Ice counted out another 150 gold and passed it over to Ifan. Then, with a little more certainty, turned back to his beast and reached out his hand once again and rubbed its head. Animal Handling 3

”I think I will call you Blaze in the Night.” He said, admiring the patterns on the animal. 

Erbert walks over to the green lizard with the brown tail and rubs its neck, sees if it would agree to be his mount.   "I think this one will do nicely.  What is your name?"  Will you have me as a rider?  I think I will call you Mari."  Cuervo regards the lizard and nods approval.  If the giant lizard is accepting, Erbert gets the saddle and the barding an places them on, paying Ifan.  "Anything else we should know about caring for them Ifan?"

If everyone has picked mounts, Erbert says - 

"Let's head on Qawasha, I feel like I've held everyone up with this choice.  For a moment I was considering a macetail, but I think that Mari should do just fine."  He settles in the saddle and rubs her neck, patting her side.  

Dryn hands over another 210 (60+150 right?) to Ifan.

"Is there any training offered for riding?" Dryn asks petting Luta and feeding her a bit of dried meat ration.

((Sorry Dreak, I missed your post))

Ifan nods. "I'll give you the basics, it's not that complicated. As soon as everyone is ready, we can begin with that." He guides you all through the process of putting the saddle and the barding. The barding is made of studded leather, and the saddles are similar to those used in the military, as they were made in mind to allow the rider to keep their seat even on difficult positions.

"How much time would this basic training last?" Qawasha asks. 

"About an hour, more or less. You ain't on a hurry, aren't you?"

Edwin, the brown and yellow striped lizard you chose is friendly but a little shy when compared to Luta. When the cage door opens, it comes to greet you with happy-sounding yip-yaps but seems just a little nervous outside of its kennel. "No, I don't give them names. Do not want them to get attached to me, you know?" Ifan answers to your question

Erbert, Mari is ironically the bigger one out of the four lizards, but she's also the calmest. She sniffs your head before nuzzling against you, mussing up your hair.

Ice, after seeing that the 'bite' didn't make you go away, the newly named Blaze in the Night seems briefly tempted to bite you again, maybe this time for real, but relents when you keep threating him with kindness. He reacts to its name with a funny-sounding hiss and still acts coldly when compared to the other three, but it is no longer ignoring you nor trying to bite you, and when prompted starts acting friendly towards you. Once the equipment has been put, he just stands quietly by your side, as if waiting for orders.

Edwin reaches out scratches his new friend behind the ear, hoping to soothe its nervousness. "Hey there big guy, nothing to worry about. Now, what should we call you?" He continues to calmly stroke the lizard's head as he thinks, attempting to hear the creature's thoughts. Suddenly his eyes shoot open, with a slightly confused look, "Fluffy? Really? All right, so be it. Fluffy it is." 

Turning to Qawasha, Edwin asks "Do you have a preference for one of these beasts? I would want our guide to be properly equipped for the journey as well."

O'waac continues patting and scratching the moorbounder. "Coyolxauhqui. I shall name you Coyolxauhqui. Do you like that name, Coyo?" He reaches for his gold pouch and counts out the correct amount, including any saddle or barding, if needed.

((How much for the mount and any other things I need?))

"Thank you Ifan. I think the basics would be great," Dryn says with a nod as Luta nudges her more for pets then proceeds to look in Dryn's pack for snacks. "Haha here you go girl," the tiefling says taking out a dried meat ration and giving it to her lizard. "Yes, of course Edwin! I'd like to help Qawasha with a mount as well," she adds looking to the druid. "Any one you're keen on," she asks.

Qawasha thinks about it for a second. "I can travel just fine without a mount, so I was going to say no... but then I thought we might need a draft animal if we happen to have to carry anything we find out there."

He looks at Kupalué, wordlessly asking him for his opinion. Without thinking it twice, the vegepygmy returns to the macetail that he had been curious about a moment ago. The druid walks to the placid beast, talking to it with a gentle voice. You can't hear it answering back, obviously, but Qawasha seems pleased nonetheless. "His name is Roble." He says. "Thank you, paladin lady."

"Alright, listen up everyone, because I don't have all day" Ifan exclaims. After going to the stables, he brings back his own lizard to show how it is done. "Your beasts are all trained to be perfectly obedient, you just need to know how to order them around. Down." He orders in Chultean, and the lizard lowers itself to the ground. As soon as Ifan has mount it and sits down in the saddle, it stands up again. "You all want to sit down in the saddle as gently as possible, and this goes double for the moorbounder." He warns.

"Walk" The lizard starts to move at a steady pace,before Ifan says "Run" and it starts to 'gallop', its movements more similar to that of a running gecko than a horse. Ifan shouts "Slow!", and the lizard returns to a walking speed. The entire time, you see how the merchant is controlling the reptile's direction by pulling the reins a certain way. 

The merchant then rides towards a large dead and twisted oak located in the middle of the villa, its branches look like they haven't had leaves in ages. "Climb" He orders, and without hesitation, the lizard crawls up the trunk with its rider still on its back, Ifan keeping his balance by holding tight to the lizard's neck with his hands and the saddle's design. Before the lizard can go any higher, he says "Turn" and the lizards returns to the ground by climbing down backwards slowly.

"If you remember those words and keep your balance, you should be fine... Maybe." He smirks, as he dismounts the lizard. "Any questions?"

“And I guess it is stop when are ready to stop. Seems simple enough.”

“Have they been trained at all about what to do in battle?  Will they panic if things get rough?  I mean, will they panic more than me?  I would much rather be in a library than on a battlefield, but I need to know that my mount is going to have steady nerves if things get.... icky.”  Erbert says, while stepping into the saddle.  He looks up at Ifan to see his response.

"Seems logical enough. No questions from me."

((Edwin will put in at least half for Qwasha's macetail, would that be a total of 100g?))

OOC: Dryn adds 100 GP too. I assume it doesn't need bardic g having armored plates?

"Thank you Ifan," Dryn nods. "Sorry Qawasha. I didn't introduce myself," she adds sheepishly. "I am Geddryn Prendergast champion of Selune," she explains with a slight bow. "You can call me Dryn," she adds holding out her hand to Qawasha.

"Seems fair," Ice says as the others chip in for the mount. "How much do you need still?"

Erbert also donates for Qawasha's macetail, will donate 100 gold as well.  "If anything happens to my mount I may wish to ride with you Qawasha.  I really like those beasts, they look sturdy!  My name is Erbert Jenkins, so very nice to meet you, I'm sure we will be getting to know each other better on our journey.."  

((@Dreak Yeah))

Ifan laughs. "If you are a coward, your mount might follow your lead. But my beasts have been bred and trained to be fearless, so it should take a lot to scare them in the way you are saying."

Erbert, you notice that Mari has been affectionate towards you, like she thinks you are some kind of "hatchling" due to your small size and acts accordingly. It might mean that your lizard could get protective of you when there's threats around.

As far as the other mounts go, Qawasha's macetail not included: Edwin's ironically named Fluffy seems shy and nervous, but has been quick to trust his rider. Dryn's Luta acts like a vey big and scaled puppy. Ice's Blaze is somewhat aloof and lazy, seems like he needs to be given an order before doing anything. And O'waac's moorbounder Coyolxauhqui is basically just a giant kitten but with a fierce, dangerous side.

Qawasha practices some riding while Kupalué sits on Roble's head. After giving him a walk around the villa, they return to where you are. "You people are too kind..." He says. "Thank you."

If you don't have any more questions or things you may wanna do, you may go now. 

While I gave them some personality, your character's mount is now yours to play as whatever you want.

Erbert is rubbing Mari's neck, making cooing sounds and becoming attached to the beast, rubbing her neck.  "Walk", and he gets used to the pace, what is expected and then "Run", laughing in the saddle as he tests the mount.  "Slow", and then "Stop."  He feel comfortable in the saddle and then says "Down" and steps off.  He walks over to Qawasha, takes out his map of Chult from his bag of holding and shows him the map, the area they wish to explore and says to Qawasha "Do you have a course in mind?  How should we get there?  We would be headed toward Mbala... or if you have another direction.  Hmm, where was that journal I had from that wizard, it may have some clues..."

For a moment Erbert gets quiet and his eyes glaze over, he connects with Cuervo and looks through his eyes, sends the raven up to look at the outskirts of Nyanzaru and the direction that they should go to leave town, getting his bearings.

"I have thought about the course to take. As soon as everyone is ready to go, we should head to Malar's Throat and go out into the jungle. Malar's Throat, macabre name aside, is where the gate out of the city is located." Qawasha explains. 

He pats Roble in the head and allows Kupalué to sit on his shoulder before continuing. "As for Mbala... No much is known about that village, except that it is perched atop a plateau. The people there have been quiet for a long time, and some people even say that they have disappeared. I know one thing, though: It is located above a river named Aldani Basin, which people avoid due to a certain legend about what lurks under its waters."

He sits down, holding his staff with both hands. "Long ago, a peaceful tribe of fisherfolk called the Aldani angered Ubtao by catching and eating all the lobsters in the river. As punishment for their greed, it is said that they were all transformed into monsters. I do not know if that legend is true, but if there's indeed monsters lurking there we might find them on our way there." He says. "I, for one, I'm more than willing to guide you there if you believe there's any chance that what we are looking for might be there."

Erbert, when you send Cuervo away to see through his eyes, you get a view of the following things:

• Inside the Port, a dinosaur race is taking place. Dinosaurs are painted in bright designs, and their riders try to steer them along a course that winds around the harbor and the city’s four hills.
• Coming from the anchorage, you see fishermen, sailors and sailing ships.
• From the wilderness ahead of the city's walls, tall trees, bushes and flora provide refuge to small critters, snakes, frogs and all kind of birds. But deeper inside the jungle, you also get a glimpse of what looks like ghouls, skeletons, or zombies lurking beneath the green trees.

Erbert looks for the wizard's journal in his bag that he recalls.  "Perhaps there is a clue here...."   After searching, he turns and asks "Qawasha, if you were going to try to solve the mystery and rid this land of the death curse, where would you begin?  Do you have any knowledge about this?  I'm anxious to begin and be off, but we should figure out where we are headed!"  He turns to everyone else on their mounts - "Does anyone else have any strong feeling of where to begin?"

Ice takes his place on Blaze in the Night finding a comfortable in the saddle. "Stand," he says firmly and Blaze slowly gets to his feet. "Walk." Ioben tugs the reins to get Blaze pointed in the right direction and follows the others away from the stables. Ahead Erbert and Qawasha ride together talking something over. Ice is quite comfortable riding toward the back of the pack and following their lead. His skills would be of more use later on. For now, it was important to get the feel of riding the giant lizard. He knew that by the end of the day his body would be aching in places he didn't expect. He wanted to be aware of what was happening and consider the stretches that would most help him limber up.

"Does anyone else any strong feeling of where to begin?" Ice hears the call from upfront. "Do we know where this threat was last seen? if we could talk to someone who has come back recently we could get some valuable insight. Maybe a travelling merchant, or guards who have recently come back from patrol? Otherwise, I would prefer to see the sights of the city once the pressure of the contract has been relieved."

Edwin and Fluffy fall in line with the rest of the group. Riding the lizard was a strange experience, and yet somehow it felt extremely natural to him. 

"It didn't sound like anyone had good information. To me, Mbala sounds as good of a destination as any. If this curse is as widespread as it sounds it seems likely we will come upon some hints towards its origin as we work our way through the jungles. Any knowledge we find in the city is likely hearsay and conjecture anyway."

Edwin shrugs, taking in the sites of the Port.