RPG Summary

[Ameena]

RP-Story Summary Thingy by Ameena, the Wordweaver

As a page is finished in the RPG (and it goes over to the next page), I will type up that page in summary form on here.

Page 1
A gathering at a manor house/mansion thingy near a wood, the home of Baroness Sonia Resé. She announces a bounty of 1000 Denarii for anyone who can find a way to destroy any Reapers, and who can prove their method works.
Meanwhile, from the nearby wood, a dark creature (see Ameena’s profile) emerges, curious about the noise coming from the manor, and scales the wall to sit in a tree nearby, watching.
Meanwhile, someone in the crowd has loudly suggested that 2000 Denarii would be a better offer. Someone or something slips a note into his pocket saying that if he can destroy a Reaper, he will receive 2000 Denarii, but that there will be a terrible price if he should fail.
The people start to file toward the manor gates, but one loudmouthed individual suddenly claims to have seen something in the tree. A man in a hooded, beige robe seems to find the scene amusing. He writes something on a piece of paper and it flutters through the air and affixes itself to a tree trunk, the note inquiring as to the motives of whoever wrote the note about the 2000-Denarii reward.
The loudmouth, meanwhile, is being ushered toward the gates by a guard, who ignores his protestations. The beige-cloaked man seems mildly interested in the scene, but the creature in the tree is crouched in the shadowy foliage and can’t be seen.
Although the loudmouthed heckler has now gone, the beige-robed man and a couple of guards are still looking toward the tree. The former makes a casual, apparently joking remark that the supposed creature in the tree might be a Sylph. The use of this term is familiar to her but she still doesn’t move, not wanting to move and reveal herself to the guards. However, soon they all depart – the robed man through the gates and the guards back to the house once they’ve sealed the entrance behind the mage.
Later, the beige-robed man is sitting in the wood, wondering whether the creature that was in the tree will take his hint and come to meet him. She does – she travels the forest by climbing along the branches of the trees, and stops above and in front of the mage in a position where he sill see her if he looks up. He does, and asks if she can understand him. Though it’s been a while since she spoke his language, she is able to speak to him and asks him about the sylphs he mentioned. He tells her he has heard of them, ancient creatures of magic, but has never met one. She explains that she has heard people call her “Dark Sylph” and wondered whether that means she is a sylph. She says that people seem scared of her because she is dark, like the Reapers.
An old man, leaning on a cane, suddenly approaches. He does not notice the dark creature, who conceals herself in the shadows of the foliage above them.

[Ameena]

Page 2
The mage and the old man talk for a while, about possible safe places to flee to from the threat of the Reapers. The old man says he is travelling to the temple in a place called Poukal Village, probably something to do with the Rising Sun, a religious sect who follow old gods and believe that mortals can become deities through reaching a state of enlightenment.
The mage, who says his name is Darc’Tala, says he may not be welcome in Poukal Village, but the old man assures him that all are welcome there, considering the current situation with the Reapers. The mage says that he may visit the temple later.
As the old man leaves, the air is beginning to turn chill, a malevolent feeling creeping over the wood. Both the dark creature and the mage detect this. The former advises the latter that staying where they are is not a good idea. He tells her in return that he would welcome her company, perhaps to travel to the temple, or to seek out the Sylph. She considers, but is unwilling to go to “civilised” places, where the Reapers seem more likely to attack. For now, she wishes to hide from whatever is approaching. The two exchange names (she is Ameena, he is the mage Almulsis Darc’Tala), and then head for a safe place. Ameena moves through the trees toward a small cave she knows of from the past few days she’s been in the wood, while Almulsis follows along the ground.
Ameena finds her little cave, a hard-to-spot stony alcove beside a small stream, and slips inside. Not far away, a group of men, led by a Variayzho (tall, brutish humanoids), are waiting, armed and ready, for the approaching threat. Almulsis, who has lost sight of Ameena, hides nearby and watches them while Ameena herself remains where she is, listening and (due to sharp ears) able to hear most of what is happening.
A Reaper appears, and despite bearing powerful weapons and clearly experienced, the group of men are rapidly being taken out, one by one, all the while trying and failing to land a blow on the creature, which seems to move with unnatural speed and agility to avoid them.
Almulsis, meanwhile, closes his eyes and detaches his mind from his body, entering the dream-realm known as Farspace in order to see whether the Reaper has any kind of presence there. He sees a strange, shadowy being floating around but doesn’t know what it is. Then a wyrmlike creature, a scavenging creature native to Farspace, appears and passes close to Almulsis as it quickly charges the shadowy creature. Though the shadow tries to flee, the wyrm swiftly catches and consumes it.
Back in the physical world, all of the fighters are now dead apart from the Variayzho, who is on his back receiving blow after blow from the Reaper’s deathly scythe, yet still alive. Suddenly, the Reaper lets out a piercing screech and dissolves into white dust. Almulsis, having left a marker at that point in Farspace, returns to the physical world just in time to see this. The Variayzho stands, apparently slightly confused but relieved.
Further away, a blue-scaled dragoness smells the blood of battle, and starts to make her way toward the scene. Ameena, meanwhile, is still hiding. She cowers at the sound of the Reaper’s shriek, but is a little confused when she finds she can no longer sense its presence. However, she decides not to emerge from hiding in case it’s still there.
The Variayzho gathers the weapons of his fallen comrades and some of the white dust, and then departs the scene.

[Ameena]

Page 3
The blue dragoness arrives on the scene and begins to feast on the dead bodies, though the flesh of those touched by the Reaper’s remains (when it dissolved) has already begun to rot and the dragoness spits it out in disgust.
Ameena, having heard the Variayzho moving away and the approach of the scavenger, finally emerges. She wonders whether Almulsis was killed, but moves off through the trees away from the site of the battle. The dragoness arrives at the stream soon after and has a drink. Ameena is struck with the thought that her previous conversation with Almulsis was a good thing and that, if he is still alive, he may be able to tell her more about the Sylph, or perhaps do something to stop the Reapers. She changes course and returns to look for him.
Almulsis, meanwhile, is following the Variayzho, who has returned to his camp to report on the battle. The mage makes a very overt approach to the camp, running forward while shouting and waving his arms, deliberately appearing a little clumsy and speaking in a cruder accent.
Ameena hears him and homes in on the noise, watching from a nearby tree but out of sight as usual. The dragoness, also orienting on the sound, trundles through the wood to investigate and now arrives on the scene, startling the Variayzho and his men, though their military training allows them to quickly recover their composure. The Variayzho says little to Almulsis and begins to move his troops out.
Almulsis steps over to the dragoness and greets her. She speaks the Common language. Ameena, still hiding in the tree, recognises her species. Almulsis introduces himself and asks her name – she introduces herself as Sera. Ameena suddenly reveals herself, not seeming as wary about Sera as she was initially with Almulsis.
Inconsistency – At this stage, Ameena asks Sera’s name, though she’s already heard it when Sera introduced herself to Almulsis shortly before. Oops
They then discuss what they know about the Reapers, and Almulsis asks Sera what she knows about Farspace, which isn’t much.

[Ameena]

Page 4
Almulsis then mentions the invitation to the Rising Sun temple. Sera seems to have decided to join the party, and inquires as to what they should do next. Almulsis asks whether Ameena can find the trail of the old man they met and follow his tracks to the temple at Poukal Village. Ameena agrees, but says that once they near the village, she will decide for herself whether or not she wishes to enter, having had bad experiences with humans and such-like in the past.
Almulsis conjures up an illusionary wall containing shadowy forms suggestive of a Reaper (lest the soldiers decide to follow them), and the group departs. Ameena moves swiftly through the trees (though a little slower than usual to allow for the others to keep up below her) and soon finds the tracks of the old man. She begins to follow them and Almulsis and Sera follow.
The track leads them out of the wood and onto a road through open country dotted with a few trees and shrubs, clearly making Ameena feel uncomfortable. However, at one point the tracks suddenly change – they become a little deeper-set, and the faint sense of Life Energy (left behind for a short time by any living creature) changes, as though the old man has suddenly become an entirely different being. Though puzzled by this, they decide to continue, climbing up a gentle incline to crest a rise which looks down on the distant houses of, presumably, Poukal Village.
Ameena asks Almulsis if he will be entering the village. He replies by wondering how the three of them (particularly Sera) would be able to “blend in”. Ameena takes offence at this, since it seems Almulsis has assumed she will be entering the village with him. She tells him he can enter, if he wishes, but that she will not, and will simply wait for him nearby. Almulsis produces a strange amulet – a tiny red stone attached to a dirty, silver-coloured chain. He asks Ameena to keep an eye on it for him, or ensure it is hidden if she should decide to leave. He lets the amulet drop to the ground and then starts to descend the hill toward the village.
Ameena picks up the amulet and then also heads toward the village, but off to one side and keeping to the cover of the few bushes and trees that grow in the area. She climbs a tree near the edge of the village to watch for Almulsis’s slower arrival. The village (not Poukal Village but a busy, trading-stop village called Taimadu) is noisy as the humans there pack up for the night. Not only is night coming, but so are dark clouds in the sky, making Ameena feel more comfortable and confident.

[Ameena]

Page 5
Almulsis enters the village, while Ameena follows his progress by observing from the rooftops. He makes his way toward the temple and pauses outside to try and observe what he can of the activities occurring inside. The clouds shift to reveal a bright moon, and Ameena finds a shaded spot atop a roof from which she can safely observe the temple doors.
Almulsis enters the temple, where a man is raising the crowd in a chant about "The Message", which seems to be that those who live lives alongside Nature, rather than barricading against it, will be spared the terror of the Reapers. The crowd's chanting grows louder, but the priest who leads them notices Almulsis's silence and suspiciously asks him about it while the crowd, who have stopped chanting, regard him in a hostile fashion.
Outside, three strange, bipedal creatures with feline features and yellow eyes approach the temple, watched by Ameena. But rather than entering, they stop outside, seemingly waiting for something.
Elsewhere in the land, Sonia Resé, the woman who offered the bounty for the capture/death of a Reaper, is pacing in her mansion, having just received some news which presumably concerns the Reapers. She has no better ideas as to how to deal with the problem, and asks one of her advisors to put a 100-Denarii bounty on the head of the one who deemed her bounty offer too low - Almulsis.
Meanwhile, Almulsis claims he wears his hood and scarf to hide his features due to some terrible disease he has contracted. His bluff doesn't work, and the priest announces him as a traitor and hurls an energy bolt at him. It misses, and Almulsis then seizes the opportunity to turn the crowd against the priest for his hostile action. But his satisfaction his short-lived, as he then notices the creatures standing at the door. He uses some form of telepathy, sent through his red gemstone, to Ameena, telling her two words - "Ekeel. Run.". Though the first word means nothing to her, she knows the second all too well and chooses to obey, quickly descending from the rooftop and fleeing the village to hide in a nearby copse of trees.
She hides in the branches of one of the trees, from which she can still see the village but not much of the temple (since it is msotly hidden behind the other buildings). There is a rustling below her, and more of the feline creatures emerge, heading toward the village. One of them seems to sense she is there, and seems to be using some kind of instrument of detection to search for her, but she doesn't move and eventually the creature gives up and continues on.
Almulsis, meanwhile, attempts to cast some kind of attack spell at the Ekeel (for that is wha the word means - it is the species to which the cat-people belong), but the creature simply rebounds it back at him, burning a hole straight through his chest and killing him instantly.
At the same instant Almulsis dies, the red stone in Ameena's hand blows brightly and grows hot, both of which startle her enough to cause her to drop it. It falls to the ground below, and after several moments, Ameena descends after it and carefully picks it up again. When she does, she gains a strange awareness, as though thoughts are coming from the stone itself. It stops glowing, but she retains the awareness, and now sees two strange, misshapen creatures before her, which resemble apes or dogs. They are ghostly, and seem to exist partially in another plane. They gesture for her to follow them and, with her new awareness, she realises they are something to do with Almulsis. Not only this, but that the stone she holds contains his soul.
A little reluctant, but for the moment seeing no reason not to trust them, Ameena begins to follow the creatures back toward the village.

[Ameena]

Page 6
Ameena follows the two guides, who lead her back to the temple. A number of Ekeel are standing guard outside, though they are ignoring any panicked humans who flee past them. The guides gesture for Ameena to enter the temple, but she is reluctant as she believes the Ekeel may attack her. However, the guides (who are apparently unable to speak to her intelligbly) gesture to show her that it is safe. They enter the temple, and Ameena reluctantly approahces the doors herself. For some reason the Ekeel bow to her, and, slightly confused, she enters.
Inside, there are numerous dead humans as well as a few dead Ekeel. The rest of the felines are clustered around something near the far end of the room, apparently battling it, though whatever it is is currently blocked from Ameena's view by the Ekeel. One is standing nearby, holding a staff and apparently restraining itself from joining the battle.
The two guides have joined a third, who stands over a motionles, beige-robed figure lying on the floor. Ameena approaches and sees that it is the corpse of Almulsis, still with the hole burned through his chest. The guide-creatures are gesturing for Ameena to approach and do something. The stone in her hand begins to glow and turn warm, and seems to be pulling toward the body.
The nearby Ekeel looks at Ameena with what appears to be relief and respect at her presence, but also some kind of distaste for Almulsis. It says that "We have not the time, too soon", and then returns its attention to its battling comrades. However, as Ameena crouches near Almulsis and holds the gem above him, allowing it to pull out of her hand towards him, the Ekeel again seems to look at her with respect, and at Almulsis with disdain.
The gemstone seems to "jump" from Ameena's hand and lands on Almulsis's stomach. Its glow dies and the strange awareness Ameena had is now gone.
Meanwhile the Ekeel with the staff, who happens to be the leader, continues to watch as his people are thrown across the room by the still-unseen foe. Then he joins the battle, but is knocked aside and his staff sent rolling across the floor.
The creature the Ekeel have been fighting finally becomes visible - it is almost as though it is formed of two creatures, both humanoid - one a dead-looking man, the other formed entirely of flame. The two shapes seem capable of moving independantly, but are joined together - the fiery creature may walk forward, but only a step or two before the flesh creature rejoins it, and the two are always in contact.
As the creature walks toward the Ekeel leader (who is lying on the floor), Ameena watches from her corner. She contemplates leaving, now that she has apparently done whatever it was the guide-creatures wanted to do with Almulsis - when she let go of the soulstone, they faded along with her strange (and somewhat unwelcome) new awareness.
Meanwhile the fiery creature snaps the neck of another Ekeel and again attacks the leader, who is struggling across the floor to reach his staff. The creature pauses to look with its fiery face at Ameena and laugh at her. She thinks that it was this creature which slew Almulsis, and given what she has seen of it, she considers that remaining where she is would be far from wise - she wants to bolt for the door, flee the village, and continue her travels alone, but for some reason decides against doing so.
Instead, she darts across the room, leaps over a corpse to land beside the Ekeel leader's staff, and shoves it toward him. Then she hides behind a nearby pillar. The Ekeel leader battles with the fire-creature, dodging a punch, and then plunges his staff into the creature's back. It roars, causing any Ekeel remaining outside the temple to come charging in to attack it. The creature grabs a nearby Ekeel corpse and seems to drain some kind of energy from it.
Ameena looks at a nearby window (through which one of the Ekeel has just come), and again considers leaving. But then she decides that she would rather see the end of this battle, though isn't sure why.
Somewhere else in the world, a human bounty hunter is looking for Almulsis. He uses some kind of tracking device, which can detect people who have ventured into Farspace, in order to find out in which direction to go. But then the device seems to show him that something bad is happening, and also that Almulsis is dead.
Meanwhile, the fire-creature has finished feeding on the dead Ekeel. It stands facing the remaining felines, neither side yet attacking the other. The fiery creature suddenly seems puzzled, as though something has happened. Beside the Ekeel on which it has just feasted, a small shoot of green can be seen growing through the floor beside a rod gripped in the corpse's hand.
From where Ameena is still crouched behind the pillar, she suddenly hears a weak voice asking for help. She is startled, because the voice is that of Almulsis. She returns to where he is lying, and finds that not only is he alive, but that the wound in his chest is already half-healed. He is weak, though, and mostly unable to move. He asks her what has happened, and she tells him what little she knows. At the mention of the feline creatures, Almulsis again tells Ameena that she should run from the Ekeel. She asks him what the word "Ekeel" means, and he finally tells her that it is the name of the bipedal feline species, and that they are believed to be "harbingers of death".
The Ekeel and the fiery creature, meanwhile, suddenly break their stand-off and launch into battle once more, several Ekeel being once again thrown across the room.
Almulsis explains that the fiery creature is called a Gruurg'al, and that it feeds off the death energy released by other creatures. Ameena suggests fleeing, since they surely cannot do anything to stop the creature. She thinks it is what killed Almulsis, and reasons that it could probably do so again, with even less difficulty.
The Gruurg'al, meanwhile, seems to be acting in an almost drunken manner, becoming no less dangerous, but somehow...unsteady in its movements. Almulsis asks Ameena what the Ekeel have done to it.

[Ameena]

Page 7
Ameena has no idea what is happening to the Gruurg'al, and little desire to stay and see what happens. Yet she does. Almulsis explains the creature is from another plane of existence, and feeds on the "death evergy" given out when a creature perishes. In this way, it can destroy those it comes across, and grow stronger in the process in order to continue and destroy even more.
Almulsis says he knows of no way to defeat the Gruurg'al, yet he has an idea when Ameena makes the logical suggestion that perhaps a creature which feeds on Death may be harmed by the energy of Life. He suddenly asks her whether she can command Green (Life) Energy. The question takes her somewhat by surprise as she has no real idea of what he is talking about. The Gruurg'al, meanwhile, is now looking in her direction and she prepares herself to bolt, if necessary.
The Ekeel leader attacks the Gruurg'al with his staff again, but again is knocked aside. A small number of Ekeel continue to attack. Almulsis attempts to distract the creature by using Black Energy, tearing the soulstone from his chest and dropping it to the ground - the distraction works, causing the Gruurg'al to focus on him, but it appears to reverse the healing effect on the wound in his chest and he collapses again.
Unsure of what to do, Ameena, meanwhile, hides behind a pillar again. The Gruurg'al looks around for her, but it seems she moved too fast and it did not see where she went. Then it seems to decide that it will feed on Almulsis, its fiery self making the mage its new host.
Ameena, seeing that the creature appears to be still weakening, attempts to buy Almulsis some time by darting quickly to the other end of the room, away from the creature, and calling out to it, asking it about itself. Its two selves seem torn between advancing on her and on Almulsis, but in the end opt for her. As the creature begins to stalk toward her, the Ekeel leader and a few of his people slowly advance on the Gruurg'al from behind. Ameena sees them, and moves backward a little to maintain her distance from the fiery corpse and to encourage it to remain focused on her.
The Ekeel leader finally lunges with his staff, plunging it again into the back of the Gruurg'al. The staff penetrates fully, and protrudes through the creature's chest. The staff begins to pulse rhythmically, and the creature visibly, and rapidly, weakens. The Ekeel leader calls to Ameena that she is the only one who can "tame the staff". Though she understands this no more than she has understood anything else she has seen happen in the temple, she slowly walks toward the thrashing creature and grasps the staff. The corpse inhabited by the fiery being falls to the floor, fully-dead at last. The creature itself seems to probe Ameena's mind for a moment, as though searching for some kind of weakness or desire it might feed on. Then it is absorbed into the staff, which glows red for a moment but then fades to black, its two ends contracting inwards so that the whole weapon becomes considerably shorter. It is also incredibly light. Not trusting weapons, especially one which she now knows holds a powerful, hostile creature, Ameena lays it on the ground.
The few remaining Ekeel, including the leader, bow to Ameena. Since she can think of no way to respond to this, she goes slowly over to Almulsis, who is trying to crawl across the ground toward his soulstone. She crouches and picks it up, holding it out to him by its chain. It floats over to him of its own accord and seems to merge into his chest.
The Ekeel leader then announces to Ameena that she is the only one who can wield the staff. She turns round, startled, as she does not use weapons or carry items, and is unused not only to receiving apparent "orders" from other creatures, but from them talking to her at all. The Ekeel tells her that because of her place in the world (the way she lives, unlike such creatures as humans), she is the only one of the right mind to use the staff. She tells him, in return, that she has no desire to do so, and that since it is his weapon, he should use it, for she neither understands, nor wants anything more to do with, their business. She then asks the Ekeel why Almulsis told her to run from his people.
The Ekeel leader has a clear dislike for Almulsis, or perhaps simply for humans in general. Yet he says that Ameena would have no reason to fear his people, for she is, in many ways, like them. Then he tells her that she must be the one to wield the staff, for no creature, besides her, can now do so and remain unharmed. When Ameena points out that surely this means no-one will be able to use it and thus it is no threat, the Ekeel responds by saying that the creature within the staff could feed off another wielder and eventually become strong enough to break free and take another host body. The Ekeel leader explains that she may use the staff in any number of ways, or simply hide it. He and his people then make to leave the temple.
Ameena is still unwilling, but says that in her travels, she has fonud a number of places in which few or no other creatures dwell, and that if she truly is the only one who can touch the staff, she will find one such place, and hide it there. She picks the staff up again. Then she asks the Ekeel how it is they seem to know about her, when she had never heard of them until now. But the Ekeel seems to avoid this question, giving no useful reply. But as he goes to leave, he does mention that, should any of her kind still exist, they will dwell beyond the Horakkaqua Desert. He semes mournful that he has lost so many of his people, and saddened that his race may seen perish fully. Ameena seems to respond to this with a kind of indifferent acceptance, saying that when the time comes for her own existence to end, then so be it.
As the Ekeel leave the temple, Almulsis, still lying on the floor, calls out, asking whether they will remain to help. The leader has one of his people stay behind, who happens to be the one who almost detected Ameena when she was hiding in the copse of trees. The Ekeel does not seem happy about having to stay near Almulsis, but does what his leader bids him. He appears to be looking to Ameena for some form of instruction. With no idea of quite how to respond, Ameena brushes aside the attention by telling the Ekeel simply that she does not need his help, that she has always managed by herself. Though she does not mean this in a rude way, it is possible that she comes across as such. The next thing she wants to do is simply to head off by herself and take the staff somewhere no-one will find it, but instead, for now, she approaches Almulsis again, and asks him what he plans to do next.

[Ameena]

Page 8

The Ekeel rejoins his fellows, and though Almulsis is about to try to call him back, doing so causes him to cough violently. He registers Ameena's question, though, and tells her he still intends to travel toward Poukal Village. He offers to help her hide the staff, since he says he has powers which he can use to prevent it ever being discovered, once Ameena has put it somewhere.
Ameena says that she can hide the staff at any time, and expresses her unwillingness to remain in the temple - she expects humans might return soon, and has no desire to be discovered by them and, judging by past experiences with the species, blamed for the desctruction of the temple if she is discovered standing amid the ruins as she is.
Meanwhile Ettesus, the bounty hunter, is entering the village, dazed by what he has seen in Farspace. He intends to seek a tavern and temporarily douse his senses in a beer, but his mind is changed when he sees what seems to have happened.
Sonia Resé, meanwhile, far away in the ReséAstral Library, is discussing the Reaper situation, and the Ekeel, with her advisers. She considers that since they have historically always only shown themselves at times of great disaster, what might happen should they decide that their enemies are not just the Reapers, but the Great Houses.
Ameena and Almulsis depart the temple to find the Ekeel still standing outside. They had evidently been waiting for the two to leave, for once they have done so, one of the Ekeel raises a wand and fires a red bolt at the temple, setting it ablaze.
Ameena tells Almulsis that due to her desire to remain undiscovered by the humans of the village, she will wait for him at the copse. She tells him roughly where it is before swiftly departing to wait for him in the same tree in which she hid before. He follows her, very slowly and painfully. Pesumably the Ekeel then go their own way.
The bounty hunter, Ettesus, has by now arrived in the village proper, and sees Almulsis walking slowly away. He sneaks up on the mage, but the wind happens to blow some embers of the fire onto him before he can strike, and he shouts in pain and has to drop to the ground and roll lest his clothes catch alight. Almulsis turns and tries to hide his injury, whilst at the same time racking his brains for some idea as to what he can do to fend this man off if he should attack.
Ameena, watching from her distant perch, sees all this, and leaves the tree, moving closer and ready to act if necessary. But Ettesus merely hesitates for a few moments and then runs off, seemingly scared by something. Ameena contemplates returning to the trees to wait for Almulsis, but instead briefly returns to a nearby rooftop to watch Ettesus and see that he doesn't attempt another attack. Ettesus runs and hides behind a nearby barn. Ameena watches him for a while, but then returns to the copse when she sees Almulsis continue heading in that direction.
Ettesus suspects that there may be something nearby (as indeed there is, as one of Almulsis's invisible companions has followed him), but concludes that he is probably "jumping at shadows", and wonders whether all his trouble is worth the 100 Denarii bounty. He doesn't pursue Almulsis. Not too far distant, there is a sudden flash of lightning and thunderclap, though there has been no other sign that a storm is coming.
Almulsis reaches the trees and confirms that Ameena is there - she is, sat once again on the same branch, though she descends to a lower one in order to talk to him. He asks her if she has ever experienced thunder and lightning with no other sense of a storm, and she says she hasn't.
Ameena has kept hold of the staff all this time, and looks at it, knowing she should stash it away somewhere as soon as she can. Yet she still decides to stay with Almulsis, though doesn't really understand why. Almulsis asks her about Sera, the dragoness, and she answers that Sera went off by herself. Then she asks him what he was investigating when he entered the temple. Somewhat reluctantly, he decides to tell her the truth about how he acquired his injury - that he attacked the Ekeel on sight and one of them slew him. Ameena does not like this, as it reveals Almulsis to be little different to most other human's she's encountered. But then again, she does realise that he didn't have to tell her the truth - he could have said nothing and she would have had no way of ever knowing. Yet still (though she has no real idea why), she decides to remain with him. She suggests going off on her own to hide the staff, and then returning to find him.
Almulsis says that he still intends to go north, to Poukal Village, but that if she knows of any source of water in that direction, he will stop there first as he can use it to speed up his healing. After a few moments of consideration, Ameena suddenly reveals how she travels so easily and swiftly - her "cape" turns out to be a physical part of her body. It splits in two and becomes a pair of wings, which she uses to fly high above the copse and look around. She spots a distant lake on the other side of some trees across the scrubland, and flies down to inform Almulsis. He says he is ready to head there straight away.