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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Leatherhead" data-source="post: 8481721" data-attributes="member: 53176">With a gentle brushing of the horse, the man begins his sales pitch."Irian's Touch here (like all our animals, of course) is magebred. Obedient, quick, intelligent. That large building there is our equine area, and I have some excellent specimens to show you. While the locals sing the praises of raptors and tribex, for my money, a well-bred horse is still unsurpassed for most long-range journeys!”The man gives two finger-snaps. In turn, the stallion gives what can only be described as a quadrupedal bow, then trots off to pasture, returning with an open topped carriage in tow.  Eixek invites you all aboard and then joins you all for a tour.“Adventurers, no doubt?” He questions while he begins the tour. First stop, a building that appears to be populated by animals that could only be classified as familiars.  “Will your adventures have you sleeping in the wilderness? If so, consider one of our alarm animals. We offer a wide array of creatures bred to wake you (as loudly or quietly as you wish) in case of danger! They won’t help you pull on that heavy armor though, haha!” After passing by a few more buildings you find yourselves by a kennel, featuring canines and similar creatures. “Dog: Man’s best and first friend. But of course their friendship isn’t limited to just humans! Here we have all the best stocks. Sharn Snufflers, a bloodhound able to track people even in the heavy rain of the City of Towers. This jumpy little girl is a Karrnathi Warmfur, she emits a magical aura that will keep you warm even in the harsh snows of the Hoarfrost Mountains. Here is a Whitewood Ranch exclusive, and Ironhide Terrier, their thick hide is able to withstand the claw attacks of a Clawfoot Raptor. Oh, and later on, if you need a living assistance dog, I recommend an Aundarian Pointer. Very smart, even knows the Mage Hand cantrip to assist in household chores.”Again you move on, and see a few more buildings. Eixek notices you all looking at the various buildings around the ranch. “You probably wonder about the white wood! It’s a proprietary Vadalis enchantment. We breed the trees to grow with white wood, and it never fades, no painting required! Once we’re over that hill, you’ll see a small grove in the distance, just there. We are very proud of it, it’s the namesake of the place after all!”[spoiler=Xian & Tillington]Thanks to your passive investigations you two notice something a bit different: One of the buildings has a different door than the others. While all the buildings are made of white wood, this building’s door is made of white-painted metal.  Above the door handle, where a lock would typically be, there’s instead a black plate with the Mark of Handling engraved in it.[/spoiler]Finally, the tour stops at the barns. Horses, tribex, and fastieths dot the pastures. “And here, Gentlemen, is where we keep the mounts. Other ranches might call them ‘beasts of burden’, but here at Whitewood Ranch, we believe it more apt to call them ‘creatures of comfort!’ I trust that Irian's Touch here has impressed you with the power and smoothness of his services, and I can assure you that the rest of his brothers and sisters are just as keen to help you!”[gm] I hope you all don't mind going for a tour. Eixek is none-the-wiser about your current cooperate espionage, and thinks you all to be a typical adventuring party, or maybe a bunch of potential prospectors looking to strike the motherload out in Q'barra.As for the horse, well he's better at handling you than you are at handling him. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /> [/gm]</blockquote>

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