Dean Tuckell grumbles. He has been doing that a lot lately. He would have liked to sigh. A grumble, however, will not lead to questions and awkward explanations. Doing a patrol on foot while their glorious leader is using their skimmer too small to hold them all to chase after bandits would serve as a ready reason to grumble.
He is comfortable. If his family has one advantage, it is a supply of water quintessence. His oasis bracelet is charged. Walking around in the hinterland of the lake isn’t a physical hardship. It is not even all that dangerous. The monsters are desert types instead of wetland types. They are still mainly iron rank. Nor are there all that many monsters left after the initial sweep they did altogether as they established their camp. If that were the case, he’d at least train the newest abilities within his at long last filled up set. No, his complaints are the tedium and the company. At least his aura ability being one of his three bronze rank abilities lets him keep his feelings to himself against two fresh iron rankers, one of whom did not even have an aura ability so far.
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Chodhen Geller is using all tricks of aura training his instructors so mercilessly drilled them in to retract his aura. This has the nice side effect of keeping his emotions hidden. He has made a decision. Following that spy back does make sense. A decoy does not fight to the death.
Their tracker is sure that the spy came this way and he has put two people with perception powers to locate magical traps respectively locate people aiming at them on lookout.
The look on the face of the mothers whose children have been taken will haunt him for the rest of his life. They cannot afford to miss this opportunity to make a surprise attack.
Hence he surpresses any doubts that this trip has been taking too long and looks out into this alien wasteland, so different from the lush islands of his home.
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Olutha Lassalle kicks at a clod of dried mud extra hard. It proves to still harbour a wet core. Her white boot is besmirched with wet dirt. Her hand grasping for a towel returns empty from the bag dedicated to them. The other hand forms a fist and her face crunches.
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Knowing that her feelings are reflected in her uncontrolled aura and open to a commoner with a bronze rank aura power worsens the situation.
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Roderick Geller is in his element. The trail is clear. He is not even aware of his aura projecting out to turn the skimmer into a whispering missile of relentless pursuit. The path is clear, yet faint. Only a few small wadis their prey jumped interrupt the track. It is almost boring. But the path as excellent and clear as it is, is growing old. He encourages his temporary team mate driving the skimmer to go faster.
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Lykha’s eyes have slitted pupils. Her eyes are uninhabitated for now, letting everybody around her observe them. The pupils are almost closed. The lids over her gills are not just almost closed. They are tighter than she remembers them ever being. Even the first time she stepped on land they did not press that hard into her throat. It is almost painful. Her hands feel for the oasis belts she is wearing under her armour. Sweela, her lantern familiar, is lightly undulating in front of a lateral view port. Her thoughts on the hostile, alien environment are unclear.
Lykha’s face is inching closer and closer to the windscreen, occasional glances going to Roderick. Her own tracking ability is for people. The idea of almost looking into the past fills her with awe. Such power in the eyes of a 15-year old human feels blasphemous. The past was like foam on a wave. Once popped it is supposed to be gone, reserved to the gods.
In this place she wants to double-check the odd itch her tracking sense gives her.
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Rupert Phael is projecting his [Masterful] aura as best as he can and as he has been ordered. He does not like the order, but he understands it. It does boost perception powers a bit and aura stealth with a group member without an aura power is not feasible. If he were walking in Dean’s boots, he might have given it, too. It still feels like an invitation to a long range bowshot, because it is exactly that.
His arm holding his smaller crossbow tends to twitch up periodically. The skimmer would have a built-in oasis enchantment. He is supposed to symbolize his family’s new reformed, austere toughness. So no oasis bracelet for him. Voicing his honest opinion on that would get him slapped hard enough to yeet him out of their family residence all the way to Old City and draw the ire of several deities, so he keeps mum at home, but here he mumbles wishes for his aunt to have sand in her boots and other tender places.
Yes, it did make sense for the group holding the base camp to have somebody with a long range capability, lest they be pinned without ability to retaliate. His combination of Bow/Shield/Adept/Master does offer that and defensive capabilities. Yet deep down he knows that Chodhen left him here due to his family name.
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The3uma Geller weakens the traction enchanment on the back segment of the skimmer a bit, letting the ass end of the vehicle swing out, pointing the propulsion ring outward. Thus the vehicle accelerates while taking a curve. If Roderick and her uncle Chodhen want speed, she will be happy to oblige. Finally having gotten her essences at the legendary age of 17 ¾ she just wants to get out.
What is that line in the sand?