A New World

Keeper continued move, but turned her head to give Arcantos a somewhat bored look, "Do not insult me again youngling. If I deem I need to escape I am well capable of doing so. Go hide though and I will return for you when I see what it is we actually face."

While the others are arguing, he slinks off to find a small area of natural earth, close by. He attempts to stay within earshot of the drakes, whilst keeping his own actions hidden. Upon finding said spot of earth, he quickly begins digging through to a reasonable depth, and making his way in the direction the horn came from.

OOC:

The tapirs consult with each other for a moment before their spokestapir replies.  "Dragon Place.  Old dragon place - likely First Stone Village" The tapirs are looking down over the near edge of the platform your on.  "Need to get down, then flee to Jungle."

Ch'aska hears a horn blowing on the faredge of the structure - for looking down that's apparent what it is.  

-----

While not in bad shape for an incredibly ancient structure, there are areas where roots poked through the masonry- long enough ago that the offending trees had long since rotted into nothingness.  Piasa tunnels in the direction of the horn sound- until he is certain he is outside.  Poking his head up, still remaining hidden, he can see a number of griffons milling about the entrance- it's hard to guess - only their feet are visible right upon emerging from the earth, but there seem to be around 4 or 5.

On her way to the entrance, Keeper almost runs into an almost-completely black griffon- likely the source of the feathers earlier.  He lets out a scrawk and runs back in the other direction, blowing a horn on the way.

Ch'aska turned towards the sound. They probably needed  to get going as quickly a possible."Good Idea. We can probably use some of the ropes they tied us up with to help us down."

Keeper, now at the entrance to the Temple, Arcantos from his hiding point, and Piasa, through Rufus scouting ahead- can now see the griffons arranged in the small plaza in front of the building. Directly in front of the building is a fancy-looking griffon, outfitted in beads and bones, wearing what looks to be a dragon skull- although it's so inlaid with gold, jade, and jewels that you aren't sure whether it's an actual skull or not. He is flanked by two warriors wearing distinctive jaguar-pelt armour and wielding obsidian blades. There are three other griffon's about, smaller and darker, skattered somewhat randomly around the plaza- including the scout that had just left the building.

The griffons all look a little surprised at Keeper running out of the entrance- although the priest-looking one seems to keep the most calm. One of the scouts looks directly towards Arcantos' hiding spot for a moment, but returns to paying attention to Keeper.

Keeper flies in a bit closer and greets them, "Greetings. Did you come to pay homage to the coming auspicious event? Or are you perhaps here with a more violent goal in mind?"

The scouts look alert and combat-ready, and the two Jaguar warriors raise their weapons, but hold their places as the priest raises one of his front feet- adorned with a golden bracelet and rings on each talon.  

"Greetings to you also, Old One.  I thought we might find some of you here, in this most holy of places.  Yes, our people revere this city- you could say it is the fundamental inspiration for our Empire."

The griffon chuckles at Keeper's question.  

"Why, both of course- they go talon in talon.  These warriors have been out seeking captives for the upcoming ceremony.  We will of course be returning to Coatlcalli to celebrate the cycle's end there, but I ordered that we stop here on the way."

The black griffon that had blown the horn whispered in the priests' ear.  

"Now, where are your two companions?  I will be requiring you all to come back with us."


The griffons all tensed, awaiting Keeper's response.

-----

Ch'aska scales the temple wall with the ropes that had bound her- the tapirs lowering their injured companion before following down.

Through some acoustic trick of the local architecture, she can hear the conversation taking place in the plaza on the other side of the building...

Keeper shakes her head, "I'm sure they're somewhere nearby, if they haven't already run off. I wasn't really keeping track of them. I'm afraid you will have to look for captives elsewhere, I must remain here for this time as my duty as Keeper."

Spoiler:

"Captives?  Oh no, not for the likes of you.  A Keeper, eh?  We could use you.  You all would be accorded positions of great honor in the celebrations- one of you may even be worthy to play the role of one of the incarnations of Omecoatl.  All the more reason I must insist once more you come with us."

While the griffon seems excited by Keeper's title, he looks frustrated- like he feels like he should know what that is but doesn't really.  He gives a signal, and the scouts begin circling the plaza, indirectly approaching Keeper while trying to keep an eye out for their surroundings.  The one that had glanced at Arcantos' hiding place begins heading straight towards him.  The Jaguar warriors remain with the priest.

Keeper shakes her head, "I'm sorry, we will have to turn down your offer. I'm going to have to ask you to leave now. If you do not, I will become angry. You would not wish to see the form of my anger."

Spoiler:

(You take one nap and the whole situation escalates...)
 
Monitoring the tense conversation between the griffon priest and Keeper, Piasa had an idea. He didn't quite know what the extent of her combat talent was, but he was reasonably sure Keeper couldn't take on 6 full-grown griffons on her own. The first step was to get Rufus away from his vantage point and sneak off to wherever Arcantos hid himself, and tell him to close his eyes when he sees Piasa. The second step would be to get right behind Keeper, underground, of course, and prepare to burst out of the ground at the first sign of violence. Third and most importantly, he would blind the griffons with his light as their attention turned to him.
 
With a coy grin on his face, Piasa sank back into his tunnel, and started guiding Rufus to prepare for the inevitable encounter.
 

OOC:

The priest cackles unnervingly, upsetting the griffon scouts. "How wrong you are!  Show me the fury of a dragon!  Show me your worth as a child of Omecoatl!"

The priest stops laughing, cocks his head watching a point on the ground, and startles the scouts again as he barks in broken ancient draconic. "Chok! Tun!".  Rings glowing, his talons scratch at the air, forming glowing floating glyphs.  

Suddenly the pavement erupts, fragments of stone scattering harmlessly, but throwing Piasa into the air.  

"There you are!  One more to go!  Sieze them!"  Three griffon scouts start moving in on Piasa and Keeper

Arcantos thinks that the Griffon's captives would be nearby- no point to drop them off too far away- but none are in sight.  He watches as the one griffon scout enters the hole in the building.  He does not look up- he is looking down, right at Rufus.  But he has other things to worry about than small rodents.  Then he looks up...

Spoiler:

Keeper inhales as she draws forth the power and might of ancient dragons of bygone ages into herself through the ever-present, if not currently visible, stars. Then she breaths forth a mass of smoke and embers that seems like it will never end. As it pours forth it picks up speed and it swirls around her higher and higher until it forms into a massive wingless dragon made of a hurricane of smoke and embers, Keeper have vanished somewhere inside of it. Once it is fully formed, it roars, its cavernous mouth and eyes glowing dangerously.

Spoiler:

After being hurtled unceremoniously out of his safe tunnel, Piasa needed to take a few moments to work out what was happening. After noticing the hurricane, he struggled mightily to overcome its winds, and made it above the head of the storm-dragon. He looked around and saw he was in a good position to try a bit of intimidation. Piasa reached down into his heart-of-hearts, finding that light which made his kind special, and brought it to the forefront of his self, as his elders taught him. He became inundated in his light, and spoke directly to the priest, putting as much authority into his voice as possible.
 
"You dare come here, to this sacrosanct place, and demand that we take part in your twisted rituals? The dragons were once the greatest power in the land, and you will respect this ancient place! This is our land, this city, and we will not tolerate you forcing your will on us. Leave this place and never return, or face our fury. Do you understand? GO!" On this last word, he again reached for his light, and forced it brighter, till it nearly outshone the sun.
 
Meanwhile, Rufus was chittering at Arcantos, oblivious of what he was trying to do, telling him, "Whatever you do, please do not look out at the plaza for a bit. It's not gonna be pretty."
 

OOC:

Arcantos's plan works just as expected, falling, hitting the griffon in the head, and landing gracefully on the ground. A bright light is coming from the direction of the hole in the wall.

The griffons all stare, petrified as if literally struck by the awe of the sight in front of them. The Jaguar Soldiers huddle in front of the priest, raising large finely-decorated wooden shields. The priest pushes them aside with his talons, not allowing them to block off his view. Even the two warriors cower as the beast roars, and as Piasa yells above it. The three scouts flee in terror before the light reaches its full intensity.

The priest does not avert his eyes- he in fact removes his dragon helmet, revealing molting feathers and a left eye closed from scarring. Despite this- he manages to open both eyes as fully as he can- wanting to take in as much of the scene as possible.

"... Beautiful! ... Magnificent! ... Glorious!..." he laughs and weeps simultaneously. He does not even avert his eyes as Piasa's light reaches its full intensity...

The tapirs on the other side of the building collapse in fear and huddle with their injured comrade- frightened but unwilling to leave her behind. The towering figure is visible over the top of the temple, as is the increasingly blinding light.

And then the light, and the laughing, end. The two warriors slowly stand up and look at the priest. He has fallen to the ground, and isn't moving. Their shields drop, and they back off slowly, looking back at the towering dragon-form, and then take off to the north without a word, flying after the scouts.

Spoiler:

Ch'aska stared in awe at the fiery dragon. She wasn't sure what it was, or if it was dangerous, but it was summoned in response to their captors, which seemed a point in its favor. She turned to the tapirs."I'm going to go up there and see what happened. I think things are ok, but if they aren't, I'll try to buy some time for you to get her" Ch'aska gestured towards first the injured tapir, then  out towards the jungle "out of here safely."

The tapir with which she had been conversing nodded. "Thank you, llama. Will not forget you. Hope tribe will return favor, one day." The tapirs look at her intensely for a few seconds. And with that, they turn away and start wandering off towards the jungle.

Keeper seeing the griffons flee and not wanting to damage the city any more than she possibly already had, let the whirling winds die down and the smoke and embers dissipate. She then flew over to Piasa and said, "Those were good words young one. I will go see what the priest had on him, as I am learned in the way of such things. Perhaps you should go check on the impertinent one?" Without waiting for a reply she flew down to examine the dead priest and his belongings.

Spoiler: