Bott Island- South IC

[Trollololololol]

Duke Earl of Jarl handed the party one day's worth of rations as he wished them luck on their quest. The rations contained some fruits, meats, and a loaf of freshly baked bread.

"Thank you all so much for taking the time to go out and adventure. This is truly one of the most important jobs for our small town," Earl said.

As a couple of stares are directed at him, he quickly clears his throat and continues.

"Of course, I would go on this epic voyage myself, but... I have to keep an eye on the town. Plus, I have to... work on... some... work. Anyways, best of luck to you on your journey!"

Earl gives a friendly pat on the back to each member of the party and then walks off to the tavern. You turn around and find yourself face to face with a shallow forest. There are a handful of trees, but you can see all the way through the lightly-wooded forest to the other side. From what you see, the forest is completely cleared.

[King-Strawberry]

As soon as the duke is out of sight, the pretty brunette girl in reds' features seem to flow like wax and then mold into a perfect imitation of the dukes.
"I have to... work on... some... work."
before then molding back into her own.
"What a joke..."
She then turns to the rest of those assembled. "I'm Hailey by the way"

[MintyNinja]

Jak stays politely quiet while the Duke speaks and accepts the rations gratefully. In response to the mocking woman, the elf says, "Jakrilium Aleato, at your service. But I prefer Jak, if you'd be so kind." He surveys the rest of the group as he runs a hand over his bare scalp. "Shall we be off?"

[Theoboldi]

Observing the changeling's actions, the little green man allows himself a short giggle. He hadn't quite gotten the joke, but her transformation had taken him by surprise. Shapeshifters. He had not witnessed mortals being able of this yet. At least not without spells. Perhaps she was one of those fabled changelings? Making a mental note to ask the girl later, both for an explanation of the joke and about her exact species, he began to speak.

"I am Kimninrin, professor of anthropology. Pleasure doing business with you all."

[King-Strawberry]

Hailey shakes hands with the others "Kimninrim, thats a mouthful, try to say it 5 times fast! Can I call you professor or Kim?"
She turns to Jak, "Jak it is then, thats the best plan i've heard all day!"

[Trollololololol]

You all turn to see a thinly-treed forest standing directly ahead of you. You can clearly see all the way through the forest, and it appears to be fairly empty save for a few leaves and twigs...

[MintyNinja]

Nodding to the one called Hailey, Jak turns towards the forest and leads the way. He turns his head slightly to see if his companions are following, but does not break stride.

OOC: I'm not sure if this is wanted or not, so feel free to disregard the following:

Spot [roll0]
Listen [roll1]

[Theoboldi]

Kimninrin starts following Jak, slowly creeping towards the forest as he observes his surroundings. He nods towards Hailey, shining her something that could be considered a smile. "Yes, professor will do. I don't get what your people's fascination with knowing everyone's names is about anyway. Half of them don't even mean anything! And this whole surname-business..."
He shakes his head in disbelief.

[King-Strawberry]

Hailey keeps pace with the professor chatting amiably.
"Names are like faces for one such as I, tools to be used and recycled when necessary. The right combination can open all kinds of doors."

[Theoboldi]

The professor stops dead in his tracks for a second, a wave of realisation suddenly washing over his face. "Tools! Of course! You people don't use names to explain who you are, they are a part of your politics and intrigue. That makes a lot of sense, actually. Thanks, I appreciate the information."
Smiling, he picks up his pace again.

[theterran]

Quietly Walice follows, thinking to himself.

...They would not be good at the hunt, they are far too mouthy... he thinks to himself.

Flanking him on either side are Romulus and Remus, his dogs. Glancing up, he hurries his steps slightly, to keep pace with the others.

[Trollololololol]

As you wander through the forest, a Bugbear appears before the party. His face is twisted in terror and fright as he sees the party.

"AAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEE!" he shrieks before disappearing again. Then, the forest falls completely silent.

[King-Strawberry]

"Well, thats odd...."
A dagger seems to appear in her hand
[roll0] Sleight of hand

[Hazuki]

Val stands to the side for the majority of the talking that the party is going through, lost in her own little world for a few moments, after having gotten into it during the wait for the Mayor. Instead, she stands, watching her Psicrystal spin and spin around her head with her little orange eyes, in her little orange eye sockets, in her completely see-through orange body.

Until the Bugbear screams and knocks her out of it. "I get it! There must be holes in the ground or something, in the forest, or a portal or something. That's why he suddenly appeared out of nowhere." She suggests, throwing out a suggestion without really thinking about it much.

[MintyNinja]

Jak is startled, but only momentarily. Before he can loose an arrow at the creature, it seems to have vanished. "Do we happen to have anyone knowledgeable enough with illusions to spot one when they see one?" he asks the group as he brings his bow to bear. An arrow from the quiver on his hip is primed and ready to fly as he looks about for tracks. If it's not an illusion then there would be tracks of some kind...

Search for Tracks [roll0]
Readied action to fire on the Bugbear if it reappears.

[theterran]

"Would this be worthy prey to hunt? It would seem to be little satisfaction or honor from hunting something as terrified as that creature was." comments Walice toward the others.

[Theoboldi]

The professor shrugs, unsure what to do. "I have no idea. What exactly do mortals value in a hunt? I guess we could eat him, but he seemed a little on the fat side. If you only want to do it for the sport, I suppose him being scared could cloud his judgement, but also increase his willingness to run. He might end up running into a tree. That would be rather funny."

Waiting for the elf's call, he stretches out his finger to poke the strange gooey humanoid beside him, trying to figure out just what exactly he is looking at.

[Hazuki]

Rather than allow the poking, Val's gooey form shifts out of the way so the Professor finds only air, as she takes a step back and tilts her head at him. "You can't just go around poking people. Unless you give them money first, but even then, only a few of 'em." She rebukes him, then shoots a grin. "One moment, let me check something." She grins, communing with her Psicrystal.

Mindsight allows Val to detect any intelligent life forms within 100ft, and determine their type and intelligence score. Did she detect the Bugbear with it? Are there any other lifeforms she can't immediately sense?

[Trollololololol]

Val:
You do not sense the Bugbear. However, you do sense life coming around 95ft to the Southwest.

As the party continues looking for the mysterious Bugbear, they realize that he is gone for good. There is a mountain directly west however.

[Hazuki]

"It wasn't a real bugbear. But there is something thataways." The oozy Psion says with certainty in her voice, pointing towards the Southwest. "And it's not very far, so we should probably keep our cool. And not immediately try to shoot it; most people don't like that."

[MintyNinja]

"If you'll pardon me, I find that I happen to be among a large proportion of people that do not like being ambushed," Jak says to the more liquid person. "If that were the precursor to an ambush I would greatly dislike dying without taking one or two with me." Seeing no tracks, Jak eases his arrow free and returns it to the quiver. He starts walking ahead of the group, trying to keep an ear and an eye out for ambushes.

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[King-Strawberry]

Seemingly intrigued by Val, Hailey looks at her up and down before shifting into something similar, only purple, "Ohh, how peculiar!" She immediately shifts back, shuddering.

Jak's statement snaps her out of it and she peers to the southwest.
[roll0]

[Trollololololol]

As you continue your way through the strange forest, Val leads the party (using Mindsight) to a large cave. The outside is overgrown with ivy, and a musty smell comes from inside the cave. A deep, guttural growl echoes it way outside the chambers.

[Hazuki]

Val's jaw drops open slightly, as she watches Hailey shift into an ooze only briefly, before turning back and making the Psion sad again. "Aww, you were so cute! You should stay like that!" She encourages with a grin, before leading the party through the forest and towards the growling cave.

"...who here runs the slowest?"

[King-Strawberry]

"Thanks!, but I think I prefer this form, it feels much more natural."

Hailey draws her hand crossbow once the cave mouth comes into view

[MintyNinja]

Jak draws the arrow from his quiver and in response to the question he replies, "If I may, I have rather quick feet."

[Trollololololol]

Jak leads the way through the cave and the roar becomes louder. The walls on the cave are cold, and a chilling breeze is making its way through the cave from the outside.

After making a sharp left turn, the party comes face to face with a dragon! The bronze-colored scales seem to be glowing in the dinghy cave. The dragon looks down at the party and lets out a quick wince of pain.

"Ouch!" the dragon roars. "Wait. Who are you?"

[theterran]

"We are explorers and hunters, oh great one." says Walice with the utmost reverence. "We have been charged to explore this unknown island, and we apologize for intruding on your home." he finishes, with a flourished bow.

"We probably should be going..." Walice whispers to the others, not really wanting to feel a dragons wrath...

[Trollololololol]

"Great one?" the dragon repeats. "the Golden Dragon is here?"

The Bronze Dragon looks around the small cave for a moment before sitting back, unsatisfied. "Nice joke! Well, my name is Davdak. Please... tell me another joke! I've had a rather... rough day.

[MintyNinja]

Jak eases his arrow out of the long bow and says, "Pleasure to meet you Davdak, my name is Jakrillium Aleato. Call me Jak." He looks to his party before adding, "As for a joke... well have you heard the one about the angry mob? It's a riot."

[King-Strawberry]

Hailey stows her crossbow.
"I seem to be fresh out of jokes at the moment, but perhaps this will do?"
Her face then flits between a half dozen wearing in comical expressions

[Trollololololol]

Davdak roars with laughter at the joke and funny faces. He snorts out a small flame from his nostrils as the laughter echoes throughout the small cave. After a few minutes of laughter, Davdak regains his composure and looks down at the party.

"Oh, I haven't laughed that hard in far too long!" Davdak says. "You know, you all seem capable enough. Not far from here, a small tribe recently stole an important heirloom of mine. If you can retrieve that heirloom for me, I promise to reward you for the trouble."

[theterran]

Walice looks a tad perplexed, but says nothing.

How very odd, apparently the dragons in this place act nothing like those from home... he thinks to himself...

[Hazuki]

Val holds her hand up to get the dragon's attention before she begins speaking, just to make sure she doesn't misunderstand their culture of who to speak to and when. "Do you have any oozes or anything ooze-related that I can have for helping you?"

[Trollololololol]

"But of course! I will gladly give you anything you want... and I mean anything!" the dragon insists. "So... can I count on you?"

[King-Strawberry]

"what is this heirloom you speak of?"

[Trollololololol]

"It's rather silly really. The heirloom is simply a rather large broach. Now... are you going to help me?" Davdak asks, impatience becoming evident in his voice.

[MintyNinja]

"Of course! How in the world could we refuse your request with such a promise behind it. Please, point us in the right direction and we'll be off," Jak exclaims. He didn't want to anger the dragon, that was one of the core philosophies of common sense.

[Trollololololol]

Davdak points a direction (South) and then watches the party as he waits for them to leave...

[King-Strawberry]

"I'm sure we'll be back in a jiffy!"
hailey turns to leave

[Hazuki]

"And if we die, it'll be your fault." Val adds, before following Hailey out of the dragon's cave.

[MintyNinja]

Before he leaves, Jak hesitates and asks one last question, "If you'll pardon a last question: what race is the tribe? I would hate for us to accidentally delay the return of your heirloom because we stumbled upon the wrong tribe." Once he's answered, Jak also takes his leave.

[Trollololololol]

"Uh... I believe they were Yuan-ti!" Davdak calls after the party as they exit the cave.

As the party makes their way out of the cave, the party is welcomed back outside by a soft breeze. The sun shines brightly as quiet fills the air.

Not too far away, a Yuan-ti colony is in for a surprise...

[theterran]

"Does it seem odd to anyone else that a dragon would not go after something that was stolen from it, itself; and instead trust complete strangers to bring this thing back to it?" comments Walice as they walk south, in the direction that the 'dragon' pointed.

"I only mention it because it doesn't really seem dragon-like at all, and perhaps we should be cautious in our dealings with these Yaun-ti, as well as this 'dragon'" he states, putting an emphasis on the word 'dragon'.

[MintyNinja]

"I'm not one to disagree with you, but when I asked if anyone had any experience with illusions, none would speak. Perhaps we are being sent on a dangerous mission for the wrong reasons, but maybe we'll find something along the way to make it worth it." Jak walked along with the others. He kept his bow strung and in hand while he walked, there was no reason to be caught by surprise.

Spot [roll0]
Listen [roll1]

[Trollololololol]

Mintyninja:
You don't hear anything. ...literally. You seem to have gone deaf for the moment.

The party wanders in the direction Davdak told them about, and quickly find a small camp, nothing more than a fire and a couple of carts. A few Yuan-ti are sitting around a fire, talking and laughing. On the edge of the camp, a cage rests, holding a mysterious figure...

[MintyNinja]

Jak sees the targets ahead, but when he turns back to tell his group he can't hear his own voice! He has no internal control over his own volume and the normally soft spoken elf is poking at his own ears instead of getting to a hidden position.

OOC: What kind of roll would one need to regain hearing?

[King-Strawberry]

Hailey is puzzled by Jak's odd behaviour..
"Well really.. This isn't the time for games!" she whispers to the others