[Story] Expedition I: Lake Kagamihara

[Xyza]

Khrysa

Khrysa hadn't noticed the berries at first, but was drawn to them when Rahat began examining the fruits. She nodded attentively while watching the foraging specialist carefully nibble and evaluate the effects before swallowing. Such expert techniques! If Khrysa had been alone, she likely would have munched a handful of the berries for a taste test without thinking...and possibly ended up like the sleeping creature here. Now that Rahat had tested them though, she felt comfortable gathering some up.

"These berries are soothing, and I think that if someone ate enough of them they might even put them to sleep, or at least into torpor. If this creature consumed them by the bushel..."

"Ohh, interesting! Soothing, huh?" Khrysa popped one of them into her mouth and enjoyed the taste, as well as the curious but pleasant relaxation afterward. It certainly was significant and compelling when ingredients had effects like that on their own, often indicating psychological and/or magical characteristics. "Oooh I really like this! Wouldn't it be just fantastic for a dessert? I know some people have trouble sleeping after a meal, especially if coffee or tea is involved, so if you combined that with a tart or custard made from this berry, it could make for a nice and easy descent into bed..."

Khrysa got caught up enough in brainstorming recipes and gathering some more of the berries that she almost lost track of why they were discussing this in the first place, and was pulled back to reality by Merris' ponderings about the berry quantity as opposed to Khrysa's previous "cursed princess" theory. "Hmm...we could try checking in with a wakeup call to make sure everything is okay...and help them back to sleep after if that's what they want?"

OOC Going to try to gather...a few cups worth of the berries? But not all of them in the area

[Kaigen]

Rahat - Twinspring Grove Originally Posted by Touketsu "I heard a bard's ballad about that before...does that mean one of us needs to kiss it?" Merris stopped rubbing his chin, slowly turning toward Khrysa as his expression bounced from amused to intrigued. "Well no, that's... I mean... I don't... THINK so... right?" Merris glanced back over to Rahat, curious what her take was on all this. Seeing that Merris apparently expected her to take the idea seriously, Rahat turned her head towards him, the black jackal impassively staring him in the face. "I don't generally treat patients by kissing them," she deadpanned. "The mask tends to get in the way." She began rummaging through her herbal kit, considering the quantities available against the size of the sleeping giant. "Normally, if I thought a patient was suffering from something they had eaten, I would attempt to make them bring it back up. Not very pleasant, but possibly better than a kiss from a total stranger, depending on the patient." She paused, then resumed her search. "To rouse a fainted patient, I would use smelling salts. I have mustard seed for the former and ammoniac for the latter." Rahat stopped and looked at the other two. "If either of you have a magical means of rousing the giant, I am all ears."

[Touketsu]

Merris "I don't generally treat patients by kissing them. The mask tends to get in the way." Merris crossed his arms and nodded sagely. "Ah yes, of course. Certainly." A foolish suggestion... well, Merris assumed anyway, based on Rahat's reaction. To be fair, it hadn't been HIS idea, but he assumed of the three of them he was probably the least worldly. It felt rude to outright reject the suggestion without at least running it by the medical professional present. As Rahat began to walk through her process of trying to identify and resolve the issue, she put it to the others if they may have had any magical means for rousing the creature. Merris paused, doing a quick mental inventory of the spells he had at his disposal. "Well I can make them harder to attack... I can heal their wounds.... put them into a DEEPER sleep... yeah, unfortunately, not much that would wake someone up. My skills lie more in supporting and soothing." He cocked his head. "... I can light them on fire, or drop a whole lot of water on them. While those MIGHT work, I doubt they'd much appreciate it." Glancing over at Khrysa, Merris shrugged. "Do you have any ideas? If not, I vote we start with the ammoniac and see what happens. I couldn't detect any magic aura coming off them specifically, so I don't know that we necessarily even need magical countermeasures."

[Xyza]

Khrysa

"Normally, if I thought a patient was suffering from something they had eaten, I would attempt to make them bring it back up. Not very pleasant, but possibly better than a kiss from a total stranger, depending on the patient. To rouse a fainted patient, I would use smelling salts. I have mustard seed for the former and ammoniac for the latter."

"Ahh, that makes a lot of sense! Sounds better than kissing for this situation...I wonder why they didn't try that with the princess who ate the cursed apple?" Khrysa idly wondered.

"If either of you have a magical means of rousing the giant, I am all ears."

"Hmm...no, most of my magic is for cooling things down or heating them up..." Khrysa was similarly as out of luck as Merris, though one spell of his did get her attention. "Ooh! Well if you know a sleeping spell, at least we can easily send the creature back to slumbering if it was just trying to take a rest. But for waking it up, it does seem like Rahat's salts are the best bet."

[Kaigen]

Rahat - Twinspring Grove Rahat nodded as the other two offered their opinions. Magic was not her first choice of treatment for patients suffering from unknown maladies, and not just because she has only limited skill in that regard. But it was always worth considering the options available and including her colleagues in the discussion. "I agree that smelling salts seem like the best place to start," she said with a glance towards Khrysa. Given how long the giant had apparently been sleeping, it seemed more likely than not that the bulk of the berries would have been digested already—if they were even the cause. She nodded towards Merris. "If we need to try the emetic later, I may have need of that ability to create a lot of water." Positioning herself to the side of the creature's head in the hopes that a sudden awakening wouldn't send her flying, Rahat prepared the salts and leaned down to wave them in front of the giant's face.

OOC Attempting a Medicine check to wake the giant, with a 12 result.

[morgantha]

Langtree Langtree waited for a moment until the water around her line stopped rippling from the impact. Once the water was still, she could just distinguish several shadows underneath. Noting that one was slightly larger than the others, she focused her attention on that one, wriggling her line enticingly in the water. fishing Rolled a 15 for hooking and an 11 for angling the one medium sized fish

[briar]

Lake Kagamihara Briarheart Hollow "The sunrise at Lake Kagamihara is pretty famous. You see, when the sun hits those glaciers just right...well, guess you should stay up and see for yourself, eh?" -- Overheard from a passerby in Tradewinds

📅 11th Day of Second month in the Summer season.Aiou, 334 After Union / After UnificationA.U. Terrain🌄 Travel & Camping Base TN is 6.Lowland Lakeside Weather🌞 Travel & Camping Modifier is +0Partly Cloudy; 62°F Time of Day⏱ ~ 11:20 PM In-Game TimeLate Morning Locale Info A quiet, out of the way lake famed for its solitude and crystal clear waters, it is overlooked by Mount Seneschal, the tallest and most iconic of the Reigncrown mountain range. Legend has it that the emblem on the Rouge flag was designed after the view of the mountain from this lake. In the Summer and Autumn, it is a common destination for hikers and campers, and features a small lodge where one can rent small boats to venture onto the lake. Environs: Lodge Area, Northern Lakeshore, Southern Lakeshore, Twinspring Grove Locale Info Background Music Gloop 🩸 14/14 Karma for this Locale: 1🍀 Current Stamina: 3/3💪 Khrysa 🩸 14/14 Current Stamina: 3/3💪 Langtree 🩸 20/20 Community for Today: 1❤️ Current Stamina: 2/3💪 Merris 🩸 17/17 Community for Today: 2❤️ Current Stamina: 3/3💪 Rahat 🩸 21/21 Karma for this Locale: 3🍀 Current Stamina: 3/3💪

Langtree & Goop Langtree's line bobs in the water, and at Goop's suggestion, she wiggles and dangles it around hoping for a bite. The intended target, the slightly bigger shadow in the water, seems to be quite uninterested in the offering, though. Or perhaps, judging by how little it moves, it simply hasn't noticed it yet. Goop gives a smile, chuckling, "Well, fishing is all about patience, I guess. You're not the type to give up easily, though, right? Keep at it!"

Storyteller Notes The DC to Hook the Medium fish is 17 (The base is 8 and three squares away makes it +9). Since she has Goop's assistance, she get's advantage on the roll, but it ended up being worse, so unfortunately the Hooking attempt fails Failing the Hooking check doesn't mean your line or rod takes Durability damage, it just means you didn't tempt it into biting your line, so you could try again if you want, however, the DC remains the same unless you'd like to try and recast to get closer.   The triangle represents your line's current position. Hexagons represent fish in the area. Green hexagons are 'small' fish, yellow are 'medium' fish, and reds are 'large'.

---

Rahat, Khrysa & Merris Rahat doesn't immediately find any evidence that there might have been more berries in the area, but its difficult to say, given how long the thing must've been here. No doubt much of the land has changed since that time. Digging around in the berry bushes a little, Khrysa finds a decent handful, getting pinched by their thorns a bit in the process. They aren't particularly sharp, but they leave a slight stinging sensation on the point of impact. Fortunately, Rahat's trained hand allowed her to avoid the same. Still, Khrysa manages to gather about a cupful, though she has doubts that this amount would make more than a single serving of a dish. Eating an entire berry fortunately isn't enough to put Khrysa to sleep, but it does beget a somewhat warming sensation in the throat as the juices are released. She can sort of feel her muscles relaxing as well if only a little. With her companions at the ready, Rahat kneels to administer the smelling salts, and the effect is almost instantaneous. The pungent aroma wafts into the nostril-like slots of the creature's face, and its head jolts slightly. The snoring turns into snorting, and after a moment, the thing's large mouth opens wide to release a musty cough. Fortunately, the reaction isn't quite as violent as Rahat may have been expecting, and she has plenty of time to step back and away as the creature's body begins to move around, coming free of the earth as it does. Its limbs are the size of small logs, and its fingers are long and tendril-like. To the surprise of all, the creature begins to speak in what sounds like Common, though the tone of it has a long, ponderous drawl. His bellowing words sound confused. "Hhhhmmmmmmmmmm? What...have we...here...? Was I...sleeping...? How very...very...strange..."

Storyteller Notes Khrysa is free to gather a handful of berries for experimentation purposes, but if she wants to gather an amount equal to a share that a Forager would be able to obtain with Karma, she would need to make a Survival check.

[Touketsu]

Merris Merris watched carefully as the creature awoke, not expecting violence... but prepared to react if it came. Luckily, the creature seemed more dazed than aggressive; unsurprising, given how long it had likely been asleep. Even more luckily, it spoke! And if it could speak, it could be reasoned with. "Hello friend... please take your time. You seem to have been asleep for quite a while." Merris spoken a soft and relaxed tone, a placid smile upon his face. "My companions and I were just passing through and found you covered in overgrowth, so we thought something may have been wrong... I hope you don't mind that we woke you up. Do you feel alright?" Merris stopped there, waiting for a reply. Normally it would probably be rude not to introduce one's self straight away, but he didn't want to throw too much information at the creature straight out of the gate; better to give it a few moments to clear away the fog of recent sleep.

[Xyza]

Khrysa

"Ow!" Khrysa winced under her breath as the bush thorns poked her. In her enthusiasm she'd forgotten the challenges in acquiring ingredients sometimes. She carefully reached out again before hesitating. Rahat was good at this sort of thing, why not just ask her friend for a favor?

Of course, the foraging expert was currently occupied trying to rouse the arboreal creature, so Khrysa turned her attention there as well. She gasped in surprise as it woke, and took a few staggering steps back from the shaking ground.

Even more surprising was that its speech was understandable, as it tried to make sense of the situation. While she stumbled for words, Merris had spoken a much better introduction already. "Hello! What should we call you?" she tacked on while waving cheerfully.

[Kaigen]

Rahat - Twinspring Grove Whatever Rahat may have said earlier, she hadn't really expected the smelling salts to work, given the size of the creature. She cantered backwards a few paces as it roused itself and rose from the ground, sending clods of earth flying. Merris took the initiative in speaking to it, which gave Rahat time to collect herself and get a good look at the creature. Plant-like creatures are not something she has much experience in treating—the desert has vegetation, but not enough water to grow anything large and intelligent aside from the occasional awakened saguaro. Still, she kept an eye on its movements to look for signs of lethargy or compromised balance.

[morgantha]

Langtree Now that it seemed possible to catch the slightly larger fish, Langtree lost all interest in the small ones she could see near her hook. She carefully drew the line back in and paced down the bank so she was lined up better with her prey. She cast again, this time landing quite near to the one she wanted. Feeling confident, she began trying to hook the creature again. fishing Langtree will move to row Q and cast again (7). This time rolled better for hooking (23) and angling (14).

[briar]

Lake Kagamihara Briarheart Hollow "The sunrise at Lake Kagamihara is pretty famous. You see, when the sun hits those glaciers just right...well, guess you should stay up and see for yourself, eh?" -- Overheard from a passerby in Tradewinds

📅 11th Day of Second month in the Summer season.Aiou, 334 After Union / After UnificationA.U. Terrain🌄 Travel & Camping Base TN is 6.Lowland Lakeside Weather🌞 Travel & Camping Modifier is +0Partly Cloudy; 62°F Time of Day⏱ ~ 11:20 PM In-Game TimeLate Morning Locale Info A quiet, out of the way lake famed for its solitude and crystal clear waters, it is overlooked by Mount Seneschal, the tallest and most iconic of the Reigncrown mountain range. Legend has it that the emblem on the Rouge flag was designed after the view of the mountain from this lake. In the Summer and Autumn, it is a common destination for hikers and campers, and features a small lodge where one can rent small boats to venture onto the lake. Environs: Lodge Area, Northern Lakeshore, Southern Lakeshore, Twinspring Grove Locale Info Background Music Gloop 🩸 14/14 Karma for this Locale: 1🍀 Current Stamina: 3/3💪 Khrysa 🩸 14/14 Current Stamina: 3/3💪 Langtree 🩸 20/20 Community for Today: 1❤️ Current Stamina: 2/3💪 Merris 🩸 17/17 Community for Today: 2❤️ Current Stamina: 3/3💪 Rahat 🩸 21/21 Karma for this Locale: 3🍀 Current Stamina: 3/3💪

Langtree & Goop Goop follows along and anxiously watches over Langtree's shoulder as the vampire adjusts her positioning and casts her line again. It lands with another satisfying >PLIP< in the water, and it doesn't take long for her gambit to bear fruit. The shadow in the water immediately begins homing in on the hook. The moment it bites, Langtree feels her body lurch forth towards the water as the fish pulls, but she quickly stabilizes and starts pulling back. For a moment, its body can be seen atop the lakewater, like a streak of brown and black, before disappearing back into the deep. It seems to have a lot of fight in it!

Storyteller Notes Since you landed right on the fish (you can choose to cast anywhere in the range that you rolled for Casting), the DC to Hook it is an 8, so you more than succeed in getting the fish on the line! You also succeeded in your Angling check, so that means you were able to reel it in some. I went ahead and rolled your d4 to show how far you brought it in, which was 2. It's now slightly closer to the shore! To land the fish from here, you don't need to make Casting or Hooking checks, only Hooking (Wisdom) checks vs a DC 8. If you succeed, you can roll another 1d4 to reel it in. If you fail, your line loses 1 Durability (out of a total of 3). If you can reel it into shore, you catch it! But if your Durability reaches 0 first, your line snaps.   The triangle represents your line's current position. Hexagons represent fish in the area. Green hexagons are 'small' fish, yellow are 'medium' fish, and reds are 'large'.

---

Rahat, Khrysa & Merris Rahat finds that the creature moves slowly, though without knowing much of its species, it's difficult to say if that is normal or not. It does seem to be shaking off its slumber well, though. "Ahhhhh... Yes, I'm starting to remember... I was on a journey from the Lady of the Lark when I found my way...here...? How strange... I don't seem to remember falling lying down..." At being asked for its name, the creature seems embarrassed, "Ah...my apologies... how rude of me..." It takes the time to stand up fully, if a bit shakily, and places a branch hand over its chest area, bending its body forward slightly. "I am Lhorn...of the Arkenwood, Trailmaster of...the Lady of the Lark. Thank you for awakening me...from my stupor..."

Storyteller Notes If Rahat would like, she can make a Nature check in place of a Medicine check to give the creature a quick check-up. Merris might recognize some of the terms that the tree person is speaking of. In particular, the Arkenwood is an urban legend of the Great Forest. Feel free to make a Lore check to know more!

[Kaigen]

Rahat - Twinspring Grove It was no use. No matter how much Rahat tried to assess Lhorn visually, she had no point of comparison from which to make even a wild guess about whether it was still suffering ill effects from its stupor. "You are most welcome," she said. "Tell me immediately if you feel at all strange or unwell. You seem to have been sleeping for quite some time." It didn't necessarily mean anything that Lhorn did not remember falling asleep. People fell asleep without realizing it all the time. But if its slumber was magical rather than the result of eating too many berries, the magic may have impacted his memory. "There is a very large axe resting against a tree near here that seems to have been abandoned for some time. Is it perhaps yours?"

OOC Would that be an urban legend or an arboreal legend? Rahat got an 8 on her Nature check, so she's thoroughly stumped.

[Touketsu]

Merris As Lhorn introduced themself, Merris's ears perked up slightly. Arkenwood? He was SURE he'd heard of such a place before... a long time ago. Stories passed around the community and the Great Forest. He'd thought it simple fantasy, but here was living proof that wasn't the case. It was a shame he couldn't quite remember the rest of the details at the moment though. "Charmed, Lhorn. A Trailmaster you say? That sounds quite important. If you're not in a hurry, I'd love to hear more about your home, as well as this "Lady of the Lark". I'm from the Great Forest myself; tales of the Arkenwood drift around amongst my people, but my memory is a bit foggy right now."

Rolls & Actions Lore: 8 Seems like 8 is fate today. Merris can't remember a dang thing either.

[Xyza]

Khrysa

"Ah...my apologies... how rude of me..."

"Ohh no, you weren't rude at all!" Khrysa snapped into full 'customer service' mode when the tree-person appeared embarrassed in giving its introduction. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Lhorn, I'm Khrysanthenum Silverscale, but you can just call me Khrysa! I'll be happy to make your stay comforta-...err, happy to talk with you today!"

Khrysa stood by as Rahat and Merris asked their questions, quite curious about the topics as well. She had no idea what a Trailmaster or Lady of the Lark were, but they certainly sounded interesting. And listening to interesting stories was something she loved doing!