Crimson Sands of Time

<While we're waiting on that...>

Hundreds of birds burst from the canopy of the ancient forest below you and scatter in all directions. Moments later, a much more fearsome creature erupts from the woods: a sinewy, pale-green dragon that takes to the sky and flies toward the palace. Its mighty wings carry it to great heights. Once above the palace, it drops like a stone and vanishes from sight behind the palace’s high walls.

<by the way, I haven't forgotten Cha!jil. She is also here, I think. Or with Tess and the Kate Tetrevess; Player's choice.>

The tiny 6 year old girl smiles at their new location. The bracelet around her wrist comes off and she hands it to Trisk and smiles. Strangly, her hair and eyes are blue and green now. Her skin even has a new green tint. The colors of spring. She climbs a tree and plays a merry tune, fitting with all around her. Some birds land in the tree, attracted by her tranquil song. Trisk notices first, but then any others that are watching. She seems to begin to fade, slowly, her form almost melting into the tree as she becomes ethereal. She is free of the curse.

And then, she is gone. The last few notes of the song of Piccolo carried by the wind. 

Trisk senses her presence no more.

<bump>

<I know I went a while without posting. So, I understand the loss of momentum. This walled garden is very exploration and full of non-hostile NPCs. Also, that dragon is in tbe castle if you want to check that out. I am trying to keep the game going but I hope the players will choose what they want to do n3xt based on their own motivations and conversations with NPCs. In your immediate reach are caverns of Tsojcanth, endgame WbtW, and death of Szazz Tam. But wr can go beyond that, top>

Trisk's Arcana: 18 

(Sorry for not responding earlier but the blindness was just an RP thing, like you know, when you enter a door with light before the sudden fade to black kind of thing? Something like that. Also I'd been very slow due to irl)

It hurts, the numbness of his legs plus the stinging pain that envelopes his skull at the moment... he thought he for sure died. Yet he can still feel the weight of his cracked, glowing armour weighing him down as he comes to his senses sort of. "Ugh... where... am I...?" Were the first words as he stands up still feeling incredibly dazed. "Wait... where... am I? Ethan? Where is he... Are we dead...?" He can still feel the numbness in his entire body; He needs to rest, but the next thing that catches his eye is... nothing. Literally. Just nothing, but plain stillness, evident from the water that appears to be gushing out from the waters.

"Wait... is it just me or... is everything... frozen in time?" 

Quote from Brian_Avery >>

Trisk's Arcana: 21 

 Trisk has heard of magic that can freeze tine. He knows it's accessible only to the most powerful practitioners of the Art. Mist studied mages of the Realms are aware of the limits placed on the magic of the Weace by the Lady, herself. Trisk has heard of the events that spurred the imposition of such limitations. Chief among them, the elimination of the school of Chronurgy in Toril. Few hints kf it's existence remain, deemed for one reason or another, by the Lady as safe enough for mortl hands: Haste, slow, and something like this, a spell that stops time. A few breadcrumbs to keep the casual caster from ever digging farther in search of treasures buried and best left forgotten. While Triskellion never learned the spell or seen it, what he's heard if it is not the same as what he sees. By all accounts, one would expect everyone but the caster frozen,  as such. This appears to be something different.

<btw, Picollo isn't gone, the PC is coming back. The character had her own thing going on and she's off doing that for the moment. @shimshon123's other PC will be present very soon, as well>

Cha!jil, Trisk, Ethan, Randy: does anyone want to check out any of the garden's features, talk to the chosen that summoned the hag who got you here, visit the Pavillion with the group of folks chatting,  look at tbe castle, past the gate, over rhe wall, etc.?

Trisk will check and see if he can move the frozen water himself by pushing his hand through some or does it prevent his hand from moving, basically is it malleable and just not moving or is it frozen solid and unable to be moved like an immovable rod?

Investigation: 18 

"I've heard of magic that can freeze time but it is known only to mages and arch mages, and it usually only lasts for a few moments. The power to maintain frozen time for this long has to be great indeed."

Thinking that Ethan's just lying lazily on the ground and not wanting to get up for now, Randy scoffs and holds up one of his palms as it glows bright orange, wondering why everything has indeed frozen in time.

If anyone asks him about his brother's situation: "He should be fine. Just pathetically lazily after the previous boss fight. Unless if you actually saw a wound that I didn't see that needs to be attended to..."

Arcana: Dirty 20

(FYI: Pyro told me he's loaded IRL, so he's gonna be a lot slower than usual)

Quote from Brian_Avery >>

Trisk will check and see if he can move the frozen water himself by pushing his hand through some or does it prevent his hand from moving, basically is it malleable and just not moving or is it frozen solid and unable to be moved like an immovable rod?

Investigation: 19 

"I've heard of magic that can freeze time but it is known only to mages and arch mages, and it usually only lasts for a few moments. The power to maintain frozen time for this long has to be great indeed."

 The water responds to Trisk's touch like dough, able to be moved and shaped. If any water is removed from the fountain it is instantly a liquid that behaves just as normal water.

Extrapolating, Trisk wonders how all the greenery can remain so lush if the water irrigating the garden is frozen. He examines some plants and notices many of the trees in the garden bear glittering gold and silver fruit.

Further, he notices a fragrant rose garden bordered by a bronze fence. The roses come in a variety of colors, with a few white and black specimens among them. Glistening spiderwebs cover the rosebushes. In the heart of the rose garden, coiled around a statue of a prancing satyr holding a set of pipes to his lips, is a thorny vine with five roses growing out of it, each one a different color: black, blue, green, red, and white.

Cha!jil

Trisk will go and pick a piece of silver fruit, half expecting it to be an illusion of some kind and his hand to pass right through it.

If it is real he will weigh the heft of it in his hand to see if it is indeed metal or just a silver colored fruit.

Finally, he will tentatively take a bite, not blindly chomping away in case it is metal of some kind and not wanting to break his teeth on it but instead gingerly applying pressure with his jaw to take a gentle bite.

"What do you make of this place? Has anyone ever seen or heard of a place like this?"

Since Trisk is currently occupied with the fruit, Randy goes up to the flowers to detect if there's anything mysterious before he attempts to pluck or burn them one by one (Nature: 17) When Trisk asks the group, Randy doesn't react much other than an eye roll. "You think I've ever came across something eerily like this in my your?" He scoffs. "Ok... I did... once. But that was through a movie I watched; It's not the same I know..."

Trisk notes the fruit weighs about ¼lb, ordinary for the weight of an apple its size.  At the first bite, he finds the skin easily pierced by his teeth, and the fruit within juicy and delicious.  As he eats he feels invigorated by the experience. By the time he's fi ished half the apple he feels better than be did before the strange and deadly encounter he just survived, though still worse for wear. (Trisk gains 10 temporary hit points).

At that moment Randy does recall something familiar.  The black rose.. it looks just like the one Sam took from the dracolich's lair. While holding it. you recall, Sam was unharmed by the dragon's acidic breath.

Cha!jil notes the garden but internally proclaims her home to be botanically superior in all ways, she is intrigued by the pavillion and heads towards it....

"Although it has an odd color for a piece of fruit it's actually quite good and I feel invigorated. You should all try some."

Trisk will look strangely at Randy, "What's a mo... vie...?"