In Town

Next 5 minutes

Caden

Pacing yourself after that sprint, you return back to a jog (400'/minute). You see Hanalee & Karnath & Bright Feather (again) and let them know that you are off to see about Alric. Passing them all by you reach halfway through downtown.
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Bright Feather

Mmm, cool water and a sit down by the well helps steady the world. Great starry night, smoked in that stuff day in day out would grant wisdom to anyone, so 'close to the ancestors' one would be. It's almost like an induced reverie.

"Oh my, I hope she survives."

"It is so easy to forget how dangerous outside can be."
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Hanalee & Karnath

A bustle of activity throughout the Elders' Place, you arrive to see the victim laid atop a raised pile of blankets, her arm lower and partially cut & skinned open. Karnath, you can see they are releasing the swelling to prevent the arm dying. Hanalee, this is some graphic shit! seeing the musculature underneath the skin.


The acolytes are playing drums and some background flutes, while a younger elder plays a piercing atonal melody on lead flute, sending chills up your spines. Another shakes a rattle, shuffling a wide circle around a third who is finishing up the sand symbols. The grandmothers are attending the victim: placing powders preventing any excess bleeding from the peeled skin, applying poultices and dribbling infusions upon her forehead and down her prone throat, and moving hands mere inches above her chanting in whispers.

The smoke, herbal infusions, songs, & chants all are reaching a crescendo (to what?), overwhelming one's senses. Karnath, you find this all professionally fascinating, this is stuff you relate to. Hanalee, you are fascinated too, but are also at the edge of your nerves.

And then it happens — the lead flute builds a pizzicato into a trill into an excruciating, but thankfully brief, high note two octaves above — the other flutes, drums, and rattle silence simultaneously. The baby wails, the victim convulses and then goes into seizure, the rattle continues, the grandmothers moan and cry, the grandfathers start the piercing, rhythmic, falsetto cry carried stronger by the younger acolytes —

— A feeble acolyte, the one who led you Karnath to the Maiden's House, turns to you both with compassionate eyes, leans in and explains, "The first of many  when walking the spirit lands with Brother Snake. This will take hours." —

The wailing seizes upon you, you feel like screaming or joining their cry, your heart is in your throat. The smoke, the smells, the sounds, the press of people, you are feeling untethered. The victim starts to spit up blood, her seizures open up more bleeding from her splayed open arm, she collapses back still and the grandmothers resume their furious tending. —

— "She seems to have answered Brother Snake poorly. The questioning will continue..." —

The crying and wailing stops, and the steady flutes & drums continue up with the rattle again...

(Both of you roll WIS check or CON check to resolve withstanding this sensory assault. This is moderate difficulty right now. Karnath will have Adv.)

Hanalee presses her fingers to her temples and groans quietly.

(Rolled an 8 on my CON check...)

Quote from: Mr. Kent;785355Hanalee presses her fingers to her temples and groans quietly.

(Rolled an 8 on my CON check...)

Hanalee

Part of you wants to run out of here screaming, another part wants to help by weeping and pleading. Mercifully your stomach is making the decision for you by wanting to puke... like right now. Running out you just barely make it to a side wall and hurl.

The world is still spinning. Part of it feels like frayed nerves. But the reek of all those herbs: burned, steeped, smoked, etc., is suffused within your clothes right now, and your stomach reminds you it too has nerves. *hurl*

A breeze helps to air out a bit of the miasma you brought outside with you, allowing a moment to catch your breath and look about. Shoshone women with their babies are gathering outside around the Elders' Place. They are softly starting a melodic vocal harmony, structured as a round, like a mother's lullaby calling someone lost back home.

You've seen these events from afar before. They tend to bring The People together in a growing rite that left many an observing Easterner shaken. And now you're within one, albeit the outermost ring.

(care to return inside, stay here, leave this area?)

OOC: Music is always hard to describe in an impactful way, so I thought an example akin to what I am trying to express might help all of you "be there."

link: "Wah Jhi Le Yihm" from the film Smoke Signals

Let the pacing from the harmonious melody to the rhythmic crying take you between the fretful waiting and the frantic seizures (CON checks). Enjoy!

OoC: Skin their arm?

Karni will pay attention, then get her shield and leave.

Karni:  1D20 =>   4

Hanalee coughs the last of the smoke from her lungs, and wipes the vomit from her chin. She stands observant at the edge of the women's gathering and feels calmed. She listens to the round for a few measures, and though she isn't exactly sure of the words, she begins to hum along out loud.

Quote from: dragoner;785444OoC: Skin their arm?

Karni will pay attention, then get her shield and leave.

Karni:  1D20 =>   4

OOC: Roll 2H20, and choose WIS or CON. you have advantage. Though you are free to choose to leave. The roll is just to resist the intensity of the situation.

And yes, skin open the victim's arm, splaying it out so as to relieve pressure from the hemotoxin's destruction and inflammation of tissues. There's quite a few educational photos out there of snakebite victims with tissue damage, and a few flayed arms or legs to relieve pressure to avoid amputation. Not for the squeamish.

Let me know if you choose to leave, or forced to leave by your 2nd roll (Adv). It will matter to where what happens next occurs.

2H20?

Yes, she'll rejoin the rest of the party.

Quote from: dragoner;7854592H20?

Yes, she'll rejoin the rest of the party.

That's how you roll with Advantage in the dice room. It reads as, "roll two d20s and take the Highest."

And 'the rest of the party' is pretty much Hanalee outside humming along with the other local mothers.

Elders' Place

Hanalee

Trying your best to hum along a mother with babe comes to you and hooks her arm into yours and brings you into the harmonic section that you are humming. She hums with you louder so that you can get the melody's pitch down right. Once she feels you got it she unhooks her free arm and the other mothers in that section hook onto you instead.

Looks like your efforts helped you to be embraced among them.
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Karnath

As you leave with your shield you reach just outside the entrance before a worn, elder hand stops you by your elbow. Turning to look you see kind, but worried eyes. Taking you to a quieter side of the building, "What can you tell me of the snake that bit her? What can you tell me of how you found her?"

She'll tell them what she knows, then go talk to Hanalee if she knows what happened to everyone else.

Hanalee stays for as much of the ritual as she can--to its completion if feasible. If not, she looks for a lull in the chant to humbly excuse herself from the group and find Karnath to check on the victim's status.

Since everyone but Aldric seems to have found the healers Bright Feather being curious refills her waterskin and sets off back to the graveyard to find Aldric and his nice dog... wondering if he might teach her to train a Cooshie like that...while setting off.

Elders' Place

11:05 AM (like you have that accuracy )

Karnath

She frowns in confusion, then looks about as if thinking. "That rattlesnake had to have been larger than 5' to have such a fang placement, which is very rare for the type we usually have here." Looks about and holds your arm before you turn to leave, "You tried to suck out some of the venom, we saw from the wound. That is dangerous. Next time use a hollow bone or clay pipe as a straw."

"If you must return to the same spot, tell us as much as you can when you return."
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Hanalee

You take a moment to answer Karnath about where the others went. You at least know about Caden. You are guessing Bright Feather is doing the same.

Mentioning your desire to stay for as long as the ritual, Karnath reminds you that the young acolyte explained this ritual will take hours. She further explains that so far the victim's status is critical and not looking good. Also notes that Alric is out there with a frighteningly sized snake out there, as the grandmothers just informed her.

Bright Feather & Caden
Next 15 Minutes, ending 11:20

Bright Feather

Rested, you feel more clearheaded to return and see how Alric is doing. You start to jog and it seems like your natural fleetness has returned. Taking off while Caden is only halfway on out of downtown, you make a little game of who will get to that new graveyard edge first.

Somewhere outside of town you yell at Caden playfully as you start gaining on him. You can reach that new graveyard edge with about a minute to spare, taking a breather at the end. Then on down to wherever Alric is.
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Caden

Checking up on your lone male buddy, you hope he hasn't ran afoul of a snake while everyone else was away. Somewhere outside of town you hear someone call to you from behind. Ah, Bright Feather, making a bit of a game of this return. Well, outside of sprinting there's little hope to outpace her over time.

You can reach that new graveyard furthest edge after 14 minutes and 30 seconds. That'll leave about 30 seconds to relax and catch one's breath. Then to wherever Alric is. Though, you could have a little fun competing with your friend...
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If either of you want to risk sprinting, we're doing 2e rules essentially. STR check for each times greater than 1 for your minute speed (max 5x), and CON checks to maintain it (normally per round, but we'll just do checks proportional to speed times per mile). Where you fail is where you degrade by 1x Spd, as you are getting winded. You may fail all the way back down to Jog, which is 1.33x speed.

e.g. Want to reach 5x spd? Succeed on 4 consecutive STR checks (2x, 3x, 4x, 5x). Where you fail is your current top available speed.

e.g. Reached 4x speed? Roll 4 consecutive CON checks per mile. So "success, fail, fail, success" reads as 4x start, 4x, 3x, 2x, 2x.

Reached 2x Spd? Roll 2 consecutive CON checks per mile. So "success, fail" reads as 2x start, 2x, 1.33x (jog).

It's for fun now. Might be useful tool later.