Turn of Fortune's Wheel (Gnomes' game)

(I can't tell you how badly I want to turn this into a Zootopia episode, haha)

Britari walks with the others towards the town, musing about the 'Rule of Three' she had read about. She wasn't sure it helped her understand her current situation though. The giant sloth though surprised her a little bit when it spoke to them. "Hi, thanks for the welcome," she replies. With Eithne having already asked her questions, she waits to hear the response. 

(OOC: Rogferr was mainly listening for any animals he might consider dangerous. Well at least we know that if this becomes a Buddy Cop mystery the mayor is most likely involved somehow.)

Rogferr takes a moment to appreciate the fact that they are in the presence of a talking sloth. Looking at the sloth’s bracelet Rogferr attempts to determine what type of animal the claws and feathers came from.

“Hello Friend! In addition to the other question, would you be willing to tell us about this town? Please call me Rogferr.”

Rogferr would definitely realize there are quite a few predator sounds in the area, though most all seem to be animals typical of a forest or jungle, nothing sounds unusually monstrous.

The sloth grins, as much as a sloth can grin. "Rrrrrrooooogggggffeerrrrrrrr..." It drawls slowly, before his whole body shakes with laughter for a few seconds. "Always wanted to do that." The sloth smiles wider. "You may call me Razzak" He unfurls himself in a stretch, giving Rogferr (and others if they wish) an easier time seeing his collection of claws and feathers. They are a wide assortment of shapes and styles, giving it less of a put together kind of look, and more of a collection of discarded pieces.

Razzak gestures around slowly and past the wooden palisade that encircles the area. "Nice to meet you too, Eithne. This is Greenbriar. I suppose you could call this a trading post, although at the moment, the only thing being traded are insults and verbal barbs I think." His head tilts a bit. "The portal...mmm...I believe it is about a mile past the camp, thankfully. Hopefully we won't fall in again anytime soon." He laughs suddenly again in a slow shake.

"As for the town, if you really want to call it that, is ruled by three main groups: the herbivores, the carnivores, and the fliers. Ophelia rules the herbivores from the Heart Delta. Ebonclow rules the carnivores at Razortooth Rock. Parvaz leads the fliers over at Eagles' Aerie. While there has always been natural tension between the groups, it is only as of late that hostilities have increased." Razzak gets a bit of a sadder countenance. "I hope we do not complete cede ourselves back our most basic, primal selves. I rather like talking to visitors like you."

Eithne seems smoewhat concerned: "I wonder what has led to this increase in hostilities... That nature can be ruthless is a fact—but it's equally true that it is not intrinsically evil. So what could have caused such an increase in violence?"

Meanwhile, the Voices in her head are torn, some sensitive like her to what appears to be a negative influence on nature, others more pragmatic, who would like her to focus solely on reaching the Portal to continue the mission. But, as always when the numerous external forces harbored in her mind are not unanimous, the Lone Survivor is able to easily ignore them—so she waits curiously to learn if Razzak has any insight into the reasons for the escalation.

Rogferr chuckles at Razzak’s reaction even if he does not fully understand it.

“I am glad that you finally were able to do that. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance Razzak. As my companion asked I would be very interested to learn of what has caused strife among the members of your community.”

Britari had laughed quietly at the sloth's pronunciation of Rogferr's name. She had much the same question as the others, so stays quiet on the topic of the strife. She does decide to ask more about the portal. "Is it difficult or dangerous to get to the portal?" she asks. And with a grin she adds, "And how exactly do you fall into the portal?" 

Faith is concerned about the strife between the different groups. But stays quiet till she learns more.

Razzak tilted his head again. "There has been a rash of wanton killings lately. Naturally, I think, some are suspicious of the more carnivorous creatures, but they have maintained their innocence in the matter. We think it is the work of a gang referred to as The Vile Hunt, but they have eluded capture and the leaders are stuck in suspicion and distrust."

Razzak looks toward Britari and shrugs, if a sloth can shrug. "The portal is no more difficult to reach than any other place around here I think, and there is a guardian, though I have not talked to them much. Quite a stern person, from what I gather, though." A smile crept over Razzak's face, "I'm surprised you don't know already. When a gate town manages to completely embody the ideals of the plane it is connected to, they merge, or, fall. Temporarily at least, until a new town is created here in the Outlands. Greenbriar is a new town." (This concept strikes true with Britari, as a phenomenon she would have read about in the tower library)

Eithne raises an eyebrow, intrigued and fascinated by Razzak's tale of the merging cities. She thinks it's not such a bad thing after all: if the city comes to embody the Plane's ideals, then its inhabitants probably do too... so finding themselves in the Plane corresponding to those ideals shouldn't be unpleasant at all for the citizens.

The Savage Wanderer, however, returns the focus to the killings: "Where did the last killing take place? Perhaps we can track down the culprits..."

"Ah," Britari responds. She had heard about the phenomenon but hadn't realized that was what Razzak had been talking about. "You say the guardian is stern? We just need to get close to it, not go through."  Her head turns toward Eithne as she suggests they try to track down the culprits behind the killing. "Do you think we should get involved with whatever conflict is going on here?" she asks. "I mean, I guess we can see what we can find, but shouldn't we focus on getting the mimir to the gate?" 

Eithne seems to be taken aback by Britari's words... "Yes, you're right. Unlike other places, here we don't feel like we have to 'earn' the right to approach the Portal. Still, I don't like the idea of ​​someone fomenting discord with unjustified kills..."

"But perhaps you're right, first things first" The Lone Survivor puts her hands to her temples, as if she's listening to many others besides the tiefling in front of her. "Let's take care of the Portal first. We can also decide later whether we want to deal with the other matter or not."

If you want, Razzak would be happy to show you the way (he's actually much faster on the ground than one would think), or if not, can give you a few helpful landmarks to guide your way. Either way, you can pass through Greenbriar, an eager village with various humanoids and animals trading for this and that, eking out their lives as best they can, though the tension there is palatable. When you arrive near the portal area, you see a peaceful pond, surrounded by vine-covered ruins. By the pond there is a statue of a women, very tall even though she is kneeling by the waters.

Britari is glad to take up Razzak's offer should he show the group the way to the portal. As they approach the pond, she slows for a moment. "That is not a statue of Kopoha , is it?" Surely it isn't, but with the events with the very tall Empyrean, it is the first thing that comes to her mind with the statue. As they move closer, she tries to get a better look at it. 

As she moves through the wild and almost pristine environment, Eithne inhales the scent of nature, not forcefully, with emphasis, but with a serenity that doesn't dampen her pleasure, as if she were slowly eating a delicious food, savoring it to prolong the pleasure of its taste indefinitely.

The tension doesn't detract from the environment's charm or pleasure—it simply makes her aware that its beauty is not to be taken for granted, but comes at a price, given the need to face its threats. The Savage Wanderer thus maintains her senses alert, while the Voices in her head, uncharacteristically silent, almost seem to look through her azure eyes and join her in the exploration.

The peaceful feeling of the pond is welcome to the Lone Survivor, who approaches the statue to examine it better. Not that she thinks it's Kopoha... what would be the point of finding her there? The Empyrean was very tall—but she certainly wasn't the only tall creature in the Outlands. Perhaps she was the Portal Guardian instead... Or perhaps she was simply a work of art from some civilization long forgotten.

(Are you all just walking up or trying to be sneaky at all?)

Kopoha is pretty fresh on your minds still, and while similar in a way, you can be reasonably sure this is not her.

Eithne approaches carefully, but not sneakily. She's simply walking.

Britari is not trying to sneak closer either, just walking in that direction. 

Faith is also not trying to be sneaky as she follows the others. 

As you approach, the statue-like lady slowly turns to face you, bringing herself up to her full height of 20 feet. Her face is set, and she speaks with an echoing boom to her voice. "What is your business here?"