Runelords 03.0 - Hunting with Foxglove

On the sunset-lit streets, the four took a few minutes to consolidate the information they had collected over the day. They filled Luna in on what she had missed from the father, and caught Eamon up to date on what everyone had been saying all day. With a sigh and a frown of resignation, Luna in turn shared what she had learned about the lighthouse, including the submerged shaft. As she had guessed, Virgil’s immediate goal was to investigate, and he sent her to purchase some rope for the expedition. 
Reaching the store just before close, she entered and asked Vinder if she might buy some rope. He glared at her with a muted fury, causing her to quail, until he explained that his rage was directed towards her blonde companion. Ven threatened to call the authorities if he ever caught sight of Virgil around his daughter again, and Luna deeply apologized for his actions, obviously mad at him herself. Fuming, he sold Luna the rope, and she scuttled quickly out. 
Virgil gave her no time to scold him, however, and they swiftly made their way to the ruins in the young night. Khyrralien cast Dancing Lights into the mouth of the well, as Luna stripped off her outer clothes and tied a harness about herself, having forsaken the ability to even argue about her station. As the three men lowered her down into the water, she noted that the walls were marked black in a rising coil, similar to the grooves that might have once been stairs. Reaching the water, she carefully made her way into the briney dark. The water was murky and turbulent, but she deftly managed to avoid getting swept by the current, and sank down the end of the lifeline. From where she was, she could vaguely make out seven pointed archways arranged evenly around the perimeter of the shaft, leading to dark alcoves or tunnels she couldn’t make out. On the floor was a red-bricked pattern of a seven-pointed star, with its arms reaching out to each archway. Satisfied that she wouldn’t find anything else without a longer rope, she signaled to be pulled up. The three men had little difficulty lifting her light frame, and she explained what she had seen as she dried off and redressed. Virgil congratulated himself on recognizing the presence of a ruined dungeon, likely full of all sorts of interesting things; however, they recognized that without resources of some sort, they were ill-equipped to explore a submerged labyrinth, leaving its mysteries beyond their reach for the time being. 
With little else to do, they returned to the Rusty Dragon, now back to its crowded glory. Luna retired immediately, but the other three decided to partake of the dinner Ameiko had prepared: an Arroyitan dish of tempura-fried fish, seafood and vegetables. As the three men proceeded to eat far more than was their share of the delicious food, Ameiko mentioned that Foxglove had received their message and would love to meet them in the morning at 8 am: very early by his standards, though not really by anyone else’s. When they finished eating their weight in fried delicacies, they went back to their room for more lessons in Akroumite.
The next morning, Virgil set out early to the butcher’s, in order to set up a plan with the shopkeep to send a live animal to the inn every morning, saving shy Luna the trouble. Though it was obviously a strange request, Virgil showed no shame or embarrassment, citing the reason as his foreign antlered friend’s religious practices. He came to an agreement quickly enough, and for a reasonable price, he would have a fowl or small animal delivered to them along with the inn’s normal orders each day. Thanking him, Virgil returned to the inn and explained the situation to Ameiko, again placing the impetus on Khyrralien and promising that there would be no mess or disturbance. She seemed wary, but didn’t question or deny him.
The others joined him at the breakfast table, where Eamon’s journey of culinary discovery continued. Shortly after 8 o’clock, Foxglove entered and joined them at their table, gushing and thanking them once again for saving his life. They brushed it off, but he insisted on repaying them somehow. As he spoke, it became obvious that he admired them, and adventurers in general, deeply, wishing that he himself was strong and brave enough to be a hero like them. They were flattered by his words, and stroked his ego in turn, though he waved them off. He wondered if they might be interested in going boar hunting with him later that day. Their acceptance thrilled him, and he launched into plans for the afternoon. The group, seeing as how some of them weren’t quite properly dressed for riding, admitted to a story of being robbed shortly before reaching town, leaving them with little other than the shirts on their backs. Pushing them along, Foxglove took them to the local clothing shop and offered to outfit them all for the hunt 
Khyrralien, with his enormous height, antlers and stipulation that his face must be covered at all times, was the most difficult to dress, and Eamon’s “deformed back” required some skillful shortcuts as well. Eventually, they were all dressed in matching green riding tweed, with Eamon wearing a vest-like cloak and Khyrralien standing with several scarves wrapped about his face and head. Foxglove, dressed in a fine azure coat himself, looked at Khyrralien and Luna with their covered faces and had an idea: he purchased three more scarves, for himself, Eamon and Virgil, and declared that now they all matched, like a hunting team. Virgil chuckled under his breath that they now looked like rather fancy highway robbers.
As they left the store, Virgil told Foxglove to give them a few short minutes: they wanted to speak to Father Zantus before leaving town. Though they didn’t tell the man, they wanted to find out whether the church had been officially opened and, if not, when it would be. Considering that it was their mission to stay on Materia and protect the building until it was officially sanctified, they thought it prudent to determine its status, in case they were already overstaying their welcome.
Virgil greeted Zantus, referring to her as “mother” instead of “father”, much to her relief: the antiquated town called her by the male honorific out of habit, not at her request. He exchanged pleasantries with her, inquiring to her health and the safety of the church, before making the inquiry that had brought them there to begin with. The mother explained that, because the festival had been interrupted and the ceremony left unfinished, the church was still not official, though it was obviously open for use: they would have to wait for the festival next year, since all churches of Yoma had to be sanctified on that date. She wasn’t put-out, however, since the church was still open and it would mean the next festival would have reason to be special. Virgil hid his frustration and thanked the mother, who led them in a short prayer before they left. Eamon, even though he didn’t understand any of the words, felt like he knew the prayer well. As they exited and walked towards the stables, Virgil bitterly explained that, thanks to their mission and the goblin interruption, they were now stuck in this backwater town for a year, protecting a church that could only be sanctified on one particular day. The other extraplanars had little concept of what a year meant, and Luna, though wanting nothing more than to exclaim that she would be going home long before a year passed, already began to resign herself to babysitting them, loathe to leave the predatory Virgil and Khyrralien unchecked and the confused Eamon at their mercy.
Shelving their disappointment for the moment, they reunited with Foxglove and three of his servants as they prepared to begin the hunt. The horses they were presented with shied from Luna, and balked noticeably at Virgil and Khyrralien. However, they found Eamon delightful, and crowded around him for protection from the other three. With some coaxing and direction, the horses accepted their riders: Luna was just about as scared as her mount was, and both Virgil and Khyrralien held on tightly, knowing that the horses were an inch away from launching them. Foxglove armed each of them with a shortbow and a short spear for the hunt. With that, they set off for Tick Woods, looking for boar.
Once they had entered the woods a few miles away, they began to look for signs. Virgil, with his skill with birds, called out for assistance. Three local iron ravens, large black birds with steel-grey accents, answered his call, flying down and directing him towards a nearby clearing marked by a gigantic pine tree where a sizeable boar lived. When he relayed this information to the others, Foxglove was amazed at his ability to commune with avians, and gushed as he began to track down a path to the clearing, led by his hunting dogs. By this point, the three extraplanars had deduced that Foxglove would be an excellent source of emotional energy for all three of them: he was already admiring of Virgil, and wanted to impress them in turn. With a bit of baiting, he might be convinced to try his hardest, feeding Eamon, and their praise of his efforts in turn should satisfy him for Khyrralien. They convinced Luna to assist them, seeing as how she was one of the only two who could communicate with him, and she applied herself to the task with sighed resignation.
Before long, they came to the clearing. Eamon spotted motion in the tall grass, and the hunters began to sneak forwards. Before they got far however, the beast charged, ramming its tusks into the unprepared Eamon and hurting him deeply. The group gave chase, loosing arrows and alchemical bombs at it as it barrelled towards the treeline. Virgil attempted to confuse it with an illusion, but the jostling of the horse distracted him and ruined the spell, also putting him behind the others who raced to keep pace with it. As it entered the forest, Foxglove directed Eamon, Khyrralien and Luna to go to its right while he, his dogs and his servants took its left, hopefully cutting off its escape and forcing it to take back to the clearing. They crashed through the trees after it, but as Foxglove closed in, it turned around and charged into Eamon once more. He retaliated brutally, driving his weapon into the boar’s forehead, felling the creature. Foxglove sung their praises at the success of the hunt. Tying the carcass to the horses, the prepared to cart it back, but not before cutting off a large piece for the ravens who had helped them.
When they returned, they offered the pig up to Ameiko for the inn, and that night her patrons feasted on choice boar, courtesy of the local heroes. Foxglove presented each adventurer with a gift to help them after their "luggage was stolen", asking what they would most like to replace their lost belongings. Khyr received an ill-tuned sitar, Eamon was gifted with a greatsword, and Virgil was given a large stock of cigarettes to feed his addiction. Luna tried to refuse him, saying that she had managed to keep her bag and needed nothing; he gave her a rather pretty gold charm bracelet anyways.
Category:Rise of the Runelords