"Thank you, Ilifir," Valrieth says, "I'm sorry to be so direct, but -- as I said -- we are in a terrible hurry!"  Her voice is soft and a little squeaky, but she sounds earnest.  She seems satisfied with Ilifir's answer, but she makes an odd comment to Finley with a mixture of amusement and exasperation: "A lost heart?  A broken heart?  What is it with boys and their hearts?!"

Finally, Val asks the halfling, "And you?  May we ask, how do you know about Clapperclaw?  And why are looking for him?"  Unlike Lerak, Val's head is shaped more like that of a mundane rabbit.  Her eyes are positioned farther back and more to the sides of her head.  When she looks "at" you, her face and nose seem to aim off to your side slightly.  It's a little disconcerting and makes it a difficult to tell whom she's addressing: it looks like she's speaking to a point about halfway between Ilifir and Otto.

"I am hoping she can give me some guidance, like she did once before. I'm..." Otto pauses, trying to catch at least one of Val's eyes, "... I'm looking for something. And I heard the scarecrow might help me get to her so, well, here I am." He extends his left hand, but seeing the swamp moss dangling from it, he switches and extends his right instead. "Otto. I'm Otto."

Finley quietly listens to everyone, looking around as they speak and seeming to be deep in thought, until he gets a bit flushed as he replies to Val, "We're a bit more complicated than ye think!"

Finally as he listens to Otto speak, he moves forward towards him to shake his hand, "Ah'm Finley Stoneshaft." He says, looking from the halfling to the rest of the newly arrived people. "It seems we are fortunate ta 'ave met it seems. We all have th' same mutual friend who has helped all o' us in some fashion."

Lerak grabs the small hand of Valrieth and answers: “Prismeer… I am afraid I don’t know this place. But it is nice to meet someone that looks like me, I think you are the first one actually…”

Lerak looks around to see who could listen and follows the advice of talking with a low voice “Hummm short story, this lady helped me in the past, helped me gaining my freedom. So I always swore that I will be here for her if she needed. I heard her calling me out, so here I am. That’s all I know. But if you are looking for her as well and if you are friends of her, I’ll be happy to join you on this adventure.”
He pauses and then asks: "If she is not around , what is your plan then ?"

Lerak will try to be sure this group is indeed friends of Zybilna:
Insight: 14 (I will always roll in the character sheet)

Clapperclaw is indeed still sitting near the bridge conversing with the severed heads bemoaning the loss of his great stag head. Though he does stop when anyone comes near. "I see your party has grown in size and now there are 2 rabbitfolk. By any chance were you able to find my elegant stag head. This gourd just does not suit me at all." 

Valrieth responds to Finley, "Fortunate, yes!  But this meeting...it must written in the Stars, too!"  She seems excited at that thought.  "This makes me feel better about the bargain you made, Finley."

Val smiles and looks around at Lerak, Ilifir, and Otto.  She tries to catch them up a little, "Finley and I are from Faerun.  We came to Prismeer through The Withlight Carnival -- that's a whole other story.  We originally came here with our friends, Hisa and Gan-Re, but they were both sent back to Faerun early."  She looks a little glum at that memory.  She sighs and then takes a breath, continuing with a nod toward Lerak, "But your arrival, now, just as we met Ilifir and Otto...well, I take it as a Sign.  You see, Finley and I are on a Quest.  I believe that the Fates have brought you here now to help complete that Quest, and it's just up to us to continue the Path that was laid for us."

Val gestures for everyone to come closer.  You expect that maybe she'll quietly impart some secret, but you notice that she doesn't really lower her voice below a normal speaking volume.  She says, "The lady you seek is the Queen of Prismeer, but we have learned that she was trapped in her palace, frozen in time by a coven of hags.  The hags divided Prismeer into a three realms: Hither, Thither, and Yon.  One realm for each of them to rule...and corrupt.  One of the hags resides quite close."  Val points toward the center of the lake, shrouded in the thick fog from which Otto saw their boat emerge just a short while ago.  Her nose wrinkles and twitches briefly, as though the mere memory itself smells bad.

Val squats and lifts the stag skull in both arms with a little grunt.  As she looks around, she says earnestly, "Our Quest is to rescue the children who were taken and to free the lady and restore her to power.  I believe that the Fates brought you here to join us in that Quest.  I hope you will!  We can explain more as we go, but -- as I said earlier -- we really are in quite a hurry now."

If Val sees Clapperclaw, she points in that direction.  If not, she'll ask Finley to lead them back up to the the gazebo (D6). 

As she follows Finley, Val briefly explains to the others, "You're currently in Hither, in a town of bullywugs called Downfall, ruled by King Gullop XIX.  No one knows how to get to the palace from here, but Clapperclaw agreed to guide us to Thither in exchange for his head."  She hefts the stag's skull a little higher and says proudly, "Which we have just recovered from the hag, Bavlorna."

Quote from Weathervision >>

Clapperclaw is indeed still sitting near the bridge conversing with the severed heads bemoaning the loss of his great stag head. Though he does stop when anyone comes near. "I see your party has grown in size and now there are 2 rabbitfolk. By any chance were you able to find my elegant stag head. This gourd just does not suit me at all." 

(OOC:  Oops.  Cross-posted.)

Valrieth says brightly, "Hello, Clapperclaw.  Yes, we have returned with some new friends: Lerak, Ilifir, and Otto."  In answer to his question, she wiggles the stag's head in her arms (uncertain how well he can see with a gourd for a head) and says, "Yes, I think so!"  

"But, um," Val looks uncertainly at the others, "Do we just...uh...remove the gourd?  And...um...sort of put the stag's head in its place?"

Val isn't a scarecrow, and she's not sure whether they can safely remove his head and replace it without hurting him.

"valrieth, were you trying to reduce your volume?" he asks, a slightly manic tone in his voice "because it doesnt seem to have worked. incidentally, yes, i will be coming along to help" he has a tone of forced cheer

Quote from willow_ivyleaf >>

"valrieth, were you trying to reduce your volume?" he asks, a slightly manic tone in his voice

Valrieth gives Ilifir a curious look, wondering about his tone.  But she seizes on the question and says, "Oh, that.  Well, yes, I keep forgetting.  There's a store selling 'Wondrous Wares'  here in Downfall.  We didn't have much money, so we had to barter with the fey who run the store.  Maybe you've heard of 'fey bargains'?  They exchange goods for, let's say, the color of your eyes or your happiest memory or maybe one of your ears!"

Val struggles with the stag skull for a moment but manages to reach into her pouch to show Ilifir an expensive-looking gold bauble shaped like an acorn.  Or perhaps an actual acorn that has been carefully gilded with gold?  She says, "I needed this component for one of my spells.  Yesterday, I decided to trade my 'ability to whisper' for it, so now I can't speak more quietly than this even when I try.  Honestly, that was a bit of a concern when we were trying to sneak around the hag's home while she was there in another room!"  She puts away the acorn.  "Finley -- and Gan-Re too for that matter -- also traded away his ability to whisper for one of our other purchases.  But we'll get to that later."

She suggests that if Ilifir, Lerak, or Otto need to purchase anything, the group may be able to stop at the store briefly before they leave Hither.  It's the only store Finley and Val have seen since they arrived in Hither nearly 5 days ago.

Clapperclaw snaps his claws with excitement, "Don't you worry about my noggin. Just hand over that beautiful stag skull." once he has the stag skull in hand, he yanks his gourd of head off of his body and chucks it into the swampy waters below the bridge. With a few twists and adjustment Clapperclaw now speaks through the stag skull "Now what can I do for you for doing me such a great service?" 

Quote from Weathervision >>

With a few twists and adjustment Clapperclaw now speaks through the stag skull "Now what can I do for you for doing me such a great service?" 

Valrieth is happy that it was so simple for Clapperclaw to switch heads, but the stag skull on a strawman's body is no less strange than the gourd.  The sight, combined with Clapperclaw's clawed hands, reminds Val of the chimeric creations in Bavlorna's house.  She responds a little less confidently, "Um...you're welcome!  We need to go to Thither.  That is...I mean...we wanted to ask you: could you to take us to Thither?  We're in a bit of a hurry, and we were hoping that we could get there today."

"Aye, dunnae make too many deals around 'ere, unless yer prepared for it." Finley says while looking up at Clapperclaw. "We're in ah hurry, sir, where do ye want yer head?"

Lerak look suspiciously around and whispers “Thither… is that where we will find the Lady we were talking about ?”

Quote from Snievan >>

"Aye, dunnae make too many deals around 'ere, unless yer prepared for it." Finley says while looking up at Clapperclaw.

"That's a good point, Finley!", Valrieth agrees. 

To the others, Val says, "Let us know if you want to buy anything before we leave Hither, but be very careful about any bargain you make with the Fey.  The wording is very important."

Quote from _Grimnir_>>

Lerak look suspiciously around and whispers “Thither… is that where we will find the Lady we were talking about ?”

Valrieth says, "Sadly, no.  We know where she is, Lerak, but there doesn't seem to be a way to get there from here.  Perhaps we'll find a way from Thither or even Yon?  I mean, there must be some way to get to the palace.  In any case, we need to go to Thither next to fulfill Finley's bargain."

"Understood...well in that case I am ready to go. Her voice was weak, I would like not to loose time.". Lerak secures his greataxe and his backpack and nods at the scarecrow "Which way Mr Clapperclaw?"

Clapperclaw jumps down from the bridge railing and gestures everyone to follow him "Come with and follow me closely as the way to Thither can be dangerous if you do not know where you are going. Best buy whatever you need as we won't see a store anytime soon." He will tip an imaginery hat as a form of goodbye to the severed bullywug heads. 

Once everyone is ready he quickly leaves Downfall and heads towards the east. If asked he points to the far-off mountains that divide Hither from Thither. "In a few days we will have some serious climbing to do. I hope each of you are ready." 

Please give me your marching order and perception check. 

Lerak follows closely Clapperclaw. This place is new for him and has no clues what could lurk in the fog. He takes his greataxe in one hand, holding tight the haft. His muscles are tense, ready for anything. "So that is the Fey Realm" he whispers, almost to himself, "not exactly what I was imaging. I was expecting more colors, more life from what Lady Z was describing to me when I met her" 

Perception: 11

Finley will follow Lerak and motion for Val to follow along behind him. "Aye, definitely buy somethin' if yer in need, but we dunnae 'ave much time indeed."

(Perception: 22)

ilifir waits until everyone else is lined up, not wanting someone he doesnt trust walking directly behind him in someplace like this

"i will be fine with what i carry for now, i believe i eventually will require more gear, but nothing i am willing to pay for at the moment, incidentally, are you sure we can trust this Mister Clapperclaws, no offense of course sir, only i am unfamiliar with the area." 

as he walks he nervously pokes and prods at the bell clipped to his hip

perception check: 7