The night has passed silently. In the morning, a man comes to knock on the doors of your rooms saying "Get up! Its time to see the Mayor!"
You can barely smell eggs and bacon in the distance.
I thought we were just going to go to the mountain. I'll be there momentarily.
Quin snaps awake at the knock at the door. So someone already knows what we're about and they want us to see the mayor
He quickly dresses and then walks down to the common room to see if breakfast is ready, eyeing the messenger as he passes. I doubt he knows anything more than what hes already said.
The messenger appears to be as old as the innkeeper. He wears a green shirt and brown pants.
The messenger is sitting at the table when you head to the main hall. Breakfast is not quite ready yet.
Xianhue gives Su Jian a worried look, walking backward in front of her so she can look the other girl over. "Are you okay? You look like you didn't sleep very well, was something wrong with your bed?"
She asks her questions with her usual rapid-fire style, then suddenly pauses and sniffs as the smell of bacon wafts upward. "... Do you smell something?" she asks, then curls her fingers in a beckoning gesture that pulls more of the scent toward the pair...
"That's Bei's cooking, you're smelling. She makes some Goo-oo-ood bacon! Eh, The name's Jeb, by the way."
As soon as he introduces himself, you hear a "JEB!" come from what appears to be the kitchen.
"I'm coming, I'm coming." says Jeb. He grunts as he gets up from his chair. Moments later, he comes out with three plates full of eggs, bacon, and sausages. He gives the plates to Su Jiang, Kamiko, and Quin Jee. He steps out for a little and comes back with a bowl of last nights cabbage stew and gives it to Xianhue.
"You might like this a bit better than all that meat."
Xianhue nods gratefully and digs into the stew with evident relish before pausing to look up and around at the others. "So we'll check out the mayor first just in case it's not actually dragon flu he's got and if it is we go on into the forest to look for those herbs he needs?"
"I'm interested if the mayor knows more about the mountain." Quin says as he munches on some bacon. [b]"We should eat quickly, I don't want his condition to worsen."[b]
I'll join the crew for breakfast, but other than that I don't really have much to say. Sorry for the short post have been busy lately.
As you finish your food, Bei quickly rushes to you and says "Before you head out to the mountain, take this." as she hands you a small box wrapped in a blanket. "I've been making that all night. Don't open it up until you get to the Juniper trees."
Down the street a little ways is a house a little larger than everyones. Inside is a little man wearing a nicer outfit than what the innkeepers were wearing. He quickly usher's you up to the master bedroom where a sick old man is lying in bed.
"Good, good, I heard from Bei and Jeb that someone was willing to go to the top of the mountain. I'm welling to bet that you've heard the rumors of it being haunted, right? *Cough Cough* Don't listen to them. Its just their imagination. Now, I, Hang Xa, the Mayor and Sheriff of the town of Hong Shu, will hire you to, *Cough Cough*, sorry, go to the top of the mountain to fetch Juniper Berries. Have a safe trip, you kids."
The old man starts coughing violently, but soon stops. This is obviously the Dragon's Flu, and is pretty bad. The nicely dressed man swiftly shows you out, saying that the Mayor needs his rest. After showing you the way to the mountain, he heads back inside the Mayor's house.
Xianhue winces as they leave the Mayor's house. "... I'm no healer, but that didn't look very good. We'd best get going early..."
"Well that was fast, but his condition seemed pretty serious. I suggest we get moving right away." Quin starts off towords the mountain, not really waiting for anyones response.
The mountain is just as green and lushious as the forest, with the only difference being that there is a steep incline. Your survival lets you find two different things, the first is a path that leads to the top of the mountain, while the second is a large cave.
Xianhue tiptoes ahead to pause at the cave entrance. "I wonder what's in here. Did they say anything about platypus-bears in the area?"
There are some obvious foot prints in front of the cave. They might be of either humans or some sort of animal. Most likely a mount of some kind.
I say we continue up the path. I'm not sure we have the time to tussle with bandits right now, and even if they do have mounts who knows if they will make up for lost time.
The trail leads up through a forest. It'll take a Survival roll to see if these trees are what you're looking for, let alone if they even have berries. The large Anntenae that you saw from much, much earlier are now in plain view. It will take Perception or Knowledge: Engineering rolls to tell anything about them.
The trail leads up through a forest. It'll take a Survival roll to see if these trees are what you're looking for, let alone if they even have berries. The large Anntenae that you saw from much, much earlier are now in plain view. It will take Perception or Knowledge: Engineering rolls to tell anything about them.
I didn't respond because I was not going to.
I got Survival 16 (including book), and Perception 9. I still haven't figured out the forum rollers. Sorry.
Your survival rols let you find the Juniper trees. The tall, white trees have small berries growing almost everywhere on them, and removing them is easy.
Su's perception roll allows her to know that the large anntenae are going strait into the mountian. She also can tell that they are man-made.
"Didn't the Bird Mask tell us that we were looking for people who stole things of his? Are they more likely to be hidden in a cave then on top of a mountain? Picking berries would be easy after dealing with thieves."
Xianhue nods at Su's advice. "Hey, I could fly a portion back to the village and be back here in half an hour so we can keep exploring..."
Xianhue smiles brightly and snaps out her glider staff. "No problem I'll be back before you know it I'll just follow the road so if you want to keep going just send up a flare when you see me overhead take care!"
With that, she spins in place while crouching to call an updraft just as she leaps into the air, riding the thermals back to the village.
"I would like to wait for Xianhue to return. I think we could prevail on our own but I would like for us to be as unhurt as possible. "
I'm inclined to agree. Quin says while watching Xianhue dissapear into the distance. He turns and looks at everyone. Anyone know any games?
Xianhue, more people are out in the open in the town.
Xianhue circles a few times as she studies the crowd, curious about what's going on, before mentally shrugging and swooping in to land on the mayor's doorstep and knocking on his door.
"Hi, I brought some of those juniper berries you needed to cure your flu!"
The butler that led you to the mayor says "Oh, Thankyou! Please, take this as a gift! I insist!" as he hands you a large basket. The basket has a red and white blanket on the outside, but you can't see the inside.
[b]"Our town isn't known for its... wealth... but we can feed you. Take this food as our thanks!"
It'll take you about a half hour to get back up to the party, since the winds are blasting down the side of the mountain..
Yes, its travel sized.