Slaves to desires.

[wadledo]

Sleepy

"We need to go in the pool?"
The hedgehog tilts its head quizically to the side for a moment.
"O-kkkaay."
Taking a mighty leap, the little hedgehog flings itself into the pool, curling into a ball as it soars through the air.

Only someone with amazing eyesight and hearing could possibly see the little paw that waves at the animals remaining behind, as well as the tiny voice that says "Bye, bye."

[Aergoth]

Siv, items in hand, dives after the creature, but falls into it after the little hedgehog. The light and roar of the portal around him dizzies Siv until it finally subsides. As Siv stands up he finds himself, somewhere... else.

[Dreamshifter]

Entara, with his new gloves on his wings, and a shiny gem circling his... entire body, gets pulled into the portal with Siv. "Wait, I'm not..." He gets cut off upon entering the portal.

"...ready... yet... Oh, well. At least we are here. Wait, where's the hedgehog?"

[ColdSepp]

"Sentry"

Sentry waits for Atta to remount him, then heads into the pool as well.

[RandomLunatic]

Katrina

Katrina gulps, leaps, and dives through the portal, front legs first.

[Kuma Da]

Margaret

A little dust cloud appears on the horizon.

It's not there for very long.

In the space of a few minutes, Margaret comes flying into view. Running at full tilt. Her hind claws pulling clumps of sod from the earth and jettisoning them into the air.

If anyone cared to listen in on her thoughts, they would probably hear something like this:

WooooooOOOOOOOooooooOOOOOohnolake!

There's a spray of droplets as Margaret tries to stop, digs in her heels, and finds herself flung forward into the bracingly cold waters.

[Maryring]

Atta quickly hands out the various objects to each animals, everyone getting something of their own, before she finally finishes by handing out three potions and an elixir each to Karook and Siv, seeing that they are the only ones who can effectively use them. The rest of the liquids she keep in the chest and safeguards it. Then, the animals all climb into the Pool, and none of them resurface.

1st group:
A cold white glow seems to surround Freki, Katrina, Siv, Atta, Entara and Sentry. The swirling portal seems to tear and toss them around, and Siv, Atta and Entara are forced to hang on tight to not lose each other. Finally, the storm ends and they all wake up to find themselves somewhere none of them know where is. They are in a forest yes, but not the same as before. Something Freki and Katrina quickly notice when the scent of humans wash over them. Through the thick trees, they can see a small human village that... is apparently out in nowhere, though it does act as the closest point of reference.

2nd group:
Worried about Atta who rushed into the pool, Karook runs after her, followed by Marquis, Krrk, Kath, Smaugh and Bub. They too suffer desorientation from the Pool's magic, and when it finally ceases, they are not on Elysium. Rather, they appear to have reached a cavern of sorts. In one direction is the opening out of the cavern. A path out to a safe plain with absolutely no cover, but potentially a way to identify where they are. Though there is also that certain charm about adventuring into an unidentified cave, where Warren will have a hard time finding them. Though so too will the other animals.

3rd group:
The last group find themselves on a beautiful field of daisies. In one direction, they see a large castletown, though since it is nighttime, they are probably not seen by the guards patrolling the walls. In the other directions they notice a path going from the city and through a forest to the south, while another path goes into a mountain range to the east. Regardless of path chosen though, they need to move out of open terrain before the sun rises.

[Aergoth]

Siv jumps on to Sentry's back, and from there to his head to attempt to see over the trees.
"We need to know where we are. Keep very still Sentry, understand? I'm going to want to keep my bones in one piece, and falling from this height won't help."

Spoiler

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OOC: Can I see over the trees? Do I see anything else?

[Kuma Da]

Margaret, field of daisies

Light flashes as she strikes the pool. Then there is an abrupt clap of sound and cold as she vanishes.

A little while later, Margaret is surprised and relieved to find herself existing again. The ground wobbles a little unsteadily beneath her, and she looks down to find her feet stuck through...man-hooves? Boots? Her claws have gone right through the soles and they're a little awkward to walk on, but there's latent power in them. She sniffs delicately. Is the power to run. Run run run crazyfast. It will do, yes yes.

Leaning over, she begins to crop the fabric with her teeth into a more comfortable shape. This brings her face level with the ground and the tiny blue rock resting amidst the flowers. More magic?

Like an egg, she nudges it with her nose, probing for signs of life. Surely enough, it rises into the air and begins a weary orbit around her head.

More magic. Yes yes of course. Is well suited to a quickbrightmindgirl.

Margaret preens.

[GrassyGnoll]

Marquis

The cat looks around disdainfully. No surprise there. Marquis makes his way to the cave's mouth.

"I'll be on my way to the nearest urbane center. If you're as uninterested in Elysium as I am don't wait up."

[ColdSepp]

"Sentry"

Sentry sets Atta on the ground, stretches to his full height, roughly thirty five feet in the air, and waits for Siv to finish his climb to the top. The only movement is the small, orbiting crystal around his head.

He takes in the scent of his surrounds, woods and smoke and people, but no pack. Still, he clicks his jaws together, hoping for an answering call.

[wadledo]

Sleepy Field of Daisies

The little hedgehog already sitting on the ground, chewing at a few of the stalks of grass in the field.
"I found a shiny rock."
Sleepy holds up a tiny pebble in his paws, yawning widely.
"Nighty, night-night."
He curls up around his new found treasure, purring slightly.

[Dreamshifter]

Entara, field of trees

Entara launches himself upward as Siv climbs. "Up, up, up we go! Climb, Siv, climb! That way I can see something besides the forest for all the trees!" He waits to launch himself if the combined height is not taller than the forest.

[RandomLunatic]

Katrina

Katrina forced her eyes open. Where am I? The forest looked the same. But the smells were different. Of men, but also fire. And crops. And livestock. There was a settlement nearby. Which meant one thing.

Dinner.

Already salivatign with anticipation, she rears on her hind legs for a better view. She only came up about four-fifths of the way on Sentry, but this still granted her a superior view.

[Gorgondantess]

Fawkes opens his eyes after several moments of sweet, beautiful silence.


Ah. They're all gone. What conflict.... on one hand, I could go with them, as horrible that would be, and miss my newfound peace... and then I could stay here, in the sweet silence. Yes, silence. If only I had a book... But then they left for a reason; freedom, they said. If only thay knew it was no freedom at all, really, at least no more than they had beofore. But then Atta talked of extermination, and they left in some haste.... It seems that, after all, fate does not favor the pragmatic. Those splashes don't sound pleasant.
If any were left around, they would see a brown and black shape shoot out of the hole in the wall, it wings pulled straight back in a hawklike dive, then hover over the pond for a few moments, pensive like, and shooting down into it, never to surface.

Well this is... interesting.

Spoiler

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Sooo.... knowledge checks to see where we are, stuff about the portal, etc.
(1d20)[15]. I'll just make a joint check. +12 for planes or arcana, +11 for dungeoneering, +9 for history, +8 for nobility and royaly, and +6 for everything else.

[Khosan]

Animus

Animus maintained a slow, steady descent into the portal, lyre gripped firmly by his feet, chanting the mantra, "It's okay, I'm not gonna drown, it's okay."

Once Animus fully reformed in the field of daisies, he promptly fell to the ground again. This time, however, he vomited once he'd pulled himself off the ground, "Ohhh...Oh that was not a good feeling. Not at all. Gyeugh." He spat on the ground, and looked up at some of the others around him, "Where are we?"

[The_Shaman]

Karook

After taking the potions, Karook jumped into the lake quickly. He wasn't quite sure what he saw, and at some point he was more than happy to just close his eyes until the nausea passed, and then he was in the ... cave? Well, Elysium probably did have caves, he guessed, but it wasn't quite what he expected. Ugh, remind me to close my eyes next time when going through this, Atta. Atta? Wait, where did the others go? He said with a tinge of worry in his voice, looking around. In a second, he sighed. This is distressing, perhaps the portal didn't work as well as planned. Well, we are alive, so that's something. The others probably aren't in the cave anyway, so there is little for us to do here. he said with a shrug. Yet he looked around, just in case.

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(1d20+7)[13] Spot

[Khosan]

Animus

"Hang on a second," Animus steadied himself and looked around. He scrutinized all the major landmarks that he could see from where he was: the forest, the mountain range, the field, and the castle-town in particular. Come on, think, someone had to have come through the tavern talking about this place at some point...

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Bardic Knowledge - (1d20+9)[13]

[Renthur]

With an idle shake of his head, Freki stands and takes a look at his surroundings for a few moments. He grins eagerly at the scent of people, watching the village in the distance intently. "Think we'll be well received if we pay them a visit?"

[Duke of URL]

Zhahn, Field of Daisies

Before entering the pool, Zhahn had consented to land to be given a cloak. After making sure it didn't interfere with his ability to fly, he soared up into the air, and then dove into the pool. This had better work...

... no, apparently not. Not surprisingly, things didn't work out smoothly. Planning, planning is the key. Always! Since it is clearly not one would expect from Elysium, he tries to figure out where he might be.

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KnowPlanes - (1d20+6)[15]

To the others, he says, "I suggest heading away from that city... personally, I prefer the mountains, but I'll fly ahead to scout the forest path if you like." He shakes the water from his featers, and takes to the air again.

[Aergoth]

"Friend Freki, consider for a moment, what we are. While a pair of overlarge cousins seems quite normal to us, we probably seem like monsters to them. Friend Atta gave you the bracelets, you don't NEED to eat. We can hunt once we're clear of this place." Siv climbs down carefully off of Sentry's back and carefully removes Entara from his head if he is still there. "We will have to go down to the village. I think. Friend Atta, I think I will need your help. I do not know much about humans I am afraid. We will need to do something about your appearance though." Siv casts a thoughtful eye over Atta. "If we are not as far from Warren' Siv manages to imbue the name with so much hatred and it seems almost corrosive 'as we intended, we do not want you recognized." Siv puts on the bracers, and then the hat. Siv shifts to become a halfling, carrying the Horn across one shoulder, and a terrible yellow bandanna cocked rakishly on his head. His clothing is typical of a halfling, very functional and comfortable, in muted browns and beiges echoing the colour of his fur. His nose protrudes a little, and his apparent sideburns echo the shape of ears folded down. "Friends Sentry, Freki, Entara and Katrina, please stay here. The people there will not like you. I will go with Friend Atta-Liberator, into the village. We will find out where we are, and where we should go. Friend Entarra, I trust you to make sure you are not found. Hold them here if they do. If you absolutely must, kill them."

[Renthur]

Freki gives a nod and lies on his stomach in an attempt to avoid being too noticeable. "Of course, and if things go badly for you, well a few walls aren't much trouble. I also never said anything about eating them you know. I may be large and hungry but I do have some amount of control." Freki rests his head on his forepaws, seeing this as a fair opportunity for some rest.

[J-H]

Sivore, Field of Daisies-group 3
"The mountains seem like the best bet to me, as well. Scout as you like. Let's go."

The large rat starts making his way towards the mountains, unhindered by his magical items (which do look a bit odd on a rat).

[RandomLunatic]

Katrina

Fine, I'll wait here. Don't be all day about it, Katrina says to Siv. With that, Katrina turns in a circle three times, lies down, and tries to sleep.

She only dozes fitfully for about 15 minutes before lifting her head. Entara, do me favor. Fly up and see if there are any rivers nearby.

[SoD]

Flying straight up from the pool, Krrk suddenly feels quite suprised, and only just avoids smashing into the roof of the cave. Quickly performing a complex ariel maneuver to avoid hitting the roof, Krrk flips, twists, gets caught in his new cloak and crashes into the floor. Struggling to free himself, and cursing, Krrk suceeds only in getting himself more and more entangled.

[Dreamshifter]

Katrina
She only dozes fitfully for about 15 minutes before lifting her head. Entara, do me favor. Fly up and see if there are any rivers nearby.

Entara

Entara draws his attention back from the trees. "So... very much... kindling... What? Fly up and look for rivers? Oh, sure, I can do that! That way I'll know how much of a forest fire I could cause."

He flutters up and zips around above the tree tops, looking for water, and anything else that might catch his interest, or at least attention.

[WillWolf]

Bub: - Cavern

Bub stared in confusion at the whole cavern thing. Never had he seen such a weird opening into the underworld before, not like his cosy little burrows or the hollows of trees--this, this was huge, and dark, and unnerving and not somewhere where he wanted to go.

He looked at the baboon and then at the bat. The bat might want to stay here, he sure as heck didn't want anything to do with the enclosed space. He snuffled around, hearing the fall of the bat, and undid the bat from the cloak unceremoniously. Thumbs did after all have their advantages.

"I dain't going into there." he snuffled to the group that remained, as he headed for the exit. "But I dain't going to go no ----- city deither."

He followed the cat to the exit of the door.

[RandomLunatic]

Katrina

No fires! Katrian calls after the bird. Yet, she qualifies.

[Maryring]

1st group:
"Yes... yes you are right. It's just..." Atta frowns and looks at Siv. "No, you can't go in quite looking like that. Pardon my rudeness." She shifts his headband so that it at least gives the appearance of functionality, before lifting and twisting the rest of his clothes a little, realigning the dagger in his belt and moving the horn a little, quickly removing the appearance of someone who has never worn clothes before. "There, that's better." She smiles and then incants some arcane words, quickly shrinking down in size, as her clothes change from a white labcoat and blue pants into a green tunic over brown leggings. Her glasses disappear and her hair is magically bound up into a blonde ponytail. Finally, her clogs change into comfortable light-blueish toy shoes, completing her transformation into a Tallfellow Halfling, only barely shorter than Siv. "Yeah... much better. Well, shall we get going?" She smiles and starts to walk towards the city, leaving Siv to catch up.

After Siv and Atta has left, Entara is sent out to look for water. The ditzy bird flutters up, zigzagging through the trees while scouting out a source of water. Finally he finds a river in the opposite direction of the village. He is just about to fly back when he notices something that makes his little heart almost jump out of his chest. A small flaring bonfire, the first sign of his wonderful fire, burning by the edge of the river. So sparkly, so... burningly, that he almost doesn't notice the four hunters directly below him. They haven't noticed him due to his small size, but they are quickly moving towards where Freki, Sentry and Katrina are resting. Then again, there is a fire burning...

"You know... I've been thinking." Atta says as she and Siv comes closer to the village. "The original idea was to get you guys to Elysium, where you'd be protected from Warren but now... we're all spread across the world. You're my responsibility and if something were to happen..." She sighs. "I just hope the others are okay. You don't deserve a life like this, and I am sure you would be well received on Elysium... no I really am certain about that. If you got there, he couldn't do anything. But while..." She sighs loudly, obviously bothered by something, but then shakes her head and smiles towards Siv. "Well, never mind about that. We'll burn that bridge when we cross it." Her hand reaches out towards him, then stops halfway and points towards the village. "Now, I think we should use this chance for you to practice your social skills among humans. You should do the speaking, while I'll stand back and interrupt if you do something very wrong." She smiles. "But I'll give you some basic advice. If you want to ask questions, look for someone who appears relaxed. That means someone with a smile and lowered shoulders. While body language is important for us as well, vocal language is our primary means of communication, so watch your words more than your paws... or hands I guess." She looks towards the village. "And remember that you are far stronger than most humans, and among halflings you'd be famous for your strength and agility. So try not to show your strength too much."

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Group two and three coming up shortly

[Maryring]

2nd group:

The first who reach the exit are in for a surprise when a loud roar echoes across the sky. Staring up at the sky, the group is met with the sight of a battle. A silver dragon and a red dragon fighting against each other, above a spiky mountain range that stretches as far as the eye can see. A narrow path, stretches out in two directions. One leading upwards to a snowy glacier, from where the view must be terrific. The other path snakes downwards and vanishes among the narrow stone spires. A loud crash brings the attention back to the battle in the sky. The two dragons are evenly matched, with no clear winner being shown yet, but at least neither of them notices, nor cares, about the group while the battle is going on.