Fable - Ask An Unexpected Monster

[Gurnam]

So now that the issue of payment between the Allirian and his fellow mage wasn’t settled, or at least bypassed, they followed the Mayor’s instructions to Bungo’s home, what strange names these halflings had. Gurnam, using his elemental magic, he forced the door open by bending the iron of the lock out of place to remove it a small an obstacle.

They entered, and Gurnam let his sense for magic spread out through the building, searching for any evidence of the aforementioned curse.

 

[Kiros Rahnel]

Stepping out with all, Kiros took out a slender pipe from it’s place tucked into the pocket of his robes. “At least one good idea of his..” He thought as he put leaf within and flame atop it, drawing a nerve calming lungful before exhaling the cloud into the air beside them. With staff in hand, he turned the pipe over and emptied out the ash with a shake before returning it back to its place, surveying the house before him as the inquisitive Gurnam moved up ahead to the front door and enabled their access within.

Kiros followed cautiously behind, surveying the interior with a sweeping gaze. Warned of a curse, yet unsure where to even start looking. His eyes searched for closed doors first; any one might be a good candidate, he thought. And with that he carefully cast an incantation to identify the closest one, probing to determine if it held a cursed, sinister nature.

 

[Smiling One]

At long last the trio arrived at Bungo's house as Willis opened the door part of him wondered what kind of parent would name their child a ridiculous name such as "Bungo?" The name sounded like a word you use as part of a curse spell. The poor Halfling was probably the subject of bullying by his peers growing up. Willis expected the Halfling home to be the same as the Mayors: Warm and comfortable but instead he was greeted by a cold chill.

The young man looked around the room was mostly dark with the only source of light being from the sun's rays shining through the windows. The Halfling Hole was a mess, clothes were strewn everywhere, thick layers of dust has built up on the shelves and cobwebs already formed in the corners. However Willis spotted dead Spiders all over the floor. "Strange," the young man muttered while Kiros Rahnel and Gurnam did their rounds.

Going through the hallway, Willis passed by some pictures of what appeared to be Bungo's family pictures including Bungo himself but under the picture it read Bartholomew Ostgood the Third:

Willis shrugged staring at the portrait at least "Bungo" wasn't his real name after all what did it mean though? He then walked towards the desk where it was filled with maps and board full of mathematical theories scribbled on to it.

"I think found something guys!" Willis called to the other two as he began to analyze the contents on the desk.

 

[Tol]

Tol was rather confused that he was not able to find what ever it was he needed to find. Every night he had spent here in this land was looking for the thing the Swamp sent him to find yes no matter how hard he looked he just couldn't find it. Just then Tol came to a rather clever conclusion the reason he couldn't find what he needed to find was because he only searched in the night and never in the day. Sure searching in the day risks running into Alliran Rangers but this is a holy quest The Swamp has sent him on and like all quests one must take risks to complete them.

Tol stood up and grabbed a rather large barrel with two large straps. Tol would then use the barrel like a back back and then grab a small bucket off the ground and lift it up into the air. With a few grunts and what some might call prayers a small stream of water would come out of the barrel and into the bucket and fill it up. Tol would then place the bucket back on the ground and put a small leaf in it. Tol then grabbed his small bone dagger and pricked his finger causing a drop of troll blood to fall into the bucket.

Tol once again picked up the bucket and walked out of the cave seemingly fixated on the pointy end of the leaf. What Tol had made or at least believed he made was some sort of magic compass which would hopefully lead him to where ever he was meant to go. Hopefully unlike at the night this spell might actually work. Tol followed the where the leaf pointed for a decent amount of time until some small human like creatures who at first were collecting the plants growing around the place started screaming for no apparent reason with some pointing at Tol.

 

[Gurnam]

"I think found something guys!" Willis called to the other two as he began to analyze the contents on the desk.

Gurnam'sattention was swiftly caught and he was swift to respond. He got over to the Allirian's side and asked, "what is it?"

His own search hadn't been too fruitful, there were definitely signs of malicious magic but no curse and definitely nothing that wouldn't wear away in a few years time. So he was definitely glad to find something to help him and his companions along. His magic, while strong, wasn't meant for detection, it was meant for active use of the direct element involved (Like the bending in Avatar the Last Airbender).

 

[Kiros Rahnel]

“...It’s a door. Just a door.”

The spell of identification did little but confirm the door was exactly what it appeared to be, uncursed and unenchanted. His attention turned to the next door when interrupted by Willis’s announcement:

"I think found something guys!" Willis called to the other two as he began to analyze the contents on the desk.

“Well what did...Hm. Notes and plans... And this must be him.” he cut his question short as he walked over to the desk, the answer already clear with a gaze of scattered papers atop it. No sign of a curse yet; but this place was far too unsettling to allow his guard to drop. Insight and magical detection was thankfully his specialty; one he hoped would provide them all safety.

“Let me make sure there’s no arcane surprise awaiting us.” He announced as he knelt down and brought the ornament atop his staff towards the desk. With another soft glow, the properties of the desk began to reveal themselves to the focused priest’s mind. Any curse would reveal itself, with a second invocation prepared for such; a potent and practised disenchantment that would rip the threads of the curse from the desk of the moment.

With spellweaving at an end for now, Kiros took it upon himself to pull the drawers open one by one, exposing the contents for viewing and search by all.

 

[Smiling One]

As soon as Kiros Rahnel began to magically scan the area, dark tendrils immediately leapt from the desk and the in the drawers ricocheting off the walls. "Shit," a dark beam nearly hit Willis' boot and dissipated. "What the fuck is going on?!"

Looks like Bartholomew was up to something after all, a chill came down Willis' spine as the whole place became cold for a brief. "That feeling," Willis shivered through the cold air. "It's definitely dark magic." Dark magic was noted for sometimes creating a cold chill in an area and in extreme cases make uneasy. It was addicting as well as it was powerful. There were some calls to have Dark Magic banned in the College of Elbion though this was a rumor.

"Our Halfling friend has a lot to answer," Willis said taking a look at the notes. He frowned when the contents were mostly unrecognizable scribble though there was a drawing that appeared to be a crystal of some kind. Under it read: "This is a precious thing."


"Any idea what this means?" Willis asked Gurnam and Kiros.

 

[Tol]

Tol ignored the small humans things and continued to follow his magic compass. Once again it seemed like it wasn't leading him anywhere but then just as Tol blinked the leaf was now pointing at a different direction plus the bucket now felt cold. Maybe now the compass was showing him the correct path instead of sending him in circles.

Tol looked to where it now pointed to see a simple hill with what looked to be nice house ontop. Of course like the other houses Tol had seen in this land it was way too small for him to enter but yet the compass and in a sense The Swamp was telling him to go to it. Tol wasn't even going to bother trying to enter the house via the quite small front door. Instead Tol walked around the house to try and look inside through the windows and try to figure out what he needed.

Once Tol noticed that it looked like there was a group of people already inside the house he decided to knock on the window to get their attention and hopefully talk them and find what he was meant to find. Well it was meant to be a knock but he misjudged how strong glass was and ended up smashing the window. Tol let out a loud grunt due to the pain he was now feeling due to having shards of glass in his hand.

 

[Gurnam]

Gurnam almost answered the question Willis had asked, but a crash was heard nearby, and he investigated to find none other than a troll just outside the window. What was a troll doing here!? Never mind that, most trolls were very aggressive so he needed to be very careful around it. But some were also intelligent, and very few were actually friendly, but they could be.

He readied his magic again, ready to send a spike of stone into the monster’s gut but he held back, “Can you understand me?”

 

[Kiros Rahnel]

A cold, familiar dread filled the priest as his attempt at identification failed, triggering the arcane powers held within. "Well, fuck!"

"Foul magic!" the words were more a curse of surprise at the situation than intentional answer, coming too late to serve as sufficient warning. The sudden presence bursting from the desk caused him to give a defensive backwards hop, staff turned in a sharp motion to bring the head in front of him. Kiros invoked his powers to dispel magic, deflecting a tendril only inches from contact with him.

"That feeling," Willis shivered through the cold air. "It's definitely dark magic."

To this, Kiros gave a nod; it could be little else. "Undoubtedly." came his response before he turned to quiet concentration in attempt to sense what he could about this magic, if only to recognize it when next encountered.

"Any idea what this means?" Willis asked @Gurnam and Kiros.

"I'd guess its..." but there was not enough time for his response to be completed when Tol's massive fist punched clear through the window; eliciting another hop back in shock from the priest who could only mistakenly assume hostility. With his staff held in front of him he too would prepare a spell. Should encounter turn into battle, Willis would find himself imbued with strength – only if and when things came to that. For the meantime, the delay was a welcome opportunity to recover his energies recently spent on the cursed desk.

He continued to stand ready as Gurnam posed his words to the troll, preparing himself for whatever direction this encounter seemed to turn...

 

[Smiling One]

"Oh you gotta be fucking shitting me," Willis grumbled pulling out his Cutlass. A giant green Troll was lumbering around field and smashed the glass window with his fist. Part of Willis wondered if this had anything to do with the revelations, a place with pure or corrupted magic has a tendency to attract or summon monsters.

The dark orbs continued to bounce around though away from the trio, Willis didn't waste any time he turned to Gurnam "Grab as many papers as you can!" He shouted before attempting to slice the Troll's hand. "What the fuck are you doing here?!" he demanded.

Tol

 

[Gurnam]

Grab as many papers as you can!" He shouted before attempting to slice the Troll's hand. "What the fuck are you doing here?!" he demanded.

“Calm yourself swordsman.” He said waving his hand at him in a ‘calm down’ gesture. “Don’t kill something until you’re certain it’s an enemy.”

He turned his attention back to the troll. He repeated, “can you understand me?”

 

[Tol]

Tol would let out a louder grunt as the sword cut his hand and took a few steps back. Tol would then pull out the shards of glass that pierced his skin. Tol grabbed his club and was ready to smash a few heads until one of the people in the building asked once again "can you understand me?". Tol felt somewhat stupid of course someone in the building would attack him due to the fact he did accidentally smash the window plus even if he wanted to smash their skulls he would have to get past the wall.

Tol would place his club down on the ground and take another few steps back "Tol understand. No mean to smash windoo. Me only want to speak for Da Swamp send Tol here. Tol hope you know why." Tol would then look back at his compass and notice that the leaf was moving around always pointing at one of the dark orbs bouncing around the house. "What magic is dat" Tol asked pointing to the orb

 

[Kiros Rahnel]

“Calm yourself swordsman.” He said waving his hand at him in a ‘calm down’ gesture. “Don’t kill something until you’re certain it’s an enemy.”

He looked to Gurnam for a brief moment with an expression of sheer incredulity - A massive troll has just bust down the window and they're to assume it might be friendly? While there was a time to consider such possibilities, a howling troll staring one down from a freshly-broken window was certainly not it in Kiros's mind.

"You can be certain when it kills you!"

He shouted out at Gurnam before Willis's strike of aggression caught his attention, causing him to miss his cue with the spell, letting Willis strike at the troll without the aid of Kiros's blessing. The less than ideal start to the battle left him irritated, nonetheless bestowing the blessing on Willis after he had already managed to slash Tol's already injured hand. Further words from Gurnam prompted Kiros to return his attention to him soon after

He turned his attention back to the troll. He repeated, “can you understand me?”

He could see that Gurnam's attention remained on the troll, rather than on gathering the papers as Willis requested. Kiros really did not want to divert his attention from protecting his allies, yet with Willis busy attempting violent resolution and Gurnam busy attempting a diplomatic one, there was none else to do so.

"The fucking papers!"

He would bellow out as he moved to the desk, gathering an armful of the papers scattered atop it. Upon returning his attention to Tol, Kiros was shocked to see him, once appearing aggressive, laying down his arms in communication of peaceful intent. He could hardly believe it, but by this point in his journey he had witnessed stranger occurrences indeed; that Gurnam was right and that Tol was ultimately not a threat was a relief.

Tol would place his club down on the ground and take another few steps back "Tol understand. No mean to smash windoo. Me only want to speak for Da Swamp send Tol here. Tol hope you know why." Tol would then look back at his compass and notice that the leaf was moving around always pointing at one of the dark orbs bouncing around the house. "What magic is dat" Tol asked pointing to the orb

"...I've no idea." came the stunned response from Kiros, staff now held lower in a manner less threatening as he addressed Tol; a look of uneasy confusion on his face as the troll gazed down towards his bucket. But once he asked his question, Kiros looked immediately into the direction the troll pointed towards, catching sight of one of the orbs still bouncing about. He hadn't realized the magic was still present, what with his attention fixated on the tense situation previously before them.

"I'll find out." Came his reply as he invoked his identification spell to see if and what he could learn about the dark magic bouncing around the house.

 

[Gurnam]

Gurnam listened to the troll, then turning to Willis he said, “you see my friend. Not everything is as it seem so at first glance.”

Tol would place his club down on the ground and take another few steps back "Tol understand. No mean to smash windoo. Me only want to speak for Da Swamp send Tol here. Tol hope you know why." Tol would then look back at his compass and notice that the leaf was moving around always pointing at one of the dark orbs bouncing around the house. "What magic is dat" Tol asked pointing to the orb

“It isn’t quite alright Tol. I’m Gurnam, a pleasure to meet you. As for why the swamp sent you, I have an Idea of why you are here, likely the same reason we’re here. If that is the case, perhaps we might work together on this particular task.”

So he took a moment to come outside and meet the troll. “So tell me, Tol, what can you tell me about your objective? It might she’d some light on our own.”