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Post by Flare on Nov 24, 2021 5:44:45 GMT -6
Dated: 03 - 01 -2021 - #22
On the Board
Standing beside the quest board was an older fae with wild green hair. As you approach the quest board, they will wave at you and shout. "Hey there, you, yea you!" They point right at you, which removed all doubt as to who they were talking to.
"I need help, and an old friend of mine said this quest business was the way to go. Think you're up to it?" Should you agree, they go on to explain the situation.
"I have a garden out near the edge of town and it's been over run with dangerous plants! I just don't know how it happened!" That part sounded like a rather unconvincing lie. Regardless, they did genuinely need help sorting it out.
"I need someone to go in there and grab a big handful of special flowers for me. I've got a picture here," they held out a photo of the flowers for you to take. "If you find 'em for me, I can hopefully fix up this mess, and I'll give you something nice from the garden in return."
"I recommend bringing some weapons, if you have 'em, or a big critter or something. Trust me, you'll need it!"
In Order to Succeed: Go into the Fae's garden and fight your way through to the special flowers they mentioned. The garden is overrun with poisonous, carnivorous, and all around dangerous plants and plant-monsters. Good luck!
Prize: 'Something nice from the garden' as well as the usual QP
Challenge Rating: Hard
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Post by Flare on Nov 24, 2021 5:58:05 GMT -6
He hasn't talked to a fae creature before... or has he. The vague memory of a dryad drifts through the back of his mind as the wild green haired figure, who looks more at home in a garden then out here points right at him, singling him out of the small crowd glancing past the quest board. Well, it is COLD outside for one, and he's not the biggest fan of the cold. This is more of a damp cold then the dry cold that sweeps through the desert at night. Dry cold he can handle. "You. You're one of them gullet eaters, aren't you." the fae asks, squinting accusingly in his direction. Like they can't see well? "Pardon?" "You know... magic eaters. The ones who swallowed a node." How they can see this at a glance? He doesn't know or want to know, but gives a very vague bob of a nod. The green haired uh... figure? smirks. Looking him over with the led along white furball on legs. 1 x.20
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Post by Flare on Nov 24, 2021 6:05:37 GMT -6
"I figured. Your aura stands out from the rest of these...people." the fae does a vague fingery wavey twist of the wrist to gesture at the passerbys. "Listen. My garden is overrun by dangerous plants and I need some help harvesting some special flowers. Winter's a coming fast and I'd like to pick them before the turn of the solstice kills them off for the year. Very rare, very pretty." Holds up a photo of a flower for him to see. The elementalized tumaian takes the photo without thinking and looks it over. He... actually recognizes it. That plant is very hard to cultivate outside of extreme conditions. "That is a lilac sunbonnet. These are very difficult to cultivate outside of desert conditions." he says, mildly surprised. The sunbonnet's claim to rarity comes from the blue pollen that people want to harvest before it withers. The plant itself is about two inches tall when found out in the wild. The baakir, not knowing what she was seeing, leans over him to see what is being seen. from boardmanbio.blogspot.com/2010/04/spring-in-mojave-desert.html 2 x.20
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Post by Flare on Nov 24, 2021 6:12:26 GMT -6
"Why me, besides my aura." he asks, tracing the petals of the photo. Flare hasn't personally seen the plant in bloom himself, but it is listed under "1000 rare plants you should see before you die", one of the books in the Tumaian botanists core that the older botanists keep using like a bucket list of plants to either see or cultivate. "Good friend of mine has high recommendation of you if I could find you for doing quest work related to the garden. You might remember a crazy old goat woman?" He nods. Oh yes, Grannie Crannie. He remembers her. "Said to look for a nice young'n with the aura of the earth. You fit the bill, and I'd rather not hire anyone who isn't prepared to calm down some plants, y'know." "I am not a plant whisperer. Just a gardener." This individual must be mistaken. He's pulled flowers out of the ground, and kept to himself, not anything so elaborate. Over his shoulder, there's a snort. The paper stinks like someone perfumed it. 3 x.20
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Post by Flare on Nov 24, 2021 6:17:08 GMT -6
"Nonsense. Someone so in tune with the earth and plants like you? Perfect fit. Now. Because the plant is pretty rare, I want it back here in as good of shape as possible. Like I can plant it again somewhere else. Turns out a garden full of nasties isn't the smartest place to put a rare desert flower. Thankfully they aren't plant eaters, or I'd be out of about three years of cultivating." the fae waves off his protest. But never meets his eyes. Because this also means the plants are 'other' eaters. "Get it back to me in good shape, and You get something nice that I've been cultivating. Crannie specialized in crystalline bonsai, I do other, more elaborate works. You'll do it for me, won't you?" Well, not like he had anything else to do, a tantalizing voice in his head suggests. Flare finds himself agreeing before he can fully wrap his head around it. Because what is he supposed to do, take the baakir with him? 4 x.20
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Post by Flare on Nov 24, 2021 6:21:15 GMT -6
The fae is delighted and stuffs a jar thats just large enough to fit a three inch pot into his hands. With instructions to carefully harvest the flowering plant and bring it back in one piece, if possible. So he'd need a shovel or what not. Perhaps a big stick to lay off some of the more dangerous creatures? They'll be here. And is gone before Flare can ask more questions. Probably went to harass someone else into doing the job too. Making back up plans before he even got to the garden. Which was where? Flipping the photo in his hand, there is an address in the far right corner of the back. This is suspiciously close to Crannie's garden too. What were they, fence neighbors? His hair ruffles from the snort of the baakir over his shoulder. {You're not keen on him either, are you.} he asks the animal. Snort. No, the paper just stinks. 5 1.0 x.20
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Post by Flare on Nov 24, 2021 6:28:02 GMT -6
Why would the fae need to get the plant in order to contain all their dangerous cultivations, Flare can't help but wonder. With the strangler pots, he has to keep them separated and on a pad of moss in order to keep the feelers of each teapot to keep to themselves. Plants don't have a vision of personal space, they'll kill each other by overshadowing for sun, water, space, you name it. And to ask him specifically for help? Not exactly a keenness either, but... well now he had nothing better to do. His garden harvests were for the tail end of fall when the mjusi and Monarch would go into season and finish clearing out the leaves building up on the floor. He's the kind of person to use the fallen leaves as compost rather then trash them. Because the worms will make short work of the leaves over the winter. Behind him, the baakir nickers like some sort of horse. Go now? 6 x.20
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Post by Flare on Nov 24, 2021 6:31:54 GMT -6
His own dabblings of plants don't really exceed into live plant creatures beside what he'd acquired. Something dangerous enough to make a fae person...creature... thing? It didn't have wings. Ask for help, this must be serious. He's not sure on what to even start with. Probably more dangerous then a dragonoak in season. Castor gets kind of bitey when he's upset and itchy. And those bites do pack a bit of heat to them. Don't ask how the labs were able to breed a dragonoid plant with the ability to burn with bites. He'll be scratching his head past that for years. The baakir bumps his shoulder and makes a croaking noise. She's not keen on standing around. {Fine, fine. We will go scout the location. Happy?} he tells the animal. She makes a 'mrr' sort of noise. Not a yes or a no really, just a 'get moving' sort of noise, before she pulls him along. 7 x.20
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Post by Flare on Nov 24, 2021 6:36:45 GMT -6
The little taiga is taking after Lisan, Flare believes, as he follows the familiar road down to the mansion that is on the edge of town. She's a calm creature, but pushy and unwilling to stand still too long. More then once, he wants to check her hooves to see if something is wrong on why she won't stay put longer then a minute or so. But thankfully she has some growing to do. The rest of the herd, short of the kakum lurking in the thorns, towers over his head. Reminds him throughly of longneck grazers brought in as attractions from the scrub to the east in circus caravans. Or at least thats what the fliers said. he didn't actually see one. Being singled out for his aura does not sit well with the tumaian. He's done perfectly well with staying out of sight to avoid onlookers. But a gullet eater? Sounds like a bird who eats fish. 8 x.20
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Post by Flare on Nov 24, 2021 6:40:31 GMT -6
Fall is in full swing in the lab city. Flare likes fall. The surrounding foliage matches his fiery hair. The leaves that fall from the trees crunch under his bare feet or his sandals as he walks through the area. Some trees retain their leaves over the winter. They are called evergreens. Usually trees, but some bushes. The bonsai are mostly evergreens, but several have dropped their leaves. He can prune the branches back once the leaves finish dropping. Most trees do not grow much during the winter months. Clop clop clop, the split hooves of the baakir echo on the cobbles as they walk down the street. She's keeping close to him, although the rope in his hand tugs a bit when the little taiga turns her head to look at something. Occasionally a building, or something outside the building, and shying a bit from someone's very large cat on fire. 9 x.20
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Post by Flare on Nov 24, 2021 6:46:08 GMT -6
Ok, since when did cats end up being on fire on BOTH ENDS. Even he has to stop and glance at the cat who is near the size of an immature wild animal with its long tail ablaze and the head surrounded by fire. The animal even glances his way, and there is no head. it is a skull. UH, NOPE. NOPE NOPE. Turn around, keep walking at increased speed. Those red eyes. might invade his dreams. Cats are much too smart for their own. Maybe thats why Flare likes dogs better. They are simpler creatures to try to figure out. Hungry? barking about it. Bored? start ripping things apart. Extreme examples, but he's still got a puppy at home who has interest in chewing her way out of every situation. Murrrgh! the taiga doesn't alarm nearly as much as the humanish does. Cat on fire? Not gonna stick around though. SPEED WALKING SEQUENCE ACTIVATE. 10 2.0 x.20
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Post by Flare on Nov 24, 2021 23:53:13 GMT -6
Outside of the perceived address, the humanish stops and looks for a barer patch of dirt nearby. Why? He's been doing a wee bit of practice on his own with his magical summoning of flowering plants. He makes a clicking noise while leading the baakir away from the fencing to the patch of dirt. She flaps her ears, snorting and shuffling in place. Why'd he stop. He crouches down and puts his hand on the ground. Focuses... and makes a very interesting smelling plant pop out of the ground. She's curious. What is this plant. Was it good to eat? Was he going to stop her from eating what he just made pop out of the ground? No. He angles his head in a motion that seemed to lead to it. Curious again. The tailed humanish doesn't stop her from approching the leafy plant, which looks like his hooves that have no hardness. 11 x.20
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Post by Flare on Nov 25, 2021 6:40:37 GMT -6
Some research later, the humanish found that consuming in small quantities, I SAID SMALL, this particular plant can curb an appetite for a few hours in both animals and people. He picks the other half of the plant for himself, and stands. {You can eat that one. But we aren't sampling in the garden like I usually let you.} he warns the young taiga before rolling it into a strawlike shape and taking a bite. Ugh, this does not taste good at all. Just one leaf... just one plant. Each bite down makes him regret it all over again until the leaf is bare and he doesn't eat the stem. His gut twists up and the circlet on his head can summon food but he's not going to lure anything to himself while in there; this is a precaution. The taste doesn't exactly agree with the baakir either, but she makes short work of the plant, and then turns around and eats his stem. 12 x.20
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Post by Flare on Nov 25, 2021 6:44:12 GMT -6
And how is it supposed to do that, make him unable to taste anything? The overwhelming taste of GREEN makes the humanish want to color the ground green, but he forces himself to swallow the rising bile. Just endure it for a few hours, then he'll make himself a sandwich with meat and berries and flavorful things that don't make him feel like he chose to become a grazer. Vegetables and plants aren't highly used in Tumaian cooking unless they are imported, dried or grown yourself. Hard to do in a hot and dry environment with nothing but sand and rocky dirt. Not much nutrition in the soils. Making a face, Flare grimaces at the terrible taste. The baakir chews her cud for nearly five minutes before swallowing it. The less likely they felt to sample the plants past that fence, the more likely to escape out of there...less harmed. 13 x.20
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Post by Flare on Nov 25, 2021 6:55:34 GMT -6
And he's never going to perform that particular blooming plant ever again. The properties besides curbing hunger heavily weighed into being... processed for less desired results, at least for him and the present task of entering a fae's 'dangerous garden'. Granted, aside from angering a very old, very large tree snake, he hasn't seen that dangerous of plants. Cactus are pointy, some plants are active poison vs passive poison, others are a delayed reaction. Like poison ivy, a very common skin irritant that grows in the region but in forested areas. So Flare remains reasonably... doubtful of the fae's claim. All the precautions will be taken, short of looping the improvised rope loop around the baakir's neck for her...face. Actually thats a smarter idea. Her neck is very long, very strong and he doesn't want her to break her neck tryign to resist him while any sort of intrusion happens. He approaches her. 14 x.20
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