Durnim offers his copper pieces and some silver as shiny objects.
The next morning, there are several obvious things of note: firstly, the "gifts" are gone.
Also, Durnim's beard is braided quite femininely, Whisper's fur is bright yellow, Grautak's boots are filled with squirrel droppings, Vianella's canteen is filled with urine, and Rockne's armor and weapons are nowhere to be seen.
Dagru joins in the mini celebration with Gird and comments,
[b] "There are just somethings in life better left alone. Give 'em what they want and be done with it." [b]
Afterwards he can't stop laughing at his brothers mess.
Durnim examines his beard in a mirror from every angle for a few minutes. "Never had the dexterity or patience for braiding this intricate." He breaks camp without touching the beard.
Seeing weapons and armor missing from the excitable halfling, the dwarf gets as far away from the impending explosion as socially acceptable.
Vianella retches when she opens her canteen, spitting out any liquid and a portion of her previous meal, the canteen tossed to the ground, a yellow liquid flowing from it.
She struggles to make her way to the stream where she splashes water on her face, gargles and spits some of it, followed by dunking her face directly into the cold water.
"Ugh...," she grunted, once she became barely able to speak. "Those foul creatures! How could they??"
"Gifts, you say? I don't know whether I should bother... giving the terrorists what they want...," she says grimly to Gird. "But, in this case, if it will get them to stop, and since you vouch for them, tell me what sort of gifts would be acceptable."
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"It is very likely that these pranks are being performed by mischievous fey creatures. Fortunately, trickster fey can often be befriended with bribes (although fey generally think of these as gifts, eschewing the ugly word "bribe"). They prefer shiny bits of jewelry, alcohol, sugary food, and potions, but detest items made of cold iron."
Gird casts create water to clean and restore Vianella's canteen.
Grautak removes his crap-covered boots and begins to wash his feet."Gird, would you mind cleansing my boots as well?" Looking around at the group, Grautak realizes Gird may be correct. Although his dealings with fairies was limited, he thought he did remember something about them liking shiny objects.
"Alright everyone, empty out your pockets and let's see what we can offer as a gift to our fairy friends."
"I'm out of shiny bits. We would be better off if someone can cook something sweet."
"I have more alcohol but it doesn't last forever."
The Lady Vianella Orlovsky sighs unhappily, but nods in gratitude at Gird's spell, helping to clean her canteen. "Fine... those things are going to make me practically a pauper," she grumbles, [i]... but I cannot bear for this horrifying situation to continue. "I can offer them my earrings," she finishes sadly, pulling out the silver earrings she had claimed in their early foray.
After a couple minutes of discussion, and loud, frustrated cursing from Rockne, you soon discover that his belongings are scattered about up in the trees. It takes roughly an hour for the items to be reacquired, during which Rockne's frustration grows.
Durnim will take out a silver piece and attempt to craft it into a ring. While the others are fishing Rockne's armor from the trees, the dwarf smith finds a relatively smooth rock. He uses his grappling hook to pierce the coin. Then, he works it with his utility knife making scroll work.
Trying to think of what a fairy would consider a treasure, Grautak wonders if they are as fascinated by themselves as humans seemed to be. He rummages through his saddlebags for a few minutes and then pulls out a small mirror.
Keeping his voice low in case the fairies are nearby, Grautak speaks softly with Gird.
Thinking back to my time in the woods, what do I remember of these creatures?
"What is it you want from us you? Come out and talk to us."
"Fine, fine, fine FINE " Even with all his gear finally back in his possession Rockne remains agitated, his face red and his actions exaggerated and a bit wild. Mumbling to himself he reaches into his belt pouch and pulls out a small handful of coins. He moves forward to the tree and finds a flat spot between two exposed roots.
Taking a level of care that surprises anyone who watched his tirade a moment before. the halfling places three copper coins in a line, then two silver coins on top of those, then crowns his impromptu pyramid with a single gold coin.
"N-am idee ce vrei, dar acest lucru este tot o lucios primit ......" he mumbles under his breath.
Durnim finishes up his crude silver ring and places it on his miniature mirror from his grooming kit.
As you leave camp and continue on through the forest, the antics seem to continue without relent. Grautak has trouble maintaining control of Whisper, as something seems to be tormenting the wolf, keeping him on edge and difficult to ride, as the wolf repeatedly snaps its head around and snaps at the wind near its tail.
Rockne notes that a cruel joke has been painted on the side of his horse, an arrow with the words "Must be this tall to ride," painted near the horse's saddle. The arrow, frustratingly enough to the halfling, is several inches above his height.
Durnim finds that as he packs up his things, articles of his belongings he knew for certain he had already packed up seem to continuously vanish from his pack only to reappear several feet away back in the camp.
Eventually, however, the group manages to get underway and head northwest through the Narlmarch. As they proceed, however, Grautak spots several bear traps scattered throughout the area. Despite taking caution thanks to this discovery, several times members of the group almost step in the traps, and Gird actually does fall victim to one of them, as the steel teeth clamp down hard on the half-elf's leg. As the others all converge towards the wounded man, Dagru also steps into the steel jaws of a bear trap, causing him to fall to the ground as well.
Grautak tries to force the trap open with brute strength before pulling out his tools and picking the lock on the trap. He frees Dagru first then moves onto Gird.
Durnim dismounts and grabs his longhammer. The dwarven smith covers Grautak while he frees his brother then Gird watching the ground closely for more traps.
He was glad to have missed the traps and be free of those fey.
Vianella leads her horse with the others, in an attempt to keep them out of the traps that seem to be strewn about. And what about us? Sure the horse could carry us, but to have to withstand such pain? Better them than us... Or perhaps we need to hire servants to lead the horses while we ride... Oh well... at least those fey rascals have held off from bothering me again... "Oh my!" she exclaims as traps close on the legs of two of her companions.
Once they have been freed of the sharp jaws, the priestess of Abadar, calls out healing prayers to her god in order to salve the wounds of her allies.
Dagru nods approval to his brother's feat to remove him from his trap.
"Don't worry about me brother get Gird out. Thank you Vianella. We must find what has set this obstacle."
Rockne also dismounts and draws his weapon, scanning the horizon for threats.
"Whoever set these is probably nearby waiting to see what they catch." He tightens his grip on his weapons. "Can't wait to show him..."
After those little gits, I can't WAIT to hit something!