Legacy of the Silver Dragon - Off to See the Goblins
Binder Fred
3 rings to bind them all!
Antares self-consciously glances at Stoneburner the Goblin at that, gesturing discrete apology to him -- if not for the content of the words themselves, than at least for speaking of him in the third person while he is oh so present?
"Indeed," emphatically agrees the elf, obviously struggling to stay abreast of the conversation, alternatively walking and then trotting a few steps as leafy branches resist his progress. (Could they not, in truth, have discussed this where they stood?) "And this is where you yourself might be of the greatest help to this noble effort? For we have been told your knowledge of plants and animal ichors is unrivalled in the region? That the secrets of the poison used against the good captain could almost-instantly unfold before your learned eyes like simple writings on vellum pages, pointing the way to he who thinks himself safely concealed in mists of his own devising?" Dancing at the feet of the five-fold star...
gambler1650
Explorer
The hermit doesn't stop in his walking, taking the group further from the road. The goblin appears somewhat dazed by the whole experience, perhaps even a bit sleepy and doesn't really respond to the barbed comment.
To Muzdim he says, "Greed. Well, it's an honest motivation at least, if not the sole one."
Sal does laugh at Antares' last comments, rather loudly and perhaps even with some bitterness. "Ah. If only I could provide such help ag.. against such as who would attack Ascadar. I doubt that a mere identification of the poison used will magically indicate who used it, but I will try." He pauses, and holds out a hand. "You have the arrow that poisoned your stalwart town protector, I take it? I will look at it, and if you can spare but a few more moments I may be able to give you something to help you out in a time of need. If you are willing to keep your eyes open for some plants and berries I need to make certain concoctions, that is. They should be found in the region of the goblin village."
Stellan and Beatrix follow behind - the young man keeping an eye on the nearby woods, and the heavyset priestess doing the same but more as if worried at not being in a village's comfortable confines.
To Muzdim he says, "Greed. Well, it's an honest motivation at least, if not the sole one."
Sal does laugh at Antares' last comments, rather loudly and perhaps even with some bitterness. "Ah. If only I could provide such help ag.. against such as who would attack Ascadar. I doubt that a mere identification of the poison used will magically indicate who used it, but I will try." He pauses, and holds out a hand. "You have the arrow that poisoned your stalwart town protector, I take it? I will look at it, and if you can spare but a few more moments I may be able to give you something to help you out in a time of need. If you are willing to keep your eyes open for some plants and berries I need to make certain concoctions, that is. They should be found in the region of the goblin village."
Stellan and Beatrix follow behind - the young man keeping an eye on the nearby woods, and the heavyset priestess doing the same but more as if worried at not being in a village's comfortable confines.
Binder Fred
3 rings to bind them all!
"Certainly," readily agrees a slightly breathy elven mage, long fingers dipping into the scrollcase at his hip for the carefully wrapped arrowhead. "If you could perhaps communicate any conclusions to Lady Glasia of the council -- or captain Gregof himself, perhaps, should he be back on his irrepressible feet by that time?"
He extends the surprisingly heavy thing towards grey-bearded Sal, sort of wondering why they had stopped here of all places... "Are there examples of what you require in this modest clearing, goodhermit?" The sooner they can get back on the road to the goblin village, the better, it is true -- but they can hardly refuse service to one who has just agreed to help, and in a way only he can as well!
And, perhaps, this helping something is the fabled map to the mountain towards which they even now venture? (Antares has always had a definite fascination for maps, whether ancient or freshly drawn... Also coins from foreign lands... And any thing important enough to be put to parchment or paper, of course - But that is neither here nor there at the moment!)
He brings his full attention back to the hermit's reply.
He extends the surprisingly heavy thing towards grey-bearded Sal, sort of wondering why they had stopped here of all places... "Are there examples of what you require in this modest clearing, goodhermit?" The sooner they can get back on the road to the goblin village, the better, it is true -- but they can hardly refuse service to one who has just agreed to help, and in a way only he can as well!
And, perhaps, this helping something is the fabled map to the mountain towards which they even now venture? (Antares has always had a definite fascination for maps, whether ancient or freshly drawn... Also coins from foreign lands... And any thing important enough to be put to parchment or paper, of course - But that is neither here nor there at the moment!)
He brings his full attention back to the hermit's reply.
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gambler1650
Explorer
"I will be sure to contact those that you mentioned, if I find anything of use." says Sal. Coming further into the clearing, the party sees a small hut, roughly made but still somehow giving off a solid and even somewhat elegant look under the rustic materials. Sal chuckles at the elf's question, and then says, "If there were some examples here, I wouldn't need you to search for them, would I? I will give you a drawing that should help you in your search. If you would wait here, I will be right back." He disappears into the hut, and assuming that no one attempts to follow him inside, he reappears a moment or two later with two sheets of paper. A rather elegantly drawn picture of a three petaled flower with each petal a different color (red, yellow and purple), and a a much cruder appearing map. "From the sounds of it, you aren't sure where this goblin village is - and I'm not sure I trust your... guide to safely deliver you there."
He also takes out three small sample jars, and says "Importantly, if you find these flowers, you must remove each petal and place the same colored ones together. If you put them in the same container they will become useless.. and perhaps even, um, explode although the amount of time it takes to do so is highly variable."
And finally he withdraws a potion jar. "This provides quick healing from any wounds you might receive. I don't have much that I can offer, but there should be a handful of doses here if need be."
He also takes out three small sample jars, and says "Importantly, if you find these flowers, you must remove each petal and place the same colored ones together. If you put them in the same container they will become useless.. and perhaps even, um, explode although the amount of time it takes to do so is highly variable."
And finally he withdraws a potion jar. "This provides quick healing from any wounds you might receive. I don't have much that I can offer, but there should be a handful of doses here if need be."
Binder Fred
3 rings to bind them all!
"I'm sure one can only enhance the efforts of the other," quickly (and hopefully diplomatically) inserts the elf -- accepting both drawings but only paying concerted attention to the former for now, saving the best for last. "Pray, would you know where this flower is to be found in general, goodhermit, that it might guide our search? In a certain confined region, perhaps? Is it a lover of meadows, mossy banks or perhaps wooded shade?
Antares has stalked wild-growing ingredients with Teacher Dysare before - if only in the shallow woods and fields near fair Ascadar - and so apprehends something of the difficulties therein, even with such a fascinatingly distinctive quarry as this.
And, finally, with excitement quite evident in the depths of his young elven eyes: "What can you tell us of this map?"
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Voda Vosa
First Post
Muzdim
"Ye honour us with yer generosity." Muzdim says, lowering his head a bit as if bowing. "Let me see that..." he says grabbing the potion, shaking it around and murmuring something for himself. "Interesting. Why don't you keep it safe Stellan?" he gives the potion to the lad. He had means of magical healing, as did the voluminous priestess, and Antares should keep away from harm's way anyhow.
"Ye honour us with yer generosity." Muzdim says, lowering his head a bit as if bowing. "Let me see that..." he says grabbing the potion, shaking it around and murmuring something for himself. "Interesting. Why don't you keep it safe Stellan?" he gives the potion to the lad. He had means of magical healing, as did the voluminous priestess, and Antares should keep away from harm's way anyhow.
Binder Fred
3 rings to bind them all!
Hear, hear. 
gambler1650
Explorer
Stellan nods and takes the offered potions from Muzdim, smiling at the hermit. "Thank you." he says with some slight bemusement. The hermit is acting nothing like the stories passed around by young men and women his age.
The hermit for his part, looks somewhat amused by Muzdim's shaking of the potions. "You know, there are some potions that react rather poorly to that investigative technique. Just a friendly warning."
To Antares he gives a wry smile, "The problem with that distinctive plant is that the leaves look just like another common weed all throughout this area. The flower only blooms in the hour before dawn and the hour after sunset. Almost always it is found in the shadow of hills in the shadow of mountains, such as the location you will be going to on this map." And here he traces the roughly scrawled parchment with a finger. "We are here on the south of this river. As you know, if you follow the river back to the trail north, you will eventually come to the lumber camps. Unknown to most in the area, a small stream can be found by continuing north through the woods for a few miles. And then the stream should be followed up to the foothills. It starts somewhere beneath the hills - possibly somewhere inside the mountain itself - but the goblins in the area use it as their water supply, so this creature's village is most certainly somewhere nearby. I would... not drink the water. Goblins are not the cleanest of creatures." He squints at the goblin a bit longer, and then adds, "I believe that this goblin's village may be slightly to the north of the stream where it disappears in the foothills." He reaches into his clothes and withdraws a simple stylus which he uses to scratch a small 'g' in a spot on the roughly drawn hills.
A pause and then he adds, "If you find any of those flowers and return alive, I may have other such maps that I can dig up of the mountain and things beneath it. I expect you are in something of a hurry, so don't let an old hermit keep you any longer than necessary.
The hermit for his part, looks somewhat amused by Muzdim's shaking of the potions. "You know, there are some potions that react rather poorly to that investigative technique. Just a friendly warning."
To Antares he gives a wry smile, "The problem with that distinctive plant is that the leaves look just like another common weed all throughout this area. The flower only blooms in the hour before dawn and the hour after sunset. Almost always it is found in the shadow of hills in the shadow of mountains, such as the location you will be going to on this map." And here he traces the roughly scrawled parchment with a finger. "We are here on the south of this river. As you know, if you follow the river back to the trail north, you will eventually come to the lumber camps. Unknown to most in the area, a small stream can be found by continuing north through the woods for a few miles. And then the stream should be followed up to the foothills. It starts somewhere beneath the hills - possibly somewhere inside the mountain itself - but the goblins in the area use it as their water supply, so this creature's village is most certainly somewhere nearby. I would... not drink the water. Goblins are not the cleanest of creatures." He squints at the goblin a bit longer, and then adds, "I believe that this goblin's village may be slightly to the north of the stream where it disappears in the foothills." He reaches into his clothes and withdraws a simple stylus which he uses to scratch a small 'g' in a spot on the roughly drawn hills.
A pause and then he adds, "If you find any of those flowers and return alive, I may have other such maps that I can dig up of the mountain and things beneath it. I expect you are in something of a hurry, so don't let an old hermit keep you any longer than necessary.
Binder Fred
3 rings to bind them all!
What a strange organism, thinks Antares, beginning to consider it as perhaps more than just a thing to be quested for, a simple means to an end. "Such a peculiar plant must have fascinating applications, goodhermit, must it not? By what name does it go by, if I can inquire? And, more importantly, I wonder... Would- would you be opposed to having an assistant when you apply its properties, time permitting?" This last being in quite short supply ever since they decided to form the company -- but still, a young elf can dream...
"We will- we will at the least try to accomplish the latter, goodhermit," assures the elf with an uncomfortable swallow.
Preparing to go, Antares is truly relieved that this process did not take as much time as he feared after all - but a third of a watch instead of the full affair! - and yet... Something the good hermit said earlier - or rather, did not say - bothers him still; something touching on a topic of perhaps paramount importance for them at the moment?
And so he stops short of quite exiting the clearing.
"Goodhermit Sal," he tentatively begins, a somewhat worried frown on his delicate features, "From your previous hesitation on the subject, I- do I dare understand that, perhaps, you -ah- have some inklings as to the nature of those behind, recent events...?"
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