As the group is walking back to their tent to witness the failure of Ethelred’s ballistae attempt Alexis moves close to Gustav, takes off his two wooden rings, and hands them to Gustav.
“Hey Gus, I need you to tell me everything you can about these rings, yeah? I figure if you have any question you can ask Telosh since he’s working on mastering the Arts.”
Alexis waits for Gustav to acknowledge the request.
The group is hanging out in their tent in the Copper Hills Fort. Ethelred is working on his model ballistae. As the test fails and the model collapses, Alexis exclaims “that’s it.” He gives a quick visual scan of his companions and continues, signaling everyone to come in close; a conspiratorial whisper.
“We don’t belong here. Yeah, we need to find..” Alexis looks at the various walls of tent and then finishes “…it. But we should be out there.” He gestures to the forests to the north and east.
“I didn’t realize what was wrong until I was looking at how uncomfortable Gus was while we’ve been in the tent. The longer we’re here the worst he looks. And then it hit me. We don’t need to be here right now. We should be out there. And then everything clicked:
We set up a base on the goblin/warg hill.
We offer the refugees from Thater a place with us in the woods.
We conduct our experiments and scouting from there.
We check in with the fort regularly.”
“One, or two, of you will have questions, so let’s hear ’em” Alexis looks between his three companions huddled close.
A while after the conversation with Kolar, and when Alexis feels he and Ethelred are far enough away from any outside listeners. Alexis addresses Red.
“How do you feel that conversation with Kolar went?”
Not long after seeing the Kohlar, Priest of Anashar preach, Telosh signals to Alexis and behind a hand quietly mentions:
“Perhaps the good friar would know the right thing to do with Raff’s tooth.”
Telosh makes the signals, Priest, Law, Sword.
“If it is broken, surely he’d be the right one to deal with it.”
Twice Break, Sword. Three times.
After the group has left the area of the Copper Hills fort and is heading north on the road to explore the area of the three-armed giant, Alexis asks Telosh “Why didn’t you take the sword when you had the chance? These two” he says motioning to Gus and Red who are walking slightly ahead “I get why. But you, I’m still not sure why you didn’t and I’ve been thinking about it since we left the Greyfax estate.”
During the last few nights the group is at the Greyfax estate, Alexis starts taking half an hour before bed to lay out the two wooden rings on one of the inn tables and chants while fingering the one ring and then the other.
The chanting has some of the same feel as when Alexis uses his magic; the words have a similar nebulous sound.
“Impiea padtion xame herum” Alexis takes a finger and circles it around the ring once. Then repeats the ritual several more times before swapping rings and doing the same thing with the other ring.
As the group returns to the Copper Hills Fort, Ethelred is feeling his mortality in a way he has not before. The brush with death has not shaken him from the hero’s path, the loss of all his gear has not defeated his spirit (even if it has rendered him more or less useless).
“Alexis, we can’t out run or hide from the Darkhand for ever. They will find us at the Copper Hills. There probably wont be an army, who know what forces will remain. And ever if there was an army they wouldn’t care about our squabble with the Darkhand.
We do know of at least two groups that have no love for the Darkhand. Our current travel companions, though they seem more interesting in killing Gods? But also the bandits we gave the sword to.
Could we deal a blow to the darkhand by defeating some valued treasure hunters? Ride ourselves of foes and forge some loose alliance with the bandits?
Maybe you have other plans?
And can you talk with Telosh. I need money to get some tools”
Sometime in the two weeks after Utiog has been defeated. The group has gathered at the inn to discuss and share.
“I’ve been thinking about the nature of The Dead God. The one who wanders She-Who-Is-Fierce’s hunting ground.
‘He mourns and weeps and is quite unseemly’
Gnolls enslaved by the Dark Hand are trying to find the last of Him.
He weeps because of an ancient wound that is fed with blood daily. This wound is feasted on by The Made… or possibly whomever made The Made.”
“Have I overlooked or forgotten anything about this dead, weeping god?”
About a week after Barra has defeated Utiog, Alexis is waiting for Gus as he returns from his morning shit.
“And what a fine day this has started out to be. Before I go back to my studies, I was hoping you might tell me a little something about your new ‘magics’. We have been talking about the gods a lot recently, and I would be curious to know where your ‘magics’ come from.”
“Before you try and bullshit me, play dumb, and stonewall me, I have a reason for my question: if Earyka targets your ‘god’, I want to know it; it’s important.”
Alexis stands in front of Gus awaiting his answer.
About a week after Barra has defeated Utiog, Gus has chanced on something close to a feast for the group. The group is at one of the tables in the Inn. Alexis is in good spirits. He turns to Telosh.
“We’ve never taken the time for you to tell us about your upbringing. About your father. Care to tell us the ‘Tale of Telosh’?”