A Faerie Affair - IC III: In the Court of the Faerie King

[Pyon]

Kyu glittered forward, clearly excited. "Oh, I totally get it! We won't let her steal Hunter from you, I promise!"*

[tgva8889]

Orianna laughs a bit at the situation, but smiles back at this fae. "Perhaps we can help you, miss. I think it's certainly, at least, a noble cause. Though I'm afraid we may not be able to stay here all night for your dance, so you may have to find someone who can actually watch the desk for you besides us.

[Ninja_Prawn]

She seems relieved, though she maintains a fairly nonchalant expression. "You'll really help? Well, like, thanks I guess. I'll have to stay here though - the guildmaster will kill me if he catches me away from the desk..."

She gives you details of the party - it will be a house party at Hunter's cottage (his parents are out inspecting border forts out in the forest) - and the people of interest. It's starting soon, but scheduled to last until midnight.

[WindStruck]

"Ok! I think we can do this!" Astra says. "Umm .. so what's your name? And what does Hunter look like? I have some spare paper with me. Did you also want to write him a letter or poem?"

[Ninja_Prawn]

"Oh, yeah. It's Luna. Luna Shadowbrae." To hear her tell it, Hunter is the most handsome young man to ever draw breath. Silky golden hair, sparkling yellow eyes, nearly 16 inches tall... It's safe to assume he'll be someone who stands out from the crowd.

At your suggestion of a poem, she hesitates for a bit, but then pulls out a thick, ornate journal. She leafs through page after page of painstakingly calligraphed poetry, searching for one that will "help my feelings reach him."

Eventually she settles on one, cuts it out of the book with a knife, and hands it to you.

It is, by a wide margin, the worst piece of creative writing you have ever read.

[WindStruck]

"Uh... Oh!" Astra stammers. "My, we are short on time, and that party is really soon too, isn't it?"

It's not that the piece was even funny. Her concern, which was becoming more feigned by the second, was all that would be masking an otherwise blank stare though.

"Let's go, everyone!"

Astra leaves before she is forced to roll a Deception check.

[Stan]

Opal follows Astra.

Once outside, she shakes her head. They things they do for love. Or, in this case, to gain illegal access to spell books.

Opal puts a question to the others. "So, do we actually give them the poem, just pass on the expressed feeling, or make up something ourselves? I'm all for honesty but I'm not much for broken hearts. I don't want to be too mercenary about it but we should also consider that failure would result in no access to the library."

[WindStruck]

"Poor girl. There's no way we can read this or give it to Hunter. But at this rate, if he turns out to be a huge jerk.... Well I guess we'll find out."

[Pyon]

"As long as we convey Luna's feelings, everything will be fine! She means it, I'm a hundred and ten percent sure of it! No even more than that!

[tgva8889]

Once they've left, Orianna holds out a hand to whoever has the poem. "May I read that?" After a few seconds, everyone can see Orianna's face contorting into various unseemly shapes before she thrusts it away from her. "No. I cannot allow anyone to be subjected to this drivel, for the good of their very soul. We must find another way. Between us we must be able to write something superior."

[WindStruck]

We don't have to say any poetry.... Just not bringing it up would be more honest than making something ourselves anyway."

[tgva8889]

"Perhaps so, but if this is the representation of those feelings, I feel more uncertain we should even be assisting this girl."

[Majin]

Kor reads the poem over Orianna's shoulder and frowns. "Wow, I thought I couldn't do poetry."

"We could also make sure this Brad has an accident..." Kor suggests."If he has to leave the party, or doesn't even get there, that could solve Luna's problem, right?"

[Ninja_Prawn]

You've been walking/flying while you were talking, and have now arrived at the party house. Nothing is ever that far away around here, after all. From the outside it appears to be a small place, one door out of many in a low terrace. Once you go through the door, however, you realise that the façade does not tell the whole story. Inside is a small chamber with a permanent teleportation circle, leading to a much bigger house in its own demiplane.

The Stardust residence is styled after a log cabin, built to impressive proportions (though only the reception space looks comfortable for Medium people) and set in a landscape of gentle grassy hills. Plenty of people fill the grounds, almost all of them young faeries, though a couple of satyrs are drawing a lot of attention with their raucous antics. Mostly people are chatting in groups, drinking and enjoying the music of a mop-haired lute-player. If there is to be a dance, it hasn't started yet.

[Pyon]

"First thing we find Hunter!" Kyu says as she surveys the party. "Maybe we should keep an eye out for Brad too? After all we just need to keep them away from each other."

[Ninja_Prawn]

You find both Hunter and Brad inside the house, hanging out with a few friends. They're playing with a large*, grey mouse, mussing up its fur and feeding it seeds - apparently it's Hunter's pet, Rocky.

"Hey, hey, check this out," says Brad. He waves his hands and a tiny, glowing creature appears in the air around him. Rocky snaps at it a few times, ineffectually.

"Woah, is that a shimmerling?" Hunter asks, to which he gets the reply:

"Yeah, bro. I just got the hang of summoning her yesterday."

At this point, someone notices you. Sidling up to Kyu, they say: "have I seen you somewhere before? No offense, but you seem kinda old for a party like this..."


*Large by mouse standards. It's about waist-high for the average fairy.

[WindStruck]

"Hey Hunter! We've heard so many good things about you. Yeah, we are just boring adults.." Astra says nonchalantly."The reason we're here is because of Luna. She roped us into some deal to do a favor for her. Yeah, she's pretty awesome like that.... Anyway, Luna is really into you, and she asked us to tell you that she wishes she could be here with you. But her job is, like, totally lame and keeping her there or they'll kill her." Astra rolls her eyes, thoroughly completing the teen act.

[Pyon]

Kyu frowns and crosses her arms. "Excuse me? If you call me old again there will be serious issues. AND! I'll have you know that I can party harder than any of you kiddos!"

[WindStruck]

Astra furtively says to Kyu, "You're not really making your case when you call them kiddos!"

[Ninja_Prawn]

"Anyway, Luna is really into you, and she asked us to tell you that she wishes she could be here with you. But her job is, like, totally lame and keeping her there or they'll kill her."

"Dang, that is way lame," Hunter says, plainly disappointed.

Brad continues: "kind of like you losers. Trust Luna to send a couple of crazy pixies to speak for her. Hey Hunter, you don't need that girl. Why not dance with me, eh?"

[WindStruck]

Astra asks, "Huh... No offense Hunter... Just wondering, are you into boys or girls?"

[Ninja_Prawn]

Despite having only just met you, he answers cheerily with: "either, really. It's personality that matters, you know?"

[Stan]

Opal nods in agreement. "I understand. In that case, doesn't it makes sense for someone in your position to sample all that there is to offer? Perhaps by going on a date with Luna tomorrow?"

Opal tilts her head a bit and gives a little shrug.

[Ninja_Prawn]

Hunter seems to be nodding along with what Opal is saying but, before he can answer, Brad cuts in with "sure, you could do that. But why bother, when you could have me? You know we had a good thing going..." It's clear that he's not going to let this one go.

Spoiler: I think we'd better roll a persuasion contest

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Charisma (Persuasion): (1d20+4)[10]

[WindStruck]

Astra slowly circles around Brad like a shark, ready to cross-examine her flank victim. "So, Brad. That's a neat little trick you did there, summoning a 'Shimmerling'. You also happen to be a part of the Society of Royal Conjurers? Cause I hear Luna got framed for something just a little while ago, and the guild is real mad with her. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?"

[tgva8889]

Orianna will watch Brad as Astra interrogates him, waiting for her moment to strike.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Insight (1d20+3)[16]

[Ninja_Prawn]

"You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?"

"Ah, well, I mean... lots of people know something about that. Like, how she claims she was framed or whatever."

Orianna senses from this vague non-denial that Astra is on the money and that Brad is, in fact, to blame for Luna's current predicament.

[tgva8889]

"You seem to care little about these events. Should you not care more for the predicaments of your guildmates? It seems odd for your to be celebrating rather than, say, investigating the cause of this issue or perhaps rectifying it yourselves." She looks over at Hunter for a moment. "Or perhaps you are the type who would abandon your friends in favor of your conquests?"

[WindStruck]

"There's no need to beat around the bush and question him about his morality, Ori. Judging by his evasive answer, I think the rumors are true."

Astra looks Brad dead in the eyes. "You set Luna up, so it would look like she didn't care about Hunter or the party, then you swooped in to try and pick up the pieces."

[Ninja_Prawn]

"Hey now, if you're going to throw accusations like that around, you best have the moves to back them up! Hey Mairi, you got your flute?" It seems she does; the other faeries clear out to leave a circle with just you and Brad. Mairi blows a coupe of notes to loosen up her fingers and nods to a satyr who pops up with a fiddle. Brad stretches out his arms and legs and says: "here's the deal. If three or more of you can out-dance me, I'll leave. Otherwise, you have to step off."