pyrrhicPachyderm

AC: 16 | HP: 51/51 | HD: 8/8 Animal Friendship: 1/1 | Misty Step: 1/1 "Callie." Callie suddenly blurts it out, realising they completely forgot to introduce themselves. "And Argus, and Barris." She gestures to the other two as she says their names. "And... you've already met Aurelia and Calar." Introductions done, Callie doesn't make any immediate move to start her own story, instead looking at Aurelia and Argus. The two of them had surely accrued some fascinating stories in their time, and Callie was herself excited to hear them as well, leaning forward intently in her seat.

AC: 16 | HP: 51/51 | HD: 8/8 Animal Friendship: 1/1 | Misty Step: 1/1 Callie flashes Jacoby a smile when he glances at her, but she's not sure if he catches it with the way he looks away. "Oh c'mon, you skipped the actual story there!" Callie's clearly dissatisfied with Barris' tale, mostly economics as it was. "What'd you do? Get into any good chases with the guard?"

AC: 16 | HP: 51/51 | HD: 8/8 Animal Friendship: 1/1 | Misty Step: 1/1 Callie blushes beet red. But she still smiles. "Oh. Um, thank you. That's very kind of you say." Callie's clearly embarrassed too, shuffling her feet a wee bit. Honestly, the compliment alone she could have taken, but everything else... well, that just made it more awkward. "Um, right. Yes. Best get moving." Callie quickly forces herself to stop shuffling her feet, but still, she's glad for Jacoby to go and put a stop to the embarrassment. Or at least a pause to it, as she suddenly became keenly aware that they'd all be sharing a small raft together soon enough.

AC: 16 | HP: 51/51 | HD: 8/8 Animal Friendship: 1/1 | Misty Step: 1/1 Callie is a little quiet over dinner, though her smile is broad as she enjoys the food, savouring the seafood once again. She considers trying to entertain people with her "magic" tricks again, as she had in Barrow, but it didn't feel quite appropriate. Hester had actual magic, after all, and Calar seemed to have Jessa well entertained. Instead, she tries to strike up a conversation with Wilsy beside her. "A teacher, eh? You're good with your letters, then? I never had the patience for it myself; never even learned most of the scripture. I'd much rather be working with my hands. But"—she gives the girl a big smile—"it's an important calling. Someone had to teach the kids like me anyway. perhaps you could ask Barris for some advice." She points over at the wizard. "He's a big scholar."

AC: 16 | HP: 51/51 | HD: 8/8 Animal Friendship: 1/1 | Misty Step: 1/1 Callie shakes her head with her smile. "No excitement necessary, thanks. Though if all seafood is this good," by way of demonstration, she holds up a scallop on its way to her mouth, "then I could do with some more of it before we go!"

AC: 16 | HP: 51/51 | HD: 8/8 Animal Friendship: 1/1 | Misty Step: 1/1 "Can't say I've tried it much. My ma mostly cooked up the stuff from our farm, and I guess I've been eating much the same since. But," Callie grins, "I'll give it a try. Thank you! I'll have the same as Argus, thanks!" She defers to the older man's apparent expertise in the matter.

AC: 16 | HP: 51/51 | HD: 8/8 Animal Friendship: 1/1 | Misty Step: 1/1 Callie's eyebrows immediately shoot up at the revelation, but it's a while before she processes it enough to form any kind of reply. "There's really no cure? There's... nothing we can do? But..." Callie really just doesn't have the words. She wants to do something, to be doing something about it. Normally, when there was a problem—damaged equipment, a unruly horse, weeds in the garden—she just got to work and solved it. This pilgrimage had forced her to confront so many problems that she couldn't just solve, but at least in Barrow she'd been able to do something. To put some work in, and make the situation better, even if there was no solution. But here... Barris seemed to have just accepted it. "How... how long do you have?" she asked lamely. "Perhaps She can... when we..." Callie speaks quietly, then trails off. She would certainly be praying for Barris, but she knew that to hope that some reward or salvation awaited them at the end of this journey was foolish.

AC: 16 | HP: 51/51 | HD: 8/8 Animal Friendship: 1/1 | Misty Step: 1/1 Callie nods at Calar's words. "Aye, it's hard to find the time. Or to meet anyone! We hardly get any fresh blood at the temple." She pauses before continuing, figuring she probably ought to give the old man at least a bit of gossip. "There was this one bloke last summer; he came to help on the folks' farm. I thought we were getting on well, and he was definitely flirting. But it turned out I was second choice..." She sighs. "It's almost enough to make a woman choose to settle for the single life." In truth, she knew it was partially her fault things didn't work out: she hadn't been able to find enough time to give him. But he could have been far kinder in how he broke it to her, so she didn't have any compunctions about laying the blame on him. Her frown vanishes quickly enough as another thought passes her mind, however. "Oh, that reminds me! Don't let me forget to tell Merridy that my brother's headed back to Vanaris. Those two were always... Well, there was something there."

AC: 16 | HP: 51/51 | HD: 8/8 Animal Friendship: 1/1 | Misty Step: 1/1 "It..." Callie starts to reply to Aurelia, but then stops for a while, considering the question. She'd just been walking and working, not stopping to consider how she felt about it. "It's sad to see the state of... well, everything. But it's been good to help. Good to be out here helping, not just out the temple. And I'm looking forward to seeing the end. I mean, not to being finished, but to seeing the site where She fought." A grin splits Callie's face, even as she stumbles slightly over her words. She sits silent for a moment, contemplating in a way she hasn't done much in a while, before she breaks the silence to turn the question back on Aurelia. "What about you? You say it's different than before, but... are you enjoying the simpler times?"

AC: 16 | HP: 51/51 | HD: 8/8 Animal Friendship: 1/1 | Misty Step: 1/1 "Break it up!" Callie leaps into the fray, trying to push the kids off one another, or at least prevent any of them getting hurt. The children were the same size as she was, but she'd spent most of her life wrestling with creatures much larger than herself. This shouldn't have been hard... except there were a lot of them. And she had a number of five-finger donations to give at the same time. After a few moments of tussling, Callie shouts out, "The rest of you, check your pockets!" She's taken advantage of the distraction, best she can, to distribute more coins. "There's one for each of you!" Assuming that manages to quell the fighting, she makes sure to be quick to produce a few more coins, distributing them into the hands of any children whose pockets she couldn't reach during the fight. "And I don't want to see anybody taking anyone else's share!" She gives a stern glare around the assembled children.

Och, I'm sorry to hear this, but I totally understand. Writing sure is the least fun part of science. I hope things get better for you. And again, thanks. It's been a great and long game, and I'll always be glad to have played in it even if we don't get to wrap it up. Looking forward to seeing you again in a few months, whatever the result might be.

AC: 16 | HP: 51/51 | HD: 8/8 Animal Friendship: 1/1 | Misty Step: 1/1 Callie smiles as the children surround her, and she's happy enough to answer their questions. "We halflings are just like you folk, really. Only we don't grow any taller than this." It was a bit of relief to be able to look the people she was talking to in the eyes without craning her neck. "It's alright, though. I can still work plenty hard." Callie gives a slightly stupid grin as she flexes an arm. "You lot too, I'm sure. C'mon, let's see those muscles!" Callie encourages the children into a silly wee contest. She's sure that, in a town like this, they're already hard at work on their parent's farms. But there's no harm in trying to make them feel a little better about it. "Hey, you want to see something cool?" Callie continues trying to entertain the children while they eat their lunch. "What's that behind your ear?" Callie reaches behind one of the children's ears—she tries to pick the shyest one in the group—and pull out a silver coin. She holds it out on her palm, showing it around the group. Then she curls her hand into a fist around the coin, waves her other hand over it, and opens her hand again to show the coin vanished. "Oh, no! Where's it gone?" She points back to the same child again. "Perhaps you should check your pockets." When the child checks, sure enough, the coin's there. It's no real magic, of course; nothing as useful as what Calar and Aurelia were up to. But perhaps it could bring the children some brief amusement.

AC: 16 | HP: 51/51 | HD: 8/8 Animal Friendship: 1/1 | Misty Step: 1/1 Callie smiles, with a slight blush, at Aurelia and Barris' compliments. "Ah, it ain't nothin'. Just doing what I can!" With the worst of the problems she can handle herself already addressed, Callie hops to helping the townsfolk once Greln arrives. She offers her help with the door first, just a little carving to get a new hinge to fit right. She's happy enough to take his direction. Then she weaves among the townsfolk as they filter in to help, offering assistance, and the loan of what tools she has in her pockets, as necessary. At lunch, Callie gives a big grin to Calar, finding a moment to whisper to him quietly, "Amazing magic you got here." Then she scoops up a couple of bowls of the conjured food and helps to run it out to the village workforce, ensuring everyone else is fed before she takes any food for herself.

AC: 16 | HP: 51/51 | HD: 8/8 Animal Friendship: 1/1 | Misty Step: 1/1 Callie has been curling and uncurling one fist since they stepped into the temple, angered to see the state of it, and the dereliction that had let it grow this way. But Calar handled it well, and... at least Father Urim was willing to get to work when called to the task. Her anger melts away quickly as she gets to work, losing herself in the tasks. She begins with odd jobs around the temple: trimming candles, cutting the splinters from pews, checking for leaks (though she suspected Argus would see any long before she did), and so on. She also offers her help to Aurelia with any carving required on the altar's accoutrements, and to Greln if he needed any carving done or any tools to borrow. She works quickly and efficiently; they certainly couldn't make this place perfect, but they could make it functional. That was all She needed, after all. Once the interior was functional, Callie pops outside. Pulling out Maurice's trowel, she begins tending to such plants as would grow in the rocky ground about here, at least trying to tidy the temple's exterior up a bit. As she reaches the path up from the town, an idea strikes her, and a sly smile tugs at the corners of her mouth. She pulls a couple of bulbs from her pocket—two of the ones she'd been saving for the blasted lands closer to where She fell—and buries them right alongside the path. A quick request to Snowdrop yields a little manure for the bulbs. Hopefully that would help the hardy plants grow... and perhaps they'd provide some inspiration to the residents here when they came up in a few months. It was a long shot to hope that such a small sign would help to bring people back to the temple, but it made Callie feel a little better to try.

AC: 16 | HP: 82/82 | Initiative: -1 | Spell Save DC: 16 | Spells: 4/4 3/3 3/3 3/3 2/2 1/1 Fog Cloud: 1/1 | Seaweb: 1/1 | Arcane Recovery: 1/1 | Concentration: None Third Eye: Unopened | Astromancy Archive: 3/3 | Tiny Servants: None Portent: TODO | Hero Points: 4/4 | Spell Ring: Comprehend Languages Torfinn looks around at faces in the room, not seeing much keenness for the idea. "I... I know it sounds unpleasant. Honestly... I'm not keen to... throw myself back in the Garrone either... Last time I did... I nearly died." Torfinn's fingers trace one large scar across his plastron—one of many on his shell from that fateful day. "But that was up... up at the Source. And I was... unprepared. It flows slower here on the plains. And if we ballast ourselves to the bottom... and just walk... it should be quite safe? Perhaps tie ourselves together? So nobody gets lost?" It's clear that Torfinn's getting a little desperate in his efforts to convince people, and he gives a deep sigh as he realises that himself. "We need some way into the city..." OOC Just wanted to RP Torfinn's persuasion attempt. He's got an applicable personal anecdote to deploy, though it may not be helpful. 🙂 Hopefully this is fairly representative of a 6.