Aramil was distracted by a jolt of pain shooting up from his gut. Apparently he had stretched the wound trying to see what was going on. The squirrel on the rock was now doing back flips, clearly excited...
Because I love to see the Dice gods laugh, give me another roll this one with a +10 modifier.
Aramil instinctively reached for his blade but found nothing but air. Tensing up. Aramil braced himself for the arrival of the little squirrel's friend.
A slender yellow snake skinned creature arose from the water at the beach. It looked to be eight feet in length from tail to head. The tail portion looked thick as the creature gathered it into a small coil. It's torso was compact and it's arms short, yet humanoid. The creature had slits along it's neck as it tilted it's head curiously looking towards Aramil. It had a slit for lips and a bulbous mound with four holes where one would expect a nose. It's eyes were spaced the same as a human, but the iris of both eyes were those of a snake.
It's tongue flicked out tasting the air as it called out in a series of low pitch clicks. The squirrel at Aramil's side stopped jumping as if listening. When the clicking stopped, the squirrel looked at Aramil and then towards the snake/merfolk creature. Then jumping off the rock it ran over to the new creature and sat on it's haunches as if waiting for him to approach.
Just as Aramil was eying the snake/merfolk so too was the snake/merfolk eying him. As the creature came upon the squirrel the two exchanged meaningful stares, as if communicating, before the snake/merfolk's head snapped towards Aramil's wounds. The creature extended it's arm forward pointing one of it's three clawed fingers at the wounds. Then turning the same extended hand palm up, the creature began summoning forest mana...
The creature carefully pressed its mana infused palm against the leaf bandages holding Aramil's insides from spilling out. Slowly the green glow spread across the bandaged wounds numbing and then revitalizing the areas with new life. A freshness seemed to seep into Aramil as his skin fused with the leathery leaf bandages.
Then withdrawing its hand the creature slithered back closer to the waters and watched Aramil intently, waiting to see what he would do know that he was healed.
The bandages held firmly but the area felt numb, as if the leaves had become a second skin without attached nerves. The creature focused its eyes upon Aramil's lips as he spoke, studying the sound and words. With a tilt of its head it looked on in wonder.
"You don't understand a word I am saying, do you?"
Aramil, surprisingly calm for being suddenly jolted to a strange world with foreign creatures, knelt down to the water's edge. He moved slowly as to not startle his new found companions, and he extended his good hand to the water's edge.
The creature tilted its head to the side eying Aramil's hand cautiously. He could sense a few emotions rippling through the creature's mind: caution, curiosity, and an underlying tinge of fear. Apparently misunderstanding the gesture, the creature shifted its gaze from Aramil's hand to the squirrel-like creature in between the two of them. With a bob of the head from the snake merfolk the little squirrel like creature jumped into the proffered hand, apparently as some sort of offering...
Aramil softly petted the squirrel while shaking his head. he tried to, very softly, transfer his own emotional state along the same path that he was receiving empathic feelings from the snake creature. Aramil was calm and grateful for the help his new friends has given him.
The squirrel nudged its head in response to the pets appreciatively. Then climbing up to a perch on Aramil's left shoulder it laid down lazily while making a purring noise. The snake merfolk recognized Aramil's response and performed a slight bow before returning to the depths of the oceans.
A refreshing breeze blew past Aramil and the squirrel, sending a chill into his core due to the water still soaking Aramil from his plunge into the water not too long ago. The squirrel stood up on its hind legs in response to the wind looking at Aramil as if to say, "Now what?"
Aramil smiled at his new friend before he asked himself that very question, "Now what?"
Aramil drew a deep breath and tried to make sense of everything that led up until this point. The fact that he was almost dead. The sudden burst of energy that tore his body to shreds. The strange feeling of existing in the great Aether. The sudden rush of barreling towards a new world The nauseating experience of reforming bit by bit before dropping half-dead into ice-cold water. It all led to him sitting on the shore of a strange land with a strange critter sitting on his shoulder.
Aramil let the breath out and with it the words. "I need to get home."
The thought of home brought forth a multitude of images from Aramil's memory. Among those images were the dark passages of his guildhall and a painful image of his lost love. He could feel a stirring inside his being at those images.
Aramil did not fight the images as they came to him. For the first time in ages, the let the memories he'd repressed wash over his mind and flood him with conflicting waves of nostalgia and pain.
The soft feel of his wife's touch after a hard day in the fields and conflicted with the pain of seeing her killed by those barbarians.
The feeling of acquiring his connection to mana conflicted with the memory of Barrin's betrayal.
The feeling of finding the Tenth Guild conflicted with the terror of seeing it threatened by an unknown enemy.
Aramil allowed the multitude of memories to come and go. After a time, a time that will be lost to the ages, Aramil relaxed. He was no longer conflicted. He had focus. He knew what he needed to do.
"I need to get home." Aramil repeated aloud, and the air around him began to swirl.
Aramil could feel a parting of reality around him, one that grew with the mana he drew upon. Within mere moments he was back into that strange realm, the one that could only be the Blind Eternities from the legends of old. His focus drew him swiftly past the points of light that seemed to call to him. He had only one destination in mind, his home plane Dominaria. His essence seemed to lurch forward to a specific point of light surrounded by a cluster of thirteen other lights nearby. Here he came to a stop as the light filled his vision.
There seemed a heartbeat's hesitation as the pull from his focus wavered for a moment seeking his true home on Dominaria...
That last sentence is just to give you an indication of control on where you will have Aramil appear on Dominaria. A strong memory of a location from his past or any land connections will guide him safely the rest of the way.
Aramil dreamed of the cold, damp aqueducts and sewers that housed the hidden hall, the one place of refuge he knew midst the uncertain cosmos he traveled in.
Aramil dreamed of his home in the forgotten Tenth Guild, of Jeremy, of Circu, and even of the terrible Golgari recyke that he could barely choke down.
With a vision in place, Aramil felt an internal jerk before experiencing a popping sensation as he found himself materializing into the familiar surroundings of his guild. And yet, there was an eerie silence about the place, different from what he was used to when he visited. The sewers felt truly empty.
Was he too late? Was that group able to pierce the heart of the unseen and forgotten? Or had the guild cut ties with the compromised hall?
Silence and the ache from his travels were all that answered him. This new found ability of his severely drained him, made worse by the injuries he had incurred...
Aramil took a deep breath and exhaled, happy to be breathing a familiar air again.
He rested for a moment before working his way through the sewer network, trying to find his way back "home." He moved cautiously in case his nightmares became reality, and his mission to defend the guild was unsuccessful.
He found himself within the heart of his guild hall quickly enough. Though first impressions of the scene left his hopes dashed. There were signs of a struggle here. Scorch marks and dried blood marred the walls.
And yet, there were no bodies. There was something else not quite right about this whole scene, about the guild hall. He felt as though the place was abandoned and that he was alone. Yet there was an echo of an emotion that he could sense.
He couldn't quite place his finger upon it but he knew something was off...
It's tongue flicked out tasting the air as it called out in a series of low pitch clicks. The squirrel at Aramil's side stopped jumping as if listening. When the clicking stopped, the squirrel looked at Aramil and then towards the snake/merfolk creature. Then jumping off the rock it ran over to the new creature and sat on it's haunches as if waiting for him to approach.
Then withdrawing its hand the creature slithered back closer to the waters and watched Aramil intently, waiting to see what he would do know that he was healed.
Looking out to the creature in the water, he said, "It's ok, you don't have anything to fear. Can you speak?"
Aramil, surprisingly calm for being suddenly jolted to a strange world with foreign creatures, knelt down to the water's edge. He moved slowly as to not startle his new found companions, and he extended his good hand to the water's edge.
"Thank you," he said with a smile.
A refreshing breeze blew past Aramil and the squirrel, sending a chill into his core due to the water still soaking Aramil from his plunge into the water not too long ago. The squirrel stood up on its hind legs in response to the wind looking at Aramil as if to say, "Now what?"
Aramil drew a deep breath and tried to make sense of everything that led up until this point. The fact that he was almost dead. The sudden burst of energy that tore his body to shreds. The strange feeling of existing in the great Aether. The sudden rush of barreling towards a new world The nauseating experience of reforming bit by bit before dropping half-dead into ice-cold water. It all led to him sitting on the shore of a strange land with a strange critter sitting on his shoulder.
Aramil let the breath out and with it the words. "I need to get home."
The soft feel of his wife's touch after a hard day in the fields and conflicted with the pain of seeing her killed by those barbarians.
The feeling of acquiring his connection to mana conflicted with the memory of Barrin's betrayal.
The feeling of finding the Tenth Guild conflicted with the terror of seeing it threatened by an unknown enemy.
Aramil allowed the multitude of memories to come and go. After a time, a time that will be lost to the ages, Aramil relaxed. He was no longer conflicted. He had focus. He knew what he needed to do.
"I need to get home." Aramil repeated aloud, and the air around him began to swirl.
There seemed a heartbeat's hesitation as the pull from his focus wavered for a moment seeking his true home on Dominaria...
Aramil dreamed of his home in the forgotten Tenth Guild, of Jeremy, of Circu, and even of the terrible Golgari recyke that he could barely choke down.
Was he too late? Was that group able to pierce the heart of the unseen and forgotten? Or had the guild cut ties with the compromised hall?
Silence and the ache from his travels were all that answered him. This new found ability of his severely drained him, made worse by the injuries he had incurred...
He rested for a moment before working his way through the sewer network, trying to find his way back "home." He moved cautiously in case his nightmares became reality, and his mission to defend the guild was unsuccessful.
And yet, there were no bodies. There was something else not quite right about this whole scene, about the guild hall. He felt as though the place was abandoned and that he was alone. Yet there was an echo of an emotion that he could sense.
He couldn't quite place his finger upon it but he knew something was off...
Aramil? came the thought from Jeremy's mind.
He hadn't revealed himself yet, but Aramil had a strong grasp on his connection and could maintain the telepathic conversation easily enough.