[Last Time, on El WHAT?!: o/~ On the road again... o/~ The group traveled further down the road toward Colorford, and discovered that Shiho is the only one with any camping skills. Daphne began to regret taking two levels of Spectacular Failure as she critically failed twice, once burning her pants off, giving Ichi an eyefull. The group settled down for a second night, but their mood was uneasy as there was something out there.] [Session Start] * Amy's plushie begins flashing with the customary light. * Cara puts the plushie down. * The plushie fills the clearing with bright light and then is replaced with Amy. The whole group is present, for once. Hi Amy! * Amy has a large dirty footprint on her back. Waa! I was a plushie again, wasn't I? * Cara nodnods. Hello again Amy. Well, I'm not a plushie anymore! What did I miss? * Daphne rolls her shoulders a bit. Not much, just travelling down the road. At least now that you're back I won't have to hunt for food tonight. * Daphne notices the footprint on Amy's back and sweatdrops. * Amy looks curiously at Daphne. "Whatcha lookin' at?" * Daphne looks away. "Nothin', nothin'." ... Uh, ok. * Amy looks around curiously. So, shall we go? We're stopping here, right? ... Something.. isn't right. * Shiho nods. * Cara blinks. * Amy looks around nerviously. * Ichi gets confused. Something in the forest... Yeah. Try not to make it so obvious. What isn't? The forest? I.. can't tell. It's something in the forest.. and.. I don't hear any animals. There's something creepy out there.. That's generaly not a good thing. * Cara clutches her arms around herself and shivers, already imagining what sort of horrible things could be out there. * Daphne hums to herself. * Ichi looks around to try and figure out waht everybody is talking about. * Shiho clears her throat. At any rate, we'd better get a fire going. Good idea. ...yeah. * Strangely, there is rather a lot of deadfall around the edges of this campsite. Sure. Uh, you'll understand if I don't try to help with the fire, I hope? Why don't you want to help Daphne? * Cara giggles despite herself. I... have my reasons. * Amy wanders over to the edge of the campsite and starts bringing some of the wood back. Are you afraid of fire? I guess I'll go help pick up wood again. ... And why are you wearing Shiho's hakama? * Cara starts laughing harder. * Ichi goes to get some wood. * Cara walks off to gather deadfall. * Daphne frowns and turns reddish. "Uh... I... Iburnedmypantsuptryingtomakeafirelastnight. There. Happy?" Oh. Sorry to hear that! Don't worry. I'm sure we can find you some nice pants in the next town. * Amy continues to look around nervously. Amy, stop doing that. I.. just don't like this. It feels wrong.. We know. * Ichi returns with asorted sticks of wood, some of them might even be usefull for making a fire out of. And if whoever's out there doesn't know we know, we have an advantage. * Cara brings some wood back to the campsite and drops it in the center. There. ^_^ Ok. Now we need to start a fire.. Don't suppose you have any kind of magic that'd do it? * Ichi drops his next to Caras. No magic... Hm... Looks like we'll have to do it the hard way. Yay! * Shiho sideglances with her eyes. "That clump of moss over there. Doesn't look right." * Amy looks up at a nearby tree and waves. ...moss? * Daphne , being unfamiliar with fantasy settings, blinks and says "Moss? How is moss gonna hurt us?" You need to ask? Probably through magic, like everything else in this world. Good point. Magical moss? So I should be worrying about something other than how to get the fire going? * Amy looks up at the tree. "Hello there. How are you? ^_^" * Fox hops down out of the tree and lands lightly at its base. // howcuriousverystrangeyoumustbeverybravepeople // Why do you say that? ...who are you talking to, Amy? // notmanypeoplestayherebecauseofnoanimalstheywereallscaredawaybythebadthingsiamthe onlyoneleft // .... Bad things? What are the bad things? I'm talking to this nice fox! Oh. * Shiho turns to see who Amy's talking to, and spies the fox. "Huh. Came back for more rabbits?" ...you can talk to the fox? // thebadthingsthateatpeopleandanythingtheycangettheirhandsontheyareverymeanbutiamc leverandtheydonotcatchme // Cool! ... Oh dear. They eat almost anything? // theydonotsmellverygoodbuttheywilleatanymeattheycancatchbuttheycannotcatchmeiamto ofastandclever // * Cara pokes Amy. "Ask him about the moss!" ... Ouch. Uh.. ok. Mr. Fox, what can you tell us about this moss over here? My friends seem to think there is something up with it. // ohthatisjustleftoversfromthelastpeoplewhostayedheretheywereverytastyithinkthebad thingsatethemveryquicklyeventhoughtherewerelotsofthem // ... What did he say? Uh. The moss is the leftovers of the last people the "bad things" ate. They ate them very quickly, even though there were lots of them. ... // thebadthingsonlytakethemeatnevertheotherthingstheyleavealltheshiniesitakethoseso metimesbecauseilikeshiniesdoyouhaveany // Oh. Well, that's comforting. Oh yeah! I have some shinys. * Fox scampers a little closer. * Cara 's eyes widen. "Lets get out of here!" * Daphne blinks. "The fox wants money?" * Amy reaches into her pouch and pulls out a silver and places it in front of the fox. That does sound like a good idea. I don't wanna get eaten! // shiny // * Fox pounces on the silver piece and tucks it away somewhere. There you are! Thank you for your help Mr. Fox. * Shiho nods and stands up. "That would be a good idea." And yeah, I'm all for leaving, too. We'll go a bit farther until we're out of danger. ... Uh, one last question Mr. Fox. Are there any of those bad things nearby? // thebadthingsareallovertheplacenobodystaysinthisareathereisnothingformetotakehome noshiniesexceptwhenthepeoplestayhereandgeteaten // * Cara looks around nervously. // areyougonnagetridofthebadthingssothattheotherstupidanimalswillcomebacktheyaregoo deatingilikethemverymuch // What did he say this time? ... He says the bad things are all over.. and he wants to know if we are going to get rid of them. Uhhhm.. ... ... * Shiho draws an arrow and scans the surroundings carefully. Do we get a choice? How many are there, and what do they look like? Uh, Mr fox. How many are there, and what do they look like? * Cara pulls her sketchpad out. // theyarebigandverysmellybiglikeyoubutnotlikebigbigandtheysmellreallybadreallyreal lybad // * Shiho shakes her head. "I don't know... I'm still injured, as well." // ialwayssmellthemcomingsoigetawaytheyarenotveryclever // But Daphne is really strong now! They are very big.. and smell like us.. only they smell bad... But they are not very clever. * Cara thinks. "Zombies?" Like thoes green things that took me when I got plushied? Are there a lot of them Mr. Fox? // thegreenmanusedtocomeheresometimesandgetridofthebigbadsmellyonesbuthedoesnotcome hereanymoreheusedtosaytheywereunbalancedandthatwasbad // // idonotknowwhyitwassobadbuthedidnotlikethembecausetheysmelllikedeadpeopleithinkia mnotsure // ... Green man.. unbalanced? A druid? ...I think A druid came to the forest and tried to stop them.. these creatures that smelled like dead people. ...do we start running now? Do you know how many of them there are Mr. Fox? We are in trouble arn't we. Smelled like dead people? Are we talking zombies, or something? // twotherearetwoofthemithinkthatisthewordthatyoubigpeopleuse // Thank you Mr. Fox. He says there are two of them. // yestwoithinktwoismorethanonerightithink // Yes Mr. Fox. It goes One, Two, Three. Two... // threewhatisthreeidonotunderstand // Three is more then two. * Fox blinks twice. * Shiho looks skeptical. I think we should try to help guys.. // thereismorethantwoidonotgetityoupeopleareconfusinghowcantherebemorethantwo // Uh.. don't worry about it Mr. Fox! Sorry. ^_^; Anyway, there are only two of these things.. but they are making all these poor animals homeless! Well, that's no good. Yeah. Poor Mr. Fox doesn't have much food to eat, and he can't get shinys from any travellers because nobody stays in the forest anymore. ... And he considers "two" a lot? * Fox runs over to Daphne's pack and starts digging through it. I think if we stay here, we're going to get killed. But Shiho.. the poor animals.. ;_; // doyoumindifigetashinyortwoireallywouldlikemoreshinies // But he said...Hey! i don't wanna die... * Fox pulls out one of Daphne's nice shiny flasks. * Fox starts dragging it away. He wants a couple of shinys.. Aww. Isn't that cute. Hey, kiddo. Fangs off the booze. * Fox is having trouble as the flask is nearly as heavy as he is. We'll deal with it later, when we're not half-dead. * Cara starts to sound a bit hysterical. "We can't stay here and die! We have to get home!" but.. we have to help the animals Cara. Or else they lose their home! // thisisabigshinywhentheotherseethistheywillbesoproudiwillbethebest // The others? What? They...they can go somewhere else! * Daphne walks calmly over to the fox. "Amy, can you ask him to give my flask back?" // theotherslikemewhentheycomebacktheywillseethatiamthemostcleverofall // But.. if the animals go somewhere else, they will mess up that place. Lets go. Please? This is their home. If they go to another forest, then there might not be enough food.. Amy. We *can* come back, you know. * Cara looks at Amy with big pleading puppydog eyes. * Ichi nods a Daphne. Yeah... I guess.. but.. the poor animals must be starving! Mr. Fox doesn't have much food at all! He had quite a meal last night, I'd say. * Fox continues dragging the flask along slowly. But we're gonna get eaten by zombies! ;_; Maybe he should go where the food went? Hey, what's stoping Mr. Fox from coming with us? ... Good question. Hey Mr Fox! Would you like to come with us for a while? Until we can find a way to get rid of those nasty people? * Daphne leans down in front of Mr. Fox. "Although, if Mr. Fox doesn't leggo my whiskey, he might come to a bad end. I mean, it isn't like he can move very quick while dragging that thing." // nowwhywouldiwanttoleaveherebecauseifileaveherenobodywillbelievemethatiwassocleve rthatthebadnastythingscouldnotkillmeandiwillloseallmyshiniesandthatisbad // Oh. OK then Mr. Fox. Hey! Don't you dare hurt Mr. Fox Daphne! * Shiho sighs. "Look, we don't have much time." * Indeed, for it is swiftly approaching full darkness. * Cara is nearly in tears by now. "Let's go! Let's go!" But.. the animals! We have to help! Yep, definatly in trouble. Amy? Can you please ask him to put my whiskey down? Shiho, tell her that we have to go! ... Mr. Fox. Can you please put Daphne's whiskey down? I know that it's a REALLY impressive shiny, but she likes it. // butitissuchabigshinyandilikeitVERYMUCHsowhycaninothaveit // Amy, come ON. * Daphne grumbles. * Cara stands up. "Now! Now! We have to get away!" * Shiho freezes. Forget it. It's too late now. ...Sh...Shiho? Oh, GLEE. Mr. Fox realy like... What do you mean Shiho? .. Uh-oh.. Huh? M..Mr fox. Are some of those things near us now? * Shiho whirls around, bow pointed towards a bush. // uhohtheyarehereandyouarefoodforthemandigetallyourshiniesyayilikeshiniestheyareve rygoodilikethemVERYMUCH // * Fox drops the whiskey and runs off. ... Uh-oh.. Dammit. We should've just left. * Daphne stands, and flexes her fists. * Amy gulps. "A.. at least now we can try to help the animals!" * A soft gnawing sound comes from the bushes. Yeah. And if anyone dies, it's your fault. I hope you can live with yourself. The 'bad things' are here? ::draws the good sword:: *crunch* ... ... ... *crunch* ... ... *crunch* ... ... * Amy whimpers. * A pair of slightly glowing eyes appear in the bushes on one side of the camp. *crunch* ... ... ... *crunch* ... ... *crunch* * Shiho points her weapon at them. * From the other side of the camp, a second crunching starts up. *crunch* ... ... ... *crunch* ... ... *crunch* Dammit... * Ichi looks back and forth between the two sounds. * Cara clutches her sketchbook. Ok, Daphne, get on one side. Ichi, the other. Right. Ok. * Daphne gets on the right side. * Ichi takes the left. * Cara looks tearfully at Amy. * The two crunching sounds start to rotate around the camp. *crunch* ... ... ... *crunch* ... ... *crunch* Wh...why are the animals more important than us? I just wanted us to help them... * Ichi follows his sound the best he can. T.. these things arn't natural.. We can argue about it later. For now, pay attention and be ready. * A horrible smell starts to fill the campsite. It smells like rotting flesh, and lots of it. * Cara coughs. * Daphne wrinkles her nose. Ewww... * Ten minutes pass, and the gnawing sounds are still circling the camp. *crunch* ... ... ... *crunch* ... ... *crunch* Blech, these things need a bath worse than my sempais after practice. ...well, they sure are taking their sweet time about it. * Something small and white flashes through the air and thuds to the ground at Cara's feet. * Cara shrieks. * Ichi turns around to see what it was. * It is a human finger bone, rather badly gnawed. H...h...horrible... * A larger white object flies through the air and lands at Daphne's feet. * Ichi looks at that one too. * It appears to be part of an arm, also badly gnawed. * Daphne tries not to pay it much attention. * Ten minutes pass, and still nothing has attacked. * Cara tries to focus and gets her sketchbook ready. Ichi! Pay attention. Well. These things appear to have enough presence of mind to try to psyche us. ... Right. ::goes back to listinging to the crunching:: * Amy continues looking aroud nervously. * DeadThing rushes out of the forest right at Ichi. * Cara pushes some of the wood together in a pile, then starts to sketch it burning. Yipe! * DeadThing is a large, vaguely humanoid thing, but its flesh is rotting all over, and it emits a horrible stench. It appears to be gnawing on another bone, but as it runs, the bone falls out. * DeadThing launches itself at Ichi. * DeadThing sinks its teeth into Ichi's arm and tears out a chunk of flesh. Itittai * Shiho whirls about and shoots the thing that attacked Ichi. * DeadThing takes the arrow right in its shoulder, but appears to not notice. * Daphne decides that turning her back to one of these things, for whatever reason, is a bad idea, and waits. (holding action) * Cara draws the pile of wood that she's made burning. * The pile of wood catches fire and begins burning brightly. The dead thing flinches away for a moment and then goes back to gnawing on Ichi. * Amy focuses on Ichi and Daphne.. "BLESS!" * Ichi and Daphne gain primal instincts! * Ichi attempts a swing at the deadthing eating him. * DeadThing2 comes dashing out of the woods straight for Daphne. * Daphne throws a punch at the aproaching deadthing. * DeadThing runs right under the badly mistimed punch and claws Daphne. * DeadThing gashes Daphne badly on the gut, then sinks its teeth into her arm, right above the gauntlets. * Daphne stops moving and falls over, stiff as a board. Daphne! DAPHNE! DAPHNE! * DeadThing jumps at Ichi again, totally ignoring Shiho. * Shiho shoots the thing attacking Ichi, intent to finish off one monster before dealing with the other.] * Shiho misses, sadly. * Cara grabs a branch from the fire and whacks at the thing attacking Ichi. * Cara misses so that she doesn't hit Ichi. * Amy stops focusing on Daphne and starts focusing on Shiho. "BLESS!" * Shiho gains primal instincts! * Ichi takes another swing and the deadthing. * DeadThing falls to the ground in a dozen pieces as Ichi goes absolutely apeshit on it. That's for what you Did to Daphne!! * DeadThing2 launches itself at Ichi. * DeadThing2 claws a chunk out of Ichi's torso. Alright Itchy! * Shiho fires at the thing, putting all of her effort into the shot. * DeadThing2 takes the arrow in its neck, but does not appear to be significantly slowed by it. * Cara tries to whack the other thing with the burning stick. * Cara misses badly. * Amy grabs a stick of fire as well, but just holds onto it. * Ichi takes a swing at the newist thing trying to eat him. "Do these things think I taste good or something?" * DeadThing2 takes the hit and likes it! * DeadThing2 gnaws on the tasty Ichi some more! * Ichi freezes up and falls over, stiff as a board. * Shiho takes careful aim and lets loose another arrow. * DeadThing2 falls over as the arrow passes through its head and takes most of the other side with it. * Cara runs over to Daphne and checks to see if she's breathing. * Shiho falls to her knees. * Amy runs over to Daphne.. * Daphne and Ichi are both breathing, though barely. Oh no.. oh no.. * Whatever it is appears to only paralyze voluntary muscles. * Amy cancels the bless. * Their bodies are in a state of total cramping. They're going to [HURT] when they come out of it. ...A.. are they ok? ...they're not dead, but I don't know what's wrong. You're the magic-people. Can't you heal them or something? I...I've never tried to heal anyone before...you remember what happened the last time I used my magic on a person. * Shiho shrugs. "Your ears changed. Big deal." * Cara examines Daphne's wound. "Well, I can try..." I.. I'm really tired.. I don't know if I have enough energy to heal them.. You'd better. * Cara draws Daphne with the wound missing. If they die... * Shiho shakes her head. "Just give it a shot, Amy." ... * Amy moves her hands over Ichi. "Cure Light Wounds!" * Daphne's wound vanishes. She seems different somehow, but it's hard to say exactly how. * Sadly, she does not start moving again. ... ... Aw... I dunno. If I understood what was really wrong, I might be able to fix it, but... And if I had the herbs to do so, I might've been able to make her a potion or something... * Shiho shakes her head. "We can't stay here long. There might be more of them." M.. Mr. Fox said there were only two. I wish that fox would come back... And judging from your conversation, he didn't know what 'three' even meant. ... Hey! Mr. FOX! They're gone! Come'on back please! I, for one, sure as hell don't want to deal with another one of those things. Amy! For God's sake, be quiet! You wanna draw even more things for us to fight?! * Cara begins a new drawing, first with Daphne lying stiff, then with another panel of her sitting up and moving around. ... * Cara sets her sketchpad down. "If...if that doesn't work, I don't think I can do anything else." * Shiho shakes her head. "It's okay. At least you're trying." Why didn't Lawrence mention this to us? * Daphne's muscles slowly relax, eventually releasing from their incredibly painful cramped positions. She sits up slowly, seemingly not in full control of herself, and her long bangs fall in front of her face, obscuring her eyes. Daphne? D.. Daphne? Are you ok? * Shiho looks over to Daphne. "Hey, you alright now?" * Cara lifts Daphne's bangs away from her face. Sweet Jesus, I [HURT]. You're okay! Join the club. More or less, yeah. I think. Maybe. * Cara looks at Daphne's face, checking to make sure that nothing is changed. * A few minutes later, Ichi begins breathing more regularly as his paralysis wears off naturally. ... * Ichi curles into a ball and mumbles somethinng about rolling down the side of a mountain. * Shiho looks over. "You back with us, Ichi?" Hey, guys. As soon as I feel up to standing, we need to get going. I'll carry Itchy if he isn't up and about by then. * Shiho nods. "My thoughts exactly." I...it hurts. Yeah, we should go. * Shiho stands up. * Ichi slowly uncurles, and stands up. "Itititti" I agree. * Daphne stands. * Cara puts her sketchbook away and stands. Okay. Lemme get my stuff, and we'll get on down the road. Preferably quickly. How're you feeling, Itchy? Aside from the pain, of course. * Daphne starts to getting her stuff. ... I.. I'm sorry. This is all my fault.. I think I can be summed up as "ow". It's okay, Amy. We're still all alive. ^_^ Can you stand, Ichi? * Ichi looks at his feet, "I seem to be, dunno about walking yet." Yeah, that is a good way to put it. And don't worry about it, Amy. Let's just get out of the forest of the living dead. * Daphne dons her backpack, after very carefully putting her flask of whiskey in there. * Ichi can walk, it's just exceptionally painful, as his muscles have been cramped. ... * Ichi takes a step and winces. Everyone ready? Yeah. Could sombody get my sword? I don't realy feel like bending down to pick it up. * Cara grabs Ichi's sword. Thank you. Welcome. ^_^ Let's go, then. * Amy nods sullenly. * Daphne starts walking, her jaw visibly clenched and her eyes watering. * Ichi takes a few more steps. "I think I'm as ready as I'm going ::wince:: get." * The group presses on through the night, exiting the forest into more fertile farmland. As the sun rises, they crest a hill and see a fairly large town in the distance. Running through the centre of the town is a large river, and even from here, it is evident that this must be Colorford, as just upstream from the town is a large waterfall that creates immense rainbows over the town. Wooow... ...it's so pretty... * Shiho yawns. "Ok, here's the plan." We get there, we find an inn or something, and we sleep." An excellent plan, Shiho. It's magnifficent. It's wondeful. I endorse it wholeheartedly. Especially the sleep part. Sleep sounds good, very good. Also... * Cara nods. "Tired." Sleep... I think we should spend a bit of time here. * Strangely, the rainbows are far larger and more widespread than the waterfall could possibly produce. Clearly, we weren't as prepared as we should've been when we left the first time. Sounds good to me, Shiho. Maybe we can learn some more stuff here, like we did back in wherevertheheck. Sleep now, plan later. Right I'm with Itchi. * Shiho trudges towards the town. Ichi very smart. Sleep sounds good. * Daphne trudges along after. Yar. ::trudges:: * As you proceed down into the valley, you begin to sense the reason that the rainbows are so much more than they otherwise would be. The entire Colorford valley is a magical nexus, and just walking through it infuses you with energy. Ooooh. Waa.. Woah! That feels niiiiiice... ...hey, wow. Wh.. what was that? I dunno. Prolly magic. Hm. Nifty. That felt nice! Say Amy? Don't suppose you're feeling up to casting some healing spells now? * Ichi yawns and blinks a few times. "Good morning everybody." Am I the only one who doesn't feel tired anymore? * Cara stretches. ...Guess not. I feel great. * Shiho nods. * As you near the town, you begin to pick out structures from the surrounding area. The town is walled, with several large garrisons, there are several large towers and a single immense castle-like building. * Amy blinks. Y.. yeah! One second * Amy moves over to Ichi. "Cure Light Wounds!" * Amy casts the spell, and instead of the energy coming from inside her, it seems to come from the land all around. ... Woah. * Amy moves over to Daphne. "Cure Light Wounds!" Wow, thanks Amy. I'd cast it again, but we might need it again later today.. * Daphne is already fully healed. This place is neat.. I wonder what they have in the town! We'll find out soon enough. Yeah... Lets go then. * Shiho keeps walking. * As you watch, an immense bolt of lightning breaks through the roof of the large castle-like structure and dissipates into the air. I bet there's lots of people who know about magic here. * Shiho blinks. "Yeah... Yeah, I'd say so, Cara." Lighting doesn't usualy do that right? * Daphne begins strobing with the familiar light. Uh-oh. DaphnePlushie! Bye! * A moment later, as usual, she vanishes, leaving a plushie behind. * Amy grabs the cute widdle plushie! Hrm... That reminds me, Amy. Aww! Innit so CUTE! You should take a shower or something when you get the chance. ... Why? Because your back is... um, dirty. * Amy tries to look at her back. * Cara laughs into her hand. ... What HAPPENED? ;_; You...you have a big footprint on your back. *giggle* I think you got steped on when you were a plushie. ... ;_; Why'd you step on me? * The group makes it to Colorford, and the gates are wide open. * The city is awake now, and people are bustling all about, doing business. * Amy walks into town, looking around in wonder. * A fireball launches from the castle-like building, and the citizens pay it no heed. This place is big! * Cara boggles. * From the main gates, you can see no less than four inns. O.O Pretty impressive. ... Wow. @_@ Uh. Where should we stay? Off hand, I'd say the cheapest one... We should ask around, I guess. At one of thoes, I guess. ::points at the no less than four inns:: * Amy looks at the various inns. * The inns currently in sight are The Jumping Pony, The Wizard's Hat, The Flying Broomstick, and The Swimming Dwarf. * Cara laughs upon seeing the Swimming Dwarf. Hmm. The Jumping Pony sounds nice! * Shiho shrugs. "They're just names. I don't think it matters much." I don't feel so sleepy anymore, so it doesn't matter to me. Good point. If nobody's ever tired here, why are there inns? Uh. I don't know. We could ask sombody. Because people like to relax! * Cara blinks. Even if they are not tired! That works. * On the side of the road, a woman calmly applies a minor healing magic to a child's scraped knee. Wow! Look! * Shiho shrugs. "Whatever. You're the one with the money, Amy." Wow...I bet I can learn a lot here... * Ichi nods. Everyone in the town's probably some sort of magician. I wonder if there are any druids around here... Mr. Fox said that a druid-like person came into the forest.. Hmm. Well, why don't we go into the Pony. Might as well see! * Amy heads for the inn. Sounds good to me. * Shiho shrugs and heads that way. * Ichi goes after her. "Why not?" * Cara follows Amy. * Innkeep looks up as the group enters the inn. * The inside of the Pony is nearly spotless. There are a few people still having breakfast, but other than that, the place is deserted. Can I help you? Uh hello. We just got into town.. * Ichi nods at this. I figured that, by the width of your eyes. And uh.. we're wondering.. Why are there four inns in this town if nobody gets tired here? Why wouldn't people get tired? Well uh.. We just got into town, and we feel full of energy an.. The longer you stay here, the less the energy floating about will keep you awake. Oh. You sort of get used to it. OK then! .. Uh, why are there four inns tho'? Mostly for traders. What does that mean when we're leaving? * Cara nods. "Makes sense." That, and for people in for refresher courses at Hogwart's. ... Hogwarts? .. Hogwarts? Hogwart's University. Biggest school of magic anywhere. Wow. I guess magic users are common here? Pretty much everybody knows at least a little magic. Wow. That's amaizing. Mostly it's because of the nexus. Most people can't cast a thing once they leave, there just isn't enough power. Wow. Are there all sorts of magicians here? Why does magic gather here? Nobody's entirely sure why the magic is here. But pretty much every type of wizard comes here eventually to exploit it somehow. Even Enchanters and Necromancers. ... Necromancers? Enchanters? Enchanters? * Cara shudders at the mention of Necromancers. What's a Necromancer? Oh, they muck about with the forces of life, stuff like that. ...someone who uses death magic. Animating the dead, killing the living. ... Animated the dead? Like those things in the forest? * Cara nods. ... Wow. What kinda weirdo would wanna do that? I don't know. I don't want to know. Enchanters though... mostly they keep people in the dark about the fact that they actually are enchanters. Most people aren't very fond of them, because of the charms and love spells, mind control, stuff like that. Mind Control? Creepy.. Oh. * Cara 'eeps' at the mention of love spells. That's creepy too. Not as much as the Necromancer, but still creepy.. * Cara turns to Shiho. "So should we get rooms here? For when we start to get tired?" Oh yeah! Mr. Innkeeper, how much are rooms here? May as well, I guess. Three coppers a night for a room, two people to a room. Two coppers extra for meals. .. Hmm.. * Shiho considers. Uh. Ok. How long will we be in town guys? Two to a room? but there's five of us For a while, probably. But Daphne is a plushie right now. ... Uh.. ok.. * Amy pulls out a gold coin. "How long could we stay her for this?" ... ... ? ...Amy... * Innkeep gapes. What? * Shiho sighs. Three months. * Cara whispers in Amy's ear. "Remember what happened with the Peddler when he found out how much money we had?" Amy, come with me a sec. ... oh. Uh.. ok Shiho.. * Amy follows after Shiho. * Ichi looks lost. * Shiho leads Amy to a corner of the room. What's wrong? * Shiho then speaks in quiet tones. "Amy, you have to stop doing that." Stop doing what? Waving money around like that. .. Uh.. ok.. if you say so. Now he knows we have a gold coin, and might think we have more. What if he decides to rob us in our sleep? He wouldn't do that.. would he? ;_; I'm not saying he looks like he will. But someone else might some other time. And I don't want to take the risk if we can avoid it. Uh.. ok. I won't pull out money unless you say to Shiho.. Sorry.. It's not that. Just don't do it unless you're sure of buying something. Oh.. Ok then. * Shiho nods and gestures back to the innkeeper. * Cara waits. So.. uh.. what should I do? Like I said, girls. Three months room and board for the four of you. I think we're okay with him. And it sounds like a fair price. I think. OK. Do you think we need to spend three months here? But we don't know how long we're staying... I mean, there are all sorts of magicians here.. maybe I could find another druid to teach me... * Shiho nods. "I think we need to learn more before we leave again." How long did we spend in the last town? Druids? I doubt it. We've proven that we're not ready to adventure yet. Aww.. I think the nearest one lives down south. The druids all stopped coming here after the wizards built Hogwart's. Do you know if there are sorcerors around here? Oh. Darn.. What about swordmasters or smiths? Any archers or rangers? Sorcerors? They're pretty uncommon. You could try seeing if one's in town, if there is, he'd probably be staying at Hogwart's as a guest lecturer or something. Or martial artists? Thank you. Hmmm... there's a couple smithys in town. I don't know about swordmasters, but if you want to learn fighting, you'd check at the garrison with the city watch. ahh, thank you sir. Archers... I suppose your best bet would be to check at the Elven embasy, if they'll see you. Same for rangers, really, though the Watch might have someone along that line. * Shiho nods. "Thank you." I'm not sure what you mean by martial arts, though, unless you're talking about fighting in general. Um... Fighting unarmed. Why would anybody do that? Might not have a choice sometimes. You'd get killed by the first person who came at you with a decent weapon and some skill. Perhaps their weapons break, or they're caught off guard, or something. Anything else you wanna know? Well, I should probably go and look around at Hogwarts...see if there are any sorcerors, and maybe ask about getting those gloves off Daphne... * Shiho nods. "I'll check the Embassy and the Watch." * Innkeep goes back to cleaning. Uh.. I. don't know what to do. ^_^; I guess I'm going to the watch.