As they enter the treeline, Mirandix lengthens his stride to move to the front of the group.
Alert to the environment around them, Mirandix slows to more closely examine the evidence of mushroom harvesting, hoping to ascertain if it was indeed a goblin, "Hold for a moment, someone small has been harvesting these mushrooms."
Despite the quality of Mirandix' investigation, he can only tell that who- or whatever it was used a wickedly sharp knife, wore sandals, and was Small-sized. And that it clearly wasn't inexperienced enough to just eat the mushroom raw.
"Someone small, I hope it's not one of those Gnome hippies, who know magic."
"I do believe you're right." she says to Mirandix.
Raina does a cursory check where the mushrooms grow to see if any of them remain. If so, she begins harvesting some, about ten of them.
Once finished, she looks at Kyrax.
"Oh! You asked me how I could help. I focus on things I like to do when I am stressed." she says with a gesture to the mushrooms. "I am skilled in wilderness survival, and have experience in the ways of both natural and fey healing. Some call it divine, but I see it as from nature. I am guided by the stars when I can see them. They light my way, and give me the means to live in the wilds. I also have skill in dealing with people. It has been most useful with some people, although not all." she says with a glance towards the direction of the sheriff.
Raina finds there are still plenty of mushrooms to harvest; a Small creature can only reach up so far without resorting to the use of a stepladder, after all. And really, who would drag a stepladder out into the woods...?
The Lady Pontia's words do make Arma consider for a time. "I question their alliance from all I heard and saw of the battle but perhaps there is something to be said of it. Maybe we will be forced to battle them still as it seems they have put themselves in our path from the evidence at hand. If so they may indeed know something that could aid our effort in facing the wizard."
Arma still walking Garnet stands with the rest of the group near the tree line looks toward the tree covered in the fungus.
Looking toward Mirandix she responds to his statement.
"I see what you are talking about. Though does anyone see a trail to follow left by the person who gathered them? If it heads in the same direction as we are headed it might be worth following!"
Looking to Noya she has a quizzical look upon her brow. "Excuse my ignorance lady Noya but what are gnome hippies? Some type of magical mushroom gathering menace I am unaware of? Have we need of caution?"
She waits long enough to hear Noya's response, but after hearing it will turn to look at the group and the newcomer lady Raina as she spoke. It had appeared she had joined their journey though the girl had not said such outright. Arma would not question her though, for she felt she had a sort of past connection in similarity to the girls current circumstances.
As Raina spoke with Kyrax, Arma still near them both spoke to her but only to minorly interrupt. She did not wish to disrupt their talk.
"Your help is most appreciated and if you would like Miss Raina, I noticed your stride is slowed. Perhaps by injury or such? If you wish you could ride upon Garnet as I walk her alongside the others!"
Her tone as she joined however was polite, and just to offer a few words and not to interrupt as Miss Raina had been speaking to Sir Kyrax and not her first.
"Yes, 'alliance' is likely too strong a word, Mistress Arma. Say, rather, that the words between them indicated a certain amount of mutual familiarity; it would be useful to learn what the goblin chief knows of the wizard."
"An injury I suffered during my youth. I have tried all I know to heal it but nothing helped. I accept it with humility and moved on. I have much given to me to be thankful for. As for the ride, thank you. If it is all the same I would like to walk for now. If we have a pressing need I would consider doing so then."
"As for the "hippies", that is a reference to people like me who prefer to live in the wild versus the city. Gnomes are just a smaller race, around the same height as goblins are. Much like halflings if you know what they are."
She turns her attention to the ground around her.
"Those tracks look intriguing. Let's see where they lead, shall we?"
Looking to Pontia Arma answers with a calm but firm tone. "Then if we must to rescue Lady Valeria, we will." Her confidence seems to be quite high as if she does not believe they will fail.
As Raina then speaks she nods. "Well the ride will be open when you need it Miss Raina."
Of course when Raina explains about the Hippie Gnomes rather than Lady Noya she seems to take on a understanding look. "Oh... I guess I should know of gnomes from talk of the shorter folk but I have not met any. So if they live outside of the cities then they are called Hippies?" Looking between the two women as if looking for confirmation it is clear Arma is just learning about this sort of topic.
"When I say hippies, I mean, folks who smoke a lot and I mean A LOT of plants to get a high, and think playing jokes while high is a good idea."
Arma looking to Noya as she speaks gives her a look of partial understanding. "Then Miss Noya, may I take it that this is not a good thing to call people then?"
"Let's say it's the least bad of the word other, I have for folks who eat/smoke things to get high."
Pontia doesn't quite sneer. "This is all terribly amusing, but completely unrelated to the task at hand. I suggest we continue along the mapped route, and watch for ambushes."
Mirandix nods to Pontia then begins again, following the map while alert for possible (likely) ambushes.
So be it. Kyrax draws his black bladed scimitar and walks with the group trying to stay alert.
Arma nods in understanding of Noya's words. "Thank you Miss Noya."
At Pontia's agitated words Arma nods lowering her visor. "Yes, let's." Her voice gets far more serious.
"Miss Raina thank you for helping us. As long as the discovered tracks don't take us off course of your uncle Sir Henneth's map, please lets follow them."
Arma noticing Kyrax draw his blade puts her shield upon her arm while walking Garnet with the other. Conversation has ended for now it seems so she begins to watch the surroundings.
You plunge into the depths of the Whisperwood, and two days' worth of travel time pass.
Through a combination of Raina's tracking skills and the map you found at Henneth's hovel, you go from landmark to landmark -- an oak tree with a knot shaped exactly like a human skull; a sandstone boulder mysteriously appeared in the depths of this forest and marked with graffiti in Infernal; a patch of dark flowers so beautiful, their scent so intoxicating, that it takes you until the end of the day to realize these flowers are growing lush and rampant in spite of the overhead canopy, and none of the trees seem to dare grow any closer.
You keep finding little traces of your mystery Goblin. Broken twigs, a handful of uprooted flowers, a blackberry bush that's been cleared out, two times you discover piles of ashes where small, stone-ringed camp fires have burned, small animal bones lying in those same ashes -- and on the second morning of your journey, Mirandix rounds a tree and walks face-first into a dead rabbit, that's been suspended from one of the lower branches.
Attached to the fly- and maggot-infested carcass is a mocking note:
'Poor, weary travelers, why not rest a bit and enjoy a hearty meal?
We are still waiting for you.
Have a nice day!
- Red Debbuls
You become much more cautious after that, but the Goblin seems to be maintaining its lead on you. Even when you spot the first page, you have yet to see hide or hair of the Goblin.
The page is a single sheet of creamy parchment, tacked to a tree in a surprisingly haphazard manner. Inscribed on the paper are numerous astrological symbols and arcane annotations.
As you continue to follow the map, you see more and more of these pages tacked to the trees, hanging from bushes, even a few lying discarded on the ground or flying past you on the breeze.
Finally, the land starts to slope downward, and you have to face an unpleasant reality; whereas the map claims that by now, you should be approaching the tree line on the other side of the Whisperwood, you are still firmly between the trees.
Ahead of you is a small hollow, a dip in the land. Here, set between slender aspen, their trunks festooned with more of those pages, stands a small, rustic hut with a vegetable garden and an herb garden. Its walls and sagging roof are likewise covered in sheets of paper. Smoke is rising from the chimney, and you can smell something that appears to be pork stew, spiced to perfection.
Walking around and around the hut is a pretty, young woman in a threadbare robe, one of her elbows poking through the cloth, the ragged rim rising to mid-calf on the left side and dragging over the ground on the right side. Old patches have gotten patches of their own.
The young woman is barefoot, a fact which she has either failed to notice or does not object to. She is muttering to herself and staring into the distance, occasionally reaching up to scratch a lustrous mane of bright red hair. Her face is... The word 'beautiful' doesn't do it proper justice.
Pontia has clearly not studied this sort of thing, which bothers her and takes her mind off of her surroundings.
Seeing the lovely lady busy at her chores Kyrax will sheath his weapon and approach as non-threateningly as he can. Clearing his throat he says. Excuse me my lady. Could you spare a moment from your busy day to set a group of travelers onto a proper course? We've a map, and a desired destination, but where we are does not seem to want to align with where we should be, if you take my meaning. He looks down at the map in a perplexes way then back up at the lady with a bright smile.
Oblivious the the unnatural quiet that has fallen over the forest, Mirandix easily steps aside for Kyrax, happy that someone else is interested in talking to the stranger; strangers usually do not like his direct way of speaking.
The 'lady' looks up from her circuit around her hut, and blinks with some slight confusion. She looks Kyrax up and down and starts to grin -- then she leans forward and squints, scrutinizing you a little more closely. Her nostrils visibly widen, as if she were sniffing the air. When she smiles again, the expression is wry and cynical.
"Foxy," she murmurs as she casually pushes past you to approach the others and look them over.
"Well, well, well," the 'lady' says as she moves around the others, looking them all up and down. "So many visitors to Aniseed's Dell."
She makes a face when she comes to Mirandix, and makes shooing gestures, driving him at least a step away from the others. "Ugh! Can't abide the pointy-eared ones. All sinew, no stamina."
She smirks outright when her eyes meet Pontia's, and she shakes her head. "It's all about control, not being controlled," she says, cryptically. "You don't let the help push you around, dearie."
Arma and Noya make the young woman scowl, and she makes dismissive gestures at you. "No fun to be had, none at all."
Her expression changes to a slow, predatory smile as she comes to Robert and Zhu, and unless they resist her, she slips her arms through theirs. Humming some nameless tune, she leads the two men back to her hut, where she settles them on a bench and plops down between them, her arms over their shoulders. She crosses her legs at the ankles and looks completely relaxed.
"Now this is the business!" she says, grinning -- and also stroking the men's hair. "Now, then. You babes are lost in the Whisperwoods, is it? And you'd like old Aniseed's help finding your way. So where is it you're all wanting to go?"
Finally, her gaze settles on Raina, and her expression becomes more sober.
"You'll be waiting a bit, mind. I've smelled you on the wind, dreaming of your precious stars. The cards said I'd need to speak to you and what you dragged to my doorstep. Take my advice, dearie; never shack up with a Varisian master to learn the Harrow. You'll learn, but you rack up obligations."
The 'lady' looks up from her circuit around her hut, and blinks with some slight confusion. She looks Kyrax up and down and starts to grin -- then she leans forward and squints, scrutinizing you a little more closely. Her nostrils visibly widen, as if she were sniffing the air. When she smiles again, the expression is wry and cynical.
"Foxy," she murmurs as she casually pushes past you to approach the others and look them over.
Why thank you my dear. I find you attractive as well.
Later he actually pouts a little at not being selected, but wonders at the manner of this creatures, especially when she refers to herself as old. Is this some sort of hag?
Arma silently follows along unless spoken to first, offering to take watch each night as they travel. When the next in the watch wake they easily notice little has changed other than she acknowledges them politely and then lays down in her armor to rest.
Still as they travel it seems this armored rest does not to bother her at all. But she does seem preoccupied as it is. So much so that seldom does she notice much of note first.
Of course at the discovery of the note she says nothing but brushes the taunt aside. From then on her hand rests upon the hilt of her blade loosely holding the reigns while she keeps pace.
Still as the group continues on and finds themselves in front of the strange woman Aniseed she does not take ease at her strange and foreboding words leaving her shield held firm though not drawing her other weapon though the hand remained in place. She is watching the strange woman with great care through her visor and at being addressed along with Miss Noya by the stranger her visor covered gaze remains locked in place on Aniseed for her odd comment.
"My stars are precious to me, yes. You obviously don't care about them. Just give me what you intend and let me be on my way." she sniffs slightly as she speaks.
-Posted with Wayfinder
And her name is Aniseed.
Noya whispers to the ladies of the group.
Arma lifts her visor some and whispers back in response.
"My stars are precious to me, yes. You obviously don't care about them. Just give me what you intend and let me be on my way." she sniffs slightly as she speaks.
Aniseed grins. It is not a nice expression.
"Little hard to care about something that died before I was born," she says in a sing-song voice,"burned up in the Void, and no one there to mourn.
Pretty Elf-child with your heart so pure
Now you know this truth, how will you endure?"
Aniseed kicks her heels up and cackles with mirth; there is no other word for the sound.
"Oh, that was good, that was good," she says, wiping away a single tear of merriment. "Enough, though. You've come to me, and I have to read you the Harrow for free. Stupid obligations. But after that? Ah, we'll see."
The red-haired 'lady' whistles sharply, and you hear a rattle and a thump coming from inside the hut, followed by a steady clunk - clunk - clunk - clunk. It sounds almost like a four-legged animal walking, if it were wearing wooden shoes.
The hut's door is pushed open, and a table comes marching outside. It struts up to Aniseed -- and Robert and Zhu as well -- and settles down in front of her. Humming that nameless tune again, Aniseed produces a pack of silk-wrapped cards from out of her sleeve, and starts to shuffle it.
"Come closer if you're coming," she says, giving you all a predatory grin. "You can opt out, if you prefer, and you might. The Harrow sees all, even in this age of Lost Omens -- and old Aniseed takes no prisoners and tells all. Especially the painful bits."
Kyrax moves closer. I am interested wise one. He says in respect. But first, will you tell me what obligates you to do a reading for free?
Regardless he agrees to a reading, explaining to the others There may be information we need to be gleaned here. And besides, this will make a fine tale. If we gain information to set us back on our course Aniseed shall be the hero.
"I had to learn the Harrow from someone, and he set a price to be paid at a future date," Aniseed replies, simply. "Now. The aspects of the Harrow are three-by-three. And so three guides we shall see."
The Witch shuffles, cuts and arranges the deck, placing three cards at the top of the table, and flips them over.
"The Dance, the Fiend and the Cyclone," she reads out as she turns the cards face-up. "The Dance is what governs you all. You are in a complicated situation, and you must all work together to come to a solution.
The Cyclone is what governs your enemies. Their schemes have unleashed something -- or are aimed at unleashing something -- destructive and terrible. No points for guessing what complication you're supposed to remedy.
The Fiend governs who and what lies between you. Oppression and death for many innocents lies in the offing. Again, no points for guessing what that's all about.
Now. Come ask your questions, and the rest of the cards shall speak."
What is the surest path to rescue the princess unharmed? Kyrax asks as he wonders how carefully he should word his questions.
Aniseed nods to Kyrax and then flips over five cards, seemingly at random.
The first card shows you the sun, hidden behind the moon. All around, the stars glitter like the eyes of fiends, carious and cruel. "The Eclipse speaks of futility," Aniseed says. "'Unharmed' is already a station passed. But because it is not the last card in the spread, it does not have the final word. You may yet rescue her as unharmed as can be, given the circumstances."
Aniseed's slender fingers flip over a card that shows you a blacksmith, pounding away at his anvil. "The Forge," the Witch says, "from the House of Hammers. You have hard work ahead of you; you must unite diverse forces against a single trial. My guess is, that's all of you."
She moves to the third card, and you see what looks like a farmers' revolt, the working men wielding hammers and other everyday tools as their weapons. "Hammers again. The Uprising. In order to save the princess, you will be caught up in something big. Something you can not control. You'll have to ride it out if you want to achieve your goal."
The fourth card shows a man standing behind the counter of an inn. He is drawing a pint of ale and laughing amiably at something. Stars glitter in his eyes. "Better tidings from the House of Stars, this time. The Publican; good fellowship and refuge. Keep your friends close, as they say. But don't be afraid to let new friends in, either. Such is wisdom for your quest."
The fifth card shows you a rampant unicorn, a golden crown dangling from its alicorn. "From the House of Crowns, the Unicorn. It symbolizes generously giving up 'that which is sought'. But in this spread, with your question, it means that you must give something you value up to achieve your goal."
"Thus is your question answered... Bre'er Fox."
Mirandix approaches with Kyrax. Though he sets no stock in fortunetelling, he has always been interested in the things they say. Never having seen this particular method of fortunetelling, he is keen to see what should happen.
"And do you have any questions for the Harrow, my pointy-eared visitor?" Aniseed asks, raising an eyebrow at Mirandix. She shuffles the cards and cuts them again. As before, the Dance, the Cyclone and the Fiend come out on the top of the table, and Aniseed clicks her tongue. "So the wheels of chaos, fate and destiny are set in motion."
Mirandix seems as though he will not ask a question, to the point of shaking his head twice, then a thought occurrs to him, "Yes, Lady, I will ask. It seems that those we must now confront know of our coming and leave taunting messages in our path. My question is this: How can we best avoid or prepare for the coming ambushes?"
Aniseed turns over three cards for Mirandix, and she frowns almost immediately. The first card shows a radiant Trumpet Archon, diving down towards roiling storm clouds. One hand holds its trumpet to its lips, while the other hefts a golden shield.
"The Trumpet, from the House of Shields, tells you that there is no avoiding the ambushes to come," she says, "you must go forth and meet them."
The second card makes the Witch raise one eyebrow. A rabbit, standing on its hind legs and dressed like a nobleman, is fending off faceless shadows with a broken sword in one hand/paw, while the other holds aloft a key as if to bash the enemy over the head.
"The Rabbit Prince speaks of capriciousness in battle, and foretells that defeat may come to anyone. This means you may fall to an ambush, but so may your enemies."
The third and final card shows a cricket, leaping off of a key half-buried in a grassy field.
"The cricket urges you to speed, and speaks of a reward at the end of your journey.
It would seem the Harrow is telling you that the coming ambush can not be avoided, and that you should meet it head-on, even rush to meet it, to claim your reward. You're not a Barbarian, are you? I never noticed Elves were very good at that lifestyle."