Meet White Tail
The White Tail Tribe
Last Week, the Manhattan Knights arrived in a grassy valley somewhere in the old Taconic Valley in New York. They were stunned into silence watching a dazzling set of maneuvers between a bunch of varying dino riders. Massive battle platform brontos, steady tank triceratops, and rapid cutting sabertooth knights. As if the military precision and maneuvering weren’t enough to make the hairs stand up on the back of their neck…
As they walked into the village they were greeted by massed humans (some still Core Earthers, but the bulk of them cave-people) and edeinos standing side by side. Some robed shaman gathered them and led them toward the massive altar/sculpture in middle of the village. After getting an eyeful of the Manhattan knights these people settled back into their various tasks. Making clothing, cooking bread, and generally contributing to the community.
Carlisle: “This is all very advanced… I mean it’s still stone-age, but its very social.”
Sasha: “I think we’re in for many surprises.”
Kimiko: “I think we know where Tusk came from…”
At the mention of the advanced edeinos warlord they all go silent.
Hand Off
The Shaman stop and a group of people intercept the knights, the shaman bow and they fade back into the tribes people. Before them stands a mixed group of people, the one in the rear being an Edeinos and the titular White-tail and the two in the led are the men from Sasha’s vision.
The Indiana Jones looking guy steps forward and greets each of them in their native tongue, Russian, Japanese, and Victorian English. He introduces himself as Dr. Gabriel Lancer… and here the Manhattan Knights have to pause as the name means something to them. And it all rushes back, to their very first day in Manhattan, when they were briefed that multiple Delphi teams had gone into the Living Lands, and that they were all lost. Dr. Lancer was the leader of the first team to ever be inserted into New York, way back after the founding of Delphi.
The Doc Savage looking man, a caveman with skin that oddly looks like it is metallic was once Doctor Samuel Magnusson, but he was changed by his time in the Living Lands. The brilliant botanist was gone, but the muscle-bound hero remained.
Lancer greets them warmly, and Magnusson tries to emulate shaking their hands as well. The two men step aside to introduce their host, the living avatar of Lanlala, White Tail.
White Tail
Edeinos seem to come in a variety, with some of them having the smooth skin of chameleons, and others being scaled like a dragon. But White Tail looks like an upright crocodile, wearing a Native American bone chest plate and wielding a long lance with feathered fetishes dangling from the grip and he has a woven shield on his back. If it weren’t for the crocodile face and the long albino tail dragging behind him, they would have thought they stood before a 17th century Lakota Warrior.
Was White Tail a core Earther who changed? Or was he something different?
He gestures back to altar platform and before it is a long table and chairs, despite his mouth shape very clear English asks them to sit and enjoy the feast. They have been waiting for their coming. As they approach the table Carlisle removes his pack and pulls a six-foot bundle from the lashings. Within the bundle is a two-handed sword cut from stone and imbued with the energy of the living lands [ASIDE: I have to admit, as I rewrite this from the session notes I don’t remember where this sword came from or for how long they have been carting it around. But I have a note that it was given as a gift to the Tribe.]
White Tail: “A noble gift, I will make it the prize for our coming tourney. Whichever knight is worthy shall have this living blade.”
White Tail then gestures to places of honor at his left hand and the trio sit. As soon as White Tail sits a flurry of activity erupts as the table is laden with food and various other champions take their seats.
Table Talk
White Tail and his shaman have access to scrying, but nowhere as detailed as what the Catkeep could do. More than 70% of the tribe was actually on their way to Long Island when the Manhattan knights decided to mess with Baruk Kaah. Those forces were still out in the field, watching over the end of Long Island and everything that was happening there. But they would be returning soon.
Carlisle is awed by the idea that the sabertooth knights and tank triceratops that they watched earlier only represented about 30% of the army of the tribe. This valley is their most sacred village, the closest to White Tail’s birth place. This quickly answers the question about him being from Core Earth or not. His gifts come from another source. He explains that the energy in the mountains and flowing through the earth is the same, but this location is actually very far from where he was hatched. For a while he almost waxes poetic about his love for the New York countryside.
But eventually he does get around to darkness all around them, and in particular a city to their southeast that is a snarl, a cancer in the flow of life from Lanlala. When pushed on the subject he says it is not a lost wonder, like the Dome in Manhattan, but is more akin to as third cosm invading like what was happening on Long Island. All of this talk of a “dark snarl” is upsetting to the rest of the table and White Tail changes the subject.
The Past and Lineage of White Tail
White Tail’s whole birth line has been marked by Lanlala… to be different, to perhaps be better. His mind has always worked differently, he understood the need for structure, for the organization of tasks and duties. The need for skills and how those skills could all be used to make a better whole. He made friends with the cavemen slaves, he learned the languages of the various tribes and peoples in the worlds that the Living Lands found itself invading. Where his mind was geared to social reform and community growth, his son was even better. His mind turning to military matters. Together they formed the calvary units and developed better weapons and armor.
But whereas White Tail wanted to better his whole society, his son wanted to challenge the Saar of Saars and make himself the ruler of the whole of the Living Lands. White Tail took his tribe away from his son and wandered away, and the Baruk invaded earth and everything changed. White Tail found Lancer and his men wounded and battered and nursed them back to health. He learned about the Delphi and those fighting against the invasions, and worse he learned that the Spear wielded by the Saar was an evil intelligent artifact that enslaved the Saar and made him into a tyrant.
During the time nursing Lancer and Magnusson back to health, Magnusson became a caveman, but quickly adapted to become the heroic figure he now is and both men re-baptized themselves to White Tail’s faith. Upon hearing this the trio notice bone charms handing around everyone’s necks.
More Recent Events
Besides sending most of their forces to Long Island to try and assassinate Baruk or at the least to cause him a lot of trouble. They also had a caravan of Tinkers come through the valley, they reinforced the need to reach out to the “Manhattan Knights” and also spoke of trading with the great Dome in Central Park. The idea of making alliances with other cultures took a while to get used to, but since his tribe was geared for social assimilation already and because Dr. Lancer is one of their knights, the idea was warmly received. Hence why messages were sent to the Dome and to trio.
During this whole discussion, Sasha can’t help but notice that White Tail has a habit of reaching back and touching the long spear that he carries. He mostly eats with one hand and keeps his other hand touching the shaft constantly.
Emboldened by his openness she asks him about the weapon, and his attachment to it.
They aren’t certain, but it does look like he smiles. He quickly assures them that as much as the Lance is a weapon, it is also the symbol of his faith and a relic of supreme healing prowess. He is ancient by Edeinos standards and the lance gives him the resemblance and strength of his youth. He allows her to touch it.
Psychometry
Sasha reads the past of the lance and is nearly overwhelmed as the power of the artifact rolls over her psionic senses. First off, her powers are alien to the land, and as such are alien to the lance which resists being touched by them. Also, the lance is linked directly to the edeinos faith, and only worshippers can touch or wield the weapon, unbelievers would be harmed.
She holds on to her reading for a few moments longer and does get that the lance can heal wounds at a touch and that the wielder could regenerate all damage and wounds as well. There is more power in the lance than that, and it has a name as a unique relic. But her concentration is finally broken and it defies her.
She sags back into her chair, drained of energy and suddenly tired. White Tail understands that they have traveled all day and perhaps they need to rest. He points to a yurt and tells them that it has been set aside for their use. He then leaves the table and tells all to enjoy the night and their guests.
Day 116
Despite drinking and eating far too much food, the whole of the village seems to rise bright and early and none the worse for wear. Even our Manhattan knights awake feeling refreshed and ready to fight the whole of the world.
The trio have no tasks to perform and they find the table loaded with fresh fruits and vegetables. Sitting together, Carlisle expresses a wish for a hot cup of tea, but otherwise he feels bright and ready to face the day. Kimiko nods at the tea reference but she’s ready for business and pulls out a map of New York. Despite the fact that most of the land has been altered into vast jungles filled with dinosaurs, many of the landmarks still line up with the original Earth.
Last night, they got the general location of the “Black Hole” and using the map, Kimiko points to small town named Mount Pleasant. [ASIDE: Now… all of my players are fairly familiar with New York, but their Characters are completely clueless, and there is a possibility that some of you readers might also not be aware… part of Mount Pleasant is the smaller village of Sleepy Hollow.]
Checking over the map they figure out the basic directions and some of the landmarks they can look out for and decide to go give it a look. After all, they aren’t contributing anything to the tribe yet, and they have no other pressing business.
Heading out:
The tribe is busy with work and more military maneuvers. The trio and their tagalong catgirl, approach White Tail and inform him that they intend to investigate the darkness to the south. The old leader looks off to the clouds in the sky and warns them that very dark things are moving there, and that he planned to approach it with the army when they returned from Long Island. He tells them to take it very easy and to only scout.
But he knows that these are the same people who opened a portal and attacked Baruk Kaah just to save two men. He’s certain they will bite off more than they can handle. He offers them some help and they turn it down, siting that they plan to take the jeep and it only seats four.
They take the jeep that Lancer liberated from West Point as it is loaded with guns and extra fuel and it is more primitive than their electric space truck. Off to the darkness in Sleepy Hollow.
And we’ll pause it here, Next week strange sightings and monster galore.
