Drawing from Nature[Flashback Al'jeroth closed]

[Ja'soth]

Timestamp: 1st of fall AV509

The season is changing and the Spires is preparing for the oncoming winter, The Jamoura are out gathering the various herbs and plants they will need for the long winter when the snows will make it difficult to harvest food. The leaves of the great Bloodwoods are changing colors and all of nature seems to be preparing for a long sleep. This is the time of trial, time for truth.

No one could know what lay in the vast forest that the Spires was located in, not all the inhabitants were peaceful. Some were out of sync with nature, they defied it and caused it great harm. Some of these were the gray Jamoura, the Dark ones. However this day it was not the gray Jamoura that defiled nature. There were other forces at work today.

Al'jeroth, you are in the forest watching over the works of Mother Caiyha, things seem peaceful enough though there is a sense in the air, a sense of disturbance as if something weer not entirely right. You cannot pin it down, it is in the very air, a foul odor perhaps or an unnatural sound, whatever the source it draws you, calls to you to investigate a path that no one other than the Jamoura or a native of this wood would be able to find.

[Al'jaroth]

Hanging from a tree with his staff across his back, Al'jaroth was checking on the tree to make sure it wasn't sick, or about to fall over. Satisfied that all was right with this tree, Al'jaroth shifted to move himself to another tree, when he felt that something in the Spires wasn't quite right. Dropping down from the tree to the forest floor, he glanced around, before pulling his staff off his back and into his hands. He wasn't quite sure what it was, but he knew it was wrong. So, his staff in hand, the Jamoura moved towards what he was certain the source of the foulness in the air.

It's not right, whatever it is. It's unnatural. Which means it is dangerous to the Spires if someone doesn't get to the bottom of it, thought the Jamoura as he called Res forth onto the edges of his hands and along the inside of his mouth. It was for use at need, for offense or defense. He wasn't able to make ice yet, as he would require training in using Earth, but he could make the water form into sharp, hard projectile objects for offensive use.

[Ja'soth]

Al'Jaroth notices that the putrid odor emanates from a little worn path that goes off in a northerly direction. If he were not Jamoura or native to the Spires area he probably would not even have noticed this tiny path, but the smell does lead this way. As he follows the path, the forest around him becomes deathly quiet, no sounds whatsoever, not from the animals, nor birds, not even an insect. Even the breezes dare not blow nor the leaves rustle. There is a definite feeling of death and dread here and it seems to grow as the path winds on ever deeper into the forest.
The path leads to a clearing and here there is no sign of life, even the ground is bare and the smell of death permeates the entire area. There is a stone altar at the center of this area and it is covered in arcane symbols. Blood covers it and some of it is fresh. There are various parts of creatures scattered about the altar.

[Al'jaroth]

Staring at the altar, Al'jaroth cursed in his native tongue, before making his way towards the arcane object, his staff now in hand, and Res formed in the palm of his other hand. The Reimancer moved quickly through the clearing, towards the altar, as he called forth water to wash away the blood. He wanted a closer look at the altar before he cleaned the clearing of its taint.

Glancing around, he snarled at the waste of Natures products, and quickly stopped in front of the altar, letting the water flow from his hand to clear away the blood. As he did so, he also glanced around, to keep an eye out for trouble.

[Ja'soth]

Al'Jaroth finds the symbols in the altar difficult to translate as they are not Reimancy symbols, they appear to be some kind of summoning symbols if he were to guess. There is evidence that something has been here recently, something big and something hungry. The carcasses are not only drained of their blood which is obviously on the altar, but they are stripped of flesh as well leaving only skin and bones as well as internal organs.There are bent and broken tree branches that indicate something had been here and there are a lot of them at various heights indicating something tall and big.
The clearing remains deathly quiet as Al'Jaroth uses his Reimancy to attempt to wash the blood off the altar. The moment the enchanted water comes near the surface of the altar it is bent away as if repelled by the surface, at the same time a few of the symbols glow a sickly green. It would appear there are wards to keep the altar from being cleansed by unauthorized wizards. The air also smells of a rotting foul stench when the symbols are activated. There is a feel in the air of being watched.

[Al'jaroth]

Cursing even more, the Reimancer bent closer to peer at the symbols, before moving around the clearing, to look at the carcasses. Something had moved through that wasn't natural. Nothing in the Spires grew as big as whatever had torn apart the clearing was. So, gripping his staff even tighter, Al'jaroth peered around him.

Peering around the clearing, it dawned on the Jamoura that something wasn't right. Someone was watching him. So he called out. Come forth, so that I may know who to call down Caiyhas wrath on! he thought

[Ja'soth]

The woods seem to grow ever more silent even as Al'Jaroth shouts to the presence. It is as if there is an intelligence in the giant thing that watches the clearing. Not a sound does it make but neither does nature. The stench of rotting matter is nearly overwhelming, but there is no movement, no answer to the challenge.

As suddenly as any predator of less size, the thing moves, its massive form crashing through the trees along the path it seems to have made for itself. It bursts out of the surrounding wood, an alien to this world. It stands easily 12 feet tall and its fur/skin is a mottled green mixed with a putrid black and brown. The being is covered in a thick fur with massive arms the size of tree stumps and legs a thick as boulders. Its face is nearly covered in fur and it smells exactly like rotting flesh. It does not rush Al'Jaroth but simply lumbers into a position where it towers over the giant ape. It growls gutturally and seems to be gesturing at something.
There is something in the thing's eyes, something that doesn't seem in keeping with the carnage that Al'Jaroth sees. The thing is intelligent, this is obvious, but it cannot communicate in a fashion keeping with this world/plane. The thing gestures again and still does not attack, it simply continues to gesture and growl. This is not what it seems...or is it

[Al'jaroth]

The Reimancers first thought was protection, so he lifted his staff in front of him and coated his hands in Res. Then, when he saw the creature wasn't rushing him, but gesturing, the Jamoura lowered his staff and stared hard at it for a minute. Communication was going to be difficult, since it appeared that neither creature could talk, and Al'jaroth wasn't even sure this one could read. And a wrong move would end up with him splattered across the clearing. So, standing there for a minute, the Jamoura took a small step in the direction the creature was gesturing, wondering if he was doing right. At least, if not, I probably won't have time to curse my mistake, considering how huge this thing is, thought the Jamoura, giving the creature the once-over.

[Ja'soth]

The creature seems to be gesticulating toward the altar. However the symbols glow with arcane power as Al'Jaroth approaches them. There is the foul smell of rotting meat and the Jamoura is repelled from the altar. The creature lets out a deep grunt that is somewhat like a sigh and gesticulates toward the altar again indicating its disappointment and frustration. Apparently whatever the thing wants has to do with the altar.

Al'Jaroth would also note that the things prints aren't the only ones present. There are smaller tracks reminiscent of a human's going off away from the altar. The thing does not seem to notice them. This thing isnt like anything seen in the forests around the Spires, it must have come from outside...but where?

[Al'jaroth]

With a deep frown, the Jamoura stared at the altar, and then the creature, before taking his staff and scratching a sentence into the dirt- and blood-covered ground. It read What is it you want me to do? Hopefully, this method would work. Noticing the human footprints, the Jamoura wrote a second sentence in the ground, reading Do these prints have anything to do with the altar? And then, stepping back from his sentences, he pointed at them, in case the creature didn't understand. Also, the smell was beginning to bother Al'jaroth.