11: The Gull who Cried Wolf

[Ebiris]

[15:36] <@Ebiris> Before the party can set off on their hunting expedition, Lavinia's maid Kora Thistlegap comes to see them. "Now, I know you're all eager to be off on your day out in the  woods, so I won't keep you long," she smiles up at the four humans in a maternal manner, "But I thought it best to check you all know which way you're going. You could of  course just head straight to the Lady's parcel of the forest, but that'd just be tromping through so much trackless woodland you'd probably get turned around and lost.  There's two better ways you can take, though."
[15:36] <@Ebiris> "The first is along the cliff trail - you can start in the Azure harbour and just follow it West about ten miles until you come to the peninsula that's got the dragon  lodge on it, then just cross the fields to the North and you'll come into the Lady's forest directly. Otherwise you could follow the Hatchet Road North out of Salerno for  about three miles until you come to the Tevil Road that goes West for about two miles before stopping at the Arabani Country Estate. After that you'll have to follow  hunting trails which wind around a bit but so long as you keep heading West you'll come to the Lady's wood soon enough - all the trails should have little posts planted  with blue dots on them to mark the boundary."
[15:39] <@Rudy> "So... which way is shorter? Hatchet Road?"
[15:39] <@Henrietta> "The cliff trail sounds straightforward enough," Henrietta agrees, tipping her hat towards the helpful maid.
[15:40] * @Henrietta glances at Rudy at his question. "They would logically be roughly the same length, I'd say."
[15:41] <@Ebiris> "I'd say the cliff trail is probably shorter since it's more direct," Kora agrees. "Be careful since it's not maintained very well, and it can get really windy on those cliffs. But it's a straight path otherwise. Also, could I ask you all a favour? If you can find any wild elderberries out in the woods could you bring some back for me? I can make jam, and the wild ones taste so much better than the cultivated ones!"
[15:42] <@Henrietta> "Why, certainly!"
[15:42] <@Rudy> "What do they look like?"
[15:43] * @Henrietta is quite certain she could find them for her part, given her training.
[15:43] <@Ebiris> "They grow on white-flowered bushes, the berries are usually black or blue, but the red ones are best," Kora informs the group, smiling.
[15:44] <@Glenn> "Red ones are best, got it," Glenn comments with a nod of his head.
[15:47] <@Ebiris> The weather is quite nice as the group sets off, a clear blue sky overhead to provide some warmth against the crisp Autumnal air. Walking across the city to the Azure harbour, it's not hard to find the pathway leading up the ocean-facing cliffs. It's populated quite heavily with anglers at the lower levels close to the harbour, occassionally having to fend off brave seagulls that swoop down to steal the fishermen's catches. Ahead it ascends further up the cliff-faces winding West, a weathered path of carved out stone and occassional wooden reinforcement or bridges levelling off about two-thirds up the cliffs.
[15:48] <@Rudy> "What a beautiful day!" remarks Rudy, leading the pack with Myra at his side. "Isn't it nice, being outside on such a nice morning?"
[15:49] <@Henrietta> "This is what adventuring is all about!" Henrietta is far too happy to agree, all smiles. "No zombies lurking just around the corner, or underground labirynths of disease!"
[15:50] <@Miranda_Altair> "No giant crabs trying to kill me!" Miranda nods.
[15:51] <@Rudy> "No ghastly visions into the netherworld!"
[15:51] * @Henrietta shudders. "I'm just glad they didn't carry a terrible disease."
[15:52] <@Miranda_Altair> "The crabs?" Miranda looks at Henrietta.
[15:52] <@Henrietta> "Yes."
[15:53] <@Miranda_Altair> "That is fortunate, yes. I feel so bad that you guys had to deal with all those zombies while carrying me around!"
[15:54] <@Glenn> "You were very heavy," Glenn agrees.
[15:54] <@Rudy> "It was a terrible battle. Only our teamwork and friendship carried us through," replies Rudy, with a sagely nod.
[15:54] <@Henrietta> "Magic and time heal the wounds of flesh, but the ones within remain," Henrietta adds, nodding solemnly.
[15:55] * @Miranda_Altair glares at Glenn. "Gosh, thanks."
[15:58] <@Ebiris> Leaving the harbour behind, the party continues onwards on a path that's strewn with seagull leavings, innumerable nests dotted into the craggy black cliffs above - in the distance you can even see the dragon lodge ahead, a tall rocky outcropping projecting from the mainland, rising even higher than the surrounding cliffs, a fortress and lighthouse visible atop it, but no sign of any dragons just yet. Still, the path is sturdy and wide enough to walk on comfortably without fear of having to look down at the waves crashing against the rocks a hundred feet below.
[15:58] <@Ebiris> OOC: roll perception peoples
[15:59] <@Glenn> roll d20+7
[15:59] * +Hatbot --> "Glenn rolls d20+7 and gets 27." [d20=20]
[15:59] <@Rudy> roll 1d20+12 m
[15:59] * +Hatbot --> "Rudy rolls 1d20+12 m and gets 30." [1d20=18]
[15:59] <@Rudy> roll 1d20 me
[15:59] * +Hatbot --> "Rudy rolls 1d20 me and gets 6." [1d20=6]
[15:59] <@Henrietta> roll 1d20+2
[15:59] * +Hatbot --> "Henrietta rolls 1d20+2 and gets 21." [1d20=19]
[15:59] <@Miranda_Altair> roll 1d20+2
[15:59] * +Hatbot --> "Miranda_Altair rolls 1d20+2 and gets 8." [1d20=6]
[16:02] -> *Glenn* While idly glancing upwards, you notice a shape that doesn't fit amidst the seagulls gamboling through the air ahead - it's far too big, and seems almost humanoid, although definitely winged and of similar coloutation to the seabirds. It flies around in lazy spirals along with the squawking gulls, before abruptly departing from the flock and dropping down to land on a spire of rock a few hundred feet ahead, seperated from the cliff-face and with your path winding between the spire and the cliff.
[16:02] -> *Rudy* While idly glancing upwards, Myra notice a shape that doesn't fit amidst the seagulls gamboling through the air ahead - it's far too big, and seems almost humanoid, although definitely winged and of similar coloutation to the seabirds. It flies around in lazy spirals along with the squawking gulls, before abruptly departing from the flock and dropping down to land on a spire of rock a few hundred feet ahead, seperated from the cliff-face and with your path winding between the spire and the cliff.
[16:04] <@Rudy> One of Myra's many mouths extends on the end of a pseudopod, and whispers something into Rudy's ear. "An angel? Really?" he remarks, glancing at a spire of rock.
[16:05] <@Glenn> "I don't know about it being an angel, but I saw something out amongst the gulls as well, though bigger and almost humanoid, before it landed. I didn't get a very close look though..."
[16:06] * Koaway is now known as Kotono
[16:06] <@Ebiris> The spire in question is a tall projection rising up and away from the cliffs a few hundred feet ahead - it's seperated by a gulf wide enough for the path to run between the cliff and the spire with only a slight narrowing. It's impossible to see anything on top of the spire from this vantage and distance, however.
[16:06] <@Rudy> "Humanoid, has wings, that sounds rather angelic to me," replies Rudy, starting to proceed along the path.
[16:06] <@Henrietta> "A dragon, then? And right next to the dragon lodge, too!" Henrietta exclaims. "Who would've thought!"
[16:07] <@Glenn> "I think there's more winged humanoids besides angels, really," Glenn says in reply to Rudy.
[16:07] <@Rudy> "You do? Have you ever seen one?"
[16:08] <@Henrietta> "Dragons can shapeshift. I think." Henrietta tilts her head. "Dragons can do everything, so it makes sense to me...."
[16:09] <@Ebiris> As the party continues on and approaches the pass between the spire and cliff, a boyish face topped in a crown of wild white hair that looks to be ornamented with orange fishing-floats peers down at them from atop the rocky projection. "Hello!" he calls, his voice having an oddly hollow quality to it, as if coming from something with a great deal of lung capacity but vocal chords shaped differently to a human. "Oh! Help! Travellers! I'm stuck!"
[16:09] <@Glenn> "You don't have to see everything to know of it. There -are- such things as books," Glenn notes.
[16:09] <@Henrietta> "Hello there!" Henrietta calls back. "How did you get stuck?"
[16:10] <@Miranda_Altair> Miranda waves at the man. "How'd you get up there?"
[16:11] <@Ebiris> "I hurt my wing!" he calls, his voice rising almost into a squawk at the end. "One of the other birds bumped into it and I crashed! Can you fix my wing or help me get down?" As he speaks a large albatross-like wing extends out over the edge of the rocks along with his face, offset only by long yellow claws at the wing's elbow, and waggles down at you.
[16:12] <@Ebiris> The spire rises up about eighty feet above the path, rounded and narrow, but very craggy. It does have a lot of handholds and is unmarred by bird-droppings, but it's very high up from the path, nevermind the sea. The wind is blowing quite a gust here as well.
[16:12] <@Rudy> "I suppose that isn't very angel-like... er... anyway, can we help him?" wonders Rudy, eyeing the spire.
[16:13] <@Henrietta> "I have my rope and a grappling hook, but it only goes the first fifty feet," Henrietta muses, looking for a spot to secure said hook.
[16:13] <@Miranda_Altair> "I'm not exceptionally good at climbing, but I might be able to patch him up."
[16:14] <@Ebiris> There's a fair few protruberences where a hook might catch. The rock might even be soft enough for a really powerful throw to embed itself in that way.
[16:14] <@Henrietta> "I don't suppose any of you have been impressed by my preparedness to pick a length of rope, yourselves?"
[16:15] <@Glenn> "Maybe after the next paycheck I'll remember," Glenn answers.
[16:15] <@Rudy> "Hmm? No? Anyway, wouldn't it be suicide to climb up that, in this wind? He'd actually have an easier time getting down than someone else would getting up..."
[16:15] <@Henrietta> "Well, if we had more rope I could just try to toss the other end to him," Henrietta points out.
[16:16] <@Rudy> "But we don't. Well, we could go and get some? Hey, you there! Can you hang on a while?"
[16:16] <@Ebiris> His face falls. "I don't like it up here!" he croaks. "Can't you do anything now? My wing really hurts!"
[16:17] <@Henrietta> "I could try to just climb up..." Henrietta says slowly, and then glances at Glenn. "Do you have an elixir I could bring up to him?"
[16:17] <@Henrietta> To the boy caught up, she calls, raising her voice, "Give me a few minutes to try something!"
[16:17] <@Ebiris> "Oh, thank you! That would be ever so kind!" he calls down jubilantly.
[16:18] * @Henrietta takes out her length of rope and secures it tightly to the grappling hook in the meantime.
[16:18] * @Glenn nods. "After our last adventure, I did a little bit of experimenting...give me a minute," Glenn says as he rapidly mixes a few chemicals together from some flasks and hands the bubbling concoction to Henrietta.
[16:21] <@Henrietta> "Alright." Henrietta carefully empties her pack, placing the heavier items on top to ensure nothing is blown off course, and then wraps Glenn's flask up in her bedroll so it wouldn't get broken easily, placing it into her now-empty pack. Asking the others to stay back, she swings her rope and tries to launch it up, at least forty feet above.
[16:23] <@Ebiris> OOC: ranged attack, -6 mod
[16:24] <@Henrietta> roll 1d20-4
[16:24] * +Hatbot --> "Henrietta rolls 1d20-4 and gets -3." [1d20=1]
[16:24] <@Ebiris> OOC: roll perception peoples
[16:24] <@Rudy> roll 1d20+12
[16:24] * +Hatbot --> "Rudy rolls 1d20+12  and gets 23." [1d20=11]
[16:24] <@Rudy> roll 1d20
[16:24] * +Hatbot --> "Rudy rolls 1d20 and gets 20." [1d20=20]
[16:24] <@Henrietta> roll 1d20+2
[16:24] <@Miranda_Altair> roll 1d20+2
[16:24] * +Hatbot --> "Henrietta rolls 1d20+2 and gets 7." [1d20=5]
[16:24] * +Hatbot --> "Miranda_Altair rolls 1d20+2 and gets 15." [1d20=13]
[16:26] <@Ebiris> The grappling hook sails up... and misses the spire completely, sailing off in a wide arc before descending down to fall down the cliff, only the rope held by Henrietta keeping it from being lost forever!
[16:26] -> *Rudy* You and Myra can both notice the winged boy fighting back giggles at this development, only the distance and his brave efforts at a straight face making it not completely obvious.
[16:27] <@Rudy> "Oi! If you think this is so funny, it'd be easier on us to just leave you there!" yells Rudy, affronted on Henrietta's behalf!
[16:27] * @Henrietta gathers it back via the rope and hands it over to Rudy with all the dignity she could muster. "Forty feet up, please."
[16:28] <@Ebiris> He squawks in surprise and covers his mouth with his visible wing at Rudy's condemnation. "No sir, it's not funny at all!" he calls back with questionable sincerity.
[16:29] * @Henrietta meantime shakes her head and pours the healing elixir into an iron flask of hers, securing it once more as part of her final preparations.
[16:29] <@Rudy> "He can get down himself, can't he?" mutters Rudy, glancing irritably at the ground. Nonetheless, he winds up for his own attempt...
[16:30] <@Rudy> roll 1d20-1 if it's still -6
[16:30] * +Hatbot --> "Rudy rolls 1d20-1 if it's still -6 and gets 15." [1d20=16]
[16:30] <@Ebiris> Rudy throws better than a girl, his effort sending the hook up to catch itself securely half-way up the rocks, the rope dangling down and shaking merrily in the breeze!
[16:31] <@Henrietta> "I'm coming to help you!" Henrietta calls up to the trapped boy, blissfully unaware of any possible slights against her person, and begins her slow climb up the rope all the way towards the hook.
[16:31] <@Ebiris> OOC: climb check
[16:32] <@Henrietta> OOC: Taking ten for 13
[16:33] <@Ebiris> The rope makes climbing quite easy, even with the wind buffeting Henrietta about a bit. Of course if she's afraid of heights she'd best not look down at the shore far below - those rocks look sharp when seen around the breaking surf! It takes less than a minute for her to clamber up to the midway point where the grapple is lodged securely, however.
[16:34] <@Henrietta> Right. Right. First, she secures herself with the rope as she had during the terrifying dungeon, and then she carefully pulls its other end up. Once so gathered, she attempts to carefully tie her backpack to it.
[16:35] <@Ebiris> OOC: make a dex check?
[16:35] <@Henrietta> roll 1d20+2
[16:35] * +Hatbot --> "Henrietta rolls 1d20+2 and gets 5." [1d20=3]
[16:36] <@Ebiris> Henrietta manages to keep herself braced well enough and knots her pack into the far end of the rope after looping it around herself to keep braced against the grapple. Between all the knotting she thinks there's barely enough length to reach the top of the pillar.
[16:37] <@Henrietta> "Try to catch the backpack when I throw it to you!" she calls out to the trapped boy. "Don't worry, stay calm and we'll do it slowly. We'll get you out!"
[16:37] * Quits: @Henrietta (~corwin@p11811112.orange.net.il) (Quit: )
[16:39] <@Ebiris> "Oh-okay!" he calls back, voice wavering a bit as he leans over the edge, both wings seen for a moment as well as his chest - it looks a bit wider than the chest of an adolescent human, and he's wearing a green fishing net over it as some sort of vest, adorned with seashells for decoration.
[16:44] * Yomi is now known as Henrietta
[16:45] <@Henrietta> "On three!" Henrietta calls out, swinging the end of the rope tied to her backpack. "One, two--" She tosses it towards the boy.
[16:46] <@Ebiris> OOC: ranged attack roll, -6 penalty
[16:46] <@Henrietta> roll 1d20-3
[16:46] * +Hatbot --> "Henrietta rolls 1d20-3 and gets 0." [1d20=3]
[16:48] <@Ebiris> Henrietta swings it upwards with all her might, but aims a bit too high, the backpack sailing straight up... and slipping free of the knotted rope to keep on going high above the spire! It's quickly caught on the winds, however, and starts to fall away from the cliffs and towards the sea. But as it falls, the winged boy lunges to catch it, diving right off the pillar in the process!
[16:48] <@Ebiris> roll 1d20+7
[16:48] * +Hatbot --> "Ebiris rolls 1d20+7 and gets 20." [1d20=13]
[16:48] <@Henrietta> "The flask is within!" Henrietta calls after the winged boy. "Drink it! It would heal your wing!"
[16:50] <@Ebiris> His wings spread out and catch the air as his legs swing under him to catch the bag in yellow-webbed talons! Laughing loudly, he banks away from the cliff and flies a descending spiral around the cliff to drop off the backpack just above the other three (plus Myra). "Would've been funnier if I'd got you to climb all the way up!" he crows as he angles himself between the spire and cliff-face.
[16:51] * @Henrietta stares at him wordlessly.
[16:52] <@Ebiris> Laughing long and loud, the winged boy just flaps his seemingly quite healthy wings and flies up to the cliff-tops, away from the party!
[16:52] * @Henrietta closes her eyes, taking a deep breath.
[16:52] <@Glenn> "See? See? You can't tell me that was an angel!" Glenn exclaims to Rudy as he points at the being.
[16:53] <@Rudy> "Congratulations, Glenn. I'll have to give you this one. Henrietta, can you get back alright?"
[16:53] * @Henrietta unties herself and carefully begins to slide back down the rope. As long as she takes her time, it shouldn't be a challenge.
[16:54] <@Henrietta> OOC: Taking ten for 13 again
[16:55] <@Ebiris> Indeed, slow and steady gets the job done, and Henrietta soon rejoins everyone on the path, below her rope and grapple.
[16:56] <@Rudy> "Adventuring! Isn't it something? If I see him again, I may shoot him."
[16:56] <@Henrietta> "Do you think," she asks Rudy, "that you might knock my grappling hook off with a rock? Or," she adds, turning towards Miranda, "your familiar might possibly help me there? I wouldn't wish to leave it here like this."
[16:59] <@Miranda_Altair> Looking at Como and whispering to him a bit, Miranda nods. "I think Como might be able to do that!"
[17:00] <@Ebiris> Indeed, Como at least has an easy enough time prying the grapple loose and letting it fall back down onto the path, allowing it to be reused on further heroic adventures!
[17:01] * @Henrietta repacks her things with practiced movements, lingering to sigh at the end. "Maybe it was a fairy?" she asks afterwards. "My father warned me of their evils."
[17:01] <@Ebiris> OOC: knowledge nature if you're curious what he was
[17:01] * @Miranda_Altair nods and feeds a small morsel of food to Como as he returns. "It could be, I suppose. Whatever he was, he was a jerk!"
[17:01] <@Henrietta> roll 1d20+6
[17:01] * +Hatbot --> "Henrietta rolls 1d20+6 and gets 20." [1d20=14]
[17:01] <@Rudy> "He's a little brat, that's what he was!"
[17:03] <@Glenn> roll d20+10 k:n
[17:03] * +Hatbot --> "Glenn rolls d20+10 k:n and gets 17." [d20=7]
[17:03] -> *Henrietta* He was a Gull-Harpy. Bestiality-based speculations on ancestry aside, they're generally quite obnoxious types who linger close to civilisation and scavenge off their betters. Some sailors consider them good luck for some reason.
[17:03] -> *Glenn* He was a Gull-Harpy. Bestiality-based speculations on ancestry aside, they're generally quite obnoxious types who linger close to civilisation and scavenge off their betters. Some sailors consider them good luck for some reason.
[17:05] <@Henrietta> And once more, plants are proven to have superior intellect to birds. Reinvigorated, Henrietta adjusts the shoulder straps of her pack and gestures ahead. "Let us proceed?"
[17:06] * @Rudy just shrugs, and does just that!
[17:06] * @Glenn nods in agreement.
[17:08] <@Miranda_Altair> "On we go, then."
[17:11] <@Ebiris> Onwards the party goes, following the curves of the barrier cliffs away from Salerno. Seagulls are almost constant companionship, but thankfully there's no sign of the rude seagull-boy for the next half hour or so before you hear another cry for help! This time it's heard from below as the group cross a creaking wooden-bridge, down about sixty feet is seen a young woman in torn peasant-dress, a basket by her side and numerous broken eggs around her, she lays on a scrub-covered ledge and waves up. "Help! I've fallen and twisted my ankle!"
[17:11] <@Ebiris> OOC: perception peoples
[17:11] <@Henrietta> roll 1d20+2
[17:11] * +Hatbot --> "Henrietta rolls 1d20+2 and gets 16." [1d20=14]
[17:11] <@Glenn> roll d20+7
[17:11] * +Hatbot --> "Glenn rolls d20+7 and gets 21." [d20=14]
[17:11] <@Miranda_Altair> roll 1d20+2
[17:11] * +Hatbot --> "Miranda_Altair rolls 1d20+2 and gets 7." [1d20=5]
[17:11] <@Rudy> roll 1d20+12
[17:11] * +Hatbot --> "Rudy rolls 1d20+12 and gets 28." [1d20=16]
[17:11] <@Rudy> roll 1d20
[17:11] * +Hatbot --> "Rudy rolls 1d20 and gets 1." [1d20=1]
[17:12] * @Henrietta stares down incredulously, at how someone could have survived such a fall.
[17:12] -> *Glenn* Her voice sounds a bit off, like it's not coming exactly from where she is, but further below.
[17:13] -> *Rudy* Myra notices that her lips don't match the sounds, and the voice appears to be coming from further down the cliffs. It also sounds a bit like the gull-boy from earlier.
[17:14] * @Glenn frowns. "There's something... strange going on. The voice doesn't feel like it's coming from her?" Glenn mutters, as he peers at the woman, squinting as he tries to get a more detailed look of the woman.
[17:14] <@Rudy> "Let's go! Nothing to see here," remarks Rudy, cheerily proceeding.
[17:15] <@Henrietta> "We can't just leave!" Henrietta insists, though this time she doesn't quite jump to help either. "Do you think it's another trick? Why?"
[17:15] * @Miranda_Altair blinks, then glares at Rudy. "That'
[17:15] <@Miranda_Altair> s rather cold."
[17:15] <@Ebiris> She's pale skinned with black hair and generous curves, wearing a modest dress that's been ripped to show a bit more flesh than it should. "Please help me! I'd be so grateful!" she calls up.
[17:15] <@Rudy> "It's a trick. Lips aren't right, says Myra," replies Rudy, rolling his eyes.
[17:15] <@Rudy> "And she knows a thing or two about lips, let me tell you!"
[17:16] <@Miranda_Altair> Miranda's eyes widen. "Oh. Ohh. Okay. Like the bird man earlier?"
[17:16] <@Rudy> "Anyway, who would come up here to gather eggs? You gather eggs at a farm!" he continues, starting to sound angry. "And if you fell off the cliff, you wouldn't land nicely on a ledge! You'd roll off and keep falling! Try harder, you ingrate!"
[17:16] <@Henrietta> "Is it fun to trick people who only want to help?" Henrietta asks the woman below. "One day you might really be hurt and no one would help you then!"
[17:17] <@Ebiris> "Oh, I'm so scared and lonely down here! Won't some big strong man come and save me!" the woman calls one last time before she vanishes entirely and a winged figure is seen emerging out from further down the cliffs, flying upwards. "Aww, you guys've gotten too clever!" he sulks, pouting as he ascends up towards the group.
[17:19] <@Rudy> "A tiny violin is playing, just for you..."
[17:20] <@Henrietta> "This is why bestiality is wrong," Henrietta mutters quietly, rubbing the bridge of her nose.
[17:21] <@Ebiris> "Yeah, you win, clearly you're too smart for my pranks," he grumps sulkily as he lands on the edge of the bridge, perching on the railing. "Guess I'll give up and leave you alone, now. You won't have to worry about me anymore."
[17:22] * @Henrietta proceeds along their path, trying her best to ignore the gull-harpy.
[17:22] <@Miranda_Altair> "Right," Miranda says. "we'll just be on our way, then."
[17:22] <@Rudy> "I'm sure I've read this story..." mutters Rudy, trailing after Henrietta.
[17:23] <@Ebiris> "Yeah, you do that!" he replies to Miranda in a biting tone, turning and diving back off the bridge, spreading his wings once more to fly away into the wide blue yonder!
[17:24] <@Henrietta> "Oh, is it a popular one here as well?" Henrietta asks animatedly. "In our version, it is a boy that cries about a tiger chasing him through his village. He keeps on tricking the villagers and they come to rescue him time after time as he fools them, but in the end they get tired of it and stab him with their pitchforks."
[17:25] <@Rudy> "I was thinking of one where a young apprentice keeps saying "Oh, I'll be good from now on, sir!". But he never is."
[17:26] <@Henrietta> "Does something terrible happen to him in the end?"
[17:27] <@Rudy> "It's not a story with a moral."
[17:28] <@Henrietta> "I've found that the best stories are those with a moral at the end. Well, and the most terrifying ones. I had to sleep with the lights on for a week after hearing that one."
[17:30] <@Rudy> "Stories like that are like sermons," complains Rudy. "It'd be a boring world if we all listened to them, don't you think?"
[17:32] * @Henrietta shakes her head empathically. "You just don't know the proper way to appreciate them. What these stories exist for is to show you the consequences of a certain path of action. That, in turn, prepares you better for life! It's not about indoctrination but knowledge, so that when you make bad decisions, you are fully aware of that fact, and can prepare better for the inevitable consequences."
[17:33] <@Glenn> "If we catch that harpy, let's tie him up to a chair and you can tell him stories all day then. That'll teach him," Glenn chips in.
[17:33] <@Henrietta> "Are you, by chance, implying that my homeland's stories are terrible, or that listening to me talk is a great burden?"
[17:34] <@Rudy> "The old double-bind. She'd got you, Glenn," remarks Rudy. "Concede gracefully. This is a story I wrote the book on."
[17:36] <@Ebiris> On the party continues, following the cliff-trail as the boy seems to be good at his word since hours pass without any further pranks - at least any ones that get noticed. It's getting on close to dinnertime with the forbodding rise of the dragon peninsula a little over a mile away when the party first sees signs of Isernia's aerial corps as a trio of enormous draconic sillouettes are seen poking their heads above the rocky crags ahead, stretching their wings and starting to take flight!
[17:37] <@Henrietta> Her nature and common sense both restrain Henrietta's urge to wave, even though she terribly wishes to.
[17:38] <@Rudy> "There you go, eh? Makes you wonder how this place changes hands so often, don't it?"
[17:39] <@Henrietta> "It really does, yes."
[17:39] * @Miranda_Altair blinks. "Hmm?"
[17:40] <@Ebiris> Spreading their vast wings, the three dragons hoist themselves into the air and start to fly Eastwards, towards the party - the one leading the formation is vast, easily big enough to dwarf Lavinia's manor, while the two on its flanks are perhaps half its size. And they steadily get bigger in the sky as they draw rapidly closer to the cliff-hugging group, eating up the mile in bare minutes!
[17:41] <@Miranda_Altair> "Are they coming over here? How did they see us all the way out there?"
[17:41] <@Rudy> "Salerno's one of the most liberated cities on the continent, didn't you know? And with a draconic roost so close..." he replies, before snorting. "They surely didn't," he adds, pausing to press himself up against the cliff wall.
[17:43] * @Henrietta copies Rudy's actions, gesturing for Miranda and Glenn to likewise follow them. "Let's avoid getting blown off the trail by their passing, at least?" she suggests.
[17:43] * @Miranda_Altair does so, yes!
[17:44] <@Ebiris> Luckily they show no signs of stopping, seeming quite happy to fly past the group. The huge lead dragon is the colour of molten copper, its bulk large and rounded, held aloft by prodigious wings and carrying a small platoon of men strapped to its sides and on its back, all quite heavily armed and wearing elaborate red uniforms. The two flanking dragons look more aerodynamic, a sinuous yellow and purple beast carrying a handful of men, and a thin green wyrm with tiny forelegs and a similarly small number of passengers. A few of the men wave or call out in passing as the dragons soar onwards, but it's lost in the tumult of wind caused by their passage.
[17:46] * @Henrietta returns the waves by tipping her hat at the riders as soon as she's certain she won't be carried away by the winds.
[17:47] * @Miranda_Altair waves and grins at them as they pass.
[17:47] <@Ebiris> Off the dragons go, hugging the cliffs for a few minutes more before they begin to bank out to sea Southwards, remaining visible in the sky for quite some time, particularly the huge lead dragon.
[17:51] <@Ebiris> It's half an hour later when the party finally reaches the end of the cliff-trail, it winding North and up a large set of stairs onto land, in away from the peninsula now mere tens of feet away. Up the narrow and weathered staircase two figures are seen sitting, seeming content to let the group approach rather than getting up to challenge you halfway. They're both wearing the same brilliant crimson uniform of the aerial corps.
[17:53] <@Henrietta> "Hello!" Henrietta greets them once she is comfortly nearby and has no need to shout.
[17:54] * @Miranda_Altair waves at them cheerily.
[17:55] <@Ebiris> "Hey there," the left guard replies with an easy smile, a young man with a shock of sandy coloured hair spiked up and a feeble attempt at a mustache. His companion is an older woman... who looks a lot like the woman you saw at the bottom of that bridge earlier. In any case she just eyes the group quietly. "What brings you all to Fort Freywick?" the man asks.
[17:56] <@Henrietta> "We're just passing through, actually," Henrietta responds, paying no attention to the resemblance the woman has to the illusionary image of before. "We're headed hunting a bit further to the north."
[17:58] * @Glenn nods agreeing with Henrietta. "We were planning to do some hunting. Lady Vanderboren hired us to hunt a trophy for her," Glenn clarifies.
[17:58] <@Ebiris> "Right-o," the man nods, sparing Myra a brief grin. "You can follow the path well enough between the pastures if you want to go to the forest. Just so long as you don't try and pick one of our bulls as a trophy - the dragons might have a thing to say about that!" he laughs.
[18:00] <@Rudy> "No bulls, got it. What's good hunting hereabouts, then?"
[18:00] <@Henrietta> "Why, certainly, Sir!" Henrietta agrees, listening to how Rudy's question would be answered.
[18:03] <@Ebiris> "Well, some of the smaller dragons like to hunt in those woods, too. Equile was bragging about this big fat stag he got yesterday, but you know dragons, he was probably exaggarating," the young man shrugs. "Same as Artagnan who told us about the pack of giant bears he had to beat up before devouring the lot of them last week. Probably some truth to it, so I guess there's those sorts of animals. We sometimes get wolves trying to sneak in and grab a calf or two."
[18:04] <@Rudy> "I must confess mild astonishment that there are animals left in the woods at all! Well, even if we don't find anything, I do think this was still worth the trip."
[18:05] <@Ebiris> "We keep 'em well fed with the cows. It's just when a dragon gets a taste for something different and isn't big enough to flatten the whole wood they'll go in to snatch a bite or two. If you run into any while you're there don't mind them none - they're pretty good-natured, despite what you'd think."
[18:06] <@Henrietta> They are surely too insignificant compared to any dragons that would come across them, and so Henrietta nods in understanding.
[18:06] <@Ebiris> "Don't forget the whales," the black-haired woman adds with a sly smile. "The big ones love a nice juicy whale."
[18:07] * @Glenn nods. "We'll keep that in mind. As an aside, are you folk aware of a gull-harpy around here? He was making a pest of himself as we travelled to here."
[18:08] <@Ebiris> "You mean Chelly?" the woman asks, "Yeah, we know about him. Most of them live offshore, but he's been hanging around lately. Bit of a pest, but he's harmless."
[18:10] <@Rudy> "Well, you won't think that when he baits some do-gooder into breaking their neck," replies Rudy, shaking his head. "Pest like that should be run out, honestly."
[18:11] <@Henrietta> "I would be more worried for his own safety, when someone he tricks happens to have a bow and the knowledge of how to use it," Henrietta adds, shaking her head in dismay.
[18:12] <@Rudy> He pauses. "Though I must say, he did capture your features quite well," he adds, glancing at the woman. "If not the clothes."
[18:12] <@Ebiris> "Nah, he's got enough magic to keep people from getting hurt," the man shakes his head. "He'll get bored and go back to his own kind soon enough... although I suppose if someone shot him that'd learn him a bit quicker."
[18:12] <@Henrietta> "Yes, there are more clothes," Henrietta adds, observing the woman a bit more closely.
[18:13] <@Ebiris> "Bad luck to shoot their kind, though," the woman adds, before blinking. "He didn't! Really?" she gasps. "That little weasel! I'll see if I can get Tyrannis to buzz him next time we see him out flying," she concludes with a vicious smirk.
[18:14] * @Glenn laughs. "Well, just figured you'd want word in case you hadn't heard. It seems you have, so we'll let you handle that pest."
[18:14] <@Rudy> "If we meet again, do tell us the results," replies Rudy, starting off once again.
[18:15] <@Ebiris> "He'll go crying back to his nest soon enough," the woman nods with thinly concealed malice as the party proceeds up past the little guard posting, a path turning back in to the peninsula while another leads down to large fields filled with prime beef cattle, the tree-line glimpsed miles ahead in the distance...