• Closed • Raining Fire

[Rabu]

27th of Cyrus, 719

Rabu drove his donkey driven cart through the southeast burhos to do some people watching. When his eyes weren’t following the movements of his donkey Gogo, he was eyeing the people of the city. He made a quick glance to Merl the toothless and her husband Gareth. Merl was laughing a deep belly laugh that put her three remaining teeth on display as Gareth told a story with his hands. Their three sons were holding their bellies on the ground in laughter at their fathers energetic tale, which seemed to involve a lot of spitting. Rabu raised a brow then smiled as he rode past, normally there was fists flying between the two with the children betting on who would win. Rabu would normally go out of his way to calm the two to no success, he was starting to believe they enjoyed blooding each others faces.

As Gogo pulled the cart further along the worn dirt road, Rabu passed Grumpy old pickle nose’s tent and stall. The tunawa didn’t know her real name but it was fitting, Pickle nose had a long bumpy nose and her wrinkled face seemed stuck in a perpetual frown. Most people of the city put up with her harsh demeanour because she was one of the few medicine providers. Rabu would often go to see her and buy a few things when his stock was low, he often tried to cheer her up with a kind word or two but Pickle Nose would always huff or grunt at him.
“Deh Greetings for you Pickle nose.” Rabu called out as he approached her stand. “I heard you have deh blood leaches, dis true?” The tunawa wasn’t tall enough to see past her decretive table cloth but heard a bit of rustling from in her tent behind her stall.
“Bloid leeches..Fraid noit..who askin?” Came the usual groggy voice of old Pickle nose.
“I Rabu.” He responded hesitantly.
“Oh yoiu’re the little healer in train’nen, Anything else I can getcha?”
Rabu went silent for a moment with a raised brow of confusion at her suddenly cheerful tone.
“No I dink I good for dis time. You have day dat is good Pickle Nose.”
“You too sweetie.”
Rabu walked a distance away and looked back to see Old pickle nose waving and smiling at him, He did the same while doing his best to etch what might be a rare moment in his head.

Why was everyone so nice today?

[Kisaik]

Kisaik was in the back of the cart while Rabu was driving them forward. He’d decided to accompany his husband, in case any Yari decided to try their luck at wedding his husband. He took his vows to protect and hold no other friendship above Rabu’s seriously. There was of course the First Tree, but the importance of that tree was an inextricable landmark of their relationship, with they having served no small part in its birth.

At any rate, he gave Rabu a long leash, not wanting to smother his new hubby. So let him talk to folks and get off the wagon as he chose. He would only interfere if his Husband called for help. Besides, it wasn't as if Kisaik could stop him if he wanted! Rabu was a wandering sort, which kinda conflicted with Kisaik’s desire to put down roots. He couldn’t deny the coziness of Rabu’s wagon, though.

As Rabu came back from his visit to Pickle Nose, Kisaik was rifling through the alchemical equipment he’d left in there. Specifically, the solar calcinator. In tree-talk, he shouted for Rabu, ”Husband! Have you seen my solar calcinator? I could’ve sworn I took it with us when I left my burrow… It’ll look like a small copper bowl on a stand, with some liquid in it."

Kisaik scratched his beard, trying to think of where he might’ve left it. ”I see my tin alembic and retort, but no calcinator! Augh.”

Slate was resting sleepily beneath one of the shelves in the interior of the wagon. Kisaik gave him a pat near the ear, before emerging to the driving seat of the wagon. There he climbed up on tippy toes to give Rabu a peck on the cheek. ”How goes, dearest. You look a bit confused.”

[Rabu]

he paused for a moment at his husbands inquiry, then sighed knowing he was the guilty party. “…I think I saw it near my Mortar and pestle, behind the medicine box, right corner of the cart.” Rabu called back to his future husband in his native tongue. He hung his head low and shuffled back to the cart. “I’m sorry I was looking at it and forgot to put it back, I just haven’t seen one since my time in Desnind…The markets here don’t seem to have them. “ Rabu looked around suspiciously then whispered “I think they use fire to boil their water.… May Moseke have mercy on them.“

“Oh I’m not confused, people are just acting strangely. Not in a bad way just..well they aren’t usually so nice.” Rabu chuckled up at his husband. “I suppose that’s not something to really complain about but yah know..its strange. “

“Do you hear that?” Rabu’s ears twitched as a strange humming invaded his ears. It was quiet but the mortal born could feel it bubbling in his sap.

Overhead a massive void began to grow in the sky, like a giant ink bottle had spilled its contents over the blue atmosphere. From it rained down flames of Amethyst and streams of Sapphire blue water. Rabu saw two tiny flames set upon the table cloth adorning the booth of picklnose, one flame land on the leg of one of the twin boys and another on the arm of the storytelling father. There was an uproar of screaming people running around like panicked chickens with their heads cut off.

A flame grazed Gogo and she shrieked loudly in alarm before charging forward cart and all.

[Kisaik]

”Hmm, fire you say? Well, I suppose that is fire, but what do they use to feed the fire? Oils of some kind?” Kisaik scratched his chin. ”Well, at any rate, these Yaralon Tall Folk are always in a rush to do everything. From fighting to drinking, to fighting, and more fighting. Perhaps they need to learn to have manners, from time to time. Not everyone wants to fight, afterall.”

”We’ll find it then, later. I don’t need it right at the moment. I just didn’t want to forget it in my small burrow.” Kisaik sighed, ”I think I should help our Ethelguard and Raskalguard, and their father. Their father has often complained of not having someone to watch over his children while going out to market to sell his wares.” He paused a moment, then turned to meet eyes with Rabu.

”Perhaps we can commission some upgrades for your wagon? Some more space… In case we find a way to have a sprout… In the future of course!” Kisaik had been thinking more and more about having a sprout with Rabu, since he’d brought it up to Queen Cerulean. ”And all of our pets, of course. I’ve been thinking of having a menagerie of mounts to gather.”

Suddenly, they both heard as gogo shreiked, and then barreled forward on the path through the market. ”What!?”

He dashed as fast as he could to the front of the wagon. He took the reins, trying to calm the donkey as it ran through the streets. Using what knowledge he had of keeping a mount on track, he steered it away from all the stalls and people.

Moving forward, however, choices had to be made. And Kisaik would rather ruin their stalls than run over people. So as the wagon charged through the avenue, they ended up knocking over one stall or another, while people were given enough room to dive out of the way.

All the while, overhead there was a fire spreading over the sky. ”Do you see that?!”

[Rabu]

“Oh thats a good question, though I believe that oils might feed the flames too much unless i’m remembering my chemistry studies wrong.”Rabu bit his lip and tapped his chin as he struggled to recall what he knew on the subject. “Fire isn’t something I know much about, I mostly know how to treat the damage they do.”

“I do wish the tall folk of this city would find other more peaceful ways to solve problems.” Rabu sighed before sharing a glance with Kisaik and smiling “but If anyone could teach them manners it would be you, your the most honourable fighter I know.” He playfully jabbed the other tunawa.

“I suppose we could do that….” Rabu replied apprehensively as he remembered his not so pleasant experience with tall folk children. He shivered slightly as he remembered the dark basement where he and Kisaik nearly lost their lives. Thankfully Rabu quickly forgot those unsettling memories as Kisaik mentioned the possibility of a sprout in the future. The tunawa’s face began to glow in intense blush and he was forced to look away for a moment to regain his composure.
“I think we could use a bit more room…” Rabu paused pursed his lips a bit and pinched his brows into a frown before adding “..please no more birds.”


———

“Yes I see it too.” Rabu looked up in dread and awe at the spectacle happening in the sky. “What could this mean?” It certainly couldn’t mean good things that much the tunawa was certain.

Thanks too Kisaik’s quick thinking and skills, their cart had managed to avoid hitting anyone. It did smash into a few stalls but considering what was going on that was the least of anyones problems. People had began running and screaming, trampling over each other in the streets. One young man had fallen to the ground in one of these crowds and was being trampled by the frenzied heard of people.

“Calm yourselves! you hurt each oder!” Rabu shouted and pointed to the man in need. They crowds didn’t seem to stop and Rabu was afraid the man wouldn’t be alive when things settled.

[Kisaik]

Time of Day/Night: Daylight
Weapons: Naught but his wits.
Armor: Just his mantle and hood

Injuries: Nothing serious
Illness: Some slight anxiety

Kisaik steered the donkey and cart as best he could, directing it away from traffick for the most part. As they barreled along, dragging down awnings and knocking over small stalls, Rabu pointed out a man that had fallen among the crowd, and was certain to be trampled. "Hang on!" Kisaik cried to Rabu in Xanthean.

With a sharp tug of one of the reins, he forced the donkey to veer sharp right. Once Kisaik ensured that the wagon stood in the way of any runners or rioters who might trample the man, he stopped the cart. That done, he hopped down from the driver's seat, to check on the man. "Come Rabu, I think he need medical attention!"

So saying, Kisaik didn't know much about first aid, especially when it came to tall folk. While Tunawa were sturdy and resilient enough, it seemed the bigger one got, the harder it was to manage their health.

Kisaik tapped gently on the back of the man's neck, to see if he'd respond. "You ok?"

The tunawa waved for his betrothed to hurry and gather his medical supplies. "Come Rabu, no time wastin'! Man need help."

That said, Kisaik went over to the far side of the wagon, and climbed up about midway so that he'd be on eye level with anyone who came around the freight portion of the wagon. All the while, the sky above burned with an angry color. It didn't seem to be doing much, but seemed fairly ominous to Kisaik.

"I wonder what it means?" He said, scratching his beard.

"Maybe it a fracture?" He looked down to see if Rabu had gotten to the man yet.

"Do you think he be okay?"

[Rabu]

Rabu quickly rummaged through his supplies with intense focus to find anything to help with the situation. He nabbed a blue vial containing a natural antiseptic he made from a few common herbs and swiftly ran to the mans aid. When Rabu arrived to the unconscious man he went right to work. He put his hands on the throat to check the vitals, the heart beat was pounding regularly. The Tunawa gently pried open the mans mouth, There was barely any air escaping. He peered in deeper to check if the tongue was encumbering the breathing or if there was vomit in the back of the throat, it was not. There was something else making it hard to breath. Rabu walked over and pulled up the mans shirt to find there was already quite a bit of bruising beginning to form on the mans torso. best case scenario the man had just gotten the wind kicked out of him and Rabu didn’t want to think about what the worst case scenario was.

Rabu turned to Kisaik and presented the blue bottle. “Dab this on any open wounds you come accross and see if you can call for help, I’m going to try something but I don’t think it will be enough.” He instructed in Xanthea before closing his eyes and aiming both his hands at the mans ribs. As Rabu concentrated a faint glow began to shine from his chest and a yellowish green mist began to seep from the palms of his hands. it slowly wafted and went into the mans skin. Without missing a beat Rabu summoned the mist again to coax any kind of healing out of the man’s damaged cells.

Rabu didn’t even realize he was ignoring Kisaik’s comments about the strange phenomenon, he was so focused on the task at hand.

[Kisaik]

Kisaik turned his attention from the growing fracture, or whatever it was that was lighting up the sky, to Rabu and his newfound patient. ”Terribly sorry, fellow.” Kisaik said in Xanthean. ”We couldn’t control Gogo, he is quite jittery when it comes to big fire-like lights in the sky, apparently.”

The tunawa watched with growing interest, as Rabu took his supplies from the wagon and began applying them with great competence to the fallen man. Soon enough, he began to come around. When Rabu began using what looked like a mystical power, in tandem with his medicines, both Kisaik’s eyes, and the man’s grew wide. The man nevertheless sat still, and waited for the green cloak to finish his work.

Kisaik fidgeted slightly, as he turned to look at the now seemingly benign lights in the sky. It was large, and green whatever it was, but it didn’t appear to be doing much at the point where they were. The lights seemed to move over the sky, and then toward the First Tree. There, it’s corruption was sure to be swallowed up by the Jelly Plants and Jelly Guardians living there. Sure enough, the greenish energy was drank up by the leaves of the First Tree. Then there was quiet, and the ambient din of the city resumed it’s usual pace.

The tunawa turned back toward Rabu and the patient, coming around the man’s shoulder and crossing his arms. ”Well, that was interesting… I hope the Tree is fine… Yes it’s probably nothing to worry about.”

The man lifted a hand to signal to Rabu that he was healed well enough to move now, ”Thank you, wood folk.” He said in somewhat broken Xanthean. ”Honor to you.”

”We apologize for the inconvenience, once more good sir!” Kisaik said, before jumping down from the man’s shoulder, and bounding over toward the cart. He climbed up onto the driver’s seat, and took the reins. ”Well done, Rabu. Let us be off now, shall we?”

[Doran]

Kisaik:

Knowledge:
Acrobatics: Jumping onto a man’s shoulder.
Acrobatics: Jumping down from a man’s shoulder, when he’s at full height.
Climbing: Clambering onto a wagon.
Alchemy: Instrument: A Solar Calcinator is used to warm fluids without the use of fire.
Etiquette: Asking if a person is alright.
Etiquette: Politely asking where your things might be.
Mount (Wagon): Taking control of a cart run amok.
Mount (Wagon): Avoiding obstacles on four wheels.
Mount (Wagon): Minimizing collateral damage while driving into a crowded street.

Loot: -
Wealth: -
Injuries: -
Renown: +5 for averting disaster and helping heal folks
Magic XP: -

Points: 15

Rabu:

Knowledge:
Etiquette: Asking if a person is alright.
Etiquette: Politely asking where your things might be.
Medicine: Knowing when to take action and apply first aid.
Medicine: Applying a healing salve to a man’s ribs.
Medicine: Using divine power granted by Moseke, in tandem with healing skills.
Mount (Wagon): Letting a more experienced driver take the reins.
Socialization: A good bedside manner is important for a healer to form a repoire with a patient.
Socialization: Contact: Pickle Nose sells supplies that are useful for healers.
Socialization: Contact: Pickle Nose is a nice person, despite their harsh appearance.

Loot: -
Wealth: -
Injuries: -
Renown: +5 for averting disaster and helping heal folks
Magic XP: -

Points: 15

- - -

Comments: I love the names you give some of your NPCs, Rabu. I especially liked “Grumpy old pickle nose”!

I approve of Kisaik’s desire to protect his new husband.

The dialogue between your PCs was great!

I’m glad that none of the tall folk were run over by the cart and Rabu and Kisaik managed to help people.

Great job, you two, and please enjoy your rewards!