May 14th

The caravan finally trundles to its destination in the eastern reaches of the Yaraq State. Separated from the front lines of the war, and in an area previously unclaimed due to being proclaimed uninhabitable, the region you enter looks lush and green with large tracts of farmland and several domiciles laid out in an orderly pattern, each one forming blocks of houses with attached yards. If no fuss or whatnot is made, Rory and Higaide (and their... cargo) will be assigned houses just as everyone else is (they can claim a single house, or ask for separate housing). There are, as you might imagine, several Sentinels here and there helping people move large and heavy things about, chatting, or keeping patrol for wild beasts.

Do they have heads?

They look fairly similar in overall structure to the gentleman you fought earlier, though no two are identical.

Well, as I pass by one of them, I ask who's in charge, if there's a leader of some sort in town (also, what do they call this place?). And if they name some human who's been appointed mayor, I say I don't want to speak to someone who's been "appointed". I'm eager to speak to someone who's in charge of who's in charge, once I settle down in my assigned house.

Rory has no particular difficulty in finding a red-striped Sentinel who calls himself John who is amiable towards whatever Rory asks of him. Rory notices he is not the only Human asking questions.

Higaide asks John how old he is.

John just turned 28.

Higaide asks where he's from. If he has family. And if all the sentinels helping people out here are recent augments.

John is from a sleepy formerly Telvanni town, Ewing, that changed hands a few times between Hlaalu and Telvanni but usually kept to itself. Some of his family didn't survive the Great Disaster, but his brother, sister, and children managed and ended up here with him. They're actually living nearby in the city. To his knowledge, every Sentinel present is a recent Aug, yes.

Higaide asks John how his family feels about him being an Aug.

I ask John what people have to do to meet the people in charge. At some point, I'm going to want to meet the Vyeotians for myself. Contrary to what I thought before, I no longer believe we're racing against time.

I ask how a sentinel body works. How can he move? I know magic isn't doing it. What's doing it?

I also ask what the trade-offs are of being a sentinel, besides the loss of taste and smell and touch. Seems there's a lot he doesn't have to worry about anymore, but now that he's a "this", what does he have to watch out for? What can he no longer participate in? For example, if he tries to swim, he'll just sink to the bottom of the water.
I sense a Diplomacy check coming. I'm probing for a weakness in the design of sentinels, so perhaps Deception as well.

Also, Rory is at a loss. On one hand, he's just glad that his people really are being looked after without ulterior motives behind it.

On the other hand, he still wants to end the reign of the Vyeotians, which he's not even sure how to do. He disagrees with their methods, and he doesn't take kindly to threats or even the idea that someone would know where his family are and try kill them at their whim. They tried it once before, and he has no assurances that they won't do anything like that again. Even now, he's not sure how safe his sister and mother are, while his brother is on the front lines fighting for Aluvia.

He knows sentinels can be destroyed, though. Just like they almost did to the first one they met. But they barely could handle the one between the three of them (Javan, Higaide, and Rory).

John's family is scared for him of course, but supportive. They're not sure what to make of the new him, and his sister still cooks for him everytime he visits, out of habit.

John says, honestly (Deception check) that he has no idea how the Sentinel bodies work. If it's magic it's the most advanced kind he's ever seen. To John's knowledge there's no real disadvantages of Augmentation; they can swim just fine, they can take catastrophic damage and still not die; in fact their entire body can be destroyed save for one element of it, so long as that element survives a new body can be constructed). He says he can at times feel things like the wind or the scents of the surrounding area, though he's not sure why or how.

Like his sister's cooking, maybe? That's nice. If John ever "feels" his sister's cooking, he should tell her.

"What do you know about the Vyeotians? They seem pretty secretive. They protect their own kind, and it's admirable. Really, I'm grateful for it. How do you think they plan to interact with the rest of the continent (that's Dereth)?"

John, naturally, has no idea at all. In his own words, that kind of politics is way above his head. He doesn't know much about them though, they admit that they made some mistakes in the past and now they're trying something new. There's also been word lately of some new changes in the chain of command, though that's still just rumors.

What?? The next utterance from me is a simple "...Oh." This keeps getting better and better and worse and worse. I try to hide my disappointment.

"Come on, Higaide Logan. Let's get settled into our new home."

(it's Logan now, dammit)

My bad.

So yeah, let's be proper deadbeats and go get settled. Gotta figure out how to save these people from the bad Vyeotians helping them.

The house(s) you are assigned to are simple but well furnished and comfortable. There are several creature comforts you probably haven't enjoyed in a while, including couches that are so relaxing you almost fall asleep just resting on one, nice comfy beds, an armchair, a full kitchen with utensils, and the like. There's also, of course, a yard with enough room to run around in. You are informed that there's a nearby food market you can procure materials for cooking in. And of course, there's a nearby recruitment station for anybody looking to move on and work.

Higaide will go to the nearby food market and keep his ear to the ground.

Gather information on the Veyotians. Especially the elder ones. Anything about the people running the show.

I will draw and close the blinds of the living room, making sure people outside the house can't see the inside. I open the crate containing Javan. Is he still frozen? Does he thaw?

Javan blinks, as for him it's been about one second since he was put in.

[This post assumes that we have the whole day to do anything we want. If that is not true, feel free to cut off my actions at a certain point when events or persons of interest cut into our free time in such a way that forces me to change my plan or throw it out the window.]

I whisper, "the chocolate mousse is not in season." I then dump the info we learned on Javan, and inform him that if he's going to stay outside the freezer-box, he and I will collectively be eating for 1 while we stay here, and he is going to become a shut-in for however long we stay here.

Hopefully not long, as I plan on obtaining a job that will give me access to Vyeotian equipment (either through recruitment and training, or with the money I earn) that will give me an upper hand when I choose to confront the elder Vyeotians. I do not want to become a sentinel, as I am thoroughly repulsed by the idea, and I do not trust the concept of that condition of living. I would like to be able to elevate myself to a position that is closer to them to learn more about their current organization and methods of operating and achieving their goals. Right now though, I just plan to meet with them and see what I can learn from a first meeting.

I will at least be under-eating so that Thog can have something to eat while he's awake to listen to what we've discovered. He will lament that there is nothing he can do right now, and that there has been very little ways for him to be productive in a long time, but is hopeful that soon he will not have to hide who he is - at least for a short time, if worst comes to worst.

I do not know how long I will be here. I will go out and gather food for just me, enough for a week. I'm sticking to a variety of the basic food groups, things that are only grown and intended to keep for a week or so (this thing they call a "fridge", if such a device and its function are both unknown to me, will come in handy). Nothing manufactured from dry magic, and if the farms use wet magic or weaving anyway, so be it. No ground beef, nothing "processed", nor alcohol. Just the way it's cut straight from the animal, or grown from the ground. This is mainly because I will be eating half of each day's share, sharing my food with Javan if he wants to stay outside the box.

I do not like grapefruit or onions, or anything that still has eyes or...*shiver* legs/claws.
Come to think of it, Rory would not be repulsed by those things, given that his village subsisted on crustaceans as well as fish, sometimes raw.

Skill
While I am at the market, I will Aid Another, Higaide's Gather Info check.
I will also see if there is a (ugh) library. I will search for certain topics related to our current situation via the archaic method of browsing the book aisles and shelves, without sharing any of what I'm searching for with anyone who offers to help.

I foresee spending much time at the library and as much as I loathe the monotony of this task, someone has to do it. Today I will be focusing on and learning about augmentation. Anything that affects the mind or otherwise the control over one's own actions/thoughts is surely noteworthy.

And secondly, weaknesses of sentinels that can be exploited to harm them or their superiors(/masters).

Later at night, Higaide or Javan can wear the drudge pendant and inform Thog of the information. He will be somewhat pleased by my reaction to what we've learned, and the change in my approach to the undertaking we have all...undertaken.

OOC
I don't know enough about the Vyeotians, but if their ways and goals are truly just in my eyes, at least in the present, then I may actually choose to help them. As for what we can do with Javan, that remains to be seen. In-Character, there is the possibility that we may part ways when I am assured of the certainty of all the information I seek, circumstances pending greatly.

Javan, who was suddenly thrown at too much information to digest, unwisely sits down in the comfy couch of hellish-heaven and fails his will-save. He'll first communicate that he has make sure he's as far away from the statis box at any time he's not using it. He'll be checking his own situation elemental-wise as well.

On the situation itself... he's quite impressed by what information is being given to him, seemly having a lot of say about it but catching himself from doing so before Rory is done. Then when he's mostly up-to-date, he suddenly freezes in realization of something, and start mumbling something along the lines of "Foul winds... no... let me be wrong." just before producing the small piece of metal and the air elemental fluid flask from the sentinel they defeated. He'll then start using his next waking hours exclusively to examine and experiment on both the small piece of the sentinel and the fluid, using previous information on his brief visit to the fairy's birthing pool, what he saw, felt, smelled and so on, as a basis.

OOC:

--> Insert NGAHHH! <--

You know what? Screw the library! Instead I'm going to ask if they have any sort of tournaments reminiscent of the sort of faux-skirmishes that the humans used to have...or, tournaments at all. Something like that.

And then maybe I'll carry out my plans with library...depends on what sort of answer I get, so put that on hold for now. But first I must speak with my fairy friend. Ngahhh.

"I'm sorry there was a lot to tell you. You looked like you had something to say. I'm ready to listen."