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Message: <blockquote data-quote="MichaelK" data-source="post: 4868169" data-attributes="member: 60635">Pranks Become Serious (Continued)Sienna and Arelon left Grickshaw behind and returned to the village, stopping past the home of Gwella and Andoran to check on the couple and their new baby.Andoran was outside, splitting firewood with his axe. He seemed distracted, unleashing anger at the wood as he struck violently at it. Concerned Sienna and Arelon asked what was going on."Our orchard. All the apples are gone.", Andoran said, "We had not finished picking them yet, there were still plenty of baskets worth on the trees. Now they're all gone, not eaten by birds, there are no cores left, just gone." They went around to the orchard with Andoran and as he had described the trees stood with bare branches as though they had never held fruit at all."When was the last time you checked on them?" Sienna asked."My wife and I went for a walk through the orchard early in the morning and they were still there. This afternoon I thought I should finish picking them, make sure there's enough food with another person in the family. This is how I found them.""You said you had baskets to collect them, can I see where you keep them?"They went into the shed where plenty of empty baskets stood balanced up against the wall. None seemed to be missing. Andoran showed them through to the back where there were barrels full of apples."Wouldn't they just steal the ones we've already picked? Why take them off the trees?""When you went for your walk this morning, did you or your wife see anyone else in the orchard?" Sienna asked."Only Lucy. She was in there gathering worms for her soil, said she was hoping to improve her crop this year.""We'll look into this for you, try to find out what's happened." Sienna said.The two went through town to check on the other four orchards Arelon knew of. Each one was empty, just like Gwella and Andoran's orchard. They stood in the final orchard, discussing a variety of theories. As they begun to consider the idea that magic may have been involved Arelon turned to face the orchard and cast a spell to open his awareness to the presence of magic.He could sense a single aura of magic covering the entire orchard. Wizards describe such an aura as 'Moderate', though for Arelon it was one of the strongest fields he had ever sensed. This was no lingering trace, there was still magic upon these trees. When Arelon tried to recognize what sort of spell had been performed though, he found the energies too strong and confusing, he could not pick out any single element that he could recognize. They went quickly to Gauwyn's tower and knocked upon the door to his library."Master, I know you said not to interrupt you, but there's a powerful spell in one of the orchards and all the fruit are gone off the trees." Arelon said. With a grumble Gauwyn emerged from his library. "Show me."In the orchard Gauwyn performed the same spell and began lecturing Arelon as though this were any other class."This is an illusion spell, judging from its effect and duration I would guess it to be a Hallucinatory Terrain spell. An effect which can make a terrain look different from how it actually is, the apples are still there just shrouded in an illusion. To be able to cast a spell such as this, a mage would have to be almost as strong as myself. To cast five in one day would take a very strong mage indeed."Gauwyn spoke a few words and gestured towards the orchard banishing the magic fuelling the other spell with a spell of his own. Like a fog parting, the apples slowly came into full view, dangling from the branches just as normal."They could be casting it from a device", Arelon said, "A scroll, wand or staff.""Or there could be more than one illusionist." Sienna said. "Could the fey be involved? Stories say they are tricksters and illusionists. We saw one by the river today, he looked like a small man with the body of a cricket.""Hmm, I do not recognize the kind", 1 Gauwyn said, "But I don't know much about the fey. It's certainly a possibility, power can come in all sizes and we shouldn't dismiss him as a possible illusionist. I suspect the other fields will be covered in similar illusions, you can see through them if you concentrate hard enough on the possibility that what you see is not real. I'll let you check on the rest, I have prepared no more detect or dispel magics."As Gauwyn returned to his tower, Sienna and Arelon discussed who they could ask who might know more about the fey. They finally settled on Heshe, the strange old lady who lived away from town by the edge of the forest. People called her a witch and told stories of how she had eaten her own children, but between the priestess and apprentice mage they knew all too well that magic frightened people into inventing all sorts of tales.Arelon set off down the path out of the village to see Heshe at her home, while Sienna went to tell Gwella and Andoran the good news.1. Thus continuing the tradition of bad rolls for Knowledge: Nature checks. </blockquote>

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