• Graded • Sweetwine Song: Sky Worship

[Pegasus]

121st Ashan, 721

Migh noted that only three of them stepped forward, but he didn't seem concerned by that at all. They had all checked their equipment and discovered some strangeness. Kalortah's wooden nel was a delicate piece. On examination Kalortah noticed that it was not a nel at all but, in fact, a small hollow and beautifully carved ocarina. As he examined it, he realised that there was a slight sound coming from it. The wood was very unusual OOC: It is made from whistle wood. You may use it in this thread, but may not yet assume possession of it in any other thread. There are secrets to discover about this item! . While as Oram lifted the eye-glass he saw that, not only was everything more magnified but, in fact, he saw that the lens itself changed his vision. Swirling in front of him was a rainbow. As each colour shifted, something slightly different happened, but he really didn't have time to do more than notice it OOC: This eyeglass is made from Rainbow Sand Glass You may use it in this thread, but may not yet assume possession of it in any other thread. There are secrets to discover about this item!

Finally, Alyssia noticed what seemed to be, at first, just a simple hair tie. However, she too noticed that it shifted colour and, when she wrapped around her wrist, it felt warm against her skinOOC: Your scrunchie is made from FernFern Silk. You may use it in this thread, but may not yet assume possession of it in any other thread. There are secrets to discover about this item! . They each introduced themselvesMust Do Objective 2 met! and Migh raised an eyebrow at Kalortah's story, as it was told first. "Interesting indeed," said their guide. "On the journey, would you write it down, noting every detail? I would be fascinated." He certainly seemed to be fascinated already. Magic, after all, was his thing.

Oram's story was less a case for asking to be written down, but Migh nodded his head as Oram said he was used to the Sweetwine, Migh nodded. He wasn't good with letters or drawing though? That was fine, Migh had a solution. "As we travel," he said to Oram and Alyssia, "Oram, will you give Alyssia here tips on survival, things to look out for and so on. Alyssia, will you write them as though they were going to be given as instruction to someone who has never been in a forest. Ask questions and so on. Then, when we get there, Oram can hopefully point out things he's told you and you can draw them or take a cutting or example. A journal of what we do."

Then, the group made their way. There were a number of carriages waiting, but Migh went to a particular one. It was large, spacious enough for them all and to not feel crowded. He looked at them and spoke again in his clipped tones. "When we get there, we will each have a role. I will be the guide and group leader. Kalortah, can you fly in order to give a greater overview, then come down, report what's ahead and we go? Oram, as we go you be the look out and Alyssia you are the scribe. Recording what we see and experience. We all take samples."

Looking around, he was quite happy to discuss things as they travelled, and equally happy to be quiet. If Oram and Alyssia did as he suggested, he listened and asked questions too. If Kal did, then he was frankly fascinated by the tale and asked many questions. After the carriage ride, they were in a boat together for a while. As they made their way a haunting, beautiful song filled the air. It was the kind of thing that sounded, to them, rather like it reminded them of something specificthe answer you gave to what you're most afraid of in the sign-up post and it was, frankly, unnerving. Not terrifying, but eerie. The noon-trial sun was overhead by the time they disembarked the boat, and then Migh spoke again. "Alright, then, it's about a half-break walk from here, so lets get going. If you spot anything unusual, take a sample. I'd like to leave here with as good a map as we can make and as many samples as we can find. Every ten bits or so, I'd like us to stop, for Kalortah to observe from above, come back to land, tell us what he's seeing and then we all move on together." he said. And, looking around at them, he nodded. "Lets go."

And so they made their way into the depths of Sweetwine Wood.

The Map

OOC Info

General Rules

• This thread will last for - at most - 3 IC days. Therefore, it will be done before season change IC.
• I'm not going to give a "risk - reward" level. That will depend on you and what you do. The opening idea is very unlikely to be such that you all die hideous deaths.
• The way I mod, the NPCs are as "real" as the PCs. Be clear of that and don't be surprised if they react appropriately.
• I will post once a week. That gives us plenty of time for this to be finished. If you need an extra day, let me know that's fine.
• No rewards or consequences from this thread are canon until such time as they are approved in the review, or unless I specifically state.
• The rewards and consequences at the end of this thread will be directly related to how active and involved your PC was. Not how skilled.
• If you need a reason to join there is a call for help / investigation from the University.
• There are NO skill level requirements for this thread. However, it may interest specifically people with an interest in:
  • Fieldcraft, exploring, nature.
  • Unusual things
  • Cartography, cryptography, puzzles
  • Research, learning
• Dropping out of the thread / not posting will have IC consequences, because of the nature of this plot.
• The sign up questions are important.......
• This style of event moderation - with objectives etc - was taught to me by a dear friend and one of the most talented Storytellers I've ever known. With thanks to Crimson / Straylor.

Objectives Met!

!

Message from: All Met!

Must Do Objective 1: Select and check your equipment Must Do Objective 2: Introduce yourself to your Group Leader Must Do Objective 3: Identify your equipment in an ooc at the bottom of the post. Any magical /unusual items you do not list may not be used during the course of this thread Can Do Objective 1: Find something unusual when you check your satchel (can be a non-listed item, but can't be magical etc. Items Rewarded.

!	Message from: Some Met!
	Can Do Objective 2: While introducing yourself to your Group Leader, use an onomatopoeia: Kalortah's Boom and Oram's Wap met this! Can Do Objective 3: Tell a joke or funny story - Oram met it, and though Kal's story wasn't funny, it met it!

There are currently 6 Hidden Objectives

This Post Objectives.

!	Message from: Must Do Objective 4
	Identify what you do on the journey there (in terms of what Migh has asked you).

!	Message from: Must Do Objective 5
	Identify one sample you find or thing you spot

!	Message from: Must Do Objective 6
	Use your detection skill with a sense OTHER than sight.

!	Message from: Can Do Objective 4
	During the journey discuss the favourite thing to eat of one of the other PCs, as identified here

!	Message from: Can Do Objective 5
	Discover or spot something as yet unseen on Scalv - then dev it!! (you can name it and will achieve this objective if you have submitted the dev)

!	Message from: Can Do Objective 6
	Use an oxymoron in your speech

Next Post: 8th March 2021

[Oram Mednix]

Chokeberries are totally safe to eat. Honest.

Oram listened to Migh’s instructions and then looked down at the aukari. ”Sounds like a sensible plan to me. You agree?” he asked her, although it was hard to see how she couldn’t. As they prepared to get in the carriage, Oram pondered what sort of tips one could give a young girl, or indeed anybody about to go into the wilds for the first time, on survival. There were so many skills one needed and so many things to know.

Fortunately, it wasn’t the first time he had asked himself this sort of question. His brother had once suggested he offer his services as a wilderness guide, and Oram had asked himself what would be the most important thing he would want to teach a townie about to venture out into the wilds. The things he came up with sounded trite and general, but they bore emphasizing. Once their carriage got rolling, he turned to Alyssia and shared a few basics:

”Surviving the wilds requires a wide variety of skills” he told her, ”certainly more than I could teach you on a carriage ride. But the most important thing is attitude and presence of mind: stay calm and use your head. Be smart, be alert, and be safe. And don’t wander off alone. I’m not saying that just because you’re a young girl, either, that’s something I’d tell anybody.” Of course, the last bit of advice was one he didn’t practice, but he didn’t need to go into that.

There were a few other general things he might tell her as they came up over the course of their expedition: drink water; keep your gear dry; take care of your feet; however, just getting Alyssia to adopt the right mindset was the most important thing. Before they arrived at their disembarking point, he asked Migh: ”I’d like us to practice your sample collecting and recording idea on a couple common plants first. Edible plants, since we’re also trying to teach Alyssia some survival skills. What do you think? Do we have the paper and containers to spare for some steppers and stinging nettles? Those really are edible by the way,” the hunter added as a quick aside to the girl.

When the carriage arrived at their boat launch, Oram looked around for some particularly common and usable plants. He found some wood sorrel and pointed it out to Alyssia. He told her what to look for in identifying a plant: its overall shape and size, where it grew, the shape, number, and arrangement of its leaves, the texture of its stem, and so on. ”Flowers are good for identifying plants, too,” he said, plucking the sorrel and pointing to the white, five pedaled blossoms on it, ”but flowers are only in bloom for part of the arc. If you want to be able to identify a plant arc-round, you want to know what it looks like without the flowers.” He broke off two of the three-lobed leaves and offered one to Alyssia. ”You can eat these leaves raw. They taste tangy.”

He stuck the other leaf in his own mouth and chewed. It tasted tangy. He then gave the rest of the plant to Alyssia to practice examining, recording, sketching. He pointed at Migh. ”I’m not great with words. If you need the right word or a phrase to describe something you’re seeing and I’m stumped, go ahead and ask him.”

By the time they were finished with the sorrel it was time to get in the boat and launch into the ‘Run. Since the aukari was tiny, Oram didn’t worry too much about her moving around in the boat. As they rowed, Oram continued to point out things to Alyssia. At one point, he pointed to a yellow-orange shelf of fungus growing on the side of a tree. ”See that? That’s called ‘chicken of the woods.’ One of the most common and useful edible mushrooms to know about. They call it that because some people think it tastes like chicken. I suspect mostly people who’ve never eaten chicken. I’ve had the stuff; my dad taught me how to cook it when I was a kid. I don’t think it tastes much like chicken myself-do you hear that?”

He held up a finger to his mouth and listened to the woods. There was something new in the air, a rumor of sound. It sounded almost like a chorus, or a rambunctious crowd chanting something, a mob rousing itself to action, a seven nation army mustering for peaceful war. Oram didn’t like it. He was more vigilant, more on edge from that moment forward.

At length the boat landed, and the hunter felt a little better with his feet on solid ground. Being in a boat on the river had made him feel boxed in and vulnerable. That together with the unsettling song had soured his mood, but after a few breaks on land, he encountered something that improved his mood greatly, although it was strange and mystifying. On a rotten log along their path there crawled a beetle, metallic green in cast. Oram signaled to Alyssia and went over to it, carefully fishing out his collection tongs. Just as he reached for the beetle, it made a buzzing sound, deeper than he would have expected. For a trill, he stood there, transfixed. By the time he came to himself, the beetle had retreated into a hole in the log.

The trapper turned to Alyssia, and to Migh. ”Did you hear that?” he asked, his voice hushed and rapt. ”I’ve never heard a bug make a sound like that before!” Oram found that the anxiety he had been feeling just a bit before had dissipated, replaced by an unusual calm. He peered at the log, trying to get a second glimpse of the beetle, while also straining his ears to hear more of that buzz. He heard nothing, except that after a few trills the strange, vaguely menacing song seeped back into his awareness, and with it by degrees the unease he had felt when he first heard it.

Loaded for beetle

Oram is wearing a straw hat, his gambeson, sturdy pants and boots. He wears a homemade harness made from belts, rope, and twine, on which he has attached a hatchet, a knife, a waterskin, a pouch containing some money and some snacks, and a lantern in which he has a yellow lightstone mounted. The lantern’s hood is currently closed, as it is daytime.

Inside the chimney of the lamp he also has stowed his flint and tinder, and some fishing hooks and line.

He has a backpack, currently without a frame so that it sags low on his back, in which he has a bedroll, camping spade, extra cloak, change of clothes, a spool of twine, a trial or two’s worth of food, some rolled up rags for use as bandages or padding.

He carries his boar spear like a walking stick. He will strap the satchel atop his backpack, to make it all one big ruck. He now also has a satchel with some other stuff, which he has lashed atop his pack.

[Kalortah]

Kalortah nodded stiffly to Alyssia, recognizing her as the girl who’d made a move on his drum, just a few arcs ago when they’d met in Yaralon. She looked a bit better dressed than then, and of course older. Although he didn’t quite remember her name. He didn’t remember if she’d even given him a name, and so left it at that. “Very well, glad to see you here, girl.” Was all he said, before moving on to follow along with the group.

As he beheld the strange nel, he realized, it was an ocarina. He’d not seen one of these in quite some time, and though he had little skill in playing one, he was very tempted to try it now. As he held it to his ear, listening for the slightest of noises to emit from the sweet instrument, he thought he heard a sound coming from it. Fascinating.

This ocarina, he held safely against himself, tucking it safely away in his breast pocket, where the girl with the grabby hands for instruments wouldn’t be able to reach it… Hopefully.

When Migh asked Kalortah to write down about his experience, he nodded, taking a notebook from his satchel, and putting to graphite the summary of what had happened, when he could. There were precious few moments to take to record his thoughts and experiences in Athart, at the hands of the mage hunters, but whenever he had a chance, he’d jot down yet another note for Migh’s reading later.

And so they got underway through a carriage. Kalortah did as he was tasked to, and periodically caught wind on his wings to launch himself into the air, flying overhead to try and spot anything that might be useful. While doing this and searching the ground with his vision as well as air-sense, he thought to use his ocarina to see what kinds of shapes it made upon the air (air-sense). Gingerly, he brought its lip to his mouth, and blew gently into it. He was treated to a sweet yet haunting note, that played on the air like a series of clean lines, which followed all the way to the ground.

Intrigued, Kalortah followed these lines to the ground, feeling the air on his feathers and skin, as he alighted to the dirt, which crunched with snapping of branches beneath his feet.

Here, he searched where he’d seen the lines shoot forth, and while rummaging beneath the foilage, quite unlike him mind you, he found a series of strings, which were connected to these rainbow-like bones. Very tiny bones, with small rodent skulls of the same pearlescent quality. As the wind kicked up again, he noticed as they clacked together they produced a very beautiful sound, which calmed Kalortah’s nerves considerably.

These, he swiftly placed inside his satchel after dusting them off, and then took off toward the skies again, to spot the carriage, wherever it might be.

Once he located it, he came in for a landing, gracefully dropping in next to Migh. Kalortah for the most part ignored the other two, but spoke mostly to the expedition leader. “I didn’t spot much that was of concern, no wildlife that I could see or hostile people, whatever you’d expect or need to know about.”

“I could do for some sugared meats right now… The way they taste is just divine, and they keep well for long journeys as well… We don’t have any, do we?” Kalortah asked, turning to check on the other two, and see if they’d happened to bring any along.

Shrugging to himself, he turned to look at where they were headed, their disembarking point. It was a bit far ahead. And so Kalortah caught more wind on his wings, and flew up into the skies to see what he could around that area.

He didn’t land, but flew close enough to the ground to see small woodland creatures chittering at him from the trees. On closer inspection, they appeared to be some sort of monkey, a Temple Monkey colony! These he kept well away from, as he heard them, and then flew back toward the carriage. This time he didn’t land directly on the carriage’s coach, but beside it on the ground as he walked along. “The Disembarking point is dead ahead. We should proceed, but I did notice a small colony of Temple monkeys chittering at me in the trees as I flew.”

And so they arrived into the boat within a few bits. There, the four sat, with Kalortah periodically taking to the skies to check and listen for anything unusual. As he came down, having heard the sweet, haunting sound that pervaded the area, he went paler than usual. Which was quite the feat.

Eventually they did land, and Kalortah paid close attention then to what Migh and Oram told them about their surroundings, as Oram seemed to be an experienced woodsman. It made sense to follow his lead, and take to the air when he said it was a good idea. Still the song persisted.

“There’s nothing else ahead, but this song - It sounds… Like I lost my voice. How could something sound so sweet without my voice to accompany it?” The whole concept of a song that sounded sweet, that yet reminded him of losing his voice, was quite the contradiction to Kalortah. Downright oxymoronic.

Objectives

Identified what Kalortah did in terms of what Migh asked him. Wrote down in his journal, periodically took to the skies to scout around. Reported what was ahead a time or two.

Discovered a sample of Pilot Ivory, in the form of a dirty wind chime, yet unseen in Scalv. Devved it.

Identified a colony of temple monkeys in the trees.

Used several of his senses in tandem with detection, most notably his air-sense and hearing.

Discussed his favorite thing to eat, which is sugared meats.

Used an oxymoron, mentioning that the song of the Sweetwine sounds nice, yet reminds Kalortah of losing his voice. How can a song that reminds Kalortah of losing his voice sound sweet to him? Oxymoronic!

[Alyssia]

Alyssia followed behind Oram, Kalaroth, and their group leader as the group got ready to get in the carriage. The warmth on her wrist was pulling at the back of her mind making the girl glance down at the hair tie. She had never seen a material like the one it was made of. At first the teen had just dismissed it as being some piece of leather. But after taking time to look at it better there was a for sure change in the color of the tie. Shaking her head, the girl looked back at Migh when he began explaining what he would like them each to do.

“Of course, I wouldn’t mind recording at all. I don’t know much of what is in the forests so it will be great learning,” Alyssia stated with a smile.

She followed and got in the carriage with Migh and roam as Kalaroth stayed outside to scout. The girl was surprised that he was going to do such when they had only started the ride. Although she supposed that one could not be too careful even at the start of an adventure. When Oram began explaining, the teen quickly turned and listened closely to him. She even took out the book and a writing utensil moving to record even the basics.

“Never wander off alone. Stay calm, stay alert, and watch your surroundings,” Alyssia whispered slowly writing to make sure her writing was readable while the carriage moved.

Blowing gently on the ink so that it would dry faster made the girl focus strictly on the page in front of her. The jerk of the carriage stopping nearly made her fall off her seat. Looking around Alyssia got out first and moved to the side waiting for Oram and Migh to get out. Wincing at the brightness of the sun, the girl blocked her eyes to let them adjust while looking around the rivers edge. When Oram called her over to look at some flowers, the teen hurried over and looked at the pretty white flower. She looked closely and scribbled down about the flowers only being in bloom certain times of the arc.

When Oram informed Alyssia that some of the plants were safe to eat. This particular one he called Sorrel, had petals that could be eaten raw. Taking the one offered to her, the teen put it in her mouth and chewed it surprised by the taste. It was not like when she had smelled the bakers wheat when she and Yeva had foraged together. Nodding quickly, the girl followed when he showed her another kind of plant.

“I found some Bakers Wheat outside of Scalvoris once before. But Yeva told me not to smell or eat anything that I did not recognize because it could hurt me,” Alyssia explained wanting to show it was not her first time foraging.

“Chicken of the woods?” Alyssia asked and cocked her head to the side looking at the man when it was clear he did not agree, “what does it taste like to you then?”

The girl wished there was a way to color the pictures even though they were rough sketches. She did make sure to write the description of it the best she could to the side before Migh made it clear that it was time to go. Putting everything away in her pack to make sure it would stay dry, the teen moved and sat where the two older men told her to and stayed very still. She did not want to rock the boat they were using and cause everyone to end up on the water. Looking over when Oram sat beside her the girl very carefully leaned over while they moved.

She never moved her butt while looking because it would cause too much movement. Alyssia wanted to see if any fish were below them while going towards a place called Sky Worship. Scalvoris island had so many strange places, but everything was so exciting when the girl offered to help. The strange song began all around them but a cold fear ran down her spine. Gulping, the girl grabbed Oram’s sleeve for a moment as her find could hear the sounds of an unstable building played in her mind. The teen tried not to shake and whimper hoping it would end soon when they landed.

The girl carefully got off the boat and shook out her arms trying to take a deep breath and relax. Her heart beat was racing as the strange song had finally subsided, how did it make her remember the sounds of the manor collapsing on top of her. Alyssia jumped some when Oram called to her. Taking another deep breath to finish settling her nerves, she quickly made her way over and followed everyone. When they came to their first stop, Oram called to her and the teen hurried over seeing the beautiful beetle. Setting her pack down, the teen got her stuff and tried to sketch as much as she could before it made a funny noise.

She stopped staring for a moment listening to it. Alyssia wanted to figure out exactly the tone sounded like, but she pouted when the beetle disappeared down a hole. Writing down the colors, the teen put the book away once again and stood up. A strange smell caught her attention, it was spicy and faint making her follow where she could. Closing her eyes trying to focus just on her sense of smell, Alyssia ran face first into something hanging from above. Shaking her head, she looked seeing red things hanging upside down from a tree.

“Hey Oram! Migh! What are these things?” Alyssia asked and carefully pulled one from the bottom and showed it to them while smelling it, “it smells spicy. If that’s a thing.”

[Pegasus]

121st Ashan, 721

There are many odd things about Scalvoris. There was no doubting it, it was a weird place. Migh seemed more than happy to take Oram's suggestion of practicing what they would do as far as samples and so on were concerned. He showed them the system, answered any questions. He was intrigued by Kalortah's story and he asked questions there - each one showed his sharp mind and clear understanding of magic and the nuances thereof. He was always polite and respectful and didn't push boundaries. Watching what everyone did, Migh nodded, pleased at the group he had with him and happy that he had not been put in charge of a bunch of duffers.


Once they were out of the carriage, they practiced the taking of samples and then, they were on the boat. Migh's system was clear and he had obviously (or, at least, someone had) thought about it. Each sample had a label of three letters, which was recorded on the bottle ~ or more precisely was part of the making of the bottle itself. So, every sample had what Migh called a "trigram" of letters. In the book they had a list of things to record about each sample - place, time of the trial, date, who took it, where from - there was a lot of information but it was clearly stated to only fill in what you could. The books they had for taking notes had been treated, Migh said, in order to make sure that the ink and pencil marks did not easily wash away. No system was perfect, but it was certainly a solid one.

After they had disembarked from the boat, Kalortah started the process of flying up to scout, and then coming back down. While he was up there, he could see for a long way and he noticed that, where they were going, the trees were a little taller. When he overcame that, however, he saw a clearing ahead, judging by how the trees thinned out. He also saw that the light seemed different there. Subtly, perhaps, but it was a change. The trees were thick and it was hard to make out anything else, but it meant that they were, at least, aware.

They spotted things and took samples, Migh was pleased with how they worked together and he joined in the conversation about food, identifying different things that they spotted when he could. In doing that, it became obvious that Migh knew his stuff, in regards unusual flora and fauna of Scalvoris.

The closer they got to where they were going, the more loud the sound of the birdsong music became. But it changed, also, it was more melodic, more like it was someone playing an instrument. Maybe. Or maybe singing? Or... it was unusual and difficult to pin down but as they grew closer to the area they were heading towards, the music was more peaceful and gentle. The negative feeling was no longer associated with it, although they couldn't easily tell when it changed.

In the darkness of the trees it was the light they saw first. Ahead - a distinct glowing light. They knew that it was not long past noon but here in the thickness of the forest, they could see the light clearly. Carefully moving forward, Migh was slow and cautious - he kept them together and he was careful to be aware of their surroundings.

Which meant that, as the clearing opened up in front of them, they had a pretty good view of the clearing, although it was partially obscured.

The first thing that took their attention was the very large double-trunked tree which was the source of light there. It was glowing, brightly, and that was attention taking at first. However, Migh was clear. "Lets not get carried away. Look around, see what we can." And indeed, from where they were currently standing Your location is marked by there were thick trees to their right and left. However, immediately to the left was a very ramshackle and run down short squat tower. How it was still standing was a miracle, it was constructed from wood and it looked to be wet - from top to bottom.

To their right, nestled in the corner of the trees were three ~ or maybe four ~ ruins of towers. These ones had been constructed from stone and so the ruins were more safely explorable. However, the glisten of water on the stone was very evident. Dotted around the clearing there were circles of swirling water - like deep puddles which were whirlpools and there were cracks and chasms in the floor. Opposite them on the far corner, there were the remains of what might once have been garden sheds. The glowing tree seemed to have both a swirling whirlpool and a chasm and directly in front of them seemed to be swamp.

"Alright," said Migh, "lets work as a team here, yes? No one goes out of sight, we stick together. We explore together." Nodding his head, he considered. "We'll divide the area up into four. First, we examine this quadrant. Everyone with me and ready? " As they began to move forward, Migh asked. "And, once we're done here, where should we go?"

The Map

OOC Info

Things to Note

It is important that you are clear about your surroundings, so if you have any questions, please let me know.
As a rough guide - the houses towards the bottom of the map are small garden-shed size.
There are other trees, but they are small and dotted around. The big enormous glowy-tree is taking central stage.
If you make your way forward enough that you can see the white swirl with sticks and skulls around it - those are warning signs sort of thing. They don't actually have skulls on them, they look like they were constructed. The whirlpool in the center of them is the largest and most quick-whirling.

Quadrants

Top Right Quandrant: This contains

1. Swamp
2. Whirlpools x 3 (Whirlpool A, B, C where A is on the top, B is next to the wooden tower and C is next to the Stone Towers)
3. Stone Towers x 3 (Tower A, B, C)
4. Wooden Tower x 1

This Post Objectives.

!	Message from: Must Do Objective 7
	Explore / examine two of the things listed in this Quadrant.

!	Message from: Must Do Objective 8
	Collect samples from each one - as many samples as you like. Simply tell me, for each sample: What it is, what colour it is, any unusual smell.

!	Message from: Must Do Objective 9
	Vote for which quadrant you examine next - Top Left, Bottom Left, Top Right, Bottom Right.

Next Post: 16th March 2021

[Oram Mednix]

Magic bananas!

Oram enjoyed talking to Alyssia. She was inquisitive and smart and, most importantly out here, observant. She had heard the song and been similarly unsettled by it. And she picked out the red fruit hanging overhead. He looked up as well when she asked him about it. ”My father called them ‘red fingers’, but I think they have a Scalveen name like ‘piranha’, ‘ferrari’, something like that. I’ve never eaten them, so I couldn’t tell you if they’re good to eat, nor the best time or way to do so. As far as I know, they aren't poisonous. I can tell you they’re not that uncommon on Scalvoris, though, so perhaps it would be good to find out. Migh?” he looked over at their guide to see if he knew the answer. ”Can you tell us any more about this fruit?” While listening for the answer, he would take a fruit as a sample if he could reach it with his tongs.

Turning the conversation to mushrooms, the hunter smiled at the mention of Yeva. ”I know Yeva,” he told the girl. ”She’s a wise woman, and you do well to listen to her advice. But you can eat Baker’s Breadwort, the same as you can eat chicken-of-the-woods. Did you know that those are new to Scalvoris? The breadwort, I mean. We didn’t have them anywhere on Scalvoris when I was your age. As to what chicken-of-the-woods tastes like…” he shrugged. ”I’m afraid I’m not that good at describing flavors. It tastes a bit different from other mushrooms I’ve eaten, but I’d still say it tastes more like a mushroom than any chicken I’ve ever had.” Hopefully, that would satisfy the girl’s curiosity for now, because that was all the answers he had on that.

As enjoyable as entertaining Alyssia’s curiosity was, Oram’s thoughts were taking an increasingly serious turn, as they neared and sighted the clearing. The song they had heard was getting louder and clearer, and as it did, it sounded less ominous and more musical than it had earlier. That didn’t mean anything, Oram figured, it was still the same sound, and whatever was making it hadn’t changed either, most like. But it was a relief not to have it sound so ominous and unsettling. Perhaps soon they would discover what was making the sound.

They came upon a clear break in the trees, and through it ahead of them Oram saw a large, glowing tree. The luminous foliage drew his attention first, but as he looked down he noted the double trunk as well. Squinting at its light, he tried to figure out what sort of tree it was.

As wonderous as that tree was, however, there were plenty of other curiosities and oddities that came into view once they arrived to a spot where they could see the entire clearing. There were ponds, like the upwellings of springs, except that they swirled in miniature whirlpools. A larger such pool lay on the opposite end of the clearing, surrounded by some strange, eerie-looking poles that Oram did not like. He could not remember having seen anything like them before. Directly ahead of them was a patch of marshy terrain. And there were structures scattered around the clearings as well, nearby some stone towers, as well as a wooden tower, further on some sheds.

Lacking a better way to select among them, Oram decided to check the things closest first: the whirlpool to his rightWhirlpool A and the marshy patch directly at their feet.

The water in the whirlpool was limpid, and beneath the surface Oram caught glimpses of small, sleek fish, though he could not see what kind they were. Above the whirlpools flitted sparkly streaks of yellowish-green. These turned out to be some sort of mayfly, hovering and darting over the whirling surface. Perhaps they would prove to be more than just oddly-colored, though, if examined more carefully, Oram thought, and he took out the little hand net from his satchel with which to catch one of the flies. This took several tries; the things moved blindingly fast on the wing. At last, however, he managed to catch one when it lighted just on the edge of the pool next to him, and he dropped it into a sample case as quickly as possible to prevent it from flying away.

As he captured the mayfly, Oram also noted some of the algae that formed a light scum on the edge of the pool where the whirling current was almost nil. It, too, was strikingly yellowish, and the traveler decided to dab a scrap of paper into the water to coat with it. The algae was not nearly as fast on the move as the mayflies, so he was able to get this second sample on the first try. Looking up in branches of trees about the pool, Oram saw perched there several birds that looked like kingfishers, with squarish, compact bodies and large beaks. He grinned and pointed these out to Alyssia. ”Probably waiting for those fish,” he explained, pointing down from the birds to the pool, ”…who are in turn waiting for those mayflies,” again his finger moved, ”who are in turn eating that algae stuff.”

That would have been amusing, to watch such hunting and harvesting in action, but Oram did not wait for them. Instead, he moved on to the swamp. Near the edge of the swamp stood several upright, blue-white tubes, about the length of the hunter’s hand, and open at the top in a way that reminded Oram unsettlingly of a hungry mouth. It was similar to a pitcher plant, he thought, apart from the color. Pitcher plants, sundews, other plants that caught and ate insects tended to have reddish or pinkish markings. Taking out his knife and sample tongs, he was careful to dig a whole plant up, roots and all, and put it into another sample case.

Once he was done, he turned to Migh and suggested heading to the area directly south of themI.e., bottom right, an area which, from where they stood, held the fewest obvious oddities. If that section was as normal as it looked, it might be a useful launching point from which to explore the other two corners.

[Kalortah]

Kalortah received the book from Migh, placing it in a satchel that hung from his shoulder. Having a somewhat decent memory, well enough that he could retain what information they gathered over a few bits and breaks and then record later, he didn’t think he’d need to hold it the entire time.

As the negative feeling began to fade, Kalortah almost didn’t notice. Yet, the music and birdsong persisted, allowing Kalortah to get lost in its beauty, without dwelling upon the idea of a world deprived of his voice. There were hints of other musical elements to it, however. More than just a bird singing, it became more of a instrumental, and at terms vocal quality that sounded as if it came from someone other than a bird. It’d be beautiful if he hadn’t dwelled upon the dread that it brought at first.

There was a glowing light in the clearing ahead, amidst the trees. Kalortah restrained the urge to go freely exploring about the area, but stuck to the ones leading the effort, ostensibly Oram and Migh. Why did humans insist on such strange names? Why couldn’t they have nice melodic and beautiful names? Like Kalortah? Yet he dismissed the thought as soon as it came. Their names weren’t all that important, beyond the need to call for a specific human with a specific utility.

Kalortah nodded to Migh’s advice that they not charge ahead for the shiniest object in proximity. And so he went about exploring the area immediately surrounding. The first, and most obvious place that he thought to explore, would be one of those that the humans among him wouldn’t easily be able to gather from. He took a few steps, and on catching a breeze, took to the air and flew upwards to the nearest of the stone towers. Around them, he flew, until he reached a place where he might easily perch. From there, he found some glowing, blue lichen growing off of the darkened corner of the alcove he’d landed upon. From the book in his satchel, he grabbed a paper and pen, and jotted down it’s quality. Its color (blue), it’s smell (sweet and minty), and its unique quality (glow in the dark).

He did another search of his immediate area, trying to find any possible hidden entrances to the top of the tower. However, finding nothing, he dove into the air from the alcove, and began spiraling upward to the very roof of the tower. There, it was covered in slate material. But there was some dirt caught between the slates that he could see, even from flying by so swiftly.

As he flew closer to the surface of the roof of the tower, he snatched up some fingers full of the dirt. It was black as charcoal, and smelled of clay as he brought it to his face. As he flew, he drew another paper from the journal, but not deigning to write in it, he merely wrapped the dirt into the paper, folding it neatly back into the satchel. He would record its qualities later.

Once he was satisfied with his exploration of the towers, he flew over toward the wooden one. It looked very wet, and unpleasant. Surely to land upon it would be to court an invitation to disease. So he flew by the thatched roof, which still clung to the top of some of its walls. These he snatched in hand, and then flew back around to where the rest of the group was. He landed with a graceful bend of his knees as he walked into the landing. Then he showed Migh what he’d found. First the thatched material from the wooden tower, which was green, with some blackened soil. The thatch smelled oddly of sunlight.

The other things he’d gathered, the dirt from the slates of the stone tower’s roof, and the lichen from the alcove of that same tower, he recounted to him, rather than hand them over immediately. Once he was done making his report, he began writing in the journal to complete the entry of the samples he’d gathered. Then he folded them neatly into the papers he’d taken from the journal for that purpose, and tucked them neatly into one of the pockets of the travel bag.

When it came time to vote for which quadrant, Kalortah spoke up in support of Oram’s choice, ”The clearing to the bottom right sounds like a good start. There may be things that are easier to see up close than meets the eye from here.”

[Alyssia]

Alyssia looked over when Oram and Migh walked over to see what she had ran into. Handing it to him, she listened closely when he attempted to call its name. Turning around, the teen carefully pulled a second one down. Curiously she opened it like one would a banana and gasped. She had never seen a fruit that looked like raw meat before. Her first instinct was to try a bite, but the appearance looked scary to her. The girl looked over to Migh to see if he knew what kind of fruit meat thing it was. If it wasn’t poisonous like Oram said it may not be a bad idea to keep some with them.

Oram seemed confident in the fact the fruit was not poisonous. So the girl tore a piece off the tip and sniffed it. Shivering at the mix of spicy smell and the raw color, Alyssia carefully took a small bite before immediately spitting it back out. Her first urge was to throw the fruit into the tree, but it was not the fruits fault it tasted so very nasty. Shivering she rubbed her tongue on her sleeve trying to get the taste to go away. Making another disgusted sound the teen covered the rest of the fruit back in its peel and put it on top of a rock.

“Ew! That was gross! It looks like banana but it sure didn’t taste like one,” Alyssia shuddered again at the taste, “ugh its going to take forever for that to go away.”

Alyssia hurried and followed after them when they began on the way to the clearing. The song was still in the air making her skin crawl. The teen took a deep breath trying to focus as hard she could on the task ahead of them. Clearing her throat trying to help calm her nerves, the young baroness was nervous but ready for what they would find. As they got closer to the clearing the seemed to change from having the ominous tone to something far more airy and cheerful. Confused she looked to see if anyone would say something about the tone changing. It was not her place to state the obvious in her mind though.

Upon finally making it to the clearing she would surprised to see how much stuff was in one location. Looking around, the teen carefully moved forward not actually entering the swamp that stood before her. Alyssia looked over at Migh when it was clear they shouldn’t just run in and touch everything. Moving back away from the swamp, the teen listened closely but her attention kept pulling away to the three towers and back to the wooden tower across from them. She moved back from the swamp and nodded in agreement that they stay together. It was not long after the group arrived that only she stood beside Migh. Kal took to the sky and flew up the stone towers while Oram was looking into one of the pools.

She rolled her shoulders and went to the look around at the structures more. Oram playing at the edge of the whirlpool caught her attention. Alyssia hurried over and made quick notes to flesh out later of everything he had found out about the whirlpool. As he moved over to the swamp, the teen made her way very carefully over to where the stone towers were. Looking up at them, the girl placed her hand on them to steady her steps as it was clear she would have to work through the swamp at least some. Moving as careful as the teen could Alyssia stepped on any rock big enough for her foot to be planted on. It took longer than the girl would have liked to finally jump off the slick rocks in front of the towers. A shock came over her for a few ticks seeing a third whirlpool in front of them.

“Another whirlpool?” Alyssia asked herself.

Moving over it was clear that the whirlpool was different from the other one. Where the Oram had investigated had an area of calm in the water, the one before Alyssia did not have that same thing. It was as if the swirling water was trying to crash on the edge of the pool to draw in anyone not paying attention. Looking around, she grabbed a small stick and walked back over kneeling down at the edge. The girl slowly stick the stick in it and had to grip tighter when it nearly look the thing out of her hand. Shocked there was also no fish from what the girl could see in the water. It made sense though with the water as rough as it was.

Instead of pushing her luck, the teen stood up and looked over seeing the stone towers. There were green doors on the front that were open. Curiously, she walked over to the towers. First reaching out, Alyssia felt the doors shocked to feel they were made of stone just like the towers yet they were not wet. Moving closer, the girl kept one hand on the door and the other planted firmly on the wall outside the tower. Leaning in she could smell a strange fruity musty smell inside. As if it had not been lived in yet there was food stored inside by someone or something. A creepy feeling made its way up her back causing the girl to quickly leave the inside. Hurrying over to the swamp again, Alyssia made her way back to Oram and Migh quicker knowing her footing better.

“Yes, going down the lower area will be easier for us to prioritize,” Alyssia said in agreement and gave Migh a run down of what she had seen and smelled.

[Pegasus]

Sweetwine Song:
Sky Worship: Thread Review

Overview

Because of PC-driven actions, this thread can not be completed. The storyline for the "War of Slags Deep" simply overtook this and - since Scalvoris is then in a deep freeze from the 30th - 38th - AND people are going to Sweetwine to potentially free the Induk, I feel that the only appropriate solution here is to cut short these threads. There will be another "Sweetwine Song" event - after everything has been finished with the Egilrun War.

If you have any questions, please feel free to drop me a PM. Thank you, and sincere apologies for cutting short a seasonal event.

In terms of this event being caononical, we can't assume that - so please feel free to assume that you did a small exploration for the University - and met the people you met here. Basically, consider that it did happen, but not like this / this big. Hope that works for everyone and thank you for your patience.

You may also choose up to 5 non-skill knowledge on each PC / NPC in the thread.

Kalortah, Oram & Alyssia

Points

XP =15
Renown = 10

knowledge

Detection: Spotting things which are unusual
Detection: Surveying an area
Detection: Attending to strange music
Discipline: Feeling emotions which are out of place
Discipline: Focusing on what you are doing.
Navigation: Plotting a journey
Navigation: Modes of transport make a difference
Research: Write down observations
Research: Techniques for gathering evidence.
Storytelling: Telling stories to pass time
Storytelling: Tales can have truth to them

Loot

Kal:
A small whistle-wood ocarina. It has a low-level ability to influence a crowd, but is linked to the musician’s intent. It promotes a general feeling of upbeat-ness in those who hear it. This can be easily resisted but, if gone with allows for a feel-good sensation to stay with one who has listened to this instrument for the remainder of the day.

Oram:
The eyeglass is of very good quality - the rainbow glass allows you to see sound waves through it. This means that, when hunting for example, you are able to spot something in the bushes more easily because you can see the sound their movement makes. It shows sound in beautiful colours.

Alyssia:
Your scrunchie is made from colour-changing silk and will slowly shift and change in colour over the course of a half-hour. For the first hour that Alyssia wears it, a comfortable warmth creeps over her. Then, after that she finds that she is always warm while she continues to wear the scrunchie - even in really cold places. Don't wear this in the summer, you'll melt!