Erevan clearly is uncertain about their next move. He also doesn't mind traveling at night, but it has been a long day. Then again, what are they to do with their prisoner over the long haul? If they try to stay overnight, they will have to keep an eye on her and keep her quiet. She seems less likely to be a problem in the woods if they camp on the overnight. At least out there, if she manages a muffled scream or two they likely won't be heard. As for Taro, his judgment is harsh. He clearly was careless with the dust and now is dead. Should he and Olwer have to bear the responsibility for cleaning up this mess?
He makes every effort to keep his conversation with Olwer quiet and in elvish. "I do wish we had to communicate long distance with our employer, to let them know we have our quarry," he says. "I could really use some rest. I'm still feeling the sting of that pig thief's blades. And yet...I don't like the idea of keeping this halfling lass here overnight."
He pauses, still clearly torn about what to do. "All right," he says. "Let's look to leave soon if we can. I guess we have to make arrangements for Taro's body first, though. Shall we talk to our innkeeper?"
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
IF Olwer finds Taro's purse, he counts the money. Then he suggests to Erevan they persuade the innkeeper to 'avoid a scandal' by not making more of a fuss than necessary. Word needn't go out till tomorrow, when a seemly removal of the corpse can be arranged. The unfortunate man's friends will clean his body and wrap him in a sheet, if she brings a wash bucket and clean bedclothes.
Assuming that Erevan agrees to the notion, Olwer goes downstairs and asks the landlady as delicately as possible about local funerary expenses. Something modest and respectable; a pine box, flowers, a wood marker or small cairn, the blessing of a priest or elder.
You find 22 gold and 20 silver in his purse, and a small emerald that's probably worth 5 or 10 gold pieces. The other things you find on his person will mirror the supplies that you already own.
Miss Buttertree has pulled herself together and agrees to make quiet arrangements, and asks for 10 gold for expenses and services. "Don't worry about a thing."
Deciding to leave as quickly as you can, you start making arrangements to pack up your horses that you rode in on, shifting things around and lashing your "rabbit sack" to one of the horse saddles. As you work, a strange feeling comes over you. You feel light-headed, dizzy. The world seems to be filling up with white mist. You feel like you're falling, spinning into the white mist. Your surroundings have completely faded out. Consciousness leaves you.
You wake to the sound of a rooster's crow. You hear the sound of a brass band cranking up. “Roll up! Roll up for the Pudding Faire!” cries a voice from the street below. You're back in your room in the inn, in your beds. Taro is there, too, apparently still asleep. It's morning. There's no sack, no Elsie. Peering out your room’s window, you see a crowd of happy halflings and gnomes bustling toward a fairground on the village green.
Taro is dead, but he's fresher than he was, still warm, the vomit at his mouth and dribbling down his chin is still wet, not a dry crust like when you first saw him. The pixie dust is there, just beyond his outstretched hand, under his blanket. He has on his person all the money and other things that you had taken.
Taro is dead, but he's fresher than he was, still warm, the vomit at his mouth and dribbling down his chin is still wet, not a dry crust like when you first saw him. The pixie dust is there, just beyond his outstretched hand, under his blanket. He has on his person all the money and other things that you had taken.
Olwer mutters a curse, then tugs the sheet over the dead man's face.
He rouses Erevan if the other hasn't gotten up yet.
"This seems impossible, but are you seeing what I'm seeing? Hear that racket outside? Do you recall what I recall? If so..."
Verbal confirmation of shared memories of the Pudding Faire sets him to pacing worriedly.
"I'll entertain the notion that one of the gods sent us both a vivid dream presaging Taro's death. But I've a mind to see how many other things in that dream or whatever it was turn out to be true. What say we head straight for a certain pigpen? It may seem mad, but bear with me. If those rascals are there in the woods, or we actually catch them making off with the swine, it can't possibly have been a dream, right? The gods wouldn't warn us of a pig-stealing, would they?"
He chuckles grimly, shaking his head.
"Am I making any sense? Have you got other ideas? I'm game for whatever you want to try to figure this out."
Erevan shakes his head, clearing away a strange fog, and comes to realize that--at least by all appearance--they have somehow traveled back in time. As one experienced in the ways of the Feywild, this is not the first time he has experienced some sort of time displacement.
"Olwer, I have seen time play tricks before, but typically it is the other way around--people lose time and emerge into the future not remembering how they got there. You have probably heard such tales of those who spend what seems like a night in the Feywild and emerge into the workaday world to find that many weeks have passed. This may not be the work of gods, exactly, but some strange magic."
He sniffs the air, tries to recall the strange mist that seemed to surround them before they found themselves transported, trying to better understand what happened.
Arcana 19
He thinks for a moment on Olwer's suggestion regarding the pig. "I suppose if we can save that pig farmer the trouble of losing his prize animal, we will have done a good deed, whether intended by the gods or not."
He looks at Taro's body for a moment. "And I suggest we maintain the illusion that Taro is sleeping in today, at least for now. Agreed?"
Erevan, you’re not aware of an actual spell that could roll back time like this. But the notion of the Feywild, and bigger things in the world, and stranger magics than what mere mortals can wield, does sit well with you.
''Agreed. A bit ghoulish, but necessary. Now let's go see about the pig."
Olwer quickly gets ready, tugging on his brigandine jerkin and belting on his sword. If he has a key, he locks the door.
When he sees the landlady or a servant downstairs, he says that Taro is a slugabed and has requested not to be disturbed this morning.
Leaving the inn, he moves with deliberation, a man about business but certainly not moving in unseemly haste. Sorry, too busy for breakfast now, if anyone asks.
deception
14
Then it's straight for the farm, moving through the fields and yards beyond the fairground to make better time and avoid encountering people. He hustles along as fast as he can go without attracting too much attention. But speed over stealth, until he comes to the farm.
Miss Buttertree greets you as she did the “previous” morning, no hint of distress, all cheerful and offering breakfast, but you zoom out.
You reach the farm on the outskirts of the forest, and no one’s there. No pig either. When you look for the tracks you saw “yesterday”, however, you cannot find them. They’re not there!
Erevan shakes his head at the strange changes that seem to be afoot. "Perhaps the pig and his master are already at the fair. I expect that none of these folks will remember us from whatever yesterday in fact was."
He gazes out into the woods. "Should we go see if our 'friends' are camping in the woods? Or best leave well enough alone?"
"But, yes, let's check out the thicket first. If they aren't there, then either the livestock pen at the fair, to see if Cameron is safe and sound with his owner, or off to Nanny Cowslip. Even if she doesn't remember yesterday or whatever it was, she might know something helpful."
It takes you some time, a couple hours, to find your way through the woods without the benefit of the tracks.
The woods are quaint and charming. Moss-covered trees are not too tight together to navigate through. Green light shines down plentifully, nourishing an undergrowth of ferns, flowers, berry bushes. As you go along, the idyllic setting is rather marred when you discover a fox that has caught a rabbit. It strikes you as strange that the fox is messily eating the rabbit on the spot, instead of taking it back to its den. There is a lot of blood. As you approach, the fox looks up at you, snout and face blood-drenched, and hisses at you before scurrying away from its kill.
Eventually you are able to find the thicket. You can hear raised voices coming from within, arguing. It’s a bit hard to make out what they’re saying, without getting closer.
OOC Olwer's conversation and remarks in the room were all in Elvish.
Olwer will send a message to Erevan at some point, suggesting that he make a hand signal if they need to briefly communicate in greater secrecy
Erevan clearly is uncertain about their next move. He also doesn't mind traveling at night, but it has been a long day. Then again, what are they to do with their prisoner over the long haul? If they try to stay overnight, they will have to keep an eye on her and keep her quiet. She seems less likely to be a problem in the woods if they camp on the overnight. At least out there, if she manages a muffled scream or two they likely won't be heard. As for Taro, his judgment is harsh. He clearly was careless with the dust and now is dead. Should he and Olwer have to bear the responsibility for cleaning up this mess?
He makes every effort to keep his conversation with Olwer quiet and in elvish. "I do wish we had to communicate long distance with our employer, to let them know we have our quarry," he says. "I could really use some rest. I'm still feeling the sting of that pig thief's blades. And yet...I don't like the idea of keeping this halfling lass here overnight."
He pauses, still clearly torn about what to do. "All right," he says. "Let's look to leave soon if we can. I guess we have to make arrangements for Taro's body first, though. Shall we talk to our innkeeper?"
Olwer replies, ''Just the one of us, I'd say. The rabbit must stay in her sack."
He then rifles the clothes of his dead companion for money. The rest of the deceased bounty hunter's things he sets aside for safekeeping.
investigation, if needed for hidden stuff
12
IF Olwer finds Taro's purse, he counts the money. Then he suggests to Erevan they persuade the innkeeper to 'avoid a scandal' by not making more of a fuss than necessary. Word needn't go out till tomorrow, when a seemly removal of the corpse can be arranged. The unfortunate man's friends will clean his body and wrap him in a sheet, if she brings a wash bucket and clean bedclothes.
Assuming that Erevan agrees to the notion, Olwer goes downstairs and asks the landlady as delicately as possible about local funerary expenses. Something modest and respectable; a pine box, flowers, a wood marker or small cairn, the blessing of a priest or elder.
persuasion, if applicable
10
You find 22 gold and 20 silver in his purse, and a small emerald that's probably worth 5 or 10 gold pieces. The other things you find on his person will mirror the supplies that you already own.
Miss Buttertree has pulled herself together and agrees to make quiet arrangements, and asks for 10 gold for expenses and services. "Don't worry about a thing."
Deciding to leave as quickly as you can, you start making arrangements to pack up your horses that you rode in on, shifting things around and lashing your "rabbit sack" to one of the horse saddles. As you work, a strange feeling comes over you. You feel light-headed, dizzy. The world seems to be filling up with white mist. You feel like you're falling, spinning into the white mist. Your surroundings have completely faded out. Consciousness leaves you.
You wake to the sound of a rooster's crow. You hear the sound of a brass band cranking up.
“Roll up! Roll up for the Pudding Faire!” cries a voice from the street below.
You're back in your room in the inn, in your beds. Taro is there, too, apparently still asleep. It's morning. There's no sack, no Elsie. Peering out your room’s window, you see a crowd of happy halflings and gnomes bustling toward a fairground on the village green.
Olwer rises from bed.
''Erevan, I just had the strangest feeling that...""
He looks around the room slowly, taking note of Taro.
''Hold on."
He creeps over to the lazy gambler, turning for a moment to face Erevan with finger upraised, and searches the sleeping man for a pouch of pixie dust.
investigation12
sleight of hand to avoid disturbing the sleeper
24
stealth
16
OOC
ooooooooh, something SPOOKY is going on!
Taro is dead, but he's fresher than he was, still warm, the vomit at his mouth and dribbling down his chin is still wet, not a dry crust like when you first saw him. The pixie dust is there, just beyond his outstretched hand, under his blanket. He has on his person all the money and other things that you had taken.
Olwer mutters a curse, then tugs the sheet over the dead man's face.
He rouses Erevan if the other hasn't gotten up yet.
"This seems impossible, but are you seeing what I'm seeing? Hear that racket outside? Do you recall what I recall? If so..."
Verbal confirmation of shared memories of the Pudding Faire sets him to pacing worriedly.
"I'll entertain the notion that one of the gods sent us both a vivid dream presaging Taro's death. But I've a mind to see how many other things in that dream or whatever it was turn out to be true. What say we head straight for a certain pigpen? It may seem mad, but bear with me. If those rascals are there in the woods, or we actually catch them making off with the swine, it can't possibly have been a dream, right? The gods wouldn't warn us of a pig-stealing, would they?"
He chuckles grimly, shaking his head.
"Am I making any sense? Have you got other ideas? I'm game for whatever you want to try to figure this out."
Erevan shakes his head, clearing away a strange fog, and comes to realize that--at least by all appearance--they have somehow traveled back in time. As one experienced in the ways of the Feywild, this is not the first time he has experienced some sort of time displacement.
"Olwer, I have seen time play tricks before, but typically it is the other way around--people lose time and emerge into the future not remembering how they got there. You have probably heard such tales of those who spend what seems like a night in the Feywild and emerge into the workaday world to find that many weeks have passed. This may not be the work of gods, exactly, but some strange magic."
He sniffs the air, tries to recall the strange mist that seemed to surround them before they found themselves transported, trying to better understand what happened.
Arcana 19
He thinks for a moment on Olwer's suggestion regarding the pig. "I suppose if we can save that pig farmer the trouble of losing his prize animal, we will have done a good deed, whether intended by the gods or not."
He looks at Taro's body for a moment. "And I suggest we maintain the illusion that Taro is sleeping in today, at least for now. Agreed?"
Erevan, you’re not aware of an actual spell that could roll back time like this. But the notion of the Feywild, and bigger things in the world, and stranger magics than what mere mortals can wield, does sit well with you.
''Agreed. A bit ghoulish, but necessary. Now let's go see about the pig."
Olwer quickly gets ready, tugging on his brigandine jerkin and belting on his sword. If he has a key, he locks the door.
When he sees the landlady or a servant downstairs, he says that Taro is a slugabed and has requested not to be disturbed this morning.
Leaving the inn, he moves with deliberation, a man about business but certainly not moving in unseemly haste. Sorry, too busy for breakfast now, if anyone asks.
deception
14
Then it's straight for the farm, moving through the fields and yards beyond the fairground to make better time and avoid encountering people. He hustles along as fast as he can go without attracting too much attention. But speed over stealth, until he comes to the farm.
OOC if called for:
athletics
15
stealth
8
Miss Buttertree greets you as she did the “previous” morning, no hint of distress, all cheerful and offering breakfast, but you zoom out.
You reach the farm on the outskirts of the forest, and no one’s there. No pig either. When you look for the tracks you saw “yesterday”, however, you cannot find them. They’re not there!
Erevan shakes his head at the strange changes that seem to be afoot. "Perhaps the pig and his master are already at the fair. I expect that none of these folks will remember us from whatever yesterday in fact was."
He gazes out into the woods. "Should we go see if our 'friends' are camping in the woods? Or best leave well enough alone?"
"Strange!"
Olwer shakes his head.
"But, yes, let's check out the thicket first. If they aren't there, then either the livestock pen at the fair, to see if Cameron is safe and sound with his owner, or off to Nanny Cowslip. Even if she doesn't remember yesterday or whatever it was, she might know something helpful."
OCC We cross-posted, so I edited.
Thicket campsite first, I agree. I suggested some follow-ups, if that doesn't turn up the strangers.
rolls as needed (assuming my flubbed stealth is still in effect until I'm told to roll again)
investigation of thicket, mindful of where that trap was placed
6
It takes you some time, a couple hours, to find your way through the woods without the benefit of the tracks.
The woods are quaint and charming. Moss-covered trees are not too tight together to navigate through. Green light shines down plentifully, nourishing an undergrowth of ferns, flowers, berry bushes. As you go along, the idyllic setting is rather marred when you discover a fox that has caught a rabbit. It strikes you as strange that the fox is messily eating the rabbit on the spot, instead of taking it back to its den. There is a lot of blood. As you approach, the fox looks up at you, snout and face blood-drenched, and hisses at you before scurrying away from its kill.
Eventually you are able to find the thicket. You can hear raised voices coming from within, arguing. It’s a bit hard to make out what they’re saying, without getting closer.
Olwer gets closer as quietly as he may.
(Stealth if the shift in scene and teh couple of hours passing requires a new roll. If not, it was an 8, from the attempted sneaking at the farm).
19
perception for eavesdropping
20