Cal: Taht is just it. A preperly trained animal will respond well even if the handler is unaccustomed to horseback. This is not so much as a way to improve your abilities as I do not want to force any conditions upon you. It is rather a safety measure so that the animals don't spook when confronted by something unexpected or dangerous. I am hoping that by training them myself and having Durok a steady comfort nearby that the other horses will be that much easier to handle as a group.
-------------------
Alright, where are my socks.After turning his bedroll inside out along with allof his gear, the paladin is looking for the cause of the mischief. Once he learns that everyone is in the same predicament he realizes that it is probably Rhasa's new firneds that are behind this. In that case he will wait and watch as Barnabus has advised without his temper rising.
Cackles madly....
"Seems there be more tha we first thought surely each sock is a sweater fer such small ones as them, though I would not wear Goguk's socks over mah head!"
Laughs a bit more....
"Thought by smell alone Gorguk's socks would be safe from all but carrion eaters."
Continues to laugh....
"Now I have a new phrase!.....By Gorguk's Socks!"
Calinder upon waking and finding that they have all been the target of a practical joke, finds it to be not so funny anymore and says, "Taking a person's socks, that just be cruel."
Upon hearing Barnabus' comments, his spirits lighten a bit and a slight smile appears on his face as he packs up and prepares to leave. As he does so he makes sure that nothing else is missing from his gear.
Lothar shook his head at the morning mayhem that was going on all around him. Rhasa's assessment has been proven to be partially correct. We have indeed been targeted, but the treat left for them was not enough to satisfy them. The magician looked thoughtful as he continued speaking. Thinking about this, our 'guests' remind me, in many ways, of children. Following that line of thought, it would seem to me that they are, to borrow a term, 'at play'. What's more, it would seem that these pranks of theirs are in the process of escalating. It will only get more 'interesting' from here unless we can do something to placate them or appeal to them in some meaningful way.
At this, Lothar turned his words directly to the still unseen 'guests' themselves, raising his voice so that it can be heard.
The magician then turned to the other Guardians, urging them to speak out as well.
or
"Perhaps they didn't like that type of berry..."
"Yes, please, do come speak with us, let us know who you are. And might we have the plate and our socks back?"
Diplomacy (aid another)
Again, Gorguk will wait silently and see what happens. Much to his dismay, Barnabus's words might prove the best course of action: humor and a smile might do better than yelling and dramatic actions.
At Gorguk's request Calinder gladly hands him a piece of paper from his supplies and gets out his pen and ink, handing them to Gorguk as well.
"Yes, please come and speak with us, we would very much like you to be our friends. We need all the allies that we can get to defeat the bandits of the Stag Lord."
Rhasadilara snorts in surprised laughter and tries to cover it up by coughing, but you can see the twinkle in her eyes before she looks away.
To the air, she says, "Thank you very much for returning our socks! If you do not wish to visit with us, perhaps you would still be willing to give us signs of things we should know - dangerous things, bad things, or even good things that you are proud of?"
"Tis a sacred holiday tree, adorned with socks celebratin tha weary travelers!"
sits in quiet meditation and whistles at the tree a soft whistle as wind through branches....
"Maybe I ken communicate wit a tree!"
Also trying to hide smirk form Barnabus, The sight before me is one that I would not have expected to ever see when we started this journey. The sock tree is impressive too. Thank you for returning the socks whoever you are. May we meet again and have a chance to talk someday soon.
Lothar smiles as he spies the socks laid out on the shrub. His mirth grew at the sight of Barnabus.
Deeds such as yours should not go unappreciated. The magician removed his pack and began rifling through it, seeking something to give their new friends. After a moment of deliberation, Lothar produced something and placed it upon the bush.
This coil of rope was hand spun from the finest Vudran silk. It is stronger than normal hemp. Had I something more to give, then I would gladly do so. I leave this then for you, unseen friends of the forest. Use it as you will, though it is my hope that you would do so in defense of this place against the evil bandits. He performed a quick yet respectful bow, gathered both his socks and his pack, and made his way to where his mules awaited.
"Mayhap they cleaned an dried err socks, I think mah sock was darned as well, I once had a hole fer mah big toe within this one."
If the fun-folk are visible, then Gorguk will remain to talk to them. If the fun-folk are silent, then GOrguk is ok with leaving the clearing and having Rhasa continue exploring the area.
Rhasa will turn a slow circle, looking up into the trees for the pranksters. If she doesn't see them, she will start back toward the camp, but she won't be more than about 15' ahead of the next party member. Most likely (it appears), she will be alongside Lothar.
Perception
Calinder smiles as he gathers his socks and watches in amazement as Barnabus' hair color changes. As the others start to return to where they were camped before departing, he looks up into the forest above where the socks were found and smiles and waves in a friendly manner to whoever may be watching.
"I'm right behind ya Rhasadilara."
Throughout the day when not helping Lothar become accustomed to riding a horse, Gorguk sits in his saddle with the rest of the group ahead of him. Several times during the day, a ray of sunshine will filter through the leaves and fall upon Barnabus. Whenever this happens, Gorguk remembers Barnabus's words and smiles at the joke and wisdom along with it: having fun does not prevent us from doing our duty. Thank you Barnabus and fun-folk for this lesson.
Feigns terror
Draconic...
"Harm us not great and powerful dragon!"
Calinder waves as these amazing creatures come into view and gives them a warm smile.
Believing these to be their new "friends" he says, "Hail, be ye our new friends that have taught us the wise lesson of remembering that humor is an important part of life?"
Lothar, upon seeing the two tiny creatures, sat in slack-jawed disbelief on Durok's broad back. They were unlike anything he'd ever seen before, even back on Jalmeray, the island known far and wide as the "Kingdom of the Impossible." After taking a moment to gather himself, the magician began to smile broadly.
Gorguk will stand next to Durok and remain quiet as well for now. Cal and Rhasa and Barnabus seem to have things well in hand. He will let the more frivolous and less somber members tackle this diplomatic entreaty. If asked for, Gorguk will speak kindly and attempt to help the situation accordingly.
Aid another diplomacy if asked for
Smiling broadly, Rhasadilara stops Sunset. Nodding in agreement with Calinder, she replies, "Greetings to you! You two seem to have a lot of fun, yourselves. Our friend Dyfrig," she points back to the master cook, "is the master pudding maker. I'm sure he will be proud to know you appreciated his efforts."
"We are the Wardens of the Green. We have been tasked with making this area safer for those that live in it. Do you know of any dangers that we should look into? There are mean human bandits in the plains that we know about, but things here in the woods appear to be quite peaceful."
Diplomacy aid another for Calinder's roll
"Yes, we have just come from the ruined temple. I am of the order of Erastil, as are Gorguk, and Rhasadilara." Gloisil points to Gorguk and Rhasa, each in turn as he speaks.
"We freed the old cleric from his cursed state, and as soon as I can get word back to my order in the temple that I was trained in, we hope to have more clerics come to restore the temple to it's former glory."
"I hope that we will be able to do so at any rate, and that it will be a benefit to all who live here and seek to coexist peacefully."
"Yes the temple we have found an cleaned, have a looksee if you like, an yes we cleared tha bandit camp. You mentioned traps radishes an a hot spring wit frogs?"
tries to confirm information...
Points towards the temple....
"Temple, right?"
"An tha traps are which way?"
She nods to each of the visitors as she tries to pronounce their names, "Perlivash. Tyg-Titter-Tut."
After Barnabus' comments, she jumps in, "Yes, these traps - would you know who put them there and why?" She looks at the rest of the party, adding, "There are legitimate traps to use and legitimate reasons to use them, but I think it would be in our interest as guardians to make sure these are being used responsibly. If they are being used for legitimate purposes in the first place."
She turns back to the visitors and waits to see what they respond.
Though Lothar was interested in the traps and hot spring, something else caught his attention far more.
Perlivash's reaction to what Tyg-Titter-Tut had said about the 'mean fellow' not coming back. Though he trusted both their intentions and their overtures of friendship, the magician couldn't help but feel that they were hiding something. Something that the dragon-like one did not want their newfound friends to know about. But was it to protect the Wardens or themselves?
To figure this out would require a degree of subtlety that under the best circumstances Lothar knew he did not possess. Therefore....
Why won't the mean man be back? Does it have something to do with the bandits?
It was both a blatant and leading question, but the magician wanted to see whether Perlivash would take the bait and the lead in the conversation. Once he knew those things, Lothar would have a better handle on how far to proceed.
Oblivious to what caught Lothar's ear, Rhasa says, "If this irresponsible hunter is setting traps that are catching other hunters or his prey and he's not checking the traps, we need to disable them before anyone or anything is needlessly hurt."
She looks at the other companions, "Depending on the traps he's used, they could cripple a creature or hold them in place until they starved to death. That can't be allowed to remain - I feel we should take care of these traps before we proceed to Oleg's. Then we can find this man and clap him in irons." Her eyes and the set of her jaw betray the anger she feels as she speaks.
If that is how you feel, Rhasa, and Cal can preserve the mighty head of Tuskgutter longer than I will follow your judgement in matters of exploring and guiding this party. Thank you for your information friends. May we always be on the same side of righteousness.
diplomacy
Obviously taken by surprise, the elf struggles to frame her response for a moment. "Wha..? How did you..?" She takes a breath and looks at the creature for a long moment.
"Did you do wrong? Perhaps. Perhaps not. Depending on what we find when we locate these traps, I might have done the same thing myself. Though I suspect my methods would have been different. Tell me, please - were others hurt because of his behavior?"
Careful to keep from dislodging Pervilash as she rides, Rhasa turns Sunset toward the trapped clearing.
"Please help me locate the traps and we will remove all we find."
"Nay it seems you did us no harm til you judge our actions. An it sounds like long you waited to take action against this man. Further you question yourselves in tha doing or undoing of tha man. That has not tha ring o evil to mine ears."
"Truthfully twas tha man's own actions tha brought ruin upon him."
"Gorguk has named us tha guardians. In tha future should you see wrong-doing you may notify us o tha person, an then you have no more to do."
"This includes tha kobolds in tha hills, an alliance is also formed"
points to mikmek.
Lothar settled in on Durok's back, a sense of satisfaction filling him as they rode. He hadn't been sure that the 'mean man' had died, but to hear Perlivash not only openly admit it but take responsibility for it as well served to reinforce his original assessment that the two were like children. That someone would drive them to take such a profound and drastic course of action... The magician shook his head. He understood how precious life was; it was an under-riding reason why Lothar had chosen to fight in the manner that he did. And though Barnabus may have been quick to forgive them, he could not. Not just yet. Before he himself could absolve the two in regards to himself, Lothar had to understand the circumstances that brought about the butterfly-winged dragon's actions.
According to Perlivash, the mean man had been setting traps in the area that they were now heading to. Hiding them so well, in fact, that they had become a danger to others. But why? Why would anyone do such a thing?
Lothar's mind ran down the possible permutations in his head. Then something Rhasa had said earlier came back to him:
'There are legitimate traps to use and legitimate reasons to use them...'
This particular trap setter did not regularly patrol his traps after he had hidden them. In a manner that even other trappers could not find them, Lothar reminded himself. But again, that did not particularly state a reason as to why?
Again, the two forest creatures had called this man 'mean.' The manner of the word's usage indicated that the individual in question was small-minded and ignoble. His actions therefore had been unworthy to the two. But unworthy how? The magician knew little about them (hopefully with time that would change). But he did know that they were pranksters. Lothar began to look at the matter from that mindset. Pranks were mildly mischievous tricks done for fun. The best of them were funny and usually did no lasting harm to the victim.
Lasting harm....
It was beginning to make sense to the magician. Lasting harm could come to others caught in the traps the man had been setting. In fact, it probably already had. And yet the implication, based on what Perlivash had said, was that it possibly had not been a one time occurrence. Had the man been taking pleasure in the trapping of his fellows? If this was true, then it spoke to an inherent maliciousness, a perverseness, that Lothar found disturbing.
It would also explain why action had been taken against him. The two had been answering the call of justice. As a Warden of the Green, the magician was sworn to protect the land and its people from those that would do it harm and so understood that something needed to be done about the man's deeds. Perhaps the matter had gone beyond the point where words would not have brought about a peaceful solution. And because Lothar saw himself as a warrior, he also knew that bloodshed sometimes could not be avoided. Such may have been the case here.
In any event, the body (assuming there was one) could not be left out like some grisly trophy for others to find. The last thing they needed was to have other trappers find it and jump to conclusions about what had occurred.
Perlivash... could you take some of us, say Calinder and Gorguk, to where this man died? If it is possible to reclaim the body, it would be best to do so. Perhaps Oleg or Svetlana might know who he is. Unworthy or not, he deserves a proper burial. I'm sure that the rest of us can continue on with Tyg-Titter-Tut to the location of the traps.
That is a valid idea, Lothar. With the help of Perlavish, we should be able to map the area out on the way to retreiving the body while the three of you can take care of the traps. With excellent guides such as these, we can map both areas out and meet back together in 2 days.
Shall we meet back here then? Lothar I am going to need Durok if we are to haul a body back with us for burial. If sanything should happen, in 3 days time head to Olegs's if we can't find each other.
Assuming this is the case, Gorguk will then make preperations to split the party, making sure there is food and water for each group for 4 days in case something should happen. When preperations are over he will mount up on Durok Good luck my friends and may Erastil shine down upon you. May our new friends guide each of us with the wisdom of Erastil himself. May your journey be swift and your accomplishments many. Till a few days hence, good-bye
"An idea I am not fond pf, but certainly our guides should be able to keep us from too much harm."
"Perhaps Mikmek could go with you and one of the fey could show us the traps."
Lothar dismounted from Durok's back, then turned to face the paladin. Meeting back here would be sensible. Yes, let us do that.
He turned to regard Barnabus. Mikmek comes with us. He has a certain skill with traps that will be useful to us as we try to locate the ones that have been set. I learned this during our encounter with Tuskgutter. Unless, of course, you have a skill that we know nothing about?
Rhasa looks a bit dubious at splitting up, but says nothing to stop the others.
"Mikmek's experience could prove helpful to us and, if anything does happen, Barnabus' healing will be needed if Erastil's Chosen are both going with Pervalish."
Turning to less outspoken of the creatures, Rhasa asks, "Tyg-Titter-Tut, would you like to ride with me?"
Calinder is oddly silent on the matter of the group splitting up. The truth is that he feels slightly uneasy about the prospect, but does not want to cause problems with his companions.
He sits quietly upon his horse and says a silent prayer to Erastil to keep them all safe while the party is divided.
"I understand wanting to remain with your friends. If we must do one first, I would rather deal with the traps before something gets hurt. How many traps do you think we are talking about, my friend?"
"Aye Rhasadilara has tha right o it, deal wit tha traps an then tha remains, mighten end up wit two bodies iffen tha traps were tah harm someone in the meantimes."
Very well friends. We will follow you tot he traps and then to the trapper. Thank you again for all the assistance you ahve been and the assitance you will be providing. I f I may assist you please let me know. As always Rhasa, after you.