Group Alpha: Druid's Quest (Hybrid, Solora, Reina, Cresco)

[darkpigeon]

As soon as Naera gave Hybrid the new peddles the harpy jumped,flew, and landed a few feet away from the group. It became to crowded and that wolf-beast-thing was getting on her nerves with his ever lasting broody look on his face. She truly was hypnotized with the bright colors of each stone and placed them in front of her in the sand. She inspected all of them one by one, chirping as she seemed so very much at peace with these new findings. As Naera came closer and sat down next to her Harpy showed the young woman an gently and friendly smile. She watched the halfling create a small fire and smiled, watching someone using normal skills instead of that dreadful magic to create something as pretty as a fire but her at ease. At least someone else understood the danger of magic... or so Hybrid thought.

She let out a soft cry as Naera placed one of the peddles in the fire! How could she burn something so pretty!!! She wanted to take it out but as the flames changed their color she fell down on shock in her bum. Her talons stuck up in the air as she had fully opened her wings to break her fall. She was truly breathless as she looked at the wonderful sight of magical but not magic stones and colorful fire. She got back on her feet and leaned forward, watching the flames and the changing colors as Naera switched the peddles from one to an other to show Hybrid why these stones were so incredibly cool. The harpy smiled, she looked over at the Halfling who seemed to be as much entertained by the science that was unfolding before them.

That reminded Hybrid of something. She digged around in her own bag and took out a few small pouches. They all seemed to contain some kind of strange dust.. or .. sand. it was pretty unclear and with Hybrid not being able to say a word she could not explain what it was. She pushed out the hot peddles with her talon, making them land on the sand between the fire and Naera. She took a small portion of a black dust between her fingers and threw it in the fire. THe fire immediately started to roar and Hybrid laughed, chuckled and clapped her hands! She mimicked the sound of the small explosion and held up the small pouch so that Naera could take some of the dust out of well "BOOM!" she said "BOOM!"

[scottishgal]

Neara glanced up at the soft cry of Hybrid and blinked rapidly. She watched her fall onto her bum and couldn’t help but to let out a small giggle. She switched between the red and the green, showing her how the colours danced around them. She grinned widely, how the green made her look evil whereas the red made her look warmer toned.

Neara dragged her eyes up to the harpie as she dragged something from her pouch. She tilted her head as she produced something. She watched carefully and then fell backwards. The fire seemed to explode and it scared her. Her eyes were wide and she felt fear flood through her veins. She watched the harpie dance about, even push out the pouch to offer her some. Neara composed herself and shuffled back towards the fire. She pushed herself to her feet and took some of the dust. She gave the creature a massive grin when she said boom. Neara threw the dust into the fire and watched it roar before her and giggled. “Boom” She said softly, glancing up at the bird creature.

She felt her potions clink over her belt and glanced down. "I know I have at least one.." She said softly under her breath. Neara let her eyes flicked over the potions, she trailed her fingertips over them and unlatched one. She raised the small thin vial of blue liquid to the harpie. "Here. It's only a silly potion. No real purpose other than this." Neara smiled and unscrewed the cork cap and then raised the potion above the fire. She dropped a single drop onto the flames and let the flames turn a bright pink. Before the harpie could react, Neara took some more powder and dropped it onto the fire. When she chucked it this time, the fire did not grow. It merely turned a darker colour of pink and then died back down to its original orange flames. Neara offered the potion up to the creature with a wide smile.

[darkpigeon]

Hybrid was enjoying her new friend already! This woman, this halfling that jingled every time she moved was so very fascinating. She laughed as Naera seemed to be shocked by the small explosion. This boomboom dust was one of Hybrids favorite, and she would use it if she was to tell stories to the youngest of the Harpy's. With them she dared to talk, she would mostly whisper but her story's truly were the most colorful and detail oriented of all the story's that got told by the harpy's. As Neara searched around in her pockets and took out a small potion bottle she raised her eyebrows. She did not like potions she did not know, ti reminded her about painful things. But seeing that the halfling had been nice, and had been sharing funny stuff with her she did not expect anything bad to happen.

As the single drop hit the fire and it turned pink Hybrid was truly mesmerized by it. Adding the boomboom dust just made it so much more epic! She nearly danced up and down on the spot and pushed a few of the colored peddles back in the fire and gestured Naera to do it again. The halfling seemed as eager to try this as well and did not hesitate to try. Hybrid took a little bit of dust between her fingers and by the count of tree they both added the dust and potion into the fire.

A massive explosion!! Both Hybrid and Naera were pushed away and landed with their backs flat against a tree. The fire was gone and a crater was left were only seconds before the girls were playing with their colorful peddles, boomboom dust, and 'silly' potion. Hybrid crawled back on her feet, her body was made for such things and her wings had broken the fall for her. She shook her head, still hearing that strange buzzing sound as she had sat to close to the explosion. She let out a soft chirp, trying to call her friend Naera hoping that she would be okay.

[vernes]

Cresco witnessed the dangerous experiments the harpy was enjoying.
"I see you are skilled in the art of alchemy?"
"Do you have anything bigger on you?"
"Something that would stop an Orc dead in its track?"

Cresco knew that basics on making explosives.
The playful fizzes would become lethal explosions by just containing it in any kind of canister.
Even a baked clay vase would become painful bomb when sufficiently stuffed with the poweder.

[DukeWolfRein]

Reina looked at Tehron glance at the treeline and wondered what the Wolfman was thinking. Perhaps he spotted an enemy, but it didn't seem likely as his stance didn't change. She was interested in just how a Beastfolk and a Halfling had found the time to travel together, and why they were using the least monitored roads. Perhaps there was a bigger reason behind everything. She didn't know, but it certainly made her curiosity rise.

She nodded at Tehron "The Synrian won't be too much of a problem. If anything we can use him as a meat shield. I don't think it'll be necessary though, there shouldn't be any threats from here to Herrtikuk." Her nature was a bit more relaxed, which usually happened after a fight. The use of her powers left her drained, but tapping into her Wilder side alwaywleft a good aftertaste. There was something to freeing and pure about her animal side. She was almost jealous of Tehron, he probably thought of being a beast as something natural. Did he ever let his fetal side out? Would he howl up at the moons when they came out? The thought of the wolfman hunting alongside her when she tapped into her wild side made her feel like there was more about her than she gave her credit for. Druids were seen as the bridge between the humanoid races and beasts. They could speak to animals and learn their innermost thoughts. The next best thing was a Beastfolk. She had never been able to spend much time with a Beastman, mostly because of her nature of moving along before she got too close or any type of relationship could be established with anyone. Her eyes went to the treeline once more and she smiled. Herrtikuk was awaiting them, there they would be safer than out in the open like this. Perhaps they could even find a nice inn with warm beds and.....

BOOM!!

Reina turned her head and saw the smoking crater. Hybrid and the Halfling had been blown back from the explosion. At first she thought more Orcs had come down, but as she scanned their surroundings she could only come to the conclusion that they themselves had made the explosion. As Cresco spoke of a bigger explosion Reina walked towards Hybrid and shook her head "Be careful. We don't want anyone else to know we're here. Now come on, we have to get to the path." Her eyes once more fell on the body of Solora, the elf was now fully pale, life long gone from her. Reina nodded at the others "Let us bury her by the side of the road. Leaving her out here will only leave her to be food for some hungry beast. Come on.

[scottishgal]

Neara grinned up at the harpie, she was glad that the magic had not scared her off. That it had gotten her to dance, Neara giggled again and watched her shuffle the pebbles into the fire. Neara glanced up and watched the bird creature gesture towards the fire. She thought for a moment and then dropped a few drops onto the fire.

Tehron could feel the elf’s eyes on him, but he would not turn his gaze to her. He kept his searching eyes on the trees, surely someone would have thought them lost. Or that Neara had gone missing. Or did they care little for the Halfling and the dog. He heard her words and blinked slowly, dragging his eyes lazily over to the woman. He rolled his eyes, there were always threats. Always hiding, especially with those golbin scum. The type to ambush like the Orcs, they picked on the weak and young. Tehron curled a paw into a fist as he moved his eyes back to the Halfling he travelled with.

He knew that if the Halfling had continued her travels alone, she would be dead by now. Many times before, he had gotten her out of trouble. Either by insulting the wrong person, or sneaking about in the wrong place for finds. She had her uses though, the scars that littered his chest would have been fatal had it not been for the little potions that clanged around her waist. He watched as she produced a potion from that belt and dropped a few drops into the small fire. He turned his eyes away, the two creatures were almost like children. Though Neara was one of the oldest, her childish side was very very strong.

Tehron heard the explosion and turned just in time to watch Neara fly through the air and smash against one of the smaller boulders.Her back hit the stone harshly, almost tearing her breath from her small body. It wasn’t the pain that frightened her though, it was the smell of burning. Not like smoke….this was different. She raised a hand to her head and looked herself over. Then she noticed the broken glass pieces, she jumped up searching over her belt. Her fingertips dragging over each one, she knew where each one was, what each one was. Then she saw the green liquid dripping off her skirt. She let out a soft cry as she frantically scrapped the rest of the potion off her skirt. Once the liquid hit the sand, it started to burn. The liquid seemed to eat the sand and slowly dig downwards. The burning liquid had scolded her fingers and left a lovely hole in her skirt but at least it hadn’t done any worse.

Neara heard the metal man speak but her ears were ringing. She knew that he spoke though, as it was like clanging in her ears. Tehron was there, she could tell his gruff voice was speaking to her. She dragged her eyes up to him and smiled widely. The wolf stood, frantically scanning over the Halfling. Her fingers were bright red and there was a hole in the sand beside her. His eyebrow knit together and Neara pushed herself to her feet with his help. Neara stood a bit dazed but still with the massive grin. “Neara are you alright?” Neara knew what he was asking and nodded slightly. She shouted rather than spoke due to the muted feeling in her ears. “THAT WAS AWESOME!”

[darkpigeon]

Hybrid hopped over, her ears still ringing from the small blast that both she and the halfling had created. She wore the biggest of grins as she watched the halfling franticly trying to get the potion of her skirt. To Hybrid it looked like a happy little dance and if she was into dancing herself she would have joined. She spread her wings, inspecting the largest of feathers and pouted as she saw that two of them had bend and seemed broken by her fall. She took them between her fingers and felt like crying just looking at the small damage. It would not mean much, she still was able to fly and do all her pretty tricks. But her wings, they truly were the one thing she was incredibly proud of, and would not let anyone else touch.. not even other Harpy's.

She left her wings for later, she would have all the time in the world after they would find a safe place to camp. There she could inspect and prune her wings back into perfection and marvel at their glory. As she walked closer she herself had trouble hearing what the rest was saying. She ignored them though, there was no use in trying to hear them. As she saw the massive grin on her new found friends face she clapped her hands and jumped up and down in joy. That was indeed awesome! And she would not hesitate to try something like that yet again.

[kaptainjohnson]

"Such a high regard for anothers life, especially from a druid" Sarcasm dripped from his mandible's, turning his attention to his new company, inspecting each one of them, taking a particular interest in the metal man and Harpy. The war construct was a creation of the empire, used as soldiers. They were usually bound to the empires rule - perhaps this one had been freed or created by an artificer averse to the empires rule? This would require further inquirey. The bird woman was of the dwarves doing, if memory served correctly, seen as a 'failed' experiment. At a guess, they achieved everything but making them obedient slaves. Another source of knowledge walking beside him. Seems the world would contain more then enough to intrigue him.

Noticing the brightly coloured frames, he broke away from the elf and wolfman, observing the changing hues, and the sudden uproar of fire. This could prove useful. Beginning to imagine the uses of such materials, his thoughts were shattered by the sudden explosion. Caught on the edge of the blast, it only succeeded in covering him with a thin layer of ash. Moving closer to the remains of the fire, he scooped up a handful of ash, searching through for the reason for the blast. He soon tossed it away, shaking his hands to dislodge any ash. Seems it had been lost in the fires of the boom. Disappointed, he turned towards the harpy and halfing.

"If I may inquire, how was such a reaction created?" Their still resided the chance that these two could teach him something.

[scottishgal]

Tehron gave Neara an unamused look to which she responded with a massive grin. The Harpy hopped over and she pushed herself to her feet, rushing towards her. She gave the creature a massive grin and bounced slightly as she seemed to dance about. Tehron frowned at this interaction, “Don’t do it again Neara. Next time you’ll be over the other side of the beach.” Neara waved off his words and the wolf moved back over to the elf. “I say we move on now. That noise will have attracted some attention. Even so those two will not stop until one of them is dead.” He said crossing his arms over his chest.

Neara grinned up at her new friend and tapped the twisted knot necklace round her neck as a form of greeting. “Neara” She said gently, hoping that the creature understood. She heard soft clickings as the new creature approached them. She dragged her eyes to this creature and was still wary, she took a step back as it moved through the ashes left from their experiment. She moved further back towards the harpy, not liking this bug like creature. It took her a few moments to find her voice. “Two were mixed to create the explosion.” Something told her not to tell him more than he needed, she didn’t want to give someone such power. She hoped her vague response might hint at a lack of intelligence on her part, she didn't want others to know what she did.

She snapped her eyes to the harpy which she now stood close to. She rooted around her pockets and noted her hand dangling near her wings. The harpy wouldn’t feel anything but Neara quickly clipped something around her wrist. She shuffled her away round the bug creature and ran as fast as her little legs could to Tehron. Tehron glanced down as the Halfling gave him a sheepish smile and gripped the side of his trousers. “Are we moving on?” She asked hopefully.

When the harpy noticed the new weight around her wrist, she would find something new around her wrist. A twisted band of twine and leather which linked around a bright amber stone, one that was kept safe by the pattern of twisting. The stone was the same that they had been playing with earlier but polished so that when the light hit it, it would sparkle

[vernes]

Cresco agreed and helped pick a spot to bury Solora's body, and soon had started a dig.
The hole would not be as deep as he'd liked, nearby rocks would need to prevent the local predators from digging her grave.

"If someone can get some rocks and stones, I guess we can move on."

[darkpigeon]

Hybrid looked at the bug and thought for a moment. Could one trust big power to a stranger? she had learned with her stay with the dwarfs that such a thing was not the case. Any creature, any living being always wanted more power. It was something that worried her, and that brought her fear. She stood tall as she watched her friend Neara explain that two were mixed to create the explosion and smiled. She was a real sneaky one and that Hybrid liked. She herself turned around and cleared her throat before saying.



As she finished her explanation the science behind it all, and how one could create such an explosion himself she smiled. She knew that he would not understand a single word of what she had said. Nobody did really, she herself sometimes got confused by the sounds she made herself. Even ones that she had never heard before. She just happily chatted away and felt entertained as to how she was irritating the Synrian. 

While she spoke she did not notice how Neara wrapped a bracelet around her wrist. The woman was up and off before she fully realized what had happened. As one of her arms felt slightly different than the other she lifted it and smiled from ear to ear. She was given a gift! Such a thing was a high honor amongst the Harpy's and she took it as such a sign. She herself took of quickly as well and followed her new friends of the beach and into the forest. 

[DukeWolfRein]

She listened closely to Tehron and nodded in agreement "We are of similar mind then, good. Let's start heading back to the forest path, hopefully we will be left alone there." The Synrian was a very curious one, and though they were rarely known to interact with any species outside of their own or the Drows, this one seemed far more at ease around them than she would have expected him to be. As he questioned the reason for the explosion she noticed Hybrid and the Halfling telling him next to nothing, something she was thankful of as she trusted the Synrian less than Tehron or the Halfling herself.

The rocks beneath them began to move and cluster together, rolling towards Solora's grave as Reina's eyes let out a green glow, the energy flowing downwards past her legs and to the ground beneath her. As the rocks and dirt began to pile up on the body she was afforded one last look at the elf girl. She felt almost sorry for how quick her death had been. Unexpected was the word for it, yet she did not think it wasn't all that undeserved. Hiding one's identity never sat well with Reina, especially since she would never do it, even as hated as Elves were around Strophya. As she saw the girl's eyes were swallowed by the Earth, Reina could only think of what had been the cause for her disguise.

They started walking down the path once more, Hybrid chirping on about something to the Synrian, Tehron and Neara walking together, and finally Cresco minding the back of the group. As they walked into the forest path Reina's skills as a tracker told her that someone or something had been watching them from the treeline. They eventually came upon what seemed to be a camp of sorts, halfway made but not all there. She wondered who had made the camp, and if they were still around. "Let's hurry, before whoever was here finds us and decides we're good for target practice." They began walking once more, although she could swear that Tehron and Neara were looking at the camp with a degree of familiarity. It was best not to think of it, they hadn't said anything. Even if they did have other companions, would they not have come out after the Orcs were defeated? And who was Tehron anyhow? Her mind was filled with questions, questions she would see answered once they reached Herrtikuk.

~~~~END OF THREAD~~~~