Spells
Honing the form, dex+3 (pot3)
Body control +3
Pulse of the living world
Organic Resilience 2E monthly pot2
Body control +3
Pulse of the living world
Organic Resilience 2E monthly pot2
Avis was mostly quiet as the others spoke, focusing on the twin sympathy that she held in her hands. She could track the shirt...but not the person. How odd was that, that she'd learned to track objects, not individuals? Perhaps she could change that, though that would take time. For now, she had to refocus the children.
"I know the fact that it's wearing shorts might fool you into thinking it's cute, and that it's like a dog in a sweater, or something, but this is a hostile creature. A creature that was also so obvious it tipped off the hunters to its location, and it likely did that by fucking shit up. I say we should kill it. This clearly isn't a creature that can survive off the grid and avoid detection, and if the public catches wind of it then it'll only lead them to places they were never meant to go.
"No, we need to eliminate it. It's the hunters we should focus on," she continued, her tone easing as she explained the possibilities. "Assuming they're humans -- and I don't know about you, but I've never met a human with yellow eyes, but assuming they're human, they could be allies. Uninformed allies that we keep in the dark, but allies nonetheless.
Secrecy was a thing, after all.
Yumyumcrow If possible, I'd like to use creative thaumaturgy to craft a way to track these individuals sympathetically. Write up is here. If not, no worries
"So I'm gonna be that guy that points out ya'll are jumping to a fuck ton of conclusions without any real data here. I think it's a bit extreme to go kill a clearly sentient creature but your reasoning is sound-ish, as Skye pointed out it might have intel. Pants doesn't make it cute, pants tells me its self conscious about nudity which means there's self awareness there.
"Or a really bad wrangler ad. If it's a were-thing it could mean its a cursed person meaning it can be reasoned with. I don't know how they learned of it, for all I know they got some juju radar that pings on any creature that ain't like them and they go and kill it. Think it's a leap to assume they are our allies too when they could just as easily be agents of the lie, killing us to reinforce it."
He shrugged and looked around eyes lingering on that farm which is where the creature probably was holed up. "This is why I think we need more information. What I can tell you is they definitely aren't people, impact site in the center would have pancaked a normal person. Crushed bones, internal bleeding leaving them D.E.A.D. dead." He took one deep breath and then another turning to Avis, eyes soft remembering those scars that traced her skin wondering what pushes a person to consider murder so casually. He then looked to Skye.
"Sympathy is the domain of connection so I think it's easy to say unless you know how things are inter-connected through Sympathy, Master Avis here will have to scrub it. Like I know to go to a Shaman if I need healing." Looking more confused at the lack of information than anything before shrugging.
Something told him Avis was calling the shots, that this wasn't a democracy and she was merely amusing them right now before she went off to kill an intelligent creature with the ease of swatting a fly. He felt a sudden unease grow in his stomach, grateful now that he was technically outside that particular chain of command. But he'd known people like that and they just as easily removed any obstacles too. Obstacles like Guru.
Spells
Honing the form, dex+3 (pot3)
Body control +3
Pulse of the living world
Organic Resilience 2E monthly pot2
"Ohh it is cute but it is cute because it is different, I am in agreement that we should track it down first before it has a time to heal. If it is awake see if it can communicate to see if there is more than meets the eyes otherwise if possible so would it work just as well if you can reach it's mind and subtract all the information we need from it. Once we know why it is here, what it is and whatever else we can learn from it so if it can revert back to a human form and be calm so is that one thing if not then it would be both kindest and easiest to put it out of it's misery whilst it's asleep. If a fight commence so is it's injuries an advantage for us but the longer we wait the smaller they seem to be. With some luck so does it hold knowledge of the yellow eyes as well, not that it's a guarantee but if it does so would it be good information to have. We can take the hunters afterwards as they do not seem to heal rapidly and if they are allies, in the wrong, something we need to talk with, steer in the right direction, lock up, put down or whatever else can be assessed once the beast is dealt with and hopefully with some extra knowledge from it if not so do we at least not need to worry about it whilst taking care of whatever business we will have with them."
Sighing a bit why did they get so caught up on the word cute, a beast could be cute no matter it's appearance heck a wild bear was cute even if it would rip you to shreds a second later.
"It might have or it just might once have had it, we can transform and nothing prevents old rituals to force others to become something else. It might be a natural beast with human intellect, a transformed human or something else entirely. We cannot know what still remains of it's psyche and as Avis here said if it keep running the risk of exposure so is that something we do not want and it needs to be dealt with. If it is just a curse and we can have it returned to a human then by all means if that is possible without risking exposure I do not mind killing a threat but I do prefer to have the data before doing so."
Looking to them both, her piece was said and Avis seemed to agree that they should at least deal with the beast first and then go on to the hunters whatever they now were and that pretty much meant that their votes were quite similar which was good for her intentions at the moment.
Catching Gurus unease but that was not much to focus on now, he was an apostate so his thinking was to be expected it was quite humane afterwards sadly that was not what could be offered in this dark world.
They were both naive.
She knew what they'd find.
And, if she was wrong? Well, Adaptability was Strength.
"Alright, let's find it. I think I know a spell that will help."
She closed her eyes and began to chant, focusing on the sympathy held in her hand, weaving an image of a radar into her mind, but trying to tailor it, High Speech flowing from her mouth -- into a garbled mess as the spell failed.
She sighed, reached out, and tried again.
But, again, she couldn't wrap her mind around it. How could something as non-specific is just sensing things be tailed to an individual? Didn't she need a more specific creation, something that...
"Fuck. Fucking goddamn motherfucking..."
Her speech was almost an equal mix of curse words and a smattering of Atlantean as she tried for a third time, focusing all of her energy into weaving that spell, but it just didn't fucking take.
It just didn't fucking take.
Fucking look at her now, big bad Intervallutrix, can't even cast a goddamn simple spell.
Her mind a cesspit of seething vitriol, she shook her head.
"We'll have to do it old school. It's up to you both."
failure
Avis failed 3 times to cast sympathetic Sense Life
1 Dox
Forgot the Paradox. Have 1 dox. Can I still backlash, or is it too late?
He looked to Avis and shrugged. "I don't like taking sentient lives if I don't have to. The Hunters went to kill it, that's an easier pill to swallow by far. Like I said I don't know what the right thing is here." But that doesn't seem like it's it.
He felt his hairs stand on edge as she began to pull on magic and then nothing and judging by her reaction it didn't take. He could scrutinize to find out more if he wanted but it didn't seem like a good idea with her in a mood like this. Then her words came and he knew for sure.
"Sounds like it's the old school way either way. Creature is easier to track since your vision gave me a way better clue." He pointed off to the Barn in the south, the direction of the urban farmland in the distance. Looking at the creatures tracks and the hunters tracks again. Creature went south, hunters back pedaled the way they came.
He'd started to follow the tracks but slowly letting Avis get a word in if needed.
1 success
Spells
Honing the form, dex+3 (pot3)
Body control +3
Pulse of the living world
Organic Resilience 2E monthly pot2
Watching Avis try again and again feeling a bit annoyed that she did not receive an answer to her question but oh well it could wait anyways perhaps it would not even be needed.
"I get the sentiment Guru however if this thing becomes a threat, risks exposing the world to things it shouldn't know or cannot control itself then we need to act whilst we still can. If we are wrong so will I gladly stand down and not kill it but we need to know, sometimes one needs to make the hard choices for the sake of others. I hope it will not come to it but if it does so do we need to be prepared."
Looking towards the Barn and following as he tracked hoping he was right and ready to move in that direction if needed as well however fearing that he might hold back or make sure they wouldn't find it either consciously or subconsciously so would she try her own hands at tracking as well to see what the tracks could tell her, normally she would have preferred to work together but now did not seem the time to do that.
Making sure her gear was in order, that an arrow would be easy to draw if needed steeling herself for whatever may come.
tracking 1 success
Guru has established that the Beast had lain in wait to the south and it appeared to the two trackers that it had retreated in the same direction. Once the two Shaman had worked out what they were looking for, they were able to piece together the trail as the Beast fled the scene and left Dry Creek behind, pushing across a battered wire fence, clogged with brush and weeds, and moving onto vacant farmland.
The tracks - and a small trail of blood - led to a poorly maintained outbuilding that was too big to be a shed and too small to be a barn or a stable. The ugly door was unlocked but partially closed. The interior appeared dim with shafts of yellowed light cutting into the gloom from narrow windows in the walls.
There was no one around to disturb or challenge them as they made their approach: the farm house - and, indeed, the bulk of the farm - was well away from their position.
Well, well. Here they were. Time to find out if the beast was wearing shorts because it was the runaway star of a G-rated children's movie, or if it was the beast she assumed it to be. Either way, there was a smart way to play this, and dumb way to play this, and after the massive fuck up from just a few minutes ago, she hoped she'd chosen the smart option.
She closed her eyes and focused on her sense of where she was, of the spot her feet were planted on as she crouched there, of the difference between that spot and any other, and in the blink of an eye, an exact copy of Avis was standing next to her. Or, at least, that was how it appeared. In truth, it wasn't a copy. It was her, just in two places at once. The trick was, only one of her was tangible.
"Open the door and I'll take point," her co-located self whispered, ready to meet this beast.
2 successes
no dox
Last dox taken as backlash (yay crow). Now, Avis casts Co-Location with Multitasking
Still has combined armors, Sense Consciousness, and Combined Omnivions + Spatial Awareness.
Avis is sending her intangible, co-located self into the building.