Maeglin, overhearing Nilelane, quirked his mouth into a wry smile.
"Well, we may have heard a little something on that score. Seems there's a nymph in town. We're thinking she might be a target for cultists. At the very least I feel it warrants investigation."
"That kind of operation is, ah, unfamiliar to me. I'll defer to your judgment. We were told to start with the Ororororo Clan...was that one too many ors? In any case, we have directions for where to find them if we want to start looking there. The head of the Clan is on the Town Council."
"Th...tha..that wou..would be terrible.
He began panic in his voice at the thought that perhaps the cult wanted to polute the Nymph, had already poluted the nymph or even might want to polute the Nymph.
We...we shou..should warn her... ho..ho..hopefully perhaps the leader of the cla..clan can set u..up a meeting with her. I think.. you you will l.l.lie...like her Nile.le.lane."
He added, the only thing stopping him from turning out and running out the place was the possible panic it might cause mixed with not wanting to affect the innkeepers business.
Noticing that a new person has joined the table an elven server walks by, "Anything I can get you miss?"
Any speaks up from his musings.
"That would be terrible. So...we are going to track down the head of the Town Council? That is as good a place to start as any."
The server leaves and returns with a small glass of juice and a napkin.
The group gathers their belongings and proceeds or the door. Following the directions of the bartender you make your way to a series of Goliath trees that appear to have grown together in one enormous cluster. From above you hear the faint sounds of busy gnomes. Down at the base of one of the trees on well trod ground you see a small shack. Dangling in front of the shack, and originating from the branches high above are two ropes.
One jangles slightly in the wind from the myriad bells and chimes woven into it. It has a sign that reads "Pull me" in Common, Elven, and Gnome. The rope beside it is silent, but has a sign as well that reads "Pull me FIRST!" in the same languages.
Any shakes his head.
"Gnomes."
He sighs.
Maeglin shrugs, then pulls the one that says to pull on it first.
Looking at the rope with bells and chimes there appears to be a larger bell up at the branch where the rope hangs. More disturbing is the rope labeled FIRST attached to a lower branch where people on the platform above cannot see it.
As Maeglin pulls on that particular rope a distinctive puff sound is heard and a storm of glittering sparkles rains down upon you.
The sparkles comes from the glitterdust effect of squeezing a Dashing Puff plant too hard. The fact that everyone can still see means this one must be on a branch too high to affect those on the forest floor
"....thrice-damned Gnomes!"
Any looks up as the glitter rains down, and gets glitter in his eyes and mouth.
"Mrrghflagh!"
He tries to rub his eyes, which are now watering vigorously.
He had been about to say something his eyes widening but instead he tilted his head and his eyes widened for a moment excitedly as he remembered all the fun facts about the Dashing Puff plant. He was about to share his knowledge about the intruiging plant when he stopped realizing from his companions ...exclamations that they would probably not care about the plants nature.
Callanniel hears as the sound of something brushing against the leaves above them and at Nilelane's words, he jumps backwards. "What happened?" He then smells the air, distinguishing the smell of a Dashing Puff. He then smiles. "Oh... looks like we are glistering... no, you are! Somehow I managed to dodge it. Fear not, this is almost harmless and the product of a plant, a Dashing Puff."
He then thinks for a couple seconds. "But what triggered this? Someone just threw it at us or was it a trap?" He smiled. It looks like I'm indeed ready to face this challenges... my blindness is not hampering me... quite the contrary! Its absence opened my other senses beyond the ordinary.
Maeglin uses prestidigitstion to clean himself and his allies
Maybe since we have 'fallen' for that prank others wont be as quick to befall on us.
He said barely hiding his smile.
And we uh... pulled a rope that told us to pull it.
He added glad it seemed that Callanniel was far more aware than his hindrence seemed to make him.
"Bwahaha! Corrin! *chortle* I thought you would've learned from the Circle! *chuckle* Oh gods above that was beautiful!"
Up in the tree above, overlooking a rail there is a smiling gnome face looking at the group. His purple hair is crazed and though it is difficult to make out there appear to be berries and twigs stuck in it at odd angles.
"I'll be down in a minute!" Instead of moving over to the platform that reaches the ground floor you see the gnome collapse and hear riotous laughter for another 30 seconds or so before the platform starts its journey downwards.
He couldnt help but grin. He really should have known better but at the same time, getting nailed with the glittery effects of a Dashing Puff was better than some of the old pranks. Being died orange and yellow had not been fun at all.
I th..thought perhaps for o..o.old time's sake I should follow instructions blindly... It's good to see you again my friend.
He called up to the laughing gnome.
Callanniel smiles at Nilelane's question. "It is actually quite simple... I heard, actually sensed, something in the bushes above us. One thing I came to discover while I was recovering from my wounds is that we all are somehow too dependent on our vision. Our other senses are as powerful as our sight but we somehow decided not to exploit and develop them."
He thinks for a while before continuing. "As an example, when you close your eyes, you only 'see' the dark and you focus in this sensation and ignores your other senses... once you accept this darkness, you start the expand your other senses."
"Right now, I can not 'see' you, but I know where each of you are, based on your smell, the sound of your breathing, the sound of leaves being crushed under your feet and even by the intermittence of the wind that blows over my skin!"
"Thirty-seven years if I'm not wrong... I could be wrong since in the beginning I felt like the time was passing too fast or too slowly." His voice is calm and shows no sign of sadness.
With the sound of gears grinding on one another the platform settles on the ground. The gnome that you saw up on the platform above jumps out from the basket. The scattering of twigs and berries noticed before does not just apply to his hair, it applies to all of his clothing as well.
He rushes up to Corrin and gives him a one-two punch to the thigh before jumping up and hugging him around the torso. Dropping down and standing before you he proclaims, "Corrin and friends of Corrin, Olivo Biggenthrope Havenstein Ororororo the III, at your service!" He bows so low his hair sweeps the forest floor picking up even more detritus.
"How can I and the Ororororo clan be of service to you all today?" His smile stretches across his face with genuine compassion.
Corrin grinned a mile wide and acted as if the blows stuck to him came from a giant feigning almost swooning till the gnome jumped up and gave him a half hug.
I..It is g.g.good to see you my friend. I ca..can..cant go into depth here bu..but we are on a mission of....di..di...dire import."
He said with as serious a tone as he could muster though he smiled still.
W...we are here to see Krolumnite, possibly about me...me..meeting the nymph visiting the town. It's very important.
He added
Olivio whistles low to himself, "Only here a few days and everyone comes crawling out of the woodwork." Olivio gives Corrin a nudge with his elbow and a wink, "Didn't think you were into that type of girl, thought you preferred them more petite." Olivio holds out his hands in a roughly pixie sized shape.
He sobers up quickly when he sees the serious expression on everyone's faces. "Right, well, let's see what Pa has to say. Two at a time on the platform please, it wasn't built for so many tall folk. And watch the sides, the rail only goes up to half your shins, don't want you falling."
Maeglin followed directions, quite amused by Olivio.
Any will follow along, unsure as to whether to be angry, or just amused.
Olivio takes you up to the gnomish "mansion" chattering all the while, and so fast it is difficult to keep up with his constant questions and observations.
"Corrin,I'mgladyou'reback!Itissogoodtoseeyouagain,where'sthatsillyelkofyour sanyways,Ialwaysenjoyrufflinghisfurtoo."
"That'ssomenicearmoronyourstomach,aren'tyouafraidsomeonewillattackyourheado rarmsorlegs?ThatsurewasaniftytrickbeingabletocompletelygetridoftheDashingPu ffseffects."
"Ooh,acutlass!Wedon'tseemanyofthosehereabouts!WealwaysheartalesofpiratesonL akeEncarthan,isthatwhereyou'refrom,didyoutakethatfromapirate,wereyouapirate ?Howexciting!"
"Whydoyouhavesomanytattoos,andwhyareyouusingthespearasawalkingstick?You'rer eallytan.Youhaveafalconglove!Where'syourbird?Is it nice?CanIpetit?"
"You'reverypretty!What'sinthesack?Isittools?You'renottalkingverymuch.Whyare youlookingatthepulleysystem?Areyoucuriousaboutit?Icantrytoexplain,butI'mnot goodwiththattypeofstuff."
"That's some nice armor on your stomach, aren't you afraid someone will attack your head or arms or legs? That sure was a nifty trick being able to completely get rid of the Dashing Puffs effects."
"Ooh, a cutlass! We don't see many of those hereabouts! We always hear tales of pirates on Lake Encarthan, is that where you're from, did you take that from a pirate, were you a pirate? How exciting!"
"Why do you have so many tattoos, and why are you using the spear as a walking stick? You're really tan. You have a falcon glove! Where's your bird? Is it nice? Can I pet it?"
"You're very pretty! What's in the sack? Is it tools? You're not talking very much. Why are you looking at the pulley system? Are you curious about it? I can try to explain, but I'm not good with that type of stuff."
Olivio walks you down some catwalks and across a rope bridge before stopping in front of a large, for a gnome, door. It is large enough that you only have to hunch over a little bit to get inside by the looks of it.
Maeglin's brow furrowed for a moment as he deciphered the frenzied speech. After a second, he replied, mirth evident in his voice.
"True, it doesn't protect everywhere. My best bet is to not get it! And I have many neat tricks. Perhaps I'll display some, at some point."
When they reach the door, Maeglin stoops a bit and steps through.