Big Ern is fine with going a-bear huntin'.
Some minutes later you have finished your breakfast and discussed who get's to ride which horse, so that even those that didn't have one can now ride with you.
You packed all your things you would possibly need, including the map that has been made up to this point.
Once that is all done you finally mount your horses and the riding dog, riding out through the posts gate...
Grumbling about horses and how they "ain't natcherul" for a dwarf, Whiskeyjack hoisted himself up behind Tyr. He'd prefer to ride with Big Ern, but the giant man's horse was bad off enough toting his huge frame around. He took a swig of fortifying whiskey, for medicinal purposes.
I'll ride upwind of the dwarf.
Big Ern will ride up front.
Agerron rides in front, also, next to Ern if necessary.
Majet rides at the back still looking very jumpy.
Extracts prepared
Cure light wounds, Shield and true strike.
We're going west, according to the best guess as to where the bear is. We'll ask hunters and trappers for rumours along the way, assuming we meet any.
Though it still rains lightly, you made good progress most of the day. Up until noon you rode on the plains leading to the Narlmarches, meeting two hunters along the way. They didn't know of any temple of Erastil though, but told you of a overgrown statue of Erastil they heard of. This statue should be in the same general direction the group travels, but close to double the distance away from Olegs.
Moving on, you ride along the edge of the Narlmarches, until at noon you make your way into the forest. The trees shelter you from the light rain, save for the occasional big drop falling from a leaf.
The rain thus drowns out most noises of wildlife, and gives you ample opportunity to shoot a small stag for lunch.
Later in the afternoon you hear strangely high voices up ahead in the trees. Majet, Big Ern and Nero hear that there is talk in Sylvan, but can't make out the meaning of the conversation yet.
Tyr pulls his hood up to keep off the larger drops of rain falling from the trees.
[ooc]Hey, as long as things aren't heaping up too much. Best wishes to you and yours.[ooc]
Whiskeyjack keeps up a near constant monologue of old war stories from his time in the mercenaries. It is clear that he has told these stories many times before, as they have a well polished feel around the edges. They are interesting, no doubt, and the dwarf isn't prone to embellishing his own exploits or making his pratfalls seem less than they are...mostly.
Big Ern grumbles in a low voice: "Oh great, these f@*~ing guys. Probably some fairies or pixies or some s++*. Does anyone want to talk to them? I'm in no f+$@ing mood."
"I can talk to them if we want to."
"Try to sweet-talk them. A while ago we got jerked around by a bunch of fairies and we just had to suck it up."
Tyr sits quietly upon his horse. Doing the best he can to place both himself and his mount under the least drippy bit of canopy.
Agerron lets out a loud sigh. "More of these things? Yeah, try and talk nice, but I tell you ... one cut saddle strap or whatever and it's pixie-kebabs for dinner."
"Hello? We mean you no harm, we're looking for an ancient shrine if you can point us in its direction we will be on our way and leave you be."
Nero rides a bit towards the source of the conversation, and declares his intention while doing so. Before he sees much of the persons speaking, he hears rustling up in the trees.
Perching on a branch three tiny creatures look down on the elf. With their lower body resembling a cricket and a tiny elf-like upper body on top Nero easily identifies them as grigs, normally good-natured fey.
One of them spreads it's tiny wings and flies down, landing on a lower branch next to (but out of reach of) Nero, looking at him (and the rest of the group further away) intently before answering: "Ancient shrine? Here? No, here is no shrine.
Why would here be a shrine? The forest is just fine!"
Laughing sounds down from the other grigs, before the one down continues: "I'm sorry, we don't know of any shrine around here. Maybe Tyg-Titter-Tut and his dragon know of it..."
"How big is this dragon, exactly?" Big Ern asks cautiously.
More laughter sounds down from the grigs up above and the one down spreads its wings again to investigate the rest of the group on horses a bit more, still keeping its distance though.
It smiles at Big Ern when it replies: "It's like, the biggest dragon I've ever seen, right?"
The other grigs nod in approval, then the one now circling the group continues:
"I'm just glad that Tyg-Titter-Tut was there, I don't know what would have happened otherwise.
Why are you looking for an old shrine anyway? You all could just worship the nature (and the beauty of it) as it is!"
Tyr shakes some of the water from the hood of his cape,
"Why see the shrine?" He asks in reply, "Because it might be there?" He answers himself and the inquisitive fey.
"We're looking for a shrine because its important to Erastil and I've heard that its beautiful and old. What kind of dragon?a"
Agerron mutters to himself, "Why can't these things just give a straight answer ..."
He comes forward a bit. "The shrine is important to some of our people, and we would like to reclaim it. And even more important, just who is Tyg-Titter-Tut?"
In answer to Tyr the grig speaks: "Then you should worship nature, because it not only might be, it is."
Again laughter sounds down from the other grigs and they start whispering in between.
The grig below then flutters back to Nero when he speaks, replying: "Sure it's old, if no one remembers where it was built. But beautiful? I doubt that. Not many things you largies built is beautiful to me. But that's a point we won't agree upon, I guess.
But Erastil I heard of. He's a good one, mostly. His followers treat nature better than most others.
What kind of dragon? A really fearsome one, I'd say. I don't know much of dragons, but I saw a wyrm once, too! Damn nasty thing. And it stinks!"
Settling on a low branch again, the grig hears Agerron's words and answers: "Well, I guess nature claimed it for the time you largies didn't so I won't wish you luck there.
But you don't know Tyg-Titter-Tut? I had guessed every farmer and hunter and bandit in the region has heard of her by now... huh. Guess she's not that famous after all.
She's a grig, like us. She's travelling with her dragon in the area, fighting those bandits her own way."
"Do you know where we might find her?"
Whiskeyjack was almost as impatient with fairy creatures as Big Ern seemed to be, although the big man seemed to have had recent dealings with them that soured his reaction. Still, the dwarf was wise enough - just - to let someone with more patience than he deal with the wee creatures. Else, he'd probably try to drown them in a dwarf-spewed glob of whiskey.
"And here I thought elves have keen senses... She is travelling with her dragon in the area, I said." the grig repeats speaking slowly and over clearly, shaking her head a bit. Again laughter can be heard from the other grigs still up in the trees.
"I bet that dragon's not that big," Big Ern snorts. "Okay gents, let's wander around for a bit until Tug-My-Tallywhacker finds us and does something hilarious like turning Beardo's beard into a pile of goat s*** or whatever. Then maybe she'll stoop to talking with us."
"Hey uh you havent seen giant plant creature in the area at all have you?" Majet then gives a description of the shambling mound.
"Yuck! That sounds horrible! And I bet it reeks as well...
You met such a thing? Hmm... No, we haven't seen something like that around here, but if we do, we'll surely see to it that it harms no one with it's presence. Such ugly things need to be put out of this world." the grig speaks before turning to Big Ern, leaving it's place on the branch to fly towards him, rubbing it's legs like a cricket. This rubbing produces a sound not unlike a tiny fiddle.
The sound quickly turns into a catchy tune, but it has it's most effect on Big Ern and his horse.
Please roll a will save and if you beat it, a ride check to controll your horse that is under the effect as well.
watching the grig and big Ern, Nero can't help but smirk Fae can be so much fun
Will save:
Ride check:
Big Ern falls off of his horse onto his fat ass and he rolls his eyes. "Oh boy. Ha ha. I feel like dancing. How delightful," he snaps in disgust.
" 'Ere now! Tha' ain't a way t' be treatin' folk that ain't done nought t' harm or harry ye. Ain't ye never heered th' story o' th' fae an' th' fire? Or Jack Straw Dancer? Ye best not be needlin' those tha' could be o' help t' ye. I seen a lo' on me travels, an' I kin tell ye tha' behavior like this leads t' trouble. Oh the stories I could tell ye!"
Pouting, the grig stops rubbing it's hinds, responding only with a quick: "But he was being mean first. And he's not harmed, is he?"
Even while speaking, the grig disappears into thin air.
Looking up to where the other grigs sat on the branches, they as well turn invisible, leaving you seemingly alone in the woods, a drop of rain falling here and there.
"What did you have to do that for?" Majet snaps at Whiskey "There one of the few groups that havent tried to rob, murder or eat us and you chase them away because you cant take a joke."
Tyr continues to sit upon his horse in the light rain. He does naught but raise an eyebrow at the Fey's actions and Majet's castigating of Jack.
Whiskeyjack raised a bushy eyebrow at Majet and said in an affronted tone, "Don't ye be barkin' at me, missy! All I said was fer them t' be careful whose noses they tweak. Sommat may happen what requires Ern to be there an' help out, an' d' ye think he'll be all fired up t' rush in an' help wit' them tryin' t' make him dance about like a jackanapes? Fey don't think like that. 'Snot in their nature - not th' little ones, no how. But 'simportant tha' they be told."
Big Ern's horse stops capering and prancing as the brutal alchemist sits on the soggy ground.
"Whatever. The little bastards can dish it out, but they can't take it. So are we going to look for this other airy-fairy piece of s!~~ with her pet dragon or keep going west? Either way will probably involve wandering around aimlessly in the rain." The fall off of the horse seems to have made Big Ern gloomier than usual.
Tyr waits patiently for both the prancing horse to settle and Ern to remount.
"Head West and try and find this shrine to get out of the rain." He replies.