Chapter XV
in which Krom cold cocks a griffin and then shit gets real...
Previously (06/26):
meets up with Ra'jira.
learn about giant Condor hunting and make arrangements to go see (and maybe hunt?) them.
have their magic hover raft stolen by 4 centaur scouts. They track them down, and take back their raft.
is set upon by a force of centaurs, and flees the scene.
Serosan Suppression
The group was returning to Cadence's camp from the Serosan, being escorted by a griffin rider named Kasim after fleeing from a contingent of the centaur army. Haas noticed that the rider seemed to be under the influence of a Silencing, and believed that he would be able to tell the group more about the centaurs if he traveled farther away. Haas tried to explain the effects of Silencing by demonstrating her own inability to reveal information about the Duke. From the things she was able to say, and more importantly the things she was not able to say, it appears that the hidden information of the Duke has to do with a fighting technique of his, and that he may have some ability to cancel out his opponents channeling, but Krom and Glad pretended not to be able to figure this out and instead made jokes that the Duke was hiding embarrassing sexual secrets.
At this time Elias and Phrixus revealed that Kasim was in fact under Suppression, and Elias distilled its hidden influence. Being near a person that was being Suppressed gave everyone a sense of witnessing an utterly inhumane violation of the griffin rider. This new knowledge was relayed back to Sovelus and Cadence, and the group requested of Cadence that someone skilled with tracking a Suppression be sent to meet with them. Cadence agreed, but her people were over an hour away, and the group was less than 30 minutes to the border, so they made of show of stopping to rest to kill some time.
All party members were incredibly uncomfortable with being this close to someone being Suppressed, and Glad tricked Kasim into drinking a mood enhancing drug of Tilly's to lessen the uneasiness, to no effect. Haas tried a more direct approach, and revealed to him that he was under Suppression. Kasim became confused for a second, and then immediately attacked, throwing a burning powder at the groups air raft. Glad quickly diverted the powder using his kinetics, but residual powder burned Tilly, Phrixus, and Ra'jira. Rimi got hit with the burning powder too but was protected by her fire immunity ring.
Haas stabbed Kasim in his leg with her trident, and Rimi quickly reacted to subdue the griffin by hitting it in the chest with one of her shadow daggers. Glad further subdued the griffin with a stunning electric shock, and then jumped on top of it to try to hold it down. Krom enlarged his size, and together with Haas they were able to easily pin down the rider. Haas tried to question him further, but he began to choke and appeared to be suffocating to death, apparently in response to his Suppressor wanting to eliminate a captured asset. Krom, thinking that the Suppression would be temporarily stopped if the rider was unconscious, punched him across the jaw with all of his enlarged size and strength, and the knocked out Kasim was indeed able to breathe again. As the griffin was struggling with Rimi's shadow constriction, Krom left Kasim to give the same treatment to the griffin, punching it square in its griffin face, and the griffin joined its master in a Krom induced slumber. Haas searches him and takes away both his weapons and his horn. Eierryn imparted on the griffin that it should return home, and that we would keep its master safe, and with that we headed off to meet with Cadence's men.
The group was feeling a little exposed with the rendezvous anther 30 minutes away, and not having much in the way of cover, so Tova cast an illusion to make the group invisible. While no one is able to see one another, Krom decides to make use of the opportunity to empty his bladder without having to leave the raft, much to the objection of the other group members. Not able to see the raft either, he hits the side of the raft and a small warm tinkle travels down the side onto Rimi's leg. After a few curses in the Skarlak language, she reaches out to Krom, but instead catches Ra'jira by the tunic. The tunic, to it's owners dismay, is being used to wipe off the vile liquid. After some time waiting the group decides that there needs to be scouted ahead. Haas changed into a falcon to patrol the skies, and noticed a single centaur scout to the north, and a two riders approaching the meeting place from the east. They look like an officer escorting a hooded figure. Quickly, the group headed out to meet up with the two riders, who were able to see past Tova's illusion. Of the two men, it was the hooded Tzolton who had the experience with Suppression and was able to see through the illusion. He also confirms that the centaur scout is alone and not watched.
The group left the still unconscious Kasim with the two men, and devised a plan to capture the scout. Tova resumed his invisible illusion, and the party members positioned themselves hidden around the centaur while Ra'jira acted as a distraction for a small lizard Haas to sneak onto the centaur. The centaur notices Ra'jira and decides after a few questions that he means no harm. It seems that the scout is collecting samples of plants, bugs and dirt. Being interested in RFa'jira, the centaur shares his meal with him. Ra'jira however cannot control his curiosity and grabs his bag. While the centaur angrily tells him to leave the bag alone, Haas seizes the opportunity to bite him with a sleep poison. He looks around for the lizard, but is soon distracted again by the small cat-like humanoid rummaging through his bag. By this time, his vision starts to faze, while his words turn into a soft slur and he passes out, hitting the hard ground face first. Everything happened according to plan, causing Krom and Glad to have mixed feelings of relief and disappointment. Ra'jira is disappointed too, but his disappointment comes from the rubbish in the centaurs backpack. Haas shows him her magic backpack and he jumps in to investigate. When he comes out with his paws full of shiny treasure, she carefully plucks the important things from his grasp, to place them back in the safety of the backpack. "In case of danger, you should hide inside my pack." she tells him. While Krom enlarges to lift the centaur onto the raft, Ra'jira disappears again to investigate more.
Serosan Suppressions
Afterwards, the group return to their rendezvous with the disabled centaur. After idly chatting with the officer, Tzolton manages to free Kasim from suppression. Tzolton reveals that he learned the basic of suppression defense by necessity and gives the gang a crash course in how to ward it off. Suppression relies upon being stronger than the target and preying upon their mental weaknesses. Thus, it can be countered by focusing on happy thoughts. However, effective training in warding off suppression is not something that can be done quickly if defending against skilled/multiple users. The group also learns that suppression users can essentially use their targets as a proxy, and so Kasim's was aware that he'd been made when Haas revealed point blank that the group suspected Kasim was being suppressed.
Having woken, Kasim is grateful to be free and unnerved by the experience. He remembers what happened between him and the group, but cannot recall what it was that he wanted to say. He's never been suppressed, nor has he heard of such things happening in his country. Whatever the pact between the centaurs and his people, he doesn't believe Serosan would condone such behaviors. Although, he doesn't have any reliable information about their pact because information about it has disseminated indirectly among the lower ranks. He also mentions that it's unusual for the higher ranks to keep the details to themselves.
Between that revelation and the centaur identity of Kasim's attacker (who fits Leshrac's description: strong features, long jaw, frightening grin), the group posits that the centaurs could be cleverly pulling the strings in Serosan by controlling its leadership and keeping interaction with those controlled at a minimum. The group offers Kasim a journey book communication to report back his safety or request future aid, but Tzolton rules that out as unsafe. He also tells the group that training won't help Kasim much in his country against suppressors of the skill just encountered. The First, Tzolton's pillar, is surrounded by a myth that it protects everyone from suppression. If The First would ever be destroyed, the act of suppression would become easy. Though the group offers Kasim a chance to travel back to camp with them, he decides to return home and uses his horn to call an escort of his countrymen. However, the three griffin riders who respond to his summon are also being suppressed by centaurs, proving the persistence of whomever is giving chase to the group. "We should go." Tzolton says to the group, as he turns towards Kasim. "I'm sorry, you are alone. You should go with us."
Since not all of the party will be able to outrun the riders and the group is hesitant to seriously harm their pursuers, they instead follow Tzolton's lead. Everyone gathers in a circle and join hands in the middle, and Tzolton instructs them to think positive thought. He channels them into a counterattack that frees all three riders and explains that he just invited the suppressors to assault them. But they failed. The three riders too are caught up on the situation and elect to sneak back home along the west coast, wiser to the threats within Serosan. The Silver Foxes use their communication means to update the Felspar military leadership of the latest developments and continue to escort the captured centaur scout to camp.
Post Game Summary
The group:
reveal to Kasim that he is being suppressed and overpower him and his griffin when he reacts hostile.
capture a centaur scout.
meet up with Cadence's men. Tzolton dispels the suppression on Kasim and reveals that the approaching griffin riders are also being suppressed by individual centaurs.
Tzolton invites the suppressors to try to assault them, but they fail.
Important information learned:
The centaurs have suppressors in their army.
A suppressor can only suppress someone that is weaker than him/herself.
Happy thoughts make you stronger against suppression.
Pissing off the side of an invisible hover ship is not the wisest idea.