Yarin smiles, despite the uneasy feeling that the mayor's answer won't be so carefree. "Because she's out spending more of your gold than you can afford to give her?"
The Mayor's face seems to twist. He holds his mouth tight, and his eyes narrow in further scrutiny of the strange fellows in his office.
"Ehem... I can afford plenty... which is what's strange, isn't it? I mean, if she's been kidnapped, where is the ransom note?" he pauses as if waiting for an answer.
"...And if she were in danger, she could simply alert me with a simple Message spell. She is highly trained in the Arcane Arts, you know..." Again, he pauses and watches closely as he puffs on his pipe.
"Oh really?! I am also trained in those same arts!
I foresee that you meant a different spell though, Message is a rather short range communication tool.
...Does she have a familiar too?"
Unk says, conjuring up a puff of fur as he picks up Snowball and begins petting her.
Junior says, "Well we could head over to Davenport and see what's what. I mean we'd need some traveling expenses, maybe for the onsen. What was your daughter's name again?"
Standing in the back, not really piping up that much, Wizzer hears the worry in the mayors voice when he speaks about his daughter and the distrust he has in this ragtag group of strangers.
"Do you have anything of hers that we can get a scent off of?"
Lord Fosbil steps up to Unk and Snowball, giving them a look over, his face set in scrutiny, but also a bit of curiousity now. He doesn’t answer about the familiar, but answers Junior, “Kivi... her name is Kivi.”
In regards to Ranger’s request, he ponders the other, much larger cat in his office, and after puffing on his pipe for a moment, “I suppose I can fetch an article of clothing from her room, if you think it’ll help.”
He paces the room a few times more, then returns back behind his desk. He places his hands on the desk’s surface and looks up at everyone with one more scrutinizing scan.
“So you aren’t agents of Lord Fogshot... Then who are you? Will you really help me locate my daughter?” At this, you can see his face betrays the first signs of true worry about Kivi’s fate.
Wizzer pats Stary Night, ”While Stary isn’t a dog, she has been trained to follow scents and tracks. If you could show us to your daughters last known location, we’ll see if we can find a scent.”
"Yes, I foresee that we can help! Let's go!" Unk turns towards the door and walks out before hearing Kivi's description.
"Er... Wait, hold on one second there."
The mayor steps outside his office for a moment where he confers with a butler. The butler leaves in a hurry up some stairs and a moment later returns with a nice,if informal, house dress. The Mayor then hands it to Wizzer. "I hope this will suffice. And here..."
He moves to his desk where he fetches a scroll of parchment. He scratches out a letter with quill and ink, blows on it lightly, then rolls it up and seals it with his rong of office. "Take this, it is my official order that you are to conduct this investigation, that anyone who stands in your way is subject to the rule of law. You are to return my daughter to me. There is 500 gold for the each of you upon completion of this task."
"Her last known location is headed towards Davenport. Her entourage included two friends and her chaperone. My trust is in your hands, good sirs."
Wizzer turns to the butler, "Just to be sure, this hasn't been cleaned, has it?" he waits for a reply before realizing that that sounded a little odd. "Because, if it has, her scent would be gone and that dress would be useless for tracking."
"Should we be concerned about Unk?"
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When they left for Junior entertained as usual with limericks.
The Demon Circus came into town
Babau barkers and glabrezu clowns
The Mayor’s daughter joined
He thought she was purloined
She just desired incubi in gowns
The mayor’s kid went to Davenport
A shopping trip buying all assorts
She got lost down a street
And had a secret meet
Not a knife but someone to cavort
Luckily Snowball kept Unk from wandering off before everyone could leave together. On the road, Unk interrupts Juniors limericks with a pronouncement: "Pickles! We forgot the pickles!
...
I foresee it'll take a while to go back...hmmm... think I could send Snowball? He could do it, right?"
She mewls loudly in protest.
Junior saved Snowball with the power of bad rhymes.
Pickles, we forgot doozey Pickles
One for eating and one for tickles
Kivi has some I am sure
Bought on her shopping tour
Let’s find her quick and get those pickles
"Oh I do hope so!" Unk responds cheerfully.
Then after a moment he adds "I foresee pickles at our destination! Hurrah!"
Under Lord Fosbil’s direction, the group leaves Gramsby and heads east toward Davenport. The road leads through the Greensea Wilds, a sparse deciduous forest that hugs the coast of the Breakwater Shore. The group finds that as they approach the coast, the terrain becomes more and more rocky.
Soon, the come to a junction in the road, flanked by rocky outcrops. A sign points north towards Oakfalls Citadel, and south towards Davenport, their destination. As the group takes a short breather and snacks on a pickle deplete lunch, everyone but Unk hears something large moving through the underbrush towards them. Alerting their Mage, everyone stands at the ready when a large creature, the size and shape of a grizzly bear but with an owl’s face and feathers, comes bursting through the trees. It roar-screeches as it rears up on hind legs, baring vicious claws.
Having seen this coming, Unk is the first to act.
Foreseeing something dangerous approaching, Unk runs up behind Wizzer's cat while readying a stick of butter. Seeing the possibly-not-an-owlbear, he shouts "Halt! Grease!"
The butter disappears as an oil slick appears under the beast.
Before casting
After casting:
Spell-like Abilities
. 8/8 Diviner's Fortune
. 1/1 Stabilize
Spells Prepared
. 2nd 3+1/day {S} See Invisibility, Flaming Sphere (DC 17), Glitterdust (DC 17) [x2]
. 1st 5+1/day {S} Identify, Celestial Healing, Enlarge Person, Fastidiousness, Grease (DC 16) [x2]
. 0 (at will) Detect Magic, Light, Message, Ray of Frost
The terrifying beast is caught off guard by the conjured oil slick beneath its feet. It slips and falls face first into the dirt road.
Using its powerful, wing-like forearms, it lifts itself back onto all fours and tries to move out of the greasy spot.
In comedic relief, it belly flops back to the earth legs sprawled out in every direction.
Junior draws his longspear beating the drums poking out the back of his pack with the haft. He begins singing, "Oi! You! Wot you lookin' at?! Want some do ya?! 'ave some'a that!" He then moves closer to the prone bear-owl/owl-bear.
Seeing the big thing fall flat on his face, Wizzer is not foolish enought to let this chance slip by him. Flank he calls out to his new stary friend and he moves up to attack and wait until Stary is in position before attacking.
Hearing her friends commands, Stary moves to flank, but gets within 10 feet of the big mouse and bites.
Eager to show off a new spell he'd been practicing, Yarin chants a prayer to Desna. A ghostly starknife appears in midair next to the beast and, with a dexterity Yarin himself couldn't hope to match, sets to spinning and hurls itself against the half-owl, half-bear-pig.
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Junior taunts the fallen beast, the likes of which he’s never seen or heard of before. Ranger moves in and hacks at the wild thing, while his feline companion sinks her fangs into its opposite side. Uric introduces a fiery pellet to the beasts feathered cranium, and flames lick down its back. Yarin tries out a new trick, but his divinely conjured starknife just barely whizzes by above the fallen not-so-apex predator.
Actually, Yarin’s Magic spinning blade cuts into the poor creature.
Sindare’s fleet feet carry him swiftly to the downed creature, where he strikes it with his owl-bare fist.
The robust creature takes a blow to the cranium, but resists the stunning effect.
Unk has a moment to conjure up his recollection, and it dawns on him that this owlish, bearish creature is an owlbear, a type of Magical Beast of mysterious origin. He knows they are bloodthirsty man eaters, and he knows it is fortunate this one seems to be a solitary specimen.
This owlbear looks as if it won’t survive much longer.
Unk walks up behind wizzer and advises him while giving him a pat on the back. "Hit it very hard. It's an owlbear!"
The downed owlbear moans in pain and swipes out at its attackers with vicious claws.
Both of our heroes avoid getting swiped, and the owlbear roars out helplessly.
Junior continues to chant while moving closer to the beast, "Bish! Bash! Bish bash bosh! How 'bout dat?!"
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Still spinning, Yarin's ghostly starknife continues tearing into the owlbear.
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Seeing that the owlbear is badly hurt, Wizzer presses his attack.
Seeing how her master attacks the creature, Stary rips into it.
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After Uric and Yarin assault the downed owlbear, it seems to lose consciousness. Wizzer and Stary finish the beast off. Stary continues the bite and shake the body long after everyone else has let their guard down.
At some point in all the action, Sindare has been replaced by a whole other monk. No one seems to notice.
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Especially not Unk, who would not even notice enemies charging at him without his gift of foresight.
Once the death of the owlbear is apparent to everyone but possibly Stary (and Unk), Unk's cat tugs on his pants.
"Ah yes, Snowball, thanks for reminding me. Shall we get back on the road to Pickleport, then?"
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"Great job everyone. Except you, Matra, who has always been here and is in no way new to the group. Try to contribute more in the future."
"I just didn't want to get in anyone else's way, you all seemed to have the situation well in hand."
Matra smiles, only slightly marred by the scars on the left side of his face.
"Let's set out shall we? To Pickleport!"
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Sorrowfully, ”I’d like a moment of silence for our fallen comrade.” Junior continues to speechify without pausing, ”We hardly knew you Yogi Owl or why you wandered into our picnic. Perhaps you were lured by our licking of hard candy. I will always cherish the fleeting moments we shared, like when Wise Unk pranked you by conjuring grease and you slipped and fell. Oh if you could have seen the look on your face. And the time when you playfully wrestled with Stary and Wizzer. Good times we’ll never have again. Rest in peace Mr. Owl and may you find the answers you always sought in the Great Beyond. We’ll save a pickle just for you.” His speech done Junior solemnly marches toward Pickleport certain that a doozey pickle will lighten his spirits. He just hoped Kivi remembered to buy some before they became over picked.
Wizzer smiles at Juniors mural. "That's all well said." he waits for a moment before pulling out a skinning dagger. "Now, who's hungry?"
"I am currently observing a fast to align mind, body, and chi. But please, help yourself to my portion."