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Message: <blockquote data-quote="the Jester" data-source="post: 2964773" data-attributes="member: 1210">8/17/371 O.L.G., 2:30 p.m., northern ZacradoseIn the woods in the north of Zacradose, our heroes meet the unicorn king.  Once again the hole in their memory proves telling, as the stallion recognizes them.  After some conversation, it becomes apparent that they have met before, and that they actually have an alliance.“You don’t remember, do you?” the unicorn king whinnies.  “Ahh, Lord Obliviax’ work, I’ll wager.  But because you are here, you must have succeeded despite whatever memory loss you suffered.  And Stackler?  Has he been overthrown?”“Uh, yes,” replies Ari.  “Uh, and thanks for your help.”“What do you know about these?”  Naomi thrusts her blubbery arm forward, her palm up.  Along her forearm is a tattoo (done in Naomi’s own style) of a unicorn.  Most of the party members bear similar tattoos in the same place.“It is my sign,” the king responds.  “You all agreed to wear it as a symbol of our alliance.  You don’t remember about the woodsmen either, do you?” “Woodsmen?  Umm, I guess not.”  Naomi sighs.“You had agreed to remove some woodsmen north of here, who are infringing upon some sacred areas by going too deep into the woods.  Stackler’s men allowed them to do as they pleased in the sylvan glades.”Our heroes agree to fulfill their half of the bargain that they don’t remember making.  After all, from all reports, the unicorns had more than done their part in distracting the bulk of the forces loyal to Stackler when the final battle had come.After some discussion, our heroes begin attempting to convince the unicorn king to become King of Zacradose.  He seems to take the possibility very seriously, and promises to consider it.  “Then you wouldn’t have to worry about woodsmen ever again,” Federico points out.  “Do you know anything about prophecies?” asks Nara.  “Because we are trying to follow one to the halfling Promised Land.”  Naomi comes up and exposes her fat thigh.  Tattooed there is the so-called “halfling prophecy” that the party received from the water weird on Dyshim.  They read it off again:  “Long have your kind sought your way to the Promised Land.  Know this: it is behind you.  The homeland of bread and butter, the place of mead and milk, the fields of strawberries, the cows that give cream, the orchards of apples from which springeth pie- all these things are there, waiting to be plucked like plums from the tree.  But first the isle must be freed by small hands for small hands, which can work the isle to paradise in but three years.  Blessed is it, for it is the home of your rightful gods.  Their breath is upon it, causing berries to spring forth.  The fountain of wine makes the land drunk.  Yet by the drunk with power it was seized from your folk.  Now the power is gone, and still drunk are its dregs; but liberation awaits.”After a moment’s thought, the unicorn king suggests that the party visit a more appropriate individual to ask about this sort of thing- the forest oracle.  The unicorn king gives a loud bray, and a few moments later another unicorn comes in bearing a crown of grass and flowers on his horn.  The unicorn king gives this to the party, stating that it will show the oracle that they come in his name.  “That should help,” he says hopefully.  Then he has a satyr summoned, and orders him to guide our heroes to the oracle.Thus it is that, in short order (albeit after the satyr extorts a few minutes of tender loving from Federico and Tron), our heroes find themselves before the oracle.  The party shares a strange vision that the oracle tells them is of a place called Red Mountain.  “You will find more there,” she tells them.“These woodsmen we’re supposed to deal with are on the way,” points out Federico.  “Why don’t we take care of them first?”Once that is agreed upon, our heroes strike out for the unicorn king’s woodsman problem.  On the way, the party has a brief battle with a small pack of dire wolves, but the halflings repel them fairly easily, slaying some of the wolves and allowing the others to flee.  ***8/18/371 O.L.G., 11 a.m., marching north through the woodsAs the party comes closer to where the woodsmen are, Ari takes on eagle form and flies overhead to scout.  He wants to make sure that our heroes see the woodsmen well in advance of their seeing the party, just in case.  Meanwhile, on the ground, Federico, Nara and Naomi have a talk about eating humans.Nara says to Naomi, “You know, it’s funny- you talk a lot about eating humans, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen you do it.”“Yeah, you’re right- I don’t think I have, since we met.”“I’m telling you,” Federico chimes in, “you shouldn’t eat sentients.  That’s a big taboo.  It’s like cannibalism.”“No it’s not,” Naomi retorts.  “That would be if I was eating halflings.  Human is totally different.”“I’m just saying,” Nara states, “you should put your mouth where your mouth is and follow through.”“Oh believe me,” Naomi replies, “I will.  Frankly, I think it’s tragic that I haven’t gotten to taste any human yet.”The discussion goes on, off and on, until Ari returns and turns back into halfling form.  Overhearing the conversation, he butts in, insisting that, rather than eating humans, the party should work for a peaceful resolution of whatever human issues they have.“No issues, just wanna eat ‘em,” Naomi explains.  “We may have to kill a few, so as to harvest some thumbs.”  She then proceeds to discourse with Jawbreaker concerning the proper harvesting of human thumbs.  “I recommend cutting them off when they’re young,” Naomi declares. “That way their arms don’t develop too much.  If they get too much muscle, it makes them stringy.”Jawbreaker isn’t too interested in the topic, frankly.  He just shakes his head with a snort. “Well, regardless, let’s put this discussion on hold and go deal with the humans,” Ari says.  “The camp is only about a mile and a half ahead, along a river.”Naomi licks her lips, but the party decides to try negotiating with the woodsmen first.  When they reach them, it is fairly easy to convince them to leave; after all, these men might be good at cutting down trees, but they don’t have any interest in fighting a group of powerful adventurers- especially when they realize that the party represents the tentative new government.  The woodsmen promise to leave the next day, and by dusk they have made impressive progress in breaking down their camp.***8/19/371 O.L.G., 11 a.m., the woodsmen’s campThe humans are clearing out.  Our heroes keep an eye on them to ensure there isn’t any trickery, but everything goes smoothly.  Naomi catches the cook of the camp as he is packing his goods, and she demands his maple syrup.  He cowers and turns it over to her, and she leaves, sipping it straight from the jar.  Reaching the others, she passes it around.  By evening, the last of the human camp is packed and most of the humans are gone.  A few of the woodsmen seem to consider staying the night, but our heroes give them stern admonishments to move on, and they do.  “I guess we’ll move on towards this Red Mountain place in the morning,” says Nara. ***8/20/371 O.L.G., 3 p.m., Red MountainThe journey to Red Mountain passes quickly.  The day is just a little too hot to be pleasant, and worse yet it is a wet heat.  The air is muggy; tunics stick to sweaty backs.  As the party reaches the foot of Red Mountain, a storm is starting to roll in, rumbling and full of thunder: a summer thunderstorm.  The party clambers up the mountain’s face, following a rough trail.  Part way up the mountain, Jawbreaker turns back and points.  “Look,” he says.  “There river that woodsmen camped along.  That their campsite.”  He chuckles.  “Mountain and river remind Jawbreaker of home.  Jawbreaker lived in mountains for long time.”The group continues to ascend through fat drops of warm rain.  Lighting flashes and thunder booms.  The party pushes on as dark falls, finally making camp where an overhang gives some protection from the rain.  “We should be able to reach the summit tomorrow,” Federico opines.  “I get to keep any white rocks we find,” Tron whines. The storm blows out in the night.***8/21/371 O.L.G., noonThe party nears the top of Red Mountain, and suddenly they find an area dotted with snow.  Further up on a small plateau there is more of the stuff.  Even though they are tired from climbing, our heroes are excited by the sight of it; it has been a long time since they saw any snow!  A ruin sits atop the plateau.  Ruined pillars surround a great pool of snow.  Our heroes approach it after Federico casts mage armor on those who will benefit from it.As they approach, Jawbreaker cautions, “Remember- don’t eat yellow snow.”“Right,” Ari says.  I knew that.Then, suddenly, there is a swirl of snow and something bursts from the pool- tall, serpentine, lashing back and forth, and made out of snow.A snow weird.“You come from my sister,” it states.Next Time: More clues to the Promised Land!  Government building!  Our heroes’ new ship!  And more!</blockquote>

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