A Faerie Affair - IC IV: Dragon with Butterfly Wings

[Ninja_Prawn]

Regarding Violet's cittern, Juniper doesn't think he'll be able to play it, since he hasn't developed any bardic powers yet. "It's a beautiful instrument though... where did you get it?"

But then Astra shrinks the lute down to a more comfortable size, so that the halfling can play it. "Yes, that's amazing!" He says, turning to Lionstar and the King, "may I?"

They nod, and Juniper starts strumming a ballad.

"I have a song I'd like to sing
For you, my friends; and you, my King
A joyous and a simple beat
Link up your hands and move your feet!

Rejoice, rejoice; today's the day
When human heart and magic fey
Have joined as one to make new life
And right the wrong of dark elf's knife

For here I stand, alive again
But not the boy that I was then
For now I am called Juniper
And none of us are who we were

In all my years, I've never known
Such kindness as you all have shown
My heartfelt thanks go out to you
Faerie, pixie and petal too"

As he plays, illusory images start to appear in the air around him. Brief and indistinct at first, but eventually forming into coherent images that complement the song. Juniper had been playing with his eyes closed, so Lucinda calls out as soon as he finishes the song, saying "Juniper, Juniper, look! That's a silent image spell! Maybe you are going to be a bard after all!"

[Archmage1]

Violet seems a little saddened by Juniper's response, although she does try to hide it. "Aw... maybe later? My teacher gave it to me, before he left! He was really nice, and really loved music, and singing, and exploring, and having fun!"
With Astra shrinking the lute down, and Juniper's rightfully shifting focus, Violet's attention turns to the lute, and then, to Juniper's song.
As he sings, Violet sways in time with the music, her broad smile clearly conveying her enjoyment of the music, and as he finishes, she claps, clearly delighted. "Bravo! That was wonderful, Juniper! And your illusions were wonderful! You're nearly there!"

[WindStruck]

As Astra struggles extra-hard to maintain concentration on her spell, so that it would not end, nor make the lute too small, she still manages to notice the illusions and marvels at them.

"Wow, Juniper! That's amazing! I've always wondered how bards made magic from their performances! You.. must have really been feeling those emotions, weren't you?"

[Ninja_Prawn]

"Yeah, I guess. I kind of feel like I'm a bit more experienced in life as well now, which probably helps. I don't think I could have done that if we'd never gone to the... gone on that journey."

Kyu says: "yeah, wandering is good for the spirit! And well, they do say 'the way of a bard is gregarious', don't they?" She looks at Violet quizically.

[Archmage1]

Violet returns Kyu's look with a broad smile, and a nod. "It's really important! You need to find the right songs, and you need to believe them, and enjoy them, and really feel them, and the best way to do that is talking, getting to know people, seeing new places, and making friends! And it's a lot more fun that way too!"

[Ninja_Prawn]

The King intercedes: "hrm, all this talk of bards is putting me in the mood for a proper festival. In fact, when we win this hunting-and-poetry contest, we should have a parade to celebrate. Violet the petal, I hereby charge you with providing the music for my victory parade."

[Archmage1]

Violet's eyes go wide in surprise as the forgotten King speaks, and then wider still as he asks her to provide music for a parade.
A Parade? Like in songs? Singing and playing and making sure everyone was having fun? That'd be really wonderful! But maybe a band could make it better Or maybe even multiple bands? If there's a hunting and poetry contest, maybe there could be a music contest too? Everyone liked music!
She seems stunned for a few moments as she thinks, her eyes wide, but then, she speaks, her voice moving almost too quickly to be understood. "Ooh! It'll be lots and lots of fun, and everyone likes music too! Maybe we can add a music contest to the hunting and poetry contest too? And then everyone can have even more fun!"
She falls silent for a minute, before she speaks again, her voice a little sheepish, and much quieter. "Um... what is a parade? Is it like a dance?"

[WindStruck]

Astra chimes in. "A parade! It's like.. a whole bunch of people celebrating at once! Except it's not exactly like a party. No no, that's not quite right. A parade... it's like there's a large group that's performing. While they're moving! Like, they could all go from one end of a village to another!"

It was pretty clear that Astra wasn't much of a connoisseur of parades herself.

[Archmage1]

Violet frowns, thoughtfully, as her eyes narrow a little. "So... sort of like a snake? Expect people? And we'd want everyone to hear, so maybe I'll need some help?"

[WindStruck]

Astra thinks for a bit. "Um. Yeah! You could think of it like a snake! All the performers follow the people at the .. uh, 'head' of the snake! And they may be able to go any which way! But the way it normally works is, all the people that came to watch know about the parade in advance, so they line up along the side of the roads to celebrate too, or they follow along!"

[Archmage1]

Listening to Astra, Violet looks to the King, to see if he agreed with what she was saying.

[Ninja_Prawn]

He's a little startled when you don't know what a parade is, but it seems you've got the basic idea. "Yes, of course I mean you'd be co-ordinating the other performers. You'd have plenty of help.

We can't add in a music element to the contest at this point though; the negotiations are far too delicate..." Cloverfield and Goldfeather both nod along.

[Archmage1]

With the king's response, Violet's smile returns, and then dims as he rejects the music contest idea. "That means that I'll get to meet performers too! And maybe it can be more impromptu? Everyone likes music! Or maybe we can encourage musical poems, by going early on, and doing a wonderfully musical poem?"

[WindStruck]

Astra nods quickly along with Violet and grins at the king, "Of course, your majesty... there weren't any rules saying you could not.. perhaps, enhance some of your poems with a bit of music?"

[Majin]

"So... Not sure about the parade thing, but I can be a snake if that helps? Also, I can't do music but I've got a bunch wine brewing. If you drink enough, the music becomes better!" Kor said and grinned.

[Archmage1]

Nodding cheerfully at Kor's response, Violet offers him a cheerful grin. "Snakes are really nice and polite! It's just really sad that they need to eat mice, and other small animals, because they're mostly really nice too, except for the ones who want to steal everything."

[Majin]

Kor nods along with Violet. "Well, that's just how it guess, I guess... Everybody's gotta eat, and it's not really about being nice or bad... Though snakes are kinda hard to become friends with, when you're the size that can be swallowed. But if you keep distance, it should be alright!"

[Archmage1]

Smiling merrily, Violet turns back to the silent group of children and Lionstar. "Now we can have a proper party, to celebrate everyone being ok!"

[WindStruck]

Astra listens to the two go back and forth about snakes. She says, "Oh, that reminds me, Kor. Didn't you need to make a whole bunch of drink for Hefeydd?"

[Majin]

"Oh yeah, it's brewing nicely. Well, we're all gonna have a taste too, but the guy did seem like he might like to drink more than just his share."

[Ninja_Prawn]

While you talk among yourselves, Lionstar begins packing up what's left of the reincarnation ritual. The King and his attendants take their leave and soon it's just you and the children left behind. They want attention*, as usual, but you are free to leave if you have places to be.

You all gain 500 XP for having witnessed the ceremony and helped bring a child back to life!

Spoiler: *Specifically

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Juniper wants to jam with Violet and learn more about being a bard. Misty and Petey want Violet to help them plant a herb garden in their wing of the Palace.

Raven and Anja want Astra to show them more arcane magic. Tadd wants Astra's help with something, but is reluctant to say what it is.

Jack and Mitch want Kor to use his wildshape to turn into a dog, so they can play games with it. Lucinda wants to know more about Kor's druid circle back home.

[Majin]

Kor is happy to indulge the kids, transforming into a big, gray dog with a curled tail he'd seen accompanying some hunters. He was happy to talk with Lucinda later too, but playtime would have to come first.

Kor let out a playful bark, and grabbed a nice-looking branch between his teeth. He started happily running around the two kids, muffled growls coming from his mouth, challenging them to try and grab his stick.

Spoiler: OOC

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Dex check, just for fun: (d20+2)[11]

[WindStruck]

Astra is pretty happy to show Raven and Anja some tips and tricks, though she notices Tadd is being.. awfully shady. She excuses herself and flies up to him.

She whispers, "Hey Tadd, what's wrong?"

[Archmage1]

With Juniper, Misty, and Petey all asking Violet for help, her resistance doesn't last long.

"I know! Plants love music, and gardening's lots of fun, so I can help everyone! Where do you want to plant the garden? I'd love to help, and Juniper, I'll help you too!"

As Misty and Petey lead Violet and Juniper to the garden, Violet flits over, and lands on Juniper's shoulder.
"I've got presents too! And they're really nice!" With that, she starts deftly weaving a garland of white heather, and palm leaves for Juniper, before she deposits it on his head with a smile. "They'll help keep you safe! And they're really pretty!"

Letting Juniper admire his garland, Violet quickly darts over to Misty, with a smile. "Don't worry, I didn't forget anyone, but it's important to find the right moment!" And with that, she quickly weaves another garland, this time, of red roses and shellflowers, before carefully placing it on Misty's head. "They'll help bring you luck!"

With two begarlanded children, Violet's attention next turns to Petey, and she zooms over, and lands on his shoulder, still smiling merrily. "For magic, and secrets, nothing else will do!" As she speaks, she waves a garland from ferns, and a careful mix of white and lavender roses, before anointing the head of the final child with her, before she flies slightly ahead of the trio, and turns around, her dress swishing at the suddenness of the motion, as she admires her work, with a broad smile. "You look wonderful! And now, music, and gardening!"

With that, she starts helping to teach Juniper the mysterious arts of the bard, how to charm reality into doing you little favors, how finding the right tune is important, as well as a selection of tunes to help with that. And, while he practices, she cheerfully helps to guide Petey and Misty's gardening, helping to teach them to identify the seeds, and to plant them at the right depth, how much water they need, and how to arrange them in a manner that will produce a beautiful, and productive garden.

[Ninja_Prawn]

Kor's dog impression is exactly what the children were looking for, and soon enough Lucinda joins the chase as well. Against three children, you don't get to spend much time holding the stick, but you all get a good run-around and burn lots of energy. After about half an hour, the kids get hungry and you figure it's probably time for a rest.

Meanwhile, Tadd takes Astra to another room. The door is locked, but he opens it without much difficulty. Inside is a small office, with a desk, two chairs, a bookcase and a chest of drawers. "It's this," he says, pointing to the drawers. "I can't figure out the lock. You seem smart, so I thought you might be able to crack it."

Juniper, Misty and Petey love their garlands, and nod sagely when you explain the sybolism. Petey asks: "you know, we don't see too many petals around here. Can you all do that thing where you summon flowers out of thin air?" They're a bit clumsy with the planting and over-enthusiastic with the watering, but perhaps some of the things you tell them will sink in. They had gotten their hands on a book of herb-lore prior to your arrival, into which Misty records your advice for posterity. "What's your very most favourite thing to grow?" She asks.

[WindStruck]

Astra looks around with some concern. "But.. but, why are you here? It doesn't seem like you should be to begin with. Who's office is this, anyway?"

[Majin]

Kor was feeling pretty good after his workout, energetic enough to roll on his back on the grass, even after transforming back. Then he remembers Lucinda wanted to talk about druids.

"Hey Lucinda, you wanted to know more about my circle, right? I think we're a pretty normal bunch, probably... I haven't really spent much time with other druids, except these guys guarding this holy tree thing on the way here. They were nice. Anyway, we aren't super organized or anything, though there's a couple of older druids who are pretty much in charge. Umm..." Kor scratched his chin. It felt like it had been years since he'd last been home.

"Oh, and some of us hunt together! Really good practice when you're first learning to take other shapes. Then sometimes there are wanderers, we try to shoo them away if they seem like they wanna make some trouble..." Or humans if he was honest, but Kor didn't want to say that out loud. "And I mean, of course tend to the land, but there hasn't been anything major, so it's been pretty mellow. So I was pretty happy when I got this mission!"

[Ninja_Prawn]

Spoiler: Astra

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Tadd kind of shrugs when you ask him why he's here. "It's the faeries' office, I guess. I saw them put some files in these drawers once; they looked important so I wanted to see what was in them. And since you're not a faerie, I thought it'd be safer to ask you."

Spoiler: Kor

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"That sounds like a nice life," Lucinda says, "very different from how the faerie druids live around here. They're more like... warrior monks or something."

She points to your sash. "You're going to be hunting again, aren't you? Hey, what's the most dangerous thing you've ever hunted?"

[WindStruck]

Spoiler: Astra

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"Well, um.. it's just files, right?" Astra says, still somewhat uneasy about being here, yet growing more curious. She ends up shrugging as well. "I guess it wouldn't hurt to take a look..."

Well, maybe a close look at the file cabinet and its lock would be in order. Plus, I imagine there's some sort of reason Tadd can't pick it.

insight: (1d20+5)[12]

perception: (1d20+2)[8]

[Majin]

Spoiler

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"Well, we aren't that closely tied to any court, so we just don't expect that much combat. I guess we are a little more spiritual than martial, but of course we all need to be prepared when something can only be solved by claw and tooth", Kor muses. "I probably just got invited to this because of my mom's connections."

"Oh, yeah! Those drow, and whatever evil forces they've mustered! I got a pretty nifty plan going on with Bumblegrove's guys too, I hope it works out... We fought these weird monsters, displacer beasts I think they were called, on the way here. Man they were hard to hit! Of course that wasn't exactly a 'hunt'... And I'm not sure if this drow business really is either. I mean, we probably aren't going to eat them. They're all skin and bones anyway..."

"But back home we just pretty much hunted some deer and stuff like that. Not really dangerous, but sometimes it's good to thin those herds, if the wolf packs aren't really doing their job, or humans have driven them away. We're all about that balance stuff, you know", Kor says, smirking. Then his expressions darkens a little. "Speaking of which... Jurgen's reincarnation was pretty exceptional, or at least it would be back home... I'm not sure if anyone there even could reincarnate someone, but I'm sure they wouldn't... We're kinda supposed to just guard the balance, and not get too involved... Though it's not like it's enforced, but some people can be jerks about it. Just something to keep in mind, if you really wanna become a druid, some stuff can seem kinda ruthless."