves upwards, as would be expected from a Dyson Sphere or ring world.

To Din: "Possibly.  On the other hand, though, the dark will make him hesitant, and likely give the advantage to us.  I would, I think, prefer to see him before he sees us.  If you think we might approach under the cover of the dark and have him unawares, then let us do so now, and then make a decision on when to approach him."

[Brian]

Din hesitates only a moment before nodding, but not increasing his pace.  Moving faster would probably make more noise.  Bjorn's study of the horizon doesn't reveal curvature of any kind -- it's perfectly level as far as he can tell.

The air here is really clean compared to back on Earth, though.  And much warmer than the Earth Dream.

It's another hour before Din raises a hand to indicate that Bjorn should stop, and stops himself.  Ahead maybe a half mile, flickering light can be seen from a fire.  Now it's full dark, and for whatever reason, there aren't any stars at all.

There's soft light, as though from a moon, shrouding everything in gentle silver ... but no obvious source for that illumination.

[Bjorn]

Pity about the light.  Indirect moonlight is almost impossible to hide in.

More pressing concerns abound, however.  Such as, for example, "how to get close to this guy?"  Taking Din's word, Bjorn had expected not to reach the Churchman until he'd reached tree cover; but approaching over the plains doesn't promise any sort of chance at success.   After a few seconds, he gives a mental shrugs.  Might as well shoot for gutsy.

"Follows as closely as you might without being seen," he murmurs to Din, "and we shall see if fortune favours us."

With that he stands up, and without making any particular efforts to conceal his steps, makes his way towards the fire.

[Brian]

Bjorn approaches the campsite.  Din's attempt to follow is ... interesting.  The witch-doctor's apprentice skulks forward perhaps three steps, catches his foot on something, and vanishes beneath the grass with a muffled groan.  At least it wasn't likely to go far through the grass....

The Templar Guild man has a campsite that he's cleared the grass from -- for a wide enough space to have a fire, anyway.  Mostly there's just grass on the flame, but he's either found, or brought some of his own wood, too.  A pair of horses stand to one side, hobbled against running off.

This is Bjorn's first chance to see the Churchman, who is sitting before the fire sharpening his sword (looks like a broadsword, at a glance -- straight, double-edged, sturdy) and hasn't bothered to remove his armor.  His armor is plate, not as well designed as the Church of Hammar's, but probably still effective.  This also makes Bjorn wonder about his relative size.  If the Guildsman, sitting, is about six feet tall, then Bjorn is about four and a half.

[Bjorn]

Bold as brass, Bjorn walks up to the fire.

[Brian]

The guildsman looks up at Bjorn, blinking, then narrows his eyes.  "What?" he demands in a harsh voice.  His helmet, a smooth domed cap of steel, sits at one side, and he doesn't move to raise his sword in a threatening manner, though he does stop sharpening it.

[Bjorn]

Noticing the man's Hispanic accent, Bjorn thinks, Carriage is more English, though.  Okay.  Let's run with this, and hope for a safe bet.

Reluctantly, he lets go of his connection to the Dream; it might put him at a disadvantage, but eyes full of mist is a bit of a tip-off.  At the same time, he tries to make his accent slip into a smoothly cultured tone, vaguely aristocractic British -- a task, he finds, made suprisingly easier by his other-self's worrisome familiarity with acting.  "This is, in fact," he replies, frostily, "much the same question, though considerably less eloquently-put, that I was about to put to you."

OOC: Losing Eyes of Supernatural Possession, and therefore by default losing Anchor Sense and Mental Defenses.  Instead bringing through Conversation (3 CP), 2 CSLs HTH (10 CP), and, uh, 1 STR and 1 ED.  Might as well.  Not using it anywhere else.