Trifecta: The Stones' Teeth

[Toliudar]

Orwell

A bit absent-mindedly, Orwell responds.

Well, I once met a kobold who could make teapots dance. By the Second Law of Magic Corollery, there should be such a teapot.

[McSherrie]

Evi perks up. "As a matter of fact, Ovurka, there was a teapot that could make kobolds dance. It's documented in more than a dozen texts, each giving similar if not identical details. Apparently, it was a cast iron pot with a bewitched porcelin whistle. The whistle had pictures of little birds and flowers painted on it.

"Orwell is correct about the kobold who could make teapots dance as well, although that only appears in two places and there are far fewer details. However, if you would like to share more, Orwell, I could update the information in the library when I get home." Her smile is absolutely beaming as she thinks about gathering and desiminating new information to the world.

After a moment of distracted mumbling to herself about the various related legends, Evi turns to Betsy. "Yes, I think the nearest village is a good place to start. Although I doubt we'll find the teapot there."

[dauphinous]

Betsy

Betsy looks up and nods to Evi. As long as someone has made the decision, that's good enough for her.

"All the talk about teapots...does anyone have any tea? I'd kind of like some tonight, I think. Just a cup. With a little bit of cream would be really nice." A light blush creeps back up over Betsy's cheeks, and she looks down again. "Not that I'm expecting anyone to carry cream just so I can have it in my tea, I was just saying that it would be, um, I mean...that's how I like my tea, I guess...is all I meant." She finishes what she's saying lamely, just sort of trailing off like she has no idea why she spoke up in the first place, let alone why she actually said what she said.

[Santanya]

Duantan

Duantan chuckles softly. "It would be best to stop in them along they way," he says. "Probably end up with giving us some clues of what we're dealing with." He walks along thinking quietly to himself, turning his head and listening to Betsy talk. "Might be hard to find any here," he says, glancing around. "Not exactly a high society type of place."

[dauphinous]

Betsy

The blush deepens. "Oh, no, I didn't mean- I mean, I don't want anyone to go looking. I just thought- I don't mean to be any trouble. I'm sorry I said anything." She pauses, pursing her lips for a moment. "That's an interesting story about the teapot. Are there other sorts of kitchen things that can do things like that?"

[Serpent Stare]

"Huh?" says Ovurka, raising an eyebrow at Betsy, "Like a bowl that turns water into cream, maybe? Why not?" she smiles amiably. "Nothing wrong with liking cream. Nothing wrong with saying so, neither. Don' be so hard on yourself."
As she walks back toward the horses, Ovurka waves to Gilad, and calls out to him as she approaches, "Gilad, do you know where we can find some tea with cream?"

[dauphinous]

Betsy

After gaping like a fish for a few seconds, Betsy's blush flares into a brilliant crimson. She covers her face with both hands and through them, says, "No, no, it's okay, I was just- It's nothing, no one needs to- I-" Unable to get her protest coherently through with how incredibly flustered she now is, she shuts her mouth.

Eyes firmly fixed on her feet, Betsy pulls her hands down to be stiff at her sides and chews on her lower lip as she walks. Her pace quickens, and she reaches the horse she and Duantan ride, putting it between herself and everyone else. Or, at least, as many of everyone else as possible. She closes her eyes and forces her breathing a little calmer in an effort to draw the blush back down.

[Santanya]

Duantan

Duantan chuckles softly as he follows along, looking around. As they reach the horses, he reaches up and gently squeezes Betsy's shoulder. "Relax," he whispers quietly, a smile across his face. "We should try to get out of here soon, but we can take a few minutes as we're getting resupplied," he says to everyone. "Stretch your legs some," he says. "I know I'm not eager to be back in the saddle." He glances around the military outpost again, "Not that its all bad."

[faithfreebible]

"Well now that we know where we are going, maybe we should end this conversation of teapots, and journy to complete our mission? The one we are being paid to complete... If you must continue this discussion, we could even do that as we ride."
Gilad states, clearly no longer amused by the discussion.

As soon as the group has gone over their supplies and seen that all is still as it should be, he mounts up and prepares to ride out.

[dauphinous]

Betsy

Betsy uses one hand to rub her other hand, a gesture that clearly telegraphs how uncomfortable she really is. As if the blushing wasn't enough. "Oh, you know, I just don't want to be any trouble." Once she looks down and notices the movements of her hands, she stops and drops them to her sides again. She nods at Duantan's suggestion of a short walk, but doesn't say anything else.

[Serpent Stare]

Ovurka stretches for a couple of minutes, trying to loosen up the muscles that are still bunched from the ride here. She gives Betsy a sympathetic look, feeling sorry for making her feel so awkward.

[Santanya]

Duantan

Duantan chuckles softly and shrugs. "Relax, Gilad. We're moving, besides, if we keep uptight before we go in, all that will do is make us that much more so when we get there." He grabs the saddle and hauls himself up onto his horse, then offers his hand to help pull Betsy up behind him. "Besides, its already early afternoon, chances are it'll be close to dark when we get there, especially if we stop at the villages along the way. There's too many things that see in the dark better than we can."

He grins slightly as he looks to the others. "I prefer not to be seen at all of course."

Spoiler

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Besides, DarkLady is away right now, so we probably won't get much advancement of the main story til she gets back. May as well get in character interactions as we can til then.

[Serpent Stare]

Sighing slightly, Ovurka mounts her horse and waits for everyone to be ready to head out, thinking to herself wistfully that a cup of tea really wouldn't have been a bad idea. She gives Duantan a look that suggests she doesn't quite understand what he's trying to say. "How would you get out of here without anybody seeing you? There's so many pebble in this place... and guards, too..."

[dauphinous]

Betsy

Ovurka's look only makes Betsy feel a little more guilty, but she wipes it away and gives a shot at returning the sentiment. She never means to bother anyone, it just seems to keep happening. A little distracted, she just takes Duantan's hand and climbs up behind him, settling there quickly. She turns to Ovurka and says softly, "He just means that he likes to have the advantage of surprise. I think."

[dariathalon]

Corwin

Corwin climbs back onto his mount looking more than a little peeved. Actually more annoyed at the prospect of getting back on horseback, he still takes it out on his companions in his mind. (First making sure that he is not currently sharing his thoughts through the connection that still exists.) "Sometimes I'm not sure why I bother travelling with these people," he thinks. "So many pebbles in this place. Feh, small rocks, kinda like her brain. At least she has a brain though. Better than Betsy who seems to completely lack a spine."

"Fine, let's be off to this first village then. No matter what time of day or night we get there, I'm sure we'll be spotted if there's anything there to spot us. A group our size is hardly subtle," he says.

[Santanya]

Duantan

Duantan chuckle and nods to Betsy. "I'm not worried about this place, Ovurka, not much at least. I mean when we get where we're going." He glances towards Corwin. "And yes, I would agree, as a group we are. But that's why there's this thing called 'scouting'." He knickers at his horse setting the beast into motion. "Cranky people today," he comments under his breath.

[dauphinous]

Betsy

"It's probably just all the unknowns," Betsy says quietly to Duan's back. "We've always kind of had an idea what we were going to be facing before. All we know about this is some big footprints and missing people and missing soldiers. Besides that, if it's taking out trained soldiers...well, that's cause enough for anyone to feel a little worried about the mission. Isn't it? I mean, they're soldiers."

[Serpent Stare]

"Oh. Scouting." repeats Ovurka, nodding, a little confusedly. "Well, just let me know when you need me, that's all. I think I can do a bit better than a soldier." She grins a little at the others, hoping to help keep their spirits up, despite the growing tension.

[Toliudar]

Orwell

The dwarf settles comfortably back into the seat of his wagon.

Well, you have to remember that soldiers tend to think like, well, soldiers. If what you have is a sword, everything looks like it's wearing a target. There are lots of things that will respond much better to a more creative approach.

He chuckles.

Besides, my people have been dealing with things much bigger than them for a VERY long time. I do agree, though, that knowing something about the creature - or creatures - before we come into claw range would certainly be reassuring. Getting some information at the villages that might have spotted something would help us know whether we're preparing for a hydra or a giant tiger.

[DarkLadyOfTheSith]

After three days of further travel, hampered by the difficulties of getting Orwell's cart through some of the steep and narrow mountain passes, you arrive at a small village on the fringe of the area indicated by the lieutenant (who had a soldier see to restocking your foodstuffs before you left). The village appears to house about fifty, and is a quiet sort of town, apparently untouched by the devastation of the recent war.

[dauphinous]

Betsy

As they leave the city behind, Betsy gradually relaxes again. It isn't until it is out of sight that she slips her arms around Duantan's waist and leans into him, her cheek on his back. There are, of course, things to worry about, but this is her favorite part of any journey. She closes her eyes and just holds on, a smile of contentment on her face.

As usual, she helps with camp chores where she can, generally sticking to cleanup sorts of activities. The minor magical effects she can call up make her well suited to it, and she is always pleased to actually help out whenever she can.

She perks up as they approach the village, peering around Duantan to take a look at it. "There's not much to it, is there? What do people do in villages this small?" Obviously, she's seen places smaller than cities before, but it never fails to astound her that people can get by just fine on a long term basis without the amenities that cities offer.

[Santanya]

Duantan

Duantan seems to relax as they group journeys. He smiles until they near the first village. seeming to enjoy the travel. Once at the village, he frowns, reigning up his horse as they come within sight of the it. "Mostly just live their lives I'd think," he says as he look across what they can see. "Let's move in, we can check things over from inside, if its as empty as we were told," he adds as he clucks softly at his warhorse, urging it into the village. "Keep an eye out though," he says, still frowning. One hand drops to the hilt of a dagger at his waist.

As they reach the edge of the village, he carefully dismounts, keeping the reigns as he leads the horse in, watching all around.

Spoiler

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Spot: 1D20+3 = [12]+3 = 15
Listen: 1D20+3 = [13]+3 = 16

[DarkLadyOfTheSith]

Duantan spots nothing out of the ordinary, although a fair number of the villagers stop and stare at the party-- clearly they aren't used to such a sight.

[dauphinous]

Betsy

"But what do they do?" Betsy stays on the horse, confident it won't bolt, and pulls herself forward to sit in the saddle. "There's no theater, no market square, no nothing. The parties couldn't possibly be all that great with so few people," she blushes very lightly, "not that I like those kinds of parties, but you know."

Spoiler

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Spot check: 18

[Santanya]

Duantan

Duantan glances up to Betsy. "You might be surprised. The smaller the party, the more fun it can be," he says and he relaxes. He smiles and nods to people, stopping the closest to ask where the town leaders might be found. As they walk he continues. "They're more intimate."

[dauphinous]

Betsy

Betsy's smile grows a little and she blushes a just a bit more, to a rosy pink. She also nods, almost imperceptibly. "I suppose so. I...wouldn't know." She fidgets a little bit - gently pulling the sleeves of her dress straight, tucking a few curls behind her ears, brushing a few other curls out of her face.

[DarkLadyOfTheSith]

The villager Duantan stops indicates a small temple at the end of the street-- it's unclear what deity it serves at this distance. "Parthos is in there."

[dariathalon]

Corwin

Corwin rides near the middle of the group, keeping the others between himself and the villagers as much as possible. Once they've moved a distance beyond the one that Duantan talked to he says quietly, "When we get up there, I'm going to cast a spell that will hopefully make this Parthos chap a little more friendly. I'll hang back at the back to cast the spell."

(Those in the group familiar with magic will suspect Corwin is talking about Charm Person, one of the spells he knows.)

[Serpent Stare]

"Will that really be necessary?" Ovurka asks Corwin, also quietly, as they progress. "We're here to help. Why would the leader of the town not be friendly?"

[dariathalon]

Corwin

Corwin looks at Ovurka rather harshly. "In my experience people are more often unfriendly than friendly. We don't know the situation here, and I want to give him as little reason as possible to distrust us."

OOC:

Spoiler

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I just wanted everyone to know, since they've been around Corwin for quite some time now, that he has a rather shaded view of the world. I understand the irony in what he's saying, even if he doesn't. If pushed gently on the matter by someone he respects, he'll probably back down. Not saying I want that to happen, given the backstory your characters probably understand the way he ticks.