Putting away his bow and slinging his sword across his back, Avegnum walks over towards the serpent's body with Vel. Looking down at it he feels somewhat chagrined at the fact that it was the least experienced member of the group that managed to secure dinner and save face in front of the giant, Vik'Gotror. "Nice job, Vel, that was a sweet shot there at the end, and I'm glad you didn't lose your head when things started going against us. With everything we're sure to face out here, reliability like that will definitely keep us kicking long enough to see off anything we come up against. You would've been good to have in the war..."
Blushing at the compliments, Vel puts his wand away as his mouth waters from the slight scent of seared serpent flesh. Looking at Alton askance, "Huh, that's weird, I didn't know you fought and if I recall you aren't a member of any House... and you definitely don't look like you're one of the Talenta halflings... Where are you from anyway?"
Avegnum jerks his head back as if slapped at the queries and belatedly realizes that he's blown the facade he's maintained with his human companion for the past six months. Taking another look at the dead serpent, and considering everything they've been through, "Ah, to hezmana with it! Well my friend, it's a long story, and I will definitely tell you, just one moment. Hey Vik, can you carry the serpent back to your camp, or should we cut it up for transport?"
Vik'Gotror talks to group, "The war? What war? Was there another war? I've been here long enough that there could have been another war. But a halfling war? That would be fun to watch, like watching tiny ants fight each other over a nice piece of food, eh? Oh, but no, don't cut it up. Don't want anything getting on it until we are ready to eat. So, lets go back to my camp, right."
ReplyDelete"Alright, Vik, it sounds like a plan," Avegnum replies. Gesturing to his companions to follow the giant as he sets off, the halfling is bemused at the sight of Kaellanna giving Tara a belly rub in the midst of the crispy path. Looking up at Vik and Vel, he starts talking, "Yes my friends, I fought in The Last War, though from the tales I've heard it certainly wouldn't compare to the fights your ancestors took part in, Vik, but for all the peoples of Khorvaire it seemed like it could be the end of all things."
ReplyDeleteSighing and looking back on his memories, Avegnum seems to be talking from very far away. "First off, I was Born and raised in Thrane with the given name of Avegnum Nor as a human. Yes, I can see you think you understand why I fought, Vel, for the Flame and all that, right? Not so much... Any family I had was gone by my teens and since the only thing I had learned to do by then was fight, I figured, why not get paid for it. It seemed... well not really like a dream come true, but exactly what I thought I was looking for at the time. I got training, was able to fight to my heart's content, and simply killed everything that I could that got in my way. You see, Vik, almost a century before I fought, the children of the old kingdom decided to have a tiff over the succession which pretty much broke the continent apart as everyone tried to grab as many pieces as they could."
Interjecting into Alton-Avegnum's silence, Vel quietly says, "Wow. My dad Mosco told me some pretty dark stories about people that came to the inn during those years... it sounded terrible, like everybody was doing whatever they could in order to win, no matter the cost."
Grunting darkly, and spitting on newly crisped vegetation, "Cost indeed! I... I don't know how many people I killed, at the time I just exulted in surviving. So many of my 'fellow' soldiers died, but I didn't care..." Laughing morosely, "If anything, those skill-less bastards ended up saving my hide right at the end. We knew something big was in the works down on the frontlines between Thrane-Cyre but nobody told us anything definite. Right before it was set to kick off, my regiment was pulled out to the slightly less active border with Breland; apparently units that lose more than three quarters of their men can't be relied on... But only days later the Mourning destroyed Cyre ending the fighting once and for all."
Self conscious about having revealed so much about himself, Avegnum tries to deflect attention onto Kaellanna, "That's where I was during the war, but what about you Kaellanna, did your people have any stake in who won?"
Vik'Gotror comments on Avegnum's comments, "The 'Last' War, hu? How long did tha ... oh, only a little more than a hundred years? No wonder I've never heard of it, since it started well after I was born, and way up to the north on the short-people continent, Khorvaire. Not much use knowing about Khorvaire down here in the southern continents. So It's been over for a decade or two?
ReplyDelete"Born a human, now a halfling? That sods like a story to be told over Dream Serpent! Well then Avegnum Nor, what's this Thrane thing, or The Flame? Is the "Old Kingdom" when the goblinoids ruled Khorvaire? The "Morning"? How does the morning destroy anything? Was it the early morning sun come up and sear away something?
"Not to different from my story. Except I was born to do what I am doing now, not just trained. Though, some small amount of training was given prior to coming out here. Been here about 15 years and I'm about half finished with my services. So not much longer until I can get to the city ruins and relax a bit before heading home."
"How about you Kaellanna? Did you fight in this 'Last' war that lasted only about a century? How about you Vel, any "Last" war fighting stories for the camp fire."
As the party talks they continue walking in what seems to be a southwest direction as oriented by vague feelings but nothing really certain, since no one can see the sky, or tell which way the sun is shining as it all looks the same level of mottled, dimmed day time sunlight all around. Vik'Gotror walks at about half speed some 10'-15' ahead of the party with his aura of fire fully engaged. He slowly burns his way through the forest undergrowth making certain to not completely burn any medium sized trees or larger. Making no effort to hide his activities, the party continues on for an hour with nothing but conversation happening.
"Oh no, not me!" Vel says defensively. "I was busy helping my parents out at the Wanderer's Inn, a House Ghallanda establishment. My pa and ma, Mosco and Tera, said that we didn't need to get mixed up about such foolishness since I was too young. I mean, I guess I was old enough but I'm glad I didn't from what Alt- I mean, Avegnum is saying, it sounds like it would have been pretty scary. From the stories I heard, Vik, The Mourning is the name used for the day when all the armies attacked the nation of Cyre and then somehow, some say it was magic or something else... happened. It killed everyone, destroyed the land, and ever since then, a grey wall of magical mist has surrounded the country where strange horrors and magic are said to roam across a twisted hellscape."
ReplyDeleteWith wide eyes, Vel nods vigorously to show how much he believes in what he's heard. Laughing, Avegnum interjects, "Oh we can tell you about the Mournlands, the once kingdom nation of Cyre; why that's where I died, right Kaellanna?"
"And by the way, Vik, Vel's 'parents' are halflings, and that's irony I always found when I was hired."
DeleteAfter another hour of travel in basically the same direction, Vik'Gotror leads the party to a burnt out just of a clearing with a massive shared tree at it's center. about 15' away from the tree is a pool of water some 30' across. No visible streams lead to the pool but is bubbles and gurgles from an underground source constantly filling it. "This is my camp," The giant tells the group, "It's where I rest and sleep until I have the energy to start clearing again the next day. Now, lets eat and tell me more of the northlands. If you have more questions before it's time to sleep, I'm happy to answer them as well."
ReplyDeleteThe party, except for Avegnum, finds that it is exhausted from the altitude, and slightly sickened by the lack of breathable air. Everyone is ready for sleep as if it were night time even though the sunlight hasn't changed one bit from the time they were there.
"Please explain how a human becomes a halfling, and a human is raised by halflings, and an elf and her arctic cat fit in to all this," the giant requests as he lays down next to the tree. No longer radiating exhaustive heat as he was before Vik'Gotror looks tired and older than he did earlier as he lays there between tree and pool.
The serpent's corpse is quite charred on the outside, but Vik'Gotror indicates that it should be quite edible inside. "Please, one of you, make the serpent ready to eat while i lay here a few minutes."
Figuring that he's probably the only one with the energy left to carve up the serpent, Avegnum sets to work with his sword as Vel lays down by the pool of water, exhausted from the day's events.
ReplyDeleteCalling over his shoulder as he chops, smaller pieces for the party, and thick slabs for Vik'Gotror, "Well a few years after the war I was looking for work as a mercenary, seeing as how all I knew how to do was fight, and answered a rather odd ad in the Korranberg Chronicle for a singles' meet up in Sharn. It was pretty... awkward, but eventually we left the tavern only to find a dead man on one of the sky bridges. The next thing we know, two mouthed goblins try to swarm us..."
(Talking about the trek into the sewer, nearly being gutted by a warforged, beetle swarm terror, traps, and finding the strange artificer device.)
"...and from that venture, we were contracted to head into the ruins of Cyre to find a secret Cannith research facility." Pausing for a moment, Avegnum carries some of the more evenly cooked interior meat to everyone, which means making several trip for Vik.
"Wow! I never knew you'd been on so many adventures, Avegnum. It sounds really exciting, but what happened next?" Vel asks excitedly around a chunk of serpent.
"Well we got into the Mournlands and it was as strange as the tales say. The grey wall nearly confused us but we managed to find our way through and with some shoddy navigating on my part, we were able to get back on course. On our way we were attacked by skeletal horses, found mounds of bodies that looked like they had just died yesterday, and even a crab the size of a house! It was hard going there and seeing the living memories of the war that I thought I had left behind... but we pushed on, we had a job to do." Bringing his own pile of meat to the pool, Avegnum sets to work reducing the pile, and between sips from the burbling water, continues his tale.
"Well we end up succeeding in finding the facility and the schema, but on our way out, someone named Garrow Vii ambushed us on a zombie wyvern with four of these giant four headed, four armed skeletons. I guess I made a mistake in thinking that my fellow adventurers were with me, but I charged out to defy the bastard that was trying to rob us. Of course these weren't like the Karnathi skeletons I had seen in the war and were a bit tougher... but with them, and then my own friends webbing me and tossing a fireball on me for added measure... I didn't survive."
Sighing heavily, "I guess I did manage to buy them some time, at least that's what I like to think, and everyone else survived that encounter, though they found me dead, stripped of all my possessions and with my right hand cut off... I sometimes remember the feeling of utter contentment from when I was... elsewhere, but Kaellanna managed to bring me back, reincarnating me in, well, this body. There's little else to tell, it didn't seem like any of our other adventures turned out as well."
"Well I'm glad you're still with us, Avegnum," Vel says brightly despite his exhaustion. "Hopefully this side trip will turn out better than that! (why did he just jinx the group?!?!) As for me, my halfling parents told me that my birth parents left me in the inn one night. Nobody can remember anything about them so the few times I've thought about trying to find them I've had no idea how to start. I just wonder about where my power comes from sometimes. I feel great using them, and it seems really useful, but some people think it's weird and have been mean to me."
"The moral of this story is Avegnum can't keep secrets." Kaellanna says as she shoots him a dirty look. "Well, now I guess the cat's out of the bag- so welcome, Vel, to the party of eternal failures. You will soon realize that our unfortunate predicaments are no accidents, but cruel, cruel fate. I had hoped that keeping you in the dark would save you from our curse, but now because of Avegnum's ineptitude and blind lust for companionship you are now and forever tainted by our tribulations.
ReplyDeleteAnd as for myself, and Tara here, we try to remain as far away from confrontations as possible- unless there are evil mages we can kill. We spend our free time celebrating nature and protecting the wilderness from magic. We avoid people as much as possible, but sometimes too much isolation is unhealthy- that is how we ran into Avegnum in the first place, in that strange singles meeting in Sharn... And since then we haven't been able to get rid of him..." She smiles slightly at this. "You should have seen him when he was a human, he was mildly attractive. But alas, I lacked the skill to control my resurrection sufficiently, and he came back as that." She said as she waved her hand towards Avegnum.
"You see what I have to put up with sometimes!" Avegnum says around a mostly gnawed serpent bone. "As far as I know, I'm still the guy you've been around the longest despite my altered form. You might be right about the curse, though, what with all of the others, but I'm sure it was just that Diabolical Master, fate, winnowing out the unworthy."
ReplyDeleteLooking slightly uneasy at some of Kaellanna's comments, Vel says cautiously, "I'm not a mage... I don't think. I just shoot energy beams and am good at using magic items, you don't have anything against those, do you? Or against me I hope?"
"Curses, fiendish warlocks, reincarnated ... You fit perfectly here in Xen'drik ... Welcome, Welcome all ..." Vik'Gotror mumbles half to himself as he passes into the realm of sleep and dreams with one hand dangling in the cool pool.
ReplyDeleteAfter only six hours of mistakenly being teleported to Xen'Drik the party finds itself exhausted, poisoned, slwounded, suffering from altitude sickness, recovering from dying, and camped in a burnt out husk with a firey, draconic giant. This is likely their most eventful partial day of adventuring in their short careers as adventurers.
ReplyDeletePlease let me know of anything you want to do before/while camping and resting and who (if any) intends to take watch.
"Well I think Vik has the right idea, guys," Avegnum says with a yawn. Removing his armor and carefully piling it up, the halfling finds that even without the extra layer it is still extremely warm here. Taking a long sip from the pool of water to replenish stores lost to sweat today, he returns to his place by the pool and curls up to sleep. "Decide amongst yourselves who wants to take watch and I can always... zzz"
ReplyDelete"I know we might have issues, but I hope that we can still get along, Kaellanna. We should probably agree, at least, to work together to get out of here, and then we can see what happens if your beliefs really wouldn't let us stay friends," Vel says to the druid. "Well I guess I'll go to sleep to, if that's okay, and try to think up some questions to ask Vik in the morning."
"Guess that leaves me to take first watch..." Kaellanna grumbles but dutifully patrols the perimeter with Tara until her watch is over and she wakes up the next person.
ReplyDeleteBleary eyed Vel rouses for his shift, but he falls asleep with only half an hour left to go before he is able to wake Avegnum. Finding Vik's diminished but radiating heat quite yawn inducing, he nods off fairly close to the giant.
ReplyDeleteThe pert sleeps and finds themselves in the same positions they fell asleep in the following morning. No light has changed. Ever brilliant in it's shaded tree induced dimness the party finds itself awake at about the same time.
ReplyDelete"So what do you want to do today," Vik'Gotror inquires. "I suppose you want to leave and get out of the heat. But I suggest you get to full strength before heading into the city ruins. Any more questions I might answer?"
Grunting as he crawls to the pool of water, Avegnum repeats his wake up routine from only the day before in Sharn, and dunks his head in. Waking up fully, he looks around in confusion, "Hey Vel! You didn't wake me up for watch! We could've been eaten by giant centipedes or had a visit from Dol Dorn himself! You've gotta be more serious about this sort of thing, especially when we're out in the field!" The halfling emphasizes his points by pointing at the still sitting human's head.
ReplyDeleteScowling slightly he forces his angry expression to clear and then nods politely to Kaellanna and Vik, "Pardon me, I must train for an hour with my sword, though I will listen and try to come up with my own questions if anyone else has any."
Looking hurt and ashamed, Vel tries to sputter out an apology or explanation, "I'm sorry... I didn't mean to... spiders?!?" Sighing dejectedly, he goes and picks up some of the left over serpent meat from the night before. Eying it dubiously he finally decides to eat it by order of his stomach. Trying to put the unpleasantness behind him, "So Vik, while we recuperate, are there any other places you think we might like to see here in the garden? Oh also, I forgot to ask you last night, and I'm sorry if I seem rude, but did you know... erm, how did your... can you tell me about your parents?" (He blurts that at the end)
"But please spare us the birds and the bees-" Kaellanna quickly steps in. "Or at least save that for a more private conversation... One that I am not a part of."
ReplyDelete"Hungh!... Heeya!... Hwee-oop!" Avegnum grunts as he continues to twirl in a deadly dancing display of steel.
ReplyDelete"he looks impressive with that sword," Vik'Gotror grumbles. "how good is he if you take it away, I wonder?"
ReplyDelete"My parents? That's an odd thing to ask. What are your parents like, Vel?"
"As far as other things to see in the garden, there really isn't to much unless you want to find some drow or some scorpions, or the odd mixture of the two. Are you all intending to leave the garden and try the city ruins?"
"Well I guess I don't really know. I love my halfling parents, there all I've ever known, and they raised me well I think, but I sometimes wonder about who my real parents were and why they left me at the inn. I've asked Mosco and Tera about it but they say that no one knew them or can tell me anything that stood out about them, so it makes even starting to track them down pretty hard. Mosco and Tera, though, are hard working, loving, and really kind hearted. I try to live up to their example but sometimes on the road... or in the jungle, not everyone appreciates it when you're polite."
ReplyDeleteVel stops talking with a happy smile on his face as he recalls fond memories from childhood. Avegnum then interjects between sword swings, "I think we still need to rest up a little before heading to the city, but I wouldn't mind crushing some drow or scorpions if they're the ones that have been threatening you and interfering with your work. Anything to help out a friend."
"Well if you want to help clear the drow out all you really have to do is walk around. They usually find me every few days or so. Granted, the finding is an ambush if some kind."
ReplyDeleteFinishing up his exercises, Avegnum comes over to the pool and drinks deeply before polishing his blade with a rag from his pack. Knowing the need for tactical intelligence he asks, "Can you tell us a little bit about the groups that attack you? Their numbers and composition when they do so?" (Approx# Melee, Ranged, Spell Castrs) After polishing his blade and waiting for a response he will don his armor too.
ReplyDelete"Do we really want to go looking for a fight?" Vel queries, looking from Vik to Kaellanna.
"Not much to tell about the grow. They attack and then run away when i have burned enough. Some try to cast spells, some try to attack. They fail and I continue with my garden tending. At first only a few attacked, and they did so every day. Now many attack and they only do so every week or so. Doesn't matter if i look for them or not. Thy are better at hiding than I am at finding. They attack and I defeat them. They are probably watching now, they probably watch all the time. What else do you want to know?"
ReplyDelete"Hmm, well maybe they will be stirred to action if they see you traveling around with others. If so, and we drive off their attack, we might get lucky and manage to track them to their hide out here in the garden. What do you think Kaellanna, could you and Tara manage to track them?" Avegnum asks. Thinking momentarily about the city, "So Vik, you said there was lava or some fiery area that we would have to bypass to get to the city; how wide is it and are there any other routes?"
ReplyDeleteVel still isn't convinced if spoiling for a fight is a good idea.
"I'm not sure, it seems like the vegetation in this jungle grows remarkably fast. Unless we come upon the drow themselves or fresh tracks I don't think I'd be able to find them," Keallanna muses. "Vik, why do you prune the plants? And how are they growing in the first place- the canopy is so thick, there can't be that much light diffusing down to the jungle floor. Where are they getting their energy from?"
ReplyDeleteWhile Kaellanna is pondering over the strange magical plants she also casts endure elements on the party and attempts to heal more ability damage with lesser restoration (and removes any remaining fatigue). Vel: 4, Avegnum 4, Tara 3, and Kaellanna 1.
"I wouldn't mind hunting drow, or helping Vik tend his garden. I can commune with nature and see if there are pressing matters close by, but I feel like Vik would have a good idea of what's going on since it is his garden, after all."
(Kaellanna is just going to use the same spell list as last time.)
"True, but Vik doesn't seem that bothered by these drow, so maybe he's never tried looking for them all that hard," Vel says thoughtfully.
ReplyDelete"If they're serious about doing him harm then they'll keep trying, and each failure only serves to refine their next attack. One day it could prove fatal and if we can put a stop to it to prevent that from happening, then I think we should!" Avegnum adds in. Thinking about what Keallanna just said, "What exactly happens when you commune?"
Hearing the potential for an insight into druidic magic, Vel instantly pays rapt attention to whatever Kaellanna says next, his curiosity piqued
"Hmm, hideout ... haven't found one yet. I've over every meter of this garden, and have found no permanent, or even semi-permanent camps, aside from my own. The drow come from somewhere else. Yea, lava, the whole garden is surrounded by it. It's hundreds of feet wide, and on the other side is mostly mountains, unless you go north and that leads to the city. There used to be bridges, three, I think. But they have all been destroyed. The least destroyed still has a 60' gap in the middle of it. Have only been once, you know, have no need to avoid the lava, really."
ReplyDelete"I burn the garden to clear out the undergrowth. I avoid any trees of significant size, and burn the rest. I'm supposed to look for anything or anyone, but in the eight years I've been here, I've found no structures, or settlements. Just random creatures tainted by the evil. Once my shift is up I get to go to the city and help there. More action there and more to discover, from what I understand. Something makes the plants grow. I know it's not he fiendish magic, but something else works them into a frenzy of growth. I have, though, found a large clump of plants that sam to have some kind of rudimentary intelligence - some kin of cunning that makes them want to eat any creature that approaches them. That's the only place I haven't fully explored. It's maybe 120' across, roughly circular, and the plants there are mean and tough as a fire giant! Haha, meaner than me, but not as tough, I mean."
In the morning, after everyone wakes and is talking, Tara paws her way over to the underbrush apart from the group. After a couple seconds the group can here the gagging of her throwing up in the bushes. She returns looking tired.
ReplyDelete"Must be the evil getting to the cat," Vik'Gotror comments. "Speaking of stuff getting to you, I probably shouldn't have slept in my armor last night. Damned stuff makes a good sleep impossible. Now I'm pissed off - lets go find some drow so i can feel better. What do you all say?"
"Yotz, Vik! You've got drow problems and mean plants in this garden with you?! Where are the ones that sent you here and why did they send you alone? I know you're tough, but it must be lonely working by yourself for so long. Hmm, maybe the plants are something else you could learn about when you commune Kaellanna," Avegnum says. "It looks like Vik wants to get started soon so maybe you should try that spell out."
ReplyDelete"Awwww poor Tara!" Kaellanna cuddles her kitty cat and attempts to comfort her. "Alright, I'll give it a go."
ReplyDeleteKaellanna then settles down to commune with nature, reaching out with her mind to become one with nature. She specifically tries to focus on where the drow are, if there are powerful unnatural creatures around, and more information on the general state of this strange jungle.
Kaellanna can tell that the basic jungle/marsh that you have so far encountered surrounds you in all directions for a few miles, beyond that is lava (you are on an island), and surrounding the lava is mountains on all sides except for most of north. There is something beyond the lava to the north but Kaellanna can not tell what it is (her spell is block by a lack if natural terrain). Also the mountains, or something in the same place as the mountains blocks the commune beyond them.
ReplyDeleteAs far as drow go she can detect them on the island you inhabit. She can detect about a few dozen drow.
She also detects unnatural creatures of a fiendish nature in the island. There are so many that she can't count them all, they simply surround the group on all sides. She also detects a couple constructs on the island.
I'm not exactly sure what kind of info or to what extent commune with nature is supposed to give you. I'll do some research tonight, so I may have more info to add to this.
I believe this is all she gets, unless someone has some specific questions or concerns about the results of the spell. The description of the spell is very vague, and does not explain what kind of info the caster is supposed to get.
DeleteVel frowns in disappointment at the unimpressive druidic display, assuming that most of the spell casting and its affect must have taken place in the elf's mind. Sighing, he waits for Kaellanna to open her eyes before asking, "So what did you learn? Were you able to get your questions answered?"
ReplyDeleteKaellanna tells everyone what she learned from communing.
ReplyDelete"Sorry, not too helpful I'm afraid. I guess I'd like to check out those mean plants, and maybe we'll run into some drow on the way."
"Dren! I suppose we do have a little bit more information to go on now, but it seems like our basic plan will be to hope we can handle whatever tries to tangle with us," Avegnum says to the group. Checking the straps on his handy haversack and ensuring that the rest of his gear is in place, he goes over to the pool for a long drink.
ReplyDeleteVel similarly prepares, checking that his wands are within easy reach on their belt loops before standing and resting his hand on his hip as he waits for Avegnum to finish re-hydrating. Seeing him return, "So are we ready to head out into this crazy jungle?"
Looking from Kaellanna to Vik, he replies, "I think so if they are."
"Well then we better get going. Need to work this kink out of my neck after sleeping in my armor all night. Better stay a bit behind me," Vik'Gotror says to the party, as he starts heading into the jungle at almost a right angle to the direction heading the night before. After burning his way through the jungle for a couple hours, and traveling maybe three miles, all of the party, except for the cat, finds themselves fatigued by the altitude.
ReplyDelete"It's just up ahead," Vik'Gotror yells back over his shoulder, when he suddenly stops in his tracks and says "About time" to something in front of him.
Given Vik's desire to fight something in order to relax, his words set the some of the adventurers on guard. Avegnum pulls his sword free and activates the ghost touch enchantment while Vel grips a Wand of Haste in his left hand and peers into the jungle beyond the burned trail.
ReplyDelete(Maneuvers Prepped: Elder Mountain Hammer, Ironheart Surge, Mithral Tornado, Moment of Perfect Mind)
In accented elven a elf-like creature a full 20' in front of Vik'Gotror, in a small clearing made from cutting the jungle down speaks, "About time, fire demon, that you made your way here. I see you have followers - makes no difference to us, we will cut you down before we let you defile our home with your pathetic blood."
ReplyDeleteSomewhat different than an elf, this creature has stark white hair, jet black glossy skin, large bat-like wings, a lower body most resembling a scorpion, and stands about nine feet tall.
Please provide initiatives and spot checks.
Avegnum Nor - Spot: 1, Ini: 23
ReplyDeleteVel Biggleton - Spot: 4, Ini: 13
Apparently, in their haste to prepare for combat, the two men spend most of their time looking at their shoes.
Kaellanna- Spot: 37, Ini: 4
ReplyDeleteTara- Spot: 25, Ini: 8