Clicking and ticking noise, then a spectral clockwork hand grows from the base of the neck of the sorcerer. The hand picks up an armband made of cured leather from the chest pocket of the clockwork soul. It slowly moves towards Boyd and offers the armband by placing it on the palm of the ghostly hand.

"Truly a bizarre assembly..." Meresaa mutters. Louder and to the group she says, "So we're to... Sneak about looking in bushes, then?"

Boyd looks... uncertain. He takes the armband from Erma's strange hand and lets it sit in his palm for a good long while while he looks at it, mouth somewhat agape. "Thanks." He finally stammers out. What could an armband from the enigmatic woman mean? He decides to put it on; she could probably curse him or in some other way if she wanted.

To Meresaa, "Well. All's I'm saying is, it'd be the best way in I know of if it exists. 'sup to you lot how we get in, so far as I'm concerned. A regular old house, I know my way around. A magic house? Out of my wheelhouse, so to speak.

"I suggest that we split up into two groups. The first one will try to find the secret passage, and the second one.."

Ermasnietsz pauses abruptly to observe everyone's expression, then she will continue to speak in such a way so that her speech is coherent. "The other party will take the frontal route to deal with the issue directly. I mean, it's possible to negotiate with the culprits without unnecessary blood-shed."

She extracts a pair of stone-like object from her chest pocket. The objects are nothing else but the pair of Sending Stones collected from Madame Fortuna. "We'll use them to relay message in case of emergency situation. Boyd will explain to you all how to use them."

Late-Morning - Day #2 - The Periphery of Prospect

The morning wears on as the party contemplates how to proceed.  The sun is high in the sky now and only remnants of the light snow remain.  Birdsong chirps in the background yet it is oddly rhythmic and beautiful.  As the snow melts, there is the smell of honey, blossom and spice.  In fact, had it not been for the snowfall mere moments ago, you would swear it was the height of spring.

Listening to Ermasnietsz suggestion, Toska grunts her approval.  "A direct assault makes sense to me," she says, leaving it abundantly clear that she would be the one leading any excursion to Prospect's gates.

Now that the party was closer to Prospect they could make out the wrought iron gate along with a mixture of stone and iron walling surrounding the exterior, it spans in either direction as long as the eye can see.  Though the ironwork itself looks old and rusted, there is a newer-looking chain and padlock on the gates.  It does not look remotely welcoming.

"W-w-well I fer, uh, one w-would be up fer walkin' 'round the prope'ty," says Claude nervously, not echoing Toska's enthusiasm.  "'o knows?  P'haps th' fence 'as gaps in it someplace."

DM Rolls:

No sooner as Claude finishes his thought than a distinct flash of colour whizzes across the road in front of Prospect; it was no higher than 1ft off the ground and seemed to go into the vegetation to the left of the front gate.  A high-pitched buzzing sound emanates from the flash, this is followed by another buzzing sound from a tree just off the road near the party's location.

Boyd looks between the buzzing noises. "That don't sound like cicadas to me... Some of those weird animals yer bird saw?"

Answering Boyd, Nikita says quietly "It certainly could be what Thumbtack saw - the creatures were strange mixtures of plant and animal.  Who knows what sounds they make.  Or they could be some kind of sentinel set up by our enemies."

To everyone:  "I will go with what the group decides, but personally, I do not think we should split the party up.  And I do not think we should expect to be able to negotiate.  These people run the town.  They murder and kidnap and torture with impunity.  They will not feel any need to negotiate.  They know that we can't touch them in Saltmarsh even if we were to go to the town council with evidence.  I believe our only hope is that they underestimate us and we hit them hard together.  Here and now.  No more warning shots.  Just my opinion."

Nikita and Thumbtack both will attempt to see what the creature(s) are making the colorful flash and the high-pitched buzz.

She will also use Shape Water to take a bit of water from her waterskin and move it into the keyhole of the padlock, filling the keyhole.  At that point, she will suddenly freeze it, attempting to break the lock through expansion of ice, repeating the step multiple times if necessary to weaken it first, in the hopes of eventually breaking it.

"I think you could pick the lock, Boyd, but I am worried about any traps, so I am trying to do it at a distance."

Edited to add:  later if the above doesn't work and nothing else happens, she will hand Toska her crowbar and ask her to have at it, but not yet.

Nikita Perception:  13 
Thumbtack Perception:  20 

(Looking for whatever creatures or contraptions are causing the flash of color and the high-pitched buzzing sound.) 

"Brilliant. I like the idea of some light espionage before lunch." The slender woman rubs her hands together lightly in the brisk morning air. "I'm also of the opinion we're best off together than apart for this," she says, nodding to Nakita.

Looking in the direction of the lightning fast cicadas, she glances around nervously. "Eh... Perhaps we should just continue on our path and leave the local wildlife to itself? It didn't go particularly well last time we decided to play with the local children, if you remember." She clears her throat and lowers her voice. "Before... Certain members of our group take it upon themselves to belligerently or otherwise carelessly investigate on their own...." It's clear she's intentionally avoiding eye contact with Nick Nack and Ermasnietsz.

With the growing warmth, Faila had stuffed her Skurra cloak back into her backpack, and stretched out with an energized skip into the warmth. This weather is more like what she's used to, and she is a little surprised by the relief it makes her feel.

Faila is slightly startled by the colorful light buzzing past the group, and she stares off after it in confusion and wonder for a while. Already it feels like she's in a different world, an alien garden presided over by the towering manor. She stares dark-eyed. Nikita's voice sounds far away. They control Saltmarsh already. People are being hurt. Spiky purple parasites are infecting them. She feels her tongue sticking to the roof of her mouth and touches her teeth with it to make sure they haven't started turning pointy. No, they're fine. I'm fine. We'll be okay. She looks up at Nikita, then at Meresaa. "I... I don't want to be separated either," she says. But she isn't sure she wants to hit anyone.

Nikita & Thumbtack's Perception checks:

Late-Morning - Day #2 - Prospect's Gate

Toska watches as Nikita undertakes her trick with the water and the padlock.  After a couple of attempts, she shakes her head and takes the offered crowbar.  "Try freezing a couple of links of the chain," she mutters, a large grin on her face.  She places the crowbar between the gate and the lock and starts heaving.

• 18 to break the chain.

Toska's muscles flex as she attempts to break the chain holding the gate together.  There is a mighty twanging sound as the, now frozen, links of the chain bend and break.  When all is said and done the gate swings open, its hinges squeaking as it goes.  She stands, hands-on-hip, grinning.  "Nothing a bit of force couldn't fix," she says, smugly.

"[Infernal]She'd have been a more fitting vessel," Maud mutters under her breath.

Behind the gate, a gravel path stretches out in front of the party.  The lawns on either side of the path have grown wild with weeds, saplings and mushrooms.  Some of the vegetation stands so tall that it obscures visibility.  The main house of the property seems to be located further up the path, a black carriage sits just outside its front door.

Nikita says quietly to the group in Common:

"Beware and be ready for another attack.  I could not see it but Thumbtack did.  Those flashes of color are intelligent humanoids, small ones with blue faces.  Moving and speaking at incredible pace.  Probably fey again, though not boggles."

Using any mental image Thumbtack sent her, she attempts to identify the humanoids.

Nature:  11 

Nikita's Nature check:

Nikita tries to match Thumbtack's mental image to fey lore she has heard and suddenly inhales sharply as a thought comes to her.  Could it be?

"Quicklings," she breathes.  "The flashes of color are Quicklings.  I am not sure if they are hostile, but it is certainly possible.  Be ready for trickery and extremely fast attacks.  We cannot outrun them."

Ermasnietsz suddenly grabs the arm of the rogue companion while chanting something in foreign tongue. She watches the armband with a blank expression when the pupils of her eyes transform into hands of analog clock ticking and moving clockwise. Possibly, spending a considerable amount of innate magical power she will compel the cured leather of the armband to expand and encase the physique of the rogue male in a protective armor. The noise stops and she suddenly seems devoid of arcane energy, and a bit tired.

Boyd's current armor class will increase to 13+ Dexterity Modifier for the next eight hours due to Mage Armor.

"Toska, Claude-Maud leave the compound of the mansion. Your next task is to find a secret exit that might ensure quick retreat. Here, take one of these stones and wait for my message. And don't get yourselves killed."

The buzzing momentarily stops.  Something small, round and purple comes flying from the direction of the Quickling atop the tree towards Toska.

• 19

It catches the orc in the forehead, bursting into a mass of juice and pulp.  The remnants of a plum land at Toska's feet.  Her face is a picture of fury as she yells curses at the tree.  For an ever so fleeting moment, a shape forms in the tree (see below, it stands roughly 1ft tall), before disappearing in a fit of hysterics and flashing past the party to the west of Prospect, following the outside of the wall.

Shaking with anger, Toska moves to follow the creature, wiping her face.  In response to Ermasnietsz, she says, "right.  Claude and I will conduct a search of the periphery of the grounds.  Perhaps that little thing will lead us to a hidden entrance."  She snatches up the sending stone and motions for Claude to follow her.  She passes Nikita, looking the elf in the eye, "take care.  Keep alert at all times, never know who you can trust."  She shoots a quick look at Ermasnietsz.  "If you need us just use the stone... Claude!"

Claude takes the cue and follows Toska.  Maud mumbles something about a 'fantastic specimen' in infernal.

Nikita briefly watches Toska and Claude/Maud depart, acknowledging Toska's comment about never knowing who you can trust while the orc looked at Ermasnietsz.  But not really giving the comment much weight because after all, Nikita (and Meresaa and Faila) had just verbally advocated keeping the group together.  Yet without any actual discussion, here Toska is leaving and splitting the group just because Ermasnietsz ordered it.  Nikita shrugs.

Great.  Just unilaterally decide things on a whim.  Again.  That's all right.  Nikita remains fatalistic about this entire excursion and frankly expects to die here.  Who knows, maybe it will work out, we'll survive, and some minion of Iuz can kill me instead once we're done and back in Saltmarsh.

Quietly to those that remain:  "Well, the gate's open.  We can stand here and be harassed or attacked by Quicklings, or we can enter and possibly still be harassed or attacked by Quicklings, but possibly not.  I vote for entering.  Or at least moving, from you know, the spot where the Quicklings are."  She begins walking slowly towards the gate and in (using Mage Hand), attempting to be stealthy and remain somewhat obscured from Prospect and the black carriage.  Unless someone has a better suggestion, that is.  Which she'd be happy to listen to.

Ermasnietsz will saunter away towards the black carriage parked outside the main house, then knock on the wooden surface casually.

Boyd thanks Ermasnietsz for this strange magical leather armor.

He stays awkwardly behind while people start entering the grounds of the manor, then, after a moment, follows behind. Once in the yard, he looks around for anything that might help with unexpected access to the building: thick ivy that climbs close to a second story window, boxes or barrels that can be stacks, a cellar entrance, etc.

Perception: 16 

"Let's not go in the front door, eh? Most likely to be trapped." He then looks over his shoulder, wondering if the "quicklings" heard him.