Kieran follows Ryan out of the car. “Erik told you he tried to cop a feel on Liz eh? I’m assuming that was what had you upset?”

“Yeah. He meant feel her out. He thought she was mad at him. She’s not mad at him. Me and her talked and, we now have a lot to think about but she needs some alone time to do it.” Ryan sighs, “I should apologize shouldn’t I. I might have overreacted.”

Kieran chuckles. "Apologizing probably wouldn't hurt. On the other hand, it sounds like it was a misunderstanding, a result of Ærik learning the right idioms."

“Yeah. I’ll apologize. It was my fault for not making sure that’s what he meant. I mean, I got a degree in linguistics from Harvard. I should have known he wasn’t using the correct idiom and then the fight would have never happened.” Ryan says.

Kieran shrugs. "Not unreasonable to think someone meant exactly what they said. Misunderstandings happen sometimes, it's just part of life.

“I guess.” Ryan says with a shrug before taking his glasses off with one hand and running his other through his short hair. “Regardless, we have cleared the air enough to work and I have come up with a plan to battle the harpies. I don’t know how long it’ll take for them to arrive, assuming they do tonight but, let’s at least get the plan started since it’ll require some coordination.”

As Ærik steps out of the car, he adjusts his duster, and scans the area .Seeing Ryan and Kieran, a little ways off, he starts walking in their direction.When the pavement meets the grass, he takes a step into the grass and pauses.He taps his staff twice on the ground, then plants it in the dirt. He settles himself in his bond with Nature.He had after all just taken the form of a crab for the first time, here at this lake a few hours ago. The moment would live with him for quite some time, as a unique experience. Feeling more at ease after the weird emotional struggles with the muggles earlier.Ærik continues walking toward Ryan and Kieran, while looking around at the many trees surrounding the lake.

Kall pops out of the passenger seat and allows Bebe to crawl out of her planter after making sure the park is clear.

Nolan arrived from beneath the shade of a tree near the lake, looking refreshed and ready to continue. Seeing that the second car had arrived, he moved over to the conjoined group and listened in the background.

Ryan puts his glasses back on before gathering everyone, giving a smile to Ærik he begins to explain his plan. "So, the way I see it harpies have one distinct advantage on us and one powerful weapon against it. The advantage is that harpies can fly and the weapon is their enchanting voice. We need to stop both to have a fighting chance against them. Liz and Ærik mentioned having rope. We can use that to quickly bind together the harpies wings so they cannot fly away. As they will attempt to sing we need to block out their voice as well. Me, Ærik, Kall, and Kieran are going to be doing that. We can gag them but they may start to sing while being tied up. So, I say we block out their voice with the sound of Liz's and Nolan's car. If you two can blast your music and rev your engene loud enough so we don't hear the song that should give us enough time to gag them. With them bound and gag we're victorious and can then ask them whats going on here. Does anyone have any questions, concerns, or complaints about the plan?"

"How are they gonna respond to our questions if we gag them?" Nolan quickly blurted out. "We could also just burn their wings off," he added as an afterthought.

"We'll un-gag one to talk to with the threat that if she starts to sing then we'll burn her wing off." Ryan answers.

Nolan's eyes sparkled. "Oooh. I like that idea."

"Aren't the cars going to draw a lot of *Public* attention?" Ærik asks. ", Do you have a silence spell Nolan? Can it affect more than one creature at a time, if you do?" "I think we can hide in the many trees, but I wasn't thinking about not hearing them sing" He admits

"This is a draw-back of the plan. I'm hoping nobody comes to investigate. If we all had headphones and something portable to play music on then I'd suggest that but, I doubt we all have that sort of equipment." Ryan admits.

Nolan shook his head. "I'm not a wizard. My magic only comes from things that seriously interest me, like healing, burning, and turning invisible. It's weird, but it's how it manifests."

"At most there *should* only be three, but yeah that's a lot to silence in one attack." Ærik responds, He's pulling out his journal and, trying to find any notes on a deaf animal he's ever encountered.

"I'm hoping if we hide well enough we can get the jump on them to restrict in one go." Ryan says

"I can't change the *magic* I've *prepared* for the day, without sleeping first, so I only have certain magics ready, but I can heal some people if needed, I can't restrain without engaging directly though."Ærik replies

"That's where rope comes in. But, if they don't come tonight and you have magic to restrain that'll be good for tomorrow." Ryan says with a smile.

Getting to the back of his notebook, and not finding any truly deaf animals, that he's ever seen, he does find something on the last page, and says to Ryan, "JC has berries he uses to put on his sleeping arrows, I have a short bow, but am not fully trained in it's use. Kieran had a few nice toys that might be able to shoot them as well." He then turns to KALL, and asks "Hey Kall, can you silence a creature if you wanted to?"

"But are the berries effective enough to knock out a harpy. If so, I have a crossbow I can use to help shoot them and I'm an okay shot." Ryan says while waiting for Kall's reply.

"What about....earplugs?" Kieran asks.

"With earplugs you can use them to hopefully block out the Harpy's enchanting song." Ryan answers

"That was the idea. If we can get or fashion earplugs, we don't need blaring music or silence spells." Kieran says 

"I have my own earbuds so I can blast music in my ears. Hmmmm........maybe wax or something for those that don't have anything?" Ryan ponders.

"JC arrows are tiny tiny," Kall replies. "Only JC can use the berries." Kall looks around, as if trying to find something. They then wander over to Nolan's car, peering inside.

*The chocolate.* Nolan unlocked his car, peering into the backseat to check on the chocolate. Having not rolled down the windows with the all-black interior, the fudge had mostly melted in the plastic bag. He handed it to Kall. "Think of it like a chocolate shake. A reeeeaaaally thick chocolate shake."

Ærik looks around for Bebe, who should be nearby, and calls out, "Hey JC, Do you think you could put a Harpy to sleep if you had to?"

Standing to the edge of the group, Liz was barely listening to the discussion, still lost deep in thought. Hearing the need for rope, she walked away from the group to her car, popping the trunk and pulled out a length of rope. Walking back, she tossed it at Ryan.

Ryan, not paying that much attention because he is engrossed with answers questions and concerns fumbles a little bit to catch the rope. “Thanks Liz.” He says once he manages to grab a proper hold of it.

Kall sits on the ground, Bebe waddling up and into their lap, and begins the meticulous process of pecking the melted chocolate from the bag. To others, it looks as though Kall's avatar is licking the chocolate from the bag.

"I could act as bait," Liz blurted out. "Get them into the trees where you all are hiding."

“Bait is dangerous. I’d rather not put anyone in more danger than is already necessary. But it is a good idea.” Ryan comments to Liz

"Better than trying to sneak up on them," Liz retorted. "Put them into an ambush situation. I've played bait before. I'm not worried about it."

“Do you have earbuds of some kind to block out their singing?” Ryan asks Liz

"No, but I'm sure it's not hard to get some," Liz said, looking pointedly at Ryan.

“I’m not a big fan of bait plans but, if everyone thinks it’s better than sneaking up we can go with that and you can use my ear buds. The rest of us still shouldn’t hear the song either. I was thinking maybe some Carmex to block out the song with wax since we don’t want to be loud. Or maybe if not carmex if someone has a spare shirt we can turn it into strips and use those strips to stuff our ears.” Ryan admits. Ryan sighs, "If anyone thinks they can use the lute then it does have a magical effect that can suppress enchanting effects. Then we wouldn't need to block our ears."

"I can't play that thing"Ærik replies, "I'm not musically inclined but I do like to sing. To be fair though, we don't even know these Harpies are a threat. They could be beneficial to the Lake somehow and were attacked by whatever attached the kayak."

Liz dropped her head, walking away from the group.

"I'm hoping to capture them to get more info. I think they might know more about what happened to the kayak. And knowing more of what happened at the kayak will aid us. Honestly, I think knowing how to play it might be a little less the problem then being of fae descent. If you can attune to it, meaning being of fae descent, then I believe you can use its magic without necessarily knowing how to properly play a lute." Ryan says aloud, noticing Liz leaving.

"To be clear. Are we attacking first then and questioning them later. I've messed too many words up today. I want to be certain I understand the plan. If it gets hostile, I should warn you all that I *will* taking a form other than human for the fight. I don't want anyone attacking me when I change." Ærik says. He hates that the only option appears to be a direct confrontation, but he doesn't want to fight the entire group.

"We are attempting to capture first. Then question. I don't want to kill them. They probably have information thats very important to us. If we can capture without any actual damage happening that would be ideal. Liz is going to bait them to us, we tie and gag them, and then we question." Ryan answers, hoping everyone understands whats going to happen.

Liz walked over to a tree, and leaned against it, looking out at the lake.

"Ok. I am clear. Thank you. How long until sunset? The animals said they always show at sunset. Do we have 15 minutes for me to try something.I asked the animals about the lady in the lake, but I didn't ask what their singing was doing. Maybe if I ask the right questions this could end more peacefully." Ærik adds.

"I'm going to spend a few minutes and try to commune with Nature to get some answers. Maybe we can prevent this from turning hostile. " Erik says. At that point he walks towards the lake where they found the mass of feathers and sits cross legged in the grass. He starts muttering words and making gestures with his hand. (Speak with animals as a ritual) Ærik proceeds to question the animals again. This time he is specifically asking if the Harpies were here when the kayak was attacked, if they were attacked, or if they were involved that night.
He also wants to know if their singing is usually good or bad for the lake.

“You have time to talk but not much. Only about an hour. The rest of us let’s get into position. Here Nolan you found it so you should at least have it.” Ryan says as he hands him Ligeia’s Lute. “Here Kieran you take the rope and hide out with Kall. If you have more grab it because we might need it. I’ll get Liz set up with some music and headphones to drown out the harpies.” Ryan says before he heads over to Liz.

Liz sees Ryan approaching and stands straight. "I'll be just inside the tree line, and if you all hide in or behind trees, you can come in from behind."

“Sounds good. I’ll give you some headphones and my music to block out the harpy song while you lead them to us.” Ryan explains as he reaches into his pocket for his phone and headphones.

Liz nodded, saying, "I'm glad you talked to Erik. Sounds like... things are *good* with you now."

“I think so. I think I’m going to apologize later tonight to him. I kind of got angry and then abruptly left without even giving him an opportunity to explain or make sure that’s what he meant. He thought I had a crush on you and that’s why I got so angry. I corrected him so, I guess we’ll see where this goes.” Ryan says fidgeting with his phone getting the earphones plugged in and his music on the screen. Taking more time than necessary.

"So why were you mad at me?" Liz asked, watching the lake.

“I was more mad at the situation then at you personally. Honestly, if he said Nolan I probably would have been as equally bitter towards him. Honestly, I kind of was. Man, i guess I’ll just have to make a public apology to everyone.” Ryan says while he’s holding out his phone for Liz to take.

Liz took the phone, staring at the screen like it was an alien.

Kieran digs a rope out of his bag. "I've got my own," he says to Ryan. He takes the rope with him and moves into the trees.

Nolan took the lute and looked it over. "Thanks! I'll uhh... just hold on to it."

“What, is something wrong?” Ryan asks Liz as she’s staring down at his phone.

"No," Liz said quickly. "I'm sure I can figure this out."

“Liz. It’s okay to ask for help. I’ve got you on my Kenny Brown playlist. Just hit the play button and it’ll start and repeat all by itself.” Ryan explains

"I don't know this music," Liz said, still staring at the screen.

“Oh, boy. Are you in for a treat then.” Ryan says with a smile “Kenny Brown is one of the greatest musicians of our time.”

"What kind of music does he do?" Liz looked at Ryan, showing no emotion on her face. "Metal? Punk? Grunge? Alternative?"

“No. He’s a country and folk musician.” Ryan says with a smile

Liz's right eye twitched. She remained silent for a long while, just staring at Ryan. Finally she spoke again. "Okay, I'm going to need you to find me something different. Local metal station would be fine."

“Wait. Why? What’s wrong with country?” Ryan asks confused.

"Not my thing." Liz replies. 

Ryan pouts. “But Kenny is the best. Are you sure you won’t give him a chance?”

Liz looked at the phone. "I'll give it a try... *if* you give me options."

“So, let me make sure I have this correct. You’ll listen to Kenny Brown if I also include some metal music in the playlist with him.” Ryan says reaching to take his phone back.

"Yes." Liz handed the phone back with a sigh. "I'll give it an honest try. I promise."

“Okay. Give me a band name” Ryan says with a smile before he goes into his phone and onto the iTunes Store to buy something by whoever Liz says.

Liz begins listing off band after band. "Nirvana, Apocalyptica, Pearl Jam, Rob Zombie... or even White Zombie, Guns N Roses, Metallica, Black Sabbath, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Smashing Pumpkins, Green Day... do I need to give you more?"

“Oh, Green Day. I’ve heard of that one. I’ll do that one.” Ryan says with a smile before buying the first Green Day albums he sees on iTunes and then quickly makes a shuffle on repeat playlist of the Green Day album and the Kenny Brown album. “All done.” He says when it’s finished and he hands his phone back to Liz.

Liz nods and begins to study the phone like it were a textbook.

“Anymore questions or anything like that?” Ryan asks

"How do I play a lute?" Nolan asked quizzically as he held the instrument in his hands.

Liz pointed at Nolan, then turned and wandered into the trees to be alone.

Nolan looked at Liz confused. "Am I supposed to follow her or something?"

Ryan lets Liz go before heading to Nolan. “It’s magic. Just attune to it and I think you’ll be okay. Even if you don’t know how to play. At least that’s how I believe it’s going to work. And no, once the harpies start singing focus on the lute to cast the spell Calm Emotions on us. That spell will suppress any enchantment the song may hold over us. We just have to willingly chose to listen to the lute instead.” Ryan explains to Nolan.

Nodding his head, Nolan went off to the tree he sat under previously and began to attune to the lute.

Ærik sits and talks to the various little creatures that will talk to him. He gets answers to his questions that only make his brain hurt more. He decides to share what he's learned with the group, while keeping an eye out for any other animals he can question. .
Ærik stands and makes his way back to where the group was. Upon finding Ryan he approaches and says "Ryan, I have communed with the Goddess thru her creatures, I have some answers, but i am trying to get one more question answered. I have learned that *The animals have never seen a Harpy... The animals seem baffled by the idea of any attacks happening. There was an Incident with a kayaker, but none of them them think of it as an attack.* I am trying to see if they will tell me what they saw happen to the kayak, but I think I'm reaching the limits of the Goddess's favor for this sun cycle."

“Don’t push your magic if you don’t have to. Hmmmm....they don’t view it as an attack but I wonder if that’s because there was no struggle until the kayak. Also, ask them about humans that look like a bird. Maybe they don’t know what a harpy is because all the clues point to harpies.” Ryan answers Ærik an inquisitive look on his face as if he’s trying to put the pieces together. He then looks at Ærik directly, a smile appearing on his face, before saying “Also, good thinking on asking the animals some more questions. They make good witnesses. Keep up the good work just for a little longer and then we can go back for that pizza and beer.”

Ærik returns the smile, and replies "I had to ask more questions. We want truth, and if it is possible to avoid battle, those questions need to be asked. I will never back down from a battle, as long as it's for the right reasons. The animals here have been very generous with their info. They do not know me after all. Its tricky to ask the right questions sometimes, when you get Soo excited that one is actually talking to you. " His face beaming, as he pictures *hearing* the animals speak.

“Must be amazing. Being able to actually talk to the creatures we see.” Ryan replied the same smile plastered on his face “And I agree. Let’s not shed blood if we don’t have to. That’s why I came up with the restraining plan. “See what more you can find out while the spell is still active and then come join us in the tree line.”

"Oh yes, Ryan, it is the most amazing thing to *truly* commune with Nature." Ærik says. His eyes almost glowing with the arcane energy as he thinks about it, the spell still barely active at this point. “I will go see if I can get any more answers about the kayak incident, while I still can." With that he turns and heads off to walk along the lake.

Ryan simply nods and watches Ærik make his way to talk some more animals. The saying *I hate to see you leave, but I love to watch you go.* creeps into his head. Ryan shakes his head at that thought and turns to focus once again on the task at hand.

Liz began pacing through the trees, listening to Kenny Brown, but deep in thought. *Why did I think this was a good idea?*