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 Posted: Mon Sep 02, 2013 8:13 am
This Quest is for Aminah who aspires to become a Sage.
OOC
||. Aminah must do this on her own. No other NPCs may be used.
||. Respond to the prompts given as you would any other RP.
||. Your responses may be as long or short as you feel necessary.
IC
The world was experiencing a time of peace, and every day was a continuation of that. Some of the elders would describe it as an era of calm, while the younger generation would describe it as benign and uninteresting. A rift between the first and third generation would form as the elders still remembered the wars, the strife and loss of loved ones, but peaceful days had a funny way of lulling one into a false sense of security, the idea that 'it could never happen to me' was something many of the younger generations believed in, and even the elders did not see this coming.
It was early morning, the sun hadn't even begun to peek over the horizon when suddenly the night insects grew silent. Any nocturnal creatures quickly fled the area when the smell of smoke filled the cool air. It had started small, and in only one corner but due to how dry Tale could be, and it quickly devoured any of the dry grass around the corners of Animah's home. With no one wise to it just yet it was spreading, and the flames were eagerly licking at the edges of the girls lush oasis of a garden. If something wasn't done quickly it would consume it before moving on to more of the small community.
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Posted: Tue Sep 03, 2013 12:04 pm
Aminah was tucked away safely in bed, the covers laid out in a neat line on her body and her moracker Niro snuggled at the foot, his usual spot lately. The night had been cool enough last night to have slept with both of her covers on without even feeling too warm and was a nice change from the stifling airs of summer.
Her usual daily routine started not soon after the sun had risen, giving her ample time to tend to her garden before it was too hot for her precious plants. But in the mean time, she slept.
Her two fish, Bay and Bon, that hung decoratively from the ceiling near her work desk seemed to notice the commotion outside before Niro or Aminah had. Aminah turned gently in bed and began to stir and stretch where she was. It took her a few minutes to even register that something was wrong and that it was what had woken her up early. She sat up in bed, rubbing her eyes and noticed a whiff of air pass by her nose. Smoke? Smoke... smoke! Oh smoke!
Aminah jumped up out of her bed and rushed outside to her garden. Niro followed close behind; the small animal ready to rush into the line of fire with her, though he didn't know how literal that would actually be. Once the smoke was visible to Niro and he had seen the fire, he quickly turned around and rushed back inside, hiding under the bed. Aminah gasped at the fire licking at the edges of her garden and rushed back into the house to grab her staff.
It would spread soon if Aminah didn't think fast, but she couldn't seem to find her staff. She had been so tired last night, she couldn't think of where she had put it and searched the house frantically, Niro peeking out from under the bed long enough to conclude that it was still unsafe to come out and receded back into its depths. Aminah silently cursed herself for not paying enough attention and searched all of the normal places she would have put it. It wasn't near the door, it wasn't next to her bed, it wasn't up on her desk, or beside it, it wasn't anywhere. She huffed and wanted to pull her hair out or cry, she didn't know which and it was so frustrating. She heard a clinking and clunking under her bed and the loud crack of Niro's tail in fear and couldn't imagine what Niro would have gotten into now.
She practically threw herself onto the floor and lifted up the blankets to see what it was that Niro was trying to break in his scurrying. It was her staff! It must have rolled under the bed last night somehow while she was sleeping! Oh, she could kiss Niro, but he was too far away, backed up against the corner about as far back as he could go now that Aminah had what it was that she was looking for and probably useless until the fire was out. She snatched up the staff and practically shoved herself out of the house, lunging for the door. She had to put this out.
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Posted: Wed Sep 04, 2013 5:30 am
During the girl's attempts to find her staff the fire had spread, now starting to eat away the fringes of her garden as well as climbing the walls of her home. There was a small breeze that only seemed to breath life into the flames. As Animah burst through the doors of her home it seemed like a wall of fire rose up to greet her, beyond it stood a figure that was hard to make out, besides the fact that they were tall and wore a cloak. Satisfied with its destruction it fled the scene without a word, the only sounds now was the hiss and pop of the plants as they met their fate with the hunger of the fire.
Then there were shouts of alarm all around her, it seemed that she hadn't been the only one targeted and people were waking up to find their homes set ablaze. Cries of children rose as mothers tried to grab them from their sleep and rush them out of danger. Shouts from men trying to figure out the best way to deal with the situation...any magic users were summoned to try and help put out the flames. Panic would begin to build if they couldn't contain the flames, and if someone didn't take charge.
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Posted: Mon Sep 09, 2013 7:53 am
Aminah threw her arms up in protection at the sudden burst of fire that greeted her from her door. She began to panic as it continued to spread and all she could do was watch as it began to lick at her precious garden. It was a part of her being and as it singed, she could feel herself and her morale slowly melt away. The hooded figure disappeared into the forest; the movement catching Aminah's eye. She caught a quick glimpse and knew that this fire was no accident.
Though that was pretty obvious at this point.
The houses in the area grew with flames and people began to yell and shout, and Aminah snapped back into reality. She needed to act quickly. And she needed to prioritize. What was more important: her garden, that provided food to the people of Yera and the surrounding villages, or the houses and actual people of the village? Who knew who would be trapped in the flaming wreckage; and while Amina's garden would be a terrible blow to the people if it were to be consumed, it could be rebuilt with time. She needed to help the others.
She cast a quick water spell, hoping to slow the flames from entering her garden and her home, and spreading water on the garden and home itself, to try to deter future flames from grabbing so quickly. If she could just keep it wet, she might be able to save both the people and her garden, or at least most of it.
She ran from around her small home and met with the others in the center of the village. There were only a handful of mages equipped enough to deal with a fire like this, but there were plenty of willing villagers, ready to help however they could. Aminah stood at the edge of the small group, unsure about what they were to do next.
It was clear to her that no one really knew how they were going to organize this squad; the mages themselves muttering to each other about what would be the best course of action. Aminah gripped her staff and took a deep breath in; there was no time to waste right now.
She gathered herself into the center of the circle and, knowing full well that her head didn't even break the eye line of almost everyone there, used an earth spell to raise the ground at her feet, making a temporary platform for her to stand above the others. She raised her voice, hoping that they would settle down and listen long enough for their village to not go up in flames. "Everyone! We need to work as fast as we can. All able bodies without magic should make sure that the houses are cleared out of people and children in case we can't prevent some damage. Start throwing dirt on the spreading fires to keep it contained. We can do this!" She wasn't sure if her pep talk was sounding all that confident, but she had to try and get these people moving. "Anybody with magic: listen up! We need to put the fire out. We'll need two teams! One team to hose down the houses that haven't been touched by fire yet, and another to work on the flames."
She counted out the group that had stuck around with wands, runes, books, whatever it was that they were using as a conduit. She counted eight. Well, eight would have to do. "We'll need two to water down the untouched houses." She pointed to two of the younger mages. They weren't much younger than Aminah, but she needed those with the most experience for the flames. "And the rest will work in teams of two to get the fires out. Use whatever you can, whether it water or earth to get it out."
She realized that she hadn't given a position for herself. "I'll be putting out the flames starting from the center. Everyone else work from the edges out."
She waited for the others to disperse and start doing their jobs before she looked around. She didn't actually know where the center to this fire was, but she would need to find it quickly. This rally already took a precious chunk out of their available time and the fire was licking further and further out.
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Posted: Tue Sep 10, 2013 2:50 pm
The panic was brought about, people who had been unable to focus were instead brought to attention by Aminah's quick thinking. They needed someone to take charge and they got it. Obvious relief could be read through people's expressions; they had jobs to do now and direction to move. Once tasks were assigned they went to work immediately to bring the inferno under control.
Any magic user with skill went their own way to work on the blaze, those with less gathered in small groups to work together. Everyone looked to Aminah for confirmation on what they were doing, and slowly as a team the fire was brought under control. The extent of the damage was still hard to gauge, there were many people suffering from light burns but no serious injuries. The worst of the damage to homes were those closest to Aminah's, her garden and west side of her house suffering the most, and words now were spreading through the town.
No one even dare suggest it was the young woman who started it, but the underlying question lay 'who would want to seek revenge against Aminah?' An older man approached the young woman as if to ask just that, did she know who started it? Or who would want to risk harm upon her or the villagers?
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Posted: Thu Sep 12, 2013 11:50 am
Aminah wiped the sweat from her forehead, assessing the damage. She was already exhausted, and could use a nap, but there was no time for this. The fire seemed to not be too serious after all, but her poor home had a huge chunk eaten up. She would have to go to her familiars as soon as she could to make sure they were alright. Bay and Bon should be fine, being strung from the opposite end of the house, but poor Niro would be terrified.
She turned to look back at her parent's home, hoping that they were all safe and Sathe wasn't too scared either. Poor baby, so young and already having to go through this ordeal.
Aminah's eyes searched in the direction of her first home and she sighed in relief when she saw that it wasn't even touched by flames. It looked perfect and like it would on any other day. Her line of sight caught an older man approaching her, his face looked like it was focused on her and she could hear the chatter going on now that the fire had died down. It was only murmuring and she could only hear bits and pieces, but 'fire' and 'cause' and 'grudge' caught her attention.
The older man seemed to have the same look on his face as everyone else, giving Aminah the impression that he was going to have some questions for her. Though she knew just about as much as everyone else really. She inhaled deeply, preparing herself for what was to come, hoping to push what was left of her exhaustion out with it.
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Posted: Fri Sep 20, 2013 11:43 am
The old man was still in good health considering his age; he required only the use of a makeshift cane to help him shuffle along. His hair was silver from age and his eyes wrinkled from years of smiling and laughing. Though there was hardly any hint of a smile on his face right now, in fact he looked quite worried.
"Animah...do you know who could have done this? This goes beyond...a grudge...if you hadn't reacted the surrounding area could have caught ablaze and perhaps the entirety of Tale could be in flames this day.." His voice, although tired and low, seemed to catch the attention of others who were nearby. Eyes began to turn to Animah expecting answers, as if it was her responsibility to know what was going on since she had taken charge of the situation.
"Who would do this to us?" Came a woman's voice from the gathering crowd. Whispering began in earnest as people began to speculate what or who could have started the fire.
"Did you see anyone?"
"I bet it was those warrior woman from the isles..the alkidikes..."
"Could be the shifters..."
The murmuring was growing in intensity and accusations began to run wild, beneath the panic that had set in, a simmering rage was building. Old hatreds were flaring up and suspicions running wild.
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Posted: Mon Sep 23, 2013 9:23 am
Aminah was taken aback at the intensity of the murmuring and how quick they were to point fingers. She lifted her arms up in meek protest, as if she were under attack herself. The barrage of questions were too much for her to concentrate on anything and she took a single step back as if this would clear her head.
She shook her head slightly to clear it, though to others it might look as if she was answering their question. She narrowed her eyes on the elderly man in front of her, trying to focus on him and not the voices hurdled her way. "I- well I don't know who could have done this..." She furrowed her eyebrows in concentration. "I don't think it would have been the Alkidike though, and definitely not the shifters, or at least I would hope not." She was starting to ramble and had to bring herself together again.
Something in her head clicked and she suddenly remembered the cloak she saw billowing into the abyss earlier. What was it doing here? Whoever it was was definitely the cause, who else could it have been? "Wait. I did... see something when the fire started. It was hard to tell with the flames and all the commotion, but there was someone wearing a cloak, I couldn't see who it was, but I saw them leave."
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Posted: Tue Sep 24, 2013 11:07 am
As she spoke the crowd got quieter, apparently riveted on each word the young woman had to say though every time she paused the whispering would start up anew. Some were agreeing with Aminah as they couldn't see it being shifters or alkidikes, and yet there were others that were positive that the girl was being ignorant of the past and was too nice to actually consider anyone an enemy.
However as soon as she mentioned seeing someone, all eyes were riveted on her. All was silent for an intense moment or two and then everyone was speaking at once.
"We should hunt this person.."
"Fan out and search..."
"Make them pay..."
The hostility was growing with each passing moment, you could almost imagine the crowd forming a mob and going out to hunt this said person in a cloak.
"Everyone calm down. Let Aminah continue before you all decide to run off to find this person yourselves. " The old man managed to bellow, causing the group to go strangely quiet. All eyes returned to Aminah as if expecting her to lead them to justice.
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Posted: Wed Sep 25, 2013 12:34 pm
Aminah gulped hard at the thought of a mob forming. She knew they were upset, but that probably wouldn't help anything at all. And a mod could be heard moving through the forest; they were rarely quiet really. She thought back on an old old myth about pitchforks and fire and chasing after a monster; yep, she could see that happening now.
The older man spoke up for her though, something she was grateful for, but at the same time, she didn't really know what else to say. That was about all she knew really. "Well... um... I saw which way they went I think. I could follow them and find out what happened... Maybe it would be best if everyone hung out here and guarded the village while I track them down." As she spoke, she tried to get her confidence up, hoping that she would sound like she did earlier when leading the fire brigade and also hoping that her suggestion would sound like smart thinking and get most, and hopefully all, of the people to stay with their families and friends. The cloaked figure took off a while ago and a big group of people would no doubt slow down the search. Or so she thought at least.
Who knew? Maybe this whole thing was a wasted effort already? The forest was really large, and with so much time to get a way, they could be anywhere.
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Posted: Fri Sep 27, 2013 9:34 am
A murmur ran through the crowd; after all, that did seem like the most logical thing to do, let the young girl go out and look for their mysterious fire starter. And they would stay behind just in case he or she came back to cause more trouble. Of course..somehow that logic didn't seem to add up. Let the young woman go after someone who was potentially dangerous by herself? The older man from the tribe seemed to look at everyone astounded by their sudden lack of desire to step up and help the young woman. But he was in no condition himself to go and he only gave a soft tsking sound before turning to face Aminah.
"I wish I could go with you, but I would only slow you down..." He began, his head hanging low as if he was disappointed with himself for being as old as he was. Returning his gaze to Aminah, he then looked beyond her. "The assailant may be in the area still, perhaps he or she wanted to see if their dirty work went over well...they may be back as we managed to put out the fires....I would suggest trying where you saw them last....I wish you the best of luck..and be careful." Was all he could offer before he turned away and began to bark orders for people. Having such a large crowd all nervous and hostile wasn't a good thing and he was going to get them busy so they didn't do anything stupid.
[You may write as little or as much as you want to locate the suspect of the crime, Aminah will find unusual foot prints in and around her garden she can follow to the edge of Jahaur. Stop once she gets there]
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Posted: Wed Oct 02, 2013 12:42 pm
Aminah almost physically sighed in relief. They were going to let her go looking for whoever it was that started this all. That was good... right? She would be alone, but at least the people of the village wouldn't be hounding over her; they would be here, waiting for the assailant to come back - if they came back - and working on repairing the damage. She gave the elderly man a small smile as he began to round up the people of the village and set them to work. She didn't know much of this man, but he was kind, she could see that. She nodded her head to his advice of where to start and turned back to the direction of her garden.
As she came upon her poor poor garden, her shoulders slumped. All that work and so much of it was gone. The entire section she had filled with Jauhar plants was burned to a crisp. She would have to gather those plants all over again. She didn't even want to think about what had happened to the inside of her house, but she had to go check, at least for Niro's sake. She quickly ducked under what was left of the doorway and looked into the smoky home. Her work desk had taken most of the damage, smoldering in what was left of the fire. Even the plants that she had been nurturing for replanting were toasted. She heaved a heavy sigh and splashed a little more water magic to put the smoldering bits out before they caught again. She turned to look at her bed and where her Niro was when she left him and saw that at least Bay and Bon were alright. Just as she thought, they didn't have the slightest interest in what was actually happening. Her bed was completely in tact and that was a relief. With any luck, Niro would still be under there. She lifted the covers to check the underside and got on her hands and knees. Niro looked out at her with large, scared, and desperate eyes.
Aminah cried out with relief for her little pet and pulled him out from under his hiding spot. He shivered and seemed to be suspicious of the world around him, but he didn't seem to have any injuries. Aminah lifted him up, checking all over to be sure, before holding him close to her chest. He wasn't the kind for cuddling and hugs, but he would have to get over it for Aminah's sake. She needed to know that he was alright. No doubt Aminah wouldn't be leaving him alone here while she was gone.
She left the house with a brisk pace, knowing that her time was running out. She looked around and spotted what she was looking for first: her little sister. She nearly tossed Niro at Sathe and asked her little sister for the favor of looking out for her little moracker before she took off back to her garden. She shifted through the burnt and charred pieces of her garden first, looking for any sort of clue before switching gears to the healthier parts of the garden. She couldn't seem to find anything useful; nothing dropped, nothing left behind... and then she saw it. Footprints. But they were a little more than unusual to say the least, they barely even looked like they came from a foot; if it was a shoe print it was the weirdest shoe she had ever seen.
She looked up quizzically at the rest of her garden, looking for more prints. Who was this? ... What was this?
She spotted more prints leading out of her garden and into the forest. She took off, careful to keep mindful of her surroundings and followed the footprints out and west. She made sure to keep a hand on her staff, ducking low and trying not to lose her way. The dry Tale air and powdery sand made leaving footprints incredibly difficult once anyone left the soil of her garden. At first she could just use the distinction of color when they were still dragging the deep brown of the garden's dirt with them, but soon enough she had to start using what little tracking skills she had. And that was near to none.
She lost sight of the tracks for a time, but kept on in the direction she had been moving, hoping to find them once again in a harder patch of dirt. She was almost defeated, thinking she had lost the trail for good when she saw the edge of the forest come into view along with a single footprint ahead of her. She scanned her surroundings, looking for another print until she hit the edge of the forest.
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Posted: Thu Oct 03, 2013 11:28 am
It was good that she had trusted her intuition and moved towards the forest of Jahaur; and even though the foot prints were hard to follow, something seemed to be guiding her in the direction of the tall trees. Once at the edge there was an eerie silence; even the wind seemed to die down, leaving a stagnant, oppressive weight hanging in the air.
Up in a tree there was a figure; it was watching her with an unusually keen interest. It was standing there, using an uncanny amount of balance, its hands were down at its side. It wore a cloak, the same one Aminah would recall seeing at her home. It had its hood drawn up obscuring its face but it was definitely tilted in the direction of Aminah's figure.
A high pitched vibrating hum came from behind Aminah and then another joined it off to the left of her. Two more figures came out of the tall grass, also wearing cloaks. It was now that the wind began to pick up tossing the cloaks about revealing that the figures had strange talonned hands. No one moved; it was as if they were waiting for a signal.
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Posted: Fri Oct 04, 2013 1:08 pm
Aminah stopped her walk as she entered the Jauhar forest. She felt a chill come up her spine, not knowing exactly what it was. She felt as if the world was holding its breath, the air just stopping and hanging where it was. Any longer and she thought that it would go stale.
She took a tentative step forward and glanced around her, the hair on her neck still not relaxing. Was someone watching her? Her gaze flickered up and she almost couldn't believe what it was that she was seeing. There was someone up in the trees... and with the same cloak she saw flash by as the fire started raging. She was about to cry out to the person, demanding that they come down and face what was coming to them, when she heard the humming.
She immediately stopped short and turned slightly pale. More humming came from the left and she could feel herself start to sweat. What was this? It didn't sound like anything she had ever heard before, not from Tale or from Jauhar, and she had been in both enough to know what the typical sounds were. Two more cloaked figures came out from their hiding place in the forest and Aminah swallowed hard. She had a feeling that they weren't here to apologize or exchange pleasantries.
The wind blew through the forest; lifting Aminah's hair, cooling her sweat, but also revealing what was under the mysterious cloaks. Talons emerged from the billowing figures and Aminah tensed, ready to do what she had to do to stay alive, whether that was flee or fight.
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Posted: Mon Oct 07, 2013 6:54 am
For a moment the three strange humanoids stood there; the two new ones seemed shorter than the first one. Strange clicking sounds came out of the depths of their hoods like a strange chant and the two new creatures backed up slightly and began to glow. They were casting spells but they didn't seem to be attack spells...in fact it looked as if they were aiding their stronger comrade.
A hiss was perhaps her only warning as the creature in front of Aminah suddenly began building an immense ball of fire to then throw at her.
[You can take control of the battle and the NPC's to your liking. Aminah will discover that her foe seems strangely immune to her attacks. Can she figure out how to defeat him? Or will she be forced to flee?]
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