Scion/Hero - Chaosium: A New Dawn, An Old Adversary

[Nina]

The rush each of the chosen feel is euphoric and all encompassing. When the light fades each of them knows that they have changed, been changed, by gods whom they had hours and days ago thought of only as myth if thought of at all.

 

The light fades and they are on the disc Imhotep stand among them, at the edges the gods are already departing most gone into the ether and beyond.

 

“I will be joining you on Earth, at least for a time,” he says.

 

“I thought the gods could not go to earth,” stated Tenchi as he looked at the sword his patron had given him.

 

“Not all of them,” Imhotep shook his head, ”those like us, mortals once, they continue to move among mortals as long as they keep their influence at a minimum.”

 

“Why aren’t they or you for that matter handling this crisis?” This time it was Raiko, Tenchi’s sister who questioned the god.

 

Again, Imhotep shook his head, “That would lead to disaster, no matter our individual intentions we are of a pantheon, a family and that would always color our choices, our decisions. It would lead to war. No this is the only way.

 

Now,” he spoke sharply cutting off any more questions, “I must take us back…”

 

The disc began to spin slowly at first, then faster and faster. They felt no sensation of movement but the sky beyond became a blur and then they were no longer on the disc, but rather they were in the dining room of the hotel at their table.

 

“We have returned to the hotel, it is a few hours before dawn, any mortal who experienced anything last night will only remember the blizzard and an avalanche which crashed into the town. It is a common enough occurrence so as not to raise much suspicion.

 

Your natures will emerge over the next few days but remember you are not gods and few if any know who you even are. I would suggest resting today then returning to your homes and make plans. You do not need to stay together but as things arise it may be necessary for you to congregate. You should make arrangements for a place to gather.”

 

Spoiler

This is the new story thread... this is a sort of prologue to catch up and give you a chance to question Imhotep... then we will get to the story  

 

[Shameless]

For his part, Tenchi was abit taken aback by everything that had happened.   In the end, Each of his patrons had presented him with a gift.  "These will allow you to call upon some of our powers, and will aid you in your journeys."   Sun Wukong and Hephaestus had departed after that, though Susano-o remained.  "Tenchi, I would speak with you one last time."

Tenchi looked to his patron, and nodded.  "The sword I have presented you with is one that suits you, and will serve you well in what is to come.  Its power is limited now, because you are not yet strong enough to wield the might it possesses.  You will grow, and so too shall it's power, when you're ready.  However, I cannot give such a gift "freely" 

Tenchi remained silent.   "If you accept the sword, you accept that you take on a debt to me.   Grow stronger, prove my decision right, and That debt will be repaid, but until then, There will come times I will set a task before you, these will test and challenge you, but then I know you understand why as well."

Tenchi nodded, once.  "I accept this gift, and this debt, Lord Susano-o, and will strive to prove myself worthy, and repay your faith."  

Susano-o smiled at the young scion and answered him.  "Honor in Heart, First steps taken on the path, Wonders beyond ken."  With that final Haiku, the lord of storms departed, leaving Tenchi feeling both reassured, and at peace.   He had passed the first test, indeed, they all had, and taken their first steps into a realm beyond anything they'd known before.  He held the sword, and the belt he'd replaced his own with, feeling the amulet's warm metal against his chest.  He knew things would only grow stranger from now on, but he knew he'd not face it alone.

He looked over to Imhotep, Their guide as it were once they'd return to the hotel.

"I do have a question. How will we know when a situation arises that we need to handle?   if we are all going to be separating, returning home, we'll need a means of communication.  Of course we can all swap contact information, but I mean will the Gods tell us when a situation arises and leave it to us to gather?  What advice would you offer us on these matters?"

"A fair question to each of you as well..."  He addressed the gathered scions.  "Do you all wish to return back to your homes?   Certainly, arrangements can be made to have us gathered on one place to respond, and I think there's merit in that.   However, it's not my place to decide that for all of us.   I realize we all have our own lives to live."

Edited August 9, 2021 by Shameless

[SalmonMax]

Juno was still trying to get her balance back. She'd never been particularly religious before, but her parents were more so, and it was surprisingly hard to re-orient herself along these new lines. Deep down though, she could feel the patterns of it all. The popular image of God as a bearded man in the clouds smiting those who displeased him with lightning...wasn't that just Zeus? The story of a son of divinity taking on the burdens of humanity's sins and by dying cleansing them...Juno wasn't sure but she suspected that story had been told before as well. Old names hiding behind new faces, clinging to existence in the face of fickle beliefs. Intellectually she could grasp it, barely, but...it was still a spiky little red pill.

 

What did it mean for her though? There'd been a lot of talk, but what it boiled down to was that an old war that had never entirely died was brewing again...and she'd been conscripted. Juno was still young enough to feel a certain thrill at that; the same thrill she'd felt fighting those not-so-jolly blue giants. She was old enough to feel some of the burden of it as well, if only just. The cost of war wasn't borne only by the soldiers.

 

How the hell was she going to explain any of this to her family?

 

Then there were the gods themselves. Awestriking and frustrating and smoking hot. Three of them had 'chosen' her, and Juno was still not sure exactly how that worked. Was it a resume thing? Were they related? Ideological? Did they respect The Skillz? How did it WORK? Typically, they were coy and evasive, offering little and asking much. But they did have offerings.

 

Juno looked at the spear in her hand...it had replaced the one she'd taken from the case for the fight against the giants. The haft of it was the yellowed-white of old bone and the tip was knapped obsidian. It looked ugly, and it felt...dangerous in her hand even though its crafting was primitive. Draped over it was a crumpled fold of cloth or maybe very supple leather. It was a vest crafted from what Bast had smirkingly assured her was the hide of some mythical 'nemean' creature and that it would protect her.

 

So that was cool. Like any army, they outfitted their troops. Cool. And this Imhotep, Juno guessed, was the NCO. Cool.

 

Tenshin's question brought her back from her musings though.

 

"Yeah, I'm going back home," Juno said. "Look, Tenshin...we're going to have to talk, you know? I don't know what this means for...for me and you and your company and my family... I just don't know. We've gotta get this worked out."

[Shameless]

"Well yes, I plan to go home too.  I imagine most of us do, but from there we do need to decide how or if we will all gather.  I think having at least some idea of that would be beneficial for everyone.   I wouldn't want to run into any sort of mythical creature like those half giants or troll on my own, and I imagine no one else would."

[Nina]

"You mention a place to gather," Imhotep interrupts, "actually this is essential to your growth. In olden days, when the scions, of the gods of differing pantheons, formed a friendship and shared," he shrugs, "for want of a better word, adventures, these groups were called Bands. Even though this is no longer a tradition it is a fitting description for what you are now, a Band.

 

These Bands would take a place, usually remote and hard to get to where they could stay together and relax, recuperate, train. It was a private place, not the home of any one of them, but a home for all of them. If any mortals knew of the place it was those whom could be trusted to the extreme, a mortal whom a god could put faith into. This is also essential. But for later.

 

I think you should all return to your homes, make arrangements as you see fit, at this stage you can still interact with the mortal world on an even footing. but mortals will begin to notice things eventually. So find a place, a Retreat if you will, that is my suggestion."

[Veral]

Try clears his throat at this point, dangling the keys that hephaestus suggested would be his vehicle from his left hand, "Ummmm, I know we were all here under different pretnses, but I think, if the Gods were preparing us for this on our way here... then I may have an idea for that retreat, assuming my whole mission to get here wasn't complete bullshit. I was told to bring this car to a collector a couple of states away from here. Maybe we can see if that place I was supposed to deliver it to is usable?"

 

He shrugs, "It's only an idea, but I dunno what else to do. I'm not sure how to spin this to my dad, if I go back home. This mission was supposed to get me out of the family business and into a live in position as caretaker of a car collection. I don't think that my dad would be too happy to see another failure on my part..." The last part was said very quietly.

 

Tryfon takes a deep breath, and sighs. "Anyone else have an idea?"

[Shameless]

Tenchi smiled, and shared a look with Raiko.   "We do have a car collection too, just saying, and not nearly enough time to keep it up ourselves."   They did have someone who  tuned their vehicles and all, but he had mentioned he was looking to move, so they'd need to get someone else.

"We can of course check out your idea for a retreat, but as a fallback, If we're going to be part of the same Band, You can come with us."   

It was perhaps abit odd, the wealthy could make their own rules in many cases, and Tenchi and Raiko were quite wealthy.    "Obviously we extend this offer to everyone.   We might have to think up some reasons for you to come to us suddenly, but given our unique positions, we can make it happen.   We'd never force anyone  to do so, but as bandmates we simply offer it.   Yes on paper, you'd be working for us for appearance sake, but if that's unpalatable, we can perhaps find other ways if we choose to stay together."

[Veral]

Tryfon smiles weakly, "I assume we are not to reveal our newly discovered nature to anyone not here? I'll head out to my home, if that's what you think we should do, Imhotep. But I don't like leaving a job half done. Can you find out if the secondary part of my task is still in need of happening, or wether I should return to Detroit?" He starts flipping the keys to the 442 around his pinky, catching it every so often in the palm of his hand. "Oh. i forgot to ask. What happened to Mr. Cobb? Is he involved in this? I'll go get the car in the morning, assuming I can get it out of the shop and hopefully it's in working shape. Once that happens, i'll decide on my route. Thanks for the offer, but I need some time to figure stuff out." THe last comment was directed at Tenchi. 

[Nina]

Imhotep gave Try a slight smile, “Who would believe you? As for Cobb, he is a mortal, what he recalls of last night will be as if a dream, that same is true for the rest of those mortals who survived the events. To them the night was a terrible blizzard which struck their town but thanks to some strangers, many lives were saved from the ravages of the storm. To those who saw the giants they were but waves of snow crashing upon the town, the roars and sounds of battle, naught but fierce thunder and lightning. Of such things are legend written.

 

And for the rest my friend, there is no timetable, things will unfold as they will in their own time. I am not some mission director placed here to oversee and direct you with quests or tasks. I am what was said a mentor someone who can add context and fill in blanks.

 

My advice to you my friend Try, is to call your employer, explain about the storm and the avalanche and that you will no more about the condition of the car in a day or so. I believe she will wish you to complete the job.”

 

He turns to address the rest of them, “And the advice ei give to the rest of you is get some rest the media will descend upon us before you will be able to depart and since you are the heroes who rescued so many, I am sure interviews will be requested.

 

As you may have noticed, Kamala is not present, she has informed me that she wishes to return to the middles east with her friend and that she, alone of the rest of you, rejected the offers of her patrons. As such she will remain mortal and will have no memory of this event except for dreams.

Now get some rest.”

 

Strangely none of the band had even noticed that Kamala hadn’t been there until Imhotep mentioned her, and none of them seemed bothered by her absence. It was if only those present were important to each other.

 

The band retired to their rooms and their own thoughts.

 

Rest was not easy to come by and after a couple of hours they each in their own packed their bags and prepared to depart.

 

Try would stay on at the hotel for a few days and try to contact his employer and find out about the car and Cobb’s fate. He had a liking for the little man

Val took the twins up on their offer and would be traveling with them to California along with Juno.

 

Stacy was also on the undecided path. She knocked on Ali’s door after packing. She smiled at him when he answered the door and decided to be blunt. “I don’t have anywhere to go, Ali.”

 

While Stacy was at Ali’s door the rest of the band had descended to the lobby and true to Imhotep’s word the media were there waiting for them.

 

Questions flew about the storm and how did they rescue so many, cameras with bright lights whirred in their direction and flashes went off it was a circus, the first of a promised many…

 

 

[Nina]

They suffered through he media blitz and the hasty interviews and all of the except Tryfon Piled into the helicopter which was to bring the back to Denver and then to where ever each of them decided to go.

 

Tryfon had retreated back inside and watched the helicopter as it dwindled to a speck then picke dup the phone and call ed his employer.

 

Karlee Lightfeather listend to the young man she had hired, she had seen the morning news and knew about the freak blizzard and the rescue of dozens of townspeople by a small group of strangers to the town. For some reason she wasn’t surprised that it turned out that her employee, Tryfon Burton had been one of the adventurous rescuers.

 

“No, I understand Mr. Burton, I am just glad you are safe and that you were able to aid those in need. Don’t worry about the deadline or your job if you still want it. You have proven yourself more than capable.”  She scribbled something down on the notepad as Tryfon spoke some more and looked at what she had written critically. “Yes, if the car survived the avalanche and you can extract it I would still like it delivered. But in your own time. Yes, please keep me informed.” She jung up and tore the sheet from the pad.

 

While Tryfon made arrangements to go into town and see about Cobb and the car, the rest of the Band said their goodbye to one another.

Val had decided that she need to go and see her parents in the middle east in person but swore that she would return as soon as she could.

Ali seemed torn and undecisive as well and opted to fly home to plan for the future and decide what he really should, and wanted, to do.

 

The rest of the band flew to California. The twins opened their home to Stacy while Juno returned to her parents.

 

All of them, the twins included had many things to sort through.

 

One week later…

 

Tryfon had driven the last fifty miles since morning He could have made it last night but didn’t want to bother Ms Lightfeather that late at night, plus he found he like staying in hotels. The car had survived the storm, not only survived but had been changed Cobb had had only the vaguest of recollections of the night, and none of it seemed to include giants or a troll. But he couldn’t explain the how and why of the car. For one the interior damage was gone. It wasn’t shiny and new but it wasn’t the wreck it had been and the engine actually ran and only seemed to need a little tender loving care to make it purr and rumble. All he remembered about the car was taking Try out to look at it and then going to get a battery so they could start it but everything after that was fuzzy. Try spent the next couple of days much of in the company of Cobb, he liked the little man, while he waited for the roads to be cleared.

 

When he left, he promised to stay in touch and drove off the mountain and now three days later he was in Indian country and the small farming town of Lenapah. And small it was according to the sign on the road into town there were only 298 residents.  He followed the directions which led him out of town to a large, wooded estate which really seemed out of place.

 

The woods seemed cultivated not really laid out like a natural forest would be and that was driven home once her passed thru about a quarter mile of woods to a artificial cleared square at least fifty or more acres of manicured lawns, hedges, a topiary, tennis courts swimming pools and a huge modern home that had to be at least twenty thousand square feet or more. And that didn’t count the adjacent multi-floor glass enclosed garage. It was incredible and somewhat obscene considering the poverty he had driven by to get here.

 

Try parked in the circle drive in front of the main door as he exited the car the front door opened, and a tall older black man came out and asked Try if he could help him. Try explained that he was here to see Ms Lightfeather. The man aske him to come in and wait in the foyer while he rang Ms Lightfeather, he then departed through another door. Try stood feeling uncomfortable. The paces was again done in a modern style but there were all sorts of Native American artifacts and art displayed in incongruous modern settings.

 

Try didn’t wait long before Lightfeather showed up. She called to him from down the main hall before him and quickly came to meet him. She wore old jeans, a t-shirt and moccasins, her hair was tied back in a loose ponytail. She came right up to him and took his hand in hers, “You made it. Are you hungry? I was about to have something?”

 

Spoiler

Okay juno, tenchi, raiko and Stacy are in cali. Ali went home.  I did not go into detail for those of you mentioned here for reasons. Val is out of the immediate picture since Mala is still out.  The story I am leading up too will be getting it's start from Trys predicament that is why I spent time on him. The rest of you may post your homecomings or what have you or you can wait for the story to catch up too you. should not be a long wait as long as I get a timely response from Try.

 

as usual i am open to questions.

 

 

[Veral]

Try took a deep breath and suddenly at the mention of food, his stomach gurgled.  He grinned sheepishly, "Sure, I guess i'm hungrier than I thought. Beautiful house, from what I've seen. Your brother must have been well-off. What sort of work did he do?" He sat down where Ms. Lightfeather indicated at a island in the kitchen that doubled as a eating space.  Try hopped up onto the stool, and looked over at the woman. "For that matter, what do you do for work, if I may ask." 

 

Try settled onto his stool, his eyes focused on his mysterious employer. "Damnit, I can't get rid of the feeling that I'm missing something important here," he pondered, while his face showed curiosity and hunger. Shaking his head, he waited for the responses to his questions.

[Nina]

"How do you like your eggs?"  Karlee gestured for him to follow her and she led him to the kitchen where she directed him to a small breakfast nook and while she cooked a fairly large breakfast she answered his questions. "My brother built Indian casinos. He made and still makes a lot of money from it. He was probably the richest Indian in American history." She noticed how Try sorta cringed when she said Indian and gave a soft snort of laughter.

 

"We were called Indian a long time before we were called Native Americans. And to be honest, a lot of us find Native American to be condescending and offensive. If you want o be precise you call us by our tribe, barring that we are Indians in the eyes of history and the government. As for what I do? I'm an advocate and a social worker."

 

She filled two plates with eggs bacon and toast and set them done on either side of the counter. "You want coffee or juice, or something else?" Before Try could answer Karlee's phone rang, she took it out of her back pocket glanced at the screen and excused herself and stepped away back toward the stove with her back turned on Try.

 

"Hey. what's' up?"

 

Try couldn't make out what was being said on the other end of the call but her noted that Lightfeather's back stiffened. "Are you sure?" She glanced back at Tryfon who quickly focused on his plate of food. "Yes okay, I will get there as soon as possible." she ended the call and slipped the phone back into her pocket then returned to the counter and sat picking her fork as she sat. she used the fork to move her food around on the plate for a few seconds.

 

"When you decided to help those people in Colorado, were you thinking about a reward?"

 

Spoiler

bear with me justin, kao, max, you'll be in soon

 

 

[Veral]

Try smiles, "I'll take some coffee, and I wasn't even considering a reward, while I was out helping them. It happened too fast. I was in survival mode, and trying to get as many survivors back to the lodge safe. Everything okay, Ms. Lightfeather?" He pointed to indicate her cell phone. He began to eat his eggs, and then realized what Karlee was doing. He raises an eyebrow in a questioning manner, then cleared his throat. "I have a good pair of ears, but only one mouth. I can keep a secret. What's wrong?"

[Nina]

Karlee seemed to come to a decision as Try spoke, "I know your tired, but I told you I was a social worker, my responsibility is spread over several tribes not all of them in this state. I need to get to Arkansas. Today." She poured him a large mug of coffee.

 

"The problem is I don't have a car.  I usually rely on the tribes for transport, and while my brother has all of these vehicles here, I can't use any of them because they are still under probate. All of them except for the one you brought in, which technically doesn't belong to my brother, since the title wasn't transferred to him before he died.

 

If you will drive me to Arkansas, I will explain everything and make it worth your while."

 

Try didn't hesitate, "Sure, after all I work for you now," he smiled.

 

Karlee smiled back, Good, Just Try to keep an open mind...."

 

Several hours later they had crossed into Arkansas and Karlee was directing him to a remote area full of swamps and bayous it was some what surreal. According to what Karlee had told him, Arkansas had at one time been all Indian land and many of the tribes that were located in Oklahoma had once lived here in Arkansas but had been forced to relocate. There were no recognized native lands in Arkansas any more or rather there weren't before now. 

 

While there are no recognized tribes in Arkansas and no reservations, in the late nineties laws had been passed granting ancestral land back to those tribes that had been moved. Specific Ancestral lands. Grave yards, holy places other spots with significant religious standing with in the displaced tribes. These places were set aside and development in and around them were halted. soon after that some tribe members began to move back to Arkansas to caretake these places and by the early 21st century several small Indian communities had grown. 

 

"They don't have the protections a reservation gives them," Karlee had explained, "these little towns are fully subject to local rules and laws, pay taxes everything. But they are still sort of segregated. Now here is the thing and this is something very few white people know, The tribes never left. There has always been presence here and in some other places where our peoples were forced to abandon. But we didn't, we just went under ground so to speak."

 

It seems according to Karlee that Indians had been watching over sacred lands all along without the permission of the government and while she didn't say she hinted at something else. 

 

The town was small and looked like any of the dozen or so small Arkansas towns they had passed through except there were no fast food joints or big chain super markets. Everything seemed locally owned and while not everyone Native American there were a lot more brown faces than white.

 

They parked outside a clinic and as the went to enter the building Try noticed that a lot of people on the street had stopped and almost all of them were staring at him. Some with open hostility.

 

Inside they found a receptionist and an older man both Native American. The man white haired and wrinkle faced stepped up and glared at Try while giving a slight nod to Karlee.

 

"Who is he and why is he here," the older man barked.

 

Karlee grimaced, "This is Tryfon, he is a friend who helps, he is a good man. I trust him. Try, this is Owen Clark, he is the Elder here. Now, Owen what is going on?"

 

Clark gave Try a new measuring look, then sighed, "As you say Waya. Two nights ago, baying was heard by a couple of teenagers exploring. They were frightened, had never heard such cries they fetched the father of one and he went into the swamp. He found something unheard of.

 

Three of the wild ones, he found dead, slaughtered torn apart, partially devoured," he said all of this while watching Try's face, " he found a fourth alive but badly mauled. She is in here."

 Owen led them to a  room down a short hall outside is a burly youth with tribal tattoos, inside a nurse tending to an IV and on a large medical bed was a huge... thing. At least eight feet tall, it was swathed in bandages and was missing an arm, but Try could see the course reddish brown fur coving almost all of its exposed skin, and a face that seemed a mix of human and ape, that in unconsciousness was startling serene.

 

And it had very very big feet.

 

[Veral]

Try didn't at first comprehend what he was seeing, but slowly his brain made more and more sense of it. Before he could accidentally utter anything offensive, or loud enough to wake the "creature," he pinched himself in the arm. When he reopened his eyes from the brief pain, the scene was exactly the same. 

 

"Okay, so this is... unique. I know you have no reason to trust me. I just showed up with Karlee and I haven't made myself very useful yet. But this needs more than just me getting involved. I have friends that I trust with my life, if need be, that would be able to help me. What do you wish me to do, Elder? Has she been awake yet? I would also like to see where she was found. Maybe we can find out more about where she and the others came from? I am intrigued, however, by the baying heard by the youths. What sort of creature do you think made that sound?" Try reached one hand behind his neck and started massaging the back of his neck with his hand. "My friends would be out here as soon as possible, from when I call them."

[Nina]

The Elder frowned and looked at Karlee, she gave a slight nod, the elders frown deepened, but he too nodded.

 

Even with a good tailwind and a state of the art GPS it was still the next morning before the rest of the Band arrived. The story Try had told them had been lacking in detail but his conviction that it was something they could not overlook was enough to bring them.

 

And he had been right.

 

According to the elder, the female Sasquatch, was young, the equivalent of a teen as humans measured years,  and had only awakened for a short time when she was first brought into the clinic. As the child did not bear the speaking mark she did not know the human tongue and none present could speak the wild tongue. Soon after she had gone into the healing trance and would likely remain in that state for several more days or longer. Her injuries had been extensive.

 

Karlee had taken the band to another room where refreshments, tea, coffee, water and donuts, had been made available.

 

"I have decided to place my faith in Tryfon, I sense he is a good man, and his deeds on the mountain that have been told are good and noble deeds. You were present and he places faith in you, so I shall follow his way.' Karlee had served each of them their chosen drink and taken a cup of coffee herself. Holding her cup in both hands she took a small sip, "The Wildones are misunderstood by your people. They were part of this land even before the tribes came. We live in harmony and learned much from them.

 

They are gentle Wara, protectors of the wild. That is why we name them as we do, Wildones. But gentle they may be, yet when roused they can be violent forces of nature, a mature adult in war frenzy could massacre an entire village if trespassed against. That a family of Wildones to be decimated so, is not anything we have ever heard of not in my time, the elders time, or any time with in ten generations.

 

These people, my people, they are returning to the ways of our fathers, but it is a slow process, much has been lost, taken from us. There are few among our people who are warriors, few who are even hunters as of old. But i sense both in all of you.

 

There are maybe a half dozen families of Wildones scattered in this area, I must help them, warn them if they do not already know. But I cannot do this alone.

 

Will you help?"

 

Spoiler

Those of you who wish to continue with scion consider your characters to be present and you may post.

 

 

 

[Kaoleth]

Raiko had spent much of the last week in quiet retreat. She'd attended to her work, of course, dodging the media with the ease of long practice and a longsuffering air of someone who was well used to it at this stage. Only her brother Tenchi and her mother saw her much during this period, and even then, they knew to give her the space she needed to come to grips with things. It was, if not a regular thing, a known occurrence. Particularly when she was grappling with hard decisions. While counsel was acknowledged and appreciated, she did prefer to have some time to herself to reason through whatever it was that was giving her trouble.

 

She spent much of the last week with the gifts granted her by her patrons. Of course, only that given by her Mesopotamian forbear was acceptable in the public eye, a rendition of an ancient Star chart, done in gold on a necklace. Nevertheless, her sword was never far from her, and a ghastly grim and ancient Raven had taken to following her around in her day to day business.

 

It was only in the last days that she had seemingly come to grips with her inner struggles and returned to mostly normal. Her team found her far more focused than ever before, a fact some lamented, but all respected.

[Shameless]

Tenchi for his part, had adapted quickly, and begun to up his training with the gift given by Susano-o.  While he didn't retreat as much as Raiko had, Their company still required their input, and he stepped up as needed,   Each day however, he went through the kata and drills Sensei Morisato had taught him, and became familiar with how his sword felt in his hands, how it moved through the air, and felt when it struck something.  Raiko and he had had their sparring matches, and he saw first hand how she'd refocused herself, and he smiled.   He'd not bothered her as much, knowing she sought solitude, and he let her have it, never too far if she needed him that he wouldn't come, but at enough distance that he wasn't crowding her.

When Tryfon called and asked for them to come, of course the twins did so, and as they stood there, he nodded.   "Speaking for myself, yes, I will help."

[Veral]

Upon the arrival of the rest of the band, Try shook his head as they gathered around him. "I want to prepare you for this. The being in there," he indicated the makeshift medical facility, "is a bit unusual. I think they are the origin of the sasquatch mythology. She was injured severely, but is healing." He looked over at the Elder, and asked. "can we all go in at once, or should we split up?"

 

Once they entered the room, he said, "there are things out there. Tough, and dangerous things. They want us to check things out for them. What say you all?"

[Kaoleth]

Raiko nods at Tryfon, favouring him with a small smile. "Good to see you again, Tryfon." She seems to have come into herself well, there's something radiant in the how she is holding herself now. "I can only speak for myself, of course, but you need only ask. Of course we will help as best we can." It was probably a foregone conclusion, with Tenchi's own agreement, but even still.

 

She clicks her tongue as they enter the room with the yong Sasquatch, unfettered curiosity in her gaze. "I've already agreed to help, but do you have any more information for us? What can we be expecting when we go out there? I'd rather go in as prepared as possible." Her eyes flick up to Tryfon before returning to the young cryptid on the table.

[SalmonMax]

"Ookay," Juno said, hands on her hips. In reality, this wasn't any weirder than frost giants attacking a town, or gods descending or whatever, but...it just felt...tawdry? You couldn't buy little handmade frost giant dolls at roadside gas stations, or watch cheesy faked videos of gods descending.

 

"Basically something is killing Bigfeet around here. And because Bigfeet are big and strong, whatever's doing it must also be big and strong, but we have a survivor...in here," she continued as she followed Raiko and Tenchi into the room. It helped to parse it out, boil it down. Also gave people a chance to correct her if she got something wrong.

 

Once in the room with the victim, she asked, "Do we need an interpreter?"

[Nina]

Karlee shakes her head, "No. When we find them and adult should have a speaking mark..."

 

Karlee continued as they boarded a van and headed south on the road out of town. "The wild ones cannot speak our languages they mouths and throat are not capable of our sounds. But there is magic," she looks in the rearview mirror at the party at the utterance of the word, to see their reaction, "that is passed from elder to the next. They live in small family units rarely do the interact except when youngling come of mating age then two from different families will mate and form a new family."

 

The drive took about forty minutes and covered several different roads ending on one that was little more than a trail wide enough for a truck. They parked and continued on foot. "i am taking you to the site where the crime was committed. While we look for clues there others will be out trying to locate another family."

 

They hiked through the boggy wilderness for about a mile before coming upon a clearing and the carnage. There were four corpse in various states of dismemberment many of the parts showed evidence of being eaten.

[Shameless]

Tenchi grunted.  The smell was unpleasant, like a bunch of dead skunks.   I'm surprised they're still here, that some other animal or scavenger hasn't come to devour them.  That's normally what I'd expect to have seen."

He honestly expected that some sort of magic to preserve the crime scene was  at  work, but he didn't really have knowledge of such things.  He looked down at the wounds on the corpses, trying to see if there was any commonality.   He was looking at one wound that looked more like a bite mark, and looked to Karlee.  "Did anyone examine them for teeth?  Might have gotten stuck in a bone and come loose.  Some predators like sharks constantly grow new teeth, as they constantly lose them due to how powerful a bite they have."

He was being careful not to touch anything without permission, and he was somewhat out of his depth.  He'd gone on a number of big game hunts, and paid attention to the words their guides had said, and was largely trying to apply a little of that to this.  He figured Ali, and maybe Val would have better knowledge here, but they weren't here.   

"What do you think, Juno?"
 

He began to look closer, and while he certainly wasn't an expert on this sort of thing, something became apparent.   "This wasn't fang and claw." 

He looked at how one particular wound was, noting there was no sign the tissue was cut.   "This was done with pure strength. The muscle is ripped, not slashed, like it burst.  Like they literally just ripped this arm and part of the torso off, or were trying too.   The bite marks are easily noticeable, like they came from some large mammal,  but this wasn't a claw.  Look at the skull, that's bashed in, no puncture wound, and the ribs here, they're completely crushed.   Just how damn strong would you have to be to do this to a Sasquatch?"
 

Spoiler

Shameless Roll: [10, 9, 6, 5]  2success Intellect roll

 

Edited October 22, 2021 by Shameless
effects of roll

[Veral]

Try took in the scene and the odor. He nearly gagged. He began to walk around the scene carefully. Once he made a full circle, he moved closer to one of the corpses, careful not to touch it. Wondering out loud Tryfon responded to Tenchi, "Maybe the things from before... or their southern cousins? After all, I can't imagine snowbirds down here causing trouble." He looked sideways at Karlee as he mentions snowbirds. His attention is soon directed outwards of the circle he walked in originally, looking for tracks of any kind leading away from the scene. 

[Nina]

Karlee stood off to the side unable to look long at the terrible sight, tears in her eyes. Try skirted the edge of the clearing such as it was.

 

There were many tracks not only of the Wild Ones but deer, cougar, and either wolf or coyote, as well as smaller animals squirrel and other rodents. None of the animal tracks entered the Bigfoot camp, and only big foot tracks came in or out.

 

It was as it whatever it had been that had done this had appeared in the midst of the family, tore them to shreds and then disappeared into thin air!

 

they had to be missing something.

 

Spoiler

right track just needed more successes