A Faerie Affair - IC IV: Dragon with Butterfly Wings

[Ninja_Prawn]

Spoiler: Kor

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"Yeah, that's one thing I regret, never learning an instrument," Ori says. "Oh, I think Hefeydd's a little busy..." But you surely can find someone else who's willing to gamble. Many among Reena's soldiers and Soren's armsmen are keen card-players... though you probably shouldn't expect them to play hoenstly. Are you looking more for a game of chance, or a game of skill?

Spoiler: Violet

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You twist and twirl and spin and sway until you're too dizzy to fly: it's a lot of fun! Brent collapses too, incapacitated by laughter. "Phew, I feel like a kid again!" He tries to get up, staggers a little, and puts a hand on his head. "Well, maybe not entirely... I should probably give it a rest for now. Don't want to wear myself out before the hunt. You want to grab another drink?" - or you could get back up and collar another dance partner...

Spoiler: Astra

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He chuckles. "This is the first time you've been away from home for so long, right? You must be looking forward to seeing your familiy again."

[WindStruck]

Spoiler: Astra

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Astra laughs a little nervously back. "Hah, yeah. It was pretty sudden,too! First a queen I had never met summons me for some reason.. then before I know it, I'm some kind of diplomat!"

She sighs and says, confirming his observations, "I do want to get back home.."

[Archmage1]

Spoiler: Violet

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As Brent falls, laughing, Violet soon follows, overcome by a fit of the giggles at the fun of it all. She recovers after he does, although she doesn't stand, too distracted by the world spinning around her. "M-maybe something to drink? And then, maybe meeting people?"

[Majin]

Spoiler: Kor

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"Well I mean if you're serving Heffy now, maybe you'll have time? He seems the sort of fellow who could appreciate more musicians. But let's go play!" Kor tugged at Orianna's sleeve, looking around. He did prefer games of chance, because honestly trying to thinking too many moves ahead have him a headache. He'd tried to learn Dragonchess because, well, it had dragon in the name! Unfortunately, it had proved quite a bit duller than he'd hoped, and he focused on cards. He wasn't afraid of trickery, though he honestly wasn't too good at bluffing himself. The darn tail tended to give him away, and Kor considered it unfair most other fey didn't have to deal with one when lying.

[Ninja_Prawn]

Spoiler: Astra

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You hear a loud peal of laughter from outside the maze - it's clearly Hefeydd's voice. "Well, sounds like they're making progress. I guess we're about to witness the sharp end of your 'diplomatic' efforts."

At this point, a faerie bursts into your little corner of the maze, a whirlwind of wings (blue), robes (purple) and hair (black). She is out of breath and seems disappointed to see you there, probably because she wanted to be first to get through the maze. Still, she doesn't hesitate to taunt her comrades for slowpokes as they filter in behind her.

The growing crowd ruins the peace and quiet you had been enjoying, so Addam gets up, offering you a hand as well. "Let's go somewhere else. Maybe wherever the bards are at?"

Spoiler: Kor

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Soon enough, you spot a clutch of Soren's bannermen playing tails, who are happy to deal you in. The stakes are informal: the pot currently contains a fine ink pen, a packet of wildflower seeds, a Waterdhavian sun, a voucher for a free palm reading, a taxidermied frog and a 'juicy secret'. You get the impression you could offer pretty much any kind of trinket or token to buy your way into the game.

If you want to play, please make an Intelligence (Playing Cards) check, a Wisdom (Perception) check, and one unmodified d20 roll.

Spoiler: Violet

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"Sure, I'll be right back." He fetches you another cup, saying "here you go. While I was over there, I heard some folks saying that they're almost done negotiating the rules of the hunt. I should go get ready - you can go mingle if you like."

[Archmage1]

Spoiler: Violet

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In the minute or so after Brent's departure, Violet's world slowly stops spinning(Mostly, but the lovely morning glories above could keep spinning, they were really pretty that way!), and she stands up, and admires the wonderfully growing and flowering flowers and vines marking the dancing area, and the heartfelt music filling the dancing area.
As Brent returns, Violet smiles cheerfully at him, and accepts the cup of unknown liquid. "Thank you! It was lots of fun dancing with you, and maybe we can dance more later? And I hope you have fun with the negotiating rules?" She hesitates for a moment, before she hugs him, being careful to not spill her cup of something as she does.

As he leaves, she listens to the music, and looks for bards who were taking a break.

[WindStruck]

Spoiler: Astra

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Astra says, "Sure! Might as well see what everyone else is up to now!"

Though they still had to make it out of the maze themselves.

[Majin]

Spoiler: Kor

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Kor didn't have many trinkets with him, but there was that one weird orb he'd found, which he thought was an arcane focus. It was pretty much useless to him, so Kor volunteered it into the pot. The other prizes were pretty interesting, except the palm reading which wasn't very useful since he didn't have palms. He wondered if the frog was still edible after it was being taxidermied (a rather ghoulish practice in his opinion). The juicy secret sounded good, and he was always open to having exotic coins his hoard. Kor quickly fetched the orb, and joined the game.

"Alright, no grumbling after I've cleaned you out!" Kor said with a smug grin, taking a look at his hand...

Spoiler: OOC

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Playing cards: (d20+3)[13]
Perception: (d20+7)[14]
D20: (d20)[6]

[Ninja_Prawn]

Astra and Addam emerge from the hedge maze to find Violet recovering from her exertions after having danced her heart out. A number of bards have organised themselves into an impromptu troupe, which is playing a selction of traditional fey songs. The troupe doesn't appear to contain anyone who might be oath-sworn to either faerie monarch; it's mostly made up of satyr mercenaries and other outsiders who don't harbour as much animosity to the opposing side. It's also possible that Soren and Reena's best bards are trying to keep their powder dry in preparation for the poetry contest that is to follow the hunt.

That said, there is some mingling among the dancers - the sanctity of a dancefloor being protected by customs more ancient than even the trees of this great forest. Who knows what new friendships might be bein forged?

Kor is nearby; he's been playing tails with some of Soren's bannermen. As can sometimes happen in games of chance, the cards were against him more often than they were in his favour, but he played his hands pretty well and managed to avoid falling for the faeries' tricks. In the end, Kor isn't able to 'clean them out', but he wins enough tricks to come away with a few pieces of loot.

Kor can choose any two items from the pot.

It is at this point that the negotiation between the monarchs is concluded. Hefeydd seems to grow two feet taller as he announces "an accord has been reached! The rules of the hunt have been agreed and codified. Anyone who will be leading a hunting party, please step forward to receive a copy." By and large, that means the nobles of Soren's court and the officers of Reena's army. Archibald is happy to represent the Special Department, unless Astra has any burning desire to delve into reams of technical minutiae...

[Archmage1]

Carefully drinking her refreshing wine as she waits for the world to stop spinning before she tries collecting bards, Violet smiles cheerfully as she sees Astra coming out of the hedge maze, and waves excitedly at her.

[WindStruck]

Astra happily claps along with Hefeydd's announcement. Wait, were they supposed to be clapping? She stops.

She doesn't mind Archibald receiving a copy. He was after all the leader of this thing? Sort of? Unless Astra was technically. But no, that wouldn't be fair. She was just there kind of last minute, and whether or not she would have even joined was up in the air.

Still, she'll fly up after the the codices are collected and ask, "Hey, can I read along with that too?"

[Archmage1]

Violet, spurned by the oblivious Astra, listens to Hefeydd's announcement, but, as she wasn't going to be leading a hunting team(If only they'd been fun, and done a scavenger hunt! That'd have been a lot of fun!), she turns her attention back to the bards, trying to identify good candidates to help with the parade thing that she could put together! It'd be really fun, with songs, and flowers, and paths, and fun!

[Majin]

Kor decided to pick the coin, rolling the coin around and watching the sun glint off the metal. Exotic coins were always nice to have! For his second prize he picked up the juicy secret. Secrets were fun to hoard, though not as fun as shinies, since you couldn't lie on them, just maybe lie about them.

Kor also listened to Hefeydd actually assume some sort of formal duty. No wonder they'd been so anxious to get him here...

[Ninja_Prawn]

Astra has a read of the rules over Archibald's shoulder (if he wants, Kor can obtain the same information from lord Bumblegrove). Most of it doesn't really concern you - there's a huge amount of tightly-written legalese aimed at preventing either side from gaining unfair advantages, and a whole section relating to ways that the two sides may or may not interfere with each other - but there are a couple of things that you should probably know. Firstly, the hunt is to last two days, starting from 6pm today (9th of Mirtul) and finishing at 6pm on the 11th. Any prizes returned after that time will not be counted. After that, the poets will likewise have 48 hours to compose their pieces, which will be presented at a grand feast at this location on the 13th*. The rulebook also specifies that all hunting must take place within the areas of forest claimed by the two courts, i.e. most of western Cormanthor, bounded on the east by the river Ashaba, the north by Mistledale, the west by Sesserendale and the south by the rivers Wineflow and Glaemril. Of course, that is a much greater area than you could conceivably cover in a day, but the rules do not prohibit magical or extraplanar travel.

Besides that, there's also an elaborate scoring system that accounts for all of the possible 'game' that could be caught. There are bonuses for live capture, and for securing drow matériel (especially adamantine, which is hard to find outside the Underdark). Meanwhile, poems will be scored by a panel of experts, including representatives from both courts as well as neutral parties. It seems like Hefeydd is going to rope in some of his friends for that part. The weighting of the two aspects seems fairly even, unless someone manages to bring Larynda in alive or something like that.

Meanwhile, now that Hefeydd is done with his announcement, the music has started up again. Violet, scouting for candidates who could play at Soren's victory parade, has plenty of options to choose from. Perhaps some careful listening can help narrow it down to a shortlist...? Please make a Wisdom (Perception) check.

*Which is auspicious, being the holy day of the gnomish god and noted storyteller, Garl Glittergold. There are only a handful of gnomes present at the hunt, but their culture is adjacent to that of the fey, and the faeries are no doubt aware of the significance of the 13th.

Spoiler: A secret for Kor

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Written on a scrap of folded paper, you find a message:

"One of Lady Foxcomet's handmaidens - Primrose is her name - is stealing the jewellery from the lady. Just older pieces that won't be missed. No one knows what she's doing with them though."

[Archmage1]

Listening to the music played by the different bards(And occasionally spinning, or playing a note or two), Violet tries to identify the best, and the most fun among the bards.

Spoiler: OOC

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(1d20+8)[9] Perception

[WindStruck]

Huh. Those rules were kind of dry and boring. But okay, she got the gist of it. She wasn't sure if these faeries could clean out all of the forests within 2 days, though...

Then Astra wanders up to Violet as if seeing her for the first time. "Hey Violet! Having a good time?"

[Archmage1]

Violet starts at Astra's sudden appearance, and looks away from the wonderful dragonfly that had settled on one of the vines above the music area, and to Astra, with a cheerful smile(Even if she is a bit unsteady on her feet). "It's been lots of fun! There are really nice flowers, and more musicians, and dancing, and Brent stopped by, and there's strange water, and everyone's getting along! Have you had fun? Or a chance to dance?"

[WindStruck]

"Hehe! I guess I had some fun already!" Astra giggles.

"Huh? Brent? Strange water?" she had to admit sometimes Violet was just too excitable..


"I haven't danced yet either," Astra said.

[Archmage1]

Violet nods cheerfully at Astra's questions. "It was red, and tasted sweet, but a bit sour too! And Brent's one of the Queen's guard-people."

However, as Astra mentions that she hasn't danced, Violet reaches for Astra's hands, clearly intending to pull her into a dance, while the music was still playing. "Then let's dance!"

[WindStruck]

"Ah..! Okay, okay, fine!" Astra says with a laugh, and begins twirling around with Violet in the air.

[Archmage1]

Violet laughs delightedly as she spins around with Astra, clearly having a wonderful time.

[Majin]

Kor wasn't sure what to do with the secret. He did know you should spread gossip though, so he flew over to Astra and Violet. "Hey, did you hear this one maid is totally stealing jewels and stuff from lady Foxcomet? I don't know what to do with it, but sounds kinda exciting right?"

[Ninja_Prawn]

While you continue to dance, the most eager of the hunting parties are beginning to head out. You can take some time here if you like; your faerie associates will wait for you.

Spoiler: OOC

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9 Perception

Violet's attempts to scout out prospective players for a victory parade are frustrated for the time being, as she gets distracted by an exceptionally good violinist, only to discover that he is sworn to Reena's service and almost certainly won't play for Soren's court.

[Archmage1]

Finishing her last spin with Astra, Violet lets Astra go as Kor approaches, and reveals the dastardly plot of a maid, and their victim, the lady Foxcomet. Her eyes go wide as she listens, before she excitedly responds. "Ooh! Maybe we could find them? They'd be really sparkly, right? It could be lots of fun!"

[WindStruck]

The music winds down and some dancers begin leaving to prepare for going on their hunt. Astra giggles, "That was fun!"

"Well.. I guess I had better see what the others are up to. It looks like we'll be leaving soon..."

But then she's stopped by Kor! At least she was planning to see what Kor was doing anyway.

"Lady Foxcomet?? Jewels? Well, that's not nice."

"Um. How did you find out about that, Kor. Are you sure it's not just some silly story?"

[Majin]

"No I'm pretty sure it's trustworthy. I won it in a game! But I think it would be better to investigate when we have time, doesn't sound like the lady's really been missing her jewels... And yeah, we could find them!"

[Archmage1]

Violet looks a bit sad at Kor's rejection of the amazing adventure. "But it could be really fun! We could meet lots of people, and visit amazing places, and see really nice stone flowers, and then help everyone be happy! It'd be a scavenger hunt! And those are lots of fun!"

[Majin]

Kor glanced at the fey starting to move. "Yeah, I think it'd be really fun, but I think some people might be waiting for me... But we can totally look into this later!"

[Archmage1]

Violet's sadness remains as Kor rejects what was sure to be a really fun adventure, but she also looks around, taking in the activity, and the departing faeries.

[Archmage1]

As Violet turns her attention back to Kor and Astra, her sadness seems almost palpable, and when she speaks, her voice is far softer, and much less jubilant than her norm. "You're both going to go with the hunting parties?"