Urn Your Pay (Rae judging)

[Halford]

[sblock=Failed spot checks, Scent?]Erf's spot, Fenenn's spot if relevant (1d20+3, 1d20+5=[8, 3], [4, 5]) A creature with the scent ability can detect opponents by sense of smell, generally within 30 feet. If the opponent is upwind, the range is 60 feet. If it is downwind, the range is 15 feet. Yes I do read blocks I'm not entitled to, but I try not to metagame honest!

Incidently Craft Flower Arrangeing, lol.[/sblock]

Erf returns holding his bouquet and flushed a rather different shade of green than normal.

"Err, well umm, Apikotoa didn't really want te come, but I err brought ye, that is me and Ter-raen brought ye these flowers that we found, umm, lyin' around..."

The little gnomes foot begins to trace circles again as he steps forward and thrusts the flowers at Kshatrya looking anywhere but at the Nixie.

 

[serow]

Spot (8+2)=10

"Friend not coming." Ter-raen heads over to his drink, and downs it without hesitation. Now that he's close to the house, his uneasiness works up again. But he'll wait until Erf gives the flowers, he's not that stupid after all. Wonder what gnome and woman mate will give.

 

[Trouvere]

Drawing on unexpected reserves of self-control, Gildrim manages to limit himself to breathing heavily through his nose, rolling his eyes, and tightening his grip on his shield so that his knuckles turn white and the rim digs into the soft ground.

"Spent yer time wisely, than, Ah see," he says eventually.

 

[covaithe]

"Why thank you, Erf! How thoughtful! Oh, and look, they're so beautiful! Oh, what a lovely thing to think of," Kshatrya gushes. She takes the flowers from Erf and throws her arms around his neck, hugging him to her in a rather gratifying way, given her slight height advantage on the hapless gnome. After an all to short moment, she unlatches and places the flower bundle carefully on the surface of the pond, where it floats rather nicely.

"There. Lovely. Thank you so much. Now, sit, make yourselves comfortable. Gildrim was just telling me that Sister Anemone didn't send you here, and that she probably doesn't know about this shrine at all. How fortunate that you came along! Now you can take word of the shrine back to her, so that she can come and hear the voice of the goddess herself! Now eat, and I'll tell you about how I came across this shrine. It all started when I was just a fingerling..."

The juice in the leaf-cups is thick slightly sticky, almost too sweet to drink, and the berries sharp and juicy. Kshatrya tells a long and slightly disorganized tale of a childhood sense that she would find a purpose some day, and how as a young woman she climbed a strange wall, ate fallen fruit, and woke from a sun-drenched nap to find a voice speaking from the chalice, explaining that it was a place holy to the water goddess and calling her to serve.

"So now I stay here and tend the pond. Sometimes the goddess speaks to me and has tasks for me, but sometimes she goes days or weeks at a time without speaking. It's okay, since I'm happy to serve. It does get a bit lonely, though. Most of my sisters won't come visit me very often. They say that it's too dry for them, because I won't let them swim in the pond. It gets the shrine all muddy, you see. But now you've come, and after we pray a bit you can start on your way back to tell everyone about this place, and I'll have lots of company!" she concludes, a happy smile on her face.

 

[Trouvere]

Gildrim shifts restlessly. "Aye, aye, find th' Urn, an' set oot fer Cragger's Rest, an' gie th' wird tae Anemone."

"Did ye ken thaur's a whappin' huge serpent livin' in ane ay th' chaumbers ower thaur? Teeth an' coils an' hissin'. Swallae ye up in ane bite. Ah dinnae think ye shoud mak a habit ay sleepin' in th' sun haur."

 

[Halford]

Erf shakes himself a little and contemplates Kshatrya's story.

"Umm, Kshatrya what exactly does this, err, sacred chalice say te ye? That is what does Galatea say through this chalice? What kind of tasks does she ask of ye?"

If Kshatrya does not seem to object he mianders over towards the pool and takes a look at the chalice.

Erf then takes a seat and sniffs the juice out of professional curiosity before taking a slurp and gagging a little at the unaccustomed sweetness, attempting to cover it with a coughing fit.

[sblock=K. Nature] To identify the fruit, etc., K. Nature (1d20+8=21) [/sblock]

 

[covaithe]

[sblock=Erf]There are a variety of common berries from the lowlands present. You've seen and eaten most of them over the last few weeks of scrounging, especially since you started foraging in the lands near the Grellgo river. Their taste is unexceptional for their kind. The juice smells like that of a particular variety of small plum, much like a grape, but pulpier and with a different flavor.

ooc: Oh, and since I forgot to address this earlier, but I think I'll leave Fenenn's scent ability out of this for the moment. He can smell nixie, but Erf is talking to one and doesn't appear to be in too much distress, so he's content to let well enough be. If that seems too contrived, add a swirling wind in the courtyard or something.
[/sblock]

The chalice, which you can all see well through the clear water, is a gaudy thing. It is hard to tell beneath the surface, but it appears to be quite large, of polished silver, with many decorative inlays, gems, carvings, and a general feeling of excess. It would probably be quite valuable, though a closer examination would be needed to assign a specific value to it.

"What kind of tasks? Well, the usual ones, I suppose." Her brow wrinkles in thought. "Catching fresh fish to lay on her altar, little gifts of silver, carved wooden toys, fresh pearls, that sort of thing. Sometimes she asks me to dance for her pleasure. That's mostly what she says. After all, I'm only a little nixie from the fens. I'm sure if some more of you outsiders would come, she would have very important things to say, things to change the world! That's why it's so important that you go to tell Sister Anemone as soon as possible. What would happen if you got hurt looking for your dead person, and couldn't go back to tell her? It might be years before someone else comes! Surely your ashes will still be there when you come back?" She looks pleadingly at Erf and Ter-raen, and tries to avoid Gildrim's eye.

 

[Halford]

"Well yes, I mean we'll tell Sister Anemone, but she's not 'ere and the urn is if ye take my meanin'. So we might as well go ahead and nab the urn and then be on our way. I err, promised that I'd bring some supplies fer the lizardfolk so, err, maybe I could, errr," Erf's voice trails off until it is almost inaudible, "come te visit with ye or somthin'?"

[sblock=Scent] No worries Covaithe I've never really liked the scent mechanic, how would he know there a two different rabbits instead of one for example? Plus it always seemed like there should be a check, why couldn't something disguise their scent, etc.?[/sblock]

 

[Trouvere]

Gildrim's eyes are rolling so fast it's unlikely the nixie could meet them even if she wanted to.

"We're nae sae at hame in th' weetlaunds as ye. Ah'm verra fond ay hills, an' yer wee admirer haur lives in th' trees wi' squirrels, if ye can believe sich nonsense. If we try tae gae back an' furth an' back again - parteeclarly as we may nae hae a willin' guide, sin he willnae even come whan he's asked" - his eyes roll again - "th' chances ay us bein' hurt are worse than if we mak th' trip th' ance. Ye widnae want ony harm tae come tae us, noo woud ye?"

 

[covaithe]

"But you'll have to go back through the swamp to Sister Anemone anyways, and it will be even more dangerous when you've worn yourself out with your quest," she counters. "Better to go now, while you're fresh. And that way, you'll have Sister Anemone with you on the way back the second time to protect you!" Her voice is all sweet reason.

"Erf, of course you can visit me if you like. All who revere the goddess are welcome here, since this is her shrine and I am her servant. You do revere the goddess, don't you?" she asks, pointedly.

[sblock=ooc]So as not to belabor this scene too much, if Erf and Ter-raen refuse to go, they'll need to make opposed charisma checks against a DC of.... 7. :facepalm: Oh, IC, why do you torment me so?[/sblock]