[HUB ISLAND | IT'S NOT HALLOW BUT I'M FEELING WEENIE]

[spellbindmods]

Who: All coven members
Where: Coven base camp, around the island
When: Day It's Not Halloween, What Do You Mean
Open/Closed: Open to (h)All(oween)

Tonight is a night like any other. There's no calendar with no holiday...but some tiny events seem to line up with a coincidental, theoretical holiday. A ▢ The hub island is quite large, which means there's still a lot of unexplored territories. Were you there when the pumpkins were discovered? Why were they discovered? Who is roaming around in the forest in the middle of the night like some wild animal in order to stumble upon these pumpkins??? All good questions, all with no answers. The important thing is that in the central part of the island, a fast growing gourd plant has taken over a lot of the trees in the area. The long, thick vines have choked out a lot of trees, with bumpy green pumpkin-type plants growing along them and hanging fatly from the trunks. Inside are fragrant seeds and a milk-like substance that's sweet. They're all very thick and squatty, making them good for soup. For carving? Well, you can try! B ▢ As a pre-celebratory gesture, Brie has brought out a festive little chest. If you happen to complete your Bonus AC, you're welcome to your customized dagger right now, complete with your name inscribed on the hilt. Everyone can take stuff from the chest, though. Inside are hundreds of pieces of candy -- some are pretty well preserved, but others have that weird ass grey separated stuff that happens to chocolate after a while. What kind of candy? If you can dream it, it's probably in there. Just only take a couple pieces or Brie might stab you. C ▢ ...Actually, she doesn't really have time to stab you. Brie is quietly taking people aside and showing people this little map she's found. Well, it appears to be a map. The outline on the paper is roughly the same shape and size as the island, scaled down, and it's covered in tiny red dots, scattered throughout the landscape. She's got a hunch that these dots mean something -- buried treasure. She's only one person, and there are tens of dots on this map. Her price for letting you in on this little venture is half of whatever you find...or at least access to it. She's digging up holes on her own...here's a shovel, go dig for yourself! D ▢ What can you find located in the group? Honestly, the item variety is wide and expansive. Most of the items are small tins, containing a piece of paper with a small story (more on this later, huhuhu), clipped photograph and little item -- these are up to your discretion! However, despite the island being absent of magic, these tins all seem to have an enchantment or hex placed upon them. The effects are varied. Some tins fill up with a black, inky tar-like substance that won't stop pouring out. Some tins act like vacuums and attempt to suck your arm into a black hole they contain. Others will emit a disgusting smell, begin screaming...and these are just a few of the weird wonders they contain. The verdict? These appear to be time capsules that are unhappy they were lifted from the ground too early! (OOC: The tins are the size of those Danish butter cookie tins we all use as sewing kits; you know what I mean.) E ▢ Some lucky coven members actually get something better than a broken toy. Others contain tons of cold coins, beautiful antiques (like compacts, compasses and pocket telescopes. Stuff like that)!. Are you lucky enough to dig up actual treasure? (OOC: Want to test your luck? See if your character finds an actually worthwhile find when you reply to this thread.) F ▢ Those with the cursed items will eventually find that midnight strikes and the carriage has become a pumpkin...well, sort of. At midnight, all of the cursed artifacts (not those nice shiny ones) become potatoes. That's good news in its own right -- potatoes are a food! But it's sort of disappoint and very starchy.

Comments

[rootandbranch]

d/e; flying airbus strikes again

[Geir is hopping up and down on the tips of his claws, trying to peer at the maps of anyone who he sees taking their directions from Brie. in fact, he's been almost vibrating with excitement since the moment he heard her plan. treasure? treasure? treasure?!?!?!?!?!?!

he might be slightly enthusiastic about the idea.

this is lucky for anyone he comes across, though! if your map points to a far-flung location, or you simply don't want to walk -- you've just found yourself a way to get there fast.]

Hey, are you going to go look for that--?!

[splinten]

I guess our mythology about hoarding dragons has its roots in Germanic and especially Nordic mythology. On those grounds it would be unfair to call you out as a cliche.

[He pauses and then—pats Geir's nose? Awkwardly. He is trying.]

[rootandbranch]

It's not whatever that is to like treasure hunting! Everyone likes treasure hunting! And treasure.

[Geir doesn't seem offended by being CALLED OUT. he's enthusiastic about the nose pat, too, leaning into it in surprised pleasure and then nudging Dirk's shoulder for good measure.]

Do you think anyone will find something worth hoarding? I want it...

[splinten]

You are not helping your case here, bro.

[Ah, a big dragon nudge.]

It's hard to assess based on the available data. We don't know the source of the map or the meaning of its markings. We also have no idea what purpose there would be to bury anything in these locations.

[rootandbranch]

Diiiiirk. Dirk! We just have to go see what's there, then!

[huffs! DIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIRK. WE GOTTA.]

That's how we make the data available!!

[splinten]

I'm going to refrain from asking after your age in an ironic manner, since I know it's significantly greater than the age expected of a human exhibiting behaviour like yours.

Which point on the map are you going to.

[He will accompany.]

[rootandbranch]

You're young even for a human, aren't you? You don't have a beard.

[he sniffs at the paper in Dirk's hand, making it crackle a little.]

I'm not sure... just show me whichever one Brie told you to check. I don't want to get there second.

[when someone else might have already claimed the treasure. that would be the absolute worst end.]

[finagles]

[ Before heading out to search for treasure, McGillis is still... taking stock of his candy. Listen, sugar withdrawal is a serious issue. he definitely took more than a couple of pieces when brie wasn't looking

A mouth half-filled with chocolate, he peers at the map in his hands. There's a short delay before he glances over his shoulder to take note of the rather large dragon hopping behind him.

Chewing, swallowing. ]

I am.

[ Chancing a tentative smile? ]

Would you like to come along?

[rootandbranch]

[Geir's response is immediate, and he doesn't seem to worry about the candy delay. instead, he just grins excitedly at McGillis, inadvertently showing off some very impressive teeth; at least he's obviously being friendly about it.]

Of course I would! I want to find some treasure!

[he crowds closer, determined to see the map more accurately. yes, that sure marks the spot...]

Oh, that's not too bad. I can give you a ride if you want. Let's go, let's go--

[finagles]

[ Truthfully, he was planning to fly there himself...

...but can he pass up the opportunity to ride a dragon through the skies on the way to dig up buried treasure? How reminiscent of the hero's role in an adventure-fantasy story. Even at his age, a strange trill of internal excitement overtakes his practical senses -- even the ones that remind him to remain wary of those teeth.

Something about this place uplifts him at the same time that it serves to frustrate him by separating him from his goals. Reminded, now, that once he had a knack for the transformation, he'd spent hours upon hours as a hawk. Lingering and delighting in the freedom of soaring through the skies, wearing the skin of another beast, flapping actual wings in a world entirely removed from his old one.

No chains to yank him back down to the earth.

Well, even if Geir drops him, or he falls, he has a failsafe method to rescue himself. McGillis turns to face his new animal companion, smiling at him more confidently than before. ]

A ride? That would be convenient, but are you sure it wouldn't be a bother?

[ Folding the map in anticipation anyway... polite, as he must be, but hecka into it. ]

[rootandbranch]

No way! I want to see what you find, too!

[Geir doesn't need to think twice about his answer. he's been used as transportation quite a bit as part of the coven so far, and it doesn't bother him to do so. he doesn't have any of the associations that McGillis does to the fantasy or romance of carrying someone dragonback. he is a fantasy creature, after all. but it's fast, and easy enough, and the people who ride on him seem to enjoy it. and more than anything else, it's practical, on an island with few alternate forms of transportation besides simply walking where you need to go.

and treasure... that's always a powerful lure.]

You think you might share if we find something good? ♪

[finagles]

Since you are providing the method of transportation, I think it would be fair to divvy up our findings.

[ In short: yes. Easy enough to see that the lure of treasure is very exciting to their coven's resident dragon.

The folded map goes into his pocket for the time being, for safe keeping. ]

Alright, let's head out while we still have daylight.

[ Which only leaves the matter of... climbing him, which, yes, it would also seem rude to take the lead there, so he pauses and waits patiently. ]

Ah, my name is McGillis Fareed, by the way. I don't believe we've had the chance to exchange introductions yet.

[rootandbranch]

Call me Geir. It's nice to meet you to talk to.

[it's hard to keep track of new arrivals to the coven, even for someone with as good a memory for faces and names as Geir has. he was aware of when the newer arrivals showed up last month, but there's been no particular reason for him to seek them all out, either. on the other hand, he doesn't mind getting acquainted now.

he notes McGillis's polite wait for him to indicate how the dragonriding is going to happen and grins a little to himself as he extends a claw for McGillis to climb onto; some of the people he knows would've enthusiastically tried to start trying to scale Mt. Dragon immediately. the dance of manners instead is rather amusing.]

Here you go! Hop on.

[reckoner]

[ Sure enough, the map he's shown directs him to a spot far-far-far-flung northeast. About as far as it could be flung without directing him right off the island. Gaelio's peering at it, trying to deduce how long the walk would take him and the likelihood of it being a worthwhile expenditure (but then, what else has he got to do? struggle with fish some more?).

Peering at it, but increasingly unable to ignore the GIANT DRAGON bouncing in place. Gaelio's tall, but he's got nothing on thirty feet of dragon, making it a simple thing to see his map.

After nearly a month here, it isn't as though he's kept unaware of the dragon [in the room]. He just... didn't expect it to sound like this.

Or behave like this.

Gaelio shrugs, for once in his life having to look up to answer some[one]. ]

Maybe. It's not a little suspicious.

[ but see above re: nothing better to do, yeah he's going. ]

[rootandbranch]

Oh, c'mon. How bad could it be?

[the answer is: it could be pretty bad! still, if something truly dangerous was on the island, they'd probably have run into it by now. Geir doesn't have all of his magical senses here, but it offends his sense of pride to think that a monster or something else that could truly threaten him could be within a day's flight of him while he didn't know. probably, at worst, there's another colony of zombie boars or weird bugs around somewhere...

but then again, the lure of possible treasure appeals strongly, and this is potentially another argument in favor of going to look for it.]

. . . or, okay, if it is bad, we should go and, uh, scout. You know. So we can warn people.

[Geir knows that's probably laughably transparent, and he doesn't care. it's not untrue, exactly, and he's already made his position pretty clear... he gives Gaelio his version of enormous, draconic puppy eyes. he loves treasure, and he wants to go.]

Riiiight?

[reckoner]

It could be landmines.

[ Just one option.

Only, if so, given the proximity of some of the other dots, they'd likely have encountered them by now. Also, that would legitimize the dragon's later point. If the maps directed them to danger rather than treasure, it would be best to see to it. Whether through reconnaissance, or if possible, handling it themselves.

After all, he's not oblivious to the advantage of a dragon.

Laughably transparent, yes, especially with that dragged out cajoling.

But true, and Gaelio's listlessness applies, and yeah, those eyes. As little as they should logically affect him, looking right at them bends his spine. ]

Right.

[ Shrugging.

Yet, not quite resisting, in as dull and disinterested a tone as he can manage (which is very dull and very bored indeed), ]

What a generous dragon you are.

[ So thoughtful of the general welfare and not at all primarily concerned about treasure. ]

[rootandbranch]

Yup, that's me! Here to help. I'm downright carrying the coven on my back around here...

[there's an appreciative light in Geir's eyes as he recognizes and responds to the sarcasm, and his tone shifts from pleading to a a cheerful, sanctimonious parody: oh, you know, just tired out from doing so much good in the world! it's a good joke, and it doesn't occur to him to suspect that Gaelio is actually being mean rather than (rather dourly) joking. it's not like anything he said is actually untrue. if there were a landmines there, of course Geir would deal with it, and he'd want to know about any other nonsense Qri or this place threw at them almost as much as he would treasure.

still, that's a threat he hasn't heard of before. in case the map is somehow actually that, it might be worth getting idea of what this lethargic guy is pessimisstically predicting before he runs nose-first into it.]

It's always better to go look! What're landmines, anyway?

[reckoner]

If you're complaining, we could walk. I wouldn't want to add to your burden.

[ Understood in turn. There's no disadvantage to not having suspected ill intentions, as Gaelio had none, indeed closer to the ribbing, if dour, end of the spectrum.

Not that the dragon had actually offered him a ride, but a couple of factors made the assumption reasonable. First, that Gaelio had trouble imagining a beast of that size weaving his way through the trees. Second, that the cajoling to this point suggested they would go together. It would be a discrepancy for Gaelio to walk while the dragon flew -- in the time he took him to reach the spot, the dragon could have flown back and forth multiple times.

As to landmines -- it might not be a surprise that he doesn't know. His world might be medieval. He's a dragon. Sonic had been enough of an adjustment. ]

Explosives hidden in the ground, usually triggered by pressure, like someone stepping on them.

[rootandbranch]

Oh, no! You're so tiny I won't even notice.

[Geir's still grinning, teasing Gaelio in return now. he pauses to consider Gaelio's description of landmines. a hidden explosion... he wonders how something like that could be arranged. they must be buried fairly shallowly, unless...]

So it's a trap? I don't know if there's been any fighting on foot around here. Maybe in the past, but not lately.

[that subject seems thoroughly played out now... though there's still something he wants clarified.]

...anyway, would you want to fly there? If it was a trap, I bet I could get us out of it. Ground-traps aren't made for fliers...

[humenity]

[ Eleanor's decided to look for the treasure with everyone else because-- well, why not? It doesn't seem like a bad way to pass the time.

But, she doesn't exactly expect to be approached by a dragon. She stops when she hears that voice, looking on in shock. ]

--A dragon?! [ She's more used to dragons being bad news back at home... But, this one doesn't seem malicious at all. ]

[rootandbranch]

--what, really?

[Geir isn't unused to shocked reactions to his existence, except from new coven members. in fairness, he would assume even a human from Midgard would be startled to see him. it's not like there are so many dragons that most humans would expect him, much less dragons as powerful as he; he understands Eleanor's outburst, even if he's still taking whether or not to be exasperated at the trend on a case by case basis.

on the other hand, even assuming she hadn't noticed him around the coven yet... is this really this human's priority right now? when she has something much more important to think about?!]

You have a treasure map and that's what you're worried about--?!

[humenity]

I-- my apologies. Dragons aren't all that common where I come from.

[ Honestly, she should have considered that before she had reacted like that... That was her mistake. ]

Though, the treasure isn't going anywhere, either.

[rootandbranch]

You don't know that! Brie just handed out all of those maps, you know. What if someone else gets to your treasure first?!

[obviously this is the worst possible outcome that could conceivably occur here. what skewed sense of priorities would lead this human to be more worried about a giant predator suddenly appearing over her shoulder than losing a completely hypothetical race to a treasure that might not even exist? honestly.]

Were you going?!

[humenity]

I'm not entirely interested in treasure, to be honest with you.

[ And she's not sure if it could go to a good cause here, either. Actually, what could they use that gold for?

Still, she feels like she shouldn't just be standing here talking to someone who obviously wants to find the treausre... ]

I was. Though, if you want to find the treasure-- dplease, on't let me hold you back from it.

[rootandbranch]

But why don't you want to find the treasure?

[it's a real question -- Geir doesn't understand why anyone wouldn't be interested. Eleanor isn't the first person to tell him so, and the whole situation abruptly reminds him of 2B saying she wasn't interested in her bag of gold coins back on Aimintas. what a strange world these other coven members live in...]

I mean-- I'd be happy to help you look...