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Alecto and Holmes both fire missiles at the half-submerged amphibian and both see them hit the water.
The last frog leaps out of the water towards the tangled up half-orc and tries to bite him. The giant frogs enormous mouth clamps down shut mere inches from where Jack is standing.
Round 3
Bahram 1 images - entangled
Relgar
-Gregor
Adowyn
-Leryn
Jilla
Holmes
Teal Goliath Junior
Alecto
Round 4
Bahram 1 images - entangled
Relgar
-Gregor
Adowyn
-Leryn
Jilla
Holmes
Teal Goliath Junior
Alecto
Adowyn stands her ground and fires two arrows at the frawggy!
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Adowyn fires two arrows into the giant frog; one in the leg and another in its shoulder. Relgar drops fire from above and gets a direct hit on the frog's head. Holmes tries to make a very tricky shot but between having to fire over Adowyn's head and Bahram struggling in hand-to-hand combat with the beast his arrow is a little off and slides off the frog's thick skin rather than biting into it.
Alecto's bolt doesn't go anywhere close to the frog. Meanwhile, Jilla stomps through the muck and mire to get into punching distance with the giant amphibian.
Round 4
Bahram 1 images
Relgar
-Gregor
Adowyn
-Leryn
Jilla
Holmes
Teal Goliath Junior -28
Alecto
-28
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The frog lunges forward and bites at Jilla. Its huge mouth clamps down on her and she finds herself lifting off her feet. The creature then quickly gulps her down. But then....
Instead of swallowing the gnome whole the giant frog spits the gnome out, where she lands prone in front of it.
Round 4
Bahram 1 images
Relgar
-Gregor
Adowyn
-Leryn
Jilla -prone
Holmes
Teal Goliath Junior -37
Alecto
Round 5
Bahram 1 images
Relgar
-Gregor
Adowyn
-Leryn
Jilla -prone
Holmes
Teal Goliath Junior -37
Alecto
-28
Adowyn takes aim and fires two more shots at that stinky frawg for trying to eat Jilla! How rude!
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The party manages to beat the second frog down, leaving it bloody, battered and scorched.
Jamila slowly descends to the ground as the fighting ends.
Since Jack had identified the frogs as being creatures from the First World, that settles the bet. The evidence is too overwhelming in favor of Jamila's theory. The Falbin hands over a sack of coins Jamila, then gives one of his tangleburn bags to Adowyn. "Hope you get good use out of it! If not, I'm sure you can sell it for something!"
In the pond the party spots a floppy blue hat filled with shiny stones. The weight of the rocks inside are the only thing keeping it from floating.
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Relgar and Gregor slowly descends to 25 feet of altitude. It is quite obvious that Gregor enjoys riding the warm thermals almost as much as the thrill of battle.
Relgar winks at Jilla.
"Everyone is in one piece. More or less. It is lucky that the young one has not acquired a taste for gnome."
The sorcerer's eyes sparkles with excitement at the sight of shiny stones.
"So, is anyone here a good swimmer?"
"I wouldn't say 'good' but I can swim. However I'd like someone with a rope to help out in case there's any other surprises waiting in the water."
Adowyn scans the water first to see if there's anything besides the hat waiting in the water.
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The hat is close enough to edge that someone could just fish it out, getting no more than their shins a little wet. Jilla reaches out and grabs it. It has about five pounds of stones in it. The stones inside the hat are shiny but after close inspection they all appear to be worthless, with the exception of a single white pearl. Once emptied out, Jilla can see that the hat is made of blue felt and its construction is shapeless, kind of like a floppy sack.
The hat is close enough to edge that someone could just fish it out, getting no more than their shins a little wet. Jilla reaches out and grabs it. It has about five pounds of stones in it. The stones inside the hat are shiny but after close inspection they all appear to be worthless, with the exception of a single white pearl. Once emptied out, Jilla can see that the hat is made of blue felt and its construction is shapeless, kind of like a floppy sack.
Adowyn reaches out and places one hand on the hat and the other hand on the top of Jilla's head and says to her, "Why don't we let some of our magic users see if this hat is safe before you plop it on top of your head? Reckless enough to jump in the water blindly, let's not set trigger some curse next..."
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Relgar and Gregor land near Jack and Jilla. The gnome is curious to check out the magical items himself.
The little man looks closer at the hat (in other words actually reading the provided text box description :) ).
"Maybe it is a handbag or a backpack or a sack and not really a hat?
"Well, what ever it is I am sure that it will look lovely on you."
Detect Magic is cast.
Relgar shakes his head and grins not having a clue what the hat is or might do.
"Well, it is magical alright. Try it on. What is the worst that can happen?"
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The pearl radiates an incredibly strong magical aura, but neither Relgar or Jack are able to identify what it actually does. Just that it is very, very magical.
Jack does figure out that the hat is a buffering cap. Obviously the item had to have some kind of life saving property, as no one would choose to wear such an unflattering piece of headwear by choice.
Jamila responds to Jilla's comment about the frogs coming back in a week or so with a sad look on her face. "If these creatures were still in the First World, that would be true. Fey creatures cannot die there. But unfortunately for them that is not true on this plane of existence."
With the frog business wrapped up, the group continues traveling deeper into the Bloom. The weather continues to get hotter and foliage becomes more dense and wild. After about a mile of walking Falbin says, "I think we are close to Deepstead. There was once an elven settlement here, but now there's just a few stones lying about."
The riotous jumble of ferns and fungi gives way to a glade with a low stone well at its heart. Wet, warbling sobs escape from a small gray figure slumped against the mossy bricks. The gnome appears bleached of all color— even their gaudy costume and intricate tattoos seem incongruously bland and ashen. Their tears flash briefly with iridescent
rainbows as they fall.
As if half-waking from a dismal dream, the gnome looks skyward and cries, “A love so close, so far! I’d give all and more for a drop of crimson or a dab of teal!”
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"Jilla, this floppy hat is just for you. It can keep your pretty little noggin from being split open once pretty day. This pearl on the other hand... Need to hold onto it until later."
Seeing Relgar look to Alecto to take the lead, Bahram stands beside Alecto, with his hand on his shoulder, nodding and murmuring agreements.
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Jack does figure out that the hat is a buffering cap. Obviously the item had to have some kind of life saving property, as no one would choose to wear such an unflattering piece of headwear by choice.
In Adowyn's brief time around the gnome she has no problem believing Jilla would wear that hat by choice everyday...
Puzzled by the physical appearance of the colorless gnome, Adowyn waits for someone else to speak with him and keeps Leryn and her bow handy.
"You want some crimson or teal? We have meat from these weird colored frogs we found not far from here. Just save some leg meat for us and some of the rest for my wolf."
Adowyn produces a colorful frog leg for the colorless gnome.
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Jilla nods sympathetically toward the gnome. "I know what it's like to feel down." She thinks for a moment and then has a eureka moment! "Your name is Azure. I just found a cool new blue hat. Azure's just a fancy name for blue! Why don't you give it a go? A splash of color is better than none!" She takes off the hat and places it carefully on the stranger's head.
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Relgar and Gregor land nearby.
"Sure we can help you. We can get your colour back. Just tell us what we need to do."
Relgar looks at Jilla shaking his head and grinning.
"Azure does not want your silly hat so you better keep it. You might need it. You were swallowed hole last time. Who knows what trouble is around the corner and what will be knocking on your noggin!"
"Azure can hold onto the pretty stones we found by the pond."
"My name is Azure, but I am a blue of a different hue since my palette was taken from me. But it’s nearby, just on the other side of a tear in the canvass of your world. In my grayest hour, I’d welcome knights of any
shade. Maybe you?”
"Yes as Holmes asked, who or what took your palette and where is the tear in the canvass of our world? Is that tear responsible for the odd weather, animals, and plants in our world?"
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When Jilla puts the hat on Azure's head, the felt immediately turns from blue to a dark gray. "Violet, aquamarine, or magenta all turn into lifeless monochrome at my touch," the gnome says sadly as they hand the cap back to Jilla.
When asked about the strange weather, Azure says, "“You caught me red-handed. It must be First World weather oozing through. It’s probably strange on the other side, too. Here it’ll get forever greener, I warrant. I hope you like sunburn. Oh, I miss sunburn!”
When asked about their missing pallet, Azure pronounces dramatically “There’s a hole here, to the many-splendored First World. I confess my heartbreak tore it open. You see, long back, one of the Eldest caught me borrowing a bauble or two, and knowing I’m nothing without my indigo and verdigris, he plucked them right out of me and stuffed them into a bindle bag! Now it’s ever so close, but I’m too yellow to cross!”
“The rift you speak is in the bottom of a deep, dark well, black as the inky night. If it was yearning for my colors that made it be, then as long as I’m bleached, it’s sure to stay. Perhaps returning to me my precious tints of tangerine, cobalt, and emerald will heal the rift as it will my grief."
Once the party offers to help the gnome, Azure produces a scroll case that turns bright blue and a pair of supple gloves that turn beige once they leave Azure's hands. They explain that the case contains a scroll of hallucinatory terrain and the gloves are gloves of larceny.
"You may have your reward from me before completing your quest. What does it matter, anyways, for if you fail I shall fade away in a matter of days."
"Could you tell us where this well is or what direction it's in?"
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"It is not just where, but there is also a how that you must know. You must jump into the swirling waters clutching an item to your heart that you intend to offer the Elders. It can just be some trifle, something you don't care too much about. It can be color or shape, magical or mundane, but it must belong to you. There is only one restriction; do not insult the fey by offering them an item made of cruel cold iron."
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Relgar nods.
"Yes, I know just the thing. I have a lucky chestnut that I have had since I was a child. We used to battle chestnut versus chestnut and mine has always been victorious. They might find it an amusing offering or simply ridiculous but with the fey one can never be certain."
With all this talk of a well and possible water, magical or not Relgar secures all of his scrolls into his water tight scroll boxes. He will also read the scroll of Hallucinatory Terrain (Read Magic) and place it in his scroll box as well for safe keeping.