FR: Quest for the Forgotten Key IC (Sequoia)

[The Great Skenardo]

Teb Hokk
Teb looks puzzled for a minute. Two minutes. Three.
Then his face breaks into a pumpkin grin again and his guffaws of laughter ring throughout the clearing as he falls on his back and hoots with laughter.

[Ozzy_G]

Ark jumps to his feet, waving his arms, and shouting Will you shut up Teb, it's not funny!
Then he falls over into the mud. Damn this body!

[The Great Skenardo]

Teb
Teb covers his mouth with both hands, but even so you can plainly hear his muffled mirth. After a second or two, Teb regains his feet and offers a hand to Ark, still chuckling.
"Looks like Teb knows stuff you don't! Lemme know if you need any tips, 'kay?" Teb grins. Amusement aside, the offer seems sincere.

[Ozzy_G]

Ark stands up and shakes his finger at Teb. I think I'll be able to work it out myself thankyou very much. It'll be easy, no problem for someone with my awesome intellect. He turns away. It just needs some getting used to.

[GryffonDurime]

Chanda

Chanda appraises Teb, then Ark, looking at them with an expression of rising concern. She finally turns towards Svanna, orienting herself in a meditative position as she does so.

"I'm beginning to worry about our compatriots," she whispers to her, offering up that simple observation to wait for a response.

[dgray]

Svanna turns toward Chanda"How so? Is it that at times the Teb is ten times smarter than Ark, or that they seem to have some sort of wierd relationship, or that Ark can seem to handle himself since getting that belt?" She smile slightly at Chanda while waiting for a response

[mauslin]

Fatha spends some time fussing over her mule, making sure it gets enough water, taking off its pack so that it can sleep more comfortably, and casting prestidigitation to groom it.
Finally she takes out her bedroll and settles down with the other girls.

Overhearing Chandra's comment, she adds her two coppers

"I'd have to concur. They do seem . . . a bit boisterous.
I have to say that I'm consume with curiosity as to what that belt actually did. Maybe one of us should ask?"

[dgray]

"I am curious too. Svanna said to Fatha

She turns to Teb and Ark "What exatly did that belt do to you. It seems to have made you grow in several different ways." She asks Ark

[The Great Skenardo]

Teb Hokk
"Pfffftt...." Teb squeezes his eyes shut and makes desperate sputtering noises like a drowning camel, until he finally bursts out laughing once more, falling again to the ground in his mirth.
"Pa-hahahahahahaha!"
Teb actually curls up on the ground, doubled over.

[GryffonDurime]

Chanda

Chanda seems to be wavering between a strange combination of stifled laughter, utter mortification, and exasperation.

"My mother once advised me about being careful with words. They're more easily misunderstood than intentions," Chanda offers, trying to maintain some semblance of serenity while still teetering on the edge of laughter, hands folded in her lap like a monk.

[dgray]

"I never really spent much time with my mother. I grew up following my dad around so i was always with the boys." Svanna said to Chanda

[knewsom]

For Svanna:

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A memory suddenly popped into Svanna's head, of camping with some of the boys and her father when she was in her early teens. She remembered how at times during the night and especially during the early morning they would be emarrased to be roused by her, quickly sitting up or rolling over. Once, she happened upon one in his own tent so to speak before he woke.

It dawned on her that the belt Ark put has seemed to make him more "manly" in every respect, and perhaps it had in another as well...

...yet, for a man, that shouldn't be something surprising....

.......however if it had happened to HER, she would have been very surprised....... just as surprised as Ark was. Thinking about it now, the small feminine hands, the delicate features, it all made sense. Ark, until this very afternoon, was a woman.

[dgray]

Just as Svanna responded to Chanda a thought from her childhood popped into her head. Unable to stiffle the tremdous burst of laughter, Svanna rolled off her bedroll in a fit of laughter. When she was able to compose herself enough to walk, she went over the Ark and whispered to him "Is there anything that I can help you with?"

[Ozzy_G]

Ark blushed bright red. Uh, thanks for the offer, but I'm fine.

[The Great Skenardo]

Teb Hokk
Crossing his legs beneath himself on the turf, Teb laboriously pulls himself into a sitting position, still grinning.
"Heh heh. Hokay, now who's really goin' first watch?"
The hulking Hokk fishes around in his somewhat dingy pouch and retrieves a wrapped bundle, which is revealed to contain smoked meat of unguessable origin. Teb chews on some as he waits.

[Ozzy_G]

Me and Teb will watch for 3 hours. He points at the girls. You ladies go to sleep. We'll wake you up later for two of you to switch with us.
He sits down near Teb, but looking the other way. One watchman isn't enough. It's dangerous out here...

[The Great Skenardo]

Teb Hokk
"Myup," Teb agrees, through a mouthful of jerky. "Wan' some?" he offers a piece to Ark.
Not that Ark had ever accepted before, but it was the thought that counts.

[Ozzy_G]

Ark shakes his head. No thanks. He gets out from his bag his own meal of black pudding and dark bread.

[dgray]

Svanna turns back to her bedroll still chuckling to herself. she lays down and trys to get some sleep

[The Great Skenardo]

Teb Hokk
Finishing up one last tough and stringy mouthful, Teb wipes his lips on his hairy arm and leans back a bit, looking again at the night sky. After a bit, he speaks.
"Hey, Ark; How long you gonna stay like that? He's gotta stop lookin' for us sometime, right?"

[Ozzy_G]

Ark sounds confused. What are you talking about, Teb?
He leans back, and whispers in Teb's ear.

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Be careful. One of these others might blab to him what you let slip.

[The Great Skenardo]

Teb Hokk
Teb scratches his jaw and looks sheepish. "Oh. Yeah." In a slighty louder voice, he says "Uh...I mean...that guy. The...Inkeeper guy. The one who wants money?" Teb likewise leans back and whispers to Ark.

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"I could always kill 'em, but... knights ain't supposed to do that, right?"

[Ozzy_G]

Ark sighs, and replies quietly. I wouldn't mind if you did that, but I don't think you could. With the money I'll get from this mission, I might get a boat west. Maybe to Waterdeep, or the Dragon Coast. You can come as well if you like Teb, they have Knights in the West.

[The Great Skenardo]

Teb
Teb grunts and reaches forwards, grasping his toes, idly.
"Never been on a boat," he muses. "Kinda weird, to be moving while you ain't moving yer feet. Seems like you'd forget how far you've gone."

[Ozzy_G]

Ark chuckles. I suppose you would, Teb.

[The Great Skenardo]

Teb
"Yeah." The hulking half-orc reclines again on the grass. "But hey, at least this job's gonna be easy, right? We just gotta find a key. Even if we don't, the pointy-hat said I could keep the magic hands. Maybe the ring and the cape-thingy too." He beams at the night sky. "This adventurin' stuff is great!"

[Ozzy_G]

As long as he doesn't let me keep this Bane-cursed girdle, mutters Ark.

[knewsom]

As she began to drift off to sleep with the sound of Ark and Teb's banter in her ears, and a hint of a smile still curling on her lips, Svanna heard a rustle in a tree in the woods, about twenty feet from their campsite. She's not sure which tree it came from, but it was a distinct sound, larger than a bird would make, and it was to the west of the campsite (the creek is on the east end).

[The Great Skenardo]

Teb
Teb laughs, quietly this time. "Aw, it ain't so bad, is it? You got stronger n' taller. Mighty Ark, r'member?"

[Ozzy_G]

And probably a lot more stupid. I'll be thinking with the other, little brain now. And, uh, don't get me started on what it's going to be like when we save some beautiful women... he groans. This is all going to end badly I tell you, it's like the plot of some bad play. I expect to encounter a whole number of extremely embarrassing incidents. It really doesn't help that we're travelling with 3 other women.
He turns, and says in a low voice, intended only for Teb but Svanna picks it up too,

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Also, I think Svanna's worked it out. I'm not sure, but... Maybe I ought to hope she is, because she was acting very friendly earlier, and as I said that'd just be embarrassing.