"I liked the monkeys, I don't think they anticipated something like that. Keeping them off balance is cunning."
Bulvi leans in towards Tezuzu and says in a hushed tone. "Do you know that they are actually Fey or just an educated guess. I mean a witch could summon Outsiders? It's good to be informed and you have shown yourself to be knowledgeable about such things."
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With his gut telling him this would end up in a fight, Fin grabs his bow tightly...but its touch brings back a twinge of guilt from his friendly fire incident earlier...he shakes his head and tries to concentrate on keeping an eye on Quasit’s conversation with the fey...
Although rude, the fey doesn’t seem openly hostile at the moment, so Fin looks around for the other creature that went running into the brush, focusing on the spot in which it entered...
"Time. All it takes is time and what is, isn't. Soon what isn't, will be." She, you realize now she is she, spreads a free hand letting droplets of water fall up through her fingers. There is a mischievous smirk across her face as a few of the drops hit her palm.
Tezuzu’s eyes go wide in an instant he quickly responds back to Bulvi ”Yep definitely fey.”
He will approach Quasit placing a clawed hand on her shoulder and whispers into her ear
Tezuzu will speak towards the red-haired fey in sylvan worry in his voice.
He adds nervously ”I hope you are having a nice morning.”
He then mutters an incantation under his breath and will examine the pond.
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Fin looks to Q. "I don't think she's gonna be talking to us, Q...but something odd's going on...perhaps this involves the hut? Maybe we should look around for other oddities in this area to confirm what the hell's going on here. I don't think this pool or Piper are going anywhere soon, so we can always come back..."
"Time. All it takes is time and what is, isn't. Soon what isn't, will be."
"Wait is this how snow is made? I thought it was frozen rain but it makes a lot more sense for pretty, magic creatures to be behind it."
"Ask her if she knows about the hut." Maka prodded Tezuzu after he spoke a strange language to the fey.
"As if you would understand it. She laughs disdainfully.
"As if you would understand it. She laughs disdainfully."[/b]
Maka joined in the Dawnpiper's laughter. "Yeah I guess magical weather is pretty complicated. Or wait did you mean the hut? Because I'm not really sure about that either."
"Perhaps you know more I thought. Her attitude seems to soften just a bit at Maka's question.
Tezuzu examines the magical nature of the pond for a moment
He blinks as he looks around and asks ”Your friend did not need to run away and hide....”
He continues to eye the Fey suspiciously.
"Perhaps you know more I thought. Her attitude seems to soften just a bit at Maka's question.
"People mostly know more than you think, more than they think as well. I mean, how do you know what you don't know you know?" As she conversed with the Fey, Maka moved up to the edge of the pool. "I'm Maka by the way, and these are my friends." Maka bowed to the Fey at her introduction. "What's your name?"
The fey holds up a hand as Maka approaches. "No further."
Tezuzu hisses at Maka ”Be careful she is dangerous. You should come back over here and leave her alone.”
He will then speak quietly enough to rest of the party to try and prevent the Dawnpiper from overhearing. ”This Dawnpiper is dangerous. There is also some kind of illusion magic at work here, but illusions are not my area of expertise so I’m not exactly sure what. There is a path north I would like to explore, but there is no guarantee it is were we need to be and I would rather we did not pick a fight if we did not need to.”
He looks over at Quasit asking ”Unless you think she will let us pass without getting angry or can talk her into it with that silver tongue of yours? I can’t get a good read on her, but frankly she unnerves me and seems testy.”
The fey seems to relax a bit as Tezuzu speaks up while keeping a close eye on Maka.
Maka came to a stop at the fey's outstretched hand. "Oh I'm sorry....should we go another way then?" Maka looked around while taking a few steps back.
The path you came from also leads north and east in addition to this western path that is currently occupied by the annoyed fey.
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The hair on the back of Quasit's neck stands up at the barely disguised villainy implicit in the dawn piper's words. Clearly whatever this creature was up to and being coy about, it wasn't good.
But Tezuzu's words of warning make their impression as well. She looks around at her companions and nods back toward the main path.
"Come on, let's go." she says, leaving the strange fey creature to its magical mischief.
"I have a bad feeling about this." she confides.
The fey regards the groups depature with mild interest and a bit of relief.
Tezuzu sighs walking away with the rest of the group.
"The illusion magic was weird centered and concentrated deep at the center of that the pond. I am certain that the Dawnpiper was responsible for it and the pond itself; they are magically linked somehow....I am just not sure why yet...." he questions quietly. As he moves towards the next path he examines the foliage...
After a short walk he will say. "I am glad we did not have to fight that thing. I appreciate everyone keeping their cool." after letting that linger for a moment he pipes up again. "I hope you all do not think I am a coward..." he plays with his claws nervously.
"Prudence and foresight are virtues alongside courage... better to use them to temper courage. You've proved you are no coward many times by now."
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"That fountain of water wasn't just ornamental. That fey was up to something. It seemed like it was doing a ritual of some kind. I mean, I don't really know a lot about magic so I could be wrong, but snotty as she was, I think Miss Dawn Piper was happy we let her be. She's linked to that magic fountain somehow." says Quasit as she walks. "I don't think she's going anywhere. So if we have to go back there and deal with her, we can do it on our terms, with some sort of plan in mind."
"Hey Maka, do these trees burn?" she asks suddenly.
Tezuzu will nod cheerfully ”Those are kind words, but trolls are simple and easy to handle....and frankly if I had the misfortune of taking half the abuse Quasit has since I met her I would be significantly less confident.”
Tezuzu glances over at Sakitu and mentions warmly ”I did not get a chance to say it earlier, but that was some impressive magic. I have a similar incantation, but it is considerably less powerful. Nice work”
As Findurel moves to the east he can hear the voices of children further ahead in the direction of the canopy to the northeast. "Hello? Is anyone out there. We heard voices."
"Hey Maka, do these trees burn?" she asks suddenly.
Never needing to be asked to set something on fire twice, Maka swift sent a ball of fire hurling towards the tangle of trees.
Sakitu holds back while the others talk with the strange creature. She sighs a sigh of relief when they move on without a fight. "You know, I'm glad that she didn't have to fight again. It makes me so afraid. But I guess I would have had a chance to try my monkeys again."
Maka wrapped Saki in a tight side hug as the group walked along. "That just means you are super brave because you are still here helping."
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Sakitu returns the side hug. "You think I'm brave? Really?" Sakitu blushes a little bit and smiles. "But I always feel so afraid. I always thought that brave people didn't feel afraid. I mean, look at Quasit. She's never scared. She just races into any danger. It's so amazing."
As they continue forward, her ears perk up with the sound of children's voices. Anxiety starts to grow in the pit of her stomach. "Oh no. Not kids again."
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Fin looks up into the tree. "Yes, we see you...your house is swaying. Hold on! I'll be right up..."
Thinking of the kid they could not help at the clock tower and still feeling guilty for shooting Quasit, Fin acts impulsively and tries to climb up to help...
He'll look for best path up...
...and then start climbing...
...if he makes it up, he'll try to soothe the kids and survey the situation...
Sakitu returns the side hug. "You think I'm brave? Really?" Sakitu blushes a little bit and smiles. "But I always feel so afraid. I always thought that brave people didn't feel afraid. I mean, look at Quasit. She's never scared. She just races into any danger. It's so amazing."
"Of course! Being brave isn't not being scared, it's still acting even though you are scared. I think you are way more brave than I am. I don't get scared by much but when I do I don't even know what to do. Even Q is scared, but you are right that she is super brave and amazing."
Fin looks up into the tree. "Yes, we see you...your house is swaying. Hold on! I'll be right up..."
Maka followed Fin in climbing up the branches. "Hace told me about having a tree house when he was a kid, is this what he meant?"
Tezuzu will hand Maka his length of rope and a grappling hook before she is up. He calls out ”I hope you both know what you are doing...I could prepare a spell to help, but it would take a few moments. Be careful it looks unstable...”
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Fin grins at Maka as they climb. "I would guess Haces's tree house was a bit smaller...this one houses a family...similar to my former house in the Fierani..."
When they make it up top, Fin kneels beside the children. "Are you OK? Where are your parents? Can you tell us what happened?"
Fin will see if he can see a safe way for them to exit or if they can stabilize the house...
As Findurel makes the climb it is clear that his weight on the tree impacts the precarious state of the house. His adept climbing keeps anything from going amiss, but it clear that though missteps might be tolerated in any rescue attempt - a mistake would be disastrous for the home, those inside, and anyone below. Maka's climb seems to have a slightly more visible impact on the home's precarious situation, but not enough to endanger it.
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Fin mutters very lightly under his breath, "Those bastards," before continuing, this time louder. "How do you normally enter and leave the house?"
Fin takes a look at the man's leg while awaiting an answer.
"I think you're right, it's broken...and we'll need to splint it...but that might have to wait till we get you down...
"Perhaps Maka and I can lower you down by rope, one at a time? She and I could also possibly climb down with the children on our back...but not you, sir. Hmmm...perhaps I could shoot the rope to the base of a nearby tree and my friends below could secure it there, while we secure it here, but to the tree not the structure...like a zipline...
"What do you think Maka?"
"Lowering them down by rope could work. Probably best to start with the dad." Walking over to the edge, Maka called out to the others. "There is a family trapped up here, we are going to lower them down. Can y'all do anything about the house moving?"
Tezuzu stares at the house mangled in the forestry swaying off the ground and calls back out. ”I can solve this right now by flying, but I had hoped to use those magical energies combating the winter guard protecting the hut...If you give me some time I can cast a lesser spell that shall see you all to safety.” with a short pause he adds ”That’s your call though.” as he responds he will start to slowly back away from the possible fall zone of the house.
"This sure is a lousy country to be a kid in."
Tezuzu cocks his head to the side and quietly states ”I turned out alright....ish”
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"I'm guessing they've been up there for days already. A few more minutes won't matter. Let's do this safe and use the climbing spell. The last thing we want is to unbalance that house and have it crash down with all those people inside." says Quasit.
To Tezuzu, she adds more quietly. "I agree too that we should save your flight spell for now. I want to help these people, but we want to save our strong magic for our main mission -- finding the Hut. And I'm guessing there are still a lot of nasty fey surprises waiting out there for us."
Karend agrees, he thinks his leg is broken also. "I think the kids can climb down just fine. Just wasn't going to ask them to go out into that strange forest without me. Trevis and Crina nod in agreement. They didn't want to leave their father, but are willing to climb. Their father speaks up. "I insist, get them out of here first."
Tezuzu will begin to meditate but as he does so he opens one eye to see a human being lowered on a rope. He stands up brushing the twigs and grass off his robes cutting his meditation short. Turning to Quasit he mentions grimly ”Well I offered to fix this. If that house falls and we have to bury a handful of kids. You can blame Findurel and Maka for it instead of yourself this time”
Findurel begins to lower the daughter and she makes it half way down before the house begins to teeter back and fourth. As it settles back into a less precarious sway, Findurel is able to lower her all the way to the ground. He repeats the process with the son, getting him to the halfway point he continues without an issue. With both children on the ground, Karend sighs. "Thank you. There's no need to risk yourselves for me. Just see that my children are safe."
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Fin looks down at his friends and yells, "Get the kids and everyone steer clear of the area...the man is heavier and this whole structure may come crashing down..."
Fin looks at the father, answering, "Nonsense, in for a copper, in for a gold. Your children need their dad..."
Having a duh moment, Flyn pulls out his wand and taps the wounded man before applying the ropes...
Looking to his friend, he says, "Maka, felt good about lowering the kids..but this man is heavier and the house could come down...why don't you climb down and get clear before I lower him...I've already hurt Q...I'd hate for another of my mistakes to hurt you as well..."
"Bah! Of course I'm going to stay and help." Maka wrapped the rope around her waist to act as an anchor.
Selena hurries through the woods, standing amongst the trolls she hears a call and heads for it, figuring that her companions wouldn't be able to resist investigating
Thus it happens that a halfling walks out of the brush and asks "Can I help in some way?"
The halfling has white hair, pale skin, and blue eyes. She wears decent clothing and a red scarf.