Fantasy RPG Forum - Standing Trials

In the calm and quiet of Winston's day, something quite strange happened. Up until that moment he never might have known that a small creature was following him, sniffing after the trail he left behind, but out of nowhere, the next time he turned a corner or passed through a doorway, suddenly it was there. A stocky gremlin-like thing with leathery wings and wide, curious eyes narrowed into lizard-like slits. For all of its strange and otherworldly appearance, the man that quickly reached down and scooped it straight off the floor looked even more strange.

A shiny gold monocle hung from a long metal chain tucked behind one ear, and his colourful coat seemed to shimmer in the light with a kaleidoscope of vibrant colours. Scattered haphazardly over his elaborate and rather impressive fashion choices were the tools and gear of a budding engineer, including everything from measuring instruments to crafting tools, both wide and flat and thin and fine. "Aha! Sorry if I scared you, my friend! It's just quite hand to catch any of your kind in a crowd, don't you know?" He deposited the little gremlin-like creature on his shoulder, and there it perched, almost like a bird with its wings folded back and arms tight to its middle.

"Though, thank Aeva I've found you now! Teq Yv'lhadi, Champion of Aeva - you seem like just the person to help me with a little unusual quandary I've been suffering from - and I've heard that you seem to be suffering one too, struggling to find your tools at the right moments you need them and all, and coincidences abound, I think I might have just the answer!"

Teq Yv'lhadi crouched then, extending a finger for the ferret to grasp. "I've struggled with tracking down and catching myself a Skullgull. Native to these islands, if I understand correctly, but too skittish to ever sneak up on, with all my devices. Do you think you could find one for me and bring it back? If you do, I have just the thing to solve your problem as well."

Should he accept, there was what looked to be the single bell of a windchime hanging from the tip of his finger. A long, smooth cylinder of metal with no interior mechanism. "Strike this against something solid, when you've captured it, and the note it makes will tell me you've finished your task."

Winston rang the bell and a single note chimed out. It carried on the air for a while and then dissipated. Winston had settled in, waiting for Teq to arrive and, true to form, Teq arrived in an interesting way. Last time, he'd been in a basket attached to a balloon - but this time, first a shadow fell over the space where Winston was and then a ladder tumbled down from the sky (still attached to something above it) and then, down climbed Teq. Should Winston look up then he would see that high above him was a ship - not a balloon this one but a ship, floating in the air.

"Winston!" Teq beamed with delight as he hopped down on to the ground. "Oh, I say look at that!" He clapped his hand delightedly, and then moved over to the skullgull in a trap. "A fine specimen, yes indeed very fine!" His eyes landed on Chest and Teq gave a slight start, like he'd been shocked somewhat. "I say, hello you, how are you to-trial?" He spoke that to Chest. "Aren't you just a wonderfully interesting fellow? Quite the wonder." He admired Chest for a few moments and would - with Chest's permission - pet Chest also.

But his reason for being here was never far from his mind. "Winston, you are a wonder," he said, honestly. "You've saved me quite the job. I'm very grateful to you. Now then, I have this for you, as a thank you" he said and he first of all rummaged in the many, many pockets of his jacket before finally pulling out a bag."Now, how about you and I have a spot of lunch together, you can have a little look at this tool belt-bag-thing that I got you, and we can have a chat?" Teq was a busy fellow, it was true, but he was happy to sit and spend a little time with Winston who seemed to be genuinely just a very nice individual.

Flapping out the back of his jacket, Teq sat and started pulling foodstuffs from his pockets. As unusual as that might seem, he had obviously prepared things, and they were all fresh.

"So how have you been?" He asked.

After greeting Smoky and Joe, Teq was very happy to sit and chat and eat with Winston and Chest. When Winston asked how many flying things Teq had, he frowned and solemnly started counting on his fingers. After a moment, though, he shook his head. "I give up. Lots. A few. Not as many as I'd like. I once met a woman, you know, who did a lot of knitting and crochet. She had a thing she called a "stash" of yarn. Ridiculous amount. When I asked her about it, she just laughed and said that she had just the right amount to always need a little bit more. That's the same with me!" Nodding, he seemed pleased with that as an answer.

When Winston spoke of meeting the fairies of Sweetwine, Teq nodded. "Some of my best friends are fairies," he said."I like them. There's something fundamentally very honest about them and their child-like ways." When Winston described - and Chest showed - the fairy food, Teq looked at it with interest. "I'd love to sweat lemon curd! That sounds amazing!" and, with Winston's permission he took some of that cake. It probably didn't take a lot to recognise that, soon, he'd be making himself warm just to experience it. He chuckled at Smokey's sign and nodded, signing back as he spoke. "Wouldn't you miss hearing, though? Because you can't speak, you still hear. Interesting thought!"

As he ruminated on that, though, Teq pulled out what looked like a small pocket-watchsuch things don't exist, I'm just giving you a visual and then sighed. "Alas, Winston, I must make haste and leave you. There are so many people with problems to solve!" He smiled at his friend."It's a pleasure to see you, Winston. I hope that you and I meet again. Soon!

And with that, Teq would make his way. Happy in the knowledge that another problem had been solved and obviously keen to go and do some exercise so that he could sweat lemon curd.

Winston